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CORNELL UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
Cornell University Library
F 157L2 B61
Bioaraphical annals of., .Lgnfi^.fA^r.ifijPttf'*'''
olln
3 1924 028 852 998
Overs
The original of this book is in
the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028852998
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS
A
OF
LANCASTER COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA
CONTAINING
Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of Prominent
AND Representative Citizens and Many
OF THE Early Settlers
ILLUSTRATED
PUBLISHERS:
J. H. beers & CO.
ieo3
^/
|\- tii;i^7
PRKFACE.
HE importance of placing in book form biographical history of represen-
tative citizens — both for its immediate worth and for its value to coming
generations — is admitted by all thinking people; and within the past decade
there has been a growing interest in this commendable means of perpetuating
biography and family genealogy.
That the public is entitled to the privileges afforded by a work of this
nature needs no assertion at our hands; for one of our greatest Americans has
said that the history of any country resolves itself into the biographies of its stout, earnest and
representative citizens. This medium, then, serves more than a single purpose; while it perpetu-
ates biography and family genealogy, it records history, much of which would be preserved in no
other way.
The Biographical Annals of Lancaster county had its inception in the mind of John F.
Meginness, a citizen of that county, now deceased, widely known throughout the State as an his-
torical writer, who, as manager for the firm of John F. Meginness & Co., commenced the work
now completed.
In presenting this work to its patrons, the publishers have to acknowledge, with gratitude,
the encouragement and support their enterprise has received, and the willing assistance rendered
in enabling them to surmount the many unforeseen obstacles to be met with in the production of a
work of this character. In nearly every instance the material composing the sketches was gathered
from those immediately interested, and then submitted in type-written form for correction and re-
vision. The volume, which is one of generous amplitude, is placed in the hands of the public with
the belief that it will be found a valuable addition to the library, as well as an invaluable contribu-
tion to the historical literature of the State of Pennsylvania.
THE PUBLISHERS.
INDBX.
PAGE
Acheson Family 7S3
Acheson, T. B 753
Adams, Frederick 1315
Agnew, David H 5
Agnew Family 5
Aherne, William 974
Aikin, Joseph 1036
Albright, Frederick A 191
Albright, Mrs. Sarah 191
Albright, Walter F 1375
Alexander, Guy L., M. D 876
Alexander, John A 1 165
Alexander, Samuel 574
Ambler, Joseph P 505
Ambler, L. R 1203
Ament, Eli 1420
Ament Family 1420
Ament, Henry H 817
Ammon, Alonzo D 1170
Ammon, Mrs. Elizabeth 461
Ammon, John 1047
Ammon, Peter G 444
Ammon, Samuel 461
Anderson, John W 1379
Ankrimi Family 983
Ankrim, J. Martin 983
Appel, Rev. Dr. Theodore 22
Appel, Theodore B., M. D 23
Appleton, John B 1177
Appleton, Mrs. Miary S 11 77
Armor, Smith, M. D 71
Armstrong, John W 855
Armstrong, Williami C 647
Arndt, Henry 1340
Arnold Family 622
Arnold, Gideon W 628
Arnold, Mrs. Gideon W 629
Arnold, I. Clinton 622
Arnold, Ira W 629
Arnold, Walter J 629
Atlee, John L., M. D 166
Atlee, William A i i
Aument, Aldus 301
Aument, George 274
Aument, H. H 274
Aument, Jacob , 301
Auverter, Isaac L 1308
Bachman, Abraham 531
Bachman,- Christian 332
Bachman, Ellis 333
Bachman Families ....332, 743, 1471
Bachman, Miss Harriet 456
Bachman, Jay 743
Bachman, John B 1471
PAGE
Bachman, John M 791
Bachman, John W S3i
Bachman, Lewis 945
Bachman, Morris 333
Bachman, Miss Reibecca 456
Bachman, Samuel 456
Baer, Chrisitian R iS3
Baer, John 152
Baer, Mlartin H 1031
Baer, Mrs. Mary L 153
Baer, Reuben A 152
Baer, Squire S. C 1096
Bahn, Adam 1269
Bailey, John H 1095
Baily, EHsha W., M. D 7S
Bair Family 1017, 1091
Bair, George W 534
Bair, Henry R 1091
Bair, Howard M 1166
Bair, Jacob A 1183
Bair, John B 1017
Bair, John J 805
Baker, Amos 220
Baker, Andrew 0 78
Baker Families 496, 681
Baker, George F 681
Baker, Jos:eph W 1196
Baker, Miss Louise 681
Baker, Thomas 496
Balmier Family 1418
Balmer, Israel P I4S4
Balmer, John F 1418
Balmer, Oliver C 833
Balthaser, John F 903
Banzhof, John 849
Bard Families 344. 961
Bard, George 1420
Bard, Samuel, Jr.., 961
Bard, U. G 344
Bard, Wayne 1043
Bare, Adam 310
Bare, Milton L isoi
Bare, Samuel G 414
Bare, Wayne 309
Barefoot, William M 1254
Barnett, Benjamin F 934
Barnett, Joseph 536
Barnholt. William S 846
Barr, Benjamin 749
Barr, Beniamin M 716
Barr, B. Frank i337
Barr Family 7i6
Barr, Martin I57
Barr, Susanna M 716
Bartch, Amos 1249
PAGE
Bartch, Mrs. Mary E 1250
Bartholomew, David H 913
Barton, Benjamin S 135
Barton Family 968
Barton, Henry 840
Barton, Miss Lizzie 1 840
Barton, Matthias 187
Barton, Ralph A 1243
Barton, William H 968
Bassler, Christian G 571
Bates, W. Edgar, M. D 1340
Batten, Hiram L 537
Bauer, Eugene ^S
Bauer, Mrs. Judith 688
Baughman Family 662
Baughman, Hervey 662
Baumgardner Family 386
Baumgardner, Henry K 386
Baumgardner, John H 168
Baumgardner, Mrs. Mary S. . . . 923
Bausman Family 56
Bausman, Jacob S6
Bausman, John W. B 58
Beamesderfer, John 1302
Bear, Albert R 1002
Bear, Elias 463 ■
Bear, William G 1368
Beard, Samuel J 483
Beates Family 752
Beates, Frederick A 662
Beates, Harry S 7S2
Beck, Peter R 1376
Becker Family 1000
Becker, John F 660
Becker, Levi 855
Becker, Michael 1000
Beckler, Henry B 1511
Beiler, Joseph H 551
Bell, Henry D 1282
Bell, William J 826
Bender Families 557, 1035
Bender, Franklin 1413
Bender, John (Manheim) 1035
Bender, John (Upper Leacock) 975
Bender, John W 975
Bender, Kinzer, Jr 965
Bender, William K 557
Bender, W. K •. 1349
Benkert, George 623
Bennett Family 1239
Bennett, Harry A logS
Bennett, John T 1283
Bennett, Joseph M 1239
Bergman, Andrew 316
Besore, David F 430
VI
INDEX
PAGE
Besore, Henry J 1155
Best, James B 422
Best, John 420
Betz, Mrs. Catherine 87
Betz, Jacob, Jr pog
Betz, Jacob, Sr 87, 909
Betz, Philip 88
Beyer Family 776
Beyer, Josiah 776
Bicknell, Walter F 490
Bingeman, S. H 1000
Binkley, Abraham E 1108
Binkley, David E 1077
Binkley Families 911, 1324
Binkley, Henry 1290
Binkley, Henry F 911
Binkley, Capt. John L 1323
Binnesderfer, S. L 1372
Bireley Family 831
Bireley, George W 831
Bitner, Abraham 585
Bitner, Mrs. Amelia 0 1031
Bitner, David P 1031
Bitner, John R 584
Bitzer, Martin R 403
Bitzer, R. R i486
Black, Hon. James 1323
Black, J. Joseph 1297
Blank, David S 893
Blank Family 894
Blank, John S 877
Bleacher, Benjamin F 1044
Bleacher, Mrs. Ellen E 1044
Bletz, John H 764
Bletz, Mrs. Naomi 764
Blickenderfer, Henry 720
Blickenderfer, Richard 720
Blough, Hon. Henry K., M. D. 736
Boardman, Arthur I3S0
Bolster, George 1238
Bolton Family 976
Bolton, Wiilmer ' P 976
_ Bomberger Family 105 1
'Bomberger, Henry 1 193
Bomberger, Henry H 1051
Bomberger, Jacob H 488
Bomberger, Philip L 1 194
Book. Daniel 1483
Book, Flam G 984
Book Family 1483
Book. John G 414
Bookman, Harry R 993
Bookman, William H 993
Books, Franklin 1035
Bowers, Michael F 905
Bowman, Amos 829
Bowman Family 317
Bowman, Franklin 317
Bowman, Isaac M' 1443
Bowman, John M ' 7S3
Bowman, Right Rev. Samuel,
D. D 24
Boyd, Hon. C. G 143
Boyd, Henry C 231
Boyd, Samuel H 830
Boyd, Samuel H. (1862) 1300
Brackbill, Mrs. Anna '. 874
Brackbill, Benjamin 0 874
Brackbill, Christian E loog
Brackbill, Rev. Christian M. .. . 276
Brackbill, Elias E 366
Brackbill Families . .'. 276, 365
Brackbill, Henry P 365
PAGE
Brackbill, Levi H 1445
Bradley, John S ' 1046
Brandt, David 414
Brandt, David H 64a
Brandt Family 1068
Brandt, Frederick H....^ 1311
Brandt, Harriet 414
Brandt, John 1261
Brandt, Mrs. Margaret 1261
Brandt, Mrs. Maria E 1069
Brandt, Mrs. Mary P 640
Brandt, Samuel L 1068
Brecht, Michael 1334
Breed, Rev. Walter R., B. S.,
B. D 1217
Breinig, Jacob 1237
Breneraan, Mrs. Anna M. (West
Hempfield) 678
Breneman, M.rs. Anna M. (Lan-
caster) 68
Breneman, Major B. Frank 388
Breneman, Benjamin K 1473
Breneman, Elmer M 910
Breneman Families 388, 1473
Breneman, George L 1371
Breneman, Dr. Henry F 1014
Breneman, Henry M. 1 678
Breneman, Capt. Henry N 68
Breneman, Henry P 639
Breneman, Henry R 1397
Breneman, Jacob K 1474
Breneman, John L. (Mt. Joy) . . 1409
Breneman, Joseph K 723
Brenholtz Family 907
Brenholtz, Walter S., M. D 907
Brenneman, Franklin 315
Brenneman, John L 1389
Bressler, George B 830
Brimmer, John A 1080
Brinton, Charles C 637
Brinton Families 719, 1173
Brinton, James 1272
Brinton, Joshua 622
Brinton, Lewis 313
Brinton, Mrs. Lydia T 1272
Brinton, Mrs. Mary B 313
Brinton, Mrs. Susan M 1391
Brinton, Mrs. Susanna 719
Brinton, William 7jg
Brinton, William P 1391
Brinton. William P. (Christi-
ana) . .. 1172
Brinton, William R., Esq 1391
Brison, Jacob L 875
Brobst, James C, M. D 158
Broome. John C 773
Brosius, Jesse 357
Brosius, Hon. Miarriott, LL. D. 16
Brosius, Hon. William H 145
Brown, Alvin 539
Brown, Alfred M 207
Broiwn, Arthur 320
Brown, Benjamin W 321
Brown. Mrs. Clara H 773
Brown, Davis A 501
Brown, Edwin H 772
Brown, Elmer E 321
Brown Families 68, 320, 1478
Brown, Frank 1478
Brown, George 320
Brown, George H 321
Brown, George H. (Little Brit-
ain) 980
Brown, George W 1294
Brown, Hiram F 320
Brown, Jacob J 1142
Brown, Jacob K 71
Brown, John H 1142
Brown, Josiah 284
Brown, Levi K 70
Brown, Mrs. Margaret C 1142
Brown, Mrs. Mary A : 284
Brown, Slater F 504
Brown, Thomas J 320
Brown, Walter G 321
Brubaker Families. .. .352, 1064, 1133
Brubaker, Frank S 1064
Brubaker) Henry S 475
Brubaker, Jacob B 737
Brubaker, Bishop Jacob N 354
Brubaker, J. Frank 1049
Brubaker, John D 85
Brubaker, Joseph E 434
Brubaker, Joseph S 1178
Brubaker, Mrs. Marianna 659
Brubaker, Martin K 1114
Brubaker, Martin N 1427
Brubaker, Nathaniel K 1133
Brubaker, Oliver B 1458
Brubaker, Philip 351
Brubaker, Roland S 559
Brubaker, Rolandus 11 12
Brubaker, Samuel 1431
Brubaker, William B 737
Bruce, Amos F 1021
Bruner, Alfred C 1188
Bruner Family 1188
Bruner, Jacob M 1371
Bruner, Owen F 1370
Bryson, L. M., M. D 238
Bryson, William M 1221
Buch, Henry B 782
Buch, J. Frank 1350
Buch, Jonathan B 1313
Buch, Mrs. Mary A 1313
Buchanan, James 430
Bucher Family 1032
Biicher, Frederick 576
Bucher, Frederick C, M. D 577
Bucher, Rev. George 1032
Buckius, Charles 433
Buckwalter, George L 726
Buckwalter, Isaac (West Lam-
peter) 780
Buckwalter, Isaac loio
Buckwalter, John 780
Buckwalter, Silas R 1218
Buehrle, Robert K 440
Bunn, William' H 641
Bunting, Walter S 535
Burger, Prof. Chris 1505
Burger, Henry 359
Burger, John A 588
Burger, Rev. S. Clement 1319
Burkholder, Abraham W 954
Burkholder, Amos E 900
Burkholder, Ezra 1003
Burkholder, Ezra H 1003
Burkholder Family \ 095
Burkholder, John R ..'. 803
Burkholder, Joseph ' .' 1050
Burkholder. Weidler B 995
Burrowes, Thomas H., LL. D. . 104
Burt, Arthur 272
Burt Family 272
Burt, Nathaniel 272
INDEX
vu
PAGE
Bush, Philip S 189
Bushong, S. E 1515
Butz, John 1321
Byers, Benjamin F 742
Byers Family 742
Byers, Jacob J 607
Byers, John 607
Cain, James M 1214
Cairnes, Rev. William G 1506
Caldwell, William J 895
Cameron Family 3
Cameron, Gen. Simon 3
Cameron, Maj. Simon B 3
Campbell Family 907
Campbell, Samuel 907
Cannon, John A 914
Cannon, Mrs. John A 914
Carmany, Jacob S 1522
Carpenter, Christian G 1113
Carpenter (or Zimmerman),
Emanuel 163
Carpenter Families 186, 522
Carpenter, Henry 186
Carpenter, Samuel L 522
Carpenter, WilUam S 1184 '
Carrigan, Enos 429
Carrigan, Joseph 1102
Carter, John H 1072
Cassel, Abram N 312
Cassel, Abraham H 330
Cassel, George L., M. D 1132
Cassel, Hon. H. Burd 3J2
Cas6el, Jacob 330
Causse, John B 216
Champneys, Judge Benjamin... 13
Charles, Amos 1014
Charles, Andrew 304
Charles, Mrs. Anna L 85
Charles, Barbara A 1006
Charles, Christian F 246
Charles, David H 283
Charles Families 282, 1006
Charles, Miss Harriet 304
Charles, Henry H 892
Charles, Jacob 483
Charles, John A 84
Charles, John F 706
Charles, John F. (1857) 417
Charles, Joseph 416
Charles, Levi F 1482
Charles, Willis B 1474
Chartiere, Martin 78
Christ, Michael K 924
Christ, Norman M 924
Clair, Stephen S 199
Clark Family 997
Oark, Franklin 179
Clark, John 319
Coble, Mrs. Anna A 710
Coble, Christian H 709
Cochran Family 160
Cochran, Harry B 162
Cbchran, John J 1343
Cochran, Thomas B 160
Collier, Cloyd R 795
Collins Family 959
Collins, James P 232
Collins, Judge Orestes 13
Collins, Ross C 992
Collins, Thomas 992
Collins, Thomas S 9S9
Conley, Thomas E 1307
Connelly Family 917
PAGE
Connelly, Samuel S 917
Conner, Henry 1449
Conrad, John 598
Cook, Clifford 1059
Cooney, J. M 1427
Cooper, Calvin 636
Cooper, Joseph P , I140
Cooper, Rufus K 967
Cornelius, William 1318
Corrigan, John H 1260
Cox, Walter J 1460
Craig, Alexander, M. D 133
Craig, Alexander R., M. D 134
Cramer, Owen 1159
Cramer, Rev. W. Stuart 1220
Crane, George 947
Crane, Col. Robert 361
Crawford, John 1260
Crawford, Rev. John A 856
Crawford, Oliver 1260
Crist Family 1190
Crist, William E 1190
Crouse Family ; 1347
Crouse, William M 1347
Crumbaugh, Rev. John S 15 12
Cully, George G 977
Cully, Thomas 300
Cutler Family 996
Cutler, Irwin : 996
Dague, William 601
Dambach, David H 1472
Dambach Family 974
Dambach, Henry H 1422
Dare Family 75
Davis, Eli W 999
Daivis Family 757
Davis, Hill E 569
Davis, Jenkins 1519
Davis, Reese H 757
Davis, S. T., M. D 1388
Deen, David L 328
Deen Family 328
DeHaven, Abraham A 1248
DeHaven, Mrs. Clara E 1414
DeHaven, Edward P 97°
DeHaven Families Iii, 1248
Deichler, Albert Mi. 1230
Dellet, Adam 1258
Delp, George Mi 53i
Demmy, Aaron B 1045
Denlinger, Abraham R 495
Denlinger, Benjamin K 527
Denlinger, B. Willis 936
Denlinger, Daniel 482
Denlinger, Daniel H 748
Denlinger, Daniel K 11 33
Denlinger, Elmer K i IS4
Denlinger Families 748, 936
Denlinger, Freeland L 748
Denlinger, Jacob 498
Denlmger, Jacob (Leacock)... 933
Denlinger, Jacob B 1408
Denlinger, Jacob M 1 136
Denlinger, John B 498
Denlinger, Mrs. Margaret 482
Denlinger, Samuel 1284
Denlinger, Simon SSo
Denlinger, Mrs. Susanna 496
Denney, John Q 304
Dennison, Joseph 1058
Derrick, Richard J 1416
Desch, George S 1306
Desch, Joseph G 1015
PAGE
Detwiler, Hiram L 904
Detwiler. Joseph 912
Detwiler, William B 743
Detz, John G 1293
Detz, Joseph 1317
Deutsch, Mrs. Elizabeth 1369
Deutsch, Kaufman 1369
Dickey, J. Scott 1359
Diem, John H 710
Diem, John K 810
Dierolf, William 1522
Dietrich Family 708
Dietrich, Pljilip 708
Dietrich, Samiuel 706
Diffenbach, John R 26
Diffenbaugh, Aaron H 427
Diffenderffer, Fra;nk R 172
Diller, Mrs. A. M 565
Diller, Charies F 1328
Diller, Edwin C 424
Diller, Elias 376
Diller Family 564
Diller, Grabill 1496
Diller, Isaac 564
Diller, Isaac (Leacock) 1443
Diller, Lewis 1496
Diller, Roland 28 "
Diller, Samuel W 1090
Diller, William F 1322
Dillich, Franklin 793
Dillinger Family 982
Dillinger, Henry K 982
Dinks, Henry 1495
Divet, Mlarion 13^
Doble, Charles 971
Doble, Charles A 971
Dodge, Byron G 600
Donley, Hugh 1022
Donoghue, Dennis 175
Donoghue, Mirs. Jane 175
Dorsey, Mrs. Martha 1024
Dorsey, Samuel 1024
Dorsheimer, Peter 1082
Douglas Family 1507
Dorwart, Martin 323
Doutrick, Byram 1382
Drennen. James K 498
Drybread, H. M 956
Duffy, James 8
Duffy, Col. James 7
Duffy, Mrs. Martha 8
Dunlap, Andrew J 1232
Dunlap Family 1232
Dunlap. Mrs. Frances 1233
Dutt, Christian 414
Eaby, C. Reese 1343
Eaby Family 253
Eaby, George W 459
Eabi', Jacob 724
Eaby, Jacob M 253
Eaby, Jason K 275
Eaby, Joseph Ii8g
Eaiby, Peter R 1338
Easton, Rev, William, D, D 19
Eavenson, Benjamin 1178
Eberle, John, M. D 185
Eberly, Adam J 381
Ebersole, Jacob L 861
Ebersole, Samuel E.. 1362
Eby, Araaziah B 435
Eby, Amos F 512
Eby, Christian 509
Eby, Elias 444
Vlll
INDEX
PAGE
Eby, Emanuel W 288
Eby Families 480, 511
Eby, Henry N 511
Eby, Henry W I180
Eby, Bishop Isaac 316
Eby, Isaac D 117
Eby, John - N 480
Eby, Lemuel C 796
Eby, Hon. Milton 1493
Eby, Samuel 510
Eby, Sim 435
Eby, Simon P 268
Ecicert, Otomer S 834
Eckmian, B. D 437
Eckman Family 1182
Eckman, Miller 1182
Eckman, William H 1131
Edgerley, Edward 368
Edwards, William H 975
Efinger, Adolph 818
Ehrenf ried, Joseph 131
Eisenberg, Simon U 1172
Elliott, Samuel 646
Ellmaker, Amos 60
Ellmaker, Levi, Esq 648
Ellmaker, Nathaniel 64
'Ellmaker, Mrs. Nathaniel 65
Ellmaker, Thomas, M. D 60
Elser Family 767
Elser, Peter 0 767
Engle, Abraham W 558
Engle, Daniel G 258
Engle Families 257, 29s
Engle, Frederick 929
Engle, Frederick S 929
Engle, Mrs. Harriet 765
Engle, Hon. Henry M 258
Engle, Jacob H 765
Engle, Levi L 428
Engle, Samuel G 836
Engle, Simon H 295
English, John W 970
Epler, ChrisUian M 1489
Epler, John H 1383
Epler, P. S 1278
Erb, Abraham 1 150
Erb; A. Lincoln 1371
Erb, Benijamiin H 1411
Erb, Clayton iocs
Erb, Daniel B 7 1150
Jirb Family 465
Erb, Henry R 512
Erb, Hiram L 465
Erb, Israel G 192
Erb, Mlahlon 942
Erb, Samuel B 950
Erb, William W 96s
Erisman, Christian 597
Erisman, Clement S 1515
Erisman, John 377
Esbens'hade, Abraham 1128
Esbenshade, Christian B 203
Esbenshade, Isaac B 881
Esbenshade, Joseph H 1158
Esbenshade, Peter 1157
Esbenshade, Peter B 1352
Esbbach, Abraham L 11 16
Eshbach, Henry F 1033
Eshbach, John B 1500
Eshelman, David B 1503
Eshelman, David M 949
Eshelman Family 949
Eshelman, Henry S 1026
Albert H
Benjamin K
Christian
Rev. Daniel M.
David, Sr
David B
David F
David G
Families
Eshleman,
Eslileman,
Eshleman,
Eshleman,
Eshleman,
Eshleman,
Eshleman,
Eshleman,
Eshleman
440, 924, 1122,
Eshleman, George R
Eshleman, H. Frank
Eshleman, Jacoib
Eshleman, Jacob S
Eshleman, John B., Esq
Eshleman, Samuel
Eshleman, Samuel S
Eshleman, Walter M
Evans. Benjamin
Evans Family
Evans, Franklin J
Evans, Capt. Samuel
Evans, Rev. Sydney K
E-vans, William L
Eyer, David M
PAGE
1446
1442
1 122
1 153
138
362
886
439
1442
439
362
III
67
67
779
1 153
924
868
867
267
8
1041
868
667
Eager, Charles F 1164
Fairer Family 955
Fairer, William W., Jr 955
Farmer, Clayton R 1354
Fasnacht, Joel 184
Fausnacht. Samuel S 949
Fawkes, Joseph W 23
Feagley, Frank S 1246
Feagley, John 1246
Ferguson, Christian C 277
Ferguson, John G 1476
Ferguson, Joiin W 395
Ferguson, Mrs. Sarah A 277
Ferry, James H 759
Fieles, Martin M' 713
Fink, William D., M. D 1201
Fisher, Daniel S 1 120
Fisher, David R 1313
Fisher, Mrs. Elizabeth 758
Fisher, Henry 758
Fisher, Philip 1405
Fisher, Sheridan D 1313
Fitler, James W 525
Flickinger Family 886
Flickinger, John 885
Flowers, Addison S 1498
Folmer, Frank R 740
Foltz, Jonathan M 10
Foltz, Peter Y 877
Foltz. Samuel F 895
FonDersmith, Charles A 76
Fordney, Thomas P 1068
Foreman Family 812
Foreman, Peter 812
Forney, Abraham R 432
Forney, David R 1273
Forney, John W 154
Forney, Levi R 1422
Forrest Family 79
Forrest, Hon. George 79
Forrey, Amos N 1267
Forrey, Danief N 839
Forrey, Isaac N 1361
Forrey, Jacob C 390
Forrey, John 1266
Forrey, John C 607
Forry, Daniel D 14S0
PAGE
Fox, Henry 1088
Fox, Jacob D 938
Fox, Mrs. Margaret 1088
Frailey Family 880
Frailey, William 0 880
Frame, Rev. Cleveland 11 14
France, Ike 583
Frank, Charles 977
Franklin Family 402
Franklin, George M 462
Franklin, Thomas E 402
Franklin, Walter 13, 402
Franklin, Walter M 402
Frantz Family 734
Frantz, Henry L 226
Frantz, John R 734
Frantz, Mrs. Susan E. W 226
Freitchie, Barbara 205
Frew, George W. H., M. D. . . 1226
Frew, William C 1226
Frey, Charles H 1168
Frey Family 824
Frey, Henry D 1457
Frey, James F 1276
Frey, Samuel F 824
Fridy, Sam Matt 236
Fritchey, Rev. John G 372
Fritchey, Joseph U 376
Fritz, Ezra B 1436
Froelich, John M 404
Fry, Rev. Charles L 615
Fry, Emanuel G 1352
Fry Families 615, 1169
Fry, Jacob M 1169
Fry, Menno M 740
Fry, Phares W 1332
Frybarger, Sylvester 563
Fuhrman, William 1368
Fulton, Edgar F 843
Fulton, Hugh R., Esq 412
Funk, Amos G 1016
Funk, Henry K 220
Funk, Isaac S 542
Funk, John H 1451
Furniss Family 426
Furniss, John M 426
Futer, Amos 206
Futer, Andrew J 1134
Gable, Michael F 937
Gable, William K 1084
Gallagher, Albert L 1376
Gamber, John H 906
Gamiberling, John H 1056
Gantner, John 128
Gara, Miss Elizabeth 32
Gara, Hugh S 31
Garber, Amos E 1384
Garber, Andrew 1295
Garber, Andrew M 1 124
Garber, Christian G 1307
Garber, David L 931
Garber Family 931
Garber, Henry G 943
Garber, Jacob L 884
Garber, John E 973
Garber, John S 1195
Garber, Simon E 1 102
Garber, Mrs. Susan 1195
Gardiner Family 150
Gardiner, Rev. Frederic, A. M. 150
Gardner, Edmund 923
Gardner Family 923
INDEX
IX
PAGE
Garrett, Elwood P 1312
Garrett, George K 850
Garvin, Milton T 852
Ga'st, Christian 140
Gast, Frederick A., D. D 140
Gatchell, Hon. J. C, M. D.... 1177
Geiger, Mrs. Catherine M 339
Geiger, Christopher 148, 543
Geiger, William C 543
Geist, Henry 14
Geist, Isaac S 1400
Geist, J. M. W 88
Geist, John 487
Gemperling, Henry C 580
Gensemer, Mrs. Mary A 1093
Gensemer, Samuel G 1093
Gerhard, Rev. Dariits W., A. M. 55
Gerhard Family SS
Gerhard, Milton U., M. D 589
Gerhart, Rev. Emanuel V.,
D. D., LL. D 33
Gerhart, Henry 556
Gerhart, John 379
Gerhart, Col. William R., A. M. 1342
Getz Family 578
Getz, Noah L 578
Geyer, George S ........ .■ 418
Gibble, Isaac S 1277
Gibble, Isaac W 1277
Gibbons, Joseph, M. D 659
Gibson, George 199
Gibson, Henry W 747
Gibson, John 1 179
Gibson, Samuel 1220
Gibson, Mrs. Susan 1179
Gilbert, Amos 562
Gilbert, Edwin M 533
Gillespie. George W., M. D 363
Ginder, Ephraim C 1087
Gingrich, Alfred B 1499
Gingrich, Jonas S 1521
Gingrich, Milton E 1520
Girfin, Frank G 1317
Girvin. Robert 499
Gish, Mirs. Amanda S 328
Gish, Amos R 1473
Gish Famiily 327
Gish, Henry B 327
Gish, Henry J 1470
Gish, Jacob R 144S
Gish, Peter R 1305
Given, Frank S 493
Given, William B 492
Givler, Hosea 1287
Glass, Samuel 1296
Glatfeker, David L. 1109
Glatfelter Family 1109
Glatfelter, Harris A 497
Glosser, William A 1227
Gochnauer, Andrew H 1358
Gochnauer Family 538
Gochnauer, John M 538
Gochnauer, Joseph H 538
Gochnauer, Samuel 247
Goldbach, George G 853
Goll, John A 1211
Good, Amos G 1288
Good, Benjamin 1158
Good, David K 1106
Good, Mrs. Elizabeth 96
Good, Ezra M logo
Good Family 573
Good, Henry 1461
PAGE
Good, Isaac B 877
Good, Jacob H 1429
Good, J. Martin 575
Good, John B 95
Good, John E 433
Good, John J 1501
Good, Martin H 1453
•Good, Martin R 1092
Good, Miss Mary 433
Good, Michael R 343
Good. Solomon H 883
Goos, Henry 1381
Gorrecht, William P 1380
Goss, Christian E 643
Grab, Frederick V 355
Grab, Mrs. Louise 356
Gra'bill, Clayton L 858
Grady. John 875
Graeff. David 619
Graeff, John H 620
Graham, Dana 114
Graham, Mrs. Lucy M 114
Grasnick. Dr. Dorothea J. L... 876
Graul, Daniel D 933
Graul Family 933
Graver, Amos 317
Graver, Henry M 1415
Graver, Henry M., Jr 1415
Graybill, Hon. David W 800
Graybill Families 715,1187
Graybill, Herman W 715
Graybill, Rev. Jacob N 296
Graybill. Samuel G loii
Grebill, John B 1 191
Greenleaf. F. M 1470
Greer, Adam 1102
Greer, John A iioi
Gregg, Lewis B 1D18
Greider, Amos M 917
Greider, Christian 678
Greider, Mlartiti 1386
Greider, Samuel S 1305
Greiner, Anthony G 1087
Gress. George W 1113
Greybill, Rufus D 1004
Grier. William H 53
Griest, Major Ellwood 92
Griest. Hon. W. W 92
Griffiths. Herman B 896
Grilhortzer, Esther A 446
Gril'bortzer, Gottleib 446
Grissinger. Jacob R 1408
Groff, Abraham B. loio
Groff. Abraham S 422
Groff. Adam ISII
Groff. Adam R 406
GrofF. Aldus 1215
Groff, Amos 1264
Groff. A mos H 1064
Groflf, Christian 279
Groff. David 187
Groff. David E 566
Groff. Rev. Elias 103
Groff. Ezra 912
Groff Families
103. 263. 204, 566. 805, 845, 1064
Groff. Frank R ■^55
Groff. Frank S .* 84.^
Groff. Harry 406
Groff. Henry L 452
Groflf. Isaac 203
Groff. Rev. J. N 263
Groff, John L 734
PAGE
Groff, John M. (East Drumore) 1246
Groff, John M. (Strasburg) . . . 407
Groff, John M. (Lancaster) . . . 664
Groff, M. H 834
Groflf, Martin K 1008
Groff, Nathaniel S 761
Groflf, Silas E 491
Groff, Wenger R 1231
Groff, William S 805
Grosh, John 1183
Grosh, Samuel E 629
Gross Family 639
Gross, Levi S 639
Grubb, Charles B 50
Grubb, Clement B 49
Grubb, Miss Daisy E. B 50
Grubb Family 48
Grubb, Henry B 49
Grube, David K 606
Grube, George B 1264
Grube, Martin H 405
Grube, William C 942
Gruber, John C 1479
Gruel, Jacob W 1 197
Gruger, Pearson E 944
Guiles Family 1303
Guiles, William M 1303
Gunzenhauser, Christian 888
Guthrie, William H 797
Habecker, Christian 1346
Habecker, Joseph H 1487
Habecker, Joseph K 1419
Hackenberger, George W 633
Hacker, Mrs. Lavinia L 338
Hacker, Levi S 337
Hackman Family 771
Hackman, Franklin S 771
Hackman, Jacob W 771
Haefner, Joseph 656
Hager, Charles F 179
Hager, Christopher 555
Hager, Christopher (1800).... 179
Hager Family 178
Haines Family 701
Haines, Henry B 701
Haines. John F 764
Halbach, Jacob 1200
Haldeman, Samuel S 144
Haldy, Lewis 560
Haldy, William Y 560
Hall, Edward C 548
Hall, Joseph A 1081
Hall, N. Franklin 879
Hamaker. John S . . . '. 962
Hambleton, Thomas B 652
Hamibright, Albert B 1505
Hambright, Mrs. Fanny 1403
Hambright, George 1402
Hambright, Prof. George M... 170
Hambright, Mrs. William T... 293
Hamilton, John A 1275
Hamilton, Lafayette 867
Hamilton. William 714
Hamt), William H., Sr 1071
Hanck, George 224
Hanck, Michael S 1067
Hanck, Samuel M 1068
Hanna, Charles G 1005
Hannum, Preston E 729
Hark, Dr. Hugo C 1135
Harm, William 760
Harman, Daniel 153
INDEX
PAGE
Harner, Henry C 155
Harner, Jesse 473
Harner, John S 486
Harner, Joseph 1049
Harner, Samuel 482
Harnish, Abraham 717
Harnish, Abraham B 1204
Harnish, Amos B 11 18
Harnish, Benjamin 786
Harnish, Benjamin B 940
Harnish, Daniel F 1030
Harnish, David F 309
Harnish, David H 1038
Harnish, David L 908
Harnish, H. H 1453
Harnish, Michael 786
Harper, Joseph D 516
Harple, Franklin G 1062
Harrar, A. Jackson 1057
Harrar Family I0S7
Harrar, John D 1257
Harris, Alexander 59
Harry, Willis G. 1373
Hart, Stephen J 1454
Hartman, Aaron E 976
Hartman, Albert 860
Hartman, Mrs. Anna M 1500
Hartman, Mks. Catherine. 1331
Hartman, David K 1380
Hartman, George H 1300
Hartman, Henry F 1331
Hartman, John 1 248
Hartman, John K 1518
Hartman, Lewis S 540
Hartman, Mrs. Mary A S4i
Hartman, Samuel 488
Hartman, Samuel B., M. D 968
Hassler, Aaron B iioi
Hassler Family iioi
Hastings, Miss Emma R 4S9
Hastings Family 403
Hastings, Joto 458
Hastings, Joseph D 403
Hastings, L. Rutter 1171
Hastings, William S 269
Hatz, Mrs. Harriet 355
Hatz, John 3S4
Hatz, Samuel 354
Hauck, David C 902
Haupt, Rev. Charles E., D. D.. 1212
Haverstick, Abraham B ...... . 334
Haverstick, Mrs. Annde B 946
Haverstick, David C 596
Haverstick Families 596, 656
Haverstick, Johti M 1418
Haverstick, Levi 656
Haverstick, Levi H 946
Hawthorn, George W 1245
Hayes, Enos P 995
Hayes Family 995
Hays, Charles 478
Hays, John L 809
Heagy, H. R 852
Heckler, Franklin J 311
Heidelbaugh Family 324
Heidelbaugh, Hon. Milton 324
Heidlebach, Jacob H 1484
Heidler Family 795
Heim, George 790
Heim, George, Jr 1316
Heim, John F 1060
Heine. Paul 468
Heinitsh, Charles A 208
PAGE
Heinitsh, John F 210
Heinitsh, Sigmund W 209
Heinitsh, Walter A 209
Heinitz, Anton Frederick, Bar-
on von 208
Heintzelman, Samuel P 206
Heise, B. Frank 932
Heisey, Edward L 1208 ■
Heisey Family 1138
Heisey, George R 899
Heisey, John W 1360
Heisey, Joseph K 1359
Heisey, Jacob W 1438
Heisey, Martin N -I136
Heisev, Simon C 967
Heisey, W. Scott I4S9
Heistand, Franklin Ml 846
Heitshu, William A 384
Helfrich, Matthias S 1103
Heller Family 938
Heller, Deacon Henry D 938
Heller, John S 1125
Helm, Daniel 227
Helm, D. E 303
Helm, Frank W 475
Henderson, Archibald L 667
Henderson, Jacob M 247
Henderson, James B 1358
Henderson, Mrs. Margaret A.. 667
Henderson, William 1259
Henderson, Mrs. William 1259
Henderson, Col. William C. . . . 702
Hennecke, Mrs. Sarah J 279
Hennecke, William F 279
Henninger, N. C i457
Henry, Benjamin F 1194
Henry, Judge John J 13
Hensel Family 1236
Hensel, N. N 449
Hensel, Hon. William U 373
Hensel, William W 1236
Herchelroth, Norman F 1C09
Herman, Adam T 1300
Herman, J. Peter 1171
Hernley, Abrami 954
Hernley Family 954
Herr, Aaron 887
Herr, Abraham 228
Herr, Abraham B 448
Herr, Rev. Abraham B 173
Herr, Abraham G 1225
Herr, Abraham H 817
Herr, Albert M. 802
Herr, Allan A 205
Herr, Ambrose J., M. D 185
Herr, Amos F 783
Herr, Amos H 393
Herr, Amos K 699
Herr, Andrew 649
Herr, Benjamin B 1425
Herr, Benjamin G 205
Herr, Mrs. Charlotte 1335
Herr, Christian. 817
Herr, Christian B 176
Herr, Christian S. B 361
Herr, Cyrus S 400
Herr, Daniel ( Pequea) 679
Herr. Daniel D 582
Herr, Col. Daniel H 29
Herr, David E 1204
Herr, D. Jefferson 857
Herr, Elias 1089
Herr, Elias H 709
PAGE
Herr, Emanuel H 1327
Herr. Families 29,
176, 204, 254, 679, 802, 1041, 1066
Herr, F. M 1306
Herr, Francis ' 1335
Herr, Francis L 807
Herr, George K 708
Herr, Harry B loi I
Herr, Henry B 985
Herr, Henry M 370
Herr, Hiram P 964
Herr, Isaac 798
Herr, Isaac R 227
Herr, Jacob 817
Herr, Jacob K 826
Herr, J. Aldus. ,. ' 1219
Herr, Jeremiah 267
Herr, J. Haldeman 176
Herr, John 964
Herr, John B 383
Herr, John D 1118
Herr, John L 254
Herr, John R 1311
Herr, Martin 173
Herr, Reuben D 679
Herr, Rudolph S 652
Herr, Silas S 1066
Herr, Solomon R 1041
Hersh, Benjamin F 1028
Hersh, E. H ' I45S
Hershey, Abraham L 1 159
Hershey, Andrew H 567
Hershey, Benjamin F 1372
Hershey, Benjamin H 1326
Hershey, Benjamin M 997
Hershey, Benjamin W 726
Hershey, Christian ml
Hershey, Clarence B looi
Hershey, Dianiel M 1504
Hershey, Elias 142
Hershey, Elias H 44
Hershey, Ephraim 63, 677
Hershey, Ephraim H 1485
Hershey, Eusebius K 1163
Hershey Families 62,
141, 285, 471, 677, 726, 1 163, 1326
Hershey, George B., M. D 930
Hershey, Harry L 1083
Hershey, Henry (Leacock).. . . 981
Hershey, Henry (Lancaster) . . 190
Hershey, Henry S 696
Hershey, Jacob D., M. D 1099
Hershey, Jacob E 63, 677
Hershey, Jacob G 292
Hershey, Jacob H 631
Hershey, Jacob R 285
Hershey, Rev. Jacob R 62, 676
Hershey, Jacob S 671
Hershey, J. Milton 1302
Hershey, John E. . . .■ 698'
Hershey, John E. (Paradise) . . 141
Hershey, Josiab 649
Hershey, Landis 1480
Hershey, Mrs. Magdalena iiii
Hershey, Peter E 471
Hershour, .Abraham 470
Hertgen, Joseph E 1382
Hertzler Family 674
Hertzler, John 644
Hess, Abraham Z 1054
Hess, B. Z 897
Hess, Mrs. Catharine 1430
Hess, Christian H 1472
INDEX
XI
PAGE
Hess, Conrad Z 802
Hess, Daniel D 1430
Hess, Daniel T 1139
Hess, David H 552
Hess Families 1051, 1054, 1440
Hess, Mrs. Harriet A 1404
Hess, Henry L 1461
Hess, Isaiah F 1440
Hess, John (Salisbury) 1404
Hoss, John (Strasiburg) 1051
Hess., John L 989
Hess, John W., M. D 532
Hess, Rev. Jonas H 666
Hess, Miss Mame B 1462
Hess, Martin G 863
Hess, Noah G 1053
Hess, Noah Z 804
Hess,, Mrs. Sarah A 533
Hess, Mts. Sarah J 195
Hess, William G., M. D 1462
Ifibshman Family 735
Hibshmian, George 73S
Hickey, John W 1295
Hicks, George W 1502
Hitstand Family 683
Hie^Btand, Simon H 683
Hiester, Isaac E 147
Higbee; Elnathan E., D. D.
LL. .D 96
High, Mrs. Catherine A 700
High, Samuel S 700
Hildebrand, Isaac H 1413
Hildebrand, Isaac N 942
Hildebrand, Jacob 634
Hiller, Casper 197
Hilton, C. H 839
Himes, Miss Anna C 676
Himes, Clinton 684
Himes, Re«s C 676
Hinkle, Mrs. Anna 431
Hinkle, Calvin G ion
Hinkle, Charles H 517
Hinkle Family 518
Hinkle, Harry M 998
Hinkle, Joseph 431, 951
Hippey, George 379
Hippie, Charles P 1271
Hirsh, Abraham 822
Hirsh, Benjamin W 861
Hirsh, Leopold 822
Hirst, Elder Thomas R 1241
Hoak, Amos D 1433
Hoak, Mrs. Caroline 1433
Hoar, William C. 621
Hocking, John 953
Hoefel, Mrs. Elizabeth 775
Hoefel, Frederick 775
Hoffer Family 590
Hoffer, Elder Henry B 1108
Hoffer, Jacob R 590
Hoffer, Tobias 397
Hoffman, Abraham L 409
Hoffman, Amos H 749
Hoffman, Benjamin 408
Hoffman, Benjamin F 410
Hoffman, Christ S 487
Hoffman, Clayton R 411
Hoffman Families 409j 1156
Hoffman, Henry 1160
Hoffman, Henry B 1061
Hoffman, Isaac W 1156
Hoffman, Michael M 409
Hoffman, Michael R 409
Hoffman, Niorman R 411
Hoffman, Paris R 408
Hoffman, Peter S 1274
Hoffmeier, Charles S 897
Hoffmeier, George K 896
Hogg Family 661
Hogg, Squire William H 661
Hpibein, Mirs. Elizabeth 1363
Hohein, Osoar 1363
Hoke, Joseph A 1449
Hollinger, Amos 344
Holman, John W 1453
. Homsher Family 1181
Homsher, Franklin 1466
Homsher, John 1 181
Hood, John D 927
Hood, Thomas S 940
Hook, John A 323
Hook, John F 1286
Hook, John H 1269
Hook, John H. (Lancaster) . . . 746
Hook, Mrs. Mary A 324
Hookey, Benjamin F 644
Hoopes, Maris 1262
Hoover, Mrs. A. Lizzie 1284
Hoover, Christian H 1040
Hoover, John S 1284
Hopkins Family 870
Hopkins, William 870
Horning, John 448
Horst, Rev. Abraham 159
Horst. David S 517
Horst, John C. S 279
Horst, Mrs. Louisa 279
Hoster, Charles J 1523
Hostetter, Abraham F 167
Hostetter, Amaziah H 866
Hostetter, Christian F 757
Hostetter, Emanuel F 502
Hostetter, Emanuel P 1094
Hostetter Family 7S7
Hostetter, Henry F 530
Hostetter, John 502
Hostetter, Jonas E 998
Hostetter, Tillman N 998
Hottenstein, Henry S 1027
Hougendobler, Amos R 130
Hougendobler, John J 1407
Houser, Henry M 1337
Houser, John E 134S
Houston, Joseph W., M. D 244
Houston, Robert J 240
Howard, Mrs. Barbara 1376
Ho'well, Msijor Charles M 20
Howett, H. G 1414
Howry, Walter C 1109
Huber, Aaron 1439
Htiber, Amos 559
Huber, Abraham B 1481
Huber, Christian 651
Huber, Christian B 1318
Huber, David 730
Huber, David A 835
Huber, David B 670
Huber, David H 1300
Huber, David H. (Martic) 1170
Huber Families 57i. 730, 1040
Huber, H. C 884
Huber, Henry 284
Huber, J. Miilton S7i
Huber, Jonas 57°
Huber, Levi B 925
Huber, Martin 790
PAGE
Huber, Samuel M' i486
Hufman Family in
Hull Family 82
Hull, George W 81
Humble, William F 271
Hunter, James 1483
Hunsecker, Ellis E 890
Hupper, Albert 1210
Hurst, Matthias S 4Si
Hurst, Michael W., M. D 1353
Husson, Harry K 1274
Ilyus, A. C 1179
Immel, Henry S 744
Ingram, William J 1088
Irwin Family 243
Irwin, John E 1315
Irwin, Lewis W 1437
Irwin, Plank 643
Irwin, Samuel 1262
Irwin, Thaddeus S., M. D 243
Jackson, Andrew 1002
Jackson, David W 1392
Jackson, John 873
Jackson, John K 394
Jackson, Joseph 1474
Jackson, Newton 1460
Jackson, William L 11 12
Jacoby, Harry S 419
Jacoby, Peter 419
Jacoby, Reuben E 419
Jamison, J. A 1477
Jamison, Joseph G 1034
Jenks, James M 390
Johnson, Arthur A 1016
Johnson, Cyrus 957
Johnson, John 1487
Johnson, John E 1463
Johnson, Kirk 928
Johnson, Mrs. Margaret H.... 1016
JoneSi Stephen 1 162
Kaegel, Henry H 966
Kahl, MSss Sarah L 814
Kahl. William 813
Kauffman, Abraham B 1025
Kauffman, Amos G 1524
Kauffman, Mrs. Barbara 464
Kauffman, Benjamin B 1523
Kauffman, Benjamin C 1124
Kauffman, Hon. Christian C. . . 256
Kauft'man, Christian H 1334
Kauffman, Christian H. (de-
ceased) 463
Kauffman Families 256, 1123
Kauffman, Mrs. Fanny H 474
Kauffman, Henry M 1124
Kauffman, Rev. Hiram G 1139
Kauffman, Isaac 1334
Kauffman, Isaac H 474
Kauffman, John H 442
Kauffman, John M 1281
Kauffman, Mrs. Mlartha 1281
Kauffman, Michael Mi 1375
Kauffman, Reuben G 1320
Kauffman, Samuel L 469
Kaaiffman, Winfield S 1089
Kaufhold, Joseph G 801
Kaul, Very Rev. Anthony F.,
V. F 616
Kautz, Jacob F 1187
xu
INDEX
Kautz, Mrs. Maria M 232
Kautz, William S 232
Kaylor, John H 466
Keen, Adam 1406
Keen, Albert M 965
Keen Family 1406
Keener, Clayton F 858
Keener, Henry 864
Kehler, Henry N 630
Keller, Charles B 1210
Keller Families 882, 1210
Keller, Jacob B 882
Keller, Jacob K 1314
Keller, John A 1211
Keller Thomas H 854
Keller, William H 1219
Kelley, Jacob iioo
Kelly, James 1489
Kelly, Michael 1488
Kemmerly, John 1279
Kemper Family 1050
Kemper, George A 1050
Kemrer Family 983
Kemrer, Phares D 983
Kendig, Mrs. Annie 609
Kendig, Miss B. Alice 706
Kendig, Christian H 609
Kendig, Miss Elizabeth M 837
Kendig, Miss Fannie 443
Kendig, Henry 443
Kendig, Jacob 1228
Kendig, John 706
Kendig, Martin D 360
Kendig, Willis G., Esq 842
Keneagy, Samuel, M. D 71
Kennedy, Horace E iigo
Kennedy, William' H 915
Kent, Miahlon B 697
Kepler, Aaron C 146
Kerner, John 1481
Kerner, Joseph B 878
Kershner, Dr. Jefferson E. . . . 165
Kessler, Amos 302
Kesskr, John 1 1 14
Keylor Family 513
Keylor, F. S 262
Keylor, Henry S 261
Keylor, Milton 513
Keys, James J 1077
Kieffer Family 74
Kieffer, John B., Ph. D 74
Kinard, John W 70S
Kindig, Christian, Jr 737
King Family 1 167
King, Mrs. Rebecca D 1202
King, William 1202
King, William D 806
King, Williami W 1262
Kinzer, B. F 355
Kinzer, George W 1432
Kinzer, Mrs. Louisa A 1432
Kinzer, William W 1432
Kinzler Miss Elizabeth 334
Kinzler, Frederick 334
Kirk, Family 74
Kirk, Lewis J 74
Kisiner, Theodore 979
Klaus, John 378
Klau.s, Mrs. Katherine 378
Kline, Abram 594
Kline, Charles R 398
Kline, Henry H 1232
Kline, John H. (Columbia).. 1299
PAGB
Kline, John H. (Lancaster) .... 1345
Kline, J. Y., M. D 1463
Klittg, Isaiah M 1167
Klugh, Horace H 1168
Knapp, Joseph 1252
Knobb, George~L 1138
Knox, Rev. Charles T 862
Knox, David S 782
Knox, Edward J 782
Knox, Robert J 1137
Knox, Robert S 561
Kofroth, P. B 1218
Kehler, Rev. John 1385
Kohler, Mrs. Louisa A 1385
Kohr, Jacob D 821
Kohr, John 54
Kohr, Bishop John 54
Konigmacher Family 424
Konigmacher, Jacob 424
Koser, Samuel B., M, D 744
Krantz, John H 1008
Kray, Andrew 338
Kready, Edgar B 856
Kready, Jacob B 287
Kready, John E 287
Kready, Miss Mary 287
Kreckel, Edward 415
Kreider, Andrew H 1051
Kreider, Benjamin R 32
Kreider, Charles D 626
Kreider, Christian 443
Kreider, David L 1329
Kreider, Eli L 778
Kreider Families 778, 1291
Kreider, Franklin N 1369
Kreider, George 407
Kreider, John 490
Kreider, John H 1291
Kreider, Tobias R 1328
Kreiter, Diavid H 1428
Kreiter Family 723
Kreiter, Jacob C 723
Kreiter, John S., M. D 769
Krodel, Peter A iiii
Kurtz, Daniel 348
Kurtz. David W 723
Kurtz Families 348, 1029, 1032
Kurtz, George 816
Kurtz, Henry K 1244
Kurtz, John G 1043
Kurtz, John S 330
Kurtz, Joseph 1032
Kurtz, L. Scott 1029
Kurtz, Mrs. Maria H 724
Kurtz Martin 349
Kurtz, Mrs. Susan 1137
Lamborn Family 610
Lamborn, George S 610
Lamparter, Eberhart J 915
Lamparter, Jacob J 941
lamparter. Miss Pauline 528
Landau, Mrs. Barbara E 310
Landau, John 310
Landes, Levi 1052
Landis, Aaron B 1171
Landis, Adam 1514
Landis, Amos N 1009
Landis, Benjamin B 337
Landis, Benjamin F 763
Landis, Benjamin L 1150
Landis, Hon. Charles 1 183
Landisi, Christian N 1061
PAGE
Landis, Clayton G 1358
Landis, David B 1357
Landis, David Bachman 233
Landis, David H 1212
Landis, David N 891
Landis, Eli L 1155
Landis Families. 233, 452, 1186, 1288
Landis, Henry B 1 147
Landis, H. Reisit 454
Landis, Jacob L 538
Landis, John B 356
Landis, Rev. John B 137, 748
Landis, John F 864
Landis, John R 1288
Landis, Lemon S 1098
Landis, Levi L 1 187
Landis, Phares K 935
Landis, Rev. Sanford B 874
Landis, Solon Z 1355
Lane, George A 897
Lanie, Samuel E 49^
Lantz, Mrs. Maria 472
Lantz, Samuel W 471
Latta, Rev. James 83
Law, James 604
Layman, David R 1279
Learaan, Abraham L 936
Leaman, Amos 959
Leaman, B. Frank. . . ., 1259
Leaman, David 1036
Leaman, Henry 603
Leaman, John 886
Leaman, John L 886
Leaman, Reuben B 604
Leaman.. Tobias 1053
Lebzelter, Philip 524
Leech, John F 586
Lefever, Abram A 1253
Lefever, Adam 450
Lefever, Christian 337
Lefever, David 780
Lefever Families 477, 780
Lefever, Frank K 1305
Lefever, George 477
Lefever, George N 1503
Lefever, Harry R 1275
Lefever, Henry K 450
Lefever, Jacob 1336
Lefever, John 1342
Lefever, John H 251
Lefever, Martin 1304
LeFevre, Acton A 860
Lefevre, John S 1240
Lehman, Amos N 1448
Lehman Family 777
Lehman, Henry C 223
Lehman, John N 777
Lehman, Mrs. Mary L 223
Leibley, George 903
Leisey, James C 1058
Leman Brothers 1377
Leman, Herbert D 1377
Leman, Reuben J 1377
Lennox, F. M 1506
Lesher, Pierce 62a
Le Tort, Jacques 71
Levan, Edgar H 937
Levan Family 937
Levan, George 789
Levan, Landis 789
Levenite, David B 140S
Levergood, John, M. D 694
Levergood, Mrs. M. Louisa 694
INDEX
xm
PAGE
Lewis, Judge Ellis 14
Lightner Family 1475
Lightner, James N 1475
LiUer, William C 869
Lindemuth, Mrs. Elizabeth.... 380
Lindeniuth, Martin Z 380
Linden Hall Seminary 625
Line, John 1410
Lineaweaver, Mrs. Jane S 363
Linea'weaver, John K., M. D. .. 361
Lingerfield, Mrs^ Adaline B.... 1397
Lingerfield, Cyrus 1396
Lintncr, Daniel H 1494
Linton, Robert C 766
Lipp, Christian C 1025
Lipp Family 1025
Livingston, Hon. John B., LL. D. i
Locher, Charles A 911
Locher, CliJirles H 132
Locher Family 132
Locher, Mrs. Margaret 912
Locher, Robert E 428
Lockard, Bayard T 1335
Lockard, Hiram C 1252
Loder, Joseph 1247
Long, Adam B 916
Long, Benjamin K 647
Long Families 647, 957, 980
Long, Judge Henry G 14
Long, Jacob B 411
Long, James M 1037
Long, John F 412
Long, Joseph H 1507
Long, Joseph J 980
Long, J. Robert 957
Longenecker, Addison B 57s
Longenecker, Christ G 794
Longenecker, Isaac S 1468
Lucas, William H 1265
Lutz, Aaron R 1208
Lutz Family 1048
Lutz, Harvey B 1048
Lutz, John H 959
Lyie, George L SS6
Lynch Family 1 105
Lynch, James A 1 105
Lyte, Eliphalet O., A. M., Ph. D. 35
McAnall, Robert 1280
McBride, John G 1490
McCall, William H 1273
McCanna, Henry F 787
McCarter, Henry G 250
McCaskey, Capt, Edward W. . . 288
McCaskey Family 116
MbCaskey, John 116
McCaskey, John P .'. 117
McCaskey, Joseph B., D. D. S. 75 1
McCaskey, Walter B 127
McCaskey, Col. William S 122
McClain, Hon. Francis B 1086
McClure, David 298
McClure Family 298
McClure, Mrs. Mary J 34S
McClure, Samuel 345
McCommon, Joseph mo
McCommon, Miss Maggie E. . iiio
McComsey Family 366
McConnell, Jacob C, M. D 643
MicCoy, James F 1330
MtDonald, Abraham K 1475
McDonaW, Joseph R 1475
'McElbany Family 1144
McElhany, John W ii43
McElligott, Dr. Thomas F 1416
McElwain, Miss Ella R 306
McElwain, Miss M. Amanda... 306
McElwain, William 306
MicEvoy, Patrick 62
McFalls, Mrs. Susan 1078
McFalls, William H 1078
McGinness, George B 846
MicGinnis, John W 1417
MicGlaughlin, Joseph H 920
McGowan, Mrs. Annie E 687
MicGowan Family . .'. 687
McGowan, John 687
McGrann, Bernard J 346
McGrann, Richard .' 346
McHose, Clarence N 1228
Mcllvaine Family 685
McLane, Breneman S 255
McLaughlin, J. F I49S
MtManamy, Mrs. Bridget 1429
McManamy, Jolui' 1429
McManus, James R 1287
McManus, Owen 1479
McMellen, Capt. Elias 138
McMichael, James M 1238
McMichael, Thomas L 1333
McMullen, Hon. David 651
McNeal, Samuel 719
McSparran, Edgar L 1099
McSparran Family 1099
McSparran, James G 871
McSparran, James M 1491
McSparran, Thomas F 792
Mable, John 828
Mable, William 828
M'ack, Patrick J 1310
Magee, David F 738
Malone Family 1339
Malone, John E i339
Manlick, Frederick 1257
Manlick, Jacob F 1256
Mann Family 641
Mann, Jacob K I3S6
Mann, Simon S., M. D 641
Manning, Albert A 910
Manning Family 91°
Manning, George K 113S
Manning, Harry N 910
Manuel. Israel 1096
Markley, Benjamin F 979
Markley, J. Monroe 1116
Marsh, James P 731
Marsh, Thomas J 398
Miarshall, Charles L 767
Marshall, James H 1326
Marshall, William 0 767
Martin, Abner H 1007
Martin, Adam 1217
Martin, Abraham W 1493
Martin, Barton B 221
Martin, Benjamin S 973
'Martin, Benjamin F i4S6
Martin, Christian 1203
Martin, David H ii49
Martin, David H. (Elizabeth-
town) 1479
Martin, David S 1216
Martin, E. K 220
Martin Families 220, 1479
Martin, Henry N 988
Martin, Isaac 1063
Martin, Isaac G 1063
Martin, Mrs. Joanna 507
Martin, John C 221
Miartin, John N 1425
Martin, John P 1363
Martin, Menno B 1007
Martin, Peter 171
Mfeirtin, Samuel 521
Martin, Samuel D 1007
Martin, William S 506
M'atz, Carl 0 280
MJaule, J. Comly 461
Maule, Mrs. S. Emma 461
Maurer, George M 519
Mlaxwell, Miss Ellen E 693
Maxwell, Hugh 33
Maxwell, William 693
May, Frederick 147
May, Samuel C 1220
May, Tobias H 147
Mayer, David E 479
Mayer, Henry M 532
Mayer, Israel P 733
Mayling, George A 366
Mayling, Mrs. Rebecca M 366
Mearig, William M 927
Meek, John 589
Meek. Philip 573
Meckley, Abraham H 739
Meckley, David C 489
Meckley, Isaac 489
Mfeckley, Jacob B 650
Mieckley, Jacob H 519
Meginness, John F 112
Mehl, William 838
Meister, Rev. Emil 476
M'ellinger, Clayton S 1207
Mellinger. Daniel H 1162
Mellinger, David F 286
Mellinger, David H 436
Mellinger, David H. (1832) 1463
Mellinger Families 436, 1207
Mellinger, Henry S 232
Mellinger, Henry S., M. D 436
Mellinger, Jacob 564
Menaugh, John H 1434
Meshey, Peter G 1225
Metz, Thornton B 1285
Metzger Family 164
Metzger, Henry S 164
Metzger, Philip A 920
Metzler, Abraham 1130
Metzler Family 1 130
Metzler, John H 1289
Metzroth, Mrs. Amelie 1443
Metzroth, Martin 1442
Meyers, David H 1061
Michael, Frank 887
Miesse, D. Walter 1477
Mifflin, James DeV 1082
Miller, Amos B., M. D 1356
Miller, Aaron W 1285
Miller, Mrs. Bai'bara 1031
Miller, Benjamin P 832
Miller, Christian B ; . . 885
Miller, David L 592
Miller, Mrs. Elizabeth 1435
Miller, Franklin P. D 301
Miller, George H , . 1298
Miller, Henry C 73;?
Miller, Henry E S85-
Miller, Mrs. Hettie E 1399
Miller, Dr. Israel A 1152
Miller, John 175
XIV
INDEX
Miller, John (1811) 1435
Miller, John L 1030
Miller, John S 400
Miller, Joseph 1067
Miller, Joseph (East Donegal) . 396
Miller, Joseph E 1268
Miller; Martin 59°
Miller, Martin L 878
Miller, Milton N 1232
Miller, Oliver B 1084
Miller, Samuel 1398
Miller, Samuel K 1020
Miller, S. Clay : 80
Miller, Wesley 1039
Milleysack, Jphn B 1125
Minich, Mrs. Anna C 224
M'inich, Benjamin F 951
Minich, Charles W 1244
Minich, Henry G 223 .
Minich, Jacob A 1243
Minnich, John L 1075
Minnich, Jonas L 104S
Minnich, Simon B '. . . . 1344
Missener, J. R 684
Mitchell, James, M. D 392
Mitchell, Rev. James Y., D. D. 391
Moderwell, S. P 961
Mioench, Charles L 843
Mo'bler, David K 1004
Mohler, Levi 829
Montgomery, Caleb E 78
Montgomery, James 441
Montgomery, Prof. John V. . . . 78
Montgomery, Washington 141S
Moore, Mrs. Anna E 28
Moore Family 809
Mtoore, Harry H 1378
Moore, John 183
Moore, Dr. John G 27
Moore, John H 270
Mioore, Michael H 432
Moore, Dr. Mordecai M 27
Moore, Phares S S29
M'oore, William B ' 809
Moiore, Prof. William W., A. M. 1341
Morison, George A 1424
Morrison, Alexander K 510
Morrison, Robert A 1384
Mowery Family 239
Mowery, Henry A., M. D 239
Mowrer, Amos S 635
Mowrer, David W 948
Mowrer Family 948
Moyer, David L 1048
Moyer, John G 893
Mueller, John P 1079
Muhlenberg, Frederick A 72
Muhlenberg, Dr. G. Henry E. . 72
Muhlenberg, Henry E., M. D. . 72 ,
Mumma, Christian N 1418
Mumma, Frank Ni 278
Mumma, Jacob S 526
Murr, Mrs. Catharine ,. . 642
Murr, Isaac 642
Murray, Lindley 81
Musselm'an, Christian 156
Musselman, Harry 1481
Musselman, Jacob 485
Musselman, John 187
Musselman!, Weaver 1023
Musser, Andrew J 90
Musser, Benjamin G 401
Musser, B. Frank 868
PAGE
Musser, Mrs. Caroline 163
Musser, Daniel 793
Musser, Eli M 654
Musser Families 90, 250, 814, 868
Musser, Harry E 1465
Musser, Henry E., M. D 814
Musser, Henry S 1373
Musser, Henry S. (East Done-
gal) 1263
Musser, Isaiah N 401
Musser, J. Henry, M. D 250
Musser, John N 955
Musser, Mrs. M|ary 654
Musser, Michael B 654
Musser, Milton B., M. D 163
Musser, Miss Susan S 1162 '
Myer, Miss Anna 862
Myer, Miss Elizabeth 383
Myer Family 862
Myer, Samuel R 382
Myers, Abraham 898
Myers, Christian 1444
Myers, Christian H 1348
Myers, David 507
Myers, David B 689
Myers, Elam S 939
Myers, Mrs. Ella 1444
Myers Families 898, 1 181
Myers, Henry 222
Myers, Jacob R , 1181
Myers, John B 1069
Mjyers, John H 1235
Myers, Mrs. Mary H 689
Myers, Michael B 1447
Myers, Michael G 1447
Myers, Reuben J 74S
Myers, Samuel M 504
Mylin, Aldus C 858
Mylin, Hon. Amos H 1401
Mylin, EU K 1467
Mylin, Frank , 1432
Mylin, John B iiis
Mylin, Martin K 369
Mylin, Samuel M 401
Nagel, Rev. Charles 466
Nagle Family 1412
Nagle, Henry 1411
Nauman, Mrs. Annie R 761
Nauman, George 91
Nauman, John 92
Nauman, John S 761
Neff, Aldus F 866
Neff, Benjamin H I43S
Neff, Daniel S 919
Neff, Emanuel 467
Neff. Levi B 1425
Nevin, John W., D. D 143
Newcomer, Abraham 335
Newcomer, Amos W 339
Newcomer, Christian K 1222
Newcomer, Mrs. Elizabeth M. . 1222
Newcomer, Ezra W., V. M. D. . 1107
Newcomer, Jacob B 1392
Newcomer, Rev. Jacob K 756
Newcomer, Jacob N 339
Newcomer, Joseph K 503
Newell, Charles F 1360
Nislev, Daniel B I3S3
Nissley, Eli L 74i
Nissley, Mrs. Elizabeth 39.=;
Nissley, Gabriel E 1478
Nissley, Harvey B 1374
PAGE
Nissley, Henry B 536
Nissley, Hiram H 1209
Nissley, Peter B 395
Nissley, Peter R 1 148
Nissly, B. H 1303
Nissly Family 638
Nissly, Mrs. Joseph B 235
Nissly, Joseph B 234
Nissly, Levi W 1266
Nissly, Samuel 528, 638
Noble, Mrs. Martha L 1249
Noble, William M 1249
Nolt, Jonas H S97
Nolt, Rev. Reuben S 1030
North, Hugh M 32
Ober, Andrew C 1494
Ober, Henry K 1370
Ober, Henry R 1176
Ober, Michael R 1370
Oberholtzer, Christian B 1006
Oberholtzer, Chri'stian H 447
Oberholtzer, Jacob B '. . . . 991
Oberholtzer, Samuel L 926
Oberlin Family 994
Oberlin, Howard L 994
Oberlin, W. Shelley 994
Oldweiler, Cyrus 1361
Olmsted, John 1467
Oster, William M 1517
Ostertag, John H ll6o
Overdeer, E. Silas 119S
Owen, Benjamin 673
Owen, Eliza 673
Owen, Mrs. Elizabeth L 988
Owen Family 672
Owen, George B 672
Owen, Mary B 673
Parke, Alexander G. B., M. D. . 195
Parthemer, John H 645
Patterson, Alexander 627
Patterson, Bordley S 481
Patterson, Mrs. Elizabeth 627
Patterson Families 326, 481
Patterson, James A 163
Patterson, James S 326
Patterson, Miss Mary W 163
Patton, Abraham 1224
Patton, David K 844
Patton, Henry 338
Paules, David L 602
Paules Family 1366
Paules, Granville W 1365
Paules, W. Percy 1255
Paxson, Samuel P 1466
Paxson',v Rev. William, D. D. . . 167
Pelen, Abraham 1312
Pennell, Frank G 582
Pennell, John J 1422
Penny Family 491
Penny, John D 1019
Penny, Joseph 491
Penny. William C 691
Pennypacker, John 1052
Penrose, Israel 1070
Penrose, Lukins 534
Peoples, Abner 637
Peoples. Hon. -Hiram 755
Perry, John C 1423
Pf aeffle, Louis H 1229
Pfahler, Henry 1192
Pfahler, Jacob C 811
INDEX
XV
PAGE
Pf autz, Ezra 728
Pfautz, Matilda R 729
Phalm, M. H 1464
Phenegar, Isaac 574
Pbillip, John W 1438
Phillip, Mrs. Mary L 1438
Phillips Family 1441
Phillips, Hemy 1441
Pickel, Ellis 854
Pickel, Jacob 729
Pickel, Jacob K 1410
Plank, Edward H., M. D 294
Poisal, David W. E 1354
Porter, Thomas 196
Powdeni, Abraham H 592
Powl, Eli B 480
Pownall, Benjamin H 1424
Pownall Families 318, 1424
Pownall, Henry 317
Pownall, Henry (1857) 382
Pownall, Joseph D. C 693
Pownall, Mrs. Louissa S 318, 382
Pownall, Phebe ' 318
Prangley, James, Jr 853
Prizer, Elmer T., M. D 884
Pugh, Samuel J 1175
Pugh, William T 1351
Purple, Mirs. Margaret A 359
Purple, Silas H 399
Pusey Family 299
Pusey, William P 299
Quade, Frederick 327
Quay, Hon. Matthew S 2
Ranck, Adam M 1492
Ranck, Daniel E 1447
Ranck, David W 447
Ranck Families 447, 1403
Ranck, George H 1403
Ranck, Rev. Jacob D 166
Ranck, Jacob L 697
Ranck, John D 1426
Ranck, Rev. John K 165
Ranck, John M 1459
Ranck, Samuel W 1106
Rankin, Joseph G 934
Ranjsing, Henry E 1129
Ransing, Capt. Henry.... 1129
Ransing, Mrs. Rose 1129
Rathfon, Jacob 188
Rathfon, John E 665
Rathvon, Simon S., Ph. D 139
Raub, G. J. P 833
Raub, John P. Mi 950
Rauch. Lewis A 425
Rea, Philip D 813
Ream, George U 1466
Ream, William W 1308
Redsecker Family 216
Redsecker, George 314
Redsecker, John C 314
Reed, George K 224
Reed, G. Harry 1071
Reed, J. Frank 331
Reed, John F 292
Reed, Mansell 672
Reed, Mrs. Mary 22S
Reel, Elam 1268
Reel, Whitell L. 271
Reemsnyder, Byron J., M!. D... 1421
Reemsnyder Family 1421
Reese, Abram 987
PAGE
Reese, 'Christian G 941
Reese Family 1390
Reese, Harry G 1477
Reese, Samson D 1390
Reeser, Peter 892
Reeser, Plank 713
Reich, Mrs;. Ella C 201
Reich, George R., M. D 1316
Reich, George W., M. D 201
Reichenbach, John C. W 183
Reiling, Charles M 1230
Reilly, Edward D 253, 336
Reilly, James B 1374
Reilly, John 252
Reilly, Michael 1365
Reilly, Richard M' 252
Reilly, T. Wallace 253
Reinhart, George W 1256
Reinhart, John ' 1256
Reinhart, Levi 1387
Reinhold, Edwin B 393
Reinhold, Edwin L 392
Reinoehl, Major Adam C 157
Reisinger, Adam J 1302
Reist, Aaron E 762
Reist, Elias E 190
Reist Family 512
Reist, Levi S 189
Reist, Lineas R 1276
Reist, Peter 1276
Reitzel. Edward B 1233
Reitzel, Elias 0 1205
Reitzel, Ephraim H., Sr 807
Reitzel Family 120S
Rem'sburg, Ointon E 1039
Resh, Emanuel M 1131
Resh Family 572
Resh, Henry B 573
Resh, Mrs. Susanna 573
Ressell, John 1469
Resisler, C. M 439
Ressler, Henry 750
Retheiser. Daniel '. 838
Rettew, Amos M 1037
Rettew, Samuel 1481
Rettew, Willis M 1480
Retzer, James I4S9
Reynolds Family 340
Reynolds, George N 340
Reynolds, James L 261
Reynolds, John 261
Reynolds, Gen. John F 261
Reynolds, Samuel H 192
Reynolds., Admiral William 261
Rhoads, Abraham S 761
Rhoads, Henry Z 320
Rhoads, Levi S 784
Rice, Joseph S 1063
Rice, William R 1417
Rich Family 198
Ricke'r, Frederick A 1020
Ricksecker Family I77
Ricksecker, Levi 177
Riddle, William 296
Rider, Jacob D 1215
Rieker, Frank A 1033
Rieker, Mrs. Katharine M, 1238
Rinier Family 1439
Rinier. Henry 1439
Risk Family 1202
Risk, Robert B 663
Risk, William R 1202
Risser, Mrs. Amanda 1 147
PAGE
Risser, Amos L 987
Risser, Joseph N 1034
Risser, Joseph S 467
Risser, Levi 1146
Ritchie, E. R 1469
Roath, Hon. Emanuel D 673
Roath, George H 783
Robinson, Mrs. Annie J 1309
Robinson Family 1309
Robinson, George M 1126
Robinson, John W 1309
Rochow, Charles 831
Rochow, Ernest 1 106
Rochow Family 831
Rodgers, Augustus 1286
Rodkey, Mirs. Amelia M 318, 1130
Rodkey, John 1 130
Roebuck, Peter J., M. D 113
Rogers, William R looi
Rohr, George 283
Rohrer, Abram K 839
Rohrer, Amos K 1473
Rohrer, Christian 493
Rohrer, Christian H 1426
Rohrer, David B 1463
Rohrer Family 213
Rohrer, George R., M. D 213
Rohrer, Henry D 839
Rohrer, Henry 'S 493
Rohrer, Isaac F 1468
Rohrer, Jacob 470
Rohrer, Jacob H 1330
Rohrer, John K 1146
Rohrer, John L 196
Rohrer, John S 1231
Rohrer, Milton S 1377
Rohrer, T. M., M. D 1038
Rohrer, Wayne B 938
Roland, Cornelius F 34
Roland, Miss Elizabeth J 628
Roland, George 0 627
Roland, Henry A 333
Roland, Mrs. Jane W 334
Roland, John 618
Roland, Hon. Jonathan H 628
Romig, S. P 1272
Roop, Harry B., M. D 849
Root, Abraham W 1012
Root Family 1012
Root, Samuel N 717
Rosenmiller, Hon. David P 1199
Rosenmiller, Miss Rebecca 1199
Rosenstein, Albert 728
Ross, George 189
Rost, George 1433
Rote, Andrew B 1107
Rote, Henry 1333
Rotehorn, Frank 1310
Rowe, C. S 844
Royer, Abraham 429
Royer, Cyrus 1497
Royer, Jacob W., M. D 430, 988
Royer, Joseph R 848
Ruby, Harry K 746
Rudy, Christian 918
Rudy, David B 1277
Ruhl, Harry H 1017
Rupp, Benjamin S 1360
Rupp, Prof. Isaac D 149
Rupp, Joseph 1364
Rupp, Rev. William., A. M.,
D. D 82
Russel, John R 313
XVI
INDEX
PAGE
Russell, Michael F 1198
Ruth Family 1412
Ruth, John F 151S
Ruth, William D 1412
Rutherford, Albert C 1196
Rutherford, John D SS4
Rutt, Samuel M 1458
Rutter, Amos 704
Rutter Families 195, 370, 704
Rutter, Henry S 59i
Rutter, John M 370
Rynear, Charles 593
Rynear, Mrs. Rachel M 594
Sample, Dr. Nathaniel W 151
Sample, Samuel R., M. D 151
Samuels', Charles A 1349
Sander, Henry .' 754
Sander, Henry M '. 755
Sandoe, George 1270
Sapp, William C 1381
Sauder, Jacob M 1024
Sauder, Rev. John M 1229
Saud«r, Peter H 562
Saylor, Benjamin F 1157
Schaeffer, Emanuel 694
Schaeffer, M'. G 724
Schaibley, Michael 1094
Scheetz, Abram 350
Schenck Family 1127
Schenck, John H 1127
Schlegelniilch, Frank X 11 17
Schleich, George H 1369
Schleich, John 1369
Schlott, William 1003
Schnader Family 692
Schnader, Reuben K 691
Schneider (or Snader) Family. 109
Schneitman, William B 821
Schock Families 626, 1028
Schock, John 626
Schock, John (Manor) 102S
Schofield. Mrs. Mary M 1322
Schroeder, Francis I44
Schroeder, Mrs. Katherine B... 144
Schroyer Family 460
Schroyer, Henry A 460
Schuberth, Charles G 608
Scott, Mrs. Edith R 350
Scott, Jesse 542
Scott, John 542
Scott, Miss Mary H 350
Scott, N. Davis 350
Scott, Robert A 759
Scott, Winfield 1242
Seabold, John 1217
Seachrist. Jacob S II47
Seiple, Harvey 358
Seiple, John 358
Seitz, Charles C 416
.Seitz, Christian 394
Seitz, Jacob C 725
Seitz, Jacob G 725
Seitz, John C 707
Seldomridge, Aldus M 1451
Seldomridge, George 163, 1451
Seldomridge, Jeremiah 486
Seldomridge, Robert C , . . 1338
Seldomridge, Samuel M . .' 364
Seldomridge, Mrs. Sarah A.... 164
Seltzer, William K 61
Sener Family 200
Sener, J. Frederick 200
PAGE
Sener, Levi 1076
Senger, John B 981
Sensenich, Franklin W 1063
Sensenig, George R 468
Shafer, Adam S 1148
Shaftner, Casper 85
Shand, James 228
Shank, Aaron H 523
Shank, Jacob I399
Shank, Jonas E 919
Shank, Park B 1166
Sharp, Samuel L 1481
Shaub, Abraham .. .• 1491
Shaub, Prof. Benjamin F 335
Shaub, Ephraim H 843
Shaub Family 1143
Shaubach, Amos 771
Shauhach, Martin 1378
Shaubach, Reuben 739
Shaw, Emmor 1234
Sheaffer, Amos A 895
Sheaffer, Diller S 632
Sheaffer, Enos D 1015
Sheaif er, Martin D 632
Sheaffer, Mlartin R 518
Sheaffer, Peter F., M. D 1255
Shec Family 711
Shee, Parke E 711
Sheetz, Rev. Amos M 971
Sheibly, Abram, Jr 352
Sheibly, Abram G 35i
Sheibly Family 633
Shellenberger, Andrew R 792
, Shellenberger Family 1207
Shelley, Samuel A 823
Shelly, Amos 851
Shelly, Emanuel 906
Shelly, Samuel S 857
Sbenberger, Mrs. Anna J. B 1094
Sbeniberger, John 1093
Shenck, Albert F 154
Sbenck, Henry C 872
Shenck, Jacob K 1468
Shenk, Abraham M 1446
Shenk, Abram L 380
Shenk, Benj amin M 922 '
Shenk, Christian L 445
Shenk, Christian K 795
Shenk Families 794, 922
Shenk, Henry K 794
Shenk, Oliver H 939
Sberer, Joseph 95
Sherk, Christian G 387
Shero, Rev. William F., A. M. . 818
Sherts, John J 1097
Shertzer, Benjamin 381
Shertzer, Benjamin F 382
Shetrone, David 329
Shetrone, Mts. Mary M 329
Shillott, Frank 768
Shillow, George A 963
Shindle, Michael G 671
Shindle, Peter 236
Shippen, Edward 93 '
Shi reman Mrs. Martha 636
Shirk, Emanuel R 600
Shirk, L. W 1282
Shissler, Simon 901
Shnavely, Henry 446
Shoemaker, Abram 1013
Shoemaker, Leander 985
ShoemakeT, William L 806
Shoff, Frederic 568
PAGE
Shoflf. Christian 568
Shomier, J. Edward 943
Shookers, Tobias S 242
Showaker, John W S06
Shreiner, Qiarles E 803
Shreiner, Henry M 754
Shreiner, Martin 754
SliTom, Andrew F 785
Shue, Ephraim W 1206
Shuemaker, Christian 423
Shultz, Benjamin K 1411
Shultz, John M 1321
Shultz, Joseph K 1428
Shultz, Levi 900
Shultz, Milton K 378
Shuman, Michael S 1070
Sides, B. F., M. D 83
Siebold, Julius P 815
Siegler, Mrs. Helen P 1244
Siegler, Lewis F., M. D 785
Siegler, Nicholas S 1244
Sigle, Mrs. Barbara 907
Sigle, Thomas E 906
Simon, Joseph 90
Siple, George E 956
Skiles, John D 52
SI jck, Harry B 566
Slaymaker, Amos 52
Slaymaker Families 50, 93; 882
Slaymaker, Henry E 93
Slaymaker, J. Martin, M. D 881
Slaymaker, Peter E 202
Sload, John i473
Slokom Family 721
Slokom, Isaac W 721
Slough, Col. Matthias 15
Smith, Amos P SSO
Smith, Mrs. Christiana C 397
Smith, Charles H 624
Smith, Eugene G 293
Smith, Filbert .- ■ ■ 692
Smith, George 1163
Smith, George J 396
Smith, Gerritt 1215
Smith, Gideon H 263
Smith, Gilbert 929
Smith, Mrs. Grace C S96
Smith, Rev. Henry R S9S
Smith, John 1126
Smith, John C ii74
Smith, John R I43i
Smith, John S 624
Smith, Mftss Lettie 1127
Smith, Capt. Martin H 114S
Smith, Mrs. Mlary E 1 14S
Smith. Robert 1329
Smith,; W. J 1S17
Smoker Family 1332
Smoker, James M 1332
Smoker, William H 130S
Sraucker, EK 1216
Smucker, John B 1201
Snader, Aaron W no
Snader, Abraham P 1021
Snader (or Schneider) Family. log
Suavely, Abraham, B 599
Sriavely, Mrs. Annie 1 143
Suavely Family 342
Suavely, Frank B 1205
Suavely, Henry H 1121
Snavely, John G 342
Snavely, Moses 529
Sneath, Jacob 369
INDEX
xvu
PAGE
Snyder, Mrs. Annie 1491
Snyder, Mrs. Elizabeth 198
Snyder, Elwood S., M. D 632
Snyder Family . . . ; 658
Snyder, Jacob L 859
Snyder, J. A 826
• Snyder, John A 197
Snyder, John E 916
Snyder, John M 847
Snyder, John P 1216
Snyder, John S 1223
Snyder, Joseph C 1490
Snyder, Samuel 826
Snyder^ Samuel S 658
Snyder, Gov. Simon m
Snyder, William D 820
Sommers. Dennis 1073
Souders, O. N 1236
Sourbeer, Mrs. Charlotte 1521
Sourbeer, Joshua 1520
Spotts, James H 8.S0
Sprecher Family 484
Sprecher, George D 484
Sprecher, John 438
Sprecher, Capt. Philip L 689
Sprecher, Samuel 799
Sprecher, Mirs. Samuel 800
Sprenger, John A 464
Spurrier Family , 1193
Spurrier. Nathaniel A. K 1193
Stacks, Samuel S 1331
Stair, Edwin S 1074
Stair, Mrs. Eunice 1074
Staman, Edward H 1298
Stamm, Carl P 1325
Stamra, Charles P., D.. D, S... 1518
Stamm, Frederick 1.^25
Stamm, John 664
Stamm, Miss Martha E 665
Stamy, Adam R 462
Stape, Daniel , . 277
.Staufifer, Abraham E. . . '. 700
Stauffer, Abraham Y 1034
Stauffer, Amos N 804
Stauffer, Benjamin F 1469
Stauffer, Benjamin F. (Colum-
bia) 827
Stauffer, Charles F S^'O
Stauffer, Christian R 1470
Stauffer, Clayton K 1301
Stauffer, Cyrus D 549
Stauft'er, Edwin H 1 1 19
Stauffer Families 840, 1301
Stauffer, Harry M 1078
Stauffer, Henry M 1007
Stauffer, Irvin H 549
Stauffer, Jacob E 4.57
Stauffer, Jacob G 83.S
Stauffer, Jacob M i'034
Stauffer, John' G I I7S
Stauffer, Samuel S Q2i
Steacy, George S 899
Steele Families 30, 95
Stehman, Abraham W 311
Stehman, Christian W 286
Stehman, Harry J 1504
Stehman, John S 1 128
Steigel, Wilhelm H 83
Steinheiser, Georpre F 1258
Steinman, A. J., Esq 46
Steinman Familv 46
Steinman, John F 47
Steinmetz. Hon. Jacob L 668
PAGE
Steinmetz, Mrs. Mary V. H.... 66g
Stephan, Cha;rles B 1151
Stephan, John W 993
Sterni Family 888
Stern, Peter M 888
Stevens, Tbaddeus 36
Stevenson, Samuel C 338
Stillinger, Samuel M 1267
Stively, A. L 1385
Stively Family 1,386
Stively, Frederick 417
Stober Family 7i8
Stober, Hon. Jeremiah A 718
Stokes, Daniel .'.... 1292
Stoll, Harry S 695
Stoltzfus, Christian B 523
Stoltzfus, Samuel U : . . . 900
.Stoner, Christian F 1367
Stoner, Frederick 680
Stoner, Jacob 752
Stoner, John K 456
Stoneroad, Samuel 584
StoTb, Theodore M 543
Stork, Harvey K 1516
Strauss, William T 969
Strickler, Calvin R 964
Strickler, Mai. Michael B 787
Stroh, John B 712
Stubbs, Ambrose H., M. D 219
Stubbs, Charles H., M. D 218
Stubbs, Clarence T 219
Stubbs Family 216
Stubbs, Jeremiah B., M. D 217
Stump, Michael 1079
Stumpf, Mrs. Henrietta 1044
Stumpf, Philip 1044
Styer, Daniel W., M. D 978
Styer Family 435
Styer, Peter 435
Summy, Hon. Aaron H. ...... . I34
Summy, Abrarii 657
Summy, Simeon G 972
Swarr Family . 1320
Swarr, Milton L 1380
Swarr, Phares P 1320
Swartz, Charles 1076
S wartz, John H 12QI
Sweeney, John J 1480
Swisher, James 1434
Swisher, James, Sr 473
Swisher, Simeon W., Esq 774
Tanger, John G 680
Taylor, Mrs. Marv L 1019
Taylor, Samuel W 1019
Tennis, Samuel 455
Terry, Henrv 778
Tboma-s. Michael P.. Tr 914
Thome, William B,, M. D 816
Thompson Families 235, 770
Thompson, Squire Hiram L. .. . 135
Thompson, John C 710
Thompson, John W 235
Thorbahn, Prof. John F. C... I74
Tomlin, Mrs. Mary 847
Townsend, Elwood H 1046
Townsend, Elwood M 1136
Townsend, Henry P 347
Townsend, Jacob R 1 140
Townsend, Miss M,arietta 347
Townsend, Mrs. Susan M 1141
Trexler, Jacob F., M. D 865
Trissler, Benjamin F 990
PAGE
Trout Family 265
Trout, Frank B .. 808
Trout, Squire Frank M '. . . 264
Trout, Harry L 741
Truscott, Mrs. Jemima M 811
Tschantz, Hans 92
Tyson, Charles H 539
Tyson Family 539
Ulrich, Joseph A 1104
Umble Family 211
Umble, Jacob K 211
Underwood, Dr. Mary A 1165
Upp, William W 273
Van Ness, Marie R., M. D 925
Von Nieda, Daniel S 578
Wacker, Cha'rles V 1384
Wacker, Joseph 479
Wacker, Joseph, Jr 479
Wade, Amos 1235
Wade, Miss Effie L 1235
Wade, John M 732
Wagner, George F 1496
Wagner, Samuel 1251
Walker Families 113, 308
Walker, James M. . . ; 113
Walker, Joseph 1242
Walker, Joseph C 308
Walker, Josiah 1242
Walker, William 445
Walter. Adam V., M. D 1158
Walter, B. Frank 751
Walter, .Brinton 230
Walter Family 230
Walton, Amos 472
Walton Family 765
Walton, George W 763
Wanner, David 1204
Wanner Family 1204
Warfel, EU '. 1456
Warfel, Elwood C 881
Warfel. George W 1502
Warfel, Hiram G 1462
Warfel, John B 136
Warfel. John H 1116
Warfel, Samuel 485
Warfel, Silas N 185
Watson, John J 1319
Watt, P. T 148
Wayne, Simon P 819
Weaver. Aaron 472
Weaver, Aaron (Earl) 1144
Weaver, Amos 413
Weaver, Amos A 727
Weaver, David D 1131
Weaver, Enos B 931
Weaver, Ephraim E 516
Weaver Families .325, 788
Weaver, Frank J 325
Weaver, Isaac , 472
Weaver, Isaac H 842
Weaver, J. F 1074
Weaver, Jacob G., M. D 142
Weaver, John H 528
Weaver, Jonathan H 207
Weaver, Joseph B 1120
Weaver, Rev. Levi H 242
Weaver, Maris B 701
Weaver, Martin 788
Weaver, Milton L 500
Weaver, Samuel R., Esq. ...... 1346
XVIU
INDEX
PAGE
Webb, Ezekiel G 1185
Webb Family 1185
Weber, John T 946
Weber, Louis 1013
Weber, Otto E 1521
Webster, Cicero S 1281
■Wehner, Peter I3S7
Weidler, Jacob G 1409
Weidler, Walter B., M. D 932
Weiler, George 363
Weill, Henry 804
Weiser, Conrad 178
Welchans, Mrs. Anna M 1136
Welchans, Charles H 1283
Welchans, William 1 13S
Welk, George 1499
Welk, George, Jr 1500
Weiler, David 14S
Weller, Miss Elizabeth 145
Welsh Brothers Ii97
Welsh, Mis'S Carrie 292
Welsh, David F 291
Welsh, John T 1198
Welsh, Michael H 1198
Welsh, Gen. Thomas 11
Wendler, John M . . . 1407
Wenger, Abraham E 182
Wenger, Miss Anna M 966
Wenger, Clayton S 1352
Wenger Families 181, 891
Wenger, Henry L 1 141
Wenger, Jacob 182
Wenger, Michael 966
Wenger, Monroe B 8gi
Wentz Families I49, 1085
Wentz, Thomas H., M. D 1085
Wentz, William H 524
Wentz, W. J., M. D I49
Weseman, ^'irs. Florence M. .. . 259
Weseman, George T., M. D.... 258
Westafer, John G 533
Westerhoff , Henry 1253 '
Wetzel, Samuel M 307
Whiteside, John W 1081
Whiteside, Samuel P 1209
Whiteside, William C 904
Whitson, Jacob T iiS4
AA'hitteker, Rev. John E., D. D. 205
Wickersham, James P 25
VVickersham, J. Harold 26
Widmyer, David B 269
Widmyer Family 269
Wiggins, Samuel 45i
Wike Families 1103, 1222
Wike, Milton 1222
Wike, Nathan E 1103
Williams Family I94
Williams, Isaac T I95
Williams, Zachariah B I94
Willson, George B 1347
Wilson Family 129
Wilson, James jNI 580
Wilson, John 682
W«lson, John D 683
Wilson, Jonathan M 105,6
Wilson, Mrs. Margaret A 490
Wilson, Sidwell T 489
Wil-on William R 129
Wimer, Michael 419
Winower, Charles A 1379
Winower Family 318
Winower, Peter J 318
Winter, Ella M 769
Winters, Barton M., M. D 87
Winters Family 86
Winters, Isaac D., M, D 86
Winters, John L., M. D 87
Winters, Mrs. Mary 1434
Winters, Richard N 1434
Winters. Walter H 1073
Wise, Christian 552
Wise, Jacob 389
Wisler Family 952
Wisler, Henry 960
Wisler, Jacob F .' 952
Wisler, John K 1092
Wisman, Adam 797
Wisner, George E 686
Wissler, Aaron 259
Wissler, Ezra 665
Wissler Families 259, 666
Wissler, Jacob B 501
Wissler, Tobn B 666
Withers, Mrs. Anna B 827
Witman, Barton 114S
Witman Family 1233
Witman, William 426
Witmcr; Aaron 599
Witmer, Rev. -\braham M 1026
Witmer, Abraham R 547
Witmer, Abraham Z 1161
Witmer, B. Barton 935
Witmer, Benjamin Z 577
Witmer, David Z 1463
Witmer, Elias H., M. D 262
Witmer Families 226, 235,
306, 4,38. 544, 601, 727, 1026, 1464
Witmer, George H 3°^
Witmer, Jacob 438
Witmer, Jacob E 1278
Witmer, Jacob H 246
Witmer, Jacob R 601
Witmer, Mrs. Margaret M 1018
Witm-er, Martin 712
Witmer, Martin F 902
Witmer. Mary K 727
Witmer, Peter E 494
Witmer, Samuel 1018
Witmer. Rev. S, Z 202
Witmer, Zachariah R 14=2
Witmeyer, Henry H 763
Witmeyer. Jeremiah H 768
Wohlsen, P. Harry 873
Wohlsen; William ,^48
Wolf. Elias S^7
Wolf, E. S 1059
Wolf, Ezra B 8.36
Wolf, Henry • 777
Wolf, John S 1055
Wolf. Joseph 1043
Wolf. Lemon C "64
Wolf. Dr \apoleon B 1461
Wolf. William H.. 8.37
Wolgemuth, Rev. Daniel 238
Wolgemulh. Daniel B 1448
Wolgemuth, Eli H 957
PAGE
Wolgemuth, Henry B I042
Wolgemuth, Rev. John M 84
Wood, Alfred 1023
Wood Families 945, 1132, 1393
Wood, James 503
Wood, Jesse 945
Wood, Lewis 1132 '
Wood, Rev. Ottiwell 1393
Wood, Robert K 945
Woods, John N 655
Woolworth, F. W 781
Worrest, Alfred H 618
Worst Family 707
Worst, Henry 707
Worth, Albert B 1213
Worth Family 1213
Worth, William T., M. D 963
Worthington, Thomas K 239
Wright, E. W., Al. D 1475
Wright, Howard .' 423
Wright, John 50
Wright, Robert K 423
Yeager, Charles S 266
Yergey, H. F 1205
Yocom, Mrs. Annie K 1167
Yocum, Joseph W 260
Yoder, Jo.?eph C, D. D. S 674
Yohn, William 406
Yohn, William F 916
Yost, John F., M. D 171
Young Family 1250
Young, Henry A 1364
Young. Henry Z 1250
Young, Hiram S i486
Young, John M mo
Young, Samuel 1250
Zcamer. Joseph H 990
Zell, Edwin M.. D. D. S 166
Zell, John W., M. D 1389
Zeller, Charles H 515
Zeller. John H 515
Zercher, Andrew J 986
Zercher, Emanuel H 762
Zercher, Ezra H 860
Zercher, Jacob 699
Zercher, John 688
Ziegler, Amos 1060
Ziegler, Francis X 274
Ziegler, Frank 1251
Ziegler, Jacob H 581
Ziegler, Jacob L., M. D 508
Ziegk-r, Mrs. Mary M 1251
Zimmerman, Abraham M 944
Zimmerman, Daniel 549
Zimmerman (or Carpenter),
Emanuel 163
Zimmerman Family 169
Zimmerman. Rev. John M 169
Zook Family 180
Zook, T. Gu^t 180
Zook, Jolm G 716
Zook, .tolin S 1452
Zook, Jr --f r,h 1294
Zook, S. Kurtz 1336
BIOGRAPHICAL
1
1
1
ON. TOHN BOYD LIV-
INGSTON, LL. D., Presi-
dent Judge of the Second
Judicial District of Pennsyl-
vania, now serving his
fourth term, was born in
Salisbury township, Lancas-
ter county, on Sunday, Oct.
14, 1 82 1. His father was
John Livingston, and his
mother Jane Graham. John Livingston, through
whom the Judge is of English descent, was a farmer,
teacher and justice of the peace, and one of the prom-
inent citizens of Lancaster county. On his mother's
side Mr. Livingston is descended from Scotch-Irish
ancestry.
John B. Livingston obtained his primary edu-
cation under the private instruction of his father,
whom he assisted in the farm work, for some
branches of which physical disability had irlcapaci-
tated the father. Much devolved upon the eldest
son, who attended school in the winter and improved
his leisure hours during his summer work by study.
Matters continued thus until 1842, when, his
younger brothers being able to assume their share
of the farm work, John engaged in teaching school,
which occupation he followed three years, still assist-
ing his father during the summer. In the mean-
time, besides receiving instruction from his father
and in the public schools, he attended the select
school of Rev. Dr. Timlow, one of the best in the
county. He early evinced marked ability in the
prosecution of his studies, making rapid progress,
and the roughing he experienced on the farm de-
veloped that naturally vigorous constitution which
serves him so well in discharging the duties of the
Bench at the age of over four-score.
When thinking of choosing a profession the first
inclination of Mr. Livingston was toward medicine,
but upon reflection he shrank from the responsibility
it involved. While if, as a doctor, he made a fatal
mistake, it would be buried out of the light of the
world, he feared that the consciousness of it would
remain as an ever harassing memory. Therefore
he chose the legal profession, where, if he blundered.
there would still be opportunity to make amends.
Having gained the consent of his father, who. had
been averse to his son encountering the temptations
of city life, he wrote to Thaddeus Stevens to know
if he had room for a student, and, if so, what were
his terms. He received this characteristic reply:
"Have room. Take students. Terms, $200. Some
pay, some don't." So he came to Lancaster, accom-
panied by his father, ' who introduced him to Mr.
Stevens, who had just concluded an address to a
jury in the old court-house. Their reception was
rather discouraging. Assuming that stern look for
which Mr. Stevens was sometimes noted, he said:
"You had better take the young man home." Being
pressed for a reason by the astonished father, who
had thought the arrangement with the son under-
stood, Mr.. Stevens repeated his advice with em-
phasis. Finally, assuming that bland smile which
he could command with equal facility, he said:
"Because his face is too honest to be a lawyer."
The father replied, "If that is the only objection we
will take the risk," and the "too honest" young
country lad became a law Student of Thaddeus
Stevens on the 6th of January, 1846.
Young Livingston was fortunate in his choice
of a preceptor. He was noted in his early life, as
he is to-day, for the legibility and elegance of his
penmanship, while Mr. Stevens was a close com-
petitor with Greeley and Forney in tempting clients
and compositors to indulge in profanity while try-
ing to decipher their chirography. Stevens there-
fore was not long in estimating the value of his new
student as an amanuensis, and the result was that
young Livingston was domiciled in the private
office, while the other students studied in the other
room. Thus he heard the great lawyer's confer-
ences with clients, and in this way learned more of
practical law than he could have possibly gained
from books alone in the same time, although Mr.
Stevens spoke of him in after life as one of the most
studious students he ever had.
After studying law two years Mr. Livingston
was admitted to the Bar, Jan. 26, 1848; and at once
opened a law office, pursuing a general practice on
his own account until, in 1851, he entered the office
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of Nathaniel Ellmaker, Esq., to assist him in his
extensive orphans' court and general practice.
The estimate which Mr. Stevens facetiously put
upon the country lad, as having too honest a face
to be a lawyer, was soon illustrated by the moderate
fees he charged his clients, which became proverb-
ial, and the subject of criticism by some of his less
conscientious contemporaries; but it by no means
detracted from his popularity, when, in 1862, he
became a candidate for District Attorney, to which
ofEce he was elected, serving a term of three years.
The energy, ability and conscientious integrity
with which he discharged the duties of that office
brought him still more favorably into public notice,
and he secured one of the largest and most lucrative
practices in the county.
Although in a pecuniary sense it was no pro-
motion to yield such a growing practice for a seat
on the Bench, Mr. Livingston was induced to stand
for the nomination for President Judge, and, re-
ceiving more votes at the primary election than all
his comipetitors combined, was elected by a large
majority in the fall of 1871, and entered upon his
official duties on the 4th of December, following.
He was re-elected in 1881, and again in 1891,
triumphing over the most bitter factional opposi-
tion ever made against any candidate in Lancaster
county.
A flattering but deserved compliment was vol-
untarily paid Judge Livingston in 1882, when he
received the joint endorsement of the Republican
organization and the Bar of Lancaster County as a
candidate for Judge of the Supreme court, "in the
full confidence that the spotless integrity and judi-
cial attainments, and his untiring industry, that
have made him the honored head of our court,
eminent!}' fit him for the discharge of the high
duties devolving upon a fnember of the Supreme
court."
But the crowning recognition of an upright
judge, a Christian gentleman and an exemplary citi-
zen was achieved in 1901, when John Boyd Living-
ston received the nomination, by the unanimous vote
of his party, for a fourth term as President Judge
of the courts of Lancaster county, while his name
was placed on the ticket of the opposition party as
their candidate for the same office. This is a unique
example of a reward for merit — nlerit recognized
because it commanded recognition solely upon the
admitted claims of the beneficiary. It is the first
instance in the political history of Lancaster county
when the merits of a candidate have commanded
recognition irrespective of partisan predilections,
and Judge Livingston is now rounding out a tenure
of professional and official life without a parallel in
the judicial annals of the Commonwealth.
While devoted to his profession and the scrupu-
lous discharge of every official duty which devolves
upon him, Judge Livingston has kept himself in
touch with the various local interests of his fellow
citizens, especially with the cause of popular educa-
tion. He was a school director for many years,
assisting in organizing the night schools, was prin-
cipal for a time, and occasionally, when a teacher
was ill, he assumed his old role of schoolmaster by
filling the temporary vacancy. He served as presi-
dent of the Y. M. C. A., and took an active part as a
member of the library committee in selecting and
installing the library of that institution ; served as a
member of the board of trustees of Franklin and
Marshall College, which, in 1897, conferred upon
him the honorary degree of LL. D. ; and is an active
member of the board of trustees of the First State
Normal School, at Millersville, having been first
elected by the stockholders and subsequently ap-
pointed by the State executive. He is a communi-
cant of St. James Episcopal Church, and a member
of the vestry.
Judge Livingston was united in marriage. May
18, 1853, to Anna M. Swentzell, who died Sept. 24,
1902, and was buried in Woodward Hill cemetery
Sept. 27th. She was a sister of Rev. Dr. Frederick
Swentzell (deceased),' and aunt of Rev. Dr. Henry
C. Swentzell, rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church,
Brooklyn, New York.
HON. MATTHEW STANLEY QUAY,
United States Senator from Pennsylvania, was
born Sept. 30, 1833, at Dillsburg, York Co., this
State. He comes of honorable American ancestry,
being a son of Rev. Anderson Beaton and Catherine
(McCain) Quay, the former a prominent Presby-
terian divine, who was in the ministry for many
years, being pastor in charge of flourishing churches
at Dillsburg, York county; Beaver, Beaver county,
and Indiana, Indiana county, successively.
Through his mother Rev. Anderson B. Quay was
descended from James Anderson, who came from
Scotland in 1713, and subsequently married Eliza-
beth Jerman, daughter of Thomas Jerman, a noted
Quaker preacher. The latter emigrated from Wales
with his wife, Elizabeth, and about 1700 settled in
the Chester Valley, where he erected one of the first
mills in the province. Patrick Anderson, son of
James, and great-grandfather of the Senator, was
the first white child born in what is now Schuylkill
township, in the northern part of Chester county.
Pa. He was one of the prominent men of his time
and place, and took an active part in the stirring
events preceding and during the Revolutionary
period. He was a captain in the French and Indian
war, and when the Revolution broke out was a
member of the Chester County committee, on which
Anthony Wayne was also serving. In 1776 he en-
tered the service as captain of the First Company,
Pennsylvania Musketry Battalion, of which he took
command after the battle of Long Island, in which.
Col. Atlee was captured and Lieut. Col. Parry was
killed. In 1778 and 1770 he was a member of the
Pennsylvania Assembly, and his son, Isaac Ander-
son, represented that District in Congress from
1803 to 1807. Ascenath Anderson, daughter of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Patrick Anderson, became the wife of Joseph Quay,
the Senator's grandfather, and they lived near
Phoenixville, in what is now Schuylkill township,
Chester county. Senator Quay's great-grand-
mother, Ann Beaton, was a daughter of Daniel
Beaton, and a sister of Col. John Beaton, who was
active in military affairs in Chester county .during
the Revolutionary war.
Matthew S. Quay graduated from Jefferson Col-
lege, Philadelphia, in 1850, took up the study of law
with Penny & .Sterrett, in Pittsburg, and was ad-
mitted to the Bar of Beaver county in 1854. In
1855 he was appointed prothonotary of that county,
was elected to that office in 1856, and again in 1859.
In 1861 he resigned to accept a lieutenancy in the
toth Pennsylvania Reserves. He was subsequently
made assistant commissary general of the State,
with the rank of lieutenant colonel; was appointed
private secretary to Gov. Andrew G. Curtin ; and in
August, 1862, was commissioned colonel of the
134th P. V. I. He was mustered out Dec. 7, 1862,
on account of ill health, but the following week,
Dec. 13, took part as a vohmteer in the assault on
Marye's Heights. Having" received the appoint-
ment of State agent at Washington, he served in
that Capacity for a time, until recalled by the Penn-
sylvania Legislature to fill the office of military
secretary, created by that body. In 1864 he was
elected to the Legislature, and again in 1865 and
1866. In the year last mentioned he was secretary
of the Republican State Committee, of which he
was chairman in 1878. In 1869 Mr. Quay estab-
lished the Beaver Radical, which he edited. In
1:873 he became secretary of the State of Pennsyl-
vania, which incumbency he resigned in 1878 to ac-
cept the appointment of recorder of Philadelphia,
resigning the latter office in January, 1879, when he
was again appointed secretary of the Common-
wealth; in October, 1882, he again resigned this
post. In November, 1885, Mr. Quay was elected
State treasurer by the largest vote ever given a
candidate for that office. He resigned in Septem-
ber, 1887. On Jan. 18, of the latter year, he was
elected United States Senator for the term ending
March 3, 1893, and immediately took a most active
part in the deliberations of that body. He was
member of the committees on Manufactures, Pen-
sions, Public Buildings and Grounds, Post Offices
and Post Roads, and Claims, and chairman of the
committee to examine the various branches of the
civil service. Mr. Quay has been reelected to this
high office, continuing to hold a most prominent
place in that legislative body to the present time
(1903)-
In 1855 Matthew S. Quay was united m mar-
riage with Miss Agnes Barclay, daughter of John
and Elizabeth (Shannon) Barclay, natives of Penn-
sylvania, of Scotch-Irish descent. Children as fol-
lows have been born to this union : Richard Rob-
erts, Andrew Gregg Curtin, Mary Agnew, Coral
and Susan Willard, all natives of Beaver. The eld-
est son is a lawyer. The second son graduated from
West Point June 11, 1888, and is in the United
States army. The Senator owns one of the hand-
somest farms in Lancaster county.
MAJOR SIMON B. CAMERON. Prominent
in the social, business, political and military affairs
of Lancaster county, this gentleman, now located in
Marietta, is active as becomes the descendant of "so
worthy an ancestor as Gen. Simon Cameron, who
was his grandfather.
Gen. Simon Cameron was one of Lancaster
county's most distinguished citizens. Born March
8, 1799, in Maytown, this county, he was descended
from Donald Cameron, who came from Scotland to
America in the spring of 1775, in the same vessel
with Rev. Colin McFarquhar. He was accom-
panied by his sons, John and Simon, the latter's wife
and Ann McKenzie, probably a sister of Simon's
wife, whose maiden name is known to have been Mc-
Kenzie. Coming from the same neighborhood as
the reverend gentleman, they were Undoubtedly
, well acquainted, and having been tenant farmers in
their native place thev resumed their occupation
upon the glebe lands of Donegal Church. As none
of their names appear upon the Donegal assessment
roll for two or three years, it is probable that after
Mr. McFarquhar purchased a farm about two
;niles north of Mount Joy they carried on its culti-
vation. Simon and John Cameron took the oath of
, allegiance in June, 1778, before James Bayley, who
. owned and occupied the "Graybill farm," now the
property of Abraham N. Cassel.
Charles Cameron, son of Simon, was married
about 1794 to Miss Martha Pfoutz, daughter of John
Pfoutz. She was a woman vigorous in both mind
; and body, possessed of a cheerful and indomitable
, spirit, which enabled her to face bravely the many
I vicissitudes she and her husband experienced in pro-
viding for the needs of their family. Charles Cam-
[ eron learned the tailor's trade in Maytown, and for
a few years carried on the hotel at the southwest
corner of the square in that village, but with meager
success. There their eldest son, William, was
born in 1796, and the others, John, Simon, James
;and a daughter . (who married a Mr. Boggs), were
born in a small frame house not far away, to which
the family moved in 1797. From Maytown the
family removed to Vinegar's Ferry, and thence,
about 1809, to Northumberland, Pennsylvania.
Simon Cameron was about nine years old when
the family located in Northumberland, and, his
father dying not long afterward, he was early thrown
upon his own resources. In 1816 he entered as an
apprentice to the printing business with Andrew
Kennedy, of Northumberland, editor of the North-
\umberland County Gazette, but continued only one
: year when his employer, because of financial reverses,
:was obliged to close his establishment. By river-
boat and on foot the young man made his way to
Harrisburg, where he obtained a position in the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
printing office of James Peacock, editor of the Re-
publican, with whom he remained until he attained
his majority. In January, 1821, at the soHcitation
of Samuel D. Ingham, he went to Doylestown, where
he published the Bucks County Messenger, which, in
March of the same year, was merged with the Doyles-
town Democrat under the name of the Bucks County
Democrat. Toward the close of 1821 the plant was
purchased by Gen. W. T. Rodgers. Mr. Cameron
was engaged that winter as a journeyman printer
in the office of Gales & Seaton, publishers of the
National Intelligencer, at Washington. Returning to
Harrisburg in 1822, he entered into partnership with
Charles Mowry in the management of the Pennsyl-
vania Intelligencer. At the conclusion of his services
as State printer he was appointed by Gov. Shulze,
of whom he was an early friend and supporter, to the
ofEce of adjutant general of Pennsylvania. Thus
began the career of public service which ended only
with the close of his life itself, and in which he made
a record equalled by few.
Mr. Cameron early became interested in the de-
velopment of internal improvements. In 1826 he be-
gan building the section of the Pennsylvania canal
(then in process of construction) between Harris-
burg and Sunbury, and not long afterward took con-
tracts for other sections, on the western division.
The charter granted by the Commonwealth to the
State Bank of Louisiana provided that the bank
build a canal from Lake Pontchartrain to New Or-
leans, and Mr. Cameron assumed the contract for
the work, which was considered by engineers the
greatest undertaking of the day. In Philadelphia
he engaged twelve hundred men, whom he sent by
sea to New Orleans, he himself, with his engineers
and tools, going by river, from Pittsburg. This was
in 1831. He spent half a year upon the work, and
demonstrated its feasibility beyond a doubt. When
the Bank of Middletown received its charter from the
Legislature, in 1832, Mr. Cameron became cashier,
and held that position for twenty-five years, the bank
being a success from the start. The duties of that
incumbency, however, were too limited to occupy all
the time of a man possessed of his resources, and he
interested himself in other fields of usefulness, par-
ticularly the promotion of railroads, serving at one
time as president of four corporations, all operating
lines in the region of his birth place. The establish-
ment of the railroads from Middletown to Lancaster,
from Harrisburg to Sunbury, from Harrisburg to
Lebanon, was due to his efforts, and he also gave his
influence in favor of the Cumberland Valley road,
and succeeded in securing to Pennsylvania the own-
ership of the Northern Central railroad, from Har-
risburg to Baltimore.
Mr. Cameron organized the Pennsylvania dele-
gation to the first National Convention ever held in
the United States, which met in Baltimore, having
been recalled from his work in Louisiana for that
purpose. This delegation supported Van Buren for
the Vice Presidency. After the Convention ]\Ir.
Cameron was appointed a visitor to West Point, by
Gen. Jackson. In 1838 President Van Buren
tendered him an appointment as commissioner, with
James Murray, of Maryland, under a treaty with the
Winnebago Indians, to settle and adjust the claims
made against the Indians bv the traders. In 1845
he was. elected to the United States Senate, to fill a
vacancy caused by the resignation of James Buch-
anan (who became Secretary of State under Polk),
and served four years with a fidelity which the most
exacting of his constituents could not question. In
the winter of 1857 he was re-elected to that body,
to succeed Senator Brodhead, and was thus again
brought prominently to public notice. In the polit-
ical movements which preceded the campaign of
i860 he was named as the choice of Pennsylvania
for the Presidency, and his name was early asso-
ciated with that of Lincoln for the Republican Na-
tional ticket.
Gen. Cameron's influence was strongly felt at,
the Chicago Convention in i860, and he so won the
confidence of Mr. Lincoln that when that gentleman
was elected to the Presidency he voluntarily offered
the General a cabinet office. From the organization
of the cabinet it was a recognized fact that of all its
members Gen. Cameron held the closest personal
relations with the President, who during his service
as Secretary of War, consulted him in private as
well as in the regular cabinet meetings. Gen. Cam-
eron, anticipating that the Civil war was too serious
for speedy settlement, set on foot the extensive
preparations which time justified. On Jan. 11, 1862,
he resigned from the cabinet, and the same day was
nominated by Lincoln for the most important diplo-
matic mission in his gift — ^the minister to Russia be-
ing intrusted with the transaction of our affairs there-
at a time when a tact and discretion were never so-
necessary. He was given an honor never before or
since accorded a cabinet officer that of naming his-
successor as Secretary of War.
The General played a promirient part in nominat-
ing Lincoln for a second term, and meantime took
active part in the politics of his native State, winning-
for the Republican party a standing which defied
opposition. In 1866 he was again sent to the United
States Senate, in which body he served longer than
any other representative from Pennsylvania, and
made a record also unsurpassed for activity and bril-
liant service. After his last election he served eleven
years, resigning in 1877. He was at the time one of
the foremost members of that body, holding the
chairmanship of the committee on Foreign Relations,
appointment to which incumbency was a recognized
acknowledgment of superior statesmanship. Though
he made no claims to being an orator, and seldom
participated in debate, Mr. Cameron's influence in
National legislation was as great as that of any man
who ever held a seat in the Senate. He armed him-
self with facts, his arguments were clear and charac-
terized by common sense, his propositions eminently
practical, and his judgment in matters of finance,.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
commerce, manufacturing, internal improvements,
etc., was always accepted as correct, and consequently
reliable. He encouraged every project looking to-
ward the development and-opening up of the Western
States, and his work was never without visible re-
sults.
Gen. Cameron married Margaret Brua, daughter
of Peter Brua, of Harrisburg. The children born
to this union were Rachel, who married Judge Burn-
side, of Belief onte ; Brua, who is mentioned below ;
Margaret, wife of Richard J. Haldeman ; James
Donald; and Virginia, who married Wayne Mac-
Veagh.
Brua Cameron was a Civil engineer by profes-
sion. He was cashier of the Bank of Middletown,
founded by his father, and in May, 1861, commis-
sioned paymaster in the regular army, serving as
such until his death, which occurred in 1864, at
Lochiel, Pa., when he was thirty-eight years of age.
He married Elizabeth Bastedo, daughter of Gilbert
and Marian Bastedo, of Nelson, Ontario, Canada,
the former of whom was a farmer by occupation.
Mrs. Cameron survived her husband several years,
passing away Dec. 31, 1 871, at the age of forty-eight
years, near Nelson, Ontario. The remains of both
Test in the cemetery at Middletown. They were
members of the Presbyterian Church at that place,
and socially he was a Mason and Odd Fellow. Mr.
and Mrs. Brua Cameron had the following named
children: Simon B., whose name introduces this
sketch , Marian Bastedo, widow of David Watts, of
Harrisburg, who was an ironmaster; Margaret B.,
who died when eight years old ; Janet R., who mar-
ried Dr. George Husband, a physician of Philadel-
phia ; and James, who died in infancy.
Simon B. Cameron was born May 11, 1855, in
Middletown, Dauphin Co., Pa., where he passed the
■first twelve years of his life, and the next three were
spent in Lititz, Lancaster county, where he attended
the Academy. He was subsequently a student at
Williston Setninary, Easthampton, Mass., and Upson
Seminary, New Preston, Conn., and took the exam-
ination for entrance to Sheffield Scientific School,
Yale. Being offered a position on the Wheeler ex-
ploring expedition, he accepted, and was thus occu-
pied two years, after which he was engaged two years
as instructor in Upson Seminary. In May, 1881,
Mr. Cameron came to East Donegal township, Lan-
caster county, to take charge of the Donegal farms
for his grandfather, and he continued there until
his marriage. He then moved to a farm two and a
half miles from the Donegal farms, which was given
him by his grandfather, residing on that place until
his removal to Marietta in 1894. Here he has car-
ried on a real-estate and insurance business, and in
1898 was, elected justice of the peace, in which ca-
pacity he is still officiating. Like his honored fore-
fathers, he is a Republican in political sentiment, and
has been quite active in party affairs, serving as dele-
gate from Lancaster county to the State Convention
in 1894. He has not sought office, however, though
he has been a member of the school board one year
since locating in Marietta.
Since January, 1890, Mr. Cameron has been a
member of the Pennsylvania National Guard, and
he served as quartermaster of the 4th Regiment until
May, 1897, when he was promoted to his present
position, in the 3d Brigade, on the staff of Gen. J.
P. S. Gobin, as commissary of subsistence ; he ranks
as major. During the riot at Hazleton, Pa., he pro-
vided the food for the troops in service. He accom-
panied the National Guard to the coal fields in the
troublesome times in 1902. The Major is a member
of the Loyal Legion, and fraternally of the Masonic
Order, in which he has attained the thirty-second
degree. He is also an elder in the Presbyterian
Church and assistant superintendent of the Presby-
terian Sunday School in the town in which he re-
sides.
On Feb. 15, 1887, Simon B. Cameron was united
in marriage, at Harrisburg, with Miss HePen Mark-
ley, and two children have blessed their union:
Simon B., born May 20, 1888, died June 18, 1901 ;
and Elva M., born Aug. 4, 1890. In religious con-
nection our subject is a Presbyterian.
Dr. George H. Markley, father of Mrs. Cameron,
was born in Lancaster, and was a member of the old
Markley family which has long been prominent in
this county. In 1863 he removed to Harrisburg,
where he passed the remainder of his days, dying
May II, 1900. He was a physician, and also con-
ducted a pharmacy. Dr. Markley married Miss
Emma Snyder, of Harrisburg, daughter of Charles
and Emma Snyder, the former of whom was a
justice of the peace for many years. Mrs. Markley
now makes her home in Harrisburg. Of the chil-
dren born to Dr. and Mrs. Markley, Helen, Mrs.
Cameron, ' was born in Lancaster ; Elva married
Ralph Shaw, a lawyer of Paterson, N. J., where he
is now assistant district attorney; and Miss Kath-
erine lives with her mother.
DAVID HAYES AGNEW was born at Noble- ■
ville, now the borough of Christiana, in Lancaster
county, Nov. 24, 1818, only child of Robert and
Agnes (Noble) Agnew. The latter had been pre-
viously married to Rev. Eleazer Henderson, by whom
she had two children, James N. ; and Mary Hender-
son, who married Davies Wallace, of Lancaster
county, and had a son, E. D. Wallace, who now re-
sides at Blue Ball.
The Agnew family, which has been prominent in
this country for nearly two centuries, can be traced
through many generations of North of Ireland and
Scotch ancestry to Norman progenitors. The earli-
est authentic record of the family comes from Ag-
jieaux, a quaint village in northern France, from
which the family derives its name — this being the
leverse of the process in this country where the fam-
ily has invariably given the name to the place. The
little town of Agnew, Lancaster Co., Neb., named
in honor of Dr. Agnew, is a typical example of this
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
method, and shows the space of time and changes
in living and civilization between the Agneaux of
the Old World, and the Agnew of the New.
Tames Agnew, the great-grandfather of the sub-
ject of this sketch, with two brothers, emigrated from
Ireland about the year 1717. He was a typical Scotch-
Irishman. In an old graveyard near Gettysburg
lie a number of the earlier members of the Agnew
family. On one of the grave-stones is the coat of
arms of the Agnews of Lochnar, and on another a
rude carving of Weights and Measures, with the
inscription, "The Weights and Measures of Scot-
land." His biographer. Dr. J. Howe Adams, says
Dr. Agnew evinced a pathetic interest in this little
deserted spot, where so many of his lineage were laid
to rest, and always spent much of his time when he
visited Gettysburg taking tracings of the various
stones.
Robert Agnew, the father of David Hayes, was
born in Adams county, Pa., and received his general
education at Dickinson college, studied medicine and
became a surgeon in the United States Navv. On
his first voyage the vessel was wrecked oflf Cape
Hatteras, and he narrowly escaped with his life.
This incident changed his plans. He settled at
Nobleville, where he soon acquired a large general
practice, which finally made inroads upon his health,
and he determined to retire. His popularity, how-
ever, was such that he concluded the only way to
do this was to remove from the neighborhood. He,
therefore, after a practice of a quarter of a century,
removed to Baltimore county, Md., where he pur-
chased a handsome countrv seat. While a citizen
of Lancaster county he was prominently identified
with the Octoraro United Presbyterian Church as
a leading member of the Sessions. He died Oct.
10, 1858, aged seventy-three years. The farm house
in which his distinguished son was born is still stand-
ing and in good repair. The old flouring mill, built
by Dr. Robert Agnew in 1816, on a branch of the
Octoraro at Christiana, is now a ruin. For many
' years the driveway leading from the public road to
the farm buildings, led over the embankment of the
mill pond.
After receiving his primary education in the
country school David Hayes Agnew was sent to the
Moscow Academy, at that time a flourishing school,
of which the Rev. Francis Latta was the principal.
It derived its name from this incident: Soon after
the war of 1812 there was a mania in this State for
laying out new towns. ' The proprietor of the "Gen-
eral Wayne Tavern," on the Lancaster turnpike, sold
his property, including fifty acres of land, to a party
of speculators for the fancy price of $16,000, who
laid out a town (on paper), to which they gave the
name of Moscow, after the Russian town of that
name which had been recently destroyed by fire to
prevent its occupation by Napoleon Bonaparte. The
speculation failed, and "Cossack Street" again be-
came the Lancaster turnpike and the others with
Russian names were lost in the bosom of the farm.
It was on this property that Mr. Latta built the
Moscow Academy in 1826, and there that young
Agnew received the foundation of a good classical
education. From there he was sent to Jefferson
College at Canonsburg, Pa., an institution then the
centre of Presbyterian influence in Western Pennsyl-
vania, and as such influenced his parents in choos-
ing a school to complete the education of their son,
together with the fact that the Rev. James Ramsay,
a relative, was a trustee. He did not stay to graduate
as had been intended, but left to enter Newark Col-
lege, which had just been opened at Newark, Del.
(now Delaware College), under the auspices of the
State, and of which his cousin, Rev. John Holmes
Agnew, had been elected Professor of Languages.
He resigned his position when he discovered that
the College was supported in part by the proceeds
of a lottery, and there being no special inducement
for his young cousin to stay, he left before graduat-
ing. He now felt that he had reached the age when
he could prepare for the profession which had been
the dream of his boyhood. After studying some time
with his father, he entered the Medical Department
of the University of Pennsylvania in 1836, being one
of the youngest members of the class. He graduated,
in 1838, among his classmates being Surgeon Gen-
eral Barnes and Dr. Henry E. Muhlenberg.
After graduating Dr. Agnew returned to Noble-
ville in order to assist his father in his extensive
practice. He remained with his father two years,
until the latter removed to Maryland in 1840. The
younger Agnew lived in the old homestead, where his
parents had resided Tor many years, and his mother's
family had long dwelt in that locality, the village
having been named after them, and when the name
was changed in 1847 to Christiana it was in honor of
Christiana, wife of Wm. Noble, Dr. Agnew's uncle.
While living here he met his future wife, Margaret
Creighton Irwin. Their parents had been friends
for many years, Dr. Robert Agnew having been their
family physician. After he went South the son was
called in to attend a member of the family. An at-
tachment was formed between Miss Irwin and him-
self which culminated in their marriage at the Irwin
homestead, Pleasant Garden, on Nov. 21, 1841, in
Dr. Agnew's twenty-third year. The life-long friend
of his father and himself. Rev. Dr. Easton, performed
the ceremony.
Dr. Agnew had been in practice nearly five years,
and was quite successful as a country practitioner,
when he unexpectedly drifted in another direction^
His father-in-law was extensively engaged in the
iron business. At his death his sons assumed con-
trol of his extensive business, and Dr. Agnew was
urged to enter the firm to represent his wife's in-
terest. This looked like a promising opportunity,
and he joined the firm of Irwin & Agnew in the man-
agement of the iron works at Spring Garden, Chester
county. But this seemingly auspicious move was
made on the eve of the great revolution in industrial
methods, when railroads, the telegraph and improved
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
machinery were working new conditions. The Irwin
iron works had been erected and fitted for making
charcoal iron, and had been located with a view to
convenience to water powers and abundance of wood.
They were not adapted to the new conditions, and
the panic of 1837 made matters worse. The firm
made a determined struggle against unequal forces,
but three years after the admission of Dr. Agnew to
the firm they were obliged to make an assignment,
and Dr. Agnew returned to his first love worse off
financially than when h& began, being heavily in
debt. He felt keenly the failure of his firm, and
determined to make up to the creditors all they
had lost, and through his future success he was
able to pay every cent pf indebtedness of the
firm, even claims that had been outlawed by lapse
of time.
About the time Dr. Agnew was making up his
mind to locate in Philadelphia, where he would have
better facilities to pursue his favorite studies of
Practical Anatomy and Operative Surgery, Dr. Na-
thaniel Sample, then the most eminent physician in
Lancaster county, invited him to take temporary
charge of the practice of his son, who had been sick
for some time ; but while thus engaged he was in-
jured in a runaway accident which confined him to
his bed for nine weeks, and the effect of which he
carried to his grave, in a slight limp in his gait, his
hip having been severely injured. As soon as he
was well enough he went to Philadelphia, where he
entered upon that career as a surgeon which gave
him more than a national reputation. Some years
afterward, when meeting a citizen of Soudersburg,
Dr. Agnew said, "I located at Soudersburg when a
young man; I stayed long enough to know all the
roads in that district ; but I found that the people
around there wanted a better doctor than I was
likely to prove, so I moved." How limited is human
foresight !
Dr. Agnew located in Philadelphia, in 1848, when
he was thirty years of age, with seven years of
country practice and two years of business ex-
perience, and soon attained a fair practice. In 1852
he began his teaching of Practical Anatomy and
Operative Surgery in the Philadelphia School of
Anatomy, and his name is still the most distinguished
in the long list of able men who have been connected
with that institution. In 1854 he was elected a sur-
geon in the Philadelphia Hospital, which was his
first opportunity to perfect himself in the teaching
of Clinical Surgery; and in speaking of it to his
friend and professional associate, Dr. J. William
White, he said he "might as well attempt to be a
gardener without a garden as a surgeon without a
hospital." During the Civil war he had large oppor-
tunities; principally in the Hestonville General Hos-
pital, for operative work. In 1863 he was elected
surgeon to Wills' Eye Hospital ; in 1867 surgeon to
the Orthopedic Hospital ; in 1870 pr(ffessor of Clin-
ical Surgery, and in 1871 Professor of Surgery in
the University of Pennsylvania, retaining the latter
positions until 1889, when he resigned them to be
created Emeritus Professor of Surgery and Honor-
ary Professor of Clinical Surgery. During all these
years he grew steadily in professional strength ; his
clinics were crowded; his office was filled; his ser-
vices were in daily demand in all parts of the Middle
States, and the University of Pennsylvania was send-
ing out, year after year, hundreds of young men who
justly regarded him as the best possible adviser in
all cases of surgical disease or injury. He was one
of the surgeons employed in the Garfield case, spend-
ing many days and nights with the President during
a period of three months, involving a loss of weeks
from his practice, then the largest of any American
surgeon, for which he refused to make a charge, and
for which Congress appropriated a sum which gave
him only $5,000.
Dr. J. William White, who attended to his sur-
gical cases when Dr. Agnew's health began to fail in
1888, and who was a constant attendant in his last
illness, in his memoir read before the College of
Physicians, thus spoke of the closing days of his
active career : "After his retirement from the chair
of Surgery he gave each year, at my urgent solicita-
tion, backed by that of the class, a clinic at the Uni-
versity Hospital. It was always known in advance
and the amphitheatre was packed from floor to ceil-
mg . . . He never lost his hold on the love and
respect of the students, and until the day of his death
was the most popular member of the University
faculty."
Dr. Agnew entered into rest on March 22, 1892.
The immediate cause of death was uremia. His re-
mams repose in West Laurel Hill. — |J. ■ M. W.
Geist.
COL. JAMES DUFFY was for many years one
of the prominent residents of Marietta, but his repu-
tation was not by any means confined to that locality.
He was active in many lines before connecting him-
self with the Marietta Hollow Ware & Enameling
Co., with which he was identified from 1877 to the
close of his long life.
Col. Duffy was a grandson of John Duffy, a na-
tive of Newtown Cunningham, County Donegal,
Ireland, who was a leather dresser by trade. He
married Ann Bradley, and their son, James, the
father of our subject, was also born in Newtown.
The latter came to America in 1800, locating first
in Lancaster and later in Marietta, in the organiza-
tion of which borough he took an active part. He
was engaged in many undertakings which proved
of great benefit to the county, and being a man of
good business ability carried on the contracting busi-
ness profitably. He constructed the Marietta and
Lancaster turnpike, the turnpike from the Elizabeth-
town to the Susquehanna river, and the road frorri
Carlisle to Baltimore, through York Springs and
Gettysburg. Mr. Duffy died in 1836, aged sixty-
five years, in the faith of the Catholic Church. He
was a Democrat politically. Previous to his emi-
gration to this country he was a member of the
famous Light Horse Cavalry, of Ireland. James
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Duffy married Catherine Sheriden, like himself a
native of County Donegal, who died in 1820. Twelve
children were born to them.
Col. James Duffy, our subject, was born in Mari-
etta Sept. 16, 1818, and in his boyhood engaged in
rafting on the Susquehanna, rising in time to the rank
of pilot. He was thus employed until 1846, and the
following year made a trip to Europe. In 1848 he
established, a line of boats for transporting coal from
Pottsville to New York, in the interests of the
Schuylkill Navigation Co. In connection with
James Mehaffy he began the lumber business, in
which he continued until 1865. Meantime, in 1861,
he began transporting supplies for the Government
to forts in New Mexico and the West, among other
places to Salt Lake City. The magnitude of these
contracts can be estimated from the facts that mil-
lions of dollars were, employed, and over thirty
thousand oxen were used. After seven years spent
in this line Mr. Duffy retired from active business,
devoting his attention to his landed interests and
he won the reputation of being the largest tobacco
grower in the State. In 1877 he became interested
in the Marietta Hollow Ware & Enameling Co., in
which he controlled one-half the stock. He was one
of the directors of the Bald Eagle Valley Railway
Co.,> and was active in the support of many enter-
prises. He was a Democrat, and in i875_he was ap-
pointed a member of the Board of Fish Commission-
ers for Pennsylvania. In religion, like his fore-
fathers, he was a Roman Catholic. His death oc-
curred in November, 1886.
Col. James Duffy was married, Sept. 8, 1863, to
Martha, daughter of John Park, of Marietta, and to
them were born the following named children :
Josephine ; Catherine, deceased : James, who married
Miss Malone, and has three children, James, Joseph-
ine and Richard ; Donald Cameron ; Thomas Bayard ;
John Park, deceased ; Martha Park; John Park (2),
who also passed away ; and Mary Agnes, who died in
infancy.
CAPT. SAMUEL EVANS, now one of the
ivenerable residents ,of Columbia, has long been one
of the best known citizens of- Lancaster county,
where he is looked upon as the most reliable author-
ity in matters pertaining to local history. His efforts
in gathering and preserving data of interest and
consequence have been both laborious and success-
ful— all the more so that he has ever aimed at ac-
curacy in every particular, a fact which invests his
articles with especial value. Capt. Evans was born
Jan. 20, 1823, near Marietta, this county, in the
stone mansion on what is now Col. James Duffy's
park farm.
Major Samuel Evans, his grandfather, was born
near Landenburg, Chester Co., Pa., of Welsh and
Irish extraction, and became a man of importance
in his time and place. He was captain of the 8th
Company, in the Chester Countv Battalion, com-
manded by his father, Col. Evan Evans, and he par-
ticipated in the battles of Trenton, Princeton and
Brandywine. He was mustered out of the service
holding the rank of major, having been but twenty-
one years old when given that rank. He was one of
the judges of the Chester court, and served several
years as a member of the State Legislature. Major
Evans married Frances Lowrey, youngest child of
Col. Alexander and Ann Lowrey, the former of
whom owned and lived upon the present Duffy
farm. Mrs. Lowrey was of English extractiop.
Alexander Lowrey Evans, father of Capt. Satn-
uel, was given advantages for education such as but
few young men of his day received. He was a col-
lege graduate, and became a fine classical scholar.
Possessed of rare abilities, he displayed in his writ-
ings literary attainments of a high order. Like his
father, he had a taste for military life, but had no
opportunity for seeing active service. He was an
ardent Federalist, but he never sought politicar
honors. His death occurred in July, 1839. In 1822
he married Hannah Slaymaker, youngest daughter
of Hon. Amos and Isabella (Fleming) Slaymaker,
of Salisbury, the former of whom was an ensign in
the Revolutionary war, and a member of Congress
in 181 1 and 1812. Mr. Slaymaker was a charter
member and one of the promoters of the Philadel-
phia and Lancaster turnpike, which was built in
1792, and which was one the first built in the coun-
try. He was also one of the proprietors of the Phil-
adelphia and Pittsburg stage line, which was estab-,
lished in 1800. Mrs. Slaymaker's father, James
Fleming, who was of Scotch-Irish extraction, in-
herited the military ardor of his race, and served in
Capt. David Buyer's company ; he was at the battle
of Long Island.
Capt. Samuel Evans remained at the place of his
birth until he was fifteen years old, and during his
boyhood attended regularly the best schools of the
neighborhood. In April, 1838, he was apprenticed
to Israel Cooper, a Quaker, one of the prominent
builders of Columbia, with whom he remained six
years. For one year after reaching his majority
he continued in that locality, and then for eighteen
months he followed his trade successively in New
York, Pittsburg, St. Louis and New Orleans. Re-
turning to Columbia, he engaged in building there
and in Lancaster, and also followed the lumber busi-
ness along the river.
Although his business received the attention its
successful conduct required, it was hardly to be ex-
pected that a man of Capt. Evans' active and pro-
gressive disposition should be satisfied with only a
commercial outlet for his intelligence and energy.
He earl}' took an active part in the political affairs
of his locality, attaching himself to the Whig party,
in time becoming an aggressive advocate of anti-
slavery principles. He was a liberal and welcome
contributor to ^ the editorial and local columns of
the newspapers' of his party, and he showed himself
apt at giving and parrying the blows which were
so freely exchanged at a time when party feeling ran
/-z-^a-^^-C
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
high. He always attended the primaries, and fre-
quently represented his District in the county con-
ventions, where he took a prominent part in fram-
ing the platforms of his party. In 1856 he had the
honor of being a delegate to the Republican State
Convention held at Philadelphia. In 1853 Capt,
Evans was elected a justice of the peace for the
lower ward of Columbia, and in 1857 was nominated
by the Republicans for clerk of the Court of Quarter
Sessions, and Oyer and Terminer, and was elected.
During his term, though the business in court was
quite large, there was not a single adjourned court
■of Quarter Sessions. In the spring of 1861 he re-
turned to Columbia, and was again elected a justice
of the peace of the lower ward.
When Sumter was fired upon, and a company of
volunteers was raised in Columbia by Col. Fisher,
Mr. Evans enrolled himself as a private, and marched
with the organization to Camp Curtin, about May
I, 1 86 1. He was appointed orderly sergeant of
Company K, 5th Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserves,
and on June 21, 1861, was promoted to a second
lieutenancy. On the following day he marched with
his regiment to Cumberland, Md., via Hopewell and
Bedford, part of the way by rail. From Cumber-
land the regiment proceeded to New Creek, and
made a forced march by night from the latter place
to Ridgeville, a distance of ten miles, to relieve Col.
Kane. From West Virginia the regiment returned
to Harrisburg, thence to Washington and Tennally-
town, about Aug. 20, 1861. From there they
marched to Camp Pierpont, south of the Potomac,
on the Drainesville turnpike. On Oct. i, 1861, Sam-
uel Evans was appointed quartermaster of the regi-
ment, with the rank of first lieutenant, and was given
charge of the brigade quartermaster's department
for some months, and was also assigned as assistant
commissary of subsistence of the brigade and di-
vision, which responsible position he held for a year
or more. At Culpeper he was appointed on Gen.
\^'^arren's staff, and was assigned to the duty of
issuing commissary supplies to detached troops at
Warren's and Grant's headquarters, to the destitute,
to loyal citizens, and to contrabands who followed in
the wake of the army. He also had charge of the
cattle of the 5th Corps, numbering a thousand head,
and during battle issued fresh beef to the soldiers,
and supplied the wounded in the hospitals on the bat-
tlefield. On May 11, 1864, at the battle of Todd's
Tavern, he issued twenty thousand rations to the
wounded. When this battle was pending he was
ordered to issue fresh beef to some of the troops at
the front. A detail of men was sent from the in-
trenchments, a hundred yards away, to take the beef
and divide it. They were compelled to crawl along
the ground, and could neither go back nor forward.
Those in the intrenchments were compelled to lie
down, and the beef of several cattle had to be aban-
doned. During his three years as a soldier Capt.
Evans was not absent from a single battle in which
the troops to which he was attached were engaged ;
this included Drainesville, the seven days fighting
on the Peninsula, Fredericksburg, South Mountain,
Antietam and the Wilderness. While not seeking
danger, he always obeyed the orders of his superiors,
and never required a subordinate to do an onerous
or responsible duty while a battle was pending, but
went himself and saw that his orders were executed.
For meritorious conduct in the Wilderness cam-
paign President Johnson commissioned him a brevet
captain. With his regiment he returned to Harris-
burg, and was mustered out of the service in July,
1864. In addition to his own service to his country,
Capt. Evans and his wife each sent a substitute to
the army, both of whom remained until the close of
the war.
In 1866 the Captain was again elected justice of
the peace in Columbia, and he was re-elected to the
office in 1872, 1877, 1884, 1889 and 1894, continuing
to serve until 1900, since when he has been a notary
public. In political affairs his interest is as keen as
ever, but with advancing years he has been less ac-
tive and more inclined to conservatism, though he
has remained a stanch Republican. Capt. Evans is a
member of Col. Welsh Post, No. 118, G. A. R.,- De-
partment of Pennsylvania, and also affiliates with the
following societies : Colonial Society,- Sons of the
Revolution, Scotch-Irish Society, Maryland His-
torical Society (corresponding member, with head-
quarters at Baltimore), Harford County (Md.)
Historical Society, Virginia Historical Society, and
Lancaster Historical Society, of which latter he is
vice-president.
Industry and good management in his earlier
years brought Capt. Evans a well deserved com-
petency, in the expenditure of which he and his
family have shown both judgment and common
sense, as well as a keen appreciation of what is best
in life. In 1852 the Captain married Miss Elizabeth
Anderson, who died in the summer of 1855. In
1857 he was married to Miss Mary Shoch, a lady of
German and Scotch-Irish stock. Mrs. Evans
taught school for a number of years, and has always
taken a deep interest in literary subjects and mat-
ters of education generally. She is highly cultured,
and is the author of many poetical writings of high
merit. Like her husband, she has a decidedly pro-
gressive disposition, and both occupy a high place
among the citizens' of Columbia. Mr. and Mrs.
Evans have but one surviving child. Miss Lilian
Slaymaker Evans, who was born in Columbia, and
now resides with her parents. She belongs to and
takes a deep interest in the Society of the Daughters
of the American Revolution. She was the first mem-
ber of the Society from Pennsylvania, and stands
No. 4T in the roll, which now contains forty thou-
sand names. She organized the chapter of Donegal,
and was its first regent, as she was of Witness Tree
Chapter,, which she also organized. At the first
meeting of the Continental Congress of the Society,
which was held in Washington, D. C, Feb. 22, 1892,
she was the youngest regent present. As ex-officio
10
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
regent Miss Evans has attended nearly all the meet-
ings of the Continental Congress of the Society.
She is also a member of the Society of Colonial
Dames, and takes a deep interest in its meetings and
projects. She is proud, as well she may be, of her
Scotch-Irish lineage, and is a member of the Na-
tional Scotch-Irish Society.
JONATHAN MESSERSMITH FOLTZ, Sur-
geon General of the United States Navy, was born
in Lancaster, Pa., April 25, 1810, being the youngest
son of Jonathan and Elizabeth Foltz of this city. His
ancestors came from Prussia in 1755, and settled in
Lancaster county. Pa. Receiving a thorough acad-
emic education, he studied medicine with Dr. Wil-
liam Thompson, and graduated from the Jefferson
Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1830. On April
4, 1831, though not yet twenty-one years of age, he
was commissioned an assistant surgeon in the navy,
and soon after embarked upon the frigate "Potomac,"
for an expedition against the pirates of Sumatra,
and a three years' cruise around the world. This
expedition, under command of Commodore John
Downs, attracted much attention at the time, and was
completely successful, the fortified towns of the Mo-
hammedan pirates being bombarded and taken by
storm. Surgeon Foltz landed with the storming col-
umn, and was warmlv commended in the report of
Captain Shubrick as "active and zealous in the dis-
charge of his duties, binding up and dressing the
wounded under the fire of the enemy." Soon after
his return from this cruise he published the medical
statistics and observations upon it. Being stationed
at the Washington navy yard from 1834 until 1838,
he formed friendships with many of the noted men of
the day, and was present at the memorable duel be-
tween William C. Graves of Kentucky, and Jonathan
Cilley of Maine, when the latter was killed. Dr.
Foltz had tried to adjust the differences between the
duelists, and only remained upon the scene from con-
siderations of humanity, and in the hope that he
might save life. In 1837 Yale College conferred
upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts,
then seldom granted.
In 1838 Dr. Foltz was commissioned past as-
sistant surgeon, and appointed to the charge of the
naval hospital then maintained at Port Mahon, on
the island of Minorca, in the Mediterranean. Visit-
ing Algiers enroute to his post, he met the French
expedition against Abdel Kader, under the Duke of
Orleans and the noted Captains Pelissier and Mc-
Mahon, the latter afterward Marshal McMahon. He
made a study of the "pernicious fever" as he found
it in the French military hospitals, and published
a notable monograph upon that disease, but his most
successful literary and professional work was an
essay published in 1843 after his return to America,
and entitled "The Endemic Influence of Evil Gov-
ernment, Illustrated in a View of the Climate, To-
pography and Disease of the Island of Minorca."
His next service was in the frigate "Raritan,"
as fleet surgeon in South American waters, and on
the outbreak of the war with Mexico, when his vessel
was ordered to the Gulf Coast, he applied for shore
service, and was present at the battle of Palo Alto,
assisting in the treatment of the wounded. At the
battle of Resaca de la Palma, he cared for Major
Ringgold when that gallant officer received his mortal'
wound, and at the battles of Alverado and Tobasco-
and the siege of Vera Cruz, he rendered efficient
service. He published "A Report on Scorbutus,"
as it occurred in our fleet. He had written in 1842-
a series of articles "On the Employment of Steam
Ships of War in the United States Navy." These-
articles were embodied in the report of the Secretary
of the Navy, and they led directly to the building of
our first steam war ships, the "Princeton," and the
"Union." He next served in the "Jamestown" on the
coast of Brazil, and at the Philadelphia Naval Asy-
lum. During the administration of James Buchanan,
he was stationed at the navv yard and naval hospital
in Washington, and, having long been the intimate
friend as well as medical adviser of the President,
was in closest touch with the stirring events of the
day. He was one of the partv which accompanied
Buchanan to Washington shortly before his in-
auguration, when they were all attacked by the
mysterious "National Hotel disease," believed to
have been an attempt to poison the president-elect. ,
On the breaking out of the Civil war he served
first in the "Santee" and then in the "Niagara" of
the Gulf squadron at the bombardment of Forts
McCrea and Barancas, and was then appointed fleet
surgeon of the Western Gulf squadron under Ad-
miral Farragut. He established a hospital at Pilot
Town, on board the "Hartford," took part in the
bombardment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the
capture of the Chalmette Fort, the fight at Vicks-
burg, and all the naval battles of Admiral Farragut
on the Mississippi, remaining attached to the "Hart-
ford" as fleet surgeon for more than a year, and
rendering valuable service in advising and directing
measures for keeping yellow fever out of New Or-
leans, and away from our naval and military forces.
On May 8, 1862, when off Baton Rouge, Surgeon
Foltz went in an open boat under fire to attend
wounded, and on July 15th, during the fight with
the ram "Arkansas," he performed a like service. He
was freqriently commended in general orders and
reports. He became a member of the Naval Med-
ical Board in 1863, and in 1866 president of the
Board. In 1867 he was chosen by Admiral Farra-
gut to be fleet surgeon of the European squadron,
with which that officer visited the great harbors of
the Old World, and he accompanied the Admiral
to the many audiences granted, and the splendid re-
ceptions tendered by monarchs and potentates, in-
cluding the Emperors of France and Russia. Re-
turning to America in 1870, he again became presi-
dent of the Medical Board, and on Oct. 25, 1871,
was appointed by President Grant chief of the Bu-
reau of Medicine and Surgery, and Surgeon General
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
11
of the Navy, with the relative rank of Commodore.
He held these positions until April 25, 1872, when
he reached the age fixed by law for retirement. In
1874 he was elected a vice-president of the Jefferson
Medical College. His death occurred at his home
in Philadelphia, April 12, 1877, and he is buried in
the. Lancaster cemetery.
Dr. Foltz married in 1854, Rebecca Steinman,
daughter of John Frederick Steinman, of Lancastef,
Pa., and had three sons, all of whom were living in
1902: Frederick Steinman, a captain in the 2d
U. S. Cav., late captain of the port of Havana, Cuba,
supervisor of police and chief of the Cuban secret
service ; Charles Steinman, one of the editors of the
Lancaster Intelligencer, treasurer of the Penn. Iron
Co. ; and Dr. Jonathan Clinton, a practicing physi-
cian of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia.
GEN. THOMAS WELSH (deceased). One of
the military heroes whom the city of Columbia de-
lights to honor is Gen. Thomas Welsh, whose bril-
liant career during the Civil war was cut short by
an untimely death. His name is perpetuated in G. A.
R. post, No. 118, at Columbia, and the affectionate
remembrance in which his name is held by his old
comrades in arms is undimmed by lengthening years.
He did valiant service in the Mexican war, and had
participated gallantly for more than two years in
the great national struggle of 1861-65 when death
overtook him.
Gen. Welsh was a native of Columbia. He was
born in 1824, son of Charles and Nancy (Dougherty)
Welsh, old residents of Columbia. He was a young
man of twenty-three at the breaking out of the Mexi-
can war. He entered as a private, and was assigned
to Co. C, of the 2d Kentucky Foot Regiment. He
, was promoted to first sergeant Feb. 23, 1847, ^^ the
battle of Buena Vista he was severely wounded in
the leg, and the preservation of both life and limb
was due to the care of Dr. Blanton, surgeon in the
regular army. On account of disability from wounds
he was discharged as first sergeant June 11, 1847.
Returning home for complete recovery, he was com-
missioned in December, of the same year, second
lieutenant of the nth United States Infantry, then
in Mexico. He marched to Vera Cruz, and partici-
pated in the sharp campaign under Gen. Scott. At
the close of the war Lieut. Welsh resigned his com-
mission and returned to civil life. He became a
merchant at the Basin, and the owner of several
canal boats. Pie was elected justice of the peace in
1856, and during Gov. Bigler's administration was
appointed superintendent of the lock.
When Fort Sumter was fired upon in April, i86r,
a company of seventy-eight men was recruited at
Columbia in one night for the three months' service,
and on April 17, i86r, Lieut. Thorrias Welsh was
elected captain of this company. Two days later it
reported at Harrisburg for duty, and became a part
of the I ith P. v. I. Capt. Welsh was commissioned
lieutenant colonel. At the expiration of the three
months' service Lieut. Col. Welsh assisted in the
organization of the 4Sth P. V. I., for three years'
service, of which he was commissioned colonel July
22, 1861. He participated in all the campaigns of
the 9th Army Corps, and was a model and brilliant
soldier. The regiment lost 145 men at the battle of
South Mountain, Sept. 16, 1862, and thirty at An-
tietam. Col. Welsh was promoted to brigadier-
general March 13, 1863, and in that capacity partici-
pated in the Mississippi campaigns. After the sur-
render of Gen. Pemberton, and while his command
was being transferred to the East, Gen. Welsh died
at Cincinnati, Aug. 14, 1863, of disease contracted
during the investment of Vicksburg. His death
was a shock not only to his own brigade and to his
many friends at home, but to innumerable friends of
the Union cause, to whom his brilliant and patriotic
career had become a pride and inspiration.
A family of five, a son and four daughters, re-
mained to mourn him. Gen. Welsh had married at
Columbia, Oct. 25, 1850, Miss Annis F. Young, who
was born at Wrightsville, Lancaster county, in 1831,
daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Kline) Young,
of New England ancestry. She was a charter mem-
ber of the Lutheran Church of Columbia, and died
Feb. 23, 1894. Both are buried in Mount Bethel
cemetery. The children born to Gen. and Mrs.
Welsh are as follows : Alice ; Mary Y., principal of
the Columbia high school ; Effie ; Addie, who died at
the age of two years; Lilian, a physician of Balti-
more, Md. ; and Lieut. Blanton C, who graduated
from West Point, m 1882, and in October, 1885,
married Miss Emily Benson, of New York. He is
now a retired army officer at Montclair, N. J., and has
a son named for the distinguished and honored
father.
WILLIAM AUGUSTUS ATLEE, first Presi-
dent Judge of the Second Judicial District of Penn-
sylvania, came of ancient and honorable lineage. He
was one of three (some accounts say five) children
born to William Atlee, of Fordhook House, England,
who, contrary to the wishes of his family, married
Jane Alcock, a cousin of William Pitt, and maid of
honor to the Queen of England. The match was
a clandestine one, and the j'oung couple sailed for
America (he in the capacity of secretary to Lord
Howe), landing at Philadelphia, in July, 1734.
Judge Atlee, the oldest child of his father, was
born in Philadelphia July i, 1735. His father died
in that city in 1744. His mother, acting under the
advice of her husband's friend, Edward Shippen,
Esq., removed to Lancaster with her young family!
and when of a suitable age, William Augustus read
law in the office of Mr. Shippen. In 1758 he was
admitted to the Bar, and his abilities were such that
he rose rapidly in his profession, and in a few years
was one of the foremost lawyers in the State. He
also took an active part in local affairs, and on Sept.
IS, 1770, was elected chief burgess of the borough
of Lancaster, and he was elected three times subse-
12
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
quently to the same position. While acting in that
capacity, so important and valuable were his services
esteemed by his associates, that at a meeting of the
burgesses held March i6, 1774, "was taken into con-
sideration the many services Mr. Atlee had done
for the corporation in penning and preparing the
above law to be laid before the Assembly, drawing
the draught of the borough, waiting on the Assembly
with the bill, and other services, and he refusing to
accept a draught on the treasurer, or any other satis-
faction for the same, it is therefore unanimously
agreed (he having retired at the request of the other
gentlemen present), that Messrs. Henry, Lowman
and Hopson have some piece of plate made such as
agreeable to Mrs. Atlee, genteel and not too expen-
sive, and present the same to her as a testimony of
their approbation of Mr. Atlee's conduct in serving
the borough."
The act of the Assembly to which reference has
just been rhade was "for regulating the buildings,
keeping in repair the streets, lanes and alleys, high-
ways, etc., in the borough of Lancaster." The com-
mittee appointed to procure the testimonial attended
to the duty assigned them, and in the report of the
borough treasurer, presented on June 29, 1776, the
following item occurs :. "May 16, by cash to Charles
Hall for a silver tea Sett as a present to Mr. Atlee,
for his trouble relative to the Borough Law,
ii4, 5s.. od."
The first demonstration in the Revolutionary
struggle made in this county was at a meeting held
at the court house on' Wednesday, June 15, 1774, in
pursuance to a call received from Philadelphia by
Mr. Atlee, and published by him. Strong sentiments
against further imports from and exports to Britain
•were expressed, and he with a number of other
prominent citizens were constituted a committee to
further these aims. He was one of the deputies sent
from Lancaster countv to the convention called at
Philadelphia on July 15th, and he was one of the
members of the committee appointed by that con-
vention to prepare a long and elaborate draft of in-
structions to the Representatives, which were soon
to meet in General Assemblv to appoint persons to
attend a congress of deputies from all the Colonies.
The Continental Congress assembled soon thereafter
in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, and among other
things recommended the election of "Committees
of Observation." Mr. Atlee was one of the members
of the Committee elected to represent Lancaster
borough.
During the stirring times that followed, no man
was more active in the good cause than he. He had
been chosen as chairman of the local committee of
safety, and as such his duties were both arduous and
incessant. He was in constant communication with
President Reed and other State officials. The dan-
gerous number of prisoners kept here, their plans for
escape, the condition of the' barracks, were fruitful
themes, and required unremitting care and attention.
But Mr. Atlee seems to have been the right man in
the right place, and to have discharged the duties
of his position in a way to deserve the approbation of
those at the head of affairs.
In May, 1777, he was one of the committee of
thirteen appointed by the war office to supply the
army with blankets and other supplies, for Lancaster
county. On Aug. 16, 1777, he received from the
Supreme Executive Council of the State, the ap-
pointment of second Judge of the Supreme Court o£
Pennsylvania, his associates being Thomas McKean,
who later was thrice elected Governor of the Com-
monwealth, and John Evans. During the years 1777
and 1778 he also held the position of Commissary
of the British prisoners confined at Lancaster, an
office that was attended with many cares and annoy-
ances, and required unremitting attention.
But the State and county had still further need
of his services after the struggle for independence
was over. On Aug. 19, 1784, he was reappointed as
a Judge of the Supreme Court. In November, 1789,
he was sent from this county as a delegate to the
convention held in Philadelphia, to amend the State
Constitution framed in 1776. On Aug. 17, 1791, he
was appointed the President Judge of the newly es-
tablished Second Judicial District, composed of the
counties of Chester, Lancaster, York and Dauphin,
a position he held imtil the day of his death, Sept. 9,
1793. P'ew names in our local history stand forth
more conspicuously or more deservedly than that of
Judge William Augustus Atlee. He was equally
distinguished as a citizen, a lawyer, a patriot and a
Judge. Like his illustrious brother. Colonel Samuel
J. Atlee, he was an ardent advocate of the inde-
pendence of the Colonies, and his services to the
cause were many and continuous throughout the
entire war. The numerous public positions to which
he was elected and appointed show the confidence and
esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens.
He deserved tliat confidence for he was a man of
the highest integrity. His career on the Bench was
both able and successful. He appears to have been
endowed with many of the requirements for that
exalted position, integrity, legal learning and sound
judgment. In his capacity as a member of the Su-
preme Court of the State during the formative period
of our jtidicial history, he rendered most efficient
service in laying its foundations deep and strong,
and it has been noted that the opinions pronounced
during his term of service on the Bench show a
v/onderful unanimity on the part of the incumbents ;
so much so that Lord Mansfield, one of the most
eminent of English Judges, in referring to the Courts'
decisions as recorded in the official reports of that
period, remarked that "They do credit to the Court,
the Bar and the Reporter. They show readiness in
practice, liberality in principle, strong reason and
legal learning." Judge Atlee is said to have been
a man of great affability, of an attractive and win-
ning personality, in whom the sense of right and
duty was strongly developed, and of unquestioned
integrity. He also appears to have escaped the carp-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
13
ing censure of political enemies and critics to a de-
gree quite unusual in those days. From his first
entrance into public life in 1770, until his death, a
period of almost a quarter of a century, he possessed
the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens, in
an unusual degree. It is highly gratifying to reflect
that the same confidence has in a long measure been
enjoyed by his successors.
JUDGE JOHN JOSEPH HENRY, the second
of the President Judges of this district, was born in
Lancaster Nov. 4, 1758. His father, William Henry,
was a celebrated inventor and a gunsmith by profes-
sion, holding a number of important positions on the
patriot side during the Revolutionary war. Young
Henry was early brought into close relations with
men eminent in that struggle, and his military ardor
was so aroused at being denied the privilege of en-
listing as a soldier, that while still a youth of seven-
teen, he ran away and made his way to Boston, where
the first Continental Army was assembling. Here
he joined the fatal expedition of General Arnold
against Quebec, and went through all the sufiEerings
and horrors of that campaign, and here were sown
the seeds of disease which later made him an invalid
for life. He wrote a very full history of that expe-
dition, which was published the year after his death.
Being exchanged he returned home, after a long im-
prisonment, still longing to be a soldier, but his health
would not permit. He bound himself as a clerk in
the oflice of John Hubley, Esq., prothonotary, mean-
while reading law and improving a defective edu-
cation. In 1785 he was admitted to the Bar, and at
once began the practice of his profession. In 1793,
upon the death of Judge Atlee, he was appointed
President Judge of this district, being only thirty-
five years old. But while bright prospects opened
•for him professionally, disease laid its hand heavily
upon him, and sometimes rendered him incapable
of holding the regular terms of his Court. He, how-
ever, continued to hold his commission until 18 10,
when he resigned it, after having been on the Bench
seventeen years. He died April 15, 181 1.
WALTER FRANKLIN, third President Judge
of this district, although born a few years prior to the
outbreak of the struggle with the mother country,
was still too young to share in the war of independ-
ence. He was born in the city of New York, at which
place his father was living at the time, in February,
1773. His father having removed to Philadelphia
while Walter was still in his minority, he began his
career in the latter place by entering a law office, and
was admitted to practice in 1794, at the early age of
twenty-one years. He must have attracted attention
from the beginning, as in 1809 he received the ap-
pointment of Attorney General of Pennsylvania from
Gov. Simon Snyder. He held that office two years,
until 181 1, when. Judge Henry having died, he was
raised to the Bench by an appointment as President
Judge of the Second Judicial District of Pennsyl-
vania, consisting at that time of the counties of Lan-
caster, York and Dauphin, and to which Cumberland
and Lebanon were subsequently added. He held this
position until his death, Feb. 7, 1838, after a con-
tinuous service of twenty-seven years.
Judge Franklin was thoroughly identified with
all the interests of his adopted city He did not con-
fine his attention to the affairs of his office only, but
took part in all that was going on around him. He
was an early advocate of the liberation of slaves,
and presided at an anti-slavery meeting held in this
city in November, 1819. His rank among his judi-
cial brethren in the State was high. As a citizen he
was correct in his deportment, courteous and digni-
fied in his bearing, and a favorite with the people
among whom his lot was cast. He was the founder
of a family of lawyers, and some of them, are with
us still.
JUDGE ORESTES COLLINS, of whom but
little is known or remembered, became President
Judge of the District by the appointment of Governor
Joseph Ritner, Aug. 8, 1836. He resigned on Dec.
26, 1838, and was re-commissioned on Dec. 27th of
the same year, and was removed by a decision of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in July, 1839.
JUDGE BENJAMLNi CHAMPNEYS, fifth of
the President Judges of the Second Judicial District
of this State, was a native of Bridgeton, Cumberland
Co., N. J., born in 1800. His ancestors emigrated
from England to New Jersey along with John Fen-
wick, the grantee of that province, in 1675, and played
an important part in its early history. Judge Champ-
neys's father removed to this State, was educated at
the University of Pennsylvania, and was a surgeon,
on the frigate "Philadelphia," while that vessel was
commanded by Commodore Decatur.
Benjamin Champneys was prepared for college
by private tutors, and ent ed the Sophomore class
at Princeton, passing through the Junior year, and
leaving upon his father's death. Upon leaving col-
lege he entered upon the sttidy of the law in the office
oi Chief Justice Ewing, of New Jersey, but subse-
quently came to Lancaster, where he entered the law
office of George B. Porter, Esq., who afterward be-
came Governor of the Territory of Michigan. At
the conclusion of his student days he was admitted
to the Lancaster Bar April 2, 1818, at the early age
of eighteen years. Owing to several important cases
conducted by him, he at once assumed an important
position at the Bar. Being then a stanch Democrat,
he was nominated by that party for the State Legis-
lature in 1825 and elected, and re-elected in 1828.
Governor David R. Porter appointed him Presi-
dent Judge of the Courts of this county July 8,
1839, ^nd he remained on the Bench three and a half
years, when, having been nominated by the Demo-
cratic County Convention for the place of State
Senator, he resigned in order to enter upon his can-
vass. Pie was elected in 1842, and served the full
14
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
period of three years. In 1846 Governor Shenk ap-
pointed him Attorney General of the State, and he
discharged the duties of the office until 1848.
Judge Champneys continued his affiliations with
the Democratic party until the outbreak of the Civil
war, when his patriotism led him to range himself
with the friends of the Union, and thereafter he
was a sturdy Republican. His new political friends
sent him to the State Legislature in 1863, and to the
State Senate in 1864, 1865 and 1866. That was the
last public positon held by him. Judge Champneys
is the earliest of our President Judges remembered
by the present generation. His well known face
and figure, his genial personality and his courtly
manners are well remembered by men of middle age.
As an advocate he was eloquent, as a Judge, able and
upright, and as a citizen, everything that is best in
citizenship.
JUDGE ELLIS LEWIS, sixth in the regular or-
der of succession of the President Judges of this dis-
trict, was a native Pennsylvanian, born in Lewisber-
ry, York county. May 16, 1798. He was of Welsh
descent, his ancestors having come from Wales in
1 708. Although at one time in affluent circumstances,
his father lost his estate, and young Ellis
was thrown on his own resources. He became a
printer's apprentice, and studied law while learning
his trade. At the age of twenty-four he was admitted
to practice, and rose rapidly in his profession. He
was twice elected to the State Legislature, in 1828
and 1832. In 1833 he received the appointment of
Attorney General of the Commonwealth from Gov-
ernor Wolf, and in the same year was tendered and
accepted the positon of President Judge of the Eighth
Judicial District (Northumberland county). In 1843
he was appointed to the same office in the Second
District, which place he held until 1851, when he
was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court of the
State, and was Chief Justice from 1854 to 1857. He
was renominated by the Democratic party, but de-
clined the honor. Judge Lewis was a sound lawyer,
noted for his knowledge of Medical Jurisprudence,
which won for him the degree of M. D., from the
University of Pennsylvania, and the degree of LL. D.
from several other institutions. He was the author
of a legal treatise, and his decisions while on the
Bench have won for him a high standing among
our Judges. He died at Philadelphia March 19,
1871.
JUDGE HENRY GRIMLER LONG was the
first President Judge of pure German ancestry. His
paternal grandfather, Nicholas Long, was born at
Levenbrucken, Bavaria, and came to America in
1754, settling in Lancaster. His father was Jacob
Long, an officer in the Revolutionary war, and a suc-
cessful business man of this city. Judge Long was
born Aug. 23, 1804, and his literary education was
that of the schools of the day. He read law with
George B. Porter, who was one of the leading mem-
bers of the Bar of the State, and was admitted to the
practice of his profession in 1827. He was elected
county solicitor soon after he began his career at the
Bar, and was re-elected to that position for a period
of twenty years. Almost at the same time he was ap-
pointed by the prothonotary of the Supreme Court
of Pennsylvania, assistant prothonotary for the Sec-
ond Judicial District, then comprising the counties
of Lancaster, York, Berks, Dauphin, Lebanon and
Schuylkill counties. In the fall of 1838 he was elected
a member of the State Legislature.
In 1857 the Judiciary of the State became elective,
having previously been selected by the Governors.
Mr. Long had been suggested as a candidate, con-
trary to his desire, by his friends, but he desired his
name not to be considered. At the Whig convention
in 185 1 he was unanimously nominated without his
consent. He served the ten years of his term' most
acceptably, and in i86r, political changes having oc-
curred, he was nominated a second time by the Peo-
ple's party, and again elected, and served the full
term, retiring from the Bench Dec. 4, 1871.
Judge Long by his legal earnings and by inher-
itance acquired a large estate. By his will he made
provisions in certain contingencies for the erection
of a Home for Needy Women, and also for a public
park for the city of Lancaster, devoting more than
$500,000 to these purposes. The death of his only
daughter, Catharine H. Long, a few years ago, has
made the sum left to these public benefactions avail-
able, and both projects are at present moving for-
ward to their consummation. Judge Long died
March 5, 1889.
HENRY GEIST was born in Bart township,
Lancaster county, Nov. 13, 1782, son of Simon
Geist, who emigrated from Germany in 1750, and he
died June 29, 1858, in the seventy-sixth year of his
age. He was united in marriage to Agnes Mc-
Cready, who died in 1832. In early life he assisted
his father in managing his large farm, and becoming
overheated in the harvest field, he sat down in the
barn "to cool off," during a shower, contracted a cold
which settled in his eyes, resulting in total blindness.
His case was a remarkable illustration of how nature
compensates for the loss of one sense in the more
exquisite development of the others. When this
misfortune overtook him he had a wife and five
small children depending upon him for support.
Thus thrown upon his own resources his future
looked discouraging indeed, but he did not despair.
His Christian training had taught him to believe,
with Laurence Sterne, that "God tempers the wind
to the shorn lamb." His parents deeded him a small
farm "in consideration of the natural love and af-
fection they have and bear unto the said Henrv Geist,
their son," on which they built a modest home, the
same being now in the possession, by inheritance, of
his grandson, Henry Martin Geist.
Nature had endowed the afflicted man with rare
musical and mechanical instincts, and these he in-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
15
dustriously cultivated. He was an expert performer
on the violin, and after he lost his sight that which
had been indulged in merely as a pleasure became one
of the means of supporting his family. In those
days big annual fairs were held in "the shire town"
of Lancaster, at which the prominent feature was
dancing, continuing for several days, and in which
every section of the county was represented. Mr.
Geist became the leading violinist on those occasions,
and his services were also in demand at dancing
parties held in other sections in connection with
sleighing carnivals, then more common than now.
The musician was then "paid by the tune," the cur-
rency being "fips," "levies" and "quarters." His
sense of touch had become so acute that it was im-
possible to impose a spurious coin upon him, although
it was often tried, sometimes by friends as a test, but
in some instances by those mean enough to try to
cheat a blind man. These he invariably detected and
exposed, and they were generally summarily ejected
from the room. On one occasion the Farmers' Bank
of Lancaster received a counterfeit half-dollar which
the oii&cers declared was calculated to deceive the
best judges. The late Joseph McCIure, who chanced
to be present, said, "We have a blind man in our
neighborhood upon whom you couldn't pass that
coin !" The bankers were incredulous and a wager
was the result. Mr. McClure was to bring his
blind expert to town, and the party losing was to
bear the expenses of the trip. Several genuine coins
were placed on the counter with the counterfeit.
Passing several as genuine he detected the counter-
feit as soon as he got it in his fingers. This sensitive
touch also served him in judging the quality of
textile goods, and in the various mechanical occu-
pations he followed. It enabled him to plane a board
as level and smooth as one with his sight, his fingers
following the rriovement of the plane each backward
stroke.
In those days thatched roofs were in vogue. Mr.
Geist took up this trade, and there were few straw
roofs in the neighborhood that had not been made or
lepaired by him. The late Jacob Eshleman, passing by
one day when he was working on the roof of a large
barn, begged Eim to come down, fearing he might
fall, and finally offered to pay him the price of the
job if he would do so. But he assured his friend that
he was not so liable to fall as one with his sight, be-
cause, conscious of his danger, he was more cautious
in his movements and was not liable to vertigo from
looking down. He never met with an accident in
this, or in any of the occupations in which he had oc-
casion to handle all kinds of edge tools.
Another occupation he took up was dressing flax
and weaving it into cloth. All the farmers raised
flax and had it converted into cloth for everyday
wear. Mr. Geist built for himself a little shop in front
of the barn, invented a rotarv machine, operated by
treadle, for "scutching" the flax after it had been
■"broken," by means of which he could do as much
work in a dav as three men could do bv the old hand
process. He also, with the aid of his brothers-in-
law, Mark Brooke (wagonmaker) and George Fogle
(cabinet-maker), erected a loom for weaving carpets,
and, subsequently, another for tow-cloth and linen
and taught his daughters to operate them, doing
much of the weaving of the neighborhood. Every-
body then wore "tow" or "flax" cloth for summer
wear. In the winter season he took up shoemaking,
a trade he had learned in his youth. When he had
difficulty, in consequence of nervousness, in inserting
the "wax-ends" in sewed shoe-work, he had his
youngest son sit beside him with his lesson book in
hand, and it was in this way that the editor of The
New Era got most of his primary education. He
also worked at carpentry, and built a frame addition
to his house on a novel plan of his own designing,
which attracted much attention at the time. While
framing this building under the shade of the cherry
trees, his son pursued his studies and helped his
father in handing him the tools as needed. He could
build as good a post-and-rail fence, when given the
starting and terminal points, as most men having
the use of their eyes, and when a two or three rail
fence was to be supplemented with a base of dry stone
masonry he was equal to the task. One of his spe-
cialties was making wheelbarrows, which, though
not as highly finished, were more durable than those
turned out of the modern shops. He did all the
work on them except the ironing. He was handy in
all domestic affairs. Being an early riser, he made
the fire, fed the cow and pigs, pared the apples at
the annual "butter bee" (on a machine of his own
construction), dressed the sausage skins at butcher-
ing time, and did many other chores required about
a country home in those days. Those who saw him
about his work, or traveling through the neighbor-
hood, would not infer that he was blind, so natural
were his movements.
The Rev. Dr. Easton, who had been his pastor
for over thirty years, wrote of him that "in the loss
of one of the noblest sources of earthly enjoyment
he ever justified God. All acquainted with him were
constrained to bear witness to his meekness and pa-
tience. And those who witnessed will never forget
his emotions when, the day before he died, the pre-
cious words of his own covenant with God were re-
peated, how feelingly he manifested his acquiescence
in their truth."
COL. MATTHIAS SLOUGH, like so many of
the influential men of Lancaster county, came of
German ancestry. Whether born in this country
or abroad is not known. He came to this place with-
his father in 1747, a lad of fourteen years of age.
The father, J-acob Slough, bought several lots in the
southeast angle of Center Square, and on them is
thought to have built the "Swan Tavern," so fa-
mous in the after history of the city.
As early as 1761 young Slough became the land-
lord of the "Swan." It was the beginning of a pub-
lic career that lasted during the succeeding forty
16
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
years, making Col. Slough one of the most prom-
inent men in the county and well known abroad.
The first office of public trust held by him was that
of County Coroner, in 1755, and he retained it un-
til 1768. In 1757 he was elected as assistant bur-
gess of the town, and was re-elected to the same
position in 1758, 1760 and 1761. That he was an
intelligent man, and a patron of education, is shown
by his having been a charter member of the Lancas-
ter Library Co., in 1759. Strange as it may seem,
he was also treasurer of the county from 1763 to
1769, holding the office of coroner and treasurer at
the same time. It was in 1763, while he was cor-
oner, that the massacre of the friendly Indians took
place in the public workhouse by the "Paxton
Boys," who rode into the town, put up their horses
in the "Swan" stables, and then carried out their
infernal work. It was also at the "Swan" that the
unfortunate fracas between Capt. Chambers and Dr.
Reiger occurred, which resulted in a duel and the
death of the former.
Col. Slough was an early member of the Union
Fire Co., in 1764. In 1773 he was elected to the
State Legislature; he was re-elected in 1774, 1775,
■ "^777 > 1780, 1 78 1, 1782 and 1783. A man of his
local prominence was certain to be found at the
front when the Revolutionary war began. He was
a prominent member of the first public meeting
called in the county, in June, 1774, to protest against
the offensive acts of the mother country, and was
one of the committee on public correspondence. He
was one of the eight deputies chosen from Lancas-
ter county to represent her in the State convention
at Philadelphia July 15, 1775. In the same ySar he
placed his entire stock of powder— four quarter
casks and 200 pounds of lead — at the service of the
State. He was present at the military convention
held in Lancaster July 4, 1776, to vote for general
officers to command the military forces of Pennsyl-
vania. He was elected colonel of the Seventh Lan-
caster County Battalion, one of the thirteen raised
in this county. He joined the Flying Camp in New
Jersey with his troops in the summer of 1776. His
command took part in the battle of Long Island, on
August 27th, of the same year. Later it was on
duty guarding Hessian prisoners confined at Lan-
caster and Lebanon. In 1777 he was appointed by
the War Office one of the commissioners to supply
the State troops with shoes, blankets and other sup-
plies.
At the close of the war for Independence, he re-
sumed his former occupations, of innkeeper and
general merchant. He became a member of Lodge
No. 43, F. & A. M., of Lancaster, in 1794. He was
also largely interested in stage lines about this time,
running coaches from Lancaster to Philadelphia
three times weekly, and westward to Shippensburg.
In 1797 he is found exercising the office of deputy
postmaster in the borough of Lancaster. In 1782
he along with several other prominent citizens, was
elected a curator of an academy which had been es-
tablished two years previously.
Col. Slough was a man of considerable wealth.
In addition to being the owner of the "Swan Tav-
ern," he held much other real estate. His lands be-
gan at Witmer's Bridge over the Conestoga, and
extended along that river a considerable distance
toward Graeff's landing. He had a mill on the site
of the old water works, southeast of the city. In
1799 he sold to the directors of the Poor of the
County what is today known as the Poor House
Farm, for £3,129, 7s, i6d. During the Revolution-
ary war he was the agent for the purchase of horses
for the French atjxiliary forces serving in this
country. He was also one of the projectors of the
Philadelphia & Lancaster turnpike, the first turn-
pike built in this country, and superintended the
construction of the most western section.
Col. Slough was the father of a large family,
seven sons and four daughters. His wife was Mary
Gibson, daughter of Col. George Gibson. This
George Gibson was the son of the Gibson who kept
the first public tavern in Lancaster, with the noted
hickory tree before the door. One of Col. Slough's
daughters, Mary, became the wife of Gov. Simon
Snyder, of Pennsylvania. Most of his children
having removed to Harrisburg he joined them there
in 1806. He died in that city Sept. 12, 1812, in
the seventy-ninth year of his age.— [F. R. D.
HON. MARRIOTT BROSIUS, LL. D., was
born in Colerain township, Lancaster county, March
7, 1843, on the western bank of the East Branch of
the Octoraro. The old homestead yet retains the
dignity of the farmhouse and is now a place of his-
toric interest, where
By sylvan dell, through meadows green,
The flood of the East Branch is seen,
Around the brae, through painted lea,
Seeking a passage to the sea,
The swelling tide flows ever on.
By glen and brake till race is won;
Where, mingling with the salted wave,
Returns unto the springs which gave.
There, in one of the richest agricultural districts
in southern Lancaster county, in a community com-
posed largely of Friends and Free Presbyterians,
all of whom were intensely anti-slavery in sentiment,
the boyhood days of Mr. Brosius were passed.
During these years he acquired the habit of industry
and developed a love for knowledge which continued
with him during his entire life, often burning the
midnight oil when preparing for some great effort.
Henry Brosius, his paternal great-grandfather,
came from England and settled near Philadelphia
in 1780. He was a member of the Society of Friends.
His son Mahlon, the paternal grandfather of Mar-_
riott Brosius, settled on the east bank of the East'
Branch of the Octoraro and established a pottery.
He was an upright, conscientious gentleman, and
^VT^-^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
17
exemplified the. teachings of Georg'e Fox in his -daily
walk and life.
Clarkson Brosius, father of the late Congressf
man Marriott Brosius, was a leader in his com-
munity, and although for years incapacitated phy-
sically yet he was foremost in every good work for
the elevation of his fellowmen. He was a thorough
gentleman, and devoted to his calling, that of farm-
ing. He was methodical, scientific and enterprising,
and ranked high as a model farmer. He was largely
instrumental, in 1856, in organizing the Octoraro
Farmers' Club, which gaye an impetus to higher
farming in soutbern Lancaster and Chester counties.
Clarkson Brosius died Oct. 8, 1863. His last
thoughts were of his boy far away on the firing line.
The entire community was grief stricken at his un-
timely death.
On the matarnal side Mr. Brosius's great-grand-
father was Samojel Hambleton, a consistent reforma-
tory Friend. His sons were Samuel, Charles, Eli
and Thomas. Samuel was the father of Rachel, the
mother of Mr. Brosius. Each of the other sons of
Samuel, Sr., offered their only sons to their country's
cause. Gerrit Smith, son of Thomas, died in the
service. Charles Burleigh, son of Charles, was seri-
ously wounded ; he now resides in Atglen, Chester
Co., Pa. Benjamin Kent, uncle of Mr. Brosius,
tendered three sons that our nation might live.
Mahlon G. Brosius, yoimger brother of Clarkson
Brosius, was also in the service ; he is now one of the
most enterprising citizens of Chester county. From
the above we may learn that Mr. Brosius's patriot-
ism was not only cultivated but hereditary.
The mother of Mr. Brosius died when he was
seven years old, and two years afterward Mary Ann
Brinton became his stepmother, and how well she
performed a mother's part is attested on every side.
Her testimony is that Marriott was ever dutiful and
self-denying for the happiness of the other members
of the family. Mr. Brosius's early school days were
passed in Octoraro and Chestnut Hill Academies,
under the tutorage of the veteran teacher, Thomas
Baker, who early predicted him a glorious future.
His summers were passed in manual farm labor,
and under his father's direction superintending the
hands employed. With a dictionary in his pocket and
some favorite classical author in his hand, his time
for rest was spent in study. The study of political
economy had a decided fascination for him, and he
was authority on all national issues. When the war
of the Rebellion was inaugurated then our young
student farmer became restless. A conflict raged
within his bosom, between his duty to his in-,
valid parents and his duty to his country. The su-
premacy was won by his unqualified patriotism, and
he obtained his parents' permission to enlist at a
heart-breaking cost. He was enrolled in Co. K,
97th Regiment Pa. Vols., recruited by Capt. Wayne,
grandson of "Mad Anthony" Wayne, the celebrated
major general in the Revolutionary army. He was
of Irish-Quaker ancestry. Mr. Brosius's history in
the service is summed up by his colonel, Henry R.-
Guss, afterward Gen. Guss, who says : "Mr. Bros-
ius's record is linked and written with the 97th Regt.,.
in whose rolls his name was inscribed in 1861. Its-
history is his history and its fame is his fame and its-
glorious deeds are the sum of the faithful brave deeds
of the men who with him went forth at the call of
this country to do battle for the preservation of the
life of the nation. Among the most earnest yet quiet
and unobtrusive in all his actions was Marriott
Brosius. From the day of his enlistment in the ser-
vice until stricken down by the bullet of the enemy he
was ever at his post of duty, active and vigilant as
a sentinel, brave and courageous in line of battle.
He was regarded as a model soldier as well from
the force of culture that indicated the perfect gentle-:
man as from the exact fulfillment of duty that indi-
cated the trained veteran soldier." In the above few
lines his war record is summed up. Aside from
special acts it is complete. During the terrible charge
on May 20, 1864, at Bermuda Hundred, which
rivaled Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, the 97th
Regiment, 300 strong, charged across the wheat-
fields upon 2,000 Confederates, Pickett's Division,
protected by rilie pits. Mr. Brosius was struck in
the breast by a rifle ball which imbedded itself in his
diary. After charging up to within twenty-five yards
of the rifle pits and losing 237 men, killed, wounded
and missing, the recall was sounded. In the retreat
Mr. Brosius stooped to assist a fallen comrade from
the field, when a minie ball entered near the spine,
and, passing between the ribs and shoulder blade,
crashed through the right shoulder joint. Sergt.
Brosius was confined to the hospital for eight months,
three months of which time he could not be moved
in bed. After the removal of the shoulder joint and
a portion of the arm bone the wound healed but his
arm ever after was comparatively useless. During
all these months he bore his sufi^'erings with Chris-
tian fortitude — no murmuring, no repining, he was
ever cheerful and resigned. In February, 1865,
Sergt. Brosius was promoted to a lieutenancy, al-
though he had been mustered out of service for dis-
ability the previous December.
After his return to civil life Lieut. Brosius en-
tered Millersville State Normal School, where he re-
mained two sessions. After teaching a short time in
Chester county, he entered the office of the late Hon.
Thomas E. Franklin to study law. He also matricu-
lated in the Law Department of Ann Arbor, and
graduated therefrom m April, 1868, and was imme-
diately admitted to the Lancaster County Bar. For
two years he was State lecturer for the I. O. G. T.,
after which term he devoted his time exclusively to
the practice of law. When attending the Millers-
ville Normal School he became acquainted with Miss
Elizabeth Jackson Coates, a daughter of Simmons
Coates, of West Grove, Chester county. Mr. Coates
was of the distinguished Coates family of Chester
county ; he was a man of high standing in his com-
munity, educated and cultivated and prominent in
18
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the Society of Friends. The acquaintance of Mr.
Brosius and Miss Coates soon ripened into the
strongest mutual attachment, with the usual result,
and shortly after he was admitted to the Lancaster
Bar she became his wife, and no more congenial
union was ever formed. Four daughters blessed
their union, two of whom are living: Gertrude,
wife of Herbert B. Coho, of New York (they have
two children, Gertrude and Helen Elisabeth) ; and
Grace, who married Clement Biddle, Jr., of the
Carnegie Iron Works, Pittsburg, Pa. Luretta R.
died aged six years, and Florence died aged nineteen
months. Mrs. Brosius contributed largely to her
husband's successful career. His modest, retiring,
unassuming nature required some one to lean upon
m his many trials and tribulations, and at these times
she cheered and comforted him and he learned to'
rely upon her wise counsel. She never doubted her
husband's ability to distinguish himself. She knew
his capabilities better than anyone else, and had
fondly hoped for the realization of her waking-
dreams.. The home life of the Brosius family at No.
419 West Orange street, Lancaster, was happiness
personified, each member of the household contrib-
uting to the happiness of the others ; gentleness and
love permeated the entire atmosphere. The love
for the good and beautiful was promoted by the
esthetic surroundings. Mr. Brosius once said to a
friend of his youth that the highest encomium
ever paid to him was by his daughter, who said,
"Papa, we never saw you angry."
Mr. Brosius's career at the Bar, and the high
esteem in vv^hich he was held by his associates, has
been so beautifully portrayed in authoritative classic
language that we introduce in this place the address
of W. F. Beyer, Esq., at a meeting of the Lancaster
Bar to adopt memorial resolutions regarding the
death of Mr. Brosius, which occurred on the 17th of
March, 1901. Mr. Beyer in part said:
Mr. Chairman : In common with other of hia as-
sociates, I desire to add the testi.tnony of my appreciation
of the life and manly qualities of our late associate, the
Hon. Marriott Brosius.
We were born on adjoining farms that our respective
fathers owned, in Colerain township, and, although he was
a dozen years my senior, I knew him' and his family from
earliest childhood. When I camie to Lancaster, leaving the
Laiw School, he took me into his office for the few weeks
preceding my examination and admission to the Bar, and
afterward aided me in my early practice. For twenty
years our 'homes have been on the same side of the same
square in this city, where our families have met and grown
up together. Never once during these more than forty
years has a single unpleasant incident strained the chain
of early friendship, but its links have rather grown brighter
with the constant social intercourse of recurring years.
I will not rehearse the story of his army life, which
has frequently been printed, and is a matter of history.
Let us pass to his career at this Bar, where his industry
and ability, the thoroughness with which he prepared his
cases, his uniform courtesy and fairness, will long be re-
miembered. He loved public questions^, but 'he was not a
politician in the miodern sense. Those of us who were
with him in his first campaign for Congress at the primary
election in 1888 know that he had no combination back of
him, as we now understand the word, but that he went
before the people, and the people of this great county chose
him gladly, and they have chosen him ever since. There
have been many vile stories of our local politics, some true
and some false, in the past thirteen years, but none of
them' in the remotest degree has ever been associated with,
his good name. The bitterness of defeat often moves the
tongue to slander, but in this case no sound has 'been heard.
As a member of Congress, he rapidly rose to promi-
nence, and it may truly be said that this county never had
a more industrious, careful and conscientious representa-
tive. For some years he has held the chairmanship of the
Committee on Banking and Currency, one of the most
important commuttees in the House, and there, as at home,
he has proven himself a thoroughly honest man. It fell
to his lot to shape the legislation affecting the money of a
nation of 70,000,000 people, under which a large portion of
the Government bonds were refunded at a lower rate and
the National banking system practically reorganized, the
■whole involving hundreds of millions', yet not a dishonest
dollar stuck to his fingers. And now the end has come in
the miidst of his usefulness. He was one of the people,
and the whole people mourn him, while we, his intimate
associates, will dherish his memory as that of the noblest
type of man.
Justice J. Hay Brown, of the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania, said :
The virtues of our dead friend and brother have
been justly extolled by those who have spoken and it
is not needful that I should longer dwell upon them. But
if I do not speak of them it is not because any other man's,
appreciation of them' was higher. In every relation of life
he was exemplary and from the beginning to the end he
was pure and his hands were clean. His good qualities
ought to be remembered here and recalled from time to
time in order that they may be emulated. As a citizen,
soldier, lawyer, statesman, husband and father he was pure,
brave, successful, able, affectionate and God fearing. More
than this cannot 'be said of mortal being, and though he fell
at his work w'hen the rays of the day's sun were still
shining upon him and before the shades of eventide had
gathered about him, his life was not lived in vain.
In 1882 Mr. Brosius, a delegate in the Republican
State Convention, in the midst of a factional con-
test, made a speech in favor of harmony in which he
said : "I love my party better than any wing or
faction of it and only less than my country," which
so carried the convention that he was by acclaim
nominated for a Congressman at large, but was de-
feated, although he ran seventy-six hundred ahead
of the others on the Republican ticket. In 1888, after
an exciting contest, he was elected as the Republican
candidate to represent the Tenth District in Con-
gress : almost without opposition he was nominated
and elected in 1890, 1892, 1894, 1896, 1898, 1900.
His death left a vacancy in the LVIIth Congress,
where he had only entered upon his term a few days
previously.
It was no easy task to follow Stevens and Smith
as the representatives of Lancaster county in the
National Congress — the grandest district in our na-
tion, and whose representatives had always taken a
leading part in shaping National legislation, yet Mr.
Brosius soon secured respectful consideration
from that body and was frequently selected by his
party members to lead the discussion in the House
of Representatives in consequence of his clear con-
ception, persuasive rhetoric and faultless diction in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
19
presenting the subject under consideration. His
fame as an orator was not confined to Congressional
halls, it was only bounded by our National confines,
and he was eagerly sought for to deliver memorial
addresses in our National cemeteries and other
places. In 1876 he delivered the Centennial address
in Lancaster. On Sept. 18, 1888, he delivered the
oration at the unveiling of the monument on the
Antietam battlefield. He also delivered the oration
on the dedication of the Ross monument, in Lancas-
ter City ; the address on the occasion of the dedica-
tion of the monument in memory of the Revolution-
ary patriots who lie buried at Donegal, Pa. ; on the
battlefield of Gettysburg, 1896; and many others,
but space will not permit the enumeration. On two
occasions he delivered the memorial addresses at Ar-
lington— a compliment never as yet paid to any other
orator. As a political speaker, Mr. Brosius was sent
by the National Republican committee, at solicitation
of candidates in closely contested districts — the in-
spiration of his presence, his fluent, convincing reas-
oning, M'inning many to his party standard. But
his great ability to sway people consisted not alone
in his eloquence. His sterling integrity, unimpeach-
able honesty and unqualified veracity were important
factors in directing the general consensus of public
opinion. In consequence of Mr. Brosius's diversi-
fied learning Ursinus College conferred upon him the
degree of Doctor of Laws.
During his Congressional career Mr. Brosius
served on a number of important House committees,
including Agriculture, Civil Service (of which he
was chairman), Pension Bureau and Banking and
Currency (of which he was chief). He was an
acknowledged authority on National financial legis-
lation. At the last meeting of the committee on
Banking and Currency resolutions strongly com-
mending Mr. Brosius's impartial and courteous rul-
ings were adopted, and the members of the commit-
tee, regardless of party affiliations, paid him high
complirrients for efficiency, little thinking they
should never on earth meet him again.
Mr. Brosius was a member of the Society of
Friends, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
of the Grand Army of the Republic, trustee of Lan-
caster General Hospital, member of Lancaster Coun-
ty Historical Society, of the Young Men's Chris-
tian Association, and of other organizations.
Mr. Brosius died on the morning of the 17th of
March, 1901. The arrangements for the interment
were made by Col. E. F. Pierce, Sergeant at Arms
of the House of Representatives, and Mr. Fishback,
Mr. Brosius's orivate secretary, the time appointed
being 2 p. m., March 20. Mr. Brosius's body lay in
state at his home on the above date, and for hours a
constant procession passed the casket, all anxious,
through their tear-dimmed eyes, to have a last fond
look on their beloved friend. The Congressional
committee, composed of senators and members of
the House of Representatives, arrived in Lancaster
the morning of the funeral to take part in the funeral
obsequies. Rev. Dr. Alleman delivered an eloquent
sermon, after which the body was borne to Green-
wood cemetery, where the interment took place, in
the midst of a large concourse of friends.
REV. WILLIAM EASTON, D. D., for over
fifty years pastor of the Octoraro United Presby-
terian Church, was born in Ancrum, Parish of Max-
ton, County of Roxburgh, Scotland, Oct. 2, 1804.
His parents emigrated to this country in 1816, and
settled in Washington county, N. Y. He was edu-
cated at the Cambridge Academy, New York,
taught by Dr. Alexander Bullions, and afterwards
at Union College, same State, whence he gradu-
ated in 1822. He received his theological training
under Dr. Banks in the Associate Theological Sem-
inary, Philadelphia, was licensed by the Associ-
ate Presbytery, June 7, 1826, and ordained and in-
stalled pastor of the United congregations of Octo-
raro, East Nottingham (now Oxford), and Muddy
Run, June 7, 1827, preaching one-half the time in
Octoraro, one-fourth in Oxford and the other
fourth in Muddy Run. He resigned the Oxford
portion of his charge in 1854, "on account of the dis-
tance and his own disability fully to attend to all
the duties as he could wish," but continued to
preach in Octoraro until 1878, when the infirmities
of age compelled him to ask for a dissolution of the
pastoral relation, which was granted Oct. 22nd, of
the same year. On June 12, 1879, the life which
began in Scotland three-quarters of a century be-
fore, which had continued for over half a century
in the congregation of Octoraro, through the vigor
of youth, the prime of manhood, and the maturity
of years, had drawn to a close, and the weary body
laid down to rest in Jesus. His mortal remains re-
pose in the cemetery adjoining the church where
his lifework had been performed, and where also
repose the dust of the sainted Gellatley and Cuth-
'bert, the founders of the Reformed Presbyterian
Church in America.
The semi-centennial of Dr. Easton's pastorate,
June 7, 1877, was a notable occasion. It was largely
attended by those who had been brought up under
his faithful ministry, and by citizens of the sur-
rounding country who had learned to respect and
love him; and at his funeral, two years later, the
Rev. Dr. Cooper paid this just tribute to his mem-
ory: "As a man, Dr. Easton was distinguished
for the great gentleness of his disposition. His
heart was overflowing with kindness. Sometimes,
it is true, he rebuked sin in a manner calculated to
give ofi^ense, but he was prompted to do so by such
a deep conviction of divine truth that no consider-
ation of expediency seemed to him to justify sur-
rendering its claims. He was unflinching in his
fidelity to the cause of his Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. He was a man of remarkable candor, de-
spised time-serving, and lived in open antagonism
to all phases of sham, duplicity and darkness. He
could say with the Apostle, that 'in simplicity and
20
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
godly sincerity,' he had his conversation in the
world."
When Dr. Easton came to Lancaster county it
was the prevailing custom among farmers to furnish
liquor to their help in harvest time. There was a
small farm attached to his residence in Smyrna. At
his first harvest, when the men asked for their
"morning bitters" and were refused, they laid down
their scythes, declaring they would not work with-
out it, uitimating that his refusal was prompted by
meanness. Ascertaining the cost of the liquor they
were accustomed to receive, he said he would gladly
add double its cost to their daily wages, rather than
place temptation in the path of his fellow men. His
offer was accepted by some, but others preferred
whiskey and left. The following harvest Dr. Easton
had his pick of harvest hands, and in a few years
the custom was entirely abolished, while the in-
creased wages he paid had become the standard in
that neighborhood. At that period the prevailing
sentiment was decidedly pro-slavery. One Sunday
Dr. Easton created quite a sensation by preaching
what his critics denounced as an "abolition lec-
ture." It was, however, a vindication of the Bible
against those who claimed that it justified slavery,
which he indignantly repudiated. He lived to see
the public sentiment of the nation reversed on the
slavery question, from what he found it when he
came to Pennsylvania fifty years before.
CHARLES MILLER HOWELL. Although he
retired from the active pursuits of a marble manu-
facturer in March, 1901, the Major finds plenty to
do, for he still serves as secretary to the board of.
trustees of the "Home for Friendless Children" for
the city and county of Lancaster, Pa., a position he
has held continuously since May, 1876, besides be-
ing interested in other affairs. Major Howell is of
Welsh-Scotch extraction. His paternal great-grand-
father, the progenitor of the family in New Jersey,
was a native of Wales, Great Britain. He settled in
Lambertville, N. J., where he married Miss Julia Ann
Holcombe, daughter of John Holcombe, about the
year 1740. An old relic, a cane with ivory top and
brass ferrule, owned by Prince Howell the Good, of
Wales, in the ninth century, was owned by his
descendant in 1883 ; and this relic of "High-born
Howell" was exhibited at the centennial at Phila-
delphia in 1876.
Amos Howell, Sr., grandfather of Charles M.
Howell, was born near Trenton, N. J., May 22,
1754, and died Dec. 14, 181 1, aged fifty-seven years,
six months, and twenty-three days. He married
Martha Jones, who died at Philadelphia, Pa., Dec.
19, 1821, aged about sixty-eight years. It has been
handed down as an incident in the life of Amos
Howell, Sr., that at the crossing of the Delaware
river by Gen. Washington and his army on the night
of Dec. 25, T776, he was the owner of the "Howell's
ferry" (now called "Stockton"), where the crossing
was made, on the New Jersey side, and the services
and assistance rendered by him on this occasion were
of such a nature as to call forth the acknowledg-
ments of Gen. Washington, who in token of his ap-
preciation presented him with a horse.
Amos Howell, Jr., father of Charles M. Howell,
was born at Lambertville, N. J., July 31, 1792. He
removed to Philadelphia when a young boy, and
learned the trade of coachmaking, which he after-
ward carried on extensively in all its various branches
until his death, at the southeast corner of Arch and
Eighth streets. He served in the war of 1812-14,
and died in Philadelphia April 11, 1832. His wife,
Sarah (Provost), was born in Philadelphia Jan. 21,
1799, and died at Buckingham C. H., Va., Aug. 30,
1863. Her mother, Hannah Provost, grandmother
of Charles M. Howell, was born at Inverness, Scot-
land, and died at Philadelphia, Pa., March 13, 1820.
By his marriage with Sarah Provost Amos Howell
had eight children, of whom Charles Miller was the
eldest; the others were Henry Provost, Elizabeth
Prentice, Martha Jones, Emeline Margaretta, George
Hocker, John Martin and Paul Alexander.
Charles Miller Howell was born at Philadelphia,
Pa., at 8 :30 a. m., Sunday morning, April 24, 1814,
and obtained his early education in the private schools
of his native city, which he attended until he was
twelve years old. He was then sent to the academy
in Plainfield, Conn., where he remained two years.
Upon his return to Philadelphia he was indentured
an apprentice with Gen. Peter Fritz, a marble manu-
facturer, in that city. After his term of apprentice-
ship he worked several years for Mr. Fritz as . a
journeyman. In the spring of 1838 he began busi-
ness for himself, and carried on the trade until Sep-
tember, 1843, when he moved to Lancaster, and estab-
lished his business on the south side of East King
street, three doors east of Christian street. In 1850
he purchased the Gompf property, on the east side
of North Queen street, between Chestnut and Orange
streets, in Lancaster, where he continued to do a
flourishing trade for a period of fifty-eight years.
In 1864 he built the two handsome brick houses at
Nos. 133 and 135 North Queen street, this being the
first notable modern building improvement on North •
Queen street; the three story back-building at No.
135, where he resides, he erected in 1850. Mr. Howell
has been one of Lancaster's most active business-
men, closely identified with the material interests
and worthy local enterprises of the city, and as a
member of both branches of city council, as a member
of the city school board, and as city treasurer, he did
efficient service for the public. In 1856 he was elected
county treasurer on the Democratic ticket, and dis-
charged the duties of that office with entire satisfac-
tion.
Mr. Howell was noted in his boyhood days as
a lad of refined tastes and accomplishments, and as
an apt scholar. He was especially gifted as a pen-
man, and became famed for his chirography, as well
as for his skill in making pens, those being the days
when pens were made of the gray-goose quill, and
r^_ dn./^^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
21
copy-books of plain white paper sewed together. He
became so skilled with the pen-knife, as well as pen.
that the school master imposed on him the duty of
making- pens for the school, and of setting the copy
at the head of the page. These duties, requiring so
delicate manipulation of touch, no doubt had much
to do with the Major's subsequerit proficiency with
the mallet and the chisel. Although now in his eighty-
ninth year, he still writes visiting cards for his friends
and no professional pen-writer ever wrote a steadier
or more graceful hand, and he is grateful that this
faculty is retained. As a marble manufacturer and
monument builder Mr. Howell was at the head of
his profession. Many of the finest works in granite
and marble that adorn the local cemeteries were de-
signed, executed and erected by him, or under his
immediate supervision;
As a Free and Accepted Mason Mr. Howell has
attained exalted positions. As soon as his apprentice-
ship under Gen. Fritz had closed, the old veteran, who
was P. G. M. of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania,
and who took a natural pride in the skill and ability of
his apprentice in marble-masonry, proposed him for
membership in Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 155, F. &
A. M., in June, 1839. In due course he was made a
Mason in that lodge, and remained a member until
1843, when he withdrew, came to Lancaster, and
was for a few years a regular visitor at the meetings
■of Lodge No. 43. He was admitted to membership
June 14, 1848, and filled several positions during that
year. At the December meeting he was 'elected
Junior Warden, in 1849 Senior Warden, and in 1852
Worshipful Master. In 1854 he was again elected
Worshipful Master. On Dec. 27, 1856, he was ap-
pointed District Deputy Grand Master for Masonic
District No. i, composed of the counties of Chester,
Lancaster, Lebanon and York, and was continuously
re-appointed for twenty years, when he declined a
re-appointment. Upon the establishment of the rep-
resentative system he was appointed Representative
■of I,odge No. 43, to the Grand Lodge, and continued
in that position until 1879. He is Past High Priest
of Chapter No. 43, Royal Arch Masons, was ap-
pointed District Deputy Grand High Priest in 1856,
and filled that office for twenty years. He is P. T.
T. G. M. of Goodwin Council, No. 19, and was Dis-
trict Deputy M. P. G. M. for several years. He is
a member of Harrisburg Lodge of Perfection, and
of Harrisburg Consistory, 32d degree, A. A. S.- R.
He was one of the charter members of Lancaster
Commandery, No. 13, M. K. T., was its first Eminent
Commander^ and was continuously elected to that
office for eight years. He was appointed Division
Commander of his Templar district in 1865, and
served until 1884. He served in all of the
elective ofiices and was elected R. E. Grand
Commander in 1871. In honor of his valu-
able Masonic services the following Masonic
lodges and chapters have been named after him:
Howell Lodge, No. 405, Honeybrook, Chester
county ; Charles M. Howell Lodge, No. 496, Millers-
ville, Lancaster county; Howell Chapter, No. 499,
York, York county; and Howell Chapter, No. 202,
West Chester, Chester county. In appreciation of
his services his Masonic brethren in difiFerent parts
of the State have presented him with testimonials
and many elegant, costly presents.
Although Major Howell was not a soldier in ac-
tive service in the field, he has a military record of
which he may well be proud. His grandfather, Amos
Howell, Sr., as before stated, owned the Howell's
ferry, on the New Jersey side of the Delaware river,
and greatly assisted Gen. Washington with his arrny,
in crossing on the night of Dec. 25, 1776, and his
father, Amos Howell, Jr., was a soldier in the war
'of 1812-14. With these patriotic examples it is not
to be wondered that young Howell also should feel
some military aspirations, even during the piping
times of peace. In the twenty-third year of his age
lie was elected captain of the 8th Company, 74th Regi-
ment, Militia of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
in the 1st Brigade, composed of the militia of the
city and county of Philadelphia; he was duly com-
missioned by Gov. Joseph Ritner, his commission
bearing date April 17, 1837. In 1838, when the
Buckshot war broke out in Harrisburg, Major
Howell was a sergeant in Capt. Fritz's Company of
National Grays of Philadelphia. That company, with
other troops, were sent to the State capital to sup-
press the insurrection. The troops left Philadelphia
about 8 130 A. M. , during a snowstorm, on a very cold
day, and reaching Lancaster at night were quartered
at the "Franklin House" for the night. The next
morning they took the cars for Harrisburg, formed
a line on the bank of the Susquehanna river and
marched to the capitol with colors flying and drurns
beating. During this trip and bloodless campaign
Major Howell was chosen sergeant of Major Gen.
Robert Patterson's bodyguard — the General being in
command of the entire forces. At the Encampment
of Volunteers at Camp Wayne, Paoli, Sept. 10, 1840,
of which Col. John K. Murphy, of Philadelphia, was
commandant of the right wing and Gen. Frederick
Hambright, of Lancaster, of the left wing, Major
Howell was sergeant-major of the right wing. In
1842 Major Howell was elected major of the ist Reg-
iment, Volunteer Artillery, ist Brigade, ist Division,
composed of the militia of the city and county of
Philadelphia, and was duly commissioned by Gov.
David R. Porter, his commission bearing date Aug. 3,
1842, and running for seven years.
Major Howell was also an active fireman under
the volunteer service, and was a member of the Col-
umbia Hose Company, of Philadelphia, when he was
but eighteen years old, serving seven years. He was
then placed on the Honorary Roll, which constituted
him a life member. He then became an active mem-
ber of the Phoenix Hose Company, to which his
father belonged, and remained with them until the
volunteer service gave place to the paid department.
After coming to Lancaster he continued to take ac-
tive interest in fire matters, and his long service in
22
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Philadelphia made him a safe worker and wise coun-
selor. He was one of the chief organizers of the
Empire Hook and Ladder Co., and its president from
185S to 1884, when it was disbanded to give place
to the paid department. In 1872 he was appointed, by
Hon. F. S. Pyfer, mayor of Lancaster, chief engineer
of the fire department, and subsequently elected by
the firemen themselves to the same office, and served
with great diligence and efficiency.
Major Howell declares, jokingly, that he sup-
poses he has been a church and Sunday school worker
for so many years because he was born at 8 :30 a. m.,
on a certain Sunday. His connection with and at-
tendance upon the First Presbyterian Church and its
Sunday-school, of Lancaster, commenced in Septem-
ber, 1S43. He was elected a trustee of the church at
that time, and served for twenty-five years. He is
still an elder in the church. He was elected secretary
and treasurer of the Sunday-school and served in
both offices until 1888 — a period of forty-five years,
when he resigned these offices for the purpose of
separating them, and placing younger persons in
the two positions. He then became a teacher of
Class No. 15, composed of young ladies. He served
as teacher until Jan. 6, 1896, and then resigned the
position and became a scholar in the same class, per-
forming the duties of secretary up to Jan. 5, 1902,
making a continuous membership of fifty-nine years.
During the first fifty-six years he was absent from
Simday-school but fourteen times, and can give rea-
sons for the absent days, and since then has attended
quite regularly. Twice in succession he was absent
but once during terms of thirteen years each. His
atendance upon the church services will compare with
the school attendance.
On Dec. 28, 1841, Major Howell was married
to Miss Elizabeth Michael, daughter of John and
Elizabeth Michael, who for half a century owned and
controlled "Michael's Hotel" (or the "Grapes," as it
was called), now known as the "American House,"
in North Queen street. Mrs. Howell died Oct. 22,
1877. Their children were Sarah Provost, wife of
Rev. William D. LeFevre; Elizabeth Michael, de-
ceased ; Charles May, deceased ; Henry N., ex-chief
of the Lancaster Fire Department, who married Anna
M. Burger; and they reside with his father at No.
13s North Queen street, where he conducts a very
successful fire insurance business, representing six
of the best companies in the world ; and Frank Roder-
ick, a marble mason, who married Miss Susan Ann
Baumgardner, and died Jan. 9, 1899. Major Howell
has nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchil-
dren, whose voices gladden his heart and make
merry music in his home.
It would be like the play of "Hamlet" with Ham-
let out if we closed this sketch without reference to
a matter with which — even more than with his prom-
inence in Masonic affairs, his remarkable record in
church and Sunday-school work, and his long and
successful career as a monument builder — the people
of Lancaster are familiar, and that is Major Howell's
reputation as a skater on the ice, for the entire com-
munity of Lancaster knows of this. For an ordinary
lifetime he was not only the champion skater of this
section, but had no superior in the State, if indeed,
in the country. Time and again have the papers of
Lancaster made complimentary notes of his per-
formances on the ice, and the last of these notices
was written and published when he was eighty years
old. His last appearance on the ice was three years
ago, when he was eighty-five years old, and the only
reason he has not indulged in the sport since was
because there was not ice on the Conestoga river fit
to skate on. He still feels anxious to skate, and the
wish and hope of the entire community is that he may
be spared to skate and gladden many with his smiles
until he has rounded out a full century nf time.
[Smce the above was written Major Howell has
died, passing away April 10, 1903.]
REV. DR. THEODORE APPEL, author,
teacher, and minister, was born April 30, 1823,
within the present limits of the borough of Easton,
Pa., on the west side, along the Bushkill. He was
one of the thirteen children of Andrew and Eliza-
beth (Gilmore) Appel. His ancestors on his fa-
ther's side were of German stock, while from his
mother he derived a mixture of Irish and Quaker
blood. Andrew Appel was ambitious for his chil-
dren, and gave them the best education his limited
means and the times allowed.
WRen Theodore Appel was eight years old he
was sent to school, where he pursued his studies
for four years, becoming then a clerk in a store at
Easton. However, he kept up his mathematical
studies, of which he was very fond, and also pur-
sued other branches, with a view of somehow ob-
taining a college course, and of eventually fitting
himself for the ministry. His zeal and persever-
ance met with gratifying success. After two years
spent in Dr. John Vandevere's Academy, he was in
1839 admitted to the Sophomore class at Marshall
College, in Mercersburg. Under the influence of
Drs. Nevin and Rauch" his tendencies toward the
ministry were strengthened, and he became thor-
oughly permeated with religious thought. On grad-
uating, in the class of 1842, when he delivered the
Latin Salutatory, he immediately entered the Sem-
inary of the Reformed Church, where Drs. Nevin
and Schaff became his mentors. During his sem-
inary course he acted as tutor in Greek in the col-
lege. In 1845 he graduated from the Seminary,
and received a call to Cavetown, Md., which he ac-
cepted, and had charge of four congregations em-
bracing the country along the South Mountain
from Cavetown to Waynesboro. During his pas-
torate he organized a fifth congregation, which be-
came the Harbaugh Church. In 1847 the charge
was divided, and he remained oastor of the Cave-
town section.
In 1851 Rev. Mr. Appel removed to Mercers-
burg, to become pastor of the Mercersburg Church
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
23
and professor of mathematics in his Alma Mater.
When Marshall College was removed to Lancas-
ter, in 1853, Rev. Mr. Appel came with it, and con-
tinued in his professorship in the college under its
combined name until 1877. Dr. Appel was ever a
man of energy and untiring industry. In addition
to his educational and pastoral work, from 1873
to 1888 he delivered several series of popular lec-
tures on astronomy throughout the Reformed
Church, and during the same period he became sec-
retary of the Board of Home and Foreign Missions,
and also secretary of the board of visitors of the
Theological Seminary. In 1872 he was honored
with the degree of D. D., conferred by the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania.
Dr, Appel is also an author of more than com-
mon note. During 1886 he published three books :
"College Recollections," "The Beginnings of the
Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church" (a
comprehensive doctrinal work of the greatest re-
ligious and historical value) and "Letters to Boys
and Girls about the First Christmas at Bethlehem."
In i88q appeared "The Life and Work of Dr. John
W. Nevin," and in 1895 he edited "Lectures on
English Literature of Dr. W. M. Nevin." From
1878 to 1886 Dr. Appel was missionary superin-
tendent and edited the Reformed Missionary Her-
ald, and from 1889 to 1893 he had charge of the edi-
torial department of the Reformed Church Messen-
ger. In addition to these labors Dr. Appel still
found opportunity to contribute frequently to the
Mercersburg Review, his articles covering the per-
iod from 1849 until 1895. Since 1897 he has lived
quietly at his 'home in Lancaster. Although the
vigor of youth is gone, he is still interested in the
Reformed Church.
In 1854 Rev. Dr. Appel was united in marriage
with Miss Susan Burton Wolff, daughter of Rev.
Dr. B. C. Wolff, professor in the Reformed Theo-
logical Seminary. They had a family of four chil-
dren, namely : Miss Charlotte, at home ; Elizabeth,
wife of Theodore W. Nevin, of Pittsburg; Ber-
nard W., now deceased ; and Theodore B., a prac-
ticing physician of Lancaster.
THEODORE B. APPEL, M. D., one of the
younger physicians of Lancaster, was born in that
city Sept. 8, 1871, son of Rev. Dr. Theodore Appel
and his wife Susan Burton Wolff.
After completing the course of study in the com-
mon schools, Theodore B. Appel graduated from
the Lancaster High School, in 1885. He then en-
tered Franklin and Marshall College, and received
the degree of A. B. there with the class of 1889.
Immediately following his graduation he was
elected vice-principal of the Berwick High School,
but after one year entered the office of Dr. M. L.
Herr to prepare for his professional career. In
1894 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine
from the University of Pennsylvania. For the two
years following he was resident physician at the
Presbyterian Plospital in Philadelphia, where he
pursued a practical course of great value in his la-
ter work, and in 1896 he entered upon the private
practice of his profession in Lancaster, where he has
practiced successfully since. He is now senior sur-
geon at the Lancaster General Hospital, and is as-
sistant surgeon of the Pennsylvania National Guard,
being attached to Battery C, at Phoenixville, Pa.
Dr. Appel has paid especial attention to surgery,
and has won a reputation in that line not bounded
by the confines of his own county.
Professionally Dr. Appel is a member of the
Lancaster City and County Medical Society, the
Lancaster Pathological Society, the Columbia Col-
lege of Physicians and Surgeons, the Medical So-
ciety of the State of Pennsylvania, and the Ameri-
can Medical Association. He also belongs to the
Hamilton Club of Lancaster, and to the University
Club of Philadelphia.
On June 18, 1900, Dr. Appel was united in mar-
riage with Miss Mary Calder, a daughter of the late
George Calder, of Lancaster. Two daughters have
been born of this union. In religious belief Dr.
Appel follows the faith of his fathers, and is affili-
ated with the First Reformed Church.
JOSEPH WALKER FAWKES, inventor, was
born in the village of Christiana Sept. 25, 1815. He
was the youngest son of Joseph and Eliza Walker
Fawkes, who purchased and removed to the old
McKnight farm, near Georgetown, in the spring
of 1835. The farm had been neglected, and was
overgrown with sumach, thistles and mulleins, but
Mr. Fawkes was a progressive farmer, and with his
three sons in a few years made it the most fertile
tract in the district. He erected a new dwelling,
barn and other outbuildings, and sold a portion of
the original for more than he originally paid for the
whole.
Joseph W. Fawkes in boyhood developed a taste
for mechanics, his principal amusements being the
construction of waterwheels, tilt-hammers, boats and
other devices, operated on the small stream which
flowed through the farm. He served an appren-
ticeship to Benjamin Simmons, of Sadsbury town-
ship, and when free took contracts on his own ac-
count. He built the new house and barn for his
father, and erected a machine shop in order to. in-
dulge his taste for mechanics. One of his earliest
inventions was a rotary lime spreader, the pioneer
in that line. But his most important essay was the
designing and construction of the traction steam
plow, in which the engine derived its traction from
a large driving" drum instead of wheels, driving a
gang of half a dozen plows. This was exhibited
at the agricultural fair in Lancaster in 1858, attract-
ing much attention, and the inventor was awarded
a medal of honor. . In 1861 it was exhibited at the
"United States Fair" in Chicaeo, in competition
with another steam plow, which derived its traction
from two immense driving-wheels, ten or twelve
24
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
feet in diameter. The practical test in the prairie
soil demonstrated the superiority of Fawkes drum
cylinder device, as it rode on the surface while the
big drivers sank and stalled the machine, and
Fawkes was awarded the premium. Lack of capital
prevented him from profiting by his invention. He
moved on a farm at Moline, 111., and subsequently
to Spring Lake, Iowa. Returning to Chicago, he
turned his inventive genius to account in the manu-
facturing of rotary electric goods, formed a com-
pany, and was doing a prosperous business when the
factory was destroyed by fire, and the failure of
some of the insurance companies and litigation re-
sulting therefrom greatly depleted his savings. In
1887 he moved to Burbank, Cal., where he engaged
in fruit culture, in which he was quite successful,
continuing in that occupation until his death, which
occurred March 14, 1892, in the seventy-seventh
year of his age.
Before leaving .Lancaster county Mr. Fawkes
married Anna Eliza Baughman, born Oct. 25, 1825,
who survives, with seven children, all married and
living in Los Angeles and vicinity.
RIGHT REV. SAMUEL BOWMAN, D. D.,
was the fourth son of Samuel Bowman, an officer
of the Revolutionary army, who took an active part
in the battle of Lexington, and at the close of the
war settled at Wilkesbarre. Samuel Bowman was
born there May 21, 1800. The judicious and en-
lightened views of his patriotic father, supplemented
with the refined tastes and Christian virtues of his
mother, nurtured under the influence of the Episco-
pal Church, were the environments which surrounded
his early Hfe and molded his subsequent distinguished
career. He received his early education at the Wilkes-
barre Academy, at that time an institution of high
repute. He was destined for the legal profession,
and pursued his studies in that line for some time
tmder the late Charles Chauncey, Esq., of Philadel-
phia : but the sudden death of his father, by accident,
inipressed him with an invincible desire to devote
his life to the ministrv of the Gospel. Going home
from the funeral, the young man took up the family
Bible and conducted family prayer in the afflicted
household, where he then felt a large weight of
responsibility. He applied for holy Orders, and was
admitted to the Diaconate by Bishop White, Aug.
25, 182.^, and to the Priesthood by the same bishop.
Dec. 19, 1824. In 182.^ be began his ministrv as
deacon in the parishes at Peuuea'and Leacock, where
he remained two years. After a brief residence at
Easton, Pa., where he had the charge of Trinity
Church, and where he met Miss Sitgreaves, who
became his wife, he returned to his first cures in
Lancaster counti'. which he held until September.
1827, when he was invited to become co-rector with
Rev. Dr. Clarkson. of St. James' Church, Lancaster.
After the death of Mr. Clarkson, in 1830, Dr. Bow-
man became sole rector and filled that positon until
his death ; for on his elevation to the Episcopate his
parishioners, dreading to sever the relations so long
and so happily sustained, prevailed upon him to
retain his residence in the old parish, electing Rev.
J. Isidor Mombert co-rector. In 1843 Dr; Bowman
received from Geneva (now Hobart) College the
degree of S. T. D. In 1845 the Diocesan Convention
of Pennsylvania, against his own protest, placed him
in nomination for the Episcopate. The conservative
clergy elected him in preference to Dr. Tyng, but
the laity refusing to concur he cordially supported
the nomination of Dr. Alonzo Potter, who was
eventually chosen. In 1847 he was elected Bishop
of the Diocese of Indiana, but his strong attach-
ment to Lancaster controlled his decision to decline.
In 1858 he was elected Assistant Bishop of Pennsyl-
vania over Dr. Alexander H. Vinton. Dr. Bowman,
who in no way sought the office, made an eloquent
appeal to the convention to elect Dr. Vinton. This
appeal, so full of sincere humility and fervent zeal,
completely disarmed the opposition and strikingly
showed his own fitness for the office. He was con-
secrated the same year in Christ Church, Philadel-
phia.
Dr. Bowman was distinguished for purity of life,
dignity of bearing, with suavity of manner, and
eloquence of speech. The church service when read
by him, in his silvery yet resonant voice, never failed
to hold his auditors spellbound, and when he arose
to speak in a miscellaneous audience he commanded
the closest attention and held it to the close. He was
a central figure in all meetings for the public welfare,
and his logical presentation of facts and argument de-
termined the convictions of his hearers. He was
deeply interested in education, for niany years was
an active member of the Public School Board and a
Trustee and Secretarv of the Board of Franklin and
Marshall College. Dr. Gerhart, President of the Col-
lege, at the semi-centennial of the Bishop Bowman
Church Home, said of him, "I knew him only to
respect, to honor and revere him, for his abilities, the
nobleness of his Christian character, the soundness
of his judgment and his fidelity to every trust. Dr.
Bowman stood for several decades as one of the
pillars of truth and righteousness in this community.
The distinguishing characteristic of his hfe was
Christian faith, a faith that was firm and unshaken
amid all trials, a faith that was active in good deeds,
of which this 'Home' is one of many illustrations."
The St. James' Orphan Asylum, the Church
Home, the Yeates Institute, and St. John's Free
Church, bear testimony to his liberality and zeal in
educational, Christian and charitable works. It was
through his influence that Miss Yeates endowed
the Institute in honor of her father, Hon. Jasper
Yeates, Judge of the Supreme Court and warden of
St. James' Church ; and he organized St. John's, the
pioneer free church of the diocese, to vindicate the
practicability of his long-cherished ideal of a church
where the Gospel should be as free as any other gift
of God. He started the enterprise bv pledging one-
tenth of the whole cost ($15,000) out of his limited
^r^ZC^Z€^tZl^^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
25
income, and supplemented this after he became
Bishop by pledging one-tenth of the cost of a rectory
which he urged the vestry to build. The last sermon
he ever preached was in this church, on Sunday even-
ing, July 28, i86t, from the text, "For I determined
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ
and Him crucified." On the following Tuesday he
left on an Episcopal visit to the oil regions. On his
way to Butler, over the Allegheny railroad, owing
to a landslide, the passengers were compelled to
walk some distance, and, being unable to keep up with
the others, he was found lying by the roadside, his
face buried in his hat, stretched out at full length,
"a corpse without signs of bruise or struggle, his
watch and papers untouched." It is an interesting
coincidence, that Eranklin Wright, then superintend-
ent of the Allegheny railroad, was the one who identi-
fied the remains of the Bishop. He had spent his boy-
hood days in Lancaster and was presented for con-
firmation in St. James' Church. He escorted the
remains to Pittsburg, whence thev were brought to
Lancaster, where they repose in the shadow of the
church he served so well. St. James' Church, Titus-
ville, was built as a memorial to this saintly' man
and named in honor of his old parish.
Bishop Bowman was married the second time
to Harriet R., daughter of Rev. Joseph Clarkson, a
former rector of St. James.' His first wife, Susan
Sitgreaves, bore him three children, one of whom,
Ellen, became the wife of Bishop Vail, of Kansas.
Her daughter, Mrs. Dr. Hotter, survives, and resides
in Washington, D. C.
JAMES PYLE WICKERSHAM, born March
5, 182.S, in Newlin township, Chester county, died
at his home in Lancaster City March 25, 1891, after
having achieved the very highest distinction in the
work to which he devoted the best years of his long
and useful life.
Born of an honorable ancestry, brought up un-
der the influence of the best type of Friends, he laid
early the foundations of a strong character and a
great career. From the country school he passed
to Unionville Academy, where Bayard Taylor was
one of his fellow-studdnts. At fifteen he took charge
of a school, and in 1845 became principal of Mari-
etta Academy, giving up his intention of reading
law upon advice of his family. From twenty pupils
in a rented room, under his management the school
had grown by 1852 to over a hundred pupils in
a fine building owned by the principal. Meanwhile
he had been married in 1847, to Emerine I. Taylor,
a former schoolmate, a woman of rare intelligence
and character. In 1853 he was one of the organ-
izers of the State Teachers' Association, and was
prominent in the agitation for the establishment of
the County and State Superintendency. In 1854 he
was active in the first county institute, and was del-
egate from Lancaster county to the American Asso-
ciation for the Advancement of Education. Also
in 1854. the county superintendency was created and
he was chosen for the place. In July of the same
year we find him active in the first meeting of the
county superintendents. In 1855 he held a Normal
Institute at Millersville, which made such an im-
pression that it was determined to make it a per-
manent institution, and Mr. Wickersham was called
to be its head. Resigning the superintendency in
the fall of 1856, he devoted his great energies to de-
veloping the great school which now distinguishes
the First Normal District of Pennsylvania, and is
perhaps his most significant monument. When the
war surged northward in 1863, he led a company
(mostly Millersville students) into service, and was
chosen colonel of the 47th Regiment. During these
years of activity he filled with ability the Presi-
dency of the State Teachers' Association, and other
similar places in the line of his work. He had also
found time to write several books, notably his
"School Economy" and "Methods of Instruction,"
which were for a long period the standard, and they
have been translated into French, Spanish and Jap-
anese.
In 1866 Governor Curtin appointed Dr. Wick-
ersham (having meanwhile been recognized by a
degree from Lafayette College) to be State Super-
intendent of Schools, which place he filled continu-
ously for the next fourteen years, being successively
reappointed by the series of Governors, all agree-
ing that he was pre-eminently the man for the place,
and the Senate confirming him by unanimous vote.
In the educational history of the State, these years
were the period of construction. Receiving from
Dr. Eurrowes the outlines of a great scheme "in
the rough," he adapted, adjusted, reconstructed and
perfected it in every part, making of it an organ-
ism which his successor said "could almost run
itself." There was no legislation in school matters,
but bore the impress of his hand, accepting and
improving all helpful ideas, and preventing errors
and retrograde steps. The value of this service can
only be estimated fully by the future; but, mean-
while, it has not been forgotten by those best qual-
ified to judge. William T. Harris, first of American
educators and philosophers, said at the Brooklyn
meeting of the N. E. A. : "If I were asked to name
the five leading educators of America, I would
name James P. Wickersham, of Pennsylvania, as
one." And in Winship's "Great American Educa-
tor," that keen observer and critic accompanies his
portrait with such words as these : "All the schools
of the State were better because he was State Su-,
perintendent. Good laws were made and bad prac-
tices abolished by him. A million children have
better school houses, better school books, better
teachers than before. Teachers have many advant-
ages because of him. ... No State Superintend-
ent has had clearer or higher ideals of what the Su-
perintendent, the teacher, the directors and the peo-
ple ought to do for the schools. . . . Wickersham
was a natural leader, and to the people of the United
States he was the best known of the educators of
26
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Pennsylvania for forty years." It is not too much
to say that Dr. Wickersham found the school sys-
tem a brilliant idea in the experimental stage and
left it a successful and permanent organism. His
little "Digest" became the foundation of the body
of school law of the State, and none of his de-
cisions have been reversed.
. In addition to the onerous duties of the School
Department, the Soldiers' Orphan work, crippled
and discredited by the ■ mismanagement of others,
was placed in his hands, and at once reduced to or-
der, and so remained until the close of his service,
when instead of the old history of deficit, he turned
over an unexpended balance to his successor.
From 1870 until his retirement from the State
Superintendency, Dr. Wickersham was editor and
part owner of the Pennsylvania School Journal, and
his work upon it added greatly to its circulation and
influence. In the framing of the Constitution of
1874, his carefully prepared statements before the
committees of the convention were most useful in
adopting the educational provisions. In 1876, he
earned wide credit for his unique presentation of
the educational interest of his State at the Centen-
nial Exhibition. After the close of the exhibition,
he visited Europe* to study their systems of educa-
tion, making official report thereupon in 1878.
Along with official duties, his face was known all
over the State by reason of frequerit attendance at
educational conventions and institutes, where his
ringing speeches were a source of inspiration and
instruction.
Soon after the close of his fourteen years serv-
ice. President Arthur appointed Dr. Wickersham
Minister to Denmark, but after some time spent
there he resigned on account of the ill health of his
wife.
In 1886 was issued his "History of Education
in Pennsylvania" (printed in a oublishing house es-
tablished by himself), which every year becomes
more and more valuable as a reference work, quoted
by all writers on its subject. His voice and pen
were actively influential in securing the adoption
of the free text-book system, which has been so val-
uable an aid in school work. He was also a trus-
tee of Franklin and Marshall College, in his home
town.
His membership and activity in Post 84, G. A.
R., were worthy of special mention. The soldiers'
burial place in Lancaster cemetery was secured by
his advocacy, and many an old soldier profited by
his generous help. After more than fifty years of
intense activity, this useful man, honest and capable
public oilficer, model citizen, passed away at his
home in Lancaster, after a brief illness. March 25,
1891.
J. Harold Wickersham, son of the late dis-
tinguished educator, Dr. James P. Wickersham, was
born at Marietta, Pa., Feb. 24, 1856. His boyhood
was passed at MillersviJle and Lancaster, where he
received his early education in the public schools.
Graduating from the Lancaster High School in
1872, he spent three years at Franklin and Marshall
College, and two years at Yale, graduating there
with the degree of B. Ph. Returning to Lancaster,
he entered the printing house of the Inquirer Print-
ing and Publishing Co., in a subordinate position,
and by diligence and good judgment advanced
to general manager, which position he still holds.
After his father's death the name of the company
was changed to the Wickersham Printing Co., and
our subject was elected its president. The plant is
of high grade, and does a large and successful busi-
ness.
Mr. Wickersham was married in 1880 to Miss
Jessie, daughter of John Hough, of Fort Wayne,
Ind. He is prominent in the business and social
life of Lancaster.
JOHN ROHRER DIFFENBACH is de-
scended from an old family of Lancaster county, his
grandmother on his father's side having been a di-
rect descendant of Hans Herr, the progenitor of the
numerous and influential Herrs of this section ; and
his paternal grandfather was a native of Lancaster
county. George Diffenbach, the latter, was a farm-
er and tanner. He married Maria Herr, sister of
Rev. Christian Herr, of Pequea. George Diffen-
bach, Jr., son of George and Maria, was also a
farmer and tanner. He married Barbara Rohrer, a
sister of Squire Rohrer, and an aunt of Dr. Amos
K. Rohrer, deceased, a prominent physician of
Mountville, whose ancestors came to America in
1732. To this union were born seven children, two
of whom are now living: Adam, a farmer in Min-
nesota, now eighty years old ; and John Rohrer, of
Lancaster, now in his eighty-ninth year. A daugh-
ter, Mrs. Connellv, made her home with her son
John, and died at the age' of ninety-two years. In
Strasburg, in association with Alexander Hood and
Squire Hofifman, George Diffenbach, Jr., held the
first meeting for and took the first steps toward the
establishment of the free school system in Penn-
sylvania.
John Rohrer Diffenbach was born in Strasburg
Sept. 13, 1813, and was educated in his native town.
He left school at the age of eighteen years to enter
a store, and afterward he spent a year in Lancaster,
where he served as salesm.an in the store of P. K.
Brenerman. In 1833, before he attained his ma-
jority, Mr. Diffenbach began a career as a merchant
at the Buck, where he was engaged for two years,
removing thence to New Holland, where he was a
merchant two years, and then to Silver Spring,
finally locating at Marietta, where he was in busi-
ness from 1839 to 1868, enjoying a fine and profita-
ble patronage. In t868 he came to Lancaster,
where he bought the splendid property, at the cor-
ner of Lime and Orange streets, which is now occu-
pied by Mrs. Louise Brenerman ; and in 1882 he
purchased the ground and built the elegant dwell-
ing on North Duke street, into which he moved his
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
27
home and family the following year, and where he
is still found. After coming to Lancaster Mr. Dif-
fenbach still retained an interest in two stores, one
at Lebanon, and the other at Lykens Valley, but in
1875 h^ sold them, and has since confined himself
to looking after his properties and investments. Dur-
ing his long and useful life, Mr. Diffenbach has
spent at least $100,000 in building and improving
his properties, and since his advent in Lancaster
he has disbursed as large a sum in taxes, living ex-
penses, and in assisting worthy objects — a most
creditable record.
At first a Whig in politics, Mr. Diffenbach be-
came a Republican upon the formation of that party.
While a resident of Silver Spring he was ap-
pointed a justice of the peace by Gov. Ritner, but
resigned the office on the occasion of his removal
from the district. He has never sought official
honors of any kind, and, though often solicited, has
uniformly declined to take any position of responsi-
bility, and it is to his credit that while justice of the
peace he never returned a case to court, always bring-
ing the parties together and effecting a settlement
between them. At one period of his life Mr. Diflfen-
bach was a surveyor, making the draft and helping
to make the survey to avoid the inclined plane on
the Pennsylvania railroad between Mountville and
Columbia. Mr. Diffenbach has been interested fin-
ancially in almost every bank in Lancaster, as well
as in the Marietta banks and the trust companies
of Lancaster.
On Sept. 2g, 1840, Mr. Diffenbach was married
to Miss Martha Brenerman, who was born in Co-
lumbia, Pa., May 7, 1818, daughter of Capt. Bren-
erman. Like her husband, she, too, enjoys a serene
old age.
DR. JOHN GAINER MOORE, whose death
at his home in New Holland, Pa., Jan. 18, 1883,
removed from Lancaster county one of her most
skillful and successful practitioners of dentistry, was
one of the county's most esteemed public-spirited
and useful citizens.
The ancestral line of the Moore family goes far
back in the world's history to the time when An-
drew Moore, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, emi-
grated to County Antrim, Ireland, in 1612, when
James I ruled over the united countries known as
the British Isles.
Dr. Moore was peculiarly fortunate in his par-
entage. His distinguished father. Dr. Mordecai
M. Moore, was for many years known not only in
his native State, but through a large section of coun-
try. Dr. Moore's mother belonged to one of the old
and honorable families of Lancaster county.
In a record of representative men of this kind,
it would not be fitting to omit extended notice of
Dr. Mordecai M. Moore. He was born near Chris-
tiana, in Sadsbury township, Lancaster county,
April 19, 1807, a son of Gainer Moore, a well-
known member of the Societv of Friends, who was
a descendant of one of the earliest settlers in that
section of Pennsylvania. Dr. Moore obtained a
limited education in the common schools, but spent
much of his leisure time in study. After teaching
school in Lancaster county for several years he
studied dentistry and surgery with Dr. Van Pat-
ton as a preceptor. Dr. Moore practiced dentistry
in Lancaster City until 1849, when he went to Cal-
ifornia. On his arrival there he became interested
in gold mining, and was elected the first president
of the Keystone Mining Co. He also practiced both
dentistry and medicine in California. In 1853 he
returned to Lancaster, where he became intimately
acquainted with ex-President Buchanan. Three
years later he returned to California, and remained
until 1859. The exposure that he was subjected to
while in the mountain regions of that State caused
him to have erysipelas, which so affected his eyes
that he became totally blind. This affliction was
borne with remarkable fortitude by Dr.' Moore, who
devoted his time to religious thought. Being a mem-
ber of the M. E. Church, he was made an exhorter,
. and afterward a local preacher, and, notwithstand-
ing his blindness, he traveled extensively in the
West, preaching the Gospel. Dr. Moore would
have a friend take him to a railroad station, and
would engage the services of a trustworthy boy to
take him to places he wished to visit. In this way
he visited his brother George, in Iowa, and from
there traveled to California, where he conducted
a series of religious meetings. On his return to
Lancaster, Dr. Moore prepared a lecture on "What
a Blind Man Saw in California," which he delivered
in a number of places.
It is recorded of Dr. Moore that at one time,
while suffering from a tumor on his left side, he re-
tired to his room, took an ordinary pocket knife, and
with coolness and skill, removed the offender and
bandaged the wound without assistance.
On May 8, 1885, Dr. Moore became a resident
of the Masonic Home, Philadelphia, and was the
fourth to be admitted to that institution. There
his death occurred in his ninety-first year, after liv-
ing in darkness almost half a century. In 1885 he
united with the Tioga M. E. Church and had the
honor in 1892, of breaking the ground for the new
edifice. He was a member of Christiana Lodge,
No. 417, A. F. & A. M., for nearly sixty years and
at the time of his death was one of the oldest Ma-
sons in Pennsylvania.
In 1827 Dr. Mordecai Moore was united in mar-
riage to Elizabeth Bomberger, of Lancaster, who
died two weeks after the couple had celebrated their
Golden Wedding, in 1877. Of their eight children,
but two are living. Rev. vSamuel B. Moore, a clergy-
man of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and Mrs.
Harriet Pownall, of Chester, Delaware county.
Dr. John Gainer Moore, son of Dr. Mordecai,.
was born in Lancaster, Lancaster county, March
10, 1830, and died Jan. 18, 1883, in New Holland,
where he was buried. He acquired his primary edu-
28
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
cation in the common schools in Lancaster and later
pursued a higher course in Franklin and Marshall
college. His profession was learned under his
father, and he entered upon its active duties in 1849,
taking up the practice of his father, who went to
CaHfornia. In 1857 he went to New Holland, and
from that time until his death practiced between
Lancaster and New Holland alternately, being very
successful in his profession, and gaining a wide
celebrity for his skill. The last years of his life
were spent as a semi-invalid, an aggravated form of
dyspepsia refusing to yield to treatment. In many
lines aside from his profession was Dr. Moore
known and admired. He was a strong and vig-
orous writer, and an eloquent and forceful orator,
while his intense interest in liis section's advance-
ment and progress made him an interested and ear-
nest advocate of every enterprise looking in that
direction. He was intellectually strong, and all
educational measures were sure of finding a warm
supporter in him. In religious work he was zealous
and consistent, and took an active part in the aflfairs
t)f the Lutheran Church and the work of the Sun- •
day school. His benefactions were large, both in
the church and the community. In politics he pre-
ferred to be independent.
On Nov. 17, 1859, Dr. Moore was united in
marriage by Rev. Dr. Kohler, in the Lutheran
Church, in New Holland (it being the first marriage
held in the church), to Miss Anna E. Wilson, who
was born in Harrisburg, Pa., daughter of Morris
and Catherine (Diller) Wilson, the former of near
Bridgeport, Conn., and the latter of New Holland,
Pa. Morris Wilson was born March 31, 1797, and
died Nov. 10, 1826, in EHzabethtown, Pa. He
studied law with Judge Elder, of Harrisburg, re-
moving then to EHzabethtown, but practicing both
in the Harrisburg and the Lancaster courts. He
was a man of brilliant parts, and came from a family
of culture, refinement and wealth. The mother of
Mrs. Moore died March 12, 1882, at the age of
€ighty-six years. She was interred in New Hol-
land, where she was a beloved member of the com-
munity, an active worker in the Sundav school, a
consistent member of the Lutheran Church, and
a woman who was noted for her charities. The
onlv child of this marriage was Mrs. Moore.
Rolland Diller Moore, the only child of Dr.
John and Anna (Wilson") Moore, was born April
5, 1863, and on Jan. 19, 1901, was united in mar-
riage, in Camden, N. J., to Miss Helen Dugan,
daughter of Michael Dugan, of Shamokin, Pa.
Mr. Moore is the very efficient and capable
manager of his mother's estate, consisting of
some of the most valuable property in the
city, and he Is one of the most public-spirited and
progressive of the younger business men. His im-
provements have been permanent, substantial and
attractive, while he is also engaged in other lines of
endeavor, ever keeping in mind the advancement
of the interests of his city as well as his personal
preferment. Fraternally he is connected with the
B. P. O. E. and is very popular.
Mrs. Moore is one of the most highly esteemed
ladies in Lancaster. Her beautiful home in New
Holland was erected by her uncle, the late Roland
Diller. She has many friends not only on account
of her well-known and highly appreciated husband,
but for herself, her personal attributes winning
them and retaining them.
Roland Diller was one of Lancaster county's
oldest citizens at the time of his death, in 1882, in
his eighty-fifth year, in his old home in New Hol-
land. His burial was in the old cemetery at that
point. Early in life he was engaged in mercantile
pursuits, but later became a skilled conveyancer and
surveyor, continuing to perform these duties al-
most to the time of his death. His mind was of a
legal turn, and had he given it to the law he would
doubtless have become distinguished in that pro-
fession. His tastes, however, were of a quieter na-
ture although on occasion he could fight for what
he believed to be right. For over forty years he was
justice of the peace in Earl township, and it is
known that during this time he wrote more mort-
gages, deeds, releases and similar documents than
any man who ever lived in Lancaster county. His
reliability was such that his services were in con-
stant demand, and it is estimated that his name ap-
pears on more than half the legal documents is-
sued during his official life in eastern Lancaster
county.
In his convictions of right and justice, Mr. Diller
stood as a rock. This was notably manifested during
the period known as Anti-Masonic, in 1828. It is
not possible to recount in this limited space the details
of the controversy in this locality, but Mr. Diller
was one of the founders of the Anti-Masonic Herald,-
in New Holland, and during its existence was a lib-
eral and consistent contributor to its support. As a
politician he was a strong Whig, and later a stanch
Republican. Although prominent and active in his
party, he would never accept any public recognition,
although frequently urged to do so by his fellow-citi-
zens who would gladly have shown him honors.
Mr. Diller was' long the secretary and treasurer
of the New Holland Turnpike Co., retaining the
office until a short time prior to his death. Perhaps
though Mr. Diller was best known for his deep
knowledge on every subject. For twenty years he
was known as the largest book buyer in Lancaster
county, and it was his greatest delight to bury him-
self among the thousands of volumes in his compre-
hensive library, and to there enjoy the best thought
of the world. Singularly unselfish, this great store-
house of wisdom and pleasure was at the service of
his friends, it seeming to be a gratification to him to
have his "book friends" appreciated.
Roland Diller was a son of Peter and Elizabeth
Diller, of New Holland, the former of whom was a
man of prominence in his time and one of the large
landowners of this county. For many years Peter
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
29
Diller operated a hotel in New Holland, and he was
well known as one of the county's substantial men.
He owned live, well-improved farms at the time of
his death. The children born to Peter and Elizabeth
Diller were : Roland, who never married ; SolomOn,
who married Margaret A. James ; Lydia, who mar-
ried Rev. Peter Filbert; Catherine, who married
Morris Wilson, and became the mother of Mrs.
Moore; Mary, who married Henry Shirk; Samuel,
who married Eliza Ringwalt ; and Elizabeth, who
married Dr. John Luther, an eminent physician of
New Holland.
COL. DANIEL H. HERR. One of the most
striking characters of Lancaster, a man whose life
has closely touched the history of his native county
durmg the past half century, who, as educator, citi-
zen, patriot, soldier, professional man, merchant and
attorney, has been identified with the rapidly grow-
ing interests of Lancaster, and who to-day is most
highly esteemed for his unique and eminently suc-
cessful career is Col. Daniel H. Herr, mechanical
engineer and patent attorney.
Col. Herr is a worthy descendant of Hans Herr,
the venerable pastor of the persecuted and faithful
band of Mennonites, who, in 1709, upon the invita-
tion of William Penn, settled in the fertile but primi-
tively wild valley of the Conestoga. Hans Herr was
a non-conformist of Schwabia, Austria, and one of a
colony whom religious persecution had driven to
Zurich, Switzerland. William Penn visited the col-
ony, and invited them to find homes and rest from
persecution in the Colony of Pennsylvania.
Christian Herr, son of Hans, was one of a com-
mittee appointed to visit the promised land. They
crossed the ocean, selected a tract of 10,000 acres on
the Conestoga, and the migration speedly followed.
The people composing this colony were the first white
settlers in this coimty, at that time a part of Chester
county. Hans Herr had five sons : Abraham, Chris-
tan, Emanuel, Isaac and John. They were the an-
cestors of the Herr family which for the past two
centuries has been conspicuous and eminently ser-
viceable in the development of Lancaster county.
Abraham Herr, the first son of Hans Herr, was
a grandfather when he came to America, and he set-
tled in Lancaster township on the east side of the
Wabank road, near the Mennonite Meeting House.
This old homestead is still in the possession of an
Abraham Herr. There he reared a large family and
died at a ripe old age. One of his (Abraham's)
sons, was Emanuel Herr, who was the great-grand-
father of Daniel H. Herr, and he (Emanuel) was
given a portion of the ancestral acres in Lancaster
township.
Christian Herr, his son, and the grandfather of
Daniel H., was reared on part of the old home farm.
He married Catherine Kauflfman, the only daughter
of John Kauffman, and died comparatively young in
years.
Daniel Herr, son of Christian and the father of
Daniel H., was born in Lancaster township June 6,
1809, and became a farmer and mill owner. He
married on March 9, 1830, Susannah M. Horn-
berger, who was born July 10, 181 1, daughter of Ste-
phen Hornberger, who kept a well known tavern on
the Columbia turnpike. She was a descendant on
her mother's side from Henry Gross, a pioneer of
Lancaster, who imported a communion set from
Wurtemberg for the use of Zion's Lutheran Church
of this city. Daniel Herr engaged in farming for a
time on the old homestead, which he sold, and later
farmed for some years on- the Conestoga creek, now
known as the Brubaker farm. He sold the latter
farm, and removed to Manheim township, where he
bought the Dietrich farm of 167 acres, and later re-
tired to Eden, where he died Sept. 12, 1852, aged
forty-three years. His widow survived until Sept.
16, 1875, passing away at the age of sixty-four years.
To Daniel and Susannah Herr were born ten chil-
dren, of whom five survive.
Daniel H. Herr was born Jan. 14, 1835, ^t Mil-
lersville, Lancaster Co., Pa., where his father had
purchased a home, and his boyhood was spent in
Manheim township. His early education was re-
ceived there, and in Cumberland county. When a
lad of eighteen (in 1853), after the death of his fa-
ther, he went to Dayton, Ohio, where he was em-
ployed in a dry-goods store. Returning to Lancas-
ter county in 1856, he engaged in teaching school,
and soon after entered the State Normal school at
Millersville, graduating in the scientific course in
1858. He was at once appointed professor of pen-
manship, drawing and bookkeeping, and assistant in
mathematics, filling these positions for four years.
In the spring of 1862, Professor Herr, together with
Professor Andrew R. Byerly and Hon. David N.
Fell recruited Co. E, of the i22d P. V. I., nine
months' service, thirty-six students of the Normal
School being enrolled in the company. Prof. Herr,
as he was then known, toid Prof. Byerly that he in-
tended to enter the army, and Prof. Byerly said that
if he (Herr) took the initiative, he too, would go.
They shook hands, Mr. Herr went to Harrisburg,
saw Gov. Curtin, was accepted, was commissioned
second lieutenant, and was sworn in as mustering
officer. Returning to the Normal School, he ex-
hibited his commission and appointed a meeting with
the students. The rest is easily told. Thirty-six
students joined the company, and Col. (then lieu-
tenant) Herr, assisted by Mr. Byerly and Mr. Fell,
recruited the remainder in Lancaster. Prof. Byerly
was made captain. Prof. Herr first lieutenant, and
M'r. Fell second lieutenant. Col. Herr was mustered
in as first lieutenant on July 26, 1862, and was
mustered out May 16, 1863. The regiment joined
the Army of the Potomac, was in the second battle
of Bull Run, under fire at Fredericksburg, and en-
gaged at Chancellorsville. Lieut. Herr, on Aug. 4th
(before the battle of Chancellorsville) was made
quartermaster of Piatt's Brigade, then in Gen. Stur-
gis' Independent Division ; and, after the second bat-
30
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
tie of Bull Run, this Brigade became the First
Brigade, Third Division, Third Army Corps, Army
of the Potomac, under Gens. McClellan, Burnside
and Hooker. He participated in the engagements
at Pleasant Valley, Harper's Ferry, Berlin, Warren-
town Junction and Falmouth. After a regular
quartermaster reported for duty, Lieut. Herr was de-
tailed to go to Washington on important missions,
the order coming from the corps commander; and,
later, he was one of the detail on general court mar-
tial in the field, the army then lying before Freder-
icksburg. This was during the fall and winter of
1862-63. During the summer of 1863, Lieut. Herr
and others raised a company of Pennsylvania militia
for emergency service, which became a part of the
47di Regiment. Lieut. Herr was commissioned adju-
tant of the regiment, which followed Lee in his re-
treat to the Potomac, being a part of Gen. John E.
Wool's troops, organized for the defense of the
State, and later they did service in Schuylkill coun-
ty, in suppressing the "Mollie Maguires." He then
served as post adjutant of Taggart's Free Military
School at Philadelphia, Pa., for training ofiEcers for
colored troops. Passing Gen. Casey's board of ex-
amination at Washington, he was recommended by
the board for rank of Lieut. Colonel. Accepting a
captaincy, he was assigned to Co. F, i22d regiment,
infantry. United States Colored Troops, at Lexing-
ton, Ky. The regiment was attached to the Army of
the James, under Gen. Butler, and saw active service
in the operations before Petersburg and Richmond,
and the many engagements involved in that cam-
paign. After the surrender of Gen. Lee, at Appo-
mattox Court House, the 2Sth Army Corps was or-
ganized at City Point, and this corps was assigned to
the Department of the South, under Gen. Phil. Sheri-
dan, with headquarters at New Orleans. This corps,
under command of Gen. Weitzel, was sent to Texas,
covering the entire southern part of that State.
'Capt. Herr was detailed by Gen. Weitzel as assist-
ant inspector general stationed at Corpus Christi,
Texas, where he remained until the troops were dis-
charged in the spring of 1866. Prior to that, how-
ever, Capt. Herr had been made a member of the
Court of Claims, created by order of Gen. Sheridan,
and assisted in the adjustment of the claims of citi-
zens for confiscated property.
Returning to Lancaster, Capt. Herr re-entered
civil life as a draughtsman for the old Norris Loco-
motive Works, where he did work for the Pennsyl-
vania, the Chicago & Northwestern, the St. Louis,
Alton & Terre Haute, and the Lehigh Valley rail-
roads, and during this period, two of the heaviest
locomotives then known to the world, were con-
structed, each locomotive weighing sixty tons, and
having five pairs of driving wheels connected. He
remained with this company until 1868, when, owing
to the death of one of the firm, it suspended opera-
tions. Going to Reading, Pa., Mr. Herr made a deal
with the Howe Sewing Machine Co., securing con-
trol of several counties, and doing business in his
own name. In 1878 he removed to Philadelphia,
making that city for a time his headquarters as a
commercial traveler. Returning to Lancaster in
1879, he was for one year principal of the Mulberry
Street Grammar School, in Lancaster, and then
taught school for one year at Florin, same county.
In 1 88 1 Col. Herr returned to Lancaster, accept-
ing a position as bookkeeper for Richard Blicken-
derfer, iron founder. A little later he became
draughtsman for David H. Kulp, pattern maker and
patent attorney, and when the latter concluded to re-
tire from the patent business, Mr. Herr purchased and
has since continued this active and successful work.
In 1879 at Philadelphia, Mr. Herr married Miss
Emma Adams, a native of Lebanon county, daughter
of Jacob and Mary Adams, her father having been
formerly a well known business man of Reading. To
Mr. and Mrs. Herr was born one son, Paul Adams, a
graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, after-
ward taking a post-graduate course in Chemistry
and Physics, and securing his master degree in June,
1901 ; he is now at the head of the Department of
Natural Science in Lincoln Memorial University,
Cumberland Gap, Tenn. Col. and Mrs. Herr are
prominent members of St. James Episcopal Church.
He is a stanch Republican in politics, and a member
of George H. Thomas post, No. 84, G. A. R. In
1875, he was appointed by Gov. Hartranft, Major
and Aide-de-camp on the staflf of Maj. Gen. Bolton,
commanding the second Division, National Guard of
Pennsylvania. In that capacity he performed valu-
able service during the railroad riots of 1876 and
1877. He is a public-spirited citizen of Lancaster,
and one of its most highly esteemed citizens ; while
as a patent attorney, his work is of such a conscien-
tious and intelligent character, as to win and hold
for him the most prominent inventors and manufac-
turers in the community as his clients.
STEELE. The Steele family, many of whose
members were conspicuous for patriotism and
gallantry during the Revolutionary war, is of
great antiquity. The original members came from
Scotland. The first mention we have of the family
in this state is in the history of Chester county. At
an early date Ninian Steele with his wife and chil-
dren, came from the North of Ireland and settled
in New London township, Chester county. There
he died in 1745, leaving a wife, Mary, and six chil-
dren, as follows: Robert; Martha; Samuel, who
died in 1760; Susannah; Ninian; and William.
Samuel Steele, second son of Ninian, resided at
what is known as "Thunder Hill," New London
township. He died in May, 1760, leaving eleven
children: Robert; Ruth, born 1719, married Sam-
uel Futhey in 1750, and he died Jan. 27, 1790;
Jane, married George Campbell, and he died in
March, 1812, leaving eight children; Samuel;
Francis; Joseph; James, married Isabella Read, of
New London, and his descendants went to west-
ern Virginia; William, born 1731, married Eliza-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
31
beth Magee, Jan., 1756, and died Sept. 5, 1797 (she
died July 5, 1779) ; Ninian ; Ann ; and Elizabeth,
married and settled in Northumberl'and county,
with other members of the family.
William Steele, probably the youngest son of
Ninian, settled near Chestnut Level. On the break-
ing out of the Revolution he was appointed First
Lieutenant, First Pennsylvania Battalion of the
Flying Camp, June to December, 1776. He was
a representative man among the early settlers. He
obtained a large tract of land on the west side of
the Octoraro.
William Steele, son of William, noted in above
paragraph was also a staunch supporter of Ameri-
can Independence. He was also appointed a lieu-
tenant during the Revolutionary war and married
Abigail, a sister of Francis Bailey, of Sadsbury.
James Steele, son of William and Abigail, was
born in Sadsbury township about the beginning of
the Revolutionary war. He was in the War of
1812, and became a brigadier general in the same.
He died about 1840.
General John Steele was born in Drumore town-
ship in the year 1758. His parents had emigrated
from Scotland at an early date. He was prominent
in the Revolutionary war and was elected State Sena-
tor of Pennsylvania in 1801. He died Feb. 27, 1827.
Archibald Steele was a brother of Gen. John
Steele, and raised one of the first Lancaster county
companies in the Revolutionary war. His com-
pany was in the famous march to Quebec in the
winter of 1775. He died in Philadelphia in 1832.
He had three sons, George, William, and Matthias,
in the War of 181 2.
HUGH STANLEY GARA was in his life-
time one of the prominent citizens of Lancaster, not
only as one of the best insurance men of the county,
but also as a public-spirited citizen and a Mason of
high degree. Active in every line in which he be-
came interested, he not only made a success in his
chosen life work, but found time to serve his fel-
low citizens well without sacrificing one for the
other, and in Masonic circles he was widely known
and highly esteemed.
Mr. Gara came of a race which Pennsylvania
especially has reason to thank for many of her best
citizens, his parents, Patrick and Mary Gara, both
having been natives of the North of Ireland. Their
marriage took place in Lancaster county. Pa., and
here were born to them four children, all now de-
ceased : Isaac B. was a prominent citizen of Erie, this
State, where he edited the Erie Gazette, and served
as postmaster : he was deputy secretary of the Com-
monwealth under Gov. Geary. Samuel H. was a
resident of Philadelphia. Hugh Stanley is men-
tioned below. Margaret married Joseph Baldwin,
a farmer of Ogdensburg, New York.
Hugh Stanley Gara was born March 28, 18 17,
in Soudersburg, East Lampeter township, this
■county, where he lived until he was eleven years of
age, and in the public schools of which locality he
received his first instruction. Later he attended
the Parkesburg (Pa.) Academy. At the age of
seventeen he commenced to learn the mercantile
business, his first employment being in the mercan-
tile store of James WhitehJl, in Strasburg Borough,
and he was subsequently with James Shirk, in the
same place. He was still a youth when he came to
Lancaster and entered the store of David Markley,
from whose employment he went to Boon & Cock-
ley, serving three years as manager of their foundry.
He then formed a partnership with David Cockley,
conducting a general dry goods store, of which,
after some years, in 1845, he became sole proprietor,
continuing in this line for twenty-five years. Mr.
Gara first took up the insurance business in 1840,
being always looked upon as the pioneer in that field
in Lancaster, and after retiring from mercantile
life devoted his business hours to general insurance
until 1 89 1, when, because of his advancing age, he
sold out, Christopher Hager purchasing his in-
terest in that line. He was the veteran insurance
man of Lancaster, and was highly thought of as an
able and successful man in that line. He was a stock
holder and manager of the Keystone Watch Co.,
of which he was one of the founders (only under
another name) and was its president for many years.
All Mr. Gara's business transactions Were charac-
terized by the utmost honesty and strictest integ-
rity, traits which were recognized and thoroughly
appreciated by all with whom he had dealings.
After relinquishing the activities of business life
he gave himself almost entirely to the duties of no-
tary public, acting as such twenty-five years prior
to his death, and to the work of the Masonic fra-
ternity, serving as secretary, continuing for a period
of twenty-five years, in various Masonic bodies. He
attained to the thirty-second degree, and at the time
of his death was one of the best known and oldest
Masons in the locality. He was "made" Feb. 12,
1862, in Lodge No. 43, F. & A. M., of which he was
elected secretary in 1864. He also held that office
in Chapter No. 42, R. A. M., was recorder of Good-
win Council, No. 19, R. S. E. & S. M. ; Commander
of Commandery No. 13, K. T. ; and a charter mem-
ber of Lancaster Lodge of Perfection, A. A. S. R.,
and its secretary for many years. He was secre-
tary of all bodies named at the time of his decease,
which occurred March 9, 1896, in Lancaster. He
was also a member of the I. O. O. F. Mr. Gara was
laid to rest in Lancaster cemetery with every mark
of respect and honor due so worthy a citizen, and his
death was mourned as a loss to the community, in
general. Though ever busy, Mr. Gara always found
time to be affable and courteous, and he was exceed-
ingly pleasant to all with whom he came in contact,
whether in the business world, in social life, or in the
domestic circle.
Mr. Gara was a stanch Republican, and not as a
partisan but as a patriotic citizen, and took an active
part in public affairs in his locality. He held office
82
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
as a matter of duty, and evidently discharged the du-
ties of the various incumbencies to which he was
chosen in the same spirit. For many years he was
a member of the school board, of which he was sec-
retary during some fifteen years of that time ; he was
one of the board of prison inspectors for nine years,
and also served as county recorder. As will be seen,
his services seems to have been especially in demand
as secretary, and in addition to his work in that line
already mentioned, he held such relations to the Lan-
caster Board of Trade for two years. For many
years he was president of the Union Building & Loan
Association. A life long member of the Presbyte-
rian Church, Mr. Gara served as a member of the
board of trustees of the local congregation, for forty
years, until his death, and was president of the same
for nine years. He was an elder for thirty years,
and, in fact, was zealous and active in all that per-
tained to the welfare of his home church especially,
and Christianity in general, his earnest efforts in this
connection, however, being no more than might be
expected of one so deeply interested in moral ad-
vancement everywhere. He was orderly sergeant in
the Lancaster Fencibles, a crack military organiza-
tion.
On Oct. 15, 1841, Mr. Gara was married in Lan-
caster to Sarah J. Buck, and two children blessed this
union : William H., who died young ; and Elizabeth
Batterson. The latter is a member of the Daughters
of the American Revolution, claiming descent from
early American ancestry through her mother, who
was born in Lancaster, Sept. 19, 1820, a grand-
daughter of John Okely (who was a member of the
Constitutional Congress) and who died March 13,
1890, at the age of sixty-seven years. She was a
daughter of William and Elizabeth (Okely) Buck,
the former a native of Bedford, England, the latter
of Bethlehem, Pa. Both died in Lancaster county,
and the father is buried in St. James Episcopal cem-
etery, the mother in the Lancaster cemetery. They
had a family of seven children, one son and six
daughters, of whom Sarah J., Mrs. Gara, was the
youngest. John Okely, of Northampton county, Pa.,
Mrs. Gara's grandfather, was a member of Congress
from Northampton county in 1773-74-75. He served
during the Revolutionary war, first as lieutenant, and
finally became assistant commissary general, remain-
ing in the army until the close of the struggle.
BENJAMIN R. KREIDER, a resident of West
Lampeter township, and one of the more prominent
men of Lancaster county, was born in East Lam-
peter township, Aug. 18, 1855, and is a son of Isaac
and Anna (Rohrer) Kreider, both of whom are
still living in East Lampeter township.
Benjamin R. Kreider was educated in the pub-
lic schools, and after he had passed his twenty-
first birthday began operations on his own account as
a fence builder, in which work he was engaged for
five years. For the past nineteen years he has been
employed in gathering and delivering milk to the
creameries and the caramel factory. Mr. Kreider
owns a small farm of seven acres which he pur-
chased in the spring of 1892. This property is in
West Lampeter township; the residence has been
greatly rebuilt by him, and the other buildings on
the place have been changed and added to, Mr.
Kreider expending some fifteen hundred dollars
in adapting the place to dairy purposes. It is said
Mr. Kreider delivers more milk to the factory than
any other contractor in the county, his daily aver-
age being seven thousand pounds or more.
Benjamin R. Kreider was married Oct. 10,
1876, to Susan, a daughter of John and Susan
(Wenger) Musser, of Earl township. Mrs. Kreid-
er was born Jan. 21, 1856, and became the mother
of the following children ; Anna Mary, Harry Mus-
ser, Clara Bertha, Lizzie B., Ada May and Elmer
Benjamin. Mrs. Kreider died May 27, 1901, and
with her husband belonged to the Old Mennonite
Church. His two oldest children are married,
Anna Mary is the wife of Jesse Kreider, of Salis-
bury, who is an extensive farmer and dairyman;
Harry M. married Fannie Shriner, of Manheim
township, and is an employe of the silk mills in
Lancaster township, having his home in West Lam-
peter township.
HUGH M. NORTH. Among the legal lights
of Pennsylvania the name of Hugh M. North, of
Columbia, shines as a star of the first magnitude.
His mastery of legal lore, his tenacious memory, his
natural ability, have all combined to make him one
of the foremost lawyers of the State, one who is con-
sulted by the members of his own profession and one
whose decisions are regarded as ultimate.
Mr. North was born May 7, 1826, in Juniata
county, Pa., a son of John North, of Scotch-Irish
descent, and his wife, Jane McAlister, whose father,
Hugh McAlister, of Revolutionary fame, was the
founder of McAlisterville, Pa. Hugh M. North was
given as good educational facilities as his father's
circumstances permitted, and when twenty years of
age he was graduated with honor from the academy
at Mifflinburg, Pa. He then entered the office of
Judge Casey, of Union county, who later became
Chief Justice of the United States Court of Claims.
Young North applied himself to his studies with the
same energy that had characterized his school wOrk,
and when he went to take his examination for ad-
mission to the Bar he had a fund of legal knowledge
superior to many lawyers then old in practice. He
was admitted to the Bar in Union county in March,
1849, ^^'^ i" the August following to the Lancaster
County Bar. Columbia was chosen as the future
home of the young lawyer, and there he immediately
entered upon his practice. His fine intellectual at-
tainments soon won recognition, and before long his
time was fully occupied, and his large and lucrative
practice yielded him a handsome competence. There
were calls fo^ his services from all over the State,
and every important case in his own vicinity found'
<^.^. .//^.^^7
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
83
him actively interested on one side or the other. In
every branch of the law he seems equally at home,
and the thoroughness with which he studies the sub-
ject under litigation, his skill, his insight into human
nature, and his fine presence, make him a tower of
great strength before courts and juries. His gen-
erous disposition has prevented him from putting
any obstacles in the paths of younger members of
the profession; instead, he is ever willing to aid in
any way those who seek his counsel. In 1880 he was
instrumental in organizing the Lancaster County
Bar Association, for the "improvement of law and
its administration," and so generally was his pre-
eminence conceded that he was unanimously elected
president, to which office he has been re-elected
annually ever since. He is a prominent member of
the American Bar Association, and for a time was
a member of its council for the, State of Pennsyl-
vania.
Questions of public importance, local or national,
have found in Mr. North a deep and intelligent
student. He has held a number of offices in the bor-
ough of Columbia, and in 1854 became a member of
the State Legislature, having been elected on the
Democratic and Independent tickets.- In i860 he was
a delegate to the National Democratic Convention
held at Charleston, S. C, and there served on a num-
ber of important committees. Active work in that
convention required the exercise of rare judgment,
and it was men like Mr. North who were able to
carry it through with honor and with dignity. In
1864 he was the Democratic candidate for Congress
against the late Thaddeus Stevens, and in 1872 was
the opponent of A. Herr Smith ; in 1874 he was a
candidate before the State Convention for lieuten-
ant governor, and polled the second highest vote;
in 1876 he was delegate-at-large to the Democratic
Convention at St. Louis.
Mr. North's work has brought him many well-
deserved honors. He is solicitor for the Pennsyl-
vania Co., the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co.,
two national banks of Columbia, and many other
corporations, including iron companies, insurance
companies, etc. He is president of the First Na-
tional Bank of Columbia, and a director in a num-
ber of other corporations.
Mr. North is a member of the Episcopal Church,
and a vestryman of St. Paul's, Columbia, and rec-
tor's warden. He has been for many years a member
of the standing committee of the Diocese of Central
Pennsylvania, and was a deputy to the general con-
ventions of 1895, 1898 and 1901. He was honored
some years ago with the degree of LL. D. from
Franklin and Marshall College.
On Dec. 23, 1868, Mr. North was united in mar-
riage with Miss Serena M. Franklin, daughter of
the late Thomas E. Franklin, LL. D., of Lancaster,
well known and prominent in the legal circles of the
State, and Attorney General of Pennsylvania under
Gbvs. Johnson and Pollock. To Mr. and Mrs.
North have been born two children, viz. : Serena
3
Mayer, who on April 11, 1901, was married to Jo-
seph Baldwin Hutchinson, general manager of the
Pennsylvania Railway Co. ; and Hugh M., Jr., who
graduated from Yale University in June, 1897, and-
is now a member of the Lancaster Bar.
HUGH MAXWELL was born Dec. 7, 1777, iri'
Ireland, and when quite a young man he came tO'
Philadelphia.
At the age of nineteen he entered into partner--
ship with Matthew Carey in that city, Carey being a-
printer of prominence. They published one of the'
early literary magazines and subsequently Maxwell'
edited the Port Folio.. Whilst in the book-publishing:
business he made his own engravings aind cast his
own type. Meeting with losses in the financial crisis
following the war of 1812, he abandoned the printing
business and for a while engaged in the pursuits of a
farmer. In 1817 he removed to Lancaster and began
the publication of the Lancaster Gazette. Subse-
quently he purchased the Lancaster Journal, which
he edited until 1839. This paper was one of the-
ablest Democratic newspapers of Pennsylvania. He
was the inventor of the printer's roller which wa*
patented in 1817. In 1820 he was one of the most
active promoters of the Conestoga Navigation Com-
pany, which had for its object the improvement of
the Conestoga creek. When the subject of uniting
Philadelphia and Columbia by railroad was mooted
he called the first meeting at Columbia having that
object in view. Mr. Maxwell was one of the found-
ers of the Mechanics' Literary Association of Lan-
caster, and became its first president. The Lykens
Valley and Short Mountain coal fields were discov-
ered by him and William White, an ex-sheriff of
Lancaster, and they sent the first coal from that sec-
tion to market.
Mr. Maxwell was a vigorous writer and as an
editor had few superiors in his day. His editorials
were bold and fearless and showed much independ-
ence of thought. He died Nov. i, i860.
REV. EMANUEL VOGEL GERHART, D. D.,
LL. D., Professor of Theology and President of the
Theological Seminary of "the Reformed Church
in the United States," located at Lancaster, is one
of the most remarkable men not only of this local-
ity and great religious body, but of the State. At
the age of eighty-five years he still stands in the van-
guard of theological achievement, vigorous in mind
and body, controlling great religious interests and!
managing business affairs with the clear judgment
of a man of fifty.
Dr. Gerhart comes of sturdy, Pennsylvania an-
cestry, his grandfather, Abraham Gerhart, having^
been born in Sellersville, Bucks county, this State,
where he lived an honest, industrious life as a farm-
er, and reared a family to become respected mem-
bers of society. Dr. Gerhart was born June 13, 1817,
at Freeburg, Pa., where his father. Rev. Isaac Ger-
hart, was pastor of the Reformed Church. His early
34
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALb (JF LAM CASTER COUNTY
education was carefully looked after by his intelli-
gent father, and at the age of sixteen years, he en-
tered the High School which the Reformed Church.
had established in 1831, at York, Pa., and of which
the distinguished Rev. Frederick Augustus Ranch,
Ph. D., was at that time the principal. When, in the
fall of 1835, the School was removed to Mercers-
burg, young Gerhart was one of the eighteen stu-
dents who followed the removal of the Institution,
and when, during the winter of 1836, the school de-
veloped into a college, he became a member of the
first sophomore class of .Marshall College. Gradu-
ating from this noted institution in 1838, he then en
tered the Theological Seminary of the German Re-
formed Church, at that time located at Mercersburg
and completed his theological studies in September.
1841.
While pursuing his theological studies under the
scholarly direction of the learned Drs. Ranch, Mayer
and Nevin, he became a teacher himself, instructing
in the School for Women, under the principalship of
Mrs. Sarah Ann Young; also in the preparatory
school of Marshall College until the autumn of 1842.
Dr. Gerhart was examined and found worthy to be
licensed to preach the Gospel, by the Synod of the
Reformed Church in its session held afReading, Pa.,
in October, 1841, and was ordained to the ministry
at the Grindstone Hill Church, in August, 1842, by a
committee of the Mercersburg Classis. For one year
this enthusiastic young clergyman was the pastor of
four churches in the vicinity of Chambersburg, but
in the following May he accepted a call to Gettys-
burg. The succeeding six years and two months
were occupied in his duties to four German-English
churches, his labors being acceptable and being
blessed in many ways.
During the summer of 1849, Dr. Gerhart was
commissioned a missionary to the foreign born Ger-
mans located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and he accepted
this charge with the same belief in his success that
has been a great factor in all his work. For two
years he faithfully filled this mission in that city, and
the church was well satisfied with the result, while
the experiences of a missionary made Dr. Gerhart
still more competent to meet other demands. His
next great work was the organization of churches
through Ohio, Northern Kentucky, Wisconsin, Indi-
ana and elsewhere, being a pioneer in many locali-
ties, and making many of his ministerial trips on
horseback. Mnny a neglected hamlet and forgotten
household came to bless the name of Emanuel Vogel
Gerhart.
In the winter of 185 1, at a special meeting of the
Synod of Ohio, Dr. Gerhart was elected Professor of
Systematic Theologv in the Theological Seminary
and President of Heidelberg Colle'^e, institutions
which were +hen in their infancy. These were lo-
cated at Tiffin. Ohio, a stronghold of the Reformed
Church, and l^ere for four years, from 1851 to i85;5.
Dr. Gerhart hhored in this double capacity in the in-
terests of a liberal theological education, with a vigor
only appreciated by those who know him best.
It was in 1855 that the board of trustees of
Franklin and Marshall College strengthened their
faculty by making him the President of this growing
institution, and the Professor of Mental and
Moral Philosophy. Here he taught for thirteen
years and was one of the most valued of the instruc-
tors. In the spring of 1868, by the mother Synod of
the Reformed Church, which is now called the East-
ern Synod, he was chosen to the chair of Systematic
Theology in the Theological Seminary, at that time
located at Mercersburg. In 1871 this institution was
moved to the city of Lancaster and during all these
years the same position in the faculty has been held
by Dr. Gerhart.
To mention all the works in the way of books, es-
says, lectures and valuable theological papers which
have issued from the facile pen of Dr. Gerhart, would
be a task indeed. Perhaps those which have attract-
ed the most attention have been : A "Monograph of
the Reformed Church;" "Philosophy and Logic;"
"Institutes of the Christian Religion," in two vol-
umes ; and in addition to these a notable contribution
to theological literature which Dr. Gerhart has
named "A Philosophical Introduction to Theology,"
which is in printed form, but which has not yet been
offered to the general public. For more than a half-
century his life has been spent as a Teacher in relig-
ious colleges and seminaries of his church, utilizing
his generous endowment of mental gifts in her ser-
vice. As a clergyman he has administered the duties
of his position with extraordinary success, and as an
educator few can be named as his equal. Exceptional
as has been his career in duration, he is a singularly
unostentatious laborer, only those who have been ad-
mitted into the inner recesses of his life, ever realiz-
ing^he depths of his zeal or the extent of his useful-
ness.
Dr. Gerhart was married at Hagerstown, Md., on
Jan. 3, 1843, to Miss Eliza Rickenbaugh, a native of
that place, where her father, Martin Rickenbaugh,
■was formerly a well-known business man. Four chil-
dren were born to this union : Col. William R., a
graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, class of
1863, who was in the army during the Civil war, re-
maining in the service until 1867, and is now a solic-
itor of patents ; Rev. Robert Leighton, who was also
educated in Franklin and Marshall College and a
graduate of the Theological Seminary in the class of
1 87 1, and is a minister in the Reformed Church, in
Lewisburg, Pa. ; Virginia, a young lady possessing
rare talent as an artist ; and Paul, also a graduate of
Franklin and Marshall College, who studied law and
was admitted to the Bar, but gave up the profession
to engage in the mercantile business, and who was
removed from Hfe suddenly, in June, 1901. The wife
and mother departed this life in Januarv, 1864, and
in August, 1865, Dr. Gerhart was married to Mrs.
Mary M. Hunter, widow of Frederick S. Hunter, 6f ,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
35
Reading, Pa. She passed away one year later, and
after a widowerhood of nearly nine years Dr. Ger-
Ivart was, on Dec. 29, 1875, married to Miss Lucia D.
Cobb, eldest daughter of the Rev. Asahel Cobb, a dis-
tinguished clergyman of the Congregational Church
■of Massachusetts, and the evening of the venerable
•doctor's life is made bright by the companionship of
this cultivated and intellectual companion.
On June 13, 1897, Dr. Gerhart reached his eighti-
«th birthda}', and no better evidence of the esteem
in which he is held on account of his labors for the
Reformed Church could be found than in the fact
that the Reformed Church Messenger devoted its
entire issue of that date to a most interesting and in-
structive recital of the life events of this learned the-
ologian, as viewed by many in high authority.
Among the sketches gladly contributed appeared
those from the pens of such friends as Dr.' Bowman,
Prof. Schiedt and Hon. W. U. Hensel. Never be-
fore in the history of the Messenger was there such
tribute paid in its pages to any one. No better end-
ing can be made to this inadequate sketch than in
the words which close a paper written on Dr. Ger-
hart by the editor of The Forum, and published in
its issue of December, 1901 :
"And now, let us briefly add, notwithstanding
the modesty of this venerable man, that in no way
is the lesson that all this active, struggling, useful,
pure life has taught, better exemplified than in the
mere sight and presence of the man himself as we
see him still moving along the streets of I^ancaster,
with step so wonderfully firm for his years, with
mind so clear, with countenance so restful, with con-
science so at ease, with soul so pure, we cannot but
feel that that alone is sermon enough for one day."
ELIPHALET ORAM LYTE, A. M., Pii. D.,
who has been principal of the First Pennsylvania
State Normal School at Millersville since 1887, is
one of the. most widely known and popular educa-
tors of Lancaster county. He is beloved, as well as
respected, among his pupils and all with whom he
has had relations in his long and successful career,
for though strict as a conscientious discharge of his
duties requires him to be, he exercises his authority
judiciously. He impres.ses his earnestness and sin-
■ceritv upon all; winning their admiration as well as
allegiance, and in this fact no doubt lies the secret
to much of his success with so many of his pupils. A
lifelong devotion to the profession of his choice has
made him peculiarly alive to its needs and require-
ments, and no less active in attempting to supply
them. His connection with the Normal School has
covered the greater part of his life, so that his in-
terest is as much one of affection as of duty.
Dr. Lyte was born June 29, 1842, near Bird-in-
Hand, Lancaster county, and there passed his early
life, in the winter attending the public schools, and
■during the remainder of the year assisting his fa-
ther in the care of his nursery. He had commenced
preparation for college when the war of the Rebel-
lion broke out, and he enlisted in the Union army
for three years, serving his full term, and rising
from the ranks of an infantry regiment to coinmis-
sioned officer in a battery of light artillery. His
regiment was attached to the Army of the Potomac,
and he was actively engaged in a number of the great
battles which it fought, proving efficient in every
capacity. He was wounded at the battle of Chan-
cellorsville, and has never completely recovered
from the effects of the injury.
Returning home at the close of the war Dr. Lyte
resumed his studies, and commenced teaching, be-
ing engaged two years in the district schools of Lan-
caster county. Subsequently he became a pupil in the
institution with which he has so long been connected,
graduating therefrom in the regular course in 1868,
and later taking up the scientific course, which he
also completed. From the time of his graduation
he has been a member of the Faculty, having first
been elected Professor of Rhetoric and Bookkeep-
ing, and later as Professor of Pedagogy and English
Grammar. In 1887 he assumed the duties of his
present position. His promotion to so responsible
a position is the best evidence of his success in more
subordinate, but equally important, work, and his
long continuous service in that capacity is the best
evidence of his worthiness to fill so great a trust. In
addition to attending to his duties as principal, he
fills the chair of Psychology and Logic. That he
has not been without honor in his incumbency is
shown by the fact that in 1878 Franklin and Mar-
shall College conferred upon him the degree of
Master of Arts, and in 1887 that of Doctor of Phil-
osophy.
Dr. Lyte has grown with the institution which
has had so important a bearing on the intellectual
life of Lancaster county. During his connection
with the Normal School he has watched with pride,
and aided in, her liberal expansion, which has been
in keeping with the sj^irit of this advanced age, and
with the constantly increasing patronage she has
enjoyed. The number of pupils at present is "larger
than in any similar institution in the State. The
course of study has been broadened, many branches
having been taken up which add to the interest of the
work, widen the student's outlook, increase his
efficiency for the duties for which he is preparing,
and thus affect the value and raise the standard of
the common schools. The various buildings include
gymnasium, library, physical science and mechanical
arts buildings, all of which have been found neces-
sary with the growing needs of the estabUshment.
Dr. Lyte has kept abreast of the times in his own
studies, Language, Philosophy and Pedagogy be-
ing his specialties. He is the author of a number
of text books, a series on Language, one on Book-
keeping and several on Music, and is a popular lec-
turer on educational and literary topics, having
many valuable ideas on the subject of public educa-
tion especially. He is an eminently practical man,
and as such his opinions are received with marked
36
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
respect. Many of his plans for the development of
the Normal, and the broadening of its usefulness,
have been put into operation with complete success.
Practically all his energies have been turned into'
this one channel, his love for his work being of that
genuine kind which overcomes all obstacles and out-
lasts discouragement. He has frequently declined
positions more lucrative, and which promised more
renown, his attachment for his institution proving
too strong to be easily severed. The Millersville
State Normal has always borne a high reputation,
and the standard has been elevated considerably
under the present administration. Dr. Lyte has al-
ways been in hearty sympathy with educational or-
ganizations, and in 1891 was honored with election
to the office of president of the Pennsylvania Teach-
ers' Association. He is a life member of the Na-
tional Educational Association, of which he has
served as director for a number of years. He was
president of the N. E. A. in 1899, and he has also
been vice-president of the council of education of
that body. He is likewise a member of the Amer-
ican Academy of Political Science.
Fraternally Dr. Lyte is a thirty-third degree
Mason, receiving his last degree in 1885 ; he also
holds membership in the Loyal Legion, the Grand
Army of the Republic, and the Society of the Sons
of the Revolution.
In March, 1872, Dr. Lyte married Mary Mcjun-
kin, daughter of Dr. Isaiah Mcjunkin, of Phila-
delphia, and they have had two children, Louis and
Gilbert. Dr. and Mrs. Lyte are members of the
Episcopal Church. They are widely known socially,
and are everywhere esteemed among the circle of
their acquaintances.
THADDEUS STEVENS represented Lancas-
ter county in the United States House of Represen-
tatives during the last ten years of his eventful life.
It is the highest honor this district, then the Ninth
Congressional District of Pennsylvania, has ever
known. During those years he did more than any
other man in Congress to shape the policy of the Na-
tion, both in war and in peace, to advance the cause
of human freedom, to which his life had been de-
voted, and to save from dismemberment the Amer-
ican republic, the hope of the world. And the Na-
tion, saved and regenerate, conferred upon him a
title higher than King — the Great Commoner. We
believe that he was brought by divine providence
to do his appointed work, as much as was George
Washington or Abraham Lincoln. FroiTi 1861 to
1865 Abraham Lincoln and Thaddeus Stevens were
|:he two mightiest forces in the land in shaping the
policy and determining the destiny of the Nation. As
Henry Watterson has said, "Thaddeus Stevens was
the House of Representatives" during these four
years of Titanic strife. Many of our people know
him only as a name. We wish to present such a con-
nected sketch as will give them more definite knowl-
edge of his life and work. He was born in Danville,
Vt., April 4, 1792. His parents were Joshua and
Sarah (Morrill) Stevens, who removed from Me-
thuen, Essex Co., Mass., about the year 1786. He
was evidently of Anglo-Saxon stock, though little is
known of his ancestors. His father was a surveyor
and shoemaker. He resurveyed the town of Dan-
ville in 1790, and his . measurements are the legal
lines to-day. He was an athlete and a famous
wrestler, but a man of rather dissipated habits.
When he died or where is not known with certainty.
In the war of 18 12 he is said to have enlisted as a
soldier, and in the attack on Oswego to have re-
ceived a bayonet wound from which he died a few
days afterward. Thaddeus never wearied in talking
of his mother and of the noble fight she made with
penury in bringing up her four boys. She was a
remarkable woman, and her sons all achieved distinc-
tion. The eldest became a judge in Illinois ; Alan-
son, the second son, was a practicing physician of
high reputation at the time of his death. The third
of the brothers became a farmer and was a gentle-
man of intelligence and culture. Thaddeus, the
youngest, was the one on whom especially she placed
her affections. The boy, though healthy, was in
some degree deformed. He had a club foot, and
doubtless required greater attention than the others.
He could never sufficiently acknowledge his indebt-
edness to her. Long years after he said of her :
"I really think the greatest pleasure of my life
resulted from my ability to give my mother a farm
of 250 acres and a dairy of fourteen cows, and an
occasional bright gold piece, which she loved to de-
posit in the contributors' box of the Baptist Church,
which she attended. This always gave her much
pleasure and me much satisfaction. My mother was.
a very extraordinary woman. I have met very few
women like her. My father was not a well-to-do
man, and the support and education of the family
depended upon my mother. She worked day and
night to educate me. I was feeble and lame in
youth, and as I could not work on the farm, she con-
cluded to give me an education. I tried to repay her
afterward, but the debt of a child to his mother, you
know, is one of the debts we can never pay." He
gratefully cherished her memory to the last, and by
his will he established a fund, the income of which
was forever to be used to plant each springtime
"roses and other cheerful flowers" upon her grave.
The mother moved from Danville to Peacham,
where there was an academy, that she might educate
her boys. During his early years Mr. Stevens was a
very diligent reader of everything that came in his
way. When about fifteen he taught school and
started a library in the town. There he prepared for
college, entering the Sophomore class at Dartmouth
in 181 1. Two terms of his Junior year were spent
at the University of Vermont, and his Senior year
at Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. The
records of the university show him as a speaker in
a "Forensic Disputation" in 1813, and tell of a
drama, "The Fall of Helvetic Liberty," a tragedy in
THADDEUS STEVENS.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
87
three acts by Thaddeus Stevens, in which the author
played one of the parts.
When he graduated at Dartmouth he was twenty-
two years old. He determined to study law, and, as
his native State did not afford the opportunities he
desired, he removed to Pennsylvania. There he
taught for a time in an academy at York while read-
ing law. He visited Lancaster, after his admission
to the Bar, but finally decided to open an ofHce at
Gettysburg.. It was discouraging experience for
the young lawyer, and he was on the point of leaving
the place when a case of murder, such that no other
would undertake the defense of the criminal, came
into his hands. He astonished everybody by his
skill, his eloquence and the display of those qualities
which afterward made him one of the ablest and
most noted lawyers in the United States. His fame
spread, and he was soon employed on one side or
another of nearly every important case tried in that
part of the State. He did much work gratuitously.
Many a man, claimed as a slave, gained his freedom
through , Mr. Stevens, and, when legal expedients
failed, he at. times paid out of his own pocket the
price demanded for the slave. There he spent fifteen
years of his intense life, gaining in actual practice
that ready and familiar acquaintance with the law
for which he was noted above other men.
Mr. Stevens took little part in politics until 1829,
when the Anti-Masonic excitement swept over
Pennsylvania. "He once told me," says Alexander
H. Hood, Esq., for. many years a member of the
Lancaster Bar, a man of unusual native ability and a
close personal friend of Mr. Stevens, to whose sketch,
written in 1871, we are indebted for much that is
■contained in this article, "that the last talk he had
with James Buchanan, who was an ardent Democrat,
was in 1827, at York. They had both been engaged
on the same side in the trial of a cause, and when the
jury were out they walked down a lane some distance
from the town and took a seat on the top rail of the
fence. Buchanan suggested that it was a good time
for a man of brains to enter politics, and added that
Stevens would do well to come into the support of
Jackson. Stevens answered by saying that he saw
the advantages of such a course, but would not for-
sake his old opinions, which he believed to be right,
for the sake of joining a party in which he had no
faith." They took opposite sides in politics and
often assailed each other bitterly. The first became
President of the United States, occupying the White
House at one end of Pennsylvania avenue, while at
the same time, from his own State, his own county,
his own city, the second stood at the other end of the
avenue, recognized as the mightiest man in the Uni-
ted States Congress.
In 1 83 1 Mr. Stevens was elected to the Legisla-
ture from Adams county. His ability was, of course,
recognized, though he was of the unpopular minor-
ity. Few men have ever been more foully abused by
an opposition press. He was charged with all man-
ner of evil, but cared little or nothing to refute
calumny. He had favored the free school law of
1834, introduced by Hon. Samuel Breck, of Philadel-
phia, who had come to the Senate for the sole pur-
pose of securing its passage. This law had passed
with little opposition, but revulsion of feeling all
over the State at the prospect of taxation for the pro-
posed system of free schools sent back a Legislature
pledged to its repeal. Mr. Stevens had not served
on the committee on Education and had taken no
part in preparing the bill of 1834. He had little to do
also with the educational work of the session of 1834-
35 until the crisis came and he saw the infant free
schools in danger of destruction. Then, gathering
up his great strength, he threw himself with his
whole soul into the contest, and won the day, not
more by his eloquent, inspiring words, than by the
bold and resolute position which he assumed. Com-
petent judges of all parties who witnessed the fight
agree that had he not stood like a rock, furnishing
shelter and imparting strength to the free school
combatants, and bidding defiance to the fiercest of
those who would have struck them down, the law
of 1834 would have been swept from the statute
books or been saved only by a veto from the gover-
nor, and the day of universal education in Pennsyl-
vania would have been postponed for years. One
who was present. Dr. George Smith, of Delaware,
wrote in 1880, "Stevens's speech was one of the most
powerful I ever heard. The House was electrified,
and the school system was saved from ignominious
defeat." In honor of its author, the speech was beau-
tifully printed on silk by some school men in Read-
ing, and proudly kept by him as a relic till his death.
It is given in the Pennsylvania School Journal for
July, 1865, along with another which he made in
1838, in behalf of a bill to establish a school of art in
Philadelphia, in which he championed most vigor-
ously the higher institutions of learning. "Immedi-
ately after Mr. Stevens concluded this great effort,"
says Hon. John W. Forney, "he received a message
from George Wolf, then Democratic governor of
Pennsylvania, and a leading member of the Masonic
fraternity. Gov. Wolf was the firm friend of popu-
lar education. Of a different and more methodical
character, he did not and could not bring to the
movement the attributes with which God had clothed
Thaddeus Stevens ; but he was earnest and sincere.
When Mr. Stevens, in response to his invitation, en-
tered the Executive Chamber, he threw his arms
about his neck, and, with tearful eyes and broken
voice, thanked him for the great service he had ren-
dered to our common humanity." We have always
thought, in reading of this educational crisis and the
far-reaching result of his victory, that the greatest
thing Mr. Stevens did at this time was, providen-
tially, to hold Samuel Breck's crude law of 1834 in-
tact, for the work of Thomas H. Burrowes, secretary
of the Commonwealth, during the three years of the
Ritner administration, and the calling of this re-
markable man to the organization, direction, im-
provement and support of the school system of Penn-
,38
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
sylvania for the rest of his life of extraordinary use-
fulness. We have seen and heard Mr. Stevens
spoken of as the "father of the school system." He
used to laugh at this as very ridiculous. No man in
Pennsylvania history has ever inerited such title of
distinction, and he was the last man to assume or
allow it. His service to the schools was great be-
yond estimate, but that of Dr. Burrowes far greater.
"Old Thad." and "Old Tom," as they came to be
familiarly known, were near friends for nearly forty
years, and to no other two men of the past generation
do the schools of the State owe so great a debt of ob-
ligation.
In the Constitutional Convention of 1837 he was
a conspicuous figure. The debates fill thirteen large
volimies. Stevens refused to affix his signature to
the result of their deliberations because the new Con-
stitution limited the right to vote to "white" citi-
zens. His name alone, of all the members of the con-
vention, was conspicuous by its absence.
In 1838 Mr. Stevens was appointed by Gov.
Ritner a member of the Board of Canal Commis-
sioners. The political triumvirate of Pennsylvania
was at that time Ritner, Burrowes and Stevens. The
Gubernatorial campaign of that year was most bit-
terly contested. The excitement was unprecedented.
Thomas H. Burrowes was chairman of the State
Central Committee of his party, and Thaddeus Ste-
vens was the master spirit of the campaign. These
men stood shoulder to shoulder through the stubborn
fight. Ritner was defeated. The organization of
the Legislature was delayed for weeks. At the most
critical period in this fierce struggle bloodshed was
looked for at any moment. Political ruffians from
the Philadelphia slums and elsewhere were present
with the avowed purpose to "kill Stevens." He
faced the storm at Harrisburg with the same de-
fiant, unflinching courage which he displayed nearly
a generation later at Washington. Each faction or-
ganized its own "house" — the "Hopkins House" and
the "Stevens House" — ^but finally victory fell to the
other party, who had retained possession of the Rep-
resentatives' chamber. Stevens refused to recog-
nize the legality of the "Hopkins House," and re-
mained absent during its sessions. Later he at-
tended an adjourned session, at the request of his
constituents. The leader of the opposition party
had a resolution passed, providing for the appoint-
ment of a committee to inquire into his status as a
member of the body. He contemptuously refused to
appear before this committee, but sent them a letter
which conclusively established the illegality of their
proceedings and his absolute right of membership.
The House by a party vote declared his seat vacant,
and ordered a new election. He was returned by a
large majority. The Legislature the next winter
gave him "satisfaction" by expelling the member
who had been responsible for his own expulsion.
"While an intense partisan, he had won an acknowl-
edged position as the most formidable debater and
perhaps the greatest orator at that time in public life
in Pennsylvania."
Mr. Stevens took part in the Harrison campaign
in 1840, and after the election was slated for a cabinet
position, but this appointment was prevented by
Clay and Webster. Stevens never forgave Webster
for the part he took in this transaction ; nor did he
go into the support of Clay in 1844, till Clay made
known to Stevens that, should he be elected, atone-
ment would be made for past wrong.
Mr. Stevens closed his service in the Legislature
of Pennsylvania with the session of 1841. His long-
continued attention to politics, and the large sums
he expended, had materially impaired his fortune.
He had also lost very heavily through the operations
of a partner in the iron business. In the summer of
1842 he saw that Gettysburg did not afford an ade-
quate field for his professional practice, and this in-
duced his removal to Lancaster in August of that
year. His course in 1844 has been already noticed,
and from that time till 1848 he took little part in
politics, though he was always keenly alive to what
was going on in the country. During this period his.
practice was very remunerative, and from this and
the sale of his .A.dams county farms he brought down
his debts to within what he considered a manageable
limit. In 1843 he was in danger of being sold out by
the sheriff. In 1844 he paid interest on debts
amounting to $217,000. In 1849, when he first went
to Congress, he had reduced his debts to $30,000.
On March 4, 1853, when his first service in Congress
ended, his debts amounted to about $60,000. These
figures are given by Mr. Hood, who had opportunity
to know the facts. What he was worth at his death
it is difficult to say. After the payment of certain
personal bequests he directed that the residue of the
estate be used for the founding and support of an
orphans' home in which there should be no distinc-
tion of race or color. The amount of the fund is
now (1903) over $60,000, and it is the purpose of the
trustees to permit it to accumulate until it shall reach
$100,000, when the necessary buildings will be
erected in the eastern part of the city of Lancaster,,
on land adjoining the Children's Home.
When the Free Soil movement began he was
favorable to its principles, though he supported
Zachary Taylor with all his might for the Presi-
dency. In 1848, after a sliaip contest with the op-
posing candidates for the nomination he was named
for Congress by the supporters of Taylor, and elected
by a large majority. During the four years that he
served at this time he was recognized as one of the
leading men in Congress, and enjoyed to a large ex-
tent the confidence of Gen. Taylor, who, though a
slaveholder himgelf, was,' without declaring it openly,,
opposed to the further extension of that evil ; and it
is very certain that it was through his adroit man-
agement that California came into the Union as a
free State. The Fugitive Slave law was passed after
Ihe death of President Taylor. This law and all kin-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
39
dred measures Mr. Stevens opposed to the extent of
his power. Profoundly impressed with the gravity
of the crisis, Mr. Stevens introduced into the House
a series of resohitions covering the leading points
at issue between the political parties. These, of
course, stood no chance of approval or adoption.
On Feb. 20, 1850, he made his first set speech in
Congress, in which he violently attacked the Fugi-
tive Slave law, and discussed the slavery question
with the utmost vigor and frankness.
"We can say anything," and his hard firm tone
compelled men to listen — "we can say anything with-
in these walls or beyond them with impunity, unless
it be to agitate in favor of human liberty. That is
aggression." While he announced his "unchange-
able hostility to slavery in every form and in every
place," he declared that he felt bound by the Con-
stitutional provisions. Some of these compromises
he greatly disliked, and if they were still open he
would never consent to them, but he was precluded
from objecting. It was a matter of regret that Con-
gress had no power over slavery in the States, and,
if it had, he would, regardless of all threats, support
"some just, safe and certain means for its final ex-
tinction." He then proceeded to discuss the wis-
dom of slavery in a style which it is impossible to
condense or abridge without injuring the argument.
"This speech," sa)'s Hon. Samuel W. McCall, in
his "Life of Thaddeus Stevens," published by
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., in the "American States-
men" series, "not only commanded the admiration
of his friends and justified the votes they had given
him for Speaker, but it achieved the success of draw-
ing upon him the fire of the opposition. It had
strength and directness. It clearly expressed great
ideas, which were not dressed up and concealed in
any frippery or labored rhetoric. His trenchant
power of argument, his courage, the force of his
compact eloquence, not merely established his posi-
tion in the House, but they attracted the attention
of the country. The proceedings of the House which
most intensely interested him were those relating to
the slavery question. He was a member of the Ju-
diciarv committee, and gave much of his time to the
Avork of a technical and legal character which came
before that committee, but his heart was with the
slave, and his most elaborate speeches were made
in his behalf."
Shortly after this first great speech in the House
of Representatives the leaders of the opposition are
credited with saying: "Our enemy has a general
now. We cannot buy him, we cannot allure him
with office, we cannot seduce him. He is in earnest.
He is bold. We can neither flatter nor frighten him."
Such he had been always and such he continued to
the end. When the California question came before
the House he seized the opportunity to state more
fully his position with regard to slavery in the Terri-
tories as well as to make more emphatic, if possible,
his hostilitv to slavery everywhere. On June 10,
1850, he delivered another philippic, which was even
more forcible and uncompromising than his Febru-
ary speech.
He constantly declared his undying hostility to the
Fugitive Slave law. Referring to the people of Lan-
caster county in this connection on one occasion, he
said : "The distinguished Senator from Kentucky
(Henry Clay) wishes further to make it the duty,
of all bystanders to aid in the capture of fugitives ;
to join in the chase and run down the prey. This
is asking more than my constituents will ever grant.
They will strictly abide by the Constitution. The
slaveholder may pursue his slaves among them with
his own foreign myrmidons, unmolested, except by
their frowning scorn. But no law that tyranny can
pass will ever induce them to join the hue and cry
after the trembling wretch who has escaped from
unjust bondage. Their fair land, made by nature
and their own honest toil as fertile and as lovely as
the Vale of Tempe, shall never become the hunting
ground on which the bloodhounds of slavery shall
course their prey and command them to join the
hunt."
In 185 1, for the first time in many years, a fugitive
slave resisted, with arms, the claims of his owner.
About two miles from Christiana, Lancaster county,
a number of fugitive slaves were hiding at the house
of a colored man named Parker. An elderly man,
named Gorsuch, of Maryland, assisted by his son,
and a deputy marshal from Philadelphia, named
Kline, came to the house of Parker^ about an hour
before daylight. Gorsuch, the younger, with Kline,
summoned the persons inside to surrender. To this
it was replied they would defend themselves, and at
the same time the click of firearms was heard. Kline
ran and hid behind a- tree. Young Gorsuch went to
his father and reported that an attack would be dan-
gerous. The father said it would never do to back
out so, and started toward the house, his son follow-
ing. Gorsuch hailed the house again, and on re-
ceiving the defiant answer, fired a pistol, the ball
taking effect in the leg of one of the blacks in the
house. This shot was returned by a volley, killing
the elder Gorsuch. The firing alarmed the neighbor-
hood. Castner Hanway and Elijah Lewis were the
first to reach the place. These were white men and
Abolitionists. Their influence prevented further fir-
ing, and they assisted the younger Gorsuch to remove
the dead body of his father to Christiana, the nearest
railroad station to the scene of the fight. This oc-
currence raised the pro-slavery spirit to a flame. For
a week no colored man could pass along the railroad
without being arrested. Hanway and Lewis were
taken to Philadelphia and tried for treason. In
this trial Mr. Stevens and John M. Read, later one
of the judges of the Supreme court, were the counsel
for the prisoners. Stevens was the inspiration for
the defense. Its lines were laid down by him. But
because of his extreme anti-slavery views it was
thought best to give the part of leading counsel to
one of the ablest Democratic lawyers in the State, in
the person of Judge Read, whose exhaustive argu-
40
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
merit on the law of treason knocked the breath out
of the prosecution, and Mr. Stevens was content with
a brief speech. The prisoners were acquitted, and
from that day the Fugitive Slave law was practi-
cally a dead letter in Pennsylvania. The great merit
of Mr. Stevens in this transaction was in the bold,
firm stand he took at the beginning. His defiant
attitude kept up the courage of those who would
otherwise have desponded. His share in the trial
was not very conspicuous, but there were good rea-
sons for the course he pursued. The great object
was attained, and that was all he desired.
Mr. Stevens was elected to the XXXIId Con-
gress, which was organized without difficulty, and on
the ballot for Speaker he received sixteen votes,
among them those of Joshua R. Giddings and Horace
Mann. He made two or three important speeches,
and in March, 1853, "retired, as he thought per-
manently, to private life, from which he did not
emerge again until his countrymen, aroused to fever
heat, were about to decide the question amid the
clash of arms, and he was to do the work which was
to make his name immortal."
From 1853 to 1858 he steadily pursued the prac-
tice of his profession in Lancaster and elsewhere,
though at the same time taking part in the initiatory
movements which resulted in the formation of the
Republican party, he being one of the delegates from
Lancaster, the Ninth Congressional t>istrict, to the
convention which nominated Fremont. In 1858
the necessities *f the country required his presence
in Congress, and, after a warm contest, he was elected
by a large majority. He had scarcely taken his
seat in that body, in December, 1859, when the first
symptoms of the Rebellion began to be developed.
Although nearly sixty-eight years old wHen he re-
entered Congress, the great work of his life lay yet
before him. He had never met his intellectual su-
perior, either at the Bar, in the Pennsylvania Legis-
lature, or during his four years in Congress. But
it is the work he was yet to do that has given him en-
during fame in the history of a great nation saved
and purified from the taint and curse of negro
slavery. There was a long contest over the organiza-
tion of the House in 1859, and Mr. Stevens was in
the thick of the fight, a conspicuous figure. Noisy
threats of disunion and bloodshed filled the
air. Stevens had been through such scenes
before, and enjoyed lashing his opponents into
fury. His wit, always apt and telling, flashed like
the lightning, and often scorched like flame. Many
of the Southern members hated him intensely, and
feared him as no other man, as well they might, and
yet, personally and socially, not a few of them ad-
mired and were attracted by him. When the House
was not in session he was often the center of a group
in which all sections of the country were pleasantly
represented.
Then came the Presidential election in i860.
Stevens was a member of the Pennsylvania delega-
tion to the National Convention. The vote of this
delegation was transferred to Mr. Lincoln on the
ballot which secured his nomination. Lincoln was
elected, and Congress met in December for the most
extraordinary session in our national history. Mr.
Stevens was a master spirit during this eventful ses-
sion. He thought that the time had at last arrived
for determining whether secession was a rightful
act. If it were, "then the Union is not worth pre-
serving for a single day ;" for, if the emergency then
existing should pass away, "fancied wrongs would
constantly arise," and induce States to secede. He
then made a powerful argument against the right
of secession, and declared that the South had no
just grievance. "Rather than show repentance for
the election of Mr. Lincoln, with all its consequences,
I would see this Government crumble into a thousand
atoms. If I cannot be a free man, let me cease to
exist."
Hon. Henry L. Dawes, who was a member of
Congress at the time, has preserved a striking pic-
ture of the effect of the speech. It was a tremendous
scene. The same heroic figure as when he saved
the School Law from repeal in 1835, at Harrisburg,
but on a vastly broader arena, filling it with a sense
of his presence and his power, "No one," says Mr.
Dawes, "could forget the scene in which it occurred,
though all I can say of it and of him seems tame
enough without the inspiration of the occasion and
of his presence. This speech was' delivered in that
last session after the election of Mr. Lincoln, when
the House was more like a powder magazine than a
deliberative assembly. His denunciation of the plot-
ters of treason to their face was terrible, and his
expose of the barbarism of the so-called civilization
behind them was awful. Nearly fifty Southern mem-
bers rose to their feet and rushed toward him with
curses and threats of personal violence. As many
of his friends gathered around him, and, moving him
in sort of hollow square to the space in front of the
Speaker, opened before his assailants and stood guard
over him while he arraigned the slaveocracy in an
indictment for its crimes against humanity surpass-
ing in severity even the great arraignment of Mr.
Sumner. He was then an old man, approaching
seventy, on whose frame and voice time had already
made sad inroads, but still standing erect and firm
as a man of thirty-five. Calm and self-possessed as
a judge, he lashed them into a fury, and then bade
them compose themselves at their leisure. The ex-
citement aroused by his fiery denunciation and de-
fiant scorn beggars all description and can live only
in the memory of those who witnessed it."
Through all the four bloody years of the Civil
war, as chairman of the committee on Ways and
Means, Mr. Stevens was most emphatically the right
man in the right place. "Had he been younger and
not deformed," says Mr. Hood, "his natural courage
would have sent him to the battlefield at the firing
of the first gun. Men, firm believers in the doctrine
of special providence, aver that his lameness was a
necessity, ordained to keep him where he was. With-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
41
out entering into any discussion on this point, it is
enough to say, there were so many illustrations of
the doctrine during the war, that to a thinking mind
it is somewhat difficult to deny the proposition."
The House of Representatives, now that the
Southern leaders had withdrawn, had a large Re-
publican majority. Galusha A. Grow was elected
Speaker. Thaddeus Stevens was made chairman of
the committee on Ways and Means, the most im-
portant committee of the House, the post of all others
for him at such a crisis. The duty of this committee
■was to provide means for prosecuting a great war
and having charge of the appropriation bills, to de-
■cide how the money should be spent. Thus Mr.
iStevens was directly in charge of the great work of
raising and spending the money needed during the
four years of the war of the Rebellion, aggregating
not hundreds of millions, but thousands of millions.
Stevens drove the revenue bills and the appropria-
tion bills with his accustomed energy. He favored
the issue of legal-tender notes and the enormous bond
issues of the Government. Says Mr. McCall, in
speaking of this tremendous task of the Ways and
Means committee : "What other men have ever done
so well ? With national credit almost destroyed, with
property values greatly lessened, and with half the
men of military age in the field in a civil war, twenty
million people were called upon in four years to meet
an expenditure of $3,500,000,000, and they showed
themselves able to respond to the gigantic demand.
The achievement not only stands without a parallel,
but it stands unapproached. The credit was not
chiefly due to leadership. What was demanded
of the leaders was the ability to comprehend and the
boldness to call into play the splendid capacity and
the fervent patriotism of the people. But the one
man who is as much entitled as any other, with the
exception of the Secretary of the Treasury, to the
glory of these financial achievements, was the chair-
man of the committee on Ways and Means, and
the leader of the House of Representatives — Thad-
deus Stevens."
He was from the first in favor of emancipation
as a war measure, urging that the slaves should be
armed if the war continued, and declaring that
slavery caused the Rebellion. After waiting in vain
for action by the Military committee, he boldly pre-
sented his bill to the House, and secured an assign-
ment for its consideration without awaiting the re-
port of any committee. This unusual course excited
violent opposition, and an attempt was made to pre-
vent a vote upon the measure. by repeated roll-calls
upon motions to adjourn and other dilatory proposi-
tions. After an all-night session the House ad-
journed without action, but the struggle was re-
sumed at its next meeting and continued for a week.
Stevens concluded the debate in a characteristic
speech. His efl-'orts were at last crowned with suc-
cess. The bill passed by 83 to 54, and the hundreds
of thousands of black soldiers who enlisted before the
end of the war refuted by their conduct the predic-
tions that they would be guilty of inhumanity.
"A review of the course of Stevens upon all the
measures coming before the House," says Hon. Sam-
uel W. McCall, himself a member of the House of
Representatives, "would involve practically a history
of legislation during the war. He was so unquestion-
ably leader that no man was next to him, and his in-
dustry and energy responded so fully to all demands
that he was almost always upon his feet or in charge
of measures before the House. When the enormous
amount of committee work which he was called upon
to perform is remembered, and especially the prepar-
ation of revenue and appropriation bills, which would
alone be a sufficient tax upon the strength of an or-
dinary man, it is almost incredible that one of his
advanced age should have been able to attend so
constantly upon the sessions of the House and per-
form the part that he performed there." His memory
seemed a prodigious storehouse, in which everything
was in order and everything at command. His
will was indomitable as ever, his mental force and
intellectual grasp never greater, though his physi-
cal vigor was slowly losing ground under the tre-
mendous strain of heavy duties and vast responsi-
bilities.
The war ended, but the troubles it brought in its
train stood out in such bold relief that people only
then began to have something like a correct idea of
their magnitude. The South, though beaten and
vanquished, was far from being in a temper to ac-
cept the situation as the fortune of a war brought
on by themselves against their brethren. There was
a debt of 'nearly, if not more than, three thousand
millions, taxing the people and their posterity for
many years to come. Besides this, there were four
millions of emancipated slaves to be cared for, to be
instructed and protected from the aggression of
those who had formerly been their masters. Of the
leading measures adopted to reconstruct the South,
Mr. Stevens was the author. The whole general
plan, though possibly not original with himself, was
by adoption peculiarly his own ; and though some
modifications may have been made in Congress, yet
the principal features of his. measures were retained,
and were the means employed to govern the people
of the section lately in rebellion until its several por-
tions were again admitted as component parts of the
Union, as States, members of the great family of
communities forming the indivisible Republic.
During the whole period, from the beginning of
the war to the end of his life, Mr. Stevens was scarce-
ly a day absent from his seat, and for the most of
that time his labors were truly herculean. During
the war, in times of peculiar adversity, when every-
body else seemed to lose heart, his indomitable en-
ergy, and his full assurance of final success, inspired
with new life the hearts that were ready to give up
the combat. After the disastrous battles of Freder-
icksburg and Chickamauga he seemed more than ever
42
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
determined to fight on, no matter how gloomy the
prospect before the country.
Men will wear out, and Mr. Stevens was no
exception to the general rule. When he left Lan-
caster for Washington, about the end of November,
1866, he was so feeble as to be unable to sit up in the
car, and a bed was made for him on the floor. Those
who knew his condition had great fear whether he
could survive the journey. After his arrival at Wash-
ington he rallied, and during most of the session he
remained comparatively well. At the adjournment
he came home, and remained there till November,
1867, when he took his last journey to the capital.
He then seemed much better than he had been for
some time, and appeared very hopeful in regard to
his health.
After the death of Abraham Lincoln his successor
in office, Andrew Johnson, adopted a policy that
aroused strenuous opposition on the part of the Re-
publican leaders. On the 25th of February, 1868,
Mr. Stevens, with Mr. Bingham, appeared in the
United States Senate and presented articles of im-
peachment against Andrew Johnson. The trial, of
which Mr. Stevens was one of the managers
on the part of the House, ended on the
26th of May. During all this time Mr.
Stevens, so feeble as to be carried daily to
the Capitol in a chair, was always present attend-
. ing to his duty. His will was indomitable. Nothing
but death could conquer him. He prepared his
speech before the Senate with great care. After
standing for a few minutes, in addressing that body,
his strength gave out, and he was forced to resume
his chair. He spoke for nearly half an hour from
his seat, when his voice became weak, and the reading
of his speech was concluded by Gen. Benjamin F.
Butler. He was greatly disaopointed at the acquittal
of the President, and was for a time depressed, but
soon regained his accustomed gayety and spirit.
He attended the sessions of the House when at
all able to do so, though his strength was ebbing fast,
and took part in the proceedings. On July 7, 1868,
within a few weeks of his death, he introduced five
additional articles of impeachment, "apparently for
the purpose of reviewing the law of impeachments,
in one of the longest speeches of his later years, and
to express his dissatisfaction with the Senate on the
rulings of the Chief Justice." On July i6th he in-
troduced a resolution looking to the acquirement of
a naval station and depot in the West Indies, and
supported it in a brief speech. On July 27th Con-
gress adjourned until September. Mr. Stevens was
too weak to make the journey to Lancaster. But
he would.die, he said, "like Nicanor, in harness." "I
mean to die hurrahing," was a favorite expression
with him. "You have changed my medicine?" he
said to his physician. Dr. Henry C. Carpenter, a few
days before his death. "Yes," replied the doctor.
"Well," replied Stevens, grimly with a smile, "this
is a square fight." And those who knew him, know
just how he would say it, and how characteristic of
the man. He died on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1868. The
Republican primary election in Lancaster county had
been called for Saturday of that week, for the nom-
ination of the member of Congress. Although he
was dead, it was found when the votes were counted
that all were cast for Thaddeus Stevens.
The character of Thaddeus Stevens was made
up of contradictory elements. Nature designed him
for one of the great men of the race, and, so far as
time and circumstances gave his powers opportunity
to act, he fulfilled her intention. One of his most re-
markable endowments was that never-failing spirit
of generous kindness, which made it his pleasure to
do good to and confer benefits on all who came within
his reach. His inherent liberality grew by continual
practice, till it became almost one of the necessities
of his being. No man, woman or child approached
Thaddeus Stevens, worthy or unworthy, and asked
for help, who did not obtain it when he had the
means. Another quality most strongly developed
was his unconquerable perseverance and determina-
tion to accomplish anything which he undertook.
No matter how often defeated, he was always ready
to "tr)', try again;" and this he would do when, to
al! appearance, he had not the slightest chance of
success.
During the war his good offices were often re-
quired to save men sentenced to be shot, and he never
refused to invoke with success the kind feelings of
President Lincoln, who was only too happy to have
some person to intercede for the miserable delinquent.
It is true that in a speech in Congress, Stevens justi-
fied Juarez for shooting Maximilian ; but it is very
certain that had he been ruler of ]\Iexico the fallen
emperor would have been sent home safe and sound.
There is no doubt that had Mr. Stevens been invested
with the power of life and death, but few criminals
would have been executed. A woman's tearful face,
or the wai! of a child, was beyond his power to resist.
This, in a ruler, might have been a great weakness,
but in Mr. Stevens's position it was, doubtless, one
of the most amiable traits in his character. Nothing
ever pleased him better than to tell of his success with
the President on occasions like those above referred
to. He never took the credit of success to himself,
but always ascribed it to the goodness of "Old Abe."
Let us illustrate what has been said by introducing
one of these stories : "A young fellow from Lan-
caster county was to be shot for desertion. It was
rather a hard case, and his mother, in great distress,
called on me to help save him. I took her at once
to the White House and introduced her to the Presi-
dent. On the road I told her to tell her story in her
own way, which she did in such a manner as none
but a mother could tell it. I said nothing. I saw
by the President's eye it was all right. There was
no use in my saying a word. While snc rv^is talking
the President began to write. It was but a couple of
lines, but it was effectual. Fearing a scene, I took
her into the ante-room, telling her as we went along-
her son was safe. As soon as she fully understood
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
4a
it, she broke out : 'Oh ! this is the man our news-
papers said was a brute and a devil. Why he is the
loveliest man I ever saw in my life ! He is an angel !
He does the work of the Almighty, and stands in His
place on earth ! I could worship him for his good-
ness— my poor Ben is safe.' There was a great deal
of desertion about that time. Some hard-hearted
devils thought all should have been shot, but then I
had nothing to do with that. It was Lincoln's busi-
ness, and he did all ttiose things as he believed to be
right. He was a great man. In his place, perhaps,
I would have done tne same thing."
Mr. Stevens was about five feet eleven inches
high ; clear, ruddy, smooth skin. His natural hair
was chestnut, but he lost it from brain fever when
about thirty-five years old, and afterward always
wore a wig. He had very fine teeth; was strongly
built, but not corpulent ; his appearance when his
features were at rest was very dignified. When
young, he was a great lover of athletic sports, and
could make a full hand at an)-thing where swiftness
of foot was not required. He was a splendid Horse-
man, and very fond of the chase. His favorite ex-
ercise during much of his life was horseback riding,
and he spent much of his leisure in the saddle. He
was also fond of attending horseraces. He was an
excellent swimmer, and often swam across "Joe's
Pond,'' as he called it, which he said was one and
a half miles wide and as cold as a spring. He de-
clared that he could swim the Bosphorus as easily
as Byron did. He resembled Byron in another par-
ticular, for he had a club foot, but, unlike Byron, he
did not seek to conceal his deformity. This affected-
his walking, and he assisted himself with a very
common hickory cane. He had a large mouth, thin
upper lip, prominent aquiline nose, and massive head.
"No stranger," says Hon. Henry L. Dawes, "would
pass him on the street without turning for a second
look at an unmistakably great character. On great
occasions, when his untamable spirit had got the
mastery of him, he no longer looked like a man, at
least like any other man I ever saw."
He hated oppression and injustice in all its forms.
This was the ruling passion, and exhibited itself in
full force as he drew near his end. In the principal
cemeteries of Lancaster it was stipulated, by charter,
that no person of color should be interred within
their limits. He had bought lots in both Woodward
Hill and Lancaster cemeteries, but when he received
the deeds he sent them back, refusing to be buried in
the grounds of either. Shreiner's cemetery, the
smallest in the city, was free from this objection,
and there he was laid to rest, within a short distance
of the public schools which his fearlessness and love
for humanity aided in establishing in Pennsylvania
forever. For the reason above stated, he ordered
in his will the following should be inscribed upon
his tomb : "I repose in this quiet and secluded spot,
not from any natural preference for solitude, but
finding other cemeteries limited by charter rules as
to race, I have chosen it that I might be enabled to
illustrate in my death the principles I have advocated
through a long life — equality of man before the
Creator."
In one of his essays, in which he touches the
drama of History in its mightiest actors, Alexander
Smith says : "I sit as in a theatre — tne stage is
Time, the play is the World. What a spectacle it
is! I hear or cry 'Bravo!' when the great actors-
come on, shaking the stage." Thaddeus Stevens is,,
bevond question, one of these great actors, upon this
stage of Time, in this play of the World ; and life has
been and will be better for untold millions because
of the part he has played in the great drama of human
history.
There is no "life" of Mr. Stevens that is full
enough to be satisfactorv. It should be a great book
in several volumes. What a book it would be if
there had been near him some Boswell, quietly not-
ing, without his knowledge, wit and fact and mem-
orable incident, and capable of carrying on the story
of liis work to the end — the success which crowned
him at the last! Edward McPherson, Esq., one of
the executors under his will, had collected matter
with the thought of an extended biography, but he
died before this was fairly begun. There would be
no large sale for such a "life," but it should stand in
the great libraries, and in the collections of students
of history and statesmen.
Vermont has given to Pennsylvania two extra-
ordinary men, Thaddeus Stevens and Elnathan
Elisha Higbee. They found their way,_providential-
ly, to the same part of the State, where, after busy
years of unconscious preparation for service of which
neither had any premonition, they came, one before
the State, the other before both State and Nation,
to do their appointed work. Each spent the last
years of his useful life in the city of Lancaster. When
Mr. Stevens died, in i86S, he was the most widely-
known, and most honored man in Pennsylvania.
When Dr Higbee died, in 1889, he was, we think,
the man best beloved in all the State. Only those
who knew them, in themselves and in their work,
can estimate the value of their lives as compared with
those of men in general. Their work was done in
widely dififerent fields, and in it mankind has been
greatly blessed.
We close with this bit of humorous verse by
Charles G. Halpine, on "Uncle Thad Stevens," writ-
ten at a time when the Old Commoner was the most
inlluential member of the United States Congress.
The lines were read and laughed over, grimly we
suppose, by Mr. otevens himself, and will be read
again with interest bv many of his old admirers.
They are as follows :
Gnarled and tough from seventy winters,
A gritty, grisly, bitter "Rad" —
Though our Union fall to splinters,
Here's to Pennsylvania Thad.
Brown his wig but green his vigor,
Angry often, never sad —
Full of wit, and prone to rigor,
Here's to Pennsylvania Thad.
44
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Though lame his leg, his mind is rapid,
And all the House is hushed and glad
When, to squelch some talker vapid.
Rises Pennsylvania Thad.
He's in candor a believer;
All may know the thought he had;
For no mealy-inouthed deceiver
Is our wrinkled Uncle Thad.
Into epithets he rushes;
All are "traitors" or are "mad" —
All who dare to cross the wishes
Of our Pennsylvania Thad.
Thad, we like you; you are able;
And the biggest brick we've had
In our loud Congressional Babel
Is our Pennsylvania Thad.
Spite of age, he still is human.
And while to man he is not bad,
Oh, dear! a good man to woman —
■ The kindliest man is Uncle Thad.
Go it, my old shoulder-hitter!
Though at times your logic's bad,
You're just as brilliant as you're bitter —
Here's to Pennsylvania Thad.
ELIAS H. HERSHEY was born Dec. 12, 1841,
in Dauphin county, son of Jacob and Nancy Hershey.
His ancestors emigrated from Switzerland between
1719 and 1739, settling in Lancaster county, Pa. He
was married to Elizabeth Miller Frantz, daughter
of Christian and Elizabeth, in the year 1868; their
living children are Annie, Mary, Christian and Ezra.
Bishop Hershey's forefathers in Europe were Men-
nonites, which faith he embraced in 1862, was chos-
en to the ministry in 1874, and elected Bishop in the
Reformed Mennonite Church in 1884. In the fol-
lowing lines, from his pen, he notes some historical
points, and delineates leading principles :
The Church of Christ originated on the day of
Pentecost, with the effusion of the Holy Ghost. 'This
■divine endowment, in persons willing to forsake sin,
works the change of temper and life denominated
the "new birth," which is manifested by being peace-
able, harmless, passive under injuries and wrongs
without ever resenting aggression, humble and pure
in life, just in all transactions, loving our neighbor as
ourself, united in faith and doctrine, reproving all
unfaithful worshippers by withdrawing from their
■worship.
Such was the character of the primitive Church,
according to history, until about the beginning of,
the fourth century, when worldly rulers united the.
Church with the State, and, by compulsion, made
many of their subjects Christian formalists. From
that time we find a class of believers differing from
the formalists in rejecting infant baptism, and as-
serting baptism on faith, leading spiritual lives sepa-
rated from the world by abstaining from a fleshly
walk and worldly irregularities from vain ambition,
idle amusements, pride, folly, and from all unfaithful
worship, being strictly non-resistant, and maintain-
ing the doctrine that Christians take no part in
worldly government. Their position provoked the
same persecutions which the Head of the Church
and his early adherents suffered. At times they are
unnoticed, then they appear prominently, according
to the tolerance of worldly rulers. They are vari-
ously called Poor Men of Lyons, Waldenses, Al-
bigenses, Berengarians, Petrobroscians, Henricans,
Leonists, Mennonites. Menno Simon, in the year
1524, became a priest in the Roman CathoUc Church,
which priesthood, and the connection with the
Church, he renounced, Jan. 12, 1536, and associated 1
with persons of dne heart with him, at whose solici-
tation, and under the impulse of love for souls hun-
gering for the pure Scriptures, he yielded himself
to preaching and writing for the propagation of
sound Gospel doctrines. His labors prospered
against violent opposition. There are many branches
diverging from the origin cited, holding some of the
views of those early believers.
The Reformed Mennonite Church had its begin-
ning through a number of Mennonites, in the early
part of the nineteenth century ; being impressed that
Menno Simon had soundly interpreted the Scrip-
tures, they withdrew from their church to restore the
practice of his teachings, being in full accord there-
with, and believing that the support given them by
the shedding of much innocent blood in Europe, be-
tween the years 1524 and 1781, was a martyrdom in
behalf of doctrines founded on the Gospel.
Doctrines. They believe in the Godhead of the
Father, Son and Holy Ghost ; that the Old and New
Testaments were given by inspiration, that the New
supersedes the Old, and is the true text-book for the
Church ; that the Holy Ghost is the sure interpreter,
without the necessary aid of advanced human learn-
ing ; that conversion is a gift of God, bestowed upon
all who by divine light are willingly led to abhor sin,
that they may turn to righteousness, the change be-
ing the nature of God born in them, by which they
lead new lives ; that the clergy are to be exemplary
leaders, not arbitrary lords ; that through the love
of God in them Christians are always in fellowship,
as was the iirst State of the Church ; that there can
be only one visibly Church, separated from profes-
sions maintaining the doctrine of divided organiza-
tions ; that the Church as a body is required to sepa-
rate from the company of members who again per-
sist in sin, or commit gross violations, by avoiding
them in church communion, in secular dealings, in
eating social meals, in customary social intercourse,
without respect of persons, or regard to social rela-
tions, for their spiritual reformation, and to preserve
the purity of the Church, and to cause all to fear sin.
Matt, xviii; i Cor. v; 2 Thess. iii; that Chris-
tians do not vote, hold office in civil government, sit
in judgment to pass civil or criminal sentence, do not
litigate, do not have "ownership in chartered corpora-
tions, do not use deadly weapons in war or self-de-
fense to destroy the tares, Matthew xiii ; do not in-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
45
dulge in worldly pastimes and frivolous plays, in
dancing and foolish conversation, Ephesians v; do
not make vain display in raiment, but clothe with
modest apparel, i Timothy ii ; are exemplary in their
deportment to fill the high station assigned them of
being chosen out of the world, and being the light of
the world they display in walk and conversation the
virtues of grace.
Ordinances. They are regarded as testimonies,
not saving means. Circumcision commanded to
Abraham was a token of the covenant God had made
with him, and was typical of regeneration. Rom. ii.
The baptism of John in Jordan was a testimony to
repentance, foreshadowing a state in which "all flesh
should see the salvation of God," under the higher
administration of Christ, who was to save his peo-
ple from their sins. It was an act of righteousness,
because an act of obedience, as all obedience is right-
eousness, though our works of obedience do not save
us, they are only a fruit of having been saved. It is
the entire consecration and submission of all our will
power to the Divine will that gives God power in us
to save us, and to bring us under His control. This
power the Savior promised to His disciples, to be
given only after his ascension to the Father. Luke
xxiv, 49.
The baptism commanded in the name of the Fa-
ther, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, expresses
a full union with the Godhead, indicating our adop-
tion as full heirs, by faith, annulling the baptism of
repentance. Acts xix.
Baptism is associated with faith in the Scripture
examples, as an expression of faith, the saving virtue
being ascribed to faith. By faith the malefactor on
I the cross had the promise of Paradise without bap-
tism. He had no opportunity after he had repented
and confessed faith, to be baptized, or to confirm his
faith by works; the promise rested on his sincere
confession and appeal. Baptism has not more virtue
to save us than obedience to any other command-
ment, yet, believers, when they have opportunity, will
observe baptism and every other commandment, as
a fruit of faith, for by works faith is made perfect.
James ii.
Not having merit to save, we understand why
baptism is treated indifferently as to form. "The true
worshippers worship the Father in spirit and in
truth," not seeking merit in forms, regarding the
outward ordinances as symbolizing inward condi-
tions, understanding that no particularity in forms is
urged in Gospel teaching, lest we might become re-
ligious formalists, instead of spiritual worshippers.
Spiritual worship involves the whole life given in
service to God.
The breaking of the bread and the drinking of
the cup is commanded as a commemorative ordi-
nance bringing to mind the sacrificial offering on
the cross, impressing solemn obligation to divine
love, inspiring the heirs of redemption with a will-
ing obedience to all Gospel teachings, leading us
near to God in contemplating his mercy to a fallen
world. The manner, time and frequency of observ-
ing it being not particularized is likely to direct more
attention to its spirituality.
The washing of feet is indicative of the divine
cleansing, and of the mutual aid members of the
Church extend to one another by blameless example,
kind admonition, brotherly reproof, and every serv-
ice of humility and love. It portrays the fellowship
and unity in the household of faith, confirmatory of
the doctrine of oneness prominent in the Gospel mes-
sage, leading in its observance to contemplation.
The kiss of charity is understood to be a social
salutation in acknowledgment of the fervent love
believers bear to one another, and is practiced when
they meet, by each sex separately to denote peace.
Principles. While they strive diligently to
conform, in their outward life, to all New Testament
teachings, they seek no salvation in anything out-
ward, believing the unction of the Spirit will prompt
all outward actions, as an indwelling presence.
They recognize God in things temporal as well as
in things spiritual, that God in the Old Testament
age prescribed worldly government, and used world-
ly rulers as his agents to accomplish his purposes.
It was said unto Pharoah that God raised him up to
show his power in him, though he destroyed him.
God established civil statutes by Moses, which he
refutes by Christ, in saying, "Ye have heard that it
hath been said. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a
tooth. But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil."
Matthew v. The fact that Paul says, "the pow-
ers that be are ordained of God," as applying to
worldly government, signifies that they are compre-
hended in his infinite plan. Every good tendency in
mankind emanates from God, and works human
amelioration and beneficent ends. It is an active
principle in worldly affairs, formulating government
for the good of mankind. Governments are good or
bad in proportion as this influence prevails.
They regard regeneration as the higher and full-
er influence of the spirit of God wrought by Christ's
coming formulating the kingdom or conditions in
which the mind and spirit of Christ hold sway, evinc-
ing its practical effects in the visible Church by
"transforming every faithful member to the image of
God's Son." To be loyal to their Head, the believ-
ers in Christ cannot take part in the kingdom "out of
which he has chosen them," nor obey worldly rulers,
in demands conflicting with "the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus." They will rather suffer "as
lambs to the slaughter." To give tribute, honor and
fear is commanded, yet the authors of this teaching
proved by their example that they meant as far as
the Divine law allows, for they continued preaching
against the prohibition of the authorities, and suffer-
ing for it.
Understanding the Scriptures to teach a respon-
46
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
sibility resting on every member of the Church to re-
prove sin known to them, they cannot commune with
disorderly members, but must as a spiritual duty la-
bor for their reformation, and see "that the wicked
are put away" from the Church, when amendment
-does not follow.
Separation from discordant worshippers, they be-
lieve, is based on the principle that fundamentally
mankind are created to be in social accord ; that the
disturbance of this law through sin is overcome by
the Redeemer who came to destroy the works of the
Devil to restore the love of God through the Holy
Ghost, giving ascendancy to the fundamental life in
us, that "love may knit together our hearts." This
principle pervades the teaching of our Savior and
the Apostles, in their earnest advocacy of oneness,
and in their condemnation of disunity. Agreeing
with their doctrine, we must reprove divisions, ana
Jive in unity as taught by our Savior, "by this shall
all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love
one to another." The observances taught the church
demand unity of action.
They believe, therefore, in one United Christian
Church, in fulfillment of Scripture injunctions and
types. The idea of outward ordinances suggests
agreement, the appeal "to the church" in disposi-
tion, forbids division, Matthew xviii ; " by this shall
all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love
one to another" teaches the unbroken tie to all ob-
servers, John xiii; the prayer, "that they may be
made perfect in one ; and that the world may know
that thou hast sent me," is significant of vmity, John
xvii; the condemnation of divisions points to the
same truth flowing from divine love. Christ uses the
natural vine as a type of Christian system and unity
bearing uniformity of fruit, demonstrating that
when one branch ceases to receive the life of the vine,
it is like a soul ceasing to abide in Christ, the spirit-
ual character withering and the carnal life springing
into fruitfulness, dooming the soul to death, which
is "the wages of sin," John xv. The temple built
by Solomon at Jerusalem is used as a type of the
Church, "ye also, as lively stones are built up a spir-
itual house," I Peter ii. The natural body is used as
an illustration. For as the body is one and hath
many members and all the members of that one body,
being many, are one body ; so is Christ. One mem-
ber does not say to another, I have no need of thee.
God hath tempered the body together, having given
more abundant honor to that part which lacked.
That there should be no schism in the body ; but that
the members should have the same care one for an-
other. But speaking the truth in love may grow up
into him in all things which is the Head, even Christ.
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and
■compacted by that which every joint supplieth, ac-
cording to the effectual working in the measure of
•every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edi-
fying of itself in love, i Corinthian xii ; Ephe-
sians iv. The figures here drawn accord with Gos-
pel teaching throughout, being confirmatory of the
effect of God's love working harmony among the
redeemed, displaying the impulse of the Creative
Mind transforming the passive creature into the
"likeness of God" who is blessed forever. Amen.
A. J. STEINMAN, Esq., member of the Lan-
caster Bar and prominent in his ownership and con-
trol of the Penn Iron Works, as well as in the news-
paper world, being senior publisher and editor of the
Intelligencer, comes from one of the oldest and most
honored families in the State.
Christian Frederick Steinman (1.711-1760), a na-
tive of Dresden, Saxony, married Anna Regina Ro-
sin (1717-1783). Their eldest son, George Michael,
born at Erfurt, in 1738, sailed with Moravian Col-
onists from Zist for St. Petersburg in 1767, and the
next year was one of the zealous band who founded
Sarepta, in Astrakhan, where he settled and married
in 1793. The parents embarked for Pennsylvania as
a' fruitful field for missionary labor, and settled at
Bethlehem, where another son, John Frederick
(1752-1823), was born.
The Moravian Church records at Lititz, Lancas-
ter Co., Pa., report that Christian Frederick Stein-
man arrived with his family at that new ecclesiastical
establishment in November, 1756, and that he had
been appointed to oversee and take care of the work-
men who were to build the saw and grist mill near
the town, on the stream issuing from the great Lititz
Spring. After a large part of this work was done,
the Church authorities changed the site of the mill
to a spot quite a mile below the village, whither
"Brother and Sister Steinman removed in April,
1757, taking up their abode in a house bought by the
brethren." They returned to Bethlehem in 1758, but
in October of the next year returned to Lititz as per-
manent residents, where he died, being the first mar-
ried man who had died in the new settlement, and
the fifth person buried in the Moravian cemtery, his
grave being numbered "5," and the seventh from the
main entrance walk in the second row from the
south end of the grave-yard, in its southwestern corr
ner. His widow removed with her son, John Fred-
erick, to Lancaster, there married John Christopher
Heyne, and died without children born of her sec-
ond marriage.
John Christopher Heyne established a tin and
copper-ware business in Lancaster in 1764, on the
present site of the Steinman Co.'s hardware store,.
which John Frederick Steinman continued to carry
on after the death of John Christopher Heyne, in
1 78 1 — a business which in his hands and in those
of his descendants, has expanded into one of the
larsrest and most opulent hardware houses in the
country. John Frederick Steinman was burgess of
Lancaster in 1800, and elected chief burgess in 1801.
He married, in 1777, Sybilla Margaretha Mayer
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
47
<| 1753-1831), eldest daughter of George Ludwig and
Maria Barbara (Diemer) Mayer, of Lancaster.
<jeorge Ludwig Mayer (1727- 1793), a native of
Ulm, came to America in 1752; his wife, a native of
the same place, died in Lancaster in 1777, and was
buried in Trinity churchyard, her husband being
buried there, and noted on the church records as an
■old member thereof. The children of this union are :
George Michael Steinman (1779-1799), who went
to Cape Francois, San Domingo, with his uncles,
Jacob and John Mayer, the former United States
consul there, and with the latter largely associated in
commercial enterprises, and there died of yellow
fever; Anna Maria (1780-1844), wife of George
Bryan, clerk of the State Senate and auditor general ;
^Rebecca Regina (1782- 1845), who married Daniel
Dinkle, and died at Carlisle, Pa. ; Susanna Julianna
(1785-1817), wife of Joseph Cottrell, a hardware
inerchant of Columbia and Lancaster ; Sybilla Ame-
lia (1786-1839), wife of John Christian Ernst, a
farmer and merchant, of Easton, Pa. ; John Fred-
«rick, born at Lancaster, Pa., Dec. 19, 1789, who died
Oct. 5, 1884; and Eva Henrietta Steinman (1791-
1842), wife of Richard Treat Leech, a farmer and
merchant, of Pittsburg.
Of these, the only son, John Frederick Steinman,
succeeded, on attaining his majority, to his father's
mercantile business in Lancaster City, which he de-
veloped into large proportions, and conducted with
^reat success until his retirement from the business,
in 1849, when he transferred it to his eldest son,
■George M. Steinman, who had been his partner since
1836. He was a non-commissioned officer of a vol-
unteer company in the war of 1812, and marched to
Elkton. He was first president of the Conestoga
Steam Cotton-Mill Co., organized by citizens of Lan-
caster; active in the City Councils for many years,
and a member of the first Select Council of the city ;
-chief organizer of the school system of the city, and
a director of the school board for a number of years,
•over which he was the first to preside ; took an ac-
tive part in building the first reservoir, a:nd while
he took a deep interest in the prosperity of his own,
the Moravian Church, he was liberal in his opinions
•of other religious demonstrations. His public spirit
led him to assist in all worthy local enterprises. His
first wife, Maria Gill, of Lancaster, whom he mar-
ried Sept. 5, 181 1, died Nov. 25, 18 18, having borne
Tiim one son and three daughters, Henrietta Dickert,
born March i, 1813, became the wife of George
H. Bomberger, of Lancaster ; George Michael, born
July II, 1815; Margaretta Rosina, born 1817, and
died the same year; and Mary Gill Steinman, born
Oct. 14, 1818, wife of Elam D. Hurst, of Lancas-
ter. By his second marriage in 1824, to Mary Smith
(1794-1851), daughter of Charles Fahnestock, of
Warren, Chester Co., Pa., he had the following chil-
dren : Susan Smith, Margaretta Sybilla, Charles
Fahnestock, Rebecca (wife of Jonathan M. Foltz,
Surgeon General United States Navy), John Freder-
ick, Amelia and Andrew Jackson.
Andrew Jackson Steinman, Esq., who is now
senior editor and publisher of the Intelligencer, the
oldest newspaper now published in Lancaster (hav-
ing passed its io8th birthday on March 9, 1902),
has been associate or chief editor of that stanch Dem-
ocratic journal since 1868. He was born in the city
of Lancaster, Oct. -lo, 1836, and graduated from
Yale in 1856, and was admitted to the Bar in 1859.
He graduated in the same class with Chauncey M.
Depew, Justices Brewer and Brown of the United
States Supreme Court, Chief Justice Magrader, of
the Illinois Supreme Court, General Swayne, and
others of scarcely less note, and his meeting with
all these distinguished men in the Autumn of 1901,
at the re-union of their Class during the bi-centen-
nial anniversary of Yale College, was quite a mem-
orable event to him. The November-December
( 1901 ) double issue of The Rostrum, under the cap-
tion, "Local Men of National Fame," has this to
say of Mr. Steinman: "He drifted into the Intelli-
gencer rather unexpected to himself in 1868, be-
cause there was some change then about to take
place in its management, and he being chairman
of the Democratic County Committee at the time,
and his party feeling the importance of maintaining
a daily organ, practically requested him to take
charge of the ship. He accordingly did take charge,
and that he has successfully piloted it through
all the storms which battered it in an overwhelm-
ingly Republican county is evidenced by its large
circulation, newsy columns and general flour-
ishing condition. Mr. Steinman is a Democrat of
Democrats, his paper always being 'regular' in every
emergency from presidential candidate down to
ward constable, swallowing both Greeley in 1872
and Bryan in 1896; though the natural independ-
ence of his mind is always compelling him to give
reasons rather original and slightly different from
those ordinarily given by politicians for sticking to
their party. In his strictures upon local events
he is biting and sarcastic, cutting and slashing in
all directions without the slightest regard as to
where the chips fly, and in this connection, we
must allude to an experience he had in 1880, while
the Hon. W. U. Hensel was connected with him in
publishing the Intelligencer, which has happened
possibly to no other journalist in this country: we
allude to what is still remembered distinctly as the
famous attempt to disbar both gentlemen (as they
were both members of the Bar) for the publishing
of an editorial which reflected upon the integrity
of the Court. The paragraph at which the Court
took umbrage was on the disposition, by the Court,
of an alleged violation of the election laws by a
Republican, and was as follows : 'Logically, the last
acquittal like the first was secured by a prostitution
of the machinery of justice to serve the exigencies
48
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of the Republican party. But as all the parties im-
plicated, as well as the Judges, belong to that party,
the Court is unanimous — for once — that it need take
no cognizance of the imposition practiced upon it
and the disgrace attaching to it.' The late Judge
Patterson, who was the trial judge, summoned
both Messrs. Steinman and Hensel before him
and asked them both, separately, if they were
the author of the article, and' both gentlemen
acknowledged responsibility for it in their editorial
capacity, whereupon the Judge ordered rules to be
served upon them to answer for contempt of court,
and to show cause why they should not be dis-
barred and their names stricken from the list of
attorneys. The case immediately attracted wide-
spread attention in this country, and was even
noticed in England, The case was argued before
the Court, Rufus E. Shipley, of Philadelphia, rep-
resenting the respondents and Samuel H. Reynolds,
the rule. The opinion was delivered on the next
regular opinion day, both Judges concurring that
the rule for contempt should be discharged, and
that the rule for disbarment should be made absolute.
The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, where
Mr. Shipley was reinforced by Colonel A. K. Mc-
Clure and Francis E. Gowen, and Mr. Reynolds
by John B. McPherson and Henry W. Palmer. The
case was most exhaustively argued on both sides.
The opinion of the Court was finally delivered by
Chief Justice Sharswood, in which the rule was
discharged, holding, in substance, that the conduct
of a Judge was as proper a subject for criticism by
the press as the conduct of any other public official,
and the fact that the comments were made by prac-
ticing attorneys in the Court in their editorial ca-
pacity, in no wise altered the case, closing his opin-
ion in the following language: 'To say that an at-
torney can only act or speak on this subject under lia-
bility to be called to an account, and to be deprived
of his profession and livelihood by the very Judge
or Judges whom he may consider, it his duty to
attack and expose, is a proposition too monstrous
to be entertained for a moment under our present
system.' Thus were Messrs. Steinman and Hensel
gloriously sustained and an important question for-
ever settled before the Court of last resort in Penn-
sylvania. In addition to lawyer and editor, Mr.
Steinman is one of the leading business men of the
city. He became interested in the Penn Iron Works
in 1879. They employ hundreds of men, and pay
more money annually for labor at their office than
is paid at any other place in the city. Mr. Stein-
man has never held office and has never been a
candidate for any, holding to the idea that an editor
can wield a more independent pen out of office than
in it."
Mr. Steinman married Miss Caroline Morgan
Hale, of Reading, Pa., niece of the Hon. Gideon
Welles, who was the distinguished Secretary of the
Navy under Lincoln. Four children were born o£
this union: Miss Elizabeth, attending the noted,
school at Farmingto'n, Conn. ; Jack and Hale, both
of whom attend the Yeates School; and Caroline,
Mr. Steinman takes a prominent part in the
Cliosophic Society, composed of Lancaster's leading
literary men and women, and he is as ready in
debate as he is at wielding the pen. So trenchant is
the latter, that tlie editorials of the Intelligencer
attract attention wherever independence of thought
and grace of diction are appreciated; and, whether
as a lawyer, journalist, literary authority or business
man, you will always find him in the front rank.
THE GRUBB FAMILY was first represented
in America by John Grubb. There is still in exist-
ence a letter written to his uncle by King Charles I,
in November, 1642, with the Royal signature and
the Royal seal appended, asking the loan of £200 in
money or plate, "to aid the King in defending the
realm and the church against his enemies." This
letter was addressed to "our truly and well beloved
John Grubb, Esq." Lord John Grubb's family are
interred in the old manor churchyard on his estate
in England, and on it were many memorial tablets
bearing epitaphs in Latin and having the family
arms and crests. This family is descended from
people who distinguished themselves as early as the
tenth century.
John Grubb, the first of the family on these
shores, was a son of John and Helen Grubb. At the
age of twenty-five years he came to America to
mend his fortunes, which had been much impaired
by the support he gave to the Royal cause. Sailing
from London in the ship "Kent," in 1677, he arrived
at Burlington, West Jersey, after a lengthy voyage,
and received 340 acres of land on Chester creek. As
early as 1682 Grubb'.s landing. Brandy wine Hun-
dred, Del, was known to fame, and here Emanuel
Grubb, the eldest son of John, was born July 19,.
1682. John Grubb became the possessor of a tract
of land 600 acres in extent, was made one of the
Colonial justices in 1693, and was twice elected tc^
the Colonial Assembly. The historian says of him,.
"He came from that stock of men second to none on
the face of the earth — the English country gentle-
men." At Grubb's Landing he erected a tannery,,
and was the first manufacturer of leather in Penn's
province. -In 1703 he left Grubb's Landing and lo-
cated in Marcus Hook, Pa., where he presently in-
vested heavily in land. He died there in March,
1708. He was an extensive land owner in both
Pennsylvania and Delaware. Like his ancestors, he
was a devout supporter of the Established Church
of England. Frances Vane, his wife, belonged to an
old English family, and they had a family of nine
children: Emanuel, John, Joseph, Henry, Samuel,
Nathaniel, Peter, Charity and Phoebe. Of these,
Peter Grubb was the ancestor of the family of
Clement B. Grubb, of Lancaster. His special dis--
HENRY BATES GRUBB
^^
^.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
49
tinction is his discovery of the vast beds of iron ore
at Cornwall, Lebanon county, and his standing as a
pioneer in Pennsylvania manufacturing interests.
In 1734 he became the proprietor of the celebrated
Cornwall ore hills, of almost pure magnetic ore. On
this property he built the Hopewell Forge and the
Cornwall Furnace, naming the latter after the En-
glish mining county where his father was born. In
this furnace, during the Revolutionary war, he cast
cannon ammunitions for Washington, and, as a
loyal adherent to the cause, accepted no remunera-
tion. The Cornwall furnace, which is the oldest in
the country, is still in operation. It was noted by
Aurelius, in his history, as early as 1756. Peter
Grubb became a member of the Society of Friends
in 1732. He first married Martha, widow of James
Wall, and daughter of Jeremiah and Mary Bates,
of Gloucester, N. J. She died in 1740, and late the
following year he married Hannah, widow of
Thomas Marshall, and daughter of Benjamin and
Ann Marshall. His second wife died in 1770. The
children of Peter Grubb were Curtis and Peter (2).
Peter Grubb (2) was born in Cornwall and died
in 1786 at Hopewell Forge, now called Speedwell.
Under the old English law of entailment two-thirds
of the property of Peter Grubb ( i ) went to his son
Curtis, the other son, Peter, receiving one-third.
Disagreements between the brothers followed, and
Peter bought Mount Hope, where, in 1784, he
erected a furnace, which is still in existence, though
unused for years. In 1771 Peter Grubb (2) was
married to Mary Shippen Burd, a daughter of James
and Sarah (Shippen) Burd, sister-in-law of Judge
Jasper Yeates, of Lancaster, granddaughter of
Judge Shippen, and niece of Peggy Shippen, who
was the wife of Benedict Arnold. She died at
Hopewell Forge Feb. 23, 1776. Their children
were: Alan Burd Grubb, born at Hopewell Forge
. Feb. 6, 1772 ; and Henry Bates Grubb, born at
Hopewell Forge Feb. 6, 1774. Peter Grubb (2)
served as colonel in the 8th Battalion during the
Revolutionary war.
Henry Bates Grubb was married at Pine Grove,
Pa., June 18, 1805, to Ann Carson, daughter of John
Carson, of Dauphin county. She died in October,
1806, leaving one child, Henry Carson, . who was
bom in 1806, and died in 1873. On Dec. i, 1808,
Henry Bates Grubb was married to Harriet Amelia
Buckley, daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Brooke)
Buckley, the former of whom owned the "Compe-
tence farm" and Brooke Forge, in Pequea. Children
as follows came to this union: (i) Edward Burd
Grubb, born Dec. 17, 1810, died at Burlington, N. J.
He married Euphemia Parker, of Carlisle, and they
had four children — Gen. E. Burd Grubb, minister to
Spain under President Harrison; Henry Grubb;
Charles Ross Grubb; and Euphemia, who is now
Madame de M. de Cerkez, of Paris, France. (2)
Clement B. Grubb is mentioned below. (3) Mary
Shippen Grubb was married Sept. 2, 1845, to George
Wellington Parker, and her daughter Mary mar-
ried Hon. William Welsh, who was consul to Flor-
ence under President Grant; his father, Hon. John
Welsh, was minister to England. (4) Sarah Eliza-
beth Grubb, born Nov. 19, 1818, died Nov. 27, 1884.
She was married Feb. 16, 1846, to John G. Ogelvie,.
and their daughter, Elizabeth, married Dr. Herbert
Norris, of Philadelphia. (5) Alfred Bates Grubb
was born Jan. 6, 1821, and died Feb. 2, 1885, He
was married 'March 25, 1856, to Ellen Farnum,
daughter of Henry Farnum, of Philadelphia, and to
this union were bom Alfred Bates Grubb (2), who
is a director of the Manheim National Bank ; Ellen ;
Ann Newbold, .wife of George J. Chetwood ; Mary
Elizabeth; and Rosalie, wife of Charles Grosholtz,
of Philadelphia. Henry Bates Grubb, the father,
died at Mount Hope March 9, 1823.
Clement B. Grubb, second son of Henry Bates,
was bom at Mount Hope Feb. 9, 1815, and died at
his Lancaster residence Oct. 31, 1899. He was
but eight years of age when his father died, at which
time he was placed under the tutelage of Dr. William
Augustus Muhlenburg, who later founded St. Luke's
Hospital, New York City. Mr. Grubb's literary
training was completed at Franklin Institute, Phila-
delphia, and he was but seventeen years of age when
he took up the threads of his father's business, run-
ning the Mount Hope, Mount Vernon, Manada and
Cadorus charcoal furnaces, besides two others — an
anthracite furnace, St. Charles, in Columbia, which
he built, and the Henry Clay furnace, at or near Co-
lumbia, which he bought and rebuilt.' Mr. Grubb
was sole owner of the Chestnut Hill ore bank, and
one of the owners of the Cornwall ore bank, and for
twenty years was president of the First National
Bank of Lancaster. He was a very active business
man throughout his long life, giving employment to
thousands of men, and he had the rare faculty of
being in perfect sympathy with all his employes, by
whom he was admired and beloved to a degree en-
joyed by few. His justness and liberality to those
in his employ were among the most marked charac-
teristics of his remarkable business career, and many
there were who attributed their start in life and their
subsequent success to his advice and assistance. He
never lost an opportunity to do a favor for his men,
but his benefactions, though numerous, were always
unostentatious, like the man himself. His manners
and habits were proverbially quiet, and he was the
soul of kindness, and his disposition displayed itself
in his intercourse with all his fellow men, whether in
business or in social life. His gentleness was not
the result only of good nature and training, but of
the happy combination of these with a strong char-
acter, well controlled and perfectly balanced. In spite
of the many demands upon his time and attention he
was never too busy to be obliging, and as a friend
he was true to every obligation imposed by that
sacred relationship. He was baptized into the Epis-
copal Church by Bishop White, the first American
50
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
bishop in Pennsylvania. Mr. Grubb was liberal in
his support of church work and religious enterprises,
and he served as a vestryman of St. James Church,
Lancaster. In political sentiment he was a stanch
Republican, and he was one of the first members of
the Union League Club of Philadelphia. However,
he was no office seeker, the attractions of domestic
life appealing more strongly to him, and though he
thoroughly enjoyed social life and the company of
his numerous friends, he was happiest in the home
circle. His death, which occurred Oct. 31, 1899,
was widely and sincerely mourned.
Clement B. Grubb was married, Feb. 27, 1841,
to Mary Brooke, daughter of Charle.s Brooke, a dis-
tinguished ironmaster, and they became the parents
of the following named children: (i) Harriet B.
Grubb is the widow of Stephen B. Irwin, of Phila-
delphia. She has one son, John Hiester Irwin. (2)
Charles Brooke Grubb, born Oct. 6, 1844, in Lan-
caster, received a fine education, graduating from
Princeton College. He has never married, and at
present resides in the old family mansion in Lime
street. Lancaster. He was a partner of his father in
the iron business, succeeding on the latter's death to
the different furnaces and his father's interests in
the Cornwall ore bank and the Conestoga ore bank^
in the management of all of which he proved himself
a competent business man and won high standing in
commercial circles. At one time he was a vestry-
man of St. James Church, and socially he is a mem-
ber of the Masonic fraternity. His political support
has been given to the Republicans. (3) Mary Lilly
Srooke Grubb is the wife of Joseph Bond Beall, of
New York, who owns several cotton plantations in
the South. They have tliree children, Mary Lilly,
Ethel Grubb (wife of Surgeon George Tucker
Smith, of the United States navy) and Florence.
(4) Ella Jane Grubb is the widow of Col. L. Heber
Smith, who carried on a furnace at Joanna, Pa.,
where his family still reside. Six children were
born to them, Clement Grubb, Heber L., Mary
Grubb, Daisy Emily (wife of William S. Morris).
Stanley MacDonald and William Howard. Col.
Smith took a prominent part in the Civil war. (5)
Daisy Elizabeth Brooke Grubb is the present owner
of Mount Hope. Through the Shippens the family
are related to Gen. McClellan, and also to Gen. John
R. Brooke, who was prominent in the Spanish-
American war.
Mount Hope, the old home of the Grubb family,
is an historic place, long noted in connection with
the mines surrounding. The dwelling, which was
built in 1800 by Henry Bates Grubb, is a spacious
and inviting mansion, and the grounds, which com-
prise some 3,000 acres, are beautiful and artistic.
In 1848 Mrs. Henry B. Grubb erected a church on
the property, and in 1900 elaborate additions were
made, as stated on the chancel building comer-stone,
"to the glory of God and the memory of Clement B.
and Mary Brooke Grubb."
JOHN WRIGHT, the founder of Wrights Ferry,
now Columbia, Lancaster county, was a Quaker,
who for many years in the last century had been a
member of the Pennsylvania Assembly. He was
born of Quaker parents in Lancashire, England, in
1667, and came to Pennsylvania in '1714. He was
elected to the Assembly from Lancaster county in
1729, and held that .office until in 1748. He was
one of the leading citizens of his day, and took an
active part in securing the establishment of the
new county of Lancaster in 1719. Samuel Wright,
son of James, and grandson of the above mentioned
John Wright, laid out the town of Columbia on
its present site in 1787. The place was one of three
sites proposed by Congress in 1790, as the place for
the permanent capital of the United States. Colum-
bia was incorporated by act of State Legislature in
1814.
SLAYMAKER. Among the old and honored
families of Lancaster county, there are a few which
have become particularly conspicuous on account
of their identification with the progress and develop-
ment of their localities, and their peculiar fitness
for the positions of trust and responsibility in which
they have been placed by their fellow-citizens. Such
in a marked degree is the case in the Slaymaker
family.
In its German orthography the name was
spelled Schleurmacher, and was one held in high
esteem in its native land. When Mathias Schleur-
macher, or Slaymaker, left Germany to find wider
opportunities in the New World, his immediate
family in Strasburg, were people of position and
eminence, one being a clergyman of repute, and
another a diplomatist of celebrity, being at that
time secretary of Legation from the German gov-
ernment to the Court of St. James, afterward be-'
coming Charge d'affairs to the same place. Ma-
thias was also a man of judgment and foresight,
and when he reached America in 1710, he made a
wise selection of land in the State of Pennsylvania.
His purchase was 1,000 acres from the London Co.,
and its location was in what was then known as the
London Lands, then situated in Strasburg, now
Paradise township. Building his log cabin near a
beautiful spring of clear, pure water, he settled down
to an agricultural life, clearing up his land as quick-
ly as possible, the whole of it being at that time but
a wilderness. Being a man of gigantic size, he
compelled the respect and admiration of his savage
neighbors, who were ever impressed by physical
strength, while his honesty and kindness in dealing
with the Indians won for him their respect and
friendship, a matter of no little moment in that
unsettled region. Mathias Slaymaker not only gave
the name to Strasburg, but he liberally contributed
to the county's improvement, cleared lands, made
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
51
roads, built school houses and encouraged religious
movements, filling out to the utmost our idea of a
useful and noble life. He was permitted a long
career, and the work he did laid the foundations
upon which his family and fellow-citizens have since
builded. His remains lie in the old cemetery of
the Presbyterian Church, in Leacock township,
where many of the family rest. The five sons of
Mathias Slaymaker were : John, Lawrence, Ma-
thias, Henry and Daniel ; while his daughters were :
Margaret and Barbara. All record of Lawrence dis-
appeared after he joined a band of pioneers and
went to the West. Mathias purchased that por-
tion of the original i,ooo acres which, in 1832, be-
longed to his great-grandsons, John M. and Nathan
E., the latter of whom was for many years the sec-
retary and treasurer of the Lancaster County Mu-
tual Insurance Co. John, son of Mathias the set-
tler, was the father of the late Capt. John Slay-
maker of Paradise township, and he became a sol-
dier in Braddock's army at the age of twenty-two
years, participating in the disastrous battle of Brad-
dock's Field, later becoming a captain in the Rev-
olutionary army. After the close of that war he
returned to his home in Lancaster county, and
ended his long term of public service as commis-
sioner of this county, his death occurring in 1798,
at the age of sixty-five years.
Henry Slaymaker, the great-grandfather of our
subject, was also a very prominent man in his State
and county during and after the Revolutionary war.
During its progress he was a conspicuous member
of the Whig party, and was one of the first in his
neighborhood to take his stand with the Colonies.
Being a magistrate at this time, he administered
the oath of allegiance to those patriots who es-
poused the cause of the Republic, and he used
prompt measures in suppressing efforts on the part
of the Tories, and in punishing them for furnish-
ing the British army with horses and provisions.
When Mr. Slaymaker became the oldest justice in
Lancaster county, succeeding Mr. Hubley, he was
appointed principal judge of the county courts, and
presided as such for one year. It was during this
time that Judge Slaymaker had the site cleared for
the erection of the old jail in Lancaster county,
the same being the present site of the Fulton Opera
House, and a number of other places of business.
His efforts were ever directed toward public im-
provement consonant with the wise administration of
public money? His prominence in his county was
recognized by his appointment as a delegate to the
convention called for the formation of a constitution
of the State of Pennsylvania, which met at Phila-
delphia, July IS, 1776. His marriage was to Miss
Richardson, and the three sons of the union were:
Amos, Henry and Samuel.
Amos Slaymaker, son of Henry, also gave his
State distinguished and faithful service. He served
during the Revolutionary war as an ensign in the
company commanded by his uncle, Capt. John Slay-
maker, and belonged also to an association formed
for the suppression of the Tories, in the eastern end
of the county, at the head of which was Col. James
Mercer, afterward conspicuous in the State. Mr.
Slaymaker built and operated a hotel until 1804, on
the Lancaster and Philadelphia pike road. For
many years he served as a magistrate; was county
commissioner from 1806 to 1 810; and was a member
of the State Senate from 1810 to 181 1 ; a member of
Congress during 1814-15, and it was during this
period that he became peculiarly useful to his gov-
ernment. With a small number of other substan-
tial and upright citizens, he lent his credit and
endorsed notes which were placed in the George-
town Bank, which enabled the Government to
safely tide over its financial crisis at the time when
it was necessary to raise funds for the speedy de-
fense of New Orleans. Hs was public-spirited and
liberal, and his recor^i is that of unsullied states-
manship.
In association with his two brothers, Henry and
Samuel, Amos Slaymaker was one of the promoters
and proprietors of the great stage line which ran
from Philadelphia through Lancaster, the accepted
line of transportation at that time, whith was prior
to the development of the great railroad system of
later years. Amos Slaymaker died in 1835, at the
age of eighty-five years, full of honors and esteemed
far and wide for his high character. His family
consisted of six sons and four daughters, and those
of whom we have record are: Jasper; Henry
died on the old farm; William died in Virginia;
Amos died in Maytown, this county; Isabella mar-
ried Evan Green; Mrs. Mott; Elizabeth married
Barton Henderson; and Hannar married Samuel
Schoch.
Jasper Slaymaker, the father of our subject, also
became a distinguished citizen of Lancaster county.
His early death at the age of thirty-nine years
cut short a career which promised to attach higher
honors to an already eminent family name. He was
born in Salisbury township, and was afforded super-
ior educational advantages. He was a student with
James Buchanan, at Dickinson College, at Carlisle,
and in the office of James Hopkins, Esq., at Lancas-
ter. He was early in his career admitted to the
Lancaster Bar, was the first prosecuting attorney
of the mayor's court, and served with honor for two
years, 1816 and 1817, and 1817 and 1818, in the
State Legislature. He was well known through the
county, and was regarded as one of its most prom-
ising public men. His death occurred Aug. 27,
1827, at the age of thirty-nine years. His mar-
riage to Jane Evans resulted in the birth of these
children : Amos, of this sketch ; Frances, who mar-
ried Rev. Solomon McNair, a Presbyterian clergy-
man, and died in 1876 ; Samuel, who married Char-
52
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
lotte Tate, and was a prominent stock broker in Phil-
adelphia, where he died in 1887; James B., who
married a Miss Wilson, and is a nurseryman, far-
mer and fruit grower in Delaware ; and Jasper, who
married Sarah Elder, and is a retired merchant at
Sunbury, Pa. The mother of our subject was born
in Donegal township, in 1800, and died in 1885, at
the age of eighty-five years. She was a daughter
of Samuel and Frances (Lowery) Evans, of Done-
gal township (more extended mention of the Evans
family being found elsewhere).
Amos Slaymaker, who for many years was one
of the leading attorneys of Lancaster county, the
eldest son of Jasper and Jane (Evans) Slaymaker,
was born in the city of Lancaster, in June, 1819.
Until her death he remained with his mother, except
for a period when she resided with a daughter. His
early education was obtained in the city schools, a
study of the languages being pursued in Lancas-
ter Academy, which was followed by a period of
study in Delaware College in Newark. From there
he entered the sophomore class in Dickinson Col-
lege, at Carlisle, where three years were passed,
and where he graduated with honors in 1838.
Mr. Slaymaker naturally adopted the law as his
profession and in its study became a pupil of Hon.
John R. Montgomery, in Lancaster. His prepara-
tion was such that in 1841, he was admitted to the
Bar, and immediately entered upon a long and suc-
cessful practice which was terminated by his re-
tirement from its cares and triumphs, in 1885. In
1867 he was made registrar in bankruptcy of this
Congressional district, under the Bankrupt Law,
discharging the duties of this office with an eye
single to the public good.
Although not connected by membership, Mr.
Slaymaker is a constant attendant and a con-
tributor to the Episcopal Church. As a man of
means, leisure and high intellectual attainment,
Mr. Slaymaker takes a prominent place in Lan-
caster. While he is retired from all active busi-
ness life, his interest continues in public afifairs,
and he can usually be found in his costly library^
where he is surrounded with the best thought of
the past, as well as the latest disquisitions and pol-
ished literary efforts of the present.
JOHN D. SKILES, president of the Fulton Na-
tional Bank, and connected with many other enter-
prises that have added greatly to the material de-
velopment and prosperity of the city of Lancaster,
enjoys the distinction of being perhaps the only man
in this community who has been continuously in
business for a period of half a century, the fiftieth
anniversary of his advent into commercial circles
having occurred in April, 1902.
John D. Skiles was born April 29, 1829, in
Leacock township, this county, where he passed his
boyhood. At the age of ten years he entered the gen-
eral store of Moses Eby, at Intercourse, where he
clerked for three years. For the succeeding three
years he was employed in John Wenger's store, in
West Earl township, and in 1845 secured employ-
ment with Michael Peiper, a grocer in Lancaster.
At the end of five years he entered the dry-goods
store of FonDer smith & Herr, where he continued
for about two years, at the expiration of that time
embarking in business for himself as a grocer at the
corner of East King and Duke streets, and remain-
ing there until 1858, when he bought the property
owned by the Lancaster County Bank, corner of
East King and Christian streets ; there he engaged in
the grocery business until 1865. At that time he
bought out a dry-goods business on East King
street, and devoted his attention to that branch of
trade until 1878, when he sold out and retired from
that line. In 1861 he had invested in a leaf tobacco
business with his brother-in-law, James B. Frey,
under the firm name of Skiles & Frey, and he has
been continuously in the leaf tobacco business since
1861, handling immense quantities of tobacco, which
is packed in the firm's warehouse located on North
Duke street.
On Dec. i, 1854, Mr. Skiles married Emily M.
Frey, daughter of Jacob Frey, one of the early set-
tlers, and formerly a merchant of Lancaster. The
only child of this union, William P., died at the age
of nineteen years. Mrs. Skiles entered into rest in
January, 1897. Mr. Skiles married, a second time,
his present wife having been Miss Rebecca M.
Porter, of Newark, N. J. One son, John D. Skiles,
Jr., was born of this union March 29, 1900 — ^his
mother's joy and his father's pride.
Mr. Skiles was one of the organizers of the Ful-
ton National Bank and of the Lancaster Trust Com-
pany. He was a director in the Fulton National
Bank until the death of John R. Bitner, succeeding
that gentleman as president of the bank on Sept. 6,
1897; and he has been a director of the Lancaster '
Trust Company from its organization to the present
time. Indeed, his influence has been felt in almost
every notable public enterprise looking to the de-
velopment and prosperity of the city, for an ordin-
ary lifetime, and among his most conspicuous busi-
ness interests may be mentioned his connection with
the Pennsylvania Traction and Conestoga Traction
Companies, as director; he is still connected with
some of the suburban trolley lines, having been as-
sociated with the trolley systems of Lancaster since
1893. He is president of the board of managers of
the Lancaster Cemetery Company; has been for
thirty years (and is still) treasurer of the Mechanics'
Building & Loan Association ; a member'of the board
of trustees of Franklin and Marshall College ; a trus-
tee of the Reformed Theological Seminary of the
L'nited States, at Lancaster ; a director of the Y. M.
C. A. ; and has many other business connections. He
served ably for three years as prothonotary of the
court, from 1885 to 1888. Socially he is a member
of Lodge No. 43, F. & A. M., and of the Lodge of
Perfection and the Commandery; and he was one
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
53
of the organizers and directors of the Hamilton
Club. Religiously he is a member of St. Paul's Re-
formed Church, in which he has been a trustee for
many years, and in the upbuilding of which church
he has taken an active and substantial interest. So
many have been his enterprises, so great his activity,
so sound his judgment, so far-reaching the aims and
purposes of his life, that it is difficult to determine
in what particular path his influence for good has
been most felt ; but it is a notable fact that, with all
the varied interests he has had in hand, he has never
for a moment lost sight of the leaf tobacco trade, in
which he is still a prominent figure.' In banking
circles, in the mercantile world, in the leaf tobacco
trade, in the church, in the social circles, everywhere,
the name of John D. Skiles stands for all that is en-
terprising, progressive, liberal and honorable.
WILLIAM HAYES GRIER, printer, editor
and politician, was born in the village of McEwens-
ville, Northumberland Co., Pa., in 1841. His grand-
father. Rev. John Hayes Grier, was a native of
Bucks county, and was born in 1788. He graduated
at Dickinson College, Carlisle, in the same class with
James Buchanan, who, in 1857, became the fifteenth
president of the United States. Entering the min-
istry, soon after his graduation, Mr. Grier was
placed in charge of the Great Island and Jersey
Shore Churches, in the West Branch Valley of the
Susquehanna. This was in 1814, and he remained
there until 1854, when he retired, after having been
actively engaged in the ministry for fifty-six years.
He died at his home in Jersey Shore, in February,
1880, at the mature and mellow age of ninety-two
years.
Dr. John Hayes Grier, eldest son of the venera-i
ble clergyman arid father of our subject, was born
in Brandywine Manor, Chester Co., Pa., June 2,
1813. After receiving a preparatory education he
was graduated from Jefferson Medical College,
and entered upon the practice of his profession in
McEwensville in 1840. There he remained for fif-
teen years, when, in 1855, he removed to Jersey.
Shore, where he practiced until 1859. He then
settled in Oriole, in the beautiful valley of Nippe-
nose, where he passed the remainder of his life, fol-
lowing his profession until his death, which oc--
curred Nov. 19, 1894, in his eighty-second year.
He married Amanda M. Quiggle, who died Aug<
I, 1897, in her eighty-first year.
William Hayes Grier, the subject of this notice,
is the eldest son of the Doctor. He received his
primary education in the public schools, after which
he entered the academy at McEwensville, and spent
four years in that institution. On Oct. 20, 1856,
he was apprenticed to learn the trade of a com-i
positor in the office of the Jersey Shore Vidette, and
remained there until 1858, when he accepted a
position to teach school in Clinton county, for a
term of four months, at a salary of $25 per month.
