History of Carbondale, (Lackawanna County) Pennsylvania United States of America

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Biographies:

William Goebel, governor of Kentucky, was born in Carbondale, Pa., in 1854, son of Frederick Goebel, a native of Hanover, Germany, who removed to Covington, Ky., in 1866. He attended Gambler college and the Cincinnati law school and was the law partner of Gov. John G. Stevenson, 1875-86, and of John G. Carlisle, 1886-93. He was prominent in cases directed' against corporations and was known as a friend of the people. In 1888, he was elected state senator from Kenton county and was continuously re-elected holding the office in 1900. His prominent bills enacted as laws include: making gambling a felony; empowering cities of the second class to establish and maintain free libraries, and providing for state elections a commission appointed by the legislature, which in turn appointed county boards. In 1899 he was one of the Democratic nominees for governor of Kentucky and the canvass was carried on amid intense excitement. William S. Taylor, the Republican candidate, was inaugurated governor, but Goebel contested the election before the legislature and on Jan. 30, 1900, a test vote indicated that he would be seated. He was shot the same day as he was on his way to the capitol. Governor Taylor pro-rogued the legislature to meet at London, Ky., but a majority of both houses declared Goebel elected governor and the chief-justice of the court of appeals administered to him the oath of office, January 31, and upon his death, Feb. 3, 1900, John Crebs Wickliffe Beckham, who had taken the oath as lieutenant-governor, was sworn in as governor.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Terence Vincent Powderly, knight of labor, was born in Carbondale, Pa., Jan. 22, 1849; son of Terence and Margery (Welsh) Powderly, who emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1826, and settled in the Lackawanna Valley, Pa. He was educated in the public schools until 1862; was switch tender for the Delaware and Hudson railroad, 1862-64; car inspector in 1864, and a brakeman in 1865. He served an apprenticeship in the machine shops of the Delaware and Hudson company, 1866-69; removed to Scranton, Pa., in 1869, where he was employed in the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroad shops, 1869-73, and in the Dickson Locomotive works, 1873-77. He was married, Sept. 19, 1872, to Hannah, daughter of John and Anne Dover of Scranton, Pa. He joined the Machinists' and Blacksmiths' union in 1870, removed to Oil City during the panic of 1873, and joined Assembly No. 88, Knigbts of Labor, in 1874. He was a delegate to the Machinists' and Blacksmiths' union convention at Louisville, Ky., in 1874, where he succeeded in inducing the union to join the Knights of Labor as Assembly No. 222, and was general master. In 1877 he formed a district assembly in Lackawanna county, of which he was secretary, 1877-86. In the strike of 1877 he persuaded 5,000 discharged Knights of Labor to emigrate to various points in the west, where they formed new assemblies. He directed the first general assembly of the order held in Reading, Pa., in 1878, and in St. Louis in 1879, when he was elected Grand Worthy Foreman. At their third general assembly at Chicago in 1879, he became General Master-Workman, and served, by re-election, 1879-93. He was mayor of Scranton, 1878-84; studied law in the office of Judge P. P. Smith at Scranton, 1893-94; was admitted to the bar in September, 1894; settled in practice in Scranton, and in the same year canvassed the state for Governor Hastings. He was prominent in the presidential campaigns of 1896 and 1900, speaking for McKinley and Hobart, and for McKinley and Roosevelt. He was U.S. commissioner-general of immigration by appointment of President McKinley, 1897-1902. He was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the United States in 1901. He is the author of: Thirty Years of Labor, a History of the Organization of Labor since 1860 (1891); History of Labor Day; contributions on economics to the Journal of United Labor, and to the leading general magazines.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor