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 32
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 32
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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
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chorister in the Presbyterian Church; plays well on flute, clarionet, violin, bugle, &c .; has devoted time and attention to architecture, me- chanics and painting. Of great industry and energy, and when young of remarkable strength and agility ; clear and earnest in convictions, and frank in expressing them, pursuing the right and condemning the wrong; he is a man of more than ordinary station in the busy world's history. His friends are of the best class of men, and his enemies of the worst ; he always regarded it as an honor that bad men were his enemies. His library is large and well se- lected, numbering over 2,000 volumes. His attainments are visible in association, and the classic little village of Wyoming will miss its brightest light when Steuben Jenkins fades away from its prescuce. His work will live in the Wyoming Valley while time lasts. At pres- ent he is devoting time and means in building up manufacturing enterprises in his locality, and is largely interested in Terra Cotta work, School Factory, and other minor branches of industry. A brief sketch of the town of Wyoming will be found iu succeeding pages.
MAJ. GEN. EDWIN S. OSBORNE
Was born in Bethany, Wayne County, Pa., on the 7th day of August, A. D., 1839. He is a graduate of the University of Northern Penn- sylvania, and of the New York National Law School. He read law with the Hon. Charles Denison at Wilkes-Barre, and was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County, February 26th, A. D., 1861. In April, 1861, when the rebellion began he enlisted as a private in Company C, 8th Reg't. Pa. Vols., and served in the campaign of 1861 with General Patterson's division. Sub- sequently he was authorized by Governor Cur- tin to recruit a company, and was mustered as captain, to rank from 22d August, 1862. His regiment was assigned to the First Corps, Army of the Potomac. From September, 1862, until February, 1863, he served upon the staff of General Wadsworth. In February, 1863, at his own . request, he was returned to his regiment,
and served with it until August, 1863, when ho was again detailed for staff duty, and appointed Assistant Inspector-General. He remained with the first corps until it was consolidated with the fifth corps, when he was assigned to duty with the first division of that corps ; remained with this division until September, 1864, when he was transferred to the Third Division, Fifth Corps, and remained with this command until the close of the war. He participated with the Army of the Potomac in all the battles in which that army was engaged after he joined it. He was on several occasions highly complimented in orders for gallant conduct and skillful handling of troops in the face of the enemy. He was commissioned Major of his regiment, was three times breveted for meritorious conduct, and shortly after the surrender of Lee was appointed a Judge Advocate, with the rank of Major, in the regular army. While Judge Advocate he was detailed by the Secretary of War on several important missions, among which was to inves- tigate the charges preferred against citizens of Pennsylvania, held by military authority, and report to the Secretary of War what action, according to the law and evidence, would be proper in each case. Through his recommenda- tion those so held were set at liberty, or turned over to the civil authorities. He was also sent by the War Department to Macon, Anderson- ville and other points in the South, to investi- gate and report upon the treatment given Union soldiers while held as prisoners of war by the South. This investigation led to the arrest and trial of Captain Werz, of Andersonville. The charges preferred by the United States Govern- ment against Werz, were drawn by him and he pre- pared the case for trial. After performing this duty he offered his resignation, which after some hesitation was accepted by the Secretary of War, and he returned to Wilkes-Barre and resumed the practice of law.
When the organization of the National Guards of Peunsylvania was authorized by the General Assembly, he was appointed by Governor Geary, with the consent of the Senate, Major-General of Division. In the exercise of the duties of this cffice he has becu prominently before the
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publie on several occasions, but more particu- larly during the long strike among the miners in 1871.
When the difficulties between the New York and Erie Company and their shop men at Sus- quehanna, in March, 1874, assumed such a shape as to make it necessary to invoke the military power of the State, Governor Hartranft ordered General Osborne to the scene of action, and placed him in command. Without any attempt at display or offenee in the exercise of military authority, in a very short time and without acci- dent, he succeeded in opening the railroad to travel, and in settling the difficulties between the parties by amicable adjustment. As a soldier, citizen and lawyer he ranks among the most notable which this section of the State has ever produeed.
