USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; genealogy-family history-biography; containing historical sketches of old families and of representative and prominent citizens, past and present, Volume I > Part 27
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Mr. Brumm was married to Virginia James, a daughter of William James, one of the pioneer coal operators of Schuylkill county, and his wife, Susan James, who is a descendant of the old Pennsylvania Schindel and Marlin fam- ilies, and a sister of J. Harry James, ex-district attorney. They had nine chil- dren of whom six are living: Howell Lincoln, Charles Claude, Susan Ida, Joan Lily, George Franklin and Seth Arthur.
JOHN POTT, SR., the founder of the city of Pottsville, Schuylkill county, was a member of a distinguished family of English descent. A well authen- ticated tradition has it that during the Masonic disturbance in England the older representatives were forced to abdicate the rights of citizenship and take refuge in Holland. The original founders of this numerous family in Amer- ica were Wilhelm and his two sons, John Wilhelm and Johannas, and his brother Dagenhart, who settled at Germantown, Pa., in 1734. One of these sons, John Wilhelm, who died in Oley township, Berks Co., Pa., in 1767, married Mench Hoch on Dec. 28, 1755. To them were born two sons: Wil- liam, who married late in life and removed to Franklin county, where he died without issue ; and John.
According to the account in a recent history of Berks county, John Pott
ORCHARD MILLS
OFFICE
BUILT BY JOHN POTT, 1810-DESTROYED BY FIRE, 1896
MEMORIAL
JOHN POTT
WHO FOUNDED POTTSVILLE
IN THE YEAR (SUS
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(or Potts, as the name was then) had settled in Amity township, that county, prior to 1754, in which year he paid a federal tax there of fifteen pounds, which is evidence of the fact that he was a large landowner. At the same time John Potts' brother "Thomas" Potts lived in Colebrookdale township, that county, where he paid a tax of forty-five pounds. It is traditional that these brothers emigrated together from Breisen (Preussen), Germany, but this is uncertain, as it is also claimed they are Welsh. One of the sons of the brothers in later years settled across the Blue mountains, now Schuylkill county, and became the founder of Pottsville, the county seat and prominent mining town of the anthracite coal district. Pottstown, a flourishing city of Montgomery county, near Amity township, was also founded by a member of this family, which was prominent in Berks and surrounding counties during the latter part of the eighteenth century.
From the beginning of their residence in Oley township, Berks county, the Potts were engaged in the mining and manufacture of crude iron. John Potts. Sr., learned the iron business with his father, and in 1790 purchased an old forge near Pottsville, Schuylkill county, since known as the "Pioneer Fur- nace," which he modernized and converted into a plant better suited to his purposes. This enterprise was from time to time added to and enlarged until it grew into one of the most important industrial institutions of Schuylkill county. It also became the nucleus around which sprang up a village, which in honor of the proprietor of the furnace was named Pottsville. Such was the beginning of the present capital of Schuylkill county, whose existence is due to the energy and courage of John Pott, Sr., who, when the county of Schuylkill was still an unbroken wilderness, pushed out into its frontiers and established an industry which carried with it all the concomitants of civilized life. Mr. Pott continued in the conduct of his furnace until the time of his death, in the year 1827, and lived to witness the partial growth of the city which he had founded. He was not wedded exclusively to his private affairs, but spent equally as much time in bringing about proper municipal regula- tions and conditions in the community. He was public-spirited, possessed un- usual energy, and was endowed with broad intelligence, together with the somewhat rare gift of organization. To these essential qualities of a progress- ive man in pioneer times, were also added the subtler and more humane qual- ities which are requisite to the rounding out of the complete man. He was kind and generous in the extreme, one whose life apparently was not for self, but for the common interest and the common good of those he had attracted to himself.
John Pott, Sr., was united in marriage with Maria Lesher, and to them was born a family of nine children: John, Jr., Magdalina, Benjamin (born June 10, 1793), James, Abraham, Mary, Catherine, William and Jacob. He and his family were members of the Lutheran Church and gave it the support of not only material means, but also of a consistent and constant devotion. After the death of John Pott, Sr., his sons John (Jr.) and Benjamin succeeded to the management of the iron business, but conducted it for a short time only, when it was disposed of to other parties.
