USA > Pennsylvania > The Wyoming Valley in the nineteenth century > Part 17
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NINETEENTH CENTURY.
Plymouth family ; W. J. and H. H., of Wilkes-Barre, are wealthy and influential. John Abbott built the first house in Wilkes-Barre; he was killed by the Indians; the late William Penn Abbott, D. D., a descendant, was one of the most eloquent divines of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; Miss Lucy, of Wilkes-Barre, remains to represent the family. Jameson was an old Hanover family ; John was one of the two men shot by the Indians near the Hanover Green, in 1782. The Perkins family were great sufferers during the Revolution. The Swetland family were wealthy_ and influential --- an old Wyoming family ; Luke was a hero of the frontier times and published an account of his captivity among the Indians ; Swetland Hall, Wyoming Seminary, was built by William. The Blackman family is an old Hanover family ; Major Eleazer helped build the fort at Wilkes-Barre and was a brave soldier. The Marcy family of early days are known to us by the record of the sufferings of the wives of Zebulon and Ebenezer while flying from the valley after the battle; one of the children died on the way and as there were no means to bury it the mother was obliged to cover it with leaves and go on and leave it; the children of the late Reuben Marcy, of Kingston, represent the Marcy family in the valley. The Gaylords were numerous and of good repute ; one branch settled in Plymouth. Lieutenant James Welles was one of the patriots who fell at Wyoming; the Welles family of this day is a synonym for all that is admirable ; Rev. Henry H., Edward, and John Welles Hollenback have no peers in the valley. The Church family were Kingston farmers and Nathaniel, John and Gideon were Revolutionary soldiers ; William F., of Kingston, is a descendant. One of the most intel- lectual and notable families of which we boast is the Johnson family ; Ovid F. was Attorney General of Pennsylvania; Rev. Jacob was the first settled minister in Wilkes-Barre; Jacob drew up the articles of capitulation between the British and Americans in the Battle of Wyoming; Wesley was mainly instrumental in pushing to a successful completion the Wyoming Monument ; Dr. F. C., of the Record of the Times, represents those splendid traits of character and intellect for which this family has been noted.
We regard these old families as representing more in themselves of worth and interest than the interest and dramatic incidents of their lives. They were formed before they came here and were not formed by the conditions that surrounded them here, but formed them. They had not been draught horses at home but a part of the most advanced people of modern times. They possessed what we lack more than anything else and that is character.
The old stock were Protestants. The Methodists formed the first class, at Hanover. This was the only one between Baltimore and Lake Ontario. The old Forty Fort Church was the first finished church edifice in Northeastern Pennsylvania. This valley was in the Oneida Conference. In 1834 the missionary collection for the entire conference was only eight hundred dollars. The collection from the valley was one dollar and nine cents from Kingston. There was a beautiful grove at the Forty Fort Church where the services were often held. The Presbyterian and the Methodist pulpits resounded with the orthodox abuse of each other and with politics.
There is but little friction between the different churches at the present time and little doctrine is preached. The Protestant churches are all in harmony. Sometimes a Protestant minister who is behind the good taste of the community will indulge in a coarse tirade against the Catholic church. The pulpit, as a friend of the working people, sometimes preaches a great deal of socialism and has done much to keep alive the hatred and mistrust of the employers of labor.
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In the Catholics are the Irish population, which are about one-fifth, and the Huns and and Poles, which are one-fifth. One-half the Germans are communicants of that church. The Welsh represent about one-fifth and the Americans two-fifths, which are Protestants. The Germans have many Freethinkers among them and a large portion of the working class of the Americans are non-church-goers. The Poles and Huns go to church but they seem to separate morality and religion. All the churches are active in temperance work. In the Catholic church, or among the members of that church, are a number of temperance societies ; the St. Aloysius is accredited with a membership of ten thousand young men in this diocese. The Irish nationalty is becoming the most temperate of all of the foreign population. The Protestant church has labored for the promotion of temperance and at no time has it done a greater work than at the present, in the care it is giving to the moral and social welfare of the youth. The church has tried several patent methods of temperance reform without the aid of religion. The temperance lecture was usually a loud advertise- ment for the liquor business. The Good Templar societies were not without their fruits. Then we had the woman's crusade or the pathetic sentimental movement, when woman's tears were applied to wash out the saloons. Then local option was tried, but the shoestring would not tie the lion. The last movement was an effort to realize the most dazzling dream of the nineteenth century, and that was Government control. A few are still chasing this rainbow.
The drink habit is considered disreputable as well as the selling of drink. The saloon where nothing but drink is sold is a modern institution in the valley. Drink was for- merly sold in inns as an accompaniment to food and lodging, but the foreigner, agree- able to his taste, introduced these man traps wherever there were men and boys to be de- bauched. The Irishman like the early settler, drank whiskey, but the other emigrants drank beer and they have made it one of the staples of life. Beer has, to a great extent, become a substitute for whiskey, which is an advance. Twenty-five years ago our streets were full of drunken men, to-day you can spend a day in Wilkes-Barre on a holiday and see but few intoxicated men. The young man has other places than a saloon in which he may pass agrecably his leisure hours and he is coming in contact with influences that are lifting him above the associations of the bar room. The American population are more temperate than their forefathers, while the foreign population have made an advance in temperance, morality and intelligence such as the world has never before witnessed.
There are many interesting and beautiful points for the stranger to visit in this valley. The most imposing view is from Campbell's Ledge. The view from Prospect Rock on the mountain back of Wilkes-Barre is comprehensive ; from Penobscot very picturesque. Point Lookout is very sightly. From Tilbury Knob near Nanticoke you may look down over a wild scene to the south. From the highest point on the Wilkes-Barre mountain you can view the scenery in every direction and the panorama is one of surpassing beauty. Away to the cast may be seen Bald Mountain, the great peak of the Pocono, and the beautiful Blue range repeating itself in the distance. All our mountains are even, symmetrical and graceful. The view up the river from Forty Fort is the finest river view in the valley. Wintermute Island is to be seen ; the plain where the massacre took place, the lower flat over which the few survivors fled and the heavy wooded river bank are spread before you ; beyond, Campbell's Ledge stands grey and grim, while below the church steeples which betray the location of the old historic town of Wyoming, the Wyoming Monument is
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visible. The great plain impresses one as a fitting scene for the great drama acted there. The scene is very primitive and the wooded banks are now probably nearly as they were when the terrified band of old men, women and children watched the red coats and the mob of savages coming down the flats after the fight.
Between Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke, at the Red Tavern, is a view which combines into a scene, lavish with all the poetical and picturesque features of the valley, this com- position is harmonious and complete. At this old tavern the aristocracy held their balls ; here the runaway couple came to get married and the men who occasionally imbibed, came to go on a spree or have a quiet drunk.
Toby's Cave has no historical associations. Toby is only a name to us. The face of the cave is worn by the waves of the lake that filled this valley. A rock on the opposite side of Ross Hill on the same level shows similar water markings. It is inferred that these rocks indicate the shore line of the lake. The valley was probably drained by water washing out a channel at Nanticoke. There are several places on the Kingston mountain where, on the flat and exposed faces of the rocks, can be seen the markings of the flood that poured over the mountain. The scrapings of the glacier are found on the exposed ledges. The termi- nal moraine is to be found at Berwick. At Mill Creek, where excavations were made, sea shells were found deposited in large quantities. The bank on which East Pittston stands is a great gravel pile, washed in from the north. On the west side of the valley, at the base of the hill, is the bed of a river; the floor of the valley is broken in rolls. At the pond holes opposite Wilkes-Barre it is only thirty feet to the rock, while it is over two hundred feet to the rock on the Kingston flats. Twenty years ago the wild pigeons, ducks and geese flew over the valley in great numbers and the streams were filled with fish. The mine water has destroyed them and the only game left is a few muskrats, squirrels, rabbits and quail. Every one is on the hunt for a fortune and on the chase after the shy dollar.
The gorge back of Luzerne is worth visiting. At the Ice Cave you may find ice in August and see a beautiful waterfall. Back of Wyoming is Wolf's Den and below Kings- ton is Toby's Cave. River street is the pride of the citizens of Wilkes-Barre. The princi- pal streets of Wilkes-Barre are too narrow to be effective and you feel that you are in an old country town.
Our Government Building is not our boast. We always send one of the boys to Congress who are fully occupied trying to shake down a postoffice. There are a number of fine busi- ness blocks. The church edifices of the city proclaim the devotion, wealth and good taste of the citizens.
