424
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
sons, Samuel and E . Newton, the latter now connected with the house of John T . Lew is & Bros., o f PhiUdclphin. M r. W ig fa lls grandfather, also named Sanmel, w as engaged in the liardwarc busi ness at Augusta, Ga., for some time, later settling in Montgomery county, Pa., where he died. Samuel W igfall passed his youth in P h ib dclphia, obtaining his education in the public schools, and when a young man w as employed as a runner for the F irst National Bank there. H e remained with that institution until he came to Bloomsburg. Ju n e t i, 18S9, here be coming secretary and treasurer of the North Mountain Lum tor Company, with which con cern he continued until it dissolved, in the fail o f 1892. Since Ja n tu ry, 1890. he has been connected with the Bloomsburg & Sullivan Railroad Company. T his company received its original charter from the State Dec. 27, 1883. the promoters being C* R^ Buckalew and Col. Jonn Jam ison, o f Bloomsburg. Capt. H. J . Connor and S ib s M cIIcnry secured the right o f w ay the entire length of the road. T he first ground for the road w as broken at the bridge a short distance north o f O range ville in August, 1886, and the work went fo r ward under the direction o f John A . Wilson, o f Philadelphia, constructing engineer, and Jam es C. Brow n, o f Bloomsburg, surveying engineer. Ic was substantially constructed and the same policy has been continued to the pres ent, the comiKiny being noted for its high standards o f maintenance and efficiency. The road was completed to Benton in IM 7, on Ju ly 4th o f which year the first train left Blootnsbu^ for Orangeville, canning a b ig c d e l a t i o n o f officials and stockholders. It w as completed to Jam ison City in t888. It is twenty-nine miles long, the route lying through the beautiful and historic Fishing crcck valley, connecting the tcrritor>* along the Susquehanna river with the North moun tains. There arc many highly productive farm s in this section and agricultural interests have expanded notably as one direct result of the advent of the railroad. T he industrial centers along the line, Light Street, O range ville, Forks, Stillwater, Benton, Coles Crcck, Central and Jam ison City, have felt the im petus which convenience o f transportation has gixcn thcir activities, and many thriving busi ness pbn ts have b m located in those com munities because of the desirable opportuni ties the railroad has brought w'ithin the reach o f investors. The road tra*crscs a beautiful section, a delightful region for fishing or hunt
ing, and ideal spots for camps and recreation arc numerous. Eight (xisscngcr trains a day arc run, four each way, and two to four extra freight trains to Berwick by w ay of the Paper Mill. T he road uses (lie Delaware, tockawanna & Western depot at Bloomsburg, and connections are made with the principal pas senger trains on that road as well as the P h ib dclphia & Reading, and at the Paper Mill, with the Susquclunna, Bloomsburg & Ber wick. The head office of the company is at Market and Sixth streets, Bloomsburg. near the D. L . & W . depot. About fifty men are employed in all departments, and the present officers a re : Samuel W igfall, president; H. T . Dcchcrt, vice president; George A . Ritter, secretary and auditor; W . C Snyder, treas urer and superintendent; W. C. Fortune, supervisor. M r. Fortune, Conductor J . W. Scott and Engineer Jam es Carey have been with the company from the very beginning. Capt. II. J . Connor w as secretary* and treas urer until his death, M ay 30, 19(2. M r. W ig fall's time has been devoted p rin cipally to nis responsibilities as head of the B oomsburg & Sullivan Railroad Company, but he has also had other local interests, and he is a director of the Bloomsburg National Hank, treasurer and director of the Industrial BuiUling & I«oan Association since its incor)0ration in i8<^i, and a director of the Bloonislurg W ater Company, H e is a member of the Episcopal Church, and a Republican in ]K)litical sentiment. On Feb. 4, 18 9 1, M r. W igfall m arried Helen R . Belfield, o f Philadelphia, and they have one daughter, Elizabeth, who w as bom in August, 19 0 1. C O U JO H N G O S S K F R E E Z E, laic of lllcMmsburg. I lortored and remembered chiefly for his long connection with the Co lumbia county bar. at which he practiced for over sixty years, a simple recount of the duties which occupied Colonel Freeze aside from his profession shows that he w as much more than a successful Lawyer. However, a mere recital o f his achievements in the law and in the activ ities of the community would suggest (he large place he filled in its life but give no adopiate idea of the accomplishments which n u d e his career remarkable for more than its length. Though he attained his cighty-cighlh vcar he was SI ill nuintaining his association with sev eral trusts he w as reluctant to relinquish in spite o f his age. I-le had withdrawn from legal practice two or three years before, how ever.
