|
Dr. John 'Hervey' Barton |
Dr. John "Hervey" Barton was born on May 18, 1830 in Bloomsburg, Columbia County, the son of John and Mary Catherine (Kreider) Barton.
On June 15, 1860, at the age of 30, he entered into marriage with Hannah B. Price (Feb. 9, 1830-1889), daughter of Philip M. and Matilda (Greentree) Price.
They became the parents of three -- Henry Lester Barton, Philip Price Barton and Mary Catherine Barton.
 |
| Picturesque Lock Haven, 1905 - courtesy Rotograph Company/Library of Congress |
He received a medical education in Philadelphia and then located his practice in Lock Haven. They were members of the Lock Haven Protestant Episcopal Church. Circa 1879, Hervey was elected as a trustee of the Central State Normal School in town, representing Clinton County.
Sadly, Hannah died on Sept. 2, 1889 in Peale, Clearfield County. Her funeral was conducted at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, by the hand of Rev. Wood. Interment was in Highland Cemetery, Lock Haven. Obituaries were published in the Lock Haven Democrat and The Columbian of Bloomsburg with a shorter notice printed in the The Jeffersonian of West Chester, PA and the New-York Tribune. The Democrat said that:
Mrs. Barton had been out to Wisconsin, where she had attended upon her son, who was ill with typhoid fever. She returned about two weeks ago, completely worn out and very weak, in fact had hardly been conscious since. Her unremitting attentions to this sick son and possibly the seeds of the disease in her own system may have led to the sad result here recorded.
The widowed Hervey remained in Lock Haven for six years. In 1895, he moved to Pittsburgh to live with his son Henry in the city's East End, with the son employed as assistant superintendent of the Westinghouse Machine Company plant.
With his health in decline over the span of three years, Hervey left Pittsburgh in mid-1908 and went to the home of his son Philip at Niagara Falls.
He succumbed to the spectre of death at the age of 78 on Dec. 20, 1908. An obituary appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and burial was in Lock Haven. A shorter death notice was printed in the Buffalo (NY) Enquirer. This family is outlined in the 1903 book Genealogy of the Shoemaker Family of Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, authored by Benjamin H. Shoemaker.
~ Son Henry Lester Barton ~
Son Henry Lester Barton (1862-1929) was born on Oct. 24, 1862 in Lock Haven.
On April 20, 1897, he wed Caroline Canby Askew ( ? - ? ) of Altoona, PA.
He worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and later Westinghouse Machine Company in Pittsburgh, where he was employed as assistant superintendent circa 1895.
 |
| Westinghouse Machine's East Pittsburgh works, managed by Henry Barton, 1890s |
In about 1909, they moved to Detroit, where he launched Metal Products Company before joining General Motors Corporation in 1914 as a production executive. Their address was 1408 Seminole Avenue, Detroit, and he held memberships in the Detroit Club, Detroit Country Club, Detroit Athletic Club and Engineers Club of New York.
Henry died in Ford Hospital at the age of 67 on Aug. 24, 1929. He slumbers for all time in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.
~ Son Philip Price Barton ~
Son Philip Price Barton (1865-1937) was born on May 5, 1865 in Lock Haven.
He moved to Peale, PA with his parents. Philip was a graduate of Cornell University, earning bachelor of philosophy (1886) and master of science (1888) degrees. He was a member of the University Club in Pittsburgh. He moved to Niagara Falls to join the staff of the Niagara Falls Power Company as an electrical engineer.
On Dec. 28, 1899, Philip tied the knot with Georgia Henry Thurston (Aug. 28, 1871-1928), daughter of George H. and Mary C. Thurston of Castleman Street in Pittsburgh. His cousin Charles Cooper Townsend of Philadelphia was best man, of the family of Joseph Brevitt and Adaline E. (Barton) Townsend. The ceremony was conducted in Pittsburgh's Calvary Episcopal Church, by the hand of Rev. C. Whitehead.
Their only child was Mrs. William Wallace.
Philip built a 21-year career with the Niagara Falls Power Company, becoming vice president and general manager. In 1905 he was named vice president and general manager of its allied companies, the Canadian Niagara Power Company and the Niagara Falls Development Company. Philip and Georgia are known to have sailed from New York to Hamburg, Germany in 1908, aboard the Deutschland of the Hamburg-Amerika Line.
