PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

pos~cssionof the office immediately. He has manywarm frienns and supporters in his party, whohave been most happy to give him their patron­age and support, and tlle wisdom of their selectionand recommendation has been shown in the man­ner in which he has conducted the affairs of tile

office. MI'. Moyer is an Odd Fellow; is PastOfficerof the Kn igilts of the Golden Eagle, havingrepresented his lodge in the Grand Lodge, and isa member of the Patriotic Or(lcr Sons of Amer­

ica, being onc of the founders of the lodge andPast Otficer. For one term ile served on the Grand

Jury, and, in brief. has been in many ways beforethe public in leading roles. A member of the Re­formed Church, he is one of its active workers and

is~upcrintennent of the Sunday-scllOol.

WILLIAM R. THOMAS has for manyyears enjoyed a reputation not only asone of the finest mechan ics in Catasau­

qua, but also as a man who is thoroughly posted inpublic affairs. He is now in the employ of theDavies & Thomas Company. A man of more thanordinary ability, he has had a vast amount of ex­perience in his work, and every transaction IScharacterized by good Judgment. He was born inGlamorganshire, Wales, May 30, 1829, and is theson of lIopkin Thomas, whose life history will befouml ill the biogra.phy of James Tilomas. Thepaternal grandfather of William R. Thomas, whowasalso a native of Wales, was a miller, which oc­

cupation he followed III his native land during hisentire life.

Hopkin Thomas, who was also a fine machinist,crosscn the Atlantic in 1834, and located for a

time in Philadelphia. Thence he went to BeaverMeadows, wilere William R. Thomas, hIS son, re­ceived his enucation in the district school, andwhen sixtecn years of age learned the machinist'stradc in the shops located there. He remainedthere until attaining his twentieth year, when, de­siring to perfect lIimself in his line of work, he

193

went to New York City and received special in­struction in the navy-yards. For two years heworked there, ancl in 1854 emigrated to La Salle

c.ounty, IlL, and thence to Amboy, where he en­gaged as an engineer on tile Illinois Central Rail­road, running between that city and Centralia.

After a service of two years on the road .Mr.Thomas' health failed, and he returned to this city,.and after recuperating entered the employ of theCrane Iron Company as master mechanic, remain­ing with them until 1868, and only leaving theiremploy to become a partner in the McKee, Fuller &.

Company Car Wheel and Axle Works. He wasSuperintendent of the plant for two years, whenhe riispos~d of his interest in the business, and be­came connected with the Coleraine Iron 'Yorks in

the building of furnaces, managing the work shopuntil 1875. That year he went South to Georgia,where lIe built the Rising Fawn Iron Furnace inDade County. From there he went to Helena,Ala., anri superin tpnded the opemtions of the Hel­ena coal mine for a month. At the expiration ofthat time he returned home and accepted the su­

perintendencyof the Coleraine Iron Company forone ye&,r, after which he went to Hokendauqua tofill the same position for the Thomas Iron Com­pany. After being seven years in their employ hewas, in March, 1887, made Supe!'intendent of theCrane Iron Company, and continued in this posi­tion until 1891, when, in company with A. and C.H. Fuller, he started tlIc Globe Metal Works. Withthis he was connected a year, when he sold out,and, coming again to this town, became connectedwith Davies & Thomas' Foundry and MachineWorks.

William R. Thomas was united in mnniltge in.Janesville, this state, in 1856, to Miss Martha May­hew, a native of England, and the daughter ofFrancis Mayllew. Of the nine children who wereborn to them eight are now living: James, amachinist in this city; Katie, Mrs. Agthe, of Phila­delphia; John, a. chemist in this place; Helen,Irene, Mary, William and Fl'ltz, at home with theirparents. Frank, who was Superintendent of theFranklin Iron Works in New York, died in that

city.In social affairs Mr, Thomas is a Free and Ac-

-----------------------------~ ----- ---------------- --------------~----- -------- ------ --.tile Lehigh & Susquehanna Road after the LehighCoal and Navigation Company assumed control ofthe road. A steam engine of the regulation kindwas used, and where they struck the mountainthe train was let down about thirteen hundred feet

on the grade from Ashley to Soutll Wilkes Barre,a distance of two and one-half miles. The route

wilen Mr. Moyer was made conductor coveredabout thirty miles, but. the road was subsequentlybuilt to Scranton and Easton.