HON. HENDRICK B. WRIGHT.
Hendrick Bradley Wright was born at Ply- mouth, in the Wyoming Valley, on the 24th day of April, A. D., 1808. His father was of that family of Wrights whose ancestors eame to America with William Penn, and settling at Wrightstown, near Burlington, in West Jersey, there exercised the office of a Justice of the Peace under the Royal Commission, and at the same time was an ardent member and supporter of the Society of Friends. His mother, whose maiden name was Hendriek, was descended from one of the earlier Dutch colonists of New York. The father came to Wyoming Valley in 1795, and soon became one of its most prominent in habitants. ` After educating his son to the best advantage in this locality, he sent him to Diek- inson College, where he pursued, the usual classie course. Returning home he began the study of the law in the office of the late Judge Con- yngham, of Wilkes-Barre, and was admitted to the Bar in 1831. During the ten years which followed, Mr. Wright devoted himself assidu- ously to his profession. The Bar of Luzerne County, at that period, contained some of the most learned and eminent counselors of Penn- sylvania, and among these Mr. Wright soon took
a high position, and as an advocate before the jury he achieved a marked eminence. In the year 1841 he accepted a nomination to the House of Representatives of his State, and was elected. Ile was ever acknowledged as one of the leaders of the House. In 1842 he was again elected, . and received the appointment of Chairman of the Committee on Canals and Internal Improve- ments. He also took a position on the Judiciary Committee, for the express purpose of procuring a repeal of the law providing for the imprison- ment of poor debtors. He also strenuously en- deavored to procure the abolition, from the prison discipline of Pennsylvania, of the system of sol- itary confinement, but in this he was unsuccess- ful. In 1843 the nomination cf State Senator was offered to him, but preferring the popular branch of the Assembly, he declined the honor and was again elected to the House. Upon the opening of the session he was chosen Speaker, a position which he ably filled. In May, 1844, the Democratic National Convention met in Bal- timore to nominate a candidate for the Presi- dency. It was a time of great excitement, grow- ing out of the Texas-annexation question. Mr. Wright, then a delegate at large from Pennsyl- vania, was at once recognized as the man for the oeeasion. At this convention James K. Polk, a Texas annexation candidate, was finally nomi- nated.
From 1844 to 1852 Mr. Wright was again engrossed in professional duties. In the latter ycar he was elected to Congress, and served a term with great ability. In 1854 he was renom- inated, but defeated by the " Know- Nothing" element. Upon the breaking out of the rebel- lion he was again called from retirement. The nomination to Congress was tendered him by both political parties ; he accepted, and was of course eleeted; and amid the perplexities and dangers which surrounded the Federal Congress during the next two years, he was distinguished as a consistent and untiring advocate of an un- divided Union. In a speech delivered January 14th, 1863, not long after lie had followed his eldest, best loved son, to a soldier's grave, he commented severely on the peace resolutions offered by Mr. Vallandingham. In concluding
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he said : " Where I stood when the rebellion began, I stand to-day ; on the same platform, my opinions have undergone no change. I de- nounced rebellion at the threshold ; I denounce it now. I have no terms to make with the ene- my of my country, which will destroy the Union. I am satisfied that none other can be obtained. Time will determine whether my position is right or not ; and I calmly abide it. The war, sir, has cost me its woes and tribulations, and I can truly close these remarks with a quotation from an ancient philosopher, uttered over the dead body of his son slain in battle,
' I should have blushed if Cato's house had stood Secure, and flourished in a civil war.'"
After the close of the Thirty-seventh Con- gress, Mr. Wright withdrew from both politics and active business, but he has devoted much of his time to the study of the amelioration of the laboring classes. He has issued a work entitled a "Practical Treatise on Labor," in which he has embodied the thoughts and observations of forty active years, and which he intends to leave as a last legacy to that portion of the American people in whom he has felt most interest, and for whom he has most diligently toiled. Through- out his entire professional and public life he has been emphatically the friend of the poor man. Of late he has gathered into a creditable volume a thorough and entertaing history of his native town, Plymouth, below Wilkes-Barre, in which he has added to the literature of Wyoming Val- ley many points of interest.
