Plymouth, Pennsylvania - Notable People

Notable People

Among the noteworthy individuals who claimed Plymouth as their birthplace or former residence, and then gained a measure of fame beyond the town's borders were:

Michael E. Comerford (1865–1939) was born at Heckscherville, Pennsylvania, to parents who had recently immigrated to the United States from County Kilkenny, Ireland. In the 1870s, the family relocated to Welsh Hill in Plymouth Township where Michael Comerford grew up. He became a pioneer of the American movie industry in the 1920s and the 1930s, and was the President and General Manager of the Comerford Theaters, Inc., which once owned and operated 78 theaters, mainly in eastern Pennsylvania, but also in New York and Maryland. Among these was Plymouth's Shawnee Theater. Comerford was a founder of the Motion Picture Theater Owners of America and a director of the Scranton Chamber of Commerce. In the late 1930s, he was President of the Amalgamated Vaudeville Agency, Inc., which had booking offices at 1600 Broadway, New York. Comerford died in Miami on February 1, 1939, and was buried in St. Vincent's Cemetery, Plymouth, on February 6, 1939.

Dr. Fuller L. Davenport (1877–1935) was born in Plymouth, the son of Edwin Davenport and his wife, Mary McAlarney. He was the brother of Ward P. Davenport (for whom Plymouth's fourth high school building was named), and the congressman Stanley Woodward Davenport. Fuller Davenport attended Plymouth's public schools and prepared for university at Wyoming Seminary. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1903 with a degree in dentistry. While at Penn, Davenport was a member of the famous eight-oared crew that traveled in 1901 to England to compete in the Henley Regatta. The Penn Crew won both of its trial heats at the regatta but lost in the final to an English crew. However, the trip was considered a success as Penn had the distinction of being the only American crew to mount a serious challenge to Britain's retaining the Grand Challenge Cup, the most prized trophy in amateur rowing. After his graduation, Davenport practiced dentistry in Wilkes-Barre and Kingston for many years.

Stanley Woodward Davenport (1861–1921) was born at Plymouth, a son of Edwin Davenport and his wife, Mary McAlarney. He attended Plymouth's public schools and Wyoming Seminary, and graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1884. He studied law with Plymouth attorney George W. Shonk, was admitted to the bar in 1890 and commenced the practice of law in Plymouth in 1891. In 1893, he was appointed a Director of the Poor for the Central Poor District of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and later served as secretary and treasurer of the Poor District. He was the Register of Wills of Luzerne County from 1894 to 1897. Davenport was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-sixth Congress from Pennsylvania's 12th District and served from 1899-1901. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1900, after which he resumed the practice of law in Plymouth.

Edward M. Dwyer (born 1936), a Plymouth native, graduated from Plymouth High School in 1953, where he starred on the basketball team for three seasons. During his junior and senior years, he led his team to consecutive league championships for which he received Wyoming Valley All-Scholastic and Pennsylvania All-State honors. After graduating second in his class, he entered Columbia College, graduating in 1957, and then Columbia Medical School, graduating in 1961. As an undergraduate at Columbia, Dwyer played basketball for three years. During his junior year he was named to the All-Ivy-League second team, and during his senior year to the first team. In 1975, he was elected to Columbia's Hall of Fame. Between 1966-68, Dwyer served as a Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy, after which he pursued a career in medicine in New York.

Harry Livingston French (1871–1928) was born at Plymouth, the son of Samuel Livingston French. He was a graduate of Cornell University and a member of the Architectural League of New York. His firm, McCormick and French, was the architect of the second Central High School (1906), the Plymouth National Bank (1907) and the First National Bank (1915), all in Plymouth, and the First Eastern National Bank (1907) in Wilkes-Barre.

Simon Goldstein (1868–1942) was born in Europe and came to the United States in 1887, settled at Plymouth and set up in business as a grocer. Ice cream was popularized in America at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, and around that time Goldstein began to manufacture ice cream for his grocery store. By 1905, the ice cream became so popular that the store was abandoned and the Golden Quality Ice Cream Company formed. Goldstein's ice cream was manufactured on the site of the old Stegmaier Brewery, and the building fronting Main Street became an ice cream parlor. By 1924, Goldstein's son, Eugene Goldstein (1901–1985), a graduate of Plymouth High School class of 1919, was a partner in the firm, which he continued to operate at least until 1983.

