USA > Pennsylvania > Lackawanna County > The Wyoming Valley, upper waters of the Susquehanna, and the Lackawanna coal-region : including views of the natural scenery of northern Pennsylvania : from the Indian occupancy to the year 1875 > Part 18
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Susquehanna > The Wyoming Valley, upper waters of the Susquehanna, and the Lackawanna coal-region : including views of the natural scenery of northern Pennsylvania : from the Indian occupancy to the year 1875 > Part 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
The steam engines were built at the Dickson Manufacturing Establishment, and it is needless to say that the enviable reputation for excellent work manship which this company has attained will not suffer in this instance. All other machinery, such as hydraulic eraacs, converters, cupolas, ladles, boilers, etc., is being built at the company's shops. The designs in all their in- tricate details were commenced in August, 1873, by Mr. A. L. Rothman, an engineer of long ex- perience, and who has charge of the steel works. He has lately conducted the construction of works of a similar character in Joliet, Illinois. Mr. Rothman has devoted ten years exclusively to the development of this industry, and we may, therefore, expect that the erection and fitting up of the new steel mills of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company will be a complete success,
COL. GEORGE W. SCRANTON.
1
CHAPTER XXIV.
COL. GEORGE W. SCRANTON.
" With aspect open shall erect his head, And round the orb in lasting notes be read,- Statesman, yet friend to truth ! of soul sincere, In action faithful, and in honor clear ; Who broke no promise, served no private end Who gained no title, and who lost no friend." -POPE TO ADDISON.
In the chapter detailing the early history of the Lackawanna Iron & Coal Company, appears the name of Col. George W. Scranton. This . work would be incomplete without a more ex- tended notice of him and his achievements, for he was the first Scranton resident in the Lacka- wanna Valley, the originator of the vast indus- tries that are the corner-stones of the mighty municipal superstructure, the City of Scranton, which bears his name, and its most devoted ben- efactor until the day of his death.
Col. Scranton was a lineal descendant of John Scranton, who came to this country from Eng- land, in 1638, settling in Connecticut with the New Haven Colony. A hardy, self-reliant race, publie spirited and intelligent, we find frequent and favorable mention of the Scranton family in the Colonial Records. In the French and Rev- olutionary wars, they figured honorably, both as officers and enlisted men. In civil life, the name wherever it has been known is a synonym for industry, perseverance and integrity in the highest planes of the busy world.
Our subject was born at Madison, Conn., May 10, 1811. His early life exhibited in a marked degree the characteristics which ever distin- guished him ; energy, promptitude, a conscien- tious discharge of every known duty, and a re- markable purity of purpose. Carefully nurtured and trained by his faithful mother, who, having herself descended from one of the most eulti-
vated families of Connecticut, was ambitious for her child, and early recognizing the signs of promise in her son, did much to mould that char- acter, the full perfection of which would have afforded her unspeakable joy to witness had her life been spared. She died in 1845, at the pe- riod when young Seranton was battling in the wilderness along the Roaring Brook, in his un- tiring efforts to develop the latent wealth of that region.
His early education was such as was given to boys who in those days were expected to carve their own destinies, but in addition to the usual winter schooling, he studied two years at Lee's Academy, then a noted school, under the super- intendence of Major Robinson. Before the com- pletion of his course, his uncle, Chapman War- ner, offered him a situation in New Jersey, which was accepted, arriving at Belvidere in 1828. Here he entered on a course of arduous labor that not only tried his mettle, but would have utterly discouraged one less resolute than himself. It is said that the morning after his arrival in Belvidere, he was hurried out of bed long before daybreak, and after a hasty breakfast proceeded with his uncle to the lumber-yard, where, with a cross-cut saw, the two set vigor- ously at work severing the logs, without a mo- ment's rest, confining themselves assiduously to the task until noon, and after dinner until night. Young Scranton held out vigorously until the
1
10
114
THE LACKAWANNA VALLEY.
old gentleman dropped his end of the saw and Col. Scranton, but with a genius for the work he started for home ; then worn out with the exer- soon mastered the difficulties, familiarized him- self with every detail, and acquired over the men in his employ an influence that almost inspired devotion. They speedily established a high credit, and threw into their work an amount of well-directed energy that earned a suecess as flattering to themselves as it was sur- prising to their friends. tion, homesick, and we may imagine, discouraged, he sat down to meditate. The first day of his engagement had not realized his anticipations, and the bright future he had painted looked dim. The sawyer, who from the mill had been an amused observer of the day's proceedings, came up, and slapping him on the shoulder, ex- claimed : "Well, young man, I confess I admire your pluck ; don't be discouraged, he is only try- ing you, I have been with Chapman Warner since he first started business, and I never saw him work like that before."