JOHN JERMYN.
The personal details of biography, while they may appear elaborate, yet serve another purpose, that of illustrating a principle. In dealing with the vexed question pertaining to the strife which frequently manifests itself in too forcible a manner between capital and labor, it cannot be denied that too many miners ignore the grand underlying feature of the whole subject, that in this country all being on a level at the outset it is possible for the poorest to reach the plane of the richest.
The subject of this sketch is a remarkable illustration of this established fact, that self- made men are most successful in life. The fol- lowing sketch, published by the author one year ago in a Scranton journal, will give his biography in detail :
Born in Suffolk, England, in the year 1927, with- out the advantage of a thorough education or wealthy and influential relatives, and early in life thrown upon his own resources for a livelihood, he had to struggle with the many vicissitudes and trials incident to youth, single handed and alone, and yel we find that in almost every instance he rose above and superior to them all, and was successful.
Finding the avenues to successful business enter- prise very narrow and hedged closely about, by diffi- culties in his native England, and hearing of the golden opportunities open to those who cared to succeed in the United States, he in company with others, in the spring of the year 1647, set sail for the promised land. On arriving in New York his atten- tion was directed to Scranton (then Slocum's Hol- low), as the most likely place al which to realize his expectations. Accordingly, the second day after landing in New York city, found him set down in the then almost unbroken wilderness of the Lacka- wanna Valley.
To the feelings and aspirations of a youth of twenty years, having been accustomed to the streets and active scenes of London, and whose every thought and purpose had been bent to the task of beitering his position in life, one can readily imag- ine the bitter feeling of disappointment and discour- agement which come over his dream when this change first broke in upon his mind. The bright scenes and active duties of London life, left behind with all their fascination, with a vast ocean between him and relatives ; in the midst of strangers, cold. heartless and exacting, with no capital save the strong arms and willing heart with which nature had endowed him, with no broad avenue opening before him to friends and affluence ; bui set down in the midst of a wilderness with no immediate prospect of employment or business, to one of a less ardent and hopeful nature, would have been crushing.
Not so, however, with young Jerniyn. In casting his eye about him he soon discovered that others were in the path of success, that the New World on which he had bul just stepped, was wide and full of rich opportunities for him as well as they, and his determination was soon formed and plans laid.
Making application to the Scrantons and Platt. his first day's work was done al the Old Furnace, unloading coal, and so well and faithfully was his lask performed from day to day, thal it soon attract- ed the altention of his employees, and before many days have passed we find him advanced. Encour- aged by this, greater efforts were put forth, and posi- tion after position attained, until but a few years had passed, when we find young Jermyn no longer a dependent on others for employment, but from ex- perience obtained under others, and powers for con- trolling and directing the labor of others enlarged. he is prepared to contract for himself, and thus reap the benefit of his own powers and genius.
Readily perceiving this, young Jermyn sought and secured the contract for opening the Diamond Coal mines at Scranton, and was the first man to put a shovel into that important wor's ; never scorning labor himself, he was ever ready by his example and
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superior knowledge of the application of means to the accomplishment of ends, to further his works and to gain the confidence as well as the hearty co- operation of those under his control.
His contract here having been pushed to a suc- cessful and satisfactory close during the years 1851 to IS54, he soon after entered into a contract to open and develop the coal of the New York and Penn- sylvania Coal Company, situated in the notch of the mountain above Providence, since known as " Rock- well's Mines."
In this undertaking he was engaged some four or five years, and was highly successful. The con- tract having been filled and the work accepted by the company, in the year 1859, he entered into a con- tract with Judson Clark, esq .. for the sinking of a slope and mining the coal from the lands of the said Clark, situated on the Abington turnpike, and near the mines of the New York and Pennsylvania Coal Company. Here he was engaged for some two years, when Judson Clark having died, he together with a Mr. Wells and Clark, of Carbondale, Pa., became the proprietor of the mines under a lease with the estate. under the firm name of Jermyn, Wells & Co. This lease continued for three years, when the mining of the coal at this point was aban- doned.