Major Leo G. Heffernan (1889–1956) was born in Plymouth Township. He was the son of an Irish immigrant from County Tipperary, Andrew Heffernan, and his Elmira-born wife, Mary Connole, the parents of ten high-achieving children. By 1900, the family was living on Willow Street in Plymouth Borough. Leo Heffernan graduated from Plymouth High School, class of 1906, and in 1907 won a competition to earn a congressional appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He joined the cavalry in 1911, but in 1915 procured an appointment to the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army, attended flight school and first soloed in 1916. He served with the 1st Aero Squadron beginning in July 1916 on the Mexican border, and in Mexico with the "Punitive Expedition" led by Gen. John J. Pershing sent to capture Pancho Villa. In 1934, after a long and distinguished career, Heffernan retired from the armed services, after which he worked for Anheuser-Busch and then for Lurrie Pizer Co. Heffernan died in 1956 and was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, Wilkes-Barre.

Heffernan's most famous moment came in 1923, when Time magazine reported the news that "...in a blinding sandstorm, Major Leo G. Heffernan made the fastest flight on record, when he achieved an average speed of 250 miles an hour, according to an announcement of the War Department dated March 24. Major Heffernan flew in a DH-4B plane from Columbus, N. M., to Fort Bliss, Texas, a distance of 75 miles, in eighteen minutes. During the flight, which was aided by a following wind, the plane was surrounded by clouds of dust, out of which it was unable to climb."

Thomas F. "Red" Heffernan (1871–1951) was born in Plymouth Township, the son of Andrew and Mary (Connole) Heffernan. Thomas Heffernan attended Plymouth High School and Wyoming Seminary. After completing his studies, he taught for three years in the Plymouth school system and then worked for thirteen years as a newspaper reporter at the Wilkes-Barre Record. Heffernan was active in Luzerne County politics, and was for many years the boss of the county's Republican party. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him postmaster of Wilkes-Barre, and in 1911, President Taft reappointed him. In 1914, Heffernan bought the Sunday Independent newspaper, which he ran for many years with his younger brothers John (Plymouth High School class of 1903) and George.

Arthur Horace James (1883–1973) was born at Plymouth, the son of Welsh immigrants, graduated from Plymouth High School in 1901 and from Dickinson College's law school in 1904. He was elected District Attorney of Luzerne County in 1920 and again in 1923. From 1926 to 1930 he served as Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. He was Judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania from 1932 to 1939, and served as Governor of Pennsylvania from 1939 to 1943. Arthur James died in 1973 and was buried in Hanover Green Cemetery, Hanover Township.

Col. Benjamin Washington Johnson (1914–1992) was born in Virginia, but his African-American family settled in Plymouth during the Great Depression. As a high school junior in 1932, Johnson won both the 100- and 220-yard dashes in state record times. He qualified for the Olympic Trials in California, but his family was unable to fund the trip. The town of Plymouth sponsored a "Ben Johnson Olympic Fund" and raised the money to send him to the trials, where he took fourth in his semifinal. In 1934, Johnson entered Columbia College where he broke many records. At the 1938 Millrose Games before 17,000 spectators in Madison Square Garden, he finished the 60-yard dash in 6.2, 6.1 and 6.0 seconds, tying the world record, then breaking it twice. He enlisted in the army in 1942, eventually retiring with the rank of colonel.

John E. Mazur (born 1930) was born in Plymouth and was a star quarterback at Plymouth High School, class of 1948. He attended Notre Dame University where he played quarterback from 1949-1951. In 1952, Mazur enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, playing quarterback for both the Quantico and Camp Pendleton Marines. Upon his discharge in 1954, he played professional football for the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League until an ankle injury ended his career.

Between 1955 and 1961, Mazur coached football at Tulane University, Marquette University and Boston University. In 1962, he was hired as backfield coach by the American Football League's Buffalo Bills, helping them win AFL titles in 1964 and 1965. In 1969, Mazur was hired by the Boston Patriots as assistant coach. When head coach Clive Rush resigned in November 1970, Mazur was named the Patriots' head coach, a position he held until 1972. Subsequently, he coached with the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets before retiring in 1980.

John G. Mellus (1917–2005) was born in Plymouth, a grandson of Lithuanian immigrants. He attended Villanova University and went on to play professional football as an offensive tackle for eight seasons in the NFL, from 1938-1941 with the New York Giants, in 1946 with the San Francisco 49ers, and from 1947-1949 with the Baltimore Colts. He was inducted into the Villanova University "Wall of Fame" in 2002.