The Court House is the old one made over several times. The city in the near future will be adorned with one worthy of this great county. If you go into the court room you will see the portraits of the distinguished Judges of the past. The most noticeable painting is that of the soldier-judge, Edmund L. Dana, painted by his son, the celebrated Charles Dana, of Paris. On the wall is a bust portrait of ex-judge Garrick M. Harding, the Boan- erges of the Luzerne Bar. Judge Harding is an orator and is learned in the philosophy of the law. His presence is commanding and his address elegant. A painting of the most admirable man of our history, Judge John N. Conyngham, looks down with a face of a Roman senator. The powerful face of Judge George W. Woodward is represented by a crayon portrait. One gets the impression that this man was a tremendous intellectual force. His son Stanley graces the bench, clear headed, just and sociable. The portrait of Judge
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Henry M. Hoyt, Governor of this Commonwealth, is of a very able man. The face of Judge Hendrick B. Wright shows remarkable individuality. The visitor should not fail to be in court when President Judge Charles E. Rice is on the bench, for he is second to no man in the commonwealth. He is not an orator and his only ambition is to see that justice is done. A very companionable man. As he was born in '46 he is yet a young man. We have noticed previously Judge John Lynch. To fail to meet the judge of the Orphans' Court, D. L. Rhone, is to defraud one's self. He has a noticeable face. He is Yankee, French and Dutch, and he has all the characteristics of the three nationalties emphasized. The bar is crowded with both brilliant and able men. Henry M. Palmer is a tremendous legal broadaxe and Alexander Farnham is by general consent the ideal man and lawyer at the Luzerne bar.
The most prominent men of the valley at the present time are: John Welles Hollen- back, who built the Hollenback block, one of the finest structures in this part of the State; President and promoter of the new bridge; liberal contributor of Lafayette College and prominent in the financial interest in the valley. W. L. Conyngham, a prominent citizen. Abram Nesbitt, of Kingston ; President of the Second National Bank; donator of Nesbitt Science Hall to the Wyoming Seminary. Judge Charles E. Rice; was candidate for the office of Orphans' Court Judge 1874; elected District Attorney 1876; elected Law Judge 1879; now President Judge ; was on the bench when he was thirty-three years old. Judge Stanley Woodward ; commanded a company in the late war; appointed Additional Law Judge 1879; elected 1880; re-elected 1890. Alexander Farnham, Esq .; elected District At- torney 1874; declined nomination for Judge and other important public offices; President of the Bar Association of Luzerne County. Charles A. Miner; served three terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives ; represented the State as Honorary Commissioner at the World's Exhibition at Vienna, Austria; owner of Miner's mills. George S. Bennett; prominent in the industrial and financial interest of the valley ; Superintendent of the Sun- day school of the First M. E. Church for many years. Hon. Edwin S. Osborne; a distin- guished officer in the civil war ; Major-General of the third division of the National Guard for ten years; candidate for Law Judge 1874; served in Congress from 1884 to I891. Lyman H. Bennett, Esq .; a prominent member of the Luzerne Bar ; candidate for Law Judge. Hon. Garrick M. Harding; elected District Attorney 1858; elected President Judge 1870; re- signed 1880; well known as a writer. 'Hon. George W. Shonk; elected to Congress 1890. S. L. Brown ; prominent business man. Judge D. L. Rhone; was director of the public schools of Wilkes-Barre; elected District Attorney 1867 ; member of the Constitutional Convention from the Thirteenth District 1872; elected Orphans' Court Judge 1874, has filled that posi- tion to the present time; author of two standard legal works and many articles on miscella- neous subjects. IIon. Henry W. Palmer, Esq .; was Attorney-General under Gov. Hoyt ; ap- pointed 1878; probably the youngest man who ever held that position, (thirty-nine years), and one of the ablest bank directors : counsel for many large corporations and is interested in several large corporations; also author of a notable satirical production (Soxe's Pond). George R. Bedford, Esq .; a prominent lawyer and citizen. R. Bruce Ricketts; Colonel of Artillery ; distinguished himself at the Battle of Gettysburg; Democratic candidate for Lieutenant-Governor 1886. Rev. L. L. Sprague, D. D .; President of Wyoming Seminary since 1882; has made that institution one of the first preparatory schools in the United States and has increased the valuation of the plant one half; it is now valued at a quarter