He remained with his uncle, faithfully dis- charging every duty, until his business tact, affable manners, and untiring industry won the attention of his neighbors, and he was offered a situation more congenial to his tastes in the store of Judge Kinney where he remained until he won his way into a partnership in the eon- cern.
Now fairly in business, with a future budding in promise, he married a devoted and exemplary woman-Miss Jane Hiles, of Belvidere,-on the 21st of January, 1835, and soon after re- linquished mereantile life for that of agrieul- ture. His next business enterprise illustrates the clear foresight that in after-life so markedly distinguished him, and determined the career he so brilliantly conquered. After the crash of 1837, when iron was at a low figure, and still falling; when business generally was stagnant and the outlook unusually discouraging, the firm of Henry Jordan & Co., doing a business at Oxford Furnace, New Jersey, offered their stoek and unexpired lease for sale, and deelared their intention of withdrawing from the business. Mr. Selden T. Seranton, a brother of George, was in the employ of this firm, and to him, al- though hardly of age, they made a most unex- pected and flattering offer, which he at once communicated to his brother. The matter was carefully weighed, and, against the advice of their friends and in the face of predictions of certain ruin, they accepted the offer and assumed the business.
.
In the meantime, Mr. William Henry had been maturing a plan for working the ores he had discovered in the Lackawanna Valley, near Flocum's Hollow; but, disappointed by the death of his associate, Mr. Armstrong, in 1839, from carrying it out, and impressed with the re- markable success of the young firm at Oxford Furnace, he appealed to them for aid, offering them an opportunity to engage with him in the undertaking. They at onee set out to explore the country, and determine the prospects. Con . current events have been noticed in detail in the chapter on the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Com- pany.
To erect a blast furnaee in a wilderness so far removed from any centre of mechanical industry. to open mines and quarries ; construct roads to and from the work, build the necessary shops and tools, to institute a town, and open an outlet to market; in short, to 'earry an enterprise of such magnitude from the very elements to sue- eessful completion, under such circumstances, and with an entire eapital less than the indivi- dual cost of many a private residenee now in Scranton, seems like a dream, but the Serantons realized the opportunity and gloried in it. They at once elosed with Mr. Henry's offer, and Col. Scranton removed to Sloeum Hollow, and im- mediately commeneed the work, thus being the
first Scranton pioneer of the Lackawanna Valley. It may be of interest to the reader, in order to distinguish the different historieal men of that time to state that Col. Scranton, the Pioneer, and Selden T. Seranton, now of the Oxford Furnace, New Jersey, were brothers ; these two, having, as already explained, the ercdit of first entering the vast field which has made the name so famous. Joseph II. Scranton, recently de-
The manufacture of iron was entirely new to ceased, was not as many supposed, a brother, but
115
COL. GEORGE W. SCRANTON.
a cousin, and in years later, when the infant cn- terprise was struggling for financial aid, left his mercantile interests in the south, to join in the development of iron and coal along the Roaring Brook.
The herculcan efforts attendant on the erec- tion' of this furnace; the discouragements so bravely met and conquered ; the experimental blasts ; their failure ; the subsequent trials that well nigh wrecked the credit and the fortunes of the company ; the final effort to " flow in "; the triumphant success ; the after building of a Roll- ing Mill in the wilderness ; casting the plates, stands, rolls and machinery in the pig-bed of the ยท furnace ; the setting of the whole thing in suc- cessful operation, and establishing the enterprise on a sound basis-are all details replete with interest, and furnish examples of perseverance under difficulties that command the admiration of the mechanical world.
It must be noticed here, that when Colonel Scranton came to Slocum Hollow to engage in the development of manufactures, but little was known concerning the production of anthracite iron. A brief review on that point will satisfy the reader that patience must have been weil nigh worn out. As detailed in a foregoing chap- ter, one expedient after another was resorted to, first by sulphur, then by repairing to the woods and chopping fuel, but to no effect. It is said that in these anxious days of the young company Col. Scranton passed two weeks without once going to his bed, and a great portion of the time his meals were carried to him. Between each failure, months were consumed in unbuilding the stack and preparing for another effort. With a credit impaired, and an uncharitable community against them in every prediction, and many un- toward exigencies constantly arising, it would not have been a wonder if the scheme had stag- gered under these burdens. But, so far from being the case, they seemed only to bring out the inherent will and sagacity of the man. His unconquerable will stamped itself upon the work, and every approaching storm but stimulated the majesty that had lain dormant in his intellectual manhood.
