Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; genealogy-family history-biography; containing historical sketches of old families and of representative and prominent citizens, past and present, Volume II, Part 38

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 684


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 II > Part 38


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Bridget are buried in the cemetery of the Church of the Annunciation at Shenandoah. Mr. Delaney was a Democrat and took considerable interest in politics and other public affairs, and he was elected to several local offices which he filled very creditably, having been school director, councilman and constable.


At Port Carbon, this county, Mr. Delaney was married, by Father McGorey, to Mrs. Bridget (Higgins) Watson, who was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, came to America in the year 1844, and died at Shenandoah in March, 1905, at the remarkable age of ninety-four years. By her first hus- band, Michael Watson, she had two children: Malachi, who married Nancy Monahan and (second) Anne Costello (he and both his wives are deceased) ; and James, who was killed on the railroad at Glen Carbon and is buried at Minersville, this county. Mr. Watson is buried at Shenandoah.


Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Delaney, viz .: Patrick, a tin- smith, now living retired, married Bridget Boner; Martin, who married Mar- garet Cavanaugh, lives in Philadelphia, Pa .; Mary Ann is Mrs. John P. Maher; Bridget is the wife of Michael Doyle, proprietor of the Anthracite Labor News; John married Ellen Dowd (now deceased) and lives in Phil- adelphia.


Peter Higgins, father of Mrs. Bridget (Higgins) Delaney, was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, where he did farm work. In that country he married Mary Donnelly, also a native of County Roscommon, and they came to America at an early day and settled in Schuylkill county, Pa., Mrs. Higgins dying at Pottsville in 1841; she is buried there. After coming to the United States Mr. Higgins followed mining. He remarried, in Savannah, Ga., where he is buried. His children by the first union were : Bridget (Mrs. Delaney ) : Patrick, who died in New York; Maria (Mrs. James Fox), who died in Chicago (her husband is buried at Wilkes-Barre, Pa.), and Michael, who married Mary Keogh (they are buried at Port Carbon).


AARON OSSMAN has been a resident of Tremont for the last thirty years and one of the highly respected citizens of the borough, still taking an active interest in matters of importance to the community, though now lead- ing a practically retired life so far as business is concerned. Born in the Lykens valley in Schuylkill county, Dec. 9, 1838, on the old place which was the homestead of his grandfather, he is of English ancestry. Robert Ossman, the grandfather, came to this country from England and settled in Schuylkill county, Pa., dying on the farm where his grandson, Aaron Ossman, was born. By occupation he was a farmer. His children were: Philip, Edward, Robert, Joseph, Sarah, Catherine and Grace. All are now deceased.


Philip Ossman was born in the Lykens valley, and like his father fol- lowed agricultural pursuits all his life. Few men of his day were more widely and popularly known. Active in politics, he was closely connected with public affairs, serving as county commissioner, to which office he was elected in 1838, and for many years as a justice of the peace. He was also prom- inent in the State militia, at one time major of a Schuylkill county regiment. His wife, Barbara (Friedline), was also born in the Lykens valley, daughter of Conrad Friedline, a pioneer in that section; he had several children. The following were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ossman: Lucetta, the eldest daughter; Kate, who married Pete Zerbe; Maria, who married William Yohe; Lydia, wife of Michael Kutzelman; Anna, wife of William Yohe; Israel, the eldest


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son ; Edward; Eli; William; Levi; and Aaron, who is the only survivor of this large family. Levi served three years in the Civil war as a member of Company A, 50th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.


Aaron Ossman was brought up on the farm in the Lykens valley, and went to public school there. In his youth he learned the trade of carpenter, at which he was engaged throughout his active years. He is now enjoying comparative leisure, though for a number of years he has been in the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Company, looking after their timberland.


When the Civil war came on Mr. Ossman entered the Union service, enlisting Sept. 9, 1861, from Hegins, Schuylkill county, in Company A, 50th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, under Col. D. C. Christ, of Minersville, this county. Under this enlistment he served two years and four months, at the end of that period reenlisting, in the same company and regiment, with which he served until the end of the war. He took part in the actions at the following places : Hilton Head; Port Royal; Brownsville Island; Fortress Monroe ; Freeman's Ford; Bull Run; Chantilly ; Wilderness ; Fredericksburg; etc. He was wounded in the right arm at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House and was confined for some time in the hospital at Alexandria, Va., where he was mustered out. Returning to Schuylkill county, Pa., he lived in Hegins township for some years thereafter, moving to Tremont about thirty years ago. He has long been a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having joined the latter organization in 1866; he is affiliated with the lodge at Hegins, this county, and has been very active in its work, having passed all the chairs twice. Religiously he belongs to the English Lutheran Church. Mrs. Ossman has participated in public affairs to the extent of serving as school director, which office he filled very acceptably.


In 1861 Mr. Ossman married Harriet Header, a native of Schuylkill county, who died in 1877, the mother of four children: Harrison, who is a resident of Tremont; Alfred H., now of Mount Carmel, Pa .; Charles E., of Dubois, Pa .; and Joseph, of Easton, Pa. In 1877 Mr. Ossman married ( sec- ond) Maggie L. Bone, of Schuylkill county. There are no children by this union.


WESTON DODSON & CO., of Bethlehem, Pa., miners and shippers of anthracite coal, have collieries at Beaver Brook, Morea, and Locust Moun- tain, this State, the Morea and Locust Mountain operations being in Schuyl- kill county.


MOREA COLLIERY, in Mahanoy township, was opened in 1888, and the first coal run through the breaker on March 7, 1889. It has been in con- tinuous operation since that date. The following men have been in charge : D. J. Thomas, 1889-1896; Elmer E. Evans, 1896-1899; William J. Hayes, 1899-1902; Howard Dugan, 1902-1906; Truman M. Dodson, Second, 1906 to the present date. Under the present management Morea colliery has under- gone many and wonderful changes for its advancement. That Mr. Dodson is the most successful manager of this work in its history has been many times shown. After graduating from Lehigh University, at Bethlehem, Pa., his home, he came to Morea as manager of the colliery. Since Mr. Dodson has taken over the superintendency and management, through his ability to reconcile the differences which naturally arise in a large business, and by his wise counsel and discretion, entire peace and harmony have come, and the


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same is fully enjoyed by both company and men. Mr. Dodson is altogether a man of the people, democratic in his inclinations, uniting with his people, giving ear to their complaints, and looking to their interest and benefit at all times. He has been foremost in striving for the betterment and improvement of conditions in the large plant and its auxiliaries, giving his time and con- sideration to the humblest as well as the most influential of his employes, and the result is that there is none but gives him praise. To-day the colliery is one of the most profitable in the coal business. Electric haulage is used. The breaker capacity is approximately 1,500 tons a day. Mr. Dodson is a thorough business man, believing in the square deal for every one. He takes an active interest in everything pertaining to the interest or advancement of Morea. All of the athletic events taking place in Morea are supported by him. He is a member of the Mahanoy City and Morea Gun Clubs.


Morea is one of the most model towns in the anthracite mining region. The inhabitants of that up-to-date place enjoy many of the things usually found only in larger towns. A modern club-house equipped with pool and billiard tables, a large library, an up-to-date moving picture show, fine base- ball grounds and a dancing pavilion, are some of the things of which Morea can boast.


The Morea Supply Company has one of the most up-to-date stores in the State. Anything that can be purchased in a city department store may be had here at prices as low as the lowest. The meat market is one of the conveniences much appreciated by the employes. It is thoroughly modern. An artificial ice plant furnishes all the refrigeration for the meat market and store. P. J. Malloy is the manager of all the Dodson Company's stores, and also purchasing agent for the Dodson Coal Company collieries. J. B. Connell is the general superintendent. "Joe," as he is familiarly called, is acknowledged to be one of the best store managers in the business. He started at the bottom and worked his way up to his responsible position, com- mencing his career with the Dodson Company about twenty-three years ago.


Weston Dodson & Co., Inc., of Bethlehem, were established in 1862 by the late Weston Dodson, one of the pioneers in the anthracite coal trade. They have extensive operations in both the anthracite and bituminous coal fields. The present officials are : President, C. M. Dodson; vice president, A. C. Dodson; secretary and treasurer, Josiah Bachman.