Having finished his school in 1859, young Grier re-
moved to Akron, Ohio, and entered the office of
the Democrat, remaining there until 1861, when,
owing to the impending war, he returned to Jersey
Shore, and resumed work in the office of the
Vidette, where he had learned his trade. There he
remained until Fort Sumter was fired upon, when
he enlisted April 18, 1861, becoming a private in
the Jersey Shore Rifles, known as Company A,
5th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment. They were
assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and passed
through all the battles of that division from Dranes-
ville to Cold Harbor, with the exception of Chancel-
lorsville. On June 27, 1862, our subject was
wounded in the leg at the battle of Gaines Mills,
and was laid up for six weeks in a hospital at
Washington. He rejoined his regiment in time to
participate in the second battle of Bull Run. In
March, 1863, he was promoted to first sergeant,
and on June 4, 1864, was commissioned second
lieutenant.
On the expiration of his term of enlistment in
1864, Lieut. Grier returned home and became fore-
man of the printing department and associate editor
of the Columbia Spy, remaining with that paper
until October, 1866, when he was nominated by his
party (Democratic) for the State Senate against
his old Colonel, Joseph W. Fisher, but was de-
feated because his party was in the minority. Soon
after his political experience he founded the Colum-
bia Herald, printing the first copy on a hand press.
His enterprise proved successful, and he continued
the publication of his paper until 1870, when he was
appointed traveling agent for the Columbia Mutual
Fire Insurance Company. After six months ex-
perience in the insurance business he resigned, and
until 1873 successfully conducted a job printing
office in the city. That year he purchased the Her-
ald, and was employed in its publication until Jan-
uary, 1885, when he sold out.
From early life Mr. Grier took an active part
in politics, serving his party repeatedly in county
conventions, and he was delegate to the national
convention which nominated Samuel J. Tilden for
president. He served as a member of the State com-
mittee for several years, was on the county com-
mittee, and was chairman of that body through the
important campaign of 1874. Although his party
was in the minority in Lancaster county, he did
much to preserve its organization, and in 1878 again
sacrificed himself for State Senator. Ever active
and aggressive as a politician, WilliiStrHayes Grier
was never discouraged over defeat. In 1883 he
was a candidate for auditor general, when many
distinguished men were brought forward, and on
the second ballot he received the second highest
vote. The first political office he held was that of
assistant assessor of internal revenue, to which
he was appointed in 1866 by President Johnson.
54
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Subsequently he was clerk of the Council for two
years, was tax collector, and was appointed by Gen.
William McCandless, who was secretary of inter-
nal affairs in 1875, chief of the bureau of statistics-
He has frequently served his fellow citizens in many
local and minor offices, and in 1876 was elected
school director in his district for a term of three
years. In 1881 he was justice of the peace, and
in 1883 was appointed superintendent of public
printing at Harrisburg, by Gov. Pattison, to fill a
vacancy. On the expiration of the term he was re-
appointed for a full term, from July i, 1885, to July
I, 1889, which he served. In 1887 he was tendered
the office of chief of the Southern division of the
Pension Bureau, Washington, but declined. On
Gov. Pattison's re-election in 1890, he was re-ap-
pointed superintendent of public printing, and he
filled the office with credit, retiring in 1894.
Col. Grier has been twice married. His first
wife, Miss Mary E. White, whom he wedded in
1865, died in 1884, leaving two daughters. In 1890
he married (second) Miss Annie, daughter of Gen.
William Patton, of Columbia. He is a Freemason,
and has taken both the Blue Lodge and Royal Arch
degrees. For a man of such political activity as
Col. Grier, it was impossible after his long career as
an editor and publisher, to do without an organ
after the sale of the Herald, in 1885. Consequently
but a short time elapsed until in December, 1889,
he started the Independent, a weekly paper, which
he is still publishing.
CORNELIUS F. ROLAND, president of the
New Holland National Bank, and a man of high
standing and recognized worth at New Holland, was
born at that point May 30, 1822, a son of Henry and
Margaret ( Seeger) Roland. His father was born in
Hinkletown, and his mother in New Holland, and
the family was long and intimately associated with
the best interests of Lancaster county.
Henry Roland was a farmer, and the most of his
earlier life was spent in New Holland. While still a
young man he removed to Philadelphia to take a po-
sition as a clerk in a general store, where he remained
until the death of his father, when he returned home
to care for the large estate left by his father. He
died in January, 1847, at the age of sixty-seven. His
widow long survived his loss, and died at the
age of eighty-two. They were buried in the New
Holland cemetery. Both belonged to the Lutheran
Church, of which he was an officer for many years,
and a most earnest and devoted worker.
Henry ^jQjrjid and his wife were the parents
of the following family: Catherine, who mar-
ried Esaias Kinzer, of Leacock township, both de-
ceased; Jonathan H., who married Elizabeth James,
was a farmer, and died at the age of fifty-four ; Will-
iam, a physician, who died in York, Pa., at the age of
eighty-two ; John F., a graduate of West Point, who
died in Charlestown Harbor, where he had command
of a fort, at the age of thirty-six ; Henry A., a farm-
er and miller, who died in 1901, at the age of eighty-
two ; Cornelius F. ; Julia, the widow of Hon. Will-
iam H. Heister, at one time the secretary of the
Commonwealth, and representative from Berks
county in the State Legislature.
The paternal grandparents of Cornelius F. Ro-
land were Jonathan and Catherine (Huber) Roland,
farming people of prominence and wealth in Earl
township.
Cornelius F. Roland was married in New Hol-
land Oct. 26, 1846, to Elizabeth Shirk, the ceremony
being performed by Rev. Mr. Barnitz. Born to this
union were the following children : Charles A., who
died at the age of three years ; Horace, an attorney in
Reading, married to Ellen Daly, by whom he has
had four children; Henry S., unmarried and living
at home ; Cornelia, who died unmarried at the age
of thirty-five. Mrs. Roland was born in New Hol-
land, and died in April, 1887, at the age of seventy
years. Her remains rest in the New Holland ceme-
tery. She was a daughter of Henry and Mary (Oil-
ier) Shirk, both of Lancaster county.
Mr. Roland was reared in New Holland, and
when fourteen years of age attended the Lititz Acad-
emy, and later the school at West Chester. In 1839
he went to Philadelphia, where he clerked for a short
time in a general store. Business was prostrated by
a panic shortly after his arrival, and he came back to
New Holland, to farm for several years. For three
years he was engaged in a store, but gave up that
work in 1871. In 1881 he organized the present
bank, of which he is still the capable and energetic
president, and which ranks very high, the stock be-
ing now quoted at over 200 per cent. Mr. Roland
is a large landed proprietor, owning a number of
valuable farms. In religion he belongs to the Luth-
eran Church, of which he is a liberal supporter and
a hard-working member.
JOHN KOHR, who has been bishop of the New
(or Reformed) Mennonite Church since 1896, is a
retired farmer, living in the Kohr homestead in
Manheim township, one and a half miles northeast
of the city of Lancaster, on the Fruitville pike.
Bishop John Kohr, father of our subject, was the
successor of John Herr, reformer of what is known
as the Old Mennonite Church, or rather an adherent
to the true principles of the founder, Menno Simon,
early reformer of the Catholic Church. The church
has no discipline save the plain indisputable word of
Christ, the principle and character briefly described
by Bishop Elias Hershey, under his naine in this
work, which is well worth referring to. Bishop
Kohr faithfully filled the office of Bishop for many
years, and being well preserved in body and faculties
to the close of his long life, was able to the end to
serve diligently and profitably in his high calling
m the church. His death occurred in the fall of
1887, after a brief illness with pneumonia, when he
was nearly eighty years of age. The vacancy was
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
55
deeply felt, and in 1896 his son, John Kohr, was
called by the church to be his successor.
John Kohr was born in 1847, one mile from his
present home. He accepted the faith in the fall of
1868, and was admitted into the church by water
baptism in the fall of 1869. Bearing evidence of
his faithfulness and godly zeal, the church called
him to the ministry to publicly declare the doctrines
of Christ, in the fall of 1879. I" 1896, as before
stated, he was called to the office of Bishop. Having
retired from all the active duties of life, his time is
now given for the most part to the church. Mr.
Kohr occupies the home where his father lived to the
close of his days.
In the fall of 1876 Mr. Kohr was united in mar-
riage with Miss Ida N. Weaver, daughter of Anna
and Martin (Herr) Weaver, of Strasburg township,
and this union has been blessed with two children,
Enos and Mary. The daughter died in her first
year. The son has erected on his father's farm
property a number of greenhouses, which he man-
ages successfully, being engaged in growing flowers,
etc., principally for the cut-flower trade. Enos
Kohr. accepted the faith of his ancestors at the age
of twenty-one years. He was united in marriage to
Miss Viola Godshak, of Montgomery Co., Pa., in
the spring of 1903.
John Kohr has one brother, Jacob, and four sis-
ters, Annie, Hettie, Mary and Lizzie.
REV. DARIUS WILLIAM GERHARD, A. M.,
rejoices in an ancestry that came to this country
in 1737, and they date back a good deal more than
that as members of the Reformed Church. The
Gerhards are descendants of Paul Gerhardt, the
great German poet, who lived two hundred and
fifty years ago. The first Gerhardt (as the name
was originally spelled) of this family of whom we
have any record was Christian Gerhardt who was
Burgomaster of Gruesenhaerichen, Germany, in
1637. He had five children, of whom one was the
poet Paul. The poet had one son, Paul Frederick,
and his son was Christopher ; Christopher's son was
William, and his son was Frederick, who was born
March 26, 1714, in Langenselbold, a town in the
Wittrau, Hesse-Cassel. Frederick's parents were
members of the Reformed Church, and he was
brought up in that faith — a faith that has been zeal-
ously clung to by all the descendants to the present
day. On Jan. 22, 1737, Frederick Gerhardt married
Elizabeth Fischer, and soon after came to America,
settling in Philadelphia, where a son, Peter, was
born Oct. 28, 1737, and not long after, his wife died.
Frederick then moved to the vicinity of Heidelberg,
Berks county, where on Feb. 14, 1740, he married a
widow whose maiden name was Barbara Reiger.
From this union there were nine children, five sons
and four daughters. One of these sons was Fred-
erick, born Sept. 23, 1744, and his son Frederick
was born in 1770.
Rev. William T. Gerhard, Rev. D. W. Gerhard's
father was born on Dec. 10, 1809, and died Aug.
20, 1886, having been for many years one of the
most prominent figures among the clergy of Lancas-
ter. He married Miss Elizabeth Seibert, a daugh-
ter of Jacob Seibert, a prominent farmer of Lebanon
county. From this union eight children were born,
five sons and three daughters, of whom three sons
survive, as follows : Rev. Darius W., of Lancaster ;
Dr. J. Z., of Harrisburg, where he spent twenty-
one years as resident physician at the State Insane
Asylum, but is now enjoying a large private prac-
tice, in which he gives special attention to nervous
troubles ; and Dr. M. U., of Lancaster, where he en-
joys a fine practice.
Rev. Darius William Gerhard, A. M., was born
in Berks Co., Pa., March 21, 1838, was educated in
the public schools of his native county, and pre-
pared for college in the Allentown Seminary. Be-
fore entering college, he taught school for two win-
ters, and was graduated from Franklin and Marshall
College in 1862, taking one of the class honors, the
German oration. He graduated in July and entered
the army in August, enlisting in the nine months'
service in Co. E, 135th P. V. 1., and serving nine
months and sixteen days, when he was honorably
discharged. He then entered the Reformed Theo-
logical Seminary at Mercersburg, from which he
was graduated in 1866. He served the Reformed
congregation at McConnellsburg for one and one-
half years during his theological course, and was
called there and ordained, remaining another year as
an ordained minister. His next field of labor was
New Holland but he served four congregations —
New Holland, Zeltenreich, Vogansville and Salem
(at Heller's), for twenty and one-half years, at the
end of which time, he began confining his labors to
Salem (at Heller's) and Willowstreet, which be-
came part of his charge. This continued for six
years, when Conestoga Center was added. In the
spring of 1888, Willowstreet and Conestoga Center
were made one charge, and from this time on, Rev.
Gerhard was pastor of Salem only. Here he built
up one of the largest congregations of any rural
church in this section, his congregation having
reached three hundred and fifty communicants in
1900, while the Sunday school numbered fully two
hundred. Under his earnest pastorate, the church
was remodeled and enlarged in 1896, and with its
Gothic windows, symmetrical tower and magnificent
location, it is one of the most attractive church edi-
fices in Lancaster county. Rev. Gerhard planted
near the church a little sprig of Virginia juniper,
taken from near the tomb of Washington at Mt.
Vernon, and it is now six feet high, and another tree
which he planted, a rnagnolia, towers above the
church. This church (Salem) is the oldest Re-
formed church in the Conestoga valley, the congre-
gation having been organized in 1722.
Besides all the pastoral labors of Rev. Gerhard
he has done some literary work. Simply to be pastor
of Salem . (Heller's) church for thirty-five years.
55
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
driving through all kinds of weather in visitations
among a large rural congregation, is a big work ; but
this was only a small part of all that this devout and
devoted pastor has done. For fifteen years past, he
has published The Pastor's Helper, a well edited and
interesting publication which the people to whom our
subject has ministered, as well as many outside the
Reformed Church, have learned anxiously to look
for. No clergyman in Lancaster has been more gen-
erous in assisting the reporters of the daily news-
papers in reporting college commencement exercises
and the proceedings of local Reformed gatherings
generally; and, besides all this, he has been a fre-
quent contributor to the church publications, not-
ably The Reformed Messenger and The Guardian.
He wrote and published a history of the New Hol-
land Charge (four congregations) in 1877, in which
he gave in his introduction a resume of the history of
the Reformed Church in general; and the late Dr.
Thomas G. Apple, in an article in the Reformed
Quarterly Review, says this of the history: "We
have not seen anywhere a more satisfactory account
of the Reformed Church in so small a space. The
facts are carefully gathered and well arranged; the
style is good. It is well adapted to convey a cor-
rect knowledge of the Reformed Church to those
who may seek for light on this subject." These
are precious words to Mr. Gerhard, coming from so
learned a source. Mr. Gerhard also wrote and pub-
lished a history of Lancaster Classis covering its en-
tire history of fifty years. The New Era says "he
lias admirably performed his task."
Mr. Gerhard has been stated clerk of Lancaster
classis of the Reformed Church without interrup-
tion, since 1869; has been secretary of the Alumni
Association of Franklin and Marshall College for
twenty-three years, and was elected to his twenty-
fourth term in the summer of 1902 ; has been dele-
gate to Synod and the General Synod time and
again, and was president of the district synod in
1898; has been repeatedly secretary and press re-
porter of the Lancaster Ministerial Association, de-
clining these positions finally because of his in-
creased pastoral and other duties ; and is class secre-
tary of his college class, which was graduated in
1862, and he published a history of the class at its
twenty-fifth annual reunion, in 1887. Surely Mr.
Gerhards stands an unchallenged champion in ac-
tivity and hard work among the clergy of his age.
Rev. Gerhard married Miss Mary C. Geise, of
Reading, Pa., a daughter of Jacob Geise, a coal
dealer and farmer. From this union there were five
children born as follows : ( i) Paul Lambert, A. M.,
a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, and of
the Theological Seminary at Lancaster, Pa., is now
a missionary teacher in Sendai, Japan, where he
occupies the chair of English language and literat-
ure. (2) Elizabeth R., a graduate of the Lancaster
High School, was in 1900 assistant matron at Beth-
any Orphan Home, but is now living at home. (3)
Mary E., a graduate of the Lancaster High School
and of the Woman's College, Frederick, Md., re-
ceiving from the latter institution the degree of A.
B., is the teacher of the Brick Hill school in East
Drumore township, Lancaster county. (4) Martha
E., a graduate of the Lancaster High school, and
the Millersville Normal School, is a teacher in Tay-
loria. Little Britain township. (5) William S. is
a member of the class of 1903, in Franklin and
Marshall College. These are descendants of a fam-
ily that has been noted for its piety and devotion
to the Reformed Church for generations, and who,
like their father, are worthy descendants of a time-
honore4 and respected family.
JACOB BAUSMAN was born Oct. 18, 1812,
in Lancaster township, Lancaster Co., Pa., and was
the fourth in the family of John Bausman (Feb. 5,
1780-N0V. 20, 1861) and Elizabeth Peters (Dec.
i9> 1779-Dec. 18, 1851), who were married April
4, 1805. His paternal ancestry is traced back to
Philip Bausman, born in 1539, in Hockenheim, two
miles from the city of Kreuznach, in Rhine-Prussia,
Germany.
The family in Germany were uniformly farmers
and vine-dressers. John Bausman, the father, born
Feb. 5, 1780, in Freilaubersheim, son of Johann
Heinrich Bausman (Oct., 1746 — April, i793)and
his wife, Barbara Bernhardt, came to America in
1802, to become the heir of his uncle, Andreas Baus-
man (Feb. 25, 1734— Sept. 15, 1814) and his wife,
Elizabeth Weigel (Aug. 10, 1728 — Sept. 26, 1813),
who were childless. Andreas left Germany in 1755,
and settled near Lancaster, where others of his kin
had lived for a number of years. He invested his
money in real estate and amassed a large fortune.
[See record of his will, proved Sept. 22, 1814, Reg-
ister's Office, Lancaster, Will Book K, Vol. I, Page
639, &c.] He lived and died on his lands between
Lancaster and Millersville, which are still in the
Bausman family.
The first of the name to settle in Lancaster came
in 1725, and after that the name occurs frequently
in the early baptismal records of the First Reformed
Church, as shown in Vols. IV and V of the Pennsyl-
vania German Society. Members of the family held
various positions of more or less importance. Will-
iam Bausman (July i, 1724 — March 30, 1784) mar-
ried to Elizabeth Hiester, a collateral ancestor, was
chief burgess of Lancaster in 1774-1775, a member
of the Committee of Safety, and master of the
barracks during the Revolutionary war, in all of
which positions he rendered conspicuous service.
[See Pennsylvania Archives.] He built in 1762 the
old stone residence at Nos. 121-123 East King street,
Lancaster, which is still used as a dwelling house.
His son William (June i, 1759 — April 25, 1833)
was register and recorder of the county from i8og
to 1818.
Andreas Bausman, whose lands we have re-
^--^^m^/fA
BIOGIL\PHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
57
f erred to, bought 317 acres along what is now the
turnpike to Millersville, for the equivalent of $680,
from which a single acre has since been sold for
nearly as much, and out of the products of a single
acre of which nearly as much has been realized in
one year as the total original investment. When he
died, in 1814, he was probably the richest farmer in
Lancaster county, and his nephew, John Bausman,
became his executor and chief heir, and founder of
the prominent family of his name; which, though
having distinguished members in professional and
mercantile circles, has been pre-eminent in the agri-
cultural life of the county, and now holds under cul-
tivation many hundreds of acres of land, almost ad-
joining the city, in Manor and Lancaster townships,
the richest and most populous section of this great
county. As one rides out along the Millersville
street railway or turnpike about half the distance,
he sees a beautiful private residence, built on the
right of the way. To the left is a commodious and
comfortable one story and a half farm house, and
near by a substantial stone spring house. These
buildings illustrate right fitly the progress of the
best type of the Lancaster county farmer. That
spring house was built by Andreas Bausman in 1775,
when, he made whiskey and shipped it to Pittsburg
in casks — two of them strapped upon a horse's back.
Upon this site he established the homestead, which
bids fair to remain in the family for generations to
come. Here came John, after he had reared his
family and quit farming, and here his son Philip
built the present mansion house, which is now owned
and occupied by Philip's son, David.
Nine children blessed the marriage of John Baus-
man and Elizabeth Peters (who was the sister of
the late Hon. Abraham Peters), eight sons and
one daughter. The youngest son is Rev. Dr. Ben-
jamin Bausman, the famous preacher of the Re-
formed Church, editor, oriental traveler and author,
of Reading, Pennsylvania.
Jacob Bausman, the subject proper of this ar-
ticle, died Feb. 11, 1894, in the eighty-second year
of his age, but his portrait will still be recognized as
that of one of the most conspicuous, influential and
busy citizens of Lancaster in his day. Probably no
man in the county was better known, and for half a
century he was recognized as one of its most stable,
firosperous and farsighted business men. His early
education was received in the district school near
his home. At the age of sixteen his father sent
him to the famous boys' school of John Beck, at
Lititz, from which vi^ent forth so many well equipped
youths of that day. He remained two years under
the instruction of Father Beck. Farmers' boys sev-
enty-five years ago left school and went to work' a
little earlier than, as a rule, they do now. So it
happened that when young Bausman was about nine-
teen he was put to the mill at Wabank, then one
of the most extensive of the local manufactories.
He did not confine himself strictly to the dull grind-
ing of the millstones, but very soon displayed that
aptitude for trade and shrewdness of business ven-
ture which characterized his subsequent life. At that
time probably no gristmill here did so large a busi-
ness as the Wabank. It was owned by Jacob Huber,
subsequently high sheriff of the county, and Mr.
Bausman, about 1835, was conducting it for him on
shares. That was the year of a wonderful wheat
crop, which in the succeeding year was almost
an utter failure in this county. As early as April,
in 1836, it was to be seen that the fly had destroyed
the crop, but before that Mr. Bausman had, on his
own account, begun to buy up heavily of the grain
then in store. Wheat commanded from $1.10 to
$1.20 a bushel, and during the entire winter he con-
tinued making large investments of this kind. About
this time, too, there was a revival in the condition
of navigation along the Conestoga. The old com-
panies having failed, their rights, sold at sheriff's
sale, were bought by the Colemans, who built new
packets, which connected at Safe Harbor with the
Tide Water canal. The latter had a dam at- Safe Har-
bor to float boats across, and with seventeen miles
of slack water navigation, seventy-one chains, with a
fall of sixty-four feet, there was a valuable water-
power at every locU, and times were brisk along
our great local waterway. Arks loaded with flour,
whiskey and other products of agricultural develop-
ment were being loaded and floated off from every
port, and trade and commerce flourished. Mr. Baus-
man, as has been stated, bought largely of wheat.
It advanced rapidly in price ; so did flour, in antici-
pation of a light wheat crop ; and so rapid was the
rise that on one occasion, when an arkload of 500
barrels of flour was detained for a short time to
remove the heads of the barrels, as they had become
wet, to prevent damage to the entire contents, flour
advanced $1 a barrel during the detention, and Mr.
Bausman made $500 by the accident. During the
year of the grain famine very little grain or flour
was shipped away from the county. The entire
product of Mr. Bausman's operations was needed
for the local demand; flour brought $11 a barrel
in Lancaster city. After seven years' experience in
the Wabank Mill, young Bausman, accompanied by
John Linter, concluded to try his fortunes in the
West, then offering glittering inducements to ener-
gy, enterprise and capital. The far West then was
Ohio, and between Springfield and Dayton the Lan-
caster county boys engaged in distilling and farm-
ing. In the fall their fathers came out to view the
situa.tion, and, not being entirely satisfied with it,
induced the young men to return to Pennsylvania,
which they did. , Jacob Huber failed in the mean-
time. His assignee, Christopher Hager, exposed
the Wabank mill property for sale and it was bought
by Mr. Bausman and Col. William B. Fordney.
When he engaged in business for himself Mr. Baus-
man rapidly extended and enlarged his operations,
and for fifteen years they were of a very extensive
character. He became known all over eastern Penn-
S3'lvania as a large dealer in grain, lumber, flour
58
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and cattle, and the sawmill connected with his grist-
mill did a large business. During the year of "the
Irish famine," in 1847, he dealt largely in corn,
making frequent purchases or engagements to de-
liver as much as 10,000 bushels at one transaction
m the Philadelphia Corn Exchange.
jVlr. Bausman sold his mill property to the Wa-
bank Hotel Company, the story of whose venture
(.0 establish a summer resort on the Conestoga is
still remembered by our older citizens. From the
Wabank Company the mill passed to the Oberholt-
zers. Meantime Mr. Bausman, who was almost a
daily visitor to Lancaster city, and was constantly
associated with its active business and commercial
concerns, engaged in many local enterprises, and
ventured without stint or timidity into judicious
speculations. He was one of the original and con-
tinuous members of the Lancaster Gas Company,
which had such a prosperous career. He was early
in the direction of the cotton mills, and one of the
joint owners of No. 3 until it was sold to John
Farnum & Co. He was a part owner of the Beaver
Street Cotton Mill, which was sold after the death
. of Dr. John L. Atlee, one of its joint proprietors.
He was one of the managers of the Lancaster Fire
Insurance Company during its existence. One of
his largest business interests, and what proved to be
an ufifortunate venture, was his association with
Thomas Baumgardner and B. F. Shenk in the En-
terprise Coal Company, of the Shamokin region.
But the greater part of Mr. Bausman's time and
attention during the last twenty-five years of his
life was devoted to the management of the affairs
of the Farmers' National Bank. That institution
has a history of nearly a century. It was established
first on Jan. 10, 1810, with a capital of $300,000
at that early day. Conrad Schwarz was its first
president; George Graeff succeeded him in 1814,
and the line of his successors embraces the names of
William Jenkins, George Louis Mayer, George H.
Krug and Christopher Hager. Mr. Bausman be-
came a director of the institution in 1855, and in
1868 was elected to the presidency, which position
he filled and adorned until January, 1892, when by
reason of his age he declined a re-election and was
succeeded by his son, J. W. B. Bausman, Esq. Mr.
Bausman owned a number of farms, and took an
active interest in their management. He was one
of the first stockholders of the Manor Turnpike
Road Company, and served as a director until his
death. He was identified with the Millersville State
Normal School from the time of its institution, and
for many years was trustee of Franklin and Mar-
shall College, and the treasurer of its board for
twenty-eight years. He was a prominent member of
the First Reformed Church of Lancaster, and a liber-
al contributor to every form of church benevolence.
Mr. Bausman was not married in early life, and
made his home at his father's residence until he was
over forty years of age. On Jan. 31, 1854, he mar-
ried Mary Baer, who died Feb. 11, 1862; the only
child of their union is John W. B. Bausman, a well-
known citizen of Lancaster, and a sketch of whose
career follows this. Jacob Bausman after his mar-
riage lived on his farm on the Columbia turnpike,
about three miles west of Lancaster city, until 1883,
when he and his son moved into the mansion at the
corner of West Chestnut and Concord streets, Lan-
caster, where his son still resides. Until the time of
his death, in February, 1894, he was a familiar figure'
on the streets of the city. Every day found him at
the bank, which chiefly engaged his attention, and
where he gave direction to business interests. He
was widely known as a business man of sagacity,
integrity and stability. He took great pride in his
native county, in the ancestral vocation of his fam-
ily, and in the wealth and high cultivation of the
lands of the Manor on which his ancestors settled,
and where their children remained among the first
citizens of the community. He recalled with clear
recollection the dififerent stages of his career and
noted the development of our material interests.
The miller of to-day has to watch more closely
than in years gone by the fluctuations of the grain
market ; the farmer no longer has a distillery on his
premises, nor offers the bottle to every hand before
every meal ; but, in the main, agricultural modes of
to-day are not radically different from those of half
a century ago in Lancaster county ; and in the his-
tory of what makes for prosperity, stability and per-
manency, no name shows to better advantage in local
annals than that of Bausman.
JOHN WATTS BAER BAUSMAN, a promi-
nent and influential citizen of Lancaster, was born
March 12, 1855, in East Hempfield township, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., only child of Jacob Bausman (Oct.
18, 1812 — Feb. II, 1894) and Mary Baer (May 25,
1816 — Feb. II, 1862), who were married Jan. 31,
1854. The record of his paternal ancestry is set
forth in the preceding sketch of his father. His
mother, Mary Baer, was a daughter of Henry Baer
(Oct. 16, 1783 — Oct. 15, 1843) and Anna Hershey
(Sept. 9, 1791 — April 15, 1861). Henry Baer was
a son of Martin Baer (March 14, 1755 — Aug. 19,
1838), who was married to his cousin, Elizabeth
Baer (Aug. 25, 1765 — July 3, 1849). Martin Baer
was a son of Benjamin Baer (Feb. 16, 1727 — Aug.
10, 1799) and Maria Meylin (April 10, 1735 — July
27, 1806), and Benjamin Baer was a son of Henry i
Baer (died July 10, 1750) and Barbara, his wife, the \
great-great-great-grandfather, and original settler,
who came from the Canton of Berne, Switzerland,
to Lancaster county, Pa., in the early part of 1717.
With a view to acquiring land he made application
on the 27th of July, of that year, to William Penn's
deputies for a warrant for 500 acres. [See Everts & /
Peck's History of Lancaster County, page 866.]/
The warrant was issued May 4, 1718, and the land/
"surveyed and laid out" on the 30th of the same
month. On June 20, following, a patent was granted
by the Proprietaries of the Province [see Rolls Office
60
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mr. Harris was reared in the political school of
Jefferson, and was inclined from the attack upon
Sumter, to frown upon the armed subjugation of
the South, deeming it without the range of the
Federal Constitution. The fearless utterance of his
sentiments on this topic led, on Feb. 20, 1863, to his
arrest by military authority, but he was discharged
from custody by habeas corpus the following day.
Mr. 'Harris wrote and published his Geographical
Hand Book in 1862 — a useful book of reference for
the student, teacher and general reader. During the
same year, 1862, he wrote and published a pamphlet
of eighty-six pages entitled "The Cause of the War
Shown," an utterance of his sentiments which had
largely led to his before mentioned arrest. Having
written, in 1872 he published, his "Biographical
History of Lancaster County," an octavo of 600
pages, containing sketches of the early settlers and
eminent men of the county. In 1876 he published
his "Review of the Political Conflict in America,"
the same being a condemnation of the coercive prin-
ciples of the banner of victory against the Southern
States.
Mr. Harris has been quite an investigator, es-
pecially in the field of religious thought. Having
•early freed himself from one of the most stubborn
schools of protestant thought into a change of faith,
he was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church
Feb. 23, 1863. His articles, however, on Frederick
Schleiermacher Origen, the ancient divine, and
others that appeared in the Mercersburg Review in
1873 and afterwards, evince a rationalistic change
of thought to have taken place from that whfch he
■first, upon investigation, adopted.
Mr. Harris is quite a linguist, and has ever had
great fondness for that kind of study. Besides be-
ing fairly conversant with the classical languages
of Greek and Latin, a large part of his library is
made up of the writings of German and French
authors, which languages he reads with ease. Out-
side of his mother tongue he has devoted most time
to the mastering of the German language, for a
clearer understanding of the great writers and
thinkers in all departments of science and phil-
osophy, who have left their brightest and best
couched only in the language of their native
country.
AMOS ELLMAKER. Lancaster county has
produced few men of intellectual attainments so
brilliant as those of Amos Ellmaker, lawyer, jurist
and statesman. Fitted by mental endowment to fill
the highest political stations in the land, admired by
a wide constituency, courted by men of eminence
and renown, he possessed that equable nature
which was unmoved by the glitter of political prefer-
ment, and though he filled many positions of im-
portance and eminence he declined many others, pre-
ferring the practice of his profession in Lancaster
county.
Mr. Ellmaker was a native of Lancaster county.
born Feb. 2, 1787, son of Nathaniel Ellmaker. Giv-
ing in his early youth abundant evidence of superior
ability. Amos was afforded by his father the oppor-
tunity of acquiring a liberal education. He was sent
to Princeton College, there completing his classical
education, and choosing the law as his profession he
attended the then celebrated law school at Litchfield,
Conn., conducted by Judge Reeves. Admitted to the
Bar, Mr. Ellmaker began practice at Harrisburg, and
he speedily established himself as one of the leading
members of the Pennsylvania Bar. His professional
life became one of great activity. He was an officer
in the army that marched from Pennsylvania to the
defense of Baltimore in the war of . 1812. He was
appointed prosecuting attorney for Dauphin county,
and from the same county was three times elected to
the State House of Representatives. In 1814 he
was elected to Congress, but declined to serve; for
the same year he was appointed Presiding Judge for
the district composed of Dauphin, Lebanon and
Schuylkill counties. Resigning this judgeship later,
he was appointed Attorney General of the Common-
wealth, which office he also resigned, in 1821.
Removing that year to Lancaster, Mr. Ellmaker
there entered upon the practice of law, and met with
extraordinary success. Completing a brilliant career
as an advocate, he retired in affluence a number of
years later. Judge Ellmaker was in 1832 a candidate
of the anti-Masonic party for Vice President of the
United States, and two years later he received next
to James Buchanan the highest legislative vote for
United States senator. Upon the accession of James
Monroe to the Presidency Mr. Ellmaker was ten-
dered, but declined, the cabinet appointment of Sec-
retary of War, a position for which he was admirably
qualified, and though urgently solicited by his many
friends to accept he preferred the enjoyments of a
quiet life. He was a natural leader of men and
political thought,- and during the anti-Masonic and
the Whig campaigns of his active life his political
views and sentiments were widely sought. He com-
manded a wide influence in professional and political
'circles, and though deaf to many beckoning calls to
honors and preferments he retained and' cherished
to the last the affections and admiration of the peo-
ple of Pennsylvania.
Judge Ellmaker married, in 1816, Mary Rachel
Elder, of Harrisburg, a member of a distinguished
pioneer family of Pennsylvania, many representa-
tives of which attained high political and profes-
sional honor. She was a granddaughter of Rev.
John Elder, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, .and
for more than a half century pastor of the church
at Paxton, Pa. Several of his sons were officers in
the Revolutionary army. Judge Amos Ellmaker
died Nov. 28, 185 1. His family consisted of six
children, Franklin, Nathaniel, Catharine C, Eliza-
beth E., Thomas and Levi.
Thomas Ellmaker, M. D., a retired physician
of Lancaster, and perhaps the oldest member of the
medical profession in that city, is a son of Hon.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
61
Amos and Mary Rachel (Elder) Ellmaker. He was
born in Lancaster county March 22, 1825, and in
the schools of Lancaster city received his early edu-
cation, subsequently attending St. Paul's Episcopal
College, on Long Island. Attending lectures at Jef-
ferson Medical College, he graduated from that in-
stitution March 24, 1846, and at once began the
practice of medicine at Landisville, this county. He
continued successively in practice for a period of five
years, and then removed to Lancaster, where, on
West King street, he successfully conducted for
twenty years a drug store. Dr. Ellmaker then re-
tired from active life. He has since retained his
residence at Lancaster, but has traveled considerably
through the West. He is proficient in the French,
Latin and Greek languages, and is well read in the
sciences also. He is the owner of a large and well-
selected library, which he keeps up to date by judici-
ous purchase. He has been a member of the Lan-
caster City and County Medical Society, of the
State Medical Society, and of the American Medical
Association. He served as president of the Lan-
caster Medical Society, and as secretary for three
years. In politics Dr. Ellmaker is a Republican. He
is an attendant of and a liberal contributor to the
Presbyterian Church, and among the social organiza-
tions he is prominently affiliated with the Order of
United American Mechanics. He also has promi-
nent business and financial connections.
Dr. Ellmaker has never had need to use glasses,
and he is a remarkably well preserved man for his
age. The city and county of Lancaster have no
warmer friend than Dr. Ellmaker. He has been
identified with many business interests,. and in any
cause for public improvement his aid is ever ready.
WILLIAM KONIGMACHER SELTZER, a
well-known member of the Lancaster County Bar,
who has retired after an active practice of thirty-
seven years, resides in one of the handsomest and
most comfortable residences in Ephrata — a village
which has become noted for its attractive residences
and air of solid comfort.
The Seltzer family is of German extraction.
Three brothers came from Germany to America,
one of them settling in Berks county. Pa., one in
Lebanon county, and the third in Virginia. It was
the settler in Berks county who founded the branch
in which William Konigmacher Seltzer traces his
direct ancestral line. For many years his respected
grandfather, John Seltzer, was a leading farmer
in the vicinity of Womelsdorf.
Jacob Van Reed Seltzer, son of John, and the
father of William K., was a wholesale merchant in
Philadelphia for a number of years, remaining in
business until his health failed. Returning to his
old home in Berks county, after six years of retire-
ment, he died there in 1853, ^t the early age of
thirty-six years. He married Mary Konigmacher,
daughter of the late William Konigmacher, the well-
known farmer, tanner and stone contractor, who
furnished all the fine stone for Franklin and Mar-
shall College; St. Mary's Catholic Church of Lan-
caster ; the courthouse ; the Lancaster county prison ;
the store front of the building erected by the late
John N. Lane, now owned by J. R. Foster; and
many other of the city's most notable buildings.
The stone was furnished from the famous quarries
which are located near Durlach, this county, and
which cannot be equalled in the State.
The Konigmacher family has an old and honor-
able record also, great-grandfather Dr. Jacob Konig-
macher being an eminent physician of his time.
Among the prized possessions in Mr. Seltzer's home
is a veritable "great-grandfather's clock," which
was once used by this ancestor, and which still
serves its purpose, although its face has looked out
upon the domestic life of its owners for fully 125
years.
Upon the death of Jacob Van Reed Seltzer his.
widow removed to Ephrata, which was her old
home, taking her nine-year-old son, William K.,
with her, and through all these years mother and
son have been spared to one another, the tender af-
fection between them realizing the highest maternal
and filial love. Mrs. Seltzer is a woman of superior
mind and attainments, mentally equipped and phy-
sically as strong as many women who have not yet
passed the half-century life mark.
William Konigmacher Seltzer was born Aug. 8,.
1844, at Womelsdorf, Pa., and was educated in the
schools there and in Lancaster county. For a time
he pursued higher branches at the State Normal
School at Millersville, after which he taught school
for several years, all the time, however, having his
mind fixed on the study of the law. Finally, with
this end in view, he went to New Haven, Conn.,
and there took a preparatory course, later entering
the Yale Law School. Upon his return to Lancas-
ter county he entered the law office of the revered
Hon. Nathaniel Ellmaker, of the city of Lancaster,
and was admitted to the practice of his profession
in September, 1865. Later he was admitted to the
Supreme and Superior courts, and for a period
of thirty-seven years engaged in successful practice.
For twenty-five years, as justice of the peace, Mr,
Seltzer administered impartial justice. Although a
lifelong Republican, and active in the work of the
party, he received his first appointment to this posi-
tion from a Democratic governor, Pattison. Mr.
Seltzer resigned the office some four years ago.
For a number of years he was also a notary public,
and as such attended to a great deal of business.
As stated above, Mr. Seltzer is a lifelong Republi-
can, and it can also be said 'that his Republicanism
is such that where he stands politically is not ques-
tioned. He has served as delegate to county. State
and National conventions, and was one of the fam-.
ous 306 who, in the Republican National Convention
62
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of 1880, believed so strongly in the wisdom of Gen.
Grant's serving a third term as President that they
went down to defeat with their colors nailed to the
rtlast.
Mr. Seltzer's interest in educational matters has
made him a particularly useful member of the school
board, on which he has served for five years, and
he is serving his second year as its efficient presi-
dent. Although he is a most effective speaker,
arid a most desirable candidate for almost any office
in the eyes of his friends, he has steadily declined
political preferment, private life being more to
his taste. Since June, 1866, he has been president
of the Northern Mutual Fire Insurance Company of
Lancaster county, which manages about $18,000,-
000 of local insurance.
In his early manhood Mr. Seltzer was sworn in
as a militiaman and served during the Civil war,
for one year as a member of Battery I, Pa. Light
Artillery, under Capt. Nevin. In this connection,
as in other relations of life, he gave faithful and
satisfactory service. For nearly twenty years he has
been a vestryman in the Lutheran Church, and for
a considerable period was superintendent of the
Sunday-school. Fraternally he is a Thirty-second
degree Mason, a member of the Consistory and all
the bodies leading up to that honorable body.
In 1869 William K. Seltzer married Miss Emma
Keller, daughter of Jacob B. Keller, a retired mer-
chant of Ephrata, who had also been a prominent
miller and farmer in his day. Six children were
born to this union, five of whom are still living:
Henry Kent, who graduated from Lehigh Univers-
ity, class of 1895, is now following a successful
career as a civil engineer in Kansas City, being
connected with the responsible firm of Waddell &
Hedrick, consulting engineers, the senior member
of this well-known firm having received a decoration
from the Emperor of Japan. Jacob Franklin died
at the age of ten years. Naomi M. was educated
at Ladies College, Hagerstown, Md. Lillian R.
was educated at Wilson College, Chambersburg, Pa,
Mabel R. was a student at the excellent Quaker,
George School, near Newtown, Bucks county, which
is under the supervision of the Society of Friends,
and at present is attending Irving College, at Me-
chanicsburg. Pa. William Van Reed, also a student,
is at home.
The professional life of Mr. Seltzer has been 3,
successful one, but the business affairs of the great
company which he so efficiently directs leave hin^
no time to continue in that line. His familiarity with
the risks and responsibilities of the business has
made him highly valued by his associates, and gained
him the confidence of the public. A pleasant, gen-
ial gentleman, overflowing with the milk of human
kindness, with an open hand and a ready smile, Mr.
Seltzer is one of the most popular and highly es-
teemed citizens of Ephrata.
PATRICK McEVOY (deceased), who was one
of Lancaster's most prominent men, was born in
Mount Mellick, Queen's County, Ireland, in 1805,
and came to America in 1823. He found employ-
ment with a railroad contractor, but in a few years
embarked for himself in the same business. Return-
ing to Ireland, he in 1835 was married there to Julia
Maher, a native of the same place as himself. With
his wife he returned to America, and purchasing a
tract of land just outside the limits of Lancaster, re-
sided there until his death. He became the business
partner of Mr. Malone and in a few years was one of
the most extensive railroad contractors in the coun-
try. He had large contracts in the construction of
the Pennsylvania railroad, the New York and Erie,
and on the Susquehanna tide-water canal. One of
the finest pieces of railroad in the United States is
the section of the Central Pennsylvania railroad at
Kittanning Point, and this was constructed by Mr.
McEvoy.
In 1867 Mr. McEvoy became a member of the
banking house of Evans, McEvoy & Co., in Laricas-
ter ; he was the owner of considerable real-estate, a
stockholder of the Pennsylvania Central railroad ; a
director of a number of turnpike companies and also
of the old Lancaster Bank. In 1864 he was a Presi-
dential elector on the Democratic ticket. He was a
very liberal man and was one of the founders of the
Buchanan-McEvoy-Reynolds Relief Fund of Lan-
caster city, and he bequeathed various amounts to
the Boys' Orphan Asylum, Philadelphia; and the
Catholic Seminary at Overbrook, Pa. He died Feb.
I, 1870, and is interred in St. Mary's Catholic Ceme-
tery, Lancaster.
REV. JACOB R. HERSHEY. The Hershey
family is not only one of the most prominent, but is
also one of the oldest families in Lancaster county,
having been founded in 1719. Its numerous repre-
sentBtives have been noted for their excellence, as far-
mers, their intelligence and morality as citizens, and
for their work and influence in the Mennonite
Church.
Andrew Hershey was born in Switzerland in
1702. His father removed to the Palatinate, and be-
came a member of the court of Freidensheim. In
1719 the records tell that with his father and brother
Benjamin, Andrew Hershey emigrated to America
and settled in Lancaster county. Pa. The other
brother. Christian, was forced to remain behind at
the court, but in 1739 he also came to America and
joined the two brothers who had preceded him.
They were all serious-minded, worthy men, and
were chosen to be ministers in the Mennonite
Church. Andrew Hershey lived to the age of ninety
years, and died in 1792. He had the following
children: Christian, Andrew, John, Benjamin,
Jacob, Abraliam, Isaac, Herii-y, Peter, Catheririe>
Maria and Adli.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
63
Andrew Hershey (2), son of Andrew, was born
in Lancaster county, and married Magdelina Bach-
man. He was a farmer all his life and died July
16, 1806 ; his widow survived until Sept. 10, 1833.
Jacob Hershey, son of Andrew (2) was a well-
known farmer of Lancaster county. He married
Anna Newcomer, and their children were : John,
Christian, Abraham and Joseph. Jacob Hershey
died in 1825, at the age of eighty years, while his
widow survived until 1830, dying at the age of
eighty-one years.
Bishop Joseph Hershey, son of Jacob and father
of Rev. Jacob R. Hershey, was for many years a
bishop in the Mennonite Church, and by precept and
example, promulgated his belief; His residence was
on the old Hershey estate in SaUsbury township,
where he died in 1855, at the age of sixty-four
years. His wife, Magdalena (Roop) Hershey, a
daughter of Andrew and Esther (Kauffman) Roop,
died April 19, 1887, aged eighty-nine years and ter^
months, and was laid to rest by her husband's side
in the old Hershey cemetery, in Salisbury township,
this quiet spot having been a part of the original
estate. The children born to this union were : Rev.
Jacob R., of this sketch ; Christian, who died at the
age of eighteen years; Barbara, deceased wife of
David Hoover; Anna, who died young; John, who
died young; and Abraham.
Rev. Jacob R. Hershey, son of Bishop Joseph
and Magdalena (Roop) Hershey, was bom on his
present farm, Aug. 9, 1817, and there grew to man-
hood. For many years he was well known in agri-
cultural circles, but he retired from all active labor
in 1877. Brought up under Christian influences,
in a pious and godly home, his beloved parents
setting him noble examples, the young man early
professed religious conviction and became a minister
in the Mennonite Church. In 1858 he was ordained
to the work, and for forty-two years has been a
faithful laborer in the field of usefulness in which
he was placed. He is known and beloved over a
wide extent of territory, and particularly in the
Old Road and Paradise charges, where hjs labors
have been much blessed. Although no politician, his
sympathies have always been with the Republican
party. For a considerable period he served as
school director, and has taken a deep interest in
educational matters. With the exception of four
years passed on a neighboring farm, the one he
now occupies has always been his home. Here he
is surrounded by all that makes advanced life com-
fortable, is the center of loving relatives and friends,
and appears much younger than many of his con-
temporaries, as he reads without glasses. With the
exception of a hardness of hearing, he shows that
Time has touched him very gently.
On Nov. 29, 1839, in Lancaster, Rev. Hershey
was married to Margaret Eby, born July 14,1819, in
Salisbury township, daughter of Peter Eby (whose
wife was a member of the Weaver family), and
sister of Bishop Eby. (For sketch of Eby family,
see another part of this volume). To Rev. Jacob
R. and Margaret (Eby) Hershey were born nine
children, of whom we have the following record:
Josiah; Magdalena, the wife of John R. Buck-
walder, of Kinzers, Pa. ; Peter, who went to the
West and has never been heard from; Ephraim', a
farmer in Salisbury township; Mary, who married
Christian Metzler, a farmer of Paradise township;
Jacob, a farmer of Salisbury township ; Lizzie, who
died young; and Margaret, also deceased.
Ephraim Hershey, the third son of Rev. Jacob
R. and Margaret (Eby) Hershey, was born on the
old homestead, in Salisbury township, Dec. 6, 1844.
Until his marriage he remained under the parental
roof, and then took charge of the farming opera-
tions there for three years. He next removed to his
present excellent farm of ninety-three acres, and
has developed them in the same excellent manner. In
his locality he is much esteemed, and he and family
belong to the Mennonite Church. He belongs to no
political party, casting his vote as he deems best
for all concerned.
On Jan. i, 1867, Ephraim Hershey was married
to Susan E. Leaman, of Paradise township, and to
this union were born the following children: Ira,
who married Sarah Kreider, is a farmer in Salisbury
township, and has six children; Emma M., who
married John G. Wenger, lives in Salisbury town-
ship, and they have four children; Frank B., who
married Lydia W. Buckwalter, is a farmer in
Salisbury township; and Omer E., Elam W.,
Ephraim K., Jacob R., Jr., and Alice W. are at home.
Mrs. Susan E. (Leaman) Hershey was born May 3, ,
1845., ill Leacock township, daughter of Jacob and
Lydia (Buckwalter) Leaman, the former of whom
was a farmer, and for many years a school director
of East Lampeter township. He died in 1891, at the
age of seventy years, and was buried in Mellinger's
cemetery, near Lancaster. His widow resides in
Paradise township, with her daughter, Mrs. John
Kreider. Both Mr. and Mrs. Leaman were members
of the Mennonite Church. •
Jacob E. Hershey, general farmer, was born
in Salisbury township, on his present farm, Sept.
13, 1856, son of Rev. Jacob R. and Margaret (Eby)
Hershey. He was reared to farm life and has
followed agricultural pursuits exclusively, on this
farm, all his ictive life, with the exception of three
years spent on a neighboring estate. Mr. Hershey
like the other members of his family is highly es-
teemed as a man of honor and reliability, and belongs
to a family which is one of the most substantial in this
part of Lancaster county. He has shown a deep
interest in educational matters, and has served as
school director for the past fifteen years. In politics
he is a Republican. With his family he belongs to,
and assists in supporting, the Mennonite Church.
64
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
On Oct. 26, 1876, in Lancaster, Mr. Hershey was
married to Miss Mary Esbenshade, and the children
born to this union were as follows: Herbert, at
home; Clayton, who married Ella Buchwalder, has
one child, and lives in Paradise township; Milton,
Elwood, Bertha, Mabel, Edna and Margerie, are at
home; and Willis died young.
Mrs. Mary (Esbenshade) Hershey was born in
Earl township, Nov. 25, 1852, daughter of Jacob and
Susannah (Bushong) Esbenshade, of Lancaster
county, both of whom died in East Earl township,
where they were farming people all their lives. The
father of Mrs. Hershey died in 1898, aged sixty-
nine years, and the mother died in August, 1901,
aged seventy-oiie years. Both parents were interred
in Eaby's cemetery in West Leacock township, hav-
ing long been members of the German Baptist
Church. They had these children born to them,
besides Mary, who is the wife of Jacob E. Hershey ;
Elizabeth, deceased wife of John Kochel; Sarah,
wife of Rife Myers, a farmer of Earl township;
Emma, wife of Frank Buckwalder, of Paradise
township ; Susan, wife of Elam Kreider, of West
Leacock township ; Lydia, wife of Martin Ebersole,
of Paradise township; Amanda, wife of Walter
Mays, of East Earl township ; and Adam, a farmer
of East Earl township.
NATHANIEL ELLMAKER, lawyer, philan-
thropist and Christian gentleman, was born in Har-
risburg. Pa., April 27, 1817. He was descended
from that sturdy German stock that came to Penn-
sylvania early in the eighteenth century and did so
much to give tone and direction to Pennsylvania
during its formative period. The first comer of the
name was Leonard EUmaker, who reached Lancas-
ter county in 1724. He became a prominent and
well-to-do citizen. His son, Nathaniel, became still
more prominent in the afifairs of the Commonwealth,
being honored with election to the State Senate in
1796. He was a man of more than average ability,
of much independence of character, great probity,
^nd an unswerving lover of truth. Still more promi-
nent in public affairs was Amos EUmaker, son of
the last named, who was born in Lancaster county
Feb. 2, 1787. From boyhood he manifested a ten-
dency toward something higher than the rural life
to which he was bom, and his father wisely allowed
him to follow the bent of his inclinations by sending
him to Princeton College, where he was graduated.
Later he studied law. He began the practice of his
profession in the city of Harrisburg. He was ap-
pointed prosecuting attorney of Dauphin county,
and was thrice sent to the State Legislature by the
same constituency. In 1814 he was elected to Con-
gress, but declined to serve, having been appointed
President Judge of the district composed of Dau-
phin, Lebanon and Schuylkill cotinties. Still higher
honors awaited him. Resigning his judgeship, he
was made Attornev General of the Commonwealth.
He resigned that position also, and in 1821 came to
Lancaster, where he resumed the practice of his pro-
fession. His success was remarkable. He became
prominent in politics also, and he was the Anti-Ma-
sonic candidate for the Vice-Presidency in 1832.
Two years later he was a candidate for the United
States Senate, his vote being next to that of James
Buchanan,, who was the successful candidate. He
declined the position of Secretary of War, tendered
him by President Monroe. Amos EUmaker was the
father of Nathaniel EUmaker, whose name intro-
duces this article.
With such a father, and under such training as
his home life so generously gave, young EUmaker
naturally developed those sterling traits of character
which became so conspicuous during his long and
useful later career. As already said, Nathaniel Ell-
maker was born in 1817 in Harrisburg, where
his father at that time resided. His early education
was carefully attended to at his own home. Upon
his father's removal to Lancaster, in 1821, home in-
struction was supplemented by the private schools
of that city. Still later he attended the well-known
school at Lititz, taught by that eminent instructor,
John Beck, In due time he graduated from thence
to complete his education at an academy of high re-
pute in Burlington, N. J. Young EUmaker was
bright and quick, and emerged from that institution
with a mind well equipped for the battle of life which
he was soon to enter.
Making choice of the law as his life work, he
took the full course at the Yale College Law School.
At its conclusion he entered the ofi&ce of his illus-
trious father, where the real practical duties of his
profession were fully and quickly mastered. On
May 2, 1838, his aspirations were finally realized by
his admission to the Lancaster Bar, which he was
destined for a period of sixty years to adorn with
his legal abilities and eloquence, and to uplift by his
dignity and high personal character. Ably equipped
as he was for the duties of his profession, he quickly
acquired a large practice at a Bar noted for its
strong lawyers. In conducting the business of his
large clientage he was continually brought into those
intellectual combats in which the strong lawyer,
conscious of his powers, delights. The eloquent Col.
Eraser, the learned and sarcastic Stevens, the well-
read Franklin, and a host of other eminent celebri-
ties, were the men young EUmaker was time and
again called upon to meet in legal combat, nor did
these veterans always escape without marks of the
legal fray. He sought rather than shunned them,
for he well knew that the highest honors were won
in honorable battle with the giants of his profession,
and not with its weaklings. He became a favorite
with the people of the county, as his father had been
before him, and his practice in the Common PleaS
was large and lucrative. His wide legal knowledge,
united with his elevation of character and suavity
of manner, made him a dangerous opponent before
a jury. His love of justice, and his natural hatred
^^7^-b.^^--^- ^Ye^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
65
of wrongdoing in all its forms, impressed themselves
on the community, and his clients generally were of
the best class in it. This confidence was transmitted
from father to son, and to be once his client was to
remain so always. His practice in the Orphans'
court, than which there can hardly be a higher test
of confidence, was admittedly the largest ever en-
joyed by a member of the local Bar.
Mr. Ellmaker, as may be inferred from what has
already been said, never took a retainer in a case
which he knew to be unjust. For this reason, no
doubt, was his early resolve never to act for cor-
porations, where perhaps such cases might confront
him, and to the last he preferred to stand with the
people, refusing all corporation business. That de-
termination cost him much money. But what of
that ? His conscience remained calm and serene, and
that was greater reward to him than great gains won
in an unworthy cause. Pages might be written of
those noble traits of character which marked every
step of his career in his long and useful life. It is
certain that Mr. Ellmaker imbibed his lofty ideas of
propriety and duty from his illustrious father, in
whom they were also conspicuous.
In addition to the claims of an arduous profes-
sion upon him, Mr. Ellmaker found time to do a
large amount of miscellaneous reading. The result
was that few men were so thoroughly informed of
what was going on in the .great world of to-day as
he was. His general knowledge had a wide range,
and was fullv at his command, making him an ad-
mirable companion in social life.
Although his father was in public life as states-
man, politician and a holder of high party trusts, he
cautioned his son from pursuing a like course. The
request was heeded, and, although from his being
so well known to the public, and a member of the
dominant party, almost any local political honor was
within his easy reach, he turned aside from the allur-
ing temptation and remained until the end an ardent
lover of his first mistress, the law.
Mr. E'llmaker was at once one of the most lib-
eral and most modest of men. His hand and his
purse were ever open to the calls of charity. Every
worthy organization in the community had in him
a friend and a patron. His benefactions were lib-
eral, but they seldom reached the public ear, and
only when publicity was unavoidable. Truly his
charity was of the kind spoken of by the Master
when he said, "Let not thy left hand know what thy
right hand doeth," and many a deserving local char-
ity has had cause to regret his departure.
Nathaniel Ellmaker was married to Cecilia
Hager. daughter of Christopher Hager, a prominent
merchant of Lancaster. No children came to bless
this happy union. The widow is still living. Mr.
EUm.aker's early religious affiliations were with the
Episcopal Church, but later he united himself with
the Lutheran Church.
It is difficult in a brief sketch like this to do full
justice to a' life so pure and beautiful as that of
5
Nathaniel Ellmaker. Although he was decided and
firm in his opinions, they were advanced in a man^
ner not calculated to wound or give offense, but his
sense of right was so strong that nothing could
swerve him from it. In accepting a legal work, he
made it his aim never to defend a case he believed
unjust. He believed in the justice of it so strongly
that his sincerity impressed itself upon the jury, and
carried the day. Although reluctant to intrude his
opinions upon the public, any public scheme intended
to deceive or defraud was pretty sure to be sharply
antagonized by a communication from his pen in the
public journals. In all the relations of life Mr. Ell-
maker was justly regarded by the community as a
high-toned, upright, conscientious gentleman; a
model man, in fact, of whom no praise was too
strong and no words too eulogistic. We can only
say the world was better because of his having lived
in it, and poorer because of his departure.
To those who knew Mr. Ellmaker in his lifetime,,
or had dealings with him, his personal character
could not have failed to become well known. To
those, however, of the next generation, for whom
this book rriust be principally intended, his person-
ality cannot be so readily comprehended without a
brief sketch of the man himself.
In stature he was six feet or over, weighing in
his best days i8o pounds or more, had a light com-
plexion, light hair, worn short, a face cleanly shaven,
an honest, open countenance, kindly manners, free
from all affectation, guile or trickery, a hand shapely
as a lady's, with a clasp friendly and true. He was
brisk in his movements, walked fast, and frequently
cautioned himself against undue haste in his work
by repeating the admonition, "The more hurry, the
less speed." He dressed in good taste, without any-
thing flashy or loud ; carried his watch on a braided
guard, without seal or ornament.
Whatever talents may have come down from his
distinguished father, much of his physical and
mental activity and love of the humorous, no doubt,
he inherited from his mother, who was in all respects
a superior woman. She was the daughter of Thomas
Elder, in his time a leading lawyer of the Dauphin
County Bar, under whom his father, Amos Ell-
maker, studied law.
Although raised in two cities, Harrisburg and
Lancaster, it should be remembered that Mr. Ell-
maker stored up vitality for after life by spending
much of his vacation time when a boy in the country,
partly with his grandfather, Thomas Elder, visiting
the latter's farm in Dauphin county, but oftener with
his relatives and friends down in the Earl townships,
taking part in the work that was to be done, assist-
ing in a country store, driving an ox team, and help-
ing wherever he could be useful. There he formed
friendships that lasted all his life, and funny things
happened to him, of which he loved to tell in after
years, one of which only we have space to relate — ■
though we cannot tell it in his humorous manner.
He was on a visit to his favorite coiisin and attended
66
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
church with him. When service began, the singers,
after several efforts, failed to start the hymn. Then
an old Presbyterian elder took the matter in hand
and started the hymn, but by mistake started it in a
metre too long for the verses ; nothing daunted, how-
ever, he stuck to it bravely, repeating parts of the
verses where the metre was too long, in a most
laughter-provoking manner, to the end. The
cousin, who had given Mr. Ellmaker a front seat,
kept his eyes with a long-drawn face on Mr. Ell-
maker, who was struggling hard against an explo-
sion of laughter, while some of the younger folks
behind him were tittering — all of which the cousin
greatly enjoyed. On the way home from church,
each man driving his own team and accompanied by
his wife, the cousin commenced racing, driving
around and past Mr. Ellmaker several times. When
at home Mr. Ellmaker threatened to report him to
the church for racing on Sunday, whereupon the
cousin declared he did not race, but that his horse
had run away with him. In some such manner the
two cousins, when old in years, still young at heart
and in friendship true, innocently enjoyed themselves
whenever they met.
Mr. Ellmaker did not delight much in the subtle
intricacies of the law, outside of a well-prepared
brief of the authorities needed to support his case.
He would have the witnesses called together, ex-
amined, and their testimony taken down before the
trial, and if possible have everything ready when the
case was called. After the jury was selected, case
opened, and witnesses called, his abilities came into
play. Fully convinced that his client's case was a
just one (as already stated, he would not take a case
that he did not consider just), the expression of his
face and demeanor fully indicated that fact, and no
doubt often helped to impress the jury with a simi-
lar opinion. There was no levity, no laughing mat-
ter, with him, but a serious watchfulness, searching
questions to a witness, and telling replies to oppo^
site counsel, "shots on the wing" when opportunity
offered. When he objected to the evidence offered
he cited his authorities, stated his reasons without
delay or any display of oratory, and, if overruled,
took his exceptions and let the trial go on. When
the testimony was closed, and it came to addressing
the jury, then his reserve force would show itself.
The Bar knew this, and when an important case in
which he was engaged was to be won, and he could
be given the last speech, he would generally win it.
He would move the jury by his sincerity of manner
and earnestness of pleading, while he would de-
molish his opponent's case by his irresistible ridi-
cule.
Judge Brubaker declared him a dangerous man
before a jury; and Col. Dickey, who was engaged
both with him and against him in a number of
cases, said "Mr. Ellmaker was the strongest man
in his day before a jury at the Lancaster Bar."
Give him a case of an innocent maiden against her
false-hearted lover, for a breach of promise of mar-
riage; or a suit against a rich railroad company,
for running down the wife of a market farmer and
mother of his children, and there was no telling
how high the verdict would be. Once a high ver-
dict case was sent back by the Supreme court prin-
cipally on that account, and the second verdict was
higher than the first. In another suit against a rail-
road for damages the company moved for a change
of venue, alleging that a fair trial could not be had
in the county. It was but a short road, and the idea
that it would affect the entire population of the coun-
ty he made to appear so ridiculous that he had mem-
bers of the Bar shaking in their seats with laughter,
the court refused the application, and the company
thought best to settle their case.
As already stated, Mr. Ellmaker took an inter-
est in public affairs, especially anything that closely
affected his own community. He was one of the men
who, with Dr. F. A. Muhlenberg and Bishop Bow-
man, had the manner of the ringing of the church
bells changed from the old way of ringing them all
at the same time, causing a deaferiing and confused
clangor, which, if not noisy enough to waken the
dead, was at least sufHcient to hurry the sick and
dying out of the world. The mode was changed
through their efforts to an alternate ringing, as prac-
ticed up to the present day.
Politically Mr. Ellmaker was a Silver Gray,
Henry Clay, Whig, and opposed to the Ultra-Aboli-
tionist, but joined the Republican party and voted
for Lincoln, and when the news came that Fort
Sumter had been fired upon all former party lines ■
were wiped out with him — the Union party embraced
both. R.epublican and Democrat, all joined to save
the Union, and a mixed county ticket was nominated
by the committee of which he was an active member.
He was one of the solicitors instrumental in having
the non-combatant people, who thought it wrong to
bear arms (many of whom were his clients), ex-
cused from the war draft.
Mr. Ellmaker was a broad churchman, and said
one of the pleasant sights he loved to behold was
Bishop Bowman, the Episcopalian, Parson Baker,
the Lutheran, and Father Keenan, the Catholic
priest, walking together to visit the public schools,
of which they were directors.
In his home life the wish of the German poet was
fulfilled:
O, zarte Sehnsucht, sueszes Hoffen,
Der ersten Liebe goldne Zeit !
O, dasz sie ewig gruenen bliebe,
Die schoene Zeit der jungen Liebe.
Between him and his life's .partner love never
grew old. It was beautiful to see. Wherever one
went the other went — whether to cross the ocean to
visit foreign lands, to climb the Alps, or search
among the old German Church records ; whether to
rest from their year's labors and enjoy life for a
season along the seashore, or among the mountains ;
or whether confined to the sick room ; wherever the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
67
one was, there the other was sure to be, in faithful
attendance while life lasted.
In i860 he and his wife built their charming
country home, the beautiful "Friedenthal," now
thickly embowered among the stately trees they
planted, and sacredly guarded and kept by his sur-
viving life partner, in all respects as he loved to see
it. No gun was then, or is yet, allowed to be fired to
disturb the wild birds that come in the spring to
build their nests, rear their young, sing their songs,
and spend the summers ; thrushes pick up crumbs at
the kitchen door, and Phoebe sometimes chooses a
place for' her nest under the roof of the library porch.
In this lovely place they shared their generous hos-
pitality in an unostentatious and befitting manner.
The old and young, learned and unlearned, priest
and layman, rich and poor, were kindly welcomed
and entertained, not in large assemblies with music
and dancing, but in smaller parties, wisely chosen to
be congenial to each other. A Sunday-school was
for a time taught by the mistress, and a German
class met at stated evenings, where college profes-
sors and learned ministers took part in the study
and discussion of the German classics, and fre-
quently became engaged in warm disputes as to the
proper interpretation of word or sentence, to the en-
joyment of the host and hostess. Having no offspring
or their own, nephews and nieces in part supplied
the place, and uncle and aunt enjoyed their com-
pany, and even sometimes took part in their plays
and amusements. One autumn day, for instance,
the children suggested that uncle should take them
chestnut hunting. Doubting whether any nuts could
be found, and to avoid disappointing them in their
expectations, he provided himself with nuts from the
kitchen, and when under the trees dropped them un-
noticed by the children among the fallen leaves and
allowed the children to pick them up. On returning
home, however, it was discovered, to the surprise of
both uncle and children, that the nuts were boiled,
and uncle had to own up to what he had done, to
the great merriment of the children ; he enjoyed the
joke as much as they, although it had been somewhat
turned upon himself.
Nothing better need be written of Mr. Ellmaker
than to quote from v/hat was said by his brother at-
torneys at a Bar meeting held soon after his death :
"For sixty years of practice at the Bar," they said,
■"he had all the time maintained the highest standard
of professional honor. His private life was pure and
simple, and his integrity and fidelity were never
doubted by either his professional brethren, by his
clients, or by the community in which he lived. He
was alwavs'kind and courteous, full of pleasantries,
and entertaining, and, whether grave or humorous,
in all he said or related, there was never anything
unseemly. Nothing ever passed his lips that could
not have been spoken with propriety in the most
polite circle or uttered in the hearing of innocent
children."
JOHN B. ESHLEMAN, Esq., one of the best
county commissioners that Lancaster county has
ever known, comes from an old and honored family.
His grandfather, David Eshleman, was born in one
of the Hempfields, and died in West Hempfield in
September, 1834. He married Maria Summy, and
their children were: Anna, who died in 1834, un-
married; Jacob S. ; Benjamin, deceased; Peter, now
living in Grant county, Ind. ; David, and Martin,
both of Lawrence county, 111. ; John, deceased ;
Henry, living in Lancaster county ; Elizabeth, widow
of Joseph Musser; Mary, deceased; Barbara (Mrs.
Wilhelm), now deceased, and Elizabeth, living in
Clark county, Ohio. The father of this interesting
family was a farmer in West Hempfield township.
Jacob S. Eshleman, father of John B. Eshleman,
was born in Hempfield township and was a far-
mer. He was a prominent citizen and held the of-
fice of supervisor and other positions of trust. He
married Fannie Greider Bruckart, and his other
children besides our subject were: Mary, who died
in childhood ; Elizabeth, widow of the late John L.
Gingrich, of West Donegal township, Lancaster
county ; Jacob, who died Dec. 24, 1864, in the Rebel
prison at Salisbury, N. C, while serving in the Un-
ion army as a member of Company B, 45th P. V. I. ;
Samuel, of West Hempfield township ; Anna, wife
of Ephraim Bard, of West Hempfield township;
Martha, deceased wife of Fred Johns, of Lancaster ;
Peter, of West Hempfield, and Eugenie, deceased.
John B. Eshleman was born Feb. 11, 1839, in
West Hempfield township, and has spent the greater
part of his life there, where he was educated in the
public schools. He began teaching in 1857, and
taught in that township and in Columbia borough
for thirty-six years. In 1880 he was elected to the
Legislature. He served one term as justice of the
peace in West Hempfield township. In 1893 he was
elected a county commissioner, and so well did he
perform the duties of that responsible office that the
Republicans of Lancaster county — to whose inter-
ests he has been devoted for many years — re-elected
him, by a magnificent majority, to a second term,
and he had the honor of being the president of the
board of commissioners during the entire period.
Mr. Eshleman was married, in West Hempfield,
to Miss Martha B. Kauffman, a daughter of David
and Susan (Bishop) Kauffman, and the children
born of this union were: Minnie, wife of Fred B.
Daum, living in Philadelphia ; Susan, wife of Georga
M. Weller, of West Hei-npfield ; Stella, wife of Mor-
ris Witte, of West Hempfield; J. Guy, sten-
ographer with Hon. W. U. Hensel at Lancaster, Pa.,
and Clara N., at home.
Mr. Eshleman is a P. G. of Susquehanna Lodge,
No. 80, I. O. O. F., of Columbia, and a P. C. P.
of Shawnee Encampment, No. 23, also of Columbia ;
he has been and is now a trustee of both and a repre-
sentative to the grand bodies of both organizations*
He is also identified with Olivia Lodge (Rebekahi
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Degree, Odd Fellows), of Wrightsville, and Lan-
caster Canton. His family attend the United
Brethren Church.
An earnest Republican, yet never officiously ob-
truding his views on others; a Christian gentle-
man, and with a public record (officially) of which
any man might well be proud, John B. Eshleman is
naturally a strong man — politically, socially and in
the business world, and in his present retirement
from office he carries with him the well wishes of
hosts of friends and admirers.
CAPT. HENRY NEFF BRENEMAN, de-
ceased. For a number of years the late Capt. Henry
N. Breneman, whose death occurred Oct. lo, 1901,
was a very conspicuous figure in Lancaster county,
having worthily held offices of trust and responsi-
bility in military, official and business life.
Henry Neff Breneman was born on the old
homestead in Strasburg, Lancaster county, Jan. 13.
1830. The family is of Swiss origin and the grand-
father of the late Henry Breneman was Rev. Henry
Breneman, a preacher of the Old Mennonite Church.
The parents of Capt. Breneman were Henry and
Elizabeth (Neff) Breneman, the former of whom
was a miller and farmer near Strasburg. His chil-
dren were as follows : Anna, deceased, married
Daniel Herr, who is also deceased; EHzabeth mar-
ried Henry Musser, and both are deceased ; Susan
married Amaziah Herr of Strasburg, and is de-
ceased ; Henry N., of this sketch.
The early education of Capt. Henry N. Breneman
was acquired in the public schools, and he finished
in the Lititz Academy. At the age of twenty-one
years he went to learn the milling business at the
mill at Camargo, owned by his father, remaining
there five years and subsequently engaging in the
mercantile business in the store of Henry H. Bren-
eman & Co., in Camargo. He then engaged in
farming, and until he came to Lancaster was a
resident of Strasburg township, except for one year,
when he was a resident of Strasburg and was a
member of the firm of Herr, Breneman & Co. In
1866 he engaged in the manufacture of agricultural
implements, erecting a factory near his house, and
carried on both this enterprise and farming for some
years.
Capt. Breneman took an active part in Republi-
can politics, and served his town as assessor, school
director for twelve years, and justice of the peace
for fifteen years. During the Civil war he served
as 1st Lieut, of Co. G, 22d P. V. I., until compelled
to return home by reason of illness. Immediately
after the battle of Gettysburg, he raised and became
captain of a company of three months' men, which
was attached to the 15th Regiment of Pennsylvania
Militia as Company B. In 1875 he was elected
sheriff of Lancaster county, serving three years.
On May 24, 1894, Capt. Breneman removed with
his family to Lancaster, after which time, in part-
nership with his son, Joseph, under the style of
H. N. Breneman & Son, he became prominent as
a builder and contractor. This firm did much con-
tract work in Lancaster and the adjacent country^
their most notable buildings in this city being the
Court House annex, the "Lincoln Hotel," the silk
mills and the new "Wheatland Hotel" on North
Queen street.
On March 17, 1858, Mr. Breneman was married
to Anna M., daughter of the late Joseph Potts, of
Strasburg, and she and nine children survive* as-
follows : Winona S., wife of Abraham F. Strickler,.
of Lancaster township ; Dr. Park P., a practicing
physician of Lancaster ; Anna M. ; Joseph P., a con-
tractor of Lancaster ; Elizabeth B., wife of Milo B>
Herr, of Lancaster ; Maud M. ; Herbert N., as-
sistant superintendent of Motive Power of the C.
M. & St. P. R R. ; May, at home, and Li da L., at
home. Capt. Breneman was a member of Washing-
ton Lodge, No. 156, F. & A. M., of Quarryville, and
the Lodge of Perfection, and Lancaster Com-
mandery. Knights Templar, of Lancaster. By na-
ture he was kind and genial and was much be-
loved by all who knew him. Although during his
last years he was no longer active in politics, his-
former efficient services were always remembered.
Mrs. Anna M. (Potts) Breneman was born ia
the village of Lampeter, daughter of Joseph and
Eliza (Miller) Potts, of Lancaster county. For a
number of years Mr. Potts carried on a lumber busi-
ness in Strasburg, but for seven years prior to his-
death he was a farmer of Strasburg township. Het-
held many of the town offices, and was long one of
the school directors. He was born in 1813 and died
in 1856. The mother of Mrs. Breneman was
born in 1813 and died in 1880. Both par-
ents were laid to rest in the Strasburg cem-
etery. Two children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Potts : Anna M., who became Mrs. Breneman ;
and Joseph, unmarried, who lives retired in Stras-
burg.
BROWN. Among the early settlers of Lan-
caster county were the Browns, generally known as-
"the Browns of Nottingham." As early as the year
1680, James and William Brown, of England, mem-
bers of the Society of Friends, immigrated to Amer-
ica and settled near Marcus Hook, on the Delaware
river. James married Honour Clayton, and they
had six children, four sons and two daughters, of
whom their third son, Jeremiah, was the ancestor of
the family we propose to follow.
In the year 1669 a colony of Friends took up
eighteen hundred acres of land in Nottingham,
Chester county, forty miles from Marcus Hook.
WilHam Penn donated them forty acres of land for
a meeting house, graveyard, etc. Among those
Friends were James and William Brown, befora
mentioned, and from these brothers have descended
most of that name now residing in the southern ends
of Chester and Lancaster counties, Pa., and the
northern end of Cecil county, in Maryland.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
69
Jeremiah Brown, third son of James, in 1710,
Tnarried Mary Cole, of Nottingham, and became the
father of Patience, Jeremiah, Joshua and Isaac.
In the year 1758, Joshua Brown, son of Jere-
miah, purchased five hundred acres of land in that
part of Little Britain now known as Fulton town-
ship, Lancaster county, and removed thereto, his
■eldest son, Elisha, remaining on the farm in Not-
tingham. On this farm, situated in the Conowingo
valley, a substantial brick dwelling house was erect-
ed, which has braved the storms of more than a
century. Joshua Brown was an eminent minister
in the Society of Friends, and for the love of the
gospel traveled extensively to all the meetings of
the society in the different colonies. During the
time of the Revolutionary war he felt it his duty to
^isit Friends at Winchester, Virginia, who had been
Vanished from their homes in Philadelphia for no
crime but their faithful adherence to their' well-
Tcnown peace principles. While on that visit one of
their number died. After attending his funeral, and
•encouraging Friends to faithfulness under their suf-
fering, he, in company with Achilla Douglas, of
Virginia, proceeded to visit the meetings of Quakers
in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina
and encourage Friends during that trying period to
stand fast to their Christian testimony against all
wars and fightings. In the latter State the two were
arrested by the authorities as spies and cast into
prison. Friend Brown showed the officers his cre-
dentials of unity with his friends at home and the
object of his mission among them. After a thorough
investigation, the judge of the court admitted he
lielieved them to be innocent men ; he nevertheless
committed them to prison. The jailor and his wife
were kind to them, and soon they were allowed the
freedom of the town by day, returning to the jail
in the evening to lodge. They held religious meet-
ings in the court-house frequently, which the citi-
zens attended with openly expressed satisfaction.
The prisoners were offered their release on condi-
tion "they would leave the State, never to- return."
This they could not conscientiously consent to, and
after a detention of about six months they were
■discharged. Notwithstanding this long and unex-
pected imprisonment, Joshua felt it a religious duty
to visit the meetings of Friends in the Carolinas and
Virginia. This valuable Friend and undaunted
Christian died on Oct. 15, 1798, in the eighty-sec-
ond year of his age, a faithful minister of the gos-
pel for forty-eight years.
Joshua Brown was born March 5, 1717, and
Oct. 15, 1736, married Hannah Gatchell, who bore
him eleven children, of whom ten grew to ma-
. turity. Of these, four, Mary (intermarried with
Vincent King), Jeremliah, Isaiah, and Joshua, set-
tled and remained on the homestead or in the neigh-
iDorhood. Vincent and Jeremiah King, sons of Mary
(Brown) King, were noted physicians. Jeremiah
purchased of his father his grist and saw-mill, which
he enlarged, and it ultimately became the chief
merchant mill in southern Lancaster county. Isaiah
was a humble blacksmith, who inherited forty acres
of land, a part of his father's farm ; he died in the
year 1805, leaving one son, who subsequently re-
moved to Illinois. Joshua, the youngest son, died
in 1823 on the mansion farm, leaving no children.
Jeremiah Brown, as has been stated, purchased
his father's mills and a portion of his farm. He
was a man possessed of great energy and persever-
ance and was eminently successful in business. His
supplies of grain at that time were chiefly drawn
from the rich valleys of the Pequea and Conestoga,
in Lancaster count;^, and the Codqrus valley in
York county, from whence it was carted, in wagons
to the mill, and the flour in turn carted thirty miles
to Christiana Creek, Del., where i*- was shipped
to Philadelphia, then the nearest and most expedi-
tious route to a market. About the year 1800 he
purchased the extensive Slate Hill, at Peach Bot-
tom, in Lancaster countv, on the Susquehanna river,
and commenced the manufacture of roofing-slates.
From these quarries, the first opened in this sec-
tion of the State, he furnished the slate which yet
covers the State capitol at Harrisburg, the Friends
Asylum for the Insane at Frankford, numerous pub-
lic buildings in Baltimore, Washington, Alexandria,
and Fredericksburg in Virginia. These quarries he
continued to work successfully until the year 1827,
when he relinquished them to his three sons, Levi,
Jeremiali and Slater Brown, who continued to work
them until a recent period. He was several times
chosen a member of the Legislature of his native
State while its sessions were held in the borough of
Lancaster, and during his term was instrumental in
procuring the passage of several acts of vast bene-
fit to his constituents.
In the year 1810, he, with others, established the
Farmers' Bank, at Lancaster, an institution which
to the present time, has stood the test of all financial
struggles with unblemished credit ; and at the time
of his decease, in 1831, he was perhaps its largest
stockholder, holding in his own name, one thou-
sand shares of its stock. Although active and en-
ergetic in business, he did not neglect his religious
duties. During a long life when health permitted,
he was diligent in his attendance upon all the meet-
ings of the Society of Friends and for many years
was an esteemed elder in the church. Near the close
of- his life he built, at his own expense, the present
commodious brick meeting-house at Penn Hill,
which from all appearances may stand another cen-
tviry a monument of his liberality and devotion to the
principles and testimonies of the Society of which he
was a lifelong and consistent member. He died July
7, 1831, aged nearly eighty-two years.
His children, Sarah, Levi, Hannah, Deborah,
Jeremiah, and Slater Brown, all married and set-
tled near their native home ; many of their descend-
ants to the third and fourth generation reside in
the township and vicinity. Sarah married Timothy
Haines. Hannah married Isaac Stubbs, mother of
70
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Dr. J. B. Stubbs, who will be represented on an-
other page. Of the three sons, Levi was a retired
man, a miller and farmer, much esteemed, who died
in 1846, aged about seventy years. Slater, the
youngest son, inherited the paternal mansion, farm,
and mills, was successful in business, and took an
active part in political affairs ; for some years he
served as one of the prison inspectors of the county ;
his death occurred on the Sth of June, 1855, aged
sixty-eight years.
Jeremiah Brown, son of Jeremiah, was born
April 14, 1785 ; he married, "May 14, 1807, Ann,
daughter of Roger and Rachel Kirk, of Nottingham'.
Enjoying a robust constitution, in early life he was
placed in his father's mill to learn the trade, in
which capacity it was necessary mUch of the time
for him to continue half of the night season; at
other times he drove one of the teams, hauling
wheat to and flour from the mills. He was a man
of good natural abilities and sound judgment, and in
early life was frequently chosen for responsible posi-
tions in the neighorhood.
In the year 1826 he was elected a member of the
State Legislature on the Federal ticket, and served
to the satisfaction of his constituents during that ses-
sion, which will be remembered as the one in which
the State inaugurated "her great system of internal
improvements." The following year he was again
nominated, but owing to the breaking up of the
old- political parties in that year, many Federalists
joined in the Jackson excitement and by a very few
votes he was defeated by Hon. George B. Porter,
a leading Democrat, afterwards Governor of Mich-
igan. In the year 1836 he was placed at the head
of the ticket and chosen a member of the conven-
tion to revise the Constitution of the State. In
the year 1840 he was nominated and elected a mem-
ber of Congress for Lancaster county, in connection
with Hon. Francis James, of Chester, and Hon.
John Edwards, of Delaware county, those three
counties forming the Congressional district. In
1842 he was again unanimously nominated, and
with his colleagues re-elected to the xxviith
Congress. Although not accustomed to public
speaking, he was assiduous and diligent in his com-
mittee rooms, where, after all, the effective work is
accomplished. During his term of service the well-
known "tarifiE of 1842" was enacted, in support of
which he took a conspicuous part, and which, during
its continuance, proved so beneficial to the extensive
manufacturers of his district.
Having completed his second term of Congress,
he devoted himself to his private affairs until the
year 1850, when he was nominated and elected as-
sociate judge of the courts of Lancaster county for
the term of five years, which position he filled to the
entire satisfaction of his fellow-citizens. In the year
1855 he was solicited to be a candidate for re-
election, but on account of enfeebled health and
advancing years he declined the honor and retired
to private life. His valuable life closed the 2d day
of March, 1858, in the seventy-third year of his
age.
Judge Brown left seven children: Kirk and
Edwin, now deceased ; Hannah, deceased wife of
Samuel C. Wood, who resided on the mansion farm ;
Rachel K., deceased, who removed with her chil-
dren and their families to Kansas; Deborah H.,
(widow) residing with her son in the adjoining
township of Little Britain; Alfred M. Brown, re-
siding on his farm; and Levi Kirk, mentioned be-
low.
Levi Kirk Brown^ whose death occurred in
Goshen, April 28, 1899, was one of the most widely
known men in his own and in Chester counties.
He was born June 27, 1814. At that time his father,
Jeremiah, conducted a merchandise store at Goshen,
but the latter's election to the legislature, placed
the responsibility for the management of the store
on Levi, who remained there until 1835. Three
years later ne removed to Oxford and purchased a
portion of the hotel property formerly owned by
his uncle, Timothy Kirk. He conducted a general
store business in the building now known as the
"Octoraro Hotel" for five years. Mr. Brown after-
wards sold the property to Rev. John* M. Dickey
for the Oxford Female Seminary. While a resident
of Oxford he was elected a member of the first
council of this town, in May, 1838; he was re-
elected the following year; in 1840 was elected
burgess, and the next year he was re-elected to the
council. From Oxford he went to West Chester
and engaged in store keeping with his brother Lewis.
During his residence there he purchased the "Ches-
ter County Hotel," changed the name to "Brown's
Mansion House," and conducted it as a temper-
ance house about four years. Mr. Brown after-
wards engaged in business in Philadelphia and
Baltimore. In 1853, ^t the desire of his father, who
was growing feeble, Mr. Brown returned to Goshen
and managed affairs at the old homestead.
After his retuirn to Goshen, Mr. Brown became
one of the most prominent and useful citizens of the
lower end of Lancaster county. He was a man of
good judgment and many people sought his advice
in legal, financial and other matters. He settled
nearly a hundred estates and assisted in many ac-
counts. He was a director of the National Bank
of Oxford for about twenty-eight years, and a
director of the Conowingo Bridge Company for
about twenty-three years. For nine years he was
supervisor of the new system in mending roads in
Fulton township, for which purpose Mr. Brown,
Henry Carter and Lewis Haines had a special law
enacted. Mr. Brown was a member of the Society
of Friends for many years and served as clerk and
assistant clerk of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting for
about twenty-eight years. For many years the de-
ceased was interested in the welfare of the Indians,
and at the time of his death he was secretary of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
71
the Seven Yearly Meetings on Indian Affairs.
Several times he visited in an official capacity the
Indians in Nebraska and Dakota.
In 1835 Levi Kirk Brown married Hannah C.
Moore, who was born in Cecil county, Md., in 1816,
and died July 29, 1893. Of their children the fol-
lowing survive : WilHam H., of Philadelphia, chief
engineer of the Pennsylvania Railway Company;
Jacob K., of Goshen; Charles E., of Philadelphia;
Theodore F., of Pittsburg, assistant auditor of the
Union Freight Line at Pittsburg; Mrs. Mary L.
Havaland and Annie S., both at home.
Jacob K. Brown was born in Oxford, Chester
county, Sept. 5, 1842. He grew to manhood on
the home farm, which he now owns. His educa-
tion was acquired in the well equipped public schools
of Lancaster county. Early trained to agricultural
pursuits, he has continued to follow farming as his
life work, cultivating the home place, which con-
sists of 13s acres of fine land, well improved with
substantial buildings. The general appearance of
the place proves its owner a first class thorough
farmer.
On Sept. 22, 1874, Jacob K. Brown married
Sarah Lamborn, and three children have brightened
their home: Mary Edna, and Chester L. are at
home; Edith died in childhood. The Republican
party has found in Mr. Brown a staunch adherent,
and he takes a keen ' interest in all that pertains to
the public welfare.
SAMUEL KENEAGY, M. D. Samuel Ken-
eagv was born June 20, 1820, and was the son of
Henry Keneagy. He received an ordinary school
education and finished at the Strasburg Academy,
after which he began to read medicine in the ofHce
of Dr. F. S. Burrowes, in Strasburg, in 1842. Sub-
sequently he attended the sessions of the Jefferson
Medical College at Philadelphia, from which he
graduated in the spring of 1844, and then began the
practice of medicine in Strasburg. He took a warm
interest in politics and in 1858 he was elected a
member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, to which
he was also re-elected. During the Civil war he
was surgeon in the 50th Pennsylvania Regiment,
after which, in 1868, he accepted a professorship of
Anatomy in the State Agricultural College, located
in Center countv, Pa. The Doctor was one of
the earlv members of the County Medical Society,
and also of the State Medical Society.
SMITH ARMOR, M. D. The medical history
of Lancaster county includes the names of practi-
tioners who for many years have been professionally
associated with their respective localities. Among
those at Columbia whose lives have been devoted
most successfully to the healing art is Dr. Smith
Armor. Almost a full half century measures the
limits of his professional engagements and his
career is most intimately related to the human wel-
fare of Lancaster county.
Dr. Armor is a native of Delaware. He was
born near Wilmington, in .Feb., 1824, the son of
James and Ann (Lyman) Armor, and the grand-
son of William Armor, a native of Scotland, of
Scotch-Irish extraction, whose latter days were
passed in farming in the State of Delaware.
James Armor was born in Delaware, in 1780.
Reafed on a farm, he followed that vocation through
life. During the war of 1812, he helped enlist a
company of soldiers and was commissioned lieuten-
ant, serving with that rank. He died in 1843, aged
sixty-three years, his wife surviving until 1878, then
passing away at the ripe old age of eighty-seven
years. To James and Ann Armor were born these
children: Ferris, who was a school teacher of
Beaver Co., Pa. ; John ; James ; Thomas, of Em-
poria, Kan. ; Eleanor, and Smith. All are now de-
ceased except Smith.
Smith Armor spent his boyhood days on the
home farm but his mind was active and he aspired
to a professional career. The Wilmington Acad-
emy gave him a good education and largely by his
own efforts he won his way through one of the
early medical institutions, the Hahnemann School
of Medicine of Philadelphia, graduating in 1851 at
the age of twenty-seven years. Spending a year
in travel, the young physician settled in 1852 at
Marietta, Lancaster county, where he practiced suc-
cessfully for four years. Then in 1856 he came to
Columbia, where he has since followed the practice
of his profession, rapidly winning the recognition
which his professional attainments warranted and
holding the confidence and esteem of his large
clientage to the present day.
Dr. Armor married at Columbia, Pa., in 1853,
Sarah Martin, who was born in Muncy, Pa., in
April, 1824, daughter of William A. Martin. To
Dr. and Mrs. Armor were born two daughters:
Chellie ■ A., who married Denison Reeside, a real
estate agent, and is now a widow residing in Balti-
more, Md. ; and Elizabeth H., who lives at the old
home with her father.
In politics Dr. Armor is a Republican, but prior
to the administration of President Buchanan he was
a Democrat. In religious afSliations he is a member
of the Presbyterian Church. He has shared largely
in the social and public life of Columbia, has at-
tained a commensurate financial reward for his
active and invaluable professional service, and holds
a revered place in the affections of his fellow towns-
JACQUES Le tort was a French-Canadian
Indian trader, who first located on the Brandywine,
but subsequently established a trading post in
Conoy township. His wife took up 900 acres
of land in Donegal township, near Sparks'
Mill, which afterward came into the possession of the
Zeigelers and Stehmans. He afterward moved to
the spring bearing his name in Cumberland county,
near Carlisle. In 1727 it was reported to the Pro-
72
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
vincial council that Le Tort and some others had
built trading posts near the Conestogue and were
seeking for minerals. Le Tort was accused of hav-
ing done some misdemeanor and had been sum-
moned in 1694 to appear before the council. He
was arrested and his goods seized, but subsequently
they were returned, he giving bail in £500 with
securities thereon.
HENRY E. MUHLENBERG, M. D., than
whom no physician in the interior of the State of
Pennsylvania is better known, was mayor of the city
of Lancaster from the spring of 1899 ^"til April,
1902.
The history of the Muhlenberg family is an ex-
ceedingly interesting one. Frederick Augustus
Muhlenberg, M. D., was the youngest child of Rev.
Dr. G. Henry Ernest Muhlenberg, a celebrated botan-
ist, called the Linnaeus of America, and was born
March 14, 1795, in the city of Lancaster, where his
father was pastor for thirty-five years of the Evangel-
ical Church of the Holy Trinity. His preliminary
education he received in the German and English
private and parochial schools of his native city and
under the tuition of his father, who was a university
scholar and a gentleman of high culture, refined tastes
and exalted character. After the completion of his
preparatory studies Frederick A. Muhlenberg was
placed as a student of medicine in the oiifice of the
eminent Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia. Rev.
Dr. Muhlenberg was personally acquainted with Dr.
Rush, had been associated with him in works of
general benevolence and patriotism, and had a high
appreciation of his ability as a physician and his ex-
-cellence of character. The son entered his office
probably in the year 1812, and continued with him as
private pupil, also hearing his lectures in the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, until the spring of 1814, on
April 4th of which year he received the degree of
M. D. from that justly celebrated institution, graduat-
ing with high honors, diligently won. After his
graduation from the University of Pennsylvania he
returned to his native city, with the view of entering
upon his profession, and, his father dying one year
later, May 23, 181 5, he was thrown upon his own
resources. On Feb. 6, 1816, Dr. Frederick A.
Muhlenberg married Miss Eliza Schaum, a grand-
daughter of Rev. John Helfrich Schaum, one of
the early ministers of the Lutheran Church sent
over from Halie ; he came to America in the year
1745-
Dr. Muhlenberg devoted himself with all the
energy of his nature to the noble profession he had
chosen for his Hfework, and in the discharge of the
duties connected therewith, in the department of
general practice and surgery, which then were inti-
rnately allied, he spent fiifty years of the best part of
his life ministering to his fellow men, and alleviating
the ills that "flesh is heir to." In this long period
of practice he built up for himself a widespread repu-
tation and a competent support. In 1821-23 the Doc-
tor served as prothonotary, having been appointed
by Gov. Heister, and his occupancy of this office
brought him in contact with the best, of the leading
legal and literary gentlemen of Lancaster — a cir-
cumstance which improved his mind and widened his
influence. He was afterward appointed register of
wills by Gov. Shulze, and served two terms. As
president of the Lancaster Bank, with James Evans,
Esq., cashier, he aided in rescuing that institution
from destruction, and in raising it to a high degree
of usefulness and prosperity. With other gentlemen,
he interested himself for the improvement of the
Conestoga, by a series of locks, to bring it into con-
nection with tide water, for commercial purposes ;
and he used his influence and contributed of his
means to make this enterprise a success. The money
was lost, but the improvement remains. In early
life Dr. Muhlenberg was also much interested in
politics, being connected with the Democratic party,
and along with Mr. Buchanan he aided in promoting
the measures of that organization so long as they were
in his judgment calculated to pi-omote the general
good. He was also a member of the military com-
pany which in 1812, with Mr. Buchanan as cap-
tain, went to Baltimore to volunteer 'its services in
defense of that city on the appearance of the British.
Oh their arrival at Baltimore, however, the danger
was past. Dr. Muhlenberg remained a steadfast
friend of James Buchanan until, as President, he
took sides with the South in the Kansas trouble,
and failed to oppose with the necessary vigor the
efforts of the Secessionists to dismember our country.
Love of country then impelled the Doctor to forsake
the friend of his youth and the party favoring such
pernicious doctrines. In the great RebelHon his
voice gave no uncertain sound. He could not prefer
party to the welfare of his country. Descended from
a grandfather — Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg —
who was called an "arch rebel" by the British when
they were encamped around his residence, in the
neighborhood of Valley Forge, and occupying Phila-
delphia : the nephew of Major Gen. Peter Muhlen-
berg, who had served in the Revolution with dis-
tinction, from its commencement to its brilliant close
at Yorktown ; named after another uncle, Hon. Fred-
erick Augustus Muhlenberg, who had been obliged
to flee from New York on its occupancy by the
British troops, and was afterward speaker of the 1st
and Illd Congresses of the United States ; conscious
also that his own father had several times been
obliged to flee from Philadelphia in disguise in order
to escape falling into the hands of the invaders of
our country, and had lost in consequence nearly all
of his property — by nature and by education all the
pulsations of the Doctor's heart were for that glorious
TJnion which had been secured at such sacrifices.
Without hesitation he united with the war party to
preserve the Constitution and the Government. His
aid was solicited and given in the organization of the
Union League, and he became its first president.
Throughout the entire struggle he and all of his
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
73
name were found on the side of their country, and
none rejoiced more than he did on the final triumph
of the cause of the Union.
Dr. Muhlenberg found time also, dsepite his close
attention to his practice, to which he gave an abso-
lutely unselfish devotion, to promote the cause of
liberal education in the community. In connection
■with several other gentlemen of Lancaster, of differ-
ent denominations, he brought about the establish-
ment of a public school for the benefit of the poor of
the city, and one of his nieces was principal, for a
long period, of the female department of this school.
Subsequently he helped materially in the progress
and success of the Lancaster County Academy, of
which he was one of the trustees. This institution
was afterward merged into Franklin College, .incor-
porated in the year 1787 by the Legislature of Penn-
sylvania, for the benefit of the Germans and their
•descendants, at about the same that the public-school
system was introduced into Lancaster. The Doc-
tor's father had been an early trustee and president of
Franklin College, and the son, aided by other public-
spirited gentlemen of Lancaster of the Lutheran and
Reformed Churches, managed its finances with such
care and ability that the institution was put upon a
very substantial footing. It was owing largely to
his efforts and influence that it was finally united
with Marshall College, the removal of which from
Gettysburg to Lancaster was successfully effected.
The college has since been known as Franklin and
Marshall College.
Dr. Muhlenberg was a potent factor in the wel-
fare of the Lutheran congregation of the Holy Trin-
ity, in Lancaster, where for years he officiated as a
member of the vestry, either as trustee or elder. It
was in a great measure due to his advocacy that
English preaching was introduced into that church.
The Doctor was twice married, the first time to
Miss Eliza Schaum, before mentioned, and the sec-
ond time to Miss Ann Eliza Duchman. He had five
children by the first marriage, and nine by the
second.
Dr. Plenry E. Muhlenberg, son of Dr. Frederick
A., read medicine with his father and Dr. Benjamin
Rtish, and took his degree at the University of- Penn-
sylvania with the class of 1838. After graduation
he became associated with his father, and soon won
a large and lucrative clientele. In addition to his
private practice, he was consulting and visiting phy-
sician to the Lancaster County Hospital. He was an
active member of the Board of Councils, and also
a member of the County Medical Society. In 1869
lie was appointed, by President Grant, collector of
Internal Revenue of the 9th District, which office he
held until his death, in July, 1877. He married Miss
Catharine Cameron, daughter of the late John Cam-
eron, a distinguished Pennsylvanian. Of their fam-
ily, three sons and two daughters are living. Major
John Cameron Muhlenberg is paymaster in the
United States army, stationed at Omaha, in the De-
partment of Missouri ; Charles E. is connected with
the Dayton Cash Register Co., of Dayton, Ohio;
Annie A. is the wife of Major J. P. Cress, in the
Ordnance Corps, United States Army, stationed at
St. Louis ; and Miss Mary E. is living in Lancaster,
Pa. Another son, William C, who was a first lieu-
tenant in the 2d LTnited States Infantry, died at
Boise City, Idaho.
Henry E. Muhlenberg was born in the old family
home in West Orange street, Lancaster, Jan. 18,
1850, son of Dr. Henry E. and Catharine (Cameron)
Muhlenberg. After receiving a partial education in
the public schools of Lancaster and in Yeates Insti-
tute he was appointed, by Congressman Thaddeus
Stevens, to a cadetship at the Naval Academy at
Annapolis, and remained there three and one-half
years, at the end of which time he resigned and re-
turned home to read medicine with his father. In
187 1 he was graduated from the University of Penn-
sylvania, and then went to Texas as a member of
an engineering corps, helping to make the preliminary
survey of the Texas & Pacific Railroad. Returning
to lancaster. Dr. Muhlenberg remained at home a
little over a year, and then entered the United States
Marine Hospital service, in which he continued about
four and one-half years, doing duty in New York,
Boston and Philadelphia. Returning to Lancaster
in July, 1877, at the death of his distinguished father,
he took up the work of that very successful physician
and surgeon, and the mantle of the dead father fell
on worthy shoulders. After practicing for a time in
the office wEich had been so long occupied by his
father, in West Orange street. Dr. Muhlenberg, in
i88t, removed to South Prince street, next door to
the "Stevens House," and there he has ever since been
located, enjoying one of the most extensive practices
ever accorded to a physician in Lancaster. A stanch,
energetic Republican, Dr. Muhlenberg served as phy-
sician to the county alms-house and hospital for two
terms, 1872-73 ; and during President Cleveland's
first administration he was held over as a member of
the Board of Examining Pension Surgeons of Lan-
caster, of which body he was treasurer, having been
first appointed a member of the Board by President
Grant. He also served one year as a member of the
common branch of the city council from the Fourth
ward, and in February, 1899, was elected mayor of
Lancaster by the largest majority ever given a Re-
publican for mayor in Lancaster, his majority having
been 1,011. He at once began the work of conduct-
ing the administration on independent principles,
and, as a result, there were notable depart'ires from
previous administrations of the highest office in the
gift of the people of this city. He retired from this
incumbency in April, 1902.
Dr. Muhlenberg was married, in 1879, to Miss
Emma J. Fell, daughter of the late John P. Fell, a
contractor of Wilkesbarre, Pa. They have no chil-
dren, and make their home at the "Stevens House,"
next door to the Doctor's commodious offices. These
offices are particularly interesting because of Dr.
Muhlenberg's rare and valuable collection of old
74
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
china and antique furniture — a collection that has no
counterpart m this section of the country. The an-
tique chairs in his front (or receiving) office are the
same that stood in the office of the Doctor's grand-
father ; while in the private office, in the rear, is a
table that was made in 1772, and which has no nails
in it, the parts being put together with wooden pegs.
In the same room stands a quaint little table that came
from the celebrated monastery at Ephrata. The Doc-
tor is a Lutheran in religion, and is a member of the
Masonic Fraternity, affiliating with the Blue Lodge,
Chapter and Commandery, holding membership in
the latter body in Philadelphia. He is also a member
of the Elks, the Eagles, the Young Republicans and
the Hamilton Club. Progressive and aggressive in
all things, Dr. Muhlenberg was the first physician
in Lancaster to administer antitoxin in the treatment
of diphtheria. In social, professional and political
affairs he is thoroughly independent, having opinions
of his own and being possessed of the courage of his
convictions.
LEWIS J. KIRK, a member of the Board of
Commissioners of Lancaster county, is one of the
most intelligent and conscientious officers who have
ever held this prominent position.
The Kirk family belongs to the best blood of
Lancaster county, one not dependent upon a royal
ancestor, but honored through a long line of hon-
est, industrious and intelligent men and women.
Grandfather Roger Kirk was born in 1752, owned
large estates and became an affluent mill owner and
operator in Chester county, where his life was passed
and where his memory is honored. Jacob Kirk,
the son of Roger and father of Lewis J. Kirk, was
born in 1775 and died Aug. 25, 1841. The well-
known settlement of Kirk's Mills, with attendant in-
dustries, was founded by Jacob Kirk, between 1812
and 1816, and as early as 1814 the place had become
important enough to have a postoffice established.
Jacob Kirk was twice married, his first wife
being Sarah England, his second, Hannah H., a sis-
ter to the first wife. The children of the first mar-
riage of Jacob Kirk were: John, born in 1804;
Mary, born in 1805 ; Roger, born in 1807 ; and Han-
nah, born in 1809. The children of his second
marriage were: Sarah, born in 1817, married to
Lewis Haines ; Rachel E., born in 1820, wife of
Timothy Haines ; Elizabeth, born in 1822, unmar-
I'ied ; Levi, born in 1825, unmarried ; Mary, born in
1827, who married William P. Haines, a nephew of
Lewis and Timothy Haines ; and Lewis J., born in
1829, all of the family except the youngest having
passed off the stage of life.
Lewis J. Kirk was born at Kirk's Mills in 1829,
and was educated in the public schools and in the
academy at Kennett Square, Chester county. His
first business enterprise was in the line of mer-
chandising and milling and he still retains possession
of a mill property. In 1857 he took an extended
trip in Europe, a visit which was a source of great
pleasure and profit to a man of his intelligence.
Mr. Kirk has not only been regarded as a repre-
sentative citizen of his locality, but of the whole
county, through which he is well known as a most
honorable, upright and law upholding citizen.
Although a stanch Republican, R^r. Kirk has
accepted few political honors. As township auditor
he met every public demand, and on Sept. 20, 1901,
•he was appointed by Judge Livingston to fill a
vacancy in the board of county commissioners. This
unsolicited appointment met with the heartiest pub-
lic approval, and to the satisfaction of his fellow-
citizens Mr. Kirk accepted the honor, was sworn
into office on September 23d, just three days after his
appointment, and has given to the office the same in-
telligent and careful attention that he has invariably
bestowed upon his private affairs, keeping up the re-
cord made by his exemplary father in the House of
Representatives of the State.
The Kirk family has been long a leading one
in the Society of Friends and Lewis J. was reared
in this simple faith. His marriage was on May
12, 1864, to Miss Adaline Caldwell, a daughter
of the Hon. James A. Caldwell, a member of the
Pennsylvania Senate, and Adaline (Maxwell) Cald-
well, who was a granddaughter of Gen. Steele. The
following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Kirk r
Robert C, born July 10, 1866; Mary Adaline, born
May 10, 1870; and Natalie, born July 4, 1872, who
passed out of life Aug. 18, 1875.
A dignified, intelligent gentleman, Lewis J.
Kirk is deservedly a strong man, personally, politi-
cally, and religiously one who enjoys the confidence
of all with whom he comes in contact.
JOHN B. KIEFFER, Ph. D., of Franklin and
Marshall College, enjoys the distinction of having
been largely instrumental in enlisting the interest
of the eminent philanthropist. Gen. De Peyster, to
the extent of securing from him the magnificent
library building which now adorns the campus of
Franklin and Marshall College.
Rev. Ephraim Kieffer, Dr. Kiefifer's father, was
the son of Joseph Kieffer, who was the son of Ab-
raham Kieffer, who was the son of Dewald Kieffer,
who was the son of Abraham Kieffer, who was the
son of Dewald Kieffer, of Kettenheim, Germany.
The progenitor of this branch of the family — the
Doctor's great-great-great-grandfather — came to the
shores of America, in the ship, "Two Brothers," in
1848. He settled in Berks county. Pa., and his
grandson, Dr. Kieffer's great-grandfather, Abraham
Kieffer, after serving two or three terms of enlist-
ment in the Revolutionary Army, located in Franklin
county, Pa., where he acquired considerable prop-
erty, and left behind him seven sons and seven
daughters, the ancestors of a large portion of the
prolific race of Kieffers.
It is said, however, that the Kieffers were or-
iginally French, and not German, and that during
the Huguenot troubles in France a Michel Tonelliers
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
75
was driven from that country, and settled in Ger-
many. The better to conceal his identity he trans-
formed his name into Kieffer, and, marrying a
German woman, became the ancestor of all the
Kieffers in America. The name has various spell-
ings, such as Kieffer, Kiefer, Keefer, Kifer, Kuever,
and possibly Cuvier.
Rev. Ephraim Kieffer married Eleanor Spang-
ler, only daughter of Martin and Lydia (Gardner)
Spangler, of York, Pa. She died in Mifflinburg,
Pa., in 1847 leaving six children. Of these one
died in infancy, and the rest are as follows:
Hannah M. Cornelius; John B. ; Rev. J. Spangler,
D. D., for more than thirty years the pastor of the
Reformed Church at Hagerstown, Md. ; Mrs. Lydia
J. Furst, of Cedar Springs, Pa. ; and Rev. Henry
M., D. D., the pastor of the historic Reformed
Church at Easton, Pa., and author of the "Recol-
lections of a Drummer Boy."
Dr. John B. Kieffer was born in Bellefonte, Pa.,
Oct. 20, 1839. His preparation etc., -for college was
made in the old academy at Mifflinburg, and mainly
under the instruction of Aaron C. Fisher. ' He en-
tered the Sophomore class in Heidelberg College,
Ohio, in the fall of 1857, where he came under the
influence of Prof. E. E. Higbee, and was graduated
with the first honors of his class in i860. In the
fall of the following year, Prof. Higbee having
resigned his professorship, the trustees of the in-
stitution persuaded young Kieffer to abandon his
resolution of enlisting in the Union army, and to
assume the charge of the department of ancient
languages, of which he became professor the follow-
ing year. This position he held four years, and then
at the earnest request of his father, who wished him
nearer home, and of Dr. Higbee and Dr. Harbaugh,
professors of Church History and of Dogmatics in
the Theological Seminary at Mercerburg, Pa., he
returned to his native State, and took charge of the
department of Ancient Languages in Mercersburg
College. There he was associated for years with
Dr. Thomas G. Apple, who later became the presi-
dent of Franklin and Marshall College, and after
thirteen years of faithful labor at Mercersburg, was
elected to the chair of Ancient Languages in Frank-
lin and Marshall College. This was in 1878, and
since that time he has been actively associated with
the work of that institution. From 1878 to 1886
he was professor of Latin and Greek, and since
1886 has been professor of Greek. In 1888 he took
charge of the Library of the College in addition to
his other duties. He is a member of the American
Philological Association, and of the British Society
for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. For fifteen
years he has been treasurer of the Association of the
Colleges and Preparatory Schools of the Middle
States, and of Maryland. In 1884 he received the
degree of Ph. D. from his Alma Mater, Heidelberg
College, and on the same day the same degree from
Franklin and Marshall College.
Dr. Kieffer was married in 1878 to Miss L. M.
B. Troupe, then of Mercersburg, and formerly of
Clear Spring, Md., and a daughter of Joseph and
Sarah (Cushwa) Troupe. To this union was born
one child, Josephine B., member of the class o£
1902, of Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania.
DARE. The Dare family of Colerain township,
Lancaster Co., comes of an ancestry dating far
back. As early as 1686 William Dare was an
innkeeper in Philadelphia, where his house was
known as the "Blue Anchor." The family of Alki-
mah Dare, who married Ann Dickey, was as fol-
lows: (i) Reuben, born 1804; died 1812. (2)
Charles, born 1785; died in infancy. (3) George
T., born at the Lazaretto, near Philadelphia Nov.
30, 1806, married Ann Dickey, and died Nov. 13,
1890, at San Diego, Cal. ; he studied medicine and
followed his profession in Colerain for many years.
(4) John Kelsey, born Oct., 1809, died 1859. (.S)
Ann, born March, 1812, married Mahlon Pusey,
and died April, 1867. (6) Edward P., born May,
1815, died December, 1893. (7) Mary C, born
April, 1818, married William Whitesides, of Cole-
rain, and died September, 1876. (8) James M.,
born November, 1820, died April, 1864. (9) Fran-
ces M., born April, 1824, is still living. (10) E. O.,
born May 3, 1827, is living in Harrisburg. Mr.
Dare is noted for his phenomenal memory, being
able to recall dates and incidents of long ago with
wonderful exactness.
ELISHA W. BAITY, M. D. Among the promi-
nent citizens of Christiana, Lancaster county, is Dr.
EHsha W. Baily, who for many years has been iden-
tified with the interests of this part of the great State
of Pennsylvania, and is well and favorably known.
His present residence is in Sadsbury township, but
two miles from the thriving borough of Christiana.
He was born in Londonderry township, Chester
covmty, Oct. 17, 1821, a son of -Israel and Hannah
(Baily) Baily, the former of whom was a farmer and
also an auctioneer in Chester county, where both
passed out of life, the father in 1823, and the mother
in 1868, at the age of sixty-eight years, having been a ■
consistent member of the Hicksite branch of the So-
ciety of Friends. The mother was twice married, the
children of the first union being Byard, who died at
the age of nineteen; Susan, who married Kersey
Speakman, and died in 1850; and Elisha W. The
second marriage of the mother was to Joshua Speak-
man, and the children born of this marriage were:
Col. Franklin B., who during the Civil war was the
distinguished commander of the 133d P. V. I., and
died Sept. 9, 1901, the proprietor of the "Coatesville
Hotel ;" and D. Hannah, who is the widow of Harry
Jones, of Coatesville.
The Baily family in America originated from
three English brothers of the name, who in early
days settled in New York, Pennsylvania and Vir-
ginia, descendants of these brothers having made the
name known all over the Union. The grandfather
76
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
•of Dr. Baily lived in early life in Chester county,
where he became a farmer and where his last days
were spent. Both grandfathers bore the name of
Baily.
Like very many other men who have attained
prominence later in life, Dr. Baily was reared on a
farm, and was under the guidance of a good and
pious mother until the age of sixteen years, receiving
his preparatory education in the common schools of
his locality. Then he became a student in the Union-
ville Academy, where Bayard Taylor was one of his
schoolmates, and later he studied mathematics under
Dr. Baily, of 'Andrews Bridge, Lancaster county, and
then engaged in school teaching. For two years he'
followed this profession, in the meantime reading
medicine under the. wise tuition of this same Dr.
Baily, and in the course of time became a private
student with the distinguished Dr. Pancost, in Jeffer-
son Medical College, in Philadelphia. In 1844 he
graduated from this great institution and located
for his first practice in Atglen, Pa. In 1856 he re-
moved to Bloomfield, Perry county, where he was
successfully practicing in 1861, when the outbreak
of the Civil war changed the future of so many lives.
At this date. Dr. Baily took medical charge of
Camp Curtin for three months, then with the 47th
P. Y. I., under Gen. Brannon, took part in the army
movements until 1863, when he was made a member
of Gen. Woodbury's staff. He had general charge
of the Island of Key West, and was health officer
while on Gen. Woodbury's staff. In the spring of
1864 Dr. Baily was placed in charge of a hospital
boat on the Mississippi river where he continued un-
til July, alleviating the miseries he could not cure,
of the brave men placed in his care. From here he
was sent through the Shenandoah Valley, with Gen.
Sheridan, taking an active part in the battles of Win-
chester and Cedar Creek, remaining until the close
•of the war, being finally mustered out at Harrisburg,
No greater heroes lived through those years than the
armv physician and surgeon, and the history is yet
to be written which will do them justice. The won-
ders they accomplished and the miraculous cures
that followed their necessarily hurried surgerv
marked a degree of skill which is not surpassed, al-
though modern discoveries have given the medical
and surgical staff of the present day so many ad-
vantages.
Dr. Baily resumed his practice among the good
people of Atglen, and in 1873 was honored by his
fellow-citizens with election to the Legislature, where
he spent four years, representing his constituency
with great credit. Again he resumed practice, but
failing health warned him that a change was nec-
essary, and the next ten years were spent in Phila-
■delphia, coming to his farm on May 31, 1892, trust-
ing that the pure air and country exercises would
restore him to former robustness. In this hope he
has been joined by a wide circle of attached friends.
Dr. Baily was married on Nov. 10, 1852, in the
city of New York, to Mar}- A. Cook, who was born
at Point Pleasant, Ocean county, N. J., a daughter
of Thomas and Ann (Williams) Cook, farming peo-
ple of New Jersey, where their lives were passed.
On Jan. 8, 1903, Mrs. Baily passed her seventy-third
birthday. On Nov. 10, 1902, the good Doctor and
his wife celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their
marriage, and received the hearty congratulations
and good wishes of a host of prominent people. Dr.
and Mrs. Baily had one daughter born to them, Ella,
who married George Martin, and died at the age of
thirty-two years ; she left behind two children, Nor-
man and Zelda, who have been adopted by Dr. Baily
and bear his name. Norman is attending the West-
chester State Normal School, and Zelda the Chris-
tiana high school.
In his political affiliations. Dr. Baily has always
been a stanch supporter of the Republican party, and
he is in full accord with the administration, although
he is no officeholder. For many years he has been
connected with the Masonic fraternity, and was
master of the Adams Lodge, in Perry county, and
has ever taken an active interest in its affairs. Al-
though not a member of any especial religious or-
ganization. Dr. Baily takes an interest in all benevo-
lent and charitable work, freely contributing to the
support of many enterprises. Although not in active
practice he has kept pace with the strides made in his
science, leaving, however, to younger aspirants the
tests of medical skill in which he once excelled. In
his neighborhood he is well known, his pleasant per-
sonality making him a delightful host. Few men
are more universally esteemed.
CHARLES ALLEN FONDERSMITH, banker,
was born in Lancaster, Pa., July 24, 1846, son of
Henry Clay and Anna Maria (Burg) FonDersmith.
At the age of nine years he removed with his parents
to the borough of Columbia, and there during the
following six years attended the parish schools, and
also acquired a commercial education in the dry-
goods establishment of his father.
At the early age of eighteen years Mr. FonDer-
smith responded with alacrity and enthusiasm to the
call of his country for defenders. He became cor-
poral at the time of his enlistment, and returned a
sergeant, in Co. E, 195th P. V. I. At the close of
his term of enlistment he returned home, where he
was promptly offered a position in the Columbia
National Bank, as messenger boy and man of all
work that might offer. At the expiration of two
years in that employment his attention to his duties
and his efficiency as an all-around assistant resulted
in his election as a regular clerk, and a little later in
his promotion to the more responsible position of re-
ceiving teller.
In those days the, visitation of the pay car on rail-
road lines had not yet materialized. The Pennsyl-
vania Railway Company was accustomed to have the
banks along the line which were its depositories pay
the employes nearest at hand, and it often fell to the
lot of young FonDersmith. to pay the monthly wages
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
n
to the construction gangs at work on the main line
between Columbia and Philadelphia ; in this work he
left Columbia as early as s o'clock in the morning,
returnmg late in the day. The men who were em-
?x7'^^'^-n^* *^ excavations at Powelton avenue, in
West Philadelphia, were among the number. The
payments were generally $50,000 every month.
What a contrast with the business of that road to-
day!
In February, 1869, Mr. FonDersmith was
ottered and accepted a situation in the Farmers Na-'
tional Bank, at Lancaster, combining the duties of
discount clerk Math that of receiving teller. He re-
mained in that responsible dual position until March,
1882. In the latter year the Fulton National Bank
of Lancaster was chartered, and he was at once
elected cashier of the new organization, which re-
ceived under his careful direction the powerful
impetus which carried it forward with such marked
success. But once more his old love, the Farmers
National Bank, needed a competent and able man at
its head as cashier, and the directors at once extended
him a call to assume that position, and in December,
1886, he returned to this, the oldest and largest
banking institution in the county, where he remains
to this day.
A little incident connected with his return to the
Farmers Bank shows in such an emphatic manner
the confidence and esteem in which he is held by the
directors of that institution that reference to it here
seems eminently appropriate. A few weeks after
re-entering upon his duties he went before the board
and reminded them that his bond had not yet been
presented and filed. The board, in answer, replied
that no outside bond would be required ; that it, as a
body, would go his bond ; they did so, and thus the
incident was closed. It would be difficult to present
a stronger example of confidence and regard between
employers and employe than the one just cited.
It will be seen from the brief outline here given
of Mr. FonDersmith's career that he has had a thor-
ough training as a financier. He has filled every
position in an ordinary bank, from general utility
boy to the responsible one of cashier, and there is no
position in a bank which he cannot fill, and fill well,
in an emergency. No banker in the county of Lan-
caster is so well' known as he. For more than thirty
years he has been in close contact with the most
influential men of finance and trade, and few have
exercised a greater influence on both. His general
personality and affability have won him a wide circle
of friends" a'nd universal public esteem.
Although Mr. FonDersmith has been a lifelong
Republican in his political affiliations, he has never
been induced by the pride of place or the emoluments
of office to enter upon a political career, being
another consoicuous example of that class of men
who, while discharging all the duties of good citizen-
ship, nevertheless refuse to be drawn into the mire
of politics. By education and by preference he has
always been in hearty communion with the Lutheran
Church, and she in return has bestowed her lay hon-
ors upon him. He is a member of the vestry of
Trinity congregation and an elder. He is also a
member of the board of trustees of Muhlenburg Col-
lege, one of the educational institutions of the Lu-
theran Church. Among other positions of honor
and trust, he is a member of the board of home mis-
sions attached to the Lutheran Ministerium of Penn-
sylvania ; one of the board of trustees of the Ann C.
Witmer Home, one of the charitable institutions of
Lancaster, to which he has stood in close relation
since its organization ; and is a member of the board
of directors of the Y. M. C. A., and chairman of
the educational course. He was one of the organiz-
ers of the Plamilton Watch Company, and is largely
interested in the same. From 1883 until 1899 he
was one of the owners and operators of the large
paper-mill on the Conestoga river, at Eden, an
establishment noted for the excellence of its product.
He has for years been a director of the Marietta
Turnpike Company. He is at the present time presi-
dent of the Lancaster Board of Trade, and was
largely instrumental in the founding of that organi-
zation.
In Masonic circles Mr. FonDersmith has been
prominent for years, being a member of nearly all
the affiliated organizations, and having held the
highest official rank in them all.
Mr. FonDersmith has always been recognized in
the community as one of its most public-spirited citi-
zens. Foremost in every good and laudable work,
both his time and money have ever been forthcom-
ing when circumstances called for them. Few men
in the commAinity have so freely placed their per-
sonal services at the command of the public, and
none have been more faithful in the discharge of the
duties and responsibilities placed upon them.
It may be mentioned in this connection, as an in-
stance of Mr. FonDersmith's progressive character,
that when the scheme for the introduction of electric
light into Lancaster was f.rst broached, in 1886, he
was the first man approached to lend his endorse-
ment to the project by a subscription to the stock of
the company then formed, and he subsequently be-
came one of the largest stockholders, until its con-
solidation with the Lancaster Arc Light Company,
in 1888, and ultimately with the Edison Illuminating
Company, in 1889.
With no local enterprise, perhaps, has Mr. Fon-
Dersmith been more closely identified than with that
noble charity, the Lancaster General Hospital. He
was one of its founders, in 1893, and has been most
intimately connected with it ever since ; he has been
its treasurer since its organization, and is also a
director and member of the executive committee.
Its establishment upon a permanent basis was, as
is well known, a difficult and thankless work, and
was achieved through the tireless and persistent
efforts of Mr. FonDersmith and the few good men
and true co-operating with him. Nothing that he
has done, perhaps, in his long and busy career can
78
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
afiEord him more pride and pleasure than his suc-
cessful labors in this good cause.
In 1877 Mr. FonDersmith was united in mar-
riage with Miss Annie Downing Truscott. No chil-
dren have been born of this union.
CALEB EUGENE MONTGOMERY, a prom-
inent member of the Lancaster Bar, is distinguished
by reason of an old and honored ancestry, paternal
and . maternal, as well as by his own professional
work, which has made him one of the leaders of the
Bar. He was born in Millersville, April 21, 1862,
and is of English descent. He was graduated from
the Millersville State Normal School in 1881, and
after an academic cotirse at Yale, where he was a
member of the class of 1885, he tatight school in
Shortlidge's Academy, Media, for one year, and then
registered as a law student with the late Hon. Mar-
riott Brosius. He was admitted to practice law on
March 8, 1889, and two years later was admitted to
the Supreme Court, in which, as well as in the Su-
perior Court, he has had an extended practice. For
■one year after being admitted he was associated with
James C. Packer, Esq., son of the late Congressman
Packer of Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.
James C. Packer was the Solicitor of the Philadel-
phia and Erie and Northern Central Railways, and
Mr. Montgomery became the acting solicitor of these
great corporations for the year of 1892, as well as
assisting Mr. Packer in the settlement of the vast
estates left by his father. Returning to Lancaster
in 1893, Mr. Montgomery looked after legal busi-
ness of his preceptor, Mr. Brosius, who had been
elected to Congress, and this brought him into con-
tact with an extensive clientage.
A stanch Republican, as well as personally popu-
lar, Mr. Montgomery was strongly urged for the
position of coimty sohcitor, in 1891, and he has, for
years past, been a member of the Young Republicans'
Club. He has taken an active part for the Repub-
lican party in every campaign since 1887, and is a
pleasant and forceful speaker. Indeed he began
making speeches for the Republican party when a
law student, and owing to the unwillingness of those
who are at the head of the party's affairs, to permit
him to give it up, he has continued to perform this
arduous part of campaign work.
Mr. Montgomery was the son of Prof. John V.
Montgomery, who married Sarah T. Wickersham.
His mother came of Quaker ancestry — ^being a
daughter of Caleb and Abigail Wickersham, and a
sister of the late Hon. James P. Wickersham, for
many years State Superintendent of Public Instruc-
tion, and later Minister to Denmark. His father
held the chair of penmanship and drawing in the
State Normal School, at Millersville, from its found-
ing to his death in 1885, with marked ability, having
we believe, no superior in his specialty in the United
States. The Pennsylvania State School Journal, the
most prominent authority in matters educational in
this State, declared that the lamented Montgomery
was one of the forerhost educators of his time — a
pioneer and ardent advocate of industrial education.
Lafayette College, in recognition of his great work,
had conferred upon him the honorary degree of
Master of Arts. Hugh and Mary Montgomery, the
grandparents, lived in Mechanicsburg, this county.
On Jan. 21, 1891, Caleb Eugene Montgomery
was married to Miss Mary Reynolds, daughter of
the late Hon. S. H. Reynolds, the most distinguished ,
lawyer at the Lancaster Bar during the past century,
and whose descendants wear the crest that came from
the ancient and honored Scotch ancestry of the Rey-
nolds family. Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery have be-
come the parents of three children : Mary Reynolds,
who passed away at the tender age of one year;
Frederick Reynolds, who was twelve years old Feb.
27, 1903 ; and Caleb Eugene Montgomery, Jr., who
was eight years old Feb. 25, 1903.
Mr. Montgomery is president of the Lancaster
Country Club, of which he was a founder, a club that
numbers in its membership the very cream of Lan-
caster's social life, and which has built an elegant
clubhouse and established golf links and other ath-
letic sports at Rossmere, the superb new annex to
Lancaster. He has also been a member of the Uni-
versity Club of Philadelphia, belongs to the Yale
Alumni Association of Philadelphia, and to the D.
K. E. Fraternity of Yale. Religiously he is an Epis-
copalian. The Montgomery home at No. 802 North
Duke street is a center of attraction for the most cul-
tured social life of the' community.
MARTIN CHARTIERE. One of the foremost
and inost noted Indian traders of Lancaster county
was Martin Chartiere. He was a French Canadian,
and married an Indian squaw. He established his
permanent home with the Shawnese Indians when
they came from the south and settled on Pequea
creek. He spoke the Delaware language fluently,
and had much influence with the savages. The agents
of the Penns gave to Chartiere a vast tract of land
extending from the mouth of the Conestoga creek
several miles up the Susquehanna river. He built
his trading post on this tract, which is now owned
by the Shomans near Washington borough. He died
in 1708, and left all his land and property to his son
Pierre, who sold his farm in Manor to Stephen At-
kinson in r72'/, and moved to the Yellow Breeches
creek, and from there went to Ohio. He gave the
English and proprietors of Pennsylvania much
trouble during his lifetime.
ANDREW ORTLIP BAKER. On Jan. 5,
1899, there passed away at his home in Columbia
one of its best known and most highly respected
citizens, one who for many years had served as mas-
ter mechanic in the railroad shops at that place. Mr.
Baker was born in Doe Run, Chester Co., Pa., June
IT, 1822, a son of Isaiah and Abigail (Ortlip) Baker,
who spent their entire lives as farming people in that
countv. Andrew O. was the fourth in order of birth
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
79
in their family of six children, the others being Ra-
chel, wife of James Cottier, of Coatesville, Pa.;
Alice, deceased wife of George Booth; Anna, wife
of Isaac Faddis, of Ercildoim, Pa.; Phineas and
Frank, both deceased.
Andrew O. Baker was reared by an uncle and
spent his early life on a farm in his native county,
where he remained until seventeen years of age and
then entered the employ of the old State road. When
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company purchased the
same, he remained with them for a few years and
then went to Pittsburg, where in 1847 he became
connected with the Pittsburg & Fort Wayne railroad,
was made fireman in Jan., 1851, was promoted to
engineer in 1855, ^^id. was made master mechanic in
the shops at Columbia in Sept., 1868, which position
he most creditably and acceptably filled until the date
of his death.
Mr. Baker was three times married, his first wife
being Rachel Hill, by whom he had two children :
William., deceased, who married Lilly Hinton ; and
Mary, who died in childhood. His second wife was
Eliza Dougherty, and to them were also born two
children : Anna Jane, deceased wife of Edward Mc-
Dowell, of Philadelphia ; and Eliza J., a school teach-
f.r of Columbia. On Oct. 14., 1858, in Lancaster
Mr. Baker wedded Mary B. Wright, and they had
eight children, of whom are named : Susan, wife of
George Supplee, a machinist of Columbia ; Nathaniel
L., who married Amelia Fry and is a draftsman with
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Altoona, Pa. ;
Emily W., wife of Charles G. Burton, who is con-
nected with a music store in Philadelphia; Abigail
O., wife of Neil Walker, a machinist of Columbia;
Andrew, who died in infancy ; Mary, who died in
childhood ; and Alice, wife of J. Edgar Zollinger, of
New Haven, Conn., master mechanic of New Haven
Iron & Steel Co.
Mrs. Baker was born in Columbia, Pa., March
4, 1829, a daughter of Charles M. and Susan
(Stump) Wright, life-long residents of that place.
The father, who was a large land owner, never en-
gaged in any active labor. Religiously he was a
rnember of the Society of Friends. He died in 1861,
aged sixty-seven years, his wife, in 1847,
aged fortv-eight, and both were laid to rest in the
old Mt. Bethel cemetery. Their children were:
Sarah, deceased wife of' Charles Franciscus; Mary
B., now Mrs. Baker; Catherine, deceased wife of
Wesley Breece ; Emily, who died unmarried ; Eliza-
beth, deceased wife of Beverly Mayer ; and Rhoda,
James and Charles, who all died unmarried. Mrs.
Baker's paternal grandparents were James and
Elizabeth (Barber) Wright, of Columbia. The
grandfather also was a wealthy property owner and
never engaged in any business. The maternal grand-
parents were Frederick and Barbara Stump, who
were born in Germany and died in Columbia.
During all his railroad career, Mr. Baker never
met with an accident, and was regarded as one of the
most efficient and trusted employes of the road. Fra-
ternally he was an honored member of Columbia
Lodge, No. 286, F. & A. M. : Corinthian Chapter,
No. 224, R. A. M. ; and Cyrene Commandery, No.
34, K. T. By birthright he was a Quaker, but in
later years attended the Presbyterian Church. By
an honorable, upright life, he won an untarnished
name, and the record which he left behind him is one
well worthy of perpetuation.
HON. GEORGE FORREST. This worthy and
representative citizen of Lancaster is a gentleman
who has been much in the public eye, and whose high
character for ability and integrity has won to him
a large circle of friends throughout his section of
the State. He has been for long years connected
with the business interests of the city as a tobacco
inspector for some of the large dealers of New York.
He has served his county in the Legislature, and his
fine executive ability has been utilized frequently
by his fellow citizens in different municipal offices
of trust.
The family of which Mr. Forrest is a member,
is a very old one in Lancaster county; it is of Eng-
lish descent, and the members of the family were
in America at the time of the Revolutionary war
and took part in that sanguinary struggle. The
grandfather of George Forrest was Joseph, a white-
smith, and later the pioneer harness smith of the
county. He married Elizabeth Bruner, who was
a daughter of Casper and Rebecca Bruner, natives
of Germany, and also very early . settlers in the
county, where Casper Bruner was for long years a
manufacturer of jack screws. Joseph Forrest was
a youth at the time of the war of 1812 and took part
in that struggle as a drummer boy. He died in
1854 at the age of fifty-seven years, and his wife
died in 1830, at the comparatively early age of
thirty-two. These early members of the family were
highly respected citizens of the county and were
members of the Lutheran and the Reformed
Churches, respectively. They now lie buried in
Lancaster cemetery. Their children were : Jacob ;
Joseph; Mary, who married William Payne; Cas-
per; Henry; Peter; John; and Susan, who mar-
ried Augustus Holbaugh, of Bellfonte, Pa. Of
this family Casper Forrest was the father of George.
Casper Forrest, the father, was born in Lancaster,
May 9, 1820, and on March 4, 1840, was married in
the same place to Ann M. Milicheock. To the mar-
riage were born: Elizabeth, deceased in 1887, was
the wife of Henry Gentz, a large brick manufacturer ;
Henry, deceased in March, 1882, married Elizabeth
Helm; Samuel was accidentally killed on the rail-
road in the year 1887; Sarah, deceased in 1900,
was the wife of William Bransby, of Philadelphia;
George is mentioned below ; Mary married Byron
Cummings, a machinist of Lancaster; Susan died
at the age of six years; William is in the tobacco
business at Lancaster. The mother of this family
was born near Baltimore, Md., and died in Lancaster
July 22, 1887, at the age of sixty-six years, and is
80
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
buried in Woodward Hill cemetery. She was the
daughter of George and Rebecca (Roth) Milicheock,
and was a lady of fine strength of character.
Casper Forrest, the father of the family, was
at a tender age bound out to serve an apprenticeship
in the making of powder horns and as a machinist,
in which trade he served for a period of ten years.
He then worked at the business as a journeyman
for a period, but gave up the trade and entered the
flour and feed business. After a period at this,
he in 1870 engaged in the manufacture of brick,
which he continued for some three years. Owing
to. an overconfidence in mankind, he was led into
the signing of bad paper by designing parties, the
result of which was to bring great financial re-
verses on him. He is a man of fine grain of char-
acter. He affiliates in a fraternal way with the In-
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member
of the Lutheran Church. Politically he supports
the policies of a Democratic party.
Hon. George Forrest was born in the town of
Lancaster, Pa., on Manor street, in what was then
known as Betheltown, Jan. 2, 1852. He attended
the public schools, and after finishing the high
school course took up the printing trade with a pub-
lishing company, at the head of which was Stuart
A. Wylie. He served an apprenticeship with them
for four years, and one year longer as a journey-
man. He then went to New Haven, Conn., where
he ■ was in the office of the vice-president of the
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Com-
pany, engaged in the office work of civil engineer-
ing for the period of a year. This employment,
however, was not to his taste, and he went to Phil-
adelphia, where he followed his trade for the next
three years. He then came back to Lancaster and
engaged with the firms of H. C. Linde and Hamilton
& Co., leaf tobacco inspectors of New York, who
had a tobacco warehouse in Lancaster, in which his
brother Henry held the position of inspector. He
served under his brother until he became an expert
himself, and at his brother's death, in March, 1882,
he succeeded to the position, which he has since con-
tinued to fill. Mr. Forrest is looked upon as one
of the best judges of leaf tobacco in this part of
the State, his services being highly valuable to the
company by whom he is employed.
During his career in Lancaster, since his return
from Philadelphia, Mr. Forrest has been quite prom-
inent in the political life of the county and city.
His Democracy has always been of the Jacksonian
variety, and he has at all times been ready to engage
in the work of organization of the different cam-
paigns which have been waged in the county. He
thus won recognition at the hands of the leaders,
and his genial personahty had made him so popular
with the people that in 1892 he was nominated to
a place on the ticket as a representative to the Lower
House. He received a handsome vote, and served
with distinction during the following session. In
the year 1890 he was elected to a position on the
city school board, and in 1899 became secretary o£
that board, an office in which he has since served
to the satisfaction of that body. In matters of fra-
ternal interest, Mr. Forrest affiliates with the In-
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and has filled all
the chairs. He has been trustee of Herschel Lodge
for the past ten years. He is a member of Ridge-
ley encampment. He is also a member of the-
Artisans; of the Jr. O. U. A. M.; the B. P. O. E.,
in which he has filled all the chairs, also serving
as trustee for three years, chairman of the Social
Room four years, and was one of the committee
of the Advocate of New Quarters.
On Nov. 10, 1881, Hon. George Forrest mar-
ried in Lancaster Clemmie C. Pool, who became
the mother of: G. Edward and Harry Mortimer.
Mrs. Forrest is a native of Lancaster, a daughter
of Samuel J. and Mary C. (Stormfeltz) Pool. Her
father was the pioneer silver plater of Lancaster.
He died July 7, 1900, at the age of sixty-six years,-
her mother dying in 1898 at the age of sixty-One
years, and they both lie buried in Lancaster cem-
etery. They were devout and highly respected
members of St. John's Lutheran Church. Their
children were Mary E., who married William Wiley,
of Lancaster, Pa. ; Edward C, of the Lancaster
cemetery; Katie, deceased in girlhood, and Clemmie-
C, Mrs. Forrest.
Courteous, genial and well informed, Hon.,
George Forrest is a highly respected citizen of his.
native city, and has been prominently and honorably-
associated with its history.
S. CLAY MILLER, the extensive wine and
liquor dealer of Center Square, Lancaster, is a de-
scendant of German ancestry, and his parents were
well known residents of Lancaster county. His
mother's maiden name was Fanny Snyder. Mr.
and Mrs. Miller had eight children: Mary, Jacob
P., Fanny, Henry, S. Clay, Lizzie, Washington and
Samuel. The father lived to be eighty-two, and the
mother was seventy-two at the time of her death.
S. Clay Miller was born in Manheim, Lancaster
county, April 25, 1844, and when eleven years old
left home to work on his uncle's farm, in Pequea
township, the first three years receiving his board
and clothing, and during the next two four dollars
a month besides. When he was sixteen he was put
in charge of a country tavern near Elizabethtown,
where he remained for a year. He enlisted Oct.
3, 1861, in the Union army, where his experiences
were varied and interesting. For some months his
command was engaged in building long fortifications
at Port Royal, S. C, and was landed at Tybee Island
April 9, 1S62. After a two days' engagement Fort
Pulaski was captured, on the 20th of the following-
May. St. John's and James Island were also cap-
tured by this command. Mr. Miller was pushed
overboard and nearly drowned in the St. John river,
and was severely wounded by a spent ball which
struck him on the left thigh in the battle of Poca-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS ■ OF LANCASTER COUNTY
81
taligo, S. C, disabling him for some time. After
the battle this ball was found in his pocket. On July
i8, 1863, at the second assault on Fort Wagner, Gen.
G. S. Strong, with Mr. Miller at his side carrying
the colors, leaped upon the works, and both were
swept back by a storm of shell and musketry fire
from Fort Wagner, Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie and
surrounding batteries. Gen. Strong was fatally
wounded, and recommended the gallant young sol-
dier for promotion with almost his last words. Mr.
Miller, if not the youngest, was the smallest soldier
to carry the ilag. He was given a medal from Gen.
GiUmore, dated Aug. 23, 1863, with the inscription,
"S. C. Miller, Company H, 76th Pa. Vet. Vol. For
gallant and meritorious conduct. Q. A. Gillmore,
Major General." On the reverse is a representation
of Fort Sumter, surrounded with water. The 76th
Pennsylvania arrived at Bermuda Hundred, on the
James River, May i, 1864, and in June Sergt. Miller
was the first to plant the flag on the enemy's works
in the destruction of the Richmond and Petersburg
railroad. Young Miller was wounded in front of
Petersburg ten days later, and on the 22d of July
was promoted to color-bearer sergeant. At Drury's
Bluff, when the Union men were driven back, Sergt.
Miller was one of the last to leave the line, and saved
his colors under very creditable circumstances. This
was the famous engagement when Gen. Butler was
caught in the fog. A retreat being ordered, Sergt.
Miller reported a squad of Union soldiers captured
by the Rebels, and rallied men enough to charge
back and save the eight men from Rebel prisons.
At the mine explosion, on July 30th, Miller, the boy
soldier, was knocked and tramped on by a stampede
of the colored troops, but managed to save his colors
under heavy fire. On Aug. 14, at Deep Bottom, he
was wounded by a shell, and sent to the hospital at
Fortress Monroe for two months, but rejoined his
regiment in front of Petersburg as soon as he was
able to do so, and an hour and a half after his arrival
in the trenches was struck on the neck by a flying bit
of a shell, which hardly more than broke the skin
however. This young officer carried the colors in
nearly all the engagements in which his regiment
participated, e?ccept those that occurred while he was
lying in the hospital. Some of his escapes were in-
deed miraculous. Four times he was hit by bullets,
and he was swept off the parapet by the bursting of
a shell and knocked back into the trench with the
flag in his hand. The 76th Pennsylvania suffered
severely during the war, losing over six hundred
out of its original complement, in killed, wounded
and missing. Major Reinoehl said that on the night
he formed his command for the charge on Fort
Wagner four hundred were in the lines, and only
two hundred came back. Sergt. Miller has a letter
of commendation from Gen. Littel, Major Wdham
Diller and Major A. C. Reinoehl, former officers
of the regiment.
Upon the death of Major A. C. Reinoehl, post-
master at Lancaster, Mr. Miller was appointed his
6
successor, the honor coming as a tribute to his record
as a soldier and his worth as a citizen. The appoint-
ment came through Congressman Brosius, who had
been waited upon by a committee of prominent Lan-
casterians, urging the claims of Mr. Miller over
and above those of a goodly number of very excel-
lent men who were candidates for the position. Mr.
Brosius (himself a soldier) recognized the merits
of this citizen-soldier, and gave him the office, ta
which he was inducted March i, 1901.
Mr. Miller was married in March, 1869, to Miss
Louise, a daughter of William Rudduck, of Phila-
delphia, formerly of London, England, and to this
union were born five children: Leon R., who is
an engraver; Herbert C, a note clerk in the Lan-
caster Trust Co. ; Mabel L. ; Effie I. ; and Louise B.
All except Leon are at home. The family are in the
membership of St. James Episcopal Church. Mr.
Miller is a prominent Mason, and has taken the
Thirty-second degree in the fraternity, passing of
course through all the intervening organizations-
He is also a member of the Royal' Arcanum, the
Hamilton Club, the Young Republican Club, the
Elks, Admiral Reynolds Post, No. 405, G. A. R., and
the Union Veteran Legion. Mr. Miller has been
chief marshal of many Republican parades, and
handled them well in the Garfield, Harrison and Mc-
Kinley campaigns. Fie planned the great battle be-
tween the two local posts of the G. A. R., which was
fought in Conestoga Park about five years ago, he
commanding the Confederate forces. The event ex-
cited widespread interest, and brought at leats 25,000
visitors to Lancaster. Perhaps no man in the State
has a finer record as a soldier than S. Clay Miller.
LINDLEY MURRAY, the English grammar-
ian, was born in 1745 near the Swatara, in what
was then Lancaster county, but is now embraced
within the territory of Dauphin. His "Grammar
of the English Language," which was issued in
1795, was for many years the standard authority
on that subject. After accumulating considerable
money in mercantile pursuits, on account of his
health becoming impaired he went to England,
where he died in 1826, on his estate at the old gate,
near York.
GEORGE WASHINGTON HULL, wholesale
and retail druggist of Lancaster, and the most prom-
inent and largest dealer in that line in the county,
is descended from an old family, originally from
Switzerland, which settled near New Holland, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., early in 1700. Mr. Hull was born in
New Holland on Washington's birthday, 1838. He
was the son of Wendell and Margaret (Darrow)
Hull, of New Holland.
Wendell Hull was a shoemaker, who later con-
ducted the Bird-in-Hand "Railroad House" and
finally the "Eagle Hotel," in New Holland, until
his death in 1882 at the age of seventy-three. His
wife survived him until 1892 at the age of seventy-
82
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
two. They are buried in the New Holland cemetery.
Mrs. Hull was a member of the German Reformed
Church. Her husband was a liberal supporter of
the church but not a member. The issue of their
marriage was : Levi, a retired citizen of New Hol-
land ; Madison, Henry and William, who all three
died young; Anna, Mrs. John Piersol, of Indian-
apolis, Ind., deceased; George W., the subject here-
of; Emma, now the wife of Tobias Bartlett, of
Reading, Pa., ex-tax collector and a man of wealth
and prominence; Susan and Julia, both living with
their brother, George, and William H., who died
in 1892.
Mr. Hull lived with his parents and attended
school until his fifteenth year when he went to
Reading, Pa., and was for two years a clerk in
the Court House. After this he served with Charles
A. Heinitsh for three and one-half years as a clerk
in the drug business. Thereafter he was manager
of the drug store of Benjamin Kauffman for a year
and a half, and after that again for another year
and a half for John Markley, who had bought out
Kauffman and was no druggist himself. He then
took his final service with Dr. Thomas Ellmaker
in whose drug business he remained until May 12,
1872, when he purchased it. It was then only a
single storeroom and cellar but did not remain so
long under the proprietorship of Mr. Hull. He
soon purchased his present stand, then a small af-
fair, and rebuilt it to accommodate his fast enlarg-
ing business. He expanded into a wholesaler as
well as a retailer and now occupies five floors with
the most modern, best equipped, largest and best
managed drug business in Lancaster county, em-
ploying ten men.
Mr. Hull is prominent socially as well as in busi-
ness, though he takes but little interest in politics
and would never accept the trials of public office.
He is a member of no church but a liberal supporter
of all. He belongs to the Masonic Blue Lodge, and
is a man of charitable disposition and habits. He
has acquired wealth, is self-made, clever, well-known
and well thought of by all who know him.
REV. WILLIAM RUPP, A. M., D. D., Profes-
sor of Theology in the Eastern Seminary of the
Reformed Church of the United States, lives in a
charming home, at No. 602 West James street,
Lancaster, just opposite the Seminary in which he
occupies so important a position.
The ancestors of Rev. William Rupp were among
the early settlers of this state, his great-great-grand-
father, George Rupp, having come to America,
from Alsatia, in 1750, locating in Lehigh county,
where Chapman station now is, and where he took
up a large section of land, on a grant received from
the Penns. Quite a romance is connected with
George Rupp's coming to America. In his native
land he had met Miss Ursula Von Peterholtz, whose
family belonged to the nobility, and objected to the
wooing of young Rupp, in spite of the fact he was
a most superior young man. Though so many years
ago, human nature was just the same, and "love
found a way," the young couple eloping to America,
where they founded a family which has become
honored in every locality where it is found. Some
of the descendants of this fair maid and gallant
lover still live on a portion of the original grant
of land.
Solomon Rupp, the father of Dr. Rupp, was a
farmer of Weisenburg, Lehigh county. He married
Maria Fry, a daughter of Peter Fry, also a farmer
of Lehigh county, and to this union were born these
children : Rev. Dr. William ; John, a lawyer ; Ben-
jamin, deceased, who had just entered upon the
practice of law; Solomon, a farmer and justice of
the peace, living on the old homestead; Henry F.,
a farmer and teacher, living near Seipstown, in
Lehigh county; Alvin, the superintendent of the
public schools of Allentown; and Louisa Ellen, the
wife of Benjamin Frees, a farmer of Weisen-
burg.
Rev. William Rupp was born in Lehigh county,
April 17, 1839, and after attending the public
schools of the district, took a course in the Allen-
town Seminary, which is now known as Muhlen-
berg College, and after leaving there, engaged in
teaching for some time. In 1857, he entered Frank-
lin and Marshall College, from which he graduated
in 1862, at the head of his class, and was awarded
the highest class honor, the Marshall oration. Still
in pursuit of higher learning. Dr. Rupp entered the
Reformed Seminary at Mercersburg, from which he
was graduated in 1864, in February, 1865, being
ordained at Pine Grove, in Schuylkill county.
Immediately Dr. Rupp took upon himself the
duties for which he had been preparing, and for one
and three-fourths years he served two Reformed
congregations, one at St. Clair and the other at
Port Carbon, and then resigned, to accept a call
at Berlin, Somerset county, where this indefatigable
worker served four congregations for a period of
ten years and nine months. Leaving Berlin in 1877,
Dr. Rupp went to Manchester, Md., and there served
four congregations, remaining with this charge for
eleven and one-half years, and then accepted a call
to Meyersdale, Somerset county, where he became
the beloved pastor of one congregation, taking charge
in December, 1888, and remaining in that field for
the succeeding five years.
In 1892, Dr. Rupp was elected professor of
Practical Theology in the Eastern Seminary of the
Reformed Church of the United States, his election
having taken place at the meeting of the Pittsburg
Synod at Irwin, and he was inaugurated the fol-
lowing year at the meeting of the Synod at Green-
ville, Mercer county, and he took up his residence
in Lancaster in December, 1893.
Dr. Rupp was married in October, 1865, to Miss
Emma A. Hambright, a daughter of the late Adam
F. Hambright, who was for so many years a trust-
ed and honored official of the Pennsylvania railroad.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
83
of Lancaster. This union has been blessed with
eleven children, nine of whom are living : William
N., a clothier on West Orange street, Lancaster;
Henry Harbaugh, who graduated from the Re-
formed Theological Seminary in the class of 1901 ;
Frederick Augustine, who graduated from the
University of Pennsylvania, in 1900, and at once
became resident physican in the M. E. hospital
in Philadelphia; Charles E., of the class of 1902,
m Franklin and Marshall College; T. F., of the
class of 1903, same college; Paul B., of the class
of 1904, same college; Mary Louise, at home;
Viola G. is the wife of Rev. D. E. Master, of Apollo,
Armstrong county; and Emma A. is the wife of
Rev. J. L. Barnhart, Saegerstown, Pa. One child
died in infancy, and Lillie G., at a later age.
Dr. Rupp was honored with the degree of A.
M. within three years after his graduation, and
with that of D. D. in 1883. These degrees were
conferred by his Alma Mater, the old Franklin and
Marshall College. Dr. Rupp has been a thought-
ful contributor to many publications, almost con^
tinuously to the Reformed Church Messenger, and
since 1868, has been one of the favorite writers for
the well-known and highly valued Mercersburg
Review, and he has held the position of editor of
this journal since 1897, and in addition has been
the author of many valuable papers in the Ameri-
can Journal of Theology, and a number of learned
pamphlets have come from his pen. A profound
theologian and scholarly in other lines. Dr. Rupp
has, by his teaching and his writing, exerted a wide
influence for good, deservedly winning his high
position in the Reformed Church, as well as com-
manding the respect of religious teachers and the
world-at-large.
B. F. SIDES, M. D., was born Sept. 26, 1822, in
Bart township, this county, a son of John and Sarah
(Barr) Sides, of Lancaster county. John Sides was
a son of Peter Sides, of German ancestry, who was
one of the oldest settlers of this county. The chil-
dren born to John Sides were : Abraham, who for
thirty years was an efficient engineer on the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad; Barbara, who married Dr. Samuel
A. Johnson ; Elizabeth,' who married P. W. House-
keeper, of Drumore township ; Peter H., colonel of
a regiment during the Civil war, who married and
lived in Philadelphia; and our subject. Dr. B. F.
Sides.
Reared in the home of his Grandmother Barr,
B. F. Sides received careful early training and was
kept at study in the private schools of Lancaster
county, and was later placed at the New London,
Mt. Jov, and Strasburg schools. Deciding upon a
medical career, he then entered upon the study of the
science under the careful instruction of Drs. Alex-
ander and Patrick Cassidy, who were the leading
physicians of the county, at that period. For three
years he benefited by their instruction, entering then
the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from
which institution have graduated many of the dis-
tinguished practitioners of the country. In the spring
of 1846, Dr. Sides was graduated, and with zeal en-
tered upon the practice of his noble calling, in the
county of his birth, settling among the good people
of Drumore township, where for over fifty-five years
he has been and is still in active practice.
On March 2, 1854, Dr. Sides was married to Miss
Elenora E. King, a daughter of John and Isabella
McSparran King, of Drumore township. To Dr.
and Mrs. Sides three children were born, these being :
Janet, who died in infancy; Sallie B., who passed
away in young womanhood; and Isabella S., born
Dec. IT, 1854, who married the late Sanders Mc-
Sparran, and resides in Philadelphia (she has two
daughters, Sallie B. and Amelia).
Mrs. Sides was born March 28, 1830, her origin
being Scotch-Irish, and her family one of the leading
ones of Lancaster county. The family is not a num-
erous one, her only sister being Mrs. Janet S. Mc-
Cullough, widow of Sanders McCullough, of Ox-
ford, Chester Co., Pennsylvania.
Dr. Sides joined Washington Lodge, F. & A. M.
No. 156, at Chestnut Level, which later was moved
to Drumore Center, and still later to Quarryville,
where it is now located. His political convictions
have made him a stanch Democrat, but his life has
been too filled with work in his profession to permit
him to accept any political office, no matter how
flattering the offer. Dr. Sides is a truly representa-
tive man, one of the class whose lives reflect honor on
good old Lancaster county.
REV. JAMES LATTA was pastor of the Chest-
nut Level Presbyterian Church, and also principal
for some years of an academy held there. His pas-
torate began in 1771, and covered a period of thirty
years. When he was called to the charge his salary
was fixed at £100 Pennsylvania currency, and this
was never increased and sometimes was not paid in
full. He manifested a deep interest in the cause of
American Independence. On one occasion he ac-
companied the soldiers on their campaign, and also
acted as chaplain for some time. In 1785 he vigor-
ously defended the church incorporation acts, and
this action on his part incensed a number of the mem-
bers of his congregation against him. He advocated
the introduction of Watt's Psalmody in church ser-
vice, but they were not adopted into general use, un-
til years after his death. He received the degree of
Doctor of Divinity from the University of Pennsyl-
vania. His death occurred in January, 1801. Fran-
cis Latta, his son, was pastor of the same church from
1810 to 1825.
WILHELM HEINRICH STEIGEL. In 1760
the eccentric German Baron Steigel began his
strange career. He had for many years been man-
ager of the Elizabeth Iron Works for Benezet & Co.,
of Philadelphia. After purchasing 200 acres from
the Messrs. Stedman of Philadelphia, said acres be-
84
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ing located in Lancaster county, he built a grand
mansion, and afterwards laid out a town which he
named after his native city in Germany — Manheim.
This town was laid out in 1762, and in 1763 it had
three houses. Among the first settlers of the town
were the Naumans, Kaisers, Longs, Heintzelmans,
Minnichs and Wherlys. Baron Steigel also erected
a glass works, and becoming bankrupt he was im-
prisoned in 1774 for debt, whereupon the Assembly
passed a special act for his relief. During the Revo-
lution he was a Tory.
Baron Steigel landed at Philadelphia Aug. 31^
1750, having emigrated to this country on the ship
"Nancy." He married Elizabeth Huber, a daugh-
ter of Jacob Huber, an iron-master, and in 17.57 he
purchased his father-in-law's iron furnace in Eliza-
beth township, tearing down the old structure and
erecting a new one, which he named "Elizabeth Fur-
nace." His wife died in 1758, and he then married
Elizabeth Holtz, of Philadelphia. In 1762 Baron
Steigel formed a partnership with Charles and Alex-
ander Stedman, of Philadelphia, and about the same
time Manheim was founded. The success of Eliza-
beth Furnace was phenomenal. The glass works
he erected in 1765 ; and the building is said to have
been so large that a four horse team could easily
turn around in it. S])ecimens of the stoves and also
of glassware made by Steigel's workmen are still in
existence.
In August, 1769, the Stedmans sold their interest
to Isaac Cox and he in turn sold to Baron Steigel,
who thus became the sole proprietor. About 1770
Baron Steigel and his family removed from Eliza-
beth Furnace, and took up their residence in Man-
heim. In 1769 he built a tower near Schaefferstown
in Lebanon county, which spot to-day is called
"Tower Hill." He lived extravagantly and made a
great display of wealth not warranted by his income.
A number of people preyed upon his generosity, and
these causes finally landed him in a debtor's cell. In
December, 1774, he was liberated from prison, penni-
less. Some of those who had been his workmen,
employed him to teach their children. In 1783 he
died and was buried at "Charming Forge," presum-
ably in the neighborhood of where Brickerville now
stands.
REV. JOHN M. WOLGEMUTH, a minister of
the Brethren in Christ Church in West Donegal
township, was born in Mt. Joy township, Aug. 31,
1828, and is a son of Christ and Anna (Metzler)
AVolgemuth, born in Mt. Joy and in Rapho town-
ships, respectively. Both are long since dead. The
father who was a farmer, lived retired the last thirty
years of his life In his active days he was a man of
considerable importance locally, and served as super-
visor for some years. He died in March, 1887, at
the age of eighty-nine years ; and his widow in Nov.
1894, at the age of ninety years. Both were mem-
bers of the Brethren in Christ Church, and were
buried in the cemeterv connected with the Cross
Roads Church in East Donegal township. To them
were born the following children: Elizabeth, who
is the widow of John Hoffman, and has her home in
Elizabethtown ; Jane, who is the widow of Henry
Nissley, and has her home in Manheim ; Rev. John
M., the venerated minister; Christian, who died
young ; David, a retired farmer in Mt. Joy township ;
Abraham, who died at the age of eighteen years;
and Anna, who died young.
The paternal grandparents of Rev. John M. Wol-
gemuth were Christian and Jane (Eshleman) Wol-
gemuth, residents of Mt. Joy township, who came
from Switzerland in their early days.
John M. Wolgemuth, whose name introduces
this article, remained with his parents, helping them
in the care of the family homestead, until he reached
the age of twenty-one years. Then he rented his fa-
ther's farm for two years, and a second farm for five
j'ears, then purchasing the farm on which he is now
living. In 1878 he gave up active farming, putting
the place into the care of his son, Eli. In 1871 he
was ordained a minister of the Brethren in Christ,
and has made an excellent record as a clergyman of
that faith. When a young man he served a number
of years on the election board, and has been one of
the leading men of his day.
Rev. John M. Wolgemuth and Elizabeth Hern-
ley were married in West Donegal township Nov. 9,
1848, and they had one child, Elizabeth, who died in
1888; she was the wife of Jacob B. Nissley, now a
farmer in Cumberland county, and left four children.
In 185 1 Mr. Wolgemuth married for his second wife,
Hettie Hernley, a sister of his first wife, and to them
came three children: Susan married Martin Wol-
gemuth, now a retired farmer at Rheems, Pa., and
has a family of five children. Eli H. is a farmer of
West Donegal township, whose sketch appears on
another page. Anna married Reuben Nissley, a
farmer of Rapho township, and has four children.
Mrs. Flettie Wolgemuth was born in Lancaster
county in 1824, and is a daughter of John and Susan
(Keenzy) Hernley, both natives of Lancaster county.
JOHN A. CHARLES (deceased) was for many
years one of the leading and representative business
men of Lancaster, whose career as a merchant was
a most successful one, while his reputation as a citi-
zen was above reproach. The birth of John A.
Charles took place Sept. 3, 1827, in Strasburg, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., and his death occurred in his home
in Lancaster, March 24, 1902 ; he was interred in
Woodward Hill cemetery. His parents were An-
drew and Margaret Charles, natives of Lancaster
county, the former of whom was. engaged in the fur-
niture and undertaking business, in Strasburg, where
he was a prominent citizen and one of the burgesses
for a number of years. When sixteen years old, John
A. Charles left home to accept a clerical position in
a general store owned by a Mr. Carson, going from
there into the dry-goods business under a Mr. David
Bair, a prominent merchant, where he thoroughly
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
85
learned all its details and in 1861 felt competent to
embark m the business for himself, becoming a part-
ner with Mr. Bair. In 1876 he sold his interest and
became a member of the old established firm of
Marks & Roth,, the firm name then becoming Marks,
Roth & Charles, At the death of Mr. Marks, Mr.
Charles bought his interest and the business was con-
ducted successfully until his retirement from activity
in 1898. His whole business career was marked with
•evidences of esteem from the public, his personal in-
tegrity and honest methods contributing to this end.
Mr. Charles was one of the founders of Grace Luth-
eran Church in this city, was a member of the church
council from the beginning, and also served as trus-
tee and elder. For twenty years he was treasurer of
the charity fund and was generous in his private
benefactions. Both church and community were bet-
ter because of his life. His political identification
was with the Republican party, although he was
never an aspirant for political honors, preferring to
give his time and labor to the advancement of his
business and the furthering of the good work of his
church.
The marriage of Mr. Charles took place on Jan.
5, 1865, in Leacock township, Lancaster county, to
Miss Annie L. Bard, who was born in the old family
homestead in Leacock township, a granddaughter
of John and Catherine Bard, of Lancaster county,
and the only child of Daniel and Anna (Johns) Bard.
The former was born on the same farm in Leacock
township, was prominent in his neighborhood and
served many years as a school director. His death
took place July i,' 1882, at the age of sixty-seven
years. The mother of Mrs. Charles was born in Earl
township, and after her husband's death, resided with
her daughter until she too passed away, Dec. 19,
1893, at the age of seventy years. The parents lie
buried in the Lutheran Church cemetery, at Mechan-
icsburg, of which church the grandfather was one of
the founders, and of which the family have been
members for three generations. Three children have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Charles, namely : Daniel
B., who is married and is engaged in the lumber busi-
ness in Michigan ; John A., Jr., who died unmarried
March i, 1898 ; and Anna Bard, who resides at home.
JOHN D.- BRUBAKER comes of a long line of
clerical ancestors, his great-grandfather,^ grandfather
and father having been ministers and bishops in the
Mennonite Church. His father, Jacob K. Brubaker,
was born in Lancaster county in 18 14 and was a
farmer in early life. After his marriage he removed
to Dauphin county, where he owned and cultivated
a farm until 1850. He then returned to Lancaster
county and settled upon a farm in Manor township
which he had purchased the previous year. It was
situated between three and four miles vvest of the
city of Lancaster and contained eighty-eight acres.
Ori this he made many valuable improvements, and
in 1853 he added to his holdings by buying an ad-
joining farm which contained 104 acres. He contin-
ued to reside upon this property until his death, which
occurred in 1879, but in 1858, placing his farm under
the management of his son, John D. he abandoned
farm work to devote the remainder of his life to the
service of the church which he loved so well, and of
which he was so conspicuous an ornament. In that
year he was ordained to the Mennonite ministry, and
a few years before his death was made a bishop. He
preached in the churches of Millersville and Rohers-
town with great force and acceptability. ' He was a
man of kindly disposition and loving heart, gifted
with a bright clear mind, and his wise counsel was
constantly sought by- all whose privilege it was to
know him. His widow, whose maiden name was
Katherine Denlinger, yet survives him, at the age of
four score years. They were the parents of three
children, of whom John D. was the eldest. The others
were Fannie, who married David Charles, of Hemp-
field, and Jacob, who died in childhood.
John D. Brubaker was born in Swatara town-
ship, Dauphin county, on Feb. 8, 1837. In 1858 as
has been said, he assumed the management of the
paternal acres and even as a young man of twenty-
one years he displayed that admirable judgment and
tireless industry which have insured his success in
life. For forty years he was one of Lancaster coun-
ty's most successful farmers — active, industrious,
wide-awake and progressive, always keeping abreast
of the front rank in the march of advancement. From
year to year he added to the estate which he inherited
from his father, although much of his real property
he has divided among his sons, giving to each a small
farm. In 1898, having accumulated a handsome
competence, and having passed the sixtieth milestone
on life's highway, he determined to retire, to enjoy
the ease which he had richly earned. His present
home is situated three miles west of the city of Lan-
caster, and is one of the most attractive and pleasant
in the township, it being Mr. Brubaker's chief care
to beautify it more and more from year to year.
On March 16, 1858, he was married to Maria, a
daughter of Isaac and Mary (Shirk) Landis, who
was born in Manheim, May 8, 1839. Their children
are five in number. Levi L., the eldest, was born
Nov. 14, 1859. He married Anna Newcomer, and is
a farmer of Pequea township. Isaac L. was born
March 14, 1862, is a Hempfield farmer and the hus-
band of Susan Gambier. Mary was born Dec. 4,
1863, and lives at home, unmarried. Jacob L. is a
Manor township farmer. He was born April 6,
1870, and married Susan Charles. John L. was born
July 13, 1873. He, too, has followed farming as a
vocation, and married Ida Brubaker.
John D. Brubaker united with the Mennon-
ite Church in 1862 and since that time has been one
of the most active members and liberal supporters.
CASPER SHAFFNER, a son of John Casper
Shafifner, was born in February, 1737, in Lancaster,
and died in 1826. He was a member of the "Com-
mittees of Correspondance" and of "Inspection and
86
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Observation," of Lancaster county, during the Revo-
lutionary war period. He also served as a lieutenant
in the Revolutionary service. He had one son,
Casper, vi^ho married a daughter of Charles Hall,
of Lancaster, a noted silversmith of the early part
of the last century.
WINTERS. For three-quarters of a century
the name Winters in the eastern part of Lancaster
county has been associated with success and popu-
larity in the practice of medicine. Dr. Isaac Winters,
grandfather of John L.; began practice in 1820, and
the family has never lacked a worthy representa-
tive in the profession from that time. They come of
English stock, the first of the name in America emi-
grating from England prior to the Revolution, in
which struggle he served as a soldier under Wash-
ington. He died at his home, near Lebanan, Pa.,
within a month after returning from the war, leav-
ing a wife and son, John. This John Winters was
born Nov. 21, 1776. After reaching manhood he
settled in Lancaster county, rriaking his home in the
village of New Holland, where for many years he
was engaged as a blacksmith. On Jan. 16, 1796, he
married Catharine Diefenderffer, who died July
12, 1843, and his death occuri-ed July 13, 1859. They
had seven children: John, Isaac, Maria, Ludwig,
Levi, Margaretha and Cyrus.
Isaac Winters, son of John, was born in New
Holland, July 13, 1800. His youthful educational
advantages were limited to the facilities of the dis-
trict school in the home neighborhood, and even
those he was not permitted to enjoy to the full, for
he was one of a large family, and as the father's
means were not abundant the sons were expected to
become self-supporting at an early age. But the
hard work, to which he had become accustomed from
childhood, did not warp his inclination toward a
higher calling, and by the time he was fifteen he
had decided upon adopting the medical profession.
For one year thereafter he worked as a clerk in
Lebanon, and the next four years he devoted to
preparation for his life work, first studying under
Dr. John Leaman, of New Holland, and later at
the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was
graduated in 1820. Dr. Winters located for prac-
tice in the village of Hinkletown, which was the
scene of his active professional life of fifty-three
years, for he continued his labors almost to the day
of his death, July 27, 1873. The success which
attended his later life was in sharp constrast to his
early struggles, and was solely the result of his
own efforts. But in overcoming the numerous
obstacles in his path he showed that the lessons of
self-reliance and perseverance taught by the hard-
ships of his youth were not wasted — perhaps in after
years they enhanced the prosperity which fell to his
lot. So poor was he' at the beginning of his profes-
sional career that he had to borrow the money to
buy a horse (indispensable in a country practice)
and a new suit of clothes, and when the horse was
stolen, before the end of the week, the young doctor
had considerable trouble borrowing a hundred dol-
lars to replace him. He found a friend in Henry
Roland, who let him have the money without se-
curity, and it was repaid in a year. Before the ex-
piration of that time he had so won the confidence of
his patrons that he was well advanced on the road
to success, and his future was assured. Time justi-
fied the good opinion formed of him at the outset
of his professional life, and he was . regarded- as an
immensely useful and valued member of the com-
munity to the end of 'his days. The tributes of
affection and esteem paid him at the time of his de-
cease were many and laudatory, and he is still held
in loving memory by many of the old residents of
his section. His standing among his brother prac-
titioners was of the highest, and in diagnosis es-
pecially he was regarded as one of the most skillful
physicians of his time.
The Doctor's practice, though large,- did not en-
gage all his attention, for he was a man of many
interests, and won his honored position among his
fellowmen by efficient service in other fields as well.
The affairs of the day possessed deep attractions
for him, and he kept himself well informed upon all
subjects concerning current history. As a stanch
Democrat the progress of political events also came
under his consideration. He twice accepted nom-
ination for representative to Congress, simply to
demonstrate his loyalty to the party, as defeat in
each case was a foregone conclusion. He was a man
of fine presence, and in the days of militia training
held a commission as a brigadier general. As a
swordsman he was reputed to have few equals in
the State. Dr. Winters's personality attracted' many
to him, and his high character more than sustained
the favorable impression made on first acquaintance.
Dr. Winters married Elizabeth Nagle, whose
father, Richard Nagle, a resident of Lancaster
county, was born in Ireland Feb. 23, 1765. Six
children were born to this union : John Leaman,
now deceased, who was a practicing physician at
Hinkletown for some years ; Richard N., who re-
sides at his father's old home at Hinkletown ; Isaac
D., who is mentioned below ; Mary C, Mrs. Isaac
S. Long, of New York ; George W. ; and Barton N.,
of Ephrata, this cotmty.
Isaac D. Winters, M. D., was born Nov. 23,
1828, in Hinkletown, and after receiving his funda-
mental education in the public schools commenced
preparation for the medical profession under the
able tuition of his father. He graduated from
Jefferson Medical College, and soon after located at
Goodville, where he continued in practice throughout
his entire active life. The mantle of professional
success fell on his shoulders, and he occupied a high
position in the profession. He was a member of
the Lancaster County Medical Society, of which he
served as vice-president in 1849-50. Like his father.
Dr. \^'inters was a broad man, and became prosper-
ous in lines outside of his profession. He was a
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
87
stockholder and director in the New Holland Na-
tional Bank, of which institution he was one of the
organizers, and he also assisted in organizing the
Earl Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and was one
of its directors. He owned two farms, comprising
220 acres.
On Jan. lo, 1854, Dr. Winters married Susan
Martm, who was born in Goodville in 1833, daugh-
ter of John and Ehzabeth (Bowman) Martin. They
had two sons, Barton M. and John Leaman, both
of whom adopted their father's calling, and are
located at Goodville. They are mentioned below.
Dr. Isaac D. Winters passed away Nov. 7, 1889. He
was a member of the Center Lutheran Church, and
no man in the community enjoyed more fully the
unfeigned respect of his fellow men in every walk of
Hfe.
Barto^t M. W1NTER.S, M. D., of Goodville, was
born on the old homestead in that place Dec. 11,
1854, and acquired his preparatory education in the
public schools, and at the Millersville State Normal.
He took up the study of medicine with his father and
Dr. Keeler, at Goodville, entered Jefferson Medical
College, and graduated with the class of 1877, since
which time he has been located in practice at Good-
ville. He was associated with his father until the
latter's retirement, in 1880, when he succeeded to his
father's partnership v/ith Dr. Keeler. The relations
continued until Dr. Keeler's death, in 1896, since
which time he and his brother John L. have been as-
sociated as general practitioners. With the excep-
tion of such time as he finds necessary to devote to
his duties as director of the New Holland National
Bank and the Earl Mutual Fire Insurance Company,
Dr. Winters gives his attention to the demands of his
professional work, which, indeed, is so extensive
as to leave him little time for other matters. If
heredity counts for anything, the position to which
he and his brother have attained is not to be won-
dered at. But their training for this useful calling
was carefully and thoroughly conducted, and they
have given evidence of their ability to sustain the
reputation of the family for eminence in this, es-
pecial field.
On Jan. 29, 1882, Dr. Winters married Salinda
Sensinig, who was born in Goodville, daughter of
Christian and Catherine Sensinig. They have one
child. Sue L. Mrs. Winters is a member of the
Lutheran Church. The Doctor is a stanch Demo-
crat politically.
John L. Winters, M. D., was born at Goodville
Dec. 29, 1868, and in his boyhood attended the local
public schools. Later he studied at the Millersville
State Normal School, and he commenced reading
medicine with his brother, Barton M. In 1888 he
entered Tefiferson Medical College, from which he
was graduated April 2, 1890, preparing for general
practice. After graduation he located at Goodville,
where he has since been engaged in practice, and
by his dihgence and merit has established a fine
practice. He is a thorough student, and keeps in
touch with the advanced ideas of his profession, es-
pecially in surgery, in which particular Hne he bids
fair to become a master. His office is equipped with
a complete assortment of surgical instruments and
appliances. He is particularly successful as an oper-
ator in gynecological cases. Dr. Winters is a mem-
ber of the Lancaster County Medical Society.
On July 2, 1900, Dr. Winters married Miss
Mary Yoder, daughter of L. B. and Josephine (John-
ston) Yoder, of Churchtown, this county.
JACOB BETZ (deceased). One of the most
prominent business men and citizens of Lancaster,
was Jacob Betz, whose death occurred in this city,
at the old water works. May 14, 1900, and who is
buried in Woodward Hill cemetery. The birth of
Mr. Betz occurred Dec. 4, 1822, in Rheinbaiern,
Germany, and he was the son of Jacob and Mag-
delina (Huhn) Betz, natives of Dresden, Germany.
The father died in his native land; but the mother
came to America in the neighborhood of 1846.
In 1842, Mr. Betz emigrated to America, and
until his death resided in the vicinity of the city of
Lancaster, first settling in Manheim township, but
later removing to Lancaster, where he became very
prominent in business circles. In his early life
he engaged in farming, but soon became interested
in quarrying stone and sand, and by his industry,
thrift and keen business sense, built up an excellent
trade. During his business career, he operated sand
and stone quarries on Rockland street, near Ann,
in Lancaster township, not far from his residence,
and one in East Lampeter township. For years, he
supplied the car shops at Altoona with all the sand
used, and furnished stone to the Peacock furnace for
many years. In addition to quarrying the stone,
Mr. Betz also took contracts for hauling same, and
in every respect gave such entire satisfaction that
his reputation for fair dealing was firmly estab-
lished. In 1870, Mr. Betz retired from active busi-
ness life in favor of his son, Jacob. In addition to
his quarries, Mr. Betz was a large land owner and
at the time of his demise was the owner of thirty
new houses and a large tract of unimproved land
in the Seventh ward; three tracts of unimproved
land in East Lampeter township ; a farm in Man-
heim township, as well as large amounts invested
in bonds, stocks and mortgages. After his retire-
ment, Mr. Betz devoted the greater portion of his
attention toward the buying of property, improving
it and then disposing of it at considerable profit.
During a long and useful life, Mr. Betz was a con-
sistent member of Zion's Lutheran Church, in
whose good work he took an active part. While a
Democrat in politics, and supporting the candidates
of that party in both local and national affairs, Mr.
Betz was not an office seeker, and refused to accept
nomination, his interests being centered in his busi-
ness and home.
On April 19, 1851, Mr. Betz was married to
Catherine Miesel, in Lancaster, and the following
88
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTTY
family were born to this union : Peter, who died at
the age of three years ; Mary, who died at the age of
eighteen months ; Jacob, a farmer and quarryman of
Lancaster, Pa., who married Elmira Drown; Cath-
erine, married to Charles Riedel, of Lancaster, Pa. ;
Charlotte, deceased, wife of Charles Reidel, of Lan-
caster; Elizabeth, married to Mark Keeport, a jew-
eler of Reading, Pa. Mrs. Betz was born at Gelt-
heim, Germany, Aug. 9, 1825, daughter of Nicholas
and IBarbara (Mieselin) Miesel, of Germany. Nich-
olas Miesel was a farmer in his native land, where
he died, in 1830, at the age of thirty years, while
his wife died in 1835, at the age of thirty-two.
Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Miesel:
Christina, who died at the age of thirty-five years,
married Fred. Nies, and he died in New Jersey;
Catherine came to America in 1847, settled in Lan-
caster, Pa., making the trip one year after her sister,
and taking forty-five days in the journey. Mrs.
Betz is very well preserved and intelligent, and is
surrounded by her children's love and devotion,
after her life of hard work. She is highly respected
throughout the community, and numbers many
friends among her acquaintances.
Philip Betz, proprietor of the sand quarry of
Lancaster, was born in Rheinpfalz, Germany, Feb. 4,
1834, a son of Jacob and Magdelina (Huhn) Betz, of
the same locality. The father of Philip remained in
Germany all his life, being a farmer, after having
served in the German army, and dying in 1844,
aged seventy-five years. The mother with three
children, came to America in 1846, settling in Lan-
caster county, two of her sons having made the
journey a few years before. After settling down
with her children, the good woman kept house for
them, and the sturdy boys worked among the farm-
ers, and took care of their mother until her death
in 1861, at the age of seventy-five years. The chil-
dren belonging to this family were : Conrad, who
died in Lancaster county ; Jacob, deceased ; Eliza-
beth, of Lancaster, widow of Frank Kline; Philip;
Mary, of Lancaster county, widow of Henry Fogle.
J. M. W. GEIST was born in Bart township,
Lancaster county, Dec. 14, 1824, and inherited the
marked characteristics and strong intellectuality of
his German and Scotch-Irish ancestors. In his early
youth the country subscription schools were his only
means of obtaining an education. Inspired by am-
bition, and carried forward by his energy, he was a
diHgent student, and early displayed a receptive
mind. At the age of sixteen he began to teach school
in the very room where he had been a student, and
followed that occupation successfully for several
years. In the meantime he was induced to take up
the study of medicine, although his inclinations were
in the direction of the printer's art. For three years
teaching school and the study of medicine occupied
his attention. Then he went to Philadelphia to at-
tend medical lectures, but in the end, not finding the
work congenial, he abandoned it, and drifted into a
printing oflice to pursue the vocation of his early
preference. His leisure hours meanwhile had been
spent in contributing articles in both prose and verse
to the newspaper press. This developed a natural
love for literary composition, and, following the
natural bent of his mind, he soon drifted into jour-
nalism.
Mr. Geist began his professional career in July,
1844, as the editor and publisher of the Reformer,
a temperance journal published first in Lancaster
and afterward in Harrisburg, Pa., as the American
Reformer and State Temperance Organ. He also
edited the Yeoman, an independent Democratic
campaign paper published in the latter city, and in
1847, he was at work on the Pennsylvanian, in Phila-
delphia, as assistant news editor. His next change
was to a literary journal, Lippard's Quaker City, of
which he was assistant editor. At the same time he
was doing duty on the Evening Argus, both papers
being controlled by the same ownership. The sus-
pension of these brought him to the Sunday Globe,
on which paper he succeeded the late Dr. Thomas
Dunn English as editor. Under his vigorous con-
trol the Globe was instrumental in driving the no-
torious impostor and swindler, Roback, from the
city, its circulation running up from 1,000 to 20,000.
Later Mr. Geist became editor and one of the pro-
prietors of the Sunday Mercury, but not being able
to reconcile Sunday newspaper publishing with his
obligations as a churchman he sought a more con-
genial ocupation. In his earlier days he had been a
frequent contributor to the Saturday Evening Ex-
press, of Lancaster, and upon the invitation of the
proprietor he disposed of his interest in the Mer-
CALvy, and removed to Lancaster to take charge of
the editorial columns of that journal. There his
successful and influential career has been carried
forward. His removal took place in 1852, and in
1856 he purchased a half interest in the paper and
began the issue of a daily edition. The Express
quickly became the most influential paper in the
great county of Lancaster, and Mr. Geist's reputa-
tion as a writer of vigorous idiomatic English
rapidly extended throughout Pennsylvania.
Mr. Geist, while a Whig in politics, had not
been active in political affairs up to this time. But
events were now transpiring which turned his jour-
nalistic -career in that direction and served to make
him a power in the party with which he united his
fortunes. The Whig party was no more. Where
should its members go ? Mr. Buchanan's candidacy
became an issue. Although a resident of Lancas-
ter, few Whigs, save intimate personal friends, sup-
ported him. The repeal of the Missouri Compro-
mise and "Free Kansas" became issues. Thaddeus
Stevens lived in Lancaster, and his well known anti-
slavery views had permeated the public conscience.
Who should oppose Mr. Buchanan ? John McLean
was spoken of, and he was the choice of Mr. Stev-
ens. Public sentiment seemed to incline toward a
new man as well as new principles. Mr. Geist, in
i^ ar « ; *^ > »
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
89
a series of powerful editorials, demanded a new or-
der of things. But his constituency was overcon-
servative, and for a time unwilling to break away
from their political traditions. He urged promi-
nent Whigs to issue a call for a county convention.
The party had split into two factions, the "Woolly
heads," under the leadership of Thaddeus Stevens,
and the "Silver Greys" led by Edw. C. Darling-
ton, editor of the Examiner. Each mistrusted
the other, and as a consequence neither was ready
to take the initiative. Thrown back upon himself,
Mr. Geist cut the Gordian knot by drawing up the
following call, which appeared at the head of his
editorial column for the first time on May 17, 1856 :
The citizens of Lancaster county, without regard to past
differences or divisions, who are opposed to the repeal of the
Missouri Compromise; to the policy of the present National
admininstration; to the extension of slavery in the territories,
and to the subjugation of the freemen of Kansas by the in-
vasion of armed mobs from Missouri, encouraged in their
lawless acts by the connivance of the Federal authorities; who
are in favor of the admission of Kansas as a free State, and of
restoring the action of the Federal Government to the prin-
ciples of Washington and Jefferson, are hereby requested to
meet in Fulton Hall, in the city of Lancaster, on Saturday,
May 31, 1856, at 10 o'clock a. m., to appoint three delegates to
represent this Congressional District in the National conven-
tion, which will assemble in Philadelphia on the 17th of June
next, for the purpose of recommending candidates to be sup-
ported for the offices of President and Vice President of the
United States. Many Citizens.
l~he "Many Citizens" was a fiction, the entire
program having been engineered by Mr. Geist, with
two intimate friends, comparatively unknown in
politics. In accordance with that call the county
meeting was held on the day named, and the old
political leaders were surprised at the large attend-
ance. Benjamin Herr, Esq., a prominent member
of the Bar, was president, and Ellwood Griest and
Dr. George Markley were secretaries. A com-
mittee was appointed to name delegates to the Na-
tional convention, and the men were appointed.
Thaddeus Stevens, who concluded at a late hour to
participate in the proceedings, was ene of those sent
to the National convention, and Mr. Geist one of the
delegation sent to the State convention. Strong
resolutions breathing the spirit of the call were
passed and, on motion of Mr. Stevens, a committee
was appointed to confer with committees of other
parties who were opposed to the extension of
slaverv, with a view to "forming a Union American
Republican Partv." Thus was the Republican party
in Lancaster county born and christened, and such
was the part Mr. Geist more at the accouchement. A
few weeks later the Lancaster City Fremont Club
was organized, with A. S. Henderson as president,
and F. R. Diffenderffer as secretary, and the new
party was ready for business. From that time the
stirring editorials of Mr. Geist were a powertul
factor in laying deep and strong the foundations of
the party— foundations that are to-day as strong in
the affections of the people of the county as when
they first shouted for "'Fremont and Freedom.
When the Civil war at last came along and burst
in fury avtv the country no pen was more busy in
upholding the cause of the Nation than Mr. Geist's.
It was an inspiration as well as a clarion note, and
every movement maintaining the Nation's sover-
eignty and for the relief of the sick and the wounded
had his most earnest support. He never wavered
and he never doubted, and the fervent spirit of pa-
triotism that marked all his utterances, as they are
recorded in his editorial columns, was far reaching
in its effect throughout the State.
In 1876 the Express was merged into the Ex-
aminer, and Mr. Geist became the editor of the con-
solidated journal. A difference between himself
and the publisher in regard to the policy of the paper
caused him to retire in a few months, and in con-
junction with ex-State Senator John B. Warfel he
started The New Era, which almost at a bound
sprang to the front rank in the journalism of the
State, where it stands to-day. Its success was as
decided as it was immediate, and outside of the big
journals of the metropolis there is no newspaper in
PennsA'Ivania that has a more devoted clientage or
wields a stronger influence within its territory.
Mr. Geist has persistently refused to accept or be
a candidate for public office, holding that any sal-
aried political position must detract from an editor's
freedom and independence. He was twice offered
the best local federal positions by members of Con-
gress who were grateful for services his journal had
rendered them, and once a lucrative position in the
custom house at Philadelphia by a senator, on partly
personal and partly political grounds. The only
public position he ever held was that of a Harrison
elector, in 1892. He was active in the re-organiza-
tion of the Young Men's Christian Association, and
Vi^as chairman of the committee which selected and
installed the library of that institution, and chair-
man of the committee which organized the series of
excursions by which the money was raised to pur-
chase the books. He has been chairman of the local
board of visitors of the State Board of Charities for
several years, and author of a report urging certain
reforms in prison administration, notably divorcing
it from partisan politics, which was highly com-
mended by the State Board. Flis sincerity is per-
haps one of his most striking characteristics. Mill-
ions would not tempt him to advocate a cause that
he did not believe to be moral or deserving.
Mr. Geist is prominent as a churchman. He was
intimately associated with the late Bishop Samuel
Bowman in the founding of St. John's Free Church,
Lancaster, the pioneer free church in that diocese,
and has been a member and secretary of the vestry
for forty-six years, and warden for the past twenty-
one 3'ears. In 1873 he wrote and published, for the
use of the congregation, a history of the parish, and
has just completed (1902) a revised and enlarged
edition, handsomely illustrated with portraits of the
ministers who have officiated at St. John's and views
of the church edifice, which is regarded as the hand-
90
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
somest and most complete Parish History that has
been produced.
Mr. Geist was married in 1850 to Miss Elizabeth
M. Markley, daughter of the late Dr. George
Markley. She died in 1892. They had eight chil-
dren, four of whom, three sons and one daughter,
died young. Four daughters survive: Mrs. John
M. Newbold and Mrs. Samuel S. Martin, of Lan-
caster; Mrs. Dr. J. Paul Lukens, of Wilmington,
Del. ; and Miss Emma, at home. — [F. R. D.
ANDREW JACKSON MUSSER, President
of the Central National Bank of Columbia, is, as
the position he occupies would naturally indicate,
one of the foremost citizens of that thriving town.
His active participation in the financial history of
Columbia began late in life, and supplements an
honorable and successful career- as mechanic, soldier
and business man.
The paternal ancestry of Mr. Musser is of Swiss
extraction. Peter Musser, the great-grandfather,
was of Swiss parentage, and was an early resident
of Lancaster county. He married a Miss Dietz,
and they had five children : John, Christian, Henry,
Peter and Annie. Of these, Peter was born in
Lancaster county, Nov. 29, 1776. He married Eliza-
beth Rohrer, of Lancaster county, born Aug. 14,
1788. She died Oct. 8, 1822, in her thirty-fifth
year, while her husband lived to the age of seventy-
one, passing away July 2, 1848. Their children
were : Henry R., Mary, Annie, Joseph and Betsey,
Henry R. Musser was born in West Hempfield
township June 18, 1808. In early life he adopted
the vocation of a cattle dealer and butcher, which
he pursued at Lancaster, Marietta and Columbia.
In 1846 he removed to Fairfield, Ohio, where he
continued his business successfully until death,
June I, 1873, in his sixty-third year. He became
a prominent business man of Fairfield, and wasi
there actively interested in the public schools. He
was married three times. By his first wife. Miss
Shirk, he had one child, Henry S., now of Fair-
field, Ohio. By his second wife, Annie, daughter
of John and Barbara Mouk, there were six chil-
dren, namely: Elias H., a tailor of Rochester,
Ind. ; Thomas Jefferson, who died in Fairfield,
Ohio; Benjamin Franklin, proprietor of a meal;
market in Darke county, Ohio; Andrew Jackson,
whose sketch appears herewith ; Barbara Ann, who
married John Horn, a farmer of West Hempfield
township ; and Isabella, who died in infancy. The
third wife of Henry R. Musser was Fanny Bucher,
and the children by that union were : Joseph, de-
ceased ; Emanuel, a butcher of Dayton, Ohio ; Eliza-
beth ; Isabella ; David, a plasterer ; and George, a
traveling salesman, all residents of Ohio.
Andrew Jackson Musser was born at Marietta,
Lancaster county, March 2, 1841. Bereft of a
mother's care by death, his home from his fourth
year was his maternal grandfather, John Mouk, in
West Hempfield. At the age of eighteen he re-
moved to Columbia and there began a three years'
apprenticeship to the cabinet maker's trade. This
completed, he followed the trade for a few months,
but soon after, under the call to arms by President
Lincoln, he enlisted Aug. 9, 1862, for nine months,
at Columbia, in Co. K, i3Sth P. V. I., serving the
full term, and experiencing active service, partici-
pating in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chan-
cellorsville, but escaping without injury. Return-
ing to his old home when mustered out, Mr. Musser
resumed work at his trade, which he continued dili-
gently until 1871. In that year he purchased an old
and well established cabinet making and under-
taking business at Columbia. This was continued
most successfully for more than a score of years.
In 1892 Mr. Musser retired from business. Two
years later he was elected a director of the Central
National Bank of Columbia, and early in 1899 he
was elected president of the bank to fill an tmex-
pired term of several months, and he was re-elected
July 26, 1899.
Mr. Musser married at Columbia, in September,
1861, Cassandra E., daughter of John and Mary
Shenberger, farmers of York county, Pa. The
family of Mr. and Mrs. Musser consists of two chil-
dren : John S. and Franklin B. John S. is a farmer
and upholsterer of Greenville county, Va. ; he mar-
ried Gertrude Kerr and has three children. Frank-
lin B. acquired telegraphy in his youth and is now
superintendent of the electric railway system of
Harrisburg, Pa. ; he married Miss Sue R. Nowlen.
For six years Andrew J. Musser served the
borough of Columbia as a councilman. He is
prominent in fraternal circles as a member of Co-
lumbia Lodge, No. 286, F. & A. M. ; and of Sus-
quehanna Lodge, No. 80, I. O. O. F. Of the latter
he is past master, having filled all the chairs, and
also having been representative to the grand lodge
of Pennsylvania. Among other fraternal institu-
tions he is a member of the Artisans Order of
Mutual Protection of Columbia, and in business re-
lations he is a director and president of the Colum-
bia Building & Loan Association. In business Mr.
Musser is progressive, and his keen judgment is a
most valuable guide. Public-spirited and popular,
he essentially fills a commanding place in the com-
mercial and financial affairs of his native county.
JOSEPH SIMON was one of the most promi-
nent and richest Indian traders in the province. He
came to Lancaster about 1740, and at once em-
barked in the trading business. He established a
store at East' King street and Centre Square, and
made frequent trips through Ohio and Illinois. He
was one of twenty-two Indian traders who were
attacked by Indians at Bloody Run in 1763. On
that occasion goods to the value of £82,000 currency
were stolen. Simion was one of the heaviest losers.
He owned many thousands of acres of land in dif-
ferent parts of Pennsylvania, and during the Revo-
lutionary war furnished powder, shot and guns for
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
91
the use of the miUtia. He had the following chil-
dren : Rachel, married to Solomon Etting, moved
to Philadelphia; Leah, married to Levi Philips;
Miriam, married to Simon Gratz, moved to Phila-
delphia ; Belah, married to Solomon Cohen ; Shinah,
married to M. Scuyler; Susanne, married to Levy-
Levy; Hester; Moses; and Myer. Joseph Simon
died Jan. 24, 1804. His wife died in 1790. They
are interred in the Hebrew cemetery in Manheim
township, north of Lancaster.
One of the children of Joseph Simon, Miriam,
married Simon Gratz, and for some years resided
on the corner of Duke and East King, where Farm-
ers' Bank is located. Rebecca Gratz, their daugh-
ter, was born in that house, and the family subse-
quently moving to Philadelphia, she was raised
there. She was a favorite beauty of that city, and
Washington Irving was her warmest friend, and
it was he who talked Sir Walter Scott into the idea
of making her his heroine in "Ivanhoe." Rebecca
is buried in Philadelphia, but her parents are buried
in the Hebrew cemetery north of Lancaster men-
tioned above.
GEORGE NAUMAN (Deceased).. Among the
leading lights of the legal profession in Lancaster,
Pa., for over thirty years, and a man who was re-
peatedly chosen to conduct cases and represent the
interests of vast corporations, was George Nauman,
who passed away after a short illness, at his resi-
dence on East King street, Feb. 14, 1899.
George Nauman was born Feb. 5, 1841, at Hel-
ton, Maine, son of George and Mary (Dummett)
Nauman, natives of Lancaster and England, re-
spectively. Col. Nauman, the father, was a dis-
tinguished officer in the United States army, was
born Oct. 7, 1802, and entered at the Military
Academy as a cadet. In 1821, he was made acting
assistant professor in French in that institution, and
three years later was graduated, the same year re-
ceiving his appointment as second lieutenant of the
First Regiment of Artillery. During the summer
of 1829, he acted as assistant instructor of French
at West Point, and in May, 1832, received the rank
of first lieutenant. During the Florida War, he
served continuously, from 1836 to 1838, being in
the battle of Wahoo Swamp, and was made captain
in the spring of 1837. During the Mexican War he
was brevetted Major for gallant service at the bat-
tles of Contreras and Churubusco, and he was
wounded at the battle of Chapultepec, but continued
on duty and commanded the First Regiment of
Artillery, and was prize commissioner at Vera Cruz,
at the close of the war. From May, 1854, to Jan-,
uary, 1861, he was stationed at various points on
the Pacific coast. On July 23, 1861, he was pro-
moted lieutenant-colonel of the First Artillery, and
was at Newport News in Mairch, 1862, during the
famous engagement between the "Merrimac" and
"Monitor." In 1863 he was stationed in Boston Har-
bor and engaged in placing that port in proper state
for defense. On Aug. i, 1863, he was promoted
colonel of the Fifth Artillery, but unfortunately died
ten days later, his health having been seriously im-
paired by the hardships to which he had been sub-
jected. For forty years, he served his country
faithfully as an officer, was stationed in every, sec-
tion of the Union, and in every position acquitted
himself with honor and distinction. At the time
of the outbreak of the Rebellion, he was residing
with his family in Florida, and although offered
high rank under the Confederate government, was
true to the flag under which he had fought so long.
Col.- Nauman was married to Mary Dummett,
in St. Augustine, Fla., she being a daughter of
Thomas Dummett, a native of England, who be-
came a sugar planter on the Isle of Barbadoes, until
the abolition of slavery there, when he removed to
Connecticut. When the United States acquired
Florida, he was one of the first to introduce sugar
planting in the new territory. Mrs. Nauman died
in 1861, leaving six children, three of whom still
survive.
George Nauman remained with his father until
1853, at the different military posts at which he
was stationed, but at that time went with his mother
and other members of the family to St. Augustine,
Fla., Col. Nauman going to California. In 1859,
he was graduated from St. James College at Hag-
erstown, Md., with degree of B. A., after which he
read law for a year in the State of Florida, his mind
thus early showing its natural bent. In the fall
of i860, he became a student in the Law Department
of the University of Virginia, and in June, 1861,
located in Lancaster, Pa., continuing his legal stud-
ies, and being admitted to the Bar in 1862. Imme-
diately after this, he entered upon the practice
of his profession, and met with marked success
during his entire legal career, numbering among
his clients the most prominent men and corporations
of Lancaster and surrounding country. For three
years he served as city solicitor, and frequently rep-
resented the Pennsylvania Railway Co. ; was counsel
for the Lancaster Street Railroad Co., and all of the
three oil lines in the county.
Mr. Nauman was one of the leading Democrats
of the county, and was frequently called upon to
represent his party in various offices, and he served
many times as chairman of the State Democratic
Central Committee. At one time he was chosen as
candidate from his district for Congress, but the
party being in the minority, he was not elected.
In 1888, upon the retirement of Justice Gordon,
Mr. Nauman was offered the nomination, but de-^
clined the honor, and the Hon. James B. McCollum
was placed upon the ticket. In 1896, when the gold
question played so important a part in party issues,
Mr. Nauman was very pronounced in his views
upon the question, and held to the gold standard
unflinchingly.
Mr. Nauman's strength as a lawyer lay in his
keen, analytical reasoning; his thorough knowledge
92
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of the statutes and his clear, forcible manner of
presenting his case to the jury, rather than in lofty
flights of oratory, although as an orator he possessed
no mean gifts. A close student, both of books and
human nature, Mr. Nauman's mind was well filled
with useful facts, and he was justly recognized as
one of the best informed men in Lancaster. He was
also an accomplished linguist, speaking several lan-
guage's fluently, and was a cultured, refined scholar,
and a man who commanded deepest respect every-
where from all classes.
In Lancaster, in 1867, Mr. Nauman was married
to Miss Elizabeth Henderson, and nine children
were born to this happy union, two of whom are
deceased \ George is a member of the Civil Engineer
Corps of the Pennsylvania Railroad and is a grad-
uate of Lehigh University; Alfred is a hardware
merchant of Lancaster ; John is a graduate of Frank-
lin and Marshall College, read law with his father,
and was admitted to the Lancaster Bar, now -being,
his father's successor in his large practice, with
offices at his father's former location, on North Duke
street (he is single and resides with his mother).
The other children are: Frank, Elizabeth, Spencer
and Harriet.
The father of Mrs. Nauman was Amos S. Hen-
derson, who at one time, was one of the leading
bankers of Lancaster, and a man very prominent in
financial and commercial circles, and one who en-
joyed universal respect. The religious connections
of Mrs. Nauman and her family are with St. James'
Episcopal Church, in which they are active workers,
and of which Mr. Nauman was also a member.
MAJOR ELLWOOD GRIEST, ex-postmaster
of Lancaster, and father of Hon. W. W. Griest, sec-
retary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was
a man of far more than ordinary attainments, and
was a worthy descendant of the sturdy stock from
which he sprung.
Major Griest was born in Chester county, at
Griest's fording, on the Octoraro, June 17, 1824, a
son of William and Margaret Griest, who belonged
to the Society of Friends. After receiving an or-
dinary English education he was apprenticed to
learn the blacksmith's trade, after which he worked
as a journevman in Lancaster, Chester and Delaware
counties. He first engaged in business on his own
account in Bart township, Lancaster county, and
afterward in Christiana, and was in business in the
latter place when he entered the service of the United
States, in December, 1862, as a clerk in the subsist-
ence department, 3d Division, 6th Army Corps,
Army of the Potom.ac. He was captured by Mosby's
guerrillas Oct. it, 1863, and confined in Libby prison
until Jan. 30, 1864, when he was paroled and ex-
changed. He was next assigned to duty on John-
son's Island, Lake Erie. In August, 1864, he was
commissioned commissar)' of subsistence with the
rank of captain. He was ordered to Gen. Sheridan's
army and placed on his staff as issuing commissary
at headquarters, remaining with Sheridan until Feb-
ruary, 1865, when the latter went on his raid through
the Shenandoah Valley. Capt. Griest was left as
post commissary at Winchester. Later he was de-
tailed with .Sheridan at New Orleans, and afterward
at Jacksonville, Fla. He was mustered out of ser-
A'ice in April, 1866, with the brevet rank of major.
Before returning home a lieutenant's commission in
the United States Infantry was tendered to him,
which he declined.
In September, 1866, the county commissioners
appointed Major Griest county treasurer, to fill the
vacancy caused by the death of Samuel Ensinger.
While treasurer he was employed by Stuart A. Wy-
lie to edit the Lancaster Inquirer. In 1868 he en-
tered into partnership with Mr. Wylie, and the firm
continued until the death of the latter, in 1872. Mr.
Griest then became the editor and proprietor of the
Inquirer, and so continued until his death.
Mr. Griest was, as a young man, a radical Aboli-
tionist. He was one of the organizers of the Repub-
lican party, took an active interest in politics, and
frequently presided at county conventions. He was
a delegate to the State Convention in 1856. In 1866
he became a can;lidate for Congress to succeed Thad-
deus Stevens, but withdrew in favor of O. J. Dickey.
After Mr. Dickey died he again became a candidate
for Congress, but was defeated by A. Herr Smith by
sixty-two votes, after an exciting contest. The can-
didates were A. Herr Smith, who received 3,763
votes; Ellwood Griest, 3,701; Jesse Kennedy (Mt.
Joy), 1,015; S. C. Kauffman (Columbia), 1,956;
David Evans (city), 162. Two years later Mr.
Griest was again an unsuccessful candidate. In
1888 he was a Presidential elector on the Republican
ticket. President Harrison appointed him post-
master Dec. Ti, 1890; and on Feb. 16, 1898, he was
appointed postmaster for a second time by President
McKinley, and held that office at the time of his
death.
In his religious views Major Griest was a
Quaker, and belonged to the Eastland Meeting, in
Little Britain township. Fraternally he was a mem-
ber of George H. Thomas Post, No. 84, G. A. R.,
and of Lodge No. 43, of the Masonic fraternity.
Major Griest died, after a lingering illness, at
the old family home. No. 429 South Prince street,
in February, 1900. His wife, who had also long
been an invalid, soon followed her devoted husband,
and entered into rest in August, 1900. Frank, the
eldest son, who was assistant editor of the Inquirer,
passed away in March, 1900, and Hon. W. W.
Griest is the sole survivor of the family.
HANS TSCHANTZ was one of the first Men-
nonite ministers to locate in Lancaster county, hav-
ing come to this country with Hans Herr, Ulrich
Brackbill, Christian Herr, Martin Mylin and others
about 1709. He was connected with the Strasburg
district of the Mennonite Church in Lancaster
county. He became a Bishop in that church and
CM^t^rO ^yi^-^J^^^si^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
93
in 1742, when Martin Meylin (Mylin) built a fine
and commodious house for himself, he was mildly
reprimanded by Bishop Tschantz and asked to de-
clare openly what his intentions were in erecting
such a handsome affair. He stated that he had only
done so for his comfort, and after some discussion
the Bishop reprimanded him and the matter ended
there.
EDWARD SHIPPEN, one of the leading men
of Lancaster in Revolutionary times, was a grand-
son of Edward Shippen, of Philadelphia, who had
come from Yorkshire, England, to Boston and
finally settled in Philadelphia in 1693. Edward
Shippen, the subject of our sketch, was born in
Philadelphia in 1703, and came to Lancaster in
1752, when he was appointed prothonotary of the
county. He was paymaster for the supplies fur-
nished to the Provincial soldiers during the French
and Indian War, and was also a county judge of
Lancaster county. He died at an advanced age,
and is buried in the graveyard of St. James' Episco-
pal church. His son, Edward, became Chief Jus-
tice of the Supreme court of Pennsylvania in 1790.
One of his daughters married Benedict Arnold
in 1778.
HENRY EDWIN SLAYMAKER, ex-post,
master of Lancaster, well known in his community
on account of his connection with Reigarts Old
Wine Store, a leading business house, comes from
prominent Pennsylvania families. His marriage to
Miss Steele, daughter of late Capt; John Steele,
adds considerable to Mr. Slaymaker's social
standing.
The first of the family to emigrate to this coun-
try was Mathias Slaymaker (in German Schleier-
macher), a native of Hessen-Cassel, who arrived
from Strasburg, Germany, in the year 1710. He
settled on a thousand-acre tract known as the "Lon-
don Lands," located near the residence of Peter J,
Eckert in Strasburg township. Mathias had two
brothers, one a clergyman and settled in the Em-
peror's dominion high up in Germany, and for
some time secretary of the German Legation to the
Court of St. James, afterward holding the position
of Charge d' Affairs to the same government; his
eldest son was governor of a German Island. Presi-
dent John Adams, while minister to England, re-
sided with a descendant of this brother. Another
descendant of this branch was governor of an Island
under German Dominion. Mathias' other brother
was a major in the King of Prussia's tall regiment,
and it is supposed that a son of this brother was an
officer (major) in the Hessian troops hired by
George III to fight his rebellious subjects in Amer-
ica, as a captured soldier of that name was at one
time confined in the Lancaster jail.
Mathias Slaymaker, the emigrant, was married
in Germanv. He had five sons : Lawrence, Mathias,
John, Henry and Daniel, and two daughters, Mar-
garet and Barbara Eckman. Of these Lawrence
and Margaret were born before the emigration to
America. Lawrence married a sister of Jacob
Pfautz, and had one child who married a member
of the Lefever family and later moved to Cumber-
land county. Mathias married a Miss Smith and
had two sons, John and William, and three daugh-
ters, Rachel, Rebecca and Elizabeth. John mar-
ried Elizabeth White and had Mathias, John, Wil-
liam and Alexander, and five daughters, Jane, Eliza-
beth, Mary, Kitty and Ann. Henry married Faith-
ful Richardson, three sons being born to the union,
Amos, Henry and Samuel, and six daughters, Mary,
Hannah, Faithful, Lydia, Sarah and Sophia. Daniel
married Gilsey Young, and had Daniel, William and
Mathias, sons, and Elizabeth and Gilsey, daugh-
ters. Margaret married Michael Fickel, and reared
a large family. Barbara married Hironimus
Eckman.
Henry Slaymaker, father of Amos, assisted in
clearing a portion of the present town site of Lan-
caster. The London Lands were left to John, Henry,
Mathias and Daniel, and a portion of the estate is
still held by the family.
The Slaymaker family resisted all the efforts of
the British to make them desert the Colonists dur-
ing Revolutionary times, and every member re-
mained faithful to the Republic during its struggle
for liberty. Henry was a magistrate during this
time and was active in behalf of freedom ; he suc-
ceeded Mr. Hubley as principal justice, presiding
for a year. Henry's son Amos was a member of
Col. James Mercer's military company, formed by
young men who entered into articles of agreement
to suppress all those called Tories. Its movements
were attended with great hazard, and it was con-
stantly in aid of the new Republic. The traditions
of the family are replete with stories of this period.
One in particular when Magistrate Henry Slay-
maker, hearing of a gang of Tories operating in the
vicinity ordered out the company in pursuit of it.
After a hard march through a stormy night it was
learned that the Tories had been apprised of their
coming and had made their escape. Henry Slay-
maker was a delegate to the convention for framing
a constitution for the State of Pennsylvania, which
met at Philadelphia, July 15, 1776.
Amos Slaymaker served two terms in the Revo-
lutionary war as an Ensign in a company com-
manded by his uncle, John S., who was also en-
gaged as an officer in Braddock's war. Amos was
magistrate for many years, a member of Legisla-
ture, of the Pennsylvania Senate, and afterwards
a member Of Congress from his district.
The John Slaymaker of Revolutionary fame
was a sturdy patriot and soldier. In Braddock's
disastrous campaign against the French he was en-
gaged during the day of Braddock's defeat. He
had charge of a cannon and in getting it into action
had eleven horses shot while hauling it into position.
In 1776 he took a company into Bergen, N. J., and
94
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
was in the skirmish under Gen. Bull, at Chestnut
Hill, where the General was taken prisoner. Upon
John's return home he was elected county com-
missioner, and after filling that office he retired
to private life, dying in 1798, aged sixty-five years.
Samuel Slaymaker, third son of Henry Slay-
maker and Faithful Richardson, married Ann Coch-
ran, daughter of Stephen Cochran, of Cochranville,
Chester Co., and they had offspring as follows i
Henry Y., Stephen C, Samuel R., James A. and
Eliza. Samuel and his brother Henry were pro-
prietors of the great stage line of Reeside, Slay-
maker & Co., from Philadelphia to the West, be-
fore the era of railroads. The firm built the large
stage barn on the corner of Duke and Chestnut
streets, with the three one-story brick houses still
standing on the north side of Chestnut street, ex-
tending from the Rote Iron Works to Cherry street.
The barn was destroyed by fire the evening of Nov.
I, 1832, at which time Samuel R. Slaymaker & Coj
were the owners of the stage line. Samuel died
April 3, 1830, at his residence in East Orange St.,
now the property of Dr. George Rohrer. Ann
(Cochran) Slaymaker died at the home of her son
Samuel R., in York.
Henry V. Slaymaker, of Margaretta Furnace,
York Co., married Margaret Reigart and the fol^
lowing children were born to this union: Mary
R., Ann C, Henrietta E., and Adam R. Margaret
died at Margaretta Furnace. Henry Y. died at his
daughter Henrietta Ruthrauff's in Davenport, Iowa,
Samuel R. Slaymaker married Anna Smith, of
Philadelphia, and had the following children:
Henry Stephen, Robert S., Margaret and Jonathan
S. (who was captain of a company in the 2nd Iowa
V. I., and was killed at the taking of Fort Donelson
during the late Civil war).
James A. Slaymaker died at Detroit, Michigan.
Stephen C. Slaymaker, of Margaretta Furnace,
York Co., married Susan, youngest daughter of
Adam and Mary Reigart, and had children as fol-
lows : Henry Edwin, Samuel Howard, Adam Rei-
gart and Stephen Cochran. Stephen C, was born
in Lancaster, Jan. 17, 1802, and died at Margaretta
Furnace Jan. i, 1835. Susan (Reigart) Slaymaker,
born at Lancaster April 4, 1804, died at the home
of her son; Henry E., May 7, 1886, and both are
buried in St. James Episcopal Church yard in Lan-
caster.
Henry Edwin Slaymaker, the subject of the
present sketch, was born at Margaretta Furnace,
York Co., Oct. 26, 1828. At the age of twelve
years Mr. Slaymaker came to Lancaster with his
mother in 1841, and after attending the Franklin
Academy and High school for some time entered
the late Col. Mayer's hardware store on North
Queen street, remaining there three years. Then
he became a salesman for John F. Steinman' & Son,
hardware dealers. After two years' service he
formed a partnership with the late William C. Pink-
erton in hardware under the name of Pinkerton &
Slaymaker with store on North Queen street. The
business was closed out in 1857 and Mr. Slaymaker
then took charge of Reigart's Old Wine Store on
East King street, established by Adam Reigart, our
subject's grandfather, in 1785, and has successfully
conducted the business for the estate ever since.
Henry E. Slaymaker married Mary Steele,
youngest daughter of Capt. John and Jane P. Steele,
of Harmpny Hall, Leacock township. They have
had three daughters, .Mary Reigart, who married
Edward P. Cowell, employed by the Lehigh Valley
R. R., and they have two children, Mary Edna and
Henry Slaymaker ; Frances Steele, who died at the
age of seven months; and Susan R., at home. In
politics Mr. Slaymaker was first a Whig, but in
i860 he became a Constitutional States Rights Dem-
ocrat, and has remained with that party since.
Mr. Slaymaker was a member of St. John's
Episcopal church of Lancaster, having helped to
organize it and serving as one of the first set of
vestrymen. He is now a member of St. James
church, and is prominent in its affairs. He was
a member of Lancaster Fencibles, the crack military
company of the time, and at the beginning of the
war he helped to organize the Union Guards, which
did such good service in the Army of the Potomac.
While preivented from going to the war when the
Rebels invaded Pennsylvania, Mr. Slaymaker raised
a company known as Co. B, loth P. V. I. After
some service the company was disbanded.
Mr. Slaymaker held the office of auditor of Lan-
caster until its abolishment. From the age of eigh-
teen years he was a member of the Union Volunteer
Fire Co., No. i, and for twenty-eight years was its
president. After the establishment of a paid de-
partment the company formed the Union Fire Co.
Association. Mr. Slaymaker was elected its presi-
dent, and still retains that position. For more than
twenty years he was chairman of the Property com-
mittee of the school directors of Lancaster, and
when the first modern school building was erected
in the town he superintended its construction, giv-
ing the work as careful consideration as he would
his own business. President Cleveland appointed
him postmaster during his first term and it was
during this time the new postoffice on North Duke
street was ordered by the government. At the end
of his term it was found that Mr. Slaymaker was
the government creditor to the amount of one cent,
a draft for which amount was sent him from Wash-
ington. Mr. Slaymaker retains the draft as a curi-
osity. For three years he was jury commissioner of
the county.
Mr. Slaymaker is a member of Lancaster Lodge,
No. 476, F. & A. M. ; also of the Chapter, No. 43)
and the Lodge of Perfection, and from time to time
has held the lodges' most important offices, at pres-
ent being treasurer of the former, and trustee of
the latter. He is a trustee of the Witmer Home,
a manager of the Home for Friendless Children
since its establishment. Hale and vigorous, no more
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
95
familiar figure than that of Mr. Slaymaker is known
to Lancaster. Clever and kind, and a most enter-
taining companion, it is small wonder that the gen-
tleman has long been regarded as one of Lancaster's
foremost men.
Mrs. Slaymaker comes of a family whose record
is indelibly written in American history. General
John Steele, her grandfather, was born in Drumore
township, Lancaster county, in 1758, a son of Wil-
liam Steele. He was educated in the school at Chest-
nut Level, kept by the Rev. James Latta. While
still in school, the war of the Revolution was begun,
and young Steele exchanged the school room for
the camp, enlisting the same day as did his three
brothers, Archibald, William and James. He en-
tered the ranks as a private, but before he was
twenty-one was in command of a company, being
made a first lieutenant in the loth Pennsylvania,
Dec. 4, 1776; Captain, May 27, 1778; transferred to
the 17th Cavalry in 1781 ; retired in January, 1783;
and later honored with the rank of general. He
was wounded at the battle of Brandywine, but re-
covered and returned to his regiment, following
Washington through many battles, participating
as officer of- the day in the memorable success en-
acted at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown,
Oct. 19, 1781. In June, 1780, while a member of
Gen. Washington's body guard, he had the honor of
guarding Mrs. Washington, in the absence of her
husband, at Morristown, N. J. After the war
was over. Gen. Steele served in the Pennsylvania
Senate, being presiding officer in 1805 and 1808.
In the latter year he was appointed collector of the
port of Philadelphia, an office he continued to hold
until 1826. He was a man of undoubted genius.
For a time he engaged in the publishing business
in Philadelphia, where he located in 1784, casting
his type with his own hands. The last year of his
life was spent on his farm at Octoraro. His death
occurred Feb. 27, 1827, and he was buried in Old
Pine St. Church Yard, Philadelphia, Pa. Besides
his service in the field, this sturdy patriot had loaned
money to the Government, and he was one of the
founders of the Society of the Cincinnati. In 1784
he wedded Miss Bailey, who had waited for him
during seven long years he served his country. She
died in March, 1828. In politics he was a Jeflfer-
sonian Democrat.
Capt. John Steele, son of Gen. John Steele, en-
tered into rest Oct. 27, 1853. During the war of
181 2, he commanded a company, and later suc-
ceeded to the position held by his father as collector
of the Port of Philadelphia. He was also controller
of the public schools of that city. In politics he
was a Jacksonian Democrat. Fraternally he was
a York Rite Mason, belonging to Lodge No. 51,
of Philadelphia, in which he was past master, and
in which for thirty years he had held official posi-
tion He also filled the chair of Right Worshipful
Grand Master in the Grand Lodge. Capt. Steele mar-
ried Jane Porter, who was born in 1791, and died in
1867. Ten children blessed this union, as follows :
William, Sarah, John, Abiann, James, Robert, Mar-
garet, Jane D., Mary and Marshall, all deceased,
except Mary, who is Mrs. Slaymaker.
Mrs. Slaymaker and her two daughters are act-
ive members of the Daughters of the American
Revolution, belonging to Donegal Chapter. The
youngest daughter, Susan Reigart Slaymaker, is at
present most acceptably serving as corresponding'
secretary.
JOSEPH SHERER, son of Samuel Sherer, was
born in the north of Ireland in 173 1. In 1734
his parents located in Paxton township, then in
Lancaster county, now in Dauphin county, Pa. He
received an ordinary education and began life as a
farmer. During the French and Indian war he
served as a non-commissioned officer, doing duty on
the frontiers. At the beginning of the Revolu-
tionary War he commanded a company in Colonel
Burd's Battalion of Associators. He was a member
of the Lancaster county committee and a member
of the Constitutional convention of July 15, 1776.
He took sick while attending the sessions of this con-
vention, and died on December 2d following. He
left behind him a wife and eight children.
JOHN B. GOOD, for twenty years a member
of the Bar at Lancaster, was born June 18, 1823, in
Brecknock township, Lancaster Co., Pa., and died
in Lancaster Sept. 6, 1884, in his sixty-second
year. He was a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Bow-
man) Good, who had six children, of whom John B.
was the eldest. Lydia, the eldest daughter and sec-
ond child, married Jacob Hoover, of Berks county.
Pa., and is now deceased; Elizabeth became the
wife of Mr. Husser, and is deceased; Sarah, the
wife of Peter Meisser, died in Lancaster county;
Mary died unmarried, in Lancaster county ; and
Nancy also died in this county. The father was a
cabinet maker by trade.
In early life Mr. Good was reared to farming,
and in connection therewith managed to secure an
excellent education. At the age of eighteen he began
to teach school, and was thus engaged for several
years, in the meantime devoting his leisure to the
reading of law. He was admitted to the Lancaster
Bar in 1864, and practiced continuously up to the
time of his death. He was considered a practical
and conscientious exponent of legal science, and
had a large and appreciative clientele. For many
years he was before the public as a writer for vari-
ous periodicals, possessing a facile pen and apt de-
scriptive powers. As a Republican he took con-
siderable interest in local political undertakings, and
among other offices maintained with credit filled
that of justice of the peace, from 1847 to 1858.
In February, 1865, he became a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and was ever after
a loyal supporter of that denomination. At the
time of his death he had held the office of class-
96
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
leader since 1866, and of exhorter since 1867. He
was president of the first lay conference held in
Philadelphia, Pa., in March, 1872.
In Reading, Pa., in 1847, Mr. Good married
Elizabeth Bowman, daughter of Daniel and Eliza-
beth (Good) Bowman, and granddaughter of Christ
and Elizabeth Bowman, the former a miller of Berks
county, Pa. Mrs. Good was born in Bowmansville,
• Lancaster Co., Pa., which town was named after her
father, who was a farmer in the county, and who
died in 1871, at the age of seventy-nine years. The
mother was a native of Berks county, Pa., and died
in 1873, at the age of seventy-nine. The parents
are buried in Bowmansville cemetery. They had
the foHowing named children, of whom Mrs. John
B. Good was the last survivor; Isaac; Moses;
Elias ; Lbvina, wife of John H. Good, of Brecknock
township ; Nancy, wife of Christ Gehman ; Eliza-
beth, Mrs. John B. Good; and Leah, wife of Solo-
mon Ott. Mrs. Good lived in her pleasant home
with her daughter, Eleanor M., her other daughter,
Clara L., being the wife of Leonard Lewis, a ma-
chinist of Lancaster.
ELNATHAN ELISHA HIGBEE, D. D., LL.
D., State Superintendent of Public Instruction of
Pennsylvania from April i, 1881, to the time of his
death, Dec. 13, 1889, was born at St. George, near
Burlington, Vt., March 27, 1830. He was the young-
est of a family of ten children, eight sons and two
daughters, born to Lewis Higbee and Sarah Baker.
His mother came from noble stock, and was a.
woman of surpassing loveliness of disposition and
force of character. He often spoke of her in terms
of the warmest gratitude and the tenderest affection.
It was in deference to her wishes that he declined a
cadetship at West Point and continued his course at
the University of Vermont, though the military
academy, held out for him high promise, and would
have fallen in admirably with his daring and ad-
venturous spirit, for he had in him, in large meas-
ure, that of which the ideal soldier is made. It ^yas
through her he used to take a passing pride in trac-
ing his relationship with Ethan Allen, the hero of
Ticonderoga and Crown Point. His father, at one
time a member of the State Legislature, was a strong
representative of the sturdy New England type of
manhood, a fearless upholder of the right, of which
he had an intuitive sense, with a rich vein of humor
that was ever flashing into forms of quick-witted
speech.
Just wh-en Dr. Higbee's formal education began
is not known. Nearly all we know definitely is that
"when a little urchin he knocked at the old Polebrook
school-house with his father's stove-pipe hat on, and
claimed admittance." As a boy he was full of en-
ergy and excelled in all out-door sports. He was
"in love with the hills, skillful with rod and line, a
fine shot and a natural-born athlete." Though only
sixteen when he taught his first school, he easily
outstripped the most active and stalwart of his boys.
"He could run faster, jump higher, .knock a ball or
kick a foot-ball further than any of the rest," says
one who knew him well, "and as a skater he was
as fleet as the wind, and as alert, nimble and agile as
seems possible to any master of the art." He was,
of course, a hero to his pupils on the play-ground,
while in the school room his brilliant intellectual
powers and his tact in management made him no
less an object of admiration. He learned to skate
as perhaps not another lad in ten thousand has done.
His older brother tells the story as follows: The
little fellow had buckled on his skates for the first
time, but had hardly got upon the ice before a sud-
den and stunning fall put an end to his anticipations
of sport. He promptly took them off and could
not be induced to put them on again that winter. Ice
coming again the next winter, he went out with the
boys as before, put on the skates a second time, and
glided away from everybody — a skillful master of
the art! Between his fall and the second time he
buckled on skates, he had become a skillful skater
— not on, but off the ice ! The boy had thought
it out. Going along the road to school during the
sumnier — anywhere, everywhere — without a word
on the subject to anybody, he was trying the slide,
studying it, until he had mastered its theory and
the concept was clear. Then much of the strength
and skill acquired in other directions here came into
play, and he led the lively company many a merry
chase.
His preparatory studies must have been prose-
cuted with vigor, for at the age of fifteen we find
him admitted into the freshman class of the uni-
versity. Here he was a leader among his fellows,
conspicuous no less for the brilliancy of his intel-
lectual achievements than for his marvelous feats of
strength and agility in the various athletic sports of
the day. He became known as the champion foot-
ball player of New England, as well as one of her
champion wrestlers, having in his college days en-
countered but one man — a Canadian of firm-set limb
and mighty strength of loins — whom he could not
put down and keep down in this good-natured test
of bodily skill and strength and endurance. He was
also a famous cricketer, until a finger broken by the
ball compelled him to forego the vigorous game. At
one of the corporation dinners at Burlington, Vt. —
given by the city corporation op graduation day to
the university and its alumni — to the right and left
of President Buckham, of the university, sat Dr.
James McCosh, president of Princeton College, and
Dr. E. E. Higbee, president of Mercersburg Theo-
logical Seminary. After Dr. McCosh had been in-
troduced and had made his speech. President Buck-
ham, in introducing Dr. Higbee, remarked: "The
last time I saw him was many years ago, on the
campus behind the university. It was on the day
when his class graduated. He had the foot-ball in
his hand as he shouted, 'Here goes for the last
kick !' The records of the university show that the
ball went over the cupola of the four-story building,
higher than it was ever kicked before or since!"
Thus he enriched the traditions of his Alma Mater
ELNATHAN ELISHA HIGBEE, D.D., LL.D.
THE GREAT SEAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH.
PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR BEAVER.
In the name and by authority of the Commonwealth of Pennnsylvania :
A PROCLAMATION.
Again devolves upon the Executive the sad duty of announcing to the people of
this Commonwealth the death of an eminent citizen and faithful official. Dr. E. E.
Higbee, Superintendent of Public Instruction, died this morning at his home in the City
of Lancaster. For nearly nine years and by the appointment of three successive Gover-
nors he served the people of this State with singular fidelity, and purity, and singleness of
purpose, as the honored head of the Educational Department of the State Government.
He was born March 27, 1830, and graduated from the University of Vermont in
1849. He received his professional education at the theological seminary at Mercersburg,
in this State, and entered the ministry in 1854. He became professor of languages in
Heidelberg College, Ohio, in 1859 ; but three years later removed to the city of Pittsburg)
and resumed his labors in the ministry. Soon after he returned, as one of its professors,
to the theological seminary from which he graduated, and in 1867 was elected to the
presidency of Mercersburg College, which position he filled until his appointment as
Superintendent of Public Intstruction in 1881, and this latter office he held by re -appoint-
ment in 1885 and 1889, until the time of his death.
Dr. Higbee was a man of broad culture, a polished and thoughtful scholar, familiar
alike with the treasures of ancient and modern thought and literature. As an instructor
his extraordinary attainments and varied resources brought to him abundant success in
every department of effort ; and as an educator, in its broadest and best sense, he had
attained a rank among the first of the nation. As a public officer he was painstaking and
conscientious ; as a man he was pure, simple-hearted and genial, gentle and kind.
The teachers of the State and his associaties in the great work of education loved him
with a filial devotion, and the Commonwealth trusted him as a pure, noble, true, and
honest man.
The funeral services will be held at the First Reformed Church in Lancaster, on
Monday, December i6th, at half-past 11 o'clock a. m.
Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the State, at the City of Harrisburg, this
13th day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-
nine, and of the Commonwealth the one hundred and fourteenth.
By the Governor : JAMES A. BEAVER.
Chas. W. Stone,
Secretary of the Co7nmoniii}^Q.lth,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
97
by exploits of physical skill and dexterity in such a
signal way as to associate his name with the most
attractive reminiscences of college days, becoming
recognized by general consent as facile princeps
among his fellows.
Supt. E. Mackey, of Trenton, N. N., in a rare
tribute to Dr. Higbee, written shortly after his death,
says : "He was in sympathy with his students in all
their legitimate pastimes and pursuits. I was fond
of skating. The creek was a mile away. I was never
refused permission to absent myself from chapel
exercises and study hours to enjoy an evening's
skating. Dr. Higbee himself, it was said, was the
finest skater ever seen on the creek. He must have
been a most accomplished athlete. Even when he
was nearly fifty years old I have seen him kick a
foot-ball from his hands straight over the college
cupola — a feat no student could perform during my
college days. The college building was four stories
high, and the cupola not more than ten feet wide."
Mr. J. T. Motter writes : "My earliest acquaint-
ance with Dr. Higbee dates back to 1849, when I
was but a lad of eleven years and he a youth of nine-
teen. He was the best man^ — not only at books but
also at every kind of sport. I began the study of
Greek and Latin under him at this time, and also the
pursuit of every kind of outdoor sport, of which he
was very fond. He was as fine a shot as I ever
knew, and he disdained to shoot at any game in re-
pose, preferring, as he said, to give them a fair
chance for life. He rarely raised the gun to his
shoulder to glance along the barrel in shooting part-
ridges, pheasants or woodcock — and he rarely failed
to bring down his bird. I have seen him 'wing the
chimney swallow in his wayward flight. These
feats of skill in marksmanship were common when
he was a young man, but as he grew older I never
knew him to take the gun into his hand. His beau-
tiful hazel eye was quick as the lightning, and the
most expressive feature of his face. It seemed, at
times of great earnestness, to pierce through men
and things, until the very core of the matter lay bare
before him, and he saw everything in clearest vision.
His power of ordinary sight was also remarkable.
He could tell from a long distance not only the gen-
era but the species of trees, as for instance the differ-
ent oaks, maples, etc., and enjoyed testing his eye-
sight in this way; he could count the strands of a
rope at a greater distance than any one else while at
Mercersburg ; and on the way to Europe and return
his eye in this test was as good as the sailors', and
about as quick and sure as their own to detect and
distinguish objects on the horizon."
As a student at the university he was especially
strong in the departments of mathematics, the classi-
cal languages and related studies, and of English
literature. He was an omnivorous reader, with an
intuitive power of discrimination and susceptibility
for the true, the good and the beautiful. He reveled
in the delights afforded by the noble collection of
books stored in the university library, whose most
7
unfrequented nooks he diligently explored, mousing
into and through musty "volumes of forgotten lore,"
and enriching his mind with the treasures of poetic
thought and chaste expression which entered so
largely and so naturally into the splendid mental and
spiritual equipment he was acquiring, and which
proved an inexhaustible source of perennial fresh-
ness and ever-multiplying power in his subsequent
career as a thinker, a writer and a speaker of extra-
ordinary ability. He often spoke of the severe
mathematical training he there received, the rigid
discipline of his Latin and Greek sfudies as there
enforced, and his introduction under competent
guidance into the domain of speculative thinking:
and philosophical methods of investigation, as lead-
ing factors in the educational advantages he en-
joyed; but he never ceased to "thank his stars" for
the influences that worked together for his greatest
intellectual good, in sending him with hurrying feet
to the library as the storehouse of the accumulated
wisdom of the ages. Here he acquired that remark-
able "habit, of swift and discriminating reading, until
he had amongst books, as Prof. Winsor expresses
it, 'the instinct that serves the Redman when he
knows the north by the thickness of the moss on the
tree-boles.' "
We have said that he excelled in mathematics.
In this connection it is interesting to recall the fol-
lowing incident : When he first began the study of
algebra it seems that he was unable to get along with
the nev/ work to his satisfaction. So the lad applied
to his father for permission to stop the study. "What
is algebra?" inquired the father. Elnathan told him
as well as he could, whereupon he was asked,. "Can
the other boys get it?" "Yes, they seem able to do
it, at least better than I can." "TheA," said the
father, with emphasis, "You'll keep at it, and get it
too." And he did get it, as all know who ever wit-
nessed the facility, the lightning-like rapidity with
which he employed the media of this branch of analy-
sis in the solution of the most intricate problems. He
once told us boys in class-room of how, one day on
the playground, the meaning and use of algebra came
to him like a flash of light, so that he never after had
trouble with it.
In college we find him, on the other hand, ap-
proaching Prof. Torrey with the question whether
he, might not give up one or two of the other
branches, for which he had no liking, in order to
devote himself more assiduously to the study of
mathematics. "The fact that you seem to have no
special aptitude for the branches you name," Prof.
Torrey advised, "is the very best of reasons why you
should apply yourself most diligently to the mastery
of the truths they contain, for you need them most ;
the mathematics, for which you have special talent,
will for that reason require no special effort on your
part, but may be trusted to take care of itself in the
ordinary course of your studies." The wisdom of
this counsel was not lost upon the young inquirer at
the time, and in after years was gratefully acknowl-
98
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
edged as fully justified by his own more mature ex-
perience. He used to speak of this as "the best
advice" he had received while a student at college.
His collegiate course terminated in 1849. He
was one of the honor men of his class. His connec-
tion with the university did not cease with his gradu-
ation, for besides maintaining a correspondence with
several of his old professors upon abstruse questions,
involving learned disputations, he was invited, "by
a unanimous vote of the faculty," in the language of
President Smith, to deliver a Master's Oration at the
commencement -of 1852; in 1857 he responded to an
invitation of the Literary Societies "to serve as poet
for their annual celebration ;" and at another time he
delivered a poem upon some "high festal" occasion
in the history of the Owl Society. The Master's
Oration was entitled "Thesis Theologica — scripta
dictu in U. V. M. — Relation of the Church to the In-
carnation in the Creed" — a very scholarly disquisi-
tion, showing already, at this early age, the wide
range of his acquaintance with the ponderous tomes
of patristic literature, the records of the old church
councils, and the domain of more recent theological
learning.
Dr. Higbee's first employment, after graduating,
was as assistant teacher in an academy at South
Woodstock, Vt., where he had classes in the higher
mathematics, the ancient classics and philosophy.
At the termination of this engagement he went to
Emmitsburg, Md., at the request of his sister, to take
charge of the mathematical and classical depart-
ments of a select school which his brother-in-law.
Rev. George W. Aughinbaugh, had organized in
that place. He was then reading law, and fully de-
termined, at no distant day, to return to his native
State and qualify himself for the legal profession.
He once humorously accounted for his coming to
Emmitsburg by recalling the familiar anecdote re-
lated of John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster. These
statesmen were standing in front of the Capitol at
Washington, when a drove of mules was going by.
"Look, Dan," said Calhoun, "there goes some of
your constituents." "Yes," Webster replied, "they
are going south to teach school." Then with a merry
twinkle in his eye he added, "I've come South to
teach school." How many hundreds of pupils and
thousands of admiring friends have lived to see the
day when they devoutly blessed the good fortune
that permitted them to share in the benefits of his
"coming South !"
In 1850 he accepted the position of private tutor
in the family of Hon. Joshua Motter, of Emmits-
burg, among whose daughters he found his wife, the
faithful, life-long partner of his joys and sorrows.
This position he held for one year. The serious
earnestness with which he prosecuted his labors
here, as teacher of a small band of pupils, is es-
pecially evinced by his lectures on the Science of
Logic, and the Fine Arts, which were prepared with
the same painstaking care that characterized his
later prepared lectures on Church History, Ethics,
and ^Esthetics. Here too, during the winter of
1S50-51, he was brotight so nigh unto death by an
attack of typhoid fever, of a most malignant type,
that the physicians could no longer count the flurried
pulse-beats, gave up all hope, and gravely declared,
"It is only a question of a few hours' time with the
poor fellow." On the contrary, his great life work
was just begun. When he rose from this sick bed,
and could venture out of the house, Dr. Aughin-
baugh tells us he weighed less than ninety pounds.
"The battle for life," says Dr. Aughinbaugh, "was
terrible. For six weeks I did not leave his room for
rest, except on Saturday night, that I might be in
better condition for pulpit duties on Sunday."
In the latter part of 1851, or early in 1852, he
entered the Theological Seminary of the Reformed
Church at Mercersburg, attracted from law to the
study of theology m.ainly by the writings of Dr. John
W. Nevin. Drs. Nevin and Schaff were his teach-
ers. Of his course here we will not take time to
speak, save to note the interesting fact that he spent
considerable time in preparing for publication an
edition of Pindar in the original. The plan of the
work had been carefully mapped out, in consultation
with Prof. Pease of the University of Vermont, who
advised him "to put the Greek on one page and an
English , metrical translation on the other, with ex-
planatory notes at the foot of the page and critical
notes at the end." His earlier admiration for Dr.
Nevin grew into the profoundest veneration by per-
sonal association and fuller acquaintance. Indeed,
he regarded Dr. Nevin, in certain lines of thought,
the ablest man in America, and with but one man
his equal in Germany. We remember well when he
put into our hands, for the editorial columns of The ■
Pennsylvania School Journal, this tribute to his
venerated teacher :
In the recent death of Dr. J. W. Nevin, at his home at
Caernarvon Place, near Lancaster, at the advanced age of
eighty years, the world of scholarship and ripe Christian
thought has lost a noble citizen. Though not the best known
to its educators, he was the greatest teacher of his time in
Pennsylvania. He was unequaled in his power over the minds
of his pupils, inspiring in them such a reverence for truth, and
such an humble attitude to receive it, as to free many from all
self-conceit, and put them on the way of earnest search and
prayer. While gifted himself with intellectual powers only
granted to a chosen few, yet in his humility he urged his pupils
to yield their minds to truth as Something broader and more
glorious than aught that he or the most learned had attained;
and guarded them most zealously from the abomination of
intellectual slavery. In no scholar of our acquaintance have
we seen the language of our Saviour more fully verified, "Judge
not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judg-
ment." And in no educator of the present age have vye seen
such a- reverent acknowledgment of the aim of all thought-life,
as given by the greatest teacher of man, "To this end was I
born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should
bear witness unto the truth. "
The same all-absorbing love of the truth and
comprehensive grasp of its wide-reaching scope was
the inspiration of Dr. Higbee's own interior thought-
power, and his own words, as above quoted, might
be most fittingly applied to himself. After completing
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
99
the Seminary course he accepted the professorship
■of mathematics in the high school at Lancaster, Pa.
There he remained one year, making life-long friends
■of many of his pupils. The last eight years
•of his life were also lived in Lancaster, and it was
there that he died in 1889, at the home of his son-
in-law, Prof. George F. Mull, of Franklin and Mar-
shall, College.
■In 1854, five years after his graduation from the
university, he was licensed to preach the gospel by
the Maryland Classis of the Reformed Church. His
first field of ministerial labor was in the Congrega-
tional Church of Bethel, Vt. After laboring there a
few years he returned to Emmitsburg as a supply to
the Reformed Church, but soon became pastor of the
First Reformed Church of Tiffin, Ohio. There he
was elected professor of Latin and Greek in Heidel-
berg College. It was at Tiffin that Dr. Higbee's
father, now an old man and very feeble, first heard
liis son preach. Upon returning to the house, he
•expressed the pleasure he had had by exclaiming, in
•subdued tones, with tears coursing their way down
liis cheeks, "Well, I have heard Elnathan preach,
and now I am satisfied. He knows how to do it."
Grace Reformed Church, Pittsburg, next en-
joyed his ministrations for a few years, whence he
was called, in 1864, to the chair of Church History
and New Testament Exegesis, occupied by the
eminent theologian. Dr. Philip Schaff, in the Theo-
logical Seminary at Mercersburg, where he Had
graduated. '"Here," says Prof. Kerschner, "eight
■delightful years of my friend's life passed away."
When in 1871 the Seminary was removed to Lan-
"Caster, Dr. Higbee resigned the chair he had so ably
and acceptably filled, and became President of Mer-
•cersburg College, holding the position until 1880.
His pastoral labors covered a period of ten years.
The sixteen years following, of educational work at
Mercersburg, spent so quietly that the world knew
little of him who labored there, were, like those of
Moses in Horeb, years of quiet preparation made
unwittingly for a wide field of great activity. There,
in the chair of Church History and New Testament
Exegesis, he made the acquaintance of the great
theologians, ecclesiastics, and statesmen of past
ages, for to him these men lived again ; and in their
companionship his wonderful mind found congenial
spirits and converse upon highest themes in state-
•craft and religion.
As President of Mercersburg College Dr. Hig-
hee passed from the contemplative to the active
sphere, from the legislative and judicial habit to the
•executive. Dr. Kerschner says of that period -."His
labors were vastly increased ; his anxieties were end-
less; his remuneration was small; the discipline of
the 'college, no light burden when faithfully dis-
charged, rested mainly upon him ; he was a commit-
tee of ways and means where such seemed not to
€xi.st; his' duties were often harassing, always in-
cessant." During this time he taught classes in
Psychology, Logic, Esthetics, Ethics and the His-
tory of Philosophy, and gave special attention to the
Philosophy of History and the Theory of Educa-
tion. "But the chapel was the scene of Dr. Higbee's
severest labors, of his deafest joys, and of his nob-
lest spiritual victories." Thus was he prepared to
cope with men and grasp the issues presented in his
brilliant and inspiring eight years' administration
of the Department of Public Instructio'n, which he
began in his fifty-first year.
A very fair estimate of his labors at Mercers-
burg, and the fruits thereof, may be had from dis-
criminating and appreciative articles in the Memorial
number of The Pennsylvania School Journal (Feb-
ruary and March, 1890) and in the Dr. Higbee
Memorial Volume, an extraordinary collection of
tributes unequaled perhaps in the history of educa-
tion in America — notably those of Prof. J. B.
Kerschner, Supt. E. Mackey, Rev. E. N. Kremer,
Dr. N. C. Schaeffer, Rev. S. L. Whitmore, and
others. The whole period of his activity from this
time onward is well covered by the splendid me-
morial tributes there given. State Supt. Schaefifer,
who was one of his students at Mercersburg, says
of him : "He was one of the most remarkable edu-
cators of modern times, greater at Mercersburg than
was Dr. Arnold at Rugby. In the eyes of his stu-
dents he was a linguist, a mathematician, a scientist,
a philosopher, a theologian, a historian; an orator, a
poet — all combined in one. Had his magnificent
powers been concentrated upon a single specialty, he
might have rendered services therein that would
have been acknowledged in every clime and tongue."
Dr. Higbee was largely instrumental in bring-
ing about the foundation of Mercersburg College in
the fall of 1865. Laboring there, in season and out
of season, studying, teaching, preaching, lecturing,
writing articles for the Reformed Quarterly Review,
and the Reformed Messenger, of which he was co-
editor for a time, and serving upon some of the most
important committees by appointment of the highest
judicatory of the church — maintaining the most in-
tense activity whereby his physical resoiirces were
drained to their utmost capacity — with a sublime
disregard of personal ease and comfort — his intellec-
ual and spiritual resources were ever multiplying
themselves l^y use and development into the splendid
proportions of rare excellence attained in his later
years.
Comparatively unknown to the State at large,
he was appointed by Gov. Henry M. Hoyt, upon the
recommendation of Hon. John Stewart, Hon. John
Cessna, and others, to take charge of the Department
of Public Instruction at a time when peculiar talents
were needed, Messrs. Breck, Burrowes, Dieffenbach,
Hickok and others had devised the system, admir-
able in its adaptatiorkji.:^-ie diverse conditions of the
several parts of the State, in its balance of central-
ization with local control ; and Dr. Wickersham with
singular executive ability had compacted it. What
the State needed was to be aroused to employ to
better purpose the means at hand. As Gov. Hoyt
100
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
expressed it, he wanted somebody to put "spiritual
content" into it. To this task Dr. Higbee applied
himself. He personally inspected the State from
end to end. He penetrated the remotest corners,
and sometimes spent weeks with superintendents,
holding meetings night after night in country dis-
tricts. By his scholarly presence and wise counsels,
by his self-sacrificing spirit and consuming zeal,
in cities, in boroughs, and in whole counties, he
aroused and directed the energies of school officers
and of the public. He was not a worshipper of sys-
tem. System with him was not an end but a means.
He deeply impressed upon his hearers that the chil-
dren ^^•ere not for the schools, but the schools for the
children. He always insisted upon regard for the
individual while dealing with masses of children.
He demanded for each child the buildings, the
grounds, the appliances, and the teachers, that were
needed to develop the physical, intellectual, moral,
religious, and aesthetic nature of the child. How
well he did this work let the result show. Never
before was there in Pennsylvania a more wide-
spread, earnest, substantial support of public in-
struction. The expenditures upon school property
were one million dollars in 1881, and in 1889 two
millions, an increase of one hundred per cent. The
amount devoted to public instruction increased from
$7,300,000, in' 1881, to $12,000,000, in 1889, an in-
crease of over sixty per cent. The aid granted by
the Legislature, in the State appropriation, in-
creased one hundred per cent. Teachers were en-
couraged to attend the County Institute by receiving
pay for their time spent there ; uniformity in the
school month was effected throughout the State ; and
twenty per cent, was added to the length of the
school year.
Appointed in 1881 by Gov. Hoyt, Dr. Higbee
was reappointed by Gov. Pattison, in 1885, and by
Gov. Beaver, in 1889, each time in response to the
almost universal desire of the leaders of educational
work in all parts of Pennsylvania. He was busy
with his institute work until within two or three
days of his death. He was stricken at Mifflintown
at the depot while waiting for the train, after having
addressed the teachers eloquently at both morning
and afternoon sessions of the County Institute. A
few days before he had been at Huntingdon. Dr. M.
G. Brumbaugh writes of his work there:
He attended the entire sessions on Thursday, remarking to
me once during the day that he could not this season do his
work with his accustomed vigor. I am said he, half jocosely,
"only fifty-nine, but I look like a man of eighty, and feel like a
man of ninety. " He made the closing address of the afternoon
session. His theme was the Identity of Home and School
Training. In this address for forty minutes he held the rapt
attention of fully 1,300 people. In it he spoke with all his
usual earnestness, and that prs^^U^^^ depth of thought and
feeling which so often characterizea nis platform utterances.
He reached beyond the ordinary ken, and saw and described
visions not revealed in like fullness to other men. His extra-
ordinary grasp of our educational environment, his deep and
exhaustive analysis of character as a factor in education, his
earnest and Christian charity for the honest work of the
teacher, his intense and righteous resentment of all sophistries
in education, and his marvelous and rythmic diction, com-
bined to make his address a memorable one. It was probably
the last, rich, full outpouring of the treasures of his wonderful
mind.
Medical attendance was promptly summoned,
but nothing could be done save to render his condi-
tion as comfortable as possible for the journey home,
which was at once undertaken. There was no return
to consciousness. Early on Friday morning, Dec.
13, 1889, the spirit took its flight, and Dr. Higbee
was at rest. In accordance with his own frequently
expressed wish he was buried at Emmitsburg, Md.,
a few miles south of Gettysburg — ^ place hallowed
by the sweetest and saddest memories of his earthly
life.
The funeral services were held Monday, Dec.
16th, in the First Reformed Church at Lancaster,
where he had preached his first sermon, on the last
Sunday in Advent, 1854, when employed there in the
mathematical department of the Boys' High School.
Among those who came to pay their last tribute of
respect to the distinguished dead were Gov. Beaver,
Secretary of the Commonwealth Stone, Lieut. Gov.
Davies, Adjt. Gen. Hastings, the Lancaster school
board in a body, the faculty and students of Frank-
lin and Marshall College and of the Theological
Seminary, professors of the State Normal School at
Millersville, officials of the Department of Public In-
striiction, clerks of the Soldiers' Orphan Depart-
ment, and others among the leading educators of the
State, including county, city and borough superin-
tendents, principals of normal schools, teachers and
clergymen of Lancaster and neighboring towns and
cities.
Addresses were made by his old friends and co-
workers. Dr. Thomas G. Appel, E. V. Gerhart and
Benjamin Bausman. "Call it coincidence or pre-
sentiment or what we may," said Dr. Appel, "there
is a melancholy satisfaction and comfort in recalling
the last few days of his life on earth. For some
time — some days, I mean — previous to his death he
seemed to be going about taking leave of his friends.
He spent the morning of his last Sabbath on earth
with us in the Chapel communion service. He was
smitten down at the post of duty with his harness
on. His work on earth was done, and well done.
He had expended his energy and strength upon it,
and at the end of his journey he laid aside his pil-
grim staff and sandal shoon and entered into his
rest."
And Dr. Bausman : "I always felt when I heard
Dr. Higbee preach that back of all there was some-
thing, one-tenth of which he had not told us. So
strong, yet so humble ; such a fine classical scholar,
yet never telling anybody about it. If you started
him quoting poetry, or discussing ancient or mod-
ern literature, what a grand fund he had ! What
masterly readiness to dip out of any part of history
or literature just such things as were needed! His
knowledge of the Scriptures, his study of literature
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
101
— all these mental acquirements— do they He dead
and buried under that coffin-lid ? I bless God for the
life of such an earnest Christian worker; I thank
God for what he was to me— that I have known Dr.
Higbee."
In the memorial session of the Pennsylvania
State Teachers' Association, held at Mauch Chunk
in 1890, Dr. Edward Brooks paid this tribute, in
part, to the man and his work : "Dr. Higbee was a
surprise to Pennsylvania when appointed. Wick-
«rsham had devoted so many years, such wisdom
and energy, and with such success, to the work, that
it seemed strange he should not be his own successor ;
more strange, that his successor should be one un-
known to the common school men ; and, still more
strange, that he should be a man whose associations
had kept him out of touch with us — if not antago-
nistic, certainly not in sympathy. But the wonder
was greater when we came to know him, and see him
discharging his duties. 'None named him but to
praise.' He touched the heart of the educational
tody, and the pulse of the educational sentiment, as
no man has done before. He did more to uplift the
profession of teaching than any of his predecessors.
His work was the complement of theirs. Burrowes
"had given shape to legislation — Wickersham had
consolidated the system with an executive ability that
no other could have supplied — it was left for Higbee
to touch the heart, with a personal power and in-
spiration that no one else possessed. Each of these
men came to the front when needed — all did their
work nobly. Educational movements are rhythmi-
cal— now science, now theology, is on the topmost
wave ; the tendency of to-day is toward materialism,
•especially among the great thinkers of the German
tmiversities. Dr. Higbee set his face against the
error of carrying all education down to the level of
sense-perception, and taught that we must unsense
the mind. Then as a Christian man he threw into
Tils work an immense uplifting influence from the
spiritual side."
Dr. Nathan C. Schaefifer, State Superintendent
of Public Instruction, speaks of him in a memorial
address before the National Educational Association
at St. Paul, as "one of the most remarkable edu-
cators of modern times," and says : "It was at Mer-
cersburg that I first learned to know him. He
astonished the students in various ways. While
sufifering from hay-fever he frequently occupied
himself in tracing mathematical curves of the higher
•orders, or in talking of the beauties of the Greek
verb. His lectures were a well-spring of inspira-
tion for his auditors. They abounded not only in all
kinds of learning but also in seed thoughts that
afterward sprouted and grew into sermons. Daily
the students came away from him with new impulses
to study and investigation. His influence widened
their reading, deepened their thinking, increased
their zeal in studving the Scriptures, and stimulated
their desire to preach Christ and Him crucified.
Subsequent studv abroad convinced me that the uni-
versities of Berlin, Leipsic and Tubingen, whilst
they could boast of more thorough specialists-, did
not possess his superior as a lecturer and inspirer of
young men."
Plon. John Stewart, who knew Dr. Higbee long
and very intimately, says that from him he received
"more valuable information on all the great subjects
of human thought and speculation than from any
other man" he has ever known. "No better man,'"
he adds, "has ever occupied the position of Super-
intendent of Public Instruction in this or any other
State, and the common school system throughout
the land will, in all time, reap great benefit from the
labors of Dr. Higbee. Yet after all it was as a
preacher of the gospel that he found his highest call-
ing and was most successful." He regarded him
the most interesting preacher he had ever heard,
and he knew no other man his equal in scholastic at-
tainments. Gov. Hovt, whose acquaintance in Penn-
sylvania was very wide, and who was himself a man
of fine scholarship, says of him : "Dr. Higbee was,
in mv opinion, the very best all-round scholar in the
State."
John W. Appel, Esq., a well-known member of
the Lancaster Bar, and a gentleman who greatly en-
joyed acquaintance with Dr. Higbee, says : "He
sometimes taught us Homer and history. The
whole scene before Troy seemed to be enacted there
before us in the recitation room. There were
Achilles, Agamemnon and Nestor right before us.
He seemed to know the whole story by heart. On
one occasion, when the student reciting was stum-
bling through one of Nestor's fine speeches, bungling
the scanning. Dr. Higbee, becoming impatient, sud-
denly jumped to his feet, and, looking at the class,
said, 'Hear !' and commenced and ran through the
entire speech in Greek from memory, and without
the aid of the book. 'Oh, how grand ! how beau-
tiful !' he said as he finished it. The dramatic man-
ner in which it was done astonished us as much as
if Nestor himself had appeared bodily before us.
No language, as he taught it, was ever dead. His
magic touch made the -dead speak and the dumb
oracles break their silence."
Dr. Higbee was a gentleman of fine taste in art
and music, so cultivated as to make him a judicious
critic in those directions. He was the author of sev-
eral hymns that have found their way into the books.
He was familiar also with the best works of the
leading novelists, with hearty admiration of Sir
Walter Scott, whose masterpiece, "Ivanhoe," in par-
ticular, he had read an almost incredible number of
times, until it might almost be said that he "knew
it by heart." He has been called a poet, and that he
was. It was his habit during a part of his life to
write short original poems in his letters to certain
of his nearest friends. They seemed to be the off-
spring of the moment. These letters, in his beautiful
handwriting, would often be illustrated with pen-
and-ink or sepia drawings, as delicately done as
those of Thackeray, presenting points in the land-
102
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
scape about him, or some fanciful sketch of rocks
and streams, bushes and trees, sky and birds — per-
haps the hunter and his dogs, all exquisitely touched
in and occupying but little space. What he did
•seems but a hint of what he might have done with
leisure to devote himself to work of this kind.
But in the field of instruction his rank was simply
extraordinary. Men skilled in specialties said of
him, "Dr. Higbee should teach nothing but Greek,"
— "iDr. Higbee should never teach anything but
Latin" — "nothing but Philosophy of History" —
"nothing but English Literature" — "nothing but
Shakspeare and the great dramatists" — "nothing but
Church History and Exegesis" — "nothing but
Mathematics" — in fact, nothing but the specialty in
which he happened, for any length of time, to be
giving instruction, because in it he had become so
able a master. So thorough was his acquaintance
with these varied lines of study and research that he
turned, at times, for relaxation and pleasure, to the
calculus in mathematics, or to the Greek comedy in
the original for the enjoyment it afforded him.
Many of his pupils speak of him as a man with
the gift or power of inspiring in them a new and
nobler enthusiasm, such as no other man could
arouse. We have heard our most earnest superin-
tendents and principals of Normal schools, as well
as teachers, say this of him in the work he endeav-
ored to do in the State. Built firmly into the de-
velopment of the mind, his work told mightily in the
life of the soul. The secret of his power lay in the
fact that he lived constantly in two worlds — the
spiritual, invisible to the eye of sense, being ever the
substantial : and the material, upon which we tread
and with which we are in contact on every side, ever
the fleeting. For him the past and the future were
always the present.
The name and fame of Dr. Higbee will become
a tradition in the records of the school department
and the school history of Pennsylvania. One of the
best things this man did was to introduce the ob-
servance of Arbor Day into the great State of Penn-
sylvania— with its cumulative benefits through the
years, and we trust, through the centuries. Other
men gave him their generous aid in this great work,
but the enduring honor of being our Arbor Day
State Superintendent of Public Instruction belongs
to him alone, and as such he will continue to be
gratefully recognized in the years to come.
Vermont has given to Pennsylvania two great
men in Hon. Thaddeus Stevens and Dr. E. E. Hig-
bee, and Pennsylvania is heavily her debtor. The
former filled a very large space in the political his-
tory of the State and the Nation. In the eye of the
world also he filled a much larger space than the
latter; but, grand as his record has' been, it may be
that, when the angel accountants come to reckon up
the sum total of benefits conferred upon their kind
by each of these great men, they will stand more
nearly together than even ourselves might suppose.
Dr. Higbee was grandly beloved and trusted,
largely — let this be the great lesson of his life — be-
cause, in addition to all his other royal gifts and at-
tainments, he had that which so many rhen lack — a
mighty, an all-mighty, moral 'purpose; too rare, in-
deed, but which, when possessed, is the very crown
of the highest manhood, the noblest womanhood.
He believed in God with child-like faith in' the wis-
dom of the divine guidance. "God's providences,"'
he said, "are mysterious, and not one of us knows
what calling of life is Jsest for us, temporally or
spiritually. What a varying life I have had, and how
little after my choice or election ! When I look back
upon it, I can see that I had no controlling power
over it. But God has been merciful and kind, and I
ought to be filled with unfeigned gr'atitude^and
I am."
The memorial to Dr. Higbee from the teachers
and superintendents of Pennsylvania was perhaps
the most unique in kind, and the most effective in
result, in the history of education in America. Its
purpose was not only to honor the memory of a
great man beyond other men revered and beloved
throughout the commonwealth, but also to widen and
deepen the blessed influence of his noble life. This-
memorial includes :
1. A Monument of Quincy granite, suitably in-
scribed, a single block weighing over eleven tons,
the design on one side being a massive Roman Cross;
of polished stone, apparently cast upon the native
rock, and on the other the simple inscription with a
single pregnant line of epitaph that Kings might
envy, "O Man Greatly Beloved (Daniel xiig)" —
for he is believed to have been, at the time of his
death, the one man best beloved in all the State.
2. A Bust in Bronze of heroic size with suitable
pedestal, placed in the Department of Public In-
struction at Harrisburg.
3. A lifesize portrait of Dr. Higbee, suitably
framed, placed in the Department of Public Instruc-
tion; in the State Library at Harrisburg; in eacK
of the thirteen State Normal Schools ; in each of the
institutions of learning with which he was at any
time connected, as student, professor or president ;
and in the offices of all the city, county, borough and
township school superintendents of Pennsylvania.
Copies of the picture were also sent to each school
district, county institute, or school making contri-
butions to the memorial fimd, the number sent being
determined by the amount contributed. Some twelve
thousand of these fine portraits were thus distributed
to perpetuate the memory of Dr. Higbee in every
part of Pennsylvania.
4. A large Memorial Volume containing many
remarkable tributes of loving memory, together with
selections from the writings, addresses, poems, etc.,
of Dr. Higbee, to accompany, so far as possible, each
portrait sent out by the Memorial committee, to the
limit of ten thousand copies. "It is the design of
the Committee that this volume shall be the persona!
property of the teacher, both for the thoughts it may
suggest and the inspiration it may afford. Indeed,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
]03
in a certain sense the Committee regard this as
probably the most extraordinary book of its kind,
and one of the best professional works on teaching
--showing the matter, life, and abiding results of a
great teacher's work — yet issued from the American
press. The picture and book complement each other
admirably, but the volume, at the same time that it
costs most money, is the most valuable feature of the
Dr. Higbee Memorial, for in it are to be found the
very life and moving spirit of the man." The book
contains as much matter as an ordinary volume of
five or six hundred pages. In printing it more than
three tons of paper were used.
The Dr. Higbee Memorial has gone upon the
educational records of the State, and will be spoken
of in years to come as the first grand effort made in
Pennsylvania, by the schools at large, to show en-
during respect to the memory of a man whom the
State "delights to honor" because of his great ser-
vice in the work of general education.
The Memorial Committee appointed by the Penn-
sylvania State Teachers' Association for this duty
were Dr. J. P. McCaskey, chairman; Supt. M. J.
Brecht, secretary; Dr. M. G. Brumbaugh, Dr.
George M. Philips and Prof. H. W. Fisher.
We have seen a remarkable letter, bearing date
"Feb. 8, 1881," which was found among Dr. Hig-
bee's papers shortly after his death. It is from a
man of eminent ability and fine scholarship, who
knew Dr. Higbee well, and was written shortly be-
fore his appointment to the superintendency. He
says : "How I would love to see you and such as you
in like positions ! I have been thinking of Horace
Mann — his statute in Boston, and the reverence with
which he is regarded everywhere. If you have this
place assigned to you, there will be in our State
House at Harrisburg some day a statue of Parian
marble to mark the figure and countenance of E. E.
Higbee." In this splendid memorial the prediction
is more than realized, and in a form far beyond the
choicest marble of old Greece, in the noblest setting
that could be chosen for it in the State Capitol
grounds at Harrisburg.
REV. ELIAS GROFF. One of the large land-
owners and successful retired agriculturists, as well
as one of the most earnest and devout ministers of
the old Mennonite Church, in Lancaster county, is
Rev. Elias GrofiE, of Strasburg township. A true
son of that locality, he was born there Jan. i, 1838,
a son of Emanuel and Mary (Landis) Groff, both
members of families of more than usual prominence
in the county.
John Grofif, the grandfather of Elias, married
Susan Rife, and became one of the largest corn
farmers in this locality, his success in the growing
of that cereal being noted by his neighbors, who, in
friendly spirit, called him "Corn Johnnie Groff."
His landed possessions grew with his years, and
at the time of his death, Jan. 13, 1864, he owned
four farms in Strasburg township, one in West
Lampeter township, and one in Providence town-
ship. His neighbors spoke of him as a most worthy
member of the Old Mennonite Church, in which
he reared his large family, almost all of them still
clinging to that religious belief. His wife was born
Aug. 13, 1780, three years later than her husband,
and survived him two years. Their children were;
David, deceased, was a farmer of Lancaster county ;
Martin, a physician, practiced his profession many
years in Philadelphia; Emanuel was the father of
Elias Groff; Abraham, deceased, was an extensive
farmer; Polly married Isaac Weaver, of Strasburg \
township ;. Fannie married Peter Weaver, of West
Lampeter township ; Annie married Henry Neff^ ,
of East Lampeter township, later of'Strasburg ; BgP
sey, after the death of her sister, became the second
wife of Henry Neff ; Susan married Henry K. Den-
linger, of Gordonville; and Barbara, the youngest
and only surviving member of this large family,
married Benjamin Barr, and moved to Missouri^
where he died.
Emanuel Grofif was born in 1813, and lived
through almost a century, his death occurring in
1889. He was reared on the farm, and educated
in the schools of the times, also acquiring a general
knowledge of several trades, as was the custom of
the time, when an extensive farm also contained
its own shops, so that when a young man had
reached his maturity, he was often able to go out
into the wilderness and be his own carpenter, shoe-
maker and blacksmith. In the case of Emanuel
Groff he was one of the best farmers of Lancaster
county, and at the age of fifty retired from the
duties of active life. A man of influence in the
Old Mennonite Church, he was long one of the
trustees, and was ever one whose judgment and
piety gained him the esteem of the community.
Emanuel Groff married Mary Landis, a memberi
of one of the most prominent families of Lancaster
.county, a daughter of John and Mary Landis, of
East Lampeter township, who was born about i8jS,
and died in May, 1890 ; they had six children. Elias,
the subject of this biography, was the eldest; Susan
married Levi Herr, of Strasburg township ; Harry
L. is a farmer of -Strasburg ; John L. is a retired
farmer of Strasburg township ; Barbara Ann mar-
ried Amos Ranck, of Paradise township ; and Emma,
married Henry Leaman, of Paradise township.
Elias Groff was also a farmer boy, and was
educated in the public schools. He received in the
family circle the teaching which perhaps had much
to do with his successful ministry in later years.
At the age of twenty-two he took charge of one o^
his father's farms and began operations for himself,
later purchasing this property, which contains
eighty-two acres. Here Mr. Groff has made his
home and has improved the property until it is
one of the most desirable farms in the neighbor-
hood, all of the surroundings denoting thrift and
prosperity. This excellent and most valuable land
does not comprise all of the land owned by Elias
104
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNx\LS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Grpff, as, soon after purchasing his farm of his
father,, he added thirty-four acres, so that this one
farm contains 117 acres, and since that time he has
continued to buy occasionally a desirable piece of
property until he now has three farms in Strasburg
township, one in Paradise township, one in Dru-
more township, and also an unimproved tract in
Providence township.
Since 1901 Mr. Groff has lived retired from
active farm life, but is by no means an idle man,
for brain and body are busy laboring for the good
of the Church to which he is devoted. Since 1864,
he has been a consistent member of the Old Men-
nonite Church, and since 1872 has been dedicated to
ministerial labor. On Sept. 15th, of that year, he
was ordained a minister of the Church, by the pious
Bishop Benjamin Herr, who assigned him to the
Strasburg district, where he has since labored with
a devotion and allegiance to duty which have gained
him the confidence and affection of the numerous
congregations he visits.
Rev. Elias Groff was married in i860, to Mary
Ann Herr, daughter of Elias and Elizabeth (Her-
shey) Herr, who was born in West Lampeter town-
ship, Oct. 31, 1838,' and they have become the par-«
ents of eight children: Lizzie, born June 25, 1862,
married John Hess, a farmer of Strasburg; Enos
H., born in August, 1864, is a farmer in Strasburg
township, and he married Martha Brubaker ; Eman-
uel H., born in October, 1866, married Susan Herr,
and is a farmer in Pequea; Emma Sue, born in
January, 1869, is at home; Elias B., Jr., born in
November, 1870, married Fannie B. Herr, and is
a farmer in Strasburg township; Harry M., born
in April, 1873, married Ella Shaub, and is a farmer
in Strasburg township ; Ada E., born in February,
1875, married Henry R. Herr, a farmer of Pequea
township ; and John Elmer, born in December, 1879,
is a college student in Lancaster city.
This family through its branches and inter-mar-
riages is connected with many of the old and promi-
nent ones of the county, and no one is more highly
esteemed than the beloved pastor, who has faith-
fully served so many years. Rev. Elias Groff.
THOMAS HENRY BURROWES, LL. D.
Few men in Pennsylvania were more widely known,
and more universally respected for ability and attain-
ments, and certainly no man for enthusiastic devo-
tion to the cause of the public schools or extraor-
dinary service in their behalf, than Dr. Burrowes, the
great organizer of the public school system of Penn-
sylvania. Like Lindley Murray, "he never taught
a school," but yet has aided the work of general edu-
cation as few men have done who have spent their
lives in the school room or in the work of school
supervision. The man who has been only a success-
ful business man or politician, however brilliant his
talents and important his work, may soon be forgot-
ten : but insensibly, and to an extent far greater than
might be supposed, has a feeling of personal grati-
tude toward Dr. Burrowes spread and become
intensified among those hundreds of thousands in
our State to whom the common school has been a
boon of priceless value. Here at least his fame is
assured ; and nobler fame than that which springs
from enduring benefaction conferred upon his kind
let no man toil for.
He was born Nov. 16, 1805,. in Strasburg, Lan-
caster Co., Pa. His father, Thomas Burrowes, was
a native of County Cavan, Ireland, and was educated
as a clergyman of the Episcopal Church, but did not
enter the ministry. He came to Delaware in 1784,
and thence to Pennsylvania in 1787, settling at Stras-
burg, and devoting himself closely to mechanical pur-
suits. His mother was born in County Monaghan,
Ireland. She was the mother of thirteen children, of
whom seven reached maturity, and was as remark-
able for decision of character as for kindness of heart,
maternal traits which were conspicuous in the char-
acter of her distinguished son. The same traits of
character were no less marked in his brother Francis,
the eminent physician who died in Lancaster in 1852,
and who is also buried in St. James churchyard.
On the death of the elder brother of the father
the family went to Ireland, in 1 810, to take possession
of certain family property. After seven years spent
there, they, in 1817, removed to Quebec, in Lower
Canada, remaining there till 1822.- They returned to
Ireland, and having disposed of the property in 1825,
finally returned to this country. During all this time
the education of the growing youth was not ne-
glected. He was all the while in touch with thought
and books and the stirring life of the world. A part
of his stay in Ireland was spent at Trinity College,
Dublin. Later he was fortunate in being a law stu-
dent in the office of Amos Ellmaker, Esq., in Lan-
caster. He took the law course at Yale College, and
in 1829 was aximitted to the Bar in his native county.
Preferring the more active life of politics to the law,
he served for a time in the State Legislature. In
1835, before he was thirty years of age, he was ap-
pointed Secretary of the Commonwealth under Gov.
Joseph Ritner. This led to his remarkable career in .
connection with the work of education in Pennsyl-
vania. It is not our purpose in this connection to
present a personal sketch of the man — ^that may be
found elsewhere — but rather to show his vital re-
lation to the progress of the State in her educational
interests.
In the work which he did during his life, and in
the growing power and widening influence of that
work since his death, broadening and deepening as
time goes on, and that for generations, Thomas Henry
Burrowes is the m3,ster-builder in the educational
system of Pennsylvania. Here so far beyond all other
men does he stand that there is no second. It is the
same relation as that of his old friend, Thaddeus
Stevens, to his associates in the House of Represen-
tatives during the Civil war. Five things he did, any
one of which should mean enduring fame for bene-
faction conferred upon his kind and so upon the State.
THOMAS HENRY BURROWES, LL.D.
The Dr. Burrowes Memorial Tomb stands in St. James' Churchyard, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in a sunny area of
greensward sloping gently to the pavement. It is in the heart of the city, on the opposite side of North Duke Street
from the United States Government building. It is a Roman tomb of beautiful model, fine proportions and exquisite
workmanship; made of four blocks of sohd Quincy granite, and weighs nearly twenty thousand pounds. Each of the four
panels has its inscription, the western panel facing the street. The eastern and western panels are inscribed as follows:
The western panel shows the inscription :
Of the immortal dead who live again in minds made
better by their j^resence.
*
In Grateful Memory of
Thomas Henry Burrowes
i6 Nov. 1805 : 25 Feb. 1871.
*
He organized the Common School System of Pennsylvania.
The eastern panel shows the inscription :
He also Organized the Soldiers' Orphan Schools, and wrote,
the Normal School Law of Pennsylyania,
And wisest they in this whole wide land
Of hoarding till bent and gray !
For all you can hold in your cold dead hand
Is what you have given away.
He gave his best ; his giving was princely ; his work has been
grandly cumulative, and will be so through the ages.
To no man now living does Pennsylvania
owe so great a debt of gratitude.
These panels are 54x26 inches in size, the north and south panels being 26x21 inches. On the south panel
appears the symbol of the Cross and Crown, with the word " Resurgam," /" s/ia^/ rise again I while the north has
these words of honorable mention for the living and the dead :
Erected by
Many Thoicsands of
thai vast number whose lives
have been better
for this man's life and work.
1895.
' ' Of those immortal dead who live again in minds made better by their presence. ' '
In Grateful Memory of
Thomas Henry Burrowes.
16 Nov. 1805 : 25 Feb. 1871.
A man of immense faith, un.selfish enthusiasm, wise counsel, broad learning, high courage, resolute
purpose, -rare foresight, and great executive ability, whose privilege it was to confer upon his kind such
wide and ever-growing benefaction, through his service to the State, as has not been surpassed since the
time of William Penn. At Thirty years of age he was Secretary of the Commonwealth under Governor
Joseph Ritner from 1835 to 1838. He then put into successful operation the Common School System of
Pennsylvania, thus hnking his memory with the cause of General Education inseparably, and with the im-
perishable lustre of a noble fame. For more than Thirty years he was the one man in his native State con-
spicuous above all others in her Educational councils. He was twice Superintendent of Public Instruction ;
he organized the system of Soldier's Orphan Schools ; he wrote the Normal School Law ; he founded the
Pennsylvania School Journal ; and, at the time of his death, he was President of the Pennsylvania State
Agricultural College. To no man now living does Pennsylvania owe so great a debt of gratitude. For Ten
years he was a Vestryman of this Church, and his mortal remains lie buried in the adjoining Churchyard.
'' For I know that my Redeemer liveth/'
This Memorial Tablet is within St. James' Church, upon the middle section of the north wall, with a fine tablet, of nearly equa
size, to the memory of Bishop Bowman, in the next space to the east. Between them stands a window of striking: design and warmjl-ich
color effects in heavy glass, to the memory of Miss Margaret Markee, a lady who gave her intense life to the work of the school-room.
The legend beneath, traced on opal glass framed in by sapphires, " Suffer Little Children," was the animating spirit of her useful life. It
is a rare group of memorials to three remarkable people, commending their example and perpetuating their memory.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
105
First. — He was the great organizer of the public
school system of Pennsylvania. When the party to
which he belonged elected Joseph Ritner to the office
■of governor, in 1835, Mr. Burrowes, in recognition
■of his great political services, was honored with the
^appointment of Secretary of the Commonwealth, the
chief office in the gift of the executive. He was then
in his thirtieth year, and entered upon the discharge
■of the duties of the position in December, 1835, the
youngest man in the history of the State who has ever
held this high office. At this point began his first
connection with the educational interests of the State,
■and, as he often frankly admitted, his first knowledge
•of the subject. At that time the governor appointed
all the executive officers of the State, except county
sheriffs, coroners, commissioners, auditors, township
-constables, supervisors and assessors. All the rest — ■
from a judge of the Supreme court to a justice of the
■peace, from secretary of the Commonwealth to clerk
■of the lowest county court — were at his disposal. He
had also control of the immense system of public
works in which the State was engaged.
As confidential friend and official adviser of the
Governor, much of the burden of this vast power and
patronage devolved, of course, upon the Secretary.
He has often said that in the confidence of youth and
the ardor of an active politician, he felt little hesita-
tion as to his ability to acquit himself creditably of
this duty : but that when, for the first time, he realized
the vast importance of the educational portion of his
responsibility, he was almost deterred from assuming
it. Sustained, however, as he was, by the noble deter-
mination of Gov. Ritner to uphold the newly-created
system of common schools at every risk, he deter-
mined to remain at his post as one of duty; and to
prepare himself to the utmost for its proper admin-
istration.
The opportunity of a lifetime was now before him,
and grandly did he improve it. The school law which
liad been enacted iii 1834, mainly through the agency
of Hon. John Breck, who had come to the Legislature
from Philadelphia for the sole purpose of securing
its passage ; and which was saved from repeal by the
magnetic eloquence of Thaddeus Stevens in 1835, he
soon found practically inoperative, and at once set
himself at work upon the system. The ordinary du-
ties of the Secretary's office occupying his time dur-
ing the dav — correspondence and other vsrriting con-
nected with educational afifairs received attention at
night, and usually late at night. The result of his in-
vestigations was given to the Legislature in a report
dated Feb. 19, 1836, at which time the revised school
law of 1836, which continued to be the school law of
the State until 1849, was passed as drafted largely by
himself. ■ After two years' additional experience in,
and study of, educational work entrusted to his
charge, it had so grown upon his hands as to
require, as he has toM us, "half his time and nearly
allhis thoughts." As he grew older, and saw the
development of the public school system, he enjoyed
recalling "the day of small things," and one evening
he gave an editorial article for insertion in The Penn-
sylvania School Journal, from which this paragraph
is taken :
"It was on political grounds alone that the writer
was appointed to the office of Secretary of the Com-
monwealth, and so little reference was there to the
educational department of his duties, that he scarcely
knew, and certainly did not think properly, of his
responsibility in that respect when he entered the
office. It was, therefore, with some surprise and no
little alarm that he beheld the accumulated letters on
common school affairs, from every quarter of the
State, brought in a bushel basket about two weeks
after the day he assum.ed the duties of the office —
the mass having been kept back to that time, owing to
the pressure of more urgent business. He can never
forget the headache — aye, and the heartache — pro-
duced by their perusal and the attempt to systematize
and understand the vast subject thus presented.
There were questions of every school hue, kind and
shape — involving difficulty as to location of school
houses, the assessment and collection of tax, the quali-
fications of teachers, the selection of branches of study
and school books, the use of the Scriptures, instruc-
tions in catechism, modes of government, kinds of
punishment, opposition to the system, etc., etc. And
these, too, addressed to one who knew about as much
of the details of school affairs as he did of the local
geography of the moon I * * * A great Com -
morwealth, with vast and growing resources — agri-
cultural, mineral, manufacturing and commercial —
yet with a population of a distracting variety of na-
tional origin, involving much variety in language, re-
ligion and customs, and with no very kindly feelings
the one to the other, and, worse than all, with bitter
hostility in the large majority to the system itself —
was beheld and had to be taken as the field of opera-
tion. On this field it is now evident, as it was then
soon suspected, that little light from abroad, in the
arrangement of details at least, could be obtained.
Thus it was that with little borrowed assistance, and
founding it on the actual wants of the State and the
few grand leading principles in the otherwise crude
laws of 1S34 and 1835, the Pennsylvania System was
built up b-y herself and for herself.'"
"The needed schooling for the duties of the place,"
says Dr. Wickersham, "came mostly in the shape of
the voluminous correspondence that required atten-
tion. The system was new and badly understood,
and there were not then as now local officers compe-
tent to enlighten the school boards and the people in
regard to the proper construction of the law or the
practical details of its application. In consequence,
every mail brought to Harrisburg, from all parts of
the State, a multitude of letters. The copied answers
remaining in the department show that, although the
correspondence of the Secretary of the Common-
wealth was then much greater than now, as all the
county officers, judges, and other magistrates were
appointed by the governor, and a vast system of pub-
lic improvements was in progress, he scarcely wrote
106
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
one-third the number of letters written by him as the
Superintendent of Common Schools. . Information
was constantly asked concerning every detail of the
system, election and organization of school boards,
the location of school houses, the assessment and
collection of school taxes, the distribution of the State
appropriation, the examination and qualification of
teachers, the selection of branches of study and text-
books, the use of the Scriptures and the Catechism in
school, school government in all its branches, the resi-
dence of pupils, the opposition to free schools, etc.,
etc. To attend promptly to the immense correspond-
ence taxed to the utmost the powers of the Superin-
tendent; but it was just the discipline he needed to
make him what he became, the Great Organizer of
the System. His letters as a whole are a marvel of
perspicuity, and furnish striking evidence of the study
given the subject in all its bearings and the care taken
in their preparation. When the writing of letters be-
came over-burdensome resort was had to printed gen-
eral notices and circulars, of which a number was
issued. Some two or three months after its passage
Superintendent Burrowes published, in pamphlet
.form, and forwarded to every school director in the
State, the A.ct of 1836, 'with explanatory instructions
and forms for carrying it into operation,' together
with forms for all the official acts of school directors.
This was the first publication of the kind issued by
the School Department, and doubtless furnished the
model of all documents of a similar character pub-
lished since that time.
"Nor did he remain in his office simply perform-
ing the work that came to his hand. In the summer
and fall of 1837, and again at the same season in 1838,
he spent some months in visiting the different coun-
ties, where he addressed public meetings, counselled
with directors and teachers, gathered stores of in-
formation for himself, and infused life into the work-
ing of the system. In this way all the counties were
visited except eight, personal interviews were had
with thousands of directors and large numbers of
teachers and citizens interested in education and
schools and some academies were inspected. In view
of these useful services, the Legislature voted him an
increase of salary. No document that ever emanated
from the Department of Public Instruction is more
worthy of study than Dr. Burrowes' third report,
made in February, 1838. It is a masterly presentation
of its author's views, matured by the experience of
three years in the office of Superintendent, on the sub-
ject of public education in the State, present and pros-
pective."
Second. — He wrote the Normal School Law of
Pennsylvania, under which our thirteen State Normal
Schools have been organized, and which is said to
be the best law of its kind in the United States. In
his annual report of 1838 he recognizes this as an es-
sential feature of the system, and speaks of it at
length, but under another name. His discussion of
this question under the head of "Improvment of
Teachers" shows his mastery of the subject at that
early day, when he was but thirty-two years old. His
convictions were sure, his faith firm, an.d the subject
of the training of teachers for the schools was ever
after a leading subject of thought with him. Since
the organization of these schools they have given in-
struction to 150,000 students, frorn 12,000 to 15,000
of whom have received diplomas as graduates. There
are at present probably 6,000 students in attendance^
not including the Model Schools, under 350 instruc-
tors, and the schools are yearly growing in numbers
and influence. To have had a strong hand in build-
ing foundations and rearing upon them such super-
structures as this is to have done grand work for hu-
manity, whose influence must be cumulative through
the ages.
After the passage of the law of 1S54 providing
for the County Superintendency, a measure which he
had strongly favored, he seized upon it as the oppor-
tunity for a grand stride forward. He had the salary
of the office in Lancaster county made $1,500 per year
— one-third larger than that paid by any other county
in the State — so that he might secure the services of
Prof. J. P. Wickersham in this office. The school at
Millersville soon followed. The man and the oppor-
timity were now both at hand to aid in working out
his grand theory, and he brought all his hopeful en-
ergy and strong personal influence to bear in further-
ance of the experiment upon the broad plan which he
had so long contemplated. With the organization of
the school at Millersville, in which he was very deeply
interested, his encouragement and advice, above all
his abounding faith, had much to do. The growth
and development of this school he studied with keen-
est interest; it was to him an object lesson of great
practical value ; and when the hour struck for him to
write the Normal School Law for Pennsylvania, it
was done almost within a day. But for twenty years
he had been unconsciously preparing for this great
service to the State. Hon. H. C. Hickok, then Deputy
Superintendent of Common Schools, knowing his
unusual skill in drafting bills for legislative enact-
ment, and his thorough familiarity with the Normal
School question, wrote him on Friday requesting
draft of a bill for the organization of State Normal
Schools. He received it on the following Monday,
and it was enacted into law — mainly through the in-
fluence of Hon. Andrew G. Curtin and Hon. H. C.
Hickok — with a few verbal changes and the addition
of a single section relating to the endowment of these
schools.
His ability to work so rapidly toward a definite
result he once explained to the writer by saying that
when he had thought a thing out carefully the whole
matter assumed some orderly arrangement in his
mind, everything being "on its own hook," so that,
when he came to write, it often seemed as if all he had
to do was to take each item down in order from its
proper hook and put it on paper. The Normal School
question he had mastered, so far as that was possible
to him. After twenty years of thought upon it, and
much careful observation, everything, no doubt.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
lOT
seemed to be "on its own hook" when the request
came from the State authorities to write the law. He
had done much work of this kind that had not be-
come law, and the Normal School sections of the
proposed bills of 1853 and 1854 were the basis of the
present act, but the sections were much changed to
conform to the new views which he had come to
entertain upon the subject.
It was not known that he was its author until some
months after its passage, when, at a "Harvest Home"
at Millersville, at which Gov. Pollock and State Supt.
Hickok were present, and which was held to raise
funds from the salepf stock looking toward the erec-
tion of the Lancaster County Normal School into the
Millersville State Normal School, Mr. Hickok, dur-
ing an eloquent address in behalf of the school, stated
the fact of its authorship as follows :
"There is another reason why Lancaster county
should stand by this work — I am going to say this in
confidence and wish it kept a secret. This Normal
School bill had a Lancaster county origin. The great
outlines of the bill were the work of the president of
this meeting, Hon. Thomas H. Burrowes, a circum-
stance which has given the State a mortgage on Lan-
caster county, which she is bound in honor to redeem,
by establishing the first State Normal School under
the provisions of the law. And the provisions of this
excellent law are an evidence that when the friends
of common school education want a good thing done
they should go to the same source for it."
Third. — His third gr%at work was the organiza-
tion of the Soldiers' Orphans' Schools of Pennsyl-
vania. Those who know little of Dr. Burrowes can
have no knowledge of the immense faith that was evi-
dent in all he did. We have recently been struck with
a statement by Dr. Wickersham, in his "History of
Education in Pennsylvania," which throws this qual-
ity of the man into strong relief, and they who knew
him read between the lines the secret of his undying
success. The extract is as follows :
"The task of finding suitable institutions willing
to receive on the required conditions orphan children
above the age of ten years was one of extreme diffi-
culty, and a man less hopeful and less persistent than
Dr. Burrowes would not have succeeded in accom-
plishing it. He had but fifty thousand dollars at his
command, the Legislature had in no wise committed
itself in favor of the system or placed itself under ob-
ligation to appropriate an additional sum, the Nor-
mal Schools declined the venture of erecting build-
ings for the orphans as an attachment to their model
■schools, few boarding schools cared to be troubled at
the rates offered with a class of children for whom
thev had no special accommodations, and, more dis-
couraging than all else, there was a general want of
confidence in the permanency of the enterprise that
chilled every effort. Still, full of faith and zeal.
Superintendent Burrowes labored on in his good
work, and at last the obstacles that had stood in his
wav were one by one overcome, and the system was
placed on a comparatively firm basis."
It cost him all he had ; for when the meager and
inadequate appropriations were exhausted his sym-
pathy with these orphans caused him to admit too
many of them into the schools and to make himself
responsible for outlay for which he was never after-
ward reimbursed by the State. John W. Jackson, late
of Lancaster, a careful financier and a man of strict
integrity, who had intimate knowledge of the facts
of which he spoke, told the writer that he knew Dr.
Burrowes to be worth sixteen thousand dollars when
he went into the work of organizing the Soldiers*^
Orphans' Schools. So interested was he in the suc-
cess of these new Pennsylvania schools that when the
appropriations were exhausted — which were then
much too small for the number of pupils that pre-
sented themselves and the work to be done by the
Superintendent — or when they were not immediately
available, he was in the habit of making himself per-
sonally responsible for supplies, and of drawing
largely upon his private funds. The result was fi-
nancial distress and disaster, from which, in his-
later years, he never recovered. He paid the price
of a heroic and generous sympathy that was without
calculation. But if the loss was his so also should be
the glory, for it is none too much to say that, if he
had not taken hold of this work, the honorable record
of Pennsylvania in connection with its Soldiers' Or-
phans would never have been made. No other State
has such a record, but no other State seems to have
had a Gov. Curtin to make the suggestion and a Dr.
Burrowes to embody it in a patriotic system of
schools now in the thirty-eighth year of their honored
life — a proud fact in the history of a great Common-
wealth.
Fourth.- — Hon. John Hamilton, Secretary of
Agriculture of Pennsylvania from 1899 to 1903, who-
has for an ordinary lifetime been intimately con-
nected with the Pennsylvania State College as pro-
fessor, treasurer and member of the board of trustees,
having his home at the college all the while, and
knowing thoroughly whereof he speaks, says of Dr..
Burrowes :
"No other man .in Pennsylvania has had so much
to do with the development of her system of public
instruction as Dr. Burrowes. From the time of its
organization until the time of his death he took a deep
and intelligent interest in everything that tended to
promote its advancement and perfect the system. In
the fall of 1869 he was elected to the presidency of
the Pennsylvania State College, a position in which
he continued until the time of his death, in 1871.
"He came to this college in the darkest period of
its history. The number of students had dwindled to
a handful. Public confidence had been withdrawn.
The institution had become involved in debt, and the
trustees, just before his election to the position of
president, had seriously considered the propriety of
surrendering their trust to the authorities of the Com-
monwealth, and of confessing that the scheme which
they had undertaken for providing practical instruc-
tion for the youth of the Commonwealth had failed.
108
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
President Piurrowes brought with him the trust of
the public, because his had been an educational career
that was widely known in Pennsylvania, both in it-
self and for the success that had attended it. And,
although he now was in the sixty-fifth year of his age,
his enthusiasm and natural vigor seemed just as great
as it had been years before. His presence re-estab-
lished public confidence, the number of students at-
tracted by his reputation very greatly increased, the
course of study was reformed, and the institution was
put into practicable working condition. During his
administration, the experimental farm at the State
College was founded and put into operation. Presi-
dent Burrowes took as his title that of president of the
Pennsylvania State College and professor of agri-
ctilture — having been a farmer, the life was not new
to him — and during the term in which he was its
president he gave personal attention to the interests
of agriculture, and also had direction, .in connection
with the Hon. H. N. McAllister, of Bellefonte, of
the three experimental farms belonging to the college.
"There can be no doubt of our indebtedness to Dr.
Burrowes for most of this that we enjoy today, for
if he had not assumed control at the period at which
he did, in all probability the college would have ceased
to exist, and the experiment of industrial education,
in so far as it was undertaken under the management
of the Board of Trustees, would have been a failure.
"There is not time to speak of the personal quali-
ties of President Burrowes, nor to go into details with
regard to his ability as an instructor, and his qualities
as a man ; but if I were asked to sum up his char-
acter and life in a single sentence, I would give him
the same title that was accorded to "his illustrious fel-
low townsman, Thaddeus Stevens, that of the Great
Commoner. Thaddeus Stevens earned this title in
his dealings with the political affairs of the Common-
wealth and the country, and Dr. Burrowes earned it
through a life devoted to the interests of education
for the common people of this State. He, more than
any other man, could be truly entitled the Great Com-
moner in education in Pennsylvania."
Fifth. — He founded The Pennsylvania School
Journal, now in its fifty-first volume, and published
it, mainly as a labor of love, for eighteen years. It
was never a source of financial profit to him. But it
has been a potent agency in securing every important
measure of school reform since January, 1852. At a
meeting of the Lancaster Educational Association
Jan. 3, of that year, John C. Martin presented a series
of resolutions urging the . establishment of such a
periodical and requesting Dr. Burrowes to edit and
publish the same. He accepted it as "a call to duty ;"
and, with the extraordinary faith that always char-
acterized the man, he issued the first number before
he had a hundred subscribers. With the single ex-
ception of the Ohio Educational Monthly, whose first
issue also bears date January, 1852, it is the oldest
educational magazine in the United States. From
the first it was the organ of the State Teachers' Asso-
ciation. In iSq"; it was made the official organ of the
Department of Public Instruction, and has so con-
tinued since that time with an ever-widening field of
usefulness. The year 1852 was about the beginning
of the great educational reform in Pennsylvania, and
the Journal appeared just in time to aid in shaping
the movement, and gave to Dr. Burrowes just, such
a periodical as was needed for the work which he,
of all men in the State, was best fitted to do. He
transferred it in 1870 to Dr. J. P. Wickersham and
Dr. J. P. McCaskey. Since 1880 it has been pub-
lished by Dr. McCaskey, who went upon it in 1866,
as assistant to Dr. Burrowes.
This journal has been conducted for the past fifty
years upon the plan adopted by Dr. Burrowes, and its
influence as the organ of the school officers and teach-
ers of the State, and the medium through which the
proceedings of their annual meetings have been made
known to the public, can hardly be overestimated.
The educational records of the State are found no-
where else outside of its fifty volumes. The only
complete set of the annual reports of the State Super-
intendents of Public Instruction ; the only continuous
record of the proceedings of the Pennsylvania State
Teachers' Association, of the Superintendents' annual
meetings, of the Pennsylvania State Directors' Asso-
ciation, the only continuous history of the work of the
Department of Public Instruction since 1854 — all the
archives of this department of the State government,
which had been carefully preserved for so many
years, having been lost in the late fire that destroyed
the Capitol building at Harrisburg — all this matter
of greater or less importance is found from year to
year in The Pennsylvania School Journal, and no-
where else. This monthly periodical — in addition to
an immense amount of valuable matter upon a very
wide range of subjects of educational interest — has
thus kept the record intact and beyond the reach of
destruction from any cause whatsoever. Dr. Win-
ship, of the New England Journal of Education, says
of it : "The Pennsylvania School Journal has been in
a class by itself. No other State educational journal
has approached this in scope or in power. It is the
best history of education of a State that is to be found
in all the land."
Dr. Burrowes died in 187 1. It was thought fitting
that some worthy memorial should bear witness to the
gratitude of Pennsylvania towards this man who had
so long been recognized as the Nestor of her educa-
tional councils. A large committee was appointed,
but nothing was done. Sixteen years later the long-
delayed efl:ort was renewed with vigor, and the onyx
tablet and noble granite tomb in St. James' (Episco-
pal) Church and churchyard in Lancaster, and thou-
sands upon thousands of life-like portraits in schools
all over the State, have recalled and will keep alive
his memory. Upon the north end of the tomb are the
words : "Erected b}' many thousands of that vast
number whose lives have been better for this man's
life and work." On the east side, below other in-
scriptions: "He gave his best; his giving was
princely; his work has been grandly cumulative,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
109
and will be so through the ages." Within the church,
upon the north wall, is a fine tablet of black onyx,
showing'this inscription in gold :
"A man of immense faith, unselfish enthusiasm,
wise counsel, broad learning, high courage, resolute
purpose, rare foresight, and great executive ability,
whose privilege it was to confer upon his kind such
wide and ever-growing benefaction, through his ser-
vice to the State, as has not been surpassed since the
time of William Penn. At thirty years of age he was
Secretary of the Commonwealth under Governor
Joseph Ritner, from 1835 to 1838. He then put into
successful operation the Common School System of
Pennsylvania, thus linking his memory with the
cause of General Education inseparably, and with
the imperishable lustre of a noble fame. For more
than thirty years he was the one man in his native
State conspicuous above all others in her Education-
al councils. He was twice Superintendent of Public
Instruction ; he organized the system of Soldiers' Or-
phans' Schools ; he wrote the Normal School Law ;
he founded the Pennsylvania School Journal; and,
at the time of his death, he was President of the
Pennsylvania State Agricultural College. To no
man now living does Pennsylvania owe so great a
debt of gratitude. For ten years he was a vestry-
man of this Church, and his mortal remains lie
buried in the adjoining churchyard."
A statue of Thomas Henry Burrowes of heroic
proportions should stand in the new Capitol Build-
ing at Harrisburg, to emphasize, in her foremost man
in this special field, the over-shadowing value and
importance of enduring educational service to the
State. For he has been and can never cease to be a
vital force of the first rank and of the highest order
in Pennsylvania.
SCHNEIDER (or SNADER). Matheis
Schneider, Jacob Schneider with his wife Mag-
dalen, and Christian Schneider with his wife Sus-
anna Margretha, with fifty-six other Palatinates and
their families, sailed from Cowes, Isle of Wight, on
the south coast of England, July 7, 1729, for Amer-
ica, in the ship "Allen," James Craigie, master.
They landed at Philadelphia, and took the oath of
allegiance to King George II, then King of England,
Sept. 15, 1729. [Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. II,
Page 18.1 They originally came from northern
Switzerland, near the boundary line of Baden and
Wurtemberg, Germany. Some time prior to their
coming to America they had found their way to
Holland, from which country they were sent to
England, with a view of being transported to Penn-
sylvania. They soon found their way to Weber-
Thai, Lancaster Co., Pa., where their friends, George
Weber, Henry Weber and Jacob Weber, Swiss Men-
nonites, had settled a few years earlier.
Christian Schneider had surveyed for him, under
a warrant from the proprietaries of Pennsylvania,
dated Jan. 10, T733, 138 acres of land on the north
and south of Conestoga creek, adjoining said George
Weber's land. This tract of land was afterwards
conveyed to him by deed for the consideration of
£20, 6s, id, by Thomas Penn and Richard Penn.
He erected a cabin on this tract, on the south bank
of Conestoga creek, at a spring on land now (1903)
owned by John Trego, in East Earl township, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., where he and his family resided up
to the time of his death, in 1793. His wife died in
January, 1767 [Zeltenreich Church Record]. The
name is spelled in various ways, viz. : In his will
he signed it "Sneder;" in a deed to his son Christian
he wrote it "Schnyder ;" in the patent deed to him
it is written "Sneeder," alias "Schneder;" later on
we find it written "Schnader," "Sneider," "Snyder,"
"Sneder" and "Snader." When they came to this
country they invariably wrote it "Schneider," which
is undoubtedly the proper orthography.
Jacob Schneider and Matheis Schneider took up
by patent about 250 acres of land some distance
northeast of Weber-Thai, where Center (now St.
John's) Reformed and Lutheran Church is erected.
Jacob Schneider also purchased considerable land
from William Morris, who had previously received
a patent for the same. The writer has been unable
to find that Matheis left any descendants, or that he
ever married. The descendants of Jacob are numer-
.ous and widely scattered; among them may be men-
tioned Rev. Charles Schneider, pastor of the Re-
formed Church at Shamokin ; Rev. Davis Schneider,
Reformed missionary in Japan ; Edward R. Snader,
professor of Physical Diagnosis at Hahnemann
Medical College and Hospital, Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania.
They were all followers of Zwingli, and in this
country their descendants have generalfy united
themselves with the Reformed Church. Many of
them are buried at Center (now St. John's) Re-
formed Church, above mentioned. The descendants
of Christian Schneider are buried in New Holland
and Zeltenreich's Reformed burying-grounds. The
children of Christian and Susanna Margretha
Schneider were : John Jacob, Christian, Philip,
Michael (sometimes called John Michael), Mar-
garet, Elizabeth.
Michael Schneider, fourth son of Christian, on
Nov. 25, 1766, married Elenora Mueller, a daughter
of Lenhard Mueller, one of the early Huguenot set-
tlers of Earl township, Lancaster Co., Pa. He re-
ceived a deed from the Executive Council of Penn-
sylvania, dated April 4, 1785, for 100 acres of land
surveyed under a warrant to Andreas Graefif. This
land adjoined his father's tract on the west. He also
purchased forty-four acres and 146 perches of land
from Peter and Barbara Worst, immediately north
of his loo-acre tract. He and his brother Christian
erected a barn on the tract of laid originally taken
up by his father, Christian Schneider, in 1781, which
is still standing on land now (1903) owned by Ehas
Martin. He died Sept. 2, 183 1, in his eighty-seventh
year. His wife died Sept. 22, 1 821, in her seventy-
ninth year. Michael and Elenora Schneider left five
110
BIOGRAPHICAL . ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
■children : Christian, Michael, Lenora, Sophia, Sus-
anna.
Christian Schneder, eldest son of Michael, lived
on part of the original tracts of land granted to his
father and grandfather, of which he became pos-
sessed by devise and purchase to the time of his
death. His first wife was Margreta Diller, a daugh-
ter of John Diller, who was a son of Hans Martin
Diller, who with his father, Casper Diller, came from
Heidelberg, Germany, about 1733, and settled at
Millcreek, Earl township, Lancaster Co., Pa. His
wife died Aug. 6, 1827, in her forty-sixth year. He
afterward married Susan Schneder, widow of Jonas
Schneder, but had no children by that union. He
died Jan. 17, 1851, in his eighty-third year. Chris-
tian Schneder by his first wife, Margreta Diller, had
children as follows: Catharine, wife of Benjamin
Witmer; Magdaleria, wife of John Messner; Mar-
garet, wife of John Plank; Caroline, wife of John
Koser; Isaac Schnader, who married Susanna
Weaver; Christian Schnader, who married Eliza-
beth Yohn; and Michael Schnader, who married
Lydia Schnader.
Isaac Schnader purchased about eighty acres of
land, part of v/hich belonged to the old homestead,
and lived upon it until his death, in 1881, when it
was sold, and the last of the land originally taken up
by Christian Schneider in 1733 passed out of the
family name.
Susanna Weaver, the wife of Isaac Schnader,
•was descended from Jacob Weber, one of the Swiss
Merinonites who settled in Weber-Thai about the
year 1723. Jacob Weber settled near Blue Ball, and
took up about 750 acres of land in that neighbor-
hood. He died in 1747. His children were: Jacob,
Samuel, George, John (known as Hans Weber, and
so named in deeds and papers), Henry, Barbara
(who married Peter Gander), Elizabeth (who mar-
ried Peter Eaby), Mary (who married Abraham
Kendrick) and Ann (who married Christian Root).
John Weber, fourth son of Jacob, married Bar-
bara Buckwalter, and had children: Jacob, John,
George, Abraham, Joseph, Anna (wife of John
Sherick), Barbara (wife of Peter Worst) and Eliza-
beth (wife of Ulrich (Owen) Bruner).
Joseph Weaver, son of John, married Mary Lan-
■dis, a descendant of Rev. Benjamin Landis, who
with his son, Benjamin Landis, settled in East Lam-
peter township, Lancaster Co., Pa., about the year
1717. The children of Joseph and Mary (Landis)
Weaver were: Nancy, who married Christian
Kurtz ; Barbara, who married John Geigley ; Mary,
who died unmarried; Elizabeth, who married John
Pleam ; Lydia, who married Esaias Schneder ; Jo-
seph, who married Nancy Martin; John, who mar-
ried a Kurtz ; Solomon, who married a Ream ; Henry,
who married Barbara Ranck; Phoebe, who married
Jacob Overholtzer ; and Susanna, who married Isaac
Schnader.
We have the following record of the children
Isaac and Susanna (Weaver) Schnader left :
(i) Solomon Schnader married Elizabeth Jane
Crawford, a daughter of James and Mary (Both-
well) Crawford, who came to this country from
County Tyrone, Ireland, about the year 1800, and
settled in what is now Crawford county, Ohio.
Their children are : Edward L. Snader, an actor of
prominence on the American stage, whose wife is
Fanny Mclntyre, a celebrated singer and actress;
and Susie Snader, wife of William Duncan, of
Bloomfield, Ohio.
(2) Mary Ann Schnader is the wife of 'John
Spatz, a manufacturer of Mohnsville, Berks Co., Pa.
Their children are : Emma, wife of Jeremiah Mohn,
a manufacturer of Reading, Pa. ; Isaac S., a manu-
facturer of Mohnsville, Berks Co., Pa., who married
Ellen Gring; Annie S., wife of Aaron Warner, a
farmer of Mohnsville, Pa. ; and Sue, wife of Monroe
Killian, of Mohnsville, Pennsylvania.
(3) Susanna Schnader became the wife of Hiram
D. Mohn, of Reading, Pa., and their children are:
Frances, wife of John Robinson, of Reading, Pa.;
Emma, unmarried, of Reading; Harvey D., who
married Clara Hempfield, and resides in Reading;
and Martin, Aaron and Elizabeth, all of whom are
unmarried and live in Reading.
(4) William D. Snader married Emily L. Weiler,
a daughter of Levi and Mary (Weaver) Weiler,
and their children are : Suetta Snader, wife of Dr.
A. V. Walters, of Brownstown, Pa. ; and William D.
Snader, an employe at the County Hospital, Lan-
caster.
(5) Aaron Weaver Snader, the youngest child
of Isaac and Susanna (Weaver) Schnader, whose
portrait appears herewith, was born in East Earl
township, Lancaster Co., Pa., on the old Schneider
homestead, Feb. 23, 1844. He spent the first sev-
enteen years of his life on his father's farm, during
which time he attended the public school of the
neighborhood during the winter. At the age of sev-
enteen years he commenced teaching school, which
profession he followed for twelve years. When not
teaching, during the summer months, he worked on
his father's farm, with the exception of two short
sessions during which he attended a select private
school taught by Amos liorst, at Hinkletown, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., and one session at the Millersville
State Normal School. In 1870 he was registered as
a law student with Hon. John B. Livingston, at Lan-
caster, Pa. He still continued teaching, pursuing
his legal studies during such leisure time as he could
spare. In 1871 his preceptor was elected Judge.
Mr. Snader continued his legal studies with Philip
D. Baker, Esq., and was admitted to practice May
23, 1873. After remaining in the office of his pre-
ceptor a little over a year he removed to New Hol-
land, Lancaster county, where he has resided up to
the present time (1903), and where he still continues
the practice of his profession. In 1876 he was. elected
justice of the peace. In 1877 he was elected sur-
veyor of Lancaster county. In 1880 he was elected
a member of the House of Representatives of Penn-
O^lcuaJIA,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
111
sylvania, and was re-elected in 1882 and 1902. In
188 1 he assisted in organizing the New Holland Na-
tional Bank, and was a director of said institution
ior seven years. In 1883 he assisted in organizing
the Earl Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and has
been its president for twenty years. In 1894 he as-
sisted in the organization of 'the New Holland Water
Company, and has served as president of said com-
pany to the present time (1903). He was a member
of the Earl township school board one year, and has
served as treasurer of the New Holland borough
school board from its organization, in 1895, to the
present time. Mr. Snader is a member of the Penn-
sylvania German Society. In 1874 he became a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and has represented his lodge (No. 413) in the
■Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for the last ten years.
He is a confirmed member of the Refomied Church,
as were all his paternal ancestors.
In 1875 Mr. Snader was married to Sarah White
Hufman, a daughter of Jonathan and Margaret
(White) Hufman. Their children are: Edward
White Snader, at home ; Isaac Hufman Snader, who
is a salesman ; and Margaret, at home.
The Hufman family, to which Mrs. A. W. Snader
belongs, was founded in this country by her great-
grandparents, who came to America from Wales,
where three of their children were born. Rev. David
Hufman, one of their children born in America, was
a farmer by occupation, and a local preacher of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. He was born Jan. 7,
1769, and died May 26, 1855. His wife was Eliza-
"beth Williams, a daughter of Capt. Williams, of the
Revolution. She died Aug. 9, 1843. Both are
buried in the M. E. churchyard at Geigertown,
Berks Co., Pa. The Williams family came to this
country from England. The children of Rev. David
and Elizabeth (Williams) Hufman were: John,
who married Abigail Cramp ; William, who married
Sarah Cramp ; Hannah, wife of John Geiger ; Henry,
who married Marv Walters; Catherine, wife of
Michael Hoffman; Ann, wife of Michael Sands;
Jonathan, who married Margaret White ; Elizabeth,
wife of George Ireson ; and Matilda R., wife of Peter
Brown.
Jonathan Hufman, seventh child of Rev. David
and Elizabeth (Williams) Hufman, was born in
Berks county, Pa., and was a farmer and butcher by
■occupation. He received the average schooling af-
forded boys in his day. He married Margaret
White, who was born Oct. 5, 181 1, daughter of John
and Sarah (De Haven) White, and died in 1882.
They had a family of ten children : George, now de-
ceased ; Elizabeth Ann, who married Peter Hart, of
Reading, Pa. ; Henry, deceased, who was a soldier
in the Civil war; Harriet, deceased; Sarah White,
Mrs Aaron W. Snader ; John E., a farmer of Berks
countv Mary, Mrs. H. Rhoads, of Reading ; Emma,
wife of Martin Wickline, of Reading; Hannah, who
died when young ; and William, who , died when
young. The father of this family died in 1874.
The De Haven family, from which Mrs. Mar-
garet (White) Hufman is descended on her mother's
side, was founded in America by Herman De Haven,
who came to this country in 1706 from France, and
settled near Philadelphia, Pa., near which city the
De Havens came to own large tracts of land. They
were Huguenots, and left their country because of
religious persecution. Mrs. Snader traces her line
from Herman De Haven through his son Edward
and the latter's son Herman, who was her great-
grandfather. He married Susannah Miller, of
Reading, Pa., and they had eight children: John's
whereabouts were unknown; James married Ann
Ranck ; Edward married Ann Thompson ; Abraham
wedded Agnes Thompson, sister of Ann ; Isaac mar-
ried Hannah Miller (they were the ancestors of the
De Havens of Pittsburg, the famous iron men) ;
Hannah married John Keemer; Alice married
Thomas Lincoln; Sarah married John White, and
they were the grandparents of Mrs. Aaron W. Sna-
der. John and Sarah White both died when near
middle life. They were the parents of nine children :
Harmon, of whom nothing is known ; Susan, who
died young ; Edward De Haven, who married Mar-
garet Ammon; Margaret, who married Jonathan
Hufman, father of Mrs. Aaron W. Snader; Dr.
John De Haven, of Philadelphia, who married Mary
Meredith ; Elizabeth, wife of William Pierce ; Will-
iam, who married Margaret Hough; Harriet, wife
of Robert Baldwin, of Lancaster county, who served
in both houses of the State Legislature ; and Sarah
Ann, who married Peter Fernbaugh, of Carlisle,
Pennsylvania.
JACOB ESHLEMAN came to America and
landed at Philadelphia from the ship "Morton-
house," James Coultas, master, Aug. 19, 1729. He
was born July 4, 1710, and was twice married, his
first wife having been Barbara Barr, and his second,
Catharine Eshleman. He had issue by his first wife,
one son, who was named Jacob, and who was born
Nov. 7, 1742, and who died June 13, 1813.
Jacob, the son, married Barbara Gfoff, a daugh-
ter of Jacob Groff and his wife, Barbara, who had
been a Brackbill. He had children as follows:
Jacob, born Feb. 20, 1768, married Mary Brockbill;
John, born May 17, 1770, married first, Mary
Weaver, and second, Alice Groff; Susan, born April
II, 1776, married Henry Brackbill; Fannie, born
June 26, 1778, married Joseph Potts ; Benjamin, born
Oct. 5, 1782, married Fannie Herr; David, born
April 15. 1784, married Mary Groff; Barbara, born
Jan. 13, 1789, married Jacob Bauchman; and Maria,
iaorn March 16, 1791, married David Miller.
GOV. SIMON SNYDER was born at Lan^
caster, in November, 1759. He was a member of
the State convention which framed the Constitution
of 1790. In 1797 he was elected to the Legislature
of Pennsylvania, and was reelected so often that
he served for eleven years. In 1802 he was chosen
112
BIOGRAPHIC'VL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
speaker of the House of Representatives. Most of
the time that he was in the Legislature Lancaster
was the Capital of Pennsylvania. In 1808 he was
elected Governor of the State, and was reelected
in 181 1, and again in 1814, so that he was Gov-
ernor nine years. During his administration the
State Capital was removed from- Lancaster to Har-
risburg. He died in 1820.
JOHN FRANKLIN MEGINNESS, to whom
the inception of this biographical history of Lan-
caster county is due, was born July 17, 1827, in
Colerain township, Lancaster county. He came of
Irish ancestry. In his sketch of the Meginness fam-
ily, published in 1891, an attempt is made to prove
his ancestors were descendants from one of the early
Irish kings. His parents were Benjamin and Sarah
Meginness. His boyhood was passed upon his fa-
ther's farm, and his vigorous frame and constitu-
tion were largely the result of the hardy out-of-door
life of his early years. His opportunities for secur-
ing an education were confined to the schools of the
neighborhood, and of these he availed himself to the
greatest possible extent, a love of learning and read-
ing being life long characteristics.
In May, 1843, Mr. Meginness accompanied his
parents to Illinois, whither they removed with their
family. But he found the new Western home uncon-
genial, and five months later turned his face toward
the home of his boyhood, not, however, before hav-
ing gained fresh experiences in the school of life
while making sundry boat trips between St. Louis
and New Orleans. Coming eastward, the distance
between Chambersburg and Wheeling was traversed
on foot. The winter of 1844 was spent in the old
home, among relatives, and in attending school. In
the spring of 1845 he was working in the Montour
Iron Works, at Danville, Pa., from which place he
enlisted, on April 9, 1847, in the 5th U. S. Infantry,
for service in the war with Mexico. The captain of
the company, afterward Gen. Randolph B. Marcy,
selected him as clerk in his office.
Mr. Megiiiness's company reached Vera Cruz
July 20, 184.7, ^nd soon took up the line of march to
join the forces under Gen. Scott. He participated in
the engagements that preceded the capture of the
City of Mexico, which place he entered with the
American army Dec. 7, 1847. He always took pride
in having made the march from Vera Cruz to the
City of Mexico, and back again to Vera Cruz, carry-
ing all his equipments, without ever having fallen
out of line. He acted as clerk of his company
during the entire period of his service. His early
fondness for literary work is shown in the fact that
he kept a journal of all those early experiences. His
term of service having expired with the war, he was
discharged at East Pascagoula, Miss., in August,
1848.
Mr. Meginness at once returned to Montour
county, Pa., and a little later went to Jersey Shore,
Lycoming county, where he successfully conducted a
public school through two terms. On Oct. 25, 1849,
he was married to Miss Martha Jane King, of the
same county, taking up his residence at Jersey Shore.
Ten children were born of this union.
Mr. Meginness began his journalistic career oa
June 9, 1852, by becoming the editor of the Jersey
Shore Republican, a weekly newspaper, which he
conducted until it was sold by its owners in 1854.
In June, of that year, he, in conjunction with S. S.
Seeley, founded The News Letter. A year later he-
he retired from the paper. But the literary instinct
was strong within him, and he at once set to work on
a history of the West Branch Valley of the Susque-
hanna, and so vigorously did he apply himself to the
task that the book made its appearance in 1858. It
was the pioneer history of that portion of Pennsyl-
vania. A revised and greatly enlarged edition of
the work appeared in 1889. The editorship of The-
Sentinel, a weekly paper published at Peru, 111., was-
offered to him in 1857. He accepted the position,,
and with his family moved to that place. Two years-
later the office was burned down, and he was again
without a job. Having made the acquaintance of
Stephen A. Douglas, the young editor through his
influence secured a position on the Springfield Daily-
Register, during the Lincoln-Douglas campaign. At
its close he was oifered the editorship of the Specta-
tor, at Carlinville, 111., accepted it, and two years
later became the sole owner. Then came the war of
the Rebellion. All things came to a standstill. He
sold his paper at a sacrifice, and once more returned
to Pennsylvania.
In the winter of 1862 Mr. Meginness received'
an appointment as quartermaster's clerk at Alexan-
dria, Va. He was later made chief clerk of the Bu-
reau of Transportation, at that point, a very re-
sponsible position which he resigned to accept an
appointment in the Division of Referred Claims, in'
the Paymaster General's Office at Washington.
Remaining in this place only a few months, he was
transferred to a first-class clerkship in the third
Auditor's office, of the Treasury Department. Later-
he was transferred to the Second Comptroller's
office, Treasury Department, and remained in that
position until June i, 1869, when he finally left the
Government, after several years of faithful service.
Once more Mr. Meginness went to Williams-
port, Pa., where he became managing editor of the
daily Lycoming Gazette, in 1869. Upon the con-
solidation of that journal with the Bulletin he was
appointed city editor. Changes in ownership again
made Mr. Meginness editor-in-chief, which position
he held from 1872 until 1889, when, worn down by
hard literary labor, he resigned for a rest. In ad-
dition to his labors on the paper he had also, in 1888,
begun a monthly, the Historical Journal, devoted to-
local history, biography and necrology, which at-
tained a self-supporting circulation. But his pen
was never idle. After his retirement from the field'
of journalism he undertook an extended biography
of the stolen girl, Frances Slocum, who had been?
Aw Uyvi^^>Cu ('^KTc^i:^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
118
carried off by the Indians. This required much
laborious research, including two journeys to
Indiana for conference with the Indian descendants
of the lost maiden. The book was a successful one.
Mr. Meginness traveled extensively, visiting
many distant parts of the United States, also the
island of Cuba. During the last thirty years of his
life many letters and sketches by him appeared "in
the principal journals of Philadelphia and New
York. His published writings number about twenty
volumes, nearly all of a historical and biographical
nature. While it may not be said that he was a
great historian, it is nevertheless a fact that few
men have done more for the early history of Penn-
sylvania. He had the true historic instinct, and was
indefatigable in his search for new materials. It
would be difficult to name one still living who has
done so much, tie early adopted the pen name
"John of Lancaster,'"' and by it he and his writings
became widely known throughout the State of
Pennsylvania.
Socially Mr. Meginness was a man of strong
and attractive personality. The writer of this sketch
knew him long and well, and can bear testimony to
his estimable traits of mind and heart. His great
stores of historical information were always at the
command of his friends. His latest literary project
was the preparation of this Biographical History of
Lancaster county, his birthplace, and no one who
knew him thought that he, too, would form the sub-
ject of a sketch in it. Apparently in the most vigor-
ous health, he was stricken without a moment's
warning, just as he entered his own home from a
visit to Harrisburg, on the night of Nov. ii, 1899,
and while showing to his Avife a completed, printed
copy of his own creating, recounting the incidents
of their Golden Wedding, which had been celebrated
two weeks previous. — [F. R. D.
JAMES MADISON WALKER, a prominent
member of the Lancaster Bar with office in the Grant
Law Building, North Duke street, descends from an
old English family, the head of which was Anthony
Walker, of St. Andrews Wardrobbe, London. The
origin of the family dates, so far as is known, back
to the sixteenth century from one DeForrester, a
King's forester. A descendant adopted the name of
Anthony Walker, from his occupation, a walker of
the royal forests. This member died May 11, 1590,
leaving an estate to be divided among his heirs, one
of whom was Thomas Walker, Esq., of Westmins-
ter, who held various positions and titles of honor,
among them Usher of the Court of Exchange,
marked Proclamator and Baron of the Court of
Common Pleas. He died Oct. 12, 1613, leaving a
son, Clement Walker, Esq., of Middle Temple Hy-
don. County Somerset, who had special livery of his
father's lands; he died in 1651.
• John Walker, his son, celebrated as the one to
introduce the system of fallowing land and of revis-
ing wheat crops more thoroughly than formerly,
8
was a man of great intelligence who set an example
of superior farm culture greatly needed at that per-
iod. He married into the ancient family of Heneage,
descendants of Sir Robert Heneage, mentioned in
history as living during the reign of Henry III, in the
thirteenth century. The Heneage coat of arms was
conferred upon the Walker family by this marriage.
. The family belonged to the Established Church.
Lewis Walker, a descendant, became a follower of
George Fox, the Quaker' and was disowned by his
relatives and deprived of government honors ; or as
said by some one at the time, "he laid down these
honors conferred by government."
Lewis Walker left England about 1684, and com-
ing to Pennsylvania settled at, or near, Valley Forge,
Chester county, on one thousand acres of land pur-
chased from his friend and co-laborer in the Quaker
faith, William Penn.
Asahel Walker, Esq. (2), son of Asahel Walker
(i), was born Feb. 7, 1788, in Sadsbury township,
and being a man of energy and ability set an example
of thrift derived from his English ancestors. Asahel
was the grand uncle of James M. Walker. He held
office in the county, and married Sarah Coates,
daughter of Samuel Coates, of Chester Valley, near
Coatesville, the family being of English origin. Mrs,
Coates had six brothers : Warrick, Samuel, Levi,
Joseph, George and Eichard. Samuel and Levi were
ministers of the Society of Friends; Joseph was a
doctor and practiced at Downingtown, Chester coun-
ty. Asahel Walker (2) died Dec. 5, 1856 ; and his
wife, Sarah, died May S, 1869, in her seventy-eighth
year. They had children : Anna, married to William
P. Cooper, 1838 ; Susanna, married to Moses Pow-
nall, 1838 ; Susanna, widow, married to Pusey Bar-
nard, i860; Phebe, married to William P. Cooper,
1848 ; Sarah, married to D. D. Linville, 1849 J Sam-
uel, married to Sarah L. Harris, 1855; Asahel (3),
not married; Joseph C, married to Lucy H. Ell-
maker, 1856; Mary Alice, married to Alfred Ell-
maker, 1856 ; Margaretta, married to Frank J. Pen-
nock, 1859; Asahel Walker (i), Asahel (2), and
Asahel (3) successively owned and occupied an an-
cient stone mansion house historic on account of its
associations with Revolutionary times, and the no-
torious Doane boys.
Isaac Walker, a son of Isaac Walker (brotlier
of Asahel Walker (2) ), was born in Sadsbury town-
ship. Pa., Jan. 27, 1808. He was the son of Isaac
and Deborah CDickinson) Walker, grandson of
Asahel and Anna (Moore) Walker, the great-grand-
son of Isaac and Sarah (Jarman) Walker, and the
great-great-grandson of Lewis and Mary (Morris)
Walker. The English genealogy is given in the bio-
graphical sketch, of the Walker family in the Bio-
graphical History of Lancaster county.
Lewis Walker came originally from the Scottish
border, but directly from Wales. He first settled
in Philadelphia, but soon after purchased one thou-
sand acres from William Penn and moved to Valley
Forge. He built the first stone house at the place.
114
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and it still stands though in altered form. He do-
nated ground for a Quaker meeting-house and ceme-
tery. Washington used the house for his quarters,
and the church was made a hospital. The land is
still owned by Walker's descendants, all of whom
have been Friends.
Isaac Walker was married Nov 2, 1831, to Eliza
Ann, daughter of Abner and Mercy Kinsey Brooke,
of .Sadsbury. She came of highly respected people,
early settlers of Montgomery and Bucks counties.
Eleven children were born as follows : Anna Maria ;
Mary Louisa ; Isaac Buchanan ; Eliza Josephine ;
Mercv Brooke ; James Madison ; Esther Jane ; Sarah
Frances ; Abner Brooke and Deborah Dickinson,
twins ; and Isaac Lewis.
James Madison W'alker, a well known attorney
descended from this family, was educated in the
public schools of his home, and later at the State
Normal School at Millersville. He left school just
before graduation to get married, afterward teaching
in Colerain, Bart, Eden, and Drumore townships.
While also serving as a justice of the peace in Col-
erain he read law with Alexander Harris, Esq., and
received much help from Hon. Judge Livingston,
who gave him access to his library and directed his
studies. Admitted to practice in 1879, he was later
on admitted to the Supreme and Superior courts.
Returning to the Gap in 1886 he has since resided
there. He was a notary public for six years, and
postmaster under President Cleveland's second term.
He held the full term, Congressman Brosius, a per-
sonal friend from normal school days, preventing
his removal. Mr. Walker was associated with the
District Attorney in the celebrated Barney Short
murder trial, Mr. Brosius being counsel for de-
fence.
Mr. Walker married Eliza Fawkes, daughter of
Samuel and Phoebe (Hood) Fawkes, the father
being a well known farmer of Sadsbury township,
and brother of Joseph, inventor of the steam plow.
The following children have been born to this union :
Isaac Hampton, an electrician who died in Phila-
delphia in iQOi, in his thirtieth year; William E.,
farming his father's farm in Sadsbury township,
a very fertile hundred acre tract, part of the thou-
sand acre "Penn Tract ;" James Marshall, electrician
at Gap engaged in electric and telephone supply
business ; and Joseph Louis, engaged with Town-
send & Co.. of Smyrna, having also served four
years as his father's assistant as postmaster.
Mr. Walker lives in a lovely home at the Gap,
spending one or two days a week in Lancaster at-
tending to his large law practice. His residence
commands a fine view of the magnificent Gap
scenery, the famed Pequea Valley, etc. He is also
almost within view of the country seat of his old
friend ex-Attorney General W. U. Hensel, whos?
sketch will be found elsewhere. Mr. Walker is a
Democrat and as such has served his party in numer-
ous conventions, etc. He is a Master Mason, being
a member of the Christiana Lodge, No. 417, F. &
A. M. Mr. Walker rather inclines in his religious
views toward the Friends, but is not a member. He
is highly esteemed by all who know him for his in-
tegrity, kindness and liberality.
DANA GRAHAM. Prominent in the business
circles of Lancaster for a period of years prior
to 1888, was Dana Graham, whose widow, Mrs.
Lucy M. Graham, together with her family, still
survive him, highly esteemed members of the society
of the city.
Dana Graham was born in Townsend, Mass.,
May 9, 1821, and cHed in Lancaster, Pa., April 14,
1888. He was the- son of Samuel and Asenath
(Adams) Graham of that place, and where the
parents continued to reside until their death. The
father, who was born in Townsend, Dec. 20, 1795,
was a cooper by trade ; his wife was born on July
19. 1802. They reared a large family to maturity,
six of whom are now living. Dana, the gentleman
whose honored name heads this paragraph, was the
eldest of the family ; then followed Asenth, widow
of George Gibson, who lives in New York State;
Eldridge, of Persia, Iowa; Elima, Cynthia, Eliakim,
W^arren and Samuel W., who are deceased ; Samuel
A., who lives in California ; George, a Massachusetts
farmer ; Martha, the widow of George Merriam,
Newton, Mass. ; and Emily F., of Springfield, Ohio.
The mother of this family was the daughter of John
and Asenath Adams, the former born April 7, 1777,
the latter Dec. 27, 1779.
Dana Graham was born as stated and reared in
his native town, receiving a fairly good education in
the public schools. In young manhood he was ap-
prenticed to the comb-making trade in the town of
Leominster, Mass., and where he remained until
Oct. 25, 1850. He then in connection with a gentle-
man by the name of John Shaffner, engaged in busi-
ness in Lancaster Pa., and which was continued un-
til the firm was broken by the death of Mr. Shaflfner.
Mr. Graham then reorganized the firm with his old-
est son as a partner, and continued the business. He
was a gentleman who took a prominent position in the
community, and his fine ability was recogpiized by his
fellow citizens, whom he served on the board of
aldermen for five years, and in the common council
two terms. He was active, in the local political life
of his city, having been a stanch supporter of Re-
publican principles. In fraternal affiliation he was an
active and worthy member of the Independent Or-
der of Odd Fellows, and also a member of the
Encampment, was a high degree Mason and be-
longed to the Junior O. U. A. M.
On Jan. 19, 1848, in Northfield, Vt., Dana Gra-
ham was happily joined in marriage to Miss Lucy
M. Grant, who was born in Berlin, Vt., a daughter
of Azariah and Phoebe (Vose) Grant, formerly of
Charlestown, Mass., where Mr. Grant was a school-
teacher; both the parents passed away in Ber-
lin, Vt. To the marriage of Dana Graham were
born the following children : Ella V. died in in-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
115
fancy ; Ella V. (2) died at the age of twenty years ;
Lina L. married Joseph Herzog, a liveryman at
Lancaster, Pa. ; Emma C, a trained nurse, resides
at home; John S. is a hotel proprietor, Lancaster,
Pa. ; Dana B. died at the age of three years ; Dana
H. is a comb manufacturer at Lancaster, Pa. ; Har-
riet E. died in infancy ; Grant A. lives in Lancaster,
Pa. ; and Charles died in infancy. Mrs. Graham is
•a lady of fine mold of character, hospitable and genial
in her home life, and has been a splendid mother to
her large family of children, who are much devoted
to her. In maternal lines Mrs. Graham is a direct
•descendant of Robert Vose, who with his wife, Anna,
;settled in Maiden, Mass., in 1650; his eldest son
Samuel taught school in Charteston, S. C, and
-served imdcr W'ashington in the Revolutionary war.
Samuel's son. Rev. Robert Vose, a Methodist min-
ister, was Mrs. Graham's grandfather. Mrs. Gra-
liam is a leading member of the St. John's Episcopal
Church of Lancaster, and is much interested in the
•charitable and religious work of the church. Both
she a,nd her family receive the good offices of a
large circle of friends, whom they delight to enter-
tain in their pleasant and commodious home.
PETER J. ROEBUCK, M. D., of Lititz, one of
"the most successful practitioners of medicine in Lan-
caster county, is called "Senator" as frequently as ,
""Doctor," for he was State Senator from the North-
■«rn District of Lancaster county ; and although now
•completely and absolutely devoted to his profession,
and not a political aspirant in any sense, he is still
among the foremost Republicans of the county.
Dr. Roebuck's grandfather was of German par-
ventage, and settling in Lebanon county, Pa., became
a, prominent farmer. His wife was a Miss Sholly,
•of Lebanon county, and to their union were born six
•children, among whom was Jacob Roebuck.
Jacob Roebuck was born Jan. 14, 1807, and spent
"his early days on the parental estate. In early man-
liood he wa.s married to Sarah, daughter of Ludwig
^''engst, of Lebanon, and they had a family of eleven
•children, all of whom are yet living. The father of
this interesting family was in his more active days
an ardent Whig, and became a Republican in his
later years ; in religion he was a devout member of
the Reformed Church. He remained a farmer to
the day of his death, which occurred Sept. 5, 1877.
Peter J. Roebuck, son of Jacob, was born in Dau-
-phin county Dec. 10, 1838, and remained with his
parents until he reached the age of ten years, when
he entered the home of an uncle, that he might have
"Jbetter educational opportunities than his native com-
munity presented. When he was somewhat older
lie spent two years in the store of John Bruner, and
•six months in a store in Dauphin, after which he
returned to the farm to recuperate his failing health.
After a time he resumed his studies, and finally be-
-came a student in the Annville Academy, taking up
teaching after leaving that school. When he was
aiineteen vears of age he entered the office of Dr.
J. Seller, of Grantville, Dauphin county, to prepare
for the profession of medicine. After spending
three years with him Dr. Roebuck entered the Med-
ical Department of the University of Pennsylvania,
from which he was graduated in i860. That year
he located at Derry Church, Dauphin county, where
he practiced his profession until 1867, in which year
he removed to Ohio, where he spent two years.
After his return to this State he located at Lititz,
and there he has resided to the present time, in the
enjoyment of a practice hardly second to that 01
any physician of Lancaster county. In recent years
his practice has become so heavy that he has felt
the need of an associate, taking into his practice, in
that capacity, his nephew, Dr. John Paul Roebuck,
a son of Dr. John Henry Roebuck, a practicing phy-
sician of Bethlehem. This young man graduated
from the Medico-Chirnrgical College, Philadelphia,
in 1899, going immediately thereafter to Lititz, to
assist his uncle.
Dr. Peter J. Roebuck is justly regarded as one of
the most skilled physicians and surgeons in his part
of the county, and has established more than a local
reputation as an oculist. He is a member of the
Lancaster City and County Medical Society, of the
State Medical Society, and of the American Medical
Association. In politics he is an ardent Republican,
and began to take an active interest in political af-
fairs as early as 1873, when the adoption of the new
constitution for the State was under discussion. This
interest culminated in his election as State senator,
and his re-election the following election. So ex-
cellent was his record that he was strongly urged
for Congressional honors in 1878.
Dr. Roebuck was married, Sept. 3, 1864, to Miss
Emma J., daughter of Samuel H. Thome, M. D., of
Palmyra, Pa., whose ancestors belonged to the
Scotch-Irish settlers of Pennsylvania, early making
their home in Lancaster county.
Dr. Roebuck is known as a generous and public-
spirited citizen of Lititz, and his presentation of a
magnificent drinking fountain to the borough of
Lititz stamped his character as a benefactor of the
town. The formal presentation occurred Oct. 3,
1895, the presentation speech being made by A. F.
Hostetter, of Lancaster, and the speech of acceptance
on the part of the borough being made by Charles
I. Landes, now a judge of the county. An illustra-
tion of this beautiful fountain was published in the
Lancaster New Era at the time, and a fine souvenir
leaflet, containing the illustration, and the speeches
connected with' the ceremony, was printed. The
plot of land lying between the "Springs Hotel" and
the Springs grounds belongs to the borough, and
Was a part of the original farm of 600 acres on which
the early settlers established Lititz. An ordinance
setting apart this plot of ground for the fountain,
forever, was prepared by A. F. Hostetter, and passed
by the town council Aug. 20, 1895. The fountain
is of bronze metal, and most beautiful in design. It
is surrounded with concrete pavement and curbing.
116
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and the basin is also of concrete. Triangular plots
of grass, enclosed with concrete coping, give a
charming effect, and three powerful electric lights
make it a veritable "thing of beauty." Two of the
large posts have spigots from which the water is
drawn, and in front of the fountain is a drinking
trough for beasts. Hidden within the concrete pave-
ment that surrounds the fountain is a receptacle
for ice, a place where a huge lump of ice is placed
on top of the water pipes, which are here laid in
coils, thus offering to all in the heated term delicious
spring water, cooled by the ice, and yet not touched
by it — carrying out the highest hygienic principle
for drinking water.
In 1901 the Doctor became one of the insti-
gators and founders of the Farmers' National Bank
of Litit7, becoming its first president. The institu-
tion stands with a capital of $60,000. They have
erected a fine building for the business, and it is safe
to say that their counting room is one of the finest
in the county.
Possessing personal magnetism in a marked de-
gree, endowed with rare conversational powers, en-
thusiastic in all that he does, and liberal, though
firm, in his acts. Dr. Roebuck has been a power for
good wherever his busy life has passed, and especial-
ly to the people of Lititz, in whose welfare he has
shown enduring interest.
JOHN McCASKEY. There are branches of the
McCaskey family in different parts of Pennsylvania
and the Western States, some who came very early
in the history of the country, and all doubtless of
Scotch and Scotch-Irish origin. It is not unlikely that
they came originally from the beautiful region of
Caskieben, in the County of Inverness, bordering on
Moray Firth, Scotland, the home of the clans Mac-
pherson, FrazciT, Grant, MacKenzie, MacDonald and
■others. The name comes down like many another
from prehistoric times. "Mac" is the old Scotch way
of saying "son of," so that "McCaskey" means simply
"son of Caskey," and the name appears in both forms
in many parts of the country.
John McCaskey came to Lancaster county from
Castle Blaney, County Monaghan, Ireland, about the
year 1795. His ancestors emigrated from Scotland
to Ireland probably a hundred and fifty years before
that time. He was the oldest son and a freeholder,
inheriting through his father, William McCaskey,
who had been a soldier in the British service in
America during the war of the Revolution, and was a
man of means and energy. At his death John was
left the responsible head of the family. After his
marriage to Margaret Gorman and the birth of his
eldest son he decided to emigrate to America. The
family party included his three brothers, William,
James and Hugh, all of them men of character, and
John Henry and Thomas Gorman, his brothers-in-
law. His brothers and Henry Gorman finally set-
tled in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. He settled
in Leacock township, near the old Leacock meeting-
house, north of Gordonville and west of Intercourse.
He had been brought up in the Presbyterian Church,
as became a good Scotch-Irishman, and was one of
the prominent men of this congregation, his large
family forming for many years no inconsiderable
part of its membership. In this graveyard he is bur-
ied. In the same ship with him came a number of
friends, William Spencer and others, also of the Pres-
byterian faith, who settled in and near Strasburg,
Lancaster county. He became one of the best known
men of his time in his locality. His chief business
was that of drover, for many years upon a very large
scale. As drover and farmer he accumulated what
in his day was regarded a handsome fortune. Though
he never learned to read or write he carried his large
business in his accurate memory, and had the repu-
tation of being one of the most honest men in his
community, respected by everybody as a generous
man of stanch integrity, undaunted courage, and
marked force of character. He owned two valuable
farms near Leacock meeting-house, one of them be-
ing his own home, the other that of his son, William.
He had ten children, three sons and seven daughters.
The sons were James, born in Ireland, who was killed
at the age of thirteen by the kick of a horse ; John,
who died when about thirty-five years of age, leav-
ing a son, John, also dead; and William, who sur-
vived him. His daughters were Jane, who married
Thomas Downey, and had one son and four daugh-
ters ; Sarah married John Galbraith, and died early ;
Agnes married Job Barefoot, and had four sons and
four daughters : Margaret, who married James S.
White, and had two sons and one daughter, is now
(1Q03) in her ninety- fourth year, the only surviving
member of the family, and has for many years made
her home with her nephew, Dr. J. P. McCaskey, of
Lancaster ; Mary married James Whiteside, and had
two sons and one daughter; Eliza married Andrew
White, and had one son and three daughters; and
Matilda, who married James Moore, had' one son.
William McCaskey married Margaret Piersol in
February, 1836. Their children are John Piersol,
publisher of the Pennsylvania School Journal and
principal of the Lancaster High School, who married
Ellen M. Chase, and has had five sons and two daugh-
ters : Joseph Barr, dentist, who married Fannie Con-
nell, and has two sons and one daughter ; William
Spencer, colonel of the 20th U. S. Infantry, who mar-
ried Eleanor Garrison, and has had four sons and
two daughters ; Cyrus Davis, who married Harriet
Bricker, and has one son and three daughters ; James
Newton, dentist, who married Mary Hamaker;
Catharine Wilson, wife of James H. Marshall, who
has two sons and four daughters; and Margaret
Salome, who married Llewellyn Spohn, and has two
daughters. The children of John, the oldest son of
William, are five sons and two daughters : Edward
William, a graduate of West Point and captain in the
regular service; Richard Douglas, dentist, of Lan-
caster : Walter Bogardus, graduate of the Pennsyl-
vania State College and lieutenant in the regular
The words of Hail Columbia were written by Joseph
Hopldnson in Philadelphia, in 1798, for the President's
March, then a very popular air. The Star Spangled
Banner was written in Baltimore in 1814 by Francis
Scott Key, and adapted to an old French air long known
in England as "Anacreon in Heaven," and later in
America as "Adams and Liberty." My Country, tis of
Thee, writfen in Boston in 1832 by Samuel F. Smith,
was set by Lowell Mason to the music of the old tune
God Save the Queen. The words of Flag of the Free,
here gi'en, go well to the Wedding March in Loheii-
grin. there is always room for a new song that has in it
anything to suggest the thought of country, to stir pride
in the flag, to quicken the oatriotic heart-beat. This
music is distinctive in character and known throughout
the world, and the sonjr is already sung very widely.
FLAG OF THE FREE.
Steady Time.
J. P. McCaskey.
March from Lohengrin.
^pggi^gi^^^pig
FJag of the Free! fair- est to see! Borne thro' the strife and the thunder of war, Ban-ner so
2. Flag of the Free! all turn lo thee, — Golden thy stars in the blue of their sky! Flag of the
3. Flag of the brave, long may it wave ! Chosen of God while His might we a - dore. High in the
>. -^ J -^.-g- -g- ■ S-Stlt
CAo. — Flag of the Free, all hail to thee! Floating the fair -est on o-cean or shore. Loud ring the
P^^ggi^^
^
bright with star - ry light,
brave ! foes let them rave,-
van, for manhood of man.
^-
9-
Float ev - er proudly from mountain to shore.
■Crimson thy bars floating gai - ly on high !
Symbol of Right thro' the years passing o'er;
[Final ending. . ]
=N---te
^^^ii^^^^a
m
±
i^=g:
te
cry, ne'er let it die, " Un - ion and Lib - er - ty [Omit.
] now,ev er-more!"
^^^^m
Izfe^s^y
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Splendid thy sto ry, might - y to save.
Flower of the a - ges, promised of vore,
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world Blest of the millions wher-ev - er un - furled;
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Ter - ror to ty - rants, hope to the slave
Pride of our coun- try, hailed from a - far.
All hail, "Old Glory !" hearts leap to see
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Spread thy fair folds to shield and
Ban - ner of Prom ise, lose not a
How from the nations the world looks to
to save,
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JOHN PIERSOL McCASKEY.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
117
army ; Donald Gilbert, graduate of the medical de-
partment of the University of Pennsylvania; one
daughter, Elsa Piersol, at home; and tw^o children
deceased. There weve seven grandsons named for
him, the eldest in each family. He was a great favor-
ite vi^ith his two or three dozen grandchildren, whose
parents were expected to bring them all, or as many
as convenient, on festal days to the old homestead.
The writer tastes yet, after sixty years, the cuts of
choice licorice the kind old man was in the habit of
sharing out to the little folks whenever he saw any
of them. He always kept on hand a stock of the best
quality, but cut it too sparingly, we thought. There
was both delight and disappointment in it, for it was
very good and we never got enough of it, nor were
we ever at liberty to ask, like Oliver Twist, for
"more." He sees, and feels too, the big, old-fashioned
copper cents that '"grandfather" used to count out
to him for reading the news of the war with Mexico,
the Congressional debates, the messages of the Presi-
dent and much besides, as given in the weekly issues
■of the old "Dollar Newspaper." In person he was
a man tall, well-proportioned, and of venerable ap-
pearance. He was blind in the last years of his life,
but to the end directed his business much as usual,
keenly alive at the age of seventy-six to matters of
private and public interest.
JOHN PIERSOL McCASKEY, principal of
the Boys' High School, is a man well known in
Lancaster. He enjoys all sorts of good things,
music, painting, sculpture, literature, the drama, the
wonder and beaut)'' of nature, the society of friends —
filling the breathing spaces in a busy life with these
things to a degree unusual among men. He has
worked hard and long, but enjoys his work, and has
made it his business to enjoy and get good out of
life at every turn. Not many men have seen so
much that is worth seeing, heard so much that is
•worth hearing, or done so much that is worth doing.
He touches literature, music, art work, business,
teaching, the work of editor and publisher, with
■equal confidence, good judgment and success. With
a wide range of talent, he has lived what Roosevelt
would call "the strenuous life," for most marked of
all is his talent for work and his unfailing enjoy-
ment of it.
For forty-seven years Dr. McCaskey has been
teaching in the high school of Lancaster, and the
Saturday holiday has all the while been his day of
largest opportunity. "All days are good," but this
has usually been a day for something new — very
•often in Philadelphia, and not to be missed — in con-
cert or play, at opera, lecture or art exhibition, at
times for niany Saturdays in succession. The cost
lie has thought of little account as weighed against
the pleasure of the trip and the profit of such in-
spiration and culture. This is one secret of his
power as a teacher — his warm and eager life in the
large world of art and literature and music, the Bible
and the church. From this rich experience has
come endless suggestion for his morning readings
and morning talks to the boys on all sorts of subjects,
which are recalled by many now grown to manhood
as perhaps the very best feature of their profitable
life in the high school. Dr. Thomas H. Burrowes
once said to him : "You have the strong beginnings
of all that is worth getting or worth having in edu-
cation or life. You can now go open-eyed where
you will, and it depends upon yourself how far you
will go and in what direction." He has never lost
the impulse given by these hearty words of cheer
and ■ encouragement.
Dr. McCaskey began teaching in the Boys'
High School in 1855, and, with the exception
of one year, 1857-58— most of which he spent
in the old Evening Express printing office, learn-
ing something of the printer's trade that was
to mean so much to him afterward — ^he has been in
the school ever since, in 1865 becoming its principal.
The teachers here, Profs. James C. Gable, Carl
Matz, Carl Thorbahn and Miss Mary Martin, have
been associated with the school for many years.
They are all people of strong individuality, of prac-
tical business sense, with interests outside of the
school as well as in it, people of character, energy
and high rectitude, "good to live with." The school
is recognized as of unusual power in its teaching
force and in its quickening intellectual and moral
atmosphere. There are many in this community who
would be glad to know that the Doctor had rounded
out his fifty years of useful life here, in one of the
best lines of work in the world, and one for which
he is especially fitted. He has the unique record of
having been present at every one of the fifty or more
sessions of the Lancaster County Teachers' Insti-
tute since its organization, in January, 1853, the first
three sessions as a pupil in the Boys' High School
and since as a member of the Institute. For more
than thirty years he was its treasurer, until the or-
ganization of the Lancaster City Institute. For ten
or twelve years he published its proceedings in large
pamphlet form with extended reports of lectures,
addresses and papers read, and full statistics as to
the schools and teachers in the various districts. He
joined the Pennsylvania State Teachers' Associa-
tion in 1855, at Pittsburg, attended three or four
sessions in those early years, and has been at every
annual session since 1865. Since 1866, with the ex-
ception of one year, he has been secretary of that
body. The Pennsylvania School Journal being its
official organ, he has given such careful attention to
its annual reports of proceedings that, in fullness and
accuracy for so many consecutive sessions, they are
believed to surpass those of any other like associ-
ation in the United States. During the past three
years, as secretary, he has also issued a large volume
of proceedings of the State Educational Association
and its departments, which has been distributed to
the members, the edition for the current year being
2,500 copies. In this important work he has, for
thirty years, been ably assisted by J. D. Pyott, an
118
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
expert in reporting. He has for some time been
the "patriarch" of each of these leading school or-
ganizations in county and State, no other man hav-
ing been an active nnember for so many years.
Dr. McCaskey belongs to St. James' Episcopal
Church, has been for forty years or more in regular
attendance at the morning service, has been a mem-
ber of the vestry since April, 1867, and has added to
the memorial wealth of the old parish a window, a
tablet in black onyx and gold, a noble granite tomb
and other memorials in the churchyard, each a work
of art of enduring value.
Dr. McCaskey was one of the original stock-
holders of the Inquirer Printing Company, now
the Wickersham Company, and for many years
its secretary. He was also one of the original mem-
bers of the Adams and Perry Watch Company, and
for twenty years stood by that hard-fought enter-
prise, through its various changes and reorganiza-
tions, with all the money he could put into it, being
secretary of the several companies organized after
the first year or two of failure and disappointment.
When the final crash came he was the third largest
stockholder and lost very heavily — what would seem
a handsome fortune to most men. He laughs and
says he has, by this time, with increase of value at
ordinary rate of interest, at least $40,000 buried in
the foundations of that great enterprise that pays no
dividend beyond the gratification of seeing it a suc-
cessful local industry. He is now, we believe, the
only stockholder in the new Hamilton Watch Com-
pany who came through the heroic struggle of the
old companies that sunk nearly half a million dollars
to make a good foundation for the great and suc-
cessful enterprise that has succeeded them.
The Doctor had much much to do with the in-
troduction of Arbor Day into Pennsylvania, which
has led to the planting of millions of trees, observ-
ing the day in his own school before that time, pub-
lishing in The School Journal many articles upon
the subject, and being closely associated with Dr.
E. E. Higbee, its editor-in-chief, who, as State super-
intendent of public instruction, introduced the ob-
servance of the day, and made it semi-annual. The
Boys' Pligh School, of which he is principal, has for
each of our thirty-seven consecutive Arbor Days had
its attractive programme of music and literary ex-
ercises, adapted to the occasion, each day planting
more trees than it has had pupils enrolled except
once, when roses were planted in memory of Dr. E.
E. Higbee. It has thus far planted more than 6,000
trees. He has all the while used The Pennsylvania
School Journal as an influential agency in encour-
aging this good work. This periodical, being sent
regularly to each of the twenty-five hundred school
districts in Pennsylvania and to many superintend-
ents, school directors, teachers and others who are
centres of suggestion and influence in their locali-
ties throughout the State, has been for many years a
leading factor in creating public opinion favorable
to tree-planting and forestry. We do not know of
any other publication that has been doing better
work in this vital direction. His memorial work in
honor of Dr. Thomas H. Burrowes, Dr. E. E. Hig-
bee, Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, Hon. Samuel Breck
(author of the School Law of Pennsylvania), and
other school men, has been phenomenal. It includes
a noble granite tomb to Dr. Burrowes in St. James''
Episcopal churchyard in Lancaster; a massive me-
morial cross to Dr. Higbee, made by the late Herman
Strecker ; a bust of Dr. Higbee in bronze, of heroic
size ; some twenty-five thousand life-size portraits of
Dr. Burrowes, Dr. Higbee and Thaddeus Stevens-
distributed to schools in all parts of the State; a
memorial volume of tributes from many loving:
friends of Dr. Higbee, together with much char-
acteristic of the man that he had said and written
and done— an extraordinary book, of which 10,000
copies were printed; and pamphlet sketches of Dr.
Burrowes and others, of which 50,000 copies have
been distributed. As one result of this great work,
in which he was the moving and controlling spirit,
there have been placed in the state department of
Public Instruction, at Harrisburg, under his direc-
tion, life-size portraits, richly framed in gold, of the
men who had most to do with the founding and de-
velopment of our common school system. The mem-
ory of what some of these men did for the cause of
general education had almost faded from the public
mind. He has brought them back to the grateful re-
gard of the State, making their faces and their work
familiar in the schools and to school men. Whatever
deficit there was at any time in the memorial funds^
while the work was in progress, he supplied as need-
ed, that everything might be done promptly and well,.
Thus his contribution to these funds amounted to not
less than $3,000, or more than one-fourth of the fund
needed — and in this in addition to the time and labor
required. But all was gladly given. In the Dr.
Higbee and Dr. Burrowes memorial work he had
invaluable assistance from Dr. Nathan C. Schaeffer,.
County Superintendents M. J. Brecht, M. G. Brum-
baugh and nearly all the county, city and borough
superintendents of Pennsylvania. It is said to be the
noblest work of its kind "that has ever been done by
public school men in honor of public school men.
For years Dr. McCaskey has been much inter-
ested in the line of good memory work in literature^
which he regards the best work that can be done in
any ordinary school of any grade, and in The Penn-
sylvania School Journal and otherwise has published
very widely the selections memorized weekly in the
high school, urging the importance of this subject
upon teachers and superintendents. He thinks,
"Teachers cannot be too rich in wealth of this kind^
nor toil for it too long or too earnestly. Fair rank
in the university of letters is here within reach of
all, v/ith or without diploma." He has but one re-
gret in this connection — that he has not been doing,
regularly and persistently, this best of all school
work all his life, both as pupil and teacher. Not
being able to find what he wanted for use as a text
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
119
book in this direction, some years ago he compiled
the "Lincohi Literary Collection" for his own school.
It contains over 600 favorite selections, and is pub-
lished by the American Book Company. It would
be a good thing for the schools if this book were
found in every school library, for confident reference
when good things are wanted for reading or reci-
tation.
Of late years he has been giving attention to the
publication of fine engravings, his "Lincoln Art
Series" now containing twenty of the. best and most
satisfactory things for schools and homes that can
be found anywhere. His own school-room is very
attractive for its display of good pictures, fine Eng-
lish art proofs and others. We doubt whether it
can be surpassed anywhere in Pennsylvania. A
number of the pictures here are printed from his
own plates. Of the "Lincoln Art Series" he has
distributed many thousand copies to all parts of the
country. The "picture on the wall" is an educating
influence, silent but often far-reaching for good or
ill. If well chosen, it may become a blessing for gen-
erations. The value of pictures such as these upon
the walls of schools and homes it is impossible to
estimate. He has undertaken to put into the new
building of the Young Men's Christian Association
of Lancaster a finer collection of engravings and
pictures generally than is to be found in any other
Y. M. C. A. building in the United States. He is
placing them there as a memorial to his mother.
They supplement admirably the splendid Cross and
Crown memorial window which he has placed in the
same building in honor and in grateful memory of
Dr. Burrowes and Dr. Higbee, on the first landing of
the main stairway. These things give to the interior
of this fine building an air of artistic elegance, lift-
ing it quite out of the commonplace of ordinary sur-
roundings. Of this window. Dr. Winship, seeing
it when exhibited in Boston, says, in the N. E. Jour-
nal of Education: "The central figure shows an
ecclesiastical crown of sparkling gems surmounted
by a Maltese cross set with brilliant jewels. It was
made by Redding, Baird & Co., of Boston, who had
it on exhibition for a time, and thousands visited
their establishment to enjoy the elegance of the bril-
Hant setting. It contains probably a thousand jewels,
and is one of the most beautiful windows ever made
in honor of educators." This superb window, cost-
ing a thousand dollars, is of great size, contains
nearly one hundred and twenty (120) sqviare feet
of glass surface and weighs nearly half a ton.
'Dr. McCaskey knows well the value of surrotmd-
ings, the silent influence of appropriate mottoes and
well-chosen pictures speaking from the walls, and
one of his earliest ventures was the Lancaster School
Mottoes, a dozen heavy cards printed on both sides,
which are still published, and of which thousands
of sets have been sold. This was followed by the
Pennsylvania Song Collection, which was afterwards
broadened out into the first number of the Franklin
Square Song Collection, on the book list of Harper
& Brothers, New York, He issued eight volumes of
this popular collection, which has sold more than a
quarter of a million copies in the United States and
Canada, and is known in many other parts of the
English-speaking world. His latest collection,
"Favorite Songs and Hymns," containing between
four and five hundred of the best songs and hymns
in the world, is published by the American Book
Company of New York. If he had done nothing else
in music but compile this one book, it would have
been a great thing to do. Many pleasant letters come
to him expressing hearty appreciation of this work.
Among others. Prof. Edmund D. Murdagh, presi-
dent of the board of education of Oklahoma, writes :
"Though an absolute stranger to you, I wish to ex-
press my sense of the obligation under which you
have placed the profession through your recent col-
lection of songs and hymns. I have just bought, for
our Normal School, one hundred copies, and we are
delighted with the book. I need not specify points
of excellence. Every page is helpful and suggestive.
You have clone a great service to the cause of edu-
cation. May I not tender the thanks of our school ?"
In addition to many smaller annual song pamph-
lets and song books, for institutes and schools, two
dozen or more, which have been scattered by hun-
dreds of thousands, he published, some years ago,
through Harper & Brothers, a large quarto collec-
tion of readings and songs, entitled, "Christmas in
Song and Story," which the Episcopal Recorder pro-
nounced "a perfect cyclopedia of Christmas song."
In the vaults of the Wickersham and New Era
Printing Companies he has thousands of music
plates, that have cost more than ten thousand dol-
lars. He has also written songs and adapted words
to well-known or attractive airs that have found
their way to permanent favor, and he celebrated the
six hundredth issue (December, 1901) of The Penn-
sylvania School Journal by the publication of a stir-
ring patriotic song, entitled the "Flag of the Free,"
adapted to the familiar air of the wedding march
from Lohengrin. This work in music he has enjoyed
perhaps more than any other, and he regards it as
extraordinary good fortune that he has been able all
these years to be in close touch with a master of har-
monv and musician of high rank such as Prof. Carl
Matz, without whose constant practical help and un-
failing advice in all matters relating to music, his
work could not have gone forward with the ease and
freedom that have made it so enjoyable.
But Dr. McCaskey 's most influential and far-
reaching work has been in connection with The
Pennsylvania School Journal, every number of
which he has put through press, month by month, for
more than thirty-six years. He went upon The Jour-
nal in May, 1866, and, with his customary staying
power, he is at it yet, busy upon it day and night as
leisure is afforded from the pressure of other duties.
It is now in its fifty-first volume, the December num-
ber, 1901, being its six hundredth issue. The in-
fluence of this Journal, as the organ of the school
120
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
officers and teachers of the State, and the medium
through which the proceedings of their annual meet-
ings have been made knoAvn to tlie public, can liardly
be overestimated. The educational records of the
State are found nowhere else outside of its fifty vol-
umes. The only complete set of the annual reports
of the State Superintendents of Public Instruction;
the only continuous record of the proceedings of the
Pennsylvania State Teachers' Association through
its fifty sessions; the only complete record of pro-
ceedings of the annual sessions of the City and Bor-
ough Superintendents' Association; the only com-
plete record of the annual meetings of the Pennsyl-
vania State Directors' Association; the only con-
tinuous history, and the only one that makes any
approach to completeness, that is now in existence
anywhere, of the work of the Department of Public
Instruction of the State since 1854, all the archives
of this department of the State government, which
had been carefully preserved for so many years, hav-
ing-been lost in the late fire that destroyed the Cap-
itol building at Harrisburg — all this matter of great-
er or less importance is found from year to year in
The Pennsylvania School Journal, and nowhere else.
This monthly periodical has kept the record intact
and beyond the reach of destruction from any cause
whatsoever.
Dr. McCaskey's connection with The 'Journal
has brought him into close personal relations with
all the State superintendents who have held office at
Harrisburg since 1854 except one, Hon. Charles R.
Coburn, whom he knew but not intimately — Thomas
H. Burrowes, Plenrv C. Plickok, J. P. Wickersham,
E. E. Higbee, D. J. Waller, and N. C. Schaeffer. In
an article upon "No, 600," he says : "The writer
went upon The School Journal as associate editor in
1866, and has put through press each one of the
428 monthly issues since that time. Dr. Burrowes
wished us to take hold of this work in 1865, but made
the condition that we should give it all our time,
leaving the Boys' High School. We could not do
this. A year later he said, 'Come on your own terms,'
and laughed, as he added, 'but I don't want to write
your obituary.' We have been at it ever since, glad
and grateful for the noble field of opportunity it has
afforded these many years. These fifty volumes now
occupy five or six feet of space upon the shelf, and
make a goodly showing for Pennsylvania edu-
cational interests as well as for her school history.
It does not pay any large return on the investment,
but enough, with two or three other sources of in-
come, as school work, music, and art work, to make
ends meet. It has been a blessed privilege to be as-
sociated with it and its great work, and the men who
have had to do with it, during the past third of a
ccnturj- and longer. For what time we have yet to
live we ask nothing better." The Neiv England Jour-
nal of Education says of it : "The Pennsylvania
School Journal has been in a class by itself. No other
State educational journal has approached this in
scope or in power. It is the best history of educa-'
tion of a State that is to be found in all the land. It
has always been admirably edited, has had high lit-
erary flavor, and has given not only important and
interesting facts concerning school affairs in Penn-
sylvania, but the most important facts regarding
education in general. Dr. J. P. McCaskey, its long-
time editor, has been privileged to be a mighty edu-
cational force, largely because of the opportunity
afforded by this journal to his devotion to the cause
of education in the Keystone State."
The most important work of Dr. McCaskey, as
we have said, has doubtless been that upon The
School Journal, with its constant suggestion as to
school work, its reports and records, arbor day,
music, star-study, school decoration, ideal memory
work, improved condition of school buildings, out-
houses and grounds, etc., in all of which his influence
has been felt for a generation; then perhaps the two
or three dozen collections of music of various kinds
which he has published, some of them known and en-
joyed in schools and homes all over the land; and
third in importance, his life in the Boys' High
School for the past forty-five years. He holds, both
m practice and theory, that a teacher is an influence
— the great end of the school being thought and life,
the growing life toward mature manhood and
womanhood. There must be scholarship, but char-
acter is of first importance. Ordinary school work
must have careful attention, but not to the exclusion
of other good things too often ignored. Therefore,
he had vocal music introduced into the Boys' High
School some thirty years ago, under a special teach-
er, this finally extending to all the schools of the
city. Prof. Carl Matz has been in charge of the vocal
music in the high schools and Prof. John B. Kevin-
ski in the lower grades, for twenty-five years, and
longer. In the same way, some years ago. Dr. Mc-
Caskey had instrumental music — instruction on
orchestral instruments, as violin, flute, cornet, trom-
bone, clarinet, oboe, etc. — introducted into the school,
which was soon adopted by the school board as an
optional branch and extended to the Girls' High
School. This instruction is given before and after
school hours. Hundreds have been busy at work
here on musical instruments. Not less than a hun-
dred boys and girls are now under training with
Prof. Carl Thorbahn, and we all know the good work
done by the high school orchestra and orchestra
school on Commencement Day and other special oc-
casions during the year.
Dr. McCaskey has been offered place in the
school department and elsewhere, and has been
urged repeatedly to be a candidate for the city and
county superintendency, but has always declined
these positions, his hands being full of work such as
he preferred to be doing. Besides, he could not turn
to the smaller field when already busy in another so
large, so attractive, affording constant opportunity
these many years for the gratification of his varied
tastes, and so nuich better suited to his peculiar tal-
ents. He has resolutely declined all calls for papers
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
121
or addresses except on rare occasions before the
county or city institute, the State Association, and
■once, a few years ago, before the American Institute
■of Instruction at Montreal. His work in the school
room and at the printing office occupying five days
in the week, these calls would require too much time
in the evenings and on Saturday, which must be kept
free for other things. He would enjoy such work,
and would be glad to do it, but there is no time for
it. In his business his purpose has always been never
to make a dollar that could in any way represent loss
■or hurt to any human being. This thought he has
•constantly urged upon his pupils. He could readily
have been one of the wealthy men of Lancaster, for
he has made what most persons would regard
'"plenty of money," but that has not been the purpose
•of his life. To have plenty of work worth doing,
and time and strength to get it done, are the great
things. He seems content with either loss or profit,
as it com.es, so that the loss be not too heavy, and
thinks "Both are good; which is better who can
tell?"
Dr. McCaskey was born on a farm near Gordon-
ville, Lancaster county. Pa., Oct. 9, 1837. He comes
•of a strong ancestry, in which Scotch-Irish pre-
dominates, other lines being Douglas of Scotland —
his great-great-grandfather being Archibald Doug-
las, Davis and Piersol of Wales, Wilson of England
•or Scotland, Eckert and others of Switzerland and
■Germany. His mother, the most blessed influence
•of his life, was Margaret Piersol, third daughter of
Capt. John and Catharine (Wilson) Piersol. His
forbears on his father's side came to America about
1793, and on his mother's long before the Revolu-
tionary war, in which a number of them bore an act-
ive part. His great-grandfather, William Mc-
Caskey, served for a time in the Briti-sh army during
the war of the Revolution, and his grandfather, John
McCaskey, used to tell of his pleasure, as a little
•child, in climbing upon his father's knee on his re-
turn from the war in America. His great-grand-
fathers, Zaccheus Piersol and Gabriel Davis, served
in the American army during the same war, the lat-
ter as captain and a member of the Committee of
Safety. John P. McCaskey is the eldest of a fam-
ily of seven children, six of whom are still living:
John Piersol, the subject of our sketch ; Joseph Barr,
dentist, of Lancaster; William Spencer, colonel of
the 20th Regiment, LT. S. Infantry, now in command
of Fort Sheridan, near Chicago, after four' years'
service in Cuba and the Philippines; Cyrus Davis,
-with the B. & O. railroad, Philadelphia ; James New-
ton, dentist, Harrisburg; and Catharine Wilson, wife
■of James H. Marshall, assistant postmaster of Lan-
•caster. His name has in full that of both his grand-
fathers, and he- is the youngest of seven grandsons
named after their grandfather John McCaskey, the
oldest son in each of the seven families being so
nam.ed. His father, William McCaskey, was a man
of iron will, resolute and fearless,. of good practical
judgm.ent and unusual executive force and ability.
His father's family belonged to the Presbyterian and
his mother's to the Episcopal Church. They at-
tended service regularly at both churches, the old
Leacock Church west of Intercourse and All Saints',
at Paradise, which he speaks of as a fortunate ex-
perience. He learned to read at an early age, before
going to the old Zook school house, and was re-
quired to read daily and much, often aloud, in the
Bible — the' great book of the household — so that by
the time he was ten or eleven years old and left home
for Oak Hill Academy, and later to attend school in
Lancaster, he was saturated with the history and
literature of the Book. This he regards as the
choicest blessing, after the influence of his mother
in childhood, that has ever come into his life — a con-
viction that grows stronger and deeper with the pass-,
ing years. ,
In May, 1849, Dr. McCaskey came to Lancaster,
and was for a year in the secondary school on Duke
street, under a noted teacher, Howard Worcester
Gilbert. He entered the Boys' High .School in 1850,
and has been there ever since, -with exception of
two years, one as pupil and the other as teacher.
Here the men who most impressed him were Rev.
John S. Crumbaugh, a man of remarkable presence
and power, and Dr. E. E. Higbee, with whom he was
afterward to be associated so closely and so happily
for eight years and more of his memorable service
as State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He
regards these tv/o men as great teachers, and to have
been under their inspiring influence — two of them
for one year each and one of them for two years —
as the best good fortune of his boyhood life in the
school room.
In i860 Dr. McCaskey was married to Ellen
Margaret Chase, at Bath, N. Y. Of their seven chil-
dren five are .still living, four sons and one daughter.
Two of the sons, Capt. Edward William and Lieut.
Walter Bogardus, were on duty for the past three
years with the 21st U. S. Infantry in the Philippine
Islands, the former as quartermaster of his regiment
and also as depot quartermaster in Southern Luzon,
and the latter for a time as depot commissary at
Calamba, on the Laguna, and afterward upon the
staff of Gen. Wheaton. Richard Douglas is a dentist
in Lancaster. Donald Gilbert is a student in the
Medical Department of the University of Pennsyl-
vania. Elsa Piersol is at home. Edward is now
sattioned at Fort Snelling, Minn., and Walter at
Fort Lincoln, N. Dak. Dr. McCaskey talks pleas-
antly of himself as being one of the richest men of
the community in boys, having six sons, one of them
a young man in the Beyond; four manly fellows,
brave, true, capable, generous, doing good work in
the world ; and a foster son, William S. Gordon,
worthy to stand with the rest, who came from Rus-
sia at sixteen years of age with no knowledge of
English, but who has done extraordinary work in
these twelve years, and is now a rising lawyer in the
city of New York. Each of the boys, after graduat-
ing from the Lancaster High School, took a course
122
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of training elsewhere: Edward graduating from
West Point Military Academy in 1886, Richard
from the Pennsylvania Dental College, Walter from
Pennsylvania State College, and Mr. Gordon from
Yale University and the New York Law School.
The _ boys Walter and Donald each took the two
years' course on the Pennsylvania Nautical School
Ship before entering upon their college course.
In politics Dr. McCaskey has always been a Re-
publican, casting his first vote in i860, for Andrew
G. Curtin as Governor of Pennsylvania, and Abra-
ham Lincoln as President of the United States. He
was honored with the degree of Master of Arts by
Franklin and Marshall College, and some years
afterward with that of Doctor of Philosophy by the
same institution of liberal learning. Each of these
honorary degrees came to him as a surprise. He
had never thought of either, and says that while he
has done little to merit them he is grateful for the
generous courtesy which awarded them, and appre-
ciates the personal regard which prompted the
authorities by whom they were conferred.
COL. WILLIAM SPENCER McCASKEY,
now in command of the 20th United States Infantry,
with headquarters at Fort Sheridan, twenty-five miles
north of Chicago, 111., was born near Paradise, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., Oct. 2, 1843. He is of a family
well known in Lancaster city and county, two of his
brothers being Prof. J. P. McCaskey, the well-known
teacher and publisher, and Dr. J. B. McCaskey,
dentist, on East King street. On the side of his fa-
ther, William McCaskey, who was a man of iron will
and fine executive ability, he is of strong Scotch-
Irish stock, his grandfather having come to this coun-
try about 1795. Among his mother's ancestors are
Douglas and Wilson, of Scotland; Davis and Pier-
sol, of W^ales ; Eckert and others, of Switzerland and
Germany, all of whom came to Penns3dvania long
before the war of the Revolution. His great-grand-
father, William McCaskey, was a freeholder in Coun-
ty Monaghan, Ireland, and an officer in the British
army on duty in America during the Revolutionary
war. Two of his maternal grandfathers, Gabriel
Davis and Zaccheus Piersol, were officers in the
American army.
After removing to Lancaster, in 185.1^, the sub-
ject of our sketch attended the public schools. In
1859 he left the high school and was an apprentice
for two years in the Examiner printing office, in Lan-
caster, until the breaking out of the Civil war. While
in this office he belonged to a military company of
young fellows who were drilled regularly by the late
Dr. E. K. Young. Nearly all the members of the
company of boys who had been trained by this ear-
nest drill-master afterward became officers in the
army. Perhaps the most noted of them all, and cer-
tainly the man who has seen most service — having
been a soldier on active duty for more than forty
years — is Col. McCaskey.
When Fort Sumter was fired upon, April 13,
1 86 1, and President Lincoln issued his call for sev-
enty-five thousand men for ninety days, two com-
panies from I-ancaster responded promptly. The
Lancaster Fencibles, Capt. Emlen Franklin, of
which he was one of the youngest members, not yet
eighteen years old, and the Jackson Rifles, Capt.
Henry A. Hambright, filled up their ranks at once,
and left for Harrisburg April 19th, within less than
a week from the fall of Sumter. They were sworn
into the United States service April 20th, and be-
came respectively F and K Cos., of the ist Regiment
Pennsylvania Volunteers. The first sergeant of the
Fencibles was David Miles, afterwards lieutenant-
colonel of the 79th Regiment. On the 21st of April,,
the regiment, with two others, under command of
Gen. Wynkoop, was sent toward Baltimore to rein-
force the 6th Massachusetts, which had been at-
tacked in that city. Fort McHenry was not then
garrisoned, and the object of the movement of the
Pennsylvania Brigade was to attract the attention of
the Baltimoreans in the direction of Cockeysville, in
order that Fort McHenry, on the opposite side of the
city, might be occupied with troops, from Wash-
ington.
During the months of May and June the regi-
ment guarded bridges on the Northern Central Rail-
road, north of Baltimore, marched through Baltimore
to Cantons, thence to Hagerstown, Md., and later
was stationed in Frederick City as provost guard;
after which it joined Gen. Patterson's army, at Mar-
tinsburg, Va., and took part in the pursuit of Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston's army en route to reinforce Gen.
Beauregard at Bull Run. Gen. Patterson's army
halted at Charleston, W. Va., and was at that point
during the battle of Manassas. The regiment, while
at Charleston, volunteered to remain in the service
beyond its term if it should be needed. The Fenci-
bles and Rifles, who had all the while been conspicu-
ous in the regim.ent for discipline, drill and manly
conduct and bearing, returned from their ninety-days
enlistment July 27th, the regiment having been mus-
tered out at Harrisburg, and were welcomed with en-
thusiasm by the people of Lancaster. Nearly all of
them began immediately to plan for re-enlistment for
three years or the war. Of the 7S,ooo men wha
answered the first call for volunteers, but twenty
remain on the active list of the army (March, 1903)
as commissioned officers, and the name of Col. Mc-
Caskey is the tenth upon this list of honor.
Capt. Henry A. Hambrisfht, of Co. K (Lancas-
ter Rifles), was appointed to a caotaincy in the regu-
lar army, but was detached for the purpose of raising
a regiment of riflemen to be accepted for three years
or the war. The regiment was mustered into the
service at Camp Negley, Pittsburg;, Sept. 5, 1861, as
the 79th Pa. Vols. Nine of the ten companies were
recruited in Lancaster county. One of these, Co.
B, was raised by Capt. David Miles, Lieut. Drucken-
miller and Sergt. McCaskey, who was promoted to
second lieutenant Oct. 9, 1862, the day following-
the battle of Perryville, having served one year as
WILLIAM S. McCASKEY,
Ciii.oNEi, Twentieth U. S. Infantry.
LEGISLATURE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
COtJCURRENT RESOLUTIONS.
The Senate passed the following preamble and resolutions, April 6, 1903, which
were presented by Hon. Milton Heidelbaugh, recommending Colonel William S.
McCaskey, of Lancaster, for promotion to the rank of Brigadier General on the active
list of the Regular Army of the United States. They were approved on the
following day by the House of Representatives :
Whereas, Colonel William S. McCaskey, a native of Pennsylvania, viho is now in command of
the Twentieth Infantry, Regular Army of the United States, at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, enlisted from
Lancaster county in the war of the rebellion, as a soldier in the First Pennsylvania regiment in 1 861,
when seventeen years of age, and at the close of the three months' campaign re-enlisted in the Seventy-
ninth Pennsylvania regiment, serving gallantly in twenty-eight engagements in which that regiment took
part from 1861 to 1865, never absent from his company or regiment at any time from any cause, and
rising from the ranks to a Captaincy before he was twenty years of age ; entered the Regular Army
shortly after the close of the war and rendered important and valuable service, always in connection
with troops, west of the Mississippi for more than thirty years ; commanded the Twentieth regiment
with distinction during the Spanish-American campaign ; reorganized it for the war in the Philippines ;
was appointed for eminent fitness to garrison duty in Manila, where for nearly two years the regiment
under his command rendered servige which General MacArthur pronounces ' ' not showy but of incal-
culable value" ; afterwards under General Bell in Southern Luzon, where he contributed largely to the
success of that final vigorous campaign, and
Whereas, By gallantry in action, continuous and vigilant service for more than forty years, great
administrative ability, energy, intelligence and high personal merit. Colonel McCaskey has honored the
State of Pennsylvania ; and
Whereas, Should his term of service end with the age limit of retirement, he will be the last
man on the active list of the Regular Army from Pennsylvania and probably the last from the United
States, who carried a rifle or bore a commission during the entire period of the Civil War ; and
Whereas, There is a strong desire on the part of those who are acquainted with his military
record that his signal service, both at home and abroad, should be fitly recognized ; therefore,
Resolved (If the House of Representatives concur) that the Legislature of Pennsylvania recom-
mend to His Excellency, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, that Colonel William S.
McCaskey, in recognition of his services, at the earliest day practicable, be promoted to be a Brigadier
General on the active list in the Regular Army of the United States.
Resolved, That a certified copy of the foregoing preambles and resolutions be forwarded to His
Excellency, the President of the United States.
— Pennsylvania Legislative Record.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
123:
first sergeant. He was made first lieutenant April
lo, 1863 ; captain July i, 1863, and was mustered out
with his company July 12, 1865.
With the 77th and 78th Regiments and a light
battery, the 79th Regiment formed what was known
as Negley's Brigade of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
The brigade embarked at Pittsburg and was sent to
Louisville in October, 1861, where it was reported
to General William T. Sherman. It formed part
of the advance to Green River, Ky., and during the
spring of 1862 was detached and started to the relief
of Gen. Grant at Fort Donelson, Tenn. Its services
not being needed, it returned to the Army of the
Ohio. During the advance on Nashville, and toward
Shiloh, it was detached and stationed at Columbia,
Tenn., forming part of Mitchell's flying division. In
June, 1862, they made a movement, over two ranges
of mountains, and in concert with troops from Hunts-
ville, Ala., feigned an attack on Chattanooga, thereby
causing the evacuation on Cumberland Gap by the
Confederates, and permitting its occupancy by Fed-
eral troops. This was the first movement toward
East Tennessee. In September the brigade retired
to Nashville, with Gen. Buell's armv. and was known
thereafter as Starkweather's Brigade.
After a year of hard service, in which these mfen
of the Keystone saw much of Kentucky on long and
hurried marches, and were drilled into a magnifi-
cent fighting organization, the 79th had its awful
baptism of fire at Perryville, or Chaplin Hills, Ky.
In this bloody engagement, which was a close stand-
up fight, without cover, the regiment lost one-third
of its strength in killed and wounded.
Starkweather's Brigade, of Rousseau's Division,
to which this regiment belonged, stood like a rock
in the way of the Rebel advance, and saved the day
when the enemy came, driving everything before
them, confident of victory. Five men were shot by
the side of First Sergt. McCaskey, but the shorten-
ing line closed up and thev held their ground, bitins?
cartridges until tongues and throats were so black
and dry they could hardly speak. More than 50,000
troops were engaged in this desperately contested
battle, the importance of which has not been general-
ly recognized. Gen. Bragg, with the memories of
Shiloh fresh in his mind, wrote : "For the time en-
gaged, it was the severest and most desperately con-
tested engagement .within mv knowledge." Gen.
McCook declared it to be "The bloodiest battle of
modern times for the numbers engaged on our side.'
Of less than 13.000 troops of the 1st Corps engaged,
2,299 — more than one-fourth — were killed, wounded
and missing. The brigade took part in the pursuit
of Bragg's army, having the usual rearguard fight-
ing. , . , .
This was followed bv incessant marchmg, skir-
mishing, fighting — Murfreesboro, Chattanooga,
Chickamauga. On Dec. 31, 1862. and Jan. i, 2, 3,
1863, the battle of Stone River, or Murfreesboro, was
fought, and the regiment did its full share of duty,
whatever was required of it. It formed part of
Rousseau's ist Division, 14th Army Corps, under
Gen. Thomas. It participated in the Tullahoma cam-
paign, having several engagements. It was also>
in the Chickamauga campaign and was engaged
in that battle for two days, suffering heavily.
It was identified with Gen. Baird's division, stilt
the 1st of the 14th Corps. The division held,
the key point of the line on Sunday, Sept. 21, 1863^
and remained in line until ordered to retire.
The 14th Army Corps, under Gen. Thomas, ever
afterward known as "the Rock of Chicka-
mauga," saved the army from rout in that great bat-
tle. The 79th also passed through the siege and
starvation experience of Chattanooga, from Septem-
ber to November, 1863.
The 79th went into the battle of Chickamauga
with seventeen officers and 350 men, of whom six-
teen were killed, sixty-six wounded and forty-
seven missing, an aggregate of 129. An inci-
dent occurred here which we have heard repeatedly-
spoken of, showing the coolness of Capt. McCaskey
in the midst of the greatest danger. As they lay
on the firing line, protected by almost nothing in.
the way of earthworks, the line of the enemy just
beyond, and each firing to kill any who might be
exposed, he saw that two of his men had been wound-
ed by the tin cases from a gun in the rear firing grape
and canister at point blank range. He got up,
walked back to the commanding officer, then to the
gun, had its position changed, then to his place in
the line and lay down unharmed, all the while a con-
spicuous mark, the bullets raining about him, and'
many of them no doubt aimed directly at him. He
seemed to bear a charmed life, for, though present in
each of the twenty-eight battles in which the regi-
ment was engaged (never absent from the regiment
at anv time for any cause) , and constantly on active
duty, he was never wounded. Bullets cut his cloth-
ing, spent balls hit him, and he was knocked dowrt
by the impact of a cannon ball striking the timbers-
near his head, but he was never hurt.
In March, 1864, the regiment re-enlisted, and
came home to Lancaster for a furlough of thirty
days. Returning to Chattanooga, they joined Gen,
Sherman's army May 7th, and within an hour par-
ticipated in the first charge made upon the enemy's,
works on Rocky Ridge, Ga. During the next four
months the regiment took part in all the movements-
and battles of the 14th Army Corps, including Buz-
zard's Roost, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kene-
saw Mountain, Chattahoochie, Peach Tree Creek,.
Atlanta, July 22d and 28th, and closing with the bat-
tle of Jonesboro, Ga., Aug. 31, 1864. During these
four months there was hardly a day that the regi-
ment was not under fire.
On July 2ist, 1864, Capt. McCaskey performed
exactly the same service on a different part of the
Peach Tree Creek battlefield for which the late Gen.
Lawton and the present Gen. Baldwin were
granted medals of honor. He led the charge
of the regiment, though there were many senior, offi-
124
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COLTNTY
cers present, and they were successful in capturing
the enemy's works. The 79th Pennsylvania and the
2 1 St Ohio were ordered to charge the works. Capt.
McBride, then in temporary command of the 79th
Regiment, asked Capt. McCaskey to lead the charge
with his company, saying it was also the wish of the
older captains that he should do this. He knew the
risk, but accepted it promptly, and led right over the
entrenchments, several paces in advance of old Co.
B, which followed him with cheers, the whole line
rushing forward, as Co. B set the pace. They suc-
ceeded in driving out the enemy. Nearly all the
medals of honor mentioned in the army register are"
for similar or less dangerous acts of distinguished
gallantry. One of the several brevets for which he
was recommended was for this charge at Peach
Tree Creek.
The 79th formed part of the ist Division, 14th
Army Corps, on Sherman's famous March to the
Sea, engaged in the siege of Savannah, Ga., and ac-
companied the same army on its march through the
Carolinas. engaging in the battles of Averysboro and
Bentonville, N. C, in the last of which the regiment
lost heavily. In the latter part of this engagement
it was commanded by Capt. McCaskey. This was
the last engagement of any importance between the
armies of Gens. Sherman and Johnson. The regi-
ment proceeded to Richmond and thence to Wash-
ington, where it participated in the grand review in
May, 1865, and was then mustered out of the ser-
vice, July 12, 1865.
From the 19th of April, 1861, until July 26, 1865,
with the exception of a few weeks in 1861, he was
■continuously in the service. He was prornoted from
second lieutenant to first lieutenant and from that
to a captaincy in quick succession, the latter com-
mission dating July i, 1863. He was seventeen
years and six months old when he entered the ser-
vice,' and was a captain before he was twenty years
of age. He was never absent from his company or
regiment when it was engaged in battle or campaign-
ing, and has lost but one month from sickness in
more than forty years. This was during the late ser--
vice in the Philippines, when the doctors told him
he must quit or die.
After the close of the war, like many another,
Captain McCaskey looked about for something to
do in civil life. One day, early in 1866, Thaddeus
Stevens, Jr., came into the office of Dr. McCaskey,
to say that his uncle, the "Old Commoner," had
asked him whether there was any one whom he
would like to have appointed second lieutenant in
the regular army; that he had an appointment to
make, and would name any friend whom he would
recommend. "Young Thad." wished Captain Mc-
Caskey appointed, vnth whom he had served as a
private in the Fencibles, and whom he knew as a
brave and skillful officer. It was some days before
a letter was sent to him at Poughkeepsie, where he
was then at Eastman's Business College, and before
a reply was received Mr. Stevens called again, say-
ing that his uncle must make the appointment within
two or three days. He was much surprised and
gratified at the offer of a commission. He had not
thought of this, but it seemed the thing that fit his
case exactly, and it had come to him as a gift from a
friend. He received his commission in the regular
army April 26, 1866, and has passed through all the
grades up to his present rank. He has filled with
marked efficiency every position in line or staff that
was open to him. From April, 1866, until April,
1898, he served on the frontier in Dakota, Montana,
Minnesota, Texas and Missouri. He has been as-
sociated with troops continuously during his forty
and more years of service. He was never on ordin-
ary staff duty, and has commanded troops and served
with them a longer period than any other officer now
on the active list. He was selected for duty on the
staff of the governor of Illinois, and again on that
of the governor of Wisconsin, as Instructor and In-
spector, but was relieved at his own request, for the
reason that he could not afford to live in a city with
his large family. He has been on duty at many forts
and distant posts in the Northwest, some of which
are now thriving cities. In 1876 he succeeded Gen.
Custer in command of Fort Abraham Lincoln, near
Bismarck, N. D., when that dashing cavalry officer
started on his fatal campaign against the Indians in
the Big Horn mountains. We have heard him say
that the hardest thing he has ever had to do was- to
tell Mrs. Custer and the ladies of the post the awful
news of the disaster, that came during the night,
brought down the river by a scout to him as the of-
ficer in command of the post.
At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war
the 20th Infantry was ordered to the Gulf. It left
Fort Leavenworth April 19, 1898, and went into
camp at Mobile. Col. Hawkins and Lieut. Col.
Wheaton, of the regiment, were both made brigadier
generals of volunteers, and the command devolved
upon Major McCaskey. He took the regiment to
Cuba, and was present, in command, day and night,
in the battle of El Caney and during the dreadful
experiences of the campaign before and after the cap-
ture of Santiago. In his official report he says :
"The effective strength of the regiment at the begin-
ning of the first day's fight, Julv ist, was 23 of-
ficers and 570 enlisted men," and gives a detailed
account of movements, duty and casualties, with
very courteous individual mention of officers of the
command. He adds : "The non-commissioned
staff and other enlisted men of the regiment sus-
tained the reputation of the army for fortitude, in-
telligent performance of duty, and ability to endure
under privations. They were cool under fire or in
the charge, were under perfect discipline at all times,
and showed remarkable ingenuity in the construc-
tion of entrenchments, the lines of which were main-
ly built with bayonets, meat ration cans or tin cups."
In a racy little book, "What I Saw in Cuba," Burr
Mcintosh, among other things, pavs many compli-
ments to the officers of the 20th Regiment. He went
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
125
to Cuba on their transport, and when the regiment
was landed managed to swim ashore, contrary to
Gen; Shatter's orders in regard to newspaper men.
He says : "I started inland in search of Gen. Bates
and his command. A number of camp fires were
glowing along the roadside in front of the lines of
tents pitched by the men of the 20th and the 3d, the
Independent Brigade commanded by Gen. Bates. As
I approached them almost the first man I met was
Major McCaskey. Aboard ship he had always been
the essence of courtesy and kindness, but I knew he
was a strict disciplinarian, and it was with some
hesitation I ventured within a few yards of his camp
fire. He recognized the figure, and with a stern
look asked ; 'How did you get ashore ?' I removed
my hat, bowed and answered, 'Please, sir, I fell off
the side of the boat. They tried to rescue me, but
there were no loose ropes, so I had to swim in.' After
this edifying explanation I was invited to partake of
the evening meal, which was being prepared for him
and two of his officers. I remember this most be-
cause of the fact that it was the only one I enjoyed
during my stay in Cuba."
From Cuba Major McCaskey took the regiment
to Montauk Point for some weeks, and from there
back to the old headquarters at Fort Leavenworth.
Like all the other regiments from Cuba, the 20th
returned a wreck, and he at once set about and com-
pleted the work of reorganization. His own health
had by this time been so much impaired that he was
ordered on a long sick leave, and was about to go
to southern California when orders were received
for the regiment to start for the Philippines. Of
course, he did not accept the leave, but took the four
weeks' voyage to Luzon instead. They left Leaven-
worth Jan. 21, 1899.
Col. Elwell S. Otis, who was in command of the
army in the Philippines, with headquarters at Ma-
nila, needed a strong garrison in the turbulent city,
and chose for this important service his own old regi-
ment, the 20th United States Infantry, of which he
had been colonel for more than thirteen years. It was
now commanded by his intimate personal friend. Col.
McCaskey, with whom he had- been pleasantly associ-
ated all these years, and in whose vigilance and abil-
ity in this trying situation he had the fullest con-
fidence. The regiment was held here for nearly two
years, and kept the great city of two or three hun-
dred thousand people in order by vigilant service at
all hours of the day and night, though conflagration
and uprising were all the while threatened. This
service was of a special character and of the utmost
importance, and the 20th was held as the garrison
regiment during the administrations of both Gen.
Otis and Gen. MacArthur. ,
Manila was under strict martial law, the curfew
regulation was in force and the duties that confronted
the regiment were both delicate and important. It
was absolutely necessary to prevent the disaffected
natives from getting together to form organizations
and cause disturbance. At the same time, upon the
cosmopolitan inhabitants martial law must be admin-
istered without imnecessary harshness, friction or
oppression. There were no tribunals, either civil or
criminal in existence, except the provost police
courts. All disputes of every kind had to be decided
temporarily, at least, off-hand, by the military police
captains at the various stations, or by Colonel Mc-
Caskey, who was chief in command. In addition
to the police duties assigned to it the regiment acted
for a time as a reserve to the forces in the trenches,
and was frequently called upon, and for months was
held in constant readiness by day or night to re-
spond promptly to any orders, either to reinforce a
threatened point without or promptly to put down
disturbance within. The protection of all the high
officials and of trains on the railroad, the care and
guarding of all prisoners, both civil and military,
looking after ladrones and others in the suburbs and
elsewhere, the safety of the immense depots of sup-
plies, and especially of the Maestranza Arsenal,
which was the focus of all insurgent plans, and the
enforcing of Customs regulations, were all a part of
the duty of this regiment.
The 20th Infantry had been recommended by
Gen. Otis to be sent to China in 1900, as a repre-
sentative organization. Gen. MacArthur also wished
it to go, but he found it impossible at that time to
take it from the duty in Manila with which it was
so familiar, and he would not risk a change at that
important juncture. In a personal note to Col. Mc-
Caskey, dated March 18, 1902, Gen. MacArthur
says : "I congratulate you heartily upon your re-
turn from the Philippines. I appreciate very warmly
all the good work done by your regiment, especially
in Manila. It was not showy, but of incalculable
value. Nobody knows that fact so well as Gen.
Otis and myself. We felt absolutely dependent upon
the garrison of Manila, and knew that everything
would be secure in the hands of your regiment."
The regiment was relieved from duty in Manila
toward the end of January, 1901, and ordered to
northern Luzon, where it was kept busy for some
months in field duty and cleared the region of armed
insurgents. At the time of leaving Manila it num-
bered 1,500 men, exclusive of officers. Civil gov-
ernment being organized in the north, the 20th was
ordered south into Laguna and Batangas provinces,
with headquarters at Tanauan._ The service here
was very trying. Nearly evervbody was busy on
scouting and other duty to keep the insurgents on the
move. When, in December, 1901, Gen, J. F. Bell
ordered his famous protection policy of concentra-
tion camps, it was welcome news for the regiments
operating here, for both officers and men saw an end
to their thankless and often fruitless expeditions
through almost impassable tropical jungles and
swamps, under burning suns or torrential rains. Im-
mediate steps were taken by Col. McCaskey to carry
out the policy in his jurisdiction, and the large camp
of 18,000 or more people which he organized at Tan-
auan was pronounced by Gens. Wheaton and Bell
126
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the model concentration camp of the provinces. The
humane and effective system here carried out, — the
people well fed, well cared for, with constant occu-
pation, under constant, sanitary inspection and medi-
-cal care, — had much to do with the final collapse of
-the rebellion in these very troublesome provinces.
If the 20th did one thing better than another during
its three years' service in the Philippines it was the
masterly way in which it carried out the new Ameri-
can Protection Policy, which culminated early in
April in the surrender of Gen. Malvar and his entire
command, thus ending the revolution not only in Ba-
tangas Province, but also in the Philippine Islands.
The general plan and scheme followed in these camps
were formed by Col. William S. McCaskey. To
-carry out his instructions he detailed a very efHcient
officer, Capt. H. C. Hale, ably assisted by Lieut. A.
M. Shipp and others.
When a lieutenant in the Northwest Col. Mc-
Caskey married Miss Nellie Garrison, of Detroit.
Their children are four sons and two daughters, all
•of whom are living. Two of them. Garrison and
Douglas, are first lieutenants in the regular service,
the first in the 25th Infantry and the second in the
4th Cavalry. Both won their commissions in the
■Cuban war, Douglas having special honorable men-
tion for gallantry in the desoerate charge at San Juan
July I, 1898. Garrison, after his school course, grad-
uated from the Pennsylvania Nautical School Ship
""Saratoga," in iSt).'^, having made four cruises. He
■was also cadet on Pacific Mail Steamship, 1896 and
1897, served in quartermaster's department, 1897-
•98, was in the battles of El Caney and Santiago, saw
■much active service in the Philippines, rescued two
soldiers from drowning, in Luzon, at night, com-
manded army gunboats, 1901-02, escorted troops to
Pekin, China, 1902, and is at present senior aid on the
staff of Gen. Lee in Batangas province, Luzon. His
third son, Douglas, served in the 4th United States
•Cavalry at Fort Walla Walla, Wash., and Yellow-
stone Park, Wyoming, 1894 to 1897, was agent of
■quartermaster's department in 1898, saw hard service
in Cuba and the Philippines, and is now on duty at
Fort Leavenworth as squadron adjutant of the regi-
ment. The eldest son, Hiram Dryer, after graduating
from the Lancaster High School in 1889 and Lehigh
University in 1893, with the degree of mining engi-
neer— his thesis being selected for the exhibit of the
University at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 — was
assayer at the Boston Copper Smelting Works at
■Great Falls, Montana, 1893-95, and instructor at
Yeates Institute, Lancaster, and Military Schools at
Mt. Holly, Miss., and San Mateo, Cal. In 1900 he
■went to Manila, and is now engineer and assayer in
•charge of the Department of Mines, Philippine Isl-
ands, and is a very competent man in his special line
•of work. The youngest son, Charles, was given his
-choice to remain at the University of Kansas or go
with his father to the Philippines. He preferred to
■go with the regiment, and was in the action at
Guadeloupe Church, Luzon, 1899, as a civilian. He
has been on duty in the Customs Department, Manila,
since April, 1899, and is now Deputy Surveyor of the
port of Manila. The eldest daughter, Margaret, is
married to Caotain William H. Chapman, of the reg-
ular service, and the youngest, Eleanor, is unmar-
ried.
Col. McCaskey has a unique record. He is Lan-
caster county's most noted living soldier. In length
of service he ranks first of all her brave sons whom
she has at any time sent forth to military duty. In
value of service his career is perhaps second only to
that of Gen. John F. Reynolds, who must always
stand as our foremost representative man in the army
of the United States. He was the youngest major in
the regular service, and is still, we think, the young-
est officer of his rank in the army. He is a man of
high honor, excellent habits and irreproachable char-
acter, who enjoys the respect and confidence of the
officers and men pi his command. He is the inti-
mate personal friend, for almost a generation, of
such men as Gen. Otis, Gen. Bates, Gen. Wheaton,
Gen. MacArthur and others of their class, who give
tone to the best element in the army. He has the
reputation of being one of the most strict of disci-
plinarians, but at the same time most watchful of
the interests and well-being of his officers and men
of all ranks. His work has been commended, and he
has been recommended for promotion by every gen-
eral officer and every regimental and post command-
er under whom he has served since he entered in the
regular army, in 1866, dozens of "such papers being
on file in the War Department. Amonsf general of-
ficers who have commended him, some of them in
strongest terms, are Gens. Sykes, Terry, Stanley,
Otis, MacArthur, Chaffee, Wheaton, Bates, Patter-
son, Holabird, Davis (N. H.), Du Barry, Greene
and others. He has been commended by all depart-
ment inspectors and in all efficiency reports made by
regimental or post commanders under whom he has
served. He has never been in arrest, tried or ad-
monished, has never been reported for non-payment
of debts, is not addicted to the use of intoxicants nor
to any other evil habit of army or social life. He is
a courteous gentleman, a man of domestic tastes and
habits, and it is a fortunate regiment that has such
a man for its commanding officer, fortunate no less
for officers than men. He could retire with the star
of the Brigadier tmder the recent act of Congress,
and that is now practically his rank in the army
whenever he chooses to accept it. But he should be
a Brigadier in active service rather than on the re-
tired list. He has earned this honorable rank, and
it can come to no man more worthily. He could
have retired some time since on "term of service,"
but, being a man of unusual mental and physical
vigor, he; has had no wish to do so. Should he live
tmtil the age of retirement under the law, he will
have the unique distinction of being the last officer,
the last man, in the regular army who carried a rifle
or bore a commission under the flag in the great war
of the Rebellion.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
127
WALTER BOGARDUS McCASKEY, Lieu-
tenant in the 21st U. S. Infantry, was born in Lan-
caster, Pa., Dec. 8, 1873. He is the fourth
son of Dr. J. P. McCaskey, principal of the
Lancaster High School and publisher of the
Pennsylvania School Journal. After graduating
irom the Boys' High School of Lancaster he was
for two years on the Pennsylvania Nautical School
Ship "Saratoga," taking the first prize for general
•efficiency by common consent of the officers and ca-
dets. Lieut. Sims, of the U. S. Navy, instructor in
■navigation, endorsed him as "capable of sailing a ship
to any part of the world." In climbing the ropes,
setting and furling sails, and all other work of the
ship, and in boxing, wrestling, rowing, swimming, he
was easily "at the top." His quick grasp of a situa-
tion, rapid decision and execution, here as later in the
ioot-ball and military work made him always a leader.
Prom the ship he went to the Millersville Normal
School for review and to make some special prepara-
tion for college. Here he found a kindred spirit in
Prof. Pinkham, and did much work during the year
in the gymnasium, among other things learning the
■double trapeze act under his instruction. Prof. P.
rated him "the most remarkable young man of his
acquaintance, absolutely honest, and without fear."
Hie was afterward for four vears at the Pennsylvania
State College, for the last two years of the course in
the special department of electrical engineering, tak-
ing the highest cash prize in calculus at the end of
the Sophomore year, and standing at the head of his
■class in mathematics and in other departments at
graduation. He was quarterback and captain of the
well-known State College foot-ball team, with the
reputation of being one of the best quarterbacks in
the United States. He was recognized by all as the
most skillful and daring athlete at State College, his
career here being one of the traditions of the College.
One of the best games on Franklin field, Philadelphia,
in 1805, was between the University of Pennsylvania
3,nd the State College teams. University of Penn-
sylvania had not been scored against before during
the season. The umpire, Williams, of Yale, said in
the Press: "I never saw a team play more honest
foot-ball than did State College." The Record said,
""the cleanest, hardest game on Franklin field this
year." The Ledger: "McCaskey, the captain and
quarterback, is as quick as lightning, a clean passer,
a splendid tackier and interferes finely." His games
-were always fair and clean because he would not
tolerate anvthing else. After a long and rigid inspec-
tion drill of the State College battalion of three hun-
dred cadets by the U. S. Army inspector, the Com-
mandant was directed to name him first for honorable
mention from this college in the United States Army
register. "I can't do that." "Why not ?" "He is my
brother." "Oh, name him second then." After grad-
uating with distinction in the special department of
electrical engineering, he entered the railroad ser-
vice, for a time in the freight department, and after-
ward in the steam-gauging and draughting depart-
ments of the Pennsylvania railroad shops at Wil-
mington during the day, and on duty as a student of
medicine and in microscopic analysis at night in the
office of Dr. J. W. Crumbaugh, one of the leading
physicians of Wilmington.
When the Spanish-American war broke out he
enlisted in Capt. Whitson's company from Lancaster,
of which he was afterward unanimously elected sec-
ond lieutenant, and in which he served with such effi-
ciency and such universal endorsement of the rank
and file of the company as is seldom accorded to an
officer, especially to one so young. This company was
a part of Col. D. B. Case's 4th Pennsylvania Vol-
unteers, and saw active service in Porto Rico. He
was appointed by President McKinley as one of the
five lieutenants apportioned to Pennsylvania in the
increase of the regular army. In the written examin-
ation to which these appointees were subjected *at
Fortress Monroe, which lasted for a week, and cov-
ered twelve or fourteen important branches, he took
the second place on the list of more than a hundred
officers examined. Because of this high rank which
was especially gratifying to Hon. Marriott Brosius,
by whom he had been named to the President, he was
offered a commission in the cavalry arm of the ser-
vice, but his preference was for the 21st Regiment of'
Infantry, in which an older brother was serving as
Captain. He joined the regiment near Manila and
saw much active duty about Laguna de Bale (the
large lake from which the Pasig river flows) and in
the southern provinces of Luzon. He served for a
time on the staff of Gen. Wheaton, and also as de-
partment commissary at Calamba, though he would
have much preferred service in the field, during the
active operations of Gen. Bell in Laguna and Batan-
gas. He was a first-class "duty man" always, and
with no unfortunate habits of any sort. In the
Manila American of May i, 1901, we find an account
of a heroic rescue of one of his men quite in character
with this young officer: "Gen. Cailles was being
hard pressed by our troops, made up of detachments
from the garrisons on the Laguna in the vicinity of
Santa Cruz. Scouting parties reported the enemy en-
camped in a barrio about seven miles north of Cavinti.
Acting on this information Lieut. McCaskey was sent
out to learn if there was any chance for an ambus-
cade. After hiking over various trails, through deep
gorges and ravines peculiar to the country, the small
party came to the bank of a mountain stream which,
it seemed, must be crossed. The current was very
swift, and the officer, telling his men to wait until
he had found a safe fording place, plunged in to try
the stream. He is a powerful swimmer, one of the
best in the army, and at home in the water. Inspired
by his apparent disregard of danger and wishing to
be with him, if needed on the other side, three of his
men plunged after him, without thought of the depth
of the water or the weight of their accoutrements.
They were at once swept away by the current. On
looking around he saw their peril, and turned to save
the nearest man, who caught him about the waist.
128
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
but tearing himself loose, he landed him safely on the
bank. In the meantime the other two had sunk, and
it was a question how far they had gone down stream
with the rapid current. Passing the apparently
drowned man over to others of the command who had
come up, and giving them hurried instructions in re-
gard to restoring him to life, without pausing for
breath, the young officer, relying on his skill and
strength as a swimmer, repeatedly dived into the river
in different places in the hope of rescuing his men. It
was fruitless, however, and at last he was forcibly
held back from making further attempts. Their
bodies were afterward found and given hasty burial
on the bank. Lieut. McCaskey deserves especial
recognition for his heroic work, and his many friends
in Manila and at home will be glad to learn that he
has suffered nothing from his desperate effort to save
the lives of his men."
After the surrender of Gen. Cailles he happened
one day at Calamba to see Lieut. McCaskey, and rec-
ognized him as the officer who, at a critical moment,
had saved the life of his chief of staff, to whom he
was much attached. He was very ardent and earnest
in the expression of his gratitude. Since his return
from the Philippines (1902) he has been stationed at
,Fort Yates and Fort Lincoln, near Bismarck, N.
Dak. He was married in 1899 to Miss Edna Mc-
Clelland, of Beech Creek, Clinton Co., Pa. His
name Bogardus is that of a maternal ancestor. Domi-
nie Everardus Bogardus, who came from Holland in
1633, the second clergyman of New Amsterdam, now
the city of New York. He came over in the ship
"Zoutberg" with Gov. Wouter Van Twiller, and is
described, in the "Annals of Old Manhattan," as a
"tall and stately man of high character and hot tem-
per." He was a powerful personality in the province
and so relentless in denunciation from the pulpit of
the excesses of Van Twiller and Keift, the first two
Dutch governors, that the old record tells how on one
occasion Keift ordered the drums to be beaten during
the sermon to drown the preacher's voice. The first
church was built for him in 1633, on Pearl street, be-
tween the present lines of Broad and Whitehall, and
into it the congregation of fifty members was trans-
ferred from the "mill-tower" where service had pre-
viously been held. In 1639 he married Anneke Jans,
in whose right the Bogardus heirs long claimed cer-
tain valuable property belonging to the Trinity
Church corporation in New York. Their descend-
ants have multiplied to many thousands. The ship
in which he sailed for Holland Aug. 16, 1647, to
lay his difference with Keift before the Classis of
Amsterdam, was named "The Princess," and was
wrecked on the coast of Wales. About one hundred
of the passengers were drowned, including "both Gov.
Keift and Dominie Bogardus. Cornelius Bogardus,
son of Everardus, was baptized Sept. 9, 1640. He
married Rachel Dewitt. Their son Cornelius, born
Jan. 5, 1698, married Catharine Tuoor Dec. 23, 1722.
They had thirteen children, of whom Cornelius, third
son, married Marry Philips. John, the fourth of
their five children, married Elizabeth Lawson Jan^
20, 1783. Cornelius, the eldest of their nine children^
married Margaret Long Sept. 8, 1808. Of their six
children, Sarah, the eldest daughter, was married to-
Asa H. Chase Feb. 24, 1835. Of their three children,
Ellen Margaret, the eldest, was married to John P.
McCaskey at Bath, N. Y., Aug. 8, i860, and of their
seven children Walter Bogardus is the fourth son.
Asa H. Chase, his maternal grandfather, the eld-
est of nine children, was born July 21, 1809, and had
the reputation, when a young man, of being one of
the best stage drivers in western New York ; in the-
stage vernacular of that early day, "able to cut a fly
off the ear of his lead horse." He was afterward a
well-known passenger conductor on the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad, always a good churchman, and a mam
of sterling charaJcter. He married Sarah C. Bo-
gardus Feb. 24, 1835. His father, Caleb Chase, borm
April II, 1781, the oldest of three children, was a
stonemason, noted for great strength, activity and
skill in athletics. He married Barthenia Harris, of
Connecticut, an estimable woman, the memory of
whose virtues yet survives. His father, Joshua
Chase, was born May 25, 1722, was married twice
and had eight children in all. Caleb was the eldest
son by the second marriage. The father of Joshua-
was Benjamin Chase, born July 15, 1682, the fourth
of six children ; he married Mercy Simmons June 23,.
1703. He was the son of Benjamin Chase, Sr.,
youngest of three children, born in 1639, who mar-
ried Philippe Sherman. William Chase and his wife
Mary came to Massachusetts from England in 1630,
just ten years after the landinsr of the Plymouth col-
ony. On the records of the first church in Roxbury,.
now Boston Highlands, is the following minute, sup-
posed to be in the handwriting of Rev. John Eliot,
com.monly called the Apostle to the Indians, who
was the first pastor of that church : "William Chase
came with the first company (1630), bringing with
him his wife Mary and his oldest son William." He
died in May, 1659, at Yarmouth. These lines of de-
scent have been carefully kept in church records, the
old family Bibles, and also, on the Bogardus side,
through the claim, for generations, upon the Trinity
Church property. Heredity is the first important fac-
tor in the makeup of any man, environment the sec-
ond. It is very interesting to trace lines of worthy
descent, and we add these paragraphs here that they
may go into this record of biographical annals.
JOHN GANTNER, born in Lancaster July 4,
1 76 1, enlisted at the age of seventeen in the company-
of Capt. John Hubeley, and marched under his com-
mand to Shamokin (now Sunbury) , to assist in re-
pelling Indian attacks on the settlers. After sus-
taining the hardships of a winter campaign on the-
Susquehanna; he returned to Lancaster and was-
discharged. He afterward joined Colonel Armand's
corps, and served two years, when he was discharged.
He then enlisted in Capt. Sharp's company of
dragoons, and was on the march to Yorktown, when
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
12g-
the news of the surrender of Cornwallis was re-
ceived and they_ turned back. The date of the death
of this Revolutionary hero has not been preserved.
WILLIAM R. WILSON. The profession of
law when clothed with its true dignity and purity
and strength, must rank first among the callings of
men, for law rules the universe. The work of the
legal profession is to formulate, to harmonize, to
regulate, to adjust and to administer those rules and
principles that underlie and permeate all govern-
ment and society, and control the varied relations of
man. As thus viewed, there attaches to the legal
profession a nobleness that cannot but be reflected
in the life of the true lawyer, who, conscious of the
dignity and distinction of his profession, and honest
in the pursuit of his purpose, embraces the richness
of learning, the profoundness of wisdom, the firm-
ness of integrity and the purity of morals, together
with the graces of modesty, courtesy and the general
amenities of life. Of this type of the profession was
Mr. Wilson, who stood among the eminent members
of the Bar of Lancaster county, and whose life was
one of signal usefulness and honor in all its relations.
In his private life he was distinguished by all that
marks the true gentleman. His was a noble charac-
ter, one that subordinated personal ambition to pub-
lic good, and sought rather the benefit of others than
the aggrandizement of self. He was the architect
of his own fortunes, and his success was niost
worthily achieved. Endowed with high intellectual
qualities, to which were added the embellishments
and discipline of culture, his was a most attractive
personality. Well versed in the learning of his pro-
fession, and with a deep knowledge of the well-
springs of human thought and action, with great
sagacity and extraordinary tact, he gained prestige
as one of the representative members of the Pennsyl-
vania Bar, which he honored with his life and
ser\nces. He was summoned from the field of life's
activities Feb. 26, 1901, and in the city of Lancaster,
where he had maintained his home for more than half
a century, his death came as a personal bereavement
to the community, while it was fully realized that
an able lawyer and a noble man had passed to his
reward, in the fullness of years and well earned
honors.
The great-grandfather of William R. Wilson
was of Scotch-Irish extraction, and his grandfather
was born in New York, near the Canadian line, and
he eventually removed thence to Amity, Berks
Co., Pa., where he married a Miss DeHart, who was
a near relative of the Boone family, of which the
celebrated frontiersman, Daniel Boone, was a mem-
ber. The grandfather of our subject was a trader
in furs, a line of enterprise much in vogue in the
early days, and his children were two in number,
namely : Sarah, who became the wife of R. Ringler ;
and John, the father of the subject of this memoir.
John Wilson was born in Amity township, Berks
county, in 1792, and was there reared. About 1814
9
he removed to Reamstown, Lancaster county, where
he passed the residue of his life, his death occurring
Oct. 28, 1854, at which time he was sixty-two years
of age. John Wilson was a self-made man in the
best sense of the term. Though his early educational
advantages were of the most meager sort, by per-
sonal application and well directed study he became
a man of learning and broad mental grasp. He was-
one of the first men to open an English. school in that
section of Lancaster county of which Reamstown is
the center, and he was for many years a successful
teacher, not only of children, but also of young men
and women, for that locality was at that time almost
entirely given to the German language, which Mr.
Wilson acquired most thoroughly, thus enabling
himself successfully to instruct his pupils in the
English. In 1825 he was commissioned justice of
the peace by Governor Andrew Shulze, and for fif-
teen years he conducted a large and important busi-
ness in this line, The office then became elective,
and he was chosen by popular vote as incumbent of
the same for another decade, thus serving as justice
for a consecutive period of a quarter of a century.
He was also a scrivener from 1825 until the time of
his death. He served as major in the State militia
in the early days, and was one of the commissioners
at the division of the Cocalicos. He was a stanch
supporter of the Democratic party, and was at one
time a candidate on its ticket for representative in
the lower house of the State Legislature. He was
a man of lofty integrity, and was highly respected
and much loved in the community where he passed
so many years of his long and useful life.
In November, 18 15, at Reamstown, John Wilson
married Miss Lydia Rhoads, who preceded him into
eternal rest, her death occurring March 9, 1846, and
both are interred in the churchyard at Reamstown.
William R. Wilson, the subject of this memoir,
was born in Reamstown, Lancaster county, Jan. 20,
1826, .and there his early life was passed. His edu-
cational advantages were very limited in scope, since
the impaired health of his father rendered it neces-
sary for him to assist in the latter's office, his practi-
cal service in the line being initiated at the early age
of fourteen years, while he thus aided in the support
of the family, in which there were twelve children.
He remained at the parental home until he had at-
tained his legal majority, devoting every possible
opportunitv to study and the reading of the best class
of literature, and he decided to adopt the profession
of law as his vocation in life. Upon leaving home
he came to Lancaster, and was entirely dependent
upon his own resources for a livelihood. On April
19, 1847, he began the study of law in the office of
the late Colonel Reah Frazer, at Lancaster, locally
famous as the "war horse of Democracy," and rec-
ognized as one of the able members of the Bar of
the county. The two gentlemen became firm friends
and so continued until death severed the ties, each
haying named a son in honor of the other.' Mr.
Wilson devoted himself assiduously to his technical
130
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
study, and was admitted to the Bar of the State Aug.
i8, 1849. In the following spring he here entered
upon the active practice of his profession, and this
he continued consecutively and with an eminent de-
gree of success, until the time of his death, repre-
senting a period of more than half a century. With
one exception he was, at the time of demise, the oldest
lawyer, in point of service, of the Bar of the county,
and no member was held in higher confidence and
esteem. Mr. Wilson was for twenty-five years a
member of the board which examines candidates
for admission to the Bar, and was chairman of the
same at the time of his death. The other members,
in harmony with his personal request, acted as pall-
bearers at his funeral. He was vice-president of the
Lancaster Bar Association. He controlled a large
and representative practice and was widely known,
especially through the northern part of the county.
He was for fifteen years a member of the board
of education of Lancaster, and was known as a man
of most scholarly attainments, being well read in all
branches of literature, and having an excellent knowl-
edge of the German language, which he acquired by
personal application, his entire schooling having been
confined to seven months, but this fact having slight
bearing upon the acquirement of knowledge on the
parr of the determined and industrious youth. He
always manifested a deep interest in politics, and
rendered most effective service in many campaigns.
Of his political proclivities a formerly published
tribute spoke as follows : "He was a Democrat of
Dem.ocrats. His faith never failed ; his interest never
abated ; his ardor never cooled ; and his loyalty never
was questioned. Before the war, during the war,
and after the war he remained the advocate, on the
stump and in private, of Jacksonian principles. He
voted as he believed and talked. He neither courted
nor shunned political honors, and the frequent marks
of his party's favor 'which came to him were highly
appreciated, though unsolicited and barren of profit."
He was a member of the city council on various oc-
casions, and also served for a time as city solicitor.
Of his ability in his profession one who knew him
well has spoken as follows : "Mr. Wilson was a
lawyer of much learning and painstaking care. He
never went to trial without elaborate preparation
on the law and the facts, and never quit until he had
exhausted every resource. He was a familiar figure
in the Appellate courts, and never failed to command
the respect of these bodies for his erudition and in-
genuity. He had the dignity and courtesy of what
we must, too often, call the 'old school,' and but few
surpassed him in cordiality and grace of manner.
He was urbane toward his associates, especially the
juniors of the Ear, and with him passes away almost
the last active practitioner of his generation." His
first case before the Supreme court was in 1853, and
from that time forward he was concerned in much
important litigation in this section of the State. His
death occurred as the direct result of a stroke of
apoplexy.
The parents of Mr. Wilson were members of the
German Reformed Church, and while he never
formally united with any religious organization he
was a regular attendant and liberal supporter of the
Presbyterian Church, having been chairman of the
board of auditors of the Lancaster church for more
than twenty years, and having held other official
positions in the same. He was one of the pall-bearers
of President James Buchanan, and acted as auditor
of his estate.
In the city of Harrisburg, Pa., on Jan. 10, 1852,
Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Caroline
S. Oberlv, daughter of Frederick and Maria Oberly,
and her death occurred April 16, 1899. They became
the parents of four children, of whom we enter the
following brief record : Reali F., who is supervisor
of one of the western divisions of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, with headquarters at Blairsville, this State,
was united in marriage, in 1883, to Miss Mary Mc-
Gecham, of Lancaster, and they have three children,
James R., Agnes and May ; Lanna Theodosia remains
at the old home ; Harry O. still remains in the office
of his father ; and Alphonso is deceased.
In speaking of the death of Mr. Wilson a local
paper summed up as follows: "All in all, we shall
not look upon his like again. His taking off snaps
a link in the chain that bound us to the past. His
death will be mourned; his life and experience will
remain a pleasant and useful memory ; his place will
not be filled."
AMOS R. HOUGENDOBLER, postmaster at
Columbia, and one of the oldest shoe merchants in
the city, comes of an old and honored family which
originated in Switzerland, three brothers of the
name coming to Lancaster county over two hundred
years ago. John, Nicholas and Isaac Hougendobler
took part in the Revolutionary war, and are men-
tioned in the archives of the State. John purchased
600 acres of land in Hempfield township, near the
Wrightsville Ferry, at the close of the Revolution,
and a part of this original purchase is still in the pos-
session of the family.
Amos R. Hougendobler, so well and favorably
known in his locality, was born Oct. 3, 1843, in
West Hempfield township, three miles from Colum-
bia, son of Plenry and Catherine (Getz) Hougen-
dobler, both of whom lived on the old homestead
tmtil the close of their lives. The former died in
1856, at the age of fifty-seven, and the latter in De-
cember, 1 88 1, at the age of eighty-eight, and the
remains of both were buried in their private ceme-
tery. They were most worthy members of the United
Brethren Church. The record of their eleven chil-
dren is as follows: EHzabeth (deceased) married
John M. Greider, a prominent man in Lancaster
county, he having served as justice of the peace, and
also as Lancaster county treasurer ; George, who died
unmiarried in 1871, served four years in the army
during the Civil war, and was killed in a stone
qiiarry ; Henry met death in an ore mine, at the age
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
131
■of seventeen; Christianna (deceased), married
Aaron R. Lutz; Albert died in infancy; Barbara
married Hiram C. Lockard, of West Hempfield
township; Cattierme (deceased), married Henry
Baker, wlio was killed in battle in the front of
Richmond, Va. ; Mary married William Berntheisel,
a retired farmer of West Hempfield township ; John
A. was shot through the heart at the battle of South
Mountain, during the Civil war; Amos R. is the
subject proper of these lines; Adeline became Mrs.
Briggs, of Tyrone, Pennsylvania.
Amos R. Hougendobler was reared on a farm in
West Hempfield township, and attended the district
school. At the a,ge of twelve years he came to Colum-
bia and entered the store of H. F. FonDersmith, as
clerk, remaining with him one year, when he was
■offered a larger salary, going into the store of Peter
Haldeman, where he remained until the outbreak of
the Civil war, in 1861.
Urged by patriotic impulses, Mr. Hougendobler
■enlisted for the service of his country, joining Co. K,
5th Pa. Reserves, known as the Cookman Rangers
(so named by Joseph Fisher, who was appointed
captain). But almost at the beginning of his service
he met with a serious accident. Being first in the
line of march, Campbell's Battery ran over his left
heel on June 27, 1861. He was again unfortunate,
heing slightly wounded in the left leg at the battle
■of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, and was sent to the
Columbia College Hospital, in Washington, D. C.
This was particularly discouraging, as the accident
•came iipon the very day that his three-years' term
of enlistment expired. He endured but one month
in the hospital before he joined his company and
came home. Mr. Hougendobler's war record is a
■grand one, and one of which his descendants will
^e very proud in the years to come. He participated
in the following battles: Drainesville, Mechanics-
ville, Gaines Mills, Charles City Cross Roads, Savage
Station, Malvern Hill, Bull Run, Fredericksburg,
Gettysburg, Bristol Station, Mine Run and the
AVilderncss. At Fredericksburg few of his company
escaped death or wounds, or at least bullet holes in
their clothing. Plis term of service expiring, Mr.
Hougendobler was discharged at Harrisburg, Pa.,
June 14, 1864. The saddest experience of his army
life was the death of his brother John, who was in
the same company, and was shot through the heart,
at South Mountain, Sept. 14, 1862; his body was
hrought home and placed in the family graveyard,
about two and a half miles northeast of Columbia,
adjoining the farm wliere the family has lived more
than sixtv years.
On Sept. 6, 1864, Miss Margaret Kneisly was
married, in Columbia, to Amos R. Hougendobler,
and this union has also' been blessed with eleven. chil-
dren: Ella M., who married Edward B. Koons, a
contractor in Columbia; Clara K., who married
Charles Curvel, superintendent of a shirt cutting
factory in Chester, Pa. ; Margaret, a school teacher ;
Catherine, who was educated in the Hahnemann
Training School for Nurses, in Philadelphia; John
Andrew, a silk mill loom repairer (he is married) ;
Anna G., a well known professional trained nurse
at the Methodist Hospital, at Philadelphia, Pa.;
Emily A., who stays in the store, as do also Harry
and William (twins) ; Charles D., a clerk in the
Columbia post office ; and Mary E., attending school.
Mrs. Hougendobler was born in Columbia June
27, i'S45, a daughter of Andrew and Margaret
(Fordney) Kneisly, of Manor township. Andrew
Kneisly was a blacksmith by trade, but later became
boss inspector for the Pennsylvania Railway Co.,
and after a service of thirty years with the railroad
was killed, a train running over him, in October,
1881, at the age of fifty-nine years. For many years
he was a class-leader in the M. E. Church, and he
was an active Christian in every walk of life. He
was connected with the I. O. O. F., being a charter
member of Susquehanna Lodge, No. 80, Columbia,
and had held many of the offices. Mrs. Kneisly died
at the age of eighty-one, and was buried in Mt. Beth-
el cemetery. The family located in Columbia in 1834.
The children born to these worthy people were as
follows: William, a car inspector, who died in
Columbia; Anna, a resident of Columbia; David
and Barbara, deceased in infancy ; Emma, a resident
of Columbia; Samuel, who died in infancy; Mar-
garet, the wife of Mr. Hougendobler ; and Benjamin,
who died in infancy. Misses Anna and Emma con-
duct a notion store in Columbia, and are highly es-
teemed ladies.
Mr. Hougendobler is one of the prominent men
of Columbia, and is now postmaster there, having
been appointed to that office through Hon. Marriott
Brosius, in 1898. By his industry, efficiency and
courtesy Mr. Hougendobler has given general sat-
isfaction. He is a charter member of Gen. Welsh
Post, No. 118, G. A. R., and is one of its past com-
manders and active members. He was a member
of Department Commander Alfred Dart's stafif in
1897, and is on the executive committee for Lancas-
ter county of the Central Association of the Penn-
sylvania G. A. R. He is also a charter member of
an A. O. M. P. lodge in Columbia, is a past master
artisan and was trustee for many years. In politics
he is a Republican, and he is an active and prominent
member of his party in the city and county.
JOSEPH EHRENFRIED was born in May-
ence, Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, Dec. 25, 1783.
His parents were Catholic in faith and designed him
for the pries^iood, sending him to school with that
object in view. When he was nineteen years of age
he left his native country, emigrating to America
in 1802. He began his career in this country as a
school teacher in the Grove school house, in East
Donegal township, in 1803. A short while after-
ward he secured a situation as translator and book-
keeper in Albright's printing establishment in Lan-
caster, where he acquired a practical knowledge of
that art.
182
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
In 1808 Joseph Ehrenfried and William Hamil-
ton established the Volksfreund, a German news-
paper, which he disposed of to Johan Baer in 1817,
the paper still being published in Lancaster by the
son of Air. Baer. He continued, however, in the
employ of Air. Baer for twenty years, during which
time he translated a number of works into German,
which were published, among them being "Buck's
Theological Dictionary" and "Ehrenfried's Collo-
quial Phrases."
In 1837 Air. Ehrenfried visited Germany, and re-
turning to this country, located in Harrisburg, where
he published the Vaterland's Waechter, and during
the administration of Governor Ritner he held the
office of German State Printer. He afterward es-
tablished the Friedenboten, a German newspaper at
Allentown, Pa. This he disposed of and returned
to I,ancaster, where in the autumn of 1845 he became
deputy register of wills, which office he filled until
in i860. In 1816 he became a Swedenborgian in
faith and in 1835 connected himself with the Lan-
caster New Jerusalem Society, of which he was
president for twenty years.
In 1809 he married Airs. Ann (Hubley) Smith,
who was a daughter of Bernard Hubley, Esq., of
Lancaster. He died Alarch 6, 1862, esteemed by all
who knew him.
CHARLES HOWELL LOCHER. For five
generations members of the Locher family have fol-
lowed one line of industry, beginning it among the
hills of Alaryland, as an accessory to extensive farm-
ing operations, and pursuing it with accelerated
skill and profit. To Charles Howell Locher, presi-
dent of the City Savings Fund & Trust Company,
of Lancaster, the industry has been only an accessory
to extensive financial and business operations, in
which he has been most successfully interested.
Seven generations back Henry Locher, the
founder of the family in America, left his native
home in Switzerland and settled in the Colony of
Virginia. Some of his descendants removed to
Alaryland, where Jacob Locher, the grandfather of
Charles Howell, owned and operated a large farm, on
the Hagerstown pike, 112 acres of which remained,
until very recently, in the possession of the family.
Jacob Locher was also a tanner and currier, as were
his father and grandfather before him. He was a
patriotic American, and during the war of 18 12 en-
listed from Alaryland in the American army. He
married Alary Grove, daughter of an extensive
farmer of Alaryland, and removed ta Lancaster
county, Pa., later continuing the leather trade at
Harrisburg, where he died at the age of sixty-two
years. His wife survived to the age of seventy-
three, passing away in 1871.
David P. Locher, father of Charles Howell, was
born at Shepherdstown, Va. (now West Virginia),
on the banks of the Potomac, in July, 1827. He
came with his parents to Lancaster county, and in the
early days of his manhood became interested in busi-
ness which he prosecuted most successfully through-
out life, becoming one of the best known business-
men in Lancaster. He built a small tannery on
South Prince street, which he operated for two years,
then building a larger tannery, which he managed
successfully for many years, until 1868. In 1876 he
bought a tannery on South Prince street, which he
extended and operated most profitably until his
death. A/[r. Locher also owned and conducted an
excellent and well improved farm of 120 acres in
Alanheim township, this county, which is still in the
possession of the family. He was greatly interested
in fine stock, and his herd of blooded Jersey cattle
was the admiration of farming communities for
many miles around. He was an admirable judge of
horses, and kept a fine stable in Lancaster, his four-
in-hand of Hambletonian breed being the only one
in the city for many years. It was in 1870 that he
engaged in the banking business in partnership with
his son, Charles Howell, who has since followed that
foundation branch of finance with remarkable suc-
cess.
In November, 1848, David P. Locher was mar-
ried, at Lancaster, Pa., to Clementina AI., daughter
of Robert Evans, a merchant of Lancaster. To this
imion were born four sons, Charles Howell, Robert
E., Grove and Clement E., the three last-named be-
ing, respectively, president, secretary and treasurer
of the Park Run Tanning Company, incorporated in.
1895, and succeeding to the business so successfully
conducted by the father. The death of David P.
Locher occurred Feb. 11, 1884, when he was aged
nearly fifty-seven years. His widow survives, re-
siding in Lancaster, on East King street. She is a
devout member of the Presbyterian Church, and a.
lady most highly esteemed for her many womanly
and Christian qualities.
Charles Howell Locher was born at Pottsville,.
Pa., Oct. 21, 1849. The following year his parents-
returned to Lancaster, and there he spent his child-
hood and boyhood. He attended the city schools,
and from the Lancaster high school, in February^
1867, he entered the bank of Evans, McEvoy & Co.,
as a clerk. While gaining experience there he ac-
quired a taste for a financial career. On Nov. 30,
1870, the business of Evans, AIcEvoy & Co. was pur-
chased by his father and himself, under the firm
name of D. P. Locher & Son, the partnership con-
tinuing until the death of the father, in 1884. The
bank then became the property of Charles tl. and
Robert E., his brother. It is now the City Savings
Fund & Trust Company, located at the corner of
West King street and Penn Square, and has a
paid-up capital stock of $150,000. Charles Howell
Locher is president and one of the directors.
Air. Locher has also been interested in many
other successful business enterprises. In June, 1894,
in company with John Keller and Alichael Reilly,
he purchased the Lancaster & Quarryville narrow
gauge railroad, fifteen miles in length. The com-
pany was , reorganized, with Charles Howell Locher
'/■/,
C^^yO
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
133
as president, and he operated the road in connection
with the board of directors until Dec. 28, 1899, when
the property was sold for $350,000 to the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company. Mr. Locher is also inter-
ested in the Park Run Tanning Company, incor-
porated in 189s by the consolidation of the Cones-
toga Oak Tannery and the Park Run Tannery, both
owned by Mr. Locher and brothers. The six stock-
holders were Mr. Locher, his three brothers, his
mother and George Greiner, foreman, who is now
■deceased. In 1894 Charles H. Locher was one of
the organizers of the Citizens Power, Light & Heat-
ing Company, which sold their property at a hand-
some profit to the Edison Company. He is now di-
Tector and treasurer of the Lancaster Electric Light,
Power & Heating Company. For the past twenty
years he has been a stockholder and secretary of
the Lancaster Hotel Company; he is trtasurer oi
the Conestoga Fire Insurance Company, having
$100,000. capital; and president of the Lancaster &
Columbia Railway Company. He is also treasurer
■of the Woodward Hill Cemetery Association. In
1887 he laid out an addition to Harrisburg, a tract
■of thirteen acres, which was subsequently sold in
building lots at a handsome profit, and is now well
improved. Mr. Locher is recognized as one of Lan-
'caster's most capable and successful business men.
While prospering to an unusual degree in his own
"business affairs, his success contributes also to the
.^general advancement of the city, for his investment?
and enterprises are constructive in their nature and
insure the general welfare. He is public-spirited
and generous in disposition, and earnestly supports
those measures that promise to advance the best in-
terests of Lancaster.
Mr. Locher was married, at Pittsburg, Pa., in
1872, to Miss Lila S. Reno, a native of Beaver coun-
ty, Pa., daughter of Eli Reno, a farmer, who was
also engaged in steamboating. To Mr. and Mrs.
l^ocher were born five children, namely : David R.,
Mira E., James R., Lila R. and Robert E. David R.
is president of the Eastern Milling & Export Com-
pany, of Philadelphia; he was married Oct. 23,
1901, to Miss Mary Eshleman, of Lancaster. Mira
E. married Jay Nevin Shroder, manufacturer of
paints in Lancaster, and they have one child. Jay N.,
Tr. Lila R. was married April 12, 1902, to Frederick
Atwood -McVay, treasurer of the Pittsburg Trust
'Company.
In politics Mr. Locher is a Republican, and he
is serving at present as a member of the school board
•of Lancaster.
ALEXANDER CRAIG, M. D. (deceased). The
■entire medical career of this eminent physician of
Columbia belongs to that city. His practice extend-
■€d over a period of thirty-four years, beginning im-
mediately after graduation and continuing until
<ieath closed his usefulness in the summer of 1899.
During that time he was one of the prominent figures
an the medical history of Lancaster county, contribut-
ing largely to the current professional literature, em-
inent as a surgeon, honored repeatedly by the various
medical societies of which he was a member, and
exerting a wide influence in the community where his
mission was cast. The medical career was preceded
by a term of military service during the Civil war.
Dr. Craig was born at Hillside, Westmoreland
Co., Pa., Dec. 22, 1838, son of Alexander and Sy-
billa (Kern) Craig, and grandson of Samuel Craig,
a soldier of the Revolution. The family were of
Scotch-Irish extraction. Alexander Craig, the
father, was a woolen manufacturer and a land owner
of Westmoreland county, Pa. He died in 1869, aged
seventy-four years. Sybilla, his wife, survived until
1888, passing away at the age of eighty years, at the
residence of her son Alexander, in Columbia. To
Alexander and Sybilla Craig were born three chil-
dren : Alexander, the subject of this sketch ; Louisa
S., who married James B. Moore, of Wheeling, W.
Va. ; and George G., a physician of Rock Island,
Illinois.
Alexander Craig, the subject of this sketch, was
educated in the public schools of Westmoreland
county, and at Eldersridge Academy. The pathway
to learning was rugged, and he continued his studies
at night while engaged in teaching school. Choosing
medicine as his profession, he began a course of read-
ing in 1850, in the office of Dr. Eli Ferguson, at New
Derry, Pa., and continued after his army service with
Dr. C. D. Hottenstein, then of Columbia. In 1862 he
patriotically abandoned his studies to enter the ser-
vice of his country.' In that year he enlisted as a
private in Co. F, 135th P. V. I., and was soon after-
ward appointed hospital steward of the regiment,
in which capacity he completed his nine months term
of service. He then joined the 57th Regiment State
MiU.tia, serving as second lieutenant of Co. A.
The young student then attended two courses of
lectures at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia,
from which he graduated in 1865. On May 1st, of
that year, Dr. Craig entered upon his long medical
practice in Columbia. His military service gave
him a predilection for surgery, and, while a general
practitioner, he was especially recognized by his col-
leagues as an authority in surgery. His practice in-
creased steadily and in a few years he became one of
the most successful physicians of the city. His abil-
ities were recognized by the profession throughout
the State and even beyond its borders. In 1890 he
was honored with the presidency of the Medical So-
ciety of the State of Pennsylvania, having previously
filled the offices of vice-president in 1870, and of
corresponding secretary in 1880-81. He was in
1878 elected president of the Lancaster City and
County Medical Society, of which he had for many
vears been an active and prominent member. In
1879 he was also honored by election to the presi-
dency of the Pennsylvania and Maryland Union
Medical Society. Among other professional organi-
zations with which lie was actively associated was
the National Association of Railway Surgeons. In
134
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
an honorary capacity he was a member of the York
County Medical Society and of the Grand Rapids
Academy of Medicine of Grand Rapids, Mich. From
i860 he was surgeon at Columbia for the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad. He prepared many papers and re-
ports of surgery, which were presented at the vari-
ous medical societies with which he was connected.
Dr. Craig was identified with a number of fra-
ternal and social orders, including the G. A. R. and
the I. O. O. F., the K. of P., and the Scotch-Irish
society of America. He served as a member of the
town council of Columbia from 1869 to 1878, and in
the latter year was president of that body. He was
one of the organizers of the Columbia Electric Light
& Power Co., in 1883, and two years later was elected
its president. From 1887 and until his death he was
a director of the First National Bank of Columbia.
- At Columbia, Oct. 29, 1867, Dr. Craig married
Miss Eleanor M. Righter, a native of Lancaster, and
the daughter of Washington and Elizabeth Mayer
(Cottrell) Righter, granddaughter of Jacob and
Ed-ith (Evans) Righter, and great-granddaughter of
a Revolutionary soldier, who was taken prisoner by
the British in Philadelphia, and died on board one
of the prison ships. Washington Righter, the father
of Mrs. Craig, was born Dec. 9, 1799. He was by
trade a tanner, and became one of the pioneer lumber
dealers of the Susquehanna Valley. In 1827 he re-
moved from Chester county to Columbia, where he
engaged in the lumber trade. For four years, 1843-
46, he resided in Lancaster, serving during that
period as clerk of the Orphans' Court. His death
occurred at Columbia, Sept. 22, 1879. His widow,
who was born in January, 1810, survived him many
years, dying in her ninety-second year, Sept. i,
1901, at -Columbia. To Washington and Elizabeth
Righter were born five children, namely : July E.,
who married Rev. Joseph Gregg, and died at Col-
umbia, Nov. 7, 1881 ; Thaddeus Stevens, who died
aged two years; Eleanor, widow of our subject;
Washington, a lumber merchant of Philadelphia,
who died July 16, 1902 ; and Joseph C, a lumber-
merchant of Williamsport. The children born to
Dr. and Mrs. Craig were five : Alexander R., whose
sketch appears below : W^ashington, a graduate of
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, class of 1893, and
now resident engineer on the Pittsburg, Shaumut &
Northern Railroad, stationed at Bolivar, N. Y. ;
Elizabeth, who graduated with the degree of B. S.
from Wellesley College in 1891 ; Eleanor Sybilla,
who attended Wilson College, for one year, and com-
pleted her studies in music at the Musical Academy
in Philadelphia ; and John J., a graduate of Jefferson
Medical College, Philadelphia, afterward resident
physician at the Philadelphia Polyclinic Hospital.
Dr. Alexander Craig died Aug. 16, 1899.
Dr. Alexandep. Righter Craig, the eldest son
oi Dr. Alexander and Eleanor M. Craig, and now a
risinrr voung practitioner at Columbia, was born at
Columbia. Jnlv 31, 1868, and graduated from the
Columbia High School at the age of seventeen years.
Entering Franklin and Marshall College at Lan-
caster, he graduated in the class of 1890. His col-
legiate studies ended, he began the study of medi-
cine and received the degree of M. D. from the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, in 1893, having been hon-
ored with the presidency of his class. He served
for a year as resident physician of the Philadelphia
Polyclinic College Hospital, and in February, 1895,
began the practice of his profession at Columbia.
He has attained a very large and lucrative practice,
and enjoys the professional confidence of an unusu-
ally large acquaintanceship. In politics Dr. Craig
is a Republican, and in religious affiliations a member
of the Presbyterian Church. He is a Mason, and is
prominent in the social life of the city. He was
married at Port Deposit, Md., Oct. 17, 1899, to Miss
Florence C. Bromwell, daughter of R. E. and Jo-
sephine (Evans) Bromwell, her father being a
prominent physician residing near Port Deposit. To
this union two children have been born^ Josephine
Bromwell, on Nov. 15, 1900, and Margaretta, on
Sept. 3, 1902.
HON. AARON HOSTETTER SUMMY, for
some time a well-known farmer of Manheim town-
ship, now residing in Manor township, has had a
career which, if fully written up, would fill a good-
sized book.
The first Summys to arrive in this country came
from Summiswald (Summy's Woods), Switzerland,
landing in Philadelphia in 1732. Five brothers
started from the old country, but one died on the
ocean. One of the four who reached this country
married a Mrs. Barr, a widow, near Landisville,
where he lived and died, and from him the Lancaster
county Summys are descended. It has recently been
learned that one or more of the brothers also settled
in South Carolina, along the Catawba river.
Peter Summy, the grandfather of Aaron H.,.
married Barbara Long, and died on a farm of which
the Fondersmith estate in East Hempfield forms a
part. John Summy, the father of Aaron H., was-
a farmer and a Mennonite preacher. He married
Susan Hostetter, daughter of Jacob Hostetter, a
farmer at Salunga, this county, and an aunt to the
late David Hostetter, the millionaire manufacturer
of "Hostetter's Bitters." To this union were born
seven children, only two of whom survive:- Abra-
ham, the well-known coal and lumber merchant at
Marietta ; and Flon. Aaron H. Summy, of Manheim
township.
Aaron Hostetter Summy was born on his father's,
farm, in East Hem.pfield township, Aug. 28, 1830,
and obtained his education in the public schools of
his district, remaining at home until he was sixteen
years old, when he went to learn carriagemaking at
Roseville. In 1S51 he married Lavinia Miller, a*
daughter of John Miller, at one time a commissioner
of Lancaster county, and they had four cliildrenr
Annie, rhe wife of John R. Burkholder, wholesale
dealer in grain and feed ; Lavinia, the wife of L. N>
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
135
Spencer, an attorney at law, in Lancaster ; Frank, a
bookkeeper in the Lancaster Trust Company; and
John Miller, who died when twelve years old, from
tetanns.
Mr. Snmmy was engaged in the lumber and coal
trade in Marietta from 1852 to i860, and then bought
a farm in East Hempfield township, which he sold
to buy the coach works of A. B. Landis, in Mt. Joy,
where he continued five years. Selling out, he finally
located on a farm in Manheim township, where he
resided until April, 1902. In 1866 he bought the
Abbeville Mills, on the Columbia pike, in Manor
township, renting the property until April, 1902,
when he took charge of the same himself, running the
mills and renting the farm. But Mr. Summy had
a varied career before he came to Manheim. At one
time he ran the grist and saw mills at GraefiE's Land-
ing; was in business at Marietta; ran a sawmill at
Chickies ; was United States storekeeper and ganger
at various distilleries ; filled a clerkship in the War
Department at Washington; was deputy marshal
under Elias Billingfelt, State marshal of Lancaster
county during the State draft ordered by Gov.
Curtin ; rjnd afterward assistant assessor under James
Alexander, when the excise laws were first enacted
and enforced : was a school director in his district ;
and was elected and re-elected to the council in
Marietta. He served one term in the General Assem-
bly from East Hempfield, and another while living
at Mt. Joy. In the Assembly he served on important
committees, and gave much attention to the interests
of his constituents.
BENJAMIN SMITH BARTON, son of the
Rev. Thomas Barton, pastor of St. James' Episcopal
Church, Lancaster, was born in that city Feb. 10,
1766, his mother having been Esther Rittenhouse,
a daughter of the celebrated philosopher David Rit-
tenhouse. The death of his parents was the cause
of his removal to Philadelphia in 1782, when he
took a course at Goettingen and there obtained the
himself to the study of the sciences and medicine.
Going to Great Britain in 1786 he pursued his stud-
ies at Edinburgli and London. He subsequently
took a course at Gottingen and there obtained the
degree of Doctor of Medicine. He returned to
Philadelphia in 1789, and began the practice of
medicine. The same year he was appointed Pro-
fessor of Natural History and Botany in the College
of Philadelphia, and continued in that professorship
after the college was merged into the University of
Penn.-;ylvania m 1791. On the resignation of Dr.
Griffiths he was appointed Professor of Materia
Medica, and he succeeded Dr. Rush in the depart-
ment of the Theory and Practice of Medicine on the
death of the latter. He died Dec. 19, 1816.
Dr. Barton contributed much to the natural
science of this country and published a number of
valuable works, among them being "Elements of
Botany," which appeared in 1803 ; he also in 1805
commenced the publication of the Medical and Phy-
sical Journal. As a naturalist his merits were un-
common and he has the honor of being the first
American who gave to his country an elementary
wOrk on botany.
SQUIRE HIRAM L. THOMPSON, who was
for many years prominent as a justice of the peace
and pension collector at Buck, Lancaster county,
was born in East Drumore township May 8, 1824,
a son of Tilghman and Elizabeth (Boehm) Thomp-
son. The father was born in Harford county, Md.,
in March, 1804, and the mother in Lancaster county,
in November, 1808.
Tilghman Thompson was the son of Nicholas
Thompson, a native of Maryland, and a soldier of
the war of 18 12, who came to Lancaster county ii;
1 8 14, and was located near Conestoga Springs for
some years. Then, taking with him a part of his
family, he moved to the remote West, where he
died. His wife died in Lancaster county. They
had one son, Tilghman, and two daughters : Rachel,
wife of Martin Shaub, who moved into Ohio, where
they died ; and Sarah A., who married John Wilson,
and is living, a widow, in Illinois.
Tilghman Thompson began life as a farmer in
Lancaster county, but presently became a merchant,
and was for some years engaged at Martinsville,
this county, in that line. He purchased a farm and
hotel property near Clearfield Church, in this county,
where he made his home for some years, and then
.bought a farm on the State road leading to the
McCall Ferry, where he died in January, 1864. His
widow passed to her reward in 1887. Mr. and Mrs.
Thompson belonged to the Methodist Church, and
are remembered in that communion as good, earnest
Christian people. In politics he was a Whig and a
Republican. Hiram L. was their only child.
Hiram L. Thompson acquired his education in
the public schools, and when he was sixteen took
up the work of a school teacher, in which he made.
a decided success. For eight years he taught at
the Rising Sun school house, and he was also en-
gaged at his profession in Maryland. In 1842 he
taught school in Ohio, but after a year there came
back to Pennsylvania. He taught in all for thirty-
five years. Squire Thompson was a man of scholarly
attainments, and by close application largely in-
creased the somewhat limited education which he
secured in the public schools and the Carlisle Pre-
paratory School, which he attended for three
months.
'Squire Thompson was married, in April, 1846,
to Miss Jane Laird, daughter of John Laird, of
Rawlinsville, where Mrs. Thompson was born, and
where she died in 1863, leaving one son, Tilghman
L., who, following in his father's footsteps, also be-
came a distinguished teacher. He was teaching at
Quarryville when he was stricken with a fatal sick-
ness, and passed away, leaving a wife and three
children, Cora, Charlie and .
'Squire Thompson was married the second time.
136
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in 1886, to Miss Lizzie A. Beecher, daughter of
Benjamin and Mary (Herr) Beecher, and the same
year they settled on the present farm in East Dru-
more township. Mrs. Thompson was born in East
Drumore in 1844.
Hiram L. Thompson was a member of Co. I,
I22d P. V. I., serving as sergeant of his company.
For a time he was detailed as a clerk of his regi-
ment. He was in the battles of Cloud Mills, second
Bull Run, Fredericksburg (December, 1862) and
Chancellorsville. When his term of enlistment had
expired he was honorably discharged, at Harris-
burg.
Hiram L. Thompson was elected a justice of
the peace in East Drumore township, was reelected,
and served until his death, giving excellent satis-
faction to all concerned in the administration of the
important duties of that position. Always a Re-
publican, he was an active worker in the interests
of that party, and his influence was widespread.
He belonged to the Methodist Church, where his
substantial and reliable character commanded re-
spect and confidence, and served as trustee at Mt.
Hope and also at Quarryville. His widow also
unites with that church. Mr. Thompson died at
his home in East Drumore. Jan. 16, 1902, after a
few days' illness, in his seventy-eighth year. His
wife and three grandchildren survive. The funeral
was held on Jan. 19th, with services and interment
at the Clearfield M. E. Church.
JOHN B. WARFEL was born in Paradise
township, Lancaster county, Sept. 19, 1830, son of
John Warfel, who was a farmer until 1836, in which
year he was appointed recorder of deeds for Lan-
caster county; he then with his family removed to
Lancaster city.
Mr. Warfel's paternal great-great-grandfather,
George Warfel, came from Germany, and was one
of the early settlers of what is now Conestoga town-
ship, Lancaster county. He was twice married, and
by his first wife had two sons, Henry and Peter.
Henry married Margaret Good, and by that union
had seven children, three sons and four daughters.
Their second son, Jacob, married Mary Stoutzen-
berg, whose father was Jacob Stoutzenberg, and
whose mother was Barbara Eekman, a granddaugh-
ter of Mathias Slaymaker, who came to this country
from Strasburg, Germany, in 1710. Jacob and Mary
(Stoutzenberg) Warfel had five children, one son
and four daughters. John Warfel, the eldest, and
father of John B., married Maria Eshleman.
John B. Warfel's maternal great-great-grand-
father, Jacob Eshleman, came to this country in the
ship "Mortonhouse," from Holland, landing in Phila-
delphia in August, 1729. He was married to Bar-
bara Barr, and they had one son Jacob, who married
Barbara Groff, a descendant of Hans (John) Groff,
a native of Switzerland, who was one of the first set-
tlers in the Pequea Valley. Barbara Groff's mother
was Barbara Brackbill,' a daughter of Rev. Benedic-
tus Brackbill, who with his family came from Ger-
many, landing at Philadelphia Aug. 24, 1717, and
settling in what is now Strasburg township, Lan-
caster county. Jacob and Barbara (Groff) Eshle-
man had eight children. The eldest, Jacob, married
Mary Brackbill, who was a daughter of Benedict
Brackbill and his wife, Mary (Kendig), and a
granddaughter of Ulrich Brackbill and his wife
Fanny (Herr). Ulrich Brackbill was a son of Rev.
Benedictus Brackbill, and Fanny Herr was a grand-
daughter of John (or Hans) Herr, who came from
Switzerland in 1710, and who was the progenitor of
the numerous Herr family now living in Lancaster
county. Jacob and Mary (Brackbill) Eshleman had
twelve children, Maria, the wife of John Warfel, and
mother of John B. Warfel, being the fourth.
John B. Warfel received his education in the
public schools of Lancaster, at the Strasburg Acad-
emy, and at Lewisburg (now Bucknell) University.
From the latter, in 1895, he received the honorary
degree of A. M. He taught the public school in the
village of Paradise during the term of 1849-50, and
the public school in Strasburg borough during the
term of 1853-54. In the spring of 1854 he com-
menced farming on the place where he was born,
and he continued in that occupation until 1863. In
1855 Mr. Warfel was elected a justice of the peace
for Paradise township, and was re-elected in i860.
When elected a justice he commenced the practice
of surveying and conveyancing, and in the latter
business had a large clientage. He was elected a
school director for Paradise township in the spring
of 1856, and was re-elected in 1859 and 1862. In
January, 1863, Mr. Warfel was appointed an ex-
aminer in the United States Pension Bureau, at
Washington,. D. C. He then abandoned farming,
resigned his several positions in Paradise township,
and with his family moved to Washington. While
in that city, and serving as an examiner in the Pen-
sion ofifice, Mr. Warfel commenced the study of law
at Columbia College, attending the lectures at night.
He graduated with the class of 1867, and shortly
afterward was admitted to practice in the courts of
Washington city, and at Lancaster, Pa. In April,
1867, he was appointed by the President of the
United States assessor of Internal Revenue for the
9th Pennsylvania District, and he then moved with
his family from Washington to Lancaster. In the
spring of 1869 he was elected a member of the Lan-
caster city school board, and he has been re-elected
and has served as a school director from that time
to the present (1902). He was president of the
board in 1877-78-79-80. In 1869 he was elected
senator, to represent Lancaster county in the State
Senate. He was re-elected in 1872, and again in
1875, ^"^d while in the Senate was chairman of the
following standing committees : Federal Relations,
Education, Private Claims and Damages, Railroads,
and Pensions and Gratuities. In May, 1872, Mr.
■V\''arfel was appointed a State trustee of the Normal
School at Millersville, and he has been re-appointed.
J^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
137
serving continuously as such to the present time ; he
has been president of the board since May, 1897. In
1876 he was one of the Presidential electors for
Pennsylvania, on the Republican ticket, elected to
cast the vote of the State for Rutherford B. Hayes.
He was president of the Howard Benevolent Asso-
ciation of Lancaster for a number of years ; president
•of the Lancaster County Society for the Prevention
•of Cruelty to Animals for more than a quarter of a
century; a- director of the Farmers National Bank
for a number of years until 1888, and since then has
been a director in the Lancaster County National
Bank. He was one of the organizers and for some
time the manager of the Inquirer (now Wicker-
sham) Printing Company; was director and presi-
dent of the Union Building & Loan Association;
and director of the West End Building & Loan As-
sociation. He has been trustee and W. M. of Lodge
No. 43, A. F. & A. M., and trustee of Lancaster
Commandery, No. 13, K. T. He has been a trustee
■of the Lancaster Cemetery Association since Feb-
ruary, 1882. He is also a trustee of the Home
•of Friendless Children, of Lancaster; of the
Stevens Orphans' Home, of Lancaster; and
of the Henry G.' Long Asylum, also of that city. As
•executor and trustee Mr. War f el has had charge of
a number of estates, several of them quite large, and
■these occupied a great deal of his time and attention
from 1874 to 1897. In April, 1877, i"^ connection
Avith J. M. W. Geist, Mr. Warfel commenced the
publication of The New Era Daily and Weekly
newspapers, and continued thus engaged until May
15, 1897, when he withdrew from the partnership,
and retired from active business.
Mr. Warfel was married to Mary, daughter of
the late Col. Isaac Girvin, of Strasburg township,
Lancaster county. Of the children born to this
imion the following survive: Ila, wife of William
F. Beyer, Esq. ; John G., one of the firm of The
New Era Printing Company ; and Jessie F., at home.
One son, Robert, died young.
REV. JOHN B. LANDIS, deceased. The trav-
■eler through many portions of the State of Pennsyl-
vania, particularly through Lancaster county, will
■not fail to observe the air of comfort and neatness
prevailing around the farmhouses, the excellence
of the improvements, and the fine state of cultivation
of the land, and perhaps come to a better under-
standing of the thriving appearance of his surround-
ings when he notices the modest white structures
along the well-kept highways, in which devoted
ministers of the Mennonite Church minister to their
people. Many of the residents belong to that simple
Christian denomination, and among those well-
known and much beloved was Rev. John B. Landis,
who for nearly fifty-three years faithfully served
his Master and ministered to tjiis people.
Abraham Landis, the father of John B., was
the second son of Jacob Landis (3), the family
being an old and honored one in this portion of the
State, and was born Nov. i, 1767. He passed out
of life March 10, 1851, after a Hfe full of good
deeds, and he ever stood high in the community.
He was engaged as a farmer in East Lampeter
township, where he first married a Miss Houser,
and after her early death he married, in 1795, Eliza-
beth Brenneman, who was born Aug. 11, 1775, and
died Nov. 15, 1857, leaving a family of ten children:
Hettie, who married Christian Segrist; Nancy, who
married Benjamin Stauffer; Jacob; Maria, who
married Tobias Kreider; Elizabeth; Tobias; Abra-
ham; Benjamin; Adam; and John B.
Rev. John B. Landis was born March 5, 1820,
in East Lampeter township, and received his educa-
tion in the common schools, b§ing a studious and
eager pupil. The year following his marriage, which
was solemnized in 1844, he settled upon a farm of
108 acres in East Hempfield, and immediately be-
gan its improvement, devoting himself to it care-
fully and thoroughly, as was his habit, in whatever
he undertook. Serious and thoughtful during his
youth, it was but natural that he should enter the
church at an early age, and on Oct. 18, 1849, ^^
was ordained a minister of the Mennonite faith, in
which he had been carefully reared by Godly par-
ents. After ordination he took up the ministerial
work connected with the Petersburg and Landisville
Churches, and for over a half century never wavered
in his allegiance, working hard, ministering to the
sick and well, with advice, comfort, sympathy and
religious counsel, having the great satisfaction of
realizing that his work bore good fruit, and that
he was of benefit to those he so faithfully tried to
direct intp the right path. Quiet and unassuming
in manner, John B. Landis inspired respect from
all with whom he came into contact, and his death,
on April 26, 1902, at the advanced age of eighty-
two years, was widely mourned.
John B. Landis married Anna Krider, a daugh-
ter of Jacob and Elizabeth Krider, who was born
near Strasburg Dec. 29, 1819, and passed away
Sept. 24, 1880. Although our venerable subject
was thus deprived of his beloved companion, a
family of children survived, and at one time eleven
merry little great-grandchildren belonged to the
family, but death has claimed three of these. The
children of John B. and Anna Landis were named
as follows: Elizabeth (deceased) was the wife of
Israel Root ; Maria is the widow of Martin P. Swar,
of East Hempfield township ; Anna is the wife of
Christian F. Charles, of Mt. Joy township, who is
a deacon in the Old Mennonite Church; Katie is
the wife of Benjamin F. Charles, of East Hempfield
township ; Hettie is the wife of John M. Denlinger,
of near Millersville ; Fannie married Daniel Den-
linger, of near Kinzers; Jacob has been a resident
of the far West since 1890, his present residence
being San Francisco. The grandchildren of the
family, who are ever welcome in the old home, are
as follows: The children of Maria — Salome, Mil-
ton, Harry and Martin ; of Anna — Amos, Christian,
138
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Landis, John, Jacob and Anna; of Katie — Ellen,
Anna, John, Joseph, Benjamin, Fannie, Jacob, Liz-
zie, Katie and Clayton; of Hettie — Landis, Benja-
min, Harry, John and Abraham ; of Fannie — Lizzie,
Daniel, Fannie, Ruth and Jacob. All are descend-
ants of whom the family has reason to be justly
proud.
DAVID ESHLEMAN, Sr., is one of the oldest
and most respected residents of Manor township,
Lancaster county, where he was born Nov. 8, i8i7<
son of Jacob and Catherine (Lutz) Eshleman, and
grandson of John Eshleman, whose wife was a
Zigler.
Jacob Eshleman, father of David, was also a
native of Manor township, and died when over sev-
enty-two years of age, a member of the Albright
Church. Although the son of a blacksmith, he
chose the carpenter's trade as a vocation, and car-
rying on same in connection with a small farm suci
ceeded in securing a competency. He was thrice
married. His first wife bore the maiden name of
Catherine Lutz, and they had eight children, viz. :
Jacob, a carpenter, went to Sterling, 111., where he
died ; Elizabeth was married to Christian Myers, of
Manheim township, and is now deceased ; John, a
carpenter, died in Hannibal, Mo., at the age of
sixty-four years ; Catherine, deceased, was the wife
of William Tillman, of Lancaster county, Pa. ; one
son died in infancy unnamed; David is mentioned
below; Mattie, wife of Michael Hess, died in Illi-
nois ; Martin was captured while in the Civil war,
and died in Salisbury prison, South Carolina. The
second marriage of Jacob Eshleman was tq, Barbara
Stoner, who bore him three children, as follows :
Daniel, a carpenter, who died in Jackson, Miss. ;
Barbara, widow of Frederick Doerstler, and resid-
ing in Millersville ; and Christian, who was a shoe-
maker by trade, and is now deceased. The third
marriage of Jacob Eshleman was to Susan Hurtzler,
to which union were born several children, of whom
only three reached years of maturity, namely:
Susan, who was married to John Herr, of Millers-
ville, and is now deceased; Henry, deceased, a
farmer; and Annie, wife of Henry Millhause, of
Iowa.
David Eshleman, Sr., early learned the carpen-
ter's trade, but after working at that business four-
teen years, rented a 128-acre farm of Jacob Frye,
in Manor township, which he occupied three years.
He then rented another farm, and a few years later
purchased the 128-acre farm mentioned from Jacob
Frye, lying south of Creswell, and near Highville.
He cultivated it for ten years, and then placed it
in charge of his son Isaac, and retired from active
labor, but continued his residence on the farm ten
years longer, with his son. In 1893 he purchased
the property on which he now lives, at Creswell,
where he is passing his declining years in quiet
retirement.
The marriage of David Eshleman, Sr., and Eliza-
beth Kauffman, took place June 16, 1844. She was
born July 3, 1826, and died July 14, 1880, the
mother of nine children, viz. : Isaac, a farmer, and
Cyrus, a laborer, of Manor township; Anna, wife
of Reuben Baker, a miller, of Martic township ;
Aaron, who died when four months old; Hiram,
present supervisor of Manor township; Abraham^
who died at the age of nineteen years, ten months;
Jacob, who is employed in iron works in Dauphin
county ; David, a farmer of Manor township ; and
Elizabeth, a graduate of the State Normal School
at Millersville, and at present employed as a stenog-
rapher in a watch factory at Lancaster.
David Eshleman, Sr., although he has lived be-
yond the proverbial span of man's life, is still hale
and hearty, and bears himself much better than
many men that are a quarter of a century his junior.
Notwithstanding the immense amount of hard work
he has accomplished, he still possesses a constitu-
tion of iron and a pleasant and genial disposition.
Ever temperate in all things, Mr. Eshleman now
enjoys the reward of his abstemiousness and the
sincere respect of his acquaintances. He has always
been a devout Christian, and was first a member
of the Albright Church, but is now a member of the
United Evangelical Society; he has contributed lib-
erally in his day toward the erection of three church;
edifices.
CAPT. ELIAS McMELLEN is not only one
of the most prominent and familiar figures in the
city of Lancaster, but he is a remarkable example
of the self-made man. Robert McMellen, his grand-
father on his father's side, was a native of the North;
of Ireland, and came to America before the Revo-
lutionary war, in which he took an active part. He
was a farmer, and made his home in Lancaster
county. Joseph McMellen, a son of Robert, was
a stonemason. He married Barbara, daughter of
John and Barbara (Hess) Derredinger, both of
whom were natives of Lancaster county, of German
descent.
Capt. Elias McMellen, son of Joseph and Bar-
bara McMellen, was born in the township of Cone-
stoga, Lancaster county, Nov. 23, 1839. His motheii
was left a widow soon after his birth, the father
dying in 1841, at the early age of thirty-one years.
He left no estate, and the fatherless boy learned
very early to take care of himself and of his mother
as well. He was educated in the public schools of
his district, attending until he reached the age of
fourteen years, at which time he became a carpen-
ter's apprentice. In 1853 he came to Lancaster,
where, after working for a time in a sash factory,
and later as a journeyman carpenter, at bridge build-
ing, he engaged in this latter business for himself,
under exceptionally favorable circumstances. When
he was twenty years, old he built the bridge over
Chickies creek, at Snavely's mill, and continued at
that work until 1861, when he enlisted for service
in the Union army, becoming a private in Co. K,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
189
79th P. V. I., which regiment was assigned to Gen.
Negley's brigade, and became a part of the Western
Army. Mr. McMellen tool< part in the battles of
Bowling Green and Nashville, and in all the en-
gagements of that memorable campaign. He was
with Buell in his famous retrograde movement
through Tennessee and Kentucky, and fought at
Perryville, where he contracted camp fever through
exposure, and was sent home on a furlough. In
1863 he was mustered out of the 79th Regiment on
a surgeon's certificate, and the same year, when his
health had somewhat recovered, was again received
into the service, as first lieutenant of Co. C, 21st Pa.
Cav., being assigned to duty in the Shenandoah
Valley. This regiment was enlisted for six months,
and at the conclusion of that term was reenlisted at
Chambersburg for three years, at which time Lieut.
McMellen was appointed recruiting officer for the
regiment, with offices at Lancaster and Harrisburg.
At the reorganization of the regiment he was ap-
pointed captain of the Color Company of the regi-
ment, Co. I, 2 1st Pa. Cav. Capt. McMellen re-
turned with his regiment to the Army of the Poto-
mac, and took a gallant part in the battles of the
Wilderness, Cold Harbor, James River and the
siege of Petersburg. In August, 1864, the 21st
Pennsylvania became a part of the cavalry division
under command of Gen. Gregg, attached to Gen.
Sheridan's Corps, and in the battle of Boydton Plank
Road Capt. McMellen was shot in the left leg, Oct*
27, 1864. He was again wounded at Black Water
Swamp, in the arm, and at Dinwiddle Court House
by a fragment of an exploding shell, in the hip.
Again, at Amelia Springs, April 5, 1865, he had
his left ankle injured by his horse falling on him,
but did not leave his command. Capt. McMellen
participated in the last charge made by the Array of
the Potomac, on the morning of the surrender of
Gen. Lee. After the collapse of the Rebellion the
2ist was ordered to Lynchburg, Va., and from there
Capt. McMellen was sent, with Cos. I and A, to
Campbell Court House, on provost duty. He was
mustered out with the regiment July 8, 1865.
The war ended, this battle-scarred veteran has-
tened to resume the arts of peaceful life, and re-
turned to Lancaster to take up the work of a car-
penter and contractor, which he had thrown down
at the cry of an imperiled country. In this work
of building and contracting he has been very suc-
cessful, and many iron, wooden and stone bridges
in this and adjoining counties were erected by him,
his reputation as a bridge builder being second to
that of no man in eastern Pennsylvania. In 1876
he purchased the "Exchange Hotel," on East King
and Christian streets, which two years later he com-
pletely remodeled, greatly enlarging it at the same
time. His private residence for many years has
been at No. 28 East Vine street, and next door to
it he provided a- handsome and commodious home
for his miother, but in her latter years she preferred
to make her home with him. She entered into rest
Jan. 7, 1894, at the advanced age of eighty-two
years.
Capt. McMellen is a stanch Republican, and is
a liberal contributor of both his time and money to
the success of the party. It is said that he has in
several notable campaigns paid the entire expenses
of fitting out marching clubs, and their expenses in
going elsewhere, that the cause he has cherished
may be helped onward. In 1869 Capt. McMellen
was elected a member of the select council, and
served continuously until 1879, when he was elected
prothonotary of Lancaster county, serving his three-
years terms with much credit to himself and satis-
faction to all with whom he had to do business.
Repeatedly he has attended State and county Re-
publican Conventions as a delegate, and in 1880 was
an alternate delegate to the National Republican
Convention which nominated James A. Gasfield for
the position, of President of the United States. Capt.
McMellen was elected a member of the select coun-
cil in 1892, after an interval of some years, and
again in 1894.
Capt. McMellen is a member of George H.
Thomas Post, No. 84, G. A. R., and of the 21st
Pennsylvania Cavalry Association. He also belongs
to the Jr. O. U. A. M. He was one of the promoters
and officers of Lancaster's first street railway com-
pany, became a stockholder of the Lancaster Trac-
tion Company, and has endeared himself to the Lan-
caster public by the erection of many substantial
and comfortable homes.
Capt. McMellen was married Sept. 21, 1865, to
Annie E., daughter of Christian and Elizabeth
(Markley) Wenditz, born at Chestnut Level, Lan-
caster county, Nov. 13, 1841. To this union were
born the following children: Ella Minerva, Sara
Elizabeth, Joseph Charles, Walter Elias and James
Donald. The survivors are Sara E., who is the
wife of M. M. Denlinger, M. D., and James D.,
who is at school. The mother died April i, 1899.
Capt. McMellen is still vigorous and .hardy,
bearing himself with the ease and power of a man
in his prime, and his appearance, at this writing
(October, 1902) indicates that ht has many useful-
and industrious years yet before him.
SIMON SNYDER RATHVON, Ph. D., one
of Lancaster's most eminent and respected citizens,
died March 19, 1891. He was born April 24, 1812,
in the borough of Marietta, where, with the ex-
ception of three short intervals, he resided until
1848, when he removed to Lancaster. His people
were remotely of Swiss descent, settling in Lancaster
county many years ago. Between the seventh and
tenth years of his age he attended four or five terms,
of three months each, at three different common
schools, where he "learned to read, write and cipheir
as far as compound division," which completed his
education.
In 1832, Mr. Rathvon became a member of a
literary society which numbered among its mem-
140
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
bers Prof. S. S. Haldeman, Judge J. J. Libhart and
others who became prominent in their chosen fields ;
it was soon merged into a "Lyceum of Natural His-
tory" with Mr. Rathvon as secretary. It was while
affiliating with this society that he first felt the need
of proper literary training; and to understand and
realize the want was a sufficient cause for action.
At this time he devoted his spare time to the studyi
of mineralogy, herpetology and ornithology, collect-
ing and preparing specimens of all that the count}}
produced.
In 1869 Mr. Rathvon assumed editorial charge
of the Lancaster Farmer, continuing in the position
until its suspension in 1884. In the columns of this
periodical Mr. Rathvon is seen at his best as a
scientific writer. Since 1861 Mr. Rathvon had been
Professor of Entomology to the State Horticultural
Society, ^nd also to the Philadelphia Horticultural
Society since 1864, succeeding Prof. . Haldeman.
Since 1862 he had been curator and treasurer of the
Lancaster Linnsean society, and its Entomologist, and
had averaged about four papers annually to its
transactions. By request he contributed two papers
to the United States Agricultural Reports for 1861
and 1862, which were properly illustrated, treating
of the several orders of insects in a popular manner,
in this way filling the position of United States
€htomologist. Since 1869 he had been entomologist
to the Lancaster County Agricultural Society and
had frequently read papers before that body. In
June, 1878, Franklin and Marshall College con-
ferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
The Doctor was a corresponding member of the
following: Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila-
delphia, American Entomological Society, Daven-
port (la.) Academy of Sciences, and various local
and State horticultural and agricultural societies ;
and in the transactions and reports of the above,
in the Pennsylvania Farm Journal, Lancaster
Farmer, American Entomologist, and the various
local, daily and weekly newspapers are to be found
some of his published articles, which number
among the thousands.
Dr. Rathvon was married May 2y, 1834, to
"Catherine Freyberger, at Marietta, Pa. The chil-
dren surviving are Linnaeus, Geo. F., William D.,
Robert H., Harry, Mrs. E. Maxwell, widow of
David, Parthenia and Annie.
If Dr. Rathvon's studies and merits did not
bring him wealth, they at least brought him hon-
ors. He was an honorary member of many societies,
at home and abroad. He was a member of Lodge
No. 43, A. Y. M.; of Chapter 43, R. A. M., and
of Goodwin Council, and also of Lancaster Com-
mandery. No. 13, Knights Templar. He was for
many years chairman of the Library Committee of
the Mechanics Library. In early life he was known
as a musician and took a pride in our volunteer
soldiery. He became a member of a military com-
pany in early life and was its captain for a period
of four years, holding his commission from Gov-
ernor Ritner. His first literary efforts were made
in 1844.
His remote ancestor in this country, John George
Rathvon, was a lieutenant in the Pennsylvania
militia during the Revolutionary war.
FREDERICK A. CAST, D. D., professor of
Hebrew and Old Testament Theology in the Theo-
logical Seminary of the Reformed Church in Lan-
caster, was born in that city, Oct. 17, 1835, son of
Christian and Maria (Eckert) Gast.
Frederick Gast, his paternal grandfather, was
born in Germany, and came to America with his
children. These in the order of their birth were
as follows: Henry; Margaret, the wife of Mr.
Shroad; Christian, the father of Frederick A.;
Conrad; Elizabeth, the deceased wife of Mr.
Hougendobler ; Philip, deceased; and Col. Freder-
ick, a railroad engineer, who served in the Mexi-
can war, won his rank of Colonel in the Civil war,
and died in California in 190 1.
The maternal grandfather of Dr. Gast was
Jeremiah Eckert, a native of Schuykill, Pa., and
who came to Lancaster at an early day. He built
the first winding stair in this county, which at the
time was something of a curiosity. His death oc-
curred in 1859, and that of his wife in 1878. Two
children were born to this couple: John, formerly
a carpenter, later a marine; and Maria.
Christian Gast was for many years prominently
connected with public institutions and business en-
terprises in Lancaster, and in the discharge of his
large responsibilities evinced not only marked finan-
cial and executive ability, but conscientious and
painstaking rega:rd for the best interests of all
concerned. He was born ten miles from Giessen,
Germany, and came to Lancaster with his parents
when ten years of age.. By trade a shoe maker, he
was also a shoe merchant, and gradually became
identified with politics and county institutions.
He not only held the position of county prison in^
spector, but was for many years superintendent
of the county poor house, and held other positions
in various institutions maintained by the county.
He was a director in the Lancaster Cemetery Asso-
ciation, and was one of the founders and also
a director of the Mechanics Association ; also
a director in the Lancaster County Mutual Life
Insurance Co. He was a charter member of
the Reformed Church, in which he was an
elder up to the time of his death, Jan. i, 1897,
at the age of eighty-eight years, and he was a
frequent delegate to the synod of the church. His
wife, formerly Maria Eckert, was born in Lancas-
ter county, Jan. 12, 1812, and is still living in this
city. She is the mother of the following children:
Emanuel, formerly with his father in the shoe busi-
ness, but now deceased; Catherine A., deceased
during childhood; Rev. Frederick- Augustus; Al-
bert, a confectioner, who was killed on the rail-
road while off on a fishing expedition; William,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
141
formerly manager of his business but now retired;
Mary E., deceased in infancy; Anna, widow of
Jacob Martin, of Lancaster; Samuel D. ; Charles
E., attorney at Pueblo, Colo., and solicitor for the
A. & T. R. R. Co. ; and Margie, widow of William
Welchans, living with her mother in Lancaster.
While yet a student in the Lancaster high
school, Prof. Cast, at the age of sixteen, became as-
sistant at the Oxford Academy, New Oxford, Pa.,
for a year, after which he completed his course in
the high school, and in 1853 entered Franklin and
Marshall College, from which he was graduated
in July, 1856. He then spent a year as a student
in the Theological Seminary at Mercersburg, but
owing to the prevailing panic returned to his home,
and in the fall of 1857 assumed charge of Mt.
Dempsey Academy for a year, resigning his position
to enter the ministry. As there was no vacancy
at the time, he undertook the management' of the
high school at North Lebanon, and at the end of
a year was enabled to carry out his intentions. In
October, 1859, he took charge of the New Holland
church, and in March, 1865, was commissioned
chaplain of the 45th P. V. I., remaining with the
regiment until it was mustered out. The follow-
ing September he became the pastor of the Loun-
don and St. Thomas charge, Franklin county, and
at the end of two years, in Sept., 1867, was called
to the management of the Franklin and Mar-
shall Academy. During his term of service, which
extended to the summer of 1871, he was associated
for a part of the time with Rev. Dr. C. S. Gerhard,
who died November,' 1902; Dr. N. C. Schaeffer,
the State superintendent; and Rev. Dr. J. A. Peter,
later president of Heidelberg University, who died
in 1 90 1. Prof. Gast taught in Franklin and Marshall
college for a year (1871-1872), and in January of
1872, was elected tutor in the Theological Seminary,
In October, 1873, the tutorship was converted into
the professorship of Hebrew and Old Testament
Theology, to which he was elected by the synod. In
1877 he was made Doctor of Theology by Waynes-
burg College. Dr. Gast is a brilliant scholar, an
able writer, and one of the most cultured men in
Lancaster county.
On Dec. 24, 1857, Prof. Gast married Adeline
G. Frey, a native of Lancaster county, and daugh-
ter of Jacob Frey. Mrs. Gast died July 4, 1901.
HERSHEY. John Eby Hershey and Elias
Hershey, two well known residents of Paradise
township, are representatives of one of the oldest
and most distinguished families in Lancaster coun-
ty, and descendants of the sixth generation from
Andrew Hershey, the founder of the family in
America.
(I) Andrew Hershey was a resident of Switzer-
land about two centuries ago. He removed from
his native land Friedensheimerhof in the Palatin-
ate country prior to 1709, for in the latter year
he emigrated with two of his sons, Andrew and
Benjamin, to America, settling in Lancaster county,
near the present city of Lancaster. A third son,
Christian, remained in the Fatherland until 1739^
when he, too, crossed the ocean, joining his two
brothers and father. The three brothers were all
ordained ministers in the Mennonite Church.
(II) Andrew Hershey, eldest of these three
brothers and son of Andrew Hershey, was born in
1702. He had a family of twelve children, namely :
Christian, Andrew, John, Benjamin, Jacob, Abra-
ham, Isaac, Henry, Peter, Maria, Catherine and
Adli. The father lived to the age of ninety years,
passing away in 1792.
(III) Jacob Hershey, fifth son of Andrew
Hershey, was born about 1743. He married Anna
Newcomer, and to them were born six children, as
follows : John, Jacob, Christian, Elizabeth, Abra-
ham and Joseph. Jacob, the father, died in 1825,
in his eighty-third year.
(IV) John Hershey, eldest child of Jacob and
Anna (Newcomer) Hershey, was born about 1762.
He became a man of considerable prominence and
influence, and was ordained a deacon in the Men-
nonite Church. A man of quiet, unassuming man-
ners, he was, nevertheless, positive in his convic-
tions, sentiments and beliefs. He was a farmer,
and purchased several tracts of land in Lancaster
county, which descended to his children. He mar-
ried Anna Horst, and a family of seven children
were born to them, as follows : Jacob, Magdalena,
Anna, Feronica, John, Benjamin and Joseph. The
father lived to the age of seventy-eight years, and
died in 1850, his wife surviving until 1861.
(V) Jacob Hershey, eldest son of John and
Anna (Horst) Hershey, was born in 1803. He
was a lifelong farmer of Paradise township, resid-
ing about one mile south of Paradise on the farm
now owned by his son, Elias Hershey. Jacob was
ordained to the ministry in the Mennonite Church
in 1842, and remained in the work until the close of
his life in 1883, at the ripe old age of eighty years.
He was a man who attended to his own affairs,,
and looked carefully after the welfare of his family.
His union with Elizabeth Eby, a daughter of Bishop
Peter Eby, was blessed with a family of children
who still survive, namely: Margaret, John E.,
Elizabeth, Elias, Peter, Susanna and J. Menno, all
of Lancaster county. The mother of these chil-
dren died May 31, 1897, at the age of eighty-nine
years, eleven months and nineteen days, leaving
seven children, thirty-three grandchildren, and
sixty-nine great-grandchildren, and seven great-
great-grandchildren.
John Eby Hershey, eldest son of Jacob and
Elizabeth (Eby) Hershey, was born Jan. 16, 1830,
on the old homestead located in Paradise township,
one mile south of Paradise village, and adjoining
the well tilled farm which he now owns and oc-
cupies. Here he was reared, receiving his education
in _the common and academic schools, and remain-
ing at home until he was twenty-four years of age.
142
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
when he began farming on his own account on
the fine farm of ninety acres, which has since then
remained his residence and field of labor. The
year preceding, or in 1853, he assisted in the erec-
tion of the buildings on the place, and being then
a young man of powerful physique, he himself
handled most of the heavy timbers used in framing
the buildings. Into this dwelling he moved early in
1854, soon after his marriage, and there he con-
tinued to reside until 1889, when he erected an-
other commodious dwelling-house and has ever
since occupied the same, living a life of retirement
and surrendering the active operation and manage-
ment of the farm to his son, Benjamin. In 1889
he also erected a tenant house.
General farming and stock raising received the
careful and successful attention of John Eby Her-
shey throughout his active life, and he was soon
recognized as one of the wide awake and progres-
sive agriculturalists of Lancaster county. He has
been prominent in local affairs, and has served his
township as a member of the board of education,
and also as auditor. He has interests . aside from
his highly improved farm, and for many years has
been a stockholder in the Farmers National Bank
of Lancaster.
On Jan. 3, 1854, John Eby Hershey married
Miss Anna Millinger, who was born June 30, 1833,
daughter of John and Anna (Hertzler) Millinger <
To John and Anna Hershey were born a family of
eight children, as follows : Jacob M., a farmer near
Palmyra, Marion Co., Mo., who married Miss
Mary Eby, and has seven children, Emma, Elmer,
Charles, Eva, Paul, Isaac and Martha; Elizabeth,
who died in childhood; Isaac E., a merchant at
Buyerstown, Pa., who married Miss Ada Leaman,
and has one child, Noah ; Anna, at home, a zealous
worker in the Sabbath school; Benjamin, an exten-
sive farmer and stock raiser, who manages the old
homestead, and who married Miss Fannie Wenger,
who died in November, 1900, leaving five children,
Elizabeth, Maud, Annie, Katie and Benjamin;
John H., a farmer of Marion Co., Mo., who married
Miss Mary Buchwalter, and has three children,
Paul, Mark and Phoebe; Mary, wife of John K.
Hershey, a farmer of Paradise township, by whom
she has three children, Ruth, John and Rhoda ; and
Susan Salome, who died at the age of twelve years.
The devoted mother of these children died March
16, 1897. Mr. Hershey and children are mem-
bers of the Old Mennonite Chu^rch. They have
high social rank in this well settled and well de-
veloped farming region, and are an honor to the
family which for so many generations has been in-
fluential in the history of Lancaster county.
Elias Hershey, the fourth child and second
son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Eby) Hershey, was
born March 13, 1837, on the old homestead, situated
about a mile south of Paradise village. He was
reared on the farm, receiving his education in the
neighboring schools, and throughout his useful arid
industrious life, until his retirement in 1895, he
had been a successful and prominent farmer. He
is the owner of several good tracts of land, includ-
ing, besides the old homestead of 105 acres, two
others of eighty acres each, and the two-acre prop-
erty at Paradise village, which he has occupied since
his retirement from active work in 1895. He is
recognized as one of the liberal-minded, public-
spirited citizens of the township, widely esteemed
and influential. He has held various local offices,
including those of tax collector ahd member of the
school board.
On Nov. 28, 1865, Elias Hershey married Miss
Anne Kreider, who was born Oct. 26, 1840, in New
Danville, Lancaster county, daughter of Michael
and Nancy (Boyer) Kreider. To Elias and Anne
Hershey have been born five children, as follows:
John K., who resides on the old homestead, married
Miss Mary Hershey, and has three children, Ruth,
John W. and Rhoda. Lizzie A., married H. Mar-
tin Eby, a farmer of Paradise township, residing
on one of her father's farms, and they have six
children, Ruth, Eli, Mina, Annie, Menno and Ada;
Susan is the wife of John E. Keneagy, a farmer
of Kinzers, by whom she has three children, Elias,
Sabina and Martha; David E., a farmer residing
on one of his father's farms, married Miss Ella
Wilson, and has one child, Clarence E. ; and Sabina
is at home. Elias Hershey and family are prom-
inent members of the Old Mennonite Church, which
has been so long and so steadily the faith of their
ancestors.
JACOB G. WEAVER, M. D. The Weaver
family, in Lancaster county, has become prominent
through its members, in many lines, and among
those who have won approbation in a professional
career, is Dr. Jacob G. Weaver, a well-known phy-
sician of Strasburg.
The birth of Dr. Weaver was in the old Weaver
homestead, in West Lampeter township, on April
9, 1840. He was reared on the old farm, and his
early education was obtained in the public schools,
this being supplemented by a course at the Coates-
ville Academy and the Chester County Normal
school, and in the spring of 1863, he entered the
office of Dr. Benjamin Musser, of Strasburg. From
early boyhood he had shown a strong inclination
toward medicine, and when he was prepared to en-
ter Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, it
was with the intention of profiting to the greatest
extent. This thoroughness enabled him to graduate
with honor, in 1865, and his first office was located
at Midway, a hamlet on the Strasburg Pike road.
A year later he came to Strasburg and was asso-
ciated with his preceptor, the distinguished Dr.
Musser, for one year, profiting by his experience,
and then opened up an office of his own, where
he has been ready for practice and consultation,
ever since. Dr. Weaver confines his practice to
Lancaster county, unless the call is exceptional, and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
143
his skill, knowledge and success have gained him
patronage over a wide extent.
Dr. Weaver is a thorough physician, and keeps
abreast of the times, studying every new discovery
of medical science for himself, and providing all
modern appliances for the alleviating of pain, and
the cure of disease. Dr. Weaver is a member of
all of the medical associations and in 1882 repre-
sented the Lancaster County Medical Society at
the National Medical Association, at St. Paul,
Minn. Since 1869, he has conducted a drug store
in connection with his practice, thus being able to
fill his own prescriptions in a satisfactory and safe
manner.
On Dec. 31, 1873, he was married to Miss Lizzie
Shultz, a daughter of Christian Shultz, of vStras-
burg township, where she was born, on July 28,
1846, and to them have been born six children;
Wilmer John, a graduate of the Philadelphia Col-
lege of Pharmacy, in the class of 1895, who is as-
sociated with his father in the drug business ; Lizzie
Blanche ; Mary Emily ; Carl Shultz ; Ross Kreider ;
and Park Jacob. The Doctor and his estimable wife
are members of the Reformed Mennonite Church,
where they are valued as consistent Christians. Dr.
Weaver has taken an active part in civic affairs,
has been a member of the council, a^nd served for,
several years on the school board. As a physician
he is trusted and beloved, and as a citizen he is re-
garded with respect and approbation.
HON. C. G. BOYD, one of the leading citizens
and substantial farmers of Penn township, has been
prominent in business and political life for an ex-
tended period.
The Boyd family is of Irish origin, John Boyd,
the father of C. G., being the first of this branch
of the family to locate in Pennsylvania. John Boyd
came from Ireland in 1810 and settled in Berks
county, Pa., where he became manager of the
Gibraltar Iron Works, moving to Lancaster county
to take charge of the Mt. Hope Iron Works, and
remaining in the employ of the owners, the Grubbs,
for a period of fourteen years. Then he bought a
farm near Mt. Hope, in Penn township, and gave
his exclusive attention to farming until his death,
in i860. He married Catherine Likens, and they
had a family of ten children: William (deceased)
was the efficient manager of the Mt. Hope Iron
Works for some years; John (deceased) was a
merchant in Middletown, Pa. ; Mary died unmar-
ried ; James (deceased) was a farmer of Penn town-
ship; Anna Jane was the wife of John A. Beam;
Edward and Harriet were twins; Elizabeth is the
widow of Eli Lichtenberger ; C. G. is the subject
of this article; H. C. is a merchant of Manheim,
Pennsylvania.
C. G. Boyd was born in Mt. Hope July 28, 1836,
and until the age of eighteen years grew up on the
farm, busy with the duties pertaining to agricultural
life, and attending the public schools. Later he
attended the State Normal School, at Millersville,
in 1855. ^i"- Boyd was by nature intended to
adorn public life, for very early he displayed that
quickness in learning, that easy understanding, that
love of study, which have contributed in no small
measure to his continued success. Beginning his
public career as a teacher, he continued in that line
in Lancaster county for three years, having charge
at different times of schools in both Penn and Raphe
townships. Then for five years he was employed
in the store of John Shaffer, at Elstonville, but.
tiring of this confinement he bought a farm near
White Oak, to which he retired for ten years. In
1872 he purchased the farm on which he now re-
sides, at Fairland, and where he has since enjoyed
a comfortable home. Mr. Boyd was also a com-
petent scrivener.
Mr. Boyd has always been an ardent Republi-
can, and has efficiently filled many of the township
and county offices, serving from 1864 to 1877 as
assessor of Penn township ; and for seventeen years
after 1859 as collector of the township. So well
did he perform the duties of the offices committed
to his care that in 1890 his fellow citizens elected
him as the representative of the Northern District
in the State Legislature, and during his term of
office he came fully up to their expectations. In 1894
he was elected prison inspector, and has held that
responsible position until the present time, having
been re-elected in 1897.
Mr. Boyd was united in marriage with Miss-
Fannie L. Thuma, and to this union has been born
a family of eight children. Alfred T., at home;
Benjamin T., of Denver, Colo. ; A. Lincoln, of
Oklahoma ; Lizzie T., wife of A. G. Shelley ; Jacob,
a resident of Manheim; Clement T., a farmer of
Penn township; Katie T., at home; and Dora T.,
wife of Harry B. Miller. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd are
both members of the Lutheran Church of Manheim,
and Mr. Boyd is one of the trustees in the same,
being also one of the most liberal of its supporters.
He was one of the organizers of the Lititz Agricul-
tural Mutual Fire Insurance Co., was one of the
first directors of the company, serving as such for
three years and was then elected president of same,
which position he has filled since 1892. He was
also one of the organizers of the Penn Township
Mutual Fire Insurance Association. One of Lan-
caster county's most respected citizens, his public
career has reflected honor upon the location of his
birth as well as upon the honorable family from
which he originated. Mr. Boyd is a man of pleas-
ing personality and great ability, 'and, being still
in the prime of life, may again become a standard
bearer in the ranks of his party.
JOHN WILLIAMSON NEVIN, D. D., was
born in Franklin county. Pa., Feb. 20, 1803, and he
was born and reared a Presbyterian. He entered
Union College, New York, in 181 7, graduating
therefrom in 1821. In 1823 he studied in the Theo-
144
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
logical Seminary at Princeton, and in 1826 he tem-
porarily filled the chair of Biblical Literature in
that institution. In 1828 he received his license
to preach by the Presbytery of Carlisle, then in ses-
sion at Philadelphia. In 1829 he became professor
of Biblical Literature in the seminary at Allegheny,
Pennsylvania.
In 1840 Dr. Nevin entered the Reformed Church,
by accepting the professorship of theology in the
Reformed Theological Seminary located at Mer-
cersburg, Franklin county, and in 1841 he became
president of Marshall College. In 1853 Franklin
College, Lancaster, and Marshall College, Mercers-
burg, united and formed an institution of learning
since known as Franklin and Marshall Colkge, and
he resigned his position in Marshall College. In
1861 he became professor of History in Franklin
and Marshall College, and in 1866 he became its
president, which position he held until 1876, when
he resigned it ; he died June 6, 1886, in the eighty-
fourth year of his age. His numerous theological
and ecclesiastical works gave him his great reputa-
tion as a theologian.
FRANCIS SCHROEDER (deceased), who en-
tered into rest Jan. 8, 1901, at the old family home
at the corner of East Orange and Lime streets, Lan-
caster, in the eighty-second year of his age, was one
of the most venerable and beloved figures of that
city.
Coming from an old and honored ancestry, Mr.
Schroeder was born in Sharpsburg, Md., Sept. 16,
1819. At the tender age of nine years he took on
his shoulders the burden of his own support. His
early introduction to the cares of life doubtless had
much to do with his sturdy and reliable manhood.
His experiences as a poor and friendless boy prob-
ably stimulated his sympathies and aroused the help-
ful nature which was so marked through all his ma-
ture years. Coming into Lancaster county, Mr.
Schroeder was engaged in several occupations, not
meeting with much success until 1845, when he be-
came connected with the Lancaster Cotton Mills,
where he passed from position to position, finally be-
coming one of the owners of mill No. i, in partner-
ship with the late Gideon Arnold, the firm being F.
Schroeder & Co. The business steadily prospered
until the prolonged depression that marked the Clos-
ing years of the nineteenth century. Mr. Schroeder
and the Arnold heirs kept the mill in operation at a
considerable loss for several years, rather than close
it and throw out of work many people who had been
with them for years. In 1897 the building was pur-
chased by the Banner Cheroot Company, an adjunct
to the American Tobacco Company. At the time of
his death Mr. Schroeder was a director of the Gris-
M^old Worsted Company, of Philadelphia, having
been associated with the late Mayor Strong of New
York, and others, in the enterprise ; was president of
the Lancaster Hotel Company; president of the
Conestoga Fire Insurance Company ; a trustee of
Franklin and Marshall College ; and a director of the
Woodward Hill Cemetery Company. At one time
he was director of the Lancaster Fire Insurance
Company. For almost fifty years he left his impress
upon the business interests of Lancaster, and few
if any men contributed more to its general prosper-
ity than Francis Schroeder.
Mr. Schroeder was an active member of St.
James Episcopal Church for forty-seven years,
served as vestryman many years, and was senior
warden at the time of his death. Politically he was
an active Republican, and was often sent to party
gatherings. In 1888 he was a delegate to the Na-
tional Convention that nominated Gen. Harrison for
President, and he was one of the earliest and best
known members of the Union League, of Philadel-
phia.
Mr. Schroeder was married to Miss Katherine
Barr, daughter of John Barr, June 29, 1847. This
marriage took place in the old Barr home, where
four generations had lived. Eight children blessed
this union, four of whom died in early childhood,
the surviving members of the family being: (i)
Rev. Francis Elmaker is a clergyman of the Epis-
copal Church. (2) Katherine H. is the wife of C.
J. Swarr, a well-known' coal merchant, whose fa-
ther was a prominent member of the Lancaster Bar,
and postmaster under President Buchanan; he died
Aug. 6, 1896. His wife was a Miss Toby, who be-
longed to a noted Philadelphia family. (3) Henry
Muhlenburg and (4) Jay Nevin are both residents
of Lancaster, and engaged in the manufacture of
paints. The old Schroeder home was the first dwell-
ing house built on the corner of two streets in Lan-
caster. It is a spacious mansion, set in the midst of
an extended lawn, and surrounded with many trees,
and was built by the distinguished Edward Shippen,
after whom one of the streets of Lancaster was
named. Tradition says that in one of the rooms of
this stately mansion Penn made a treaty with the
Conestoga Indians, who then roamed about this re-
gion in considerable numbers ; and for generations
this house has been the abode of wealth, culture and
hospitality.
SAMUEL STEHMAN HALDEMAN, than
whom no one was better or more favorably known
to the scientific world, was born at Locust Grove,
in the section of Lancaster county which is iiow
Conoy township, August 12, 18 12. He was educated
in the public schools and graduated from Dickinson
College, at Carlisle. In 1833 and 1834 he attended
lectures at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1835
he wrote an article for the Lancaster Journal in refu-
tation of Locke's "Moon Hoax." Early in life he be-
gan the collection of specimens of mineralogy and
conchology, and from 1835 on devoted himself to the
study of science. During the remaining forty-five
years of his life he passed most of the time in his
library. In 1836 and 1837 he was respectively assist-
ant geologist of the State geological surveys of New
FRANCIS SCHROEDER
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
145
Jersey and Pennsylvania. He at different times held
professorships of science in the Delaware College, at
Newark, and in the University of Pennsylvania, be-
sides being chemist and zoologist for a number of
scientific associations.
The University of Pennsylvania conferred upon
him the degree of Doctor of Laws. During his career
as a scientist he wrote and published 150 works, of
which 120 were scientific and 30 linguistic. In 1858
he issued the Trevelyan Prize Essay, gaining a
prize offered by Sir Walter Trevelyan, of England,
over sixteen competitors, who were among the best
Eujropean philologists. This essay contained ex-
amples of seventy different languages, many of them
heard from the lips of the natives themselves. Dr.
Haldeman died Sept. 10, 1880.
DAVID WELLER (deceased), in his day one
of the well known and very prominent men of Lan-
caster, was born in Koenigsbron, Heidenheim, Wurt-
emberg, Germany, in 1830, and died in Lancaster,
Pa., in 1893 ; he was buried in the Lancaster ceme-
tery.
David Weller was the son of Jacob Weller, who
was born in Germany, where he lived and died, and
pursued the- calling of a cabinet-maker. Children
as follows, were born to Jacob Weller : Regina, de-
ceased; Jacob, a retired contractor of Philadelphia,
Pa. ; David ; Hannah, of Germany ; Katherine, de-
ceased; and Michael and Abraham, deceased.
In 1852 the young man was filled with stories of
the fortunes awaiting those who emigrated to
America, and in that year David Weller came to
Lancaster, Pa., and for several years worked at his
trade, that of carpenter, in the city. Later he
branched out into contracting, and at the time of his
death was in very comfortable circumstances, leav-
ing a large amount of property to his family. All of
his success was won through his own efforts and
those of his estimable wife, for they wer.e very poor
when they started out together, and the comforts
Mrs. Weller now enjoys are but her just due, after
a life of toil. .
Mr. Weller was a member of the I. O. O. F.
and the K. of P., and the entire family are members
of St. John's Reformed Church. In politics Mr.
Weller was a Democrat, and gave his hearty sup-
port to the candidates of his party, although he never
was an office seeker.
• On July 17, 1856, Mr. Weller was married to
Anna Graf, and the" following children were born to
them: Mary, deceased; Pauline, deceased; John, a
contractor and builder of Lancaster; David, de-
ceased; Adam, deceased; Andrew, deceased; Miss
Elizabeth, who resides at home and assists her
mother in the management of the property,
a most accomplished and energetic lady; Jacob,
of Kansas City, Mo.; Phenie, of Philadelphia,
who married Julius Hass ; and Anna, deceased.
Mrs. Weller was born April 14, 1828, at Holzhausen,
Sulzam Neckar, Wurtemberg, Germany, a daugh-
:o
ter of Andrew and Anna (Blocker) Graf, of
Germany, where they lived and died, Mr. Graf
being a very prominent man and conducting a
brewery, a distillery, bakery and tavern at the same
time; he became very wealthy. To Mr. and Mrs.
Graf were born: Rosa (deceased), who married
Mich. Kipp; John (deceased), a brewer, and later
a stone quarryman at Witmer ; Mary, who died un-
married; Anna; and nine other children, who died
in childhood.
HON. WILLIAM HENRY BROSIUS, mem-
ber of the Legislature, and one of the best known
dairy farmers in Lancaster county, is descended
from the same early and sturdy ancestry as was the
late Hon. Marriott Brosius, his cousin.
Abner Brosius, father of William H., was born
in Chester county. Pa., whence he moved to Lan-
caster county when twenty-two years old. He mar-
ried Letitia Wilkinson, whose father was a promi-
nent tanner and teacher, and children as follows
were born to them : Amanda P., wife of W. J. Ar-
nold, of York county. Pa. ; Milton L., deceased, for
years a steel manufacturer ; William H. ; and Ed-
mond S., deceased, an attorney in San Francisco,
Cal., and for years a clerk in the Interior Depart-
ment at Washington, D. C. The father died Aug.
13, 1876, and the mother Nov. 10, 1897.
William H. Brosius, whose name opens this
sketch, was born Nov. 30, 1839, on a farm in Mar-
tic township, Lancaster Co., Pa., and received a lib-
eral education in both public .and select schools,
finishing his studies at the Locust Grove Academy,
from which he was graduated. At the age of
twenty years he commenced farming on shares with
his father, an arrangement that continued until 1863,
in which year he took charge of his father-in-law's
farm, afterward purchasing same, and has been liv-
ing thereon ever since. The property is considered
one of the finest dairy farms in Lancaster county,
A practical farmer, Mr. Brosius has manifested a
keen and inteUigent interest in all agricultural mat-
ters, and for twenty years has been a member of the
Lancaster County Agricultural Society, of which
he for a time served as one of the vice-presidents.
Interested from his boyhood in farming and farm
products, he became one of the managers of three
of the most successful agricultural fairs ever held
in this county. In 1897 he was appointed by Gov.
Hastings, a member of the Farmers' National Con-
gress, which met at St. Paul, Minn., that year.
Mr. Brosius has had a busy and noteworthy ca-
reer, both as a farmer and as an active citizen. For
six years a school director in his district, he placed
himself fairly in the line of advancement in edu-
cational matters, and has shown a notably progres-
sive spirit in all public affairs. No more enthusi-
astic Republican can be found in the State, and on
several occasions he has been a delegate in Repub-
lican State conventions. In 1883 he was elected to
the Legislature on that ticket, and re-elected in 1885,
146
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
An orator of more than ordinary ability, his voice
has been heard in almost every nook and corner of
the county, while in every State and National cam-
paign for many years he has made powerful speeches
for the good of the cause. He served with the Re-
publican State Central committee in the campaign
that seated Gov. Stone, and his eloquent services
have never been called for in vain. In igoo he was
again elected to the State Legislature, and again in
1902. He served on the committee on Agriculture,
and for a part of the time was its chairman ; he was
also a member of committees on Fish and Game,
Iron and Coal, Law and Order, and Pensions and
Gratuities. He was active in opposition to the Oleo
Bill, and did much in securing the passage of a bill
restricting same.
On Jan. i, 1863, Hon. William H. Brosius
married Miss Ellen W. Smith, daughter of Joseph
and Tacey Smith, respected farming people of Dru-
more township, Lancaster county; the father in re-
ligious faith was a member of the Society of Friends.
One child was born of this union, Mary, now the
wife of William J. Lang, a farmer of Drumore town-
ship.
Possessed of great fluency of speech, with a mag-
netic presence that makes for him friends every-
where, faithful in his friendships and firm in his
convictions of right, Mr. Brosius has certainly made
his influence felt for good, and this is the consensus
of public opinion in his community.
AARON CONRAD KEPLER, a retired mer-
chant, is one of the most prominent men of Lan-
caster.
Daniel Kepler, his father, was a farmer, and was
a son of Jacob Kepler. Daniel Kepler married
Mary Kohlmeyer, a daughter of John George Kohl-
meyer, a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and
eight children blessed their home, the survivors
being: Mary Catharine, wife of Alexander John-
son, a farmer of Nebraska; Elizabeth, widow of
Charles Hyde, a banker of Plainfield, N. J. ; Aaron
Conrad, of Lancaster; and Caroline, wife of James
S. Kiskaddon, a farmer of Colorado.
Aaron Conrad Kepler was born in Butler coun-
ty, Pa., March 29, 1841, was first sent to the dis-
trict school, and then attended the academy at Sun-
bury, Butler county. He was but seventeen years
old when he began teaching school and he studied
evenings to prepare himself for the work, teaching
during the long winter vacation in order to pay
his way through the academy in the summer. When
he reached his twentieth year he enlisted as a pri-
vate in Co. C, nth Pa. Reserves, for a term of
three years. He was badly wounded at Gaines'
Mills on the second day of the Seven Days battle be-
fore Richmond, the bullet penetrating the right
thigh. He was left on the field of battle, among
the dead and dying, from Friday until the following
Monday, when he was discovered by the Rebels
and taken to Libby prison, where he was detained
without medical aid for twenty-three days, when
he was exchanged. After his return to the Union
lines he was sent to a hospital at Baltimore, where
he remained for treatment until the spring of 1863,
when he was discharged. The young soldier re-
turned to his father's farm in Butler county, spend-
ing some three months there before^ he went to
Petroleum Centre, Venango county, where he se-
cured a position with Hyde & Egbert, an extensive
oil firm. In 1866 he made investments on his own
account, thus laying the foundation of his very sub-
stantial fortune. The following year he came to Lan-
caster and bought the farm of Col. W. B. Fordney,
where he lived for twenty years, much of the time
engaged in settling his oil interests in Venango
and Clarion counties. Finally John W. Hiemenz
purchased this farm, which was later named "Ross-
mere," because it was at one time owned by George
Ross, one of the signers of the Declaration of In-
dependence, and is now regarded as one of the
loveliest among the many beautiful places in Lan-
caster.
In 1874 Mr. Kepler purchased the hardware
store and building of A. W. Russel on North Queen
street, and after conducting the business for fifteen
years sold it to Reilly Bros. & Raub. The fine
large building next door to this was built by him
in 1883, and leased to the Post Office Department
of the United States Government. After the re-
moval of the post office, in 1892, the lower floor was
converted into stores, and the upper floors into
lodge rooms, where are found the headquarters of
Posts No. 84 and No. 405, G. A. R., and other
lodge rooms.
Mr. Kepler was married, in 1867, to Mary M.,
a daughter of Nathaniel Ellmaker Slaymaker, of
Williamstown, Paradise township, . and to this
union were born four children, only one of whom is
now living, Mary Slaymaker, who is at home with
her parents. In 1889 Mr. Kepler bought the large
and substantial A. W. Russel home, on North Lime
street, which he has greatly improved and beautified,
and where he still resides. Mr. Kepler is a strong
Democrat, but though often urged to become a can-
didate for public station, has uniformly declined,
being so retiring in his nature that he not only has
abstained from politics, but has never united with
any secret society. He was a director and treasurer
of the National Park Association, until the park,
which is now known as McGrann's Park, was pur-
chased by B. J. McGrann. For a time he was a
director in the People's National Bank. He is
now one of the trustees of Woodward Hill cemetery.
Mr. Kepler is an ardent sportsman, and his
hunting trips to the Alleghanies, the Rocky Moun-
tains, Florida and Maine, as well as other parts of
the Union, and to Newfoundland, New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia and British Columbia, furnish inci-
dents and experiences enough for a book. His hos-
pitable home is filled with interesting and valuable
trophies of the hunt, including moose, elk, caribou,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
147
deer, mountain sheep, goat and antelope heads, rare
birds, and other curiosities, while all about are robes
and rugs from the hides of bears, beavers, wild cats
and other animals he himself has shot and trapped.
He has traveled thousands of miles on foot, in quest
of game, and among other interesting and attractive
curiosities are his snow shoes used in the cold frozen
North. Mr. Kepler visited Cuba in 1893, and twice
he has been to Europe, accompanied "by his wife
and daughter, visiting Ireland, Scotland and the
Continent in 1896, and the Paris Exposition, the
Passion Play at Oberammergau and Holland, on
the second trip, in the summer of 1900.
ISAAC E. HIESTER, who in his time was a
prominent and influential lawyer of Lancaster, and
who was born in New Holland, Lancaster county,
in May, 1824, died Feb. 6,1871. He was educated
at the Moravian School at Lititz, and at several
other academical institutions, finally graduating
from Yale College with high honors. He read law
under Thomas E. Franklin, and was admitted to
practice in the year 1845. ^^ 1848 he was appointed
district attorney of Lancaster county, and in 1852
he was elected to Congress by the Whig party. He
•subsequently became a Democrat, which party sent
him as a delegate to their National Convention held
in 1868. He also represented the State of Pennsyl-
vania in the Democratic National Executive Com-
mittee. He was an astute lawyer and enjoyed a
large and lucrative practice.
FREDERICK MAY (Deceased). Two inter-
•esting careers are presented in the life histories of
Frederick May and of his son, Tobias H. They
have been uneventful as the world usually notes
affairs, but none the less typical of that profound
■success which grows from within. Frederick May
was the emigrant — a German lad to whom liberty
and greater possibilities in a new western country
heckoned irresistibly. He was born in 1817, in
a village of Baiern, on the banks of the Rhine.
When a young man he came to America, friendless
and without means, and here he lived in content-
ment and quiet, building up a small competence
and presenting an imperishable example of thrift,
industry and right living,^ Coming directly to Stras-
burg he sought and found employment at farm work.
Perceiving the more lucrative returns of day wage,
Tie acquired the knowledge of the butchering busi-
ness, which he followed for several years. He
worked by the day and by the year, and in time saved
enough to begin farming for himself as a tenant.
He first rented a farm in Paradise township, then in
Strasburg- township, where he lived for many years.
■Still saving, he bought a place of thirty-eight acres
in Paradise township one and one-half miles east of
the borough, Strasburg, where he was content to live
the latter years of his life. To that little farm he
removed in 1880, and there dwelt until January,
1898, at the age of eighty-one years, when death
came. Though retiring and unostentatious in man-
ner, Frederick May was a man of strong convictions
and public spirit. He was a life-long member of
the Lutheran church, and for many years was one
of the trustees of the Strasburg church. He mar-
ried Miss Mary Huffman, who was born in Ger-
many, a daughter of John Huffman, and who came
to America when a young woman. She died in
1894, aged about eighty years. Seven children were
born to Frederick and Mary (Huffman) May, as
follows : Lizzie, who married George Leager, and
now resides in Pittsburg; Anne, deceased wife of
Henry Flade, of Philadelphia ; George,' of Paradise
township ; Maggie, wife of Theodore Swaggert, of
Paradise township ; John, a resident of Paradise
township ; Tobias H., mentioned below ; and Mary,
wife of John Hassle, of Bart township.
Tobias H. May, the son of Frederick and Mary
(Huffman) May, was born in Paradise township,
March 14, 1854. He was reared on the farm and
was educated- in the common schools. He adopted
the vocation of his father, and in 1877 at the age
of twenty-three years, soon after his marriage, he
began life on his own account at Lampeter, renting
a place of sixteen acres and farming it for three
vears. He then, for three years, operated a farm
of 115 acres in Earl township, owned by Adam Dil-
ler. Removing to the Henry Hess farm in Stras-
burg township, about one and a half miles from the
borough, he remained there four years, leaving it
to begin a stay of nine years on the George Mcll-
vaine farm in Paradise township. In 1897 Mr. May
purchased the farm of about twelve acres, located
about two and a half miles east of Strasburg bor-
ough, which he has since occupied. It is one of the
best improved little farms in this part of the county.
Mr. May engages in general farming but of late
vears he has also engaged in the produce business.
He is progressive in thought and in actions, and
his modest possessions are the result of his own
efforts, as he began at the bottom of the ladder and
his advance is due to himself.
Tobias H. May married Dec. 28, 1876, Miss
Annie Cockchel, who was born in West Lampeter
township, Oct. 16, 1858, the daughter of Solomon
and Catherine (Eshleman) Cockchel. Mr. and Mrs.
May are the parents of five children: Rufus H.,
born Jan. 17, 1878 ; Clyde, born Aug. 4, 1883 ; Car-
rie, born April 21, 1886: George, born Jan. 6, 1892;
and Bessie, born Jan. 12, 1897. Rufus H., the eldest
son, became a telegraph operator, and is now train
dispatcher on the Norfolk and Western Railroad,
at Bluefields, W. Va. ; he began to handle the keys
when only sixteen years of age, and has since held
responsible positions, being promoted from operator
to yard master, and to his present responsible
position before he was twenty-one. He enlisted
at Philadelphia and served in the Spanish-American
war as a private in Co. D, in the Regiment raised
in that city, and was promoted to the signal corps,
in which department he served to the close of the
148
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
war, when he resumed telegraphy. His rapid pro-
gress has been a credit not only to himself and family
but his native county. Clyde, the second son, is a
student of telegraphy at Kinzers.
Mr. May is active in religious work as a mem-
ber of the United Brethren Church. He is public-
spirited, and the family rank high as worthy and
respected citizens of Lancaster county.
CHRISTOPHER GEIGER died in Lancaster
Oct. 28, 1889.- He was born in Berks county, near
Geigersville, in 1809. When old enough he taught
school, after which he learned the milling business
with the late Isaac Eckert, of Berks county. After
he thoroughly understood the business he went to
Pottstown, where he managed a forge. His next
residence was at Castle Fin, York county, as man-
ager of a forge. Here he married a daughter of
Rev. Samuel Parke. He also for a time managed
a furnace in York county, owned by P. & S. Small,
whence he went to Harford county, Md., where
he built the Sarah furnace, and operated it as a
partner of the Smalls. He went from there to
Baltimore county, where he built the Ashland fur-
nace, which he ran with Edward and Joseph Pat-
terson and the Smalls, of York, as partners. His
wife died while he lived in Baltimore county and
there he married his second wife. Miss Ann Beates,
daughter of late Rev. Wm. Beates, of Lancaster.
About 1849 M''- Geiger removed to Lancaster
and bought the foundry property at the corner of
Duke and Chestnut streets. He ran that for a few
years and then sold out to Mr. Marshbank. He
next bought what is now known as the Peacock
furnace, and operated it for a long time.
P. T. WATT, of the firm of Watt & Shand, of
the New York Store, is one of the most prominent
men of Lancaster. He was born in Stronza, one of
the Orkney Islands, of Scotch parents. Regarding
Mr. Watt, the following from a sketch written by
Hon. W. U. Hensel, and published in the Lancaster
Intelligencer July 17, 1886, gives some interesting
facts :
"The members of this firm were of Scotch birth
and business training. The Orkney Islands, lying
off the north coast of Scotland, are sixty-seven in
number. Of this number thirteen are well popu-
lated, Pomona being the largest. Of late years agri-
culture lias received a good deal of attention, and
among the leading farmers of that region are the
family — father and brothers — of our townsman, P.
T. Watt, now on a visit to these old associations. He
is now almost thirty-seven years old, and when fif-
teen he quit the farm to learn the dry-goods busi-
ness in KirkwaJi, the principal place of the Orkneys,
with about 6.000 population. Like most apprentice-
ships in the Old World, those of mercantile pursuits
are learned far more thoroughly than here. For
four years young Watt devoted himself to the mas-
tering of the business, and when he had completed
it and sailed for Boston, he was well fitted to take a
good place as a salesman in the American establish-
ments of that city, where he first found employment.
After about two years' experience in that city, he
came to Hartford, where he engaged for seven years
with the extensive retail dry-goods house of Brown,
Thompson & Co., and where he made the associa-
tion that determined his future business career. In
1876 he came to this city. His subsequent marriage
to a young Scotch girl of his early acquaintance, and
her death in this city, where in a short time she had
found many warm friends, are well remembered.
She left twin children.
"Gilbert W. Thompson was a fellow countryman
and early acquaintance of Mr. Watt, though older.
He arrived first in America, and meeting Mr. Watt
in Boston went with him to Hartford, and then to
this city as a partner. He died here in 1879, the sur-
viving partners buying his interest, and his wife re-
turned to her former home in Hartford. In 1878
the firm first located at No. 20 East King street.
Before locating at Lancaster several cities were
visited, Syracuse, Elmira and Binghamton, N. Y.,
Wilmington, Del, and Harrisburg and Lancaster,
Pa. When the old New York Store, under Mr. Mc-
Donald's management, closed out, they were tele-
graphed for, "and came to Lancaster. Although en-
tire strangers, and with limited means, they opened
up with a full stock, determined to do business on a
one-price cash system. Liberal advertising and fair
methods steadily mcreased their trade, which once
gained was never lost. After two years at No. 20
East King street they bought Stark's China Hall, a
part of their present large establishment, and con-
tinually added other neighboring properties until at
present they have an 83-foot frontage on East King
street, 50 feet on Centre square, the building being
five stories, including the basement, with a depth of
50 feet to one part and no feet to the remainder.
The building is of light gray pressed brick, trimmed
with terra cotta, and is ornate in design. Beginning
with nine employes, they now employ from eighty to
one hundred people, according' to the season. Part
of the business is devoted to jobbing trade. There
are many departments, the principal ones being dress
goods and silks, coats and suits, millinery, house-
keeping goods, table linens, upholstery goods, men's
and women's hosiery, gloves, underwear, etc., laces,
ribbons and notions. Mr. Watt built and lives in
one of the handsomest homes in the city, located on
Marietta avenue. His fine stable contains a number
of valuable horses, and numerous vehicles of vari-
ous character, all of the best. He is a member of
the First Presbyterian Church, a director of the
Lancaster Board of Trade, vice-president of the
Hamilton Watch Factory, a director in the Edison
Electric Light and Lancaster Gas Companies, and
a director in the Farmers' National Bank."
All the foregoing, and more, may still be said of
Mr. Watt. He has maintained and elevated the high
standard with which he commenced business, and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
149
has established himself firmly among the most suc-
cessful merchants of the city wherein his interests
have so long been centered. Each member of the
firm goes abroad about once in three years, so they
are well acquainted with the principal cities and
points of interest in Em-ope.
Mr. Watt has been twice married, first to Miss
Lizzie Learmouth, who went to school with him in
Scotland. She died in Lancaster shortly after the
"birth of twin daughters, Katie Angus ' Learmouth
and Anna, who completed their education in the Na-
tional Park Seminary, Washington, D. C. Mr.
Watt's second wife was Miss Laura Geiger, daugh-
ter of the late Christopher Geiger, a well-known
Lancaster ironmaster, and to this marriage have
come four children: James, Charles, Donald and
Laura. Mr. Watt's father died when his son was a
mere lad, and the mother during his earlier life.
Thus thrown on his own resources early in life, he
has splendidly illustrated the sturdy character of the
Scotch race.
PROF. ISAAC DANIEL RUPP was born in
East Pennsboro, Cumberland Co., Pa., July lo,
1803, where his paternal grandfather had settled
in 1772. In early life he acquired a fair education,
and at the age of twenty began the profession of
teaching. In 1827 he located in Harrisburg and
opened a private school. He had, at the time of his
residence in Harrisburg, access to the archives of
the State, and he accumulated from their examina-
tion a vast amount of material which he afterward
used in writing histories of a number of counties
in the State. In 1842 he compiled, and in 1845 pub-
lished the first "History of Lancaster County,"
vvhich was sold by subscription. He translated,
wrote and compiled for the press in all about
twenty-five books. He died June i, 1878.
W. J. WENTZ, M. D., who passed away Sept.
5, 1902, was one of the prominent, self-made men
•of Lancaster county, who resided in New Provi-
dence. He occupied a position in the front rank
of the profession in the county, and was one of its
highly esteemed citizens. ,
The Wentz familv is of German origin.. In 1277
is found mention of Wentzenfeld (Wentz'feld), near
Bingen-on-the-Rhine, which field was entailed to
the Bishops of Mayence. In June or July, 1731, four
hrothers, Beltzer, John, George and Karl, from the
Palatinate, in Germany, sailed in the ship "Samuel"
for America. Purchasing land on Skippac creek,
in the northern part of Philadelphia (now Mont-
gomery) county, they located there, and built a
<:hurch which still exists and is known as Wentz'
■Church. From these four brothers are descended the
many of the name in Lancaster county. .
John Wentz, great-grandfather of the Doctor,
settled in Lancaster county. He had a large family
of children.
Joseph Wentz, son of John, went to Chester
county, and there married into a Quaker family
named Smith, who were descended from the Smiths
who accompanied William Penn to this country. In
1803 Joseph Wentz returned to Lancaster county,
locating in Martic township. He followed milling
and farming, and was a justice of the peace for a
number of years. His death occurred Jan. 30, 1861,
when he was aged eighty-eight years, two months,
eleven days. In his family were eleven children.
John Wentz, father of Dr. Wentz, was born in
Martic township in 1805, became a farmer in Dru-
more township, and was a man of some note. He
was active in the ranks of the Democratic party.
His wife, Sarah A. Penny, belonged to a family of
Scotch-Irish extraction, members of which were
named in the assessment rolls of Drumore in 1756.
John Wentz died at the age of seventy-seven, and
his wife passed away aged sixty-two. They had
a family of nine children: Mary, the widow of
William Morrison, resides in Drumore township ;
Joseph is a farmer of Drumore township; W. J.
was born Jan. 31, 1839; Hugh P., a farmer of Dru-
more, died at the age of fifty-seven ; John is a mer-
chant at Bethesda ; Thomas is a physician in Coler-
ain township, at Kirkwood ; Emma became the wife
of William C. Boyd (both are deceased) ; Laura is
the wife of James A. McSparran, of Drumore town-
ship ; Hattie E. is the widow of John McCombs, of
Drumore township. The parents were pious, worthy
people, who had long been consistent members of the
M. E. Church.
W. J. Wentz passed his early boyhood in a man-
ner not unlike that of many others, as he grew up-
on the farm in Drumore township, attended to the
"chores" and went to school. At the age of eighteen
he was given better opportunities, however, and en-
tered Locust Grove Seminary, where he remained
hard at work with his books for two years, after
which he took one session of instruction in the Mil-
lersville State Normal School. During the succeed-
ing three years he taught school very successfully
in Drumore township, and the two following years
in Strasburg township, during a part of that time
reading medicine with Dr. J. K. Raub, of New Provi-
dence. He continued his professional studies in Jef-
ferson Medical College, from which he graduated
in the spring of 1865. After graduation he enjoyed
the benefit of two years of association as partner
with his old preceptor, Dr. Raub, but in the spring
of 1867 he opened up his own office in New Provi-
dence, locating just north of the village in Stras-
burg township, where he continued in active prac-
tice up to the time of his decease, on Sept. 5, 1902.
He was laid to rest in the Mennonite cemetery at
New Providence on Sept. 8th.
Dr. Wentz was a student, and by his close atten-
tion to the demands of his profession, and his dis-
play of more than ordinary skill, won the confi-
dence of the public, and his place cannot feasilv be
filled in the affections of the community. He was
a member of the County and State Medical Societies,
150
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and of the American ^Medical Association, and filled
the president's chair of the society in Lancaster coun-
ty. As one of the organizers and directors of the
Conestoga National Bank, of Lancaster, his financial
stability was unquestioned.
Dr.'W'entz was married, Sept. 28, 1865, to Miss
Susan Rohrer, who was born in New Providence,
March 5, 1844, daughter of John K. and Mary (Peo-
ples) Rohrer. Six children blessed this union : Anna
Laberta, who is the wife of Alfred W. Moyer, of
Lancaster ; John R., who married Miss Ida Weaver,
and is engaged in the trucking business in Stras-
burg township ; B. Frank, a physician of West Phila-
delphia, a graduate of the University of Pennsyl-
vania, class of 1895, who studied first under his
father (he married Miss Catherine Helm, of New
Providence) ; Mary B. and Emily, at home ; and
Charles E., who is a member of the class of 1902,
Medico- Chirurgical College, in Philadelphia.
Dr. Wentz was an active member of the Demo-
cratic party. He was connected with the Reformed
Church in New Providence. A self-made man, who
had much success after early discouragement, he
stood well in the community and enjoyed general
esteem.
RE\^ FREDERIC GARDINER, A. M., the
efficient Headmaster of Yeates School, a noted and
exclusive school for boys, is descended from an old
and distinguished family. His first ancestor in this
country, Benonni Gardiner, was famous in the his-
tory of Plymouth Colony, as its first Episcopal resi-
dent, who had the courage of his convictions and
dared to maintain an unpopular name.
Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, the great-great-grand-
father of the Rev. Frederic Gardiner, after being in
this country for a time, went to England and Ger-
many, where he studied medicine, and returned to
New England, to become the most noted physician
of the times. A large grant of land was given him
in what is now Maine, and he there established the
settlement that has since became the large and popu-
lous city of Gardiner. He built a large stone church,
and liberally endowed it. By his will his heirs were
to name each succeeding rector, and, as it has hap-
pened that the majority of the church congregation
have always been and still are descendants of the
founder, there has never arisen occasion to question
this somewhat doubtful provision of the will. The
old granite home which Dr. Gardiner built is now
occupied by R. H. Gardiner, a cousin of the gentle-
man whose name introduces this biographical re-
view. Gardiner's Island, N. Y., the original pos-
session of another branch of the family, is also en-
tailed. Dr., Sylvester Gardiner was a warden in the
old Xarragannsett Church, and his daughter was the
wife of Dr. McSparran, a most distinguished divine
of the time.
Among Rev. Frederic Gardiner's , paternal an-
cestors, V.-ZS William Tudor, Judge Advocate Gen-
eral under General Washington, and he was one of
the originators of the Order of the Cincinnati, serv-
ing as its first vice-president. Another ancestor was
a Colonel at the siege of Louisbourg, and several of
his ancestors participated in the Colonial wars. Dr.
Benjamin Vaughan was private secretary to the
Prime Minister, Lord Shelburne, in 1783, and was
sent by him as a special ambassador to Paris during
the negotiations for the Treaty of Independence.
Finding negotiations were at a standstill because the
independence of the Colonies was not acknowledged,,
he posted to England, secured the required recog-
nition, and returned in time to save the Treaty from
failure. As soon as the Treaty was signed he emi-
grated to this country and settled at Hallowell,
Maine, and much of his estate is still in the posses-
sion of his descendants. The marble mantlepiece in
the parlor at Mt. Vernon was presented to Washing-
ton by him. Gen. O. O. Howard was a cousin of the
mother of Mr. Gardiner, and Cardinal Manning, as
well as Charles Stewart Parnell belong to the family^
Rev. Gardiner has the antique mahogany desk which
was used by his progenitor, Dr. Benjamin Vaughan,
upon which, perhaps, some of the correspondence
touching the Treaty of Independence was written^
He has hanging upon the walls of his office at
Yeates School the tomahawk that was given his-
great-grandfather Gardiner by the chief of the Sas-
sanoa tribe of Indians. Dr. Vaughan's brother,
Samuel, was the founder of the Philosophical So-
ciety in Philadelphia.
Rev. Frederic Gardiner, D. D., his degree com-
ing from Hobart and Trinity College, the father of
Rev. Frederic Gardiner, of Yeates School, was an
Episcopal clergyman from the age of twenty years,
and died in 1889. The greater part of his life was
spent as professor of Theology at Gambler, Ohio,
and at Middletown, Conn. He was the founder of
the American Exegetical Society, serving as its first
president, and was a voluminous and useful writer,
his most noted work being a Harmony of the Gos-
pels, in Greek and English. Dr. Frederic Gardiner
was married to Miss Caroline Vaughan, and they
became the parents of five children, two of whom
died in infancy : Emma is the wife of Prof. Henry
Ferguson, of Trinity College; Rev. Frederic is the
Headmaster of the Yeates School ; and Miss Henri-
etta is an instructor in Wellesley College.
Rev. Frederic Gardiner, A. M., was born in Gar-
diner, Maine, in 1858, and was educated at Phillips-
Exeter Academy, from which he was graduated,
and he graduated from Harvard in 1880 ; from Berk-
eley Divinity School in 1885, and he was ordained to
the priesthood the following year. His first pastora!
settlement was at Sioux Falls, S. D., where he be-
came the Dean of the Cathedral. From Sioux Falls
he removed to Pomfret, where he labored ten years
as the rector of a most interesting parish, and where
he started the Pomfret School in association with
William Peck. In 1899 he came to Lancaster to be-
come the Headmaster of the Yeates School, then lo-
cated at Duke and Walnut streets. In September,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
151
of that year, this school was removed to Belmont,
the rural home of the late John Kellar, where Mr.
Gardiner has created a school that gives boys a sub-
stantial education, broad in its curriculum, and most
practical in its bearing on the making of character.
The attendance has grown under the present admin-
istration from twenty-eight to sixty students, and the
literary and manly development of the pupils has at-
tracted, general admiration. They come from the
best families in 'Lancaster, Philadelphia, New York
and elsewhere.
While at Harvard Mr. Gardiner served on the
'Varsity Eleven and also rowed with the Class crew.
Always a close student of athletics, he is a believer
in a rounded and symmetrical manhood, and the boys
under his care are imbued with a healthy love of
manly out-door recreations.
Headmaster Gardiner was married to Miss
Sallie, a daughter of William H. Merrick, of South-
wark, Philadelphia, an iron founder, and a grand-
daughter of the first president of the Pennsylvania
railroad. To this imion were born three children:
Frederic M. and William Henry, both students
of the Yeates School, and Frances Vaughan.
SAMUEL R. SAMPLE, M. D., an old and
prominent physician at Intercourse, Lancaster
county, was bom in Leacock township, that county,
Sept. 13, 1834, son of Dr. Nathaniel W. and Mar-
garet (McCausland) Sample. His father was born
near Delta, York Co., Pa., and in 1780 came to Lan-
caster county with his parents, his father being a
Presbyterian clergyman.
Dr. Nathaniel W. Sample was a very active mem-
ber of the medical profession until old age neces-
sitated his retirement. His medical ability was rec-
ognized by his appointment as an honorary member
of the Ohio Medical College. Dr. Sample practiced
medicine for over sixty years, his practice covering
a wide range of cotmtry, reaching as far away as
Peach Bottom- and Safe Harbor, and he continued
in its active duties to some extent as long as he was
able to see anybody — long after he had given up the
regular work of his profession. He died in 1865.
He belonged to the Presbyterian church, in which
he was an elder for over fifty years. For six years
he was prothonotary. He served as a brigadier-
general in the war of 1812, and for many years
filled the office of brigade inspector. In 1852 he
was a candidate for Congress. He was at Harris-
burg during the "Buckshot War," in which he took
part. Dr. Sample was a member of the Masonic
fraternity, and held the office of Grand Master of
Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Margaret (McCausland) Sample, who was
born here in Leacock township, died in 1870, and
was buried in Leacock cemetery. She was a woman
of fine Christian character. Her marriage to Dr.
Sample took place in Leacock township in 1815, and
they became the parents of the following family:
Nathaniel W., a physician, married Sarah Steele,
and died at the age of thirty-three ; Rebecca C, who
married David Agnew, died at the age of thirty- four ;
William M., who married Margaret Dobson, was a
merchant in Lancaster and at Philadelphia, and went
West, where he died at the age of seventy years;
Elizabeth, who married Dr. S. E. Duffield, died at
the age of forty-six ; Molton R., who married Laete-
tia Knox, is a retired farmer in Philadelphia ; Har-
riet A. married Lieut. D. H. Leche, of the cavalry
service, who was killed in battle in 1862, and she is
also deceased ; Edward C, who married Susan Wil-
son, is a physician and is living retired at Florin,
Pa. ; Newton C, who married Amanda Summy, is
a retired farmer, and his home is in Philadelphia;
Samuel R. is mentioned below.
The grandparents of Dr. Samuel R. Sample were
Rev. Nathaniel W. and Elizabeth (Cowan) Sample.
The grandfather was born in Scotland, and the
grandmother was born in Maryland. When quite
voung he came to America with his parents, and be-
came distinguished alike for his piety and learning.
For forty-two years he preached in Lancaster county,
coming here from Deer Creek, Md., and was in his
later years a professor in a theological school. Some
of the most eminent clergymen of the last generation
passed under his guiding hand, among them being
Dr. Francis Herron, Dr. Cummings, of New York,
Dr. Paxton, and others well known to this State
and elsewhere. The school of theology with which
he labored was established at this residence. The
parents of Mrs. Margaret (McCausland) Sample
were William and Rebecca (Clemson) McCausland.
Her father was a Major in the Revolutionary army.
Dr. Samuel R. Sample was married at Inter-
course, in November, 1861, to Amanda Eaby, by
whom he has had the following children: Susan
married E. M. Ranck, of Lancaster, and is the mother
of two children. Margaret, who married Dr. J. M.
Peters, has her home in Steelton, Pa. Harriet E.
married R. C. Seldomridge, a merchant of Lancas-
ter, Pa., and is the mother of five children. Alice
married Howard M. Grossman, a traveling sales-
man, has her home in Gerrnantown, and is the mother
of four children. Nathaniel W., a farmer on the
old homestead, married Mary Buckwalter. Mary
E., the wife of Robert Taggert, a traveling sales-
man from Detroit, Mich., has one child, and lives
in Detroit. Jeanette married Sebastian B. Roma-
gosa, of Cienfugos, Cuba, who is a capitalist and a
banker, and is engaged with his father in business ;
they have two children.
Mrs. Amanda (Eaby) Sample was born at In-
tercourse, in June, 1841, a daughter of Moses and
Susannah (Kurtz) Eaby, the former a prominent
merchant of Lancaster county. The biography of
his son, J. K. Eaby, appears elsewhere.
Dr, Sample remained at home until he was four-
teen years of age, when he entered the drug store
of Mr. Heinitsch, in Lancaster, and there spent four
years, at the end of which time he began the study
of medicine with his father ; he also read with Dr. D.
152
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Hays Agnew. In due time he was graduated from
the Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, with
the class of 1857. For a short time he was located
at Bird-in-Hand, and on the first day of January,
1858, came to Intercourse, where he has led a long
and honorable life as a devotee of the healing art.
His high character and scientific attainments have
won him many friends, and he has had a practice
at times measured only by his ability to give it proper
attention. During the Civil war he was assistant
surgeon of a Pennsylvania regiment during the lat-
ter half of 1862, when he was attacked with typhoid
fever and obliged to retire from the service. He is
a Knight Templar in the Masonic fraternity, and Jias
been an elder in the Presbyterian Church for more
than twenty years. . In political sentiment he is in-
dependent, and he is regarded as one of the most
intelligent and conscientious citizens of this part
of the coimty. Dr. Sample comes of a fine farriily,
and is a not unworthy representative of a father of
more than ordinary ability, high character and stain-
less reputation.
REUBEN A. BAER (deceased), whose es-
teemed widow lives in a lovely home on East Orange
street, Lancaster, was for an ordinary lifetime justly
regarded as one of the foremost men in that city —
foremost in journalistic, mercantile, banking and
church circles.
Mr. Baer was a son of John Baer, who was born
Jan. 31, 1795, in Leacock township, Lancaster Co.,
Pa., of parentage that is traced back to ancestors
who came to this section of Pennsylvania among the
Mennonites of Swiss origin about the year 1730.
His father, Andrew Baer, was a farmer, and died in
1807, leaving a widow and several' children. The
widow married again, and the family came to Lan-
caster in 1812. The descendants of this family are
found in Lancaster county, western Pennsylvania,
and the Western States, and among them have been
citizens of prominence.
John Baer applied himself to the art of printing- in
the office of William Grier, in Columbia, Lancaster
county, afterward in the office of John Wyeth, in
Harrisburg. In his twenty-first year he formed
a partnership with Samuel Kling, for the publica-
tion of the Volksfreund. In a few months he be-
came sole proprietor of the paper by the purchase of
the interest of Samuel Kling. In 1834 he purchased
the Lancaster Beobachfcr from Samuel Wagner,
and combined the two papers under the title of Der
Volksfreund mid Beohachter {The People's Friend
and Observer). He was nov/ firmly established in
the confidence of the public, and entered on a pros-
perous career, which continued until his death. He
developed remarkable enterprise in the publication
of manv books of miscellaneous, moral and religious
character, besides the regular issue of the German
newspaper, _ English and German almanacs, and
printing work in general.
In 1819 Mr. Baer published a large German
folio Bible, the first German Bible in folio printed in
this country, the prospectus of which appeared in the
first number of the paper published by himself. It
was an enterprise of considerable risk, and attended
with many difficulties, owing to the primitive char-
acter of the printing machinery and apparatus then
in use. It was printed on an ancient Ramage hand-
press, inked by hand-balls, and yet the work was a
success, and compares favorably with work done
with more modern facilities.
■ Mr. Eaer's ancestry secured for him the favor
of the Mennonites of his native country, and by in-
dustry and integrity he gained their patronage and
support, and became the publisher of many of the
religious books used by that denomination. With
the people of Lancaster county, especially those of
German origin, he exerted an influence through the
columns of the Volksfreund which he conscientious-
ly used for the best interests of the community. By
appointment he was for a number of years treasurer
of Lancaster county. From 1828 he continued the
publication of the "Agricultural Almanac," formerly
published by William Albright, and in 1833 com-
menced the publication of the "German Pennsyl-
vania Almanac," both of which were published until
his death, and have been continued by his sons.
These Almanacs have become household friends in
Pennsylvania and the Western States.
In the year 1820 Mr. Baer married Frances Rine,
of Lancaster city, a daughter of a Lutheran family
of German origin, and by her had five sons who grew
to the age of manhood. Of these, Reuben A. Baer
and Christian Rein Baer succeeded him in the busi-
ness of the house under the firm name of John Baer's
Sons ; another son. Rev. Charles A. Baer, was pastor
of the English Lutheran Church at Norristown, Pa.,
where he died in September, 1863; another, Benja-
min F. Baer, was a lawyer of promise, who became
a captain in the I22d Regiment, P. V. I., in the war
of the Rebellion, from which position he was obliged
to retire because of broken health, which caused his
death in 1875 '< another, John A. Baer, was engaged
in business in New York City for many years, and
died there.
As a citizen John Baer was a man of honor and
integrity, and was animated by a sincere desire to
advance the interests of his community. He was a
member of the board of common schools of Lan-
caster city in the early stage of their existence, and
evinced a great interest in their success, knowing
the value of a good education. Liberal and unas-
suming, though firm in his convictions, he won the
esteem and respect of his fellow citizens. He was
a faithful hitsband and a kind father, leading his
children, by education and example, in the paths of
truth and uprightness. Endowed with a vigorous
form and strong constitution, he drew unsparingly
on his energies in the prosecution of his business,
which led to failing health and a shortened life. He
died Nov. 6, 1858, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
Reuben A. Baer was born in the city of Lancaster
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
lo3
April 4, 1823, and C. Rein Baer is the only surviving
brother. His education was pursued in the private
schools of the city, and at what was then Franklin
college, but later combined with old Marshall Col-
lege, and is now widely known as Franklin and Mar-
shall College. In early manhood he entered his
father's printing establishment, and in 1854 he and
his brother, C. Rein Baer, were received into part-
nership by their father, under the firm title of John
Baer & Sons. Upon the death of the head of the
firm the sons carried on the business under the firm
title of John Baer's Sons, continuing the publica-
tion of the German paper called Der Volksfreund,
Baer's Almanac, and other publications, and also the
•conduct of the bookstore. on North Queen street.
The sons M'ere practical men of business, and the
operations carried on by them were eminently suc-
cessful.
Reuben A. Baer was a director and one of the
largest stockholders of the Farmers' National Bank,
and was connected with several turnpike companies,
in which he was a director. He was a member of
Trinity L-utheran Church, of which he was a trustee
for many years. His position as one of the leading
substantial men of Lancaster, and his public spirit
and interest in the city, made him long a very im-
portant factor in its life. His handsome home, lo-
cated at No. 141 East Orange street, is one of the
most attractive in the city, and it had long been his
delight to adorn it with valuable works of art. There
his death occurred Dec. 9, 1897, in his seventy-
fifth year, from a complication of diseases.
Mr. Baer married Miss Mary L. Harman, daugh-
ter of Daniel and Susannah (Herbst) Harman, the
latter of whom still survives, one of the most es-
teemed residents of Lancaster. She is a devout mem-
ber of the Lutheran Church, and is not only a liberal
contributor to its support, but also generous and
charitable in other directions. Revering the mem-
ory of her distinguished husband, Mrs. Baer lives
<juietly in the magnificent home which he erected, on
the site of the old stone mansion that had been the
home of his venerable and beloved father. This
home, located on one of the prettiest squares of East
Orange street, is a monument to Reuben A. Baer's
liberality and good judgment, just as the great print-
ing house and book store are monuments to the cour-
age and progressiveness of John Baer, the founder,
and Reuben A. and C. Rein Baer, the developers, of
the colossal business of John Baer's Sons.
DANIEL HARMAN, father of Mrs. Reuben A.
Baer, was born in Lancaster county, and died in
1862, at the age of seventy- two years. He was
huried in Woodward Hill cemetery, Lancaster. The
parents of Mr. Harman were John and Esther (Ken-
rick) Harman, farming people of Lancaster county.
For many years Daniel Harman was 'well known in
the city of Lancaster, where he was a successful
merchant, conducting a large store, his stock in-
cluding dry goods, groceries, china, etc. On ac-
count of failing health, he retired from active busi-
ness some years prior to his death. He was one of
the leading, active members of St. John's Lutheran
Church, and was one of its most liberal supporters.
Mr. Harman was afthe time of his death regarded
as one of the wealthy and prominent citizens who
had always done his full duty in the advancement of
the best interests of Lancaster.
Daniel Harman was married in Lancaster, to
Miss Susannah Herbst, who was born in Philadel-
phia, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Herbst, of
that city. Mr. Herbst, a wealthy merchant of Phila-
delphia, settled in Lancaster after his retirement,
and there passed the remainder of his life. Mrs.
Herbst died in 1871, at the age of seventy-two, and
was interred by the side of her husband in the beauti-
ful Woodward Hill cemetery, in Lancaster. The
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Harman were as fol-
lows : Henry, who died in Lancaster ; William
Beates, who died in Cairo, 111., during the Civil war,
having been a soldier of Co. B, ist Pa. Reserves;
Elizabeth E., who died in 1901, the wife of Chris-
tian Yeager, a prominent retired merchant of Alle-
gheny, Pa. ; Anna M., who is the widow of Will-
iam W. Wills, of Wilkinsburg, Pa., who carried
on a wholesale and retail variety business ; Mary L.,
widow of. Reuben A. Baer : Susannah, who died un-
married ; and John and Samuel, who removed from
Pennsylvania, the former becoming a merchant in
Maryland, where he died, and the latter dying' in
California. These families are among the leading
ones in Lancaster, and are truly representative of
its commercial prosperity and social importance.
CHRISTIAN REIN BAER. In reviewing the
history of Lancaster the name of Baer is often found,
and always in connection with enterprises tending
toward the development of local resources and the
welfare of the citizens. The entire life of Christian
R. Baer has been associated with Lancaster, for
there he was born May 12, 1828, and there the years
of his youth and manhood have been usefully passed.
As a Bookseller and Publisher he continues a busi-
ness established many years ago, and which has
never yet passed out of the hands of the family, but
has descended in honorable succession from father
to son,
In the home of his parents, John and Frances
(Rein) Baer, the boyhood of Christian R. Baer was
quietly passed, his time being occupied with the
exercises of youth and study in public and private
schools. The family being able to give the children
fair educational advantages, he was sent to Frank-
lin (now Franklin and Marshall) College, where
the knowledge acquired in common schools was
supplemented by the efforts of the excellent corps
of educators which the Faculty of that institution
comprised. On leaving college he entered his fa-
ther's establishment, where he and his brother, Reu-
ben A., continued during many years to relieve their
father of business cares and responsibilities, and on
154
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the death of the senior member of the firm, in 1858,
the two sons succeeded to the ownership, continuing
together until the elder brother died. On the settle-
ment of the estate Christian R. Baer acquired the
ownership of the business of John Baer's Sons.
Mr. Baer has continued the publication of Der
Volksfreund imd Beobachter, a German newspaper
supporting the measures of the Republican party
since its origin ; also the publication of the Books
and Almanacs of the firm, of which the Agricultural
Almanac is now in its seventy-eighth edition. To
carry on this business he has erected a four-story
printing house, equipped with modern conveniences,
machinery and material necessary for the Printing
and Publishing business. He is loyal to his home
city, to his county and to his country, and his sym-
pathy and aid are always to be relied upon in move-
ments for the benefit of the people.
In Philadelphia, Pa., J\Iay 27, 1875, occurred the
marriage of Christian R. Baer and Joanna Seiser, a
daughter of John Seiser, of that city. Mr. and Mrs.
Baer are the parents of three children, all of whom
remain in the family home, namely : Frances R.,
John F. and Charles S. The sons assist their father
in his biisiness, the details of which they are master-
ing, so that in all probability the interests which have
remained in the family so many years will be carried
forward through another generation.
JOHN W. FORNEY, the celebrated journalist
and politician, was born at Lancaster in 1817, and
began editing the Intelligencer about 1838. In 1845
he removed to Philadelphia, Pa., and edited the
Pennsylvanian, for many years the Democratic State
organ. He was clerk of the United States House
of Representatives from 1852 to 1855, and through
his efiorts, James Buchanan carried Pennsylvania,
and was elected President in 1856. In August, 1857,
he founded the Philadelphia Press. He was again
clerk of the United States House of Representatives.
In 1874 he was appointed United States Centennial
Commissioner to Europe. He died in December,
1881.
ALBERT FRANCIS SHENCK, a prominent
member of the Lancaster County Bar, who enjoys
the distinction of having been the youngest soldier
in the Union Army during the War of the Rebellion,
belongs to a very old and influential family of Lan-
caster county.
Henry Shelly Shenck, his father, was born near
Mt. Joy, Lancaster county, Nov. 19, 1813, a son of
Peter and Catherine (Shellv) Shenck, the former of
whom died when his son Henry was three months
old. The mother survived nine years, but in the
meantime had married a second time, and by this
union she became the mother of one child, Eliza
Hunt, who married George White, by whom she
had three children, Sarah M., Ann and George, Jr.
Both Mr. White and George, Jr., gave up their
lives in the Civil war. Mrs. White is still living.
and has attained the advanced age of eighty-four.
John Shenck, son of Peter and brother of Henry S.,
died March 14, 1851. Henry S. Shenck received
a common school education, and after reaching ma-
ture years clerked in a country store. In 1841 he
began the hotel business at Chickies, and he followed
this line of work periodically until 1870, when he
was elected register of wills. After one term of three
years in that office he retired, and engaged in no
active work until 1890, when he was appointed Tip-
staff, which office he still retains, although at this
writing he is in his ninetieth year. On Oct. 27, 1840,
Henry S. Shenck was married to Sarah M. Eichler,
who was born June 29, 1823, a daughter of Abra-
ham Eichler, a farmer in .Whitehall, who died when
Mrs. Shenck was quite young. There were fifteen
children born of this union, and of the six deceased,
four died in infancy. Caroline E. died at the age
of forty-three, and William C. was drowned in the
Delaware River at the age of thirty-four. The
others are : Jefferson E., a clerk ; Harry C, a dealer
in second-hand furniture, and ixientioned elsewhere
in this work; Howard B., who is a salesman in a
New York store, and who made' a tour of Europe
in 1899; AmeHa J., the wife of L. E. Reeves, a
jeweler of Dayton, Ohio ; Mary A., Sarah and Laura
all at home unmarried ; Albert Francis ; and Kate,
wife of W. G. Eckman, a clerk in Hager & Brothers.
On Oct. 27, 1890, this worthy couple celebrated the
fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, and a host
of friends and relatives from far and near gathered
to wish them many more happy years together —
wishes that are being well fulfilled as on Oct. 27,
1900, they celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of the
same happy day. Few people are entitled to the es-
teem so heartily accorded this grand old man and his
noble helpmeet, and few are as well known.
Abraham Eichler, father of Mrs. Shenck, was a
merchant and farmer, and died in 1846. His wife,
Augusta Barker, died in 1840. They were the par-
ents of four children: Orlando W., who died in
infancy; George Simon, who died in 1870; Sarah
M., who became Mrs. Shenck ; and Caroline A., who
married William Carpenter.
Albert Francis Shenck was born on his father's
farm, in Rapho township, Aug. 16, 1847, ^"d re-
ceived his education in Lancaster, to which city
his father removed when he was a mere lad. When
the war of the Rebellion broke out, young Shenck
enlisted as a bugler in Co. F, 9th P. V. C, com-
manded by Capt. John Wise (the veteran aeronaut,
who, up to the time of his strange disappearance,,
and now generally conceded death in the pine for-
ests, had made more balloon ascensions than any
other man in this century). Young Shenck was
just fourteen years of age when he enlisted, and al-
though there have been innumerable newspaper dis-
cussions as to' the youngest soldier, that distinction
has never been snatched from Mr. Shenck. His
term of service extended from 1861 to 1865, and he
participated in the battles of Perryville, Chicka-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
155
mauga, Stone River, Sherman's March to the Sea,
and many other fierce and bloody engagements, be-
sides innumerable skirmishes. For a time he was
in Libby prison, but was never wounded. He was
bugler on the staff of Gen. James Jackson, who was
killed at Perryville, and Bugler Shenck carried the
Hag of truce to recover the body of his gallant com-
mander, an event which excited much comment,
and showed a brave and manly heart in so young a
man.
_Mr. Shenck became an apprentice at a business
which did not agree with him, after the war, and he
entered Franklin and Marshall College, from which
he graduated in the class of 1871. He read law
with the late Congressman O. J. Dickey, and was
admitted to practice May 10, 1875. Mr. Shenck
has had a practice before the Supreme Court for
the last fifteen years, and many of his cases have ex-
cited much attention. Mr. Shenck has been county
and city solicitor, has been chairman of the Repub-
lican County Committee for two terms, and also
chairman of the Republican City Committee for the
past five years. For 1900 he was supervisor of
census in the 8th District of Pennsylvania, compris-
ing the counties of Lancaster and York, fulfilling
its laborious duties with satisfaction to his constit-
uents and with credit to himself.
Mr. Shenck is a Moravian in religion, and he
is an afliable and genial gentleman, earnestly de-
voted to the pleasant labor of making the declining
years of his parents peaceful and comfortable.
HENRY CHARLES HARNER, who has been
an official of the First National Bank of Lancaster
since 1864, for twenty-five years being cashier of
that institution, has had a more than usually inter-
esting history. His maternal grandfather was a
master carpenter and builder in Lancaster, and his
grandmother owned the old homestead on Mulberry
street, Lancaster, within a stone's throw of St. John's
Episcopal church. Near there Henry C. Harner
was born, and that section has been his residence
to the present time — his present home being on West
Chestnut street.
His ancestors on both sides were patriots and
soldiers, and his grandfather Harner served in the
war of 1812. John Harner, father of our subject,
was a carpenter by trade ; he died about 1852. His
wife, Sophia Zelles, died in 1887. She received
her education in a school taught by the Widow
Paulding, whose husband was one of the captors of
Major Andre. To John and Sophia (Zelles) Harner
were born six children, four sons and two daugh-
ters: William; Emanuel: John; Henry Charles;
Mrs. Martin G. Light, whose husband is a coach
trimmer: and Marv A., now deceased. Of these,
Henry Charles and John are the surviving sons, the
latter having been for twenty years connected with
the Supreme Court at Harrisburg, where he has his
home. . .
Henry Charles Harner was born m the old family
home in Mulberry street, Feb. 6, 1842. After being-
educated in the public school and taking a practical
course in Franklin and Marshall College, he spent
about five years in mercantile pursuits, part of the
time being engaged in the store owned and operated
by H. A. Rockafield, devoted to patent medicines,,
and the rest of the time in Heinitsh's music store.
Entering the First National Bank as bookkeeper iix
1864, he became teller in a comparatively brief time,
and in 1875 was made cashier of the bank, a posi-
tion he has occupied continuously, declining all over-
tures for work of any other kind. This fidelity has
been remarked not only by the bank officials, but
by the general public. Mr. Harner is at present one
of the vice-presidents of the Lancaster Fire Insur-
ance Co., and has been associated in the manage-
ment of that concern for over twenty years, longer
than any other man now connected with it. Only
one assessment has been called for fire losses in eight
years, a fact that speaks much for the management
of the company, as it carries a large volume of in-
surance.
Mr. Harner was a mover in the erection of the
Western Market House, serving as a member of
the building committee, and as treasurer of that in-
stitution. He was a director of the city railway
system until its consolidation with the Pennsylvania.
Traction Co., and a director of the Lebanon and
Myerstown trolley lines until they passed into the
control of the United Power and Transportation Co.,.
in 1899. Mr. Harner has also been a director of the
Camden and Trenton Railway Co., a director also
of the Lancaster and Manheim Electric Railway,,
and of the Lancaster and Columbia Street Railway.
Much public spirit and enterprise has been shown
by him, but the proudest monuments to his memory
are the many substantial houses he has caused ta
be erected in the western part of Lancaster, for he
was a pioneer in the development of what is now
the garden spot of the city. He is a prominent mem-
ber of the Board of Trade of Lancaster.
In 1874, Mr. Harner was married to S. Frances
Seitz, a daughter of Christian Seitz, a farmer, who
lives near Mt. Joy. To this marriage were born five
children, four of whom are living: Arthur J., with
A. N. Chandler & Co., bankers of Philadelphia;
Edith Frances and Edna Grace, both of whom are
at home; and H. Stanley, formerly a student of
Franklin and Marshall Academy, and at Elizabeth-
town College, but now at home.
Mr. Harner has not only contributed much tO'
the upbuilding of the city, but by his integrity has
added confidence and strength to its financial circles.
By his affability and close application to the affairs-
of the First National Bank, with which he has been
so long connected, he has added strength and popu-
larity to that old and substantial institution. He
is a member of the Episcopal Church, and his wife
of the German Baptist. In politics he is a Republi-
can, but cares nothing for the honors of pubHc
office.
156
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
CHRISTIAN MUSSELMAN is one of the
prominent business men and influential citizens of
East Lampeter, in which township he has extensive
and flourishing business interests.
Michael Musselman, the grandfather, was a dis-
tiller and miller of Paradise, and his son, John Mus-
selman, who was born in November, 1811, was a
miller. The latter learned his. trade in youth, and
attained such proficiency therein that the "Wheat-
land Mills," of which he was the proprietor, enjoyed
a. reputation second to none in the county of Lan-
■caster. In fact, it is said in regard to his skill that
in such request was the "Wheatland" output, that
good housewives were wont to ascribe the failure
■of a baking to the fact that they had not had John
Musselman's flour. He married Eliza A. Brackbill
in February, 1834, and became the father of eleven
children. Besides Christian, with whose career this
sketch is more particularly concerned, these were:
Frank B., of Strasburg ; Emma S., the wife of Dr.
A. J. Herr, of Lancaster ; Martha M., and Barbara
A., both of whorri remained unmarried; Lida A.,
•deceased, wife of Dr. J. Harry Musser, of Lam-
peter Square; Myra, wife of Dr. H. E. Musser, of
Witmer, Pa. ; Milton and Susan, both of whom are
•deceased ; Harriet Frances and Addie, twins, the first
named of whom became the wife of Reuben D. Herr.
Mr. John Musselman is still living, having retired
■from active business life. His wife died in November,
1888, at the age of seventy-eight years.
Christian Musselman was born Jan. 18, 1839.
His educational advantages were superior to those
•of most boys of the locality in which he lived, as at-
tendance at the Normal School at Millersville was
supplemented by a commercial course in a Phila-
•delphia business college. His school days over, he
began work in his father's mill, and it is not easy
to suppose that he could have found a better quali-
fied or more patient instructor in his manly trade,
which has been honored alike in story and in verse.
At the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, the
Anderson Troop was formed, and on Oct. 28, 1861,
Christian Musselman rode away, to plant again his
-country's flag where it had been trailed in the dust,
and to aid in establishing a reunited land. In March,
1863, Co. G, 15th Pa. Cav., was recruited and Chris-
tian Musselman received a commission as first lieu-
tenant and was made adjutant of the regiment. After
being mustered out, at Chambersburg on Feb. 20,
1864, he returned home, to claim in marriage the
maiden's hand that had been promised him long be-
fore. Then followed his union with Miss Mary
Luetta Musser, a daughter of Jacob H. Musser. ■
In 1869 Mr. Musselman embarked in the lumber,
■coal and feed business at Witmer, and he has con-
ducted his yards there almost unintermittently since
that date. His success has been marked, but not
unexpected by those who knew his sagacity, indus-
try, perseverence and pluck. For fourteen years
he represented the railroad interests at that point,
and his progressive ideas, forceful character and un-
assailable integrity have gained for him an enviable
position in the community at large. His home is a
pleasant one, and the numerous substantial improve-
ments upon his property one and all indicate thrift
and prosperity. He is a member of the directorate
of the Peoole's Bank of Lancaster.
Mrs. Mary M. Musselman is a granddaughter
of Dr. Martin Musser, and a daughter of his son
Jacob H., who was also a physician of wide repute.
Jacob H. Musser was born in Lampeter Square, Lan-
caster county, June ?4, 1819, and died March 4, i8go,
after an honored life exceeding three score years.
He studied medicine under the preceptorship of his
father, Martin Musser, and began his professional
career on "Horseshoe Road." After two years he
removed to Smoketown, on the old Philadelphia
turnpike, and there he remained until his death. He
was a man of profound study and deep research,
and as a practitioner far in advance of his times.
His heart was tender and sympathetic and no insig-
nificant portion of his time was devoted to the aid
of the poor, to whose relief he gave his best skill
without hope, or even thought, of compensation,
knowing that his richest earthly reward was to be
found in the grateful tears of some mother whose
child, he had helped to save. To say that he was
beloved is to describe but feebly the positive venera-
tion in which he was held. Others have succeeded
to his practice yet his memory will remain forever
green. On Oct. 20, 1840, he married Martha Herr.
Her father, John Herr, was a bishop in the Reformed
Mennonite church. She was born Oct. 12, 1820,
and died May 6, i8g8. To their marriage came the
following children : Mary Luetta, Mrs. Christian
Musselman; John, deceased; Ann Elizabeth, who
married Ezra F. Bowman, of Lancaster; John H.
and Francis Martin, both deceased ; Willis Benja-
min; and Omar Henry.
HENRY M. ENGLE, who was born in Conoy
township, Lancaster county, on April 11, 1819, died
at his home in East Donegal township, Feb. 7, 1897.
He was one of the best known horticulturists of the
State. He was a son of Henry Engle, and his grand-
father, Jacob Engle, was one of the founders and
also a minister of the denomination known as the
River Brethren. The first of the name of Engle
in the United States came from Switzerland.
Henry M. Engle was one of the organizers of
the Lancaster Horticultural Society which was sub-
sequently merged into the Lancaster County Agri-
cultural Society, and of this latter body he had been
president for a number of years. He was also a
member of the American Pomological Society, and
one of the founders of State Board of Agriculture.
Mr. Engle was married three times, and was the
father of twenty-one children. His first wife was
Miss Elizabeth Breneman, to whom he was iharried
Dec. 19, 1839; the second wife was Miss Lizzie
Musser; and the third wife was Miss Fannie Niss-
ley, to whom he was married in 1875.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
157
In politics he was a Whig, and when that party
broke up he became a RepubHcail, representing that
faction in the State Legislature during 1871 and
1872. He was for a number of years a school di-
rector of East Donegal township. For a long time
he was a member of the Patrons of Husbandry and
of the Good Templars. In religion he belonged to
the River Brethren.
MAJOR ADAM CYRUS REINOEHL, who
passed away Dec. 14, 1900, was one of the best known
and popular citizens of Lancaster county.
The ancestors of Major Reinoehl were old and
prominent Pennsylvanians, and his father, Augustus
Reinoehl, who was for many years a resident of
Lancaster, where he was greatly respected, is now
living in the city of Lebanon, this State. Adam C.
Reinoehl was born Nov. 15, 1840, in Lebanon, and
when sixteen years old came to Lancaster with his
parents. In 1861, he was graduated from Franklin
and Marshall College. After this he taught school
for two months in Ephrata township, and then gave
way to his patriotic impulses, enlisting in the 76th
Pennsylvania Volunteers, known to fame as the
Keystone Zouaves, and participating in all of the
battles with his regiment in the Department of the
South. On Dec. 10, 1862, he was made quarter-
master sergeant of his regiment, and on Jan. 24,
1863, he was promoted to the position of sergeant-
major. Conspicuous in leading a charge that re-
sulted in the capture of the batteries at Morris Isl-
and, S. C, July 10, 1863, he also took a gallant part
at Fort Wagner, where he was seriously wounded- in
the arm, so seriously, indeed, that he was unfit for
duty for some time. But in April, 1864, he re-en-
listed for three years. Andrew G. Curtin, the State's
great war governor, issued a commission as first
lieutenant in the 76th Regiment to Mr. Reinoehl,
and for quite a time he commanded his company,
and took a conspicuous part in the terrible struggle
at Cold Harbor and in the explosion at Petersburg.
On Aug. 4, 1864, he was promoted to adjutant for
gallantry on the field of battle. At Darbytown Road
he was wounded in the thigh, which compelled his
return home, and he was honorably discharged Feb.
6, 1865, having first been breveted major for gallant
and meritorious service in the attack on Darbytown
Road.
After returning to civil life Major Reinoehl en-
tered the law office of the late Hon. Oliver J. Dickey,
and was admitted to practice in 1866. Naturally
shrewd, with a bright mind and a literary and stu-
dious disposition, he was endowed with many of
the qualities essential to success in his chosen call-
ing, and enjoyed an extensive practice. But public
life was more to his liking, and he was an ardent
Republican from early manhood. An eloquent
speaker, he became a great campaign orator, and
rendered much eflfective service to the Republican
cause. In 1868 Major Reinoehl was elected to the
Legislature, in which he served three terms, and in
1872, Gov. Geary appointed him deputy secretary
of the Commonwealth, in which office Gov. Hart-
ranf t continued him. Both complimented him highly
for his efficiency. In 1889 he was appointed a mem-
ber of the Soldiers' Orphan School Commission, and
the same year was elected district attorney of Lan-
caster county, his term expiring Jan. i, 1893. At
the death of Major Ellwood Griest, President Mc-
Kinley appointed Major Reinoehl postmaster of
Lancaster, the duties of which position he assumed
Feb. 23,. 1900, retaining same until his death.
Major Reinoehl married Miss Lucy Davis, a
daughter of the late W. V. Davis, for many years
the beloved principal of the Boys High school in
Lancaster. Mrs. Reinoehl and four children sur-
vive the Major: Walter A., who was in the law
office with his father; Mary, wife of Walter Mc-
Farran, of Pittsburg, Pa. ; Gertrude ; and Albert.
The Major was a member of the Presbyterian church.^
Socially he was identified with Post No. 84, G. A. R. ;
the Masonic fraternity; and the Artisans , Order of
Mutual Protection.
Major Reinoehl was invariably the central figure
in every group he joined. An infinitely good story-tel-
ler, a fine conversationalist on any topic, a natural hu-
morist, a fluent writer, it would have been strange,
indeed, had he not been popular. He was a great
lover of nature and his letters from the Tucquan
Club to The New Era at its annual camp at York
Furnace, written over the nom de plume of "Demas,"
in which he vividly pictured the beauties of that
charming spot, were eagerly read. Generous at all
times and under all circumstances, true in his friend-
ships, gentle as a woman in his nature, yet brave
as the bravest in the hour of danger. Major Rei-
noehl was pre-eminently possessed of those qualities
of mind and heart which made him the popular man
he was, and as such he will ever be remembered by
those who knew him best. We extract the following
from The New Era (to which he was a frequent
and welcome contributor), issue of Dec. 14, 1900:
"The blow falls heavily on The New Era and its
staff, to whom he bore the most intimate relations
as friend and contributor, relations which dated back
to the days of the old Express, before the war, in
which he took so active and patriotic a part. As
a war correspondent he had few equals in invests
ing his narratives with absorbing interest and touches
of that quaint humor for which he was noted, and
which was never strained. Good humor and a
genial spirit seemed to be an inseparable element
of his nature."
MARTIN BARR. In the year 1790 Martin Barr
located in what is now the northern end of Quarry-
ville, and there constructed a manor house known as
the "Ark." It was a substantially built and com-
modious structure. The Barrs were good farmers
and Martin's family consisted of Abram, Chris-
tian, Martin and Jacob, and two daughters, Chris-
tina, who married John Mowrer, being the last sur-
158
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
viving daughter. Upon the death of Martin Barr
his son Adam purchased the "Ark." Adam died in
1836, and the homestead was purchased by Jacob
Barr, wlio carried on lime burning and farming
until in 1852, when he sold out to Daniel Lefever.
Of the. children of Martin Barr, Christian died in
18 16; Adam in 1836; Abram died in 1836, and Mar-
tin died in 1826. "Lame" Jacob Barr, as he was
■called, who purchased the "Ark" from Adam's heirs,
was born in Strasburg in 1778. He was a second
cousin of Martin Barr, the elder, and besides being
a lime burner and farmer, he was known as a team-
ster all over the State. He died in 1874, aged ninety-
six years. One of his grand children is Miss Anna
Lyle, teacher of history in the Millersville State
Normal School. The lime business continued to
grow in Quarryville after it was established by Mar-
tin Barr, until about i860, when commercial fertil-
izers began to be put on the market. Millions of
bushels of lime have been burned from stone taken
from the quarries on the "Ark" property. Those
who tenanted the "Ark" are gone, the estate is sub-
divided, new methods have succeeded the old, but
the "Ark" still stands as a landmark in the village
of Quarryville.
JAMES C. BROBST, M. D., a popular physi-
cian of Lititz, Lancaster county, is descended from
Dr. Valentine Brobst, who came to America from
Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1827, and settled in
Baltimore, where he helped to establish the Balti-
more University. He was the great-grandfather of
Dr. James C. Brobst. His son, Valentine Brobst,
was also a physicain. The latter left Baltimore, his
first home, and went to Mt. Carmel, Pa., where he
"had extensive investments in coal lands, and from
there removed to Reading.
Valentine Brobst (3), father of Dr. James C,
was a scrivener and conveyancer. He married Mary
Miller, daughter of Peter Miller, a hotel keeper at
Hamburg, Berks Co., Pa. They had five children,
four of whom are still living: John A., of Bern-
-ville. Pa. ; Dr. Edward, of West Leesport, Pa. ; Mary
E., wife of J. Frank Buck, proprietor and editor of
the Lititz Record; and Dr. James C, of Lititz.
Sarah, wife of Col. J. H. Rossler, went to California
for her health, and died there.
James C. Brobst was born at Rohrersburg, Pa.,
Aug. 18, 1844. After attending the academy at My-
■erstown. (which is now known as the Palatinate Col-
lege) he entered Franklin and Marshall College, at
Lancaster, from which he was graduated in 1861,
as valedictorian of the class, which embraced a num-
ber of young men who afterward attained eminence.
Studying medicine in the office of his brother. Dr.
John A. Brobst, he prepared himself for entrance
to the University of Pennsylvania, where he spent
four years, graduating in the class of 1864. Two
years later he was graduated from Bellevue Hos-
pital Medical College, of New York. During his
course at the University of Pennsylvania, he served
in the Union army, as assistant surgeon of the 46th
P. V. I., and at the end of a year and a half of
faithful service was discharged by reason of the
closing of the war.
Dr. Brobst began the practice of medicine in
civil life in Leesport, Berks county, where he re^
mained three years, and then removed t0 Mohrs-
ville, where he practiced five years, at the end of
that period coming to Lititz. This was in Septem-
ber, 1873, and Dr. Brobst has been a resident of
Letitz continuously to the present time, and has so
grown into and with the place, that he is now one
of the most familiar and prominent figures of that
famous borough. He is a member of the State
Medical Society, and was one of its representatives
to the National Medical Society at its session in
Washington in 1872. He is a member of the local
post of the Grand Army, and all the old veterans
look upon him as their especial friend. This is the
only fraternal organization with which he is con-
nected. In religion he is descended from an old
and faithful family of Lutherans.
Dr. Brobst was married, in 1868, to Miss Emma
E. Mohr, a daughter of Isaac H. Mohr, of Mohrs-
ville, whose ancestors founded the thriving and busy
place that bears their name. To this union were
born three children, two of whom are living : Helen
Mohr, now a student at Linden Hall ; and Valentine,
also attending school.
Dr. Brobst's office is adjacent to his fine and
commodious drug store, in the rear of which is a
laboratory where are prepared the specialties manu-
factured by the Inland Chemical Company, which
was founded in 1870, and reorganized into the pres-
ent company in 1899. Of this organization Dr.
Brobst is president. Its specialties are Tea-berry
Elixir, Indian Herb Red Clover Cough Syrup, Pain
Cure Oil and Lecto-Peptic Acid, which are now sold
all over the country.
Dr. Brobst is the owner of a fine store and farm
at Lime Rock, Lancaster county. He is president
of the Farmers Fencing Association, an organization
which ineets monthly in Lancaster to consider and
meet the fence question, a most important one to
farmers ; its energies are devoted to the growth and
erection of hedges and wire fences. It has no stock
on the market, a surplus in the treasury, and has
paid six per cent for a number of years. Much of
its prosperity is due to the doctor's earnest and capa-
ble interest in its affairs. Dr. Brobst has been an
active promoter and manager of county fairs at
Lancaster and Lititz for many years, and is closely
associated with the farming interests of his com-
munity.
Dr. Brobst's business associations are many and
profitable. He was a promoter of the Lititz Electric
Light Company, which was organized in 1874, and
is its president ; he is a director of the Womelsdorf
Water Company, of the Schuylkill Valley Electric
Railway Company, the Mine Hill Steam Railway,
and of the Lititz Water Company ; and has recently
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
159
assisted in the organization of the Lititz Sanitarium,
founded for the treatment of chronic diseases, with
room for twenty-five patients. Dr. Brobst is always
ready to invest his time and money in every enter-
prise that looks to the improvement of the beautiful
borough in which his home is found.
Politically Dr. Brobst is a Republican, but he
has never consented to take a political position save
one, and that was when his fellow townsmen in-
sisted upon his election as chief burgess, he being
Ihe second man to fill that office after that town had
become a borough. He has been active as a cam-
faign orator for the Republican party for the last
twenty years, being called upon by the State Com-
mittee to serve in that capacity in the Harrison cam-
paign and both McKinley campaigns. A forceful
and earnest speaker, he attracts the masses with his
great fund of anecdote and story, so that when one
of his Lititz friends introduces him at political meet-
ings as a second Mark Twain the introduction is
regarded by the audience as an appropriate one. No
man in Lititz is more popular, and few men in the
county are more widely or favorably known than
Dr. Brobst.
Though he has been active in many fields of use-
fulness. Dr. Brobst's greatest work undoubtedly has
"been a philanthropic one. He has reared and edu-
cated eleven boys and two girls, and each of these
eleven boys is now a successful druggist.
REV. ABRAHAM HORST, who, since 1868,
has been a faithful and devoted minister of the Men-
nonite faith, was born Sept. 20, 1821, a son of Peter
and Elisabeth (Heisey) Horst, who were born on
adjoining farms in Lebanon county. Pa., and there
passed their lives. Peter Horst was a farmer by
•occupation and passed to rest in July, 1840, while his
wife had preceded him to the better land in 1829.
Their remains lie buried in a private burying ground
•on their old farm. In life they were consistent fol-
lowers of the Mennonite faith. The children born
to Peter Horst and wife were as follows: Peter,
who died in 1890, married Nancy Shaffer, and has
a family of five children ; Jacob, who died in 1894,
married Nancv Kraybill, and had no family ; Eliza-
beth married Peter Smith, and became the mother
of seven children, but is now deceased ; Sarah is the
•deceased wife of Michael Shank, by whom she had
six children ; David, who died in 1875, married Ehza
Brightenstein, and had eight children: Benjamin,
now deceased, married Sarah Shawk, and had six
•children ; Rev. Abraham is next in order of birth ;
and Mary, deceased, married Jacob Bachman, and
tecame the mother of eleven children. Previous
to his marriage with Elisabeth Heisey, Peter Horst
liad wedded Catherine Smith, a native of Lebanon
county. Pa., who became the mother of four chil-
dren all now deceased. The children by this first
marriage were: Nancy: Joseph; Catherine, who
married Samuel Gaman, and had seven children;
and Samuel, who married Catherine Shaffer, and
had eight children.
The old home of the Horst family in Lebanon
county was originally purchased many years ago,
and consisted of four hundred acres. The place
is now occupied by the fifth generation from the
original owner. The Heisey family were also of
Lebanon county, and were farming people. They
originally came from Switzerland.
Rev. Abraham Horst remained with his parents
until they had both passed away, and then leaving
the home farm, began milling, first in Manheim, and
then on the Conestoga, but after a year and a half
he went West, locating in Montgomery county, Ohio,
where he followed the same occupation for one and
one-half years. He then returned to Lebanon county.
Pa., and there worked in the sawmill business for
his brothers. This he continued until his marriage,
when he began farming in that same county, but a
year later located in Penn township, Lancaster
county, and after five years located on the farm he
• still owns, and which he continued to operate until
1890, when he retired and moved to the present com-
fortable home, leaving his son and namesake to con-
tinue the cultivation of the fields. In 1868 he was
admitted to the ministry of the Mennonite faith, in
which he had been reared, and has continued to ex-
pound the doctrines of his Church to the present
time, after the manner of Chaucer's "good man of
religion," who "preached, but first he practiced it
himself." In his political faith he was a Republican
until his admission to the ministry. He is one of the
prominent men of his community, beloved alike for
his genial manners and his unquestioned integrity.
Rev. Horst has been twice married. First in 1847,
in Lancaster, he wedded Miss Anna Brubaker, and
to this union were born the following children : Su-
sannah B., who married Henry Shank, of Penn town-
ship, and had fourteen children ; Maria B., who mar-
ried Martin Risser, a farmer of Mt. Joy township,
and has eight children; Elizabeth B., who married
Rev. Abraham Kauffman, a Mennonite preacher of
Port Huron, Mich., by whom she has four children ;
Anna B., who married Anthony Fauser, a farmer of
Penn, and has ten children; Sarah B., deceased in
infancy; Catherine B., who married Jacob Risser,
a farmer of Mt. Joy township, and has three chil-
dren; Abraham B., a farmer residing on the old
homestead: Miss Fanny B., residing in Rapho
township ; Benjamin B., unmarried, and residing in
Fulton, Ohio; Barbara B., who died in infancy; and
Martha B., who married Oscar Kreider, a painter of
Rapho township, and has three children. Mrs. Anna
(Brubaker) Horst was born in 1823, and died in
1872, her remains resting in Hernley's Meeting
House cemetery. She was the daughter of Jacob
and Maria (Eby) Brubaker, of Lancaster.
For his second wife. Rev. Horst married, June
17, 1879, in Perry county. Pa., Miss Rebecca J,
Lauver, daughter of Fred and Mary (Auker) Lau-
160
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ver, and to this union was born one daughter, Na-
omi L., who lives at home.
Fred Lauver was actively engaged in farming
in Perry county, until about ten years prior to his
death which occurred March 17, 1876, when he was
aged seventy-five years. His wife, Mary Auker, a
daughter of Casper and Mary (Brandt) Auker, of
Perry county, was born in 1802, and passed away
March 25, 1882, and was buried at the side of her
husband in Fautz Valley. They, too, were members
of the Mennonite Church, in which her father, Cas-
per Auker, was a minister. The following is a brief
record of their family of children: Fanny, who
married Jacob H. Lehman, of Franklin County, Pa. ;
Belthasor, of Juniata county. Pa., married Mary
Kraybill; Mary married Christian Martin, of Lan-
caster county ; Anna married John Kraybill, of Sny-
der county. Pa. ; Susannah, deceased ; Lydia mar-
ried Isaac Winey, of Snyder county. Pa. ; Catherine
married Benjamin Dillman, of Juniata county, Pa. ;
Elizabeth married Eli Grubb, of Perry county;
Isaac was deceased in infancy; Simeon married,
(first) Margaret Grubb, and (second) Elizabeth'
Book ; and Rebecca J., wife of Rev. Horst. _ Fr,ed
Lauver was a son of Michael and Anna (Kindig)
Lauver, of whom the former, Michael, was a farmer
and Mennonite deacon in Juniata county.
THOMAS BAUMGARDNER COCHRAN.
Prominently identified with much of the public life
of the State of Pennsylvania, a leader in the Repub-
lican party, and an influential factor in the literary
and commercial life of Lancaster, Thomas Baum-
gardner Cochran well represents the finest type of
American citizenship. As a senior member of the
firm of T. B. & H. B. Cochran, proprietors and
editors of the Examiner and Express, of Lancaster,
he has long exerted a wide influence, and is no less
honored beyond his home, as an able journalist.
The ancestors of Mr. Cochran, as described in
ancient records, belonged to a family of great an-
tiquity, and the name is derived from the Barony of
Cochrane, in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Warden de
Cochrane, in the reign of Alexander III, was a wit-
ness to grants of sundry lands in the County of Ar-
gyll made by Dunegal, or Dongal, the son of Swaine,
to Walter Gumming, Earl of Monteith, and his suc-
cessor swore fealty to King Edward I, of England.
William Cochrane, who lived in the reign of Queen
Mary, obtained from Her Majesty charters of the
land and Barony of Cochrane, and erected from its
foundations the ancient seat of that family, at the
same time that he adorned it with extensive planta-
tions. Sir John Cochrane lived in the reign of
Charles I, and was a devoted Loyalist. His brother.
Sir William Cochrane, of Cowden, a man of "great
parts and learning," was equally loyal, and in recog-
nition of his services was raised to the peerage, in
1647, as Baron Cochrane, of Dundonald, and at the
same time was created Lord Cochrane of Paisley
and Ochiltree. Lord Cochrane left two sons, Will-
iam, Lord Cochrane, and Sir John Cochrane, of
Ochiltree, the latter's daughter having been the
familiarly known Lady Kilsythe, of Scotland.
The Cochranes were ranked among those who-
were friendly to Presbyterianism, and shared the
fate of thousands of other families who were driven
from their country to seek homes in the North of
Ireland during the persecution of that religious de-
nomination in England. In 1570 John Cochrane, of
the family of the Ead of Dundonald, from whom
Thomas Baumgardner Cochran (the final "e" has
long since dropped from the name) traces his
lineage, crossed from Paisley, Scotland, to the North
of Ireland. His son James was succeeded by John,
who was the father of another James, and then came
Robert.
James, Stephen and David, sons of Robert, emi-
grated to Pennsylvania in the beginning of the
eighteenth century, and first settled in what is now
known as Cochranville, Chester Co., Pa. John, son
of James, and grandson of Robert, removed from
Chester county to Delaware, locating near Middle-
town. He married Mary Ellis, and among their
children was Dr. Richard E. Cochran, born Sept. i,
1785.
Dr. Richard E. Cochran was graduated from the
University of Pennsylvania in 1810, took part in the
war of 1812, was elected a member of the Delaware
Assembly for the session of 1822-23, ^'^d was very
nearly elected governor of Delaware. He practiced
medicine in Middletown and Wilmington, Del., until
May, 1824, when he removed to Columbia, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., where he successfully engaged in the
practice of his profession. In 1836 he was a Henry
Clay elector for Lancaster county, and was an en-
thusiastic Whig ; and was also a member of the Re-
form Convention which met to amend the Constitu-
tion that year. In the summer of 1854, when cholera
was epidemic in Columbia, Dr. Cochran fell a victim,
entering into well-earned rest, in his seventieth year.
On May 5, 1812, Dr. Richard E. Cochran wed-
ded Eliza F. Evans, daughter of Dr. Thomas Evans,
of near Middletown, Del., and to this union were
born the following named children: (i) Thomas
E., a prominent lawyer, represented Lancaster and
York counties in the State Senate in 1840-43, was
elected auditor general of the State of Pennsylvania
in 1859, ^nd was a member of the State Constitu-
tional Convention of 1872-73 ; he died at York, Pa.,
in 1882. (2) John Jefferson, the veteran publisher
and journalist, is mentioned below. (3) Lieut.
Richard E. served in the regular army, in Florida
and among the Indian tribes in Arkansas and Kan-
sas, and was under Gen. Taylor in the Mexican war,
falling at the battle of Resaca de la Palma, just
after he had entered the intrenchments captured
from the Mexicans. (4) Theodore D., a journalist
and politician, graduated from the Columbia Spy
office, and succeeded Preston B. Elder in the edi-
torial management of that paper; in 1840 he came
to Lancaster and took charge of The Old Guard,.
ff^.^
'^7'>->^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
161
then the organ of "Honest John Strohm," for years
a prominent poHtical figure in this county. Mr.
Cochran was elected to represent Lancaster county
in the Legislature in the session of 1844-45 ; served
in the Mexican war as a lieutenant of volunteers,
and as a captain in the Civil war, and died in York
m 1863. (5) Mary Frances Cochran died in 1884.
John Jefferson Cochran was born in Wilmington,
Del, Dec. 20, 1816, and was in his eighth year when
the family moved to Columbia, this county. In 183 1
he entered the office of the Columbia Spy, then ed-
ited by his brother, Thomas E. Cochran, and there
he became an expert and thorough printer. In the
spring of 1835 he removed to York, where, in part-
nership with his brother, Thomas E. Cochran, he
continued the publication of the York Republican
until 1852, when they sold the paper. In the mean-
time he had been appointed postmaster at York, by
President Fillmore, and filled the office with great
acceptability until 1853, when he moved to Lan-
caster and engaged in the coal mining business in
Shamokin, Pa., the firm being Cochran, Peale &
Co. On Sept. 21, 1858, in connection with his
brother, Thomas E., he purchased the Independent
Whig and the Inland Daily Times from Theophilus
Fenn. discontinued the daily edition, and changed
the name of the weekly to the Lancaster Union. On
Jan. I, 1863, the Messrs. Cochran sold the Union to
John A. Heistand & Co., who consolidated it with
The Examiner and Herald. In the meantime John
J. Cochran was appointed postmaster at Lancaster
by President Lincoln, and served until 1868. After
his postmastership Mr. Cochran was appointed
newspaper clerk in the House of Representatives at
Washington, D. C, and served during the terms of
the late Hon. O. J. Dickey, member of Congress
from this district, after which the office was abol-
ished. Following this he became one of the office
editors of the well-remembered Father Abraham,
the most unique paper ever published in Lancaster,
and later became a stockholder in the Inquirer Print-
ing & Publishing Co. In April, 1874, Mr. Cochran
became the news editor of the Lancaster E.vpress,
discharging the duties of that position until Decem-
ber, 1876; and in the following April he accepted
the position of news editor on the staff of The New
Era, where he did signal service until Nov. 11, 1878,
when, by reason of failing health, he resigned. John
J. Cochran passed away May 12, 1879, in his sixty-
third year. Another biographer says : "Mr. Coch-
ran, who was a prominent member of St. John's Lu-
theran Church, of Lancaster, was an earnest Chris-
tian gentleman," to which those who were closely
associated with him in newspaper work can heartily
subscribe.
In October, 1839, Mr. Cochran married Miss
Catherine Baumgardner, who belonged to one of
the most prominent families of York, and whose
brothers were the late Thomas and Henry Baum-
gardner, of Lancaster, and whose ancestor was
Leonard Baumgardner, foimder of the family in
11
Pennsylvania. To this union were born thirteen
children, seven of whom survived him, as follows:
Thomas B., mentioned below; Richard E., who is
one of the vice-presidents of the United States Life
Insurance Company, of New York; Harry B., one
of the proprietors of The Examiner; John J., a coal
merchant of Lancaster ; Alice E., wife of Charles R.
Morrell, of Merchantville, N. J.; Flora May, de-
ceased, wife of James A. Romeyn, of Hackensack,
N. J. ; and Elizabeth G., also deceased.
Thomas Baumgardner Cochran, whose name in-
troduces this sketch, was born in York, Pa., Aug.
21, 1845, and has proved himself a worthy son of
a distinguished father. He removed with his par-
ents to Lancaster in 1853, and was graduated from
the Lancaster high school in 1861, when as an ap-
prentice to the printer's trade he entered the office
of the Lancaster Union, the organ of Hon. Thaddeus-
Stevens, and after serving his time he worked at
his trade in Philadelphia. During the Legislative
session of 1864 he was employed by George Berg-
ner, at Flarrisburg, as reporter for the Legislative
Record, serving in that capacity until 1871, when a
vacancy occurred in the office of journal clerk in the
Senate, to which position he was imanimously
elected. During the period that he was legislative
reporter he corresponded for the Lancaster papers,
and was thus almost continuously in practical jour-
nalistic work. During the Presidential campaign of
1868 he formed a co-partnership with Capt. E. H.
Ranch, in the publication of Father Abraham, but
in 1870 he withdrew from this enterprise, read law
with Judge Livingston, and was admitted to prac-
tice at the Lancaster Bar in 1873. While the Legis-
lature was in session he served as journal clerk of the
Senate, from 1871 to 1876, inclusive, and in 1877 he
was elected, without opposition, to the chief clerk-
ship of the Senate, which position he held until
1889. During all these years he was actively en-
gaged in politics, was a member of the Republican
State and County Committees for several years, and
was chairman of the latter from 1886 to 1888, in-
clusive. For one year he was a member of the Lan-
caster city councils, and he was a member of the
Lancaster city school board for twelve years, ending
in November, 1889, when he decHned a re-election..
In March, 1889, Mr. Cochran and his brother,
Harry B.. Cochran, purchased from John A. Heistand
the Examiner, the building in which it was pub-
lished, and all the plant, which they afterward in-
creased by the addition of new presses and other ma-
chinery, building up a business and a paper second
to no inland daily or weekly in the country. The
Examiner, one of the oldest journals of the State,
had passed through many different ownerships, and
absorbed a number of other newspapers, including
The Old Guard, in 1841 ; the Lancaster Union, in
1863 ; and the Lancaster Evening Express, in 1876.
One of the owners of the latter was John H. Pearsol,
Mr. Cochran's father-in-law. While a Republican
newspaper, the Examiner is conducted on liberal and
162
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
independent lines, and has become one of the most
influential jonrnals in Pennsylvania. It is published
daily and semi-weekly. An interesting thing in con-
nection with Mr. Cochran's ownership of the Lan-
caster Examiner and Express is the fact that he fin-
ished his trade of printer on the Express, then
owned by the late Mr. Pearsol, his father-in-law,
that paper now being consolidated with his own,
which also absorbed the one published by his uncle,
Theodore, and the Lancaster Union, published by
his father and uncle, Thomas E., on which he
(Thomas B.) began his apprenticeship.
On April 8, 1875, Thomas Baumgardner Coch-
ran was united in marriage with Miss Anna Mar-
garet Pearsol, daughter of the late John H. Pearsol,
for many years the senior publisher of the Evening
Express, of Lancaster, and of this union two chil-
dren were born : Miss Katharine, a graduate of
Wilson College, of Chambersburg, Pa., is at home;
William Pearsol, a graduate of the electrical de-
partment of the State College of Pennsylvania, 1898,
is now mechanical and electrical engineer of the
Lackawanna Coal & Coke Co., in western Pennsyl-
vania.
Fraternalh' Mr. Cochran is a Mason of high de-
gree, belonging to Lamberton Lodge, No. 476;
Royal Arch Chapter, No. 43 ; and Lancaster Com-
mandery. No. 13. His name is well known in
philanthropic circles. He is a trustee for the Home
for Friendless Children, and also for the Thaddeus
Stevens Orphans' Home, both of Lancaster. He is
also a trustee of Woodward Hill Cemetery. He has
been an active member of the Young Men's Chris-
tian Association of Lancaster since its organization,
in 1867, and was one of its founders. In the organi-
zation of the Lancaster Street Railway Company he
was a prime factor, and its first secretary. This
company was the beginning of the present extensive
trolley system in Lancaster city, and radiating from
it to the principal towns and boroughs of Lancaster
county. Mr. Cochran is a member of the Lancaster
County Historical Society. Outside of the journal-
istic field Mr. Cochran has acquired a prominent
place, and unlike many men of literary tastes he is a
fine business man, and is a member of the Lancaster
Board of Trade. Since 1886 he has edited and com-
piled the well-known and useful "Smull's Legis-
lative Handbook and Manual of the State of Penn-
sylvania." Mr. Cochran is a member of St. John's
Lutheran Church, and is an enterprising and liberal
citizen. Politically he is known all over the State,
and has been an influential factor in the Republican
politics of Pennsylvania for the past thirty years.
Devoted to the principles of the party, true and stead-
fast in his friendships, liberal in his views, but firm
in his convictions and with the courage to assert
them, Thomas Baumgardner Cochran is justlv re-
garded as a strong man, and, personally, no one is
more popular.
HARRY BAUMGARDNER COCHRAN, of
the firm of T. B. & H. B. Cochran, publishers and
editors of The Examiner, and a son of ex-post-
master John J. Cochran, was born in the city of
Lancaster March 25, 1853, ^^'^ '^'^'^^ educated in the
public schools there, graduating, from the Boys'
High School in 1868, and afterward attending
Franklin and ^Marshall College for two years.
After leaving college Mr. Cochran entered the
drug store of Dr. George R. ^^''elchans, where he re-
mained two and one-half years, and then went on
the road as a traveling salesman for a wholesale drug .
house. Later purchased the drug business of Dr.
^Velchans, taking charge Nov. i, 1874, and conduct-
ing it with marked success until 1889. On jNIarch
27th of that year, in connection with his brother,
Thomas B. Cochran, he bought The Examiner,
and at once proceeded to enlarge and strengthen
the plant by the addition of new presses and other
iTtachinery.
Mr. Cochran was secretary of the State Pharma-
ceutical Examining Board of Pennsylvania from
1887 to 1891, when he resigned because of other in-
terests which required his time and attention. IMany
of the successful business ^-entures of this city owe
their organization, in some degree, to Harry B.
Cochran. As one of the organizers of the Edison
Electric Company of Lancaster, in 1885, he was its
first manager, but later resigned the position ; and
he was also one of the organizers of the Hamilton
^^'atch Company, and for one and one-half }ears
served as a director ; this, too, he resigfned, in order
to devote his whole time and business thought to
the interests of his rapidly growing newspaper en-
terprise.
Mr. Cochran was married June 14, 1877, to Miss
Alma C. Shreiner, daughter of the late Martin and
Maria Shreiner, and whose grandfather, Martin
Shreiner (they spelled it with a "c" in the early-
days), was the manufacturer of the celebrated
"Shreiner Grandfather Clock." Three children
blessed this union : Miss ]\Iary, a graduate of the
Girls' High School, of Lancaster, and of ^^'ilson
College, Chambersburg, who married Lewis B.
Sprecher, of Lancaster, Pa., Feb. 19, 1902 ; Miss
Flora ; and John S., who is a student in the Pennsyl-
vania State College, class of 1903.
Mr. Cochran is an active man, belonging to the
lodge, chapter, council and commandery in the ]\la-
sonic fraternity, and in religion he is a Lutheran,
being a member of St. John's Church, where he has
been trustee for more than fourteen years, and in
which he at one time served both as librarian and as
teacher in the Sunday-school. An intelligent, pro-
gressive business man, of liberal views and practices
in all measures looking toward the "greatest good
to the greatest number" of our people, Mr. Cochran
naturally occupies a position in the front ranks of
Lancaster's representative citizens.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
163
JAMES AGNEW PATTERSON. By the
death of James Agnew Patterson, on Jan. 7, 1898,
the Borough of Mt. Joy lost one of its oldest 'and
most useful citizens. By nature unassuming, he was
always unwilling to take any conspicuous part in
public life, but was of service to his locality as an
€xcellent farmer and upright citizen, whose integrity
was never questioned. The name of Patterson ap-
pears in the early history of the county, where it
"has ever been honored and respected, and no member
of the family ever bore it more worthily than did
James Agnew Patterson.
The late Mr. Patterson was born in Rapho town-
ship, Sept. 26, 1810. His parents were Col. James
and Mary (Watson) Patterson, the former having
been born on the old Rapho township homestead,
and the latter in East Donegal township. Col. James
was a son of Lieutenant James (who served in the
Revolution), had his residence at Greenwood, and
was an officer in the war of 181 2. As early as 1819
he was elected as a Representative in the, Legisla-
ture of Pennsylvania, and again in 1833 and 1834.
As an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Donegal,
he was highly esteemed, being elected to this digni-
fied office from 1819 until his death. May 30, 1863,
his birth dating back to the historic time, Oct. 7,
1775. Plis remains lie in Donegal Church cemetery.
The maternal grandparents of James A. Patterson
were Dr. John Watson and Margaret (Clemson)
Watson, of Donegal Springs.
The founder of the Patterson family, though of
Scotch descent, emigrated from Ireland, in 1724,
and located on the Big Chiquesalunga creek, where
he took up large tracts of land, and part of this is
now owned and occupied by Jacob G. Nissley. His
wife was Ann, the daughter of Abraham Scott, and
they reared a family of nine children. The family
record is easily traced thus : (I) Arthur Patterson
married Ann Scott. (11) Lieut. James Patterson
married Margaret Agnew. (HI) Col. James Pat-
terson married Mary Watson. (IV) James Ag-
new Patterson married Sarah Margaret Sterrett.
Until 1854, 'the late James A. Patterson followed
an agricultural life, but then moved into Mt. Joy.
During the two years intervening between 1865 and
1867 he belonged to the United States Revenue ser-
vice in the capacity of collector, but could never be
prevailed upon to accept political office. As a friend
of education, he served fifteen years as school di-
rector, and for twenty years was an elder in the
Donegal Presbyterian church, where his place was
seldom vacant, and to which he was a large and
generous contributor for benevolent and charitable
work. His political convictions were with the Re-
publican party, but he never joined any fraternal
organizations, as he was conscientiously opposed to
secret societies.
The marriage of James Agnew Patterson took
place on Nov. 14, 1844, to Sarah Margaret Sterrett,
a daughter of Thomas Sterrett, of Lancaster county,
and to this marriage were born : Mary Watson, the
only survivor, who resides in the old home in the
borough of Mt. Joy; Martha S., deceased; James
H., deceased ; William S., deceased ; Laura, who died
in infancy; and Margie J., who died in infancy.
MILTON B. MUSSER, M. D., associated dur-
ing his professional life with private and hospital
practice in Philadelphia, was born near Strasburg,
Lancaster county. Pa., and died in Philadelphia,
March 2, 1888, at the age of forty years. His pa-
rents, Henry and Elizabeth (Breneman) Musser,
were natives of Lancaster county, where the father
was a farmer during early life, although he eventu-
ally retired to Strasburg, and died in Lampeter. He
was twice married, and was the father of three sons :
Dr. Henry' E., of Lampeter; Charles, who died
young, and Milton B.
The education of Mitlon B. Musser was acquired
in the public school near his father's farm, and at
the Millersville Normal, from which he graduated
at the age of eighteen. His professional training
was received primarily under his tmcle, Benjamin
Musser, at the Bellevue College, N. Y., and at the
Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which
he was graduated at the age of twenty-one. He
served for a time as resident physician of the Phila-
delphia hospital, and then opened a private office in
the city, a large and remunerative practice finally
rewarding his perseverance. At different times he
was connected as physician with various hospitals
and city institutions and was accounted skilled both
in surgery and medicine. He was a member of the
Masonic fraternity, a Republican in politics, and was
identified with the Presbyterian Church.
In Philadelphia Df. Musser married Caroline
Swain, born in Morris county, N. J., and daughter
of Mahlon F. and Jane (Guerin) Swain, of Dutch-
English ancestry. Three children were born to Dr.
Musser and his wife: Henry M., a manufacturer
of Lancaster ; Lawrence G. ; and Anna W.
EMANUEL ZIMMERMAN or CARPENTER
was a son of Hemy Carpenter, and he was born in
Switzerland in the year 1702. Henry Carpenter
had arrived in Philadelphia in 1698, but afterward
returned to Europe, coming back to America in
1706, bringing his family with him. He settled first
in Germantown, but removed to within the present
bounds of Lancaster county, then Chester, in 1717.
Emanuel Carpenter was a member of the Assembly
from Lancaster county in 1768. In 1760 he was ap-
pointed a presiding justice of the Common Pleas
court of Lancaster county, and held that position
until his death in 1780. He died "beloved and la-
mented by all." He is buried, in Zimmerman's or
Carpenter's graveyard, near Earlville.
GEORGE SELDOMRIDGE (deceased). The
death of George Seldomridge Nov. 20, 1898, re-
moved from Salisbury township one of its esteemed
and leading citizens, well known also in all that part
164
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of Lancaster county. He was born June 20, 1819,
in Salisbury township, son of John and Christianna
(Smoker) Seldomridge.
John Seldomridge, his father, operated a hotel
in Intercourse, Leacock township, during a long
period, dying there in 1851, aged sixty years; his
widow survived until 1859, dying at the age of sev-
enty years. They were members of the Dunkard
Church, and were interred in Roland's Church cem-
etery, in Earl township. The children born to them
were as follows : John, who died in 1898, a mer-
chant, a justice of the peace and once prothonotary
of the county : George,' of this record ; Maria, who
was the wife of Abigner Miller ; Elizabeth, deceased,
who was the wife of John Knox, of Leacock town-
ship ; Casandra, deceased, wife of John Jacobs ; and
Catherine.
George Seldomridge followed principally the oc-
cupation of drover until about the time of his mar-
riage, and then engaged in farming in Leacock town-
ship, until 1873, when he removed to Salisbury town-
ship, and for fifteen years operated what is now
known as the Hess mill ; at the end of that period he
settled on the farm where his widow and sons now
reside. There he passed away, when full .of years,
after a useful and exemplary life. He was a con-
sistent member of the Episcopal Church, and was
buried in Christ Church cemetery, in Leacock town-
ship. As a man of reliability and influence, he was
frequently called upon to serve in public offices, and
was one of the efficient school directors during his
residence in Leacock township, and was auditor of
Salisbury township.
On Dec. 29, 1853, in Lancaster, Mr. Seldom-
ridge was married to Miss Sarah Ann Fenninger,
and to this union were born these children : John
F., the proprietor of a hotel at White Horse, Pa.,
who married Mary Worst, and has seven children;
Edwin F., a farmer of Salisbury township, who mar-
ried Anna Margaret Worst ; .Sarah C., who married
Samuel Wanner, a farmer of Salisbury township ;
George M., a farmer of Salisbury township, who
married Mary Reeser, and has two children ; Fred
G., who married Alta Bair, and resides on the old
homestead (she is a daughter of Eckert and Fianna
(Hoover) Bair, who still reside in Salisbury town-
ship) ; Hannah Elizabeth, who married Brinton
Oberholtzer, a farmer of Salisbury township, has
two children and resides at Mast, Pa. ; and Aldus
M., who married Amanda Miller, in Centerville,
Pa., and has two children, Anna M. and Elsa M.
Mrs. Aldus M. Seldomridge is a daughter of John I.
and Anna M. (Smoker) Miller, the former an ex-
soldier and retired millwright of Lancaster county.
This family is one of the old and prominent ones
of the county and is especially noted for its sub-
stantial character and agricultural excellence. The
two brothers, Fred G. and Aldus M., for some time
owned and operated the home farm, consistmg
of 146 acres, but Aldus has now sold his part to
Hannah E. Oberholtzer and has purchased the old
Amos Henderson farm at White Horse. Both are
well and favorably known through Salisbury town-
ship, in politics they are Republicans, and their
religious connection is with the Episcopal Church.
Mrs. Sarah Ann (Fenninger) Seldomridge was
born in Harristown, Lancaster county, Dec. 20, 1831,
daughter of John F. and Sarah (Swigart) Fen-
ninger, the former of whom was a native of Switzer-
land, and the latter of East Earl township. When
but sixteen years of age Mr. Fenninger came to
Lancaster county, with a brother, and settled near
Milltown, in Paradise township. He carried on a
butchering business in Harristown and died in that
place in 1864, at the age of seventy-one years. His
widow died in 1873, at the age of eighty-three years,
and both were buried in Christ Church . cemetery,,
having been consistent members of that church.
They were the parents of the following named chil-
dren : John and Martin, deceased ; Hannah, de-
ceased, who married Aaron Snyder ; Elizabeth, who
died at the age of eighteen years ; Samuel and Fred-
erick, deceased ; Rebecca, who married John Siegel,
and resides in Bird-in-Hand ; Sarah A., who be-
came Mrs. Seldomridge; and Susan C, who married
Jacob Armstrong, of I-eacock township.
Mrs. Seldomridge resides on the old farm with
her sons. She is a valued member of the Episcopal
Church, and enjoys the esteem of a wide circle of
friends.
HENRY S. METZGER, late undertaker at
Petersburg, Lancaster county, was born in East
Hempfield township, Sept. 23, 1832, a son of Jacob
and Mary ( Smaling) Metzger, both natives of West
Hempfield township, and he died May 14, 1902.
Frederick Metzger, the grandfather of Henry
S., was born in Lancaster county, Sept. 29, 1768,.
and is supposed to be the son of the founder of the
family in this country, whom tradition says came
from Germany. Frederick Metzger was a hotel
keeper, being engaged in that capacity for twenty-
two years at what is now known as McGovernville
in Lancaster county,, where he died March 17, 1813.
Farming and hotel keeping were combined in his
career, as he also owned and operated a farm. His
wife, Catherine Dengert, died Oct. 18, 1870, at the
age of ninety-two years. To thern were born seven
children: Mary, who married John Stillinger;
Elizabeth, who married Tobias Miller; Catherine,
who married Peter Mumma ; Susan, who married
Jacob Seachrist; Andrew, a farmer and an auction-
eer ; Jacob, the father of Henry S. Metzger ; David,
a blacksmith by trade, who died Dec. 2, 1891, at the
age of seventy-seven years.
Jacob Metzger was born Dec. 23, 1798, and
spent his life in East and West Hempfield, working
as a blacksmith all his life ; he <lied Dec. 28, 1846 ;
Mary Smaling, his wife, was born March 3, 1801,
and died March 22, 1869. She was the mother of
eight children: George, a wagon maker at Lititz
and at Newtown, died in 1901 ; Jacob S., a carpenter
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
165
at Columbia, died Feb. 8, 1885 : Frederick, a wagon-
maker, lives in Landisville ; Elizabeth is the wife of
Levi Bull, of Landisville; Henry S. ; Catherine is
the wife of Simon Brubaker, who lives near La-
fa3'ette, Ind. ; Andrew is a shoemaker and farmer
whose residence is near Dayton, Ohio ; and John, a
farmer, has a home near North Manchester, Ohio.
Henry S. Metzger was reared in East Hemp-
field township, and acquired his education in the pub-
lic school. When he was seventeen he began an ap-
prenticeship at the carpenter trade, and he worked
at that until he was twenty-seven years old. At that
age he engaged in business on his own acocunt, tak-
ing contracts and doing a building business which
steadily increased until i88o. That year he gave
tip work as a carpenter, to which for some years he
had been giving increasing attention. From 1880
until his death his undertaking business took all
his time, and had made his name familiar all over
this part of Lancaster county, as that of a man en-
tirely trustworthy and thoroughly familiar with his
■ work. As a carpenter and builder Mr. Metzger
erected many of the more prominent buildings of the
township ; and as an undertaker he laid to rest many
of the citizens who once lived in this part of the
-county.
Mr. Metzger was married Nov. i, i860, to Miss
Mary A. Hollinger, who was born in the city of
Lancaster in 1840, a daughter of Isaac and Eliza-
beth (Wayne) Hollinger ; she died Sept. 30, 1900,
the mother of one child, Maurice H. Maurice H.
Metzger is a carpenter and builder in Lancaster.
Matilda Lutz, his first wife, bore him three children :
Flossie, wife of Charles M. Gerfin ; Paul ; and Mary,
deceased. Mrs. Matilda (Lutz) Metzger died Jan.
30, 1890, at the age of thirty-two. Mr. Metzger
married for his second wife, Miss Ida Wagner, by
whom he has two children, Mary S. and Roy.
Henry S. Metzger was a member of the Re-
formed Church, of which he was treasurer and trus-
tee, and he held an enviable position in the estima-
tion of the community in which he lived.
DR. JEFFERSON E. KERSHNER, Professor
of Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, Franklin
and Marshall College, is as popular in educational
and social circles in Lancaster as he is in college and
theological seminary circles. His biography is thus
hriefly, but succinctly, told in that fine publication,
Universities and Their Sons: "Jefferson E. Kersh-
.ner was born in Perry township, Berks county. Pa.,
in 1854 : graduated at FrankHn and Marshall Col-
lege in 1877; he studied Theology for two years;
was a graduate student in Mathematics and As-
tronomy, Yale LTniversity, 1879-80; had the title of
Ph. D. conferred upon him by Yale in 1885, and has
heen Professor of Mathematics, Physics and As-
tronomy at Franklin and Marshall College from
1880 to the present time.
"Jefferson E. Kershner, Ph. D., was born in
Perry township, Berks Co., Pa., Aug. 16, 1854, son
of John and Sibilla (Engle) Kershner. His paternal
grandparents were John and Catherine (Hertz)
Kershner, and those on the maternal side were Jacob
and Catherine (Rahn) Engle. He attended the com-
mon and select schools of Berks county, and the
Keystone State Normal school, after which he en-
tered Franklin and Marshall College, where he took
his bachelor's degree in 1877. He next took a two
ye^rs course at the Theological Seminary of the Re-
formed Church, from which he entered the Gradu-
ate Department of Yale, studying mathematics and
astronomy there through the college year of 1879-
80, and received from that University the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in 1885. In September, 1880,
he was called to the chair of Mathematics, Physics
and Astronomy at Franklin and Marshall, which
he still occupies. Dr. Kershner is a fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of
Science."
Volumes might be written of Dr. Kershner's la-
bors in Lancaster — labors that are by no means con-
fined to instructing the students of Franklin and
Marshall College, for students of the State Normal
School at Millersville, of the Boys' and Girls' High
Schools of Lancaster, and of other educational in-
stitutions, have time and again gone "star-gazing"
on the invitation of the genial yet profound Dr.
Kershner, who finds no greater delight than in tak-
ing parties to the College Observatory, and pointing
to them those bright ministers of the Eternal which
watch over and illumine the Heavens. Great, in-
deed, has been his work in Lancaster ; and hosts of
peoplfe, young and old, will ever hold him in grate-
ful remembrance for the entertaining and instruc-
tive hours they have been permitted to spend in his
scholarly yet unostentatious company.
REV. JOHN K. RANCK (deceased). For
many years this devout minister labored in the cause
of religion in Lancaster county. He was a native
of this county, and in his earlier years followed
farming. Duty, however, opened to him a new path
in life, and in his after years he gave to the Mennon-
ite Church the wholesouled devotion of his life, not
only preaching in the vicinity of his home, but en-
gaging extensively in missionary work throughout
the week.
Rev. Ranck was born in Strasburg township
about one and a half miles southeast of the borough
of Strasbursr, Oct. 8, 1840, son of Jacob and Susan
(Leaman) Ranck. He was reared on his father's
farm, and he accepted that vocation, when he began
his own independent career, locating on a farm in
Leacock township, a half mile south of Intercourse.
Here for fourteen years he followed farming very
successfully. Pie then purchased the McCaulley and
Taggart farms, a portion of which is now occupied
bv the village of Kinzers. The property contained
267 acres of land, which is preserved intact, except
that portion which has been laid off in village lots.
Immediately after purchasing this property Mr.
166
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Banck commenced some extensive improvements
and made radical changes in the property, erecting
a number of excellent buildings.
In 1878 John K. Ranck was ordained to the min-
istry oi the Mennonite Church by Bishop Benjamin
Herr, and from that time until his death, which oc-
curred March 11, 1896, he was active in church and
ministerial work. His duties were largely in the vi-
cinity of his home in Lancaster county, but he also
engaged in missionary or evangelical work, travel-
ing as^far West as the Pacific slope. After some
four years in the ministry he gave up farming en-
tirely, devoting his entire efforts to the Church and
to its welfare. He had been an industrious and hard-
working man, and a good financier, and his life was
in every sense worthy and exemplary. He was sur-
vived by his wife, who had been Miss Anna Den-
linger, daughter of Daniel and Margaret Denlinger,
and by their one child, Jacob D. The widow is still
living.
Rev. Jacob D. Ranck, son of Rev. John K. and
Anna Ranck, was born April 28, 1865. He was
reared on the farm and received his education in the
public schools and in practical business life. At the
age of twenty-one years he began the operation of
his father's farms, which he followed for six years.
Purchasing the coal and lumber business at Kinzers,
he conducted the same for five years, and then sold
out, resuming charge of the farm, and in connection
with its operation he began contracting and build-
ing at Kinzers. Through his efforts Kinzers made
rapid strides, and has become one of the more at-
tractive villages of Lancaster county. Mr. Ranck
erected eleven buildings at this place, all residence
property. He platted a considerable addition to the
village and laid out a street north of Main street
through his own property, also a street at the east
end and one at the west end of the village, thus con-
necting the two east and west streets. Some years
ago Mr. Ranck purchased the first car load of cotton
seed feed sold in the county, and after proving its
merits, introduced it to others, until now there are
hundreds of carloads sold every season. His work
in this line has been so successful that the manufac-
turers of the feed, the Southern Cotton Oil Co., of
Charlotte, N. C, have made him their general
agent and manager for all states North of the Mary-
land and Virginia line. So rapidly has the business
grown that he has been obliged to employ a number
of sub-agents, and to give up his active farming en-
tirely, although he still owns the home farms and
manages them. He is one of the wide awake and
progressive men of the town and in various ways he
has contributed substantially to its- growth and pros-
perity. He donated the ground to the Old Men-
nonite society at Kinzers upon which to erect the
church edifice.
On Sept. I, 1885, i\Ir. Ranck married Miss Jane
E. Hess, daughter of the late John Hess. They are
the parents of three children, Bessie E., John El-
wood and Anna H. Mr. and Mrs. Ranck are promi-
nent and active members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. The church of that denomination at Gap,
chose Mr. Ranck for their assistant pastor, and he
was accordingly licensed as a local preacher. He
has also served them as trustee, and he gives a large
share of his time to ■ the furtherance of religious
work.
JOHN LIGHT ATLEE, M. D., was born in
Lancaster Nov. 2, 1799, and was a physician and
surgeon of repute. He graduated from the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania in 1820, after which he
opened an office in Lancaster, and his skill as a sur-
geon soon brought him into prominence. He helped
found the Lancaster County Medical Society in
1843, and ajso the Pennsylvania State Medical
Society in 1848. He was also one of the promoters-
of and organizers of the American Medical Asso-
ciation in Philadelphia, and became its president in
1882. He was also professor of anatomy at Frank-
lin and Marshall College. He died at Lancaster
Oct. I, 1885.
EDWIN MORRISON ZELL, D. D. S. Among
the esteemed citizens of Little Britain township, who
is also well and favorably known through Lancaster
county, is Dr. Edwin Morrison Zell, who has been a
resident of Elim, since 1859, beginning the practice
of dentistry in this locality the year previous.
The birth of Dr. Zell occurred in this county, in
Colerain township, on Nov. 2, 1832. The family
originated in Prussia, and settled in Chester county.
Pa., where occurred the birth of the father of Dr.
Zell, the well-known Rev. Isaac Zell, who for forty
years was a notable minister in the Methodist Church
in this State. Isaac Zell was born in 1794, a son of
Adam Zell, a well-known miller of Cambridge, Ches-
ter county, and ,he died in Little Britain township
in 1870. In 1822, he was married to Elizabeth
Swift, and they reared eleven children: Joseph
v'Swift, who died in 1900 ; Emmor E., who died in
1895 ; John W., who is a practicing physician of this
township, extended mention of whom will be found
elsewhere ; Dr. Edwin M., of this sketch ; Isaac B.,
who died in 1901 ; Dr. Amos B., who resides in Fair-
mount ; Daniel D., who is a merchant of Church-
town ; William R., who is a dentist in Fairmount ;
Martha E., who married Dr. Edwin Patterson, now
deceased ; Miss Elizabeth J., living on the old home-
stead in Litttle Britain township ; and Samuel A.,
a dentist, practicing in New Holland, Pa. Few men
in Lancaster county were more highly regarded dur-
ing a long and useful life, than was Rev. Isaac Zell,
both as minister and teacher, being distinguished in
both professions. The other children in the family
of Adam Zell, his father, were : Adam, John, Bar-
bara, Margaret, Henrietta Ann and Catherine.
The mother of Dr. Zell was Elizabeth (Swift)
Zell, and she was born in 1801, and lived to be
ninety-four years of age, dying in 1895. The house
in which her birth occurred, and in which she waa
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
167
reared to womanhood, was a historic one, being also
the birthplace of the celebrated Robert Eulton, to
whose inventive genius the world owes so much.
This property in the course of litigation, was sold at
a foreclosure sale and was purchased by the father of
Elizabeth Swift. Her parents were Joseph and
Hester (Doughty) Swift, the former of whom was
born in Philadelphia and was an importer there,
and a son of Joseph Swift, who also was a native
of that city.
The early life of Dr. Zell was passed on a farm,
although the family has not been exclusively an agri-
cultural one, many of them adorning professional
life. His education was obtained in the public
schools, and for a period he followed in the foot-
steps of his honored father, and became an educator
in Lancaster county. In 1858 he began the practice
of dentistry, and in 1859 located in the town of Elim
which has been his place of residence and practice
ever since. Here he has a most delightful home, and
he also owns a fine farm located near Little Britain.
On Oct. 8, 1863 Dr. Zell was married to Miss
Abi Hand, of Little Britain township, a daughter of
Mathew and Margaret Hand. Three children were
born to this union : Dora, who died young ; Edwin,
who died young ; and James Harry, who passed out
of life May 18, 1891. The death of this talented
voung man remains a grief to not only his devoted
father, but to the community, for seldom has death
found a more shining mark. Born the youngest of
three children, on Aug. 6, 1867, he early displayed
those qualities of mind and heart that gave promise
of a bright future and eminent citizenship. His
early education was received in the public schools
and a collegiate course was followed in the York
county Collegiate Institute, from which institution
he graduated with high honors. Following an in-
herited tendency, he entered upon the study of
medicine, resulting in his graduation in 1891, at the
head of his class, from the Medical Department of
the University of Pennsylvania. With every pros-
pect of the future bright and promising, his early
career was closed a few days later. Equipped men-
tally far bevond the average, it was his ambition to
reach the top of the ladder in his profession, and in
the meantime, he had not forgotten to also lay the
foundations of his religious life. For many years
he was a worthy and consistent member of the Little
Britain Presbyterian Church, and left behind him a
memory ofi an exemplary life. The community
which had watched him with affection from child-
hood, became mourners with his stricken father.
The mother had passed awav on March 20, 1883.
The second marriage of Dr. Zell occurred in
Nov., 1892, Miss Lydia E. McSparran, of Furniss,
Pa , 'becoming his wife. She was born in 1849,
a daughter of Fleming and EHzabeth (Pusey) Mc-
Sparran. A complete history of the McSparran
family will be found elsewhere.
During his long residence in this locality and his
prominence in his professional life, Dr. Zell has been
identified with almost all of the progress made in this
section, and has been particularly active in the ad-
vancement of educational and religious interests.
For a long period he has served as school director,
and he is elder and trustee in the Presbyterian
Church of Little Britain. In politics he belongs to
the Democratic party, in which he has taken a very
active interest. The family is one of the best known
and most prominent in both Lancaster and Chester
counties, and Dr. Zell is a worthy representative.
REV. WILLIAM PAXSON, D. D. (deceased)
was born in Lancaster county. Pa., April i, 1760.
His early life was devoted to agricultural pursuits,
and he served in two companies in the Revolution-
ary war, in one of which he participated in the
battle of Trenton.
When twenty-four years of age Mr. Paxson be-
gan a preparatory course in the Strasburg Academy,
and accumulated considerable knowledge on literary,
scientific and theological pursuits. On April 29,
1789, the New Castle Presbytery took him under its
care and, having passed through the several trials
assigned him, he was licensed to preach April 8,
1790. In the following October he was assigned to
supply the churches of Little Britain and West Not-
tingham. During his probationary services he fre-
quently preached to the congregations of Toms creek
and Lower Marsh creek in the Carlisle Presbytery,
they having become vacant by the transfer of their
pastor. Rev. John McKnight to the collegiate Pres-
byterian Churches in New York City. These va-
cant congregations extended to him a call which he
accepted in April, 1702, he being thereupon dis-
missed from the New Castle Presbytery to the Carl-
isle Presbytery. In October, 1792, he was installed
as pastor. Mr. Paxson was married Jan. 20, 1794, to
Miss Jane Dunlap, a daughter of ,Col. James Dunlap,
of near Shippensburg. He took charge of the above
congregation for several years and finally became
pastor of the Lower Marsh creek congregation alone,
of which he was pastor for forty-nine years. In 1826
Dickinson College conferred upon him the degree of
Doctor of Divinity. He resigned the pastorate of his
charge on Oct. 19, 1841. His death occurred April
16, 1845. As a pastor he had been very acceptable,
as a disciplinarian he was strict and conscientious.
ABRAHAM F. HOSTETTER, Esq., a prom-
inent member of the Lancaster Bar, belongs to one
of the oldest families in Lancaster county, his ances-
tors having settled here in 1709.
Jacob Hostetter, his first ancestor to come here,
located on a farm at the end of South Queen street,
just outside the city limits. The next in line of de-
scent was Abraham Hostetter, a farmer of Manor
township, and among his children was Christian
Hostetter, who was the great-grandfather of Abra-
ham F., the lawyer. Christian Hostetter settled in
Warwick township, where he owned extensive farm
lands, and there Jacob Hostetter, the grandfather of
168
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Abraham E., was born, lived and died. There, too,
Simon Hostetter father of Abraham F., was born,
and during his active life was a farmer and miller,
but now lives retired, at Oregon. It will thus be
seen that for generations the family were landowners
and farmers. Abraham F. Hostetter's mother was
Miss Mary A. Frantz, daughter of the late Samuel
Frantz, a farmer of Rohrerstown. She died in
March, 1901. Only two children were born of this
union, Henry F. (now living retired at Oregon) and
Abraham F.
Abraham F. Hostetter was born on the old home-
stead, in Warwick township. May 29, 1851, and after
attending the schools of the district entered the State
Normal School at Millersville, from which he was
graduated. Later he was graduated from the Uni-
versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. His study of
the law was begun under Judge John Dean, of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, at Hollidaysburg,
and after that his studies were pursued in the Law
School of the University of Michigan, from which
he was graduated. Mr. Hostetter was admitted to
practice law in the courts of Lancaster county in the
fall of 1878, and in due time was admitted to practice
in the Superior, Supreme and United States District
Courts, in all of which he has enjoyed an extensive
practice.
Outside of the practice of law, Mr. Hostetter has
many interests, although his clientage in his chosen
profession would alone keep a less industrious man
very busy. But being of an active nature, and en-
dowed with attributes that make him the successful
business man as well as successful lawyer, Mr. Hos-
tetter finds himself associated in many enterprises
that go to make up the business life of the com-
munity. He is president of the Non-Retailing Com-
pany, wholesale jobbers in watches, a director of the
First National Banlc of Lancaster, as well as its so-
licitor, and solicitor for the Lincoln National Bank
and the Farmers' National Bank of Lititz ; a director
of the Lancaster & Harrisburg Turnpike Company,
and solicitor for a number of other turnpike compa-
nies and corporations ; a member of the board of
trustees of the State Normal School at Millersville —
a position he has held for years ; chairman of the
board of censors of the Lancaster Bar Association,
and for years a member of the purchasing commit-
tee of the Law Library Association, in which he has
taken a deep and active interest ; was a member of the
board of trustees of the Young Glen's Christian As-
sociation during many of the years of its early strug-
gles, and to-day a member of the board of trustees
of the Young Women's Christian Association ; and a
member of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.
These are among the things that engage his atten-
tion, but by no means all. A member of the Lancas-
ter County Historical Society and of the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, it was fitting that he should
have presided, as he did, at the dedicatory exercises
of the Soldiers' Monument at Ephrata, and partic-
ularly so for the reason that he was one of the spirits
who kept up -the agitation until the monument be-
came an accomplished fact.
Before entering upon the study of law Mr. Hos-
tetter was principal of the high school at Millefs-
burg, Dauphin county, and later of the Altoona high
school. An educator himself, he has always felt and
manifested a keen interest in educational affairs, and
in matters historical -^next to the study and practice
of the law — he has been the most zealous in his
studies. A Republican in politics, his services as a
campaign orator have been much sought in National
as well as State campaigns, and unselfish have been
his services in this direction, for he never sought
office, and invariably declined all proffers in that di-
rection, his profession being ever his leading
thought. Busy though he has been these many
years, busy as he still is (for he is perhaps busier
now than ever), ^Mr. Hostetter is invariably genial
and kindly — never too busy to give a smile and an
encouraging word to those who approach him.
JOHN HOFF BAUMGARDNER, who has
for years past been among the most prominent men
of Lancaster county, in the public affairs of the city
as well as in business enterprises, is a son of the late
Thomas Baumgardner, who was a pioneer in the
coal business in Pennsylvania, being interested in
the first colliery in the Shamokin valley.
Thomas Baumgardner was one of the original
promoters of the cotton-mill industries of Lancaster.
I^eonard Baumgardner, his grandfather, came to
America during the Revolution, as a soldier with the
British army, but deserted the ranks and fought un-
der ^\'ashington for freedom. At the close of the
was he settled in York. From this patriotic sire John
H. Baumgardner is descended. Thomas Baum-
gardner married j\Iiss Susan Ann Hoff, daughter of
John Hoff, the celebrated pioneer clock maker, one
of the most widely known makers of clocks in the
country. To this union the following children were
born: Mary E., widow of Edwin Eberman ; Ellen,
who married James Patterson, son of the late Judge
Patterson ; Marguerette A., widow of the late Wil-
son H. Jenkins, ex-district attorney of Camden
county, N. J. ; Susan A., widow of Franklin R.
Howell, of Lancaster ; Eliza A., widow of Paul
Gerhart ; and John H., whose name introduces these
lines.
John H. Baumgardner was born in Lancaster
April 23, 1843, ^iid was graduated from the Boys'
High School of Lancaster in 1861, and from the
Philadelphia Polytechnic College, as a mechanical
engineer, in 1863. After graduating from the Poly-
technic College young Baumgardner learned the
machinist's trade at the Industrial AA'orks, Phila-
delphia, and, after ^-orking at Scranton and other
places, returned to Lancaster, and was employed at
the cotton factories, later at the Norris Locomotive
Works, as draughtsman. Then he became asso-
ciated with his father and uncle, the late Henry
Baumgardner. in the coal business, and he is now the
/<?^^C? / O CX^<.^Oay^l.'1L.<P'£:iyr^c/^t.''-Z^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
169
sole survivor of that partnership. The business was
started by his father'in 1840. In 1876 Mr. Baum-
^ardner was one of the organizers of the Lancaster
Gashght & Fuel Company, of which he was elected
treasurer. He built the works, and has been general
manager to the present time. He was also treas-
urer of the Lancaster Street Railway Company, and
built the road from the Soldiers' Monument, Centre
Square, to McGrann's Park, a line which formed a
nucleus for all the wonderful network of trolley lines
which now constitutes the magnificent system of
electric railways with which Lancaster is blessed.
Mr. Baumgardner was also interested in the first
company to institute independent markets in the city,
and made the drawings and superintended the con-
struction of the Northern market. As a volunteer fire-
man he was among the foremost in the community,
having been president of the Friendship Fire Com-
pany, of which his ancestor was one of the organizers
in 1763, and he (John H.) was the first chief engin-
eer of the- old volunteer fire department of Lancaster.
Mr. Baumgardner is a director and secretary of the
Lancaster Gaslight & Fuel Company, and of the
Edison Electric Illuminating Company ; a director '
of the Reading & Columbia Railway Company ; trus-
tee of the Lancaster Cemetery Company ; trustee of
the Ann C. Witmer Flome; trustee of the Mechanics
Library; and member and trustee of St. John's
Lutheran Church, in which his father was deeply in-
terested, and to which the Baumgardner family have
been generous contributors. Well known as is John
H. Baumgardner in private business affairs, and in
public enterprises looking to the public welfare, such
as trolley systems, independent market houses and
satisfactory illumination of dwellings, business
houses and streets, he is even more widely known as
a long-tried and trusted citv servant, having been a
member of the common branch of the city council
for eighteen years, sent there term after term by the
Republicans of the Sixth ward. During part of his
career as a member of that bodv he was president
thereof, and for the greater part of the time was
chairman of the Finance committee, and it was ad-
mitted by all parties and all factions that his guard-
ianship of the city finances was as careful as could
be that of the most exacting business man in the con-
duct of his private afiFairs. Yet, with all the city af-
fairs and business interests that weighed upon him,
Mr. Baumgardner, by reducing his work to a system,
found time for social recreation and enjoyment, he
having been one of the original members of the Tuc-
quan Piscatorial Club, and for many years its treas-
urer. Fraternally he belongs to Lamberton Lodge,
No. 476, F. & A. M. It must certainly be a satis-
faction to Mr. Baumgardner to feel that, besides hav-
ing made a record as one of the city's guardians of
which anv man might well be proud, he conferred a
positive and lasting blessing to the people of his com-
munity in having been one of the originators of the
splendid trolley system and the no less splendid in-
dependent markets, these being among the things
of which Lancasterians boast, at home and abroad.
Mr. Baumgardner was married. May 5, 1875, to
Miss Florine Meixell, daughter of Andrew and
Susan Meixell, well-known citizens of Lancaster.
Three children have been born of this union, name-
ly : Thomas, a graduate of the State College, a mem-
ber of Battery C, Pa. Vols., during the Spanish-
American war, and now superintendent of the Co-
lumbia Gas Company; Susan, a student of the
Drexel Art School ; and John A., now attending
Cornell University.
REV. JOHN M. ZIMMERMAN, of Caernarvon
township, belongs to an old and highly respected
family in Lancaster county, and worthily wears a
good name. His great-grandfather, grandfather
and father, all bore the given name of Christian.
Christian Zimmerman, the grandfather, was
reared and spent his life on a farm some two miles
northeast of Goodville. He was a good Christian
man, belonged to the Mennonite Church, and led a
blameless life. His children were : John, a Lancas-
ter county farmer ; Christian, mentioned below ; Da-
vid, who died young ; Peter, who was long a farmer
in Caernarvon township, and died in East Earl town-
ship ; Barbara, who married John Swigart ; Eliza-
beth, who became the wife of George Rupp, a min-
ister of the Mennonite Church ; Annie, who married
David Cogel, of Cumberland countv, Pa. ; and Cath-
erine, who married Peter Good, of Goodville.
Christian Zimmerman, the father of Rev. John,
was reared on the old family homestead near Good-
ville, where he was born, and where he received his
education. His death occurred in 1869, closing a
useful and honorable career, at the age of seventy-
six. All his fife was spent on the homestead, where
he followed farming, becoming one of the leading
men of his calling in this section. Two farms be-
longed to him, and he was counted very successful.
He belonged to the Mennonite Church, and was
known as one of its most active and consistent mem-
bers, and was highly regarded by all who knew him.
His wife, Mary, was the daughter of Peter Martin.
She lived to be seventy-eight years old, and passed
away in 1875. They had a familv of ten children:
Barbara, Annie and Martin, deceased ; Mary, who
married John Weaver, a minister of the Mennonite
Church, and with him went to Elkhart county, Ind.,
where she died ; Catherine, deceased wife of Jacob
Zimmerman, a Mennonite clergyman, formerly of
East Earl township, but later of Leacock township,
where her death occurred ; John M. : Levi, a farmer
and miller in East Earl township, where he died;
Christian, who died on the old Zimmerman home-
stead near Goodville (he was the fourth Christian
to occupy this place, which has now descended to his
son. Christian, the fifth of the name) ; Peter, a farm-
er in East Earl township, where he died ; and Re-
becca, who married Abraham Martin, of Caernar-
■ von township.
Rev. John M. Zimmerman was born on the old
170
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COITNTY
homestead, July 22, 1829, where he was reared and
educated in the pubHc schcx)ls. ^^'^hen he was twen-
ty-four he was married, and for a short time made
his home on a part of the old family estate, but pres-
ently he removed to his farm in Caernarvon town-
ship, about a mile southwest of Churchtown, where
he is found to-day in the possession of a well-culti-
vated and finely tilled farm of eighty acres. On this
place he has made many substantial improvements,
and has always taken a deep interest in every meas-
ure that tends to the public good. In his business
enterprises he has been very successful, and has long
been regarded as one of the leading men of the
township.
Mr. Zimmerman was married Dec. 8, 1853, to
]\Iiss Alariah Kurtz, who was born in East Earl
township, Dec. 5. 1830, a daughter of Joseph and
Martha (Groff) Kurtz. To this union were born:
Joseph K., who died in infancy, as did also ^lartha ;
Martin, a laboring man in Goodville, East Earl town-
ship, who married ]\Iiss Clarissa Emery, and has one
child, John J. ; ^lary. who died in childhood ; John G.,
who resides at the homestead in Caernarvon town-
ship, and does the home farming and who married
Annie Denlinger, by whom he has one child, Martin
D. ; and Leah, who died in childhood.
Mr. and ]\Irs. Zimmerman have been life-long
members of the ^lennonite Church, and have taken
a very active part in the prosperity of that body. In
1883 he was ordained one of its ministers by Bishop
Shenk, and was assigned to the Weaverland Dis-
trict, where he has proved himself a faithful and able
preacher of the Gospel. His conscientious and de-
voted efforts have been highly appreciated, and he
and his worthy wife are held in high esteem by a
wide circle of friends. For many 3^ears he has la-
bored under a physical difficulty caused by a diseased
arm, which gave him constant trouble. In 1885 he
had it removed, which relieved his suffering, though
it left him at a great disadvantage.
PROF. GEORGE :\IARTIN HAMBRIGHT,
who for many years occupied a chair in the College
of Pharmacy, at Chicago, is one of the most kindly,
genial and popular gentlemen in Lancaster.
Prof. Hambright's grandfather was born in a
substantial stone dwelling' house at Eden, this coun-
t}". and as this home, which is still in a good state of
preservation, is understood to be 170 years old, the
historv' of this family in this country, evidently goes
far back into the beginning of things in this county.
Prof. Hambright's grandmother was the daughter
of a farmer named ^liller, and a native of this county.
Adam Frederick Hambright, the father of the
Professor, who bore the names of two uncles, was
married to Elizabeth Eichelberger, the daughter of
Martin and Elizabeth Eichelberger, representing one
of the old families of Lancaster. From this union
eleven children were born, of whom eight are living :
d) Charles S., an engineer of the U. P. railroad;
(2) George ;M., of Lancaster, now retired; (3) Em-
ma, the wife of Dr. William A. Rupp, of the Re-
formed Theological Seminary at Lancaster; (4)
Marcel lus Augustus, in the service of the Union Pa-
cific railroad at Omaha; (5) Washington F., depot
master and ticket agent of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road in Lancaster ; (6) John J., a druggist at Seattle,
Wash. ; (7) Sallie J., widow of Henry Hoffman, in
Lancaster; and (8) Henry A., now employed on the
N. Y., H. and N. H. railroad, in New York. Adam
F. Hambright, the progenitor of this large and inter-
esting family, v^as in the employ of the State, and the
Pennsylvania Railroad, from 1848 until 1875, serv-
ing as conductor on the railroad until 1864, when he
became a ticket agent, and remained in the service of
the railroad until his death.
George I\Iartin Hambright was born in Lancas-
ter Nov. 27, 1841, and was educated in the city
schools, graduating from the Lancaster high school
in the class of 1858. Becoming an apprentice with
George H. ^larkley & Brother, both of whom have
gone on to join the great majority, he remained with
them a year, and then connected himself with the
drug firm of J. C. Turnpenny & Co., of Philadelphia,
who were English Quakers, and masters of an exten-
sive drug trade. With this fine house he remained
two and a half years, and was graduated from the
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in ^larch, 1863.
After completing his course in the College he went to
Washington, D. C, and spent two years with a drug
house in the national capital. This was in 1865, and
from Washington he went to Chicago to engage in a
drug business for himself, which proved very suc-
cessful, and which he carried on for fifteen years.
For half this time he was a professor in the Chicago
College of Pharmacy, first occupying the chair of
Materia iMedica, and then the chair of Pharmacy, at
the same time carrying on his drug business.
In 1873 Prof. Hambright returned to Lancaster,
and built his beautiful suburban home at No. 415
West James street, which he has since owned and oc-
cupied with the exception of five years, when it was
the home of Prof. Keifer, of Franklin and Marshall
College. During this time Prof. Hambright was re-
called to Chicago to work in the College of Phar-
macy, which needed his services in a trying situa-
tion. In 1884 the Professor came back to Lancaster,
and made his home in his beautiful house until 1900,
when he removed to a much finer one in the same
block.
Professor Hambright was married June 14, 1866,
to ^liss Annie E., daughter of Jacob H. Wittmer, a
farmer of IManor township. To this union was bom
one son, who died in infancy. Mrs. Hambright died
Dec. I, 1888. Prof. Hambright was married for a
second time Sept. 5, 1900, to ]\Iiss Katherine S., a
daughter of the late J. B. Swartzwelder, one of Lan-
caster's pioneer planing men and builders. Prof.
Hambright belongs to Grace Lutheran Church, of
which he has been the financial secretars- for the past
six years, and superintendent of the advanced depart-
ment of the Sunday school. He has been president
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
171
of the High School Alumni Association for the past
sixteen years, and by his earnest personal efforts
lifted that worthy organization out of the Slough of
Despond into an assured success. Possessed of a
fund of rare information, fond of social and literary
gatherings, not at all penurious, he labors in the line
of healthy organizations, seeking the moral and men-
tal advancement of the community, his work has
been far-reaching for good, and as such he will be
long remembered by the people of the city in which
he was born.
PETER MARTIN (deceased) was born in Jan-
nary, 1805, in that section of Elizabeth township
which has since then been embraced within Clay
township, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania.
Johannes Martin, his grandfather, who came
from Switzerland, settled about two miles from
Woodstock, in Shenandoah county, Virginia. Here
Peter Martin, the father of the subject of our sketch,
was born and lived until the residence of the white
settlers there became unsafe owing to the trouble-
some Indians. Johannes Martin decided to change
his place of residence to one where the Indians
would not disturb him, so he moved with his family
to the neighborhood of Ephrata, iii Lancaster coun-
ty. Plere Peter Martin, the father of our subject,
lived for quite a time, following the occupation of a
country merchant. Governor Findlay appointed him
a justice of the peace, and subsequently he removed
to EHzabeth township. In this locality Peter Martin,
Jr., was born and was educated in the public schools
of the section. He helped his father in the store ; be-
came an expert penman and drew up many deeds
and other papers for his father.
As the father advanced in years the son was ap-
pointed a justice of the peace, which position he held
by Governor's appointment until the amended con-
stitution came into force, when he was elected a jus-
tice. He was re-elected, but in 1850 he declined a
second re-election. A Democrat in politics, he ran
for Congress on several occasions, but was defeated.
He subsequently joined the Knownothing party and
finally the Republican, which party elected him pro-
thonotary in i860. He held this office for three
years when he retired to his home at Lincoln, and
there lived in private life until in the autumn of 1866,
when he was elected an associate judge of the courts
of Lancaster county. He held this position up to the
time of his death, which occurred suddenly Aug. 16,
1867. Mr. Martin was a man of quiet and dignified
manners and was possessed of more than ordinary
force of character.
JOPFN F. YOST, M. D. Among the prominent
and reliable physicians of Lancaster county, must be
mentioned Dr. John F. Yost, a highly esteemed citi-
zen of P.ethesda. He was born in Baltimore county,
Md., Aug. 4, 1841, a son of Charles K. and Eliza-
beth' (Fife) Yost, both of whom were born and reared
in York county. Pa. Their ancestry led to both Ger-
many and Ireland. Grandfather Jacob Yost was an
estimable farmer citizen of York county, and reared
five children : Charles K., Andrew J., Jacob, George
and Mary Ann (who married Henry Webb).
Charles K: Yost, a son of Jacob and the father
of Dr. Yost, was born Aug. i, 1813, and died in No-
vember, IQOO. In political belief, he was a stanch
Democrat, and was also a leading member of the
Methodist Church. About 1839 he was married to
Elizabeth Fife, and they reared a family of intelli-
gent children : John F. ; Sarah E., who is the widow
of Amos Graves, of St. Mary county, Md. ; Jacob,
who is a farmer in York county, Pa. ; Louisa A., who
is the wife of William H. Wentz, a farmer of Martic
township ; and Charles, a retired bookkeeper of York
county.
Dr. Yost was the eldest child of his parents. It
has been remarked by those who have closely studied
the careers of the majority of the successful and
prominent men of any locality, that their early rear-
ing and environment has so frequently been on a
farm. Such was the case with Dr. John F. Yost, and
his earliest lessons were learned in the public school.
Later the knowledge here gained was supplemented
by an academical course, in the York County Acad-
emy, and then he entered the office of Dr. John L.
Free, a successful physician of Stewartstown, in
York county, in 1865 entering Jefferson Medical
College, in Philadelphia, graduating in March, 1867.
Dr. Yost soon established himself in his profession at
Mount Nebo, remaining there until he located in
Bethesda, five years later, and since 1870 he has built
up a practice second to none in this locality.
Dr. Yost was married on Dec. 14, 1869, to Miss
Emma Patton, who was a daughter of James Patton,
a merchant of this town, and three children have
been born to this union : Nora E., who married Rev.
Thomas Dodd, a native of England, and pastor of
the Salome Methodist Church, of Delaware county.
Pa., and they have one daughter, Emma Clare ; Irma
Clare, who died at the age of fourteen years ; and
Ralph E., a graduate of the West Chester Normal
School, a very bright and promising young man, now
in the employ of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, in
Philadelphia.
Dr. Yost has never lost his love for a rural life,
and he owns a fine farm in Martic township, and one
of the handsomest and most convenient and sani-
tary residences in this locality. An active and inter-
ested Democrat, the affairs of the nation interest
him, although he holds no office and seeks none. In
the Masonic fraternity he has good standing in Co-
lumbia Lodge, No. 286, and he is a Knight Templar.
Both he and his wife are worthy and consistent
members of the Bethesda Methodist Church. Early
in life Dr. Yost realized that he must, in great meas-
ure, make his own way in the world, and as his am-
bition was to succeed as a physician, he bent every
energy in that direction, overcoming all obstacles
and reaching the honorable position he now occupies.
By honest and efficient performance of every duty.
172
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
he has gained the confidence of his fellow-practition-
ers, and he is a respected and popular member of
both County and State Medical Societies. As a stu-
dent, the Doctor has advanced in his profession
along with the progress made in his chosen science,
and his skill and success have gained him the full
confidence of the people among whom he makes his
home.
FRANK RIED DIFFENDERFFER, journal-
ist, was born April 30, 1833, in New Holland, Lan-
caster Co., Pa. He is of German ancestry, his great-
great-grandfather, John Diffenderffer, having emi-
grated from Nerisheim, near Heidelberg, in the
Palatinate, in the ship "William and Sarah," reach-
ing Philadelphia Sept. 18, 1727, and soon thereafter
taking out a patent for land in what is now Earl
township, in the already named county. Here the
early years of the subject of this article were passed.
His father was a farmer, and working on the paternal
acres during the seasons of seedtime and harvest, and
attending the village schools during the winter and
spring, occupied his time until his sixteenth year,
when he entered the academv connected with Mar-
shall College (now Franklin and Marshall), at Mer-
cersburg, Pa., where he passed several terms.
Developing an ardent taste for reading,. two con-
siderable libraries in his native town, those of Roland
Diller, Esq., and Hon. William Hiester, member of
Congress from the Lancaster District, afforded him
ample opportunity to follow his favorite pursuit.
On his return from college, an opportunity presented
itself of entering a bookstore in the city of Lancaster,
a position conforming very agreeably with his tastes,
and which was therefore accepted. There he re-
mained until T857, when he gave up the position to
take up the pursuit of general merchandising in the
city of El Paso, Mexico (now Ciudad Jaurez), in
co-partnership with his two brothers. There he re-
mained continuously in business until 1 87 1, visit-
ing his native ■ State but once during all that time,
when his business was closed out and he returned
to his early home, where he has remained ever since.
In 1871, in conjunction with his two brothers,
Mr. Diffenderffer established the banking house of
Diffenderfifer Bros., which remained in existence un-
til 1874, when the firm closed up its affairs and went
out of business. A few years later The New Era was
established, and Mr. Dififenderffer, having been of-
fered the position of associate editor, closed with the
offer, and at once entered upon a career ;iearly al-
lied to his early tastes and inclinations. He has been
associated with this paper for a period of twenty-
six years, and is today one of the first to be at his
desk in the morning and one of the last to leave in
the evening. He has been a very prolific writer
for his paper, and his contributions to its columns
would fill man-\- volumes. The Nciv Era was a suc-
cess from its first issue, and is today recognized as
one of the ablest and most influential iournals in
eastern Penns\'lvania. In addition to a daily and
semi-weekly editions, it has also established the
largest printing house in the State outside of Phila-
delphia, and a reputation for excellent typographical
work second to none in the country.
Although his newspaper work has claimed his
steadfa.st attention, Mr. Diffenderfifer has neverthe-
less found time to do much literary work in addition.
Tobacco growing being a very important industry
in t-ancaster county, a department devoted to that
crop was established in his paper, and he has written
a column weekly on that subject. His knowledge
of the statistics of the trade has made him all au-
thority on that question, and he has prepared many
papers with reference to it. The long article on
"Tobacco Growing in Pennsylvania" in the Tenth
Census Report was written by him, and he has also
contributed a number on the same subject to Agri-
cultural Reports of the State of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Dififenderfifer's contributions to general liter-
ature are numerous and varied, but mainly along
historical lines. It was through a meetmg called
by him in his own office that the Pennsylvania-Ger-
man Society had its origin. He was its first secre-
tary, holding that position for three years, until his
election as its president. He edited the first three
volumes of its "Proceedings and Papers," and is still
a member of its executive committee. This society,
now in its twelfth year, has not only attained a large
membership, but stands in the very front rank among
the simJlar societies of the country.
In 1876 Mr. Dififenderfifer pubHshed his first
book, "The Three Earls," a history of the three town-
ships of that name in Lancaster county. Ten years
later that history was bodily incorporated in Evans
& Ellis's voluminous history of Lancaster county.
In 1897 he published "The German Exodus to Eng-
land in i/'Op," a work on a somewhat obscure topic,
which was favorably received. That was followed
in T901 with a stately octavo, "The German Immi-
gration into Pennsylvania Through the Port of Phil-
adelphia, and the Redemptioners." Few historical
books of the year received more or longer reviews
than. this volume, and they were without an exception
highly laudatory. He has in addition published
numerous pamphlets on historical subjects, among
which may be mentioned "The Palatine and Quaker
as Commonwealth Builders;" "How the New Hol-
land School House Was Built ;" "Andrew Ellicott,
a Biography ;" "General Wayne at Mt. Joy ;" "John
Joseph Henry, a Biographical Sketch ;" "The Story
of an Old Document ;" "How East King Street Was
Paved ;" "Lancaster, Flistorical, Picturesque and
Legendary ;" "Christopher Marshall's Diary ;"
"Early Lancaster Playbills and Playhouses;" and
"Colonel John Connolly, Loyalist."
Mr. Dififenderfifer was also one of the organizers
of the Lancaster County Historical Society, and has
been its secretary continuously during the past seven
years, holding that position at the present time. Its
annual volumes show many evidences of his familar
acquaintance with and active interest in the history
£^^q>. £©4^^^.^^^
C-o'^/
BIOGRAPHICAL AxVNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
178
of his county and State. Having been raised on a
farm, he has never outgrown his early interest in
agricultural matters, and for nearly a quarter of a
century has been an active member of the Lancaster
County Agricultural and Horticultural Society. . He
has been its acting secretary for the past twelve
years — a period of service twice as long as that of
any previous secretary.
Although not a politician in the general accepta-
tion of that term. Mr. Diffenderffer has always been
an ardent Republican, having been one of the found-
ers of that party in his native city, and was elected,
although quite a young man, the secretary of the
Lancaster "Fremont Club" in 1856, and he has
rendered yeoman service to that political organiza-
tion through the columns of The New Era for twen-
ty-six years. He has never held public office, save
a term, in the Lancaster city councils. At that time
he lived in a ward that was strongly Democratic,
the .Sixth, yet he succeeded in his contest, being the
only man of his party who pulled through success-
fully.
In 1901, Mr. Dififenderffer was one of the five
trustees named by the judges of the Lancaster court
to take charge of the $250,000 donated by the late
Judge Henry G. Long for the establishment and
maintenance of a public park for the city of Lancas-
ter. In his religious affiliations he has adhered to
the German Reformed Church, the church of his an-
cestors since their arrival in Pennsylvania 175 years
ago. Mr, Diffenderfifer's career has been too busy
to allow him to give much of his time to secret orders
or benevolent societies. He has, however, been for
nearly half a century a member of Lancaster Lodge
No. 67, 1. O. O. F., of Washington Encampment, and
of Conestoga Council, No. 62, of the Royal Arcanum,
having passed through the chairs of both orders. In
1873 Mr. Diflenderffer was united in marriage to
Miss Annie S. Sprenger. One son, Harold F., is
the fruit of this union.
REV. ABRAHAM B. HERR, widely known for
his accomplishments, his piety and zeal as a minister
of the Gospel, added to the universal repect which
his character commands, has won for himself no in-
significant place in the annals of Lancaster county.
A native of that county, he was born Aug. 21, 1845,
in Conestoga (now Pequea) township, son of Martin
and Ad^aria (Brubaker) Herr.
Martin Herr, father of Abraham B., was born in
West Lampeter township, Lancaster county, July
18, 1800, the eldest son of Benjamin and Lizzie
(Withers) Herr, who had children as follows : Mar-
tin, George, Christian, Benjamin, Rudolph, David,
Lizzie (w'ho became the wife of John Herr), Maria
the second wife of John Flerr), Annie (married to
John Bachman), Hannah (married to Jonas Miller)
and Fanny (wife of Benjamin Lantz) — all now de-
ceased.
Martin Herr received a liberal education, up to
the age of seventeen attending the common schools
of the locality of his birth, and then commenced to
learn the milling business at Lime Valley, Lancaster
county, in what is now known as the Haverstick mill.
At the close of his apprenticeship, he at once took
charge of the Landis mills in East Hempfield town-
ship, and while a resident of that locality he married,
Feb. 19, 1824, Maria Brubaker. Whether it was that
Mr. Herr found his milling business uncongenial or
unprofitable we do not venture to state, but this we
know — he abandoned his trade and purchased the
farm which is now the property and residence of his
son, Martin, in Pequea township. Martin Herr, the
father, died Aug. 22, 1896, deeply regretted by all
who knew him, his taking away being regarded, not
only by his immediate relatives, but by the entire
community, as an irreparable loss. A devout Chris-
tian, much respected and beloved, he joined his faith
to the orthodox Mennonite Church, and in the strict-
est sense he was temperate in all things, ever avoid-
ing speculations of any sort, and counseling his chil-
dren to never engage in wild hazards. To him and
his wife came a family of ten children, a brief record
of whom is as follows : Eliza, born Aug. 22, 1825,
died July 14, 1831 ; Susan, born Sept. 6, 1827, mar-
ried Adam Baer, and died in 1848; Hannah, born
Oct. 27, 1829, is the second wife of Adam Baer;
Mary Ann, born April 28, 1832, married Jacob L.
Hess and died in 1878 ; Elizabeth, born Nov. 4, 1834,
is the wife of Deacon Samuel Shenk, referred to
elsewhere; Fanny, born June li, 1837, died July 18,
1838; Martha B., born May 31, 1839, is the wife of
John B. Myers, a prominent and influential farmer
of Pequea township; Martin B., born Nov. 8, 1841,
wedded Anna Shenk, daughter of Bishop Henry
Shenk; Barbara, died in infancy; and Abraham B.,
is the youngest.
Rev. Abraham B. Herr, of whom this sketch
more particularly relates, was educated in the com-
mon schools, and his early life was devoted mainly
to farming. At the age of thirty he was, on Sept. 2,
1875, called to the ministry, being ordained to preach
in the orthodox Mennonite Church. Then his useful
life began in real earnest, and until now, whether in
night time or in storm, he has never flagged or been
derelict in his allegiance and duty to the cause of
Him "with whom there is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning." On June 8, 1899, Rev. Mr.
Herr was summoned and ordained bishop, a position
directed by the Master, and the following account of
the ceremony is substantially as it appeared in the
New Era :
"A meeting was held on Thursday at the Old
Mennonite Church, Millersville, for the purpose of
electing a bishop. The commodious church was
crowded, as great interest was manifested in the sol-
emn and impressive manner of selecting the new
bishop. Bishop Isaac Eby, of Kinzers, conducted the
services, which began at an early hour and contin-
ued until about eleven o'clock. Four candidates had
been nominated, as follows : Revs.' Daniel Lehman,
Millersville; Abraham Herr, New Danville; Benja-
174
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
min Hertzler, Lancaster ; and Abraham Witmer, Le-
tort. According to custom, four Bibles, in one of
which was inserted, unobserved by the candidates, a
slip of paper on it inscribed 'Chosen of the Lord a
Bishop in the Mennonite Church,' were placed be-
fore those nominated. Each one selected a Bible,
Rev. Herr choosing the one containing the paper.
He was therefore duly ordained a bishop. Bishop
Eby preached an appropriate sermon, and remarks
were made by Bishop Brubaker, of Mt. Joy, and
Martin Rutt, of Elizabethtown. Bishop Herr enters
upon his wider ministerial duties with a good equip-
ment for the work that is before him. He has been
a faithful minister in the church for the interests of
which he has always been an indefatigable worker."
The following is a list of the congregations in
the district over which Bishop Herr presides : Stone
Church, Byreland Church, River Corner Church,
Millersville, Rohrerstown, Mountville, Masonville,
Habeckers and Lancaster city. His labors are highly
successful, and all the interests of the several con-
gregations prosper under his efficient supervision.
On Nov. 12, 1867, Abraham B. Herr and Anna
L. Ranck, daughter of Jacob and Susan Ranck, were
united in wedlock, and nine children, as follows,
were born to them : Susan, wife of Emanuel Groff ;
Amos and Mary, both of whom died in childhood;
Henry R., married to Ada Groff, daughter of Rev.
Elias Groff ; Elizabeth, who married Amos Suavely,
a grandson of Rev. Amos Herr; Anna and Martin,
both deceased ; Abraham R. ; and Amanda. The
mother of these was born May 8, iJ'49, and died Feb.
6, 1886. On Sept. 27, 1887, Rev. Mr. Herr for his
second wife, married Susan M. Shenk, granddaugh-
ter of Bishop Henry Shenk, and to them has been
born one child, Mattie, who died in childhood.
Bishop Herr is widely esteemed, and if success,
popularity and good name be the natural heritage for
probity and uprightness then he has his full reward.
In all the field where he has labored since his call to
the ministry he has won the respect and affection of
the people, and the fruits of his earnest work attest
and reward his fidelity to truth and duty.
PROFESSOR JOHN FREDERICK CARL
THORBAHN, Instructor of Instrumental Music in
the Girls' and Boys' High School, and Conductor of
the High School Orchestra and Orchestral School,
Lancaster, also Instrumental Instructor of the State
Normal School, Millersville, will ever be held in
kindly remembrance by the citizens of the entire
county for the grand work he has done for them in
the divine art of music. A native of Germany, the
Professor was born Feb. 8, 1834, in the city of
Parchim, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which was also
the birth place of the great Gen. Von Moltke.
Johann Joachim Thorbahn, father of Prof. Thor-
bahn, was born Feb. 26, 1794, in Siggelkow, Meck-
lenburg-Schwerin, and there followed agricultural
pursuits. He married Maria Dorothea Gense, who
was born Aug. 17, 1803, in Parchim, Mecklenburg, a
daughter of Jacob and Anna D. (Luebcke) Gense.
They had six children, three of whom are yet living,
Maria, Carl and Johanna.
Prof. Thorbahn received a liberal education at
the schools of his native land, and in early life devel-
oped marked musical ability. In Mecklenburg he
attended an academy of music, where he rapidly be-
came proficient as a performer on the clarionet, vio-
lin and other orchestral instruments, graduating
from that institution when only nineteen years of age.
In 1854 he, with his father and mother, came to this
continent, sailing from Hamburg and landing at
Quebec after a stormy voyage of fourteen weeks, the
vessel having been almost wrecked in the passage.
His mother, who was very much weakened by the
long voyage, sickened and died a few weeks after
landing. His father remained here for four years,
when he returned to Germany, and he died there
Dec. 14, 1862. Locating in Montreal, Prof. Thorbahn
secured. a position with the George Cooper English
Grand Opera Co., later becoming leader of the The-
ater Royal orchestra, a position he held some seven-
teen years. During that time he had the honor of
perform mg before the Prince of Wales (now King
Edward VII), who spent a week in Montreal during
the Crystal Palace festivities in i860. The orchestra
also played every week in Lord Dunmore's quarters
in that city, and furnished most of the music for all
the fashionable entertainments given in honor of
these distinguished people. Subsequently, the Pro-
fessor had also the honor to furnish the music for the
private parties and balls given in honor of Prince
Arthur, at that time stationed at Montreal with his
regiment (42nd Highlanders). Prof. Thorbahn left
. Montreal in 1869, to fill special engagements in the
Boston Theatre, and while here became a member of
the Boston Musical Union. He took part in many
concerts given by the Harvard Association Orches-
tra (including oratorios by The Handel and Haydn
Society), under the leadership of Carl Zahran, and
also played with Patrick Gilmore's orchestra at the
Academy of Music, Boston. In 1873 he went to
Warren, Ohio, where he became a member of the
First Faculty of the Musical Institute, and for eleven
years had charge there of the Orchestral Instruction.
In 1878 he was sent as a representative of that insti-
tute, to Cleveland to assist the orchestra for Minnie
Hauk, his name often appearing on the program for
solos.
Coming to Lancaster in 1884, Prof. Thorbahn
became leader of the Fulton Opera House orchestra ;
but at the end of four years he resigned that posi-
tion in order to devote his time exclusively to teach-
ing. In 1892 he was appointed Professor of Instru-
mental Music in the Girls' and Boys' High School,
and is still most capably filling that incumbency, his
pupils — past and present — now numbering thou-
sands. For some seven or eight years during
this period, the Professor, in the summer vacations,
played at Saratoga, Alexandria Bay, Shelter Island
(with Adolph Bernstein) and other fashionable re-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
175
sorts. Indefatigable, indeed, have been his labors,
and now in his advancing years, when vacations
come around, he takes the rest he has so well earned,
having abandoned orchestral work during the sum-
mer, one of his sons, as will appear later, having suc-
ceeded him in that respect. Prof. Thorbahn not only
arranges all his music, but is a composer as well ; in
addition to which he is a maker of violins, etc., hav-
ing, while in Lancaster, turned out fully fifty first
class violins, beside several violas, cellos, and double
basses — in fact there is literally no end to his work,
and no end to his musical achievements.
In 1890 Prof. Thorbahn married Miss Kate Clif-
ton, a popular school teacher in Lancaster. There
are eight children by a former marriage and, deeply
imbued, as is their father, with so great a love- for
music and mastery of the art, it is not strange that
his children should have become skilled musicians —
and such they are : Carl is leader of an orchestra in
Chicago ; Otto is a teacher of music in Pittsburg, and
is conceded to be the finest clarionet player in that
city ; Wilhelmina is the wife of John McNeal, of the
New Era ; Emma is the wife of Leicester Long, of
the firm of Melville Long & Co., wholesale dealers
of notions, Lancaster ; Miss Fannie, living at home,
is an accomplished performer and teacher of the pi-
ano ; Thomas, who makes his home in Philadelphia,
is an accomplished clarionet soloist, plays at Ashe-
ville (N. C), Atlantic City (N. J.), Jacksonville
(Fla.) and many other well-known resorts; J. Stew-
art, living in Lancaster, does his father's orchestral
work, and is a leader of a fine orchestra of his own ;
Miss Eva, living at home, is an accomplished pianist ;
and Harold, at school, is already becoming quite a
violinist under his mother's instruction.
Prof. Thorbahn is a member of Trinity Lutheran
Church ; socially is affiliated with Lamberton Lodge
No. 467, Lancaster; while in his political prefer-
ences he is a Republican. But above all, and beyond
all, he is a musician in the truest, broadest, deepest
sense of the term, his love for the "art divine"
bordering on reverence.
JOHN MILLER. In 1761, John Miller, who
had been a blacksmith in Lancaster, laid out and
founded the town of Millersville by a lottery scheme.
He laid out the town in five acre lots, subject to an
annual quit-rent and laid out streets on the four
sides of the largest purchasers. Several of these
five-acre lots still remain undivided. Two of them
were purchased by Abraham Peters, fathei* of the
late Abraham Peters, who was born in Millersville
in 1791, and remained a resident of the village until
his death — in 1882. The town was first called Mil-
lersburg, then Millerstown, and lastly Millersville.
The ground upon which Millersville was laid out,
originally belonged to Michael Meyer, and he sold
the tract to John Miller, who occupied a house
erected on the tract of ground now owned by Abra-
ham Frantz. Among those who purchased tickets
in the lottery were Abraham Waleslagel, George
Moore, Michael Gross, Michael Bartius, John Wright
»ind Peter Kagy. On Feb. 9, 1767, John Miller was
:irrested for debt at the instance of Jacob Witmer,
'.o whom he was indebted £22. After his release
from jail for debt, he came to Lancaster again to
live and built a house on South Queen street. Upon
his death he was interred in Bethany Lutheran grave-
yard, Millersville. The growth of Millersville has
been phenomenal, and today it is known all over
the State as the home of the First State Normal
School.
DENNIS DONOGHUE was born in Barnsley,
England, Feb. 19, 1820, only son of Dennis and
Eleanor Donoghue, both natives of Ireland. His
father was a sailor and was lost at sea, after which
his mother and he came to America in 1834 and set-
tled in Philadelphia, where Mrs. Donoghue died. She
was a member of St. Michael's Catholic Church.
Dennis Donoghue served his apprenticeship at
the tinner's trade in Philadelphia, and while in that
city was married, Nov. 12, 1841, to Jane Sergeson,
of Philadelphia, by whom he had the following chil-
dren: (i) Ellie, who married Albert Mowrer, of
Christiana and was the mother of six children; (2)
Robert, who was drowned in Philadelphia at the age
of twelve; (3) George W., a tinsmith of Christiana,
who married Jennie Waters, now deceased, and had
three children; (4) Emma J., who died in infancy;
(5) Isabella, also deceased; (6) Anabel, who mar-
ried Frank Pugh and had three children; (7) Den-
nis, who married Emma McNeal, now deceased, and
had three children; (8) Jennie, who married Win-
field Moore, and was the mother of one son.
Mr. and Mrs. Donoghue resided in Philadelphia,
Parkesburg, Q-uarryville and Christiana, where his
death occurred and where his widow still lives.
When the gold fever broke out in California, He
was an eager seeker there for a year, then returning
to his family. He was a member of the Methodist
Church. He died in good circumstances although
he started a poor boy, and his career in every way
was an honorable one and reflected great credit upon
his indomitable courage and genuine manliness. In
politics he was a Democrat.
Jane (Sergeson) Donoghue was born in Ban-
bridge, Ireland, Oct. 29, 1823, the daughter of Rob-
ert and Elizabeth Sergeson, both natives of Ireland.
They came to this country in 1837 and settled in
Philadelphia, where he was engaged in the manu-
facture of shuttles. The father died in 1842, aged
sixty, the mother in 1872, aged ninety-six. They
had nine children, of whom Jane was the sixth. The
shuttle business is still carried on in Philadelphia
by his grandsons.
The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of
Dennis and Jane Donoghue are as follows: Ellie's
children are: (i) Leander, who married Annie
Hess, is an engineer in Philadelphia, and has two
children, Elma and Norman ; (2) Winfield, a ma-
chinist, residing in Wheeling, W. Va., married to
176
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Lilian Falkdale ; (3) Albert, (4) Annie, both de-
ceased; (5) Jennie, who married Elwood Trout, a
moulder, has two children, Ralph and Harold, and
resides in Philadelphia; (6) Harry, who died in
infancy.
George's children are: (i) Robert, a moulder,
who married Minnie Miller, has two children, Win-
field and Florence, and resides in Newark, N. J. ;
(2) William, a clerk in a hardware establishment,
who married Mary Sterm, and has had three chil-
dren, Norman, Grace and Carrie Edna, who died in
infancy ; (3) Carrie, unmarried, of Philadelphia.
Dennis's children are: (i) Frank, a moulder;
(2) Charles, a woodworker, and (3) Bessie, still
at school, all of Christiana.
Jennie's son is Charles, a machinist of Columbia.
Bell's children are: (i) Harry, deceased; (2)
Frank, a printer, and (3) Clarence, at home at Eliza-
beth, New Jersey.
J. HALDEMAN HERR, one of the leading
agriculturists of Manor township, also largely inter-
ested in manufacturing in the borough of Columbia,
is a descendant of one of the early and prominent
families of Lancaster county.
The Herr family is one of the most prominent
in the county, and is descended from Hans Herr,
who was the pastor and spiritual adviser of a large
colony of emigrants from Switzerland who made
their way to this country and to Lancaster county,
this State, in 1710. Hans Herr was accompanied by
his four sons, Abraham, Emanuel, John and Isaac;
another son, Christian Herr, a minister of the Men-
nonite Church, preceded them by about one year, he
coming in 1709, being one of a committee sent by a
community of Mennonites which took up several
thousand acres of land. The home of the family was
in the vicinity of Basel, Switzerland, and it is said
that their coming to America was owing to religious
persecution, they being Protestants. Of the five sons
of Hans Herr three brought their families with
them, one settling in Lancaster township, another at
New Danville, and a third at Big Spring. Hans
Herr made his home at Big Spring, and was the
head of the colony with which he came in 1710.
From this source sprang Abraham Herr, the
great-grandfather of J. Haldeman. Benjamin Herr,
the latter's grandfather, often styled "King Benja-
min," was a native of Manor township, born Nov.
20, 1776, on the old family homestead, situated north
of the town proper and including a portion of the
borough. He was a man of great business capacity,
and was largely engaged in various lines. He pur-
chased tract after tract of land until he owned sev-
eral hundred acres, farmed extensively, and was
also largely occupied in milling, erecting two grist-
mills and owning and operating a third, and had all
going at one time. He had other lands in York
county, where he also carried on agricultural pur-
suits. He was a large shipper of his own products
to the markets of Baltimore and Philadelphia. He
erected the bridge over the stream near his home,
which is yet a relic of the past. Energetic and
capable, he generally carried out any enterprise he
undertook, always proving equal to the occasion.
He was very successful and became wealthy, being
one of the richest men in the county, and all of his
wealth he accumulated himself. As may be judged,
he was a man of great force of character. He mar-
ried Maria Bachman, who was born in 1782, daugh-
ter of Michael Bachman, a wealthy man, who owned
much land in Manor township, and was prominent
in the Mennonite Church ; he died in 1827, aged sev-
enty-nine years.
To the marriage of Benjamin and Maria (Bach-
man) Herr were born children as follows: (i)
Anna married John .Stehman, a prominent minister
of the United Brethren Church, who located in
Manor township. (2) Mary, who was very devoted
to her mother, died unmarried. (3) John located
in the city of Baltimore, but later returned and lived
in York, this State. (4) Benjamin was a well-to-do
farmer of Lancaster county. (5) Christian B., the
father of J. Haldeman, is referred to farther on.
(6) Abraham first went to the city of Baltimore,
where he did a large business as a commission mer-
chant. Subsequently he went to Harper's Ferry, Va.,
and purchased considerable property. During the
Civil war he was taken prisoner by the Confederates.
Later he went to Washington or Georgetown, D. C,
and became quite prominent in public affairs and
also in business, at one time serving as a commis-
sioner of the city by appointment of the President.
He was identified with the Presbyterian Church.
(7) Michael also went to the city of Baltimore,,
where he was engaged in the commission business
and in other lines. He ran the first steamboat up
the Susquehanna river, and in 1849, at the time of
the rush of the people to the gold fields of California,
he constructed a vessel to carry framed houses to that
locality around by Cape Horn. He became a very
wealthy man. (8) Henry C. settled on the old farm,
where he lived until his retirement and then moved
to- Mount Joy. (9) Elizabeth married Ephraim'
Hershey, of Columbia. (10) Adaline (now de-
ceased) married (first) John J. Johnston, of Mari-
etta, and (second) Henry Bechtold. Two children,,
whose names are not givin, died in infancy. Mom
hers of this family were generally identified with
some church. Benjamin Herr, the father, died in
1849, ^"d ^^^ mother passed away later ; both orig-
inally were members of the Mennonite Church, but
later united with the Methodist Church.
Cpiristian B. Herr was born born Jan. 13, 1810,
on the home farm — the farm of his forefathers — and
was there reared to habits of industry and frugality,
and to usefulness as a man and a citizen. After his
marriage he located on a portion of the homestead,
and ever afterward made it his home. He was occu-
pied chiefly in farming and milling, being associated
in the latter business with his brother, Henry C. He
was a Christian man, a kind neighbor, and led a use-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
177
ful life. Possessed of good ability and judgment,
he managed his own affairs successfully and pros-
pered. He associated himself with the Lancaster
County Bank early in its history, and was connected
with it for a long period, serving as a director for
years and also as president. He tilled such positions
with his characteristic ability and business sagacity,
and his wisdom was a force in the direction of the
bank's affairs. For many years — the greater por-
tion of his life — he was a member of the Methodist
Church, and was a veritable pillar in that organiza-
tion, always doing his duty therein with ready cheer-
fulness. He was one of the founders of the select
school or atademy at Millersville, out of which came
the present State Normal School located at that
point. All through life he was interested in all mat-
ters pertaining to the upbuilding of society and the
advancement of the community, his native township
and county. His career was a successful one.
On Nov. 24, 183s, Mr. Herr was married to
Eliza B. Haldeman, who was born April 4, 1816,
daughter of John Haldeman and Anna (Stehman),
the former a descendant of Jacob Haldeman, who
came from Switzerland to this country and settled
in Rapho township, this county, in 1722. To the
marriage of Christian B. and Eliza B. (Haldeman)
Herr were born seven children, three of whom died
in infancy, the others being : J. Haldeman is re-
ferred to farther on. Mary, second in order of birth,
is the wife of Joseph H. Brinton, of Thornbury,
Chester Co., Pa. Annie E. is mentioned below.
Christian B. married Anna Hostetter, and lives in
Manor township ; they have two children, one, Ben-
jamin W., living in the west; Charles S. married
Letitia Waller, of Safe Harbor. The parents of this
family are both deceased, the mother dying Nov. 20,
1850, and the father Feb. 11, 1890.
J. Haldeman Herr was born on the Herr home-
stead, in Manor township. His boyhood was passed
in such manner as might be supposed from what has
been set forth in the foregoing concerning his father
and forefathers. He was taught the correct manner
of living, and was reared to habits of industry and
usefulness. He received a good common-school
education, and was properly instructed in good farm-
ing and business methods, and has since, by the ex-
ercise of good judgment, management and industry,
prospered and succeeded in life. Aside from his
farming operations he is largely interested in manu-
facturing in Columbia. He is a stockholder and
director in the Kelley Stove Works, in the Electric
Light & Power Company, and in the Columbia
Wagon Works, and is one of the substantial men of
the community. In 1899 he commenced raising
Holstein-Frisian stock, and he now has ten head, all
thoroughbred and nearly all registered.
Annie E. (Herr) Wood, daughter of the late
Christian B. Herr, and widow of Dr. Granville B.
Wood, late of Fulton township, this county, now
makes her home with her brother, J. Haldeman
Herr, both residing at the homestead— a charming
12
and delightful country seat. Both Mrs. Wood and
her brother are identified with the M. E. Church of
their locality. Mrs. Wood is also an active worker
of the Y. W. C. A. of Lancaster, liberal in its sup-
port, and has been president since 1897.
LEVI RICKSECKER, deceased. Looking over
the list of business men who have had a large share
in making Mt. Joy, Lancaster county, a well-known
business center, we find that the name of Levi Rick-
secker takes a prominent place. He was born at
Lititz, this county, July 21, 1822, a son of John and
Fredericka (Fisher) Ricksecker, the former a native
of Lititz and the latter of Surinam, on the north
coast of South America.
John Ricksecker was born June 6, 1789, and died
Jan. 29, 1871. By trade he was a shoemaker, later
a farmer, and resided in Mt. Joy from 1865. The
mother was born May 13, 1794, and died in Lititz
in 1857. Both parents were buried in the Moravian
cemetery, having been consistent members of the
Moravian Church. Their children were as follows :
Caroline, who died in 1848, a teacher in the Lititz
Seminary ; Augusta A., the widow of R. F. Ranch,
of Lancaster, who died in 1901 ; Louisa F., who
married F. M. Ranch, and died in 1893 ; Permania,
a hatter by trade, died in 1869, at Lititz ; Levi ; Maria
S., who died in 1848, unmarried ; Edwin, who died
in 1846; Emanuel A., who died in infancy; James
F., a cabinet maker by trade, who died in 1887;
he was a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting as a
private, was promoted to first lieutenant, and later
to major.
John and Rachel Fredericka Ricksecker, the pa-
ternal grandparents of Levi Ricksecker, were most
worthy people, and devout members of the Moravian
Church. Both were natives of Mt. Joy township;
the former was born in 1713, and was known as an
excellent shoemaker. He lived to the age of sixty-
three, his wife surviving until she was eighty. The
children born to this union, all now deceased, were :
Jacob; Frederick; John; and Mary, who died un-
married, and all of them were members of the Mo-
ravian Church.
Mr. Ricksecker's maternal grandparents, the par-
ents of Fredericka (Fisher) Ricksecker, were Eng-
Hsh by birth, and were missionaries at Surinam, in
Dutch Guiana, South America. They died in Eng-
land, in the Moravian faith. They had two children,
Fredericka and Louisa, who, when Fredericka was
but nine years of age, were sent to America, to Beth-
lehem, Pa., where they were placed in a Moravian
school, and well educated. There they remained until
they were married, Louisa to Gen. John Curtiss, of
Ohio, and Fredericka to John Ricksecker ; both were
married by lot.
Levi Ricksecker was reared in his native place
and attended the excellent schools of Lititz until he
had reached the age of fourteen. At this time he
was considered old enough to learn a trade, and
under the capable instruction of his elder brother,
178
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
he began to learn that of hatter, continuing for four
years, until he had mastered every detail and had
become a careful and competent workman. In
Bethlehem, Pa., he worked at his vocation for two
years, and then spent the same time in Philadelphia,
after which he took a journey through the country,
working in various towns, until 1846, when his
wanderings brought him to Toronto, Canada. In
that Northern city he remained a few months, then,
continuing to journey on, he reached Marietta, Pa.,
and in 1847, came to Mt. Joy, where he located. Mr.
Ricksecker had seen much of the country and had
viewed business opportunities in many states, but
his natural inclinations brought him back home, and
there he remained, becoming one of the leading busi-
ness men of his community. In 1889 he retired
from activity, after a busy and successful life. From
1854 to 1869 he was treasurer of Mt. Joy borough,
and was again elected from 1871 to 1888, when he
retired from office. Mr. Ricksecker was a director
of the Union National Bank of Mt. Joy from its
organization, and prior to that of its predecessor,
the State Bank.
On Sept. 24, 1850, Levi Ricksecker was married
in Lancaster, Pa., to Miss Elizabeth F. Gormley,
and to this union were born : Frank G., who died
in infancy; Onata, who died in May, 1895, married
Dr. M. 0. Putt, of Dauphin county, Pa., who now
resides in Oberlin; no children were born to this
marriage. Mrs. Ricksecker was born in Mt. Joy
township, Oct. 17, 1830, a daughter of Michael and
Catherine (McDonald) Gormley, the father a native
of Ireland, the mother of Scotland. Michael came to
America from County Sligo, and served in the war
of 1812. In 1815 he returned to Ireland, and in
1818 started back with his wife and son, Michael,
who died shortly after their arrival. On the voyage
they suffered shipwreck, and were obliged to return
to Ireland to get more funds, as they lost all they
had. Upon their arrival in 1818, they settled in
Rapho township, coming to Mt. Joy in 1830. Mr.
Gormley was a distiller but was living retired at the
time of his death, in August, 1861, at the age of
eighty-one. Mrs. Gormley died in 1888, at the age
of eighty-nine. Both parents had been devout mem-
bers of the Catholic Church. The children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Gormley were : Henry, who died in
1854; Mary, who died unmarried in 1874; James
and John, twins, the former of whom, an engineer,
died in Parkesburg, Pa., in 1902, and the latter died
in infancy; Joseph, who died in 1881 ; David, who
died in infancy ; Michael, who died at the age of six
years; Elizabeth F., the widow of Levi Ricksecker.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Ricksecker re-
mained in Ireland all their lives. The maternal
grandparents, Francis and Catherine McDonald,
were Scottish people. He came to America and
after spending three days with his daughter, Miss
McDonald, started to South Carolina to visit his
other children, but was prostrated by a sunstroke
and died suddenly. Both he and his wife were peo-
ple of wealth and lived in Castle Green, Scotland.
Prominently identified with the public affairs in
his locality, Mr. Ricksecker became well known
through a wide extent of country, and his public
spirit was shown in many directions. In politics he
was a Democrat, and fraternally he was connected
with the Masons, Third degree? and the I. O. O. F.,
in which organization he was treasurer until he re-
signed, after thirty-eight years of faithful service.
Reared in the Moravian faith, Mr. Ricksecker's life
was an exponent of the teachings of that religious
body. He pass away June 8, 1901, after an illness
of two weeks, and was buried in Mt. Joy cemetery.
CONRAD WEISER, the famous Indian inter-
preter, was among Lancaster's early men of note.
He was born in Germany in 1696, and when he was
thirteen years old he came to America with his father
and the rest of the family, landing at New York June
13, 1710. The family remained there until in 1723,
when they settled on the Tulpehocken, in Pennsyl-
vania. In 1714 a Mohawk Indian chief, with whom
Weiser's father had become acquainted, offered to
take young Conrad with him to their country and
teach him the Mohawk language. Young Weiser
went with him, and suffered many privations during
his residence among the Indians.
When the family come to Pennsylvania in 1723
young Weiser did not come along with them. He
came to Pennsylvania in 1729. In 1730 Governor
Gordon called upon him to act as an interpreter
with the Indians, which he did at all the principal
treaties held during the succeeding twenty-five years.
In 1752 he was appointed one of the trustees of the
schools held at Lancaster, York and Reading. Dur-
ing the French and Indian war he was lieutenant
colonel commanding the Second Battalion of the
Pennsylvania regiment. He died July 13, 1760.
HAGER. This name has been a familiar one in
Lancaster county for nearly a century and a half.
Christopher' Hager, the founder of the family in
America, was born in the city of Worms, Hessen-
Darmstadt, Feb. 19, 1741, and he died at Lancaster,
Pa., April 23, 1819. His name was originally spelled
Heger, but was changed to Hager to conform with
the I English spelling of its pronunciation. Chris-
topher Hager, Sr., sailed from Rotterdam Sept. 26,
1764, in the ship "Brittania," Capt. Thomas Arnot,
carrying 260 passengers, and at once settled in Lan-
caster, where he resided until his death. There he
married Caroline Biehl, daughter of Philip Biehl, of
Lancaster. The records show that he owned con-
siderable land in and about Lancaster. From 1778
to 1807 he resided at the northeast corner of East
King and Christian streets, which property he then
sold to Robert Coleman, and which was later the
home of President James Buchanan. Mr. Hager was
a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, and is buried
with his wife in the old graveyard in the rear of the
church on Miffiin street. He had several daughters
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
179^
and two sons. The elder, Francis, left Lancaster
when a young man, and there is no record of his
subsequent life.
Christopher Hager, the youngest child of
Christopher, was born in Lancaster Oct. 7, 1800, and
died at Abbeville, west of Lancaster, April 15, 1868.
He was married March 28, 1822, to Catherine Sener,
daughter of John Sener, and they had ten children,
of whom two are living : Mrs. Catherine H. Mathiot,
vvfidow of William Mathiot, a well known attorney ;
and Cecilia H. EUmaker, widow of Nathaniel Ell-
maker, Esq., also of the Lancaster Bar. In 1828
Mr. Hager purchased the property on the north-
west corner of West King and Market streets, now
occupied by Hager & Brother's department store,
and there conducted a general mercantile business
until about 1848, when he was chosen president of
the Farmers Bank. In 1856 he changed his resi-
dence to Abbeville, on the south side of the Columbia
turnpike, west of Lancaster. He was largely in-
terested in real estate in the southern and western
parts of the city. He was also largely instrumental in
locating the cotton mill industries in Lancaster. He
served as county treasurer, elected by the Whig
party. He was a member of the Trinity Lutheran
Church, of which he was a trustee, and is buried with
his wife in Woodward Hill cemetery. The following
obituary is taken from the Philadelphia Press, at the
time edited by John W. Forney, with whom Mr. Ha-
ger was well acquainted :
At Abbeville, near Lancaster, after a lingering and
prostrating illness, died, on the 15th instant, Christopher
Hager, Esq. The announcement of his death will be
received with regret throughout the State. One of the
oldest and most substantial citizens of Lancaster county,
intimately connected with all its public movements, his
business relations were extended generally throughout the
Commonwealth. For twenty years previous to his death
Mr. Hager had with great acceptance to the community
filled the presidency of the Farmers Bank of Lancaster, an
institution which, under his lead, promptly enrolled itself
among the National Banks and was ever foremost in lending
its weight and influence and credit to the Government in
its hour of need. Many of the chief local improvements of
his native city, as Fulton Hall, the Market street buildings,
are mainly attributed to his enterprise and public spirit.
Mr. Hager, who had attained the ripe old age of sixty-nine,
the reward of an equable and well spent life, was in early
life a supporter of the old Whig party. At its dissolution
his sympathies and natural integrity of purpose carried him
into the Republican ranks, and during the struggle for
National existence he was, at all times. In his county, one
of the first men looked to for counsel or aid in every emerg-
■ency.
John C. Hager, eldest son of Christopher, born
at Lancaster March 19, 1827, died at "The Maples,"
Lancaster township, Sept. 15, 1897. He was mar-
ried to Margaret Henderson, of Carlisle, Pa., and is
survived by his widow, Margaret H. Hager, two sons
— John C. Hager, Jr., real estate broker ; and Will-
iam H.,of the firm of Hager & Brother, dry goods
merchants and department store — and four daugh-
ters. In connection with his two brothers, Charles
F. and Henry W., he conducted the general mer-
cantile business established by his father. After the
latter's death he was asked to accept the presidency
of the Farmers National Bank, which position he de-
clined, owing to the pressing nature of his other busi-
ness interests. He was also largely interested in real
estate in Lancaster city and township, and the de-
velopment of the western part of Lancaster is largely
due to his activity. He was a trustee of Franklin
and Marshall College, and of Trinity Lutheran
Church. He was also one of the pioneers of the
street railway system in and about Lancaster, and
actively connected with the construction and man-
agement of the Millersville, Columbia, West End
and East End lines.
Charles F. Hager, second son of Christopher
Hager, was born Dec. 7, 1831, in Lancaster, where
he died April 13, 1897. He was married to Annie
M. Graeff, daughter of Dr. Charles Graefl, and
granddaughter of Col. Geo. Graefif,,of Lancaster. Mr.
Hager was a member of the firm of Hager & Brother,
a director of the Fanners National Bank and one of
the organizers of the Stevens House Hotel Co.
After the death of his father he purchased the family
homestead at Abbeville, where he resided until sev-
eral years prior to his death, when he returned to
Lancaster City. He is survived by two sons, Walter
C. Hager, of the firm of Hager & Brother ; Charles
F. Hager, Esq., a member of the Lancaster Bar ; and
two daughters.
Henry W. Hager, third son of Christopher Ha-
ger, was born Feb. 18, 1837, at Lancaster, where
he died Dec. 22, 1871. He married Ellen Hayes,
daughter of Hon. Alexander S. Hayes, judge of the
court of Common Pleas, etc., of Lancaster county.
He was a member of the firm of Hager & Brother,
and at the time of his death he was postmaster at
Lancaster city. Mr. Hager was first lieutenant in
Co. B, 2nd Pa. State Volunteers, in the war of the
Rebellion. He is survived by one son, Christopher
Hager, Esq., of Marietta, Pa., a member of the Lan-
caster Bar ; and two daughters.
Edward F. Hager, the fourth son of Christopher
Hager, was born in Lancaster, April 17, 1843, and
died in New York City, March i, 1875. He was for
some years connected with the firm of William L.
Strong & Co. (Col. W. L. Strong was afterward
mayor of New York), and had been made a member
of the firm shortly before his death. He was a first
lieutenant Co. B, I22d P. V. I., and saw service
in Chancellorsville and elsewhere during the Civil
war. He also recruited and was captain of Co. A,
50th Regiment Pa. Militia. He was unmarried.
These four brothers are all buried in Woodward
Hill cemetery.
FRANKLIN CLARK, in his lifetime one of the
well-known residents of Strasburg township for
many years, was born April 6, 1821, a son of James
and Ann (Barkley) Clark, his ancestry coming from
Irish soil.
William Clark, grandfather of Franklin, was the
founder of the family in Lancaster county, and came
180
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
to America from his birthplace, Donegal, Ireland, in
1792, bringing with him his wife, and locating in
Colerain township, Lancaster Co. Here he purchased
a farm some two miles beyond Kirkwood, and made
his home there until his decease, living to the ad-
vanced age of eighty years. He married Catherine
Herron, and they reared these children : James, the
father of Franklin; Sarah, who married Andrew
Brown ; Andrew, who became a farmer in Ohio ;
William, who was a shoemaker in Lancaster county ;
Catherine ; Elizabeth ; Mary ; and Jane.
James Clark was born in Colerain township, and
lived a useful and busy life of seventy-eight years,
dying in 1871, in Strasburg. He had been a well-
known farmer in Strasburg and Bart townships. His
marriage, on Dec. 29, 1818, was to Ann Barkley,
of Colerain, a daughter of William and Elizabeth
Barkley, the latter being a woman of business capac-
ity, who conducted a very excellent hotel, which was
the meeting-place for all public gatherings. Ann
Barkley was born in Lancaster county, but died in
Chester county, at the very remarkable age of 100
years and eleven days, more than rounding out the
century, and her remains lie at rest in the Strasburg
cemetery. She was the beloved mother of seven chil-
dren : Franklin ; Tirza, deceased, who married
George Aument, of Strasburg; William, deceased,
a railroad agent at Columbia, Pa., for a long jeriod;
Miss Mary, deceased ; James H., a farmer of Chester
county ; Ann F., the widow of Henry Garra, of
Philadelphia ; and John S., a resident of Fort Wayne,
Ind., a turfman, and a driver of repute, who served
gallantly with the 2d P. V. C. during the Civil war.
Franklin Clark was reared on the farm, but re-
ceived superior educational advantages, attending the
Strasburg Academy, and so ably preparing himself,
that at the age of twenty-one he was gladly accepted
as a teacher of the public schools through the
county, and in this position he became identified with
the wonderful progress and advancement made in the
public school system at that time. Thomas H. Bur-
rowes was then the superintendent, and Mr. Clark
was his capable assistant in the almost pioneer work.
For five years he continued in this profession, but
the confinement told upon his health, and he decided
to take up the drover business. In this way he trav-
eled over a large extent of country, through Ohio,
Indiana, and Kentucky, gathering up stock, which he
drove across the mountains for the eastern markets,
distributing much of it in Lancaster county, but also
sending to both Philadelphia and New York.
During twenty-five years of his life Mr. Clark
continued his dealings in stock, buying many choice
animals for breeding purposes, but finally discon-
tinued his trips and settled down to farming. His
estate was situated one and one-half miles east of
Strasburg, and consists of thirty acres of very choice
land. For nearly forty-five years he was a director
in the Southern Mutual Insurance Co., of Quarry-
ville, and he took an active interest in all of the
enterprises designed for the benefit of his locality.
Mr. Clark was married three times. On Feb.
22, 1849, he married Mary Ann Lefever, a daughter
of Levi Lefever, of Strasburg, born on April 15,
1830, and died on March 30, 1871, leaving these
children : Cora F., born in April, 1850, died in June,.
i860; Annie F., born July, 1851, lives in Kansas
City ; William is a veterinary surgeon, of Strasburg ;
Levi F., born in 1855, died in 1873; Mary E.,
born in March, 1858, died in August, 1875 ; Susan I.,
born July, i860, lives in Lancaster ; James H., born
Feb., 1862, lives in Virden, 111. ; Harry McClellan,
born Feb., 1864, lives in Kansas City; and Charles.
E., born Oct., 1866, died March, 1872. The second
marriage of Mr. Clark occurred on March 3, 1874,.
Fannie E., daughter of Joseph Smith, becoming his
bride; she was a native of West Virginia, and died
Sept. 6, 1890, the mother of two children : Frankie,.
born Aug. 3, 1876, died June 8, 1890; and Jennie,,
born Oct. 9, 1878. On March 22, 1893, Mr. Clark
was married to Rosie E. Gelvin, daughter of Joseph
Gelvin, of Fulton county, Pa., a most estimable
lady, and a consistent member of the Presbyterian
Church.
Mr. Clark was always a Democrat, and served in
many of the local offices, with credit and trustworthi-
ness. He was on the jury commission for three-
years, and for nine years was one of the most active
and competent members of the board of education.
His reading, travel and association with the world,,
made him a very intelligent and well-informed man,
and also a very companionable one, and he was most
highly regarded in business circles through Stras-
burg township. He died March 3, 1902.
J. GUST ZOOK, as well known in banking and'
politics as he is in the tobacco trade, in which he
holds a leading position, comes from an old and sub-
stantial Pennsylvania family.
Moritz Zug (as the name was originally spelled),,
his great-grandfather, came from Canton Zug,
Switzerland, to the United States, accompanied by
his two brothers, Christian and Johannes, landing
from the ship "Francis and Elizabeth" at Philadel-
phia, Sept. 21, 1742. Moritz Zug was a grandson of
Hans Zug, an elder in the Mennonite Church at
Berne, Switzerland, where, in 1659, he and six other
preachers of that faith were arrested and thrown
into prison, where they were detained until 1671,,
being released then only on a promise to leave that
section of the country. Moritz Zug settled in Berks
county, Pa., but presently removed to a place on the
Lancaster turnpike, in West Whiteland township,
Chester county, where he passed the remaining years-
of his active and troubled life.
Abram Zug, sixth son of Moritz, was born in
January, 1761, in Berks county, and in 1808 re-
moved to East Lampeter township, where' he died
Sept. 19, 1826. His wife, Maria (Kurtz) Zug, was
born in 1767, and died June 11, i8tf i. They were the.
parents of eleven children, and their fourth son, Ja-
cob, was the father of J. Gust Zook. It was during
1
p^\^
^{^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
181
his life that the family name took on its present
form.
Jacob Zook was born near Eden, Lancaster
<^°™ty, m 1797, and was engaged in farming until
i86r, when he removed to Lancaster and led a re-
tired life until his death, in 1876. He was a Repub-
lican in politics, and a Baptist in religion, having
been an elder in that church for many years. Jacob
Zook was in all respects an exemplary man. His
wife, whose maiden name was Christiana Hauck, was
also a native of Lancaster county, and a sister of
Col. David Hauck, who served in the Mexican war.
She died in 1879, "i the seventy-ninth year of her
age. To this marriage were born nine children, six
of whom lived to maturity: J. Gust is mentioned
below ; Margaret H. married the late David Evans,
for many years superintendent of public schools of
Lancaster county, and died in March, 1874; Noah
H. and Abraham H. went to Mississippi in 1865,
and engaged in cotton growing near Vicksburg, but
the next year,, through sectional feeling against the
people of the North, they were murdered and robbed,
the younger brother being found, but the other was
never heard of after the murder ; Mary A. married
W. W. Edwards, of Philadelphia; Christiana H.
married L. McMichael, of the same place.
J. Gust Zook was born in Eden, Lancaster
count}', March 27, 1847, and after a partial educa-
tion in the local schools entered the State Normal
School at Millersville, in 1863. In the same year he
€nlisted as a- member of Company A, 50th P. V. I.,
rallied under the command of Col. James H. Wick-
ersham, to repel the Rebel invasion of the State.
When his term of enlistment had expired young
Zook became a clerk in a store at Camargo, where
he remained a year, when he went to New Holland
to take a position as a clerk, which he held until the
opening of the year 1865. At that time he again en-
hsted, joining Co. B, 77th P. V. I., and accompanied
his regiment to Texas, where he remained until his
discharge, in 1866. Mr. Zook, on his return from
the army, took a course in the Crittenden Com-
mercial College, in Philadelphia, and then entered
Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, remain-
ing there until he passed the Sophomore year. In
1868 he engaged in farming on the old homestead,
hut the occupation not proving congenial he sold the
place, and in 1875 located in Lancaster. The_ follow-
ing year he began dealing in leaf tobacco in part-
nership with the late Charles Augustus Bitner, this
partnership continuing until 1880. Since that year
he has carried on a very extensive business entirely
on his own account. Mr. Zook is the owner of tv^^o
large warehouses devoted to the tobacco trade in
this community. In December, 1900, he completed
the erection of another large building not far from
the one in which his main business has been done,
and to this he removed his ofifice early in 1901, feel-
ing that he owns a;nd occupies the finest and best
equipped tobacco warehouse in Lancaster, having a
capacity of at least lOiOOO cases of tobacco.
In 1877 Mr. Zook was married to Miss Emma
E. Bitner, daughter of the late C. Augustus Bitner,
noted above as being his partner in the leaf tobacco
trade at one time. To this marriage has come one
son, Charles Augustus Bitner.
Mr. Zook was one of five men who originally
started the Lancaster Trust Company, the other four
having been Hon. J. Hay Brown, S. M. Myers, John
I. Hartman and John D. Skiles. Henry Baumgard-
ner and John Keller were later taken into the com-
pany. Mr. Zook was a director, and for a time the
general manager, of the Pennsylvania Traction
Company, which has since been changed into the
Conestoga Traction Company; he is a director of
the Edison Electric I-ight Company, and of the Lan-
caster Gas Light & Fuel Co., president of the Lan-
caster Ice Manufacturing Company, and a director
and vice-president of the Laurel Hill Cemetery Com-
pany. He is also a director of the Grand Rapids &
Chicago Railway Company, in Michigan. In the
Masonic fraternity he is past master of Lamberton
Lodge, No. 476 ; past high priest. Royal Arch Chap-
ter, No. 43 ; past grand puissant master, Lancaster
Lodge of Perfection ; ancl a member of the Knights
Templars and of Philadelphia Sovereign Consistory,
S. P. R. S. Mr. Zook is also a member of the Union
League of Philadelphia, and was a delegate to the
National Republican Convention that nominated
William McKinley for the Presidency, taking an
active part in the campaign of 1896.
Mr. Zook is an enlightened and public-spirited
citizen, and is always interested in any project for
the advancement of the business and industrial inter-
ests of Lancaster.
WENGER. Among the old families of Lancas-
ter county that date their settlement back to the early
part of the -eighteenth century few, if any, have at-
tained a greater prominence than the one here under
consideration. The founder was Christian Wenger,
a Swiss emigrant, who, in 1727, located at Grofifdale,
West Earl township, purchasing in consideration of
forty pounds a farm of three hundred acres from
Hans Groff, who had been granted a tract of 1500
acres direct from William Penn. The selection of
this tract for his future home by Christian Wenger
was a matter of pure accident, or chance. After his
arrival in America he had stopped for a short time
at Germantown. Proceeding westward, his horses
went astray and in searching for them he discovered
the beautiful valley at Grofifdale and was so well
pleased with the place that he forthwith decided
to settle there, accordingly purchasing the tract as
noted above. Here he reared his family and spent
the remaining years of his life. The old homestead,
or a portion of it, is still in the possession of a de-
scendant, Michael E. Wenger, of the fifth genera-
tion from the founder of the family. Christian Wen-
ger and his wife had a family of three sons — Michael,
John and Henry — and a daughter who became the
wife of Christian Weaver. Jacob Wenger, a promi-
182
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
nent coach manufacturer of Paradise township, Lan-
caster county, is of the sixth generation from Chris-
tian Wenger, the emigrant. The line of descent is
as follows :
(II) Michael Wenger, son of Christian, was
deeded the homestead by the father in 1764.
(III) Rev. Joseph Wenger, son of Michael, was a
minister of the Mennonite church, whose work was
at Groffdale, and who after his father, occupied the
old home place. He married a Miss Hurst, by whom
he had a family of four sons — Michael, Benjamin,
Daniel and Joseph — and three daughters, of whom
there is record, wives, respectively, of John Nolt,
Samuel Rupp and Isaac Wenger. Rev. Joseph Wen-
ger died in 1850, at the advanced age of eighty- three
years.
(IV) Joseph Wenger, son of Rev. Joseph, be-
came a farmer. He married Catherine Burkholder,
and died about 1817, at the early age of twenty-six
years, leaving two sons, John and Joseph. The lat-
ter was a farmer, and he married a daughter of
George Grofif. His death occurred in 1863.
(V) John Wenger, son of Joseph, was born in
1814. He acquired the trade of wagon making, and
established himself in business at Oregon, Lancas-
ter county, continuing a successful manufacturer at
that place for a period of thirty-five years. As time
passed his reputation as a wagon-maker grew, and
his skill increased. A demand arising for a different
grade of goods, he began the manufacture of light
wagons, carriages and buggies for the local trade,
in which work he was ably assisted by his sons as
they grew to manhood. About ten years prior to
his death he retired from active business, his sons
taking up and continuing most successfully the work
thus surrendered. He also owned and operated a
small farm of sixty acres. John Wenger married
Miss Mary Erb, a daughter of Emanuel Erb of
Warwick township, and to them were born seven
children, namely, Joseph, Abraham, Mariah, Jacob,
Lizzie, Annie and John. Of these children, Joseph,
now deceased, learned the coach-making trade from
his father, and for eight years conducted a business
of his own in Paradise township; then in 1867 he
entered the same business at Philadelphia, continu-
ing until 1889; he died about 1892. Abraham, a
resident of Paradise township, is mentioned below.
Mariah is the deceased wife of Peter Hoover, of
New Holland. The sketch of Jacob appears below.
Lizzie is unmarried . and resides in Paradise town-
ship ; Annie, unmarried, is also a resident of Para-
dise township. John, a coachmaker by trade, worked
for many years for his brother Jacob in Paradise
township, and is now a dealer in carriages, and a
salesman with headquarters in Philadelphia. The
parents of these children were members of the Re-
formed Mennonite Church. The father, John, died
in Paradise in 1885, aged seventy-one years, while
the mother passed away July 3, 1879, aged sixty-
eight years.
(VI) Jacob Wenger was born April 4, 1840.
He spent his boyhood days at Oregon, receiving his
education in the public schools, supplemented by a
term at the Millersville State Normal. He taught
school for two terms, but, having learned from his
father the trade of coach-making, he chose that as
his vocation. Remaining in his father's factory for
a time, he came to Paradise township and was here
employed by his brother. In 1869 he succeeded to
the business and during the first years of his ex-
perience as a manufacturer he had an associate in
business, but since that time he has conducted the
business alone. It was entirely a local trade when
Jacob Wenger assumed charge, but under his man-
agement it has grown until it is second to none in
the county outside of the city of Lancaster. Much
of the furnished product of his factory is shipped
to the large eastern cities, including New York, Phil-
adelphia, Boston, Washington and Baltimore, where
its high grade commands a ready market. Mr. Wen-
ger has succeeded in the art of producing the finest
quality of vehicles, and he can compete successfully
with other manufacturing establishments seeking
the same trade. The factory employed about ten
hands, when Mr. Wenger acquired control and he
now has regularly in the shops from twenty-five to
thirty employed.
Mr. Wenger married, in 1868, Miss Mariah Her-
shey, daughter of John and Mary (Frick) Hershey,
of Dauphin county, the former of whom was a bishop
in the Reformed Mennonite church. To Jacob and
Mariah Wenger have been born four children : Mor-
ris, a coach maker with his father ; and Lettie, Mary
and Fannie, all at home. Mr. and Mrs. Wenger
are members of the Reformed Mennonite church. To
the industiral vocation which he has followed so
successfully through many years, Mr. Wenger has
brought an inheritance of sterling integrity, industry
and ability of a high order. His acquired business
perceptions and intuitions, and his devotion to the
work have contributed largely to his success.
(VI) Abraham E. Wenger, also the son of
John and Mary (Erb) Wenger, was born near Ore-
gon, Lancaster county, Nov. 29, 1835. He was
reared on the farm, and early in life showed me-
chanical aptitude. In his boyhood days he learned
from his father the trade of coach making, also at-
tending the subscription schools of the neighbor-
hood and in summer working on the farm. He re-
mained at home, employed in his father's coach man-
ufactory, until his marriage Sept. 13, i860, to Miss
Adaline Fry, daughter of Martin H. Fry of Ephrata
township. Abraham E. began his married career as
a farmer, and for three years he conducted the home
place. In 1863 he came to Paradise village, and took
charge of the Paradise Coach works, conducting the
same for three years. The next seven years of his
life were spent in Philadelphia, where during that
time he conducted a carriage business. Returning to
Paradise he entered the employ of his brother, Jacob,
as foreman of the paint shop, and has since remained
in charge of that department of the business. Mr.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
183
Wenger is, however, a master in every branch of the
coach making trade, which he has learned thor-
oughly. His whole Hfe has been devoted to this
important industry and he is regarded as an author-
ity upon the subject.
To Abraham E. and Adaline (Fry) Wenger have
been born a family of six children, namelv, Ada F.,
unmarried ; Annie M., wife of Jacob Stoner of Lan-
caster City; Albertus F., a coach painter of Para-
dise ; Lincoln, a druggist, of Lancaster City ; Oliver
D., a carriage maker of Springfield, Mo., married
to Emma Lawrence; and Mary E., a teacher in the
public schools of Lancaster county. The wife and
mother died March 23, 1893, aged fifty-three years.
Mr. Wenger has been a inember of the Reformed
Mennonite Church since 1876, and is among the es-
timable and highly respected citizens of Lancaster
county.
JOHN MOORE, a prominent citizen and one of
the oldest settlers of Drumore township, was born in
that township June 12, 1824. The family dates back
to 1750 in Lancaster county, the grandfather Isaac
Moore coming at that date from England and set-
tling here, where he followed the trade of black-
smith. That he- was a workman of merit may be
inferred as some of the iron of his welding appears
in perfect condition on the Presbyterian Church at
Chestnut Level, at this day. His family consisted
of eight children: Rebecca, born Sept. 28, 1775,
died Aug. 16, i860; Elizabeth, born Oct. 3, 1777,
died June 29, 1861 ; Moses; born Feb. 24, 1780, died
in i860; Samuel, born Sept. 22, 1782, died in 1847;
William, born Aug. 3, 1785, died in 1858; Jennie,
born in 1788, died about 1843 ; Martha, born Oct.
5, 1790, married William Cummings, and died April
5, 1852 ; and Lydia, born Aug. 30, 1795, died March
17, 1888, when nearly ninety-three years of age.
John Moore, of this sketch, was reared on a farm,
and acquired his education in the common schools,
choosing teaching as his occupation. His first school
was in 1845, and he continued this calling until 1878,
only missing one summer in thirty-three years, a
most remarkable record. For many years he served
most acceptably as justice of the peace, receiving his
first commission in 1866, and serving ever since with
the exception of ten years, when other duties claimed
his attention, his last commission bearing date April
23, 1902. During his long term of service in edu-
cational circles, he was considered one of the leading
teachers of Lancaster county, and he is now one of
the oldest living teachers of the county. He is an
earnest member of the Presbyterian church of Chest-
nut Level. Republican in politics, he has served as
township auditor, and has been judge of election sev-
eral times.
While he commenced life for himself a poor boy,
Mr. Moore has worked his way steadily upward, and
now resides on his small but carefully cultivated
farm three-quarters of a mile from Liberty Square,
where he is enjoying the fruits of his labors, sur-
rounded by his dearly loved books. Never having
married, Mr. Moore has had all the more opportunity
to devote to his studies, and he is one of the best read
men in the county. Well-preserved for his years,
kind in disposition, gentle in character, living in
charity with all men, Mr. Moore is a noble represen-
tative of a good. Christian man and excellent neigh--
bor, and when he receives the call to go to another
world, he will leave behind him many sorrowing
friends who love him for his tender, gentle character,
and who remember his deeds of kindness.
JOPIN CHRISTIAN WILLIAM REICHEN-
BACH was born in Swartzburg, Rudolstadt, Upper
Saxony, Jan. 26, 1749. Very little is known of his
ancestry or early youth, but from the fact of his
being possessed of a Hberal classical and scientific
education it is presumed that his family were in fair
circumstances. He graduated from the L^ni versify
of Marseilles, in France. He left Germany in 1785,
and came to Lancaster about 1790, and was appointed
Professor of Mathematics and German in Franklin
College, which had been organized in 1787. Besides
his duties in the college he practiced surveying, and
among others drafted and surveyed a ten-mile square
map of Lancaster, the Court House being in the
centre, which to-day is preserved in the collections of
the Linnsean Society, of Lancaster.
During the years 1801-2-3, he was chief burgess
of Lancaster. He originally belonged to the Mora-
vian faith, but about the time that Prof. Reichen-
bach arrived in Lancaster, Henry Von Beulow, who
had embraced Swedenborg's doctrines, also arrived
in the place. The two soon became acquainted and
subsequently Prof. Reichenbach also embraced the
same doctrines. Prof. Reichenbach translated and
published a number of the works of Swedenborg,
among them being one entitled "Agathon," copies
of which are still extant, although quite rare. He
left a large amount of manuscript material- which
has become lost. He was the friend and associate
of Bailey, Carpenter and Ehrenfried, who had also
become Swedenborgians in faith. Prof. Reichen-
bach died May 15, 1821.
HON. CHARLES ISRAEL LANDIS, Judge
of the Courts of Lancaster county, is an able jurist,
descended from a family distinguished for the im-
portant part it took in the settlement of the country.
Jphn Landis, grandfather of Judge Landis, set-
tled in Lancaster as early as 1798. He removed from
Lancaster to Middletown for a time, but returned
about 1810 or 1812, and after living in the city for
considerable time, removed to Warwick township
(near Rothsville), where he became a surveyor and
justice of the peace. Again returning to Lancaster
City, he became alderman of the North East ward.
He entered into rest in 1843. His progenitor was
among the Swiss Mennonites who came to this State
in its early history — a people who contributed so
much to the formative characteristics that made this
184
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
county the prosperous and progressive section it is
today.
Jesse Landis, father of Judge Landis, died Dec.
28, 1873, in his fifty-third year. He was admitted
to practice in the courts of Lancaster county in 1843,
served as county solicitor from i860 to 1869, and
was the author of Landis' "Analytical Index," a
law book of reference which was much in use for
years after its publication. Jesse Landis was twice
married, his first wife having been a Miss Jefferies,
of Chester county, who died leaving no children.
His second wife was Miss Elizabeth Parke Daniels,
whose father was a farmer and justice of the peace
near Fagg's Manor, Chester county. To this union
came six children, all save one of whom are living :
Beulah, who married B. S. Shindle, of the New Era
Printing Co., Lancaster, and passed away in June,
1888; Mary E., wife of F. A. Diffenderflfer, of
Brooklyn ; Jessie E., wife of John R. Kauffman, of
Lancaster; Charles Israel, Judge of the Courts of
Lancaster county ; James Daniels, of The New Era,
of which he is one of the company and managing edi-
tor ; and Miss Matilda B., now living in Philadelphia.
. Charles I. Landis was born in the old home, on
East King street, Nov. 18, 1856. His educational fa-
cilities were exceptionally good, and after graduating
from the Boys' High School, in 1871, he attended
Franklin and Marshall College for two and one-half
years. He left school when his father died, and be-
came a clerk in Hager's dry goods store, remaining
there six months. After teaching school for one year
near Allentown, and another year in East Cocalico
township, this county, Mr. Landis registered as a law
student with the late D. G. Eshleman and was- admit-
ted to practice Sept. 8, 1877. Later he was admitted
to the Supreme and Superior Courts, in both of
which he enjoyed an extended practice until his elec-
tion to the Bench.
Always active in Republican politics, giving his
time, labor and talents to aid the Republican cause
in city, county. State and National affairs, Mr. Lan-
dis was naturally strong with his party, and he was
honored by being chosen city solicitor for Lancaster
from 1880 to 1882 ; he was secretary of the Republi-
can county committee in 1883 ; chairman of the same
body in 1884-85 ; delegate to the State Republican
convention that nominated James A. Beaver for Gov-
ernor, in 1886; and was appointed by Gov. StOne,
on April 12, 1899, to the office of Judge of the Courts
of Lancaster county ; in the following November he
was triumphantly elected to the same office for ten
years, beginning his term in January, 1900.
On Sept. 8, 1888, Judge Landis was married to
Miss Jessie A. Witmer, daughter of Amos L. Wit-
mer, of Paradise. His wife's great-grandfather,
David Witmer, it is said, gave the name of Paradise
to the section now known as Paradise township.
Having been one of the early settlers there, he re-
marked when that section was about to be divided
into two townships, "this has been a paradise to me,"
and the name was given to the township. This same
David Witmer donated the ground on which the
Mennonite Church of Paradise was built, and it is
related that he was excommunicated from that
church because he had springs put upon his carriage,
this having been regarded as too worldly by his co-
religionists. Mrs. Landis is a direct descendant of
Mary Ferree, the original settler in that section, and
the Judge is now the owner of the homestead built
upon land that has been .in the Witmer family for
over one hundred years, using it as a summer resi-
dence, but spending the remainder of the year in
his cosy home at No. 140 North Duke street, Lan-
caster. On this old Witmer homestead is a marble
stepping stone, which tradition says is the identical
stone upon which Gen. LaFayette stepped when
alighting from his carriage during his visit to that
section. It is a matter of history that Abraham
Witmer, great-great-uncle of Mrs. Landis was the
original builder and owner of the symmetrical and
historic bridge still known as Witmer's bridge, which
spans the Conestoga at Conestoga Park, on the Phil-
adelphia turnpike. Lieut. Gov. Russell, of Massa-
chusetts, was descended from this Witmer family —
a family whose history is largely the early history
of an important part of the State. Judge and Mrs.
Landis have no children. They attend St. James'
■Episcopal church. The Judge belongs to the Odd
Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, but, as a lawyer
he was so devoted to his practice that he had little
time for social matters ; and, since his election to the
judgeship, he has been, if possible, a still closer
student of the law.
JOEL FASNACHT. Among the honorable and
much respected citizens of West Earl township, who
resides upon his well cultivated and finely improved
farm, one mile east of Farmersville, is Joel Fasnacht,
a son of the late Samuel and Susannah (Deamer)
Fasnacht, and a grandson of Samuel Fasnacht, of
German origin, who was well-known through Lan-
caster county as a successful teacher and farmer, and
a consistent member of the Lutheran. Church.
Samuel Fasnacht, the father of Joel, was born
on Nov. 2, 1823, and died Oct. 14, 1900, while his
wife, Susannah (Deamer) Fasnacht, was born Nov.
22, 1824, and still survives. Their marriage was
in 1844, and during their long life together of fifty-
six years, they saw many of their children well set-
tled in life. The family was as follows : Eliza-
beth ; Joel ; Susan, the wife of Henry Rodman, of
East Earl ; Catherine, the wife of Amos Elsworth,
of Chester county ; John, deceased ; Mary, the wife
of Henry Wetzel, of Cocalico township ; Saloma, the
wife of William Silkniter, of Caernarvon township ;
Samuel, at home ; and Henry, who resides in Terre
Hill, Pennsylvania.
Joel Fasnacht was born Sept. 10, 1847, ^"d ^^^
brought up to work on the farm, as his parents were
in limited circumstances, with a large family de-
pending upon them. He was educated in the com-
mon schools, but as soon as possible he endeavored
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
185
to take care of himself, and when he was eighteen,
began to learn the carpenter trade, which he has
followed ever since, in connection with his farming.
Although he had no assistance from others, he has
been able to rear a large family in comfort and to
accumulate property, owning now a fine farm, with
commodious buildings and all improvements, and
this speaks well for his industry and energy, when it
is remembered that he b.egan his business without
a dollar.
Mr. Fasnacht was married Sept. 26, 187 1, to a
daughter of Henry Boley, of East Earl, and to this
union ten children have been born: Harry, born
May 20, 1874; Lucinda, April 13, 1876; Susan, Aug,
21, 1877; Mary, March 3, 1879; Richard R., Nov.
8, 1 881; Sallie, March 22, 1883; Carrie, July 30,
1888 ; Lizzie, July 4, 1892 ; Anna, March 10, 1893 ;
and Joel, April 2, 1896. The birth of Mrs. Fasnacht
occurred Oct. 9, 1850.
Joel Fasnacht is well known in the community as
an honest, upright man, and one of the most indus-
trious citizens and efficient carpenters of the locality.
In his political belief, he is a staunch Republican, and
he is a consistent member of the German Reformed
Church. In him his family find a good and kind
protector.
SILAS N. WARFEL, the fourth son of John
and Maria Warfel, was born in Lancaster, Pa., July
29, 1838, and is a brother of Hon. J. B. Warfel,
whose biography, with ancestry, will be found else-
where in these annals.
Seven years after the birth of Silas N., his father
died, and a year later his mother removed to a coun-
try homestead, near Strasburg, where his boyhood
was passed amid rural surroundings that helped to
mould his taste and character. Here the common
schools furnished the basis of his education, after
which a course of study at the Strasburg Academy
and a term at the Millersville State Normal School
completed his days of tuition and prepared his entry
into the school of life. Having inherited artistic
talent, at an early age he adopted art as his vocation,
and in Philadelphia and elsewhere earned favorable
recognition for skill in sketching and color drawing.
Recalled, through filial duty, to Strasburg, he sub-
sequently became interested in the cultivation and
improvement of flowering plants, collecting novelties
and hybridizing varieties almost to nature's limit
of plant growth. The breeding and developing of
excellence in live stock also, at this time, engaged
his attention, and he succeeded in bringing about a
distinct advance in the laying qualities and the
beauty of domestic fowls, doing much also to awaken
a new and deeper interest in the denizens of the
farmyard. Early an Abolitionist, in open sympathy
with the teachings of Garrison, and enduring in full
measure the odium incurred by the friends of an op-
pressed race, he has lived to see his cherished con-
victions vindicated, and universal freedom and equal-
ity established before the law.
Socially Mr. Warfel is an honored member of
the Masonic Fraternity, belonging to Lodge, No.
43, F. & A. M. He is a Republican in politics, and
is, and always has been, literary in his tastes and
pursuits. His floriculture, which he is now pursuing
with such earnestness and success, is the natural out-
growth of a mind so keenly sensible of the beautiful
in art and nature. His reputation as a developer
in the floral world is more than local, and his floral
products will continue to live and gladden the hearts
of mankind after he who promoted them has passed
away, and will constitute an enduring monument to
his memory.
JOHN EBERLE, M. D., was born in Manor
township, Lancaster county, in January, 1788, his
father having been a blacksmith, and designing that
his son should be the same. His nature, however,
was such as to fit him for another vocation and he
chose that of medicine. He began the study of medi-
cine under Dr. Abraham Carpenter, of Lancaster,
subsequently reading with Dr. Clapp, of Philadel-
phia, and graduated as a doctor of medicine in 1809,
from the University of Pennsylvania. He began
to practice m'edicine in Manheim, Lancaster county,
but after a few years located in Lancaster. He was
appointed surgeon to a Lancaster company of militia
during the war of 18 12, and was at the battle of
Baltimore. Whilst in Lancaster he for a short time
edited a newspaper which was devoted to politics,
and in this way he lost all of his practice as a physi-
cian, and was finally compelled to seek new quarters,
which he did by locating in Philadelphia in 1815.
In,i8i8 he assumed the editorship of the Ameri-
can Medical Recorder, and to this he owed his sub-
sequent reputation. He was a member of a number of
scientific societies, and was the author of a number
of important medical works. He filled the chair
of I'rofessor of Physics in the Jefferson Medical
College, Philadelphia, in 1825, and in 1830, that of
Materia Medica. In 183 1 he located in Cincinnati,
and was elected Professor of Materia Medica in the
Ohio Medical College. He removed to Lexington,
Ky., in 1837, and was made Professor in charge
of the Medical Department of Transylvania Uni-
versity. He died at Lexington, Ky., Feb. 2, 1838.
His remains are interred in the Episcopal cemetery,
Cincinnati, the spot being marked by a handsome
monument.
AMBROSE J. IIERR, M. D., was born on a
farm in Strasburg township, Lancaster county,
March i, 1838, his father, Benjamin G. Herr, being
one of the prominent agriculturists of the neighbor-
hood. Until his twentieth year he combined farm
work with study at the public schools, the Lititz
Academy, and the Millersville State Normal School,
and then began to read medicine with Dr. Benjamin
Musser, of Strasburg. He entered the Jefferson
Medical College at I'hiladelphia in 1859, ^^d gradu-
ated therefrom in the class of 186 1. At the breaking
186
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
out of the Civil war he tendered his services to the
government, and was assigned, as assistant surgeon,
to the 6ist P. V. I., Sept. 20, 1861 ; and on Sept.
12, 1862, he was promoted to surgeon of the 68th
P. V. I., serving in that capacity until the close of
the war. Thereafter he settled in Lancaster, where
he has been in continuous practice.
Dr. Herr is a member of the State, the Lancaster
City and County, and the American Medical Asso-
ciations. Fraternally he is a member of the G. A. R.
In politics he is a Republican.
On Oct. 4, 1866, Dr. Herr married Emma S.
Musselman, of Wheatland Mills, Lancaster county.
She is a daughter of John and Eliza A. (Brackbill)
Musselman, the former a retired miller. To Dr. and
Mrs. Herr have been born three daughters, Florence
E.,' wife of Rev. Henry H. Apple, pastor of St. John's
Reformed Church of York, Pa. ; and two that died in
infancy.
HENRY CARPENTER, a prominent member
of the Lancaster County Bar, is in every way a lead-
ing and representative citizen. His ancestors orig-
inated in Switzerland, coming to America, in the
persons of Heinrich Zimmerman, and Salome Ruff-
ner, his wife, in 1698, on account of the religious
disturbance in their native land at that time. His
location was in Pennsylvania, where he secured ex-
tensive tracts of land from William Penn, one de-
mand, however, having to be complied with, that
being the Anglicizing of the name. Thus Heinrich
Zimmerman became Plenry Carpenter, and since
those early days, there has, in every generation, been
a Henry Carpenter, the Lancaster county attorney
being the sixth in line of succession.
Christian Carpenter, his grandfather, was a well-
known and most worthy farmer who resided in Earl
to\vnship, this county. There he prospered both in
material and religious affairs, and built a church edi-
fice which is known as Carpenter's church, in Earl-
ville. Christian Carpenter was a man of liberal
spirit, leaving in his will the request that this place
of worship should be open to all who wished to use
it for religious purposes, irrespective of creed. Many
of the Carpenters lie in its shadow, and the kind in-
fluence of this good man pervades the place.
William Carpenter, the father of Henry Car-
penter, of Lancaster, was for many years the reliable
and best known surveyor, scrivener and convey-
ancer of Lancaster county. The contest which made
him prothonotary of Lancaster was one of the most
notable political events in the history of the county.
Mr. Carpenter was an old Line Whig, and there
had been a split in the Republican party. The result
was a triangular fight in which Mr. Carpenter won,
by six votes, over his principal competitor, Peter
Martin. An election contest followed, and the re-
sult of this was that Mr. Carpenter was declared
elected by a majority of twelve votes, just twice
the number which he had originally claimed. This
is history, and is well remembered by all parties.
Mr. Carpenter filled the office and performed its
duties with a faithfulness that left nothing to be de-
sired. An old neighbor and personal friend of Pres-
ident James Buchanan, he was selected as one of the
pall-bearers at the funeral of this distinguished
statesman and courtly gentleman.
The marriage of William Carpenter was to Car-
oline Eichler, who was a daughter of a prominent
farmer, living near Lititz, and to this union there
were born fifteen children, seven of these still sur-
viving: Albert, who became a member of the Bar
in this county^ but died in the early part of what
promised to be a brilliant career ; William, a banker,
now deceased; Paul, a printer by trade, deceased;
Charles, who occupied the position of paying teller
in the Lancaster County National Bank, deceased;
Mary A., deceased wife of the late Alderman H. R.
McConomy ; Caroline A., deceased, who was the wife
of the late Jacob Bair ; Catherine, who was the wife
of the late John McGrann ; Ella L., deceased wife of
Col. Wm. R. Gerhart ; Emily J., at home ; Elizabeth,
who is a teacher of literature, in Philadelphia ; Israel,
who is city regulator of Lancaster; Stella, who is
the wife of Dr. J. W. Nelson, who is assistant to
the general manager of the Pennsylvania railroad
at Altoona, Pa. ; Hnery, of Lancaster ; Anna B., who
died at the age of twenty- four years ; and Salome
R., who bears the name of her ancestral grand-
mother, the wife of Heinrich Zimmerman. A pleas-
ant little bit of family history is that when the latter
set out on his long trip to the strange country, where
he intended to find a new home, that he was presented
with a set of carpenter tools by no less a personage
than Queen Anne of England herself, along with the
lands from William Penn, the original deeds for the
latter being yet in the family archives.
Henry Carpenter was born in the old Carpenter
home, on East Orange street, it being the building
which is now occupied by the Hamilton Club, on
Nov. 29, 1859, and he passed with credit through
the common and high schools of Lancaster.
After the death of his father in December, 1875,
at the age of sixty-four years, the mother surviving
until 1892, her death being at the age of sixty-eight
years, Plenry Carpenter went into the business of
scrivening and conveyancing, in association with his
brother, Israel, and in the meantime engaged in read-
ing law, with David G. Eshleman. In June, 1881,
he was admitted to the Bar, and later to practice in
the Superior and the Supreme courts. Through
four terms he made a fine record as city solicitor,
and he was the nominee of the Republican party
for -the mayoralty. The successful competitor was
the Democratic candidate, Robert Clark, not,
however, on account of any want of confidence in
Mr. Carpenter, but on account of the unfortunate
split in the party. The political feelings of many
of the good citizens of Lancaster were at fever heat,
the trouble being in what was locally known and re-
corded as the Livingston-Brubaker fight. Mr. Car-
penter in his public life, has never courted trouble.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
187
but he has always been a man who stood for certain
prmciples, and in this contest he favored the claims
of Judge Livingston, and hence was sacrificed by
the opponents of this gentleman, and for no personal
reasons. From his earliest manhood, Mr. Carpenter
has been an ardent and active Republican, and has
served efficiently on the Republican State Central
committee.
Fraternally he is valued in a number of social
organizations ; was a member of the final examining
committee of the Lancaster Bar, for many years ; is
a 32d degree Mason, belonging to the Philadelphia
Consistory ; is a Past Master of Lodge, No. 43 ; Past
High Priest of Chapter, No. 43 ; Past Thrice Illustri-
ous Grand Master of Goodwin Council, No. 19 ; Past
Eminent Commander of Knights Templar Com-
mandery No. 13 ; Past Thrice Potent Grand Master
of Lancaster Lodge of Perfection, 14th degree ; and
is at present representative of Lodge No. 43, to the
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
On Feb. 15, 1898, Mr. Carpenter was married
to Miss Helen Sprecher Wiley, daughter of Thomas
C. Wiley, and a granddaughter of the late Major
W. M. Wiley, on the paternal side, and the grand-
daughter of the well known William D. Sprecher,
of Lancaster on the maternal side. The family
home at No. 503 North Duke street, Lancaster, is
one of comfort and elegance, while his business
office, at No. 54 North Duke street, is well located
and stocked with a fine library. Here Mr. Carpen-
ter transacts a large amount of business, and he
is justly regarded as one of the prominent and pros-
perous citizens.
MATTHIAS BARTON, a son of Rev. Thomas
Barton, was admitted to practice law in the Lancas-
ter county courts in 1788. In the years 1793, 1794
and 1795 he represented Lancaster county in the
State Legislature. He was elected to the Senate of
Pennsylvania in 1796, and re-elected in 1800. He
possessed a fondness for natural history, and made
quite a collection of specimens in zoology and of min-
erals. He also devoted considerable of his time to
drawing sketches from nature. He died Jan. 11,
1809, in the forty-seventh year of his age.
DAVID GROFF, one of the oldest as well as
most respected citizens of East Lampeter township,
of which he is a native, was born Jan. 23, i8r8. The
family has been identified with agricultural interests
in this section for several generations, our subject's
grandfather, also named David, having lived and
died in Lancaster county. He was a farmer and fol-
lowed that calling all his life. In religion he was a
member of the Old Mennonite Church. His wife's
maiden name is now unknown, but he was the father
of nine children : John, now deceased ; Martin, de-
ceased, who was a resident of Lancaster city; Da-
vid (2), the father of our subject; Esther, wife of
Jacob Miller; Elizabeth, Mrs. Hannah; Evanna,
wife of John Landis ; Mary, wife of John Rohrer;
and Hannah and Catherine, both of whom remained
unmarried.
David Groff (2), father of our subject, lived at
the old home all his life, and worked on the farm. He
received a common school education. He married
Miss Elizabeth Witmer, of Lancaster county, and
they became the parents of five children: Annie,
who died unmarried; Benjamin, deceased; David;
Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Erb ; and Martin, of Eden.
Both parents were members of the Old Mennonite
Church. They both departed this life in 1827, when
our subject was but nine years of age.
David Grofif, the third in turn to bear this name,
went to live with his relations after his parents died,
remaining until he was of age, and in the meantime
he received a somewhat limited education. He be-
gan business for himself farming on the place where
he now resides, having purchased the farm of the
heirs in 1841.
For his first wife Mr. Groff married Miss Eliza-
beth Buckwalter, by whom he had ten children : An-
nie, widow of Martin Denlinger; Abraham, of Lan-
caster county ; Miss Mary, who is at home ; Martin,
of Lancaster county; Amanda, deceased wife of
Jacob Huber ; David, living on the farm with his fa-
ther ; Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Landis ; Israel, deceas-
ed ; Elias, of Lancaster county ; and Emma, wife of
Benjamin Harnish. The mother of these children
died in 1874, and Mr. Groff married for his second
wife Miss Magdeline Weaver, daughter of Abraham
Weaver, who was from' Cumberland county. They
are both members of the Old Mennonite Church. Mr.
Grofif has taken his place among Lancaster county's
most prominent citizens. Although deprived of the
advantages of education, he has been very successful
in life, and owns two fine farms. He is public-
spirited, deeply interested in local affairs, and has
served ably five years as school director. In political
sentiment he is a Republican.
JOHN MUSSELMAN, retired miller of Lan-
caster, was born in this county, Nov. 9, 181 1, a son
of Michael and Barbara (Sherrer) Musselman, and
grandson of David and Magdalene Musselman, the
former a farmer in early life, but later retired.
The parents of John Musselman were born at
Silver Spring, Lancaster county, the father, Oct. 18,
1782, and the mother, March 19, 1785 ; and the fa-
ther died Dec. 2^, 1851, at the age of seventy, while
the mother lived to be eighty years of age. Michael
Musselman was a distiller, miller and farmer, and a
man of influence in the community, at one time being
a director of the Lancaster Bank, as well as county
poor director. With his wife he is buried in the
Presbyterian cemetery in Paradise township, al-
though the latter was a member of the Mennonite
Church. Into their family were born the following
children : David ; Ann ; Jacob ; John ; Samuel ; Isaac
and Maria, the latter the wife of Elam Witmer ; and
Susan. Of this large family John. is the only sur-
viving member.
188
BIOGRAPHICAL. ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Until about 1830 John Musselman lived on the
paternal farm, and then began to learn the miller's
trade in a mill about a mile from Strasburg. This
same mill continued to be the object of his care until
1 88 1, or for half a century, lacking one year, and it
was said that the old burr mill on Pequea Creek
turned out a better grade of flour than did any of its
associates in business in the locality. The flour found
a ready market, and was manufactured at the rate of
fifty barrels a day, and the owner of the mill attained
a competence which enabled him permanently to re-
tire from active life in 1881. For many years he was
a director in the Farmers' National Bank, and held
many positions of trust and responsibility in the af-
fairs of his township. He is a member of no church,
but bears an enviable reputation in the community of
which he has been an integral part for so many years.
Near Strasburg, Feb. 13, 1834, Mr. Musselman
married Eliza A. Brackbill, born in Lampeter town-
ship, Oct. 24, 1810, and who died Nov. 22, 1888.
The parents of Mrs. Musselman were Christian and
Magdalene (Herr) Brackbill, of Lampeter^ the
former a miller by occupation. Mr. and Mrs. Brack-
bill had one son, David H., who is deceased. To
John Musselman and his wife were born the follow-
ing children : Franklin B., a retired miller of Stras-
burg; Milton M., deceased at an early age; Chris-
tian, a retired coal and lumber merchant of Witmer,
Pa.; Anna E., deceased in infancy; Emma S., wife
of Dr. A. J. Herr, of Lancaster; Martha M., living
at home ; Barbara A., living at home ; Eliza A., mar-
ried IDr. Ji Henry Musser, of Lampeter, and is now
deceased ; Myra M., the wife of Dr. Harry E. Mus-
ser, of Witmer, Pa. ; Harriet F., deceased wife of
Reuben H. Herr ; and Ada L., who died in infancy.
The two last named children were twins.
JACOB RATHFON, for an ordinary lifetime a
member of the firm of Myers & Rathfon, leading
clothiers of Lancaster, but who retired from business
on Nov. 5, IQ02-, is one of the most remarkable men
in that city. He comes of very old Pennsylvania
stock ; his grandfather, also Jacob by name, was born
in Lancaster county, and there followed farming.
Joseph Rathfon, son of Jacob, was a farmer near New
Danville, this county, and died seventy-eight years
ago, when Jacob Rathfon was little more than an in-
fant. Joseph Rathfon married Anna Shank, daugh-
ter of the late John Shank, a well known farmer
living near Conestoga Center.
Jacob Rathfon was born in New Danville Dec. 4,
1819, and was the only child of his Barents. He was
educated in the schools of the district, attending
until he reached the age of ten years, when he started
out to light the battle of life alone. After making
himself useful in various ways until he was fourteen
years old, he was indentured as an apprentice at tail-
oring, near Lititz. serving three and a half years,
and then coming to Lancaster. This was in 1839,
and after working as a journeyman tailor for five
years, he started in business for himself, and on
July I, 1866, he entered into partnership with Samuel
M. Myers. Then and there was born what was
destined to become not only the leading clothing es-
tablishment of the city, but one of the most prominent
in the State. They started in trade at the corner of
East King street and Center Square, now Watt &
Shand's corner ; then removed to the southeast angle
of Center Square, remaining there three years. On
Oct. 9, 1874, they entered the large elegant build-
ing at No. 12 East King street, which they had
erected, and where the business is still located. They
were not only engaged as merchant tailors, manufac-
turing goods in large quantities, but sold wholesale
as well as retail, their trade extending all over the
State and necessitating the employing of from eighty
to one hundred men the year round. Years ago
Messrs. Myers & Rathfon began building dwelling-
houses for renting purposes, and as they built not
for mere speculation, but for an investment, they built
good houses, and today they are the owners of one
hundred or more of the best dwelling-houses that
^ can be rented in the city of Lancaster. These houses,
being of good quality and in good localities, have
never been known to "go begging" for tenants, as,
besides the desirability of these homes in other
respects, Messrs. Myers & Rathfon are always con-
siderate of the needs of their tenants, many of whom
have been living in the same houses for almost an
ordinary lifetime. No two men in Lancaster have
contributed so much to the material advancement of
the city as these two enterprising citizens.
Mr. Rathfon was married, in early manhood, to
Miss Mary Louisa Brown, daughter of the late John
Brown, a pioneer watch and clock maker of Lan-
caster, whose kindly face is well remembered by
many of our older citizens. Seven children, three of
whom are Hving, brightened their home: (i) Gil-
bert Brown, who is freight agent of the Nickel Plate
Railroad, in Buffalo, N. Y., has been twice married ;
his first wife, Catherine Pauline King, daughter of.
Solomon King, of Baltimore, died March 26, 1893,
the mother of three children, Louise King (who mar-
ried F. K. Souer, of Lancaster), Gilbert Brown, Jr.
(who married May Meenan, of Buffalo, N. Y.), and
Mary Ellen; his second wife. May Whitesell, of
Washington, is the mother of one child, Paul White-
sell. (2) J. H. enjoys the proud distinction of hav-
ing been city treasurer of Lancaster longer than any
other man in the history of the city, having held that
responsible office almost continuously since 1887 ;
he married Mary E. Ha'rtman. (3) Mary Ellen is
the widow of Christian Rine, a prominent leaf to-
bacco dealer. Of those deceased, John Edwin, who
took a prominent part in the mercantile business of
Myers & Rathfon, married Elizabeth Reigart, and
a son, William E., blessed the union. Melvin Hub-
lev was a popular salesman in the establishment of
Myers & Rathfon. and passed away universally re-
gretted, on Dec. 14, igoo; he married Laura C.
Locher, and left one child, Mary Ellen. The family
reside in an elegant home at No. 228 North Duke
J(^t c^ ^.>,/^^'
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
189
street, on what was the site of the old First Metho-
dist church. Mrs. Rathfon died Dec. i8, 1896, be-
loved and regretted by all. She was a member of
Trmty Lutheran Church.
Mr Rathfon belongs to no secret orders. He is
a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, of which he
has be-en a trustee for ten years past. In politics he
IS a Republican, and has been councilman, school di-
rector trustee of the Children's Home, etc., but cares
little for public office. His only recreation is in a
quiet drive behind a good road horse, one (or more)
of which he always keeps. Indeed, his well-known
fondness for a good horse led him into the Lancaster,
Drivers^ Association, and in the grand parade of that
a.ssociat"ion, in June, igoi, he was a conspicuous
figure, driving his own team and sitting as erect as
any man in the parade, notwithstanding the weight
of almost eighty-two years of an active, industrious
life. He is a remarkable man, phvsically and men-
tally, and is greatly beloved by the people of the com-
munity in which he lives.
GEORGE ROSS represented Lancaster county
in the Continental Congress which adopted the Dec-
laration of Independence. He was born at New Cas-
tle, Del., in 1730, and coming to Lancaster
county was admitted as an attorney-at-law, in 1750.
In 1768 he was elected a member of the Provincial
Assembly of Pennsylvania, and held that office until
in 1776, when he was elected to membership in the
Continental Congress. He retired in 1777 on ac-
count of ill health. Lancaster county offered him
the sum of £150 for his services to it, but he would
not accept it. On April 14, 1779, he was appointed a
judge of the Court of Admiralty. On July 13, 1779,
he died of an attack of the gout and was buried in
Christ Church graveyard in Philadelphia.
PHILIP S. BUSH. Among the prominent and
substantial farmers of Lancaster county who have
pursued a successful agricultural career for many
years, and can now enjoy the fruits of earlier activ-
ity, is Philip S. Bush, who lives retired on his well-
cultivated farm in Sadsbury township, one of its
most highly esteemed citizens. Mr. Bush was born
in West Vincent township, Chester county, July 17,
1821, a son of John and Catherine (Sheeder) Bush,
the former of whom was a native of Berks county.
Pa., and the latter of Germany. Both died in Ches-
ter county, where he carried on farming and mason
work ; he was also a tailor by trade. John Bush died
in 1852, at the age of seventy-two years, and his
widow survived until 1868, dying at the age of
eighty-four years. Both parents were worthy mem-
bers of the Lutheran Church, while in his political
belief, Mr. Bush was a Republican. Their children
were: Henry, deceased; William, deceased; Peter,
deceased ; Jacob, deceased ; Charles, deceased ; Fred,
deceased; Philip S. ; Samuel, deceased; Mary, de-
ceased, Avho first married an Egley, and second, a
Whiteside ; Catherine, deceased wife of John Fridy ;
Caroline, deceased, who married first William Mor-
ris, second, John McGowan ; Dorothy, deceased wife
of George Miller ; and Anna, deceased, who married
a Morris, the only survivor of this large family being
Philip S.
Philip S. Bush was reared on his father's farm,
but when he reached the age of seventeen years, he
learned the trade of wheelwright, working for two
years at Warwick furnace. Then Mr. Bush took up
the companion trade, that of carpenter, and for nine
years worked at this, finally becoming a manufac-
turer of agricultural implements, in Christiana, Pa.,
but five years later he moved to his present excellent
farm, consisting of seventy-one acres, and this he
operated with great success until his voluntary re-
tirement in 1897. Although in years Mr. Bush may
be considered with the older generation, his vigor of
mind and body still keep him from the discomforts
of old age, and make his friends and neighbors for-
get the date on the calendar.
In 1846 Mr. Bush was married (first) in Ches-
ter county, Pa., to Miss Catherine Weidner, and the
children born to this union were : Winfield S., who
remains with his father, unmarried ; Wilmer, de-
ceased, who was a skilled machinist; Franklin, who
married and moved to Hartford, Conn., where he is a
machinist ; Milton, who married Barbara Scott, and
resides on the home farm ; and Cecelia, deceased wife
of James Allen. Mrs. Catherine (Weidner) BusH
was born in Chester county, and died in 1867; her
remains were interred at Atglen, Pa. She was a
daughter of Daniel and Priscilla Weidner, of Ches-
ter county.
The second marriage of Mr. Bush occurred in
1887, at the home of the bride, in Sadsbury town-
ship, Mary Neidich becoming his wife. She was
born in Paradise township, a daughter of Peter and
Catherine Neidich, of Lancaster county, and her
death occurred in 1891, at the age of fifty-five years,
leaving no children.
Mr. Bush has been identified with many public
interests, for eighteen years serving as school direc-
tor and as president of the board, holding many of
the local offices with efficiency, being particularly sat-
isfactory as county auditor during three years. Mr.
Bush has been past master in the Masonic fraternity,
and in his political sympathy, is with the Republican
party. For many years he has been a member and
liberal supporter of the Presbyterian Church, and is
a man of honor and estimable character in every
walk of life.
LEVI S. REIST, son of Jacob Reist, and a
prominent citizen, died in Oregon, Lancaster county.
May 29, 1892. He was born in Millport, Warwick
township, in 1817, and lived there until in 1888, when
he moved to Oregon. Although simply educated in
the schools of his neighborhood, he had an acquiring
mind and was a warm friend of education, having
been a member of the board of trustees of the Mil-
lersville school for a number of years. In early life
190
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
he had been a Whig, but when the RepubHcan party
was formed joined it. He was elected county com-
missioner in 1859. He was an enthusiastic horticult-
urist, and one of the founders of the Lancaster
County Agricultural Society. His most remarkable
trait, however, was his knowledge of local genealogy
and traditions, with particular reference to those
families of German descent, which in his death have
been lost beyond recall.
ELIAS E. REIST, a leading citizen and a
successful farmer of Penn township, who for twenty
years has been the efficient town clerk, belongs to
a highly respected family of Lancaster county.
Grandfather Abraham Reist was born in Penn town-
ship in 1770, and during his whole life was a farmer,
and one of the leading members of the Old Men-
nonite Church. His marriage was to Veronica Cas-
sell, and they had a family of seven children : Ab-
raham, the father of Elias E. ; Joseph, a farmer
of Penn township ; Henry, a farmer of Penn town-
ship ; Elizabeth, the wife of Jacob Hershey ; Nancy,
the wife of John Summy ; Veronica, the wife of Da-
vid Metzgar ; and Esther, the wife of Jacob Dohner.
Abraham Reist was also born in Penn town-
ship, in 1798, and his whole life was devoted to
agricultural pursuits. A valued member of the
Old Mennonite Church, he was highly respected,
and his death occurred in September, 1844. The
mother of Elias E. Reist bore the maiden name of
Barbara Eby. Seven children were born to Abra-
ham Reist and wife : Aaron, a farmer of Penn
township ; Moses, who died unmarried ; Elias, of
this sketch; Benjamin, who has charge of the toll-
gate on the Lancaster and Manheim pike road;
Sybilla, who married Rev. Benjamin Eby, of the
German Baptist Church ; Maria, deceased, who was
the wife of Samuel H. Oberholtzer ; and Esther, who
was the wife of Abram Rutt, both now deceased.
Elias E. Reist was born in Penn township, Nov.
22, 1831, and he remained with his mother until
he reached his majority, attending the common
schools and assisting on the farm. His first farm-
ing on his own account was on land located at
Lime Rock, and here he remained for nine years,
moving then to the fine farm where he now resides.
This consists of some thirty-seven acres, and ' is
located about one and one-half miles from Man-
heim, and here Mr. Reist has made many valuable
improvements. Mr. Reist carries on general farm-
ing, raising the usual products of this section in
abundance. For some seven years he also en-
gaged in the butcher business, but has had much
of his time occupied with the duties of public of-
fice. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and for
three years has been supervisor of Penn township,
and for twenty years the valued town clerk.
Mr. Reist was married to Catherine Keller,
daughter of Frederick and Catherine Keller. Mr.
Reist is one of the leading citizens of this locality,
a man of strict integrity, and is one who deserves
and enjoys the esteem of the community. Although
having no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs.
Reist have taken and reared five children, three
girls and two - boys. Christianna F. Peffer, who
was in her seventh year when taken by her foster
parents, married Samuel Weidner; Ellen M.
Seitzinger, taken in her third year, is the wife of
Henry E. Kready ; Olivia Elizabeth Brenneman is
the wife of Noah T. Holhnger. A. D. Sahm mar-
ried Emma Basehore, and Milton W. Keener is
still with his benefactors. The three last ■ named
were taken in their infancy.
HENRY HERSHEY, one of the leading busi-
ness men of Lancaster, Pa., was born in East Hemp-
field township, Lancaster county, April 28, 1839,
a son of Jacob and Eliza (Miller) Hershey, natives
of East Hempfield and West Lampeter townships,
respectively.
Jacob Hershey was a farmer, distiller and miller
until 1869, when he removed to Lancaster, and
made his home with his son, Henry, until the mar-
riage of the latter. He then resided in a separate
home until his death, Aug. 25, 1872, when he was
aged seventy-six years. His wife survived
until 1880, when she, too, died aged seventy-six.
During the latter ^art of her life she was a member
of the Presbyterian Church. The father was as-
sessor of his township for a number of «years. Both
he and his wife are buried in Lancaster cemetery.
The following children were born to Jacob Hershey
and his wife : Ezra, a retired farmer of Darke coun-
ty, Ohio, to which locality he removed in 1847;
Sarah, married Henry Schreiner, retired, of Lancas-
ter, Pa.; Benjamin, deceased; Jacob, deceased, a
farmer of Darke county, Ohio; John S., a retired
farmer of Ohio; Anna, who is the widow of An-
drew Emmert, of Ephrata, Pa. ; Jeremiah, who died
in infancy ; Mary, widow of Emanuel Schreiner, of
Lancaster, Pa. ; Lizzie, unmarried, of Lancaster,
Pa. ; Susan, widow of Albert Stanton, of Lancas-
ter, Pa. ; AmeHa, unmarried, of Lancaster, Pa. ;
Amos, deceased ; Henry ; Harriet, who died in in-
fancy ; Fanny, who married William Peifer, of Lan-
caster; Reuben, in the bottling business at Wilkes-
barre. Pa. ; and Elizabeth, deceased in infancy. Of
this large family, fourteen grew to maturity. The
paternal grandfather, Benjamin Hershey, was a
native of Lancaster, although of Swiss extraction,
and by calling he was a farmer.
The boyhood days of Henry Hershey were passed
upon his father's farm, he working during the sum-
mer months and attending school in the winter, until
he attained the age of seventeen, when he removed
to Lancaster and learned the trade of coach maker,
following it until the outbreak of the Civil war.
Like so many of his young associates, he enlisted,
in September, 1861, enrolling in Co. C, 79th P. V.
I., under Capt. Dysart, for three years, but in 1862
he was detached for duty with the Signal Corps.
In the fall of 1863, he re-enlisted as a sergeant in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
191
the Signal Corps, and thereafter served as a non-
commissioned officer until he was mustered out of
service, at Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 25, 1865. During
his term of service, Mr. Hershey participated in var-
ous skirmishes, battles and in the three days battle
of Chickamauga, but vi^as never wounded, although
the strain of long marches, exposure and other
hardships which fall to the lot of a soldier have
all been felt and suffered for by Mr. Hershey, many
times over. One of our noted physicians, speaking
of the veterans of the Civil war, makes the state-
ment that it was not necessary that a man be in-
jured by bullet or cannon, for the hardships alone
were sufficient to destroy the strongest constitution,
to make every soldier an object of reverence, and
the symbol of what is highest and truest in our
country. The soldiers of 1861-65 offered their lives
that our country might forever be one and insepar-
able.
In 1869, Mr. Hershey succeeded to the well-es-
tablished business of his uncle, John S. Miller, which
had been in operation some twenty years. This en-
terprise comprises a large wholesale coffee business,
including steam roaster, and the trade in this line,
owing to Mr. Hershey's progressive methods, and
thorough grasp of his undertaking, is a sound and
steadily increasing one. When he assumed control,
the business was located in a frame structure, which
was totally destroyed by fire in 1880, but was re-
built, the new plant being of brick and much more
convenient and commodious.