Always on the alert for an opening, and with a wonderfully penetrating mind, we find Mr. Jermyn always looking in advance, and before he had closed his engagement at one point having another in wait- ing for him. Thus, before his lease expired with the Judson Clark estate, he had effected another with Judge Birdseye, of New York city, for the working of his mines at Archbald, Pa., two miles up the valley from the scene of last operations. These mines had been badly managed for many years, and their reputation was such that the pro- prietor found it difficult to operate them success- fully. This Mr. Jermyn soon remedied however, and he had not been in possession of the mines more than three years when the proprietor was en- abled to sell his mines and coal lands to the Boston and Lackawanna Coal Company at a very large profit.
Mr. Jermyn having closed his engagement here with the same success, which seems ever to attend him, with the same foresight which has all through life characterized him, sought out, and before clos- ing his business at Archbald, effected a contract for mining the coal from the lands of the Gibson estate, situated two miles up the Lackawanna River from Archbald, at what was then known as Rushdale. Here, as at Archbald, the reputation of the commu- nity and quality of coal to be mined was such that mining operations had been abandoned entirely, and the operators almost literally driven from the fields, the mines having stood idle for several years. With all these discouragements, and contrary to the advice of his friends, who could see nothing but failure and disaster in the undertaking, Mr. Jermyn, after hav- ing examined the mines for himself, and satisfied his own mind that there was money in it, pushed steadily forward with his improvements, keeping his own counsel until he should be fully prepared to enter upon his mining operations.
Having put his machinery and buildings in thor- ough repair, and added largely to his facilities for mining and preparing coal, in 1865 Mr. Jermyn entered upon the most successful undertaking of his life, and laid the foundation for a large share of property and wealth, which to-day crowns his career, having effected two new lease : of coal to the amount
of one million tons each, besides filling success- fully the original contract of one million tons, all from the same estate, and with facilities for mining and delivering the entire two million tons of coal within the next ten or fifteen years. Mr. Jermyn stands to-day among the most successful and wealthy coal operators of the valley.
So far from the predictions made when he was about to enter on this his last enterprise proving true, just the reverse has been the result. Thor- oughily sifting the community when he came here, none but the better portion was retained and the refuse driven out. Upright, honest and industrious men were encouraged to come in, and with a liber- ality which has always been a characteristic of Mr. Jermyn, the helping hand was extended, and the encouraging word spoken to those who wished to obtain a house for their families, until from a little cluster of shanties found here when Mr. Jerinyn took possession, in which the occupants had no interest, may be found a large and flourishing town of five thousand inhabitants, with large and vell-filled churches, a graded school, second to none in the county, together with hotels and places of business, such as would grace a city.
When the borough of Gibsonburg was incorpo- rated, the year 1869, it was thought fitting that it should bear the name of the estate on which it was founded, hence the name of Gibsonburg. But dur- ing the year IS73, the growth and interests of the borough having, from its formation, been so inti- mately connected with Mr. Jermyn and his family, it was thought but just, and the spontaneous expres- sion of the entire community was given, that the name of the borough be changed to that of Jermyn.
In the year 1353 Mr. Jermyn married the daughter of Joseph Knight, esq., a very estimable lady, who has been a faitherful sharer of all his toils and cares, and now enjoys with him the harvest of their accu- mulated wealth.
We cannot dismiss this subject without pointing the moral, and drawing therefrom a lesson for the good and encouragement of young men. We see in the career of Mr. Jermyn, beginning in life at the very bottom round of the ladder, and ascending step after step to its summit, always generous, never withholding when appealed to by the truly needy, prompt in the payment of his debts, ever ready to right a wrong unwillingly committed, uncompro- mising in his integrity, temperate in all his habits, he stands a bright example to those who would suc- ceed in life and be honored by the community in which they stand.