MI'. Moyer remained III the company's employuntil the spring of 1893, when he resigned, ilndlocated in Treichler's, where he is living retired.He is a stanch Democrat in politics, ano is sociallyconnected with Blue Looge No. 52, F. & A. M.,of Pllillipsburg, K. J.; belongs to Eagle ChapterNo. 30, at the same place, and COlDmandery No.45 at Wilkes Barre, and is a member of the Scottish

Hites at Bloomsburg-in all of wllich orders hetakes an acti ve part.

The marriage of Joseph J. Moyer with MissEmma Hartman was celebrated in ] 869, or aboutthat date. She was born in Wilkes Barre, and be­came the mother of a daug-uter, Kate, \Vuu is thewife of F. A. Day, and a son, Samuel E., a veteri­nary surgeon in Michigan. The wife and motherdied in 1873, and 1\11'.Moyer was married in ]877to Mary E. Drinkhouse, of Easton. Two childrenwere gran ted thcm, Christie 1\1. and Editu R.1\11' • .Moyer's present wife, wllom he malTied inAugust, 1893, was prior to her marriage Rose C.Caston, of Mauch Chunk.

WILLIAM H. KASTEN, 1\1. D., is a finerepresentati\'e of the young physiciansof Carbon Coun ty who are successfully

engaged in tile practice of thcir noble calling. Heis a young gentlcman of marked enterprise andlIluch ability. and an honorable and remunerativecareer appears to he before him in the field ofll1edicine. He is also the proprietor of a fine drug

store in Nesquehoning, whicll he is carrying on in

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.194

cepted Mason, a Roynl Arch Mason and KnightTemplar. Politically he is a supporter of the can­didates of the Republican party, and although notactively interested in political affairs, he maintainsa deep interest in everything calculated to pro­mote the best interests of the county, and is aloyal and public-spirited citizen.

JOSEPH J. MOYER, a well known resi(lentof Treichler's, was formerly conductor onthe Central Railroad of New ,Jersey, runningbetween Easton and Scranton. He was born

in Easton, May 5, 1840, and is the son of JosephJ. and Catherine (Sierfass) Moyer, the former bornin Lehigh County, and the latter a native of NewJersey.

The father of Joseph .1., of this sketch, was a

miller by occupation, and resided for nearly aquarter of a century in Springtown, N. J., where hefollowed his trade. lIe died at Philli psburg, thatstate, in 1877. He was an ardent admirer of Dem­ocratic principles, and never failed to cast a votein favor of that party's candidates. His widow isstill living. making her Ilome in Phillipsburg,where she has passed her .eightieth birtllday. Adaugbter and three sons are still living: Amos;Elizabeth, now the widow of Samuel Arndt; .JohnZ.j and .Joseph J., who was next to the youngest.The youngest was Jacob B., now deceased.

Joseph J. Moyer, the subject of tbis record, wasfour years of age when his parcnts removed toSpringtown, where he was reared to mature years.He carried on his primary studies in the publicschools of Springtown, and latcr attended SCllOOIat Riegelsville, this state. When a young man helearned the miller's trade from his father, and fol­

lowed it profitably for several years. In 1865 heaccepted the position of conductor for the Lehigh& Susquehanna Ratlroad Company, running be­tween 'Vhite I-Laven and South Wilkes Barre, whichwas subsequentl,'y' merged illto the Central Hail­road of New Jersey. He punched the first ticket Oll