Sephaniah Reese (1866–1944) was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, but came to Plymouth with his family when he was about four years old. Like his father, he was a machinist and began working for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad when he was sixteen years old. After a few years, he opened his own shop. Reese produced machine parts for the local railroads, mills and coal mines, but he also manufactured two lines of bicycles, known as the "Reese" and the "Shawnee," which he sold in the United States and Europe.

In the 1880s, Reese cobbled together a gas-powered "horseless carriage" which he began to drive around town, according to some claims, around 1884-1887. The vehicle was a three-wheel, open-air automobile with a one-cylinder aluminum engine mounted onto the rear axle of a tubular steel frame. The tires were mounted onto wire-spoke wheels, with front forks said to be old Civil War bayonet scabbards. For many years Reese's automobile lived in the window of his shop, initially as a promotion (he made copies upon request) and later as an antiquated curiosity. All in all, Reese made only a few automobiles, but today is recognized as a pioneer of the automotive industry.

While Reese's efforts at automobile production were limited, he anticipated the Duryea brothers of Springfield, Massachusetts, who in 1896 founded the first company to manufacture and sell gasoline-powered vehicles. In later years Reese became an automobile dealer, selling Abbott-Detroit, Lambert and Cadillac automobiles, and operated a river dredging business. He is buried in Edge Hill Cemetery, West Nanticoke.

John Jenks Shonk (1815–1904) was born in Hope, New Jersey, but came to Plymouth with his parents as a young boy, and became one of its most prominent citizens. About 1832, he began to mine coal at Plymouth, and later became involved in mining bituminous coal in West Virginia. Shonk also had an interest in the Wilkes-Barre & Harvey's Lake Railroad Co. In 1875, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature from the Third District as a candidate of the Prohibition Party. In 1876, he was elected again as a Republican.

Frank Comerford Walker (1886–1959) was born at Plymouth on May 30, 1886, on the second floor over his father's grocery store at Bull Run. He was the son of David Walker and his wife, Ellen Comerford, and moved to Montana with his parents about 1890. He attended Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, and received a law degree from Notre Dame University in 1909. Walker practiced law in Montana with his older brother, Thomas, and served a term in the Montana State Legislature in 1913. During World War I, he was commissioned a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army and saw limited action on the western front before returning to his law practice. In 1925, he moved to New York to become general counsel and manager of Comerford Theaters, an enterprise founded by his uncle, Michael E. Comerford.

In 1931, Walker became a founding member of the Roosevelt for President Society, and after the 1932 election, President Roosevelt named Walker treasurer of the Democratic National Committee. In 1933, Roosevelt appointed Walker executive secretary of the president's emergency council, later renamed the National Emergency Council, and in 1940, appointed Walker to the cabinet-level post of Postmaster General, which he held until 1945. After resigning to allow new President Truman to appoint his own Postmaster General, Walker was named an alternate delegate to the first United Nations General Assembly meeting in December 1945. He died on September 13, 1959, in New York City and was buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery, Butte, Montana.

William Aubrey Williams, aka Gwilym Gwent (1834–1891) was a musician, born at Tredegar, Wales, on November 28, 1834. Williams was a blacksmith by trade, but as a young man moved to Blaenau Gwent where he became conductor of a local orchestra. He married in 1862. In 1865, he won the prize at the Aberystwyth eisteddfod for a duet for female voices, and also won a ten pound prize for his cantata, "Y Mab Afradlon". He was one of the most popular and prolific composers in Wales in his time, composing "part-songs," anthems and solos. Working with David Lewis (1828–1908), he edited Llwybrau Moliant, a collection of hymn-tunes for use by Welsh Baptists, a work which contains several hymn-tunes of his own composition. In 1872, he migrated to Pennsylvania. He died at Plymouth on July 3, 1891 and was buried in Hollenback Cemetery, Wilkes-Barre.

Hendrick Bradley Wright (1808–1881) was born in Plymouth Township, attended the Wilkes-Barre Grammar School and graduated from Dickinson College in 1829. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Wilkes-Barre. He was appointed district attorney for Luzerne County in 1834, was a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from 1841 to 1843, serving in 1843 as house speaker. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1844, 1848, 1852, 1856, 1860, 1868, and 1876. Wright served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district from 1853–1855, from 1861–1863, and from 1877-1881. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1880 and was unsuccessful in getting the Greenback nomination for President the same year, losing to James Weaver. In 1873, Wright published a history of his birthplace, Historical Sketches of Plymouth, Luzerne Co., Pa.