On Feb. 27, 1872, Mr. Hershey was married, in
Lancaster, to Miss Annie M. Fetter, who was born
at Oak Hill, Paradise township, Lancaster county,
daughter of Edwin T. and Laura L. (Whitmer)
Fetter, of Lancaster. She was educated in the Lan-
caster and Lititz schools, and her fatha- was a
school teacher, making a specialty of languages, and
holding several chairs in various academies. Re-
maining in Lancaster county. Pa., until 1850, he
removed to Prince George county, Va., where he
purchased wood and farm land, and continued in the
lumber business until his death, which occurred
Dec. 3, 1852. The mother afterward removed to
Lancaster county. Pa., and died in October, 1890,
at the age of sixty-five years, and was interred in
Woodward Hill cemetery. Both she and her hus-
band were members of the Episcopal Church. The
children born to these parents were: Frederick,
who died in Texas at the age of thirty-five; and
' Annie M., wife of Mr. Hershey.
FREDERICK A. ALBRIGHT. A lifelong
resident of Lancaster, Mr. Albright by his industry
and uprightness proved himself a worthy son of
his home city. Here he was born in 1822, and
here his busy life came to an end Aug. 4, 1892.
He was a member of an old Pennsylvania family,
and a son of Anthony and Susan Albright, who
came from Germantown to Lancaster, the father
establishing a printing business on the corner of
Prince and West King streets. Under the guid-
ance of these worthy parents he was trained to
habits of usefulness and persevering industry, and
was thus prepared for an active and honorable
career. While he was still a mere lad he was trained
to a thorough knowledge of the stove mounter's
trade, and this he followed for a time, but after-
ward turned ,his attention to the bakery business
as offering more satisfactory inducements for profit.
In the midst of the labors connected with the
management of his business affairs, Mr. Albright
did not neglect his duties as a citizen, but in every
way endeavored to promote the welfare of his city,
and to support measures for its advance. In poli-
tics he advocated the principles of the Republican
party, and on that ticket he was elected to a number
of local offices, including that of member of the city
council, in which capacity he served several terms.
Reared in the Moravian faith, he was throughout
life an earnest and faithful member of that church,
and a contributor to its various charities.
In Lancaster, in 1845, occurred the marriage
of Frederick A. Albright and Sarah Axer. Born
of their union were the following children: Charles
E., who died at nine years of age ; Mary, who mar-
ried Dr. Benjamin Sides, but is now deceased;
Walter F., who is represented elsewhere in this
volume; Sarah C, deceased, formerly the wife of
Valentine Werkheiser, a wholesale grocer of Lan-
caster; and Fred A., who died in boyhood. Mrs.
Albright was born in Lancaster April 10, 1828,
a daughter of Jacob and Susan (Ward) Axer.
During his early life he followed the trade of a linen
weaver, but for years before his death he was
forced, owing to rheumatisrfi, to give up all at-
tempts in the way of steady work. However, in
spite of this drawback, he accumulated sufficient
to provide his family with the comforts of life and
lay up enough to surround the old age of himself
and wife with all the necessities. At the time of
his death, in 1843, he was seventy-three years of
age. His wife, who was many years his junior,
deid in 1880 at the age of eighty-two, and was
interred in the cemetery at Lancaster. Both were
members of the Reformed Church, and endeavored
in their actions to exemplify the truth of the doc-
trines of Christianity. Their children were as fol-
lows : John ; Catherine, Mrs. John A. McGin-
nis ; and Jacob, Sarah, George and Frederick, all
of whom are deceased excepting Sarah, Mrs. Al-
bright.
Notwithstanding her advanced years Mrs. Al-
bright retains her mental and physical faculties,
and is active, hearty and energetic, retaining to
an unusual degree her interest in the world's ac-
tivities. In this city, which was the home of her
childhood as well as of her mature years, she num-
bers many friends among the old residents, and
she is esteemed for those attributes of character
that always charm. Her kindliness of heart is
shown in generous contributions to the poor and
192
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
needy, and those in distress are never turned un-
aided from her door.
SAMUEL H. REYNOLDS was born at Brier
Creek in Columbia county, Pa., Nov. 20, 1831, a
son of Thomas Reynolds, At fourteen years of
age he entered Dickinson College, and graduated
from there in 1850. He then went to Bellefonte
and began to read law with Hon. J. T. Hale, and
was admitted to practice law in 1853. In Septem-
ber, 1855, he was admitted to the Bar at Lancaster.
In 1856 he was elected city solicitor. In 1858 he
married a daughter of the late Wm. B. Fordney,
Esq. In 1866 he was the Democratic nominee for
Congress but was defeated, and in May, 1872, he
was appointed as a member of the State Constitu-
tional Convention. He died Sept. 10, 1889. He
was the personal friend of Thaddeus Stevens, Reah
Frazer, Thomas E. Franklin and O. J. Dickey.
ISRAEL G. ERB. The primal causes which
shape the fortunes of individual men and the des-
tinies of states are often the same. They are usually
remote and obscure; their influence wholly unex-
pected until declared by results. When they inspire
men to the exercise of courage, self-denial, enter-
prise and industry, and call mto play the higher
moral elements, such causes lead to the planting of
great states, great nations, great peoples. That na-
tion is greatest which produces the greatest and
most manly men, and its safety depends not so much
upon methods and measures as upon that true man-
hood from whose deep sources all that is precious
and permanent in life must at least proceed. Such
a result may not be consciously contemplated by the
individuals instrumental in the production of a
great state or nation. Pursuing each his personal
good by exalted means, this follows their work as a
logical sequel. They have wrought along the lines
of the greatest good.
The family of which Israel G. Erb is a worthy
representative has long been identified with the an-
nals of the old Keystone State, and in the several
generations have been those who have ably carried
forward the work of founding and building a great
commonwealth, each successive generation accom-
plishing something which may well be "remembered
with pride by remote descendants," to quote the
words of Macaulay. It is not within the province
of this work to enter into the manifold details of re-
mote genealogy, but in each case it is aimed to in-
corporate sufficient data to indicate the lesson and
incentive which may be "read between the Hnes."
Mr. Erb is one of the representative citizens of Lan-
caster county, which has been his home throughout
life, and there he has lived and labored to goodly
ends, even as did those of earlier generations of the
family. In tracing back the genealogy of the agnatic
line, we find that he is of the sixth generation of the
family in Pennsylvania, and the mere statement of
this fact will stand as voucher for the further state-
ment that the name must thus have been identified
with the history "of that Commonwealth from the
earliest pioneer epoch — far antecedent to the war of
the Revoltition. To be somewhat more exact, it
may be said that the great-great-great-grandfather
of Israel G. Erb was one of five brothers and a sister
who emigrated from Switzerland to America in the
beginning of the eighteenth century, and took up
their abode in the midst of the untrammeled forest
wilds of what was destined to be the great State of
Pennsylvania, the one of the number who figures as
the progenitor of the gentleman whose name intro-
duces this sketch taking up a tract of land in what is
now Lancaster county, and since that early epoch
the name has been prominently and consecutively
linked with the annals of this section. It is needless
to say his initial efforts were in the direction of
reclaiming a portion of his land and rendering it
eligible for cultivation, for agriculture was the one
industry to which recourse must be had by those
valiant souls who became the pioneers of a new land.
He cleared a section of forest land in Penn township,
within three miles of the present attractive little city
of Lititz, and as the result of his indefatigable and
well directed efiforts reclaimed a homestead worthy
to be passed from generation to generation and to
become hallowed with memories and associations,
as it is to-day — the old homestead now in the posses-
sion of Israel G. Erb, who was there born, as
were also his father, grandfather and great-grand-
father before him.
Israel G. Erb was born Sept. 12, 1843, on the
ancestral farm, a son of David W. and Catherine
(Groff) Erb, the former of whom was born there
March 4, 1819. David W. Erb was reared to ma-
turity under the invigorating discipline of the farm,
receiving a good education for the day, and proving
himself a man of strong mentality, excellent judg-
ment and impregnable integrity. He never wavered
in his devotion to the great basic art of husbandry,
which continued to engross his attention throughout
his long and active life. He was one of the most pro-
gressive and influential farmers of Penn township
and of Lancaster county, and in his death, which
occurred in July, 1885, there passed away one of na-
ture's unassuming noblemen, and one whose life had
been lived on an exalted plane of rectitude and honor.
In religion he held to the simple and beautiful faith
of the Mennonite Church, in whose work he ever
took an active interest. In politics he originally gave
his support to the Whig party, but upon the organ-
ization of the Republican party he transferred his
allegiance thereto, and ever afterward remained a
stalwart adherent to the same. His marriage to^
Miss Catherine Groff was solemnized in 1840, and
she still survives him, having attained the venerable
age of eighty years, and resting serene and hopeful
in the deepest Christian faith, and in the filial solici-
tude and devotion of her children, who may well
"rise up and call her blessed." She Hkewise is a na-
>^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
193
tive of Lancaster county, where her family was
founded many generations ago, the town of Groff-
dale perpetuating the name. She is a daughter of
John Groff, vrho was a successful farmer of the
county and an influential member of the Mennonite
Church. David W. and Catherine Erb became the
parents of two daughters and one son, namely:
Maria, who is the wife of Christian Kreiter, of Lin-
coln, this county; Adaline, wife of John Brubaker,
who resides in the same vicinity ; and Israel G., the
immediate subject of this review. Daniel Erb, the
paternal grandfather of Israel G., was likewise born
in what is now Penn township, where he was exten-
sively engaged in farming, being one of the substan-
tial men of the community, and one of the leading
members of the Mennonite Church. His wife, whose
maiden name was Mary Witwer, was a cousin of
Gen. Witwer, whose name is honored in the annals
of the nation. Daniel and Mary Erb became the
parents of foui' sons and four daughters, of whom
David W., father of Israel G., was the eldest.
Israel G. Erb waxed strong in mental and phy-
sical vigor under the sturdy discipline of the old
homestead farm upon which he was reared, and it
is needless to say that he learned the science of agri-
culture under most effective preceptorship, for his
father was a man of progressive methods and fine
business acumen, and saw to it that his son was
properly instructed in a practical and systematic
way. It must be understood, however, that the fa^
ther was also fully appreciative of the value of theo-
retical or scholastic education as well, and that he
afforded his son every consistent advantage for
rounding out a symmetrical mental development.
After successfully completing the curriculum of the
public schools in the vicinity of his home he became
encouraged to broaden still farther his fund of
knowledge, and at the age of eighteen years he was
matriculated as a student in the Lititz Academy, an
institution which attained exceptional prestige under
the direction of its distinguished and honored found-
er, the late lamented Prof. John Beck, to whose able
and kindly tutoring Mr. Erb feels himself indebted in
perpetual gratitude and honor, as he does also to the
successors of that worthy educator and noble man.
Under the direction of Prof. Beck he secured a lib-
eral education, showing exceptional predilection for
mathematics, and becoming so proficient in its vari-
ous branches, including civil engineering, that his pre-
ceptor advised him to adopt engineering as a profes-
sion. However, he was induced to engage in teach-
ing, and he devoted four terms to pedagogic work,
in'which he was successful. But in the meanwhile
he had reason to revert to the advice of his old friend
and preceptor, and began to realize more fully the
wisdom of the admonition. He accordingly again
became a student in Lititz Academy, where he took
up a special course in higher mathematics and civil
engineering, under Proi. G. W. Plepp, who, with
Prof. F. D. Rickert, succeeded Prof. Beck in the
management of the academy. Of liis work after
13
leaving the academy for the second time a previous-
ly published article speaks as follows : "Subse-
quently he began business as a surveyor, and in a
short time his accurate work attracted widespread
attention, and consequently his services have always
been in denland. As a scrivener he has few equals-
He is an adept in all lines, preparing legal as well as
commercial, religious and social documents in plain
and faultless terms. Since that time he has been en-
gaged in surveying and has also given much time
and labor and care to the proper management of his
fine farm and other business investments, which are
of wide scope and importance."
It may be safely and truly said that no citizen of
Lititz, where he has maintained his residence for the
past twenty years, has done more to forward the
legitimate industrial advancement of this section of
the State than has Mr. Erb, while his influence has
ever been helpfully and potently exerted in the pro-
motion of educational, religious and civic progress,
and he has maintained that public-spirited attitude
which bespeaks the well-balanced, enterprising and
conservative business man, and the citizen appre-
ciative of the responsibilities and duties involved in
citizenship. In harmony with the statements made
in the initial paragraph of this sketch, he has wrought
along the line of the greatest good, and, while fur-
thering individual prosperity through normal and
legitimate channels, he has materially aided in pro-
moting the general welfare, for every legitimate en-
terprise in a community has a reflex valuation
which is not, perhaps, superficially evident. We
take pleasure in reiterating the dictum pronounced
by another writer in noting the salient points in the
career of our subject: "Mr. Erb has always been
solicitous for the welfare of Lititz, and is nevef
found in the rear when industries are projected or
organized. His sound business principles have
brought him a large clientage, and his advice and
assistance in other forms have benefited so many
of his fellow citizens that he is uniformly regarded
as a model humanitarian. No selfish motive was
ever charged against him in his dealings with neigh-
bor or stranger, and in all his walks he manifests the
qualities of the true Christian gentleman."
For m.any years Mr. Erb has been a member of
the board of school directors, and for a period of
over four years he was treasurer of the board, evef
taking a deep interest in the cause of education, and
sparing no pains to advance the same so far as in his
province lies. In politics he has been at all times
stanchly arrayed in support of the principles and
policies of the Republican party, but he has never
been imbued with office-seeking proclivities, though
in 1882 he was elected jury commissioner of the
county, of which office he was incumbent for three
years. In religion he clings to the faith of his fa-
thers, being a consistent member of the Mennonite
Church, to whose direct work and collateral benevo-
lences he has ever been a liberal contributor. He
still conducts the old homestead, which is one of the
194
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
finest rural estates in this section, the same now com-
prising eighty-five acres, and being maintained under
the highest state of cultivation, while the permanent
improvements are of the most substantial, consistent
and attractive order. His other interests are of wide
scope and varied character, and his infltience is dis-
tinctly felt in the promoting of the success of the
various enterprises with which he is thus identified.
He is president of the Lititz National Bank; vice-
president of the Northern Trust Company, of Lan-
caster; a member of the directorate of the Lancas-
ter & Lititz Turnpike Company; was one of the
organizers and president of the Independent Tele-
phone Company of Lancaster county ; for twenty-one
j'ears has served as secretary of the Penn Township
Fire Insurance Company ; was one of the organizers
and president of the Agricultural Mutual Fire In-
surance Company of Lancaster county ; is a director
of the Shamokin & Mount Carmel Electric Railroad
Company ; and treasurer of the Keystone Underwear
Mills of Lititz, one of the important industrial enter-
prises of the county being conducted by this concern,
whose finely equipped plant is located in Lititz ; the
business of the company has shown a most gratify-
ing increase, and Mr. Erb devotes a considerable
portion of his time to this establishment, having his
office at the mills and exercising a general super-
vision. He has been secretary of the Lititz board of
health from the time of its organization.
From this brief outline it may be seen that there
are exacting demands on Mr. Erb's time and atten-
tion, and yet, in the midst of the thronging cares and
responsibilities of an exceptionally active business
life, he maintains the calm equipoise of a self-reliant
and forceful nature, being strongly initiative in his
tendencies, sincere and truthful in all things, kindly
and tolerant in his judgment of his fellow men, and
entirely without ostentation. He is a distinct man,
and one upon whose life there rests no shadow of
wrong or suspicion of evil. He views all things from
a direct vantage ground, placing a true valuation
on men and matters, and having that poise and in-
trinsic integrity which ever make for strong and
useful manhood. The review of a career such as his
bears its lesson and incentive, and the writer has
aimed to give merely such an estimate of the char-
acter of the subject as is drawn from the words and
attitude of those who know him best, and who are
thus most appreciative of his sterling manhood.
In conclusion we touch briefly upon the domestic
chapter in the life history of Mr. Erb. On Oct. 29,
1867, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah B.
Reist, who was born in Penn township, this county,
June 16, 1846, daughter of John Reist, who was a
prosperous and highly honored farmer of the coun-
ty. Mr. and Mrs. Erb became the parents of five
^daughters : Emma, who is the wife of Martin G.
Hess, cashier of the Keystone National Bank, of
Manheim, Pa. ; Mary R., who is the wife of George
M. Smith, president of the Shamokin & Mt. Carmel
Electric Railway Company ; Katie, who died at the
age of thirteen years ; and Minnie and Annie Laurie,
who remain at the parental home, which is a center
of gracious and refined hospitality, the family be-
ing prominent in the social life of the city where
Mr. Erb has maintained his residence for more than
twenty years.
ZACHARIAH BELL WILLIAMS (de-
ceased). Among the prominent men of Lancaster
county was Zachariah Bell Williams, a substantial
and most highly respected farmer of Saclsbury
township.
The Williams family was established in Lan-
caster county by three brothers of the name who
emigrated from Scotland- One of these emigrants,
Robert Williams, purchased a farm of 750 acres of
land in Sadsbury township, from William Fish-
bourne, a merchant of Philadelphia, who in turn
had purchased it from William Penn. The deed
bears date of 1740, and is a highly prized relic,
being now a valued possession of Mrs. E. J. Knox,
of Christiana, Pa. Its faded condition shows the
onward march of time. The tract of land pur-
chased was a fine one, and the 238 acres of it still
held by a member of the family makes one of the
fine farms Lancaster county is noted for. On it
was at one time located the village of a part of the
Shawnee Indians, and Indian graves have been
found upon it in the past, as well as many Indian
■relics which to this day are successfully sought
for by relic hunters. The stone quarry from which
the Indians quarried the stone with which to make
their household utensils and weapons used in war-
fare and the chase,- was on the farm now owned by
John M. Wilhams. The Williams homestead is
beautifully located with a southern exposure, and
with the Octoraro Creek running through it from
north to south, furnishing at all seasons a never
ending and bounding supply of water for farming
purposes.
Robert Williams married Grace Bell, of Bell
Bank, Lancaster county, who bore him one child,
John, who at the death of his parents inherited the
farm now in the possession of his grandson, John
M. Williams.
John Williams, son of Robert WilHams, mar-
ried Miss Anne Allison, a daughter of James and
Margaret (Reed) Allison. James Allison was a
soldier of the Revolution, and his wife a heroine of
the same war. It is said of her that she carried
a message to General Washington, going through
the enemy's line on horseback with the message
secreted in her shoe. During her husband's ab-
sence in the war, her home was visited by British
soldiers, who took most everything that they could
make use of. Many of the things taken were the
work of her own hands which she replaced in the
course of time. To John and Anne Williams were
born the following children: James, who never
married, but made his home with his brother Zach-
ariah B., until his death at the age of eighty-six
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
195
years; Margaret; Jemima; Robert; George; John
(who married Rebecca Ubil) : Zachariah B., of
this sketch; Christopher; and Mary, who married
Thomas Bailey. John Williams remained on the
farm engaged in agriculture until his death in
.1858, at the age of ninety-four years. His wife
had died several years previous to this. The family
was one of unusual longevity.
Zachariah B. Williams, the seventh child of
John and Anne Williams was born in Sadsbury
township Oct. 20, 1806. He was reared on the
farm, and was given as good an education as the
schools of the neighborhood afforded at that time.
He remained on the farm until he was twenty-one
years of age, when he entered into successful busi-
ness enterprises on his own account; he was an
extensive cattle dealer and was well known through-
out the Western States. On May 6, 1847, in Phil-
adelphia, he was united in marriage to Hannah
Dolby, who was born near Churchtown Aug. 10,
1822, a daughter, of Isaac and Dorothy (Deitz)
Dolby, of Caernarvon township. Nine children
blessed the happy union of Zachariah B. Williams
and his wife : John M., who owns and operates
the home farm, purchased by him from his father's
and Uncle James' estate ; Frances A., wife of Ed-
ward J. Knox (son of David and Ann (Jacobs)
Knox), whose biography appears elsewhere; Isaac
T., a successful business man in Christiana, Pa.,
who married Rachel E. Fogle (daughter of John G.
and Maria (Fawkes) Fogle, natives of Bart and
Sadsbury townships, respectively), and has t'^'O
sons, Taylor (a resident of Pittsburg, Pa.) and
Zachariah J. (in business in Philadelphia) ; Mar-
garet A., married to George Sigle (deceased), a
farmer and tobacco dealer at Bird-in-Hand, and
son of John Sigle ; Sarah J., who married S. Milton
Hess (son of Daniel D. and Catherine (Lefevre)
Hess, of Quarryville), of Quarryville, now of Phila-
delphia, manufacturer of fertilizers, and has two
sons, Walter Williams and Edgar Miles; George
W., a graduate of Iron City Commercial College, of
Pittsburg, and now a machinist in Philadelphia;
James A., who died in infancy ; H. Mary, who mar-
Tied Nathaniel Ellmaker (son of Alfred and Mary
(Walker) Ellmaker), a farmer, and has two chil-
■dren, Hannah Alice and John Williams ; and Georg-
iana, who died in infancy.
Zachariah B. Williams was one of the solid and
reliable men who give tone to a community. His
industry and provident husbanding of means re-
•sulted in the accumulation of a large estate which
is now owned by his children. The farm in Sads-
bury township comprises 238 acres of excellent
land, and is one of the best farms in that locality.
He was a man of high moral character, and was
more than liberal in his benefactions to the cause
of religion. In politics he was a Democrat, but did
not aspire to political honors, being content with
the duties and responsibilities of every day life, and
interested in their honest performance. He lived
all the years granted to him where he, as well as
his father before him, was born, and where, after
a long and well spent life, he died July 25, 1890,
at the age of eighty- four years ; his widow survived
him eleven years. She was a member of the Belle-
vue Presbyterian Church, a woman of a quiet and
retiring disposition, who devoted herself, in the
quiet duties of home life, to her husband and her
children. She died Feb. 14, 1901, while on a visit
to her daughter, Mrs. S. Milton Hess, in Philadel-
phia, at the age of seventy-nine years. She and her
husband lie buried in the Bellevue cemetery. Gap,
Pennsylvania.
RUTTER. The original ancestor in America
of the Rutter family was Thomas Rutter, who came
to this country in the ship "Amity," one of the two
ships that sailed with the "Welcome" in 1682.
He settled in Germantown, Pa., where he was at
first a Friend, but in 1697 he organized a society
of Keithian Baptists in Bucks county, and became
one of its preachers.
In 1706 Thomas. Rutter succeeded Pastorius as
chief magistrate in Germantown. In 1717 he pur-
chased a large tract of land near Boyertown, where
he erected an iron furnace. One of his descend-
ants. Rev. L. C. Rutter, was for forty years pastor
of the Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church.
Others of the family reside in other localities in
Lancaster county.
ALEXANDER G. B. PARKE, M. D. Among
the leading and prominent citizens of Gap, Pa., is
Dr. Alexander G. B. Parke, who was born near
Downingtown, Chester Co., Pa., Jan. 28, 1842, son
of Richard B. and ElLouisa (Grier) Parke, the
former of whom was born in Downingtown, and the
latter in Brandywine Manor, also in Chester county.
Richard B. Parke, father of Dr. Parke, was a
farmer all his days in Chester county, where he was
widely known and universally respected. He died
in his old home Feb. 22, 1876, aged sixty-seven
years. His widow survived until in April, 1900,
dying at the age of eighty-two years. Both parents
of Dr. Parke were valued members of the Presby-
terian Church. They were the parents of the fol-
lowing children : Dr. Alexander, of this sketch ;
John G., a clerk in Philadelphia; T. Henry, in
business in Philadelphia; Jane, who died at the
age of six years ; Miss Agnes G., residing on the
old homestead, where her mother was born and
reared ; Jane R., unmarried, also residing on this
old homestead; and Richard B., a resident of
Downingtown.
Dr. Parke comes of noted ancestry on both sides
of the family. His paternal grandparents were
Thomas and Elizabeth (Bowen) Parke, farming
people of Chester county. His maternal grand-
father was Rev. J. N. C. Grier, who married Agnes
Ralston of Chester county. He was a clergyman
in the Presbyterian Church and for fifty-three years
196
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
faithfully served the church at Brandywine Manor,
to which his father had been attached in the same
capacity for the twenty-seven previous years.
Grandfather J. N. C. Grier was a son of Rev. Na-
than and Susannah (Smith) Grier, of Chester coun-
ty, who reared the following children besides J. N.
C. : Rev. Robert, who also became distinguished in
religious work and served the Presbyterian Church
in Emmitsburg, for half a century; Martha, who
married Rev. Samuel Parke, also a Presbyterian
minister; Nancy, who married Rev. Robert White,
who for many years was the beloved pastor of Old
Faggs Manor Church; and Sarah, who mar-
ried Dr. Robert Thompson. Small wonder it is
that a family of this kind should have exerted
a wide influence and still be remembered and
honored.
Dr. Parke, of this sketch, was reared on the
farm and attended the district schools of West
Brandywine township, remaining with his parents
until he had reached his nineteenth year. He then
began his medical studies with Dr. A. K. Gaston,
in Chester county, near Brandywine Manor, con-
tinuing his readings for two years and then, in
order to make his college expenses, began to teach
school. Still keeping up his medical course, the
young man taught school for some three years, en-
tering Jefferson Medical College for the season of
1864-5. Ii^ the fall of the latter year he entered
the Medical Department of the University of Penn-
sylvania, graduating from this noted institution in
1866. He first located for practice in South Her-
mitage, Salisbury township, Lancaster county,
remaining there for three years. In 1869 he
located in Gap, Pa., and since then has not only
been one of the reliable and valued physicians of
this part of the county, but also one of the town's
most progressive and useful citizens. In politics,
Dr. Parke is a stanch Republican, but he has never
consented to hold ofHce, his professional duties re-
quiring his whole time and attention. His skill
as a surgeon and his thorough knowledge as a
physician have made him known over a wide extent,
and until within late years he has faithfully minister-
ed to all who required his professional services. He
now has retired from the more onerous duties of
his calling, but his old patients are loath to put
their confidence in any one else. Fraternally, Dr.
Parke belongs to the Blue Lodge of Masons.
He is a leading member and a liberal supporter of
of the Christiana Presbyterian Church.
On March 7, 1867, Dr. Parke was united in
marriage in Pequea, Salisbury township, to Mary
L. Black, born in December, 1836, in Salisbury
township, daughter of Samuel and Agnes (Rob-
inson) Black, the former of whom was born in
County Antrim, Ireland, and the latter in Salisbury
township. Mr. Black came to America in 1798,
and first settled in Leacock township, near Bird-
in-Hand, later moving to Salisbury township
■where he became a well-known and highly re-
spected farmer and prominent citizen. In his
younger days he was employed in teaming be-
tween Philadelphia and Pittsburg. Although he
was entirely self-made, Mr. Black at the time of his
death was a man of substance, owning a mill and
considerable land, and was highly regarded by his
fellow-citizens. For a period he was supervisor of
his township. His death occurred Sept. 18, i860,
when he was aged eighty-one years. His widow
survived until Dec. 31, 1877, dying at the age of
eighty-one years, and both were laid to rest in the
Pequea cemetery. They had been most worthy mem-
bers of the Presbyterian Church. The children born
to Mr. and Mrs. Black were as follows : Hugh W,,.
formerly a merchant in Philadelphia, now an invalid ;
Samuel B., was a stockraiser in Georgia, where he
died ; Miss Jane E., who resides in Gap, Pa. ; John
R., in the real estate business in Wayne, Pa. ; Martha.
A., who died unmarried, at the age of sixty-two
years ; Margaret E., deceased, who married William
P. Gait ; Mary L., who became Mrs. Dr. Parke ; and
Miss Sarah, who resides in Gap. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. Parke were Samuel and Jane
(Baxter) Black, farming people of Ireland. The
maternal grandparents were Hugh and Jane (Wil-
son) Robinson, the former of Ireland, the latter of
Chester county; they located in Lancaster county
many years ago. The children born to Dr. and Mrs.
Parke were: Agnes ElLouisa, born Dec. 8, 1868,.
died Sept. 7, 1888; and Martha Jane, born Dec. i,.
1870, who was married Oct. 20, 1892, to Pear-
son P. Sentman, attorney-at-law, who died in 1900,
and she now resides in Gap.
The Parke family and its connections have long
been regarded as one of the most highly respected
in this section of the State. Dr. Parke of this
sketch is a most worthy representative, personally
commanding the affection and esteem of a very large
acquaintance.
THOMAS PORTER, who was a member of
the Constitutional Convention of 1776, was born
about 1740, and resided in Drumore township, Lan-
caster county. He was elected a representative to>
the Provincial Assembly of 1775. He commanded
a Battalion of Associators during the Revolutionary-
War, and was engaged in the Campaign in New Jer-
sev and around Philadelphia. He died at his resi-
dence in Drumore township in 1795. His daughter,.
Janet, married JohnSmilie, who with Albert Galla-
tin represented for many years the western section;
of Pennsylvania in the United States Congress.
JOHN L. ROHRER. Among the many honor-
able names which have reflected credit upon Lan-
caster county, that of Rohrer takes a leading posi-
tion, and through intermarriages the family is con-
nected with many of the other equally old and hon-
orable families, these owning much of the land and
being identified with religious, financial and educa-
tional interests to a great degree.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
197
John L. Rohrer is a most worthy representative
■of this respected family and now Uves in retirement,
havmg shifted the burdens of agricultural life to the
shoulders of his very efficient son. The birth of Mr.
Rohrer was on a farm in Upper Leacock township,
adjoining that on which he now resides, on Nov. 25,
1836, and he was a son of Benjamin and Mary
(Landis) Rohrer, the former of whom was born on
the old Rohrer farm, and the latter in East Lampeter
township. Until 1868 Benjamin Rohrer carried on
large operations, but at that time he moved into the
town of Mechanicsburg, where he lived for a few
years but later removed to Lancaster where he lived
■until within a few days of his death. He had re-
turned to his farm, and here the final summons
came, on Nov. 15, 1893, at the advanced age of
•eighty-nine years. His wife passed away many
years previously, in 1865, at the age of fifty-one, and
both lie asleep on the old Rohrer farm. For many
years Benjamin Rohrer was a director of the Lan-
caster County Bank, and was prominently connected
with many public measures which were beneficial to
his county.
The children born to Benjamin Rohrer and wife
were : Hettie, who married Jacob F. Eaby, a farmer
of Leacock township ; John L., a farmer on the old
homestead; Maria and Anna, twins, the former of
whom married David Frantz, a miller of Millersville,
and the latter of whom married John Brubaker;
Samuel, who died young ; Lizzie, who married John
M. Landis of East Lampeter township ; Michael L.,
a farmer of Upper Leacock township; Jacob, a re-
tired farmer of Palmyra, Mo., and Sarah, who mar-
ried John Leman, a farmer of Manheim township.
The parents of Benjamin Rohrer were John and
Hettie (Wenger) Rohrer, the former of whom was
torn in East Lampeter township, and the latter in
West Earl township, and both of them died on the
farm now owned by their grandson, John L. Rohrer.
John L. Rohrer attended the district school dur-
ing his boyhood and assisted in the various light
duties about his father's farm, remaining at home un-
til he had attained his majority and married, when
he removed 10 his preset farm where he has re-
mained, actitvely engaged in agricultural pursuits
until in the spring of 1880, at which time he retired
in favor of his very capable son.
The first marriage of Mr. Rohrer was in Lancas-
ter in Nov. 1858, to Elizabeth Sechrist, and the chil-
dren born to this marriage were: (i) Benjamin S.,
■who married in December, 1880 Mary Landis, and
they have four children — Harry, John, Peter and
Landis ; (2) Hettie Ann, who died at the age of sev-
enteen years. Mrs. Rohrer was a daughter of Chris-
tain and Hettie (Landis) Sechrist, and she died on
June 9, 1882, at the age of forty-two.
The second marriage of Mr. Rohrer was to
Fianna Hoover, who was born near Lititz, Pa., and
was a daughter of Abraham and Martha (Hess)
Hoover, of Lancaster county. No children were
born of this marriage.
Mr. Rohrer is an Independent in politics, voting
as his judgment decides. He and his family have
long been active in the Mennonite Church, where
no one is more highly esteemed. Mr. Rohrer is one
of the quiet, unostentatious residents of the neighbor-
hood, who is known far and wide as a most excellent
neighbor, a reliable friend, an honest man in business
and a ditizen whom Lancaster county is proud
to claim.
CASPER HILLER, who had been' one of the
leading agriculturists and pomologists of Lancaster
county, died Aug. 27, 1898, at his home in Cone-
stoga Centre. He was born in Manor township in
1817, and in 1828 removed to Conestoga township,
where he resided during the remainder of his life.
In 1837 he became a school teacher in Conestoga,
and continued such until in 1849. His interest in
behalf of the schools of Conestoga township caused
the people of that locality to elect him to the board
of school directors on a number of occasions. In
1849 he started a small nursery in order to accom-
modate the people in his neighborhood, but after-
ward began the cultivation of fruit for the profits
derived therefrom, and he achieved well merited
success. His son Peter C. Hiller was taken into
partnership in 1869. Casper Hiller was one of the
founders of the Lancaster County Agricultural So-
ciety, and also a member of the State Horticultural
Society. He was a Republican, and for a number
of years had been a justice of the peace in his town-
ship. His wife was Miss Mary Ann Daily, to whom
he was married in 1847, she dying several years prior
to him.
Casper Hiller wrote a number of valuable papers
on the growing of fruit, which he read before the
Lancaster County Agricultural Society, and many
of them were printed in the daily papers.
Peter C. Hiller, son of Casper Hiller, and who
was in partnership with his father, died on June
22, 1898. He was a well known farmer. He also
was a Republican, and for some years was engaged
in teaching school. He had also been a justice of the
peace and was for some time a clerk in the revenue
department at Lancaster. Mr. Hiller's favorite
study was local archaeology, and he amassed a large
collection of stone implements, pottery and beads
from all sections of Lancaster county, particularly,
however, from the islands in the Susquehanna.
JOHN A. SNYDER, deceased. The accidental
death of John A. Snyder, one of the well-known
and highly respected citizens of Mt. Joy, on Nov.
22, 1881, brought sorrow to a large circle of friends
and acquaintances, and the universal comment was
that the community had been deprived of one of its
most esteemed inhabitants. Mr. Snyder was born
in Petersburg, Lancaster county, in June, 1827, a
son of John and Catharine (Rich) Snyder. The
family is of German descent, and the name was
originally spelled Schneider. The paternal grand-
198
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
parents of Mr. Snyder were Casper and Susanna
(Kornhaus) Snyder, the latter a daughter of the
owner of the Kornhaus ferry above Bainbridge, af-
terward changed to Collins.
The earliest ancestors of the Rich family of whom
we have record was Johannes Reiych, which An-
glicized became John Rich. He was born in 1740,
in Nuremburg, Bavaria, Germany, and was de-
scribed as a type of manly beauty, tall and erect,
with black hair and blue eyes, and with a character
that well fitted his pleasing exterior. On June 6,
1781, he married Mary S, Entzingerin, who was
born in 1750, and died in 1784, leaving two sons,
John, Jr., and William. In- July, 1789, Mr. Rich
married Anna Margaret Lutz, who was born in
September, 1768, and died in 1846, one day before
her seventy-eighth birthday. Four children of this
second marriage survived their father, who passed
away in 1807. They were as follows: Christian,
who died in 1844, aged forty-eight years ; Catharine,
mother of John A. Snyder ; Henry, whose death oc-
curred in 1845, aged forty-four years; and Jacob,
who died in 1843, when nearly forty years of age.
John Rich, the father of these children, spent three
years of his early life in England, acquiring an
education. At the time he left Europe, he was in
England attending to business for his father, dis-
posing of watches and wares, of which his father
was manufacturer, in Nuremburg. He had a strong
desire to see America and meeting a captain of a
vessel about to sail, he expressed his desire, but said
that he had not sufficient funds independent of his
father's. The captain offered to take him across
and bring him back on his return trip, free, which
he accepted, firmly confident that his father would
cheerfully defray all his expenses if he returned
safely. The ship named "Morning Star," Capt.
George Dempster, landed at Baltimore some time
in the fall of 1773. After landing, contrary to his
expectations, his passage money was demanded.
A stranger in a strange land, without money or
friends to assist, he was, according to the laws of
the country at that time, sold into service for pay-
ment of the amount due for his passage. He said
the implements with which he labored while in
servitude were often stained with blood from his
hands which had never been accustomed to hard
work. Before his time of service (four years) had
expired, the Revolutionary war broke out, and he
never returned to Europe. After he gained his lib-
erty he engaged in teaching and as a general scribe.
John Snyder, father of John A., was for many
years an excellent and highly respected machinist
and blacksmith in the locality of Mt. Joy. On Sept.
2, 1819, he married Catharine Rich, who died in
February, 1882, aged eighty-three years. He died
some time before, in July, 1869. The children
born of this marriage were : Simon R., who died in
May, i860, aged thirty-nine years ; Ann C, who
married Daniel B. Lindemuth, and died in Ohio in
December, 1898, aged seventy-six years; Mary A.,
who died unmarried in 1852, aged twenty-seven;
John A. ; Catharine L., the only survivor, who re-
sides in her own home in Mt. Joy; and Emma S.,
who died in June, 1886, aged fifty-four years.
Although through his youth John A. Snyder
was never in very robust health, he went regularly
to the district schools and the Mt. Joy Academy
until he was eighteen years old. At that time he as-
sisted his father in the manufacture of farming im-
plements and remained with him in business until
1852, when he and his brother Simon took entire
charge of it, this association continuing until the
death of the latter, in May, i860; afterwards John
A. continued in the business alone until 1869. In
the intermediate time he purchased a farm and mill
property, in which business he continued until his
untimely death. Mr. Snyder was killed while at
work back of his home, Nov. 22, 1881. In endeav-
oring to cross the tracks of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company, he was run down by a train, result-
ing in instant death, and he was buried in the Mt.
Joy cemetery. During his younger years he was
active in the Republican party; and he was a con-
sistent member of the Reformed Mennonite church.
On Feb. i, 1857, in Franklin county, Pa., John
A. Snyder was married to Elizabeth Ryder, the
estimable daughter of Michael Ryder. To this union
were born : Simon R., who married Sarah A. Baus-
man on Nov. 10, 1881, had one son, Frank B., and
resides on the old homestead, in Mt. Joy township,
engaged in farming and conducting the mill ; Mary
C, who died at the age of three years and six
months ; John M., a shoe merchant of Roanoke, Va.,
who married H. Gladys Greiner, Jan. 22, 1891, and
had two sons, John Abner and Julian Ralph ; Anna
E., a young lady at home ; and Franklin R., who died
a lad of twelve and one-half years.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Ryder) Snyder was born in
Path Valley, Franklin Co., Pa., AUg. 11, 1828, a
daughter of Michael and Mary (Ryder) Ryder, who
were cousins, of Lancaster and Franklin counties,
respectively. During his earlier life, Mr. Ryder
was a carpenter, but later adopted farming, and
moved to Franklin county. His death occurred
April 2, 1 89 1, at the unusual age of ninety-two
years and eleven months. The beloved mother had
also lived to a good old age, her death occurring
Sept. 14, in the previous year, at the age of eighty-
six, and they were reverently buried near Mercers-
burg; both of them were for many years consistent
members of the Reformed Mennonite Church. The
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Ryder were : Joseph,
who died in Franklin county ; Elizabeth ; Mary A.,
who married Dr. Benjamin Frantz, in Waynesboro;
Adam, a farmer of Franklin county; John A., a
farmer of Franklin county ; Anna, who married Job
Ellotson, a florist in Auburn, N. Y. ; Michael, a
farmer of Franklin county; and Catharine, unmar-
ried, who resides on the old homestead in Loudon,
Franklin county.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. John A. Sny-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
199
der were Michael and Salome (Wertz) Ryder, of
Donegal township, in Lancaster county, and of Ad-
ams county, who died near Elizabethtown. The
maternal grandparents were Adam and Elizabeth
(Longenecker) Ryder, both of Lancaster county.
Mrs. John A. Snyder has lived many years in this
community and has seen much of its 'growth and
development. She is a lady of intelligence, who is
well and favorably known through the neighborhood
and is most highly esteemed by all who have been
admitted to her acquaintance.
STEPHEN S. CLAIR. The family of this dis-
tmguished citizen of Columbia, who at present
(1903) holds the position of United States Deputy
Collector of Internal Revenue for the Ninth Dis-
trict of Pennsylvania, is of Swiss origin, three broth-
ers having emigrated from Switzerland to America
at a comparatively early day, two of whom settled
in Lancaster county. The original spelling of the
patronymic was Klahr, meaning clear, of which
name Clair is an Anglicized corruption. His pater-
nal grandfather, who married a Miss Grissinger,
was Jacob Clair, a carpet weaver and a local preacher
in the United Brethren denomination. He died in
Rapho township. Mr. Clair's father was named
Jacob C. He was a prominent citizen, the major
of a regiment, and held various offices in the
township of West Hempfield. He was a building
contractor and carried on an extensive business.
Born Nov. 14, 1814, within four miles of Columbia,
where he settled in 1869, he died in Oct., 1886, one
month before reaching the age of seventy-two. His
wife, Mr. Clair's mother, was Sarah Sneath, for an
account of whose family the reader is referred to
the biographical sketch of Jacob Sneath, which may
be found on another page. She died in Oct., 1852.
Stephen S. Clair was born in the paternal home-
stead on May 12, 1838. He was the eldest of a
family of three brothers, the others being named
Jacob S. and Benjamin Franklin. Both were car-
penters, and both are deceased, the elder dying in
Mountville in 1876, and the younger at Columbia in
1899. Stephen grew up upon his father's farm, and
when fifteen years old went to Silver Spring to
become a clerk in a country store. He remained
there in that capacity for three years, when he re-
solved to learn the trade of a carpenter, his pre-
dilection for that pursuit being, no doubt, heredi-
tary. He duly served his apprenticeship, but the
outbreak of the Rebellion stirred his youthful heart
and put fire into his patriotic soul, and in Sept.,
1861, he enlisted for three years in the 79th P. V. I.,
his company's commanding officer being Capt. M. S.
Wickersham. In February, 1864, he re-enlisted. His
career as a soldier was one of which both he and
his children may feel justly proud. In March, 1865,
he received a commission as second lieutenant, and
on July 20 following, he received his discharge at
Philadelphia. He participated in the battles of Per-
ryville and Stone River, in Kentucky, passed through
the Chickamauga campaign, and fought at Lookout
Mountain and Missionary Ridge. He also took part
in the campaign against Atlanta, and marched with
Sherman to the sea. At Bentonville, N. C, on March
19, 1865, a minie rifle ball (which he has in his
possession) wounded him in the left side, breaking
two ribs. Notwithstanding his injury, he remained
with his regiment and accompanied 'the command
to Goldsboro, N. C, being forced, however, to ride
a horse, his wound preventing his marching. He
was present at Johnston's surrender, and then ac-
companied his regiment to Alexandria, Virginia.
After being discharged from the service, he
found his way to Mountville, where for a time he
worked as a journeyman at his trade, with a cousin,
Jacob Sneath. In 1866 he ■ formed a partnership
with W. H. Hougendobler to carry on the business
of contractors and builders. The firm was dissolved
in June, 1869, when Mr. Clair entered the United
States Internal Revenue office as an assistant to the
assessor. The latter office being abolished in 1872,
he was made deputy collector, the responsible duties
of which office he continued to discharge, with
marked ability and fidelity, until Jan. i, 1876. On
that date he resigned his position to enter upon a
new field of duty, that of clerk of the quarter ses-
sions court, to which office he had been elected in the
fall of 1875, ^iid which he filled for three years. In.
1880 the Pennsylvania Railroad Company appointed
him its ticket and freight agent at Middletown. In
1889 he resigned this position, to re-enter the In-
ternal Revenue office, serving as chief deputy under
Sam Matt. Fridy until August, 1894. He was ap-
pointed Deputy Collector, in May, 1899, which office
he still holds.
Mr. Clair is a member of the G. A. R. and of the
Masonic Order, wearing the maltese cross of a
Knight Templar. He is universally esteemed and
generally popular, while in his own large circle of
friends he is deeply beloved.
Mr. Clair was married, in 1866, at Mountville,
to Miss Susan B. Develin. She was born in that
town in Aug., 1840, and was the daughter of John
and Susan Develin, her father being a merchant.
The issue of this marriage was two children : Sarah
A. and Abraham Lincoln. The daughter is the wife
of M. L. Holloway, a druggist of Philadelphia. The
son is a machinist, unmarried, and lives with his
father. Mrs. Clair died Feb. 2, 1899, and was buried
in Bethel cemetery, Columbia.
GEORGE GIBSON. Tradition asserts that long
before Lancaster was laid out by James Hamilton,
Esq., of Philadelphia, in 1729, the site was oc-
cupied by an Indian village, and that the town
was known as "Hickory Town." The locality was
also known as "Gibson's Pasture." The name
"Hickory Town" had been given the place from a
large hickory tree which stood near the public high-
way, and which was a favorite one with the Indians.
George Gibson kept a tavern on the site long before
200
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Hamilton laid out the town, and on his sign was
painted a hickory tree. Records state that "a swamp
lay in front of Gibson's," and "another one some
distance north." The site of Gibson's tavern was on
East King street, where the First National Bank
now stands. At the time of the laying out of Lan-
caster there were a half dozen or more houses scat-
terd around Gibson's tavern, and in 1734 the place
had 200 people living in it.
J. FREDERICK SENER, president of the
Northern National Bank, of Lancaster, and senior
member of the extensive coal and lumber firm of G.
Sener & Sons, comes of a very old settled ancestry
in this section of the country.
Through the courtesy of S. M. Sener, a member
of the Lancaster Bar, and a lineal descendant of
Gottlieb Soehner, who came to America in 1749, we
are enabled to glean the following from the Soehner
family history, compiled, published and copyrighted
by S. M. Sener, and dedicated to his uncle, John
Fick Sehner, now — December, 1902 — in his seventy-
seventh year, who is also a direct descendant of the
old Austrian progenitor through Wolfgang, Hans,
Matthew, Gottlieb (i), Johannes, and John Sehner
and wife, Ann Maria Fick: "The name was orig-
inally written Sehner, but in Germany, during the
period from 1715 to 1750, it was changed to Soehner,
and in this country is variously written Sehner and
Sener, Gottlieb, who came over from Germany in
1749, and who was the ancestor in this country,
writing it Soehner. The name is derived from the old
German Sinthar, meaning a man noted for war, and
was chosen by the original ancestor who received a
wappen, or coat of arms. The family originated in
Austria, somewhere near Salzburg, in the thirteenth
century, and was, as a sequence. Catholic. The an-
cestor living in Austria at the time of the Reforma-
tion became Evangelistic, and he and his second son,
Wolfgang Sehner, left Austria on account of relig-
ious persecution, and located at Steppach about
1570, where Wolfgang became 'Schultheiss and
Ahnwalt ;' his descendants afterwards located at
Schwaigern, in Wurtemberg. The first son, whose
Christian name is unknown, remained a Catholic,
and located near Heilbronn, where a Catholic branch
of the family is at present located. The wappen of
the family is recorded in the 'Grosse Wappensam-
lung, of Antonio Bonacina, in Mailand, in Volume
II, Folio 229,' the 'stamvater' being described as of
'ein burgerliches Geschlect in Frankischen.' " The
shield of the wappen, or coat of arms, is divided per
pale, the right field being red with a silver mailed
arm bearing a sword, signifying high-mindedness ;
the left field blue with a golden lion holding sword,
surmounted by a golden crowned helmet capped
with two horns, signifying "Sparsamkeit und Kuhn-
heit," "Prudence and Bravery."
Wolfgang Sehner had one son, Hans Sehner,
who located in .Schwaigern, Wurtemberg, where de-
scendants still reside. Hans Sehner was married
Feb. 13, 1653, to Elizabeth Trommeter, born Nov.
23, 1628, who died March 16, 1697. Hans Sehner
died May 9, 1696, aged about seventy years. He
had six children : Maria Catharine, Matthew, Anna
Dorathea, Hans, Wolfgang and Johannes.
Matthew, son of Hans, born May 24, 1660, died
June 16, 1744, was married three times, to Cordelia
Elizabeth Lederer, Anna Catharine Dieter and Bar-
bara Sybilla Shuster, respectively. His children by
his first wife were : Maria Catharine, Hans Michael
and Cordula Elizabeth. By the second wife : Hans
Dieter, Christian, Johannes and Matthew. By the
third wife: John Christopher, Maria Sybilla, John
George, and Gottlieb — the first of the family in
America.
Gottlieb, who wrote his name Soehner, was the
thirteenth child of Matthew, and was born at Schwai-
gern April 7, 1 72 1. He became a house carpenter
and joiner, and when twenty-eight years old, five
years after his father's death, came to America on
the ship "Fane," landing at Philadelphia Oct. 17,
1749. He located in Lancaster, where he purchased
land, and was married Sept. 18, 1750, to Maria Bar-
bara Klein. The exact date of Gottlieb Soehner's
death is not known, but he died sometime between
September, 1779, and May, 1780.
Godlieb Sener, third of that name, and father of
J. Frederick Sener, was born in Lancaster, Pa., April
23, 1800, second son and child of Johannes Sener
and wife Catharine, born Rung, John Sener (1798-
1864) being the first born ; both were grandsons of
Gottlieb Soehner and his wife Maria Barbara, born
Klein. Godlieb Sener died Jan. 11, 1877. He was
married Aug. 12, 1826, to Rebecca Zahm, a descend-
ant of the Godfried Zahm (Zoham) who came to
America on the ship "Patience and Margaret," land-
ing in Philadelphia Sept. 25, 1848, and settling in
Lancaster, Pa. Their children were : Cecilia Re-
becca married Joseph R. Godell ; Elizabeth Cath-
arine married J. P. Stormfeltz ; J. Frederick is men-
tioned below ; Henry M., who died Feb. 23, i884,was
married to Mary Bonine ; Mary Louisa married Rev.
J. W. Rumple; William Z. married (first) Sarah L.
Atlee, and (second) Anna Yeisley; and Edward A.
died single. The father of this family died in 1877,
but the business carried on by him has been contin-
ued to this day under the firm name of G. Sener &
Sons. Jacob and Frederick Sener, younger broth-
ers of Godlieb Sener, were first in the business about
1830, and, retiring, were succeeded by Godlieb in
1848. Catharine, sister of Godlieb Sener, became the
wife of Christopher Hager, and Eliza, a younger
sister, was married to Samuel Miller.
J. Frederick Sener was born April 2, 1833, in
the old homestead on North Prince street, Lancas-
ter, where at that time his father carried on the mak-
ing of edge-tools. He received his education in the
public schools of the place of his birth, and at the
age of fifteen years commenced to work in his fa-
ther's lumber yard. When twenty-one his father
took him into partnership in the coal and lumber
S-^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
201
business, but later he removed to Ephrata, this coun-
ty, where, in company with his brother, WilHam Z.,
he established a lumber and coal business. There
he remained about one year, and then passed six
months m New York, establishing a coal yard there
for Joseph R. Goodell. Returning to Lancaster,
Mr. Sener commenced devoting all his energies to
the development of the business greatly enlarged by
his father, and in which he was a partner, and has
continued in same ever since, being associated with
his brother William Z., and his son Frank Keller
Sener. The brothers, J. Frederick and W. Z., are
the owners of the well-known lumber and coal yards.
Mr. Sener was one of the promoters and original
directors of the Northern Market, and has been in-
terested in all the market houses of Lancaster ex-
cept the Central, which is controlled by the city. He
is also interested in the Hamilton Watch Factory,
the Non-Retailing Company, the Edison Electric
Light Company, and the Lancaster Gas Company —
indeed, there have been but few public enterprises
in his locality, during the last quarter of a century,
in which he has not been interested, for he is as lib-
eral with his purse as he is with his ideas, both so-
cial and business.
Mr. Sener has been twice married, first to Miss
Kate J. Hamilton. One child was born of this union,
Charles M., who died in 1869. By his second wife,
Elizabeth H. (born Keller), he has two children:
(i) Franklin Keller Sener, who is associated with
his father in the coal and lumber business, married
Miss Louisa (King) Rathfon, by whom he has one
son, John Frederick, born Oct. 24, 1895. (2) Rose
Alma was married Oct. 31, 1900, to B. Grant
Staufifer.
In religious faith Mr. Sener is a Lutheran
and a member of Grace Lutheran Church, and has
been a trustee thereof ever since that church
has had trustees. In addition to being a con-
stant and liberal supporter of the church he has
presented it with two large, rich-toned bells. So-
cially he is now affiliated with only the Blue Lodge,
F. & A. M., having withdrawn from the other Ma-
sonic orders.
Outside of his varied and responsible business
afifairs, Mr. Sener devotes his time to the enjoyment
of home life in his beautiful rural retreat, "Ermosa
^''ista," located on the Lititz turnpike, aiid acknowl-
edged to be one of the most delightful suburban
homes among the many surrounding the fair city of
Lancaster.
GEORGE WINFIELD REICH, M. D., de-
ceased, of late one of the most eminent physicians
of the borough of Marietta, was born in East Done-
gal township, Lancaster county, Pa., Jan. 8, 1844,
and died at his home in Marietta June 3, 1899, where
his mortal remains now rest in peace.
The parents of George W. Reich, M. D., were
Dr. George and Mary (Long) Reich. The former
had a very large practice as a physician and was
also a local preacher in the Evangelical church. He
erected a meeting house on his estate for the con-
venience of his congregation, the use of which was
allowed free of charge, and after his death this privi-
lege was permitted by his family, until 1899, when
his executors disposed of it by sale. In the ceme-
tery attached to this meeting-house in Conoy town-
ship, and known as the Reich cemetery, the remains
of himself and wife were solemnly interred, their
loss being mourned by the entire community in the
township. The children born to Dr. George Reich
and wife were seven in number, and were as follows :
Mary, widow of Daniel Bross, of Rowenna, Pa. ;
Herman, unmarried, and living on the old home-
stead; Elizabeth, widow of John Bowman of Mt.
Joy ; Anna, deceased wife of Eli Heisey ; Dr. George
W. ; Benjamin, a deceased physician of York; and_
Miss Sally, still residing on the home farm.
•In Marietta, Dr. George W. Reich was united
in matrimony with Miss Ella C. Roth, the accom-
plished daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Messer-
smith) Roth, natives, respectively, of Lancaster and
Marietta, and to this union were born five children,
viz. : Dr. George R., of whom mention will be
made elsewhere; Albert M., deceased; and Jay M.,
Marguerite and Mary Helen, still at home. Jacob
Roth was a lumber inspector, and was a gentleman
of considerable influence in his community. He
died deeply mourned in 1884, at the age of seventy-
six years, in the faith of the Presbyterian church,
but had lost his wife in 1880, at the age of fifty-four.
Their children were five in number, and were : Al-
bert, who died in Memphis, Tenn., while serving
in the army ; Helen, who died when two years old ;
John, president of the State Savings Bank at Fair-
field, Iowa; Milton, a dry goods merchant of the
same city; and Ella C, widow of Dr. George W.
Reich.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Dr. Reicfi
were John and Catherine Roth, the former of whom
was a master cooper ; her maternal grandparents
wer Philip and Catherine' (Ober) Messersmith, na-
tives of Germany and early settlers in Lancaster
county. Her great-grandfather, Johann N. Mes-
sersmith, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, Oct.
26, 1719, came to America Oct. .20, 1744, married
Maria D. Reitzell Sept. 13, 1762, took part in the
war of the Revolution, and died in Lancaster.
Dr. George W. Reich was prepared for the prac-
tice of medicine by his father, later took a course
in the Homeopathic College in New York City, and
on graduating entered upon the practice of his pro-
fession in Marietta in 1865, where he met with
phenomenal success. As a citizen he took an intense
interest in the affairs of the borough. Although born
on a farm he taught school in his home district in
East Donegal township for three terms, when but
sixteen years old, and for several terms was a school
director in Marietta. He also served as a member
of the Marietta Boro Council, for two years just
before his death, and had been elected for a third
202
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
term, and was president of that body at least one
term. At the time of his demise he was president
of the Marietta Gravity Water Co., president of
the Marietta Manufacturing Co., and president of
the Marietta Building and Loan Association, and his
interest in the promotion of the prosperity of the
borough was untiring and unceasing.
Fraternally he was a member of Askara Lodge,
No. 398, F. & A. M., and represented it in the Grand
Lodge ; he was also a member of East Donegal
Lodge, No. 129, I. O. O. F. ; of Opessah Tribe, No.
292, I. O. R. M., of which he was a trustee; of Wa-
terford Council, No. 72, O. U. A. M ; and treasurer
of the Pioneer Fire Co. He was a member of the
Episcopal church, and in politics was a Republican.
The Doctor was renowned for his charity, and no
.better man ever lived.
PETER ECKERT SLAYMAKER, president
of the Peoples National Bank, and of the Peoples
Trust, Savings & Deposit Co., is one of -the best
known financiers in this section of the State.
The Slaymakers were among the early settlers of
the State, and representatives in each generation have
been influential citizens. The name William Mathias
has passed through six generations, the great-great-
grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather, father
and brother of our subject having borne this
name, and all of them were residents of Lancaster
county.
Mathias Slaymaker (originally in German
Schleiermacher), the ancestor of the family in this
county, was a native of Strasburg, Germany, and
emigrated to this country about the year 1710. He
and his family settled on a tract of land containing
about 1000 acres known as the "London Lands,"
situated in Strasburg, now Paradise township, and
built a log house or cabin close to a large spring,
near the residence of the late William Eckert in
said Paradise township, a portion of the original
1000 acres being still in the family.
William Mathias Slaymaker, father of our sub-
ject, became one of the well-known and honored
citizens in the county. As prothonotary he made a
record of which his .family may well be proud. He
died Sept. 21, 1888. In 1848, he married Catherine
Mary Eckert, daughter of Peter J. Eckert, a farmer
and a representative of another old and influential
family of Lancaster county. She died in 1875. Four-
teen children were born of this union of whom the
following survive: Elizabeth E., wife of J. P. Mc-
Ilvain, a farmer of Bel'lemonte ; Peter Eckert, whose
name appears at the beginning of this article ; Caro-
line Augusta ; Laura Georgia ; Edith lola, wife of
Joseph B. Kinzer ; and Margaret. Of those de-
ceased, William Mathias, who was secretary and
treasurer of the Peoples Trust, Savings & Deposit
Co., died March 3. 1902.
Peter Eckert Slaymaker was born in Williams-
town, Paradise township, Feb. 3, 1853. His father
and mother were early taken away, and he became
the head of the family, caring for his younger
brother and sisters with a wisdom beyond his years.
As a lad he attended the public school and a private
school taught by the Rev. McNair, a Presbyterian
clergyman, at Rising Sun, Salisbury township, Lan-
caster county. For a time he was in the Lancaster
public schools, and finished his schooling in the
Parkesburg Academy. All his Hfe he has been a
student, and is a broad-minded and progressive man.
His first employment was in Hager Brothers' Dry
Goods Store as an errand boy, and then as clerk
to his father in the office of the prothonotary, serving
not only his father, but his successors, Lewis S.
Hartman, Elias McMellen, Sam Matt. Fridy and
John D. Skiles. The young man resigned during
the term of this last namecl^ gentleman to accept a
position as clerk in the Farmers National Bank at
Lancaster. Though urged by many of his friends to
become a candidate for the office of prothonotary,
he uniformly declined, preferring the private walks
of life. Mr. Slaymaker became cashier of the Peo-
ples National Bank in 1887, next becoming its
president, and also secretary of the Peoples Trust
Savings and Deposit Company, soon becoming the
president of this latter corporation. In the summer
■of igoo the Court named him as one of the trustees
of the Home for Indigent Women, provided for by
the will of the late Catherine Long, who left a legacy
of $350,000 for this object, to be called "The Henry
G. Long Asylum," and as this position of honor and
trust is held for life, the appointment of Mr. Slay-
maker as a trustee was a handsome compliment to
his integrity and worth. Mr. Slaymaker has been
secretary and treasurer of the First Presbyterian
Church since 1891, succeeding Maj. C. M. Howell,
and his membership in the Church extends back to
1875. He has always been active in its affairs. He
is treasurer also of the Conestoga Building and Loan
Association, director in the Lancaster County Rail-
way and Light Co., and president of the Road Driv-
ers' Association of Lancaster. Perhaps no man of
his years has held more positions of trust and re-
sponsibility, and certainly no man has discharged
the duties of public and private life more faithfully
and conscientiously.
REV. S- Z. WITMER, a general farmer and a
minister in the German Baptist Church, is one of the
well-known and most highly esteemed residents of
Mt. Joy township. This township was his place of
birth, Nov. 15, i860, a son of John, and a brother
of D. Z. Witmer, of EHzabethtown.
Rev. Mr. Witmer was reared on the home farm
and obtained his education in the excellent schools
of his district. He assisted his father on the farm
until he was twenty-one years of age and then moved
into EHzabethtown, there beginning housekeeping
and gaining a livlihood by working at anything
which promised to be of profit. On March 10, 1885,
he located on his present fine farm consisting of 128
acres and has become known as one of the careful
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
203
and successful farmers of this locality. Mr. Wit-
mer has long been a consistent member of the Ger-
man Baptist Church, and June lo, 1890, he_was
elected deacon and Oct. 10, 1894, was made a min-
ister in its service. He is earnest and zealous and
has had the satisfaction of seeing much of his faith-
ful service approved. Formerly he belonged to the
Republican party.
On Jan. i, 1882, Rev. Mr. Witmer, in Master-
sonville, Rapho township, married Miss Mary Gib-
ble, and two daughters have been born to this union,
namely, Ada G. and Fanny G. Mrs. Witmer was
born Jan. 4, 1862, in Rapho township, daughter of
John M. and Lizzie (Hoffman) Gibble, the former
of whom was a farmer in Rapho township; the
latter after the death of her first husband, married
Daniel Witmer and now resides in Elizabethtown.
John M. Gibble, deceased, was born in Rapho
township, son of Samuel and Hettie (Markey) Gib-
ble, the former a native of Berks county and the
latter of Lancaster, both of whom died in Lancas-
ter. Their children were: John M., the father of
Mrs. Witmer ; Isaac, a preacher in California ; Sarah,
the widow of Samuel Garber, of Hanover, Pennsyl-
vania.
John M. Gibble was married in Lancaster to
Miss Lizzie Hoffman and their children were : Em-
ma, wife of Eli Young, who conducts a butchering
business in Petersburg, Pa. ; Kate, deceased wife of
Eli Brubaker ; and Mary, who married Rev. Samuel
Zook Witmer. Mr. Gibble died Jan. 17, 1864, at
the age of thirty-one years.
Mrs. Lizzie (Hoffman) (Gibble) Witmer was
born in Rapho township, daughter of Jacob and
Catherine (Kiser) Hoffman, of Lancaster county,
and their children were : John and Jacob, deceased ;
Catherine, who married Levi Gulp and resides in
Milton Grove; Nancy, widow of Christian Wolge-
muth, of Elizabethtown ; Isaac, who lives in Dauphin
county ; and Lizzie, the mother of Mrs. Witmer.
Mrs. Gibble married (second) Daniel Witmer and
one child was born to this union, Ella, who mar-
ried George Brenneman, of Elizabethtown. At the
time of his death, which occurred in March, 1896,
Daniel Witmer was a retired farmer living in Eliza-
bethtown. These families all belong to fine old Penn-
sylvania stock which has been known and respected
in Lancaster county for generations.
CHRISTIAN B. ESBENSHADE, one of the
leading and representative citizens of Manheim town-
ship, resides on his farm a mile to the northeast of
the city of Lancaster. He was born on the old
homestead in Manheim township, Feb. 28, 1834,
a son of Jacob and Maria (Binkley) Esbenshade,
and. a grandson of Peter Esbenshade, who was the
founder of the family in Lancaster county. In
company with two brothers, Felix and Daniel, Peter
Esbenshade came from Wansheim, Grossherzog-
thum Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, in young man-
hood, and he went to Dauphin county, later set-
tling in Paradise township, Lancaster county.
Peter Esbenshade married the Widow Lefevre, who
was formerly Miss Elizabeth Howery, and settled
near Pairadise, where they made a home. He was a
shoemaker by trade, and after his marriage was
a farmer. In his religion he was a Mennonite. His
children were: Henry, a farmer and a miller of
Paradise; Jacob, the father of Christian B. Esben-
shade; David, who lived in the city of Lancaster,
where he held a prominent position in the business
world, and for a time was flour inspector ; and Joseph
who resided in East Lampeter township.
Jacob Esbenshade, the father of Christian B.,
was born Jan. 18, 1805, and died Nov. 10, 1884.
Reared in Paradise township, he moved thence
to his farm in Manheim township, one mile north
of Eden, three years prior to his marriage. This
farm comprised 120 acres, and is now owned by
his son, Jacob. All his life he was a farmer, and
he was actively engaged in that pursuit until within
a year and a half of his death. In 1870 he moved
to a third farm, a mile north of Lancaster, which
is now owned and occupied by his son, Isaac. As
long as he was an active farmer he lived on this
farm, from which he retired to live in Lancaster.
He was a devoted member of the Mennonite Church.
Mr. Esbenshade was married to Miss Maria, a
daughter of David and Barbara (Seagrist) Binkley.
She was born in Manheim township, July 7, 181 1,
and died March 19, 1879. Their children were :
Elizabeth B., born Feb. 17, 1833, is the wife of
Levi S. Gross, of East Hempfield township ; Chris-
tian B., born Feb. 28, 1834; Barbara, born Sept. 14,
1835, is the widow of A. D. Rohrer, of Lancaster ;
Susan B., born Oct. 5, 1836, died Sept. 30, 1850;
Jacob B., born March 23, 1840, resides on the old
homestead; Maria, born March 24, 1841, is unmar-
ried, and resides with her brother, Christian B. ;
David B., born Jan. 27, 1843, died in childhood;
Henry B., born Nov. 4, 1844, resides in Manheim
township; Amanda B., born Dec. i. 1846, is the
wife of J. K. Umble, a miller of East Lampeter
township ; Isaac B., born Sept. 14, 1848 ; Peter B.,
born March 13, 1851 ; Annie B., born Dec. 24, 1852,
is the wife of Henry B. Haverstick; and John B.,
born Sept. 17, 1854, died the following year. The
above children all live in the town of Manheim, in
the same township where they were born, an un-
usual circumstance. After the death of the mother
of these children the father married, in 1882, Mrs.
Elizabeth Landis, a sister of his first wife. She is
still living, and resides in Manheim township, with
her son, Benjamin Landis. The family all hold to
the faith of the Mennonite Church.
Christian B. Esbenshade began work for him-
self in April, 1866, locating on the farm where he
has steadily toiled and labored, with the exception
of the seven years in which he was living retired.
He owns a farm of 120 acres, which is noted as one
of the finest farms in this section of the county.
Everything is maintained in the best possible con-
204
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
dition, and there is every evidence of thrift and
prosperity. In 1899 he built his home anew, and it
is presided over by his sister Maria, and there is
every indication of comfort and refinement. Since
the building of the new home, Mr. Esbenshade
has lived retired.
Mr. Esbenshade is intersted in public affairs, and
is a stockholder in the Lancaster-Ephrata Turnpike
Co., and is one of its board of directors. He is also
a director of the Manheim-Nefifsville Mutual Fire
Insurance Co. Mr. Esbenshade is a stanch Repub-
lican, and is one of the auditors of Manheim town-
ship. In 1900 in company with several others, Mr.
Esbenshade made a trip to the Old World, taking
in the Paris Exposition, and went to Germany, that
they might see the old cradle of the family, where
the grandfather of this generation was born. Some
time was spent in seeing Germany, Belgium, Hol-
land, France, England and Scotland. The following
account of his trip by Mr. Esbenshade will be found
interesting :
"In crossing the Atlantic we (my brother, Henry
B., and brother-in-law, J. K. Umble) had a very
pleasant voyage, and on our arrival in Antwerp
soon found out that the people knew how to enjoy
themselves. Even if it was Sunday the enjoyment
was catching, for we commenced right away to
enjoy ourselves. After visiting the Cathedral, Art
Gallery, and several museums during the day, we
started to attend a concert in the evening. On going
down the street, we heard a band of music playing
a spirited air, and on waiting for it to pass, we
were very much amused to see that it was followed
by about two hundred boys and girls, who had
joined hands and were dancing from side to side
in the open street. It was a novel sight and made
me feel young again. The next morning we started
on our tour north through Holland, visiting Rotter-
dam, The Hague and Amsterdam, and enjoying our-
selves immensely ; at the latter city while looking at
some men unloading a canal boat, which was loaded
with wheat, I asked the owner for some, telling him
where I was from and that I wanted to plant it. He
gave me a pint, which I sowed on my arrival home,
but it did not amount to much, as it did not mature
in time. We then started for Germany, visiting
Berlin, Cologne and Heidelberg. At the latter city,
which is near the birth place of my grandfather, I
found a distant relative by the name of Esbenshade.
After a couple of days in Heidelberg, we started
south for Switzerland. On our trip down through
Germany we saw, what seemed to an American,
many strange sights, women hauling manure, plow-
ing and harrowing, with cows hitched up ; we also
saw women doing many other kinds of outdoor
work. Our trip through Switzerland was an enjoy-
able one — such beautiful lakes and snow-clad moun-
tains. We visited Schafifhausen, Zurich, Lucerne,
Interlaken, Berne, Lausanne and Geneva, all inter-
esting cities. We then went to France, Paris and
the Exposition. Paris I found a grand place, and
the Exposition, while it did not come up to my ex-
pectations, was a very creditable display, and be-
sides it was held on historic grounds. All in all,
it was well worth a visit. Next on our tour was old
England and its Capital, London, and a happy crowd,
we were, when we struck this conservative old town.
We stopped at the 'Tudor House,' and our first meal
was breakfast, at which we were served English
bacon and eggs and fish, dishes we had not seen
at that meal since we left our ship at Antwerp, and
besides we could talk with the people. We visited
among other places, the Tower of London, St. Paul's
Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of
Parliament. There are no street cars in London.
All travel by 'bus and the teams, and pedestrians,
when meeting, all turn to the left, which seems very
odd to an American, for when one is walking the
streets he is continually turning to the right and con-
sequently running into some one. On leaving London
we traveled through some splendid agricultural scen-
ery, fine farms and everything kept in good condi-
tion. We arrived in Edinburgh in the evening, and
after stopping here and seeing the sights, among
which were Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace and
Sir Walter Scott's monument, we started across
Scotlanrl with her trossachs and lakes, and arrived at
Oban, on the west coast. From there we sailed
down through the firths to Greenock, where we took
the S. S. 'Furnessia' for New York, and home,
where we arrived on Thursday, Sept. 27, 1900, very
glad to get here and to see our friends, and very well
pleased with our trip."
HERR. The family of Herr is of ancient origin,
which is proven from a coat of arms found in the
"Armorial (jeneral" of Reistrap. The family was
free, that is to say, of noble origin, and possessed in
Swabia vast estates, the ancestor of Benjamin G.
Herr being known as Hugo, the Herr, or Lord, of
Bilried. In the year 1593 John, Lord of Bilried, ob-
tained a testimonial from the Emperor Ferdinand
proving the armorial bearings, which are a shield
surmounted by a helmet and two horns of plenty.
In 1534 Dr. Michael Herr, of Hagenau, Alsatia,
was an author of repute, having published a work
called "Die Neue Welt," a description of the discov-
ery of America.
The first of the family to locate in America was
Hans Herr, who came to this country in 1710, bring-
ing with him his 5.ve sons, Abraham, Christian,
Emanuel, John and Henry, four of whom. Christian,
Emanuel, John and Abraham, were married. Abra-
ham Herr settled near Wabank, on Conestoga creek,
and his descendants in Manor township have become
quite numerous.
Christian Herr, son of Hans, was a minister of
the Mennonite Church. He located near Willow-
street, Lancaster Co.. Pa., where he built a house of
sandstone in 1719. Over the door is a stone lintel
on which is cut "17-CH-ER— 19." Christian had
three sons, John, Christian and Abraham.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
205
Emanuel Herr located on the banks of the Pe-
qnea, on the road from Strasburg to Lancaster,
where a family named Mnsselman lately fesided.
He made the first well there. Pie had three sons,
John, Martin and Emanuel.
John Plerr located in West Lampeter township,
on a tract of land the title deed of which is dated
June 30, T711. The tract includes 530 acres, which
he bought for £30, 6s., with an annual rent to the
Penns of a silver shilling for every hundred acres.
John Herr, organizer of the Mennonite Church
in Lancaster county, was a great-grandson of Eman-
uel Herr, who emigrated in 1710. His youth was
spent chiefly in reading the liible, and upon his
father's death he devoted himself assiduously to the
work of the Lord. In 181 1 he was baptized by
Abraham Groff, and, in company with Groff and
Abraham Landis, founded the "New Mennonite" or
"Reformed Mennonite" Church. He was married
to Elizabeth Groff. He died May 3, 1850, calmly
resigning his soul to his Creator.
Benjamin G. Herr was born in Strasburg
township March 6, 1808, eldest son of Rev. John
Herr, organizer of the New Mennonite Church.
On Jan. 15, 1833, he was married to Mary Emma
Witmer, who was born Oct. 4, 1814, daughter of
David Witmer, of Paradise, who was a descendant
of the Ferree family, French Huguenots who came
to this country in the early part of the eighteenth
century. Benjamin G. Herr settled on a farm ad-
joining his father's place, about one half mile north
of Strasburg borough, and resided there until his
death, Nov. 4, 1878. His wife died Sept. 8, 1886.
They had a family of ten children, all of whom are
living except the youngest, as follows. Theodore
W., a resident of Denver, Colo. ; Lorenzo D., also
of Denver ; Ambrose J., a physician of Lancaster,
Pa. ; Mary E., widow of Enos B. Herr, of Lancaster ;
Hiero B., a graduate of West Point (class of 1866),
now of Chicago, 111. ; Francis L., cashier and book-
keeper of the Lancaster Cork Works, Lancaster ;
Anna J., wife of B. F. Mussleman, a retired miller
of Lancaster ; Allan A., a civil engineer, class of
1874, Lehigh University, now in Lancaster; Miss
Juliet S. S., in Lancaster ; and Alice E., who died at
the age of three years.
Benjamin G. Herr was a man of more than or-
dinary intellect and ability. He was almost entirely
self-educated, and when we consider the few ad-
vantages he had it is remarkable what an amount of
information and knowledge he acquired. He was
well informed on all topics of the day, besides hav-
in<y a fair knowledge of all branches of science, art
and literature. He had read and thoroughly digested
all the works of the classical writers, and few in the
county are as well posted in literature as he was. He
could speak fluently on all subjects, and took an act-
ive part in all politics and the various debating so-
cieties and. lyceums of those days. He was sent to
the Pennsylvania Legislature for three successive
terms, during the years 1837, 1838 and 1839: was a
strong supporter of the common-school system and
other live topics of the day ; and was a writer of con-
siderable ability, publishing a number of small po-
etical works from time to time. His first book,
"Native Poems," appeared about 1848, and was
followed in 1854 by "Namakee," an Indian tale,
then "Songs and Other Lyrics," "Fragments of
Song and Sentiment," "American Notes," "DeSoto's
March," "Rhvmes of Love and Leisure," "Odes,
Elegies, Etc.," "King Alcohol," "Flora MacDon-
ald," "Idyllia," "LaSalle's Progress," "Ballads,
Tales, Etc.," "The Months," "Romero," "Krusen-
tern," "Poetical Rambles," and many others ; he left
a large amount of unpublished manuscript. The last
thirty-five years of his life were devoted to reading,
study and travel, and writing his various works.
Little is known of his early boyhood, except what
may be gleaned from a partial autobiography and
personal reminiscences in manuscript form, found
among his papers. He appears to have been a boy
of unusual precociousness, and possessing an un-
bounded thirst for knowledge.
BARBARA FREITCHIE, the heroine of Whit-
tier's heroic verse, was born at Lancaster, Pa., Dec
3, 1766, the records of the First Reformed Church
in that city recording that "Barbara, daughter of
Nicholas Hauer arid Catherine," was born in Lan-
caster on Dec. 3, 1766, and was baptized in that
church by the Rev. Wm. Hendel on December 14 of
the same year, Mrs. Barbara Garriber acting as spon-
sor for the infant. Her mother's maiden name was
Zeiler. Her father, a native of Dildendorf, Ger-
many, and a hatmaker, came to America in 1754,
settling at Lancaster, where he carried on his trade
until 1770, and then removed to Frederick Town
(now Frederick), Md. In 1791 President Washing-
ton spent a night at the hotel in that place, and Bar-
bara was one of the several young ladies who were
invited to wait upon him at supper ; on the day of
his funeral, eight years later, there was an honorary
funeral procession in the town, and she took part as
a pall bearer. On May 6, 1806, Barbara Hauer be-
came the wife of John Caspar Freitchie, the son of a
German, who was a Tory during the Revolutionary
War. Mr. Freitchie died in November, 1849. Mrs.
Freitchie died on Dec. 18, 1862.
REV. JOHN EDWIN WHITTEKER, D. D.,
pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity,
of Lancaster, has had a most interesting career.
Dr. Whitteker traces his descent from ancestors
who were refugees from the Lower Rhine country,
having been driven thence by religious persecution.
These refugees were received by the English sover-
eign, and were sent as colonists to NewYork. About
the time of the Revolutionary war, dissatisfied with
local conditions, and being friendly to the English
Crown, they were given estates in Canada, and set-
tled along the St. Lawrence river. John B. Whit-
teker, the father of Old Trinity's present pastor.
206
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
lived in the County of Dundas, Province of On-
tario, where he married Nancy Barclay, who was
a Canadian by birth, and of noble German extrac-
tion. To this imion came seven children, of whom
the subject of this sketch is the youngest.
John Edwin Whitteker was born April 20, 185 1,
in North Williamsburg, County of Dundas, On-
tario. At the age of fourteen years he left home to
complete his education by his own efforts, and after
passing through the grammar school of Morrisburg,
Ontario, spent three years in public school work,
and then entered Thiel College, at Greenville, Pa.,
in the autumn of 187 1. In 1875 he was graduated
from Thiel, taking the second honor in his class,
which carried with it his appointment as valedic-
torian. In 1874, while a student at Thiel, he be-
came the second tutor in that college, and, imme-
diately after his graduation, was made first tutor.
Meanwhile he began the study of theology under
the direction of the president of the college, follow-
ing the course laid out by the Lutheran Theological
Seminary in Philadelphia. In May, 1877, he was
ordained, and continued work in the college until
18S8, having meantime been promoted to the posi-
tion of Adjunct Professor of Latin, and later to the
chair of Latin Professor.
In the summer of 1888 Dr. Whitteker became
pastor of the Church of the Reformation at Roch-
ester, N. Y., where, in addition to his regular pas-
toral duties, he did aggressive missionary work.
During his pastorate of five years there he estab-
lished three missions and built two mission churches,
both of which became self-sustaining before he left
that field of labor. In 1893 Mr. Whitteker was called
to Easton, Pa., where he became the pastor of the
old historic church of St. John's, serving two years
in a very acceptable manner, at the end of which
tinie he was called to the superintendency of the
English Home Missions of the General Council,
with headquarters in Philadelphia, although still
retaining his residence in Easton. For the following
three years he remained in that work, and in the
fall of 1898 accepted a call to Grace Lutheran Church
at Rochester, Pa., which congregation under his
pastoral care became one of the most prosperous in
that section. Having accepted a call to the Church
of the Holy Trinity, in Lancaster, he entered upon
this work Feb. i, 1901, and was installed as pastor
seventeen days later. At the commencement fol-
lowing this event his Alma Mater honored him with
the title of Doctor of Divinity.
Dr. Whitteker was united in marriage with Miss
Emma Zenette McKee, daughter of the late Prof.
David McKee, one of the leading educators of west-
ern Pennsylvania, and who, from the founding of
Thiel College; hti 1870, to the time of his death, in
1898, filled the Chair of Mathematics there. The
McKees were descended from an old Scotch-Irish
family, the members of which had been professional
people for generations. Dr. Whitteker is. as promi-
nent in literary work as he is in the educational
and the pastoral field. As the author of the "Trans-
lation of the Augsburg Confession, With Explana-
tory Notes," pubhshed in 1893, he immediately
gained notice, and his "Bible Biographies" are now
used as a text-book in all the Lutheran Churches
of the General Council. He is also the author of
several pamphlets bearing on church doctrine and
church life, and has, for several years past, been a
contributor to church papers and reviews. The
esteem in which his literary work is held is best
told in "The Lutheran," the church organ, from
which we make the following abstract, from the
issue of Nov. 15, 1900: "The writer of the book
[Bible Biographies] is one of the most gifted authors
in our church. If he were to devote himself entirely
to literature, we have no doubt that he would be
very widely known as an author. This author is
Rev. Prof. J. E. Whitteker, now of Rochester, Pa.
For a number of years he was Professor of Latin
in Thiel College, and is the author of several works,
including a very vigorous twelve-mo book in defense
of the Lutheran doctrine of baptism."
SAMUEL PETER HEINTZELMAN was born
at Manheim, Lancaster county, in 1807, and gradu-
ated at West Point in 1826. He served as a colonel
in the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, and
soon thereafter was made a brigadier-general. He
commanded a corps in the Seven Days' Battle, be-
fore Richmond, Va., June 25 to July i, 1862, and
took an active part in the second battle of Bull Run
on Aug. 30, 1862. He died at Washington, D. C,
in 1880.
AMOS FUTER, a respected farmer in Leacock
township, and for long years an active and success-
ful carpenter, was born in Salisbury township, Lan-
caster county, Dec. 21, 1844, a son of Stephen and
Sarah (Bowman) Futer, and a brother of Andrew
J. Futer, Amos Futer and Emma Ida Brooks were
united in marriage Nov. 10, 1881, in Philadelphia.
To them came the following children: A stillborn
daughter ; Lorenzo B. ; and Oliver C.
Amos Futer lived with his parents until he was
twelve years old, when he commenced work among
the neighboring farmers, an occupation which he
followed until he was in the nineteenth year of his
age. Then he entered the Civil war, in 1863, as a
teamster for the Army of the Potomac, served one
year, and then, in 1864, entered the construction
corps as a carpenter, and served until the close of
the war in 1865. Coming home he worked at the
cabinetmaker's trade for a time and then went to
Reading, Pa., and followed carpentering until 1866,
and in the next year returned home. In the spring
of 1867 he went to Chicago and worked at carpen-
tering for awhile. He next went to Fivemilegrove,
111., where his brother Aaron followed blacksmith-
ing ; while there he engaged with a man by the name .
of Alexander Harbison, to_ be foreman of a gang ex-
perimenting for coal. This proved a failure and he
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
207
then went to Fairbury, III., and worked at carpen-
tering until 1868. In 1869 he worked at bridge
building on the Peoria & Warsaw Railroad. In
1870 he- returned home again, and began contracting
and building in Gap and vicinity. In 1873 he went
to Philadelphia, where he was employed as a car-
penter for about a year. Then he returned to Lan-
caster county, settled at Gap and followed contract-
ing and building until his marriage in 1881, when
he came to his present farm. He also understood
drafting, and was a good calculator in business and
other affairs.
Mr. Futer was a member of Gap Lodge, No.
265, K. of P. For the past seven years he has been
a school director. In politics he is a Republican, and
takes a leading part in local affairs, where because
of his good character, undoubted integrity and gen-
eral intelligence, he exerts a large influence. In his
religious relations Mr. Futer is a member of the
Evangelical Church.
Mrs. E. Ida Futer was born in Doylestown,
Bucks county, Pa., Oct. 23, 1856, a daughter of
John and Martha (Cox) Brooks, of Langhorn and
Doylestown, respectively. Her father was a black-
smith in his younger days ; in his latter years he
dealt in lumber and coal, also carrying on a livery
stable. For a time he served as deputy sheriff. His
death occurred in Philadelphia June 20, 1900, at
the age of seventy-eight ; at the time he was retired
from the grocery business, in which he had been
engaged for fifteen years. Mr. Brooks was a charter
member of the Doylestown Lodge, No. 244, F. &
A. M. Mrs. Brooks was born Nov. 13, 1828, and
passed to her reward May 24, 1888. Both husband
and wife were buried in Doylestown cemetery. Mrs.
Brooks was a member of the Presbyterian Church.
They had the following family: William H., of
Philadelphia, a carriage manufacturer; George F.,
in the grocery and provision business ; Edwin, de-
ceased ; Emma Ida, Mrs. Futer ; John C, a con-
tractor and builder in Philadelphia; Oliver C, a
traveling salesman of Philadelphia; Anna M., de-
ceased; and Charles W., of Philadelphia, a sales-
man for Seltzer Klair Co., hardware merchants.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. E. Ida Futer
were Abraham and Lydia (Van Horn) Brooks, of
Bucks County, Pa., of English origin. The grand-
father was a millwright. The maternal grandpar-
ents of Mrs. Futer were John and Jane (Ratcliff ")
Cox. The grandfather was a blacksmith and a
farmer. Mrs. Futer belongs to the Presbyterian
Church.
ALFRED M. BROWN, of Fulton township,
comes froni an old vpr<na^rhr^■(^i^ farr|;iv of Ouaker ar
origin, his great-grandfather, Jeremiah BroWrtT-bay-,,, | ti
ing been a pioneer Friend in Lancaster county. Mr.
Brown was born July 4, 1830, in Fulton township,
of Welsh and Scotch-Irish origin. His grandfather,
Jeremiah Brown, was the father of six children:
Levi, Slater, Deborah, Hannah, Sarah and Jere-
miah (the father of Alfred M.). Jeremiah Brown
was four times married, and to the first union were
born children as follows ; Levi K., Kirk Lewis, Han-
nah (who married Samuel Wood), and Rachel (who
married Allen Cook), all deceased. To the. second
union was born Deborah, who resides in Philadel-
phia. Jeremiah Brown then married Elizabeth Mor-
rison, and to this union were born: Edwin, de-
ceased; Charles, deceased; and Alfred M., the sub-
ject of this biography.
In 1858, Alfred M. Brown married Miss Alice
Carter, daughter of Henry Carter, and they had
one child, Lula A. Mrs. Brown died in i860. Mr.
Brown then married Priscilla, daughter of Daniel
and Jane Stubbs, of Lancaster county, and three
children have been born to this union: Gertrude
(deceased), Jennie E. and Frederick S. The son,
married in 1903, is at home upon the farm. Miss
Lulu A. was a teacher in the Lancaster county pub-
lic schools for a time, and is now a stenographer and
typewriter, and resides in Philadelphia. Miss Jen-
nie, a graduate of the State Normal School, at
West Chester, is at home. Mr. Brown lives on a
fine farm of 170 acres, well improved and under a
good state of cultivation. He is a Republican in
politics, and takes an active interest in all matters
pertaining to the welfare of that party. In religion,
he, like his progenitors, clings to the Friends' faith.
He has served as school director and judge of elec-
tions in his district, and is always ready to do his
part for the preservation of the well-being of the
community in which he lives.
JONATHAN HOAR WEAVER. Among the
worthy citizens of New Holland who enjoy the re-
spect and esteem of the entire community is Jona-
than H. Weaver, who for the past twenty-six years
has carried on his trade of carriage-smith in that
borough.
Mr. Weaver is of German and Scotch extrac-
tion, and his worthy grandfather, Benjamin Weaver,
was a successful, farmer of Lancaster county. His
descendants are among the most estimable of the
residents of this part of the State. His children
were: John S., who married Catherine Sensenig;
Sarah, who married Alexander Gault ; Caroline, who
married John Eby; Benjamin F., the father of Jona-
than H. ; Adam, and two that died in infancy.
Jonathan H. Weaver was born in Rockville,
Chester county, April 30, 1848, son of Benjamin F.
and Maria (Fletcher) Weaver, of Salisbury town-
ship, Lancaster county, the former of whom was
born in 1820, and died in 1897; the mother, born
in 1818, died in 1899. • They were married in 1845,
and reared six children: Elizabeth (deceased), mar-
ed James Roseboro, of Salisbury township ; Jona-
than H. is mentioned below ; Anna M. married Isaac
H. Mason, of Salisbury township ; Benjamin F. is
a resident of Philadelphia ; Martin L. is a salesman,
in Chicago; and John A. is a blacksmith of Salis-
bury township.
208
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Almost from boyhood Mr. Weaver has been con-
nected with his present business, as he early became
very proficient in it. At various times he has been
called upop'to take part in the public affairs of the
borough^ being at present the efficient director of the
poor of Lancaster county, and also the borough
tax collector. He was director of public schools
for seven years, and has filled many of the other
local offices. In political faith he is a stanch Repub-
lican, and has been somewhat of a leader in the
party ranks.
In 1878 Mr. Weaver was married to Miss Emma
C. Brimmer, in New Holland township, and three
children have been born to this union: Mary F.,
who'is a teacher in the public schools of Lancaster
county; Emma C, residing at home; and John
Luther, who died in childhood.
Although Mr. Weaver began life as a poor
boy, he has accumulated ample means, having been
industrious and energetic, and now owns considera-
able valuable property in his locality, including two
nice dwellings and lots in New Holland. In 1864 Mr.
Weaver volunteered for service in the 195th P. V.
I., during the Civil war. Fraternally he is con-
nected with Post No. 84, G. A. R., of Lancaster;
is a member of Lodge No. 413, I. O. O. F., of New
Holland; of the I. O. O. F., Encampment No. 217,
of Lancaster City; and of Lodge No. 68, K. of P.,
of Lancaster. Mr. Weaver is one of the best of
citizens, a leading member of the Reformed Church,
and is esteemed and respected by those among whom
he has lived for so many years an honest and estima-
ble life.
ANTON FREDERICK, BARON Von HEIN-
ITZ, member of the Cabinet of the King of Prussia
fStaatsminister), was born in 1724, and died in
1802, at the age of seventy-seven years. He received
his first education in Dresden, and afterward at-
tended the famous college of "Schul-Pforta."' After
graduation he studied mining engineering at Frei-
berg, Saxony. He entered upon the duties of prac-
tical life in the Duchy of Braunschweig. Shortly
after submitting a plan for the establishment of an
institution of "Mining Engineering" he received a
call to Dresden, in 1763. The plan was successfully
carried out, the institution becoming a benefit to all
civilized countries. Because of failing health he
was obliged to resign all his offices in 1774, in order
that all his time and strength might be entirely de-
voted to the study of the sciences. From 1776 to
1777 he traveled in France and England. This
journey resulted in the publication of his "Essay
on Political Economy" ("Essai d'Economie Polit-
ique") . Upon his return he was appointed, by Fred-
erick the Great, King of Prussia, a member of his
Cabinet (Staatsminister), and Chief of the Depart-
ment of "Minmg and Metallurgy." Heinitz fully
satisfied the expectations of the King. His efforts
in behalf of mining and engineering, especially in
Silesia, proved of most excellent and lasting value.
Frederick William II, following the lead of his pre-
decessor, also recognized Heinitz's merit, and ap-
pointed him Curator of the "Academy of Fine
Arts." In 1787 he was elected a member of the
"Academ.y of Sciences." He was also elected to
membership in many learned societies, both in and
outside of Germany, even of the "Society of Physi-
cal Sciences" in Philadelphia, Pa., in the United
States.
Carl Heinrich Heinitzsch (now Heinitsh),.
brother of Anton Frederick, Baron Von Heinitz,.
was born in Ltietzen, Saxony, in 1738. He served
an apprenticeship from 1753 to 1759 with Johann
Frederick Weineck, citizen, merchant and dealer^
m the Royal Polish and Electoral City of Weissen-
fels, Saxony. In 1772 he emigrated to America,
landing at Philadelphia, Pa., and in 1773 came to
Lancaster, this State, in which city, in 1780, he
opened a store, or shop (as it was then called), for
the sale of general merchandise, on East King street^
now known as No. 146. In 1782 he added drugs
and medicines to the stock, importing them from
London and Amsterdam. He transacted business,
at the first location until 1798. Thence he moved
to a new house, built by him, at what is now No.
1.44, where he died Sept. 3, 1803. By will he left his
drug store to his eldest son, August Heinrich
K[einitsh, who was to conduct it for the benefit of
the family until he became of age, when he inherited
it.. August Heinrich Heinitsh conducted the store
until 1 816.
John Frederick Heinitsh, the youngest brother,
served an indentured apprenticeship to his brother
August. After his freedom he entered into partner-
ship with Dr. Samuel Humes, in 181 5, opening a.
store on West King street, at the site now known as-
No. 4. This partnership lasted for six months, when
it was dissolved. Soon afterward August H. and
John F. Heinitsh formed a partnership, continuing-
the business at the old stand, now known as No. 144
Ea.st King street. This continued until 1818, when
John F. Heinitsh purchased his brother's interest in
the store. He moved nearer the center of the town,
to what is now Nos. 33-34 East King street, where
he remained until 1841, when the business was moved
to its present stand. No. 16 East King street. Mr.
fleinitsh now took his son, Charles Augustus Hein-
itsh, into partnership, the firm name becoming John
F. Heinitsh & Son. They remained in business until
January, 7849, when Charles A. Heinitsh, the junior
partner, purchased the store from the firm. From
that time up to the present the business has been con-
ducted in the same building. From its very founda-
tion the business has been in the same street, except
during the six months that it was conducted hy
Heinitsh & Co., about one block and a half from its-
original location.
CHARLES AUGUSTUS HEINITSH was
born in Lancaster July 21, 1822. He attended the
city schools during his early boyhood. After attend-
^,9ld'^*^^^-JuUy
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
209
ing other schools, including John Beck's noted school
at Lititz, he finished his literary, training at Pennsyl-
vania College, Gettysburg. In 1838 he entered his fa-
ther's store as a clerk ; three years later he was re-
ceived into partnership. His father retiring in 1849,
the entire management of the store fell upon the
son, who was sole proprietor until his death, which
occurred Dec. 29, 1898, when he was in his seventy-
seventh year.
The first meeting for the purpose of organizing
the American Pharmaceutical Association was held
in Philadelphia in 1854. Mr. Heinitsh was present,
and became a charter member of this body. In after
years he was its vice-president, and in 1882 was
chosen as its president. In 1887 the Philadelphia Col-
lege of Pharmacy conferred upon him the degree of
Master of Pharmacy, he being one of the first five
in America upon whom this honor was conferred.
He was one of the leading spirits in organizing the
Lancaster Pharmaceutical Association, and one of
the founders of the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical
Association, which was organized at Harrisburg in
1878, he being unanimously chosen as its first presi-
dent. He was always present at its annual meetings,
never allowing its interests to be neglected in his
busy life. In 1898, at the annual meeting of the As-
sociation, he was presented with a beautiful gold
medal, in honor of his having been over fifty years
in the drug business. Few pharmacists were so
widely and favorably known as Charles A. Heinitsh.
He was recognized as the descendant of a family
long devoted to the drug business, as the successor
of his father and grandfather in the same business
with which he himself had been identified for sixty
years, and was deservedly honored by all his asso-
ciates. His establishment, now owned and con-
ducted by his nephew, Sigmund W. Heinitsh, enjoys
the reputation of having been in one family longer
than any other drug store in the United States.
In 185 1 Mr. Heinitsh was married to Maria C,
daughter of Henry R. Reed, of Lancaster. She is
still living, but their four children are deceased. Mr.
Heinitsh was a member of "Old Trinity" Lutheran
Church, having been a member of its vestry and
superintendent of its Sunday-school for a number of
years. For forty years he was prominent in Masonic
circles. In politics he was a Republican.
SIGMUND WILLIAM HEINITSH, the pres-
ent owner of the drug store, is a son of William E.
Heinitsh, and a nephew of Charles A. Heinitsh. His
father was a painter, portrait artist, and gilder. In
. 1864 he painted the lofty spire of "Old Trinity."
' He was a member of its congregation, and leader of
its choir for many years. William E. Heinitsh mar-
ried Margaretta, daughter of Adam Keller, who lived
on the Lititz turnpike. Eight children were the re-
sult of this union : ( i ) Sigmund William is the eld-
est of the family. (2) Charles Luther died when
three years old. (3) Elizabeth K. died when three
years old. (4) Walter A. is an extensive furniture
14
dealer and undertaker. (5) William E. died when
three 3'ears old. (6) Miss Margaret K. resides at
the home of her brother Walter. (7) John F. is well
known as a dealer in oils, paints and varnishes. (8)
Louisa died when two and a half years old.
Sigmund William Heinitsh was born in Lan-
caster Aug. II, 1851. After attending the pubHc
schools and the Yeates Institute, he entered the drug
store of his uncle. On Oct. i, 1872, he entered the
College of Pharmacy at Philadelphia, but gave up
the course on account of failing health. On April
I, 1873, he returned to his uncle's store, where
he has remained to the present time. With the
exception of a few months that he was at school in
Philadelphia, Mr. Heinitsh has been connected with
the establishment since Sept. i, 1867. Mr. Heinitsh
retains the reputation of the store at the high mark
set by his ancestors. He is a member of the Pennsyl-
vania State Pharmaceutical Association, the Amer-
ican Pharmaceutical Association, and Philadelphia
College of Pharmacy.
On Oct. 12, 1875, Mr. Heinitsh married Anna A.,
daughter of John and Mary Barry (this name was
formerly DeBarrie), of Philadelphia. Her father
was a manufacturer of hats ; in the closing years of
his life he was proprietor of a very successful millin-
ery business. To this union have been born three
children, all of whom are living : ( i ) John Debarry,
who is now a clerk in his uncle's paint store, married
i\Iary 3. .Snyder Oct. 8, 1901. (2) Annie Jayne is a
graduate of the "Girls' High School" at Lancaster.
(3) Charles A. (to whom the family look to keep
up the honor of the business) is now in his father's
drug store.
Mr. Heinitsh has been active in church aflfairs.
He has been a lifelong member of "Old Trinity,"
having served its congregation both as elder and
church warden for a numlDer of years, and for the
past thirty years has been librarian of its Sunday-
school. For thirty years he was a member of the
choir, where his father, brothers and sister all had
their turn at assisting in the musical services. Fra-
ternally Mr. Heinitsh belongs to the Royal Ar-
canum. His political support is given to the Repub-
lican party. No man in this community has a
cleaner or more enviable name than Sigmund W.
Heinitsh.
WALTER AUGUSTUS HEINITSH, son of
the late William E. Heinitsh, and a brother of Sig-
mund W. Heinitsh, is a worthy descendant of the
old and honorable family whose name has been so
closely interwoven with the history of Lancaster for
the past 120 years,
Walter A. Heinitsh was born in that city April
19, 1856, and was educated in St. James parochial
school, Yeates Institute, and the city high school.
At the age of sixteen years he became an apprentice
to the furniture 'business with Widmver & Rick-
secker, both now deceased. After serving five years
he began in that line for himself, thoroughly equipped
210
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OP LANCASTER COUNTY
by his long" practical experience. His first store
which he .opened, on April i, 1879, was at No. 320
North Queen street, and there he remained six
months. His next location was at No. 13^ East
King street, where he remained some three years,
and he was also three years at No. 28 in the same
street. Feeling the need of more room, and secur-
ing an exceptional proposition for the fine premises
at No. 27-29 South Queen street, from the assignee
of the late George B. Schaum. he bought the property
in 1866, and there he is still doing a very successful
business. His 33,000 feet of floor space afford room
for all that is newest and most desirable in house'
furnishings, and also an extensive undertaking
equipment, which he put in after entering his new
establishment. For the purpose of mastering this
new line he attended the New York College of Em-
balming, from which he graduated, and has not only
a diploma from that institution, but also a State cer-
tificate. Mr. Heinitsh was one of the originators
of the Lancaster County Funeral Directors Asso-
ciation, of which he is secretary ; and he is an active
member of the Pennsylvania State Funeral Directors
Association, and a member of its executive com-
mittee. It is worthy of mention that he was one of
the fifty-nine original stockholders -of the Lancaster
Cremation Association, and has been the manager
of the crematorium from its inception, in 1885, to
the present time, and also treasurer. During this
period about 150 bodies have been incinerated.
One of the original directors and members of the
■ Lancaster Board of Trade, Mr. Heinitsh is one of
the alert and public-spirited men of the city, who
have a broad outlook, and are willing to join in a
common effort to build up the city of which they are
so proud. He is one of the original promoters,
stockholders and directors of the Southern Market,
and his labors for its sviccessful establishment were
very marked.
Mr. Heinitsh has been a busy man outside his
commercial interests. He was twenty-five years in
the choir of Trinity Lutheran Church, from which
he retired in 1896, on account of the engrossing na-
ture of his duties as superintendent of the Sunday-
school, which position he has held for five years.
For one year he was secretary of the Lancaster Coun-
ty Simday-school Association, and was director of
the Y. M. C. A. for fifteen years. At present he is
president of the Lutheran League of Trinity Church.
Irt church and Sunday-school work he has been en-
gaged continuously since his boyhood, and in his
more mature years has served as warden and vestry-
man. He is also a Mason of prominent standing,
being enrolled in Lancaster Lodge, No. 43, F. & A.
M. In politics he is a Republican, and belongs to
the Young Republican Club, always contributing of
his time and means to the cause it represents, though
never seeking or accepting office. Such is the career,
briefly summari.zezd, of one of the best young busi-
ness men of the citv.
Mr. Heinitsh was married, June 26, 1882, to
Miss Emily McKinley, daughter of Cyrus and
Elizabeth Glasgow (McKinley) Wilson, of Phila-
delphia, the former a successful dry-goods merchant,
of that city. The Wilsons are descended from Archi-
bald Wilson, whose daughter Charlotte was mar-
ried to Washington Pastorius, the founder of Ger-
mantown. Daniel McKinley, from whom Mrs.
Heinitsh is descended, was a relation of the late
President. He was born near Bellefonte, and mar-
ried Ann R. Glasgow, whose father, Thomas Glas-
gow, kept the "Bee Hive" hotel in Derby, where
Washington and his staff breakfasted on their way
to Valley Forge. An early ancestor in the Wilson
line from whom Mrs. Heinitsh is descended had a
claim against the United States Government for
iron which he shipped for United States vessels, his
property having been confiscated by the French.
Mrs. Heinitsh's mother has a chest which was
brought by her ancestors from Wales in 1685, and
Mr. Heinitsh has a knife which was carried by Dan-
iel McKinley in the war of 1812.
To Mr. and Mrs. Heinitsh two children have
been born: William Wilson (1902), a student in
Franklin and Marshall College ; and Ethel Keller.
No man in Lancaster has had a more industrious
career, or led a more useful life, than j\Ir. Heinitsh,
and his efforts for the improvement of the city have
not been in vain.
JOHN FREDERICK HEINITSH, brother of
Sigmund W. and Walter A. Heinitsh, and whose
ancestry is given in the foregoing, is the sole owner
of the most extensive paint and varnish house in the
city of Lancaster. He was born there Oct. 28, 1861,
and was educated in the city schools, graduating
from the Lancasteir high school in the class of 1879.
After graduation he entered the extensive hardware
house of Kepler & Slaymaker, as a bookkeeper, re-
maining there until November, 1884, in which year
he started business for himself as a dealer in paint
and oils, as a member of the firm of King & Hein-
itsh. At the end of the first year Mr. King retired,
and Mr. Heinitsh continued alone in the business,
remaining in East Orange street until April, 1886,
since when he has occupied his present business
quarters, Nos. 145-147 North Queen street. In 1886
he bought the property, and in 1888 commenced his
present magnificent store, work on which was com-
pleted in 1889. He may be called the pioneer in his
line in Lancaster, as his was the first store opened in
the city carrying exclusively a stock of paints, oils
and glass.
Mr. Heinitsh belongs to Lodge No. 43, F. & A. ■
'M., and has risen to the Lodge of Perfection in that
fraternity. He also belongs to the Elks, the Young
Republicans, the Lancaster Board of Trade, the
Citizens Republican Club, the Road Drivers Asso-
ciation (oi which he is a director), and the Hamil-
ton Club. He was elected on the Republican ticket
to the city council from the Sixth ward, and has
been one of the marshals in all the notable Repub-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS . OF LANCASTER COUNTY
211
lican parades during the past twelve years. Thor-
ough in his business, active in social and political
circles-, and, like all his family, devoted in his relation
toward Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, to which he
is very generous, Mr. Heinitsh is widely known, and
personally very popular.
Mr. Heinitsh was married, Oct. 22, 1890, to Miss
Florence Keller, daughter of the late John Keller,
one of Lancaster's most prominent railroad con-
tractors, and to this marriage have been born:
JMadeline Bertha, John Keller, Frederick Augustus
and William Edward.
JACOB K. UMBLE, prominent in business and
municipal affairs in East Lampeter, comes of old
•and honorable stock.
Christian Umble, his great-grandfather, settled
upon a tract of I26j4 acres within the present limits
of what is now Salisbury township, in Lancaster
county. Until within a recent date the holdings of
this early settler remained a part of the family patri-
mony. He was the father of three sons, John, Henry
and Stephen, and the eldest succeeded to the own-
ership of the land. He married Polly Kurtz, whose
brother Jacob, a distiller by occupation, enjoyed not
a little local celebrity as a man of profound wisdom.
He, Jacob Kurtz, was a large property owner, and
it is possible that his wealth may not have been
without influence in establishing his reputation.
John Umble became the grandfather of Jacob K.
Umble, and to him and his wife, Polly, were born
three daughters and five sons : John, Christian,
Jacob, Joseph, and Henry, of whom Joseph only
is living. Of the daughters, Mrs. Stultzfus and
Mrs. Blank are deceased, and Nancy is the widow
of Christian Kurtz. Henry and Christian (the father
of Jacob K.) were partners in business, and were
engaged in some important ventures. They con-
ducted a general store at Roseneath, and owned and
operated warehouses for storing and selling grain
in Kinzers and JBellevue. In 1858, after the failure,
Henry traveled as a buyer of wheat through the
West for the Kennedys of Pittsburg, in which sec-
tion his sound judgment, keen foresight and upright
business methods made him widely and favorably
known. In 1854, in partnership with Esquire Henry
Dickinson, the brothers purchased a tract of land
in West Virginia, along the line of the B. & O.
Railroad, and thereon erected a charcoal furnace for
the smelting and refining of iron ores, but the ven-
ture proved unsuccessful. In 1857 when the public
mind began to be inflamed to' almost fever heat by
marvelous tales of fabulous wealth to be easily
accumulated in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, Chris-
tian drifted from Virginia to Allegheny county, only
to find disappointment. The road to wealth was
no easier than the road to knowledge, and there is
no royal highway to either. His hopes dashed, in
1 86 1, he accepted a position as route agent between
Harrisburg and Philadelphia, which he filled for
some twelve months. In 1862 he entered the quarter-
naaster's department, Washington, and afterward the
Commissary Department. In 1864 he was appointed
captain of the night watchmen in the Commis:-
sary Department, under Captain Carleton, and in
1866, under his. brother Joseph, he assumed a par-
tial management of the property, known as the
Lochiel Farm, at that time owned by J. Don (after-
ward Senator) Cameron. Here he remained occu-
pied largely in tobacco culture until his death, which
occurred in 1880, with the exception of a few years,
during which he was engaged in business as a con-
tractor, in partnership, with his son, Jacob K. His
disposition was restless, not to say roving, and his
life was filled with adventure and change. While
yet a youth he found employment as a drover, buying
cattle, sheep and hogs in Ohio, and driving them,
on the hoof, to Lancaster county, to find a market. In
1847 he married Lydia A. Kurtz, who died in 1869,
the mother of two sons, Henry Scott, who died in
childhood, and Jacob K.
Jacob K. Umble, only surviving son of Christian
(2), was born in Salisbury township, March 28,
1848. He is one of the successful business men and
prominent influential citizens of East Lampeter, and
has literally been the architect of his own fortune.
As a youth he was resolved to acquire an education
superior to any obtainable in the- common schools
of Salisbury, and to this end he devoted his best
energies for many years. His first employment was
as a farm laborer, at $2.50 per month, his compensa-
tion being gradually increased until it reached the
munificent sum of seven dollars. This money, as
far as he was able, he religiously put away, to be
spent in acquiring a higher educational training.
His scanty fund being exhausted, he was fortunate
enough to obtain a position in the commissary de-
partment at Washington, and here too, he hoarded
the greater part of his earnings with the same laud-
able intent. He was thus enabled to take a course of
two years' instruction in the State Normal School,
at Millersville, between 1863 and 1865. The three
years following he spent in mercantile pursuits at
Intercourse, and at the expiration of that period
he again resumed his studies at Millersville. During
the winters of 1868 and 1869 he taught school in
Salisbury, devoting his earnings chiefly to the funda-
mental purpose which he had in view. In 1869 his
health began to fail, and in the same year death
carried away his mother. He then entered into
partnership with his father, as has been said, to
secure and fulfill contracts for grading and con-
structing streets and highways in Steelton, Pa. Be-
tween 1873 ^iid 187s he taught school in East Lamr
peter, and from 1875 to 1878 discharged the duties
of clerk at the Bull's Head Hotel, Philadelphia. Re-
turning to Lancaster county, he devoted the next
three years to teaching school, resigning his posi-
tion as pedagogue before the close of his last term.
In 1880 he purchased a mill property and a hand-
some residence in East Lampeter, and has since de-
voted himself almost wholly to business. Possessing
212
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
an active mind, well stored, and well trained and
endowed with broad-minded views on all public
questions, it is not surprising that he has rapidly
forged to the front where there is always room for
such men as he. In politics he is a Republican, and
he is now serving his fourth term as justice of the
peace, and he took the oath as school director in
June, 1900. His disposition is social and genial,
and he readily makes friends whom he retains
through the force of his intellectual and moral worth.
He is secretary of the Lampeter Insurance Co., and
a member of the Royal Arcanum.
On March 24, 1881, Mr. Umble was married
to Amanda B. Esbenshade, who like himself, is a
member of St. John's Lutheran church at Lancas-
ter. They have one son, Christian J., born Nov.
II, 1884, now attending Franklin and Marshall
Academy at Lancaster.
In the summer of 1900 Mr. Umble, accompanied
by his brothers-in-law, C. B. and H. B. Esbenshade,
made a tour of Europe, and the following account,
as prepared by himself, will prove interesting :
V\'e, myself, C. B. and Henry B. Esbenshade,
left Lancaster on Tuesday, July 24, 1900, for New
York, where the next day, we took the Red Star
Line Steamship "Southwark" for Antwerp, Bel-
gium, and after a. ten day voyage, we landed at Ant-
werp Sunday, Aug. 5th. Although it was Sunday
morning, we were surprised to see the difference
between the quiet and sanctity of the American Sab-
bath, and the boisterousness and gayety of the con-
tinental European one — bands of music playing,
cafes wide open, men and women, both young and
old, drinking beer and wine, and the markets Open,
doing business. We found Antwerp a live, com-
mercial town, and its people, active and full of
business. Tlie next morning we took a train for
Holland. The farmers were at haymaking and har-
vesting, and their utensils were broad Dutch scythes
and handrakes, such as our grandfathers used in the
fore part of the nineteenth century. Our first stop-
ping place was Rotterdam, where we were taken in
carriages through the park and residence part of
the city. Later in the day, 3 145 P. M., we took the
train for The Hague, arriving there in the evening,
and we stopped at the "Hotel Bellevue." After
lunch we were taken in carriages to the "Palace in
the Wood," where we were shown many beautiful
pamtings, handsome vases, rugs, tapestries, etc.,
gifts from kings and emperors. The guide also
pointed out to us, with a great deal of pride, a num-
ber of old and tattered flags captured from the Eng-
lish, French and Spanish, and last but not least we
were shown the room made famous by the meetings
of the Peace Congress in it, a few years ago. Our
next visit was to the Houses of Parliament. Our
guide showed us, with a great deal of pride, the
room in which the House of Commons met, where
the different parties sat, the chairs on which the
young Queen Wilhelmina and the Prince consort
sat ; the young queen being single at that time, our
fair young guide blushingly answered our question.
"Who is to be prince consort?" by saying she could
not answer, although the air was full of rumors. The
female members of our party begged permission to
sit on the throne. After some persuasion and nobody
but our own party being present, the -guide opened
the portal and our friends had the rare pleasure of
sitting on the queen's throne. We were then hur-
riedly driven to the station, where we took the train
for Amsterdam, and arrived there in the evening of
Aug. 7th. We stopped at the "Pays Bas Hotel."
We visited while here, among other places, a Dutch
farm about five miles outside of the city. We met
the farmer, told him where we were from and that
we wanted to see a Dutch barn, cow stable and milk
house. He showed us all around — his cow stable
with its drains and iron posts, to which they tied
the cows, and the milk house, with large troughs
in which to cool the milk and pumps with which to
pump water into them. He also showed us his barn
with seventy-five tons of the finest hay, and lastly
his herd of about forty Holstein cows. The farmer
gave tis all the information he possibly could in his
bro'ken English, and after staying with him quite
awhile, we thanked him for his information and his
kindness, and bidding him good-bye, we started for
our hotel. The next morning, Aug. 9th, we started
for Berlin, about 10 o'clock we crossed the line into
Germany. The first place of importance that we came
to was Osnabruck. Here a large show and menagerie
was exhibiting, and on the tent was painted in large
letters "Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on
Earth." It made us feel like as if we were at home.
We arrived at Berlin at 10:30 P. M., and were
driven to the "Hotel Bellevue." Berlin, we found
a city up-to-date, and the Emperor, if he lives ten
or fifteen years, can say with the Emperor Augustus
of Rome "That he found it brick but left it mar-
ble." One of the finest streets is the "Unter den
Linden" shaded by the finest of lime trees, and
lined with beautiful and historic palaces and with
the statues of some of Germany's greatest men. At
the head of this celebrated street stands the noted
Brandenburg Gate. After visiting palaces, statues
and parks in carriages, we were given time to roam
over the town as we liked. We visited the markets,,
some of the business streets, and on Sunday morning
we attended the Lutheran Church. In the after-
noon we visited the Capitol, a building in some re-
spects as massive as the Capitol at Washington. The
next morning we started for Cologne, and traveled
through German farming lands, past German farm
villages. The farmers were busy at hay and harvest,,
and a majority of the harvesters were women. Pass-
ing on, we arrived at Cologne in the evening, and
the next morning took a steamer for our celebrated
voyage up the Rhine, past vine-clad slopes, sur-
mounted by castles and the ruins of castles, every
one of which has a legend or a history. The lunch
on the boat, where the wine was almost as cheap as
water, was one that will not soon be forgotten. Our
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
213
party threw water to the dogs and each took a quart
ot Rhine wine, costing one mark and forty pfennigs,
about thirty-five cents, and such a hilarious party.
We arrived at Mayence in the evening and left the
next day for Heidelberg, a celebrated old town in
Southern Germany, arriving in the afternoon. The
next morning we paid a visit to the Schloss, one of
the most celebrated castles in Europe. This castle
was built by Rudolph in 1224, and a new part built
by Frederick V, for his English wife, Princess Eliza-
beth, daughter of James I, of England. After lunch
we visited a distant relation of C. B. and H. B.
Esbenshade, where we spent a very pleasant half
an hour. In the afternoon we visited the University,
and the oldest church of the city, in which both
Zwingli and Luther thundered their philippics
against the Church of Rome. The next morning we
started for Schaflhausen, where we arrived at 2
o'clock, P. M., and stopped at the Sweizerhof, at the
falls of the Rhine. Here we stayed over night, and
in the evening viewed an illumination of the falls.
The next morning we left for the train, by coach.
After taking the train, our first stopping place ■v^^as
Zurich, where we took lunch, and in the afternoon,
proceeded by rail to Lucerne. Arriving in the even-
ing, we were taken to the "Victoria Hotel," and on
the next morning (Sunday) were taken to the fa-
mous Glacial Garden, and shown, among many of
the wonderful sights, Thorwaldsen's immortal work,
"The Lion of Lucerne," cut out of the native lime-
stone. The next morning we took a boat for Vitz-
nan, where we changed for 'a mountain climbing
train, and started for the summit of the Rigi, a cele-
brated Swiss mountain, 5,906 feet high. After lunch
we started out to view the grand natural panorama
spread before us, and after about one-half hour, we
were treated to one of the grandest of sights and
experiences, by Nature — a thunder storm arising,
struck the mountain side, and, rolling up, enveloped
us in a heavy fog and mist. There was sharp light-
ning and heavy peals of thunder, above, beLow and
around us. About this time it began to rain and we
all hurried to the Hotel. In the evening we returned
to Lucerne, the storm over and the sun shining
brightly, none the worse, but it was an experience
that I shall not forget as long as memory lasts. The
next morning we started for Interlaken, where we
arrived in the evening, stopping at the "Metropole
Hotel." From here are seen the Swiss Alps stand-
ing out in bold relief, among them the Jungfrau,
with its snow-capped summit 13,670 feet high._ The
next morning we were taken on an excursion to
Grindenwald to see the glaciers, and from there took
a mountain climbing train up the noble old Jungfrau.
We ascended 10,000 feet where we alighted
and amused ourselves by snow-balling one another
•on Aug. 22nd. The next day we visited Berne, the
capital, and in the afternoon we traveled by rail to
Lausanne. The farms, buildings and country here
about looked very much like Lancaster county. We
arrived at Lausanne in the evening and found it a
quaint old French town. Among the sights shown
us the next day was a Calvinistic Cathedral built by
the Catholics in the thirteenth century, and was
Roman Catholic for three hundred years, when it
was then captured by John Calvin and his follow-
ers, and has been a Protestant church ever since.
On Friday, Aug. 23d, we proceeded by boat on
Lake Leman to Geneva, and stopped at the "Hotel
de Russie." Among the many interesting places we
visted in Geneva was the Greek church and the
room in which the Alabama Claims Commission sat.
On Sunday we attended church in the Calvinistic
Cathedral and heard a Presbyterian sermon, deliv-
ered in .French. After a rest on Sunday afternoon,
we started on Monday morning for Paris and the
Exposition. The country looked rich and well kept.
We arrived at Paris in the evening and stopped at
the "Hotel Dominici." The next morning we paid
our first visit to the Exposition, and found it a grand
display of the products of the world, but from an
American standpoint, did not think it quite came
up to Chicago. But the Paris fair had the advantage
of being in the heart of the city and on historic
ground — Ground that kings, emperors and repub-
lics had built up, and beautified Eiffel tower, Alex-
ander bridge, Trocadero palace, Jena bridge and th'^
Invalides. The first day we spent, taking a cursory
view of the whole, from the movable sidewalks, the
Alexander bridge and a stroll down the Rue des Na-
tions. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we took
carriage drives through Paris and Versailles, visiting
the many beautiful palaces, museums, parks, monu-
ments, tombs, cathedrals, art galleries and arches,
for which Paris is so justly noted. It is a beautiful
city and want of space forlsids the attempt to give a
description of our many very pleasant walks and
drives through it. On Sunday morning we attended
services in the famous old cathedral of Notre Dame.
On Monday we finished seeing the exposition, and
on Monday evening we left Paris for London. In
a way I was sorry to leave Paris so soon, for it is
a gay fascinating town, so much to see and so much
to wonder at. I thought I would feel a kind of dread
on entering it, and feel very glad when my visit
was over, but I am free to confess my visit to
Paris terminated somewhat in the fashion of Pope's
line on vice, "We first endure, then pity, then em-
brace."
I could have spent another week in Paris very
profitably, but our time was up and we had to
go. We started at 9 o'clock P. M., passed through
Rouen and arrived at Dieppe about 11:30 P. M.,
where we took the boat across the channel for New
Haven, England. The next morning we landed at
New Haven, in old England, and we arrived in
London about 8 :30 A. M., and stopped at the "Tudor
House" on Oxford street. After a rest on Tues-
day, on Wednesday we commenced to view the city
in a large 'bus and with a good guide, who showed
us the wonderful sights of London and gave us a
short synopsis of their history. Among these were
214
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Ludgate prison, Bow Church, Bank of England,
Royal Exchange, Mansion House, the residence of
the Lord Mayor of London, The Fire Monument,
Old London Bridge, the Tower Bridge and the old
Tower of London, which at one time was a fort-
ress and a palace, then a State prison, and now a
State museum. Our next visit on Thursday was
to grand old St. Paul's Cathedral. Here we were
shown the graves of two of England's greatest
modern heroes, Admiral Nelson and the Duke of
Wellington. The next place we visited was the
British museum, one of the most wonderful curios-
ity shops in the world. So much was to be seen
we could but take a superficial view of it and hurry
off to grand old Westminster Abbey, built by
Henrys VI and VII in 1429 to 1470. Here we had
much to look at, and it was with feelings of awe
that I looked at the tombs of Pitt, Palmerston, Dis-
raeli, Gladstone, Major Andre, Gen. Monk, Queens
Mary and Elizabeth, the Georges and a host of
others who were thought worthy of burial in this
hallowed burying place of old England. And it
was gratifying to see tablets erected here to the
memory of two illustrious Americans, Longfellow
and Lowell. On Friday morning I, in company
with some of my fellow tourists, paid a visit to the
Bank of England. The building is built of solid
granite, stands apart from all other buildings and
has no windows at the- side, but has them on the
roof. It is guarded day and night by sentinels, the
same as an armed camp. The officers and clerks
are behind closed doors, and you do not see them,
as in our banks, except the ones that handle the
specie, who are in the first room. Wishing to do
some business with the bank, I had procured a
new 5i note, before going in, and on entering I
walked up to the gold clerk and said I wished to
have a note changed. On handing it to him, he
looked at it carefully, turned it on its face and
handing me a pen, requested me to sign my name
and address on the back of it. On looking at it he
laughingly asked, if I was any relation to Uriah
Heep? I said I was not, although on reflection
the name did sound familiar to me. . He tore the
corner off the s£ note and threw it on his desk,
and then putting five gold sovereigns on a brass
shovel, shoveled them out before me on the coun-
ter, remarking as he did so that "they thought
that the best money in the world." I answered
by saying and I am just patriotic enough to think
and to say that we have the best money in the
world. I bade him good morning and left, very
well pleased with having done some business with
the old lady of Threadneedle street. On Satur-
day morning we visited the Houses of Parliament —
the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
Age, association and history make this a very in-
teresting building. In the afternoon a small party
of 'US paid a visit to Windsor Castle and after visit-
ing its grounds, its picture galleries, its chapel and
mapy interesting sights, we hired a cab and were
driven to Frogmore, past the mausoleum where lies
the Prince Consort, Prince Albert, husband of
Queen Victoria. Turning we drove back through
the town of Windsor to Eton College, where we
alighted and took a hurried run through the campus
of this celebrated boys' school. Hurriedly jumping in
our carriage, we drove out past the Admiral Penn
plantation and home, where William Penn was born,
to Stoke Poges to the church yard which was the
inspiration to Gray's Elegy. We took a walk
through this ancient graveyard to the graves of
Gray the poet, and his mother, then to the old church,
in which services are still held and in which Gray
had a pew and worshipped. After reverentially
looking at the graves and the church, we were hur-
riedly driven to the station of Stoke Poges, where
we took the train for London. I wished- for the
pen of Gray, for 1 had seen enough to write a
book. The next morning, Sunday, we, I and my
brothers-in-law, attended services in Westminster
Abbey. It was grand and ennobling — such fine
music, an eloquent sermon, a distinguished congre-
gation, and the statues of England's greatest men
all around us. The next morning, Monday, Sept.
loth, we left London for Edinburgh on the Midland
Railway, and after traveling all day through some
of the finest parts of England, we arrived at our
destination, Edinburgh, and stopped at the "Cock-
burn Hotel." The next morning the party was taken
in carriages to see the chief points of interest,
namely, the Castle, Holyrood Palace, St. Giles' Ca-
thedral, Sir Walter Scott's monument, though
Princes Park to our hotel. The next morning,
Wednesday, we took train for Stirling by way of
the bridge over the Firth of Forth, thence to Aber-
foyle, and from there by coaches and boat through
the famous Trossachs and Lochs Katrine and
Lomond, and changing from boat to train, we ar-
rived at Oban, a celebrated summer resort on the
west coast of Scotland. Starting from Oban on
Friday^ morning by steamboat through the firths
and Cringan Canal, which crosses a rise of land
about seventy-five feet- high by means of locks,
changing boats at Dunoon, we were taken-to Helens-
burgh, where we stopped for the night at the
"Queen's Hotel." About 2 o'clock we took boat
across the Clyde river to Greenock. In the evening
about 5 o'clock we went on board of the steamship
"Furnessia" of the Anchor Line for New York.
If going over was exhiliarating, coming back was
certainly exciting. The next morning (Sunday)'
we stopped at Moville, Ireland, for passengers.
On going down along the coast, a terrible storm
struck us, and it blew at the rate of sixty-five
miles an hour. The next morning, out of 202 first
cabin passengers, only five reported for breakfast,
and I was among those that did not report. On
Monday waves repeatedly washed over the ves-
sel. To make matters worse, a stoker jumped over-
board in the afternoon, and we lay to for two hours
looking for him. We rolled in our berths all night
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
215
amid a fearful storm. The next morning it cleared
up, and we had a splendid day. Oji Wednesday
afternoon another storm broke over us, and by even-
ing the waves washed over the ship, sending the
spray up two-thirds the height of the smoke-stack.
To one who was not afraid it was a grand sight.
It cleared up by Thursday- and from that on we had
good weather to the Grand Banks, and no excite-
ments except a whale, or school of porpoises, being
seen once in awhile. After getting through the fogs
off the coast of Newfoundland, it did not take many
days to reach New York. After passing quarantine
we were not long in coming up to our pier. The
next day we started for home, arriving in Lancas-
ter about lo :30 P. M.
GEORGE REDSECKER ROHRER, M. D.,
whose services as oculist to St. Joseph's Hospital,
Lancaster, since 1885, and to the Lancaster General
Hospital have been of such inestimable value, is one
of the medical men in Lancaster to whom the profes-
sion is much indebted for his careful, conscientious
work, and for his close study and intelligent appli-
cation of modern methods. He was born Dec. 11.
1853, son of Jeremiah and Mary Ann (Redsecker)
Rohrer, who then resided in Middletown, Dauphin
Co., Pennsylvania.
This branch of the Rohrer family in Lancaster
county is traced to John Rohrer, who in Lebanon,
then Lancaster county, swore allegiance Nov. 17,
1777. (Vol. 4, p. 411, Pa. Archives, 2d series). He
was third lieutenant in the 6th Company, 1st Bat-
talion, Lancaster Co., Flying Camp, under Col.
James Cunningham (Vol. 15, p. 630, Pa. Archives,
2d Series). He had been promoted to that rank
from sergeant, and he was one of the sufferers at
Valley Forge. His wife was Elizabeth Meiley, of
Lebanon. Their childrea were : Anna Maria, born
Nov. 17, 1787; Katharine, Feb. 8, 1790; John, Nov.
25, 1791; Samuel, July 15, 1795; John (2), Feb.
22, 1798; David, April i, 1800; and Hannah, March
4, 1803.
David Rohrer was born April i, 1800, in Leba-
non, Dauphin Co., Pa., and became a whitesmith,
or manufacturer of edge tools. His death occurred
Feb. II, 1843. By his wife, Mary Parthemore, he
had the- following children : Jacob Lafayette, born
1825, died 1826; Jeremiah, born May 29, 1827 ; Eliz-
abeth, born Dec. 28, 1828, died Oct. 14, 1874 ; Ab-
salom Stiner, born 1830, died 1835; Jacob (2), died
young; and George Frederick, born May 29, 1837,
is now living in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Jeremiah Rohrer, son of David, was born May
29, 1827, in Lebanon, Lebanon Co., Pa. Until near
the time of the breaking out of the Civil war, he
carried on carpentering and building at Middletown,
Dauphin Co., Pa. The, same spirit that moved his
grandfather p shoulder his musket and patiently
follow the immortal Washington, inspired him to
answer the call to arms, and in August, 1862, he en-
tered the service of his country. He was appointed
major of the 127th P. V. I., and played well his
part in the duties his regiment was called upon to
perform. On April i, 1864, he removed to Lan-
caster, Pa., and there engaged in the liquor busi-
ness, in which he has • since continued, at present
being located at No. 22 Penn Square. He has ever
been a prominent worker in town affairs. From
1868 to 1871 he was one of the prison inspectors
for Lancaster county; from Dec. i, 1872, to Jan. i,
1876, was register of wills; and for four or five
years prior to his removal from the Second ward
to his present residence. No. 336 North Duke street,
he represented that ward in the councils, comrnon_
and select. He was one of the commissioners having
the supervision of the erection of the new water-
works in 1885-1886. In his fraternal relations, he
is an enthusiastic Mason, being affiliated with Lodge
No. 43, F. & A. M.; Chapter No. 43, R. A. M.;
Goodwin Council No. 19, R. . & S. M. ; Lancaster
Commandery No. 13, K. T. In March, 1853,
Jeremiah Rohrer, was united iii marriage with Mary
Ann Redsecker, who was born Oct. 31, 1830, a
daughter of George and Catherine (Myers) Red-
secker. Their home was blessed with eight children,
as follows: George Redsecker, born Dec. 11, 1853,
is the 'subject proper of this sketch; David, born
June 26, 1855, died Nov. 26, 1856; Jacob Bom-
berger, born Aug. 31, 1857, ^low a civil engineer,
Honolulu, Hawaii Islands, was married in Decem-
ber, 1886, to Jennie Winchester, of Memphis, Tenn. ;
Marie Louise, born Jan. 5, i860, resides in Lan-
caster; Mary, born April 27, 1862, was married
Jan. 29, 1897, to Dr. Frank Christy, pf Altoona,
Pa. ; Grant, born Oct. 18, 1864, resides in Lancas-
ter, Pa. ; Howard, born May 28, 1867, is a graduate
in pharmacy but is now of the firm of J. Rohrer,
liquor dealer, Lancaster; and Daisy M., born April
27, 1877, livss in Lancaster.
George Redsecker Rohrer, eldest in the above
mentioned family, was born in Middletown, Pa.,
but removed with his parents to Lancaster in 1864.
He attended the public schools, and was graduated
from the high school in July, 1870. After leaving
school he entered the office of the Inquirer Printing
Co., and there learned the printing trade under the
able tuition of Stuart A. Wiley. With this line of
work, however, he did not feel satisfied, and having
determined to enter the professional world, he, in
1876, began the study of medicine with Dr. John
L. Atlee, Jr., and in October, of the following year,
entered the Medical Department of the University
of Pennsylvania. In March, 1880, he was graduated
with the degree of M. D., and in May, 1881, re-
ceived the appointment of resident surgeon in the
Philadelphia Hospital, which he ably filled until the
following April, when he became house surgeon in
Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia. At the end of
a year he determined to enter upon the general prac-
tice of medicine, and opened in June, 1883, an office
at No. 35 East Orange street, Lancaster, Pa. In
a short time his natural ability and thorough edu-
216
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
cation made an impression on the public, and he
soon had a fine practice. In January, 1884, he was
elected physician to the Lancaster county prison,
which position he held four years. He has been
oculist to St. Joseph's Hospital and to the Lan-
caster General Hospital for years. In whatever
branch of' the profession Dr. Rohrer is called upon,
he is found proficient. His constant study and his
rare faculty of retaining and assimilating knowl-
edge, have given him a vast fund of information
which his methodical habits and well trained reason
keep ever ready for use.
On Oct. 24, 1884, Dr. Rohrer was married to
Miss Adelaide Crohen, daughter of Hermann Croh-
en, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Three children have come to
brighten their home, namely: George Hermann,
born March i, 1893; Henry Augustus, born April
6, 1900; and John Francis, born April 29, 1901.
Professionally Dr. Rohrer is a member of the
American Medical Association, the Pennsylvania
State Medical Society, the Lancaster City and Coun-
ty Medical Society, of which he has now been treas-
urer for sixteen years, and the Pathological Society
of Lancaster. He was appointed, at the instance of
Prof. William Pepper, a member of the auxiliary
committee for Lancaster City and County Society
to the Inter-Continental American Medical Congress
in 1891. Under date of Nov. i, 1894, Dr. Rohrer
received from William Lochren, Commissioner De-
partment of the Interior, Bureau of Pensions, Wash-
ington, D. C, the announcement that his name had
been placed on the list of Specialists of that Bureau.
This position the Doctor has continued to fill since.
Inasmuch as he had made no application for this
honor, and the appointment was made wholly with-
out his knowledge, he has every reason to feel that
it is but the due reward of his faithful labors in his
chosen calling. Fraternally Dr. Rohrer is quite
prominent. He is a member of Lodge No. 43, F. &
A. M. ; Chapter No. 43, R. A. M. ; Goodwin Council
No. 19, R. & S. M., and Lancaster Commandery,
No. 13, K. T. He also belongs to Herschel Lodge,
No. 123, I. O. -O. F. ; Conestoga Council, No. 463,
Royal Arcanum ; and Lancaster Lodge, No. 194, B.
P. O. E.
The Redsecker family, from which Dr. Rohrer
is descended in maternal lines, is descended from
George Rucksecker, Redsacker or Redsecker, who
was born in Germany May 22, 1735. In 1749 he
came to Lancaster county. He was first lieutenant
in Col. Alexander Lowry's Third Battalion, Lan-
caster County Militia, in 1777. He married Anna
Maria Auxer.
George Rucksecker, Redsacker or Redsecker
(2), son of George and Anna Maria, was probably
born June 28, 1764. He married Susanna Ream,
and had the following children: George (3), Bar-
bara, Isaac, Elizabeth, Jacob, Susan, Samuel, Mary,
Michael and Abraham.
George Redsecker (3) was born Nov. 6, 1789,
in Elizabethtown, Pa., and he died Feb. i, 1840. He
married Catherine Myers, who was born Nov. 10,
1794. Their children were; Abraham M., born
Nov. 8, 1824, is now living in Elizabethtown, Pa. ;
Susan, born Dec. 21,. 1826, married Abraham Ris-
ser, and lives in Paris, 111. ; George, born Jan. 20,
1829, lives in Elizabethtown; Mary Ann, born Oct.
31, 1830, is the wife of Jeremiah and mother of Dr.
George R. Rohrer ; Sarah, born Oct. 24, 1834, mar-
ried John Risser, and lives in Paris, 111. ; and Cath-
erine, born Oct. 31, 1835, died Dec. i, 1859.
JOHN BAPTISTS CAUSSE. In 1787 the
priest in charge of the Catholic Church in Lancaster
was John Baptiste Causse, a Recollet Franciscan,
known in the order as Father Fidenteaieus. He had
been stationed at Lancaster in 1785, having come
there from near Philadelphia, presumably Mt. Airy.
He was a mian of considerable ability and took a great
interest in educational matters, and in 1787, when
the "German Charity School," subsequently Frank-
lin College, was founded, he was one of its first trus-
tees, his name appearing as such on the minutes of
the Board. He became rebellious, however, against
Bishop Carroll, and in 1791 he was formally excom-
municated by that Bishop, being the first Catholic
clergyman in the United States to be excommuni-
cated. In 1789 he had walked from Lancaster to
where St. Vincent's Abbey is located on the Alle-
ghany mountains and purchased the land upon which
that abbey is located for five shillings.
STUBBS. So far as the writer knows, the first
of the family name in America was one Richard
Stubbs, who, after coming to this country from
England, became one of the proprietors of Hull,
Mass., in 1642. Of his descendants there is no au-
thentic record.
About 1 718 one Thomas Stubbs left England
and came to America. He located in Goshen town-
ship, Chester Co., Pa., and became the progenitor of
the Stubbs family in this country, representatives of
which may be foimd in many of the States from
Maine to Georgia, and from the Atlantic to the Pa-
cific. In 1720 Thomas married Mary Minor, who
came from Ireland about the time that he arrived
from England. In T756 they moved to Concord
township, Delaware county, where Thomas died in
1763. They had nine children.
John Stubbs, the fourth child of Thomas, moved
to North Carolina in 1755. In 1757 he married Ethel
Maddock, of Pennsylvania, and to them were born
fourteen children. In 1768 they moved to Georgia,
where all the children, except one who died in in-
fancy, married, but soon moved to southwestern
Ohio, and many of their descendants are to-day
among the most influential people of the Buckeye
State.
Daniel Stubbs, eldest son of Thomas and Mary
(Minor) Stubbs, married Ruth Gilpin, whose an-
cestry has been traced back tp Richard de Guylpin
(1206), who, during the reign of King John, of
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
217
England, was knighted and given the manor of
Kentmore, as a reward for his bravery. Daniel and
P-uth Stubbs resided in Delaware county for fifteen
years (1752767), when they moved to Lancaster
county, and located on a large tract of land along
the Susquehanna river. They were the parents of
fourteen children, and became the ancestors of all
of the family name in the county. Daniel died at an
advanced age in 1808.
Isaac Stubbs, youngest child of Daniel and Ruth,
was born in 1774, and died in 1840. In 1800 he mar-
ried Hannah (1778-1825), daughter of Jeremiah
and Hannah (England) i5rown, early settlers in
this section of the county. They had ten children.
Jeremtah Brown Stubbs, second son of Isaac,
was the first of the family in Pennsylvania to study
one of the learned professions. He was born at
what is now known, as Cooney's mill, near Mc-
Sparran post office, in Fulton township. In a "Bio-
graphical History of Lancaster County," by Alex.
Harris, published by Elias Barr & Co., of Lancaster,
in 1872, appears the following account, which the
writer thinks is absolutely correct, and gives it as
it is in the above named book, page 602 : "Jere-
miah Brown Stubbs, M. D., was born in Little Brit-
ain (now Fulton) township, Lancaster Co., Pa., on
the 13th of April, 1804. He was the second son of
Isaac and Hannah Stubbs, both descendants of early
settlers of that neighborhood. Isaac Stubbs, his fa-
ther, was a stone mason, and worked at the trade
occasionally. He took more delight in perusing the
contents of books, and in imparting to his children
the rudiments of an English education (at least as
far as he was capable), than to accumulate wealth
by a close adherence to his occupation, or by any
other manual labor. When Jeremiah was three
years old, his parents removed to Harford county,
Maryland, having purchased a small farm near the
'Rocks of Deer Creek.' Here the family resided
until the year 1821. when they returned to Lancaster
county to reside upon a farm near Peach Bottom.
This was jointly inherited by the father and mother.
In all these paternal migrations the older children
accompanied their parents and rendered all the as-
sistance of which they were able. After the return
of the family to Lancaster county, Jeremiah deter-
mined to commence business for himself, and with
this object in view entered a mercantile establish-
ment in the city of Baltimore. Disliking the busi-
ness, in the cotirse of a few months he returned home.
Receiving the encouragement of his maternal grand-
father, feremiah Brown (of whom he always re-
tained a grateful remembrance), he was induced to
study and enter one of the learned professions. With
no advantages of a preparatory education other than
instruction'received from a kind parent, and the
limited attainments obtained by a few years' attend-
ance at the public schools of an early period, he en-
tered upon the stud^' of medicine in the year 1824,
He read under the direction- of Dr. Vincent King, a
well known practitioner of southern Lancaster coun-
ty ; attended two full courses of lectures at the Jeffer-
son Medical College of Philadelphia, and graduated
in the class of March 8, 1827. Soon after graduat-
ing, he located in the village of Rising Sun, Cecil
Co., Md., where he practiced his profession for nine
years. During his residence in Cecil county, he was
elected a member of the Medico-Chirurgical Society
of Marylahd. His membership of this body com-
menced September 9, 1827. At that time a physi-
cian practicing in the State of Maryland could not
collect a fee unless he was a member of this medical
organization, and no one became a member thereof
unless he submitted to a rigid examination, and was
recommended as worthy by a committee appointed
for that purpose.
"On the 25th of February, 1836, Dr. Stubbs was
married to Rachel H., eldest daughter of Timothy
Kirk, Esq., of Oxford, Chester Co., formerly a
member of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, and
then an active business citizen of that vicinity. Pre-
vious to his marriage he purchased the farm and
good will of Dr. John K. Sappington, of Little Brit-
ain (now Fulton) township, Lancaster county. Re-
moving to the place he resumed the practice of medi-
cine, which he continued with success to the time of
his death, a period of twenty-six years. For a long
time after he located in Lancaster county there was '
with one exception no physician in active practice
within ten miles. In these early days of his medical
career his labors were unceasing, and at times ex-
ceedingly arduous. Possessing a comparatively
strong constitution and determined will he was en-
abled to do herculean duty, practicing his profession
throughout a section of country many miles in ex-
tent. On February 14th, 1844, he was elected a mem-
ber of the. Lancaster City and County Medical So-
ciety, and at one time was president of that body.
[Dr. Stubbs was one of the twenty-three physicians
who, on the above date, organized the Medical So-
ciety.— Author.] He was elected to represent it
as delegate in the American Medical Association
and attended in this capacity its meetings at Boston,
in 1849, Richmond, 1852, New York, 1853, and
Philadelphia, 1855. In the fall of 1847 he was
elected a member of the House of Representatives
of Pennsylvania, by the Whigs of Lancaster county,
and was re-elected in 1848. During his first term
he served on the committee on Education, and in the
second was placed on the committee on Ways and
Means, and upon Banks, besides several special com-
mittees. The house was thoroughly IDemocratic
during the session of 1848 ; nevertheless Dr. Stubbs,
by his plain and unassuming manner, made many
friends and received numerous favors from his po-
litical opponents. During his service at Harrisburg
various expedients were devised by different mem-
bers of the Ways and Means committee to raise
revenue to replenish the State treasury, and at the
same time not increase the taxes of the working
classes of the commonwealth. Being a member of
the committee to devise means of revenue, he sug--
218
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
gested the propriety of taxing the sale and manu-
facture of quack nostrums, which were then meet-
ing with an immense sale throughout all parts of the
State. For many years he was well acquainted with
the fact that thousands of dollars were made by
charl,atans by imposing on those ignorant of medical
knowledge. All honest trades and professions were
taxed, but the manufacturer and vender of patent
medicines went free. Receiving assurance of a ma-
jority of the Legislature and the Governor that to
tax this class was just, he consulted with some of the
learned of the profession and drew up a bill which
became a law. Its passage created a unanimous
protest on behalf of all the semi-medical men, quacks
and 'venders in the State, and the vengeance of the
whole fraternity was threatened against the author
of the bill. In Lancaster county their influence was
brought to bear against him but availed nothing.
While a member of the Legislature he took great in-
terest in all subjects pertaining to the education of
children of the State, as well as to keeping up the
standard of the profession of which he became in
early life a member. For professional 'services ren-
dered to half of the legislative body he was presented
with a handsome testimonial on behalf of the mem--
bers of both political parties. [This 'testimonial,'
a gold-headed cane, the body of which was wood
taken from a part of the old United States Ship-of-
war 'Reliance,' the first vessel that bore the flag of
the new nation upon the seas in defiance of Great
Britain, was highly prized by Dr. Stubbs. It now be-
longs to a grandson. Dr. A. H. Stubbs, of Reading,
■Pa.] Having served the customary two terms in
the State Legislature, he returned to the farm and
continued the practice, and instruction of students
of medicine. During his long professional career
seven young men read tmder his direction and grad-
uated. Of these only three survive. [All now de-
ceased.^-Author.] For several years previous to
his death. Dr. Stubbs had frequent paroxysms of a
disease that he was well aware would finally prove
fatal. Nevertheless he continued to work and study
to the last. On the 4th and 5th of July, 186^, he was
attacked with angina • pectoris, but recovered and
seemed to improve until the night of the 9th, when
he had a relapse, and died on the morning of the
loth, aged fifty-eight years. Dr. Stubbs was by
birthright a member of the Society of Friends, but
a few years after attaining manhood by his own re-
quest ceased to be connected with that Society. No
man was more familiar with the various tenets and
doctrines advanced and believed in by different re-
ligious bodies. He appreciated works of a theo-
logical and scientific nature, was conversant with
the Scriptures, especially those books attributed to
Job and Paul, which he considered to far exceed the
others in sublimity and literary excellence. In his
opinion the Sermon on the Mount with the Golden
Rule, was sufficient in itself unto salvation, and to
believe in and practice the truths there inculcated
was paramount to a blind adherence to the creeds
of Calvin or Luther. With him the moral law was
the basis of all true religion, and upon this he was
willing to rest all hope of a peaceful hereafter. To
the theory and science of medicine he. was strongly
devoted. A constant reader, he always kept pace
with the progress of the age, and was ready to avail
himself of all the recent discoveries in medicine and
surgery, never permitting a remedy of value in alle-
viating human suffering to escape hi j notice. His
trained and extensive knowledge on subjects apper-
taining to his profession was attested by a valuable
library of medical works. Chirurgery, or that part
of the science belonging properly to the surgeon, he
did not fancy. His sympathetic temperament for-
bade it. His province or forte was the duties per-
taining to the physician. Few men were better
versed in etiology, or the causes of disease, and in
diagnosis he had few equals. To be familiar with
disease sufficient to enable one to recognise it at all
times in its different phases is one of the most diffi-
cult parts of the science. In this Dr. Stubbs was an
adept, hence his skill and success in treatment. To
him the oath of Hippocrates and the code of ethics
of the tnedical profession were laws to-be adhered to
with a strictness bordering on Persian -and Median
tenacity. To violate them was a breach of profes-
sional honor not to be tolerated. Quacks and medi-
cal pretenders of all descriptions met with no encour-
agement at his hands. To younger members of the
profession he was ever willing to render assistance,
and counsel. In his business transactions he was
exact. Starting in life poor, with few friends and
an abundance of envious relations, he made all he
possessed. An honest poor man never appealed to
him in vain. To him he would render needed as-
sistance at all times. He knew what it was to be poor
and depend on others for aid. In his latter years he
often remarked that it was a great source of con-
solation to him to know that he had repaid all favors
ever extended to him and to feel that he never know-
ingly took a cent of anyone, and pecuniarily he owed
no man, living or dead."
Dr. Stubbs had two sons, viz. : Charles Henry,
born Dec. 30, 1839 ; and Cassius Eugene, born March
22, 1844.
Charles H. Stubbs, M. D., attended several
terms at Millersville State Normal School, and in
1861 began the study of medicine with his father,
later attending lectures at Jefferson Medical Col-
lege, where he graduated March 10, 1863. While a
student, in 1862, he was appointed medical cadet by
Surgeon General Hammond, U. S. A., and at once
joined the staff of Brigade Surgeon David McReur,
in charge of the floating hospital "Louisiana,"
which conveyed the wounded of Gen. McClellan's
army to Philadelphia and Washington. In July,
1863, after graduating. Dr. Stubbs was appointed as-
sistant surgeon of the 40th Pennsylvania Volunteer
militia, and in 1864 served on the staff of Surgeon
Joseph Flopkinson Mower, U. S. A. Hospital, Chest-
nut Hill, Philadelphia. Dr. Stubbs had a letter of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
219
recommendation from the elder Prof. S. D. Gross,
one of the greatest of American surgeons,, who was
his teacher at college, and for whom he entertained
the highest regard. After serving his enlistment
Dr. Stubbs returned to his home in Fulton town-
ship, and began the practice of medicine in the office
occupied by his honored father for many years.
In 1868 Dr. Charles H.' Stubbs married Sarah
B., only daughter of Timothy and Rachel E. Haines.
To this union two children were born, Clarence
Theodore and Ambrose Herbert. Improvements
were always of interest to. Dr. Stubbs, and he was
one of the directors of the Peach Bottom Railway,
now the Lancaster, Oxford & Southern ; he was also
editor of the Oxford Republican, a paper published
for a short time at Oxford, Chester county. The
natural sciences were a pleasure, to him, and he
had one of the finest collections of minerals, fos-
sils and relics of the stone age in the county.
He later disposed of his main collection of In-
dian relics to a daughter of Asa Packer, and they
are now in the museum of the great university
founded by her father, viz., Lehigh University,
Bethlehem, Pa. Dr. Stubbs was a corresponding
member of the Linnsean Society of Lancaster, and
of the Maryland Academy of Science, and his papers
on Mineralogy, Archaeology and kindred subjects
were widely read. In 1872 he published a genealogy
of the "Kirk Family," of which he was a descendant.
This work was widely distributed, and up to the
present writing (1902) is the only history of the
family that has been compiled. His library con-
tained many hundred volumes, including most of the
standard works of fiction and science. He always
took an active interest in educational affairs, and
served many years on the local school board. He was
a member and commander of Capt. Snow Post, No.
461, G. A. R., at the time of his death. Although
not a member of any religious denomination he was
thoroughly familiar with the many creeds, and like
his father believed that the moral law was far supe-
rior to mock sentimentality and religious profes-
sion. However, he entertained great respect for all
denominations, and especially for the Society of
Friends. Dr. Stubbs for many years successfully
practiced his profession. In the treatment of dis-
eases of children he was particularly skillful, and in
diagnosing and treating pneumonia in the adult he
had few superiors. In 1884 he was stricken with
paralysis, and temporarily gave up practice. In
t886, having sufficiently recovered, he took an ex-
tended trip to the Pacific coast, at the same time add-
ing to his fine collections of minerals and Indian rel-
ics. After his return he resumed practice, and though
much broken in health, a sufferer from paralysis
and Bright's disease, he continued to the last, having
onlv half an hour before his death returned from
the' bedside of a sick child, and on retiring died sud-
denly, at 10 p. M., Thursday, Nov. 19, 1891, aged
fiftv-one vears, ten months, and nineteen days. His
sympathetic nature was nowhere more evidenced
than in his untiring devotion to his invalid wife, who
for many years received every care and comfort
within his power to bestow. Although for several
years under the care of the best medical talent in the
land, it. failed to restore her former health. Per-
fectly resigned to her helpless condition, with no
complaint for the years of suffering, she survived her
husband more than two years, and after living a
noble, pure and Christian life, died Jan. 9, 1893,
aged fifty-one years, eight months and twenty-four
days.
Cassius Eugene Stubbs, second son of Dr.. Jere-
miah B. Stubbs, was born March 22, 1844. He at^
tended West Chester Academy and the Millersville
State Normal School. Later he read law under Hon.
A. Herr Smith, of Lancaster, and in 1865 graduated
from the Law Department of the University of
Michigan. He practiced law in Jefferson county,
W. Va., for several years, and was State's attorney
and a member of the State Legislature. Later he
moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., and has been
county attorney and member of the State Legislature
a num))er of terms. For the past few years he has
been retired frorti active practice, has been engaged
in real-estate and mining interests in Colorado and
other States. He married Hannah K., daughter of
Lewis Haines, of Fulton township, Lancaster coun-
ty, and they have three sons, Merton, Herbert and
Harry.
Clarence Theodore Stubbs, the eldest of the
two sons of the late Dr. Charles Henry Stubbs, was
born July 20, 1869. He attended Millersville State
Normal School several terms, and then represented
a Philadelphia publishing house in New England
for a vear. Having a liking for electrical work, he
entered the General Electric Company's establish-
ment at Schenectady, N. Y., and graduated in the
student's course two years later. He then took the
extended course in arc lighting at the company's
(Lynn, Mass.) works, and was graduated from
there in 1893, "ca,pable of installing and operating
any of the machines built by the Edison General
Electric Company." He did not, however, follow the
work, and in 1895 he opened a drug store in Read-
ing, Berks Co., Pa., which he successfully conducted
until his untimely and accidental death, Sept. 22,
1901, at the age of thirty-two years, two months,
and two days.
Ambrose Herbert Stubbs, M. D., second son of
Dr. Charles H. Stubbs, was born June 10, 1874. Af-
ter attending several terms at the Millersville State
Normal School, he taught school at Cherry Hill, Ful-
ton township, during the session of 1892-93, and then
began the study of medicine under the direction of
Dr. J. W. Houston, of Oxford, Chester Co., Pa.
(now residing in Lancaster). He graduated April
22, 1896, from the Baltimore Medical College, of
Baltimore, Md., and located for a short time at York,
Pa. On Jan. i, 1897, he removed to Wakefield, Lan-
caster county, his former home, and practiced his
profession there until the fall of 1901, when he re-
220
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
moved to Reading, Berks county, where he now re-
sides, and in connection with the practice of medi-
cine conducts the drug store formerly belonging to
his brother. On Jan. 25, 1899, Dr. Stubbs married
Anna L., only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adam B.
Baer, of Rohrerstown, Lancaster county. They have
two children — Charles Detwiler, born Dec. 18, 1899;
and Guy Haines, born May 10, 1901. — [Sketch pre-
pared by Dr. A. H. Stubbs.
AMOS BAKER, of the mercantile firm of Baker
& Funk, of Neffsville, Lancaster county, was born
on a farm, in East Hempfield township, March
II, 1836, son of John and Elizabeth (Wolf) Baker.
The family came to this country from Germany, set-
tling in Lancaster county at an early date.
Amos Baker was reared upon his father's farm,
and acquired a good knowledge of the English
branches at the public schools of his district. At the
age of nineteen years, he began his business life,
working as a day laborer during the summer, while
in the winter he found employment as a cooper,
continuing the same for ten or twelve years. During
this time he had accumulated some money, and rent-
ed a farm which he conducted on the share plan,
living first in Warwick and later in Manheim town-
ship. He was engaged in agricultural life for twen-
ty-five years. An opening then occurring at Mil-
lersville, he embarked in mercantile business there,
and was thus occupied for nineteen years. Having
spent his years usefully, he then decided to retire
from active life, sold his interests, and for two years
was not engaged in any line of activity, living six
months at Lancaster City and eighteen months in
York. In 1898, however, he located at Nefifsville,
as a partner in the concern of Baker & Funk, which
has become one of the leading mercantile houses
of the city.
Amos Baker was married in 1856 to Miss Mar-
garetta Geib, who was born in Warwick township
Feb. II, 1837, daughter of Daniel Geib, and they
were the parents of three children : Amanda, wife
of Benjamin S. Heiss, of Roseville, Manheim town-
ship, who has four children, Amos, Maggie, Norman
and Benjamin ; John M., who died at the age of four
and a half years ; Elizabeth, wife of Harry E.
Banghy, of Lancaster City, and mother of one child,
Harry. Mr. Baker has always been a progressive
man, hard working and thrifty, and the success
which has attended his efforts has been but his just
reward. In religious matters he is a member of the
Dunkard Church.
HENRY K. FUNK, of the mercantile firm of
Baker &- Funk, of Neffsville, was born in Millersville,
March 18, 1854, son of Henry and Catherine (Kill-
hififer) Funk, iDOth of whom died at an advanced
age. They were natives of Lancaster county.
Henry K. Funk was reared in the village of Mil-
lersville, and was educated at the public schools.
At the age of sixteen years he found employment
with the firm of Russel, Musselman & Co., and re-
mained with the house through two changes in
name, spending ten years in this connection. The
original firm was succeeded by A. W. & J. R. Rus-
sel, and later the name was changed to Keppler &
Slaymacher. Mr. Funk left his native place and re-
mained away ten years, after which he returned and
found that Keppler & Slaymacher had been suc-
ceeded by Reilly Bros. & Raub, and he engaged with
that firm for two years, and later spent six months
more in their employ. This house is now very well
and favorably known in the county. During the
ten years Mr. Funk had been away, he had spent
a portion of the time buying and packing tobacco,
and also worked as a cigar manufacturer at Millers-
ville. He has led a very active life, and the greater
portion of his time has been spent in the mercantile
line. During the past three years he has been as-
sociated with Mr. Amos Baker in their thriving
business, which is steadily increasing its volume of
trade. In 1895 Mr. Funk went out West, where
he spent fourteen months, but returned to Lan-
caster county, settling in York, whence he went to
Philadelphia. The house of Baker & Funk is well
known and popular, and their general stock is thor-
oughly up-to-date. The assistants are accommo-
dating, deliveries are prompt, and every considera-
tion is shown customers.
Mr. Funk is a consistent member of the Re-
formed Church. Personally he is a man of genial
manner, and has made many friends in Neffsville,
as well as in other localities in which he has made
his home from time to time.
E. K. MARTIN, for many years an honored
member of the Lancaster Bar, though now retired
from active professional labors, is a resident of the
city of New York, where he is at the head of the
American Real Estate Company. His residence is
Park Hill, Yonkers-on-the-Hudson, and he holds
high standing in New York City, where his business
abilities, knowledge of all forms of real estate and
corporate law, and his unquestioned probity, have
won for him a host of personal and business friends.
He is the eldest son of Barton B. Martin, of Lancas-
ter, who entered into rest in 1887.
The historv of the Martin family is an interesting
one. pjarton B. Martin was born in East Earl town-
ship, and came of the old Swiss Mennonite stock,
men and women of strong faith and noble character,
who found a home in the eastern sections of Lancas-
ter county early in the last century. John Martin,
his father, and the grandfather of E. K. Martin, was
one of the most progressive men of his time, and took
a leading part in every movement in his neighborhood
that looked to the general good. Barton 13. Martin
was the eldest in a family of five children, among
them being J. B. Martin, now at the head of the ex-
tensive West King street dry-goods house, and who
has been for many years a member of the board of
trustees of the State Normal School at Millersville.
■^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
221
Barton B. Martin was educated in the common
schools of his district, and early evinced a sturdiness
of character and traits of mind that marked him as
exceptionally capable and interesting. At the early
age of fourteen he entered the store of a relative, at
Rohrerstown, and, developing a keen business in-
sight and marked mercantile ability, he soon after-
ward embarked in business for himself, becoming a
country merchant at Millersville, where he conducted
a large and lucrative business and was highly es-
teemed for his honesty and fair, dealing. He married
Catherine Rohrer, at Millersville, and while rearing
the large family born to him and his wife felt deeply
the need of better educational advantages than his
village afforded. In company- with Rev. L. M.
Hobbs, D. S. Bare, and other progressive citizens of
the vicinity, he conceived and formulated a plan for a
school for academic training there. It was regarded as
hazardous, but after much opposition the foundations
of the institution that afterward became the State
Normal School were laid at Millersville, and thence
have gone forth thousands of students to follow every
walk of life throughout the land, well prepared by
training for the vicissitudes of fate and fortune. Mr.
Martin contributed most liberally of his time and
means to the bringing about of the construction and
inauguration of this grand educational undertaking.
On occasions when subscriptions were not available,
as the school was built by subscription, Mr. Martin
took upon himself the burden of its contracted obli-
gations, and more than once saved it from collapse.
For years he continued a trustee and steadfast friend
of the school, until it came under State protection and
endowment and its prosperity was assured, when he
withdrew and left its interests to be cared for by
others.
In 1859 Mr. Martin closed out his business at
Miliersville, and erected a large dry-goods store at
the corner of West King and Prince streets, in Lan-
caster. His health becoming impaired by too close
application to business and the confinements of a mer-
cantile life, he engaged in the coal and lumber trade,
and for almost thirty years was conspicuous in that
line of endeavor. During that period he had manu-
facturing interests in lumber in Clinton, Center and
Cambria counties, where he owned steam sawmills
and extensive tracts of white pine lands and bitum-
inous coal mines. His wholesale yards were at Lock
Haven and Columbia, and he operated a retail yard
in Lancaster. His career as a lumber merchant was
a busv one, and he became known very widely as one
of the ablest men in that line of business in eastern
Pennsylvania. He was the principal member of the
famous coal mining firm of Martin & Co., whose
properties covered many thousand acres of the best
bituminous coal fields of Cambria county, 'and who
had offices at Philadelphia and Lancaster, and ship-
ping wharves at Greenwich Point, South Amboy and
Baltimore. Mr. Martin was likewise interested in
an extensive timber and coal tract on the Vander-
bilt road, which ran through the Clearfield region,
and which his estate still retains.
During the war Mr. Martin earnestly supported
the Union, and freely contributed both time and
money to the cause of the Government. His charm-
ing and picturesque home, "West Lawn," at Lancas-
ter, in the West End, is one of the finest architectural
achievements in the county, and no finer mansion
can be found in the State. Mr. Martin was a pio-
neer in the march of improvement that has made
the West End the most attractive part of Lancaster;
His lovely home was the first suburban residence in
a region now filled with fine dwellings, but none so
beautiful as the old Martin homestead, still in the
possession of the family. Lancaster avenue, now
one of the most attractive streets in the city, owes
its origin to Mr. Martin, who donated the land to the
city. This was but one of the many gracious and
thoughtful deeds which have made his name dear
to all who are interested in the general welfare of
the city of Lancaster.
Barton B. Martin was the father of two sons
and seven daughters, all of whom still live. The
sons are (i) E. K. Martin, whose name introduces
this article ; and (2) John C. Martin. The latter,
born at Millersville Nov. 13, 1845, is now a million-
aire coal operator residing in New York City. Mr.
Martin until his seventeenth year attended the pub-
lic schools at Lancaster, and then the State Normal
School at Millersville. In October, 1862, before he
had reached his seventeenth year, he was enrolled
as first Heutenant of Co. D, 157th P. V. I., for three
years service in the Civil war. He served for a
period in 1862 as a staff officer under the United
States provost marshal in Philadelphia, thence was
transferred with his company to Fort Delaware, and
in the spring of 1863 did duty in the defense .of
Washington. In the winter of 1863-64 he became
provost marshal of Gen. Tyler's Division of the
Army of the Potomac. After the war he returned
to civil life and entered into partnership with his
father at Lancaster, engaged in his extensive busi-
ness interests, especially in the development of the
great coal interests of Martin & Co. in Cambria
county. After the death of his father, Mr. Martin
continued to build up his extensive coal interests
until he became a leading shipper, not only to every
tidewater port, but to foreign countries as well. Mr.
Martin has always been deeply interested in popular
education. At the beginning of the Lake Chautau-
qua movement he identified himself with it, and
has 1)een for many years trustee of the Chautau-
qua In.stitute. He is also a trustee of Washington
College, in Tennessee, the oldest college organiza-
tion west of the Alleghany mountains, but his best
efforts during recent years have been given to the
direction of "The John C. Martin Fund" estabhshed
by him to promote Christian education among the
poorer of the white and the colored people in the
South, particularly colored pastors, and thousands
222
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
have already been reached by the beneficent efforts
of this fund— men who have not had college oppor-
tunities and yet have been accepted leaders of their
race. To practical reform and philanthropic work
Mr. Martin has been a liberal contributor, and Lan-
caster county has produced no more successful man
or sent forth into the world of business no more
honored son.
Barton B. Martin's daughters are: (3)- Kate,
the wife of M. Alexander, a noted member of the
Pennsylvania Bar; (4) JuHa, wife of T. B. Holo-
han, also an attorney at Lancaster ; the two brothers-
in-law are in partnership, under the firm name of
Holohan & Alexander; (5) Lillie, wife of H. K.
Baumgardner, whose sketch appears on another
page : (6) Alice, wife of Theodore R. Verick, Jr.,
of New York City; (7) Clara, wife of Dr. Ulamore
Allen, of Jersey City; (8) Daisie, wife of William
G. Mayburry, a capitalist, now retired, and living
in Germantown; and (9) Dora, wife of J. H. Jef-
feris, a glass , manufacturer and capitalist of Phila-
delphia. A remarkable fact in this connection is
that there has never been a death among these nine
children of Mr. Martin, and they have had twelve
reunions, at which all the nine, with their hus-
bands and wives, have been present. The reunion of
Oct. I, 190 1, was a charming afl:'air, held at the
beautiful home of E. K. Martin, at Park Hill,
Yonkers-on-the-Hudson.
E. K. Martin was born at Millersville, Oct. i,
1844, and after receiving a partial education at
Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., enlisted, at the
outbreak of the Civil war, at the age of sixteen, as
a member of the 79th Pennsylvania Volunteers,
participating in the many heavy engagements,
bloody battles and fierce campaigns in which his
regiment was engaged, from the beginning of the
war until its termination. He served under Sher-
man, Thomas, Buell and Rosecrans, and made a
record of nearly four years of brave and loyal ser-
vice in the field, of which his friends may well be
proud. The last six months of his service, and
during the march to the sea, he was attached to Gen.
Sherman's headquarters.
The war over, Mr. Martin resumed his studies
at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., graduating
from Amherst College in 1871, and from the Law
Department of Columbia College in due course of
time. After farther perfecting himself in the study
of the law, with the late Hon. Thomas E. Franklin
as preceptor, he was admitted to practice in the Lan-
caster courts, in 1876. His rise to prominence at the
Lancaster County Bar was rapid, and through his
legal attainments, his forceful and convincing argu-
ments, coupled with a fine delivery, he not only be-
came a successful advocate, but his services as an
orator were in much demand. His speeches, poli-
tical and ^otherwise, would fill a large volume, and it
was a tribute of no mean character, both to his
oratorical ability, and his record as a soldier, that he
was called on to address his old comrades of the 79th
Pennsylvania on the occasion of their reunion in
Lancaster, Oct. 8, 1901, the anniversarv of the bat-
tle of Perryville,. where that gallant regiment pre-
sented such a gallant front, and endured such losses
in killed and wounded. He also made the address,
Nov. 13, 1897, dedicating the monument of his regi-
ment on Chickamauga battlefield, where he rendered
such gallant and distinguished service. He pre-
sided over many local political conventions, and over
the Republican State Convention at Harrisburg in
1891.
Mr. Martin has always been fearless and aggres-
sive, and, being a strong and ready writer, became
practically the founder of the The Morning News
of Lancaster, and his able articles were for years
features of that paper, of which he was at one time
the principal owner, though he has since severed his
connection therewith.
Mr. Martin organized the American Real Estate
Company in New York City, to which he removed a
year later, with the purpose of devoting all his time
and attention to that important and growing enter-
prise, which has now over five and a half millions of
dollars invested entirely in that city. Mr. Martin
holds the responsible position of president of this
vast concern, with offices at No. 290 Broadway. The
company has recently bought one block of land in
the northern end of Manhattan Island, for which
alone it paid over a million dollars. It buys in large
tracts, and develops the property. It is the most ex-
tensive real estate development company of its kind
in New York to-day. Park Hill, its largest subur-
ban holding, is easily the most beautiful creation of
homes about suburban New York.
Mr. Martin was married, June 2, 1881, to Miss
Caroline A. V'erick, a daughter of Dr. Theodore R.
Verick, one of the most prominent physicians of
Jersey City, who was surgeon general of New Jer-'
sey for many years, and who had charge of the great
railroad hospitals in Jersey City. To Mr. and Mrs.
E. K. Martin have been born three children : Theo-
dore Rome)'n Verick Martin (deceased), Adele
Woolsey and Anna Romeyn Verick, who with their
parents live in a lovely home, "Overcliff," on Park
Hill, Yonkers. This charming home, commanding
a view of the Hudson river for twenty miles north
and south, is one of the most delightfully situated
of the many delightful homes that crowd its banks.
Imperfect though this sketch may be, for it
would take a goodly volume to adequately present
the history of the Martin family, yet it will give a
glimpse of the busy and honored careers of three of
the representatives of one of the most honored fam-
ilies Lancaster county has produced.
HEJJRY MYERS, son of Jacob Myers and Ann
Mary Ent, of Germantown, was born at Lancaster
April 16, 1802. His parents moved to Lancaster
from Germantown after the close of the Revolution,
and he spent his -entire life in his birthplace, with
the exception of one or two years at Nazareth, Pa.,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
223
while learning his trade when a youth. Jacob My-
ers enlisted in the Revolutionary service at Phila-
delphia July i6, 1776, and served until the close of
the war. Lancaster should feel proud in having an
"Own Son" of the Revolution in the person of so
excellent a man and pure a Christian as good old .
Henry Myers.
HENRY CLAY LEHMAN (deceased). The
name of Henry Clay Lehman will long be held in
reverent remembrance in the city of Lancaster, where
he fulfilled every requirement of an honest man
and upright, useful citizen for so many years.
Mr. Lehman was born Dec. 7, 1830, on the farm
now occupied by Mr. Samuel Frantz, in East Hemp-
field township, Lancaster county, and his death oc-
curred in the West, while on a journey, on Aug.
22, 1898. His remains were brought to his home
in Lancaster and they now lie in the beautiful Wood-
ward Hill cemetery belonging to this city. He was
a son of John and Eliza A. (Landis) Lehman, and
they died on the farm on which our late subject
was born, near Rohrerstown, Mr. Lehman passing
away Sept. 10, 1851, at the age of forty-two years,
and his widow surviving iintil March, 1888, dying
at the age of seventy-six years. They belonged to
the Reformed Mennonite Church and were interred
in the Rohrerstown cemetery. Their children were
as follows: Henry Clay; Anna E., who married
J. B. Martin, a merchant in Lancaster; Mary A.
deceased wife of Benjamin Swar; Emma B., resid-
ing in Lancaster ; Adeline H., who died in i860 ; and
John, Jr., who died in 185 1.
. The Lehman family was founded in Lancaster
county by Swiss emigrants of the name who came
hither to escape religious persecution. Since 1700
they have flourished and honorably perpetuated the
name. The name of the pioneer settler was Peter
Lehman, his son was John, then came John (2), who
married Elizabeth Baer and they became the grand-
parents of Henry Clay Lehman. The original loca-
tion was on the site of the county farm, in Manor
towriship.
The early life of Henry Clay Lehman was spent
on the farm, where he engaged in agricultural pur-
suits until his marriage. Following this event he
engaged in clerking in Rohrerstown, in a coal and
lumber yard, remaining there until 1866, when he
located in Lancaster. He accepted a clerical posi-
tion with Dr. S. B. Hartman and through faithful
attendance to duty, became so necessary to his em-
ployer that he continued with him for a period of
ten years.
Being a very zealous Republican, Mr. Lehman
was about this time brought forward as a candidate
for clerk in the recorder's office and received the
appointment, efficiently discharging the duties until
1893, at which time he was elected recorder. Dur-
ing his administration of three years the affairs of
the recorder's office were never in more satisfactory
condition. When he resumed private life, Mr. Leh-
man went into the leaf tobacco business, in which
he engaged until within a short time prior to his
death. As a business man he was regarded as the
soul of honesty, while as a public official he met
with the full approbation of his fellow-citizens. Mr.
Lehman was noted for his conscientious discharge
of duty and was during many years of his life a
representative public citizen of Lancaster.
•Henry C. Lehman was united in marriage with
Mary L. Ream, and to this union two children were
born. John R. married Miss Elizabeth Gamble and
they live in Columbus, Ohio, having one daughter,
Mary L. ; and Charles B. who is a clerk in the re-
corder's office, married Miss Sue Eshleman, and
they have two sons, Harry N. and Edwin C.
Mrs. Mary L. (Ream) Lehman, the estimable
widow of the late Henry Clay Lehman, was born
Sept. 26, 1 83 1, in Rohrerstown, daughter of Dr. John
and Caroline (Bicking) Ream, the former of whom
was born in Reamstown, Pa., and the latter in
Chester county. Pa. Dr. Ream was for a number of
years one of the leading physicians in Rohrerstown,
a man of character and ample means. He died
in April, 1869, at the age of sixty-five years, his
his widow surviving until 1893, dying at the age of
eighty-eight years. They were both members of the
Reformed Church, and their burial was in the cem-
etery of that religious body, in Rohrerstown.
The family born to Dr. and Mrs. Ream con-
sisted of ten members, viz. : Albert R., deceased ;
Jefferson B., deceased; Mary L., who is Mrs. Leh-
man; Caroline, deceased; Sarah J., deceased; Jose-
phine, the wife of Eli S.. Hoover, a retired farmer ;
Ellen, deceased ; Julia Ann, residing in Lancaster ;
John H., deceased; and Emma V., the wife of W.
D. Mosser, a teacher in the Lancaster Business Col-
lege, residing with her sister, Mrs. Lehman. The
latter is one of the esteemed residents of Lancaster,
and belongs to the Reformed Mennonite Church.
HENRY G. M.INrCH was born in Landisville,
Lancaster Co., Pa., May 25, 1817, and died in Co-
lumbia, same county. May 19, 1895. Fte was a leather
dresser by trade, but for thirty-two years was en-
gaged in the meat business, and after 1874 lived
retired.
Henry G. Minich was a son of Jacob and Cath-
erine (Camber) Minich, natives of West Hempfield
township, who had born to them the following large
family: Catherine, deceased wife of John William,
who was. a farmer in Lancaster county, but is also
deceased ; John, a plow manufacturer ; Jacob, a
farmer ; Simon, hotel proprietor ; George a black-
smith ; Henry G., whose name opens this biography ;
Elizabeth ; Susan, who was married to Joseph Baker ;
Fanny, married to Reuben Bowman, all of whom
died in Lancaster county. Pa. ; Charlotte, wife of
Levy Brown, died in Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Leah, the
widow of John Bossier, residing in Petersburg, Lan-
caster Co., Pa. ; Sarah, who married Aaron Oak-
ley, of Folsom City, Cal., owner of an extensive cat-
224
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
lie ranch in Sacramento county, both of whom are
now deceased.
On May ii, 1843, Henry G. Minich was united
in marriage with Miss Anna C. Albright, the amiable
and accomplished daughter of Anthony and Susan
(Shibe) Albright and to this union were born:
Jacob A., of Columbia, whose sketch may be found
on another page; Thomas Jefferson, a coal mer-
chant in Chicago, 111.; Charles W., of Columbia,
who also has a sketch of his life career on another
page ; N . Jerome A., editor of the Bulletin, at Kent,
Ohio ; Ella, who died at the age of twenty-one years ;
George W., who died when three years old; Dr.
Benjamin F., whose life sketch also appears in this
volume; and Harry J,, a meat merchant in South
Tampa, Florida.
Mrs. Anna Catherine (Albright) Minich was
born in Lancaster, Pa., Nov. 30, 1818. Her father,
while yet a child, was brought from Philadelphia
to Lancaster by his parents, and there he was reared
and educated, was editor of the American Messen-
ger for fifteen years, and was proprietor of a printing
office; he died of cholera, Oct. 24, 1834, at the age
•of fifty-four years. His widow survived him until
Jan. 13, 1862, when she expired at the ripe age of
seventy-nine years and eleven months. The family
were all members of the Moravian Church, and the
remains of the parents were interred side by side
in. the Woodward Hill cemetery. Besides Mrs. Anna
C. Minich, there were born to Mr. and Mrs. Al-
bright the following named children : Ann Maria,
who died in Philadelphia in 1893, the wife of Charles
Johns, a portrait painter ; Michael, who died in Lan-
caster in 1892; Susan (Mrs, Clark), who died in
North Carolina in 1845 ! John M., who died in Lan-
caster, Pa., in 1865 ; and Frederick A., who died
in 1892. The. paternal grandparents of Mrs. Anna C.
Minich were John and Anna Maria Albright of
Philadelphia, both of whom died in Lancaster, mem-
bers of the Moravian Church. John Albright was
editor of a newspaper and for many years was pro-
prietor of a printing office on Prince street. The
maternal grandparents of Mrs. Minich were Mat-
thias and Ann Catherine Shibe, natives of Prussia
and Philadelphia, respectively, but both of whom
died in Lancaster. Matthias Shibe, by trade a
stocking-weaver, was a hero of the Revolutionary
war.
The late lamented Henry G. Minich came to
Columbia March 31, 1847, attained quite a promi-
nent position in the borough and by his strict integ-
rity and close attention to business acquired a com-
petency. His death was deplored by the entire com-
munity, as in him it lost one of its most useful and
respected citizens.
GEORGE HANCK (deceased) was the founder
of the Hanck family in Lancaster county. Bom in
Lebanon county, Pa., May 12, 1813, he was a son
of Jacob Hanck, of that county, and of German
descent.
George Hanck was but a youth when he settled
in Lancaster county, and took up his home with
Samuel Ranck, in Lancaster township, where he
, learned the milling trade. After his. marriage, Aug.
6, 1840, he located on a farm in Landis Valley, com-
prising fifty acres. This was his home until a few
years before his death, Oct. 18, 1871. Farming
was the occupation to which his life was devoted,
and he was very successful in all his undertakings^
accumulating much property and at one time own-
ing three farms, a place of 156 acres, another of iiu
acres, and the home farm. Noted as a public-
spirited man, he took a lively interest in local affairs,
never seeking or holding county or State offices,
however.
Mr. Hanck dealt largely in horses, and being a
self-educated veterinarian of no mean skill, was.
fitted to deal successfully in that difficult but in-
teresting line of trade. In his hands it was very
successful, and he was widely known both as a
reliable dealer and skilled horse doctor.
Mr. Hanck was married to Miss Anna, a daugh-
ter of Michael and Catherine (Poland) Shriner. To'
this union were born two children : Michael S., wha
died in Manheim township, and whose sketch ap-
pears on another page ; and Catherine S., the wife of
Daniel Graver, of Manheim. Mrs. Anna Hanck
died May 22, 1852, at the age of thirty-two. She
is remembered as a woman of much character and
many charms. After remaining a widower four
years, Mr. Hanck married for his second wife Eliza-
beth Longenecker, by whom he had one child, Wal-
lace, who died at Landis Valley.
The Hanck family early took an honorable and'
creditable position in Lancaster, and its representa-
tives maintain a high standing at the present day.
GEORGE K. REED-. The death of George K..
Reed, on May 16, 1898, removed from Lancaster one
of her most estimable citizens, one who for many
years was identified with the best interests of the city
as merchant, banker and capitalist. He will long be
mourned as a high-minded and honorable man,
a representative American citizen, and an unosten-
tatious and generous philanthropist.
George K. Reed was born in Lancaster Dec.
22, 1826, son of Henry R. Reed, who was cashier
of the Branch Bank of Pennsylvania, and grand-
son of John Hoff, who was cashier of the Farmers'"
Bank, in Lancaster, in 1816. George K. Reed at-
tended the schools in his native city until he was
eighteen years of age, and then obtained employ-
ment in the dry-goods and grocery store of Chris-
topher Hager, as an errand boy, in which position
he performed the duties so well that at the end of
three years he became the chief bookkeeper. In
1848 John F. Shroder was elected county treasurer,
and he selected Mr. Reed for his assistant, which
circumstance caused him to resign his position with
Mr. Hager to take that of deputy county treasurer..
At the expiration of Treasurer Shroder's term Mr..
GEORGE K. REED
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
22&
Reed decided to embark in business as a broker
and private banker. At that time there were no
brokers' offices or private banks in the city. The
busmess was inaugurated in 1850, under the firm
name of John F. Shroder & Co., his partner being
John F. Shroder. Near the close of 1857 he be-
came associated with Richard McGrann, Patrick
Kelly and Ambrose McConomy in the banking busi-
ness, under the firm name of Reed, McGrann, Kelly
& Co., but after the death of Mr. Kelly the firm
name was changed to Reed, McGrann & Co., of
which firm B. McGrann, R. H. Brubaker and Peter
McConomy subsequently became members. The
firm style, however, was continued until the bank
went out of business, the Conestdga National Bank
having leased the rooms of Reed, McGrann & Co.
During his connection with this bank Mr. Reed
detected the celebrated Horton forgeries, which
caused considerable disturbance in financial circles
at that time. The forger, Horton, raised certifi-
cates of the stock of the Philadelphia & Reading
Railway Co. from one share to one hundred shares,
and these were exchanged at local banks for Penn-
sylvania railroad shares. Acting on Mr. Reed's sug-
gestion, postal cards were used in notifying the
police authorities in the principal cities of the for-
gery, giving a description of the forger. This was
the first time in this country that postal cards were
put to that use.
Mr. Reed became a director in the Conestoga
National Bank after his retirement from active busi-
ness, and held that position at the time of his death,
being at the bank the greater part of every business
day and practically devoting all of his time to ad-
vancing the interests of that institution. There
was probably no man in the city engaged in more
important enterprises than Mr. Reed. As a high
official he was interested in the Junction & Break-
water railroad, near Lewes, Del., which constructed
eighteen miles of road and built a 1,600 foot pier
at Breakwater. This road was sold to the Old
Dominion Steamship Co. and subsequently passed
into the control of the Pennsylvania Railway Co.
Two enterprises in which he was for a time inter-
ested— the locomotive works, under the Tyng
management, and the Lancaster Manufacturing Co.
— did not prove financial successes. As one of the
organizers of the New Holland and Strasburg Na-
tional Banks, he was prominent in their manage-
ment, owned stock in nearly every turnpike com-
pany in the county and was a director in many of
them, and was treasurer of the Willowstreet Turn-
pike Co. for more than twenty years. Also he
was a director in the Central Transportation Co.
and was one of the organizers of the Lancaster
Cremation Society and a director from its organ-
ization. Mr. Reed was one of the projectors of the
Lancaster Hotel Co._, which built the "Stevens
House," and was a director in same; was also one
of the organizers of the Eastern Market Co., the
Chestnut Street Philadelphia Bank and Fulton Hall
Association.
Mr. Reed served several terms in the city coun-
cil and was president of the common branch for
one year; he was the Republican candidate for
mayor in 1871, but was defeated by the late CoL
F. ,S. Pyfer. Probably he was best known to the
community at large through his connection with
the Lancaster Gas Co., being one of its organizers,
and during the existence of the company, from
1849 until it was sold out to the Citizens' Company,
he was the secretary, treasurer and ruling spirit.
Between 1849 and 1870 there was distributed, in
dividends upon the original investment of $60,000,
over a half million dollars.
Mr. Reed took an active interest in the volunteer
fire department as a member of the Union Steam
Fire Engine & Forcing Hose Company, No. i.
His father was an honored member of the same com-
pany, and served as its secretary and treasurer from
1823 to 1841, and George K. Reed was secretary
from 1852 to 1862, and treasurer from 1852 to
1866. While serving in the latter capacity,
he at one time shouldered the entire debt of the
company, and his financial skill guided for many
years its monetary affairs ; at the time of his death
he was its vice-president.
In the Masonic fraternity Mr. Reed was known
all over the country. He w'as made a Mason in
Lodge No. 43, Feb. 10, 1864, served as j'lmior
warden in 1868, senior warden in 1869, and wor-
shipful master in 1870. He was also high priest
of Chapter No. 43, R. A. M., a member of Goodwin
Council, No. 19, and Lancaster Commandery, No.
13, Knights Templar. His other social connection
was with the Conestoga Beneficial Association.
Called upon every day of his life for assistance
for various charities, he was quick to respond when
his judgment told him it was for real beneficial pur-
poses, and he has left behind him monuments to
his real generosity, one of which is the Children's
Home, of which he was one of the organizers and
in which he had been a trustee since its establish-
ment. Mr. Reed was also a trustee of the Millers-
ville State Normal School for a score of years, and
a trustee of the Woodward Hill cemetery, and an
officer of the Lancaster City Bible Society. From
early years Mr. Reed was a member of the Morav-
ian Church, and he had been a trustee for many
years and for a few years superintendent of the
Sunday-school. One of his bequests was $20,000
to the Moravian Church, and he also gave to the
Home for Friendless Children, and much to other
local charities.
For a life companion Mr. Reed selected a woman
who in every way ■ was suited to be the loving
helpmate and companion of a man of his sterling-
character. He married Miss Mary Fetter, daugh-
ter of the late John George Fetter, who was cash-
ier of the old Lancaster .Bank, and to their union
15
226
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
four children were born: Susette Elizabeth and
Catherine Hofif, who died in childhood; John Fet-
ter, whose death occurred Jan. 4, 1897; and George
Harry, a business man of Lancaster. Mrs. Reed
resides at Prince and Chestnut streets, in Lancas-
ter. Until her health failed, after the death of
her eldest son and her beloved husband she had
been very actively engaged in beneficent work, and
was, at one time, one of the lady managers of the
Home for Friendless Children, a member of the
board of management for the Witmer Home, and
a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Y. M. C.
A. Her beautiful character is known throughout
the city, and she has the sympathy of all in the
bereavements which have come to her.
No citizen stood higher in the community than
George K. Reed. In business affairs he was in-
dustrious, punctual and exact, and took a deep in-
terest in the many enterprises in which he was
prominent for almost fifty years. His acquaintance
with business men all over the State was intimate,
and he was frequently called upon to be adminis-
trator, executor and guardian, proving faithful in
all these trusts. Of kindred, only his bereaved
widow, his youngest son and his sister, Mrs.
Heinitsh, the widow of the late Dr. C. A. Heinitsh,
survive him, but in their sorrow for his loss the
whole community belonged to his family.
John Fetter Reed, whose death occurred Jan.
4, 1897, was married June 12, 1877, to Clara M.
Parker, and. they became the parents of the follow-
ing children: George K., born Nov. 11, 1878; Ed-
ward Parker, Oct. 11, 1880 (died March 21, 1887) ;
Robert Hoff, Oct. 3, 1881 ; Helen Sylvia, April 5,
1884 (died Jan. 6, 1891) ; Marian Parker, Nov.
17, 1886 (died Jan. 23, 1891) ; Harry Reed, May
30, 1889 (died Feb. 16, 1891) ; S3'lvia Parker, March
21, 1891 ; and Paulda Hofif, Jan. 24, 1895.
HENRY LEAMAN FRANTZ, though quite
a young man at the time of his decease, was in his
day well known in his section of Lancaster county,
especially in political circles. He was a native of the
county, born in June, 1836, near Oregon, on a farm.
His family, like so many of the most substantial
ones of this region, was of Swiss origin, and has
been long located in Lancaster county, where they
have ever held a place among the most worthy citi-
zens. His parents, Samuel and Eliza (Leaman)
Frantz, were farming people of this county. They
had five children. John is deceased. Mary A. mar-
ried Simon Hostetter, and died in 1899; their son
is a prominent attorney in the city of Lancaster.
Elizabeth, widow of Hon. John M. Stehman, re-
sides in Rohrerstown, Lancaster county. Sarah S.,
who is blind, resides in Rohrerstown. Henry L.
is the subject proper of these lines. The parents
were buried in a private burying-ground, whence
they were removed later to the Rohrerstown cem-
etery.
Henry L. Frantz was reared to farming, and
passed all his life on a farm, but after his second
marriage he was never actively engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits on his own account, hiring all his
labor. He was a man of ability, and occupied a
prominent position in the life of his community, both
as a business man and as a citizen. He was a di-
rector of the Bank of Mt. Joy, Lancaster county.
His political affiliation was with the Republican
party, with which he was an active worker, and he
enjoyed unusual standing and influence for a man
of his years. He served a number of years as school
director. Though a member of no church, Mr.
Frantz contributed liberally to religious and benevo-
lent enterprises, being deeply interested in all mat-
ters which promised benefit to the community or to
humanity in general. Fraternally he was an Odd
Fellow, uniting with Lancaster Lodge and the En-
campment. His death, which occurred Jan. i, 1867,
on the farm in East Hempfield township now occu-
pied by his son Samuel O., was widely mourned.
His remains rest in the Rohrerstown cemetery.
Mr. Frantz was twice married, his first union
being with Elizabeth Oberholtzer, who died on the
farm mentioned. By this marriage there were two
children: Willis W., an inventor, a resident of
Waynesboro, Pa., who married Ida Frantz ; Samuel
O., a farmer at Rohrerstown. The latter married
Emma Weaver, and they have two daughters, Ger-
trude and Myrtle.
On April 17, 1866, in the Lutheran Church at
Lancaster, was celebrated the marriage of Henry
L. Frantz and Susan E. Witmer, who still survives.
There were no children by this union.
■ The Witmer family, to which Mrs. Susan E.
Frantz belongs, is one of the oldest and most promi-
nent in Lancaster county. Abraham Witmer, the
pioneer, came hither from Switzerland in 17 16, and
his son John was the grandfather of Mrs. Frantz.
John Witmer was a member of Gen. Washington's
stafif of observation. He died in May, 1793, in
Philadelphia, Pa. He and his wife, Mary (Har-
mon) , were members of the Lutheran Church.
Abraham Witmer, father of Mrs. Frantz, was a
native of Lancaster county, and followed farming
here throughout his active life. He lived retired
some years previous to his death, which occurred.
Nov. 7, 1874, at Soudersburg, Lancaster county,
when he was eighty-four years of age. During his
early manhood he served as a soldier in the war of
18 1 2, and marched to Baltimore. Abraham Witmer
married Susan Newcomer, also of Lancaster county,
daughter of Rev. Christian and Susan (Stipken)"
Newcomer, farming people; he was a Dunkard
preacher at the time of his death. Mrs. Witmer
passed away Dec. 27, 1887, aged eighty-three
years, and she and her husband 'rest in the cemetery
of the Longenecker meeting-house. They were the
first couple married in that meeting-house. Both
were New Mennonites in religious faith. Mr. Wit-
mer was always regarded as an unusually fine type
of man, and in his service for his country proved
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
227
himself a brave soldier. Though quite prominent in
his locality he had a sedate, retiring disposition, and
no citizen of his day was more universally respected.
Abraham and Susan (Newcomer) Witmer were the
parents of the following four children, (i) Rev.
Christian N., who died Sept. 2, 1879, was a farmer
and a minister of the New Mennonite Church; he
was twice married, first to Eliza Weaver, by whom
lie had two children, John A. and Anna E., both
deceased, and second to Marv A. Herr, by whom he
had three children, Henry 'H., Benjamin F. and
Anna M., the last named deceased. (2) A. Mary is
the wife of Cyrus J. Weaver, a farmer and merchant
•of Chester county. Pa. ; they have had four children,
P. Witmer, Mary E. (deceased), Susan H. and
Anna M. (3) Susan E., born on the farm in East
Lampeter township, near Bird-in-Hand, was edu-
cated in the faith of the old Quaker meeting-house,
but now belongs to the New Mennonite Church;
she is the widow of Henry L. Frantz. (4) Dr.
-Abraham H., who died Jan. 17, 1900, in Washing-
ton, D. C, was superintendent of the Government
Hospital for 'the Insane from 1876 until his death;
he married Roberta K. Stone, and they had two
•children, George S. and Alfred H. (deceased).,
Mrs. Frantz resides in her comfortable home
at No. 137 East Walnut street, with her two neph-
ews, Henry H. and B. Frank Witmer, and Miss
TLydia Spring, who has made her home with the
AVitmers since she was eight years of age. She was
born Dec. 14, 1822, in Lancaster county, and though
she is past fourscore is still active and enjoys good
health. Mrs. Frantz is a consistent member of the
New Mennonite Church.
DANIEL HELM, one of the honorable and
representative citizens of Providence township, was
■born in Strasburg township, Nov. 14, 1810, son of
John and Eva Helm.
John Helm was a native of the same township,
born Oct. 17, 1773, a son of John, who carried on
a shoemaking trade in this locality. To John and
Eva Helm were born a family of children as fol-
lows : Benjamin, Michael, John, Daniel, Samuel,
Mary, Sarah, Susan, Elizabeth and Annie, all of
Tvhom have passed away except our esteemed sub-
ject. The father died Feb. 21, 1830.
The youth of Daniel Helm was passed on his
■father's farm, and he had but the limited opportun-
ities for educational advancement afforded the chil-
dren of his time. His energies have been directed
■all his life to agricultural pursuits, he being for sev-
enty-five years one of the successful farmers of his
locality. He has been identified with almost all of
the public-spirited enterprises which have served
to advance his township and has served in many
positions of trust and responsibility. He gave a
willing service of twenty-four years as school di-
rector and was for ten years supervisor in Stras-
burg township, and thirteen years the assessor of
the same. He has been administrator and executor
of four estates. At the age of seventeen years Mr.
Helm became a member of the German Reformed
Church, and for sixty years he has upheld the dig-
nity of elder and deacon in that body. In 1832
he cast his first vote, and ever since that time each
RepubHcan president has had his ballot. In his
early days he learned the value of money by having
very little of it, but his energy and industry over-
came that drawback and in his later days he is able
to enjoy the ease and comfort won by his own
efforts.
In 1838, Mr. Helm was married to Miss Anna
Hoak, daughter of Henry Hoak, of Strasburg town-
ship. There were four children from this union,
(i) John H., a resident of Iowa, is married and has
four children : H. Willis (who is the father of
three children, Harry, Rex, and Mary) ; Annie (who
is the mother of four, John, Mary, Eddie and Har-
ry), J. Grant (who has one child, Eva) and Ed. N.
(2) Frank W., a merchant of New Providence, mar-
ried and has four children; Justus (whose family
consists of three children, Vernie, Frank and Ethel) ;
Katie (who has one child, Florence Adele) ; Blanche
(who also has but one child, Helen Grace) and Pau-
line. (3) Amos H., a practicing physician of New
Providence, has a family of three children : Vergie
(who has one child) ; Katie and John. (4) Miss
Mary M. resides at home with her father. The
mother of these four children died in 1848, and in
1849 Mr. Helm married Miss Susan Eckman, who
bore him seven children. Of these (5) Daniel E., a
merchant of East Drumore, is married and has six
children: Bower, Annie, Chester, Elmer, Paul and
Willis. (6) Enos M. lives in New Cumberland, Pa.
(7) Joseph Calvin, of Steelton, Pa., has three chil-
dren, Charles, Viola and Ray. (8) Charles A., a
physician in Bart ownship, has two children, Leigh
and Hiram. (9) Elmer E. is a traveling agent of
Lancaster. (10) Thaddeus G., principal of the
Franklin-Marshall Academy at Lancaster, has one
child, Mary Grace. (11) Rufus D., lives in Seat-
tle, Wash. The above record gives to Mr. Helm,
eleven children, twenty-three grandchildren and
fourteen great-grandchildren. Mrs. Helm died in
1890, a good, Chrsitian woman.
It is a long period of time to look back to. the
birth of our venerable subject, and it is remarkable
how well his memory serves him. He has lived a
life of usefulness through a wonderful period of the
world's history, and has done his part in making it
better. He is respected and esteemed by his com-
munity and is most tenderly regarded by his family.
For 175 years the Helm family has been connected
with the history of Lancaster county.
ISAAC R. HERR. Among those citizens of
Lancaster county who have become justly prominent
in professional life, is Isaac R. Herr, formerly a res-
ident of Elizabethtown, now residing in the city of
Lancaster, and one of the most prosperous young
lawyers of the county. Thoroughly educated, full o£
228
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
energy, mental vigor and business acumen, Mr.
Herr is very correctly regarded as one of the rising
young men of this part of the State.
Mr. Herr was born on the old homestead
in Mt. Joy township, March 7, 1862, son of
Abraham and grandson of Rudolph and Anna (Hos-
tetter) Herr, of Manor township. The latter moved
to Mt. Joy township in 1826 where he engaged in
farming although for a number of years, having
accumulated a competency, he lived a retired life.
His death was in 1890, at the age of eighty-three
years. His wife died in 1888, at the age of seventy-
eight years. They were members of the Mennonite
Church and were buried in the cemetery adjoining
the River Brethren Church at Florin, Pa. Their
children were : Mattie, deceased, married Abraham
Zook; Mary is the widow of John Shaffner of Mt.
Joy township ; Anna married Samuel Shearer, 9,
retired farmer of Mt. Joy township ; Rudolph, a
retired resident of Dauphin county ; John, a re-
tired farmer, lives in Rapho township ; Catharine
died unmarried in 1900 ; Miss Susan lives in West
Hempfield township ; Eliza i>s a widow, Mrs.
Beatty, of Maytown ; while the oldest of the family
was Abraham, the father of our subject.
Abraham Herr was born Jan. i, 1824, in Manor
township. Until he was twenty years old he was
his father's main support in carrying on the home
farm and then, beginning for himself, rented a part
of his present farm which he operated until 1887,
when he retired from activity and took up his resi-
dence in his present home. For six years Mr. Herr
was a member of the township school board and
served most efficiently as supervisor for one year.
In politics he is identified with the Republican party.
■ He has long been a consistent and valued member
of the Mennonite Church.
In November, 1843, Abraham Herr was united
in wedlock with Miss Anna Rider, and the children
born to this marriage were as follows : Catharine,
who is the widow of Henry Risser, of Lebanon
county. Pa. ; Rev. John R., a minister in the River
Brethren Church, located in Dickinson county,
Kansas, married Mary Heisey ; Anna married Cyrus
Shank, a farmer of Dauphin county, Pa. ; Abraham,
deceased, married Lizzie Shank ; George R. mar-
ried Martha Engle and is a farmer in Dickinson
county, Kansas ; Miss Lydia, died in January, 1900 ;
Fannie married John E. Gish, a farmer in Dickin-
son county, Kansas; Jacob married Amanda Ris-
ser and is a farmer and drover in West Donegal
township; Isaac R. is the subject of this sketch;
Sarah married Peter S. Risser, a farmer in Mt. Joy
township ; Amos R. married Kate Gish, a farmer in
l\It. Joy township; and Rev. David R., died in 1899,
a preacher in the Church of God.
Anna (Rider) Herr, the mother of our subject,
was born May 15, 1822, in West Donegal town-
ship, daughter of George and Catherine (Reasren)
Rider, natives of Lancaster county. George Rider
was long a retired farmer and died in 1850, in
Elizabethtown, aged seventy-four years. His wife
died in 1834 and both were buried in private ground
on the old farm in Mt. Joy township ; this farm
was bought by Abraham Herr and is no\v farmed
by Amos R. Herr. Their children were: Rev.
Benjamin; Elizabeth, the wife of Frederick Oldwei-
ler ; Mary, the wife of Rev. David Gingrich ; Sally,,
the wife of Dr. Sebastian Keller; Catherine; John;
Rev. George died in 1901 ; and Anna, wife of Abra-
ham Herr, all the other members of the family hav-
ing passed away.
Isaac R. Herr grew up on the farm and assisted
with' the agricultural work until he attained his-
majority. His early education was acquired in the
district schools where a firm foundation was laid
and was later built upon through the energy and de-
termination of one who was resolved to become a
thoroughly educated man. When released from farm
duty and environment, Mr. Herr began teaching
school, in the meantime being a more assiduous and
faithful student than any of his pupils. For seven
terms he continued in this profession, during which
time he was considered proficient enough to take
charge as principal of the Cornwall schools, in Leb-
anon county, where he remained two years. He
took a course of study in the Shippensburg Normal
School, where he graduated in 1887 with high hon-
ors, and subsequently became a student of the
scientific course at Millersville Normal School.
With this thorough preparation, with mind',
trained and judgment strengthened, Mr. Herr then
took up the study of the law. His reading was
done under the wise direction of Hon. J. Hay
Brown, Justice of the Supreme Court of Penn-
sylvania, and Hon. W. U. Hensel, of Lancaster,,
resulting in his admission to the Bar in 1895, with
prospects of the most flattering description. Since-
that time Mr. Herr has become favorably regarded
by a large clientage and he is justly regarded as
one of the leading young attorneys of the county.
He is talented, shrewd, well educated and level-,
headed, possessing also those excellent attributes-
bestowed upon him by an estimable parentage. In
politics he is a staunch Republican. Mr. Herr
practices through the State, but his residence is
in Lancaster, where he is prominent in professional'
and social circles as he well deserves to be.
TAMES SHAND selected for his birthplace one
of the most beautifully romantic and historically in-
teresting spots in the whole of Scotland. He first
saw the light of day Nov. 11, 1849, i"^ the village
of Lesmahagow, which is situated about the center
of the justly famous Upper Ward of Lanarkshire.
The river Clyde forms the northeastern boundary
of his native parish,- and in the eight miles of its
v/inding course through that classic locality contrives
to show no less than three charming waterfalls,
ranging and changing in style from the sweet Cas-
cade of Bonnington and the precipitous Cataract of
Stone Byers to the grandly impressive Corra L3'n..
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
229
Tmperishably associated with the history of the dis-
.trict are the world-renowned names of Douglas and
Wallace. The ducal families of Hamilton and
Douglas had also here their origin, and many of the
most interesting incidents connected with Scotland's
Covenanting times were enacted in this romantic
Lowland vale. Indeed, Mr. Shand comes himself
•of good Covenanter stock, his paternal grandmother,
Margaret Brown, having been a lineal descendant
of the Browns who figure so largely in the ecclesiasti-
cal annals of Lesmahagow. Numerous and interest-
ing are tlie recorded stories relating to this persecuted
family, whose members were as clever strategists
as they were good fighters, accepting comedy or
tragedy with equal grace, so long as they were per-
mitted to worship God according to the dictates of
their own consciences. On the paternal side his
grandfather, James Shand, was connected with one
of the best families in the North of Scotland. He was
iDorn near Dufifus, in Morayshire, and while quite a
young man he migrated to the South of Scotland, set-
tling finally in Lesmahagow, where he married and
raised a family. His vocation was that of a builder
and contractor. His only son, William Shand, became
his partner and subsequently successor in business.
The latter resided in Lesmahagow until June, 1863,
when he accepted the responsible position of superin-
tendent of mason work for the Earl of Home. This
necessitated his moving to Douglas, where he died
in 1875. Perhaps his most important single piece
■of work was the building of the addition to the old
castle, but hundreds of splendid farmhouses, com-
fortable homes and imposing public buildings that
he constructed are today to be seen all over Lesma-
hagow parish and the Douglas estates, and will stand
for many years yet to come as monuments to his
faithful work and sterling character.
'James Shand, his son, the subject of our sketch,
was educated at the public school of his native vil-
lage, with the exception of the last year's finishing
touch, received at the Boarding School for Boys,
kept by Mr. Braidwood and his sons, at Carmichael.
In his fifteenth year he was bound as an apprentice
to the drapery or dry-goods business with William
Tennant, merchant, in Lanark. After serving there
for three years Mr. Shand went to Glasgow, where
he worked as a clerk for five years. At that time
trained dry-goods men were not so plentiful in Amer-
ica, and special inducements were offered to bring
them to this countrv. The well-known firm of Brown,
Thomson & McWhirter, Hartford, Conn., offered
Mr. Shand a position in their store,] and on March
2Q, T872, he ari-ived in the United States. It was in
Hartford that he made the acqua:intance of Messrs.
Watt & Thomson, who were also countrymen of his
•and colleagues in the same store. In 1878, under the
firm name of Watt, Shand & Thomson, they com-
menced business in Lancaster. From a business
standpoint Mr. Shand's career is a counterpart of
his surviving partner, Peter T. Watt, whose inter-
esting story is told in another part of this volume.
Mr. Shand has always taken an active interest in Lan-
caster's public affairs, and particularly in the line
of church and charitable work. At the present time
he is chairman of the First Presbyterian Church ^
board of trustees, a position he has held since the
.death of the late Robert A. Evans. He is the presi-
dent of the Young Men's Christian Association, hav-
ing been unanimously re-elected to that office for
many years. Under his guidance and substantial
co-operation the Association has just completed its
magnificent new edifice on the northwest corner of
Orange and North Queen streets. Mr. Shand not
"only has done the leading share in all the work con-
nected with this important undertaking, but set a
good example to his fellow citizens by himself making
a subscription of $10,000 toward the building fund.
It is generally admitted to be in many respects the
finest Y. M. C. A. structure in the country up to date,
and is without question destined to be of incalculable
benefit to the city and surrounding territory. Mr.
Shand has also been chairman of the State Y. M. C.
A. Convention, to which office he was elected in 190T,
and is a member of the State Committee of the Y. M.
C. A., which directs all the Association's work in the
State. The never-failing friend of all the old and
younger members, they vie with each other in trying
to do him honor, and for years past the Juniors and
Seniors have named their summer quarters "Camp
Shand" as a personal compliment to their chief. Mr.
Shand is a trustee of the Home for Friendless Chil-
dren, a trustee of the Stevens Home, a member of
the Board of Trade and a trustee of Franklin and
Marshall College. Mr. Shand was one of the original
stockholders of the Hamilton Watch Co., a director
of the Fulton National Bank for four years, one of
the directors of the original Edison Electric Co., and
actively interested in many other business enter-
prises that have brought good returns to our city
and community.
In October, 1886, Mr. Shand married Miss Anne
W. Jamieson, daughter of William Jamieson, of
Middletown, Conn. The Jamieson family also came
from Scotland, Mr. Shand's father-in-law being an
expert in long-chain-dyeing, using the Scotch system
most popular with large manufacturers. Through
his knowledge of the business he was made manager
of one of the most extensive dyeing establishments
in this country. To the union of Mr. Shand and
Miss Jamieson have come three children, William,
James and Agnes, the former now attending Frank-
lin and Marshall Academy, and the other two at the
public schools. Mrs. Shand is a member of the
Ladies' Auxiliary of the Lancaster General Hospital,
and also of the Y. M. C. A., and is active in church
affairs and every kind of work in that line. Mr. and
Mrs. Shand live in a delightful home on East Orange
street, surrotmded with every comfort and conveni-
ence for the sensible enjoyment of life. They are
very hospitable, and many celebrities have been en-
tertained at their table. Mrs. Shand is particularly
famed as a good provider, and finds pleasure in show-
230
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ing hospitality to the many guests who come and go.
Mr. Shand has crossed and recrossed the Atlantic
at least twenty times, and visited all the principal
countries of Europe. He is a delightful conversa-
tionalist in private life, and, while making no pre-
tense to be an orator, is becoming quite noted for his
short addresses at the Association meetings and else-
where. As is to be expected, he is an enthusiast on
everything pertaining to Scottish history and liter-
ature, and those who have had the privilege of hear-
ing him "sing a sang" or recite a poem in his native
dialect know him as a delightful companion, with a
vein of wit and humor and a talent for entertainment-
unsuspected by the general public. All in all, he is
a gentleman of whom any city might well be proud,
a fine specimen of his native Scotland, and none the
less for that a typical good American. — [J. D. Law.
BRINTON WALTER was born in New Gar-
den, Chester Co., Pa., Jan. 2, 1837, and is a de-
scendant of one of the oldest families of Ches-
ter county.
His grandparents were Brinton and Mary Alger
Walter, the former a native of Chester county,
and the latter of Lancaster City. They were en-
gaged in farming, and attended the New Garden
Meeting of the Society of Friends. The grand-
father, Brinton Walter, died Feb. 22, 1821, in his
forty-sixth year, and his wife, Mary Alger Walter,
died on April 22, 1867, in her eighty-fourth year.
They had eight children as follows : Joseph, John,
George H., Phoebe, Sarah, Christiana, Salina and
Brinton, all of whom are now deceased.
George H. Walter, son of Brinton and father of
Brinton Walter, the subject of this sketch, was born
in Kennett, Chester Co., Pa., Oct. 17, 1808, and
died in Christiana, Aug. 14, 1889. He was both
a farmer and a tailor by trade. After an appren-
ticeship of five years at his trade in West Chester,
he engaged in business for himself near the home
of his boyhood, until the year 1839, when he bought
a farm of seventy-five acres near Russellville, on
which he erected new buildings, all of which were
paid for by the help of the needle. For a period
of thirteen years he continued his trade along with
farming, when at that time ready-made clothing
came into favor, and he quit his trade, sold his
property and bought a larger farm in Sadsbury,
Lancaster county, which he greatly improved with
new buildings, etc. This he sold in 1879, and then
moved to a new house in Christiana, where he died.
For many years he was a school director and filled
other positions of trust. Though not a member,
he was a supporter and much interested in the prin-
ciples of the Society of Friends. He was one of
the early Abolitionists, and an efficient worker in
assisting fugitive slaves on the road to freedom.
In politics he was first a Whig, and then a Repub-
lican. He voted in 1852 for John P. Hale, the Free
Soil candidate, and for John C. Fremont in 1856,
for the Presidency. He was a subscriber to the
Liberator, published by William Lloyd Garrison,
and the Pennsylvania Freeman by C. C. Birleigh.
He earnestly espoused the cause of temperance, and
the right of equal suffrage to women. He began
life a poor boy, but proved successful in all his
efforts, gave his children a fair" education, and re-
tired with a competency sufficient for his declining
days. On Jan. 27, 1836, he was married to Hannah
Brown, a daughter of David and Lydia (Hutton)
Brown ; she was born in New Garden July 7, 1814,
and died in Christiana Jan. 18, 1889. They had
seven children, as follows: (i) Brinton is men-
tioned in full below. (2) Jesse S. died at his
home, Dec. 2, 1862, in his twenty-third year, from
disease contracted in the army, in which he served
faithfully as a member of Co. I, I22d P. V. I. (3)
Lydia B. married William L. Jackson, of Chris-
tiana. (4) Mary W^ married Francis Whitson, a
retired farmer living in Christiana. (5) Georgiana
died March 29, 1871, in her twenty-second year
of a fever contracted at Millersville Normal School ;
she was a young woman of much promise and was
greatly beloved by all who knew her. (6) B.
Frank is now in business in Christiana, Pa. (7)
H. Louisa married Dr. Howard W. Powenall, who
is a relief surgeon for the Pennsylvania Railway
Co., at Altoona, Pa. The mother of these children
was of a kind and sympathetic nature, strongly
devoted to her family, and ever ready to relieve
want and distress wherever found. Her parents,
David and Lydia (Hutton) Brown were members
of the Society of Friends. They were the parents
of seven daughters and three sons. Mr. Brown
was a farmer and was also engaged in the lime
and milling business.
Brinton Walter, eldest son of George H., was
married Oct. 15, 1868, to Mary Louisa Barnard,
who was born May 14, 1838, and died March '20,
1873, a daughter of Puse;y and Phoebe Barnard, of
Christiana. The second wife of Brinton Walter was
Ellen S. Davis, to whom he was married on Nov.
8, 1876; she was born in Delaware county, in
1842, and died July 3, 1883, a daughter of the late
William S. and Catherine E. Davis, of Colerain.
Of this marriage were born two daughters. Dr.
Georgiana, who has lately completed her course
in medicine at the Women's Medical College in
Philadelphia, and is now engaged in hospital prac-
tice in that city; and Katie E., who died Aug. 9,
1883, at the age of seven months. Both of these
wives were active workers in their respective
churches, and in the reform movements of their
day; while at the same time they were faithful
to their home duties, and ever ready with sympathy
and aid for the suffering and sick around them.
The third wife of Mr. Walter was Miss Louisa
D. Davis, to whom he was married on March 16,
; she was a younger sister of his second wife.
and was born in Delaware county April 2, 1846.
Mr. Walter remained at home on the farm of
his parents until the fall of 1866, when he engaged
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
231
in the general store business in Christiana, at the
stand now occupied by Samuel Carter, where he
remained for four years, when he sold his interest
in the store. About a year later he embarked in
the grain, coal and lumber business in Christiana,
in partnership with the late James D. Reed. In
February, 1873, he bought the old W^ker W. H.
property,, where he built and greatly improved and
successfully enlarged the business in his own inter-
ests, until 1891, when on account of declining
health he disposed of the business to his brother
B. Frank Walter, who continues the same to
this day. In February, 1895, Mr. Walter was called
upon to settle the assigned estate for the owner
of the milling and grain business at the Parkesburg
Steam Roller Mill. Soon after making a final settle-
ment of this estate, he bought of Enoch P. Moore
his W. H. property in the same place. He rebuilt
and much enlarged the capacity of the plant, putting
in new and the latest improved power and machin-
ery for the grinding of feed and the more success-
ful handling of grain, flour, feed, hay, etc., in car
load lots for both the wholesale and retail trade. This
is the only business of the kind in that locality and
like his former business in Christiana has proven
successful and profitable.
Mr. Walter was elected to the ofHce of justice
of the peace in the spring of 1862, and was con-
tinued in that position for twenty years. He was
elected one of the first councilmen of the borough
of Christiana, and was largely instrumental in pro-
moting and securing the gravity spring water sup-
ply, cement sidewalks, and other improvements in
the town. He has been a director of the Christiana
National Bank, and of the Chester Valley National
Bank for many years, and has held other positions
of trust.
HENRY C. BOYD, a prominent merchant of
Manheim, Lancaster county, was born July 16,
1838, at Mt. Hope, son of John and Catherine
(Likens) Boyd.
The Boyd family is of the Scotch-Irish race,
which has become noted for the ability and force
of character of its representatives, and James Boyd,
his grandfather was a lifelong resident of Ireland.
John Boyd, the father, who was a man of unusual
native force, was born in Ireland about 1784, and
came to America in 1810. His first employment
was in a mill at Baltimore, Md., where he remained
for a brief period, and he then spent some years
in Berks county. Pa., near Reading, as clerk and
manager of a general store, and bookkeeper for the
Canal Company. His next position was that of
chief clerk for the Brooks Iron and Nail Manu-
facturing Co., at Birdsboro, Pa., and after a short
experience at Monada Furnace was offered the
post of manager of the Mt. Hope Furnace, which
he accepted in 1830. There he. spent twelve years,
and on retiring, in 1843, devoted his attention to
agriculture, having purchased with his earnings a
farm a mile from Mt. Hope, where his remaining
years were spent. Mr. Boyd married Catherine
Likens, a native of Berks county, and they had ten
children : William L., who succeeded his father as
manager of the Mt. Hope Furnace, and died at the
age of seventy-two years; Mary Ann, deceased;
Annie J., widow -of John Beam ; Harriet, wife of
John D. Witters ; Edward, a farmer at Colebrook ;
EHzabeth, widow of David Eichels; Clement, a
farmer of Penn township, prison inspector of Lan-
caster county, and ex-member of the Penlisylvania
Legislature ; Henry C, whose name opens this
sketch ; John L., who died at the age of thirty-
six ; . and James, who died at the age of sixty-nine
years. John Boyd was a kind father, yet exacting,
requiring from his children obedience and the ob-
servance of the Sabbath.
Henry C. Boyd began his business career at
the age of seventeen years, leaving home to ac-
cept a situation as clerk with Arndt & Worley,
merchants of Manheim. Equipped with a good
character, sound physique and a willingness to
work, defects of early education were easily over-
come, his worth to the firm being shown by his
admission as a partner four years later. The new
firm of Worley, Bomberger & Boyd, dealers in
lumber and general merchandise, lasted one year
and nine months, when the business was transferred
to Arndt & Boyd. In 1875 Mr. Boyd withdrew,
and established himself at his present place, and
for more than a quarter of a century there has
been but one name above the door, that of Henry
C. Boyd. Immediately after securing sole control
of the business, Mr. Boyd planned and constructed
the large block in which his business is now con-
ducted. The store is a model of neatness, and
there is reflected in every department the good
taste of the owner, now assisted by his sons, Oliver,
Allan and John. In addition to his valuable busi-
ness property Mr. Boyd is owner of other real
estate in the borough, besides a farm one and a
quarter miles east of Manheim, which has been im-
proved and beautified by him at a great expense.
Mr. Boyd's shrewd judgment is appreciated by
his business associates, and eleven years as director
of the Manheim National Bank and his service as
promoter, organizer and trustee of the Enterprise
Hosiery Mill, give evidence of marked ability in
finance. He was one of the principal factors in
securing the Lancaster, Petersburg & Manheim
Railroad, and he is one of the directors of the same.
In the affairs of the borough his public spirit has
been usefully displayed, and during his terms as
burgess and councilman, his influence was given to
many worthy measures ; he was elected burgess in
1880, and in 1901, was appointed to that incum-
bency, to fill an unexpired term. His most zealous
efforts have been directed toward securing good
schools, and it was during his service as school
director that the present imposing school building
was erected. Mr. Boyd served one term as notary
232
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
public, to which office he was appointed. His po-
litical allegiance is given unfalteringly to the Re-
publican party. He was elder in the Reformed
Church and superintendent of the Sunday-school,
and his earnest work in the cause of religion has
borne good results. His name is also enrolled as
a member of Selah Lodge, No. 657, I. O. O. F.
On Sept. 3, 1861, Mr. Boyd married Miss Cath-
erine Eisenberger, daughter of Martin and Eliza-
beth Eisenberger, of Manheim, and to this union
four sons have been born : H. Oliver, who mar-
ried Miss Ella Keener; Allan J., a member of the
borough council, who married Miss Elizabeth
Pfautz; John B., who married Miss Mary Burk-
holder; and G. Rufus, now clerk in the Manheim
National Bank (a position which he has held un-
interruptedly since 1890), who married Miss Ida
Long.
HENRY S. MELLINGER, of Ephrata bor-
ough, is a retired farmer and brick manufacturer,
who is rated among the substantial and solid citi-
zens, who worthily represent a class of men, who,
through youth and middle age followed an indus-
trious life, and are now able to enjoy the provision
their early efforts made for them.
Henry S. Mellinger was born on Feb. 14, 1852,
a son of Edward and Susan (Showers) Mellinger,
the former of whom was a prominent farmer of the
township for many years, who died March 21, 1902,
aged seventy-five years, eleven months and five days.
Three children were born to the parents of Henry
S. : Adam, who died in his twenty-ninth year ; Henry
S. ; and Susan, who married Henry McCarty, of
Earl township.
Grandfather Jacob Mellinger, was a carpenter
by trade and also resided in this township, marry-
ing here and rearing these children : Timothy,
Edward, Daniel, John, Jacob, Moses, Martin and
Eliza.
Henry S. Mellinger was reared on a farm and
received his education in the public schools of
Ephrata township. At the age of nineteen he
commenced to learn the carpenter trade. On Jan.
I, 1873, he was married to Miss Matilda Grover,
a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Young) Grover,
and to this union were born: Harry, born June
8, 1875. who died April 8, 1876; Emma, born
March' 16, 1877; Ella G., born Feb. 14, 1879; Ja-
cob, born April 22, 1881 ; Annie, born July 14,
1882 ; and Ella, who died in infancy. The death
of Mrs. Mellinger was on Jan. 17, 1884, and on
Feb. 18, 1886, Mr. Mellinger was married to Miss
Elizabeth A. Killhefner, of Earl township, a daugh-
ter of John and Barbara (Bealer) Killhefner, who
was born Feb. 14. 1852, and to this marriage were
born: John Rpy, born Feb. 18, 1889, and Delleth
E., born Dec. 8, 1893.
Although Mr. Mellinger started out in life with
very limited means, he was energetic and industri-
ous, and has been very successful, owning now
considerable property and a very comfortable brick
mansion, located on West Main street, in Ephrata.
At present he is living somewhat retired from busi-
ness care, having earned his ease. In the com-
munity he is well regarded, and he has many friends
in Ephrata.
WILLIAM SMITH KAUTZ, during his act-
ive life a cigar manufacturer in Lancaster, was
born near Indianapolis, Ind., Dec. 31, 1836, and
died July 16, 1899. His parents, Michael and Fan-
nie (Kauffman) Kautz, were born, reared, and
died in Lancaster county, the former passing away
in 1843, at the age of thirty-five, and the latter in
1887, at the age of seventy-five. Michael Kautz
was a shoe maker by trade, and with his wife was
a devout member of the M. E. Church. . Of the
children born of this union, Jacob was drowned
when twelve years of age; Jonathan died in in-
fancy ; Harriet died at the age of sixty-three ; Will-
iam Smith ; Harry was killed during the Civil war ;
and Fannie is the widow of Andrew Stewart. Fan-
nie (Kauiifman) Kautz married for a second hus-
band Captain George Hitzelberger, who served in
the wars of 18 12 and 1849, ^"d raised a company
for the old militia. He lived to be ninety-two
years of age, and died in 1872. Of this union
there were no children.
As a child William Smith Kautz came to Lan-
caster with his parents, and at a comparatively
early age learned the cigar makers' trade. After-
ward he followed the occupation of plastering for
a time, but in 1871 resumed cigar making, and in
1881 started in the cigar business for himself. He
had a thorough knowledge of his chosen calling,
and latterly supplied a trade which enabled him to
employ seven men. He was a Democrat in politi-
cal affiliation, but was never active in local poli-
tics, preferring to devote his entire time to his
business. He attended the Church of God.
Mrs. Kautz was formerly Maria M. Rash, and
was born in Columbia, Pa. She is the mother of
four children, viz. : Charles W., who married Ida
Anderson, and is a groceryman of Lancaster; Fan-
nie C, the widow of Fred Geider Seith, of Phila-
delphia ; Harrie S., who is deceased ; and Edith M.
JAMES P. COLLINS, a worthy and respected
citizen of BeartoWn, Pa., is a native of Philadelphia,
born there Nov. 13, 1838, son of Charles and Ann
(McClelland) Collins, the latter being closely re-
lated to Gen. George B. McClellan.
The parents of our subject were both natives
also of Philadelphia, where the father died. He
was of Scotch descent and was a combmaker by
trade.
James P. Collins was reared in Philadelphia,
and was able to take advantage of the opportunities
offered in the excellent public schools. When of
sufficient years he learned the trade of car-finisher
and car painting, which he followed until 1898.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
283
In April, 1861, when the first call was made by
the Government for soldiers for a three-months'
service, Mr. Collins was among the first loyal men
to respond, enlisting April 24, in Co. K, i8th P. V.
I., and on Aug. 24th of the same year was com-
missioned se.rgeant in Co. C, 23d P. V. L, and for
three years he performed the duties of a soldier
with faithfulness. After the expiration of this
long service, he re-enHsted, April 13, 1864, en-
tering Co. H, 7th Reg. U. S. Vet. Vol., and was
mustered out from this company April 20, 1866,
at Leesburg, Va. Mr. Collins was one of the most
faithful and valiant soldiers of the Civil war, and
he possesses as a precious souvenir, a gold medal
which was presented to him by his company, com-
memorating his brave and gallant service. This
could not have been received by any one not worthy
■of it, and it reflects not only credit upon his true-
hearted comrades, but great honor upon himself.
Although he participated in many of the hardest
fought battles of the war, he miraculously escaped
both wound and capture. After the close of the
war Mr. Collins returned to Philadelphia and en-
tered the employ of the Pennsylvania Car Co., and
was employed there at his trade until 1880, at
which time he removed to Lancaster county and
located' at Beartown. Here he purchased twelve
acres of land, which he has so improved and mod-
■ernized that the place is now one of the most at-
tractive homes in this locality. Mr. Collins does
:some farming, and still continues his business of
painting, not confining his energies to either ex-
clusively.
On May 11, 1871, Mr. Collins was united in
marriage with Barbara A. Dolby, daughter of
Abraham Dolby, of Lancaster county. Her death
took place Aug. 8, 1895, at the age of forty-five
years, leaving two children, Fannie and Charles.
Mr. Collins is one of the very intelligent, well-read
and hospitable residents of Beartown, and enjoys
the esteem of the community.
DAVID BACHMAN LANDIS, proprietor of
the Pluck Art Printery, at No. 38 East Chestnut
street, Lancaster, is not only an original, high-
grade printer, but also an author. In 1888 Mr.
Landis compiled and published a neat little volume
■entitled "The Landis Family of Lancaster County,
a Comprehensive History of the Landis Folk, from
the Martyrs' Era to the Arrival of the First Swiss
Settlers, Giving Their Numerous Lineal Descend-
ants ; also an Accurate Record of Members in the
Rebellion, with a Sketch of the Start and Subse-
quent Growth of Landisville and Landis Valley,
and a Complete Directory of Living Landis Ad-
ults." From this book we learn that :
"For about two generations history fails to re-
veal individual members of the Landis Family, i. e.,
from 1643 to 1717. Members of the Mennonite be-
lief early took advantage of William Penn's liberal
policy to settle in America. About 1683 and later,
in 1709 and 1712, numbers of them emigrated to
Chester county (including what is now the county
of Lancaster).
"In 1717 three brothers. Rev. Benjamin, Felix
and John Landis, all Swiss Mennonites, came to
America from the vicinity of Mannheim, on the
Rhine, where they had been driven from Zurich,
Switzerland, and purchased land from Penn and
the Conestogoe Indians. Like most of the pioneer
settlers of the American wilds, these good people
were comparatively poor in worldly possessions,
and had their hands so full of work, that they
failed, it seemed, to keep their family records. They
became, however, instinctively American in their
progress, and proceeded at once to skillfully till
the soil which has since made this county known
the world over as a garden spot. Here, also, these
pioneer members of the family worshipped their
God according to their desire, and in perfect peace.
"Benjamin's lineal descendants being numerous
and mostly located in the present confines of Lan-
caster county, his vast family obtains precedence
throughout this volume; while the descendants of
his two brothers, Fehx and John (and others who
emigrated afterward), are also given wherever
they are connected with the history of the county.
"Rev. Benjamin Landis, one of the three broth-
ers who emigrated to America, accompanied by an
only son, Benjamin, Jr. (aged eighteen), took up
a tract of 240 acres of land from the London Com-
pany, for which he received a patent in 1718. This
land was in the possession of the Conestogoe In-
dians, from whom it was obtained by purchase.
Benjamin was a Mennonite preacher, and, with
his son, began farming on his tract, situated in
what is now East Lampeter township, near Mel-
linger's meeting house, about four miles East of
Lancaster City, at the intersection of the Horse-
shoe and old Philadelphia roads. No records tell
to whom this pious man was married, and unfor-
tunately for several succeeding generations such'
information is very meager."
David Bachman Landis is descended through
Rev. Benjamin Landis by Benjamin, Jr., John Lan-
dis, of the fifth generation (eldest son of John (4)
and who married Anna Bachman), John C. Landis
(eldest son of John and Anna (Bachman) Landis)
and Israel Christian, second son of John C. Landis
and Veronica Shelly, his wife, these being the
grandparents of David Bachman Landis. Israel
Christian Landis was married to Mary Musselman,
and had two children, David Bachman Landis and
Florence Shelly Landis. Israel Christian Landis
was postmaster of Salunga, from 1871 to 1874.
"David Bachman Landis, of the eighth genera-
tion, was born in Landisville Feb. 12, 1862. He
received a common-school education, was a clerk
in his father's store in Bamfordville for some years.
In March, 1877, during school days, he first brought
to light a small boys' paper, called the Keystone
Amateur. In April, of the following year, it was
234
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
first printed by him, under the title of the Amateur,
Jr. In August of that year, the sheet was enlarged
to a sixteen-page magazine, including covers, un-
der the original name; and with the October num-
ber it ceased publication. On the seventh of Octo-
ber, 1878, David was apprenticed to the Inquirer
Printing & Publishing Co., Lancaster, to learn Gut-
enberg's art. After serving four years at the trade,
he opened a professional jobbing office in Landis-
ville, in April, 1883. On May i, of the same year,
he issued the initial number of the Village Vigil,
as a tri-monthly; in a year it was printed weekly;
and in 1885 the paper was enlarged to eight pages,
being known thereafter as the Landisville Vigil.
He has been a frequent contributor to the Inquirer,
Morning News and New Era, of Lancaster ; the
Wheel, New York; the Wheelman (magazine),
Boston ; the American Art Printer, of New York
(papers on technical topics) ; and other journals.
He was married to Nora K., a daughter of David
Baker, deceased, of East Hempfield township, on
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 1885, by Rev. Dr. E. Greenwald,
late of Lancaster. On Sept. 19, 1886, a daughter,
named Katie Musselman, was born. On March
13, 1886, the Vigil was discontinued, the owner
connecting himself with the Lancaster Inquirer."
Here the chapter ends, so far as the work refers
to David Bachman Landis in a personal way ; but
the most interesting part of his career remains to
be told.
Mr. Landis' daughter, Kate Musselman Landis,
referred to in the book, and her brother, Allen
Baker (born May 29, 1889), entered into rest, re-
spectively, on Oct. 5 and 6, 1891, and the double
funeral is well remembered by the citizens of Lan-
caster. Two other children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Landis, Irene Janet (January 18, 1893) and Elvin
Guy (April 22, 1899).
In 1888 Mr. Landis established the Pluck Art
Printery, at No. 320 East Chestnut street, in 1890
removing to North Queen and Walnut streets, and
in 1 89 1 locating in a permanent home — for the fam-
ily as well as for the printing office — which Mr.
Landis since purchased, at No. 38 East Chestnut
street. For four years Mr. Landis had edited and
published a finely printed magazine called Pluck,
from which his printery takes its name. This
bright publication was devoted to the advancement
of printing,- photography and otKer arts, and was
discontinued a few years since, owing to increasing
business in commercial printing, requiring all of
the publisher's time. Since the printery was estab-
lished at No. 38 East Chestnut street the business has
continually grown from that day to this, and is still
growing. The features of the business are superior
commercial and society printing, and the issuing of
druggists' labels — Pluck having a monopoly of the
latter so far as Lancaster is concerned. Indeed, in
this line, Mr. Landis' printing establishment enjoys
a reputation that extends far beyond the limits of
this state, he having filled a very large order from
far off Louisiana. The proprietor of Pluck is, in
brief, a designer and inventor as well as a printer;
and his work is as original and unique as it is ar-
tistic. Among his best permanent work are four
volumes of "Specimens of Pluck's Printing." These
choice books were sold throughout- the United
.States and foreign countries.
Mr. Landis is a member of the Grace Lutheran
Church, in which he was for a time a deacon ; is-
a member of the Lancaster County Historical So-
ciety; and is an ardent wheelman, having been the
founder of the Lancaster Cycling Club, to which
he gave a home at his place on East Chestnut
street, during the early period of its existence, and
of which he was secretary for one and one-half
years. He has organized many bicycle meets and
parades, and has influenced legislation for better
streets and roads. At present he is sole Rep-
resentative from the Second District of the L.
A. W. in Pennsylvania. So ardent has been his
interest in cycling that he was appointed, by the-
Chief consul in Philadelphia, to the position of
Local Consul for the Pennsylvania Division League
of American Wheelmen from Lancaster, which
position he yet holds as senior consul ; and, he holds
a handsome special diploma, awarded him by the
Keystone committee of the League of American
Wheelmen. His latest important office is on the
National Highway Improvement committee, where
he is rendering valuable service without remun-
eration. Pie is the oldest member of the League
in Lancaster county, being known as No. 158 of the
original membership. In fact Mr. Landis is in
cycling what he has been in historical researches,
in his studies of the art of printing, in his help ta
improve street and road systems, and in every-
thing else that he deems worthy of his doing — a
painstaking, intelligent and conscientious en-
thusiast.
JOSEPH B. NISSLY (deceased) was a native
of Lancaster county, and was a son of Rev. Chris-
tian and Magdalina (Baumberger) Nissly. Rev.
Christian Nissly was for many years a preacher in
the Mennonite Church near Manheim, and he died
Aug. 6, 1882, when eighty-seven years old, the
father of the following named children : Samuel,
died young, as also did Christian; Martha, also de-
ceased, was married to Dr. Andrew Garber, an ex-
banker as well as physican ; Joseph B. ; and Martin,
single and retired, resides in Salunga, Lancaster
county.
Joseph B. Nissly was the owner of five farms,
and was the most extensive agriculturist in the
township. His circumstances in life were so com-
fortable that he cared for no office, although he did
consent to serve as road supervisor for one year.
He was twice married. By his first wife, Martha
Shirk, he became the father of five children, viz. :
Martha, wife of Amos Strickler, - a carpenter in
Landisville; Christian, a farmer in Rapho town-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
235
ship, and married to Tillie Long; Samuel, married
to I'riscilla Zeager, and farming in Jackson county,
Kas. ; Joseph, deceased; and Anna, deceased wife
of Henry Shenk. Martha (Shirk) Nissly was born
m Lancaster county, and died in 1869, at the age
of thirty-five years.
Mr. Nissly, in January, 1871, married in Co-
lumbia Miss Elizabeth Witmer, who was born in
Rapho township. May 16, 1842, a daughter of Peter
F. Witmer, of whom full mention will be made fur-
ther on. To this second marriage, however, no
children were born. Mr. Nissly continued his exten-
sive farming operations until fifteen years prior to his
death, which took place April 6, 1897, when he was
seventy-six years of age. In religion he was a Men-
nonite, in politics a Republican, and as a citizen
was one of the most influential and prominent in
Landisville.
Peter F. Witmer, deceased father of Mrs. Jos-
eph B. Nissly, was born in Manor township Feb. 11,
1809, and died in East Donegal township Dec. 21,
1896, and there his remains were interred in the
Mennonite cemetery. He was a son of Peter and
Barbara (Funk) Witmer, the former of whom was
a weaver by trade, and both of whom passed their
entire lives in Manor township. They were the
parents of thirteen children, who were born in the
following order: John, deceased; Mary, deceased
wife of Michael Grosh ; Barbara, who was married
to John Kaufman, but is now deceased; Christian,
who died young ; Jacob, who died in 1900 ; Peter F.,
father of Mrs. Nissly, and also deceased; Harry,
who is living in retirement; Christian, who died in
the West; Martin, also retired; Benjamin, a. farm-
er ; Catherine, deceased wife of John Gerlach ; An-
na, deceased wife of Jacob Stehman; and Eliza-
beth, who has also been called away.
Peter Witmer, father of Peter F., was a son of
John Wittmer, as the name was originally spelled,
and the change in the spelling was brought about
by a brother of Peter F., named Jacob Wittmer
and who was a weaver. In the weaving of a spread
which was to bear the family name, Jacob found
himself too cramped for space to use two T's, and
so omitted one, and since that time the name has
borne its present spelling — Witmer.
Peter F. Witmer married, in Elizabethtown,
Lancaster county, Miss Elizabeth Eshleman, and to
this union were born nine children, viz.: Cather-
ine, who died unmarried at the age of forty-three
years; Jacob, a farmer in East Donegal township;
Peter, a farmer in Rapho township; Elizabeth,
widow of Joseph Nissly, whose biography is given
above; Mary, residing with her brother Jacob:
Anna, wife of Josiah Myers, a retired farmer of
Carro'll county, Md. ; Jonas, proprietor of the Cross
Keys Hotel in Marietta — the finest hotel building
in the county; Henry, a farmer in East Donegal
township ; and Fanny, wife of Jacob Sowders, also
a farmer in the same place.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Eshleman) Witmer was born
in Manor township April 9, 181 2, a daughter of
Henry and Catherine (Frank) Eshleman, of Stras-
burg, Pa., and both now deceased. Mr. Eshleman
was a farmer by vocation, but for many years prior
to his death, lived retired. To him and wife were
born eight children, to- wit: (i) Elizabeth Wit-
mer, who is living with her daughter Elizabeth in
Landisville, is remarkably active for her advanced
age. (2) Catherine is the deceased wife of Jacob
Shenk. (3) Susannah was first married to David
Swigert, and she is now the widow of Samuel
Brant. (4) Mary is the widow of John Payne, of
Carroll county, Md. (5) Sarah is the wife of
David Dennison, who is living retired in Maytown,
Pa. (6) Henry was killed on a railroad. (7)
Anna is the wife of Abraham Crider, saw-mill pro-
prietor in Hamilton, Va. (8) Fanny was first mar-
ried to John Hertzler, and of the children born of
this union, John E. became president of the Lan-
caster Trust Co., and lives in Lancaster; Mary E.
married Jacob Hertzler, who is now deceased, and
she makes her home in Elizabethtown; and Eliza-
beth E. married a Mr. Murray, and lives in Ala-
bama. After the death of Mr. Hertzler, his widow,
Fanny, wedded George Hergleroth, and became the
mother of two children by this marriage: Emma,
wife of Dr. Ulrich, of Elizabethtown; and Jacob,
who is unmarried, and residing in Lancaster. The
paternal grandparents of Mrs. Elizabeth Witmer
were natives of Germany and early settled near
Strasburg, Lancaster county, and her maternal
grandparents were Valentine and Catherine
(Bruea) Frank.
JOHN WATT THOMPSON. Among the
representative farmer citizens of Lancaster county,
is John Watt Thompson, who for many years has
been a substantial agriculturist of Sadsbury town-
ship, although since 1886 he has been retired from
activity. He was born June 14, 1830, in the same
log cabin on this farm, in which his honored father
first saw the light.
The Thompson family is an old and respected
one in this county, some of its members having at-
tained fame during the Revolutionary war. It was
founded in America by James Thompson, who
came over in 1696, and took up the land on which
John Watt Thompson now resides. He was of
Scotch-Irish extraction.
Nathan Thompson, son of the emigrant, died
Dec. 22, 1813. His children were: (i) Col. James,
born on his father's farm Feb. 17, 1745. On Dec.
5, 1772, he married Lydia Baily, who was born in
July, 1750, and died Dec. 11, 1806. Col. James
Thompson was commissioned by the Supreme Ex-
ecutive Council of Pennsylvania colonel of the 1st
Battalion of Militia in the county of York Sept.
15, 1777. His command was attached to the forces
of Brig.-Gen. James Potter, who commanded the
Pennsylvania militia. In the action at White Horse,
Pa., Sept. 16, 1777, Col. Thompson was badly
236
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
wounded while making a charge upon the British
line. Gen. Potter dismounted and placing Col.
Thompson upon his horse, sent him to the rear.
On Feb. 13, 1779, the latter was elected councilor
for York county, defeating Gen. James Ewing.
After the expiration of his term as councilor, he
returned to Sadsbury township, and there engaged
in business with his brother-in-law. Col. John
Steele, in the manufacture of paper, near Steele-
ville, where he purchased several hundred acres of
land. He died Oct. 3, 1807. (2) Col. Robert, son
of Nathan, was appointed sub-lieutenant of the
county, and died in Sadsbury township, Lancaster
county, in -the fall of 1783. (3) Capt. Andrew
commanded a company of militia in Chester county.
He was commissioned by Gov. Simon Snyder, ma-
jor of the 1st Battalion of the 97th regiment of
militia during the Revolution. He moved to
York county, where he was appointed a justice of
the peace. At the close of the war he returned to
Sadsbury township, with his brother James. (4)
Nathan is mentioned below, (s) Margaret mar-
ried William Walker, of Tyrone township, Adams
county.
Nathan Thompson, son of Nathan, was, like his
brothers, a soldier of the Revolution. He died May
26, 1824. His wife was Jane Miller, and in their
family was Joseph M., the father of John Watt
Thompson.
Joseph M. Thompson was born May 22, I797>
near Oxford, Chester county. He married Mary
Watt, who was born June 24, 1789, and died in
1867, at the age of seventy-eight years. Mr. Thomp-
son passed away in 1870, at the age of seventy-
three years. Both were God-fearing, pious people,
members of the United Presbyterian church, and
both were laid to rest in the cemetery at Lower
Octoraro Church. The children born to Joseph M.
Thompson and wife were: Margaret M., born
Nov. 19, 1826; Jane M., born July i, 1828, mar-
ried Marshall Wilson ; John Watt, born June 14,
1830; Rachel A., born Aug. 7, 1832; Susan E.,
born Dec. 9, 1834; and Harriet A., born July 26,
1844. This family all lived unmarried, with the
exception of John Watt and his sister, Jane, and
all are dead except John Watt.
John Watt Thompson obtained his education
in the common schools of his locality, and was
reared to farm work, early becoming a practical
agriculturist and capable of conducting all kinds
of farming operations successfully. Until 1886 he
continued in the management of his home farm,
in the meantime purchasing one other* valuable
€state.
On Dec. 24, 1856, in Smyrna, Sadsbury town-
ship, John Watt Thompson was married to Sarah
J. Russell, and a large and intelligent family, has
heen born to this union, almost all of the survivors
having established homes of their own, and becom-
ing among the most respected citizens of their var-
ious localities. They were as follows: Joseph M.,
who married Rebecca Bush, has two children,
Joseph M., Jr., and Rebecca, and lives in Avondale,
Pa. ; William E., deceased, who married Josephine
McGowan, and passed out of life Oct. 17, 1896;
John W., who married Mary Campbell, has had
four children, Sarah J. (deceased), John W., Mary
A. and Myrtle E., and resides with his father;
James F., who married Anna Greenleaf, has two
children, James F. and Virginia, and lives in Chris-
tiana, Pa. ; George A., who married Elsie Hoffman,
has one child, Verdina, and is in the lumber busi-
ness, at Smyrna, Pa. ; Hanford W., a farmer, liv-
ing near Philadelphia; Martin L., who married
Isabella Pickle, has one child, Lena, and is a farmer
in Sadsbury township : Howard B., who died June
13, 1871 ; Winfield S., who married Anna Rice, has
four children, Chester E., Charlie, Lesley and Lydia,
and is a farmer of Sadsbury township ; Charles W.,
who died Aug. 3, 1874; and Herbert E., a farmer
near Philadelphia.
Mrs. Sarah J. (Russell) Thompson was born
in this township, Sept. 18, 1836, the estimable
daughter of Joseph and Sarah Russell, the for-
mer of whom was a farmer in Lancaster county;
she died Jan. 26, 1882, and was laid to rest in
Octoraro Church cemetery.
John Watt Thompson suffered a partial stroke
of paralysis, in 1861, from which he has never en-
tirely recovered, but in spite of this drawback, he
has become one of the successful farmers of this
vicinity, and is a leading member of the United
Presbyterian Church, known as the Octoraro
Church, to which he gives generous support and
where he is highly esteemed.
PETER SHINDLE, born April 29, 1760, in
Lancaster county, was in the Revolutionary ser-
vice. He went as a fifer, in July, 1776, in Capt.
Andrew Graaf's company in Col. George Ross'
regiment; and in September, 1777, he was under
Capt. Stoever, of Greenawalt's regiment. He was
promoted to brigade fife major, and was present
at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. He
went out the third time under Capt. William
Wertz ; and in 1778 he volunteered to aid in taking
the Hessian prisoners of Lancaster to Philadelphia,
in Capt. -App's company.
SAM MATT. FRIDY. According to the im-
mortat Cooper, there is an "instinctive tendency in
men to look at any man who has become distin-
guished," that is, whose nature has been as great as,
if not greater than, the lofty position he has attained,
and for the emulation of coming generations the life ■
of Sam Matt. Fridy, of Lancaster county. Pa., late
Revenue collector of the Qth Revenue District of
Pennsylvania, is here brieflv chronicled. His suc-
cessful administration of affairs in difficult and im-
portant places has won him the respect of men of ■
every party.
Mr. Fridy was born at Mountville, Lancaster
ociri )Joa^LelTl.d:-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
237
county, March ii, 1837, and is a worthy representa-
tive of a family that has hved for nearly two cen-
turies in that vicinity. His great-grandfather, Jacob
Fridy, was a native of Baden, Germany, but early in
life came to the New World, where he married and
engaged in the shoemaking business. He married
Saloma Yost, and became the father of three sons :
Christian, who moved to Chester county in 1802,
locating near Yellow Springs ; Jacob, who occupied
the home of his father, now owned by William
Walker : and Matthias, who purchased the property
now known as the "Grubb Ore Mines," and who be-
came the grandfather of Sam Matt. Fridy. Mat-
thias Fridy died in July, 1825.
John Fridy, the father of Sam Matt. Fridy, was
born in 181 1, and died in 1886. He passed his entire
life as a farmer, and took an active part in the affairs
of the community. In politics he was first a Demo-
crat, and in 1844 became a Whig, and upon the
formation of the Republican party supported same.
For his wife he chose Elizabeth Musser, who was
born in 181 7, a daughter of Peter Musser, son of
John, the latter a son of Peter, who was a native of
Wurtemberg, Germany, and came to America early
in 1740, in 1768 locating with his family near
Mountville. John Fridy and his wife Elizabeth be-
came the parents of eleven children, namely : Sam
Matt., who is the eldest; Cyrus, who served in the
2d Pa. Heavy Artillery in "the Civil war, and died
while in the army; John M. ; Reuben; Henry;
Aaron ; Annie, who became the wife of David Yohn,
who resides in Mountville ; Lizzie, wife of Hon. W.
P. Snyder, president pro tem. of the Senate of Penn-
sylvania, who resides at Spring City, Chester coun-
ty ; and Mary, Barbara and Alma, all of whom died
in infancy.
Sam Matt. Fridy passed his early years on the
home farm, but enjoyed advantages for an educa-
tion that in those days were most unusual. After at-
tending the common schools he was given one term
at Whitehall Academy, and in 1856 returned to his
home school as a teacher, later teaching two other
schools in the township. In 1859 he began his life
as a servant of the public, and has maintained to the
present the high principles that so early in life won
for him the esteem of those who knew him best. He
was elected justice of the peace for West Hempfield
township, and held that position until 1862, when he
was selected an assistant to Gen. James L. Reynolds,
Commissioner of Drafts, and while in that position
helped to make the first enrollment and the first
draft in Lancaster county. His next service was in
Washington, D. C, where he was given a position
in the Quartermaster-General's office, in the War
Department, where in a short time he was given
charge of the accounts, and the arduous duties of
this place he efficiently discharged until 1865. That
year he resumed an occupation he had begun early
in 1857, that of auctioneering, but after two years
( 1867) the State again sought his services, this time
in the State Department at Harrisburg, where he re-
mained under the administrations of Govs. John W.
Geary, John F. Hartranft and Col. H. M. Hoyt. Mr.
Fridy retained this position for fifteen years, and it
is safe to say that the responsible affairs could not
have been more creditably discharged. While thus
engaged at Harrisburg, he was, in the fall of 1881,
elected to the office of prothonotary of Lancaster
county, and the first Monday in January, 1882, en-
tered upon the duties of that position. At the close
of his term of office, in 1885, he was elected to his
first office, that of justice of the peace of West
Hempfield township, in which he continued until he
was appointed collector of Internal Revenue, assum-
ing the duties of the latter office in November, 1889.
The fifteen counties of the 9th District are : Lan-
caster, York, Adams, Cumberland, Fulton, Bedford,
Blair, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, Snyder, Perry,
Dauphin, Lebanon and Franklin. When his ac-
counts were turned over to his successor, Feb. i,
1894, everything was in the most perfect order. His
subordinates demonstrated their affection for their
departing chief by a fine banquet in his honor, and in
every way proved they regarded the expiration of
his term, which would necessarily remove him from
their midst, as a personal loss.
Not long, however, was Mr. Fridy permitted to
remain a private citizen. The gate to a wider field
was unexpectedly opened to him. In 1895 the
Legislature created the office of Deputy Auditor
General, and Gen. Amos H. Mylin appointed him to
fill the place, and on the election of Gen. Levi G. Mc-
Cauley to the office of Auditor General he was re-
appointed, and is now serving his third term under
Gen. E. B. Hardenbergh. Mr. Fridy is a man well
read, courteous in manner, progressive in business,
and makes many warm friends. He is capable of
much work, so thoroughly does he systematize
everything, and his executive ability enables him to
plan for others, and to successfully carry to an issue
whatever falls within his line of duty.
Not only in the business-like administration of
public affairs has Mr. Fridy proven his eminent
ability, but since 1888, when he was made a trustee
of the Millersville State Normal School (which
office he still holds), he has given evidence of rriost
practical ideas on the subject of education. His
emphatic opposition to superficial learning and his
championship of advancement along substantial
lines have gone far toward winning for the Millers-
ville Normal* a high place among the educational
institutions of the State.
In 1857, in Mountville, Mr. Fridy was united in
marriage with Miss Harriet B. Develin, a daughter
of John Develin, of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Fridy
have been blessed with three children: LaFayette,
who is a passenger locomotive engineer on the Penn-
sylvania railroad ; Annie E. ; and Mercy. In his
fraternal relations Mr. Fridy belongs to Lodge
No. 43, F. & A. M. ; Columbia Chapter, No. 224,
R. A. M. ; and Cyrene Commandery, No. 34, of Co-
lumbia.
288
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
REV. DANIEL WOLGEMUTH. The Wol-
gemuths are among the old and highly esteemed
families of Lancaster county, of respected German
ancestry, a race which through generations has
shown those attributes of sterling worth which
particularly belong to the Germans. Through con-
nections by marriage it also claims kinship with a
number of other prominent families of the county.
In Rev. Daniel Wolgemuth the biographer
finds a most worthy representative of this family.
He was born in Mt. Joy township, Lancaster coun-
ty, Aug. 2, 1844, son of Rev. Joseph and Barbara
(Nissley) Wolgemuth, the former of whom died
on the present farm of his son Daniel, after eight
years of retirement, in 1884, at the age of sixty-
two years. Rev. Joseph Wolgemuth was a farmer
by occupation, but for ten years prior to his death
he was an acceptable minister in the River Brethren
Church, by precept and example illustrating the
beauty of a blameless life. The beloved mother
lived to be seventy-two years old, almost reaching
ber seventy-third birthday, dying in 1892, and both
parents were buried in the cemetery of the Cross
Roads Meeting House, in East Donegal township.
They had three sons and two daughters: Mrs.
Levy Mumma; Mrs. Eli M. Musser, whose hus-
band died five years ago; Martin, who is a retired
farmer in East Donegal township ; Aaron, who died
in 1875 ; and Rev. Daniel. The paternal grand-
father, Daniel Wolgemuth, a farmer of Mt. Joy
township, married a Witmer; on the maternal side
the grandfather was Martin Nissley, who also lived
on a large farm in the same township ; his wife was
a Hershey. No records of that township would
be complete without extended reference being made
to each of these families.
Rev. Daniel Wolgemuth grew up in a Chris-
tian home, and was taught the value of honest in-
dustry and the benefits of a moral life. It has
been said that the environment of early life very
often determines its course, and this has been the
case with Mr. Wolgemuth. He was born and
reared on a farm, and has enjoyed agricultural life
through many years. After his marriage he left
the home roof and rented one of his father's farms
for a space of five years, later becoming its owner,
and until 1901 he continued in its active operation.
Although an excellent farmer and good manager,
Mr. Wolgemuth had the advantage of being able
to turn his mind to still higher things, -and in 1882
was ordained a minister in the religious body
known both as River Brethren and Brethren in
Christ. He is a vigorous and convincing preacher,
and is regarded with esteem and affection through-
out the locality visited in his ministerial labors.
Since 190 1 he has taken no active part in farming
operations, thus being able to give more time to his
other calling.
The first marriage of Rev. Daniel Wolgemuth,
solemnized Nov. 16, 1865, in Lancaster, was to
Miss Anna Engle, and children were born to this
union as follows: Hiram, who married Martha
Musser, is a farmer in East Donegal township;
Fanny married Aaron Heisey, a farmer of Rapho
township ; Barbara married Isaac Ginder, of Rapho
township; Anna became the wife of Levi Martin,
a farmer of Rapho township ; Jacob married Mag-
gie Keener, of Mt. Joy township; Joseph married
Kate Brubaker, and is a farmer of Rapho town-
ship; Daniel, who married Alice Sheets, is farming
on the homestead; Ezra, Phares, Elizabeth, Lydia
and Benjamin are all at home. Mrs. Anna (Engle)
Wolgemuth was born in Rapho township Dec. 27,
1845, and died Jan. 21, 1900, at the age of fifty-
four years. She was buried in the Mt. Pleasant
Meeting House cemetery, in Mt. Joy township.
Her parents were Jacob and Anna (Musser) Engle,
the former a native of Conoy township, and the
latter of East Donegal township. The father died
May 29, 1892, at the age of eighty-six years, and
was buried in the cemetery of the Cross Roads
Meeting House, in East Donegal township. In
his youth he was a fuller by trade, but later became
an extensive farmer. The mother of the late Mrs.
Wolgemuth resides with her son-in-law, a vener-
able and beloved old lady, having been born March
19, 1812. Both she and husband early connected
themselves with the River Brethren Church. Their
children were as follows: John, who is a retired
farmer in Dickinson county, Kans. ; Mary and Ben-
jamin, who died young; Elizabeth (deceased), who
married Henry Shelley; Susannah, who died
young ; Henry, who is a farmer in Rapho town-
ship ; Anna, who became the first wife of Rev.
Daniel Wolgemuth ; Fanny, who became the sec-
ond wife of R6v. Daniel Wolgemuth ; Martha, who
died young; and Eli, who is a farmer in Rapho
township. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Wol-
gemuth were John and Elizabeth (Moyeir) Engle,
the former of whom was born in Conoy township,
Lancaster county, and the latter in York county.
The maternal grandparents were Henry and Mary
(Engle) Musser, both of Lancaster county.
The second marriage of Rev. Daniel Wolge-
muth, on Feb. 26, 1901, was to Mrs. Fanny (En-
gle) Hess, who was the widow of Jacob L. Hess,
a native of Pequea township, this county, who died
April 6, 1897, aged seventy years. He was buried
in the Pequea Church cemetery. His parents were
Jacob and Elizabeth (Lichty) Hess, of Lancaster,
county. Mr. Hess was well known in this county,
and at the time of death was a retired farmer. He
was a member of Zion Children Church.
Rev. Daniel Wolgemuth is a man of force of
character, honest and upright in his dealings with
his fellow men, and enjoys a large measure of
esteem in his locality.
L. M. BRYSON, M. D., one of the well known
physicians and surgeons of Lancaster county, a
practitioner of Paradise township, is the grandson
of William Bryson, who when a young man of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
239
about eighteen emigrated from County Antrim,
Ireland, to America, and located in Lancaster
county. Here he married Martha Berkshieser, and
became one of the successful and prominent farmers
of Paradise township, amassing a handsome com-
petence, including considerable farm property,
Here in Paradise township, he spent the active and
declining years of his life, having attained the ripe
age of ninety-five years when summoned by death
to his eternal home. Himself and wife were de-
vout members of the Lutheran church. They reared
a family of four children, namely: Mary, who be-
came the wife of Jonathan Hoar, of Salisbury
township, Lancaster county, and died a widow at
the age of eighty-three years; John, a farmer near
Ephrata ; James, a farmer, of Drumore township ;
and William, the father of our subject.
William Bryson, son of William and Martha
Bryson, was born in Paradise township, Juiie 14,
181 2. He was reared on the home farm and fol-
lowed agriculture through life, removing to Provi-
dence township, where he acquired a farm. He
married Martha Harsh, who was born in 1820,
daughter of Jacob Harsh, of Paradise township.
She died in 1852, leaving five children as follows :
Jacob L., a resident of Columbia; Martha S., wife
of Frederick Stively, of Strasburg township;
Amanda R. ; L. M., our subject; and- William W.,
a resident of Quarryville. The father lived to a
•good old age, dying in Providence township Oct.
■9, 1897, aged eighty-five years.
Dr. L. M. Bryson was brought up on the farm
in Providence township. As a boy he attended the
public schools and was also a student at Millers-
-ville State Normal. For two years he taught
school. Preparation for his professional career was
begun in the office of Dr. A. H. Helm, of New
Providence, where he read medicine for a time.
He then entered Jefferson Medical College of Phila-
delphia, graduating from that institution in the
class of 1879.
Dr. Bryson located at Marticville, Martic town-
ship, May 12, 1879, very shortly after his graduation,
and there continued in the practice of his profes-
sion until July 14, 1892, when he removed to Para-
dise. Here he has since built up a large practice
which he now enjoys. He is a member of the
•County and State Medical Societies.
Dr. Bryson was married, May 19, 1887, to Miss
Susan M. Peoples, daughter of Abner and Martha
Peoples, of New Providence. They have become the
parents of two children, Rena V. and Park P. Both
are active members of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and are. highly esteemed for their eminent
social qualities.
THOMAS K. WORTHINGTON, of Lancas-
ter City, is president of Worthington & Company,
a corporation which transacts a conservative busi-
ness in investment securities and commercial pa-
per, with offices in the Woolworth Building.
The parents of Thomas K. Worthington were
Dr. Joshua H. and Mary Morris (Kimber) Worth-
ington, and his paternal ancestral line reaches back
to Capt. John Worthington, one' of the early set-
tlers of the State of Maryland, who died in An-
napolis in 1701. His maternal ancestry reaches
back to Anthony Morris, who was the first mayor
of Philadelphia.
Mr. Worthington was liberally educated, grad-
uating from Haverford (Pa.) College, in 1883, re-
ceiving the degree of A. B. Taking a post-grad-
uate course ih History and Political Science at
Johns Hopkins University, he received the degree
of Ph. D. in 1888. In 1890 he graduated from the
Law School of the University of Maryland, receiv-
ing the degree of LL. B., and is a member of the
Baltimore Bar.
Mr. Worthington is the author of a monograph
entitled "Historical Sketch of Pennsylvania Fin-
ance and Taxation," which was published by the
American Economic Association. During 1892
and 1893 he filled the position of managing editor
of the Baltimore News, the leading evening paper
of the South. From 1894 to 1899 he was presi-
dent of the Maryland Title Insurance & Trust
Company, of Baltimore, and in 1899 he removed to
Lancaster and opened an office for the transaction
of an investment brokerage business.
On Jan. i, 1903, Mr. Worthington transferred
his business to Worthington & Company, a cor-
poration of which he is president and general man-
ager. Some of the largest financial interests in the
United States are represented among the stock-
holders of the company.
HENRY A. MOWERY, M. D., of Marietta,
one of the most distinguished and successful phy-
sicians of that borough, was born in Strasburg,
Lancaster county, April 14, 1849, son of Adam and
Susan (Zercher) Mowery, natives, respectively, of
West Lampeter and Manor townships, this county.
Adam Mowery was a farmer, and for thirteen
years was a school director in his township. He
died in Strasburg township, Oct. 17, 1895, at the
age of seventy-two years ; his widow, who was
born in 1826, is now living with her daughter,
Amanda E., in West Lampeter township. Mrs.
Mowery is a devout member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and in that faith her husband
passed away. To Mr. and Mrs. Adam Mowery
were born five children, viz. : Henry A. ; Anna C,
wife of Harry G. Book, surveyor and scrivener at
Lancaster; Amanda E., married to Edward Le-
fever, a farmer in West Lampeter township ; Aldus
J., telegraph operator at Lancaster; and Adam C,
railroad engineer at Chillicothe, Missouri.
The paternal grandparents of Henry A. Mow-
ery were Henry and Christiann Mowery, of West
Lampeter township; and the paternal great-grand-
parents were natives of Germany. By calling Henry
Mowery was a lifelong farmer. The Doctor's ma-
240
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ternal grandparents were Henry and Anna Zer-
cher, of Manor township, Lancaster county, and
York county, Pa., respectively, and also of Ger-
man descent. Henry Zercher was a miller by trade,
and for many years operated a mill in IMillersville,
Lancaster county.
Henry A. Alowery remained on the home farm
until twenty-two years old, and then began teaching
school in Strasburg township, a vocation he fol-
lowed for eight winters intermittently, continuing
to work on the farm in the summer seasons. After
his first year at teaching he was employed one year
in the Strasburg Bank, as individual bookkeeper,
and then resumed teaching. While thus employed
he was also busily engaged in the study of medi-
cine, and when duly prepared entered the College
of Physicians and Surgeon's, at Baltimore, Md.,
graduating March i, 1881. For six months he
practiced his profession in Akron, Lancaster covm-
ty. He then came to Marietta, where his practice
has since been of the most successful character, and
remuneratively satisfactory.
On Septf 5, 1872, in Adams county. Dr. Mow-
ery was united in matrimony with Miss Isabella
Weaver, who has borne him two children: John
N., a graduate from Cornell University in the me-
chanical engineering department, and Harold W.,
still at home.
Dr. Mowery is a past master of the F. & A. M.
In politics he is a Republican, was school director
two terms, and for the past five years has been
president of the board of health. He is a member
of the Presbyterian Church, and socially he and
his wife mingle with the best circles of Marietta
and surrounding country. Professionally the Doc-
tor stands without a rival in his borough or town-
ship.
ROBERT JOHN HOUSTON, best known in
the business circles of Lancaster as a wholesale
notion dealer, has long been regarded as one of that
city's most active business men. He was born in
Maghera, County Londonderry, Ireland, Jan. 16,
1832. The family of which he is an honored mem-
ber was for many years identified with the history
of Scotland, Sir George L. Houston still owning
"Houston Castle," in Renfrewshire, near Johnstone,
the history of which dates back to the twelfth cen-
tury. About that time Sir Hugh de Padvinan, of
French origin, engaged to fight for Malcolm IV,
King of Scotland, and for compensation was granted
the lands of Kilpeter, Straithgrief, where he built a
castle. His Scotch neighbors, unable to pronounce
his French name, called his place "Hughstown,"
which in course of time was corrupted to Houston.
Two of his descendants emigrated into Ireland late
in the seventeenth century, and settled in County
Londonderry. One of them, Robert, was granted
three townships of land, and it is from this branch
of the family that Robert John Flouston is de-
scended.
David Houston, father of Robert J., was born
Aug. II, 181 1, and being the youngest of three sons
did not inherit under the English law of primo-
geniture. He married Margaret Neal ; the latter de-
scended from the O'Neills of Ulster, and they emi-
grated to America in August, 1832. The voyage
to America lasted sixty-three days, and was perilous,
but they finally reached Philadelphia, where they
took passage on a Conestoga wagon for Bart town-
ship, Lancaster county, where Mr. Houston's aunt,
Mrs. Thomas Patterson, resided. In the spring of
1833 they went to housekeeping near his aunt's
home, but shortly afterward, through the solicita-
tion of his brother Henry, he moved to Ogdensburg,
N. Y., and went into the boot and shoe business with
John Harper. The climate, however, was not con-
genial, fever and ague prevailing, and he returned
to Lancaster county with his family in 1837, arriv-
ing there with only fifty cents in his pocket, and five
persons depending on him for support. He at once
began to work at his trade of shoemaker, and, being
a skillful workman, soon had a large patronage, con-
tinuing in that business until 1850. David and Mar-
garet Houston were the parents of four children, all
of whom are living, namely: Robert J., subject of
this sketch, borji, as already stated, in Ireland; Jo-
seph W^, M. D., a practicing physician of Lancaster;
Rose Ann, Avife of William A. Fleming, a farmer of
Chester county ; and Samuel N., M. D., a physician
of Washington, D. C. The parents were members
of the Octoraro United Presbyterian Church. The
mother died March ■2.6, 1883, at the age of seventy-
eight. The father, who spent the closing years of
his life with his daughter, Mrs. Fleming, at Colla-
mer, Chester county, died July 12, 1895, at the ma-
ture age of eighty- three years, eleven months, one
day.
Robert John Houston was an infant when his
parents crossed the ocean, and was reared in Lan-
caster county with the- exception of the eighteen
months spent in Ogdensburg, N. Y. Residing at
what is now known as Bartville, he attended at the
"brick" school, as it was called, and the well-known
compiler and editor, John F. Meginness, was one of
his schoolmates ; the two boys had an exciting race
to see which would get through Pike's Arithmetic
first, and Houston, several years the younger, was
ahead for a long time, but he fell sick, and lost. He
afterward attended the academy conducted by Prof.
James McCoUough, for two years. In his early life
he taught school for a time, commencing Nov. 23,
1846, when fourteen years and ten months old, and
was probably the youngest teacher in the county ; in
his first school, at INTar's Hill, this, county, he had
seventeen pupils older than himself. In 185 1 he en-
tered the store of T. Armstrong & Co., at George-
town, as a clerk, and remained there for two years,
after which he engaged in business for himself at
Bethania, in Salisbury township, conducting a gen-
eral store as a member of the firm of D. Houston &
Son. The business was continued until 1867. Mr.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
241
Houston took part in the Civil war, enlisting in
1862, and was present at Antietam with the 2d Penn-
sylvania Regiment, under Col. John L. Wright,
/ which, he says, got more scaring and less fighting
than any other regiment in the army, the whole
corps being under that born fighter. Major Gen.
John F. Reynolds. Dissolving partnership with his
father in 1867, Mr. Houston left for Lancaster,
where he was appointed deputy assessor in the In-
ternal Revenue office. In 1868 he was a delegate
from Lancaster county to the National Convention
at Chicago which nominated Grant and Colfax. In
May, 1869, he resigned his office of deputy, and
went, into cork manufacturing as one of the proprie-
tors of the Conestoga Cork Works. In 1870 the
factory was burned, and the company dissolved. Mr.
Houston then turned his attention to a matter he
had frequently considered before, and soon decided
to start in the wholesale notion business in Lancaster,
doing so against the advice and remonstrances of
every one of his friends, who could see nothing but
financial disaster and ruin in such a movement. At
that time the only wholesale establishment in Lan-
caster was a small grocery store just started in one
corner of a railroad warehouse by B. P. Miller, who
was the pioneer wholesaler of Lancaster county.
On Sept. I, 1870, Mr. Houston, with the scanty
•capital of $8,000 (partly borrowed), opened the
wholesale notion business on the second floor of No.
24 Center Square. His first employe, and the only
one for some months, was a boy of sixteen years,
named Harry C. Bubb (now deceased). He charged
up the goods sold, made bills, and carried out pack-
ages, while Mr. Houston sold and packed the goods
in daytime, and settled his bills and drew checks at
night. His first month's sales were slightly over
$1,800, and increased rapidly every month for years.
The business grew much faster than his capital did,
and for several years he had a hard struggle to give
credit to his customers and at the same time make all
the cash discounts allowed by manufacturers or their
agents. He recalls with some pride an incident of
the day on which Jay Cooke & Co. failed, in 1873.
He was in Philadelphia, and had bought heavily, his
largest bill being with Kibbe, Colladay ,& Trout, on
Bank street, who were manufacturers' agents, con-
trolling the best lines of knit goods and domestic
notions then made. Late in the afternoon Mr.
Houston heard that Jay Cooke & Co. had failed. He
was frightened, feeling that it would precipitate a
panic, and he walked around to the banking house
to assure himself of the fact. It was too true. To
prepare as best he could for the struggle, he walked
slowly around to the Bank street house, and met one
of the partners at the door. He said to him, "I have
just been around at Jay Cooke & Co.'s place, and I
want to know if I can steal a few days from you if
I cannot pay this bill in ten days," and the answer
was, "Do you know what I would do if I was in
vour place? I would steal a few days from our
house whenever I felt like it." Mr. Houston says
he did steal a few days, but never forgot the house
for it. He gradually came to occupy the third and
fourth floors of the building, and then added Nos.
25 and 26, adjoining. He continued in the business
for thirty years and three months, closing out the
last of his stock Nov. 30, 1900. Mr. Houston has
been engaged in many other enterprises, but regards
the establishing of the wholesale notion business
here as his principal work. At present Lancaster
sends out perhaps one hundred travelers who sell
exclusively at wholesale to dealers, and millions of
dollars worth of merchandise are shipped annually.
Mr. Houston was a leading factor in establish-
ing the Helvetia Leather Co., of Lancaster, was its
first president, and still retains that position. The
company makes a machinery leather which has three
times the strength of oak tanned leather. Mr.
Houston was also one of the organizers of the
Houston Coal & Coke Co., and served for a time as
its president, but has recently sold his stock in the
company ; the plant is located at Elkhorn, McDowell
Co., W. Va., and has a capacity of 500,000 tons per
annum. Mr. Houston is a director and vice-presi-
dent of the Susquehanna Iron & Steel Co., which
owns and runs two furnaces (one at Wrightsville,
York county, and one at Vesta, Lancaster county),
four rolling mills and a tube works at Columbia and
one rolling mill at York, Pa. Mr. Houston became
a Greenbacker in politics in 1877, and in 1886 was
that party's nominee for governor of Pennsylvania,
receiving the full party vote. Issues since that
time having changed, he supported Harrison for
President in 1892 and McKinley in 1896 and again
in 1900. As early as 1857 he was elected a member
of the board of prison inspectors, and served in that
capacity until 1861. In 1862 he helped form the
Union League of Salisbury township, and was its
president during its existence. During the memor-
able election of 1886 for members of the British
House of Commons, Mr. Houston , assisted in or-
ganizing Branch No. 694, of the Irish National
League of America, at Lancaster, of which he was
elected president. This branch, with only thirty
members, sent more than $2,000 to Ireland to aid in
that struggle. After the division in the Irish ranks,
growing out of the Parnell scandal, his branch sur-
rendered its charter, and organized the James Stew-
art Branch of the Irish Federation of America, of
which Mr. Houston was again made president. His
loyalty to Ireland has never interfered with his de-
votion to the best interests of his adopted country.
He is especially interested in the welfare of Lancas-
ter county — the richest county in the United States.
He has been associated with many other enterprises,
but the foregoing are sufficient to illustrate his public
spirit and energy.
Mr. Houston was united in marriage, in 1882,
with Margaret A., daughter of Thomas A. Wiley,
boot and shoe merchant of Lancaster. They had one
child, Margaret Olive, who graduated from Miss
Carey's Southern Home School, of Baltrmore, Md.,
16
242
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and was married Feb. 19, 1901, to Benjamin Champ-
neys Atlee, a member of the Lancaster Bar. Mrs.
Houston died Sept. 5, 1902, and was buried in
Greenwood cemetery, at Lancaster. She was a mem-
ber of St. Paul's German Reformed Church of Lan-
caster. Mr. Houston, while assisting liberally all
deserving religious, charitable and educational insti-
tutions, has not united with any church.
REV. LEVI H. WEAVER. The assertion
that Rev. Levi H. Weaver is one of the best farm-
ers as well as one of the most able and acceptable
pastors of the Reformed Mennonite Church in Lan-
caster county, can easily be accepted when it is
remembered that his revered father was also prom-
inent in both lines.
Levi H. Weaver was born in this county, near
Little Washington, in Manor township, Aug. 10,
1849, son of Rev. Henry and Anna (Howery)
Weaver. Henry Weaver was born in Lancaster
county Oct. 29, 1815, and spent his entire life here,
dying in Strasburg township Sept. 29, 1898. Fol-
lowing his marriage he located in Strasburg town-
ship, near the borough, for a short time, and then
moved to Manor township, where he purchased a
farm, near Little Washington, but remained only
a few years, when he sold it and removed to Para-
dise township, buying a farm there which he
owned for thirty-one years, and operated some
twenty-five years of that time. It comprised sev-
enty-two acres of valuable land. When he left
that property he came to Strasburg township and
purchased a small tract of fourteen acres within
one-half mile of the borough, and there spent the
remainder of his life. Prior to this he bought a
farm of fifty-three acres adjoining his home place,
and that place, now comprising sixty-seven acres,
all in one tract, was owned and operated by his
son, Levi H., for three years.
Rev. Henry Weaver was a very successful agri-
culturist, and made many valuable improvements
on all the land he operated. A man of unobtrusive
piety, he became a beloved minister in the Reformed
Mennonite Church, was ordained by Bishop John
Kohr, and labored in Lancaster county. He mar-
ried Anna Howery, who was born April 23, 1822,
and still survives, beloved and respected by the
neighborhood. Four children were born to this
marriage : John H., a resident of East Lampeter
township ; Henry H., who died in 1881 at the age
of thirty-five; Anna H., who resides with her
mother; and Rev. Levi H.
As the youngest of the family Levi H. Weaver
remained at home as his father's assistant on the
farm, and was educated in the public schools. In
1874 he began farming on his own account on his
father's property in Paradise township, remaining
thereon until his father disposed of it, and then
in 1881 located on the fine farm in Strasburg town-
ship, previously mentioned, from which he moved
to the borough of Strasburg. He had bought a
property on Miller street, in the borough, compris-
ing twelve acres, where he resides.
On Nov. 13, 1877, Miss Ella W. Frealich,
daughter of Jacob and Leah (Weaver) Frealich, \
became the wife of Mr. Weaver, and two children
have come to this union: Anna F., born Aug. 31,
1879; and Emma L., born May 17, 1882. On
Oct. IS, 1902, Anna F. became the wife of Park
H. Trout, son of Elam B. and Catherine Trout, of
Strasburg township, and they reside in the city of
Lancaster. The father of Mrs. Weaver, who was
a blacksmith of Strasburg, died in 1857. The
mother later married Martin Cassel, who died at
Witmer, this county, April 15, 1898; he had long
been connected with the Reformed Mennonite
Church, with which Mrs. Cassel also united. Her
two children are: Anna E., wife of J. H. Scott,
of Philadelphia; and Ella W., the wife of Levi H.
Weaver.
Mr. and Mrs. Weaver became connected with
the Reformed Mennonite Church in 1878, and on
April 28, 1884, Bishop Elias H. Hershey confirmed
Mr. Weaver as a minister. Although his field of
labor is Lancaster county, he is frequently called
to other churches in different parts of the country,
as he is highly regarded by his brethren. For six-
teen years he has been engaged in fighting evil,
and by his advice and example has aided in the
suppression of immorality, and his career has been
one of steadily increasing usefulness.
TOBIAS S. SHOOKERS, proprietor of the
leading drug store in Mountville, Lancaster county,
was born in that town Nov.- 4, 1841, son of Henry
C. and Susannah (Snyder) Shookers, who were
born, respectively, in East and West Hempfield
townships, Lancaster county, were married July
26, 1827, and at once settled in Mountville. Henry
C. Shookers was born Oct. 10, 1801, was a farmer
and druggist, and died in June, 1871. Mrs. Susan-
nah Shooker, who was born March 25, 1812, died
in 1 89 1. Both were members of the German Bap-
tist Church. Of their eleven children, Elizabeth,
born June 5, 1828, died in infancy; Samuel, born
Dec. 20, 1829, died in 1897; Mary Ann, born May
17, 1832, died in infancy; John, born Aug. 17,
1833, died in 1837; Henry, born Sept. 3, 1836, is
a merchant in Mountville; Benjamin, born Oct.
25, 1839, died young; Tobias S. is mentioned be-
low; Simon, born April 10, 1844, Catherine, Nov.
25, 1845, Mattie, April 4, 1847-, and Susanna, June
19, 1848, all died .young.
John and Elizabeth (Shriner) Schucker, the pa-
ternal grandparents of Tobias S., were natives of
the lower end of Lancaster county. It may be here
explained that the original spelling of the name
was the same as that used by the grandparents,
and was changed by a schoolmaster. John . and
Elizabeth Schucker early settled in West Hempfield
township, and it is related that George Washing-
ton once held court in the old Schucker homestead
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
243
in Mountville. John Shucker was a farmer, and
about 1825 removed from Lancaster to Lebanon
county, Pa.; there he passed the remainder of his
hfe, dying at the greatly advanced age of ninety-
eight years ; his wife had already passed away, after
their removal to Lebanon county, and there both
were interred. To this couple were born seven
children, all now deceased, namely: John, Michael,
Daniel, Henry C, Jacob, Elizabeth (who died un-
married) and Catherine (married).
Casper and Sabina (Conhaus) Snyder, mater-
nal grandparents of Tobias S. Shookers, were na-
tives, respectively, of Lancaster and Adams counties,
Pa., and settled in Mountville about 1777. Casper
Snyder was a blacksmith by trade, and in connec-
tion with his calling was for many years landlord
of the "Black Bear Hotel," in Mountville. He had
accumulated about $17,000 through good manage-
ment, but lost all his fortune by going security
(or bail) for friends, and died two years later, in
1818. The children born to Casper and Sabina
Snyder were seven in number, all now deceased,
viz. : John ; Casper ; Jacob ; Catherine, wife of
Henry Mellinger; Elizabeth, who was married to
Benjamin Brookhart ; Mary, wife of Jacob Rich ;
and Susannah, who married Henry C. Shookers.
Tobias S. Shookers lived on the home farm
until twenty years of age, and then clerked in his
father's drug store seven years, at the end of which
period he purchased the store, and has since con-
tinued the business on his own account, having
now the best equipped and oldest pharmacy in
Mountville.
On Aug. 16, 1866, in Lancaster city, Tobias S.
Shookers married Harriet A. Sneath, and to this
union have been born four children, of whom Ida,
the eldest, died young; Mary, John M., and Tobias
C. are still under the parental roof. Mrs. Harriet
A. (Sneath) Shookers was born in East Hemp-
field township, Dec. 9, 1846, daughter of Michael
and Mary (Sechrist) Sneath, of East and West
Hempfield townships, respectively. Michael Sneath
was a farmer by occupation, but in i860 retired
with his wife to Mt)untville, where he died in 1861,
when fifty years old; his remains were buried at
Silver Spring. His wife survived until 1896, being
called away at the age of eighty-nine years, and
-was buried in Mountville cemetery. To their mar-
riage were born two children: Harriet A., now
Mrs. Shookers ; and Henry, who died young. Mrs.
Mary (Sechrist) Sneath first married Abraham
Bowers, to whom she bore six children, viz. : John ;
Michael ; Abraham ; Anna, wife of Fred Sener. a
cattle dealer of Lancaster ; Mary, widow of Jacob
Kready, of East Hempfield; and Leah, wife of
Washington Kreiter, of Lancaster city.
Tobias S. Shookers is in politics a Republican,
but he has never been ambitious as far as office-
holding goes, being contented with attending to
his business. He keeps his drug store replenished
with fresh stock continuously, and this is one of the
secrets of his business success. He is a stock-
holder in the Mountville National Bank. Socially
the Shookers family stands very high, as it has been
known in the county for generations past, with
never a stain on its good name.
THADDEUS S. IRWIN, M. D., whose home
and office are at Christiana, where his professional
acquirements, his warm and sympathetic nature,
and his fine personal characteristics, have won him
a host of friends, is one of the leading physicians
of that part of Lancaster county, and enjoys a
widely extended practice.
William Ifwin, his grandfather, was all his life
engaged in milling in Chester county. Pa. He mar-
ried Christiana Plank, and they had the following
children: James, a miller, who sleeps in the Ir-
win burying ground; Plank, a resident of New
Holland, further mention of whom is made else-
where ; Commodore ; Dr. William, mentioned be-
low ; and Martha, widow of Lewis Emory, who has
her home in Coatesville.
Dr. William Irwin, son of William, and father
of Dr. Thaddeus S., was born at Irwin's Mills,
Honeybrook, Chester Co., Pa., Sept. 16, 1827, and
died in the house which is the present home of
his family, Nov. 13, 1877. His ashes rest in the
cemetery connected with the Friends Meeting House
in Sadsbury township. He was a physician of re-
pute, and in his lifetime enjoyed a professional
standing second to none in the community where his
active years were passed. He was reared on the
farm, and as a boy was inured to hard labor. In
early manhood he assisted in his father's mill, and
was taught that to labor is the lot of man. He
studied medicine under Dr. Joseph Gaston, of
Honeybrook, and received his doctor's degree from
Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1856.
He practiced medicine at Smyrna, Lancaster coun-
ty, until 1865, when he removed to Christiana,
where he soon built up a large practice. For six
weeks he did not secure a full night's sleep, and
as a result of this prolonged strain his health broke
down and fatal sickness came upon him.
On Feb. 21, 1857, in Guthriesville, Chester coun-
ty, Dr. William Irwin married Eliza Jane Mullin,
and the following children were born of this union :
Sarah A. married Joseph E. Janney, a broker in
Philadelphia; Charles M. (i) and Charles M. (2)
both died in infancy ; Emma B. married William
E. Bruce, and is deceased ; Mary E. married Eslie
H. Keene, who is engaged in the bakery business
at Christiana ; Dr. Thaddeus S. is mentioned be-
low ; William Mullin is next in the family ; Eva E.
married Samuel Martin, a resident of Sadsbury
township. Mrs. Eliza Jane (Mullin) Irwin was
born in Guthriesville, Chester county, March 18,
1833, daughter of John S. and Sarah (Gutherie)
Mullin, of Chester county, where her father was
a farmer all his days. He was justice of the peace
many years, and held many local and county posi-
244
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
tions of prominence. One year he ran for Congress
on the Democratic ticket, but failed of election. He
died in 1842, at the age of fifty-two, his widow
surviving until 1879, when she too passed away,
at the advanced age of seventy-nine years. Both
wer^ members of the Methodist Church. They
were the parents of the following children: Will-
iam G., Mary A. (who married James Griffith),
Isabelle, Hannah (who married William McFar-
land), Sarah (who married Washington Wilker-
son), Anna (who married Jesse Rogers), James
and Emma are all deceased; John is a retired mer-
chant of considerable prominence ati.West Chester,
Pa. ; and Eliza J. is 'Mrs. Irwin.
Dr. Thaddeus S. Irwin, noted above as the
leading physician at Christiana, remained at home
with his parents, and attended the district school,
receiving his medical education at Jefferson College,
from which he was graduated in 1887. His resi-
dence in Christiana has brought him into close con-
tact with the best elements of that' community, and
he has been elected to the Borough Council, and in
1901 was elected school director. In religion he is
a Methodist, and belongs to the local church of that
order, .which he is serving as a member of its board
of trustees. His political views are in sympathy
with those of the Republican party, and he is one
of the leading men in the local organization of that
party. Dr. Irwin bears an hdhored name, which
suffers nothing at his hands.
JOSEPH W. HOUSTON, M. D., of Lancaster
city, was bom in Colerain township, Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania.
The Doctor's parents, David and Margaret
Houston, emigrated from Ireland in 1832, and set-
tled in Bart township, Lancaster Co., Pa. On the
paternal side his ancestors were Scotch-Irish, de-
scended from Hugo Padvinan, a Gael who held the
Barony of Kilpeter (afterward Houston), in Straith-
grief, under patent of Malcolm IV, A. D. 1160. The
]Daternal great-grandmother, Elizabeth Porter, was
a Huguenot from Alsace. C)n the maternal side the
Doctor's line of ancestry extends to Hugh O'Neill,
Ear! of Tyrone, Ireland, from whom the Neals of
the United States are descended, the late Mrs. Benja-
min Harrison and Grover Cleveland's mother being
cousins of Margaret Neal . Houston, the Doctor's
mother. The children of David and Margaret Hous-
ton are : Robert John, Dr. Joseph W., both of Lan-
caster ; Rose, widow of W. A. Fleming, of Chester
county. Pa. ; and Dr. Sam, Medical Referee of the
Pension Office, Washington, D. C, who so closely
resembles "Joe" that many persons cannot tell which
is Joe and which is Sam. David Houston and family
removed from Lancaster county to Ogdensburg,
N. Y., but returned in 1837 to Bart township, and,
afterward removed to Salisbury township, this
county.
Dr. Joe Houston, as he is known, attended the
public schools "The Brick" and "Mars Hill," in
Bart township. Rock Mills Academy, Bartville Acad-
emy and the Millersville Normal School. He gradu-
ated from Jefferson Medical College in the class of
1857, and succeeded to Dr. Obed Bailey's practice,
at Andrews Bridge, Colerain township. Later he
located" at Collamer, Chester county, and thence went
to Oxford, Chester county, and in 1893 he came to
Lancaster city.
Dr. Houston first married Isabella Barefoot, who.
died in 1866. Two children of this union survive:
Louisa, wife of William M. Foulk, of Collamer,
Chester county, and M. M. Houston, passenger, con-
ductor on the Schuylkill branch of the Pennsylvania
railroad and residing in Norristown. In 1868 Dr.
Houston married Esther, youngest daughter of
Abraham Rakestraw, of Octoraro, Lancaster county.
Three children of this marriage are living : W. W.
Houston, proprietor of the International Publishing
Company, No. 44 North Fourth street, Philadelphia;
O. O. Houston, in the service of the Illinois Central
Railway Co., and Lenora, a graduate of Swarthmore
College, at home.
During the early days of the Civil war Dr. Hous-
.ton organized a company of one hundred men known
as the "Wayne Grays," nearly all of whom- entered
the 97th P. V. I. Amongst the number was the late
Congressman, Hon. Marriott Brosius, LL. D. In
the spring of 1862 Dr. Houston was commissioned
assistant surgeon of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and
assigned to the 72d Regiment, P. V. I. (Baxter's
Fire Zouaves). After serving in the battles of the
Peninsula, South Mountain and Antietam, in
November, 1862, in consequence of wounds and
disease contracted in the army, he was mustered out
of service. Having recovered- the Doctor again en-
tered the service, as surgeon of Pennsylvania Volun-
teers, in the spring of 1863, and was assigned to the
43d Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia;
it was said he was the youngest major in the army
of the Potomac. He was mustered out with the
Regiment, and assigned to the Invalid Corps. Dr.
Houston acted as volunteer aid for Gen. O. O.
Howard at the second battle of Bull Rim, and at the
fight at South Mountain, and the General speaks in
the highest terms of the Doctor's bravery and effi-
ciency. The horse which the Doctor rode in those
battles was twice wounded in the engagements. The
Doctor was twice wounded 'during his service, first
at Malvern Hill, in tne leg, and again at Falls Church,
in the breast and arm, but he remained on duty in
both instances. Gen. Howard, who was in command
of the Philadelphia Briga;de at the second battle of
Bull Run, says that the Doctor volunteered to do
what he would not ask an aid to attempt — to bring
the 72d Pennsylvanians, the Doctor's own regiment,
out of a wooded ravine along Cub Run, on the Bull
Run battlefield, when they were about to be enfiladed
with grape and canister from a Rebel battery. To
do this it was necessary to pass through the fire of
a brigade of Rebel infantry, and to be subjected to
the fusillade of sharpshooters. To the great joy of
Ju^f S^»
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
245
the General the Doctor escaped untouched, and
feaved his regiment, aUhough he disobeyed his Gen-
eral's order, to lie down on his horse, but obeved the
injunction not to stop in his perilous ride. On the
afternoon of the day of the battle of Antietam, Sept.
17, 1862, Dr. Houston was detailed to take the
wounded officers of Sedgwick's Division (2d Divi-
sion, 26. Army Corps) well to the rear, and estab-
lish a hospital for wounded officers (which he did
at Keedysville) and see that they were not captured,
as they counted so high in the exchange of prisoners ;
but Dr. Houston knew no difference between a
wounded officer and a wounded private, and his
hospital included 227 wounded officers and 516 pri-
vates— ^^entailing three times the work upon him and
his assistant. Amongst the officers in his charge
were Major Gens. Sedgwick, Dana, Wister and Bar-
low, Brig. Gens. Owens, Pell and Smith, and many
colonels, majors, captains, and lieutenants who
afterward became officers of high rank.
Dr. Houston was not disposed to be governed by
regular army discipline, as a result of which he has
yet three court martials hanging over him, the first
for stopping Gen. McClellan's headquarter hospital
wagon, and taking therefrom stores for the Doctor's
hospital ; the second for seizing and killing five fat
cattle for the use of his wounded ; and the third for
confiscating about two cords of bread, which an en-
terprising speculative person had brought out from
Washington, to sell to wounded soldiers at twenty-
five cents a loaf, small at that — these appropriations
hef ore the army stores arrived. On another occasion,
■when; after a forced march of ninety-six nours, with
only ten hours rest, with men falling from exhaus-
tion from the ranks, and only 127 men and two offi-
cers. Dr. Houston and Lieut, (afterward Major)
Lockhart in command, formed in line of battle to re-
lieve the Pennsylvania Reserves, at second Bull Run,
Gen. Sedgwick ordered eight days rations for 127
men — no provisions for over 700 who were in line
in the morning, having come up during the night —
Dr. Houston promptly reported over 700 men in
hospital, and drew rations for them for eight days,
thus frustrating Gen. Sedgwick's intended punish-
ment for falling out of ranks.
Dr. Houston was professor of Natural Science
in Lincoln University for six years, lecturing on
Organized Matter, Physiology. Natural History and
Botany, and was Dean of the Faculty of the Medical
Department, for four years, and for fifteen years
was surgeon to the Maryland division of the Pennsyl-
vania railroad. He was a member for many years of
the State and American (National) Medical Socie-
ties : was vice-president of the Pennsylvania State
Society, and three times represented the State in the
National Society, once as chairman of the State
delegation. Dr. Houston was president of the Ox-
ford board of pension examiners for four years, and
he Fays he enjoys the distinction of being the first
Federal official removed by President Cleveland upon
his inauguration as President of the LTnited States,
which removal the Doctor says he merited, being an
offensive partisan. The Doctor was appointed mem-
ber of the Lancaster board of pension examiners, of
which he is now president, upon the last day of Cleve-
land's administration. Dr. Houston located in Lan-
caster in 1893, first on East Orange street. He re-
moved to North Shippen street and in 1895 pur-
chased the property at No. 238 East King street,
and after some improvements removed to it, his
present residence, where he enjoys an extensive
practice
Dr. Houston is a past master in Masonry, a mem-
ber of G. A. R. Post, No. 84, and a member of the
Presbyterian Church. In politics he is an ardent Re-
publican, and has been a popular and much sought
campaign orator since i860. Although frequently
a delegate to Republican county and State conven-
tions, the Doctor has always declined all offers of
political preferment, content to devote his time and
talents to the pursuit of his chosen profession, in
which he has been successful. In recognition of his
prominence as a campaign speaker. Dr. Houston
has been twice elected president of the' Spellbinders'
A.ssociation, composed of the campaign orators of
Lancaster county. As a debater the Doctor stands
pre-eminent ; but few are willing to meet him in
discussion — his commanding appearance, self-con-
trol, eloquence, wit, and, if need be, sarcasm, are
factors his opponents dread.
From boyhood Dr. Houston has been a total ab-
stainer from all intoxicating beverages. Not this
alone, but he has been an earnest and powerful ad-
vocate, and has contributed freely of his time, labor
and money to the uplifting of those of his fellowmen
who have fallen from too free indulgence in strong
drink. In this connection it is interesting to note
that the Doctor's brothers, like himself, have been
abstainers from intoxicating liquors all their lives.
In addition to the interesting connections noted
above Dr. Houston is a charter member (and treas-
urer) of the Lancaster County Historical Society,
and we can close this sketch in no more pleasing way
than to quote a part of a letter written and published
by "John of Lancaster," who was none other than
the late John F. Meginness, the projector of these
Biographical Annals. This letter was published on
Oct. 15, 1897, and refers largely to the lower (south-
ern) end of Lancaster county, and it contains among
much else that is interesting this reference to Dr,
Houston as an Historian ; "In early days Bartville
was known as Coulter's Corner. Here 'once dwelt
Dr. J. W. Flouston and his brothers, Robert J. and
Dr. Sam. They, too, are numbered among the old
schoolmates who attended 'The Brick' in the forties.
Dr. J.'W. Houston has long been recognized as one
of the most accomplished, painstaking and reliable
historical writers in the county. His recent papers
read before the Lancaster Cbuntv Historical Society
on the 'Lost Industries of the East Branch of the
Octoraro,' 'Charcoal Burning in Octoraro Valley,'
'Flax Culture in Southern Lancaster Countv,' and
246
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
those on 'The Early Schoolmasters,' are all exceed-
ingly interesting and valuable contributions to local
history. Dr. Houston's memorial address upon the
life and services of the Hon. Marriott Brosius,
LL. D., published in the Congressional Record Feb.
I, 1902, attracted the attention of many leading
Congressmen. In a private letter from Judge Calder-
head, of Kansas, member of House of Representa-
tives, to Dr. Houston, the Judge characterizes the
address as one of the finest ever presented in the
House, and such a tribute of life friendship that he
thought it should be preserved in this place among
the national archives."
JACOB H. WITMER, general bookkeeper of
the Mountville National Bank, a local preacher in
the U. B. Church, and an ex-Union soldier, was
born Dec. 11, 1841, on a farm lying one hundred
yards north of Mountville, Lancaster Co., Pa., son
of Hon. Daniel W. and Anna (Hershey) Witmer,
who were natives of Manor township, but who died
in Mountville.
Hon. Daniel W. Witmer was a drover and mer-
chant at Mountville, where he conducted a store
for many years — from about 1842 until 1861. He
was twice elected to the State Legislature as a
Republican, and was a director in the Columbia
National Bank until his death, in 1896, at the age
of eighty-eight years. His wife died in 1868, when
she was fifty-eight years old. She was a devout
member of the United Brethren Church. Their
remains repose side by side in the cemetery at
Mountville. The children born to Daniel W. and
Anna (Hershey) Witmer were: Mary, who died
in 1893, wife of David H. Weidler; Benjamin, who
was a merchant and postmaster at Mountville for
many years, and died in 1863 ; Elizabeth, wife of
Jacob Sneath, of Columbia; Catherine, who is mar-
ried to Levi Meyers, a tobacco dealer in Lancaster ;
Elias, who was killed at the battle of Chickamauga ;
Abraham, who had enlisted, but returned sick from
the army, and died at home in 1863 ; Jacob H.,
whose name opens this article ; Henry, at Lancas-
ter, a merchant; and Sarah, who died young.
Daniel and Elizabeth (Wisler) Witmer, the pa-
ternal grandparents of Jacob H. Witmer, were
farming people in Manor township, where the
grandfather died; the grandmother died in Mount-
ville. They were the parents of the following
named children : Hon. Daniel W. ; Jacob, who
died in Mountville; and Elizabeth, widow of Ben-
jamin Hershey, who moved to the West, engaged
in the lumber business and in horse trading, be-
came Mayor of Muscatine, Iowa, and died in Chi-
cago, while on a visit to the World's Fair. The
maternal grandparents were Abraham and Mary
(Herr) Hershey, the former of whom was a farmer
and a minister of the pioneer United Brethren
Church in Manor township, in which township he
and his wife passed their entire existence.
Jacob' H. Witmer attended the public schools
of Mountville until seventeen years old, and in 1859
began teaching, a vocation he followed until 1887,
when he was appointed to his present responsible
position in the Mountville National Bank, and in
which he has given equally as great satisfaction as
he did when a teacher.
In 1865, in Mountville, Jacob H. Witmer mar-
ried Mary C. Marks, who was born in Willow
street, Lancaster county, daughter of John and
Margaret (Ferguson) Marks, natives, respectively,
of Providence township and Mountville, Lancaster
county. John Marks was a tailor, and about 1841,
settled in Mountville, where he and his wife passed
the remainder of their days. They were the par-
ents of seventeen children, of whom seven are still
living. To Jacob H. and Mary C. (Marks) wit-
mer have been born no children.
Jacob H. Witmer and his wife are members of
the United Brethren Church, of which he is a trus-
tee and a local minister, and he has been a teacher
of the senior Sunday-school class for fifteen years.
He is a member of the G. A. R.
His army experience was brief. He enlisted in
September, 1861, at Lancaster, in the 79th P. V. I.,
for three years, but at the expiration of nine months
had become so emaciated that he was honorably
discharged at Nashville, Tenn., owing to general
disability, with the rank of corporal.
CHRISTIAN F. CHARLES is a prosperous
farmer of Manor township, Lancaster county, as
were also his father and grandfather. The latter,
Jacob Charles, married a Miss Herr.
Christian H. Charles, father of Christian. F.,
married Fannie Forrey, daughter of Daniel
Forrey and Catherine Kanffman. Mrs. Charles is
yet living, at the age of seventy-three. Christian
H. Charles passed from earth in 1892, in his
seventy-fourth year. The farm which he owned,
and on which his ten children were born, was
situated two miles south of Mountville. It con-
sisted of 173 acres, which after his death was
divided among his heirs'> Christian F. Charles
now occupies the old homestead, and owns and
farms 106 acres around it. Both father and son
espoused the principles of the Democrats, and the
latter still adheres to the tenets of that party. Their
tastes being domestic, however, neither ever sought
the distinction of holding office. The elder Mr.
Charles was a Mennonite in his religious creed,
and reared his family in the same faith. His
children were ten in number, viz: Catherine,
Amos, Adeline, Anna, Levi, Emma, Christian F.,
Fannie, Ellen and Clayton. All but Adeline, who
died in childhood, grew to maturity. Catherine
is the wife of Christian Hoffman, of East Hemp-
field. Amos is a dealer in coal and lumber, in
Rohrerstown: he married Mary Bowers. Anna
(deceased) was the wife of Benjamin Mellinger.
Levi, a farmer and a resident of Manor, married
Lydia Ann Buckwalter. Fannie is the wife of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
247
Benjamin Mann, of that township. Ellen is Mrs.
Albert Kauffman, of the same place. Clayton, a
farmer in Manor, married Susan Greider. Emma
is unmarried and lives with her mother.
Christian F. Charles was born Sept. 6, 1858,
and enjoyed the advantages of a good common
school education. He was raised upon his father's
farm, and when he was twenty-six years of age
began farming for himself. Brains and hard work
have contributed to his success, and to-day he
ranks high among the citizens of his native town-
ship, as regards both means and character. His
reputation is unsullied, and his influence strong.
He is identified with several enterprises of a finan-
cial and commercial nature, some of which he has
aided in organizing, and in which he is a director.
Noteworthy among these are the Mountville Na-
tional Bank, and the Mountville Manufacturing
Company.
Mr. Charles was married, in 1883, to Emma B.,
daughter of Jacob and Mary (Bowers) Kready.
One son and one daughter have been born to them,
Mary K., and J. Edward.
JACOB MURRY HENDERSON. Promi-
nent among the citizens of Maytown, Pa., is Jacob
Murry Henderson, county commissioner, and a
well-known ex-contractor and builder.
Mr. Henderson is a native of Maytown, born
on Sept. II, 1853, a worthy son of worthy parents,
John and Mary (Murry) Henderson, the former
of whom died at the early age of thirty-six, a
cigar-maker, by trade. The latter was the daugh-
ter of Jacob and Catherine (Witmer) Murry,
the former of whom was a cabinet-maker in May-
town. To Mr. and Mrs. Henderson were born two
children: Jacob M., the subject of this biography;
and Lottie, the wife of Benjamin Doner, of Eliza-
bethtown.
When Jacob was but two years of age, he went
to live with his grandfather Henderson and re-
mained there until the death of both grand-
parents, going to school and working in the to-
bacco fields, for which he had no great liking,
and as soon as he was able, at the age of twelve,
entering the brickyard at Maytown, to learn the
trade. After working there five years, in 1870 he
began brick-laying; in 1877 Mr. Henderson began
his long and eminently successful career as con-
tractor, continuing in business until Jan. i, 1900,
when his appreciative fellow-citizens elected him
county commissioner, a selection which did them
credit, for no one in the community could fill this
office with better results, to the county. A promi-
nent Democrat, Mr. Henderson has taken an active
part in politics, was judge of election for three
terms and a member of the county committee.
Fraternally, he is connected with the Knights of
Malta.
The marriage of Mr. Henderson was on July
23, 1876, in EHzabethtown, to Miss Elizabeth
Hollinger, and to this union have been born:
Charles, deceased; Samuel; John; Florence, de-
ceased; EH, deceased; Josie; Rhoda; and Mary.
The birth of Mrs. Henderson was in Mt. Joy
township, Nov. 21, 1858, a daughter of EH and
Catherine (Pence) Hollinger, who reared this
family: Elmira, the wife of Parris Libbart, of
Lancaster; Mary A., deceased; EHzabeth; Flora,
the wife of WilHam Worth; Emma and Cora, de-
ceased ; and Barbara, the wife of George Welchans,
of Maytown. Mr. Hollinger died in 1868, and to
the marriage of Mrs. Hollinger and Ray Markley
were born: Anna, the wife of Fred. Peck, of
Maytown ; Kate ; Mercy, the wife of John Eshle-
man, of Maytown; a:nd Georgie, the wife of Har-
vey Hoover, of Marietta.
Mr. Henderson is a man of great popularity
in his neighborhood, on account of his pleasant per-
sonality, and is one of the most esteemed and rep-
resentative men of Maytown.
SAMUEL GOCHNAUER, one of the notable
representatives of agricultural interests of Lancas-
ter county, living at his residence just south of the
city, along the Willow street pike, was born in
Pequea township Jan. 3, 1851, son of Adam and
Elizabeth (Huber) Gochnauer. The Hubers are
an old family in West Lampeter township, and
Mrs. Elizabeth Gochnauer was a sister of David
Huber, whose sketch may be found elsewhere.
The Gochnauer family traces its lineage back to
Germany, and its pioneers in this country were
among the very early settlers of Lancaster county.
Adam Gochnauer, noted above, was one of the
enterprising citizens of Pequea township. By
trade he was a carpenter, and many substantial
houses and barns in that community still stand as
monuments to his industry. He was of a retiring
disposition and took little interest in public ques-
tions. He was born in 1799, and died in 1887,
after a long and useful career. Mrs. Elizabeth
(Huber) Gochnauer was born in West Lampeter
in 1816, and died in 1856. She first married John
Harnish, of this county, and after his death became
the wife of Adam Gochnauer. They had five
children: Benjamin, a mechanic of Pequea town-
ship ; Samuel ; Martha, wife of Levi Martin, of
Drumore township ; Annie, wife of Daniel C. Lipp,
of West Lampeter township ; and Adam, a farmer
of Cass county, Mo. In 185 1 Adam Gochnauer
purchased the farm where his son Samuel is now
living, and there spent his remaining days.
Samuel Gochnauer was reared on the farm,
and received but a limited education. After he
had passed his majority he attended Lincoln Col-
lege, at Greenwood, Mo., for two years, and after
spending a year teaching in McLean county, 111.,
he returned to his native community to locate on
the farm that has since been his home. In 1875
he took charge of the place, and thirteen years
later bought it. It consisted of sixty-seven acres.
248
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
on which he has made many valuable improve-
ments, and in addition to his general farming, he
carries on an important dairy business, having a
milk route in the city. Since 1890 he has been a
member of the school board.
Mr. Gochnauer was married in 1878, to Miss
Catherine K. Herr, who was born in West Lam-
peter township, in 1856, a daughter of Jacob and
Mary (Kreider) Herr, To this union have come
children as follows: Mary, Elizabeth, Ella, Annie
and Clarence H., living, and two — Bertlia and
George Ellis — who are deceased.
JOHN IVES HARTMAN passed almost his
entire life in Lancaster, with the exception of the
time he was honoring it as a soldier in the Civil war ;
and the city was his debtor at every stage. He was
a pioneer in some of its best industries, assisted in
the improvement of many others, and was a coun-
selor in all local humanitarian movements.
Mr. Hartman was born in Lancaster Feb. 23,
1831, and died there Dec. 26, 1899. His parents were
Lewis S. and Elizabeth (Messersmith) Hartman.
His education was received in the Lancaster com-
mon schools, for which he in after life did so much
in his thirty-one years' membership on the board of
control. The public schools of Lancaster were not
as they are now during the youth of Mr. Hartman.
He spent a short term in the high school, but only a
short one, for at the age of fifteen he entered, as an
apprentice in the printer's art, the ofSce of David S.
Kieffer, the publisher of the American Republican.
There he spent three years, mastering all there was
to be learned of the craft in such a place as Lancas-
ter then was. At the end of his apprenticeship he
went to Philadelphia with a view to increasing his
mastery of tJie art, and took employment with Mears
& Dusenbury, prominent stereotypers, whose typo-
graphical plant and foundry were located in Har-
mony Court. There young' Hartman became noted
as an expert and accurate compositor on book work.
L,ewis S. Hartman, father of John I., had been
markedly successful in numerous business enter-
prises, and his aptitude for affairs was transmitted
to his son. He turned from his "case" in Philadel-
phia and sought more active pursuits. Returning
to Lancaster in 1849, he embarked in the retail gro-
cery business, setting up in the building known as
the "Red Front Grocery," on North Queen street,
one door south of the "City Hotel." He was only a
youth of eighteen years when he started this store,
which he continued for fifteen years. At the out-
break of the war the call to arms stirred his patriotic
blood mightily. He left his store in charge of the
late Charles F. Eberman, and went to the front as a
private with the Lancaster Fencibles, in which com-
pany he had "played soldier" in times of peace. He
was elected lieutenant soon after the company left
Lancaster; and at Martinsburg, W. Va., he was ap-
pointed A. A. C. S., and detached from the company.
His business capacity attracting the attention of his
superior officers, he was detached from the regiment
and appointed brigade quartermaster, in which ca-
pacity he served during the term of the brigade. At
the close of the war, on the reorganization of the
veterans of the 50th Regiment, which had been re-
cruited from Lancaster and neighboring counties,
and had seen active service in the South and West to
such extent that it was necessary to refill its deci-
mated ranks with fresh recruits in 1864, Mr. Hart-
man was among those who joined from Lancaster ;
and he was elected lieutenant of Company I.
On his return from the war Mr. Hartman's mind
turned to his old trade again, and on May i, 1864,
he bought the interest of Francis Heckert in the Ex-
aminer printing office, the firm becoming Hiestand,
Kline & Hartman. Mr. Hartman took the business
management and continued it for four years, when
he sold out his interest to his partners. Meanwhile
he had interested himself in the organization of the
Printers Paper Mill, which was formed in 1865.
This enterprise failed as originally organized; but
Mr. Hartman and two others of the original stock-
holders bought the plant and operated it until they
sold it to Symington & Co. In 1868, after withdraw-
ing from the Examiner, Mr. Hartman went into
partnership with Benjamin P. Miller, the pioneer
wholesale grocer of Lancaster. The business was
originally installed' in Bitner's warehouse, but was
soon moved to the McComsey old stone warehouse,
that stood on the site now occupied by Long &
Davidson's new building. In 1873 the firm of Miller
&' Hartman built the commodious stores and ware-
house in which the business is still carried on by the
sons of the old firm, Charles A. Miller and Isaac C.
Hartman, who had been taken in as partners in 1892,
and succeeded as proprietors in 1895. This business
is distinguished as the first in the wholesale trade in
Lancaster. It was, on starting, generally considered
a very precarious enterprise ; but it was managed to
success, and has been continued under the same
stvle for over thirty years.
Mr. Hartman was one of the moving spirits in
the organization of the Lancaster Trust Company,
which began business in 1890. He was elected presi-
dent at the organization, and held the office until
failing health compelled him to forego active work.
The notable success of this institution, the first of
its line in this city, is clue very largely to its first
president's foresight and business sagacity, and to
the confidence reposed in his integrity and judgment
by his fellow citizens.
Mr. Hartman was an active and influential Re-
publican, who could have had almost any office in
the gift of his party had he desired ; but those of
jury commissioner and school director were the only
offices he ever accepted. He was elected jury com-
missioner in 1879, '^'"'d served three years. In 1868
he had been elected to the school board, on which he
remained thirty-one years, serving as its president
for two terms from 1875 ; but he had to decline a re-
nomination in 1898 and 1899 on account of his im-
^^-^^^^^^^^^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
249
paired vitality. He took a deep interest in the wel-
fare of the schools, and was much concerned in im-
proving the school buildings, giving much of his time
to_ this matter as a member of the Property com-
mittee. As a presiding officer he was noted for his
prompt disposal of business and his impartial rul-
ings ; while his sound judgment everywhere gave
him a commanding influence with his fellow mem-
bers. While he was always a stanch Republican in
politics proper, Mr. Hartinan deprecated every at-
tempt to introduce partisanship into school affairs.
The consciousness that he had rebuked faction and
had been instrumental in making and keeping the
school board free from partisanship was a' cause of
much satisfaction to him. In 1876, when the fac-
tion then ruling got control of the Republican School
Directors Convention, and in the nominations sub-
stituted from their faction for three of the oldest and
most useful directors, Mr. Hartman took the lead
in calling a Republican mass-meeting which nomi-
nated an independent ticket, including the names
omitted from the other, those of David Hartman,
John W. Jackson, and E. J. Erisman. This ticket
was completed by the names of Dr. M. L. Herr, Rev.
D. H. Geisinger and William A. Wilson ; and it was
tritmiphantly elected. Subsequently, with the aid
of the late William McComsey, another zealous
friend of the schools, Mr. Hartman was the means
of introducing the present system of filling vacan-
cies in the board with members of the same political
party as the retiring members, and dividing the
officers by mutual agreement.
Mr. Hartman was a member of St. John's Epis-
copal Church, a member of its vestry from 1872,
chairman of the finance committee, and junior war-
den from the death of Warden Isaac Diller, in 1892 ;
and few men ever rendered more faithful or more
intelligent service than he in the material affairs of
the church. He was one of the representatives of
the parish as lay deputy to the annual diocesan con-
ventions for many years, always taking an active
part in the proceedings ; and he was instrumental in
causing the present system of plurality voting for
members of the standing committee and other offi-
cers. His resolution for' this purpose was at first
opposed by the clerical deputies, who regarded the
plan as an innovation of questionable value ; but he
succeeded in convincing the convention that it was
not a "political trick," and would work better than
the old majority system in expediting the business
of the sessions; and his forethought is vindicated
by the fact that no attempt has been made to return
to the old way. He was always one of the church's
most liberal supporters; and whenever there was a
deficiency in the income he was of the first in readi-
ness to help make it good.
Mr. Hartman was truly a man of affairs in the
most comprehensive meaning of that term. His in-
terest and activity were displayed in many directions
besides those we have recounted. He was president
of the Howard Association, and an active worker in
its cause, the systematic relief of the destitute, in
which in its day it did noble work, the Howard de-
bates having been participated in by the best speak-
ers and most prominent citizens. He took a lively
interest in the old volunteer fire department, and was
president of the Washington Fire Company until it
was displaced in activity by the call system. At the
time of his death he was president of the board of
trustees of the Lancaster cemetery, president of the
Lancaster Gaslight & Fuel Company, and of the
Edison Electric Light Company; a director of the
New Holland Turnpike Company ; of the West End
Building & Loan Association ; of the Southern Mar-
ket Company; and of the Hamilton Club. He had
been a director of the Lancaster County National
Bank for many years, later of the Fulton National
Bank, and also of the Lancaster Watch Company.
He was a member of Lodge No. 43, F. & A. M., and
of the Tucquan Club, and a regular camper-out, as
such taking much enjoyment. During the last year
of his life, however, his old camp comrades only
saw him for a one day's visit, because of his failing
strength. The confidence established by his integ-
rity and business acumen caused him to be called
upon to settle a great number of estates and manage
many individual trusts.
Mr. Hartman was twice married. His first wife,
who died Nov. 10, 1868, was Anna E., daughter of
the late Dr. Isaac C. Weidler, of Upper Leacock.
To this union came children as follows : Herbert
W., now treasurer of FoUmer, Clogg & Co. ; M.
Elizabeth, wife of Milton S. Falck ; Isaac C, who
succeeds his father in the firm of Miller & Hartman :
Marion B., of the Adams Express Company ; and
John H., of the Lancaster Trust Company.
On Nov. 28, 1872, Mr. Hartman wedded for his
second wife Elizabeth Markley, daughter of Jacob
L. and Eliza (Miller) Hoffmeier, of whose union she
was the youngest child. All the members of both the
Hartman and Hoffmeier families! are prominent,
well-connected and well-to-do people. Mrs. Hart-
man bore her husband two children, Harry G. and'
Emily K. Mr. Hartman was also survived by two
brothers and one sister: Daniel Hartman (since
deceased") ; A. F. Hartman, of this city ; and Emily,
wife of John A. Boring, of Osborne, Kansas. Mrs.
Hartman has an elegant home, and is surrounded by
all the comforts and refinements of modern life.
She had an affectionate husband, who considered
nothing too good for his loved ones, and was con-
stant in his efforts to make home the ideal of both
comfort and happiness. In all his relations Mr.
Hartman evinced fine social qualities. In all his in-
tercourse, either at home or abroad, his conduct was
marked by courtesy and kindness. His high sense
of honor kept fair his business record, and won the
respect of the world at large. He was candid in ex-
pressing his opinions and tenacious in adhering to
them ; but he had respect for opposing ones when im-
pressed with their sincerity. It was this character-
istic that made his influence so great in discussion.
250
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
HENRY GRATTAN McCARTER, manager
of John Farnum & Co., Conestoga Mills, Nos. 2
and 3, in Lancaster, has had a far more than or-
dinarily interesting career. His father, James
McCarter, came to America from- Londonderry,
Ireland, in 1853, settling in Philadelphia. He had
been preceded by Richard White, Esq., the dis-
tinguished lawyer, who wrote to Mr. McCarter to
come. In 1855 the latter married Miss Sarah
Elizabeth Coolidge, daughter of Edwin Coolidge,
formerly of Boston, but at the time of their union
a prominent boot and shoe merchant of Philadel-
phia. To this marriage came three children, two
of whom are living; Edwin Coolidge, a merchant
in New York. City; and Henry Grattan, of Lan-
caster.
Henry Grattan McCarter was born in Philadel-
phia Oct. 13, 1856, and, after attending private
schools there, became for a time a pupil in Dr.
Clemson's select boarding-school, at Claymont,
Del. ; he next attended school at New York City,
and was graduated in Chemistry from the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania in 1878. After his gradu-
ation Mr. McCarter became connected with the
Albion Print Works, at Conshohocken, whi,ch were
owned by his father and Joseph Lea, remaining
there until the works were closed down. This was
in 1882, and his next move was to Berlin, Canada,
which was settled by Mennonites from Pennsyl-
vania, who went there and founded the place dur-
ing the Revolutionary war. Mr. McCarter's mis-
sion to Berlin was to teach the people how to color
vegetable ivory buttons, the manufacture of which
was the chief industry of the place. On Dec. 18,
1884, Mr. McCarter came to Lancaster, whither
he was sent by John Farnum's heirs, to be chemist
and chief dyer for the works. How intelligently,
industriously -and satisfactorily he performed the
duties of this responsible position may be judged
from the fact that, when the lamented S. S. Spen-
cer— who had been superintendent of the mills for
so many years — was called to his reward, Mr. Mc-
Carter was promoted to the position made vacant
by his death, a position he still holds. Mr. Spen-
cer died Nov. 14, 1902.
Mr. McCarter married Elizabeth McGovern
Keller, daughter of John and Catherine McGovern,
of Lancaster, the former one of Lancaster's most
prominent railroad contractors. Two children
have been born to this union, one of whom died
when but a year old. The survivor, James, was
born Feb. 24, 1889. Mr. McCarter's stepdaughter.
Miss Rosemary Keller, is a student at the Sharon
Hill Seminary, class of 1906. Mrs. McCarter is
an accomplished pianist, and is at the head of the
musical department of the Iris Club, the leading
social and literary club among the ladies of Lan-
caster. The only organization of any kind to
which Mr. McCarter belongs is the Hamilton Club.
Politically he is a Republican, but he takes no
part in politics, devoting himself to his business
and his family; and no more hospitable home can
be found in this section than the beautiful suburban
residence of Mr. McCarter and his family, in Man-
heim township, at the end of North Duke street,
just beyond the confines of the city.
J. HENRY MUSSER, M. D., is a representa-
tive in the fourth generation of the Musser family
of Lancaster county. Pa., in the medical profes-
sion.
Dr. Benjamin Musser, his great-grandfather,
was born July 13, 1749, and lived at Turkey Hill,
practicing there and at Lancaster, Columbia and
Harrisburg, Pa., visiting the places periodically to
meet his patients. He was not a graduate of any
school, but inade an especial study of herbs, and
was skilled in the art of administering the simple
home remedies. He had a large practice and won
no little fame for his cure for "white swellings,"
and for his medical combination, known as "white
salve," of great value in the treatment of ulcers.
On March 8, 1770, he married Barbara Engel, who
bore him the following named children : Jacob,
born Jan. 8, 1771 ; Ann, Oct. 24, 1772; Maria,
Nov. 2, 1774; John, March 20,' 1777; Henry,
March 5, 1779; and Christian, April 5, 1781. The
mother of these children died Dec. 21, 1783, and
on March 23, 1784, Dr. Musser married Mag-
dalen Bossier, who became the mother of the fol-
lowing: Twins, who both died in infancy; Ben-
jamin, born July 16, 1786; Joseph, Aug. 7, 1787;
Barbara, Sept. i, 1789; JBenjamin (2), April 2,
1791; Martha and Martin, twins, March 15, 1793;
Daniel, Feb. 6, 1796; EHzabeth, July 7, 1797; and
Susan, Nov. 27, 1800. Dr. Musser died Nov. 25,
1820.
Henry Musser, son of Dr. John, born March
5, 1779, became a farmer of Cumberland county.
Pa., where he died in 1822. He was a Dunker in
religious belief. Of his children who grew to ma-
turity we have record of Benjamin, Daniel (father
of Dr. J. Henry), John, Joseph and Magdalena.
Daniel Musser, was born Nov. 2, 1809, in Cum-
berland county, this State, and, his father dying
in 1822, was early thrown upon his own resources.
In 1825 he came on foot to Lancaster county, here
finding a home with his uncle. Dr. Martin Musser,
of Lampeter, and did work for his uncle to pay
for his board and clothes, meantime taking ad-
vantage of every opportunity for the study of
medicine, under that able instructor. He con-
tinued with his uncle until he reached his majority,
at which time he opened an office in Providence,
Lancaster county, remaining there a short time.
His next location was at Millersville, whence after
a time he returned to Lampeter, buying out his
uncle's practice. He was successfully engaged in
the duties of his profession at Lampeter until
1869, and passed away Jan. 20, 1877, after a life
of activity and wide usefulness.
On Nov. 27, 1832, Dr. Musser married Eliza-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
251
beth Herr, who was born Jan. 15, 1814, in Lan-
caster county, daughter of John and Elizabeth
(Grofif) Herr, and died Nov. 3, 1870. To this
union came two children: Mary A., born Feb.
I) 1837; and J. Henry, whose name introduces
these lines. In 1844. Dr. Daniel Musser joined
the new Mennonite Church of which his father-
in-law, John Herr, was the founder, became a
bishop in that church, and in the latter years of
his life gave most of his time to the advancement
and upbuilding of that society. His literary gifts
were no less remarkable than his ability in his
chosen calling, and he wrote the life of John Herr,
and a history of the Reformed Mennonite Church.
J. Henry Musser was born Jan. 5, 1845, in
Lampeter township, Lancaster county, and there
grew to manhood. In accordance with the wishes
of the family he decided to adopt the medical pro-
fession. His early education was acquired at the
private school of Benjamin Herr and brother, and
in 1864 he went to Philadelphia to attend lectures
at Jefferson Medical College, being a pupil of Dr.
D. D. Richardson during the day of the Northern
Dispensary in that city. Shortly after his gradua-
tion in 1866, he located for practice at his native
place, Lampeter, where he has remained to the
present in the enjoyment of a flattering patron-
age from the residents of that place and the sur-
rounding country. He has been a hard worker
and a close student, devoting all his time to his
chosen calling, with results which speak for them-
selves. In 1882 Dr. Musser was elected president
of the Lancaster County Medical Society, holding
the office the customary length of time, one year.
He is a stanch Republican in political faith, but
gives no time to public affairs of any kind, beyond
taking a patriotic interest in such as concern his
town and county.
On Oct. 27, 1868, Dr. Musser was united in
marriage, with Leida Musselman, who was born
May 27, 1848, daughter of John and Eliza (Breck-
bill) Musselman, and died June 14, 1885. They had
a family of three children: Edith E., born July 15,
1871, is the wife of J. Bachman, a farmer near Stras-
burg, and has one child, Henry M. William, born
Oct. 9, 1872, married Bertha Eshleman, daughter
of John Eshleman, a miller, and has one child,
John. Ada, born Aug. 24, 1878, died Oct. 13,
1881.
JOHN H. LEFEVER when but a farmer boy
heard the call for volunteers to assist in putting
down the rebellion and he at once responded.
Going from his home in Lancaster county. Pa.,
he enlisted in the 20th Pa. Cav., which afterward
saw much active service in the Army of the Po-
tomac. The stirring events of those days had
much to do with moulding the character of men
who participated in them, and they had their in-
fluence on the life of John H. Lefever, who was
born Nov. i, 1837, in Lampeter township, Lancas-
ter county. His parents were John E. and Eliza-
beth (Martin) Lefever, who were both natives of
that county, born in 1809 and 1806 respectively.
John E. was the son of Adam and Kittie Lefever,
who came to this country from Germany in 1800
and settled in Lampeter township on a farm, where
they raised a family of nine children, all of whom
are dead.
John E. Lefever, the father of John H. learned
the trade of a weaver which he followed in con-
nection with farming. He died at his home in
Camargo, Lancaster county, m 1887. His wife
died in 1874. They -left a family of eight children,
four of whom are living. The eldest of these,
Martin, married Mary Winters, of Lancaster
county. He was a soldier in the Civil war. Susan,
a daughter, was the wife of Benjamin Shaub, of
Belmont, where she lost her life in 1880 in a rail-
road accident, leaving a family. Harrison, who
died some years ago in the West, was a soldier in
the Civil war, being a member of the 22d Regi-
ment, P. V. I. Daniel, another brother, is also
dead. He distinguished himself as a soldier in
the Civil war. Abram Lefever is a resident of
Quarryville, married Miss Lizzie Groff and is the
father of a family. Eliza Lefever, deceased, was
the wife of Dan Mowner, of Eden ; she left three
children. Abner Lefever, who is now a resident of
Lancaster City, married Miss Delia Hare, de-
ceased ; they had a family of five children.
John H. Lefever was the second child of John
E. and Elizabeth (Martin) Lefever. Brief refer-
ence has already been made to his war record but
it will be of further interest to add some of the
important points in his career as a soldier. He
served with valor in the battle of Gettysburg and
at Springfield, but soon after these great events he
was taken sick with typhoid fever and lay ill in
the hospital thirteen months. He was honorably
discharged at the Cumberland hospital in 1863 for
physical disability. After the war he returned to
the old home in Eden township. In 1869 he mar-
ried Miss Susan B. Eshleman, of Providence town-
ship, the daughter of Elijah and Christiann Eshle-
man, one of the highly respected pioneer families
of that section. Mrs. Lefever was born Nov. 29,
1849. After marriage they settled on a farm near
Quarryville which Mr. Lefever had purchased.
TThere they resided eight years and then moved to
his father's farm in Strasburg township. Ten
years later he purchased a lot from his father's
estate in Camargo and there he has made his home
while still retaining his farm near Quarryville.
Mr. Lefever and his estimable wife have pros-
pered in many ways. The union has been blessed
by eight children and seven grandchildren. Chris-
tiann, the eldest, was born in 1870, and is now the
wife of Edward Barr, of Strasburg township.
They have three children, John, Alma and Earl.
Ulysses G. Lefever was born in 1873 and married
Miss Mary Coble of Strasburg. They now reside
252
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
at Christiana, where he is an electrical engineer.
They have three children, John, Charles and
Harry. A. Louie Lefever was born in 1875 and
is now the wife of Chris Groff, a coach painter at
Oak Bottom; they had one son, Paul, deceased.
John H. Lefever, born in 1877, is now a soldier in
the regular army. During the last three years he
has seen active service in Cuba and in the Philip-
pines. Sarah A. Lefever, born in 1879, is the wife
of Christ Creswell, of Eden; they have one child,
Clifford. Daniel M. Lefever, born in 1880, is un-
married and a carpenter by trade. Ella K. Le-
fever was born in 1882 and is at home, unmarried.
Howard B. Lefever, the youngest of the family,
was born in Strasburg township in 1884 and edu-
cated in the Hawkesville school. He is manager of
the home farm.
In business as in social, political and religiotis
affairs, John H. Lefever has always been promi-
nent as a leader. He is recognized as a conscien-
tious, upright citizen, a good husband and a worthy
father. Politically he is a strong and influential
Republican. He is a member of the W. S. Bierly
Post, No. 511, of Quarryville. As one of the old
veterans he is highly respected.
RICHARD M., REILLY, of the firm' of Reilly
Brothers & Raub, the North Street house furnish-
ers, although still a young man, enjoys the dis-
tinction of being a lawyer, journalist, merchant and
manufacturer, though he is now devoting his at-
tention to the important mercantile estalDlishment
in connection with which his name appears, as well
as the Lancaster Sheet Metal Co., of which he is
the treasurer.
John Reilly, the father of the Reilly Brothers,
came to this country from Ireland in 1836, land-
ing in New York, and making his way soon after
to Lancaster. He did a vast work as a railroad
and bridge builder, undertaking and carrying to
successful conclusion, many large and important
contracts, notable among them being the Lachine
Canal in Canada, the North Pennsylvania Rail-
road, the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad at
Easton, the Easton and Amboy Railroad, the
Chestnut street bridge at Philadelphia, and many
hardly less notable undertakings. For some time he
was associated with the late Richard McGrann, the
father of B. J. McGrann, the firm being Reilly &
McGrann. Mr. Reilly died at the age of fifty-four
years, at the very prime of his manhood and busi-
ness ability. The family came to Lancaster in
1875, s-rid here they have since remained.
John Reilly had six brothers, and they all canje
to the United States, rising to prominence as
contractors. Dennis Reilly was a leading iron mas-
ter at Easton, Pa., and his name is borne by the
youngest son of the father of the Reilly Brothers.
John Reilly was married in 1856 to iVIiss Mary,
the daughter of Thomas Wallace, for years the
keeper of an old-time inn at Huntingdon, a place
famous in the days before the railroad as a stop-
ping place for travelers by stage and coach. Mr.
Wallace passed away at the home of his daughter,
Mrs. Reilly, in this city in 1889, when ninety
years of age. Mr. and Mrs. John Reilly became
the parents of the following family : ( i ) John
B., a railroad and bridge builder of New York.
City; (2) T. Wallace, now a member of the whole-
sale grocery firm of M. S. Miller & Co., of Lan-
caster; (3) Richard M., of Reilly Brothers &
Raub; (a) William H. (deceased), formerly of
Reilly Brothers & Raub; (5) Mary; (6) Elizabeth,
both the sisters being at home with their mother;
(7) E. D., a member of the Lancaster Bar;
(8) Margaret, wife of Hon. J. Hay Brown, Judge
of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Richard M. Reilly was born in Lancaster, July
14, 1861, and had his education partly in the Eas-
ton schools, and partly in Lancaster, finishing his
study at Mount St. Mary's College, at Emmits-
burg, Md., from which he was graduated in 1880.
Entering the law office of the late George Nau-
man, he applied himself assiduously to the study
of law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1883. This,
however, did not prove satisfactory to Mr. Reilly,
and he secured a position on the Lancaster Intelli-
gencer, as associate editor, which he held for three
years, being a part owner of the paper in 1886.
Two years later he sold out, to become a member
of the firm of Reilly Brothers & Raub. This firm
began business Sept. i, 1888, and its history is
one of substantial success in the annals of the
housefurnishing and hardware trade. It has had a
steady growth, and has long since attained an en-
viable standing among the best known mercantile
firms of the city. Ten years later the Lancaster
Sheet Metal Co. began business, the firm consist-
ing of H. L. Raub, president ; Richard M. Reilly,
treasurer; and A. K. Raub, secretary. This firm
erected a fine factory at the corner of Marion and
Christian streets and has already made itself felt
as one of the principal industries of the city.
In 1888, Mr. Reilly was married to Miss Mary,
daughter of the late John M. Barry, a well-known
contractor of Lancaster. Michael Barry, her
grandfather, was one of the pioneers in the rail-
road contracting business in this part of the State.
Mr. and Mrs. Reilly have had one child born to
them, Alice, who bears the name of her maternal
grandmother, who was Miss Alice Fitzpatrick be-
fore her marriage, and a member of a family of
very successful contractors.
Mr. Reilly is one of two auditors of St. Mary's
Catholic Church, a position he has held for years.
A Democrat, he has attended State and national
gatherings of the party hosts on many occasions,
sitting as a delegate in the first convention that
nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presi-
dency. At one time he was on the executive com-
mittee of the Young Men's Democratic Society.
For two }-ears he was president of the re-organized
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
2oS
Board of Trade of Lancaster, and was placed on
the board of health many years ago, where he is
still- serving. He has been secretary and treasurer
of St. Mary's Orphan Asylum. Mr. Reilly is on
the executive committee of the Lancaster County
Historical Society, and is a member of the Ameri-
. can Catholic Historical Society, of Philadelphia.
He was elected a member of the school board from
the Sixth ward, but resigned when he moved to
the Third ward. Richard M. Reilly is a modest
and unassuming gentleman, and as a journalist is
remembered as a graceful and forcible writer. As
a merchant and a manufacturer he has risen into
prominence, and is justly regarded as one of the
leading men of the city.
Thomas Wallace Reilly, second son of the
late John Reilly, was born in Lancaster, Aug. 19,
1859, ^nd was educated in the public schools of
Easton, and Franklin and Marshall College. Af-
ter leaving college he traveled somewhat extensive-
ly in the West. Coming back to his native State,
he began business as a contractor on the Lacka-
wanna Railroad in New York, making this his
business for some twenty years, dating from 1880.
Among his more important enterprises were the
building of a bridge over the Providence river,
the construction of a sewer a mile long at Provi-
dence, R. I., a bridge at Woonsocket, and a nurn-
ber of sewers and street gradings in New York
City. Mr. Reilly's family lived at Providence and
in New York during his prolonged operations in
these cities. In the fall of 1900 they accompanied
him to Lancaster, where he became a member of
the grocery firm of M. S. Miller & Co., doing an
extensive wholesale business at Nos. 223 and 225
North Prince street, Lancaster. While engaged
in railroad bridge building Mr. Reilly had some
important contracts on the Pennsylvania Railroad,
■building bridges at Glenloch, Aliddletown, and
elsewhere.
Mr. Reilly was' married in December, 1887, to
Miss Mary, a daughter of Thomas Costigan, a con-
tractor in Philadelphia, and two children have
come to bless this union, Carmita and Thomas
Wallace, Jr. Mr. Reilly for years was connected
with St. Mary's Catholic Church, but since his
return from New York he and his family have as-
sociated themselves with St. Anthony's Catholic
Church. Like all his family, Mr. Reilly is a bright
and genial gentleman, liberal alike in his business
and politics, but strong in his own convictions and
determined and persistent in his every enterprise.
Edward D. Reilly, the youngest son of the
late John Reilly, was born in Easton, Pa., Nov.
25, 1869, and was educated in the public schools
of 'Lancaster, graduating from the high school in
1885. He attended Mount St. Mary's College at
Emmitsburg, Md., from which he was graduated
in June, 1888, and the following year entered
upon a business career. In the fall of 1889 he
began the study of law with John A. Coyle, and
was admitted to practice Dec. 20, 1892. In 1892,
and during the two ensuing years he was president
of the Young Men's Democratic Society, and in
1896 was elected a member of the city council
from the Second ward by a majority of two
votes. In 1897 and in 1900 he was elected on the
school board, and has been chairman of the Judici-
ary committee of that body since his first election.
He belongs to St. Mary's Catholic Church, and
is serving on the board of St. Mary's Orphan
Asylum. Mr. Reilly is connected with a number
of Catholic organizations, having been president
of St. Michael's Beneficial Union for two years.
He is a member of the Leo XIII. Society, the
Knights of St. John, and the Penn. C. B. L.
Mr. Reilly was married Dec. 29, 1897, to Miss
Katharine Eugenie, daughter of A. F. and Emily
Keating, of Pittsburg, Pa., Mr. Keating being a
prominent iron-master of the "Smoky City." A
Democrat in politics, and a warm supporter of Mr.
Bryan, Mr. Reilly is recognized as one of the lead-
ing young Democrats of Lancaster, and has fre-
quently been a delegate to county and State con-
ventions, being the county committeeman at the
present time from the Second ward. During Mr.
Reilly's preparations for the law he acted as
a reporter for a great part of the time on the Lan-
caster Examiner, until his press of work in mak-
ing ready for the final examination compelled him
to devote all his time to study. During this time
and since his entrance upon a professional life,
Mr. Reilly .has developed marked ability as a
writer of strong and forcible English. As a law-
yer a large success has attended his efforts, and
he was greatly honored by being placed on the legal
staff of the executors of the will of the late Miss
Catherine Long, a will that involved the disposi-
tion of an estate of more than $700,000, the bulk
of which was bequeathed for the establishment of
a public park for Lancaster, and a home for in-
digent unmarried women. Liberal in his views and
practice, a fine conversationalist, and possessed of
a kindly and genial nature, Mr. Reilly has de-
veloped rapidly in his professional and social rela-
tions, and gives every promise of a brilliant
future.
JACOB M. EABY, one of the substantial citi-
zens of Lancaster county and a resident of Para-
dise village, has been active in agricultural, mer-
cantile and business affairs for many years, and
is prominent and influential in matters that per-
tain to the general welfare. He is the represen-
tative of one of the old and honored families of
the county.
Jacob Eby (for so the family name was spelled
a century ago) grandfather of Jacob M., was born
in Leacock township, near Intercourse, Nov. 9,
1776, and his wife, Susannah (Miller) Eby, was
born Aug. 2, 1779. They spent their lives on the
old family homestead at Intercourse, engaged in
254
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
farming pursuits and devoutly living in the re-
ligious light of the Dunkard Church. Their fam-
ily consisted of eleven children, as follows : Moses,
born Nov. 27, 1801, who became a merchant at
Intercourse and died Feb. 27, 1891 ; Maria, May
3, 1803, who married Daniel Esbenshade, and died
Feb. 2, 1891 ; Peter, Sept. 11, 1804, a farmer,
■who died March 19, 1881 ; Daniel M., Aug. 10,
1809, died Aug. 31, 1893; Hannah, Nov. 30, 1810,
who married John Rauck and died April 29, 1882;
Esther, July 19, 18 12, died July 24, 18 12; Lydia,
July 22, 1814, who married Isaac Bair, and died
Sept. 25, 1876; Joseph, Aug. 23, 1818, a farmer
unmarried; Ann, Aug. 11, 1820, died April 19,
1897 ; Susannah, May 28, 1822, who died unmar-
ried, in January, 1898 ; Jacob, Feb. 19, 1825, died
Feb. 12, 1864. All these sons spelled their names
Eaby.
Daniel M. Eaby, the father of Jacob M., was
reared on the homestead. His educational opportun-
ities were limited but he was an ambitious boy and
was eager to fit himself for teaching. He applied
liimself to his studies and by a course of self-in-
struction he became proficient in the common
branches and was qualified to teach in both Eng-
lish and German. For many years he taught in the
public schools of Lancaster county. He also ac-
quired the carpenter's trade and followed it in con-
nection with teaching. He was active and indus-
trious, and in connection with the above vocations,
"he engaged in farming. He was recognized as
■one of the forceful, influential men of Lancaster
county and was twice elected to the office of coun-
ty auditor. He also served for many years as
school director in Bart township. In 1863 he
enlisted as a carpenter in the military service of
liis country and four of his sons also enlisted dur-
ing the Civil war. Daniel M. Eaby married Miss
Caroline Bair, who was born Nov. 9, 1808; she
was the daughter of Joel and Mary Bair, and
was a woman of unusual intelligence and educa-
tion. Her death occurred April 9, 1869. Eight
children were born to Daniel M. and Caroline
(Bair) Eaby. The first child, born Dec. 10, 1836,
died in infancy; Joel S., Feb. 20, 1838, is a resi-
dent of Lancaster; George W., Feb. 5, 1840, is
a resident of Lancaster City; Mary Ann, Feb. 23,
1843, is the widow of William Rice and is a resi-
dent of Wooster, Ohio; Henry B., Feb. 19, 1845,
enlisted in 1863 in the 195th P. V. I., re-enHsted in
1864, was mustered out in June, 1865, and is now
in the United States postal service with residence
at Wooster, Ohio ; Daniel E., May 16, 1847, is a
resident of Lancaster ; Jacob M., was born March 8,
1850; Susannah C, July 25, 1852, died Aug. 13,
1886, the wife of Sem Eby. The parents of these
children were members of the Dunkard Church
but in later years the father identified himself with
the Old Mennonite Church.
Jacob M. Eaby was reared to farm life, receiving
a fair education in the public schools and in the
high school at Oxford. He was diligent in study
and at eighteen was well qualified to begin his
career as a teacher in the public schools of Lan-
caster county, where he continued for eleven and
a half terms. He was then for nine years engaged
in butchering in Paradise village, in connection
with farming his forty-two acres of land at Will-
iamstown. Then dealing in cattle for some two and"
a half years, he in 1891 succeeded to the mercan-
tile business which had been conducted by the
Witmer family at Paradise and to this business he
gave his personal attention until July, 1898, when
he transferred the control of the estate to his son
Walter. Since that time Mr. Eaby has devoted
himself to the Lancaster County Mutual Fire In-
surance Company, of which he is the secretary.
Mr. Eaby married, Nov. 5, 1872, Miss Cather-
ine E. Eby, who was born at Belmont, Lancaster
county, Nov. 5, 1852, daughter of Jacob and Mag-
dalena (Wanner) Eby. To Jacob M. and Cather-
ine Eaby six children have been bom, namely:
Cora Etta, wife of Martin E. Hershey, a farmer of
Paradise; Charles W., attorney-at-law at Lancas-
ter, a graduate of Millersville State Normal, class
of 1897, who read law with Hon. J. Hay Brown,
and W. U. Hensel, teaching two terms of school
meanwhile, admitted to the Bar Dec. 24, 1899, and
now practicing law at Lancaster; Walter C., who
has succeeded his father in the mercantile business
at Paradise, married Miss R. Mae Zeigler and has
one child living, Ethel; Ella C, and Edna M.,
both graduates of Millersville State Normal, class
of 1901 ; and Guy C, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Eaby
are prominent members of the Presbyterian Church
at Paradise, of which he is one of the trustees.
In politics Mr. Eaby affiliates with the Republi-
can party. At the age of twenty-eight he was
elected to the office of justice of the peace. He
has filled various other local offices, including those
of assessor, member of the county committee, etc;
He has been prominent in the local fraternal or-
ganizations ; he is a member of the Pequea Lodge,
No. 161, I. O. O. F., and of William Pitt Encamp-
ment, also of Bart Lodge, No. 162, K. of P., and
since 1885 he has also been treasurer of the latter
lodge. He was a prominent member and the treas-
urer of Paradise Castle, No. 143, Mystic Chain, dur-
ing its existence, and a member of Tanawah Tribe,
I. O. R. M., of Paradise. Mr. Eaby is one of the
prominent and progressive business men of Lan-
caster county, whose influence is ever exerted in
public enterprises tending to the public good. His
wide experience in business and mercantile life,
together with his native ability and sound judg-
ment, make him one of those natural leaders among
men whose counsels are ever sought and prized
by the discerning public.
JOHN L. HERR. Few names are more widely
known or more highly respected in the State of
Pennsylvania than that of Herr, and among its
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
255
worthy representatives is John L. Herr, a retired
farmer of Lancaster township, in Lancaster county.
Tobias Herr, the grandfather of John L., lived
and died in Strasburg township, having been one
of the successful farmers of that locality, a very
estimable man in every way. His children were:
Benjamin, deceased, who was a well-known law-
yer in the city of Lancaster; John, who was a far-
mer in this county ; David, who combined farming
and the confectionery business, and who died in
Lancaster; Tobias, who became the father of John
L. ; Elizabeth, deceased, who was the wife of John
Hoffman ; Hettie, deceased, who was the second
wife of John Hoffman; and Anna, who married
John Shenk.
Tobias Herr (2), son of Tobias, was born in
Strasburg township. May 29, 1813, and followed
an agricultural life until his death, in 1865. In
1845 he located on the farm now occupied by John
L., it remaining the property of his father-in-law,
John Landis, until he purchased it in 1861. For
a number of years Tobias Herr was one of the
school directors in his township, and he was a lead-
ing member of the Old Mennonite Church. In poli-
tics he was a Republican. Tobias was married
Feb. 13, 1838, to Miss Susannah Landis, who was
torn April 7, 1814. The two children of this mar-
riage were : Salena L., who married Benjamin
Gambler, of Manor township ; and John L., of this
sketch.
John L. Herr was born in Strasburg township,
Aug. 29, 1840, and he was five years of age when
his parents moved to his present farm. His edu-
cation was obtained in the common schools of Lan-
caster, and later he engaged in the milling busi-
ness for one year. For a year prior to his father's
death, John L. managed the home farm, and con-
tinued to farm for the estate during the follow-
ing year, and then purchased the property. Since
that time he has devoted his attention to the in-
telligent and scientific farming which has made
him one of the most successful and prosperous
agriculturists of the locality. Mr. Herr has taken
great interest in making his place both comfortable
and attractive. The estate comprises 131 acres and
is situated on the Marietta pike road, about one-
half mile from the city of Lancaster, and adjoins
the property of the late Ex-President Buchanan,
which is now occupied by G. B. Wilson.
On April i, 1897, Mr. Herr retired from active
farming operations, taking up his residence in a
very handsome home which he had built in the near
neighborhood. In politics he has always voted the
Republican ticket, and for fourteen years has been
a school director. For a number of years he has
been a director in the Lancaster County National
Bank, and is a leading member of the Old Men-
nonite Church.
John L. Herr married Fannie L. Brubaker, who
was a daughter of Andrew and Annie Brubaker,
of East Hempfield township, and to this union were
born four children: Landis B., who has managed
the home farm since his father's retirement ; John
B., who met with an accident which caused his
death on Oct. 7, 1881 ; Annie, who married
Emlyn B. Mylin, of West Lampeter township;
and Fannie, who married Elias B. Groff, of Stras-
burg township.
Mr. Herr is one of the most highly esteenled
citizens of the locality in which his life has been
passed, and a man of sterling honesty, and one who
has always been interested in every enterprise cal-
culated to advance the interests of his locality.
BRENEMAN SITLER McLANE,. deputy re-
corder of deeds of Lancaster county, whose cozy
home is at No. 109 North Lime street, Lancaster,
is a most popular and deserving oiScial. He springs
from an old family, his grandfather, James Mc-
Lane, bom in New York July 14, 1795, coming to
Washington Borough, Pa., on a raft. He engaged
in the hotel business in the Borough, and in early
days no less than eighteen taverns were needed
to supply the demands of travelers and lumbermen
who floated their lumber down the Susquehanna.
Mr. McLane's ancestors were Scotch-Irish, and his
grandfather was one of five brothers, one of whom
moved to Maryland, one to Erie, Pa., and two to
the West.
William McLane, father of the subject of this
sketch, was born in Washington borough, this
county, and was a river pilot, cabinet maker and
tobacco farmer. He died at the age of sixty-one
years in 1881. William McLane married Susan
Sitler, daughter of Abraham Sitler, a farmer of
York county, whose grandfather, Matthias Sitler,
of Baltimore, descended from Baron Von Sitler,
of Germany. A tradition of the family states that
the children of the Baron, who was a devout Catho-
lic, turned Protestant, and in consequence were dis-
inherited and moved to this country. American
heirs are now looking up German estates of the
family with a view of contesting them.
Breneman S. McLane was born in Washington'
borough March 28, 1848, and was educated in the
public schools of the place, afterward taking a
course at the State Normal at Millersville. After
teaching school for fourteen years, during eight of
which he was also a justice of the peace, he re-
signed to accept a position in the court house. His
first position in 1880 was a clerkship in the Re-
corder's office under the late John P. Good, and
with the exception of a few months he has since
been employed in the same office. He served under
Recorder H. M. Myers, and was Deputy under
Benjamin Longenecker. After serving two years
under Sheriff D. K. Barkholder, he went back to
the Recorder's office under E. L. Reinhold, and be-
came deputy under Recorders H. C. Lehman, Abra-
ham Summy, and Jacob H. Hoober; and in Janu-
ary, 1901, became deputy under Charles B. Keller,
now in office.
256
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER .COUNTY
Mr. McLane married Miss Mary A. Maynard
in 1876. Mrs. McLane's mother was a daughter of
the late Adam Kendig, who was a member of the
oldest and wealthiest family in Conestoga town-
ship.
HON. CHRISTIAN C. KAUFFMAN. For
more than a century and a half members of the
Kauffman family have borne a prominent part in the
affairs of Lancaster county, and the representatives
of each generation have in turn added strength and
influence to the family name.
In 1734 there emigrated to America from Ger-
many one Christian Kauffman, who settled in Manor
township/ Lancaster Co., Pa., where he died March
ii> 1799- His wife, who in her maidenhood was
Barbara Bear, died Jan. 12, i8ai. The children of
this pioneer couple were three sons— Christian, Isaac
and Benjamin — and three daughters — Elizabeth,
Barbara and Anna— and their descendants are now
scattered over the entire State.
Isaac Kauffman, son of Christian, the emigrant,
was born in Manor township in 1762, and died Jan.
4, 1826. About .1786 he married Catharine Baugh-
man, whose death occurred July 9, 1833. They were
the parents of the following named children : Chris-
tian, Isaac, Maria, Barbara, John, Catharine, Ben-
jamin, Anna, Andrew I., Elizabeth, Susan and Mag-
dalena.
Andrew I. Kauffman, son of Isaac, was born
Aug. 24, 1802, in Manor township, and passed the
larger portion of his life there, with farming as his
chief occupation. He became prominent in public
affairs, and in 1836-37 represented his district in the
State Legislature. In 1850 he removed to Cumber-
land county. Pa., where he carried on farming for
three years, and then located in Mechanicsburg, that
county, engaging in mercantile business, in which
he continued until his death, Dec. 14, 1861. On
March 24, 1825, Andrew I. Kauffman wedded Miss
Catherine Shuman, who was born July 16, 1806, a
daughter of Christian Shuman, of Manor township.
She died May 18, 1875, the mother of sixteen chil-
dren, as follows : Christian S., Isaac B., Annie S.,
Amos, Maria, Levi, Elizabeth, Daniel S., Elias, An-
drew John, Benjamin, Catherine, Martha, Joseph,
Mary and Joseph C, of whom ten grew to maturity.
Andrew I. Kauffman was a Mennonite in religious
faith, and served his people as a preacher.
Christian S. Kauffman, father of Christian C.
Kauffman, the subject proper of this article, was
born in the village of Washington, Manor township,
June 12, 1828, and died Nov. 9, 1897. When quite
young he left school and entered the employ of a
storekeeper at Safe Harbor, with whom he remained
many years, rising from the position of errand boy
to that of clerk, and later to a partnership in the busi-
ness. After fifteen years in the mercantile business
in Safe Harbor he purchased the Cordelia Furnace,
near Columbia, and for nearly forty years contin-
ued in the iron business. He assisted in the build-
ing of the Bound Brook railroad, for the Philadel-
phia & New York railroad, Reading & Columbia
railroad and Port Deposit railroad, and was the or-
ganizer of the Columbia Iron Company and Sus-
quehanna Iron Company, two of the leading indus-
tries in the State, and general manager of the Co-
lumbia Iron Company. In politics he affiliated with
the Republican party, and he was a delegate to the
convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for
the Presidency. He served two terms in the State
Senate, and was a candidate for Congress from the
Lancaster District. Upon the election of Gov. Pol-
lock to the governorship of the State he was given a
position on the governor's staff, with the rank of
colonel, by which title he was called during the re-
mainder of his life. Col. Kauffman was active in the
work of the Presbyterian Church, in which he held
a number of official positions. Fraternally he was
a well-known member, the organizer and first mas-
ter, of the Masonic lodge at Columbia. Christian
S. Kauffman married Jane McClung Strickler, and
the following named children were born to them:
Clara Virginia, who married Senator James W.
Lee, of Pittsburg, Pa. ; Jane McClung, wife of Sam-
uel McCuen, a merchant and capitalist of Oil City,
Pa. ; Christian C. ; Hugh McClung, who died in his
eighth year ; and Catherine and Allen, both of whom
died in infancy. Mrs. Jane McClung Strickler
Kauffman died in 1869.
Christian C. Kauffman was born in Columbia,
Pa., April 7, 1857, and has made his native town his
permanent home. His preliminary literary training
was received in the schools of Columbia, after which
he entered Shoemaker's Academy, at Chambers-
burg, Pa., and he subsequently graduated from the
scientific department of Williston Seminary, East
Hampton, Mass. Having chosen the law_ as his pro-
fession, he entered upon a course of reading, and on
May 3, 1878, was admitted to the Bar of Lancaster
county. On May 10, 1884, he was admitted to prac-
tice in the Supreme court. After being admitted to
the Bar Mr. Kauffman opened an office in Colum-
bia, where he has acquired a successful practice.
He has attained a high position in commercial in-
terests as well as in the law. He is solicitor for the
borough of Columbia, for the Columbia school dis-
trict, Columbia Lace Company and Columbia Silk
Mills, manager of the East Columbia Land Com-
pany, president and general manager of the Colum-
bia Iron Company, president of the New Haven Iron
& Steel Company, general manager of the Schuyl-
kill Haven Iron Co., and a director of the Susque-
hanna Iron & Steel Company. In addition to the
companies in which he is personally interested, there
are a number of industries which have been per-
manently located in Columbia through his efforts,
among them the Ashley & Bailey Silk Mills and the
Columbia Lace Company of Scotland. He is one of
the organizers, vice-president and solicitor of the
Columbia Trust Company, chairman of the execu-
tive committee of the National Bar Iron & Steel As-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
257
sociation, and a director in the Pennsylvania For-
estry Association._
in 1883 Mr. ' Kauffman was married to Miss
Margaret R. Wilson, daughter of Hiram Wilson, a
merchant of Columbia. Four children have come
to gladden their home, viz. : Helen Jean, James Lee,
Elizabeth Wilson and Margaret. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Kaufifman are members of and active workers in the
Presbyterian Church of Columbia, he being presi-
dent of the board of trustees.
In politics Mr. Kauft'man is, and has been from
boyhood, an ardent RepubUcan. But he is not one
of the subservient kind, ready at all times to obey
the orders of the bosses, to come and go at the crack
of the party whip, as was shown by the independent
course he pursued in the State Legislature, of which
he was a member. He was among the first to assert
his independence of thought and action, to work and
vote for the good of the State instead of the inter-
ests of the bosses. His course during his two terms
in the lower branch of the Legislature gave him a
reputation for integrity and ability throughout the
entire State, and to show their appreciation of his
course his constituents, at the close of his second
term in the House, nominated and elected him to the
State Senate. In his native borough of Columbia,
out of 1,200 votes polled, he received all but about
sixty. In the Senate he followed the same course he
had pursued in the House, and was a leader of the
Independents, doing good service in the cause of re-
form. At the close of his Senatorial term he was
placed in nomination by the Republicans of his dis-
trict for a second term, but after one of the hardest
political battles ever fought in the State over a seat
in the State Senate he was defeated for nomination.
Mr. Kaufifman was elected to the lower branch of
the State Legislature in 1887 and again in 1889, and
served on the following committees : Banks, Bureau
of Statistics, Judiciary, General, Manufactures and
Railroads, acting as secretary, of the last named.
During his service in the House he introduced and
secured the passage of a bill appropriating, to each
of the eighty-one commands of Pennsylvania troops
engaged in the battle of Gettysburg, fifteen hundred
dollars, to be used in the purchase of monuments
and markers with which to mark the position of the
commands in the greatest battle of modern times.
In 1894 he was elected to the State Senate, and
served on the following committees: Judiciary,
General Pensions, Federal Relations, Forestry, Mili-
tary Afifairs, and as chairman of the Game and Fish
committee. He was a charter member of the Young
Men's Republican Club, and is a member of the
Vigilant Volunteer Fire Company of Columbia. He
is president of the Columbia Hospital Association.
In every movement for the advancement of the
moral and material welfare of the community Mr.
Kauffman has borne an active part, and is always
found on the side of. progress, while his foresight
and wisdom have been of inestimable value to his
fellow citizens. He was a leader in the Republican
17
fight in Pennsylvania, in 1900, for better govern-
ment, and with Hon. John Wanamaker made 170
speeches throughout the State on that issue. He
made the speech placing Air. Wanamaker in nomina-
tion for United States senator, and was the leader
of this fight to the end. It was in this campaign that
Mr. Kauffman established his reputation as a con-
vincing and eloquent campaign speaker. Mr. Kauff-
man is a prominent member of the Masonic fra-
ternity in Pennsylvania.
ENGLE. In 1753 there came from the Canton
of Basel, Switzerland, one Ulrich Engle and his
wife, Anna Brechtbill. They sailed with their fam-
ily from Rotterdam by way of Cowes, a seaport
town on the Isle of Wight, in a ship called the
"Phoenix," under the command of Capt. John
Spurrier. They landed at Philadelphia, Pa., on
Oct. I, 1754 and located at what is now called
"Wild Cat," a station on the Pennsylvania Rail-
road, west of Marietta. Here they passed the re-
mainder of their lives, and their remains are in-
terred.in a small burying ground on that old home-
stead. The record of their children is as follows:
Ulrich, Jr., who married Martha Bixler; John,
who married Elizabeth Schock ; Jacob, who mar-
ried Fanny Schock ; Annie, who married Henry
Grove. Christianna, who married Jacob Musser;
Catherine, who married Benjamin Musser, Bar-
bara, who married one of the Witmer family and
another who also married into the Witmer family.
(II) John Engle, son of Ulrich, the emigrant,
married Elizabeth Schock. They lived and died
in Conoy township and their remains were laid to
rest there in a graveyard on the farm owned in
1901 by Simon H. Engle. The record of their
family is as follows: Jacob, who married Martha
Strickler; John, who married Hester Long; Annie,
who married John Heisey; Elizabeth, who married
John Gish ; and Fannie, who married John Hoff-
man.
(III) Jacob Engle, son of John, married Mar-
tha Strickler, and they were the parents of eight
children: John, married to Catherine Nissley;
Henry, married to Nancy Brubaker; Jacob, mar-
ried to Barbara Wolgemuth; David, married to
Mary Hamaker; Elizabeth, married to Rudolph
Good; Martha, who died unmarried in 1831 ; Fan-
nie, married to Jacob N. Graybill; and Susannah,
married to John P. Graybill.
(IV) David Engle, son of Jacob, and great-
grandson of Ulrich, was born Feb. 20, 1820, and
died Dec. 9, 1897. He married Mary Hamaker,
who was born .Sept. 17, 1820, and their wedding
occurred Nov. 25, 1841. They were the parents
of six children, as follows: Amos, who married
Martha Greider; EHzabeth, who married B. E.
Masterson ; Aaron, unmarried ; Mary, who married
Samuel S. Hoffman; David, who married Char-
lotte Eby; and Elias J., deceased.
The Engle family has played an important part
258
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS CF LANCASTER COUNTY
in the life of the community from the time of their
location here, and their influence for good has
made itself distinctly felt. Jacob Engle, son of
Ulrich, the emigrant, was the founder of the River
Brethren Church, a branch of the Mennonite faith
to which he and his family belonged. While in
the beginning no attempt was made to form a sep-
arate organization, about 1776 such an organization
was effected and Jacob became the first bishop of
the new church, and his descendants to-day are ac-
tively engaged m religious work.
(IV) In the fourth generation from Ulrich
Engle, through Jacob, the founder of the River.
Brethren Church, and John, his son, who was a
farmer of Conoy township and a highly respected
member of the community, we find Daniel Engle,
son of John, the farmer, born in 18 12 in Conoy
township. Daniel had such opportunities for an
education as the times and place granted, and up-
on reaching manhood, he, too, began to till the soil.
He was the first and also one of the largest' to-
bacco growers of his day, and besides operated
the Marietta nurseries, which in 1853 he established
on the old homestead, and which are now carried
on by his sons. Daniel Engle took an active part
in the religious affairs and like his father belonged
to the River Brethren Church. He was chief
among those who aided in the organization of the
Mutual Insurance Company, becoming its secre-
tary. He married Mary Graybill, daughter of
Christian Graybill, a well-to-do farmer of East
Donegal township, and in their family of children
were: John G. ; Hiram, who died in 1874, and
Daniel G. John. G. and Daniel G. now carry on
the nursery business under the firm name of Engle
and Brother. Daniel Engle died Aug. 17, 1888.
DANIEL G. ENGLE, of the firm of Engle &
iBro., proprietor of the Engletree Stock Farm, was
born July i, 1853, and was educated in the common
schools and the State Normal School at Millersville,
Pa., and in Bryant & Stratton's Business College,
Philadelphia. For two terms he taught school in
East Donegal township. Of late years he has taken
an active part in politics, and like all his family
is an ardent Republican. He has served in the bor-
ough council, and was chairman of its Finance
committee. His stock farm is knov^m all over the
country, and he has had some noted animals. In
1885 he purchased the celebrated "Storm King"
in Kentucky, and since then the Engletree Stock
Farm has been the home of many horses well
known on the turf. On Sept. 21, 1880, Mr. Engle
married Miss Minnie Stahl, daughter of the late
George W. Stahl, a lumber merchant of Marietta.
To this union have been born four children : Rheta,
Daniel (deceased), Franklin S. and Minnie S.
Among the children of Jacob Engle, founder
of the River Brethren Church, was Henry, who be-
came a fuller in the woolen mills of Bainbridge,
and also followed farming on Conoy Creek. He
married Hannah Mjers, who bore him twelve chil-
dren, as follows : Jacob, who died young ; Michael ;
Henry M. : Mary; John; Jacob;' Martha; Daniel;
twins who died unnamed ; Annie, and Jesse. Henry
died at the age of sixty-seven and his wife Hannah,
when she was aged thirty-eight.
HON. HENRY M. ENGLE, son of Henry
and Hannah (Myers) Engle, was born in
Conoy township, April 11, 1819, and was edu-
cated in the primitive schools of the day. He
remained with his father until his marriage,
when he purchased his present property and en-
gaged there in general farming and market
gardening. Since 1864 he has given his attention
more exclusively to the nursery business, in which
he has been most successful. Associated with Levi
S. Reist, Hiram Engle and Alexander Harris, Mr.
Engle organized the Lancaster Horticultural Soci-
ety, later known as the Agricultural and Horticul-
tural Society, of which Mr. Engle served for a long
time as president. He is a member of the American
Pomological Society, and upon the organization of
the State Board of Agriculture was the first dele-
gate sent by the Lancaster county Society to the
State board. His active interest in these various
societies has contributed not a little to their suc-
cess, and among his fellow citizens he has ex-
erted a remarkable power for good. In politics
he was first a Whig, then a Republican and now
a Prohibitionist. He has served as a school director
and in 1871-72 represented his district in the State
Legislature. In religious belief he is connected
with the River Brethren Church.
On Dec. 19, 1839, Mr. Engle was married to
Elizabeth Breneman, who bore him eight children.
Enos, Mary, Uriah, Anna, two that died in in-
fancy, Anna and Ezra. By his second wife, Lizzie
Musser, one child Horace, was born, now a resi-
dent of Virginia. In 1875 Mr. Engle married Miss
Fannie Nissley, and their nine children were: Liz-
zie, who died in childhood; Ella, Harvey, Abbie
and Henry, all of whom died of diphtheria; Jennie,
Samuel, Elmer and Emma.
GEORGE T. WESEMAN, M. D. (deceased),
was born in the Kingdom of Hanover, North Ger-
many, in 1 82 1, and died in Bainbridge, Lancaster
Co., Pa., June 7, 1894. He came to America in
1845, making his home in Pennsylvania, and he was
living at Millersburg at the outbreak of the Civil
war. He promptly enlisted, entering as a surgeon
and served throughout the bloody struggle. His
services in the war were those of a brave and intel-
ligent soldier, and he was wounded in the battles of
Antietam and Winchester. When the war was
ended he returned to Pennsylvania.
Dr. Weseman acquired a fine education in his
native country, having graduated from the Univer-
sities of Goettingen and Heidelberg, and on his ar-
rival in this countrv soon made his mark on the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
259
■communities where he settled, in Pottsville and
in Northumberland, where he remained ten years,
building up a large practice. In 1867 Dr. Wese-
man came to Bainbridge, where he speedily built
up a fine practice, and became one of the leading
men of the community, taking a special interest in
all educational matters.
Dr. Weseman was much interested in the fra-
ternal orders, and belonged to Susquehanna Lodge,
, No. 364, F. & A. M. ; Donegal Castle, K. P. ; .and
Bainbridge Lodge, L O. O. F., of which he became
the first noble grand, at its institution, in 1868. In
the Lancaster County Medical Society he was a
faithful worker, and for over fifty years he was a
loyal and devoted member of the Methodist Church.
He was a Republican in his political relations, and
proved himself always a faithful and public-
spirited citizen.
Dr. Weseman was twice married, his first wife
■ dying while he was in the army. His second mar-
Tiage, in 1868, was to Miss Florence M. Smith, who
-was born in Bainbridge, daughter, of Jacob and An-
geline (Christ) Smith, natives of Bainbridge and of
Carroll county, Md., respectively. Both are now
deceased. Her father was a farmer, and operated
"boats on the canal. He died in 1881, at the age of
•fifty-seven years, his widow surviving until 1897,
Teaching the age of seventy years. They had the
following 'children : Florence M. ; Henry E., who
IS deceased; Middleton C, now engaged in the
-Agricultural Department at Washington, D. C. ;
Mary, who died young; Orlando, in the far West;
and Mary E. and Milton, who both died young.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Florence M.
Weseman were John and Elizabeth (Hoffman)
Smith, farming people and life-long residents of
Bainbridge. The maternal grandparents were Ja-
cob and Elizabeth (Hide) Christ, the former of
whom was born in Germany, and the latter in
Maryland, where both died after long and useful
lives.
Mrs. Weseman is much respected in the com-
munity in which her declining days are passing, for
her kind heart, sympathetic spirit and womanly
character. She is a devoted member of the Metho-
•dist Church, and well sustains the honored name
■which her husband established in Bainbridge.
AARON WISSLER, who conducts a foundry
and general machine shop at Brunnerville, this
county, was born Aug. 24, 1832, a son of Ezra
Wissler, and comes from one of the old Pennsyl-
-vania families.
Jacob Wissler, the first member of this branch
■of the Wissler family in America, emigrated from
Switzerland and sailed with his wife,- Magdalena,
from Rotterdam for Philadelphia about 1720. On
the voyage, together with other able-bodied men
•on the vessel, he was impressed into the naval ser-
vice by a man-of-war. His wife continued the
journey to Philadelphia, where he joined her on the
expiration of his term of service. She was em-
ployed by a farmer of Germantown, and he also took
service with a farmer of that locality, for a time, af-
ter which they moved up the country and settled
on Brandywine Creek, in Chester county, where they
passed the remainder of their lives. Andrew Wiss-
ler, their son, removed to Lancaster county. Pa.,
where he entered the employ of John Groff, an ex-
tensive farmer in Clay township on the west bank
of Middle Creek. In 1767 he married Anna Mag-
dalena, the only daughter of his employer, and in
this way became the owner of the old Groff home-
stead, which was taken up in 1724 by John Jacob
Groff, father of John. With the additions it was
divided into four farms by Jacob Wissler, son of
Andrew, as mentioned elsewherej but has ever
since remained in the Wissler family. Andrew had
two sons, John and Jacob, the former of whom
died unmarried.
Jacob Wissler, father of Ezra, was born in Clay
township in 1776, son of Andrew Wissler, and was
one of the successful farmers of the day, following
agricultural pursuits until his death, which oc-
curred in 1853. He had prospered by thrift and
industry, and at the time of his death had added
considerably to the old Groff homestead, dividing
the whole into four farms, giving a portion each
to his sons Jacob, Christian, Ezra, and Levi. He
provided otherwise for his other children. He was
a man of considerable energy and made three trips
to Canada on horseback. He belonged to the Old
Mennonite Church, but he did not ignore altogether
the law of self-defense, and one of his descendants
still cherishes a cane with which he defended him-
self against the attack of an Indian, upon one of
the trips mentioned. In 1800 Jacob Wissler mar-
ried Anna, daughter of Christian Eby, and ten chil-
dren were born to them, namely : Andrew, a farmer
and merchant who moved to Michigan, where he
died ; Jacob, a farmer ; Christian, a miller and farm-
er; Magdalena, wife of Jacob Landis, of Ephrata
township; Ezra, the father of our subject; John, a
tanner and merchant in Canada in his early days,
who later had an iron furnace at Columbia Furnace,
Va., where he died; Catherine, deceased; Mary,
wife of Levi Erb; Levi, a farmer; and Sem, a
miller, tanner and merchant of Salem, in the Prov-
ince of Ontario.
Ezra Wissler, father of Aaron, for many years
one of the progressive farmers of Clay township,
was a son of Jacob and Anna (Eby) Wissler, and
was born in Elizabeth, now Clay township, on the
old Groff homestead. May 6, 1809. On Nov. 24,
183 1, he married Mary Fahnestpck Bauman, and
began farming on the old homestead. He pur-
chased the first threshing machine in his section,
and did the threshing for quite a distance around,
In 1839-40 he built a house and barn on the old
Groff homestead, then mostly timber land, whiclj
he cleared gradually. In 1876 Mr. Wissler sold
the farm to Henry C. Brubaker, and removed to
260
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Brunnerville, Pa., where he built himself a house
and where both his sons resided, Aaron having the
foundry and machine shop, and John B. the store.