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FRANKLIN BENJAMIN GOWEN, railroad manager and financier, was born in Philadelphia Feb. 9, 1836. Mr. Gowen was educated at Emmitsburg, Md., and in the Moravian Seminary at Lititz, Pa. In 1858 he entered the business of mining coal near Pottsville, at what is now known as the Beech-
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wood colliery, but soon abandoned this enterprise, and took up the study of law. Mr. Gowen was admitted to the bar in 1860, rising to distinction in his profession. In 1862 he was elected to the office of district attorney of Schuyl- kill county, conducting the affairs of his office with a vigor hitherto unknown in the county. On resuming the general practice of his profession, he was retained as counsel for the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company and for the Girard Coal Trusts in connection with their large interests in the mining region. In 1869 he was elected to the presidency of the Philadelphia & Read- ing Railway Company, and filled the office until 1881, when, because of opposi- tion to his plans for the relief of the finances of the road, he failed of reelec- tion, but was again chosen as president in 1882.
In 1877 Mr. Gowen went to England to promote the finances of the Phila- delphia & Reading Railroad, and presented the affairs of the railroad in all the details in such a masterly manner as to convince the English creditors fully. A pamphlet issued in London, containing a full report of a meeting, states : "At a general meeting of the share and bond holders of the Philadel- phia & Reading Railroad Company and of the Perkiomen Railroad Company," held at the City Terminus Hotel, Cannon street, London, June 6, 1877, at which Mr. Gowen met the English creditors of his company and obtained, their acquiescence in the proposition for its relief, which he went abroad to promote, Mr. Thomas Wilde Powell, of the firm of Haseltine. Powell & Co., a gentleman largely interested in the Reading Railroad, was called to the chair, and opened the meeting with a short speech, in which he introduced the subject to be considered, and paid a high compliment to the integrity of the management of the road and to the efficiency and ability of Mr. Gowen per- sonally. After fully presenting his plan, and satisfactorily answering all ob- jections presented, the meeting adopted resolutions of acquiescence, and tendered Mr. Gowen a vote of thanks "for the able and interesting address which he has given to this meeting."
In 1872 Mr. Gowen was elected a member of the Constitutional Conven- tion of Pennsylvania, and ranked as one of the ablest members of that body.
Mr. Gowen conceived and established the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company in 1871, as the Laurel Run Improvement Company. In less than a year the name was changed to its present form. It is now the largest land and mining company ever organized in this country.
Mr. Gowen in 1873 conceived, organized and put into effect the movement against the famous organization known as the "Mollie Maguires," which had maintained a reign of terror in the coal regions for twenty years, and which the ordinary machinery of the law had been unable to suppress. In the trials which followed this movement, in 1876, Mr. Gowen was one of the counsel for the Commonwealth, and was the first attorney to break down the ever ready "alibi," the invariable refuge of the "Mollies." Mr. Gowen was an orator of force and eloquence, as well as eminent as a financier and railroad man- ager. His famous argument in the case of the State vs. Thomas Munley, in one of the Mollie Maguire trials, was published ( Pottsville, Pa., 1876). After retiring from the presidency of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Com- pany Mr. Gowen resumed the practice of the law, which he followed until his death, which occurred in Washington, D. C., Dec. 14, 1889.
GEN. HENRY PLEASANTS, soldier and civil engineer, was born in Buenos Ayres, South America, Feb. 17, 1833, son of John Pleasants, of Phila-
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delphia. He arrived from South America in 1846, and entered the Philadel- phia high school, where he graduated in 1851. He pursued the practice of railroad engineering with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. In 1857 he began to practice mining engineering at Pottsville, Pa., and continued to fol- low that branch of the profession until he entered the army in 1861, being mustered in on Sept. 11th. He was promoted from captain of Company C to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Sept. 20, 1862. In June, 1864, he was commanding the 2d Brigade of the 2d Division, 9th Army Corps, then stationed in front of Petersburg, and there he rendered a most efficient service, which became memorable in the annals of the war as the Petersburg Mine Explosion, the details of which are well known to every reader of history. It was said by General Meade and Major Duane, chief engineer of the Army of the Potomac, to be the first work of the kind ever attempted. For this act he received a letter of congratulation from Gen- eral Meade himself. On Oct. Ist he was promoted to the rank of colonel and on Dec. 18th he was mustered out, his term of service having expired; but on March' 13, 1865, he was advanced to the rank of brevet brigadier general.