JOHN J. BOBBIN, of Shenandoah, has been a business man of that borough for over forty years, and during much of that time one of the ener- getic spirits in her modern development. His life story is full of interest, affording a remarkable illustration of the opportunities America is still offer- ing to those who have the ability and perseverance to take advantage of them. The term self-made is often misused, but it may be correctly applied in Mr. Bobbin's case, for he started without means or influence in a strange com- munity and has gone ahead as he deserved. A native of Lithuania, though he belonged to a family of substance and standing he felt that local condi- tions did not hold much promise, so he courageously came alone to the New World. After a few years he set up in business, modestly, but with the hope of becoming independent. Long ago he realized this ambition, and he is now one of the leaders of his people in this section of the State, helping them in their affairs and doing much by his own example to promote ideals of good


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citizenship among them. The record of his business career will show the part he has played in the progress of his adopted place.


Mr. Bobbin was born Jan. 27, 1850, at Malina, in the county of Kalvariya, state of Suwalki. His grandfather, Roland Bobbin, was a man of means, and married a farmer's daughter from an adjoining village, whose people were also well-to-do. Their son Macej Bobbin, father of John J. Bobbin, fol- lowed farming, was thrifty and prosperous, and respected for his character as well as his business talents. To his first marriage, with Eve Kuczinski, were born: John J., who was seven years old when his mother died; Annie, and Simon, who died in childhood. For his second wife the father married Victoria Saldukas, and to them were born the following children: Vincent, Anthony, Matcej, Maggie and Mary. All of these followed their older half- brother to Shenandoah but Maggie, who was the only one of the family that did not come to the United States; she was married twice. Vincent Bobbin joined his brother here and had his help in continuing his education, after- wards working with him in the store and finally going into business for him- self ; he still resides in Shenandoah; his family consists of four sons and two daughters. Anthony Bobbin also came to Shenandoah, but returned to Poland and still lives there. Matcej also returned to Poland. Mary mar- ried Joseph Witkowski and died at Minersville, this county ; her husband now lives there with his children.


John J. Bobbin lived at home until nineteen years old, attending school and working with his father on the farm. But he was ambitious to become a merchant, and hoping for chances in America which his own land lacked decided to venture out on his own account. He had to be very cautious about his departure on account of the military service expected of all young men. Making his way to Hamburg, Germany, he crossed to Hull, England, jour- neyed from that port to Liverpool, and then sailed for New York City, where he arrived in January, 1870. Three or four days later he came to Schuylkill county, Pa., joining his uncle, Paul Bobbin, at Mahanoy Plane. For a time he was employed in the mines at that point, but when the strike came on eighteen months later he removed to Gilberton, this county, where he was located for nearly four years, peddling part of the time, when he did not have mine work. Meantime he had been awaiting the chance to go into business, and in 1874 he came to Shenandoah and opened a grocery store on South Main street. By this time he had acquired enough familiarity with the language and customs to look after his affairs properly, and he did well from the start, continuing in his original location for ten years. During that time he had in addition to his retail trade established quite an extensive com- mission business, and also acted as agent for the Hamburg American Packet Company, the Bremen & Baltimore, the Red Star and other steamship lines, his countrymen especially availing themselves gladly of his services as such. In 1884 his store was burned out, and he came to the site he has since occu- pied, at No. 132 North Main street, which is now the headquarters of all his business interests. There is probably no better known citizen in the borough. As a grocer he had the largest trade in the town, and he has followed a num- ber of other lines with equal success. He has always maintained a steam- ship agency, has made a specialty of handling sewing machines, and does considerable business as a private banker, being licensed to handle both American and foreign exchange. The steady expansion of his business has been due to more than his very evident gift for good management. He has


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been found worthy of the utmost confidence in all his transactions, and it is this which has gained him the constant increase of patronage. Mr. Bobbin is a charter director of the Merchants' National Bank; a charter member of the Miners', Mechanics' & Laborers' Building & Loan Association; was one of the organizers of the Shenandoah Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which he is still a director; and holds the same position in the Shenadoah Light, Heat & Power Company, which he helped to organize. He was one of the purchasers of the Mahanoy Light, Heat & Power Company and a director. All enterprises looking to the improvement of the borough count on him for support.