The Masonie Hall of Carbondale, in the Jer- myn Bloek, is an evidence of his publie spirit, and the town which bears his name exhibits plainly his stamp and imprint.
GEORGE A. STARKEY, SCULPTOR.
It is one of the lamentable tendencies of the age to ignore true merit, if found in obscure channels, and it is equally as true that, at the present day, the highest type of skill seeks its solitude away from the sham conventionalities of
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the busy world. A true artist, who lives for the sake of his profession, who buries his existenee in it, steeping his very soul into the arduous details, should of all men receive the apprceia- tion due him. It takes long and weary years to win this however, and too often it does not be- come perceptible until the actor departs, leaving his fame behind for succeeding generations to do reverenee to his works. The progress of the age, however, is inelining to a more thorough knowledge of art on the part of the masses, and we place before the world the name of George A. Starkey, the Sculptor of Scranton. The brief biographical sketeh which is herewith appended, will only add cumulative weight to the old and sad story of so many of his brethren in the profession, who have thrown body, soul, mind and strength into purpose, merely for the sincere and devoted love which they bear to their artistie aims.
George A. Starkey was born July 12th, 1834, in an out of the way place, about eight miles north of St. Louis, Mo. His parents were Swiss, having emigrated from Canton Grison, Switzer- land, to Peoria County, Illinois, in 1836. His mother dying in 1844, and his father the year following, the orphan boy was left homeless and unaided, and in a region of the West which, at that time, had no public sehools. At thirteen years of age he was recommended to a trade, and attempted several. Within one year he served at tailoring, shoemaking, tin-smithing, cutlery and jewelry, but a hidden purpose within him produced diseontent. At fifteen he had an opportunity to learn to carve in marble, and the inherent impulse having found vent, the eager- ness of the boy was wild and enthusiastie. He served three years at the coarser work, and at eighteen started for St Louis, where he found a higher type of work, with proper instruction, at which he remained for two years. Here he be- came acquainted with one Joan Dominic, an Italian carver of superior abilities, who encour- aged him to go to Italy to study the art of sculp- ture. His means were limited, and his income but sparing, yet the bright dream of the future so intoxicated him that he set about shaping his enda to accomplish the aim. Concentrating all
his energies to this simple purpose, he averaged fourteen hours per day at hard labor for three years, and in 1858 started for the sunny skies of that elassie soil, to fulfil the great expectation of his life's dream. He carried a letter from his friend Dominie to Antonio Nieoleti, a sculptor near Florence. Not succeeding as was antici- pated with this master, and having learned of the excellency of a school of art at Munich, he started for that emporium of art in 1860, where he was received with favor by Professors Witig and Kaulbach, the latter standing at the zenith of fame in the modern world of art. He set about to learn as many different styles of compo- sition, arrangement, and manner of handling as possible, by working in the studios of different artists. He assisted on some colossal statues for Steinhauser, and worked on other pieces of art under Ives and others. In 1863 he returned to America, after having stored his mind with every day familiarity with the master pieces of Europe, and landing in New York joined the school of the Academy of Art there, and worked with Park, Thompson, Bartlet and Platzman. His excellence of work obtained for him several commissions for portraits, but the metropolis being overdone by what he considered newspaper favorites, he sought Philadelphia in 1869, and worked for Bailey. His removal to this city was a purpose, which tells mightily in his works of art at present. He had studied anatomy in con- nection with sculpture, but not being satisfied determined to take another course, and for two winters disseeted under Prof. Thomas. Here he received several commissions for busts and re- lieves, and one statue. His prevailing conti- nental ideas which rule him and permeate his whole thoughts, that each artist and master must individualize himself in bis own work, would not brook the flattering reception which money purchased for superfieial American work, and he struek out in the world for the purpose of carry- ing out his own peculiar ideas of art, and accord- ingly located in Scranton in June, 1873. His first patrons were Mrs. J. A. Scranton, and Mr. H. B. Phelps of the Trust Company and Sav- ings Bank. For the former he executed a re- lievo of her father, General Meylert, and for the
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