On his return to Pottsville he resumed the practice of his profession, and at the organization of the Laurel Run Improvement Company, afterwards the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company, in 1871, he was made the chief engineer of the company, which position he held till the time of his deatlı, in 1880, at the age of forty-seven years. General Pleasants anticipated deep mining by twenty years, by sinking the Pottsville Shafts to a depth of 1,576 feet, from the surface to the rail of the Primrose gangway, the bottom of the shaft. The work was begun in 1872, and completed in 1877.
JAMES A. NOECKER has been practicing at the Schuylkill county bar since 1897, and during that period has devoted practically all of his time to his profession, even his public duties having been principally within the field of legal work. The important connections he has established among his fellow citizens are a reliable indication of his standing, which places him among those who have brought honor and distinction to the community, where in the earnest pursuit of his own interests he has found many opportunities for service of great value, particularly in his home borough. He resides in Schuylkill Haven, and maintains law offices in Pottsville.
The Noecker family is one of long residence in Pennsylvania. The first of the line to come to America located originally in New York State, and later moved to Pennsylvania with several other families, settling in the Tul- pehocken valley, in Berks county, with Conrad Weiser. They were pioneers in that section. John Noecker, the great-grandfather of James A. Noecker, lived in Manheim township, Berks county, in the portion later known as South Manheim township, Schuylkill county, where he had a farm of one hundred acres upon which he lived until his death. He had two children, John and Elizabeth, the latter the wife of John Dewalt. The farm was divided between the two children, each receiving fifty acres.
John Noecker, grandfather of James A. Noecker, spent all his life on the homestead place, died there, and is buried at the Summit Church. He mar- ried Sarah Reed, and they became the parents of the following family: Lewis was the father of James A. Noecker; Sarah married Jared Berger, and they removed to South Bend, Ind., where she is still living, at the age of eighty-two years; Fiartha married a Mr. Schenck, of the State of Indiana; Emma mar-
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ried a Mr. Dewalt, and resides in Indiana; Catharine, who married Hiram Berger, lives in Nebraska ; Mary married William Reber, and resides in Schuyl- kill Haven.
Lewis Noecker was born on the old homestead farm in South Manheim township, which is situated two miles south of the borough of Schuylkill Haven, and always made his home there, following farming all his life. He died on that place Aug. 15, 1915, and is buried in the Union cemetery at Schuylkill Haven. His widow, Mary (Moyer), has resided in the borough of Schuylkill Haven since his death. She is a daughter of Philip Moyer, and member of an early family of the Tulpehocken valley in Berks county. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Noecker, namely: Kate L .; William H .; Franklin M .; James A .; Sallie A., wife of Frank Matz, of Har- risburg, Pa .; Charles, M. D., who is practicing his profession in Scranton, Pa .; George A., of Pottsville, Pa .; Carrie A., wife of Harry Nissley, of Lebanon county, Pa .; Lewis S., who now owns the old homestead farm in South Manheim township; and Mary, married to William Repp, of Harris- burg.
James A. Noecker was born Sept. 20, 1868, on the old Noecker homestead in South Manheim township, and began his education in the local public schools, later attending at Schuylkill Haven. Then he took a course at the Keystone State Normal School, at Kutztown, Pa., from which he was gradu- ated in 1891, after which he was engaged in teaching until 1896, meantime commencing to read law, under Judge Marr and George Gerber. He was admitted to the Schuylkill county bar in September, 1897, and shortly after- wards to practice also in the Supreme and Superior courts of the State and in the United States District court. The next few years were occupied chiefly in the public service. Having been elected to represent his district in the State Legislature in 1898, he served one term in that body with credit to him- self and his constituency, and on Jan. 1, 1900, he was appointed deputy district attorney of Schuylkill county under District Attorney M. P. Mclaughlin, giving able service in this capacity for the next three years. During that period, in 1902, he was elected borough solicitor of Schuylkill Haven, in which office he has been retained continuously since, a fact which speaks well for the public spirit and integrity he has displayed in the discharge of his duties. His private practice has shown a steady gain from the beginning, not only in vol- ume but in the importance of the work intrusted to him, and the high char- acter of his clients is sufficient evidence of the standards which have guided him. Mr. Noecker organized the First National Bank of Schuylkill Haven, for which he has been solicitor ever since its establishment, in 1899. In frater- nal affiliation he is a Mason, holding membership in Page Lodge, No. 270, F. & A. M., of Schuylkill Haven, and he also belongs to the Pottsville Lodge of Elks.