Mr. Bobbin married Mary Janiski (in Polish Januszewski), who was born Jan. 29, 1862, in Shamokin, Northumberland Co., Pa. Her parents, Andrew and Anna (Kuhaszek) Janiski, are both natives of Posen, German Poland. In 1854, when fourteen years old, her father came to America with his parents, Jacob and Mary (Schuter) Januszewski, the family landing at Montreal, Can- ada, where the father died of cholera. He had expected to find work on the canal from Montreal to Lachine at $1.06 per day, or 4 shillings, 6 pence. The widowed mother came to Lykens, Pa., with her family of five children, An- drew, Joseph, Michael, John and Agnes (who married Joseph Akert and died soon afterwards). Andrew Janiski became a mine worker, following that occupation at Lykens and later at Shamokin, where he still resides. He is now (1916) seventy-eight years old, and comes of a long-lived family, his grandmother having attained the remarkable age of 116 years, on which account she received a pension from the government. She died in Posen, and the entire village attended her funeral. Andrew Janiski went to visit a sister in Philadelphia and there met and married Anna Kuhaszek, now de- ceased, by whom he had the following children: Mary, Mrs. Bobbin; Anna, who is the wife of John Konopki, of Shamokin; Kate, wife of Michael Dekar- ski, living at Manistee, Mich .; James, a resident of Philadelphia, who mar- ried Sophia Christensen; Helen, unmarried, who resides in Scranton, Pa .; Agnes, who is the wife of Charles Dencewicz, of Shamokin; Pa .; Andrew, who is married and lives in Shamokin; John, also a resident of Shamokin; and Joseph, who died aged about twenty-four years, unmarried.


Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bobbin: Edward G., an attorney at law, now located in Waterbury, Conn., is a graduate of the Shen- andoah high school, Wyoming (Pa.) Seminary and from the law department of the University of Pennsylvania; he married Mary Fay, of Connecticut, and they have had one child, deceased in infancy. Blanch B. is married to Max. J. Spotanski, now engaged in business as a druggist at Nanticoke, Pa .; she was formerly a resident of Shenandoah, where she was a music teacher for several years, being a graduate of the Broad Street Conservatory of Music, Philadelphia; Mr. and Mrs. Spotanski have no children. Adolph C. graduated from the high school of Shenandoah and McCann's business col- lege of Mahanoy City, and is now engaged in the hardware business, hav- ing a store at New Philadelphia ; he is unmarried. Clara M. graduated from the West Chester Normal School and taught five terms in Shenandoah before her marriage to Anthony J. Rogers, who is receiving teller for the Shenan- doah Trust Company; she and her husband have one son, John Anthony, born May 16, 1915. Clayton died in 1902, when eleven and a half years old. Isabel graduated from the Shenandoah high school and from Drexel Institute, Philadelphia, taking the course in domestic arts, and she has also had


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a course in portrait painting and shows unusual ability as an artist; she is unmarried. Alberta died in 1900, when four years old; Raymond D. and Mary V. are attending high school in Shenandoah.


Mr. and Mrs. Bobbin and their family are members of St. George's Lithu- anian Catholic Church. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus.


SAMUEL WEIDMAN, of Shenandoah, is a descendant of an honorable old Pennsylvania family of German origin, long established in Berks county. Its members in every generation have been notable for their high principles, energy and industry, qualities which have contributed so much to advancing this State to a place in the front rank. He is a typical representative of the name he bears, and his children in their turn are upholding the best traditions of the family.


Mr. Weidman was born April 16, 1849, on the old farm of his father and grandfather in Perry township, Berks county, at Five Locks, on the canal, son of Elias and Sarah (Fister) Weidman. In a recent biographical work of Berks county we find the following :


Johannes Weidman was the founder of this family in Berks county. He came from Germany on the ship "Royal Union," which landed at Philadelphia Aug. 15, 1750, with 250 passengers. He obtained a number of acres of land in Windsor township, two miles north of Shoemakersville, upon which he settled, and there prospered. He was a Dunkard and reared his children in that faith. The remains of himself and wife, as well as some of their chil- dren, are interred on the farm on which he settled, now owned by his great- grandson (Joel K. Weidman). He had these children: John and Jonas. The latter settled at Myerstown, was a miller by trade, and the owner of con- siderable property.


John Weidman, son of Johannes, was the owner and operator of the home- stead in Perry township, and also engaged in carrying produce to Philadel- phia, bringing back merchandise with the big Conestoga wagon, although at that time the roads were bad, the trip requiring a week. A strict Dunkard, Mr. Weidman clung to the customs of his people, wearing a broad-brimmed hat, and his clothes were fastened with hooks and eyes. He married Magda- lena Kauffman, and they had children as follows: Magdalena, born Oct. II, 1803; Joseph, Feb. 22, 1805; Jonathan, Jan. 16, 1809; Sarah, April 17, 1811; Benjamin, 5, 1813 : Elias, Sept. 2, 1815; John, March 3, 1818; Lydia, Nov. 1, 1820; Reuben, Jan. 15, 1823; Lydia, married to John Shomo; Syria, born April 17, 1828, married to Isaac Unger.


Elias Weidman, son of John, was born Sept. 2, 1815, on the old Weidman place in Perry township, where he followed farming and took a prominent part in local affairs, being highly regarded throughout his long life. He served several terms as assessor of his township, and though a Democrat in politics was paid the compliment of being the candidate on the Republican ticket the last time he ran for the office. He married Sarah Fister, who was born in Albany township, Berks county, on the farm of her father, who was one of the leading citizens of his district. Mr. Weidman died aged eighty-three years, his wife passing away in 1913, at the age of eighty. They were mem- bers of the German Reformed Church. They were the parents of twelve chil- dren, viz .: (1) William died when fourteen years old. (2) Samuel is next in the family. (3) Martha married Jacob Frantz, and they reside in Reading, Pa., where he is a cigar and tobacco manufacturer; they have a family. (4)


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John, engineer at the Reading water plant, married Susan Boyer, and they have a family. (5) Susan is the wife of Walter Mengle, and they live with their family at Hamburg, Berks county. (6) George, who resides in San Francisco, has no family. (7) Clara married Albert M. Seeger, a painter, of Reading, and has a family. (8) Deborah is the wife of Walter Smith, a mer- chant in Lebanon county, Pa. They have no children. (9) Annie married Will Robinhold, a merchant, and they are living with their family at Port Clinton, Pa. They have three children, Mabel, Frank and Ada. (10) Sallie is the wife of Adam Block, a retired merchant, of Lebanon, Pa .; they have no children. (II) Wirt, who is a blacksmith and foreman in the Reading rail- road repair shops at Rutherford, Pa., married Dora Leiby, and they have one child, Charles. (12) Charles, a cigar manufacturer of Lebanon, is married but has no family.


When Samuel Weidman was five or six years old the family moved to Leesport, Berks county, where he attended school. Later they moved again, to Shoemakersville, Berks county, at which place he finished his schooling. When twenty years of age he went to Wooster, Ohio, and when twenty-three years old came to Girardville, Schuylkill county, where he learned the trade of butcher, eventually moving to the borough of Shenandoah, which has since been his home. For some time after locating at Shenandoah he worked as a journeyman, until he had accumulated enough to open a shop of his own, which he carried on for ten or twelve years very successfully. He has since been in the ice business, which he carried on first under the name of the City Ice Company, later interested in the Kehley Run Ice Company, of whose busi- ness he became owner in 1912. The plant has been a popular industry at Shenandoah, and under Mr. Weidman's management has increased steadily in its value to the community. He is highly regarded for his solid qualities, which have won him the friendship as well as the respect of his associates. At present he is a member of the borough school board, to which he was elected for a three-year term. His political sympathies are with the Demo- cratic party in national issues, but in local matters he has been identified with the Citizens' party. Socially he holds membership in the Junior Order United American Mechanics, Knights of Pythias and Knights of the Mystic Chain. Before he was of age he joined the Reformed Church, and he and all his family attend the German Reformed Church at Shenandoah. Mrs. Weidman became a member of the Lutheran Church in Berks county.


Mr. Weidman married Salome Heckman, daughter of Elias and Lucy Ann (Mengle) Heckman, of Berks county, and the following children have been born to this marriage: (1) Harry, now superintendent of the Har- wood Electric Company, of Shenandoah, married Alice Downey, and they have two children, Harry and Edith. (2) Lubin died in infancy. (3) Edna is an artist of ability, also at present engaged as supervisor of drawing in the grade and high schools of Shenandoah, and as drawing instructor of the teachers of Ashland. She has lectured at Pottsville and elsewhere, and has taught many teachers in the townships. Miss Weidman graduated (as vale- dictorian) from the high school at Shenandoah, and later graduated with hon- ors at the Normal School at Kutztown, also taking a post-graduate year at that institution; followed this with a drawing course at West Chester Nor- mal, and took a special course in the art department of Harvard College, near Boston, where she received a certificate. Subsequently she studied in the Augsburg Art School at Chicago, Ill., where she also received a certificate, Vol. II-17




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