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of a million dollars. Rev. T. C. Edwards, D. D .; one of the leading Welsh divines in the United States and the author of two valuable works on oratory. Hon. Daniel Edwards; a prominent coal operator; Presidential elector 1884. Agib Ricketts, Esq .; in 1862 Chief of police; 1880 independent Labor Reform candidate for Additional Law Judge; editor of a temperance paper. Andrew Hunlock, Esq .; was President of the Anthracite Savings Bank and is one of the wealthy men of the valley. Isaac P. Hand, Esq .; was Principal of the Hyde Park public schools (Scranton); was Secretary and presiding officer of the School Board of the Third District of Wilkes-Barre; was Chairman of the Republican County Committee. George K. Powell, Esq .; in U. S. Navy ; was shipwrecked and experienced an earthquake in Southern Peru; is a prominent lawyer and active in church. E. Greenough Scott, Esq .; was nominated for Congress while he resided in Sunbury ; candidate for President Judge of the Eighth Judicial District; was instructor of artillery at Fort Schuyler; wrote and published two legal works of great value. J. Bennett Smith ; a prominent citizen. John A. Opp, Esq .; held the position of Judge Advocate with the rank of Major in National Guard of Pennsylvania and is prominent in the industries of Plymouth. F. M. Nichols ; was appointed by the court District Attorney to fill the vacancy caused by the election of C. E. Rice to the bench ; was candidate for nomination for that office; in 1882 was candi- date for District Attorney ; now the Mayor of Wilkes-Barre. John B. Reynolds; candidate for Congress and the father of the electric railroad in the valley and the organizer of the North street river bridge. John A. Gorman, Esq .; District Attorney. H. Baker Hillman; erected the Harry Hillman Academy. George B. Kulp; author of "Families of the Wyo- ming Valley ;" editor of Legal Register. Charles Parrish ; one of the leading coal and rail- road men in the developing of these industries in the State ; was President of the Lehigh and Wilkes Barre Coal Company ; one of the organizers and first President of the First National Bank; President of the Hazard Manufacturing Company. Liddon Flick, Esq .; organizer and originator of the Wyoming Valley Trust Company and Grand Opera House. P. M. Carhart; Cashier of the First National Bank ; prominent in church and Sunday school work. James M. Coughlin ; Superintendent of the Wilkes-Barre public schools; Superin - tendent of the schools of Luzerne County for twelve years. Hon Morgan B. Williams; elected to the Senate 1884; candidate for nomination for Congress 1894. Hon. W. H. Hines; elected by the Labor Reform party to the State Legislature 1878; to the same office 1882; to the Senate 1884, and to Congress 1892, and nominated for the same office 1894. C. Ben Johnson ; was Secretary of the Board of Trade; member of the House of Representatives 1891 ; well known as a writer and a public speaker. Rev. Henry L. Jones, M. A .; rector of St. Stephen's Church ; one of the most cultured and eloquent ministers- in the Episcopal Church. Rev. J. Richards Boyle, D. D .; captain in the civil war ; pastor of the First M. E. Church ; a prominent minister. Rev. F. B. Hodge, D. D .; pastor of the First Presbyterian; one of the leading ministers in the Presbyterian Church. Henry Blackman Plumb, Esq .; author of the "History of Hanover Township." Gustav Hahn, Esq .; is the only promi- nent German lawyer of the Luzerne Bar; was professor of modern languages at the Wyo- ming Seminary ; was captain of Company K, Nineteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volun- teers ; appointed United States Commissioner 1864. D. L. O'Neill, Esq .; member of the State Legislature 1865 ; Councilman, Poor Director, candidate for Additional Law Judge 1874. Wm. S. McLean, Esq .; elected City Attorney 1875 ; delivered the master's oration at Lafayette College 1868; Democratic candidate for Judge 1879; president of the First National Bank ; his father, Alexander, was a prominent coal operator. D. M. Jones, Esq .;
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lawyer and poet ; has published two volumes of his poems. John T. Lenahan, Esq .; candi- date for District Attorney 1879. C. D. Foster; 1854 elected State Legislature ; 1892 was the Republican nominee for Congress. Rev. Horace E. Hayden ; historian and author. Ira M. Kirkendall ; first Mayor of Wilkes-Barre. Henry A. Laycock, of Wyo- ming ; has a brilliant war record ; was appointed Colonel 1865. G. Mortimer Lewis, Esq .; one of the originators of the Electric Light Company and helped to bring about the combina- tion of the street railways of the valley and originator of the Wilkes-Barre and Shawnee Bridge Company. Lieutenant-Colonel Eugene Beaumont ; graduated from West Point ; was made Assistant Adjutant-General after making a brilliant war record'; received Jefferson Davis at Macon after his capture ; commanded a battalion of troops at Palo Duro Canon ; 1892 promoted Lieutenant-Colonel. Frederick Corss, M. D., of Kingston ; lecturer on edu- cation and the natural sciences and a writer. John B. Crawford, M. D .; surgeon in the army during the civil war and served as president of the United States Pension Examining Board. Alfred Darte, Esq .; Lieutenant in the late war; elected District Attorney 1879 ; re-elected 1888 ; candidate for nomination for Law Judge 1891; is now the candidate for Orphans' Court Judge; (Rep). Harry A. Fuller, Esq .; a prominent lawyer, citizen and public speaker. Ralph D. LaCoe, of Pittston; collected and donated one of the largest and finest collection of fossil plants, etc., in the United States. Robert Baur ; has published the Waechter since 1851 ; the oldest editor in this part of the State. John S. McGroarty, Esq .; published the first collection of Wyoming Valley poetry and is one of the poets of the valley; elected Treasurer of the county 1890. Dr. D. J. J. Mason; a noted musician and music composer ; 1886 received the degree of Mus. Bac. at Trinity College, Dublin, and Doctor of Music in Toronto, Canada. Rev. Dr. N. G. Parke; a noted Presbyterian min- ister of Pittston, who has served a pastorate there of fifty years.