He realized beyond any man of that day the
capacities of the Lackawanna Valley, as an iron and coal producing district, and his sole ambition was absorbed in pushing these industries to a complete development.
The accession to the company in 1846 of Messrs. Joseph H. Scranton and Joseph C. Platt, enabled the Colonel, after over five years of vig- orous and unremitting toil, to devote a more lib- eral effort to the extension of the work, and the first result was the Erie contract, already re- corded in the foregoing pages, the successful carrying out of which established the credit of the Scranton Company finally and completely. Although the work necessitated by this under- taking was stupendous, no sooner was it com- pleted, than we find Col. Scranton vigorously pushing a new enterprisc-the commencement of that net-work of railroads which was neces- sary for the development of his great scheme.
In the year 1849, the Cayuga & Susquehanna Railroad from Owego to Ithica was offered for sale by Messrs. Humphrey & Williams. It had been purchased by them under foreclosure on the part of the State, and was ironed with the strap-rail, being in a wretched order. It would make a good outlet for coal, and Col. Scranton knew it, and after it had been secured in the interest of Scranton capital. the Colonel under- took to have the road in working order before Christmas of the same year. It was pronounced by many an impossibility, for the ties were in trees in the woods ; the iron lay untouched in the ore beds, and the coal was yet in the seam, but with his accustomed energy by relays of hands, and laying part of the rails by moonlight, the trains flew over it by the promised time.
His next great undertaking in behalf of Scrantons & Platt was the construction of the Northern Division of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, which was built by the day, and through his personal superintendence. Colonel Scranton next turned his eyes toward New York. He saw it was necessary to reach it in order to make market for iron, but above all, for the full development of the coal trade. He enlisted foreign capital for this great Eastern outlet, and the narration in detail of his patience, courtesy and unflagging industry throughout
1
116
THE LACKAWANNA VALLEY.
this great undertaking stamps him a man above the plane of those whose names have been too loudly sounded for less deserving work and merit.
One instance will illustrate : A leading eapi- talist of New York had been repeatedly urged to subscribe to the great undertaking, and every effort had seemingly been exhausted in persua- sion, but the announcement at the meetings held by the friends of the enterprise was invariably, " It is useless to apply to him, he has refused, and when his mind is made up, it cannot be changed."
The Colonel asked a friend to accompany him, and give him an introduction, deelaring that he would make the attempt at any rate. The eall was made, and the Colonel proceeded to lay be- fore his new acquaintance the benefits which must certainly ensue to the capitalists who would seize upon the opportunity. In answer, the Col- onel was informed that a refusal had already been given, but undaunted, the hero opened his subscription books, commented on the various names and advantages of the road, and left the office in less than half an hour with a subserip- tion for $20,000 to the astonishment of all who were intimate with the eireumstances. The en- ergy of Colonel Seranton hastened the comple- tion of the road, above all others.
Such arduous duties must shatter any frame, and soon their effect became visible upon the strong constitution of Colonel Seranton. He continued an active member of the Board of Directors of the road long after his health was impaired, and on his resignation as a Director was presented by the company with a magnificent ser- vice of solid silver, that will pass to his posterity as a token of his recognition by his friends and associates. To the day of his death, he kept up an active interest in every detail of interest in the young City of Scranton.
In politics the Colonel had always been a Whig, and worked hard for the election of Clay in 1844, but disappointed by the defeat of that great statesman, took but little interest in poli- tics, though always a consistent friend of the Protective Poliey. Against his personal wishes, he was presented as the champion of this policy
in the Congressional contest of 1858, and after a brief but animated eanvass, that was free from personality and abuse, he was triumphantly elected by 3,000 majority, in a distriet which was 2,000 Demoeratie.
His Congressional eareer, brief as it was, re- eords a complete suceess. As usual he endeared himself to all who knew him, and was a special favorite with the friends of the South. "George Scranton," said one of the most prominent of them, to a New York gentleman, "is the best fel- low in Congress," and raising his arm and bring- ing it down with an emphasis, "yes, sir, he is the best man I ever knew." Another, when asking a friend during the first session, " Do you know who is the most popular man in Congress ?" re- plied himself to the query, by saying, "George W. Seranton, of Pennsylvania."