Here his wife died in 1886, after which he had a
house-keeper until his death, which occurred Nov.
3, 1891, aged eighty-two years, five months and
twenty-seven days, after an illness of over six
months, occasioned by pneumonia.
Aaron ^^'issler lived at home until he was twen-
ty-five years of age, and during his boyhood received
a good practical education in the common schools.
He commenced farming in Clay township, continu-
ing thus for eleven years, after which he moved to
Brunnerville, the place where he now resides. He
bought out the foundry and machine shop of Peter
Bruner, who died in 1868, and has carried on the
business up to the present time, meeting with sub-
stantial success. On July 31, 1898, the shops burned
to the ground, but within ninety days Mr. Wissler
had the re-building so far advanced that he was able
to resume business. The incident is characteristic
of the man, for he has throughout his career dis-
played an energy of purpose and enterprising spirit
which fully account for the success with which his
efforts have been crowned.
Mr. W'issler married in 1856 Miss Leah Keller,
daughter of John H. and Cassia Keller, and to this
union have been born two children. John K. works
for his father and attends to his business ; he mar-
ried I\Iiss Lizzie F. Longnecker, and they have had
two children, \\'illiam and Edwin. Anna ]Mary is
the wife of Reuben F. Hackman, and they are the
parents of five children, Willis W., Ezra W^, who
died when eight years of age, Elmer B., Lee Roy,
and one that died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Wissler
are both members of the German Baptist Church.
Mr. Wissler is one of the most respected citizens
of the community where he has spent a long life
of usefulness.
JOSEPH WARREN YOCUM was born near
the Trappe, a historic village in Montgomery coun-
ty, Pa., June 27, 1S43. His paternal ancestors came
from Sweden, and his maternal progenitors from
England, before the Revolutionary war. In their
line of descendants he belongs to the seventh genera-
tion. Born on a farm, inured to hardships, educated
in public schools and private academy, he began
teaching at the age of sixteen years, at the same time
preparing for a collegiate course.
In 1862, then nineteen years of age, he left the
school room, and enlisted as a private in the Ii6th
Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, which served in
Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher's Irish Brigade,Han-
cock's 1st Division, 2d Corps, Army of the Potomac.
During his three years' service he participated in
every battle from Antietam to Appomattox, and
rose through all the grades of an enlisted man to the
rank of second and first lieutenants and captain of
his regiment, and was brevetted major of U. S. Vol-
unteers for gallantry in action at Bristoe Station,
\'a. During Grant's Petersburg campaign he served
as aid-de-camp on the staff of Brig. (5n. Ramsey.
He was twice wounded in action, and at the close
of the war was honorably discharged on account of
wounds.
Returning to civil life Mr. Yocum served for
some time as deputy collector of the Seventh In-
ternal Revenue District, and then entering the
Sophomore class of Franklin and Marshall College,
at Lancaster, resumed his studies, and was graduated
therefrom, with honor, with the class of 1868. Dur-
ing his college course, Mr. Yocum studied law with
Hon. John B. Livingston, since President Judge of
Lancaster county, and was admitted to the Bar in
1869. Following his taste for journalism, developed
while in college, Mr. Yocum purchased the Columbia
Spy J and on Sept. 1st, of the same year, assumed pos-
session and became a citizen of Columbia. This
journal was established in 1816, has been published
uninterruptedly ever since, and is one of the oldest
papers in the county. The anti-slavery agitation in
the early part of' the last century, the enactment of
the Fugitive Slave law, and the establishment of
the "underground railroad," are largely responsible
for the appropriation of this peculiar title for a news-
paper, which i§ duplicated in the title of only one
other journal in America. The Daily Spy is a clean,
bright and neatly printed newspaper. Its large cir-
culation and the quality of its patrons attest its in-
fluence, standing and usefulness. It is ardently de-
voted to the promotion of the best interests of Co-
lumbia, to which its editor has also given his per-
sonal influence and effort, and with which he has
been closely and pecuniarily identified.
^Ir. Yocum has been closely associated with
many of the prominent financial and industrial en-
terprises of the town. He was among the incorpora-
tors of the Columbia Iron Company, The Columbia
Grey Iron Company, The East Columbia Land Com-
pany and the Columbia Trust Company, with all of
which he has been actively identified either as a di-
rector, or president, secretary or treasurer. In more
recent movements for industrial development he was
officially identified with the establishment of the
Columbia Lace and Silk mills, together employing
more than a thousand hands.
In the fraternal orders, Alajor Yocum has filled
a prominent part. He is a past commander and the
quartermaster of Gen. Welsh Post, No. 118, G. A.
R.. ; past master of Columbia Lodge, No. 286, F. &
A. M. ; past high priest and treasurer of Corinthian
Chapter, No. 224, R. A. M. ; a member of Cyrene
Commandery, No. 34, Knights Templar, of Susque-
hanna Lodge, No. 80, I. O. O. F., and of Columbia-
Assembly, No. 20, A. O. M. P.
!Mr. Yocum was born in the Lutheran Church
and educated in the Reformed Church, but for the
past thirty-four years has been identified with the
Presbyterian Church, officially as a trustee for twen-
ty-one years, part of the time as president and treas-
urer, respectively ; and for nearly as man}' years witK
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
261
the Sunday-school as teacher, secretary and super-
intendent.
On June i, 1871, Mr. Yocum was married to
Miss Annie Elizabeth Herr, of Lancaster city, a
■daughter of the late Christian B. and Maria Light
Herr, and a lineal descendant of Hans Herr, the
pioneer settler and first Christian .minister in Lan-
caster county. To them were born two children —
a daughter who died in infancy, and a son, Howard
Herr Yocum, who graduated from Princeton Uni-
versity in 1898, as the first honor man of his class,
and with the award of the Mathematical Fellowship
for a post-graduate course. He subsequently studied
law and was, in 1902, admitted to the Philadelphia
J3ar.
JOHN REYNOLDS was born in Lancaster
•county in 1787, son of William Reynolds, who had
come to this country in 1762. William married
Catharine Ferree Lefevre, and served in the Rev-
olutionary war.
John Reynolds was for many years editor of the
Lancaster Journal before it became consolidated
-with the Intelligencer. After his retirement from
•editorial work, he was chosen guardian of the chil-
dren of Thomas B. Coleman, and assumed charge
of the famous Coleman iron works at Cornwall,
Lebanon county, until in 1847. He was a member
of the Legislature from Lancaster in 1822 and
1823. He died at Baltimore, May 11, 1853. John
Reynolds was the father of Admiral William Rey-
nolds, Gen. John F. Reynolds, and James L. Reynolds.
Admiral William Reynolds, brother of Gen.
John F. Reynolds, was born at Lancaster, Pa., Dec.
18, 1815. He was appointed a midshipman NotT.
17, 183 1, and served in Wilkes' exploring expedi-
tion from 1838 to 1842, receiving his commission as
a lieutenant while with it. He was assigned to
■duty in the Sandwich Islands, and remained there
imtil in 1861, when he was made commander of the
naval forces at Port Royal. He became a commo-
-dore in 1870, and served as Acting Secretary of the
Navy in 1873 and 1874, and was made a Rear- Ad-
miral Dec. 12, 1873. He was soon after placed upon
the retired list, and died Nov. 5, 1879, ^^'^ was
buried in the Lancaster cemetery.
Gen. John F. Reynolds was born at Lancaster
Sept. 21, 1820, son of John and Lydia (Moore) Rey-
nolds. He received a common school education,
and in 1837 became a cadet at West Point, from
-which he graduated with high honors in 184 1. He
-was then appointed a lieutenant in the Third U. S.
Artillery, stationed at Baltimore and Charleston.
When the Mexican war broke out he was sent into
service, and at Monterey, was breveted major for
gallantry. After the war with Mexico he was
stationed in command of various posts throughout
the cotmtry until the Rebellion began in 1861.
In August, 1861, Major Reynolds was appointed
brigadier-general of volunteers, and was assigned
to the command of the First Brigade of Pennsylvania
Reserves. He took part in the campaign of the Army
of the Potomac, and was in the battle known as the
"Seven Days" battle, in Virginia. He also fought
in General Pope's army during that general's dis-
astrous campaign in August, 1862. On Sept. 12,
1862, he took command of the 75,000 militia called
out to prevent the invasion of Pennsylvania.^ After
Lee's defeat at Antietam, Gen. Reynolds rejoined the
Army of the Potomac. He captured the Confed-
erate works at Fredericksburg, and was appointed
its military governor. He led the advance of the
Union army at Gettysburg, where he lost his life on
July I, 1863. His body is interred in Lancaster
cemetery. Gen. Reynolds was one of our country's
greatest soldiers, and his troops had the warmest
affection for him.
James Lefevre Reynolds, a brother of Gen.
John F. Reynolds, was born in March, 1822, and
received a collegiate education at Mercersburg, in
Marshall College. He studied law under John R.
Montgomery, Esq., at Lancaster and was admitted
to the bar Nov. 22, 1844. In 1862 he was appointed
superintendent of the draft in Lancaster county, and
in 1863 he was appointed quartermaster-general for
Pennsylvania. In 1872 he was elected a member of
the Constitutional Convention, which assembled in
1873. He died at Lancaster April 5, 1880, and is
interred in Lancaster cemetery.
HENRY S. KEYLOR, a venerable and much
respected farmer of Colerain township, was born in
Bart township, April i, 1836, his parents being
John and Sarah (Meginness) Keylor. John Key-
lor was born in Germany, and his wife, Sarah, was
born in Lancaster county. They made a home in
Bart township, where they lived and died. Of their
four living children, Henry S. Keylor is the young-
est.
Henry S. Keylor was reared to manhood on the
Bart farm, where he received the advantages of a
district school education. He was married Feb.
16, -1864, to Martha E., a daughter of Francis and
Nancy (Kerr) Scott.
Mr. Scott was born in Colerain township in
1799, and died in 1872; Nancy, his wife, was born
in 1800, and died in 1891. Her father, WilHam
Kerr, was a soldier in the Revolution and crossed
the Delaware with Gen. Washington on the memor-
able night of Dec. 25, 1776. Of their family of
eight children, six are still living: Nancy J., the
wife of William F. Stevenson, of Colerain town-
ship ; Margaret E., who died unmarried ; John C,
born in Colerain township, a resident of Lafayette,
Ore., where he has a family of four children, Adam,
Jerome, Margaret and George; James K., now a
resident of Colerain township, who married Amelia
Mendenhall, has two children living, Marshall and
Margaret E., now Mrs. Frank Swisher, and who
celebrated his Golden Wedding March 16, 1900;
Jackson, who married Amanda Hudson, lives in
262
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Wilmington, Del., and has two daughters, Mary
E., Mrs. Carpenter, of Delaware; and Annie F.,
of Wilmington; Frank, now living retired in San
Diego, Cal. ; Anna M., the widow of George M.
Keylor, of Wilmington, whose only child, Thomas
Bayard, died young; Martha E., Mrs. Henry S.
Keylor. Frank, mentioned above, married Sarah
Brady, of Colerain township, who died in Dela-
ware, leaving one daughter, Mabel, who died young.
For his second wife he married Sally S. Wood-
bury, in Denver. She died in Los Angeles, Cali-
fornia.
Mrs. Keylor was born in Colerain township,
July 22, 1839, was educated in the home schools,
and when she was married, she and her husband
settled on the old Keylor homestead, where they
lived from 1864 to 1880. That year they moved to
her father's old home. In 1890 Mr. Keylor put
up there a new house, and also a large tobacco
shed and out buildings. To him and his wife have
been born five children : Anna L., who was born in
1864, and who died Aug. 5, 1866; John M. and
Frank S., twins, born in January, 1867, the for-
mer of whom died in childhood, and the latter
was educated in the home schools, remaining at
home until manhood, when he became a civil and
stationary engineer; Nannie A., born in Bart town-
ship, who was educated in the local schools and
is living at home, unmarried; Martha Nelda, who
died in childhood.
Mrs. Keylor belongs to the United Presbyterian
Church, and while her husband is not a member,
he is a liberal contributor to the support of this
church, to which Nannie A. also belongs. Mr.
Keylor is a Democrat, and has been a supervisor
in Colerain township. Frank Keylor is a charter
member of Bart Castle, No. 328, Knights of the
Golden Eagle, and also a member of the Grand
Castle of K. G. E. of Pennsylvania.
Henry S. Keylor is a brother of Milton Keylor'
and a relative of John Meginness, his mother be-
longing to that family.
ELIAS HOFFMAN WITMER, M. D., of
Nefifsville, is widely known in Penns;ylvania and
elsewhere both as a physician and as a poultry fan-
cier. He breeds fine poultry as a pastime from his
professional duties.
Dr. Witmer comes from an old Pennsylvania
family, and his grandfather, a farmer, was born in
Lancaster county. His father, John Witmer, also
a farmer, who died forty years since, was born in
Raphe township. He married Miss Maria Hoff-
man, daughter of the late Michael Hoffman, of
AA^est Hempfield township, and ten children were
born of this union, seven of whom are living: Jos-
eph H., a farmer living near Indianapolis, Ind. ;
Christian H., a farmer of Silver Sprinaf, Lancas-
ter county: Samuel H., of Lancaster; Mary, wife
of David Baker, retired, of Landisville ; Barbara,
wife of Henry Baker, a farmer of Silver Spring ;
Fanny, unmarried, making her home with her two
married sisters; Elias H.
The Doctor was born in Rapho township March
24, 1853, and was educated in the public schools-
of Lancaster county. He afterward attended the
State Normal at Millersville, and upon leaving that
institution taught school four years in East Hemp-
field township, making a record for progressive
ideas and industry second to that of no other teach-
er in the community. He then began the study of
medicine and surgery under the direction of Dr.
S. T. Davis, afterward taking the medical course
in the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in
1877. He then began practice at Landisville, re-
maining there one year, when he removed to Neffs-
ville, where he has since resided and practiced.
Some four years after his advent into Neffsville
he purchased the commodious mansion of the late
Dr. E. J. Bowman, one of the finest homes in the
vicinity, where the Doctor has his office, and also
maintains a well selected stock of drugs for the
use of the public.
Dr. Witmer married April 10, 1879, Miss Ella,
daughter of Franklin Sutton, one of Lancaster's
best known citizens, and descended from one of
Pennsylvania's leading families. Two children
were born to this union : Miss Mabel Irene, whoi
graduated in the class of 1901 from the State Nor-
mal School at Millersville; and Charles Howard,,
who graduated from the same institution in the
class of 1902.
Dr. Witmer has been a school director of Man-
heim township for nineteen years, during most of
that time serving as secretary of the board, and has
been president of the Lancaster County School Di-
rectors' Institute. Although a member of the
Church of God in Lancaster, he has been a regular
attendant of the Lutheran Church, and superinten-
dent of the Nefifsville Union Sunday-school since its
organization, twenty years ago; it is one of the
largest and best known Sunday-schools in the coun-
ty. In his professional capacity the Doctor is a
member of the Lancaster City and County Medical
Society. He is a member and vice-president of
the National Bantam Association of the United
.States and Canada and treasurer of the Pennsyl-
vania State Poultry Association, in which he has
also been honored with other official positions. As
a poultry fancier no man in the State is more widely
known. He has exhibited his poultry at county
and State fairs time and again, and also . at the
World's Fair in Chicago, and at the Pan-American
Exposition at Bufifalo. He has won hundreds of
premiums, in Lancaster, Philadelphia, New York,.
Washington, Boston and Chicago.
The Doctor is a Republican, and has given lib-
erally of time and means for his party's success.
He was a delegate to the Republican State Con-
vention that nominated James A. Beaver for gov-
ernor in the year he was elected. In 1898 the Doc-
tor stood for a seat in the Legislature, but although
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
263
he received the larg'est vote on the ticket was de-
feated with the balance of it. When elected to the
State convention he had 1,300 more votes than the
next highest on the ticket, a fine endorsement of
his personal and political worth.
With, a splendid practice, the owner of the only
drug store in Neffsville, and with imusual political
strength, Dr. Witmer is to be congratulated on his
prospects for a bright future.
GIDEON H. SMITH, prison inspector for
Lancaster county, general blacksmith, and carriage
builder at Silver Spring, in West Hempfield town-
ship, was born in Rapho township, this county,
March 20, 1846, a son of Gideon and Mary (Hart-
horn) Smith, natives, respectively, of West Hemp-
field and West Donegal townships'.
Gideon Smith was a farmer, and was also agent
for the Champion Agricultural Implement Co., and
died in Springfield, Ohio, in 1880, when sixty years
old, leaving his 'widow and only child, Gideon H.,
to mourn his loss, and who both continued their
residence in Lancaster county, Pa. Mrs. Mary
(Harthorn) Smith, who was born in 1821, subse-
quently married Henry Moore, a farmer, and now
lives in Oreville, this county. She is a devoted
member of the United Brethren Church. Six chil-
dren blessed her second marriage, viz. : Henry,
keeper of the county prison at Lancaster; John, a
farmer on the homestead ; Anna, wife of John For-
rey, of West Hempfield township, and of whom
more may be read on another page of this work;
Mary and Sadie, unmarried and still at home; and
Elizabeth, wife of Roland Greiner, toll-gatekeeper
in Leacock township.
The paternal grandfather of Gideon H. Smith
was John K. Smith, a farmer, whose first wife, a
member of the Mumma family, became the mother
of Gideon Smith. For his second wife John K.
Smith married Magdalina Sterline.
Gideon H. Smith was reared on the home farm
until fifteen years old, and then began at the black-
smith's trade under Emanuel Will, in Columbia,
but that gentleman died a year later ; young Gideon
H. then drifted into the quartermaster's department
in the volunteer army, in which he served from
1863 to 1865. He was next sent to the frontier in
Kansas and Colorado, where he served five years.
On his return home, he worked for Col. Kauffman
in a smelting furnace for two years, and then be-
gan work at his trade on his own account.
On Dec. 7, 1871, Gideon H. Smith was married
in Columbia, Pa., to Miss Catherine B. Kaufifman,
who has borne him five children, namely: Laura,
wife of Charles Ditzler, a farmer at .Silver Spring;
and Alice, Jennie, Carrie and Mazy, all still at home.
Mrs. Kate B. (Kaufifman) Smith was born in West
Hempfield township Aug. 29, 1846, a daughter of
David and Susan (Bishop) Kaufiman. David
Kauffman was a teamster, and was employed in
hauling ore from the banks in his township to Pitts-
burg. He and wife were parents of four- children,
viz. : Abraham, a farmer in West Hempfield town-
ship, and of whom a full life-sketch is given else-
where ; Harry ; Martha ; and Kate B. David Kaufif-
man died Aug. 30, 1847, when forty-three years
old, in the faith of the Mennonites, and Mrs. Susan
(Bishop) Kaufifman died Nov. 14, 1873, at the
age of fifty-five, a faithful follower of the teachings
of the United Brethren denomination, and they
were buried in the Columbia and Ironville ceme-
teries, respectively.
In politics, Gideon H. Smith is a Republican,
and he was elected prison inspector in 1897, and
was re-elected in 1900. Fraternally, he is a mem-
ber of the I. 0- O. F., the I. O. M. C, and the
Jr. O. U. -A.. M. The family stand high in social
circles, and Mr. Smith is classed among the "solid
men" of West Hempfield township and Lancaster
county, where, as well as in Rapho township, his
integrity is well known, and where he has friends
that are warm and true as well as innumerable.
REV. J. N. GROFF. Among the widely-known
and highly esteemed citizens of Lancaster county,
is Rev. J. N. Grofif, who for many years has been
a man of high character, and a Christian leader of
zeal and power.
Mr. Grofif was born in East Providence town-
ship, in this county, in March, 1836, a son of
Thomas and Mary A. (Newlin) Grofif. Thomas
Groff was born also in Providence township, in
Jiine, 1 8 10, and his wife was born in. the town of
Marietta, in May, 1813, she being the daughter of
Thomas Newlin, who is remembered as one of the
leading citizens of that town. The Groff family
traces an honorable ancestry back into the eigh-
teenth century. Great-grandfather John Groff who
married a member of the Kendig family, coming
from Switzerland, of German parentage. '\
Henry Groff, the grandfather of Rev. J. N., of
this sketch, was born in Providence township and
married Rosanna Myers, who was born in Berks
county, in this State. He settled in Providence
township as one of the pioneers, and lived to an
advanced age, rearing a family of seven children.
Bitterly opposed to slavery, he first embraced the
principles of the Whig party, but later became an
enthusiastic Republican. Both he and wife were
consistent members of the Old Mennonite Church. I
Their children were : John, married Susan Herr,
and lived for a number of years, in Providence
township, and then moved to Ohio, where he died
at an advanced age, leaving a family which worth-
ily upholds the old name in that State ; Jacob, born
in Providence township, married Susan Stoneroad,
and settled in Providence, where he died at the age
of forty-five years, leaving three sons and one
daughter, who are still residents of this county;
Anna, born in Providence, now deceased, was the
wife of John Barr, who settled in Eden township,
and she left two children, who live in this county;
264
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Thomas was the father of our subject; Susan, de-
ceased, was the wife of the late John Myers, of Coler-
ain township, and a large family survives them;
Benjamm, born in Providence, located in Mifflin
county. Pa., where for many years he was a mer-
chant, and at death left a large family; Elizabeth,
the youngest of the family, never married, but died
in the old home.
Thomas Groff married in 1835, Mary A. New-
lin, and they settled on a farm in Providence, near
his old home, and there they lived out their quiet,
peaceful lives, beloved and esteemed by their friends
and neighbors. Thomas survived until the age of
eighty-six years, but his wife passed out of life
in 1 85 1. Both had been most worthy and consistent
members of the Mennonite Church, and their lives
exemplified their Christian belief. Although never
a politician, Thomas Groff was a stanch member of
the Republican party, formerly a Whig, and was
intelligently interested all his life in public affairs.
The nine children born to Thomas Groff and wife
were: (i) J. N., is mentioned in full below. (2)
Elizabeth, born in 1837, married Absalom Goch-
nauer, of this county, and they settled in Provi-
dence, where she died in 1895, leaving a family of
eight children, Mary A., Anna, Adam, Henry,
John, Aldus, Franklin and Sue. (3) Rosanna, born
in 1839, is the wife of Abram Dennis, of New
Providence, and their children are, Harry, Thad-
deus, Charles, Emma, Cassius, John, Mary, Jennie
and Mable. (4) Henry, born in 1841, grew up in
the old home and first married Mary Wise, of this
county, and for a time they lived in Eden township,
moving later to Providence, where his wife died,
leaving these three sons, Elwood, Newlin and
Wallace H. The second marriage of Henry Groff
was to Miss Lettie Peoples, of this county, and they
now reside in- Providence, on his farm; their chil-
dren are, Wilmer P., Clement, Martha, and Mary.
(5) Benjamin, born in Providence township, in
1843, enlisted for service in the Civil war, from
Lancaster county, at Philadelphia, with his brother
Henry, and after serving through his first tenti,
he re-enlisted and was killed in Virginia while on
picket duty, by a sharpshooter, giving up his young
life to his country. (6) Susan, born in 1845, is
single, and lives with her brother Henry, in his
home. (7) Fannie, born in 1847, is the wife of
Rev. Tobias Brubaker, who resides in Providence
township, and their children are, Aldus, Frank,
Emma, Lizzie, Harry and Annie. (8) Simon died
in childhood. (9) Michael also died young.
Rev. J. N. Groff grew to manhood on the old
farm, and attended the common schools in his dis-
trict, later taking a course of study in the Millers-
ville Normal School, and fitting himself for the pro-
fession of teaching, which he followed for three
years in the public schools of Lancaster county.
In October, 1859, Rev. Grofif was united in mar-
riage to Miss Marv R. Howett, the estimable daugh-
ter of John and Elizabeth Howett, natives of Chester
county, who later settled in Providence township,
in Lancaster county, and Mrs. Groff was born in
Eden township Dec. 22, 1839. After marriage the
young couple settled down on a farm in this town-
ship, where Mr. Groff was engaged in agricultural
pursuits for the succeeding ten years, moving then
to Providence township, where for five years he
successfully carried on a mercantile business, later
engaging in farming. In 1888 he purchased his
present farm in Quarryville borough, and this has
been his home. Mrs. Groff died in 1891, leaving
these children: (i) Mary I., born in April, 1865,
in 1888 married Harry K. Hess, of Providence, a
son of Benjamin Hess, one of the county's most
prominent citizens. Mr. Hess was born in 1862,
and after marriage he and wife lived with his
parents until his' death, in 1896, leaving one son,
Park E., born in 1892. Mrs. Hess lives with her
father in Quarryville. (2) John F., born in 1866,
married Miss Anna M. Swinehart and now resides
in Eden township ; their two sons are Willis and
Paul. (3) Frank S., born in 1868, married Miss
Annie Reese, of this county, and they are now
residents of Providence township ; and their three
children are Rodney, Murcher and Cornelia. (4)
Emma L., born in 1870, is the wife of Charles A.
Aument, and she died in April, 1900, at their home
in Bart township, leaving two sons, Robert and
Harry. (.5) Morris A., born in 1873, married Miss
Lizzie Edwards, of this county, and they now re-
side in Colerain township; they have no family.
(6) Jacob N., born in 1878, is single, and resides
at home. (7) Chester E., born in December, 1884,
was educated in the High school of this borough,
and resides with his father.
In 1884, Mr. Grofif was licensed to preach the
Gospel, and in 1889 he was ordained a deacon of
the Methodist Church, and he fills the office of
local preacher. Since ordination he has become
well known through the vicinity, as he has ac-
ceptably filled many of the pulpits. A man of high
character and sterling worth, he well merits the es-
teem in which he is held by the community.
Politically Mr. Groff has always been thorough-
ly identified with the Republican party, and has
taken a prominent part in public affairs. He has
been one of the efficient councilmen, and was its
very capable president when this borough was or-
ganized. In religious matters he has taken an act-
ive part since his youth, has served as one of the
trustees of the Methodist Church, has been for an
extended period one of the stewards and a class
leader of power. His assistance was of note in the
building of the Quarryville Methodist Church, and
he is known for his estimable traits of character,
not only in religious but also in public and social
circles 'in this locality.
SQUIRE FRANK M. TROUT, surveyor and
conveyancer, residing in Bart township, Lancaster
county, was born in the township where his useful
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
265
career has so far been passed, Feb. 26, 1846, son of
George and Maria (Eckman) Trout.
John Trout, his grandfather, was born in 1790,
in Lancaster county, his parents coming from Ger-
many. He married Mary Ferree, also a native of
Lancaster county, daughter of Samuel Ferree, who
came here from Germany with his widowed mother,
Mrs. Daniel Ferree, and bought a thousand acres
of land in Providence township from the estate of
William Penn. John Trout settled at Mt. Pleasant,
in Bart township, where he lived and died, working
as a carpenter for many years, and also doing work
as an undertaker. He was the father of ten chil-
dren: (i) Barbara, born in 1812, married John
Smith, and died at Christiana, Sadsbury township,
leaving one daughter, Loretta. (2) Hannah, born
in 1813, married John Neidich, of Paradise town-
ship, and died leaving four children: Mary T.,
Susie E., wife of George H. Hawthorn, of Lancas-
caster City; John M., a resident of Lancaster, who
married Hetty Lemmon ; and Hannah, wife of Sam-
uel McClune. (3) George is mentioned below.
(4) Susan, born in 1816, was the wife of George
Heidlebaugh, and both are deceased. Their family
consisted of Samuel ; Mary E., wife of Jacob Lan-
dis; Letitia; and Frank B., all residents of Lan-
caster. (5) Mary, born in 1820, married Augustus
B. Miller, and both died in Lancaster, leaving the
following children : Anna, wife of Isaac L. Bau-
man, of Lancaster ; Naomi C, of Lancaster ; and
Winslow A., married and residing at Steelton, Dau-
phin county. (6) John F., born in 1821, married
Sarah Bower, and for a number of years lived in
Bart township, then moved to Lancaster, where he
and his wife died, leaving the following named
•children: Jacob S., who married Viola Moore, of
Christiana, where they reside; Joseph H., of Lan-
caster, who married Ida Foulk; Christ S., deceased.;
Benjamin, a grocer in Lancaster; Mary J., wife of
Joshua Chamberlain, and living in Philadelphia;
and Lettie, who is unmarried, and lives in Stras-
burg Borough, (y) Abraham, born in 1823, mar-
ried Elizabeth Mancha, and spent his life on a
farm in Bart township, where he and his wife died,
leaving the following children : Edwin J., of Chris-
tiana; Naomi, wife of J. C. Watson, a prominent
coal operator of Barnum, W. Va. ; Alice, who mar-
ried Daniel K. Landis, by whom she had one daugh-
ter, Mary, and for her second husband married
John Lytle, a merchant of Strasburg; A. Ferree,
a farmer in Ba.rt township, who married Katie
Gearheart; and Frank T., a resident of West Vir-
ginia, who married Ella Leech. (8) Henry, born
in 1825, married Elizabeth Bowman, and lives on
his farm in Strasburg township. They have had
five children : Flam, a miller of Strasburg : Frank
J., a farmer in Bart township, who married Lizzie
A. Huber, of Lancaster county; Elmer J., who
married Phoebe J. Howey, and lives in Lancaster
city; Henry F., married and engaged in farming
in Bart township; and Anna, wife of Amos B.
Lemon, of Strasburg township. (9) • Catherine,
born in 1829, is the wife of Jacob J. Bachman, of
Bart township, and has no family. (10) Anna
E., born in 1832, is the wife of Benjamin R. Hand,
a merchant of Goldsboro, N. C, and has one daugh-
ter, EJva, now the wife of Henry Epting, a drug-
gist of that city.
George Trout, born Feb.„4, 1815, in Bart town-
ship, was educated in the district schools of that
township. In 1844 he married Maria Eckman, who
was born in Colerain in 18 10, daughter of Jacob
and Catharine E",ckman. They settled in Bart town-
ship on a farm, which later passed into the posses-
sion of his son, and he was very successful, finally
buying a large farm in Mt. Pleasant, on which he
made his home the rest of his life, passing away
in 1893. The widow is still living, and resides with
her son, Frank M., whose career is the theme of
this writing. George Trout was a member of the
Reformed Mennonite Church, as is also his widow,
and in every way they were regarded as good Chris-
tian people. In politics Mr. Trout was an enthu-
siastic Republican from the earliest organization of
the party. He left two children : Frank M. : and
Mary, who was born in Bart township in March,
1849. The daughter was reared at home and ac-
quired her early education in the local schools ;
she attended high school at Oxford and at Chris-
tiana, and for several years was a very successful
teacher. In 1873 she married Dr. B. F. Rogers,
of Millersville, who has since become a surgeon in
the United States Navy, and is now at Manila. He
has traveled all over the world. For some three
years they had their home at Annapolis, when he
was stationed there. When he was abroad his wife
remained at the home of her parents, where she
died in 1886, leaving one daughter, Zaidie L., now
a resident of Lancaster county, a young woman of
much character and culture, who was graduated
from the Lititz high school.
Jacob Eckman, father of Maria (Eckman)
Trout, was born in 1786, one of the seven children of
John Eckman, who owned several hundred acres
of land in Colerain township, and was an officer
in the Revolutionary war. Jacob. Eckman married
Catharine Miller, who was born in 1788, and they
had ten children : ( i ) Maria, already spoken of,
was born in 1810. (2) Elizabeth, born in 1813,
• married a Kirkwood, and settled in Richland coun-
ty, Ohio, where they raised a large family, now
scattered through the Middle West. (3) Susan,
born in 1814, married William Brabson, and lived
in Lancaster and Perry counties until the breaking
out of the Civil war, when Mr. Brabson joined the
army and died in the service. They had three chil-
dren, Frank, Emma and Hannah. They together
with their mother are residents of Logan county,
Ohio. (4) Catharine, bom in 1817, married Amos
Griest, and to this union were born six children,
Kate, Emma, Nettie, Ella, Annie and Marion, all
residents of Lancaster county. (5) Isaac, born in
266
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1818, had no family. (6) Miller, born in 1820,
married Elizabeth Eckman; they had one son,
George E., who has been for many years a clerk in
the Lancaster PostofHce. (7) Joshua, born in 1823,
married Mary Brown ; they had one daughter, Etha-
linde, who married James Marsh, a merchant of
Philadelphia. (8) David, born in 1825, married
Elizabeth Montgomery, and had five children, El-
mira, Kate, Lizzie, Louisa and David, all of whom
are residents of Kansas City, Mo. (9) Jacob, born
in 1828, married Lizzie Horner, and had one son,
W. Boyd. They are residents of Philadelphia.
(10) Hester A., born in 1830, married Christian
Kreider, and has no family. Of the above family
of ten children, seven at this writing (1903) sur-
vive, their combined ages amounting to five hu-
dred and ninety-one years.
Frank M. Trout received his early education in
the home schools and in the Academy at Lancas-
ter. His successful career began in the school
room, where he was a teacher of pronounced abil-
ity. This work he followed for some twelve years,
in both public and private schools, and it was dur-
ing this time that he took up the study of survey-
ing, which he began to follow in 1883. Immediate
success crowned his efforts, and he is now having
all the work he can possibly accomplish.
Mr. Trout was married in 1867 to Miss S. Alice
Cooper, daughter of William P., and Anna (Wal-
ker) Cooper. Her father was the founder of the
large woolen mills at one time very extensively
operated in Georgetown, Bart township. Mrs.
Trout was born in 1844, in Bart township, and
there she received her early education. Later she
was a student at the State Normal School at Mil-
lersville, and for a number of years was a very
. successful teacher in Bart and Sadsbury townships.
Her parents moved to New Jersey, where they died,
leaving a family : J. P., who is in California ; A.
W., in New Jersey ; Willie A., living in Philadel-
phia; and Mrs. Trout, the only one of the family
who resides in Lancaster county.
'Mr. and Mrs. Trout first settled on the old
home farm near Mf. Pleasant, where they remained
until in 1890, he purchased the home in which his
parents began their married life, and in that home
they are found at the present time. To him and his
good wife have come the following family: (i)
B. Frank, born in 1876, graduated from the Ohio
University as a civil engineer, and is now employed
on the Pennsylvania railroad, having his headquar-
ters at Harrisburg. He married Miss Myrtle Don-
aldson, of Pittsburg. They have no family. (2)
Mazie A., born in 1878, was educated in the Octo-
raro Academy, and for four years has been en-
gaged very successfully in teaching in Chester and
Lancaster counties. (3) Clara M., born in 1880,
is the wife of Edwin S. Hersh, of Strasburg town-
ship, and is the mother of one son, Earl. (4) Willa
Blanche, born in 1S82, is at home. (5) Park, born
in 1883, is a farmer at home. (6) jerry P., born
in 1886, and (7) Maurice R., born in 1890, are at-
tending school.
Squire Trout has always been a Republican,
and in 1889 was elected county surveyor; he was
re-elected in 1892 and served until 1895. In 1885
he was elected justice of the peace in Bart town-
ship, and has served continuously in that position
to the present time, his term of office not expiring
until 1965. He has also been auditor of the town-
ship, and school director, is a popular and respected
citizen of his community, and has always taken a
leading part in its affairs. He and his wife are
both members of the Octoraro Presbyterian Church,
where their many good qualities command a hearty
recognition. The Trouts are an old and honored
family in Lancaster county, and .Squire Trout \
worthily sustains the good name of his forefathers.-
CHARLES SCOTT YEAGER, the enterpris-
ing and successful publisher of the well-known
Ephrata Review, one of the most prosperous and
best conducted journals in Lancaster county, was
born Jan. i, 1864, son of John J. and Rebecca
(Wickel) Yeager, the former of whom was one
of the best known educators in Lancaster county.
Many of the pupils of John J. Yeager are promi-
nent in social, business and religious life, and all
felt his influence in shaping their careers.
John J. Yeager was born Nov. 27, 1827, and
died Oct. 7, 1892. On Dec. 21, 1856, he wedded
Rebecca Wickel, who survives and resides with her
daughter in Ephrata. To this union were born:
Annie, born Feb. 24, 1858, married Christian E.
King, of Ephrata, and they have one daughter,
Miriam R. ; John J., Jr., born Jan. 30, 1861, who
became an efficient teacher in the public schools,
and who later was associated with his brother in
the newspaper business, married Miss Linda
Fahnestock, and at his death, Nov. 6, 1886, left
his widow with one daughter, Elsie; and Charles
Scott, the immediate subject of this biography.
Charles S. Yeager was born in Ephrata, and
passed from its excellent Academy into active work-
aday life, entering a printing office in 1878, and
thoroughly learning the trade in all its branches.
On Feb. 10, 1883, in connection with his brother,
he bought the Review from its former owner, H'.
S. Rice, the paper having been founded . in 1878
by D. S. and J. W. Von Nieda. Since that time,
Mr. Yeager has conducted a clean, newsy, up-to-
date journal, devoted to the best interests of the
locality, and he has received much encouragement.
The paper is issued weekly and is neutral in poli-
tics, and is conducted more in the interests of the
borough and county than as a political medium, its
subscription list running as high as 2,000 copies
each week, and steadily increasing.
On March 29, 1886, Mr. Yeager was married
to M"iss Martha ]\Iast, daughter of Daniel and Eliz-
abeth (Zug) Mast, who was one of a family of
seven .children : Henry, a resident of the State of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
267
Maryland ; Annie, deceased wife of Solomon Yoder,
of Tennessee; Elizabeth, wife of Shem Zook, of
West Liberty, Ohio; Sarah, wife of Lewis Yoder,.
of Long Green, Md., deceased; John, of Virginia;
and Emma, wife of Moses Nafzinger, of Long
Green, Md. To Mr. and Mrs. Yeager four chil-
dren have been born: Arthur M., born June 17,
1889; Edith May, born Aug. 12, 1894; Laura El-
len, born Aug. 25, 1897; and Charles Scott, Jr.,
born April 30, 1900. As one of the leading citi-
zens o'f Ephrata, Mr. Yeager exerts a wide influ-
ence, and it is ever in the direction of progress and
in the interest of education and enlightenment. At
the head of a great paper, he is in a position of
usefulness, and he takes a prominent part in every
movement for the community's good.
FRANKLIN J. EVANS. Through his capa-
ble supervision of important business interests, Mr,
Evans has gained a position among the representa-
tive business men of Lancaster. He is a member
of a pioneer family of this county and was born
near Neffsville, July 9, |i85S, a son of Benjamin
and Elizabeth (Groff) Evans. His paternal grand-
parents, John and Elizabeth Evans, lived upon a
farm in this county, and were honored and re-
spected citizens. The inaternal grandfather, Mar-
tin Grofif, was also the owner of an improved farm
in the same locality." Tracing the family genealogy,
we find that the Evans ancestors were of Scotch-
Irish extraction, while the Grofif family came from
Switzerland.
Though for years in early life a tiller of the
soil, Benjamin Evans made the meat business his
principal occupation, and conducted a trade in that
line from the time of his settlement in Lancaster
until his death, which occurred May i, 1900, at
sixty-nine years of age. His wife, who was born
in March, 1829, now makes her home with a daugh-
ter at Bareville, Lancaster county ; both became iden-
tified with the German Baptist Brethren Church at
an early age, and he was buried in the cemetery of
that denomination at Nefifsville. The children born
of their union are as follows : Alfred D., a farmer
on the Fruitville pike, Manheim township ; Sadie,
wife of Jeremiah Stump, of Bareville; Franklin
J., of Lancaster ; John M., deceased ; Mary E., who
died at the age of seventeen years ; Elizabeth, wife
of J. W. Lansinger, an instructor and the treasurer
of Millersville Normal School ; William L., a farm-
er in Manheim township, and also a partner of
his brother, Franklin J., in the meat business ; and
Benjamin G., who is a farmer and butcher in Man-
heim township.
While still an infant, Franklin J. Evans was
brought to Lancaster by his parents, but at the age
of nine years he returned to the old Groff home-
stead, and four years later removed to another farm
on the Fruitville pike, Mrhere his brother, William L.,
now resides. After four years there the family
returned to Lancaster. Under the instruction and
oversight of his father he early gained a thorough
knowledge of the meat business, and thus was
qualified to conduct the industry with success,
April I, 1882, he was made a partner in the business
under the firm title of Benjamin Evans & Co., and
April 2, 1894, he and his brother, William L., be-
came equal partners, since which time they have
continued together. The duties connected with his
market occupy Mr. Evans' entire attention, to the
exclusion of politics or other public affairs. Reared
in the faith of the German Baptist Brethren de-
nomination, he has always remained a faithful
member of the same and has been a contributor tO'
its benevolences.
At Petersburg, Pa., in October, 1877, occurred
the marriage of Mr. Evans to Amanda L. Zimmer-
man, who was born in Petersburg in September,.
1856, being a daughter of Henry and Leah (Long-
enecker) Zimmerman, residents of Lancaster coun-
ty. Her father, who combined the occupations of
farmer and tailor, died at Petersburg, after which
Mrs. Zimmerman made her home with Mrs. Evans
until her death. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Evans-
comprises the following children: Minnie M.,
Benjamin F., Elizabeth Z. and Paul Z. The older
daughter is the wife of Samuel Shultz and has two-
children, Ruth and Samuel James.
JEREMIAH HERR, whose name is tamiliar
to all acquainted with the farming circles of Lan-
caster county as that of a capable and successful
representative of the agricultural interests of that
flourishing county, has a beautiful country home
two miles from the city of Lancaster. He was born
near Lime Valley, West Lampeter township, June
26, 1836, a son of Elias and Elizabeth (Hershey)
Herr, natives of West Lampeter township. Rev.-
Bishop Christian Herr, the grandfather of Jere-
miah, was a man widely known and much respected
for his Godly character and pure life.
Jeremiah Herr was born on the old homestead^
and secured his education at the local schools. Re-
maining at home he assisted his father on the farm-
until his marriage, which occurred Nov. 29, 1859,
when Miss Elizabeth K. Landis became his wife.
The young couple made their home on the farm he
has since occupied, and which belonged to his ma-
ternal grandfather, Andrew Hershey. There he
has made his home to the present time, devoting
himself to its cultivation. It contains 185 acres,
and is classed among the very best farms of the
county, having improvements of the highest grade.
On it are two brick residences, the one occupied
by his son-in-law, and the other, erected in 1887,
a thoroughly modern one, regarded as one of the
finest farm houses in the county, is occupied by
Mr. Herr.
]\Irs. Jeremiah Herr was a daughter of Benja-
min and Elizabeth (Kreider) Landis, and was
born in East Lampeter township, Nov. 5, 1837.
She died Oct. 29, 1891, the mother of four chil-
268
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
dren: (i) Anna E., born Sept. 6, i860, died Nov.
10, 1864. (2) Elias L., born July 31, 1862, mar-
ried Katie W. Brubaker, and died March 31, 1890,
leaving his v^fidow with two children, Benjamin B.
and Annie B. ; the widowed mother died June 4,
1897. (3) Elizabeth L., born Jan. 15, 1865, is the
wiie of Henry H. Shenk, and they reside on the
Herr homestead; they are the parents of one child,
Emma H. (4) Emma L., born May 25, 1867, pre-
sides over the father's home. They are all con-
sistent and honored members of the Old Menhonite
Church.
SIMON PETER EBY, distinguished in horti-
culture, arboriculture and the law, is a descendant
of a family who came to America from Switzerland
in 1715 to escape religious persecution at home. He
is a direct descendant of Theodorus Eby, who was
horn in Canton Zurich, Switzerland, April 25, 1663.
When William Penn threw open the doors of
Pennsylvania to honorable men of all religious per-
suasions, there were many Mennonites to avail
themselves of the opportunity for a home and life
in a land of peace and honor. Among them was
Theodorus Eby, son of Bishop Jacob Eby, who came
in 1715; his nephew, Peter, arrived five years later,
and Nicholas Eby, of the same family, crossed the
ocean more than a hundred years afterward. The
Ebys were long prominent in the Mennonite
Church. Rev. Benjamin Eby, presiding bishop of
the Mennonites in Canada, married a Brubaker and
left a family of eleven children. Bishop Peter Eby,
elder brother of Bishop Benjamin, was noted for
his eloquence, and was likened by many to the dis-
tinguished Thaddeus Stevens. He was a Mennon-
ite bishop in Lancaster county for many years.
John Eby, the grandfather of Simon P., was the
third son of Christian and Catherine (Bricker)
Ebv, and was born in the old homestead in what is
now Elizabeth township, Lancaster county. The
old mill that his father built for him in 1790 was his
home from early manhood. He died May 25, 1845,
and is buried in the family graveyard. On July i,
1794, he married Maria Witwer who was born Aug.
25, 1773 ; she survived him eleven years, and died
Aug. 29, 1856. To this marriage were born eight
children, among them Elias, the father of Simon P.
Elias Eby was born Feb. 21, 1806, and died Sept.
11, 1862. He married Elizabeth Erb, a member of
another numerous and influential family of Lancas-
ter county, and they became the parents of three
children: Simon Peter; Mary E., wife of John
Longenecker ; and Eliza Ann, who died Oct. 3, 1878.
Simon P. Eby was born at Willow Banks Mills,
in Elizabeth township, Lancaster county, Aug. i,
1827. His ancestors having been builders as well
as operators of mills for five generations, it was the
intention of his father that Simon P. should follow
in their footsteps. For that purpose he gave him
only a limited education, but what he had was of the
best, in that he was a pupil in the Beck School at
Lititz. However, there was awakened in the mind
of the young Eby a thirst for knowledge and a de-
termination to study law. While working in the
mill he studied Blackstone far into the night, and in
the early morning when on watch. At the age of
seventeen he was installed in the mill, and rose
rapidly from position to position, until he became his
father's assistant in a general and varied business of
milling, farming and ore hauling, this last enterprise
employing some thirty horses. But he still retained
his dream of the law, and in 1850 came the turning
point of his life in the total destruction of his fa-
ther's mills by fire and the obliteration of the sav-
ings of a life-time of honest work. Friends came
to the assistance of that worthy gentleman, the mill
was rebuilt, and the people of the county elected him •
sheriff, but he was never able to recover the lost
ground. His debts were gradually paid, as those of
an honorable man. Having.been elected sheriff, he
came to Lancaster to live, and in the spring of 1852
Simon P. Eby began the reading of law in the office
of the late Hon. I. E. Hiester, being admitted to the
Bar two years later. For several years he shared
the office of Mr. Hiester, and then removed to Wid-
myer's Row, in 1863 becoming an occupant of part
of the office of Nathaniel Ellmaker. So long as that
distinguished gentleman lived the two were together,
and there never arose the slightest trouble between
them. Mr. Eby is still occupying the office accom-
modations which he shared with Mr. Ellmaker as
long as that gentleman lived.
Mr. Eby has always been noted for his broad and
liberal ideas, and, while never seeking office, he has
insisted that a citizen should be interested in poli-
tics, as part of his debt due to his country. Mr. Eby
was a member of the school board of Lancaster six
years, and iinally declined continuance in the posi-
tion. For a time he was chairman of the committee
on Night Schools, and became so interested in this
valuable work that- he delivered a course of lectures
to the boys on American History. He strenuously
advocated the introduction of the study of German
into the public schools of the city. For twenty-one
years he has served as a vestryman in St. James
Episcopal Church, and was one of the trustees and
treasurer of the Bishop Bowman Church Home, an
institution connected with the parish of St. James.
Mr. Eby belongs to the Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals, and is its counsel, being
formerly associated with the late Hon. Marriott
Brosius, both gentlemen giving their services free.
Mr. Eby owns a country seat near Mountville,
this county, and is an ardent horticulturist and a
strong advocate of the protection of the forests. For
many years he was librarian and counsel for the
Lancaster County Agricultural and Horticultural
Societv, and, in recognition of his enlightened ser-
vices for the public in this connection, he was elected
a life member of the corporation. Twice he has ap-
peared alone before the Pennsylvania Legislature
to plead for an act to prevent the indiscriminate de-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
269
struction of the forests, and to encourage tree
planting.
In 1863 Mr. Eby was married to Amelia F., a
daughter of Henry Mengle, a leading citizen of
Berks county, and of this union was born one
son, John Henry, named for his grandfather. The
son graduated from Franklin and Marshall College,
Lancaster, class of 189 1, and afterward took a three-
years course in the Michigan Mining School at
Houghton. He is now living in Los Angeles, and
is in the service of the Southern Pacific railroad,
running from New Orleans to California. He is
married, and has one son.
WILLIAM SMITH HASTINGS. Among the
leading farmers of Drumore township, William
Smith Hastings takes a prominent place. He was
born Aug. 17, 1842, a son of Jeremiah and Rebecca
(Smith) Hastings, the former of whom was a na-
tive of Colerain township, Lancaster county, and
the latter of Chester county, belonging to the same
family of Smiths as did Robert Fulton, inventor of
the first steamboat.
Jeremiah Hastings came of English ancestry,
being of the same family as the celebrated Warren
Hastings, of England. He was born March 12,
1807, a son of John Hastings, who served in the
war of 1812, and who reared a family of nine chil-
dren, these being: William, who was one of the
first teachers in the Strasburg Academy, a bright,
intelligent man, who mastered the science of Anat-
omy in six weeks; Stephen, a farmer; John, a
farmer ; Franklin, who became a wealthy banker of
Sacramento, Ca. ; Rachel ; Maria ; Margaret ; Jane
and Jeremiah. Jeremiah Hastings became the
father of eight children, as follows: Mary, de-
ceased; Rachel A., the wife of Benjamin White-
sides, of Chester county; M. H., a farmer of Col-
erain township ; William S. ; Esther J., deceased
wife of William H. Hogg; Miss Rebecca M., wno
lives in Philadelphia; Hannah, wife of Nathaniel
Furguson, a commission merchant of Philadelphia;
and Jeremiah M., a commission merchant of Phila-
delphia. Jeremiah Hastings, the father, died March
3, 1879, after a life devoted chiefly to farming. He
was a stanch Democrat all his life. For many
years he was a representative farmer.
William S. Hastings is one of the most highly
esteemed and substantial farmers of this county,
yet he began at the bottom of the ladder, climbing
to his present position only through hard work and
economy. On April 7, 1892, he was married to
Miss Ida E. McSparran, of Fairfield, Drumore
township. She was born April 8, 1856, a daughter
of Fleming and Mary Elizabeth (Pusey) McSpar-
ran, and comes from one of the leading families
of Lancaster county. To Fleming McSparran and
wife were born thirteen children, these being: Em-
ma H., who is the wife of David Weidley, of Fair-
field, Pa. ; James M., of whoih extended mention is
made elsewhere ; Lydia, wife of Dr. E. M. Zell, of
Lancaster county ; Edwin, who died in childhood ;
Chaney, a farmer of Fulton township; Mary A.,
deceased; Ida E., wife of Mr. Hastings; W. F.,
of Drumore township, more extended mention of
whom is elsewhere found; Marion, unmarried,
of Drumore township; Edgar L., whose sketch
also appears elsewhere; Isabel, a teacher in the
Philadelphia public schools; and Margaret S. and
Anna P., deceased. No children have been born
to Mr. and Mrs. Hastings.
Mr. Hastings has always been a stanch Demo-
crat, and he is a leading member of the Presby-
terian church. During the Civil war he was in
1863, a volunteer in the 29th P. V. I. One of the
farms owned by Mr. Hastings consists of sixty
acres, at the home place, which is well improved,
and another of eighty acres at the south side of
Fairfield. Mr. Hastings is spoken of as a splendid
neighbor, the meaning of this being that he is kind,
considerate and obliging, and as such he enjoys
the esteem of all with whom he is associated.
DAVID BINKLEY WIDMYER, now in con-
trol of the furniture and undertaking business at
the corner of East King and Duke streets, Lan-
caster, is the natural successor of his father, the
lamented J. Harry Widmyer, who succeeded to
his business from his father. Christian Widmyer,
the founder .of the house.
Christian Widmyer was born in Entingen, the
kingdom of Wurtemberg, March 31, 1807, a son
of Jacob Widmyer, an enterprising farmer who
had inherited his land from his father. Christian
passed his boyhood in his native place, which was
located less than three miles from the Black For-
est. The public schools afforded him excellent edu-
cational advantages, and at the age of fourteen
he was apprenticed to learn the cabinet maker's
trade. During dull seasons he still assisted his
father on the farm. At the age of seventeen he
went to Vienna, and worked at his trade until
obliged to return home for the conscription. His
name, however, was not drawn, and he so escaped
military duty. After a few years more at his trade
he determined to come to America. To this his
mother consented on the condition that he would
visit home every three years, a condition to which'
he agreed, but which he was unable to fill. On
June 8, 1830, at the age of twenty-three, he em-
barked with two friends from Havre, and after for-
ty-seven days on the water landed at New York.
Failing to find work at his trade either in New York
or Philadelphia, he found his means exhausted.
Being advised to go to Lancaster, he made the
journey on foot accompanied by a Frenchman. A
few days after reaching the city (Sept. 23, 1830),
he" found work with Robert Porter, a cabinet ma-
ker, with whom he remained until the following
year, when he entered the employ of John Christ,
remaining with him for several years. He then went
to Philadelphia, but not liking his work there, re-
270
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
turned to Lancaster and began work for John F.
Shroder. In 1842 he was given an interest in the
■business, and in 1844, Mr. Shroder having been
elected county treasurer, Mr. Widmyer assumed
the business. In 185 1 he bought the property at
East King and Duke streets, and erected the first
four-story building in Lancaster. He continued
in active work until 1871, when he sold out to his
son J. Harry and J. F. Ricksecker.
On Feb. 4, 1836, Christian Widmyer was mar-
ried by Rev. John C. Baker, then pastor of Trinity
Lutheran Church, to Harriet Maria Brown, daugh-
ter of John and Margaret (Lind) Brown. Their
-wedding trip was a Sleigh ride to New Holland
and- return. On Feb. 4, 1886, the Golden Wedding-
was appropriately celebrated. Mrs. Widmyer died
in 1886, aged seventy-eight, and Mr. Widmyer
passed away Nov. 22, 1892, aged eighty-five. Their
■children were : J. Harry ; Christian J., in the real
estate business in Philadelphia; Clara, who married
the late Edwin H. Brown, for a quarter of a cen-
tury cashier of the Farmeirs' National Bank, and
lias a son, Dr. C. H. Brown ; and a daughter, Clara,
wife of H. S. Williamson ; Mary Ellen, who married
D. S. Bursk, a prominent grocer of Lancaster, and
has four children, Robert G., J. Howard, Hattie and
Sue; and Miss Emily. Fraternally Christian Wid-
■myer was a Mason. On May 9, 1838, he joined
Lodge No. 43, of which in 1857 he became a trustee,
liolding that office by successive re-elections for over
thirty years ; he was a member and trustee of Chap-
ter No. 43, R. A. M. and of Lancaster Commandery
No. 13, K. T., and a member of Goodwin Council,
No. 19. When he had rounded out fifty years a
Mason, in May, 1888, special services were held in
the lodge room, and he was presented with a silver
badge. He also belonged to the I. O. O. F., and
•to the K. of P. Politically he was an ardent Demo-
crat, and for several years served in the councils.
In religious faith a Lutheran, he was one of the
first members of St. John's Lutheran Church. He
-was one of the founders of Woodward Hill cem-
■etery, and was a member of the board of trustees
at the time of his death. He was also for many
years a member of the board of trustees of the
Home for Friendless Children. A man of the
strictest integrity, he faithfully performed his duty
in all positions he was called upon to fill.
J. Harry Widmyer was born May 28, 1847, ^^'^
was educated in the public schools. At the age of
seventeen he began to learn the cabinet maker's
trade, and soon became conversant with all the
details. He became . assistant superintendent of his
father's factory, and when the latter retired in. 1 871,
J. Harry, with the late J. F. Ricksecker, purchased
the business, and conducted it under the name of
Widmyer & Ricksecker, a furniture and undertak-
ing business, until the death of Mr. Ricksecker.,
-when Mr. Widmyer assumed the sole ownership.
His trade developed into large proportions, and his
wares were sold in all parts of the country. In
1892 his son was admitted as a partner in the un-
dertaking business. During the previous year the
factory and store were remodeled and extended to
meet the requirements of the greatly increased busi-
ness. On April 22, 1869, J. Harry Widmyer was
married to Dora S. Binkley, and one son, David
B., was born to them. Mr. Widmyer died suddenly
on Thanksgiving Day, 1899. He was a member of
St. John's Lutheran Church, and had been secre-
tary of its council for fifteen years and Librarian
of the Sunday-school many years. He was a trus-
tee of the Home for Friendless Children and of
the Woodward Hill Cemetery Association. In the
Royal Arcanum, of which he was a charter mem-
ber, he had passed all the chairs. Politically he
was, like his father, a Democrat, but steadfastly de-
clined to hold office. No business man in Lan-
caster held a higher reputation for integrity, and
his success was well deserved. His impulses were
generous, and his disposition genial, and his warm
social nature won him many friends to whom his
sudden death w^as a severe shock.
David B. Widmyer, after graduating from the
high school in Lancaster, attended the State Nor-
mal School, at Millersville. His professional stud-
ies were pursued in schools of embalming in New
York and Harrisburg. He was the organizer of the
Lancaster County Funeral Directors' Association,
of which he was president for four years, and he
was first vice-president and chairman of the ex-
ecutive committee of the Pennsylvania Funeral Di-
rectors' State Association.
In June, 1900, Mr. Widmyer was nominated
for the presidency of the Pennsylvania Association,
that was held at Hazleton, declining the honor, but
two years later, in June, 1902, he was elected at
Gettysburg. He belongs to the Lutheran Church,
and is financial secretary of St. John's Church, and-
is also secretary of the Sunday school. Socially he
is a charter member of the Royal Arcanum of Lan-
caster, and of the Loyal Addition (a branch of the
Arcanum), B. P. O. E., the Artisans Order of Mu-
tual Protection, and the Knights of the Maccabees.
On Oct. 5, 1893, Mr. Widmyer was married
to Miss Ora E. Miller, daughter of Benjamin P.
Miller, the head of the extensive grocery house of
Miller & Hartman. They have one son, John
Henry. Mr. Widmyer assumed the charge of the
extensive business interests left to him by his father,
and by his courtesy and fair dealing has maintained
the standing of the old house.
JOHN HERTZLER MOORE, a retired farmer
and former miller in Rapho township, with his home
on Big Chicques Creek, five miles from Columbia,
Pa., was born in Penn township, Aug. 24, 1833, a
son of Michael and Elizabeth (Hertzler) Moore.
His father was born in Penn township, and his
mother in Rapho township. In connection with this
sketch should be read that of Phares Moore, a
nephew of John Hertzler Moore, mentioned else-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
271
where, and in which will be found interesting family
data.
John Hertzler Moore was married May 15, 1873,
to Elizabeth C. Eberly, by whom he became the fa-
ther of the following children : Clara E., deceased ;
Miss Florence A., at home; John M., deceased;
Norman E., deceased ; and Elvin E., Martin A. and
Howard E., all at home.
Mrs. Elizabeth C. (Eberly) Moore was born in
Cumberland county, Pa., a daughter of Moses and
Elizabeth (Breneman) Eberly. Her father was
torn in Cumberland county, and her mother in
Manor township, Lancaster county. He died in
Mechanicsburg, Pa., in August, 1898, at the age of
sixty-nine years. Her mother, who was born in
1828, is still living, and has her home in Mechanics-
"burg. Mr. Eberly was a farmer until three, years
before his death, when he retired, and removed to
Mechanicsburg. For some years he was a school
director, and a leading and influential member of the
Old Mennonite Church, where his clean and whole-
some living, his kind heart and upright character
■commanded much respect and confidence. To him
and his excellent wife were born the following chil-
dren : Joseph A., a farmer in Cumberland county ;
Alice Amanda, deceased ; Elizabeth C, who is noted
above as Mrs. Moore; and Anna M., who died
young.
John Hertzler Moore remained at home under
the parental roof until he reached the age of twenty-
three. After this he served an apprenticeship of two
years in the milling business, under his brother
Michael, and then came to his present location,
where he has remained to the present time, operating
a mill in connection with farming, and displaying,
much industry, good management and unmistakable
rectitude. In 1897 he retired from active labors, and
is now enjoying that rest and peace that should
naturally attend the closing years of a useful and
well-spent life. For many years he was a director
of the First National Bank of Lancaster, from
which position he only retired in April, 1901. Mrs.
Moore was an especially capable woman, and dis-
played fine business ability. She passed away Dec.
10, 1901.
WILLIAM FREELAND HUMBLE, cashier
of the Conestoga Steam Mills, Lancaster, is de-
scended from a family who settled in America in
1720, and who have been extensive landowners for
.generations. His maternal ancestors, the Traceys,
came from Ireland, while the Freelands came from
! England. They settled in Baltimore county, Md.,
where they became extensive landowners, so exten-
sive, indeed, that Freeland • Station (and also post
office), in Baltimore county, is named after them.
Mr. Humble's grandfather, Urias Freeland, lived
and died in Baltimore county, and his father, Lewis
Humble, came to America from Hanover, Germany,
;in 1830, settling in Baltim.ore county. He married
,.Mrs. Anna (Freeland) Allison, and they had two
children, William F. and Henry, the latter a veteran
of the Civil war, who, after serving gallantly all
through the war of the Rebellion as a member of the
2d P. V. I. and 20th P. V. C, went to Maryland,
where he still lives. Lewis Humble died in 1885,
aged seventy-six years, and his wife entered into
rest in 1876, aged seventy-four years and six months.
William F. Humble was born in Columbia, Lan-
caster county (where his father was connected with
a warehouse), Oct. 7, 1843, ^^d was educated there
and in Reading. After reaching manhood he be-
came connected with the Philadelphia & Reading
Railroad, at Lancaster, first as clerk, then as agent,
and finally as general agent, remaining in the serv-
ice of that company for twenty years, less six weeks.
Resigning his position on Saturday, April 30, 1887,
he assumed his new position in the Conestoga Steam
Mills, under the late S. S. Spencer, on Monday
morning. May 2d, Sunday having intervened be-
tween the two positions ; and there, in the Conestoga
Steam Mills, we find him to-day, occupying the re-
sponsible position of cashier, after an uninterrupted
service of sixteen years.
Mr. Humble was married May 26, 1880, to Miss
Ida Dorwart, daughter of Martin Dorwart, of Lan-
caster. Two children were born to this union, one
of whom died in infancy. The other, M. Alan Hum-
ble, graduated at the Horner Military School at
Oxford, N. C, in May, 1903, enjoying the distinc-
tion of graduating at the institution when less than
sixteen years old, his sixteenth birthday not occur-
ring until the August after his graduation.
Mr. Humble is a member of Susquehanna
Lodge, No. 80, I. O. O. F., of Columbia. He be-
longs to St. John's Episcopal Church, Lancaster,
and is a Republican in politics. He lives at No. 133
East James street, having purchased one of the
handsome and comfortable homes on that block
years ago ; and, although having charge of the finan-
cial affairs of a vast manufacturing business, is ever
genial, and ready to give a kindly greeting and en-
couraging word to those with whom he comes in
contact.
WHITELL L. REEL, farmer and produce
dealer of Salisbury township, and one of the most
respected of its citizens, was born in this township
Feb. 14, 1849, son of Isaac and Mary (Landis)
Reel.
Isaac Reel was a successful farmer and promi-
nent man in Salisbury township, where he died in
June, 1893, at the age of eighty- four years, the
burial taking place in Mt. Zion Church cemetery.
His widow died in January, 1898, at the age of
eighty-seven years. Both had been consistent mem-
bers of Mt. Zion Church. In politics he was a Re-
• publican. Their children were as follows : Elam,
who is postmaster and farmer at Cambridge, Pa. ;
Catherine, who married Amos Eagle, and lives on a
farm in Salisbury township ; Solomon, Gabriel and
Martin, who all died young ; Isaac, a farmer in Ches-
272
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ter county ; Amos, a farmer in Cambridge ; John, who
was also a farmer, and died at the age of twenty-
six; Whitell, the subject of this siietch; Mary, who
married William Habler, a shoemaker of this town-
ship ; and Samuel, who is a resident of Coatesville.
The paternal great-grandparents of Mr. Reel
were Christian and Debra Reel, who came to Amer-
ica from Germany about 1770 and settled as farm-
ers in Trappe, Montgomery county. The paternal,
grandparents were Nicholas and Elizabeth (Setzler)
Reel, farming people of Montgomery county, who
came to Lancaster about 1815, and located in Salis-
bury township, where the former died in 1824, aged
forty-three years, and the latter in 1866, aged eighty-
seven years. Both were buried in the Pequea Pres-
byterian Church cemetery. Their children were:
Gabriel ; Isaac ; Elizabeth, who married Linton Pat-
ton; Sallie, who died unmarried at the age of fifty-
two years ; Catherine, who married Philip Miller ;
and Anna, who married Abra Arnold, all of these
being deceased.
The early days of Whitell L. Reel were spent in
attendance at school and in work on the farm, where
he remained until his marriage. He then engaged
for some eighteen years in farming on his own ac-
count, coming at that time to his present very pro-
ductive property. Mr. Reel makes it his business
to attend the Coatesville rnarket with produce twice
a week, and enjoys a large patronage. Mr. Reel is
well and favorably known in this community, and
bears a reputation for honest dealing and upright
methods which reflect only credit upon him. In
politics he is a stanch supporter of the Republican
party. He belongs to the Methodist Church, and
fraternally is connected with the order of P. O.
S. of A.
In June, 1876, in Philadelphia, Mr. Reel was
married to Miss Sallie J. Eagle, and two children
were born to this union : Alvah J., a steel worker
in the Coatesville Steel Works ; and Chester L., at
home. Mrs. Sallie J. (Eagle) Reel was born on the
farm where the family now resides, Jan. 5, 1849,
daughter of Cyrus and Elizabeth (Emory) Eagle,
of Salisbury township and Chester county, respect-
ively. Mr. Eagle was a carpenter and undertaker,
and died in March, 1881, aged sixty-five years. His
widow died in 1897, aged seventy-three years. Both
are buried at Cambridge, Pa. They were members
of the Honeybrook M. E. Church. Their only child
was Mrs. Reel. Her paternal grandparents were
George and Jane Eagle, of Lancaster county, and
those on the maternal side were George and Eliza-
beth Emory, farming people of Chester county, all
these names belonging to old and honored Penn-
sylvania families.
ARTHUR BURT, a well-known resident of
Lancaster county, resides at Waterloo Farm — a de-
lightful country seat comprising 200 acres. It is
situated in Salisbury township, on the old road lead-
ing from Lancaster to Philadelphia, nineteen miles
east from Lancaster, and forty-four miles west from
Philadelphia. Mr. Burt was born on this farm Aug.
10, 1852, a son of Col. Nathaniel and Jane (Brooke)
Burt, natives, respectively, of Philadelphia and
Chester county, and members of two of the most
prominent families in the State of Pennsylvania.
Nathaniel (2) and Mary (Lehman) Burt, the
paternal grandparents of Arthur Burt, were of
English and German ancestry. The former was a
son of Nathaniel Burt (i), a native of England, who
early made permanent settlement in the Green Isle.
Nathaniel (2) came from Ireland to America in
1798, on account of political troubles and settled
in Philadelphia, where he engaged in merchandis-
ing and in trading in the far west with the Indians,
becoming very wealthy. His family consisted of the
following named children: Arthur, who was also
very wealthy, and passed his life in the Quaker City ;
Alice, who died unmarried in 1885 ; Mary, who is
unmarried and residing in Philadelphia ; Clara, Mrs.
Ashmead, who died in Germantown, Pa. ; Col. Na-
thaniel, father of the gentleman whose name appears
at the opening of this sketch; and Eliza, widow of
George M. Wagner, also a resident of Germantown.
Col. Nathaniel Burt was graduated from Prince-
ton College at the age of seventeen, and for the fol-
lowing two years studied law in Philadelphia, but,
his eyesight having betom.e impaired from over-
study, he, in 1844, retired by advice of his physician,
to Waterloo Farm, having first resided in Delaware
county for a year with Francis T. Fassitt, in order
to get a little insight into farming. Col. Burt was
quite prominent as a politician, with Free Soil pro-
clivities, and at one time was a rival of Hon. Thad-
deus Stevens for nomination for Congress. Later
he became an ardent Republican, and was truly loyal
to the Union. In 1861, at the breaking out of
the war, he became a member of the First Troop,
Philadelphia City Cavalry, and in 1862 he was ap-
pointed Colonel of the I42d Pa. V. I. The winters
of his later years he passed in Philadelphia, Florida,
California and southern Europe, while his summers
were spent on his farm, and at the seashore and
mountain resorts. He was one of the charter mem-
bers of the Union League of Philadelphia ; a member
of the Philadelphia Club ; of the First Troop, Phila-
delphia City Cavalry : of the Philadelphia Historical
Society ; J:he Philadelphia Athenaeum ; the Skating
Club ; and of other societies of lesser note. The Col-
onel was a fine-looking gentleman, weighing nearly
two hundred pounds, without an ounce of su-
perfluous flesh, and being six feet tall, and an ath-
lete in fact, as well as in appearance. Col. Burt died
in January, 1893, when he was aged seventy-one, in
the faith of the Protestant Episcopal Church. His
remains were interred in the family vault at Laurel
Hill cemetery, in the City of Brotherly Love. Col.
Burt married Jane Brooke, daughter of Charles and
Jane (Barde) Brooke, natives of Chester county.
Pa., where the former was an extensive manufac-
turer of iron, owning the Joanna Iron Furnaces, in
N . ^*^*' / -^^
-■ 7if p-hy JLH. Fa-tchii^
^^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
278
Berks county, and the Hibernia Iron Works, in
Chester county. Nine children graced the union of
Nathaniel and Jane (Brooke) Burt, namely: Na-
thaniel, who died at the age of nine years ; Charles,
who died when six years of age ; Alice, who died in
Paris, France, while attending schoool, aged eight
years ; Arthur, of this memoir ; Horace B., who was
an attorney in Philadelphia, and died in 1891 ; Jen-
nie, who died unmarried in 1898, while touring
Europe; Mary, who resides with her mother at No.
1203 Walnut street, in Philadelphia; Alfred, who
died at the age of thirty-three years; and Edith,
still at home.
Arthur Burt passed his boyhood days on the
homestead and attended preparatory schools in
Philadelphia and elsewhere until old enough to
enter the University of Pennsylvania, at Phila-
delphia, where he passed three and a half years.
His health becoming somewhat impaired, he made
a trip to Europe, where he recuperated considerably,
and also added materially to his stock of information.
On his return he resumed his residence on the home-
stead farm, but continued to make his home in Phila-
delphia in winter until 1892, when he settled per-
manently in the country home. This charming coun-
try seat was originally the home of "King Tommy"
Henderson, from whom it was purchased in 1844
by the paternal grandfather of the present pro-
prietor, and from that date until the present con-
tinuous improvements have been made to add to its
beauty. A portion of the substantial and elegant
dwelling has been superadded, and hot-air furnaces
and electric light apparatus introduced ; an artificial
lake of three acres has been constructed, and ter-
races, lawns and shade trees innumerable adorn the
grounds : new stables have been erected and every
modern convenience has been utilized to make this
rustic home complete and the equal of any metro-
politan residence. Several hothouses and conserva-
tories, filled with choice and rare exotics, are also
attachments of this charming abode, and the fur-
niture of the interior is the ne plus ultra as to style.
On Jan. 23, 1892, Arthur Burt was united in mar-
riage, in Lancaster, with Miss Ella A. Plank, a most
estimable young lady, who has borne him four chil-
dren, namely : Nathaniel, Mary B., Arthur A. and
Alfred F. B. Mrs. Ella A. (Plank) Burt was born in
Lancaster county, March 6, 1869, a daughter of John
N. and Elizabeth (Marshall) Plank, natives, respec-
tively, of Lancaster and Chester counties. John N.
Plank was an agriculturist of considerable promin-
ence and influence, and had been a merchant, but as
such lost much of his capital ; he died in Salisbury
township, Feb. 22, i8g8, at the age of fifty-six years,
and in the faith of the Episcopal Church, and his re-
mains were interred in the St. John's cemetery, at
Compass.
In his social relations Arthur Burt, as was his
father before him, is quite prominent and popular.
He was formerly a member of the First Troop,
Philadelphia City Cavalry ; belongs to the Union
18
League Club; Germantown Cricket Club; Fencing
and Sparring Club; University Boat Club; River-
ton Gun Club ; Philadelphia Athenaeum ; and is also
a life member of the Philadelphia Skating Club. He
was baptized in the Episcopal faith, and was long a
vestryman of St. John's Church, at Compass, Ches-
ter county, and still liberally contributes toward de-
fraying the expenses of that parish. In politics he is
a Republican. His social standing, it is needless to
add, is with the elite of Philadelphia and Lancaster
county, while his personal merits have won for him
the unfeigned regard of all with whom he has an
acquaintanceship .
WILLIAM WESTLY UPP, one of the very
competent of the contractors and builders of Colum-
bia, Lancaster Co., Pa., was born in Wrightsville,
York county, same State, Feb. 20, 1832, a son of
Jacob and Rebecca (Prosser) Upp, the former of
whom was born at sea within the maritime jurisdic-
tion of the United States, and the latter in Shrews-
bury, York Co., Pennsylvania.
Jacob Upp at the age of sixteen years settled in
Elizabethtown, Lancaster county, later removed
to Wrightsville and finally to Marion, Ohio, where
he died Dec. 6, 1882, at the age of eighty-two
years. His widow afterward returned to Wrights-
ville, Pa., and there died May 20, 1887, aged eighty
years, lacking twenty-four days, having been born
June 13, 1807. Both were sincere members of the
M. E. Church. To Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Upp were
born eleven children, in the following order : Ann,
who was married to Michael Minnich, both de-
ceased ; Henry, a contractor and builder of Freeport,
111. ; Francis, who died in Ohio : Clarkson, a farmer
in Lancaster county. Pa. ; William W. ; Sarah J.,
who died young, in Wrightsville ; Jacob and Har-
rison, who both died in the same town ; . Alford, a
contractor and builder, of Grand Rapids, Mich. ;
Mary, of New York City ; John, a saw-mill proprietor
in Wrightsville, Pa. The paternal grandfather of
this family was a native of Germany, who came to
America in 1800, and by vocation was a farmer.
The maternal grandparents were of English extrac-
tion.
William W. Upp was reared and educated in his
native village of Wrightsville, and in early youth
was a boatman under his father, who was the owner
of several boats with which he did a lively local
traffic on the Susquehanna river. The last season
of the three years in which he was thus employed
by his father he was himself captain of a boat plying
between Philadelphia and Hollidaysville, and from
Columbia to Wilkesbarre. At the age of eighteen
years he made Columbia his permanent home and
served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade for
three years. Subsequently he and Mr. Schuman, one
of his former employers, carried on the business
together for six years ; later he was a carpenter on
his own account for four years, then was a con-
tractor for railroad companies for fifteen vears, and
274
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
finally resumed his vocation of contractor and
builder, which he still carries on with eminent suc-
cess, being generally recognized as one of the most
skillful in his line in Columbia. In politics Mr. Upp
is a Republican, has served as borough councilman
three }ears, and for one year was president of the
board. Fraternally he is a Mason in high standing,
being a Knight Templar and a member of the Red
Rose Camp of St. Constantine.
William W. Upp was most happily united in
marriage; Aug. 31, 1853, in Columbia, to Miss Ellen
Ziegler. To this marriage were born : Charles, who
was a railroad contractor, married Mary Park, of
Marietta, Pa., and died in Baltimore, Md. ; Am-
brose, who lives in Philadelphia and is a sign writer ;
William, who is a bookkeeper for the Fort Wayne
Railroad Company at Chicago, 111., and is married
to Fanny Henry; and Harry, a telegraph operator
for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in Phila-
delphia, who is married to Anna Redheiser. In re-
ligion this family was reared in the Methodist Epis-
copal faith.
Mrs. Ellen (Ziegler) Upp is a native of Colum-
bia, Pa., and is a daughter of John and Mai-ia (Lech-
ler) Ziegler. John Ziegler was born in Baltimore,
Md., June 15, 1785, and died in Columbia, Pa.,
July 8, 1836. He came to the latter place in 1800,
and learned carpentering and coopering. He mar-
ried Maria Lechler, in Lancaster, May 19, 1816.
This lady was born in Lancaster, Jan. 14, 1798, and
was a daughter of Henry and Juliana C. (Riser)
Lechler, of Oley, Berks county, the former of whom
was born in 1748, and the latter in 1765. George
Lechler, father of Henry, came from Bavaria as a
member of the colony which originally settled in
Berks county and opened it to civilization.
The father of John Ziegler was Francis Otto-
morus Ziegler, from Alsace, France, and served on
the staff of Baron von Steuben, who so nobly came
to the aid of the Americans in the Revolutionary
war. He died in Columbia, Pa., in 1800, within a
few weeks after locating here, having been seized
with a fever. Francis O. was a son of John and
Anna M. (Schirsmer) Ziegler, who were the pro-
prietors of a vineyard and died in France. Francis
O. was a black-and-white-smith by calling and fol-
lowed his trade both in France and this country.
Francis O. Ziegler married in Lancaster, ■ Mary F.
Houck, a native of that city, who died in Columbia,
Dec. 26, 1826, at the age of sixty-five years, the
mother of six children, viz. : Ann Mary, who died
in Abbottstown, Pa., in 1844; John; Barbara, who
died in Columbia, in 1844; Andrew, who died in
Columbia in 1818; Francis, who died young; and
George, who died in Columbia in 1838.
The children born to John and Maria (Lechler)
Ziegler were : Francis X. ; John Joseph, who was a
cooper as well as a printer, and died in Xenia, 111. ;
Henry D., who was a gunsmith, and died in Ports-
mouth, Ohio ; George, David and Margaret A., who
all died in infancy ; Mary F., who died when fifty-
eight years old, married first to Henry Murray, who
was killed in a railroad accident, and afterward to
William Paxton ; Sarah C, of New York City, sev-
enty-four years old, and the widow of John Stirling,
who was a sea captain and died in Cuba ; Anna E.,
who married Henry Hamaker, and died in Phila-
delphia in 1890; Julia C, who married John Cole,
agent for a manufacturing company, and died in
New York in 1894 ; Ellen, the wife of W. W. Upp ;
Ambrose A., of Asheville, N. C, who was first mar-
ried to Anna I'arvin, and secondly to Emma Pool.
Francis X. Ziegler, son of John and Maria
(Lechler) Ziegler, was born in Columbia, Pa., April
9, 1817, and taught from 1839 until 1854, his last
school having been a grammar school. He was also
agent for the Western Union Telegraph Company
at Coluinbia for fifty-one years, and agent for the
Adams Express Company for forty-two years, but
lost his sight in 1896, which sad event necessitated
his retirement.
Francis X. Ziegler married Miss Jane Perry
Martin, June 14, 1838, and to this marriage were
born children as follows : Catherine C, still at the
parental home ; Joseph, who went to France and was
never again heard from; Marie Jane, still single;
Agnes v., also single; Richard, who formerly was
assistant postmaster at Harrisburg for seven years,
but then resigned, and now resides in Philadelphia ;
Francis E., at home; Clement, also at home; Eu-
genia, who died unmarried in February, 1900; and
Mary F., who still fives with her parents.
Jane Perry (Martin) Ziegler was born in Phila-
delphia, April 21, 1817, and is a daughter of Rich-
ard and Clarissa (Perry) Martin, natives, respect-
ively, of Cornwall, England, and the State of
Delaware. Richard Martin was superintendent of
a cracker bakery. His wife died in Philadelphia in
1820, and his own death took place in New York
in 1870,
Francis X. Ziegler, although sightless, retains all
his other senses in perfection, and is intelligent to a
degree beyond the ordinary, and has so lived that
he has won the sincere esteem of all who have known
him.
H. H. AUMENT, superintendent of lumber
and coal for the firm of F. H. Garber & Co., of
Quarryville, was born in Drumore township, Lan-
caster Co., Dec. 25, 1841. His parents were George
and Sarah (Holtzhouse) Aument, of Lancaster
county.
George Aument was born in 1808, and was the
son of George Aument, Sr., who was born in Ger-
many and came to this country and settled in Lam-
peter township, where he worked for a number of
years as a wheelwright. He died at the home of
his son George, father of our subject. Of his chil-
dren, Jacob settled in Drumore township, where he
died leaving children Elam, Aldus and Catharine;
and George is our subject's father.
George Aument was a wheelwright by trade.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
275
and, after his marriage, he hved for a time in Lam-
peter, township, where he worlted at his trade. In
1836 he moved to Drumore township, where he pur-
chased 200 acres of land, making one of the finest
farms in Lancaster county. He put up good build-
ings, and,^ at his death, the farm was divided into
three portions for his three sons. In many respects
he was a remarkable m.an. When eighty years of
age he was able to cut eighty shocks of corn in a
day. In politics he was an Old Line Whig, and
upon the organization of the Republican party,
joined its fortunes. He and his wife were members
of the Reformed Church, and were known as good
Christian people. Of their family of nine children
three have died in infancy; Amanda, born in 1838,
married Newton Groff, of Kirkwood, Colerain
township, and died leaving five daughters who are
all married. H. H. was the next born. John F.,
born in 1843, married Miss Louisa Long, of Lan-
caster, and resides on a part of the old homestead
in Drumore township ; he has two sons : Charles and
Walter, operating the steam grist mill in Quarry-
ville. Emma, born in Drumore township in 1846,
is the wife of Leander Hensel, of Quarryville.
George W. and Benjamin F., twins, were born in
1849 ; George, who resides on his farm in Drumore
township, married Miss Sarah Wimer, of Lancaster
county, and has one daughter, Lottie ; Benjamin F.,
who resides on a part of the homestead, married Miss
Anna Ressle. of Lancaster county, and has three
children : Galen, Clara and Delia.
H. H. Aument received a public school educa-
tion, and afterward learned the trade of wheelwright
under his father. In 1862 he married Miss Mary
M., daughter of Clark and Mary Phillips, of Lan-
caster county. After marrying Mr. Aument lo-
cated on a farm in Drumore township, and lived
there until 1865, when he gave up farming, and as-
sumed his trade of wheelwright. For fourteen years
he followed it, and then moved to Quarryville where
he worked at the carpenter trade for four years.
He then engaged himself as superintendent for D.
M. Bofifenmeyer, coal, lumber and grain merchant,
and continued at this employment four years. He
also did work for D. B. Landis-& Co.,^ who were
engaged in the same trade. In 1892 he became
superintendent for W. F. H. Garber, dealer in lum-
ber and coal, and still continues with this house.
Mr. Aument some time since purchased land in West
State street and built himself' a fine home. Two
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Aument :
William C, born in 1864, married Miss OUie Place,
and now resides in Lancaster City, where he is
engaged in railroad business ; they have one daugh-
ter, Sarah. Jane Aument, born in 1868, was edu-
cated in the Ashland school of the county; she is
unmarried and at present is assistant post mistress
at Quarryville.
In politics Mr. Aument is a Republican, and for
nine years filled the office of councilman of the
borough ; he was also secretary of the borough for
four years. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and'
has beet} secretary of that order in Quarryville for
twenty-five years. He is also a member of the Ridg-
ley Encampment, of Lancaster City. He and his
wife are members of the Reformed Church of the
borough, to which he has always given liberal sup-
port. Mr. Aument is one of Quarryville's substan-
tial citizens, and is held in the highest respect and
esteem by all classes. He is honest, industrious and
kind-hearted. He has the fullest confidence of his
house, and the interests inti'usted to him are care-
fully guarded.
JASON K. EABY, who is a general merchant at
Intercourse, Lancaster county, where he is at the
present time the capable and popular postmaster,
was born in this village, Jan. 10, 1840, a son of Moses
and Susannah (Kurtz) Eaby, born in Leacock and
Salisbury townships of Lancaster county, respective-
ly. The Eaby family is descended from Theodoras
Eaby, who came from Switzerland in 1715.
Moses Eaby was born and reared a farmer, and
followed that calling until 1834, when he turned to
a mercantile career, and established the Eaby store
in Intercourse, which is now in the hands of his son,
Jason K. He retired in 1878, having served the
community as postmaster many years. During his
active life he held various local and town offices,
having been school director, auditor and town clerk.
Much confidence was felt in his integrity and busi-
ness ability, and he was often called upon to ad-
minister extensive estates. At his death, Feb. 23,
1892, he was eighty-nine years and three months
old. His wife passed to her rest in June, 1882, at
the age of sixty-five years. They were both buried
in the Eaby cemetery in Upper Leacock township.
Born to this union were the following children :
Mary Ann, who died in 1893, married Amos Ober-
holtzer ; Elizabeth died young ; Jason ■ K. ; Amanda
married Dr. S. R. Sample, of Leacock township ;
Henrv C, who married Anna Kendig, died at the
age of forty-nine ; Jacob, who married Lucy Murr, is
a farmer in Salisbury township ; Emma married
Samuel Showalder, a farmer of Earl township, and
David and Christian both died young. The parents
were of the Dunkard faith.
Jacob and Susannah (Miller) Eaby, the grand-
parents of Jason K. Eaby, were good farming peo-
ple of Lancaster. The maternal grandfather of Jason
K. Eaby was Christian Kurtz, a farmer, who mar-
ried a member of the Weaver family.
Jason K. Eaby was married Nov. 27, 1867, in
Providence township, to Amanda Zook, and the chil-
dren born to this union were : Willard G., who mar-
ried Eliza Musser, and is now in business with his
father in Intercourse ; J. Franklin, who died young ;
Joseph P., who died at the age of twenty-two years ;
and Roscoe and Paul M., who are both at home with
their parents. Mrs. Amanda (Zook) Eaby was born
in Leacock township, Oct. i, 1848, the only child of
Joseph and Frances (Dieffenbaugh) Zook, natives
276
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of Leacock and East Lampeter townships, respec-
tively, the former of whom was born in 1821, and
is now a retired farmer in Intercourse, while the
latter was born in 181 1.
Jason K. Eaby remained at home attending the
local schools, and when he was sixteen years of age
was taken into his father's store. From 1866 he was
associated with his father as a partner for twelve
years, and when that gentleman gave up active work
on account of the increasing infirmities of age the
management of the store passed into the hands of
the son, who has continued the business to the pres-
ent time. Mr. Eaby is a Republican, and has been
town clerk for twenty-five years. He has been post-
master since 1874,. with the exception of the two
administrations of President Cleveland. His stand-
ing in business is very good, and he is a director
of the New Holland National Bank, which he helped
to organize. Mr. Eaby has also been a director in
the Lancaster County Bank since 1883, and is secre-
tary and a director of the Pennsylvania State Build-
ing and Loan Association, in the organization of
which he was very active. He is a man of sterling
worth and genuine manliness.
BRACKBILL. In 171 7 Rev. Ulrich Brackbill
left Switzerland, his native land, and with his wife
and only child, Ulrich, sailed for America. He was
a Mennonite minister, and in the Weilers, Switzer-
land, he had owned a farm, which he sold for 700
Raix dollars, equivalent to $630 American money.
The journey to the new country was made via Eng-
land, and the cost of traveling from the Weilers to
England was nine florins, or $3.78 per head. Passage
from England to Philadelphia was secured for £6
or $26.66 per passenger. Continuing on his journey
from Philadelphia to Lancaster county. Rev. Brack-
bill, soon after his arrival in the latter county, pur-
chased 250 acres of land for £42, sterling, or $186.66. '
It was located in what is now Strasburg township,
about a mile northwest of the village of Strasburg,
and here in the wilderness home he began the ardu-
ous labors of a pioneer. It was in 1719 that he re-
ceived payment in coin for the farm which he had
sold in Switzerland. He was a well-versed man, and
a well known vocalist. He did not long survive his
migration to America, passing away April 27, 1720.
(II) Ulrich Bracklsill, his only son, was born
in Switzerland in July, 1703, and he joined the meet-
ing in 1 72 1. On Oct. 21, 1722, he married Fanny
Herr, and to this union were born five children,
namely : Fanny, who married John Herr ; John, who
died unmarried ; Benedict ; Anna, who married Jacob
Grofif; and Henry, who died unmarried. Ulrich
Brackbill died Nov. 11, 1739, aged thirty-six years.
(III) Benedict Brackbill, son of Ulrich and
Fanny (Herr") Brackbill, was born in Lancaster in
1730. He was a farmer and lived to the extreme
old age of ninety-two years, seven months and seven
days, dying June 4, 1823. He was buried in a
private burying ground in Strasburg township.
which was set aside for burial purposes from the
original Brackbill homestead. He had married Mary
Kendig, and she lived to the age of seventy-six
years, dying April 4, 1817. Among their children
was Benjamin.
(IV) Benjamin Brackbill, son of Benedict and
Mary (Kendig) Brackbill, was born June 8, 1779.
On Feb. 12, 1805, he married Elizabeth Hershey,
who was born in Dauphin county. Pa., and when
six years of age was brought by her parents to
Salisbury township, Lancaster county. To this un-
ion were born the following children : Mariah, born
Nov. 17, 1805, died aged seventy-seven years, un-
married: Anna, born Jan. 26, 1807, died unmarried,
aged thirty-three years ; Jacob, born Feb. 18, 1809,
married Barbara .Greenleaf , and lived to the age of
seventy years; John, born March 25, 1811, died
April 3, 1812 ; Elizabeth, born Jan. 22, 1813, died
unmarried at the age of eighty-two years ; Barbara,
born Nov. 27, 1815, married Benjamin Hoover ; Ben-
jamin, born May 5, 1818, married Magdalina Car-
penter, and is now a retired farmer in Paradise town-
ship, the only survivor of the family ; Joseph, who
was born in 1821 ; and Martha died unmarried, aged
about forty years. Benjamin Brackbill, the father,
died May 15, 1827, in his forty-eighth year. His
wife. Elizabeth, who was born May 14, 1783, died
June 12, 1875.
(V) Joseph Brackbill, father of Rev. Christian
Metzler Brackbill, was born in 1821. When only
about six years old he lost his father by death. He
remained with his mother on the farm until his mar-
riage to Elizabeth Metzler, daughter of Christian
and Anna (Warner) Metzler, of Salisbury township.
They began housekeeping in Salisbury township,
where they continued until the spring of 1856, when
they returned to . Paradise township, and remained
through life, following farming. Joseph Brackbill
died Oct. 2, 1866, aged forty-one years, eight months
and nineteen days. His wife, Elizabeth, died in Oc-
tober, 1869, aged forty-two years, five months and
three days. They were prominent members of the
Mennonite church, and were buried in Hershey's
Mennonite burying ground. To Joseph and Eliza-
beth (Metzler) Brackbill were born children as fol-
lows : Levi H., a farmer of Salisbury township,
who married Susan Rauck ; Anna, unmarried, resid-
ing with her brother. Rev. Christian Metzler Brack-
bill ; Elizabeth, wife of John R. Eby, a farmer and
implement merchant of Paradise township ; Joseph,
a farmer of Salisbury township who married Alice
Frantz; and Christian Metzler.
(VI) Rev. Christian Metzler Brackbill, a
Mennonite preacher and a farmer, was born in Salis-
bury township, Dec. 5, 1853, son of Joseph and Eli-
zabeth (Metzler) Brackbill. He was reared on the
old farm. Orphaned when a boy. Christian re-
mained with his brothers and sisters on the old farm
until 1870, the property of Christian Metzler, father-
in-law of Joseph Brackbill. Then Christian, a lad of
seventeen years, worked for Elam Brackbill, with
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
277
whom he remained four years, attending school dur-
ing the winter months. He then Hved for two years
with his grandfather Christian Metzler, during the
wmter of 1875 and 1876, when he was engaged in
teachmg school. Attending normal school in Bed-
ford county, during the summer, he again returned
to the farm for a year. In the autumn of 1877 he
purchased his present farm in Salisbury township,
and moved to the same in the following spring. On
Nov. 20, 1879, in East Lampeter township, he mar-
ried Elizabeth K. Denlinger, who was born in East
Lampeter township Oct. r8, 1855. To our subject
and wife have been born these children : Landis E.,
who married Anna Denlinger, has one son, Morris,
and is a clerk in a store in Salisbury township;
Anna, at home ; Christian, who died aged one and a
half years ; Mary, at home ; Joseph, at home ; and
Lizzie, who died aged one and a half years.
Mr. Brackbill was ordained a Mennonite minister
Sept. 17, 1896. He had been previously for eight
■consecutive years superintendent of Hershey's Sun-
day school. In politics he is a Republican. He is one
of the prominent residents of Salisbury township,
a leader among his fellow* men, intelligent and well
informed upon current affairs, an influential farmer
and business man, and a citizen whose devotion to
the religious well being of the community has been
marked by earnestness and signal success.
CHRISTIAN C. FERGUSON (deceased), for
■many years a leading contractor and builder of Co-
lumbia, Pa., was born in Manor township, Lancaster
•county, in 1846, a son of James and Catherine
(Christ) Ferguson, lifelong residents of that county.
The father, a wagonmaker, died in 1867, at the age
of. sixty-five years, and the mother passed away in
1893, at the age of eighty-two. Christian C. was the
•eldest child of this union, the others being Catherine,
who married John Tyson, and died at the age of
twenty-four years; and Martha, wife of Isaac
Broom, of Columbia. The father was married three
times and had twenty-one children.
At the early age of ten years Christian C. Fergu-
son left home and began the battle of life for himself,
working for neighboring farmers until eighteen,
"when he commenced learning the carpenter's trade
in Manor township. As a carpenter he engaged in
■contracting and building from the age of twenty-four
years until his death, which occurred in Columbia in
November, 1898. He met with success in his under-
takings and was able to leave his family in comfort-
able circumstances. He was an earnest and consist-
•ent member of the M. E. Church, and a staunch sup-
porter of the Republican party. He was thoroughly
interested in whatever tended to promote the moral,
intellectual and material welfare of his locality, and
in his death the community realized that it had lost
a valued and useful citizen.
On Oct. 12, 1864, in Lancaster, Pa., Mr. Fergu-
son was united in marriage with Miss Sarah A.
Gurn^y, and to them were born four children, as fol-
lows : Catherine, now the wife of Isaac Overhult-
zer, a foreman in stove works at Lehighton, Pa.,
John G., a contractor and builder of Columbia;
Christian, deceased; and Emory, also a contractor
and builder of Columbia.
Mrs. Ferguson is a native of West Hempfield
township, Lancaster county, and the only child of
George and Elizabeth (Hugendobler) Gurney, who
were alsp born in Lancaster county. Her father,
who died before her birth, was of English extraction,
and a school teacher by profession. The mother was
again married, her second, husband being David
Kaufman, and she is now living in Silver Spring,
Lancaster county, at the age of seventy-three years.
By the second marriage there were four children,
namely: Abraham, who conducts a coal yard in
Silver Spring ; David, a resident of the same place ;
Elizabeth, deceased; and Leah, wife of Horace
Heidler, telegraph operator at Silver Spring.
DANIEL STAPE. This venerable man, whose
long life of ninety years is drawing to a close, is one
of Columbia's most respected citizens. He is the
seventh child of Bernard and Julian (Shaffer) Stape,
and was born at a little hamlet then known as Brock-
house, Nov. 19, 1812. While yet a babe in the cradle
he was brought by his parents on a raft to Marietta,
Lancaster county, the family settling in Maytown.
The elder Stape was a shoemaker by trade, and dur-
ing the war of 18 12 was an ardent patriot, and al-
though his years prevented him himself carrying a
musket, he carried bread to the soldiers in the field.
He died in 1838, at the age of seventy-five. His
wife, who was twenty years his junior, followed him
to the grave in 1858, having attained the same ripe
old age. Both were earnest Christians and members
of the Reformed Church. Their children were :
John ; Julian ; .Susan, who lived to see her eighty-
second birthday, and died unmarried; Julian (2);
Maria, wife of Christian Wachstetter, living at
Florin,* Pa. ; Michael ; Daniel ; George, living in
Illinois ; Joseph, who was killed by the fall of a horse
when working in a mill ; Rosetta, who became the
wife of Jacob Dowhouer; Elizabeth, who married
Alva Isenberger ; and Kitty. All are now deceased
except Daniel, George and Maria.
Daniel Stape spent the first thirteen years of his
life at home with his parents, and then went to
Mount Joy, where for four years he worked on a
farm and in a mill. At the age of seventeen he be-
gan to learn the trade of a locksmith, at which he
served an apprenticeship of four years. On Feb.
19, 1836, he married Mary, the daughter of George
Yost, who removed from Montgomery county to
Mount Joy in 1832. After their marriage Mr. Stape
and his bride took up their residence in Columbia,
where he found employment with the Pennsylvania
Railway Co. as a fireman. Within a few months he
entered the Company's machine shops, and after a
year so spent he opened a locksmith's shop of his
own. He conducted this establishment successfully
278
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
until 1897, when he retired, and he now makes his
home with his son, Samuel M. Stape.
Mrs. Stape died April 21, 1896, in her eighty-
third year. She was the mother of five sons and two
daughters, of whom Simon and Henry died in child-
hood : Julian grew to womanhood, became the wife
of Isaac C. Kaufman, and is now deceased; Mary
is deceased ; George, a corporal in Co. K, 45th P. V.
I., under General Welsh, during the Civil war, was
wounded at the battle of Cold Harbor, but recovered,
rejoined his command, was taken prisoner and was
confined for some time in Libby prison, then trans-
ferred to Andersonville, and finally to Salisbury, N.
C, where he died of starvation, a martyr to his
country ; Daniel, Jr., in the employ of Keeley Stove
Co., married, but his wife died Dec. 28, 1900 ; and
Samuel M., manager of the Western Union Tele-
graph Go's, offices at Columbia, married Addie S.
Kaufman.
Despite his ninety years Mr. Stape is erect and
active, while retaining his mental powers. It is
interesting to note that today he is represented by
four generations — one brother and one sister, two
sons, nine grandchildren and as many more great-
grandchildren. Politically Mr. Stape has been a
Republican since the party's organization. He is
a man of deep piety, whose Christian faith has do-
minated his life from early manhood. A devout
and consistent member of the First M. E. Church,
he has been an actiye worker in its ranks, having
been Sunday school teacher and class leader, and for
twenty-five years trustee and steward. The re-
counting of such lives as his is something more than
a dreary chronicling of the past. It imparts a lesson
and inspires hope. Faithful to every call of duty,
he has walked honestly by the side of his fellows,
and "humbly before his God ;" and while the eye of
sense may be impaired, the spiritual vision, which
is the outgrowth of faith, looks forward, clearly and
calmly, to "the Beyond," which shall be eternal.
FRANK NISSLEY MUMMA. Among the
prominent, reliable and representative business firms
of Lancaster city is the shoe firm of Keene & Mum-
ma, the junior member of which is Frank Nissley
Mumma. The ancestral line of Mr. Mumma, on
both sides of his family, reaches back to the very
early settlement of this county. Frank Nissley is in
the eighth generation from Frederick Mumma, the
progenitor of the family in this locality.
In the masterly address delivered by the late Hon.
Marriott Brosius, at the unveiling of the monument
to the memory of the Revolutionary soldiers of Done-
gal, Oct. 5, 1899, we find this passage, which is in-
teresting in connection with a biography of Frank N.
Mumma :
"The Continental Congress provided for the ap-
pointment of committees of Observation and Corres-
pondence, in each county. Donegal was represented
in that committee by Bartram Galbraith, Alexander
Lowery, James Cunningham, Frederick Mumma and
Robert Craig. The duty of this committee was. to
attentively observe the conduct of all persons touch-
ing the use or sale of interdicted articles, or opposing,,
in any way, the patriotic efforts of the Colonists to
free themselves from the oppression of Parliament.
If any one was found delinquent in these particulars,
they were declared to be enemies to American liber-
ty, and thereafter patriots would abstain from deal-
ing with them. Boycotting was thus early employed
to promote patriotism. Few of the Donegalians,
however, became amenable to this boycott, for their
aggressive patriotism urged them to do too much,,
rather than too litle for the cause of the Colonies,
and they fully agreed with Franklin, that a cup of
tea, the cost of which helped to pay the salaries of
tyrants, would choke any decent American." The
Frederick Mumma here spoken of was the progenitor
of the Lancaster county Mummas.
The parents of Frank Nissley Mumma were
Jonas L. and Ellen R. (Nissley) Mumma, and they
reared a family of four children : Frank N. ; Lizzie
N ; Hallie N., deceased ; and Ellen Ruth.
Frank N. Mumma was born on a tract of land,
in Donegal, that was given by William Penn to the
Presbyterians, on which to erect a church edifice,
and this tract was in the possession of the Mumma
family for many years. Mr. Mumma was educated
at the Mount Joy high school, and at the Bryant &
Stratton Commercial College, graduating with credit
from the latter. The beginning of his business career
was as a clerk in the Keystone Knitting Mills, in
Philadelphia, from which he entered the Boston
Store, in Lancaster, where he remained for three
years. The succeedin.g four years he spent as a mer-
chant in Roanoke, Va., returning to accept a travel-
ing position with a large Philadelphia house. In
1897 Mr. Mumma returned to Lancaster and entered
into a partnership with George W. Keene, in the shoe
business, the firm trading as Keene & Mumma.
Mr. Keene, the senior member of the firm, is a
son of Capt. Keene, who is a veteran of the Civil
war, and who was honored by the Republican party
of Lancaster county, with an election to the office
of recorder of deeds. From boyhood Mr. Keene has.
been engaged in the shoe business, thoroughly under-
standing its every branch. His marriage was to^
Miss Bessie Yeager, a daughter of Henry Yeager,
the retired veteran marble mason, of Lancaster, and
their two daughters are, Orick and Anna Mary.
Mr. Mumma is unmarried and resides with his
mother, at No. 138 College avenue. Socially he is
connected with the Elks ; the Eagles ; the Odd Fel-
low^ and the Knights of Pythias. He is a Repub-
lican\in his political sympathy, but he never ob-
trudes his opinions on others, his natural courtesy i
making him respect the views of his friends.
Both members of the popular and progressive
firm of Keene & Mumma are personally justly pop- •
ular, and their popularity, combined with the high
standard of their goods and their honorable business
methods, has resulted in the rapid growth of their
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
279
trade, so rapid that they were compelled three years
ago to enlarge -their store-room, and to convert their
entire basement into a storage room for dupUcate
stock. In short, the shoe business of Keene & Mum-
ma is not only one of the most prosperous lines in this
city, but they also have one of the largest and most
attractive establishments in Lancaster. It has been
their idea to meet so fully the wants .of their cus-
tomers in every line and in price, that no customer
would feel a necessity of looking further, or of
sending an order to larger cities. It reflects not
only credit upon their energy and business manage-
ment that they have gained so high a position in the
eyes of the trade, and in the public favor, but it also
reflects as much on the good sense of the residents
of the city who, by patronage and encouragement,
have assisted in building up in their midst so re-
sponsible and honorable a business as that conducted
by Keene & Mumma.
CHRISTIAN GROFF, late one of the old and
honored residents of Paradise township, Lancaster
coimty, was born Feb. ii, 1832, son of David and
Barbara (Herr) Grofif, and grandson of John Groff,
and he died Jan. 23, 1903. The parents of Christian
Grofif died when he was a young lad of not over ten
years of age. His father was a farmer and had the
following children: Abraham is now deceased;
Susan is deceased ; Maria, born in 1828, is the wife
of Joseph Brenneman, of Pequea ; Christian ; Fanny,
married Wesley Smith, and both are deceased (she
was born Feb. 8, 1837) ; Barbara, born Sept. 20,
1839, married Benjamin Leaman, of Pequea town-
ship. David Grofif was born Sept. 16, 1802 ; and
his wife May 9, 1809.
Christian Grofif, whose name introduces this ar-
ticle, was reared on the farm and educated in the
public schools. When he was ten years of age he
went to live with his uncle, 'Emanuel Groff, of
Strasburg township, with whom he remained until
he was a young man. When he was eighteen years
of age he learned the shoemaking trade, but followed
it only two A'ears, returning at the end of that time
to the home of his uncle, Emanuel Groff, where he
married, and bought the property. The farm is a
mile and a quarter southwest of Paradise, and con-
tains fortv-nine acres. There he lived and labored
and became noted as one of the keen and shrewd
business men and farmers of the community. Mr.
Grofif retired from farming in 1897, passing the
management of the place into the hands of a son.
The preceding year he had erected a fine farm home,
making the place one of the most attractive in that
part of the county.
On Jan. 3, 1866, Mr. Groff married Miss Eliza-
beth Overly, a daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Wit-
mer) Overly. Mrs. Groff was born July 24, 1840,
and is the mother of two children : Isaac, born Feb.
9, 1870, married Miss Susie Wenger, who was
born 'June 18, 1873. a daughter of Jonas Wenger, of
Leacock township, and they have three children:
Jay C, Elizabeth C. and Cora May. Isaac Groff
carries on his father's farm. Sarah Groff born Feb.
23, 1872, married Amos Hershey, of Paradise town-
ship, and they have six children : Christian, Enos,
Nora, Milton, Amos and Maricus. Mr. Groff was
connected with the Reformed Mennonite Church,
while his wife holds to the Old Mennonite, as do
Isaac Groff and his wife. The family is counted
among the substantial and reliable ones of the town-
ship.
JOHN C. S. HORST (deceased) was born in
Mt. Joy township, where he died Jan. 31, 1897, at
the age of sixty-five years, and was buried in Mount
Tunnel cemetery. He was a son of Christ and Sarah
(Shaffer) Horst. They were natives of Mount Joy
township, and were life-long farming people. The
mother died in August, 1899, at the age of seventy-
eight years. Both she and her husband were buried
in Mount Tunnel cemetery. To them were born
two children, John C. S., and Katie, who married
Daniel Enterline, both being now deceased.
On Dec. 31, 1863, John C. S. Horst married
Louisa Stewart, and to their union were born the
following children: (i) Sarah E., deceased; (2)
Louisa F., deceased; (3) Christ S., deceased; (4)
John H., who went to South Omaha, Neb., where he
became a foreman for the Swift & Co. Packing
House, and is now deceased; (5) Henry T., who
married Louisa Weigand, and is now conducting a
restaurant at his father's old stand in Elizabethtown ;
and (6) Miss Mary M., at home. Mrs. Louisa
(Stewart) Horst was born in Mt. Joy township, and
is a memJDer of an old and distinguished family, her
mother's people having been in this county since
1 7 10. She is a member of the Lutheran Church.
John C. S. Horst was an active and energetic
man. In 1877 he opened up a restaurant, and in
189s retired. His life was cut short two years later
by paralysis. In politics he was a Democrat, and he
led a thoroughly honorable and useful life, manifest-
ing much character and displaying a kind and gen-
erous heart.
WILLIAM FREDERICK HENNECKE, who
died Jan. 4, 1901, at the age of fifty-seven years, had
a most interesting career. Coming to this country
from Saxony when only five years old, at the age of
eleven years he was engaged in the business of buy-
ing rags. This business grew with his years until
he had become the most prominent and successful
junk dealer in Lancaster. Socially he was as pop-
ular as he was successful in trade, having instituted
the Knights of the Golden Eagle in the citv of
Lancaster, and he was also an active member of the
Knights of Pythias. Mr. Hennecke was twice mar-
ried ; his first wife became the mother of three chil-
dren, all of whom are living. For his second wife
he married Sarah Josephine Heineman, a daughter
of the late Isaac G. Heineman, a well known auc-
tioneer of West Hempfield township. Mr. and Mrs.
280
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Heineman were married in Wilmington, Del., Bish-
op J. W. Downey, of the Episcopal Church, officiat-
ing; both passed away in 1894, Mrs. Heineman
dying on May nth, of that year, and Mr. Heineman
in the following November. Mrs. Hennecke has
shown a great aptness for business, having acquired
a good insight into it during the illness of her hus-
band. She is a model house keeper, and enjoys the
respect, and esteem of all with whom she comes in
contact. Socially she belongs to the Foresters of
America.
CARL OTTO MATZ, with whom we have been
intimately associated for some thirty years, and
whom we have long regarded the foremost musician
Lancaster has ever known, was born Nov. 20, 1846,
in Brussow, a little town near Stettin, Prussia, some
fifteen miles from the Baltic sea, the same country
from which the Angles and Saxons came to conquer
Britain, and of the same virde stock. His father was
a merchant tailor, possessed of a fine tenor voice,
much in demand, and a devoted lover of music. We
have often looked at Prof. Matz as he has been rapid-
ly writing the harmony for voice and instruments,
and have marvelled at the readiness and precision
with which it was done. Once, in our wonder, when
he was at greater speed than usual, we asked him,
"Man, how can you do it?" He looked up with a
smile, "Oh, it's a gift. I hear the voices and the in-
struments, and write down what I hear. ' If I had to
think it out, it would take much longer time." We
have sat hearing him plav from memory folksongs,
ballads, hymns, marches, selections from oratorios,
overtures, operas, and looked at the watch to find that
hours had flown and the evening was gone. We
asked him once when the music lay before him
black with notes, "Do you play all that harmony just
as it isj'" His reply was impressive, "I would not
miss a note. It would be unjust to this fine com-
poser." He improvises wonderfully under the spell
of the music, and his interludes and accompaniments
are at such times a revelation and a delight. Who
that heard him. play "Holy Night" at our last Christ-
mas entertainment, just after he had, at our request,
told the story of the origin of that best of Christmas
songs, is likely to forget that marvelous perform-
ance ? He played like one inspired. Once at a great
funeral we heard him play "The Dead March in
Saul" while the audience was slowly passing out of'
the church. We stood, held to the spot by the organ.
It was as if a great sotil were wailing through it all.
He played it again and again. We waited till the
close and walked down the street with him and talked
of the music. He said, "Nothing I ever play stirs me
so deeply as that march." And that explained ev-
erything.
It was a favorite cousin who discovered his rare
endowment in music. Enticed by the sweet cakes
at her lather's bakery, he was a frequent visitor.
One dav, when but four years old, she found him
in the parlor at the grand piano, picking out on the
keyboard the times with which he was familiar. She
was delighted at his success, and at once made him
her little pupil, so that he began to play the piano
before he was old enough to go to school. His
father, suffering from adverse circumstances, had
little means to expend upon the musical education
of his son as lie grew older. Nevertheless, he found
favor with a. stern teacher of the old school, Herr
Neumann, who drilled him mercilessly for eight long
years in mere musical exercises, at times to the ex-
tent of rapping him vigorously over the knuckles
with his fiddle bdw, without so much as "By your
leave." for these old masters were too good in re-
sult to be very polite in method or manner. He then
passed under Prof. Bichtler for another three years
of rigid training in the preparatory school to the lead-
ing German seminary for the training of specialists
in tlie teacher's profession. Under these teachers
he had nothing but exercises, exercises, exercises,
day after day, and all day long, month after month,
year after year. Not a piece of music, popular or
classical, was allowed to him. Indeed, everything of
the kind was resolutely forbidden. Skill, technique,
mastery of the keyboard — the artist gift trained
to artist power — this was their aim for their gifted
pupil. The path might be rugged and cheerless, but
it was sure. He came at this time to hate and loathe
his exercises and piano practice, as he saw his com-
rades all given "pieces" in their practice which were
denied to himself. Boylike, too, he occasionally
picked up and played in the gatherings of his friends
the forbidden compositions. But, thanks to the un-
tiring vigilance of his father and the stoical firmness
of his teachers, when only seventeen years of age, he
was accepted at the noted Seminary of Koepeneck,
the most prominent educational institution in Prus-
sia for the training of special teachers. The famous
Dr. Rudolph Lange, head of the musical depart-
ment, although a man full of eccentricities, was
a great musician and a wonderful teacher. Though
the old doctor pronounced his first efforts in musical
composition "elephant steps," }et in the last part of
his three years' course he ordered one of his songs to
be put into the musical archives, which at Koepen-
eck was. regarded a high honor. His class was un-
usual in the number of musicians who afterwards
became widely known. Violinists like Engelbrecht,
'celloists like Ungermann, organists like Stegemann
belonged to it. So it came about that the kind of
music known technically as "chamber music" was
cultivated in this class to a high degree, in addition
to orchestral nmsic and the chorus work, the trios,
quartettes, quintettes and octettes by Haydn, Mo-
zart, and Beethoven. The students, numbering over
a hundred, sang the mottettes by Klien a capella,
the double male choruses of "Antigone," etc. Dur-
ing the last Aear of the course Carl Matz had the
honorable distinction of being unanimously elected
musical director of his class, and led both orchestra
and grand chorus. In the summer of this year his
class had the privilege of giving free open-air con-
CARL MATZ, Musician.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
281
certs every Sunday evening in the Seminary Park,
to which only tickets of the director admitted. Often
the famous quartette of the Berlin Opera House
would come in, place themselves quietly in the line
of their respective voices, and join heartily in the
choruses. He recalls with pleasure during this year
■a visit to Berlin of Dr. Engelbrecht, leader of the
Royal Russian Band in Odessa, whose brother was a
member of his class, both noted violinists For the
two weeks of his stay they played chamber music in
quartette, the leader and ins brother taking first and
second violins, Prof. Matz the viola and a very skill-
ful 'celloist the fourth instrument. He speaks of
.having enjoyed this music more than any other in
which he has ever taken part. For a time he played
the violin and viola in the class orchestra of the Sem-
inary, but his special instruments were the piano and
the grand organ.
After graduating fr6m Koepeneck, he was recom-
mended by Dr. Lange for one of the best organs in
Germany, that at Melzow. Here he spent a pleasant
year and a half as organist and instructor in the
upper grade school of the town. Being debarred,
because of his youth, from the directorship of the
musical department of the Seminary at Helsingfoer,
where his imcle, Dr. John Richter, was director of
the institution, he resolved to go to America, where
ability seemed more in demand and age a qualifica-
tion not so essential as in Germany. He married
Marie Louise Fiehnn, a lady of fine musical senti-
ment, nobility and force of character and a good
vocalist, »and set out for New York on his wedding
trip, sailing from Bremen, and landing in New
York in August, 1868.
Just before sailing he did one of those things
that show the stuff a man is made of, and which only
a big heart would risk. A friend of his, a musician,
who had, for political reasons become an object of
suspicion to the government, was in hiding at the
port. Knowing the generous nature of Carl Matz,
and that he was about to sail for the United States,
he sent for him, stated his case, and asked the
privilege of using his passport for identification on
shipboard by the officers of the port. It was a very
dangerous risk, for if detected it meant the detention
and imprisonment of both. He took the risk to help
him, passed the inspection among the first, then
handed the passport to his friend, who came in near
the end of a line numbering several hundred pas-
sengers. By the time the latter was reached the in-
spection was less rigid, and he also got through with-
out question. The officers were tired when they
neared the end of the line — a chance on which they
had reckoned — and both were safe ! This man was
a teacher of music for many years at Detroit.
On reaching New York city they stopped at the
"New York Hotel," on lower Broadway. We saw
the place a few days since, and thought of the crush-
ing blow a thief here dealt to the bright prospects of
Professor Mat?. He had brought with him to
America on his wedding trip nearly two thousand
dollars, his purpose being to take ample time for
looking about, and, after becoming acquainted with
certain leading cities, to decide where he would
make his home, and take his proper place among the
masters of his art. The future of promise was very
attractive and assuring, but before they had been
many days in Gotham a thief rifled their trunks and
stole every dollar of their money except what they
had about them for immediate personal needs. It
was an awful blow to their high hopes. A black
cloud had suddenly blotted out the sun. They were
strangers in a strange land, without money, and no
friend or acquaintance with whom to advise. He at
once advertised in the Staats-Zeitung that an organ-
ist who held the diploma of the Koepeneck Seminary
desired an engagement. Rev. Mr. Hoppe, who was
then clergyman at the Zion Lutheran Church in
Lancaster, knowing the grade of such a diploma,
wrote him at once for further information. This
was most satisfactory, and as it was necessary for
Prof. Matz to act promptly, his money being now
exhausted, he accepted the modest salary offered for
organ choir and parish school. And so his busy life
has been lived in the comparatively small town of
Lancaster, instead of one of our larger centres of
population. It has, indeed, been great gain to Lan-
caster, where he has been one of her hardest-worked
and niost useful citizens these many years. But
for him—with his high gifts, extraordinary skill,
and firm and confident breadth of grasp in the di-
vine art of music — has he been "buried" here all these
years? Sometimes, as we have looked at his work
and felt his power for these thirty years, we have
thought so. But who can tell ! One thing is sure :
Lancaster has been blessed in him as in few men who
have lived and toiled in her midst. And that is a
great thing to feel, and know, and say of any good
man.
For five years he held the position at Zion Luth-
eran Church, doing much work for modest wages,
and closed his very successful term of service —
profitable in every way but money — with a grand
rendition of Mendelssohn's "Oratorio of St. Paul,"
with full orchestra, for the benefit of the church.
His leading soloists were noted singers from abroad,
as also were some of the musicians in the orchestra,
two of whom had played under the lead of Felix
Mendelssohn himself years before in Germany. The
chorus was mainly from Lancaster, and was highly
complimented by the musicians from abroad. The
master had put himself into his chorus. Nothing
else in music to equal this rendition of the great
Oratorio has ever been given in Lancaster by local
talent. We remember it well, as if it were but yester-
day, when it was given in the Fulton Opera House.
Other great works — as "Schiller's Bell," by Rom-
berg, and "The Creation," by Haydn — were pro-
duced in the same grand style, with massive and
well-drilled choruses, soloists of reputation, and
orchestras large, full and well-trained. As musical
director of the Maennerchor Society he arranged
282
BIOGRAPHICM. ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and conducted four or five important music festivals,
in which many noted singing societies of New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Reading and other neigh-
boring towns participated. He has conducted many
benefit concerts for others, but has always sturdily
refused any such concerts for himself. For nearly
thirty years he has been connected with the High
Schools as a teacher of German and vocal music.
During this long period many hundreds and thou-
sands of boys and girls have passed through these
schools, and become scattered far and wide through
the world, but Prof Matz and their songs of the olden
time they remember with gladness and gratitude.
They never forget his vigorous, masterful, enthus-
iastic manner, as he sat behind the school piano, or
sprang to his feet for a special effort, with one hand
on the keyboard and the other beating time, and his
mighty voice, equal to those of a dozen men, always
true to tone, leading with a call to strenuous effort
that even the dead before him, if there were any such,
must hear and answer.
He would have made a soldier of the Phil Sheri-
dan type, and, with the training of Sheridan, could
have taken that same furious ride to reach his army
at Winchester, "where the voice of the master com-
pelled it to pause" — only his voice, with the same
ring in it would have been more mighty than that of
Sheridan. Looking at him many a time in the High
School, with keen interest and admiration of his skill
and power— hearing his grand voice, firm, resolute,
confident, compelling result — and knowing well his
fearless unquailing spirit, and his tremendous en-
ergy when roused to supreme efforts, we have often
thought, "What a leader for a forlorn hope in a
desperate charge !"
Other good men have done very much for the
cause of music in Lancaster, but the work of this
forceful, untiring and eminently capable teacher and
leader makes hmi easily first among them all.
Knowing and teaching only the best in music, and
holding firmly to that high standard for more than
thirty years, as organist and choirmaster, in private
lessons and chorus training, and in connection with
the music in the public schools, — but especially in
the High Schools — he has been an active, earnest,
intelligent, constant and, we might almost say, per-
vading force amongst us in a line of work in which
noT many are competent to excel, and which is one
of the most humanizing and helpful that can be done
in any community.
He is a man of very strong physique, with an
honest eye, an honest voice and an hoijest heart,
generous and kindly, of rather emphatic manner,
with endless capacity for work and large reserve of
energy, but one who when roused will go "to the
limit" to get things done, with little regard for stress
and strain ; the sort of man one likes to work with
and whom it is good to know and to live with.
CHARLES. The founder of the Charles family
in Lancaster county, Pa., was Henry Charles, who
came to this country from Switzerland, probably
about 1734, the records showing that he and his wife,
and also his blind mother who accompanied him,
were members of what was denominated "Rupp's
Collection of 30,000 emigrants," and they sailed
from Rotterdam, in the vessel named the "Charming
Polly" of London, of which Charles Steadman was
master, their companions on the voyage consisting
of 105 men, twenty-five boys, and 107 women and
girls. Prior to this emigration these ancestors had
been sold into Holland as slaves ; but how long this
state of affairs lasted, or what were the conditions
of it, the old records do not make very plain. After
reaching the free land of America, they first located
at Germantown, where they farmed for eight years, ,
and then came to Lancaster county, selecting a tract
in Manor township, south-east of Mountville, which
property is still in the possession of the Charles fam-
ily. In connection with large farming enterprises,
this ancestor introduced weaving into the commun-
ity, being an expert in the manufacture of all kinds,
of cloth, but probably the hardships which he had
undergone shortened his life, for he died when about
fifty-six years old, his wife not surviving him very
long. Three sons were born to them : ( i ) Joseph,
born on the ship in 1734, married and moved to what
is now known as the old Frey farm in East Hemp-
field township. Pie lived and died there, and his
remains were buried on the farm, but there is no
graveyard to be found there now. His grandson,
Joseph, who was yet young and unmarried (whose
father, Joseph was yet living) , went with one of his
friends to the Potomac river, where he bought a mill,
paying what was thought to be an extravagant price
for it, his acquaintances all predicting financial fail-
ure. They made a public sale and sold the East
Hempfield farm, for which they obtained a very
high price, giving them enough to pay for the mill
and some to spare. This sale was attended by many
people from Lancaster, and also from Manor and
East Hempfield townships, wine was served to those
attending, and the occasion was made a most enjoy-
able one. After some time Joseph and his family
went farther west, and now all the descendants of
Joseph, son of the emigrant, are located in the west.
(2) John, second son of Henry, the emigrant, was
born at Germantown in 1739, and he died when
nearly eighty-five years old. Many of his descen-
dants are still in Lancaster county, some of them
around Millersville, some along the Susquehanna,
some at Charlestown (which was founded by some
members of the family) , some in Pequea township,
and others at Philadelphia and in the west. (3)
Jacob is mentioned below.
Jacob Charles, third son of Henry, the emigrant,
was born in Manor township in 1742, and died at the
age of ninety-seven years, nine months and nine days.
His whole life was passed on a farm adjoining the
one upon which he was born. In many ways he was
a most remarkable man, his physical structure was
large, and his mental equipment was of a superior
order also, his intelligence being far beyond the
average farmer of his locality. As a sample of his
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
28a
unusual physical preservation, it is recorded that
within a year of his death, he easily walked the dis-
tance- of 'fourteen miles to and from Lancaster City
in one day, and one week before his death he walked
home from Habecker's Church, taking sick on the
way home. As one of the leading members of the
Old Mennonite Church, he efficiently managed the
affairs' of the Habecker Church for a number of
years. Jacob Charles married Mary Neff, and to
them were born these children: (i) Anna, born
in July, 1766, married Jacob Kauffman, and died
aged eighty years, eight months and six days. (2)
Jacob, born in May, 1769, was a farmer all his life
on the original homestead. His death, which oc-
curred when he was aged sixty-four years, three
months and twenty-five days, was caused by cutting
himself in the foot while felling a tree. He was the
father of ten children, as follows : Joseph and Bar-
bara, who both died in infancy ; Mary, who mar-
ried Jacob Froelich; Elizabeth, who married John
Hertiiler ; Anna, who married Jacob Seitz ; Barbara,
who also wedded Jacob Seitz ; Jacob, who died un-
married, when about sixty-three years old ; Fanny,
who married John Newcomer ; Elizabeth, who also
wedded a John Newcomer ; and Christian, who mar-
ried Fanny Forey, became the father of Amos, Levi,
Christian, Clayton, Catharine, Adaline, Anna, Fanny,
Ellen and Emma, and, after passing his life as farm-
er on the old home, he died in his seventy-fifth year.
(3) Barbara, born in July, 1776, married Jacob
Stauffer, and died aged seventy-three years, eleven
months and four days. (4) John is mentioned in
full below. The descendants of Jacob Charles, the
father of these children, now living, number between
four and five hundred ; they have not scattered far,
but a circle twenty-five miles in diameter would em-
brace nearly all. All that are married are farmers,
and all that profess religion are Mennonites, except
two families.
John Charles, son of Jacob, was born in March,
1 781. He, too, was a farmer, and owned over five
hundred acres of land in one body. This tract has
been added to by his children and grandchildren
until it now contains between eight and nine hundred
acres; it is now farmed by ten of the name — two
Christians, two Davids, two Henrys, Jacob, John,
Clayton and Levi. John Charles died at the age of
seventy-six years, ten months and twenty days.
He was twice married, his first wife being Mary
Habacker, by whom he had these children: (i)
Elizabeth, born in August, 1807, married John
Stauffer, and died when eighty-three years, four
months and ten days old. (2) John, born Sept. 3,
1809, is mentioned' later on. (3) Christian, born
June 2, 1812, is yet living, being in his ninety-first
year. His children were Elizabeth, Jacob, John,
Joseph, Christian, Abraham, Esther, Anna and
Mary. (4) Esther, born in June, 1814, died at the
age of thirty-eight years, ten months and twenty-
seven days, the wife of Rev. Christian Herr. The
second marriage of John Charles was to the Widow
Stauft'er, whose maiden name was Witmer, and tO'
them two children were born : Anna, born Feb. 8,
1822, married. John Bowers and died at the age of
seventy-four years' and eleven months; and Joseph,,
born in February, 1825, died at the age of seventy-
four years, nine months and seven days.
John Charles, son of John was always engaged in
agriculture, residing in Manor township, Lancaster
county, where he was regarded as one of the pro-
minent and substantial citizens, a keen business man,,
but who was noted for an exemplary life, and was
one of the leading members of the Mennonite
Church. He died aged eighty-four years nine
months and eighteen days. John Charles was mar-
ried to Susan Herr, the estimable daughter of David
Herr who was a deacon of the Mennonite Church
and well-known farmer of Lancaster township, her
birth occurring in 18 14, and her death in 1879, at
the age of sixty-five years, two months and twenty-
five days. The children born to this union were:
David H.. ; Esther, who married Joseph Habecker,.
of Manor township ; Susan, who married Amos
Souders, of Manor township ; Anna, who married
Jacob Krider, of Rohrerstown ; John, who died at
the age of seventeen ; Fannie, who married Jonas
Nissley of Manor township ; Christian, of Manor
township, who married Elizabeth Brubaker; Eliza-
beth, deceased, who married Aaron Hostetter, of
Lancaster township ; Mary, widow of Ephrain Hos-
tetter, of Manor township ; Henry H., of Manor
township, who married Elizabeth Landis ; and
Jacob, who died in childhood. The father of this-
family was a most worthy man, and reared his fam-
ily in the precepts of the Mennonite Church, and all'
of them have become good and worthy citizens.
David H. Charles was reared on the old farm
which had been the home of his ancestors, and he re-
ceived his education in the public schools of the
neighborhood. After completing his education he
moved to a farm adjoining the home, and belonging
to his father-in-law, where he remained for twenty-
six years. He then left that farm in the hands of
his son, and moved to the village of Kready, where
he had purchased a farm for his daughter, and a
home for himself.
On Dec. 7, 1858, David H. Charles was married
to Fannie D. Brubaker, who was born Aug. 28, 1838,
a daughter of Jacob K. Brubaker, a distinguished
Bishop of the Old Mennonite Church, and to this
happy marriage three children have been born:
Susannah B., born Nov. i, 1859, died March 20,
1862 ; Fannie B.. born May 20, 1862, married Aaron
Kauffman a farmer of East Hempfield township,
who is a singer, and a teacher in Sunday school ;
and Jacob B., born Dec. 25, 1863, married Mary H.
Gamber of Manor township, and. is a farmer, resid-
ing in Manor township. Both David H. Charles and
wife are members of the Old Mennonite Church, in
which they were reared from childhood. For years
he has been a leading figure in musical cirlces in his
community, having successfully taught vocal music
284
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in Lancaster county, and has had considerable influ-
ence in educating the people to an appreciation of
good music. As one of the enterprising and pro-
gressive men of the community, he has done his full
part in advancing the interests of East Hempfield,
and is justly considered one of the representative
citizens.
David H. Charles has in his possession the old'
family Bible, which Henry Charles, the emigrant,
brought from Switzerland. It is now three hundred
and sixty-seven years old. When Henry Charles
wrote down the births of his three sons, he also
attached a prayer : '"The All Highest let them grow
up to His holy Name's honor, and to the praise of
their parents, and mostly to their soul's salvation.
Amen."
JOSIAH BROWN was in his lifetime regarded
justly as an honorable and prominent citizen of Ful-
ton township, Lancaster county. He was born in
1815, and died in 1884, on his farm, which is now
owned by his widow and daughter. Josiah Brown
was a son of Nathan Brown, who came to Pennsyl-
vania from Cecil county, Md., and the family is of
English stodc.
Nathan Brown, the father, was a native of Cecil
county, Md., and was the father of ten children, as
■follows: Josephine, Josiah, William, Emily, Eliza-
beth, Mary, Alice, Lewis, Margaret and Mercy, all
deceased with the exception of Mercy and Lewis.
During his life Josiah Brown was a successful
farmer and a leading Republican of the district. He
was a member of the Society of Friends, and was a
■fine neighbor and reliable friend. He was a de-
voted husband and a kind father, and no man stood
higher in the estimation of all classes than did Josiah
Brown.
On May 30, 1844, Josiah Brown was married to
Miss Mary A. Phillips, of Chester county. Pa., who
■was born Oct. 16, 1822, a daughter of Robert and
Rosanna (Mullen) Phillips, the family being of
Scotch-Irish origin. This marriage was blessed with
two children : Sarah Anna, born April 2, 1854; and
Rachel Clay, born March 3, 1846, who died in child-
hood.
Sarah Anna, the only surviving child of Mr. and
Mrs. Josiah Brown, was married to Charles S. Ja-
cobs, of Churchtown, Lancaster county, April 9,
1885. They have two children, namely: Hanson
Bentley, born April 15. 1886; and Mary A. B., born
Sept. 24, 1895. Mr. Jacobs and his wife reside on
the home farm, and he has charge of the place. He
was born June 6, 1845, ^^^ he is a thrifty and pains-
taking man who has left no opportunity go by to
keep the place in the best possible condition. He is
a Republican in politics, and keeps well in touch with
his party, and in his religious belief he is a Presby-
terian.
Mrs. Brown, widow of Josiah Brown, lives with
her daughter in the Brown homestead. She is a
noble specimen of womanhood, bright and agile for
one of her age. Her health is good and she lives in
the full enjoyment of life, with many friends, and
she is highly regarded by all who know her.
HENRY HUBER. The name of Huber is well
known through the agricultural sections of Lan-
caster county, Pa., where for generations the family
has owned large tracts of land, and its represent- '
atives have been among the most honored- and
respected citizens. The father of Henry Huber, of
this sketch, was Christian Huber, who was born on
the farm now occupied by the former, which for
four generations has been the old family homestead,
coming originally into the family by marriage with
the Herrs. Christian Huber was born Feb. 2, 1807,
a son of Henry and Fannie (Buckwalter) Huber.
He was reared on the farm, educated in the public
schools and became a successful agriculturist, his
death occurring Feb. 15, 1887. Possessing the ener-
getic and progressive ideas characteristic of the fam-
ily, he was well known through the township for
his sympathy with education and religious enter-
prises, and both he and his wife were worthy mem-
bers of the Old Mennonite Church.
Christian Huber was married on Dec, 26, 1836,
to Anna Hamish, who was born on Feb. 13, 1819,
a daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Eman) Hamish,
and still survives, in good health, beloved in the
community where she has lived so long an example
of Christian womanhood. A family of eleven chil-
dren came to bless this worthy couple, many of them
still Hying: .Elizabeth, born in May, 1838, married
Michael S. Kreider, and at her death left three chil-
dren; Martha, born in May, 1839, married David
F. Harnish, of Manheim township ; Catherine, bom
in September, 1841, married Cyrus M. Zittle, form-
erly of West Lampeter township, now of Strasburg
township ; Henry, born in January, 1844, resides in
West Lampeter township ; Fannie, born in March,
1846, married Frank Mylin, of Pequea township;
Mary Ann, born in September, 1848, married Abra-
ham Shaub, of Manor township; Anna, born in
April, 185 1, married Jacob Klaus, of West Lam-
peter township ; Jacob, born in April, 1853, died in
childhood ; Aaron, born in Dec, 1854, is a farmer of
West Lampeter township; Christian, born in Feb.
1858, is a farmer in West Lampeter; and David,
born in August, 1S60, is also a farmer of this lo-
cality.
Henry Huber was bom and reared on the farm
he still occupies, receiving his education in the
public schools. About 1870 he took charge of the
homestead, and successfully conducted farming op-
erations there until the death of his father, after
which he purchased 103 acres of the land, this being
the larger part of the old homestead, and since that
time he has been continually engaged in improve-
ments until his estate has no superior in the locality.
Its fine condition places him in the front rank as
an agriculturist, for it has been under his care for
so long a time, that its excellent appearance and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
2e5
productiveness are directly due to his management.
Henry Huber was married on Dec. 12, 1875, to
Isabella Charles, who was born in Pequea township,
July 14, 185s, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth
(Kendig) Charles, and three children have been born
of this union: Henry C, born Aug. 25, 1876;
> Amos, born-Dec. 28, 1878; and Christian C, born
Sept. I, 1882. With their eldest son, Henry Huber
and wife are members of the Old Mennonite Church,
where they are highly esteemed. Mr. Huber is one
of the substantial men of the township, and he has
taken an interested part in public matters. Politic-
ally he is a Republican, but has never consented to
hold any office.
GEORGE ROHR, managing editor of the Lan-
caster Freie Presse, is a native of Mannheim, Baden,
Germany, where he was born Oct. 2, 1856. His
parents, John and Magdalena Rohr, emigrated to
the United States in 1866, and settled in Lancaster.
The death of the father occurred in December, 1893 ;
the mother died in December, 1900. George Rohr's
education commenced in Germany, was finished in
the public schools and St. Joseph school at Lancas-
ter. At sixteen he was apprenticed to the printer's
trade under Gottlieb Schmid, and after gaining a
thorough knowledge of it went to Trenton, N. J.,
where he was employed for three years on a German
publication. He then went to New York and there
spent two years in a printing office; then going to
Philadelphia he was employed for a similar period.
He thus gained a valuable knowledge of the busi-
ness in various cities which has been of great serv-
ice to him.
Mr. Rohr came back to Lancaster in 1883 and
went to work for the Freie Presse, and since the first
of March, 1888, he has been its managing editor.
His selection for the position was a wise one, as his
talents particularly fit him for it.
While living at Trenton, Mr. Rohr married Miss
Kate H. Braun, a native of that city. They have
seven children.
JACOB R. HERSHEY, one of the leading citi-
zens of Lancaster county, engaged extensively in
milling operations at Hershey's Mill, in Manor
township, where he is also occupied in farming, has
descended from one of the early and prominent fam-
ilies of Lancaster county.
The emigrant ancestor of this branch of the
Hershey family in Lancaster county was Andrew
Hershey, who with his sons, Andrew and Benjamin,
came from Switzerland, and located here in 1719. A
third son, Christian Hershey, came later. All were
made ministers in the Mennonite Church. From this
emigrant, Andrew Hershey, the subject of this
sketch is in the sixth generation, the line of his de-
scent being through Andrew (2), Andrew (3), Ja-
cob and Benjamin Hershey.
(II) Andrew Hershey (2), son of Andrew, was
born in 1702, and he died in 1792. His children
were: Christian, Andrew, John, Benjamin, Jacob,
Abraham, Isaac, Henry, Peter, Catherine and Maria.
(Ill) Andrew Hershey (3), son of Andrew (2),
was born in 1734, and he died July 16, 1806. His
children were: Annie, Jacob, Maria, Andrew,
Henry, Elizabeth and John.
(iV) Jacob Hershey, son of Andrew (3), was
born Oct. 2, 1765, in Manor township, and became
a farmer and miller, building the old Hershey mill
in Manor township in 1803. In 1787 he married
Barbara Heistand, and died May 27, 1821. Their
children were as follows :
John, born March 7, 1790, was a farmer in Man-
heim township. Jacob, born May 30, 1791, was a
farmer by occupation, and moved to Ohio in 1834,
locating in Medway, Clark county, where he after-
ward resided, and where his death occurred; he
married and reared a family. Henry, born July 21,
1793, who married Annie Shellenberger, was a
farmer, and passed his life in Manor township, dy-
ing Aug. 12, 1865 ; he was a member of the Men-
nonite Church. Andrew, born Dec. 16, 1794, mar-
ried Annie, daughter of Samuel Hartman; he was
a thrifty farmer of Manor township, though much
of the time he was in poor health, and he died March
23, 1837, a member of the Dunkard Church. Eliza-
beth, born Jan. 19, 1798, died at the age of twenty-
six years. Maria, born Jan. 29, 1801, died in in-
fancy. Benjamin is referred to farther on. Maria
(2) was born Dec. 31, 1808.
(V) Benjamin Hershey, son of Jacob and Bar-
bara (Heistand), and father of the subject of this
sketch, was born Jan. 9, 1804, on the homestead in
Manor township, and he passed his lifetime there,
occupied in agricultural pursuits and in milling, op-
erating the Hershey Mill from 1834 until 1862. He
was one of the substantial citizens of his locality,
a man of honor and integrity, who held the esteem
and respect of his fellow men. He married Susan
Rietzel, who was born in 1818, and to their union
were born children as follows : Catharine, who mar-
ried Jacob Kendig, and is now deceased ; Jacob R. ;
Elizabeth (deceased), who married Jonas Risser, of
Mount Joy ; Henry B., who married Caroline Mann ;
and Susan, who married John Newcomer. The two
last named live in Manor township. The father of
these children died Oct. i, 1883, and the mother
passed away Feb. 28, 1895.
Jacob R. Hershey, the subject proper of this
sketch, was born July 15, 1838, at Hershey's Mill,
in Manor township, which locality-has always been
the chief field of his life's work. He was reared to
agricultural pursuits and the business of milling, in
both of which he has continued and prospered. He
had received a common school education, and in
1862 assumed charge of the old mill which his grand-
father built about 1803, operating it until his death
in 182 1, when it succeeded to his son Jacob, who
carried on the business tmtil going West, in 1834,
and from that time until 1862 it was operated by
Benjamin Hershey.
286
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Jacob R. Hershey has a fine farm of sixty-two
acres, on which he has been engaged in general
farming. He has led a busy, active life, and being
a good financier and manager, has become well-to-
do. He is enterprising and public-spirited, and has
ever taken a deep interest in all movements indi-
cating progress and advancement. For fifteen years
he has been one of the board of directors and vice-
president of the Fulton National Bank of Lancaster,
of which he was one of the incorporators and origi-
nal stockholders. He was also one of the promoters
of the Columbia Trust Co., of which he is a director.
In political behef he is a stanch Republican, but he
has never been an aspirant for political office or
emoluments.
On Jan. 12, i86t, Mr. Hershey was joined in
narriage with Miss Catharine Davis, who was born
Dec. 20, 1841, a daughter of John and Catharine
Davis, the former of whom was a prominent and
well known man of Rohrerstown, Pa. To them have
come the following children : Lizzie, born Dec. 10,
1862 ; Alary Ella, born April 19, 1864 ; Davis J., born
March 29, 1866, married Fanny L. Baer, now de-
ceased; Benjamin and Henry D. (twins), born
JMarch 2, 1868, of .whom Benjamin died Aug. 11,
1868 ; and Henry D., married Ida, daughter of M. S.
Seichriat; Jacob D., born March 31, 1875, married
Elizabeth McBride, of New Jersey, and is a prac-
ticing physician at Manheim, Pennsylvania.
DAA^D F. MELLINGER (deceased), late a
highlv honored resident of his native township of
Manor, Lancaster county, was born Jan. 6, 1820, a
descendant from one of the oldest families of the
township, mention ot whom will be found on several
pages of this volume.
Benjamin Mellinger, father of David F., was the
eldest son of John and Elizabeth (Dills) MeUinger,
and was born in Indiantown, Manor township, in
1785; he died in 1861. Soon after the war of 1812
had closed, Benjamin purchased, when prices were
at the highest point, a tract of land which depreciated
in price fully one-half before he had cleared off the
mortgage, but he struggled on manfully, and finally
extricated himself from debt. He devoted his tim.e
to farming and distilling, realized a competency, and
became one of the most prominent men of his town-
ship, gaining the full confidence of his fellow citi-
zens. In politics, Benjamin Mellinger was first an
anti-Mason Whig, but later became a Republican,
was honored by his townspeople with many local
offices, and for years was a member of the school
board. In religion he was a Mennonite. Benjamin
Mellinger married Anna Eshleman, who was born in
Manor township in 1784, was a daughter of Jacob
Eshleman and died in 1875. the mother of seven chil-
dren who grew to mature years, \'iz. : John E., a
farmer, who died in Yellow Springs, Ohio, June 2r,
190C, at the advanced age of ninety years and seven
months ; Jacob E., a farmer of IMillerstown, Pa., who
died in 1893, when over seventy- four years of age ;
Benjamin E., a farmer of Manor township, who died
about 1855, about fortv-two years of age; Elizabeth,
born Aug. 4, 1815, who is the widow of Henry E.
Baer ; Flenry H., formerly a farmer, now eighty-two
years old, and residmg in Steubenville, Ohio ; David
F. ; Martin E., born in 1826, a school-teacher, and
later a clerk, who died in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1882.
David F. Mellinger was unmarried, and made his
home with his sister, Mrs. Baer, on his homestead
about one mile from Safe Harbor, which homestead
contains twenty-three acres on which Mr. Mellinger
lived for forty-eight years. Besides his home he
owned a tiact of eighteen acres in another part of
Manor township. Mrs. Baer, now a widow, is the
mother of three children, namely: Benjamin, a
farmer of Manor township ; Elizabeth, wife of
George H. Weaver, of Harrisburg ; and Annie, de-
ceased wife of Benjamin Frey, of Manor township.
David F. Mellinger began his active Hfe when
eighteen years old by teaching in both public and
private schools, and he followed the vocation fifteen
years — teaching every winter and some of the sum-
mers. After abandoning this profession he worked
for some time for neighboring farmers, when he se-
cured his late home, where his declining years were
passed in peace and quiet, and cheered by the visits-
of many warm friends who honored and esteemed
him for his many amiable traits of character. In re-
ligion he was a Methodist and in politics a Republi-
can. E[is death at fonr score years closed a well-
spent life.
CHRISTIAN WjTMER STEHMAN, head of
the firm of C. W. Stehman & Bro., No. 102 North
Queen street, (Y. M. C. A. building), is a self-made
man, whose history affords a striking illustration of
what intelligent effort and manifest integrity will
accomplish. Mr. Stehman's grandfather, who died
when his father was only three years old, was a life-
Jong farmer in the township of Manor.
Jo«n G. Stehman, the father of Christian W.,
married Anna S. Witmer, a daughter of Jacob and
Mary Witmer, of Manor township, the latter of
^\I^onl died about twenty years ago, when over seven-
t}' years of age. The union of John G. Stehman and
Anna S. Witm.er resulted in the birth of ten children,
all of whom are living \\'ith the exception of the first-
born, who entered into rest at the age of two years.
The survivors are: Jacob W., a carpenter of Mil-
lersville; Hiram W., a farmer of Silver Spring;
John W., a farmer in the township of Manor ; Anna,
wife of John B. AVarfel, a farmer of Millersville ;
Elizabeth, wife of John M. Neff, of Manor town-
ship ; Hettie, wife of Abram S. Kendig, of Manor
township ; Phares W., a farmer on the Fruitville
turnpike : Christian W., the North Queen street mer-
chant ; and I. W., formerly a school teacher, but
now a member of the firm of C. W. Stehman & Bro.
Christian WitSner .Stehman was born in the town-
ship of Lancaster Oct. 19, 1867, and received his
education in Millersville, and took a classical course
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
287
at the Millersville State Normal, leaving that in-
stitution at the age of twenty-three years. Coming
to Lancaster, he entered the dry-goods store of Bard
& McElroy. After being there two years Mr. Steh-
man entered the establishment of Williamson &
Foster, where he became a leading salesman in the
furnishing department. His first business venture
for himself was in the bicycle rooms in the real estate
building on East Orange street, whence he removed
to 22>4 East King street, where he remained but a
short time. His trade so increased that he was com-
pelled to move again to much more commodious
quarters in the Opera House, where he added a line
of toys in addition to his bicycles and supplies. In
October, 1898, Mr. Stehman moved to No. 48 North
Queen street, where, under the firm name of C. W.
Stehman & Bro., the business rapidly increased, and
they added housefurnishings, sewing machines and
a special line of floor oilcloths.. ' Finding their quar-
ters too small they removed to their present location,
No. 102 North Queen street.
Mr. Stehman is an active member of the Y. M.
C. A., and of St. Paul's Reformed Church and the
Christian Endeavor Society, of which he was presi-
dent for two years. For years he was a teacher in the
Sunday-school, and has been connected with this
church from boyhood. Such has been the career of
this well-known young business man, and it is a
noble illustration of what prudence and integrity,
when united with industry and business ability, may
accomplish.
JACOB B. KREADY (deceased) was born at
Millersville, Manor township, Lancaster county,
Sept. 10, 1826, and he died on his farm in Rapho
township, June 21, 1900, and was buried in Eris-
man's Meeting House cemetery. He was the son
of George and Susannah (Birchfield) Kready. On
Dec. 4, 1866, Jacob B. Kready was married to Re-
becca Eby. There were born to this union the fol-
lowing children : Mary A., unmarried ; Frank E.,
•of Petersburg, Pa. ; Emma J., deceased wife of James
Grofif ; Susan E., wife of Levi Fissel, of Rapho town-
ship ; Henry E., a Rapho township farmer ; Jacob E.,
unmarried and at home ; Elias E., at Manheim, teach-
ing school ; Rebecca E., wife of Elias Hunberger, of
Salunga, Pa. ; John E., born on the homestead, July
8. 1877; Clinton E., Elizabeth E., Clayton E. and
Ellen E., who all died young ; Alice ; Susan ; Henry ;
Emma ; Frank ; and Elizabeth, born in Mechanics-
■ville. East Hempfield township.
Mrs. Rebecca (Eby) Kready, wife of Jacob B.
Kready, was born in Rapho township, July 4, 1835,
and died in December, 1896, at the age of sixty-one
years. She was buried in Erisman's Church ceme-
tery. Mrs. Kready was the daughter of Christian
and Anna (Wortman) Eby, of Lancaster county.
She was a worthy. Christian woman and died re-
gretted by a large circle of friends.
During his life Jacob B. Kready took a promi-
nent part in the afifairs of Rapho township. Moving
there in 1866, from East Hempfield township, he at
once began that career which marked him as a man
of more than ordinary industry, thrift and sagacity.
At his death he not only owned the farm occupied
by him as a home but two fine adjoining farms which
he purchased at different times. He was a director
of the Sporting Hill and Manheim Turnpike Co.,
and was largely instrumental in organizing the en-
terprise. For years he was tax collector of the
township, and during a long period prior to his death
was a factor in the development of the resources of
his township. A Republican in politics, he stood for
the best interests of the party and at all times ready
with his purse and counsel to do his share toward
its success. Both he and wife were prominent mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church.
John E. Kready, brother of the late Jacob B.
Kready, is a farmer, market gardener and florist
of Rapho township. He was born in Manor town-
ship April 12, 1834, son of George and Susannah
(Birchfield) Kready. The father, George Kready,
was born in Manor township, in August, 1797, and
remained there until 1839, when he removed to
Rapho township, where he resided until the time of
his death in 1869. He was a farmer and held sev-
eral township offices during his life. Both he and
his wife were members of the Mennonite Church.
Mrs. Kready was born Feb. 20, 1798, and died in
1875. There were born to this couple the following
children : Elizabeth, unmarried, and living on the
old homestead ; Susan, unmarried, and living on the
home place ; Jacob B., who died in 1900, and already
referred to in this sketch ; George, of Rapho town-
ship ; Mary, who died in 1898, the wife of David
Burns, of Rapho township ; John E. ; Anna, unmar-
ried, living on the home place ; and Samuel, a Penn
township farmer.
In 1863, at Harrisburg, Pa., John E. Kready
married Miss Magdalena Stoner, of that city. The
following children have been born to this union:
Elmira, wife of Jacob Herman, an East Hempfield
township farmer ; Minnie, unmarried and at home ;
Wilson, a farmer of Rapho township, who first mar-
ried Miss Fanny Brubaker and then Louisa Martin ;
and Francis, at home, unmarried.
Mr. Kready remained at home with his parents
until the time of his marriage, gaining an education
in the meantime in the public schools of the district.
After his marriage he worked his father's farm on
shares for two years and then bought his present
home and moved into it. In 1880 he began engaging
in the nursery business, and it has grown to such
extent that he now ships shrubs, plants, trees, etc.,
to all parts of the United States. He is the person
who cultivated and introduced the Keystone and
Early Daisy varieties of grapes to general use.
Mr. "Kready is a Republican in politics and for
three years held the office of township auditor un-
der the auspices of that party. The gentleman is
progressive in his ideas, and always alive to every-
thing of benefit and interest to his neighborhood and
288
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
aiding in every manner projects for the betterment
of social and industrial institutions.
Emanuel W. Eby^ brother of Mrs. Jacob B.
Kready (deceased), is a prosperous general farmer
of Rapho township. He is the son of Christian and
Anna (Wortman) Eby, of East Hempfield township,
and was born Nov. 9, 1843, in Rapho township,
within one mile of his present home. His parents
moved from East Hempfield township to Mt. Joy
township, and thence to Rapho township. The
father was a farmer and miller and died in July, 1871,
at the age of seventy-one years. The mother died
in 1889, at the age of eighty-five years, and is buried
in the United Brethren Church cemetery of Rapho
township. Both Mr. and Mrs. Eby were members
of that church. . There were born to their union the
following children: Jacob deceased at the age of
seventy-two years; George, deceased at the age of
seventy-four years ; Mary, widow of George Geyer,
of Mt. Joy township; Benjamin, a retired farmer of
Middletown, Pa. ; Henry, a retired farmer of Man-
heim. Pa. ; ' Ephraim, a retired farmer living near
Dayton, Ohio; Rebecca, deceased wife of the late
Jacob B. Kready ; John, who died in infancy ; Sam-
uel, who died at the age of three years; John (2),,
who died in' infancy ; Christian, a Sumner county,/
Kans., farmer; and Emanuel W.
Mr. Eby's grandfather was Jacob Eby, of Eas
Hempfield township, who in his younger life con
ducted a distillery and afterward moved to Raphe
township. During his latter days he lived a retirei
life, and died at the age of eighty years, in 1850,
His wife, Margaret, died just four weeks prior to
the time of his death, at the age of eighty years,
There was only one son born to this couple, Chris
tian, the father of Emanuel, of this sketch. Mr.
Eby's mother was twice married, her first husband
being a gentleman named Singer.
Mr. Eby is a prosperous and well-known man in
his community and held in kindly regard by all his
friends.
CAPTAIN EDWARD WILLIAM Mc-
CASKEY, of the Twenty-first United States In-
fantry, well known to Lancaster, is now (1903) in
his fortieth year, with much efficient work behind
him. He was quartermaster of his regiment during
almost the entire Philippine campaign, and was for
many months also the Depot Quartermaster at Ca-
lamba for twenty or more posts in the provinces of
Laguna and Batangas during the active operations
of General Bell in that country. The Quartermaster
was the hardest worked man in the Philippines, with
seven busy days in the week ; and Captain Mc-
Caskey had it day and night, both in regimental and
department duty. Besides, all supplies received and
distributed must be accounted for, and all accounts
be duly audited at Washington, so that he had
plenty of financial responsibility, involving, at times,
many hundreds of thousands of dollars. In spite of
fever and other ailments incident to the climate.
quinine and other medicines almost daily, and the
heat and arduous service, all of which must at last
have broken him down utterly had he remained much
longer on the islands, he did not lose a day from
duty while in Cuba or in the Philippines.
Captain McCaskey was born in Lancaster Aug.
30, 1863. He comes of sturdy stock in a half-dozen
lines ; through his father from the old Douglas fam-
ily of Scotland, Davis and Piersol of Wales, Eckert
of Switzerland, and Wilson and ' McCaskey of
Scotch-irish descent. Archibald Douglas, Jenkins
Davis, Jeremiah Piersol, William Eckert and John
Wilson, his ancestors in the fifth and sixth genera-
tion, were among the earliest settlers of Lancaster
county, who took up large tracts of land here im-
mediately after the organization of the county in
1730. John McCaskey was a Scotch-Irishman, whO'
came to Lancaster county about 1795 from County
Monaghan, Ireland. " Through his mother he is de-
scended from the English Puritan and Dutch (Hol-
land) ancestry in the seventh and eighth generations;.
William Chase, who emigrated from England to-
Massachusetts about 1635, and Rev. Everardus Bo-
gardus, who came from Holland in 1633, ^"^d was
the second and most noted clergyman in the Dutch'"
settlement of New Amsterdam, now the city of New
York. They say there is no better combination in
the world than the Scotch and the Dutch, and he has
it. After graduating from the High School, of
which his father is principal, he entered Franklin ' /
and Marshall College and was in the junior class- /
when he took the competitive examination for the/
Military Academy in 1882. He graduated from/
West Point June 12, 1886, with good rank in a large
class of seventy-six members, and was commissioner
second lieutenant in the Twenty-first Infantry. He
was married soon after to Miss Catharine W. Keii-
nedy, and ordered to the West. After a month at
Fort Bridger, the supply point for the hostile White
River Utes, the mountain trail becoming impassable,
he was sent to Price. From this place he went to-
Fort DuChesne, in Central Utah, 100 miles or more
from railroad communication, a strategic post in
the midst of three hostile Indian tribes, which had
been established but a few weeks before by General
Crook. During the winter and spring they lived in
tents, looked after the Indians, ran a sawmill and
built permanent quarters. Colonel Benteen was in
command, the officer who saved Reno's battalion
after the Custer massacre.
On the way out to this post he had what he re-
gards as the narrowest escape from death he has
ever known, which in one of his letters is described
in this graphic fashion : '"I have been thinking of
the miracle of our escape here on the mountains out
from Price that day when the closed ambulance —
thrown upon its side as we rounded the curve of the
narrow wagon road — was slipping, slipping farther
and farther over the edge of the precipice. A few
seconds more would have hurled us, with plucky
driver and four frightened mules, to certain deatli
EDWARD W. McCASKEY,
Captain and Q. M. Twenty-First U. S. Infantry.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
28^
on the jagged rocks far below, for the heavy ambu-
lance going down would have dragged the mules
with it. I live it all over again — it is burned into
me ! Narrow roadway for single wagon blasted out
of the face of the cliff, not long, but the only way'
'round ; ambulance upset on the sharp curve ; mules
pulling right on, without control; man driving
thrown on loose rock and unconscious; regular
driver, all alive to the danger, thrown beyond him
on the smooth slope of solid rock, with pitch like the
steep-sloping roof of a house, slipping to the drop
and nothing to catch hold of or to stop him — when
suddenly one of the lines running by on the rock
comes i ust within his reach ! It had nearly passed
him when he saw and gripped it like a flash — the
only hope for him and us. He told me that he
thought, as he snatched it, 'if it's the wrong line I'll
pull them down only a moment sooner.' Thank God !
it was the line to hold us. The mules were jerked
to a dead stop in a tangled heap against the wall of
rock, as he came up the slope, hand over hand, on the
line, to open the door of the ambulance, which lay
on its side hanging over the edge, to salute and ask,
'Is the lady hurt, sir ? When we were upset I caught
you and tried to ease you up as we dragged along,
but did not know the full situation till we got you
out.' I've been near to the edge more than once,
have heard the zip of bullets very close; they've
knocked the match from my fingers, and cut the
weeds between my knees, and touched very near
my life; a big chunk of iron passed between Rees
and me when a heavy cannon burst for our gun
squad at West Point ; in Cuba one of their shells ex-
ploded so near my head that for a time I thought the
flaming gas had destroyed my eyesight. But noth-
ing else has ever seemed so near as this, when that
splendid fellow, the Sergeant driver, saved us all.
And he took it almost as a bit of ordinary duty.
Nobody who afterwards looked at the place and
knew the facts could see how it was possible to es-
cape, except by the miracle of the Sergeant's quick
grip upon the line. What good angel threw it within
his reach? I think it was the Providence of God."
In 1887 he was ordered to the Infantry and Cav-
alry .School of Application at Fort Leavenworth,
passed the course and graduated in 1889. Col. Alex.
M. McCook was at the head of the school; Major
General Mac Arthur, then a Captain, was one of the
instructors, as were other officers who have since
risen to distinction. After a brief furlough he went
to Fort McKinney, Wyoming, under command of
Major, afterwards General, Guy V. Henry. Here
he spent a year as quartermaster, etc. ; on frequent
scouting duty, because of the "ghost dances" and
other uneasiness among the Indians previous to the
Sioux War, which broke out the next year. One of
these expeditions led into the Big Horn mountains,
through the Bad Lands and Yellowstone Park.
From McKinney he went, in 1890, to Fort Douglas,
at Salt Lake City. The Sioux war having now
broken out, the troops from this post, 1,800 miles
19
distant, went to the Bad Lands of the White River,
in South Dakota. This campaign lasted but a few
months, the troops surrounding the Indians and
holding them in check until overtures of peace were
made from General Miles, through friendly chiefs,
and accepted by the Sioux.
From Douglas he went to Orriaha, in 1891, as ai
member of the Executive Committee of the rifle con-
test held at Bellevue, in the Department of the
Platte. Again to Fort DuChesne, as quartermaster
and adjutant, under Major Randlett — one of the
best officers and one of the best men he has known
in the army — building houses, laying out gardens,
running irrigating ditches on the mesa, etc.
From DuChesne he was ordered to the Pennsyl-
vania State College, in 1892, as instructor in mili-
tary tactics, where he remained for four years. Of
120 colleges and schools to which army officers were
then detailed, his battalion, for general appearance
and drill, was rated third, the first being West
Point, the second the military school at Orchard
Lake, Michigan, and the third Pennsylvania State
College. At the close of this detail he made a very
quick trip to Europe, in September, 1896, of but
three weeks' duration, in which he traveled over
twelve thousand miles in twenty-two days, making
an average of about 550 miles per day. "Fast ocean
steamers, fast mail trains by night, sightseeing by
day, visiting a dozen leading Capitals of Europe;
knowing before reaching a city what to see and how
to see it so as not to lose an hour anywhere— going"
as far as Eastern Austria, within 300 miles of
Odessa, quarter way 'round the world, for the mili-
tary manoeuvres — and anything else that might be
seen "on the wing." He reported the trip to the
War Department, as it was of semi-official character,
and rejoined his regiment at Plattsburg, New York,
in October. Here he had charge of the battalion
drill in special athletics and on firing range, and
prepared one company for the campaign in Cuba.
During the summer of 1897 the regiment was the
special escort to President McKinley and other
Government officials spending the season at Bluff
Point Hotel, on Lake Champlain.
The Maine having been sunk in Havana harbor,
the Twenty-first Regiment left for Cuba April 19,
i8g8, five hundred strong, one of the finest organiza-
tions in the service, many of the men being lumber-
men and others who had been familiar with the
woods and with firearms for most of their lives.
They reached Tampa April 22, where they remained
for six weeks; sailed for Cuba early in June, and
landed at Siboney — afterwards a yellow fever pest-
hole— near Santiago, June 21st. The regiment went
forward the last days of June and June 30 were in
the advance on picket. At midnight of that day
the troops generally moved forward and were in po-
sition. By noon the Twenty-first was in the zone of
fire, on the second line at 3 o'clock, on the first line
by 4 o'clock, aiding in driving toward the city the
Spanish rapid-fire guns from the fleet and two di-
290
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
visions of their infantry as rear guard, the Spaniards
leaving one division to die on the hill in the trenches.
At five o'clock the Twenty-first had the most ad-
vanced position, within 250 yards of the enemy's ^
first Ime, separated from it by six lines of barbed '
wire, six strands high. The loss of the regiment this
day was forty-two men, one officer, and forty-eight
casuals, who had joined the Twenty-first, having
lost their own commands. They worked all that
night, with axes, pocketknives, a shovel or two, their
hands, anything, to get up shallow earthworks for
protection. Firing began again at four a. m. and
continued fiercely until eight p. m., sixteen hours,
with nothing to eat, very little water, and the heat
so terrific during a part of the time that some of the
men became hysterical and crazy under the long-
continued strain of excitement and duty.
About ten o'clock there was a night attack, and
very heavy firing ; casualties small, but the spies re-
ported heavy loss among the Spaniards. This situa-
tion lasted during the tst, 2nd and 3rd of July. The
Spanish fleet left the harbor on Sunday, July 3, and
was destro)'ed. In the interval from the 3rd to the
loth there was a truce to arrange terms of sur-
render, both sides strengthening their positions.
Sharp firing was renewed on the loth, continued on
the nth, less severe on the 12th, ultimatum on the
13th that charge would be made on Spanish position
unless they surrendered within twenty-four hours.
The brigade to which the Twenty-first Regiment
belonged was under orders to lead this charge. Axes
to cut the posts and nippers to cut the wires had been
distributed, and the delay at the wire defenses of the
Spaniards would have meant awful slaughter of our
troops had the enemy not surrendered or had this
unwise and reckless plan of attack been carried out.
The Spaniards agreed to surrender, terms were
finally approved, and the surrender took place
July 17th.
Then came the sick camps, for some four weeks,
daily growing worse. Because of their depressing
influence upon the soldiers, there were no funeral
ceremonies after August 1st. Supplies were short
and of inferior quality, and the army was in des-
perate condition, when Roosevelt's "Round Robin"
got into the newspapers of the United States and so
stirred the nation that the troops were ordered home
and thousands of lives saved. The regiment went to
Montauk Point, on a captured Spanish boat, Mor-
tero, making the trip in eleven days, instead of the
usual time of five days, because of the loss of their
compass and the leaking condition of the ship.
After a month at Montauk, the Twenty-first was
ordered again to Plattsburg, on Lake Champlain, to
recuperate and recruit for the coming campaign.
Here C'aptain McCaskey had charge for six months
of many hundred sick men, nearly a thousand at
times, mostly typhoid cases, who had been sent from
the Southern camps. He was examined for pro-
motion in New York, his commission as Captain
bearing date of March 2, 1898. The Twenty-first left
for the Philippines April loth, left San Francisco
April i8th, and reached Manila May 11, making a
''record trip" of eighteen days across the Pacific.
The regiment went at once upon the line of de-
fenses outside the city, and on the following night
the company under his command lost one man killed
and another wounded. They remained on the line
near the Deposito for some three or four weeks, with
movements back and forth, and on July 6th relieved
the Colorado volunteer regiment at the Pump House,
which was the source of the water supply of the city
of Manila. The most stubborn fighting in this
vicinity was on the 12th of August. Then to Manila
and tip the railroad after General Pilar. In this
move Captam McCaskey commanded a battalion,
with busy work for three days, the firing almost in-
cessant.
The Twenty-first then went down to Calamba,
at the head of Laguna de Bale, where he was made
quartermaster of the regiment. This place was
taken in July, and held, as a strategic measure, to
keep several thousand rebels so busy here that they
could not give aid to the insurrectos in the Northern
campaign. By the end of the year, the campaign in
the North being nearly over, fresh troops were sent
to the South, and the regiment, which, during those
six months had sufifered greatly from disease and
the casualties of battle — ^being all the while on the
firing line and in the trenches on the south of the
city — was sent to Pasay to guard the southern line
of defenses of Manila. The Twenty-first Regiment
had by this time lost twice as many men as any other
on the islands, and its losses during the entire war
were greater than any other.
When the P'ourteenth Regiment went to China,
in July, the Twenty-first took their place in Manila,
where the regiment remained until November. Then
to Batangas province by sea, with headquarters at
Lipa. This was a strong moneyed centre of the in-
surrectos and was occupied by the Twenty-first until
they left the islands. May 6, 1902.
Captain McCaskey was sent down to Calamba,
June 5th, 1901, as Depot Quartermaster, under di-
rection of General Wheaton, commanding the De-
partment of Luzon, his business being to see to the
distribution of supplies from Caljunba, by wagon
and pack train, to most of the troops now ordered
into these provinces imder General Bell to crush the
last army of the insurrectos. This was a very re-
sponsible and arduous duty. Some ten thousand
men were employed in this final campaign, and from
twenty to twenty-five or more army posts, as well
as troops in the field, were to be kept in supplies,
over very bad roads, often almost or quite impass-
able, and through an enemy's country. But the great
work was done, and in a manner so efficient as to
give him wide and enviable reputation in the army.
General Lawton at an early period in the war had
put so high an estimate upon his work that, had he
lived, he would have called him to more important
duty than even that at Calamba.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
291
The supplies were shipped by water to Calamba,
in cascoes, averaging perhaps ten each week, each
holding from thirty to sixty tons. A train of sixty
wagons handled them. Some three hundred natives
were employed, and nearly a hundred white civil-
ians, in addition to the military guards and soldiers
on other duty connected with receipt, storage and
shipment. The work frequently occupied eighteen
hours out of the twenty-four, and often the entire
twenty- four. It was necessary, also, for nearly a year
to feed about ten thousand of the natives, to whom
rice was supplied as the chief article of food. All
this work was under the personal direction of Cap-
tain McCaskey.
The regiment left Luzon May 6, from the port of
Batangas, because of the cholera in Manila, and,
after a trip of twenty-four days, reached San Fran-
cisco June I, 1902, stopping for two days at Na-
gasaki, where 2,000 tons of coal were taken aboard.
At San Francisco they were ten days in getting their
baggage through the Custom House. Over 8,000
packages had to be opened and examined by the in-
spectors of the port. Twenty inspectors and sixty
soldiers and non-commissioned officers were upon
the job day and night for a week. Captain McCackey,
as quartermaster, m charge of everything. From
San Francisco six companies and the regimental
band went to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, four com-
panies to Fort Yates, North Dakota, and two to
Port Kcogh, Montana. The trip to their posts oc-
cupied a week. Fort Snelling reservation, which is
about three square miles in extent, is one of the im-
portant military posts of the country, all arms of
the service being represented. It is about four miles
west of a straight line perhaps fifteen miles long
connecting the centres of population of St. Paul and
Minneapolis, and within six or seven miles of each
of these great cities. Captain McCaskey is the busi-
ness man of the post. His wife and family of eight
children, six sons and two daughters, are with him
here, in comfortable quarters, five of the children in
daily attendance, by ambulance and trolley car, in
the schools of St. Paul.
The letters of Captain McCaskey to his wife
from the time he left Plattsburg, in 1899, until he
reached Fort Snelling, in 1902, are probably the
most uniqtie series of daily sketches of army life and
duty written during that war. They form a con-
tinuous series, and often include brief and hurried
lines at different times in the day. These cursory
notes of the moment, giving events as they occurred,
and things as they looked to a keen observer on the
spot — describing the people, the duty, the life, the
climate, the food, the shelter, the drenching storms,
the casualties of war, etc.— would make a book of
unusual interest. Many of them have been published
in the daily papers of Lancaster, and have been read
very widely, but the complete story of nearly twelve
hundred days — not a day missing — should be printed
in book form as one of the unique records of army
life in Luzon during the late war.
DAVID F. WELSH, residing at No. 349 Locust
street. Columbia, is one of the five living engineers
who were in the employ of the Pennsylvania rail-
road when it was operated by the State. This faith-
ful servant of the company has recently been retired,
so that now in his eighty-third year he can enjoy the
comfort and quietness of home, and draws a bounti-
ful pension under the new plan lately adopted by the
company.
Mr. Welsh was born in Pine Grove, Chester Co.,
Pa., Sept. 20, [820, a son of David and Margaret
(Fleming) Welsh, the former a native of Lancaster
county, this State, the latter of County Derry, Ire-
land. His paternal grandfather, William Welsh, an
iron manufacturer, was a native of England, while
his maternal grandfather, James Fleming, was born
in Ireland, and came to America in 1799. He lived
for a time in Lancaster county, but died in Chester
county. The father, a forgeman by occupation, spent
his entire life in Lancaster county, and died in Coler-
ain township, in 1845, his remains being interred near
the L^nion meeting house ; his wife died in 1854, and
was laid to rest in Mt. Bethel cemetery, Columbia.
Their children were : Charles T., who was a brake-
man for the Henry Clay Furnace and was killed on
the Pennsylvania Railroad; William, who died in
infancy ; Caroline E., who married William Maloney
and died in Chester, Pa., in 1900, aged eighty-two
years ; Samuel S., who died in Columbia ; and David
F., of this review.
At the age of ten years David F. Welsh began
his business career as a "nailer boy" in the old Mar-
tic forge operated by Pyle & Pinnick, for whom he
worked two years, and later was employed at the
White Rock forge, at the Ringwood forge by John
McGowan, and the Sadsbury forge by Robert Sproul,
after which he returned to White Rock forge for a
short time. Tiring of this work he went to Noble-
ville, near Christiana, where he engaged in the dry
goods and grocery business for one year. It was then
that he became fascinated with railroad life and be-
gan his career by operating a market car between
Nobleville and Philadelphia. At the age of twenty-
six. Mr. Welsh was given the contract to straighten
the North Bend curve east of Christiana, on which
he had a number of men and carts engaged. After
completing that work he came to Columbia and con-
ducted an individual car between that place and
Philadelphia, for Bingham & Dock. A few years
later he was employed by the State to operate coal
and coke cars from plane No. 4, on the Allegheny
mountains, to Philadelphia. In 1855 he was made
fireman on the old State railroad and after heaving
coal one year he was promoted to engineer. When
the Pennsylvania Company purchased the road from
the State in 1857, Mr. Welsh went with the new com-
pany and was employed by them as engineer until
Sept. 25, 1899, when he "stopped off." When the
pension plan went into effect Jan. i, 1900, he was re-
tired, being in his eightieth year, and having served
the company faithfully and well for a period of fifty-
292
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
four years. He was an efficient and careful engineer
and had very few accidents during his railroad life.
In Pine Grove, Pa., Mr. Welsh was married, in
November, 1847, to Nancy Maloney, a native of
Chester county, who died in July, 1890, aged sixty-
five years, and was buried in Mt. Bethel cemetery,
Columbia. Her parents, James and Sarah (Roberts)
Maloney, were also natives of Chester county, but
died in Oxford. Her maternal grandfather was a
deserter from the English navy, was wounded and
left with Washington at Valley Forge. On his re-
covery he remained with the American army until
the close of the war. He died at the home of his
daughter, Mrs. Maloney, at the advanced age of
ninety-six years and six months. Of the four chil-
dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Welsh the eldest, Taylor,
died in childhood. Samuel married Alice Shell, of
Columbia, and while serving as engineer on No. 9,
running Pullman cars between Harrisburg and
Philadelphia, was killed in a railroad wreck at the
former place, many others losing their lives at the
same time. Carrie, the only daughter, is successfully
conducting a millinery and notion store in Columbia,
and with her the father now lives. David E. married
Grace Diver, and is now a prominent physician and
oculist of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
JACOB G. HERSHEY, one of the prominent
and successful farmers of the township of East
Donegal, Lancaster county, is located on a farm that
has been in the possession of the family since I735-
Mr. Hershey was born Dec. 19, 1843, ^ son of Isaac
L. and Mary (Garber) Hershey.
Isaac L. Hershey was born on the family home-
stead, while his wife, Mary Garber, was a native of
East Donegal township. Both died on the farm
where Jacob G., their son, is now living, the father
in 1889 ^'^d the mother in 1844, at the early age of
twenty-five years. Both were members of the River
Brethren Church, of which Mr. Hershey was a dea-
con for twenty-eight years. Their children were;
Noah G., now a retired farmer in Dickinson county,
Kans., and Jacob G. After the death of his first
wife Mr, Hershey was married to Miss Catherine
Strayer, by whom he had one child, Ephraim, who
died in infancy.
The grandparents of Jacob G. Hershey were
Jacob and Mary Hershey, the former born on the
family estate and the grandmother in East Donegal
township. Both died on the farm where they spent
their wedded life. In religion he was a member of
the River Brethren Church. The great-grandpar-
ents of Mr. Hershey, whose name introduces this
article, were pioneer settlers of this part of Lancaster
county. Mr. Hershey was the first bishop of the
Mennonite denomination in this part of the State,
and was a man of much character, zeal and ability.
The maternal grandparents of Mr. Hershey were
Jacob and Mary (Miller) Garber, both natives and
residents of Lancaster county.
Jacob G. Hershey was married Nov. 8, 1864, in
the home of the wife's parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. H.
Nissley, to Mary Nissley. The Nissleys were an
old and well established family of Lancaster county,,
and Mrs. Hershey is connected with many of the
best people in this part of the State. To this union
were born: Amanda, who married Abraham R..
Gish, of West Donegal township, where he is gen-
eral agent for the Page Fence Co. ; Ephraim, a gen-
eral farmer of East Donegal township, who married
Anna Engle ; Jacob N., who is in the creamery busi-
ness in Adams county, Pa., and married to Lizzie
Zercher; Isaac N., who is in the creamery business
in Dauphin county. Pa., and married to Emma Mar-
tin; Barbara N., who married Abraham Shenk, ai
farmer in the township of Mt. Joy; Christian, who-
was married to. Frances Wolgmuth, Oct. 9, 1902;
and Paris and Eli are both at home.
Mrs. Mary (Nissley) Hershey was born in Mt.
Joy township, Aug. 11, 1846, a daughter of Christ;
H. and Barbara (Nissley) Nissley, who were born-
in Mt. Joy and West Donegal townships, respect-
ively. They both died in Florin, Pa. Mr. Nissley
at his death was a retired farmer, who had filled sev-
eral important local and county offices in his active-
years, and was president of the Union National
Bank. His death occurred in 1895, at the age of
seventy years, and that of his wife in 1897', and botb
were buried in the Graybill Meeting House Ceme-
tery.
Mr. Hershey owns two farms, one of 107 acres
and one near Maytown of eighty acres, which are
highly cultivated and show in every part the touch
of a skilled and competent farmer. A member of
the River Brethren Church, he is a man of char-
acter and standing in the community, where his re-
liability is beyond question.
A family relic of great value and of great ven-
eration as well is Mr. Hershey's great-great-grand-
father's clock on the old homestead, dated 1774. It
was made by George Hoff, of Lancaster City, and'
Jacob Hershey's name is on its face.
JOHN F. REED, for many years prominent in-
the business world of Lancaster as a dealer in leaf
tobacco, was a native son of Lancaster, where he
was born April 5, 1858, and where he died Jan. 5,-
1897. His parents, George K. and Mary (Fetter)
Reed, were natives, respectively, of Lancaster and'
Bethlehem, Pa., and the former was well known as
the president of the Conestoga National Bank. Born
of this union were four children : John F., deceased ;
Susette, who died in infancy; Catherine, who also-
died in infancy; and Harry, who is a resident of
Lancaster.
A practical common school education, supple-
mented by a course at Nazareth Hall Military School,.
constituted the training with which John F. Reed
entered upon his business career as a dealer in leaf
tobacco. He was successful from the start, his gen-
eral ability and unquestioned integrity placing a
high value upon the wealth which rewarded his-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
293
-efforts. In 1877 he married Clara Parker, born in
Newark, N. J., and daughter of Edward and Amelia
(Sylvia) Parker. Mr. Parker was a prominent
•busmess man of Newark, and accumulated a com-
petence in the grain trade. He was a member of the
Episcopal Church, and variously identified with the
social and other organizations in which Newark
abounded. His death occurred in 1868, at the age
•of forty-five, he having been pre-deceased by his
wife in 1865, at the age of thirty-two. To Mr. and
-Mrs. Reed were born four children: George K.,
Robert H., Sylvia P. and Paul De H. Mrs. Reed is
the second youngest in a family of five children, the
■others being : Augusta, the wife of A. Groff, a real
■estate man of Lancaster ; Edward, a resident of Lan-
•caster ; Mary A., wife of John Sheaffer, a coal mer-
•chant of Lancaster : and Amelia, the wife of Charles
A. Bitner, in the tobacco business in Lancaster.
On Dec. 31, 1901, Mrs. Reed was united in mar-
riage with WiUiam T. Hambright, member of the
Teal and insurance firm of Landis & Hambright.
Mrs. Hambright sustains an admirable social posi-
tion in Lancaster, entertains in a delightful and un-
convential manner, and utilizes her talents and ver-
satility for the general betterment of the community.
EUGENE GERHART SMITH was born in
Manheim, Lancaster county, a son of Dr. Frisby
Rohr Smith, of Maryland, and his wife Elizabeth
Barbara Gerhart, of Pennsylvania.
Captain David Smith, his paternal grandfather,
served in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War.
As did three generations before him, he lived at An-
tietam, or Sharpsburg, Md. Capt.' Smith married
Anne Maria Rohr, of Frederick, Md., where her
family for several generations had lived. Both were
of German descent.
Rev. Isaac Gerhart, maternal grandfather of Eu-
gene G. Smith, was a clergyman of the Reformed
■Church of the United States. His wife was Sarah
Vogel, who was born in Philadelphia, Pa., whither
Tier parents had removed from Paris, France, before
the Revolution; her father came from Alsace, and
her mother from France. The Gerhart ancestors
■emigrated from Alsace in 1730. Rev. Isaac Gerhart
was also the father of Rev. E. V. Gerhart, D. D.,
"LL. D., the president of the theological seminary
•of the Reformed Church, located at Lancaster.
When less than ten years old, Eugene Gerhart
Smith came with his mother, his father having died,
and her only other child, George Albert Smith, from
Antietam to Lancaster. He attended the common
and High Schools of the city, and entered Franklin
and JNIarshall College in 1869, from which institu-
tion he was graduated in June, 1873. Of the socie-
ties connected with the college he was a member of
the Diagnothian and the Phi Kappa Sigma Frater-
nity. In February, 1874, he was registered as a law
student, and prosecuted his studies in the office of
ihis preceptor, E. PI. Yundt, Esq. He was admitted
to the Bar Jan. 24, 1876. In 1878 he was elected
City Solicitor of Lancaster. His term of office as
Solicitor was marked by a conflict which waged be-
tween the City of Lancaster and the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, by reason of the refusal of the
latter to supply gates, or watchmen, at the streets
where the road crossed at grade. The City Solicitor
was directed to bring suits against the railroad com-
pany for violating an ordinance regulating the speed
at which trains were permitted to pass through the
municipal limits. Numerous suits were instituted
against the railroad company — one hundred and
seventy-nine appearing as having been appealed to
one term of court — resulting in a victory in every in-
stance for the City.
On Nov. 2, 1882, Mr. Smith married Margaret
Jean Wiley, the eldest daughter of Colonel William
M. and Hannah J. (Dull) Wiley. One child, Flor-
ence Wiley, has been born of this union.
While always a partisan Republican, Mr. Smith
gave more attention to his profession than to active
politics. Not until 1891 was his influence felt in
that field. In the struggle that year between the
Hon. John B. Livingston and the Hon. H. C. Bru-
baker for the nomination to succeed the former as
Judge of the Courts of Lancaster county, he was
active. He became a potent force through the col-
umns of the Morning News, the only morning daily
paper published in the City of Lancaster, which,
shortly before this time, E. K. Martin, Esq., and he
had purchased. He has been ever willing to assist
in the development of the resources of his city and
county, and helped in the organization of a number
of corporations, in the directorate of some of which
he served, among them the Conestoga Traction Com-
pany. He was among the early ones to advocate the
importance of a social club in the city, and the Ham-
ilton Club was organized, of which he is a charter
member, and of the original board of direction of
which he was a member.
Judicial districts of sufficient magnitude in Penn-
sylvania under the Constitution of 1874 are entitled
to a separate Orphans' Court. By reason of its prog-
ress and growth Lancaster ■ county, the second ju-
dicial district of Pennsylvania, became entitled to
such a Court. There are now nine in the State, of
which it is one. Without opposition our subject was
nominated, and elected the Judge of this Court in
November, 1901, and took his seat as its first judge
in January, 1902.
ISAAC GROFF, a retired farmer of Mechanics
Grove, in East Drumore township, Lancaster county,
was born in the township where he is still living,
Aug. 19, 1834, being a son of Joseph and Nancy
(Smith) Groff, both natives of Lancaster county.
Joseph Groff was born Aug. 20, 1798, his father
being Joseph Groft", Sr., who was born in Providence
township, about the middle Bf the eigliLcei-rth-e^itur-y, — -A^
and 's supposed to have been the son of Hans Groff,
who came jrom Germany, and settled near Lancaster.
Joseph Grolt, Jr., was married^in December,
294
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1825, to Nancy Smith, who was born in Lancaster
county, June 10, 1801. He was the fifth member of
his father's family, according to the following state-
ment: John, the oldest brother lived and died in
Providence township ; Jacob lived in the same town-
ship ; Annie was the wife of Jacob Eshelman ; Sam-
uel lived and died in Providence township; Joseph.
Joseph Grofif was engaged in tilling a farm in
East Drumore township all his active years. He
lived to be seventy-nine and died on his farm home
in January, 1877, his widow passing to her reward
Sept. 20, 1888. They were devout Methodists, and
for many years he was a class leader in the Mount
Hope Methodist Church. His parents, however,
were members of the Old Mennonite Church.
Joseph Grofif was the sire of ten children, (i)
Abraham, born in 1826, died in his early manhood.
(2) Joseph, born in 1S28, married Miss Lizzie Craw-
ford, and settled in East Drumore township, on a
.farm. During the war he was a member of one of
the Pennsylvania regiments and did creditable ser-
vice at the front. He died at his home in East Dru-
more in December, 1881. His widow and family are
still residing in East Drumore township. (3) Sarah,
born in July, 1830, is the wife of Robert Barnes,
of Quarry ville. (4) John, born in 1832, died in
childhood. (5) Isaac is mentioned below. (6")
Mary A., born in November, 1836, married Thomas
Hoffman, and died soon after her marriage. (7)
Catherine E., born in December, 1838, married
Francis McCrabb, and died leaving a large family.
(8) Capt. Benjamin, born in East Drumore, in
September, 1841, enlisted in the Union army and by
the display of signal valor and marked ability rose
from the ranks by successive steps to become a cap-
tain under General Grant. He was wounded at
Antietam, but survived the perils of war to return
home and become a member of the legal profession.
For a time he lived in Kansas, but later had his home
and office in Reading, Pa., where he was engaged in
his profession at the time of his death in 1886. He
married Mrs. Mary Bull and of his four children,
Ira and Frank live in" Pittsburg, and Annie and
Mabel in Philadelphia. (9) Henry W., born in
September, 1843, died in childhood. (10) Elias,
born in November, 1845, enlisted in the Union army
when a lad of only sixteen years of age, and served
throughout the war in one of the Pennsylvania reg-
iments. He returned to East Drumore township,
where he married Miss Letitia Painter, a daughter
of Ezekiel Painter. Until 1888 they lived in East
Drumore township. That year they moved to Wash-
ington, D. C, where he holds a government position.'
He is the father of the following children : Harry,
Marion, Winfried, Charles and Ralph.
Isaac Grofif was reared on the old homestead in
East Drumore township, where he was living at
the outbreak of the Civil war. He enlisted, and be-
came a corporal of Co. H, 79th P. V. I., serving
throughout the entire struggle and making a credit-
able record. Among the many memorable battles
and conflicts in which he participated were those
at Missionary Ridge, Stone Ridge, the battles around
Atlanta, Lookout Mountain, Peach Tree Creek and
Chickamauga, where his haversack and canteen were
shot away. He was a part of the gallant host that
marched with Sherman down to the sea and was
twice honorably discharged, his first enlistment be-
ing for three years, and his second for the war.
At the close of the war Mr. Grofif returned to the
old home in Drumore township, where he had left
a young wife, having been married in 1861 to Miss
Louisa Marshall, the daughter of Abraham and
Martha Marshall, and a native of West Drumore
township, where she was born in 1833. Mr. and
Mrs. Grofif lived for three years in Paradise town-
ship, where he dealt in real estate. In 1869 he moved
to East Drumore township, where he farmed and
dealt extensively in real estate. Later still he pur-
chased the fine brick residence intended for a parson-
age at Mechanics Grove. This he sold after a time*
and bought the brick residence of Joseph Ferguson,,
where he still resides, owning one of the most de-
sirable homes in that part of the county. Mrs. Grofif
died April 14, 1887, leaving no children.
Mr. Groff is a Republican, and with his wife
belonged to the Methodist Church, where they were
active and devoted workers.
EDWARD H. PLANK, M. D., in his lifetime a
popular and skilled physician at Christiana, Pa.,
whose long and successful career as a healer of the
sick and as an upright citizen won for him a place
in the hearts of the community, was born in Caer-
narvon township, Lancaster county, in 1846, and was
a son of David K. and Susan (Evans) Plank, farm-
ing people of Lancaster county. His father, who
was born in October, 1821, retired from farming
in 1886, the year after his wife died, and moved to
Reading, where he is still living. Mrs. Susan
(Evans) Plank died in 1885, at the age of sixty-
four. She was a member of the Episcopal Church,
while her husband belonged to the Methodist com-
munion. They were good and upright people, and
reared the following family : Edward H. ; J. Luther,
now a justice of. the peace in Caernarvon township,
Berks county ; Charles, a train dispatcher of the
Reading Railroad; Esther, Elizabeth and Franklin,
who all died young.
Jacob and Leah (Zug) Plank, the paternal grand-
parents of Edward H., were farmers in Berks
county. Jacob Plank wag a son of Peter Plank,. and
was born in 1785.
Jean Planche, the head of a Huguenot family>.
came from Switzerland to America in 1709, arriv-
ing in New York in the month of Decertiber. He
had been exiled from France at the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes in 1685 by Louis XIV., and for
some years had been a resident of the Swiss Re-
public before coming to the New World. During
the winter of 17 10 he remained in New York»
Jacques de la Planche was the head of the Plank
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
295
family in Lancaster county. The vessel on which
this notable ancestor crossed the ocean left the old
world June 30, spent nine days in England, and
arrived in Philadelphia Oct. 3; there he remained
a short time and then moved to Berks county.
David Evans, of Lancaster county, was the ma-
ternal grandfather of Edward H. Plank.
The wedding ceremonies of Edward H. Plank
and Miss R. Ella Roberts were celebrated in Ebens-
burg, Pa., in June, 1878, and born to this union were :
E. Roberts; S. Gertrude; Ethel Bird; D. Harlan;
Rachel E., who died at the age of six years. Mrs.
R. Ella (Roberts) Plank was born in Ebensburg in
1850, and was a daughter of Edward and Susan
(Owens) Roberts, of that place, where her father
was a prominent and wealthy merchant. For some
years before his death he lived retired.
Edward H. Plank was reared on the home farm,
where he remained until he was eighteen years of
age. He studied at the Millersville State Normal
School, and in 1868 entered Jefferson College, from
which he was graduated in 1870. It was in Cam-
bria county, Pa., that he began a medical career that
was singularly honorable and successful. After
seven years in Cambria county he moved to Chris-
tiana, and followed his profession in that community
until his death, Feb. 5, 1902. In the Masonic fra-
ternity he was much respected, alike for his character
and his mastery of the craft ; he had risen to the Third
Degree. For fourteen years he was a school di-
rector, and was a member of the board of health
from the organization of the borough. For one year
he was a member of the borough council. His
political views were of the Republican order. In
his religion he was a member of the Presbyterian
Church, and belonged to the session.
SIMON H. ENGLE. For one hundred fifty
years the name of Engle has been familiar in the
agricultural annals of Lancaster county, and repre-
sentatives in each generation have held high posi-
tions in the religious and official life of the commun-
ity. The first of the family to come to America was
Ulrich Engle, who with his wife and eight children
left their native Canton, of Basel, in Switzerland,
and sailed from Rotterdam, by way of Cowes in the
Isle of Wight, on the good ship "Phoenix," land-
ing in Philadelphia, Pa.'j Oct. i, 1754. They made
their home at what is now known as "Wild Cat,"
a station on the Pennsylvania Railroad, west of
Marietta, and their remains now lie buried in a
small burying ground on a part of their original pur-
chase. Of their children, Ulrich, Jr., wedded Mar-
tha Bixler; John married Elizabeth Shock; Jacob
married Faniiy Shock ; Annie married Henry Grove ;
Christina wedded Jacob Musser; another daughter
married Benjamin Musser; and the two remaining
cliildren married into the Witraer family.
Tohn Engle, second in the above mentioned fam-
ily, was born Oct. 16, 1745, and died Jan. 18, 1824.
His wife, Elizabeth Shock, was born Jan. 10, 1749,
and died Feb. 12, 1828. They made their home on a
farm in Conoy township now in the possession of
their great-grandson, Simon H. Engle. They were
the parents of five children: Jacob, who married
Martha Strickler ; John, who married Hester Long ;
Annie, who married John Heisey; Eliza, who mar-
ried John Gish ; and Fanny, who married John Hoff-
man. Of these Jacob Engle was born July 9, 1773,
and died Jan. 24, 1841, while his wife, Martha
Strickler, was born Jan. 24, 1780, and died Jan. 12,
183 1, and their remains now lie at rest in a cemetery
on a farm in Conoy township, on the Abraham B.
Engle estate. Jacob was the father of eight children :
John, born Jan. 3, 1804, died Aug. 8, 1831, married
Catherine Nissley; Henry, born May 30, 1806, mar-
ried Nancy Brubaker; Rev. Jacob S., born Nov.
10, 1808, married Barbara Wolgemuth; David,
born in 1820, married Mary Hamaker; Elizabeth
married Rudolph Good; Martha, born Aug. 21,
1811, died Aug. 27, 1831 ; Fanny, born in 1814, mar-
ried Rev. Jacob N. Graybill ; and Susanna, born
1817, married John P. Kraybill, a bishop of the
River Brethren Church.
John Engle, son of John and Elizabeth (Shock)
Engle and a representative in the third generation
of the family in this country, followed farming as
an occupation, and made his permanent home on the
farm occupied by his father, and now occupied by
his own grandson, Simon H. He was very progres-
sive and industrious, and died at the age of sixty-
four. His wife, Hester Long, died in 1835, at the
age of sixty. They sleep tlieir last sleep side by
side in the old family burying ground on the home
farm. They were the parents of the following chil-
dren: John, who wedded a Miss Stern; Christian,
mentioned below; Jacob, who married a Maria
Long; Joseph, who wedded Barbara Breneman;
Elizabeth, who married Benjamin Hershey ; and
Hester, who wedded Nicholas Peck. All are now
deceased.
Christian L. Engle was born on the old home-
stead farm, and made his home there until 1859,
when he removed to an adjoining farm where his
last years were spent. Fle was a very successful far-
mer, and added many substantial improvements to
the old home. He was active in public affairs,
taking an intelligent interest in such subjects, and
was a man whose common sense and clear judgment
made him a natural adviser on important matters.
His neighbors and friends relied implicitly in his
wisdom, and never hesitated to consult him even in
regard to their private affairs. He was never in
any sense an office seeker, but for one term held the
office of County Poor director. In religious faith
he belonged to the River Brethren Church. His
wife, Maria Hess, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth
(Lichty) Hess, farming people of Lancaster county,
bore him a large family of children, namely : Simon
H. ; Christian, deceased in infancy ; John, deceased
at the age of eighteen ; Martha, who married John
L. Hoffman, a cigar manufacturer and farmer of
296
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Snyder county, Pa. ; Joseph, a farmer of Coney
township ; Amos, a retired citizen of Maytown, Pa.,
who married Martha Lenhart ; Mary, who married
Henry M. Engle, a farmer of Rapho township. The
father died in 1887, aged eighty-two years, and the
mother the same year, aged seventy-five years.
Simon H. Engle, son of Christian L. Engle,
was born on his present farm Nov. 3, 1833, and has
passed his entire life as a thoroughly up-to-date far-
mer. He has read widely, and a naturally discern-
ing mind has given him a close insight into public
questions, on which he is a recognized authority,
more particularly does he take keen interest in edu-
cational questions, and closely watches the advance-
ment of the common schools. For thirty years he
has been a school director, and has given much of
his time to the personal inspection of the schools
in his care. In politics he is a stanch Republican.
On Dec. 8, 1857, Mr. Engle was united in mar-
riage with Miss Mary Graybill, who was born in
East Donegal township, Sept. i, 1839, daughter of
Rev. Jacob N. and Fanny (Engle) Graybill. To
this union came eight children, viz. : Paris G., who
married Mattie Hess, and has two children, Mary and
Robert ; Naomi G., at home ; Walter G., of Middle-
town, Pa., who married Minnie Shireman, and has
one child, Rachel; Myra G., at home; Emma, who
married John Hiestand, in the bakery supply busi-
ness in Philadelphia, and has one child, John;
Christian G., notary public and manager of the
Real Estate Exchange at Columbia, Pa. ; Mary G.,
a school teacher residing at home; and Gertrude,
at home. The family are all highly esteemed, and are
deservedly popular in the county. They are con-
sistent Christian people, endeavoring to do good
while they may, and are earnestly at work to aid
those less fortunate than themselves.
Rev. Jacob N. Graybill, father of Mrs. Engle,
was a farmer of Lancaster county, and for forty
years was a preacher of the River Brethren Church.
He was earnest and devout in his work, never at
any time allowing his own personal feelings or
duties to stand in the way, if he saw any possible
chance of doing good to a fellow man. He married
Fanny Engle, daughter of Jacob and Martha
(Strickler) Engle, and their union was blessed with
a large family of children: Simon, who died in
1897, married Emma Brenerman ; Martha married
Noah Engle, of Dickinson, Kan. ; Mary ; Christian is
manager of a shirt factory at Columbia, Pa., mar-
ried Lillie Brenerman; Sarah married Harry Boss-
ier, of Middletown, Pa. ; Fanny married Cyrus Mann,
of Manor township; Jacob, who married Lizzie
Brenerman, is a farmer of East Hempfield township ;
Isaiah, retired, married Katie Brandt; Emma mar-
ried Alvin Gottschall, of Cumberland county. Pa.;
and Lizzie married John Nissley, also of Cumberland
county. The father of these children carried on
farming actively until within ten years prior to his
death, which occurred in 1891, when he was aged
eighty-two years. The mother died in 1898, aged
eighty years, and the remains of both are interred
m a private burying ground connected with the
River Brethren Church.
Rev. Jacob N. Graybill was a son of Christian
and Mary (Nissley) Graybill, representatives of
pioneer families of Lancaster county, and highly
respected people.
WILLIAM RIDDLE, educator, author and for
many years a leading citizen of Lancaster in the ad-
ministration of its municipal affairs, is one of the
most familiar figures in the city; and there is no
department of the city government upon which he
has not left his impress.
Jacob Riddle, his father, was born in Wurtem-
berg, Germany, and before reaching his majority
left his home with several of his young companions
for America. To accomplish his purpose he was
compelled to enter into a written agreement with
his parents that under no circumstances would he
ever be allowed to share, with his brothers and sis-
ters, the legacy that, under other conditions, might
fall to his lot in the years to come. Under these
strained relations, he shook the dust of German soil
from his feet, landing in Philadelphia some months
later ; and from there reached Lancaster a few years
after it became a city. Some years thereafter he
married Frederica Killinger, who, at the time,
resided with her parents on what was for many years
known as the Stambaugh homestead, directly north
of the city limits. Mrs. Riddle was the mother of
eight children, only two of whom are now living —
Mrs. Merz, widow of the late Karl Merz, Professor
of Music in the Wooster University, Ohio, and
William, the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Riddle
died in Lancaster at the age of seventy-three. She
was a devoted member of St. James' Episcopal
Church under the pastorate of the much lamented
Bishop Bowman.
William Riddle was born opposite the First
Presbyterian church, where he resided until his
sixth year, when he moved with his parents to
Leesburg, Va. Residing there a few years he re-
turned to Lancaster, where he remained, attending
the public schools until his seventeenth year. Join-
ing his family, he went with them to the village of
Paradise; and the same year entered upon a three-
years' apprenticeship as a machinist and wood-
worker. Turning his attention to literary pursuits
later, he applied for a certificate under the late John
S. Crumbaugh, county superintendent of schools;
and in the year 1858 taught his first school in the
borough of Strasburg. During the year following
he taught in Leacock township ; and from i860 to
1865 had charge of the Cedar Hill school, in Para-
dise township. Returning to the city during the
early spring of the latter year he entered the record-
ers office, where he remained until the opening of
the fall term, when he took charge of tiie South
Duke street grammar school, a position he held for
three vears. Feeling restless under the close con-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
297
finement, he entered the publishing house of Ivison,
Blakeman, Taylor & Co., New York. Remaining
in the agency work a few years, he accepted, in the
year 1871, the position of adjuster for the Lancaster
Fire Insurance Co., whose business extended over
nearly every State in the Union. Among his most
important work as adjuster was the settlement of
the company's losses in the great Chicago fire,
reaching said city within twenty-four hours after
the first telegraphic dispatch had reached the city.
A year later he again associated himself with the
book firm above mentioned, in which position he
continued, until, a quarter of a century later, it re-
solved itself, among others into the American Book
Co. Remaining with the latter organization some
half dozen years, he retired from the agency busi-
ness after an almost continuous service of more than
thirty years. Entering the book agency at the close
•of the war with a uniform series of text-books of
undisputed merit, he was enabled to claim for the
schools of Lancaster county, and for other sections
of the State, as well as for himself, the credit of hav-
ing brought system out of chaos, eliminating from
the schools as many as a half dozen dififerent kinds
of readers, spellers, geographies, histories and arith-
metics, all of which had been used indiscriminately
without regard to system or classification. Know-
ing whereof he spoke, a former superintendent re-
marked years ago that "William Riddle had done
more for the advancement of education among the
schools of the county in the line of his agency work,
in bringing about an up-to-date system of text-
books, than had been done up to said time through
all other agencies.'' It was the rooting out of Ihe
Old by substituting the New, that made possible
that higher and broader state of intellectual de-
•velopment, which has made the schools of Lancaster
■county what they are to-day second to none in the
•Commonwealth.
From 1869 to 1872 Mr. Riddle was a member
of the Lancaster school board, resigning therefrom
at the close of his first term, for the reason that the
duties of the office of director were incompatible
-with the agency work in which he was then engaged.
Por nearly twenty years he was a member of City
■Councils, 'serving' one year in the Common branch
and the remainder of the time in the Select, of which
Tie was twice honored with the presidency. For
seven years he was chairman of Streets and High-
ways; "and also served as a member of the special
-water committee in charge of the erection of the new
-water works.
Fraternallv Mr. Riddle is a Mason, belonging to
Lancaster Lodge, No. 43, F. & A. M. ; to Lancaster
Chapter, No. 43, R. A. M., and to Commandery No.
13, K. T.
In the year 1874 Mr. Riddle married Miss Ara-
bella Zug, a prominent teacher at the time in our
city schools. They have five children living : Mary,
William, Howard, Robert, and Helen. They reside
at No. 314 North Lime street, in a dwelling erected
by himself. The family are members of the Mora-
van Church of this city.
Possessed of fine observing powers, Mr. Riddle
has always wielded a trenchant pen, many of his
articles along the line of his travels having attracted
considerable attention. His "Tally-Ho" ride
through Lancaster county, delivered before the
County Teachers' Institute, some few years ago, was
well calculated to re-awaken an interest in Lancas-
ter county local history among the teachers of the
various sections.
Another thing that will cause Mr. Riddle's name
long to be remembered among the school children
as a household word is the large-sized Lancaster
county map, which at present hangs upon the walls
of nearly all of our six hundred schools. And of
this, it may be said, as upon one occasion he re-
marked, while exhibiting the map before a body of
teachers and directors, "I am as familiar with every
road and cross road of this county as I am with every
teacher and director."
His recent work, however, entitled "Nicholas
Comenius, or Ye Pennsylvania Schoolmaster of Ye
Olden Time," will not only live in local history
among his numerous friends of city and county,
but will be found in libraries all over this and other
States long after its author has gone to his final re-
ward. Of this work, the late Gov. Hastings, writing
a personal note to the author from the Executive
mansion at Harrisburg, among other things aptly
said : "During the time of the Hazleton riots I read
every chapter of your book aloud to my comrades,
and we unanimously agreed that I should write you
this letter of thanks for such an interesting and de-
lightful contribution to our Pennsylvania literature.
I have always thought that the 'Vicar of Wakefield'
was the most charming book in our language. I
now think your book comes pretty close to it." Hav-
ing already entered its third edition, it has not only
found its way into the hands of many a teacher, di-
rector and educator of this and other States, but
within the past year an invoice of one hundred cop-
ies has gone to the teachers of the city of Havana,
Cuba. While the author of the "Old Schoolmaster"
is no longer actively engaged in the line of his
former calling, he is not by any means disposed to
fall into "innocuous desuetude," being at the present
time employed in other literary work, as well as in
the sale of his "favorite Nicholas."
Indeed, for a period of more than forty years,
from the time Mr. Riddle entered upon the profes-
sion of teaching in the little brick schoolhouse in old
Strasburg down to the present time, he has attended
every County Teachers' Institute held in Lancaster.
And to his credit be it said, that during all the years
of his agency, there has never been a school board
meeting to which he was not invited back the year
following. How many of these former directors are
still actively engaged in their former work, needs but
a glance over the various roll-books of the county to
verify.
298
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
DAVID McCLURE, a retired farmer of Bart
township, Lancaster county, was born in Strasburg
township, March 14, 1819, and is a son of John and
Susan (Hull) McClure. In his advanced age he en-
joys the satisfaction that must come from a well-
spent life, and the confidence and respect of the com-
munity in which he has done his work manfully and
well.
John McClure, who was born in Bart township
in August, 1792, married Susan Hull, who was bom
in Strasburg township. He was a son of John Mc-
Clure, who was bom in Ireland, and came to this
country before the Revolution, in which he was as-
sociated with Gen. Washington as a supply con-
tractor. After the successful conclusion of that war
he purchased land near what is known as the Green
Tree, and there made the first improvements in this
section of Bart township. There both he and his
wife died, leaving a large family : James, who lived
and died in Bart township ; John ; William, who lived
in Beaver county. Pa. ; Thomas, who died unmarried ;
Robert, who died young ; Samuel, who died unmar-
ried; Francis, who located in Lewistown; Joseph,
who lived and died in Bart township ; Jane, who mar-
ried Thomas Ross, and lived in Beaver county;
Martha, who married Mr. Witherow, and after a
residence of some years in Chester county moved
with him into Beaver county, where both died.
John McClure was married in 1810, and buying
a farm in Bart township, near the "Nine Points,"
made it his home, and there died. On this farm
his youngest son, Thomas, is now living. There
were thirteen children in the family, nine of whom
are now living, (i) David was the eldest of the
survivors. (2) John, who is now dead, was a con-
tractor for the government after the Mexican war,
putting up light houses, and while in Texas, engaged
in that' business, died from yellow fever. He was
unmarried. (3) Samuel married and located in
Bart township, where he died, leaving a family.
(4) William McClure died when a boy. (s) James,
who is now living in Iowa, was a surveyor in Lan-
caster county for a number of years, and was also
engaged in the mercantile business there, later going
into the West. He married Miss Joanna Wilkinson,
of Lancaster county, by whom he had six children:
Frank M., Charles, Aldus, William, Mary and
Anna. (6) Francis McClure was a merchant at
The Gap for many years, married Mary Hover, of
Lancaster county, and now lives in Kansas City, Mo.
They have a family of six children. Hover, John,
Harry, Jasper, Anna and Lillie. (7) Joseph Mc-
Clure married a Miss Martin, of Colerain, lives re-
tired in Christiana, and has had children — Kelso,
Eva, Annie, and Harriet, who is dead. (8) Thomas
McClure married Margaret Sampson, and resides
on his father's old home at Nine Points. They have
had a family of six children, of whom William, the
fifth is deceased ; Susan married Byron McElwain ;
Jessie is the wife of Ben Roads; Nettie married
Harry Hess ; die and Edward are single. (9)
Christianna McClure, now the widow of Benjamin
Baxter, lives in Georgetown. She has two children :
John, who is on the home farm; and Susan, the
wife of Amos Girvin. ( 10) Martha McClure is the
widow of Josiah McElwain, and lives in York
county, Pa. She has two daughters: Mary and
Jessie (who married Ramsey Webb), both of York
county. (11) Amanda McClure is the wife of John
Crossin, of Chester county, and the mother of four
children : Mary, who married Samuel Espenshade ;
Lillie, who married Wilson Hudson, of Chester
■county; Frank, who died when a boy; Elmer, at
home. (12) Jane McClure is the wife of John Key-
lor, of near Mechanics Grove. They have three
children : Dr. Walter, a practicing physician .at Me-
chanics Grove ; William : and Lillie. All the above
children of John McClure were born in Bart town-
ship.
David McClure was reared in Bart township, and
given such educational advantages as the public
schools of his youth afforded. He was married to
Miss Jane McClure, a native of Bart township,
and a daughter of Thomas and Jane (Murdaugh)
McClure. prominent residents of Chester county.
After their marriage the young couple settled in
Bart township on their own farm, where Mr. Mc-
Clure was engaged in agriculture many years. He
bought the Joshua Gilbert farm in 1864, half a mile
from his old place, near the Presbyterian Church.
Here Mr. McClure still resides, and though eighty-
two years of age manages his own business affairs
and bears himself like a much younger man. Mrs.
McClure died in 1896. They had a family of six chil-
dren, (i) William married Miss Susan Lefever, a
daughter of Henry Lefever, of Paradise, and lives on
one of his father's farms in Bart township; they
have had three children: Harry, Mary Agnes and
Lillie. The latter, who is deceased, graduated from
the Millersville State Normal, and was a finished
scholar, and became a capable teacher. She was en-
gaged in that work at the time of her death, in Octo-
ber, 1899. Harry McClure is an employe of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, and has his headquarters in
Philadelphia. His wife died in that city, leaving no
family. (2) Agnes McClure is unmarried and lives
at home. (3) Maggie McClure married Robert Ray,
of Bart township, and is deceased. (4) Thomas Mc-
Clure died when a young man, after some years of
business experience, in which he was very successful.
(5) Mary A. McClure was educated in the home
schools, and at the present time has the management
of the home. She is a lady of marked excellency of
character. (6) Susan A. McClure is also at home.
All these chikfren were born in Bart township.
David McClure has been a member of the United
Presbyterian Church for over sixty years and is an
elder. With this church his family, too, are con-
nected, his son William being also an elder of the
church. In politics Mr. McClure is a Prohibitionist,
though for years he was a Democrat.
The McClure family stands high in the history
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
299
of Lancaster county. Its annals date from before
the Revolution, and its various representatives have
been honorable and industrious people, and their
elegant homes, fine farms and prosperous families
are monuments alike to their industry and integrity.
David McClure still manages his farm, looks after
his large estates with care, and knows every detail
of his business. The McClures were among the
founders of the First United Presbyterian Church,
of Octoraro, and for over a hundred years have been
among its most zealous supporters.
COL. JAMES DUFFY was for many years one
of the prominent residents of Marietta, Lancaster
county, but his reputation was not by any means con-
fined to that locality. He was active in many lines
before connecting himself with the Hollow Ware &
Enameling Company, with which he was identified
from 1877 to the close of his long and active life.
Col. Duffy was a grandson of James Duffy, a
native of Newtowncunningham, County Donegal,
Ireland. He was a leather dresser by trade. He
married Ann Bradley, and their son, James, the
father of our subject, was also born in Newtown-
cunningham. The latter came to America in 1800,
locating first in Lancaster, and later in Marietta, in
the organization of which borough he took an active
part. Prior to the war of 1812, he, in company with
James Mahaffy and John Pedan, bought of Mrs.
Frances Evans 164 acres of land, paying therefor the
sum of $35,000. This was a large transaction for,
that day, and required business courage of a high
order. On this land they laid out and platted the
Mahaffy, Pedan and Duffy additions to the borough,
and started what is now an important part of Mari-
etta. Mr. Duffy was engaged in many other under-
takings which proved of great benefit to the com-
munity and county, and, being a man of good busi-
ness ability, he carried on the contracting business
on a large scale and made money. He constructed
the Marietta & Lancaster turnpike, the turnpike from
Elizabethtown to the Susquehanna river, and the
road from Carlisle to Baltimore, through York
Springs and Gettysburg. In politics he was a Dem-
ocrat, and he was nattirally a man of influence in his
community and party, being an educated man, as
well as an able one. He had a fine library, and from
it gleaned a store of knowledge rare among the men
of his period and locality. Previous to his leaving
the land of his birth he was a member of the Farmers'
Light Horse Cavalry of Ireland. He passed away in
1836, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife, who
died in 1820, was Catherine Sheriden, who, like
himself, was born in County Donegal. To them were
born ten children.
Col. James Duffy was born in Marietta, Sept. 16,
1818, and as soon as old enough engaged in rafting
on the Susquehanna river, rising in time to the then
important position of pilot. He followed this re-
sponsible work until 1846, and the following year
took a trip to Europe. In 1848 the Colonel estab-
lished a line of boats for transporting coal from
Pottsville to New York, in the interests of the
Schuylkill Navigation Company. He was also con-
nected with J-ames Mahaffy in the lumber business,
and remained therein until 1865. In 1861 he had
begun the transporting of supplies for the general
government to forts in New Mexico and the West,
among other- places to Salt Lake City. The magni-
tude of these contracts may be estimated from the
fact that millions of dollars were employed, and more
than thirty thousand oxen were used. After seven
years spent in this line. Col. Duffy retired from busi-
ness of a public nature, and from that time on devoted
himself to his large landed interests, soon winning
the reputation of being the largest tobacco grower
in Pennsylvania. In 1877 he became interested in
the Marietta Hollow Ware & Enameling Company,
in which he controlled one-half the stock. He was
one of the directors of the Bald Eagle Valley Rail-
way Company, and was active in the support of
manv other enterprises. Although he was a Dem-
ocrat in politics, he was appointed, during a Repub-
lican administration, in 1875, a Fish Commissioner
for Pennsylvania, and filled the position to the sat-
isfaction of all. The Colonel's public life gained for
him a wide acquaintance among the most noted men
of his day. He was a personal and warm friend
of Gen. U. S. Grant, Joseph Blackburn, United
States Senator from Kentucky, Samuel J. Randall
and others, and these gentlemen were often enter-
tained by the Colonel and Mrs. Duffy at their ele-
gant and hospitable home in Marietta. On the first
day of November, 1888, having reached the age al-
lowed to man, honored and respected by his fellow
citizens of Pennsylvania and a host of friends outside
of his native State, the Colonel answered the last
roll call and was laid to rest.
Col. James Duffy was married Sept. 8, 1863,
to Martha, daughter of John Park, of Marietta, and
to them were born the following named children:
Josephine, who is now deceased; Catherine, de-
ceased; James; Donald Cameron; Thomas Bayard,
deceased ; John Park, deceased ; Martha Park ; John
Park (2), also deceased; and one who died in in-
fancy.
WILLIAM PENN PUSEY, a retired farmer
of East Drumore, was born at Chestnut Level, April
8, 1827, and is one of the prominent and successful
farmers of Lancaster county. His parents were
Mahlon and Lydia (Housekeeper) Pusey, both of
whom were born in Lancaster county.
Mr. Pusey, the father of William Penn, was the
son of Samuel and Mary (Kinsey) Pusey and was
born in 1773. His parents were both of English
birth. Samuel Pusey was the son of Joshua Pusey,
who came with William Penn from England.
Samuel Pusey, the son of the foregoing Joshua,
and the grandfather of William Penn, settled in
what is now known as Puseyville, where he pur-
chased 200 acres of wild land, and at the time of
300
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
his death he owned a saw and grist mill which he
had built. He was the father of a numerous family,
there being eleven children in all. (i) John was a
:nerchant for many years at Chestnut Level, and his
son, Cyrus, is still living, in Kansas. (2) Mahlon.
(3) Joshua settled at Puseyville, where he was a
miller for many years ; his death occurred at New
London, Chester county. Two of his .children are
still living : Samuel, of Washington, D. C. ; and
John R., also of the Capital City. The mother of
these children was born Mary A. Montgomery, of
Chester county. (4) Samuel married Hannah
Montgomery, and settled near Puseyville, where he
followed the carpenter trade during his life. His
■children were: Joshua, of Philadelphia; James, of
the same city: Charles, of Long Island; Amanda,
the widow of Handford Brucher, of Christiana ; and
Jane, the wife of Daniel Eckman, who lives with
the subject of this sketch. (5) Anna, born at Pusey-
ville, married James Brown, and died, leaving
-one daughter, Mary. (6) Maria, born at Pusey-
ville, married Lewis Bailey, and is deceased. She
was the mother of Gibbons and Susan. (7) Susan
-married Robert Good, of Chester county, and has
:since died. (8) Hannah married Thomas Patter-
:son, of Britain township, and died leaving one daugh-
ter, Malvina, the wife of Fred Fairbank, of Media,
Pa. (9) Letitia, born at Puseyville, married Eli
EUicott, of Philadelphia, and is now dead, leaving
three daughters, Emma, Ada and Anna. ( 10) Jane
Pusey died unmarried at the home of her parents.
(11) Eliza, the wife of Jacob Eckman, settled in
Bart township, where she died, leaving six children,
Thomas, Samuel-, Daniel, John, Joanna and Mary.
Mahlon Pusey, the father of William Penn, grew
lo manhood in the old home, and when a young man
hecame engaged in the mercantile trade, which was
Tiis life business with the exception of a short time
spent in keeping hotel, about the time of his mar-
riage.
Mahlon Pnsey married Lydia Housekeeper, who
died in 1837, leaving a family of five children, (i)
Elizabeth, born in Chestnut Level, married F. Mc-
Sparran, of Fairfield, Lancaster county, and was the
mother of: Emma, the wife of David Wideley, of
Fairfield; James; Eleanor, the wife of Dr. Yell, of
Britain ; Ida, the wife of William Hastings ; Will-
iam ; Marian : Isabella ; Edgar ; and Cheney. Mrs.
McSparran is dead. (2) Thomas, born at Pusey-
ville, when a young man went to Pikes Peak in
1859, in company with his brother, William Penn.
They remained in the gold fields of the mountains
until 1867, when they returned to Pennsylvania.
He purchased the Puseyville estate, and made it
his home until his death in 1900, having lived un-
married. (3) William Penn, whose name appears
above, f'4) I.ydia A., born at Puseyville, married
Thomas McSparran, of York, where she died, leav-
ing several children, three of whom are living.
Eleanor, Harriet and Marcia. (5) Cheney was
born at Puseyville and was engaged as a merchant
at Liberty .Square, where he died a single man.
Mahlon Pusey married for his second wife, Ann
Dare, and by this marriage was born a large family :
Rebecca, the wife of Hugh Long, of Mechanics
Grove; George, of Oxford; Emma; Adda; Sallie,
the wife of Leonard Hutton, of New Jersey; Han-
nah, the wife of Joseph Penney, a farmer of Coler-
ain township: Rose, the wife of Frank Herr. Mr.
Pusey died in 1874. The Puseys are an old and
prominent pioneer family and took a leading part
in the affairs of the county.
William Penn Pusey was the third child of the
first marriage of his father, and received his educa-
tion at the home school and in Philadelphia. In
1859 he went to Pikes Peak, Colorado, in company
with his brother, making the journey across the
plains by ox teams. They remained in the moun-
tains until they had accumulated a fair amount, of
money, and then came back to their native town.
For nineteen years he was a clerk in the store of his
brother at Puseyville. In 1893 he bought the Moore
farm property. Since buying this farm he has
made general improvements and brought it up to
a high level of cultivation. Mr. Pusey has lived
mostly retired since going on the farm. He has
never married. In politics, like his father, he holds
to the old Democratic party. He is the last survivor
of his old family name in this community, and is a
man respected for his many good qualities. He
abounds with interesting reminiscences of his moun-
tain trips.
THOMAS CULLY. One of the old and
respected families of Lancaster county is that of
Cully, the farm now occupied by Thomas Cully hav-
ing been purchased by his grandfather, also Thomas
Cully, more than a century and a half ago. His
family was a numerous one, its members scattering
through the West where many of them founded
families.
George Cully, a son of Thomas, the first settler
of the family in Lancaster county, was born in
Martic township in 1793, and died in 1871. About
1825 he was united in marriage to Mary Boyd, who
was bom in 1803, and died Jan 5, 1833, having been
the mother of four children: Thomas; William,
who was born in 1830 and died in 1873, and two
others who died in childhood. In politics George
Cully was identified with the Democratic party;
during his life he became possessed of a large acre-
age of land.
Thomas Cully was born Feb. 3, 1827, on the fine
farm where he is now living a life of ease and re-
tirement from activity. His life has been entirely
an agricultural one and during an industrious ca-
reer he has gained a strong position by the ability
with which he has conducted his affairs, continually
having made progress in the accumulation of the
fruits of his vocation, being now one of the most
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
301
substantial citizens of the township. His fine farm
of 240 acres shows the careful cultivation and valu-
able improvements of an owner who has taken a just
pride in his work.
Thomas Cully was married to Mary A. Harner,
April 26, 1855. She was a daughter of Joseph and
Mary (Slingluff) Harner, who came to Martic
township from Montgomery county. Pa., and had
a family consisting of these children: John S.,
a retired farmer of Martic township; Samuel, also
retired ; George, deceased ; Elizabeth, deceased, who
married J. Harrison Long, of Drumore township;
Joseph, also a retired farmer of Martic township;
Jesse, a retired farmer of Drumore township; and
Mary A., the second in order of birth, the wife of
Thomas Cully.
Mr. Cully upholds the principles of the Demo-
cratic party, actively supporting its men and meas-
ures. Mrs. Cully is one of the consistent and beloved
members of the Presbyterian Church, and a model
of Christian virtues. In every relation of life, Mr.
Cully comes up to the standard of good citizenship,
and in no part of the township can be found a more
honest or upright man, nor one who numbers a larger
number of sincere friends.
_ FRANKLIN P. D. MILLER. The name was
©riginally Druckenmiller. It was under that name
that the ancestors about 1717 emigrated from Ger-
many and settled in Manheim, Lancaster county.
They were prominent members of the Lutheran
Church, to which faith the descendants have clung.
Franklin P. D. Miller is a prominent merchant at
Columbia. His education and training have been in
the practical school of commerce, of which he is an
honored and influential representative.
Henry D. Miller, father of Franklin, was born
at Manheim in 1824, the son of George D. Miller.
Henry D. followed successfully at Manheim the
vocation of tailor and painter, a highly respected
citizen, who filled many of the borough offices. He
married Sarah Ann Tomes, a native of Wrights-
ville, York county, and to them were born eight chil-
dren, namely : Franklin P. D. ; Margaret L., wife
of Eli F. Groach, a general merchant of Milton
Grove, Pa. ; Mary E., wife of Jeremiah Kauffmann,
keeper of a restaurant at Baltimore, Md. ; John H.,
who died aged two years ; George W. D., a salesman
for his brother, Franklin P. D. ; Alice, who died at
Manheim in September, 1883 ; Sarah Ann, who died
aged six years ; and Samuel M., a clerk at Lebanon,
Pa. Henry D., the father, died in February, 1886,
aged sixty-two years. The mother survives and is
a resident of Manheim.
Franklin P. D. Miller, the eldest member of the
family, was born at Manheim, Sept. 29, 1853. He
remained at home until the age of fourteen, attend-
ing the Manheim schools, then in 1867 entered the
store of Tshudy & Huebner, at Lititz, remaining
with them and their successors, Tshudy & Bricker,
four years. He accepted a position with Lindemuth
& Bro., general merchants at Marietta, remaining
three years. Mr. Miller then went to Columbia
and for nine and a half years clerked for G. W. &
B. F. Halderman, dry goods and carpets. He had
passed his thirtieth year and gained an extensive
knowledge of mercantile pursuits. Believing in his.
abilities to conduct a successful business and finding
a clerkship unsuited to his ambitions, he opened at
Columbia a stock of groceries and thus began a
mercantile career which has since grown steadily.
Mr. Miller is one of the most prominent merchants
of Columbia and also one of its most enterprising
and public-spirited citizens.
In June, 1877, at Bainbridge, Lancaster county,,
he married Mary E. Sides, a native of that borough,,
daughter of Peter Sides, an esteemed retired shoe--
maker of Bainbridge. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have
been born three children : William McA. ; Caroline
S., .wife of E. Ray Shelby, a cigar manufacturer of
Harrisburg, Pa. ; and Frank Armor, at home.
Mr. Miller is president of the Vigilant Fire Com-
pany, and secretary of the Laurel Hill cemetery. He
has been notary public for the past ten years and has
served three terms as school director in Columbia^
In politics he is a Democrat and in religious faith
a member of St. John's Evangelical Church. As a.
member of the Masonic Lodge and Chapter, the
I. O. O. F., K. of M. C. and K. of P., he is promi-
nently identified with the fraternal orders of Colum-.
bia. Pie possesses a fine library and is well informed
upon all the leading questions of the day.
ALDUS AUMENT, a farmer of East Drumore-
township, Lancaster county, was born in the town-
ship where he is living at the present time, Oct. 7,.
1844, his parents being Jacob and Sarah (Cunning-
ham) Aument.
Jacob Aument was born in Lampeter township
in 1819, and his wife in 1821. He was the son of"
George Aument, who was of colonial associations.
They were at first residents of Lampeter township,
where Jacob Aument was reared. George Aument-
moved to East Drumore township, where he and his
wife died in the home of his son, George. They left-
two sons and two daughters, (i) Jacob was the-
father of Aldus. (2) George, who married and
settled in East Drumore township, died some years,
ago, leaving a family. Henry Aument of Quarry-
ville, is one of his sons. (3) Elizabeth married
James McCall, and both are dead. Their children,
of whom the survivors still reside in Maryland,
were as follows: Anderson; Mary, late wife of
William Brickey; Eliza, who married Theodore
Brickley (deceased) ; Sarah, who married Frank
Lacklin; Jane, who married and settled in Mary-
land; Beulah, unmarried, living with her brother,
Anderson ; and Clara, who married a Mr. Jackson.
(4) Catherine married Samuel Kendig, lived for
a time in Eden township, and then moved into East
Drumore township, where Mr. Kendig was a
farmer and miller as long as he lived. They left
302
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
!
four children: Eliza, of Lancaster; George, of
Philadelphia; Samuel, of Illinois, and Scott, of Lan-
caster.
Jacob Aument was reared to manhood in Lam-
peter township, where he received his education
in the local schools. Miss Sarah Cunningham, who
became his wife, was born in Lampeter township.
For a few years Mr. Aument worked at his trade of
wagon-making in Lampeter township, then moved
to East Drumore township, near the Quarryville
cemetery, where his nephew, John Aument, lives
and there worked at his trade while his family were
maturing. In 1846 he bought a farm of 180 acres
of wild land which he converted into the fertile and
highly cultivated farm now the home of his son,
Aldus. The land was cleared by him, a pleasant
home erected, and a bank barn, 40x80 feet put up.
There Mr. and Mrs. Aument lived all their days.
They were active and devoted members of the Ger-
man Reformed Church, and he was one of the
founders of the Stone Church at Quarryville. In
politics he was a Whig and later became a Repub-
lican.
Mr. and Mrs. Aument were the parents of nine
children, (i) George married Miss Sarah Swine-
heart, of Quarryville, and after living for a time at
his father's home, bought a farm adjoining, on which
they spent some years, when they moved to Quarry-
ville, where he died, leaving a widow and two
children: Letitia, who married George England;
and Maria, who married Stephen Clemmings, both
widows. (2) Catherine, born in Lampeter township,
married Jacob Barr (deceased), and is the mother
of the following children: Emma, who married
John Robinson, of Limeville; Henrietta, who mar-
ried Harry Shrimp, of Glen, Chester county; Mil-
lard : John ; DoUie, who married O. M. Sowders, of
Strasburg township ; and Sue, who married Daniel
Dooner. (3) Sarah married Hoover Hilterbrand,
of Iowa, deceased, and is the mother of the follow-
ing: Elias, Ernest and Mary. (4) Elias mar-
ried Miss Maggie Wentz, and was engaged in
the mercantile trade at Drumore Center for some
years; after several trials of store life in various
places, he bought a farm adjoining his brother
Aldus, where he died, leaving a widow and four chil-
dren: Stella, who married Benjamin Fritz, of
Quarryville ; William, who married Sallie Kun ; Ir-
win, who married and settled in West Drumore
township ; and Clifford, who is a merchant in Fair-
field, Lancaster county, (s) Jacob was killed by
the kick of a horse when he was- twenty-one years
of age. (6) Elam, born in East Drumore township,
married Agnes Keen, of Eden township, and re-
sides in Lancaster, where he is retired. They have
had the following children : Jacob, Ella, Katie (de-
ceased), Sallie, Charles, Edward and Daniel. (7)
Mary died in young womanhood. (8) Harvey mar-
ried Miss Sue Ferguson, and moved to Topeka,
Kan., where he was engaged in farming at the time
of his death in 1895 ; he left a widow and five daugh-
ters, who still reside in that distant city, Ada, Mag-
gie, Emma, Alma and May. (9) Aldus.
Aldus Aument received his education in the
local schools and before attaining his majority be-
came a member of Co. D, ipsth P. V. I., which was
a part of the Army of the Potomac. This regiment
was held after the surrender of Gen. Lee, and was
detailed to guard government property, so that it
was not until March, 1866, that Mr. Aument was
mustered out.
For three years after his return to civil life, Aldus
Aument was a clerk in his brother's store. At that
time he was called back to the old home to take
charge of it and care for his parents until their
death.
Mr. Aument was married in 1871 to Miss M. J.
Penny, a daughter of Hugh and Sarah (Wentz)
Penny. Mrs. Aument was born in West Drumore
township in October, 1844, where she received her
education in the common schools. They settled on
the old homestead, and have greatly improved it in
the way of new buildings and a more thorough and
modern tillage. They are the parents of a son and
daughter: Bertie, who was born in 1877, was edu-
cated in the Level High School, in 1900 married
Walter Boyd, and lives in Philadelphia, where he is
in business; Lawrence, born in 1881, is a student
of the Wade' Business College of Lancaster.
Mr. Aument is a Republican and has been col-
lector of taxes and assessor of. East Drumore town-
ship for five years ; for twelve years he has been a
school director. He belongs to Bireley Post, No.
511, G. A. R., at Quarryville. Mr. Aument and his
wife belong to the Quarryville Reformed Church.
AMOS KESSLER. The village of Cambridge,
in Salisbury township, Lancaster county. Pa., has
within its limits a general blacksmith, coachmaker
and all round worker in iron and wood, combined in
one person, and in this respect its inhabitants are
more fortunate than those of most villages of its
size in the State. This gentleman is Amos Kessler,
who was born in East Lampeter township, in the
same county, Aug. 15, 1854. His parents, David
and Mary (Myers) Kessler, were born in East
Lampeter township and in Berks county, respec-
tively, but the father, who was a wheelwright by
trade, carried on his business for a long time at
Soudersburg, whence, owing to ill-health, he re-
tired to Kinzers, this county, where his death oc-
curred in March, 1893, at the age of seventy-two
years. His widow, who was bom in 1820, now re-
sides in Brownstown, Lancaster county, and is a
faithful member of the Presbyterian Church in the
faith of which her husband passed away.
David and Mary (Myers) Kessler had bom to
their marriage eight children in the following order :
Elizabeth, who is the wife of Henry Gault, of
Cambridge; Amos; John, a blacksmith at Kinzers,
Paradise township ; Harry, who died at the age of
nineteen ; Mary, wife of William Witmer, a farmer
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
303
in Salisbury township ; Ida, deceased wife of Jacob
Fisherman ; Susan, who died at the age of twenty-
two years, and Sarah, who died in infancy. The
paternal grandfather of Amos Kessler, Leonard
Kessler, was also a native of Lancaster county, and
was a wheelwright, first at Intercourse and next at
Soudersburg, at which place his death occurred.
At the age of eighteen years, Amos Kessler left
his parents and went to serve an apprenticeship of
three years at the blacksmith's trade with Joseph
Cashner at Smoketown, and then, having served out
his term, went to work as a journeyman for one
month at Green Tree; then for several months he
ViTorked at Colter's Corners; next located in Good-
ville,_ where he continued to work as a journeyman
for eight months, and then came to Cambridge and
began business on his own account in 1876. There he
has met with complete success and draws to his shop
patronage from a radius of miles about him, his
work being of the most finished kind and unsur-
passed in that respect by any turned out from the
large cities.
In January, 1878, Amos Kessler was united in
marriage in Cambridge, with Miss Abigail Otten-
fcirk, the amiable and accomplished daughter of
James and Elizabeth (Lawrence) Ottenkirk, of
Chester county, near Honeybrook, in which county
she had her nativity. James Ottenkirk was a well-
to-do and prominent farmer, was born in 1800 and
died in April, 1870; he had lost his wife, in 1848.
Their remains were interred side by side in Honey-
brook Presbyterian churchyard. They were faith-
ful Presbyterians in their religious faith, in which
they reared their six children, who were born in the
following order: Mary A., who is the widow of
James Givens and resides in Chester county. Pa.;
David, a farmer in the same county; Elizabeth P.,
wife of Lemuel Pearl, also a farmer in Chester
county; Martha, who makes her home with Amos,
her brother; Reece, who died at the age of sixty-
two years ; and Abigail, wife of Mr. Kessler. The
union of Amos and Abigail (Ottenkirk) Kessler
has been blessed with two sons, Harry D. and Will-
iam, now highly educated and intelligent young men
who still make their home under the parental roof.
Mr. and Mrs. Kessler are members of the Pres-
byterian Church and in politics Mr. Kessler is a
Republican. He is recognized as one of the best
mechanics in the county, is strictly honest in all
his transactions, and enjoys the esteem of a wide
circle of warm-hearted friends.
D. E. HELM, a successful and public-spirited
merchant at Mechanics Grove, East Drumore town-
ship, Lancaster county, was born in Strasburg town-
ship, Dec. 12, 1850, and is a son of Daniel and
Susan (Eckman) Helm, both of whom were born
in Strasburg township. Daniel Helm was born Nov.
10, i8to, and is still living. Mrs. Helm was a daugh-
ter of Joseph Eckman, of Providence, and was born
in 1827.
Daniel Helm was born in Strasburg township,
where he spent sixty-eight years of his life. In 1888
he moved to New Providence, where his wife died
two years later, and where he is living retired. They
both belonged to the Reformed Church, of which
he has been for many years an elder. In his political
relations he was a Whig, and in later years a Repub-
lican. For over fifty years he served as assessor,
school director, collector, supervisor, and in other
township offices.
Mr. Helm has had two wives, the first being
Anna Hoak, of Strasburg township. To this union
were born four children: J. Harry, in business in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa ; Frank W., in business at New
Providence, where he is a merchant and the presi-
dent of the Quarryville Bank ; Dr. A. H., a practic-
ing physician. at New Providence; Mary A., living
at home in New Providence.
To Daniel Helm's second marriage were born
seven children : D. E., whose name heads this arti-
cle; Enos M., born in 1853, who is married and in
business at New Cumberland, Cumberland Co., Pa. ;
J. Calvin, born in 1855, who married Alice Penny, of
Drumore township, and is a foreman in one of the
steel plants at Steelton, Pa. ; Dr. Charles E., a resi-
dent of Georgetown, who is married, and is engaged
in his professional work; Elmer E., born in 1858,
who has his home in Lancaster and is a traveling
salesm^an ; Rev. Thaddeus G., born in i860, who is a
professor in the Franklin and Marshall Academy,
and has a wife and family ; Rufus D., born in 1863,
who is unmarried and is a business man of Seattle,
Washington.
D. E. Helm received his education in the home
schools, in 1868 became a clerk in the store of Free-
land & Lytle, holding his position with them for three
years and then moved to Quarryville, where he
clerked some six years for George W. Henshel.
After this for three years he was a partner with his
brother, F. W. Helm, in a general store, for ten
years at New Providence. They did business under
the firm name of Helm Brothers. Before going to
New Providence, D. E. Helm was postmaster at
Quarryville. In 1888, D. E. Helm disposed of his
interests at New Providence, and engaged in a gen-
eral store at Mechanics Grove, which has largely
developed in his hands, and in which he has contin-
ued to the present time.
Mr. Helm was married in May, 1882, to Miss
Sallie W. Bower, a daughter of George and Anna
Bower, both now deceased, who were classed among
the very best people of their community in their life
time. Mrs. Helm was born in Paradise township in
1850, was thoroughly educated in the schools of her
community and county, and is a lady of many charms
and graces.
D. E. Helm bought ground in Mechanics Grove
and has one of the fine homes in the village. He has
also enlarged his store building and is one of the suc-
cessful business men of that section of Lancaster
county. To him and his wife have come a family of
304
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
six childrea : D. Bower, born in New Providence in
1883, a student in the Franklin and Marshall Acad-
emy ; Agnes S., born in 1885, a student in the home
school ; James C., born in Providence in 1887 ; Elmer
L., born in 1889 ; Paul Victor, born in 1891 ; Willis,
born in 1895.
Mr. Helm has always been a Republican, and
from time to time has been honored with offices of
trust and responsibility. He was postmaster of
Mechanics Grove from 1888 to 1894. That year he
was elected justice of the peace, and he resigned the
post office. Always an active and earnest business
man, he stands high in the village, and commands a
wide circle of friends through the vicinity, who are
anxious to help him in every laudable way. Both he
and his wife belong to the Reformed Church.
ANDREW CHARLES. In a life that was pro-
longed beyond the allotted period of existence, Mr.
Charles won and retained the respect of acquaint-
ances and associates. It was his privilege to wit-
nes the development of our nation during the most
eventful era of its history. His earlier recollections
were associated with the country as an infant re-
public, its possibilities unknown, its destiny unfore-
seen. When he was an old man, and shut oif largely
from intercourse with others through deafness and
failing sight, he was wont to dwell upon events con-
nected with the far-distant past, and used to tell his
children how, as a boy, he had shaken hands with
George Washington, who had told him to be "a
good boy," and had hoped God's blessing would rest
upon him.
The life of Andrew Charles began in County
Tyrone, Ireland, May 6, 1782, and closed in Stras-
burg, Lancaster county, April 4, 1873, his body be-
ing laid to rest in the Strasburg cemetery in the
midst of surroundings so familiar to him. His pa-
rents, William and Jane (Charles) Charles, were
natives of Ireland, the former being a farmer all
through his active life. In the family were the fol-
lowing children, all now deceased : John ; Andrew ;
Hannah ; Mrs. Charles Earlie, of Ireland ; Cath-
erine, Mrs. Wilson, who died in Virginia ; and Mrs.
Jane Hayes, of Pittsburg, Pa. While the family
were Irish-born, they were of English extraction,
and the genealogy is traced back to three brothers,
of whom one left England for Ireland, another went
to Scotland, and the third settled in Germany.
Accompanied by a brother and two sisters, An-
drew Charles came to the United States in 1794 and
settled in Philadelphia, where he soon began an ap-
prenticeship to the cabinet-maker's trade. Owing
to an epidemic of yellow fever when he was twenty-
one years of age, he left his home city and afterward
made his home in Lancaster for a time, thence go-
ing to Lititz, where he followed his trade a few
years. A later location was at Strasburg, where he
not only followed his trade but also built up an im-
portant business in the sale of furniture and under-
taker's supplies. For forty years he suffered the in-
convenience of deafness, but prosecuted his work
with diligence, notwithstanding this affliction. How-
ever, when finally blindness came to him five years
prior to his death, he relinquished his connection
with business. During his younger years he was an
active citizen, an enthusiastic worker in the Demo-
cratic party, and for many times served both as bur-
gess and as a member of the borough council. In
religion he adhered to the Episcopal doctrines, and
fraternally was connected with the Masons.
Before the days of railroads, Mr. Charles rode
on horseback to Lancaster to be married, and there
the ceremony was performed which united him with
Margaret Ferguson. They became the parents of
the following-named children: Robert F., de-
ceased; Jane A., Mrs. Henry Hunter, deceased;
Harriet, who was born in Strasburg, Aug. 18, 1813,
and now makes her home in Lancaster; William,
who died while in the army ; John, who died in in-
fancy ; Amanda, Mrs. Charles Mellinger, of Col-
umbia, Pa. ; Margaret, who was born June 15, 1823,
in Strasburg, and now resides with her sister Har-
riet in Lancaster; John A., who married Anna E.
Bart, and is now deceased; and Adeline, who died
in girlhood.
In 1847 Miss Harriet Charles opened a millinery
store in Strasburg, and this she conducted until
1882, when she and her sister removed to Co-
lumbia to make their home with a married sister,
but after seventeen months they removed to their
present home in Lancaster. Although her father ac-
cumulated little, Miss Charles was enabled to sur-
round his old age with the comforts of life as a re-
sult of her own industrious effoirts, and at the same
time she accumulated sufficient to provide for her-
self and sister so that now, in their advancing years,
they are comfortably and pleasantly situated. Their
friends are many in the county where they have
always lived,
JOHN Q. DENNEY. It is a firmly established
fact that the great majority of men who have been
successful as manufacturers, and whose energy and
skill have hurried our nation to the front as a pro-
ducing people, have started at the bottom, round of
the ladder. Such a one is John Q. Denney, bom in
Chester county. Pa., Sept. 10, 1832. His father,
Samuel Denney, was born in England, and after his
marriage to Edith Dubree, also a native of that coun-
try, settled in Chester county, Pa., on a small farm,
to the cultivation of which he gave his time when
not following his trade, that of skilled mechanic. He
had never served an apprenticeship, yet so skillful
was he in the use of tools that he could make or
repair with accuracy any kind of machinery used in
the mills and furnaces of half a century ago. His
ability received more than local recognition, and he
was relied upon to repair breaks in machinery, and
correct errors of construction or mounting, in the
mills and furnaces for many miles around his home.
After his removal from the paternal roof-tree Mr.
Denney spent the remainder of his life on the farm
and that adjoining it, upon which he settled in the
Al|^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
305
early days, and there his death occurred in 1869. His
wife died in February, 1848.
John Q. Denney remained with his father until
he was twenty years old, acquiring such education
as could be obtained in the country schools. In the
meantime, his inherited mechanical skill had already
developed into practical utility, and he was employed
by Joshua Pusey to do the iron work in the refitting
of his flouring-mill. In so masterly a manner 'was
this task accomplished that Mr. Pusey brought his
promising workman to Columbia, where during the
winter of 1852 he invested the disabled machinery of
another Pusey mill with a new lease of life. The
mill completed, the tools, consisting of a lathe, side-
rest, chisels and hammers, were remoVed by Mr.
Pusey's son, Israel, to the Hughey & Bachman
planing-mill, in which the son had an interest, and
where Mr. Denney worked until 1853. His re-
sponsibility included not only keeping in repair the
planing-mill, but the general repair work of the blast
furnaces in and around Columbia.
In the spring of 1854 the firm of Smith, Rich-
ards & Co. was organized, to build the Shawnee
rolling mill, now known as the Columbia rolling mill,
for the manufacture of bar iron, and Mr. Denney
was induced to accept the position of master me-
chanic or superintendent of construction. The mill
was completed, and began operations in the early
summer of 1855, and in the latter part of 1856
changed its output from bar iron to iron rails, sup-
plying principally the Pennsylvania and Northern
Central railroads. The panic of 1857, which brought
ruin and failure to this company, as it did to so many
others throughout the country, resulted in Mr. Den-
ney's loss of position, but with characteristic courage
and resource he was not long in bringing out of chaos
a practical plan of action. From Samuel Trescott
and George Woolf he rented a machine shop at "the
Basin," and there carried on a general business,
doing work for the mills and furnaces in and around
Columbia. The destruction of the shop by fire in
1862 again made a change necessary, and in the
crisis Mr. Denney became superintendent of the
Maltby & Case rolling-mills, a position he held until
the spring of 1863. During that year he entered into
partnership with Col. Henry McCormick and John
Haldeman, and undertook the full management of
the Henry Clay furnace, near Columbia, Pa., which
was located between the Tunnel and Chickies. So
thoroughly satisfactory was his assumption of this
responsibility tliat at the end of the first six months
the profits had increased to astonishing proportions.
Mr. Denney remained in control of the furnace from
Oct. I, 1863, until 1869, and then turned over the
management to J. G. Hess, who had been taken into
partnership, he himself having entered into an agree-
ment with James McCormick, of Harrisburg, to
manage the Paxton furnace, and to build the Paxton
rolling-mills, for the manufacture of boiler and other
plate iron. In 1872 he built for the same parties
Paxton furnace No. 2, which he operated for many
20
years, and in 1891-92 built Paxton mill No. 2, intro-
ducing therein all improvements known at that time.
As superintendent of these mills Mr. Denney carried
on the work successfully, and to the profit of all con-
cerned. In the meantime he had become identified
with various other enterprises, one of which was the
York rolling-mills, in which he was a third owner
with J. W. Stacey and Michael Schall. After a
number of years of successful operation this concern
acquired the Aurora furnace, which was recon-
structed, and operated in conjunction with the York
rolling-mills in manufacturing pig iron for the use
of their own mills. A company had also been formed
consisting of Mr. Denney, J. W. Stacey, Michael
Schall and John Keller, which purchased and re-
constructed for the manufacture of skelp-iron the
Shawnee mills, at Columbia, Pa., and operated the
same under the corporate name of the Columbia Roll-
ing Mills Company. As president of the company
Mr. Denney upheld his former enviable reputa-
tion as a manager, and so profitable was the venture
that after a few years the company purchased and
reconstructed the Vestry furnace, at Watts Station,
near Marietta, Pa., in which they manufactured pig
iron to supply the Columbia rolling-mills. About
this time a corporation known as the Schall, Stacey
& Denney Company was formed, with a capital of
$240,000, and with Mr. Denney as president. This
concern purchased from the firm of Schall, Stacey
& Denney the York rolling-mills and the Aurora
furnace, both of which were operated for many
years. After the death of Mr. Schall the name of
the company was changed to the Stacey & Denney
Company, and as such continued operations until
1898, when the company disposed of their aggregate
properties, including the Columbia rolling-mills, to
the Susquehanna Iron & Steel Company. Until 1901
Mr. Denney, who was a director and heavy stock-
holder, assumed the management of the new com-
pany after which he retired from active business, as
compensation for a long and esteemed business
career.
Mr. Denney was one of the incorporators of the
Columbia Trust Company, and is one of its directors,
as well as one of its largest stockholders, and he is
also a stockholder and director in the Norway Iron
& Steel Company, of York, Pa. He was one of the
first to advocate an electric street car service in Har-
risburg, and he was for twelve years president and
manager of the trolley system in the State capital.
In the latter capacity he had full charge of the con-
struction of the road of which his son, James M.
Denney, was engineer.
From the beginning Mr. Denney has been as-
sociated with the political party which sprang into
existence beneath the oaks at Jackson, Mich., but
although an ardent Republican he has never had
official aspirations.
On Nov. 6, 1856, Mr. Denney married Rachel
Mathiot, who was born in Columjjia, Pa., Nov. 19,
1837, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Mathiot, and
306
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
to that union have come the following children : " De-
witt C, born Sept. 25, 1857; Edith, born Aug. 8,
1859 ; Cora, born Sept. 16, 1867 (died June 9, 1870) ;
Franklin, born May i, 1862 (died Oct. 22, 1864) ;
James M., born July 16, 1869; and Thomas, born
Oct. I, 1872.
WILLIAM McELWAIN (deceased), in his
day a leading farmer of Colerain township, was
born there April 2, 1821, son of John and Rebecca
(Beyer) McElwain, both of whom were natives of
Lancaster county. John McElwain was a son of Pat-
rick and Mary (Campbell) McElwain, the former
of whom was born in County Donegal, Ireland, Oc-
tober 26, 1758, the latter in London. Patrick Mc-
wain came to this country when twenty-one years
of age. His wife came in childhood. He puchased
land from Jacob Rohrer, in Bart township, where
he lived and died, leaving the following children:
Agnes ; William ; John ; Dorothy, wife of Henry
Beyer; Mary, who married David Beyer; Jessie;
James ; Josiah ; David, "and Martha.
John McElwain, father of William, was a farmer
in Colerain township, where he died. He was twice
married, and by his first wife, Rebecca Beyer, had
four children : Daniel, deceased, whose children re-
side in the West ; William, mentioned below ; John
S., a resident of York county; and Robert B., de-
ceased, formerly a resident of Bart township, this
county, and the father of two daughters — Cornelia,
who married Elmer Lantz, of Chester county, and
Sylvania, wife of Pharez Lantz, who lives on her fa-
ther's homestead. John McElwain married, for his
second wife, Eliza Kerr, by whom he had one
daughter, Eliza, the wife of James Wise, of York
county.
William McElwain made his home on a place
bought from William Eckert, in Colerain township,
which he developed into a fine farm. He was wide-
ly known in his section of the county, and enjoyed
a creditable standing all his life. He married Mary
Beyer, who was born in Bartville, April 5, 1832,
daughter of David and Mary Beyer, and who died
in 1890. Mr. McElwain lived with his daughters,
Ella and Amanda, until his death, in 1895, and they
were faithful and devoted, looking to his every need
and comfort. During his lifetime Mr. McElwain ac-
quired four valuable farms, on which his children are
now located. Mr. McElwain and his wife belonged
to the Presbyterian Church, with which the family
has always been associated, and in which he served
as elder many years, during the most trying period
of its existence, and he was always found faithful in
the discharge of his duties. His son, J. E., took up
liis father's church work and office, when the latter
gave them up. Mr. McElwain in political faith, was
a stanch Republican from the formation of the
party, an ardent supporter of the Union cause, and
during the period of the Civil war, when so much
uncertainty existed about the stability of the Union,
he was one of the few who had the confidence to
come to his country's aid with funds, investing
largely, and urging his friends to do likewise. Mr.
McElwain and Thomas Beyer were the only, sup-
porters of Fremont in Colerain township in 1856.
Our subject is remembered as a man of kind and
tested character, and his place among the good men
of his day is secure.
Mr. and Mrs. McElwain were the parents of
seveh children, (i) Martha A. McElwain was a
student at the private school of Thomas Baker, and
at Parkesburg Seminary, Tvhere all this family were
educated; she married William J. Ingraham, and
lives in Fulton township. They have seven chil-
dren, William A., Mary M., wife of C. C. Aument,
Nellie A., la L., Zaidee, Hattie M. and J. E.
(2) M. Amanda McElwain, who taught school
very successfully for two years, part of the time as
instructor in mathematics under her old principal,
J. Morgan Rawlins, at Parkesburg, makes her home
with her sister Ella, on their farm in Colerain town-
ship.
(3) J. B.' McElwain married Miss Susan J.,
daughter of Thomas McClure, of Bart township,
and has his home in lower Oxford, Chester county,
where he is engaged in farming; he has two chil-
dren, Roy E. and Mary I.
(4) William E. McElwain married Elizabeth
Heyberger, of Bart township, and has his home on
the farm purchased by his father in East Drumore
township. He has two children, Mary I. and
W. G. H.
(5) Josiah E. McElwain was born on the old
homestead, where he still resides. He married Miss
Sallie Cain, of Chester county, and they have one
son, Madison E. Mr. McElwain graduated from
the Millersville State Normal School, and was a
teacher in Lancaster county for several years.
(6) Ella R. McElwain received a good educa-
tion in the home schools, but on account of poor
health was denied the advantages of study else-
where, which her brothers and sisters had enjoyed.
She and her sister are known as women of superior
character. They are deeply interested in Christian
Endeavor work, and attended the conventions held at
Boston (1895) ^^^ ^'^an Francisco (1897).
(7) Clara L. McElwain died in childhood.
GEORGE H. WITMER. Among the well-
known and highly esteemed citizens of Providence
township is George H. Witmer, now living retired
in his pleasant home in New Providence, who was
born eighty-three years ago, on Jan. 6, 1820, in West
Lampeter township, son of Jacob and Sarah (Le-
fever) Witmer.
Great-grandfather Jacob Witmer came to Amer-
ica from Switzerland and, as was the custom, worked
for a man in Philadelphia until he had paid his pass-
age money. He was the founder of the Witmer fam-
ily in Pennsylvania. John Witmer was the grand-
father of George H. and he had a family of children
as follows: Jacob; Barbara, who married Jacob
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
307
Barge; Nancy, who married Christian Shaub, all
of these having passed away long since. Jacob Wit-
mer, tfie father of George H., was a farmer and
married Sarah Lefever and they had a family of ten
children, namely: (i) Hettie married Jacob Fritz
and had six children ; (2) George H. married first
Annie Paoler (by whom he had seven children)
and second Martha Rhoads; (3) Susan married
Jacob Herr and had fourteen children; (4)
Sarah married first Abraham Groff and sec-
ond Amos Herr; (5) Aaron, deceased,
married Mary Ann Herr, who bore him six
children; (6) Jacob, unmarried, -is at home;
(7) Martin married first Elizabeth Huber, who had
five children, and second Mary Mowre^, who had
six children ; (8) John died at the age of two years ;
(9) Annie died when only three years old, and (10)
Neoma only lived four years. Both father and
mother lived long and useful lives, the former, born
in 1792, died in 1864, while the latter, born in 1798,
survived until 1890. They belonged to_ the Old Men-
nonite religion and were most honorable and re-
spected people.
George H. Witmer grew up on his father's farm
and went to the old time school when his services
were not required at home. He remained with his
father until he was twenty-five years of age, and
when he started to grapple with the world for him-
self it was as a poor young man. However, he had
energy and perseverance and as the years went by
each one made him more independent until by the
time age overtook him he was ready to retire from
work and enjoy the fruits of his industry. Mr. Wit-
mer owns a fine farm of ninety-six acres of excellent
land, with fine improvements, and in addition to
this, his residence property in New Providence.
He has the satisfaction of knowing that he is re-
garded with respect and esteem in his community
and that each neighbor is a friend as well. Mr. Wit-
mer enjoys fine health both in body and mind and
takes a deep interest in all current events. In politics
he is a Republican. For fifty years he has been a
member of the Mennonite Church and his life has
reflected the kind and charitable teachings of this
religious body.
In 1844 Mr. Witmer was married (first) to Miss
Annie Paoler, daughter of John Paoler, of Prov-
idence township, who died July 19, 1866. She bore
him seven children, namely : Sarah, born Nov. 29,
1847, married Abraham Root, of East Hemp-
field, bearing him four children; Susan, born
April 21, 1850, married' Amos Brenneman, of Stras-
burg township. They have five children; Emma,
born April 7, 1852, married Elam Hoover, of West
Lampeter township. They too had five children;
Elizabeth, born June 24, 1854, at home; Leah, born
Nov. II, 1856, married B. Frank Baldwin, of Stras-
burg township. Their children number six; Jacob
Elmer, born Feb. 3, 1864, married Lizzie Herr and
died March 25, 1901, leaving a family of four chil-
dren; John died at the age of four years. Mr.
Witmer married (second) Miss Martha Rhoads, of
Providence township, April 3, 1873, daughter of
John and Susan (Miller) Rhoads, of Strasburg
township, no children being born td this marriage.
Until 1890 Mr. Witmer and wife resided on the
old farm, but at that time they retired to their pleas-
ant home in New Providence, where they are held
in high esteem and where they have many warm,
personal friends.
SAMUEL M. WETZEL, a retired cabinet-
maker and farmer of Lancaster, now resid-
ing at a pleasant home at No. 536 East King street,
was born on the square adjoining his present resi-
dence, March 15, 1829, a son of John C. and Cath-
erine (Zeahmer) Wetzel, the father being a native
of Germany, and the mother of Lancaster, Penn-
sylvania.
John C. Wetzel came to this country with his
mother and a,brother and sister in 1803. For a few
years, he resided in Lancaster, whence he went to
Reading, Pa., with Dr. Otto ; there he remained for
several years, but returned to Lancaster, and learned
the trade of a shoemaker. Here he married, fol-
lowed his trade in the winter and during the summer
worked on his farm of seventeen acres, which is now
occupied by the city of Lancaster. The farm ex-
tended on East King street, the lower part of Mar-
shall, Franklin and Chester streets running through
ithe same, and it reached Ann street by point. In
1857 the father died, aged sixty-six years, and his
wife died March 18, 1876, aged seventy-eight years.
Both are buried in Lancaster cemetery. They were
members of the German Reformed Church. For
many years he was a member of the city council.
The children born to this union were : Mary A., de-
ceased, married William T. Baumberger ; Catherine
A., deceased, married Ezra Montgomery; John H.,
of Lancaster; Jacob, died in childhood; Charles,
died in infancy ; Samuel M. ; Elizabeth, deceased,
married Frederick Beates; Edward, deceased, mar-
ried Mary Dreppard; William T., deceased, mar-
ried Mary A. Lechler. The great-grandfather on
the mother's side was Anthony Zeahmer, who died
in Lancaster. The grandparents on the maternal
side were Henry and Anna (Shreiner) Zeahmer,
and the grandfather was a distiller of Lancaster.
Until he was eighteen years of age, Samuel M.
Wetzel worked at home, attending school as the op-
portunity offered, but at that time he began to learn
the trade of cabinetmaker, which calling he followed
with marked success the remainder of his life. At
first, he pursued it in Lancaster, but later removed
to Clearfield Co., Pa., where he remained six years,
when he was called home by the illness of his father.
Without considering his own affairs, this good son
hastened to his parents, assumed the duties of the
farm and tenderly cared for them until their death.
For some years, he continued to farm the homestead,
but is now retired from active life. Mr. Wetzel is a
member of the Red Men and the K. of P. In poli-
308
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
tics, he is a staunch Republican and takes a deep and
abiding interest in all measures calculated to ad-
vance the welfare of the community. Although ad-
vanced in years, Mr. Wetzel is very active for his
age and takes pride in his good health and unim-
paired faculties. He has never married, but his fire-
side is not lonely for he has made so many friends in
the neighborhood that he is accounted one of the
most popular residents of this locality, while all rec-
ognize his sterling traits of character and unim-
peachable honesty of purpose.
JOSEPH COAXES WALKER, president of
the Gap National Bank, senior member of the well-
known firm of Joseph C. Walker & Son, is not only
one of the most substantial and reliable business men
of southern Lancaster county, but is a leading citi-
zen of Gap, his home, which through many years has
benefited by his public spirit and liberal generosity.
Mr. Walker was born in Sadsbury township,
Lancaster county, April 4, 1832, son of Asahel and
Sarah T. (Coates) Walker, the former of whom was
a native of Sadsbury township, and the latter of
Cain township, Chester county. Asahel Walker was
a man of substance and prominence, was an exten-
sive farmer, owning some 300 acres of valuable
land, and efficiently filled many offices of trust and
responsibility in his locality, for many years serving
as a justice of the peace. He was known in his
vicinity for his conscientious opposition to the Ma-
sonic fraternity. He belonged to the Society of
Friends, and was laid to rest in the shadow of the
old meeting-house in Sadsbury township, his death
occurring in December, 1856, when he was aged
sixty-eight years. His widow, who was born in
1793, survived until May, 1869, and was laid by his
side in the old Quaker cemetery. Their children
were as follows : Anna married W. P. Cooper, and
both have passed out of life; Susan (deceased) mar-
ried Moses Pownall; Phoebe (deceased) married her
brother-in-law, W. P. Cooper; Sarah (deceased)
married Sylvester D. Limballe ; Samuel (deceased)
married Sarah L. Haines ; Asahel C. married and
died in New Mexico ; Joseph C. is mentioned below ;
Mary A. is the widow of Alfred Ellmaker, of Gap ;
Margrette is the wife of Frank Pennpck, of Phila-
delphia.
It is in a manner easy to attribute some of the
qualities which have made Mr. Walker so estimable
and useful a citizen to a most honorable ancestry,
which the biographer finds was thoroughly identi-
fied with the religious and educational, as well as
the commercial and agricultural, advancement of the
sections in which they found a home, in 1680 Lewis
Walker, a man of parts, a friend of William Penn,
came from England, where his religious views were
interfered with, and permanently settled in Mont-
gomery county, Pa., buying a large tract of the rich
land lying in what was known as Great Valley.
There he reared a family. He was succeeded by his
son Isaac, who was also an extensive agriculturist,
and whose large estate was left his heirs, one of
whom was Asahel, the grandfather of Joseph C.
Walker, of Gap.
Asahel Walker (i) married Anna Moore in
1770, in the old Sadsbury township meeting-house
near her home, and they began life together in Ad-
ams county". Pa., returning in 1788 to locate in Sads-
bury township. By trade he was a millwright, and
he erected the first mill which was built in this part
of the county, for his father-in-law, in 1765. This
building still stands, the old stone mill near Chris-
tiana, Pa., being an object of historic interest in that
locality. His later days were spent in agricultural
pursuits, his farm consisting of 250 acres. He
passed away in 1838, at the advanced age of ninety-
four years, after a quiet, useful and benevolent life.
His wife, born in 1749, died in 1823. Both were
members of the Society of Friends, and he was a
minister of the Gospel. Their children were as fol-
lows : Isaac ; Anna, who married John Moore ;
Sarah, who married George Cooper; Mary, who
married Andrew Moore ; and Asahel, the father of
Joseph C, previously mentioned.
On the maternal side, the grandfather of Mr.
Walker was Samuel Coates, who carried on farming
all his life in Chester county, and whose name was
connected with much of the enlightened advance-
ment of his section. He was a son of Moses Coates,
who was of English extraction, and who long was
a respected resident of Phoenixville, Chester county.
He was a descendant of the Coates family who first
settled in or near Baltimore, Maryland.
It has been more than once noted that a farm has
been the early home of almost every prominent man
in our country's history, and such was the case with
Joseph C. Walker. Until he reached his majority
he remained on the farm, acquiring his education in
the district schools and at Unionville Academy, in
Chester county. His first entrance into the business
world was as a clerk in the employ of Baker & Hop-
kins, in Gap. Col. Joseph B. Baker, the head of the
firm at that time, 1853, was the superintendent of
the Philadelphia & Columbia railroad, then owned by
the State, but now the Philadelphia division of the
main line of the Pennsylvania railroad. There Mr.
Walker remained for a period of two years, going
then to Christiana, where he engaged for the two
succeeding years in a general mercantile business,
operating in this connection a business in grain and
feed.
Upon his return to Gap, in 1857, where he de-
cided to make his home, Mr. Walker embarked in
the mercantile business, purchasing from his former
employers their business plant, and he has the dis-
tinction of being one of the oldest merchants on the
line of the Pennsylvania railroad between Harris-
burg and Philadelphia. As years went on, through
his public-spirited efforts, the hamlet grew to its
present proportions and prosperity, and his business
growth was commensurate with other advancement.
In 1885 he erected his great brick grain elevator,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
309
and the bulk of the business done in this locaHty in
grain, feed, coal and lumber is carried on by the
well-known, reliable firm of Joseph C. Walker & Son.
In 1883 financial conditions seemed to assure the
success of a properly managed National bank at this
point, and Mr. Walker was one of its principal or-
ganizers. He was made its president, B. Maurice
Herr its cashier, and from the bank's comparative
statement of its condition on June 30, 1899, we find
that its loans and discounts at that time amounted
to $198,710.81; its surplus and net profits, $30,-
716.49; and its deposits, $159,645.50; while its sur-
plus and undivided profits were $30,716.44; the
amount paid to stockholders in dividends, $35,-
500.00; and the total net profits from its organiza-
tion, $66,216.49. This remarkable showing is a
testimony to the careful and conservative yet suc-
cessful course followed by its eminent president.
Aside from his duties already mentioned, Mr.
Walker has found time to take a deep interest in all
the public afl'airs and enterprises of his little city.
In 1893 he was a member of the Pennsylvania Board
of World's Fair Managers, Chicago, serving as
chairman of one of the committees of that board.
For four years he served as postmaster ; for six years
gave his time on the school board as one of the effi-
cient and careful directors, with the result that no
locality in the county has better school equipments ;
and for a period of five years served the good peo-
ple of Gap as a just justice of the peace. For thirty-
five years he has been an active member of the Com-
mercial Exchange of Philadelphia, and has served
on its board of directors. At the outbreak of the
Spanish war he was appointed, by Gov. Hastings,
on the Board of Commissioners of Pennsylvania to
examine into the condition of fortresses and needs
of defense on the Eastern Coast, acting with like
boards from the other States. Mr. Walker is noted
for his sterling personal as well as political honesty,
his affiliation in the latter direction being with the
Republican party. He is a man whom Nature en-
dowed with extraordinary energy and business ca-
pacity, and in conjunction gave him the honesty of
his Quaker ancestry.
In fraternal life Mr. Walker is connected with
the Masons. He has long been a leading member of
and liberal contributor to the Presbyterian Church,
encouraging its spheres of usefulness in every pos-
sible direction. His manner possesses the polish of
the social world, and he numbers his friends by the
number of those who make his acquaintance. In
Gap he has long been regarded in the light of a pub-
lic benefactor.
On March 13, 1856, Mr. Walker-was united in
marriage with Miss Lucy H. Ellmaker, and children
as follows have been born to this union : E. Enfield,
who is his father's efficient partner in business, mar-
ried Miss Nancy McCullough, and their two chil-
dren bear the names of Joseph and Margaret ; Miss
Sarah W. and Miss Susan P. are both at home ; Jo-
seph'C. is deceased; William J. L. is a student in
college. Mrs. Walker is a native of Leacock town-
ship, a daughter of Esaias E. Ellmaker, and a sister
of Watson Ellmaker, of Lancaster.
DAVID F. HARNISH, whose home is in Man- '
heim township, a mile and a half north of Lancaster,
belongs to an old family, and worthily wears an hon-
ored name. Born in Conestoga township, Aug. 9,
1836, he is a son of David and Susan (Forrey)
Harnish. The father was born in Conestoga town-
ship, in 1803, where he was reared, and was married
in 1824. Purchasing a farm in Manheim township
(in 1838) which contained 160 acres, and was
known as the old Sworr homestead, he devoted his
life to its cultivation. This farm now belongs to
David F. Harnish. Here the elder Harnish lived
until about two years before his death, when he
bought a property in Petersburg, to which he
moved, and there he died in 1896, at ninety-three
years of age. Always a farmer, he was a very suc-
cessful man. In the Mennonite Church, with which
he was associated from early life, he was much es-
teemed for his genuine character and manly worth.
His children were as follows: Fannie, now de-
ceased, who married Jacob Harnish; Jacob, a resi-
dent of Peterburg; Elizabeth, the widow of Henry
B. Rohrer, of Petersburg ; Daniel, a resident of
Manheim township ; David F. ; Sarah, the wife of
Henry Harnish, of Conestoga ; Leah, the widow of
John Brubaker, of Freeport, 111. ; Anna, who died in
youth ; and two children, who died in early child-
hood.
David F. Harnish was reared on the farm and
educated in the public schools. When he was twen-
t)'-eight years of age he began for himself on the
farm where his home has been maintained to the
present time. On this farm he has made many sub-
stantial improvements, and has devoted his labors
to general farming.
Mr. Harnish was married, in 1865, to Miss IS/lar-
tha, a daughter of Christian Huber, of West Lam-
peter township, long since passed to his reward.
Mr. and Mrs. Harnish are the parents of the follow-
ing children : Christian, a farmer of Leacock town-
ship ; Susan, the wife of George Kendig, of Pequea
township; David, a resident of East Hempfield
township ; Aaron ; Ida ; John, the last three being all
at home.
Mr. Harnish has filled the office of school direc-
tor in Manheim township, and is a member of the
Church of God, while his wife belongs to the Men-
nonite Church. They are good people, and have been
industrious and upright through their useful years.
WAYNE BARE, one of the venerable farmer
citizens of East Lampeter township, was born June
5, 1822, in Bareville, Lancaster county. He is a de-
scendant of a family whose members have for years
been among the most honored residents of the coun-
ty, being a grandson of Andie Bare. The latter was
born in Lancaster county, and spent his entire life
310
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
there. He kept hotel at Bareville for some years,
was also distiller and farmer, and was a very suc-
cessful man, owning three farms adjoining. He
married a Miss Diller, and they were the parents of
■ four children : Polly, Mrs. Bare ; Julia A., wife of
Michael Johns ; Liddie, wife of Henry Good ; and
Adam, the father of our subject.
Adam Bare was born in 1784, at Bareville, Up-
per Leacock township. He succeeded his father in
the hotel at Bareville and he was also a distiller and
farmer. He died in 1877. Adatn Bare was one of
the prominent men of his day. He was sheriff of
Lancaster county, in 1832, and served as county
commissioner for some time. He married Miss
Sarah Graybill, and they were the parents of eight
children, one of whom died in childhood ; Wayne is
our subject: Elias, deceased, was a drover and farm-
er at Bareville; Caroline is the wife of Samuel
Groff; Diller resides in Philadelphia; Catherine is
the wife of Levi Groff ; Adam, deceased, wais a car-
penter, in Alabama; John, deceased, lived in Cali-
fornia.
Wayne Bare obtained his education in the com-
mon schools of the county and lived at home until
he was twenty-six years of age. He then began
farming for himself, in Lancaster county, Leacock
township, and continued there twenty-four years. In
1873 he purchased a farm in Leacock, which he sold
in 1882, and then purchased the place where he now
resides, and which he has since conducted. In pol-
itics Mr. Bare is a Republican, and he was inspector
of elections for three years. By a life of industry and
upright living he has won the esteem of all who know
him, and has well sustained the high reputations
borne by all members of the Bare family. He is a
member of the Old Mennonite Church.
Mr. Bare wedded Miss Mary Landis and to this
union were born seven children, one of whom died
in infancy ; John L. is a farmer in Leacock township ;
Sarah is the wife of Henry C. Kurts ; Emma is the
wife of Benjamin D. Rohrer ; Milton is a farmer in
Leacock township; Ida is the wife of Whitmore
Rohrer ; and Wayne L. is a farmer of East Lampeter
township.
JOHN LANDAU (deceased), who was one of
the leading men of Lancaster, Pa., was born Aug.
16, 1831, in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, and died
in Lancaster, Pa., in August, 1901, and is interred in
the Zion Lutheran cemetery.
The parents of John Landau, Peter and Eliza-
beth Landau, were natives of Germany, where they
lived and died, the demise of the father occurring in
1 886, when he had attained the age of eighty-six
years, and the mother passing away in 1840, aged
forty-four years. By occupation, the father was a
tailor. The following family was born to this union :
Peter, a shoemaker of Germany ; Margaret E., who
married Adam Hirsh, of Germany ; John, a farmer ;
K. Elizabeth, widow of Peter Kiesner, of Mt. Joy,
Pa. ; Barbara E., who died in Germany, and was the
wife of Peter Bach, a machinist ; and Catherine, who
married a Mr. Fisher, of Germany.
John Landau came to the United States in 1854,
settling in Lampeter township, where he engaged in
farnjing until 186 1, when he located in the city of
Lancaster and there took up gardening, which he
successfully pursued until hi death. By his industry,
thrift and excellent business management, Mr. Lan-
dau not only made a success of his work, but also ac-
cumulated considerable property, and at the time of
his death owned seven good houses and other hold-
ings. Fraternally he was a member of the order of
Red Men, in which he took an active interest. His
religious connections were with the St. Stephen's
Lutheran Church, of which he was one of the or-
ganizers, in 1874, and where he served as elder and
trustee for many years. Socially, he was a member
of Liederkranz Society, of which he was treasurer
for the last six years of his life. Mr. Landau viewed
the political field from the Democratic standpoint,
and was a staunch supporter of the candidates of
that party. In every relation of life, Mr. Landau
proved himself an honest, worthy, whole-souled
man, faithful to his duties and devoted to his family.
In him Lancaster lost a representative citizen and
one who had done much, in his quiet way, to advance
its interests.
On Jan. 11, 1857, Mr. Landau was married in
Lancaster to Barbara E. Dietz, and the following
family was born to this union: (i) Margaret E.,
married to Edward M. Stone, a Lancaster watch-
maker, who settled in Waltham, Mass., dying in
1891. (2) Mary A., married to John W. Rushton,
also a watchmaker of Waltham, Mass.^ who was
born in England but came to America; when four
years old. (3) Anna K., married Harry C. Au-
ment, a painter, a native of Lancaster county, where
his family had long lived, his grandmother, Mrs.
Clark, dying there in 1890, at the age of one hun-
dred years and eleven days. (4) Jacob,, a carpenter
of Lancaster, Pa., who served two years as a police-
man under Mayor Schissler. He married Anna,
daughter of John Z. Thomas, a native of Monmouth-
shire, England, who came to America when a young
man and served through the Civil war as first lieu-
tenant of Co. F, igsth P. V. I. (5) John P., unmar-
ried, and living at home; a watchmaker. (6) Will-
iam C, a watchmaker of Waltham, Mass., married
Lucy E. M. McGregor, who was born in Glasgow,
Scotland.
Mrs. Landau was born in Hessen-Darmstadt,
Germany, in January, 1838, daughter of Peter and
Barbara (Landau) Dietz, also of Germany. The
parents of Mrs. Landau came to America in 1854,
settling six years later in Lancaster City, Pa., where
the father was a gardener. His death occurred in
1896, when he was eighty-six, and the mother died
in 1889, aged seventy-seven ; both are buried in Zion
cemetery, having been members of the Zion Luth-
eran Church. Mr. Dietz, like his son-in-law, was an
organizer of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church and later
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
811
an elder and trustee. Their children were : (i) Anna
K., died in 1898, married John Stamm; (2) Barbara
E., married John Landau; (3) Margaret E., mar-
ried William G. Rapp.
ABRAHAM W. STEHMAN, whose home-
stead is in the borough of Marietta, Lancaster Co.,
Pa., but whose place of business is on Light street,
Baltimore, Md., is a native of Conestoga township,
Lancaster Co., Pa., and was born in 1839. His par-
ents, Tobias B. and Ann (Gamber) Stehman, were
respectively born in Conestoga and West Hempfieild
townships, in the same county, and were the parents
of two children : Jacob G., M. D., who died in New
Orleans, La., in 1864; and Abraham W., whose
name opens this biography.
Tobias B. Stehman was a farmer by calling, but
in 1847 retired to Marietta, where he passed forty-
three years of his long life, dying at the home of his
son, Abraham W., in 1890, at the age of eighty-
three years. His wife had passed away in 1862, at
the age of forty-eight. Both were members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, although later in life
they became Presbyterians.
Abraham W. Stehman was^ brought to Marietta
in 1847 hy his parents and here attended the district
schools, and later for three years was a pupil in Prof.
James P. Wickersham's academy. In i860 he en-
gaged for a few years in the coal business at Marietta
in partnership with his cousin, Samuel H. Brown,
and was then appointed ticket and freight agent in
the same borough for the Pennsylvania Railroad
Co., and held the position until 1864.
In July, 1864, Mr. Stehman enlisted in Co. D,
195th P. V. I., was mustered in at Harrisburg, and
was detailed for clerical work at Baltimore, Md., in
the mustering and disbursing office, having been
mustered out of field service at Harrisburg, three
months after enlistment. After his discharge from
the army, he re-entered the same office and clerked
for fourteen months, and was then commissioned
deputy internal revenue collector for Baltimore, in
which capacity he served for thirteen years — eight
as chief deputy. He then resigned to engage in the
stove jobbing and manufacturing trade with B. C.
Bibb, who had become his father-in-law, and the
firm was known until 1885 as B. C. Bibb & Son,
when it was incorporated and Mr. Bibb made presi-
dent and Mr. Stehman general manager and treas-
urer.
The marriage of Mr. Stehman took place in Bal-
timore, in 1878, when he was united with Miss
Catherine Amanda Bibb, daughter of Bentley C.
and Amanda M. Bibb, natives, respectively, of Vir-
ginia and Baltimore, Md. Mr. Bibb at times, as may
well be surmised from the foregoing statements,
was a wholesale jobber and manufacturer of stoves
and employed 100 men. .He died in June, 1894,
since which date Mr. Stehman has been president of
the company. Mr. and Mrs. Bibb were the parents
of five children, of whom only two now survive —
Mrs. Stehman and Mrs. Walton Saunders, whose
husband is a retired physician of San Francisco,
Cal.' To Mr. and. Mrs. Stehman no children have
been born. In politics Mr. Stehman is a true Re-
publican. He continues to maintain his home in Ma-
rietta, whither he resorts each summer and fall to
rest. His circumstances in life are most comfort-
able and his wealth is the result of his personal at-
tention to his business affairs and his superior busi-
ness ability.
FRANKLIN J. HECKLER, for many years the
well-known assistant yardmaster for the Pennsyl-
vania Railway Company at Columbia, was born in
Bedford, Dauphin Co., Pa., Dec. 16, 1833, a son of
Jacob Heckler. The father was a native of Germany
and came to this country when a young man. He
made his home m Columbia, Pa., from 1835 to
■1852, and then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and later
to Louisville, Ky., where he died in 1862, at the age
of sixty-five years. In his family were five children,
of whom Franklin J. is the youngest, the others be-
ing Christiana, widow of Mr. Shaffer and a resident
of Louisville, Ky. ; Mary, wife of Mr. Galich, of the
same city: Louisa, who died young, and Catherine;
wife of Mr. Smith, of Covington, Kentucky. '
Franklin J. Heckler was not three years old
when brought by his parents to Columbia, where he
grew to manhood, and he was married in Lancaster,
Dec. 16, 1866, to Letitia Santee, by whom he had
two children, namely: Elizabeth S., who died in
childhood ; and Franklin J., Jr., a druggist of Phil-
adelphia.
Mrs. Heckler was born in Columbia, Nov. 17,
1837, ^ daughter of John and Elizabeth (Fordney)
Santee, the former a native of Wilkesbarre, Pa.,
the latter of Baltimore, Md. Her paternal grand-
parents, Isaac and Rachel (McNeil) Santee, were
natives of France, and on their immigration to
America first settled in Connecticut. The maternal
grandparents, William and Rachel W. (Ware)
Fordney, were born in Norfolk, Va., and spent sev-
eral years in Baltimore, Md., where the latter died.
Mr. Fordney later came to Columbia, Pa., which
continued to be his home until death. Mrs. Heck-
ler's parents were married in Lancaster, Pa., and in
181 7 took up their residence in Columbia, where
they inade their home until 1840 and then moved to
Wilkesbarre. At one time the father was very
wealthy, owning and operating large coal mines, but
unfortunately lost all his property. While in Wilkes-
barre on a visit, he was stricken with paralysis and
died in 1851, leaving three children, name}y : James,
who was killed while riding on a railway train ; Ra-
chel E., deceased wife of John F. Gebhart, and Mrs.
Heckler, who died Aug. 19, 1902, in Columbia, Pa.
Mrs. Santee was twice married, her first husband be-
ing Charles Lochard, by whom she had six children :
Samuel, deceased ; Sophia, widow of Jeremiah Brow
and a resident of Columbia, Pa. ; Charles, who died
in Cincinnati, Ohio; Hannah, who married Martin
312
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Irbin and died in Columbia, Pa. ; William, who died
in Philadelphia, and Ann E., widow of Thomas
Groom and a resident of Columbia. For the long
period of fifty-eight years, Mrs. Santee lived in the
same house in Columbia, and there died in 1876, at
the age of seventy-eight years.
At the age of sixteen years, Mr. Heckler com-
menced learning the shoemaker's trade, at which he
worked for two years and a half. He then entered
the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
and after serving as brakeman for a year and a half
was promoted to flagman, which position he held
for the same length of time. During the following
five years he was a conductor on the road, and from
July, 1869, served as assistant yardmaster at Colum-
bia, with credit to himself and to the entire satis-
faction of the company. He died Jan. 11, 1902.
In his social relations Mr. Heckler was an Odd Fel-
low and in his political views was a Republican.
He and his wife were numbered among the progres-
sive and well-informed citizens of Columbia, were
widely and favorably known, and their circle of
friends seemed only limited by their circle of ac-
quaintances, for all who knew them appreciated
their sterling worth and many excellencies of char-
acter.
HON. H. BURD CASSEL. Among the promi-
nent men of Lancaster county who have, through
sterling worth and business acumen of a high order,
acquired and held honorable positions as business
men and statesmen, we find the name of H. Burd
Cassel, who was born in Marietta, Pa., Oct. 19,
1855. He comes from one of the first families of the
county, where his ancestors have been residents for
four or five generations. On the paternal side he is
of German descent, while on his mother's side he is
of German and French extraction. His grandfather,
Henry Cassel, was interested in the lumber business,
as well as numerous other enterprises, and was one
of the incorporators of the old Marietta Bank. On
his death he was laid to rest in the family burying
ground near Marietta.
Abram N. Cassel, father of H. Burd, was born
in Marietta borough in January, 18 10. He learned
the hatter's trade in his youth, and during his twen-
tieth year started in business for himself at his birth-
place, continuing some twenty years. At the expira-
tion of that time he embarked in the lumber business.
He was held in high esteem by the people of his bor-
ough and district, and was their representative in
different offices and positions. For three terms he
served his district in the State Legislature, where
his career was most commendable. He was one of
the first advocates of the public school system, and
was a member of the school board and town council
a number of terms. Until the organization of the
Republican party, in 185$, he was a Whig, but
thereafter and until his death he was a member and
warm supporter of the new party. In county con-
ventions and in local political meetings he was a
prominent figure for many years. He was one of
the incorporators of the Lancaster & Marietta Pike
Co., and was its president. Religiously he held
membership with the Presb)'terian Church, and was
one of its elders for many years. By his marriage
with Mary J. Stahl he was blessed with two chil-
dren: George L., a practicing physician of Lan-
caster; and H. Burd, whose name introduces these
lines. Mr. Cassel died Dec. 28, 1895.
The early years of H. Burd Cassel were passed
in Marietta, and his education was obtained in the
public and private schools of that borough and
Columbia. Soon after the completion of his
studies he entered his father's office, and has since
been identified with the lumber trade. He also
owns and operates a retail lumber-yard in Mt. Joy,
and controls numerous mills throughout the State.
In 1888 was founded the present firm of A. N.
Cassel & Son, of which he became sole proprietor
upon the death of his father, in 1895, continuing
as such until Jan. i, 1902, when he admitted
his son, Howard N., to partnership. Previous
to the organization of the firm H. Burd had
long managed the business. Their trade, which
previous to 1888, was exclusively retail, is now
largely wholesale,' and everything in the line of
dealers' supplies is constantly kept on hand. The
trade of this firm in shingles alone is greater than
that of any other in the State. Much of the product
in this line is from the State of Washington, while
the lumber in which the firm deals comes from Can-
ada, the States of Washington and Florida, and, in
fact, from almost every State in the Union. Mr.
Cassel is president and receiver of the Marietta
Manufacturing Company, of which his son, Howard
N., is secretary and treasurer. In 1898 he was a
director in and president of the Marietta Gravity
Water Company ; is a director in the Home Build-
ing & Loan Association; has been treasurer of the
Pennsylvania Construction Company since 1894;
was president of the Lancaster Building & Loan As-
sociation from its organization in 1895 until 1900,
when he resigned on account of other business ; for
many years he has been secretary and treasurer of
the Pennsylvania Electric Company, and is also a
member of the Pennsylvania Monument Associa-
tion, of Philadelphia. For four successive terms
Mr. Cassel served as a member of the borough coun-
cil; was for two years chairman of the Republican
County Committee ; and in 1896 was a delegate to
the Republican National Convention held at St.
Louis. In T898 he was elected to the State Legisla-
ture, and so ably did he fill the position that his con-
stituents renominated him in 1900. As a further
proof of the people's confidence in his integrity and
ability he was elected, in November, 1901, to repre-
sent, in the Lower House of Congress, the district
so long and ably represented by the lamented Mar-
riott Brosius, and was re-elected in November, 1902,
for the LVIIIth Congress.
Mr. Cassel is a member of the Presbyterian
^i-'^^Zl-iZ^isZ-c- -^_
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
313
Church in Marietta, and one of its elders. For many
years he has been Sunday-school superintendent,
and was also president of the Lancaster County Sun-
day-school Association, and president of the Lan-
caster County Union of the Young People's Society
of Christian Endeavor.
On July 17, 1877, Mr. Cassel married Miss Mary
Ann Patterson, who was born in Mt. Joy, Pa.,
daughter of James and Mary Patterson. Their chil-
dren are Howard Nefif, M. Effie, Frances Patterson,
Henry and Walter Patterson.
LEWIS BRINTON (deceased), a worthy rep-
resentative of a family that has been well and favor-
ably known in Lancaster county and vicinity for
two centuries, was born on a part of the present
home of the family May 19, 1829, and there he died
May 26, 1883, aged fifty-four years and seven days.
He was a son of Samuel and Lydia P. Brinton, and
a brother of William P. Brinton, whose sketch ap-
pears elsewhere.
On April 17, 1856, in Beaver county. Pa., Lewis
Brinton was married, by the Rev. B. T. Critzlow, a
clergyman of the Presbyterian Church, to Mary
Bradley Boak, of New Brighton, of that county.
To this union were born: (i) Rilla W., born Jan.
10, 1857, was a cultured and noble woman, who died
April 18, 1892. (2) Charles Edgar, born March
25, i860, is a printer by trade, and lives in Phila-
delphia; he married Leah Conard, and has two
daughters, Edna Harvev and Mabel Boak. (3)
Walter, born Sept. 28, 1863, is a manufacturer of
Manganese steel, with the Taylor Iron and Steel
Co., at High Bridge, N. J. He is a highly skilled
worker in iron and two kinds of steel, having medals
and diplomas from several European countries, and
is much esteemed in business circles. He is now
serving his second term as mayor of High Bridge.
He married Elizabeth Ewing, of Chester, Pa., arid
has had five children, Elizabeth Ewing (deceased),
Rilla Crothers and Agnes Ewing (twins), Helen
Erskine and John Taylor. (4) Lydia Suseanna
Rigby, born Jan. 26, 1869, married Thomas W.
Jopson, of Germantown, Pa., a lawyer of considera-
ble ability, living at No. 523 Chestnut street, Phil-
adelphia ; they have four children, William Sidney,
Arthur Brinton, John Marshall and Elizabeth
Thomas.
Mrs. Mary Bradley (Boak) Brinton was born in
Boalsville, Beaver county, Oct. 29, 1839, a daughter
of John and Elizabeth (Eldridge) Boak. John
Boak was a fire-brick, clay and iron manufacturer,
and died Oct. 28, 1847, at the age of forty-five years.
His widow passed to her rest in February, 1890, at
the age of seventy-two years. They were members of
the Presbyterian Church and Society of Friends, re-
spectively. To them were born: William, died at
the age of eleven years and two months ; Mary Brad-
ley; Robert, a groceryman at Foster Brook, Pa.,
married Annie Powers, of Boston, Mass. ; Martha,
deceased, was twice married, her first husband being
John McPherson, and her second, J. Shepler, of
Greensburg, Pa. ; Samuel, a farmer and lumberman,
died in Center county; Elizabeth, deceased, mar-
ried George Karney, of Pittsburg, Pa. Both Samuel
and Robert served three years in the Union army
during the Civil war, and hold honorable discharges.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Brinton were
WilHam and Martha (Bradley) Boak, natives of Ire-
land, though married in Scotland. William Boak car-
ried on a distillery in Beaver county, and was a large
landowner in his day. He belonged to the Presbyte-
rian Church, and was a man of much prominence
in the community.
Lewis Brinton was reared on the farm where his
family still reside, until the age of twenty-five, when
he went to New Brighton, Beaver county, where for
three years he was engaged in the making of tubs,
buckets and wash boards. At the end of that period
he married, and located in Johnson county, Iowa,
where he was farming four years, when he sold his
farm and returned to the old homestead, and spent
the remainder of his life on the farm that had been
in the possession of the Brinton family for over 200
years, and which has now passed to his children as
the family estate.
Mr. Brinton was a member of the Masonic fra-
ternity, and in religion was a member of the Ortho-
dox Friends. In Sadsbury township, during his
active years, he was called upon to fill various local
offices, and was a deputy internal revenue collector,
township tax collector, and justice of the peace, re-
ceiving his commission from Governor Curtin. The
present family farm consists of nineteen acres,
though it consisted at one time of 180 acres. The
site of Christiana takes in the most of it.
JOHN R. RUSSEL, a retired hardware mer-
chant of Lancaster, Pa., and one of the prominent
and most highly esteemed citizens, was born Jan. 9,
i8r8, at Russelville, Chester Co., Pa., son of Francis
and Margaret (Whiteside) Russel, natives of Ches-
ter county. In 1820 Francis Russel moved to Lan-
caster county and settled near Gap, where he fol-
lowed a blacksmith's business through life. Hts
birth took place in 1783 and his death in 1859. His
wife survived him a few years, dying at the age of
eighty-two. Both were laid to rest in the cemetery
at Lancaster. They had these children born to
them : Hannah, wife of Samuel White ; Alexander ;
Eliza, who died unmarried; Rebecca, wife of John
Hastings ; Abraham ; George ; John R. ; Margaret,
wife of John Robinson; Isabella, who died single,
and Francis. The only survivors of this family are
John R. and George, the latter a. retired physician
in Detroit, Mich., with two sons prominent in busi-
ness life, one as the president of one of the largest
banks in Detroit, and the other as attorney for the
Michigan Central Railroad.
John R. Russel attended the district schools in
his youth and made himself useful to his father in
his shop, quickly learning the practical details of the
314
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
blacksmith business, so that when but thirteen years
of age he could perform many duties and by the time
he was fifteen had become so skilled a mechanic that
his father could safely leave a part of the business
to him. Until he was twenty-six years old he re-
mained associated with his father in the same shop,
operating on his own account from the age of twen-
ty-two. Later, in partnership with his brother Abra-
ham, he conducted a hardware business one and one-
half years, prior to moving to Stark county, Ohio, in
1844. Eight and one-half years later he returned to
Lancaster and opened up a hardware business which
he continued to operate until 1874, at which time he
retired from activity. Before moving to Ohio he be-
came prominent in public life and served on the city
council during 1842-3-4 and in later years was again
elected. Mr. Russel has always been a progressive
and public-spirited man and has shown his interest
in education by serving a number of terms as school
director.
In April, 1848, in Lancaster, Mr. Russel was
married to Elizabeth Zimmerman, who was bom on
the site of the present home, where she died in 1893,
at the age of seventy years, and was interred in the
Lancaster cemetery. She was a daughter of Hon.
John and Maria (Sheaft'er) Zimmerman, the. former
of whom was mayor of this city for two terms, op-
erated a large greenhouse here and was success-
fully engaged in the insurance business for a long
period. Mr. Zimmerman died in 1886, aged eighty-
eight years, his wife having died in 1881, aged sev-
enty-two years. Both were buried in the Lancaster
cemetery. They had these children : Elizabeth, de-
ceased ; Catherine died in 1884, unmarried ; Emanuel
died in 1847. The children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Russel were: Howard F., a carpenter, residing
w'ith his father, married Anna McPherson and four
of their eight children still survive; Anna M., de-
ceased ; Ella died in infancy, and Charles died at the
age of eleven years.
Mr. Russel has always been identified with the
Democratic party. For many years he served as
treasurer and as trustee in the Presbyterian Church,
of which religious body he has been a member since
youth. Few men of his age are more vigorous phys-
ically or mentally than Mr. Russel. His exemplary
life and his kind and genial dispostion have almost
defied Old Father Time and he seems very many
years younger than the calendar asserts. Mr. Russel
is much esteemed and counts his friends and well-
wishers by the score.
GEORGE REDSECKER, who is a retired mil-
ler, of Elizabethtown, Pa., was born in Dauphin
county, near the Lancaster county line, Jan. 20,
1829, and is a son of George and Catherine (Moyer)
Redsecker, both natives of Lancaster county. The
older Redsecker died in 1839, at the age of fifty
years, and his widow in 1859, at the age of sixty-six
years, both being buried in Mt. Tunnel cemetery.
He was a miller, a distiller and a farmer, and carried
on these industries for many yearsi in Dauphin coun-
ty, two miles from Elizabethtown, becoming very
wealthy. Both he and his wife were members of the
Reformed Church, and reared the following family :
(i) Abraham, a retired miller at Elizabethtown;
(2) Susan, the wife of A. Risser, at Paris, 111.; (3")
George, whose name introduces this article; (4)
Mary, tlie wife of Major J. Royer, of Lancaster, Pa. ;
(5) Sarah, the wife of John Risser, at Paris, 111.;
(6) Catherine, who died at the age of twenty-three
years.
George Redsecker was married, in Campbell-
town, Pa., in 1856, to Ann Clendenin, and to this
union were born the following children: (i) Miri-
am L., wife of H. G. Gingrich, a farmer and cattle
dealer of Lebanon county ; (2) Harvey S., died in
infancy; (3) Henry C, also died in infancy; (4)
Mary C, the wife of J. L. B. Miller, a telegraph op-
erator at Altopna, Pennsylvania.
Mr. _Redsecker came to Elizabethtown in com-
pany with his mother when he was only ten years
old, and with her he spent the ensuing ten years.
When he was twenty years old he entered a mill in
Dauphin county, two miles from Eliziabethtown, to
learn the trade of a miller under the instruction of
his brother, Abraham. For thirty-five years he con-
tinued in charge of the mill, making a wide reputa-
tion by his honesty and fair dealing. At the end of
that long career of marked industry and iiitegrity he
returned to Elizabethtown, and here he has since
lived a retired life.
Mr. Redsecker is a prominent member of the
I. O. O. F., in which he has been a representative in
the Grand Lodge. In. religion he is a member of the
Reformed Church, and in politics a Democrat.
The paternal grandparents of George Red-
secker were George and Susan (Reem) Redsecker,
both natives of Lancaster, residents of Elizabeth-
town, where the grandfather died in 1834, at the age
of sixty-five years, and his widow in 1841, at the age
of eighty-eight. They were buried in Mt. Tunnel
cemetery. Their children were: (i) George; (2)
Barbara, the wife of Robert Ross ; (3) Susan, the
wife of George Peters; (4) Elizabeth, the wife of
Philip Fisher; (5) Mary, the wife of Abraham
Breneman ; (6) Abraham — all being dead. George
Redsecker, the great-grandfather of the gentle-
man whose career forms the theme of this article.
Was buried with his wife in Mt. Tunnel cemetery,
their ashes having been removed from the burying
ground of the old Reformed Church on the Ridge
in West Donegal township.
The maternal grandparents of Mr. Redsecker
were Alexander and Elizabeth Moyer, of Lancaster
county.
JOHN C. REDSECKER, the popular and ef-
ficient ticket and freight agent of the Pennsylvania
railroad, as well as manager of the Adams Express
office at Elizabethtown, was born in Columbia,- Lan-
caster Co., Pa., and is a son of Abraham and Eliza-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
315
beth A. (Fisher) Redsecker, both born in Elizabeth-
town, where their hves were spent, the husband and
father following the career of a druggist in his ac-
tive days. In i860 Abraham Redsecker was ap-
pointed a clerk in the post ofifice at Philadelphia,
and for five years he continued in that position. In
his early days he had charge of the Columbia Locks,
and throughout his life he was an active and indus-
trious man. In 1865 he was compelled to resign
from the Philadelphia post office by his ill health,
and two years later he died, March 23, 1867, at the
age of fifty-three years. Mrs. Elizabeth A. (Fish-
er) Redsecker, who was born in 1819, died in 1885,
and was buried in Mt. Tunnel cemetery. Both she
and her husband were members of tlae Reformed
Church, and he was a strong Republican. Born
to this union were: Isaac R., who died young;
John C. ; Mary V., the wife of Dr. S. R. Nissley ;
Laura E. and Harry H., both of whom died
young.
John Redsecker was married in Nov., 1877, in
Elizabethtown, Pa., to Kate Murray, and to this
union was born one son, George A., who is living
with his parents, and is assistant in the railroad and
express work under his father.
Mrs. Kate (Murray) Redsecker was born in
Maytown, Pa., and died in August, 1878, her inter-
ment being in the Mt. Tunnel Cemetery. She was
the daughter of Charles W. and Margaret (Jacobs)
Alurray, both of Elizabethtown, where her father
was the landlord of the "Washington Hotel" for
many years.
John C. Redsecker came to Elizabethtown, Pa.,
with his parents when a child, and here the active
years of his life have been very largely spent. March
15, 1 87 1, he entered the local telegraph office and be-
came a master of every detail of the railroad busi-
ness, so that in seven years he was made the ticket
and baggage agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad,
and in 1884 was put in charge of the freight office.
He is a thoroughly competent man, and no detail
of his complicated work escapes his attention. He
is regarded as one of the capable men on the road,
and is slated for a more remunerative position. His
faithful management of the office and his courtesy
to the public have won for him a host of friends
among the traveling public.
Mr. Redsecker is a Mason of high standing and
is past master of Casiphia Lodge, No. 551, F. & A.
M., of Mt. Joy, and Royal Arch Chapter, No. 43,
and Lancaster Commandery, No. 13, both of Lan-
caster, Pa., and also member of Rajah Temple, An-
cient Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Reading,
Pa. ; Past Grand of Elizabethtown Lodge, No. 128,
I, O. O. F. ; and also Past Chief of Unity Castle,
No. 420, K. G. E. In politics Mr. Redsecker is a
Republican, and in religion a member of the Re-
formed Church. For six years he was president of
the town council and he is one of the prominent and
leading men of the city.
FRANKLIN BRENNEMAN, postmaster at
Rawlinsville, and the leading merchant of that place,
was born in Providence township June 4, 1828, son
of Christian and Catherine (McFalls) Brenneman.
Christian Brenneman, the father, was born June
12, 1794, and died Ang. 6, 1874, at the age of eighty
years. He was a son of Jacob Brenneman, of Ger-
man ancestry, and married Catherine McFalls on
Nov. 22,. 1826. Of Irish origin, she was born July
22, 1806, and died Jan. 15, 1888. They had a fam-
ily of ten children, as follows: Franklin, of this
sketch ; Christian, born May 7, 1830, resides in Phil-
adelphia; Catherine, born June 18, 1832, died un-
married Jan. 28, 1854; William resides retired in
Lancaster; Mary, born Oct. 6, 1837, married John
Conrad, a hotel keeper of Providence township;
Margaret Ann, born Sept. 9, 1839, married A. N.
Rutter, of Drumore, both of whom are deceased;
John B. and tienry B., twins, were born Jan. 30,
1843, the former deceased, the latter a resident of
Lancaster; Susanna, born Jan. 10, 1846, deceased,
was the wife of John Bair; and Elizabeth, born
April 7, 1848, is the wife of Tobias Mawrer, of Lan-
caster. Christian Brenneman was a miller by trade
and ran a mill at Millvalley, in Providence township,
for some fifty years. He was a Democrat in his
political belief, and through life was an honest, hard-
working man, respected by every one.
Franklin Breimeman of this biography grew up
at home and learned how to run a mill under his
father's instructions. His education was acquired
in the township schools and he put his knowledge
to practical use by following the profession of teach-
ing for some nine years. He also engaged in mill-
ing for a time, and then in farming for twenty-five
years. In 1876 he went to Pequea, and after farm-
ing there for six years moved to Rawlinsville and
embarke<l in the mercantile business and has suc-
cessfully followed the same ever since. His stock
consists of a general assortment' of goods calculated
to meet the demands of the trade in Rawlinsville
and vicinity and he has many warm friends, both
of a business and personal character. His honest
and upright methods of dealing have won him the
confidence of the public. For many years, through
the changes of adminsitration he has continued to
be the village postmaster.
On Feb. 12, 1856, Mr. Brenneman was married,
by Rev. J. J. Strine, to Miss Sarah Heidelbaugh, of
Pequea township, born July 6, 1832, daughter of
Henry Heidelbatigh. This union was blessed with
seven children: Mary E., born Nov. 2, 1856, died
at the age of twelve years ; Aldus H., born April
19, 1859, graduated at the Lock Haven Normal
school and is now traveling salesman for a publish-
ing company ; Elmer F., born May 8, 1861, a farm-
er ; Sarah Lizzie, born Nov. 9, 1863, married W. B.
Keene, a carpenter in Quarryville; Christian H.,
born Aug. 17, 1866, is ticket agent for the Pennsyl-
vania R. R. at Quarryville ; John Cassius, born Nov.
816
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
28, 1868, resides in Lancaster and has charge of the
Reading depot; and Frances Ann, born March 8,
1871, married Dr. E. K. Lefever, of BoiHng Springs,
Pennsylvania.
In politics Air. Brennenian adheres to the princi-
ples of the Democratic party. He is esteemed in his
community as an honorable and public-spirited citi-
zen.
BISHOP ISAAC EBY was born in Salisbury
township, Lancaster county, Jan. 26, 1834, and is
in the sixth generation from Theodorus Eby, who
emigrated from the Palatinate in the year 1715, and
settled sometime in August of that year on Mill
creek, in the locality now known as Roland's Mill,
southwest of New Holland. In 1720 the family
received an addition by the emigration to Lancaster
county of Peter Eby, who was either a son or other
relation of Theodorus. In early days the name was
spelled "Abye," but later "Eaby," and still later
"Eby."
Peter Eby, the grandfather of Isaac, was a
Mennonite bishop. He settled in Salisbury town-
ship, near the Gap, in 1791. He was married to
Margaret Hess. After laboring in "God's vine-
yard" for many years, he died in 1843, aged
seventy-seven years and five months. Peter Eby
was the name also of the father of Isaac Eby, the
subject of this article. He married Elizabeth
Weaver, who died in 1844, leaving Isaac, a child
of ten years of age. Isaac Eby was educated in the
common schools of Salisbury township. He was
married to Mary Mellinger of Strasburg township,
and this union was blessed with eleven children,
two of whom are deceased. In the fall of i860 Mr.
Eby and his wife were baptized by Bishop Benjamin
Herr, and were received into the Mennonite Church.
On Nov. 9, 1876, he was chosen a Mennonite
minister, by lot, and was ordained such by Bishop
Herr. In 1878 the latter, having felt that the work
in his district had become too arduous for hirri, took
steps to secure an assistant, and on June 6, 1878,
Isaac Eby was so selected, being consecrated and
ordained by Bishops Herr, Weaver and Bomberger,
the charge being given by the first named, who died
a few years later. Since that time Bishop Eby has
had full charge of the Hershey, Strasburg and
Mellinger Districts. Bishop Eby was one of the
pioneer advocates of Sunday-schools in the
Mennonite Church, and was one of the organizers
of the first Sunday-school taught in eastern Lan-
caster county, opening the school with about forty
pupils. The idea at first met with much opposition,
but by a gradual growth the Hershey district alone
has about 800 enrolled. Throughout his wide
acquaintance Bishop Eby is regarded as a man
whose counsel is safe, and his love for his people
like unto that of a father, and in whatever direction
duty has led, Bishop Eby has tmfailingly been at
his post. Whether in the pulpit or at the sick-bed,
his kind words of cheer and consolation have been
listened to, bringing sweet peace to those outside
the fold of God.
On March 7, 1886, Mr. Eby's first wife died,
and in 1890 he married Mrs. Elizabeth (Kreider)
Leaman, of near Fertility. Two children, Eva May
and Ruth Ann, have been born to them. By her
first marriage Mrs. Eby had two daughters : Lizzie,
who married Deacon Landis Hershey; and Ada,
now the wife of Deacon Isaac E. Hershey. Bishop
Eby lived on the old homestead until 1894, when
he removed to Kinzer's Station, where he now
resides. He is hale and hearty, and bids fair to be
able to attend to his duties for many years to
come.
ANDREW BERGMAN, one of the retired
farmers of Lancaster, is also one of the town's rep-
resentative German-Americans, and was born In
Bavaria, Germany, March 15, 1826. His father,
George Bergman, lived his entire life in Germany,
was twice married, and died in 1841, at the age of
forty-five years. Of the children born into his fam-
ily Kittie died when young; John also died when
young; and Mary came to America, since when
nothing has been known of her.
Andrew Bergman received the substantial home
training accorded the average farm reared youth,
and studied at the district schools as opportunity
offered. He came to America in 1850, landing. in
New York after a long voyage in a sailing-vessel.
He gained his first impressions of American life on
a farm in New York state, and a couple of years
later tried his luck in the far West, prospecting for
gold in Southern California. Not content with the
life of a miner, he decided to return to the surer
means of livelihood on a Pennsylvania farm, and,
locating in Manheim township, Lancaster county,
lived and worked until his retirement in 1892. Since
then he has lived in the town of Lancaster, where he
is well known and respected, and where he is enjoy-
ing the fruits of his untiring exertions in the past.
He is in every sense of the word a self-made man,
for, having in his boyhood days lost his mother, and
being in consequence thereof thrown upon his own
responsibilities, he has realized the necessity of con-
tinuous and arduous toil.
In March, 1856, Mr. Bergman married in Lan-
caster, Wilhelmina Ahlbrecht, and of this union the
following children have been born: Henry, un-
married, died at the age of thirty-three; Andrew,
managing the old homestead in Manheim township,
married Lillie Kamm ; Abraham died at the age of
thirteen ; George, deceased at the age of eleven ;
Adam, unmarried, and living in Denver, Colo. ;
Emma, the wife of Ezra Martin, of Manheim town-
ship ; Mary, the wife of Albert Hupper, of Lancas-
ter, Pa. ; Elizabeth, died at the age of four years ;
and Lillie, living at home. Mrs. Bergman was born
in Hanover, Germany, and died in Lancaster, Pa.,
Jan. 22, 1901, at the age of fifty-five years. She is
buried in Zion Lutheran cemetery. Her parents,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
317
Henry and Louise Ahlbrecht, were born in Ger-
many, and came to America about 1837, locating on
a farm.
FRANKLIN BOWMAN. Well-known and
highly esteemed, Franklin Bowman, a retired farmer
of East Lampeter, worthily represents an old and
respected family of Lancaster county. Franklin
Bowman was born in Providence township, origin-
ally a part of Martic township, on Oct. 29, 1835, a
son of Henry and Mary (Brenneman) Bowman, the
latter a daughter of Mr. Baer.
The great-grandfather, Henry Bowman, a pros-
perous farmer and an upright man, married a Miss
Herr, who bore him five children: Henry; John;
Polly, who married Samuel Herr, and removed to
Montgomery county, Ohio; Hettie, who married
John Harnish, of Clark county, Ohio ; and Elizabeth,
who married George Rathfon, of Lancaster. The
burial of the grandparents was in Providence town-
ship, near Refton village.
Henry Bowman, Jr., a son of Henry, born Oct.
6, 1795, grew to manhood on the farm, and, although
he had but limited schooling, through natural ability
he became a very intelligent man. He was ordained
a minister in the Reformed Mennonite Church, later
becoming a bishop, and remained in the service of
his Master until his lamented death, Aug. 14, 1863.
His first marriage was to Elizabeth Weaver, who
bore him one son, Jacob,, who grew to manhood and
also became a minister in the Reformed Men-
nonite Church, and until the time of his death,
in Sept., 1868, ceased not to admonish, teach
and guide. His marriage was to Maria Frantz,
and she resides in Lancaster. The mother of
Jacob died Sept. 9, 1820, and Mr. Bowman
married Susanna Weaver, who bore these children :
Elizabeth, deceased, who married Henry Trout;
John, deceased ; Annie, deceased ; Esther, deceased,
who married Christian Kreider; and Henry, de-
ceased. Ihe mother of these children was born
on June 6, 1797.. and died on Jan. 13, 1832. The
third marriage of Mr. Bowman was to Mary, the
widow of Jacob Brenneman, of Franklin Co., Pa.,
born on Jan. 10, 1794, who died on April 6, 1850,
leaving two children : Franklin, of this biography,
and Amos, a retired farmer of West Lampeter town-
ship.
Franklin Bowman was reared on the farm and
until his retirement, in 1886, with the exception of
three years, in which he engaged in the creamery
business, agriculture has been his sole pursuit. On
Nov. 7, 1859, ^^ nnited in marriage with Annie Herr,
a daughter of John Herr, and to this union one
daughter, Annetta H., was born, who now is the
solace and constant companion of her father, Mrs.
Bowman having died in 1886.
Since 1864 Mr. Bowman has made his home in
East Lampeter township, on a most desirable es-
tate, located about one mile from Bird-in-Hand, and
here he passes his life in ease and quiet. Being a
man of very quiet tastes, he has never sought noto-
riety of any kind, and aside from an interest in the
schools of his locality, he has given but little atten-
tion to matters of a public nature. In the seclusion
of his own home his advancing years are comforted
by the kind attentions of his daughter and the vis-
its of friends and relatives, by whom he is highly
esteemed.
AMOS GRAVER is a son of John Graver, who
was born in Conestoga township Feb. 22, 1816, and
was educated in the common schools of Lancaster
county. He followed agricultural pursuits all his
life. He was a member of the Old Mennonite
Church. In politics he was a Republican, for some'
time held the office of auditor of the township, and
later was school director and also supervisor of
roads. He married Miss Fannie, daughter of Jacob
B. Shenk, of Conestoga township, and they had two
children: Andrew, who died in Philadelphia June
28, 1898, and Amos, subject of this sketch.
Amos Graver was born May 14, 1848, in Cones-
toga township, on the farm now owned by Mjynard
Warfel. When he was but two years old his father
bought the farm now occupied by our subject, and
where the latter has lived since, he having purchased
it from his father in 1897. Mr. Graver was edu-
cated In the public schools of the county. Politi-
cally he has always been a Republican, but never
sought office.
On Sept. ID, 1876, he was married to Miss
Amanda E., daughter of Jacob Henry, of Conestoga
township, and they are the parents of thirteen chil-
dren : Elvina, unmarried, who lives at home ; Fan-
ny, unmarried, of Lancaster city; Enos and Annie,
twins, both of whom died in infancy; Ida, Landis,
Emma, Lizzie, Minnie and Phares, at home ; Jacob,
deceased ; John, deceased ; and Alfred, at home. Mr.
Graver has a farm of 107 acres in the center of
Conestoga township, one of the finest in the neigh-
borhood. Besides this farm he owns a nice little
place of two acres at Conestoga Center, and also
another one of four acres, with improvements, ad-
joining the home place.
Although he received but a limited education,
Mr. Graver has been very successful in life. He is
interested in public events, and is a man always
ready to assist any project which has for its aim the
advantage of the community.
HENRY POWNALL, in his lifetime one of the
prominent and influential citizens of Lancaster coun-
ty, was born there, in Sadsbury township, Oct. 29,
1823, and died there on a farm Jan. 20, 1872. His re-
mains rest m the old Friends cemetery.
Joseph and Phebe (Dickinson) Pownall, his par-
ents, were natives of Christiana and Pequea town-
ships, respectively. In his active years Joseph Pow-
nall was a farmer. He was born Jan. 5, 1791, and
died March 17, 1869. His wife was born Nov. 14,
1793, and died March 30, 187=;. Their ashes repose
318
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in the Old Friends cemetery. They had the follow-
ing family: Moses, born July 23, 1815, died Feb.
12, 1854; Levi, born Sept. 29, 1817, died Sept. 23,
1818; Joseph D., born Nov. 26, 1819, died in 1887;
Elizabeth, born Dec. 11. 1821, married Hon. George
Witson, at one time a representative of the town in
the General Assembly, and now living retired in
Christiana ; Henry, mentioned below ; Ambrose, born
Sept. 3, 1825, is a retired farmer of Sadsbury town-
ship; Simeon B., born Sept. 25, 1827, living retired
in Harrisburg ; Catherine, born Dec. 19, 1829, mar-
ried Thomas Griest, of Philadelphia; Oliver, born
Feb. 6, 1832, died in infancy ; Phebe, born May 24,
1833, died March 5, 1900.
George and Eleanor Pownall, the pioneer an-
cestors of this family in America, were natives of
L;iylock, Cheshire, England, and came to this coun-
try in the ship '"Friends Adventure," of which Capt.
Thomas Wall had command, in July, 1682, landing
at Philadelphia and soon settling in Bucks county,
I 'a. They brought with them the following chil-
dren: Reuben, Elizabeth, Sarah, Rachel and Abi-
gail. . They were accompanied by their servants,
John Brearley, Thomas Leister and Martha Worral,
who remained with them four years, after which
each received fifty acres of land. George Pownall,
son of George and Eleanor, was born in Bucks coun-
ty, Pa., Sept. II, 1682. The father was killed by a
falling tree Aug. 30, 1682, this being the first acci-
dent to occur in the county. He owned a thousand
acres of land in Solebury township, Bucks county,
the first tract sold in that section; the deed was
signed by WilUam Penn.
George Pownall, who was born shortly after the
death of his father, was married in the Falls Meet-
ing of Friends to Hannah Hutchinson, May 2, 1707,
and became the father of four children: John,
Rachel, Reuben and Simeon. The last named mar-
ried Catherine Howsell, and they came into Lan-
caster county, when their son Levi was but two years
of age, settling in Sadsbury township, where Si-
meon Pownall had a tannery, and was also engaged
in farming. He and his wife had children as fol-
lows : Simeon was born Sept. 15, 1753 ; Levi, born
July 5, 1756, in Bucks county, married Elizabeth
Buckman, also a native of that county (they were
the grandparents of Henry Pownall, whose name in-
troduces this article) ; Anna was born Feb. 11, 1757 ;
Moses, Apnl i, 1759; Mary. Jan. 28, 1761 ; Hannah,
Feb. 5, 1763; Margaret, May 6, 1765; Catherine,
July 28, 1766; Rachel, Aug. 23, 1768.
Henry Pownall was married to Deborah Walker
March 7, 1850, in Bart township, Lancaster county.
To them came the following children : Phebe, born
Aug. 5, 1851; Mary, born Jan. 6, 1853, died Dec.
ir, 1876 ; Deborah, born July 24, 1855 ; Henry, born
Oct. 10, 1857, who married Louissa Smedley, by
whom he had six children, died Feb. 9, 1901 ; and
Anne, who taught school for six years. The three
sisters reside together.
Mrs. Deborah (Walker) Pownall was born in
Sadsburv township Feb. 12, 1820, and passed to
her rest Dec. 19, 1890 ; her remains were interred in
the old Friends cemetery. She was a daughter of
Isaac and Deborah (Dickinson) Walker, farming
people of Salisbury township, who had the follow-
ing children : Anna, born Sept. 27, 1804, died un-
married Jan. 28, 1824. Mary, born April 6, 1806,
died April 21, 1893 ; she married Samuel Slocum, a
sketch of whose parents appears elsewhere. Isaac,
born Jan. 27, 1808, died in 1892. Asahel, born Sept.
22, 1809, died in 1870. James, born Oct. 7, 181 1,
died in California in 1850. Joseph, born, Aug. 18,
1813, died March 5, 1831. Rebecca, born Oct. 28,
181 — , married Robert Harry and died in 1853.
Aaron, born April 26, 1818, died Feb. 16, 1831.
Deborah, born Feb. 12, 1820, married Henry Pow-
nall and died Dec. 19, 1890. The paternal grand-
parents of Mrs. Deborah Pownall were Asahel and
Ann (Moore) Walker, of Sadsbury township; her
maternal grandparents were Gayes and Mary (New-
lin) Dickinson,
Henry Pownall was a farmer and in 185 1 built
a brick kiln in Christiana which he carried on in con-
nection with farming until 1854. That year he sold
out and moved to Coopersville, this county; there
he spent one year, at a later period purchasing the
old Hood property in Sadsbury township, where he
spent the remainder of his life. In his active years
he was prominent, for six years was prison inspector,
and was tax collector for some time. In politics he
held to RepubUcan views. In religion he was a
member of the Religious Society of Friends.
PETER J. WINOWER, the establisher, and
for many years the manager of the painting and dec-
orating business now in the hands of his son in Lan-
caster, was born near his present home Jan. 13, 1829,
a son of John P. and Barbara (Russell) Winower,
natives of Lancaster county.
The paternal great-grandfather, John Peter
Winower, emigrated from his ancestral home in
Wittenberg. Germany, and landed in the United
States when eighteen years of age. With that in-
herent patriotism which loses nothing when trans-
ferred from the fatherland to an adopted country,
he regarded as his own the cause of the down-
trodden colonists, and followed for seven years the
martial fortunes of Washington. ' He was a stone
mason by trade, and owned the old "Plow Tavern"
on the corner of Charlotte and West King streets.
His son, John Peter, the paternal grandfather, was
also a stone mason, and lived and died in Lancaster.
The third John Peter, the father of Peter John, was
a painter and decorator in Lancaster for forty-five
years, and died in March, 1852, at the age of seventy
years, his wife also attaining to the same age, her
death occurring in 1863. The parents, who are bur-
ied respectively in Trinity Lutheran and Zion
Lutheran cemeteries, were the parents of the follow-
ing children : Barbara, the deceased wife of William
Afflebaugh, who died in the army; Amelia, the de-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
319
ceased wife of George Sensenderfer ; Susan, deceased
when young ; Peter J. ; George W., died in the army ;
Sidney, the widow of George Vogt, of Harrisburg,
Pa.; Hettie, unmarried and living in Lancaster.
By a former marriage, with MolHe Martin, the fa-
ther of Peter John Winower had two children,
Mary, who died in Indiana, and Henry Fisher.
As early as ten years of age Peter John Winower
began to learn his father's trade, and from then un-
til his retirement, in 1893, knew no other means of
livelihood than painting and decorating. His other-
wise uneventful career was interrupted by the Civil
war, and no more enthusiastic Union man threw
down his work and stepped into the ranks. He en-
listed Feb. 24, 1864, in Company D, 99th Pa. V.
1., and participated in many of the important battles
which m.arked the time of his brief service, as a
member of the Army of the Potomac. May 12, 1864,
scarcely four months after enlisting, he was wound-
ed in the thigh by a slug while attempting to cap-
ture the cannon of the enemy, and was sent to Mc-
Clellan Hospital, where he remained until the day
after his discharge, which was Dec. 31, 1864.
Though by no means recovered, and scarcely able
to leave the hospital, he managed to reach home,
and has ever since been partially crippled as a re-
sult of his experiences during the war. After rest-
ing in the quiet of his family he resumed his former
occupation, and in 1893 retired from his firmly es-
tablished and paying business in favor of his sons.
Sept. 7, 1851, Mr. Winower married Catherine
Vogt, the ceremony being performed by Rev. C.
Baker, pastor of Trinity church. Mrs. Winower
was born in Baden, Germany, June 22, 1832, a
daughter of Nicholas and Margaret E. (Shane)
Vogt, of Baden, Germany. The parents, having
previously spent four weeks in Rotterdam, came
■ to America in a sailing vessel that made the voyage
in forty-five days. They landed in Baltimore, Md.,
and came at once to Lancaster, where the father
worked at his trade of tailoring until his death, in
1S68, at the age of sixty-two years. His wife died
in 1867, at the age of fifty-seven years. They were
members of the Lutheran church, and are buried in
Zion Lutheran cemetery. To the parents were
born the following children: Catherine, married
Peter J. Winower ; George, deceased ; Valentine,
killed in the army; Dora, the deceased wife of
Christopher Hepting; Elizabeth, deceased wife of
("harles Heckler; Henrietta, the deceased wife of
Peter Allebaugh ; Christian, living in Lancaster ;
and Mary, the wife of John Bissinger, proprietor
of the Hotel "Tremont," Lancaster. The children
born to Mr. and Mrs. Winower are as follows :
George V., died after his marriage with Jennie
Missenkop, by whom he had a son, Charles A., a
decorator anci paper hanger in Lancaster ; John P.,
deceased husband of Susan Hoover; William, a to-
bacco dealer, married Rebecca Smith and lives in
Lancaster ; Emanuel, a decorator and painter in Lan-
caster, successor to his father, married Emma
Hentzler; Charles, married Carrie Stone, and has a
tonsorial parlor in Lancaster ; Catherine B., married
Walter Suydam, engaged in the milk business in
Lancaster; and Harry, married Bertha Cully, and
is a watchmaker.
Mr. Winower is a member of the Knights of
Pythias and the G. A. R., and in political affiliation
is a Republican. His life has ever been an upright
and worthy one, and he has the confidence and good
will of all who have known him, in whatsoever ca-
pacity. Pie and his wife are among the interesting
and always youthful couples in the town, and their
happy married life has recently been brightened
by a golden wedding, memorable because of the
beautiful gifts showered upon them by loving
friends and the innumerable evidences of esteem by
which they are surrounded.
JOHN CLARK, one of the most highly es-
teemed retired farmers of Martic township, has al-
ways been noted for his high moral character and
excellent citizenship. John Clark, the third of his
name, although now a resident of Bethesda, in Mar-
tic towiiship, was born in Providence township May
18, 1821, a son of John (2) and Fannie (Sides)
Clark, the former of whom, a farmer of Providence
township, was a son of the first John Clark, who lo-
cated in Lancaster county in early days, when he
first came from his native Ireland. On the death of
John Clark (2) the mother of John (3) married a
James Brown, who, at his death, left Mr. Clark the
farm which he now owns in Martic township. Upon
this estate still stands an old residence that very
many years ago was used as a store and tavern.
John Clark, of Bethesda, was reared on a farm
and through a long period, covering more than a
half century, his principal interest has centered in
agriculture and those things best calculated to the
success of the farmer. Brought up to hard work
and strict discipline, Mr. Clark early learned the
value of industry, and the results of a life of activity
are now shown in the competency which he is able
to enjoy in his declining years. His farm com-
prises 130 acres of excellent land, some of it probably
being the most productive in the county.
On April 16, 1846, John Clark was married to
Miss Mary Annie Winters, who was born in 1827,
a daughter of Joseph Winters, of Providence town-
ship; she died in 1871. The children born of this
union numbered thirteen, and six of these grew to
maturity : ( i ) Laura, the wife of John Musselman,
a laborer of Providence township, has two children,
Mary E. and Harry C. ; (2) Elmj^ra is at home ; (3)
Elizabeth, the wife of Benjamin Sweigart, a car-
penter of Lancaster, has had six children, Mary A.,
Felix (deceased), Theresa M., John A., Sarah E.
and Leonora C. ; (4) Joseph, who farms the home
place, married Mary Barclay, and has two children,
Bessie G. and John R. ; (5) John D., a farmer of
Martic township, married Ella Robinson and has a
daughter, Erma G. ; and (6) Leonora, who resides
320
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
at home. In politics Mr. Clark has been a life-long
Democrat, and both he and his family are leading
members of the Bethesda Methodist Church. Few
men in this locality deserve and enjoy higher esteem
than he.
HIRAM F. BROWN, a retired farmer of Bart
township, Lancaster county, was born in Colerain
township in July, 1830, and is a son of James and
Susanna (Bowers) Brown. James Brown was bom
in Bart township May 19, 1792. His wife, Susanna
Bowers, was born in August, 1793. James Brown
was the son of William Brown, who first settled in
Lancaster county, and came of Scotch-Irish parent-
age. James Brown had a half-brother, Andrew,
who moved to Clearfield, Pa., where he died, leaving
a family of four children. One son of his, Clark, was
a county commissioner at Clearfield; Samuel and
William were farmers ; descendants of theirs are still
living in Clearfield county.
James Brown, the father of Hiram F., and a
brother, William, were born to the second marriage
of their father. William Brown married a Miss
Scott, and made a home in Bart township, near
Georgetown, where he died in 1870. All his chil-
dren are dead.
Jam.es Brown began life as a school teacher, and
was known as a man whose education was much
above the average. Later in life he entered the
mercantile world as a business man, and had a gen-
eral store in Colerain. In 1822 he was married, and
continued as a merchant until 1855. In 1836 he
moved from Colerain to his present farm home,
where he erected the first brick house in this section
of the county. In one end of this house he had a
large and commodious store room. As a merchant
he was very successful and became quite wealthy. He
was a strong supporter of the Presbyterian Church,
and when he died, in 1874, he left a reputation be-
hind him as a capable and upright business man.
His wife died in 1872, and they lived the faith they
avowed before the world. Of their four children,
(i) Samue! and (2) William are dead.
(3) James Scott Brown, born in 1826, received
a good education in the public schools, and for a
number of years was one of the successful teachers
of Lancaster county. At one time he was a writer
for the Lancaster county papers, and in 1858 wrote
a book of poems, which was published by Murray &
Young, of Lancaster. This book was widely read.
He remained a single man throughout life, working
with H. F. Brown, in taking care of the farm and in
other business. He died in 1890.
(4) Hiram F. Brown, whose name heads this
article, received a district school education, and spent
much of his time in looking after the farm. After
the death, of his parents he and his brother, James,
continued at the old home, and maintained the busi-
ness interests left by their father. For many years
Mr. Brown has had charge of the old homestead,
where he lives in peace and harm.ony with the world.
Mr. Brown is a Democrat, and is widely known as
an upright and intelligent citizen. Religiously he
and all the family are Presbyterians.
Mr. Brown is one of the wealthy men of Bart
township. He is the only member of the family of
his parents now living, and the accumulations of his
iather have been greatl)' increased under his capable
management. His standing in the community as
a business man, a public-spirited citizen and a kind
friend and neighbor, is beyond question. He
worthily wears a good name.
GEORGE BROWN, the founder of the ex-
tensive cotton and woolen mills located at Mt. Joy,
Lancaster county, has made a life-long study of the
manufacture of textile fabrics. He was born in
Yorkshire, England, in October, 183 1, son of Ben-
jamin Brown, who operated the first power carding
machine ever constructed.
Mr. Brown came to America in 1855, and first
located in Trenton, N. J. He was married in his
native county to Miss Esther Beardsell, also of
Yorkshire, who died in 1873, leaving ten children,
viz. : Thomas J., Arthur, Walter G., Sarah
(widow of Joseph A. Battye), Benjamin W., Emma
(wife of J. B. S. Zeller), George H., Annie E.
(widow of Abraham K. Shelly), Elmer E. and
Lilly A. (who died in infancy). The six sons, un-
der the firm name of George Brown's Sons, now
conduct the plant at Mt. Jov, which was established
:n 1883.
Thomas J. Brown, the eldest of the above named
children, was born in Yorkshire, England, Sept. 23,
1855. He received his education in the public schools
of Philadelphia, in private schools in Delaware, and
at the University of Pennsylvania. However, he
was but a boy when he entered a textile mill in Phila-
delphia, and he learned the business in all its branch-
es. At the age of twenty-four years he was appointed
overseer of the carding department of one of the
woolen mills of the city, and was later promoted, in
turn, to all the positions of trust and responsibility
in the factory. In 1888, in company with his broth-
ers Arthur and Walter G., he established a cotton
and woolen mill in the Quaker City, which he oper-
ated until 1 89 1, the year of his removal to Mt. Joy,
where he has had charge of the office work of George
Brown's Sons up to the present time. He is a mem-
ber of the New England Cotton Manufacturers As-
sociation. Mr. Brown" is a Republican in political
sentiment. He has shown himself pubHc-spirited
in the interests of his adopted place, having been a
member of the school board for the past eight years,
and for six years its president.
Thomas J. Brown was married, in Philadelphia,
April 12, 1879, to Miss Mary A. Horrocks, and to
this union have been born three children, viz. : Es-
ther M., Mabel (who died in 1899) and Thomas J.
B. The family attend the Episcopal Church.
Arthur Brown, the second son of George
Brown, was born in England Aug. 31, 1857, and was
^y&/Urz^^y>i-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
321
educated in the public and private schools of Phila-
delphia. Like his brother Thomas J., he began his
business education in a textile factory in that city,
and at the age of twenty-one years became overseer
of the carding department, later filling a number of
other responsible positions with the same firm. He
was one of the three Brown brothers who in 1888
formed a firm and started in business on their own
account, in Philadelphia, and he continued in that
relation until he came to Mt. Joy to enter the estab-
lishment there, having charge of the carding, spin-
ning, etc.
Arthur Brown was united in marriage, in 1879,
in Delaware county. Pa., with Miss Anna L. Browne,
and six children have crowned this union, viz. :
Anna L., Arthur Maurice, Lawrence M., Laura M.
(deceased), Edwin L. and John T, The family at-
tend the Episcopal Church.
Walter G. Brown was born in Trenton, N. J.,
Feb. 23, i860, was educated in Philadelphia, and
e^rly entered a textile mill. He soon rose to the
position of overseer of the carding department, and
held other posts of trust and responsibility. In 1888,
in connection with his elder brothers, Thomas J.
and Arthur, he embarked in the manufacturing busi-
ness in Philadelphia, and, like them, he is now iden-
tified with the concern at Mt. Joy, having charge of
No. 2 Mill.
In 1887 Walter G. Brown was married, in Dela-
re county. Pa., to Miss Izella Garside, and this
iiion has been graced with three children, Harry
G., Elmer E. and Russel H. (the last named de-
ceased). This family are also united with the Epis-
copal Church. Mr. Brown has already won a place
for himself as one of the most progressive men in
the borough. In politics he is a Republican.
Benjamtn W. BrowNj the fourth of the six
brothers, was born in Delaware county. Pa., March
12, 1863, was educated in Philadelphia, and there
learned the textile business. In 1883 he came to Mt.
Joy with his father and his interests have ever since
been centered in the great factory, where he has
charge of the finishing department. Mr. Brown was
married in Mt. Joy to Miss Annie Henery, and to
this union have been born two children, Laura D.
and George. The family attend the Episcopal
Church. In politics Mr. Brown is a Republican and
as the candidate of that party he has been elected a
member of the borough council, of which he is at
this time president.
George H. Brown, the fifth of the brothers who
constitute the firm of George Brown's Sons, was born
Nov. 3, 1867, in Philadelphia, was there educated,
and in 1883 came to Mt. Joy. He has charge of the
weaving in the factory, and has developed con-
spicuous ability in the management of that depart-
ment. He was married in Mt. Joy borough to Miss
Annie Keller, and they have a family of three chil-
dren, George H., Milroy and Beatrice. This family
are also members of the Episcopal Church, and in
politics George H. Brown is a Republican.
21
Elmer E. Brown, the youngest member of the
firm of George Brown's Sons, was born in Phila-
delphia Oct. 21, 1 87 1, and was educated in the pub-
lic schools of that city and Mt. Joy, having come to
the latter place in 1883, when about twelve years of
age. There he learned the art of manufacturing
textile fabrics under his father, and, being a young
man of ability, was soon admitted into partnership
and given a responsible position in the weaving de-
partment as an associate with his brother George.
Elmer E. Brown was married, in Mt. Joy, to Miss
Sallie Heilig, and three children brighten this home,
Elmer E., Elsie M. and Russel H. ■ This family are
also members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Brown
is a Republican in politics.
It IS proper that a history of the immense cotton
and woolen mills operated by George Brown's Sons
at Mt. Joy be here recorded. George Brown, the
founder, learned the business in Yorkshire, Eng-
land, the greatest woolen manufacturing district in
Great Britain, where he was born and reared. Com-
ing to this country when a young man, he first settled
at Trenton, N. J., but in about two years removed to
Philadelphia, where better opportunities were of-
fered to skilled workers. From boyhood until his
retirement from business, a few years ag©, he was al-
ways connected with the same line of manufactur-
ing. He started business at Mt. Joy in 1883 with
only twelve looms, and some idea of the magnificent
advance of this concern may be obtained by the state-
ment that now 170 looms are in operation daily. Mr.
Brown first rented the building now known as No.
2 Mill, a two-story brick structure, 40x120 feet. As
trade developed he continued to add to its mechanical
appliances, and in eight years his business had so
expanded that larger facilities were required; in
1889 he purchased what is now known as No. i
Mill, making great alterations and additions to suit
the requirements of his business. Mr. Brown's suc-
cessful career has demonstrated to the satisfaction
of the people of this section that Mt. Joy is a good
site for manufacturing on the most extensive scale.
He has made apparent the fact that an enterprise,
though situated at- some distance from large trade
centers, far from the field of supply, when properly
managed by a skilled and experienced mind will
thrive and blossom, here in the heart of Lancaster
county. The people of Mt. Joy owe to him a debt of
gratitude for this exemplification, as the develop-
ment of the business has been a notable factor in the
expansion of the town in recent years. In 1891
Mr. Brown retired from the business and was suc-
ceeded by his five sons, Thomas J., Arthur, Walter
G.. Benjamin W. and George H., all of whom are
thoroughly familiar with every branch of the manu-
facture, each having been trained in this line from
boyhood.
Previous to their location in Mt. Joy, in 1891,
Thomas J., Arthur and -Walter G. Brown had been
engaged in cotton and woolen manufacturing for
a few years at Philadelphia. The other brothers,
322
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Benjamin W., George H. and Elmer E., had assisted
their father in the conduct of his business in Mt.
Joy from its inception. The six brothers have al-
ways been identified with the cotton and woolen busi-
ness, and from the time they assumed entire charge
of the present establishment they have ranked as
men keenly alive to the demands of trade, ready at
all times to supply their patrons with something new,
novel and attractive. Independent of their skill and
experience as manufacturers they have demon-
strated the fact that they have the ability to observe,
and the business capacity to utilize opportunities for
improvement. These necessary characteristics are
contributing much to the reputation of the com-
pany— in fact are placing its output in the front
rank.
Another feature that has been of paramount in-
fluence in widening the reputation of the house is the
fact that every department in the extensive plant
has the personal supervision of one of the brothers.
Thus patrons can always rest assured that the prod-
uct, is, at all times, all that it is represented to be, no
detail, no matter hovy seemingly, inconsequential,
being omitted that would make the goods equal to
the best of their class manufactured in America.
The extensive works of George Brown's Sons
are located out on the eastern edge of the borough.
Gazing toward the town from the east the buildings
of the company appear in themselves to constitute
a little village of ceaseless activity. The works con-
sist of a number of buildings, built' of brick prin-
cipally, and so arranged as to secure the greatest
arhount of light, good ventilation and working space.
They are thoroughly adapted throughout for their
special productions, being divided into appropriate
departments — weaving, beaming and twisting, dye-
ing, carding, picking, napping, finishing, shipping,
etc., besides storehouses and warehouses for finished
stock and raw material. In the different divisions
of the industry, all of which run smoothly under per-
fect supervision, 140 hands are employed, and, not-
jvithstanding the depression . that has hovered over
the country for some time, so great has been the
popularity attained by the goods of this house that
in that time they have found it necessary to enlarge
their mechanical equipment and increase the number
of their em'ployes. As a whole the premises are ad-
mirably arranged, and supplied with the latest im-
proved machinery and appliances necessary for the
systematic and economic conduct of the business,
and, in fact, every contrivance which skill, science
and capital can supply is utilized in the process of
manufacture. In the matter of equipment this con-
cern is probably unsurpassed in the entire country,
the very latest inventions in looms, cards, mules,
nappers, shears, rotary hot presses, measuring and
rolling machines, twisters, etc., being utiHzed
throughout.
The main building is a splendid two-story brick
structure 40x146 feet in.dimensions. On the ground
floor is located a weave room containing ninety-nine
looms. In the second story is the necessary carding
and spinning machinery, all of which is of the very
latest pattern and design. Annexed to the main
building is another two-story brick structure, 32x50
feet. Its first floor is also used as a weave room,
having twenty-seven looms, while the second story
is utilized for a picker department for the prepara-
tion of the stock. Immediately adjacent to the main
building is a two-story brick, 32x34 feet, the first
floor of which is used for a machine shop and dy-
namo room, the upper floor for a carding room.
Close by is the dye house, a one-story structure,
50x70 feet. Immediately across the road from this
is another important building devoted to manu-
facturing. Like all of the other buildings which con-
tain mechanical appliances, it is a substantial two-
story brick, 40x70 feet. On its ground floor are lo-
lated napping machines, rotary hot presses, shears
and measuring and rolling machines, etc., for finish-
ing. On this floor also is the shipping department.
Upstairs is the beaming and twisting room. There
are three beaming machines used for preparing
warps for the looms, and three twisters for doubling
two or more threads together. The buildings stand
upon two plots of ground, one 150x180 feet and the
other 60x340 feet, allowing the company consider-
able room ;for future expansion.
In order that no essential modern feature should
be lacking in the successful operation of the factory,
George Brown's Sons have their entire premises
illuminated by electricity, using both incandescent
and arc lights, supplied by a direct connected gen-
eratory set of 700 lights capacity. The most up-to-
date improvements; in fact everything new that is
of proved value, have been introduced, and the elec-
tric plant may well be said to be complete in every
particular.
All in all, it is improbable that better or superior
facilities for the receipt and shipment of stock could
be had than are possessed by this company. The
main line of the Pennsylvania railroad runs through
the property, bringing the factory directly in contact
with that entire vast railway system and its still
vaster connections, which radiate to all sections of
the country. They are thus enabled to handle goods
for shipment, stock for consumption, fuel, etc., at
minimum rates, an advantage that counts decisively
when the magnitude of the business is considered.
In 1883, when George Brown laid the foundation
of the business, 300,000 yards of material made
greatly taxed the manufacturing facilities, to the ut-
most. He began operations with only 'twelve looms,
while at present there are 170 running daily. The
yearly output has increased to 1,750,000 yards, to
manufacture which enormous product requires 400,-
000 pounds of yarn (purchased elsewhere) and about
600,000 pounds of cotton or wool, annually. So
great an increase in production, in such a "short time,
not only speaks volumes for the liberal and progres-
sive character of the management, but also for the
high quality of the goods. It necessarily also re-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
323
quired a continual increase in manufacturing facili-
ties from year to year, and new machinery is con-
stantly being added to meet the growing demands
as the goods are ever reaching new sections of the
country. George Brown's Sons manufacture cot-
tonades, cotton worsteds, flannels, etc. The, product
commends itself to wholesale dealers and clothing
manufacturers, because, in all grades of the work,
only the best of materials and workmanship are em-
ployed. A great variety of patterns and designs are
made, the soundest judgment being exercised at all
times in the harmony of colors, and as the plant
possesses everything in the way of the latest machin-
ery the finish and workmanship of the goods are ab-
solutely unexcelled.
The trade of the house extends from ocean to
ocean, and from British Columbia in the North to the
Gulf Coast in the South, including Texas, in the
great Southwest. The meritorious quality of the
productions has been the greatest recommendation
of the goods, and the trade territory has conse-
quently developed rapidly. Wherever introduced
the goods have established an ever-widening market
for themselves, and the strongest testimony as to the
truth of this fact is the great and growing increase
of the annual output.
The members of the firm have always evinced
the strongest and most energetic public spirit, and
since locating at Mt. Toy have, at all times, identified
themselves in every movement made to advance the
material interests of the borough. They have cham-
pioned, father and sons, every effort put forward to
place Mt. Joy in her rightful position as an enter-
prising and progressive town. In the town coun-
cil, in the school board, or in any other department
of the borough's service in which they take part,
their voices are always raised in approval of those
measures that redotmd to the general good. The
borough has had need of j ust such assistance, be-
cause,, while she is on the rapid road to a greater era
of prosperity, she, like many of her sister municipali-
ties of the East, has also heard the fossilized bones
of the antiquated ckss rattled within her boundaries.
So, as has been stated, she is pleased to welcome
those who represent the spirit of progress, and, as she
is now evolving from a mere agricultural community
to a first-class manufacturing town, men like George
Brown's Sons are destined, by their aid, to hasten
that auspicious time. ; '
MARTIN DORWART, formerly a p^sterer,
but for many years the manager of a teaming and
hauling business, was born on the square where he
now lives, in Lancaster, Oct. 22, .1828. His par-
ents were John and Maria (Stone) Dorwart, and his
grandfather, on the paternal side, was Martin Dor-
-.yart, a shoe maker of Lancaster, and of German
descent. -John Dorwart was also a plasterer, and
his death occurred in Lancaster in 1871, at the age
of seventy-five, his wife haying died in 1S66, at the
age of sixty-seven. The parents, who are buried
in Shriner's, cemetery, were members of the Re-
formed Church, and the children born to them were
as follows : Ann, the deceased wife of James Cham-
bers; Emanuel, deceased; Elizabeth, the wife of
Jacob Barnhart (deceased) ; Margaret, the deceased
wife of Henry Metzgar ; John, deceased ; Salina, the
deceased wife of .Andrew Cogley ; Martin ; William,
deceased; Sarah, the deceased wife of James. Tear-
ney; and Elvina, married to William Gable (de-
ceased) .
Until eighteen years of age Martin Dorwart at-
tended the public schools of Lancaster, and then
learned the plasterers' trade, which he followed un-
til engaging in teaming and hauling in 1883. This
has since been his principal means of livelihood, and
for the performance of his work he is obliged to hire
several men, as he himself merely directs. Mr. Dor-
wart has taken an active part in general afifairs in
the town, is popular with his men and the public at
large, and has been a member of the city council
under Republican administration for one term. He
attends the Episcopal church, but is not a member
of any.
In 1850 Mr. Dorwart m.arried Wilhelmina Del-
let, born in Lancaster county in March, 1831, a
daughter of Adam and Susan (Huber) Dellet, the
former a contractor in Lancaster, but now deceased.
To Mr. and Mrs. Dorwart have been born the fol-
lowing children: John, deceased when young;
Mary, also deceased when young ; Emma, the wife of
E. Wilson Schriver, of Lancaster; Adam,, married
Lo Mary Baer, a printer in Lancaster ; Ida, the wife
of William F. Humble, of Lancaster ; Rose, the wife
of A. B. Clark, of Reading, Pa. ; Rev. William, a
graduate of the Andale College, N. Y., ordained to
the Episcopal ministry in 1891, has charge of a
church in Newport, Pa., and married Catherine
Marks ; Rev. George M., a graduate of Franklin
and Marshall College, ordained to the Episcopal
ministry in Reading, Pa., and has charge of a church
in Paterson, N. J.
JOHN A. HOOK (deceased) was for some
years a retired business man of Columbia, Pa.,
where he died July 29, 1879. ^^ was born in Lan-
caster, Pa., May 9, 1815, a son of David and Bridget
(Gallagher) Hook, respectively, natives of Phila-
delphia, Pa., and Ireland, but who both died in Lan-
caster. David Hook was a spoke and wagon manu-
facturer and was called from earth July 29, 1853,
at the age of sixty-three, and his widow May 27,
1874, at the age of eighty-six years, both in the faith
of the Catholic church. Seven children blessed the
marriage of this couple, viz: John A., Mary (who
was married to George Boyle), William, James,
Henry and Elizabeth, all of whom are deceased;
and Jane, still a resident of Lancaster.
Michael Hook, great-grandfather of John A.,
came from Magnea in 1750 arid settled in Lancaster,
Pa. He was the father; of four sons and two daugh-
ters, viz : Michael, who married Mrs. Jane Thom-
324
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
as; Ferdinand; Anthony; Andrew; Mary Frances,
who was married to Francis Zeigler ; and Christina,
who became Mrs. Ginther.
John A. Hook, -antil eighteen years old, assisted
in his father's wagon and spoke factory in Lancas-
ter, but owing to ill health abandoned that class of
work and came to Columbia and here clerked for
a Mr. Haldeman five years. He was next em-
ployed by a transportation company as agent, and
this position he held until the Pennsylvania Railroad
was built through the town. He then went with a
Mr. Graff to Cincinnati, Ohio, and was engaged in
the coal trade a year or two, when Mr. Graff died,
and Mr. Hook was employed by another coal firm.
He remained in Cincinnati seven years, then returned
to Columbia, Pa., and after engaging in the foundry
business there a few years sold out and went to
Pittsburg, where he passed two years. He next
engaged in the commission business in Baltimore,
Md., three years, and was very prosperous, but fail-
ing health forced him to relinquish his business ca-
reer and return to Columbia, where he lived in retire-
ment until his death in the faith of the Catholic
church. He was very popular personally and filled
several borough offices.
John A. Hook was united in marriage at Lan-
caster, Pa., by Rev. Father B. Keenan, June 26,
1845, to Miss Mary A. Wolf, and this union was
blessed with ten children, viz : Mary J., born Aug.
30, 1846, married Bernard Malone, a contractor;
Sarah E., born March 22, 1848, married Charles F.
Youngs, formerly postmaster and now assistant
postmaster of Columbia; Charlotte A., born Nov.
15, 1850, is the wife of Wald H. Frye, a Republican
ofHce-holder in Baltimore, Md. ; George A., born
June 21, 1853, is a contractor in Lancaster; Anas-
tasia, born Nov. 8, 1855, is at home with her mother ;
James A., born Nov. 8, 1855, is now a railroad en-
gineer at Columbia ; John F., born Dec^ 4, 1859, is
in the same employ in the same borough ; Alice died
young ; Edward P. died in infancy ; and Clara' A.
was born in Columbia and is still single.
Mrs. Mary A. (Wolf) Hook was born in York,
Pa., Dec. 8, 1826, and is a daughter of George and
Sarah (Piatt) Wolf, who lived in York until 1834,
when they came to Columbia. George Wolf for sev-
eral years had operated an iron foundry in Phila-
delphia, and on settling in Columbia followed 'the
same calling until his death, in 1858, at the age of
fifty-one years. He was a personal friend of Gov-
ernor Porter, who appointed him quartermaster.
Although he was not a member of any religious so-
ciety he was a good Christian, was very charitable
and was beloved bv all who knew him. Mrs. Sarah
(Piatt) Wolf died' May 25, 1896, in the faith of the
Lutheran church, at the advanced age of eighty-six
years, and her remains were interred beside those of
her husband in Mount Bethel cemetery. To Mr. and
Mrs. Wolf were born eight children, viz. : Mary A. ;
Daniel, who died in York; Elizabeth, widow of
Robert T. Ryan, of Columbia; Charlotte Augusta;
George W. ; and Julia, William and Sarah C, who
were called away in infancy.
The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Wolf were
Thomas and Elizabeth Piatt, of Nottingham, Eng-
land, where they were married prior to coming to
America. Thomas Piatt came to America as a Brit-
ish soldier at the time of the Revolutionary war,
but on arrival joined the Continental forces and as-
sisted in achieving the independence of the Colonies.
After living in this country thirty years, during
^\■hich period it was thought at home he was dead,
he sent for his family, who here passed the remainder
of their lives.
HON. MILTON HEIDELBAUGH, a member
of the State Senate from the 13th District, which
embraces the city of Lancaster and the southern part'
of the county, is one of the most genial and clever
gentlemen in this section of the State.
The ancestors of the Heidelbaugh family came
to America from the northern part of Germany early
in the eighteenth century. The great-grandfather
of Milton Heidelbaugh, who was a farmer, settled
in the Octoraro valley, among the Quakers.
Henry Heidelbaugh was a farmer, and owned a
large tract of land in Bart township, which at his
death was divided among his children, who were:
John (mentioned below), Henry, Mary Ann (who
married Peter Pickel) and George, all now de-
ceased.
John Heidelbaugh, son of Henry, was well edu-
cated, and in his early life taught school, and again
after several years' intermission followed the teach-
er's profession. In politics he was first a Whig and
later a Republican, and prominent in party work, but
cared nothing for the holding of public office. He
died in 1873. He was twice married. Mary Pickel,
his first wife, was a daughter of George Pickel, who
lived near Octoraro Church, and by that union there
were 'four children, only one of whom is now living,
Susan, widow of John E. Draucker, a farmer of
Bart township. For his second wife John Heidel-
baugh married Margaret Bender, daughter of Na-
thaniel Bender, a trader and a hotel keeper of this
county ; she died in 1863. To this union were born
five children, four of whom are living: Albert, a
farmer living on the old place at Octoraro; Milton,
of Lancaster: Rachel Ann, wife of Michael Scott,
a farmer of Bart township ; and Henry, a farmer of
Chester county, James Edwin died in 1892, un-
married.
Milton Heidelbaugh was bom on the old farm in
Bart township, April 19, 1843, ^^'^ was educated in
the public schools of the district and in Maple Grove
Academy. Leaving school at the age of eighteen
years, he became a clerk in a store in Georgetown,
Lancaster county, where he spent a year and a half.
He then entered the Union army, enlisting in Com-
pany C, 50tb P. V. I., under command of Col. Emlin
Franklin. After the battle of Gettysburg Mr. Heid-
elbaugh returned to civil life, and spent some three
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
325
years in teaching— two at Rohrerstown, and one at
Paradise. He then became a clerk in the store at
Georgetown, Lancaster county, where after a year
of labor he formed a business association with his
former employer, William S. Ferree, conducting a
general store at Nickel Mines for five years. At the
end of this time Mr. Heidelbaugh bought out his
partner's interest, and carried on the business alone
very successfully for fifteeji years, when he sold
out to the late Capt. Doble. After retiring from the
Nickel Mines store Mr. Heidelbaugh was engaged
in farming for a time, and then turned his attention
to the hardwood lumber business, into which he in-
troduced portable sawmills. This is still his main
business, and he has two sawmill plants in Prince
William county, Va., and one in Maryland, in the
three employing some seventy-five men. In the Vir-
ginia business he has for partners John J. Heidel-
baugh and B. Frank Althouse. Mr. Heidelbaugh
owns a fine dairy farm of 132 acres in Chester coun-
ty, which is in the charge of a tenant.
During his residence at Nickel Mines, Bart town-
ship, Mr. Heidelbaugh was township auditor and a
school director. Mr. Heidelbaugh has a deserved
reputation as a legislator. In 1885 he was elected to
a seat in the Legislature, and has been four times re-
elected, 1893, 1895, 1897 and 1899. He was elected
to the Senate without opposition for the term be-
ginning in 1 90 1. While in the Assembly he served
at different times on the committees on Ways and
Means, Appropriation and Education, and he was
chairman of the committee on Law and Order for
thi-ee terms. In the session of 1901, in the Senate,
he was chairman of the committee on Mines and
Mining and was appointed on a commission to de-
vise better means of caring for the Insane of the
State.
Mr. Heidelbaugh was married, Jan. 13, 1869, to
Miss Harriet E., daughter of Jacob and Mary
Thompson, of Bart township, the former a well-
known merchant of that section, now deceased. To
this union were born six children, four of whom are
living: George Ferree, a train despatcher in the
main office of the Pennsylvania railroad, in Phila-
delphia, married Anna Roche, of that city, and has
four children, Mary Helen, Milton Harold, Mar-
garet Hulda and Martha Talley. Mary Blanche
married Rev. William B. Anderson, a missionary in
the Punjaub district, India, whither he was sent in
1897, and they have had two children, both born in
India, Howard Gerald (deceased) and Lelia Blod-
wen. J. Howard assists his father as a bookkeeper
and stenographer. William Wharton took the me-
chanical engineer's course, with the class of 1901,
in the State College. John Milton died unmarried,
at the age of twenty-two. Margaret Lelia, a student
in the Millersville State Normal, died at the age of
eighteen, in May, 1896, just one month prior to the
graduation of her class.
Mr. Heidelbaugh belongs to the Knights of
Pythias, and to the Masonic fraternity, where he
has passed through lodge, chapter, commandery and
consistory. In politics he is a Republican, and in
religion he is a member of the First Presbyterian
Church of Lancaster, in which he is an elder, as he
was for years at Octoraro. One of two members
sent from the Westminster Presbytery to the Gen-
eral Assembly of the Church at Omaha, Neb., in
1887, he acquitted himself creditably, and justified
the wisdom of the Presbytery in sending him on that
important and responsible labor. He is one of the
managers of the Lancaster General Hospital.
FRANK J. WEAVER. The old and honored
family which bears the name of Weaver, or as it
probably was, Weber, originated in Switzerland,
from whence came the founder of the Weavers in
Lancaster county. The old records tell how Hans
Weber came to America in 1717 and settled in the
Keystone State upon 500 acres of land in what is
now known as West Lampeter township. His as-
sociate was Ulrich Houser, and subsequently the
land was divided between the two, the Weavers still
retaining 300 acres of the original purchase. This
valuable land was in the possession of Rudolph
Bundeley, from whom it was secured in 1717, and the
homestead is now in the possession of John K.
Weaver, the fifth in line from the founder, and now
contains seventy-five acres. The first house was
erected by Hans Weber, or Weaver, a log cabin,
which stood some 300 yards north of the present
residence, and probably about 1740 a stone house was
built, this still standmg, in an excellent state of
preservation. In 1765 there was erected a brick
residence, from brick made on the place, and this is
still occupied by the family, having been so thorough-
ly constructed that it remains much more comforta-
ble than many of the modern structures. When John
Weaver, the son of Hans, built this house it was con-
sidered such a remarkable edifice that people came
many miles to see it, the newness of it attracting
their notice, just as in these days it is a historic land-
mark, notable for its preservation in age. Jacob
Weaver, the son of John, built the barn in 1788, and
each proprietor has added to the improvements. John
Weaver left twin sons, Jacob and John, and Jacob
became the grandfather of Francis J. Weaver, of
this biography. His occupation was that of farm-
ing, his religious connection was with the Reformed
Mennonite Church, and he was one of the highly re-
spected citizens of his locality. His marriage was
to Mary Neff, of a farming family who resided near
Strasburg, and a family of eight children was born
to this union, one son, John, becoming the head of
the present family.
John Weaver was born and reared on this farm,
where he lived some eighty years, a good, pious and
most worthy member of the Reformed Mennonite
church. He was married to Elizabeth Kreider, a
daughter of Christian Kreider, and of their children
we have record of the following : Martin, of Stras-
burg ; Christian, of Lancaster ; Amos, of East Lam-
826
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
peter township : Elizabeth, of Strasburg ; Annie, de-
ceased; Cyrus J., of Chester county; Frank J., of
■ East Lampeter ; and Jacob G., a physician of Stras-
burg.
Frank J. Weaver, one of Lancaster county's
most worthy and respected citizens, resides in West
Lampeter township, one and one-half miles east of
the Lampeter postoffice, and one mile from Wheat-
land Mills, a most desirable location. His descent
has been traced from one of the oldest families in
the county and he is a worthy representative of it.
He was born on the farm adjoining the old home-
stead April 7, 1838, a son of John and Elizabeth
(Kreider) Weaver, and here he was reared and re-
ceived his preparatory education, later attending a
-business college in York, Pennsylvania.
Upon finishing his schooldays- Frank J. Weav-
er took up farming in connection with his brother,
and for some time prior to his marriage car-
ried it on with success. In 1869 he purchased the
farm he now occupies, consisting of forty-eight
acres, where he has made many permanent and valu-
able improvements, erecting good and substantial
buildings, and he has placed his farm under such
cultivation that it is justly regarded as one of the
most desirable in the neighborhood.
On Peb. 17, 1870, Mr. Weaver was married to
Mary Buckwalter, a daughter of Benjamin and Eliz-
abeth (Mylin) Buckwalter, and to them* have been
born the following: Henry B., B. Ellis and Eliza-
beth Elma. The sons have imbibed the progressive
ideas of their father, and have engaged in the propa-
gation and growth of hothouse plants and flowers,
making a specialty of carnations, and have also en-
gaged in the fruit business, placing oh sale peaches,
plums and pears, also all kinds of choice grapes, hav-
ing four acres devoted to this industry. In their
greenhouses 'they have 8,500 feet of glass, and have
five houses, seventy feet in length. This is a grow-
ing business and covers a large territory of trade.
The daughter of the house is an accomplished young
jady who has displayed talents of a high order in
free-hand sketching, and all the children have been
afforded the best possible educational advantages.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Weaver are members of the Re-
formed Mennonite Church, in which he has been
a deacon for the past thirty years. The family is
regarded as representative, socially and otherwise, in
West Lampeter township.
JAMES S. PATTERSON, one of the leading
citizens of Little Britain township, Lancaster .coun-
ty, long identified with her political, educational and
religious life, was born Aug. 8, 1838, a son of James
and Rebecca (Black) Patterson, of the same town-
ship.
The founder of this branch of the Patterson
family was James Patterson, wh9 was born in Coun-
ty Antrim, Ireland, in 1708, and came to America
in 1728. The locality in which he settled is now
included in Little Britain township, and the land was
purchased from the Penns. He married Mary
Montgomery, and his children were: William,
John, Hannah, Mary, Samuel, Jane, Isabella, James,
Elizabeth and Thomas.
James Patterson, the second of the name, was
born in 1745, and married Letitia Gardner. His
children were: Isabella, Francina, Robert, Mary,
Elizabeth, Jane, James, Letitia and Rachel, all of
whom have passed away.
James Patterson, the third of the family name
and father of James S., was born on the farm now oc-
cupied by our subject, March 7, 1796, and on Dec.
18, 1823, was married to Miss Rebecca Black, of
Little Britain township. Ten children were borti
to this marriage : Robert B., born Sept. 28, 1824,
died in March, 1901 ; William, July 19, 1826, resides
in San Francisco, Cal. ; Rachel, born Sept. 5, 1828,
married John Carter, and died Jan. 18, 1862; Isa-
bella, born June 29, 1830, is the widow of David
-Ramsey, of Chester county; Francis, born March 17,
T832, died Oct. 6, 1861 ; Harriet, born Aug. 22,
1834^ married Dr. Kennedy, of Oxford, and died
Nov. 18, 1874; Mary Rebecca, born Aug. 9, 1836,
married Dr. John W. Zell, of Little Britain town-
ship, and died Sept. 23, 1870 ; James S., born Aug.
8, 1838; Letitia, born Sept. 2, 1840, married Dr. D.
H. Strickland, of Chester county, and died May 9,
187s ; and D. Ramsey, born Oct. 30, 1842, is a mem-
ber of the legal profession in Philadelphia.
James S. Patterson was reared on the farm and
through boyhood attended first the district schools
and later the Academy at Hopewell, Chester coun-
ty. For many years he has been one of the substan-
tial agriculturists of this section of Lancaster coun-
ty, and now owns one of its finest farms, consisting
of 20D acres, two-thirds of which is well cultivated
and the balance woodland, and on which is one of
the most commodious and comfortable residences in
the township.
On Jan. 30, 1868, James S. Patterson was united
in marriage with Miss Margaret E. Ferguson, born
Oct. 27, 1844, a daughter of Thomas and Anna
(Dripps) Ferguson, of Colerain township, and five
children were born to this union : Mary, born July
18, 1869, married Lieut. J. Howard Griffiths, of the
U. S. Army, stationed now in the Philippine Islands ;
Charles, born Nov. 18, 1870, married Mary Webb,
of Drumore township, and now conducts the home
farm; Chester, born April 19, 1872; James, Jr.,
born March 17, 1874, is a resident of Omaha, Neb.;
and Anna R., born May 19, 1877, married Melville
Barr, a merchant of Colerain township. Mrs. Pat-
terson, the mother of this family, died Feb. 5, 1891.
On Feb. 10, 1898, Mr. Patterson was married to
Mrs. William Warden, a daughter of Samuel and
Elizabeth (Thompson) Mclntire, of Philadelphia;
there are no children by this marriage.
In politics Mr. Patterson is a stanch Democrat.
His father was a personal friend, admirer and sup-
porter of President James Buchanan, and took an
active part in the campaign of 1856. Mr. Patterson
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
827
has been especially prominent in the affairs of the
Presbjterian Church, and in 1884 was chosen as
a delegate from the Westminster Presbytery to the
General Assembly at Saratoga Springs, and in 1892
he was again so honored, and attended the General
Assembly held at Portland, Ore. In his township
Mr. Patterson is held in high esteem, and his integ-
rity of character reflects credit on himself, his fam-
ily and the community.
FREDERICK QUADE. In recalling the inci-
dents in the career of Frederick Quade, one of Lan-
caster's substantial and respected citizens, it is easily
proven that energy, honesty, perseverance and in-
dustry are the steps by which a man can change
his- condition from poverty to comfortable com-
.petency. Mr. Quade is a self-made man, and from
a youth who reached America only by obtaining a
small loan from a friend has not only paid that back
-with interest, but has assisted friends in turn and has
done more in the way of charity than many of his
fellow-citizens imagine.
Mr. Quade was born in Westphalia, Prussia,
April 12, 1830, son of Charles and Jane S. (Spilker)
Quade, the latter dying when our subject was but
five weeks of age. His father and grandfather both
were contractors and builders. The father died in
i860, at the age of fifty-eight years. The children
born to our subject's parents were : Charles F., de-
ceased, a brickmason who died in Missouri ; Louisa,
the widow of Andrew Kohm, of Lancaster; and
Frederick, of this sketch.
Mr. Quade was religiously reared and was con-
firmed at the age of fourteen years, according to the
rules of his church. At about that same age he be-
gan to have a determination to emigrate to America.
He reached New York City on a cold day in Janu-
ary, . 1845, ^iid soon found occupation as a clerk in
a grocery . store, his attention to business and his
faithful service making him so valuable that he was
retained for four and three-quarters years. He
learned so much in this time that in 185 1 he felt
able to start info business for himself, but later, be-
cause of ill health, sold out and came to Lancaster.
He began as a clerk, then was made a foreman. Hq
would have enlisted as a soldier, but was refused on
account of poor teeth; his faithfulness, however,
had been noticed, and through Hon. Thaddeus Stev-
ens he was, in 1863, made a foreman in the quarter-
master department and an agent to look after lost
and stolen goods of the government. After the
close of the war he returned to Lancaster and secured
a position as foreman in the cotton mills and for
three years was yard boss.
Mr. Quade then embarked in the butcher busi-
ness,, which he followed for fifteen years and then
became a bottler of beer, ale, porter, etc., which busi-
ness he followed for ten years. He now lives re-
tired from activity, and is one of the city's large
landholders. Be owns eleven valuable buildings,
the "McCall's Hotel" and other desirable properties.
When Mr. Quade came to Lancaster county he had
less than $100, and now is possessed of very large
means. He has taken an active interest in various
benevolent and charitable enterprises and is a man
who has many personal friends. Fraternally he be-
longs to the Masonic Blue Lodge; the I. O. O. F.,
having passed all its chairs ; and is the second old-
est member of the Order of Red Men in Pennsyl^
\ania. In politics he is a Republican. His re-
ligious connection is with the Lutheran Church.
On March 28, 185 1, Mr. Quade was married,
in New York City, to Miss E. Ann Harcop, who
was boi'n in Hanover, Germany, died Jan, 9, 1899,
aged seventy-six and is buried in Greenwood ceme-
tery. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Quade
were; Christian F., who is in charge of a hotel
at McCall's Ferry, this county, married Ada Heb-
ble and has six children ; John H., who has been a
clerk with Bauragardner & Martin, in the coal busi-
ness, for twenty years, lives in Lancaster, married
Anna Shoop and has one child; and Louisa, who
married Benjamin F. Davis, ah attorney in Lan-
caster.
HENRY B. GISH (deceased) was born in
West Donegal township Oct. 12, 1834, and died on
the farm where his family is now living Sept. 24,
1897, his remains being laid to rest in Mt. Tunnel
cemetery.
John S. and Annie (Breneman) Gish, his par-
ents, were both natives of West Donegal township,
where their lives were spent. The father was a
farmer, and carried on in addition to his farm work
a grist m.ill, which he rebuilt in 1845, and operated
until i860, when he passed it over to his son, Henry
B. John S. Gish died in March, 1889, at the age
of ninety-seven years ; his wife died in i860, at the
age of sixty-two years. Their remains, removed
from the old farm cemetery, are now resting in Mt.
Tunnel cemetery. To them were born the following
children : Anna, who married Henry Breneman,
and is now deceased; John (deceased), who first
married a Miss Boyer, and second Adaline Baxter;
Catherine, who married John Boyer; Mary, de-
ceased wife of Philip Olweiler ; and Henry B., whose '
name introduces this article.
Jacob Gish, the paternal grandfather of Henry
B., was a prominent man in his day, and had much
to do with the early industries of West Donegal
township.
Abraham Gish, the pioneer settler of the family,
came to tliis State from Switzerland, and was the
progenitor of a numerous family: Jacob, born in
1767, died in 1846; Abraham, born in 1770; Cather-
ine, born in 1771 ; John, born in 1774, died in 1871 ;
Christian, born in 1775; David, born in 1777;
George, born in 1779, died in 185 1 ; Elizabeth, born
in 1781, married Abraham Heisey, and died Jan.
14, 1861 ; Susan, born in 1784; and Mathias, born
in 1788. Six of these ten children were born in the
month of December, and their average age was
328
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
over eighty years, and the combined age of the ten
children was over eight hundred years, and one at-
tained the age of ninety-seven years, none died in
infancy or youth, and all were married. Two
brothers accompanied Abraham Gish from their
Swiss home. One settled near the Dauphin and
Lancaster dividing line, and died childless. The
other went to Virginia, where his descendants at the
present time are numerous. None of . the family
are addicted to intemperate habits, and with very
few exceptions they are members of Christian
churches.
Henry B. Gish and Miss Amanda Herr were
married in Lancaster in December, 1863, and to
them were born the following children : Laura E.,
wife of Abraham Coble, a farmer in West Donegal
township ; Heiiry J., a farmer and miller of West
Donegal township, whose life history is given on
another page, and who married Mabel Hershey;
Benjamin H., unmarried, a farmer in Hamilton
county, Iowa ; Jacob, a farmer in Iowa ; Edwin H.,
a tobacco dealer, who married Lillian Hostetter and
lives at home; Anna H., wife of Peter Nissley, a
farmer of West Donegal township; Mary H., the
wife of Clayton Hoffman, a farmer "of Elizabeth-
town; Minnie H., wife of Christian Ober, a jeweler
in Elizabethtown ; and Ada H., unmarried and at
home.
Mrs. Amanda (Herr) Gish was born in East
Donegal township March 17, 1842, a daughter of
Benjamin and Elizabeth (Stehman) Herr. They
were both born in Manor township and died in East
Donegal township, near Maytown. They were
members of the Church of God, and were regarded
as solid and substantial people. The father, who
was a farmer all his life, died July 28, 1879, ^^ the
age of seventy -two years; his widow in 1894, at the
age of eighty years. Their remains are resting in
Peck's cemetery, near Maytown. The following
children were born to them : Hiram S., who mar-
ried Charlotte Watson, is a farmer in Mt. Joy town-
ship; Benjamin S., who married Sallie Miller, is
deceased; Elizabeth S. is the widow of Christian
Rohrer and lives at Canton, 111. ; Mary S. married
• John S. Miller, a retired farmer in Marietta, and
the subject 01 a sketch that is to be found in another
place; Amanda S. ; Jacob died in infancy; and Cy-
rus S. married Anna Sultzbach and is now deceased.
