Northumberland-Schuylkill County PA Archives Biographies.....Watkins, Matthew Kear 1851 - living in 1899 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com July 1, 2005, 9:50 pm Author: Biographical Publishing Co. MATTHEW KEAR WATKINS, cashier of the First National Bank of Mount Carmel, is a man of much business ability and energy, ever ready to give encouragement and his best efforts to an enterprise which has for its purpose the general advancement of the town which he adopted as his home and in which he is recognized as an energetic and public-spirited leader. Few enterprises have been inaugurated in Mount Carmel which have not had the benefit of Mr. Watkins' rare business ability and have not profited by his influence and guidance. Our subject is a son of James and Mary A. (Kear) Watkins, natives of Wales, and was born June 11, 1851, in Minersville, Schulykill County, Pa., soon after the emigration of his parents from Wales to this country. His ancestors on the paternal side may be traced back to Welsh origin and those on the maternal side to English root. The father of our subject was born in South Wales in 1793 and was reared in that country. He came to the United States in 1851 and located in Minersville, Pa., where he resided until his death in 1861. The grandfather of Mr. Watkins on the maternal side, Matthew Kear, was a native of England, where he remained during his lifetime. The Kear family were among the early settlers in Minersville, where they were coal operators. James and Mary Watkins reared five children, as follows: Ann; Mrs. Robert Wilson; William; Lizzie; and Matthew Kear, the subject of our sketch. After attending the public schools of Minersville, our subject, at the age of fourteen years, started out to earn a living and to make his way through the world. He began as a messenger boy for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, and while working in that capacity for a year he studied hard and also learned to operate and rapidly acquired the art of telegraphy. He was appointed operator at the Philadelphia & Reading station at Ashland and subsequently, in 1871, was transferred to Mount Carmel as station and ticket agent of the railroad, which position he successfully and satisfactorily filled for five years. In 1875 he engaged in business as a stationer, dealing also in books, newspapers, etc., and doing a good business, in which he continued until November, 1878. Determined to remain active and to make headway, Mr. Watkins, in 1879, added to his business as a stationer that of newspaper publisher, purchasing the Mount Carmel Progress, which was founded in December, 1877, by Owen Fowler, and was the pioneer newspaper of Mount Carmel borough. He altered the name of the journal, renaming it the Mount Carmel News, and also enlarging it. In 1881 the paper was further enlarged and E. E. White assumed the editorship, thus relieving Mr. Watkins of many duties to which he scarcely could give the attention he desired because of the increase in his original business as well as the gratifying prosperity of his venture as a newspaper publisher. In 1882 Mr. Watkins purchased the entire plant of the Gloucester City Tribune of Gloucester, N. J., and removed it to Mount Carmel, thus materially increasing his facilities and demonstrating his enterprise. Mr. White bought an interest in the paper in 1883, and for four years the News was published by Watkins & White. In 1887 Mr. Watkins retired from the firm, his place being taken by R. J. Wilson, who was associated in the publication of the News with Prof. White for some time, and finally bought the business, which he yet controls. Mr. Watkins conducted his stationery business until 1889, when he sold it and took an active part in organizing the First National Bank of Mount Carmel, which opened its doors for business on April 8, 1889, with a capital of $50,000 and seventy-four stockholders, embracing the principal business men of the borough. Mr. Watkins was elected cashier of the bank and he has ever since occupied the position, so ably managing the affairs of the institution that the directors have insisted that he continue to preside over the very important duties which fall to him as the active executive of the bank. Upon its organization the officers of the bank were as follows: President, E. C. Tier; vice-president, John T. B. Gould; cashier, M. K. Watkins, our subject; directors, William A. Phillips, George W. Davis, John T. B. Gould, M. K. Watkins, E. C. Tier, Bernard Harvey, S. E. Bergstresser, L. W. Johnson, E. C. Herb, William McFee, Sr., and William H. Heaton. The present officers of the bank are: President, E. C. Tier; vice-president, George W. Davis; cashier, M. K. Watkins; directors, E. C. Tier, M. K. Watkins, George W. Davis, S. E. Bergstresser, William McFee, Sr., William Kiefer, J. H. Smith and H. T. John. Mount Carmel is notable as the first town in the world to have electricity as artificial light. This was brought about by the organization of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company, in the formation of which Mr. Watkins was very active. The company was incorporated November 17, 1883, with a capital of $16,000. In 1890 the company was reorganized and its capital increased to $25,000, and Mr. Watkins, who was its secretary upon its organization, was elected president. Under his vigorous management the plant was removed to its present site and its capacity considerably increased within a brief period. Originally the plant had a capacity of 500 lights, which has been constantly increased until the present capacity is something over 2,500 lights. Our subject was the first secretary of the Mount Carmel Water Company, which also was incorporated on the same day as the Electric Illuminating Company, and he is now its treasurer. He was one of the organizers of the Citizens' Building & Loan Association, of which he has been secretary since its formation, a period of about nineteen years. Religiously, our subject is an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Mount Carmel, of which he is a trustee. Politically Mr. Watkins is a Republican and has served as a member of the board of school directors and he was president of the borough council for three years. He is an influential Republican and always takes an active part in furthering the interests of his party and his friends. Our subject is a member of Ashland Lodge, No. 294, F. & A. M., of the Chapter, R. A. M.; a Knight Templar; a member of Mount Carmel Lodge, No. 630, I. O. O. F., and of the Royal Arcanum. Twice has Mr. Watkins entered the marriage relation. He was first united to Sarah J., daughter of the late Richard Curnow, a pioneer coal operator of Mount Carmel. Four children were the fruit of the union: James Marshall; Shirley S.; Matthew K.; and Richard Vivian. Mrs. Watkins was a most lovable woman, was prominent in the M. E. Church of Mount Carmel, and was beloved for her many excellent qualities of mind and heart by all who knew her. She died December 27, 1889. As his second wife Mr. Watkins married Helen M. White of Baltimore, Md., and to them has been born one child, Genevieve Elizabeth. Mr. Watkins is an extensive owner of real estate. He is the largest stockholder in the electric light and other corporations with which he is connected. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District Published by Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899) This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/pafiles/ File size: 7.8 Kb