With the early yearning to make a humanitarian difference, he held the post of vice president of the Niagara Falls Memorial Hospital and, during World War I, gave of his time as city chairman of the Liberty Loan and Victory Loan initiatives. Philip retired in 1923 and the pair relocated to Hartford, CT.
Said the Hartford Courant, "soon after his retirement from business [he] became interested in welfare work." He actively volunteered with the local Community Chest, forerunner of the United Way, and in 1927 "organized the first school section of the Chest campaign, through which teachers and employees of the city schools were solicited. In 1929 he was made a Chest director and soon after he succeeded Newton C. Brainard as chairman of the budget committee. In the comparatively short time he resided in Hartford, not only did he continue his interest in community welfare work but also became associated with other organizations. He was a trustee of the Library Association in Hartford and treasurer of the Children's Museum. He was also a member of the Hartford Club and the Hartford Golf Club."
In her own right, Georgia served as chairman of the building committee of the Hartford YWCA. A bronze tablet was dedicated in 1938 in her memory.
Sadly, Georgia passed away in Hartford on April 11, 1928. The funeral was held in the Trinity Episcopal Church. Burial was in Hartford, with an obituary appearing in The Courant.
The widowed Philip may have returned to Pittsburgh as of 1929 but eventually moved back to Hartford, with an address of 57 Forest Street. Philip died in Hartford at the age of 72 on Sept. 3, 1937. Burial was in the city's Cedar Hill Cemetery.
Daughter Mary Elizabeth Barton (1912-1965) was born on April 19, 1912. She grew up in Hartford and at one time made a home in Mark Twain's residence. She spent the winter of 1934 studying at the American School of Archaeology in Athens, Greece followed by a tour of Europe. On June 15, 1936, she married William Pitkin Wallace ( ? - ? ) in a ceremony in the Barton residence. He was a native of Oak Park, IL and the son of Malcolm William Wallace of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The couple is not known to have reproduced. William held a degree from the University of Toronto, Oxford, and earned his doctorate at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The newlyweds immediately moved to Boulder, CO, where William had been named a professor of classics at the University of Colorado. In 1941, they published translated poetry, Asklepiades of Samos. The volume was reviewed in the Hartford Courant, which said that the authors had "collected the best verse translation of the third century before Christ and have added a worthy introduction concerning what is known of the life and times and contemporary writers of Asklepiades. For further study they have added notes at the end of the volume for the scholarly to pursue, Some poems are given as many as three verse translations including the works of such well known Greek translators as Richard Garnett, Goldwin Smith, F.A. Wright, F.L. Lucas and Andrew Lang. The Wallaces also have turned their hand to several translations, in free modern form, which move along at a pretty pace and bring to life the loves and lovers of a dim past." William is believed to have served during World War II in the Royal Canadian Navy. About 1945, they spent a year at the University of Alberta. The Wallaces then migrated to Toronto, where he accepted a position as professor of ancient history and classics at University College of the University of Toronto. He received a fellowship in 1951 from the John Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and was pictured in the Toronto Globe and Mail. In 1960 he was honored with a research fellowship of the American School of Classical Studies and spent the year in Greece. He was a member of the Toronto Chess Club. Sadly, Mary Elizabeth passed away on Jan. 12, 1965. A very brief notice appeared in the Globe and Mail. William only outlived her by 11 months. He died in Toronto General Hospital on Dec. 14, 1965. The Globe and Mail printed an obituary. They sleep for the ages in the Wallace family plot in Toronto's Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
~ Daughter Mary Catherine Barton ~
Daughter Mary Catherine Barton (1868-1954) was born on July 3, 1868 in Lock Haven.
She never married and spent her adult years in Connecticut. Her home address at one time was on Forest Street, sharing the residence with Mrs. Charles Dudley Warner, he the former editor of the Hartford Courant.
She held a membership in the Trinity Episcopal Church.
Death spirited her away in a convalescent home in Bloomfield near Hartford at the age of 85 on June 21, 1954. Funeral rites were conducted in the family church. The remains were lowered under the sod of the city's Cedar Hill Cemetery. A brief obituary was published in the Courant.
|
Copyright © 2023-2024, 2026 Mark A. Miner |
Research for this page conducted by Della Shafer and the late Donna (Younkin) Logan |