Col. Seranton devoted himself especially to the tariff. No other man contributed more to the perfection of the details of the bill which engrossed the attention of the country at that time. He was disappointed by its failure in the Senate at the first session, but not disheartened. He was elected the second time, and was bopeful of its passage, but with his health none of the best, his friends felt somewhat anxious for him. He was too feeble to witness the inauguration, and by a superhuman effort hurried out of bed homewards. The reaction followed. At first it was thought he would reeover, but slowly his energies failed him; the machinery of life was worn out ; he gradually sank, and on Sunday morning the 24th of March, 1861, at forty-five minutes past twelve o'clock, peacefully breathed his last. His disease was an enlargement of the heart and kindred affection of the kidneys. For weeks before his death he was unable to lie down, but slept in an upright position, and suffered from difficulty of breathing, and occasionally no little pain. But all was borne with Christian resignation, without a murmur.
The telegraphic wires flashed the mournful intelligenee on every side, bringing out in return abundant expressions of profound regret, and the highest tributes to the worth of the man whose place can never be filled.
In all the State, no man was more universally
117
COL. GEORGE W. SCRANTON.
appealed to, and no man more generously aided others. Though his friendships ranged among the highest and most worthy in the land, he was emphatically the Poor Man's Friend, and in many a miner's cabin and laborer's cot unselfish tears and broken sighs paid the noblest homage to his memory.
His thoughtfulness for the workingman was shown in that never to be forgotten winter of 1857. In the forcible language of the general coal agent at that time, " when starvation stared in the face of thousands, he, by his untiring ex- ertions, prevailed on the railroad company to permit the mines to be started, thus giving em- ployment to thousands of those who otherwise must have been lacking bread. I have heard him repeatedly say ' we must work and pile the coal or trade it for eatables, and thus enable our men to live.' " The accumulation at Elizabeth- port was sold at auction by his advice. The mines and the roads were kept steady in opera- tion, and the gaunt fiend of famine thus averted from many a poor man's door.
The Rev. M. J. Hickok, the pastor of his church, at the funeral occasion expressed him- self in these emphatic words : " I do no injustice to the living or dead, when I affirm of Col. Scranton, that this young city-'the giant of the woods,'-these roaring furnaces, shrieking en- gines, busy collieries and outflowing wealth, are all his appropriate monuments."
1
In looking over the records found among the periodicals of the day, one is struck with the outburst of grief which manifested itself. In his own city an editorial concludes : " Patient worker, public spirited citizen, generous friend, affectionate husband, beloved father, FAREWELL ! We shall miss thee evermore among the haunts of the living, but shall hold thy memory pre- cious among the honored dead. The record of thy manly virtucs and most striving deeds shall , prove a perpetual inspiration to us and our children after us." The morning papers at the National Capital having received the news, a meeting was called, and action takeu by scores of his friends. The Philadelphia Press in com- menting on the event stated : " The speeches of these gentleman spoke eloquently the feelings of
the heart, and evinced the decp sorrow felt in the untimely death of one of the most popular Representatives who have ever graced the halls of Congress, and one of the gentlest and best of men." An editorial of the same journal, added : " He was in truth a model man-generous, magnanimous, and self-sacrificing. Those who knew him did not wonder that he should have conquered the impregnable Democratic district which he represented. If the district he repre- sented'has lost a benefactor ; the great State to which he was ornament has lost a defender."
He sleeps on the gentle slope of the cemetery contiguous to the city which transmits his name to all time. Neither sculptured marble nor cun- ning device of bronze is necessary to perpetuate his memory. That is preserved by the wonder- ful transformation of the valley he so warmly loved, and by the gencrous emotions which are yet kindled in the hearts of the host he had befriended, who were sustained by his counsels, cheered by his sympathy, and benefited by his generous hand, which was always "as open as day for mecting charity."
The proceedings of meetings held immediately after his death, to pay proper tributes of respect to the cherished memory of Col. Scranton, were so numerous that but few can be given for want of space.
At a meeting of the Board of Managers of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Cour- pany, held on Friday, March 29, 1861, the fol- lowing preamble and resolutions were unani- mously adopted :
WHEREAS, Intelligence has been communica. ted to the Board of the death of Col. George W. Scranton, which event occurred at his residence in Pennsylvania on Sunday last, and whereas it is the desire of the board to express and record, in fitting terms, their appreciation of his high character, valuable services, and great social worth ;
Resolved, That we have heard, with profound sorrow, intelligence of the death of Col. Serauton. A member of this board from the organization of the company to the period of his decease, he had endeared himself to us all by his frank and manly character, while his genial and social manners procured him warm friends wherever he was known. He was houorable iu his dealings, blame- less in his life, and it is believed he died without
!
1 . .
118
THE LACKAWANNA VALLEY.
an enemy. He was one of the originators, and an efficient co-operator in all the movements of this company in its early struggles and during its more recent season of difficulty, and only ceased to give its service all his time and energies when failing health rendered him no longer able to fulfil the duties of its General Agent. His loss will be deeply felt, not only by this board and his family, but by the community in which he lived, and which had delighted to do him honor. He had stamped the impress of his character upon the institutions of that community. moral, relig- ious, and political. and his name and memory will long be cherished by all who knew him.
Resolved. That this board deeply sympathize with the family of the deceased in their affliction, and that a copy of this preamble and of these resolutions. certified by the President and Secre- tary, be forwarded to them at Scranton ; and also that they be entered at length on the minutes of the board.
We certify that the foregoing is a true eopy from the minutes.
C. R. ROBERT, President. A. J. ODELL, Secretary.
In obedience to a notice in the morning papers of Washington, D. C., the Pennsylvanians then there, assembled at the residence of the Hon. E. Joy Morris. The Hon. David Wilmot occupied the chair, and Hon. James H. Campbell acted as Secretary.
Col. Forney offered a series of resolutions breathing the deep feeling of sorrow which pierced every heart, and expressing the sympathy of the meeting with the bereaved family and friends of the deceased. Col. Forney, in offering the resolutions, spoke feelingly of the character and virtues of the lamented dead. He was fol- lowed by the Honorables E. Joy Morris and James H. Campbell, Senator Keteham, of Lu- zerne, Dr. William Elder, of Philadelphia, Dr. Puleston, of Chester County (a former resident of Luzerne district, and a warm personal friend of Mr. Scranton), Mr. Foley, formerly of Dan- ville, Gen. Patton, one of the elerks of the Senate, and Dr. Gazzam, of Pittsburg.
The addresses were touching, and ereditable alike to their authors and the memory of the deceased. We regret that our limited space prevents us from publishing more than one de- livered by his warm personal friend, the Ion. James H. Campbell, of the Schuylkill district,
and the feeling, impromptu tribute of the able State Senator. Mr. Ketcham, said :
MR. CHAIRMAN-" I have known Col. Seran- ton since my childhood, and I have known him to love him as brother loves brother. I have loved him for his uprightness, his generosity, his manliness, his magnanimity, his charity, his boundless kindness, and his liberality I hesi- tate not on this occasion to acknowledge, that time and again I have been the recipient of favors, and that for more than twenty years I have possessed his friendship. Geo. W. Scran- ton came to Pennsylvania nearly a quarter of a century ago, in the prime and vigor of manhood, the morning of his business life. He found the region in which he settled a wilderness, but his mind soon mapped out its field of work, and un- der his creative energies and active influence the forest passed away, the railroad track was laid over mountain and through gorge, and the light of civilization and of humau progress beamed upon our land and blessed it. Scranton sprang into existence. He planted it, nurtured it, and fostered it, until he reared it to its present prom- inence and position, and he placed upon it the impress of the purity, and the reality of his eharaeter. Who ever quarreled with George W. Scranton ? Who ever accused him of unfair- ness, of dishonesty, or of any kind of unmanli- ness ? Who did not rather counsel with him when in difficulty. and call upon his fair spirit to settle their disputes? It was George W. Scran- ton who, when the late revulsion in the business affairs of our country occurred, and starvation was at the poor man's door, provided for the wants of the needy, and whether in health or in sickness, in rain or in sunshine, went from door to door taking note of their wants, and by his presence bringing joy and relief. Such was his charity. Vice fled from his presence, and a mean man could not be mean where he was. for the hand and nobility of his soul radiated and warmed other men's hearts He was great in his conceptions, in his ereative energies, and in his executive power, but at the saule time he was silent, and allowed himself to be judged by his works. He raised Northeastern Pennsylvania from depression, from almost utter helplessness, to a position of prosperity and wealth, which is the pride and delight of our people. He was elected to Congress without an effort of his own. The fact that he came here with such a tremen- dous endorsement of the popular will, and went back home and was returned again from the same district, will show you how he was appreciated where he was best known. I can hardly realize that he is dead. We have, indeed, lost a man, a moral man, possessing all the virtues which chal- lenge the love and admiration of the world."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.