Henry B. Gish spent his boyhood and youth on
the farm, and when he was twenty-seven years of
age engaged with his brother in the coal and grain
business in Elizabethtown, a business they conducted
for two years, and then sold to B. G. Groff, who is
still engaged in its management. In 1862 Mr. Gish
took his father's mill in West Donegal township,
operating it for thirty-four years, and then retiring
to his late home, a handsome two-story brick,
which he had built two years before. One of the
directors of the Exchange Bank at its organization,
he was acting in that capacity at the time of his
death. During his more active years he served in
various local positions as school director and audi-
tor, and took a leading part in public affairs. Mrs.
Gish is a member of the Church of God, and is one
of the prominent and wealthy ladies of the commun-
ity. She occupies a fine home, near the boro line,
and is noted for her many excellent and womanly
qualities.
DAVID LEWIS DEEN, 'one of the most pop-
ular and active citizens of Lancaster, is a native of
that city, having been born there May 12, 1847, ^^d
is descended on his father's side from sturdy Scotch-
Irish ancestry.
James Deen, his grandfather, was born in Ire-
land, of Scottish parents, and came thence to Amer-
ica with two brothers, Mark and David, settling on
what is known as the Evans farm, in Lancaster city,
Pa. Later he purchased a farm in Juniata county,
Pa., on which he passed the rest of his days, dying
when he was over eighty years old. In religious
faith he was a Presbyterian, as well as all his fore-
fathers.
Thomas Deen, father of David L., was born
Feb. 4, 1812, in Lancaster, Pa., and was there reared
to manhood. For a considerable time, and until the
breaking oiit of the Rebellion, he was traveling sales-
man for a Philadelphia dry-goods house, and he
then became sutler for the ist and 2nd Regiments,
Pennsylvania Reserves. In 1837 he married Miss
Catherine B. McGlinn, daughter of Anthony Mc-
Glinn, in his day a widely known carpenter, builder
and undertaker, of Lancaster, where he died in 1871,
in the eighty-eighth year of his age ; at one time he
served a year as coroner of Lancaster county. To
Thomas and Catherine B. Deen were born nine chil-
dren, three of whom died in' infancy. Of the others,
(i) William M. served as a letter carrier, and filled
various positions of trust in the city governrhent of
Lancaster, until his enlistment, during the Civil war,
in the 79th P. V. I., in which he served until wound-
ed, at the battle of Green river. (2) James A. died
at Camp Slifer, near Chambersburg, Pa., May 22,
1861, while serving as a member of the loth P. V. I.,
he being one of the first men in the State to enlist
for the war of the Rebellion. (3) Thomas A., the
youngest surviving brother, is a leading electrical
engineer and contractor of Lancaster. The father
of this family died in Philadelphia March i, 1862,
aged fifty years, the mother passing away in 1882.
Both were lifelong consistent members of the Pres-
byterian Church.
David L. Deen attended the public schools until
reaching the age of fourteen years, at which time,
his father having died, the lad commenced life in
earnest, his first mercantile experience being in the
store of John D. Skiles. We next find him in the
capacity of apprentice to the trade of machinist in the
Lancaster Locomotive Works, whence, after three
years, he moved to Pittsburg, and for eight months
worked in the Pennsylvania railroad shops, later
finding similar employment in those of the Cone-
f/j7U^^^C~^^ gd--ejzM^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
829
maiigh & Altoona and the Renovo & Baldwin Loco-
motive Works.
Returning to Lancaster, Mr. Deen took charge
of the machinery in the Conestoga Cork Works, and
then, having now become a skilled mechanic, in
every sense of the term, he was appointed chief en-
gineer of the city water works, filling that position
with rare intelligence and fidelity for six and one-
half years. After this for a time he served in John
Best's works, then for four years as chief engineer of
the Penn Iron Works. In 1884 he was elected by
the city councils to the position of street commis-
sioner, discharging the duties of that office with the
same degree of satisfaction to his constituents and
the community at large as had characterized all his
other work. In the spring of 1885 he was elected
alderman by the Republicans of the Sixth ward, and
has since filled that office continuously, at this writ-
. ing serving his fourth term. In 1897 about one dozen
aldermen and justices of the peace of Lancaster and
neighboring counties convened at Harrisburg, for
the purpose of forming an organization for the bet-
ter advancement of the Minor Judiciary of the State
of Pennsylvania. This organization is known as the
Magistrates Association of the State of Pennsyl-
vania, and numbers over five thousand members ;
Alderman Deen was elected president of the Asso-
ciation in September, 1902. In the spring of 1902
Mr. Deen was elected treasurer of the directors of the
poor of Lancaster county. In addition to all these
many responsibilities he has, for years, been clerk
of the common councils.
In 1869 Alderman Deen married Miss Mary C.
Price, who was born and reared in Lancaster, and
two children graced their union: (i) William L.,
a graduate of pharmacy, is now holding a respon-
sible position in the drug business in Philadelphia;
in 1895 he married Jennie Swartz, and they have
one son, David L. (2) Mary Elizabeth is at home.
The mother of these died in 1877, and in 1879 Mr.
Deen married Maggie I. Seith, by whom he had one
child, Charles F., formerly a clerk with Cox & Rose,
merchants, Lancaster, and now with the United Tele-
phone & Telegraph Company, Lancaster. Mr. and
Mrs. Deen are members of the Reformed Church.
In politics he is a Republican, and has been for sev-
eral years a member of the Republican County Com-
mittee a,nd Republican City Executive Committee,
of which latter he has been chairman for ten years.
He has for many years taken an active, earnest and
efficient part in all city, county. State and National
affairs. Socially Alderman Deen is past chancellor
of the K. of P. ; secretary of the Lancaster Game
Protective Association; and "in days of yore" was
a member (for a time) of the American Order of
Steam Engineers, and chief engineer and secretary
of the old American Fire Company, as well as as-
sistant engineer of the Volunteer Fire Department
of Lancaster. In conclusion, it may, without fear
of contradiction, be added that, in all his walks of
life — whether as a private citizen or as a public offi-
cial— Alderman Deen has always stood unswerving-
ly for the right, and for that alone, and he has de-
servedly earned the esteem of all who know him.
DAVID SHETRONE (deceased) was a man
who commanded the respect and confidence of all
with whom he came in contact, either in business
or social life, on account of his sterling worth and
honorable dealings. The greater part of his life
was spent in York county, this State, but for three
years he made his home in Columbia, and during that
time made a host of warm friends in that city.
Mr. Shetrone was born in York March 15, 1824,
a son of John and Mary (Beakie) Shetrone, of that
place, where the father followed the shoemaker's
trade throughout life. The children of the family
were: Jacob, deceased; Isaac, a resident of Ohio;
William, deceased ; Henry, a resident of York, Pa. ;
David, of this sketch ; Sarah, a widow and a resident
of Indiana ; and Margaret, wife of a Mr. Plank, of
Chester, Pennsylvania.
As previously stated, David Shetrone was a resi-
dent of Columbia for three years, from 1854 to 1856,
inclusive, but with that exception he always lived in
York, Pa., and was lumber inspector for many years.
Fraternally he was a member of the Improved Or-
der of Red Men, and politically was a supporter of
the Democratic party.
In Columbia, May i, 1855, Mr. Shetrone mar-
ried Miss Mary M. Bartch, and by this union were
born children as follows : Anna L., now the wife of
Clayton Wiest, a machinist of York; Michael, de-
ceased; David, a merchant of Columbia; Mary
Eliza, deceased; George, manager of the Atlantic
Refining Company, who married Ella Fockner and
lives in York; Ada, wife of Newton Nissly, a ma-
chinist of Columbia ; Bertha, wife of John Herman,
a grocer of Gloucester City, N. J. ; Mary, wife of
James King, a railroad man of Columbia ; Edward,
who died at the age of twenty-one years ; and Amos,
who is with his mother. The father died April 5,
i884j at the age of sixty years, and was buried in
York.
Mrs. Shetrone, a most estimable lady, has made
her home in Columbia since 1894, and is an active
and prominent member of St. John's Lutheran
Church of that place. She was born on Chestnut
Hill, West Hempfield township, L,anc.aster county.
Her father, Michael Bartch, was born in Gross
Gunbe, Darmstadt, Germany, March 28, 1802, and
was about twenty-five years of age when he came to
America. Locating on Chestnut Hill, Lancaster
Co., Pa., he followed farming, and also opened up
and operated ore banks. Here he was married, in
1833, to Elizabeth Schwinn, who was also born in
Darmstadt, Germany, March i, 1810, and died Feb.
16, 1888, while his death occurred on Chestnut Hill
April 29, 1859. They were earnest members of the
Lutheran Church, and highly respected and es-
teemed by all who knew them. In their family were
the following children : Michael, a contractor and .
330
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
builder of Dayton, Ohio ; Mary M., now Mrs. Shet-
lone; George, foreman of Bruner's coalyard at Co-
lumbia ; Louisa, deceased wife of Frederick Bucher,
of Columbia; Sarah, wife of Valentine Bentley, a
carpenter of Columbia; Tobias, a resident of the
same place ; Amos, a merchant of Columbia, now de-
ceased; and Elizabeth, wife of Adam Agle, of Co-
lumbia. Mrs. Shetrone's maternal grandfather was
a farmer by occupation and a life-long resident of
Germany.-
JACOB CASSEL, an old and retired farmer,
, whose long lite has been marked by industry and in-
tegrity, was born on the farm where he and his son
now reside, Dec. 9, 1817, a son of Joseph and Anna
(Hershey) Cassel. Joseph Cassel was born on the
farm where his son and grandson are now. living,
and Anna Hershey was born in Penn township, all
of Lancaster county. Abraham Cassel located on this
farm in 1747, ^^^ i* has never passed out of the
hands of his descendants to the present time.
Joseph and Anna (Hershey) Cassel moved to
Penn township in 1846, being engaged duriiag all
their active life in the tillage of the soil. The father
died in 1847, at the age of seventy-five, and the
mother, who passed to her rest in 1855, lived to be
eighty-one years old. They were members of the
Mennonite Church, and in their day were among the
Jeading people of their community, honest, upright
and of manifest integrity. These were their chil-
dren : Joseph, who lived to be twenty-eight years
old ; Henry, who died when fifty-seven ; Nancy, who
married a Mr. Stauffer, and died when twenty-
three; John, a retired farmer in Penn township;
Mary, who married Jacob Hostetter and lived to be
eighty-one ; Elizabeth, who married Henry Buck-
holder and lived to be eighty-three; David, who
passed avi'ay at the age of eighty-one; and Jacob,
noted above.
Joseph Cassel, who was the grandfather of Jacob,
was a resident of Lancaster county and a strong and
leading character of his day.
Jacob Cassel was married in Lancaster county,
in Feb., 1846, to Barbara, a daughter of Peter and
Elizabeth (Lehma) Hershey. Her parents were
natives of Lancaster county, and in every way hon-
orable and upright people. Jacob Cassel has re-
mained on the farm where he is now found for
many years. In 1873 he retired from active labor,
feeling that his long and arduous life entitled him
to some rest and ease during its closing period. His
religious associations have been with the Mennonite
(Church, of which he is an honored and devoted
member. His political views are those held by the
Republican party, and he has long been an effective
worker in that organization.
Abraham H. Cassel, prominent in the farming
community of Rapho township, and long and inti-
mately associated with his father, Jacob Cassel, was
born on the farm where he is now living Jan. i,
185 1. In 1892 he lost his mother, who was born
in 1821. Her remains were interred in the Kauff-
man Meeting House churchyard. The following
children constituted the family: Fanny H., who
married John Wademan, and is now dead ; Abraham
H., the second child of the family; Anna H., the
wife of John Musser, a farmer and tobacco packer
of Lancaster county.
AbrahaiTj H. Cassel was married in Lancaster,
Pa., Nov. 12, 1872, to Barbara Musser, and to this
union was born Henry M., who is now at home.
Mrs. Barbara (Musser) Cassel was born in East
Hempfield township, Lancaster county, July 11,
1852, a daughter of Benjamin and Maria (Niss-
ley) Musser. Her parents were both natives of
l.-ancaster county. Her father died in Salunga, and
her mother in Lancaster. They were born and
1 eared farming people, and in 1872 retired to spend
their last years in Salunga. Her father was in his
active days a school director. Religiously he
belonged to the Reformed Mennonite Church. He
died in Salunga in 1892, at the age of sixty-seven
and was buried in the Landisville cemetery. His
widow died in Lancaster in 1898, at the age of sev-
enty-three, and her remains rest beside those of her
husband. She was a member of the Old Mennonite
Church. Born to this union were the following chil-
dren : Martin N., who is a farmer in East Hemp-
field township; Anna N., the wife of Joseph Cas^
sel, a merchant at Reading, Pa. ; Barbara N., who is
Mrs. Cassel ; Mary N., single, and living in the city
of Lancaster.
Mr. and Mrs. A. PI. Cassel have spent their lives
on the old historip homestead that is so rich with the
memories of the former generations of the Cassel
family, and they have passed industrious and useful
lives. They have many friends in the community
who admire their genuine integrity and honor, and
cherish their friendship for their worth and moral
value.
JOHN S. KURTZ, a retired farmer . living in
Lancaster, was born in Honeybrook, Chester Coj,
Pa., Feb. 21, 1839, son of Jacob and Sarah (Shirk)
Kurtz, natives, respectively, of Reading and Lan-
caster counties. Pa. The father was a farmer and
died in 1866, aged fifty years, while the mother,
who was born in 1819, lives in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
They were members of the Reformed Mennonite
church, and were the parents of three children, of
whom John S. is the second child and only son.
The eldest daughter, Anna, now deceased, married
Ephraim Hostetter; and the youngest daughter,
Sarah, is the widow of David Rupp, of Mechanics-
burg. The paternal grandparents, John and Anna
Kurtz, were natives of Berks county. Pa., where the
former was a farmer and stockraiser.
After his first marriage, John S. Kurtz left the
home farm and undertook to farm for himself in
Ephrata township until 1889, during which year
he retired to another part of his property, and
settled in Lancaster in April of 1892. He was one
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
331
of the best farmers in this section of the county, and
has to show for years of untiring industry not only
a finely 'improved farm, but several valuable city
properties. He is a Republican in political affilia-
tion, but aside from the duty of casting his vote
.has never interested himself in the strenuous and
uncertain life of the politician. He and his family
are members of the New Mennonite church, of
which he has been a deacon for the past fourteen
years, and have materially assisted in building up
the organizations in connection therewith.
The first marriage of Mr. Kurtz was solemnized
in Lancaster, Jan. 19, i860, with Maria F. Hos-
tetter, born near Manheim, Pa., in April, 1843, ^^'^
died Aug. 30, 1877. Mrs. Kurtz was a daughter of
John and Elizabeth (Forney) Hostetter, of Lan-
■-caster, and was the mother of two children, of
whom Lizzie K., now deceased, was born Sept. 4,
1863 ; and Edwin H., born in Jan. 1864, married
first Lizzie Shirk, and afterward Mollie Bankert.
On April 3, 1892, Bishop Hershey performed the
ceremony uniting Mr. Kurtz and Anna E. Weaver,
born July 17, 1848, a daughter of Joseph and
Esther (Steman) Weaver, natives respectively of
East Lampeter and Strasburg.
Joseph W^eaver, who was a minister of the
Reformed Mennonite church, and a farmer during
the active years of his life, married Barbara Barr,
who was born iri 1794, and died in 1840, leaving
seven children as follows: Isaac, deceased;
Ephraim, deceased; Ann, deceased wife of John
Franz ; Jacob, deceased ; Mary, living in Lancaster ;
Elizabeth, the wife of C. N. Witmer, since
deceased; and Susanna, who lives with Mary in
Lancaster. For his second wife Mr. Weaver mar-
ried Esther Steman Brubaker, and to this marriage
were born: Barbara A., who, married Amos Bow-
man, a retired farmer of East Lampeter ; and Anna
E., the wife of John Kurtz, the subject of this
biography. Mr. Weaver died in East Lampeter in
1871, at the age of eighty years, his wife surviving
him until May 11, 1890, her age being eighty-three
years. They are buried in Longnecker church-
yard. Joseph Weaver was a son of Jacob and
Esther (Neff) Weaver, of Lancaster county, the
former of whom was' a farmer and lived to a ripe
old age. Mrs. Esther Weaver was a daughter of
John and Elizabeth (Bowman) Steman, also of
Lancaster county.
J. FR.\NK REED, who both as miller and
farmer is well and favorably known to the citizens
of Sadsbury township, was born there, on Jan. 21,
1825, and was a son of Charles and Sarah
(Brooker) Reed, the former of whom was a native of
England, a stone mason bv trade, and died in Sads-
bury township in 183 1. The mother was a native of
Sadsbury township and lived until 1856, dying at
the age of sixty-six years. Both of these parents
had belonged to the Society of Friends, and were
laid to rest in the cemetery attached to the meeting
house in this township. Their children were: J.
Frank; and Amanda, who married William G.
Miller, of Chester county, and died in 1876, in
Sadsbury township.
J. Frank Reed was reared by his mother in the
home of his grandfather Brooker until he was
seventeen years of age, although he was but
fourteen when he began to learn the milling busi-
ness, working at it as opportunity offered. When
seventeen he went for one year to Brownstown, in
Drumore township, and worked there as a journey-
man; then to Bart township, where for four years
he was one of the employees of the. well remembered
Old Rock mill. When that property was sold, Mr.
Reed rented the Willow mill, in Bart township and
turned out the "grists" for the country round, for
four years, going to Paradise township, where for
three years his skill as a miller was tested. Mr.
Reed then purchased one-half of a farm in Sads-
bury township, with an uncle, this arrangement con-
tinuing but one year, Mr. Reed selling his,, interest
and going to Colerairi township. . Here he invested
in a small farm of thirty acres, and cultivated it
for fourteen years, at the end of that time taking
advantage of an opportunity to purchase his present
estate. Since then he has been engaged in both
farming and milling, doing some of the most satis-
factory work in this locality, in his mill. This old
stone structure was erected in 1833, ^7 John Town-
send, and was originally a water-power mill, but
with other improvements, Mr. Reed replaced the
old power with a gas engine.
The marriage of Frank Reed was on March 9,
1853, to Sarah J. Lary, and the children of this
union were : Adela, who died in young "womanhood ;
Laura A. and Edna F., both cultured and intelli-
gent ladies, living with their parents, and, with
their mother, leading members of the Presbyterian
church.
The birth of Mrs. Reed was on July 10, 1833,
and she was a daughter of Uriah and Juliann
(Barge) Lary, natives of Paradise township.
Uriah Lary was killed by a pectiliar accident, being
struck in a vital part by the tongue of a wagon
while he was in the act of removing it from the
barn. This occurred in 1837, when he was yet in
the prime of life, having only reached his" fortieth
year. His widow survived until 1856, reaching her
fiftieth year. Their children were: Benjamin F.,
who died in a field hospital, during the Civil war ;
Adeline, who is the widow of William Barnett, of
Iowa ; Mary A., who is the widow of Uriah Miller,
of Paradise township ; and Sarah J., who became
Mrs. Reed.
Few men of this township are more widely
known than Mr. Reed, and he counts his friends by
the number of his acquaintances. A stanch Re-
publican, he takes a great interest in the success of
his party, but has held no office except that of school
director and that of supervisor, in Colerain town-
ship. His religious training was in the Quaker
332
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
faith, but he is liberal enough to see good in all,
and while hot confining himself to any fixed
doctrine, his exemplary life speaks for itself, and
he is universally esteemed. His present farming
land comprises twenty-six acres, and he still is
quite capable of managing both it and his milling
interests, although he has passed the limit of three-
score years, which in the old days marked a man's
decline. Vigorous in mind and body, Mr. Reed is
a living example of the results of an exemplary and
temperate life.
EACHMAN. The founder of the Bachman
family in I^ancaster county was John Bachman, who
was born March 20, 1746. His native country was
Switzerland, and thence he carne to the United
States while still a young man, and established in
Lancaster county a family which has grown into
wealth and prominence.
John Bachman, the pioneer, was married April
9, 1771, to Maria Rohrer, who was born Jan. 28,
1749, and their family consisted of the following
children: Anna, born Jan. 18, 1772; Maria, May
7» 1773 <■ John, Jan. 20, 1775; Elizabeth, Dec. 14,
1776; Barbara, Dec. 20, 1778; Christian, March i,
1780; Jacob, April 25, 1782; Susannah, March 29,
1784; and Maria, Aug. 16, 1786. Of this family,
Maria married John McCartney, of West Lampeter
township. Susan remained single, and lived to an
advanced age.
John Bachman, son of John, born Jan. 20, 1775,
came into the world during a historic time in West
Lampeter township, and there and in Pequea town-
ship he spent his life, and carried on his father's busi-
ness, that of cabinet making and undertaking. He
was located between Willowstreet and West Willow,
in Pequea township, where for very many years he
could be found, an industrious and thorough work-
man, and a man highly respected throughout the
neighborhood. As one of the leading members of
the Mennonite Church he set an example of exem-
plary living, and his decease, on Nov. 10, 1849, was
sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends. John
Bachman (2) was married Dec. 12, 1797, to Esther
Grider, who was born Feb. 16, 1780, and died Sept.
28, 1850. Their children were: Jacob, born Sept.
24, 1798, died July 4, 1869 ; John, born Oct. 5, 1799,
died Sept. 9, 1876; Anna, born Feb 24, 1802, died
March 2, 1819 ; Christian, born April 10, 1803, died
May 9, 1857; Susannah, born Feb. 18, 1805, died
Nov. 5, 1888, unmarried; Benjamin, born July 17,
1807, died July 24, 1843 ; Mary, born Dec. 6, 1808,
died March 12, 181 1; and Barbara, born Oct. 27,
181 1, died Sept. 24, 1815.
Jacob Bachman, the eldest in the family of John
(2), was born in Pequea township, between Willow-
street and West Willow, and was reared to his fa-
ther's business, which he also adopted. On Feb. 12,
1822, he married Barbara Kendig, who was born
Nov. 16, 1803, and died Jan. 30, 1876. She was the
daughter of Christian and Barbara (Mylin) Kendig,
of Conestoga township, where they were much re-
spected residents. After their marriage Jacob Bach-
man and wife moved to East Lampeter township,
and located his cabinetmaking business near Soud-
ersburg. In the course of time the little settlement ,
grew, and as the Bachman family was the most,
prominent the name soon became Bachmantown.
For forty-eight years Jacob Bachman was a resident
of that locality, and few indeed were there who
did not know him well. In connection with his trade
he also engaged extensively in farming, and was a
man who took an interest in public affairs, always
advocating measures for the advancement of edu-
cation, and inore progressive than almost any other
citizen. His connection with the board of education
lasted many years, and many of the advantages en-
joyed at the present time may be traced to his per-
severing and intelligent management of affairs.
Both he and his estimable wife have long since passed
away, and rest in the Mennonite burying-ground in
Strasburg.
The ten children born to Jacob Bachman and his
wife were as follows : Ann, bom Jan. 20, 1823, died
May 21, 1895 : she became the wife of Jacob Weaver,
who died in their early married life. Eli, born Jan.
15, 1825, resided in West Lampeter township, until
his death, Oct. i, 1901. Christian, born May 22,
1827, died May 14, 1901. Susan, born Nov. 20,
1829, is the widow of Augustus Baum, and re-
sides in Quarryville. John K., born June 10, 1832,
is a resident of East Lampeter. Barbara, born March
28, 1835, is the wife of Harvey Sherts, of Stras-
burg township. Martin, born Jan. 30, 1838, died
Oct. 3, 1884, in West Virginia, where he owned large
tracts of timber land and also was the proprietor of
a sawmill ; he was a soldier in the Civil war, serving
in Co. E, 79th P. V. I., entering as a private, and
being mustered out a lieutenant; after serving gal-
lantly for three years, he was slightly wounded and
held in prison ; after the war he went to West Vir-
ginia, became prominent in the Republican party,
and was a man of ability in every direction. Mag-
dalina, born March 30, 1841, is unmarried and re-
sides in Strasburg. Jacob H., born March 22, 1844,
died Sept 11, 1872, he was a resident of Strasburg,
where he carried on cabinetmaking. Elizabeth, born
Sept. 19, 1848, is the wife of Frank Book, a farmer
of Strasburg township.
Christian Bachman was reared in East Lam-
peter, and learned the trade of cabinetmaking with
his father, remaining with him until his marriage,
on Dec. 4, 1855, when he moved into Strasburg and
established himself there, opening up a business in
cabinetmaking and undertaking, and continuing as
its active head until 1897. In 1880, however, he had
associated with him in the business his two capable
sons, Ellis and Frank, the firm name becoming C.
Bachman & Sons, and this arrangement continued
until 1888, when Frank Bachman withdrew. The
business was then conducted under the firm name
of C. Bachman & Son, this style obtaining until the
ira^:;
^^^^P^yU^Cc^^fz-'T^'^ n^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
333
retirement of the father and the assumption of the
entire business by Ellis Bachman under the firm
name, as it is at present, of E. Bachman.
When the business was first estabFished the firm
manufactured all of the goods sold by the house, but
later, as the demands of trade kept increasing, they
found it desirable and necessary to place a larger line
of furniture in their stock, which gradually has come
to embrace every style and kind in their line known
to the trade. When Christian Bachman retired from
active business it was to leave the important indus-
try in younger hands. . For many years he had oc-
cupied a prominent position in the public eye, for
twenty-five years serving on the board of education,
and for another quarter of a century officiating as a
notary public, and in spite of private interests he had
ever been ready, when called upon, to serve his bor-
ough to the best of his ability, usually without profit
to himself. As a generous promoter of all progres-
sive and educational movements in Strasburg, his at-
titude was well known. In his political affiliations
he was always a Republican.
Christian Bachman married Miss Barbara Buck-
waiter, a daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth (My-
lin) Buckwalter, who was born in Strasburg town-
ship March lo, 1833, and died March 22, 1901. She
was a most estimable woman, and a consistent mem-
ber of the Reformed Mennonite Church. Mr. and
Mrs. Bachm.an were the parents of seven children :
(i) Ellis, born Aug. 15, 1856, is his father's suc-
cessor in the well-known firm of. Bachman & Son.
(2) Benjamin Franklin, born Sept. 18, 1858, first
learned his father's business, and for a few years
was associated with him, but decided to adopt the
profession of veterinary surgeon, and took a course
in that line in the University of Pennsylvania ; after
graduating he located for practice in Strasburg, but
in the fall of 1900 removed to Pittsburg, where he is
now engaged at his profession. He married Miss
Elizabeth Loher, and they have three children, Wal-
ter, Nancy, and Emily. (3) Harry, born April 25,
1861, died April 19, 1864. (4) William, born Oct.
24, 1863, is a clerk in the Allegheny Galvanizing
Company, Pittsburg. (5) Morris, born April 12,
1866, resides in Sharon, Pa. He married Miss Min-
nie Bachman, and they have two children, John Ted-
ford and Frederick Christian. (6) Edith, born Sept.
26, 1868, is the wife of Isaac H. Weaver, a tobacco
dealer and packer of Lancaster city, and they have
two children, Herbert and Edward. (7) Charles,
born Sept. 30, 1872, resides in Pittsburg, and is the
manager, secretary and treasurer of the Allegheny
Galvanizing Company.
Ellis Bachman was reared and educated in
Strasburg borough, and with his father he learned
the trade of cabinetmaking, and learned it thorough-
ly. Devoting his whole attention to the business
since he has assumed full control, he has been en-
abled to fill the requirements of a critical public, and
has been long regarded as a most reliable business
man. For the past fifteen years has served effi-
ciently in the office of assessor, and is at present a
notary public, succeeding his father. In politics he
is a Republican, and one of the active workers for
the party.
Ellis Bachman was married, Oct. 31, 1883, to
Miss Lillian S. Arnold, who was born Jan. 26, 1859,
a daughter of the late Thomas Arnold, of Lancaster.
Mr. and Mrs. Bachman are the parents of nine chil-
dren : Robert, born Nov. 5, 1884, who is in the em-
ploy of the Griffin Manufacturing Company, Erie,
Pa., as bookkeeper (he is a graduate of the public
schools of Strasburg, class of 1900) ; Harold C, a
clerk in the First National Bank, Strasburg; Bar-
bara A.; Pauline N. ; Stanley; Donald; Morris;
Thomas and Charles.
Morris Bachman, son of Christian Bachman,
has proven himself to be an energetic and success-
ful business man. His early education was acquired
in the public schools of Strasburg, from' which he
graduated in 1883, supplementing this instruction
with a .special course at the State Nornal School, in
Millersville. The following spring he entered the
office of J. W. Hoffman & Co., iron brokers, in
Philadelphia, and remained there until the fall of
that year, when he went to Chicago, 111., and en-
tered the wholesale hardware house of Hibbard,
Spencer, Bartlett & Co., remaining with them until
the following May.
Returning from Chicago to Strasburg, Mr.
Bachman embarked in the chicken business, using
incubators, and enlarging until he was locally known
as something of a chicken fancier. In the following
spring he entered the auditing department of the
Pennsylvania Railway Company, at Pittsburg, sev-
eral months later becoming associated with Lind-
say & McCutcheon, manufacturers of hoop iron.
He was their traveling salesman for two and one-
half years, at the end of which time, after resigning
his position, he became associated, in the same cap-
acity, with the firm of J. Painter & Sons Co., of Pitts-
burg, his territory covering the United States and
Canada. Mr. Bachman, desiring a more practical
knowledge of the iron business, went to Homestead,
and entered the iron works of the Carnegie Steel
Co. at the time of the great strike, and almost lost
his life as a consequence of drinking some of the
poisoned water. Through this he was incapacitated
from November until the following March, but in the
spring of 1893 he returned to Pittsburg, and was
made the manager of a coal mine at Coal Center,
continuing in this capacity until the following Aug-
ust. He then became associated with William Clark,
Son & Co.. of Pittsburg, manufacturers of steel
hoops, bands, etc., and acted as salesman for their
business for two years, when he returned to his old
firm, Lindsay & McCutcheon, and remained in their
employ several years. In 1898, in company with
Veryl Preston, he organized the Monessen Steel
Company, locating the plant at Monessen, Pa., where
a business was inaugurated for the manufacture of
steel hoops and bands, cotton ties, etc. After operat-
334
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ing for about a month the business was bought by the
American Steel Hoop Company, of which company
Mr. Bachman was made general sales agent, with
office in New York, holding this position until the
fall of 1900, when he resigned it to organize the
Sharon Steel Hoop Company, with a capital of
$200,000, of which company he is the president.
Morris Bachman, though j^et a young man, has
had a varied business career, but he has been working
to one end. Thoroughly equipped, with boundless
energy combined with complete and practical knowl-
edge, he is well fitted to be at the head of a great en-
terprise. With clear business foresight and sagacity,
fitted by nature to command, a hard-working man
himself, he has before him a promising future, and
reflects credit upon the name he bears and the lo-
cality which is proud to consider him one of its
products.
FREDERICK KTNZLER, at the time of his
death a retired shoe manufacturer, and one of the
pioneers in his line in Lancaster, Pa., was born in
Winnenden, Wurtemberg, Germany, Sept. 13, 1821,
a son of John J. and Catherine M. (Beck) Kinzler,
who were born, reared and eventually died in the
same German town. The father was a millwright
and coach manufacturer, and besides Frederick,
who is the youngest in the family, he had three other
children: Christopher, who- died in America;
Gottlob, who was a cloth weaver, and died in
Germ^any; and Jacobenia, who married Mr. Frey,
and later Mr. Vogel, and died in Philadelphia.
In Germany Frederick Kinzler learned the
tanners' trade, and followed the same until his
immigration to America in 1842. Upon settling in
Philadelphia he failed to find work in his chosen
line, and so went to Pine Grove, Pa., and worked
in a tanner's for a couple of years. A second
effort to find work in Philadelphia also resulted in
failure and he therefore learned the trade of shoe-
making, to which he applied himself imtil his
removal to Lancaster in 1849. He was successful
as a shoe-maker in his new location, and in 185 1
opened his late business which grew to such pro-
portions that he was obliged to hire his shoes made,
himself attending to the management thereof.
Owing to continued ill health he was compelled
to retire from active business in 1898, and upon his
daughter, Elizabeth, fell the responsibility hitherto
assumed by the father. This arrangement was
satisfactorily carried on and under the new state
of affairs the store is still recognized as the
headquarters for reliable and up-to-date shoes.
In 1848, in Philadelphia, Mr. Kinzler married
Dorothea Frank, born in Wurtemberg, Germany,
Dec. 2, 1827, and died in Lancaster June 30, 1895.
Mrs. Kinzler was the daughter of Jacob Frank, a
farmer on an extensive scale in Wurtemberg, who
had the following children: Carolina, the wife of
John Frank, a farmer in Lancaster county; Henry,
a shoe merchant in Lancaster; Dorothea; Mary;
David; and George, a resident of Germany. To
Mr. and Mrs. Kinzler were born the following
children: Caroline, the deceased wife of Jacob
Deichler, an artist; Frederick, who died at the age
of thirty ; Emma, the widow of Frederick Freuend,
of Lancaster ; Elizabeth, living at home and manag-
ing her father's shoe business ; Louise, deceased at
the age of five years ; Anna M., the wife of Alfred
Allen, a grocer of Philadelphia; Ella D., who mar-
ried Henry Sachs, manager of a cigar manufactory
in Lancaster. Mr. Kinzer was a Democrat in
politics, and was a member -of the Zion Lutheran
church, of which he was treastirer for many years.
He was one of the financially sound men of the
town, and had an enviable reputation for sobriety,
thrift and devotion to the best interests of the com-
munity. He died June 12, 1902, and was buried
in Woodward Hill cemetery, Lancaster.
ABRAHAM E. HAVERSTICK, one of the
representative citizens of Lancaster county, has his
home in Neffsville, where his manly qualities and
genuine worth have made him many friends.
Mr. Haverstick was born at Wabank, Jan. 6,
1837, a son of John Haverstick, whose sketch
appears elsewhere, and was reared on the family
homestead, receiving his education in the common
schools, where he learned to write with the old quill
pen. Though the schooling of the times was of the
crudest character, young Haverstick attended until
he was eighteen years old, mostly in the winter
season.
Mr. Haverstick remained with his father until
1861, when he moved to his farm in Manheim town-
ship, on the Fruitville turnpike, four miles from
the city of Lancaster, an estate containing ninety-
eight acres, being one of the finely imlproved farms
of the county. The barn was erected by the elder
Haverstick, and Abraham B. himself modernized
the home and put up other buildings. His parents
spent their last years under the roof of their son.
In 1897 Mr. Haverstick erected his present hand-
some modem residence at Neffsville, which is a
credit to the place. He and his worthy wife are
living in retirement. While devoting his active life
to the farming of the Manheim place, he owns a
farm of 109 acres in Ephrata township, as well as
his handsome residence in Neffsville, and is a
stockholder and director of the Fruitville Turnpike
Company. In the Penn Turnpike Company he is
a stockholder, as he is of the Lancaster Chemical
Company, in the founding of which he was active.
He was at one time a director of the Manheim-
Neffsville Mutual Fire 'Insurance Company, and
has also been a member of the School Board.
Mr. Haverstick was married May 20, 1868, to
Catherine, a daughter of Christian and Catherine
(Deitrich) Martin. Mrs. Haverstick was bom
April 22, 1840, in Warwick township, near Lititz,
and is the mother of the following children: Dora
A., born May 14, 1869, died Feb. 17, 1872; Steh-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
335
man M., born Sept. 19, 1871, died April 2, 1872;
Monroe P., a famier on the homestead in Manheim
township, who was born March 24, 1873, married
a graduate of Lancaster business college, Salinda
Graybill, and has one child, May ; Ciayton' D., born
Oct. 2, 1876, a teacher in the public schools of the
county, a graduate of the Millersville State Normal
School, married Miss Maggie Heist, and is living
at Lititz; Mamie, born July 7, 1879, the wife of
George Groff, of Manheim township.
Mr. and Mrs. Haverstick and their children are
members of the Lutheran church, of which he is
an elder, and his eldest son a deacon. All the
members of this family command the respect and
esteem of the community for their worth and
character.
PROF. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SHAUB,
ex-county superintendent and treasurer and one of
the owners of the Lancaster Carpet Company, Inc.,
dealers in carpets, rugs, mattings, etc., was born
April 25, 1841, in Strasburg township, Lancaster
county, Pa., son of Benjamin and Susannah
(Wade) Shaub, natives of Lancaster county,
Pennsylvania.
Benjamin Shaub, the father, was a farmer in
Strasburg township, Lancaster county, where he
was a well known and influential, man, highly
respected by all who knew him. His death occurred
in 1896, when he was eighty years of age, and his
wife died in 1899, aged eighty-four years, both
dying at Strasburg; they were buried in the Old
Mennonite cemetery, as they were members of that
denomination and most worthy, Christian people.
Five children were born to these parents: Benjamin
Franldin ; Amos, a shoe merchant of Lancaster, Pa. ;
John, a shoe merchant of Lancaster; Christian, a
clothing merchant of Lancaster; Mary, widow of
David E. Mayer of Strasburg. The paternal
grandfather was John Shaub, and he married
Elizabeth Gochenaur. He was a farmer of Provi-
dence township, and a man of prominence and
influence in the community. The first of the Shaub
family to settle in this country was a native of
Switzerland.
During his boyhood days, Prof. Shaub worked
upon his father's farm, attending school during the
winter seasons. At the age of eighteen, so ad-
vanced was he in his studies, he began teach-
ing, and continued as an instructor in the public
schools for five years, giving unqualified satisfaction
and winning many friends. His first school was at
Fairview, in Strasburg township, and at the ex-
piration of five years, although only twenty-three,
he was offered the position of principal of the high
school in Bellefonte, Center county, Pa., which he
retained one year, and then entered the Millersville
Normal School, from which he was graduated with
high honors, in the scientific course, in 1869. In
fhat year he was elected Professor of Physics and
of German, in the Millersville Normal school, and
remained in this position until 187 1, when he
resigned to enter upon the study of law, under the
preceptorship of Hon. John B. Livingston, Lan-
caster, Pennsylvania.
In 1872 Mr. Shaub was elected county superin-
tendent, and continued in that office for eleven and
one-half years. In 1883 he was elected principal of
the Millersville Normal school and remained in that
position four years. Many important improve-
ments were made in the school under his principal-
ship, and the tone of the school was kept at high
grade. A fine reading room was established, and
the entire institution was supplied with water
throughout, in a most perfect manner, thus
furnishing a basis for many subsequent improve-
ments.
In 1887 he resigned the principalship, and
removed to Lancaster and entered into his present
business, with John V. Vondersmith, these two
partners continuing alone until 1891, when the
concern was incorporated, with Mr. Shaub as
treasurer, and Mr. Vondersmith as superintendent.
The extensive business connections built up by this
organization have placed it among the leading com-
mercial houses of Lancaster, and reflect credit upon
both Mr. Shaub and his associates.
As an educator, Mr, Shaub was a capable and
practical man of wide experience and peculiarly
adapted for his work.
In 1880 he was president of the Pennsylvania
State Teachers' Association. In 1875 Franklin and
Marshall College conferred upon Mr. Shaub the
degree of A. M. ; and in 1885 Lafayette College
conferred upon him the degree of Ph. D.
As a business man, he has also been successful
and the results accomplished by him, demonstrate
what can be done by industry and through com-
prehension of the details of the work undertaken.
Mr. Shaub is married to Alwilda Book, who
was born in Strasburg, Pa., a daughter of Michael
and Sarah (Spiehlman) Book, of Lancaster county.
Pa., where the father was a farmer. These parents
were iof Swiss and German descent. One child
was born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Shaub, Miss
Miriam, who resides with her parents, is a gradu-
ate of the Lancaster high school, and is now teach-
ing Latin in Prof. Moore's school for young ladies,
Cotta College, Lancaster. The family are members
of the M. E. church, in which organization Mr.;
Shaub was Sunday-school superintendent for five
years, and is now a member of its official board. In
politics, he is a Republican, and always takes a
deep interest in all matters pertaining to the ad-
vancement of the highest ideals in the community.
ABRAHAM NEWCOMER, one of the
prosperous and best known farmers in Manor town-
ship, Lancaster county. Pa., and residing two miles
south of Mountville, was born July 8, 1842, and was
reared on the old homestead. He was educated in
the public schools, and. at nineteen years of age
336
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
began learning the carpenter's trade with Jacob
Sneath ; this trade he followed for eight years, and
then began farming near Safe Harbor on a tract
of thirty-seven acres. Seven years later he
purchased forty-two acres of the Lehman farm, to
which he at once removed, having sold his farm at
Safe Harbor. He passed eighteen years on this
new property, then without selling it, returned to
the old Newcomer homestead in 1896, on which he
lived until the spring of 1899, when he located on
his present farm, south of Mountville. He now
owns the forty-two-acre Lehman farm, forty acres
of the Newcomer homestead, and six and a half
acres where he resides near Mountville. In con-
junction with general farming he has done con-
siderable carpenter work and has erected all his
own buildings as occasion required.
Mr. Newcomer married, Nov. 10, 1868, Miss
Mary Ann Rutt, a native of Lancaster county, and
a daughter of David Rutt. To this union have been
born nine children, in the following order: Alice,
wife of Frank Hershey, of West Hempfield town-
ship ; Amos, farming on his father's place and mar-
ried to Clara Witmer ; Martha, wife of Milton Mill-
house, a farmer of Manor township ; Abraham, also
a farmer in Manor township and married to Ellen
Dombauch; ]\Iary, Ellen, Elizabeth, David and
Annie. •
Mr. Newcomer has been an active member of
the Mennonite church about twenty-three years* and
for a long time has been a member of the official
board; in April, 1899, he was made a deacon, and
his life has been one of quiet usefulness and
industry. The family stand among the county's
most worthy and respected citizens, and although
unassuming in deportment, 'are effective in their
usefulness.
EDWARD D. REILLY has within a compara-
tively brief career as a member of the Lancaster
County Bar established himself among the success-
ful representatives of the legal fraternity in his sec-
tion. He has already been honored with positions of
public trust and private confidence, and in the dis-
charge of the duties of these incumbencies has
proved himself eminently worthy.
Mr. Reilly was born Nov. 25, 1869, in Easton,
Pa., youngest son of the late John Reilly, who came
to this country from Ireland in 1836. He landed in
New York, and made his way soon after to Lan-
caster. John Reilly did a vast amount of woi-k as a
railroad and bridge builder, imdertaking and carry-
ing to successful conclusion many large and im-
portant contracts, notable among them being the
contract for the Lachine canal, in Canada, the North
Pennsjdvania railroad, the Lehigh & Susquehanna
Valley railroad, at Easton, the Easton & Amboy
railroad, the Chestnut street bridge, at Philadelphia,
and many hardly less notable undertakings. For
some time he was associated with the late Richard
McGrann, the father of B. J. McGrann, the firm
being Reilly & McGrann. Mr. Reilly died at Easton,
Pa., at the age of fifty-four years, at the very prime
of his manhood and business ability. The family
came to Lancaster in 1875, and there they have since
remained.
John Reilly had six brothers, all of whom came
to the United States, rising to prominence as con-
tractors. Dennis Reilly, one of the brothers, was a
leading ironmaster at Easton, Pa. John Reilly was
married, in 1856, to Mary, daughter of Thomas
Wallace, for years the keeper of an old-time inn at
Htmtingdon, famous in the days before the railroad
as a stopping-place for travelers by stage and coach.
Mr. Wallace passed away full of years and honor at
the home of his daughter, Mrs. Reilly, in Lancaster,
in 1889, when ninety years of age.
Mr. and Mrs. John Reilly became the parents of
the following family: (i) John B., a railroad
and bridge builder of Lancaster; (2) T. Wallace,
now a member of the wholesale grocery firm of M. S.
Miller & Co., of Lancaster; (3) Richard M., of
Reilly Bros. & Raub; (4) William H., deceased,
formerly of Reilly Bros. & Raub; (5) Mary and
(6) Elizabeth, both of whom are at home with their
mother; (7) Edward D., mentioned below; and (8)
Margaret, the wife of the Hon. J. Hay Brown,
Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Edward D. Reilly was educated in the public
schools of Lancaster, graduating from the high
school in 1885. He attended Mt. St. Mary's College
at Emmitsburg, Md., from which hd was graduated
in June, 1888, and the following year entered upon
a business career. In the fall of 1889 he began the
study of law with John A. Coyle, and was admitted to
practice Dec. 20, 1892. In 1892 and during the two
ensuing years he was president of the Young Men's
Democratic Society, and in 1896 was elected a mem-
ber of the city council from the Second ward by a
majority of two votes. In 1897 and 1900 he was
elected to the school board, and has been chairman
of the Judiciary committee of that body since his
first election. Belonging to St. Mary's Catholic
Church, he is serving on the board of St. Mary's
Orphan Asylum. Mr. Reilly is connected with a
number of Catholic societies, holding membership
in St. Michael's Beneficial Union, of which he was
president for two years ; the Leo XIII Society ; the
Knights of St. John ; and the Pennsylvania C. B. L.
Mr. Reilly was married, Dec. 29, 1897, to Miss
Katharine Eugenie, daughter of A. F. and Emily
Keating, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
A Democrat in politics, and a warm supporter of
Bryan, Mr. Reilly is recognized as one of the leading
young Democrats of Lancaster county, and has fre-
quently been a delegate to county and State conven-
tions, being the county committeeman at the present
time from the Second ward. During his preparation
for the law Mr. Reilly acted as a reporter for a
great part of the time on the Lancaster Examiner,
until his press of work in making ready for the final
examination compelled him to devote all his time to
/ H
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
387
study. During this time, and since his entrance upon
professional life, Mr. Reilly has developed marked
ability as a writer of strong and forcible English.
As a lawyer, a large success has attended his efforts.
Liberal in his views and practice, a fine conver-
sationalist, and possessed of a kindly and genial na-
ture, Mr. Reilly has developed rapidly in his pro-
fessional and social relations, and gives every prom-
ise of a brilliant future.
CHRISTIAN LEFEVER, himself a promi-
nent resident of West Lampeter township, Lan-
caster county, descends from one of the old and
honored families of the county. Isaac Lefever, the
great-great-grandfather of Christian, was the
founder of this family in America.. He came frorri
Strasburg, in Alsace-Lorraine, and landed in New
York, coming at a. later date to Lancaster, where
he secured many hundred acres of land. Still later
he bought a tract of 400 acres, though described in
the deed as consisting of 350 acres. This was
divided, and the part on which the family home was
erected has descended to Christian Lefever. It
comprises about a hundred acres, and a nephew,
Martin Lefever, owns 155 acres. The remainder of
the vast property held by the American ancestor
of the family has passed out of the hands of his
descendants. Phillip Lefever, the son of Isaac,
received by deed his large property in West
Lampeter township, the consideration being
"natural love and affection."
Adam Lefever was the grandfather of Christian,
and was born on the old homestead, where Christian
is now living. His death in 18 15 carried him away
at the age of sixty-eight years. A farmer all his
life, he was a man of industry and character, and
reared a family of thirteen children: Henry, the
father of Christian; Adam; Philip; John; Daniel;
George ; Samuel ; Peter ; Jacob ; Catherine, wife of
Henry Mandebach; Elizabeth, who married Daniel
Esbenshade; Esther, who married Jacob Rothfen;
Mary, wife of Dr. Peter Lefever.
Henry Lefever, noted above, was born April 11,
1772, and died in Sept. 1844. His active life began
as a day laborer and wood chopper. For a short
time he was in the building business, and as he
had become somewhat prosperous, he bought a
small farm, and engaged in the cultivation of the
soil. When rather advanced in years he bought 200
acres from the estate, and when he died was quite
wealthy. His business judgment and personal
probity were highly regarded by his fellow towns-
men, and several estates were put into his hands to
settle. Many local offices were filled by him, and
he was considered one of the leading men of the
town. Henry Lefever married Miss Elizabeth
Hess, a daughter of Christian Hess ; she died early
in life, leaving two children : Christian, whose name
introduces this article ; and Adam, a farmer in West
Lampeter township, now dead. The father was
a member of the Old Mennonite church.
22
Christian Lefever was born Nov. 24, 1823, and
received his education in the public schools. His
father dying while he was still a boy, Christian took
charge of the farm before he was twenty-one, and
from that time to the present has had charge of the
family homestead, comprising a hundred acres,
which has now passed into his ownership. Follow-
ing in the line of his ancestral character and
industry, he has become one of the leading men of
the community in which he lives. His farm now
comprises 192 acres of the best land Lancaster
county, the garden of the state, affords. He is also
a director in the Farmers' Bank and the Lancaster
County Bank in the city of Lancaster. Since 1899,
on account of failing health, he has been compelled
to give up many of his business associations, and
lives very much retired.
Mr. Lefever takes an active interest in local
affairs, and from time to time has filled many of the
town offices. His property is kept up in the best of
shape, and he has erected on his farm three different
sets of farm buildings.
Mr. Lefever was married in 1853 to Annie
a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Brackbill)
Houser, by whom he has had the following family :
Jacob, who died just prior to his graduation in
medicine; Annie, who died at the age of twenty
■ years ; Christian E., who died about the age of
twenty-four years, remembered as one of the bright
and promising young men of the county ; Elizabeth,
married to W. B. Gontner, a farmer on the old
homestead; Harry L., married to Frances E.
Harnish, and living in Lancaster township.
Mr. and Mrs. Lefever belong to the Old
Mennonite church, and are highly esteemed by
those who know them best, for their many good
qualities and genuine worth.
LEVI S. HACKER (deceased), at one time
a conspicuous and central figure in Lititz, Lancaster
county, was a native of the borough of Ephrata,
in that county, and was born Sept. 7, 1822. His
father was Jacob Hacker and his mother bore the
maiden name of Steiner. He was educated in his
native borough, where he also made his first busi-
ness venture while still a very young man, by
opening a dry goods store. A short time afterwards,
however, he disposed of this business and went to
Philadelphia, and engaged in dry goods jobbing at
the corner of Third and Market streets, in connec-
tion with a Mr. Riegel and a Mr, Conrad, under the
firm name of Hacker, Riegel & Conrad; this style
was maintained for nineteen years, when Mr.
Hacker returned to Lititz and entered the lumber
trade with Mr. Beckler under the firm name of
Hacker & Beckler. This firm continued for many
years, when Mr. Beckler withdrew to accept a
position in the Lititz National Bank. Mr. Hacker
then relinquished his retail department, but still
continued the wholesale business until his death,
Feb. 22, 1889.
338
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
In the death of Mr. Hacker, Lititz and Lan-
caster county lost a most useful and valuable citi-
zen,, although he took no active part in politics,
neither did he unite with any of the secret societies,
preferring the companionship of the wife and
children and the comforts of his home to those of
any club or society organization. He was, how-
ever, an active member of the Reformed church and
an ardent worker in the Sabbath-school, and for
years was a Sabbath-school teacher. While a resi-
dent of Philadelphia he was a member and trustee
of Dr. Willitt's church, but after returning to Lititz
he and his family attended the Moravian church
as the Reformed society had no church edifice in
this borough.
Mr. Hacker married, Aug. i8, 1859, Miss
Lavinia L. Arndt, a daughter of Philip and Eliza-
beth (P>artruff) Arndt, of Manheim, and this mar-
riage was blessed with three children, the eldest of
whom died in infancy; Mary, wife of Haydn
Miksch, and Ella, wife of Martin Hess, are both
residents of Lititz. No family in this borough is
more, respected than that of the deceased Levi S.
Hacker, and no gentleman was ever more highly
esteemed for his many personal virtues than Mr.
Hacker himself.
SAMUEL C. STEVENSON, a well known
and successful business man of Mt. Nebo, Martic
township, is a native of that township, born Jan.
20, 1842, son of John and Elizabeth (Doulin)
Stevenson.
John Stevenson, the father, was born in Martic
township, Dec. i, 1807, and died in 1896. His wife
was born in 1809 and died in 1855. They were
married in 1829 and had a family of nine children,
six of whom grew to maturity, viz. : Mary S., the
widow of John B. Appleton, of Martic township ;
Harriet Ann, the wife of Gilbert Smith., of Phila-
delphia; Samuel C, of this sketch; Matilda H.,
deceased ; William E., in the West ; and Elizabeth,
of Philadelphia. John Stevenson was a son of
Samuel, a grandson of Samuel, and a great-grand-
son of John Stevenson. In politics he was a Demo-
crat. He belonged to the Presbyterian church, and
was a man who was honored and respected in the
community.
Samuel C. Stevenson was reared on the farm
and acquired his education in the public schools. In
1858 he commenced to learn the cabinet-making
trade and the undertaking business, and has follow-
ed both in Mount Nebo up to the present time. On
May 7, 1863, Mr. Stevenson was united in marriage
with Miss Mary Clark, daughter of Thomas Clark,
born Aug. 25, 1842, and this union has been blessed
with two children, namely : George E., who is now
a resident of Mount Nebo; and Emma D., who is
the \\-ife of W. W. Erb, of Martic township, more
extended mention of whom will be found in another
part of this volume.
In politics, ]Mr. Stevenson has long been an
influential member of the Democratic party and has
efficiently served his township as assessor and
justice of the peace. Mr. Stevenson has been
particularly active and useful in the Mount Nebo
Methodist church, serving as steward of that body
and for many years as superintendent of the Sun-
day-school. He is also identified with a number of
the leading fraternal societies, notably Lodge No.
374, of Rawlinsville, I. O. O. F. ; Lodge No. 423,
K. of P., of Rawlinsville, and also of the Mystic
Chain of Mount Nebo.
Mr. .Stevenson is a man who commands the
esteem, respect and confidence of his community, as
he is honorable and upright in his dealings, is a
worthy citizen, a true friend, a model Christian and
kind husband and father.
HENRY PATTON, general farmer and ex-
carpenter in Salisbury township, w"as born one-half
mile from his present home, Dec. 4, 1838, son of
Linton and Elizabeth (Reel) Patton, the former of
whom died in Jan. 1867, aged seventy-one years.
The latter died in 1879, at the age of eighty years,
and they were interred in the Pequea Presbyterian
church cemetery.
Henry Patton grew up on the farm and remained
at home assisting his father until the outbreak of
the Civil war. With other loyal defenders of his
country's flag, he enlisted in Lancaster, Aug. 19,
1861, in Co. A, 79th P. V. I., for three years and
served valiantly under Captains William K. Kerdrig
and James L. Benson. jN.lr. Patton's service was a
hard one and he still has reminders of it from a
musket ball wound in the left thigh, the ball never
having been found. This wound necessitated a stay
in the hospital from October until Christmas, when
he rejoined his company at Stone River. He
participated in many very serious battles, beginning
with that of Perryville, where he was wounded.
Stone River and Chickamauga. He was with Gen.
Sherrrian's forces in Georgia and was discharged
Oct. 3, 1864, at Atlanta. In March, 1865, at
Philadelphia, Mr. Patton enlisted in Co. F., First
Army Corps, U. S. Yet. Vol. and served through
one year and was then honorably discharged at
Madison, Wisconsin.
Upon his return home, Mr. Patton resumed
work as a carpenter, which trade he had previously
learned, following it three years prior to his enlist-
ment, and for twenty years he worked in this part
of Lancaster county, becoming known as one of the
most reliable men in his line in the locality. Since
retiring from his trade, he has successfully followed
farming, proving himself as excellent a farmer as he
.was soldier and builder. In politics i\Ir. Patton is a
Democrat.
ANDREW KRAY (deceased). One of the
most highly esteemed citizens of Lancaster, Pa., was
Andrew Krav, whose death took place on Nov. 18,
1899. His life was one filled with good works and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
339
kind actions, and his memory is held in reverence
by his descendants. He amassed a competency for
his family, set them a most estimable example and
in every sense was a devoted father and husband, a
kind neighbor and friend and a most excellent
citizen.
Mr. Kray was born in Waldalgesheim,
Germany, on April i8, 1832, and was a son of
Peter Kray, who passed his life in Germany. The
family of Peter Kray consisted of the following
children : Peter, who is a retired shoe manufacturer,
in Lancaster; Fred, who was a gardener by trade,
died in Coleman, Ala. ; Andrew, of this sketch ;
Margaret, who was the wife of Ernest Hankte,
died in Germany, while Andrew Kray was on a
visit there; Elizabeth, who lives on the old family
homestead in the house which was built in 1706.
Andrew Kray served his apprenticeship to the trade
of shoe-maker, and followed that in his own
country until 1853, when he emigrated to America.
He joined other Germans who had previously
located in Lancaster, Pa., and worked industriously
until within a few years of his death, when he
retired from activity. He was a quiet, unassuming
man, and was particularly fond of his home and
friends. The attachment which continued to exist
through life, to his most estimable wife, was a most
beautiful trait in his character. For years they were
almost inseparable, attending to home duties' and
outside business in companionship. The devoted
wife was called first from earth, and it seemed as
if the strong bond of affection existing between
them enabled her to foresee the date of his decease,
which took place as she predicted, and the father
and mother of the four surviving children, lie side
by side in St. Anthony's cemetery.
On June 12, 1855, Mr. Kray married Margaret
Kaber, in Lancaster. She was born Dec. 2, 1822,
in Braunweiller, Germany, a daughter of John
Kaber, who was a farmer there. The children born
to Mr. and Mrs. Kaber were: Elizabeth, who mar-
ried Peter Sheid, died in Lancaster; Agnes, who
married John Kaber, died in Germany; Katherine,
who married John Long, died in Germany; Emma,
who married Nicolaus Wies, died in Germany;
Nicholas, died in Germany; Christian, who died in
Germany; and Margaret, who married Mr. Kray.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Kray were: Peter,
who died in infancy; John, who died in infancy;
Andrew F., who is a retired printer and shoe manu-
facturer, resides in Lancaster; Mary, who married
August Geiger, a confectioner and grocer in Lan-
caster; John A., who married Helen Hebrank, is a
shoe manufacturer in Lancaster ; Barbara and Fred,
both of whom died in infancy, and Catherine M.,
who married Joseph Geiger, who is a shoe manu-
facturer in Lancaster. Mr. and Mrs. Kray reared
this family carefully and well, educated them and
lived to see them honored and respected members
of society.
Mr. Kray was one of the founders of St.
Anthony's church and was always liberal in his
benefactions to it. At the time of his death he was
connected with a number of beneficiary societies,
namely: St. Peter's, St. Joseph's, Conestoga,
Shillows and Fulton, thus showing his, interest in
the welfare of those to come after him. In politics
he was a Democrat. Mr. Kray was very well
known in Lancaster and was universally esteemed.
JACOB N. NEWCOMER, a retired farmer,
now living at Salunga, West Hempfield township,
Lancaster county, was born in Rapho township in
July, 1834, a son of Christian and Catherine (Niss-
ley) Newcomer, both of whom were native to the
soil of Lancaster county.
Jacob N. Newcomer was married in 1858, in
Lancaster, Pa., to Barbara Weidman. There were
born to this imion nine children: (l) Amos W.,
now living on the old homestead, was married Oct.
25, 1883, to Mary S. Snyder, and to their union have
come the following children : Fanny S., Ada S.,
Harvey S., and Jacob. (2) David W., who lives at
Quarryville, married Susan Musser, by whom he
had Melvin, Irwin, Bertha, Ray, Cora, Frank, Ka-
tie and BarTjara. (3) Fanny W. married H. N. Bair,
of West Hempfield township, and is the mother of
Norman and Frances. (4) Alice W. married John
E. Garber, of West Donegal township, by whom he
has had these children, Stella, Paris, Barbara, Alice,
Jonas and Rhoda. (5) Levi W. is single, and lives
at home. (6) Jacob W. married Mary Beamderfer,
of East Donegal township, by whom he had the fol-
lowing children, Elmer, Esther, Barbara, Alice and
Oscar. (7) John W. married Kate Kreider, of Mt.
Joy township, by whom he has had the following
children, Ira K., Clayton K., Lizzie K., and Hannah
May K. (8) Barbara W. married Ira Longe-
necker, a farmer of East Donegal township. (9)
Ezra W. lives in Mt. Joy, Pa., and his history is
found on another page.
Jacob N. Newcomer came to his present farm
shortly before his marriage, and here he remained
until April, 1901, when he moved to Salunga, to pass
his declining years in that peace and rest which his
honest and useful life has so well merited. In his
more active years he took a prominent part in local
affairs, served three terms as supervisor, and took
a leading part in the affairs of the Republican party.
In religion he was a member of the Mennonite
Church, and was a man of virtue, honesty and sim-
ple and unaffected piety.
Amos W. Newcomer, a general farmer on the
old family homestead, where he was born March 6,
1861, has made a marked success in his somewhat
limited career as an independent and progressive
farmer.
Mrs. Mary S. (Snyder) Newcomer was born in
East Donegal township Sept. 18, 1861, a daughter
of Christian and Fannie (Stauffer) Snyder, of East
and West Donegal townships. Her parents died on
the farm where her father was born. He was an
340
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
industrious and enterprising man, and retired from
active labor some seven years prior to his death
Sept. 2, 1886, at the age of sixty-eight. His wife
passed to her rest in September, 1863, at the early
age of thirty-four years. They were buried in Kray-
bill's cemetery; both belonged to the Mennonite
Church, and lived in a modest and simple manner, in
close harmony with the tenets of their faith.
These were their children : Jacob, a retired farmer
in Mt. Joy; Mary, who is Mrs. Newcomer. Mr.
Snyder was twice married, his first wife being Mary
Garber, by whom he had : Levi G., who died young ;
John G., now a retired farmer in Mt. Joy ; Anna G.,
who married Christian Newcomer, a farmer in Ra-
phe township ; Henry G., a farmer in Warwick
township ; Christian G., a farmer in West Donegal
township. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. New-
comer were Henry and Maria (Witmer) Snyder, of
Lancaster county.
Amos W. Newcomer remained on the farm
where he is now found, until after his marriage,
when he removed to East Donegal township, where
he spent eight years. In Mt. Joy township he was
then established, and there he remained until 1901.
That year he returned to his early home; and here
he is doing well. For five years he was auditor of
Mt. Joy township, and his business abilities and
manly qualities have combined with his industrious
habits and marked personal integrity to make him
popular and friendly. All the family are connected
with the Mennonite Church. In politics he is Re-
publican, and takes a leading part in the develop-
ment of the local interests. His name well deserves
a place in a book like this devoted to the history of
the men Avho do things in Lancaster county.
GEORGE NELSON REYNOLDS, general
agent of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
Company, is not only one of the most prominent
figures in business, political and social circles in Lan-
caster, but he belongs to a family who were among
the early and very distinguished settlers of this
countr)^.
(I) Robert Reynolds, who was born in England,
emigrated to Boston, Mass., in 1630. His death oc-
curred there April 27, 1659. His wife Mary, who
accompanied him to this country, died in Boston,
Jan. 18, 1663.
(II) Capt. Nathaniel Reynolds, son of Robert,
was born in England, and came to America with his
father in 1630. He was a member of the Ancient
and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston, join-
ing in 1658. In 1655 he was a constable, and from
1663 to i6q2 was sealer of leather and inspector of
transportation of hides. During King Philip's war
he served as captain, and in 1675-76 he was in com-
mand of the garrison at Chelmsford, Mass. The
homestead which he erected, on Milk street, near the
old South Church, Boston, was willed to his eldest
son, Nathaniel. Capt. Reynolds was twice married.
On Nov. 30, 1657, he wedded Sarah Dwight, daugh-
ter of John Dwight, of Dedham, Mass., and she died
July 8, 1663. His second wife was Priscilla Brack-
ett, daughter of Peter Brackett, of Boston. After
his second marriage he removed to Bristol, R. I., of
which town he was one of the founders, and he died
there July 10, 1708. His descendants by his second
wife still live there.
(III) Nathaniel Reynolds, mentioned above as
the eldest son of Capt. Nathaniel, was born in Bos-
ton March 3, 1662, and passed the greater part of
his life in the old home on Milk street. His wife's
name was Ruth. He died probably at Marblehead,
Mass., at the home of his son John.
(IV) Nathaniel Reynolds, son of Nathaniel (2),
was born Jan. 14, 1693, and died in Boston in 1740.
He married, in 1712, Mary Snell, daughter of
Thomas Snell, who came from England.
(V) Nathaniel Reynolds, Esq., son of Nathaniel
(3), was born in Boston March 19, 1718, and with
his mother moved to Bridgewater, Mass., where he
was the first justice of the peace. He died at Vassal-
boro, Maine, in 1807. His first wife, whom he mar-
ried in 1739, was Hannah Hartwell, a daughter of
Samuel Hartwell, and she died at North Bridge-
water, Mass., Aug. 12, 1742.
(VI) Philip Reynolds, son of Nathaniel (4), was
born in North Bridgewater Sept. 19, 1740, and died
in January, 1775. He married Oct. 29, 1765, Han-
nah Packard, daughter of David Packard, and she
died May 23, 1831. Philip Reynolds was a private
in Capt. Dunbar's com.pany on the expedition to
Crown Point, in the French and Indian war, in 1762.
(VII) William Reynolds, son of Philip, was
born in North Bridgewater June 23, 1767, and died
at Winthrop, Maine, in 1854. He married Nov. 3,
1 79 1, Martha Snell, who was born at North Bridge-
water Dec. 18, 1769, and died in Garland, Maine, in
1847. She was a daughter of Capt. Zebedee Snell
and his wife Martha Howard. Capt. Snell was in
Col. Mitchell's regiment in the Revolutionary war.
(VIII) Nathan Reynolds, son of WilHam, was
born in North Bridgewater, Mass., in 1796, and died
at Lewiston, Maine, Nov. 4, 1858. He married Nov.
10, 1815, Betsey Briggs, who was born at Minot,
Maine, June 18, 1794, and died at Lewiston, Nov.
4, 1856. Through her mother, Betsey Bradford, she
was a descendant of Gov. William Bradford, of the
Plymoxith Colony, and through her nine of the peo-
ple who came over on the "Mayflower" are in this
family's connection, namely: Gov. William Brad-
ford ; Richard Warren and his wife Elizabeth ; El-
der William Brewster and wife and son, Love Brew*
ster; John Alden, who married Priscilla Mullen;
and William Mullen and wife.
(IX) Major Nelson Briggs Reynolds, son of
Nahan, was born in Lewiston, Maine, Mav 16, 1819,
and died in Auburn, that State, Feb. 6, '1898. He
married Nov. 28, 1839, Harriet Andrews Chase, who
was born in Portland, Maine, Aug. 20, 1820, and
died in Auburn, same State, Jan. 11, 1895. Major
Reynolds was a merchant by occupation. He was
I
^^^Jz:^^l^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
341
a very prominent man, politically was a Democrat,
and by appointment from President Polk became the
first postmaster at Lewiston. For manv years he
was a member of the State central comrnittee, and
he was long a popular and wise adviser of his party.
His title of major he held by virtue of his commis-
sion in the State militia. In his religious belief he
was a Congregationalist. Socially he was active in
the I. O. O. F. Mrs. Harriet Andrews (Chase)
Reynolds was a daughter of Capt. Benjamin Tap-
pan Chase, a sea captain, who died at sea, of yellow
fever, in 1820. He was a captain in a Massachu-
setts regiment in the war of 1812. This family of
Chases is traced back to 1570, and the record is com-
plete. They were among the earliest settlers of New
England, and among the distinguished members of
the family was Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase.
Among Mrs. Reynolds' other ancestors were Robert
Hicks, of Tortunth, Gloucestershire, England, a
lineal descendant of Sir Ellis Hicks, who was
knighted by the Black Prince on the battle-field of
Poitiers, in 1356 ; Col. Joshua Wingate, of Hampton,
N. H., who was in the famous siege of Louisbourg,
in 1745 ; and also the Andrews family, of Revolu-
tionary fame ; and the Leonard family, one of whom,
Major Thomas Leonard, in 1660 started the iron
works in Taunton, Mass., which, owned by him and
his children, became not only the oldest but for years
the leading works in New England (he was a de-
scendant of Thomas Leonard, Earl of Sussex, Eng-
land, and also of Sir Roger Finnes). Major Nelson
Briggs Reynolds and his wife were the parents of
seven children, three of whom are now living.
(X) George Nelson Reynolds, their eldest son,
was born in Lewiston, Maine, Oct. 30, 1842,
and was educated at the Lewiston Falls Acad-
emy, which his grandfather founded, and was grad-
uated from there, fitting for college. In 1859 he
entered into business in the city of New York, in the
store of Stone, Bowman & Bliss, large cloth com-
mission merchants, remaining five years in the great
metropolis. His next business location was in Mil-
waukee, Wis., where he was engaged in the life in-
surance business, with the Manhattan Life Insur-^
ance Company of New York, and he remained there
for the succeeding five years as their general agent
for Wisconsin and Minnesota, making his next
change to Philadelphia, where he took charge of
Pennsylvania and Delaware; he remained in that
service for five years, at the expiration of that time
becoming associated with the great Northwestern
as one of their general agents.
It was on Oct. 10, 187^, that Mr. Reynolds. be-
came connected with this great insurance company,
and one and one-half years later he removed to Lan-
caster, where he has ever since remained, and where
he has become one of the most prominent figures in
business circles, and has been prominently identified
also with its social and political life. What he has
accomplished here, during these years, for the com-
pany which he so ably represents, is best told in the
Insurance Register, of Philadelphia, an authority in
such matters, in its issue of Thursday, Oct. 18, 1900,
from which we quote : "George N. Reynolds is the
oldest life underwriter in Lancaster, in point of con-
tinuous service, and unquestionably the most able
and successful. He is the general agent for the
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, of
Milwaukee, Wis., and has under his charge twenty-
counties in the central portion of Pennsylvania. He
has been connected with the Northwestern Mutual
Life for twenty-two years, during all of which term
he has been a resident of Lancaster.
"When Mr. Reynolds assumed his duties with
the Northwestern, it had in force throughout the
entire district only twelve policies, and these were
held by parties who had removed from other loca-
tions. That he does by far the bulk of life under-
writing in the section is self-evident, from the fact
that his average monthly premium collections foot
up $30,000, and the business secured is mainly from
well-to-do business and professional men and farm-
ers, in policies for large amounts. His remarkable
success is not only due to his natural talents being
particularly adapted to insurance, and to his genial
and sterling characteristics, which gain the good
graces of every one with whom he comes in touch ;
it may in a large measure be attributed to zealously
devoting his undivided efforts to the furtherance of
the interests of the company with which he is identi-
fied."
This is certainly a record to be proud of, and yet,
with all these efforts in behalf of the insurance com-
pany, Mr. Reynolds has found time to serve the best
interests of his city, his church and his social or-
ganizations, and to become prominent in all of them.
For nine years he served as a member of the Lan-
caster school board, and during that time he was on
the Book, Superintending and other important com-
mittees ; was president for two terms of the Young
Men's Democratic Society, which he was largely in-
strumental in putting into prominent position in its
earlier history ; director and secretary of the Hamil-
ton Club ; was named and urged for the position of
mayor of Lancaster ; has been for years a vestryman
in St. James Episcopal Church, of which he is junior
warden; trustee and secretary of Yeates Institute;
trustee of the Bishopthorpe School for Girls, in
South Bethlehem ; trustee of the Christmas Fund of
the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, a fund that
supports aged clergymen of the Episcopal Church;
for years a delegate to church conventions ; for years
member of the Masonic fraternity, 32d degree; di-
rector of the Lancaster & Susquehanna Turnpike
Company; president of Elm Lawn cemetery, Buf-
falo, N. Y. ; and last, but by no means least, a mem-
ber of the New England Society of Philadelphia,
and in 1899 was honored with election to member-
ship in the Society of Colonial Wars, New York.
During the year of 1864 he was a volunteer aid on
Gen. Howard's staff and saw active service.
On Nov. 7, 1865, Mr. Reynolds was married, in
342
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
New York City, to Miss Helen Koues, who was
born in New Orleans, La., daughter of Theodore M.
and Louise Henderson Monroe (Board) Koues.
Theodore M. Koues was a native of Portsmouth,
N. H., and among his lineal ancestors were Govs.
John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley, the first and
second governors of Massachusetts Bay Colony;
Roger Harlakenden, one of the leading early settlers
of the Colony; and Col. Edward Hilton, founder of
Exeter, N. H. The ancestral lines of the Dudleys
and Harlakendens run back to William the Con-
queror, and include many names famous in English
history. The house of Dudley was founded by
Baron Dudley, who died in 1488. Theodore M.
Koues was a merchant in New Orleans when he
married, in New York City, Louise Henderson
Monroe Board, a granddaughter of Major David
Board (paymaster of New Jersey troops in the war
of the Revolution "I and of Lieut. William Leaycraft
(a lieutenant in Col. Lamb's artillery regiment in the
Revolution, and one of the original members of the
Society of the Cincinnati) . Mrs. Koues' mother was
a Bogert, and among her ancestors were Gen. Jo-
hannes De la Montague and many others of the
leading Dutch and Huguenot settlers of New Am-
sterdam.
To Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds were born five chil-
dren, as follows : (i) Mary Leaycraft, born in New
York Sept. i, 1866, died in Milwaukee, Wis., Jan.
24, 1867. (2) Nelson Bradford, born in Milwaukee
Dec. 25, 1870, died in New York City in 1894. (3)
Louise Bogert, born in Philadelphia June 5, 1872,
married Benjamin Franklin Fisher, Jr., son of Gen.
B. F. Fisher, of Philadelphia. They have one son,
Malcolm Leaycraft, and are living in Washington,
D. C. (4) George Koues, born in Philadelphia Oct.
I, 1875, finished his education at State College,
Pa., and is now engaged in the insurance business
with his father. (5) Frank Winthrop, born in Lan-
caster July 29, 1882, is a member of the class of
1904, L^niversity of Pennsylvania, where he is pur-
suing an architectural course.
Mrs. Re5molds is a member of the Gov. Thomas
Dudley Family Association of Boston, and is vice-
regent of Donegal Chapter (Lancaster), Daughters
of the American Revolution. She has always been
prominent in church work and social circles. Mr.
and Mrs. Reynolds live in an elegant home at No.
231 North Duke street, Lancaster, and their hos-
pitable mansion is a favorite center for the gathering
of the brightest and best of the people.
JOHN G. SNAVELY. Among the veterans of
the Pennsylvania railway service in Columbia, none
perhaps is better known or more popular than John
G. Snavely, a trainman for nearly thirty consecu-
tive years, who did not retire from the active life to
which he was so closely attached until he met with
a severe accident, from the effects of which he re-
mained in a hospital nearly a year.
Mr. Snavely was born in Lampeter, Lancaster
county, Aug. 22, 1839, son of Christian and Eliza
(Howry) Snavely, and grandson of John and Esther
(Hoover) Snavely, and great-grandson of Nathaniel
and Catherine (Auport) Hoover, early settlers in
East Lampeter township. Eliza Howry, wife of
Christian Snavely, was a daughter of Samuel and
Catherine (Keeport) Howry, and granddaughter of
Daniel and Franey (Miller) Keeport, of West Lam-
peter township. Samuel Howry died in 1878 and
his wife m 1892. They had two sons and three
daughters, (i) Daniel died unmarried in 1866.
(2) Christian was a tailor, living five miles south of
Lancaster; he died in 1900. (3) Eliza. (4) Fannie,
who died in i860, was the wife of Martin Brubaker,
of Strasburg, now deceased, and had three sons and
two daughters : Jesse, who died from a wound re-
ceived while serving in the navy ; Elam, now living
in Mapleshade, N. J., and in business at 14 North
Third street, Philadelphia; Frank, in the produce
business in Philadelphia; Eliza Ann, wife of John
Sides, of Strasburg, now living in Philadelphia;
and Amanda, who married William Rohrer, of
Strasburg, deceased, and who now lives at 2122
North Fifth street, Philadelphia. She and her hus-
band both belonged to the M. E. Church. (5) Bar-
bara married George W. King in 1855, at Lampeter.
They removed to Sandusky, Ohio, where he was
cleric for the Sandusky Railroad. Later he engaged
in the hardware trade in Marion, Ohio, and was
quite prominent in business circles there. Mr. King
died in 189-. His wife, so far as is known, is still
living in Marion. Both belonged to the Congrega-
tional Church. They had two daughters and one
son. One daughter and the son are married and liv-
ing in Marion.
The Snavely family was founded in Lancaster
county by two brothers, natives of Germany, who on
account of religious persecution had fled to Switzer-
land, and who migrated from Basel to America. John
Snavely, the grandfather of John G., was a distiller
in his younger days, following farming later in life.
Christian Snavely, the father, acquired the trade of
blacksmith in his youth, and later conducted a gener-
al implement, blacksmith and wagon business at
Lampeter, Lancaster county, until the autumn of
1844, when he went to Strasburg. In 1845, owing
to ill health,. he was compelled to retire from active
life. He died three years later, in Sept., 1848, at
Strasburg, Lancaster county, at the early age of
thirty-two years. His widow Eliza survived until
March, 1896, dying at Lancaster at the age of sev-
enty-six years. Christian Snavely was a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his wife
was a Mennonite. Their children were as follows :
John G. ; Frances E., of Columbia, widow of George
W. Keene, who had been clerk of the orphans'
court; and Hiram H., superintendent of the gas
company at Bellevue, Ohio.
John G. was a lad of nine years when he was
orphaned by the death of his father. The next
eight years of his life were spent on the farm of his
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
343
grandfather, John Snavely. Then at the age of
seventeen years he went to New York City to assist
his uncle, engaged in the shirt business. Six months
later the disastrous panic of 1857 swept over the
land and Mr. Snavely returned to Lancaster. He
began work as a carpenter but the panic had para-
lyzed industry at Lancaster and the following year
he spent on a farm. Resuming the trade of carpen-
ter, he worked two and ' a half years. He
was then employed for three and a half years by
N. Gillespie & Son, lumber and coal merchants at
Bird-in-Hand, Lancaster county, followed by six
months employment with Bruner & Co., ^coal mer-
chants at Columbia.
His long career as trainman on the Pennsyl-
vania railroad then began. For nine months he
served as freight brakeman and was then promoted
to flagman. Eighteen months later he became con-
ductor and in that capacity served the railway com-
pany continuously for twenty-seven years. On
July 6, 1893, on the Amboy division, both his limbs
were crushed and broken in a train collision. He
was taken to the Presbyterian hospital at Philadel-
phia, where he remained ten months. He was then
sent home, but for ten months longer he was con-
fined to his bed. For fourteen months he used
crutches and is now able to walk with the use of a
cane.
Mr. Snavely married Dec. 26, i860, at Lancas-
ter, Pa., Miss Emma Keene, who was born in Dru-
more township, Lancaster county, Feb. 5, 1842,
daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (McCullough)
Keene. Daniel Keene was a wagon builder, and died
in 1848, his wife surviving until 1866, passing away
at the age of sixty-six years. The children of Dan-
iel and Elizabeth Keene were : Henry, a farmer of
Cecil county, Md. ; George W., who was a soldier in
the Civil war, and died in 1883 ; Joseph, who also
served in the army and was drowned in the Susque-
hanna river in 1867: Eliza, widow of Benjamin
Rhieiieer, of Eden township ; Susan, deceased wife
of Peter Eberly, of Strasburg; Barbara, who died
quite young; Amanda, who married Isaac B.
Myers, of Lancaster county; Mary Anna, wife of
William Creswell, both of whom died in Cecil coun-
ty, Md., at an advanced age; Sarah, who married
Samuel Peters ; and Emma, wife of Mr. Snavely.
To Mr. and Mrs. Snavely were born six chil-
dren, namely: Christian K., who married Anna
Evans and is vice-president of the Columbia Shade
Cloth Co., New York City ; Hiram E., who married
Olive Eager and died April 13, 1890; John J., a
railway superintendent at New Haven, Conn. ; Al-
bert E., who married Mary E. Eagle, and is a mail
carrier at Columbia ; George M., who married Flor-
ence Powell and is a telegraph operator at West
Haven, Conn. ; and Armeda, who died March 7,
1900, aged seventeen years.
In politics Mr. Snavely is a Republican. He is a
prominent Mason of Columbia and a member of the
K. G. E. In religious faith he is a member of the
Reformed Chiirch. Plis long service on the Penn-
sylvania road is evidence of his sterling traits of
character, and he has ever been recognized as one of
Columbia's most representative and prominent
citizens.
MICHAEL R. GOOD, a general farmer and the
proprietor of a greenhouse and truck garden near
New Holland, was born in Earl township Sept. 8,
1837, and is a son of Michael and Ann M. (Ranck)
Good, of Earl and Caernarvon townships, respec-
tively. In. his younger days the father was a team-
ster between Pittsburg and Philadelphia. In 1843
he removed to New Holland, where he spent his re-
maining years. He became a farmer and huckster,
and did well. For many years he held public posi-
tions, being at different times supervisor, assessor
and collector. His death occurred in April, 1871,
when he was seventy- four. His wife died in 1889;
she was born in 1800. Both were buried in the cem-
etery at Groffdale. He never accumulated much
property but held a prominent position in the com-
munity.
Michael Good and his wife were the parents of
the following family : Elizabeth, who married James
Rutherford, and is dead ; Ann M., who is the widow
of A. J. Bowers, and lives in New Holland ; Leah,
who is the widow of John Musselman, and lives at
Bareville, Pa. ; Delilah, the widow of Henry Ra-
sor, of New Holland, Pa. ; Anna, who married Ed-
ward Bucklin in California, where she died; Cath-
erine, who died young ; Michael R. ; Moses R., de-
ceased ; Martin R., married, and a farmer in Salis-
bury township.
The paternal grandfather of Michael R. Good
was Jacob Good, a farmer of Earl township, Lancas-
ter county, who married a Miss Martin. The mater-
nal grandparents of Mr. Good were Michael and
Elizabeth (Weaver) Ranck, farming people of Lan-
caster county, Pennsylvania.
Michael R. Good was married in 1871, in New
Holland, to Mahala Kling, by whom he has had the
following children: Mary C., who died at the age
of two years and seven months ; Michael D., who is
unmarried and living at home. Mrs. Mahala
(Kling) Good, who was born in Earl township, died
in Nov. 1898, at the age of sixty-five years. Her
ashes rest in the cemetery connected with the Re-
formed Church at New Holland.
Mr. Good spent the first twelve years of his life
under the parental roof. At that age he started otit
for himself, and was employed among the neigh-
boring farmers until he was seventeen. At that age
he entered a wheelwright shop in Upper Leacock
township, which was under the management of Ja-
cob Hoover, with whom he remained three and a half
years. After working for another party six months,
he started a shop for himself in the spring of 1859.
In 1870 he gave up the shop, and was elected su-
pervisor for one year. After working for five years
among the farmers at fence making, he came to New
344
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Holland. In the spring of 1891 he moved to his pres-
ent farm home. He and his wife belonged to the Re-
formed Church. In his politics he is a Republican.
In the community he stands well, where his industri-
ous habits, business abilities and upright character
have won him many friends.
AMOS HOLLINGER, who passed away Sept.
13, 1901, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, was not
only one of the most prominent tanners in the State
of Pennsylvania, but was descended from one o'f the
best and oldest families in the State. He was born
Jan. 18, 1837, at Hollinger's, three miles south of
Lancaster — a place that was settled by his people,
and where his father conducted a successful tannery.
There Amos Hollinger learned the tanning business
and learned it so thoroughl}' that he succeeded his
father in the business, and he became the leader in
that line in Lancaster county. In fact, Hollinger's
tannery- — or rather its products — ^became known not
Onlv all through this State, but even in other States
and in Europe. The Hollinger leather was known
far and wide, and the exhibits made by Mr. Hollin-
ger at the Paris Exposition, and at the World's
Fair, at Chicago, won first premium. This was a
source of great gratification to him, for no man ever
worked harder or more conscientiously to give his
patrons a first-class article. He continued actively
in the business until 1893, when he associated his
son John in the business, and from that time on the
son was practically in control, Mr. Hollinger remov-
ing to Lancaster, and making his home with his son-
in-law, Rev. J. W. Meminger.
Mr. Plollinger was married, in early manhood,
to Miss Elizabeth Harnish, of a prominent family
of West Willow, who, with the following children,
survives : Cyrus, of Park Rapids, Minn. ; Ada, wife
of John McAllister, of West Willow ; Florence, wife
of Rev. J. W. Meminger, pastor of St. Paul's Re-
formed Church, Lancaster, and with whom Mr.
and Mrs. Hollinger went to reside some years ago;
Barbara, wife of Joseph P. Breneman, of Lancaster ;
]\Iary, unmarried and at home; and John, the junior
member of the firm of Hollinger & Son. Mr. Hol-
linger's only brother, Henry, is a well-known citi-
zen of Cohimbia.
Before taking up his residence in Lancaster Mr.
Hollinger was an active member of the Willowstreet
Reformed Church, and was frequently sent as a dele-
gate to the classis. After coming to Lancaster he
became a member of St. Paul's Reformed Church,
of which his son-in-law, Rev. J. W. Meminger, is
the popular pastor. In politics he was a Republican,
and in fraternal circles a Mason. He was at one
time a trustee of the State Normal School at Millers-
ville, and president of the Farmers' Insurance Com-
pany, of Lancaster. The post office near him, or-
ganized in i8q2, was named Hollinger in his honor.
Up to the time of his death he was vice-president
of the Tanners Mutual Insurance Company of Phila-
delphia, and president of the proposed Willowstreet
& Strasburg Railway Company, of which he was a
projector. His funeral took place on Monday after-
noon, .Sept. 16, 1901, and the remains were interred
in Greenwood cemetery, in the southern suburbs of
Lancaster. Possessed of rare intelligence and fine
conversational powers, Mr. Hollinger was a welcome
guest at all times and in all places. He was as genial
and kindly as he was intelligent and thoughtful,
and the love and the respect of the community were
his.
The tannery so long in the family has, since Mr.
Hollinger's death, been run by the son, John, who
serves as manager for the estate. The same high
reputation is maintained, and the business continues
to prosper, necessitating the employment of some
twenty or twenty-five hands.
John Hollinger married Elizabeth Hertzler,
daughter of Samuel M. and Susan (Seitz) Hertzler,
the former a retired farmer and living near Harris-
burg. Two children have blessed this union, John
Hertzler and Marion,
U. G. BARD. Levi Bard (deceased) was born
in Leacock township, Lancaster county, April 19,
1812, and in his time was one of the leading men of
his community', and counted m.any friends. He was
a son of George and Elizabeth Bard, was married in
Earl township and began operations on his own ac-
count on a farm in West Earl township, this farm
consisting of 118 acres, now the property of his
son Ulysses, whose name introduces this article. In
1851, he married Miss Frances Hahn, a resident of
Hinkletown, and a daughter of Daniel and Fannie
(Shirk) Hahn. After their marriage they made
their home on the farm in West Earl township, and
there they lived imtil 1869, when they moved to
Earl township, on a farm which has been their home
to the present time. This place contained nineteen
acres. Mr. Bard was a substantial Republican, and
for some years was a member of the school board.
For many years he was one of the most active mem-
bers of the Lutheran Church. By his upright bear-
ing and honest heart he had acquired a large circle
of friends. His death occurred Nov. 2, 1896. To
him and his wife were born twelve children : Mary
Jane, John Leaman and Clara Ann died in child-
hood; Jacob Hahn. a resident of Mapleville, 111.,
who married Miss Elizabeth 3yam ; George Frank-
lin, of Reading, who married Miss Anna Frey and
has three children, Daniel, Harry and Clarence;
Ulysses G., a farnier.on the home place; Carrie, the
wife of Hover Lashur, of Reading, Pa., who has
two children; Herbert and John Philip. The other
children born to this worthy couple died in infancy.
The widow is still living, and has her home with her
son, Ulysses. She belongs to the Lutheran Church.
The parents of Mrs. I^evi Bard are both dead.
The Hahn family came from Germany. The great-
grandfather of Mrs. Bard was Daniel Hahn, who
settled in the vicinity of Washington. The grand-
father of Mrs. Bard was Daniel Hahn, who mar-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
345
ried Barbara Sweiger. They were among the well-
to-do people of the community, and belonged to the
Reformed Church. Thev had three children : Dan-
iel, the father of Mrs. Bard ; Samuel, who lived at
Manheim, where he died and left a family; Mary,
who never married,- and in her latter days lived with
•Mrs. Bard. The father of Mrs. Bard died at the
age of some fifty years. The most of his life was
spent in Hinkletown, where he was a mason in the
summer, and a carpet weaver in the winter. In
local affairs he was a man of public spirit. His wife
died at about the age of her husband. She was a
daughter of Phillip Shirk. The. parents of Mrs.
Bard had a family of five children, of whom Mrs.
Bard is the only surviving member. Jacob Hahn
was a farmer and his widow is Still living at Eph-
■ rata;- Harriet Hahn married Levi Mentzer, a mer-
chant; Chambers was a carpenter at Hinkletown;
Frances, Mrs. Levi Bard ; Rudy was a merchant of
Ephrata, where his widow still lives.
LTlysses G. Bard was born Oct. i6, 1864, and re-
ceived his education in the common schools. At the
death of his father he took charge of the farms, and
both now belong to him. He has taken a leading
position as a young farmer, and his home gives evi-
dence of thrift and prosperity. In 1888 he was mar-
ried to Miss Lizzie Burkholder, a resident of West
Earl, and a daughter of Israel Burkholder. They
have two children, Levi M. and Frances A. They
belong to the Lutheran Church, and hold a credit-
able position in the comm-unity.
SAMUEL McCLURE, in his lifetime a farmer
and stonemason, and a man of the very highest char-
acter and standing, was born in December, 1817, and
was a son of John and Susan (Hull) McClure, na-
tives of Strasburg and Bart townships, respectively.
'l"hey settled in Bart township and there lived and
died, leaving a family of eleven children. Their
history appears in connection with the sketch of
David McClure, which may be found on another
page.
Samuel McClure was reared on the old home in
Bart township, where he learned the mason's trade,
which he followed all over the county. He was
married in Dec, 1842, to Miss Mary Kidd, a daugh-
ter of John and Jane (Thompson) Kidd, of Bart
township.
John Kidd was born in Ireland, and coming to
this country in 1803, made his home in Strasburg
township. He was married first to Anna McKneely,
on Dec. 25. 1806; their two children died. In 1819
he married Miss Jane Thompson, his second wife,
a native of Colerain township, where she was born in
1786. She was a daughter of James and Mary
Thompson. Her father was born in Scotland,
where he married his first wife, who died there.
He married Mary Martin in Carlisle, Pa. John
Kidd settled on his farm in Bart township, where he
made many imnrovements and secured a substan-
tial home for his family. He died in 1874, his
wifeliaving passed away in 1873. Unto them were
born four children: Thompson Kidd, still living
in Juniata county, at the advanced age of eighty-
two years; EbenQzer, a widower, living at Pusey-
ville; Sarah Kidd, who died in Juniata county,
where she had her home with' her brother, Thomp-
son ; Mary, who became Mrs. McClure. Mrs. Mc-
Clure was born March 4, 1822. She was educated
in the local schools, and was regarded as a woman
of much culture and intelligence for the time.
After his marriage Samuel McClure located near
The creamery in Bart township, and there followed
ihe mason's trade. In 1844 he purchased the prop-
erty near the Octoraro Presbyterian Church, where
ihey lived until 1857. That year he bought his
property in Bart township, one mile east of the
Nickel Mines, where he made his home until his
death, April 15, 1897. In 1867 he put up a new barn
and later remodelled the house on a very extensive
scale. With his family he belonged to the United
Presbyterian Church, of which he was an active
member during his life. In his politics he was a
Democrat. At his death he left a widow and ten
children. Eleven children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. McClure :
(i) John McClure, born in Bart township, mar-
ried Miss Mary Mcllvaney, and lived in Bart town-
ship until 1877, when he moved to Beaver county,
where he engaged in farming. They have one living
daughter, Ella, who married Frank .Welk, and is the
mother of five children ; John, William, Pearl, Elsie
and Earl. (2) Martha J. McClure died when a young
woman in 1872. (3) Samuel W. McClure was
given a fair education, and when a young man, took
up the mason's trade under his father's instructions ;
he is at home, single. (4) Thompson married Miss
Mary J. Rambo, of Chester county. They now re-
side in Philadelphia, where he is engaged in the
building and loan business. They have one living
daughter. May, who married Howard Bulyard, of
Philadelphia, and is the mother of one son, Howard
A. (5) Anna McClure married William Bennett,
and resides in Perry county. Pa. (6) Edgar mar-
ried Miss Anna Hart and is a resident of Beaver
county. (7) William E., and (8) James C. were
twins ; William McClure married Miss Adelaide
Matthews, of Chester county, and lives on a part of
his father's homestead, where he is manager of the
farm ; James C. McClure married Miss Ida Wright,
of Lancaster county. They live in Sadsbury town-
ship, where they have one son, Claire. (9) Frank
McClure married Miss Delia Gibbons, of Maryland.
They have their home in Wilmington, Del., where
he deals in produce and fish. They have three chil-
dren; Nellie, Walter and Ollie. (10) Ida received
a home school education, and is regarded as one of
the accomplished young ladies of the neighborhood.
She is at home ministering to the comfort of her
aged mother, and has charge of the family estate.
(11) David McClure married Miss Mamie Keene, a
daughter of Samuel Keene, and lives in Wilming-
346
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ton, Del., where he is engaged in business ' as a
wholesale merchant.
This family of McClures, like all the rest, is
connected with the Presbyterian Church of Octo-
raro. Of this church father and mother became
members in 1844.
BERNARD J. McGRANN, of Grand View, is
the only surviving son of the late Richard McGrann,
who was for years one of Lancaster's most prom-
inent citizens, and who was born in Ireland in 1794,
and in 1819 began his career in this country.
In 1835 Richard McGrann founded the home-
stead at Grand View, in Manheim township, near
this city, on the New Holland turnpike. In the
course of years, and with the many improvements
and additions made to it by the present owner
(Bernard J. McGrann), it has become one of the
most magnificent farms and attractive suburban
homes of Lancaster county, and comprises six hun-
dred acres. Richard McGrann, who was a con-
tractor, constructed many splendid public works in
his day, notably the Chestnut street bridge across
the Schuylkill, in Philadelphia, the Lehigh and Sus-
quehanna railroad bridge at Easton, and many other
important works on nearly every great line of canal
and railroad built in the State in his time. The
perfection of their construction attested to his skill
and high enterprise, and carried the fame of Lan-
caster contractors far and wide, Mr. McGrann be-
ing conspicuous for bold undertakings in engineer-
ing and for the successful completion of his enter-
prises. In 183s he purchased the farm on which
his descendants have since resided. The house at
that time stood back, near a fine spring which now
supplies the fountains on Fountain avenue. In
1838 he built the present residence and laid out the
grounds, which by subsequent enlargement and im-
provement, have become the magnificent estate of
his only living son. Eight children were born to
him, of whom the youngest son alone survives, Bern-
ard J., who was born at Grand View, of which he is
the owner. His wife died there in 1844, and he
himself passed away in 1867.
Bernard J. McGrann was born where he now
lives, June 24, 1837. He was a student of Lancas-
ter's public schools and of the famous Catholic
collegiate institutions of Emmitsburg, Md. He
early had a fondness for agriculture, and his father
encouraged his taste, and destined him to became
an exponent of the most advanced and successful
agriculture. He completed his studies in the
schools when only seventeen or eighteen, and gave
himself up largely to the management of his father's
landed estates. He was no mere fancy farmer or
theorist ; every phase of practical farm life found
his hand ready to it ; he studied the elements of the
soil and the results of fertilizers, the meteorological
conditions and the rotation of crops, breeds of stock
and the uses of farm buildings, the mechanical
wants of the farm and every mode of agricultural
machinery; in short, he made a thorough, exhaus-
tive study of every branch of practical agriculture,
and observed the best results of experience and
science. He not only made a study of it in all its
ramifications, but he applied his knowledge and
built up a farm that is today a model, perfect in
every part.
Mr. McGrann is, however, not only a success-
ful agriculturist. The banking house of Reed,
McGrann & Co., which had an existence for over
a generation and is now merged into the Conestoga
National Bank, lost its senior member, Richard
McGrann, by death in 1867, and the son succeeded
to his interest iii it. From that day until the firm
was dissolved, Bernard J. McGrann's name and cap-
ital were associated with that financial establish-
ment and contributed in no small measure to its
reputation for integrity, stability and security. Mr.
McGrann gave the banking business, as well as all
other interests, his personal attention, and the bene-
fit of that clear judgment and conservative counsel
which have distinguished his business career.
In 1870 Mr. McGrann first entered the field of
contracting, in which his father had won such suc-
cess, and in which he soon took a leading part. He
came by inheritance to a ready comprehension and
quick execution of gigantic schemes. In 1870 he
built the Catawissa extension railroad to Williams-
port, and later, graded a part of the Bound
Brook railroad from Jenkintown, including the
bridge that spans Delaware river at Yardleyville.
In 1878 he undertook the work that was to be the
crowning triumph of his successful achievements
as a contractor. For many years Pittsburg had
suffered grievously from the monopoly of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad Company; exorbitant charges
and excessive freight discrimination had brought
about a state of oppression to the business commun-
ity which threatened to paralyze many of the oper-
ations of trade. Under these circumstances, some
time in the 6o's, a certain number of influential gen-
tlemen of Pittsburg conceived the notion of build-
ing a railroad some seventy-miles in length, from
Pittsburg to Youngstown, Ohio, in order to con-
nect with the Vanderbilt lines there, and make a
new outlet for the hemmed-in and suffering busi-
ness interests of Western Pennsylvania's great me-
tropolis— ^"the great workshop of America," as it
is known. They wanted a prompt and responsible
execution of their order. They were not railroad
men nor speculators, nor were they building a road
on paper, and on margins. They had the money to
pay for it, and they wanted good work, quickly exe-
cuted. They cast about for a man who would under-
take the entire enterprise and relieve them of re-
sponsibilities for details. Mr. McGrann made the
novel proposition to undertake the construction of
the whole road, engineering, grading, bridges, bal-
last, ties and track in one year. It was a vast 'under-
taking,^ running up into the millions, and such as no
single individual in this country had ever grappled
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
347
with. The man for the hour was chosen in Bernard
McGrann. He closed the contract, and backed it
not only with sound judgment and hardy spirit, but
\yith substantial security for the successful comple-
tion of the work. While old railroad men were
dubious and western contractors predicted losses for
the stranger who dared a feat they would not at-
tempt, the young contractor set out to organize his
forces, subdivide and sub-let his work and to make
extensive contracts for supplies of all sorts. En-
gineers of talent and railroad men of the highest
efficiency were summoned to service all along the
Ohio, from Pittsburg to Phillipsburg, up the' Beaver
and all along the line; and there was activity that
wakened the sleepy towns along the route and at-
tracted the attention of engineers, railroad builders
and contractors the country over. The great feat-
ure of this particular work was the bridge across the
Ohio, between Beaver and Phillipsburg. The river
had to be spanned at a height of ninety-five feet
above the water to admit of proper navigation facili-
ties, and had a channel span of 446 feet, -^ith long
approaches of iron frame work. The entire enter-
prise was completed in one year and handed over to
its owners in first class condition, its entire length
ready for trains.
When the Lancaster County Fair Association
failed, some years ago, Mr. Grann bought its entire
grounds and pressed them to their original uses ; to
his liberal grants, the public owes the renewal and
succession of successful county fairs held there to
this day, as well as clean trials of speed. The feel-
ing that Mr. McGrann was connected with the races
inspired the public with confidence in their fairness.
Mr. McGrann is a pillar of St. Mary's Catholic
Church. No subscription list for church purposes is
ever found without his name and a good round sum
opposite it. He is also full of love for his country-
men, and contributed $500 to the Irish National
League fund, and his interest in the cause of Ireland
and her downtrodden people is ever maintained. As
a citizen he is always enterprising and liberal. He
had large real-estate interests in this city and
though a resident of Manheim township, is one of
Lancaster's heaviest tax payers. In all the length
and breadth of the county, no finer or better culti-
vated farm with more costly or enduring improve-
ments can be found. Every movement for the bet-
terment of farm methods has his quick appreciation
and patronage.
CJn Jan. 3, 1872, Mr. McGrann was married to
Mrs. Mary Kelly, widow of the late William T. Kelly
and daughter of Philip Dougherty, of Harrisburg.
Two sons, Richard Philip and Francis, have blessed
this union. Men of high distinction in church and
State, in business and professional life, from, every
part of the country, are again and again welcome
guests in the McGrann home. A Democrat by
instinct and training, by inheritance and conviction,
Mr. McGrann has been sent as delegate to State and
National Conventions. He has been frequently
on the local ticket, has served on the county com-
mittee and was nominated for State Treasurer in
1887. He has always, been a generous contributor
to, and stanch supporter of his party. " He is the
President of the Board of Managers of the Hunt-
ingdon Reformatory, and gives it that earnest, in-
telligent attention which he devotes to all things
with which he is connected. With his broad
humanity and sympathetic nature, no man could
have been more fittingly selected to assist in the
management of a reformatory institution, and we
make no apology for relating an incident that came to
our notice quite recently, as illustrative of Mr. Mc-
Grann's interest in and kindly regard for the young.
"There," said a successful yoimg professional man
as he displayed an inscribed silver dollar, "is the
thing that inspired me to study a profession." The
inscription told that this silver dollar had been
presented by Mr. McGrann and the date of the
presentation was also given. "I was a lad of
tender years and was standing in the Pennsylvania
Railroad station in this city, on my way to the
House of Refuge, having been sent there on the
application of an uncle, in whose custody I had
been placed after the death of my mother, and who
wanted to get rid of me. As I stood there Mr. Mc-
Grann came along, spoke kindly to me, asked me
where I was going, and telling me to cheer up, gave
me a dollar. That act inspired me. I was detained
only a short time in the Refuge, then returned to
Lancaster, became an inmate of the Home of the
Friendless Children, and there remained until I
was old enough to do something for myself; but
Mr. McGrann's silver dollar has been my talisman
all these years and will be till I die." .Such is the
testimony of a professional man of Lancaster —
testimony that could be multiplied many times if
all the beneficiaries of his generosity could be per-
mitted to tell the story of their gratitude.
HENRY P. TOWNSEND. During a long,
busy and able career as agriculturist and prominent
citizen, Henry P_. Townsend, won the high esteem
of the residents of Little Britain township. His
birth was on Dec. 25, 1820, and his death was on
July 26, 1897. His father was John Townsend, a
son of Joseph, who was one of the early settlers
of the county and who, with his descendants, car-
ried on large farming interests. One sister of Henry
P. Townsend was Eliza, who married John
Bowden, but they, too, have passed away.
Henry P. Townsend was married to Sarah G.
Spencer in 1843. She was a daughter of Joseph
and Rebecca (Good) Spencer, of Bucks county.
Pa., of English origin, and consistent members of
the Society of Friends. Nine children were born
to this marriage: Marietta, unmarried; Joseph S.,
of Little Britain township ; Elwood H., whose
sketch appears in another part of this volume ; John,
deceased ; Israel H., of Oxford ; Annie, the wife of
Cecil Stubbs, of Little Britain township ; Sarah, at
348
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
home; William, a farmer of Chester county; and
Harvey, deceased.
The family born to the parents of Mrs. Town-
send, niim"bered five members: Rachel, Elizabeth,
Mary Ann, Marian, and Sarah, Mrs. Townsend
being the youngest, and the only survivor. She
resides on the old home place with her two estimable
daughters, Marietta and Sarah, occupying the farm
of Ji6 acres, which includes some of the most
desirable land in Lancaster county. They belong to
the Society of Friends.
Mr. Townsend was one of the leading farmers
of his township, 'and at various times he was called
upon to serve in positions of responsibility, his
fellow citizens feeling assured that every trust
be as carefully guarded as if it were a personal
matter. His interest in educational questions made
him long a school director, and during his term of
office as supervisor, the roads of his tov/nship were
improved and all measures promising the better-
ment of his section received his approval. A stanch
Republican, he never was, however, a politician.
Though leading a quiet life, and rarely taking a con-
spicuous part, his influence was ever felt in the direc-
tion of morality, temperance and good citizenship.
WILLIAM WOHLSEN, substantially con-
nected with the business interests of Lancaster as
president of the Union Trust Company, and owner
of the planing-mill bearing his name, was born in
Hanover, Germany, Dec. 24, 1847, son of Peter and
Catherine (Oelrich) Wohlsen, natives of the same
German principality. To Peter Wohlsen and his
wife were born the following children : William ;
Peter N., a contractor and builder of Lancaster;
Herman F., also a contractor and builder of Lan-
caster ; and Anna, the wife of Henry Elsen, of the
same city.
The youth of William Wohlsen was uneventfully
passed on his father's farm ; when seventeen years of
age he learned the carpenter's trade, at which he
worked until emigrating to America, in 1867. For a
time he worked at his trade in Lancaster, and was
quite successful as a contractor and builder until
1871, in which vear he bought a small planing-mill,
which was gradually enlarged from a one-horse-
power concern to one of the largest and best patron-
ized mills in Lancaster county. In 1S80 Mr. Wohl-
sen abandoned building and contracting to give his
entire attention to the mill, which eventually came to
emplov fifty people, and thus represented a large
responsibility. Latterly he has had a more pressing
demand upon his time as president of the Union
Trust Companv, which was chartered Oct. 17, IQOI,
and opened for business March 17, 1902. The com-
pany has an authorized capital of $300,000, and a
paid-in capital of $150,000. The officers are : Will-
iam' Wohlsen, president; D. F. Buchmiller, vice-
T:)resident : S. Z. Evans, secretary and treasurer ; and
John M. Groff, solicitor.
In T869 Mr. Wohlsen married Catherine Klenck,
who was born in Hanover Oct. 3, 1849, daughter of
Henry Klenck, a farmer in Germany, who never
came to .America. Of the children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Wohlsen, Mary married Stewart Griffith,
teller of the Union Trust Company ; Anna married
Henry Behrens, of New Yorlc ; P. Harry is super-
intendent of the planing-mill belonging to Mr. Wohl-
sen ; William PL is in his father's mill ; John O. is a
shipping clerk for his father : Catherine is attending
school in Philadelphia, Pa. ; Clarence is at the Yeates
School, north of the city ; B. Frank is living at home ;
and two daughters died young.
Mr. Wohlsen is fraternally associated with the
Liasons, the I. O. O. F. and the Red Men. Politi-
cally he is a Republican. He is allied with the
Lutheran Church, and for the past fifteen yeaj-s has
been a member of the vestry of Zion's German
Lutheran Church, of East Vine street, Lancaster.
DANIEL KURTZ, a retired farmer of Spring
Garden, Salisbury township, and one of its sub-
stantial and respected citizens, was born in that
township, July 26, 1828, a son of John and Mary
(Boley) Kurtz.
Jacob Kurtz, the paternal grandfather of Daniel
Kurtz, was an intelligent and prosperous farmer of
Lancaster county. He began his farming life in
this county on the old John Warner farm, near the
Pequea Meeting House. He was well known and
was highly esteemed. Mr. Kurtz was a large man,
weighing fully 200 pounds. He married Martha
King, of Salisbury township, who died in 1817, at
the age of sixty-nine years. Jacob Kurtz died in
1822, at the age of seventy-five years And two
months, and both were interred on a part of their
old farm, one mile east of the Pequea Meeting
House. Both were consistent members of the
Amish church.
John Kurtz, son of Jacob and father of Daniel
Kurtz, was a prominent and successful farmer of
Salisbury township, at the time of his death own-
ing six of the fine farms of this township. Although
not a member, he was a regular attendant and a
very liberal supporter of the Old Mennonite church,
of which his wife was a consistent member. John
Kurtz died April 16, 1871, at the age of eighty-
one years, and his wife died in Jan. 1888, aged
eighty-eight years. Both were buried on the old
Kurtz homestead, in Salisbury township. The
children born to John and Mary (Boley) Kurtz,
were as follows : Daniel; a retired farmer of Salis-
bury township; Nancy, deceased, wife of Samuel
Worst; John, who died in Kentucky, but was
buried in Salisbury township ; Martha, who married
Harvey Swigart, a farmer of Salisbury township;
Jacob, who was a soldier in the Civil war, and died
in New Mexico; Abraham, a retired farmer of
Salisbury township; Samuel, a resident of Denver,
Col. ; David, a farmer of Salisbury township ; Mary,
wife of James Roseboro, of Lancaster; Martin,
residing on the old homestead; and Joseph, a
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
849
farmer and lime manufacturer of Salisbury town-
ship.
Daniel Kurtz, of this sketch, was reared on the
farm and has never lost his interest in agricultural
pursuits. His education was acquired in the public
schools of his locality, and he spent his time until
within three years of his marriage, in assisting his
father, who was an extensive farmer. He then
operated a farm of loo acres, upon which he
remained until 1892, retiring from activity at that
time, although still vigorous in body and mind.
Mr. Kurtz resembles his grandfather in weight, and
until recently has been in robust health; rheuma-
tism, however, has annoyed him to some degree
lately. As a farmer, Mr. Kurtz has been regarded
as one of the most capable in this locality. He is a
large land owner, his sons occupying his four
valuable properties in Salisbury township. In poli-
tics Mr. Kurtz is a Republican. Both he and his
family belong to the Mennonite church.
On Jan. 31, 1854, Mr. Kurtz was united in mar-
riage to Miss Susanna Worst, and the children bom
to this union were: Frank, born Nov. 29, 1854,
engaged in farming in Salisbury township, and
married to Lydia Warner, deceased ; Henry C,
born March 19, i8c;6, a farmer of Salisbury town-
ship, married to Anna Dague, by whom he has a
family of nine children: John R., born Sept. ri,
1858, who died in infancy ; Mary E., born April 7,
i860, wife of John Livingston, of Philadelphia, and
mother of four children : Abraham W., born Aug.
27, 1862, who died young ; Annie E., born Sept. 19,
1864, who married Aaron Groff, of East Lampeter
township, engaged in. the dairy business, and who
has four children: Daniel W., born Nov. 9, 1866,
a farmer of .Salisbury township, who married Anna
Eby, and has five children; Martin, born Nov. 9,
1866, twin brother to Daniel, and a farmer in Lea-
cock township, married to Anna M. Denlinger, by
whom he has had three children; Benjamin L.
Kurtz, born Feb. 11, 1878, unmarried, a farmer in
Leacock township.
Mrs. Susanna (Worst) Kurtz, was born in
Springville, Salisbury township, Aug. 11, 1833,
daughter of Henry and Mary (Kurtz) Worst, of
Lancaster county.
Mr. Kurtz is one of the most highly respected
men in Salisbury township and his children are
among the leading and reliable citizens.
MARTIN KURTZ, a general farmer of Salis-
bury township and one of its most highly regarded
citizens, was born on his present farm in 1839, son
of John and Mary (Boley) Kurtz, and grandson
of Jacob and Martha (King) Kurtz, extended
mention of whom is made upon another page of this
volume.
Martin Kurtz has followed agriculture all his
life and owns and operates his present well-im-
proved farm of seventy-one acres, in Salisbury
township. In politics he is active in his support of
the Republican party, although he has never been
ambitious for political preferment. His liberality
assists in the support of the Episcopal church, of
which his wife is a devoted member. Mr. Kurtz is
well known in his locality and is universally
esteemed.
On May 19, 1864, in Reading Pa., Mr. Kurtz
was married to Miss Eva R. Fleming, born in
Salisbury township, Aug. 5, 1845, daughter of
David and Mary A. (Clemson) Fleming, the
former a native of Chester county, and the latter of
Salisbury township. Mr. Fleming was born Jan.
29, 1812, and died Dec. 9, 1850, his burial being in
the Octoraro cemetery connected with the Presby-
terian church. The mother of Mrs. Kurtz, born
April 6, 1821, is spending her declining years with
her daughter. The children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Fleming were as ' follows : Lucy, who married
William Dieffenbaugh, supervisor of Mt. Joy town-
ship; Eva R., who is Mrs. Kurtz; Davis Clemson,
who was a hotel keeper and died in 1891, in Han-
over; and Mary A., who died in infancy. By a
previous marriage, Mr. Fleming had become the
husband of Lucinda E. Bemis, an English lady,
born Nov. 24, 1816, who died Aug. 9, 1841, and
was the mother of two children : Tabitha, who died
at the age of eighteen ; and David, who is employed
in Cramp's ship yards, in Philadelphia.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Kurtz were
David and Tabitha (Matlick) Fleming, farming
people and natives of Chester county. Their two
sons were David and Preston, who, with their
parents are buried in Octoraro cemetery, being
members of the Presbyterian church. The maternal
grandparents were Davis and Rebecca (Cowan)
Clemson, farmers of Salisbury township. Grand-
father Clemson was a man of prominence in his
locality and for many years served on the school
board and was highly respected. He died in Nov.
1871, aged eighty-four, after years of retirement,
his widow surviving until 1890, when she was
ninety-four years of age. They were buried in the
cemetery connected with St. John's Episcopal
church, in Compassville, being devout members of
this church. Their children were: Mary A., the
mother of Mrs. Kurtz ; James, who died unmarried,
in 1891 ; William, who died in 1899, in St. Louis,
Mo. ; Caroline, who died in 1882, and who married
(first) Henry Harman, and (second) Jacob Evans ;
Adeline, who married James Gossler, a retired
machinist of Reading, Pa. ; Sarah J., who married
Jacob Warfel, of New Holland; and S. Rebecca,
who died unmarried in 1899.
The founders of the Clemson family in Lan-
caster county came here from England with Rev.
James Clemson in the early part of 1700, being of
Quaker stock. Mrs. Kurtz's great-great-grand-
father was James Clemson, of Salisbury township,
who lived on the old homestead which was purchased
from William Penn. James Clemson was born July
13, 1729, and died- in 1792. He married Margaret
350
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Herd, a beautiful but eccentric woman, who, after
her husband's death, spent the rest of her life with
a daughter. Their son, James Clemson, born
March 20, 1755, died April 4, 1820. He married
Mary Brady, born Dec. 4, 1752, and died April 21,
1819. They had these children: Grace, who died
in infancy; Jehu, who married' Susan Ellmaker;
Eli, who married Elizi Swartzwelder ; Levi ;
Rachel, who married John Logan ; Amos, who mar-
ried Maria Miller; Davis, who married Rebecca
Cowan ; Margaret, who died in infancy ; and James.
Both the Clemson and Kurtz families are among
the oldest and most honorable in Lancaster county,
their names standing for honesty, integrity and
high moral character.
N. DAVIS SCOTT. This honorable citizen,
so long well and favorably known to the resi-
dents of Lancaster county, was born Feb. 13, 1832,
and passed from life May 25, 1899. The Scott
family is an old and honorable one of this county.
It originated in Wales and one of its hardy mem-
bers was John Scott, who took a distinguished part
in the Revolutionary war, gaining a major's com-
mission, later married Elinor Armstrong, and
settled among the pioneers in Southern Lancaster
county.
William Scott, son of John, married Hannah
Jenkins and they reared a family of ten children:
John, Elinor, Margaret, Franklin, Samuel, James,
Hannah, Martha, Francis and N. Davis.
N. Davis .Scott became one of the leading agri-
culturists of Fulton township, and more than that,
for during a number of years he was identified with
many of the important public movements in his
section, and was conspicuous in the Republican
party. An admirable phase of the character of Mr.
Scott was his influence in favor of temperance in
ail things. His life was one of industry and it
afforded him comfort to realize that at death he
could leave his family secure as to worldly interests.
His farm of 180 well improved acres is one of the
best in the county, while his personal property was
of considerable value.
The marriage of Mr. Scott was on Jan. 31, 1861,
to Miss Edith R. Carter, of Fulton township, and
three children were born to this union: William
Graham, who died in childhood; Mary H., who
resides with her beloved mother ; and Cora C, who
also died in childhood. Mrs. Scott was a daughter
of Henry and Mary Ann (Jackson) Carter, of ■
Fulton township, who reared a family of seven
children: John, who is a farmer of Chester county.
Pa. ; Alice, deceased ; Annie, who is the wife of
Cooper Stubbs, of Fulton township ; Harlan, who
was killed at the battle of Fredericksburg, during
the Civil war; Edith R., Mrs. Scott; Joel J., who is
a farmer of Fulton township ; and Kate A., unmar-
ried, who resides in this township.
Henry Carter was one of the prominent and
leading farmers of Lancaster county. He was
born in 1802, a son of John Carter, an early settler
in Maryland, and he preserved much of his physical
activity and mental vigor until his death, at the
advanced age of nearly ninety-two years. In early
days a Whig, he later became identified with the
Republican party, and served as a member of the
State Constitutional Convention. His wife also
lived to the age of nearly ninety-two years. Mr.
Carter was a successful farmer of Fulton town-
ship.
N. Davis Scott was noted for his public spirit,
as well as his activity in promoting the general
prosperity of the community by favoring all
measures which his judgment convinced him would
be for the welfare of his locality. For sixteen years
he served as school director, was also judge of
elections, and held other offices, being a man in
whom his fellow citizens could place implicit confi-
dence. Such a man can never be forgotten in any
community, and has every right to be classed among
its leading representatives.
ABRAM SCHEETZ, the head of the firm of
Scheetz & Co., otherwise the Paragon Shirt Co.,
at No. 6 West King street, is a native of Lancaster
county. His father. Christian Scheetz, was a well
known resident of Millersville, Manor township,
for many years, but was living in Penn township
when Abram was born, Nov. 27, 1838.
Abram Scheetz attended the district school for
some years, but left at the early age of thirteen years
to enter the grocery store of Jacob Buchler on East
King street, Lancaster. For a time he was
employed in the dry goods store of B. B. Martin &
Co., and in that of John Myers, and was then
employed for a longer period in the store of A.
Dyssinger at Elizabethtown. Returning to this city
the young man was again connected with the
Martin store, where he was engaged at the breaking
out of the war of the Rebellion.
Abram Scheetz enlisted as a private in Co. D,
I22d P. V. I., but was discharged on account of
sickness before his term of enlistment had expired.
Presently recovering from his physical ailments, he
joined the 44th Pennsylvania, when they rallied to
defend the State against the Rebel invaders, and
participated in the scenes and experiences that cul-
minated in the terrible struggle at Gettysburg. Mr.
Scheetz remained with his regiment until it was
mustered out and returned to civil life.
After laying aside his army blue Mr. Scheetz
repaired to Philadelphia, and found employment in
a dry goods and notion store. Lancaster had the
charm of home for him, however, and he could not
resist the attraction of the old familiar scenes, so
he came back to this city, and opened a dry goods
store. In 1885 he retired from the dry goods trade,
and opened a factory for the manufacture of shirts.
In this business he has been very successful, and the
reputation of his shirt, to which he gave the name
of Paragon, has become very extended, selling
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
851
throughout Pennsylvania and in the city of New
York.
Mr. Scheetz has been greatly interested in the
Grand Army of the Republic, since its organization.
A member and past commander of Admiral
Reynolds Post, No. 405, he rarely misses a camp
fire. A member of St. John's Lutheran church, he
is recognized as a useful man in church and Grand
Army circles, as well as in the marts of trade.
Mr, Scheetz was married in 1861 to Louisa,
daughter of Junius P. Marshall, a farmer of Chester
county, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Scheetz are the parents
of two children, Henry Marshall and May Alma.
The latter died in infancy, but the former survives,
and is now connected with the West Disinfecting
Company in Allegheny, Pa. Mrs. Scheetz is still
living, and presides over her husband's beautiful
home in Lancaster with charming grace and
benignity.
Abram Scheetz is an unpretending and liberal
man, energetic and industrious in his business, but
carrying a kind and sympathetic heart in his bosom
that has endeared him to many friends.
PHILIP BRUBAKER. Among the venerable
citizens of New Holland, Pa., who possess the
esteem of the community after a long life in its
midst, is Philip Brubaker, a man of substance and
standing in Earl township. His life has extended
over the most progressive part of the world's his-
tory, he having been born April 15, 1815, that year
marking the beginning of a new era in America.
At that time science, which now flourishes and
assists mankind in every relation of life, was but
in its infancy, and the discoveries and inventions
that have almost transformed the world have had
their birth or development during the years encom-
passed by this worthy citizen.
Born of German parents, Philip Brubaker in-
herited much of the sturdy strength and solidity of
character from them. His father was Philip Bru-
baker, a well known farmer of Earl township,
who was born in 1763, and died in 1825, while the
mother of Mr. Brubaker bore the maiden name of
Catherine Richwine, also of German parentage.
The children born of this marriage were : Margaret
and Catherine, who both died single; Julia Ann,
who married Isaac Witwer; Elizabeth, who mar-
ried John Miller; John R., who became a hard-
ware merchant of New Holland; Henry R., also a
merchant of New Holland; Philip, the subject of
this biography.
Philip Brubaker was reared on a farm, and
received his education in the schools of the period.
While still a lad, he was hired out to neighboring
farmers to do farm work, for a mere pittance, at
the age of fourteen engaging with a cattle drover
to assist him in driving cattle to Philadelphia from
New Holland, a distance of fifty-two miles. The
trip usually was made in three da^'s, two in going,
with the cattle, and one in coming back, the weary
boy making it on foot. His next business venture
was with a butcher, and for a time he assisted in
this line, later entering a dry goods house as a
clerk, still later finding employment with his brother
John R. Brubaker, as a hardware salesman. Five
years were spent in this business and then he
opened up a mercantile line, associating himself
with Gabriel Davis and John Piersol, following
this for a number of years. Since selling this Mr.
Brubaker has lived somewhat of a retired life.
During the war of the Rebellion, he dealt in gold,
stocks and bonds very successfully, but lately he
has lived quietly in his comfortable home in New
Holland.
During his active life, Mr. Brubaker was a
prominent member of the Republican party, and has
ever been a stanch supporter of it. In 1869 he was
married to Miss Elizabeth J. Miller, of Earl town-
ship, a daughter of Adam Miller, born in 1825, her
death occurring on May 17, 1900. Mr. Brubaker
has lived a life of charity and good will toward his
neighbor, and numbers his friends by the score.
Although he has passed the limits of the Psalmist,
his friends wish him many more years of comfort,
after his busy life, which he has lived for the better-
ment of others.
ABRAM G. SHEIBLY. One of the retired
and substantial agriculturists of Lancaster county,
residing on his fine farm in Upper Leacock town-
ship, on which he was born Dec. 7, 1823, is Abram
G. Sheibly, a well known and highly respected citi-
zen.
The parents of Mr. Sheibly were Henry and
Susanna (Groff) Sheibly, who were united in mar-
riage March 12, 1822; the former was born in
Upper Leacock township, and the latter was a
native of West Earl township. The birth of Henry
Sheibly was on April 11, 1797 and he died in Jan.
1882, at the home of his daughter Caroline, in
Farmersville, at the age of eighty-five years. His
burial was from his old home and he was laid to
lest in the private family burying ground. Since
1859 he had been retired from active life, but prior
to that time he was active in work on his farm,
in township affairs and in the Reformed church,
where he was one of the elders. The mother of
our subject was born June 11, 1802, and died in
April, 1877, having lived nearly seventy-five years,
which she filled to overflowing with kind actions
and neighborly deeds. The children born to them
were: Anna, who died young; Abram G., our
subject; Elmira, Henry and Martin, who all died
young; Maria, who married John B. Landis;
Susannah, deceased, who married Isaac Reif;
Sarah Ann, who is the widow of Martin Shaffer,
and who lives in East Lampeter township ; Caro-
line, who is the widow of Isaac Shaffer, of West
Earl township; and Adam, who died young.
The Sheibly family has long been prominent in
this county. Henry Sheibly, the grandfather of our
352
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
subject, started for America with his parents when
he was but seven years of age; his father, Henry
Sheibly, Sr., died on the voyage from Switzerland,
and was buried at Philadelphia. The son made his
permanent home in Lancaster county. He was a
man of great industry and accumulated large
means, cultivated his lands and added many im-
provements which today testify to his excellent
judgment. In 1779 he built the present family
residence, which is a stone structure, in an excellent
state of preservation, and in 1800 he erected the
large barn which is still used for its original
purpose. In 1817 he built a large brick house on.
the farm and this is now used by his great-grand-
son. The death of this worthy ancestor was in
1818 when he had reached his seventy-second year.
The first wife of Henry Sheibly was a Miss
Wenger, who died in 1794, but the grandmother
of our subject was the second wife, Elizabeth
Miller, who died in 1840, at the age of eighty
years. On the maternal side Abram G. Sheibly
was connected with the Myers family, another old
and prominent one in the county.
Mr. Sheibly of this sketch has devoted his
energies to agriculture all his life, remaining on the
old farm which he has developed and improved
through many years. His prominence in his
locality has made him a useful member of society,
and he has been called upon to serve the public in
several capacities, notably as township auditor.
For forty-six years he has been a member of the
Board of the Lancaster and New Holland turnpike
road and for the past fifteen years has been its
valued president. In politics Mr. Sheibly is a
stanch Republican and takes an active and intelli-
gent interest in public questions. Both he and
wife have been connected with Hellers Reformed
church for over 50 years, and he is secretary, and
also an elder.
The marriage of Abram p. Sheibly was in
Upper Leacock township, May 21, 1848, to Miss
Maria W. Zook, and the children born to this union
were : Susannah, who is the widow of David Groff,
and lives at home ; Henry, a clerk in Lancaster, who
married Hattie Landis, and has one datighter,
Blanche; Abram, Jr., who married Miss Emma
Bear, operates the home farm and has one son, J.
Emory; and Mary and Emma, who died young.
Mrs. Maria W. (Zook) Sheibly was born in
Manheim township, on June 5, 1826, and died on
Jan. 3, 1899, and was laid to rest in the Heller
church cemetery. She was a daughter of David
and Susannah (Weidler) Zook, both of Lancaster
county, the former being a prominent farmer.
Abram Sheibly, Jr., a son of Abram and
Maria W. (Zook) Sheibly, was born on the old
homestead and in the house which has sheltered
his ancestors, Nov. 2, 1852. His education was
acquired in the public schools and he remained
assisting his father until his marriage, when he
removed to the other residence, on the same farm.
and since his father's retirement has managed the
estate himself. Its fine condition testifies that he
has given close and careful, attention to the land,
as it is one of the most productive in the town-
ship.
Mr. Sheibly was united in marriage June 12,
1877, in Mechanicsburg, to Miss Emma E. Bear,
and to this union was born one son, J. Emory. Mrs.
Emma (Bear) Sheibly was born in Upper Leacock
township, May 9, 1855, and she is a daughter of
John and Hattie (Landis) Bear, both of whom
were natives of Upper Leacock township. The
father was a farmer and cattle dealer of prominence
through the county. His death was in Mechanics-
burg, in 1899, at the age of sixty-nine, while the
mother makes her home with her children. Both
Mr. and ]\Irs. Bear had become connected in early
life with the Lutheran church. The children born
to Mr. and Mrs. Bear were : Emma, the wife of
Abram Sheibly, Jr.; Benjamin, of . Philadelphia ;
Mary, deceased, who married Amos Baumberger;
Newton, of Philadelphia; Lillie I., who died young;
Minora, who married M. Ward Weidman, a
merchant in Clay township ; and George R., who
died young.
Mr. Sheibly has been school director for the
past six years, taking a great interest in educational
matters. His religious membership is with Heller's
Reformed church, in which he is both treasurer and
deacon, while, like his respected father, he adheres
to the Republican party. Mr. Sheibly is regarded
as one of the representative men of Lancaster
county and worthily represents a prominent line of
ancestors.
BRUBAKER FAMILY, and Connections
IN America. John Erubaker emigrated from
Switzerland — Germany — to America about 17 10.
No record has been found as yet showing the
exact time. In the year 1717 he and a cer-
tain Christian Hershey jointly took out a warrant
for 1,000 acres of land, situated in Hempfield
township, Lancaster county, about three miles west
of the present Lancaster city. In the year 1718 he
and the said- Christian Hershey divided the above
tract of 1,000 acres into two equal parts by running
a line east and west, Brubaker taking the southern
part, viz., 500 acres, on which tract he built the first
grist and saw mill in Lancaster county (so tradi-
tion says), the mill property being located on the
little Conestoga Creek, at what is now called "Ab-
beyville." It is not certain that John Brubaker was
married when he came to America. On May 13,
1728, John Brubaker and his wife, Anna (what her
maiden name was is not known) , sold and conveyed
150 acres of the 500 acres mentioned, including the
mill property, to one Christian Stoheman. John
Brubaker and his wife Anna had the following chil-
dren : John (it being the custom at that time, and
many generations following, that the first born son
received the father's given name), Jacob, Abraham,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
353
Peter, Daniel, Henry, Joseph, David, Christian and
ohe daughter, Anna. Anna Brubaker was married
to Abraham Buckwalter.
John Brubaker, the eldest son, after having
grown to manhood desired to go to Switzerland
(Germany) to seek a wife, but his parents were dis-
suaded from consenting. However, he went after
his father's death, in the year 1750, arrived in his
father's native land, and was received with great
loy. His friends had two lamps burning evenings.
iHe was successful in his matrimonial undertaking,
and found a maiden, Maria Newcomer, who was
willing to cast her lot with him in the New World.
John Brubaker and Maria Newcomer entered into
the sacred relation of matrimony A. D. 1750, eight
days before Whitsuntide. They then sailed for
America, it is not known how soon after their mar-
riage, but presumably at their earliest convenience.
Abraham Brubaker, a cousin of John, accompanied
them, and was so well pleased with the New World
that he wrote enticing letters to his brothers and sis-
ters, who also emigrated to America. Abraham
Brubaker settled at the Middle creek, where " Wiss-
ler's mill " is located, not far from Clay. There he
intended to build a mill, but getting into difficulties
with some land owners in regard to the water right
he moved to what is now called Indiantown, about
three miles northeast from Ephrata. Hence his de-
scendants are called the Indiantown Brubakers.
When John Brubaker and his wife came to
America, they brought, among other things, a large
cliest full of goods, glassware and earthernware.
Those articles became scattered about, but some are
yet extant, and are highly prized as relics by those
that have them. Several articles are in the posses-
sion of Jacob N. Brubaker : a salt stand, pewter
communion cup, and a German book. The chest is
also in the family. After their arrival in America
they settled on part of a tract of land which his fa-
ther had bought of Lewis Lewis, situated in what is
now Elizabeth township, Lancaster Co., Pa., and
there they commenced housekeeping in the wilder-
ness. The beavers were yet there building their dams.
But John and Maria (Newcomer) Brubaker were
not permitted long to live together, only thirty
weeks in fact, the wife dying Dec. 15, 1750. He
buried her in the garden, where her remains rested
150 years, and in 1880 they were removed to the
Brubaker family graveyard, and a suitable tomb-
stone placed at the grave. This was indeed a sad be-
reavement. His sorrow was great. Tradition says,
if possible he would dig her out of her grave, he
said, with his fingers, and restore her to life. The
bereaved husband did not long remain a widower in
the wilderness. He married April 30, 1751, Maria
Tauner (now written Doner), eldest daughter of
Michael Tanner. John and Maria (Tanner) Bru-
baker were blessed with a large family, five sons and
six daughters, most of whom grew to manhood and
womanhood. A kind Providence blessed them.
They were permitted to see their children, and chil-
23
dren's children, grow up around them. And above
all, they saw their descendants — as a rule — embrace
the faith, and religion " which was once delivered
to the Saints," for which sake the forefathers were
persecuted in the " Vater Land," and which was the
prime cause of their emigration to " Penn's For-
est." They, and their descendants, realized the Bi-
ble truths that what we suffer for Christ's sake
brings the blessing of God. The early settlers were
generally rugged, resolute, but honest and hospita-
ble, and willing to lend a helping hand. John Bru-
baker was deprived of his sight during the latter
years of his life (it is not known how long). During
his blindness he would call into his room his grand-
son, Jacob Brubaker, every Sunday morning, and
have him read a sermon out of his book of sermons,
called the " Denner Buch." (The chair on which
the old grandfather sat and the book' are in the pos-
session of Jacob N. Brubaker) . This shows that his
mind was engaged in the service of the Lord. After
John and Maria Brubaker had passed through many
vicissitudes of life they went to their " long home,"
John Brubaker dying April 9, 1804, aged eighty-four
years, seven months. His wife died some time be-
fore, June 21, t8o2, aged seventy-three years, four
months, ten days.
As remarked, the greater number of the family
of John and Maria (Tauner") Brubaker, grew to ma-
turity and married, viz. : John married Anna Eby ;
Anna married John Moyer ; Maria married John
Baer; Jacob married Susan Erb; Magdalena mar-
ried John Bruckhart: Elizabeth married Christian
Martin; Veronica married John Bomberger; Bar-
bara married Abraham Martin. The children of the
above named families, about thirty in number, near-
ly all of which grew to maturity, again intermarried
with those families of like faith — the Ebys, Buchers,
Bombergers, Snyders, Wisslers, Erbs,- etc., and their
families to a great extent again intermarried with
families of like faith, viz. : the Ebys, Shenks, Shirks,
Graybills, Bombergers, Staufifers and Rissers. Thus
as a matter of course, the adherents to the faith of
their forefathers greatly multiplied, and took a firm
foothold in the New World, commanding the respect
of the rulers of the land, and exercising a healthful
influence, in many directions, by their modest, simple
and honest intercourse with their neighbors. Many
persons in higher stations of life were convinced
that the principles and sentiments advocated and
practiced by these modest and plain people were the
true and cardinal principles of the Gospel, and if
the descendants from generation to generation
had continued those principles, by practice, down to
the present time, they would exercise a greater in-
fluence. But many became dissatisfied with walk-
ing in those plain and simple paths of their forefa-
thers, and chose strange ways, and mingled too
much with the world, which greatly disturbed the
peace and harmony, and therefore that influence was
much shorn of its effect. But, notwithstanding all
those jars and upheavals, the Mennonite denomina-
354
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
tion still stands as a beacon on the shores of time.
Among those descendants there were men, members
of the Church, chosen of God and church counsel,
and by casting of lots, as necessity demanded, to
discharge the sacred duties of the ministry. Great
care was exercised, and anxious prayers were of-
fered, invoking Divine guidance and God's blessing
in providing teachers and housekeepers in God's
house. A reluctant but submissive will to be or-
dained to the sacred office of deacon or minister, but
especially of bishop, was at all times much ap-
proved of by the church. But an aspiration for those
offices was always unpleasant to the church as a
body.
To write the life of all prominent men of the
Mennonite Church in America would be impossible,
as they left scarcely any written record or account,,
and to mention some only might seem partial.
Therefore a few remarks will be made in a general
way. The polity of the Mennonite denomination
has remained unchanged as regards the principal
points. There have been secessions from the main
body, from time to time. Those have formulated
other rules of government. As a body the Mennon-
ite denomination consists of bishops, ministers and
deacons, and also the laity. Each lay member has
a right to the Council of the church. At stated
times examinations are held to ascertain the stand-
ing and condition of the church, the result of which
is reported to conference, when bishops, ministers
and deacons meet in general council and counsel
with each other and advise for the welfare of the
Church. The preaching of the word of God is ex-
temporaneous and without charge. It is not the
principle of the ministry to preach according to the
wisdom of this world, but according to the spirit
of Christ, in humility and simplicity. All persons
have access to public worship. Penitent believers
upon application, and after being instructed in re-
gard to the rules and ordinances of the church, and
promising obedience and allegiance thereto, are re-
ceived to membership by baptism in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
The members observe communion with each other,
with bread and wine, the bread and wine being em-
blems of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus
Christ. Feet washing commanded by Jesus Christ,
as a token of humility, is recognized as an ordinance,
and observed by the greater number of the brethren.
V/hen any difference or strife arises between the
members it shall be adjusted according to Matt,
xviii, 15-20. Although believing that living ac-
cording to the tenets of the Mennonite faith is com-
patible with the word of God, yet the principle
thereof does not allow members to condemn those
of other denominations. — [Bishop Jacob N. Bru-
EAKER.
Jacob N. Brubaker was born July 25, 1838, in
Rapho township, Lancaster Co., Pa., and is a de-
scendant in the sixth generation of John and Anna
Brubaker, his line being through John and Maria
(Tauner) Brubaker: Jacob and Susan (Erb) Bru-
baker; Jacob and Maria (Eby) Brubaker; and
Sem and Magdalena (Nissley) Brubaker. In 1865
Jacob N. Brubaker was ordained to the ministry of
the Mennonite Church, and in 1867 he was ordained
bishop, in which capacity he has since officiated.
On Nov. I, 1857, Bishop Brubaker married Bar-
bara H. Stauffer, daughter of David K. and Anna
Stauffer, and they have had children as follows:
Fannie died when four and a half years old. Martin
died in his thirtieth year, leaving a widow, whose
maiden name was Emma Frances Witmer, and one
daughter, Mabel May. David D. died when two
and a half years old. Magdalena, who died in her
twenty-ninth year, was the wife of Christian G.
Brennerman; she left one son, Jacob Roy, and one
daughter, Barbara Anna, the latter of whom died
in infancy. Sem wedded Bertha Engle, and is a
farmer of Rapho township, Lancaster county.
SAMUEL HATZ (deceased) was for many
years one of the well known and successful business
men of Lancaster, and was born in this city in
April, 1826, his death occurring in his home there
Feb. 18, 1886.
John Hatz, the father of Samuel Hatz, was one
of the leading citizens of Lancaster county for many
years, the family being a well known one in the
time of the grandfather of our subject, John Hatz,
who was a very large landowner, possessing the
tract which is now included in James St.,
extending north beyond the city's limits. He mar-
ried Mary Burgian. His son, John, inherited much
valuable land which increased in value as the city
grew, and by his good management he accumulated
a fortune which reached $200,000. He probably
owned more land than any other citizen of Lan-
caster and engaged in the real estate business, in
connection with hoirse dealing. He was one of the
first directors of the Lancaster County Bank, and
one of the largest stockholders. At the time of the
failure of the old Lancaster County Bank, he lost
some $60,000. He was a very public-spirited man,
and was one of those instrumental in the buildiftg
of the Franklin and Marshall College, in Lancaster.
John Hatz married Elizabeth Ensminger, of
Manheim, Pa., and the children born to this union
were as follows: Samuel, deceased; Rosanna, de-
ceased, who married William M. Shrum ; Mary E.,
who is the widow of Andrew Wingert ; Sarah, who
married H. D. Musselman, of Lancaster, and Eliza-
beth, who married W. G. Bender, of Lancaster.
John Hatz died in September, 1858, at the age of
fifty-seven years, and his wife died in 1856, at the
age of fifty-three years. Both were buried in the
Lancaster cemetery. They were good. Christian
people, members of the First Reformed church.
Samuel Hatz, son of John and Elizabeth Hatz,
lived at home until he began a business career for
himself. He followed the same lines as his father,
dealt in horses and conducted a large livery busi-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
355
ness, in Lancaster, and for many years was also
interested in the cigar business, being very success-
ful in all. His energy and ability made him a
prominent man in Lancaster, and at his death he
left a large and valuable estate to his heirs. In
business life he was regarded as a man of integrity,
and he was much beloved in the family circle. Mr.
Hatz was a member of the Reformed church. He
was identified with the Republican party.
On Nov. 22, 1847, Mr. Hatz married Harriet
Spoonhower, and to this union were born the fol-
lowing children : John, who died at the age of three
years; Frederick, who died in 1892, at the age of
forty-four years, married Emma Hartley, and they
had six children; Mary, who died Jan. 11, 1896,
married Benjamin F. Bard; Miss S. Alice, at home;
Harry, who died, unmarried, in 1891 ; Emma H.,
married James S. Nowlen, a tailor in Lancaster;
Charles, who married Anna N. Kellar, deceased,
lives at home with his one daughter, Fanny M. ;
Samiiel, a cigar merchant in Lancaster, married
Viola Heise, and they have one daughter, Minnie,
and George, who is a sign and ornamental painter
in Lancaster, married Maria Simpson, and they
have three children.
B. F. KINZER. Prominent and highly
esteemed among the leading citizens of New
Holland is B. F. Kinzer, the worthy representative
of an old and honored family of Lancaster county,
which has long been identified with her agricultural
interests.
The Kinzer family originated in Germany,
where great-grandfather Jacob Kinzer was born,
coming to Lancaster county in 1729, where he found
pioneer conditions, being one of the early settlers.
Here he founded a family which has done honor
to their ancestor, and now ranks with the most
highly respected in the State. Michael, the son of
Jacob Kinzer, reared a family of seven children:
Caitherine, Mary, Elizabeth, Margaret, William,
George and Jacob, . all of whom became respected
members of society, lived agricultural lives, and
were connected with the Lutheran church.
William Kinzer became a prosperous farmer in
Earl township, married Katherine Weidler, and
they reared a family of nine children: Louisa C,
■who married Amos Lemon; Caroline M., who died
single; Maria, who married Abraham Smoker;
Elizabeth E., single; B. F., the subject of this
biography, born April 29, 1825 ; Lucetta A., who
married Mathias S. Hurst; William W., who died
October i, 1900; Margaret W., who married John
Wallace; and Lydia A., deceased.
Born and reared on a farm, B. F. Kinzer has
been an enthusiastic farmer all his life, passing
forty years as one of the successful agriculturists
of Lancaster county. With a five-dollar bill in his
pocket, he started out in youth to earn his own way
in the world, and has succeeded beyond expectation,
being now one of the county's substantial men, the
owner of four well-improved farms, and identified
with much of the progress of his township. For a
number of years he filled township offices, and is
now one of the directors in the New Holland and
Downingtown Railroad.
The estimable lady who became the wife of B.
F. Kinzer, in 1853, was Miss H. Caroline Youndt,
born Nov. 15, 1825, a daughter of Henry Youndt,
of East Earl township, and she still survives, in
good health, and it is the wish of the neighborhood
that both she and husband may be spared many
years. The family born to Mr. and Mrs. Kinzer
consisted of three children, the eldest daughter,
Maria Magdalena, remaining with her parents, both
Catherine W., and H. Caroline having died in child-
hood.
Mr. Kinzer is a consistent member of the
Lutheran church, and is a man who has lived
uprightly, doing his full duty, in every relation of
life, thus being one of the representative men of a
county where the majority are honest, industrious
and law abiding.
FREDERICK VALENTINE GRAB, de-
ceased, for many years a highly esteemed and
honored citizen of Columbia, Pa., was born in
Schonau, Germany, Feb. 14, 1806, and was there
reared and educated. In 1832 he emigrated to
America with his parents, Jacob and Elizabeth
(Kern) Grab, and located in Columbia, where
the father lived a retired life. In Germany he had
always engaged in agricultural pursuits. Both
parents were suffocated by gas from a leaking pipe
and died the same night, Jan. 3, 1861, at the age of
eighty-one and seventy-six years, respectively, their
remains being interred in the Catholic cemetery of
Columbia. Frederick V. was the oldest of their
children, the others being Andrew, who was
drowned in a canal; Elizabeth, who married first
Frederick Renter, second Ulrich Vogel and third
John Hinke, and died in Columbia ; and Peter, who
is living retired in Columbia.
After locating in Columbia, in 1832, Frederick
V. Grab made that city his home throughout the
remainder of his life with the exception of a few
years, two of which were spent upon a farm in
York county. Pa. -He then went to Ohio with his
parents, traveling in wagons, but after a short time
spent there, they all returned to Columbia. He was
engaged in the butcher business for a few years,
and later successfully engaged in contracting, such
as building houses and the wharves of the Susque-
hanna River; also the grading of streets and the
turnpike from Columbia to Washington borough.
In 1850 he opened a grocery store which he con-
ducted for many years. He was an ardent supporter
of the Democratic party and a devout member of
the Catholic church. He was known for his kind
hospitality. He died Feb. 18, 1876, honored and
respected by all who knew him.
Mr. Grab was twice married, his first wife being
356
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mary Helpling, who died in 1856, and by that
union he had four children: (^l_) Catherine became
the wife of Joseph Lutz, a retired citizen of
Columbia, and they had the following children:
George F. Squire; Mary, wife of P. Chalfant;
William, proprietor of the "White Swan Hotel" ;
Elizabeth, wife of Sherman Swingler; Joseph,
proprietor of the . "Fifth Street Hotel" ; Margaret,
wife of Clem Hoghentogler, deceased ; and Anna,
wife of Peter Roeser. (2) Frederick died in Colum-
bia. (3) Joseph married Mary Beck, and is living
retired in Allegheny, Pa. They had five children:
Thomas, Ida (both deceased), Mary, Emma and
Rose. (4) George is deceased. In York, Pa.,
Mr. Grab was again married, Jan. 15, 1857,
his second wife being Louise Tavernier, and
to them were born six children, namely: (i)
Mary G. is the wife of Henry H. Gerfin, a black-
smith of Columbia, and had the following children :
Katherine A. and H. Gustave, both deceased;
Mathilde E., a teacher in the public schools of
Columbia; Louis H., a blacksmith; Frederick V.,
a blacksmith ; Louise T. ; Harry E., deceased ;
Marie C. ; George P. ; H. Albert ; William A. ; John
L. ; Edna A., and E. Harold; (2) Louise, (3) Peter
and (4) Elizabeth, all died in childhood. (5) Harry,
a blacksmith in Columbia, married Caroline
Brommer, and had the following children: Lenius,
Frederick, John, Louis, Harry, Wilhelmina, Charles,
William, Caroline and Christian; (6) Louise is a
music teacher and organist of St. Paul's Evangelical
Lutheran church, Columbia. Mrs. Grab was born in
Gonnheim, Rheinpfalz, Germanv, in 1837, a daugh-
ter of Peter and Mary Katherine (Egle) Tavernier,
also natives of Rheinpfalz, where the father, a
farmer by occupation, died in 1841, at the age of
thirty-eight years. .The mother came to America
in 1856 and located in Columbia, Pa., where she
died June 27, 1866, aged sixty-three years. Their
children were: Anna B., wife of Frank Dout, a
retired citizen of Columbia; Anna Katherine, who
married George Gundel, and died in Columbia;
Julia A., who married Christ Kraft, and died in
Columbia; and Louise, now Mrs. Grab. Mrs.
Grab has been a devout member of St. Paul's
German Evangelical Lutheran church since its
organization, in 1859.
JOHN B. LANDIS. Among the prominent
and substantial retired farmers of Lancaster county,
whose agricultural activities were confined to Upper
Leacock township during many years, is John B.
Landis, who was born Jan. 8, 1828, son of Benjamin
and Mary (Buchwalder) Landis, of East Lampeter
township, whose farm was in Upper Leacock town-
ship. The father died after about fifteen years of
retirement, at the age of seventy-one; the mother
died at the age of sixty-nine years. These good
Christian people were buried in the Groffdale
cemetery. They led worthy lives, and were mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church. The children born
to Benjamin and Mary Landis were: Elizabeth, of
East Earl township, who first married Samuel
Weaver, and is now the widow of Peter Zimmer-
man ; Mary, who married Wayne Bare, a prominent
farmer, whose sketch may be found elsewhere;
John B., whose name opens this record; David B.,
who was murdered in Lancaster, Pa.; Hettie, who
is the widow of John G. Bare, of Upper Leacock
township; Fianna, who is the widow of Abraham
R. Grabell; Jacob, who was in the cattle business,
and died in Chicago; and Harriet, who married
Isaac Sprecher, of New Holland, Pennsylvania.
John B. Landis was reared on the farm in Upper
Leacock township, where for a number of years he
carried on successful agricultural operations. Mr.
Landis has been a lifelong resident of Upper Lea-
cock, and for thirty-seven years has resided on his
present farm. He is one of the highly respected
citizens of his locality. Mr. Landis was married
Dec. 20, 1852, in Lancaster, Pa;,' to Miss Maria G.
Sheibly. They had no children. Mrs. Landis
died May 30, 1898, at the age of sixty-five years,
and was buried in the Stumptown cemetery. She
was a member of the Mennonite Church at Stump-
town, with which Mr. Landis also united. Mrs.
Landis was a sister of Abrah G. Sheibly, of Upper
Leacock township, and a daughter of Henry and
Susanna (GrofiE) Sheibly, all members of the
Reformed Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Landis commenced farming April
I, 1853, on his father's farm in Upper Leacock
township, where they remained altogether twelve
years, after the first five years taking the place at
$140 per acre. On April i, 1865, they took up
their residence on property in Upper Leacock
bought from John Sigel, having paid $6,500 for
eighteen acres, with improvements ; this is the place
where Mr. Landis still resides. He has made a
number of purchases since, viz. : On May 19, 1870,
he bought from Christian Kendig four acres
covered with chestnut timber, in Paradise township,
paying $80.25 per acre ; on Aug. 21, 1879, he bought
of Jacob Hildebrand twenty-nine acres in Upper
Leacock township, with improvements, formerly
the Adam Ranck property, for which he gave
$7,050; on April 2, 1883, he bought from Benjamin
L. Denlinger, trustee of Christian Myliw, four acres
with improvements in Upper Leacock, for which he
paid $1,200; on April i, 1885, he bought from
Daniel .Smocker, another tract in the same town-
ship, consisting of fourteen acres, without improve-
ments, paying $225 per acre; on April i, 1891, he
bought from Abraham K. Landis, ninety-five acres,
with good improvements, in East Lampeter town-
ship, which cost him $155 per acre; on April i,
1894, he bought from Benjamin B. Landis, three
acres of unimproved land in Upper Leacock town-
ship, paying $190 per acre ; on March 15, 1899, he
bought from Frances M. Lenox a house and lot at
Gap, in Salisbury township, for which he paid
$800.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
857
_ Mr. Landis for eighteen years was a school
director, and he has always taken a great interest
in public matters, adhering in his political belief
to the Republican party. He has been a director in
the Fulton National Bank for many years, and in
that, as in every other trust reposed in him, has
proved himself faithful and trustworthy.
BENJAMIN R. LANDIS, one of the promi-
nent retired farmers of Upper Leacock township,
is a native of that town, born Aug. lo, 1834. His
father, Benjamin Landis, was born in 1801, and
died in 1871, and his mother, who was bom in 1803,
died in 1870; both were buried in the Groffdale
cemetery. LTntil his retirement, some fourteen
years before his death, he engaged in farming, and
was prominent in public matters in the township,
efficiently filling the offices of both supervisor and
assessor. He was a son of John Landis, like him-
self a farmer of East Lampeter township.
Benjamin B. Landis was reared on the farm,
and learned under his father the principles which
made him a good agriculturist. Two years prior
to his marriage he went to work for his brother
David, on a farm, and later began farming in West
Earl township, where he continued for ten years,
removing then to Leacock township, and four years
later coming to his present farm. In 1896 he gave
up active work, and since that time has lived in the
enjoyment of comforts suitable to his ample means.
Mr. Landis has been identified with much of the
progress and improvement of the county, and has
been greatly interested in educational matters, serv-
ing as school director of his township for six years.
In public enterprises he has been a leader for twelve
years, being a director of the New Holland Bank,
and for fourteen years he was manager of the New
Holland turnpike. In politics he has always been
one of the stanch supporters of the Republican
party. For many years he has been an active
member of the Mennonite Church, into which faith
he was born.
Mr. Landis was married Dec. 14, 1858, in Phila-
delphia, to Barbara Ann Groff, and children as
follows were born to this union : Mary C, married
Alfred Evans, a farmer of Manheim township, and
they have seven children; Ida A., married Dr.
Leroy Leslie, of Bareville, Pa.; Benjamin G., a
prominent farmer, married Emma Eby, of Upper
Leacock township, and they have two children;
Cora died young ; Anna died young ; John G. is at
home ; Alice is at home.
Mrs. Barbara A. (Groff) Landis was born in
Earl township Nov. 2, 1838, daughter of Abraham
and Catherine (Shaffer) Groff, both natives of
Earl township, and members of old and prominent
families. Abraham Groff died in 1886, aged
seventy-two years, and his wife survived until 1894,
dying at the age of seventy-eight years. These
pious and esteemed people were laid to rest in the
Groffdale cem.etery. Their only child was Barbara
A., wife of Mr. Landis. The paternal grand-
parents of Mrs. Landis, Samuel and Barbara (Mus-
selman) Groff, were direct descendants of the old
Swiss families of those names, and the former was
a son of Hans, the pioneer settler of the Groff
family ; more extended notice of its earlier members
will be found elsewhere. The maternal grand-
parents, Peter and Susannah (Hull) Shaffer, were
also representatives of old and established families ;
Peter Shaffer was long connected with the farming
interests of this county.
JESSE BROSIUS, a noted farmer in Colerain
township, Lancaster county, was born in Chester
county, Sept. 9, 1833, and is a son of William and
Lydia (Pennock) Brosius.
William Brosius was born in Chester county in
1798, and his wife near Kennett Square in 1804. She
was a daughter of Joshua and Lydia Pennock,
natives of Chester county, and of Scotch-Irish
ancestry. William Brosius was the son of Henry
and Mary (Roberts) Brosius. His father came from
Germany, with one brother, and made his home in .
Chester county, and there married Mary Roberts.
He was the founder of the family, all trace of the
brother being lost. He died as a farmer in Chester
county. He and his wife became members of the
Friends church, to which his children, fifteen in
number have all adhered. They were as follows :
Isaac, of Chester county; Beniamin, who married
a Miss Booth and went to Ohio; Harper, 'who
married and moved to Ohio; Mahlon, who married
a Miss Kent, and was a potter in Chester county.;
Nathan, who lived and died in Delaware ; William ;
Charles and Amos, both of whom settled in Ohio;
Abner, a farmer in Lancaster county, who died in
Chester county; Henry, who lived and died in
Chester county; Joseph, who had a farm at
Andrews' Bridge, where he died, leaving one son,
Joseph P., now of Philadelphia; Mary Ann, who
married Evan Bolton, and died at London Grove,
Chester county; Sarah, who married Daniel Kent,
and lived on her father's old homestead in Chester
county; Agnes, who married Edwin Cook, and had
her home in Indiana; Ruth Anna, who married
Charles Reese, and lived at Atglen, Chester county.
William Brosius spent the most of his boyhood
and youth in Montgomery county, in the home of
an uncle, by name Roberts. When a young man he
came back to Chester county, married Lydia Pen-
nock in 1827, and lived in Chester county for a few
years. In 1835 he bought a farm in Colerain town-
ship, where he and his wife made their home for
a time in a little log house. Later, he put up good
buildings on this farm, where they both lived to
celebrate their golden wedding in 1877. They were
members of the Friends' church, of which he was
a minister, officiating in that capacity for many
vears. His wife died in 1884; and he, in i88§.
Strongly anti-slavery in his convictions, he was op-
posed to the prosecution of the war. Besides Jesse,
358
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the subject of this sketch, they had seven children:
(i) Phoebe A. and (2) WiUiam died in childhood;
(3) Pennock, who was born in Chester county, was
reared in the home of his grandfather, Joshua
Pennock, and died at the age of thirty years ; (4)
Levi, born in Chester county, married Miss Sarah
Wright of Lancaster countv, followed the shoe-
making trade in the former county and dying in
1900, left four children: Frank, who married
Margaret Glenn; Lydia, who married Hartley
Pennock; Addie, who married a Mr. Roberts of
West Chester; and Maggie, who married James
Hannum, of Philadelphia; (5) Allen R., born in
Lancaster county, married Miss Mary J. Penning-
ton, lives on a farm in that county and has three
children: Owen, Lewis and Mabel; (6) Addie,
married Pusey Coats and has her home on his
farm in Chester county. They have four children :
Eva, William B., Alice R., and Anna; (7) Joshua
P., born in Lancaster county, married Miss Leila
Harrar and now resides on the old homestead.
They have one daughter, Elsie May.
Jesse Brosius was educated in the home schools,
and began life for himself as a farmer and fruit
raiser. In 1854 he married Miss Elizabeth Taylor,
and three years later bought his present home,
which had at that time a log cabin and a log barn.
In 1864 he put up a modern house, and in 1878 a
fine bam. Mr. Brosius is very extensively engaged
in the cultivation of small and standard fruits.
Mrs. Brosius died in 1888, leaving five children :
(i) MifHin P., born in 1855, moved to Iowa when
a young man, where he married a Miss Guss. They
now reside in Nebraska; (2) Anna M., bom in
1857, married George Senderling, of Philadelphia;
(3) William A., born in June, 1859, married Miss
Esther Keiser, of Lancaster county, and lives on a
farm in Chester county; they have five children
living, Clyde, Ada, Warren, Pauline and Earnest;
(4) Jacob T., born in Oct., 1862, married Miss
Belle Haines, and is a conductor on an electric
road from 'Philadelphia to West Chesteir. They
live in the latter city and have,' four living children:
Ethel, Addie, Helen and Russell Taylor ; Ross died
in' childhood. (5) Jessie Louetta, born in June,
1869, married Frank Taylor, a telegraph operator
in Philadelphia, and is the mother of four children :
Anna, Hazel, Marion and Florence.
Mr. Brosius was married to his present wife,
Mary K. Harris, in Oct., 1889. She was an
adopted daughter of Daniel and Sarah Kent. Mrs.
Brosius was born in 1853 in Chester county, and is
the mother of one son, Edgar J., who was born Jan.
30, 1891.
Mr. and Mrs. Brosius belong to the Friends'
church. He voted the Republican ticket in former
years, but lately he has taken up with the Prohibi-
tionists, and now votes that ticket.
William Henry Brosius, member from this
district in the Legislature, was the son of Abner
Brosius. The Hon. Marriott Brosius (deceased),
whose sketch appears on another page, was a son
of Clarkson Brosius and a cousin of Jesse Brosius.
The family is widely known, and their ability,
pacific principles, and unswerving justice and
integrity have made them many friends.
HARVEY SEIPLE, a retired business man of
Quarry ville, was born in Drumore township, Lan-
caster county, Feb. 19, 1841. He is the son of
John and Susan. (Anglenine) Seiple.
John Seiple, the father, was born in Montgomery
county. Pa., in 1813. Mrs. Seiple was born in
Northampton county, Pa., in April, 1815. John
was the son of Samuel Seiple, who was born in
Germany, and his wife Magdelina Shipe was also
of German origin. Samuel Seiple settled on a farm
in Drumore township, and for many years taught
school in the county. He reared a family of five
sons: Joseph, David, Samuel, George and John, the
father of our subject. They are all dead except
David, who resides in Chester county. Of the
brothers, Sahiuel and George never married.
Joseph made his home in Drumore township and
there died.
John Seiple married and settled on a farm in
Drumore township, where he continued until 1896,
when he bovight a home in Quarryville, and lived
a retired life until his death in 1898. His widow is
still living in the home place, at the age of eighty-
seven years. This couple reared a family of nine
children, (i) William Seiple, who was born in
Lancaster county, married Miss Tillie Hannah, of
Maryland. When a young man he served in the
Civil war in Co. G, Pa. Cav., and took part in a
number of battles. After the war he was engaged,
with his brother, our subject, in the oil fields,
fields, Venango county, for twenty years, and then
went to New York State where he sunk artesian
wells for some time. In 1888 he engaged himself
with an English syndicate to drive oil wells in
India, and with two of his sons. Gay and John, is
in that country at the present time. His wife and
the rest of the family, Maud, May and Bert, reside
in Lancaster city. (2) Samuel Seiple was born in
Lancaster county and married Miss Mary J. Potts,
of Lancaster county, and they now reside at Prince-
ton, 111., where the husband is engaged in mercan-
tile pursuits ; they had five children : Edward, who
died when young ; William, Owen, Lee and Hattie,
all being teachers in Illinois. (3) Harvey Seiple, our
subject, was the next child. (4) Mary A. Seiple,
deceased, was born in 1843, ^^^ married Jacob
Rintz, of Lancaster county, arid left a family of
nine children: John, Harry, Charles, Laura, Emma,
Mary, Ida, Lilli, and Minnie. (5) Catharine Seiple,
deceased, was born in 1846, and married Simon
Reese, of Providence, Lancaster county, and left a
large family as follows: Dora, Harvey, Luticia,
Lisle, May, Lottie, Maud, Lemuel, Melo and Sue.
(6) Charles Seiple was born in 1852, and married
Susan Gochman, of Lancaster county, and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
8£9
they reside in Drumore township, where he
is a merchant, also serving as postmaster of
the place; they have the following children: Lulu,
Carrie, Harry, Charles, Maisy, Edna and Arthur.
(7) Thomas Seiple was born in 1848, and during
the Civil war was a soldier in the 53rd Pa. Regi-
ment and served until the close of the war, after
which he returned home and engaged in the oil
business in Venango county. Pa. He married Miss
Alice C. Brooks, of Lancaster county. His family
is in Lancaster county, while he is engaged in the
oil enterprises of India with his brotner. His
children are as follows: Ada, Minnie (deceased),
Jennie, AHce, Frank, Mamie, Mellie, Leon
(deceased) and Chester. (8) James D. Seiple was
born in 1854, and married Miss Carrie Jeffries, of
Illinois, and they now reside in Carroll county, 111.,
where he follows farming. Their children are: Roy,
Mabel and Frank. (9) Susan Seiple was born in
1856 and is the wife of David Rineer, of Quarry-
ville ; they reside at Newark and have the following
children : Percy, Celia, Abram and Clinton.
Harvey Seiple was reared in Lancaster county,
and received a common school education. When the
Civil war broke out he enlisted in the 122nd P. V.
I., Co. H, and was in the Army of the Potomac
under Gen. McClellan. He took part in the battles
of Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville,
and in Alay, 1863, re-enlisted in Co. G, 21st Pa.
Cav. for six months. He was engaged in the
Shenandoah valley under Gen. Sheriden, and took
part in a number of engagements. At the expira-
tion of his second enlistment, he re-enlisted in the
same regiment until the close of the war. He
remained on duty until Lee surrendered. Under
Phil Sheridan he was engaged at Cold Harbor,
Hatches Run, Weldon Railroad, Poplar Springs
Church, and Petersburg. After the war he returned
home, and was married, in 1869, to Miss Louisa
E. Brooks, of Lancaster, daughter of Benjamin and
Jane (Barnett) Brooks. Mrs. vSeiple was born in
Drumore township, in 1846, where she was reared
and educated, and for several years before she was
married, taught school. Three children were born
to this linion, all of whom died in infancy. Alice
L. Seiple, a niece, was reared by Mr. and Mrs.
Seiple. After his marriage Mr. Seiple entered the
oil fields of "Venango county, and was engaged in
the oil business for eighteen years. He met with an
accident while there, caused by a mill explosion,
which for a time seriously injured him. In 1888
he returned to Lancaster county, and for a time
engaged in the restaurant business. About six years
later he undertook a livery business, which he
managed successfully. In 1898 his wife died in
Quarryville borough. She was a member of the M.
E. church. On Oct. 9, 1901, Mr. Seiple married
for his second wife Miss Louella Holmes, daughter
of Dr. J. E. Holmes, of Virginia. They now
reside in Quarryville. He is a member of the
Republican party but seeks no office. He affiliates
with the Reformed church. Mr. Seiple is a member
of the W. S. Bryerly Post, 511, G. A. R., of Quarry-
ville, and filled all the chairs in that order. Mr.
Seiple's family is one of the most respected in the
county, and deservedly so, as four sons of the family
volunteered their services at the call of their
country. They did their duty manfully, and no
record for bravery stands higher than that of the
"Seiple boys" as they were known in those times.
They are men of honor to-day in the community,
and respected and loved by all who know them.
HENRY BURGER, a thoroughly experienced
and eminently successful builder and contractor in
the city of Lancaster, where in almost any direction
the eye notes some of his excellent work, was born
Sept. 20, 1839, in Mansalt, Prussian-Germany, a son
of John and Mary (Styer) Burger, of the same
country, where they were most worthy members of'
the Reformed church, and where the father was an
extensive farmer. John Burger died in 185 1, aged
forty-one years, his widow surviving until i860,
reaching the age of forty-six years. Their children
were Margaret, born in Prussian-Germany, married
to Philip Hump; William, an officer in the United
States army, who died in California ; Charlotte, who
died in Germany, aged seventeen years ; and Henry.
The Burger family was well and favorably known
in the neighborhood of AUendorf, Germany.
When but thirteen years of age, Mr. Burger was
apprenticed and learned the carpenter trade very
thoroughly, so that when, at the age of seventeen
years, he came to America to work as a journey-
man, he commanded the best salary paid to any one
in that line of work, and soon was made foreman
of the crew that built the railroad shops in
Lancaster, retaining the position for four years.
Since that time Mr. Burger has been continuously
and actively employed in building and contracting,
some of his work being Vegar's Brewery, in Phila-
delphia, and the buildings in Mammonth Park, at
Long Branch. In 1869, Mr. Burger began con-
tracting and building operations on his own
responsibility and continued until 1873, when he
embarked in a planing mill business with Amos
Urban. For twelve years this enterprise was carried
on with great success, but in 1885 the partnership
was dissolved, Mr. L^rban retiring on account of ill
health, Mr. Burger, however, continuing the plant.
In 1887 the plant was destroyed by fire, entailing a
loss of $46,000. After the destruction of the plan-
ing mill, Mr. Burger returned to Philadelphia,
easily secured work with wages of five dollars a
day, and there remained for three years, then
returning to Lancaster to make this city his
permanent home. Here he engaged in contracting
and building and has erected many of the hand-
somest residences and most substantial business
blocks in the city. The elegant John Kellar resi-
dence is a sample of his skill, as is also the elaborate
Eshleman mansion and other homes of beauty and
360
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
utility, while a few of the business houses are: the
old Eshleman Block, now used as the Western
Union Telegraph ofSce; the City Saving Fund and
Trust Co.; the Long & Davison Building; and the
great six-story brick factory occupied by the Moss
Cigar Co., one of the largest buildings of its kind
in the State, to which a handsome, up-to-date addi-
tion is being made. In 1862 Mr. Burger joined the
engineer corps of the United States army and
remained a member of it during the progress of the
Civil war, this being one of the most useful and
necessary departments in the service. Mr. Burger,
as an expert workman, received $125 per month,
and earned it, travelling from one point to another,
building bridges and looking after construction
work of various kinds. He has made a reputation
in his line that reaches all over the State. Although
Mr. Burger has erected many more ornate build-
ings, he feels well satisfied with the great factory
before noted, its perfect proportions, its massive
appearance and substantial construction meeting
with his approval.
In iiS6o, Mr. Burger was united in marriage,
in Lancaster, with Katharina Arnold, who was a
daughter of Michal Arnold and was born in
Bavaria, Germany, in 1838. The father was a
farmer of wealth and influence in Germany, but
never left his native land. The mother, however,
crossed the Atlantic ocean four times and lived four
years in Lancaster county, but died in Germany.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Burger are the
following : John A., a mechanic and the foreman of
a planing mill at Atlantic City, N. J., married to
Amelia Shenberger ; Anna, who is the wife of Henry
N. Howell, an insurance agent, and is the mother
of two children ; Caroline, the widow of Samuel
Haverstick, residing with her father; and Barbara,
at home.
Mr. Burger has always taken much interest in
politics, but has never consented to hold any office.
He has long been a member of the Order of Odd
Fellows. From youth he has belonged to the
Reformed church. Few men in Lancaster are
better known or more highly respected than Henry
Burger, and he justly holds a position at the head
of his profession.
MARTIN D. KENDIG, who has been secretary
and treasurer of the Manor Mutual Fire Insurance
Company since its organization in 1886, has in that
and numerous other capacities earned the right to
be classed among the most progressive and public-
spirited citizens of his locality. As to his financial
success, it has been gained independently, for he
was early thrown on his own resources.
Mr. kendig was born Feb. 5, 1833, on the farm
which he still occupies, son of Martin and Elizabeth
CMellinger) Kendig, the former of whom was born'
May I, 1799, near Creswell, and died March 30,
1846, in Manor township ; the mother was born
March i, 1806, and died in her eighty-sixth year. '
Martin Kendig was a farmer, owning about seventy
acres, which he cultivated until his death. He was
a member of the Menno'nite Church, and a Repub-
lican in politics. To him and his wife were bom ten
children: Mary, Elizabeth, Susan, Fannie, Martin
D., John, Anna, Sarah, Isaiah and Elizabeth (2),
five of whom are deceased.
Martin D. Kendig received his early education
in the common schools, and also attended for a short
time the State Normal School at Millersville, and
the Strasburg Academy. After his father's death,
however, he was obliged to leave school, and from
that time continued his studies only in the intervals
of work. That he has made the most of every oppor-
tunity in this direction is evident, for he is unusually
well informed. At one time he took up the study of
medicine, but abandoned his intention of becoming
a practitioner on account of his poor health, as he
found it was necessary for him to lead a more active
life. His life occupation has been farming. From
early youth he assisted in conducting the homestead
place, part of which he now owns, having fifty acres.
In addition to general farming Mr. Kendig makes
a specialty of tobacco raising, and keeps fine stock,
and he has prospered in every line, his progressive
spirit making itself apparent in every feature of the
management of his property. It has been brought
to its present attractive condition by his labor, and
the home with all its surroundings bespeaks intelli-
gent and unceasing care. Mr. Kendig's fellow citi-
zens have not been slow to note this characteristic,
and he is a prominent member of the Lancaster
County Agricultural Society, of which he-has served
eight years as secretary and ten years as treasurer.
Such a record speaks for itself. For many years
he was an active member of the Tobacco Growers
Association, of which he was president, and he be-
longs to the Horticultural Society. Of late years,
however, his attention has been largely directed
toward the affairs of the Manor Fire Insurance
Company, of which he was one of the promoters, and
a charter member. On its organization, in 1886, he
was elected secretary, in which office he has ever
since continued to serve, and in 1888 he was elected
treasurer, in which incumbency he has also been re-
tained to the present day. He was acting treasurer
from the start. Mr. Kendig has been an earnest and
efficient worker in every movement for the advance-
ment or benefit of his town and county, especially
educational affairs, and has served as school director
of Manor township. Politically he is a Republican.
On Nov. 19, 1885, Mr. Kendig married Miss
Fannie Dambach, daughter of Martin and Elizabeth
(Herr) Dambach, farming people near Columbia,
who had a family of twelve children, all yet living,
namely: Mary, Susan, John, Fannie, Martin,
Henry, Joseph, Catherine, Amos, Adam, David and
Lizzie. Mr. Dambach passed away Nov. 12, 1875,
aged sixty-two years, one month, twenty-one days.
The mother passed away July 19, 1901, in her eighty-
fifth year and was buried in a private cemetery near
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
361
Letort. She was a member of the Mennonite
Church. Mr. and Mrs. Kendig joined the Men-
nonite Church in 1901.
CHRISTIAN S. B. HERR (deceased) was in
his hfe time one of the leading men of Lancaster
county. Born in West Lampeter township, Sept.
II, 1838, he was a son of Benjamin and Catherine
(Barr) Herr. His boyhood days were passed on
the old homestead, and his education was secured in
the public schools. Early in life he associated him-
self with a manufacturing establishment in Lancas-
ter, under the firm name of Backman, Stoner & Herr,
engaging in the manufacture of farm implements.
After a short time the business was suspended, and
Mr. Herr returned to farming, locating at Big
Springs, West Lampeter township, on a place con-
taining forty-five acres. His attention was given
to agricultural pursuits. Mr. Herr was at one time
tax collector in the town, and was among the most
highly esteemed citizens of the township. His death
occurred Feb. 21, 1884. His religious affiliations
were with the old Mennonite Church.
Mr. Herr was married Sept. 29, 1868, to Miss
Elizabeth, a daughter of Daniel and Annie C. (Bren-
neman) Herr. Mrs. Herr was born in Strasburg,
on the old homestead, where her son Jefferson is
now established. To this union were born : Enos
B., born Sept. 14, 1869, died July 21, 1870; Hafry
B., born June 21, 1871 ; Daniel Jefferson, born July
5, 1873; Anna Caitherine, born March 31, 1876, is
the wife of Frank Hauser, and they reside with the
mother at her home in Big Springs, in West Lam-
peter township. Mrs. Herr and her children are
all members of the Old Mennonite church, and move
among the most respected people of the county.
JOHN K. LINEAWEAVER, M. D., is one of
Columbia's best known and most successful practi-
tioners. His birthplace was Lebanon, and his fa-
ther, George P., was also a physician. His paternal
grandparents were Peter and Susanna (Gilbert)
Lineaweaver, also of Lebanon, his grandfather be-
ing a hotel keeper and for many years the proprietor
of a stage line, running between Reading and Har-
risburg. Dr. Lineaweaver was the third of a fam-
ily of six sons. His two elder brothers, George
P. and Simeon T., were also members of the same
profession, and are both deceased. His younger
brothers were named Samuel T., Washington K.
and Albert, Samuel is the editor of The Daily
Season, of Philadelphia.
Mrs. George P. Lineaweaver, the mother of the
gentleman whose life is so imperfectly sketched in
these paragraphs, was Sarah Toby. Her father,
Simeon, was of English birth, and commanded his
own vessel, which was engaged in the trans-Atlantic
carrying trade. He enjoyed an enviable reputation,
both as a mariner and a man. His wife, Dr. Line-
aweaver's maternal grandmother, was born in Phil-
adelphia.
On June 2, 1868, at Columbia, the Doctor was
married to Miss Jane McClung Strickler Crane, a
daughter of the distinguished Col. Robert Crane, a
sketch of whose life and family may be found in the
succeeding paragraphs. Of this union were born
four children. Robert C, the eldest, died in infancy.
Jeannette C, the only daughter, was the wife of H.
B. Stauffer, of Columbia. John K. died before
completing his third year, and Fred W. is a student
at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. Mrs.
Lineaweaver and Mrs. Stauffer are members of
Chapter The Witness Tree, of the Daughters of the
American Revolution.
Col. Robert Crane, her father, was a man of
pronounced public spirit, wide popularity and emi-
nent distinction. He was born in the town of Lib-
erty, then. within the old limits of Lycoming county,
but now within the coniines of Clinton county. His
parents were George Crane and Christiana Coven-
hoven. His mother's family was among the first
to settle in the New Netherlands, in 1630, and her
more immediate ancestors were among the distin-
guished pioneers of the Lycoming valley, and played
a prominent part in protecting the white settlers from
the midnight raids of the savages. Her father,
Wolfert Covenhoven, was born in Monmouth Co.,
N. J., in 1755. He was a civil engineer by pro-
fession, and served as a scout in the army of Wash-
ington. He lived to the remarkable age of ninety-
one years, dying Oct. 29, 1846. George Crane
owned an extensive farm in Tippecanoe township,
stretching alone the river three miles from Jersey
Shore, on which he settled in 1819. Robert was his
second child and eldest son, and passed his boy-
hood and youth on the paternal acres. On reaching
man's estate he married Elizabeth M. Strickler, of
Columbia, and he and his young wife took up their
home in Jersey Shore, Mrs. Strickler's parents
were Jacob and Jane (McClung) Strickler, of Lan-
caster county. Jacob was a farmer, a large land
owner and a miller.
Robert Crane was a man whose business ability
was as .pronounced as his moral character was un-
spotted. While yet a young man he evinced a re-
markable aptitude for managing enterprises of mag-
nitude. He erected the large brick block in Jersey
Shore, near the approach of the bridge across the
river, a structure which was long known as the
Crane Arcade, and was prominently identified with
milling and lumber interests. In i860 he became
interested in the building of the Columbia & Reading
Railroad, and removed to Columbia. For several
years after the completion of the line he was its
superintendent. He was also an influential factor in
the organization of the company which built the
Bound Brook Railroad, and was largely interested in
the road's construction. At the time of his death he
was president of the Delaware & Lancaster Railroad
Company, whose line extended from Lancaster to
Phoenixville.
Politically Col. Crane followed his ancestral tra-
362
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ditions. He was always a Democrat, yet while op-
posing the election of President Lincoln he gave
the national administration loyal and hearty sup-
port in its efforts to suppress the rebellion. When
the Confederate forces, led by Lee and "Stonewall"
Jackson, approached Columbia, he was the first to
apply the torch to the bridge, the rebel forces being
within one hundred feet of the farther approach
across the river. His prompt action saved Columbia
and a large portion of Lancaster county from inva-
sion, and for it he was thanked and commended in a
general order promulgated by Gen. Crouch, com-
manding the Division of the Susquehanna.
In addition to the other responsible posts so ably
filled by Col. Crane, he was for several years a di-
rector of the Susquehanna Iron Company, and vice-
president of the First National Bank of Columbia.
About 1885 lie removed from Columbia to Phila-
delphia, where he engaged actively in real estate and
insurance business. He received his title of colonel
through being appointed on the staff of Gov. Big-
ler, with that rank. In 1858 he was elected to rep-
lesent Lycoming county in the lower house of the
legislature. He served his constituents so well that
he was chosen to represent them for a second term,
and his public record is without stain.
He was a devout member of the Presbyterian
Church, and a liberal supporter of the cause of re-
ligion. He was, nevertheless, tolerant of all faiths,
and genuinely charitable toward the failings of his
fellow mortals. His temperament was affectionate
and genial; his instincts generous; and his urbane
manner made him a welcome guest in social inter-
course. In 1856 the late John F. Meginness dedi-
cated to him the first edition of his "History of West
Branch Valley,'' in recognition of the sympathy and
encouragement extended to him by one who never
turned a deaf ear to a worthy appeal for help, and
who regarded God's poor as the continuing heritage
of God's children.
To Col. Crane and wife five children were born,
of whom. Mrs. Dr. Lineaweaver is the eldest. The
others were: George; Creacy, Mrs. H. O, Chap-
man, of Germantown ; Robert, the husband of AUce
Hershey, of Philadelphia ; , and Elizabeth, who is
unmarried and resides in Columbia.
H. FRANK ESHLEMAN, attorney-at-law,
Avith convenient and well appointed offices at No. 48
North Duke street, Lancaster, belongs to one of the
oldest, most numerous and most influential families
in the county, his first ancestor in this country, Jacob
Eshleman, having arrived in America, from Rotter-
dam, in August, 1729.
David B. Eshleman, the father of H. Frank, was
a son of David Eshleman, who was born in Hemp-
field township, this county, in 1805, and who spent
a goodly portion of his life in his native place, but
about 1830 removed to Martic township, where he
became recognized as a prominent farmer and where
he followed his agricultural pursuits to the time of
his death, which occurred in 1876. The others of
the family were: Jacob; Harry; Barbara, who
married Jacob Stauffer; and Hettie, who married a
Mr. Bear ; all of these have long since passed away.
David Eshleman was twice married. His first wife
was a JVfiss Harnish, who died about 1850, and his
second wife was Mrs. Sensenig, a widow, who passed
away several years ago.
David B. Eghleman, son of the above, was bom
at Marticville, in Lancaster county, on Aug. 28, 1841,
and was, like his father, a progressive and prominent
farmer. In early manhood he married Miss Alary
Elizabeth Charles, who belonged to another promi-
nent family of this county. His death took place on
Nov. 16, 1898, but his widow still survives. From
this union six children were born : Martin C, who
married Bernarda Miller and has two children, —
Edith and Anna; Charles R., who married Kate
Buckwalter and has three children, — Elizabeth, Mary
and Leigh; Martha; Anna; William G. ; and H.
Frank.
H. Frank Eshleman was educated in the schools
of his district and remained on his father's farm until
he reached the age of eighteen, at which time he en-
tered as a student at the State Normal School at
Millersville, and was graduated from that great in-
stitution of learning in 1890. For the following
year he engaged in teaching in the public schools
of Lancaster county and the two subsequent years
he was a member of the faculty of his Alma Mater,
devoting all the leisure time he found during the
last two years to the study of law.
The next step was his entrance into the senior
class of the law department of the University at Ann
Arbor, Mich., from which he was graduated in 1894,
with the degree of LL. B. During the spring of that
year he was admitted to practice law in the lower
courts of Michigan, as well as in the Supreme Court
of that State, and in the U. S. District Court, but the
following fall he returned to Lancaster and entered
the office of Hon. Marriott Brosius, member of Con-
gress from this district, where, after reading law ■
for six weeks, in order to familiarize himself with
the practice in this State, he passed a very creditable
examination and was admitted to practice in the
courts of Lancaster county. This was in Oct., 1894,
and from that day to this he has been pressing stead-
ily to the front as a lawyer, being now associated
in different cases with many of the oldest members
of the bar, and enjoying a most lucrative practice.
Socially Mr. Eshleman is a member of Charles
M. Howell Lodge, No. 496, F. & A. M., of Millers-
ville; of Kosciusko Lodge, No. 374, I. O. O. F.,
of Rawlinsville, this county ; Jay Council, No. 1003,
Jr. O. U. A. M., of this county; White Cross Coin-
mandery. Knights of Malta, Lancaster; Emanuel
Senate, No. 959, Ancient Essenic Order; to the
Lancaster Bar Association, and to the Young Re-
publicans, being a stanch and ardent Republican.
Up to the spring of 1901 Mr. Eshleman main-
tained his residence in the country, but in April of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
363
that 3rear he brought his mother and sisters, to whom
he is greatly devoted, to Lancaster, and established
the family home at No. 332 North Lime street.
With a magnetic personality, the ability quickly to
grasp a legal point, and studiously devoted to the
honored profession which he has adopted, Mr. Esh-
leman's future is confidently anticipated by all who
know him, as one of unusual promise.
GEORGE W. GILLESPIE, M. D. A promi-
nent physician of Lancaster county is Dr. George
W. Gillespie, of Fulton township. He was born in
Lancaster county Jan. 22, 1852, and is a son of N.
H. Gillespie, of Maryland, and Mary Y. (Davis)
Gillespie, of Chester county. Pa. The family is of
Scotch, Irish and English origin.
George Gillespie, the grandfather, was a native
of Cecil county, Md. He married Miss Sallie Hall,
of Maryland, and was the father of seven children,
namely : Elisha ; Samuel E. ; Mary S. ; Gertrude ;
G. Washington; Nicholas H., the father of Dr.
George W. Gillespie ; and John E.
Col. Elisha Hall, the Doctor's great-grandfather,
was one of the "Mount Welcome" Halls, whose an-
cestry settled on a large tract of land in Cecil coun-
ty, Md., in 1690. His great-great-grandfather, John
Ewing, D. D., was an eminent Presbyterian minister
of his day.
Nicholas H. Gillespie was married to Mary Y.
Davis, of Chester Co., Pa., June 6, 1848. The- lady
was a daughter of Samuel and Mary (Young) Da-
vis, of Chester Co., Pa. This union resulted in the
birth of six children: S. Davis Gillespie, who is
a superintendent of coal mines in West Virginia; Dr.
George W. ; John E., who is deceased; Sallie H. ;
Gertrude E., the wife of William P. Haines, of West
Virginia : and Miss Mary, of Philadelphia. Nich-
olas H. Gillespie was born Jan. 6, 1820, and came to
Lancaster county in 1850 ; he then removed to Vir-
ginia, returned again to Lancaster county in 1889,
and died there May 12, 1895. He was a strong Dem-
ocrat all through life. He followed the mercantile
business for over forty years. He was a member
of the Presbyterian Church for many years. He
was also a member of the I. O. O. F. Mrs. Gil-
lespie was born Jan. 20, 1825, in Chester Co., Pa.,
and died in Cecil Co., Md., in 1879.
Dr. George W. Gillespie was with his father in
the store during his early life. On April 9, 1885,
he married Miss Lizzie W. Nivin, of Newark, Del.
She was a daughter of David E. Nivin, of
Delaware, and comes of an English family. She
was born March 9, 1850. Two children have been
born to Dr. and Mrs. Gillespie, Nivin D. and J. E.
H., both of whom are at home. Dr. Gillespie re-
ceived his edtication in the district and high schools
of Lancaster county, and graduated from the school
of Medicine at the Maryland University in 1880.
He first located at Conowingo, Md., followed his pro-
fession there for nine years, and then came to Pleas-
ant Grove, where he has met with merited success
in the practice of his chosen profession. He is a
self-made man, having received few advantages
which were not gained by his own efforts. He is
a member of the 1. O. O. F., K. of P. and I. O.
Heptasophs. He is a Democrat in politics, and a
member of the Presbyterian Church.
The Doctor is devoted to his practice and, being
of a benevolent character, has given considerable
time to the poor of his neighborhood. He comes of
distinguished Pennsylvania and Maryland families
and holds well to their traditions. Both sides of
his house were prominent in Revolutionary times
and took leading parts in that struggle for liberty.
The Doctor is well posted on all topics of the day and
keeps closely in touch with all scientific matters of
interest to him.
GEORGE WEILER, a retired farmer of New
Holland, was born in East Hempfield township,
Lancaster county, Sept. 11, 1824, a son of Elder
George and Anna (Gouchenauer) Weiler. George
Weiler was born in Caernarvon township, and his
wife in East Hempfield township.
Elder Weiler was a farmer, and held the posi-
tion of school director for six years. He died in
1865, having lived retired for fifteen years, and at-
taining the advanced age of eighty-seven years, less
five days. He was an elder in the Reformed Church,
and with his wife, who died in 1871, at the age of
seventy-one years, was buried in the Petersburg
Mennonite cemetery. The family of Elder Weiler
and his wife consisted* of the following children :
David, who died young; George; Fanny, who died
in infancy tPIenry, who was a farmer, and died at
the age of sixty ;and Joseph, who died at the age of
fifty-nine.
The paternal grandparents of George Weiler
were Andrew and Anna M. (Mark) Weiler, natives
of Switzerland. Andrew Weiler was a child when
he came to this country with his parents, and here
he became a successful farmer. The maternal
grandparents of Mr. Weiler were Joseph and Anna
(Kauffman) Gouchenauer, of whom the former was
a farmer and a weaver in Lancaster county.
George Weiler was married in 1877, in East Earl
township, to Levenia Kendig, and to their union
were born: Anna M., Ruth E. and Elizabeth L.,
all of whom are at home.
Mrs. Levenia (Kendig) Weiler was born in Iowa
in 1843, a daughter of George and Mary (Sausman)
Kendig, of Earl township, where they were married.
Her father was a merchant and a farmer, and about
1840 removed to Ohio, going from there to Iowa,
where he was engaged in farming many years.
About 1874 he returned to Lancaster county and en-
gaged in a mercantile business at first in Beartown,
and then in Lancaster. In his younger days he
operated a distillery, from which he went into a gen-
eral store, and for a time was engaged in farming.
His death occurred in 1882, at the age of seventy-
one. His widow died in 1885, at the age of seven-
364
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ty-two. Both were buried in Lancaster, where they
died, and whither they had removed in 1874 from
Kansas, Hving retired the last years of their Hves.
They were both members of the Methodist Church.
They had the following children : Sarah, who mar-
ried William Weidel, and is now deceased; John,
deceased ; Edwin, deceased ; George, a farmer in
Kansas ; Levenia, noted above as the wife of Mr.
Weiler; William, deceased; Mary, who lives unmar-
ried in Lancaster; Ottomar; Evelyn; Ida; Edward,
deceased, as are also the last three members of the
family; and Isaac, a clerk in Oakland, California.
Mr. Weiler remained at home with his parents
until their death, and in 1871 he'came to New Hol-
land, where he lived until his marriage, when he
began farming in that township. In 1899 he retired.
In religion he holds to the Reformed Church, of
which he is a zealous and active member. In his
politics he is a Republican. Mr. Weiler has sold
his farm, and in the spring of 1902 located in Lan-
caster.
SAMUEL M. SELDOMRIDGE. As merchant,
farmer, banker, tobacco dealer and representative
public man, Samuel M. Seldomridge is well and fav-
orably known to the people of West Earl township.
He was born Dec. 17, 1831, on what is known as the
Jacob Musser farm, near Stumptown, son of Samuel
and Elizabeth (Miller) Seldomridge.
Frederick Seldomridge, his grandfather, accom-
panied by his brother, Tobias, emigrated to America
and located in Lancaster county. Pa., while Tobias
established a family of the name in Virginia. Fred-
erick Seldomridge was the father of John, Isaac,
Samuel, George, William, Sarah and Mary.
Samuel Seldomridge, the father of Samuel M.,
was born March 30, 1793, and died April 13, 1856.
On Sept. 28, 1820, he married (first) Christiana
Glowser, who was born July 20, 180 1, and died Sept.
28, 1828. The children of this union were : Sarah,
born Aug. 8, 1821, who died in childhood; Jacob,
born Feb. 28, 1825, who died in 1862 ; and George,
born April 28, 1827, who died unmarried. The sec-
ond marriage of Samuel Seldomridge, in 1829, was
to Elizabeth Miller, and to this union came : Joanna,
born Aug. 23, 1829, married George Bear, of Lan-
caster county; Samuel M. is the subject of this
sketch ; Isaac, born Jan. 8, 1835, died in young man-
hood : John, born Feb. 12, 1837, is a retired farmer
and merchant of the borough of Ephrata ; Amos,
born May 9, 184.0, died in childhood ; Elizabeth, born
March 5, 1843, married William Gross, a shoemaker,
of Farmersville ; Levi, born Aug. 20, 1846, is a far-
mer and painter, of Farmersville ; and Christian, born
Nov. 14, T848, still immarried, is the proprietor of
a hotel in Dayton, Ohio.
Samuel M. Seldomridge was reared on the farm
and was educated in the common schools of Leacock
township, attending until twelve or thirteen years
old. His youth was passed in industry, as his par-
ents had but limited means and a large family, and
he was engaged in farm work until April i, 1845,
when he entered the store of J. L. & S..L. Robison,
merchants at Intercourse, this county, as a "prentice
boy." He drove team and did boy's work about the
store and remained with them three years at a yearly
salary of $40. On April i, 1848, Mr. Robison sold the
store to Jacob Holl, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., and it
was conducted by his son, B. F. Holl (now of Phila-
delphia) . When he took charge Mr. Seldomridge was
promoted to the position of head clerk, at a salary of
$80 per year, and he remained with Mr. Holl as clerk
until January, 1856; at the end of his nine years'
service he was receiving $200. In January, 1857,
shortly after his marriage, he bought out the store
of Isaac Roland, at Earlville, with the help of friends,
and conducted same until January, 1859, when he
purchased the store of Christian F. Groff, at what
is now Farmersville, and moved from Earlville.
There he has continued to reside and carry on the
mercantile business. Meantime, besides building up
a profitable mercantile business, he has branched out,
engaging in various lines, in all of which he met with
the same measure of success which attended his
first venture. Farming has received a goodly share
of Mr. Seldomridge's attention, ' as he owns three
fine farms, and he has also dealt heavily in tobacco,
having his own warehouses. He has a commodious
dwelling opposite his store, and in addition he owns
five houses, which he rents. He became interested
in the Farmers' National Bank, of Lancaster, and in
January, 1877, was elected a director of that insti-
tution, and after serving about five years on the board
became, in 188 1, vice president, in which incumbency
he has since been retained. Mr. Seldomridge is
strictly a self-made man, having started in life with
no capital but his native ability and habits of industry,
and he stands as one of the solid, substantial and re-
liable citizens of his township, a fit representative
of the best class of residents in Lancaster county.
As an employe Mr. Seldomridge proved himself,
from the very outset of his career, to be faithful and
trustworthy, and after he had gained five years' expe-
rience his services were eagerly sought and well paid
for. His courtesy made him popular, and the lessons
he learned in those early years, not only of a strictly
business character, but also in dealing with people,
were of inestimable value to him when he entered'
upon his independent career. Mr. Seldomridge en-
joys a fine patronage among the prosperous farmers
of his section, as he has always had the reputation
of paying the highest prices for farm products, which
he ships to New York. Judicious buying has been
one of the principal secrets of his continued prosper-
ity, and his stock is unusually well selected and de-
sirable. He has been obliged to enlarge his estab-
lishment three times to accommodate his increasing
trade, and it is up-to-date in every appointment.
Several successful merchants have been trained for
their business career in this house. To him is due
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
865
the greater part of the credit for the building up
of Farmersville.
In political faith Mr. Seldomridge is a Republi-
can, and he has been prominent in the councils of his
party for many years, his advice on county. State and
National affairs being sought and highly valued. He
has served three or four times as delegate to the
county conventions ; on June 19, 1888, he was a dele-
gate to the National Convention held at Chicago,
where he supported Gen. Harrison throughout. On
Aug. 25, same year, he was chief marshal at the
large Harrison convention held at Lancaster — the
largest since 1844. The interest he takes in local af-
fairs is not less, and his name has always been asso-
ciated with the progress and development of his
township. Since 1858 he has been town clerk at
Farmersville, West Earl township. In July, 1859,
he was appointed postmaster, under James Buchanan,
and has continued to hold that office through all the
changes up to the present day. He has served as
juror on road views, as juryman several times, as
United States juryman three times, and has settled
up a number of estates. Such marks of confidence
and approval from a man's fellow citizens do not
come undeserved, and in the case of Mr. Seldomridge
they are the simple acknowledgment of duty well
done.
Samuel M. Seldomridge was married March 20,
1856, to Miss Sarah Swope, of Upper Leacock town-
ship, who was born July 19, 1838, a daughter of
Daniel and Leah (Hiller) Swope. This union has
been blessed with children as follows: Harvey C,
born in 1857, married Clara Graybill ; he is a mer-
chant at Rothsville, Pa. Charles E., borh in 1859,
married Annie Myers ; he is a miller at Hinkletown,
Pa. Daniel W., born in i860, died in infancy. Mor-
gan Rufus, born in 1862, married Susan Buch ; he is
a merchant in Farmersville. Nettie A., born in 1865,
died in childhood. Lillie May, born in 1872, is the
wife of Henry Oberholtzer, of Akron, Pa., who is
a merchant of that place.
Mr. Seldomridge has been liberal of his means
toward all deserving enterprises and charities, and
has contributed generously toward the support of
the Zeldenrich Church, in Leacock township, al-
though he is not a member.
'''^'" BRACKBILI,. Among the early families of
Paradise township, Lancaster county, the Brackbills
deserve prominent mention. Honored representa-
tives are identified with the interests of the county
today, and stretching into three centuries, the eigh-
teenth, nineteenth and twentieth, the family has been
actively and influentially asociated with the develop-
ment of the region.
• (I) Rev. Benedictus Brackbill was born in the
seventeenth century, near Weiler, on the river
Harre, in Germany, and ^sailed from there, with his
Virife Maria and three children, Ulrich, Barbara and
Maudlin, landing in Philadelphia Aug. 24, 171 7.
He located between Strasburg and Bunker Hill, in
Lancaster county, and there died.
(II) Ulrich Brackbill, son of Rev. Benedictus,
was born in Germany in 1708, married Fanny Herr
and left four children, Fanny, John, Benedict and
Anna.
(IID Benedict Brackbill, second son of Ulrich,
was born in 1730, and married Mary Kendig. They
had eight children, John, Elizabeth, Mary, Henry,
Anna, Susanna, Benjamin and Christian.
(IV) Henry Brackbill, son of Benedict, was one
of the successful agriculturists of Paradise township.
He was born Aug. 25, 1771, and occupied and tilled
a farm adjoining on the south what is now Leaman
Place. He married Miss Susan Eshleman, by whom
he had a family of five children, as follows : John, a
lifelong farmer near Strasburg, Lancaster county;
Maria, who died unmarried at the age of thirty-
seven years ; Benjamin, a sketch of whom appears
below ; Jacob, who died unmarried Dec. 20, 1882, in
the seventy-seventh year of his age; and Henry,
who died in Paradise township Jan. 25, 1879, i" his
seventieth year. The father of these children died
July 6, 1837, aged sixty-five years.
(V) Benjamin Brackbill, son of Henry, was born
in Paradise township Nov. 10, 1803, and throughout
the many years of his life he remained a resident of
that township, where he engaged successfully in
farming. He married, Jan. 5, 1837, Miss Susan
Howry, who was born March 14, 1813, daughter of
John and Elizabeth (Funk) Howry. To Benjamin
and Susan Brackbill was born a family of eight chil-
dren, namely: Mary Elizabeth, born Nov. 21, 1837,
unmarried, a resident of Vintage; Elam H., born
July 7, 1839, a farmer near Vintage ; Elias E., who
is named below ; Susan, born Feb. 4, 1844, residing
with her brother, Elias E., and her sister at Vintage ;
Lydia Ann, born March 23, 1846, who married Peter
Hess, of Cumberland Co., Pa., and died Dec. 7,
1888; Benjamin O., born Sept. 19, 1848, a farmer
of Salisbury township, who died Sept. 26, 1896;
Jacob F., born May 19, 1850, a farmer of Paradise
township, who died Oct. 22, 1887; and Henry P.,
a merchant of Vintage, a sketch of whom follows.
The mother of these children died Feb. 16, 1865, in
the fifty-second year of her age. The father sur-
vived until Sept. 11, 189T, passing away at the ripe
old age of eighty-eight. Benjamin and Susan
Brackbill were devout members of the Old Mennon-
tte Church, with which faith all the children except
Jacob and Henry P. are now connected.
(VI) Henry P. Brackbill, a prosperous mer-
chant of Vintage, the son of Benjamin and Susan
(Howry) Brackbill, was born on the homestead
farm in Paradise township May 11, 1853. He was
reared on the farm, attending the neighboring pub-
lic schools. At the age of sixteen years he entered
the store of E. H. Esbenshade, at Leaman Place, as
a clerk, in which capacity he remained for two years.
He then accepted a similar position in the mercantile
366
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
establisliment of David Houston, at Bethania, where
he also remained two years. With the experience in
commercial life thus gained he came at the age of
twenty-one to the store at Williamstown, or Vintage,
which he now occupies, succeeding to a business
there conducted by Henry Rutter, and since then
carrying on a general mercantile trade. It is one of
the notable establishments of Lancaster county, out-
side of Lancaster, for he carries a full and attractive
stock. Mr. Brackbill is one of the progressive and
active business men of his part of the county, and it
is largely to his energy and keen insight that he
owes his marked success in the mercantile field. He
has been postmaster at Vintage since the office was
established there, during the administration of Pres-
ident Harrison. Mr. Brackbill is one of the direc-
tors of the Gap National Bank, and is connected
with other interests.
On Jan. i, 1870, Henry P. Brackbill was married
to Miss Emma Diller, daughter of Lewis Diller. To
this union have been born three children, Cora, Bes-
sie and Harry D., all at home. Mr. and Mrs. Brack-
bill are active and prominent members of the Pres-
byterian Church at Leacock, of which he is now
elder and trustee.
Elias E. Brackbill, son of Benjamin and Susan
('Howry) Brackbill, was born Aug. 25, 1841. He
has been an active and successful farmer of Paradise
township, and now lives retired, with his two sisters
at Vintage, highly respected and esteemed by his
many friends and acquaintances.
GEGl-lGE A. MAYLING (deceased), in his
early life a cooper, and subsequently a prominent
farmer of East Drumore township, was born in the
city of Lancaster Sept. 20, 1827, a -son of John Fred-
erick and Rebecca (Deitrich) Mayling, residents of
that city, where the father worked at the coopering
trade some years. In 1838 the parents moved to
Marietta, Lancaster county, where the mother died
in 1858, and the father did not long survive, pass-
ing away in i86t. They were the parents of ten
children, three of whom survived them: George
A., Selina and Sarah A. Selina, born in Lancaster
in 1834, married Edward Rusing, and they had one
son, Harry. Mr. Rusing was for many years a
prominent coachmaker at Marietta. After his death,
which occurred in 1895, his son, who was a very fine
coach painter, inherited the business, which he con-
ducted -very successfully; he was a talented artist
and died in 1899. Sarah A., who was born in Lan-
caster in 1836, is unmarried, and lives at the old
Marietta home.
George A. Majding began his education in the
parochial schools of the city of Lancaster, and sub-
sequently attended Susquehanna Institute at Mari-
etta. He very early applied himself to mastering
the coopering trade, and under the instruction of
his father became a very competent workman. After
the death of his father he continued in the business
successfully on his own responsibility, building a
handsome and comfortable home into which he
moved, and where his farriily of four children were
born. Mr. Mayling was a competent business man,
and was one of the organizers of the First National
Bank of Marietta, which was the first national bank
in the county, and the twenty-fifth in the United
States. He served as councilman in the borough
of Marietta. In 1873 he purchased a farm in East
Drumore township, which he irnproved by enlarging
the house, and the following year moved thereon,
living there until his death, which occurred March
8, 1901. Mr. Mayling was a great reader and stu-
dent, and became thoroughly informed on current
history and international affairs and politics. He
devoted more time and study to ancient and cur-
rent history than most ordinary citizens; was per-
fectly familiar with the great national questions and
policies of all countries, and was quite as conversant
with foreign politics as with our own. At his home,
or wherever engaged in conversation, his talks af-
forded not only entertainment but instruction, and
his fellow citizens regarded him as one of the best
informed and best read men in the lower end of the
county. In politics he was for many years a Re-
publican, but left the party, as he was a free trader,
and although he did not affiliate with the Democratic
party he generally voted their ticket.
Mr. Mayling 'was married, Dec. 25, 1865, to
Miss Rebecca M. McComsey, of Lancaster City, a
daughter of Matthias and Mary M. (Vanderau) Mc-
Comsey, residents of Lancaster county. Her pater-
nal grandfather, Samuel McComsey, was a farmer
and stonemason, and in 1790 helped construct the
splendid stone bridge over the Conestoga creek at
Potts Landing. Her father was born in Paradise
township in 1789, of Scotch-Irish parentage, and
her mother was born in Culpeper county, Va., in
1791. They were married in Lancaster county in
181 1, settling at first in Manor township, but subse-
quently buying a farm and making their home in
what was then Martic township (now Providence),
where Mrs. Mayling was born July 4, 1832. Mat-
thias McComsey died leaving a wife and nine chil-
dren. The widow survived until 1874, dying in Lan-
caster. Mrs. McComsey was a woman of superior
endowments of both mind and character, and as she
herself had not enjoyed the advantages of a thor-
ough education she was very anxious to give her
children every opportunity. As there were no facili-
ties in the neighborhood for good instruction, she
fitted up a room in her own house and engaged a
teacher, a Mr. Harlen. The neighbors' children were
also allowed to avail themselves of the privileges,
and thus one of the first schools (if not the very first)
in Martic was established. Mrs. McCom-
sey later gave the land for one of the first public
schools in the township. Her children were as fol-
lows: (i) Elizabeth, born in 1812, married Will-
iam Long, a Methodist minister, and died in Indi-
ana, leaving her husband and five children. (2)
Samuel, born in 1814, in Manor township, married
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
867
Rebecca Deitrick, of Lancaster, where he was en-
gaged in the forwarding and commission business,
when the State owned what is now the Pennsylvania
Road, and continued in that Hne after the change.
He owned the large stone warehouse which stood
where Long & Davidson's new building now is on
West Chestnut street. He died in 1899, and his
wife died in 1890. They left one son, Samuel Slay-
maker McComsey. (3) John, born in 1816, began
life as a farm boy, and worked at farming until
about si'cteen years of age. He then went to learn
the trade of blacksmith with George Hegan, who
was a well known smith carrying on business at
Martic Forge. He served a full apprenticeship,
but did not work at the trade long afterward ; about
1835 he went to Ir'hiladelphia, and for a time worked
at machine blacksmithing, which was different from
the trade he had first learned. He became a very
expert mechanic, and later went to work for Will-
iam Norris, of the Norris Locomotive Works, Phila-
delphia, under whom he took up the trade of boiler-
making, which he soon mastered. He became such
an excellent workman that he was made forem.an of
the same works, and remained there a number of
years, when he and his brother, Samuel, started in
the forwarding and commission business in the old
stone warehouse on West Chestnut street, Lancas-
ter, owning and operating a freight line between
Lancaster and Philadelphia. Later John purchased
a farm in Martic township, where, with his mother
and two sisters, he made his home. He died in
February, 1891, unmarried. (4) Matthias, born in
1818, married Lizzie C. Rex, of Clearfield county.
Prior to his marriage he was engaged in teaching
in the public schools of Martic township, and was
one of the most efficient instructors of his day. It
was as his assistant that his sister, Rebecca M., com-
menced teaching. After being engaged in the com-
mission business in Lancaster in company with his
brothers, Samuel and John, Matthias became the
partner of his brother, John, in agriculture iii Mar-
tic township, where he died April 16, 1859, leaving a
wife and one son, William, now of Boston, Mass.
His widow took up the study of medicine after the
death of her husband, graduated from Jefferson
Medical College, Philadelphia, and is now a dis-
tinguished physician of Boston. She married John
Keller, of Philadelphia, who died some years ago.
(5) William, born in 1820, remained at home on the
farm until he was seventeen years of age, when he
left for Philadelphia to seek employment. He called
on Samuel D. Orrick, who at one time ran the Cono-
wingo furnace, the only person in Philadelphia that
he knew. Mr. Orrick was surprised to see him,
and still more so when he told him that he had left
home to make his own living. Mr. Orrick admired
his pluck, gave him a few days' work unloading
cars and then put him on the road as a conductor, he
being engaged in the commission business. His
employer was pleased with his work, and for a long
time he remained with him. For a time he was
connected with his brothers, Samuel and John, in
the transportation and commission business. Later
Mr. McComsey became connected with the Seners
in the coal and lumber business in Lancaster, being
a member of the firm of Sener & Co. He ended his
connection with the Seners as a member of the firm
of William McComsey & Co., in 1877. After the dis-
solution of this last named partnership, by his with-
drawal, he became connected with the coal business
of the late James Stewart, and was also interested
in stone contract work, and managed Mr. Stewart's
numerous business enterprises when that gentleman
was absent from the city. Mr. McComsey finally re-
tired from active business. In 1881 he was elected
city treasurer. It was in 1865 that he was elected
to the council, afterward serving as select council-
man. In 1866 he was elected to the Lancaster
school board, on which he continued to the time of
his death, which occurred in 1895, a period of twen-
ty-nine years, for some years and at the time of his
death being chairman of the important superintend-
ing committee. He enjoyed the sobriquet of "Father
of the School Board." Mr. McComsey was an active
member of the Board of Trade about 1870, and was
chairman of the committee of general affairs of the
city. In 1880 he assisted in taking the census, was
city auditor until the office was abolished, and for
three years was jury commissioner. He was an ac-
tive member of the city Agricultural and Horticul-
tural Society. As a stanch Democrat he had been
a member of county committees for years, and
was chairman of the city executive committee for a
long time. In conclusion it may be said that there
had not lived in the city of Lancaster a man who
had given more time to the public service without
compensation than William McComsey. Mr. Mc-
Comsey was man-ied in 1844 to Mary A., daughter
of Henry and Elizabeth Dorwart, of Lancaster. She
died in 1879. Their surviving children are Mary E.
and William H., the latter a resident of Lancaster.
The daughter, a former school teacher of Lancaster,
married Prof. John M. Conroy, for many years prin-
cipal of one of the Pittsburg high schools ; he is now-
engaged in the manufacturing of mirrors, plate
glass, etc., and is the head of the firm of Conroy,
Prugh & Co., Allegheny, Pa. Another son, Benja-
min A., died in the army during the Civil war ; and
two others, J. Frank and David D., died in the
West. (6) Levi, born in 1822, married Miss Lizzie
Amer, of Philadelphia, and they located in the city
of Lancaster, where he was engaged with his brother
in the commission business, and for many years was
a conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad. He died
in November, 1884, leaving a widow and seven chil-
dren, Anna (wife of Alfred Hubley, of Lancaster) ,
William B. (who married Miss Martin and died in
Pittsburg), John A., Rebecca, Horace, Harry and
Kate. (7) Leah died in childhood. (8) Mary A.,
born in 1824, died in 1S89, unmarried. (9) Fran-
cina, born in 1829, died in 1897, unmarried. (10)
Rebecca M., born in 1832, is the widow of George A.
368
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mayling. Her education was secured in the com-
mon schools and the high school at Lancaster. She
began teaching in May, 1848, when only fifteen
years old, and was long known as one of the most
successful teachers of Lancaster county, where she
taught for a period of fourteen years, eight years of
that time in the public schools of the city of Lan-
caster ; she was the first female teacher employed in
public schools of Martic township. Since the death
of her husband Mrs. Mayling continues living on the
farm homestead.
The following children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Mayling: (i) Mary R. married Daniel R.
Kiehl, and lives in the city of Lancaster. (2) Mor-
ris A. purchased the home farm, and is engaged in
farming. (3) Minerva V. is at home on the farm.
(4) Milford G. died in infancy. In religion Mr.
Mayling was born a Lutheran ; his widow and chil-
dren belong to the Methodist Church.
EDWARD EDGERLEY, the prominent car-
riage-manufacturer, of Lancaster, erected his present
carriage works more than a third of a century ago,
and within a short time after he had returned from
a long and honorable career as a soldier in his coun-
try's defense during the Civil war. The military
spirit of Capt. Edgerley, may, in a way, be said to
have been inherited, for his grandfather, Jacob Kel-
ler, was a Revolutionary soldier, and his great-grand-
father, Capt. Edward Edgerley, who was a member
of the 5th Maryland Regiment, fell mortally wounded
in the fiercely contested and winning battle of Eutaw
Springs, S. C, in September, 1781. His son, Edward
Edgerley, the grandfather of Edward, was born
in Cecil county, Md., and married Elizabeth Kirk,
of Little Britain township, Lancaster Co., Pa., who
lived to be ninety-five years old.
Gideon E. Edgerley, father of Edward, was born
in 1794, and was fifteen years of age when he
came to Lancaster City. He was a hatter, having
acquired his knowledge of the trade with his uncle,
Levi Knight. Later in life he was employed ten
years in the comb factory at Lancaster. In 1818 he
married Elizabeth Keller, a native of Lancaster, and
to them were born eleven children, namely: Re-
becca, who died in infancy ; Maria, who died young ;
Jacob, who died when thirty-one years of age ; Anna,
deceased, who was the widow of William Kahl, of
Lancaster ; Harriet, widow of William P. Leonard,
of Philadelphia, Pa.; Gideon, who died young;
Mary, widow of Luke Suydam, of Lancaster ; Levi,
who'died at the age of thirty years ; Sarah, who mar-
ried John Barnhard, now deceased ; Charlotte, widow
of Samuel Gross, of Lancaster ; and Edward. The
father died in 1849, aged fifty-five years, and the
mother survived until 1882, passing away at the
age of eighty-one.
Edward Edgerley, son of Gideon E. and Ehza-
beth (Keller) Edgerley, was born at Lancaster, Sept.
13, 1837. His attendance at school during boyhood
was irregular, for at the age of ten years he entered
the comb factory, and remained one of its active and
reliable employes for eight years. Believing that a
trade offered him better opportunities in life, he be-
gan in 1855, at the age of eighteen, an apprenticeship
to the trade of carriagemaker. Completing his trade,
he began business for himself in 1858, and was pro-
gressing steadily when the clouds of Civil war dark-
ened the land. He felt the call to duty, and on Sept.
16, 1861, enlisted in Company K, 79th P. V. I.,
known as the Lancaster County Regiment, and he
followed the regiment through its long and brilliant
career. He participated in all the engagements in
which his gallant regiment was engaged, and there
were many of them, as shown by the following offi-
cial record: Perryville, Ky., Oct. 8, 1862; Stone
River, or Murfreesboro, Tenn., Dec. 31, 1862, Jan. i,
2, 3, 1863 ; Hoover's Gap, Tenn., June, 1863 ; Chicka-
mauga, Ga., Sept. 19-20, 1863; Tunnel Hill, Ga.,
February, 1864. He veteranized at the close of his
first term of service, and participated during 1864 in
the battles of Buzzard's Roost, May 9th and nth,
and Snake Creek, May 12th ; Resaca, May 13th and
15th; near Dallas, May 25th and June 4th; New
Hope Church, near Dallas, Marietta road, June i8th ;
Kenesaw Mountain, June 20th, 23d and 27th ; Chat-
tahoochie River, July 6th and loth; Peach Tree
Creek, July 20th,' in charging column on the 21st;
siege of Atlanta, July to September; Utoy Creek,
Aug. 5th and 6th; Jonesboro, Aug. 31st and Sept.
1st ; Sherman's famous march to the sea, Nov. i6th
to Dec. 2 1 St; siege of Savannah, Dec. 13th, 21st;
campaign of the Carolinas, Jan. 18 to April 25, 1865 ;
Ivesboro, March i6th; was especially conspicuous
in the battle of Bentonville, N. C, March 19th and
20th, where the regiment was in the charging col-
umn, and held the left under a niurderous fire during
flanking movement of the enemy; moved to Golds-
boro, March 22d ; Raleigh, N. C, to Richmond, Va.,
Washington, D. C. ; was in the Grand Review of
May 2d, and was mustered out of service July 12th,
Capt. Edgerley was promoted from first sergeant to
second lieutenant Nov. i, 1862, and was commis-
sioned captain Sept. 11, 1864. It is a notable fact,
a matter of record, that during the three years and
ten months of Capt. Edgerley's military service he
was not absent from active duty a single day, from
sickness or any other cause.
Returning to his old home, Capt.- Edgerley re-
sumed his trade. In 1867 he erected the carriage
factory in which he still conducts a successful man-
ufacturing business. He married at Lancaster, in
1859, Miss Rosanna Stehman, and to Capt. and Mrs.
Edgerley were born eight children: Edward Ev-
erett ; Bertha, wife of Herbert Eichholtz, of Lan-
caster ; William Sherman ; Anna, wife of Abraham
Rohrer, a florist ; Mary ; Harry Emery ; Mabel ; and
Catherine, deceased wife of Charles Clark.
In 1871 Capt. Edgerley was elected a member
of the city council, and served five years. In 1878
Sip/ccfz <^
EIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
369
he was elected register of wills of Lancaster county,
serving a term of three years in that office. In 1888
he was elected mayor of the city of Lancaster, for
a term of four years, enjoying the distinction of hav-
ing been the first and only man elected for that num-
ber of years; the courts deciding that the law ex-
tending the term from two to four years was uncon-
stitutional, he served only two years. He was highly
commended for his administration and eminent busi-
ness ability. It was his genial nature and good citi-
zenship that led the Republicans of his district to
again elect him for a term to the common council, and
two terms of two years each to the select council;
he resigned his seat in the latter branch Dec. 30, 1902,
in order to take his position as county treasurer of
Lancaster county on Jan. 5, 1903, an office to which
he was elected for a term of three years, by an over-
whelming majority, in November, 1902. While in
the city councils Capt. Edgerley succeeded in having
the fences from the reservoir grounds removed, thus
giving the city a beautiful park, and he was also the
prime mover in creating the beautiful park around
the Lancaster county prison; In brief, no man in
the city has left his impress for good in more direc-
tions than has Capt. Edward Edgerley.
MARTIN K. MYLIN, a retired farmer, and at
one time in his life a very successful hotel man,
who is now residing at Gordonville, Pa., was born in
I'equea township, Lancaster county, April 28, 1839,
son of John and Elizabeth (Kendig) Mylin, of East
Lampeter and Conestoga townships, respectively.
Five brothers, of the name of Mylin, came early
from Switzerland, and settled in Lancaster county.
With them begins the history of the Mylin family,
of which the gentleman whose name introduces this
article is an honorable representative.
John Mylin was a farmer, born in 1804, a son of
Jacob Mylin, of Lancaster county, and he died April
28, 1857. His wife, Elizabeth, who was born in
1806, died at the age of seventy-two. Both were
members of the Mennonite Church, and were buried
in the cemetery connected with the Herr meeting
house. Mr. and Mrs. John Mylin were parents of the
following family: Isaac died in infancy; Amos
died in r890 ; Jacob died when six years old ; Eliza
died in infancy; Eli is on the home farm; Martin
K. ; John died in infancy.
Martin K. Mylin and Barbara K. Charles were
married in Lancaster in January, i860. To their
union were born: John C, a ticket and freight
agent at Leaman Place, married Anna Feinniger;
Elizabeth C. died at the age of twenty-two years ;
Barbara C. died at the age of twenty-three years ;
Ida died at the age of nineteen years ; Alice C. mar-
ried Elatn. Kreider, a farmer and music teacher at
Leaman Place, Pa.; Clara C. died at the age of
eighteen years : Miss Emma C. is making her home
with her sister at Leaman Place ; Martin C. is a ser-
geant in the regular army of the United States, and
in 1901 was stationed at Fort Principes, Cuba;
24
Amos C. is attending the State College; and Anna
died at the age of four years.
Mrs. Barbara Mylin, who died in January, 1901,
at the age of fifty-three, was buried in the cemetery
connected with Herr's Church in Pequea township,
where also repose the bodies of her children who
have passed away. She was a daughter of Henry
and Susan (Kreider) Charles, of Lancaster county,
where her father was a lifelong farmer in Pequea
township.
Mr. Mylin remained at home until the death of
his parents, when he moved to Ohio, where he was
engaged in farming operations, and sold machinery
for a year, in company with a brother. At the end
of that time he returned to the old homestead and
was employed by his brother a year, when he pur-
chased a farm in West Lampeter, devoting the en-
suing six years to its cultivation. Then he sold out,
and was employed in the Wheatland Mill for a few
years. In 1874 he came to Gordonville and pur-
chased a hotel, which he operated until the spring
of 1897. I'hat spring he retired from the active
management of the hotel, though he still retains the
ownership of the property, and is enjoying that easy
and comfortable existence that rightfully follows long
and laborious years.
Mr. Mylin is prominent in fraternal circles. In
Masonry he has taken the thirty-second degree ; and
for thirty years he has been a member of the I. O.
O. F., in which he has risen to the Encampment de-
gree. In politics he is a Republican, and is re-
garded as one of the leading and influential citizens
of the town.
JACOB SNEATH. The strong, forceful per-
sonality of Ml'. Sneath has made him for more than
a half century one of the leading citizens of Lancas-
ter county. Possessing an active temperament, he
acquired the trade of a carpenter, from which he rose
in a few years to contractor and builder. He has
been eminently successful in business, and to move-
ments for the general welfare he has contributed
the same energy and enthusiasm that have been so
happily applied in his vocation. In Sunday school
work he has been especially interested and is perhaps
the oldest superintendent in this county, having
served continuously in that capacity for the past
fifty-one years, with the exception of one year.
Mr. Sneath was born in Mountville, Lancaster
county, Nov. Ti, 1828, the son of Robert and Mary
(Todd) Sneath. His paternal grandfather was
William Sneath, of Scotch-Irish extraction, who
married a Miss Lingerfelter, of German parentage,
and who was accidentally killed on the railroad while
on his way to Rohrerstown. Robert Sneath, the fa-
ther, in his earlier life followed farming and fence
building, and was later appointed sexton of the cem-
etery at Columbia, a position he filled for many
years. He married Mary Todd, and to them were
born six children, as follows : Jonathan, who died
young, at Rohrerstown; Jacob, whose sketch ap-
370
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
pears herewith ; Mary, wife of Isaac Conklin, a car-
penter of Columbia ; John, who served as a volunteer
in the 49th P. V. L, and died at the age of thirty-
seven years ; Anna, wife of John M. Reed, retired,
Philadelphia; and Benjamin, who was a soldier in
the 79th P. V. I., and is now deceased.
Jacob Sneath was reared on a farm until he
reached the age of se\enteen years. He then began
an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade at Mount-
ville, and at its completion continued his trade until
he was twenty-three years of age, when he began
contracting and building. Possessing the essential
executive and mental qualifications he has ever since
been prominent in construction work in Lancaster
county, and has met with financial as well as pro-
fessional success.
In Oct., 1855, Mr. Sneath married Elizabeth
Witmer, who was born in Manor township, Lancas-
ter county, daughter of Hon. Daniel W. and Anna
(Her she) Witmer, granddaughter of Daniel and
Elizabeth Witmer, of Manor township. Daniel W.
Witmer was a prominent farmer of Lancaster coun-
ty. He served for three terms in the Pennsylvania
House of Representatives, and in- his later years
was a merchant and drover in Mountville. He mar-
ried Anna Hershe, daughter of Abraham Hershe,
an old resident of Lancaster county, and to them
were born the following children: Benjamin A.,
deceased ; Mary, who married David H. Wideler, of
Mountville, and is now deceased ; Elizabeth, wife of
Mr. Sneath ; Elias H., who was a soldier of the Civil
war, wounded in battle and is now deceased ; Abra-
ham, who served as lieutenant in the Civil war and
is now deceased : Jacob H., a bank clerk at Mount-
ville, Pa. ; Kate, wife of Levi Myers, a tobacco mer-
chant of Lancaster; Harry C, a merchant at Lan-
caster City ; and Sarah, who died young. Daniel
W. Witmer, the father, died in 1896, aged eighty-
eight years ; his wife in 1870, aged sixty years. She
was a member of the United Brethren Church, and
both are buried in Mountville cemetery.
To Jacob and Elizabeth (Witmer) Sneath have
lieen born three children, Isaiah W., Elias H. and
Emma E. Isaiah W. was graduated from Yale Col-
lege, married Ell I. Mark and is a Congregational
minister at Franklin, Mass. Elias Hershe was also
graduated from Yale College, married Anna Camp,
of Middletown, Conn., and is a professor in Yale
College. Emma E. married H. C. Bruner, a coal
merchant of Columbia.
Mr. Sneath is one of the most prominent mem-
bers of the United Brethren Church at Columbia.
He is a trustee, leader and. superintendent of the
Sunday School. He began his Sunday School work
at Mountville more than half a century ago and
was one of the pioneers in that locality. He had
never attended a Sunday School, but, receiving a lit-
tle instruction from a lady who had visited one, he
entered zealously upon the work, which he has ever
since continued with most gratifying results. In
pohtics Mr. Sneath is a Democrat. Pie served in
the borough council for three years, was burgess four
years, and for seven months acted as United States
internal revenue inspector. He is identified among
fraternal orders with the I. O. O. F. and the A. O.
M. P., and is one of the best known residents of Co-
lumbia.
HENRY MILLER HERR, chief of Lancaster's
police, has been a school teacher, was a member and
secretary of a large manufacturing concern in Lan-
caster for ten years, and besides can fill prescriptions
in a drug store.
Mr. Plerr is a descendant of Hans Herr, the pro-
genitor of the numerous Herr family in Lancaster
county and Pennsylvania. His grandfather, David
Herr, was a well known farmer of Manor township
and his father, Dr. E. B. Herr, is a widely known
East King street physician and druggist.
Dr. E. B. Herr married Miss Elizabeth Miller,
daughter of Christian Miller, farmer of Manor town-
ship. Two sons were born, J. Edwin, a printer,
who died in 1882, in his nineteenth year; and Henry
Miller Herr, the chief of police.
Henry Miller Plerr was born in Millersville April
14, 1856, and educated in the State Normal school
there, from which he graduated in 1878. He taught
for some time and then became a traveling salesman
for the Columbia Manufacturing Co., and later on
associated himself with the Lowell Harness and Col-
lar Co., of Lancaster. He was a member, and sec-
retary of that company for ten years, up to the time
of its dissolution as a stock concern. After this
Mr. Herr was strongly urged to accept the Repub-
lican nomination for mayor, but declined in favor of
another Republican and was appointed chief of po-
lice, an office which he fills very capably. Mr. Herr
is a member of the St. Paul's M. E. Church. He
belongs to the Blue Lodge, Masons, to the Odd
Fellows and to the Elks. At spare times in the past
Mr. Plerr has assisted his father in the drug business,
becoming in this manner proficient in pharmacy.
Personally and politically Mr. Herr is one of Lan-
caster's most popular men.
JOHN McNEAL RUTTER, a farmer of Sads-
bury township, was born in Salisbury township, this
county, March 20, 1840, a son of Adam and Mar-
garet (Skiles) Rutter and a descendant of Conrad
Rutter, a native of Prussia.
Conrad Rutter was the first of his name in Penn-
sylvania. In 1683 he and his wife, Jane Douglas,
of Scottish extraction, whom he wedded in England,
came to America with Daniel Pastorius. They land-
ed at Germantown, Pa., on Aug. 30th of that year.
About 1720 Conrad Rutter purchased of William
Penn 588 acres of land, in Leacock township, Lan-
caster county, where they located, and where he died
in 1739. One of their family, Andrew, settled in
Montgomery county, where he left a family.
Joseph Rutter, son of Conrad and Jane (Doug-
las) Rutter, was born in Leacock township, and there
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
871
married Barbara Glenn, also a native of that locality.
George Rutter, son of Joseph and Barbara
(Glenn) Rutter, was born in Leacock township, but
lived and died in Salisbury township. He married
Margaret Lightner.
Adam Rutter, Sr., son of George and Margaret
(Lightner) Rutter, was born in Leacock township
in 1763, and was a farmer in Salisbury township,
where he died Nov. 25, 1810. He married Mar-
garet Skiles, who was born May 15, 1773, and who
died July 19, 1859. Like the other members of the
Rutter family, they were Episcopalians. Their
children were: (i) James, born in Leacock town-
ship, in June, 1797, married Hannah Leaman, and
-settled in Leacock township. He was drowned iit
Witmer's dam, near Paradise, in 1828, leaving the
following children : Nathan S. ; Margaret, wife of
George Geishard, of Asheville, N. C. ; Mary, wife of
John Capp, of Lebanon, Pa. ; and Hannah, who mar-
ried in the West. (2) Jane, born in May, 1799,
married William Rhodes and settled in Mercers-
burg, Franklin county, where she died, leaving a
family, all of whom are since deceased. (3) George,
born in May, i8ci, married Elizabeth Rutter and set-
tled in Leacock township, where he worked at the
blacksmith trade. Of his children only one is living,
Rachel, the wife of Samuel Dague, of Philadelphia.
(4) Anna, born July 16, 1804, married Henry Mc-
Clellan and moved to Franklin county, where they
died leavmg three children : Hays, Harry and Het-
ty- (5) Nathaniel, born Nov. 14, 1806, went to
Wilkesbarre, Pa., where he married his first wife,
Ellen Seiss, who died in 1850, the mother of Augusta,
deceased ; Emily, who married E. P. Darling and is
deceased; Margaret, who married Col. Eugene
Beaumont, a hero of the Civil war ; James, who mar-
ried and lives in Wilkesbarre; and Hervey, born in
Wilkesbarre, who died when a young man. Na-
thaniel Rutter married for his second wife Mary
(Seiss) Dunlap, a sister of his first wife, who has
borne him two children, Hervey (deceased) and
Natalie. By her deceased husband. Rev. Mr. Dunlap,
a Presbyterian minister, Mrs. Rutter has one daugh-
ter, Jennie. (6) Adam, Jr., is mentioned below.
(7) Rachel Rutter, born March 15, 1810, married
Christian Weldy and moved into Franklin county
and has one child living in New Jersey.
Adam Rutter, Jr., the father of John M., was
born Nov. 26, 1808 and in 1828 married Margaret
Skiles, who was born Aug. 3, 1807. Mr. Rutter
worked at his trade as a blacksmith in Salisbury
township until 1850, when he purchased a farm near
Cambridge, where he remained until 1855. That
year he bought the "Green Tree Hotel" property
in Bart township, and conducted that hostelry with
success until April i, 1S59, when he bought a farm
near Georgetown, Lancaster county, on which he
spent a year. He then bought a hotel and farm
l)roperty at Nine Points, where he lived until 1866,
when he repurchased the "Green Tree Hotel" prop-
erty, which he held for two years, and then bought
the McKee property, one of the fine farms of this
section, which now belongs to John M. Rutter. It
has a stone house of generous proportions and fine
appearance, and large barns. The last years of the
life of Adam Rutter were spent on an adjoining-
farm, which he bought in 1875, and where he died
April 21, 1885. His widow survived until Oct. 5,
1893, when she passed away full of years and honor,
in the eighty-seventh year of her age. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Rutter were devout members of St. John's
Episcopal Church. In early life Mr. Rutter was
a Whig, and in his later years became a Democrat.
In fraternity matters he belonged to Lodge Number
43, F. & A. M., of Lancaster. To him and his
wife were born five children: (i) Jane, born in
November, 1829, married Jacob Stambaugh, and
moved to Philadelphia, where he died in 1874, leav-
ing a widow and the following children : Adam R.,
of Lancaster ; Emma, of Philadelphia ; Anna, the wife
of Howard Brinton, of Colerain; Laura, unmarried;
George, a mechanic in the Baldwin Locomotive
Works, of Philadelphia ; and James, of Philadelphia.
(2) George, born Oct. 14, 1831, married Harriet
Ray, of Sadsbury township, and engaged in a hotel
business at the Gap, Lancaster county, where he
died July 16, 1869, leaving two children: Ella,
now the wife of Frank Taylor, of Philadelphia ; and
John M., who is married, and is also living in Phila-
delphia. (3) James. (4) John M. is next in the
order of birth. (5) Rebecca E., born April 15,
1842, married Jacob Keylor, of Bart township, where
they are now living on his farm, with a family of five
children: Margaret, Ella, Howard, Adam R. and
Henry.
John M. Rutter was educated in the public schools
of Bart township and the select school of Thomas
Baker (where he spent three terms), and for two
years he was a student at the Unionville Academ.y
in Chester county. When the Civil war broke out
he enlisted in Co. E, I22d P. V. I., under Capt.
Birely, with Judge Fell as one of the lieutenants.
They were assigned to the Army of the Potomac,
reporting at Arlington Heights, and participating
in the battle of Chantilly. The regiment was en-
gaged in the desperate three days' fighting at Fred-
ericksburg, and was fighting four days at Chancel-
lorsville. After these severe engagements the time
of the regiment expired, and it was honorably dis-
charged at Harrisburg.
John M. Rutter came home and engaged in the
mercantile business at Nine Points, in partnership
with Robert A. Ferguson. His health, however,
did not stand the confinement, and he turned again
to farming. After his marriage Mr. Rutter set-
tled on his present place, which he purchased after
ihe death of his father, in 1886; he has made ex-
tensive improvements, and has continuously engaged
in general farming.
On Feb. 11, 1875, Mr. Rutter was married to
Miss Emma C. Davis, who was born in Colerain
township ]\Iarch 2, 1848, daughter of Joseph B. and
372
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
P21izabeth Davis. Mrs. Rutter acquired her educa-
tion in the select school of Thomas Baker, and in
the Union school under Prof. Andrews : for six years
she was a successful teacher, and she is a lady of
marked ability. To Mr. and Mrs. Rutter have come
four children: (i) Howard was well educated in
the high schools in Octoraro and Christiana, and
learned the trade of blacksmith, which he still fol-
lows at ^v^ine Points ; he married Effie Brown and has
one son, Eugene, born in 1900. (2) V. Davis, born
April 26, 1876, received his education in the Octo-
raro high school, and is at home. (3) Emile D.,
born May 22, i88r, studied in the Gap and the
Christiana high schools, and is at home. (4) Au-
gusta E., born March 2, 1883, spent two .terms in
the Gap Academy, one term in Union high school,
and is now a student in the Bart High school.
Politically Mr.. Rutter is a Republican, and has
been tovvn auditor and school director. In 1870 he
was enumerator of the census for Bart, Sadsbury
and Christiana borough. He belongs to Post No.
358, G. A. R., Christiana, in which he has held the
offices of commander and adjutant. Mr. and Mrs.
Rutter and their daughters belong to the Episcopal
Church, and are all people of high character and
pronounced ability.
REV. JOHN G. FRITCHEY. On March 12,
1885, in the fullness of years and good works, there
entered into rest Rev. John G. Fritchey, a faithful
laborer in the Master's vineyard.
In the latter part of the eighteenth century there
came from Germany to America one John Godfrey
Fritchey, a young man of gentle birth and good edu-
cation. In the beginning it had been his intention to
return to the Fatherland, but the beauties of the
Pennsylvania hills and the broad opportunities of
the life in a new country proved so attractive that
he decided to remain, and located near Harrisburg.
Like so many of his countrymen, he was a musician
of considerable merit. In his new home he met and
married Dorothy Bucher, a faithful and sincere mem-
ber of the Reformed Church, and an aunt of Rev.
John Casper Bucher, D. D., a noted divine of that
denomination. Mr. Fritchey had been reared, in the
faith of the Roman Catholic Church, but was too
broad to object to his children following the teach-
ings of the church of their mother. Thirteen chil-
dren came to brighten their home.
John G. Fritchey, son of John Godfrey and
Dorothy Fritchey, was born Feb. 6, 1802, and
was reared amid the refining influences of a
pure Christian home. He was baptized by Rev.
Mr. Mueller, and in 1821 was confirmed by Rev.
John Winebreuner, the popular pastor of Salem
Reformed Church, five miles from Harrisburg,
who had taught him the Heidelberg catechism. His
home training and his natural inclinations alike
turned him toward the ministry, and at the sugges-
tion of his beloved teacher and pastor, he entered
a classical school at Sandy Hollow, taught by a Mr.
Cummings, a graduate of Princeton College, where
for two years he pursued a course in Latin and
Greek, preparatory to a course in Theology. In the
spring of 1825, at the invitation of Rev. Mr. Wine-
breuner, he accompanied that gentleman to Carlisle
to attend the opening of the new theological seminary
then and there established by authority of the Synod
of Bedford. He witnessed the inauguration of the
first Professor of Theology, Rev. Lewis Mayer, D. D.,
and became the first enrolled student of the institu-
tion. Having completed the course, he in 1828 was
ordained to be a missionary, his intention being to
labor in the destitute regions of the West. M'^ith this
idea he left home, traveling on horseback, with his
face toward the setting sun. At Chambersburg, how-
ever, he came under the influence of the pastor of
the Reform.ed Church, Rev. Mr. Rahauser, who had
an extensive knowledge of the home missionary field,
and who persuaded him to change his course south-
ward, to the mountains of North Carolina. Arrived
in the vicinity of Lincolnton, in that State, he found a
field ready for the harvest, and for twelve years there-
after engaged in arduous labor, establishing many
churches in that time, and rejuvenating the work
of the church generally. His field of labor extended
over seventy miles down into South Carolina. In
1840, having secured a pastor for the South Caro-
lina churches in the person of Rev. William C. Ben-
nett, and being imwilling to rear his family amid the
influences of the slave system, he returned North.
He was successively pastor of churches at Mechanics-
burg, Cumberland Co., Pa., East Berlin, Adams
county, and at Taneytown, Md., being at the latter
place thirteen years. In each of these places Rev.
Mr. Fritchey was a power for good, building up the
churches and freeing the;m from financial burden.
In 1865 he moved his family to the town of Lancaster,
and from that time to the date of his death engaged
in active service for his Master in the county. He
preached in many places, but was particularly help-
ful in New Holland, Millersville, Elizabethtown,
Maytown and at Shoop's Church. He was also very
helpful to the Zwingli German Church in Harris-
burg. His method of work was to go into a disorgan-
ized field, or in communities where the cause of re-
ligion was languishing for any reason, and by the
magnetism of his energies fan the dying embers into
flame again. When the fire burned brightly he would
secure the establishment of a regular minister at the
place, and move on to other less favored communi-
ties. In this manner he was instrumental in building
up a number of churches in the county which are
now lasting monuments to his efficient labor. At the
Zwingli Church he was peculiarly effective in the
raising of a large debt that sapped the vital forces
of the church, undertaking this work and carrying
it through under the weight of fourscore years. The
missionary spirit, the carrying of the Gospel to those
who had it not, was the all-consurning force in his
J Jm.x eu %^^'
\AA/
1
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
378
character, and' dominated his actions all through a
long life of usefulness. No journey was too long,
no day too unfavorable on account of the weather,
to respond to a call in which he saw an opportunity
to do good.
On Oct. 12, 1828, Rev. Mr. Fritchey was united
in marriage with Mary Ann E. Hendel, who was
born in Carlisle, Pa., May 13, 1809, and who died
in Lancaster Feb. 17, 1875. She was a daughter of
George Hendel, and a granddaughter of Rev. Will-
iam Hendel, the latter of whom was pastor of the
Race Street Church, Philadelphia; he fell a victim
to the scourge of cholera which swept over that city
in 1798. Mrs. Fritchey was also a niece of Rev.
William Otterbein, a power in the early church, and
of Dr. William Hendel, of Womelsdorf, Pa. Rev.
Mr. Fritchey and his bride made for their wedding
journey the trip to North Carolina, where he was
to devote his labors, in which his good wife heartily
sympathized and greatly assisted. In her girlhood
she had publicly professed her faith and had been
confirmed by Rev. John S. Ebough. Thirteen chil-
dren blessed the home of Rev. Mr. Fritchey and his
wife, as follows : (i) Sarah E., born Sept. 27, 1829;
married Joseph Eberly. (2) William A., born May
4, 1 83 1, died Nov. 18, 1861. (3) Ann Catharine,
born Jan. 24, 1833, died Jan. 6, 1851. (4) Mary E.,
born Nov. 24, 1834, died June 12, 1851. (5) Martha
A., born Sept. 14, 1836, died Dec. 31, 1880. (6)
John H., born Dec. 7, 1838, died July 22, 1869. (7)
Theodore L. Mayer, born Feb. 21, 1841, died April
15, 1880. -(8) Alfred N., born May 25, 1843, died
Feb. 6, 1895. He enlisted in the Union army when
but seventeen years of age, being assigned to Com-
pany C, under Col. Cole, in the Maryland Cavalry.
He was taken prisoner in 1862, and was confined sev-
eral months in Libby prison, and on Belle Isle, and
after his exchange rejoined his command. On Jan.
I, 1864, he was again taken prisoner, this time being
confined in the prison pen of Georgia, known to the
whole world as Andersonville stockade. His com-
rades in the same company said of him, after his
death, that he was not only a born soldier,but a most
intelligent and companionable comrade. (9) Frances
A., born Feb. 19, 1845, died May 13, 1875. (10)
Laura J., born Jan. 27, 1847, is the widow of Dr.
Amos A. Roth, a prominent physician of Frederick,
Md. (11) James G., born April 6, 1849, died Nov.
4, 1871. (12) Joseph U., the only survivor of the
family, is mentioned elsewhere. (13) Addison H.,
born Nov. 9, 1853, was a graduate of Franklin Col-
lege, a prominent member of the Bar of Lancaster
county, and an accomplished musician ; he died May
7, 1899.
HON. WILLIAM UHLER HENSEL was
born in Quarryville, Lancaster county, Dec. 4,
1851.
George W. Hensel, his father, now deceased,
came of German-Lutheran and English-Quaker
stock. He was a resident of Quarryville for over
half a century, and was recognized as the repre-
sentative citizen of the lower end of the county.
Much of the substantial progress and improvement
of Quarryville were due to his efforts and influence.
He conducted a large general store, was president
of the National Bank, a director of the Quarryville
Railroad, head of a local insurance company, county
auditor, a trustee of Franklin and Marshall Col-
lege, a pillar of the Reformed Church, and prom-
inent socially. He resided in a handsome home in
Quarryville, long noted for its generous hospitality.
Mr. Hensel married Anna M. Uhler, who belonged
to the well-known Uhler and Light families, of
Lebanon, pure Pennsylvania German.
William Uhler Hensel received his early educa-
tion in the common schools of his home district,
and afterward attended the academies at Chestnut
Level, Parkesburg and Paradise. In the autumn
of 1865, he entered the Preparatory Department of
Franklin and Marshall College, and from that time
he has been identified with Lancaster and its inter-
ests. He was graduated from Franklin and Mar-
shall College in 1870, holding the second place in
scholarship throughout the whole course, and he
closed his collegiate career with the honor of class
valedictorian, delivering a thesis that attracted
marked attention, and was an augury of his intel-
lectual future. Mr. Hensel's devotion to his Alma
Mater has been conspicuous, and he is always at
the front of any movement looking to the promotion
of its welfare. He is a member of the Diagnothian
Literary Society and Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity,
and in the latter has held the highest office of the
order in the United States. Three years after
graduation he was elected to deliver the Master ora-
tion, and chose the subject "Robert Burns," for a
masterly and elaborate address. While still at col-
lege he displayed great talent in journalism, for he
was one of the founders of College Days, afterward
known as the College Student, and his facile pen,
ready wit and fine literary judgment, insured its suc-
cess from the start, and gave it an impetus that made
its growth an assured thing. It is today a deeply
interesting periodical, reflecting the literary and so-
cial life of Franklin and Marshall College. Mr.
Hensel was long foremost in the management of the
annual alumni dinners at the College, and is almost
invariably booked for a speech. At the Commence-
ment in 1887, when the College Centennial was cel-
ebrated, he delivered a memorable address on
"What the Community Owes to the College," which
evoked unstinted encomiums from press and people.
He has been for years a trustee of the College.
Mr. Hensel, turning his attention to the legal
profession, studied law under the late Hon. Isaac
E. Hiester, and after his death continued under Da-
vid G. Eshleman, being the first law student that
counselor had. Mr. Hensel was admitted to the
Bar Jan. 23, 1873, and soon afterward entered
journalism, in May, 1874, buying Henry G. Smith's
374
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
half interest in the Lancaster Intelligencer, of which
paper he became an editor and one of the proprie-
tors. He never abandoned the law while in journ-
alism, but kept op a close relationship to the local
Bar, and continued to practice law to some extent,
despite his onerous duties and multifarious cares in
politics and journalism. He has been one of the
Censors of the Bar Association since its organiza-
tion. For years he has been the solicitor of the
First National Bank, of Strasburg, the Quarryville
National Bank and the Trust Co., of Lancaster ; of
one of the national banks at Ephrata; of the bank
at Christiana; and thai at Gap; both banks at Mt.
Joy and Elizabethtown ; the Exchange Bank at Ma-
rietta; the Fulton National Bank, Lancaster; the
Quarryville Bank and Water Cos. ; the Edison Elec-
tric and Lancaster Gas Cos. ; the Consolidated Street
Railway and Traction interests ; and many minor
corporations; as well as the boroughs of Mt. Joy,
Akron, Quarrj'ville and Christiana.
Mr. flensel's name gained a State reputation in
his double capacity of lawyer and journalist in the
famous disbarment case of Steinman & Hensel. In
the report of the trial of a Quarter Sessions liquor
case, in January, 1880, the Intelligencer declared
the acquittal of the defendant on the plea of a pre-
vious acquittal was accomplished by an imposition
upon the Court, and that the judges took no cog-
nizance of it because all of the parties implicated, as
well as the judges themselves, belonged to the Re-
publican party. Judge Patterson, then associate
judge of the Courts of Lancaster county, took a rule
on Messrs. Steinman & Hensel (both lawyers),
editors and proprietors of the Intelligencer, to dis-
bar them for contempt of court. It was a farnous
case and attracted wide attention. The lawyers'
names were stricken from the roll April 3, 1880, by
ruling of the lower court, but the case was ap-
pealed to the Supreme court, and was argued in
the May term, 1880. The arguments made by A. K.
McClure and R. E. Shapley, the defendants' coun-
sel, were of a high order, and were widely copied.
In October, the ruling of the lower court was re-
versed, and Steinman and Hensel were re-instated,
after having been six months debarred from prac-
tice. After the restoration the former amicable re-
lations between the court' and Mr. Hensel were re-
newed. Mr. Hensel's ability as a practitioner is so
marked and so well-known, his forensic talents so
brilliant, that we need scarcely make comment upon
them here. Suffice it to say that his reputation as
a lawyer is second to none in the State.
In the journalistic field Mr. Hensel found work
eminently suited to his keen intellectual powers and
high literary tastes, having been, even as a college
student, a frequent contributor to the daily papers,
and as a law student continuing to edit College
Days, the paper he had helped to found. As an ed-
itor of the intelligencer he brought that paper to
the front, not only as a good local newspaper and
influential as an exponent of Democracy, but notably
for its general literary excellence. In'August, 1886,
he disposed of his interest in the Intelligencer to
Richard M. Reilly, Esq., and Robert Clark, A. J.
Steinman continuing therewith, his interest in the
paper ante-dating Mr. Hensfel's by some years.
Mr. Hensel was also a contributor to many out
of town newspapers notably the New York Sun,
the Philadelphia Times, the New York Independ-
ent and others. In 1880 he wrote the biography of
Judge Black for the Times "White House Gallery,"
and about the same time contributed a sketch of
"Honest John" Strohm for Forney's Progress, both
of which elicited high praise for their author. He
also wrote, not long after, for the Philadelphia
Press, some fresh reminiscences of Francis Scott Key
that were intensely interesting. During the polit-
ical campaign of 1884 Mr. Hensel edited and pub-
lished the Post, a Democratic weekly which
reached a circulation of 40,000, and which Presi-
dent Cleveland pronounced the best thing of its
kind he ever saw. During the same year he wrote
a campaign biography of Vice-President Hendricks,
which was published in book form along with that
of Dorsheimer's life of President Cleveland, and
which was republished almost entire by the Demo-
cratic National committee as the authorized text-
book of the campaign. In 1888 he was the campaign
biographer of Cleveland and Thurman. He is also
the author of the "Resources and Industries of
Lancaster," published by the Board of Trade in
1886-87.
Mr. Hensel's acquaintance among the editorial
fraternity naturally was, and is, most extensive. He
was president of the Pennsylvania Editorial Asso-
ciation in 1882, and was re-elected in 1883. In
1878, when, as spokesman of the Ohio, Pennsyl-
vania and Kentucky Editorial Association, he re-
plied to the address of welcome delivered by Henry
Watterson, of the Louisville Courier-Iournal, he
carried the people of Louisville by storm, and un-
limited praise was showered upon him by the press.
He was one of the founders of the Crematist, which
has become the national organ of the cremation
system, which he has espoused from the first. Mr.
Hensel's retirement from journalism was univer-
sally regretted, and the press had many sincere and
highly complimentary things to say of his career
in the field. He was regarded as the most honest,
able and indefatigable young editor of his day, and
at the time of his withdrawal from newspaper
work it was well known that a desirable and respon-
sible position on a metropolitan paper, whose editor
was one of the ablest in the country, was open for
his acceptance. But Mr. Hensel had no desire to
leave the scenes and associations of the place en-
deared to him by long residence, so the press else-
where did not gain by Lancaster's loss.
With all the cares of journalistic work Mr. Hen-
sel turned his attention closely to politics, in which
he was long prominent. Although his father,
George W. Hensel, was a Republican in political
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
375
faith, the son's convictions led him to identify him-
self with the party of Jefferson and Jackson. The
first State convention Mr. Hensel attended was the
Democratic gathering at Reading, in 1872, when he
was strongly for Buckalew. Becoming impressed
with the dominancy of the better element in the
Democratic party, he cast his fortunes with the De-
mocracy, opposed Grant, and took the stump for
Greeley. Though not yet twenty-one he made thirty
enthusiastic speeches in York, Lancaster and Ches-
ter counties, and from that time continued active
in politics. He was first elected -chairman of the
Democratic county committee of Lancaster in 1875,
and harmoniously every year thereafter (except
during two years of his service as State chairman)
until 1887, when he declined re-election. He at-
tended all State Conventions, and participated in all
their proceedings. In 1878 he was sent as Senatorial
delegate to the Pittsburg convention, becomirig sec-
retary of the committee on Contested Seats, which
marked the beginning of his prominence in the
Democratic party. Thereafter he became a dominant
force in the conventions and affairs of his party,
making entire, or in part, every Democratic plat-
form for )'ears, serving as chairman of important
committees, making nomination speeches, and in or-
ganizing and directing the party generally. At the
convention of 1882 he was enthusiastically named
for Congressman at large, and would have been
unanimously elected had he assented. He declined
the post, and turned the tide of favor to Mortimer
F. Elliott, who was chosen and elected. He was a
delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of
1880, 1884, 1888 and 1892, being chairman of the
Pennsylvania delegation in the last, and making one
of the Cleveland nomination speeches. He was
largely instrumental in compassing the splendid vic-
tory that placed Robert E. Pattison in the Gover-
nor's chair in 1882, and after that brilliant campaign,
in which he had rendered such signal service to his
party, he caused it to be understood that he neither
desired ncr would accept any office in the gift of the
governor. About one hundred leading Democrats
of Philadelphia and the State showed their appre-
ciation of his services by tendering him a handsome
complimentary dinner at the Commonwealth Club,
Philadelphia, where the successful candidates and
others prominent in Democratic circles spoke in
praise of his party management.
At this time, for private and personal reasons,
it was Mr. Hensel's desire to quit the field of poli-
tics, but one consideration and another, and his
services seeming indispensable, he kept at the party
helm for four more State campaigns, a longer time
than any other one man had ever held the Demo-
cratic chairmanship of Pennsylvania. He was re-
elected practically without opposition in 1883 and
1884, and in 1885 and in 1886, but declined re-elec-
tion in 1887, and formed a law partnership with J.
Hay Brown, now justice of the Supreme Coiirt of
Pennsylvania. In 1891 he was appointed attorney-
general of the State of Pennsylvania by Governor
Pattison, and his appointment was unanimously con-
firmed by the Republican State Senate. He held
this responsible office for four years, and during an
unusually busy term collected nearly $3,000,000 for
the State, mainly from delinquent corporations.
Among the notable cases arising from the Bardsley
defalcations, he made the city of Philadelphia pay
the State losses, and compelled the newspapers
to refund the rebates paid by them to Bardsley.
While attorney general he also prosecuted the audi-
tor general and the State treasurer before the Sen-
ate. His career as attorney general was a brilliant
and notable one, and marked by the same honesty,
disinterestedness and sound judgment that distin-
guished him in all political affairs. It was said of
him, as it is said of few aspirants in the political
arena, that he had the party's good, and only and
solely that, at heart. He sought office neither for
himself nor friends ; nor cared for personal advant-
age, power and patronage. Friends and foes alike
have conceded his political career to have been in
every sense manly and honorable.
From the year 1887 Mr. Hensel practiced law
with Hon. J. Hay Brown, until that gentleman was
honored with a seat on the Supreme Bench in 1899,
since which time Mr. Hensel has practiced alone,
maintaining the supremacy which had been at-
tained by them jointly as practitioners of the law.
This law firm was a rare combination of energy and
brains, both gentlemen having been prominent and
tireless in their services to their respective parties,
but making politics subsidiary to the law when they
formed the partnership that was to become so fa-
mous the State over. In 1898 Mr. Hensel was pres-
ident of the State Bar Association, and is now vice-
president of the American (or National) Bar Asso-
ciation.
Mr. Hensel's remarkable versatility displayed
itself in belles-lettres, as a relaxation from the
heavier, graver affairs of law and politics. Having
a literary taste of the widest range, and being an
omnivorous reader, Mr. Hensel's scholarly attain-
ments found fruition in masterpieces of the pen.
He wrote and delivered many brilliant addresses,
among them being, "Some Wives of Famous Men,"
an able scholarl}- address full of wit and deep re-
search; "The College in the Community," deliv-
ered on Founders' Day, at Lafayette College, Eas-
ton. Pa., in which he pointed out some of the dan-
gers of the mercantile — the utilitarian spirit of the
age, and the inestimable value of its counteracting
influence — the college; and, "The Town We Live
In: What It Has, and What It Wants," a lecture
delivered by invitation before the Board of Trade in
1886, and of absorbing interest to those who had the
town's welfare at heart, a masterly presentation of
the subject, able and exhaustive, which created wide
and most favorable comment, and gave a new im-
petus to Lancaster's material progress. These are
but a few of the addresses Mr. Hensel has delivered
376
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in his remarkable career. Orations on anniversary
occasions, at colleges throughout the State and else-
where; speeches at the Clover Club's famous ban-
quets ; treatises on farming that displayed knowl-
edge ot husbandry; speeches to the Germans, Irish
and Hebrews. Indeed, his literary scope seems to
have no bounds or limits, and his trenchant pen and
eloquent tongue to be ever ready to add their force
to the furtherance of any cause making for the ad-
vancement of his fellow men. Few men have had
v/ider acquaintance with the prominent men of their
time than Mr. Hensel has enjoyed, or had closer
intimacy with them. He has numbered among his
personal friends, Cleveland, Randall, Thurman,
Hill, Tilden, Hendricks and nearly every Democrat
in high place in the last quarter of a century.
Mr. Hensel was married years ago to Miss Emily
Flinn, daughter of A. C. Flinn, of Lancaster, and
one daughter, Elizabeth, was born of the union.
Mrs. Hensel passed away, deeply lamented for her
lovely nature, in 1882. Mr. Hensel is a member of
the Presbyterian Church.
JOSEPH U. FRITCHEY, a leading contractor
of Pennsylvania, having been connected with many
large public enterprises, is the only surviving member
of the family of children born to the late Rev. John
G. Fritchey.
Mr. Fritchey was born in Mechanicsburg, Pa.,
June 28, 1851, and grew to manhood amid surround-
ings that taught the value of integrity as a component
part of character. He received a good education in
the common schools of the different places where the
family resided, and was destined for a collegiate
course. This, however, was averse to his tastes, as
he early developed a desire to enter upon the active
duties of life in the business world. At seventeen
years of age he entered the jewelry store of Charles
Gillespie, in Lancaster, and after two years with him
engaged with Zahm & Jackson, who were in the
same business. After applying himself with this
firm diligently for four years, Mr. Fritchey resolved
to start a business of his own. Locating opposite
the courthouse, he conducted a jewelry business until
1879, when he sold out and accepted a position with
the Meriden Silver Plate Company. After a year he
became associated with the Pierpont Manufacturing
Company, at New Bedford, Mass., with whom he
was connected for some eighteen months, when he
took a similar position with Simpson, Hall, Miller
& Company, of Wallingford, Conn,, for whom he
traveled seven years. Mr. Fritchey then left the
road and coming to Lancaster established the first
successful plant there for the manufacture of um-
brella handles and fancy silverware, as a member of
the firm of Osborn & Fritchey. After eighteen
months he sold out his interest in this concern and be-
gan the business in which he is now engaged. From
the first he was successful in his new role, showing
a grasp of detail contract work which few can excel,
his strong point being that he carries through what he
undertakes, regardless of obstacles.
Mr. Fritchey has succeeded well in life and is
reputed to be wealthy. He is genial, frauK and gen-
erous, which traits make him popular with his
friends. From his father he inherits a strong dis-
like for the artificialities of life. Politically he is a
stanch Republican, and delights to aid in the suc-
cess of that party, but does not care for office. Fra-
ternally Mr. Fritchey is a member of the I. O. R. M.,
the B.'P. O. E., the Hamilton Club and the Young
Men's Eepublican Club. He is a member and liberal
supporter of the First Reformed Church of Lan-
caster.
On Jan. 16, 1879, in Lancaster, Mr. Fritchey was
married to Alice Herr Marks, daughter of Jacob M.
and Elizabeth C. (Herr) Marks, one of the city's
accomplished young ladies, and who has been a large
factor in the success which has attended her husband.
Jacob M. Marks was for years a prominent dry-
goods merchant of Lancaster, and died in April, 1882,
at the age of sixt5^-seven years. His widow, who
still resides in the city, is well preserved at the age
of seventy years. They were the parents of six chil-
dren, three sons and three daughters, of whom the
three daughters now survive : Mrs. Fritchey ; Eliza-
beth C, widow of Addison Fritchey; and Catherine
E., wife of Rev. William Dorwart, an Episcopal
clergyman, of Newport, Pennsylvania.
Mr. and Mrs. Fritchey are the parents of three
children, George Marx, Elizabeth Herr and Alice
Hendel. The family reside in a handsome and com-
modious home on the outskirts of Lancaster.
ELIAS DILLER, a retired farmer of New Hol-
land, Pa., was born in Earl township, two miles from
his present home, Oct. 11, 1827, a son of Jacob and
Mary (Besore) Diller, the former a native of Earl
township, and the latter of Leacock.
Jacob Diller was a farmer, but for a while before
his death was living retired, making his home
with his daughter, Louisa Ranck, at the time of his
death, Dec. 28, 1878, at the age of seventy-six. Mrs.
Jacob Diller died March i, 1861, at the age of sixty-
eight. She was a member of the Lutheran Church,
and with her husband was buried in the Lutheran
cemetery at New Holland. To their union were
born the following children : Catharine ; Elias ;
Mary A., who married Robert J. Knox, a resident of
Intercourse, and a subject of a sketch on another
page; Elizabeth, who married Henry K. Graybill
March 17, 1890, and died at the age of fifty-three;
and Louisa, wife of John Ranck, of New Holland,
whose sketch appears in another place.
The paternal grandparents of Elias Diller were
George and Mary (Eckert) Diller, farming people
of Lancaster county ; his maternal grandparents were
Balser Besore and wife, of Lancaster count)^
Elias Diller was twice married. In 1857 he
wedded Lucinda Seldomridge, and to them was born
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
377
one child, Harriet, who is unmarried and living at
home. Mrs. Lucinda Diller was born in Leacock
township, daughter of Benjamin and Harriet (Scott)
Seldomridge, the former a farmer and a heavy cat-
tle dealer (he owned two farms) ; she died in East
Earl township in 1871, at the age of thirty-eight
years. Her remains are resting in the Roland
Church cemetery in Earl township. Born to Mr.
and Mrs. Seldomridge were: Lucinda; Justin F.,
who died in Colorado Springs; Milton, deceased;
Albert, deceased, of Philadelphia; Harriet Knox,
and Annie Tweed, who live in Philadelphia; and
Savilla Atkinson, who is deceased. The second
marriage of Mr. Diller was in 1875, when he
married Mrs. Eliza A. (Graybill) Bare. Mrs. Dil-
ler was twice married, her first husband being Sam-
uel Bare, who was a farmer .of Lancaster county.
She was born in Earl township Oct. 2, 1834, a
daughter of Samuel and Maria (Miller) Graybill.
Her father was a farmer, and in 1874 he located at
New Holland, but was retired twenty years before
his death, which occurred in October, 1879, at the
age of eighty-one. He held various township offices
and settled many estates. Her mother died in 1892,
at the age of eighty-one. Both were buried in the
cemetery connected with the United Brethren Church
at New Holland, of which she was a member. Eliza
Ann was their only child, and her paternal grandpar-
ents were Isaac and Nancy (Schrontz) Graybill;
her maternal grandfather was Tobias Miller, whose
wife's maiden name was Hurst. All were farming
people of Lancaster county.
Elias Diller remained with his parents until his
marriage, and then engaged in the cultivation of
his father-in-law's farm until the death of that gen-
tleman, in 1862, when he went to his father's old
homestead, which he cultivated until March, 1881.
That year he retired and came to New Holland, buy-
ing for .Ss,ooo from Mrs. Anna Eby, his present
brick home. Mr. Diller is a Republican. He has a
pleasant family, and is prominent and thoroughly
up-to-date.
JOHN ERISMAN, a retired farmer of Rapho
township, was born on the same farm on which he
now makes his home, Nov. 22, 1831. He is the
son of Jacob and Mary (Metz) Erisman, who dur-
ing their lives also resided on the present family
homestead.
Jacob Erisman, the father, was born March 11,
1784, and died May 7, 1868, while Mary, his wife,
was born Feb. 26, 1789, and died in 1857. Both
are buried in the old Erisman cemetery adjoining
part of the farm. Both parents were members of
the Mennonite Church. There were born to Jacob
Erisman and wife the following children: Maria,
born Nov. 7, 1808, died in 1820; Elizabeth, born
Feb. 4, t8ii, died Sept. i, 1893, unmarried; Anna,
born March 7, 1813, died in 1898, the wife of Chris-
tian Hershey; Christian, born Feb. 2, 1816, is now
retired and living in Rapho township; Jacob, born
March 28, iSih, died in 1889, was a lumber mer-
chant in Marietta, Pa. ; Abraham, born Nov. ,20,
1820, died in 1899, a farmer in the State of New
York; Fanny, born Nov. 2, 1822, is the widow of
John Becker, living near Petersburg, Pa.; Henry,
born Nov. 26, 1825, unmarried, is a retired cattle
and tobacco dealer, and lives with his sister, Mrs.
Becker ; Mary, born Oct. 9, 1829, is unmarried, and
lives at Salunga, Pa. ; and John, born Nov. 22, 1831,
is the subject of this sketch.
The first members of the Erisman family in
America were three brothers who emigrated from
Switzerland, one settling at Millersville, another in
Lancaster county, and the third in Rapho township.
John Erisman was married in May, 1 861, at the
home of the bride, in Rapho township, to Miss Fan-
ny Strickler. To this union have been born the fol-
lowing children : Anna S., unmarried, and at home
with her parents ; Tillie S., unmarried and living at
home; Alary S., unmarried, residing in Boston,
Mass., and a prominent teacher in that city of music
and elocution; Jacob S., a clothing merchant of
Leonard, 111., married to Miss Wolf ; Lizzie, wife of
Israel Witmer, of Hanover; and Frances, a school
teacher in Wyoming.
Mrs. Fanny (Strickler) Erisman was born in
Rapho township Aug. 2, 1832, daughter of John and
Mary C. (Haverstick) Strickler, of Rapho town-
ship and Lancaster City, respectively. The father
died July 12, 1877, in Mt. Joy township, after living
a retired life for ten years, at the age of eighty-
two years. Mrs. Strickler died April 21, 1888, at
the age of seventy-nine years. They are buried in
Eberly's cemetery at Mt. Joy, Pa. In life they were
members of the United Brethren Church. Mr.
Strickler was a man of prominence and held the
office of school director for a long period. There
were born to them : Fanny is the wife of John Eris-
man : Henry H., a grain merchant of Mt. Joy, mar-
ried Miss Adeline WycofI ; John, a merchant of Lan-
caster city, was twice married, first to Miss Anna
Gable, and second to Miss Mary Harmon; Jacob, a
furniture merchant and undertaker, in Illinois, mar-
ried Miss Anna Kertz ; Anna died at the age of eight
years; Emily, unmarried, lives at Mt. Joy; Will-
iam, a furniture and dry-goods merchant at Polo,
111., married Miss Mary Weyman; Attila is the
widow of Dr. William Brookhart; and Samuel, a
ranchman in the Big Horn country, Wyoming, mar-
ried Miss Margaret McKenzie. Mrs. Erisman's
paternal grandparents were Henry and Attila (Eris-
man) Strickler, of Rapho township. The grand-
father was a farmer all his life and is buried on his
old home. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Eris-
man were George and Fanny (Strieker) Haverstick,-
of Lancaster county, and later of Philadelphia. He
was a gold and silversmith and after leaving .off
work retired to Lancaster county, where he died.
His wife died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. John
Strickler.
Mr. John Erisman is a prominent man in his
878
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
district, and while an earnest Republican in politics
has steadily refused many proffers of office at the
hands of the party. In 1895 he retired from the
active di.!ties of life, and since then has occupied him-
self by keeping posted on current events and enjoy-
ing a well deserved rest. He is well thought of by
all for his strict integrity and kindly disposition.
:\nLTON K. SHULTZ, of Manor township,
residing one mile south of Washington borough,
belongs to one of the oldest and most respected fam-
ilies of Lancaster county, and was born on his pres-
ent homestead Oct. 23, 1841.
Isaac and Mary Ann (Keasey) Shultz, parents
of Milton K., were also natives of Manor township
and reared a family of eight children, born in the
following order : Milton K. ; Stephen K., of Manor
township ; Israel and Sylvester, deceased ; Joseph
K., lumber dealer of Manor township, whose life
sketch may be found on another page; Benjamin K.,
whose sketch appears elsewhere; Mary Ann, wife
of Henry Wertz, of Washington borough, and Will-
iam K., a farmer of Manor township. Isaac Shultz
was born March 7, 181 5, was a cooper by trade,
and worked at that business in winter; but in the
spring was employed as a pilot on the Susquehanna
river for lumber rafts, running down the stream
from Marietta, Lancaster county, to Peach Bottom,
in York county; he followed this business until it
became obsolete. For fifty years Isaac Shultz was
a member of the Church of God, and a greater part
of this period was an elder. His wife passed away
about the year 1889, and his own death occurred
August 16, 1893.
Milton K. Shultz was educated in the public
schools, and his boyhood days, when not at school,
were passed in his father's cooper shop in the win-
ter season, and on the river rafting, during the sum-
mer, and in the practice of the latter he early be-
came an expert pilot. After the method of trans-
porting timber to market had been changed, Milton
K. resorted to farming, purchasing his present
farm of thirty-six acres in 1889, tobacco being the
principal product, together with garden produce.
This farm he has improved with every possible
m.odern convenience, and has made of it the most
desirable home of its dimensions in the township.
Dec. 6, 1864, Milton K. Shultz was united in
matrimony with Emma, daughter of Jacob and Eliz-
abeth (Poist) Collins, natives of Washington bor-
ough, and the parents of three children, namely:
Amanda, who died at the age of twenty-two years ;
Emma, now Mrs. Shultz, and Jacob, who died in
June, 1890. The father of these children was a
butcher by calling and died in 1842 at the com-
paratively early age of thirty-seven years ; his widow
survived until 1875, when she expired at the age of
fifty-four years.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Milton K. Shultz
has been favored with seven children, of whom,
however, only three ' survive. The births of the
seven may nevertheless be recorded as having taken
place in the following order : Mary E., who is the
wife of Samuel Abel, a cigarmaker of Wrightsville,
York count} : Elmira, wife of Jacob Shultz, an em-
ployee at the rolling mill in Columbia, Lancaster
county; Benjamin, still under the parental roof;
and Calvin, Rosa, Ira and Warren, deceased.
Milton K. Shultz and wife are likewise grandpar-
ents of eight children ; of whom Jacob and Elmira
Shultz are the parents of six — Theressa, Cora, Ruth,
Floyd, Oneida and Beatrice; to Samuel and Mary
E. Abel have been born two, Edgar S., and Mil-
ton L.
The Shultz family are consistent members of the
Church of God, to the support of which they lib-
erally contribtite, and no one in the township or
county is more highly respected than Milton K.
Shultz and wife.
JOHN KLAUS (deceased), formerly a highly
respected resident of Columbia, Lancaster county,
was born in Plessen-Darmstadt, Germany, Jan. 28,
1828, came to America in 1854, and died in Lancas-
ter county May 30, 1886, his remains being interred
in Mount Bethel cemetery, Columbia, Pennsylvania.
Ernest Klaus, father of the deceased gentleman
whose name opens this article, was born in Hessen-
Darmstadt in 1799, and to his marriage with Mar-
garet Collenbaugh the following family were born;
Wendell, Ernest, John, Philip, Jacob, Frederick,
Henry and Katherine, the last named being the wife
of John Hook, of Lancaster, Pa. Mrs. Margaret
(Collenbaugh) Klaus was called from earth in 1845,
and in 1851 Ernest Klaus and seven of his children
came to Pennsylvania, direct from Germany, settling
at York Furnace, York county, where he was em-
ployed as a day laborer until his death. With the
exception of Jacob, a farmer in Iowa, and Mrs. John
Hook, these children have all passed away. Henry,
the youngest son, after serving three years in the
9th P. V.C., died of disease in Louisville, Kentucky.
In 1876 John Klaus was married, in Columbia,
Pa., to Katherine Holder, who was born in Wit-
tenberg, Germany, July 2, 1849, a daughter of Adam
and Christina (Muchler) Holder, the former of
whom was a farmer and died in Germany in 1884,
at the age of seventy-three years. The latter died in
t886, when seventy-two years old. Mr. and Mrs.
Holder were the parents of six children, viz : Rosie,
married to Frederick Stoll, a farmer in Columbia,
Pa. ; Frederick, Mary, John and Agnes, all in Ger-
many; and Mrs. Katherine Klaus, of Columbia.
Mrs. Klaus came to America in 1873, lived three
years in Marietta, Pa., and then came to her present
place of residence. To the marriage of John Klaus,
deceased, and Katherine Holder were born two chil-
dren, Frederick and Rosa, both still residing with
their mother, who is the proprietress of the very
popular "Rising Sun Hotel" at Columbia.
W'hcn the late lamented John Klaus came to
America, in 1854, he first located in Lancaster, where
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
379
he followed his trade of shoemaker until 1857, when
he came to Columbia and continued to pursue his
calling until 1864. At that time he engaged in the
hotel business, which he continued to follow until
he died, in the faith of the Lutheran Church. He
was a member of the Knights of Pythias, in politics
was a Democrat, and socially was held in the highest
esteem by his fellow citizens. Mrs. Klaus has re-
built the "Rising Sun" and increased its capacity
from eleven rooms to twenty-three, has introduced
steam heat and and electric lights, modernized it in
all other respects, and charges transient guests the
modest sum of $1.50 per day. She has made the
house the favorite stopping place for the traveling
public, as it is quite homelike and the table is sup"-
plied with the best the market affords, while she and
her assistants are ever attentive to every need of the
patrons.
GEORGE HIPPEY. It is perhaps a charac-
teristic of the solid prosperity prevailing throughout
Lancaster county, that industry, integrity and thrift
were the usual foundation. Among the citizens of
Columbia, George Hippey, one of the best known
and most highly respected residents, represents
those sterling traits to a notable degree and his
success in life has been commensurate with his win-
ning qualities.
Mr. Hippey is a native of Columbia, born Sept.
15, 1837, son" of William and Elizabeth (Cross)
Hippey, and grandson of John and Mary (Hoff)
Hippey, natives of Breslau, Germany, who mi-
grated to America and became industrious and wor-
thy citizens of Lancaster county. Their children
were : William ; John, who died suddenly on a shoal
in the Susquehanna river; and Mary K., who mar-
ried John Kame and died in Lancaster county from
the painful injuries resulting from her clothes be-
ing accidentally set on fire.
William Hippey, the father of George, was a
sturdy and conscientious resident of Columbia. He
was born April 13, 1803, and in his youth was in-
ured to honest toil. With his parents he often
walked barefooted to church, and carrying their
shoes with them, from Columbia to Lancaster, and
worshipping' on their arrival at the old Trinity
Church. He was a cooper, following his trade
through his active years at Columbia. He was the
census enumerator there in 1850. In politics he was
a Whig, and himself and wife were members of the
Lutheran Church. She died of cholera at Colum-
bia, Sept. 9, 1854, aged forty-four years, the second
victim of the terrible plague during its visitation
that year. William Hippey lived to a good old age,
passing away June 13, 1892, aged eighty-nine years
and two months. To William and Elizabeth Hippey
were born the following children: Justina, wife of
George Hoyer, a retired tinsmith of Harrisburg,
Pa. ; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Solomon Duck , of
Columbia; Louisa (deceased); John, who died at
Columbia; George; Henry, a brickmason of Colum-
bia; Charles, deceased; Allen C, who died at
Roanoke, Ya. ; Amanda (deceased), and Samuel, a
brickmason of Columbia.
During his boyhood at Columbia, George Hip-
pey worked in his father's cooper shop, remaining
at home until he was twenty-two. He was employed
two years in a rolling mill as a mule driver. For
seven years following he was boss in an ore bank and
in the Henry Clay furnace for John Q. Denney. At
the expiration of that time Mr. Hippey began work
for John Yeager, remaining with him seven years
and thoroughly learning the butcher business. He
then began the business for himself at Columbia,
continuing a prosperous butcher until his retire-
ment from active life in August, 1898.
Mr. Hippey married, April 14, 1861, at Wrights-
ville, Pa., Miss Rachel Hammond. Six children
were born to them: James, Mary, Mary (2), Mar-
garet, Ida and Rachel. Of these only one survives,
Mary (2) . She is the widow of William E. Blaine,
who was born ^n Milton, Pa., son of George and
Elizabeth Blaine, the former a retired farmer now
living at Washington, D. C. For eight years Will-
iam E. Blaine was employed as a nurse in a govern-
ment hospital m Washington, D. C. He came to
Columbia in 1891 and was, until his death (Jan. 20,
1900, at the age of thirty-eight years), employed
by George Hippey, the subject of this sketch. To
William E. and Mary (Hippey) Blaine were born
five children, namely: George, Rachel, Eliza Lee
(deceased), Margaret, and James G. (deceased).
In politics Mr. Hippey is a Republican. He is
a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church,
and in business and social circles is influential, and
esteemed for his keen judgment and high character.
JOHN GERHART, a retired farmer of Provi-
dence township and one of its most respected res-
idents, was born in Wallerstadten Hessen-Darm-
stadt, Germ.any, Aug. 10, 1840, a son of Peter Ger-
hart, who died in his native land.
In 1865 John Gerhart landed in America as a
poor man, 'with little capital except his strong arms
and his industrious habits. He had received a good
German education and had learned farm work, and
to this he turned in the new country. Although he
has labored very industriously and has been careful
in the accumulation and expenditure of his means,
he has no reason to regret his years of toil, as now,
when he wishes to live at ease, he has the means to
do so. His farm in Providence township is well im-
proved and quite valuable, and his home in the vil-
lage of Refton, to which he retired in 1901, is excel-
lent property, while he is also the owner of other
property.
Mr. Gerhart was married in Lancaster county to
Miss Mary Kerner, who came to this county with
her parents when but six years of age. This mar-
riage has been blessed with one son and two daugh-
ters, namely: Emma, born Jan. i, 1869, is the wife
of Jacob L. Frank, a miller, of Refton, Pa. ; Mary
380
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
N., born Feb. 26, 1871, is the wife of Simon Lynes,
of Providence township ; and John P., born Feb.
12, 1882. In politics Mr. Gerhart favors the Dem-
ocratic party, although he is not an active politician
and has never cared to accept any office. With his
family he belongs to the Old Mennonite Church.
Mr. Gerhart and family are known in the community
as honorable and upright people, and he is much re-
spected. He is the only member of his father's fam-
ily to come to America.
MARTIN Z. LINDEMUTH (deceased) was
born in West Donegal township, April 9, 1819, and
died in his native township, in 1883, on the old
farm where he had resided thirty-seven years. He
was a son of Jacob and Barbara (Ziegler) Linde-
muth, farming people of East Donegal township.
His father died in West Donegal township in 1876
at the age of seventy-nine years, having led a long
and useful life as a farmer ; his mother died in 1886
when eighty-six years old. They were members of
the Lutheran and the Brinser Dunkard Churches,
respectively. The children of Jacob and Barbara
Lindemuth were as follows : Martin Z. ; Martha,
who married John Engle ; Fanny, wife of John Bren-
ner; Barbara, wife of Christ S. Nissley; Elizabeth,
wife of John Myers ; Mary, wife of J. W. Nissley ;
Leander^ who married Fannie Martin ; Anna, wife
of Christ Garber. Barbara and Elizabeth were
twins, and all the family are dead excepting Mary.
The paternal grandparents of Martin Z. Linde-
muth were Martin and Magdalene (Wolf) Linde-
muth, both of I-ancaster county, both belonging to
old and honorable families.
Martin Z. Lindemuth was married in Lancaster,
Nov. 26, 1839, to Miss Elizabeth Engle, by whom
he became the father of the following family:
Fanny, who married Eli Hoffman, a farmer in Kan-
sas ; Anna, unmarried and at home ; Barbara, wife
of Frank Bishop, of Harrisburg, Pa. ; John, married
to Kate Meekly, and engaged in farming in Mt. Joy
township; Hiram E., who married Emma Crush,
and lives in Steelton, Pa. ; Mary, deceased ; Susan,
who married David Hofifer, a traveling salesman
from Lebanon, Pa. ; Elizabeth, wife of Peter Bach-
man, of Lebanon; Martha, who married Christ
Goss, a farmer and a school teacher, of Conoy town-
ship; Solomon, deceased; Samuel, who married
Fanny Stoner, and is engaged in farming on the old
Engle homestead near Wild Cat station, where that
important Lancaster county family was first lo-
cated in this country ; Sarah, unmarried and liv-
ing at home; Alice, deceased; Martin, who married
Annie McLanachan, and is a farmer in Mt. Joy
township.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Engle) Lindemuth was born in
Conoy township, Dec. 15, 1821, a daughter of John
and Elizabeth (Myers) Engle, natives of Lancaster
and Franklin counties, respectively. Her father was
a farmer, and had a long and useful life, dying in
Conoy township in 1861, at the age of eighty-one
years. Her mother died in 1840, at the age of fifty-
three years. They were both buried in a private
cemetery on their old hohiestead and were mem-
bers of the River Brethren Church. They had the
following family, all of whom are dead excepting
Elizabeth, who became Mrs. Lindemuth : Jacob,
Henry, Fanny, Daniel, John, Samuel, Susan (who
became Mrs. John Longenecker) , Elizabeth, Martha
(who became Mrs. Jacob Hofifer) and Hannah (who
married Peter Hoffer).
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Elizabeth
Lindemuth were Jacob and Frances (Shoch) Engle,
farmer people of Lancaster county, where they lived
and died. Her maternal grandparents were Henry
and Barbara (Brillhart) Myers, natives of Lancas-
ter and Franklin counties, respectively.
Martin Z. Lindemuth was a life-long farmer,
and made a most enviable record for himself as an
honest and industrious man. When he attained his
majority he left home to make his own way in the
world, and by upright character, force of will, un-
wearied indtistry and strict integrity, attained a
good position for himself. He was a Republican,
and held the office of school director. In 1884 Mrs.
Lindemuth with two daughters and a son moved
into Elizabethtown, and here they have since resided.
She is a member of the River Brethren Church, and
her daughters of the Church of God. Mrs. Linde-
muth IS still living at an advanced age, and while
she is delicate, she is bright and active for her years,
notwithstanding the experiences through which she
has passed. Her daughters are devoted to her com-
fort, and watch over her health and happiiiess with
tender solicitude.
ABRAM L. SHENK. For four generations
the family of Shenk has lived in the old homestead
in which Abram L. Shenk was born Oct. 12, 1826.
The farm was first settled by the great-grandfather
of the present owner, who died at the age of ninety-
seven years, and there his grandfather, Henry, and
his father, Abram, were bom.
Abram Shenk, Sr., was a farmer by occupation.
He was a Republican in politics, and a Mennonite
in religious faith. He died in 1841, at the age of
forty-six. He married Anne Landis, daughter of
John Landis, and she survived him for many years,
dying in the spring of 1861, at the home of her
son. They were the parents of six children, of
whom Abram L., is the eldest. The others were:
Lizzie (deceased), the wife of Jacob Lutz;
Christian, a farmer of Manor township; Annie
(deceased), who married Benjamin Neff; Daniel,
a resident of Safe Harbor; and Mary, who died in
early childhood.
Abram L. Shenk remained at home, assisting
his mother in the. care and management of the farm,
until he reached the age of thirty, when he was mar-
ried to Fannie, daughter of Peter Musser. She died
in 1873, the mother of four children, namely:
Lizzie, Fannie and Mary and Abram M., (twins).
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
381
Lizzie married David Dambach, and Fannie mar-
ried Albert M. Stoner, both of Manor township.
Mary became the wife of Samuel Rodkey, of
Columbia. Abram M. lives in the old homestead,
and conducts the old Shenk farm; he married
Katie Rohrer, daughter of Christian Rohrer, a
successful farmer.
After the death of his first wife Abram L.
Shenk married Lizzie, daughter of Christian Rod-
key, and to this marriage came one daughter,
Martha, who is now the wife of Charles Myers, a
machinist, of Columbia. Mr. Shenk continued to
live in the old homestead until 1892, when he
removed to his present farm, situated a half mile
north of Central Manor. There he cultivates
thirty-three acres, with marked success, and,
despite his seventy-six years, is able to devote his
entire time to farm work. He is held in high
esteem by his neighbors for his many admirable
qualities, and is one of the influential farmers of
Lancaster county. His political and religious
faiths are the same to which his father held; he
upholds Republican policies, and is a member of
the Mennonite Church. His old age is cheered by
memories of a life well spent, and he looks forward
to the future without fear.
ADAM JOHN EBERLY (deceased), late one
of the most conspicuous and able members of the
Bar of Lancaster, was descended from an old and
well-known family of the county.
The first of the name in this section came from
Switzerland, having been driven from his native
land bv religious persecution, the family being
Mennonites. At the time they came here, Lancas-
ter was known as Hickorytown, and consisted of but
two houses. Jacob Eberly, great-grandfather of
Adam J., was a farmer, and his son, Henry, grand-
father of .Adam J., was a miller, distiller and manu-
facturer of linseed oil.
Samuel Eberly was born Feb. 8, 1793, and died
Jan. 29, T876, in what was at that time a part of
Elizabeth township, now Clay township, Lancaster
county. He was a well known scrivener and con-
veyancer of Clay township, where he built a house
for himself in 1832, which old homestead is still
in the possession of the family. Samuel was the
first recorder of Lancaster county elected under the
constitution of 1837, prior to which date the office
had been an appointive one, and his son Henry S.
was the first" treasurer of Lancaster county elected
by the people under the new constitution of 1873.
.Samiiel Eberly married Miss Catherine Wike,
daughter of John Adam Wike, a farmer of Lebanon
county, and four children were born of this union,
two sons and two daughters, the latter of whom
both died in infancy. Of the sons, Henry S., who
was a merchant in Durlach, Lancaster county,
served as countv treasurer one term, and died in
1898.
• Adam J. Eberly, the other son, was born Jan.
9, 1840, gn the old homestead at Durlach, and died
Aug. 5, 1901, at his residence No. 314 West Chest-
nut street, Lancaster, after a brief illness of three
days, the complications resulting in heart disease.
His earlier education was received in the districr
schools, and later he took a one-year's course at
Schaeriierstown Academy, and then attended Frank-
lin and Marshall College, graduating therefrom in
the class of 1861. After his college graduation he
spent one year at home, and commenced to read
law. Taking up his residence in Lancaster, he en-
tered the lav/ office of the late Alexander H. Hood,
and in 1864 he was admitted to practice in the coun-
ty, only four persons being admitted that year, and
of these Hon. Amos Mylin. is the sole survivor. In
1866 Mr. Eberly was admitted to practice in the Su-
preme Court, and in 1867 to the District and Cir-
cuit Courts of the United States.
In 1864 Adam J. Eberly was married to Miss
Mary E. Pearson, a native of Lancaster and a daugh-
ter of William and Salome (Shirk) Pearson, and
five children blessed this union, four of whom are
yet living : Emma E., wife of J. Harlan Landis, en-
gaged in the U. S. postal service, and running be-
tween New York City and Pittsburg, Pa. ; William
J., a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, and
now a m.ember of the Lancaster Bar, practicing law
in his late father's office at No. 49 E. Grand street;
Elsie E., widow of Robert Reilly, formerly of Lan-
caster; and Robert P., who attended Franklin and
Marshall Academy, Elizabethtown CollegCj and is
at present at home. In religious faith Mr. Eberly
was a member of St. Paul's Reformed Church, and
he was held in the highest esteem by the community
at large.
In his political preferences Mr. Eberly was a
stanch Republican, his time, influence and means be-
ing always given to the advancement of his party.
The Republicans of the Fifth ward of Lancaster had
elected him at various times to a seat in the common
council, as well as to the select branch of the city
councils ; he was also a member of the Lancaster
board of school directors. In 1883 he was elected
by a handsome majority to the office of district at-
torney of Lancaster county, taking his seat on the
first Monday in January, 1884, and discharging the
duties of that responsible office with intelligence and
fidelity. At the time of his death he was a director
of and solicitor for the People's Trust Savings De-
posit Co., and of the People's National Bank, and
was president of the Union Building and Loan As-
sociation, all of Lancaster.
When the Confederate forces invaded Pennsyl-
vania during the Civil war, Mr. Eberly was among
those who enlisted for the purpose of repelling them,
joining Co. I, 51st P. V. I., and doing duty along
the Potomac river in the State of Maryland."
BENJAMIN SHERTZER (deceased), who
was one of the representative men of Lancaster
county, Pa., was born about 18 18, and resided in
382
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Manor township, where he died in 1889. There
were four children in the family of which Benjamin
was a member, the other three being: John, de-
ceased; Lizzie, who was married to Martin Funk;
and Mary, married to Christ Herr. The father,
John Shertzer, married Mary Young and died when
tliirty years old.
Benjamin Shertzer was but eight years of age
when his father died and the lad went to make his
home with Benjamin Kauffman; he worked out by
the day until after his marriage, but shortly after
this event he purchased a tract of twenty-eight acres
in West Hempfield township; a few years later he
came to Manor township and for three years lived
on the Samuel Kauflman farm, then purchased a
tract of eight acres and later a farm of eighty-four
acres adjoining the village limits, made some valu-
able improvements, and there passed the remainder
of his life.
Benjamin Shertzer married Elizabeth Funk, who
is still living, at upwards of seventy years of age,
and is a devout member of the Mennonite Church,
to which her husband also belonged. To their mar-
riage were born seven children, four of whom grew
to years of maturity, namely : Mary, wife of George
Henry; Elizabeth, married to Harry Graver; Jonas
F. ; and Benjamin F., all of Manor township.
Benjamin F. Shertzer was born April 7, 1859,
in Manor township, received a public school educa-
tion, and remained on the home farm until the death
of his father. About 1894 Benjamin F. purchased
the home place, made some needed improvements,
has since conducted general farming with satisfac-
tory results and is classed among the leading agri-
culturists of Manor township.
On Oct. II, 1883, Benjamin F. Shertzer married
Miss Susan B. Newcomer, daughter of Rev. Jacob
Newcomer, of Manor township, and this marriage
has been blessed with a family of eight children,
born in the following order : x\nnie N., Lizzie N.,
Amos N., Mary N., Benjamin N., Aaron N., Aman-
da N. and Ada N.
HENRY POWNALL, who died Feb. 9, 1901,
at the early age of forty-three, was born in Sads-
bury township, Lancaster county, and was a son of
Henry and Deborah W. (Walker) Pownall.
Henry Pownall was married Oct. 21, 1880, to
Louissa Smedley, at the home of the bride, in Fulton
township. To this marriage were born: Norman
J., who was killed by his horse running away, Nov.
21, 1899; Mary L., a teacher, who lives at home;
Bertha A., J. Clifton, Alta D. and Chester H. are
at home.
Mrs. Louissa (Smedley) Pownall was born m
Fulton township, Lancaster county, the daughter of
James and Adeline (Ambler) Smedley, natives of
Fulton township, and of Montgomery county, re-
spectively. Both her parents are now dead. Her
father was a farmer in Fulton township, where
during his active days he held the position of school
director for many years, and where he passed away.
He died in 1888 at the age of sixty-nine. His widow,
who was born in 1818, died. in 1899. Their remains
rest in Penn Hill cemetery. They were members iof
the Society of Friends. Born to them were : Clar-
inda, who married Vincent S. Richards, of Little
Britain township ; Louissa, the wife of Mr. Pownall ;
Elizabeth P., who married Samuel P. Paxson, and
lives on the old homestead.
Ellis and Elizabeth (Hamilton) Smedley, the
grandparents of Mrs. Pownall, were farming people
of Fulton township ; her maternal grandparents
were William and Elizabeth (Penrose) Ambler,
both of Montgomery county, and settlers in Lancas-
ter county in 1822, where they engaged in farming
in Martic township.
Henry Pownall, who remained with his parents
until his marriage, was born and reared a farmer,
and followed that vocation all his life. For two
years after his marriage, he remained on the old
homestead, a portion of which he cultivated ; at the
end of that period he purchased his father's farm,
and engaged in its tillage for the rest of his life.
This farm comprised 135 acres, and still constitutes
a part of the family estate.
Mrs. Pownall with her family removed to her
present abode in April, 1901, locating on a farm of
sixteen acres, and making a very attractive home for
her family.
Henry Pownall was a farmer who made a suc-
cess of his work, and stood high in the community.
For some fifteen years he filled th,e office of school di-
rector. Both he and his wife belonged to the So-
ciety of Friends. He was politically a Republican.
SAMUEL R. MYER (deceased). For many
years the Myer family has been a prominent one in
the State of Pennsylvania. Though found among
the humbler walks in life, a number of them have
been noted as being kind neighbors, true friends,
worthy Christians, and exemplary citizens. To this
family the late Samuel R. Myer was an ornament,
and when he died on May 6, 1876, in the forty-third
year of his age, the whole community in which he
lived expressed feelings of sorrow and regret.
Samuel R. Myer was born in Upper Leacock town-
ship, Jan. 2, 1833. He was a son of Elder Joseph
and Esther (Rohrer) Myer. Joseph Myer was a
son of Jacob Myer. Jacob Myer was a son of Jo-
han Myer, the pioneer settler of the family who came
to America from Switzerland and ' founded the
Mver family iti Pennsylvania. Elder Joseph Myer
died on the old homestead in Upper Leacock town-
ship in 1892, at the age of eighty-five years. His
faithful wife preceded him to the eternal world two
years before, in the eighty-first year of her age.
Both of them were laid to rest in the old family
burial ground.
For many years Joseph Myer was a leading
farmer of the community, and at the time of his de-
cease was elder of the Conestoga congregation Of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
883
the German Baptist Church. in Lancaster county.
Elder Joseph Myer was the father of fourteen chil-
dren, and we have record of John, who is a retired
farmer of Ephrata township and an elder in the
West Conestoga Church ; Elizabeth, deceased, who
was the wife of Benjamin Staufifer; Samuel R., de-
ceased, the subject of this sketch; Daniel, a retired
farmer and machinist, residing in Lancaster ; Jacob,
who is a retired farmer of Earl township; Moses,
deceased : Maria, who married Michael Houck, liv-
ing near Landis Valley; Sarah, wife of Jonathan
Weaver, a farmer of Upper Leacock township;
Abram, who lives on the old homestead farm ; Isaac,
deceased ; Hettie, who is married to Elam Bushong,
a farmer of Upper Leacock township; and Joseph,
deceased.
Samuel R. Myer was reared on the home farm
and acquired his education in the district schools.
Until the age of nineteen years he assisted in the
various labors on his father's estate. But his tastes
ran in another direction ; so in 1852 he was employed
as clerk in Moses Eby's store at intercourse, in Lea-
cock township, Lancaster county. Several years la-
ter he moved to Bareville, and there engaged in the
mercantile business until the time of his decease.
May 6, 1876. He became a member of the German
Baptist Church in 1864. At the age of thirty-two
years, he was elected to the ministry, becoming one
of the most esteemed and able ministers of the dis-
trict. He was frequently asked to assist at funeral
services in the neighborhood, being perhaps the only
English minister among the German Baptist Breth-
ren in that district.
On Oct. 2, 1856, he married Miss Amanda Evans,
daughter of John and Eliza (Nagle) Evans. Mr.
Evans was an auctioneer, and also carried on the
butchering business near Neffsville, in Manheim
township. Later he moved to Lancaster, where he
died in 1863, at the age of sixty-four years, and was
laid to rest with his wife in the Lancaster cemetery.
To John and Eliza (Nagle) Evans were born
fourteen children, of whom. Sarah died young;
Henry also died young; Isaac (deceased) was mar-
ried to Catharine Grube, and resided in Lancaster
city at the time of his death; David was a grad-
uate of PYanklin and Marshall College, and for a
number of years superintendent of the public schools
in Lancaster county ; John, a retired drover in War-
wick township, married Susan Grosh; Frederick
(deceased) enlisted as a soldier in the Civil war;
Benjamin (deceased), a prominent butcher of Man-
heim township, married Eliza Groff; William, a
prominent retired farmer, married Elizabeth Kauff-
m.an, and now resides in Lititz, Pa. ; Charlotte mar-
ried John K. Stoner, a retired merchant living in
Lancaster city ; Anna E., unmarried, resides in Lan-
caster; Harrison died in infancy; Maria, deceased,
was the wife of Hiram Campbell, of Neffsville.
The paternal grandparents of Amanda (Evans)
Myer were residents of Lancaster county, all of
Scotch-Irish extraction. Her maternal grandpar-
ents were Frederick and Charlotte Nagle, both of
Lancaster county.
To Samuel R. and Amanda (Evans) Myer were
born twelve children : Ella E., who married J. D.
Buckwalter, and now resides in Los Angeles, Cal. ;
H. Alice, at home ; Charlotte A., who married Mar-
tin R. Shaeffer, and now resides in Bareville, Pa. ;
Caleb L., who married Ida Hunchberger, and now
resides in Los Angeles, Cal. ; Elizabeth, a teacher in
Elizabethrown College, Elizabethtown, Pa. ; Anna,
who married Samuel L. Miller, and now resides in
Philadelphia: Joseph, who died at the age of nine
months ; J. Evans, who died at the age of two years ;
Amanda, deceased, who married C. W. Guthrie, and
resided in Los Angeles, Cal. : Eva, who married W.
S. Groff, and resides in Philadelphia; Sadie, living
at home ; Samuel R., who married Carrie Saylor,
and resides in Bareville, Pennsylvania.
Miss Elizabeth Myer, one of the above named
daughters of Samuel R. Myer, taught for a number
of years in the public schools of Lancaster county.
She is now a teacher in the college at Elizabethtown,
Pa., having held this position since the establishment
of the college, Nov. 15, 1900. Elizabethtown Col-
lege is located in Elizabethtown, Lancaster Co., Pa.,
on the main line of the Pennsylvania railroad.
The town is centrally located, being eighteen
miles distant from each of four county seats, name-
ly : Harrisburg, Lancaster, York and Lebanon, and
is surrounded by one of the richest agricultural dis-
tricts in the State. This college, though under the
control and managenient of a Board of Trustees con-
sisting of men who are members of the German Bap-
tist Brethren Church, is open to all who desire to
avail themselves of its educational advantages. In
the third annual catalogue of the Elizabethtown
College may be found outlines for the following
courses of study : Literary Course, Teachers' Train-
ing Course, Commercial Course, and Bible Course.
The college building is a substantial brick struc-
ture, 45x90 feet, three stories above the basement.
It is situated on elevated ground, commanding a
magnificent view of the town, the valley and the ad-
jacent hills, and is surrounded by a campus of about
seventeen acres. The building is equipped with
modern conveniences, such as electric lights, steam
heat, toilet and bath rooms, and is a model in its
plans and arrangements for school purposes.
JOHN B. HERR. Christian Herr, Jr., was born,
Oct. 2, 1808, the son of Bishop Christian Herr, of
Pequea, and died Jan. 14, 1885. His entire life was
spent in the vicinity of Lime Valley, and in his active
years he was known as one of the leading men of
the town. For some years he was engaged in -the
distillery business, though farming was his main
occupation. Miss Susan Brockbill, who became his
wife, was born in Strasburg township, Oct. 14, 181 1,
the daughter of John Brockbill. At the time of her
death she lacked but twent5f-five days of being sev-
enty-six years old. Both she and her husband were
384
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
members of the Old Mennonite Church. They were
the parents of five children : John B., born Nov. lo,
1834 ; an infant, born March 14, 1837 ; Levi B., born
Jan. 14, 1838, a well driller in Strasburg township ;
Christian, Jr., born Sept. 22, 1840, who lives in Lan-
caster; Eliza Ann, the widow of Eby Hershy, lives
in Strasburg township.
John B. Herr was born on a farm adjoining that
he now owns and occupies, and was educated in the
district school. His rnarriage occurred Oct. 21,
1856, after which he located on the farm where he
is found at the present time. It comprises 120 acres,
and lies a mile south of Lampeter. The original
farm buildings, still standing, were greatly remod-
eled by Mr. Herr, and in 1879 he put up a thor-
oughly modern brick residence. For eighteen years
Mr; Herr has sought to retire from active business
life, but his energies have been too great to permit
it. So he is constantly on the move, and, notwith-
standing his advanced years, is ready to help
wherever he can. Mr. Herr owns a second farm of
forty-three acres in West Lampeter.
John B. Herr was married to Fannie, a daughter
of Henry and Elizabeth (Herr) Hess, of Pequea
township, who was born Dec. 9, 1836. To this union
have come seven children, (i) Christian H., born
Sept. 18, 1857, resides on the homestead, and is mar-
ried to Amanda, a daughter of Daniel Book, of West
Lampeter township, by whom he has had the follow-
ing family : Ada F., Henry B., Roy D., Christian,
Amanda, Walter, Ira, Mary, Clarence and Maud.
(2) Henry B., born July 21, 1859, married Barbara
Harnish, by whom he had six children, John B.,
Anna M., Bertha, Mary, Cora and Victor. They
live on part of the homestead, and Henry B. Herr
has always taken a lively interest in Sunday-school
from the time he attended the school conducted by
his father ; he was the founder of the Lampeter Bible
and Music School, and through his efforts the church
edifice at Lampeter was erected, where ministers of
all creeds have a free pulpit. Henry B. is the super-
intendent of the Sunday-school and is also chorister.
His work is regarded as of a high grade, and de-
serving of much consideration by the community.
(3) Milton F., born March 24, 1861, died March 31,
1864. (4) Lizzie N., born Jan. 9, 1864, married
Samuel E. Rauck, of Intercourse, by whom she has
had three children, Carrie, David and Bertha. (5)
Susan I., born May 19, 1866, died Jan. 11, 1873.
(6) John L., born Jan. 23, 1869, died Feb. 12, 1873.
(7) Anna M., born Aug. 26, 1872, is the wife of
B. D. Grofif, of West Lampeter township, and is the
mother of Lizzie, John and Fannie.
Mr. and Mrs. Herr are both members of the
Mennonite Church, as are all the children and their
families. He was the first Sunday-school superin-
tendent of the Mennonite Church of Lancaster
county, holding his position for twenty-three years
under Bishop Benjamin Herr and the Rev. Amos
Herr. 'Mr. Herr lias assisted in the organization of
many Sunday-schools, and has visited freely outside
schools that he might gain information to use in his
own work. He is a man who has done much good
in his day, and is much respected by a large circle
of friends.
WILLIAM AUGUSTUS HEITSHU, residing
at No. 512 East King street, Lancaster, is a descend-
ant in the fourth generation of Jacob Heidschuh (as
the name was originally spelled), who was born in
the Palatinate, and emigrated to this country in 1728
[Col. Rec, Vol. XVII, Second Series, p. 15], reach-
ing Philadelphia after a voyage lasting from June
15th to August 19th. Jacob Heidschuh, together
with others of his fellow immigrants, located in Lou-
doun county, Va., where he bought land and engaged
in farming. He died at that place in 1775, leaving
three sons, Jacob, Nicholas and Philip, and one
daughter, Elizabeth. Philip, the youngest son, soon
after his father's death, moved to Reading, Pa., to
live with an uncle located there, with whom he
learned the trade of, hatter. In 1784 he was married
to Catharine, daughter of Philip Rupert, who at that
time lived in Reading, but who later moved to Sun-
bury, Pa. In 1798 Philip Heitshu removed to New
Holland, Lancaster county, where he resided until
1806, when he came to Lancaster and opened a hat
factory, which business he continued until, in 1827,
he retired from trade, the business being continued
by his sons William and Daniel. He died in 1846,
at the age of eighty-two, his wife dying four years
previously. His children were: William; Daniel;
Elizabeth ; Mary, wife of Daniel Keller ; Catharine,
wife of James Russel ; Sarah, wife of Jacob Kurtz ;
Margaret; Sybilla; and Henrietta, wife of Samuel
Dorwart.
Daniel Heitshu was born in 1798, at New Hol-
land, Lancaster county, where his father, Philip,
then resided. As already stated, he, in conjunction
with his brother, William, succeeded his father in
business, and after William's retirement he conducted
the factory until 1856. In 183 1 he married Elizabeth,
daughter of George Weitzel, of Lancaster, and their
children were William Augustus, whose name opens
this sketch ; John, a farmer at Dover, Del. ; Samuel, a
wholesale druggist at Portland, Oregon ; and Harriet,
residing at No. 30 North Lime street, Lancaster.
William Augustus Heitshu, son of Daniel, was
born in Lancaster city Aug. 20, 1833. He was edu-
cated in the schools of that place, always noted for
their excellence, and there learned the hatter's trade
in his father's establishment. From 1856 to 1867 he
carried on business at No. 21 North Queen street.
He then went to Philadelphia, and engaged in the
same business for a period of seven years. Later
he removed to Brooklyn, continuing in trade in that
city, and in 1883 returning to Lancaster, where he
has since resided. Although not actively engaged in
business in recent years, Mr. Heitshu continues to
be what he always has been, a very busy man. The
management of his estate, and the exactions of the
;/..2.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
385
various charitable, educational and other organiza-
tions with which he has long been connected, have
made large demands upon his time, and have afford-
ed him a'broad field for the display of his well-known
executive abilities. He has contributed not a little to
the advancement and improvement of his native city
by the erection of superior dwelling-houses for its
rapidly growing population. His wide experience in
that direction led to his being chosen the treasurer of
the building fund for the erection of the just com-
pleted palatial Young Men's Christian, Association
building, the burden of which work largely devolved
upon him, and was most efficiently discharged. He
is, at the present time, an active member ot the build-
ing committee engaged in the erection of the new Re-
formed Church at the corner of North Duke and
Orange streets. He is also connected with the man-
agement of the Lancaster General Hospital, and has
been untiring in his efforts in behalf of that excellent
institution. Mr. Heitshu has for some years been
president of the Mechanics' Library Association of
Lancaster city, and has served at various times as
treasurer of numerous associations and organizations,
and is at the present time a member of the board of di-
rectors of the West End Building & Loan Associa-
tion.
So generally is Mr. Heitshu's faithful and un-
selfish work in every worthy public cause recognized,
that he is always among the first to be placed in man-
agement. Yet, his natural disposition is to keep in
the background, rather than to make himself prom-
inent so that only those associated with him are
aware of the extent and value of his good work in
every cause that has for its purpose the benefit and
uplifting of the community. In his quiet and un-
ostentatious way, he has done much more than many
whose deeds sound louder in the trump of fame. In
his religious affiliations he adheres to the Reformed
Church, the church of his fathers, and has for many
years held the office of elder in St. Paul's Reformed
congregation.
Mr. Heitshu responded to his country's call dur-
ing the war of the Rebellion, going to the front as a
member of the I22d Regiment, Pa. Vols., and taking
part in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chantilly and
Chancelloi sville.
In 1863 Mr. Heitshu was married to Mary,
daughter of Christopher Geiger, a well-known iron-
master in this county. She is descended from one of
three brothers named Geiger who came to America
from Germany and settled at Gibraltar, Berks county.
Of these, Anthony Geiger bought a tract of land from
John, Richard and Thomas Penn. That he reached
Berks county at least as early as 1735 is shown by a
land warrant issued to him in that year.
Christopher Geiger, son of Anthony, was born
in 1720, married Mary Robeson, and died in 1805.
Elisha Geiger, son of Christopher, was born in
1776. He married Mary Jones, daughter of Thomas
Jones, Jr., and died in 1821, leaving two sons, Chris-
topher and Elisha, and several daughters.
25
Mrs. Heitshu's father, Christopher Geiger, to-
gether with Philip and Samuel Small, of York coun-
ty, Pa., in 1840 built Manor furnace, in York county,
Pa. Later, in 1846, he, in partnership with the Small
brothers and Edward and Joseph Patterson, of Balti-
more, the brothers of Jerome Bonaparte's wife, built
the Ashland furnace in Baltimore county, Md. Still
later, in 1884, Mr. Geiger built the Sarah furnace,
in Harford county, Md., which he operated.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Heitshu has been
blessed with the follov/ing offspring : Samuel Parke,
who is connected with the engineering corps of the
Pennsylvania Railroad; William Augustus, Jr., at
present a student at Cornell University; and three
others, now deceased.
Mrs. Heitshu, like her husband, has for many
years been prominent in the community for her
many good works. She was for years president of
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of Lan-
caster, and a member of the board of managers of the
Young Women's Christian Association, and, also,
a member of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Young
Men's Christian Association. For the past six years
she has been one of the lady managers of the Home
for Friendless Children. She is active and aggres-
sive in all the duties that fall to her lot in the va-
rious schemes of benevolence that enlist her sympa-
thies and assistance. Although reared in the Pres-
byterian faith, she has united herself with St. Paul's
Reformed Church, in which she is known as a strong
and active worker in all the various organizations
connected with the church. A woman of vigorous
intellect, and an able debater, she is frequently heard
in Reformed Church and other assemblies.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Heitshu are descended from
sturdy Revolutionary ancestry. John Paul Weitzel,
the great-grandfather of Elizabeth Weitzel, Mr.
Heitshu's mother, was a native of Switzerland, and
came to America in 1742, his son Paul, a lad of
seventeen years, accompanying him. John Paul was
a baker, and young Paul learned the trade with his
father, carrying on the business after the latter's
death. He was an active business man, and took
much interest in the affairs of his adopted city. He
was one of the founders of the Julianna Library,
and built the first three-story house in Lancaster.
At the breaking out of the Revolution, he became an
active supporter of the cause of the Colonies. Six
of his sons were at one time in the patriot army;
John, as a colonel ; Paul and Casper, as captains ;
Jacob, as a lieutenant; while John Paul, a private,
was killed in the battle at Hackensack, N. J., and
Philip went with the patriot forces to the Carolinas
and was reported missing after one of the engage-
ments there. Lieut. Jacob Weitzel was a member of
the Order of the Cincinnati, and Mr. Heitshu has
his original certificate of membership, , dated Oct.
31, 1785, bearing the signatures of George Washing-
ton as president, and John Knox, as secretary, hang-
ing in his library. Paul Weitzel also had one daugh-
ter, Charlotte, who was married to Jacob Johns.
386
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Philip Rupert, the father of Catharine, wife of
PhiHp Heitshu, grandfather of WilUam A., was also
a German immigrant, coming to this country in 1754,
and locating in Reading Pa. He enlisted in the
British army during the French and Indian war,
and saw four years" active service against the French
in Canada. When the trouble between the Mother
Country and the Colonies broke out he gave his ad-
herence to the cause of the latter. As a lieutenant he
was present with the patriot forces at the capture of
the Hessians at Trenton, and also at the battle of
Princeton. He was wounded at the battle of Brandy-
wine, and closed his long and patriotic career at
Catawissa, Pa., in 1827, in his ninety-second year.
Along maternal lines, the ancestors of Mrs. Mary
(Geiger) Heitshu, the Smiths and Parkes, were of
sturdy Revolutionary stock. James and John Smith,
brothers, came to America from Scotland, bringing
with them their sister Mary, who was the grand-
mother of Robert Fulton. Col. Robert Smith,
her direct ancestor, was born on the voyage
across the Atlantic. For a period of nine
years he was the chief executive of Chester
county. In 1775 the Executive Committee, a
Colonial body, gave him a vote of thanks for
his efficient services. Rev. Thomas Jones, ancestor
of Mary Jones Geiger, mentioned above, was a na-
tive of South Wales. He came to America with two
sons. Rev. Samuel and Thomas, Jr., in 1727. The
latter settled down to a farmer's life near Sinking
Springs, Berks county, and the lands then purchased
by him are still in the family name. During the
Revolutionary struggle he served as a major in the
Pennsylvania Line, and also in various civil capaci-
ties. In those days Pennsylvania was a slave-hold-
ing State, and slaves were kept on the Jones estate.
Some thirty years ago Mrs. Heitshu saw one of these
ex-slaves, the last survivor of her great-grandfather's
lot, who had lived to reach a great age.
Mrs. Heitshu's ancestors in the Parke line came
from Ireland, in 1720, and settled at what is now
Parkesburg, Chester county, that town being named
for them. Arthur Parke, the founder of the fam-
ily in this country, came from County Donegal,
bringing with him his wife, Mary, and their four
children: Joseph, John, Samuel and a daughter,
the wife of William Noblett. They were well-to-do,
and took up several large tracts of land. Joseph
Parke, the direct ancestor, acquired a large portion
of that property. He died July 28, 1787, aged eighty-
one years ; his wife, Elizabeth, survived him thirty-
seven years, dying May 21, 1824. Their children
were Arthur, Joseph, John William, Mary, Eliza-
beth, Jane, Daniel and Samuel. The family were
Presbyterians, and gave that church five ruling
elders in as many successive generations, and four
clergymen, one of whom was Rev. Samuel Parke,
Mrs. Heitshu's grandfather. As an example of the
persistency of family characteristics along the line
of ancestral occupations, faiths and professions, it
may be stated that Samuel Parke, just mentioned,
married Martha Grier, daughter of Rev. Nathan
Grier, one of the early Presbyterian preachers of
Brandywine Manor, and whose two sons, John N. C,
of Brandywine, and Robert, of Gettysburg, and two
sons-in-law were clergymen. The old Octoraro
Presbyterian Church, near Parkesburg, was organ-
ized in 1720, and the first Arthur Parke was an elder
there;, another Arthur Parke, a direct descendant,
is an elder there today. For 175 years there has never
been wanting a Parke on the board of elders of that
church. Mrs. Heitshu has in her possession two of
the '"tokens," as they were called, which were dis-
tributed at communion in those early days in Pres-
byterian Churches to those thought worthy to par-
take of this sacrament. They are made of lead,
and somewhat resemble worn coin. ' One of these has
stamped on it the letters U. O., meaning the Upper
Octoraro Church ; the other S. R., meaning Slate
Ridge, the church where her grandfather preached
for more than forty years.
A direct descendant from two lines of Revolution-
ary sires, Mr. Heitshu has naturally gravitated into
the patriotic order of the Pennsylvania Society of
the Sons of the Revolution, as has also his son, Sam-
uel Parke Heitshu. Mrs. Heitshu's claim to mem-
bership in the order of Daughters of the American
Revolution comes through three distinct lines of an-
cestry, a somewhat unusual occurrence. She is a
member of the Donegal Chapter, and has been prom-
inent in its general affairs and management for a
number of years, and her voice is frequently heard
when the good of the order calls for active partici-
pation in the deliberations.
HENRY KURTZ BAUMGARDNER, one of
Lancaster's most prominent citizens, and a leading
coal and lumber dealer, comes of an old settled fam-
ily of the State.
Leonard Baumgardner, his great-grandfather,
was a Hessian soldier in the pay of Great Britain
during the Revolutionary war in this country, but
deserted his colors and fought under Washington.
The war ended, he settled in York, Pa., and there
passed the rest of his days, dying at the age of sev-
enty-nine years.
Thomas Baumgardner, son of Leonard, was a
prosperous and well-to-do farmer and hatter of
York, who died in 1872. He married a Miss Ray-
mond and became the father of nine children.
Henry Baumgardner, youngest in the above men-
tioned family of children, was born in York in 1821.
He acquired his education in the public schools and
in a college at Gettysburg, Pa. Having inherited a
commercial instinct from his father, he chose a busi-
ness life, and came to Lancaster, where, associated
with his brother Thomas, he engaged in the dry
goods business. Their store was on the site at pres-
ent occupied by Hirsh & Bro., and they met with
great success. In 1852 Thomas retired, but Henry
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
387
continued in the dry goods business, and was soon
one of the leaders in that line in the city. He was
connected -vt'ith various other enterprises in the city,
and his name is still associated with the coal trade,
so great a success did he make in that line. For years
he was president of the Reading Gas Co., which he
helped to organize. He was one of the founders of
the First National Bank, in which he was a stock-
holder and a director, and he was also a director in
the Lancaster Trust Co. He was connected with
the Hubley Manufacturing Co. and the Lancaster
Construction Co. These concerns were all in Lan-
caster, but his interests were not bounded by his home
county, and he was interested in the concrete paving
company, Filbert & Co., of Philadelphia, and for ten
years he operated large cordage works in Beverly,
New Jersey.
Politically, Henry Baumgardner was a Republi-
can, and served on the school board and in the city
council. In his religious belief he was a Lutheran,
and belonged to St. John's congregation. He was a
liberal contributor to the charitable enterprises of all
denominations, and a firm believer in the work of
the Y. M. C. A. Fraternally, he was a Mason,
uniting with the order in 1852, and becoming Wor-
shipful Master of Lodge No. 43, A. Y. M., in 1858
and 1864. He helped to organize Lamberton Lodge,
and for ten years was its treasurer. From 1875 to
1880 he was district deputy grand master.
In 1846 Henry Baumgardner was united in mar-
riage with Anna Louisa Kurtz, by whom he had
children as follows : One that died in infancy ;
Thomas, who died in infancy; Clara, wife of Rev.
Ruf us W. Hufford, D. D., of Reading ; Henry Kurtz ;
Anna Mary, who married J. F. Cross, of East Or-
ange, N. j'. The mother died Nov. 22, 1875. For
his second wife Mr. Baumgardner married Mary
Salina Prosser, widow of Jay Caldwell. Mourned
not alone by his family but by a wide circle of ac-
quaintances, who esteemed him for his many virtues,
Henry Baumgardner entered into rest May 30, 1898.
Henry Kurtz Baumgardner, the subject proper
of these lines, was born Jan. 29, 1851, in Lancaster,
Pa., and received his education in part at the public
schools of the city, in part at Franklin and Mar-
shall Academy. On concluding his studies he re-
moved to Beverly, N. J., where he became associ-
ated with Baumgardner, Woodward & Co., in an
extensive rope and cordage factory, his connection
with that firm extending to the long period of twen-
ty-one years, at the end of which time, the plant
having been sold to the National Cordage Co., of
New York, Mr. Baum.gardner returned to Lancas-
ter. Here, in the fall of 1888, he entered into part-
nership with his father-in-law, B. B. Martin, in the
coal and lumber trade, under the firm name of B. B.
Martin & Co. On Jan. t, 1902, the firm of B. B.
Martin & Co. was incorporated into a stock com-
pany, called the B. B. Martin Co., and Mr. Baum-
gardner became its president and treasurer, he own-
ing the controlling interest. In August, 1891, Mr.
Martin died, leaving Mr. Baumgardner sole proprie-
tor of the business, which is one of the most exten-
sive of its kind in the city. In the latter part of 1900
he erected a new office building on North Charlotte
street, one of the finest and most commodious coal
and lumber offices in the city. Our subject in poli-
tics is a Republican.
In 1877 Mr. Baumgardner was married to Miss
Lilly Elizabeth Martin, daughter of the late B. B.
Martin, in his day one of the best known and most
influential men in Lancaster, one of whom it may be
said was the pioneer in the erecting of elegant sub-
urban hom.es in the West End of the city, a section
he helped in a marked degree to develop. Mr. Baum-
gardner is identified with St. John's Lutheran
Church, being a member of the church council, and
for some years served as superintendent of the Sun-
day-school. Fraternally he is affiliated with Lam-
berton Lodge, No. 407 F. & A. M. He is treasurer
of and stockholder in the Hubley Manufacturing
Co., artd an active member of the Lancaster Board
of Trade. He is justly regarded as one of Lancas-
ter's influential citizens, and is popular alike in busi-
ness, church and social circles.
CHRISTIAN G. SHERK. Among the prom-
inent and successful agriculturists of Mt. Joy town-
ship is Christian G. Sherk, a well-known citizen, and
also an old soldier of the Civil war.
Mr. Sherk was born in West Hempfield town-
ship, Oct. 25, 1841, a son of John R. and Catherine
( Gochenauer ) Sherk, the former of West Hempfield
township, and the latter a native of Lancaster coun-
ty. The father died in West Hempfield, where he
was a farmer and a school director for a number of
years, his death occurring in 1868, at the age of
fifty-three; the mother only lived to be thirty-five,
her death occurring in 1852. They were buried in
the Sherk burying ground, a private family ceme-
tery. They were members of the Old Mennonite
Church and lived up to the belief of that organiza-
tion, in peace and charity with all men. Their chil-
dren were : Martha, who died when young ; Sarah
A., deceased ; Christian G. ; Mary A., who married
M. L. Greider, of Mt. Joy ; Emanuel S., who died in
1878, at the age of thirty-three ; Elizabeth, who mar-
ried Dr. G. W. Bernheisel, of Columbia, Pa. ; Elias,
who died in infancy; and Elias (2), who also died
in infancy.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. Sherk, were
Christian and Magdelina (Rohrer) Sherk, who were
married in 1807, in West Hempfield township, where
he was a man of wealth and owned large tracts of
land. The great-grandfather was Joseph Sherk,
born in 1734, who married in 1755, Susan Strickler.
The maternal grandparents were Henry and Eliza-
beth (Rohrer) Gochenauer, of Lancaster county,
the former of whom married Elizabeth Reigle for
liis second wife.
Christian G. Sherk was reared on the farm and
earlv became well instructed in the practical man-
388
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
agement of a large estate; when he was about six-
teen years old, however, he accompanied his parents
to Mt. Joy, where they remained from 1856 to 1865.
He enlisted, Sept. 20, t86i, in Co. C, 77th P. V. I.,
Tinder Col. S. C. Stumbaugh, and was discharged
Oct. II, 1864.
After the return of his father to the farm, Chris-
tian remained with him for several years, but then
moved to a farm of his own, in West Hempfield
township, engaging there in general farming for
five years ; in 1872 he returned to Mt. Joy. There
he again resumed farming and for a few months
conducted a butchering business, but later confined
himself exclusively to looking after his agricultural
interests.
Mr. Sherk was united in marriage in Lancaster
county, on Nov. 2, 1865, to Elmira E. Detwiler, who
was born on her old family homestead, a daughter
of Joseph Detwiler, of Mt. Joy. Two daughters
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sherk : Anna, who
married Dr. Samuel S. P. Lytle, a dentist of Mt. Joy,
Pa.; and Lucy, who died young. Mr. Sherk votes
independently, as his judgment directs, is a consist-
ent member of the U. B. Church; for twelve years
has been an efficient school director in Mt. Joy bor-
ough, and is a man who enjoys the respect and es-
teem of the community.
MAJOR BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BRENE-
MAN, of the well-known firm of Flinn & Brene-
man, leading house furnishers, Lancaster, is, by
virtue of his exalted business position and his social
qualities and functions, well entitled to prominent
mention in this work.
Melchoir Breneman, the first of the family in
this country, came from Switzerland, landing Sept.
17, 1717, in Pennsylvania. Here he took up a
grant of 700 acres of land from the Penns, this
land lying just south of Lancaster, on both sides
of Mill creek. Subsequently he took up two other
grants of land of 90 and 125 acres, respectively.
Major Breneman's descent from Melchoir is
through Adam, Henry, Henry (2) (who was a
Mennonite preacher as well as a farmer), and
Benjamin, the last named being the Major's father.
Benjamin Breneman, who was a prosperous
merchant of Camargo,. this county, married Susan,
daughter of Christian Herr, one of the largest
landowners and most prominent citizens of the
southwestern part of Pennsylvania,- whose landed
estates were located in East Lampeter township,
this county. Some of these ancestral acres near
Strasburg are still in the possession of- Major
Breneman, being a legacy from his mother.
Christian Herr married a daughter of Capt. John
Withers, of Revolutionary fame, the latter having
been one of the three sons born to Augustine
Wither (as the name was then spelled). These
three sons, Michael, John and Qeorge, were
prominent in the Revolution. Michael Withers
was a manufacturer of firearms in Lampeter town-
ship. His muskets and rifles were celebrated, and
were used by the soldiers of the Revolutionary
war. He was elected a member of the Committee
of Correspondence from Strasbtirg township Nov.
22, 1774. Capt. John Withers was born Dec. 24,
1729, and died Dec. 24, 1813. In the business
world the three brothers were also prominent as
men of wealth and enterprise, owning a large body
of land. They built the Sadsbury forges in 1800;
Mt. Eden furnace, which went into blast in 1809;
and Conowingo furnace, in Drumore township, in
1810.
To Benjamin and Susan (Herr) Breneman were
born three sons and one daughter, the latter of
whom died in childhood. The sons were: Chris-
tian H., at one time a member of the firm of F.
Shroder & Co., proprietors of the Conestoga
Cotton Mills; Henry. H., who was in the wall-
paper business in Cincinnati; arid Benjamin Frank-
lin.
Major Benjamin F. Breneman was born in
Camargo, Lancaster Co., Pa., and received his
education in the district schools of the locality of ■
his birth, and at the Strasburg Academy. His
first employment was as a clerk in the dry-goods
establishment of the late R. E. Fahnestock, of
Lancaster, after which he became associated with
his brother in the Camargo Mfg. Co., whose
paper-mill was located at Camargo. Associated
with one of his brothers, he then estabhshed a
branch business in Cincinnati. Thence, after con-
ducting that concern some four or five years, the
Major removed to St. Louis, and for a time en-
gaged in the cotton business in that city. Return-
ing, however, to Cincinnati, he concluded, after a
brief sojourn there, to engage in business in New
York, and accordingly betook himself thither, and
spent a year on Wall street. From New York he
came to Lancaster and in 1868 entered into partner-
ship with the late A. C. Flinn, in the stove and
heating business, under the firm name of Flinn &
Breneman. In 1880 Major Breneman sold his-
interest in the business to George B. Willson, and
spent a year or more in foreign travel ; then return-
ing to Lancaster, he bought back his interest from
Mr. Willson, and the firm has since continued as
Flinn & Breneman. In 1895 the Major took
another trip to Europe, and brought back many
souvenirs of his visit, besides delightful and en-
tertaining experiences.
At all times an ardent and active Republican,
Major Breneman has, nevertheless, neither sought
nor accepted public office. At one time he was
president of the Lancaster Board of Trade, and
assisted in the organization of two such boards in
that city. In religious faith he is a member of St.
James Episcopal Church, at Lancaster, and was a
vestryman in same for a number of years. Socially
he has been president of the Hamilton Club since
its organization, twelve years ago, having been one
of its incorporators. He was the seventh president
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
389
of the famous Five O'clock Club, of Philadelphia,
and is still a member 'of same ; an interesting sketch
of his life, together with a portrait of him, appears
in the history of that club, published some years
ago. The Major has been a member of the Union
League Club of Philadelphia for twenty-five
years; was one of the original members of the
Manufacturers' Club of Philadelphia; and one of
the original members of the old Masonic Club of
that city, which club has passed out of existence.
For years he was a director of the Lancaster Fire
Insurance Company; was one of the organizers of
the Lancaster Mfg. Co.; was a director of
the Lancaster & Quarryville Railroad; was a
promoter of and stockholder in the "Stevens House"
Company of Lancaster; was a director and presi-
dent of the Lancaster Watch Company; a director
of the Pennsylvania Traction Company; interested
in the New Holland Railway, and a director of the
New Holland & Lancaster Traction Company; is
interested in the traction companies of Lancaster
generally; and, in fact, for the past twenty years,
has been identified with every movement tending
to the advancement and improvement of the city
and its people.
If, however, the Major is more prominent in
one direction than in another, it is in Masonry, and
from The Keystone, a Masonic publication, we
glean the following:
Eminent Sir B. Frank Breneman was made a
Mason on May 12, 1869, in Lodge No. 43, in
Lancaster, Pa.,' and elected W. M. of the lodge on
Dec. 10, 1873. On April 27, 1870, he received the
capitular degrees in R. A. Chapter, No. 43, and
was elected M. E. High Priest, Dec. 22, 1875. He
received the Cryptic degrees in Goodwin Council,
No. IQ, Tune i,'i870, and the degrees of Order of
the Red "^ Cross and of the Temple in Lancaster
Commandery, No. 13, stationed at Lancaster,
April 28, 1874. Sir Breneman was elected
Eminent Commander of Lancaster Commandery
on .\pril 29, 1875-. .After having served as
Grand Sword Bearer from 1878 to 1882,
Major Breneman, on June 12, 1882, was
elected R. E. Grand Commander of the Grand
Commandery of Kniglits Templar, of Pennsyl-
vania, which distinguished station he held with
honor to himself. During his administration
occurred, on Oct. 26, 1882, the grand Templar dis-
play in connection with the Bi-Centennial celebra-
tion of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. On
this occasion R. E. Sir Breneman displayed great
energy and ability in the conduct of the Templar
pageant, and has just cause to feel proud of the
eminent success of the Templar day, which was
universally acknowledged to have been the day of
the Bi-Ce'ntennial Celebration.
Major Breneman was also District Deputy
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania,
from 1880 to 1882. The eminent service that
Major Breneman has rendered Freemasonry in its
Ancient Craft, Capitular and Templar branches
entitles him to the praise of a devoted and earnest
craftsman.
Major Breneman earns his title through having
been an ordnance officer on the staff of Gen. Frank
Reed, of the National Guard. His home, a delight-
ful and commodious residence, stands at' the corner
of East Orange and Lime streets, Lancaster, and
there also reside his brother's widow, Mrs. Louisa
A. Breneman, and her only daughter, the wife of
Leon Von Ossko, an artist of considerable repute,
whose work has attracted marked attention in New
York and other art centers.
JACOB WISE, a general farmer of Salisbury
township, was born Oct. 11, 1839, ^^ Leacock town-
ship, son of ]\Iichael and Maria (Miller) Wise, the
former of Upper Leacock and the latter of West
Earl township.
Michael Wise was a blacksmith by trade and
worked at this during his early life, but later became
a farmer; prior to his death, he removed into the
village of Gap, where he died in 1887, at the age of
eighty years. His widow lived until 1892, dying at
the age of seventy-seven years. Both parents were
interred in the cemetery at Gap, and both had been
consistent members of the Presbyterian Church.
Their children were as follows : Mary A., deceased
wife of Amos Townsend; George, a resident of
Braddock, Pa. ; Jacob ; Henry, Isaac and Reuben,
deceased ; Sarah, who married Edmond McCachren,
of Philadelphia ; Harriet, who • married Elias Mc-
Cachren, of Columbia ; Levi, a farmer and black-
smith at Gap, *Pa. ; Susannah, deceased wife of
Christian Shank; Michael, of Cochranville ; John,
deceased ; Adam, a farmer of Salisbury township ;
and Clara, married to August Henness, of Atglen,
Pa. The paternal grandfather was Jacob Wise, a
carpenter of Leacock township ; and the maternal
grandfather was George Miller, also a carpenter in
Lancaster county.
Jacob Wise remained assisting his father on the
farm until he reached his legal majority. He be-
c:ame interested in the threshing business and fol-
lowed it for three j'ears in partnership with his
brother George. His first farm was that known as
the Frantz place, in Salisbury township, where he
worked for one year very successfully. The follow-
ing year he alternated according to the season, be-
tween the fish and the threshing business, axid then
purchased an adjoining farm and operated that for
eighteen years. After jjuying the present fine farm,
he moved his residence to it and now carries on the
work of both. Few men are better posted as to agri-
cultural matters than Mr. Wise. The best years of
his life have been devoted to this work and he is gen-
erally regarded as a very excellent farmer. In poli-
tics he has been a lifelong Democrat. With his
family he belongs to the Presbyterian Church, to
which he is a liberal contributor.
In September, 1862, in Lancaster, Mr. Wise was
390
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
united in marriage with Miss Margaret Ann Mc-
Neal, who was born in Sunflower, Bart township,
in 1843, a sister of Samuel McNeal, of Salisbury-
township. The children bom to Mr. and Mrs. Wise
were the following: Thomas M., a farmer in Ches-
ter county, who married Lucinda Futer, and has
eight children ; Mary R., who married George H.
Stern, in the creamery business in Chester county,
and who has two children ; Catherine M., who mar-
ried Rev. H. F. McNelly, a minister in the United
Brethren Church at Pottstown, and has two chil-
dren; William W., in the creamery business in
Chester county; Charles H., a farmer in Salisbury
township, who married Mary Rissel, and has two
children ; Edmund McC, a farmer in Salisbury
township, who married Hannah Henry and has one
child; John M., at home; Cora J., who married
Leonard Pickel, a farmer in Chester county, and has
one child; Jacob P., a moulder at Pottstown; and
George P., Ida M. and Samuel P., at home.
The family is one that is most highly respected
in Salisbury township, where it is prominent in
social life. Mr. Wise is one of the reliable citizens
M'ho are representative men.
JAMES MITCHELL JENKS, the senior mem-
ber of the well-known firm of J. M. Jenks & Co.,
manufacturing jewelers, located at the corner of
Queen street and Centre Square, is one of the lead-
ing men m the commercial life of Lancaster, as well
as one of the most popular in social circles.
The founder of the Jenks family in America was
Lady Jenks, who came to Pennsylvania from Eng-
land in company with the Penns, locating in Phila-
delphia. Of the same religious belief as were the
Penns, she wished to have religious liberty and re-
solved to make her home in the goodly land to which
they had come. All of the tract now occupied by
Kensington, Philadelphia, was ceded to the son of
Lady Jenks, by the Penns. Other illustrious names
appear in the ancestry of James Mitchell Jenks, as
his maternal grandmother, was a Miss Stockton, a
cousin of Commodore Stockton, and his grandfather
was Daniel Trimble Jenks, who settled in Bucks
county and established, at Newtown, a woolen mill.
This property passed out of the possession of the
family as late as 1897, at the death of the grand-
mother of Mr. Jenks, she having lived to the unusual
age of ninety-three.
Abraham Stockton Jenks, the father of James
Mitchell Jenks, was for many years a member of the
prominent Philadelphia wholesale dry-goods firm of
Harper & Jenks, and. for twenty-nine years was
connected with the board of education from the First
district of Philadelphia. His death occurred sev-
eral years ago, and he was a man universally re-
spected and beloved. His wife, who had been Miss
Rosanna Montgomery, a daughter of Hillman Mont-
gomery, a linen worker, from the north of Ireland,
who settled in New Terse)', survived him for a time.
Three children were born to this union : Daniel
Trimble and Mary Stockton, both of whom have
passed away; and James Mitchell, of Lancaster.
James M. Jenks was born in Philadelphia, March
25, 1849, and was educated in the public schools of
that city until he reached the age of thirteen, when
an adventurous spirit took him to Colorado, and
there he was engaged by Wells, Fargo & Co., as a
stage driver, freighting on the Plains for four years,
during which time the lad developed both physically
and mentally. He returned to the East in the fall of
1869, and soon after he connected himself with the
firm of Warn Bros., at No. 712 Chestnut street,
Philadelphia, in the jewelry trade, and remained with
that firm for nine years, as buyer and as traveling
salesman. His next business connection was with
a New York City jewelry commission house, with
which he remained six years, coming then to Lan-
caster. Here he was engaged as traveling salesman
for the great manufacturing jewelry house of Zahm,
and for the past nineteen years has been connected
with it, buying the business in March, 1899, and
changing its name to the present firm title of J. M.
Jenks & Co.
For thirty-five years, Mr. Jenks has made period-
ical trips through the country from New York to
San Francisco, supplying jewelry to an immense
trade. The Zahm plant was offered for sale by Mrs.
Clara Zahm, and when, on March 18, 1899, Mr.
Jenks became its owner, he associated with him in
the business, Louis Sondheimer as partner, and since
that time the business has increased and become
known all over the world. The specialty of this
house is Alasonic and other fraternity marks, but it
also does a general jewelry making business, there
being absolutely nothing that can be manufactured
out of gold that it does not make. To be the head of
a great business like this requires great good judg-
ment and an intimate knowledge in many connecting
lines, and that Mr. Jenks is thoroughly qualified is
proved by his prosperity.
In 1S76 Mr. Jenks was married to Miss Rosa
Hughes, daughter of Arthur Hughes, of South-
wark, Philadelphia, and one daughter, Mary Stock-
ton, has been born to this union. Mr. Jenks is a
thirty-second degree Mason, and in politics is a
stalwart Republican. As an agreeable member of
social circles, he is highly valued, his constant travel
having given him a fund of anecdote, and a broad
and liberal tone that make of him one of the most
desirable companions and delightful hosts.
JACOB C. FORREY, an extensive farmer and
well-known citizen of Manor township, Lancaster
county. Pa., who lives on his homestead of 132 acres
one mile and a half south of Mountville, was born
in West Hempfield township, June 15, 1842, and is
a son of Jacob and Mary (Copenheffer) Forrey,
both from highly respected families of Lancaster
county.
Jacob C. Forrey was reared to agricultural pur-
suits on the old homestead, was educated in the pub-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
391
lie schools, and at twenty-one years of age began
farming on his own account on his present farm in
Manor tovvnship. This place has subsequently been
improved in every respect and is acknowledged by
all to be one of the best homesteads in the county.
General farming is carried on, and the well-culti-
vated fields are the pride of the neighborhood.
In 1862 Jacob C. Forrey married Miss Elizabeth
Eshleman, daughter of Benjamin Eshleman, of
West Hempfield township, and this marriage has
been fruitful in the birth of ten children, viz. : Mary,
Emma, Alice, Annie, Jacob, Benjamin and John, all
still under the shelter of the parental home ; Harry, a
conductor on an electric railway at Columbia and
married to Mary Walker; Lillie, wife of Abraham
Crider, of West Hempfield; and Fannie, deceased.
The Forrey family are among the most respected
of the residents of Manor township and worship at
the Mennonite Church ; while Jacob C. Forrey is an
active Republican in politics, he has been contented
to pursue the even tenor of his way as a farmer, re-
gardless of public office.
REV. JAMES YOUNG MITCHELL, D. D.,
is the popular pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church, at Lancaster, the impress of his strong
personality having been felt in the city for more than
twenty-five years.
His parents came to this country from County
Derry, Ireland, in 1828, landing in New York, but
going on to Philadelphia, where the husband and
father engaged in the manufacture of cotton and
woolen goods. His business in Ireland had been
that of a linen manufacturer. He was very success-
ful and was able to retire in 1857. Twenty-four
years later he died, and his widow, whose maiden
name was Elizabeth Young, followed him to a blessed
reward in 1884. Five children were born to them,
all of whom lived to mature years, but only two of
whom are now living: Mrs. Martha Graham, the
widow of the late Robert Graham, of Philadelphia;
and Dr. James Young, of Lancaster.
Rev. James Young Mitchell, D. D., the eloquent
Presbyterian clergyman, was educated in the public
schools of Philadelphia, and when within six months
of finishing the course in the High school, left that
institution to enter the Newark (Del.) Academy to
prepare for Delaware College. This was in 1850,
and after passing through the Freshman and Sopho-
more years of that school, he in 1852 repaired to
Union College, at Schenectady, N. Y., then under the
presidencv of Eliphalet Nott, widely known as a
leading educator in a former generation. From this
school Mr. Mitchell was graduated in 1854, with
valedictory honors. For three years he studied in the
Princeton Theological Seminary, and was then
licensed by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and, lo-
catmg at Phillipsburg, N. J., was ordained July 14,
1857-
The church at Phillipsburg was unfinished, and
the congregation much in debt. Mr. Mitchell com-
pleted the erection of the building, and secured the
removal of the debt, working there very effectively
until 1862. That year he accepted a call' to what
was then known as the Central Presbyterian Church
of the Northern Liberties in Philadelphia. Here,
too, he secured the payment of a heavy debt, and
selling the church to the Reformed Congregation,
Mr. Mitchell and his congregation secured a build-
ing site at the corner of Franklin and Thompson
streets, where they erected a large structure, which
was known as the Temple Church. This location
was within two squares of where Dr. Mitchell was
born, and his father, mother and family were mem-
bers of his church, his trustees and elders being from
among those with whom he had gone to school and
played in boyhood. He continued a very pleasant
and harmonious pastorate with this people for about
fifteen years.
Dr. Mitchell accepted a call to the First Presby-
terian Church in Lancaster, in July, 1876, and since
that time has worked in the pastorate in this city.
His church building has been twice remodeled, an
elegant chapel erected, one misson church estab-
lished, and one organized. One of these, the Me-
morial Presbyterian Church, is now an independent
church society, though it was a mission from 1869
to 1885. The other mission is that of the Bethany
chapel, a beautiful structure on West End avenue,
where an interesting Sunday-school is now con-
ducted. The mother church, under the pastoral care
of Dr. Mitchell, has with all this extension more than
doubled its active membership.
In 1858 Dr. Mitchell was married to Miss Hen-
rietta Michler, a daughter of Peter S. and Mary
(Howell) Michler, of Easton, Pa. Her father was
largely interested in coal and iron in the Lehigh Val-
ley. From this union were born seven children, all
of whom but two reached maturity. These children
were: James, a sketch of whom appears below;
Mary Howell, who married H. H. Hoyt, of Mil-
waukee, Wis., and has six children, (Lansing W.,
J. Mitchell, Henrietta M., Howard H., Gerald and
Olive) ; Elizabeth and A. Lincoln, who both died in
childhood ; Martha Graham, who became the wife of
Col. Crane, of the U. S. army, and died in Cuba,
Feb. 4, i8qo, universally regretted, leaving two chil-
dren, William Cary and James Mitchell, whO' live
with their grandparents : Warren, a civil engineer,
now in the service of the Penn Coal Gas Co. ; and
Henrietta, married to J. A. Maxwell, and now living
in Lancaster.
Dr. Mitchell, who was a student of elocution un-
der the great James E. Murdock, is recognized as in
the first ranks of pulpit orators. His pulpit presence
is fine, his oratory brilliant, and his grasp of religious
themes thorough and comprehensive. The sermons
which he delivers draw large congregations, and se-
cure the earnest attention of the most thoughtful and
cultivated people of the community, often being
spread before the public in the daily press. His mind
is distinctively literary, and among his earliest ef-
392
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
forts was the writing of a history of his church in
Philadelphia. He was a strong advocate of the
Union cause during the Civil war, and his voice was
often heard in earnest defense of the Nation.
Dr. Mitchell has repeatedly been moderator of
the Presbyteries to which he belongs, and was the
last inoderator of the old historic Synod of Phila-
delphia. Seven times he was a commissioner to the
general assembly, and has been president of the Lan-
caster Ministerial Association, serving the Lancaster
City Bible Society in the same capacity. With all
these labors he has found time to be a good citizen,
and to take a deep interest in the public questions of
the day, making the influence of his faith felt in his
relation to the life around him.
JAMES MITCHELL, M. D., eldest son of Rev.
James Y. Mitchell, D. D., whose history as well as
that of his ancestry, is given above, has had a re-
markable career.
James Mitchell was born Oct. lo, 1859, ^t Phil-
lipsburg, N. J., where his father was then stationed,
and when only two or three years old removed with
his parents to Philadelphia. There he attended the
public schools and was graduated from the Rugby
Academy, after which his parents removed to Lan-
caster, and he entered the class of 1880 in Franklin
and Marshall College. After graduating from the
latter institution Mr. Mitchell entered the Medical
Department of the University of Pennsylvania, from
which he was graduated in 1883, receiving dis-
tinguished mention for his thesis. Immediately after
his graduation from the University Dr. Mitchell
was elected, after competitive examination, to the
position of physician of the Philadelphia (formerly
Blockley) Hospital, the first competitive examina-
tion' held by that institution ; and he also passed the
examination for the Presbyterian Hospital. The
Doctor thus became resident physician of the Phila-
delphia Hospital from 1883 to 1884 ; and of the Pres-
byterian Hospital from 1884 to 1885, at the expira-
tion of which time he opened an office in Phila-
delphia for the general practice of medicine and sur-
gery. During this time he was elected visiting phy-
sician of the Presbyterian Hospital, and assistant
surgeon to the Wills Eye Hospital, and to the Ear,
Nose and Throat Dispensary of the Pennsylvania
Hospital.
When the Spanish-American war broke out in
1898, Dr. Mitchell was commissioned as first lieuten-
ant assistant surgeon to the 9th U. S. Vol. Inf., and
after a few months was commissioned major sur-
"■eon. At the end of ten months he was mustered out
with his regiment, at Camp Meade, and was then
made assistant surgeon in the United States Army,
being ordered to the Philippines. There he was
with Gen. Lawton, and directly attached to Gen.
Young's division, 8th Army Corps, serving in the
lield with the 4th U. S. Cav., and participating in
nineteen engagements, after which he was stationed
with the 32nd and 35th U. S. Inf., and also with the
13th and 17th, and he served eighteen months in
northern Luzon and other islands. During his last
year in the Philippines Dr. Mitchell had charge of
the United States government hospitals at Orion and
Bautista, the latter the base of hospital operations;
there were thirteen posts connected therewith, and
six other surgeons. Going to the Philippines Dr.
Mitchell visited Japan on the "City of Sydney," and
returned on the LTnited States steamship "Indiana,"
having 520 sick and 250 disabled and discharged
soldiers on board. Two days were spent at Hono-
lulu on the way to San Francisco. The Doctor re-
signed from the government service in April, 1901,
arid in September, of that year, opened a suite of
most elegantly furnished and completely equipped
offices at No. 164 King street, Lancaster, where he
is now located in the general practice of medicine
and surgery.
Dr. Mitchell is a member of the Phi Delta Theta
fraternity, and of the Philadelphia County Medical
Society, the Philadelphia Pathological Society, arid
the Lancaster Pathological Society. He is also a
member of Lancaster Lodge, No. 134, B. P. O. E.
Having a most pleasing personality, coupled with
his remarkable experiences in various hospitals and
in the field, his location in Lancaster will be hailed as
a blessing to the community.
EDWIN LESHER REINHOLD, president of
the Pennsylvania Construction Company and general
contractor, at Marietta, Pa., was born in the city of
Lancaster April i, 1847, ^^^ is a son of Rev. Jacob
and Mary (Lesher) Reinhold, natives of Lancaster
county.
Jacob Reinhold died at the age of seventy-two
years, and was one of the substantial and most
highly respected business men of the city, where his
widow, who was born in 1824, still resides. The chil-
dren born to Jacob and Mary Reinhold numbered
five, and were born in the following order: Eliza-
beth, wife of George Brindle ; Mary, married to J.
W. Byrne ; Edwin L., whose name opens this article ;
Anna, wife of Prof. C. H. Nagle ; and Susan, wife
of W. C. Eichler.
The paternal grandparents of Edwin L. Rein-
hold were Henry and Mary Reinhold, the former of
whom was a justice of the peace for many years.
His ancestor, Christopher Reinhold, was born near
the city of Heilbronn, Wurtemberg, Germany, April
10, 1728, and was a scrivener by profession. He
sailed for America in 1753, and settled in Lancaster
county. He served in the 2d Regiment, Continental
Line, in the Revolutionary war.
Mr. Reinhold's maternal grandparents were John
and Mary (Miller) Lesher, natives of East Cocalico
township, the former a descendant of Nicholas
Lesher, who was naturalized in January, 1729.
Edwin L. Reinhold was educated in the city ot
Lancaster, and at an early age was engaged in the
hardware business with his father. In 1871 he be-
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
393
came a member of the firm of Becker & Reinhold,
and operated a rolling mill at Chickies, and for six
years managed the Marietta Hollow Ware & Enamel-
ing Company, of which he was one of the principal
organizers. He was also active in the organization
of the Northern Market House, in Lancaster, the
Pennsylvania Electric Company, the Pennsylvania
Monument Association, and the Pennsylvania Con-
struction Company (a very successful business en-
terprise).
In June, 1870, in Marietta, Mr. Reinhold married
Miss Isabella H. Becker, who has borne him seven
children, viz. : Edwin B. (a member of the Pennsyl-
vania Construction Company), Anna B., Ethel B.,
John Jay, Jessie M., Albert C, and Paul, all with the
exception of the eldest still under the parental roof.
Mrs. Isabella H. (Becker) Reinhold was born four
miles from Lititz, Pa., and is a daughter of John and
Anna (Hoover) Becker, of Donegal township, Lan-
caster county. John Becker settled in Chickies in
1852, and conducted a rolling mill until his death,
Aug. 3, 1893, ^t the age of seventy-six years; his
remains were interred in the Marietta cemetery ; his
widow, who was born in 1824, is still a resident of
Chickies. Their family consisted of six children,
viz. : Catherine, wife of Harry Stauffer, of Mt. Joy ;
Nathan, who died in infancy ; Isabella H., now Mrs.
Reinhold; Norman, who died at the age of three
years ; Emma, wife of Owen Bricker, an attorney
at Lancaster, and Fremont, a clerk in Marietta. The
paternal grandparents of Mrs. Reinhold were Henry
and Mary Becker, who were agricitltural people of
Lancaster county, and the original homestead in
Warwick township, purchased from William Penn,
is still in the possession of the Becker family. The
maternal grandparents of Mrs. Reinhold were Mi-
chael and Sarah Hoover, of Donegal township, and
the family homestead, also purchased from William
Penn, is still in the possession of the descendants.
Politically Edwin L. Reinhold is one of the most
popular Republicans in Lancaster county. In 1884
he was elected a delegate to the Republican National
Convention at Chicago, and in 1888 was elected re-
corder of deeds of Lancaster county, having received
22,000 votes'. He is very active in promoting his
party's interest on all occasions.
Fraternally Mr. Reinhold is a Master Mason, a
Knight of Pythias, and a member of the Order of the
Golden Eagle and of the Benevolent & Protective
Order of Elks. Religiously, all the Reinhold family
are members of the Episcopal Church, and are highly
respected in the community. As a business man iVir.
Reinhold bears a name that has never been im-
peached.
F-DWIN BECKER REINHOLD, member of
the Pennsvlvania C9nstruction Company, general
contractors, at Marietta, Pa., was born at Chickies,
East Donegal township, Lancaster Co., Pa., July 27,
1872, and is a son of Edwin L. and Isabella H.
(Becker) Reinhold.
Mr. Reinhold was educated in the public schools
of Marietta and at the Millersville State Normal
School, after leaving which he entered the office
and laboratory of the Chickies Iron Company, where
he remained four years. As designing was to him
a natural gift, he entered the draughting department
of the Fenton Art Metallic Company. On his re-
turn to Marietta he joined his father and Hon. H.
Burd Cassel in the organization of the Pennsylvania
Construction Company, which became an extensive
and lucrative business. He is also a director in the
Exchange Bank, Pennsylvania Electric Company,
Pennsylvania Monument Association, and Electric
Light Company.
In October, 1898, at Springfield, Ohio, Mr. Rein-
hold married Miss Delle Downey, a native of that
city, and daughter of William C. and Frances ( Sny-
der) Dbwney. Mr. Downey was at the head of a
Steel Wire Manufacturing- Company, and is now liv-
ing in retirement. Mr. and Mrs. Reinhold are mem-
bers of the Episcopal Church, and are held in high
esteem.
In politics Mr. Reinhold is an ardent Republi-
can, but has never aspired for any office. During
Gov. Hastings' Administration, he was appointed
designer of the art metal work in the Capitol build-
ings.
AMOS H. HERR, one of the most prominent
citizens of Neffsville, Manheim township, is a direct
descendant of Hans Herr, the founder of the fam-
ily in Lancaster county, is the son of Henry and
Catherine (Herr^ Herr and the grandson of
Frederick Herr, who was born in Manor township.
The father of Catherine Herr was a son of John
Herr.
Frederick Herr, the paternal grandfather, died
when his son Henry was only about two years old,
thus throwing him at a very early age among
strangers. Henry grew to manhood and worked
for farmers. When a young man he was employed
by his uncle at six dollars a month. After his mar-
riage he began farming, renting a place of his fa-
ther-in-law, Abraham Herr, in Manor township,
which he later bought. It comprised 162 acres, two
miles west of Millersville, and there he spent his
life. Success attended his operations, and he bought
other farms, until he owned at one time 417 acres
of very desirable land. Beginning life with $700,
from this small capital he accumulated a very con-
siderable fortune. When he died, in 1884, he was
eighty-three years old, and was a member of the
German Baptist Church. Catherine (Herr) Herr,
was born in 1805, and died at the age of fifty-nine
years. She was the mother of the following fam-
ily: Mary, the wife of Martin Bear, who- is living
near Sterling, 111. ; Tobias, who died in January,
1901, for many yeairs a farmer and a minister in
the German Baptist Church; Henry, a resident of
Manor township, on the old home place; Martha,
the wife of N. C. Baker, of Freeport, 111. ; Amos H. ;
894
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Fannie, the widow of Isaac H. Kauffman, of West
Hempfield township ; Abraham, a resident of Penn
township ; Catherine, who died in childhood ; EHza-
beth, the widow of Jacob B. Good, of Lancaster;
Christian, of Lancaster.
Amos H. Herr was born Nov. 28, 1834, and re-
ceived his education in the public schools and in the
State Normal at Millersville, being among the first
pupils of that old and famous institution. After
graduating he taught three terms of school, one each
in 1855, 1856 and 1858, in Manheim, Manor and
Penn townships.
In 1858 Mr. Herr began farming in Manor town-
ship, where he remained five years ; then he came to
Manheim township, making a location on the farm
adjoining the one he now owns, which came into
his possession in 1868. It was owned prior to him
by his father, and contained seventy-five acres; to
this he has added four more acres, and here he has
lived, retired since 1898. Mr. Herr has been one
of the successful men of the township, and for fif-
teen years' was a member of the school board.
Mr. Herr was married in 1858 to Mary, a daugh-
ter of David and Fannie (Forrey) Harnish, and to
this union were born : David, a farmer in Manheim
township ; Josiah ; Jonas, a machinist in Ephrata ;
Henry, a butcher in Neffsville ; Amos, a farmer on
the homestead; Elam, a farmer in Manheim town-
ship ; Enos, now dead ; Susan, the wife of Martin
Funk, of Manor township ; Zenas, at home ; Emma,
deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Herr and their oldest son belong
to the Baptist Church, and hold a creditable position
in this community.
CHRISTIAN SEITZ, a venerable and well-
known general farmer of Rapho township, was born
in Strasburg, Fa., Feb. 8, 1824, a son of David and
Mary (Wade) Seitz.
Mr. Seitz's parents, who were married May 29,
1817, were both born near Lancaster. David Seitz
was born Jan. 19, 1797, son of George Seitz,
a farmer of Lancaster county, and he, too, be-
came a farmer, and also operated a mill near
Lancaster, but for some time prior to his death he
lived retired. He passed away March 10, 1858. The
mother, Marv Wade, was born Jan. 8, 1795, and died
Nov. 9, 1871. Their ashes now repose In the Men-
nonite cemetery below Landisville, although the
body of the father was first buried where he died, and
then removed to its present location at the request
of the widowed mother. She belonged to the Men-
nonite Church, and he was a man of fine moral char-
acter, upright standing, and possessed of many
friends in the community where his peaceful and
useful life was passed. These were their children :
Martha, who married Christian Shirk, and is now
deceased ; Mary, who married Adam Brenner, and
went West ; George, a farmer and Dunkard preacher
in Manor township ; and Christian.
When he Vvas twenty-four years old, Christian
Seitz was married in Lancaster, Pa., to Susannah
Hershey, who was born in West Hempfield town-
ship in 1826, is a daughter of Andrew Hershey.
They had one child, Frances, who married Harry.
C. Horner, cashier of the First National Bank of
Lancaster, and is the mother of five children.
Christian Seitz remained with his parents until
a year after his marriage, when he rented a small
farm on shares for a year, and then operated the
home farm two years. After this he carried on the
farm of his father-in-law on shares for nine years.
In i860 he established himself on his present farm,
where he still remains. His wife is making her home
with the daughter in Lancaster. Mr. Seitz has
been very prosperous in his business enterprises,
and owns two fine farms in Rapho township. From
i860 to 1897 he was engaged in cattle driving in ad-
dition to his farming, and made considerable money
m that line of labor. He is a member of the Old
Mennonite Church, and in politics is a Republican.
His career has been a creditable one, and he is now
enjoying its results. Notwithstanding his advanced
age he keeps his health to a remarkable degree, and
is still spry and active.
JOHN K. JACKSON, of Columbia, Lancaster
county, is one of the most reliable engineers on the
Pennsylvania railroad. He was born in Pequea,
this county, Oct. 25, 1839, a son of David and Cath-
erine (Petrie) Jackson, both natives of the same
county. The mother was called away in January,
i860, at the age of forty-six years, expiring in Stras-
burg, and in 1881 the father came to Columbia to
reside with his son John K., and there died in 1883,
at the age of seventy-three. In early life he was a
cooper but in his latter years lived retired on a well-
earned competency. To Mr. and Mrs. David Jack-
son were born thirteen children, viz. : Lavinia, wife
of Hiram Skeene ; Sarah, who married William
Stigleman, of Lancaster county ; Ann, married to
\Villiam McEntire, who is living in retirement in
Columbia ; William, who served three years in the
army, and is now deceased ; Amanda, of Christiana,
Pa., married to George Helem ; John K. ; Julia, wife
of John Rowe, a boiler inspector in Columbia;
Susan, widow of Theodore Eyde, who was shot in
the eye in the Civil war, from the effects of which
wound he died; Newton, boilermaker foreman at
fhe roundhouse at Columbia ; Elizabeth, wife of John
Zell, a boilermaker; Isaac, a railroad conductor,
Diller, who died in infancy; and Hienry, who was
a farmer in Illinois, but is. now deceased.
John K. Jackson lived on the home farm until
twenty-one years old, when the tocsin of war called
him to arms, and he enlisted June 4, 1861, at Lan-
caster, in Co. E, 1st Pa. Reserves, under Capt. Neff,
for three years ; he was mustered into the State ser-
vice at West Chester, and into the United States
service at Baltimore, Md. He participated in many
important engagements, among them iDeing : Gaines
Mills, White Oak Swamp, Charles City Cross Roads,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
895
Malvern Hill, Manassas, Bull Run, Antietam, Fred-
ericksburg', Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Mine Run,
North Anna River, Spottsylvania Court House and
Bethsaida Church. He was never wounded, and
was mustered out at Philadelphia, June 13, 1864.
Returning home he remained until January, 1865,
when he came to Columbia, and began working in
the boiler shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co.,
where he remained one year, then worked as fireman
four years, and was next promoted to engineer, the
position he now holds.
On March 24, 1867, Mr. Jackson married Miss
Joanna Sourbeer, and to this union have been born
the following named children: M. Catherine, who
is married to Whitehill Hunter, a railroad passenger
conductor, residing in Columbia ; Harry G., a boiler-
maker in the same borough, who married Marguerite
South ; Ella R., wife of Harry Myers, floor- walker
in a store at Brooklyn, N. Y., johnE., a silk-weaver,
residing with his father ; Sarah M., Charles N.
(a printer) , Minerva S., William D., Elmer E., and
L. Ethel, all with their parents.
Mrs. John K. Jackson was born in Columbia,
Sept. 3, 1844, a daughter of Henry and Catherine
(Stock) Sourbeer, of Martic Forge, Lancaster coun-
ty, who came to Columbia in 1821, when the father
became a pilot on the river; he was honored with
several local offices, including membership in the
borough council. He lost his wife, Feb. 24, 1857,
at theage of forty-seven years, and his death occur-
red Dec. 30, 1887, when eighty-two years old. Mr.
and Mrs. Sourbeer had a family of five children, viz. :
Uriah, a stationary engineer in Columbia, now re-
tired ; Harry, a dry-goods merchant in Harrisburg ;
Jacob, who served four years in the army, and was
severely wounded by a grape shot at the battle of
Cold Harbor, but is now deceased; Joanna; and
Charles, with the railroad company in Columbia.
Mr. Jackson is a member of Susquehanna Lodge,
I. O. O. F. In politics he is a Republican, and he
is very highly respected in the community in which
he lives.
PETER B. NISSLEY, who died on his farm
in his native township, Jan. 19, 1869, was born in
West Donegal township, Aug. 31, 1823, a son of
Martin and Anna (Bachman) Nissley, natives of
Lancaster and Lebanon counties, respectively, both
of whom died in West Donegal township. The fa-
ther was a fa-rmer, and died in 1832, at the age of
thirty-three j'ears. The mother died Nov. 4, 1888,
at the age of eighty-nine years, and both were buried
in a private cemetery on the old home farm. Their
children were: Daniel, who lived in East Donegal
township ; Jacob, who died at the age of eighteen
vears; Anna, who died in infancy; Christian, who
died in Ohio ; and Peter B., whose name introduces
this article.
Peter B. Nissley was twice married, the first tmie
in Harrisburg, NoV. 15, 1853, by the Rev. Charles
,\. Hay, to Miss Elizabeth Hoffman, by whom he
had the following children: Martha, who married
David Heisey, a farmer in East Donegal township ;
Anna, who married Abraham Heisey, now retired
arid living in Elizabethtown ; and Amanda, who
married Levi Risser, a farmer in Mt. Joy township,
and is deceased. Mrs. Elizabeth (Hoffman) Niss-
ley was the daughter of Michael Hoffman, and died
Sept. II, 1859, at the early age of twenty-five years.
Mr. Nissley was married second, in Harrisburg,
Feb. 26, 1863, the same minister officiating, to Miss
Elizabeth Hofter, and there were born to this mar-
riage the following children: Simon H., a well-
known character in the political circles of this coun-
ty, is living at home ; Martin H., a contractor and
builder, married Sarah E. Sheetz; Hiram H., of
Elizabethtown, is mentioned elsewhere; Peter H.,
Jr., a farmer, married Anna Gish, and lives in Eliza-
bethtown. Mrs. Elizabeth (Hoffer) Nissley, was
born in Dauphin county, near the Lancaster county
line, March 25, 1838, and is a sister of Tobias
Hoffer, one of the leading citizens of Elizabethtown.
Peter B. Nissley was reared a farmer, and fol-
lowed that occupation all his days. After the death
of his father, young Peter was taken into the home
of his uncle, Joseph Nissley, where he remained un-
til he reached the age of twenty-one years, being
given a good district-school education and thor-
oughly instructed in the principles of an honorable
and manly life. When he left the hospitable home
of his uncle he began farming on the place where
his entire life was spent, and where he died. His
remains rest in Mt. Tunnel cemetery. Mr. Nissley
took a deep interest in the welfare of the community,
and served as school director in his district. In his
politics he was a Republican. In his life work he
was successful and attained a prominent place
among the well-to-do men of his township.
JOHN W. FERGUSON, a successful farmer
and honorable citizen of Providence township, Lan-
caster county, was born in Colerain township, in
this county, Nov. 11, 1838, son of William and Mary
(Hogg) Ferguson, both of Colerain township and
both deceased. The family is of Scotch-Irish origin.
John Ferguson, the grandfather of John W.,
came from Ireland to America, and settled in Lan-
caster county, where he reared a family of nine chil-
dren, viz. : Abraham, Robert, William, Thomas,
John, Benjamin, Nathaniel, Margaret and Eliza, all
of whom have passed away.
William. Ferguson, the father of John W., was
born June 9, 1802, in Colerain township. On Feb.
II, 1838, he was married to Mary Hogg, and
died March 25, 1889. Mrs. Ferguson was born Dec.
27, 1815, and died Nov. 15, 1879. They had eight
children, as follows : William H. ; Benjamin F. ;
Alexander M. ; John W. ; Mary A., the wife of John
Woodward, of Chester county ; Abraham M., of
Chester county; Nathaniel, of Philadelphia; and
Margaret, deceased.
The early life of John W. Ferguson was passed
396
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
on the farm, his time being occupied in various agri-
cultural duties, and in attendance upon the district
schools. It was necessary for him to be energetic
and industrious, and he met with the success that
comes to those who are thrifty and frugal. Mr.
Ferguson has the satisfaction of now owning the
best fifty-two-acre farm in Providence township,
which he has made very valuable with first-class im-
provements. In his political belief he is a Democrat.
In religion he belongs to and supports the German
Reformed Church, in which he is highly esteemed.
On March 9, i<S65, Mr. Ferguson was united in
marriage with Miss Cecelia Clendennen, born Dec.
4, 1844, who died Sept. 26, 1893. A family of eight
children were left to mourn the loss of a devoted
and beloved mother : Anna L., who married Will-
iam Rank, of Ocean City, N. J. ; William A., who is
a resident of Oak Bottom, Pa. ; Ellis, who lives in
Quarryville ; Miss Mary, who is a successful teacher
in the Lancaster county schools ; John W., who re-
sides in Pueblo, Colo.; Edgar and Clarence, both
residents of Ocean City, N. J. ; and Carrie E., who
is her father's very capable housekeeper. The fam-
ily is one which is held in high esteem in Providence
township, and Mr. Ferguson is regarded as one of
the most honorable and reliable men in his com-
munity.
_ JOSEPH MILLER, of the firm of Musser &
Miller, the leading lumber manufacturers in East
Donegal township, Lancaster county, is a native of
the township, and was born Jan. 10, 1840. His
father, John Miller, was a retired farmer and lum-
berman who married Mrs. Musser, the widow of
Jacob Musser, and who bore the maiden name of
Stauffer. Of the parents more information may be
gleaned from the biography of John S. Miller and
that of H. S. Musser, on other pages of this work.
Joseph Miller assisted on the home farm until he
had attained his majority and then made an effort
to supplement his early education by an attendance
at Millersville Academy, but had been there a few
months only when the war of the Rebellion broke out.
Mr. Miller then enlisted for nine months in the 1226.
Pa. V. I., under Capt. Barley, professor of languages
in the Millersville Academy, and was mustered into
service at Harrisburg. He took part in the battles
of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, but happily
passed through both without receiving a wound, and
was honorably discharged at Harrisburg in 1863.
He then worked in the present lumber business for
his father until 1868, when he bought or succeeded
to his father's interest.
On Dec. 16, 1885, Mr. Miller married in Marietta,
Miss Anna R. Libhart, daughter of Hon. John J.
and Anna L. (Reinhart) Libhart, natives of Helm
township, York county, and Coventry in Chester
county. Hon. John J. Libhart came to Lancaster
with his parents in 1812 ; they settled on Front street,
where they built the first brick house in the neigh-
borhood. John J. Libhart was a portrait painter in
his young manhood, but in 1846 engaged in the drug
business and continued therein until his sons be-
came competent druggists, and in 1870 he turned the
business over to them. In 1835 he married, for his
first wife, Harriet Goodman, of Lancaster, who bore
him one child — Pauline H., now the wife of Warren
R. Grosh, a farmer of Elkton, Md. To the marriage
of John J. Libhart with Anna L. Reinhart were born
five children, viz. : A. Canova, a druggist in Mari-
etta ; S. S. Haldeman, deceased ; Kate, wife of John
A. Brenemari, of Marietta; Anna R., now Mrs.
Joseph Miller; and John P., late a dentist in Mari-
etta, but who died in 1892. John J. Libhart, who was
appointed lay associate judge by Gov. Geary to fill
out an unexpired term, retained the office eleven
consecutive years, and he died in Marietta Nov. 6,
1883, at the age of seventy-eight. He had also held
all the borough offices. His wife had passed away
April 14, 1852, when thirty-four years old.
Joseph Miller in politics is a Republican, and one
of whom it is never asked which side he is on. He
is an earnest, active worker, and has always had the
success of his party deeply at heart. Election day
finds him at his post and always ready to work until
the last vote has been polled. And thus far his labor
and his means have been spent in the interest of his
party and his friends, as he has never held office,
although solicited at different times to accept the
office of county commissioner, county treasurer and •
a seat in the State Legislature. He was a delegate
to the State convention which nominated Gov.
Beaver, and was elected a county committeeman
three successive terms, and then declined to serve
any longer. He has been very active as a business
man, and besides giving his lumber business close
attention, he has helped to organize and invest his
money in the various manufacturing industries of
Marietta, chief among them being the Marietta Cast-
ings Company, the Hollow Ware & Enameling Com-
pany, and the Silk Mill. He is a part owner of the
second story of Central Hall, and is a director in the
Marietta & Maytown Pike Company. He served
as a director of the Exchange Bank, of Marietta,
from its organization until 1896, since when he has
served as its vice president. He and his wife are
held in high regard by their friends and ac-
quaintances, and although they have no children,
their home is always cheerful and a favorite resort
for their many social associates.
GEORGE J. SMITH (deceased). With his
brothers, his sisters and his father, a widower, George
]'. Smith when a boy emigrated from Germany to
America. The family settled at Columbia, Pa.,
where its members have since been actively and
prominently engaged in business, worthy represen-
tatives of that thrifty, intelligent, energetic element
of German emigration, which has contributed so
materially to the advancement of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Smith was born in Germany, Aug. i, 1824.
I
.z:iil:is^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
397
All of the seven children, of which George J. was
one, are now deceased. They were as follows:
John G., who lived in Philadelphia; Henry, who
resided at Covington, Ky. ; John, a resident of Lan-
caster, Ohio; George, who migrated to California;
Martin, of Columbia; Julia, who married George
Seibert, a cabinet maker and undertaker; and
George J.
George J. Smith engaged in a bakery and con-
fectionery business at Columbia, which his family
has ever since conducted. In politics he was a
Democrat, and in religious faith a prominent mem-
ber of the First Lutheran Church. Among the fra-
ternal orders he was prominently connected with
the I. O. O. F. For his first wife he married Maria
C. Hageman, by whom he had one son, Luther F.,
who became a Methodist Episcopal minister and died
at Hollidaysburg, Pa. For his second wife he mar-
ried, March 3, 1856, Christiana C. Kleinsmith, a
native of Columbia, daughter of Diedrich C. and
Sabilla (Swartz) Kleinsmith, of Wurtemberg, Ger-
many. Diedrich C. Kleinsmith was a carpenter and
bridge builder, who settled in Columbia in 1831, and
there died in 1858, aged sixty-five years. His wife,
Sabilla, who came to Columbia in 183 1 with her par-
ents, survived him ten years. They were married at
Columbia, and their children were: Christiana C. ;
Anna M., wife of Frank Triebel, a confectioner of
Columbia; and John F., a bricklayer of Columbia.
The children of George J. Smith by his marriage
to Christiana Kleinsmith were, as follows: Lillie
S., a school teacher; Capt. Martin H., who died in
the Spanish- American war; Laura J., who married
Samuel P. Graver, a painter of Columbia ; Win-
field D., who moved West; George D., deceased;
and Anna G., manager of the bakery and confection-
ery business.
Capt. Martin H. Smith was a prominent citizen of
Columbia. In 1887 he succeeded his father in the
bakery business. Becoming imbued with the gold
fever the Captain in 1897 started for the Klondike,
and had reached Alaska when he heard that hostili-
ties had been commenced between his country and
Spain. He hastened back to Columbia in order to
participate in the struggle. Eighteen years before
he had enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard,
and by his soldierly qualities had won promotion in
that organization. For three years prior to his trip
to Alaska he had been the captain of Co. C, 4th
Regiment. When he reached Columbia on his return
from Alaska, the Fourth had already entered service
fully officered. Not deterred from his purpose, how-
ever, he recruited a new company, which was must-
ered in as Co. K, of the 4th Regiment, of which he
was commissioned captain. Pie went South with his
company July i, remaining at Camp Thomas and
Newport News till ordered to Porto Rico, where he
contracted the disease of which he died Sept. 5, 1898.
The remains were brought back to Columbia amidst
the profound sorrow of the community, and were
accorded impressive funeral services. Capt. Smith
had an excellent record in the National Guard, and*
from 1892 to 1897 was inspector of rifle practice of
the 4th Regiment. He was one of the best rifle shots
in the Guard, and a member of the Third Brigade
rifle team. In physique he was an athlete, large and
powerful. He was active in the Columbia fire de-
partment, a member of the Vigilant Fire Co., and
prominent in local Democratic politics. He had
married Miss Mary E. Moore, of Columbia, and
was the father of two children, Mildred M. and
Gertrude C.
George J. Smith died Aug. i, 1886. After an
active and influential life, the latter years of his life
had been spent in partial retirement. .The bakery
business some years prior to his death had been
transferred to his wife, who conducted it success-
fully for ten years, then transferred it to their son,
Capt. Martin H. Smith, who was succeeded by his
sister Anna, now in charge of the business for the
M. H. Smith estate. The family is prominent in the
local affairs of Columbia, and is most highly re-
spected.
TOBIAS HOFFER, who is a retired farmer of
Elizabethtown, was born in Dauphin county just
across the Lancaster and Dauphin county line, Feb.
20, 1837, a son of Jacob and Mary (Horst) Hoifer,
natives of Dauphin and Lancaster counties, respect-
ively, now deceased.
In 1858 Jacob Hoft'er and his wife settled in Mt.
Joy township, where the latter died Oct. 12, 1877,
at the age of sixty-five years. The father returned
to Dauphin county a few years after the death of
his wife, where he resided for a time, and then made
his home with his son, Tobias, until his death Oct.
13, 1881, at the age of sixty-nine years. Both were
buried in the Green Tree Church cemetery, in Mt.
Joy township, Lancaster ■ county. They were
both members of the German Baptist church, and
were; farmer people. The father was school
director at the time the free school system went into
effect. The children of Jacob and Mary Hoffer
were as follows: Tobias, whose name introduces
this article; Elizabeth, the widow of Peter Nissley,
whose sketch appears elsewhere; Abraham and
Henry, who both died in infancy; John, who died
in 1882; Levi, who died in infancy; Mary, who
died in infancy; Catherine, the wife of Harry
Nissley, a retired farmer of Florin, Pa., and David
and Martin, both of whom died in infancy.
The paternal grandparents of Tobias Hoffer
were Joseph and Elizabeth (Fisher) Hoffer, who
were both born and reared in Dauphin county, and
who spent their lives in farming. Tobias Hoffer's
maternal grandparents were Jacob and Elizabeth
(Longenecker) Horst, both born and reared in
Lancaster county.
Tobias Hoffer and Elizabeth Nissley were
united in marriage at Lancaster, in October, i860,
and they became the parents of the following
children: (i) Franklin, who was a hardware
398
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
merchant in Christiana, married Elizabeth Miller;
(2) Allen N. married Virginia Sidle, and is a clerk
in a jewelry store in Lebanon, Pa. ; (3) Jacob,
m the jewelry business at Homestead, Pa., married
Jenette Lawson.
Mrs. Elizabeth Hoffer was born in Dauphin
county April 17, 1842, a daughter of Jacob C. and
Barbara (Bossier) Nissley. Her father, who was
born in Dauphin county, a' son of Martin and Eliza-
beth (Crider) Nissley, natives of Lancaster county,
was a farmer and m'iller all his days. He died in
1895 at the age of eighty-one years. Her mother,
who was born in Lancaster county in 1814, died in
1 89 1, and both were buried in Dauphin county.
They were both members of the River Brethren
church. Their children were : Anna, deceased, wife
of Christ Peck; Elizabeth, whose name appears
above; Martin, who died young; Fanny, who mar-
ried D. W. Engle, and is now deceased; Mary,
Solomon, Samuel and Jacob, who all died young;
and Barbara, wife of John L. Ulrich, a farmer in
Dauphin county.
Tobias Hoffer remained with his parents until
he attained his majority, when he went into Eliza-
bethtown, where he worked three years, and then
located on the old home of his father-in-law in
Dauphin county, where he remained twenty-six
years. At the end of that time he gave up active
farm life, and made his home in Elizabethtown,
where he is enjoying that well-earned rest and
leisure that should properly follow laborious and
useful years. Mr. Hoffer was a school director in
Dauphin county, and with his wife belongs to the
German Baptist church. In politics he is a Repub-
lican, and is one of the prominent and leading men
of the community. Both he and his wife are uni-
versally respected, and for their kind hearts, clean
and wholesome lives and genial dispositions are
widely known and much esteemed.
CHARLES R. KLINE, a member of the Lan-
caster Bar, is a son of the late Edmund M. and
Anna M. Kline.
Edmund M. Kline, the father of Charles R., was
for many years an editor and one of the proprietors
of the Lancaster Examiner, and he is well re-
membered as one of the most graceful and forcible
writers who has ever been connected with the local
press. Mr. Kline married Miss Anna M., daughter
of the late Jonathan Foltz, and a sister of the late
Dr. J. M. Foltz, Surgeon-General of the United
States Navy. Mr. and Mrs. Kline had three
children : Emma M., unmarried ; Laura L., the wife
of Rev. B. B. Ferrer, pastor of the Reformed church
at Riegelsville, Bucks county; and Charles R., of
Lancaster.
Charles R. Kline was born in Lancaster in 1856,
and received his education at Yeates Institute,
Franklin and Marshall Academy, Nazareth Hall
and Lafayette College. From this last institution
he was called home before his graduation by the
serious illness of his father, and never returned. He
then took up the study of law under the guidance
of his uncle, the late George M. Kline, who in his
lifetime was known as one of the very ablest mem-
bers of the Bar of Lancaster county, and he was
admitted to practice in the courts of Lancaster
county in 1879, and in due time was admitted to
the Bar of the Superior and Supreme courts. He
filled the office of city solicitor for the years 1900
and 1901.
Charles R. Kline married Miss Caroline A.
Keffer, a daughter of the late Prof. W. H. Keffer,
well remembered as having been for many years
the leading orchestral musician of the city. Mr.
and Mrs. Kline have one son, Edmund K., who was
eight years old in 1902.
Mr. Kline is affiliated with Lamberton Lodge
No. 476, F. & A. M. ; Chapter No. 43, R. A. M. ;
Lancaster Commandery No. 13, K. T. ; Herschel
Lodge of Odd Fellows ; and the Lancaster Lodge of
Elks.
THOMAS JEFFERSON MARSH, now
deputy controller of Lancaster county, is one of the
most prominent citizens of the eastern part of- the;
county.
Reuben Marsh, his grandfather, was a promi-
nent farmer, and his father, Jehu Marsh, who died
a few years ago, was a contracting mason of Salis-
bury township, and for many years foreman on the
Pennsylvania Railroad. His mother, whose maiden
name was Rosanna Diven, belonged to a well
known Cumberland county family. Six children
were born to the Union of Mr. and Mrs. Jehu
Marsh, four of whom are living, as follows :
William, a clerk of Gap, this county ; James, a
merchant of Gap; Thomas J., ou'r subject; and
Miss Elizabeth.
Thomas Jefferson Marsh was born in Salisbury
township Feb. 4, 1840, and was educated in the
schools of that district. Leaving school he found
employment as clerk in a store at Gap, and, after
a time, entered into the general merchandise busi-
ness at Christiana, with James Coates as a partner,
trading as Coates & Marsh. This partnership lasted
for several years, when Mr. Marsh sold his interest
in the business, and next represented his father's
interest in a store at the Gap, the firm being J.
Marsh & Son. He continued in this connection
about twelve years, at the end of which time he was
elected, by the Republicans of Lancaster county, to
be one of the county auditors. He served one term,
and was re-elected for a second term, after serving
over a year of which he resigned, on May 17, 1901,
to accept the position of deputy controller, to which
he had been appointed by Controller A. B. Hassler.
Mr. Marsh has been twice married. His first
wife was Rebecca Brooke, daughter of Kinzey
Brooke, a wagon manufacturer and farmer of Sads-
bury township. Three children were born to this
union, two of whom are living : Carrie, wife of Rev.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
399
David S. Sherry, of Baumgardner, this county; and
Mary, wife of Ira C. Linville, a book-keeper in
Philadelphia. Years after the death of his first wife
Mr. Marsh married Elizabeth Davis, daughter of
John P. Davis, of Christiana, and six children have
been born of this union, five of whom are living:
Delia, Florence, Elsie, Edith and Charles P. Mr.
Marsh has been prominent in Republican politics
from early manhood, and several years before being
elected to a county position, was assessor of Sads-
bury township for one term. He belongs to
Christiana Lodge No. 417, F. ,& A. M. ; and is a
member of the Presbyterian church at Gap, where
he resides, although spending all the week days at
Lancaster, in the discharge of his responsible
duties for which he is eminently fitted, and to the
performance of which he carries a most pleasing
personality.
SILAS HOWARD PURPLE (deceased), was
for a third of a century, and until his decease in
1891, at the age of sixty-four years, one of the
forceful men of Columbia. He inherited from his
parents great strength of character, and was always
a man of restless energy, which he invariably
employed in constructive work. Reared on a
farm, operated by his father, he applied himself to
farming and the lumber business, and after his
young manhood, and while thus engaged, came to
Columbia and engaged in nursery work and brick-
making, pursuing a successful and increasing busi-
ness career that ended only with his death.
Mr. Purple was born in Potter county. Pa.,
April 5, 1827, son of Ansel L. and Maria (Howard)
Purple. The former, a native of Middle Haddam,
Conn., of English extraction, migrated to Potter
county, became prominent in political afiEairs, and
was the first sheriff of that county. The mother
had been a resident of Ohio. To Ansel L. and
Maria Purple were born five children : Elisha ;
Silas Howard; Mary, wife of Luther Barker, of
New York State; Martin V., and Isabella, who
married Joseph Ingham.
Silas H. Purple was reared in Tioga county,
Pa., where he engaged in farming and lumbering
until 1859. In that year he moved to Columbia, Pa.,
where he started a nursery, conducting it success-
fully for a period of fifteen years. In the meailtime
he began the manufacture of brick, having pur-
chased a yard in i860 from a Mr. Cowden. This
was enlarged from time to time until it developed
into a steam plant covering seven acres of ground.
Mr. Purple remained in its active management until
his death, Dec. 26, 1891, and since that time the
business has been conducted bv the heirs. In 1894
they organized the Columbia Brick Co., which now
owns and operates the plant. The marriage of
Silas Howard Purple and Margaret Ann Lowrey
was solemnized June 21, 1855, at Columbia, Pa.
She was born in Columbia, Pa., Jan. 6, 1831,
daughter of John and Ann (Wilson) Lowrey, of
Chester county and Columbia, respectively, and
granddaughter of' Andrew and Margaret (Hood)
Lowrey, and of John and Mary (Todd) Wilson,
who migrated from the north of Ireland and
were married at Lancaster, Pa. To Silas
Howard and Margaret Ann Purple were born six
children, all of whom survive, namely: Annie Bell,
who resides at home; John Lowrey, who married
Susan Taft, of Knoxville, Tioga Co., Pa., and now
resides in the old homestead; Ansel, who married
Emma Lieberknecht, of Geneseo, 111., and resides in
Columbia; Mary Elizabeth, widow of Joseph F.
McMakin, who was a civil engineer; Margaret
Howard, a school teacher, at home; and Silas
Howard, who acquired in the Reading Railroad
shops the trade of machinist, which he followed a
number of years, and who is now residing at his
mother's home, and is engaged in brick manufac-
turing. Silas Howard Purple, the father of these
children, and the sitbject of this sketch, died Dec.
26, 1891, and was buried at Mount Bethel cemetery.
He was a member, of the Presbyterian church, and
a ruling elder therein for twenty-five years, and in
politics was a Republican. He was highly respected
for his many estimable qualities, and his widow and
children are among the prominent and influential
residents of Columbia.
The Lowrey family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
The old homestead was granted to William Lowrey
in 1740. Lieut. Andrew Lowrey, the paternal
grandfather of Mrs. Purple, was a son of William
Lowrey, and was born in this homestead farm near
Oxford, Lower Oxford township, Chester county.
He was first ensign, and afterward promoted to be
lieutenant of his company, serving in the war of
the Revolution. In this same company were his
brother William, and brothers-in-law, Walter and
Samuel Hood. Lieut. Lowrey was a man of more
than ordinary ability and intelligence. He died in
September, 1796. His wife, Margaret Hood, was
a daughter of Walter Hood, of Oxford township,
Chester county, who left a portion of land in what
is now Oxford borough, for a Presbyterian church
and cemetery; this tract is now a commons in the
heart of Oxford. To Lieut. Lowrey and his wife
Margaret were born six sons, whose progeny are
now scattered over the United States.
John Lowrey, one of the six sons of Lieut.
Andrew, and the father of Mrs. Purple, moved from
Chester county, to Lancaster county, Pa., in 1820,
settling at Columbia, where he married Ann Wilson,
daughter of John and Mary (Todd) Wilson. In
his younger days he was a pilot on the river, and
rapidly accumulated a competence, which enabled
him to spend his last years in retirement. He
engaged, also, in the buying and selling of real
estate. He lived a strictly temperate life. Both he
and his wife were members of the Presbyterian
church, in which faith he died in 1857, and she
passed away in 1874, aged sixty-seven. Both are
buried in Mount Bethel cemetery. To John and
400
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Ann Lowrey were born eight children, of whom
Margaret Ann, widow of. Mr. Ptirple, is the eldest
and the only survivor. The others were: Mary
Elizabeth, wife of John Fendrich; Jane, who died
aged eighteen years ; John Andrew, who died at the
age of fifteen ; William F., who died at the age of
twenty-seven; Sarah R. and Emily (twins), both
of whom died young; and another child who died
in iriiancy.
JOHN S. MILLER, a prominent farmer of East
Donegal township, Lancaster county, was born on
his present homestead Aug 6, 1837, son of John and
Martha Stauffer (Musser) Miller, of Strasburg and
East Donegal townships, respectively.
John Miller, born April 27, 1806, was a farmer
and lumberman. He retired from active work in
1865, and removed to another house on the same
farm, where he passed the remainder of his life,
dying Sept. 20, 1867. The mother, who was the
widow of Jacob Musser when she married Mr. Mil-
ler, was born Aug. 13, 1802, and died in 1885. They
were Dunkards in religion, and their remains lie in-
terred in Marietta cemetery. They were the parents
of four children, namely: (i) John S. is mentioned
below. (2) Joseph is a lumber merchant in East
Donegal township. (^3) Isaiah married Miss Fanny
Hoerner, who bore him three sons, John H., born
Jan. 23, 1875 ; Ethelbert, born Jan. 6, 1877 ; and
Harry T., born July 5, 1880. All three of. the sons
are engaged with their uncle in the hardware busi-
ness in Marietta. Isaiah Miller died Dec. 14, 1892,
and his wife Jan. 31, 1898. (4) Sally is the wife of
John Connelly, a retired bank cashier in Lancaster.
The paternal grandparents of John S. Miller were
John and Betsey (Cramer) Miller, of Strasburg.
The former died in September, 1874, aged ninety-
eight years, eight months, and the latter died in 1876,
at the age of ninety-seven. They lived at what is
known as the Lancaster Junction, where the grand-
father worked at his trade of carpenter and builder
until he had acquired sufficient means to purchase
a farm. In farming he was also very successful, and
at the marriage of his children presented each with
$1,000. John and Betsey Miller were members of
the Mennonife Church. They were the parents of
seven children, viz. : John, born April 27, 1806, was
the father of John S. ; Joseph died in Manheim, Pa. ;
Sally was married to Ulrich Strickler, and died in
Salunga, Pa. ; Mary is the widow of Henry Wittmer,
late of New Market, York county; Hattie is the
widow of Joseph Sowder ; Jacob is a retired farmer
of Manheim ; Elizabeth, born May 27, 1825, is the
widow of Daniel M. Grove. The great-grandfather
of John S. Miller, also named John, was a native of
(jermany, was a carpenter by trade, and early set-
tled in Strasburg. He was shot by Indians concealed
in his barn.
John S. Miller has always resided on his present
farm, and in conjunction with agriculture has car-
ried on a coalyard for several years. His place com-
prises 103 acres, on twelve of which he grows to-
bacco, and part of which he. has laid out in town
lots. He also has an orchard of 1,000 peach trees,
and his dwelling is one of the handsomest country
homes in the county. Mr. Miller is one of the most
respected citizens of East Donegal township, has
been a director in the Exchange Bank of Marietta
for the past six years, and has always been recog-
nized as one of the most public-spirited residents of
the township of his nativity. In politics he is a Re^
publican. He worships at the Church of God.
On Dec. 26, 1865, in East Donegal township, Mr.
Miller was united in marriage with Miss Mary A.
lierr, and of the five children born to this union
Elizabeth died young; Martha A. is still at home;
John A. is the next in order of birth ; Emma A. is
deceased ; Mary Amanda is the wife of Dr. George
Reich, of Marietta. Mrs. Mary A. (Herr) Miller is
a native of East Donegal township, and is a daugh-
ter of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Stehman) Herr, na-
tives of Manor and East Donegal townships, respect-
ively, and the parents of six children, viz. : Hiram,
a farmer in West Donegal township ; Benjamin, de-
ceased; Elizabeth, widow of Christ Rohrer, at the
time of his death a retired farmer of Canton, 111.;
Mary A., wife of John S. Miller ; Amanda, widow of
Harry Geish, late of Elizabethtown, this county, and
Cyrus S., deceased. Benjamin Herr, who was born
Dec. 2, 1808, died in East Donegal township in
1879, and his widow, who was born Nov. 10, 1810,
died there Aug. 3, 1889. Benjamin Herr, the pater-
nal grandfather of Mrs. Miller, and Jacob and Eliza-
beth (Linemuth) Stehman, her maternal grandpar-
ents, were also natives of Lancaster county,
CYRUS STEHMAN HERR (deceased) was
born March 20, 1846, four and a half miles above
Maytown, Conoy township, son of Benjamin and
Elizabeth (Stehman) Herr, farming people, who
were most highly respected. They died in 1879 and
i88q, respectively, in the faith of the Church of
God.
Cyrus S. Herr was reared to farming, which he
followed until March, 1881, when he retired from
that vocation, and located in Marietta, where he en-
gaged in the sand trade, in connection therewith
carrying on a grain and produce business until 1896,
when he retired. He was a director in the Donegal
Fire Insurance Company. He was an officer in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, in the faith of which
he died, March 24, 1900, and in politics was a Re-
publican.
Cyirus S. Herr was married Nov. 3, 1869, to Miss
.Emma Sultzbach, and to this union were born two
children, Anna H. (who is married) and Bayard
S. Mrs. Emma (Sultzbach) Herr was born in Ma-
rietta, daughter of Henry and Helena (Obedar)
Sultzbach, who came from York county to Marietta,
where Mr. Sultzbach engaged in farming and tan-
ning for many years. He died in 1863, at the age of
sixty-five years, and the mother' passed away Nov.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
401
23, 1894, aged eighty-one, in the faith of the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church ; they were buried in Marietta.
Their children were ten in number, viz.; George
W., who died in 1898 ; John F., a tobacco grower of
Marietta ; Calvin A., deceased ; Samuel A., who was
a dentist, and is now deceased ; Joseph G., ticket and
freight agent at Marietta; Anthony H., deceased;
William, who died in Philadelphia; Emma H. ;
Bayard, deceased ; and Howard A., deceased. The
paternal grandparents of Mrs. Herr were Henry and
Susan Sultzbach, of York county, Pa., the former of
whom was a farmer and miller, and was three times
married. To the third marriage were born five chil-
dren : Henry E., who is still on the old homestead ;
Mary, wife of Barr Spangler ; Susan, deceased ; and
two who died in infancy.
BENJAMIN G. MUSSER, an extensive and
highly esteemed farmer of West Hempfield town-
ship, Lancaster county, Pa., was born in that town-
ship, one mile west of Silver Spring, Sept. i, 1838,
and descends from one of the oldest families in the
county.
Michael and Elizabeth (Garber) Musser,
parents of Benjamin G., were born in West Hemp-
field and East Donegal townships, respectively; by
vocation , the former was a farmer, but he ■ held
several town offices, among them that of school
director for several years.
Benjamin G. Musser remained on the home
farm with his parents until he had attained his
majority, when he settled on his present farm' of
268 acres. On Dec. 18, 1857, Benjamin G. Musser
married Barbara C. Newcomer, who bore him three
children, viz. : Isaiah N. ; Myra, widow of Clayton
Bushong, feed merchant at Columbia, Pa. ; and
Nora, deceased.. Mrs. Barbara C. (Newcomer)
Musser was born in Manor township, was a daugh-
ter of. John S. and Frances (Charles) New-
comer, and died Jan. 16, 1898, at the age of sixty-
five years, her remains being interred at Mount-
ville. Mrs. Frances Newcomer died in. West Hemp-
field township at the age of seventy-two years.
Benjamin G. Musser is a member of the German
Baptist church and in politics is a Republicaii.
Isaiah N. Musser was born in West Hempfield
township, Nov. 8, 1866, and is how a farmer and
manufacturer of cider at Locust Grove, in his
native township, where he has a farm of eighty-four
acres. On Oca. 31, 1890, he was married in Man-
heim township to Miss Leah B. Keller, who has
borne him two children: Norman K. and Alvin K.
Mrs. Leah (Keller) Musser was born at .Lime
Rock, Lancaster Co., Pa., in 1871, and is a daughter
of Samuel . G. and Fanny (Brubaker) Keller.
Samuel G. Keller was born in 1828, is a retired
farmer and drover, who owned two good farms,
resides in Penn township near Manheim, was a
director' in the First National Bank of Manheim,
and relinquished active business in 1887. Mr.
Keller and his wife, who was born in 1837, are
26
members of the German Baptist Church, and are
the parents of the following children: Lizzie B.,
wife of Ezra S. Kline, a farmer of Lancaster county ;
Katie B., married \o David Hershey, of Manheim ;
Fanny, married to William Evans, a butcher;
Naton B., a miller at Lime Rock; Mary, who died
young; Leah B., now Mrs. Isaiah N. Musser;
Anna, Maggie B., and Ella, who all died young;
Minnie, still at home; Samuel, deceased; Sadie, at
home; and Emma, the youngest, deceased.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Musser
were Frederick and Catherine (Groos) Keller, who
both died on their old homestead in Penn town-
ship ; the maternal grandparents were Christian and
Barbara (Longenecker) Brubaker, the former of
whom is still living in Manheim township, at
eighty-five years of age.
Benjamin G. Musser is a Republican in his
political proclivities, but has never been a very
aggressive politician; in religion he clings to the
faith of his forefathers, the German Baptist.
SAMUEL M. MYLIN, one of the leading
agriculturists and prominent citizens of Pequea
township, who for a quarter of a century has been
a conspicuous trial justice of the peace of this
county, is a member of one of the prominent and
pioneer families of Lancaster county.
Squire Mylin was, born Nov. 30, 1841, in what
is now Pequea township, a son of Abram B. and
Elizabeth (Myer) Mylin. He was reared on his
father's farm, receiving only limited educational
advantages in the district schools, of the neighbor-
hood. But by home . reading, and study he ' early
became possessed of a fund of good information
And attained creditable scholarship and culture. He
acquired a knowledge of civil engineering and gave
some attention to that line of work; however, his
chief occupation has been tilling the soil, and in
that vocation he has met . with success and is the
owner of a well improved farm in Pequea township..
He is a man of excellent judgment, 'broad and
liberal in his views and progressive, making a good
neighbor and valuable citizen. In .his political
views he is a Republican. In 1874 he was chosen
a justice of the peace for his township and .'has held
that office by re-election from that time to this, and
it is but just to the Squire to add that he has been
a most conscientious and discreet officer, making
justice to all concerned the ruling principle in his
s'ettl'e'rtT'erifs. Probably no docket in the community
will show fewer 'appeals, 'and reversals where
appeals have been made; than the records of Squire
Mylin. The Squire is a member of the Pennsyl-
vania German Society and also is a director in the
First National Bank at Lancaster.
On Nov. 5, 1870, Squire Mylin was married to
Mafy Ann, daughter of Jacob Brenneman, and to
this union have been born children as follows :
Christian, who married Mary Fullerton, and has
one child, Aaron ; Samuel ; Martin ; Annie, who i-nar- ,
402
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ried Amos M. Shenk, a farmer in Conestoga town-
ship; Martha; Frances, and Alice. The parents
and children are members of the Old Mennonite
church.
FRANKLIN. Henry Franklin, the progenitor
of the family in America, a member of the Society
of Friends, was a merchant who came from England
during the latter part- of the seventeenth century
and settled on Long Island. His son Thomas
Franklin, born at Flushing, L. I., was a merchant in
New York, and the latter's son Thomas, born in
New York in 1734, removed to Philadelphia in 1775.
During the Revolutionary war he was appointed
commissary of prisoners at Philadelphia, and while
acting in that capacity objection was made by the
Society of Friends, of which he was a leading mem-
ber, but he maintained his position. It was his son
Walter Franklin, who was the first of the family to
settle in Lancaster county.
Walter Franklin was born in New York
on May 5, 1773. He was admitted to the Bar in
Philadelphia in 1792, and rapidly rose to the front
rank in his profession. In January, 1809, he was
appointed by Governor Snyder to the office of
Attorney General of Pennsylvania, which position
he held until Jan. 26, 181 1, when, upon the death
of Judge Joseph Henry, he was appointed President
Judge of the Second Judicial District, comprising
the counties of Lancaster, York and Dauphin, to
which were subsequently added Cumberland and
Lebanon, and he thereupon removed to Lancaster,
where he resided during the incumbency of his
office and until his death, Feb. 7, 1836, having been
upon the Bench a period of twenty-five years.
Judge Franklin was a man of rare talent and
broad culture. He was distinguished for clearness
of conception, vigor of mind, refined sensibility, and
the most rigid integrity. As a jurist he ranked
among the ablest in the State. An extract from one
of his charges will show the clearness and force of
his mind. On the breaking out of the war of 1812,
the public mind became instantly crazed, and insults
and contumely were heaped upon those who had
the courage to raise their voices against the war.
The civil authorities were in many places pros-
trated, and mob law ruled supreme. The most
respectable citizens were insulted and the offices
of the press opposed to the war were in many
places destroyed. In the midst of this state of excite-
ment and feeling, Judge Franklin delivered a charge
to the grand jury of York, of which the following
is an extract :
The existing state of our foreign relations and the sen-
sibility of the public mind on all questions connected with
it, call for peculiar care in those who are concerned in
the administration of justice, to guard against every oc-
currence which may have a tendency to promote a spirit
of popular tumult, or of lawless violence. A disposi-
tion to not and commotion may in general be easily sup-
pressed, in its first stages, by proper firmness and decision
on the part of the magistrate; but if neglected and suf-
fered to gain -ground and extend ' itself, it soon grows
too powerful for the ordinary exertions of civil authority
and bears down everything before it in a resistless tor-
rent of rage and desolation. Fear is s-aid to be the basis
of arbitrary government, and virtue the ruling principle
of republics. .Law, and not faction, should have the sway
in every free country. No condition is more deplorable
than that produced by anarchy; and experience has abund-
antly proved, that of all governments, a mob is the most
despotic and sanguinary.
Judge Walter Franklin married, on June 13,
1802, Ann Emlen, daughter of James Emlen, "a
highly esteemed and accepted preacher of the
Society, of Friends." They had twelve children,
among whom, attaining majority, were Hon.
Thomas E., Col. Emlen, Rev. Walter, Sarah, wife
of the eminent surgeon. Dr. John L. Atlee; and
Mary, wife of Washington Hopkins, the distin-
guished lawyer and orator, who was stricken while
addressing a jury and expired.
Thomas E. Franklin, LL. D., was born in
Philadelphia April 20, 1810, and came to Lancaster
the following year, when his father was appointed
to the Bench. He graduated from Yale College
with honors in 1828. After graduation he read law
with his brother-in-law, Washington Hopkins, and
was admitted to the Bar in 1831, and at once began
the practice of law in Lancaster, where he spent
his entire life, and a period of over fifty years in
his profession. He enjoyed a large and lucrative
practice and adorned many positions of public
trust and confidence. He was twice Attorney
General of Pennsylvania. His first appointment
was under Governor Johnson in 1851, and his
second under Governor Pollock in 1855. He was
appointed by Governor Curtin a member of the
Peace convention that met in Washington immedi-
ately prior to the War of the Rebellion. He was
a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, was
for many years prominent in church councils, and
at the time of his death was Chancellor of the
Diocese. His death occurred Nov. 28, 1884. Few
men have left a deeper impression on the com-
munity. He was possessed of a well-endowed mind,
which was thoroughly trained, and his character
was molded upon the highest type of Christian
manhood. He was a learned and able lawyer, a
public spirited citizen, and a refined cultured
gentleman.
Thomas E. Franklin married, Nov. 7, 1837,
Serena A. Mayer, daughter of Col. George Mayer,
hardware merchant of Lancaster, and Colonel of
the 69th Regiment Pennsylvania Militia, in the war
of 1 8 12. They had twelve children, of whom the
eldest was Capt. George M., and there survive the
following: Serena M., wife of Hon. H. M. North,
of Columbia, Pa. ; Frances O., wife of S. P. Gait,
of St. Louis, Mo. ; Thomas W. ; Henry S. ; Walter
M.; Dr. Charles M. ; Blanche, wife of J. W. B.
Bausman, Esq. ; Robert L.
George M. Franklin, eldest of the children
of Thomas E. Franklin, was born in Lancaster
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
403
June 19, 1839. He entered Yale College in 1854,
and graduated with distinction in 1858. He read
law with his father, and was admitted to the Bar
Sept. 16, 1861. He had not been long engaged iii
the practice of his profession when he responded to
the call for volunteers in the War of the Rebellion,
and enlisted in the 122nd Regiment. He was
elected first lieutenant and was afterwards pro-
moted to captain and took command of Co. A.
After his regiment was mustered out of service he
accepted an appointment on the staff of Gen.
William B. Franklin, as captain and assistant
adjutant general, proceeding at once to the Depart-
ment of the Gulf, where he experienced hard
service. At the close of the war he resumed the
practice of law, but in 1869 he became a member
of the firm of G. M. Steinman & Co., and turned
his attention to mercantile affairs. He became
prominently identified with many of the business
interests. of the community, and at the time of his
death, which occurred on May 15, 1899, he was
president of the Hamilton Watch Co. Capt.
Franklin was one of the most widely known and
highly esteemed men in the community. He had
a busy career, and came in contact with great
numbers of people, and was of such a sympathetic
nature, constantly helpful to others, that he enjoyed
extraordinary popularity. He was married in 1856
to Sarah M., daughter of Gen. George M. Stein-
man. They had four children, George S., William
B., Frederick S. and Thomas E.
MARTIN R. BITZER. Lancaster county, Pa.,
has not only become noted for its fine productive
farms, but also for the class of citizens who have
grown up and been nourished by the land, present-
ing to the State some of the best types of honest,
upright and respected men and women to be found
anywhere within its borders.
Among those who have been reared in Ephrata
township is Martin R. Bitzer, who is spending a
comfortable old age, his fine farm of eighty-five
acres in Ephrata township being managed in his
interest. The Bitzer family is of German origin,
and the founder, John Bitzer, came to Lancaster
county about 1720, his son, Michael Bitzer, being
a prominent and successful farmer of the county.
John Bitzer, the father of Martin R., was born in
1795, and married Elizabeth Royer, in 1819, rear-
ing a family of twelve children : Michael, born Sept.
28, 1 8 19, who lives in New Berlin, O. ; Martin
R., born Sept. 29, 1821 ; Daniel, a resident of
Illinois; Urias, a resident of California; Mary,
deceased; Magdalena, who married Levi Mohler;
Henry, who died in childhood; John, deceased;
Susanna, who married Christian Johns; Louisa,
who married Peter Johns ; Fianna, deceased ; Cathe-
rine, who married James Bryson.
Reared on the farm in Ephrata township,
Martin R. Bitzer followed agricultural pursuits all
his life until his retirement from active duties, some
eight years ago. Always industrious, his labors
yielded him ample returns and he is now enabled
to enjoy the fruits of his former toil.
Martin R. Bitzer was married on Nov. 15, 1849,
to Annie, daughter of John and Esther (Mohler)
Royer, who was born Oct. 24, 1825, and died Nov.
15. 1897. To this marriage were born these
children: Adam, born in Sept., 1850, who mar-
ried Mary Landis ; Mary, born in April, 1852 ;
Susannah, who died in childhood ; Maranda, born in
1854, who married D. H. Yeartz; John C, born
in 1856, who married Sue Graybill, and lives in
Lancaster; Urias, born in 1858, who resides in
Canton, O., and married Lillie Landes; Fianna, in
Philadelphia; and Lizzie A., at home, caring for
her beloved father. • '
Although a Republican in politics and always
interested in public affairs, Mr. Bitzer has not cast
a vote for the past twenty years. Much of his time
is pleasantly spent in reading the newspapers and
the scriptures. His life has been one of honesty
and uprightness and he has the satisfaction of
knowing that he possesses the confidence and
esteem of the neighborhood in which he has spent
his long and most worthy life.
JOSEPH D. HASTINGS, a wealthy and
prosperous farmer, who is now living retired in
Colerairi township, Lancaster county, was born on
the farm where he is still making his home, in
November, 1826, and is a son of Peter and Sarah
(Andrews) Hastings. They were both born in
Colerain township, the father in 1778, and the
mother in 1785. She was a daughter of Joseph
Andrews, and 'her forefathers had much to do with
the early history of Lancaster.
Peter Hastings was the son of Peter and Rachel
(Sloan) Hastings, and the grandson of the Peter
Hastings who came from England to this country
as early as 1734. Peter Hastings, the first of the
family, purchased land of William Penn, in Cole-
rain township, a property that has passed down
through five generations of his descendants, built
a log house and settled down there for the re-
mainder of his life. In a will dated Dec. 8, 1768,
he left the estate to his son, Peter (2), and the
latter' sold it to his son, Peter (3), on Jan. 4, 1808;
the son, in turn, about i860, willed it to Joseph D.
Hastings.
Peter and Rachel (Sloan) Hastings had two sons,
John and Peter. John Hastings married a Miss
Cameron and made his home on a part of the
original family property. He died leaving three
sons.
Peter Hastings, the father of Joseph D., mar-
ried for his first wife, Elizabeth Hess, Aug. 22,
1799. They settled on the family homestead where
their lives were spent, and where Mrs. Elizabeth
Hastings died, leaving a family: Christopher, born
in January, 1800, who died in Wilmington, Del. ;
Rachel, deceased wife of Samuel Hess ; Peter, born
404
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in 1805, who died a young man ; James S., born in
1808, a farmer in Colerain township, deceased;
Ann Eliza, born in 181 2, who married Daniel
Howett, and moved West, where both died.
Peter Hastings later married Sarah Andrews
by whom he had three children: Robert, who died
in childhood ; Mary J., born in 1823, who died un-
married Dec. 17, 1870; and Joseph D., the only sur-
viving member of this family. The father died Oct.
2, iSSj, in the ninetieth year of his age; the
mother died Oct. 5, 1861. They were active mem-
bers of the Presbyterian church and were among
the founders of the Union church in Colerain town-
ship. Peter Hastings was a Whig, and became
a Republican in his last days. During his active
years he filled various local offices.
Joseph D. Hastings was educated in the district
schools. After the death of his parents he
remained as manager of the home farm. He mar-
ried in September, 1855, Louisa E., a daughter of
Benjamin and Mary E. (Stauffer) Esshelman. Her
father was born in Paradise township, and with
his wife settled in Providence, where they lived
some years, and then moved to Barts' Mills, where
he carried on the double occupation of farming and
milling. He was the son of Jacob Esshelman, at
one time a wealthy and prominent citizen of Lan-
caster. Mr. Esshelman retired to Strasburg, some
time before his s death in 1853. His widow lived
with her children in Philadelphia. Mrs. Hastings
was born Jan. 31, 1828, and had her education in
the West Chester High School, and in the Lewis-
burg Seminary. After their marriage they settled
on the old Hastings homestead, where they have
lived forty-six years. In 1869 Mr. Hastings built
a large modern house, remodelled the barn, and
made other valuable and extensive improvements.
To him and his wife have come four children : (i)
Celesta B., was educated in the Union High School,
and was given a classical education. She is a lady
of culture and natural refinement, and lives at home.
(2) Edgar E. had a business education, went to
Omaha, where he held a responsible position as a
superintendent of a department in the Cudahy
Packing House, and has proved himself a capable
business man. He married Miss Harriet Short, of
Kansas City, Mo. They have one daughter,
Winnefred. (3) J. Albert was educated under
Prof. Andrews at the Colerain Union High School,
taking up farming as his occupation, and for
fourteen years has been manager of the old home-
stead. In 1900 he made a trip to the Pacific Coast,
travelling very extensively through the West and
South, and spending some time in Florida. His
standing in Colerain is beyond question. (4) Emma
married Dr. Kauffman, of Lancaster, and they have
one daughter, Louise.
Joseph D. Hastings has always been identified
with the Whig and Republican parties, though he
has never sought office. He and his family are
connected with the Presbyterian church, where
they have taken a prominent part.
Mr. Hastings has kept a record of interesting
events in his neighborhood for more than twenty
years, and is a man of more than ordinary intelli-
gence. His education was limited, but he became a
deep reader, and is widely informed as to the
history and progress of the world. For a time, from
1856 to 1865, he kept a general store at his house,
but he has given this up. To-day he is one of the
best bookkeepers and finest penmen of the neighbor-
hood. His books are riiodels of neatness and cor-
rectness.
JOHN M. FROELICH, president of the Mount-
ville National Bank, president of the Mountville
Manufacturing Company, and a leading contractor
and builder at Mountville, Lancaster county, was
bom in Mountville, Sept. 4, 1834, son of John and
Fanny (Meyers) Froelich, who were born in Lan-
caster county, near Strasburg.
John Froelich, father of John M., was a weaver
by trade, and died in Mountville in 1858, at the age
of fifty-one years. His widow survived until i888,
dying at the age of seventy-four years. Both were
members of the United Brethren Church, and are
buried in the Mountville cemetery. To their mar-
riage were born nine children, viz. : Elizabeth, widow
of Henry S. Colm, of Mountville ; Henry, deceased ;
John M., of whom more will be said ; Annie, wife of
William Seitz, a leaf tobacco merchant of Mount-
ville ; Jacob, Elmina and Susan, deceased ; Rebecca,
married to John S. Carter, a blacksmith, at Liberty
Square; and Fanny, deceased.
Jacob Froelich, paternal grandfather of John M.,
was a farmer in West Hempfield township, where
he died. His death was caused by a fall from
an apple tree. Henry Meyers, the maternal grand-
father, lived and died in the southern end of Lan-
caster county.
John M. Froelich earned his livelihood on a farm
until eighteen years old, and then apprenticed him-
self to learn the carpenter trade with Sneath & Conk-
lin, of Mountville, Pa., and after acquiring his trade,
he became actively engaged in the contracting and
building business. Many evidences of his skill and
handiwork may be seen in the spacious houses and
barns built in the townships of West Hempfield,
East Hempfield and Manor, and some of the beauti-
ful homes built in the city of Lancaster.
His business interests, however, have not been
wholly confined to this calling, but have been varied
and extended, and his success gives great evidence
of Mr. Froelich's broad capacity as a financier and
executive officer. He was one of the originators
and organizers of the Mountville National Bank,
has served as one of its directors, and for the past
five years as president. He likewise was one of the
originators and organizers of the Mountville Manu-
facturing Co., served as one of its first directors
Jc^^ /^^ /^tc/^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
405
and is now its president. He has also been engaged
in the leaf tobacco business, buying from the far-
mer or raiser, and packing the same. He is likewise
engaged in the lumber business, having yards at
Mountville, at which an extensive business is done.
He is also the owner of considerable land.
John M. Froelich was married to Susan Fridy,
•of Mountville, Pa., in the year 1857, and to this
union there have been born the following named
children : Joseph, who is now associated with .his
father in business, and also a dealer in fertilizers;
John, who is with his father and works at the car-
penter trade ; Sherman is likewise engaged with his
father in the carpenter business; Harry, now de-
ceased, was married to Elida Musser; she is still
living; Gallic, his daughter, is intermarried with
Elias Solms, who assists his father-in-law at the car-
penter trade; Milton and Cecilia died in their in-
fancy.
Mrs. Susan (Fridy) Froelich was born in West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county, Oct. 25,
1837, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hougen-
doubler) Fridy. Her father, Joseph Fridy, who was
in the butchering business, died in 1871, at the
age of sixty-three years; her mother died in 1895,
at the home of John M. Froelich, at the age of eighty-
three years, both passing away in the faith of the
United Brethren Church. They were the parents
of the following family : Mary A., who died young,
as also did Elias ; Joseph H., a carpenter at Mount-
ville: Susan, Mrs. Froelich; Elizabeth, deceased
wife of William Sneath, who is likewise deceased;
Catherine, married to Frank Gerfin, a blacksmith
of Mountville : Barbara, wife of Henry Rhodes,
also a blacksmith, of Mountville ; Mesiah, who died
young ; and Jacob, a carpenter in the city of Lan-
caster.
John M. Froelich has always been prominent as
a Republican and has been active in promoting his
party's interests on every possible occasion. He'
■served on the school board three years. Fraternally
he is a member of Lodge No. 67, I. O. O. F., of
Lancaster. Socially the family stand very high and
Mr. Froelich is recognized as one of the most pro-
gressive as well as substantial citizens of Mount-
ville.
MARTIN H. GRUBE, proprietor of the "Union
Stock Yards Plotel" at Lancaster, is a natural born
hotel keeper, and his success in his present hostelry
attests the truth of this statement. To entertain
from ninety to one hundred and fifty people at
■dinner is considered very ordinary, and the menu
and service are noted for their excellence.
Mr. Grube was born in Caernarvon township,
Lancaster county, Nov. 23, 1847, and was reared
and educated in that section, remaining in school
■until he was sixteen years of age, when he ran
away Dec. 16, 1863, to enlist in Co. M, 19th Conn.
V. I., and the following spring the regiment
became the 2nd Conn. Heavy Artillery. He served
until June 11, 1865, when he was mustered out at
New Haven, Conn., after a faithful and creditable
record as a private. After doing garrison duty at
Forts William, Ellsworth and Albany, he was
ordered to the front April 27, 1864, with his regi-
ment, which joined the 6th Army Corps at Bell
Plain, and was marched to the Wilderness, where
they participated in the battles of the Wilderness
and Spottsylvania Court House, and then marched
to North Anna River, where Mr. Grube was detailed
to picket duty with two comrades, James Kegan
and James Graham, all on the same post. Kegan
was killed and Graham wounded, but Mr. Grube
escaped, and remained on- duty until morning, when
he was relieved. The regiment then marched to
the Peninsula, where the enemy was checked, and
in eleven hours they made a march of thirty-three
miles to Cold Harbor, where the command was also
heavily engaged. For two weeks this regiment had
been under fire, and had lost over 700 men, among
them Mr. Grube's last close comrade of five,
Amaziah Livingston, from Harrisburg. The
regiment was under fire a week at Petersburg, and
assisted in the destruction of the Weldon Railroad,
with the enemy pouring in hot shot at close quarters.
At Washington they assisted in the repulse of the
Rebels who had endeavored to rush the National
Capital. It would fill a volume to give the story of
all the thrilling experiences through which Mr.
Grube passed. It is enough to say, that at the
beginning of September, 1864, his company had
been reduced to eight men, Mr. Grube and seven
others. Eight recruits were received, and at the
battle of Winchester, all but three of these fell, Mr.
Grube being wounded in the right arm by a minie
ball. He kept on fighting until he was struck a
second time, a ball entering his abdomen and
coming out between the hip and the backbone. He
was removed to the field hospital with thirty-three
comrades, where he remained for six weeks, when
three of the thirty-three were sent to the hospital
at Philadelphia, the rest having died. At this point
he was cared for until in April, 1865, when he was
sent to New Haven, Conn., where he was mustered
out, June II, 1865, having passed through all these
terrible experiences before he was seventeen years
old. After his discharge Mr. Grube returned to the
home of his parents in Lancaster county. After
leaving the hospital he had already been home on a
furlough, but was so emaciated, that even his
brother failed to recognize him.
When Mr. Grube had attained his majority he
rented the "Blue Ball Hotel," in East Earl, which
he operated for a few years as a rented property
and then buying it, conducted the place fourteen
years. For ten years he was in the cattle business,
in agricultural pursuits and also in the leaf tobacco
trade, and is still dealing in leaf tobacco. It was
in 189s that Mr. Grube leased the "Union Stock
Yards Hotel," which he has since most successfully
406
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
conducted. His tobacco warehouse is at Blue Ball,
where he owns several other properties — one of the
buildings, which is a handsome one, having been
erected by himself.
A stanch Republican Mr. Grube was honored
with the position of director of the poor, which he
held for six years. He was a member of the build-
ing committee on the erection of the new and hand-
some Lancaster County Insane Asylum. He has
also served as assessor and collector of East Earl
township for two terms. Mr. Grube takes much
interest in fraternal matters, and belongs to several
societies, among them being Admiral Reynolds
Post, No. 405, G. A. R. He is a past master of
Howell Lodge, No. 405, E. & A. M., and is a mem-
ber of the Knights of the Golden Eagle.
In 1869 Mr. Grube was married to Miss Maggie
Cox, a daughter of William Cox. To this union
have come seven children: Harry F., associated
with his father in business, married Rachel Seldom-
ridge and has two children, Sarah and Harry ; John
C, proprietor of a hotel at New Holland, married
Katie Stauffer, and has three children, Margaret,
Anna and Jay ; Nora is at home ; William C, secre-
tary of the board of directors of the poor, married
Clara Kurtz, and has two children, Helen and
Franklin; Winfield Scott, representing the Beaver
Manufacturing Co., of Beaver, Pa., married Belle
Morrow, and has two children, Catherine and
Esther; Martin L. is at home; and Annie died in
infancy.
The parents ot Mr. Grube were born in Lancaster
county. His father was a farmer in Caernarvon
township where he owned a good farm and died at
the age of seventy-eight, his wife also dying at
about the same age. Of their children we have the
following record: Elizabeth married Philip Fur-
man, and both are now deceased; Martha married
George Spotts, and is deceased; David is deceased;
John H. is a resident of Caernarvon township;
Mary Ann is the widow of John Myers, of Caernar-
von, Berks county; Rachel is the wife of William
Shuler, of Kansas; Daniel H. was at one time
proprietor of the "Imperial Hotel," in Lancaster;
Martin H. is mentioned above; and three others
died in infancy.
ADAM R. GROFF (deceased), was for many
years one of the most respected farmer-citizens of
Pequea township, and passed his entire life on the
farm now occupied by his family. He was born
there April 20, 1838, son of Jacob GroflF, who was
also a native of Lancaster county, and followed
farming all his life on the farm which afterward
became the property of his son Adam. Jacob Groff
died in 1872. He married Miss Mary Rush, of
Lancaster county, and they were the parents of nine
children, namely: Henry and Jacob, both of whom
died in childhood : John, deceased ; Elizabeth
(deceased), wife of Christian Good; Adam R., our
subject; Susan, (deceased), wife of Benjamin
Rissel; Nancy, widow of Jacob Breneman; Hettie,
wife of .Simon Good; and Amos, of Quarryville,
who died July 3, 1902, The father was a member
of the Old Mennonite church.
Adam R. Groff was educated in the local public
schools, and farmed with his father until he was
about twenty-five years of age. He married for his
first wife. Miss Elizabeth Sterneman, who became
the mother of six children : Aldess, of Philadelphia ;
Anjnie, deceased; Cyrus, foreman of the car shops
of the Wilmington trolley line, who died Jan. 14,
1902; Jacob, of Wilmington, Del.; Enos, deceased;
and Mary, who is living at home. Mrs. Elizabeth
Groff died Jan. 18, 1874, and on Nov. 3, 1875, Mr.
Groff wedded Miss Mary Hershock, daughter of
John Hershock, of Lancaster county. To this union
were also born six children : Martha, wife of
Edward McMichael, of Pequea Valley; Ella N.,
who is at home ; Harry, who lives at home and has
charge of the farm ; Tillie, at home ; Katie, who
died when twelve years of age; and Charles, at
home.
Mr. Groff was a member of the Old Mennonite
church, as are also his widow and eldest daughter.
He was a Republican in politics, and held the office
of county committeeman for some time. Mr. GrofF
died Feb. 21, 1901, and was sincerely mourned in
the community where his long and useful life had
been spent. He was a man of high character, and
occupied an enviable position among his neighbors
and fellow-citizens.
WILLIAM YOHN, a resident of Caernarvon
township, descends from a good German parentage,
and the family has long been known in Lancaster
county, whither the grandfather of William Yohn
came from Germany; he established himself in
Caernarvon township, where he died at an
advanced age. He married and cultivated a small
farm.
His son, the father of William Yohn, was born
in Caernarvon township, where he was reared. The
most of his active years were spent in Brecknock
township, where he was known as one of the most
extensive farmers and public-spirited citi?ens of
the community. In politics he was a Democrat, and
filled several of the local offices. When he died he
was about seventy-seven. His wife, Catherine
Styer, was a daughter of Frederick Styer, a
native of Caernarvon township. She was a mem-
ber of the Lutheran church, and lived to be niriety-
eight ; Mr. Yohn belonged to the Reformed church.
They had a family of thirteen children: John
deceased, a farmer in West Hempfield township,
who for many years kept the hotel at Mountville;
Jacob, who was a farmer and stock dealer in Caer-
narvon township, now dead ; Elizabeth, late wife of
Christ Snader, of East Earl township; Sarah, who
married E. Moser, and went to Minnesota; Cathe-
rine and Peter, both dead; William; Adam, who
died young; Caroline, deceased wife of Jacob
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
407
Hudson, who settled in Wayne county, O. ;
Rachel, deceased wife of Anthony Good; Mary,
who married Samuel Faltz, of Terre Hill; Ellen,
who married Peter Faltz, both deceased; David,
deceased, a retired farmer of Mountville.
William Yohn was born April 8, 1818, on the
farm adjoining his present location, about a half
mile north of Churchtown. His education was
secured in the subscription schools, and when he
was twenty-one years of age he began working for
wages. When he was thirty years old he was
married, and rented the farm where he was
born. For nine years he farmed there, and then
purchased the place, which he has since made his
home; it comprises 167 acres of fine farm land and
is known as one of the best farms in Lancaster
county. He is both a general farmer and stock
raiser, and has proved himself one of the most suc-
cessful agriculturists of the county. He is a lover
of out-of-door recreations, and an enthusiastic
devotee of the fox hunt, and the baying of the
hounds was always music in his ears.
Mr. Yohn was married in 1848, to Miss Mary
Bechard, a daughter of Philip Bechard, of Caernar-
von township. She died in February, 1890, at the
age of sixty-one. To their union came the following
children: Theodore, who died in childhood;
Edward, Barton, Martin and Thomas, who all
died in infancy ; Clement, a tobacco farmer on the
old homestead; Linford, who lives in Lancaster, in
the employ of Peter Ammon, and married to Annie
Shank; Emma, who married Barton Gable, and
lives in Springffield, Pa. ; Margaret, who married
William Shirk, and lives in Philadelphia; William,
who married Annie- Curlev, and farms on the old
homestead, also dealing in fat horses.
Mr. Yohn is a member of the Reformed church,
and has been one of its most active and valuable
mernbers.
GEORGE KREIDER, a well known and enter-
prising farmer of East Lampeter township, is a
native of Lancaster county, born Sept. 5, 1841, in
Pequea township, son of Michael Kreider.
George Kreider, his grandfather, was also born
in Pequea township, and followed farming all his
life. He was one of the Old Mennonites in religi-
ous faith. He married Miss Sabina Benedict, and
they reared a family of six children : Michael ;
George and Christian, both deceased ; John, of East
Lampeter township; Barbara, wife of Christian
Harnish ; and Mary, wife of George Kridig.
Michael Kreider was born in Pequea township
in 1818. He followed, butchering during the early
part of his life, and later engaged in farming in
Strasburg township. In politics he was a Republi-
can, and held the office of supervisor in Pequea
township for some years. For his first wife he mar-
ried Miss Nancy Byers, and they became the
parents of seven children, one of whom died in
infancy; Benjamin is a resident of Eden;
Annie is the wife of Elias Hershey; George
is our subject; Barbara is the wife of John
Huber; Elizabeth is the wife of Ed. Miller,
of Strasburg ; Mary is the wife of Elwood Kreider.
The mother dying in 1853, Mr. Kreider married for
his second wife Mary Leckey. To this union came
seven children: Sarah, wife of Harry Rohrer;
David, of East Lampeter; Tabitha, wife of John
Eby ; Susan, widow of Abram Rank ; Frances, wife
of Jacob Rank; Kattie, unmarried; and Martin, of
West Lampeter.
George Kreider lived at home tmtil he was
twenty-eight years of age, and was educated in the
common schools of Lancaster county. He married
Miss Annie Melinger, of Soudersburg, and lived
on the farm of his father-in-law over twelve years,
after which he purchased the farm where he now
resides, and where he has continued farming until
the present time. He is actively interested in the
affairs of his locality, and was school director for
six years. Mr. and Mrs. Kreider are both members
of the Old Mennonite church. They are the parents
of thirteen children, five of whom died in infancy:
John is a Mennonite preacher in Missouri ; Sarah
is the wife of Ira Hershey; Benjamin is a resident
of Soudersburg ; Jesse lives on his father's farm ;
Jacob clerks in Esbenshade's store, at Leaman Place ;
Margie married Parke Book, a farmer living about
a half mile from .Strasburg; Susan and Esther are
unmarried, and at home.
JOHN M. GROFF, of Strasburg township,
who resides upon his valuable farm about one and
one-half miles south-east of Strasburg, belongs to
one of the old and substantial families of Lancaster
county.
John M. Groff was born in Eden township, near
Quarryville, Dec. 11, 1839, a son of Martin and
Mary (Eshleman) Groff. Grandfather Jacob Groff
owned a large farm and the mill which is now
known as Bassler mill, near Camargo, in this
county, and there he probably passed his whole life.
His family consisted of seven children : David ;
Benjamin; Martin; Jacob; Susan, who married
Christian Lefever, of Quarryville; Catherine, who
married John Welch, of Quarryville, who later
moved to Drumore township; and Elizabeth, who
married John Brown, of Little Britain township.
Martin Groff was reared on the farm and
atround the old mill, near Quarryville, where he
attended school, and while yet a young man, he
went to Lampeter for a time, where he was em-
ployed in a store; later he went to Harrisburg,
where he was employed for some time in a hotel,
about a year later returning to Lancaster county
and following clerking. After his marriage, at the
age of twenty-eight, he opened up a mercantile
business of his own, in Hawkesville, and also became
interested in lime burning, continuing in those
lines until about 1840, when he purchased a farm
of sixty acres in Strasburg township, where he
408
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
finally died, after some years of retirement, and
where his son now resides. Mr. Groff was known
through the community as a man of high moral
character, generous and charitable, and always in
favor of measures which promised benefit to the
community. For a long term he served on the
board of education and was much regretted at the
time of his death, which occurred March 17, 1887,
at the age of eighty-three years and three months.
His widow survived him until 1895, her years
reaching eighty-seven. A family of -six children
had been born to them ; Alice A., who died in Janu-
ary, 1899; Susan K., who resides with John M.,
on the old homestead ; Mary N., who married A. K.
Warful, of Lancaster City; Joanna, who died in
1877 ; John M. : and Saloam, who died in child-
hood.
John M. Groff was reared on the farm and was
educated in the public schools, going from there into
the Strasburg Academy, and later to the Millers-
ville State Normal School, thus obtaining a thorough
education which has fitted him to cultivate his land
more intelligently and scientifically, and also to take
prominence in the public affairs of this part of the
county. Like his father, he is progressive and
public-spirited and interested in educational mat-
ters. Although an ardent Republican, he has
never been willing to assume the cares of office. For
a number of years he has been a consistent member
of the M., E. church, and is one of the most
respected citizens of his neighborhood.
BENJAMIN HOFFMAN, whose prominence
in the agricultural world has brought him to the
front rank among Lancaster county's progressive
citizens, was born in East Donegal township Nov.
2, 1827, son of Michael and Magdalena (Musser)
Hoffman.
Michael Hoffman was born in Hanover town-
ship, York Co., Pa., son of Michael and Anna
(Long) Hoffman, prominent farming people of that
county, who later removed to East Donegal town-
ship, Lancaster county, where the former died.
They had two children, Elizabeth and Michael.
Michael, father of Benjamin, was an industrious
farmer, and by his thrift and enterprise became one
of the large land owners in his section, owning four
fine farms. He married Magdalena Musser, daugh-
ter of Jacob Musser, a farmer of East Donegal, and
to their union came children as follows : Anna,
deceased wife of John B. Engle, now of Cumber-
land county. Pa.; Benjamin, mentioned below;
Michael M., of East Donegal township ; Mary,
widow of Daniel M. Engle, now of Philadelphia;
Elizabeth, deceased wife of Peter B. Nissley ; Jacob,
deceased ; Henry, deceased ; and John, now of Snyder
county. Pa., who wedded Martha Engle. The
mother died in 1840, at the earlv age of thirty-two
years. Mr. Hoffman then married Nancy Hershey,
who bore him two children : Susan, wife of Cyrus
L. Engle, of Conov township ; and Abraham, a
farmer, who married Sarah Shank. The father
died in 1862, aged fifty-eight years, and sleeps his
last sleep in the cemetery in East Donegal.
Benjamin Hoffman worked on the home farm
during his boyhood and early manhood, remain-
ing with his parents until he was twenty-six years
01 age, when he married and moved to his present
farm of 100 acres. He has been very successful, and
though he has continued to make his home on his
present farm he is the owner of four other fine
farms, all of which are under a high state of culti-
vation, and are very productive. In connection with
farming he has engaged in the leaf tobacco business
since 1864. He is a hard worker, and has found
that in order to succeed he must give his personal
attention to all his workmen, and he keeps in con-
stant touch with all the various labors performed on
his estate.
In spite of the time necessarily devoted to his
own affairs Mr. Hoffman has found ample oppor-
tunity to keep well informed on public events, and
is very progressive, and thoroughly up-to-date in
everything he does. He is greatly interested in the
advancement of education and the improvement of
the district schools, and for six years has served
very capably as school director. In politics he is a
Republican. In religious connection Mr. and Mrs.
Hoffman are identified with the River Brethren
Church and Church of God, respectively.
On Dec. 6, 1853, Mr. Hoffman was united in
marriage with Miss Elizabeth Rhoads, the cere-
mony being performed by Rev. J. Strine. Mrs.
Hoffman was born in Manor township, Lancaster
county, Oct. 23, 1829, one of the seven children of
George and Elizabeth (Sweigart) Rhoads, farm-
ing people of Lancaster county. Mr. Rhoads died
in East Donegal township in July, 1854, aged fifty-
four years, and his wife, who was born in 1802, died
in 1887. The other children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Rhoads, and carefully reared in the faith of the
Lutheran Church, were as follows : Abraham S.,
of Maytown, Pa., died in 1901 ; Fannie S., deceased,
was the wife of George Lutz; Levi S. is a retired
farmer of Eden township ; Mary S., deceased, was
the wife of Henry K. Shenk, of West Hempfield
township; Susannah S. is the widow of Christian
L. Brandt, of Maytown, Pa. ; George S. is resid-
ing in Maytown. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs.
Hoffman was blessed with the following named
children: Paris R., born Sept. 1.1, 1855, died at
the age of nineteen. Michael R., born Jan. 31, 1857,
is a leaf tobacco merchant of Maytown, Pa. ; he
married Ida Risser, and has six children, Paris R.,
Michael R., Jr., Amos R., Guy S., Mary and Esther.
Emma M., born Nov. 3, 1858, married W. B. Det-
wiler, of Mt. Joy. Anna Martha, born July 27, i860,
married John S. White, a farmer of Maytown, and
has three children, Norman H., Hoffman and Su-
sannah H. Mary H., born July 24, 1862, married
Jonas E. Geyer, a miller of Marietta, and has three
children, Viola H., Clayton E. and Hoffman. Benja-
^.X/^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
409
mm F., born Oct. 21, 1863, is a resident of Conoy
township. Abraham L., born Nov. 29, 1865, is in the
tobacco business, and resides at home. Norman R.,
born Nov. 28, 1867, married Iva Hackenberger.
Elizabeth R., born Aug. 17, 1869, married Chris-
tiana N, Mumma, of Mt. Joy. Clayton R., born
Sept. 10, 1871, a farmer of EHzabethtown, Pa.,
married Mary Gish, and has had four children,
Paul (died in infancy), Mary G., Clayton G., and
Elizabeth G.
MICHAEL M. HOFFMAN. The farming in-
terests of East Donegal township, Lancaster coun-
ty, are in the hands of capable and progressive men,
who have done much to place that part of the
■county in the favorable position it now occupies.
Among those who for many years have been promi-
nently identified with its growth and progress is
Michael M. Hoffman, a farmer of means, who con-
ducted a flourishing leaf tobacco business in May-
town for a period of eighteen years.
Mr. Hoffman was born on his present farm
Oct. 4, 1829, son of Michael and Magdelena (Mus-
ser) Hoffman. When eleven years of age Michael
Hoffman came to this farm, and remained upon it
«ntil 1854, when he removed up the road into Conoy
township, there passing the remainder of his life. He
retired from active labor some nine years prior to his
death: he and his wife were buried in East Done-
gal cemetery. Both had been good and pious mem-
bers of the River Brethren Church. Their chil-
dren were: Anna (deceased), who married John
B. Engle; Benjamin, a resident of the old farm on
which his father died ; Michael M. ; Mary, widow of
Daniel Engle, of Philadelphia; Elizabeth (de-
ceased), who married Peter B. Nissley; Jacob, de-
ceased; Henry, deceased; and John, a farmer of
Snyder county. The second marriage of Michael
Hoffman, the father, was to Anna Hershey, and
their children were : Abraham, a farmer of Conoy
township (his wife is the postmistress at Lobata) ;
and Susannah, who married Cyrus Engle, of Conoy
township.
Michael M. Hoffman, whose name opens this
biography, was reared on the farm and educated
in the common schools of his district, remammg
wdth his father, on his farm, until he had attained
his majority, at whic. time he moved to an ad-
joining tract. He remained there three years,
thence moving, in 1876, to the farm he now occu-
pies Later Mr. Hoffman saw a fine openmg m
the leaf tobacco business, and moved into May-
town where he succeeded so well that he remamed
one of the prominent merchants, for eighteen years,
but finally returned to the comforts and pleasures
of farm life again. During the whole progress of
the Civil war he was enrolling officer, and he has
been a leading Republican in his part of the county
for many years.
Mr. Hoffman was married Dec. 10, i»SO. m
Harrisburg, Pa., to Anna L. Zeigler, who was born
on an adjoining farm in East Donegal township.
May 22, 1 83 1. To this marriage have been born:
Helen; Sabilla and Horace, who died in infancy;
Waher ; Ephraim ; Jacob, who married Maud Pratt,
and is a practicing physician in Wichita, Kan. ;
Eli, a tobacco buyer, in Maytown, who married
Elva Jacobs ; William G., assistant manager of tlie
South American Trust Company, residing in Hav-
ana, Cuba; and Bertha, a trained nurse of Phila-
delphia— all intelligent and most highly respected
in their several localities.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman are consistent members
of the Church of God, are known throughout the
neighborhood as most estimable people, and are
among the best representatives of the fine old town-
ship of East Donegal and that part of Lancaster
county.
MICHAEL R. HOFFMAN has been identified
with the leaf tobacco business in Lancaster county
throughout the period of his independent business
career, and his connection with the Hoffman Leaf
Tobacco Company, of which he is now a member,
has gained added prestige for that concern of high
standing. Mr. Hoffman is a strong man in every
sense of the term, and his influence in the county in
which he has passed his life has been felt in various
directions. He is likewise a representative of some
of the best of the old stock of Lancaster county, be-
ing descended both paternally and maternally from
pioneers of this part of the State. He was born Jan.
31, 1857, on the farm in Conoy township, where his
parents, Benjamin and Elizabeth (Rhoads) Hoff-
man, still reside.
(I) John Hoiiman, his first ancestor in America
in the paternal line, emigrated to this country from
the Swiss Palatinate in about 1717, and settled in
Lancaster county. Pa., near Chiques creek, in the
neighborhood of Newtown, Rapho township. Mi-
chael E. Hoffman traces his descent from this pioneer
through his son,
(II) Christian Hoffman, born in 1730, who
served under Washington at Braddock's defeat, in
1755. Christian Hoffman had six sons. Christian,
David, Jacob, Joseph, John (born about 1775), and
Michael (born in 1766, the next in line to Michael
R.). Of this family, Christian settled in Bedford
county, at Morrison's Cove, and was the progenitor
of a large and prosperous family, jacob was lo-
cated for a time in Richmond, Va., and was at one
time a prosperous slave dealer, but he returned to
Pennsylvania and spent his latter days in East Don-
egal township, Lancaster county. John and David
settled near Newtown, Rapho township, this county.
(III) Michael Hoffman, son of (II) Christian,
born in 1766, settled in what is now East Donegal
township. He had two children, Michael and a
daughter.
(IV) Michael Hoffman, born Oct. 5, 1803, son
of Michael, died Feb. 25, 1862. He married Magda-
410
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
lena Musser, who was born Jan. i8, 1809, and died
Nov. 30, 1840.
(V) Benjamin Hoffman, son of Michael, and
father of A'lichael R., is mentioned elsewhere.
On the maternal side, the first of Mr. Hoffman's
ancestors in this country of whom we have record,
was Ludwig Road (now written Rhoads), who was
of German descent, and who served as a soldier in
the Revolution. His family consisted of four daugh-
ters and six sons : Henry, David, Peter, John, Jacob
and George, all of whom but George, the youngest,
moved to Canada and Erie, Pa., early in the nine-
teenth century; they left numerous descendants.
George Rhoads, just mentioned, was the grandfather
of Michael R. Hoffman. He was born in 1800, and
died in 1854, in East Donegal township, near Mari-
etta, highly respected in the community where his
useful and successful life had been passed. He mar-
ried Elizabeth Sweigart, and they had a family of
seven children — ^three sons and four daughters —
namely: Abraham, Levi, George, Fannie, Eliza-
beth (mother of Michael R. Hoffman), Mary and
Susanna.
(VI) Michael R. Hoffman attended the Millers-
ville school until he was sixteen years old, after
which he taught for a few years. But the profession
did not open to Mr. Hoffman the prospects for suc-
cess which a man of his energy and ability would
naturally seek, and before long he had embarked, in
1878, in the tobacco business in Maytown, Pa., in
partnership with a Mr. Grove, and his uncle; Mi-
chael M. Hoffman, the firm being known as Grove,
Hoffman & Co. They continued in business together
until 1880, when the partnership was dissolved. Mr.
Hoffman's next location was in Bainbridge, this
county, where he remained about seven years, con-
tinuing in the same line on his own account, and
meeting with flattering success. In 1888 he moved
his office and tobacco interests to Marietta, Pa.,
which offered a wider field for his operations, and
where he has remained up to the present time. His
business has shown a steady increase from year to
year. It was gradually merged into the Hoffman
Brothers, and later into that of the Hoffman Leaf
Tobacco Company, a concern now well and favor-
ably known all over the country. The business has
so expanded that they now have packing houses in
Marietta, Columbia, Emigsville and Maytown, Pa.,
and in the States of Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin,
and employ, in the busy season, about two hun-
dred people. It is the largest establishment of its
kind in Lancaster county, the company controUing
at the present writing, fifteen thousand cases of to-
bacco. Mr. Hoffman has, in his long connection with
this particular branch of business, acquired an inti-
mate knowledge of its details which makes him an
authority in his line.
Mr. Hoffman's success is due as much to his
courteous personal treatment of patrons as to his
honorable business methods, and he is the same in
his intercourse with all, having a kind word for
everyone. He has worked hard all his life, augment-
ing his fine business talents with an untiring energy
and industry made possible by a strong physique.
Mr. Hoffman also devotes considerable time to the-
advancement of agricultural pursuits in the county.
He is a power for good throughout his community,
aiding and promoting many good works. In politi-
cal belief Mr. Hoffman is and always has been an
ardent Republican. He is now serving his fourth
term as school director in Maytown, where he re-
sides, in a home provided with all the comforts and
many of the luxuries of life. He is one of the di-
rectors of the Exchange Bank of Marietta, was pro-
moter of the Marietta Castings Company, and is a
director in the Columbia Flint Company, of Colum-
bia borough.
On Nov. 27, 1884, Mr. Hoffman was united in
marriage with Miss Ida Risser, daughter of Jacob
and Anna Risser, of Rapho township, a union which
has been blessed with six children, born and named
as follows : Paris R., Dec. 24, 1885 ; Michael R.,
Jr., July 27, 1887; Amos R., April 6, 1889; Guy S.,
Nov. :i, 1893; Mary, March 25, 1897; and Esther,
April 2, 1901.
BENJAMIN F. HOFFMAN, proprietor of
the Locust Grove Grist Mill, and extensive dealer
in leaf tobacco, was born in Conoy township Oct.
21, 1863, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Rhoads)
Hoffman, whose sketch may be found elsewhere.
The Locust Grove Mill is one of the historic
buildings in its section of Lancaster county. It was
built by John Haldeman and wife in 1790, and
is located on the river road, seven miles from Mari-
etta, and a half mile from the Bainbridge water
power grist-mill. It was operated by Mr. Halde-
man for some years, and was then in the hands of
H. H. Wiley for many years. Mr. Hoffman became
proprietor in April, 1899. At one time, long ago,
a distillery was operated on this farm, near the pres-
ent site of the mill.
Benjamin F. Hoffman and Miss Grace Stauffer
were united in marriage Nov. 27, t888, and to their
union have been born the following named chil-
dren : Olivia S., Ruth M., Pauline S. and Jean D.
Mr. Hoffman remained with his parents until
he became of age, and was then engaged in farm-
ing in Dauphin county for three years. Coming
back to Lancaster county, he spent a year with his
brother in the leaf tobacco business at Maytown,
at the end of that time opening up the tobacco busi-
ness in Conoy township which he carried on for a
time, when he went back to Maytown to farm and
deal in tobacco for four years. In 1899 he bought
his present business, as noted before, and has al-
ready achieved a decided success as a miller. In
connection theirewith he still buys and sells leaf to-
bacco. Mr. Hoffman is a genial and polished gen-
tleman, thrifty and well-to-do, and is one of the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
411
prominent men of the township, and his character
and standing are in every way beyond question. In
poHtics he is a RepubUcan.
NORMAN R. HOFFMAN, a dealer in leaf to-
bacco and one of the intellectual and enterprising
young business men of the thriving little village of
Bainbridge, whose name is synonymous with hon-
esty and fair dealing, was born in Conoy township
Nov. 28, 1867, son of Benjamin Hoffman.
The Hoffmans are an old family in Lancaster
county, and the various representatives have always
been characterized by industry and integrity to a
marked degree. The young man whose name ap-
pears at the beginning of this article well sustains the
family reputation, and is an energetic and pushing
character, attending to business with an eye single
to success, and yet scorning a mean or underhanded
action and despising trickery or deception.
On Christmas Day, 1892, Mr. Hoffman went to
Janesville, Wis., where he spent some six months
engaged in packing tobacco. At the expiration of
that period he came back to Bainbridge, where he
has since found his time and interests fully occupied,
though he is absent much of the time on important
business deals. Mr. Hoffman has been engaged in
the tobacco business since 1888, and in that time he
has achieved a marked success. Personally he is a
fine character, and has a host of friends. He is "well
fixed," as the saying is, owns a fine farm, though he
does not work it, and gives himself to his business
for the sake of doing something more than because
he needs to earn money. He assisted in the organi-
zation of the Union Trust Co., of Lancaster. In the
summer of 1902 he bought four properties in Bain-
bridge, including the fine "Central Hotel" at that
place. Politically Mr. Hoffman is a Republican, and
fraternally he belongs to the Blue Lodge, F. & A. M.
Mr. Hoffman was married, Jan. i, 1902, to Iva
N. Hackenberger, daughter of G. W. Hackenberger,
druggist of Bainbridge. The young couple occupy
the finest residence in Bainbridge, which Mr. Hoff-
man bought.
CLAYTON R. HOFFMAN, a young and
thrifty general farmer of Elizabethtown, was born
on the old Hoffman homestead in^ Conoy township,
Sept. 10, 1871, son of Benjamin Hoffman, a well-
known resident of Conoy township.
Clayton R. Hoffman was reared on the home
farm, where he remained until his marriage, when
he removed to Maytown, to enter the employ of
his brother in the leaf tobacco business, working
in his warehouse three years. At the end of this
period Mr. Hoffman removed to Rowenna, where
he was engaged in farming until February, 1901,
when he .removed to Elizabethtown to follow the
same vocation. He now lives two and one-half
miles west of Elizabethtown, on the Harrisburg
pike.
Mrs. Hoffman in her maidenhood was Miss Mary
Gish. She is the daughter of Mrs. Amanda Gish,
and comes of a prominent family of West Donegal
township, mentioned elsewhere. Mr. Hoffman is
a Republican. He is not a member of any church,
but stands high in the estimation of the community
as an intelligent and industrious young man, with
a high character, and an integrity that is beyond
question. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman are greatly
esteemed in the community for their many good
qualities, and a host of friends bear witness to their
genuine worth.
JACOB BAKER LONG, son of the late John
F. Long and brother of Charles E. Long, is, and
has been for many years, a leading broker of Lan-
caster.
Jacob B. Long was born in the old family home
on East Orange street, opposite the First Presby-
terian Church, Oct. 25, 1849, and was partially ed-
ucated in the public schools of Lancaster city. He
attended Yeates Institute for a time, and was then
sent to Eastman's Business College, at Poughkeep-
sie, N. Y., from which he was graduated in due
time. After completing his schooling he entered
the dry goods business in this city, his first engage-
ment being with Hager & Bro. A short time was
spent there, and he then found employment with
Howes & Macey, private bankers on Wall street,
N. Y., where ho. remained two and a half years.
We next find him a clerk in the bank of Reed, Mc-
Grann & Co., at Lancaster, with whom he spent a
year, and then began the banking business on his
own account, on the corner of Center Square and
North Queen street, continuing there for two years.
After the expiration of this period he was the local
representative of a well-known Philadelphia bank-
ing house. Mr. Long was then made paying teller
in the Farmers' National Bank, with which he con-
tinued for three years, from 1876.. Mr. Long be-
came a dealer in local stocks, bonds and other se-
curities in 1879, on the second floor of the Long
building, No. 10 North Queen street, and for many
years he has been recognized as an authority on
investments. From 1895 to 1900 Jacob B. Long was
connected with the extensive house of H. F. Bach-
man & Co., bankers and brokers of Philadelphia.
He returned to Lancaster in the spring of 1900 and
opened a branch of the business of this company at
No. 147 North Queen street. Here fine rooms were
fitted up, and the business assumed large pro-
portions. In Nov., 1901, he became manager for
E. C. Miller & Co., bankers of Philadelphia, in their
branch office, No. 313 Woolworth Building, Lan-
caster. J. B. Long & Co., No. 315 Woolworth Build-
ing, continue the leading brokers in local securities.
On Jure 30, 1881, Mr. Long was married to
Ellen (Hayes) Hagar, the daughter of the late Judge
Hayes, for many years an occupant of the judicial
office in Lancaster county, and justly regarded as
one of the most learned and intelligent gentlemen
who ever wore the legal ermine in this covmty. Mr.
412
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Long, on his return to Lancaster, made the beautiful
colonial cottage on Wheatland avenue his home un-
til the winter of 1900, when he moved into the large
and commodious Calder home on East Orange
street, which he had bought and thoroughly remod-
elled the previous summer.
JOHN F. LONG, junior member of the firm
of J. B. Long & Co., brokers, at No. 10 North Queen
street, Lancaster, enjoys a social standing second to
that of no other young man in the city, is the young-
est son of Charles E. Long, the druggist, and is a
nephew of his partner, J. B. Long. Our subject
has had a very active and successful business career
for a man of his years. He was born in Lancaster
June 29, 1875, and, after attending the public
schools, left the Boys' High School of Lancaster to
take a special business course in Weidler's Business
College. On leaving the latter institution he was
employed by Christopher Hager, in the fire insur-
ance business, continuing thus from 1893 to March,
1895, when he entered the office of his uncle, J. B.
Long, as manager, the uncle at that time being con-
nected with a large banking house in Philadelphia,
necessitating his residence in the latter city. From
1898 on Mr. Long was an acting partner with his
uncle, and on April i, 1900, became a full partner,
under the firm title of J. B. Long & Co. This firm
is the leader in local securities, of which they make
a feature, and no establishment in the community is,
better known.
John F. Long was married, June 5, 1900^ to Miss
C. May Stauffer, daughter of J. Newton Stauffer,
owner of the extensive hat house of Stauffer & Co.,
and member of the firm of Shreiner & Stauffer, deal-
ers in hardware and house furnishings. Mr. Long
is a member of the Young Republicans, and of the
Elks, and is a Lutheran in religion, uniting with the
church of the Holy Trinity.
HUGH RAMSEY FULTON, Esq., a promi-
nent member of the Lancaster Bar, is a descendant
of John Fulton, who was born in Scotland in 17 13,
emigrated to America, and settled in Nottingham,
Chester Co., Pa., in 1762.
The historian Macaulay says : "They who take
no pride in the deeds of a remote ancestry will
hardly be likely to accomplish anything worthy to
be remembered by a remote posterity." The Fulton
family has a crest, resproduced from Fairbairn's
"Book of Crests of Great Britain and Ireland,"
with the legend, "Things which we ourselves have
done," and the motto, "Rest is attained by labor."
This crest may be seen in the State Library at
Harrisburg, but the Fultons have not attempted to
gather any lustre from it, though every one of them
has been a "doer of noble deeds." Their men have
been industrious and intelligent, and many of them
have won rank and standing as tried and valiant sol-
diers in the American armies ; and their women have
been earnest and noble workers in the home circle.
in the church, and in the doing of blessed charity,
chief of all the virtues.
Hugh Ramsey Fulton, of the fourth generation
in this country, was born in East Nottingham,
Chester Co., Pa., Nov. 16, 1843. His primary edu-
cation was received in the subscription and public
schools of his district, and at the Chestnut Level
Academy. While employed at the chrome banks
near his home the war of the Rebellion broke out,
which, putting a stop to the chrome industry, threw
him; out of work. For a time he worked at hod
carrying, and then the spirited lad joined the Union
army, on June 27, 1863, as a member of Co. G,
1st Battalion, six-months volunteers, which after-
ward became the 187th P. V. I. At that time the
four brothers. Dr. Tames Fulton, Major William
T. Fulton, Joseph M. and Hugh R., were all in the
army, and their father was doing what he could at
horne for the cause in which they were fighting.
Soon after the expiration, of his first term of en-
listment Hugh R. re-enlisted, in the regular army,
and was assigned to Battery E, 5th Regiment, United
States Artillery, then located at Chambersburg,
soon joining the Army of the Potomac in Virginia.
The young artilleryman served with his command
in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania
Court House, North Anna River, Cold Harbor, the
first attack on Petersburg, and through the entire
siege of that city. At the time of the springing
of the mines in front of the Rebel stronghold he
was stationed at Fort Hell, regarded as the hottest
place on the fighting line. Young Fulton nobly
bore his part amid these trying scenes, and was in
the last battle of the Army of the Potomac, which
was fought at Sailor's Creek, April 6, 1865 ; he was
also one of the brave thousands who participated in
the exciting events of the close of the war, and the
Grand Review at Washington. Remaining in the
army until the close of his term, he served in Florida
and the Carolinas, and was honorably discharged,
his discharge papers bearing this endorsement,
signed by Truman Seymour, Brevet Major Gen-
eral, and Captain of the 5th Artillery. "One of the
most faithful and intelligent soldiers I have ever
known." He also gave this endorsement: "Ser-
geant Hugh R. Fulton, now discharged from the
ITnited States army, has served three years in the
field with a steadiness and fidelity that might be
equalled, but could not be surpassed."
On returning from the army Mr. Fulton en-
tered Taylor's Select School, at Oxford. In August
of the same year he became teacher of the Union
school in Elk township, where he taught three terms.
He registered with his brother, William T. Fulton,
Esq., at Oxford, as a student of law, in the spring
of 1868. In October of that year he matriculated
at the Law Department of the University of Michi-
gan, from which he was graduated with the degree
of Bachelor of Laws in March, 1870. Coming at
once to Lancaster, where he had determined to fol-
low his professional career, he was admitted to
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
418
practice April 19, 1870. He entered the office of
the late Hon. William A. Atlee.
Mr. Fulton has received many evidences of the
public confidence and trust which his upright and
manly life have commanded, in his election to im-
portant and responsible public positions where are
demanded ability, public spirit and character of a
high type. In 1872 he was elected solicitor for the
Home for Friendless Children in Lancaster, and
held that position four years ; he was afterward
chosen as a trustee of that institution, and in 1876
its treasurer; as such he served the high and noble
interests this institution conserves until 1902, a
period of twenty-six years. In January, 1879, he
was elected on the Republican ticket as County So-
licitor, and received unstinted praise from all in-
terested in the proper administration of the duties
of that responsible position for his faithful and in-
telligent discharge of its functions. His term was
marked by a large number of land damage cases,
arising from opening numerous streets in the city
of Lancaster, and by his recovery from the State of
Pennsylvania of a claim of $23,000 for excess taxes
in previous years. In 1883 he was chosen City
Solicitor, and won more than a local reputation by
his collection of claims long unsettled, and his vig-
orous action in compelling certain influential cor-
porations to comply with the city ordinances.
An organizer of the Lancaster General Hospital,
one of the most worthy charities of the city, Mr.
Fulton has served it as a director and secretary.
He was also one of the organizers and superintend-
ent of the Bethany Presbyterian Sunday-school, and
served on the building committee of the church in
the erection of the beautiful chapel which that
body now occupies, on West End avenue. He was
a member and an elder of the First Presbyterian
Church, for several years, and took an active part
in organizing the new Bethany Presbyterian Church,
and was elected a member of the Session.
Mr. Fulton united with Oxford Lodge, F. &
A. M., in 1867, and with Lancaster Chapter in 1873 ;
he is a member of the Jr. O. U. A. M: For five
years he was president of the Y. M. C. A. of Lan-
caster, and for many years has acted as one of its
directors. Twice commander of Post No. 84, G. A.
R., he has frequently been a delegate to the depart-
ment encampments; has been assistant inspector-
at-large of the Grand Army posts of the county, and
was aide-de-camp on the staff of the commander-in-
chief, Gen. Saxton.
In addition to his work previously mentioned
Hugh R. Fulton has compiled and published an in-
teresting work, the "Genealogy of the Fulton Fam-
ily, Being Descendants of John Fulton," which was
issued from the press of the New Era Printing
Company in 1900, and contains 238 pages. Here is
shown clearness of thought and expression, com-
bined with a rhanly attitude towards all questions
of right and conscience, ever characteristic of Mr.
Fulton's actions.
In 1871 Mr. Fulton married Sallie T. Kerr,
daughter of John A. Kerr, of East Nottingham,
Chester county, and to their marriage were born the
following children : Hugh Kerr, Eleanor Jane and
John. Eleanor Jane Fulton was graduated from
the Lancaster High School in the class of 1899^
and from the State Normal School at Millersville
in 1901. John Fulton graduated from the Lan-
caster High School, and is in the class of 1904 at
Franklin and Marshall College.
Hugh Kerr Fulton, born in Lancaster, was
graduated from the city high school in 1891, and
four years later from Franklin and Marshall Col-
lege. Organizing and teaching the Octoraro Acad-
emy in 1895 and 1896, he attended during this
period the Reformed Theological Seminary at Lan-
caster, was graduated from Princeton Theological
Seminary in 1899, and is now pastor of the Pres-
byterian Church at Perrineville, Monmouth Co.,
New Jersey.
AMOS WEAVER, now living retired in East
Lampeter township, is spending the balance of a
long life of usefulness in well-earned ease and com-
fort. He was for many years prominently identi-
fied with agricultural interests in his section of Lan-
caster county, being a successful farmer in West
Lampeter township. The family has long been well
known in this county.
Jacob Weaver, the grandfather of Amos, was
born in West Lampeter township, and lived there
during his entire life, following farming exclusively.
He married a Miss Neff, and they were the parents
of nine children : Jacob ; Samuel ; David ; John ;
Joseph ; Elizabeth, wife of Henry Bowman ; Martha,
wife of Martin Harnish ; Annie, who died unmar-
ried; and Esther, wife of Jacob Lantz.
John Weaver, the father of Amos, was bom in
West Lampeter township. He also followed farm-
ing all his life. He married Miss Elizabeth Kreider,
daughter of Christian Kreider, of West Lampeter
township, and they had a family of nine children:
Martin, of Strasburg ; Christian, of Virginia ; Amos ;
Elizabeth; Annie, who died unmarried; Cyrus, of
Chester county, Pa. ; Frank, of West Lampeter ;'
Jacob, a physician of Strasburg ; and John, who re-
sides on the old homestead in West Lampeter. The
parents were members of the New Mennonite
Church.
Anaos Weaver was born in West Lampeter town-
ship, near the old place, May 22, 1825, received a
common school education, and lived at home until
he was about twenty-five years of age. He then
began life for himself, farming in West Lampeter,
on the farm where his son, Frank M., now lives, and
remaining there until about 1886. In that year he
moved to East Lampeter, where he now lives re-
tired, making his home with his son, Martin H. In
religion he is a member of the New Mennonite
Church.
Amos Weaver wedded Miss Mary Harnish, and
m
HIOGRAPHICAL; ANNALS OF LANCASTER. COUNTY-
to this union were born eight children.: Emma, who
died unmarried; Frank M., who lives on the old
homestead, married Annie Metzger and hag one
daughter, Minnie ; Susan, deceased wife of S. John
Curtis,, of Jersey City; Aldis J., who married Re-
becca Miller and has one son, Ross ; Amos K., who
married Susan Gochenaur ; Martin H., at home, who
married Katie N., Howery ; Ella F., deceased wife of
Fra.nk Miller; Phares B., deceased, a druggist in
Lancaster. The mother of these children died in
April, 1895.
DAVID BRANDT, in his life time one of the
prominent and respected citizens of Lancaster
county, was born in the vicinity of Mt. Joy, Dec.
6, 1820, and died March 2, 1863. His earlier life
was passed on the home farm and his education
obtained in the common schools. Mary Ann Stoner,
his wife, was', born Sept. 28, 1827, and died in
August, 1898. They settled after their marriage
some four miles from Mt. Joy, and there they
passed their, active lives. She was a member of the
Old Mennonite Church, and became the mother of
two children, Harriet, who was born March 5,
1852,; and Christian, who was born July 5, 1853,
and died Aug. 6, 1854.
The parents of David Brandt were Christian
and Fannie (Zeamer) Brandt. The family has long
been established in the vicinity of Mt. Joy, and it
is supposed that Mr. Brandt, was born near that
village. He was a farmer and lived to be over
eighty years of age. Christian and Fannie Brandt
were members of the Dunkard church, and had the
following children: Isaac; Christian; David;
Fannie; Katie, Anna and Mary. The surviving
members of the family are members of the Lutheran
church at Manheim. .
Harriet Brandt, daughter of David Brandt,
represents the family in Landisville. She married
Henry Sherer, Oct. 26, 1874, by whom she had one
child, Lizzie, born Aug. 12, 1875, now the wife of
Amos Cooper, a retired merchant of Landisville.
As Mrs. Sherer's property is quite extensive, her
son-in-law, Amos Cooper, looks after it for her.
She owns three, good farms, two in East Hempfield
township and one in Dauphin county, besides a
three-story, buff brick mansion in Landisville, with
all modern improvements. She is a woman of
manifest culture and refinement, and her home gives
every indication of culture and good taste.
CHRISTIAN DUTT, once one of the most
prominent business men of Lancaster county, Pa.,
and for years a worthy and highly respected citizen,
was born in the county Feb. 14, 1818, and died April
8, 1 89 1. He was a son of George and Elizabeth
(Erb) Dutt, the former of whom was born nad
reared in Penn township, this county, was a black-
smith by trade, and passed his entire life in the town-
ship of his nativity.
Christian Dutt learned blacksmithmg under his
father and worked at the trade many years, until he
was disabled by a kick from a horse. He then lo-
eated in Lititz and became a drover, handling live
stock in large numbers, and especially a high grade
of cows.
Mr. Dutt was twice married ; his first wife, who
bore the maiden name of Sarah Fulmer, died in 1850,
the mother of one child, Mary, wife of Martin
Bolinger, a resident of Lititz; by his second wife,
Catherine BoUnger, he also became the father of one
child, Lizzie, born Feb. 19, 1865, wife of Samuel
G. Bare, likewise a resident of Lititz. Mrs. Cath-
erine (Bolinger) Dutt was called from earth in 1879.
Miss Lizzie Dutt was married to Mr. Bare Feb. 23,
1892, and to this union have been born three chil-
dren : Gilmore, born Aug. 4, 1893, and died Sept,
7, 1893 ; Theodore, born Jan. 17, 1895, and died Feb,
22, 1902; and Le Roy, born Sept. 5, 1901.
Samuel G. Bare was born Nov. 18, 1867, in
Brownstown, Lancaster county, and by vocation is
a farmer, but has. retired from active labor. He is
a member of Lodge No. 253, Knights of Pythias,
and of Golden Eagle Lodge, No. 67. Mr. and Mrs.
Bare have the handsome and comfortable home on
Broad street near the Square, and are among the
most worthy and respected residents of the borough
of Lititz.
JOHN G. BOOK. One of the thrifty and pros-
perous farmers of Drumore township is John G.
Book, who was born in Strasburg township June
9, 1836, a son of John and Annie (Gist) Book, both
of whom were natives of Lancaster county.
Grandfather David Book was a German by birth
and one of the early settlers of Lancaster county.
The family there born to him was as follows : Dan-
iel, George, David, John, Michael, Elizabeth, Cath-
erine and Martha. The father, John Book, mar-
ried Annie Gist and they had nine children : Cath-
erine, Levi and David, all deceased; Rebecca, wife
of Benjamin Weaver, of Illinois; John G. ; Mary
Ann and Daniel, deceased ; Elam, a farmer of Stras-
burg township ; Amos, a farmer of Strasburg.
John G. Book was reared upon the farm and at-
tended the common schools of his district. Although
he started out in life a poor man^ he is now one of
the most substantial farmers in Lancaster county
and owns a fine farm of 140 acres, on which is a
fine residence, good barn and other buildings. With
money in the bank and excellent crops each year
he may well feel satisfied with the result of his
labors.
On Nov. 19, 1863, Mr. Book was married to
Miss Martha Miller, of Providence township, a
daughter of George H. and Elizabeth (Lee) Miller,
farmers, of German birth. The Miller family also
comes of German extraction. Mr. and Mrs. Miller
had ten children, eight of whom grew to maturity:
Joseph, deceased; Mrs. Book; Benjamin; George;
Martin ; Elizabeth, widow of Abraham Mylin; Mary,
deceased; Rachel; Samuel, the youngest. The re-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
41t>
mainder of the children died young.- Mrs. Book
is a cousin of Amos HoUinger, a farmer of Lan-
caster City, and her family is known as one of the
oldest in this county. Six children were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Book: Mary, wife of Daniel Le
Fefer, of East Drumore township, a farmer ; Aldus,
a baker of Quarryville, Pa. ; Miller, married and liv-
ing in Philadelphia; Enos, Elmer and Wesley, at
home. The birth of Mrs. Book occurred on August
6, 1842.
In politics Mr. Book is a Republican and takes
an active part in party matters. Honorable in all
his dealings, Mr. Book commands the highest re-
spec;t of his fellow-citizens and is in every way
worthy of their esteem. Both he and his estimable
wife are very kind-hearted, one evidence of this be-
ing the adoption of a child, Celia, to whom they
have given their own name. This pleasant girl
was born in 1886 and is an agreeable addition to
the home circle.
EDWARD KRECKEL. It is not due to luck
or chance that Mr. Kreckel, after an active busi-
ness career in Lancaster, is enabled, in the twilight
of existence, to partially retire from the labors in-
cident to earlier years and to enjoy the comforts
which his own industry has provided. Inheriting
forcible traits of character from his German an-
cestry, he developed these through constant exer-
cise, and has always led a useful, industrious life.
Practically his earliest recollections are of Lancas-
ter, although he is a native of Nassau, Germany,
born Oct. 9, .1839. His paternal grandfather, James
Kreckel, spent his entire life in that country, follow-
ing the occupation of farmer and grain merchant.
John Kreckel, father of Edward Kreckel, was
born in Nassau, where he conducted farm pursuits
for some time. During the struggles that threat-
ened the disruption of Europe in the early years of
the nineteenth century, he bore a part as a soldier
in the regular army, and was present at the battle
of -W^aterloo.- -After seven yeaTS' of -service he was
honorably discharged and resumed the life of a farm-
er. In 1842 he brought his family to the United
States and settled in Lancaster, where he made his
home until his death, July i, 1867, at the age of
seventy-four years. His wife, Catherine (Hilbert)
Kreckel, was born in Germany in 1802 and died in
Lancaster in 1895. The bodies of both were buried
in the cemetery connected with St. Joseph's Cath-
olic Church, of which they were faithful members.
Of the children of John Kreckel one son, who bore
the father's name, became a priest in the Roman
Catholic Church and died in June, 1899, while fill-
ing the position of rector of the parish at Ottumwa,
Iowa. A daughter, Catherine, married Philip Fin-
ger; George is living retired, in Lancaster; and the
youngest child, Rosa, who was born after the fam-
ily came to the United States, is the widow of
Stephen Myers, a farmer of Lancaster.
As soon as old enough to enter school Edward
Kreckel was sent to the Lancaster schools, remain-
ing there until he was twelve, when he entered upon
life's struggles and took upon himself the responsi-
bility of self-support. One of his first employments
was in the Conestoga cotton factory; another was
as errand boy in a hat store, after which he returned
to the cotton mill. At fourteen years of age he be-
gan to serve an apprenticeship to the trade of sad-
dler and harness maker with a Frenchman, F.. X.
Motton, in a small shop in Lancaster. Two years
were spent in that place, after which he finished
learning his trade under Henry Pinkerton. Having
thus acquired a practical knowledge of the trade, he
felt justified in starting out for himself, and during
1858 opened a small shop in Fairfield, Lancaster
county. A year later he went to Louisville, Ky.,
where he was employed as a journeyman several
months. Returning to Lancaster, he married and
worked a short time, thence went to Cincinnati, O.,
but soon came back to Lancaster. At first he worked
in the employ of others, but in 1881 opened a shop
for himself, and from a small beginning worked up
an important trade. The increasing business justi-
fied him in making a move to better quarters, and
accordingly, in February, 1891, he opened a shop
on the public square, where he has since continued,
conducting the largest saddlery business in the en-
tire county.
Though a believer in Democratic principles and
stanch in his allegiance to party, Mr. Kreckel has al-
ways been averse to office-holding, and the only posi-
tion his fellow-citizens have prevailed upon him to
accept was that of councilman, and. this he resigned
after filling it a year. Reared in the Roman Cath-
olic faith, he is a firm believer in its doctrines, and
an active member of St. Anthony's Church. In
August, 1859, in Lancaster, occurred his marriage
to Catharine Rice, who was born in Glasgow, Scot-
land, in 1837, being a daughter of Charles and Mary
(McTammey) Rice, also natives of that country.
During 1842 the family immigrated to the United
States and' settled in New ^ork City, but after a
short time removed to Jersey City, from there went
to Philadelphia and thence in 1854 to Lancaster,
where they subsequently made their home. By trade
Mr. Rice was a weaver, and was considered an ex-
pert in the manipulation of the old-fashioned hand
looms. The children of Edward and Catharine
Kreckel are Mary, Edward and John (twins), Cath-
erine S. and Lucy. The oldest daughter is the wife
of Fred Ruof, a saddler who is engaged in busi-
ness with Mr. Kreckel ; they are the parents of seven
children. The two sons are connected with their
father in business, and John is also an alderman.
Edward married Anna McElvoy, by whom he had
eight children, but only two of these are now living.
Catherine S. died at thirty-seven years of age. Lucy
is the wife of Henry Dentz, of Baltimore, Md., and
they have four children. In the society of his chil-
dren and grandchildren Mr. Kreckel is happily pass-
ing his declining years, his sons relieving him to a
416
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
large extent of business cares and thus permitting
him to enjoy the rest which his long and active
career justly merits.
CHARLES C. SEITZ, a retired educator of
Mountville, Lancaster county, was born Jan. 13,
1838, in Manor township, one mile from his pres-
ent home, son of Jacob and Barbara (Charles)
Seitz, natives of the same township.
Jacob Seitz was reared to agricultural pursuits,
which he followed all his life, but was also a pop-
ular leader and a man of influence among his fellow
citizens. He was a school director for many years ;
prison inspector of Lancaster county for a long
time; for years was a director of the First Na-
tional Bank of Columbia, Pa. ; was one of the in-
corporators of the Movmtville Manufacturing Com-
pany ; and a promoter in general of the interests of
his town and county. His death occurred in June,
1892, when he was in his eightieth year, and he was
interred in Habecker's cemetery, in Manor town-
ship, by the side of his first wife, who passed away
in December, 1848, at the age of forty. To Jacob
and Barbara Seitz was born a family of nine chil-
dren, namely : Anna, who is the wife of Henry
Mann, a farmer ; John, a retired farmer at Mount-
ville ; Jacob, a retired farmer of Manor township ;
Charles C, whose name appears at the opening of
this sketch ; Barbara, who died in Mountville, July
4, 1901, in her sixty-second year; Elizabeth, wife
of Jacob R. Myers, a retired farmer of Manor town-
ship ; Christian, who died young ; Amos, a retired
farmer living in Alountville ; and Henry, who died
young. By his second marriage, to Anna Charles,
a sister of his first wife, Jacob Seitz had no chil-
dren.
John and Anna (Garber) Seitz, the paternal
grandparents of Charles C, resided on the old home-
stead in Manor township until they died, John Seitz
passing away in 1847, ^t the age of seventy-five
years, and Anna, his wife,' in 1862, in her ninetieth
year. He was a son' of Jacob Seitz, who, was born
in Rhenish Bavaria,' Germany, came to America
in 1764, and soon afterward settled in Manor town-
ship, Lancaster Co., Pa. He married Elizabeth
Witmer, a native of Laricaster county, and a mem-
ber of the old family of that name here, her father
being Michael Witmer, who came from Germany
in 1732, and settled in Manor township. Jacob
Seitz died in 1822, at an advanced age, his wife pass-
ing away some years before. Eleven children were
born to Jacob and Elizabeth Seitz, five sons and six
daughters, liamely: John, grandfather of Charles
C. ; Jacob, a farmer and minister, who removed to
Cumberland county, Pa., where he died at an ad-
vanced age; Michael, a farmer of East Hertipfield
township; Abraham; Henry, who removed to
Springfield, Ohio, where some of his descendants
still live; Veronica, who became the wife of John
Forrey, of 'West Hempfield township ; Barbara, who
married Christian Newcomer, of Manor township;
Anna, wife of Jacob Forrey, of West Hempfield
township; Catherine, who married Michael Kauff-
man, of Manor township ; Magdalena, wife of Abra-
ham Lantz, of Strasburg township; and Elizabeth,
who married Henry Musser, of near Marietta, Done-
gal township.
The maternal grandparents of Charles C. Seitz
Wer Jacob and Barbara (Herr) Charles. The an-
cestors of Jacob Charles came from Switzerland in
1734, and were pioneers of Manor township, Lan-
caster county, where they followed farming. To
Jacob and Barbara (Herr) Charles were born eight
children, in the following order, all now deceased:
Elizabeth, who married John Hertzler, of Raphe
township; Fanny, deceased wife of Rev. John S.
Newcomer, a pastor of the German Baptist Church,
at Mountville: Barbara, the mother of Charles C, ;
Catherine, deceased wife of John E. Newcomer, a
retired farmer of Manor township, now residing
in Mountville ; Jacob ; Mary, deceased wife of Jacob
Froelich ; Christian ; and Anna.
Charles C. Seitz was reared on the home farm
in Manor township, where he remained until he
had attained his majority, acquiring in the mean-
time a solid common-school education. After be-
coming of age he attended the Millersville State
Normal School, for three terms, after which he
taught school for twenty-five years, with but few in-
terruptions, in Lancaster county, principally in
Manor township, and the last six years in Mount-
ville, whither he had come in i874- In 1889 Mr.
Seitz abandoned the teacher's profession, and soon
afterward entered the Internal Revenue office at
Lancaster, as cashier for Collector Sam Matt. Fri-
dy, serving four years under Harrison's administra-
tion. He also served in 1882 and ,1883 as assistant
paymaster for Major J. C. Muhlenburg, paymaster'
in the United States Army, being in the Department
of Texas, with headquarters at San Antonio, Texas;
but he did not like the position and resigned.
Mr. Seitz has been a director in the Mount-
ville National Bank since 1892, and in January,
1901, was elected vice-president of that institution.
He was also a director of the Mountville Manu-
facturing Company for three years, but resigned
Aug. 4, 1900. Fraternally Mr. Seitz is a member
of Lodge No. 67, I. O. O. F., of Lancaster, and is
an honorary member of the Jr. O. U. A. M. In pol-
itics he is a RepubHcan.
JOSEPH CHARLES, one of the most worthy
and respected citizens of Lancaster county, Pa., was
a son of John and Anna (Witmer) Charles, was
born Feb. 25, 1825, on the old homestead, two miles
southeast of Mountville, and died' Dec. 2, 1899.
Joseph Charles was educated at the old log school
house at the Habecker Church, remained on the
homestead until twenty-five years of age, and then
located on a farm about three-quarters of a mile
from his birth-place, where he passed the remainder
of his life. This tract, containing 11 1 acres, was
' '^4/m>
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
417
improved by Mr. Charles principally, later by his
sons, and was converted into one of the best farms
in the county. Since then it has been divided into
three distinct farms, each containing a good dwell-
ing and all requisite out-buildings; still more re-
cently one of these farms has been subdivided, and
a subdivision containing thirty-eight acres sold to
C. H. Charles and now occupied by David B.
Charles. The other subdivisions, two in number,
contain, respectively, forty-three and thirty acres,
the larger one being the homestead, on which the
widow and her son, David F., reside.
Joseph Charles married Miss Fannie Forrey, a
daughter of John Forrey; she was born March 12,
1833, in West Hempfield township, about one mile
east of Columbia. To this marriage there were born
twelve children, in the following order: Benja-
min F., a farmer near Petersburg, East Hempfield
township; Anna and Ephraim, who both died in
childhood ; Christianna F., deceased wife of C. H.
Hess, of West Lampeter township ; John F. ; David
F., on the old homestead; Sue, wife of C. K. Rutt,
of Manor township; Elizabeth, who died in child-
hood; Joseph F., a farmer in Manor township ; Jacob
F., a farmer in West Lampeter township; Frances
F., wife of C. K. Herr, of Manor township; and
Hettie, married to H. D. Charles, also of Manor
township. The father of this family was quiet,
unobtrusive and decidedly domestic in his habits,
was a farmer all his life, was for nearly fifty years
a member of the Mennonite Church, of which his
wife was also a member, and was one of the most
highly respected residents of the township and
county.
John F. Charles was born on the old home-
stead in Manor township Dec. 16, 1857, was reared
a farmer, was educated in the public schools, re-
mained with his parents until twenty-two years of
age, and still resides on a part of the old homestead.
On March 20, 1880, John F. Charles married Miss
Sue H. Kreider, daughter of George and Elizabeth
(Herr) Kreider, and after marriage he settled down
to farming on his present thirty acres. To this mar-
riage have been born two children, Walter K. and
John K. The family attend the Mennonite Church,
of which Mr. Charles served on the building com-
mittee when the Habecker edifice was rebuilt. In
politics John F. Charles is a Democrat, has officiated
as supervisor of the township four years and is the
second Derhocrat that has ever held an office in
Manor township — a clear indication of more than
ordinary popularity.
FREDERICK STIVELY. Among the leading
citizens of Lancaster county, a native son and es-
teemed resident is Frederick Stively, son of Fred-
erick and Anna (Barr) Stively, born Nov. 25, 1839,
in Drumore township.
Frederick Stively, the father of Frederick, Jr.,
was born in Germany in 1803, and died in June, 1891.
His wife, Anna (Barr) Stively, was a daughter of
27
Jacob Barr, who was one of the highly esteemed
citizens of Lancaster county. She was born in
1805, in Eden township, and her death was in Octo-
ber, 1897.
The parents of Frederick Stively, the elder, came
to America from their German home and settled in
Paradise township, when their son was a babe, and
both of them and their only daughter died before
he had reached manhood. The only survivor of
his family, the lad grew up in Paradise township,
where he found friends and resided there a short
time after his marriage, moving then to Drumore
township, where for a number of years he engaged in
farming. Later he made a purchase of a large tract
of wild land in Colerain township, cleared and cul-
tivated it, erected convenient and commodious build-
ings and made that place his home for many years.
In 1874 he disposed of it and purchased extensive
tracts of farming land near Camargo, in Strasburg
township, erected a fine home and there he and his
wife lived in comfortable retirement for the balance
of their lives. There Frederick Stively, the young-
er, lived until he removed to his present home, in
1893.
Mr. Stively became prominent and wealthy and
he was a leader in the Mennonite Church, being
widely known in that connection ; his name is asso-
ciated with the founding of this religious body in
that locality. The children born to Frederick Stive-
ly and his wife numbered nine, and they were as
follows: (i) Frances, the eldest, bom in this
county, is the widow of John M. Shank, of Provi-
dence township, and has a family. (2) Jacob, born
in Lancaster county, married Miss Sarah Stafford,
of the same county, and they settled in New Provi-
dence, where he became one of the leading business
men. His widow resides in Quarryville, and his
one son, Jacob E., is a successful merchant of White
Rock, Lancaster county. (3) Christianna and (4)
Martha A. died in childhood. (5) Mary, born in
Lancaster county, is the wife of David Miller, of
Harrisburg, and they have one daughter, Lillie M.
(6) Abraham L., born in this county, is a prosper-
ous merchant of Colerain township, married Miss
Emma Herr, of Quarryville, and has one daughter,
Mary. (7) Lizzie, deceased, was the wife of Mar-
tin Mowry.'of CanrKirgo, in this township ; she left
one son, Frederick, who resides in Philadelphia. (8)
John M., born in Lancaster county, married Miss
Anna Brown, deceased, and they had one daughter,
Anna, now the wife of George Bracken, of this coun-
ty. His second marriage was to Miss Ella Wells,
and his five children are Frances, Mary, Edna, John
and Charles. They reside on a beautiful farm near
West Grove, in Chester county. (9) Frederick was
the youngest.
Frederick Stively was reared on his father's farm
and was given a good common school education-
In January, 1865, he was united in marriage to Miss
Martha Brison, the worthy and estimable daughter
of William and Martha (Harsh) Brison, a family
418
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
well known throughout Lancaster county. Mrs.
Stively was born in Paradise township Sept. 19,
1845, ^iid grew up at Quarryville, where she was
well educated. She lost her mother when she was
very young and she remained her father's companion
and housekeeper.
After marriage Frederick Stively took his bride
to the old family home, in Strasburg, and there they
resided for some twenty-seven years. Then Mr.
Stively purchased the old Benjamin Fritz homestead,
in 1893, where they have made many improvements,
tmtil now they own one of the very best farms in
the township, . fertile, productive and well situated.
Mr. Stively also is the owner of two other farms in
Eden township, these adjoining the old homestead.
Mr. Stively and his devoted wife have become
the happy parents of ten children, their names and
homes being: William F., a farmer, born in Feb-
ruary, 1867, who married A'liss Emma Lefever, of
•Quarryville, and has two children, Anna and Ada ;
Annie E., born in June, 1869, the wife of William
-Eckman, engaged in the grocery business in Lan-
caster City, where they reside, with their two chil-
-dren, John arid Martha ; Ella M., born in September,
1871, the wife of John Dull, a farmer in Eden town-
ship, who has one daughter, Sarah E. ; Errima M.,
born in August, 1873, who married William Dull
and resides on a farm in Lime Valley, in this countyj
w-ith one daughter, Mary ; Laura A., born in Octo-
ber, 1875, who is the wife of Abraham HoStetter;
of Strasburg township; and has one daughter*
Heleft ; Abram L., born in March, 1877 ; John H.,
born in December, 1880 ; F. Laberta, born in Novem-
ber, 1882 ; Mable M., born in July, 1885 ; and Elsie
B.) born in September, 1889W
Although through life Mr. Stively has been aft
active and Useful member Of the Republican party,
he has liot aspired to public ofifice and has never con-
sented to serve. Religiously both he and wife
have the pious, simple faith of the Meniionite
Church. Mr. Stively is one of this county's lead-
ing agriculturists and his farm testifies to his ex-
cellent care and management. In Mrs. Stively he
has had a cheerful, enable help'tnate, and both have
been bleSsed in their children and in each' other.
GEORGE STAMBAUGH GEYER, or "CoL"
'(jcyer, as he is familiarly called by his friends, has
one of the oldest Pennsylvania ancestries of any man
in Lancaster cOuilty, the Geyers having settled in
this county several generations agO.
One of the first party of Geyers to land in Amer-
ica settled in Lancaster cotmty, while two of them
went to Montgomery county, and oile settled in New
Orleans. Col. Geyer's great-grandfather, George
Geyer, was a farmer of Warwick township, and the
grandfather, John Geyer, who was a Weaver by
trade, also kept a store in Warwick townshipj and
there was born the father, George Geyer, who was
made a colonel of militia, his commission being given
him by Gov. Portet, this same commission being
among the valued possessions of the present Col.
Geyer.
On the maternal side of the family the great-
grandfather was Jacob Lindy, who served in the
Revolutionary war, and when it had ended started
for his home in Lancaster, his residence being the
one now occupied by Jacob S. Frey, on West King
street. As he passed through Philadelphia he pur-
chased a rare piece of china, which is also one of the
much prized relics of the genial colonel.
Col. George Geyer married Ann Mary Stam-
baugh, who was born on West King street, in this
city, and who was a daughter of Anthony Stam-
baugh, and from this union seven children were
born : two who died in early childhood ; John A.,
a retired veteran of the war of the Rebellion, lives in
Manheim ; J acob Ai, a retired farmer of Rothsville ;
Col. George Stambaugh, of this biography; Susan,
the wife of Jacob R. Landis, of Rothsville ; and Ann
Mary, the wife of Zachery Keller, who is the agent
for several counties for a large agricultural imple-
ment house, and resides in Manheim.
George Stambaugh Geyer was born in Roths-
ville, this count)'. Match 7* 1839, and was educated
in the public schools; of the district, and in the State
Normal school at Millersville. At the age oi eigh-
teen he began teaching school, and continued in this
profession until he was twenty-four, having silccess-
fully taught for six terms, and then went to auc-
tioneering and trading in cattle. In 1885 he came
to Lancaster and took charge of the "Franklin
House," on North Queen street, where he became
celebrated as a host and built up an immense ttade.
Much to the regret of the traveling public, at the
end of five years he gave up hotel-keepihg, having
been elected by a handsome majority of the Re-
publicans of Lancaster county to the office of regis-
ter of willsj and his term in that very important office
won him apj»'robatiOn> on account of the intelligent
and conscientious manner in which he conducted its
affairs. At the close of his- term as register he re-
tired to private life, and has ever since lived in his
elegant home on Prince street, near the Fulton Op-
6ra House.
Coil. Geyer was martied in i860 to Miss Susan
R. Royefj daughter of Daniel Royer, a farmer of
Manheim township, and to thi& Union six children
w-ere born, of whom Grant died in his eighth year,
and the survivors are : Elmira, the wife of Clayton
S. Carpenter, a farmer of EUzabeth township; Ag-
nes, the wife of Harry W. TeChmeyer » a sewing ma-
chine dealer, of Harrisburg; Elmer G., a graduate
of the Lancaster high school, who now is clerking
for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, at Phila-
delphia; Susan Rtj a graduate of the Millersville
State Normal school, who is now a successful teach-
er; and Hayden R.* a graduate of Mercersburg
Academy, who enlisted in the navy Feb. 2, 1902,
and is serving on the "Columbia/"'
Col. Geyer was honored by the people of War-
wick township, by being their choice for five sue-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
419
ccssive terms for the assessorship of the township,
and he; has ever been held in the highest esteem
in the community in which he has lived. Promi-
nently identified with the Masonic Order, he has been
very active in relation to it, and is a valued member
of Commandery No. 13. When the Confederates
invaded Pennsylvania Col. Geyer was among the first
to enlist to repel them, and he has an honorable dis-
charge from this service. A Republican of the most
earnest type, he has served a number of times on the
Republican county committee, and is everywhere re-
garded as a man who can be depended upon in
every campaign.
At one time Col. Geyer was a director of the
Lincoln National Bank and is among the most in-
fluential citizens of Lancaster. Perhaps, though, it
is as a host that Col. Geyer is at his best, and his
hospitality knows no limit. In his beautiful and ele-
gant home, where he is surrounded by every com-
fort. Col. Geyer treasures a number of very inter-
esting relics, and one among these is a most com-
fortable antique arm-chair, which w-as fashioned by
one of his ancestors in 1711.
PETER JACOBY (deceased) was throughout
life a thoroughly respected citizen of Ephrata town-
ship, where he established a family whose members
now railk aniong the leading citizens of their local-
ity. His business was that of a stonemason, and
"while he left no large fortune to his heirs he left
them an example of honesty and industry, and an
unblemished name.
Peter Jacoby was a son of John Christian Jacoby,
a native of Germany, who came to the United States
while stiti a young man. j€>hn Christian married
Miss Elizabeth Ridenbauch, in Earl township, Lan-
caster county, and reared a family of six boys' and
three girls : SaiHud ; Jesse ; Martin ; Peter^ born Dec.
31, 1819; Henry; William; Leah, who married
Henry Snyder; Harriet, Who died single; and
Rachel, who nlarried John C. Martin.
The marriage of Peter Jacoby was to Miss Anna
Strohl, of Ephrata town^Sbip, in 1846, and to this
marriage eighft children were bom. William, the
eldest, was married to Sarah Renningef , of East Co-
calico township, in the tail oi 1-870. She was a
daughter of Johtl Renninger, a wealthy and es-
teemed farmer in that locality. This marriage wa>s
blessed with five children: Harvey, who died at
the age of two yestrs and nine months ; Anna May,
who married Wilson Stauffer and has one daugh-
ter, Gi-ace; S. Grace; W. Howard; and Warren E.
The other children were: (2) Lizzie, who married
Christian Messner, of this township, and has five
children, Emma, John, Jacob, Clara and Eva. (3)
Emma, Who married George S. Kemper^ of Akron,
and has three children, David, Maggie and Anna;
(4) Annie, who married A. G. Killian, of Lititz, a
retited merchant, and has three cMldreii, Peter, Will-
iam and Fiorence; (5) Isaac, who married Susan
Zorn, of Eafl township, and has one child, Doris ;
(6) Reuben E., who married Emma Reinhold, their
living children being Margie, Robert and Wilson;
(7) Leah, who married George Rutt, of Terre Hill,
Pa., and has four children, Clayton, Walter, Henry
E. and Anna; (8) Harry S.
Reuben E. Jacoby was born Oct. 16, 1865, and
was reared on a farm, although he has not pursued
agricultural labor for some time. After finishing
the common school course, and spending a season in
study at the Normal School at Millersville, he learned
the trade of a cigar-maker and then went upon the
road as a traveling salesman ; but for the past eleven
years he has been engaged in the manufacture of
cigars, and is now regarded as one of the leading
business men of this locality, his residence and place
of business being in Rothsville, this county.
Reuben Jacoby married Miss Emma Reinhold,
of Warwick township. Socially he is connected with
the I. O. O. F. and the K. of P., in both organizations
being a valued member.
Harry S. Jacoby^ another worthy member of
the Jacoby family, is a farmer, is also a teacher in
the public schools in the county and has held the
office of justice of the peace. His educational ad-
vantages were those of the common schools and the
Normal School. He deserves the high esteem in
which he is held in the community, being a man of
character and stability and a most worthy repre-
sentative of the founder of the family.
MICHAEL WIMER, a wheelwright of Quarry-
ville, Lancaster county, was born in Providence
township Feb. 15, 1838. He is the son of Joseph
5. and Elizabeth (Everly) Wimer.
Joseph Wimer, the father, was born on the ocean
in 1818, while his parents, Michael and Elizabeth
Wimer, were on their way to America. They were
born in Germany and settled in Eden township, Lan-
caster county, in 1818, where Mr. Wimer engaged in
farming until bis death, in 1830.- He left a wife
and seven children, as follows: Sallie, the eldest,
born in Germany, who married George Stenmiller,
of Germany, and settled in Lancaster county, where
she died, leaving a family ; Joseph, father of Mich-
ael; Siisan and Michael, both deceased; Henry, at
present living in Providence township with his fam-
ily; John, deceased, who lived in Providence town-
ship, where his family still resides; Barbara, the
deceased wife of Adam Rowe, of Strashurg.
Joseph Wimer grew to manhood in Lancaster
county, and learned the trade of wagon-maker, which
he has followed ever since, with the exception of
five or six years, daring which he lived on a rented
farm. His first wife, Elizabeth (Everly) Wimer,
died in 1852, leaving three children, who are still
living.
Mr. Wimer married for his second wife Miss
Elizabeth Keen, who died in 1896, leaving no chil-
dren. The children of Mr. Wimer were: (r)
Michael. (2) Amos Was born in Eden township,
Lancaster Co., in 1839 ; he enlisted during the Civil
420
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
war, in 1862, in Co. G, i22d Pa. Regiment, and took
part in several engagements ; after his term of ser-
vice he married Miss Maggie Miller, of Lancaster
county, and they now reside in Harrisburg, Pa.,
where Mr. Wimer worked at his trade of wheel-
■vyriglit until the last few years, when he has lived
retired. He has a family of four children: Harry
and William, both in tiarrisburg; Charles, unmar-
ried; and Maud, at home. (3) Marinda J. was
born in Eden township, Lancaster county, and is the
wife of William Gaul, of Eden township ; they have
six children: George, of Quarryville; Fred, of
Eden ; Joseph ; Ira ; Lena, wife of Charles Waltham,
of Quarryville borough; and William, living at
Quarryville.
Michael Wimer grew to manhood in Lancaster
county, where he received a district school educa-
tion. While a young man he learned the trade of
wagon-maker, and he has followed it practically all
the time since then. In i860 he married Sarah
L., daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Graham)
Rineer, of Lancaster county. Mrs. Wimer was born
in the town of Quarryville in May, 1842, and was
reared in that village. After his marriage Mr.
Wimer settled in Quarryville borough, and has since
resided there, except during his absence at the time
of the Civil war, in which he enlisted as an artillery
man, iS2d Regiment, Army of the James. His
first service was at Fortress Monroe, and then at
Fort Harrison, where he did duty until the march
on Richmond, during which campaign he took part
in every action. At Signal Hill his company was
detailed to guard the barracks at Deep Bottom, until
Richmond was evacuated by the enemy in the spring
of 1865. Mr. Wimer again joined his regiment at
Richmond, and was soon transferred back to Fort-
ress Monroe. While at Richmond Mr. Wimer helped
to build the bridge across the James river, burned
by the Rebels at the time they evacuated the place.
Mr. Wimer was discharged at Fortress Monroe June
12, 1865, and then returned to his wife and two chil-
dren in Pennsylvania. He purchased a home in
Quarryville, and has continued a citizen since its
incorporation.
To Mr. and Mrs. Wimer a family of thirteen
children have been born, two dying in childhood,
(i) Elizabeth, born in 1862, is the wife of Jacob
Baughman, of Bart township, a carpenter by trade;
this couple have four children, Bertha, Anna, Charles
and Stella. (2) Emma, born Aug. 2, 1863, is the
wife of George M. Eckman, of Wilmington, Del.,
and they have four children, Clyde, Efifie, Elsie
and Lottie. (3) Martha A. was born Nov. 18,
1864, is the wife of J. O. Myers, of Quarryville bor-
ough, and they have one son, Frederick. (4) Jos-
eph, born June 25, 1866, married Miss Lydia Rineer,
of Quarryville; they reside on their grandfather's
place in Eden township, where he has a saw-mill
and other business interests ; they have nine children,
Charles, Elizabeth, Elsie, Bennie, Ethel, Joseph, Wil-
lis, Mary and Amos. (5) Amos F. was born Feb.
29, 1868, and married Miss Lizzie Myers, of Eden
township ; they reside there and have six children,
Elsie, Ray, Stella, Ira, Minnie and Myrtle. (6)
Ida M. was born Dec. 9, 1869, and is the wife of
Fred Beck, of Steelton, Pa., who is engaged in the
Iron Works of Columbia, Pa. ; they have no chil-
dren. (7) Minnie L. was born Feb. 9, 1871, and is-
the wife of Howard Wimer, of Strasburg township ;
they have one son, Luiley. (8) Laura M. was bom
May 24, 1872, and is the wife of Monroe Landis, of
Lancaster City ; they have no children. (9) Michael
W. was born April" 6, 1875, and is a representative
of the Metropolitan Insurance Company at Lancas-
ter City : he is unmarried. (10) Edie Sue was born
March 11, 1878, and is unmarried, making her home
at present at the "Quarryville House." (11) John
R., who was born Dec. 27, 1883, is unmarried, and
is living at home with his parents.
Michael Wimer is a Republican' in politics, was
the first assessor of the borough and always takes
an active part in the affairs of his party. He is
a member of the W. S. Birely Post, No. 511, G. A.
R., of Quarryville, and has been quartermaster of
the post. He is at present assessor of his borough.
His father, Joseph Wimer, was a leading Whig in
his day. Mr. Wimer and his family are members of
the German Reformed Church. Respected by all
who know him, Michael Wimer has certainly filled
an honorable position in the history of his county,
and his character ranks among those of the best citi-
zens of the borough.
JOHN BEST (deceased). Few men in the city
of Lancaster were so highly considered or so gen-
erally esteemed as was John Best, and few had re-
tained so high a standard of business integrity
through a long and active life.
John Best was born at Soudersburg, Lancaster
county, Aug. 22, 1822, a son of John Best, who was
of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Mr. Best's grandparents,
with their children, once made an ineffectual effort
to emigrate to America, the vessel they were on be-
ing wrecked on the northern coast of their native
country. They then settled down in that part of
Ireland. John Best, Sr., married there and about
1808 he and his wife emigrated to this country, set-
tling in Philadelphia. He was one of thirteen sons,
all men over six feet in height except the emigrant
himself. In 1812 he enlisted in the American army,
and fought against the British in our second war
against that country. He then settled in Souders-
burg, Lancaster Co., Pa., and worked around on
farms in the neighborhood. He reared a family of
seven children, of whom the last survivor, Thomp-
son Best, of Farmington, Minn^, died July 18, 1902,
at Farmington. In 1823 the family removed to Lan-
caster, but the death of the mother, in 1829, broke
up the home.
When John Best, whose name opens this sketch,
heard the uncertainty of his fortunes and his future
discussed, he packed up his small effects and started
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
421
out to begin a career for himself, although he was
a child of less than eight years. When he reached
what he thought a long distance from home, the
Malone farm, one the New Holland turnpike, he
•asked the family for work, and was there sheltered
for the night. The next day he was returned to
Lancaster, as it was supposed he was but a runaway
boy. When the kind-hearted Mr. White, of the
farm, learned that his story was true, he was taken
back to the place, which was his home for the suc-
ceeding nine years. However, they were years of
toil, and he had no school advantages whatever.
Before he was seventeen years of age Mr. Best
■came to Lancaster, and in three years' time learned
the blacksmith's trade with John R. Russel, whose
shop was on East King street, later the site of
Mrs. David Bair's residence. About 1843 ^r. Best
•went into business for himself as a blacksmith at
Molasses Hill, a mile east of Bird-in-Hand, where
he scored his only failure. In less than six months
he went to Philadelphia after work, but getting
none proceeded to Wilmington, Del., where he be-
came an apprentice at boilermaking in Betz, Harlan
•& Hollingsworth's shipyard, now the great works
■of the Harlan-Hollingsworth Company. The
young man not only learned boilermaking, but ship-
building as well. He had a remarkable eye for
form and measurements, a faculty which served
liim well. He soon became a department foreman,
and did work that had formerly to be done by men
brought from Philadelphia and Baltimore. One
day he was in an accident in which he came near be-
ing killed, and was about giving up such dangerous
work when increased salary induced him to stay.
He remained with the firm long enough to help
iuild twenty-seven vessels. Later he worked at his
•trade of boilermaker in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Gos-
port, Va., St. Louis, Louisville, Pittsburg, Phila-
delphia and New York. Meantime he had married,
and his family accompanied him on his removals.
In the winter of 1852-53 Mr. Best was engaged
ty the Philadelphia firm of Merrick & Sons to su-
perintend the fitting up of the Government vessel
■"Mississippi," for Commodore Perry's famous ex-
pedition to Japan, which work he performed so
satisfactorily that he received a gift of $100 from
the firm, above his wages. He had under him work-
■men who belonged to some of the worst gangs of
toughs Philadelphia then had, Moyamensing hose-
men and Schuylkill rangers, men who shirked work
whenever possible, but his tact and management
•soon had these men all under control and doing their
full duty.
Mr. Best returned to Lancaster in 1859, renting
an old stable back of the Pennsylvania railroad
depot for a shop, for which he paid five cents a day
rental. For a few months it was uphill work to
get along, even on these terms, and then Jacob
Auxer, whose boiler shop had been burned out,
formed a partnership with Mr. Best. Finally the
latter insisted on taking a $7,500 contract for Man-
ager S. S. Spencer, of the John Farnum & Co. cot-
ton mills, and the magnitude of the risk was such
in Mr. Auxer 's eyes that he first protested against
accepting it and then left the firm. Mr. Best fin-
ished the contract successfully. Business then en-
abled him to move his plant to Chestnut street, near
Duke, where he occupied a frame structure orig-
inally erected for a union church and then recently
abandoned. This was about the period of the out-
break of the Civil war, and there was plenty of work
to be done in his line. After a few years contracts
came in for boilers seventy feet long and it became
necessary to enlarge his quarters. He then, in 1865,
purchased from the late William Miller a tract of
ground at Plum and Fulton streets, and the first
buildings of _ the present large plant were erected by
Swartzwelder & Morrow, contractors and builders.
Since then the works have been enlarged until this
is now one of the important industrial establish-
ments of Lancaster, and the product is known and
bought all over the world. The works occupy a
square of 245 feet, fronting on Plum, Fulton and
Tobacco avenue, and employment is given to no
men.
Mr. Best's interests did not entirely concentrate
on his Lancaster boiler works, as he was also pro-
prietor of the Eureka Bark Mill Company, and was
interested at different times in the watch factory,
the Lancaster Bolt Company, the Lancaster Chem-
ical Works and The Miller Soap Company. In po-
litical life he was a Democrat, and he spared one
term out of his busy life to serve in the city council
from the old Northeast ward. Fraternally he was
a member of Lodge No. 43, F. & A. M., Lodge of
Perfection, Goodwin Council, Chapter No. 43, Lan-
caster Cdmmandery No. 13, K. T., and Lancaster
Lodge, No. 68, K. of P. The last named lodge was
organized at his home, and he was elected past
chancellor. Mr. Best was a member of the First
Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Best married (first) Miss Anna Maria Al-
bright, daughter of Jacob Albright, and of the chil-
dren born to this union the following survive:
Emily L., widow of Georgfe F. Pritchard, of Asbury
Park, N. J. ; James B., who for many years has been
connected with his father's business; Elizabeth B.,
the wife of T. Park Guthrie; and Mary K., now
deceased, who was the wife of Dr. F. F. Frantz.
Two children died in infancy. Mrs. Best died
in July, 1855. On Sept. 17, 1856, Mr. Best was
married (second) to Miss Esther A. Eagles, and
the surviving children of this marriage are as
follows : Esther A., who married Charles Johnson,
a machinist, in Lancaster ; George U., who is a clerk
in the office of the boiler works; E. Bertha, who
married Edward G. Eby, of Lancaster; Anna N.,
who married J. Paul Snyder, a druggist, in Phila-
delphia; LilHan M., married to Amos H. Landis,
the receiving teller of the Conestoga National Bank ;
John H., who is a machinist and electrician at the
General Electric Company, Schenectady, N. Y. ; and
422
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Misses Aimee and Adele, at home. Mr. Best passed
away Nov. 25, 1901, at his residence in Lancaster,
aged seventy-nine years, and was huried in a beau-
tiful plot in the Lancaster cemeterv, where, nine
months previously, he had placed a substantial, plain,
granite headstone.
Mrs. Esther A. (Eagles) Best, the widow of
John Best, was born on the site of the present home.
No. 227 East Chestnut street, a daughter of George
and Catherine (Wisner) Eagles, who came to Lan-
caster in 1830, the former being a native of Newark,
N. J., and the latter of Chester county, Pa. Mr.
Eagles was a railroad engineer by trade. He be-
longed to the old State militia. His death occurred
on Sept. 30, 1838, at the age of thirty-six years,
while his widow survived until 1882, dying at the
age of eighty. Both were members of Trinity
Lutheran Church, and were interred in the Lan-
caster cemetery. Their children were as follows :
Mary, who married Washington Rhoades, is de-
ceased; George, deceased, married Mary L. Pen-
nock; Esther A. married Mr. Best.
James B. Best, general manager of his father's
estate and of the large boiler works in Lancaster,
was born in January, 1852. In January, 1879, he
was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Kautz,
born in Willowstreet, Lancaster county, daughter
of Jacob and Rachel Kautz, the former of whom
was a large brick manufacturer. His death oc-
curred in 1894. His wife resides in Paterson, New
Jersey.
Mr. Best was educated in the common schools
of Lancaster, and at the age of sixteen years, in
preparation for his future work, took up the busi-
ness of plumbing and gasfitting, serving an appren-
ticeship for three years. He spent the ' following
two years at the trade in Chicago, 111., but returned
to Lancaster in January, 1874, and entered his fa-
ther's employ. In January, 1883, he became man-
ager, and has been such for the past nineteen years,
having been connected with the business for twenty-
eight years. He is one of the reliable business men
of the city, substantial, well educated and promi-
nent. In politics he is independent.
It would not be just to close this sketch of a
distinguished citizen of Lancaster without adding a
few words as to the personal character of John Best.
As a father, husband and friend, he met the high-
est ideals. His pleasant, genial manner and frank
good feeling for everyone made him friends on all
sides, and he was beloved by both old and young.
Although always overwhelmed with- business in-
terests, and planning new lines of enterprise, he
found time to enjoy the society of his family, taking
delight in providing for their pleasure and' welfare,
and he will long be remembered as one of the rep-
resentative men of the city of Lancaster.
ABRAHAM S. GROFF. The founder of the
Groff family in Pennsylvania is believed to have
been Abraham Groff, who came from Europe many
years ago, settling in Lancaster county. He built
a mill at Groffdale, which he operated in connection
with farming. His family consisted of four sons
and four daughters : Daniel, a prosperous farmer
and miller at Groff's P. 0. ; Martin, mentioned be-
low ; Abraham, a successful miller and farmer, who
lived to the advanced age of eighty-four; Samuel,
an enterprising business man and merchant, who
later in life engaged in farming; Elizabeth, who
married a Mr. Eby; one that married Martin
Shaeffer: Mary, who married David Landis; and
Nancy, who married Samuel Hershey.
Martin Groff, the father of Abraham S., was
born Feb. 11, 1803, and died in November, 1877.
He became a farmer in Manheim township, where
he was also prominently identified with the Repub-
lican party. He married Sarah Shively, a daugh-
ter of Henry and Elizabeth (Miller) Shively, and
they became the parents of ten children: Maria,
the widow of Cieorge Shriner, of Manheim town-
ship; Samuel, deceased, who was a well-known
horse, cattle and sheep dealer of Lancaster; Eliza-
beth, the widow of Benjamin Evans, of Manheim
township ; Henry, a teacher in the public schools,
who died at the age of twenty-five ; Martin, first a
farmer and then a store and tavern keeper at Kissel
Hill, who died Dec. 25, 1899; Abraharn S.; Sallie,
widow of Abner McLaughlin, a merchant of Phila-
delphia; Nathan (deceased), a drover; Nathaniel,
a farmer and drover of Manheim township ; and
Alpheus, who was a farmer and drover, and whO'
died at the age of thirty-five.
Abraham S. Groff was born on March 6, 1833,
was educated in the public schools of his district,
later took a course at the Lititz Academy, and stilt
later at the State Normal School, at Millersville, so'
well acquitting himself that at the age of nineteen
he was engaged as a teacher in Lancaster county,
acceptably filling the position for five sessions.
Desiring a more active life, Mr. Groff then en-
gaged in the droving business, following this until
1885, having been very successful in the enterprise.
Sometimes long journeys were made, and several
times he drove large herds of cattle and sheep from
Ohio across the mountains and disposed of these to
the farmers in Lancaster county. Since giving up
this business he has dealt in tobacco, in the line of
packing, and has also given much time to the raising
of the plant. The home farm consists of eighty-one
acres, and he also owns a half interest in the old
homestead, his time being principally occupied in _
general farming and the raising of tobacco, as above "
stated. Mr. Groff has also served as a director in
the Farmers' National Bank of Lancaster.
Since 1876 he has been an active member of the
Lutheran Church, is superintendent of the Sabbath -
school, and one of the efficient officers of the church,
for twenty years having been one of the trustees,
and treasurer for nineteen years. In politics he is a
Republican, and has cast his vote regularly, beliey-
jng that to be the duty of a good citizen.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
423
On March 30, 1869, Mr. Groff was married to
Susannah Bard, a daughter of George Bard, of Up-
per Leacock township, and they had six children,
iive of whom died in infancy. The other, Albert
B., was horn in 1873 and educated at the State Nor-
mal School at Millersville, and later spent two years
in the study of medicine, with Dr. Ege, of Reading,
Pa. ; but he now resi.des with his father, assisting
him in the tobacco business, in which he is quite
an expert. Albert B. Groff married Bertha Forney,
a daughter of Joseph Forney, and they have two
children, Nelson and Susan Elizabeth. The young
people are also'connected with the Lutheran Church.
ROBERT KELSO WRIGHT was born in
Coatesville, Pa., Nov. 30, 1834, and died in New
Holland Aug. 23, 1897. His remains were buried
in Honeybrook, Pennsylvania.*
Mr. Wright was a son' of Joseph and Elizabeth
(Frew) Wright. The parents were married by
the Rev. John L. Grant Oct. 31, 1833. Joseph
Wright was born in Chester county, and his mother
in Lancaster county. The father was killed while
on his way to church on Sunday morning. All his
life he was a devoted member of the Presbyterian
Church, and in his last years officiated as an elder
in that body. He came of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
His remains rest in Paradise township.
Mr. Wright and his worthy wife were the par-
ents of the following family : Capt. Joseph S., who
served as a Union soldier in the Civil war and was
killed in the service ; Robert K. ; Thomas S., who
died young; James, a molder of Coatesville; An-
drew, a corporal in the Civil war, where he lost his
life ; David, a molder, who died in Coatesville.
Robert K. Wright was married Feb. 9, 1862,
in Honeybrook, Pa., to Harriet M. Wright, by
whom he had the following children: Anna died
at the age of three years; Howard, the proprietor
of a bakery at New Holland, Pa., where he married
Flora R utter, by whom he has had the following
children. Earl, Anna, Florence and Robert; Lacy,
unmarried, and a partner with his brother, Howard.
Mrs. Harriet M. Wright was born in Honey-
brook, Pa., and is a daughter of John and Anna
(Boyer) W"right. Her father came from England,
settling in Pennsylvania, at Honeybrook, in 1821.
He was well-known as a maker of boots and shoes,
took an active part in political affairs and showed
a general interest in the welfare of the community.
The mother was born in Honeybrook, Chester coun-
ty, passed her entire life there and there, with her
husband, was buried. Her death occurred in 1892,
at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. They
were both members of the Methodist Church. To
this worthy and estimable couple were born the fol-
lowing children : Lewis, a retired banker at Grand
Ridge, 111. : Mary, who married George Griffith, a
confectioner at Honeybrook ; Elizabeth, who married
James Boanes and is now dead; Sarah, who was
born in Honeybrook and married George Lawrence,
a farmer ; Enos, a contractor at Honeybrook ; Har-
riet M., wife of Robert K. Wright.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Wright were
Benjamin and Mary (Wellington) Wright, natives
of England. They came to this country in 1 821, and
settled in Honeybrook, where their peaceful and
useful lives were pased. The maternal grandpar-
ents of Mrs. Wright were Andrew and Elizabeth
(Gulp) Boyer, of Lancaster county. The grand-
father owned and laid out the present site of Honey-
brook, giving the sites of the Methodist and Pres-
byterian Churches, the school houses and union
burying grounds, and in his lifetime played a prom-
inent part in the activities of the community in which
he lived.
.In early life Robert K. Wright followed the trade
of a machinist, and was considered an expert in the
foundry at Parkesburg, Pa., where he had charge of
the rolling mill. He retired from that business in
1873 and, locating in Philadelphia, engaged in mak-
ing sewing machines on contract, his business includ-
mg the making of surgical instruments. In the
spring of 1882 he came to New Holland and en-
gaged in the bakery and confectionery business, in
which he spent the last years of an active and useful
life. For many years he had been overborne by
ill health, but he worked hard, and long resisted the
encroachments of disease.
Personally he was of a genial and obliging spirit,
and of the utmost integrity. The esteem and con-
fidence of all who knew him was freely given him.
Socially he belonged to the I. O. O. F., of Cochran-
ville, and in religion was a member of the Methodist
Church. In his politics he was a Democrat. In
his lifetime he filled a large place in the community
in which he lived, and his loss was felt deeply
throughout the township.
r>
CPIRISTIAN SHUEMAKER, a retired farm-
er of Florin, Pa., was born in Rapho township Jan.
12, 1828. and is a son of Christ and Anna (Bru-
baker) Shuemaker, natives of the same township.
The father was a farmer and the proprietor of a
saw mill. He led an industrious and highly suc-
cessful life and died in i860, at the age of seventy-
two years. The mother died Jan. 15, 1828, while
still very young, and was buried on the old home-
stead. They were members of the LTnited Breth-
ren Church. Christian was their only child. The
father married Mrs. Anna Renert for his second
wife, by whom he became the father of Jacob, a
sawmill man in Lebanon county, and Anna, who
died young.
The paternal grandparents of Christian Shuema-
ker were Jacob and Esther (Hershey) Shuemaker,
both of whom were natives of Lancaster county,
where they spent their lives, and where he was en-
gaged in farming and in the operation of a distillery.
Christian Shuemaker and Elizabeth Hershey
were united in marriage in the city of Lancaster,
Pa., in November, 1852, and to this union, which
424
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
has proved a very happy one, were born: Chris-
tian, who married Mary Foltz and is a farmer in
Milton Grove, Lancaster county; Elizabeth, who
married Monroe Shaffer and lives on a farm in the
township of Mt. Joy; Anna, wife of Jacob Freye,
a farmer in the township of Mt. Joy ; Mary, wife of
David B. Myers, of East Donegal ; Hettie, at home,
immarried ; John, who married Mae Raymond, of
Florin : Harry, who married Bertha Morton ; Sarah,
who died young.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Hershey) Shuemaker was born
in I-ancaster county, died Jan. 4, 1892, at the age of
fifty-eight years, and was buried in the cemetery at
Florin. Her parents were Jacob and Magdelina
Hershey, of Lancaster county, who were born and
bred to a farming life. Her father spent his last
days in retirement in Hummelstown, Pa., and there
both he and his wife died and were buried. They
had these children : Mary, deceased wife of Ben-
jamin Erubaker : Elizabeth ; Leah, who is living in
Hummelstown ; Martin, deceased ; Anna, unmarried
and residing in Hummelstown ; John, a merchant in
Manheim ; Harry, a merchant in Steelton, Pa. ; Reu-
ben and Jacob, both deceased.
Christian Shuemaker remained with his father
until he reached the age of twenty-five years, when
he purchased a farm in Rapho township, on which
he resided one year. For ten years following he
was engaged in the cultivation of the home farm.
At the expiration of that period he came to his pres-
ent location, and there he is still actively engaged
in the operation of his farm, though to a very large
extent he contents himself with overseeing the work.
Mr. Shuemaker is a Republican, and he and all
his family are members of the United Brethren
Church. In the communtiy he is regarded as a
good man, one whose religion is genuine, and whose
heart is full of kindness and good will.
EDWIN C. DILLER, the senior member of
the firm of E. C. Diller & Son, was born in Union
county. Pa., Nov. 26, 1839, ^^'^ ^^ ^ ^'^^ °f Amos and
Mary Ann (Carpenter) Diller. His parents were
natives of Lancaster county, but removed to Union
county, where the father was engaged in a store in
New Columbia. In 1841 he located at Vogansville,
Lancaster county, where he kept a store two years,
and then came to New Holland, where he was en-
gaged in the mercantile business for more than
twenty years. In 1865 he retired from the store in
favor of his son, Edwin C. His death occurred in
1895, at the age of eighty-two years ; his wife passed
to her rest in 1873, at the age of fifty-four. Both
were buried in the cemetery at New Holland.
Mr. and Mrs. Amos Diller had the following
children: Emma, who died at the age of thirteen
years ; William, who died at the age of thirty-five ;
Edwin C. The parents of Amos Diller were Isaac
and Maria (Graybill) Diller.
Edwin C. Diller was twice married, the first time
in 1864, when Miss Cora Mason of White Horse,
Pa., became his wife. To this marriage were born
the I following children: Charles M., in partnership
with I his father, and married to Gertrude Bru-
baker, by whom he has two children, Dorothy and
Margaret; Alta, at home unmarried;. Emma,
married to Charles Meredith, an insurance agent
at Chester, Pa., where they have two children,
James and Edwin; Amos, iii partnership with his
father. Mrs. Cora Diller, who was born in Salis-
bury township, died in 1874, at the age of thirty
years, and is i buried in New Holland. She was a
daughter! of John and Jestina (Brimmer) Mason.
The i second marriage of E. C. Dillefr occurred in
1876, when Anna Roland, daughter of Jonathan H.
and Elizabeth G. Roland, became his wife in New
Holland ; by her he has had one child, Roland.
Mr. Diller remained with his father until his
retirement in 1865, when he took up his business. Mr.
Diller has filled the position of county jury commis-
sioner! fori five years, and was councilman two years.
In his religion he. has held to the faith of his fathers,
and is. a . member of the Lutheran Church. In fra-
ternity matters he is a member of the Knights Tem-
plars and I. C"). O F. In politics he is a Democrat.
A man of prominence and prosperous circumstances,
he holds a high position in the esteem of his com-
.munityu .
JACOB KONIGMACHER, a retired capitalist
and farmer, who occupies the important position of
vice-president of the Farmers' National Bank of
Ephrata, is among the prominent men of Ephrata
township, residing three-quarters of a mile north of
the borough of Ephrata.
The founder of the family in America was
Adam Konigmacher, who was born in Germany
July 30, 1738, and died in Ephrata June 30, 1793.
With his mother and stepfather he came to this
country, but before landing the mother died, and
her remains were consigned to the sea. The stepfa-
ther brought the orphaned boy to Ephrata, where
he remained until he was twenty-one, when he went
back to his own land, and there married Christiana
Eicher, who was born Nov. 9, 1745, and who died
Jan. 19, 1816. As soon as married Adam and his
bride sailed for the United States, and they per-
manently located at Eohrata, founding a family
which has become respected and honored through
the locality. To Adam Konigmacher and his wife
were born: Adam, Benjamin, Jacob, Abraham and
Hannah.
Jacob Konigmacher, son of Adam, was the next
in this branch of the family, and was born Jan. 4,
1771 ; he died April 8, 1839. For many years he
was a successful physician in Ephrata. He married
Rebecca Fahnestock, who was born July 7, I77S»
and died Dec. 5, 1832. Their children were Adam,
William and Hannah.
William Konigmacher, son of Jacob, was the
grandfather of Jacob, whose name opens this biog-
raphy. He was born Jan. 5, 1797, and died Feb.
1 ^^f^ ,
yrrt/^
a<A£/^y"^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
425
lo, 1881, at the age of eighty-four years. His wife,
Susan Bowman, was born May '20, 1798, and died
June 15, 1833. They reared the following named
children: Adam, Edwin, Mary (who married A.
Seltzer, and now lives in Ephrata), and Susan (who
died in childhood). The second marriage of William
Konigmacher was to Lydia Miller, born Feb. 27,
1805, who died July 26, 1901, aged ninety-six years,
four months, twenty-nine days. One child ,was born
of this marriage, Rebecca, Mrs. Connell.
Adam Konigmacher, father of Jacob, was born
Dec. 21, 1 82 1, and died Nov. 11, 1889. He was
a prominent and leading man in the county, a farm-
er, tanner and manufacturer of the Cocalico mill-
stones. On Jan. 30, 1849, he married Miss Eliza
Royer, of Ephrata, who died Sept. 15, 1857. The
children of this union were: Jacob, born June 4,
1850, is mentioned below ; Susan, born Dec. 9, 1852,
married John P. Hess, of Council Bluffs, Iowa;'
Lizzie, born July 20, 1854, married Dr. Nagle, a
prominent physician of Centralia, 111. ; and Will-
iam, born in 1857, died in infancy. Adam Konig-
macher married for his second wife Miss Eliza Bow-
man, of Ephrata, who was born Aug. 23, 1823, and
who died May 14, 1896. Two children came to
this union : Mary, born Feb. 3, i860, married Mar-
tin B. Musser, of Council Bluffs, Iowa ; and Charles,
born Oct. 28, 1866, resided for a time in the borough
of Ephrata, but now lives in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
It is interesting in considering the "big" men
of any locality, to find that for the most part they
have been reared on the farm, and such was the
case with Jacob Konigmacher, who represents the
solid and substantial class of citizens in Ephrata
township. His educational advantages were those
of the common schools of his township, and after
finishing the course he entered upon agricultural life,
engaging therein extensively for many years, in the
meantime becoming one of the influential factors in
his community on account of the exercise of those
virtues which cause men to respect and esteem good
and, estimable citizerks.
On Oct. 21, 1872, Jacob Konigmacher was uni-
ted in marriage with Miss Amanda Kraatz, who
was born July 18, 1851, daughter of David B. and
Mary Ann (Bear) Kraatz. To this marriage one
son was born, William, who married Anna Stein-
metz, by whom he has two children, Celestia and
Helen, and they reside with his father on the home
farm.
The old family homestead of the Konigmacher
family was erected in the historic days of 1777, and
there Jacob Konigmacher resides, living retired
from all agricultural pursuits. His position in the
community is one of prominence, especially in its
banking interests. He is a director and vice-presi-
dent of the Farmers' National Bank of Ephrata, of
which he was one of the organizers. As a stanch
Republican he has exerted much influence for his
chosen party, and for many years he has been one
of the pillars of the Lutheran Church, and is widely
known for his charities and good citizenship. He
is a trustee in the Ephrata Monument Association,
of which he is secretary and treasurer. Fraterr-
nally he is a Mason, belonging to Lodge No. 43,
F. & A. M., Lancaster, and he is also a member of
the Pennsylvania German Society.
LEWIS AUGUSTUS RAUCH, alderman from
the First ward of Lancaster, is descended from Rev-
olutionary stock, and also has a war record of his
own.
Christian H. Ranch, his grandfather, was jus-
tice of the peace in Warwick, Lancaster county, for
forty-five years. Francis M. Ranch, father of Lew-
is A., was once owner of the Lititz Brewery, served
several terms as a prison inspector for Lancaster
county, and for twelve or more years was superin-
tendent of Linden Hall Seminary at Lititz ; he died
March 16, 1886, aged seventy-two years. Francis
M. Ranch married Miss Louisa F. Recksecker, sister
of the late Major James F. Recksecker, one time city
treasurer of Lancaster. Four children were born
of this marriage, of whom Ellen died in infancy.
The survivors are: Agnes, widow of the late J..
•B. Stauffer, farmer; Mary S., wife of M. J. Shmidt,
of the United States Gas Improvement Co., Bethle-
hem; and Lewis A.
Lewis Augustus Ranch was born at Warwick
Jan. 28, 1843, '^'^d was educated in John Beck's cele-
brated school for boys, at Lititz. At sixteen he left
school and became an apprentice in A. B. Landis'
coach works at Mt. Joy. He enlisted in April, 1861,
in Co. B (Union Guards of Lancaster), ist Regi-
ment, Pa. Reserves, and served four years and two
months, taking part in the actions of the Army of
the Potomac, which comprised in all forty-two en-
gagements. He was twice wounded, once at Charles
City Cross Roads and at Spottsylvania Court House.
He returned home a sergeant, and after the war
went to the oil regions, whence he was sent to West
Virginia as an oil superintendent, remaining there
two years.
Mr. Rauch then went to Wilkesbarre and Scran-
ton, where for about eight years he engaged in the
coal business. From there he removed to Philadel-
phia, where he lived twenty years, engaging in the
paint and papering trade. Afterward, removing to
Chalfont, Bucks county, he conducted a wall paper
store, and was elected secretary of the Republican
county committee before he had been in the county a
year. A protracted illness from la grippe caused him
to leave Chalfont and come to Lancaster, his old
home, and he has since resided here, engaging in the
livery business. His establishment was at Nos. 17-25
West Lemon street. As a recognition of his services
Gov. Stone appointed him alderman from the First
ward Sept. 20, 1899, to fill an unexpired term. He
was re-elected for five years in February, 1900, his
term beginning May, 1900.
Alderman Rauch is a member of the G. A. R;
of the Knights of the Golden Eagle ; and a member
426
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and exclusive organizer of the Lancaster Military
Association, numbering nine hundred members, and
its president since its organization, in 1896. Miss
Lulu K. Ranch, his daughter, won the $50 gold prize
and the oi?er of a $2,500 a year position at Detroit
for her original design for The Illustrated Milliner.
She declined the position because she had a suc-
cessful btisiness of her own at No. 1230 South
Eighth street, Philadelphia. In view of the fact
of a great competition for the prize the honor con-
ferred upon Miss Ranch was a great one. Mr.
Ranch is a nephew of Major E. H. Rauch, of
Mauch Chunk, author of the "Pit Schaufflebren-
ner" papers, and hand writing expert.
The Alderman is a leading spirit. in the Lancaster
Road Drivers' Association, and it is largely due to
his efforts that so much has been accomplished by
the organization, and he is also secretary of tl^e Lan-
caster Turf Club, an organization devoted to giv-
ing strictly honest horse races.
JOHN M. FURNISS, a representative farmer
of Little Britain township, was born Dec. 29, 1857,
on a farm located within one mile of Tayloria, Pa.
His parents were Benjamin and Catherine S. (Mor-
ris) Furniss, also of Little Britain township.
The Furniss family were originally from Scot-
land, near Furniss Castle. Thomas Furniss, the
progenitor of the Furniss family in America, came
to this country from the northern part of England
about 1660, settling in Philadelphia, Pa., where he
was married in 1682. His descendants settled in
Delaware, Chester and Lancaster counties, Pennsyl-
vania.
•Thomas Furniss, the great-grandson of Thomas
Furniss, settled at Chadds' Ford, Chester county,
Pa., on a plantation comprising part of the territory
on which the battle of the Brandywine was fought.
Here were born Oliver Furniss, his brother Gardner
and his sisters, Ann (Furniss) Twaddle, wife of
John Twaddle, Phebe (Furniss) Pearce, wife of
Ellis Pe&rce, and Hanna Furniss.
Oliver, the grandfather of John M. Furniss, was
born Jan. 11, 1794. Thomas Furniss, together with
his family, moved from Chadds' Ford to Little Brit-
ain township, Lancaster county, about the year 1800,
settling on a farm near Oak Hill. He died there in
January, 1831. Gardner Furniss, Sr., a brother of
Thomas Furniss, settled in Drumore township, and
died there in the year 181 1. Furniss post office
was named in his honor.
Gardner Furniss, son of Thomas Furniss, and
nephew of Gardner Furniss, also settled in Drumore
township, on a plantation bordering on the Susque-
hanna river, and died there some years after. His
brother, Oliver Furniss, died in Little Britain town-
ship Nov. 19, 1858. The children born to Oliver
Furniss were: Benjamin, Joseph, Esther, Gardner
and Thomas. The last named died April 29, 1902,
aged seventy-two years ; Joseph is a physician in
Lancaster ; Gardner, a resident of Chester county ;
Benjamin, a retired farmer; and Esther, the wife
of E. Henry Haines, of Pleasant Grove, Pennsyl-
vania.
Benjamin Furniss, the father of John M., was
born Feb. 22, 1827, and Dec. 25, 1855, was united
in marriage to Miss Catherine S. Morris, two chil-
dren resulting from this union: John M. ; and
Mary, the wife of Frank Harkness, engaged in the
grocery \business in Philadelphia. Benjamin Fur-
niss for many years was one of the leading citizens
of his township, and also one of the largest land-
owners.. For some years he has been retired from
active life, making his home in Philadelphia.
John M. Furniss was liberally educated, receive
ing every advantage possible from early boyhood.
After completing the common school course he
passed with honors through the Union High School
of Colerain township, later became a student in the
!Millersville Normal School, and took a year's course
in the Unionville Academy, in Chester county. For
one year he engaged in teaching and then became in-
terested in agricultural work, following the same
line until the present time, and becoming one of the
well-known and successful farmers of Little Britain.
John M. Furniss was married on Nov. 24, 1881,
to Miss Laura M. King, of King's Bridge, Lan-
caster county, who was a daughter of Vincent and
Annie Eliza (Morrison) King, and this marriage has
been blessed with nine children, six of whom still
survive : Mary A., born Oct. 14, 1882 ; Benjamin,
Dec. 21, 1883 : Carl, Sept. 7, 1885 ; Vincent K., Feb.
19, 1888 ; Ruth, Sept. 3, 1893 ; and Catherine S.,
Nov. 30, 1894.
The date of Mrs. Furniss's birth was July 25,
1859, and she was a member of a family of nine
children : James, deceased ; Elizabeth M., the wife
of Emmerson Walton, of Colerain township ; Albert,
deceased; Vincent, of Colorado Springs, Colo.;
Laura M., wife of Mr. Furniss ; Horace, of Chris-
tiana, Pa. ; Anna, deceased ; Joseph M., of Califor-
nia ; and Thorwald, of Philadelphia.
In poUtics John M. Furniss has always been an
active Republican ; he is socially connected with the
Masonic order, belonging to Lodge 353, of Oxford,
Pa. He was reared in the Society of Friends, and
he has never departed from the peaceful teachings
of that body. In Little Britain township he is most
highly esteemed, and is classed with the best and
most representative citizens.
WILLIAM WITMAN. One of the self-made,
representative and substantial farmers of Little
Britain township, in Lancaster county, is William
Witman, who was born in that county, in Caernar-
von township, Jan. 22, 1837. His parents were Will-
iam and Catherine (Zell) Witman. The father was
born in Berks county and the mother in Lancaster,
but both were of German origin, the great-grand-
father having come from that country. Grandfather
Philip Witman was a native of Berks county. Pa.,
and was the father of these nine children, Betsey,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
427
Sarah, Kate, Isaac, Thomas, Amos, Cyrus, Philip
and William.
William Witman, the son of Philip and the fa-
ther of William (2), was born in 1799, and died in
1 87 1. About 1823 he was married to Catherine Zell,
who was born in 1801 and died in 1867. Their chil-
dren were: Barton, now deceased, a farmer of
Caernarvon township ; William ; Edgar, a farmer of
Little Britain township ; Ann, Harriet, Margaret,
Catherine, Susannah and Ellen, all deceased. Dur-
ing a long and active life Mr. Witman became promi-
nent in the Democratic party and was one of the
leading business citizens, being for twenty-one years
the manager and bookkeeper of the Pool Forge Iron
Works, in Caernarvon township.
William Witman, the son, was reared on the
home farm and received his education in the com-
mon schools, with two terms in Churchtown Acad-
emy during the winters of 1856 and 1857. When he
started out for himself it was with very limited
means, but he possessed what the world is learning
to recognize as the elements that bring success, good
habits, an inclination to be industrious, and an hon-
esty that has never failed. When he views his well
cultivated acres, his comfortable home and happy
family, it must be with a feeling of justifiable pride.
Mr. Witman came to Little Britain township in 1879
and bought the fine farm he now occupies, consist-
ing of 127 acres, which he has put under a good
state of cultivation and has improved with a com-
fortable residence and other buildings. Here Mr.
Witman has engaged in general farming, raising the
natural products of the locality in great abundance.
In addition to this land, which is very valuable,
Mr. Witman also owns another large estate in Ches-
ter county.
On Nov. 25, 1878, Mr. Witman was married to
Mary E. Steflfy, who was a daughter of Samuel
Steflfy, of Caernarvon township; the other children
in the family were Sarah, Minnie, Carrie, Lily and
Samuel. The children bom to Mr. and Mrs. Wit-
man are Sue, William, Sarah, Hattie, Helen and
Lillian, Edna and Lulu having died in childhood.
Although Mrs. Witman was born in 1857, she is still
youthful in looks and actions and a suitable mate for
Mr. Witman, who in no way shows his sixty-six
years. Both of these good people are highly es-
teemed in their locality and Mr. Witman is known
as one of the most honorable and reliable as well as
prosperous farmers in southern Lancaster county.
Like his respected father, he has always upheld the
principles of the Democratic party.
AARON HESS DIFFENBAUGPI, register of
wills in Lancaster county, arid the owner of one of
the handsomest homes in the county belongs to an
old and much respected family. His grandfather,
Abraham Dififenbaugh, was a well-known farmer
of Fertility, East Lampeter township, this county.
Abram K. Dififenbaugh, the father of Aaron H.,
was a prominent farmer of Greenland, East Lam-
peter township. He married Miss Fanny Hess, a
member of one of the old and respected families of
Pequea, and this- marriage was blessed with the fol-
lowing children : Mary, the wife of Aaron Denlinger,
a farmer of Paradise township ; Benjamin H., a
farmer of Greenland ; Elizabeth, the widow of Ben-
jamin B. Denlinger, now living on South Ann street,
Lancaster ; Aaron Hess ; Frances H., wife of A. E.
Hartman, a farmer of Greenland ; Amos M., in the
life insurance business, of Lancaster ; A. L., a cigar
manufacturer, living on North Lime street, Lan-
caster ; and M. H., in the real estate business in Lan-
caster.
Aaron Hess Dififenbaugh was born in East Lam-
peter township, March 2, 1855, and had his educa-
tion in the common schools, spending his time out
of school hours at work on the farm. His practical
experience in this line early made him an efficient
and careful tiller of the soil, and for years he worked
on the home farm. For four years after his mar-
riage he continued to manage the farm, and he then
purchased six acres of it. Upon this he erected a
home and out buildings and for sixteen years en-
gaged in truck farming, meeting with abundant suc-
cess, and in 1900 he began packing tobacco. In
T901, he sold this place, and, purchasing ten acres-
on the east bank of the Conestoga, near the city
limits, erected his present beautiful residence. This
home is strictly modern in all its appointments, and
is thoroughly fitted with water and electricity. Mr.
Diffenbaugh's success is wholly the result of his own
labors. His first start was on borrowed capital, and
his energy and perseverance have gained him his-
present high position.
On Nov. 27, 1879, Mr. Dififenbaugh was married
to Lydia E. Leaman, daughter of Jacob K. Leaman,
a farmer living near Intercourse. Five children
blessed this union : L. May, born June 9, 1888, who
is attending the State Normal School at Millersville ;
Guy L., born Sept. 15, 1892; Fay, born Aug. 11,
1898 ; and Roy I-. and one not named, who both died
in infancy.
For fifteen years Mr. Diffenbaugh was assessor
of East Lampeter township, and during that time
proved himself an enlightened and progressive citiz-
en. He worked in the local literary society, seeking
the improvement and the elevation of the schools,
and generally looking toward the good of the com-
munity. In Novem.ber, 1899, he was elected on the
Republican ticket, as register of wills in Lancaster
county, by a very flattering majority. Entering
upon the duties of that responsible position with the
opening of the year 1900, he has proved himself an
efficient and capable official. He is a director in the
Lampeter Mutual Fire Insurance Co., and also a-
director in the Fulton National Bank, of Lancaster-
Mr. Diffenbaugh is a member of the Presbyter-
ian Church at Paradise, Lancaster county. Socially
he is a Royal Arch Mason and an Odd Fellow. He-
is a splendid example of young manhood, intelligent,
thoughtful, and full of kindly feeling and genuine
428
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
friendliness, and is highly esteemed by the people
of his community, holding the confidence and respect
of all who know anything about him.
LEVI L. ENGLE, a retired farmer, whose home
is in Elizabethtown, was born in Conoy township,
July i8, 1836, and is a son of Jacob L. and Martha
(Long) Engle, natives of Conoy and East Donegal
townships, respectively. Both died on their old farm
in Conoy township, where their long and useful
career was passed, and both were members of the
River Brethren Church. They had the following
children : Levi L. ; David, of Stacktown ; Jeremiah,
a farmer in Kansas ; Elizabeth, who died at the age
of fifteen years ; Abraham, of Chester county ; Mar-
tha, who is dead; Israel, of Stacktown; Mary, who
is dead ; Jacob and Isaac, farmers in Elizabethtown ;
John, who died young.
Levi L. Engle was twice married, the first time
on Dec. ir, i860, to Mary A. Horst, in Lancaster,
and to this union were born the following children :
Albert, Levi L. and Eli, who all died young; Clara
A., who died at the age of twenty-four years. Mrs.
Mary A. Engle, who was born in Conoy township,
died in 1886, at the age of forty-seven years. She
was a daughter of Henry and Leah (Kuhns) Horst,
of Lancaster county.
The second marriage of LeVi L. Engle occurred
in 1889, when he was united to Miss Martha Z.
Corner, of Maytown. Mrs. Martha Z. Engle is the
daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Bowman) Cor-
ner, of Lancaster county, her father having been in
his active years a locksmith and millwright. In
1864 he died at the age of seventy-four years, and
his widow, the mother of Mrs. Engle, in 1865 at the
age of sixty-eight; both died in Maytown. They
■were members of the Reformed Church. Their other
children were: Maria L., who is dead; Barbara
A., late wife of William Buller; Sarah, the widow
of Samuel Pence, who has her home in Philadelphia ;
Philip, who died young; Catherine, wife of George
Kendig, a wagon maker in Maytown; Elizabeth,
Jacob, a blacksmith in Missouri; Henry B., a drug-
gist in Kentvicky, deceased.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Engle were
Philip and Catherine (Gailbaugh) Corner, both na-
tives of East Donegal township, where he followed
the calling of a locksmith and millwright.
Mr. Engle lived on the home farm until he
reached the age of twenty-two years, when he set
liimself up as a truck farmer and tobacco grower
in Conoy township until 1875. That year he re-
moved to Elizabethtown to take a position with a
New York firm as manager of their local tobacco
-warehouse, remaining with them until 1886. Mr.
Engle was engaged in tobacco farming for the en-
suing ten years, and in 1892 retired from active life.
Mr. Engle served as school director for a time
in Conoy township, and is a member of the Grand
Army of the Republic and the German Reformed
Church. In politics he is a Democrat, and is re-
garded as one of the most reliable citizens of the
day.
Mr. Engle had a somewhat brief army experi-
ence during the Civil war, enlisting March 3, 1865,
at Lancaster, in Co. H, 195th P. V. I., under Capt.
William Stauffer. Mr. Engle had six months' ser-
vice in Virginia, and five in Washington, D. C, be-
ing mustered out in the opening of 1866. When he
entered the service he weighed 187 pounds, and lost
sixty pounds in Virginia. He had been drafted
prior to his enlistment, but was excused for the
somewhat remarkable lack of a rib on one side.
Hence his friends feel that his enlistment was all
the more creditable to him. Mr. Engle is well sup-
plied with this world's goods, has a fine home and is
much -esteemed in the community where his last days
are passing.
ROBERT E. LOCHER, of Lancaster, enjoys
an enviable standing in the business circles of that
city as president and chief owner of the Park Run
Tanning Company, and president and manager of
the Lancaster Hotel Company, conducting the
"Stevens House." In the management of this mod-
ern hostelry he takes the deepest interest, having
reared up an institution of which he may well be
proud. The house was built in 1872 by a stock
company, and cost some $150,000, but has been
greatly improved since, especially under the man-
agement of Mr. Locher. It is centrally located, and .
employs some fifty-four people to serve its guests,
who are always sufficiently numerous to test its
full capacity, and often so much more so that many
of them have to be turned away, though this is al-
ways done with the greatest reluctance. The house
is eagerly sought by its numerous patrons because of
its thorough modern equipment and the genial dis-
position of its host.
Robert E. Locher has passed all his life in Lan-
caster. He was born there July 21, 1857, son of
David P. and Clementine M. Locher, and brother
of Charles H. Locher, of whom there is mention
elsewhere in this work. He was early associated
with his father, and has remained with his mother
since the latter's death. Up to the age of fifteen
years he attended the Lancaster schools, at sixteen
he attended Franklin and Marshall College for a
term, and then entered his father's tannery, where
he remained associated with his father until the
latter's death. He then bought his father's interest,
and took up the management of the concern, the
establishment being conducted as Locher Sons
Conestoga Oak Tannery. This continued until fire
destroyed the old tannery, in 1894. Previous to
this disaster Mr. Locher had bought the A. A.
Myers tannery, changing the name to the Park Run
Tannery, which had previously been built and op-
erated by his father also. Mr. Locher has enlarged
this to about four times its original size, so that it
now covers three acres of ground, with a two and
one-half story, modern brick building, containing
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
429
all of the latest improvements, operated and lighted
by its own electric plant, and employing from sixty-
tive to seventy men. The business is manufacturing
oak harness leather.
Mr. Locher is a man of affairs through and
through. In addition to his large interests as di-
rector and president of the hotel company and the
tanning company, he is a director as well as chair-
.man of the finance committee in the Conestoga Fire
Insurance Company, and has been one of the di-
rectors of the City Savings Fund Trust Company,
and chairman of the finance committee, since its or-
ganization. He also manages the large estate of
his mother, with whom he still lives. Besides being
a clever financier Mr. Locher is a lover of good
sport. Though a Republican politician of some note,
he will not accept political office.
ENOS CARRIGAN, one of the leading farm-
ers and prominent citizens of Drumore township,
was born July 22, 1849, ^ son of Jacob and Ann (Mc-
Laughlin) Carrigan, of the same township. Jacob
Carrigan was a son of Michael Carrigan, who came
from Ireland to America in early days and settled
in Lancaster county, rearing two sons, Jacob, the
father of Enos Carrigan, and Amos, who died while
serving his country in 1862.
Jacob Carrigan married Ann McLaughlin in
1848, and two sons were born to them, Enos, of this
sketch, and Joseph, who is a retired farmer of Fair-
field.
Jacob Carrigan was reared a farmer boy and as
his father died when he was still young he was
obliged to work for his widowed mother. Indus-
trious and frugal, he was able to save a sum of $300
in three years, being paid $10 per month while he
was learning the blacksmith trade. That Mr. Carri-
gan was a man of great energy and ability was
proven by the fact that at the time of his death he
was the owner of a valuable farm of 150 acres.
In political beUef Mr. Carrigan belonged to the
Democratic party, and he was universally respected
as an honest, hard-working, honorable man.
Enos Carrigan was reared on his father's farm
and was taught the blacksmith trade, although after
he finished his schooldays he chose farming as his
occupation. He was possessed of only limited
means, but he applied himself as his father had done,
and as time has passed he has accumulated much
property, has become one of the leading men of the
community and is esteemed by his neighbors and
friends. Mr. Carrigan owns the family homestead,
which consists of one hundred and fifty acres, and
also the family homestead of his wife. The resi-
dence of Mr. and Mrs. Carrigan is a large, hand-
some, comfortable dwelling and the farm is one of
the richest and most productive in the township.
Enos Carrigan was united in marriage to Miss
Roberta Penrose, of Drumore township, on Dec.
I3> 1877; she was a daughter of Joseph and Mar-
garet (Lukens) Penrose, of the same township, the
former of whom was one of the wealthy and leading
farmers of that part of Lancaster county.
The Penrose family was founded in America by
Robert Penrose, who came here from Wales with
three brothers, all of whom settled at Quakertown,
Pa., in the year 1700. Joseph Penrose, son of Rob-
ert, the settler, was born on Jan. 10, 1737, and
married Elmer Dehaven, and they settled in Bucks
county. Pa., where they reared three children, viz. :
Israel, who married Susannah Faulk, a daughter of
Thomas Faulk, on Nov. 11, 1790, and who had
five children, Elizabeth, Enos, Thomas, Jane and
Benjamin; Eidith; and Joseph.
Benjamin Penrose, son of Israel, married Han-
nah Lukens, of Montgomery county. Pa. Joseph, an-
other son, married Margaret Lukens, also of Mont-
gomery county, on Nov. 28, 1839. She was a daugh-
ter of Enos Lukens, and thev had three children:
Sarah Jane, a maiden lady who resides with her
sister, Mrs. Enos Carrigan; Elizabeth, who died
young ; and Roberta A., born July 7, 1854. The fa-
ther of Mrs. Carrigan was born Sept. 6, 1808, and
died Oct. 25, 1896; his wife, born Nov. 20, 1813,
died in 1878. All of these excellent people belong to
the simple faith of the Quakers.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Carrigan
are: Rena M., born Sept. 20, 1878, who was a
student in the Millersville Normal School, and re-
sides at home; Leora A., who was born April i,
1882, at present a student in the Millersville Normal
School, although holding a certificate as a teacher;
Harry Penrose, born Feb. 24, 1886 ; Lester Joseph,
who was born Aug. 9, 1888, and died July 22, 1901 ;
Grace, born Oct. 7, 1891.
Enos Carrigan is a man who stands high in
the esteem of the community, and is noted for his
sincere convictions of right and the courage with
which he carries them out. Although he does not
profess any particular creed, he believes in all moral
influences and follows the Golden Rule in every re-
lation of Ufe, living up to a high standard. His
interest in all educational movements has been con-
stant and for a long period he has served is school
director. The family and its connections are among
the wealthiest and most prominent in the county.
ABRAHAM ROYER (deceased) was one of
the residents of the northeastern part of the county of
Lancaster, where he owned a large farm and was
long engaged in its cultivation. In later life he
moved to Lancaster, where he lived to an advanced
age. He was twice married, and had several chil-
dren, among them, Samuel, who resided near Stras-
burg, Lancaster county; and Jacob, the father of
Abraham Royer.
Jacob Royer was a farmer of West Cocalico
township, and died when almost seventy-seven
years old. In his religious views he was a thorough
and devoted Lutheran. Elizabeth Stober, his wife,
died at the age of fifty years. They had six chil-
dren : William, a resident of West Cocalico town-
430
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ship, where he was engaged in farming ; Jacob, who
died young ; John, a tailor at Reamstown, deceased ;
Henry S., whose name appears below ; Samuel, a
resident of Mt. Joy; Abraham, deceased.
Henry S. Royer was born Sept. 25, 1829, and
was reared on the farm in Cocalico township. In
1849 he began to learn the cabinet maker's trade
with Elias Rhodes, of Reamstown. In 1854, he
began business on his own account in Terre Hill,
where he has since been engaged as undertaker and
cabinet maker, also carrying a line of furniture. Mr.
Royer and his son George have also conducted a
cigar business, in which they were engaged . many
years.
Mr. Royer was married in 1855 to Miss Marga-
ret Weaver, a daughter of George Weaver. She
was born in East Earl township. They have three
children: Lizzie, who is the wife of Menno Good,
of Bowmansville; George, deceased; and Jacob, a
physician in Terre Hill. They affiliate with the
Evangelical church.
JAMES BUCHANAN, of Soutter, Buchanan
& Young, Owners of the North Queen street dry-
goods house, derives his origin from an ancient
Scotch family. Buchanan Castle, on Beft Lomond,
now the seat of Lord Roseberry, w^s the home of
the family for many generations.
On the paternal side Mr. Buchanan's great-
grandfather was Andrew Buchanan, who was born
at Glasgow, and who married Marion Hafdie, a na-
tive of Linlithgow ; on his mother's side George An-
drews, born at LinlithgfOw, married to Margaret
Beattie, born at Lingholm. All these ancestors died
at the age of sixty^four years.
James Buchanan, son of Andrew and Marioll,
•was bom at Linlithgow April 20, 1814, died at Dun-
fermline Dec. 5, 1887. He married Jane Andrews,
born at LinlithgOw, Match i, 1819. The follow-
ing children w^re bom to them: Margaret, Jan.
19, 1840; Andrew, Oct. 20, 1841 ; Marion, No*. 23,
1844; Jane, Nov. 14, 185O; James, June 24, 1852;
George, May 3i> 1855; and ThotnaSj IVIairch 15,
1858. James, the father of these children, was a
shoe manufacturer, and moved first to Glasgow, and
later to Linlithgow, the place Mary, Queen of Scots,
was born.
Andrew Buchanan, son df James and Jane, was
born at Linlithgow, and aftier'finishing school worked
for his father for a time, and then moved to Dun-
fermline, where he married Eliza, daughter of John
Grindley, owfter of a weaving establishment. Of
this union six children were born, four of whom are
living : John, a theatrical man^^r of Dunfermline,
now traveling in Scotland; Eliza, wife of Andrew
Veitch, a linen merchant of Dunfermline ; Jane, wife
of Alexander Leafm'otith, a hewspaper man of Stifl-
ing ; and James, of Lancaster.
James Buchanan was born at -Dunfermline Oct.
10, 1864, and edlacated in the public schools, after
which he sought eittployment in a dry goods store
in his native town. After four years' service he went
to Glasgow, remaining there two years, when he
left Scotland for America, landing in New York
March 16, 1883. He soon after moved to Wilkes-
barre, where he clerked in a dry goods store for six*
years. Moving to Binghamton, N. Y., he lived there
seven years, part of the time being superintendent of
an extensive business. Here he met his future part-
ners, John C. Soutter, representative of a leading,
house, and George A. Young, employed in the same
store with himself. These gentlemen opened their
present business house April 11, 1896, and from
that time to the present prosperity has attended their
efforts. Though classed as a dry goods store, the
establishment is really a department store, having a
frontage of 3254 feet on North Queen street, run-
ning through a distance of 245 feet to Christian
street. Departments for notions, gloves, laces,
trimmings, children's wear, linings, dress goods,
silks, muslins, wash-goods, hosiery, underwear,
gents' furnishings, ribbons, handkerchiefs, embroid-
ery, upholstery, etc., besides many others are main-
tained. Starting with thirty-two employes, the force
now numbers sixty-eight regularly, and a larger
number in busy seasons.
In November, 1897, Mr. Buchanan matried Miss
Mary L. Evans, daughter of the late David G.
Evans, for years superintendent of Lancaster
county pirlblic schools, and known dtwinig^ his life as
a prominent educator of the district. Mr. Buchanan
bought arid resides in a fine home at No. 836 Mari-
etta Ave. Mr. Buchanan is a metttber oi fhe Blue
Lodge artd Chapter of MasOlis, is. a Knight Templar,
a member of the Elks, and of the Lucquan Piscator-
ial Associatioh. He attends the Presbjftefian Church.
Both his parents are yet living in 'Dunfermline,
Scotland, his father still carrying on his business.
His grandmother, though ei^fhty^oUr years of age,
is in excellent health and bids fair to live 'many years.
Although but thirty-eight Mr. Buchanan is likely
to emulate this example of longevity, and should he
do so he will certainly routtd out a vef y successful
career in life.
DAVID E. BESORE, the tktk at New Holland,
Lancaster county, was born in Waynesboro, Franklin
county, Aug. 5, 1842, and is a son of D. S. and Eliza
(Rhoads) Besofe, the fathef of Franklin county, the
mother of Lancaster county. They settled in New
Holland, Where for a time the father taught vocal
music and had a day school. He died in 1867, at the
age of sixty-five ; the mother died in 1884, at the age
of sixty-nine; they were buried at New Holland.
They were members of the RefO^rmed Church. Born
to them were the following children : John M., a
painter at Reading; Lucetta M.j Who married A. A.
Williard, and lives at Coatesville, Pa.; David F.,
Clefk in New Holland, Pa. ; Henry J., a saddler in
New Holland ; Roxalena, who died young ; Eliza,
who married William Styer, of Lameastef ; Levi, who
lives in Lancaster.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
431
The paternal great-grandfather of David F. Be-
sore was named David, and in company with two
brothers, one named Balser, he came to America at
an early day. and made a home for himself and
family in Franklin county; his brother, Balser, lo-
cated in Laricaster county, and the other brother
found a home in Lebanon county. David Besore,
the grandfather of David F., lived in Franklin coun-
ty, where his life was spent.
David F. Besore was married Oct. 17, 1871, in
New Holland, to Susanna E. Townsley, by whom he
had the following family: Anna E., who married
the Rev. F. A. Rupley, a minister of the Reformed
Church, and has her home in Fort Washington;
Ella M., at home, unmarried ; George F., a clerk in
a bank in New Holland.
Mrs. Susanna E; (Townsley) Besore was born
m New Holland in September, 1848, a daughter of
Robert and Eliza1)eth (Bowers) Townsley. Her
father was born in Chester county and her mother in
Lancaster county. They came to New Holland
when young, and there they spent their lives, the
father working as a carpenter. He died in 1892, at
the age of seventy-five years, and her mother died
in 1879, at the age of fifty-six; both were buried in
New Holland. They were members of the Metho-
dist Church. Born to them were the following
children : John and Mary, deceased ; Jacobs a Car-
penter at New Holland; Margaret,. who married S.
J. Wiler, and lives at Reading, Pa. ; Susanna E. ;
Amos, who died young; George, deceased; Emma,
late wife of Leratiel' Kizer; Eugene and Ellsworth,
both dead ; Ecadbraj who married George Kissinger
2nd lives in Philadelphia.
David F. Besore remained with his parents until
the death of his father, when he cared for his mothel*
for several yearS; When he was fifteen he ehtered
a hardware store* working fof Jacob Mentzer, and
remainfed there until 1862. That yeaf he enlisted
in the Union army, joining a company in the 28th
y. V. I., Gomhianded by Capt. J. G. Moore. He
was at the front a short time, when he retuirneid
lionie and i*e-^ribered the stor& In the following
year he agaiM enlisted, in the 47th P. V. I. This
time he enlisted for three months, and in 1864 he
enlisted a third time as a sharp-shooter. At Peters^
burg his company captain died, and he was trans-
ferred to the 203d P. V I. With this com»iand
he femaihfed until the close of the war, rfeceiving his
discharge at Raleigh, N. C. He participated in
several battles and skirmishes, and made a most
creditable reicord as a loyal soldief .
Mr. Beeote resumed his connection with the
hardware sbsre noted above, and there he remained
until 1868, when he became a partner in the estab-
lishment. This arrangement continued until 1872,
when he traded his part of the store to a brother of
his partner, for a dry goods store in New Holland.
There he temamed two and a half years, after which
be was employed in a notion house in Reading;, Pa.,
for eight months. He returned to New Holland and
worked for Jacob Mentzer for two years, having
the managernent of a dry goods store. For six years
he was in the grocery business in New Holland, and
from 1886 until 1889 had charge of the post office.
Then he went into the store of E. C. Diller & Son,
with whom he remained vmtil 1893, that year being
again appointed postmaster, a position he held until
£897.
Mr. Besore belongs to the Encampment of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In religion he
is a member of the Reformed Church. In politics he
is a Democrat, and stands well in the community,
both personally and as a business man of fine ability
and high character.
JOSEPH HINKLE, deceased. The life of this
well-known citizen of Columbia was typical of that
success in agriculture which comes from well-di-
rected effort, intelligently and persistently applied.
Mr. Hinkle was a prosperous farmer, one whose
later years were spent in the comparative ease and re-
tirement which are the fitting sequel to well spent
years of toil.
Joseph Hinkle was born in West Hempfield
township Nov. 12, 1833, the son of Henry and Sarah
(McGee) Hinkle. The parents were lifelong resi-
dents of Lancaster county, farmers by occupation,
industrious and highly respected. They reared a
family of eight children, as follows : Isaac, of
Wrightsville, Pa. ; Joseph, a farmer ; David, propri-
etor of a hotel at Columbia ; Catherine, wife of Will-
iam Hardy, a machinist ; John, William and Charles,
all deceased; and Rebecca, late wife of Christian
Hershey.
Joseph Hinkle adopted the vocation of his father.
He received in his youth a goOd common school
education, then assumed the arduous duties of farm
life and was soon recognized as one of the bright,
prosperous farmers of the township. He married
at the age of twent>'-one. May 31, 1855, in Hempfield!
township, Anna Melinger, who was born in Manor
townsfaipv daughter of Martin and Anna (Kauff-
nian) Malinger, \yho for many years engaged suc-
cessfully in farming in West Hempfield township,
and to whom were born the following children:
John, deceased ; Magdalena, wife of Jacob Frye, re-
tired, of Hanover, Pa. ; Martin, deceased ; I3avid,
a fattner of Lancaster cOunty; Christian, deceased;
Anna, wife of Joseph Hinkle ; Abraham, a baggage
master on the railroad; Elizabeth, who married
Christian Musser, a fatroer of West Herfipfield;
Benjamin, deceased; Henry; Jacob; deceased; and
Fanny, wife of Abraham Hershey, of Silver Spring.
To Joseph and Anna (Melinger) Hihkle were born
seven children, namely: Sarah J., wife of John
Yeager, a btitcher of Columbia ; Isaac, who died in
infancy; Martin M., a railroad engineer of Colum-
bia ; Anna, wife of Henry Wisler, a farmer of Co-
lumbia ; Harry M., a railroad engineer of Columbia ;
David G.j a railroad flagman at Columbia ; and Cal-
vin G., a railroad fireman at Columbia.
432
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mr. Hinkle continued farming actively in West
Hempfield township from the time of his marriage,
in 1855, to the spring of 1880, the last ten years
of this period being spent on the old homestead. He
retired from active life in 1880 and removed to
Columbia, where he resided until his death, which
occurred March 2, 1900. In politics he was a Re-
publican. He possessed keen business sagacity and
was well informed upon the general affairs of the
world. His lamented death deprived the borough
of a prominent citizen, whose counsel was discrim-
inating and just, and whose life had been one of
praiseworthy endeavor and achievement.
ABRAHAM R. FORNEY, a retired farmer re-
siding in West Donegal township, near the borough
limits of Elizabethtown, was born in Weet Earl
township, Lancaster Co., Pa., Jan. 23, 1827, a son of
Levi and Mary (Roop) Forney. Both his father
and mother died in Penn township. The father was
z farmer, and lived retired for the last twenty years
of his life. In 1884 he died, at the age of eighty-
four years, his wife having died in 1854, at the age
of forty-nine years; both are interred in Erb's
cemetery, in Penn township. They were the parents
of the following children: Abraham R. ; Leah;
Aaron, who died young ; John, who died at the age
of fifty years; David, a farmer in the township of
Mt. Joy ; Joseph, a farmer in East Hempfield town-
ship ; Elizabeth, who married Abraham Longeneck-
er, a farmer near Lititz ; Martin, a retired farmer in
£ jtitz ; Maria, the wife of Israel Kraybill, a farmer
of Penn township, and a minister in the German Bap-
tist Brethren Church; Levi, a farmer on the old
Penn township homestead.
John and Elizabeth (Lemon) Forney, the grand-
parents of Abraham R. Forney, were natives of West
Earl and Pequea townships, respectively. Mr. For-
ney had a tavern on the Reading road during the
Revolution, and after the termination of that strug-
gle devoted himself to farming.
Abraham Forney, the father of John Forney, and
great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came
from Switzerland in company with two of his biroth-
ers, one of whom settled in York county, Pennsyl-
vania.
The maternal grandparents of Abraham R. For-
ney were Abraham and Elizabeth (Kertz) Roop,
natives of West Earl township, where they followed
a farming life, and were buried in Groffdale, on a
part of their old farm., which is now owned and
operated by the gentleman whose name introduces
this article.
Abraham R. Forney was married May 14, 1846,
in Lancaster, to Anna Keller, who died Sept. 12,
1901, and to this union were born the following
children : Salinda, the wife of John H. Hertzler, a
farmer of Rapho township; John K., of Abilene,
Kans., who is vice-president, and his son secre-
tary, of the Belle Springs Creameries, a large insti-
tution; Martin, of EHzabethtown, a farmer, and
married to Anna Hemperly; Anna K., who died
at the age of eighteen years, while on a visit to her
brother, John K., in Kansas; Elizabeth, the wife of
Joseph H. Eshleman, the cashier of the Exchange
Bank at Elizabethtown.
Abi'aham R. Forney remained with his parents
until he reached the age of twenty years, at which
time he was married and rented a farm of 140 acres
in West Donegal township, on which he spent thirty-
nine years as a renter. About fifteen years ago he
retired from active labor, and purchased the farm
from the estate to which it belonged. When he
gave up active farming he moved to his present loca-
tion.
Mr. Forney was school director in West Donegal
township, one of the organizers of the Exchange
Bank, and its vice-president since the organization,
in 1887. Mr. Forney is a member of the Mennonite
Church.
MICHAEL HERTZLER MOORE, now living
a retired life at No. 134 North Prince street, Lan-
caster, is one of the most conspicuous figures in
that city. He is the third Michael Moore in the
family, his father and- grandfather having borne
that name, and his (Michael H. Moore's) grand-
son is also named Michael, thus making four gen-
erations of Michael Moores. The great-grandfa-
ther, Adam Moore, Uved and died on the farm near
Junction, in Penn township, which still remains in
the possession of the family, as it is owned by
Michael H. Moore, who says he bought it because
the remains of his great-grandfather, grandfather
and father are buried in the private cemetery on
the .place, and because he was born and reared
there.
Michael Moore, the grandfather, was born in
November, 1766, in Penn township, Lancaster coun-
ty, where the early years of his life were spent.
He married Margaretta Gross, who was born in
Penn township March 22, 1766. They had five
children, three of whom lived to maturity, Magda-
lena- (Mrs. Hoffman), Michael and Rebecca (Mrs.
Stehman). Mr. Moore, died in August, 1843, aged
seventy-six, and his wife died Oct 25, 1857^ in her
ninety-second year.
Michael Moore, father of Michael H., was bom
March 18, 1794, in Penn township, and married
Elizabeth Hertzler, 01 Rapho township. Their chil-
dren were George, Michael H., Rebecca, Elizabeth,
Susan, John H., Martin, Harriet, and three who
died in "infancy. Five survive, three sons and two
daughters. Mr. Moore was an Old-line Whig in
politics, and later in life became a Republican. He
was a member of the Lutheran Church. He de-
voted his Ufe to agricultural pursuits, and passed
away Feb. 14, 1866, ageid seventy-one years.
Michael Hertzler Moore was born on the old
homestead, in Penn township, "J^^i- ^9> ^^^9) ^* 7
o'clock in the morning," to use his own language.
He distinctly remembers hearing his father say that
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
433
he (the father) used to visit Lancaster when there
were only four stores in the city. He helped along
on his father's farm until he had reached manhood,
"picking up" his education, as he puts it, and re-
mained at home until the age of twenty-two, when
he bought the splendid mill property on the Mari-
etta turnpike, known as "The Brick Mill," which he
owned and operated for over fifty years. He has
sold it, however, as he desires to withdraw as far as
possible from business cares. Mr. Moore was one
of the organizers of the First National Bank, of
Lancaster, of which he is still a director. He is also
a manager of the Columbia & Chestnut Hill Turn-
pike Company, and a stockholder in the Old Colum-
bia Bank, the Wrightsville National Bank, and in
several other banks of the countj'. Besides these
interests, Mr. Moore is — in addition to the family
home at Junction — owner of two farms on Chestnut
Hill and of many houses and lands in Kansas, but
he is anxious to dispose of these properties and
to rid himself of all the business cares that he can
lay down. It is for this reason that he came to
Lancaster over two years ago, and took up his resi-
dence here, with his wife, the estimable partner who
has been his great help these many years.
Mr. Moore was married, Nov. 15, i860, to Bar-
bara S., daughter of Joseph Stoner, of York county,
and to this union three children were born. Of
these, Ella is the wife of Dr. J. F. Trexler, whose
sketch will be found elsewhere in these annals.
Phares, the son, is living near Hambrights, and
his eldest son is Michael, this making the fourth
Michael Moore in descent from Adam Moore, who
settled in Lancaster county before the Revolution.
Mr. Moore is a delightful conversationalist, full
of interesting reminiscences. He is an Old Men-
nonite in religion, and a Republican in politics, al-
though he takes no active part in partisan affairs.
Quiet and unassuming, with a heart filled with
kindness for his fellowmen, Mr. Moore is enjoy-
ing the fruits of an industrious and well-spent life.
JOHN E. GOOD. In the death of John E.
Good, Feb. 16, 1901, Lancaster county lost one of
her most estimable and exemplary citizens. He was
born Jan. 13, 1827, son of John B. Good, a farmer of
this locality, of German origin ; during a long and
useful life he not only accumulated ample means for
the com'fort of his family, but built up a reputation
for itegrity and uprightness which will ever be
connected with his name.
John B.Good was born Aug. 5, 1787, and his
wife, Margaret Good, on June 23, 1795. They had
twelve children, who all lived to a good age, though
six have now passed away. The dates of birth were
as follows: Christian, May i, 1819; Cady, Dec.
20, 1820 ; Valentine, Aug. 29, 1822 ; Elizabeth, Aug.
I, 1824; John E., Jan. 13, 1827; Margaret, Nov. 5,
1828; Leah, Jan. 10, 1830; Adam, Nov. 27, 1831 ;
Mary, Feb. 2, 1834; Fannie, March 2, 1836; Susan,
June 18, 1838; Jacob, Jan. 26, 1842. They all re-
' 28
sided in Lancaster county except Fannie, who mar-
ried a Mr. Warfel and lived in Indiana.
In 1854 John E. Good was united in marriage to
Annie Eshleman, daughter of David Eshleman, who
was born Sept. 23, 1836, and died Nov. 29, 1897;
they became the parents of twelve children, as fol-
lows : Susan, born in 1854 ; Barbara, 1856 ; Aaron,
1858 ; David, 1861 ; John E., 1862 ; Emma L., 1865 ;
Mary, 1867; Hattie, 1870; Abraham, 1872; Chris-
tian, 1874; Valentine, 1877; and Leah, 1880.
John E. Good followed a farming life all his
days with great success. His farm comprised 150
well cultivated acres, which was especially valuable
on account of its excellent and substantial improve-
ments. He was a life-long member of the Republi-
can party. Mr. Good came from a family long
known as worthy members of the Old Mennonite
Church, and he was likewise devoted to its doctrines
and interests. In every relation of life John E.
Good deserved the esteem in which his memory is
preserved, for he was a good, law-abiding citizen, a
charitable giver to those who deserved his bounty,
a kind husband and a most careful and affectionate
father. He was sincerely mourned both by his fam-
ily and the community.
CHARLES BUCKIUS, the venerable superin-
tendent of the shoe department of the Lancaster
county prison, is a remarkable man, both physically
and mentally. Although in his eightieth year,
he is as erect and quick as most men of fifty. He
comes from a long-lived race, his maternal grandfa-
ther, George Wise, having lived to a great age, and
his mother, Augusta Wise, having lived to be over
ninety years old, and an uncle, Valentine Buckius,
died at the age of ninety-six.
The paternal grandfather of Charles Buckius
was one of the founders of Germantown. William
Buckius, the father of Charles, was born in Fred-
erick City, Md., and came to Lancaster over a hun-
dred years ago, being then a lad of nineteen years
of age. Here he married Augusta Wise, and to
their union were born nine children, only three of
whom are now living: Kate, who is the widow of
the late George Auxer ; Eliza, the widow of the late
John F. Huber, at one time one of the owners and
publishers of The Examiner; and Charles, whose
name appears at the opening of this article.
Charles Buckius was born in Lancaster Jan.
15, 1824, and was educated at a subscription school,
the common schools not being in existence at that
time. He became an apprentice at the trade of a
tinsmith, with the late Jacob Gable, and worked as a
journeyman tinsmith for John and Daniel Gemper-
ling, both well remembered citizens of Lancaster.
At eighteen years of age he turned to shoemaking,
and this has been his life business. Mr. Buckius
kept a shoe store for many years, having long been
located in a building on the site of John Baer's Sons-
bookstore, on North Queen street. During the
greater part of the last twenty-five years he has been
484
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
superintendent of the shoe department at the Lan-
caster county prison, being repeatedly called back
to that position by different factions of the Republi-
can party, on account of his rare efficiency and in-
tegrity. For two terms Mr. Buckius was street
commissioner of the city of Lancaster, and in that
position his work was just as thorough. He has
served several terms in the common branch of the
city council. It is said' that there has been no work
ever committed to ins hands which was not done with
the very highest degree of fideUty and thoroughness.
In April, 1846, Mr. Buckius was married to Miss
Margaret Beatty, daughter of the late Alexander
Beatty, and to this union were born seven children,
those who survive being : William, who is engaged
in a wholesale shoe store in Pittsburg; Kate, a prom-
inent teacher in Lancaster; Augusta, the wife of
Ferdinand Derhuth, of the widely known Demuth
tobacco and snuff house, on East King street, said
to be the oldest house of the kind in the United
States; and Elizabeth, at home. Mr. Buckius is
next to the oldest Odd Fellow in this city, having
joined that order in 1847. He belongs to the Trin-
ity Lutheran Church. Wherever he is found, in
church, lodge, business or in society, he is recognized
as a true man.
JOSEPH E. BRUBAKER, an industrious and
upright citizen of Rapho township, has followed
farming for many years, carrying on carpenter work
in connection with his tillage of the soil. His in-
tegrity and public spirit have been recognized by
his election to the board of supervisors, and he holds
in a high degree the confidence and respect of his
own community, being often called upon to settle
estates.
Mr. Brubaker was born in Washington township,
York county. Pa., Dec. 10, r842, a son of the Rev.
David F. and Elizabeth (Erb) Brubaker, of Leba-
non, Lancaster county. They were married near
Erb's Meeting House, in Cumberland county, Pa.,
and, coming into Lancaster county, settled on the
Hershey farm in East Donegal township in 1851,
where they spent their lives. The father was a farm-
er, and was for many years an active, much respected
and able Mennonite clergyman. His death occurred
Oct. 13, 1893, at the age of seventy-nine years, three
months and twenty-one days. His wife died May
23, i860, at the age of forty-two years, seven months
and twenty-one days, and was buried in the cemetery
connected with the Kraybill Church. Mr. Brubaker
was a preacher from 1848 until the time of his death.
Rev. David F. and Elizabeth (Erb) Brubaker
were the parents of the following family of children :
Joseph E. ; Daniel, who was killed by the running
away of a horse when he was thirteen years old;
Frances, who married Jacob E. Shank, a farrner
in East Donegal township; David, who lives iii
Rheems, Pa.; John, who died in 1900; Catherine,
deceased wife of William Hoffheins, of East Done-
gal township. Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker were mar-
ried Oct. 7, 1 841. After her death he was again
married, to Mrs. Anna (Hostetter) Nissley, who
died in 1893, without issue.
The paternal grandparents, Daniel and Anna
Brubaker, who was a Forrey, were married on horse-
back, and after their romantic wedding settled in
York county. Later in life they returned to Lan-
caster county, and engaged in farming in Landis
valley. The maternal grandparents, Rev. John and
Fanny (Bergey) Erb, lived in Lancaster county.
They came of Swiss stock. He was a minister in
the Mennonite Church. He died in Cumberland
county, leaving a family of two sons and five daugh-
ters. The youngest son, John, is still living, a Men-
nonite preacher located at present in Dauphin coun-
ty, Pa. One sister also survives, Mrs. Susan Garber,
of Bossier's Corner, in Donegal township, Lancaster
county.
Joseph E. Brubaker was married, in Lancaster,
Pa., in 1868, to Susan E. Stauffer, by whom he had
the following children: Ammond S., engaged in bus-
iness as a maker of wire fences, who married Hettie
Metzler and resides at East Petersburg, Pa. ; Clay-
ton S., a farmer with his father, married to Maria
Witmeyer, by whom he has had one daughter, May ;
Ella, who married Ephraim Longenecker, a farmer
in Mt. Joy township, and has three children, Ada,
Eva and Victor; J. Henry S., a farmer, married to
Anna B. Groff, of Whitmer, Nov. 4, 1901 ; and
Susie, at home.
Mrs. Susan E. (Stauffer) Brubaker was born
in Rapho township, in 1845, ^ daughter of Henry
and Susan (Eby) Stauffer, both of Lancaster coun-
ty. Mr. Stauffer spent his last eight years in the
home of his daughter, Mrs. Brubaker. His life was
devoted to farming. During the last two years he
lived he was deprived of his sight. A man of fine
character and marked ability, he was well thought
of by all who knew him, being called to fill various
township offices and to settle several estates. When
he died, in 1890, he was eighty-eight years old. His
wife died in 1882, at the age of seventy-five years.
They were members of the Mennonite Church, and
their remains rest in a private cemetery on part of
their old homestead. These were their children;
Joseph, deceased; Samuel, a retired farmer in
Rapho township ; Henry, a machinist, and living on
the old homestead; Jacob, justice of the peace in
Rapho township ; Catherine, late wife of Jacob G.
Nissley; Christian, a carpenter in Warwick, and
twin to Susan, who married Mr. Brubaker. The
pateirnal grandparents of Mrs. Brubaker were Jos-
eph and Catherine (Ocker) Stauffer, farming peo-
ple of Lancaster county, as were her maternal grand-
parents. Christian and Frances (Hershey) Eby.
Joseph E. Brubaker remained at home with his
parents until he was twenty-one years old, and then,
going West, spent three years at the carpenter trade
in Monmouth, 111. At the expiration of this period
he returned to Lancaster county, and resumed his
residence in Rapho township, where he di'd carpenter
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
485
work for two years before beginning the cultivation
of his father-in-law's farm. For nineteen years he
was engaged in this labor, and in 1889 removed to
his present place of seventy acres. Success has
crowned his thrift and industry, and he owns a beau-
tiful farm, which is now managed by a son. In
the community his standing is good, and he is re-
garded as one of the leading Republicans of this part
of the county. In religion he and his whole family
are connected with the Mennonite Church, and their
integrity and character are tinquestioned.
SIM EBY (deceased) was a miller, and fol-
lowed his trade in the northern part of Lancaster
county for many years. Born at Hammer Creek,
he was reared on the farm, and was a son of Christian
Eby. Learning the milling trade early in life, after
his marriage he bought what was known as the
Cedar Run Mill, now termed the Martin Mill, located
in Earl township. Five years after his marriage
he sold this property and bought a farm in Leacock
township, consisting of 132 acres, located near Gor-
donville. This was his home for thirteen years,
when he sold out and removed to the old Frantz
farm in Leacock township, comprising 132 acres,
and there lie lived until his death, in 1881, at the
age of seventy-two years. He owned four farms
and bore a reputation as a progressive and success-
ful farmer. In the Mennonite Church, to which he
belonged, he served as a deacon.
Sim Eby and Anna Frantz, a daughter of Jacob
Frantz, of Leacock township, were married early in
life, and lived together many years. She died at the
age of eighty, the mother of eleven children : Jacob
F., of Intercourse; Elias, a resident of Strasburg;
Benjamin, a miller of Paradise; Christian and Sam-
uel, who are dead; Amos, a resident of Paradise;
Ezra, Henry and Joseph, who are all dead ; John H.,
living on the old homestead in Leacock township;
Lizzie, unmarried.
Amos Eby was born Aug. 29, 1843, and was
reared on the old homestead. His education was
secured in the public schools, and he remained at
home working for his father until he was twenty-
nine years of age. On Oct. 31, 1872, he mar-
ried Miss Anna McKillips, a daughter of Daniel
and Christiann (Denlinger) McKillips. Mrs.
Eby was born in Upper Leacock township March
24, 1848, and is the mother of one daughter, Laura
M., born Sept. 2, 1880. The family are members
of the Presbyterian Church.
After Amos Eby was married he located on
the north end of the old homestead in Leacock town-
ship, where he remained engaged in farming twen-
ty-four years. He gave considerable attention to
dairying, and long had a mijk route in Paradise.
During these years he handled farm implements and
fertilizers quite extensively. Some years ago he
purchased a lot in Paradise, where he built a fine
residence and made his home. Mr. Eby is ex-
tensively engaged in the manufacture of farm fer-
tilizers, some of his make being widely known, such
as the Pequea "Phospate," "Economy," the "Ara-
moniated," and the "Farmers' Mixture." His
goods are sold in Lancaster county, and the business
is a very prosperous one.
Mrs. Eby has been an invalid for twenty years,
and has suffered greatly, though her suffering has
not proved sufficient to break down the sweetness
of her disposition and the unselfishness of her heart.
AMAZIAH B. EBY is a practical machinist,
ranking among the foremost of the trade in the
State, and a man of high character. He is alert
and keen-eyed, intelligent and awake to all the de-
mands his calling makes upon him.
Benjamin Eby, his father, was the third son of
Sim Eby, and was born May 7, 1838. He was reared
as a farm boy, and his education was such as was
afforded by the local day and public schools. He
began operations for himself when he was twenty-
four years of age, renting property and engaging
in farming for twenty years on the land of others.
At the end of that period he bought a farm of fifty-
four acres in Leacock township, near Ellsworth post-
office, where he has been engaged in general farm-
ing for many years. In 1897 he purchased the
George Beiler property at Paradise, and made it
his home. The place consists of eleven acres of
land, with a chopping mill and machine shop, where
general machine repairing is done. The milling de-
partment is under the management of Mr. Eby, while
his son, Amaziah, has charge of the machine work.
Mr. Eby was married in November, 1862, to Miss
Hattie Buckwalter, a daughter of Samuel and Eliza-
beth (Rohrer) Buckwalter. Mrs. Eby died in 1867,
at the age of twenty-six years, leaving two children,
Amaziah B. and Ada E. In 1869 Mr. Eby was mar-
ried to Miss Elizabeth Hoover, a daughter of Benja-
min and Barbara ( Brockbill) Hoover. To this mar-
riage were born the following children: Annie,
Lena, Amanda, Amos, Naomi and Silas. Annie is
the wife of John R. Frantz, a miller at Millersville ;
Lena is the wife of C. H. Hersh, a farmer of Byers-
town. Mr. and Mrs. Eby belong to the Old Men-
nonite Church, and stand high in the community.
Amaziah B. Eby, who has charge of the machine
shop connected with his father's property at Para-
dise, has made himself quite a reputation as a mas-
ter at his calling, and has worked in some of the
leading shops of the section, notably at Hagerstown.
He is regarded as a young man of far more than
the ordinary promise, and much is expected of him.
PETER STYER, of Caernarvon township, Lan-
caster county, is the grandson of John Adam Styer,
a native of Germany.
The grandfather came to this country when he
was only nineteen years of age, locating in Lancaster
county, where he was married to a Miss Miller.
A miller by trade,, he followed that occupation some
years, and was engaged in the milling business dur-
486
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ing the war of the Revolution. He was also a farm-
er, and was a man of magnificent physique. It is
a matter of tradition that on one occasion, single and
alone, at one time, he carried twelve bushels of wheat
up two flights of stairs. Lacking only two months
of eighty-seven years when he died, he had lived a
long and earnest life. In the northeast part of Caer-
narvon township he owned a farm of 210 acres, and
the stone residence and other buildings which were
erected by him on this place are still standing, and
are now occupied by Peter Styer. A large walnut
tree stands in the yard at the old homestead, which
was planted by Peter Styer's grandmother. It meas-
ures over sixteen feet in circumference, and for this
tree alone the owner was offered $75.00 several
years since. A numerous family was born to him,
of which we have the following record: Barbara,
wife of Abraham Kern; Russina, who married Jos-
eph Weiler ; Catherine, who married Peter Yohn ;
Magdalina, wife of Peter Widensaul; Elizabeth,
who married Peter Foreman; Frederick; John
Jacob; John Adam.
John Adam Styer, the father of Peter, was born
in 1772 and lived to be eighty-two years old. His
life was spent in Caernarvon township, where he en-
gaged in farming all his days. In his religion he
was a regular attendant at the Robeson Lutheran
Church, and took much interest in it, being deeply
versed in the Scriptures, which he had regularly and
systematically read through seven times. For' years
he was an elder in the church. Susan Yohn, his
wife, was a daughter of Frederick Yohn, and was
born in Caernarvon township ; when she died, in
1870, she was eighty-one years old. To this worthy
couple were born ten children, as follows : Jacob,
Frederick and Catherine, who married Samuel Rigg,
all deceased; Sarah, the widow of Levi Weyler;
Adam, who lives in Reading ; Peter, deceased ; Peter
(2), whose name appears above; John, deiceased, as
is Mary, who married George Spotts ; Elizabeth, the
wife of Isaac Foreman, who has her home in Chester
county.
Peter Styer was born March i, 1827, was reared
on the farm and educated in the common schools.
For the greater portion of his life he has had his
home in Caernarvon township. The old homestead
is owned by him, and his attention is given to its
cultivation. He is a man of character and standing
in the community in which he lives, and is ever ready
to lend a helping hand to any one of its important
enterprises.
Mr. Styer has been twice married, Elbina
Sweitzer being his first wife. She was a daughter
of Peter Sweitzer, and was born at the "Plow Tav-
ern," in Berks county. She died in 1888, at the age
of fifty-two years, and vvas the mother of ten chil-
dren, of whom Sarah Ellen is the wife of Levi B.
Moore, of Martindale, Lancaster county; Wilson is
a lime burner of Berks county; John Adam is a
farmer of Caernarvon township; Clara married
Henry Miller, of Reading ; Bentley and Heber were
twins; Pleber is dead and Bentley is a farmer in
Caernarvon township; Daniel W. is a physician in
Churchtown; George is pastor of the Lutheran
Church at Millersburg, Ohio ; James is in the agency
business in Caernarvon township; Charles is at
home.
Mr. Styer was married March 10, 1892, to his
present wife, Harriet Ann, a daughter of John Fore-
man ; they are members of the Lutheran Church, and
are among the most respected citizens of the com-
munity.
During the Civil war Mr. Styer served as recruit-
ing officer for Caernarvon township, and did some
very good work in that position. For some ten years
or more he had a butcher business in Reading, and
has handled much stock, cattle and horses, in his
time. At the closing of the war he bought up many
government horses and, bringing them to Lancas-
ter county, disposed of them at very good profits.
Mr. Styer is a skilled veterinarian, though not a
graduate, and has practiced the science with much
success.
DAVID H. MELLINGER, one of the enter-
prising young farmers of Manor township, was born
Sept. 9, 1865, in the old Mellinger homestead at
Creswell, where he still resides. He comes from
one of the old families of this region, and is of
German origin, being a descendant of Ludwig Mel-
linger, the first of the name to locate in this sec-
tion.
John Mellinger, great-grandfather of David H.,
was born in Manor township, and there passed his
entire life, engaged in farrriing and distilling. His
judgment in business matters brought him pros-
perity, and he was a man of considerable influence in
his community. In politics he was an Old-line
Whig, and he took an active part in the affairs of
his day and localitv, holding various positions,
among them that of school director of his township.
He died in Creswell.
David Mellinger, grandfather of David H., was
born in February, 1795, in Manor township, and
had a long career, surviving until April 9, 1878. His
early literary training was received in the public
schools of the home neighborhood, and' he took up
the study of medicine with Dr. Musser, of Manor
township. His professional studies completed, he
opened an office in Creswell, and practiced contin-
uously for the long period of sixty years, meeting
with success from the start. He owned 100 acres,
of land, which under his management was in an ex-
cellent state of cultivation, and, having inherited
his father's business ability, his affairs prospered.
He was twice married, his first wife being Susan.
Shopf, also of Manor township, who was born
March 21, 1794, and died Sept. 23, 1856. Five
sons were born to this union, namely: (i) John
S., father of David H. ; (2) Henry S., M. D., the
last survivor, who died Feb. 6, 1901 ; (3) Jacobs
who was a business man of Columbia ; (4) David j
^e^f'Vi^^^.i^fL'
^.jZ-^-l
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
437
and (s) Benjamin S., who died at the age of twelve
years. The father was an active member of the
M. E. Church, in which he held office. Politically
he was a Republican. John S. Mellinger married
Miss Elizabeth Wissler, who survives him. His
death occurred in October, 1897.
David H. Mellinger attended the common schools
and the State Normal at Millersville, acquiring a
good practical education, thus fitting him to assist
his father in his agricultural work and other busi-
ness affairs until the latter's retirement, when he
assumed full charge. The home farm, which con-
tains over eighty acres, is devoted to general crops,
and in addition to the cultivation of that place Mr.
Mellinger looks after several other farm properties
of his own, and attends to the business interests of
his' uncle. Dr. Henry S. Mellinger. Naturally he
is kept constantly busy, but his disposition is an en-
ergetic one, and he attends personally to all the
details of his work, taking justifiable satisfaction in
the results which have attended his affairs. Mr.
Mellinger is as much interested in the fine appear-
ance of his place as in its more material welfare,
and his home and surroundings testify strongly to
his love for the beautiful. The house, a modern
brick structure of pleasing design, was built after
his own plans in 1893-94. Like the public-spirited
citizen he is, Mr. Mellinger is alwavs ready to give
his influence and substantial encouragement to
every measure involving the welfare of his town
and county. He is a Republican politically, but not
an office seeker.
On May 25, 1892, Mr. Mellinger was united in
marriage with Miss Agnes C. Mann, daughter of
Levi H. Mann, who resides near Creswell.
B. D. ECKMAN, a retired farmer of East Dru-
more township, Lancaster county, was born Sept.
4, 1821, a son of John and Elizabeth (Draucker)
Eckman, both natives of this county. John Eckman
was born in 1781 : and his wife in October, 1786.
John Eckman was the son of Henry Eckman,
who was born in Germany and came to this country
in colonial times, settling near Puseyville, in East
Drumore township. In time he became quite pros-
perous, owning six or more good farms, leaving one
to each of his children at the time of his death.
These children were : Daniel ; Henry, Jacob ; John ;
Martin; Betsy, who became the wife of Mr. Kirk-
wood; and Jane, who married and lived near the
Juniata river.
John Eckman after his marriage settled on
one of his father's farms, where he devoted his life
to farming, and died at the home near Puseyville
Nov. 20, 1859. His wife died March 2, 1827, having
been the mother of two sons and three daughters,
-(i) Sarah A., born June 26, 1812, married James
Bryson and settled on her father's old homestead,
where they lived many years, and then moved to
Oxford, where Mr. Bryson died; she is still living,
at the venerable age of ninety years ; her only
child living, Jeanette, is Mrs. William Smith, of
Philadelphia. Mary, the wife of John Gregg, is
dead. (2) Catherine Eckman, born in May, 1814,
died in the bloom of her young womanhood. (3)
Elizabeth, born April 4, 1816, married John Don-
nelly, of Lancaster county. She died in Adams
county. 111., where they had moved. Mr. Don-
nelly is also dead. To this marriage were born
Hugh, James,' Henry and Sallie, who is the wife of
the Rev. W. Eckman, now of Decatur, 111. (4)
John A. Eckman, born in 1819, died young.'
(S) B. D. Eckman, who was the youngest mem-
ber of his father's family, lost his mother when he
v/as only five years old, and was reared in the house-
hold of his uncle, Henry Eckman.
B. D. Eckman was married Nov. 4, 1841, to
Susanna E. Westcott, a daughter of William and
Mary Westcott, an old family of Lancaster county.
Mrs. Eckman was born in East Drumore township
Jan. 4, 1826. Of the family of William and Mary
Westcott four are living: George W., of Oxford,
Chester county ; James, of Wilmington, Del. ; Mar-
garet, the deceased wife of Benjamin Winters, of
Oxford, Pa. ; Susanna, the wife of Mr. Eckman.
B. D. Eckman began his married life as a farm
hand, earning the munificent salary of forty cents
a day. Industrious and economical, he was able
to buy a farm in 1855, which is the present residence
of the family. It was then only partly cleared, and
had but a shell of a house for a home ; since that time
he has erected large and handsome farm buildings,
and now has one of the best appointed farms in the
county. In his politics Mr. Eckman is a Demo-
crat. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church.
To Mr. and Mrs. Eckman have been born thirteen
children, ten of whom are living. (i) John, born
in March, 1842, married Miss Sallie Donnelly, and
is now a resident of Decatur, 111., where they have
the following family: Edward, William, Mamie,
Anna, Mearl, John, Walter and Beulah. (2) Will-
iam W., born in March, 1844, married Miss Lina
Simcock, of Paxton, 111., and lives in Memphis, Mo.,
where he owns a lumber yard. They have one
daughter, Lilie. (3) Sarah E., born in July, 1846,
married George Witencamp, of Payson, 111., and is
the mother of two children, Mary E. and Nettie;
(4) Mary, born Aug. 4, 1848, died in childhood.
(5) James B., born in Jime, 1850, married Miss Lida
Keenan, of Lancaster county, who died in Illinois,
leaving a family, — Harry, Josie, Johnnie and Lida;
(6) George W., born in July, 1852, married Mary
Starr, and lives in Greene county. 111.; he is the fa-
ther of seven children, Aldis, Baltzer, Francis, Mary,
Mable, Enos and Delia. (7) Jeanette M., born
in June, 1854, is unmarried, at home. (8)
Adam, born in May, 1856, married in Illinois and
now resides in Adams county; his children are
Daniel, George, Henry, Bernice and May. . ('9)
Anna, born in September, 1858, married Frank Keen,
of Quarryville, and is dead, leaving, one daughter,
" Jeanette. (10) Sander M., born in June, 1861,
438
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
married Miss Jennie Reineer, of Drumore township,
and is a farmer on his place in East Drumore
township. They have the following children, Ber-
tha, Ira, Leah, Mary, Perry, Anna and George. ( 1 1 )
B. D., Jr., born May 6, 1864. (12) Ellen R., born in
January, 1866, married Richard Kearner, of Payson,
111., and is the mother of one child, George. (13)
Susanna, died in childhood.
B. D. Eckman, Jr., married Miss Emma M. My-
ers, a daughter of Anthony and Martina Myers.
Her mother is dead, but her father is still living in
Lancaster. Mrs. Eckman was bom Feb. 24, 1868.
They are residing with his father on the old home-
stead, and have one son, Harry A.
JOHN SPRECHER, a retired farmer whose
home is in New Holland, Pa., was born in Earl town-
ship Nov. 25, 1835, a son of Isaac and Mary (Dief-
fenderffer) Sprecher, long residents of Earl town-
ship.
Isaac Sprecher came to the farm where his son
is now living in 1864, and there he spent his remain-
ing days. He passed away in 1866, at the age of
sixty-six years; his widow survived many years,
entering into rest in 1892. The ashes of both rest
in the Lutheran Church cemetery at New Holland.
The husband and father was a farmer all his life.
Isaac Sprecher antl his wife had the following chil-
dren : Betijamin, a farmer in Earl township ; Anna,
wife of Samuel Brubaker, a retired farmer in New
HoUartd ; Susannah, who died at the age of sixteen
years ; John ; Isaac, a farmer in New Holland ; Mary,
who married Jacob Shaeffer, a retired farmer in
West Earl township ; Rachel, unmarried and living
in New Holland.
George Sprecher, the paternal grandfather of
John Sprecher, who married a Miss Shaffer, was a
farmer of much more than the usual prominence in
Lancaster county. His maternal grandfather, Ben-
jamin Dieffenderffer, and his wife, a Miss Hull, were
both natives of Lancaster county.
John Sprecher was married in Lancaster, Pa., in
December, 1863, to Catherine Grabill, by whom he
has had the following children : Ida, who married
John Shreiner, of Manheim township, and is the
mother of threie children ; Grabill, a farmer of Salis-
bury township, who married Mattie Bair, and is the
father of two children ; Leamon, a farmer of Stras-
burg, who married Cora Hartman, and is the father
of one child ; John, a teacher for some years, a grad-
uate of the Millersville State Normal, class of 1899
and now a member of the junior class at Franklin
and Marshall College, residing meairiwhile at home,
only twelve miles from the college ; Bertha, at home,
unmarried; Mary, who married Samuel Holt, a
farmer at Merrill, Pa., and is the mother of one child.
Mrs. Catherine (Grabill) Sprecher was born in
West Earl township Aug. 9, 1840, a daughter of
Henry and Catherine (Rupp) Grabill, both of West
Earl township. Her father was a farmer, and died
in West Earl township in 1876, at the age of sixty-
eight. Her mother entered into rest in 1873, at the
age of sixty-one. Their remains are resting in Car-
penter's Church cemetery in West Earl township.
Their children are as follows: Sarah, deceased
wife of John Alyers; EUzabeth, late wife of John
Lafevre; Abraham, deceased; Catherine, Mrs.
Sprecher; Henry, deceased; Susannah, the widow
of Martin Gahman, and living in Lancaster ; Sam-
uel, a grocery merchant of Lancaster; Isaac and
John, who both died young.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Catherine
Sprecher were John and Catherine (Weidler) Gra-
bill, farming people of Lancaster county; her ma-
ternal grandparents Abraham and Elizabeth (Kurtz)
Rupp, also Lancaster county farmers.
John Sprecher remained at home with his par-
ents until his marriage, when he began farming for
himself, an occupation he continued until 1895, when
he retired and removed to his present home. He
and his family are members of the German Baptist
Church, and are counted among the most honorable
and'^upright people of the community. In his poli-
tics he is a Republican.
JACOB WITMER. The continent of Europe
has contributed many good and substantial citizens
to America, and no country has been represented by
a more excellent class than has Switzerland, many
natives of that beautiful land finding a new home in
the United States, a great portion of them locating
in the rich farming lands of Pennsylvania. Promi-
nent among these was a representative of the Wit-
mer family, although but a lad of fourteen at the
time ; it is easy to believe that both courage and in-
dependence were his, to enable him to leave kindred
and friends for a strange land. That he possessed
attributes of merit is certain, for he became the hon-
ored founder of one of the largest and most es-
teemed families in Lancaster county. His habits
were frugal and he was of an industrious bent, re-
sulting in the accumulation of means, and at his
death he left a fine farm which is still in the possess-
ion of his descendants; In the Mennonite Charch
he was prominent, and that religious denomination
has absorbed almost all of the succeeding family.
John Witmer, the grandfather of Jacob Witmer,
inherited the farm of ninety broad acres, located one-
half mile south of Lampetef, and there he filled out
his diays, engaged in agricultural pursuits, marrying
Esther Bowman, the estimable daughter of a neigh-
boring farmer, and dying at the age of seventy-six.
The children of this union were : Jacob, the father
of Jacob (2) ; Anna, who married Christian Shaub,
of West Lampeter ; and Barbara, who married Jacob
Barge, of Strasburg.
Jacob Witmer (i) was bom Sept. .7, 1791, and
died June 2T, 1864. His home was on the old home-
stead, as he purchased it from his father's estate
and lived a quiet, pastoral life among his fields and
herds, one of the most estimable of men, who per-
formed his full duty in every relation of life. His
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
489
marriage was to Sarah Lefevef, a daughter of
George and Susan (Hartman) Lefever, of Stras-
burg, her birth being on Feb. 15, 1799, her death on
Sept. 9, 1890. A family of ten children were born
to this union : Esther, born in February, 1818, re-
siding in Lancaster City, the widow of Jacob Fritz ;
George, born in January, 1820, a retired farmer of
Providence township ; Susan, born Dec. 4, 1823, the
deceased wife of Jacob F. Herr ; Sarah, born in De-
cember, 1825, twice widowed, having first married
Abraham Graft, and second. Rev. Amos Herr, and
now living with her brother, Jacob ; Anna, born in
November, 1827, died in 1829; John, born in Au-
gust, 1830, died in 1833 ; Aaron, born in April, 1832,
a retired farmer of West Lampeter; Jacob, born
Nov. II, 1834; Martin, born in July, 1836, a farmer
of Strasburg township; and Naomi, bom in Octo-
ber, 1838, died in 1842.
Jacob Witmer (2) was born and reared on the
farm he now occupies, received his education in the
public schools, and upon the death of his father, in
1864, purchased forty-five acres of the homestead
land ; this was the west half, upon which the most
improvements had been made, and where the father
had died. This land is especially well placed for
general farming, and such Mr. Witmer carried on
until 1895, when he retired from active life. His
standing in the county is second to none in integrity,
and he is a consistent member of the Mennonite
Church, where he takes a deservedly prominent
place.
C. M. RESSLER, one of the successful farmers
and prominent citizens of Lancaster county, was
born in Providence township May 10, 1841 ; be was
a son of Daniel and Mary (Metzler) Ressler, the
former a man of wonderful longevity, dying in his
one hundredth year, on Dec. 18, 1901, Daniel was
born March 24, 1802, and was of sturdy German
stock, his father having been a native of Germany
who was one of the first settlers of this county.
Daniel Ressler was the father of ten children:
Hettie, deceased ; Amos, deceased ; Barbara ; Harry,
a retired farmer; C. M., of this sketch; Maria, at
home ; Martin, deceased ; Susan, a resident of Lan-
caster ; John, on the old home farm ; and Emma, de-
ceased.
C. M. Ressler was reared as a farmer boy and re-
ceived his education in the public schools of Provi-
dence township. Although he started out in life
with very limited means, by his activity and energy
he has accumulated a large and well-improved es-
tate, consisting of two valuable farms, with excel-
lent dwellings, barns and all the necessities of ad-
vanced agricultural work. For a number of years
Mr. Ressler has been a very successful dealer in cat-
tle and stock. He has now retired from his well
improved farm, near Chestnut Level, and has bought
a home in Strasburg borough, where he now re-
sides. His son, Aaron D., has possession of the
farm.
The first marriage of Mr. Ressler was to Miss
Elizabeth Miller, of Martic township, their union
taking place on Sept. 26, 1869 ; she was a daughter
of David and Maria Miller. The children born
to this marriage numbered eight. Mrs. Ressler died
Jan. 31, 1888, and Mr. Ressler was married a second
time, on July 23, 1891, to Sarah J. Parker, who died
April 30, 1900, one daughter being of this second
marriage.
Mr. Ressler is a leading member of the Men-
nonite Church, is a Republican in his political views,
is a fine farmer and one of the most valued citizens
of the township. In his home he is respected and
beloved, and among his neighbors he is regarded as
a friend worthy of high esteem.
DAVID G. ESHLEMAN (deceased) was at
one time ranked as a leading member of the Lancas-
ter bar. He was born near Strasburg, Lancaster
counlpr, July 3, 1816, son of Benjamin Eshleman,
a native of Lancaster county. He was educated in
Philadelphia first, and afterward at Dickinson Col-
lege, from which institution he was graduated with
the class of 1840. He then read law in the office of
the late John R. Montgomery, of Lancaster, and
was admitted to practice in 1842. He followed his
profession successfully to the time of his death. He
married Caroline Carpenter, daughter of Dr. Abra-
ham Carpenter, and to this union were born the fol-
lowing children : Anna, who married John H. Mc-
Murdy (both deceased), leaving one son, John H.,
Jr. ; Eliza, wife of Frank M. Taylor, residing at
Denver, Colo., who has one living son, David Paul ;
Harriet, wife of E. C. Stimson, residing at Colorado
Springs, Colo. ; Mary, who died in childhood ; and
George Ross. In politics David G. Eshleman was
formerly a Whig, but later became an active worker
in the Democratic party. He served in the Legisla-
ture and was also county solicitor. He died April
30, 1895. Mrs. David G. Eshleman was, through
her mother, a granddaughter of George Ross, a sign-
er of the Declaration of Independence. She died
April II, 1900.
George Ross Eshleman was born in Lan-
caster Sept. 30, 1864, descended on both sides
from families of German origin and among the early
settlers of Lancaster county. He received his pri-
mary education in the Yeates Institute of Lancaster.
He then went to Princeton College, where he was
graduated in 1884. He read law in his father's
oiBce and was admitted to practice in 1886, and since
that timehas successfully followed his chosen pro-
fession in his native town. He was in politics a
Democrat until 1896, when he joined the Republican
party. He was married to Elizabeth Spencer June
I, 1892, and they have no children. He is editor of
the Law Review; a member of Herschel Lodge,
I. O. O. F., Lancaster Lodge, No. 134, B. P. O. E.,
the Young Republican Club, the Hamilton Club, the
Lancaster Country Club and the Y. M. C. A. ; he
belongs to the Lancaster County Bar Association,
440
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and is a member of St. James Protestant Episcopal
Church.
The earliest record of the Eshleman family in
America is that of the great-great-grandfather, John
Jacob Eshleman, who was bom in Germany in 1707
and came to this country in 1729. He settled in
Strasburg, where he bought a tract of land. He
was a millwright. John Jacob married Barbara
Barr, of Lancaster, and they had but one son, Jacob,
born in 1742. The father, John Jacob, was a Men-
nonite, and died in Strasburg. His son, Jacob, mar-
ried Barbara Groff, and they had children as follows r
Jacob ; John, who resided at Strasburg and married
first, Mary Weaver, and second, Alice Groff ; Susan,
Mrs. Henry Breckbill; Fannie, Mrs. Joseph Patts,
who died at Strasburg ; Benjamin, who married Fan-
nie Herr, both dying at Greenland, Pa. ; David, mar-
ried to Mary Groff, and Barbara, married to Jacob
•Bachman, all of whom died at Strasburg; Mary,
who married David Miller, of Carlisle, Pa. The eld-
est son of this family, Jacob Eshleman, born in 1768,
had a milling business at Leaman Place, Lancaster
county. He married Mary Breckbill, and resided in
Paradise township, Lancaster county. Their chil-
dren were as follows : Susan, Mrs. Michael Barr,
of Quincy, 111. ; Benjamin, married to Eliza Stauff-
er; Maria, Mrs. John Worfel, of Lancaster; Bar-
Jaara, Mrs. Jacob Frantz, of Leaman Place; Jacob; I
Ann, Mrs. George Groff, of Strasburg ; Fannie, who
died unmarried ; Dr. John, of Downingtown, unmar-
ried; Martha, Mrs. Christian L. Lefever, of Lan-
caster.
Jacob Eshleman, Jr., fifth child of the above
family, was born in 1802. He went to work in his
father's mill when a boy, learned the business thor-
oughly and after marriage took charge of it. He
•continued to run it until 1866, when his youngest
son, Silas, assumed charge of it. Jacob Eshleman
(3) married Juliette Witmer. Their children are:
Milton B. ; Farris, who married Clara Musselman ;
Amos L., of Paradise, married to Esther Hoover;
Elam W., of Leaman Place, who married Bell Light ;
Eliza, now deceased; Silas K., of Leaman Place,
married to Emma Haymaker.
ROBERT KOCH BUEHRLE, born at Ueber-
lingen, a small village in the Grand Duchy of
Baden, Germany, Sept. 24, 1840, was the second
son of Joseph Buehrle and his wife, Joanna
'(Koch), of Kappel am Rhein, which was the native
village of the father. The mother's birthplace was
Rust, a neighboring market village.
In obedience to the law, Joseph Buehrle served
for six years aS a soldier in the army of the Grand
Duke, at the expiration of which time he was
appointed a guardsman on the frontier, an ofifice in
the Customs department. In this service he so dis-
tinguished himself in his encounters with smug-
glers (from the conflicts with whom he carried
scars to his grave), and for his zeal and honesty
in the discharge of his responsible duties, that after
six years, he was promoted for meritorious conduct
to the position of Internal Revenue assessor and
collector in his native village. Being a man of
universally admitted probity of character, a free^
thinker, though a great admirer of Martin Luther,
and an intense hater of slavery and despotism, how
could he do otherwise than co-operate with the
earliest of those patriots (joined later by -Carl
Schurz, Frederick Hecker and Franz Sigel), who
unsuccessfully attempted to bring about the free-
dom and unity of Germany through the Revolution
of 1848 (he lived to see the unity, though not the
freedom, brought about as a result of the Franco-
Prussian war, in 1870), and as a consequence was
deprived of his government office in 1844, and
came to America, "The Land of the Free." Not
finding his trade of linen-weaver congenial nor
remunerative, he, in 1848, became a boatman on
the Lehigh canal (running from Mauch Chunk and
points above to Philadelphia and New York), and
thenceforth resided in Tinicum township, Bucks
county, Pa. He owned his boat, of which he was
captain, and was assisted by his two sons, the
subject of this sketch and his elder brother. He
retired in 1858 to a little homestead, and died in
1877, followed nine years later by his widow, in her
eightieth year.
In politics Joseph Buehrle voted with the Demo-
cratic party, because the Whig seemed to him to
favor wealth, nativism and prohibition, but when
the Democratic party became distinctly pro-slavery
he left it, as he had always been anti-slavery, and
thenceforth continued to be a consistent Republican,
in which respect his descendants and relatives
followed him.
As shown above, Supt. Buehrle had his boyhood
home ill Bucks county, and at the age of seven
started on the tow-path of the Lehigh canal, which
he followed every season until the fall of 1858,
when he literally stept from the canal boat to tfie
teacher's platform, although he averaged but two
months a year at school up to that time. He now
zealously devoted himself to study at the Bucks
County Normal and Classical School, at Quaker-
town, where he was a classmate of Dr. J. S. Stahr,
president of Franklin and Marshall College, and of
Dr. George U. Wenner, a prominent Lutheran
divine of New York. He was soon appointed as
assistant, but after two years he again took charge
of a country school, this time near Allentown, Pa.
There he married Anna M. Lazarus, a daughter of
Jacob Lazarus, a prosperous farmer. In the spring
of 1863 he assumed charge of Weaversville
Academy, in Northampton county, but soon
resigned to enter the motive power department of
the Pennsylvania Railroad as clerk, at Pittsburg,
then under the superintendency of Andrew
Carnegie.
At the expiration of two years Dr. Buehrle
returned to the profession of teaching, as principal
of the Allentown boys' high school, and three
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
441
years later he was unanimously appointed first city
superintendent of Allentown, and also ex-officio
principal of the high school, to which position he
wa|s successively ^re-elected tintil 1878, iwhen he
declined to accept the office. Under his supervision
the schools became widely known for their complete
and effective organization and the excellence of the
buildings erected. His advice was sought by
boards of directors in distant parts of the state,
and even after his departure from this field officers
of the board were eager to consult him ; so success-
ful had been his administration there that the chief
direction given his successor by the board was to
follow in his footsteps and to attempt no reforms.
In 1878, when Reading was casting about for a
suitable person to serve that city as superintendent
of schools. State Superintendent Wickersham
wrote to them recommending Supt. Buehrle, of
Allentown, and he was accordingly elected, and
accepted the position, but remained only two years,
when he resigned to become the first city superin-
tendent of Lancaster. While at Reading, Frank-
lin and Marshall College conferred on him the
honorary degree of M. A. Though remaining
there but a short time, he exerted so marked an
influence that when he departed, to enter upon his
work at Lancaster, his journey thither resembled
an ovation, accompanied as he was by the mayor
and other public officials of the city, besides a large
number of school controllers, especially the officers
and chairmen of the chief committees. He was
probably the first school officer in the country to
whom a coipiplimentary dinner was given by the
school authorities in token of their high esteem.
As superintendent at Lancaster Dr. Buehrle has
labored diligently in the cause of public education ;
his thorough organization of the schools, and his
judicious, well-directed and progressive adminis-
tration of them, are universally recognized. A
zealous champion of what he believes to be their
best interests, he nevertheless inclines to the con-
servative rather than to the destructive. Striving
■for the establishment of what is fundamental, he
has devoted himself most earnestly to the educa-
tion — ^the instruction — of teachers — of those who
are the chief factors in the work under his super-
vision. In doing this he has been continuously
engaged in instructing classes of teachers, and it
was largely to promote this end that he had become
the author of "Grammatical Praxis" and "Arithmet-
ical Exercises." In recognition of his devotion to the
study of literature — especially the languages — ^he
being acquainted with Latin, Greek, German and
French, besides being a contributor to Egle's His-
tory of Pennsylvania, to Webster's and to Murray's
English dictionaries — Franklin and Marshall Col-
lege, in 1886, conferred on him the honorary degree
of Doctor of Philosophy. Dr. Buehrle is also a
close student of the literature of his profession, a
contributor to educational journals, and is noted
for wide and thorough scholarship, as well as for
his advocacy of the classics and collegiate training.
In the Pennsylvania State Teachers' Associa-
tion he has taken an active and influential part, and
he is also an active member of the National Edu-
cational Association. He has been especially
prominent in the formation of the City and Borough
Superintendents' Association of Pennsylvania,
which originated in a preliminary meeting, of which
he was president, held at Lancaster in 1888. In
1893 he was elected its president a second time. He
is a charter member of the Penn-German Society,
in the organization of which he was very active; a
Royal Arch Mason, being a past master of Barger
Lodge, No. 333, at Allentown; and a member of
Chapter No. 13, R. A. M., of Lancaster. He has
widely identified himself with whatever makes for
the improvement of his adopted city; is a member
of the Mechanics Library Society, of the Lancaster
County Historical Society, an associate member of
the Linnean Society, a director of the Lancaster
General Hospital, and of the West End Building
Association. In religion he is a Lutheran, a promi-
nent member of Christ Church, and has been
identified with Sunday-school work since 1859, the
greater part of the time as superintendent. It was ori
his motion, at the meeting of the General Council
held at Chicago in 1886, that a committee on a
Sunday-school Course of Instruction was ap-
pointed, of which he is still a member, and which
has created the council's excellent graded course.
Politically a Republican, he believes in civil service
reform, in the initiative, the referendum, the
municipalization of monopolistic public utilities;
postal savings banks and the parcels post. The
home of Supt. Buehrle and his estimable wife is at
No. 408 Manor street, in a double-front house
owned and built by himself, besides which he has
built ten others in the city.
JAMES MONTGOMERY. A leading agri-
culturist of Lancaster county for many years, as
well as one of its most highly esteemed citizens,
James Montgomery is one of the truly representa-
tive men of this section. His birth was in Cole-
rain township, Nov. 16, 1823. and his parents were
James and Betsy (Tweed) Montgomery, the
former of whom was born in County Derry, Ireland,
coming to Colerain township, in this county, while
still a young man. His wife was born in that
township, where they lived after marriage until
1836, when they removed to Eden township,
settling on the farm now occupied by his son James.
This land he cleared and placed under cultivation,
erecting in 1857 the commodious brick residence
which is still the comfortable family home. Later
in life he purchased different tracts of land sur-
rounding him, which he divided into three large
farms, giving one to each son. James received the
farm containing the residence, while Isaac and
Robert were given large adjoining tracts.
In this comfortable home, which Mr. Mont-
442
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
gomery provided for his children by his own energy
and industry, both he and his wife passed out of
life, he in 1862, and his widow in 1874. Their
children were three sons and two daughters:
Elizabeth and Sarah, born in Colerain township,
died in Lancaster City, where they moved after the
death of their parents. Neither ever married.
James is the eldest son. Robert, born in Colerain,
was given a common school education and for a
time taught school in his district and in later years
was one of the county commissioners of Lancaster
county. He married Margaret Kerr, of Butler
county, a very estimable lady, and they reside in
great comfort on one of the farms adjoining the old
homestead; their two children were: Ollie, the
deceased wife of William Harrar, of Atglen,
Chester county, who left one daughter, Dorothy;
and Robert Montgomery, Jr., who is a resident of
the far West, being mayor of Sumner City, Wash-
ington. Isaac Montgomery, brother to James, was
the youngest son and was born in 1828 and married
Miss Sarah Moore, of' Lancaster county, their resi-
dence being on one of the farms adjoining the
homestead. Their seven children are: Emma, who
is the wife of Thomas Williams, of Sadsbury, in
this county; Bessie, who is the wife of William
Chamberlain, of Philadelphia; Ruth, who is the
wife of Alfred Connor, of Kirkwood, in Lancaster
count)' ; Hettie, who became the wife of Jesse Weiler,
now deceased, of this county; Marion, who is the
wife of Albert Fritz, of Quarryville; Isaac, who
married Miss Sadie Baughman, of Georgetown, and
resides on a farm adjoining that of his father ; and
James, single, living at home.
James Montgomery was the eldest of his parents'
family and received his education in the district
schools. Reared on the farm, from choice he
became an agriculturist and like his ancestors, soon
gained the reputation of being one of the best
fanners in the county. Mr. Montgomery also raised
much stock,, making this branch very profitable,
although he was obliged to drive his cattle as far
as Philadelphia, to find a market. Until the death
of his parents he remained in charge of the home
farm, after which the above named division was
made, according to the wish of the father, James
retaining the homestead as his, by order of birth.
James Montgomery married in March, 1877, to
Miss Margaret J. Phillips, who belonged to one of
the old and prominent families. Her parents were
William and Mary (Lovett) Phillips, of Drumore
township, both of whom were born in Lancaster
county, Pa. William Phillips was a son of William
Phillips, whose native land was Ireland, and who
became well known through Drumore township,
as a genial hotel keeper, one who looked well after
the wants of the traveling public in the days of
stage coaches. His son William settled later in
Colerain township, where he farmed until his death
in 1886. His widow still survives and finds a com-
fortable home and loving attention in the home of
her daughter, Mrs. Montgomery. Three daughters
and one son of the Phillips' family still survive, three
having passed away.
Mrs. Montgomery was the eldest child of her
parents, was born in Colerain in 1841 and was
liberally educated, passing through the Union High
School, and becoming a valued teacher both in Lan-
caster and Chester counties. For several years she
taught in the schools of these counties, winning
affection and esteem. The others of her family
were: Anna, born in Colerain, the wife of W. L.
Bunting; Elizabeth, the wife of Hugh J. Penny, a
merchant of Russelville, Chester county; Joseph
C, born in Colerain, a resident of Deloit, la., where
he married Miss Delia Ainsworth, and resides on
a large farm ; and John W., Wendell C. and Alfred
C, who all grew to maturity and then passed out of
life.
Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery have lived in the old
home surrounded by peace and prosperity and there
four children have been born and nurtured: Mary
M., James Clyde, EHzabeth and Oscar I. Mary
received an education at the Millersville State
Normal School; Clyde at the Lancaster Business
College; and Oscar at the Norristown Business
College.
Politically Mr. Montgomery has always been in
sympathy with the principles advanced by the.
founders of the old Democratic party, and he has
faithfully upheld the men and measures of that
political organization. He was reared in the Pres-
byterian church, while his wife is an attached mem-
ber of the Methodist church, and has been con-
nected with the Wesleyan branch for forty-three
years, her beloved mother having been a member
for sixty years. Mr. Montgomery has long been a
school director, his interest in the progress of edu-
cational matters being continued.
This family bears an honorable record in Lancas-
ter county for both public and domestic virtues. Like
their honored father, the sons grew to maturity dis-
playing the same honest traits of character which
made him the respected and esteemed citizen he
was. In all progressive measures for the public
good, in charitable and benevolent enterprises
through this section; this family bears a leading
part.
JOHN H. KAUFFMAN, one of the oldest and
most respected farmers of Manor township, was
born in Conestoga township, Lancaster county, Pa.,
Dec. 13, 1828, and is next to the eldest of a family
of twelve children.
Isaac Kauffman, deceased father of John H.
Kauflman, was born April 25, 1802, in Lancaster
county, and died Nov. 15, 1888. He began farm-
ing in Conestoga township, but early came to Manor
township, and rented a farm at Creswell from Jacob
Buckwalter, on which he lived sixteen years; then
he removed to East Hempfield township, lived there
three years, next returned to Manor township,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
443
where he rented a fafm from Mrs. Hershey, and
shortly, afterward purchased 109 acres south of
CreSwell. He farmed there for fifteen years and
then bought a tract of four acres nearer Creswell,
where he passed the remainder of his life in retire-
ment, emphatically a self-made man. He died in
the faith of the Mennonite church.
The marriage of Isaac Kauffman to Miss Annie
Hess took place in Conestoga township. She was
born Sept. 9, 180S, daughter of John and Catherine
(Keagy) Hess, and died Nov. 12, 1889, the mother
of twelve children, viz : Elizabeth, deceased wife of
David Eshleman, of Creswell ; John H. ; Abraham,
a deceased hotel-keeper ; Rudolph, of Manor town-
ship ; Isaac, a former dealer in tobacco at Mount-
ville, but now deceased; Catherine, wife of
Benjamin Witmer, of, Millei'sville ; Edward, of
East Hempfield township; Michael, of Lancaster
City ; Amos, a farmer in Lancaster county ; Jacob,
a deceased farmer; Annie, widow of Abraham
Taylor, of Millersville ; and David, deceased.
John H. Kauflfman was reared on the home farm
and educated in the public schools of Creswell, then
at the age of twenty years took to himself a wife,
and for fdlir years worked out &s a day laborer at
farming, next purchasing a farm of four acres,
which has since been his home and to which he has
added until the farm now comprises twenty acres.
Although known most generally as a farmer,
John H. Kauffman had much experience on the Sus-
quehanna river, running rafts from Marietta,
Lancaster county, to Peach Bottom. He was but
seventeen years of age when he entered on this line
of work, beginning simply as one of the hands. His
first trip almost proved to be his last, as the raft
was dashed to pieces atid he saved his life only by
luckily catching hold of a floating piece of timber.
He commenced piloting at the time of the Rebellion
and continued it for fifteen years, his experiences
being many and varied. After relinquishing his
river life, which had been intermingfled with general
farming, Mr. Kauffman gave his attention chiefly
to the raising of tobacco until his retirement in
1896.
to. November, 1848, John H. Kauffman married
Miss Susannah Moyer, born in Manheim, West
Hempfield township, Dec. i, 1830, a daughter of
Christ H. Moyer, a school teacher. This lady bore
her husband six children and died March 3, 1890,
leaving Mr. Kauffman and his children to mourn
their sad toss. These children were bom and
named in the following order : Adaline, the wife of
Leonard S. Fleckenstine, of Easton, Md., and the
mother of six children ; Elizabeth, married to T. C.
Kackel, a mel'chant of Creswell, Pa., and mother
of two sons ; Isaiah, a tobacco dealer of Rawlins-
ville. Pa., who married Clara Hiller, and is the
father of two children.; Aaron, an employee of a
tobacco merchant in Lancaster City and married
to Ida Jones; Edward, a farmer of Manor town-
ship, who married Rhoda Seachrist and has ten
children; and Delilah, who is the wife of Jacob'
Strickler, also of Manor township, and has two
children.
John H. Kauffman has reared his children in the
faith of the United Evangelical church, of which
he is a trustee, steward, and class-leader at Cres-
well ; he has been a member of the society for fifty-
two years, and for most of this time has been
honored with official positions, so great is the con-
fidence of his fellow-members in his trustworthi-
ness. In politics Mr. Kauffman is a Republican.
He has lived these many years a useful life, and has
won for himself the sincere esteem of a host of
warm-hearted friends.
_ HENRY KENDIG, who passed away in 1878,
will be remembered by the older residents of East
Lampeter township as one of the prosperous and .
industrious farmers of his day in that section of '
Lancaster county.
Mr. Kendig was born Aug. 28, 1813, in Stras-
burg township, this county, son of Henry Kendig,
who lived and died in Lancaster county. The latter
was a farmer and followed that occupation all his
life. He married Miss Mary Groff, and they
became the parents of twelve children: Emanuel;
Martin; Joseph; Isaac; Benjamin; Simon (or
Reuben) ; Samuel ; Abraham ; John ; Henry ; Mary,
Mrs. Andrew ; and Leah, wife of John Groff.
Henry Kendig followed farming all his life. In
1833 he married Miss Annie Eby, dai^hter of
Abram and Esther Eby, and to this union were
born two children : Isaac, who is in the life insurance
business in Philadelphia ; and Fannie, who was bom
in East Lampeter, Oct. 7, 1834, and remained at
home with her parents as long as they lived. In
September, 1884, six years after the death of her
husband, Mrs. Annie (Eby) Kendig sold the farm
to B. K. Landis, receiving $200.25 ^^ acre. On
March 26, 1885, she moved to Smoketown, where
her death occurred Dec. 19, of the same year. The
daughter, Fannie, still resides there.
CHRISTIAN KREIDER, one of the success-
ful and progressive farmers of West Lampeter
township, was bom on the old family homestead,
three miles south of Lancaster City, May 4, 1830,
a son of a pious father and estimable mother whose
wise counsels have remained with him to the present
time.
While a lad, he assisted his father, John Kreider,
in the fulling mill which was on the farm. He
received bis education in the common schools of the
district. He chose farming for his occupation, and
in the spring of 1853 he began the operation of one
of his father's farms, the old homestead. This he
operated for eleven years.
In 1863 he lost his wife and after this bereave-
ment he returned to his father's house, where he
remained for several years; in 1866, he located on
his present farm, where he engaged in farming
444
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
lintil 1878, at which time he removed to Strasburg
and lived there until 1899, then returning to the
old home, where he now resides with his son and
daughter.
Christian Kreider was thrice married ajid has
been thrice bereaved. His first marriage was to
Esther Bowman, a daughter of Rev. Henry Bow-
man, her death occurring in Oct., 1863, at the age
of thirty-four. In 1866 he married Mary Huber,
a daughter of Daniel Huber, of Willowstreet, her
death occurring in 1873, at the age of thirty-nine.
To this union were born four children: Susan H„
of West Lampeter ; Annie, the wife of Frank Cope,
of East Petersburg, who has one child, Lizzie;
Francis H., who died in 1893, at the age of twenty-
two; and John H., a farmer, who operates his
father's farm. In 1884 Mr. Kreider married Esther
Eckman, a daughter of Jacob Eckman, of Colerain
' township, later of Lancaster City ; her death occur-
ring May 20, 1899, when she was aged sixty-
eight.
Christian Kreider has been one of the leading
men of his township; early in life, when but
seventeen, he became a member of the Reformed
Mennonite Church, being received into the church
by its devout and saintly founder. Rev. Bishop John
Herr. He has ever been an upright man, and a
worthy citizen in every relation of life,
ELIAS EBY. The Eby family has given to
Lancaster county some of its most worthy and
respected citizens. During life the late Sem Eby
was one of the leading men of the county, in the
northwestern part of which he was born, in 1808,
and he passed out of life in 1881. The major part
of his life was employed in agriculture in Leacock
township, where he accumulated much property and
was regarded as not, only an excellent man of busi-
ness and a fine farmer, but also as an upright and
liberal citizen, and worthy member of the Old
Mennonite church. His interest was displayed in
many ways in county and township affairs, and for
a long period he served on the school board. Sem
Eby married Annie Frantz, the daughter of a
neighbor, Jacob Frantz; she was two years his
junior, and survived him nine years, dying in 1890.
In all good works in the Old Mennonite church, she
was a leader, and a fit help-mate for her husband,
who for many years was one of the elders.
A family of eleven children were born to Sem
and Annie Eby : Jacob F., a resident of Intercourse ;
Lizzie, a resident of Leaman Place ; Elias, of this
biography; Benjamin, a resident of Paradise town-
ship; Christian, who died in childhood; Samuel, a
former resident of Leaman Place, who died in 1900,
at the age of fifty-nine, and left two children; Amos,
a resident of Paradise township ; Ezra, who died at
the age of thirteen; Joseph and Henry, who both
died in infancy; and John, who resides in Leacock
township, on the old homestead.
Elias Eby was born Oct. 5, 1836, was reared
to farm life and grew up a self-reliant, well-in-
formed young man, who at the age of twenty-seven
was thoroughly prepared to take charge of large
farming operations for himself. Renting a farm in
Strasburg township he paid close attention to it and
was rewarded by large harvests, and as the years
passed by, his means increased, so that in the spring
of 1896 he was able to retire from activity. Purchasr
ing a pleasant home in Strasburg, he removed,
thither and now enjoys life in that pleasant bor-
ough.
On Dec. i, 1863, he married Mary Ann Buck-
waiter, 3. daughter of Benjamin and Susan (Jontz)
Buckwalter, who was born in Leacock township,
Nov. 7, 1841. Four children have come to bless
this union : Enos B., a farmer and implement dealer,
whose sad death occurred May 19, 1900, at the age
of thirty-five years, six months and twelve days,
leaving his widow, Lettie (Herr) Eby, with five
children: Morris, Ruth, Ralph, Elias and Emma;
Anna V., born Aug. 23, 1866, who married Amb- .
rose Erbenshode, resides in Philadelphia and has
one daughter, Marion; B. Milton, born Sept. 15,
1867, a resident of Lancaster, who married Bertha
Ingram, and has one daughter, Arline; and Harry
S., born March 21, 1874, who is in the employ of
the Strasburg Railroad Company.
For many years both Mr. and Mrs. Eby have
been devout, generous, efficient and valued members
of the Old Mennonite Church and are among the
most respected citizens of the township and borough
of Strasburg.
PETER G. AMMON, the genial and popular
proprietor of the "Franklin House," on North Queen
street, Lancaster, one of the finest hotels in the
city, comes of good old sturdy Holland-Dutch an-
cestry.
Johannes Ammon, the first of the family in this
country, came from Holland in 1730, settling in
Geigertown, Berks Co., Pa., close to Valley Forge.
He "sold himself" to the Colony for $96 to take up
a section of land. One of the early Ammons was
the groom at the first marriage consummated in the
old Swedish Church at Philadelphia, May 21, I798.
Another party of Ammons settled in tiie Pequea
Valley, in Lancaster county, and the Ammons, the
Styers, the Swishers and the Yohns have all in-
termarried, making a numerically strong and very
influential relationship.. On his grandmother's side
Peter G. Ammon's ancestry came from Wittenberg,
Germany, while the ancestry of his mother came
from England.
George Ammon, father of Peter G., was a son
of John Ammon, and was a farmer, miller and stock
dealer. He died March 2, 1865. He married Mary
Elizabeth Gable, daughter of Peter Gable, a farmer
of Pequea Valley, Lancaster county, and fifteen chil-
dren were born to them, seven of whom are yet liv-
ing : William, a farmer of York county, Pa. ; Sarah,
wife of Samuel Styer, of Lancaster; Peter G., who
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
445
comes next in the order of birth ; Catherine, wife
of Levi Beck, of Ephrata, Lancaster county ; Ellen,
wife of Samuel Rigg, general manager of the trac-
tion lines of Reading ; Cyrus, a traveling salesman for
and dealer in Ephrata spring water and in lumber ;
and George Martin, of the "American Hotel," Read-
ing, Pa. ; Susan was the wife of Robert E. Eberher,
a farmer of Chester county. The mother of these
died April i8, 1857.
Peter G. Ammon was born Feb. 13, 1847, "^
Caernarvon township, Lancaster Co., Pa., and re-
ceived his education in the public schools of his
district, laying aside his books at the age of six-
teen years. He then learned the milling business,
and continued at same three years, after which he
went to Illinois, where he operated a farm and also
handled agricultural machinery, enjoying the dis-
tinction of being one of the first to run a self-feed-
ing corn sheller on the prairies of Illinois. In that
State he remained three and a half years, then, re-
turning East, he superintended the "Grand Central
Hotel" in Reading, Pa., but after a time left the hos-
telry to take the management of the old "Plow and
Harrow Hotel," in the same city, the name of the
house being changed to the "Merchants Hotel"
while under his management. From Reading he
removed a few years later to Lititz, this county,
where he successfully conducted the "Springs Ho-
tel" five years, from there coming to the city of
Lancaster. Here, he became proprietor of the "Key-
stone House," on iSlorth Queen street, remaining
there thirteen years, during which period he built
up a prosperous business. In 1893 he bought the
old "Franklin House" property and proceeded to
build a new hotel, and the magnificent building,
which is one of the finest in Lancaster, was com-
pleted and fully equipped within four months and
ten days — a record breaker in the line of building in
Lancaster.
On Oct. 26, 1876, Peter G. Ammon was mar-
ried to Frances Louisa Breneman, daughter of John
M. Breneman, a contracting mason of Lititz, and
of this union two children were born, one dying in
infancy. The other, John M., is at this writing at-
tending the Law Department of the University of
Pennsylvania, having first graduated from the Lan-
caster high school, and, later, passed a very cred-
itable preliminary examination at the hands of the
Examining committee of the Lancaster Bar.
A Democrat in politics Mr. Ammon has rep-
resented the First ward in the common branch of
the city council, being sent there by his party, but
at the same time receiving many Republican votes.
Socially he is a member of Lamberton Lodge, No.
476, F. & A. M., Goodwin Council, No. 19, Royal
Arch Chapter, No. 43, and Lancaster Commandery,
No. 13 ; also of the I. O. O. F., the American Me-
chanics, the Knights of Pythias and Conestoga As-
sembly, No. 23, Artisans Order of Mutual Protec-
tion; he has been cashier of the latter for nearly
fifteen years. He was for twelve years a director of
the Northern Market House; was one of the pro-
moters of the Northern National Bank; a director
of the Peoples Building & Loan Association; a di-
rector of the Conestoga Fire Insurance Company, of
Lancaster ; and one of the promoters and a director
of the Union Trust Company. The integrity of no
man is rated higher in the city or council than that
of Peter G. Ammon, and he is held in the same
regard in business, social, and all other relations.
CHRISTIAN L. SHENK, one of the oldtime
and highly respected farmers of Millersville, Manor
township, Lancaster Co., Pa., was born Feb. 13,
1830, on the old Shenk homestead at Central Manor,
where he passed his boyhood and young manhood
until he was twenty-seven years old, aiding in the
cultivation of the place and preparing himself for
future usefulness in the line of agricultural industry
on his own account.
In i860 Christian L. Shenk settled on his
present homestead of twenty-five acres, which now
forms a part of the village of Millersville, carries
on general farming and has become one of the
leading citizens of the township.
The marriage of Christian L. Sherik took place
in 1857, to Miss Elizabeth Frey, daughter of Adam
Frey of Manor township, and to this marriage have
been born two children: Annie, wife of Haldy
Hamish, who resides on the farm with Mr. Shenk
and has a family of four children: Minnie, Lizzie,
Barbara and Ella ; and Elizabeth, wife of Jacob M.
Hostetter, who resides in Millersville, near the old
homestead. The family attend the Dunkard church
and are among the most worthy and respected resi-
dents of Manor township.
WILLIAM WALKER. One of the hardy
pioneers of West Hempfield township, of that
sterling sturdy character which is at " once the
strength and honor of any community, is William
Walker, who has passed his four score years and
now dwells in a well-earned retirement amidst the
scenes of his earlier life.
William Walker was born in West Hempfield
township, Dec. 2, 1816, the son of Isaac and
Rosannah (Conklin) Walker. The father was a
blacksmith and William, the only child, worked in
his boyhood days at the anvil and forge beside his
father. The latter was a native of Chester county
and died comparatively early in life. Rosannah^
wife of Isaac Walker, was a native of Lancaster
county. For her second husband she married John
Lockard, by whom she had five children, namely:
John, a retired engineer of West Hempfield town-
ship ; Hiram, of West Hempfield township ; Wash-
ington, of York, Pa.; Margaret, who was twice
married and is now deceased; and Mary, deceased
wife of Aaron Dwyer.
William remained at home with his parents until
he was sixteen years of age. He then began life
for himself by engaging in work on neighboring
446
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS ^ LANCASTER COUNTY
farms and by following the blacksmith trade. He
married in 1838 Miss Martha Fridy, daughter of
Jacob and Ellen (Clemmons) Fridy, of Lancaster
county. Martha jvas one of five children, as fol-
lows: Jacob; Christian; Ellen, who married Henry
Albright ; Catherine, who married Jacob Shirk ; and
Martha. To William and Martha (Fridy) Walker
were born the following children : Cyrus, who died at
the age of nineteen years ; Washington, a contractor
and builder, who married Susan Hart and resides
near Columbia, Pa. ; Christian, a contractor and
builder who was killed in the collapse of a church
scafiEolding ; Elizabeth, widow of John C. Niskey;
Sarah, wife of John Farmer, a farmer of East
Donegal township: Levina, who married Warren
Farmer, a farmer, and now resides on the old home-
stead in West Hempfield township ; Anna, late wife
of George Storms ; Kate, at home ; and Martha, wife
of Isaac F. Rohrer, a farmer of Manor township.
Martha Walker, the mother of these children and
the wife of William Walker, died in 1887, aged
seventy years. She is buried at Ironsville, Pennsyl-
vania.
After his marriage William Walker engaged
for a time in railroading. He was fireman for about
eighteen months on the Pennsylvania railroad. He
then became a tenant on the farm of his father-in-
law, where he remained actively and successfully
engaged in farming until 1893. In that year he
erected his present neat and commodious brick resi-
dence which he has since made his home. In poli-
tics he has been a stanch Democrat. Though well
advanced in years he retains the vigor and bright-
ness of mind of a man many years his junior. He
has wielded a potent and beneficent influence in the
community in which he has lived for so many years,
and holds the esteem and respect of all his numer-
ous friends and acquaintances.
HENRY SHNAVELY. Joseph Shnavely
(deceased) was a farmer of Lancaster county for
many years, though he was born, reared and mar-
ried before his settlement there.
His marriage occurred in Lebanon county,
where he married a Lancaster county woman. Some
years after their marriage they came into Lancaster
county, and settling near Intercourse, they. passed
their lives there. When he died he was seventy-
one, and his wife was fifty-four at the time of her
death. She was Mattie Hershey, of Leacock town-
ship. Mr. Shnavely owned a loo-acre farm, and
devoted his life to agriculture. Both husband and
wife belonged to the Old Mennonite church. To
them were born eleven children who reached
maturity: Elizabeth, unmarried, at Intercourse;
John, deceased, a farmer in Leacock township;
Mattie, late wife of Solomon Warner; Joseph, who
is living a retired life in Wavne county, Ohio; Sam-
uel, a farmer in Wayne county, Ohio, now dead;
Henry ; Annie, the wife of Israel Eberly, of Stevens,
Lancaster county; Benjamin, retired, and living in '
Intercourse ; Moses, a retired miller in Intercourse ;
Jacob, a resident of Wayne county, Ohio, retired;
Amos, a resident of Wayne county, Ohio, where he
is engaged in farming.
Henry Shnavely was born on the farm at Inter-
course in 1834, and received his education in the
public schools. In 1859 he located on his own farm,
a place of eighty-seven acres, in Leacock township.
He passed eleven years on this place, and then
bought a farm of fifty-seven acres in Earl township,
adjoining the property where he is now found, one
mile east of New Holland. This farm he cultivated
until 1877, when he erected the buildings on the
place where he has since ILved. This latter farm
comprises twenty-nine acres, and he has sold the
other place. His home is well kept, and the broad
acres show the care of a master hand.
Mr. .Shnavely was married in 1859 to Miss
Elizabeth Hershey, a daughter of Jacob and Maria
(Black) Hershey. She was born Dec. 8, 1835, and
died Oct. 6, 1863, leaving behind her two children:
Anna IVIary, who is the wife of Jonas Grover, a
resident of Ephrata township ; and Lizzie, the wife
of Joseph Wenger, of Earl township. In 1864
Mr. Shnavely was married a second time. Miss
Fannie Martin becoming his wife. She was a
native of East Earl township, born in 1832, and
died in 1889, leaving one child, Henry, a resident of
Ephrata borough, where he holds the position of
cashier of the Farmers' Bank.
Mr. Shnavely has long been a member of the
Mennonite church, and has won many friends by
his fidelity to the better life and his many upright
and manly qualities.
GOTTLEIB GRILBORTZER, who was born
in Wittenberg, Germany, died on the farm where
his family is still established, Dec. 7, 1893, at the
advanced age of eighty years, and was laid to rest
in the Resh cemetery in Leacock township. With
his wife he belonged to the New Metjnonite church,
and was a man of fine character and honest heart.
Mr. Grilbortzer was a son of Jacob Grilbortzer,
and lived in his native land imtil he was twenty-
five years of age. W^hen he came to the United
States he made his home on a farm in Leacock
township, Lancaster county, and was actively
engaged in its cultivation until about ten years
before his death, when he gave up the management
and care of the farm to live retired the rest of his
life. His was an honorable and industrious career,
and, beginning with his labors in a vineyaird in
Germany, was always concerned with the cultiva-
tion of the soil. In his earlier life he was in very
poor circumstances but by industry and economy
became quite well-to-do, and left a considerable
property in his estate.
Mr. Grilbortzer was married in Lancaster to
Miss Rachel Miller, Oct.' 12, 1842, and there were
born to this union the following children: Esther
A. ; E. A. ; Margaret M., who married Jacob
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS <F LANCASTER COUNTY
447
Resch and is now dead, as are her three daughters ;
Elizabeth R. ; Rebecca S. ; Frances S., who died un-
married. The three sisters who are still living,
have their home on the old place where they were
born. Thir mother died in 1846, at the age of forty-
six years.
Mr. Grilbortzer was a stanch Democrat, and a
good citizen. Of a quiet and modest disposition,
he had many friends and his manly character was
generally known and appreciated.
DAVID W. RANCK, one of the leading and
substantial agriculturists of his section of Lancaster
county, lives upon his well improved farm in West
Earl township, located about two miles south-east
of Farmersville.
The first ancestor of the Ranck family in
America was Philip Ranck, who was of German
and Swiss parentage, and who came to the United
States in 1740; he was naturalized in 1760, taking
the oath of allegiance to King George III of
England. The family records tell of many dis-
tinguished members of this family, in all the walks
of life, and they are scattered over almost every
State, as they are very numerous, and noted for
longevity.
The great-grandfather of David W. Ranck, was
Andrew Ranck, a direct descendant of the founder
of the family, Philip Ranck, and his son, John
Ranck, was well known in his time as one of the
leading farmers of the township. The children of
John Ranck were: Jacob; Nancy, who married
John Rhoodes; Barbara, who married Michael
Ranck; Margaretta, who married Joseph Ranck;
Samuel, who married Susan Ranck ; Catherine, who
married Charles Swiegert; Elizabeth, who died
single ; and John.
John Ranck was born in 18 ri, and became a
prosperous farmer. In 1840 he married Elizabeth
Weidman, and they reared the following named
children : David W. ; Margaret, who married John
G. Reser, and resides near Honey Brook, in Chester
county; Lucetta, who married John M. Hoover, a
farmer of Earl township ; Ezra, a farmer of
Ear! township ; Mary, wife of I. M. Groff, of New
Holland; Susanna, who married Obed Wenger, of
Los Angelee, Cal; and John M., also a farmer of
Earl. John Ranck was a Republican in politics.
He was a consistent member of the U. B. church,
and he and his brother-in-law, Joseph, were the
founders of the Ranck's U. B. church, located two
miles south-east of New Holland, which is the
"mother church" in that part of the county, six
other churches having sprung from it. Mr. Ranck
passed away in 1886.
David W. Ranck was born Jime 26, 1842, was
reared on the farm and attended the district schools
of Earl township with the other lads of his age.
When the time came for him to choose an occupa-
tion he selected farming, and as he has succeeded
so well, from a poor boy attaining a position among
the most substantial residents of his township, there
is no doubt that his choice was a wise one. The fine
farm owned by Mr. Ranck consists of ninety well
improved acres, which he has under a fine state of
cultivation. For the past fifteen years Mr. Ranck
has served the town as school director, and his
interest in educational matters has never failed.
In 1864 Mr. Ranck married Elizabeth Groff, of
Paradise township, daughter of Jacob and Mary
Groff, and to this marriage came four children:
Mary, born in 1867, who died in childhood;
Howard A., born in 1869, residing in Los Angeles,
Cal. ; Emma E., born in 1871, who became the wife
of Henry Ressler, of East Lampeter township, and
died in 1898; Bertha, born in 1873, the wife of
Howard Johns, of Leacock township. Mrs. Ranck
died in 1873, and in 1875 Mr. Ranck married
Julianna Groff, a great-great-great-granddaughter
of Hans Graf, the first of the Groffs to settle in this
country. He came from Switzerland in 1696,
located in the vicinity of Germantown, where Phila-
delphia now stands, and died in 1746. Three sons
hav€ been born of this union: Levi G., born June
4, 1877, remaining at home upon the farm, unmar-
ried; John H., born Sept. 4, 1878, at home on the
farm, unmarried; and David Garfield, born Jan.
10, t88i, a teacher in the public schools of his home
township, a very bright young man, educated in the
common schools and at the Millersville State
Normal.
In politics Mr. Ranck upholds the principles of
the Republican party. In religious connection he
is a most consistent member of the U. B. church, at
New Holland. As an excellent citizen, kind
neighbor, helpful friend, and devoted husband and
father, Mr. Ranck stands well in the community,
and fitly represents the fine old family from which
he springs.
CHRISTIAN H. OBERHOLTZER. Lan-
caster county is justly noted for its fine farms and
its excellent class of citizens, many of the latter
representing old and honored names which appear
in all of the records of progress and improvement
in this locality for almost a century. Such is the
case with the family to which belongs Christian H.
Oberholtzer, one of the prominent and wealthy resi-
dents of West Earl township.
Christian H. Oberholtzer is a son of Christian
and Annie (Hess) Oberholtzer, of that township,
and was born May 11, 1837. Grandfather Samuel
Oberholtzer had four children: Christian, Samuel,
Jacob and Hettie ; was a prominent farmer, and a
leading member of the Mennonite church. His son.
Christian married Annie Hess and they reared
these children : Samuel and John, twins, born about
1821 ; Henry, born in 1825, and residing in Iowa;
Hettie, born in 1827, living in Farmersville; Martih,
born in 1831, deceased; Annie, born in 1834, the
wife of Henry Myers, of West Earl township ; and
Christian H.
448
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Christian H. Oberholtzer was reared on the
farm, and after completing his education in the
common schools of the township of West Earl, and
in the Millersville Normal School, he decided to
make a life business of farming and raising fine
stock. At one time he was the owner of three of
the fine farms of this county, consisting of seventy-
five acres apiece; later he gave to each one of his
sons one of these valuable properties, residing him-
self upon a well cultivated and most desirable estate
near Farmersville. Mr. Oberholtzer also owns a
valuable three-story brick residence in Akron, Pa.,
and for a number of years has been one of the
directors in the Ephrata National Bank, at Ephrata.
His political affiliations have always been with the
Republican party, and he has faithfully served the
township as assessor.
In 1863, Mr. Oberholtzer was married to Miss
Elizabeth Brubaker, and to this union were born:
Jacob, born in 1864, a thrifty farmer located about
one-half mile from his father; Christian, bom in
1869, a farmer near Millport. The mother of these
sons died in 187 1. In 1872 Mr. Oberholtzer married
the widow of Benjamin Hoover, and two children
were born of this marriage : Henry, born in 1873, a
merchant at Akron; and Anna, born in 1876, mar-
ried to John Landis, of Manheim township.
In every relation of life, Christian H. Ober-
holtzer wins the esteem of the community, for he is
generous to those in need, kind and helpful in the
neighborhood, interested in public progress and a
most exemplary and devoted member of the
domestic circle. ' Both he and his estimable wife are
members of the Mennonite church.
ABRAHAM B. HERR. a prominent general
farmer of Upper Leacoek township, was born in
Leacock township July 10, 1850, son of Henry and
Anna (Herr) Herr. The father was born in Manor
township July 25, 1812, and died on his farm in
Leacock township June 7, 1868. He was a leading
and most worthy member of the Mennonite Church ;
and was buried in Stumptown Church cemetery.
Henry Herr was a son of John and Barbara (Good)
Herr, of Manor township, where they were substan-
tial farming people. Their children, all now de-
ceased, were: Mary, who married John Funk;
Elizabeth, who (first) married Henry Musser, and
(second) Daniel Benner; Barbara; Catherine, who
married Solomon Herr: and Henry.
Henry Herr was engaged in agricultural _ pur-
suits all his life, principally in Manor township, to
which he came in 1839, and was regarded as one of
the most substantial farmers of his locality. In poli-
tics he always voted with the Republican party. He
married Nov. 17, 1835, in Lancaster, Anna Herr,
and the children born to this union were: Barbara
(deceased), who married Henry S. Eby; Elizabeth,
who married Simon Ressler, of Providence town-
ship; Mary, who married Charles Foreman, of
Providence township ; Anna, unmarried who resides
in Upper Leacock township; Susannah, who mar-
ried Elias Sanders, of Salisbury township; Henry^
deceased; Hettie, unmarried, residing in Upper
Leacock township; Abraham B., subject proper of
this sketch; Lydia, who married Henry Good, of
Upper Leacocli township ; Amos, deceased ; Ezra,
who married and resides in Chicago; and Mag-
delina, who resides with her sister Hettie.
The mother of Abraham B. Herr was born in
East Lampeter township Nov. 22, 1817, and died
Dec. 3, 1886. She was a daughter of Abraham and
Barbara (Breneman) Herr, of East Lampeter and
Manor townships, respectively, to whom were born :
Christian, Peter, Solomon, Abraham and Anna, all
now deceased.
On Sept. 24, 1872, in Lancaster, Abraham B.
Herr was married to Susannah Rohrer, and to this
union have been born the following family : Henry
R., of Lancaster, Pa. ; Jacob, deceased ; and Norah;
deceased. Mrs. Herr was born in East Lampetef
township June ii, 1851, daughter of Jacob and
Mariah (Shaffer) Rohrer, of Lancaster county.
Mr. Rohrer is a retired farmer of East Lampeter
township, and has attained an advanced age. His
wife died at the age of sixty-eight. The children of
Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer were as follows : Adam H.,
deceased ; Abraham, of East Lampeter township, a
farmer; Jacob, of Salisbury township; Aaron, of
East Lampeter township ; Milton, of East Lampeter
township; Anna (deceased) who married Benjamin
Kreider; Elizabeth, of East Lampeter township,
widow of John L. Kreider; Susannah, wife of Mr.
Herr; Amanda, who married Jacob Burkert, of
Upper Leacock township ; and Emma, who married
John Buckwalder, of Upper Leacock township.
Mr. Herr has had a long experience in farming, -
having worked upon his father's farm until he com-
menced business for himself in Leacock township,
where he remained until 1876, at which time he re-
moved to his present farm, which he conducts upon
the latest scientific principles. Two of his unmarried
sisters reside upon the farm adjoining, in the con-
duct of which his advice and help have often greatly
aided them. Mr. and Mrs. Herr are earnest mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church, and in politics he
is a stanch Republican. Throughout the community
in which he resides Mr. Herr has firmly established
himself in the esteem of his neighbors, and he is one
of the representative citizens of this county.
f
JOHN HORNING. Representing as travel-
ing salesman in a rich and extensive territory, one
of the two largest implement makers in the world,
and moreover conducting for many years a success-
ful mercantile establishment, John Horning is one
of the enterprising and prominent business men of
Lancaster county. He is a dealer in hardware at
Kinzers, Paradise township, and in addition travels
through twelve counties in Pennsylvania, Mary-
land, and Virginia for the McCormick Harvesting
Machine Company.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
449
The paternal great-grandfather was Panl Hom-
ing, an emigrant from Germany, who settled in
Berks county. Pa,, where he purchased a farm,
made extensive improvements and lived for the
remainder of his life, passing away at the advanced
age of nearly eighty years. He was a wheelwright
by trade and a member of the Menncaiite church.
There is record of four children : Samuel, Joseph,.
Wendel an^d Katie.
Of these, Joseph was the grandfather of John
Homing. He too was a wheelwright^ and followed
that trade through life in Berks county. He was a
member of the Mennonite church. He married Miss
Fannie Musser, by whom he had five children,
namely : Benjamin, the father of John ; Esther, who
married' Joseph Shirk, of Conestoga. valley, near
Spring Grove, Lancaster county; Nancy, widow of
Peter Lichtey, residing near Spring Grove ; Moses.,
a. resident of Bowmansvrlle, Lancaster county ; and
Fannie, wife of Henry Gehman, of Adamstown,
Lancaster county. The father of these children
lived to the age of about seventy-six, and the mother
to the age of eighty yeats.
Rev. Benjamin Horning, the father of John, was
bom in Berks cotmty, Feb. 22, 1^24. He was
reared in the community where he hasspent almost
his entire life. Acquiring- from his father the trade
of wheelwright, he followed it continuously until:
1890, when he gave up the business to daevote his
time to ministerial, work, having been ordained in
the ministry of the MemianitE church in 1862. His
labors have been confined largefy to the churches of
Alleghenyviille, Berks county; Adamstown, or
Gehman's church ; and Bowmansville, the latter two
being in Lancaster county. In his younger years
he was often called to other churches, especially
for officiating at funeral and other services. He
married Miss Lucretia Zeamer, a native of Berks
county, and to them was born a family of thirteen
children, namely: Augustus, a farmer near Bow-
mansville; John; Joseph, who was a farmer near
Bowmansville and is now deceased; Jeremiah,
merchant, postmaster and farmer at Alleghenyrille
and the founder of that village ; Susannah, wife of
Martin Newsuinger, of Goodville, Lancaster
county ; Mary, who died unmarried ; Benjamin, who
died in infancy; Fannie, who died in childhood;
Sarah, wife of John Shirk, of Philadelphia ; Isaac,
a butcher, of Alkghenyville, Pa. ; Katie, wife of
Isaac Martin; Lizzie, wife of Monroe Good, of
Bowmansville; and Aaron, a farmer of Allegheny-
ville. • The mother of these children died in 1900,
aged seventy- three years.
John Horning was born in Allegheny, Berks
county, Nov. 3, 1849. He was reared at his father's
home, receiving his edtication in the public schools.
At the age of twenty he started out upon his own
career. Coming to Lancaster county he worked for
two years on a farm. After his marriage in 1872,
he worked for a time as a day laborer, then became
a farmer. For nine years he occupied and tilled
2Q
a rented place and at the expiration of that period
he purchased a farm of forty acres in Paradise
township which he operated during the next six
years.
Mr. Horning then began his business career by
engaging in the hardware and implement trade at
Kinzers, in partnership with H. E. Musser, under
liie firm name of Musser & Horning. This firm
continued in business successfully for eleven years,
when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Horning
taking complete control. A year later he sold the
implement branch, of the business to his old partner,
retaining the hardware department. This he has
fully stocked up and he now has a thriving trade,
not only because of his good judgment in selecting
goods but because of his courteous and affable man-
ners to his patrons. While associated in business
with Mr. Musser he did most of the traveling,
covering a wide territory. For the past three years
he has b^en employed as traveling salesman by the
McCbrmick Harvesting Machine Company, his
territory inchiding twelve counties in Pennsylvaaaia,
Virginia, and Maryland. Mr. Homing is a thorough
practical and successful business man and through
his own efforts laid the foundations of a commercial
success which has grown rapidly in the succeeding'
years.
He married, Jan. 30, 1872, Miss Hettie A. Good,
who was born in Leacock township,. Nov. 24, 1848,
daughter of Isaac H., and Hettie (Hurst) Good.
Mr. and Mrs. Horning are active members of the
Mennonite church and are among the highly
esteemed families of Lancaster county.
N. N. HENSEL. There is no more honorable
or highly esteemed old settler-citizen of Drumore
township, Lancaster county, than N. N. Hensel,
whose ancestry has been connected with the military
as well as the agricultural history of this country.
Great-grandfather Frederick Hensel came to
America from his German home and was one of the
earliest settlers in Northampton county.
William Hensel, the son of Frederick, was a
carpenter by trade, in Lancaster, was a brave and
gallant soldier through the Revolutionary war,
taking part in the battles of the Brandywine,
Monmouth and Princeton and was also at Valley
Forge with Gen. Washington through the terrible
winter of 1777. His seven children were George,
John, Jacob, William, Catherine, Elizabeth and
Maria, and his death occurred at the age of ninety
years.
William Hensel, the father of N. N. Hensel,
was bom in 1791 and died in 1856. He also was
prominent in loyal service to his country, being a
brave soldier of the war of 1812. About 1818 he
married Mary Norton, of English origin, bom in
the State of Maryland, and eleven children were
born unto them, eight of whom grew to maturity :
George W.,, Maria C, N. N., Eliza A., W. W., John
H., Edwin F., and Mary, all of whom have since
450
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
passed out of life except our subject and one brother,
W. W. Hensel.
N. N. Hensel was born in Harford county^ Md.,
Oct. 14, 1826, a son of William and Mary (Norton)
Hensel. Early in life he learned the trade of
wheelwright, hear Quarry ville, and in 1849, he
moved to Fairfield, Drumore township, and started
a wheelwright shop ; there he has remained all these
years, one of the worthy and industrious citizens of
the village. Mr. Hensel followed his trade continu-
ously from 1844 to 1890, since which time he has
been engaged in the coal and grain business. His
fellow-citizens have asked many services of him of
a public character, and he has efficiently filled the
office of county auditor, and has been justice of the
peace for the past fifteen years.
Mr. Hensel was married in 1847, to Miss Susan
Hawk, of this township, a daughter of Jacob and
Mary Hawk, natives of Lancaster county; she was
born Dec. 12, 1826, and she died in 1894. Their
marriage was blessed with the following children:
Anna M., who married A. M. Watson; Adda M.,
who married Joseph Watson; Sarah E., who mar-
ried Maurice Pyle; Amanda J., who married
Charles Chambers ; George W., cashier of the
Strasburg Bank, who married Ella Waidley; Fred
H., who married Elizabeth Stanford, is a wheel-
wright by trade in Lancaster ; Herbert ; Alice V. ;
Edwin F, ; Lewis ; Elmer ; Susan ; and Horace. Of
these six died- young, Horace, Susan, Alice, Lewis,
Herbert and Edwin.
In politics, Mr. Hensel has always supported
the Republican party. Although not connected with
any particular religious body, he has been a liberal
contributor and supporter of the Methodist church
and has ever upheld laws relating to good enter-
prises and movements ' promising to be of benefit
to his community. Although he began life with
limited means, his thrift and industry have enabled
him to accumulate property so that he is now con-
sidered not only one of the most respected but also
one of the substantial citizens of the locality.
HENRY K. LEFEVER. Among the records
of Lancaster county. Pa., the name of Lefever will
be found as one representing for many years the
best interests of the county, publicly, privately,
educationally and religiously. It is one of the oldest
and most honorable. Grandfather Henry Lefever
married into another old family, his wife being
Elizabeth Hess, and they reared two sons, Christ
and Adam, the father of Henry K.
Adam Lefever was born in West Lampeter
township. May 11, 1825, and was one of the soUd
and substantial men of that locality, operating his
farm of 154 acres with abilitv. accumulating large
means and becoming prominent in public affairs.
As director of the county almshouse, he' was wise
and careful ; as a member of the board of education,
he served the county's best interests, and his name
added strength to the board of directors of the Lan-
caster County Bank. Adam Lefever married Cathe-
rine F. Kendig, a daughter of Martin, and Mary
(Feree) Kendig, who was born in West Lampeter
township, as was her mother, also, the Feree family
being one of the old established ones of that town-
ship. A family of thirteen children was born to
Adam Lefever and his wife, the greater number of
whom grew to maturity and made homes of their
own, becoming respected members of their com-
munities. This family bore the names : Henry K. ;
Martin, who is a farmer of West Lampeter town-
ship; Frank K., also a farmer of West Lampeter;
Mary Ann, who died at the age of eleven ; Elizabeth,
who married Christian Huber, and resides in West
Lampeter; Katie, the widow of Frank Millinger,
of Lancaster ; Aaron, who died at the age of thirty-
three ; Enos K., a graduate from the University of
Pennsylvania, class of 1894, and a well known
physician at Boiling Springs, Cumberland Co., Pa.,
who married Frances Brenneman, of RawlinsvillCj
and has three children : Gladys, Kathleen and La
Verne; Adani K., who is a resident of West
Lampeter and owns a farm there ; Emma, who mar-
ried John Houser, also a farmer of West Lampeter ;
Daniel, Alpheus and Amos, who all died in child-
hood.
Henry K. Lefever was born in West Lampeter
township, in the vicinity of Big Springs, Feb. 17,
1852, the eldest son of Adam and Catherine
(Kendig) Lefever, and was reared on his father's
farm, receiving his education in the public schools.
Until he had reached his thirtieth vear, he remained
at home, but after his marriage moved to the farm
which he still occupies, situated one mile east of
Strasburg, where he owns and cultivates 140 acres
of fertile land, devoting it to general farming, the
prosperous condition of his surroundings proving
that he has been a very successful farmer and a good
manager.
Jlenry K. Lefever was united in marriage Nov.
^, 1881, with Elizabeth Hess, a daughter of John
B. and Elizabeth (McCrabb) Hess, the parents
being natives of Little Britain and Drumore town-
ships. John B. Hess died in 1892, at the age of
seventy-three years; he was born in Little Britain
township where he was reared and spent the greater
portion of his life, although for ten years he was
a resident of Conestoga township. His occupation
was that of a farmer and he owned a valuable
estate comprising some seventy-five acres. His
family consisted of eight children : Mary Margaret,
who died unmarried ; Frank A., who made a home
for himself in Philadelphia; Philip, who remains
a farmer on the old homestead; Ella B., who died
unmarried; Abbie, who married Harry S. Herr, of
West Willow; Elizabeth, who married Henry K.
Lefever; Harry, who died at the age of twenty-
one ; and Walter, who resides in Philadelphia, where
he is a publisher and conducts an advertising busi-
ness. The aged mother is still surviving. Both she
and her husband were connected for many years
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
451
with the Presbyterian church, in which she is still
a valued member. For a number of years Mr. Hess
was the chorister and treasurer for the church at
Little Britain.
In politics, Mr. Lefever is a Republican. The
family is one which stands high in the community
and possesses the esteem of all, well representing
the citizens of Strasburg township.
MATTHIAS S. HURST, an old and venerable
character in Leacock township, where he wOn an
enviable standing both as a farmer and a citizen,
and where he is now leading a retired life, was born
Dec. 4, 1823, and is a son of Christ, and Elizabeth
(Shaner) Hurst. The father was born on the
present Hurst farm, and the mother in Chester
county.
Christ. Hurst was married in Lancaster county,
and settled on his farm in Leacock township, where
he 'died in 1831, at the age of forty-four years. His
widow passed to her reward in November, 1888, at
the age of eighty-nine years. She belonged to the
Lutheran ■ church, and was buried in the New Hol-
land Lutheran cemetery, while he was buried on
the homestead. To them were born : Matthias S. ;
John, who died in Churchtown, Pa., in 1881 ;
Christian, who died in Chester county in 1893. Mrs.
Hurst, after losing Mr. Hurst, was married a
second time, becoming the wife of Amos S. Kenzer,
a farmer and hotel man well known in Lancaster
county. He died in 1880. To this union were born
the following: William Henry Harrison, at one
time president of the Fair Association at Lancaster ;
Anna, who married Albert P. Mcllvaine, a grocer
in Philadelphia.
The paternal grandfather of Matthias S. Hurst
was John Hurst, of Lancaster county, who married
a Miss Strickler; they were farming people and
owned at one time 450 acres, including the present
farm, bought from a Mr. Huston, and divided be-
tween four of the sons. His maternal grandparents
were Matthias and Christie Ann (Vomback) Shaner,
both of Chester county, where they were engaged
in farming.
Mr. Hurst was twice married, his first wife
being Lucetta A. Kinzer. They were married Oct.
26, 1848, at the home of the bride in Earl town-
ship. To this union were born: William K., of
Caernarvon township, who married Ella De Haven ;
Isaac N., a farmer of Salisbury township, who mar-
ried Kate Mentzer, and had eight children, of
whom two sons and the only daughter are dead;
M. Milton, of Intercourse, Pa., a traveling sales-
man, and married to Kate Diller ; LilHe E., wife of
William J, Caldwell, a farmer and school director of
Leacock township, whose sketch appears elsewhere.
Mrs. Lucetta A. Hurst was born Nov. 20,' 1827,
and died June 14, 1867. Her remains were
interred in the Lutheran cemetery at New Holland.
She was the daughter of William and Catherine
(Weidler) Kinzer. Her father, who was a farmer
in Lancaster county, was born Dec. 7, 1794, and
died in 1861. His children were as follows :
Franklin, who lives retired in New Holland;
Louisa, the widow of Amos Leaman, of Reading,
Pa. ; W. Weidler, deceased ; Maggie, the widow of
John Wallace, of East Earl township ; Lucetta ;
Caroline; Lydia and Maria, wife of Abraham
Smoker, are dead ; Lizzie, living unmarried in
New Holland.
The second wedding of Matthias S. Hurst oc-
curred in the Oxford Presbyterian church, in Ches-
ter county, June 6, 1873, when Mrs. Mary (Smith)
Leach became his bride. Mrs. Hurst died Nov. 16,
1900, at the age of seventy-one. She was buried
in the New Holland Lutheran cemetery.
Mr. Hurst was born on his present farm, and at
the age of twelve years, he moved to Earl township,
with his mother and step-father, and there he
remained until he was twenty. At that age he came
back to his present farm, which he operated two
years. When the estate was settled Mr. Hurst
secured the farm, and was actively engaged in its
cultivation until 1891, that year retiring to take life
henceforth on an easier plane. The home in which
he is found to-day was built by him on the Hurst
homestead, and is one of the cozy and pleasant homes
of this part of the county.
Mr. Hurst has met with a generous success in
all his business undertakings, and owns three farms,
one in Churchtown, another which is his home, and
a third adjoining it. He belongs to the Lutheran
Church, and is highly regarded in the community
where his quiet but industrious life is passing. In
his politics he affiliates with the Republican party.
SAMUEL WIGGINS, one of the retired
farmers of Martic township, who is now an esteemed
resident of Martic township, was bom April ir,
1835, son of Stephen and Elizabeth (Bowman)
Wiggins, of Providence township, now deceased.
Stephen Wiggins, the father, was a son of
Robert Wiggins, who came to America from Eng-
land about 100 years ago, and had these children:
Stephen, David, Sarah, Mercy, Mary and Eliza,
all deceased. Stephen Wiggins was bom in 1812
and died in 1895. He married Elizabeth Bowman
in 1832, and they had a family of thirteen children,
twelve of whom grew to maturity: David, a resi-
dent of Indiana; Benjamin, of Providence town-
ship; Clayton, of Providence township; Elias and
Harry, of Providence township ; Hattie, the wife of
Martin Shawb, of Lancaster; Hannah, the wife of
John Keener, of Atlantic City; Mary, the wife of
Henry Rouden, of York county ; Ellen, the wife of
Rudolph Shaub, of Providence township; Martha,
the wife of George Miller, of Providence township ;
Anna, deceased ; and Samuel.
Samuel Wiggins was reared on a farm and
received a good, common-school education in the
public schools of his locality and then became a
farmer, following agricultural pursuits all his life
452
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
with great success. In connection with farming he
learned the blacksmith business and followed it for
fourteen years,, beginning life as a poor boy. He
never ladced either industry or energy and each
year found him better off than the previous one.
Mr. Wiggins now owns a fine, well improved farm,
with attractive surroundings and he is able to take
life easily. In polities he is a stanch Republican
and has filled many of the local offices with credit
and efficiency. He is the present township auditor,
has faithfully served as school director and is one
of the trustees of the Methodist church in Rawlins-
viUe.
On Oct.. 13, 1859, Mr. Wiggins was united in
matrimony with Miss Elizabeth Brubaker, of Provi-
dence township, daughter of Tobias and Esther
(Miller) Brubaker, of Lancaster county, and to this
marriage eight children were born, namely: Tobias;
Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Hart of Providence town-
ship ; Martha, wife of W. S. Null, of Martic town-
ship ; Ezra, of l^diartic township ;, Ida, wife of John
Konkle, of Martic township; Emma, deceased;
Lottie, wife of Benjamin Corrigan, of Pequea
township; and Franklin^ of Drumore township.
Mrs. Wig'gins died in 1876.
Mr. Wi^ins is highly esteemed in his com-
munity and is regarded as a reliable and upright
citizcBy and a valuable member of society.
HENRY L. GROFF. Among the progressive
farjBer-citizens of Lancaster county, is Henry L.
Groffi, a worthy representative of one of the old and
prominent families of this part of Pennsylvania,
and the owner and operator of one of the best
properties in Strasburg township.
Henry L. Groff was born on the old homestead,
in Strasburg township, Jan. 31, 1843, a son of
Emanuel and Mary Groff, and was reared to man-
hood in this place. His education was pursued in
the public schools, where he displayed perseverance
aiid aptness. He remained under the parental roof
until the age of twenty-three, when he began farm-
ing operations for himself, locating on the desirable
farm he still occupies, which is situated one mile
south-west of Strasburg borough, and consists of
eighty-six acres of as fine land as can be found in
Lancaster county.
Mr. Groff lias engaged in a general _ line of
farming, and thoroughly understanding his busi-
ness, he has been very successful. Soon after
settling here, he began improving the house and
barn, and in 1892, he erected a fine, modem brick
residence, close to the old homestead, the latter
being occupied by his tenant. Intelligent and
progressive, he has adopted those methods which
have been found beneficial for the land, and has the
satisfaction of knowing that few farms in the
locality can surpass bis in productiveness or
appearance. Always interested in all enterprises for
the good of the public, Mr. Groff eight years ago
was placed by his fellow-citizens upon the board of
education and his ditties there have been most satis-
factorily performed, showing that he is the right
man in the right place.
tienry L. Groff was married on Dec. 12, 1866,
to Anna Landis, born in 1847, ^ daughter of David
Landis, locally known to his friends as "Miller Dave
Landis," of West Lampeter township. To Mr.
and Mrs. Groff were born: Luzetta, who married
Noah Noult, a farmer of West Earl township;
Minnie, who married Harry B. Herr, a farmer of
West Lampeter ; Cora, who married Jefferson Herr,
a farmer of Strasburg township; and Landis D.,
who remains at home. Thei-r religious connections
are with the Old Mennonite church, and the family
is one which possesses the esteem and respect of
Strasburg township in the highest degree.
LANDIS FAMILY of Lcaicaster county. In
the latter part of the sixteenth century the L^ndises,
among others in Switzerland, were noted for their
piety, and were appropriately called Pietists. The
first historical mention of individual members of the
Landis family is made of Hans Landis, a "pious
witness of the Divine truth," who lived at that time,
and who was a Pietus or Mainonite preacher. He
moved to the Rhine, in Switzerland, and labored
there to feed and refresh others who were seeking
after righteousness. The Council of Zurich, who,
be it known, were not Catholics,, but of the Re-
formed^ Church, ordered Hans' arrest, thus thinking
to stop his teachings. But that good man could not
be turned from his sincere convictions, and "he was
taken prisoner by his enemies and sent in irons from
Zurich to the papists at Zolothurn." In Sept., 1614,
he was beheaded" with a sword, as a true fol-
I After the fearful persecutions of Protestants by
Cat-liolics during the sixteenth century some of the " Re-
formed" placed, themselves on record at Zurich and Berne
as oontinuators of the cruel practices known to the mar-
tyrs' era. Various edicts were issued from 1601 to l66(>
by the Reformed against the Anabaptists (derisive of Bap-
tists or Mennooites), creating fines, confiscation of prop-
erty and other stringent penalties, including banishment.
Others, however, of the Reformed belief, especially the
regents of the United Netherlands, exerted their influence
for the protection of the innocent Mennonites.
2 The following extract of a letter dated July 19-29,
1659, written ,by a preacher at Zurich, gives an accurate
description of the execution: "Hans landis was tall of
stature, had a long black beard, a little gray, and a mas-
culine voice. Being led out cheerfully with a rope to
Wolfsstaatt, the place of decollation, t!he executioner, Mr.
BaAil Vblmar, let the rope fall [mot, however, before Hans'
wiife and child came to him with tears in their eyes to bid
hiim a last farewell, after which be entreated them to de-
part so as not to s'hake his resolution to meet his fate],
raised both hands to heaven and said, 'O God of mercy,
to thee be it complained, that you, Hans, have falleo into
my hands; for God's sake forgive me for what I must do
to you.' Hans consoled the executioner, saying,' 'I have
already forgiven, you; may God forgive you also; I am
aware that you must execute the sentence of the magis-
tracy; be undismayed, and see that nothing hinders you
in ithis matter,' whereupon he was beheaded."
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
453
lower of Christ. Thus he suffered death for relig-
ion's sake. He was the last person to be beheaded
for religious convictions in that locality, but perse-
cution did not cease with his death. About 1660,
and afterward, the I^andises were driven to the
Palatinate country, to Zweiburg and Alsace, in the
neighborhood of Strasburg and Manheim, on the
Rhine. Their properties were generally confiscated,
and they became farmers for the German nobility.
All the Mennonites received fair usage from the
Hollanders and people of the United Netherlands.
Migrating to America. For about two gen-
erations history fails to reveal individual members
of the Landis family, i. e., from 1643 to 1717. Be-
lievers of the Mennonite faith early took advantage
of William Penn's liberal policy to settle in America.
About 1683, and later in 1709 and 1712, numbers
of them emigrated to Chester county (including
what is now the county of Lancaster). In 1717
three brothers. Rev. Benjamin, Felix and John Lan-
dis, all Swiss Mennonites, came to America from
the vicinity of Manheim, on the Rhine, where they
had been driven from Zurich, Switzerland, and pur-
chased land from Penn and the Conestogoe Indians.
Like most of the pioneer settlers in the American
wilds, these good people were comparatively poor in
worldly possessions, and had their hands so full of
work that they failed, it seems, to keep their family
records. They became, however, instinctively
American in their progress, and proceeded at once
to skillfully till the soil, which has since rnade Lan-
caster county known the world over as a "garden
spot." Here, also, these pioneer members of the
family worshiped their God according to their de-
sire, and in perfect peace.
(I) Benjamin Landis, of Lancaster county (the
first Rev. Benjamin Landis), one oi the three broth-
ers who emigrated to America, in company with his
only son, Benjamin, Jr. (aged eighteen), took up a
, tract of 240 acres of land from the London Com-
pany, for which he received a patent in 1718. This
land was in the possession of the Conestogoe In-
dians, from whom it was obtained by purchase.
Benjamin, was a Mennonite preacher. With his son
he began farming on his tract, situated in what is
now East Lampeter township, near Mellinger's
meeting-house, about four miles east of Lancaster
city, at the intersection of the Horseshoe and old
Philadelphia roads. No records tell to whom this
pious man was married, and, unfortunately, for sev-
eral succeeding generations such information is very
meagre.
(II) Benjamin Landis (2), Jr., the younger
emigrant, had four sons, -whose names, in the order
of their births and respective ages, were : Benjamin,
-Abraham, Jacob and Henry. From these four sons,
the first born upon this soil, have sprung the numer-
ous descendants of Benjamin (i). Little mention
is made in any records obtainable of daughters, al-
though such were born, without doubt, to some of
the first generations. Benjamin, Jr., tilled the soil
of his father's farm and lived there.
(Ill) Benjamin Landis (3), eldest son of the
younger emigrant, moved to Manheim township, in
1751-53, after buying out his wife's only brother,
which left him 800 or 1,000 acres of land about three
miles from Lancaster, near the Reading road, and
close to where the Landis Valley meeting-house now
stands. Benjamin was married, in 1749, to Anna
Snavely, only daughter of John Suavely, and they
had three sons: Hansle (John), born March 15,
1755; Bennie (Benjamin), born in the winter of
1756; and Henry (blind) Wn Dec. 5, 1760. The
place of Benjamin Landis (3) "was the refuge of
many Swiss emigrants, who enjoyed his hospitality
until they were able to secure homes for themselves,"
amongst whom were the Bombergers of Warwick
township.
Descendants of (IV) "Blind" Henry, son of
Benjamin Landis (3) :
(V) Henry I^andis, a son of "Blind" Henry
(born Dec. 5, 1760), was born and raised in Man-
heim township. He married Anna Long, also of
that township, and they lived on the Reading road
(now Oregon turnpike). They had ten children
who grew to maturity, and all of whom married ex-
cept Mary, the youngest, who died single, viz. : Ben-
jamin, John, Henry, Isaac, Jacob, Susan, Elizabeth,
Nancy, Barbara and Mary. Henry Landis, the fa-
ther, was a farmer, and also carried on distilling ; and
he had a team on the road constantly, hauling his
own whiskey and flour to Philadelphia.
(VI) "Rich" Benjamin Landis, as he was called
the eldest son of Henry Landis and Anna Long, was
married to Nancy Long, of Manheim township,
and lived near Oregon. The}' had eleven children
(the seventh generation) as follows: Fianna,
Elizabeth, Isaac L., Henry L., Benjamin L., Israel
L., Faimy, Maria, Nancy, Amelia and Daniel L.
All were married and had children except Israel L.,
who is a bachelor.
(VII) Henry L. Landis, second son of "Rich"
Benjamin, was born Jan. 13, 1826, and died Jan.
17, 1896, aged seventy years, four days. On Jan.
19, 1847, he was married to Catharine S, Reist, sec-
ond daughter of the late Jacob Reist, of Warwick
township, and sister to Levi S. and Peter S. Reist.
She was born May 5, 1828. They resided on the
Long farm, which originally comprised 500 acres,
the place where the United Brethren Church, com-
monly called the U. B. Church, was organized, and
where they held their first services. The house was
once burnt down by a Roman Catholic because of his
faith, and undoubtedly with the idea of destroying
the church. The east side of the house is still cov-
ered with old style earthern tiles instead of shingles,
and every rafter, joist and beam was a tree cut on
the farm and hewn by hand, no sawed timber or
lumber being used. In 1866 a storm blew down the
straw roof from the barn, which was the last of its
454
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
kind in Manheim township, and was built in 1754.
The farm is now owned by (VIII) Jacob, the sixth
son of Henry L. Landis. The union of IJenry L.
and Catharine S. (Reist) Landis was blessed with
fifteen children, of whom- Mary, Emma and Alice
died in infancy or childhood. The names of the
others, with the dates of their births, were as fol-
lows, these being of the eighth generation : Andrew
R., May t, 1848; Benjamin R., May i, 1850; Henry
R., June 14, 185 1 ;. Peter R., Oct. 24, 1852; Aimie
R., Sept. 3, 1854 ; Lizzie R., Sept. 14, 1855 ; Isaac
R., Sept. 13, 1857; Jacob R., Aug. 14, 1859; Katie
R., Jan. 3, 1861 ; Ella R., Aug. 21, 1864; Clara R.,
Dec. 20, '1866; Israel R., July 30, 1868. Of these
(VIII) Andrew R. Landis (single) is now living
with his aged and widowed mother at home, near
Landis Valley post office and Mennonite meeting-
house, as a retired country gentleman.
(VIII) Benjamin R. Landis was married to
Lizzie Wolf Rupp, second daughter of the late Jacob
Rupp, of Earl township. Their union was blessed
with four children, two of whom are still living,
viz. : (IX) Clayton, who was twenty-one years old
July 20, iqo2, and (IX) Mazie, eight years old, both
at home with their widowed mother at Oregon, Lan-
caster Co., Pa. Mr. Landis was killed on the "cut-
off" on the Pennsylvania railroad, at the Novelty
Works, near Lancaster, June 6, igoo. The accident
happened while he was on his way homeward after
delivering a four-horse load of wheat at Levan's
mill, south of Lancaster; "also two of his hdrses"
were killed. The railroad company never showed any
sympathy or respect to the family, not even paying
for the loss of the horses to the bereft family, Mr.
f^andis owned and lived on the farm of his grand-
father, "Rich" Benjamin Landis, near Oregon,
when he was so suddenly stricken down and called
from time to eternity. This farm was part of the
original Long farm.
(VIII) Henry R. Landis, or H. Reist Landis, as
he calls himself, the third son of Henry L. and Cath-
arine S. Landis, was married Nov. 17, 1874, to Maria
Hess Bamberger, second daughter of the late Jacob
Bamberger, of Warwick township. This family of
the Bambe.rgers harbored with the Landises at Lan-
dis Valley on the old Landis homestead at the Stone
Bridge during the winter when they first came into
this country, and afterward settled in Warwick
township, on a farm still owned by a descendant,
Jacob H. Bamberger, of Lititz, a brother-in-law of
H. Reist Landis. The union of H. Reist and Maria
H. Landis was blessed with seven children, viz.:
(IX) Mary, bom Oct. 14, 1881, died on the 17th
of the same month, when only three days old. (IX)
Barbara B. and Kathryn B., twins, were born Nov.
23, 1882. Barbara took pneumonia when but a year
old, and later a complication of diseases set in,
dropsy, scrofula and consumption. She lingered on
until July 5, 1898, when she died, aged fifteen years ;
seven months, and twelve days. She was buried at
Erb's Mennonite meeting-house. Bishop Jacob R.
Brubaker, and Rev. Jonas H. Hess officiating at the
funeral services. Text: Matt, xxiv, 44. It may
truly be said, none knew her but to love her. Katie
(Kathr3Ti) graduated from the Lititz high school
with her brother Jacob in the spring of 1901. (IX)
Jacob B. was born Dec. 20, 1885. After graduating
at the Lititz high school he entered the Millersville
State Normal School, taking the highest position on
entering ; he took the examination for teacher under
County Supt. M. J. Brecht in 1902, his certificate
adding thirteen, and was appointed to teach the
Sunhill school by the board of directors of Penn
township, to open Sept. i, 1902. (IX) .Emma B.
was born Feb. 14, 1887. (IX) Ella B. was bom
Sept. 9, 1890, and (IX) Lizzie B. was bom Feb. i,
1895. All are at home,
H. Reist Landis, whose name opens this sketch,
was raised on his father's farm till sixteen years old,
when he entered the State Normal School at Millers-
ville. He afterward taught school in his native
township of Manheim for a period of four succes-
sive years. After marriage he returned to farming,
in Penn township, about two miles northwest of
Lititz, on the Warwick and Manheim road, near
Erb's Mennonite meeting-house, on Henry Bam-
berger's farm, formerly a Martin farm. He sub-
sequently bought this place, and has lived thereon
ever since and up to the present time. He carried on
farming very successfully, raising some fine crops in
the line of general agriculture, and also raised large
crops of tobacco. While thus engaged in farming
he was also a leaf tobacco packer and dealer, and
continued thus until 1901, when he retired from
farming in order to give the latter more of his atten-
tion. He has proved himself a business man of much
accumen, and has won success by the exercise of na-
tive ability. Mr. Landis served as a member of the
Penn township school board for a number of years ;
was one of the instigators of the Northern National
Bank at Lancaster, and of the Lititz National Bank,
at Lititz, and has served as a member of the board of
directors of the latter institution since 1892 ; served
as a grand juror in the United States courts at Phila-
delphia for one term ; was one of the originators of
the Independent Telephone Company of Lancaster
county, and was secretary of the board in said com-
pany until the board sold out to the Keystone Tele-
graph & Telephone Company of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Landis and his wife Maria are faithful mem-
bers of the Old Mennonite Church, to which their
parents belonged.
(VIII) Peter R. Landis, fourth son of Henry L.
and Catharine S. Landis, is now living on a Christian
Landis farm adjoining the Landis Valley Mennonite
meeting-house, where he built a large, commodious
dwelling, and retired from farming in the spring of
1902.
In 1874 he married Priscilla Royer Brubaker,
only daughter of the late Martin M. Brubaker, of
Elizabeth township, who of late, however, had made
his home with his daughter, at Landis Valley where
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
455
he died, his widow remaining with the same daugh-
ter. The union of Peter R. and Priscilla R. Landis
was blessed with five children (ninth generation),
viz. : Walter B., EmeHne B., Pierce B., and Bessie
B., all at home, and one that died. Peter R. Landis
was a successful farmer. He is a director on the
board of the Manheim Township Mutual Fire In-
surance Company and a director in the Union Trust
Company of Lancaster, which was opened for busi-
ness in the spring of 1902.
(VIII) Isaac R. Landis,. fifth son of Henry L.
and Catharine S. Landis, is now living on the farm
where the Landises first settled in Manheim town-
ship, on the Reading road, near the Stone Bridge
and the Landis Valley Old Mennonite meeting-
house. This farm was first settled by a Suavely and
afterward bought by Benjamin Landis, his brother-
in-law, and is now in the possession of the Landises
for the sixth generation, since 1751. Revolutionary
soldiers used to camp in the meadows of this farm,
Isaac R. Landis married Mary Landis Brubaker,
eldest daughter of the late Peter Brubaker, of Lea-
cock township, and their union was blessed with three
children (ninth generation), viz.: Charley B., Lillie
.B. and Elmer B., all at home. ^r. Landis has re-
peatedly been ofl'ered the office of school director,
which he declined. He has been one of the auditors
of Manheim township for quite a while, and is a
directpr in. the Lancaster & Ephrata Turnpike Com-
pany. In general, he has been a very successful
farmer.
(V'lII) Jacob R. Landis, sixth son of Henry L.
and Catharine S. Landis is now living on and owns
the fann where Henry L., his father, resided and
reared his family. He married Annie Buckwalter
Hess,, only daughter of Henry Hess of Manheim
township, near Lancaster, and Ihey have been blessed
■ with children as follows (ninth generation) : Henry
H., John H., Warren H., Katie H., and Simon H.,
all at home, attending school.
(VIII) Israel R. Landis, seventh son of Henry
L. and Catharine S. Landis, is now residing on the
Andrew Hauck farm, near Landis Valley. He is
married to Susan Rohrer Sechrist, eldest daughter
of Michael Sechrist, of Columbia, Pa., and to their
union have come two children : Irvin, who met an
accidental death, by burning ; and Mamie, at home.
(VIII) Annie R. Landis, eldest daughter of
Henry L. and Catharine S. Landis, was married to
Benjamin Hershey Brubaker, eldest son of the late
Jacob Brubaker, of Elizabeth township, and lived
near Petersburg, in East Hempfield township. They
were blessed with seven children : Emma, the eldest
child, married Roy Kendig, of West Willow; Ele-
nora married John Meyers of York county, and has
two children; Landis L., Frances L., Benjamin L.,
Annie L., and Clara L. are all at home and attending
school.
(VIII) Lizzie R. Landis, second daughter of
Henry L. and Catharine 5- Landis, is married to
Henry Stoner Miller, elder son of Elias Miller.
They live near Lititz, on a very fine farm in Warwick
township, and have four sons : Benjamin L. mar-
ried Bertha Erb Brackbill, eldest daughter of Dan-
iel Brackbill, of Brownstown, and lives on the old
Miller homestead ; Harvey L. is a clerk in a grocery
store in Philadelphia ; Charley L. is clerk in a Phila-
delphia drug store ; and Monroe L. is living at home
near Lititz.
(VII) Katie R. Landis, third daughter of Henry
L. and Catharine S. Landis, is married to Jonas
Harnish Shenk, only son of Andrew Shenk, of near
Levan's Mill, in Lancaster township. They reside
on the old Shenk homestead, and have three chil-
dren: Landis L., Emma L. and Walter L*, all at
home.
(VIII) Ella R. Landis, fourth daughter of Henry
L. and Catharine S. Landis, is married to Eli Bru-
baker Mumma, eldest son of Jonas Mumma, of
Landisville, where they reside. They have three
children : Harry, Eli and Ella, all at home.
(VIII) Clara R. Landis, youngest daughter of
Henry L. and Catharine S.- Landis, is married to
William Weidman, of Elizabeth township, son of
Eli Weidman. They live near Lexington, Lancaster
county, and have one child, Catharine, who is at
home.
All the farms originally owned by a Landis in
Lancaster county, are still in the possession of that
family — a very singular thing for so large a family
to hold their own and acquire more — except one now
in the possession of Lemon Shirk, near Oregon, Lan^
caster county. Among them there were six ordained
ministers of the Gospel of the Old Mennonite faith ;
one associate judge; lawyers, doctors, statesmen;
men of wealth and high standing in business and so-
cial life. Most of them still adhere to their mother
Church, the Old Mennonite faith. Lancaster county
owes much to this family in the matter of agri-
cultural progress, as nearly all, with few exceptions,
were farmers.
SAMUEL TENNIS. Among the prosperous
and enterprising old settlers of Drumore township
is Samuel Tennis, a farmer who resides one mile
north of Furniss, Pa. He was born May 7, 1835, a
son of Israel and Elizabeth (Lukins) Tennis, of
Montgomery, Pennsylvania.
In 1830 the parents came to Lancaster county
and settled on the farm now owned by Samuel Ten-
nis. The following children were born to the par-
ents: Emiline; Sarah; Enos, who died young;
Mary Jane ; Lukins ; Samuel ; Hannah M. ; Anna M. ;
William; Benjamin F., of Drumore township; and
Enos (2), of Kansas.
Israel Tennis was a son of Samuel Tennis and
the grandfather had a family as follows: Israel,
Samuel, Rachel, Mary, Lavina, Jane and Eliza, all
of whom are deceased except Jane. The maternal
grandfather, Enos Lukins, was a native of Mont-
gomery county and the father of the following chil-
dren : William, Abraham, Enos, Elizabeth, Mariah,
456
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Sarah, Hannah and Margaret, all deceased. Israel
Tennis, the father of Samuel, was born in 1800 and
died about 1882, while his wife was born in 1805
and died in 1896, aged ninety-one.
Samuel Tennis, of whom we write, was married
in 1859 to Miss Mary Rutter of Bucks county. Pa.,
daughter of John Rutter. Six children were born of
this marriage : James, deceased ; Charles, who mar-
ried Mary Alice Ritchie, of York county; William,
deceased; Bromley, who died young; Benjamin, of
New York State; and Clinton E., of York, Pa., a
machinist by trade. After the death of his first wife
Mr. Tennis married Susan Gumpf, of Lancaster
Oty, and she died in 1898, leaTing no issue.
The early life of Mr. Tennis was spent upon the
farm, attending the district school. Starting out in
life a poor man, by hard work he has earned an ex-
cellent farm of 200 acres, which is well improved
and in a good state of cultivation. In religious mat-
ters he is a Qu^er, and in politics a Republican,
serving as supervisor and township auditor. After
a long life of industry, he is now living retired and
is cared for by his sister, Anna M. Tennis, a maiden
lady. No one is more -highly respected in the com-
munity than this good man and his estimable sister
and they are recognized as kind neighbors and
plain, honest people.
SAMUEL BACHMAN, in his lifetime an hon-
ored and industriotis farmer of Bart township, Lan-
caster county, was born near Georgetown, Aug. 19,
1 79 1, his parents being Jacob and Ann (Heidel-
baugh) Bachman.
Jacob Bachman, who was born in 1762, was the
son of Felix Bachman. Felix Bachman came from
Switzerland when a young man and settled in Bart
township, where he owned 800 acres of land, which
was divided among his children. Jacob and George
were his two sons ; Margaret Ann, the oldest daugh-
ter, married Simeon Geise, and died in Bart town-
ship ; Barbara and Ann Margaret married two
brothers by the name of Pickle, and spent their lives
in Bart township.
Jacob Bachman was the father of a family of
five children: George, the oldest; Elizabeth Bach-
man, the wife of Solomon Hamer, of Bart township ;
Mary Bachman, married to Adam Fogle, of Bart
township ; Jacob Bachman, who lived and died on
the old homestead ; Samuel.
Samuel Bachman was reared in Bart township,
where he married for his first wife Rebecca Baird,
born in Bart township in 1794. They settled at the
Green Tree for a time and then moved to White
Hall, where the wife died in 1830, leaving four chil-
dren, two of whom are now living: John Baird
Bachman, a resident of Columbia ; Hiram F. Bach-
man, killed by lightning in 1850 ; Samuel H. Bach-
man, who died when a young man ; Ann Amanda
Bachman, unmarried and an invalid, living on the
old homestead.
Mr. Bachman married for his second wife, in
September, 1834, Miss Isabella Bower, bom in Vir-
ginia in 1798. She died in Bart township in Oc-
tober, 1 84 1, leaving two daughters and one son:
Harriet E., born and reared in Bart township, living
at the old home from which she buried her par-
ents, and much respected and loved for her many
kindly qualities ; Rebecca, who was educated in the
home schools and in the State Normal at Millersville,
taught private school in Lancaster county for sev-
eral years, and lives at the old home; William B.,
who died in childhood.
Mr. Bachman married for his third wife, in 1844,
Miss Hannah Pickle, a lady born and reared in Bart
township, by whom he had one daughter, Hannah
ML, born in 1846, and for a niumber of years a very
isuccessful teacher in Lancaster county. She is now
the wife of James Irwin and has three children,
H. Mabel, Sarah B. and Mary G.
In 1849 Mr. Bachman bought the farm where
his daughters are now living. It adjoins George-
town, and there he erected good buildings and made
many permanent and valuable improvements. He
also owned a valuable farm near White Hall. He
died in 1882.
Religiously Mn. Bachman was connected with
the Presbyterian Church, as were all his daughters
excepting Rebecca, who is a Methodist. In politics
he was a Whig, and later a Republican. He was one
of the first school directors in the town. His four
daughters, noted above, are all that is left of this
historic family. They are ladies whose deeds of
kindness and thoughtfulness have endeared than to
the community.
JOHN KEAGY STONER, for twenty-nine
years the head of the well-known hardware and house
furnishing firm of Stoner, Shreiner & Co., of Lan-
caster, and now living retired in his home at No.-
543 North Duke street, is one of the mosl conspicu-
ous and well known figures in Lancaster. No man
in the city is better known or more highly respected.
Jacob Stoner, the grandfather of John K., was
born in this country, and engaged in farming on
Long lane, below New Danville.
Christian Stoner^ son of Jacob, was born on the
old Stoner homestead^ and became a miller and
farmer. He married Miss Anna Resh, daughter
of Henry Resh, who was a justice of the peace, and
one of the most prominent citizens of Pequea town-
ship. Thirteen children were born to them, of
whom four are living: Christian, a retired mer-
chant of Freeport, 111. ; Eli, a veterinary surgeon of
Salunga; Amos, a farmer of Dauphin county; and
John K., of Lancaster.
John Keagy Stoner was born near Petersburg
March 25, 1833, and was educated in the schools of
West Hemipfield township. Leaving school, he be-
gan work on his father's farm, and when he was
quite a young man went to Freeport, 111., to take
a position as clerk in a grocery store. At the end
of three years he threw up his position and returned
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
457
to his native State. Settling on his father's farm
near Salunga, in Lancaster covinty, he continued on
the farm for three years after his marriage. After
spending three years in the cultivation of the old
homestead, and three years at Neffsville, Mr. Stoner
came to Lancaster and engaged in business as a
butcher for six years. At the end of that time he
quit the shop and bought the building at the south-
west corner of North Queen and Walnut streets,
which soon became widely known throughout the
county as Stoner, Shreiner & Co.'s Corner. There
for twenty-nine years Mr. Stoner was steadily
at his business, being absent only three weeks in
all that period. The firm, which consisted of J.
K. Stoner, Isaac T. Shreiner and J. Newton
Stauffer, carried on a most successful business. In
the spring of 1901 Mr. Stoner retired from active
business, and the firm became Shreiner & Stauffer.
Mr. Stoner was one of the chief promoters of the
Northern Market House, of which he was also a
director for some eighteen years. It was Mr.
Stoner, associated with his partners, who started
the movement that resulted in the building of the
Northern National Bank, in which he was for many
years a director. These two projects have had much
to do with the development of the substantial busi-
ness interests of that section of the city.
Mr. Stoner was united in marriage with Char-
lotte Evans, daughter of John Evans, and sister of
David Evans, for many years superintendent of pub-
lic schools for Lancaster county, and justly regarded
as one of the foremost educators of the State. The
Evans family is one of the oldest and most highly
respected in this section of the county. Five chil-
dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Stoner, of whom
only two are living : ( i ) Elmer E., now connected
with the establishment of Shreiner & Stauffer, mar-
ried Sarah, daughter of the late Samuel Groff, a
well-remembered citizen of Lancaster, and they have
had four children, Kathryn and John K., Jr., liv-
ing ; Helen, who died at the age of four years ; and
one that died in infancy. (2) Harry E. is now
in Europe in the interest of the Standard Oil Com-
pany, having been sent there by that corporation
with a view to his establishing his permanent resi-
dence abroad to attend to the many and compli-
cated interests of that great corporation; his selec-
tion for this delicate and responsible position by
this great institution is an expression of remarkable
confidence in so young a man.
It is impossible in so brief a sketch as this to fully
portray the life of one who has been so prominent
in business aflEairs as has Mr. Stoner. It gives but
a glimpse at his career and those from whom he is
descended, as well as his descendants. Religiously
he is descended from that sturdy set known as the
Dunkards. In politics he is a Republican. Keen
in his observation of men and events, intelligent in
his conversation, and social in his nature, Mr. Stoner
seems as vigorous, mentally and physically, as
though in the very prime of manhood, although he
has long since passed the age at which men are
thought to be turning to driftwood. By careful
living and regular habits, he has so preserved him-
self that he gives promise of many years in the
enjoyment of his well-earned retirement.
JACOB E. STAUFFER, a general farmer of
very high reputation, and a justice of the peace at
Sporting Hill, Rapho township, Lancaster county,
was born two miles south of Sporting Hill, in that
township, Feb. 20., 1837, a son of Henry and Sus-
anna (Eby) Stauffer.
The father was born in White Oak, Lancaster
county, and the mother in Warwick township. Both
died in Rapho township. The father was a farmer,
and served as one of the first school directors when
the free school system was first established in Lan-
caster county. In 1855 he retired from active la-
bors, and died in 1888. He was born in 1802. His
wife, who was born March 4, 1805, died in 1885.
Their remains now rest in the private burying,
ground in Rapho township which is owned by Eli
B. Mumma. They held to the old Mennonite
Church, and were among the good people of their
day. In politics he was a Republican,, being counted
among the reliable men of the community. Born to
them were the following children: Catherine E.,
who married Jacob G. Nissley, and is now dead;
Benjamin and Veronica, who died young; Chris-
tian, a carpenter at Kissel Hill, a twin with Susan,
who married Joseph E. Brubaker, of Rapho town-
ship, whose history appears on another page; Ja-
cob E.
Joseph and Catherine (Acker) Stauffer, the
grandparents of Jacob E., were born and reared in
Lancaster county, where their lives were spent.
Jacob E. Stauffer was married May 5, 1867, in
Warwick township, to Barbara Mohn, by whom he
had the following children: Stella M., the wife of
Aaron Hurst, of East Petersburg, Pa., where he
engaged in business as a tobacco farmer; Bara M.,
married to Amos Sumpman, of Mt. Joy, Pa., where
he is engaged in broom manufacturing; Henry C,
at Reading, Pa., where he married Laura Hef el-
finger ; Wayne M., single, and at home.
Mrs. Barbara Stauffer was born in Warwick
township, March 4, 1843, a daughter of Henry and
Sarah (Herchelrode) Mohn. Her father was bom
in Lancaster, and her mother in Clay 'township.
For years he operated a distillery at Pine Hill, near
Lititz. He died in 1865, fifty-nine years of age ; the
mother died Dec. 9, 1877, at the age of fifty-nine
vears. Both were buried in the Middle Creek
Dunkard Meeting House burying ground. They
were members of the Lutheran Church. To them
were born the following children: John, in the
hotel business at Denver, Pa.; Christian, a cigar
maker at Lititz ; Barbara, whose name is given
above; Henry, a horse dealer at Manheim; Susan,
the wife of Christ. Stauffer; a carpenter at War-
wick ; Charles, operating a bakery at Akron, Pa. ;
458
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Edmond, a cigar maker at Akron, Pa. ; Franklin,
who died in infancy.
The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Stauffer was
Lewis Mohn, of Lancaster county, a cigar maker in
his younger days. Her maternal grandparents were
Henry and Barbara (Young) Herchelrode, farmer
folk of Lancaster county.
Jacob E. Stauffer remained with his parents un-
til his marriage. When he was eighteen he began
teaching school, and continued in the school room
for nine years. After the expiration of his career
as a teacher he worked on the farm a year and a
half. He spent some time as a photographer in Mt.
Joy, and then returned home and was married. In
. 1868 he began farming in Rapho township, in which
he was engaged for ten years. In 1878 he moved to
his present home place, a comoact garden spot of
eleven acres. In 1875 he was elected justice of the
peace, a position he has continued to fill to the pres-
ent time, with the exception of a year and a half
, when he resigned, but he was again elected. For
twelve years he has been town clerk, and is now
discharging the duties of his judicial ofHce with
marked ability. In politics he is a strong Republi-
can, and is regarded as one of the leaders of the
party in this section of Lancaster county.
JOHN HASTINGS (deceased) was born in
Colerain township, Lancaster county, Dec. 4, 1804,
a son of John and Mary (Mahoney) Hastings, of
English and Irish ancestry, the Mahoneys belonging
to the Scotch-Irish. Both families were represented
in the war of the Revolution.
John Hastings, Sr., was the son of Peter and
Rachel Hastings, who were born in England. John
and Mary (Mahoney) Hastings were married in
1796, and settled on a place in the woods in Cole-
rain township. This his axe converted into a farm,
and there both he and his wife died. Their family
consisted of the following members: (i) Stephen,
born in 1799, married a Miss Potts, and settled in
Lancaster township, where he and his wife died in
1832, leaving two dausfhters : Frances, the widow
of Clement Dunlap, of Lancaster; Mary, late wife
of Samuel Curtis, of Lancaster. (2) Rachel, born
in Colerain township in 1800, married Hays Kuch,
who settled in Little Britain, where she died in
1880. (3) Peter, born in 1802, died in 1812. (4)
John is the subject of this' biography. (5) Jere-
miah, born in 1807, married a Miss Smith, of Ches-
ter county for his first wife, and settled on the Hast-
ings homestead in Colerain township, where his wife
died, leaving four children: Rachel, who married
B, Whiteside, of Chester county; Marshall, a resi-
dent of Colerain township; Esther, who married
W. H. Hogg, of Colerain township, and is dead;
William S., of Drumore township. Mr. Hastings
married for his second wife Hannah McVeigh, who
bore him three children : Rebecca, of Philadelphia ;
Hannah, the wife of Nathaniel Ferguson, of Phila-
delphia; Jerry, of Philadelphia. (6) William
Hastings, born in December, 1809, married Miss
Fannie Millar, of Lebanon county, and settled in the
Cumberland valley, where he died at Newville, leav-
ing one son, William M., who also died, unmarried.
(7) B. Frank, born in 1812, married Anna C. Baker,
of Vicksburg, a native of England ; a few years af-
ter his marriage he went to California, where he
was among the first prospectors of that region in
1849; he remained in California, where he died in
1881, leaving a wife and two sons : B. F., of Idaho;
and J. Uhler, of San Francisco. (8) Margaret, born
in 181 5, married John Cope, of Little Britain, and
moved with him to Illinois, where they died, leaving
a family. (9) Nancy M., born in 1818, married
Thomas Haines, of Little Britain, settling for a time
in Lancaster county, and then moving to Havre
de Grace, where he died ; his widow died at the resi-
dence of a daughter in Chester, leaving four chil-
dren: John, of Maryland; Sidney, the wife of
James Keener, of Wilmington, Del. ; Joseph and
Frank, both of Chester, the last being the wife of
William Roop.
John Hastings was reared a farmer and educated
in the public schools of Colerain township. As a
young man he was associated in a tanning enter-
prise with John Whiteside, under the firm name of
Whiteside & Hastings. In 1836, however, Mr.
Hastings parted . company with Mr. Whiteside and
bought for himself the Dan Lefever farm and family
property, which he cultivated in connection with his
tannery, becoming a verj' successful man. He
bought several farms adjoining his own, and gave
his entire attention to farming during the later years
of his life.
Mr. Hastings was married in June, 1833, to
Rebecca, the daughter of Francis and Margaret
(Whiteside) Russel, both of Lancaster county.
Mrs. Hastings was bom in Russellville, Chester
county, March 31, 18 12, but was reared to woman-
hood in Lancaster county. Francis Russel, the fa-
ther of Mrs. Hastings, was born in Chester county.
Pa., in 1783, and was the son of Alexander Russel,
born in the same house in 1756, his father, Hugh
Russel, being born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1726.
The latter escaped from the battlefield of Culloden
to make his way to America, and became a resident
of Chester county, where he died. Francis Russel
served in the war of 1812, and in his neighborhood
was known as Col. Russel. George B., his son, is
a retired physician of Detroit, where he settled many
years' ago.
After his marriage John Hastings settled in East
Drumore township, where he built the present stone
house in 1841, and the large barn at the home of his
daughter, Emma, was btiilt in 1840. Mr. Hastings
died at his home in August, 1892. Always taking
an active interest in local affairs, he was an intelli-
gent citizen, and was connected with the Presby-
terian Church. From his boyhood to his death he
was one of its active workers, and is remembered as
a strong and manly character. His widow died in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
459
1900, eighty-nine years of age. For over sixty years
she was his constant companion, a devoted wife, a
loving mother and a true Christian woman. They
were the parents of seven children, (i) Mary, born
in June, 1834, died unmarried in Novemb'er, 1889.
(2) George Russel, born in 1836, was educated in
the Academy at Chestnut Level, in Lancaster coun-
ty, married Jane P. Dickey, of Colerain township,
in 1864, and now resides on his farm in Colerain
township. (3) Howard F., born in 1839, went, in
1858, with his uncle, B. Frank Hastings, to Cali-
fornia, where he married Miss Emma Cunningham ;
he now holds a position in the Government custom
house at Los Angeles, Cal. ; they have two sons,
John R. and Howard F. (4) William S., born in
February, 1841, married Miss Ella Harrar, of Chris-
tiana, and now resides at Atglen, Chester county,
where he is engaged in the lumber and warehouse
business; his son, John D., married Miss Helen
Phillips, and resides at Atglen, where he is a part-
ner with his father; they have one daughter, Rob-
erta. (5) Margaret died in childhood. (6) Emma
R., born in 1846, was educated in the local school
and in the State Normal at Millersville ; during the
sickness of her father, as she was the only one left
at home, she became manager of his extensive inter-
ests; and after his death she superintended the
farmj while devoting herself to the care of her aged
mother. Her management has been very successful.
In 1898 she remodeled the large barn built by her
father, and has made many other changes and im-
provements. (7) L. Rutter Hastings, bom in 1849,
married Miss Sarah A. Ewing, and they now reside
on their farm in East Drumore township. They
have six children: Rebecca L., the wife of Harry
Hamill, of Chester county ; Jessie I. ; Louisa L. ;
Harry E. ; Isabelle R. ; and George R.
George, William and Howard Hastings are all
members of the Masonic fraternity.
John Hastings was a Democrat, and was often
a delegate to the county conventions of his party.
He was a school director many years. All the fam-
ily were identified with the Presbyterian Church, of
which he was a faithful and devoted member, as was
his wife.
GEORGE W. EABY. One of the best-known
figures in business, political and social circles in Lan-
caster, is George W. Eaby, who is engaged in the
real-estate and insurance business, located at No.
51 East Grant street.
The ancestors of Mr. Eaby came to America
from Switzerland, generations ago, and his grand-
father, Jacob Eaby, was a well-known farmer in
Leacock township, where he owned and farmed a
very large tract of land", which, at his death was
divided among his sons and daughters, forming a
number of smaller farms. Daniel M. Eaby, the
father of George W., owned and farmed a part of the
original tract. Daniel M. married Miss Caroline
Bair, a daughter of the late Joel Bair, a prosperous
farmer of Leacock, and by a singular coincidence,
there were five sons and daughters in each of these
families.
The union of Daniel M. Eaby and Caroline Bair,
resulted in the birth of seven children : Joel S., who
is in the real estate and insurance business, in Lan-
caster; Harry B., who is in the service of the
Government, in Wooster, O. ; Daniel E., a grocer of
Lancaster ; Jacob M., a merchant at Paradise, in this
county: Mary, the wife of William Rice, of
Wooster, O. ; and George W., but one of the family
having passed out of life,
George W. Eaby was born on the old homestead,
in Leacock township, Feb. 5, 1840, and was educated
in the public schools of the district and at the Mil-
lersville Normal School, leaving the latter institu-
tion when twenty to become a school teacher. For
the following eight years he taught in the public
schools, with the exception of nine months of ser-
vice as a member of the 122nd Regiment, P. V. I.,
during the Civil war, when he took part with- his
regiment in all its battles and skirmishes, which
included Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg. Mr.
Eaby also served with the "Emergency" men, when
the Confederates invaded the State.
Soon after the close of the war, Mr. Eaby be-
came clerk of the Lancaster county prison, serving
two years, and then became a clerk in the Steinman
hardware . store, where he remained for four years.
Later he engaged in the grocery business for a time,
disposing of this to enter upon the duties of a posi-
tion in the office of the clerk of the Quarter Ses-
sions of Lancaster county, acting three years as
deputy, under Dr. B. F. W. Urban, and three years
as clerk in chief of the office, and the following
three years as deputy under Capt. Abram Settley,
who had been elected to the office at the expiration
of Mr. Eaby's term-. This completed nine years of
service in one of the most important offices in the
county, and his record was such, and his fidelity
to the cause of the Republican party so well known
and appreciated, that he was strongly urged by his
friends for the office of alderman of the 2d ward,
of Lancaster. In 1891, Mr, Eaby entered the real
estate and insurance business and since that time
has rendered signal service to the various com-
panies he represents and has enjoyed a large pat-
ronage.
Mr, Eaby married Miss Rachel A. Reese, a
daughter of the late James M, Reese, of Bethania,
Salisbury township. Previous to marriage, Mrs
Eaby was a teacher and she and her husband pos-
sess what is unusual, in one family, namely, two
permanent teachers' certificates. Mrs. Eaby, who
was one of the brightest of Lancaster county's teadi-
ers, is descended from two very old families; her
mother was a Bentley, and her grandfather was a
Baker, and it was from the papers testifying to the
fame of Aaron Baker, in the Revolutionary war,
that Mrs. Eaby became a Daughter of the Revolu-
460
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
tion, in which exclusive and admirable society, she
has taken an active interest. She is five generations
removed from her Revolutionar}' ancestors.
From the union of George W. Eaby and his wife
two children have been born : C. Reese Eaby, Esq.,
a prominent member of the Lancaster bar; and
Flora, the wife of Harry Cessna, Esq., a member
of the Bedford county bar, a son of the late Hon
John Cessna, who was, for so many years, president
of the board of trustees of Franklin and Marshall
College.
Mr. Eaby is a member of the Blue Lodge of
Masons, and is also fraternally connected with the
Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the E^ks.
The religious connection of the family is with Trin-
ity Lutheran Church, where Mr. Eaby is recognized
as in other relations, as an earnest, intelligent, gen-
erous and conscientious citizen.
HENRY ALBERT SCHROYER, the florist at
No. 151 North Queen street, Lancaster, is a son of
George W. Schroyer, the veteran florist, whose
many hothouses are located on the Harrisburg
turnpike.
George W. Schroyer was born in Lewisburg,
Union Co., this State, Sept. 9, 1818, and is still
seemingly as active>, mentally and physically, as most
men of fifty years. He came of a family long es-
tablished in this country, being a descendant of one
ox three brothers of the name who came to America
in 1670, and settled in Pennsylvania — one in Lan-
caster county, one in Berks county, and one in a
western county. Conrad Schroyer, his grandfather,
was born Dec. 10, 1761, in Lancaster county.
Col. Christian Schroyer, father of George W.,
was born Aug. 5, 1793, in Cornwall, Lancaster (now
Lebanon) county, and died in 1855. He was a
noted and popular hotel-keeper in his day, his hos-
telry being located near Lewisburg, on the road be-
tween that place and Northumberland. In those
days of primitive traveling facilities there was a
hotel in about every twenty-five miles, where the
stages put up and accornmodations were afiforded the
public, and no host was better known in that section
than Col. Schroyer. He gained his title by service
in the militia, having been colonel of the 8th Regi-
ment. Under Jackson's administration he was ap-
pointed postmaster at Chillisquaque. In addition to
carrying on his hotel business he engaged in general
farming. He first married Susan Spangler, by
whom he had eight children, Elizabeth, ' Anna,
Rachel, Sarah, Susan, William, George W., and one
that died in infancy. The mother of these died in
1835, and the Colonel subsequently married a Mrs.
Myer. Two children were born to that union, Mich-
ael and Lewis. William, Michael and Lewis served
in the Civil war.
George W. Schroyer was given his primary train-
ing in the "corner" district school near his early
home, when a little older attended an evening writ-
ing school, and rounded out his somewhat limited
literary training witli a short term at a grammar
school. At the age of eighteen he left home, walk-
ing to Harrisburg, where he obtained a position
which presented an opportunity for him to learn
the printer's trade, in the office of a paper called
The Keystone. He continued there imtil he had
risen to the dignity of foreman. Mr. Schroyer was
married, in 1845, to Anna E., daughter of J. B.
Thompson, of Harrisburg, and in the fall of that
year he bought the Columbia Spy, in Columbia,
Lancaster county, which he sold, however, in about
two years, returning to Harrisburg. There he re-
mained until 1854, in which year he took charge of
the Inland Daily, at Lancaster. In 1856 he took
charge of the composing room of the Daily Express,
a position he held until 1893, in whidi year his fail-
ing health drove him out of the printing business into
the open air. He bought the place he now occupies
that year, from Dr. H. E. Muhlenberg, and there
he still lives, mucli beloved and respected by all who
know him. Mr. Schroyer has not only the honor of
having conducted the first daily paper of Lancaster,
in 1854, but he is also the pioneer florist of that
place. His home place consists of seven acres, one
and a half acres under glass. He commenced with
vegetables and small fruits, but soon changed to
his present line. In politics Mr. Schroyer was origin-
ally a Democrat (like his father), supporting that
.party until 1856, when, as he says, "all good Demo-
crats turned Republicans." He and his wife hold
membership in the Lutheran Church.
Henry Albert Schroyer was born in Harrisburg
Jan. 29, 1850, and spent his boyhood days in Lan-
caster, where, after attending St. James' Parish
school, he became a student in the high school. At
the age of seventeen years he began his work as
a florist with his father, and in 1888 opened a store
on North Queen street, a few doors from his present
location. When a year had elapsed he moved into
his present quarters, where his business has steadily
grown, and he now enjoys one of the most flat-
tering patronages in the city.
Henry A. Schroyer inherits his grandfather's
interest in poHtics and is a stanch Republican. In
1878 he was elected to the common council from
the Ninth ward, which was strongly Democratic,
by a majority of three votes, a narrow margin, but
enough. For the Young Republican Club he served
a& chief marshal in every campaign from the organi-
zation of that body to 1900, when he declined far-
ther work in that Une. He has twice been a dele-
gate to the Republican State Convention. Since
1S88 he has been a member of the board of school
directors, and was re-elected for another term of
three years in February, 1900. In November, 1900,
he was elected treasurer of the Lancaster city school
board, and was honored with re-election in 1901
and 1902. For eight years out of the nine in which
he was a meniber of the committee on night schools,
he served as its chairman. His work on this com-
mittee did much to make these night schools efficient
^» xyc-^Ct^^^u^z^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
461
and useful. His best achievement in school work
was the building of the splendid eight-room struc-
ture on North Mary street and Harrisburg avenue,
a result which required many years to effect; it is
pronounced one of the finest eight-room school
buildings in the State.
Mr. Schroyer is a member and past grand of
Herschel Lodge, I. O. O. F., the Elks in Lancaster,
the Hamilton Club, the Young Republicans, and
the Lancaster Maennerchor ; and is also very active
in the Masonic fraternity, in which he has risen to
.the thirty-second degree, holding membership in
Lamberton Lodge, No. 479^ of which he was elected
worshipful master for the year 1903; Chapter No.
43 ; Goodwin Council ; Lancaster Commandery, No.
13, K. T. ; Lancaster Lodge of Perfection, four-
teenth degree, Harrisburg, of which he is a past
officer; Council of the Princes of Jerusalem, six-
teenth degree, Harrisburg; Rose Croix Chapter,
eighteenth degree; and Harrisburg Consistory,
thirty-second degree. In fraternity work, as in poli-
tics, he is. earnest and enthusiastic, anything he un-
dertakes being done with all his heart and soul.
Henry Albert Schroyer was married, Oct. 2"^^
1875, to Miss Anna V., a daughter of the late Sam-
uel M. Myers, well known in planing-mill interests
in Chambersburg. Both are members of St. John's
Lutheran Church, in which they take a deep and
substantial interest.
SAMUEL AMMON (deceased) was for many
years a leading citizen of Salisbury township. He
was born Oct. 6, 1818, in Caernarvon township,
Lancaster county, and his death took place at Gap,
Pa., Oct. 23, 1901. His parents were Henry and
Mary (Signer) Ammon.
Henry Ammon, the father of Samuel, was a
farmer in Lancaster county all his life. He died in
1836, at the age of forty-five years, his widow sur-
viving until i860, dying at the age of sixty-two.
They were buried at Morgantown and Pequea, re-
spectively. Both parents were members of the Pres-
byterian Church. The children born to this union
were : Samuel ; John, deceased, who married Maria
Speece; Sarah, who died young; Mary, deceased
wife of David Ranck; William and Henry, twins,
the former a retired farmer in Chester county, the
latter operating a bakery in Gap and married to
Jane Patten, born in Salisbury township, Sept. 19,
1835 ; George and Davis, twins, the former of whom
is a carpenter in Salisbury township and the latter
died young.
On March 31, 1875, Samuel Ammon was united
in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Arnold, born in East
Earl township, daughter of Abraham and Lydia
(Reel) Arnold, the former of whom was a black-
smith in East Earl township. He died in 1844, his
widow surviving until 1877, when she died at the
age of seventy-four years; both parents of Mrs.
Ammon were buried in Cedar Grove Church cem-
etery, in East Earl township. The children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Arnold were: Sarah, the widow of
George Ranck, of East Earl township ; Isaac, of East
Earl township; Mary, also of East Earl; Gabriel,
who died young; and Elizabeth, who is the widow
of Samuel Ammon.
For many years Mr. Ammon was employed by
the great Pennsylvania Railroad as one of its con-
tractors. He then resided in Lancaster, but in 1877
removed to Gap and for ten years operated the "Gap
Hotel," which during his administration was one
of the most comfortable hostelries in the place. In
politics he was a staunch Republican. In his liberal
way he contributed to the support of both Presbyter-
ian and Methodist Churches, being a man of moral
life, although not connected by membership with
either religious body. Mrs. Ammon approved of
his methods and is valued in both churches also. She
is a very highly esteemed lady in this community
and has a wide circle of warm friends.
J. COMLY MAULE (deceased) was born in
Chester county, Pk., but spent his active life in Cole-
rain township, Lancaster county. He was the third
son in a family of seven children born to Ebenezer
and Sarah (Lee) Maule, four of whom are now liv-
ing in Chester county ; Nathan, near Lenover ; Ben-
jamin, near Doe Run; and Eljenezer and Abigail,
who- are on the old homestead. Mary J., who mar-
ried E. Phips, is now deceased; Zillah died in
young womanhood.
J. Comly Maule was reared in Chester county,
where he attended the district school and boarding
school for boys. In December, 1857, he was mar-
ried to Miss S. Emma Clark, a daughter of George
and Anna (Taylor) Clark. Mr. Clark lived for a
number of years on his farm in Doe Run, Chester
county, and then moved into Westchester, where he
lived retired until his death in i860. His first wife
died a few years after their marriage, while Mrs.
Maule was still a child, leaving one son and one
daughter. The son, William, went to Denver, Colo.,
when a young man, and won for himself a good
standing in the business circles of that city, where
he died in 1900, leaving a widow and two children,
Howard Taylor and Myrtle,. both of Denver. George
Clark married for his second wife, Hannah Bailey,
who bore him two children : Edward, who is in Lead-
ville, Colo. ; and Mary, who married William Glenn,
of Chester county, and is now dead. Mrs. Maule
was bom in September, 1835, at the old Clark home-
stead in Chester county, and received her education
in the Kennett Square schools.
Throughout his active life, Mr. Maule was en-
gaged in farming, dairying and stock-raising. After
marriage, he and his wife settled near Avondale,
Chester county, where he was engaged in farming
for four years. For two years they lived in Little
Britain, and then in 1864 he bought the property
where his family are now living. He added to it
some very substantial improvements, and it was
at the time of his death one of the most desirable
462
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
places in that region. The Society of Friends found
a warm place in his heart, as it was his ancestral
faith, and he rigidly adhered to its teachings in all
his associations with the world, taking always a deep
interest in the advancement of the community in gen-
eral and those of his own faith in particular. For
many years his pacific principles and sense of justice
made him an arbitrator for the combative in his
neighborhood.
To Mr. Maule and his wife were born the fol-
lowing children: (i) George C, born in 1858, was
reared at the home, and educated in the Union Acad-
emy, of Lancaster coimty. He married Clara Brin-
ton, and resides on a farm in Chester county, where
he is known as a prosperous and successful farmer.
They have four children, WiUard Norman, Mary
Anna, Walter W. and Charles E. (2) Anna H., born
in 1859, married Allison Baker, of Smyrna, where
Mr. Baker is engaged in farming. Mrs. Baker was a
student in the State Normal at Millersville. (3)
Walter bom in 1861, married Miss Lizzie R. Lam-
born, of Lancaster county, and for some years was
engaged in the milling business at Puseyville. Later
in life, he purchased a mill in Colerain township,
which he carried on until his death in 1892, leaving
a widow and no family. (4) Emma Z., born in Lan-
caster county, in 1864 (the first three members of
this family having been born in Chester county)
married John Chamberlain. They reside near the
Chester county line. (5) Charles E., born in 1866,
married Miss Hannah Jackson, of Christiana, and
has his home in Sadsbury township, where they have
four children, James W., Comly, William L. and
Alice. (6) Norman Comly, born in 1873, was edu-
cated at Octoraro Academy and in the Westchester
State Normal. Since the death of his father, he
has taken the management of his mother's affairs
upon himself and stands very high in the estimation
of the people of the neighborhood. (7) William M.,
born in 1876, was a student at the Westchester Nor-
mal where he prepared for college, and then en-
tered Swarthmore College. The following year he
took a special course in biology in the Pennsylvania
University. He is a graduate of Cornell Univer-
sity class of 1902, and has made a reputation for him-
self as a scholar and a thinker wherever he has at-
tended, .being at the front in all the branches at the
college. x\fter graduating from Cornell he was ap-
pointed by the U. S. Government to study the forests
of the North West, and later was appointed Forestry
Inspector of the Philippine Islands, a position which
he is eminently fitted to fill.
Mr. Maule for a long time was closely identified
. with the Republican party, but in his later life was a
strong Prohibitionist. For many years he held the
position of school director.
Mrs. Maule and her family belong to the Society
of Friends. Her children are a source of comfort
to her, as they were to her departed husband in his
declining years. He passed away May 28, 1901, at
the age of almost seventy years.
ADAM REESE STAMY, principal of the
Lemon street school, Lancaster, is related to two
of Pennsylvania's oldest and best known families,
both remarkable for their longevity.
Henry Stamy, grandfather of Adam R., was a
farmer in Franklin county. Pa., and having re^
moved to Leesburg, Cumberland county, died there
at the age of eighty-six years. His son, John F.,
in early life was a teacher in Franklin county, but
moving to Cumberland county, Pa., h€ became a
minister in the Baptist Church, and is now elder
of that district. He married Emily Reese, daugh-
ter of Adam Reese, one of the early farmer settlers
of Cumberland county, and who passed from earth
at the patriarchal age of ninety-four years. To Rev.
John F. and Emily (Reese) Stamy were born eight
children, of whom we have record of seven : Cath'
erine, at one time a teacher, now wife of Frank Mc- ■
Cleery, a farmer of Altenwald, Franklin county;-
Adam R., of whom full mention will be made farther '
on ; Harry C, a farmer near Chambersburg, Franks
lin county; Miss Alice C, living at the old Grand-
father Reese home at Leesburg, Cumberland coun-
ty; John F., Jr., who died March 5, 1900; D. K.,
principal of a public school in. New York City; and:
Emma, a teacher at Ridley Park, Delaware Co., Pa.
Of these, D. K., after graduating , in the scientific
course at the State Normal School at Millersville,
and from Neff's School of Oratory, Philadelphia, .
became a lecturer at teachers' institutes, lecturing
before he was twenty-two years old ; he is now only
thirty-three. Emily (Reese) Stamy, mother of the
above named children, died May 5, 1901.
Adam Reese Stamy was born Aug. 24, 1856, at
Leesburg, Cumberland county, and after receiving
a partial education in the public schools of his dis-
trict attended the State Normal School at Millers-
ville for a time, and then took a course at the Cum-
berland Valley State Normal, finishing his course in
the graduating class of 1874, although leaving the
institute before graduation to accept a very desira-
ble position in the Mt. Holly Spring schools. There
he remained until 1878, coming thence to Lancaster,
and after teaching the Rohrerstown graded school
for three years he was elected principal of the Lem-
on street school, a position he has ever since held
with honor to himself and profit to his pupils. Hun-
dreds of boys have been prepared, by him for the
high school of Lancaster, and the building, which
was originally two-storied, with eight rooms, when
he took charge of it, has now three stories, with
twelve rooms.
In 1878 Mr. Stamy was married to Miss Flor-
ence C. Munson, daughter of Ralph Munson, a
farmer of Litchfield county, Conn., and grand-
daughter of Capt. Norman Munson, whose ances-
tors came over in the "Mayflower." To this union
were born children as follows : Maude M., a grad-
uate of the Girls' High School, Lancaster, now Mrs.
Walter Edward Fraim ; J. Ralph, a graduate of the
Boys' High School, Lancaster, also of the Pennsyl-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER. COUNTY
463
vania Business College, and now occupying a posi-
tion in the Lancaster County National Bank; and
Mary, attending school.
In religious faith Mr. Stamy is a Moravian, for
three years serving as trustee of the Moravian
Church at Lancaster, and as superintendent of the
Sunday school four years. For fourteen, years he
was secretary of the Lancaster County Teachers'
Institute, and when the City Teachers' Institute was
organized, several years ago, he was elected secre-
tary of that body, a position he yet holds. As a
member of the County Institute he served on the
committee on Permanent Certificates. In addition
to his principalship of the Lemon street school he
has been a teacher in the Boys' Chestnut Street
Night school for sixteen years, during some twelve
years of which he was principal. He was one of the
organizers of the now famous Pennsylvania Chau-
tauqua, and was a member of its board of managers,
and for three years was statistical secretary of same.
In politics Mr. Stamy is an ardent Republican, and,
while teaching in Rohrerstown was president of the
Republican Club there, which same club took an
active part in the Garfield campaign^
' ELIAS. BEAR, who is now living retired, is
one of the leading citizens of Manheim township,
and his pleasant and hospitable home at Oregon is
one of the most inviting and hospitable residences
in that country of open doors and generous welcome.
Mr. Bear was born in Warwick township, Jan.
3, 1839, a son of Samuel and Fredricka (Sheidley)
Bear, and a grandson of Samuel Bear, who was born
in England,. Feb. 5, 1762, and and died Oct. 23,
1823. The grandfather located at what is now
Oregon, and became one of the leading citizens of
that part of the county. The village of Oregon was
founded by him, where he erected the hotel which
later passed into the management of his son, John.
The original Samuel Bear was three times married,
and by his first wife he had one son, Jacob, who be-
came a gun smith. By his second marriage he was
the father of three children: Peter, a gunsmith;
John a hotel keeper at Oregon; Elizabeth, who
never married, and who lived at Frederick City, Md.
By his third marriage he became the father of five
children: Samuel, the father of Elias Bear; Isaac,
a gunsmith, who died at Reading, Pa. ; Anthony, a
shoe maker, who spent his later years in Maryland
and in Virginia, where he died; Rial, who married
Samuel Buchen, of West Earl township; Barbara,
wife, of William Kahr.
Samuel Bear, the father of Elias, was born Jan.
15, 1804, at Oregon, and died April 4, 1875. When
young he learned the trade of a gunsmith, at which
he worked until he was some fifty years of age, when
he turned to farming,, and passed his last years in
Manheim and Warwick. His religious associations
were with the Lutheran Church. His wife was born
in Germany, Jan. 19, 1810, and came to this country
when a- child. Her death occurred Jan. i, 1885. To
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Bear carne Adam, born Nov»
17, 1828, deceased; Sarah, born Sept. i, 1832, the
wife of John Grube, of Bloomfield, Pa., Frank, who
lives at Canal Fulton, Ohio, a carpenter by trade;
Frederick, born Oct. 22, J 835, a carpenter in Ore-
gon; Samuel, born Oct. 19, 1837, living in Stark
county, Ohio ; Elias, born Jan. 3, 1839 ; Salinda, born
in 1 84 1, the widow of Martin Kellingberger, and
living at the corner of James and Lewis streets, Lan^
caster; Henrietta, born Dec. 10, 1844, late wife of
Edward Cannon, of Canal Fulton, Ohio ; Eliza, born
Oct. 7, 1846, who died in childhood; Fannie, born
Feb. II, 1848, unmarried and living in Manheim
township ; Isaac, born Aug. 9, 1850, residing in Lan-
caster, where he is a carpenter; Catherine Amelia,
born Jan. 7, 1852, the widow of Jeremiah S. Reed,
who makes her home with her brother, Elias. Mr,
Reed died June 16, 1890, in the fortieth year of his
age; he was a carpenter by trade, but in his later
years was a bridge inspector for the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company. Mrs. Reed has the following,
children: .Phoebe. Ann, of Lancaster; Samuel N.,
a cigar maker in Oregon, who married Miss Bertha
Buchen, and is the father of one child, Olive ; Oliver,
who resides in Lancaster City ; Clayton, a farmer in
Manheim township ; Amelia, of Lancaster.
Elias Bear was reared on the farm and educated
in the common schools. When a lad fifteen years
of age, he began caring for himself, working on a
farm for wages. When the Civil war broke out, he
was twenty-one, and in August, 1862, he enlisted in
Co. C, I22d P. V. I., being mustered out in 1863,
after the expiration of his term of nine months' en-
listment ; he was at the front all the time, participat-
ing in the battles of Fairfax Court House, Fred-
ericksburg and Chancellorsville, escaping without a
scratch, though he was a gallant fighter and never
shunned danger. After bis return from the war, he
rented a farm of seventy acres in Manheim township.
For twenty-three years he rented this place of one
man, Mr. Rudy, and when that gentleman died, he
purchased it. Until 1897 he was continuously en-
gaged in its cultivation. That year he retired to
Oregon to a pleasant home he had already bought,
and where he is now taking a well earned rest.
Mr. Bear was married Dec. 26, 1869, to Lucy, a
daughter of Isaac Sowers, born in West Earl town-
ship, at Groffdale, June 28, 1842, and died Dec. 9,
1899. She was a member of the Lutheran Church,
as is also her husband.
Mr. Bear has taken his place among the leading
men of the township, and his long and useful life
shows the quality of genuine manhood.
CHRISTIAN H. KAUFFMAN (deceased)
was born Aug. 26, 1839, a son of Christian and Eliz-
abeth (Hoffman) Kauffman, of West Hempfield
township, where he was reared and educated in the
common schools. When he was twenty-seven he
began operations for himself, locating about a mile
east of Landisville, on the farm where his life was
464
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
spent, and where his widow still lives. This at first
was a farm of 104 acres ; it now contains only eighty
acres, but is regarded as one of the pleasantest places
in that part of the county.
Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman made many valuable im-
provements on this farm, putting up a fine residence
and other farm buildings, and the farm received the
close attention of Mr. Kauffman. He was a man
who was very domestic in his habits, and preferred
the comforts of home to all the pleasures of the out-
side world. In his religions associaitions he was
a member of the River Brethren in Christ.
Mr. Kauffman was married Oct. 23, 1866, to
Barbara, a daughter of John and Maria (Kauffman)
Kendig, who was born iti East Hempfield township,
near the "Black Horse Hotel," July 20, 1846. His
death occurred Jan. 2, 1893, and during the period
of their married life they were more than usually
faithful and devoted to each other. To this union
came the following children: Morris, now living
on the homestead, married to Miss Emma Baker,
and the father of the following, D. Baker, May B.,
C. Raymond! and J. Harold; Mary K., the wife of
Amos H. Herr, of Neffsville, and the mother of C.
Kauffman, Paul and Grace ; Lizzie, the wife of Enos
Hcissey, making their home with Mrs. Kauffman;
Emma, who died at the age of eight years.
Mrs. Kauffman and her daughters are members
of the River Breth-ren in Christ, and are very highly
esteemed in the community in which they live.
JOHN ABRAHAM SPRENGER, one of the
prominent retired citizens of Lancaster, was born
Jan. 26, 1829, in an old log cabin which still stands,
on Fourth street, near Penn street, in Reading, Pa.
John A. Sprenger, his father, was born in the
Rheinpfalz, Bavaria, Germany, July 5, 1770, and
emigrated to America in May, 1821, locating in Read-
ing, Pa., where he carried on a butchering business
until March, 1829, when he embarked in the brewing
business, in Maytown, this county. Two years later
he removed to Elizabethtown, where he remained
until 1836, going then to Lancaster, in which city
he rented a brewery from his brother-in-law, John
Borell, and continued in the brewing business until
obliged by the infirmities of old age to cease work.
His very capable wife managed the business from
1843 to 1867. Mr. Sprenger died Aug. 28, 1854.
He married Elizabeth Laner, who was born in Gleis-
weiler, Rheinpfalz, March 22, 1800, and died in Oct.
1875. Both were buried in the Lancaster cemetery,
and both were members of the Reformed Church.
The children born to them were as follows i Susan
(deceased) married Henry Weber; Elizabeth mar-
ried Jacob Yeisley, of Baltimore: Jacob, who re-
sided in Atlanta, Ga., was born in RJeading in 1825,
and died Dec. 2, 1902 ; Christiana married Edward
Wiley, of Lancaster ; John A. is mentioned below ;
Catherine married (first) Charles Whidmayer, and
is now the widow of Lawrence Knapp; Barbara
married Ernst Krause, a retired brewer of Car-
lisle; Martha is the widow of Charles Connell, of
Philadelphia; Anna married F. R. Dieffenderfer,
of Lancaster; Louise died unmarried, at the age of
sixty-two years; George F. Sprenger, born Ja-n^ 6,
1842, died April 17, 1888 (he married Emma Ziglor,
of Carlisle) ; Amelia married William Roehm, of
Lancaster.
From the age of ten years until his retirement
John Abraham Sprenger was associated with the
brewing business. Fifty consecutive years, is a long
period to devote to one business, but for a half
century Mr. Sprenger gave his time, attention and
energy to his large brewing- interests. To improve
the quality of his products, to decrease the cost of
their production, to extend the territory of their
distribution, required a man of great physical
strength and mental activity.
Although he assisted his father in the business
in his youth, it was in 1852 that he entered upon
the business, with his brother, Hon. Jacsob J.
Sprenger, this partnership lasting for eighteen
monfiis. John A. then started out on his individual
career. He began by leasing a brewery, and two
and one-half years later built a similar establish-
ment for himself, on East King street (on the site
of the present Excelsior Hall building), which he
carried on from 1857 to 1873. Then he leased a
brewery from Philip Fraink, c^ Mt. Joy, making
an agreement to purchase the same if desirable.
This he did in 1883, and expended in refitting and
building the sum of $ioo,<QOO. This brewery phnt
was operated by Mr. Sprenger with increasing pros-
perity until November, r8^,. when he retired from
active work, selling out to a stock company, which
now carries on the business under the name of the
Sprenger Brewing Company.
Although Mr. Sprenger was immersed in the
cares of private business, when the call of his coun-
try for defenders was heard, in April, 1861, he was
one of the first to volunteer in the Lancaster Fenci-
bles, the first regiment of State defenders, mustered
in at Camp Curtin. Although he entered the serv-
ice as a private, he was commissioned sergeant on
the field, and served as such in Company F, under
Capt. Eralin Franklin, until he was discharged at
Harrisburg. He was with the regiment at Win-
chester, Va. While Mr. Sprenger was away from
home the business was carried on, by Tobias Miller.
At the age of fifty-two Mr. Sprenger found himself,
through endeavoring to assist a frierid, $17,000-
worse off than nothing, but instead of sitting down
to bemoan his loss he put his shoulder to the wheel,
and now has a comfortable competence for his old
age. In 1867, with his wife and mother, he visited
the family home in the old country, and also made
a tour through France and Switzerland, in all
spending three months abroad.
On Oct. 28, 1852, Mr. Sprenger was married
(first) to Miss Adelime Erisman, born in Lancaster
county, daughter of John and Maria Erismam, of
Lancaster, where the former was a carpenter. She
€7^,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
465
died without children, June 5, 1892, and was in-
terred in the cemetery at Lancaster. Mr. Sprenger
was married (second), Feb. 12, 1896, to Mrs. Cath-
erine (Ritner) Lamborn (widow of Israel Lam-
born, of Chester county) , who was born in Cumber-
land county, a grandniece of ex-Governor Ritner,
of Pennsylvania, who is remembered as the intro-
ducer of the free-school system in the State. No
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sprenger.
They occupy one of the handsomest and best
equipped residences in the city.
In political sentiment Mr. Sprenger is a stanch
Republican. Since 1843 ^^ has been a member of
the Reformed Church. Fraternally he is connected
with a number of organizations, notably the Ma-
sonic, in which he is a Knight Templar ; the Order
of Red Men ; the G. A. R. ; and the I. O. O. F. His
business interests in this part of the State have
been very important, and as an honorable and up-
right man he won the approval and confidence of
the public in commercial operations, while in pri-
vate life he holds the esteem of a large circle of
warm friends.
HIRAM L. ERB (deceased), for many years a
leading merchant of Clay township, Lancaster coun-
ty, and one of the public-spirited and progressive citi-
zens of the town, was a member of a family long
prominent in the annals of Lancaster county.
Jacob Erb, the great-great-grandfather of Hi-
ram L., was brought from Switzerland to America
by his parents in 1728. He was but four years of
age at that time, so that practically his entire life
was passed in the New World. They located near
Hammer Creek, in Warwick township. About 1782
Jacob removed to Clay township, where he purchased
several hundred acres of land, with mill privileges,
and he, made his home there for the remainder of
his life. Besides a mill at Clay village, he operated
another farther up Middle Creek, and he also cleared
and improved large portions of his extensive estate.
Until the outbreak of the war of the Revolution he
was a believer in the Mennonite faith, but the princi-
ple of non-resistance taught by that society was in too
great opposition to his patriotic spirit, and he with-
drew his membership to support the provisionary
government. He became a man of prominence in
public affairs, and represented his district in the
State Legislature. He died in 1810, when he -was
past eighty years of age. His wife was a Miss
Johns, and their family consisted of two sons and
several daughters. Of the sons, John is mentioned
below; and Christian lived on the old homestead
in Warwick, where some of his descendants are still
to be found.