Mr. Noecker married Ethyle I. Hancock, daughter of Samson Hancock, of Carbon county, Pa., and they have one daughter, Margaret, now five years old. Mr. and Mrs. Noecker are members of the Reformed Church at Schuyl- kill Haven.
WILLIAM ELLIOTT was one of the oldest residents of Tower City and for years held a high place among the most influential citizens of that borough. Though he had been living retired from business pursuits for some years before his recent death his interest in the progress and prosperity of the community
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had not lessened, and his judgment was esteemed by all his old-time associates. For a number of years he was one of the leading merchants of Tower City, attaining substantial success in business though he started with little means, the solid position he made for himself being entirely the result of his own exer- tions.
Mr. Elliott was of English birth and parentage, his parents, George and Isabella (Taylor) Elliott, having spent their entire lives in England. They had two children, William and Isabella, the latter deceased. The father fol- lowed mining. After his death the mother remarried, becoming the wife of Richard Bainbridge, of Yorkshire, by whom she had four children: Ellen, Thomas, Richard and George. The last named was a soldier in the Crimean war.
William Elliott was born Aug. 19, 1830, in Durham, England, and had few advantages in his youth, having been but seven years old when he com- menced working in the mines, at the old operation known as the Kalloe shaft. He was variously employed about the collieries until the year 1857, when his stepfather was killed in a mine accident and he gave up his work there. In May, 1857, he came to this country, making the voyage from England to New York City in a sailing vessel, which was five weeks on the trip. Com- ing at once to Schuylkill county, Pa., he located at Donaldson and went to work in the mines on Middle creek, later finding employment at East Franklin. Turning to railroad work, he was in the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company for a number of years, meantime, in 1875, settling at Tower City, which was ever afterwards his home. When he arrived here there were but a few houses on the site, and less than one hundred inhabitants, but he felt that the place had a future, and about two years after his arrival he gave up other work and made an independent business venture, starting a gen- eral merchandise business, which until his retirement, in 1903, was conducted by the firm of William Elliott & Son. In 1877 he put up a substantial build- ing for store and residence, living there until his retirement, and by close application to his growing trade made it steadily profitable, gaining credit for himself and holding an honorable place among the most reliable merchants of the borough. Mr. Elliott also took a good citizen's part in the administration of the municipal government, in which his cooperation was welcomed by his townsmen, who elected him a member of the council for eight years, and he was president of that body for several years. For almost half a century Mr. Elliott was a member of Swatara Lodge, No. 267, F. & A. M., and he was also a Royal Arch Mason.
In 1852 Mr. Elliott was united in marriage with Jemima Little, who was . born on the Isle of Man, and died in 1860. Of the children born to this union two grew to maturity, Richard and Mary. The son, who died Oct. 14, 19II, lived at Tower City and was his father's business associate for many years. The daughter is the wife of Joseph Salem, of Tower City, who has been for fifty years an engineer at the East Brookside colliery. They have a family of five children, Frank, Maggie, Joseph, Bella and Lester. In 1862 Mr. Elliott married (second) Mary Tobias, of Donaldson, who died without issue. On Nov. 14, 1875, he married (third) Mrs. Matilda Dietrich. No children were born to this marriage. When Mr. Elliott retired from active business Mrs. Elliott purchased the residence on Grand avenue, Tower City, which was his home until his death, Jan. 16, 1916. No residents of the borough have been held in higher estimation.
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George Boyer, Mrs. Elliott's grandfather, was a native of Germany, but was only a boy when he came to Schuylkill county, Pa., and he settled near Orwigsburg, dying upon his farm there. He married Maria Freed, and they had the following children: Henry, David, William, Peter, Catherine (who lived to the age of eighty-five years) and Leah.
David Boyer, Mrs. Elliott's father, was born in Schuylkill county, and established his home at Orwigsburg, where he died. By calling he was a gun- smith. His wife, Hannah ( Beck), a native of Carbon county, Pa., also died in Orwigsburg. Their children were: Violet, who married Henry Schuck; Matilda, wife of William Elliott; Lawrence, who lives in the State of Wash- ington; George, who died in New Jersey ; William, who lives at Easton, Pa .; Charles, who died when twenty-one years old; and Annie, who married Phoenes E. Gerber, of Lehighton, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Elliott first married Frederick C. Jenkins, a native of Wales, who was for some time superintendent at the Tamaqua gas works. He entered the Union service during the Civil war, and died from the effects of a wound received at the battle of Cold Harbor. All her children were born to this union : Violet Hannah, wife of Isaac Mossop, who is a manufacturer of Wiconisco, Pa., president of the Lykens Bank, and a director of the Tower City National Bank; Annie B., wife of Albert E. Schoener, of Orwigsburg, Pa .; and Mary, wife of James Thompson, of Monroe county, Iowa. For her second husband Mrs. Jenkins married John Dietrich, and lived on the site where now is the village of Johnstown, Schuylkill county.
WILLIAM S. PUGH, of Pottsville, is achieving deserved reputation in a busy career whose divers interests he has handled with impartial success. He has always been considered an able man in his profession, civil and mining engineering, but he has taken hold of everything else intrusted to him with such evidence of being equal to its responsibilities that his asso- ciates have come to have unlimited faith in his powers. He is a native son of Pottsville, and the city has reason to be proud of his accomplishments, for much of his best effort has been given directly to her development. As municipal engineer continuously since 1892, most of the progressive evolu- tion of her public works of modern origin is due to his foresight, and the economical adaptation of local facilities to local needs has been looked after systematically under his care. Aside from his profession he is best known as one of the most popular Masons in Schuylkill county, at present serving as Deputy Grand Master in his district, a position he has held for six years.
Mr. Pugh was born June 27, 1871, son of John Pugh and Rosanna Beidelman. His father was born in Manchester, England, in 1835, came to this country in 1836, and resided in Pottsville until his death in 1902. He served during the Civil war as a member of Company G, 48th Regiment, and was severely wounded in the battle of Antietam. In 1866 he married Rosanna Beidelman, who survives him, making her home in Pottsville.
William S. Pugh was reared in Pottsville and had the public educational advantages afforded here, graduating from high school in 1888. From 1888 to 1902 he was a student in the office of A. J. Womelsdorf, the well known civil and mining engineer of Pottsville, meantime preparing very thoroughly for his chosen calling, taking a full engineering course in the International Correspondence School of Scranton (of which he was one of the very first students) supplemented with a variety of practical work
Y
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which has been invaluable as experience and in developing his talents. In 1802 he was elected borough engineer, and filled the position without inter- ruption until the city government was inaugurated in 1913, when he was chosen city engineer by the unanimous vote of the city council; during all that time he also acted as Commissioner of Highways.
For the last twenty-one years, from 1894, Mr. Pugh has been also engaged in independent work in his profession, in which he has acquired an extensive practice, doing special work for many of the large corporations in the coal region. Incidentally he has been called upon for testimony in court in many important cases in his own and neighboring counties, and he is frequently consulted as an expert engineer.
There is hardly a member of the Masonic fraternity in Schuylkill county better known than Mr. Pugh, and in the six years of his service as District Deputy Grand Master he has been widening his circle of acquaintances steadily. He is a past master of Pulaski Lodge, No. 216, F. & A. M .; a past high priest of Mountain City Chapter, No. 196, R. A. M .; a past eminent commander of Constantine Commandery, No. 41, K. T .; a member of Phila- delphia Consistory. A. A. S. R., and a member of Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Reading.
In 1896 Mr. Pugh married Jennie June Edwards, daughter of Hon. Joseph J. Edwards, of Saint Clair, who was a member of the State Legislature from Schuylkill county in 1882-83.
MAJ. PETER A. FILBERT, of Pine Grove, had a long and prosperous business career at that place before his retirement some twenty years ago, and has been enjoying a life of honorable leisure among the scenes of his early activity. He is a man of substantial qualities and forceful personality, and few residents of Schuylkill county are better known.
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