The Irish people were the first of the later emigrants in the valley. The most repre- sentative and notable man of that nationality among us is Wm. S. McLean, Esq., President of the First National Bank. John Lynch is Associate Judge, a man of strong convictions, with the courage to express them, and as a Judge, aims to be just. John T. Lenahan, Esq., is a leading criminal lawyer. He is naturally adapted to that branch of the law. He is true to his clients, versatile, self reliant and displays great physical and mental energy when pleading a case. James L. Lenahan stands second as a criminal lawyer. He is more argu- mentative and not so demonstrative as his brother; more of a student of books and less exe- cutive ability and more respect for the fine susceptibilities of others. P. A. O'Boyle, Esq., is an orator and a man of fine parts and never degrades the court by insulting witness. Hon. W. H. Hines is a young man of ability, whose success was made possible by the rise and reign of the short lived Greenback or Labor Party that advocated fiat money. John S. McGroarty, Esq., is talented and highly esteemed. T. P. Ryder is an active worker in temperance reforms and is a talented, exemplary young man. Dr. George Kirwan is a con- spicuous member of the medical profession, as also are Drs. A. P. O'Malley and P. J. IFig- gins; E. F. McGovern, E. A. Lynch, D. L. O'Neill, all successful lawyers, Richard D. Walsh, vice president of the First National Bank; John M. Ward, G. P. Strome, Thomas Maloney; Roger McGarry, J. M. Bolan, Dan Hart, the playwright, Cornelius Cronin, of Kingston, who is noted for his mental accomplishments, are the most conspicuous represen- tatives of the Irish people in the valley. The Irishman, we notice, has handed the pick and shovel over to the Hun and Pole and is leaving the Welshman to mine most of the coal, and is "doing well in this country."
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The Welsh population is so large that this section is called the Wales of America. They are mostly miners. They are a nation of musicians, with literary and religious proclivity. They are as a people as intelligent citizen as we have among us, but not the most progres- sive. The first Welshman is Daniel Edwards, of Kingston, who, when he came over these mountains, had but a few cents in his pocket, could not speak English, and had not had any early advantages; began working as a laborer and is to-day one of the very wealthy and in- fluential citizens of the valley. Rev. T. C. Edwards, D. D., of Kingston, is a man of varied talents and is recognized in this country and in Wales as a leader among the Welsh nation- ality. A high minded, cultivated and useful man. Rev. E. J. Morris, of Wilkes-Barre, is a highly cultured and talented man. Dr. R. Davis stands among the leading physicians. Dr. D. J. J. Mason is at the head as a musical scholar. Richard Williams is a tenor singer of note ; he won the first prize at the World's Fair. Mrs. J. P. Thomas leads the female choir from the valley that received the second prize at the World's Fair; is the leading Welsh lady in music. David James is a successful teacher of music. Gwilym Gwent, who was a toiler in the mines, was one of the musical geniuses of this century. He composed glees which have given him to fame. D. M. Jones, Esq., is one of the leading Welsh poets of the country. Morgan B. Williams is a prominent Welshman. William T. Smith, George T. Morgan, Morgan R. Morgan, Morgan D. Rosser, James T. Davis and G. M. Williams are prominent Welshmen. Gwilym Edwards, of Kingston, is a rising man. Rev. Theophilus Jones is a very old man and has the distinction of being baptized by Carismas Evans. Rev. John P. Harris was with Mr. Jones, the pioneer minister in this section. There are many Welsh bards. The Welsh writers who write in English are D. M. Jones, who has published two volumes of his compositions ; George Coronoway, whose productions strike a respon- sive chord in Welsh hearts. Rev. T. C. Edwards has published two volumes on Elocution. Rev. E. J. Morris has published two volumes, one on Theology and the other on miscel- laneous subjects. W. L. Myles writes well and Frank Humphreys has issued a little book of his writings. Prof. W. George Powell, formerly of Kingston, but now of Scranton, is the most talented young Welshman in this part of the State. The late brilliant W. S. Powell was an occasional writer of verse. Rev. J. P. Harris wrote a successful drama. J. C. Powell is one of the editors and proprietors of The Record of the Times. The old Welsh ministers chant their sermons. The Welsh seem to have the impress of the poetry, music and solemnity of nature that seeks for expression.
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