John Erb, son of Jacob, was for three years in
the service of his country during the Revolution,
acting as teamster. He was but sixteen at the time
he entered the service, and after the close of the war
he resided at Clay, where he operated both the mills
belonging to his father, and also looked after the
30
cultivation of the home farm. He was prominent
in all public affairs, was the founder of the school
at Clay, and took an active interest in religious af-
fairs. John Erb married Judith Hull, and their chil-
dren were: Jacob; John; David; Isaac; Samuel;
Joseph; Molly, who married Abraham Erb and
moved to Canada; Elizabeth, who married Michael
Shepler; Nancy, who married Abraham Bear; and
Catharine, who married Joseph Weidman.
John Erb, son of John, was born Nov. 3, 1786,
and passed his life in Clay, engaged in farming and
milling, and in keeping a public house. He belonged
to the Old Line Whig party, and at one time served
as county commissioner. He married Barbara Ber-
gelbach, and his children were : Hiram ; John B. ;
Henry B. ; and Priscilla Cecilia, who married George
W- Steinmetz. John Erb died in 1862, in the sev-
enty-sixth year of his age.
Hiram Erb, son of John and father of Hiram L.,
was born at the upper mill in Clay township April
II, 1810. The common schools afforded him his
educational advantages, and at the age of nineteen
he succeeded to the milling business established by
his great-grandfather, for forty years successfully
following that line. Some 150 acres of the old
home tract belonged to him, and he met with abun-
dant success in farming it. In 1869, in partnership
with his son, Hiram L., he established a general
store at Richland, Lebanon county, but in 1875 the
business was removed to Clay, where prosperity
awaited the enterprising proprietors. President
Taylor appointed Mr. Erb postmaster, and he effi-
ciently discharged the duties of that office for four
years. He was originally a Republican, and an inti-
mate acquaintance of Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, one of
the party's founders, but in 1872 his admiration for
Horace Greeley carried him into the Democratic
ranks, after which he voted independent of party
affiliations. Mr. Erb served as school director for
three years, and always supported educational and
religious movements. On May 16, 1839, he mar-
ried Catharine I-ane, widow of John S. Bear. One
child, Hiram L., blessed this union. Catharine Lane
Erb died in 1886, at the age of seventy-six years.
Hiram Erb died in 1892, aged eighty-two years.
Hiram L. Erb was born Nov. 24, 1840, and he
entered into rest Jan. 27, 1900. Like his father be-
fore him, he was trained to farming and milling, but
on account of ill health entered the mercantile world,
in partnership with his father, in 1869, under the
firm name of Hiram Erb & Son. His political faith
was like that of his father, and he served the Demo-
cratic party as a member of the county committee.
He also served on the school board. In his re-
ligious connection he was a member of the United
Brethren Church. Kind hearted and liberal, his
charity was often the means of helping a weary fel-
low traveler to rest and comfort. He was a man of
many friends, and his genial social nature made
his home a favorite meeting place. •
On Nov. 24, 1863, Hiram L. Erb was married to
466
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Celinda Becker, a daughter of William and Lucy
(Spayd) Becker, of Mill Creek township. Three
children blessed this union, two of whom reached
maturity: Laura, widow of Rev. C. J. F. Miller,
a prominent minister of the United Brethren Church,
who was born in i860, and who died Nov. 7, 1899,
leaving eight children, Edgar L., Clio D., Lois E.,
Victor H., Earl Raymond, Guy Ralph, Erickson
Colon and Vivian E. ; Linnie, widow of Rev. A. L.
Shannon, a well known minister of the United Breth-
ren Church, who was born in 1864, died Dec.
13, 1900, leaving six children, Helen E., Florence
L., Carl E., Paul E., Mary A. and Minerva E.
The Becker and Spayd families, from which Mrs.
Hiram L. Erb is descended, were among the early
settlers of Lebanon county. John Becker came
from Germany to Lebanon county, Pa., about 1735
or 1740, and his son, George, was one of the pioneers
of Kleinfeltersville, Lebanon county. William
Becker, son of George and father of Mrs. Hiram L.
Erb, was born in 1816, became one of the leading
farmers of his township and died Oct. 29, 1879.
William Becker married Lucy Spayd, and of the
three children born of their union Mrs. Erb alone
lived to mature years.
Mrs. Hiram L. Erb is now making her home in
Richland, Lebanon county. She is a kind and Chris-
tian woman, whose gentle spirit has endeared' her
to all who come within the circle of her acquaintance.
JOPIN H. KAYLOR, a retired farmer, and an
old and much respected resident of Mt. Joy town-
ship,was born in West Donegal township Jan. 19,
1836, a son of Joseph and Mary Annie (Hoflfer)
Kaylor, both native to Lancaster county.
The father was a carpenter, and in his later days
a farmer, though he lived retired for some years.
He was born April 9, 1803, and died in 1878. The
mother, who was born March 10, 1807, died in 1863.
They were married in 1823, and were devoted mem-
bers of the Lutheran Church. The following chil-
dren were born to them: Tobias, born in East
Donegal township March 28, 1826, a retired farmer
in Elizabethtown ; Jacob, born Nov. 6, 1827, a re-
tired farmer in Mt. Joy township; Henry B., born
Feb. 26, 1829, deceased; Mary Ann, born Sept. 4,
1830, the widow of George Hess, and living in Ill-
inois ; Isaac, born Feb. 11, 1832, a farmer in Dauphin
county; Joseph, born Sept. 21, 1833, a retired farmer
in Illinois; John H., born Jan. 19, 1836; Elizabeth,
born Feb. 26, 1839, wife of Samuel Caley, now a re-
tired soldier in Dauphin county ; Benjamin, born Jan.
10, 1838, a carpenter in West Donegal township;
Anna, liorn Nov. 2, 1840, married to Isaac Winters,
a farmer in Dauphin county; Sarah, born Aug. 18,
1842, the wife of Aaron Manning, and living in Ill-
inois ; Samuel, born April 3, 1843, who died young ;
Magdalena, born June 25, 1845, deceased; Cath-
erine, born Sept. i, 1846, married to George Ruther-
ford, the proprietor of a bakey in Bainbridge ; Lo-
vina, born July 5, 1S48, wife of Simon Steffy, of
East Donegal township; Abraham, born Oct. 18,
1850, a farmer of Dauphin county. The paternal
grandfather Kaylor kept a tavern in West Donegal
township ; Joseph Hoffer, the maternal grandfather
of Mr. Kaylor, was a farmer in Dauphin county,
where he died.
John H. Kaylor and Mary Wolgemuth were mar-
ried in Mt. Joy township Sept. 12, 1861, and their
iirst four children died young. Their names were
Anna, Lizzie, Christian and Amanda. The next
child, Katie, married Martin Heistand, an engineer
at Mt. Joy. John and Mamie are unmarried and at
home.
Mrs. Mary Kaylor was born in Mt. Joy township
Oct. 6, 1843, ^"d is a daughter of Christian and
Anna (Metzler) Wolgemuth, of Lancaster county, •
both of whom died in Mt. Joy township ; he in 1888,
at the age of eighty-nine years, lacking one day, and
she in November, 1896, at the age of ninety years.
Their remains were laid to rest in what is known as
the Cross Roads cemetery, in East Donegal township.
They were the parents of the following children:
Elizabeth, the widow of John Hoffman, of Eliza-
bethtown; Jane, the widow of Henry Nissley, of
Rapho township ; John, a retired farmer in Mt. Joy
township ; David, a retired farmer in Mt. Joy town-
ship ; Christian, who is dead ; Anna, deceased ; Abra-
ham, deceased; Mary. Christian Wolgemuth, the
paternal grandfather of Mrs. Kaylor, was a farmer
in Lancaster county.
John H. Kaylor spent the first twenty-one years
of his life at home with his parents, and then car-
ried on a farm on shares in Mt. Joy township, an
arrangen]ent which continued until the spring of
1899. That spring he removed to his present com-
fortable and attractive home, about a hundred yards
from the borough line of Elizabethtown. He has
done well in life, and his present comfortable cir-
cumstances are entirely the result of his economy,
careful management and unwearied industry. Mr.
Kaylor and his wife are members of the River Breth-
ren Church, while his good standing in his neigh-
bors' opinions is attested by his election three times
as school director. Mr. Kaylor has made a small
fortune off a rented farm, and well deserves a prom-
inent place among the leading men of Lancaster
county.
REV. CHARLES NAGEL is pastor of the
Moravian Church in Lancaster, Pa. He was born
in Cannstadt, Wurtemberg, Germany, Oct. 28, 1844,
and was but a vear old when his father, a clergy-
man of the Lutheran Church, entered into rest. His
early education was obtained in the schools of his na-
tive land, and in his ninth year the widowed mother
brought him and his sister to the New World. They
located in Brooklyn, N. Y., where they continued
to reside for some time. When young Charles was
fifteen years old he went to Bethlehem, Pa., and
there entered the Moravian College and Theological
Seminary, having determined upon the ministry as
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
467
his life work. His devotion to his work, his careful
study and his consistent practice of the principles
he professed won for him the high esteem of his in-
structors, and when he was graduated, in his twenti-
eth year, he was called upon to fill the position of
teacher in the Moravian Boarding School for Boys at
Nazareth, Pa., which position he held for three years.
In pursuance of the next call, this time into the min-
istry of the congregation at Newfoundland, Wayne
Co., Pa., he was, in 1868, ordained a deacon of the
Moravian Church by the Right Rev. John C. Jacob-
son. His labors in the Newfoundland field were
crowned with success, and he continued in charge
there until January, 1874. In 1870, at York, Pa.,
he had been ordained a presbyter by the Rt. Rev.
Henry Shultz. When he resigned his pastorate at
Newfoundland it was to accept a call to the Church
at Elizabeth, N. J., where he continued until 1876,
when he returned to Pennsylvania, and took charge
of the parish at Lititz, Lancaster county, where he
remained until 1885. During all these years he had
not confined his attention to the duties of his own
charge, but had taken a keen intelligent interest
in all that pertained to the welfare of the church.
By close study and a wide contemplation of the prob-
lems that confront the clergy of whatever denom-
ination, he became keenly alive to the needs and the
dangers assailing the higher morality of the people.
In 1876 he was delegated, with others, to represent
the Northern Province of the Moravian Church in
America at the General Synod, which convened in
Hornhut, Saxony, from May to July, of that year.
From 1885 to 1901 Rev. Nagel was the incumbent
of the First Moravian Church in Philadelphia, and
on Sept. 19, 1901, he entered the Gospel ministry
of the Moravian Church at Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
In 1868 Rev. Nagel was united in marriage with
Miss Ellen M. Luchenbach, daughter of William
Luchenbach, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
JOSEPH S. RISSER, one of the old and suc-
cessful farmers of Mt. Joy township, Lancaster coun-
ty, was born in Londonderry, Lebanon Co., Pa.,
Dec. 28, 1836, a. son of John and Mary (Shenk)
Risser, both natives of Lebanon county, where they
died full of years and honor. The father, a farmer,
who died in 1869, at the age of sixty years, ten
months and twelve days, had lived retired many
years. His widow passed away in 1892, at the age
of seventy-six years, seven months and twenty-eight
■days. They were interred in the Risser Church
burying ground in Lancaster county. They were
members of the Mennonite Church, and had the fol-
lowing family : Fannie, born Aug. S, 1835, now an
mvalid and the widow of John H. Risser, of Mt.
Toy township, who was born Feb. 21, 1834, and died
iSTov. 5, 1901 : Joseph S. ■, Abraham, who died aged
thirty-eight years : John, a prominent man in Leba-
non county, and a director of a National bank in
'Elizabethtown ; Samuel, a farmer in Lebanon county.
Several of the Risser family came to America
during the eighteenth century. Ulrich and Jacob
Risser came from Rotterdam in the ship "Ad-
venturer," John Davis, master, qualified Oct. 2,
1727. John Risser came at the age of twenty-three,
in the ship "Queen Elizabeth," Alexander Hope,
master, from Rotterdam, qualified Sept. 16, 1738.
Philip Risser came in the "Loyal Judith," Edward
Painter, commander, from R.otterdam, qualified
Sept. 3, 1739. Peter Risser and his wife, Anna Sny-
der, sailed from Rotterdam in the "Robert and
Alice," Walter Goodman, commander, qualified,
Sept. 3, 1739. The last couple were the great-
grandparents of Joseph S. Risser.
The paternal grandparents of Joseph S. Risser
were Peter and Fanny (Witmer) Risser, farming
people of Lebanon county, where their lives were
spent. The grandfather died in 1856, at the age
of seventy-six. The Rissers are of Swiss descent;
and have always been sturdy and industrious people
of good character and fine standing. The same
thing may justly be said of Mr. Risser's maternal
grandparents, Joseph and Fanny (Ober) Shenk, of
Lebanon county, where their peaceful and upright
lives were passed. The Shenks also came originally
from Switzerland.
Joseph S. Risser was married Nov. 8, 1864, in
Lancaster county, to Miss Annie L. Gerber, who was
born in Rapho township and died Sept. 24, 1888, at
the age of forty-two years. Her remains were laid
to rest in the Kraybill cemetery. She was a sister
of David L. Gerber, of East Donegal township.
Mr. Risser remained with his parents until he
reached the age of twenty-eight years, when he rent-
ed a farm in East Donegal township. There he re-
mained until 1873, when he came to the farm on
which he is found to-day, and where he has made a
signal success in its cultivation. In his religion
he has united himself with the Mennonite Church,
and his clean and wholesome life has cast no dis-
credit upon- his profession of faith. In politics he
is a Republican, and is known as an upright and
conscientious citizen. He has worked hard, been
prudent and careful, and has amassed a very com-
fortable competence.
EMANUEL NEFF. Among the old and re-
spected citizens of Strasburg township is Emanuel
Neff, who conducts a mill and operates a farm two
miles west of the borough of Strasburg, in Lancaster
county, and well represents the two prominent fam-
ilies from which he came.
Emanuel Neff was born in Lancaster county Oct.
25, 1840, a son of Henry and Anna (Groff) NeflF,
both of whom have passed away. Henry Neff was
a native of East Lampeter township, a son of Chris-
tian and Annie Neff, and was born March 19, 1819,
dying Feb. 16, t88i. His first marriage was to
Anna Groff, who died in 185 1, leaving three chil-
dren : Emanuel ; A.mos, a farmer of Cass county,
Mo. ; and Susan, deceased, who married Amos
Hershey, of Gordonville. The second marriage of
468
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Henry Neff was to Elizabeth Groff, and his third
to Barbara Wade, both of whom died without issue.
Henry Neff was a farmer and also a miller,
spending his whole life in East Lampeter and Stras-
burg townships, owning at one time two fine farms
in Strasburg township, selling one prior to the pur-
chase of the mill property now owned and operated
by his son, Emanuel. In connection with the mill,
he purchased forty-three acres of land, and there
passed his last years, spending a useful, busy life,
and dying as hn lived, a conscientious and worthy
member. of the Old Mennonite Church.
Emanuel Neff was reared on the farm and early
learned habits of thrift and economy which have as-
sisted him in becoming the substantial member of
the community he now is. His education was gained
in the public schools and when he had reached the
age of tvirenty-one he began farming operations for
himself, locating on a farm of ninety-five acres, in
East Strasburg township, where he remained twenty
years. In March, 1882, he succeeded to his present
property, and since that time he has carried on the
mill and farmed the estate surrounding it. Emanuel
Neff is well and favorably known through the lo-
cality and is ever interested in all improvements that
promise good to the .community, in the way of
temperance, religion or education.
Emanuel Neff was married in 1861 to Catherine
Eby, a daughter of Christian and Rebecca (Warner)
Eby, who was born in this county, near Gap, Oct.
3, 1841, and seven children have been born of this
union: Rebecca, who. married John B. Lefever, of
East Lampeter township ; Enos, deceased ; Harry,
a farmer of West Lampeter, who married Fannie
Myers; Christian, a farmer of Paradise township,
who married Lavina Shaub; Mary, married to
George W. Rohrer, of East Lampeter ; John, a farm-
er of Strasburg, who married Barbara Keener ; and
Katie, who remains in the home.
Both Emanuel Neff and his wife are valued mem-
bers of the Old Mennonite Church, where their kind-
ness and generosity are well known, and they are
among the most respected residents of this part of
Lancaster county.
PAUL HEINE, of the Sprenger Brewing Com-
pany, is well known in Lancaster, where with his
father-in-law, Ferdinand Grebe, he owns the
Sprenger brewery — one of the widest known and
oldest institutions of its kind in the city. He was born
in Wolfshagen, Brunswick, Germany, Nov. 25, 1864,
a son of Heinrich and Elizabeth (Necker) Heine.
Heinrich Heine, who died in Berlin in 1879,
was a noted author, poet and playwright, and a nurri-
ber of published works testify to his ability. His
wife, Elizabeth Necker, daughter of a distinguished
physician of Laage, Mecklenburg, is still living in
Berlin, hale and hardy at the age of eighty-two
years. Three children were born to them: Rich-
ard, a leather goods manufacturer of New York;
Emma, wife of Ferdinand Krause, an ImperiaJ
Opera singer of Berlin ; and Paul.
After receiving an excellent education at vari-
ous German schools Mr. Heine connected himself
with a leading Berlin exporting house, remaining
with same four years, after which he went to the
celebrated Franz Spielhagen Chemical Works, the
largest of their kind in Berlin. He was then twenty-
one years old, and in three years he had ascended
the commercial ladder to the position of manager
and cashier in the concern. Holding this place
three years, in 1891 he became anxious to visit
Anierica with a view of establishing himself here.
Two weeks after reaching New York he secured
a position in the big linen goods importing house
of Lamb & Griesbach, in order to make himself bet-
ter acquainted with the business methods and the
language of this country. He then bought out a
stationery business in that city, and in two years
and a half after landing in America he was part
owner of a large brewery — ^the one at Lancaster.
Mr. Heine is certainly a progressive and wide^
awake business man, and his life affords a good
lesson for young men to emulate. Continual addi-
tions, and improvements prompted by a constantly
growing demand for its products, have brought the
concern to fully three times its capacity over that
when purchased, in 1894. Progressive in every-
tliing, the Sprenger Brewing Company built the
fine "Hotel Lincoln," on South Queen street, be-
sides rebuilding and remodeling several other of
their hotels in the city, thus contributing materially
to the development of Lancaster. Modern appli-
ances in the brewery have made its product greatly
sought, not only in Lancaster and the county, but
from all over the State. Mr. Heine is a member of
the Lancaster Board of Trade.
In April, 1894, Mr. Heine married Emma, only
daughter and child of Ferdinand Grebe. One child
has been born to them, Ferdinand, named in honor
of his maternal grandfather. Mr. Heine is a mem-
ber of Blue Lodge, Chapter, Knights Templar^
Council, Lodge of Perfection and Mystic Shrine, in
Masonry ; of the Benevolent Order of Elks, Knights,
of Pythias, Red Men, Knights of Fidelity, Hamil-
ton Club, Road Drivers Association, Lancaster
Country Club, and the leading German societies of
the place. He is a public-spirited citizen, always
having the interest of the place he made his home
at heart. He is well thought of by everybody, is
liberal and kind-hearted to the less fortunate ones,
and may well be congratulated on his popularity
and business standing, for it is of the best.
GEORGE RUTT SENSENIG, of No. 11 North
Duke street, is one of fifteen children born. to par-
ents who came from old and prominent families.
Christian Sensenig, his great-grandfather, was a
miller, and came from Switzerland to America early
in the century to escape the religious persecution
yya^^ ^>^*.:z>
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
469
then fiercely raging against the Mennonite Church
in his native land. He settled in Earl township,
and his descendants have been land owners there for
generations.
John Sensenig, the grandfather of George R.,
was a lifelong miller, and was born in Lancaster
county. His son. Christian, was also a miller,
was born near Terre Hill, in East Earl township,
in 1773, and died in 1864. His wife was
Susan, a daughter of Christian Rutt, a farmer in East
Earl township, and to this union fifteen children
were born, of whom four are living : Levi, a cat-
tle dealer of Lancaster ; Harry R., a farmer of Co-
calico township; Mattie, the widow of Martin M.
Sensenig, late of Goodville, Lancaster county, and
head of the Sensenig hardware company, one of the
most extensive concerns of its kind outside of the
big cities; George Rutt.
George Rutt Sensenig was born in East Earl
township in 1846, and was educated in the local dis-
trict school, which he left when thirteen years old
to go into his father's mill, where he remained until
his eighteenth year, when his father died. At that
time he left the mill and entered the butcher trade,
which he fully learned, and then engaged in the cat-
tle business, soon being recognized as a most relia-
ble dealer. On Aug. 21, 1900, Mr. Sensenig pur-
chased the extensive business of George J. Rutt, on
North Duke street. Here he is engaged in a most
successful meat business, with his abattoirs at No.
465 Holland avenue, and his patrons include many
of the best families of the city.
Mr. Sensenig married Sarah, daughter of David
Fry, a noted tanner of Ephrata. Mr. Sensenig is
a member of the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, and
is a Master Mason. In his politics he is an ardent
Republican, and has attended as a delegate the coun-
ty and other conventions, and had the honor of being
a delegate to the national convention that nominated
General Harrison for a second term. Mr. Sensenig
is an honorable and upright man of lofty impulses,
and has a host of friends.
SAMUEL L. KAUFFMAN, a resident of Kin-
zers, Lancaster county, was born near Allensville,
Mifflin Co., Pa., in 1830, and there he lived until
he was nine years of age, receiving the most of his
education in that period of his life.
Jacob ICaufffnan, the great-grandfather of Sam-
Bel L., was born in 1737, the exact date and location
riot being known. His son, Christian Kauffman,
was born June 25, 1764, at what is known as Chester
Valley, Chester Co., Pa. The father of Samuel L.
Was born Sept. 15, 1797. The grandfather lived
at this point during the Revolutionary war, and on
one occasion the opposing armies drew very close to
this place. The Kauffmans were notified by Gen.
Washington that a battle was likely to take place
on that very farm. This kind act was repeated by
the great American, and other families in the neigh-
borhood were notified to remain in, the cellar during
the battle, as they were between the contending
armies. The next morning the valley was swept
by a severe storm, and the expected battle did not
take place. Christian Kauffman moved to Mifflin
county, Pa., in 1802, where he made his home. The
father of Samuel L. Kauffman was married in 1819
or 1820 to Sarah Lapp, and to this union were born
six boys and three girls: John Kauflfman, born
Sept. 19, 1821; Gideon, March 28, 1824; Jonathan,
Dec. 10, 1826; Samuel L., Jan. 24, 1830; Elizabeth,
Sept. 1 1, 1832, married to Jonathan F. Stoltzfus ;
Michael L., Dec. 7, 1834; Christian L., Feb. 5, 1838;
Nancy, Nov. 29, 1840, who married Jacob Stoltz-
fus and was killed by a train at a railway street-
crossing near Bird-in-Hand ; Sarah, Dec. 24, 1843,
wife of Amos Mast.
From Mifflin county the family moved to Union
county. Pa., in 1839, and nine years later made their
home near Paradise, Lancaster Co., Pa., where the
father died Sept. 15, 1879; he was eighty-two years
old; his wife, who was born Jan. 15, 1801, died Nov.
22, 1879.
Samuel L. Kauffman grew to manhood under the
parental roof, was married Feb. 3, 1857, near Gap
P. O., Lancaster county, to Barbara Stoltzfus, and
at first was engaged in farming. In 1864 he went
into a business of selling agricultural implements,
and was later engaged in the hardware business un-
der the «ame of Kauflfman & Livingston. This
partner was Benjamin B. Livingston, a brother of
judge John B. Livingston.
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel L. Kauffman had no chil-
dren, and in the fall of 1857 they took into their
home two orphan children, a brother and sister,
William D. and Mary Jane Skiles. The boy died
when ten years old, and the sister married John
Kessler, a coach maker at Kinzers. The Kauffman
home next became an asylum for Harry McNelley,
a boy of nine years of age, without education or
moral training. He was of a roving disposition, but
under the kindly atmosphere of this beautiful home
and the motherly spirit of Mrs. Kauffman his bet-
ter nature bloomed and became marked. He was
sent to day and Sunday-school, became a student of
! the Bible, was ordained a clergyman and is in charge
of the United Brethren Church at Pottstown, Pa.
Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman also took charge of a
nephew, who was a deaf mute. They enfolded him
in an atmosphere of love and eventually sent him to
the Mute School at Philadelphia, where he remained
ten years. He has become a man of culture, has
married a mute, a school-mate, and is engaged in the
seed business near Lancaster City. Another child
taken into this hospitable home was Hallie M. Camp-
bell, who was taken from the county home in 1895,
when she was ten years of a;ge. She has become a
bright and charming young girl, and is the great de-
light of her foster parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman are both members of
the Amish Mennonite Church, and took an active
part in the establishment of the Sunday-school at
470
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the Amish Millwood Church. The organization of
the Sunday-school was opposed by many, but the
persistence of Mr. Kauffman and others overcame
the opposition, and brought the churches into line.
Mr. Kaufifman was one of the building committee
at the construction of the church in 1882, of which
he has been one of the Trustees to the present time.
Mr. Kauflfman has been associated with the Penn
Mutual Fire Association since its formation, being
successively agent, director and president of the As-
sociation, being elected to this last position at the
annual meeting in the fall of 1901.
JACOB ROHRER, a retired farmer of Rapho
township, was born in East Hempfield township
Nov. 8, 1829, son of Daniel and Mary (Kreider)
Rohrer, of Leacock and East Lampeter townships.
Daniel Rohrer, the father, was also a farmer
until thirteen years prior to his death, which oc-
curred in January, 1897, at the advanced age of
ninety-four years. His wife died in January, 1894,
at the age of eighty-six years. The couple are buried
in the East Petersburg cemetery. Mr. and Mrs.
Rohrer were members of the Mennonite Church;
for years he was a member of the school directory of
this district. He was a man of prominence and large
means.
There were born to them the following children :
John, a retired farmer residing at Landisville, Pa. ;
Jacob ; Daniel, a farmer, living in Crawford county.
Mo. ; Benjamin, who died in youth ; Abraham, de-
ceased, a farmer ; Anna, wife of Abraham B. Miller,
a retired farmer of Rohrerstown, Pa. ; Israel, who
died in youth ; Hettie, who died at the age of thirty-
one years, unmarried ; Isaac, a farmer of Marion
county. Mo. ; Henry, who died in youth ; and Mary,
wife of Isaac K. Stoner, a farmer of Petersburg,
Pa. Jacob Rohrer's grandparents on his father's
side were John and Hettie (Wenger) Rohrer, of
Leacock township.
John Rohrer, a farmer and carpenter, was born in
1779 and died at the age of eighty-six years. His
wife was born in 1779 and died at the age of sixty-
eight years. Both are buried in Leacock township.
There were born to them the following children-:
Benjamin; Maria, wife of John Musser; Daniel;
Isaac ; Hettie, wife of Joseph Moyer ; Martin ; Ja-
cob ; Michael ; Betsey, wife of Samuel Buckwalter :
Israel; and Nancy, wife of Christian Stauffer. On
his mother's side Mr. Rohrer's grandparents were
John and Anna (Hoover) Kreider. of Lampeter and
Warwick townships. Mr. Kreider was a farmer
and died in Lampeter township, and his wife died in
East Hempfield township.
On Nov. 17, 1857, Jacob Rohrer was married to
Miss Mary S. Kreider, of Lancaster, Pa. There
have been born to this union the following children :
Jacob K., a farmer of East Hempfield township,
married to Amanda Stauffer, by whom he has had
four children; Mary K., wife of Martin Nissley, a
machinist of Landisville, Pa., with eight children;
Daniel K., who died in youth; John S., living on the
old farm in Rapho township, and married to Miss
Lizzie Nissley, by whom he has had three children ;
and Hettie K., who married Benjamin D. Peters, a
farmer and machinist of Rapho township, and has
had six children.
Mrs. Mary S. (Kreider) Rohrer was born in
East Hempfield township, died Dec. 20, 1898, at the
age of sixty-two years, and is buried in Erissman's
cemetery ; she was the daughter of Jacob and Mary
(Sechrist) Kreider, of Lampeter township. Both
her parents died in East Hempfield township.
Jacob Rohrer lived with his parents until the
time of his marriage, receiving in the meantime a
good education in the schools of the district. Soon
after the wedding he moved to the farm now owned
by John S. Rohrer and remained there until 1894,.
when he removed to his present farm, a very fine
place. Mr. Rohrer is a prominent man in the town-
ship, for eight years was school director and was
township auditor for a period of three years. He
is a Republican in politics and is greatly interested
in the welfare of that party. Mr. Rohrer and his
family are members of the Mennonite Church. The
whole neighborhood rightfully regards Mr. Rohrer
as a splendid specimen of the old-time Pennsylvania
gentleman, and finds it a pleasure to meet and visit
with him.
ABRAHAM HERSHOUR, a resident of Fulton
township, was born in Brecknock township, Lancas-
ter county, April 6, 1825. He is a son of James and
Hanna (Stcmian) Hershoui", natives of Bucks coun-
ty and of German origin.
James Hershour, the father, was a farmer by
occupation and came to Lancaster county while yet
a young man. He was a Republican in politics, but
never sought office. He was of the Lutheran re-
ligious belief and a devout member of that church.
He was the father of nine children, all of whom are
now dead, with the exception of Abraham and Su-
san, the wife of Joseph Camra. Their names were
Isaac, John, Henry, Joseph, Abraham, Elizabeth,
Lydia, Susan and Samuel.
Abraham Hershour was married to Miss Leah
Able Oct. 21, 1852. She was the daughter of George
and Catherine Able, of York county. Pa. This
family also was of German origin. Mr. and Mrs.
Hershour have been blessed with the following chil-
dren: Jacob, born April 28, 1854, a farmer of
Little Britain township ; Henry, born July 8, 1856,
who died in youth ; Catherine, born Sept. 24, 1858,
deceased; Matilda, born Dec. 8, 1859, the wife of
Bar Caruth; Abraham, born May 13, 1863, residing
in Lancaster; John, deceased; Franklin, born Jan.
24, 1864, residing in Chester county, Pa. ; Christian,
born Aug. 19, 1869, residing on the home farm;
Leah E., born Dec. 28, 1871, the wife of Caleb Mc-
Fann ; and Mary A., born April 6, 1875, who married
Charles Bradley and lives on the homestead with her
parents. Mrs. Hershour was born Sept. 24, 1833.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
471
Mr. Hershour started in life a very poor boy,
but by industry and frugality he is now the owner of
a fine farm of 167 acrfes, well stocked and improved.
He is a strong Republican in politics. He is a mem-
ber of the Lutheran Church. Respected by all his
friends and neighbors, Mr. Hershour stands in his
community a citizen with whom it is both a pleas-
ure and a benefit to be acquainted.
f '
PETER E. HERSHEY, a .retired farmer of
Leacock township, Lancaster eouirty, was born in
Salisbury -township Teb. 5, 1826, and is a son of
Abraham and Anna (Eby) Hershey, both of Salis-
bury township.
Abraham Hershey was a farmer, and spent his
entire life in Salisbury township, where he died in
January, 1843, ^t the age of fifty-six years, eleven
months and two days. His widow, who long sur-
vived him, went to her rest in February, 1896, at the
age of ninety-five years, two months and fourteen
days. Both were bufied in Hershey's burying
ground in Salisbury township. They were the par-
ents of two children : Margaret, who is the widow
of Daniel Denlinger, and lives in Leacock town-
ship ; Pelrer E., whose name appears above. Abra-
ham Hershey was twice married, his first wife be-
ing Naney Sechrist, who was the mother of Jacob
S., who died in August, 1889, at the age of seventy-
six years.
Andrew Hershey, the pioneer representative of
the family in this country, was born in Switzerland
and came to America in 1719, with his two sons,
Andrew and Benjamin, making their home near the
present site of Lancaster. A third son. Christian,
remained in Switzerland until 1739, when he also
immigrated to Pennsylvania, where with his two
brothers he became a preacher of the Mennonite
Church. Andrew Hershey, who died in 1792, was
the father of twelve children. Christian, John, An-
drew, Benjamin, Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, Henry,
Peter, Maria, Catherine and Adli.
The paternal grandparents of Peter E. Hershey
were Jacob and Anna (Newcomer) Hershey. They
were both natives of Dauphin county, but moved into
Lancaster county and spent their lives in Salisbury
township. They had the following family : John ;
Jacob ; Christian ; Elizabeth ; Abraham and Andrew,
twins ; Joseph, a Mennonite bishop.
The maternal grandparents of Mr. Hershey were
Peter and Maragret (Hess) Newcomer, both natives
of Lancaster county.
Peter E. Hershey was married Dec. 5, 1848, m
Lancaster, Pa., to Anna Landis. Born to this union
were: Christian L., who died in his eighteenth
year ; Anna, who married Amos Leaman, of Leacock
township, and died at the age of twenty-five ; Henry ;
Mafv, who married Esaias Denlinger, a farmer of
Paradise township, and is the mother of four chil-
dren; Landis, a farmer on the old homestead in
Salisbury township, married, first, to Elizabeth
Buckwalter, by whom he had one child, Harry, and,
second, to Lizzie Leaman, by whom he had three
children, Anna, Willis and Ruth.
Mrs. Anna (Landis) Hershey was born in East
Lampeter township in 1829, a daughter of Christian
S. and Mary (Landis) Landis, of East Lampeter
township. Her father, who was a farmer, died in
East Lampeter township at the age of sixty-seven
years, six months and nine days. His wife died
June 8, 1865, at the age of fifty-seven years, three
months and , twenty-five days. Both were buried
in the cemetery connected with the Mellinger
Church. They were members of the Mennonite
Church. Mr. and Mrs. Christian S. Landis were
the parents of the following family: Levi, who
was a retired farmer, now deceased; Elizabeth, the
widow of Peter B. Brubaker, living in Manheim
township; Anna; Catherine, late wife of Christian
S. Risser; Rev. John L., a clergyman of the Men-
nonite Church, of East Lampeter township ; Hettie,
the widow of Martin R. Herr, residing in Lea-
cock township.
The maternal grandparents of Anna (Landis)
Hershey were Henry and Mary (Rohrer) Landis,
both natives of Lancaster county. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. Hershey were John and Bar-
bara (Snaveley) Landis, both of Lancaster county.
John Landis was twice married.
Peter E. Hershey lived with his mother until his
marriage^ when he moved to another farm, in Salis-
bury township, where he remained until 1855, that
year coming to his present farm. In the spring of
1878 he retired. For five times he was appointed as-
sistant assessor, and was school director seven years,
when he refused to serve longer in that position.
Both husband and wife are members of the Mennon-
ite Church. In politics he is a Republican, and
holds an enviable position in the community, where
he has many friends, won by his industry and hon-
esty, and retained by his kindly character.
SAMUEL WEAVER LANTZ, for many years
a farmer in Lancaster county, was descended from
a Swiss family of French extraction, one of whom
settled in Connecticut. This latter day bearer of
the name was born in Strasburg township, Lancas-
ter county. Pa., Oct. 27, 1837, and died in Lancaster
City April i, 1899. His parents, Jacob and Hettie
(Weaver) Lantz, were also natives of this county,
and they were married, lived for sixty-three years
and died in the same house, during the same year,
and at the same age. Jacob Lantz died in Septem-
ber of 1883, his wife having passed away in July.
7 hey were eighty-three years old. They were mem-
bers of the New Mennonite Church, and were the
parents of seven children : Isaac, a farmer in Ches-
ter county, Pa. ; Benjamin, deceased ; John, deceased ;
Samuel Weaver ; Hettie, the widow of Martin Mey-
ers, of Landisville, Pa. ; Anna, wife of John Trout, a
farmer of Strasburg; and Leah, living in Landis-
ville.
From earliest vouth Samuel Weaver Lantz was^
472
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
reared to an appreciation of the dignity and use-
fulness of an agricultural life, and his inclinations
never wandered from this peaceful means of liveli-
hood. On Dec. 19, 1865, he married Maria Klein-
hans, born in Strasburg, daughter of John Frederick
and Amelia (Leistner) Kleinhans, natives, respect-
ively, of Hanover and Brunswick, Germany. The fa-
ther was born Oct. 3, 1808, and died at Lancaster in
1893 ; and the mother was born Jan. 13, 1825, and
still lives in this city. John Fredrick Kleinhans was
a blacksmith in his native land, but upon coming to
Lancaster in 1840 worked for the Baldwin Locomo-
tive Works for a few years, and then started in
business for himself. Besides Maria, he had one
son, Elias, a farmer in the York furnaces. The
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lantz are : Amelia,
the wife of Martin Shreiner, of Neffsville, Pa.;
Harry, a molder at Mount Vernon; Anna, married
to Henry Fritze, an electrician of Jersey City;
Charles, married to Sadie Bubble and living in Phil-
adelphia; Bertha, who married Dr. Benjamin F.
Good, of Conestoga, Pa. ; Bessie, unmarried and liv-
ing at home; Mary, also at home; and Alice, de-
ceased at the age of seventeen years.
During the Civil war Mr. Lantz served in Co.
E, 79th Regiment, P. V., enlisting Sept. 21, 1861,
and receiving his discharge Oct. I, 1864. He par-
ticipated in thirteen battles, and was wounded in
the hand, besides contracting rheumatism, from
which he suffered all his life, and for which he re-
ceived a pension. He was a member of the New
Mennonite Church. He belonged to the Republi-
can party and served as supervisor of Strasburg for
three years. Mr. Lantz bore an enviable reputation
in his neighborhood, his honesty of purpose and pub-
lic spirit being unquestioned.
AARON WEAVER, one of the most success-
ful farmers of I^ancaster county, is a son of the late
Isaac Weaver, who was born in East Lampeter
township, and died at the city of Lancaster.
Isaac Weaver was a son of Rev. Joseph Weaver,
a Mennonite minister of Lampeter, and himself en-
tered that communion early in life, remaining a de-
vout and consistent member of the church until his
death, which occurred in his sixty-ninth year. He
was a man of intellect, good judgment and almost
phenomenal energy. He was a large land owner,
being the proprietor of three farms, all of which his
progressive spirit and wide-awake ideas led him. to
keep well improved. That on which he resided,
where his children were born, and which is spoken
of in the family as "the homestead," comprised 128
acres located in East Lampeter. Another of 185
acres situated some six miles west of Lancaster,
was known as the Setter farm. The third, known
as the Beam farm, was at Willowstreet ; there he
erected a complete set of buildings. Besides mak-
ing such extensive improvements on his own prop-
erty he assisted two sisters in improving their prop-
erty. When he had reached the age of sixty he
retired to pass his declining years in rest. He erected
a residence at No. 529 East King street, Lancaster,
and there entered into rest Oct. 27, 1887. He mar-
ried Catherine Barr, who survives him, and is now
living, at an advanced age, with her daughter Mrs.
John Girven, of Mechanicsburg. They were the
parents of seven children : Mary, the eldest,- is the
wife of John Girven, of Mechanicsburg, this county ;.
Joseph B. lives at the old homestead in East Lam-
peter ; Aaron is the subject of the present biograph-
ical sketch; Benjamin F. is a farmer of Manor town-
ship ; Milton L. is a miller and coal dealer in West
Hempfield ; Elizabeth is deceased ; and Ephraim E.,
the youngest of the family, is a farmer in Manor.
Aaron Weaver was born in East Lampeter March
IT, 1856. He grew up on the old home farm, and
after his father's retirement and removal to Lan-
caster was employed for some two years by his
brother-in-law, Mr. Girven. In 1882 he and his
brother, Benjamin F., went to Manor' township, and
settled on the Sener farm, to which reference has
been already made,, renting the same from their fa-
ther, who had purchased it from Jacob Landis. For
three years the brothers occupied it jointly, and dur-
ing this time they made some costly improvements,
erecting a fine residence, with good, substantial
barns and tobacco houses. It was conceded to be
one of the finest, best improved and most efficiently
managed farms in that part of the county. In 1885
their father divided the property equally between
them, Aaron Weaver receiving the southern half.
He has still further improved his portion, and every-
thing about his jjlace tells of thrift, good sense, in-
dustry and prosperity; While chiefly engaged in
general farming, Mr. Weaver,, since 1892, has en-
gaged extensively in tobacco growing and packing,
in which his quick perceptive power and excellent
business judgment have insured his success.
Mr. Weaver was married, in November, 1889,
to Miss Emma K. Landis, a daughter of Jacob S.
Landis, of East Lampeter. She died in February,
1890. Mr. Weaver is a Republican in politics.
AMOS WALTON (deceased) occupied a lead-
ing position among the representative farmers of
Fulton township, Lancaster county, not only on ac-
count of his financial success, but also, and more
especially, because of his genial personality and ex-
cellence of judgment and character. His birth oc-
curred Jan. 6, 1840, arid he was a son of Amos and
Martha (Young) Walton. His grandfather was
born in England, and came to this country at an early
date. His family consisted' of Amos ( i ) , father of
Amos (2), John, Jesse, Okum, Isaac, Elijah, Eliza
and Emily.
Amos Walton, Sf., was married Sept. 15, 1827,
to Martha, daughter of John Young. To them came
children as follows: Mahlon, born July 17, 1828,
a farmer who resided in Martic township and
died in 1897; Levi, born Dec. 7, 1830, who
died young; Mary Ann, born Dec. 27, 1833^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
473.
who married George Patten, of Martic town-
ship, and died in 1896; Isaac, born Aug. 19,
1835, a resident of Mount Nebo, Martic township :
Amos, our subject.
Amos Walton was reared upon the farm, and
received his ieducation in the public schools of the
district. Starting out in life without a dollar, he
began working at a salary of forty cents per day,
yet before his death owned a fine farm of 190 acres,
all in a good state of cultivation. Upon the place
is a pleasant, three-story brick residence, commodi-
ous barn, ample tobacco sheds and all necessary out-
buildingSj and Mr. Walton was justly regarded as
one of the best farmers in his part of Lancaster
county.
On Nov. 15, 1864; Mr. Walton married Miss
Martha Alexander, who was born Dec. 2, 1841,
daughter of John and Susan Alexander, of Martic
township, of Scotch-Irish descent. Mrs. Walton
was one of a family of eight children : Marris, who
died while serving in the Civil war; Martha, the
widow of Amos Walton; Mary Ann, married to
Lewis Jenkins ; Jason, deceased ; Samuel, a mer-
chant of Mount Nebo ; Rebecca Jane, wife of Harry
Marsh, a merchant of Lancaster City, Pa. ; John, a
farmer of Martic township; Calvin, deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Walton had two children : Isaac
Jason, who was born March 4, 1866; and Lewis
E., who was bom April 15, 1868, and died May 24,
1870. Amos Walton was a Democrat in politics.
Kind to his family, honorable in all his dealings, a
good neighbor and a public-spirited citizen, he was
a man who enjoyed the highest respect and esteem
of his fellow townsmen, and was an excellent ex-
ample to the rising generation, a typical representa-
tive of selfmade men. His death, which occurred
Feb.27, 1902, was deeply lamented.
Isaac Jason Walton married Anna Martha Wil-
son, of Fulton township, on Aug. 25, 1887. She
was born Oct. 24, 1864, daughter of Hiram and
Martha (Phillips) Wilson. Four children came to
them: Edgar Earl, born March 19, 1888; Amos
Lester, born March 8, 1889; Edna Martha, born
Nov. 2, 1891 ; and Mary Elma, born Feb. 9, 1902.
Isaac Jason Walton now owns the farm where he
resides with his family.
JESSE HARNER, a highly esteemed retired
farmer of Drumore township, now a resident of Lib-
erty Square, in Lancaster county, was born in Mont-
gomery county. Pa., Jan. 20, 1835, a son of Joseph
and Mary (Slingluff) Harner, both of whom were
natives of Montgomery county, he being of German,
and she of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
Grandfather John Harner was an old settler of
Montgomery county and there reared this family:
Daniel, Joseph, Heiirv, John, Samuel, Sarah, Susan,
Anna and Elizabeth' Of this family Joseph be-
came the father of Jesse Harner and was born in
1783, and died in 1870. In 1822 he was united in
marriage to Mary SlingluflF, who was born in 1794
and died in 1849, the seven children of this union
being: John S., whose sketch appears elsewhere;
George, deceased ; Samuel A., whose sketch is given
in another place ; Mary Ann, who married Thomas
Cully (See sketch) ; Elizabeth, who married J. Har-
rison Long and has passed away; Joseph, whose
sketch is given elsewhere; and Jesse, the youngest
of the family.
Jesse Harner was reared on the farm and re-
ceived his education in the public schools of his .lo-
cality; he became more interested in agricultural
pursuits than in any other line of activity, and this
resulted in a life spent in operating his farm. One
of the best farms in Martic township is owned by
him, and he also possesses a nice farm and store prop-
erty at Liberty Square, where he resides.
Jesse Harner was married Jan. 3, i860, to Miss
Mary E. Sides, of Martic township, whose death
on Oct. I, 1885, brought grief to a large circle of
friends. Her life was one of Christian excellence.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Harner were :
Joseph G., born Dec. 14, i860, residing in Phila-
delphia: Benjamin F., who died in youth; Harry,
deceased ; Annie A., born April 25, 1867, the wife of
Harry Rutter, of Philadelphia; and Clara E., born
Oct. I, 1870, the wife of H. C. Ambler, of Liberty
Square.
In political circles Mr. Harner has always been
a very active member of the Democratic party, and
has efficiently served his township as school director.
As one of the leading members of the Bethesda M.
E. Church he has exerted a wide influence as trustee,
steward, class leader and superintendent of the Sun-
day-school. Mr. Harner is a man who is well
known in this locality, and his upright life and char-
acter are an excellent example. His voice and vote
are always to be counted upon when questions arise
concerning temperance, as he has been through life
opposed to the use of either tobacco or strong drink.
Mr. Harner enjoys the esteem of the township where
his life has been passed.
JAMES SWISHER, Sr., late a retired farmer
of Colerain township, whose years and industry
commanded the respect and esteem his character so
well deserved, was born Feb. 22, 1820, his parents
being Henry W. and Margaret (Meginness)
Swisher.
Henry W. Swisher was born in Colerain town-
ship in 1794, and his wife, Margaret Meginness in
1788. She was an aunt of John F. Meginness, the
originator of this work, and a daughter of James and
Elizabeth (Fordham) Meginness. The Meginness
family came from Ireland, and the Fordhams from
England.
Henry W. Swisher was the son of John and
Rachel (Woodrow) Swisher, both natives of Balti-
more county, Md., their ancestors finding a home in
this country as early as 1701. They were of Ger-
man origin ; John Swisher was the son of Henry,
was born in Germany, and came to this country long
474
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
previous to the Revolutionary war. He settled in
Colerain township as early as 1732, the title to his
property running from William Penn. It is still
in the hands of the Swisher family. It belonged
first to Henry, then to John, and later to his son,
Henry (2), the father of James, Senior.
Henry W. Swisher was married in 1816 and
made his home on part of the original purchase. He
learned the trade of a weaver and followed it for
many years. In his later life he bought a farm
south of the home where James, Sr., afterwards re-
sided, and lived there until his wife died, in 1862.
He then .made his home with his son, James, until
his own death in 1873. .Mr. Swisher was a Lutheran
but his wife, Margaret, always adhered to her an-
cestral faith, that of the Friends Society. In poli-
tics he was what he loved to style himself, a Jack-
sonian Democrat, and was called to office in the town
at different times during -his life. To him and his
good wife were born one son, and three daughters:
(i) Elizabeth, born in 1817, married William HoUis,
and settled in Bart township, where both died~on his
farm home; two of their children are living: Will-
iam, of Bart township, and Margaret E., who is now
Mrs. Nelson Boyd, of Little Britain township. (2)
Rachel, born in 1824, married Washington Swisher,
and located in Colerain township, where she died in
1864, her husband surviving until 1899; they had
four children : James ; Mrs. Elizabeth McCauley, of
Quarryville; Henry, of Colerain township; and
George W., also' of Colerain township. (3) Anna
Ellen, born in May, 1830, married John Groff, and
settled on one of the old homesteads, where she died
in 1885 leaving eight children. (4) James.
James Swisher was reared on the farm, where
he received the benefits of a country school educa-
tion, and remained on the home farm until thirty
years of age. In 1842 he married Miss Margaret
Everly, of Colerain township, who was born in Bart
township, July 20, 1815. Her parents both died
when she was a child, and she was reared in the
home of Martha and Hannah McFarland. Mr.
Swisher bought the home of of Benjamin McGinnis,
where he lived some eight years, and then sold it.
In i860 he purchased what was then known as the
Samuel Smith home. It was a small place with a
small frame house. He erected a large bank barn at
once and a few years later built the present house.
By purchasing adjoining tracts of land he secured
a large farm, where he had a fine set of buildings.
During his life time Mr. Swisher built three large
barns on propert)'' owned by him.
James Swisher and his wife had no children of
their own but they adopted and reared Margaret L.,
a daughter of Adam and Angeline (Lovett) Walker.
She was born near Conowingo, in Lancaster county,
in 1858. Her father died when she was a mere child,
and she was taken to James Swisher's where she was
reared and educated as a child of the family. In 1883
she married James Swisher, Jr., a nephew of her fos-
ter parents. They resided in the home of Mr.
Swisher, where the younger man had charge of the
farm, and took on his own sturdy shoulders much
of the burden of the operation of the farm. To them
have come two children, Rachel A., born in 1883,
and Viella L., born in 1886.
Mr. Swisher was always a Democrat. Mrs.
Swisher is a Baptist and he was reared in the Luth-
eran faith. Mr. Swisher was a man of more than
ordinary ability, and, though given but a limited
education, he read much, and expanded his mind
with a knowledge of practical business affairs.
While past eighty when he died, on May 27, 1902,
his mind remained as bright and clear as ever.
ISAAC H. KAUFMAN (deceased) was born in
Petersburg, Lancaster county, Feb. 23, 1834, and
died in Mountville Dec. 27, 1893* in the faith of the
Mennonite Church.
His parents, Isaac and Anna (Hess) Kaufman,
of Lancaster county, were agricultural people, and
both died on Turkey Hill, in Manor township — the
father in 1886, at the age of eighty-four years, and
-t-he mother in 1889, when eighty-two years old.
Both were -members .of the Mennonite Church, and
their remains were~1jur-ied-in Masonville, Lancaster
county. To Isaac and Anna (Hess) Kaufman was
born a family of ten children, viz. : John, a farm-
er of Manor township ; Elizabeth, deceased wife of
David Eshleman; Rudolph, of Manor township;
Isaac H., whose name heads this sketch; Edward,
of Lancaster township ; Catherine, wife of Benjamin
Witmer, of Millersville ; Amos, a farmer of Martic-
ville ; Jacob and Daniel, deceased ; and Anna, widow
of Abraham Taylor, late of Millersville.
Isaac H. Kaufman lived on the home farm until
1870, when he moved to Mountville and engaged in
tobacco trade. He was the owner of three large
farms, which he had cultivated by hired help, and
he built, in 1868, the first tobacco warehouse in his
neighborhood. On locating in Mountville he erect-
ed the brick mansion now occupied by his family.
He was one of the leading business men of the coun-
ty, was progressive in all things and retrograde
in nothing; was a director in the Columbia Na-
tional Bank for many years, or until the Mount-
ville Bank was organized, when he became president
of the latter, and held that position until within a
few years of his death, when he resigned to become
a director.
Isaac H. Kaufman was joined in matrimony in
1858, in Lancaster City, with Fanny Herr, and to
this union was born the following family: Uriah
H., a merchant of Mountville; Anna M., wife of
Christ Garber, a farmer of Mountville ; Adeline, wife
of Joseph Charles, farmer of Manor township ; Cath-
erine, who died young ; Henry, a railroad conductor
in Philadelphia ; and Frances, wife of John Musser,
a retired farmer of Mountville.
Mrs. Fanny (Herr) Kaufman is a native of
Manor township and a daughter of Henry and Cath-
erine (Herr) Herr, of Manor township, where the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
475
father was a farmer and died in 1885, at eighty-four
years of age, and where the mother died in 1868;
when fifty-nine years old. Both belonged to the
German Baptist Brethren. To Henry and Cath-
erine Herr was born the following family : Tobias,
a retired farmer of Manor township, and a minister
of the German Baptist Brethren; Mary, widow of
Martin Bair, of Illinois; Henry, a farmer of Manor
township, Lancaster county, Pa. ; Martha, wife of
Nicholas Baker, of Sterling, 111. ; Amos, of Neflfsville,
Pa., and a farmer; Fanny, now Mrs. Kaufman;
Abraham E., a farmer of Petersburg; Catherine, who
died young ; and Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Good, a re-
tired farmer of Lancaster, and Christian, a tobacco
merchant of the same city. The paternal grandpar-
ents of Mrs. Kaufman were Christian and Mary
Herr, and her maternal grandparents were Abraham
and Catherine (Brandt) Herr — ^both families farm-
ing people of Manor township, and none better
known or more highly respected in the county.
FRANK W. HELM, a merchant of New Prov-
idence, is one of the leading citizens of Providence
township and one of its most successful business
men. He was born in Strasburg township Dec. 9,
1842, son of Daniel and Anna (Hoak) Helm, of
New Providence, where the latter died in 1848.
Daniel Helm, the father of Frank W., is a re-
tired farmer of Providence, and a son of John Helm,
also a farmer, who was a son of John; this great-
grandfather came of German parentage and fol-
lowed the trade of shoemaker in this locality for
many years. Daniel Helm married (first), in 1838,
Anna Hoak, and the children of this union were as
follows : John H., a resident of Iowa ; Frank W. ;
Amos H., a physician of New Providence ; and Mary,
who resides with her aged father. After the death of
his first wife, in 1848, Daniel Helm married Miss
Susan Eckman, of Strasburg township, and to this
union were bom the following children: Daniel
E., a merchant of East Drumore township; Enos
M., of New Cumberland, Pa. ; J. Calvin, of Steel-
ton, Pa. ; Charles E., a physician of Bart township ;
Elmer E., in Lancaster ; Thaddeus G., A. M., princi-
pal in Franklin-Marshall Academy, in Lancaster;
and Rufus D., of Seattle, Washington.
Frank W. Helm was reared on the farm and
attended the public schools. At the age of seven-
teen, in i860, he became a clerk in the employ of
J. Hilderbrand, in New Providence, and later he
was connected in the same capacity with John
Tweed and Dr. Raub, entering into a partnership
with the latter. Upon the death of Dr. Raub the
firm name became Helm & Peoples, continuing thus
for a period of five years, changing then to Helm
& Raub, and again, five years after, to Helm & Bro.,
this partnership lasting until Frank W. Helm bought
his brother's interest and took his son into the busi-
ness. The firm now stands F. W. Helm & Son, and
is a leader in its line in this locality, trusted in the
trade and enjoying the patronage of the general pub-
lic. The foundation stone of the success of this
firm has been business integrity, and the same meth-
ods regulate its conduct now that have been in opera-
tion ever since Mr. Helm assumed charge. In 1863
Mr. Helm was made postmaster of New Providence,
and has been the incumbent ever since, with the ex-
ception of the years of the administration of Presi-
dent Cleveland. He has always enjoyed the confi-
dence of his fellow citizens and has for twenty-six
years served his township as auditor, a post he is at
present filling. Under the organization of the
Quarryville National Bank, in 1883, Mr. Helm was
one of the directors ; after the death of President
Hensel he was elected to that responsible position,
and since that time the financial condition of this in-
stitution has commanded commendation and its posi-
tion as a safe repository is well known.
In politics Mr. Helm is a stanch Republican, and
wields considerable influence in his part of the coun-
ty. He belongs to the Reformed Church, is its effi-
cient Sunday-school superintendent and one of its
honored elders.
On Sept. 18, 1867, Mr. Helm was married to
Miss Emma Lefever, of Quarryville, daughter of
Christian and Susan Lefever, and to this union four
children were born, namely: Justus C, who mar-
ried Miss Minnie Peters, of Quarryville, and is
associated with his father in the mercantile business
in New Providence; Susan Catherine, the wife of
Dr. B. F. Wentz, of Philadelphia ; E. Blanche, the
wife of William Fisher, of Quarryville, a saddler;
and Pauline, a young lady at home. Although Mr.
Helm is now one of the substantial men of his
township, he began his business career with limited
means, but having always closely applied himself to
his business, saved his money and won his friends by
honesty, industry and courtesy, he is now reaping
the reward and enjoying the esteem of his fellow
citizens and the comforts assured by ample means.
His charities have been large and his kind treat-
ment of others well-known, while his example has
been of value, showing the power of an exemplary
life.
HENRY S. BRUBAKER, a retired farmer of
Rapho township, was born there July 2, 1836, son
of Peter and Mary (Strickler) Brubaker, of the same
township.
Peter Brubaker, the father, died Feb. 9, 185 1,
aged fifty years, and the mother died in 1874 at the
age of sixty-six years. They are buried in the Eriss-
mans Church cemetery, to which place their remains
were removed from the old Brubaker homestead in
Rapho township. The mother was a member of the
Mennonite Church. There were born to this union :
Abraham, who married Susan Miller of Rapho
township and died in i8Sg ; and Henry S. Mr. Bru-
baker's grandparents were Abraham and Maria
(Erissman) Brubaker, of Rapho, Lancaster county,
both of whom died on the old homestead. Abraham
Brubaker, son of Jacob, was of Swiss stock. On his
476
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
molher's side Mr. Brubaker's grandparents were
Abraham and Maria (Hostetter) Strickler, of Lan-
caster county, the family being of Swiss origin.
Abraham Strickler was the son of Ulrich Strickler.
On May 6, i860, Henry S. Brubaker married
Anna Brubaker of Lancaster. There- were born
to this marriage : Benjamin F., who resides with his
father, is married to Miss Macie Noll and has four
children; Peter S., a farmer of Rapho township,
married to Miss Katie Keener, and a preacher in
the Zion's Children (Brinser) denomination; Elmer
E., of Petersburg,- Pa., married to Miss Louisa
Ereneman; Henry A., farmer of Rapho township,
who married Miss Fanny Ginder and has three chil-
dren ; and Abraham G., single, at home. Mrs. Bru-
baker was born in Rapho township and died in 1895
at the age of fifty-five years. She is buried in Eriss-
man Meeting House cemetery. She was the daugh-
ter of Benjamin and Maria Brubaker of Rapho
township. The family are members of the Menno-
nite church.
Mr. Brubaker owns three farms, all of which
are valuable and highly improved. He is a shrewd,
wide-awake man, thoroughly up with the times and a
close student of events. He is highly respected as
a citizen and is always ready to lend a helping hand
to any improvement for the advancement of the com-
munity in which he resides.
REV. EMIL MEISTER, the honored and be-
loved pastor of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church,
Lancaster, is one of the foremost clergymen of the
city, and is as prominent in social and educational
work as he is in the church.
Mr. Meister was born in Freiburg, Baden, Ger-
many, May 18, 1850, a son of Samuel E. and Bar-
bara Meister, natives of the same grand duchy,
where the father was a silk merchant in Freiburg
until 1854', when he emigrated to Switzerland. Both
Samuel E. Meister and his wife entered into rest
years ago, faithful to the faith of Luther. Rev.
Emil Meister spent his boyhood days in Switzer-
land, and his literary and classical education was
pursued in the Polytechnical College of Zurich, and
the University of Heidelberg; from which he was
graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in
1868. For some two years after graduating he was
engaged in business with his father, and came to
this country to settle at Reading, where for a time
he was connected with the Pilger Publishing House,
and was engaged as editor of the Kutztown Journal.
In 1872 Mr. Meister removed to Baltimore, as one
of the publishers of the Baltimore Daily Weaker,
the only Republican daily paper in the State of
Maryland. In 1875 he again took up the study, of
theology, gratifying a long cherished ambition to
devote himself to the ministry. He was ordained
by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland
in May, 1880, and his first pastoral charge was the
First Evangelical Church of Baltimore. In August,
1880, he received a call to St. Stephen's Church,
in Lancaster, which he accepted, and at once began
a work which has been creditable and successful.
St. Stephen's Church was organized in 1874, and
the erection of a building was begun, which, how-
ever, was not completed for some time, the services
being held in the lecture room. This was the con-
dition of affairs that greeted the young pastor on his
arrival in 1880. His inspiring services put heart
into the congregation, and the church was pushed
to completion and dedicated the following spring.
Later on a fine pipe organ was placed in the church.
The building is 49x75 feet in dimensions,' and 172
feet to the top of the steeple. From a mere handful
of people that received Mr. Meister, the congrega-
tion has grown to four hundred members, and is
to-day one of the most influential in the city, the
Sunday-school also being correspondingly increased.
The parsonage of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church,
at No. 44.5 West Orange street, which is used as
family residence only, is one of the finest in the
city;
In- January of this year (1903) Rev. Mr. Meister
gave out a contract for a new church and parsonage
at the comer of Ross and Ann streets, a new section
of the growing city of Lancaster. This new church
will be St. Matthew's Lutheran' Church, and when
finished will be a mission of St. Stephen's Church,
and also under the auspices of Rev. Mr. Meister.
In 1871 Rev. Emil Meister was married in Read-
ing to Miss Amelia Kleinschmidt, a native of Prus-
sia. Of this union four children were bom: (i)
Wilhelmina died in Lancaster in 1886, at the age
of eleven years, and was buried in the family bury-
ing-ground in Reading. (2) Catherine is second in
the order of birth. (3) Samuel E., after graduat-
ing in pharmacy, purchased goods and opened a
drug store on West King and Mulberry streets, Lan-
caster, in 1888, and two years later bought a second
drug store at the corner of West Chestnut and Mary
streets, conducting both with marked success. He
was married July 15, 1900, to Miss Gertrude Wit-
mer, who belongs to a prominent family in Para-
dise township. (4't Mary, who graduated from the
Lancaster high school in 1895, and later from the
State Normal at Millersville, is a popular teacher
of one of the Lancaster city schools.
In 1894 Rev. Mr. Meister was elected a mem-
ber of the board of school directors of Lancaster,,
and soon made his influence felt as he did in the
church, having served on the Visiting, Night School
and School Laws committees. Rev. Meister is a
prominent Mason, and is a member of the Linneah
Society, of Lancaster.
With all his labors of debt raising and church
expansion in his parish Rev. Mr. Meister has found
time to do a large amount of literary work. He is
the publisher of St. Stephen's Church Messenger,
and of a monthly magazine called the Family
Friend. _ Clear and concise in his utterances, grace-
ful in diction, and endowed with fine powers of ora-
tory, Mr. Meister is exceedingly popular as a min-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
477
ister, lecturer and pulpit orator. His illustrated lec-
tures on "Ben Hur" and on "The Great National
Tragedy and Death of President William McKin-
ley" won popular favor to a marked degree. No
church in Lancaster holds more closely the affec-
tions of the community. Mr. Meister is an indefatig-
able worker, and his work is far-reaching. Great in-
deed have been his labors in the city, and hosts of
friends and admirers express ardent hope that he
may long be spared to enjoy the fruits, of his ef-
forts.
GEORGE LEFEVER. Prominently identified
with the farming and dairy interests of Lancaster
county, and more particularly with those of Eden
township, is George Lefever.
Mr. Lefever was born in this county, in West
Lampeter township, Sept. 15, 1839, and his parents
were George and Christianna (Forry) Lefever, both
of whom were born in this county, the former in
January, 1803, and the latter in 1805. George Le-
fever, the father, was a son of Jacob and Catherine
(Meek) Lefever, both of whom were born in Lan-
caster county, although their .ancestry was French
Huguenot. Grandfather Jacob Lefever was a son
of Isaac Lefever, the founder of the American
branch of the family and a Revolutionary hero. A
family of seven children was left by Jacob Lefever,
and George was the eldest of the children ; the others
were as follows : (2) Jacob, who moved in his youth
to Wayne county, Ohio, and there reared a family;
(3) Elizabeth, married to Daniel Lefever, who settled
in Quarryville and died there, leaving a family of
four children; Catherine, who married Daniel D.
Hess, of Quarryville ; Lydia, deceased wife of Ben-
jamin Witmer; Samuel, deceased; and Anna, wife
of Henry Lefever, of West Drumore ; (4) Philip, '
who was born in Lampeter township, married, and at
death left these children, — Adam, who is a resident
of Sterling, 111. ; Emma, the widow of Jacob Mow-
rer, deceased; John, who lives in West Lampeter
township ; Edmund, also a resident of West Lam-
peter; and Elizabeth, who married Samuel Shultz,
of Nebraska; (5) Katie, who died unmarried; (6)
Samuel, who is one of the esteemed residents of this
county, having reached the age of eighty-four years ;
(7) Lydia, deceased, who married John Houser, of
West Lampeter township.
George Lefever (i) after his father's death set-
tled on the original family homestead, this property
being left him by his father. His life was a quiet,
uneventful one, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and
he lived there until his death, in 1886, his wife hav-
ing died two years previously. Both were worthy
and consistent members of the Old Mennonite
Church, were upright. Christian people, and prac-
ticed in their daily walk and conversation the prin-
ciples they professed.
Mr. Lefever in his early days was a pronounced
Whig, but later embraced the principles of the Re-
publican party, and was always interested in its suc-
cess. Nine of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Lefever
grew to maturity, of whom. George was the fifth.
Jacob, who was the eldest, was born in the old home
in Lampeter in 1825, is unmarried, and resides in
the old homestead. Katie, born in 1828, was the
wife of Martin Cassel, of Lampeter ; she left no fam-
ily at her death. Susan, born at the old home, in
1830, was the wife of Henry Hess, of St. Louis,
Missouri, and left at her decease three daughters:
Susanna, who is now Mrs. Smith, of St. Louis;
Mary; and Christiana. Mary A., born in 1833, is
unmarried and resides on the old homestead. Lydia,
born in 1840, is the widow of George Fralick, of
Strasburg, and she now resides at the old home-
stead, her one son, Jacob, being a resident of Dixon,
111. Samuel, born in 1843, married Miss Sarah
Rhinehart for his first wife, who left at her death
these children: Mary, who is the wife of Jacob
Dagen; Emma, who resides at home; and Lydia,
who is the wife of Mr. Goss, of Conestoga township.
The second marriage of Samuel Lefever was to
Emma Lefever; their home is in Pequea township,
and the two children born of this union are Jacob
and Samuel. The eighth survivor was Christian,
who was born in 1847 and who married Miss Mat-
tie Rhinehart; they reside on his farm near Stras-
burg, and their children are: John; Jacob; Eliza-
beth, who is the wife of Mr. Stauffer, of this coun-
ty; and Christian, Jr. Henry, who was bom in
1850, married Miss Salinda Charles and they set-
tled near the old homestead, in Lampeter township ;
their four children are George, Katie, Harry and
Lottie.
George Lefever, of this biography, was the fifth
in order of birth in his parents' family; he was
reared on the old farm and obtained his education
in the district schools of the township. While still
a youth he demonstrated his loyalty to his country
by offering his life in her defense, enlisting in Co.
G, 122nd P. V. I., under Capt. Neff, of Lancaster
county, and being sent to the Army of the Potomac.
Mr. Lefever participated in many of the hardest
fought battles of the war, took part in the struggle
at Fredericksburg, was with Gen. Burnside when
misfortune overtook that division of the army, later
was at Chancellorsville, and was one of the escort
which accompanied the brave Major-General Whip-
ple to his last resting place after his soldier's death
at Chancellorsville.
After the close of the war Mr. Lefever returned
to his home, engaged in farming, literally turning
his sword into a pruning hook, and became just as
good a farmer as he had been soldier. In 1863 he
was united in marriage to Miss Susanna Weaver,
the estimable and amiable daughter of Isaac and
Mary Weaver, this family being one of the old and
leading ones of the county. Mrs. Lefever was born
in Strasburg township, in 1840, and was educated
in the common schools in her district.
After marriage Mr. Lefever purchased the David
Eckman farm, near Quarryville, and on this valu-
478
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
able property he has continued ever since. His im-
provements are all modern and substantial, consist-
ing of a fine residence, commodious barns and out-
buildings, the whole presenting a most attractive
and Inviting appearance, and in this pleasant home
hospitality reigns supreme. To Mr. Lefever and
his wife eleven children have been born, and all of
these testify to fine constitutions given them by their
parents, together with gifts of mind and character.
Phares .Sherman, born in 1864, moved to Sterling,
111., when a yoimg man and there-married Miss- Liz-
zie Fry, formerly of this county; they reside on a
farm near that city, their children being Noah and
Ruth. Elmer E., born in July, 1865, also located in
Sterling, where he married Miss Ida Andrews, and
is there conducting a grocery and bakery business;
their three daughters are A-nna, May and Hazel.
Leander L., born in 1868, married Miss Fannie
Ebersole, of Franklin county. Pa., and they reside in
Prairieville, 111., on his fine farm, with their five chil-
dren, Minnie, George, Mary E., Leroy and a baby.
Thaddeus S., born in November, 1870, married Miss
Maggie Detweiler, of Bucks county, and they reside
on his farm near Sterling, 111., their two children
being Ella and a baby. Mary E., born in August,
1869, is the wife of Howard S. Knox, and they now
reside in Paradise township ; their five children are
Minnie F., Elizabeth, Herbert, George and Reba.
Minnie L., born in January, 1872, married Harry
Bair, a merchant of New Providence township, and
their one son is John M. George M., born in May,
1873, married Miss Barbara Groff, of Quarryville,
and they reside in Sterling, 111., they have three
children, — Bertha, Martha and a baby. Jacob G.,
born in January, 1875, during his early manhood
spent four years in the State of Illinois and the
Dakotas, but in 1899 returned to Lancaster county
and assists his father in the management of the home
farm. Annie L., born in August, 1876, married
Frank Beane, of Lancaster county, a telegraph op-
erator on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and has had
two children, — George and Paul. Harry M., born
in January, 1878, is single and resides in Sterling,
111. ; and Samuel B., born in September, 1879, is also
a resident of Illinois.
Politically Mr. Lefever, of this sketch, has al-
ways been identified with the Republican party, but
has refused every official position except that con-
nected with the board of Education, for five years
being a very efficient member. The religious con-
nection of the family is with the Baptist Church, in
which he and his wife are held in the highest es-
teem, attending and supporting the church in Cole-
rain township.
Mr. Lefever is a verv prominent member of the
Bireley Post, No. 511, G. A. R., of Quarryville, and
he was a delegate to the Gettysburg Encampment
of June, 1901. It is most interesting and edifying
to trace the successful career of such a man, and to
note the sure rewards that come to repay honesty,
mdustry and close and unremitting attention to
duty, Mr. Lefever started out in life with limited
means and left his early opportunities in order to
serve his country, but he has reared a large family
in comfort, educating them so that they in turn
have become worthy and respected citizens ; and he
still stands before his old friends of a life-time as
one of the straightforward, honest and upright mem-
bers of the community, whose life has been estimable
in every particular. His charities have been many,
and there are few of his neighbors who have not re-
ceived some mark of kindness at his hands. Duty
has been with him a watchword, whether on the field
of battle or in the quieter walks of life.
CHARLES HAYS, one of the leading and in-
fluential citizens of White Rock, Little Britain town-
ship, Lancaster Co., Pa., was born Jan. 16, 1830, a
son of John and Margaret (Clendenin) Hays, of
Little Britain township.
John Hays was born in Ireland, and was brought
to America when six years of age, by his parents,
John and Catherine Hays, and the family settled in
Little Britain township one hundred years ago.
John Hays, Jr., father of Charles Hays, had two
brothers, William and Charles. The marriage of
John Hays Jr., occurred in 1814, and nine children
were the result of this union Catherine, born June
10 1815; Mary, Sept. 21, 1817; William, Jan. 2,
1820; John, Feb. 28, 1822; Wallace, June 2, 1824;
Jemima, June 12, 1827; Charles, Jan. 16, 1830;
James, July 27, 1832 ; Margaret, Feb. 22, 1836, all ol
whom are now deceased, except Charles, and Mar-
garet, now of Britain township. John Hays Jr., the
father of this family, v/as one of the leaders in the
Democratic party, and an earnest member of the
Presbyterian Church.
The early life of Mr. Hays was spent upon his
father's farm and he received his education in the
district schools, with one year at Lebanon Acad-
emy. Starting out as a poor boy, he gradually
worked his way up the ladder of fortune and is now
the owner of a fine farm of 135 acres, upon which
is a comfortable frame residence and all neccessary
buildings. After an active life, Mr. Hays in now
retired and is enjoying a well earned rest.
On Dec. 3, 1874, Mr. Hays married Miss Lavinia
Pennell, of Britain township, a daughter of John and
Rebecca (Brown) Pennell, of Britain township, who
are nutnbered among the leading settlers of this
locality (see sketch of John J. Pennell elsewhere).
Mrs. Hays was one in a family of nine children:
Elizabeth, now the widow of John P. Hays, of Ox-
ford, Pa. ; Mary Ann, widow of James Patterson, of
Illinois ; William, a retired farmer of Little Britain
township; Rebecca, deceased; Margaret, deceased;
Lavinia ; John J., a thrifty farmer of Little Britain
township (see his sketch elsewhere) ; Amanda and
James, deceased. The grandparents of Mrs. Hays,
William and Elizabeth Pennell, came from Dela-
ware county, Pa., to this township about 1775.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
479
Hays; Katharine Elizabeth, Mary C. and John C.
Katharine Elizabeth and Mary C. were graduated
from the Westchester Normal and are successful
teachers in Lancaster county. John C, the youngest
ill the family, in charge of the home farm, received
his education in the West Nottingham Academy of
Maryland.
In politics, Mr. Hays is a staunch Democrat, and
faithfully served his constituents as school director
for many years. Socially, he is a member of the
Masonic fraternity, being connected with Lodge No.
353 of Oxford, Pa., and he and his family are mem-
bers of the Union Presbyterian Church of Colerain
township. The unqualified success which has at-
tended his efforts is due to his ability, thrift and un-
tiring industry, for he never neglected an opportun-
ity to advance his own interests, when such an op-
portunity was an honorable one ; while his upright
manner of doing business, has gained for him the
respect of his neighbors, as well as of all with whom
he had dealings.
JOSEPH WACKER, a retired citizen of Lan-
caster, has been a resident of that city for half a cen-
tury, and no man stands higher in the estimation of
his fellow men, either for personal character or for
business integrity. He is a native of Germany, born
Dec. 23, 1830, in Wurtemberg, where his parents,
Michael and Mary Wacker, were also born, and
where they passed their entire lives. The father and
mother both died in 1874. Michael Wacker was a
farmer, and followed that occupation throughout
life. Besides Joseph but one of the family survives,
Joanna, Mrs. Otintrup, of Philadelphia.
Joseph Wacker received a good education in his
native land, attending the public schools until he
was fourteen years old, after which 'he served an ap-
prenticeship to the baker's trade, which he learned
thoroughly. He followed his trade as a journey-
man in Germany until 1849, on Aug. 14th of that
year embarking for the United States. On the day
after his arrival in New York he obtained work at
his trade, but about six months afterward he was
taken sick, and was advised by his physician to give
up the baking business. He proceeded to Philadel-
phia, but not finding suitable employment, deter-
mined to journey to Lancaster, and he walked all
the way, covering the entire distance, sixty-eight
miles, in one day. Though a perfect stranger in the
city, he immediately commenced the search for em-
plojmient, and was fortunate enough to find work
within a few days, engaging with Jacob Bossier,
who conducted a farm about four miles from town.
After two years in this employ he changed to the
Flinn farm, where he remained one year, and the
next summer he worked in a brickyard. In the win-
ter of 1852 he was employed in Whitlinger's brew-
ery, in Lancaster, where he remained two years, and
the following year he was in the Springer bottling
works. He and a Mr. Kiehl then purchased this
business, which they conducted in partnership for
ten years, under the firm name of Kiehl & Wacker.
At the expiration of this period Mr. Wacker dis-
posed of his interest to his partner and bought the
Whitlinger brewery, situated on West King street,
which he sold, however, a year later. After living
retired for a year, Mr. Wacker began the brewery
business on West King street again, and continued
there for two years, when he exchanged his house
and brewery on West King street for the "County
Hotel," which he conducted two years. He then
purchased the Eagle brewery from Jacob Sprenger,
and carried on the business until 1880, in which year
he turned it over to his sons Charles and Joseph,
who are still running it. Mr. Wacker has since
lived retired, enjoying the rest he so well deserves
and the competence he won by persistent and well-
directed energy during his active years.
On April 22, 1855, in Lancaster, Mr. Wacker
was married to Mary Dettlinger, also a native of
Wurtemberg, Germany, and six children have
blessed their union, viz. : Charles V., Joseph,
Frank, Anthony, William and Mary. The family
arc Catholics, and Mr. Wacker and his wife attend
St. Joseph's Church.
DAVID E. MAYER. The Mayer family in
Lancaster county. Pa., to which David E. Mayer
belonged, was established many years ago, by grand-
father Christian Mayer, an honest, industrious
blacksmith, who followed his trade through life,
and amassed a competency for old age. He married
one of the modest young maidens of the Reformed
Mennonite faith, Mary Miller, by name, belonging
to a family of substance in the neighborhood, and
they reared a family of seven children : Isaac, the
father of David E. ; Jacob ; John ; David ; Nathaniel ;
Leah, who married Abraham Herr ; Hettie, who
married John Hildebrand.
Isaac Mayer was born in West Lampeter town-
ship and learned the tanning business, but this vo-
cation seemed injurious to his health and he later
began farming, becoming a prominent man in the
neighborhood, and serving many years on the school
board. He married Mary Hoover, a daughter of
David Hoover, of Strasburg township, and three
children were born to them : David E. ; Isaac H., a
physician of Willowstreet ; and Christian, the eldest,
who died in infancy. Both parents were worthy
members of the Old Mennonite Church.
David E. Mayer was born in West Lampeter
township, Aug. 4, 1838, a son of Isaac and Mary
(Hoover) Mayer, was reared on the farm and re-
ceived his education in the public schools, in which
he ever after took a deep interest. David remained
at home with his parents until the death of his
father, in 1871, when it became more than ever
necessary for him to stay and he took charge at this
time of the homestead and his mother's affairs, en-
gaging extensively in farming, and also in trucking,
the proximity to large cities making this a very re-
munerative line of agriculture.
480
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Intelligent from his youth, and fond of reading
and of mingling with his fellow-citizens, David E.
Mayer early became recognized as somewhat of a
leader in the public affairs of his locality. A pro-
nounced Republican, he also became the representa-
tive of the party in many ways. After serving effi-
ciently on the election board, he was made supervisor
and faithfully performed the duties of that office for
seven years and was then made a member of the
school board, which he as conscientiously served for
the long term of eighteen years. In March, 1894,
he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board of
county commissioners, this honor coming to him
unsolicited; at the expiration of the term he was
elected to the position, being subsequently re-elected,
and in this position he continued to manage the
affairs of Lancaster county with economy and good
judgment until his death.
David E. Mayer married April 29, 1897, Mary
A. Shaub, a daughter of Benjamin aiid Susan
(Wade) Shaub, a most estimable lady, and a mem-
ber of the M. E. Church. In 1900 their comfortable
residence was refitted and is one of the most desir-
able modern homes in Strasburg. David E. Mayer
was one of the representative citizens and possessed
in a marked degree the confidence and esteem of
his fellow-citizens. He died Sept. 12, 1901, and
was laid to rest with his people in the Old Mennon-
ite cemetery at the church west of Strasburg.
ELI B. FOWL, one of the prosperous citizens
of Lancaster, where he is engaged in the livery
business, was born near Neffsville, April 2, 1854, a
son of Isaac and Barbara (Buckwalter) Fowl, both
natives of Lancaster county.
Isaac Fowl was a farmer by occupation in early
life, but in 1864 he moved to Lancaster, and there
at first operated a hotel. While he was successful
in his new work, it did not prove congenial to his
tastes and he sold out, and engaged in the livery
business, beginning on a sm.all scale and gradually
increasing until he was the proprietor of one of the
best stables in the county. In 1866 he built the
stable and located where his son is now engaged.
He continued to take an active part in business until
October, 1884, when he sold out to his son, and
retired. His death occurred in April, 1885. In
politics he was a Republican, and in religion a
Mennonite. His wife, Barbara (Buckwalter) was
the daughter of a farmer, and previous to her mar-
riage with Mr. Fowl, had been married to Mr.
Leman. By her last marriage she became the
mother of two children, of whom Eli B. is the
elder.
Eli B. Fowl was reared and educated in Lan-
caster. Always a companion and associate of his
father, he gradually grew into the business, and
when his father began to step aside he assumed full
control, practically being manager for the last ten
years of the latter's life. His livery stable is 60x96
feet in size and three stories high, and is provided
with an electric elevator. It is located at No. 14
East Walnut street, and his residence is next door.
'Everything about his establishmeip.t is fiirst-class^
and he is able to supply at least thirty handsome
rigs, -fifteen hacks and three hearses — a most credi-
table showing.
In August, 1878, Mr. Fowl was united in mar-
riage with Miss Alice C. Henry, who was born in
Lancaster, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin
Henry. Two children have come to brighten their
home, Isaac Benjamin and Theodore Franklin.
Socially Mr. Fowl belongs to the I. O. O. F., being
a charter member of Herschel Lodge, and he also
belongs to the Knights of Malta. He and his
family belong to the M. E. church. In his political
views he follows in the footsteps of his father, and
is an earnest worker in the ranks of the Republican
party.
•JOHN N. EBY, a retired farmer of Leacock
township, was born Oct. 7, 1841, on the old Eby
homestead, which was acquired from Jeremiah Job
in 1767.
The Eby family has a history in Lancaster
county that begins with the coming of Theodorus
Eby from Switzerland, in 1715, and his settlement
in Earl township, Lancaster county, where he built
a mill on Mill Creek, and engaged in the milling
and farming business the rest of his life. Theodorus
Eby was the great-great-great-grandfather of John
N., whose name appears above. Jacob Eby was his
son, and Abraham Eby, his son, was the great-
grandfather of John N. Eby. Abraham Eby was
born in 1735 and died Jan. 8, 1815. John Eby, the
grandfather of John N., was born Sept. 7, 1758, and
died Nov. 2, 1842. He married Fannie Bare, who
was born in Upper Leacock township, and died in
April, 1842, at the age of eighty years, lacking nine
days. They were the parents of Abraham, Cath-
erine, Barbara, EUzabeth, Mary and John, the father
of John N. AH the progenitors of John N. were
buried in the private cemetery on the Eby home-
stead, with the exception of Theodorus and Jacob.
John N. Eby is planning to erect a monument in the
Eby cemetery, a memorial stone weighing about
eight tons, and having cut on it the Eby descent
from Theodorus down to the present day.
John Eby, the father of John N., was bom Dec.
20, 1800, in Upper Leacock township; he married
Elizabeth Neff, who was bom in East Lampeter
township, Dec. 24, 1815, and died Feb. 15, 1894.
His death occurred Jan. 27, 1864. Born to this
union were the following: Reuben N., who married
Louisa Wenger, had a family of six children and
died in 1881 ; John N. ; Aaron N., a retired farmer
of Bareville, now residing in Lancaster, and married
to Elmina Graybill, by whom he has had three chil-
dren.
The maternal grandparents of John N. Eby were
Martin and Leah (Eby)_ Neff, farming people of
Soudersburg, Pennsylvania.
^ ^.^^l^.^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
481
John N. Eby was married in Leacock township,
June 2, 1898, to Miss Clara F. Sanders, and one
child. Jay Victor, has come to bless their union.
Mrs. Clara F. (Sanders) Eby was born in Slack-
water, Lancaster county, and is a daughter of
Julius and Catherine (Smith) Sanders. Her. father
was born in Saxony, Germany, and her mother
in Lancaster county. He came to this country at
the age of eighteen years, and served three years
in the Union Army during the war of the Rebel-
lion. His trade was that of a cabinet maker, and he
became very expert in the making of organs and in
other labors requiring mechanical skill of a high or-
der. When he died, May i, 1897, he was sixty-two
years old. His widow, who is living in Lancaster,
Pa., has had the following children : William, who
is a resident of Lancaster, Pa. ; Morris, who lives in
Cochranville, Pa. ; " Elizabeth, who lives at Kissel
Hill, Pa., married to Samuel Dubbs; Clara, Mrs.
Eby ; Lula, living in Philadelphia ; Bertha, living at
Kissel Hill; Walter, deceased.
John N. Eby remained with his parents as long
as they lived, and then moved to the farm which he
occupied until recently. In March, 1902, he re-
moved to the city of Lancaster, where he now re-
sides. In political matters he is a Republican, and
is known as a very intelligent and widely informed
citizen.
BORDLEY S. PATTERSON. Among the
honorable and well-esteemed citizens of Little Brit-
ain township is Bordley S. Patterson, who was bom
on the farm he now occupies, near White Rock, in
Lancaster county, Sept. 24, 1834.
The Patterson family is one of the oldest and
most respected of Lancaster covmty. The founder
of the family in this State was James Patterson, who
was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1708, and
immigrated to America in 1728. Coming to the
State of Pennsylvania, he bought large tracts of
land from the Government, and settled down in
Little Britain township ; later he went to New York
to meet his afRanced bride from Ireland, Mary
Montgomery, whom he brought back with him to
Pennsylvania. He reared a family of ten children,
William, John, Hannah, Mary, Samuel, Jane, Isa-
bella, James, Elizabeth and Thomas.
James Patterson (2), son of James, and the
grandfather of Bordley S. Patterson, was born in
Little Britain township, Nov. 4, 1745. He married
Letitia Gardner, and they had these children, Isa-
bella, Francina, Robert, Mary, Elizabeth, Jane,
James, Letitia and Rachel, all of whom have passed
to another life.
Robert Patterson, son of James (2), and the
father of Bordley S., was born March 21, 1787, and
died March 31, 1861. He was first married to a
Miss Ewirig, and the four children born to this mar-
riage were James, Gardner, Mary and Eliza. The
second wife of Robert Patterson was Sarah Ship-
pen, and three children were born to this union:
31
Bordley S. ; Francis, deceased ; and Edward B., a
prosperous merchant in Oxford, Pa., lately removed
to Philadelphia. During life Robert Patterson was
not only a large landowner and prosperous farmer
but he was also a prominent citizen and a leader in
the Democratic party. Since early days the family
has been connected with the Presbyterian Church.
Bordley S. Patterson was born on the farm he
now occupies, Sept. 24, 1834, a son of the late Rob-
ert and Sarah (Shippen) Patterson. This old farm
has been his home through life, and he still occupies
the old stone mansion which was erected by his
grandfather in 1806. So few of these old homes
remain, in these days of change and mutation, that
the old Patterson homestead has become an object
of historic interest, and it is highly valued by its
owners and occupants.
In the public Schools of his locality Mr. Patter-
son obtained his early education, going later to the
Lititz and Mt. Joy academies. He began an agri-
cultural life, which he has carried on with success.
His farm of 135 acres in Little Britain township,
near White Rock, is one of the best cultivated and
improved in this locality, his elegant and com-
modious residence, great barns and attractive sur-
roundings making it an ideal country home. Mr.
Patterson is also the owner of a one-half interest in
a fine estate, comprising 140 acres in Colerain town-
ship, which is as well managed and as productive
as the home farm.
On Oct. 0, 1862, was celebrated the marriage of
Bordley S. Patterson and Miss Emma M. Worth,
of Chester county, Pa. She was born in 1841, a
daughter of Samuel A. and Hester (Hoops) Worth,'
both of whom were of English origin. Three chil-
dren have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Patterson:
Robert L., who was bom in 1864, married Elizabeth
Colter, and is in business in Oxford, Pa. ; Fred W.,
born in 1867, who married Miss Cora Welch, of St.
Paul, Minn., and is engaged in the tea and coffee
business in the above named city: and Eliza Ship-
pen, born in 1874, the wife of Hugh A. Foresman, a
publisher in Chicago, Illinois. In public, religious
and social life Mr. Patterson is a leading citizen of
Little Britain township. His devotion to the Jef-
fersonian principles of the Democratic party has
been life-long and he has been active in its councils.
For seven years Mr. Patterson was the efficient
township auditor, and he has served with satisfac-
tion to all as judge and inspector of elections, and
has not only been selected to serve several times on
the grand jury of Lancaster county, of which he has
been foreman, but also on the LTnited States jury,
his reputation as a most honorable and high-minded
man making him desirable in responsible positions.
In 1884 Mr. Patterson was elected a director of the
Northern Mutual Insurance Company, and since
1893 has been treasurer of the company.
Mr. Patterson is a member of the Presbyterian
Church in Colerain township, serving faithfully as
trustee of that institution. A man with the high-
482
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
est standards of integrit}^ charitable, generous and
public-spirited, Bordley S. Patterson is a represen-
tative man of this part of Lancaster county.
DANIEL DENLINGER was born in Stras-
burg township, Lancaster county, May 21, 181 7,
and died July 19, 1886. His remains are resting in
the cemetery connected with Hershey's Meeting
House in Salisbiiry township. He was a son of
Elder Jacob and Mary (Kreider) Denlinger. The
father was a miller, and was an elder in the Stras-
burg • Mennonite Church.
To Elder and Mrs. Denlinger were born the fol-
lowing children: John; Jacob; Barbara, who was
twice married, first to Michael Sensenig, and then to
David Eshleman ; Henry K. ; Daniel ; Abram, — all
of the foregoing being dead ; Isaac, a retired farmer
of East Lampeter township.
Daniel Denlinger was married Nov. 5, 1840, in
Lancaster, Pa., to Margaret Hershey, by whom he
Tiad- the following family : Abram H., who mar-
ried Mary C. Kefieagy and is a retired farmer in
Paradise township, with a family of eight children ;
Anna, the widow of John Ranck, having her home
in Paradise township, where she has one son ; Jacob,
who died in infancy; Mary, married to Jonas Eby,
in the creamery and tobacco business at Gap, Pa.,
and .the mother of eleven children ; Esther, married
to John Eshleman, a retired farmer of ' Salisbury
townshi|), and the mother of ten children ; Eliza-
beth, of Paradise township, wife of Amaziah Brack-
bill, and mother of seven children; Daniel* married
first .to Anna Mary Kreider,, by whom he had two
children, and second to Fannie Landis, by whom
he had five ; Margaret, wife of Adam Kreider, a
farmer .of Leacock township, to whom she bore
"eleven children, six of whom are now living.
' ' Mrs. Margaret Denlinger was born in Salisbury
township, Jan. 17, 1824, and was a daughter of
Abraham and Anna (Eby) Hershey. Her father,
who was a farmer, died Jan. 9, 1844, lacking but
fifteen days of being fifty-seven years old ; his
widow survived many years, passing away "Feb. 29,
1896, at the age of ninety-five years, two months
and fourteen days. They were both buried in
Hershey's burying ground in Salisbury township.
They were members of the Mennonite Church.
. Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Hershey were the par-
ents of Margaret and Peter, a retired farmer of
Leacock township. By a previous marriage with
Maria Secrist, Mr. Hershey had the following chil-
dren : Jacob S., deceased ; Fronica;, who died young.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Denlinger were
Jacob and Anna Hershey. Jacob Hershey, who
was the son of Andrew Hershey, was born in Lan-
caster county. Andrew Hershey was the son of
Andrew Hershey, who came from Switzerland in
1709.
Daniel Denlinger remained at home with his
brother Henry until his marriage, when he began
farming in Salisbury township, where he was en-
gaged in the cultivation of the soil until 1869, when
he removed to the farm on which the remaining
years of his active life were passed. Foui: years be-
fore his death he removed to the home in which his
family are living at the present time.
Mr. Denlinger was a man of character and
standing in the community in which he spent his
honorable and useful life. His widow, who is still
living, bears up wonderfully well under the pressure
of years, and is still alert and active.
SAMUEL HARNER. There are few residents
of Martic township more highly esteemed through-
out its extent than Samuel Harner, a member of one
of the old and well-known families of Lancaster
county. Samuel Harner is now a citizen of
Bethesda, Pa., but he was born in Montgomery
county, Sept. 7, 1826. His parents were Joseph and
Mary (Slingluff) Harner, his grandfather being
John Harner, who for many years conducted a
blacksmith business in Montgomery county, and
was the father of nine children, all of these having
passed out of life, John, Joseph, Jacob, Daniel,
Henry, Samuel, Elizabeth, Ann and Susan.
Joseph Harner, the son of John and the father
of Samuel, was born in 1790 in Montgomery coun-
ty* and in early life he was a merchant there. After
removing to I-ancaster county he was engaged in
farming and lime burning. His death was at the
age of eighty-eight years. In 1820 he was united
in marriage to Mary Slingluff, and their seven chil-
dren were : John S., of Martic township ; George,
deceased ; Samuel ; Mary, the wife of Thomas Cully,
of Martic township; Elizabeth, deceased, wife of
J. Harrison . Long, of Drumore township ; Joseph,
of Martic township ; and Jesse, a retired farnier of
Drumore, more extended mention of these promi-
nent citizens of Lancaster county being found else-
where.
Like many another young man, Samuel Harner
began life with limited means, but the application
of energy and industry has brought a sure result.
In advanced years he finds himself surrounded by all
of the comforts of life, and capable of enjoying the
same, surrounded by affectionate relatives and sin-
cere friends. He was married on Jan. 7, 1868, to
Miss Amanda Mcl-aughlin, who was born Dec. 30,
1849, a daughter of Joseph and Martha (Marron)
McLaughlin ; to this union, on Jan. 17, 1869, was
born one son, — George E., who on Oct. i, 1895,
married Miss Emma Harner, the adopted daughter
of Joseph Harner, of Martic township. Three chil-
dren have been born to this marriage, Florence,
Virgil and Samuel J. Harner, Jr. Mrs. Amanda
Harner died April -5, 1902.
The valuable farm in this township owned by
Mr. Harner comprises 112 acres of well cultivated
land, upon which he has placed most excellent im-
provements. In his political belief Mr. Harner has
been a life-long Democrat, actively supporting the
candidates and measures of Democracy. Although ;
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
483
not a member of any religious denomination, Mr.
Harner is reverent in his feelings and liberally con-
tributes to the Presbyterian Church, to which his
wife belonged. Tfie family is one which is held in
high regard in this township as representing the
best class of honest and honorable citizens.
SAMUEL J. BEARD, one of the prominent
farmers of Penn township, belongs to a family which
has been settled in Pennsylvania for several genera-
tions. Grandfather Robert Beard came to America
from Ireland, and resided for a short time in Ches-
ter county, in this State, moving then into Lancaster
county, where he resided until his death. By trade
he was a charcoal burner and this was his occupa-
tion during life. Five children were born to him
and his wife : Joseph, who moved to York county
and died there; Robert, who became a farmer in
Dauphin county; James, the father of Samuel J.;
John, who is a farmer in Lebanon county ; and Mar-
garet, who married John Crawford.
James Beard, the father of Samuel J., was, born
in Lancaster county, about 1795. In early life he
followed the business of charcoal burning, but later
purchased the farm where Samuel J. now resides,
■ and turned his attention to agriculture until his
■death, in 1847. James Beard married Miss Ellen
Jones, and they had nine children born to them:
Martha, deceased wife of Henry Meixell ; Mary, the
-widow of Jacob Krall; Robert, a farmer of Penn
township; James, deceased, who lived in Reading;
Margaret, unmarried ; Catherine, the wife of David
Brosey; Eliza, the widow of Isaac Weachter;
Ellen, the widow of Abram Kauflfman; Samuel J.,
the youngest of the family.
Samuel J. Beard was born in Penn township
April II, 183s, and was left fatherless at the age
of twelve years. Until he was twenty-seven years
of age he remained with his mother, a kind and duti-
ful son. Mr. Beard received an excellent public
school education, which was supplemented by one
term in the Normal school, in Millersville. Possess-
ing a quick intelligence and a love of study, he soon
was qualified for teaching, and took charge of his
first school before he was twenty-one years old. For
twelve years he acceptably followed this profession.
In 1866, at the death of his beloved mother, to whom
Tie had shown every care, he purchased the old home-
stead and since that time has given his attention to
farming, demonstrating that he is as good a farmer
as teacher.
In politics Mr. Beard is a stanch Democrat, and
has taken a very active interest in the party councils
in this locality. For fifteen years he served as jus-
tice of the peace, for five years he was assessor, for
the same time tax collector, and he served one term
as school director.
The marriage of Mr. Beard was to Miss Mar-
garet Keath, and to this union was born a family of
seven children : Mary, the widow of Harry Diehm ;
Lizzie, the wife of Jacob Moyer ; Maggie, the wife
of Horace Biemesderfer ; Frank, a farmer of Me-
chanics ville ; John, a farmer at Erbsdale; Charles,
a miller, near Mount Hope ; and Howard, a teacher
of West Park, in Penn township.
Mr. Beard has spent a long and useful life in this
locality, is well known and most highly esteemed.
He is a leading member of the Lutheran Church,
one of the elders and one of its most liberal sup-
porters. Mr. Beard may be justly called a repre-
sentative man of Penn township.
JACOB CHARLES, one of the more prominent
farmers of Conoy township, Lancaster county, was
born in Manor township, in the same county, Dec.
15, 1841, and is a son of Christ, and Nancy (Funk)
Charles, both natives of Manor township, where the
father, who was born June 2, 1812, is still living.
The mother, who died in June, i860, and was laid to
rest in the Charles family burying ground in Manor
township, was, with her husband, a member of the
Mennonite Church. The following children were
born to them: Nancy, deceased wife of Abraham
Bankholder.; Jacob; John, a farmer and one of the
directors of the Mountville National Bank; Joseph,
a farmer in East Donegal township; Christian, a
farmer in Rapho township ; Abraham, at home with
his parents; Hettie, married to Martin Breneman,
a farmer of Manor township ; Anna, unmarried and
living at home; Mary, who married Christ. Frank,
and is dead. After the death of Mrs. Nancy Charles,
at Forrey, in i860, yir. Charles was married a sec-
ond time. Miss Elizabeth Witmer becoming his wife.
She died in 1893. John Charles, the paternal grand-
father of Jacob, married a Miss Habacker and spent
his entire life in his native township, Manor.
Jacob Charles has been twice married, the first
time Sept. 8, 1867, in Lancaster, when Miss Elvina,
S. Harnish became his wife. She was the mother
of two children : Fanny H., who died young ; and
Christ. H., who married Mary Lip, and is a farmer
in Conoy township. Mrs. Elvina S. Charles was
born in Manor township in 1849, and died Jan. 21,
1872. She was a daughter of Michael and Anna
(Schenck) Harnish, both natives of Lancaster
county.
Mr. Charles was married, for the second time,
on Nov. i-i, 1875, in Lancaster, to Miss Lizzie F.
Mease, by whom he has had the following children,
all of whom are at home : Amos M., Jacob M. and
Lizzie E. Mrs. Lizzie F. Charles was born in Man-
heim township Aug. 16, 1842, and is a daughter of
John and Mary (Frankford) Mease, farmer people
of Lancaster county, where they died, and were
buried in Neff's Church cemetery.
Mr. Charles remained with his parents until he
reached the age of twenty-seven years, when he en-
gaged in the tillage of a small farm in- Manor town-
ship. In March, 1878, he located on his present
home, a fine farm of one hundred and nineteen acres,
a magnificent property, with fine river frontage.. He
also owns an island farm across from his home.
484
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
where he has forty acres of rich tillable land, and
a farm of sixty-one acres in another part of Conoy
township.
Mr. Charles is an honorable and upright man,
whose long and useful life is a story of unwearied
industry and straightforward and manly dealings.
In politics he is a Democrat, and in his religion a
member of the Mennonite Church. His peaceful
and industrious life, his kindly heart and generous
spirit have in no way put to shame his religious faith
and profession.
GEORGE DILLER SPRECHER, whose com-
modious dwelling at No. 213 East King street is one
of the finest and most substantial in all Lancaster, is
a lineal descendant of two of the oldest families in
Lancaster county.
On his mother's side — the Dillers — the family
is traced to Casper Diller (Deelor, as he wrote it),
who fled from Alsace to Holland, going from there
to England, where he married a lady of English
birth and then came to America, landing in this
dountry in the early days of the Penns, from whom
he secured a grant for 500 acres of land. He lived
to be 100 years old. Isaac Diller, descended from
Casper Diller, was the grandfather of George D.
Sprecher, and the latter's grandmother, Susanna
Roland, was a daughter of Jonathan Roland, who,
served in the Revolutionary war. Through the
Diller connection Mr. Sprecher was related to
George Washington, and the family tree is as dis--
tinguished as it is large.
On the paternal side Mr. Sprecher can claim
a lineage as ancient as that of the Dillers. On
Oct. 17, 1732, Christopher Sprecher and Hans
George Sprecher (brothers, and the latter the great-
great-grandfather of our subject) came to America
on board the ship "Pink." On Oct. 17, 1751, Jacob
Sprecher, of Rotterdam, came to America on the
ship "Jeanette ;" with him came another Hans
George Sprecher. On Oct. 11, 1752, Johann Peter
Sprecher came to America, and on Oct. 18, 1752,
Jacob Adam Sprecher arrived in the United States
on the ship "Peggy." The Hans Sprecher who
came to this countrv in 1751 settled in New York,
and the first two Sprechers who came to America
settled in Lehigh county. Hans George Sprecher,
the first to come, had a son Philip, who settled in
East Earl township, and was the ancestor of George
D. Sprecher. One of Philip's sons went to Virginia,
where he settled and reared a family, one of his
sons being Prof. Sprecher, of California, who has
three sons who are clergymen. George D.
Sprecher's father was an extensive cattle dealer and
hotel-keeper, and for a time was a farmer. Mr.
Sprecher's (George D.'s) mother was a great-
granddaughter of Col. John Huber, a veteran of
the Revolution, her father having been Isaac Diller,
a prominent farmer of eastern Lancaster county.
Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sprecher,
only three of whom are living: George D., Will-
iam D. and Catherine, the latter the widow of the
late John Reigart, all of Lancaster.
George D. Sprecher was born Feb. 12, 1821, in
Earl township, where his father was engaged at
farming. Receivingf a partial education in the pub-
lic schools, young Sprecher came to Lancaster at the
age of eleven years, and entered the hardware store
of Gen. Diller, a relative of Mr. Sprecher's mother,
and who was the foimder of Dillerville, this county.
This was in 1832. From Gen. Diller's store young
Sprecher entered the employ of Henry W. Gun-
daker, and eight years later went to the late A. W.
Russel. In 1844 he became part owner, and later
sole owner, of a store. In 1854 Mr. Sprecher tore
down the old A. W. Russel hardware building, on
North Queen street, and erected the large and ele-
gant building now occupied by Reilly Brothers &
Raub. He was continuously in the hardware trade
from 1832 to i860, engaged in the slating business
in 1854, keeping it up — ^with the hardware business
— until i860, and from the latter date continuing ex-
clusively at slating until 1888, when he retired from'
active business.
Mr. Sprecher has been the builder and owner of
scores of houses in Lancaster, having built the hand-
some home he now lives in, in 1847, ^^'^ building an
addition to it in 1850. He is the owner of four large
tobacco warehouses, two extensive mercantile prop-
erties on East King street, and other properties.
Great, indeed, have been the material improvements
he has made to Lancaster, and these, with the rec-
ord of his long life of integrity, will prove enduring
monuments.
Mr. Sprecher married Miss Caroline Beates,
daughter of the now sainted Rev. William Beates,
who was for so many years pastor of Zion's Luther-
an Church, this citv, and who, emulating the Divine
Master, refused to accept the slightest compensa-
tion for his labors. He had a nominal salary of
$300 per annum, and, after receiving it, annually,
from his parishioners, turned it over for the pay-
ment of the church debt. This remarkable man
died May 16, 1867, at the age of ninety-one years,
while administering the Holy Communion to his
family.
Eight children were born of the union of George
D. Sprecher and Caroline Beates, and all save three
of these children, as well as the mother, have en-
tered into rest. The survivors are Laura, wife of
Henry S. Franklin, of the Steinman Hardware
Company; and Misses Emily B. and Anna M., at
home. Mr. Sprecher is wonderfully preserved, men-
tally and physically, for one of his years, and he
is as active as most men of fifty, although within a
few days of eignty-one years at the time this sketch
was written, January, 1902. He is a trustee of
Trinity Lutheran Church, and has been for fifty-
two years ; and he is president of the board of trus-
tees of the Home for Friendless Children, and presi-
dent of the board of trustees of the Woodward Hill
Cemetery Board ; and no man gives these positions
rjt^ir7'^-&
•^4.
JS
t /OJ:i^r^t>n.'eyf^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
485
of honor and trust more intelligent or more pains-
taking attention than does Mr. Sprecher. His has
indeed been a remarkable career, and his life is one
that may well be emulated by the rising generation.
JACOB. MUSSELMAN. A prominent and
highly esteemed farmer of Lancaster county is found
in Jacob Mus'selman, now living somewhat retired
on a farm which has been his home since 1898. The
birth of Mr. Musselman was in Earl township July
5, 1831, and he was a son of Samuel and Magdalina
(Nolt) Musselman, a leading farming family of Earl
township. Samuel Musselman was engaged in
agricultural pursuits all his life and died on his old
homestead, after five years of retirement, in 1862,
at the age of sixty-six years. He was a son of Chris-
tian Musselman, who was also a farmer of Earl
township, and the family in its sixth generation now
occupies the old farm, it being the property of Jacob
Musselman and operated by his two capable sons.
The old family home was erected in 1792 and has
heen the scene of the births, marriages and deaths
of the family for over a century, still remaining in
a good state of preservation, while those who fash-
ioned it have long since crumbled into dust.
Magdalina (Nolt) Musselman, the beloved moth-
er of our subject, passed out of life in 1842, at the
■early age of thirty-eight years. She was a daughter
of Jonas Nolt, of West Earl township. She was
buried in Grofifdale cemetery, both she and her
husband having been most worthy members of the
Mennonite Church. The children born to them
were : Anna, who died young ; Christian, who was
Tcilled on the railroad in 1898, at the age of seventy-
two years ; Jonas, who died in 1863 ; Jacob ; Henry,
who died in 1888 ; and Mattie, of West Earl town-
ship, who married Michael E. Wenger.
The education of Jacob Musselman was acquired
in the district schools of his neighborhood and he
grew up on his father's farm, remaining at home
until the death of both parents, when he took charge
of the old place and continued to cultivate and im-
prove, it until 1898, when he retired from activity,
in favor of his two sons, whom he had taught to
"be excellent farmers and good managers, like him-
self.
Mr. Musselman was united in rharriage on Jan.
12, 1858, in West Earl township, to Miss Mary
Stoner. This estimable lady was born in West
Earl township Sept. 15, 1831, and she was a daugh-
ter of Henry and Catherine (Huber) Stoner, the
former of whom was a native of Colerain and the
latter of Warwick township. The father died in
West Earl in 1869, at the age of seventy-three years,
the mother having preceded him, in 1853, at the age
of sixty years. They were buried in Metzler's
meeting house cemetery, in West Earl township,
and both were consistent members of the Mennon-
ite Church. The grandparents of Mrs. Musselman
were among the leading citizens of the county, Hen-
ry and Margaret Stoner and Abraham Huber. The
brothers and sisters of Mrs. Musselman were:
Elizabeth, deceased, who married John Musselman ;
Jacob, who died young; Catherine, deceased, who
first married Joseph" Nolt, and second, Martin Rohr-
er; Henry, deceased; Samuel, a farmer of Ephrata
township ; Barbara, deceased, who married Elias
Miller; Susannah, deceased, who married Daniel
Burkholder; Abraham, a retired farmer of Ephrata
township; and Isaac, also a retired farmer of the
same township.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Musselman
made up a family of nine, as follows: Magdelina,
who married Samuel O. Martin, a farmer of Earl
township, and has ten children ; Anna, who married
John C. Nolt, a farmer of Earl township, and has
a family of nine children ; Jacob, of Lancaster, an in-
valid ; Mary and Henry, who died young ; Amanda,
who is a talented lady and a teacher in the Men-
nonite Mission school, in Philadelphia ; Eli, who re-
sides on the old homestead, married Anna Berghart
and has three children ; Amos, who married Laura
Good, resides on a part of the old homestead and has
two children; and Katie, who married Elmer E.
Meyers, of Earl township, and is the mother of three
children.
For many years Mr. Musselman has been a resi-
dent of West Earl township and is well known to
almost every citizen ; among these old acquaintances
he is ranked as a man of strict integrity, a man whose
word is as good as his bond, and as one who well
■represents the good citizen. In politics he is a
stanch Republican, and is one of the leading mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church.
SAMUEL WARFEL was born in Conestoga
township, Lancaster county. Pa., Feb. 7, 1822. He
was educated in the common schools of the county,
and remained at home until he was twenty-one years
of age. He then branched out in life for himself
and followed the canal between Lancaster and Phila-
delphia for a number of years. Since leaving the
canal he has been engaged in various lines of oc-
cupation.
Adam Warfel, father of Samuel, born in Cones-
toga township in 1800, was drowned there in 1869.
He married Miss Sarah Graver, of Ephrata. This
couple were the parents of ten children, one of whom
died in infancy : Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Cross-
man; Samuel: Polly, wife of Reuben Brady, of
Conestoga; Delila, wife of John Fry, of Manor
township ; Levi, of Conestoga township ; Eurias, of
Conestoga township ; Catherine, never married ; An-
nie, who died in childhood; and Annie, deceased.
The father of Adam Warfel was also named Adam
and was born and reared in Conestoga township.
Samuel Warfel married Barbara, daughter of
Martin Good, of Conestoga township. They have
had seven children, as follows : Sarah, who died in
infancy ; Lizzie, who died in childhood ; Delila, wife
of Fred. Shoff, of Colemanville ; Lidia A., wife of
Aaron Elmire ; Leah, wife of Christian Shoof ; An-
486
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
nie, who is the widow of John Stauifer; and Will-
iam, who died in childhood. Mr. Warfel is a mem-
ber of the Old Mennonite Church and takes a great
interest in church work. He is. still active and vig-
orous and doubtless has many days yet to live. He
is universally respected by his friends and neigh-
bors.
JEREMIAH SELDOMRIDGE, a retired farm-
er of Leacock township, Lancaster county, where he
is spending the closing years of a long and useful
life, was born in Salisbury township, this county,
Jan. 4, 1827, son of Isaac and Rachel (Glauser)
Seldomridge. His parents were born in Leacock
and East Earl townships, respectively, and both died
in Earl township.
Isaac Seldomridge was a farmer and an indus-
trious man, but for fifteen years prior to his death he
lived retired. He passed away in 1884, at the age
of eighty-four, and his wife died in 1878, when
seventy-six years old. Both were buried in Ro-
land's cemetery, in Earl township. They were
members of the Lutheran Church. The following
named children were born to them : George, who
died when about sixty-six years old ; Jeremiah, men-
tioned below ; Elizabeth, the widow of Amos Skiles,
of Springville, Lancaster county; Isaac, who died
at the age of fifty-eight ; Catherine, the wife of Peter
Dague, of Earl township ; Jacob, a farmer of Earl
township ; Benjamin, a saddler living in Upper Lea-
cock township ; Rachel, deceased wife of Isaac Bru-
baker; Mary Ann, the wife of Jonathan Hilder-
brand, of Manheim township; Andrew, deceased;
Amos, a retired farmer of Earl township.
George Seldomridge, the grandfather of Jere-
iniah, was born in Lancaster county, married there
and there reared his family. His father was also
George. He was a son of George and a grandson,
of Andrew, who, with his wife, came from Switzer-
land. The name was originally spelled Zeltenreich.
This Andrew owned the tract of one and a quarter
acres in Earl township now known as Rolands ceme-
tery, which he gave to the churCh for the nominal
sum of five shillings. He was also one of the found-
ers of the church there.
Jeremiah Seldomridge was married in Lancaster
Sept 2, 1852, to Susanna C. Eckert, by whom he
has had the following children : Jemimah, deceased
wife of John Fenninger, a farmer of Leacock town-
ship, by whom she had six children ; Eckert G., de-
ceased ; Mary Ann, who married George Knobb, of
Leacock township, and who has two children.
Mrs. Susanna C. (Eckert) Seldomridge was born
in Leacock township Feb. 14, 1828, daughter of
Jacob K. and Hannah (Vames) Eckert, farming
people of Leacock township, who are now numbered
with the "great majority," he having died in 1864,
at the age of sixty-four years, and Mrs. Eckert in
1871, at the age of sixty-eight years. Their ashes
rest in Roland's cemetery. During his last years
Mr. Eckert lived retired. To them were born the
following children: Evaline, late wife of Josiah
Zook; John v., deceased; George, a retired farmer
in Lancaster ; Susanna C, Mrs. Seldomridge ; Mary
Ann, deceased wife of Robert Hoar; Rebecca, mar-
ried to Moses Hess, and now living retired in Perry
county. Pa. ; Elizabeth, married to Hpnry Rutter, and
now living retired in Intercourse; Henry, deceased;
C. Ludwig, in Philadelphia; Jemima, the widow of
Henry Horst, living in Lancaster. George and Su-
san Eckert, the paternal grandparents of Mrs. Sel-
domridge, were farming people of Lancaster county.
Jeremiah Seldomridge remained with his parents
on the farm until about the time of his marriage,
when he set up for himself on a neighboring farm,
in 1851 commencing farming in Upper Leacock
township. There he remained until 1864, when he
estabUshed himself and family on a place in Lea-
cock township, in the ciiltivation of which he was
engaged until 1893. That year he removed to his
present home, and he has since lived retired. For
nine years he has been school director, and he takes
the side of the Republican party in all political ques-
tions. For the past thirty-nine years Mr. Seldom-
ridge has been an elder ip the Reformed Church,
and still holds the office, and his clean and wholesome
life, his industrious habits and his kindly disposition
have given much strength and force to his religious
labors. The family of seven sons, of which he is
one, has the remarkable distinction that all are abso-
lutely temperate in all things, not one of them having
ever used tobacco, in any form, and all abstaining ,
from intoxicants.
JOHN S. HARNER, one of the leading and
successful farmer-citizens of Martic township, is a
native of Montgomery county, and was born in De-
cember, 1823. His parents were Joseph and Mary
(Slingluft") Harijer, of Montgomery county, Pa.,
who came to Martic township in 1838, when their
son, John, was about fifteen years of age. Joseph
Harner had a family of seven children, five sons
and two daughters : John S. ; George, deceased ;
Samuel, of Martic township ; Joseph, of Martic
township; Mary Ann, the wife of Thomas ' Cully ;
Elizabeth, deceased wife of J. Harrison Long, of
Drumore; Jesse, a retired farmer of Drumore, all
of these having extended mention made in another
place.
John S. Harner grew through childhood and un-
til he was fifteen years of age, in the old home in
Montgomery county, accompanying his parents to
Lancaster county when they removed to this part
of the state, in 1838. His education was obtained in
the public schools and he early began the agricul-
tural life he has successfully followed ever since.
His beginnings were small and he has worked hard,
but he has now one of the finest and most valuable
farms in this part of the county, well improved and
most desirable. It contains 200 acres and shows'
that Mr. Harner has thoroughly understood his bus-
iness.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
487
Not only has John S. Harner been a good farmer,
but he has faithfully served his township in various
official positions, and is widely known as an honest
and upright citizen. His political views make him
a Democrat, and for many years he has been a leader
in the ranks of the Democratic party. In the Chest-
nut Level Presbyterian Church Mr. Harner has for
many years been not only a constant attendant, but
a liberal supporter and active and useful member,
serving a number of years as trustee.
The marriage of John S. Harner was on Feb. 3,
1859, to Miss Lucinda L. Long, of Drumore town-
ship, a daughter of James B. and Catherine (Jeffer-
son) Long, one of the old and honorable families of
southern Lancaster county. Mrs. Harner was born
Jan. 26, 1839, and she was one in a family of nine
children, five of these growing to maturity : Mar-
garet, who married Robert Rutter, of Ohio ; J. Har-
rison, a retired farmer of Drumore township ; Lu-
cinda ; George, deceased ; and Robert L., a prominent
citizen of Phoenix, Arizona.
A family of three children was born to Mr. and
Mi-s. Harner: Mary C, born in i860, wife of
James Kilgore, of York county, Pa.; J. Wiimer,
born in 1865 and married to Belle Wivel, of Dru-
more township : Charles L., born on April 20, 1872,
married to Elizabeth Bayd, of Drumore township,
and serving as the competent manager of his father's
farm, in Martic township. The family is one well
known and most highly esteemed in this locality,
■being especially noted for those sterling qualities
which belong to a community's best citizens.
JOPIN GEIST. Among the retired farmers of
Lancaster county John Geist takes a leading posi-
tion, being a man of large means and much public
spirit. Mr. Geist was born in West Lampeter
township Sept. 4, 1829, and he was a son of John
and Eliza (Powell) Geist, natives, respectively, of
Strasburg and East Lampeter townships. By trade
the elder John Geist was a wagon maker, which bus-
iness he carried on in connection with his farming
operations. Some time prior to his death he gave
up active work. Father Geist was born July 29,
1804, and died May 21, 1866. His first wife was born
March sg, 1809, and died March 9, 1844, both be-
ing buried in Mellinger's cemetery. These worthy
people had been devoted members of the Reformed
Mennonite Church.
The children of these parents were : Anna, who
died young ; Daniel, who died in Ohio and was twice
married, the first time to Mary Kreider ; John ; Marv
J., Amos. Barbara, Elizabeth and Emma, who all
died young; and Susanna R., who married Henrv
Rudy. The second marriage of Mr. Geist was to
Susanna Burkholder, and to this union one daugh-
ter was born, Martha, who married Rev. Abraham
Kurtz and died in 1898. The paternal grandparents
of John Geist were Philip and Barbara Geist, natives
of Baden, Germany, the former of whom came to
America at the age of eighteen in order to avoid
service in the German army. Philip Geist was a son
of George Geist, a native of Wittenberg, Germany,
who came to America in 1763, locating in Strasburg,
Lancaster county, where his two brothers, Simon and
Leonard, already resided.
John Geist received a good common school edu-
cation and made his home with his parents until he
was about twenty-five years old, although at the age
of seventeen he began to learn the carpenter trade,
which kept him from home a part of the time. Later
he engaged in farming in East Lampeter town-
ship, moving to his present farm in Upper Leacock
township, six miles east of Lancaster, in 1875, where
he remained actively engaged in general farming
until July 14, 1896 ; then he removed to his present
residence on the same farm, while his son took the
old home and relieved his father of the work. This
is one of the fine farms in this part of Lancaster
county, comprising loo acres of well improved, finely
cultivated and productive land.
John Geist was rriarried Nov. 9, 1854, in Lan-
caster, to Miss Charlotte Harnish, and the children
bom to this union were : Martin, who died at the
age of fourteen years; Lizzie Ann, who married
Kinder Bender, of Leacock township, and has a fam-
ily of eight children ; Mary J., who married O. S.
Eckert, a fanner of West Earl township, and has
four children ; Ida A., a young lady, at home ; Willis,
the farmer on the old homestead, who married Laura
Stoner, has two children, and is one of the school
directors; Lotta, a young girl at home; Morten,
Emma and John, who died in infancy.
Mrs. Charlotte Harnish Geist was born in East
Lampeter township Oct. 4, 1832, and was a daughter
of Martin and Anna (Weidler) Harnish, the former
a farmer of West Lampeter township, where he died
in 1840, at the age of thirty-eight years, and the
latter a native of Leacock township. The mother
survived until she was eighty-two years old, dying
in 1876; and she was buried in the private burying
grounds on the old farm. Both parents of Mrs.
Geist were worthy Christian people, devout members
of the Reformed Mennonite Church. Their chil-
dren were : Benjamin W., who operated a foundry
and died in 1890; Elizabeth, who was the wife of
Edwin Betzer and died in i860; Charlotte, the wife
of Mr. Geist; and Samuel, a moulder of Lancaster.
The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Geist was Martin
Harnish, a farmer and distiller who became a resi-
dent of Ohio, but died while visiting in Lancaster
county.
Mr. Geist has been identified with a number of
leading business interests of Lancaster county and
for ten years has been a director in the Farmer's
National Bank of Lancaster. In politics he is a
Republican, and socially he is respected and esteemed
by all who know him.
CHRIST S. HOFFMAN, of Elizabethtown,
Lancaster county, was born April 22, 1824, in Caer-
narvon township, that county, son of Christ and
488
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Magdalina (Sclineder) Hoffman, both natives of
Lancaster county. The father was a general mer-
chant, and died at Vogansville, Lancaster county, in
1868, when seventy-two years old. His widow
passed away the following year, at the age of seven-
ty-five. In his earlier years he was a tailor, then
became a farmer, and later followed a mercantile
career for many years. Both parents were members
of the Reformed Church. They had the following
family: Amos, who died in infancy; Christ S.;
Sarah, who married Daniel Bushong and (second)
Cyrus McQuaid, and is now deceased; Magdalena
A., late wife of Ezra Burkholder ; Catherine, living
in Erie county. Pa., the widow of Graybill Myers;
and. Herman, an auctioneer at Vogansville.
Christ S. Hoffman was married in Vogansville,
in 1852, to Frances Groff, and they became the par-
ents of two children, Mary and Emma. Mary is
the wife of A. E. Jacoby, a school teacher, .and is
living in Elizabethtown ; they have two children,
Christ H. and Ella F. Emma is unmarried, and is
at home. Mrs. Frances ( Groff) Hoffman was born
in Earl- township Feb. 6, 1833, daughter of Mark S.
and Nancy (Good) Groff, both natives of Lancaster
county. Her father began life as a farmer, but
spent the latter part of his active years in the lumber
business in Vogansville.
Mr. Hoffman worked on the tailor's bench until
he was thirteen years old, under his father. When
he was thirteen he began working on a farm, where
he remained until seventeen years of age, and then
entered a mercantile establishment where he spent
ten years. Fiom 1852 to 1872 he followed survey-
ing and conveyancing, at Vogansville, and then
moved to Lancaster, continuing the same business.
Eleven years later he removed to Elizabethtown,
where he continues as conveyancer at this writing.
At Vogansville he was justice of the peace for five
years. He is a Dem.ocrat in his political views.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman are members of the Re-
formed Church and are prominent and much re-
spected members of the community.
JACOB H. BOMBERGER, who has been in
the leaf tobacco business in Warwick for a number
of years, comes of an old and always respected fam-
ily of Lancaster county, his ancestors having set-
tled here early in the eighteenth century.
Mr. Bomberger is a grandson of John Bom-
berger, who is mentioned elsewhere, and a son of
Jacob Bomberger, who was born on the old home-
stead farm, near Lititz, Oct. i, 1824. He was a
farmer, and followed farming on an extensive scale
until his death, which occurred May 14, 1885. He
was a member of the Old Mennonite Church. Jacob
Bomberger married Miss Barbara, daughter of
Christian Hess, and they became the parents of
three children, viz. : Anna, wife of Henry G. Sli-
der ; Maria, wife of H. Reist Landis ; and Jacob H.
Jacob H. Bomberger was born on the old home-
stead Oct. ID, i860, and lived at home with his fa-
ther until he was twenty-three years of age. He
was educated in the common schools of the county
and attended through one term at the Lititz Acad-
emy, after which he began life for himself, farm-
ing on the old homestead for five years. He then
moved to Warwick, where he has been engaged in
the leaf tobacco business. In politics Mr. Bom-
berger has always affiliated with the Republican
party, but he never sought office.
On Oct. 16, 1883, Mr. Bomberger wedded Miss
Anna B. Bollinger, daughter of Hiram Bollinger, of
Lincoln, Pa., and to this union have been born four
children, namely: Hiram B., Barbara B., Jacob.
B. and Clayton B., all of whom are at home.
Mr. Bomberger is one of the best-known resi-
dents of this section of Lancaster county, and he
has attained high standing among the suDstantial
citizens as an honorable, public spirited and reli-
able business man. He is fully alive to the best
interests of his section, and is a worthy representa-
tive of Warwick township.
SAMUEL HARTMAN belongs to a family
which has taken a prominent and honorable part in
the history of East Lampeter township and Lancas-
ter county for two centuries. He is a great-grandson
of Jacob Hartman, a Mennonite preacher, who was
born in East Lampeter township in 1714 and fol-
lowed farming all his life. In 1755 he built the
house yet standing on the family farm still in good
repair. He was the father of three sons and three
daughters. The daughters were : Ester, who mar-
ried David Huber; Fannie, wife of Henry Hess;
and Annie, who died at home, unmarried.
Henry Hartman, the grandfather of our subject,
was born on the same old farm and spent his entire
life there, engaged at farming. In religion he was
one of the Old Mennonites. He married Miss Cath-
erine Hildebrand,- and they were the parents of six
children : Henry, the father of Samuel ; Catherine,
wife of Daniel Stauft'er ; Nancy, wife of Jacob Buck-
waiter; Elizabeth, wife of John Stauffer; Fannie,
wife of Joseph Hershey ; and Hettie, wife of Jacob
Rife.
Henry Hartman was also born on the old farm,
Nov. 27, 1808, inherited the place from his father
and continued to farm until his death, which oc-
curred Feb. 28, 1879. Mr. Hartman was a member
of the Old Mennonite Church. On Nov. 5, 1833,
he married Miss Elizabeth Eby, daughter of Samuel
Eby, and they had a family of six children : Sam-
uel; Anna, born March 21, 1836, the widow of Sam-
uel Landis ; Elizabeth, born March 12, 1837, de-
ceased wife of John Esbenshade; Catherine, born
June 14, 1849 .• Henry, born Feb. 6, 1853, who mar-
ried Nettie Hostetter and lives at Ephrata; Aaron,
born Oct. 20, 1856, who married Frances Diefen-
baugh and is a resident of East Lampeter.
Samuel Hartman was born Aug. 22, 1834, on
the old Hartman farm, being of the fourth or fifth
generation who have been born and lived all their
Jc^c^ AfStr^.^^'^^^^:^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
489
Jives there. Samuel Hartman, however, moved to
Chester county for twelve years, after which he re-
turned to the old place, and there he has remained
ever since. He was educated in the common schools
of the county. The farm which Mr. Hartman so
successfully cultivates, comprising about eighty-
tliree acres, is one of the oldest in Lancaster county
and is the original farm owned by his ancestors sev-
eral generations back, and which has always re-
mained in the family. He is deeply interested in the
moral and material welfare of Lancaster county, and
is ranked among its substantial, highly respected citi-
zens. Politically he is a Republican. Like his
ancestors, he is a member of the Old Mennonite
Church.
On Nov. I, i860, Mr. Hartman wedded Miss
Catherine Price, daughter of Andrew Price, of West
Lampeter township, and this union has been blessed
with -eight children: Andrew P., born Aug. 3,
3861, now of Philadelphia; Elizabeth, born Sept.
5, 1862, wife of John Huber; Henry, born Nov. 13,
1863, still at home; EUanora, born Sept. 12, 1866,
■who died in childhood ; Milton, born Sept. i, 1868,
"who died in infancy ; Susan, born Jan. 30, 1871, wife
of John Shurtz, of Lancaster; Amanda, born Aug.
27, . 1873, still at home ; and Samuel, born July 3,
1878, who died in infancy. Mrs. Hartman died Feb.
23, 1898, aged sixty-four years, nine months and
thirteen days.
ISAAC MECKLEY. Among the prominent,
substantial and representative citizens of Mt. Joy
township who have done much for the advancement
tind perfection of agriculture in Lancaster county is
Isaac Meckley, a retired farmer, residing near Eliz-
abethtown.
Mr. Meckley was born in Mt. Joy township on
3. farm adjoining his present property March 21,
1819, a son of Melchor and Elizabeth (Hoffer)
Meckley, both of whom were natives of Germany.
They came to America in their young married life,
settling first in Dauphin, but later removing to Lan-
caster county and locating in Mt. Joy township. The
first marriage of Melchor Meckley was to a Miss
Grubb, and their children, John, Christian, Jacob
and Elizabeth, are all dead. He then married a
Miss Newcomer, the children of this union being:
Joseph and Susan. Then he married the mother
of our subject, who died Dec. i, 1875, at the age of
eighty-three years, and their children were: Sam-
uel, deceased, who married Mary Bristol; Benjamin,
deceased, who married Barbara Halderman ; Henry,
deceased, who married Eliza Henry; and Isaac.
Although Mr. Meckley of this record began Jife
as a poor boy, dependent entirely upon his own re-
sources from an early age, through energy and per-
severance he in time became possessed of more
means than wej-e the farmers for whom he so faith-
fully worked in his boyhood. He learned the car-
penter trade and was kept busy and made money
for a number of years, but in 1861 he decided to
engage in fanning. At first this was no very easy
matter, for at that time much of the labor-saving
machinery now in use was not even invented, all that
the horses could not do being necessarily performed
by hand, the few machines then on the market being
far beyond his reach. However, Mr. Meckley was
regarded as an excellent farmer and by hard work
obtained good crops and accumulated money. In
1880 he retired from active labor, owning two fine
farms, one in Dauphin county and another in Lan-
caster county. In politics he is a Republican.
In January, 1859, Mr. Meckley was married, in
Lancaster, to Miss Barbara Coble, and the family
born to this union consisted of two children, Da^ad
C. and Anna. David C, who is a farmer in Mt. Joy
township, married, in 1883, Miss Emma Garber,
born In Dauphin county, daughter of John and Sarah
(Peck) Garber, of that county. Mr. and Mrs. David
Meckley have three children, Walter, Ralph E. and
John. Anna, deceased, married Solomon Espen-
shade and had two children, Harvey and Estella.
Mrs. Meckley was born in Dauphin county Sept. 7,
1825, and died Dec. i, 1869, aged forty-four years.
She was buried in Dauphin county. Her parents
were Christian and Elizabeth (Hoffer) Coble, of
Dauphin county.
Both Isaac Meckley and his son are held in high
esteem in Mt. Joy township as reliable, upright and
honora;ble men. In every public matter that comes
up in the community they give an influence in the
direction that will prove of benefit to the township,
while in private life they are known as excellent
neighbors and kind and helpful friends, men of char-
acter and standing,
SIDWELL T. WILSON. For many years the
late Sidwell T. Wilson was a prominent and suc-
cessful farmer, as well as a highly esteemed citizen
of Little Britain township, identified with its best
agricultural and religious progress. He was born
in this township on Oct. 25, 1828, on the same farm
where his useful and valued life ended on April 16,
1892. His parents were Needham and Jane (Patter-
son) Wilson, the ancestors of the family having
originated in Scotland and Ireland.
The Wilson family settled in early days in Lan-
caster county and were members of the Society of
Friends. Grandfather Benjamin Wilson married
Anna Sidwell, the former being English and the
latter bringing in the Scotch-Irish strain. Need-
ham Wilson, the son of Benjamin, and the father of
the late Sidwell, was born May 15, 1797, and died
Sept. 22, 1872. His widow survived until Sept. 7,
i8qo, dying at the age of ninety-four years. Their
children were: Dorestus, a coal dealer in Chester
county ; Sidwell T. ; Silvia A., who married George
Bockius, deceased; Dr. Needham, a physician in
Philadelphia ; and J. M.., of Fairmount.
Through a long and industrious life Sidwell Wil-
son so lived that when he was called from earth
he left the world better for his having lived in it, and
490
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
was sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends.
He was a liberal contributor to the Presbyterian
Church, generously forwarding all of its enterprises
in the direction of missions and charity. His politi-
cal adherence was given to the Democratic party,
and he consistently voted to support its measures and
to elect its c'andidates.
The marriage of Sidwell T. Wilson was to Miss
Margaret A. Hill, who was born in Britain town-
ship Jan. 13, 1834, a daughter of Thomas and
Eleanor (Killough) Hill; the father was born in the
State of New York, about 1803, and died June 12,
1866, in Britain township, in this county. The
•mother of Mrs. Wilson was born in 1804 and died in
1875, having borne two children: Sarah, of Little
Britain township, and Margaret A., who is the widow
of the late Sidwell T. Wilson.
Mrs. Wilson still resides on the old home farm,
esteemed and beloved by relatives and friends. She
has long been a valued member of the Little Britain
Presbyterian Church, and is widely known for her
neighborly kindness and Christian virtues. Her
family is one of the old and highly respected ones
of Lancaster county.
WALTER F. BICKNELL, a retired farmer of
Fulton township, Lancaster county, is a substantial
citizen of the community. He comes from an Eng-
lish family, but was born in this country, having first
seen the light of day on Dec. 24, 1832, in Fulton
township. John Bicknell, his father, was born in
England in 1785 and came to this country in early
manhood. In 1810 he married Miss May Porritt,
and they reared a family of eleven children, eight of
whom grew to mature years, Samuel, Mary, John,
Sarah, Isaac, Anna, William and Walter F., the
youngest of the family.
Walter F. Bicknell married Rebecca, daughter of
Caleb Thomas, of Fiiltori township, Oct. 18, 1866.
Mrs. Bicknell's family is also of English origin.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bicknell has been
blessed with three children: Howard W., born in.
1868, is on a part of the original home farm ; Fred-
erick C. manages the home place; and George H.
is in Little Britain township. Mrs. Bicknell was
born in 1837 and still enjoys most excellent health.
Mr. Bicknell recently sold his farm of 180 acres to
his sons, Howard and Frederick, who are operat-
ing it.
Mr. Bicknell was a volunteer of Co. B, 99th P.
v., during the Civil war, enlisting in July, 1861. He
served in the army of the Potomac under Gen.
George B. McClellan, and took part in all of the Vir-
ginia, Potomac and James River campaigns, during
which occurred some of the hardest fought battles of
the Civil war. He was at the battle of the Wilder-
ness, Gettysburg, Petersburg and the siege of Rich-
mond, and was a faithful, hard-fighting soldier
through it all, till July 31, 1864, when his term of
service expired. Mr. Bicknell is a professor of the
Quaker religious faith and is a strong Republican in
politics. He still enjoys excellent health, notwith-
standing his arduous experience in the army. He
is well known and respected by all his neighbors for
his many fine traits of character.
JOHN KREIDER, in his life-time one of the
leading men of Lancaster county, was born in Lea-
cock township April 27, 1838, a son of Jacob and
Anna (Buckwalter) Kreider, and died March i,.
1897. His youth was passed in Leacock township,,
and after his marriage he removed to Leaman Place,,
in Paradise township.
Mr. Kreider was married 'Jan. 10, 1865, to Cath-
erine Ann, a daughter of Jacob and Lydia Ann
(Buckwalter) Leaman, who was born in East Lam-
peter township Dec. 16, 1842. After their mar-
riage they located on the farm where Mrs. Kreider
is still living. This fann originally contained 104
acres, but several lots have been sold from it; and it
now contains ninety-five acres. It is highly im-
proved, and is classed among the best of the county.
Here Mr. Kreider spent his active life in farming.
He never sought or held public station, and was
closely devoted to his domestic interests, preferring
the comforts and delights of home to any possible
pleasure found elsewhere. Both husband and wife
belonged to the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Kreider were the parents of five
children, only two of whom survive. An infant
daughter, born Aug. 6, 1866, died the same day;
Charles B., born April 2, 1871, died Feb. 15, 1873;
Jacob H., born Dec. 16, 1874, died May 4, 1875.
Elam L., a music teacher of Leaman Place, was
born Oct. 2, 1868 ; he married Miss Alice Mylin, and
is the father of two children, Katherine Barbara and
Marian Mylin; Lydia Ann, born Aug. 16, 1877,
is at home. All the family are musical, and as noted
above the son is a professional teacher, and has
achieved a substantial success in his calling. He,
with his wife and sister, belongs, to the Presbyterian
Church. The home bears the name of "Willow Burn
Farm."
Jacob K. and Lydia Ann Leaman were among
the honored people of the county. He was bomi
in Lancaster township Nov. 28, 1819, and died May
28, 1889. He was the son of Benjamin and Cath-
erine (Kreider) Leaman. Mr. Leaman was reared
and spent the most of his life in East Lampeter and
Leacock townships, and became one of the leading
farmers of his time. His homestead he divided into
four farm for his sons. For nine years he was
school director. He was married Nov. 26, 1840, to
Lydia Ann Buckwalter, a daughter of Abraham and
Ann (Witmer) Buckwalter. She was born July 11,
1823, and is still living in the full enjoyment of
health and mind. A lady of culture and refinement,
her age only serves to accent her grace and dignity.
Reared in East Lampeter township,. the most of her
life was spent in her native community. Since the
death of her husband she has made her home with
her daughter, Mrs. John Kreider. The father and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
491
mother were both members of the Mennonite
Church. To this worthy couple were born : Cath-
erine Ann, the widow 6T John Kreider; Susan E.,
the wife of Ephraim Hershey, of Salisbury township ;
Elam W., of Leacock township; Anna Mary, who
married Simon Denlinger, of Paradise township, and
is dead ; Jacob B., a farmer of Leacock township ;
Lydia E., the wife of Aaron H. Duffenbach, of
Greenland; Franl^lin K., a retired farmer of Gor-
donville; Ezra H., a manufacturer of cigar boxes
in Paradise township.
JOSEPH PENNY, a farmer of Colerain town-
ship, Lancaster county, was born in Drumore town-
ship Nov. 23, 1840, and is a son of Hugh and Sarah
("Wentz") Penny, both natives of Drumore township.
Hugh Penny was born June 12, 1812, and his wife
Sept. 25, 1817.
Hugh Penny was a son of Joseph and Mary
(Long) Penny, both of whom were born in this
county, and were descended from Scotch-Irish par-
entage. Joseph Penny, the grandfather, first settled
near thp Buck, where he established the present fam-
ily. He had a family of two sons and four daugh-
ters : James ; Hugh ; Sarah A., widow of John
Wentz, who had five sons and four daughters ; Mary
J., wife of Thomas Wentz, of Martic township ; Han-
nah M., who niarried William Wentz, of Martic
township, both of whom are dead ; Harriet, married
to John S. Morrison, both deceased.
James Penny married Mariah Wentz, and made
a home near the old family estate, near Buck. His
widow and one son are still living on the old home-
stead in Drumore township.
Hugh Penny was reared to manhood under the
parental roof, and, given a common school education.
He and his wife lived and died on the family home-
stead. His death occurred in 1881, and his widow-
passed away in 1885. In early life they were asso-
ciated with the Friends, but in their later years united
with the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Penny was a
staunch Democrat, and held local offices in Drumore
township. He was the father of seven children,
(i) Mary M., born in August, 1836, married Henry
Pegan, of Martic township. They settled in Dru-
more township, where she died in October, 1876;
leaving three daughters: Ida married .Samuel
Grove ; Eva married Wilkie Grove, and is now dead ;
Lena married Robert Wickersham, of Chester coun-
ty. (2) Joseph Penny. (3) Sarah A., born in
Drumore township m January, 1843, married
Thomas Wilson, of Stewartstown, York county,
where they live retired. (4) Mariah J., born Oct.
16, 1844, married Aldus Aument, of East Drumore
township, whose sketch may be seen elsewhere. (5)
William C, born Jan. 29, 1848, married Mary
Buckius, of Lancaster county, and has his home on
the old place in Drumore township. (6) Hugh J.,
born in June, 1852, married Miss Lizzie Phillips, of
Colerain township, and is engaged as a merchant
in Russellville, Chester county. They have one
daughter, Etta. (7) Laura, born March 8, 1856,
was educated in the Academy at Chestnut Level, and
married Prof. William Overholt, of Little Britain
townsbip. He is now a retired druggist in Balti-
more. They have a son and a daughter living,
Mirton and Hallie, both of whom livfe in Baltimore, .
the daughter being at home.
Joseph Penny was reared on the home farm and
igiven a common school education in Drumore town-
ship. He was married Jan. 5, 1871, to Hannah M.,
a daughter of Mahlon and Anna M. (Dare) Pusey.
Mrs. Penny was born April 18, 1848, and was reared
to womanhood in the old home at Puseyville, where
she attended the Union High School. Mahlon
Pusey was twice married, Mrs. Penny being a
daughter of the second marriage, to which were
born seven children : George, of Oxford ; Rebecca,
the wife of Hugh Long, of East Drumore town-
ship ; Emma ; Sarah, the wife of Lindly Hutton, of
Belmar, N. J. ; Ada ; Rose, the wife of Frank Herr,
of Little Britain township; and Hannah M.
Mr. and Mrs. Penny settled on a farm in West
Drumore township, where they lived about four
years, when they moved to Puseyville, where Mr.
Penny was engaged in the milling business for some
ten years. In 1885 he bought the farm where he
is found to-day. It was then known as the Bunting
farm and was two miles south of the Union. Since
coming there they have rebuilt the dwelUng house
and made many substantial and elegant improve-
ments. To them have come a daughter and a son.
Anna M., born in Drumore township, received her
education in the Union High School of Colerain, and
is an accomplished young lady. Cheyney was a
student of the Union High School. In November,
1900, he was married to Belle, a daughter of Abram
and Matilda McConnell, and now lives on his farm
in Little Britain township.
The Penny family are all associated with the Un-
ion Presbyterian Church. Mr. Penny has always
been a Democrat, has been school director in Cole-
rain township, and since 1888 has been a director of
the Union High School, being also school treasurer.
Mrs. Penny's grandfather, Rev. Elkanah Dare,
was the first Presbyterian minister who preached in
the Union Presbyterian Church in Colerain town-
ship.
SILAS E. GROFF, one of the leading and pro-
gressive farmers of Paradise township, Lancaster
county, owner of a well improved farm, located
three miles northeast of Strasburg borough, is the
representative of One of the old and honored families
of the county.
John Groff, his paternal grandfather, familiarly
known as "Swamp John," was one of the substan-
tial citizens of Paradise township, and there reared a
large family of children. Of the latter, Sarah mar-
ried a Mr. Dripps ; Louisa married Henry Girvin,
and they resided first in Paradise township and later
in Bart township ; Alice married a school teacher.
492
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mr. Clark, and removed from Lancaster county;
Lizzie died unmarried; Isaac emigrated to Colum-
biana county, Ohio, and there married and engaged
in farming; John removed to Maryland, where he
became a farmer ; George, the father of Silas E., was
a farmer of Paradise township ; Jacob studied medi-
cine and became one of the prominent practitioners
of Strasburg, acquiring considerable wealth.
George Groflf, the father of Silas E., was reared
in Paradise township and educated in the public
schools. He married Miss Ann Eshleman, who was
born May 22, 1804, the daughter of Jacob and Mary
(Brackbill) Eshleman. George Groff was a life-
long farmer, operating a property of 140 acres and
becoming one of the influential, substantial citizens
of Lancaster coimty. He and his wife were mem-
bers of the Old Mennonite Church. To George
and Ann (Eshleman) GroflE were born five children,
as follows : Aldus John, born June 13, 1837, a re-
tired farmer of Lancaster City; Mary V., born Oct.
23, 1839, a resident of Strasburg borough ; Silas E. ;
Emma E., born June 10, 1844, who married Martin
B. Rohrer, formerly of Paradise, now of Strasburg,
and died in July, 1891 ; and an infant son, deceased.
George, the father, died March 20, 1880, and his
wife passed away Jan. 31, 1875.
Silas E. Grofl' was born March 6, 1842, on a.
farm in Paradise township adjoining that where he
now lives. He was reared in his native township.
He received a fair education in the common schools
and supplemented the instruction there obtained by
an attendance at Paradise Academy and at the Mil-
lersville State Normal School. At this time he
joined a militia regiment under Col. Franklin, and
served the Union about ten weeks. Soon after
completing his education he entered upon his life
work as a farmer, locating in 1867 upon the farm
which he still occupies. Improvements upon the
property were then very poor, but with his father he
laas since erected good substantial buildings, and the
place is now one of the well improved and highly
cultivated farms in this part of Lancaster county.
In connection with his own farm of seventy-nine
acres, Mr. Groff operates another of 100 acres, and
is also engaged in handling stock. He is recognized
as one of the progressive and foremost agriculturists
of Paradise township, and he aims to keep con-
stantly in touch with the best interests of the com-
munity, being ever ready to assist in any enterprise
for the public good. In'politics he affiliates with the
Republican party, but he has never sought nor ac-
cepted public office.
On Feb. 27, 1878, Mr. Groff married Miss S.
Elizabeth Keneagy, daughter of Henry and Sarah
Ann CRowe") Keneagy, a granddaughter of Henry
and Sarah (Sherts) Keneagy. The grandfather was
in his day a distiller in Paradise township, conduct-
ing a large and extensive business. He died com-
paratively early in life, leaving six children, namely :
Susan, who remained single ; John S., a farmer and
distiller of Paradise township ; Jacob, who removed
to Chicago, ill.; Henry, the father of Mrs. Groff;
Christian, a farmer and distiller ; and Samuel, a phy-
sician of Strasburg. Henry Keneagy was born Dec.
26, 1817, and for two years of his life was the suc-
cessful keeper of a hotel in Strasburg and East
Lampeter township, but he devoted most of his life
to the pursuit of farming. He died Aug. 27, 1872,
and his wife, who was born Oct. 6, 1827, died April
21, 1864. Three children were born to Henry and
Sarah Ann Keneagy, namely: Charles R., a resi-
dent of Strasburg; S. Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Groff;
and William A., a resident of Strasburg.
The family of Silas E. and S. Elizabeth Groff
consists of two children : Mary R., born Sept. 26,
1888 ; and John E., born May 22, 1890. Mrs. Groff
is a member of the Presbyterian Church. The fam-
ily are held in higli esteem throughout the com-
munity.
WILLIAM B. GIVEN. The Given family is
of Scotch-Irish descent. James Given, the grand-
father of William B., was born in Ireland, and emi-
grated to America in early life, settling in -Chester
county. Pa. Later he moved to Columbia, Lan-
caster county, where he engaged in lumbering when
the lumber was brought down the river in rafts.
He became quite prosperous, and at the time of his
death was the possessor of considerable weahh. Po-
litically he was a Democrat, and he was a man of
prominence in the community wherein he dwelt. A
very active worker in the Methodist Episcopal
Church, he bore a high reputation for personal in-
tegrity and worth. He married a Miss Mercer, and
they had eight children, among whom was William
F., the father of William B.
William F. Given was born near Downingtowri,
in Chester county, Jan. 20, 1813, and in 1816 came
to Columbia, where he grew to man's estate, and
succeeded to the business of his father, from which
he retired quite earlv in life, with a competency.
He was a director in the Columbia National Bank
and in the Columbia Bridge Company. In religion
he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church of Columbia, and in politics he was a Demo-
crat. On his retirement from active business, in
1859, he purchased a farm near the city of Balti-
more, Md., and settled thereon, and there his death
occurred in 1862. Mr. Given was, Oct. 26, 1853,
married to Miss Susan A., daughter of Rev. Will-
iam Barns, of Philadelphia, and they had children :
Laura, William B., Mercer, Frank S. and Mar-
tha W.
William B. Given was born Sept. 25, 1855, in
Columbia, though Maryland, to which he early re-
moved, was the scene of his boyhood experiences.
He pursued his studies when a lad at the public
schools of Maryland, later at the Saunders Insti-
tute, Philadelphia, and then at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, from which he graduated
in his twentieth year. Having chosen the law as
his profession, he began his studies in the office
X^y^^tlLi,
CLt^vi^
(Aj-eM/
^^^^^^^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
493
of Hon. Vincent L. Bradford and E. Ray, Esq.,
Philadelphia, and completed them under the direc-
tion of H. M. North, Esq., in Columbia. Upon his
admission to the Bar, in 1876, he became established
as a practitioner in Columbia, where he has since
resided, and has an office. Mr. Given has, by his
thorough knowledge of law, his studious habits, and
the zeal and ability exhibited in the interest of his
clients, won an enviable position at the Lancaster
Bar. He has also been admitted to practice in the
Supreme court of the State of Pennsylvania, and in
the Supreme court of the United States. He has
always manifested a deep interest in public affairs,
especially in measures tending to the advancement
of education, and for nine years was an active
member of the school board and president of the
same for two years.
Until 1896 Mr. Given was a Democrat, and was
an active and prominent member of that party. He
was a member of the State Committee several years,
and his services on the stump in every campaign
were eagerly sought. In 1877 he was the candidate
of his party for the office of district attorney, and
was nominated for Congressional honors in 1882,
but was defeated for both offices, as his party was
largely in the minority. In 1892 he was sent as a dele-
gate to the National Convention which nominated
Grover Cleveland for the Presidency. Again, in
1896, he was chairman of the Democratic State
Convention, which convened in Allentown, Pa., and
on taking the chair sounded the keynote in Penn-
sylvania for sound money. His position on the
financial question made Mr. Given a delegate to the
National Democratic Convention of 1896, where he
was an ardent advocate of sound money. Upon
the nomination of William J. Bryan, Mr. Given left
the convention, denouncing the platform and its
candidate. He returned to Pennsylvania and as-
sisted in reorganizing the sound Democratic move-
ment, and was a delegate-at-large to the conven-
tion of sound Democrats held at Indianapolis, and
was subsequentlv elected and served as State chair-
man of that party in Pennsylvania. Since 1896
he has taken no active part in politics, but in 1900
he cast his vote for William McKinley.
Mr. Given is prominently identified with many
business enterprises in Lancaster county and else-
where. He is president of the Columbia Trust
Company, the Conestoga Traction Company (own-,
ing all the electric railway lines in Lancaster coun-
ty), the Lancaster County Railway & Light Com-
pany, the Wilson Laundry Machinery Company, the
Gas Light & Fuel Company, of Lancaster, and the
Edison Electric Illuminating Company, of Lancas-
ter, and is a director in no less than twenty-two
different corporations and railway companies in
Lancaster county. Recently the laundry machin-
ery companies of the United States were formed
into a trust, having a capitalization of $16,000,000,
and Mr. Given has been elected a director in this
giant corporation.
In 1878 Mr. Given was married to Mary E., the
only daughter of Abraham Bruner, and this union
has been blessed with four children : Erna B., Jane
Bruner, Williarri Barns and Susan Emily.
FRANK SCOTT GIVEN. That ability aided
by perseverance and industry leads to a success in
whatever line of biisiness a man may adopt, is
shown in the career of Frank Scott Given, of Co-
lumbia, who was born there Aug. 4, 1859, son of
William F. and Susan A. (Barns) Given. Fail-
ing health led his father to remove to a farm in
Worthington Valley, Baltimore Co., Md., when
Frank S. was but six weeks old. Change of resi-
dence did not bring the hoped for relief, and the
father passed away a few months after settling on
the farm. Being anxious to provide additional ad-
vantages for her children, Mr. Given's mother, after
her husband's death, removed to Westminster, Md.
Learning that the farm^ was not receiving proper
attention, and believing that better schools might
be found in Reisterstown, she took up her residence
there, and remained five years, when she removed
to Columbia, where she now resides. Her father,
Williani Barns, was a noted Methodist Episcopal
preacher, known throughout the Eastern States for
his eloquence. He was born in Cookstown, County
Tyrone, Ireland, and died in Philadelphia in No-
vember, 1865. Mr. and Mrs. William F. Given
had five children: Laura, who died in infancy;
William B.; Mercer, who died in infancy; Frank
S. ; and Martha Washington, wife of Howard B.
Rhodes, of Columbia.
At the age of fourteen Frank Scott Given en-
tered the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading
Railway Company, as a messenger boy in the office
of the general agent, at Philadelphia. He remained
with that corporation fourteen years, demonstrating,
by his mental capacity, integrity and rare executive
ability, his right to rapid promotion. For three
years he occupied the desk of a way bill clerk, and
was then made general foreman of all the Willow-
street wharfs, which responsible position he filled
for five years. Under the first' administration of
President Cleveland, Mr. Given was appointed as-
sistant superintendent of the stamp division in the
Philadelphia post office, which office he held three
years, when he was promoted to the position of
night superintendent of mails, from which he re-
signed in 1 89 1. Feeling the need of rest, he re-
turned to his native town, but was not long idle,
as he received the dual office of secretary and super-
intendent of the Columbia & Ironville Passenger
Railway Co., whose line was then in the process
of construction. After its completion he was made
superintendent of construction between Columbia
and Marietta, and was later made superintendent of
both branches. In 1894 all the trolley lines in Lan-
caster county were consolidated under the name of
the Pennsylvania Traction Company, and Mr. Given
was made superintendent of the Columbia division.
494
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
The Company became financially involved and
passed into the hands of a receiver, William B.
Given, a brother of Frank S., being placed in con-
trol. The company's affairs were successfully ad-
justed and a reorganization was effected under the
style of the Conestoga Traction Company, with
Frank S. Given as general manager. The company
at this time (December, 1901) operates a trackage
of 104 miles, giving to the people of Lancaster
county rapid transit to nearly all of the towns, vil-
lages and boroughs in the county, as well as hand-
some dividends to the stockholders. Mr. Given is also
connected with other important and prosperous busi-
ness enterprises, the building up of which have ma-
terially added to the prosperity of Lancaster county.
He is president, treasurer and director of the Tri-
umph Embroidery Company; also a director in the
following enterprises : ■ The Columbia Brewing
Company, the Wilson Laundry Machinery Company,
and the Conestoga Traction Company, and the un-
derlying companies leased and operated by it. As
above stated, he is general manager of the Conestoga
Traction Company, and in addition thereto is gen-
eral manager of the Lancaster Gas Light & Fuel
Company, the Edison Electric Illuminating Com-
pany, Columbia Electric Light & Power Company,
and of the seventy miles of pikes controlled and
leased by the Conestoga Traction Company. When
the Columbia Real Estate Exchange was organized,
in 1895, he was chosen its president, and is still
in its directory. He has never cared for public
office, but in 1896 consented to assume the duties
of chief of the Columbia Fire Department, and was
chairman of the committee that raised $3,250 for
the entertaining of the visiting firemen on the oc-
casion of the Centennial of Fire Company No. i,
of Columbia. Of this celebrated company of fire-
men Mr. Given has been marshal for six years, and
during that time, until 1901^ it took first prize for
parading the largest number and appearing as the
finest body of men at the annual gathering of Penn-
sylvania firemen.
Mr. Given is a Democrat in politics, but too
much absorbed in business to seek political office or
to take a working interest in political matters. He
attends the services of the Episcopal Church, in
which his wife is a communicant. As a manager of
men Mr. Given is a complete success. While liberal
and kind of heart, he is strict with his employes
where the welfare and safety of the patrons of the
road he manages are concerned, and demands of
every employe a strict attention to duty.' While
his men know that neglect of duty will be followed
by reprimand or worse, they also know that they
will have justice, and because of this he is respected
by every man in his employ.
On May 25, 1897, at Columbia, Mr. Given was
married to Mrs. Mary Gordon Schram, widow of
the late William M. Schram, a well known jeweler
of Lebanon, Lebanon Co., Pa. Mrs. Given is one
of thirteen children born to William and Margaret
(Blaykes^ Gordon, twelve of whom died in child-
hood. Her parents originally lived near Dublin, Ire-
land, whence they emigrated to America. Her fa-
ther was a man of large means, and prominently
identified with various transportation interests. Mr.
Gordon died Aug. 20, 1881, aged sixty-two, and
his widow passed away Aug. 4, 1884, in her fifty-
ninth year, both in the religious faith of the Estab-
lished Church. Mrs. Given's first husband, Mr.
Schram, died in September, 1889, within five months
after their marriage, at the early age of twenty-
two years. A posthumous child was born, a daugh-
ter, Hilpa S., who lives with her mother and step-
father. Mr. and Mrs. Given are endowed with na-
tive refinement and culture, are unassuming in man-
ner, affable and courteous to all, in every station of
life. Their home is one of the handsomest in Co-
lumbia, and in it thev delight to dispense a gener-
ous hospitality. Mr. Given's genial disposition has
won and kept hosts of friends, while his sagacity and
probity command universal respect.
PETER E. WITMER, a very well known and
successful farmer of Rapho township, Lancaster
county, was born in East Donegal township Aug. 26,
1838, a son of Peter F. and Elizabeth (Eshlenian)
Witmer.
Peter E. Witmer was married Dec. 28, 1865, in
Lancaster, Pa., to Elizabeth M. Strickler, by whom
he had the following children : Noah S., a farmer in
Penn township, married to Anna B. Snively, by
whom he has had one son, Jacob, now deceased;
Sarah S., unmarried, and living in Landisville, Pa. ;
Anna S., living with her brother, Jacob ; Jacob S., a
farmer of East Donegal township, who was married
Sept. 6, 1900, to Mary Brubaker ; Elizabeth S., Ellen
S., Peter S. and Fanny S. are all at home.
Mrs. Elizabeth M. (Strickler) Witmer was born
on the farm where they are now living Sept. 26,
1841, a daughter of Ulric and Sarah (Miller)
Strickler, natives of Rapho and Strasburg townships,
respectively. Her father died on what is now the
Witmer home farm Nov. 17, 1864, at the age of
sixty-three years ; her mother survived until March
31, 1890, when she passed away at the age of seven-
ty-nine years. Her father was buried in a private
cemetery on an adjoining farm. This was the old
Strickler farm, and is closely associated with the
early history of the Strickler family. The mother
was buried in Salunga, Pa. These were their chil-
dren: Mary, the wife of Benjamin Herr, who has
a home near Quarryville; Elizabeth, who is Mrs.
Witmer; Peter, who died young: Fanny, who died
young; David, a farmer in Rapho township;
Anna, who married a Mr. Horst, and is dead ; John,
a farmer in Manheim township ; Sarah, unmarried,
and residing in Salunga, Pa., as does her brother,
Henry M., who married, in 1902, Martha Hover,
from Lancaster City.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Peter E. Wit-
mer were John and Anna (Lehman) Strickler, both
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
495
of Lancaster county, as were her maternal grandpar-
ents, John and Ehzabeth (Kramer) Miller.
Peter E. "W itmer remained with his parents until
three years after his marriage, when he rented a
farm in Rapho township, on which he lived a year,
and then for eleven years cultivated rented farms.
At the end of that time he bought his present home-
stead, and has made himself a very creditable stand-
ing among the farming citizens of this end of the
county. He and his wife belong to the Old Men-
nonite Church, and exert a wholesome moral and re-
ligious influence on those with whom they come in
contact. In politics he is a Republican, and his
opinions command respect because they are based on
observation, and are the result of sound reflection.
CHRISTIAN ROHRER, deceased. There
passed away from the scenes of life on June i8, 1897,
in his seventy-ninth year, a citizen of Lancaster
county whose life had been most usefully spent in
his .native county, and whose career was more than
ordinarily successful. Christian Rohrer possessed
those sterling traits of earnestness, industry and in-
tegrity which lie at the base of all true success, and
in addition was a man of unusual intelligence and
business sagacity, which contributed not a little in
establishing his status as one of the influential citi-
zens of Paradise township, where he spent most of
his active adult life.
Christian Rohrer was born in Strasburg township
Aug. 3, 1818, the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Ston-
•er) Rohrer, among the old and prominent residents
of that section. He was reared in his native town-
ship, and soon after his marriage, when twenty-six
years of age, he settled on a farm of iii acres, lo-
cated in Paradise township, three miles, east of
Strasburg borough, and there began a career which
"was continued most happily and successfully through
a long course of years. Upon the farm was located
an old saw and grist mill which had been operated
b)y water power. Mr. Rohrer soon tore down this
old mill and erected on its site the substantial milling
plant which is still operated by his son, Henry S.
This mill Christian Rohrer conducted in connection
with farming, until he retired in favor of his son,
Henry S., in 1877. ^^ was eminently qualified for
that industrial occupation, for he was one of those
men, valuable products of American civilization, who
possess mechanical genius of a high order. He took
deep interest in public matters and for twenty years
or longer was a member of the local school board.
He was one of the early stockholders of the Stras-
burg NationalBank and for years was one of its di-
Tectors. His interest in the general welfare of the
community and county was keen and his active aid
contributed to the advancement of many worthy en-
terprises. About 1885 he took a trip to Missouri
and there made large investments, which resulted
satisfactorily. His keen insight into business af-
fairs and his business judgment continued bright
and unerring in his after years.
Christian Rohrer married, Dec. 28, 1843, Miss
Maria Buckwalter, born Nov. 18, 1820, daughter
of Martin Buckwalter, and to them were born the
following childien : Elizabeth, widow of John
Bachman,, of Strasburg township ; Martin B., a resi-
dent of Strasburg borough; Henry S., whose sketch
appears below; Emma, wife of William Homan, a
resident of Chariton Co., Mo.; Elmira, at home;
Ezra, who died at the age of twenty-three years;
Mary, who died in September, 1899, the wife of John
Stoner, of Chariton county, Mo. ; Ada Susan, who
died aged two and a half years ; Ella, who resides at
the old homestead : Ida, wife of Elias Mellinger, of
Strasburg township. The parents of these children
have been devoted and consistent members of the
Mennonite Church. Christian Rohrer died June 18,
1897. His widow still survives.
Henry S. Rohrer, son of Christian and Maria
(Buckwalter) Rohrer, was born Jan. 12, 1848, in
Paradise township, on the farm which he now occu-
pies. He was educated in the public schools and
also attended the academy at Strasburg for two sum-
mers. In 1877 he took charge of the home farm and
mill, which his father had managed so successfully
for many years, and he has since carried the busi-
ness to greater proportions. The mills are fitted
with the most approved machinery. They are
equipped with both steam and water power, and the
products include flour and grist, lumber, shingles,
lath, etc. A large amount of work is turned out
each year. In 1895 Mr. Rohrer built a large reser-
voir adjacent to the mill, which supplies it with
power and is also used for ice making. He recog-
nizes the importance of possessing the best and latest
mdustrial appliances and his plant is a model in that
respect.
Mr. Rohrer married, Jan. 8, 1877, Miss Annie
M. Haverstick, who was born in Lancaster town-
ship in 1853, daughter of John; N: Haverstick. A
family of seven children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Rohrer, namely, Ross H., Mary Alice, John
C, Frank H., Ezra (deceased), Anna M. and Henry
G. Mr. Rohrer is one of the prosperous and suc-
cessful business men of the county. His political
convictions are deep and his courage and fidelity in
their advocacy have won him influence and wide re-
spect. He believes in the Prohibition principles and
affiliates with the party advocating the same. Mr.
and Mrs. Rohrer are members of the Old Mennonite
Church.
ABRAHAM R. DENLINGER (deceased)
was born Nov. 13, 1846, on the farm adjoining that
on which the most of his active life was passed.
His death occurred Feb. 22, 1898, in the home where
his family still resides. His ashes were interred in
the Resh burying ground, a well-known cemetery in
Leacock township.
Mr. Denlinger was a son of Henry and Lydia
(Resh) Denlinger, both natives of Lancaster county,
and farming people. They were parents of the fol-
496
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
lowing family : John and Henry, both of whom are
dead; Mary, the widow of George Funderburg, of
Dayton, Ohio; Anna is the widow of Isaac Bright,
also living in Dayton; Abraham R. The paternal
grandparents of Abraham R. Denlinger were John
and Elizabeth Denlinger, farming people, who were
born in Lancaster county.
Mr. Denlinger was married in New Holland,
Pa., Sept. 12, 1872, by the Rev. M. J. Mumma, to
Susanna Groff, by whom he had one child, Fannie
F. E., who is now a school teacher.
Mrs. Susanna Denlinger was born in Leacock
township in 1850, and was a daughter of David
and Fannie (Miles) Groff, of East Lampeter town-
ship, who lived at the time of her birth near Provi-
dence township. Her father was a justice of the
peace for many years, and was a school teacher for
a long period. Among his many useful labors was
surveying for the community. He died in 1857, at
the age of fifty-four years ; his widow died in. 1878,
at the age of seventy-eight. Both were buried in-
Resh cemetery, in Leacock township. To them
were born : Lydia, wife of Edwin Brenizer, a cigar
manufacturer of Leacock township ; Reuben, a resi-
dent of Leacock township ; Isaiah, Amos and Solo-
mon, all deceased ; Susanna ; Elias, a coach maker
of Paradise township.
Abraham R. Denlinger followed farming until
1872, when he sold his place and gave up farming
on an extensive scale. He located at Gordonville,
Pa., where he had a small estate of six acres. He
traveled for several years quite extensively. In
1890 he entered into business relations with the
Mutual Life Insurance Company, of New York, and
became one of their agents.
In his politics he was a Republican, and held a
creditable position in the community.
THOMAS BAKER, a retired farmer and
surveyor of Colerain township, Lancaster county,
was born at Chatham, Chester Co., Pa.. July 13,
1822, son of Lewis and Diana (Jackson) Baker,
both of whom were born in Chester county, he in
1790, she a few. years later.
Mr. Baker traces his ancestry back definitely to
Sir Richard Baker, who was born in the county of
Kent, England, in 1568, and died in February,
1644. He was the author of the "Chronicles of the
Kings of England." His son, John Baker, born in
1598, died about 1672. They are first found in the
North of England, where they were property
owners in the fifteenth century, and in the seven-
teenth century were strong supporters of George
Fox, and suffered imprisqnment under Cromwell.
About 1650 representatives of the family were at or
near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. The first of the
family to come to this country was
(I) Joseph Baker, born in 1630, son of John,
before mentioned. He was of Shropshire, England.
With his wife, Mary, he settled in Edgemont town-
ship, Delaware Co., Pa., in 1685, upon a large
tract of land. He was a representative from
Chester county in the Provincial Assembly in the
years, 1701, 1703, 1706, 1710, 171 1 and 1713. He
was a member of the Society of Friends. He died
in 1716, and his will, dated Dec. 19, 1714, is in the
register's office at Westchester, Pa. His children,
all born in England, were: John, Sarah, wife of
Thomas Smedley; Robert, and Joseph.
(II) Joseph Baker (2) son of Joseph, born in
1667, died in 1735. He married Martha Wood-
ward, and they had children as follows: Richard,
Aaron, Ann, Susanna, Jane, Jesse, Sarah, Joseph,
Rachel, Nehemiah and John.
(III) Aaron Baker, son of Joseph (2), was
born in 1701, and died in 1783. He married Mary
Edwards, and they had six children : John married
Hannah Pennock in 1747. Mary married Thomas
Carrington in 1752. Martha married John Clay-
ton in 1753. Esther married William Chalfantj
Aaron is mentioned below. Samuel lived in West
Marlboro township, Chester Co., Pa., where he
founded a branch of the family.
(IV) Aaron Baker (2), the great-grandfather
of Thomas, was born in 1729, in Chester county,
where, in 1759, he married Sarah Hayes. They
reared the following, family: James (who settled
near Coatesville, Chester county, where his
descendants still ' live), Nathan, Elisha, Levi,
Joshua; Aaron, John, Hannah, Mary, Rachel and
Sarah.
(V) Aaron Baker (3), grandfather of Thomas,
was born in Chester county in 1767, and died there
in 1853. He married Hannah Harland, also a
native of Chester county, and their children were
as follows : Lewis, the father of Thomas ; Reuben,,
who married Mary Davis; Susanna, wife of
William M. Davis; George, who never married;
Jacob, who married Lydia Lamborn; Thomas, who
married Ann Rakestraw; Samtiel, who married
Mary Rakestraw; Aaron, who married M. Ottey;
Harland, who married Hannah Eastburn; and
Hannah, unmarried.
(VI) Lewis Baker, father of Thomas, was
born in 1790, in Chester county, and in 1820 mar-
ried Diana Jackson. They settled near Chatham,
Chester county, and were farming people all their
lives, becoming quite prosperous, and adhering
strictly to the Quaker faith. Mr. Baker died in
183s, leaving his widow and three sons. The sons
bought a tract of land in Colerain township, on
which Thomas Baker was located, the mother re-
maining in Chester county, where she died in 1853.
Thomas was the eldest child ; Lewis, the second son,
married Mary Greenfield, and located on a farm
near the old homestead in Chester county, where
he died in 184.6, leaving a widow, who still lives on •
the old home ; Robert A. died when a young man.
Thomas Baker was well educated m the public
schools of Chester county, and for twenty years was
a teacher in the public schools of Lancaster and
Chester counties, pursuing that profession long
^tT^^-^rT^j^LoJ AsaA^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
497
after his marriage. In 1840 he commenced to
study surveying, preparing for that work under
Jonathan Goss, at Unionville Academy, Chester
county, and it has been his main occupation during
most of his active life. He has surveyed over 650
farrtis in Lancaster and Chester counties, as well as
land in Virginia, and made his best survey in 1902,
when almost eighty years of age.
Thomas Baker was married in June, 1855, to
Miss Eliza, daughter of James and Abigail Jackson,
prominent residents of Lancaster county. Mrs.
Baker was born in Chester county, in May, 1834,
and was for a number of years a teacher in Lan-
caster county. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Baker began
married life on a farm in Colerain township, where
he erected a brick house and a frame barn. There
they remained until 1879, when the present hand-
some brick house on one quarter of the farm was
built, in which they have since resided. He is
leading a quiet and retired life, doing, however,
some little tasks in surveying. His son Lewis has
charge of the farm. Mrs. Baker, while on a visit
to her son in Philadelphia, in 1893, took cold, and
died in that city, her husband and four children, out
of a family of seven born to them, surviving: (i)
Abbie, born in 1856, married Howard Brinton, a
farmer of Colerain township,' and died leaving two
sons, Thomas B. and Lewis B. (2) Allison, born
in 1858, married Miss Anna Maule, of Colerain
township, a daughter of J. Comly and S. Emma
Maule, and is living on his farm in Sadsbury
township. (3) James E., born in 1859, was gradu-
ated from the State Normal School at Millersville,
and is now principal of the Friends Central School,
' Philadelphia ; for some twelve years he has followed
teaching very successfully. He married Miss Emma
Maclntyre, of Philadelphia, and they have had six
children: Walter, born in 1886; Ralph, 1888; Jean-
etta, 1889 (deceased) ; Marian, 1891 ; Edna, 1895 ;
and Eugene, Jr., 1897. (4) Xanthus, born in 1863,
married Delia Girvin, of Colerain township, and
resides on his farm near Union, in that township;
they have three children : Arthur, born in 1893 ;
Eliza, 1894; and Victoria, 1896. (5) Lewis, born
in 1864, died in childhood. (6) Lydia, born in
1872, died in childhood. (7) Lewis, bom in 1870,
was a student at the Millersville State Normal,
married Miss Kate Girvin, of this county, and they
reside at the family homestead, he being manager
of his father's farm. He has one son, Richard
Veryl, who was born in April, 1897.
Thomas Baker has always been a Republican.
He has never aspired to political station, though he
was once elected school director in Colerain town-
ship, when it was strongly Derribcratic. He and
his family are devout adherents to the Quaker faith,
to which their ancestors have been committed. Mr.
■Baker and his wife took a trip to Europe, visiting
Eitigland, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and all
of the German states, spending much time in many
places of interest. Thomas Baker is a man esteemed
32
by his neighbors for his many good qualities and!
excellent character, and in disposition he is a man of
warm heart and kindly feeling. He is a man of con-
siderable learning, and is a Latin and French
scholar. While in England he purchased a book
published in 1548, a commentary on the wars of
Europe (in Latin), which he prizes very highly.
HARRIS A. GLATFELTER, one of the promi-
nent and leading agriculturists of East Donegal
township, was born in Codoras township, n York
county, Nov. 17, 1833, a son of Samuel and Eliza-
beth (Aerman) Glatfelter, who came to Lancaster
county in 1857, settling in East Donegal township ;
there the former died in 1875, at the age of seventy-
six and the latter in 1878, at the same age, both of
them having been consistent members of the Lu-
theran Church.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Glatfelter
were: Margaret, wife of John Walters, deceased;
Zacharias, deceased; Isabella, who married John
Smyser, and lives in Marietta; Maria, residing in
Harrisburg; Matilda, the widow of Michael Leb-
hart, residing in Lancaster; Harris A.; Martin, a
resident of Mt. Union, Pa.; Elizabeth E. married
James L. Jacobs, of Abilene, Kan. ; Malinda, mar-
ried to Ed. Bowen, of Philadelphia; Kate, unmar-
ried, in Philadelphia; and Samuel, who is a retired
hotel manager of Columbia, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Glatfelter remained with his parents during
childhood and young manhood, and from early
youth showed a willing and ambitious spirit, endeav-
oring by work for the neighboring farmers to assist
his poor parents. As early as 1851 he worked in the
York mill factory, going from thence to the Strickler
mill, also in York county, where he remained for a
year ; then he went back to the town of York and en-
tered the steam mill, remaining four years, going
next to a mill near Berlin, in York county, where he
remained another year ; for six months he worked at
Highspire, Pa., going from there to Columbia,
where his brother-in-law gave him employment in
hauling for a few months ; but finally he went into
the Stauffer mills at East Donegal, where he re-
mained for the following two years, and then op-
erated the Summy & Heaston mill, in Rapho town-
ship for- two years more.
By this time Mr. Glatfelter was tired of mill life,
although a most efficient and capable workman, so
he came to his present farm and for four years op-
erated it on shares for his father-in-law, at the end
of which period he returned to milling, taking charge
of Musselman's mill, on Big Chickies, remaining
for four years. In 1870 he returned to the farm
and has since given his time to an agricultural life.
For five years he was the township supervisor, fill-
ing the office most acceptably.
In Elizabethtown, in i860, Mr. Glatfelter was
married to Elizabeth HolHnger, and to this union
was born Horace H., who married Emma Baustick,
and is a farmer of this toWnship, with one child.
4^8
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Irvin B. Mrs. Glatfelter was born on the farm
where she died in 1886, at the age of fifty-two. Her
parents were John and Elizabeth (Brandt) Hol-
linger. In 1889 Mr. Glatfelter was married, in
Columbia, to Barbara Weaver, and one child was
born of this marriage, Ella G. Mrs. Glatfelter
was born in East Donegal township, a daughter of
Godfrey Weaver, and died Dec. 4, 1897, at the age
of thirty-seven.
Mr. Glatfelter is well and favorably known
through the county, is a prominent Republican, soci-
ally is connected with the O. U. A. M. and the
K. of P., and is considered a representative and sub-
stantial citizen.
JACOB DENLINGER was one of those men
of quiet force and character who help to mold and
elevate the communities in which they live. He was
a life-long resident of Paradise township, Lancaster
county, and for thirty-four years was a deacon in
the Mennonite Church, of which from boyhood he
had been an earnest and consistent member. He was
a man of excellent business abilities and was one of
the substantial and influential citizens of the town-
ship, respected and esteemed by all who knew him.
He was, however, decidedly domestic in his tastes
and through life cultivated his well-improved farm
of 103 acres. He married Miss Annie Brubaker,
and to them came a family of fourteen children. We
have record of : Mary, who died in childhood ; Annie,
wife of John L. Kreider, of Chariton county. Mo.;
John B., a farmer of Paradise township, whose sketch
a])pears below; Abraham B., a retired farmer of
Strasburg borough ; Lizzie, wife of Tobias Leaman,
of Leacock township ; Tobias, a farmer of Drumore
township ; Benjamin, deceased, who was a farmer of
Leacock township ; Hattie, wife of Christ Mamery,
of Paradise township ; Mattie, wife of Esaias Kling,
of Leacock township; Amos, a farmer of Paradise
township ; Henry, retired, of Lancaster ; and Aaron,
a farmer of Soudersburg. Jacob, the father, died in
1884, aged seventy-three years. His wife died at
the age of sixty-two years.
John B. Denlinger was born in Paradise town-
ship, July 17, 1838. He was reared on the farm,
receiving his education in the neighboring public
schools. In the spring of 1861 he located on the
farm which he still occupies, a well cultivated prop-
erty of 141 acres, situated three miles east of Stras-
burg. Here he followed farming successfully until
the spring of 1893, when he retired from active life,
though since continuing to. reside on the farm. He
has made many improvements on the place and has
been one of the most progressive farmers.
Mr. Denlinger was twice married. His first
wife was Rd'iss Lizzie Shaub, of West Lampeter
township, daughter of Henry Shaub. By this mar-
riage there were four children, Jacob, Henry, Mary
and the latter's twin sister, who died in infancy.
Jacob married Ella Eby, and they have one child,
Elsie. He occupies and cultivates the home farm in
Paradise township. Henry is also a farmer of Para-
dise township. He married Elizabeth Eby, and has
three children, Lloyd, Annie and Lottie. Mary is
unmarried and is now matron of the Philadelphia
Mennonite Home Mission. She has spent four
years as one of the workers of the Chicago Home
Mission. The mother of these children died in 1875.
For his second wife -John B. Denlinger married Jan.
I, 1878, Susan Buckwalter, widow of Israel R.
Buckwalter. She was born in East Lampeter town-
ship, Sept. 15, 1837. By this second marriage there
were two children. Sue B., at home, and an infant,
deceased. Mrs. Denlinger had two children by her
former marriage : Luetta, wife of John K. Lefever,
of East Lampeter township; and Phares Buck-
waiter, a resident of Leacock township, who mar-
ried Miss Anna Leaman and has four children,
Mary, Earl, and Leon and Lila, twins. Mr. and
Mrs. Denlinger are worthy and consistent members
of the Old Mennonite Church and the family are
among the influential and highly respected residents
of Lancaster county. Mr. Denlinger has served for
many years as auditor of Paradise township and has
also been supervisor. He has been prominent in the
administration of local affairs, has kept in close
touch and sympathy with the best interests of the
community and been ever ready to assist any cause
or enterprise for the general good.
JAMES K. DRENNEN, a substantial citizen of
Fulton township, Lancaster county, is classed among
the justly esteemed men of his neighborhood.
Mr. Drennen was born in Chester county. Pa.,
July 23, 1S30, and is of Irish and Scottish origin.
He is a son of William and Mary (Boyd) Drennen,
who were married in 1820, and had children as fol-
lows: Mary Jane, born Nov. 20, 182 1 ; Ebenezer,
Aug. 30, 1823 : John M., Oct. 20, 1825, residing in
Wrightsville, York county, as a retired farmer;
William C, Jan. 26, 1828, living in York county;
James K., July 23, 1830; Helena, Sept. 23, 1835,
residing in York county; David D., Jan. i, 1838,
deceased; Margarette E., July 25, 1839, deceased;
and Walker, twin of Margarette, residing in York
county. The father of this family was born in
Chester county in 1796, and his wife was born in
1798.
James K. Drennen married Miss Martha Isa-
bella Reed, of Fulton township, Jan. 5, 1858. She
was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Mcl^llough)
Reed. Mr. and Mrs. Drennen have had the follow-
ing children: Elizabeth K., born Oct. 23, 1858, the
wife of William J. Ankrum, of Drumore ; Winfield
Scott, born Sept. 23, 1861, who married Miss Belle
Ankrum, and lives at home ; William Lincoln, bom
Aug. 15, 1864, at home, unmarried; Clement R.,
born Aug. 29, 1868, deceased ; Harry J., born April
10, 1873, a merchant in Fairmount, Lancaster coun-
ty, who married Miss Winona Shoemaker, of Ful-
ton township ; Ada M., the youngest, bom April 5,^
1877, and died in 1890. Mrs. Drennen died April
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
499
14, 1890. She was a good Christian woman and a
kind mother.
Mr. Drennen was reared on the farm and started
out in life for himself when but fifteen years of age.
In 1847 he came to Lancaster county with his par-
ents, who settled on the place he now owns. Mr.
Drennen owns two good farms,, the home place,
•comprising 190 acres with good improvements, and
a fifty acre place in Drumore township. Politically
I^lr. Drennen is a strong Abraham Lincoln Repub-
lican, and believes in the party as it was under the
guidance of the martyred President ; he is a leading
citizen in his community, having served in almost
all the local offices in Fulton township — judge of
elections, school director, supervisor of roads and
township auditor. Mr. Drennen is a member of the
Presbyterian Church and was one of the pioneer
organizers of Sabbath-schools in the township. In
1847 his brother, John M. Drennen, organized the
first Sunday-school of the Little Britain Presby-
terian Church, and James K. Drennen served as
superintendent. He organized and superintended
afternoon Sabbath-schools at Eldora Station, Fair-
view Shops, Cherry Plill School House and at his
own home, and all these exerted a strong moral
influence. Mr. Drennen's life is an illustration of
the proverb, "A good man leaveth an inheritance to
his children's children."
SAMUEL E. LANE, the genial landlord and
proprietor of the "Millway Hotel," belongs to one
of the old and respected families of Lancaster
■county. His grandfather, Abraham Lane, was com-
missioner of the county and lived and died there.
He was a farmer and followed that occupation all
Tiis life. He married Miss Anna Long, by whom he
"had four children, viz. : Andrew L., a farmer of
Oregon, Pa.; Abram L., of Lititz, a retired farmer;-
Matilda, the wife of John B. Earl, a retired citizen
of Lititz; and Amelia, who married Samuel Bare,
both being now deceased.
Andrew L. Lane, father of Samuel E., was born
in Manheim township about 1840, and has followed
farming all his life, with the exception of a short
time when he lived retired. He has been very active
in politics, and is a stanch Republican. He held the
office of school director for some years. Mr. Lane
married Miss Barbara B. Erb, of Warwick town-
ship, and they became the parents of nine children,
three of whom died in infancy. The others are:
Abram E., a merchant in Clay township; Samuel
E. ; Elmer E., a farmer of Millway; Cameron E.,
a dentist ; Harry E. and Clyde E., at home.
Samuel E. Lane was born in Manheim township,
Nov. o, 1866, and remained at home until he was
twenty-three years of age, receiving his education in
the common schools, at the Millersville Normal,
where he spent one term, and at Weidler's Business
College, of Lancaster, from which latter he gradu-
ated. He then began life for himself, farming one
year in Nefifsville, whence he moved, and six years
on his father's farm in Millway. After this he pur-
chased the hotel at Millway, of which he is now
the proprietor. He has won a substantial place
among the men of Millway by his honorable meth-
ods and hearty spirit, and he has proved his loyalty
to local interests on many occasions. In politics he
is a Republican, and he has held the office of school
director for nine years.
Mr. Lane wedded Miss Ann Mary Landis,
daughter of Jacob R. and Susan Landis, and to this
union have been born two children, Samuel L. and
Anna B., both at home.
ROBERT GIRVIN. At the little settlement of
Iva, located in Paradise township, Lancaster coun-
ty, Robert Girvin has been for many years a mer-
chant. He was reared in that vicinity and pos-
sessing decided business talents and tastes, he has
there developed and exercised them, becoming one
of the prominent citizens of the township and one
of its benefactors.
Mr. Girvin is named from his grandfather, Rob-
ert Girvin, the emigrant, who founded the family in
Lancaster county. Some time between the years
1776 and 1780 the latter left his native heath in
County Derry, Ireland, and settled in Lancaster
county, locating later in Paradise township, about
one-half mile west of what is now Iva post-office.
Here he purchased a tract of fifty acres, upon which
he devoted himself to farming during the balance of
his active career and where he lived to the ripe old
age of ninety-three years. He married Miss Mary
Smith, a native of Lancaster county, by whom he
had a family of nine children, as follows: James,
the father of Robert ; William, a farmer of Lancas-
ter county; John, a farmer of Lancaster county;
.Samuel, a farmer of Lancaster county; Daniel, a
speculator of Lancaster county; Isaac, a farmer,
merchant and justice of the peace; Annie, who mar-
ried Samuel Rissler; Margaret, who married Peter
Niedick; and Sarah, who married Samuel Bowers.
Robert and Mary Girvin, the parents, were mem-
bers of the Presbyterian Church, as were also their
children.
James, the eldest, was born in Paradise town-
ship in 1797. He was there reared to manhood and
there engaged for life in agricultural pursuits, own-
ing and operating a farm of about 100 acres, and
was one of the substantia] citizens of the county.
He married Miss Nancy Keene, of Eden township,
and to them were born the following children:
Mary, widow of Benjamin Winters, of Iva; Isaac,
a farmer of Paradise township, now deceased;
John, a resident of Paradise township; Henry, a
farmer of Bart township, now deceased; Samuel, a
resident of Paradise township, a lime burner near
the Gap; Anna, a resident of Iva; Robert; and
Elias, a resident of Lancaster. James, the father of
Robert, lived to the age of seventy-one years, and
his widow survived him six months only.
Robert Girvin was born on the farm in Paradise
500
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
township, June 2, 1837. He was reared on his
father's farm and received his education in the com-
mon schools. Deciding upon a mercantile career,
he spent three years as a clerk and then at the age
of twenty-five years he began business on his own
account. He was engaged in a general store in
Georgetown and later in Strasburg, and in 1868 he
started in business as a general merchant at Iva,
where he has ever since continued successfully,
starting out in business with a general line of goods
and so continuing ever since, building up a steady
and an increasing trade and becoming one of the
representative and public spirited men in that part
of Lancaster county, ever ready to lend his aid and
influence in the furtherance of enterprises for the
public good. In 1884 he secured the location of the
post-office, made the name of Iva, and has ever since
remained the postmaster. In politics Mr. Girvin
affiliates with the Democratic party, and he has
served as justice of the peace in Paradise tOAvnship.
He married, in 1865, Miss Abbie Hamsher,
daughter of Anthony Hamsher and a native of
Strasburg township. To Robert and Abbie Girvin
have been born a family of nine children, namely:
Sally; Charles, who married Miss Hattie Hart and
is a merchant of Williamsport ; Jesse, who married
Helen Daly and is a clerk for H. K. Mulfprd & Co.,
of Philadelphia ; Mary, wife of Albert Althoiise, of
Quarryville, and mother of one child, Joe ; Joe, who
is the assistant in his father's store; and four who
died in infancy. Mr. Girvin is a member of the
Reformed Church of New Providence, and Mrs.
Girvin is a member of the Lutheran Church of
Strasburg.
MILTdN L. WEAVER, one of the enterprising
and successful farmers and business men of West
Hempfield township, was born in East Lampeter
township, this county, Feb. 29, i860, son of Isaac and
Catherine (Barr) Weaver. The father, a prosperous
farmer, retired from the old homestead in Lampeter
township in 1883, and resided in Lancaster city
until his death, Oct. 27, 1887, at the age of sixty-
eight years. He is buried at Longenecker's meet-
ing-house, in West Lampeter township. His widow,
who was born in 1822, is now a resident of Ledla.
They were members of the Reformed Mennonite
Church. To Isaac and Catherine Weaver were born
the following children : Mary, wife of John F. Gir-
vin, a farmer of Leola; Joseph, a farmer of East
Lampeter township; Aaron, a farmer of Manor
township; Benjamin, a farmer of Manor township;
Milton L., of West Hempfield township, of whom
we are particularly writing; Lillie, who died young
and Ephraim E., a farmer of Manor township.
Milton L. Weaver was reared on his father's
farm, receiving his education in the neighboring
schools. At the age of seventeen years he engaged
in farm work with his brother Joseph, with whom
he remained ten years. He then began farming for
himself in Pequea township, and there conducted the
farm successfully until 1898, when he purchased his-
present place in West Hempfield townsnip, the prop-
erty known as Swarr's siding, where he conducts a
general line of business in coal, flour, grain, feed,,
straw, salt, fertilizers, etc. The mill was erected
by Harry Swarr in t886. It is of fifty-horsepower-
capacity, and its product includes all kinds of feed.
Mr. Weaver ranks among the leading young citizens-
of West Hempfield township.
Mr. Weaver was married, in 1889, at West Wil-
low, Pequea township, to Miss Cecilia Christ, and to
them have come four children, three sons and one
daughter, namely : Isaac, Frank, John and Mary. Im
politics Mr. Weaver is a Republican. Though com-
paratively young in years he has prospered notably
in a business way, combining ripe judgment with
industry and progressiveness of action. He is awake
to modern improvements in method, while he clings
to the sterling principles of the past, and he has thus-
exemplified in his career the best type of success.
He is highly esteemed by his wide circle of acquaint-
ances for his many most estimable qualities.
HENRY STAUFFER MUSSER, late of the
firm of Musser & Miller, lumbermen and manufac-
turers in East Donegal township, Lancaster county,.
Pa., was born in his present home July 16, 1820, a
son of Jacob and Martha (Stauffer) Musser, na-
tives of the same township. Jacob Musser was a
farmer by calling; he died in December, 1831, at
thirty-two years of age, the father of six children,
viz. : Henry S. ; Anna, deceased wife of Rev. H. N^
Graybill, a Dunkard preacher and a farmer ; Eliza-
beth, who died young; Martha, widow of Lewis-
Lindermouth, of Marietta; Jacob, who also died
young; and Abraham, who is living in retirement
in Marietta.
Mrs. Martha Musser, who was born August 13,.
1802, was next married to John Miller, a farmer,
and to this union were bom four children, viz. :
John, of whom a biography is printed on another
page; Joseph, the juiiior member of the firm of
Musser & Miller, whose biography will also be
found elsewhere; Isaiah, deceased; and Sarah, wife
of John Conley, a retired banker of Lancaster.
John Miller, the stepfather of Henry S. Musser, did'
quite an extensive business as a lumber manufac-
turer in addition to farming, and operated the mill,
afterward owned by Musser & Miller, until his
death in 1867, at the age of sixty-one years. Mrs..
Martha (Musser) Miller survived until 1885.
Henry Stauffer Musser lived on the home farm
until the death of his father, when he went to West
Hempfield township and for five years lived on the
farm of an uncle. Rev. Hostetter, a Dunkard min-
ister; he then returned to his mother, who by this
time had re-married, and lived in the old homestead
again until he had reached his majority (1841),
when he was awarded his share of his father's es-
tate, which he invested in connection with his step-
father in the lumber business. In 1863 he was
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
501
joined by Mr. Miller in the business which he con-
ducted so successfully up to his death, which oc-
curred Jan. 17, 1901, when he was aged eighty
years, six months and one day.
Mr. Musser was married in July, 1847, in East
Donegal township, to Miss Anna M. Greisinger,
and six children crowned this union, viz. : Eliza-
"beth, wife of Charles Johnson, of Philadelphia;
Stephen, who married Mary Sellers, but is now de-
ceased; Frank, who was killed in December, 1867,
when he was thirteen years of age, by a pile of lum-
ber falling upon him .in his father's yard ; Ada, mar-
ried to Dr. John J. Steiner, of Jefferson county, Pa. ;
Stanton, of Columbia, married to May Grier; and
Lincoln, member of the firm of Johnson & Musser
Seed Co., who married Emma Pomeroy. Mrs.
Anna M. (Greisinger) Musser was born Oct. 3,
1828, in Rapho township near Mt. Joy, Lancaster
county, and is a daughter of Jacob and Anna M.
(Lindersmith) Greisinger, of East Hempfield town-
ship and Mt. Joy respectively. Jacob Greisinger
-was a coachmaker by trade and also followed farm-
ing, but lived retired for several years prior to his
-death, in 1868, at the age of seventy-five years. His
widow survived until 1873, when she died at the
age of eighty. They were members of River
Brethren Church and their remains were buried in
the Florin cemetery. They were the parents of four
children, viz. : Barbara, widow of Christopher Sher-
ick, of Mt. Joy ; Stephen, a farmer of Rapho town-
ship ; Anna M., Mrs. Musser : and Sarah M., de-
ceased wife of Henry Gish. The paternal grand-
parents of Mrs. Musser were Stephen and Mary
^Brubaker) Greisinger, the former of whom was a
farmer near Landisville.
Henry S. Musser, in addition to his lumber busi-
ness, owns considerable land, which he laid out in
town lots, besides other valuable property in close
proximity to Marietta borough. He was. a director
in the First National Bank of Marietta, and also in
the Marietta Turnpike Company. He was very
well preserved for his years, and seldom had occa-
sion to use spectacles. In politics he was a Repub-
lican, and for six years served as county prison in-
spector. In religion he was a Dunkard, and bore an
unblemished reputation for integrity, both in private
and business life.
DAVIS A. BROWN, of Fulton township, may
he well classed among the prominent and substantial
men of Lancaster county. He was born in East
Earl township, this county, near Terre Hill, Aiig.
:28, 1830.
Nathan B. Brown, his father, was born in Sus-
•quehanna county. Pa., in 1796, and came to Lancas-
ter county when a young man. He died in East
Earl township in 1864. In 1818 he married Miss
Susannah Gabel, of Berks county, Pa., and they had
eight children : Mary A., who is the wife of Isaac
Eoltz, of Terre Hill, Pa.; W. W. (deceased), an
attorney in Lancaster for many years ; George W.,
a resident of Philadelphia; Isaiah (deceased), who
was a doctor for many years ; Davis A. ; Levi B., a
resident of Davenport, Iowa; Phianna, the wife of
Oliver Stephens, of Michigan; and Samuel H., de-
ceased.
Garrett Brown, the grandfather of Davis A.,
was a native of Susquehanna county. He had the
following family: Nathan B., Thomas, John, Rob-
ert, Garrett, Margaret and Johnson, of whom the
last named still lives in Davenport, Iowa. The old
Garrett Brown family founded the town of Browns-
ville, in Canada, and some of its members became
very wealthy. The family is of Irish stock.
Davis A. Brown married Miss Rachel Patton, of
Fayette county, Pa., Nov. 24, 1857. She is a daugh-
ter of Thomas Patton, who was of English origin,
and who married Emma Harris. They had eight
children, namely: four boys — ^J. Harris, of New
York City, an author and historian of note, num-
bering among his works a history of the United
States ; R. Johnson, deceased ; J. Finley, who liyes
in the family homestead in Fayette county. Pa. ; and
Thomas, a real-estate man of Greensburg, Pa. ; four
daughters — Rebecca Finley, deceased; Sarah, wife
of S. W. Boyd, ex-sheriff of Fayette county; Har-
riet, widow of E. F. Houseman, editor of the
Greensburg Herald, living at Greensburg; and
Rachel. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown have been born
the following named children: W. T., the present
able district attorney of Lancaster county ; Anna R.,
wife of I. Haines Dickinson, a general merchant, of
Quarryville, Pa. ; Mary, wife of Ira H. Herr, a real
estate dealer at Lancaster; Dr. B. L., a druggist
and practicing physician at Philadelphia ; Clara L.,
wife of Davis Gillespie, superintendent of mining in
West Virginia ; Ada, a teacher in the public schools ;
Elizabeth, wife of Henry Westerhoflf, of Ephrata,
proprietor of silk mills ; and Hampton H., the
youngest, a druggist in Philadelphia.
Davis A. Brown was educated in the public
schools, for a time taught in the schools of the coun-
ty, and has been director of schools for his town-
ship. In 1866 he received the appointment, under
President Johnson, of revenue assessor for the 9th
district, Lancaster county. Pa., which office he ad-
ministered with ability and justice. He is a strong
Republican in politics, and religiously is associated
with the Presbyterian Church. He is the present
justice of the peace of Fulton township, having been
once appointed by the Governor and twice elected
to that incumbency. Mr. Brown bought his pres-
ent 200-acre farm in the above named township in
1862. The Brown family is one of the most promi-
nent in the county. The Squire has a family of
which he may well be proud, while he himself is one
of the most popular and beloved men in his com-
munity.
JACOB B. WISSLER, now living retired in
the village of Lititz, descends from one of the old
and honored families of Lancaster county.
502
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
The first member of this branch of the Wissler
family in America sailed with his wife from Ger-
many to Philadelphia in 1720. On the voyage, to-
gether with other able-bodied men on the vessel, he
was impressed into the naval service by a man-of-
war. His wife continued the journey to Philadel-
phia, where he joined her on the expiration of his
term of service. She was employed by a farmer of
Germantown and he also took service with a farmer
in the same locality, where they passed the remainder
of their lives. Andrew Wissler, their son, removed
to Lancaster county. Pa., where he entered the em-
ploy of Jacob Groff, an extensive farmer in what is
now Clay township. In 1767 he married the only "
daughter of his employer, and in this way became
the owner of the old Groff homestead, which was
taken up in 1724 by John Jacob Groff, father of
Jacob. It was divided into four farms by Jacob
Wissler, son of Andrew, but has ever since remained
in the Wissler family. Andrew had two sons, John
and Jacob, the former of whom died unmarried.
Jacob Wissler, son of Andrew, was born in Clay
township in 1778, and was one of the successful
farmers of that section, giving his entire attention
to agriculttire until his death, which occurred in
1850. He had accumulated a fine property at the
time of his death, owning four farms. He was one
of the old Mennonites of the county. Jacob Wiss-
ler in 1800 married Miss Anna Ely, and they were
the parents of ten children : Andrew, a farmer and
merchant, who died in Michigan ; Jacob, the father
of Jacob B. ; Christian, a miller and farmer ; Ezra,
a farmer of Clay township ; Magdelina, wife of Ja-
cob Landis of Ephrata township; Levi, a farmer
and tanner ; Samuel, a miller of Canada ; Mary, wife
of Levi Erb ; Catherine, deceased ; and John, a tan-
ner, who died in Virginia.
Jacob Wissler was born in Clay township in
1803. He, too, followed farming extensively until
one year before his death, when he retired. He was
a member of the Old Mennonite Church. He mar-
ried Miss Barbara Bomberger, and to them were
born five children : Anna, wife of Christian Hess ;
Jacob B. ; Martha, wife of Samuel R. Hess ; Mary,
wife of Peter B. Rohrer ; and Levi, who died when
eight years of age.
Jacob B. Wissler was born in Clay township,
Sept. 4, 1828. He lived at home until he was
twenty-six vears of age, during his boyhood attend-
ing the common schools. He began life for himself
at farming, in Clay township, on one of his father's
farms, where he remained twenty-two years, after
which he purchased the place where he now resides,
and on which he has made extensive improvements ;
his home is in the village. Mr. Wissler is engaged
to some extent in raising tobacco, though he is prac-
tically retired. In politics he is a Republican, and
he held the office of school director for some years.
Mr. Wissler was married Sept. 5, 1854, to Miss
Anna R. Brubaker, daughter of Joseph and Susanna
Brubaker, and to this union have been born five
children, two of whom died in infancy, and one in
childhood. Joseph is a farmer of Clay township.
Lizzie is the wife of Christian B. Resser. Mr. and
Mrs. Wissler are both members of the Old Men-
nonite Church. They enjoy the _good-will and es-
teem of all who know them, and Mr. Wissler has
always been regarded as one of the representative
substantial citizens of the community.
EMANUEL F. HOSTETTER, one of Man-
heim's most active and enterprising business men,
as well as one of its representative citizens, is a na-
tive of Lancaster county, born on the Hostetter
homestead in Penn township, Mav 24, 1835, and a.
son of John and Elizabeth (Forney) Hostetter, now
deceased, the former having died in 1865, the latter
in 1867.
John Hostetter was a son of Jacob Hostetter, a
Mennonite minister, was born and reared on a farm
in Penn township and throughout life followed
farming. He was also one of the heaviest cattle
dealers of his day, and for twenty years was engaged
in that business, buying his stock in the West
and shipping it to Lancaster county for distribution.
He was also one of the most progressive men of his
time, was instrumental in securing the building of
the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad through this
section, and became a heavy stockholder in it. For
years he was a director in the Lancaster County
National Bank, and was one of the organizers of
the Manheim National Bank, of which he was also
a director. During the '50s he divided his farm
between his two sons, John and Ephraim, and pur-
chased the Manheim mill from John Bosler, which
he conducted for some ten years, at the same time
owning and operating a mill and distillery near
Liverpool, Perry Co., Pa. About i860 he retired
from active life and lived quietly in Manheim until'
his death. Politically he was at first a strong Whig"
and later a Republican. He was twice married, his
first wife being a Miss Stauffer, by whom he had
three children : Henry S., a resident of Penn town-
ship, Lancaster county; Elizabeth, deceased wife of
J. L. Stehman, of Lititz ; and Sarah, widow of Dan-
iel Grosh, of the same place. The father's second
wife was Miss Elizabeth Forney, a daughter of
John Forney, who lived near Brownstown, and to
them were born five children, namely: Emanuel
F.j Benjamin, who died in childhood; John F., a
farmer, now deceased ; Ephraim, who has been pro-
prietor of "Hotel Superior" in Chicago, 111., since
1890 ; and Maria, deceased wife of John Kurtz.
Emanuel F. Hostetter was reared on the home
farm until fourteen years of age, and attended the
public schools of the neighborhood, completing his
education, however, by one term at Lititz Academy.
Coming to Manheim at the age of fifteen, he en-
tered the store of John Schaeffer as clerk, and re-
mained in his employ two years, at the end of which
time he went to I^ancaster and worked eighteen
months for David Bear, a merchant of that place.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
503
Having a desire to see something of the country,
he then went west to Illinois, and located in Free-
port, where he spent eight years, clerking in a dry
goods store two years. For one year he was en-
gaged in the grain business with Joseph S. Bru-
baker and John Slott, as a member of the firm of
Slott, Hostetter & Brubaker; for two years he con-
ducted a grocery establishment, and then engaged
in the real estate business for the remainder of his
stay in Freeport. In i860 Mr. Hostetter returned
to Manheim, Pa., but for one year operated his fa-
ther's mill in Perry county, this State. Since then
he has made his home permanently in Manheim and
has been prominently identified with its business in-
terests. He established the first coal yard here, but
after conducting it one year he sold out to a Mr.
Kline; the yard is now owned by B. H. Hershey.
He was next engaged for two years in mercantile
business at Lancaster, under the firm name of Hos-
tetter & Brimer, selling out at the end of that time
in order that he might settle up the estates left by
his father and father-in-law. After two years de-
voted to that, he embarked in the manufacture of
brick at Manheim, opening in 1865 the second yard
established here, and he has since engaged in that
business. From 1867 until 1899 he also conducted
a store in Manheim, carrying a line of clothing,
hats, caps and gents' furnishing goods, but in May
of the latter year he disposed of his stock. Since
1885 he has been interested in the livery business in
Manheim, and for the past quarter of a century has
engaged in the cultivation of tobacco. He is a good
type of the energetic, wide-awake and progressive
man.
In 1858 Mr. Hostetter was united in marriage
with Miss Elizabeth A. Ensminger, a daughter of
Samuel Ensminger, who at that time was treasurer
of Lancaster county. Three children were born of
this union, but two died in infancy. VenAetta, the
only one now living, is the wife of H. C. Stauffer,
teller in the Manheim National Bank.
Religiously Mr. Hostetter is a member of the
Reformed Church ; socially he is connected with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while politically
he is a stanch Republican. He keeps abreast of the
times and is thoroughly up-to-date in all respects.
As a citizen he ever stands ready to discharge any
duty that devolves upon him, and gives his support
to every enterprise for the public good.
JOSEPH K. NEWCOMER, a progressive
farmer of Manor township, with his home on his
neat farm of thirty-six acres three miles southeast
of Columbia, Lancaster Co., Pa., was born on the
homestead of which he now owns a part, Nov. 18,
1834, and until twenty-six years of age he devoted
his services to his parents and then began opera-
tions on his own account on his present property.
On Nov. t8, i860, Joseph K. Newcomer mar-
ried Miss Elizabeth Rohrer, daughter of Rev. Eph-
raim Rohrer, of Manor township. This lady died
in 1867, leaving two children, Ephraim, a miller,
now in West Hempfield township, and Emma, wife
of Amos Doerstler, of Manor township. Joseph K.
Newcomer next married, in 1872, Miss EHzabeth
Seitz, daughter of Rev. George Seitz, of Manor
township, and this union has also been blessed with
two children: D. Vernon, a prominent school
teacher of Elizabethtown ; and Harry S., married to
Miss Ella M. Warfel, a school teacher of Conestoga
township and a daughter of Aldus C. Warfel, of
Millersville, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Newcomer is a devoted and consistent mem-
ber of the ]\Iennonite Church, to which he has al-
ways given freely and cheerfully of his means, and
he has ever been one of the leading and progressive
farmers of his township, his surroundings giving
ample evidence of his thrift and excellent manage-
ment. No man in the township is more highly re-
spected, and no one is more justly entitled to the
esteem derived from a long and useful life in the
community.
JAMES WOOD. Among the representative
families of Lancaster county none have stood in
higher public estimation through generations than
that of Wood. Far back in the time of William
Penn the emigrant ancestor of the family started
from his home, in Lancashire, England, with his.
wife and sons, William and Joseph, to find a home
with other Quaker families in Pennsylvania. On,
the passage another son was born, who was named
Richmonday.
Joseph Wood was a son of Thomas and his chil-
dren were Thomas, Joseph, Jesse, Lydia, Elizabeth,
David, John and Day, and of this family, Jesse be-
came the grandfather of James, of this sketch. By
a first marriage Jesse Wood had two sons, John and'
Day ; and bv a second marriage, one son, James.
James Wood was born July 17, 1821, and died
Aug. 9, 1894. In 1845 he was married to Mercy
M. Carter, who was born Nov. 29, 1822, and who
still resides in Little Britain township. This union
resulted in the birth of eight children: Alfred, a
farmer in Fulton township; Susan, the wife of El-
wood H. Townsend, a sketch of whom is given else-
where; Jesse, a farmer in Little Britain township:
Mary, deceased wife of Davis E. Allen, a farmer of
Avondale. Chester county : Lucretia, who is the wife^
of John W. Smedley of Chester county; Lewis, a
farmer of Little Britain township ; Ida, who died un-
married ; and James, of this biography. Sketches
are also given of Alfred, Jesse and Lewis. James
Wood was one of the leading men in his part of
Lancaster county, most highly esteemed both in pub-
lic and private life. For many years he was the
president of the Farmers National Bank of Oxford,
was county commissioner, and one of the most pub-
lic-spirited citizens of his part of the State. During
a great part of his life he was the administrator of
many estates and the trusted guardian of children.
Every duty was performed with the integrity of
504
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
character for which he was so well known. No
more respected man ever lived in Little Britain
township than the strict Quaker, James Wood. His
descendants are many and worthily represent the
stock from which thev have sprung.
James Wood, the son, has been a farmer all his
life. He is one of the present auditors of the town-
ship and an active Republican of the locality. His
farm is one of the best and most valuable in the
vicinity and displays evidences of the prosperity and
good taste of its occupants.
The first marriage of James Wood was to
Philena C. Boyd, on Jan. ii, 1887, a daughter of
William C. Boyd, of Martic township, and her
death occurred Sept. 28, 1892. His second mar-
riage was to Elizabeth K. Fite on March 24, 1896;
she was born Dec. 14, i860, and was a daughter of
Samuel and Rebecca Fite, of Little Britain township.
Samuel Fite was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, was born
in 1825, and now resides with his daughter and her
husband. The mother was born March 24, 1824,
and died Jan. 27, 1892. Both James and Elizabeth
K. Wood are consistent members of the Society of
Friends and are among the most hospitable and
highly esteemed residents of Little Britain.
SLATER F. BROWN, of Fulton township,
T^ancaster county, was born March 28, 1841, son of
Elisha and Rachel W. (Bradway) Brown. The
family is of P2nglish stock. The father was born
Dec. 12, 1814, and died in 1859. The mother was
born Dec. 21, 1818, in Chester county, Pa., and their
marriage occurred in 1840; five children were born
to them, as follows : Slater F. : Mary E-, wife of
William Pugh, of Chester county; Thomas B., a
banker and real estate dealer in West Chester, Pa. ;
Charles H., deceased; Walter W., cashier of the
West Grove National Bank, and a much esteemed
citizen of West Grove, Chester count)^, who died
Feb. 6, 1902.
Slater Brown, the grandfather of Slater F., was
one of the leading citizens of his time. He was a
brother to Hon. Jeremiah Brown, a district judge of
Lancaster county, and a member of Congress from
1840 to 1844. Slater Brown was the father of four
children: Elisha (the father of our subject), Ra-
chel, Jeremiah and Mary, all of whom are deceased
except Mary, who now resides in Lancaster City.
Slater F. Brown married Miss Charlotte M.
Howell, daughter of John Howell, of Philadelphia,
and this marriage has been blessed with the follow-
ing children : Lawrence F., born July 30, 1872, un-
married and in business in Atlantic City ; Thomas C,,
born Aug. 5, 1874, who died at the age of twenty-
five years, unmarried ; Rachel W., born June 7, 1877,
residing at home ; Charles H., born Sept. 14, 1881,
unmarried and living in Philadelphia; Merton E.,
born May 16, 1885. The mother of this fanrily was
born Jan. 14, 1851.
Mr. Brown owns a fine farm of 115 acres, well
improved and stocked, which is in a high state of
cultivation, showing every evidence of care and good
management. In political sentiment Mr. Brown is a
Republican, but he has never desired or sought to
hold office. He is a member of the Society of
Friends, is an honored and highly esteemed citizen,
and because of his many excellent qualities his
friendship and acquaintance is sought by all the best
men in the community.
SAMUEL MONTEBACH MYERS, for years
head of the firm of Myers & Rathfon, the
leading clothiers of Lancaster, now head of the
firm of S. M. Myers & Co., because of the retire-
ment of Mr. Rathfon, is descended from a very
old Pennsylvania family, both paternally and
maternally. His grandfather, Jacob Myers, was
born in Lancaster county, and passed his entire life
here.
Frederick Myers, the father of Samuel M., was
a well-known tailor of A'lanheim. He married
Elizabeth Montebach, a native of Warwick town-
ship, this county, and a representative of a pioneer
family. Eleven children blessed this union, four
of whom are living: Margaret, widow of William
Thatcher, of Newtown, Rapho township ; Elizabeth,
wife of Solomon SchoU, of Lancaster; Andrew, a
grain dealer of Turon, Kans. ; and Samuel M.,
whose name introduces this sketch.
Samuel Montebach Myers was born in Newtown,
Rapho township, Oct. 11, 1824. His education was
received in the schools of the district. Leaving
school at the age of fifteen years, young Myers
became an apprentice to the dry-goods business in
Columbia, and from there went to Mt. Joy, where
for a time he was salesman in a store. He then
entered trade on his own account, as a member of
the firm of Arndt, Bechtold & Myers, continuing
thus. until he was elected by the Republicans of
Lancaster county to the position of clerk of the
Orphans' court, when, with his wife, whom he had
married in Mt. Joy, he came to Lancaster, where
he has since resided. After serving intelligently
and faithfully in the office mentioned, Mr. Myers
bought out a clothing store in Lancaster, and at the
end of the first year associated with himself, as
partner, Jacob Rathfon. This partnership existed
for an ordinary lifetime, and was far more than
ordinarily successful. For a time the firm carried
on the clothing trade in Center Square, and then
built the large and elegant establishment at No. 12
East King street, at that time one of the most
notable business structures in Lancaster, and even
in these days of fine industrial mercantile structures
in the city equalled by few of the finest buildings.
Politically Mr. Myers has always been an
earnest, stanch and devoted Republican, and in
recognition of his devotion to party principles and
party interests he was elected county commissioner
for three terms (in addition to clerk of the Orphans'
court), served a term as member of the common
branch of the citv councils from the old Northeast
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
505
ward, and was strongly urged by thousands of
Republicans for member of Congress from this
district, and also for mayor of the city.
Mr. Myers has been twice married. His first
wife was Anna Mary Dysart, daughter of the late
Robert Dysart, ex-coroner of Lancaster county. By
this union seven children were born, three of whom
are living: Ella C, wife of A. W. Hime, who is
in the clothing business in Reading; Margie, wife
■of Walter W. Hollinger, superintendent of the real
■estate department of Myers & Rathfon, and now
a member of the firm of S. M. Myers & Co., and
Anna Bertha, at home. The mother of these died
in January, 1899, and in November, 1900, Mr.
Myers married Miss Cornelia Christie, of Cecil
county, Maryland.
Associated with Mr. Rathfon Mr. Myers has
"built fully one hundred dwelling-houses in Lan-
caster, including his own elegant home on North
Duke street, and the substantial and commodious
store building on East King street. Besides all
this property, Mr. Myers owns a handsome cottage
at Ocean Grove, where he has spent his summers
for the past thirty years, and is a member of the
board of control of the Ocean Grove Association.
In religious circles he is an enthusiastic worker, and
is a trustee and class-leader of the First M. E.
Church of Lancaster. He was not only one of the
promoters, but he contributed one-tenth of the
entire cost, of the magnificent new church on North
Duke street. He was at one time a member of the
"board of managers of the Landisville Camp Meeting
Association ; was twice delegate to the General
Conference of the Methodist church, and served as
a member of the board of stewards of the Phila-
•delphia Conference for some, years. Indeed, there
is no more earnest, more liberal or more prominent
Methodist in the state of Pennsylvania. In addition
to his church work, which next to the devotion to
his family is the mainspring of his life,' Mr. Myers
is a Knight Templar in Masonry, a member of the
Knights of Pythias, and vice-president of the
Lancaster Trust Co. In brief, there is no name
in Lancaster more widely known or more greatly
respected than that of Samuel M. Myers.
JOSEPH P. AMBLER. In every locality where
■agricultural Kfe is at its best, may be found a number
■of most estimable citizens, who, after lives of unus-
ual activity, have settled down to enjoy advancing
years in ease amid the comforts which their early in-
■dustry has provided. One of the fine farms near
Goshen, Pa., in Fulton township, Lancaster county,
is owned and occupied, although no longer operated,
bv such a man, Joseph P. Ambler.
The Ambler family is one of those which has ma-
terially assisted in the settlement and development
of the State of Pennsylvania. Some time early in
the last century three brothers of this name came
from across the Atlantic, one of whom, Edward, be-
came the founder of the family in Lancaster county.
and from this ancestor came: Andrew, Edward,
William, Elizabeth, the wife of John Rutter, and
Ann, the wife of Israel Chills.
William Ambler, the father of Joseph P. Ambler,
was born in 1789, and died in 1862, after a most ex-
emplary life, filled with generous and benevolent
deeds. In 18 17 he was united in marriage to Eliza-
beth Penrose, who was born in Bucks county, Pa.,
and both she and her husband were through life
consistent members of the Society of Friends. They
reared a family of eight children: Adaline, who
was born Nov. 26, 1818, and married James Smedley,
of Fulton township, both deceased ; Joseph P., men-
tioned below ; Owen, born June 10, 1822, deceased ;
Thomas E., born in 1824, who died March 27, 1894 ;
Louis and David, who died in childhood, in Mont-
gomery county ; Edward and Ann, twins, born in
1827, in Drumore township.
Joseph P. Ambler was born Jan. 18, 1820, a son
of William and Elizabeth (Penrose) Ambler, the
former of whom was a native of Montgomery coun-
ty, and the latter of Bucks county. Pa., of Scotch-
Irish ancestry. His education was received in the
best schools afforded by the time and place, and he
was brought up to the duties of farm life. In those
days the greater part of the labor was done by hand,
much of the machinerv now in use having never been
yet thought of, so that when young Joseph started
out to make a career for himself, it was wifli but sev-
enty-five cents in money, but with a large and com-
plete knowledge, gained through experience, of the
management of crops and the raising of cattle.
Spending his money to enable him to cross the
Susquehanna river, Joseph Ambler sought farm
work, soon found it, and so honest and indus-
trious was he and so thorough was his knowl-
edge, that he was soon able to command high-
er wages than were paid to less useful work-
ers, and here he laid the foundations of a for-
tune, unusually large to have been acquired
through industry alone. A consistent member of the
Society of Friends,' he has never engaged in specu-
lative enterprises, and stands before his community
specially honored and esteemed. His present pos-
sessions comprise two excellent farms in Fulton
township and one in Martic township, aggregating
250 acres of valuable land, all of these being im-
proved with commodious barns and comfortable
dwellings; a fine mill property, which is of consid-
erable value ; while aside from these he has some
$20,000 at interest. Joseph Ambler is also financi-
ally interested in the Quarryville National Bank, at
Quarryville, Pa., being both a director and a stock-
holder, and he is one of the leading men in all of the
important and progressive enterprises of his local-
ity. As a proof of his substantial position, if proof
were needed, Mr. Ambler is the largest tax payer in
Fulton township.
In 1848 Joseph P. Ambler was married to Eliz-
abeth Smedley, who was born in 1824, and died
April TO, 1890 ; she was a daughter of Eli Smedley,
506
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
a farmer of Fulton township. Seven children were
born to this union: Leander, who died in child-
hood; Lydia, who also died in childhood; Laura,
who married Alfred Jewell, of Chester county ; Alva,
born March 8, i860, who died Sept. 7, 1881 ; Sarah,
who married Walter P. Reynolds, of Oxford, Pa. ;
Eli, who died in infancy ; and Charles, who married
Lulu Scott, of Little Britain, and resides on the home
farm.
In politics Mr. Ambler has been a consistent
member of the Republican party, and throughout his
life has exerted his influence in favor of law, order
and good citizenship. A man of temperate habits,
he has set an example to those who follow him. No
citizens are more thoroughly representative of the
best agriculturists of his county than himself and
son, and none are more highly esteemed.
JOHN W. SHOWAKER, a prominent farmer
of Bart township, Lancaster county, was born in
Paradise township, Aug. 7, 1842, a son of John
and Margaret (Ryland) Showaker, both of whom
were natives of Montgomery county, where he was
born in 1793, and his wife in 1798.
John Showaker was a son of Godfrey Showaker,
who was born in Germany and settled in Mont-
gomery county, where he and his wife died, leaving
a family of three children, John, Henry and Cath-
erine. Henry died unmarried in Montgomery coun-
ty.. Catherine married John Brooker and settled in
Germantowri, where she died, leaving a family of
children.
John Showaker was married in Montgomery
county in 1832. He came to Sadsbury township,
where he was engaged some vears as a farmer.
Then he moved into Paradise township, and he lived
there until 1848. That year he bought the present
farm home of his family near Nickel Mines, in Bart
township. There he made substantial improve-
ments, put up a brick house, connecting with the
house already built, and there he remained until his
death in 1858. He left a widow who died in 1881.
Both were members of the Lutheran Church, and
led honorable and upright lives. In politics he was
a Whig. They had three children, (i) Catherine
was born in Montgomery county in 1820, and was
reared in Lancaster county, where she married
James Martin, of Bart township. He was a civil
engineer, and had a home in Germantown, where
both died, she in 1896 and he some years previously.
(2) Laura, born in 1821, married James Brown, of
Bart township ; they are now living in Georgetown,
Lancaster county, and have one son, J. W., who is
married, and settled on a farm iti the same county.
(3) Tohn W.
The mother of John W. Showaker before her
marriage was Margaret Ryland, a native of Mont-
gomery county. She was a daughter of Andrew and
Phoebe (Burkett) Ryland, who came of English
parentage, and were old settlers of Montgomery
county, dating back to Revolutionary times.
John W. Showaker received his education in the
home schools, and remained at home with his parents
as long as they lived, succeeding to the possession
of the farm. He has continued farming to the pres-
ent time.
John W. Showaker was married in Jan., 1874,
to Kate A., a daughter of James P. and Anna (Man-
ahan) Russell. The Russell family has been long
and favorably, known in Lancaster county. James
Russell, was born in Carlisle, Pa., in 1814; he was
a saddler by trade, and carried on business in George-
town, until his death, Jan. i, 1888. His wife, who is
still living in Georgetown, was born in Bart town-
ship in 1820. Her parents, James and Rebecca Man-
ahan, were also natives of this county. James and
Anna Russell had the following children : Phillip,
a resident of Genesee, N. Y. ; Kate A., wife of John
W. Showaker ; Rebecca, at home unmarried ; James
M., in Georgetown; Daniel H., at home; Henrietta
D., at home.
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Showaker settled at the
old home, and to them have come five dhildren :
Margaret Showaker, unmarried, at home ; James R.
Showaker, at home ; John, who married Miss Mar-
tha Rice, a lady of Bart township, lives at the home
of his father, and has one daughter, Elsie ; Anna and
William are unmarried and at home. Religiously
this family has been very largely connected with the
Presbj'terian Church. In politics Mr. Showaker is
a Republican.
John W. Showaker is a well-to-do and prosper-
ous citizen, and is highly spoken of among the peo-
ple of this township, where his industrious and use-
ful life has been passed for so many years.
WILLIAM S. MARTIN, in his lifetime a prom-
inent farmer of Colerain township, Lancaster county,
was born there May 8, 1832, his parents being Sam-
uel and Jane (Rankin) Martin. The Martin fam-
ily has long been associated with the history of the
county, and its various representatives have been
people of character and worth.
Samuel Martin was born near the present home
of the family m 1795, and his wife, Jane Rankin,
in Chester county, the preceding year. Her parents
were James and Susannah Rankin, and their home
was in Highland township, Chester county, where
they took a prominent place in the community. He
, was a sturdy advocate of temperance in an early day,
and is remembered as among the first to banish liquor
from the harvest field.
Samuel Martin was a son of Samuel and Eliza-
beth Martin, who came from Ireland, and settled in
Colerain township, where they became the parents
of four children ; James, Samuel, Isabella, and Sarah
who married William Mackey. The last-named had
three sons, who became Presbyterian ministers,.
James, Elkana, and William. James Mackey was a,
missionary to Africa, and died in New London,
Chester county.
James Martin married Eliza Morrison, and set-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
507
tied on the old home farm in Colerain township,
where he died in 1857, leaving a family of children,
all of whom have removed to other sections of the
country. Samuel Martin settled on a part of his fa-
ther's estate, where he died in April, 1863. His
widow, Jane Rankin, died Nov. 17, 1876. They were
stanch Presbyterians, and were active supporters of
their faith. Mr. Martin was a strong anti-slavery
man, and he and Abner Davis, at one time were the
o^nly ones in that section to vote the Anti-slavery
ticket. In after years he was a strong Republican.
Samuel Martin and wife left four children, (i)
James R., who was bom in 1829, died in 1850, un-
married. (2) William S. (3) Elijah, born in 1834,
married Miss Lydia Thompson, and settled on tiie
old homestead in Colerain township, where he died
in 1893 ; his wife died in Aug., 1874. They left seven
children : Samuel, living near Christiana, Lancaster
county: Sarah, a resident of Philadelphia, and un-
married; Mary, married to' Benjamin Carter, of
Sadsbury township; Ella, a teacher of Lancaster
county; Belle wife of Reese Evenson, of Smyrna,
Lancaster county ; Harriet, married to Callie Scott,
of Christiana; and Susan, deceased. (4) Susanna,
the only daughter of Samuel and Jane Martin, was
born in March, 1836, and married John Coulter, a
farmer of Bart township by whom were three chil-
dren; the eldest Rankin Martin, married to Anna
Long; Elizabeth, married to Robert Lesley Patter-
son ; and Mabel, at home.
William Martin, whose name introduces this
article, was a student at the select school of Thomas
Baker, as well as in the public schools of Colerain
township. He was married March 17, 1857, to
Joanna, a daughter of Christopher and Mary Quig-
ley Davis.
Christopher Davis was born in this county in
1805, and his wife Mary Quigley Davis was born in
Chester county in 1807. They were married in May,
1829, and settled on a farm in Colerain township,
where they spent their lives. Mrs. Davis died at this
home in 1840, and he passed away in April, 1865,
leaving four children. They were consistent mem-
bers of the Presbyterian Church. He was a stanch
Republican, and a strong temperance advocate.
Of the children of Christopher Davis and wife,
(i) Joanna was born in April, 1831, and received her
education at Kennett Square, in the Ladies Semin-
ary, and at the State Normal in Millersville. She
became a teacher and for eight years taught in the
public schools of Lancaster and Chester counties.
(2) Elizabeth, born in Aug., 1834, married John
McGowan, of Lancaster county ; they settled in Sads-
bury township, where she died in 1867, leaving two
children, Elva and Joanna, who married William
Tompson, who is now dead. (3) John James born
in 1837, was reared in Lancaster county, and when a
young man he went to Ohio, where he married Miss
Barbara Kirkwood. They live in Caldwell county.
Mo., where he is a leading stock dealer. They have
one son, William S. (4) William died in young
manhood.
William Martin settled on the present home of the
family, shortly after his marriage. In 1859 he, put
up a home, and later constructed enlarged barn and
shed accommodations. Here he died in Aug., 1893,
leaving a widow and seven living children, two dying
in childhood : ( i ) R. Finney, born at the old family
homestead in 1858, married Miss Effie Gibson, of
Chester county, and lives on his farm in Chester
county. His wife died, leaving him three children :
Virginia, Chester and Roy, The second Mrs. Mar-
tin was born Rebecca Lewis, of Philadelphia, and is
the mother of one child, Thomas. (2) Martha K.,
born in Colerain in i860, married George Moffatt
and now resides in Scranton, Pa., where he is en-
gaged in business as an electrical engineer. (3)
Elizabeth B. Martin, born in 1863, was edu-
cated in the Millersville State Normal with her sister
Martha, and lives at home, unmarried. (4) Jane K.
Martin was born at the present home of the family,
and is still at home unmarried. (5) Arrabell R. and
(6) May died with diphtheria, in childhood. (7)
Thaddeus S. Martin, is unmarried, and is a clerk
and bookkeeper in a business house in Philadelphia.
(8) Joseph Davis, born at the family home, is single,
and has charge of the home farm. (9) Maud Mar-
tin, born in 1877, attended the State Normal in
Chester county, from which she was graduated in
the class of 1897, and after teaching five years in
the public schools of Delaware county, married Rob-
ert Treat Hogg, son of William H. and Esther-
(Hastings) Hogg, of Colerain, Lancaster county.
Mr. Martin and his wife were connected with the
Presbyterian Church.
DAVID MYERS_, one of the leading men of
Strasburg township, is a worthy representative of
one of the old settlers of Lancaster county. Grand-
father John Myers, with his estimable wife, Polly
(Creamer) Myers, came many years ago from his
home in Germany and settled in this county, becom-
ing one of the large landholders and successful farm-
ers, and leaving behind them, at death, the record of
worthy lives. Most especially was Grandmother
Myers, who lived a beautiful life for eighty years, be-
loved by the community for her deeds of neighborly
kindness, and her loving care over the children who
ever found in her a sympathetic friend. She sur-
vived her husband thirty years, and was the de-
voted mother of these children : Sophia, who died
unmarried ; Sally, who married Henry Reminskey ;
Polly, who died unwedded; Fannie, who married
John Graham ; John, a farmer of Strasburg town-
ship ; Frederick, a farmer of Bart township ; David ;
and Benjamin, who died early.
David Myers, father of the subject of this biog-
raphv, was always a farmer of Eden township,
where he became a man of property and prominence,
and faithfully served as township supervisor, being
•508
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
trusted and esteemed by his fellow-citizens. His
marriage had been to Mary Homsher, who lived to
the age of fifty-one, and became the mother of ten
children : Abraham and Eliza, twins, the former now
3. resident of Lancaster City, the latter deceased at
the age of twenty-one; Samuel, a farmer of Eden
township ; Jacob, a resident of Eden ; Mary, deceased,
the wife of John Johnson, also deceased ; Fannie, the
widow of Jacob Readman, a farmer of Bart town-
ship ; Margaret, late wife of Robert Swisher, de-
ceased; David; Henry, deceased, a farmer of .Bart
township ; Julia, the youngest, the wife of Dr. Kee-
ley, of Georgetown, in Bart township.
David Myers (2) was born in what now is Eden
township, on April 11, 1828, a son of David and
Mary (Homsher) Myers. He was brought up
on his father's farm in early boyhood, and was edu-
cated in both subscription and public schools. At
the age of sixteen, as his services were not needed at
home, he engaged with neighboring farmers at
•yvork, by the month, his father receiving his wages
until he was twenty-one. When David Myers
started out for himself, he continued to engage in
agricultural labor, finding plenty of employment,
Tboth by the day and by the month, and soon accumu-
lated money which he wisely saved, using it at a la-
ter date in the purchase of land. When about twen-
ty-five years old he married, and then purchased a
small farm in Strasburg township, but he later dis-
posed of it, first renting and then purchasing the
farm upon which he has since resided. This farm
became Mr. Myers' property in 1872; it contains
sixty-five acres of very valuable land, and here he
followed general farming, with such excellent re-
sults that in 1896 he was able to retire 'from active
life and enjoy the rest earned by a long season of in-
■dustry.
The marriage of David Myers took place Dec.
14., 1852, to Mary A. Wirth, a daughter of Powell
Wirth. She was born in 1826, in Germany, where
she lived until the age of nine ; she died Jan. 22, 1899,
the devoted and unselfish mother of a family of elev-
en children, (i) Henry, born in Sept., 1853, is a
farmer of Chester county. Pa., married Clara Ed-
wards, and has these children, David, Aaron, Mary,
Mattie, Benjamin, Harry, Allan and Elias. (2)
John, born in Sept., 1856, is a farmer of Paradise
township, married Frances McCleary, and has these
children, Harry, Annie, David, May, Lizzie, Ada
and Frank. (3) Elam, born in March, 1858, is a car-
penter, residing in Lancaster City, married May
Keeley, and has these children, Estella, Paul, Iva,
Helen and Jerome. (4) Annie, born in March,
1859, married Jacob Weaver, of Bart township, and
has these children, Mary and Ross. (5) Mattie,
iDorn in August, 1863, married George Wirth, a
farmer of Bart township, and has these children,
Annie, Mary, Kate, John, Martha, Sadie, George,
Gertrude and Clayton. (6) Katie, born in March,
1866, married John Burkholder, of Strasburg bor-
ough, and has two children, Jacob and Edna. (7)
Elias, born Oct. 13, 1867, lives on the farm where he
and all his children were born. He married Mary
Snyder, and has these children, Nettie, Aaron, Ross,
Clarence, Maud and Anna Mary. (8) Sarah, born
in Sept., 1870, married Henry Kreider, a farmer of
Bart township, and has three children, Elva, Frank
and Blanch. (9) Margarett was born Jan. 2, 1862,
and died the following August. (10) David was
born in May, i860, and died May 13, 1864, just four
years old to a day. (11) Louisa, born April 5, 1865,
died Aug. 6, 1865.
Surrounded by his numerous descendants, Mr.
Myers is almost like a patriarch of old, and it doubt-
less gives him much comfort and satisfaction to
know that the greater number cling to the old relig-
ious faith in which he and his beloved wife so care-
fully reared them. For many years he has been a
leading member of the Old Mennonite Church, and
is most highly esteemed and respected, while the
whole family is regarded as one which fairly can be
said to represent the best class of citizens in their
part of Lancaster county.
JACOB LINDEMUTH ZIEGLER, M. D., has
been actively engasred in the practice of medicine
in Mt. Joy for a period of fifty-eight years, though
of late he has given over the more arduous work
to his son, who has been in partnership with him
for some time. There has been no more apprecia-
tive witness to the many changes which have taken
place in Lancaster county during his long life than
Dr. Ziegler, and he has given practical and sub-
stantial encouragement to many of the most import-
ant improvements.
The Doctor was born Nov. 17, 1822, in East
Donegal township, this county, at the old family
home on the banks of the Susquehanna river, a little
west of Rowenna. He is of Swiss ancestry in the
paternal line, his great-grandfather, who was one
of the earliest white settlers in Manor township,
having been a native of the "Mountain Republic."
Conrad and Magdalena, (Schock) Ziegler, grand-
parents of the Doctor, were born in Manor town-
ship, and after their marriage settled in East Done-
gal township, where they passed the remainder of
their days. He was a farmer by occupation. Their
children were Mrs. Henry Strickler; Jacob; Mrs.
Lewis Lindemuth ; Martha, Mrs. Joseph Strickler,
of York countv; and Conrad, who married Miss
Schoch. Mr. Ziegler died in 1831, his wife in 1826,
and their remains rest in Peck's cemetery, in East
Donegal township.
Jacob Ziegler, the Doctor's father, was bom in
Manor township and passed the greater part of his
life in East Donegal township, where he engaged
in farming until he retired, some seven years be-
fore his death. He was a successful man, accumu-
lated a comfortable competence, and was one of the
directors of the Lancaster County Bank. He mar-
ried Barbara Lindemuth, a native of East Donegal
township, who survived him, passing away in 1873,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
509
ai the advanced age of eighty-nine years. His death
occurred in May town in 1870, when he was aged
eighty-six. Both are buried in the Lutheran cem-
etery in Maytown. Mrs. Ziegler was a member of
the Lutheran Church. Of the children born to
this worthy couple, David died when two years old.
Martha, now residing in Maytown, is the widow
of Dr. Shireman, of East Donegal township. Jacob
L. is the subject proper of these lines. Barbara (de-
ceased) was the wife of John S. Mann, who is a
farmer of Manor township. Anna married M. M.
Hoffman, of East Donegal township. Mrs. Bar-
bara Ziegler was descended from German stock, her
grandfather having been a native of Germany,
whence he emigrated to this country in 1764, set-
tling in East Donegal township, where he was one
of the earliest pioneers. He engaged in farming.
Peter Lindemuth, Mrs. Ziegler's father, was born
in East Donegal township, as was also his wife,
whose maiden name was Wolfe. Mr. Lindemuth
followed farming there until he retired, shortly be-
fore his death, which occurred in 1830. He and his
wife passed their last days in the home now occu-
pied by Dr. Ziegler, and they are buried in Mt. Joy
cemetery. Their family consisted of seven children,
Jacob, Peter, Barbara (Mrs. Ziegler), Christiana
(Mrs. Long), John, George and Lewis.
Jacob L. Ziegler lived on the farm until he
was thirteen years old, and received his early instruc-
tion in the local public schools. Thereafer he pur-
sued his literary studies in Rev. Mr. Sinipson's In-
stitute, at Marietta, John Beck's Academy, at Lititz,
and the Mt. Joy Institute. He taught school one
season, in 1839-40, and in 1840 took up the study of
medicine, reading with Dr. Nathaniel Watson, of
Donegal Springs, for the next four years. Mean-
time, in 1842-43-44, he also attended lectures at
Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which
institution he was graduated in 1844. He con-
tinued with his preceptor until Aug, 5, that year,
when he came to Mt. Joy, where he has ever since
remained. Dr. Ziegler has always enjoyed the con-
fidence of his fellow citizens, in both professional
and private life, and he has been the recipient of
many honors, especially in medical circles. He is
a valued member of the Lancaster County Medical
Society, of which he was twice elected president;
a member of the Pennsylvania State Medical So-
ciety, of which he was elected \ ice-president in
1879, and president in 1881 ; a member of the Society
of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia, of which
he has been president five terms, and is still serv-
ing, having been re-elected in November, 1901 ; a
member of the Pathological Society, Philadelphia;
and of the American Medical Association, Since
1886 the Doctor has been surgeon of the Pennsyl-
vania Railway Company.
In 1862 Dr. Ziegler was sworn in as a private
in Co. E, loth P. V. I., and sent to Hagerstown,
Md., where he was detailed iii his professional ca-
pacity. He returned home after a few weeks' serv-
ice. The Doctor holds membership in the G. A. R.
Though his duties as a general practitioner over
a wide field have been arduous, Dr. Ziegler has
found time to indulge his literary tastes, which
have taken him particularly into the field of his-
tory and genealogy. In this connection he is a
zealous member of the Lancaster Historical Society,
the Pennsylvania Historical Society, the Presby-
terian Historical Society, the Pennsylvania Genea-
logical Society, and the Forestry Society, and he
is a recognized authority in local history. His chron-
icles are reliable, and well set forth. Since 1875
the Doctor has been collecting data for a history of
Donegal Church, which has been recently published.
In 1880 he was honored by Lafayette College with
the degree of A. M.
Dr. Ziegler has attended the Donegal Church
since 1840, and has been on the membership list since
1845. He is an elder at present and has never shirked
his part in the benevolent work of the congregation.
Though not particularly active in public affairs,
at any rate as an office holder, the Doctor served two
years, 1861-62, as burgess of Mt. Joy. He is a Re-
publican in political sentiment. All in all, he has
played a useful part in the community where his lot
has been cast, and he has commanded the highest
esteem from all with whom he has been associated.
On April 18, 1848, Dr. Ziegler was ma:rried, at
his present home in Mt. Joy, to Miss Harriet B.
Patterson, who was born in Rapho township, this
county, daughter of Col. James and Mary (Wat-
son) Patterson. They were natives, respectively, of
Rapho and East Dohegal townships, and passed their
latter days retired, in Mt. Joy, dying in the home
now occupied by Dr. Ziegler. Mrs. Ziegler passed
away July 9, 1900, in her eighty-third year, and
her refnairis rest in the Donegal Church cemetery.
She was the mother of the following nam^d chil-
dren : James P., M. D., who practices with his fa-
ther ; Walter M. L., M. D., of Philadelphia ; J. Stan-
ley, who is in the Government employ at Washing-
ton, D. C. ; Thomas M. B., ticket, freight and ex-
press agent at Luray, Va. ; and Mary R., who died
at the age of eight vears. The sons are all unmar-
ried.
CHRISTIAN EBY, deceased. The Eby fam-
ily is one of the oldest and best known in Lancaster
county, and among its noted representatives a cen-
tury ago was Bishop Peter Eby. Christian was the
second son of this well known bishop and was born
on the homestead at Eby's Curve in Salisbury town-
ship, Aug. 22, 1795, He was a life-long farmer
and remained on a portion of the old homestead
until 1847, when he removed to Strasburg tqwnship
and there spent the remainder of his life, dying in
1877, aged eighty-one years. He was a man of
superior mental and moral attainments, though quiet
and unostentatious in manner. Before the free
school system was established he took a deep inter-
est in the cause of education and served in the ca-
610
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
pacity of trustee. But though public-spirited, pro-
gressive and the strong advocate of law and order,
he was content to live his own quiet, individual life,
and did not seek public office nor public prominence.
When a young man he married Miss Rebecca Wit-
wer, a native of Earl township, daughter of David
and Mary (Rife) Witwer. To Christian and Re-
becca Eby were born a family of twelve children,
namely: Mariah, widow of Henry Brackbill, re-
siding in Paradise township, south of Leaman Place ;
Margaret, who died unmarried, at the age of sev-
enty-two years; David, who resides, on the old
homestead in Strasburg township; Elizabeth, un-
married; Levi, a resident of Lancaster city; Re-
becca, wife of Henry Rohrer, of Hagerstown, Md. ;
Samuel, a sketch of whom appears below; Benja-
min, a resident of East Lampeter township ; Cath-
erine, wife of Emanuel Neff, a resident of Stras-
burg township ; Emanuel : Peter, who was killed in
childhood; and Anna, who died in infancy. The
parents were devout members of the Mennonite
Church.
SAMUEL EBY, son of Christian and Rebecca
Eby, was born April 19, 1834, in Salisbury town-
ship. He was reared on the farm, receiving his
education in the common schools of Salisbury and
Strasburg townships. At the age of twenty-two
years he began his own individual career by taking
a farm in Strasburg township to work on shares.
Later he purchased from his father a farm of 117
acres in Bart township. This he operated for a
period of six years, when he sold it and removed to
Nottoway county, Va., purchasing a farm there and
occupying it for ten years. Returning to Lancaster
county, he re-engaged in farming, locating first in
Strasburg township and managing the J. F.' Herr
farm for two years. After one year spent on a farm
in East Lampeter township, he moved to the old
Eby homestead at Eby's Curve, where he resided
for seven years. He then removed to the B. J.
Leckler farm, north of the Gap, where he remained
for five years. Making public sale of his efifects, he
spent one year on a small farm of twelve acres and
then in 1896 came to Paradise village and engaged
in the coal, feed and lumber business, as partner
in the firm of Buckwalter & Eby. Three years
later Mr. Buckwalter, the junior partner, withdrew
and Mr. Eby's son became associated with him,
the firm name changing to Eby & Son. The busi-
ness was established by Adam K. Witmer & Bro.,
about the time the Pennsylvania road was com-
pleted. The present firm do a general warehouse
business and Mr. Eby gives it his entire attention.
He possesses superior business ability and more-
over possesses that broad view of life which looks
to the general weal of the community in which he
lives. He is one of the most public spirited men
in this part of the county, and not only gives pas-
sive assent, but active and influential co-operation
to enterprises and measures for the public good.
He is highly respected for his many estimable qual-
ities and ranks high in influence and worth.
He married in January, 1856, Miss Mary Ann
Esbenshade, daughter of Adam and Mary (Krei-
der) Esbenshade. Mr. and Mrs. Eby are the par-
ents of three children, Kezia, Phares E., and Eli-
zabeth. Kezia is the wife of Henry Pickel, who
conducts the stage line between Lancaster and Par-
adise and resides at Paradise Village. Phares E.,
associated with his father in business, was married
first to Hettie Suavely, who died without issue;
second, to Salinda Hershey, who left one son,
Franklin H. ; and third, to Mary Ann Rutt. Eli-
zabeth is the wife of Henry S. Denlinger a farmer
of Paradise township. They have four children,
Lloyd, Annie, Lottie and Irvin. Mr. and Mrs. Eby
and their family are members of the Mennonite
Church.
ALEXANDER K. MORRISON, a highly re-
spected citizen and excellent farmer of Lancaster
county, resides on his farm of 107 well-improved
acres, in Little Britain township, at King's Bridge,
and was born in Colerain township, Sept. 30, 1837.
His parents were Alexander W. and Margaret (Mc-
Common) Morrison, natives of the same township,
but of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
Great-grandfather Gabriel Morrison came to
Lancaster county and bought a large tract of land in
Colerain township; his son, also Gabriel, married
Ann Love, the three children of this union being,
Thomas L... Alexander and Julia Ann.
Alexander W. Morrison was born in 1796 and
died in 1872. In 1823 he was united in marriage
to Margaret McCommon, and eight children were
born to this union. Ann Eliza is the widow of Vin-
cent King, of King's Bridge, and the capable house-
keeper for A. K. Morrison. She was born in 1824
and her living children are: Elizabeth, the wife of
Emmerson Walton, of Colerain township; Vincent,
of Colorado; Laura, the wife of John Furniss, of
Little Britain ; Horace, of Christiana ; Joseph M., of
California; and Thorwald, of Philadelphia, James
M. is a resident of the State of Oregon, a minister
in the Presbyterian Church. Joseph B. is a resi-
dent and practicing physician of Missouri. The life
of Alexander K. is given below. Samuel W. died
in 1890; the other three children died in infancy.
Alexander Kinkade Morrison grew to young
manhood on the farm, and acquired his education in
the public schools of his locality. In August, 1862,
he testified to his loyalty to his country by enlisting
as a volunteer in the 122nd P. I., and took part in
some of the fiercest battles of the Civil war, notably,
Fredericksburg, the second battle of Bull Run,
Chancellorsville and the Potomac campaign, being
honorably discharged in May, 1863. Having es-
caped both imprisonment aiid injury, Mr. Morrison
returned home and resumed farming, closely apply-
ing himself to the line he had chosen. His present
fine farm is well improved and bears testimony to his
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
511
€xcellence as a farmer, while the respect in which
he is held by the community speaks for itself as to
his upright character as a citizen.
In politics Mr. Morrison is an active Republi-
can ; he served as deputy coroner from 1882 to 1885
and again from- 1893 to 1900. He took the census
in 1890 for his township, Little Britain ; in 1902 he
was elected school director for the same township.
He is a leading member of the Union Presbyterian
Church in Colerain township. Fraternally he be-
longs to the G. A. R. post, and enjoys talking over
the times of stress with comrades who, like himself,
were not found wanting when their country's call
came. Mr. Morrison has never married, his be-
loved sister giving him loving care and doing the
honors of his hospitable home.
HENRY N. EBY, a general farmer of the
township of West Hempfield, Lancaster, was born
where he is now living Aug. 16, 1837, ^ son of Jonas
and Veronica (Nissley) Eby, who were born in Eli-
zabeth and Rapho townships, respectively, and came
in 1826 to the farm on which Henry' N. is now
living.
Jonas Eby was engaged from 1820 to 1826 in
the milling business on the Little Conestoga river.
In 1846 and 1847 he operated the Chiques Valley
mill. A man of considerable importance in the
local affairs of his time, he served as school director
for many years. Born March 14, 1799, he died Oct.
11, 1884. Mrs Veronica Eby was born June 21,
1798, and died Oct. 30, 1839. The father was buried
at the Landisville Meeting House cemetery, and
the mother on the old Nissley farm. They were
members of the Mennonite Church. His standing
in the business world is evident from the fact that
he served several years as a director of the Union
Bank of Mt. Joy. Their children were: John,
who is a retired farmer of Lancaster, Pa. ; Fanny,
late wife of Martin Peiffer, of Salunga, Pa. ; Elias,
a retired farmer of East Donegal ; Samuel, a retired
merchant of Mt. Joy; Simon, a retired farmer of
Mt. Joy ; Amos, died unmarried in i860 ; Henry N.
Both father and mother were twice married. Dec.
12, 1819, Jonas Eby was married to Veronica Niss-
ley, and Nov. 12, 1863, to Martha Strickler, who
died in West Hempfield township, Aug. 7, 1876, at
the age of sixty years and almost eight months.
She was a daughter of Abraham Strickler, of Lan-
caster county, who married a Miss Hostetter. Mrs.
Veronica (Nissley) Eby, was first married to Abra-
ham Hoover in 1815, and there was born to them
Nancy, who was twice married, first to John Boss-
ier, and then to Daniel Kreider, and who is now
dead.
John and Mary (Witwer) Eby, the grandparents
of Henry N. Eby, were both born in Elizabeth town-
ship in this county, and were farming people. The
grandfather followed milling along with his farm-
ing labors. John Eby died May 25, 1845, at the
age of seventy- seven years, and his wife, who died
Aug. 25, 1856, was eighty-three years old. They
were buried on the old homestead where their long
and useful lives had been passed. Born to this union
were: Catherine; Jonas; Mary; Rebecca; EHas,
who married Elizabeth Erb; Elizabeth, who mar-
ried Samuel Risser ; Levi, who married Anna Niss-
ley; Anna, who married Samuel Hershey.
The paternal great-grandparents of Mr. Eby
were Christian and Catherine (Bricker) Eby, who
spent their lives on the old homestead, in the town-
ship of Elizabeth, where both were born. Chris-
tian Eby was the son of Christian, and the grandson
of Theodorils, the pioneer settler of the family in this
part of the state. Theodorus Eby was a noted man in
the family records. The son of Bishop Jacob Eby, he
was born in Switzerland in 1663, and, because he
was a devoted Mennonite, was compelled to leave
his native country in 1704 to escape unendurable
persecution. For about eleven years he made, his
home in the "Palatinate," Germany, but here per-
secution was quite as severe as at home, and with
other co-religionists he left for Philadelphia, Pa. in
the spring of 171 5, and some time, in August of the
same year effected a settlement in Lancaster county,
where he lived until his death, in the full enjoyment
of that liberty that seemed denied elsewhere
through all the world. He died Dec. 11, 1737, leav-
ing four sons and one daughter, as follows : Peter ;
Hannes; Jacob; Christian; Elizabeth, who married
Hannes Baehr. The sons were all skilled in the
mechanical arts of the day, and it is a matter of
tradition that their father built an important mill
with no other assistance than they were able to
render him.
The maternal grandparents of Mr. Eby were
Bishop Samuel Nissley, of Rapho township and
Anna Mumma, of West Hempfield township.
Bishop Nissley was married three times, to Barbara
Greider, to Anna Mumma, and to Maria Long-
necker.
Henry N. Eby was twice married, first in i860,
in Lancaster county. Pa., to Mary Franck, becom-
ing by this marriage the father of the following
family : Daniel, who died of diphtheria in 1871 ;
Amos F., a farmer in East Donegal township, who
married Anna Reist ; Fanny, who married Simon E.
Garber, of West Donegal township ; Jonas, who
died at the age of seven months ; Levi, a
farmer, who married Kate Stauffer,- of East
Donegal township; Anna, wife of Elias Linde-
muth, a farmer of East Donegal township.
Mrs. Mary (Franck) Eby, who was born in
Warwick township, died Jan. 3, 1876, at the age of
thirty-five years, and was buried in Landisville;
she was the daughter of Christian and Catherine
(Snyder) Franck. Her father was the son of Dea-
con John Franck, of Warwick.
The second marriage of Mr. Eby occurred Nov.
6, 1878, in Manheim, Pa., when he was united in
marriage with Elizabeth Hostetter, and there were
born to this marriage, Henry and Elizabeth, twins,
512
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and David, all living at home. Elizabeth (Hos-
tetter) Eby was born near Manheim, Pa., Sept. i,
1841, and was a daughter of David and Maria
(Peiflfer) Hostetter, both natives of Penn township,
where they lived and died. David was the son of
Bishop Jacob Hostetter, who passed his entire life
on the old homestead of the family in Penn town-
ship, a pioneer settler of Lancaster county. They
came from Switzerland about 17 12, and were Men-
nonites in the home country.
Mr. Eby has spent his life on the farm where he
is now residing, and is one of the prominent and
well-to-do people of the county. In religion he is
a member of the Mennonite Church, and for ten
years served as assistant superintendent of the Sun-
day-school.
Amos F. Eby, son of Henry N. Eby, a general
farmer of East Donegal, and a member of the Par-
agon Fruit and Nut Co., of Lancaster county, is a
man of much push and energy ; he was born on the
farm of his parents, Oct. 4, 1864. Henry N. and
Mary (Franck) Eby, his parents, whose lives are
noted above, are living on the old Eby homestead
in West Hempfield township.
Mr. Eby was married Oct. 17, 1889, in Rapho
township, to Anna Reist, and to this union were
bom Rhoda R. and Henry R. Mrs. Anna (Reist)
Eby is a daughter of Henry B. and Catherine (Gar-
ber) Reist. Amos F. Eby remained with his par-
ents until he was twenty-five years old, when he
left their sheltering roof to work a year in a cream-
ery, and then entered upon his present work. He
has a farm of eighty-one acres, and is in very pros-
perous circumstances. Since 1897, he has been a
school director. Since 1896 Mr. Eby has been as-
sociated with the Fruit and Nut Company, and is a
prominent and thrifty young man. He belongs to
the Mennonite Church.
Mrs. Catherine (Garber) Reist, the mother of
Mrs. Amos F. Eby, was born in West Donegal
township, May 19,' 1833, and was a. daughter of
John and Catherine (Sechrist") Garber, who were
born in Manor and West Hempfield townships, re-
spectively. The father, who was a farmer all his
life, died in 1842, and the widowed mother, who
survived many years, died in 1879, in her eighty-
sixth year, and was buried in West Donegal town-
ship. ' They were members of the Mennonite
Church, and became the parents of the following
family: Michael; Mary, who married Christ
Snyder; Anna, who married John Longnecker, of
West Donegal township ; Barbara, who died young ;
John ; Christian ; Catherine. Her paternal grand-
parents were Andrew and Maria (Nolt) Garber, of
Lancaster county, and her maternal grandparents
were of the Sechrist family, an important one in the
same county.
Henry B. Reist, the father of Mrs. Anna Eby,
of East Donegal township, who is noted above as
marrying Amps F. Eby, was a valuable and useful
citizen of Lancaster county in his lifetime. His
great-grandparents, Peter and Anna (Boyer) Reist,
came from Switzerland, and settled in Pennsyl-
vania, where their descendants have all occupied an
honorable and useful station in life.
Henry B. Reist was born in Rapho township,
Lancaster county, where he was long and success-
fully engaged not only in farming but in commer-
cial and financial pursuits. For twelve years prior
to his decease, he was president of the First Nation-
al Bank, of Mt. Joy, and was highly esteemed in
the community in which he lived. He and his
wife had children: Ely G., who is now. a farmer
in Rapho township, Lancaster county; John G., a
farmer, and manager of a creamery in Mt. Joy;
Mary, the wife of S. S. Kraybill, a farmer of East
Donegal township ; Henry, an electrician at Schen-
ectady, N. Y. ; Emma, the wife of H. N. Hostetter,
a farmer in East Donegal township ; Anna, the wife
of Amos F. Eby, a farmer in East Donegal. Henry
B. Reist died in 1879, at the age of forty-seven
years, and was buried in East Donegal township.
Both he and his wife were members of the Mennon-
ite Church. Mrs. Reist is still living, and makes
her home with her daughter Mrs. Eby. Mr. Reist
served as school director in Mt. Joy township, for
some years.
John G. Reist, who was born in Mt. Joy town-
ship in 1857, resides in Mt. Joy, and devotes his at-
tention to the large creamery business of Reist,
Nissley & Co., of vifhich he is the junior partner. The
creamery was built in 1887, and its patronage is
steadily increasing under its very able management.
In 1889 Mr. Reist was married to Miss Catherine
Hostetter, of Manor township, and a daughter of
Ezra Hostetter ; to this tmion were born three chil-
dren: Florence, Esther and John.
HENRY R. ERB, of Pine Hill, Lancaster coun-
ty, was born Aug. 12, 1847, on the farm adjoining
that on which he at present resides, and is a son
of Reuben and Hettie (Royer) Erb, both now de-
ceased.
Reuben Erb was a son of David Erb, who was
descended from Christian Erb, one of the earliest
natives of Lancaster county. Reuben Erb was a
miller and farmer in Warwick township, and was
reared to these vocations in his father's mill and on
his father's farm. To his marriage with Hettie
Royer were born two children, Henry R. and Su-
sannah, of whom the latter died in early childhood.
In politics Reuben Erb was a Republican.
Henry R. Erb was reared on the home, and ag-
riculture has been his life pursuit, although he is now
practically retired. He is the owner of productive
farms adjoinitig, and comprising 500 acres. These
farms have long been the property of the Erb fam-
ily— one tract of 225 acres for several generations.
His great-great-grandfather, Christian Erb, above
alluded to, owned and lived upon this farm, and
^^^^s.*^ /?, &'l^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
513
it is surmised that the father of Christian was the
original purchaser, as he was the founder of the
Erb family in this county.
Henry R. Erb has been one of the most active
and public-spirited men of the county, and as a
Republican has taken considerable interest in pub-
lic affairs. He has held the office of school director
and at present is a director in the Lititz National
Bank.
Mr. Erb was married, in 1867, to Miss Eliza-
beth A. Wolf, daughter of Henry Wolf, of Warwick
township, and to this union have been born two
children, of whom one died in infancy; the other,
Annie N., is the wife of D. M. Grobill, of East Pitts-
burg, Pennsylvania.
The Erb family, besides being one of the oldest,
is one of the most highly respected in Lancaster
county, where, even within the me;mory of Henry
R. Erb himself many miraculous changes have taken
place in the county limits. To the great improve-
ments that have been made locally Mr. Erb has con-
tributed freely of his means, and has been person-
ally active in their promotion.
MILTON KEYLOR, a wealthy and retired
farmer of Colerain township, Lancaster county, was
born June 14, 1828, in Bart township, a son of Jdhn
and Sarah (Meginness) Keylor. The father was
born in Raumland, Germany, Jan. 19, 1790; and
the mother Oct. 13, 1795, in Colerain township.
She was a daughter of James Meginness, who was
born in Delaware in 1767. His life was mostly spent
in Colerain township, Lancaster county, where he
died Nov. i, 1839. John F. Meginness is one of his
grandsons.
John Keylor was the son of Jacob Keylor, who
came with his wife and family to the shores of
America in 1795, to escape the woe and devasta-
tion of war in Germany. They landed at New-
castle, Delaware, and made their way to Chester
county, where they were given employment by
Richard Baker, who had his home on the banks of
the Brandywine. Jacob Kuehler, whose name was
anglicized to "Keylor," died at his home in Chester
county in 1816, leaving a widow and five children.
John was the father of Milton Keylor ; Henry, who
was born in Germany in 1793, married Eliza A.
Swisher, and settled in Bart township, where he
died Jtily 21, 1875 ; Katherine Keylor, born in Ger-
many in 1795, married Thomas Mullen, who settled
in Delaware, where she died in 1826. There were
born to Jacob Keylor and his wife after their arrival
in this country two daughters, Maria and Hannah.
Maria Keylor, who was born in 1800, married John
Buffington, and settled near Atglen, where she died
in 1896. Hannah Keylor, who was born in Chester
county, in 1802, married Nathan Famous, and
settled near Unionville ; she died in the home of her
son-in-law, Thomas Mullen, at Kennett Square, in
1892.
John Keylor, the father of Milton, began his
33
career in Bart township, as, an independent farmer.-
During the war of 181 2 he was called upon to raise
a company, which he did, though their services were
never required. In his after life he was very suc-
cessful, and became quite prosperous, owning three
farms in Lancaster county. His death occurred
Nov. 3, 1872, and he was buried by the side of his
wife in Friends' cemetery. She died in September,
1865. In Germany the Keylors were Presbyterians,
but as Richard JBaker, mentioned above, was a
Quaker, they accompanied him to the Friends Meet-
ing at Bradford, and soon learned to use the Quaker
speech, and adopted that faith.
John Keylor and his wife had seven children
who lived to maturity. (i) Ann E. Keylor, born
in January, 1825, married Daniel Byer, in February,
1848, and settled in Juniata county, where in 1875
Mr. Byer died. She moved to Chester county,
where she died in 1879, leaving four children:
John J., of Chester county; Hannah, who died at
home in 1902; Sarah, who married Davis Bailey,
of Thorndale, Chester county; and Anna at the
home in Chester county. The first child, Emma,
had died previously.
(2) Hannah M. Keylor, born Aug. 10, 1826, was
the widow of E. H. Emory, and lived on a part of
the old Keylor homestead, which had passed into
her hands. She died in April, 1902. Her two
sons, John K. and Clement M. Emory, are both
single.
(3) Milton Keylor, whose name introduces this
article, is the third member of the family.
(4) Sarah Keylor was born Feb. 26, 1830, and
married for her first husband Lewis H. Selzer, a mer-
chant of Steelville, who died very shortly after mar-
riage, leaving one son, Harry, who is in business in
Wilmington, Delaware. Mrs. Selzer later married
W. F. McLimarts, and has her home in West Grove,
Chester county.
(5) John B. Keylor, born Dec. 2, 1831, became a
cabinet maker, and devoted several years of his
early manhood, to this trade. He was married to
Miss Leah L. Ritz, of Bart township, in 1858, and lo-
cated in South Charleston, Clark Co., Ohio, where
Mr. Keylor died Feb. 10, 1863, leaving a widow and
one son, Howard R., who was born Oct. 9, i860.
Mrs. Keylor did not remain in Ohio long after the
death of her husband, but came back to Pennsyl-
vania in May, 187 1. She married for her second
husband, George Sterrett, of Philadelphia. They
removed in October, 1871, to Walla Walla, Wash-
ington, where she died April 10, 1889. Howard
Keylor, her son, was educated in the University of
Michigan, where he was graduated as a physician
in 1882. After this he took a special course in the
College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore.
In December, 1882 he began the practice of his pro-
fession at Walla Walla, Wash., where he soon be-
came eminent. He was appointed surgeon-general
of the Territorial militia, which position he held at
the time Washington was admitted to the Union,
514
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
May 10, 1890. He was afterward appointed on the
State Board of Medical Examiners, and became its
secretary, a position he is still holding. In 1889 he
married Miss Sarah F. Stine, of Walla Walla, a
native of California. They have two daughters,
Edna and Leah.
(6) George Keylor, born May 18, 1834, married
Anna McGinness, of Montour county. Pa., in March,
1856, and had a home on a farm in Colerain town-
ship, where Mrs. Keylor died in May, 1874, at the
age of thirty-nine years. Her remains were taken
to her home and interred at the family lot in Mil-
ton, Pa. She left one son, Harry J., who was born in
March, 1857. He learned the saddler's trade, and
located in Montour county. Harry J. Keylor mar-
ried in Danville, Pa., and has two children. George
Keylor married for his second wife, Anna Scott, of
Bart township, and located in Delaware, where he
•died in January, 1900, leaving one son. Bayard, who
lias since died.
(7) Henry Keylor, born in April, 1836, was
reared as a farmer, and married Martha Scott, of
•Colerain township, where they are now living on a
iarm. They have two children, Frank and Nannie,
hoth of whom are at home.
(8) Wellington Keylor, born in 1838, died in
•childhood in 1844.
Milton Keylor remained at the home farni unti\
he was of. age, and received his early education in
the district schools in Bart township. For a few
months he also attended a select school taught by
James Brown. Mr. Keylor and Rebecca Byer, the
eldest daughter of David and Mary (McElwain)
Byer, were married Sept. 13, 184.9. Mrs. Keylor
was born Feb. 17, 1827, and was reared to young
■womanhood in Bart township. She is a lady of
high character, and has shared with her husband
fifty-three vears of married life. They celebrated
their golden wedding Sept. 13, 1899, on the farm
they purchased in 1854.
For many years Milton Keylor took an active
part in local affairs; for twelve years he was a
member of the school board, and his interest in the
cause of public education is shown by the fact that
at one time he provided a house on his farm for
the establishment of a high school, which was
taught by James McCuUough. Mr. Keylor was one
of the founders of the Colerain and Bart Farmers'
Club, and the Quarryville National Bank. He
took an active part in the building of the Oxford
and Peach Bottom Railroad, contributing liberally
to its funds. For many years he was a trustee of
the Colerain Baptist Church, of which he and his
family have been consistent and helpful members.
In his politics he is a Democrat.
Mr. and Mrs. Keylor have been devoted to the
education of their family. They would go with
their children on long drives as far as into Mary-
land, and would stay for a few days at Cape May,
Long Branch or Atlantic City. He has attended
the inauguration of two presidents. Gen. Grant and
Grover Cleveland, taking Mrs. Keylor on both oc-
casions to the national capital. Mr. Keylor has
also attended three national expositions, in New
York in 1853, the Centennial at Philadelphia, in
1876, and the Columbian, at Chicago, in 1893. Both
are enjoying good health, and their friends cherish
the hope that they may be long spared to each
other.
The oldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Keylor was
James Ell wood, born Aug. 21, 185 1; he was edu-
cated in the public schools of his community, and
at the Millersville State Normal, for several years
following the profession of teaching. In Alpril,
1 88 1, he married Anna C, a daughter of John M.
and Fannie (Stively) Shenk, of Quarryville. For
four years after his marriage he continued to teach,
and then, feeling a call in that direction, prepared
for the gospel ministry, at Crozier Seminary, in
Chester county, and in the fall of 1885 set himself
to a theological course, which he concluded in 1888.
That year he received a call to the Baptist Church
in Newfield, N. J., where he was ordained in No-
vember. For seven years he was pastor of that
church. In 1895 he was called to the Windsor Bap-
tist Church, in' Chester county, where he is still
located. He is the father of two children, John
Milton and Rena F. John Milton Keylor is a grad-
uate of the West Chester Normal, of Chester coun-
ty, and now holds a position as teacher in Swarth-
more College. Rena F. Keylor, born in December,
1884, resides at home, and is a student at the West-
chester Normal.
Anna M. Keylor, the second child of Milton
Keylor, was born at the present home of the family,
April 18, 1853, was educated at the Union High
School and was a successful teacher for four years.
She was married in 1876 to William B. Ryner, a
native of Bart township, and they are now living on
their farm in Colerain township, where they have
two children : Rebecca A., born in 1883, who grad-
uated in 1902 at the State Normal School at Mil-
lersville and is now teaching; Spencer C, born in
1887, who is at home with his parents.
Dr. Henry E. Keylor, second of Milton Key-
lor, born Aug. 13, 1855, studied medicine with Dr.
Thomas Wentz, of Kirkwood, was graduated with
honor at Jeiferson Medical College in 1878, and at
once entered upon the practice of his profession,
but he was taken ill and died in September, 1880.
He never married.
Dr. Josiah B. Keylor, the fourth child of Milton
Keylor, studied in the public schools, and the Union
High School, and graduated at the Millersville
State Normal in July, 1879. After a year teaching,
for which his degree of B. E., indicated ability, he
received the degree of M. E., and in 1880 was made
the head of the high school of Maytown, Lancaster
county. In 1881 he resigned this position to take
that of superintendent of the Manheim borough
, schools. It was his first intention to continue me
profession of teaching as his life work, but after
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
515
the death of his brother Henry, he determined to
become a physician himself. He began his medical
studies under Dr. George T. Dare, of Oxford,
Chester county, and in 1882 entered the College of
Physicans and Surgeons, at Baltimore, from which
he was graduated in 1885. He began his profes-
sional career at Cochranville, Chester county, and
very soon made for himself more than a local repu-
tation as a capable and rising physician.
In religion he is a member of the English Baptist
Church, in politics, a Democrat, and fraternally,
a devoted and enthusiastic member of the I. O. O.
F., of which he has been an efficient member for a
number of years. He is a Past Grand of Hebron
Lodge, No. 437, of Chester county. He is also a
Past Master of Skerret Lodge, No. 343, F. & A. M.,
having served as representative to the Grand Lodge,
.Masonic Temple, Philadelphia.
Dr. Keylor has traveled quite extensively, and
has visited in thirteen states of the Union, from the
Atlantic to the Pacific; in 1880 he spent seven,
weeks in Colorado and Wyoming with his brother
Henry, who was seeking a return of health in the
mountains.
Dr. Keylor was married in June, 1895, to Miss
Lillian B. Rakestraw, of Strasburg township. They
have their home in Cochranville, where the doctor
owns real estate, and they have one daughter,
Catherine Rebecca.
JOHN H. ZELLER (deceased) was in his day
one of the leading officials and citizens of Lancaster
county, as well as one of its most enterprising busi-
ness men. He was born in Shrewsbury, York Co.,
Pa., May 29, 1832, son of Charles and Martha
(Green) Zeller," the former a native of York and
the latter of Lancaster county.
John H. Zeller was reared in Florin, Lancaster
county, where he was educated in the public schools,
■and at the age of fifteen years began teaching, a
vocation he continued to follow until about 1862,
when he was elected to the office in the court
of quarter sessions of the county and moved to
Lancaster; he remained in the city but six months,
however, and then returned to Florin. In 1857 he
was elected a justice of the peace, but on his re-
moval to Mt. Joy in 1870, resigned this office ; in the
meantime, from the expiration of his office in the
court of quarter sessions in 1866 until his com-
ing to Mt. Joy, he conducted a mercantile
husiness in Florin. At this place in 1872, he
was again elected justice of the peace and re-
elected in 1877. In 1879 he was elected clerk of the
Orphans' Court, served three years and then ex-
pressed a desire to retire to private life. But his
many friends insisted upon his once more taking
the office of justice of the peace, which he had pre-
viously so ably and satisfactorily filled. He fin-
ally consented and filled the office until 1883, when
he resigned in order to become a notary — an office
he held until death, Oct. 31, 1898.
In addition to the elective offices, Mr. Zeller had
filled, he was active in other walks of life. For
many years he was a school director, was a director
in the First National Bank of Mt. Joy, was one of
the founders of the Henry Eberly cemetery at Mt.
Joy, and for forty-seven years clerked at public sales.
He was also director in the Marietta and Mount Joy
Turnpike Company, was a fire insurance and real
estate agent, was a collector, scrivener and sur-
veyor, and did a large business in settling up estates.
He was one of the busiest men in the county, was
known everywhere and stood very high in the es-
teem of the people. He was a quiet, unassuming
gentleman, of a kindly disposition and honest to the
core. He was emphatically what is called a self-
made man, having started as a farmer-lad and ris-
ing to the position of leading official and a business
man of eminence. In politics he was a Republican
and fraternally was a Knight of Pythias.
Mr. Zeller was united in marriage with Miss
Margaret Hinny, who was born in Oregon, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., March 3, 1833, daughter of Samuel
and Margaret Hinny. To this marriage there were
born nine children, in the following order: Sam-
uel H., Nov. 27, 185 1, died April 19, 1854; Charles
H., born Oct. 25, 1855 ; William H., July 25, 1858,
died Sept. 28, 1888 ; John B. S., Jan. 3, i86r ; Sallie
A. H., Jan. 10, 1863, now the wife of C. L. Erby;
Jacob H., March 3, 1866, the representative of the
Prudential -Life Insurance Company, and for six
years superintendent of the Lancaster Caramel
works at Mt. Joy; U. S. Grant, born Oct. 31, 1868,
died July i, 1872; Henry H., born Dec. 18, 1870, a
clerk and salesman : Etta May, born April 19, 1873,
the wife of C. K. Bennett.
Charles H. Zeller, the eldest living of the above
named children, was reared in Mt. Joy and was
there educated in the common schools. At four-
teen years of age, he began learning the painter's
trade, but two years later abandoned it, and for six
vears was engaged in iron moulding in Mt. Joy and
Lancaster; he was next employed in various lines
of business until 1877, when he began auctioneering
and this he has followed successfully for twenty-
six years, averaging twenty-five sales annually.
For years, also, from 1884, he has been a trusted col-
lector and in February of that year was elected jus-
tice of the peace, a position he has held with credit
to himself, continuouslv {mtil the present time. At
the death of his father he succeeded to the business,
which he still conducts in all its details. He also
served from about 1879 to 1882 as constable, and
is now a justice of the peace. He is also a director
in the Marietta and Mt. Joy Turnpike Company.
Fraternally, Charles H. Zeller is Master of Rec-
ords of the K. of G. E. ; i-s Recording Secretary of
the O. U. A. M. ; is treasurer of the D. of L., in
which he has passed all the chairs, and is a member
of the Degree of Pocahontas : also of the K. of M.
C, the I. O. O. R., and the K. of M. In politics
Mr. Zeller has always been a Republican.
516
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Charles H. Zeller was married Dec. 23, 1875, to
Miss Subilla Morton, daughter of William Morton,
of Lancaster county. Mr. Zeller, through his busi-
ness ability and astuteness, has realized a compet-
ency and is now living in comfort and in the enjoy-
ment of the esteem of a large circle of warm-hearted
friends.
EPHRAIM E. WEAVER, a skillful, progres-
sive and energetic farmer of Manor township, is a
native of Lancaster county, born on the old home-
stead in East Lampeter township Dec. 7, 1866, and
was educated in the public schools' of that locality.
He remained at home until his father retired from
active business, and then entered the employ of his
brother-in-law, Mr. Gifven, on whose farm he
worked two or three years, after which he was in
the employ of his brothers, Aaron and Benjamin F.
Weaver, in Manor township, for ten years.
On Nov. 18, 1891, Mr. Weaver married Miss
Hettie E. Houser, a daughter of Christian and Emma
(Hoover) Houser, and a granddaughter of John
Houser. The first of the Houser family to come to
America was her great-great-grandfather. Christian
Houser, a native of Germany, who located in Lan-
caster county. Pa. Mrs. Weaver's father was one'
of a family of four children, was a farmer of Lam-
peter township, and was a member of the Mennon-
ite Church. He died June 19, 1898, at the age of
fifty-four years, but her mother is still living, at the
age of fifty-six. In their family were nine children,
of whom Mrs. Weaver is the eldest, the others be-
ing John E., a farmer of Lampeter township ; Win-
nie M. ; Lizzie M., who died Aug. 16, 1902 ; Ella
M., who was married March 12^ 1902, to Ellis
Weaver, and is living on a farm in West Lampeter
township ; Mabel K. ; Emma L. ; Ethel A. ; and Maud
C. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver have two children: Al-
bert E., born March 14, 1893; and Ruth E., born
June 2, 1895.
In the spring of 1892 Mr. Weaver located upon
his present farm in Manor township, which he had
purchased the previous fall. It consists of forty-
seven and a half acres on the Columbia turnpike,
three and a half miles west of Lancaster, and since
it came into the possession of Mr. Weaver he has
made many valuable improvements thereon, the place
and its entire surroundings denoting the thrift, en-
terprise and prosperity of the owner. He follows
general farming, and is numbered among the rnost
progressive men of his community. In his political
affiliations he is a Republican.
JOSEPH DICKINSON HARPER, one of the
prominent and prosperous business citizens of Chris-
tiana, Pa., was born in Upper Oxford township,
Chester county, on Oct. 3, 1844. His parents were
Jacob W. and Rachel (Dickinson) Harper, of Upper
Oxford township, on the father's side, who was
born in the old Harper homestead there, and of
Salisbury township, in this county, on the mother's
side, her native place having been on the site of
what is now Lapps postoffice.
Grandfather William C. Harper was a native of
County Derry, Ireland, a nail maker by trade, and
he came to America at the time of the Irish insur-
rection. His marriage was to Mary Weldon, and
they settled in Chester Co., Pa., on a farm near Rus-
sellville, and both belonged to the Presbyterian
Church. The maternal grandparents of Joseph
Dickinson Harper were Joseph and Phoebe (Mor-
ris) Dickinson, of Lancaster Co., Pa. Mr. Dickinson
in connection with his farming engaged in mer-
chandising also, and erected what is now Lapps
store, for his son, Joseph.
Father Jacob W. Harper was a blacksmith by
trade and a veterinary surgeon by profession, be-
came prominent in his township and held many of
the local offices. His death occurred in 1885, at
the age of seventy-four years, and that of his wife
in 1877, at the age of sixty-five years. Their
burial was at Faggs Manor Presbyterian cemetery,
in Chester county, the former having been a member
of the Presbyterian Church, while the latter ad-
hered consistently through life to the tenets of the
Society of Friends. Their children were : Joseph D. ;
Mary W., who married Harry Witmer, a grocer in
Lancaster; Phoebe A., who married Henry Bow-
man, a farmer of Buck Run, Chester county ; Rachel,
who died young; Emma J., deceased, who married
Samuel Brookhart,^ of .Silver Spring, Pa., a con-
ductor on the Philadelphia & Reading R. R. ; and
John, who died from the effects of a kick from a
horse, in 1875.
At the age of eight years Joseph Dickinson
Harper went to live with his paternal grandpar-
ents and remained there, going to school and work-
ing on the farm, imtil he was seventeen years of
age, returning then to his father, under whom he
learned the blacksmith's trade. At the age of twen-
ty-one he went to Russellville and wo^rked for •
twenty-three months in a carriage-making estab-
lishment, going from there to Jennerville, where he
rented a large carriage-making shop for a period
of two years. For four years he was in the same
business in Cochranville, coming to Christiana in
1876. Here he bought out the estabUshment con-
ducted by Lingerfield & Hirst, and has successfully
pushed this business ever since, becoming a leader
in this part of the county. Mr. Harper has been
noted for his industry and his present large busi-
ness is mainly due to the honest and upright meth-
ods which he has adopted, in connection with a
close attention and thorough, practical knowledge
of all details.
The marriage of Mr. Harper was on Jan. 15,
1874, in Lancaster, to Miss Eliza A. Harvey, and
the children born to this marsiage were: Taylor
W., who lives at home, unmarried, and follows the
trade of carriage painter; Arvilla J., a talented
teacher ; Chester T., who is attending college at New
Brunswick; and Myra E., at home. The birth of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
517
Mrs. Harper was in West Fallowfield township,
Chester county, in 1844, a daughter of Capt. Joseph
and Eliza (McGloughHn) Harvey. The former
was a farmer and also a blacksmith, was captain of
the old Pennsylvania militia, and died in 1872, at
the age of seventy-eight years, the mother surviving
until 1879, dying at the age of seventy-five. Both
parents of Mrs. Harper were consistent members
of the Baptist Church. Their children were:
Streeter, who died young; James, who died aged
seventy; E. Pennock, a farmer of Chester county;
Rebecca, who resides with her sister, Eliza A., Mrs.
Harper ; Joel M., a butcher and grocer, in Parkes-
burg, and Taylor, deceased.
Mr. Harper has long been a member of the Pres-
byterian Church where he contributes liberally of
liis means. In political belief he is a Democrat, al-
though his personal feelings lead him to favor much
that he finds in the Prohibition party. In all things
he is a good citizen, and fills every duty to his fami-
ly, church and community in a way to secure to him
the high esteem of his fellow-citizens.
DAVID S. HORST, a watchmaker and former-
ly a farmer of Rapho township, was born in Mt.
Joy township, Jan. i, 1824, son of Peter and Chrisr
tina (Shelley) Horst, of Lancaster county.
Peter Horst was a miller, as early as 18 16 build-
ing a mill in Mt. Joy, on the Little Chiques creek
which he ran for forty years. The property still
remains in the family. Mr. Horst died in 1876, at
the advanced age of eighty-nine years; his wife
died in 1870, at the age of seventy-four years. They
are both buried in private burying grounds in Ra-
pho township. They were members of the Men-
Tionite Church. This couple had children as fol-
lows : Abraham S. who died at the age of seventy
years, married to Mary Musser; Henry S. who
•died at the age of seven years ; Catherine S., de-
ceased wife of Peter Risser; Fanny S., late wife
of Samuel Meckley; David S. ; Elizabeth S., who
lives at Mt. Joy, Pa. ; and Anna S., who is also un-
married, and lives with her sister Elizabeth. The
grandparents of Mr. Horst were Michael and Ver-
onica (Shelly) Horst, of Lancaster. In the year
1780 Michael Horst built a stone house which ad-
joins the residence property of his grandson, David
S. Horst. The grandfather, who was a farmer, died
in 1829, at the age of seventy-seven years, and his
wife died fifteen years later.
There were three brothers of the family who
came from Switzerland, one settling in Groffs Dale,
Lancaster county, who was the great-great-grand-
father of David S. Horst; one near Lebanon, Pa.,
-and the other in York county. Pa. The maternal
grandparents of Mr. Horst were Christian and
Anna (Engle) Shelley.
In 1850 in Lancaster, David S. Horst married
Miss Mary Hershey, the ceremony being performed
by Rev. Mr. Strine. There have been no children
born to Mr. and Mrs. Horst. Mrs. Horst was born
in Rapho township in November, 1825, daughter
of Jacob and Catherine (Witmer) Hershey, of Lan-
caster county. Her father, who was a farmer, died
in 1841, at the age of fifty years. His wife died in
1863, at the age of seventy-two years, and they are
buried in Cross Roads Meeting House cemetery,
East Donegal township. They were members of
the River Brethren Church. There were born to
this couple the following children : Joseph, de-
ceased; Catherine, deceased wife of John Heisey;
Barbara, deceased wife of David Martin; Eliza-
beth, deceased wife of Benjamin Ritter; Mary, wife
of David S. Horst; Veronica, late wife of Joseph
Gish, of Rapho township ; Susan, wife of Abraham
Young, of Mt. Joy; and Jacob, deceased. Mrs.
Horst's grandfather was Christian Hershey, of Lan-
caster county.
David S. Horst remained with his parents until
his marriage, when he came to his present home.
He worked in the mill part of the time, and part of
the time on the farm. He had when a boy of nine
acquired a knowledge of the watch making trade,
and followed it from that time on whenever he had
the time and occasion; as a child he made wooden
clocks for his own amusement. Mr. and Mrs. Horst
are members of the "River Brethren (Dunkard.)
Church. In politics, Mr. Horst votes the Republi-
can ticket, but he has never been a seeker after office.
He is in affluent circumstances, and prominent in.
the community in which he resides. Although well
along in years his health is excellent, and he is abla
to attend to business as well as a much younger man.
CHARLES H. HINKLE, deceased. There
are men who possess a certain kindliness of heart,
steadiness of purpose, and stanch assertion of prin-
ciple, combined with unassuming manners that at-
tract irresistibly to them as steadfast friends all
right minded individuals. A man of that character
was Charles H. Hinkle, whose life was cut off most
prematurely, when he was but forty years of age,
and when he was entering upon a career of extended
usefulness. In his younger years he was a fireman
on the Pennsylvania Railroad, but he abandoned
that hazardous occupation to accept the position of
messenger and watchman in the Columbia National
Bank, a position which he held for nine years to the
day of his death in 1885. But he was not only a
messenger and watchman. He rose to the position
of director as well. He was also at the time of his
death a director of the Columbia Gas Company, of
which he was for a time secretary and treasurer.
He possessed keen business ability and had already
acquired a competence when overtaken by death.
Charles H. Hinkle was born in West Hempfield
township in 1845, the son of Henry and Sally (Mc-
Gee) Hinkle, representatives of the oldest families
of Lancaster county. His grandfather, Honnes
Hinkle, was born near Lancaster in 1775. His
father, Henry Hinkle, also a native of Lancaster
county removed to May town in 1768, and remained
518
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
there until 1778. He was drafted into the Revolu-
tionary war but ran away with several other drafted
men and took refuge on Mundorff's Island, below
Safe Harbor, where he was captured by a detach-
ment of soldiers and brought to Lancaster. He was
detailed to drive a team in the supply train of the
Continental army, and participated in the battles of
Trenton and Brandywine. He remained in the
army until honorably discharged.
Honnes Hinkle had the following children:
Joseph, who became a farmer of York county;
William, who settled in Donegal township, Lan-
caster county ; John, who moved to Ohio ; Honnes ;
Henry ; Isaac ; Patience, who was married to Joseph
Mays ; Catherine, who married Henry Knights, a
tanner and also for a time proprietor of the "Black
Horse Hotel" in Columbia; Nancy, who married
Jacob Attstatt, and Elizabeth, who married John
Lockard. Honnes was a man of rugged pioneer
type, honest and blunt in manner, and a general
favorite among the early settlers. He married a
Miss Kauffman.
Henry Hinkle, son of Honnes, was born in West
Hempfield township, near Columbia, in 1801. After
the death of his father, which occurred about 1830,
Henry and his brother Isaac took charge' of -the
home farm, and continued joint tenants for more
than thirty years, occupying the same residence and
eating at the same table. Isaac's health failing, the
property by mutual agreement was divided, and Isaac
removed to Columbia, where he died a few years later.
Henry also removed to Columbia in after life, and
there he died Aug. 24, 1875. He had become a
director of the Columbia National Bank, and left an
estate of over $80,000, to be divided among his
children. His wife, whose maiden name was Sally
McGee, also died at Columbia. Their childten_
were as follows: Rebecca, who married Christian
Hershey, and is now deceased; Isaac, a retired
farmer of Wrightsville ; Joseph, who died in ad-
vanced life, a retired farmer; William, who oper-
ated the hotel at Wrightsville, and is now deceased ;
David, proprietor of a hotel at Columbia; Charles
H. ; John, deceased, and Catherine, wife of William
Hardy, a blacksmith at Columbia, for the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad.
Charles H, Hinkle was reared on the farm. In
1867, in Columbia, he married Miss Amelia M. _U1-
mer, daughter of Joseph and Mary Gertrude (Hine-
land) Ulmer. Five children were born to Charles H.
and Amelia Hinkle, namely : James B., of Columbia ;
Lizzie C, wife of Edward Becker, a bookkeeper of
Columbia; Lotta, deceased; Clara, deceased, and
Mary, deceased. Mr. Hinkle, the husband and
father, died in 1885 aged forty years. He was
buried at Columbia. ' His widow, eight years later,
married John Rodkey, of West Hempfield township,
whose sketch appears elsewhere. Charles H. Hinkle
was a member of Chiquesalunga Tribe, Red Men,
and at the time of his death was secretary of the
Columbia Gas Company. He was one of the promi-
nent, progressive business men of Columbia, whose
personal influence and efforts were ever directed tc>
the upbuilding of the city's interests.
MARTIN R. SHEAFFER. One of the pro-
minent and eminently successful farmers of Upper
Leacock township, is Martin R. Sheaffer, who also,
has been extensively engaged in tobacco packing.
The birth of Mr. Sheaffer occurred in Earl town-
ship, July 25, 1843, ^nd he was a son of Philip and
Leah (Rutter) Sheaffer, who were natives of Ear!
and Leacock townships, respectively. The great-
grandfather of Mr. Sheaffer of this record came
from Germany and was one of the pioneers of the
first settlement of Earl township, and bore the name
of Martin Sheaffer, this being a family name. The
paternal grandparents of Mr. Sheaffer of this-
sketch were Martin and Mary (Miller) Sheaffer,
the former of whom was born in 1770 and died at
the age of forty-nine years, in 1821. He was a
successful farmer and well-known and respected cit-
izen of Earl township, and became the father of
seven sons and five daughters. The maternal
grandparents of Mr. Sheaffer were Henry andl
Elizabeth (Royer) Rutter, farming people of Lan-
caster county.
Philip Sheaffer was born in December, 1803,
and died on April 13, 1864, and was buried in the
Groffdale cemetery. In his early life he carried
on a distilling business, but later settled down to
agricultural pursuits. The mother of Mr. Sheaffer
of this sketch was born on Aug. 25, 1815, and is
now an honored member of his household. Mar-
tin R. was the only child of this marriage.
Martin R. Sheaffer, who is the subject of this
biography, attended the district schools during boy-
hood and assisted his father on the homestead farm
until he was twenty years old, then "beginning to
farm on his own account and continuing thus en-
gaged at the same place until 1876. At this date
he retired from farming and moved into the village
of Bareville, where he resided for five years. Then
he returned to the farm for one year, but finally
disposed of it and returned to town life and engaged
in tobacco packing in Bareville, where he has since
remained, one of the most substantial citizens. Mr.
Sheaffer is a Republican in politics, and actively
upholds the principles and candidates of his party..
For the past six years he has been a director in the
New Holland Bank, one of the firmly established
financial institutions of the county.
The first marriage of Mr. Sheaffer was on Nov.
17, 1864, in Mechanicsburg, to Caroline Graybill, and
the children of this marriage were: Graybill, who^
died May 5, 1866; Martin G., who is an attorney
of Lancaster city, married Anna M. Leight, to whom
have been born two children, Dorothy and Martha ;
Cora, who married John W. Eshleman, of Ephrata,
Pa., where he is engaged in the manufacture of
cigars, and whose children number four, Fanny,
Elsther, Caroline and Martin S. ; Caroline, who re-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
519
sides at home; Clayton R., who resides in Phila-
delphia; Blanche E., deceased; and Walter, de-
ceased.
Mrs. Caroline (Graybill) Sheaffer was born in
Earl township on March 6, 1846, and died on May
25, 1886, and her burial was at Groffdale, Pa. She
was a daughter of Levi and Fanny (Kinport) Gray-
bill, natives of Lancaster county, of Swiss ancestry.
The second marriage of Mr. Sheaffer was on
June 18, 1888, in Lancaster, to Lottie A. Myer, and
the children born to this union were: Leah M.,
deceased; Amanda M., who died in infancy; and
Rebecca, who lives at home.
Mrs. Lottie A. (Myer) Sheaffer was born in
Upper Leacock township Jan. 19, i860, daughter
of Samuel R. and Amanda (Evans) Myer, the
former of whom was for many years a prominent
minister in the German Baptist Church. A sister
of Mrs. Sheaffer is the well-known instructor, Miss
Elizabeth Myer, of the Elizabethtown College.
Mr. Sheaffer is a man for whom his neighbors
have the highest respect ; his business ability is firmly
established and his integrity unquestioned. ■ The
family is an old and honorable one in Lancaster
county.
JACOB H. MECKLEY, who unites the
busmess of a lumber merchant and a farmer in
Bainbridge, was born in Conoy township, Oct. 2,
1840, Conoy not having then been set apart from
Donegal township.
Benjamin and Barbara (Haldeman) Meckley,
his parents, were born in Mt. Joy and Rapho town-
ships, respectively, and both died in Conoy town-
ship. The father was a farmer, and operated a saw-
mill from 1849 to 1880. He was a successful man,
occupying a prominent place in the community, and
serving as a school director for several years. For
some ten years prior to his demise he lived retired,
dying in 1892, at the age of seventy-six years.
Mrs. Barbara Meckley died in 1859, at the age of
forty-two years, and both were buried in Good's
Meeting House Cemetery in West Donegal town-
ship. Benjamin Meckley was a member of the
Mennonite Church, and his wife of the United
Brethren. They had the following children: Ja-
cob H. ; Christ H., a cigar maker at Lock Haven,
Pa. ; Anna H., wife of Benjamin Fink, a carpenter
and contractor in Conoy township; Elizabeth,
widow of Andrew' Shank, living in Bainbridge;
Mrs. Barbara Meckley died in 1859, at the age of
Abraham H., of Columbia, Pa., mentioned else-
where; Benjamin H., who died young; Samuel H.,
who was married and died at the age of twenty-two
years ; and Martin H., single and living in Mt. Joy
township.
The paternal grandparents of Jacob H. Meck-
ley were Melchior and Elizabeth (Hoffer) Meck-
ley, both natives of Lancaster county, and life-long
residents of Mt. Joy township, where their lives were
devoted to farming. Mr. Meckley's maternal grand-
parents were Christian and Barbara (Swartz) Hal-
deman, both also natives of Lancaster county, who
passed their lives on a farm in Rapho township.
Mr. Meckley is related to the Meckleys and Hoffers
of Elizabethtown, sketches of whom are found in
another place.
Jacob H. Meckley was married in Conoy town-
ship, Dec. 23, 1877, to Miss Anna Wilhelm, and to
this union were born the following children:
Franklin B., Mary W., EUzabeth W., Benjamin
Harrison and Jacob W. Mrs. Meckley was born in
Maytown, a daughter of Tohn and Elizabeth (Ney)
Wilhelm, of Conoy township, where they both died,
her father, a veteran of the War of the Rebellion, in
1866, and her mother in 1872, at the age of fiftv
years. They were devoted members of the Lutheran
Church, and were laid to rest in the cemetery at
Bainbridge.
Mr. -Meckley spent the first eighteen years of
his life at home with his parents, and then became
an apprentice at the carpenter trade in Manchester,
Pa., where he spent two years. At the end of that
time he came back to his native township, and fol-
lowed his trade until September, 1862, when he en-
listed in a regiment that was being raised by Col.
Dickey, and went to Chambersburg and Green
Castle, but was rejected as not meeting the physical
requirements of the service. Coming home, he fol-
lowed his trade until 1866, when he was put in
charge of the Meckley sawmill, which he carried on
until 1 87 1. From that time until 1888 he had charge
of the Locust Grove steam sawmill in Conoy town-
ship. At the end of this time he moved to Bain-
bridge to start a lumber yard, and at the same time
engaged in farming. Mr. Meckley is a hustling
and energetic man, and has been quite successful in
his various undertakings, accumulating a fair com-
petence and winning a very enviable standing in the
community. For the past sixteen years he has
served as school director, and is a member of the
Church of God. He belongs to the Senior O.
U. A. M. In his politics he is a Republican.
GEORGE M. MAURER. In thriftiness, in-
dustry and all those sterling qualities essential to
permanent success on the farm George M. Maurer
takes prominent rank among the citizens of West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county. He has for
many years engaged in general farming and garden-
ing on the well-improved and well tilled acres which
his father purchased more than forty years ago.
The father, George Maurer, was born June 9,
1817, in Niederlierbach, Hessen-Darmstadt, son of
Frank and Mary (Kline) Maurer. There were
three sons and one daughter, of whom George, the
youngest, was the only one who ever came to Amer-
ica, although all the others have descendants here.
George started to earn his own living when a mere
boy, and in 1830 we find him at Schloss Neuburg,
near Heidelberg, an old castle which had been re-
built, and was then occupied by Johann Friederich
520
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Schlosser, a renowned author and translator. Here
the boy acted as valet to Father Heinrich Lemcke, the
family priest, a man who had been first a soldier,
fighting against Napoleon for five years, then was
ordained as a Protestant minister and finally, in
1S26, was converted to the Catholic faith. In 1833
Bishop Kenrick, of Philadelphia, issued a circular
letter to the Catholic priests of Germany, asking for
help for the German Catholics scattered through
western Pennsylvania. Father Lemcke decided to
be one of the missionaries, and urged George to go
with him, promising to do for him all that a father
could, but friends persuaded the boy to refuse, a
decision he regretted all his life.
After losing this good friend George drifted
from one employment to another among the Ger-
man upper classes, at last becoming gardener to the
Rev. Stapleton, a minister who had a small congre-
gation of English at Heidelberg during the sum-
mers. By this time his parents had died and George
had married Anna M. Melbert. Becoming filled
with democratic ideas and with the hope of earning
better wages, he determined to go to America; in
1852, leaving his family in Germany, he came to this
country and settled at Cordelia Furnace, in West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county. Here he
found employment, and his family joined him the
next year. Almost his first act in America was to
make inquiries for Father Lemcke. Now, the priest's
meeting with Prince De Galliyin in the Alleghanies,
his labors there and later in Arkansas, are matters
of history, but then George Maurer found it im-
possible to get a trace of him, and not until a year
before his death did he hear of his old master. Then,
in a Catholic almanac, he found a sketch of Father
Lemcke's life and the notice of his death in Arkansas,
a vear previously. Meantime, Maurer was prosper-
ing ; in 1 861 he purchased a farm of twelve acres in
West Hempfield township and there began in a
modest way an agricultural career which continued
uninterruptedly until his death, which occurred Oct.
22, 1885, at the age of sixty-eight years. George
Maurer was a tall, strong man, over six feet in
height and of proportionate build ; in all
business papers he was designated as "George
Maurer (big)," to distinguish him from
others of his name, and among the Ger-
man-speaking people about him he was usually
known as "Der grosse Maurer." For his character,
it is sufficient to say that his word was as good as
his bond. His widow survived until 1890, passing
away at the age of sixty-seven years. They were
buried at Columbia, Pa.' Both were devout metn-
bers of the German Catholic Church. Two chil-
dren blessed their union, Barbara, who married John
Geltz, and is now deceased, and George M.
The latter was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger-
many, March 20, 1848, and was brought to America
by his mother in 1853. He was reared in West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county, and has ever
since resided there, remaining with his father until
the latter's death, in 1885. He then took charge of
the little farm, which he has since conducted most
profitably. He married, Nov. 17, 1870, in Columbia,
Miss Mary Michael, who was born in Prussia, Ger-
many, July 22, 1848, daughter of Mathias and Mar-
garet (Michael) Michael. She emigrated to Amer-
ica in 1859 with her parents, who settled in Mt. Joy
township, Lancaster county. • The father enlisted in
a Pennsylvania regiment and served in the army dur-
ing the Civil war. Soon after his honorable dis-
charge he removed to Missouri where he took up a
homestead and remained until his death, which oc-
curred in 1 87 1. He was a member of the Catholic
church. To Mathias and Margaret Michael were
born a family of four children, namely : Peter, who
died in Missouri ; Catherine, wife of John Kline, a
farmer of West Hempfield township ; Mary, wife of
Mr. Maurer ; and Stephen, who resides in Missouri.
To George M. and Mary Maurer have been born
ten children, as follows : George, Step^hen and John,
deceased; Mary, wife of George Sipp, of West
Hempfield township ; Frank, a silk weaver, who
married, Sept. 25, 1902, Mary, daughter of Samuel
Steckler; Joseph, deceased; Elizabeth, Simon and
William, at home; and Charles, deceased. Mr.
Maurer and family are members of the Catholic
Church.
HENRY ZAHM RHOADS, who retired from
the jewelry and art goods business some six years
ago, only to engage more actively than ever in other
pursuits, has an ancestry on both his father's and
mother's side that goes back to the early days of
L700.
The first Rhoads of whom we have any account
was Yohon Ludwig Roth (as the name was spelled
in those davs) , who came to America from Bonfeld,
Alsace, about 1728, and settled near the Trappe, in
Montgomery county. Pa. Philip Roth, a son,^ ac-
companied him. In 1800 John Rhoads, grandfa-
ther of Henry Zahm, began writing the name as
it is now written — Rhoads, instead of Roth. John
Rhoads had three sons, William, Daniel and Jacob.
All three became hatters, although their father was
a tailor, learning their trade with John H. Fox, a
hat manufacturer, who had married their sister.
Daniel and Jacob came to Lancaster in 1831 and
began the hat business. Daniel retiring from the
business in 1852, and Jacob in 1856. After dis-
continuing his trade Jacob Rhoads bought a large
tract of land in the Eighth ward, and proceeded to
develop that section, the commodious home which
he built, and the fine orchard which he planted, be-
ing still in the possession of Henry Z. Rhoads. Jacob
Rhoads was married, in 1838, to Elizabeth, daugh-
ter of Godfried Zahm, a well-known brusbmaker,
prominent in the affairs of Lancaster. Five chil-
dren blessed this union, two of whom are living,
Henry Zahm and Emma, the latter the widow of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
521
the late Henry Deitrich Groff. The Zahms came
to America in 1730, from Herrnhut, Saxony, set-
tling in Montgomery county, Maryland.
Henry Zahm Rhoads was educated in the public
schools of Lancaster, and, after leaving school, was
engaged for a time at daguerreotyping, modern pho-
tography not having been known at that time. After
this he became an apprentice to the jewelry business
■with Zahm & Jackson, and later, to perfect him-
self in watchmaking, served an apprenticeship with
Theodore Wolf. He next went to Virginia, working
as a journeyman jeweler and watchmaker until the
war broke out, when he returned to Lancaster. On
Oct. 12, 1 86 1, Mr. Rhoads began the jewelry busi-
ness on the north side of West King street, in part-
nership with C. J. Gillespie, and nine months later
bought Mr. Gillespie's interest. His next venture
was in 1868, when, in partnership with his brother,
Charles, he bought the old "Lamb Hotel," on the
south side of West King street, and in 1869, "H.
Z. Rhoads & Bro. left the original stand on the
■opposite side of the street and removed to the old
"Lamb Tavern" property, which they had converted
into a modern store, and here Mr. Rhoads erected
the first public clock (besides the courthouse clock)
in the city. The property is now occupied by Metz-
ger & Haughman, drv-goods merchants. After a
time Mr. iQioads built the elegant and substantial
structure, now known as Nos. 4 and 6 West King
street, and there the second public clock was erected,
the third being in Centre Square. Charles God-
fried Rhoads, his brother, became a partner in the
business in 1865, and remained as such until his
•death, in 1882. Henry Z. Rhoads continued the
business until 1896, when he retired, yet he did not
retire from active pursuits, having since become
interested in the business of the Lancaster Silver
Plate Company, in partnership with Albert Rosen-
.stein. He was also one of the promoters of the
Conestoga Fire Insurance Company, of which he
is the present secretary, and which began busi-
ness in August, 1897; although organized as a
-mutual company, it changed to a stock concern,
and has already (1902) written over $2,000,000 of
insurance. Mr. Rhoads has also been considerable
■of a builder, having erected twenty fine dwelling-
houses in the Eighth ward, and owning the ground
for many more. In the summer of 1901 he added
to his building operations by erecting an elegant
home for himself on South Prince street, the house
being fashioned after a Parisian model. While
in the jewelry and art business Mr. Rhoads visited
Europe five times, bringing over such treasures in
jewels and art goods as were never before (nor
since) offered to Lancaster purchasers in the home
market.
Twice the Democrats of the Eighth ward have
elected Mr. Rhoads a member of the board of school
directors, and he proved as industrious and intelli-
gent in the direction of school matters as he did in
his own affairs.
Mr. Rhoads was married, in young manhood, to
Miss Anastasia McConomy, daughter of the late
Peter McConomy, one of Lancaster's most promi-
nent citizens, and who was for twenty-nine years
treasurer of the Lancaster school board. Two chil-
dren were born of this union: Rebecca, who was
the wife of Dr. W. H. Lowell, but who entered into
rest in 1893; and Godfried Zahm, connected with
the Lancaster Silver Plate Company.
SAMUEL MARTIN. One of the very pros-
perous general farmers of Salisbury township, Lan-
caster county, is Samuel Martin, who was born Jan.
29, 1855, on the homestead which is still his resi-
dence. His parents Joseph and Magdelena (Ober-
holtzer) Martin, were born in Salisbury and Cocal-
ico townships, respectively. Joseph Martin engaged
in farming in his native township until 1876, when
he retired from active life, but he retained his home
on the farm until the spring of 1892, when he moved
to Bareville, where he passed the remainder of his
life, dying Sept. 19, 1900, at the age of seventy-six
years; his wife died in 1869, when she was forty
years old. Both parents were devout members of the
Mennonite Church, and the remains of the mother
were interred in Hershey's cemetery, and those of
the father in Groffdale. Their eleven children
were born in the following order : Elizabeth, wife of
John Keaner, a farmer of Strasburg; Magdalena,
deceased wife of Elam Landis ; Anna, widow of
Benjamin Brackbill; Samuel, whose name opens
this biography; Abraham, deceased; one that died
in infancy ; Joseph, Henry, Isaac and David, all de-
ceased ; and another that died in infancy. Susanna,
a step sister of these children, is also deceased.
Samuel Martin has passed his entire life on this
farm, which by inheritance is now his own, and
which comprises loi acres. He has improved the
place in many respects over its former conditions,
and keeps it under a high state of cultivation, being
familiar with all its details and capabilities, and be-
ing himself thoroughly trained to agriculture. His
success, however, is greatly due to his own industry
and good management, and it is doubtful whether or
no there is a farm of its size in the township more
productive, or which presents to the eye of the passer-
by a more pleasing ideal of rustic beauty, or agri-
cultural thrift.
On Nov. 19, 1876, Samuel Martin was united in
marriage with Miss Amanda Landis, at New Hol-
land, Lancaster county, and of whose genealogy
something additional will be said. This union was
blessed with sixteen children, namely: Mary, who
is the wife of Martin Weaver, a farmer in Earl town-
ship, and has three children ; Hettie, deceased ; Liz-
zie, Abraham and Mettie, still at home; Lydia, de-
ceased; Emma, at home; Landis, deceased; Aman-
da, Anna, Samuel, Jr., and Katie, also at home;
Amos, deceased ; Ella, deceased ; and Ada and Jo-
seph, still under the parental roof.
Mrs. Amanda (Landis) Martin was born in Lea-
522
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
cock township, Lancaster county, Sept. 22, 1855, a
daughter of Levi and Mary (Buckwalter) Landis,
the former of whom was a son of Christian and
Mary (Landis) Landis, and the latter a daughter of
Abraham and Esther (Hoover) Buckwalter, both
families being prominent and greatly respected farm-
ing people of Lancaster county, and residing in Eden
and Upper Leacock townships, respectively. Levi
Landis was called from earth IDec. 14, 1897, at the-
age of seventy-one years. In religious belief he was
a Mennonite, and was buried in Hershey's cemetery.
His widow, who was born May 27, 1825, has her
home on the same farm with her son-in-law, Mr.
Martin. To Levi and Mary Landis were born six
children, namely: Elam, a farmer in Earl town-
ship; Hettie A., deceased wife of David Groff;
Amanda, now Mrs. Samuel Martin; Emma, Anna
M. and Lydia, at home.
Samuel Martin is the owner of as fine a farm as
there is in Salisbury township, and his skillful man-
agement keeps it fully up to the standard. He has
ever been industrious and thrifty, upright and pub-
lic-spirited, and ready at all times to contribute his
share toward the promotion of such public works as
may result in the benefit of the neighborhood in
which he lives. He is a member of the Mennonite
Church. In politics he is a Republican, and is uni-
versally honored as a citizen.
SAMUEL L. CARPENTER. Prominently
identified with the development and growth of Lan-
caster county for a number of years, the name of
Carpenter has become associated in the public mind
with uprightness of character, and honest and ener-
getic business methods. The original founder of
this family was Henry Carpenter, who came from
the Canton of Berne, Switzerland, and settled at
Germantown, Pa., as early as 1698. In 1700, he re-
turned to his native land, and there married Salome
Ruffner, of the Canton of Zurich, and in 1706, with
his wife and two small sons, Emanuel and Gabriel,
four and two years of age, respectively, returned to
Germantown. In 1717 he removed to Lancaster
county, settling first in West Lampeter, but subse-
quently in West Earl. His birth occurred in 1675,
and his death between 1743 and 1748. The children
born to the emigrant founder of the family were:
Emanuel, born in 1702; Gabriel, born in 1704; Sa-
lome ; Dr. Henry ; Christian ; Daniel ; Mary ; and Ja-
cob. During the war of the Revolution, Emanuel
Carpenter was a member of the Committee of Safety.
Gabriel Carpenter married Apalina Herman,
who was born in 1702, and died in 1767, and their
children were: Christian, Salome, Jacob, Cath-
erine, Susannah, Daniel, John, Mary and Elizabeth.
Christian Carpenter was born in 1729, and died
in 1800. He married Susan Herr, and their chil-
dren were: Jacob, who became colonel of the 5th
Battalion of the Lancaster county militia, during the
Revolutionary war ; Joel ; Daniel ; Catherine ; Susan ;
John : Christian ; Salome ; and Nancy.
Joel Carpenter, the second son of Chris-
tian and Susan (Herr) Carpenter, was born in
1758. He married Margaret Defenderfer and
reared these children: Ephraim, Miles, Giles,
Aaron, Allen, Charles, Bryan, Elizabeth, Susan, So-
phia, Esther and Catherine.
. Giles Carpenter, the third son of Joel and of the
fifth generation in America, married Jane McClin-
tick, and they had these children: Amanda, borii
Oct. 27, 1832, married Solomon Weaver, but is de-
ceased; Margaret, born June 20, 1834, married
Philip Lash, and they now reside in Michigan;.
James J., born Jan. 18, 1837, is deceased; Martha,,
born Jan. 16, 1839, married Isaac Beard, and resides-
in Illinois; Belinda, born Feb. 3, 1840, married
Amos Sellers, and thev reside in Lancaster county ;.
Alvin, born Aug. 21, 1841, married Ellen Fees, and
they reside in Beavertown ; Arabella, born March 16,
1843, married ..A.dam Good, a resident of Farmers-
ville, but she has passed away ; and Samuel L. is the
subject of this biography.
Samuel L. Carpenter was born Oct. i, 1844, and
very early became accustomed to the duties pertain-
ing to farm life, at the age of eight years being hired
out to a neighboring farmer by the name of John
Oberholtzer. His duties were such as a lad of his-
age could perform, and he was paid $1.50 per month,,
these conditions continuing until he was seventeert
years old, the summers being filled with farm work,,
and the winters with attendance at the district
school. So well did Mr. Carpenter embrace every
opportunity for acquiring an education, that before
he was eighteen he was employed to teach in the pub-
lic schools of West Earl township, continuing until
he entered the Construction Corps of the United
States army, where he remained for six months. As
soon as he had become of age, he enlisted in the 21st
P. V. C, and with the Army of the Potomac bravely
did a soldier's duty; he participated in the cam-
paigns before Richmond and Petersburg, and at the
close of the war received an honorable discharge.
Returning then to his home, Mr. Carpenter again
took up his professional work during the winters,,
following the carpenter trade in the summer time,
but in 1872 he opened up a butchering business and
pursued that until 1876, when he entered into his
present line, that of hides and tallow. Possessing
excellent business ability, Mr. Carpenter has dealt
successfully in live stock for the past twenty years,,
still continuing in this profitable line, with head-
quarters at the "Leopard Hotel," in Lancaster.
On Sept. 5, 1869, Mr. Carpenter was married to
Miss Mary McCloud, a daughter of Reuben and
Susannah (Shirker) McCloud, of West Earl town-
ship, and one child was born of this union, Stella J.,
born March 8, 1871, who married Lemon Shirk, of
West Cocalico township, and has one son, Samuel
Carpenter, the idol of his grandfather, born Dec. 13,
1899.
Mr. Carpenter has never taken any great inter-
est in politics, but was appointed census enumerator.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
528
in 1870, and was re-appointed in 1880, but refused
to- qualify. For a number of years he has been town-
ship auditor and school director, and has always
been interested in all matters pertaining to the ad-
vancement of his section. Although he began life in
indigent circumstances, Mr. Carpenter is not dis-
posed to consider that any disadvantage to an indus-
.trious, ambitious and energetic young man. As one
of the wealthiest men of the township, he is in a posi-
tion to speak with knowledge, and he attributes his
universal success in all his undertakings, to his close
and constant attention to business and the exercise
of good judgment. The township has in many ways
profited by his generosity, and he stands high in its
esteem. Both Mr. Carpenter and wife are con-
sistent members of the New Mennonite Church.
CHRISTIAN B. STOLTZFUS is a descendant
of a family long settled in America, his first ancestor
in this country, Nicholas Stoltzfus, coming in 1766
from his native place, Zweibruecken, Germany, and
settling near Reading, in Berks county. Pa. His
wife had died in Germany, and he brought with him
his four children, one son, Christian (then aged
eighteen years), and three daughters. He took up
his home on a farm near Reading, and devoted his
life to its cultivation.
Christian Stoltzfus first married a woman named
Carver, by whom he had three children, John, Jacob
and Christian, all of whom lived and died in the
neighborhood, and were buried in the Moyer grave-
yard, excepting the mother, whose remains were in-
terred near Reading. Christian Stoltzfus married
for his second wife the widow Lanz, whose maiden
name was King; she had by her first husband two
children, John and Samuel. To her marriage with
Christian Stoltzfus were born: Abraham, David,
Solomon, Catherine, Elizabeth, Anna, Barbara, Es-
ther and Magdalina, all of whom were buried in the
Mill Creek burying-ground. After his second mar-
riage Christian Stoltzfus came into Lancaster coun-
ty, and settled near Rissler's Mill, where he owned
large tracts of land, and was a life-long farmer. He
was one of the first Amish ministers to settle in that
part of the State, becoming one of the bishops of that
church, and lived to attain a great age.
Christian Stoltzfus, noted above, was born in
Berks county, and when but a young lad came with
his parents into Lancaster county, where he lived all
his days. He followed farming, and proved himself
a most industrious and upright man, and was well
known, especially in the Amish Church, of which he
was a zealous and devout member. Mr. Stoltzfus
married Anna Blank, by whom he had a family of
three sons and six daughters, Samuel, Christian,
John, Catherine, Rebecca, Anna, Barbara, Elizabeth
and Susanna.
Samuel Stoltzfus, the father of Christian B.,
whose name introduces this article, was born in
1812. and was a lifelong farmer, locating on a ninety-
acre farm in Earl township, about a half mile north
of New Holland, where he lived for many years.
Later in life he bought another farm of eighty-five
acres, half a mile west of the old place, where he
spent the rest of his life, dying April 25, 1883. He
was a devout member of the Amish Church.
Mr. Stoltzfus married Miss Elizabeth Biler, a
daughter of David Biler, whose home was near
Rauck's Station, in East Lampeter township. She
died in i860, at the age of forty-five years, six
months, twenty-three days. They had the following
children: Benjamin, a retired farmer, whose home
is in Berks county; David, deceased; Anna, de-
ceased, who married David Umble; Jacob, a
farmer in East Earl township; Samuel, deceased;
Christian B. ; Simeon, deceased ; and Susannah and
Rebecca, both unmarried, who make their home with
their brother Christian B., on the farm about a half
mile north of New Holland.
Christian B. Stoltzfus was born Dec. 24, 1843,
and was reared on the farm where he was born, in
■Earl township, receiving his education in the com-
mon schools. For the last thirty years he has been
farming for himself, and now owns one of the fine
farms of the county. It comprises seventy-five acres,
on which he has erected a good farm residence, and
also a commodious frame barn. Many other valu-
able improvements have been effected by him., and
every foot of ground indicates active and intense
farming. Mr. Stoltzfus is a broad-minded and pro-
gressive man, and is ever ready to lend a helping
hand to anything that looks to the public good. He
belongs to the Amish Church.
AARON H. SHANK, a general farmer in West
Donegal township, was born in the township in
which he is living, June 7, 1844, and is a son of Mi-
chael and Catherine (Heisey) Shank, both natives
and lifelong residents of West Donegal township.
The father was a farmer and veterinary surgeon of
high standing. For many years he was school di-
rector. He died Jan. 18, 1870, at the age of seventy-
one years and the mother died in Feb., 1893, at the
age of ninety-one years. Their remains are resting
in a private burying ground on their old homestead.
They were members of the Mennonite Church, and
had the following children: Susan, who died in
infancy; Mary and Henry, deceased; Catherine^
who died single, at the age of sixty years ; Elizabeth,
deceased, who married Martin Winters; Anna, the
wife of David H. Meyers, a farmer in West Donegal
township; Jonathan, who died young; Rachel, who
died unmarried, at the age of fifty-six years ; Jacob,
a farmer in West Donegal township ; Aaron H.,
whose name appears above ; Samuel, who died at the
age of thirty years, and John, who died young.
Jacob Shank, the paternal grandfather of Aaron
H., spent his life in Lancaster county. Henry and
Susan (Berk) Heisey, the parents of Mrs. Catherine
Shank, were natives of Lancaster county.
Aaron Shank and Mary A. Barnhart were mar-
ried Aug. II, 1867, in Elizabethtown, and became
524
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the parents of the following children : Samuel, who
lives in Florin, Pa., married Sadie Shires, and is the
father of three children, Lizzie (deceased), Mary
and Ruth. Katie is the widow of Abraham G.
Nisslev, and makes her home with her parents,
■bringing back with her two children, Paul (now
dead) and Clarence ; Irvin and Phares, both at home.
Mrs. Mary A. Shank was born in West Donegal
township, and is a daughter of Samuel and Eliza--
iDeth ( Eshleman) Barnhart, both born in West Don-
egal township. Her father, who was born Oct. 27,
1 82 1, retired from farming shortly after the death of
Tiis wife, who died April 13, 1890, and was buried in
Mt. Tunnel cemetery. They were both members of
the Mennonite Church, and had the following chil-
dren : Lizzie, who died in infancy ; Mrs. Maty A.
Shank ; Lovina, who married Cyrus Schroll, a resi-
dent of East Donegal township ; Uriah, deceased,
and Louisa, who married William Geibe, and lives
in Dauphin county, where he is engaged in farming.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Shank were
John and Susan (Sherbone) Barnhart, both natives
of Lancaster county. Her maternal grandparents
were Michael and Polly (Hess) Eshleman, of Lan-
caster county.
Aaron H. Shank remained at home until he
reached the age of twenty-one years, when he bought
a farm in Mt. Joy township. On that place he made
his home until 1896, when he came to his present
location. His hard working habits and strict integ-
rity, togethei with his genial disposition and kindly
nature have won him the respect and confidence of
the public to a marked degree. For two years he
served as supervisor, and his judgment on public
affairs is regarded as worthy of close attention. Mr.
and Mrs. Shank are members of the Mennonite
Church ; in politics, he is a Republican.
WILLIAM H. WENTZ, one of the leading and
representative citizens of Martic township, was born
there March 16, 1844, son of William G. and Han-
nah (Penny) Wentz, of Lancaster county.
William G. Wentz, the father, was born in 1812,
and died in 1871. He was a son of Joseph Wentz,
•of German origin, who had these children: John,
Isaac, William, David, Thomas, Joseph, Matilda,
Sarah, Susan and Maria, all deceased except
Thomas and Maria. William G. Wentz married
Bannah M. Penny, in 1836, and they had a family
of six children, three of whom grew to maturity,
mamely: Mary M., the widow of Elias Aument, of
Greene, Pa.; Isaac J., of Harrisburg; William, of
this sketch. William G. Wentz was one of the lead-
ing citizens of his township and very acceptably
filled a number of the local offices.
William H. Wentz of this sketch was reared to
farming life, and attended the public schools. He
lias always taken a great interest in agricultural mat-
ters and is justly regarded as one of the best farmers
•of this locality. In politics he is a sound Repub-
lican. In 1900 he was made census enumerator, ful-
filling his duties to the satisfaction of all concerned.
For eighteen years he has served as school director,
holding the office of secretary the whole time, and
has been interested in all legislation looking to the
advancement of education.
On Sept. 12, 1872, Mr. Wentz was married to
Miss Louisa A. Yost, born in 185 1, daughter of
Charles K. Yost and sister of Dr. John F. Yost, of
Bethesda, Pa. (An extended mention of the Yost
family will be found in another part of this volume).
To this marriage were born three children, namely :
Walter G., who died in childhood; Charles Elvin,
born Oct. 14, 1876, residing in Martic township, un-
married, and Leila E., at home.
Mr. Wentz and family belong to the Methodist
Church in Bethesda, in which he is both trustee and
steward. Fraternally he is connected with the
Knights of Pythias at Rawlinsville, and the Knights
of the Mystic Chain, at Mt. Nebo. He is known
in his neighborhood for his integrity and upright-
ness of character, and his personal qualities make
him esteemed as a neighbor, friend, husband and
father.
PHILIP LEBZELTER. Among the promi-
nent men of Lancaster who have materially assisted
in its growth as an industrial center is Philip Leb-
zelter, proprietor of the Eagle Wheel & Bending
Works of that city, and who, although he has
reached the age of seventy-three years, is still quite
capable of taking active interest in the business
which he founded in 1856.
Mr. Lebzelter was born March 9, 1829, in Neu-
lautern, Wurtemberg, Germany, son of John and
Catherine (Roeser) Lebzelter, both of whom werQ
natives of Germany, where their whole lives were
spent. John Lebzelter was a man of prominence in
his native community, and for twenty-four years
was the burgomaster of the village. By trade he
was a woodturner. His death occurred in 1864,
at the age of eighty-four years, and that of his wife
in 1854, at the age of fifty-eight years. Both were
members of the Lutheran Church. Of their seven-
teen children we have record of the following : Han-
nah, who is the widow of Jacob Woerner, a farmer
living near Tremont, 111. ; Christian, who died in
Germany; Elizabeth, deceased, Mrs. Kline; Wil-
helm, deceased, who was a skilled wood worker, and
had a family of fourteen children; J. Philip, whose
name opens this sketch; Philopena, who married
Albert Hoch, deceased, a prominent man in his na-
tive town in Germany; and Catherine, who married
John Shlippf, a farmer in Germany.
Philip Lebzelter served an apprenticeship with
his father and thoroughly learned the business of
woodturning. On June 22, 1S49, with his brother,
Wilhelm, he left Antwerp, and after a voyage of
thirty-eight days landed in New York. They went
to relatives in Pennsylvania, but not finding work
there nor in the German settlement in Lehigh and
Berks counties, Philip walked to Reading, Pa.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
525
There he found employment on the Muhlenburg
farm, at $4 per month, but his faithful services were
recognized, and he was paid at the rate of $5 a
month. Going from there to Reamstown, he was
employed by John Killiam in his woodturning shop
for a short time. In the meantime his brother Will-
iam had been successful in the same line of work in
Allegheny, Pa., and had written Philip to join him,
which he did, working in the same shop where An-
drew Carnegie was once the assistant engineer.
This shop was owned by John Hay, and when he
died it was bought by William Lebzelter, the price
being $1,400. The business prospered during his
life, and after William's death his widow attempted
to carry it on, but owing to other duties she could
not give it necessary attention, and to relieve her
Philip Lebzelter bought it. He soon found that his
business interests in Lancaster would suffer, and
he was obliged to dispose of it.
Mr. Lebzelter came to Lancaster, and first se-
cured work in the woodturning shop of Bowers &
Eshleman, where he continued for one and one-
half years, and in 1854 began his present business,
purchasing a lot on South Queen street, opposite
the "Columbia Garden Hotel," and erecting a small
shop. Prosperity smiled on him, and a year later
he leased of James Potts the present site of the busi-
ness house of Philip Lebzelter & Son. When
his leased expired, at the end of three years, an-
other firm secured the site, and Mr. Lebzelter re-
turned to his South Queen street factory. In 1862
he purchased the present site, and has been there
ever since. His business was started with limited
means, and in a modest way, but its founder was
a skilled worker as well as an excellent business
man, and with each year of its existence, under his
judicious management, it expanded, until now it is
one of the leading industrial plants of the city.
From a shop force of two men, in 1865, Mr. Leb-
zelter gradually required more help, even with the
introduction of much labor-saving machinery, and
now thirtyeight men are employed, and the out-
put of manufactured goods includes second-growth
hickory bent rims, shafts, poles, spokes, wheels,
bows, reaches, banded hubs, a specialty being made
of fine-grade wheels. The plant is located at No.
241 North Queen street, Lancaster. It is worthy
of note that the first labor-saving machinery used
was of the founder's own invention. The strict busi-
ness methods and upright manner of dealing with
the public that have marked this business from the
beginning, and have contributed to its rapid growth
and development, are continued under the active
management of William F. Lebzelter, the most
efficient and capable son of Philip Lebzelter, who
since 1901 has been the manager of the works.
On April 2, 1854, in Lancaster, Mr. Lebzelter
married Elizabeth Heleine, who was born in Lan-
caster in 1834, daughter of Philip and Mary
Heleine, both of whom were natives of Alsace,
France. Mr. Heleine was a stocking weaver by
trade, and carried on that business in Lancas-
ter, and when he retired from activity he moved
to Reading, where his last years were spent.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lebzelter were :
Katie, Frank and Emma all died young. William,
born Nov. 11, 1866, is now the manager of his fa-
ther's large plant; in 1890 he married, in Little
Falls, N. J., Miss Emma V. Hoff, by whom he has
two children, Florence B. and Marian K. Charles,
born Jan. 12, 1869, was killed while coasting in
Reading, Pa., and buried on his twelfth birthday.
In politics Mr. Lebzelter is a stanch member of
the Republican party, but with the exception of six
years of service in the city council he has never ac-
cepted oifice, although his peculiar fitness for posi-
tions of trust and responsibility has long been recog-
nized. Many very flattering offers have been made
him, to induce him to connect himself with various
financial institutions, but he has confined himself
in a general way to his industrial plant and to real-
estate transactions. He is a large property owner
in various parts of the city of Lancaster, among
his valuable holdings being the "Bridgeport Hotel,"
in East End Park, the "Schiller Hotel," in Lancas-
ter, and the "American House," the latter being re-
garded as one of the two leading hotels in the city,
a miost desirable and remunerative property.
From childhood Mr. Lebzelter has been a mem-
ber of the Lutheran Church, and he is a liberal
supporter of all its charitable and benevolent enter-
prises. He is well and favorably known in the city.
His English education was obtained by attending
night sdiool, Hon. J. B. Livingston, then a young
lawyer and now president judge, being his teacher.
A thorough business man, an excellent financier,
scrupulously honest at all times, ambitious and en-
ergetic all his life, Mr. Lebzelter has accumulated
large means through his own industry, and while
so doing has won and retained the esteem of his
fellow-citizens.
JAMES W. FITLER, a well-known conductor
on the Pennsylvania railroad, now residing in Co-
lumbia, was born in Marietta, Lancaster Co., Pa.,
April 27, 1843, ^rid is a son of John K. and Rosina
M. (Trainer) Fitler, the former a native of Fitler's
Green (now NefTsville) , and the latter of Columbia,
both in -Lancaster county. The family name was
originally Fidler, but was changed by a school-
teacher, named Rankin, two generations back. The
grandfather of James W., Leonard Fidler, founded
Fidler 's Green in 1807, a village in which he built
two hotels.
John K. Fitler was a carpenter, was a brewer for
Scheide in Marietta and for thirty years was a boat-
man ; he was a man of mark in Marietta, where he
served as chief burgess and councilman and filled
various other offices. There his wife expired June
17, 1876, when fifty-six years old and there his own
demise took place, June 19, 1890, at the age of
eighty; their remains were interred in St, Mary's
626
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
cemetery at Columbia. To the marriage of these
parents were born the following named children:
William, who died in infancy; James W. ; Anna,
who also died in infancy; Mary J., who is married
to J. H. Hagemer, a contractor in Marietta; John
H., also living in retirement in the same town ; Ed-
ward P., a molder, in York ; Frank B., a printer, in
Philadelphia ; Susan and Thomas, deceased.
Leonard Fidler, father of John K. Fitler, born on
the old homestead of 360 acres in Rapho township,
Lancaster county, was a butcher and carpenter. He
married Barbara Kaufman, to which union were
born : Nancy, who was married to John Kaufman ;
Elizabeth, who died tmmarried ; Martha, married to
Amos Kapp, and John K. The father of this family
died in 1857 at the age of seventy-eight years and the
mother in 1859, aged seventy-seven.
Leonard Fidler, the father of the Leonard men-
tioned above, was a native of Womelsdorf , Berks
county, settled in Lancaster county, and followed
farming until the end of life.
The maternal grandparents of James W. Fitler,
Patrick and Rosina (Trainer) Trainer, were re-
spectively born in County Tyrone and County Done-
gal, Ireland, came to America when children and
were married in Wilmington, Del. Patrick Trainer
was a contractor, and died in 1818, aged thirty-two
years ; his wife died in 1857, when sixty-six years
old. Their children were named Susan, who was
married to Peter Baker ; Margaret, of Marietta, Pa. ;
Rosina M. ; Ann, of Philadelphia, and Edward, de-
ceased.
James W. Fitler began canal-boating at Mari-
etta when but twelve years old and followed the call-
ing until 1869 ; he next clerked for the Philadelphia
and Erie Railroad Company three years ; was next
a brakeman for three months, then a flagman for
nine months, and in 1872 came to Columbia ; here he
worked as a brakeman two weeks, as a flagman
eighteen months, and was then promoted to his pres-
ent position of conductor.
November 20, 1873, Mr. Fitler married Miss
Mary A. Peoples, at Lancaster, and to this union
have been born six children, viz : Marguerite, Rose
M., James (killed by the electric cars in 1893), Mary
R., Bernardine and Isabella. Mrs. Mary A. (Peo-
ples) Fitler was born in County Donegal, Ireland,
March 22, 1848, and is a daughter of James and Ce-
celia (Kennedy) Peoples, who came to America in
1848 and settled in Lancaster, Pa. James Peoples
was a blacksmith and horseshoer, rose to prominence
in I,ancaster, was for many years a member of the
select council, and died Dec. 9, 1880, at the age of
sixty-five years ; his wife died April 19, 1866, when
but thirty-nine years old, the remains of both being
interred in St. Mary's (Catholic) cemetery in Lan-
caster. To James and Cecelia Peoples were born the
following children : Mary A. (Mrs. Fitler) ; Mar-
garet C, deceased; James F., a machinist at Alle-
gheny City, Pa. ; Hugh, deceased ; John H., a prin-
ter in Reading, Pa. ; William, a plumber of Newark,
N. J., deceased ; Stephan, a farmer and blacksmith
in Chester county. Pa. ; Charles, who died in Denver,
Colo., in 1894, and Katie, who died young. The pa-
ternal grandfather of this family was a native of
Scotland, whence he migrated to Ireland.
James W. Fitler is a sincere Catholic and a lib-
eral contributor to the support of his church ; in pol-
itics he is a sound Democrat.
JACOB S. MUMMA. Prominently identified
with the growth and development of the industrial
and farming interests of East Donegal township,
which has been his home all his life, is Jacob S.
Mumma, one of the most substantial citizens of this
locality.
Mr. ]\Iumma was born on his present farm,
March 14, 1846, a son of Jonas and Catherine
(Sherk) Mumma, the former a native of East Don-
egal, and the latter of Chestnut Hill, West Hemp-
field township, but both died on the farm now oc-
cupied by Jacob S. The father lived to the age of
eighty-two, dying May 2, 1882, and the mother
reached the same age, her death occurring Feb. 2,
1892, and both parents were buried in the Kraybill
cemetery, in this township. They were most worthy
members of the Mennonite Church, and had a family
of three children : Jacob S. ; Jonas, who married
Ellen R. Nissley, died at the age of twenty-eight;
and Catherine died young.
The paternal great-grandfather was Frederick
Mumma, who was born in Switzerland and was a
pioneer in Lancaster county. The grandfather was
Jacob Mumma, who married Anna Kraybill, both
of whom died on this farm, which has been in the
possession of the family so many years. The mater-
nal grandfather was Christian Sherk, which name
was originally written, Sherrick.
Jacob S. Mumma has resided on this fine farm
all his life, and every association of youth is con-
nected in some way with these broad acres. Gen-
eral farming and some stockraising has been suc-
cessfully pursued, and since 1890, a very profitable
dairy business has also been operated here. This
estate comprises 207 acres of some of the most fer-
tile land in Lancaster county. Although an intelli-
gent and progressive agriculturist finds a sufficient
amount of labor connected with farming on an ex-
tensive scale, the drudgery and isolation which was,
in times past, a necessary part of the life of a hus-
bandman, have been changed, as the country has de-
veloped and machinery has been made to save time
and labor, and now there is no more ideal life than
that of the prosperous farmer. Mr. Mumma has
taken advantage of modern methods and his farm is
a very valuable, well-cultivated and desirable piece
of property.
Jacob S. Mumma was married in Elizabethtown,
Oct. 21, 1866, to Rebecca Nissley, and the children
born of this union were : Anna, who married Harry
S. Rich, cashier of the First National Bank, of Mari-
etta, Pa., and died Oct. 24, 1901 ; Christian, who con-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
527
ducts a meat business in Mt. Joy; Katharine, who
married George U. Best, of Lancaster; Minerva,
who is a nurse in the University Hospital, in Phila-
delphia; Jacob N., a steam fitter, in Philadelphia;
Elizabeth, at home ; Helen, who died in infancy ; John
M. and Harry J., at home.
Rebecca (Nissley) Mumma was born in Mount
Joy township Nov. 30,. 1848, daughter of Hon. Jacob
and Elizabeth (Kraybill) Nissley, the former of
whom died in Mount Joy township March 8, 1861,
at the age of fifty-four. Until 1846, he lived the life
of a farmer, but at that time was elected to the Legis-
lature, and during the remainder of his life was
occupied in the settling of estates, etc. The mother
of Mrs. Mumma died in 1893, at the age of eighty-
one, and was laid away in the Kraybill cemetery.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Nissley were :
Jacob K., a retired farmer of Florin, Pa. ; Martha,
who married Elias Eby, a retired farmer of East
Donegal township ; Barbara, who married Jonas
Hostetter, of Florin, Pa. ; Catherine, who married
Michael H. Engle, a merchant of Elizabethtown ;
Elizabeth, who married David Rutt, a retired farmer
of Sterling, 111. ; Anna E., who married Jacob E.
Good, of West Donegal township ; Rebecca ; and
Simon K., who conducts a restaurant in Lancaster.
For the past ten years, Mr. Mumma has testi-
fied to his interest in the public schools, by acting as
school director, and he has been very earnest in the
discharge of his duties. Socially he is connected
with the Masonic order, being a member of the Blue
Lodge, and in politics, he is an active Republican.
Mrs. Mumma is highly valued in the Mennonite
Church, where she has long been recognized as a con-
sistent member. The family is one of the leading
ones in the township, and enjoys the esteem of all in
this locality.
BENJAMIN K. DENLINGER. The Denlinger
homestead is a well-known farm in East Lampeter
township, and its present owner and occupant, Ben-
jamin K. Denlinger, is a worthy representative of an
honorable family, which for many years has given
to Lancaster county some of its best citizens.
Benjamin K. Denlinger was born on this farm,
located but three miles east of the flourishing city of
Lancaster, Jan. 20, 1846, a son of Benjamin and An-
nie (Kreider) Denlinger. Grandfather Abraham
Denlinger inherited, by title, from his father, sev-
enty-two acres of the fertile soil of East Lampeter
township, and the title has since been handed down
by will. The birth of Abraham Denlinger reaches
back to July 21, 1785, his life covering the interven-
ing years until March 6, 1836. He married Annie
Landis, and their children were: (i) Martin, bom
on April 30, 18 T2, who married Barbara Johns, and
died Feb. 5, 1879, the father of three children; a
daughter who married Rev. John Landis, a minister
of the Mennonite Church ; Abraham, who died April
25, 1850, aged sixteen years, three months and
twenty-seven days; and Martin, Jr., who married
Anna Grofl', and died at the age of thirty-nine
years, ten months and one day, leaving his widow
with ten children, the youngest six weeks old. These
children were : Emma, who married Samuel Herr ;
Barbara, who married John Denlinger; Lizzie, un-
married; Anna, wife of John Zimmerman; Elam,
who married a Miss Burkholder; David, a teacher
for a number of years; Martin; Salinda, wife of
Jason Ranck ; Abraham, a teacher ; and Ida, wife of
Reuben Buchwaiter. One child, Mary, who died
aged seven years, nine months and twenty-six days,
preceded the father to the grave. (2) Benjamin,
born Aug. 6, 1814, died Aug. 27, 1888. (3) Mary,
born Nov. 26, 1808, became the wife of John Kreider,
and died June 14, 1863. (4) Barbara, born Feb.
4, 1824, became the wife of Daniel Kreider, and
died Sept. 8, 1844, aged nineteen years, seven months
and three days. (5) Elizabeth, a twin sister to Mary,
married Tobias Leaman, and died at the age of
seventy-seven years, four months and twenty-six
days.
The homestead was the abiding place of Ben-
jamin Denlinger and wife, all their lives, and here
they reared a large family of children, teaching them
good principles and giving them wise. Christian
counsel, and surrounding them with pious influences.
These children were : Martin and John, both of
• whom are mutes ; Abraham, who first married Annie
Buchwaiter, a daughter of Rev. David Buchwaiter,
and second, Hettie Landis, a daughter of Benjamin
Landis; Annie, deceased, married David L. Buch-
waiter, a son of Deacon Michael Buchwaiter; Ben-
jamin K., of this sketch; Tobias K., who married
Martha Brubaker, a daughter of Deacon John Bru-
baker; Daniel K., who married Hettie Hershey, a
daughter of Jacob S. Hershey ; Esther K., who mar-
ried John Musser ; Mary K. and Elizabeth K., twins,
the former of whom is the widow of Henry E. Metz-
ler, a son of Abram Metzler, and the latter, the wife
of Christian M. Brackbill, a minister in the Mennon-
ite Church ; Barbara K., who married John H. Mel-
linger, a son of Jacob Mellinger ; Lydia K., a mute,
who married 6aniel Rohrer, also a mute ; Catherine
K., a mute, who married Henry Kulp, also a mute.
Benjamin K. Denlinger received but few educa-
tional advantages. His entire life has been devoted
to farming, in which he has taken much enjoyment,
and under his ownership the old homestead improves
every year. The location of this farm is most de-
sirable, the old Philadelphia pike road running
through the land. Until 1893 the family resided in
the old house, but in that year, Mr. Denlinger erected
his present most comfortable brick residence, and one
year later completed the barn and other buildings
needed in the management of a large estate. Not
only is Mr. Denlinger a superior farmer, but he is
also a floriculturist, and has built two commodious
greenhouses, 21x60 and 23x100 feet, fitted with all
conveniences, where he gives much time and atten-
tion to flowers of all kinds, succeeding well in their
culture.
528
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
In 1868 Mr. Denlinger was united in marriage to
Maria Wenger, a daughter of Joseph Wenger, the
death of the latter occurring when his daughter was
but fifteen years of age. Five years later, Mrs. Den-
linger was bereft of her mother, also. To Mr. and
Mrs. Denlinger were born: Annie; Benjamin W.,
who married Lydia Lefever, a daughter of Daniel
Lefever, and operates his father's farm; Mary W.,
who died at the age of four years, six months and
twenty-four days; Abraham W., who married Ber-
tha Mary Leaman, a daughter of Amos Leaman;
John W., who was always an invalid, and who died
at the age of seventeen years, six months and
twenty-four davs ; Harry W. ; Martin W. ; Joseph
W.; and Katie 'W.
Mr. and Mrs. Denlinger are leading members
of the Old Mennonite Church, in which faith they
have carefully reared their family. Mr. Denlinger
has been a generous contributor, and when the Mel-
linger Church was built was an active member of
the building committee. His interest in its progress
and extension of influence is great, and he has the
cha.rge of the grounds and cemetery. The family
is one which enjoys the respect of the community,
and all are known as most estimable, upright peopie.
I
MISS PAULINE LAMPARTER, daughter of
the late Everhardt Lamparter, and sister of Mrs.
Eugene Bauer (both of whom are fully mentioned
elsewhere), makes her home with her brother,
Everhardt, the well known glue manufacturer of
Rockland street. Miss Lamparter, though keeping
house for her brother, is the owner of a very fine
home in the Third ward of Lancaster. She was edu-
cated in the schools of Paradise township and Lan-
caster city, and is a lady of more than ordinary in-
telligence and of most kindly nature. She is a
member of Trinity Lutheran Church, and is never
so happy as when she is brightening the lives of
those less fortunate than herself.
JOHN H. WEAVER. The family of Mr.
Weaver, who is widely known and universally es-
teemed as one of the most successful farmers in
East Lampeter township, has achieved no little dis-
tinction in both church and secular affairs. For
three generations its members have borne the repu-
tation of skillful agriculturists, good citizens and
devout members of the Reformed Mennonite
Church, to whose ministry they have contributed
two preachers of note.
John H. Weaver is a grandson of John, who
was the father of three sons and one daughter, all
deceased. The daughter, Nancy, married Conrad
Sitzman. The sons were named John, David and
Henry. John and Henry belonged to the clergy of
the Reformed Mennonite denomination. Henry,
the father of John H. Weaver, was a farmer, as
had been his father. He was noted for his earnest
Christian character, his piety having that vitality
which actuated and controlled all his dealings with
his fellow men. He married Anna Howry, who
bore him four children. He passed away in Sep-
tember, 1898, and sleeps in the quiet grave yard
which lies near the old Longenecker meeting
house. John H. was the eldest child; the others
were Henry, Anna and Levi, the last named a Men-
nonite minister, who married Ella Fraley, and lives
in Strasburg township.
John H. Weaver was born Oct. i, 1842. He in-
herits from his ancestors a love for the soil and
from them has also descended to him an earnest
faith, which is attested by his work. His life has
been the quiet, uneventful one of a prosperous
farmer, void of any ambition other than to per-
form well each duty of life as it presented itself to
his mind and hand. His marriage to Frances,
daughter of Martin Weaver, which occurred in
1872, has been blessed b}' the birth of three chil-
dren, Elmer, Charles and Cora.
Elmer Weaver, the eldest son, is one of the
most extensive and successful horticulturists in
Lancaster county. His greenhouses with the con-
tiguous land, where are situated the other appurte-
nances of his plant, cover 33,508 square feet, and
the amount of glass used in covering them exceeds
37,000 square feet. His chief markets are Phila-
delphia and Pittsburg, to both of which points he
is a large shipper. His specialty is carnations, al-
though he also sends to market large quantities of
violets, mignonette, smilax, asters and sweet peas.
On May 3, 1899, he was married to Miss Alice
Kohr, a daughter of Jacob Kohr, of Manheim town-
ship. In that same year he built, from plans con-
ceived and drawn by himself, a handsome residence,
replete with all the conveniences known to city
homes, and there he now lives.
SAMUEL NISSLY. Prominently identified
with the financial interests of Lancaster county is
Samuel Nissly, president of the Lincoln National
Bank, at Lincoln, Pa., and also a director and stock-
holder in the Lancaster Bank, and the Lititz Na-
tional Bank, at I^ititz, Pa. For more than sixty years
he has been before the public and stands as a worthy
example of uprightness of life and careful and con-
scientious work.
Samuel Nissly comes of Swiss stock, the first
emigrant of the name coming to the State of Vir-
ginia about 1720, and from there came Grandfather
Martin Nissly, who located in Lancaster county.
Martin Nissly was born in 1759, and died in 1842,
leaving two children: Henry and Catherine.
Henry Nissly married Catherine Martin about
1805, and reared a family of nine children: Peter,
Martin, Henry, Samuel, John, Isaac, Elizabeth,
Catherine and Annie, the three daughters living on
the old home place in Clay township, while the
brothers all, except Samuel, have passed away.
Samuel Nissly was born May 29, 1815, and like
many another who has come to the front in other
walks of life, he was reared on a farm, although his
SAMUEL NISSLY
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF, LAN'CASTER tOUNTY
529^
iinclinatioins did not miduce him to select an aigricul-
tural life as a pipofession. At <tihe age of eighiteen he
"went to Lititz to learn ■ the trade of cabinetmaker,
relurning three years later to Clay township, where
for a few years :he pursued this avocation. Being of
a malliematical trarn of mdaid, he then took up sur-
veying and conveyancing, under instructions from
his uncle, Peter Martin, and followed that line for
some sixty years.
In 1850 Mt, Nissly was elected to the office of
justice of the ipeace, and so efficiently has he served
that he has been retained continuously ever since,
bis present term not expiring until 1905, a most un-
usual term of service. In 1844 he was one of the or-
ganizers of the Northern Mutual Life Insurance Co.,
and for the iollowing fifty-six years served it in the
capacities of director, secretary, treasurer and presi-
dent, lately resigning the last named position. Mr.
Nissly was also interested in other financial organi-
sations, and is at present president of the Lincoln
National Bajik, an office he has held since its organi-
zation in 1884. He was one of the organizers of the
Ephrata National Bank, and is also a director and
stockholder in both the Lancaster Bank and the
Lititz National Bank. Mr. Nissly possesses consid-
erable valuable property in this locality, four fine
farms and other real estate, and he resides somewhat
retired at his home in Clay township, three-quarters
of a mile from Lincoln, Pa., just across the line in
Clay township from Ephrata township.
In politics Samuel Nissly is an ardent Republi-
can, and cast his first vote for William Henry Har-
rison in 1840. Known far and wide for his honesty
and his adherence to his convictions of right, no
citizen of Lancaster county stands higher in the
esteem of the public.
PHARES S. MOORE. Eminently fitted by in-
herited talent and by a liberal education for impor-
tant business responsibilities, Phares S. Moore, pro-
prietor of the Keystone rolling rhill in West Hemp-
field township, is one of the best known citizens of
the western part of Lancaster county. He was born
on the farm which he now owns and occupies
Nov. 19, 1862, son of Michael H. and Barbara
(Stoner) Moore.
Michael H. Moore, a prominent business man of
Lancaster county for many years, was born at Junc-
tion, Lancaster county, in 1818 ; he removed in 1854
to the farm in West Hempfield township, now occu-
pied by his son. In 1862 he removed to Rohrers-
town, and there operated an iron rolling mill for
four years. Returning to his West Hempfield town-
ship residence, he there remained until 1897, when
he removed to Lancaster. Though now well ad-
vanced in life he still attends to his own extensive
business correspondence. Since 1894 he has been
president of the Chestnut Hill turnpike. He was
one of the organizers of the First National Bank of
Lancaster, of which he is now a director. He is a
stockholder in the Conestoga Traction Co., and has
34
other iaige financial interests. In politics he is a Re-
publican, and in religious faith a member of the old
Menmonite church. He was the oldest son of Mi-
chael and Elizabeth (Hertzler) Moore^ pioneer far-
mers of Penn township, whose six children were-
Michael H. ; John, engaged in the milling business^
in Rapho township ; George, who died on the oldi
farm ; Martin, who also died on the old farm ; Eliza-
beth, of Florin, widow of C. J. Heaston.;. and Har--
riet, of Philadelphia. Michael H. Moore marriedl
Barbara Stoner, daughter of Joseph H. and Bar-
bara (Sprankle) Stoner, farmers of York county,.
Pa. To Michael H. and Barbara Moore werebornt
three children ; Ella S., wife of Dr. Jacob F. Trex-
ler, of Huntington ; Phares S. ; and Alice B.
Phares S. Moore was reared on the farm which,
he now occupies, and he has resided there continu-
ously except while a student at school. He attendedl
the district schools from the age of seven years until
he was seventeen. Then for two years he was a stu-
dent at York Collegiate Institute, York,. Pk. His
education was completed by a term at the Eastman
Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y, His busi-
ness career began with a clerkship in the First Na-
tional Bank of Lancaster, where he remained three
years, and there laid the foundation for a thorough
and practical business career. Returning home he
took charge of his father's milling business in West
Hempfield township, continuing in that capacity un^
til Nov. I, 1898, when he purchased the property
and has since successfully conducted the same. The
mill on this site was first built by Christian Hertzler
in 181 1, and has been in the Moore possession for
more than forty years. It is operated by water from
the Big Chickies creek, and is of forty horse power
capacity.
Mr . Moore married, in Penn township, in
March, 1895, Miss Emma S. Gross. She is a native
of Penn township, and a daughter of Levy S. and
Elizabeth (Espenshay) Gross, farmers of Penn
township. To Phares S. and Emma S. Moore have
been born three children, Michael G., Serena G. and
Levi G. In politics Mr. Moore is a Republican.
MOSES SNAVELY, a retired miller, who is
passing the last years of an industrious and highly
useful life in an honorable retirement in Intercourse,
Lancaster county, was born in that village Feb. 18,
1842, son of Joseph and Martha (Hershey) Suavely.
Joseph Suavely was born in Lebanon county, and
the mother in Leacock township, Lancaster county.
The father was a farmer all his life, but spent his
last fifteen years in retirement. They were married
in 1825, and lived for a time in Clay township, but
presently removed to their farm in Leacock town-
ship, where the greater part of their mature lives
was spent. He was born in 1801, and died Aug. i,
1871 ; she was born in 1804, and died July 14, 1857.
They were both members of the Mennonite Church,
and their remains are resting in the cemetery con-
nected with the Hershey Church.
530
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Joseph and Martha Snavely were the parents of
the following family: Elizabeth, who liyes in In-
tercourse, unmarried; John, who died in 1900, un-
married ; Joseph, living retired in Wayne county,
Ohio, who married first a Miss Martin, and second,
a Miss Tigert ; Martha, deceased wife of Solomon
Warner ; Samuel, who married Anna Rudy, and is
dead.; Henry, a retired farmer in Earl township, who
has had two wives, Elizabeth Hershey and Fanny
Martin; Anna, married to Israel Eberly, a retired
farmer of Stevens, Pa. ; Benjamin, who is unmarried
and living with his sister at Intercourse ; Moses ; Ja-
cob, who married Malinda Rutter, and lives in
Wayne county, Ohio ; Lydia, who died young ; and
Amos, a farmer in Wayne county, Ohio, who mar-
ried a Martin.
The paternal grandparents of Moses Snavely
were John and Elizabeth (Long) Snavely, who
spent their married lives in Lebanon county. His
father came from Germany. The maternal grand-
parents of Mr. Stiavely were John and Anna
(Hurst) Hershey, both of Dauphin county, Pa. His
father was born in Lancaster county.
Moses Snavely was married in Leacock town-
ship to Miss Susanna Clark, and there were born to
this union the following family: Hettie A., late
wife of Phares Eby ; Jesse Miller, who married Ida
Lantz, and lives in Paradise township, where they
have a family of three children, Elmer, Ralph and
Jesse ; Magdalena and Elizabeth, both of whom died
.young; Susie, at home. Mrs. Susanna (Clark)
•Snaively, born in Salisbury township. May 2, 1846, is
■aV, daughter of Jesse and Plettie (Shirk) Clark, of
.Lancaster county. Her father was a farmer, but
lived retired during the ten years prior to his death,
which occurred in 1893, at the age of eighty-one
years. His widow survived until 1896, when she
.died at the age of eighty-one years. They were
buried in Ashland county, Ohio, having removed to
that section in. 1869. Both were members of the
Mennonite Church. They were the parents of the
following family : Fanny, wife of Amos Esben-
shade of Lancaster county, who moved to Ashland
county, Ohio, in 1866, and who had eighteen chil-
dren; Martin,- who married' Jemima Hess, and is a
life insurance agent in Ashland county, Ohio:
Peter, a farmer in Salisbury township, who married
Anna Brackbill; Susanna, the wife of Moses
Snavely ; Jesse, who died young ; John, who married
in Ashland county, Ohio, and is a retired farmer ;
Catherine A., who died young.
Moses Snavely remained with his parents ujitil
he reached the age of twenty-foijr, when he began
farming in Leacock township. Ten years later he
purchased a mill in Paradise township, which he
carried on for eighteen years, and then retired to a
pleasant home in Intercourse, leaving the mill in the
hands of his son, who has become a very popular
miller. Mr. Snavely and his wife belong, to the
Mennonite Church, and he is a Republican. For
the last three years he has been a director of the Co-
nestoga National Bank at Lancaster. His business
talents have long been recognized, and he is highly
esteemed by all who know him.
HENRY F. HOSTETTER, a resident of Man-
heim township, belongs to one of the old and hon-
ored families of Lancaster county, and was born
on the farm where he is now residing, Nov. 28, 1841,
a son of Christian and Catherine (Franck) Hos-
tetter. His father was born in Donegal township
in 1805, and was there reared. A year after his
marriage he purchased the farm on which his son,
Henry F., is now residing. It comprises ninety-
seven acres, and as long as the parents lived it was
their home. It was about 1827 that the elder Hos-
tetter bought it, and greatly improved it. In 1.852
he erecte4 the farm home, and there he lived until
his death in 1879. The son of Christian Hostetter,
he was a man .of much character and force, and with
his wife belonged to the Old Mennonite Church.
Catherine (Franck) Hostetter was born Sept.
2, 1807, and died in December, 1886. She was the
daughter of Deacon John and Maria (Bowman)
Franck. Christian and Catherine Hostetter had a
family of ten children: Maria, late wife of Jacob
Oberholtzer: Michael, a resident of Manheim bor-
ough, a retired farmer; John, a carpenter in Lan-
caster ; Christian, a retired farmer of Donegal town-
ship; Catherine, the widow of Isaac L. Stoner, of
Penn township; Henry F. ; Benjamin, who died at
the age of seventeen years ; Anna, the wife of Jo-
seph G. Gachenhauer, of East Hempfield township ;
David F., a farmer in Manheim township ; one who
died in infancy.
Henry F. Hostetter was born and reared on the
old liomestead, where he still resides, midway be-
tween Neffsville and Petersburg. Educated in the
public schools, at the age of twenty-four he began
operating the homestead, which he carried on for
eleven years, when he moved to a farm belonging
to Abraham Huber, near Lancaster, where he spent
two years. On the death of his father he returned
to the homestead to care for his mother during her
declining years, and on her death he purchased fifty-
seven acres of the family estate, and has made that
hig home till the present time. His entire attention
is given to the tilling of his soil, and his name is
classed with those of the most successful agricul-
turists of the section.
Mr. Hostetter was married Oct. 24, 1865, to
Miss Anna B., a daughter of John and Fannie
(Buckwalter) Huber, and born in Leacock town-
ship, May 9, 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Hostetter are
the parents of two children: Fannie, who died
April 15, 1897, in her thirty-first year; and Katie,
who is the wife of Willis S. Kilheffer, of Lancaster.
They have two children, Annie and Abraham.
Mr. and Mrs. Hostetter are members of the Old
Mennonite Church, of which he is a trustee. The
family all stand high in the esteem and confidence
of the community. ._^„ ■ .>
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
531
ABRAHAM BACHMAN, one of the pro-
gressive and public-spirited men of Lancaster coun-
ty, belongs to one of the solid, respected and sub-
stantial families who for many years have taken
part in the affairs of this part of the great Common-
wealth of Penns}lvania.
Abraham Bachman was born Aug. 13, 1843, ^
son of John and Anna (Herr) Bachman, in Pequea
township, where he was reared and educated. His
father was a competent cabinet-maker, and owned
an establishment, and while but a lad Abraham took
an interest in this trade and began working in wood
also, later learning the trade of carpenter under the
supervision of his brother, Benjamin H. Bachman.
For many years he followed journey work, begin-
ning contracting on his own account in 1875, since
which time he has been busily engaged and is con-
sidered one of the most satisfactory • workmen in
his line in Lancaster county. Many of the best
built residences and barns in this locality are the
work of his skilled hands.
Abraham Bachman married Catherine Houser,
a daughter of John Houser, of West Lampeter
township, and five children have been born to this
union: Jacob F., who is a farmer of West Lam-
peter township: Henry H., a mechanic in the em-
ploy of William Wohlsen, in his sash and door
works, in Lancaster; A. Morris, a blacksmith of
West Lampeter township; John W., a cabinet-
maker and carpenter, associated with his father in
business; and Lydia Ann, the wife of Moses R.
Landis, of East Lampeter township.
The father and sons are all Republicans, and are
among the best citizens of the township, well repre-
senting the business interests of that part of Lan-
caster county.
GEORGE M. DELP, one of the representative
men of Manheim township, was born in Lower Lea-
cock township, I-ancaster county, Oct. 3, 1843, ^"d
is a son of John and Anna (Meixell) Delp.
John Delp was born in Montgomery county,
Pa., and when a young man came to Lancaster
county, where he met and married Miss Anna Meix-
ell, who was a native of Lancaster county, and a
daughter of John Meixell, of Leacock township.
After their marriage, the young couple spent several
years in Montgomery county. Pa., and about 1840
returned to Lancaster county. Here John Delp
died, about 1856, when he was fifty-five years of
age. In his politics he was an ardent Abolitionist,
and was the son of parents who were members of
the New Mennonite Church. His widow with her
two youngest sons went West to make her home near
Sterling, 111. She passed away at the age of
seventy-eight years, having been the mother of
twelve children : Jacob, who resides in Kansas, and
is a veteran of the War of the Rebellion ; Catherine,
who married Henry Roland, of Manheim township,
and is dead ; Elizabeth, late wife of Henry Butt, of
Lancaster; Mary, the widow of Henry Faltz, of
Lancaster county ; Michael, a veteran of the war of
the Rebellion and now a farmer in Kansas ; John,
who lives in Whiteside county. 111. ; Francis, who
served in the Union army, and is a resident of Lan-
caster ; George M. ; David, who served in the Union
army, and is a farmer and stock raiser in Wyoming ;
Samuel, who died at the age of two years; Samuel
(2), a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, and now a
farmer in Whiteside county ; Isaac, a mechanic and
a stone mason in Kansas.
George M.- Delp was reared to a farm life, and
was compelled by the death of his father to care for
himself at the early age of thirteen years. For sev-
eral years he found employment among the neigh-
boring farmers, working by the month until he was
about eighteen years old. He attended school dur-
ing the winter's season, and worked during the sum-
mer. It was a hard struggle but it fitted him for the
activities of life before him, and was a large factor
in his success.
Mr. Delp enlisted in Co. E, 79th P. V. I.,
Sept. 20, 1861, when he was less than eighteen
years, and was mustered out March 4, 1865.
Among the battles in which he bore a gallant part
were those at Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga,
and at White Point, where he was taken prisoner;
he was immured at Richmond, Danville and Ander-
sonville, where he was confined eleven months, and
then taken from there to Florence, S. C, and to
Goldsborough, N. C, where he was rescued by the
Union troops. On the first day at Chickamauga he
was slightly wounded, but he has never recovered
from the effects of his prison life. After he was
mustered out, Mr. Delp returned home and for two
or three years was engaged in the butcher business
at Neffsville. After this for some two years he
worked out by the month.
When Mr. Delp married, he settled on a farm,
and for some two years lived on a rented place.
Later he purchased a farm of twelve acres about a
mile southwest of Neffsville, and this has been his
home to the present time. His acreage has been in-
creased by subsequent purchases of twelve acres in
one tract and sixteen in another, and he proved him-
self a hard-working and successful farmer. He
built the home in which he lives and the farm build-
ings have all been newly built by him. By his indus-
try and thrift he has accumulated considerable prop-
erty, and is well regarded by his fellow townsmen,
who have elected him supervisor of Manheim town-
ship.
Mr. Delp was married in 1868 to Miss Maria
Shriner, a daughter of Jacob and Sarah Shriner, of
Manheim township. To them came a family
of seven children, all of whom are living: Ida, the
wife of Benjamin Hertler, of Mechanicsville, Lan-
caster county ; John, at home ; Ulysses, who married
Ellen Huber and resides in Warwick township ;
Sadie, the wife of Meno Hess, of Manheim town-
ship ; Laura, Ellen and Mahlon, at home.
Mrs. Delp died in April, 1889. Mr. Delp belongs
582
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
to the Old Mennonite Church, is a man of much
character, and stands well in the community where
he has passed so many industrious and useful years.
HENRY M. MAYER, a resident of Rohrers-
town who needs no introduction to the citizens of
his section of Lancaster county, was born March
23, 1844, in Manheim township, on the farm now
owned by the John Keller estate, near the city of
Lancaster. He comes of old Pennsylvania stock,
being of the sixth generation in descent from John
Mayer, who came hither from Switzerland in the
seventeenth century, and settled in Manheim town-
ship, taking up a large estate purchased from the
Penns.
Martin R. Mayer, father of Henry M., was born
in April, 1798, in Manheim township, near Lan-
caster City. He was the owner of some 540 acres,
including the Keller farm before mentioned. For
over thirty years he served in the ministry of the
Old Mennonite Church.
Henry M. Mayer was reared in his native town-
ship, and received the greater part of his educa-
tion in its common schools. He attended the Lititz
Academy for two years, i860 and 1861. Taking
up the vocation to which he had been trained from
boyhood, he worked on the farms of his father and
brother until his marriage. In the spring of 1868
he commenced farming on his own account; in East
Hempfield township, where he resided for seven-
teen years, successfully engaged in agricultural pur-
suits, and acquiring a high reputation as one of the
most intelligent, up-to-date farmers of that region.
Diligence in the improvement of the land, the crops,
the manner of cultivation, in everything, in fact,
pertaining to the proper and profitable conduct of
a farm, was rewarded with the most encouraging
results. But Mr. Mayer in this, as in all other
work he has undertaken, merely followed the nat-
ural bent of his character for thoroughness, perse-
verance and painstaking industry, and his place was
as nearly a model farm as unceasing labor and judi-
ciously expended means could make it. In 1885
he moved to Rohrerstown, in East Hempfield town-
ship, in order to give more attention to his survey-
ing and conveyancing interests, which were becom-
ing extensive, and there he has ever since resided,
prominently identified with the town and its affairs.
Mr. Mayer is holding important trusts in settling up
and managing large estates, and he has by his
fidelity and sterling integrity in the conduct of such
business won the hearty respect of all with whom
he has been associated. Mr. Mayer was the first
vice-president of a national bank ever elected in
Lancaster county and was one of the officers of the
Fulton National Bank of Lancaster when it was first
organized.
In In 1880 he was elected a trustee of the State
Normal School at Millersville, which position he still
holds, and since 1883 he has been chairman of the
Committee of Instruction and Discipline of that in-
stitution. The affairs of his town have also received
his attention, his services as member of the board of
school directors in East Hempfield township cov-
ering the period from 1872 to 1884, during eleven
years of which he was the efficient secretary of the
board. All in all, Mr. Mayer has led a life alike of
value to the community and creditable to himself,
for although he had the advantage of worthy an-
cestry to give him standing in the world, he has
lived fully up to the standard, and the universal
esteem which he enjoys is the best evidence of what
he has acccomplished on his own merits alone. In
1878 he joined the Church of God at Rohrerstown,
and the same year was elected one of the elders of
the church, still serving in that capacity.
In November, 1867, Mr. Mayer was united in
marriage with Frances M. Hershey, eldest daugh-
ter of J. Hoffman and Barbara Hershey, of West
Hempfield township. Two daughters blessed this
union, Dora E. and Mamie B., of whom Mamie
died in her eighth year. Dora is the wife of Harry
E. Hershey, treasurer of the Steinman Hardware
Company, to whom she was married in February,
1900.
JOHN WITMER HESS, M. D. (deceased).
Few physicians of Lancaster ever left behind them a
more lasting memory than Dr. John Witmer Hess,
who passed out of life Nov. 13, 1895, after a pro-
fessional career marked with unusual success and
followed with a faithfulness which precluded active
interest in every other line of endeavor. Dr. Hess
was, first, last and all the time, the physician, care-
ful, patient, watchful and skillful.
The Doctor was born March 7, 1840, in Eden
township, Lancaster county, and although only fifty-
five years of life were granted him he accomplished
more in alleviating pain and advancing his beloved
science than have many whose life span extended
much farther. He was a son of Daniel and Barbara
(Witmer) Hess, the former of whom was a farmer
and also a hotel-keeper for many years on the Co-
lumbia pike, four miles west of Lancaster. The fol-
lowing children were born to Daniel Hess and his
wife : Dr. John W. ; Martin, a soldier during the
Civil war, who has retired to the Soldiers' Home;
Witmer J., a farmer at Mountville, Pa. ; Edward, a
farmer in Kansas; Catherine and Emma, deceased;
Elizabeth, widow of John S. Hoover, of Mountville ;
Alice, who married George Trout, a farmer of
Landisville; Ellen, who married Harry Detrich, of
Manor township ; and Zena, deceased, who married
Alfred Coble, of South Bend, Ind. The Hess family
is of Swiss extraction and more extended mention
of its members will be found elsewhere.
Dr. Hess received the educational advantages af-
forded by the district schools, and later graduated
from the Millersville Normal School, where he was
regarded as an unusually bright and ambitious stu-
dent. Soon after he entered upon his medical read-
ing, with Dr. Alexander Cassidy, of Millersville,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
533
and then entered Jefferson Medical College, in Phil-
adelphia, graduating from that institution in 1864,
and immediately commencing practice with Dr. Cas-
iidy, his old preceptor. Dr. Hess married, and then
.started upon his own career, remaining in Millers-
ville until November, 1876, when he removed to
Lancaster. Almost immediately he entered upon a
large and engrossing practice, and, as stated, so
faithfully did he attend to its demands that he re-
fused all political or other office, although he sympa-
thized strongly with the Republican party. He
passed away in November, 1895, and was buried in
Woodward Hill cemetery. In 1873 he joined Lodge
No. 43, F. & A. M. ; and' he also belonged to Chapter
No. 43 R. A. M. ; Council No. 19 ; Commandery No.
13, K. T. ; The Lodge of Perfection ; and the Knights
-of Pythias.
In 1864 Dr. Hess was united in marriage to Miss
Sarah A. Baer, born in Hempfield township, daugh-
ter of Martin H. and Mary (Baer) Baer, the former
■of whom was a farmer. Mr. Baer died in 1837, at
the age of thirty-five years, a member of the Men-
iionite Church, and was buried in the Mennonite
cemetery in Millersville. Mrs. Baer married (sec-
ond) Jacob Bausman, more extended mention of
whom will be found elsewhere. Mrs. Hess is kind
and liberal, and with other members of the family
recalls Dr. Hess and his work with pardonable pride,
justly considering him one of the representative men
■of Lancaster. Her pleasant home is in the city,
where she is surrounded by many attached friends.
She belongs to the Reformed Church. Her family
also has long been a prominent one in Lancaster
•county.
EDWIN M. GILBERT, a leading member of
the Lancaster County Bar, is a descendant of John
and Florence Gilbert, who came to the American
.chores frOra Cornwall, England (where they be-
longed to an old and honored family), in company
■with William Penn in 1682. They settled in By-
Tjerry, on a land grant from the Penns, this ancient
•estate being still in the hands of their descendants.
These early Gilberts were farmers by occupation,
and Quakers in religion. The family came to Lan-
caster countv in the early part of the nineteenth
•century and 'settled near Bird-in-Hand. When the
'Gilbert family removed from Bucks county they
settled at Gilberton, in Carbon county, to which
they gave their family name, and after living there
six months 'they were captured in 1781 by the In-
<lians and taken to Canada, where they were kept
in captivity a number of years. There the elder
■Gilbert died, and his body was buried along the
Niagara river. This was E. M. Gilbert's great-
^reat-grandfather, and his grandfather, John, who
was a farmer, was born in captivity.
Joseph H. Gilbert, father of Edwin M., died in
1893, in Eden township, where he was a farmer and
liad a tannery. Hannah H. Whitson, his wife, was
the daughter of Micah Whitson, of a noted Quaker
family. This union was blessed with seven chil-
dren, five of whom are living : Mary W., the wife
of A. Walton, a farmer of Bart township ; Amos, in
the creamery business at Quarryville ; Edwin M., of
Lancaster; Hugh W., the postmaster at Quarryville,
where he has a livery business; and Joseph H., a
laundryman in Chester county.
Edwin M. Gilbert was born in Eden township,
on the old homestead, March 9, 1862, and had his
education in the district school, and in the Union
Academy at Colerain, under Prof. Andrews, com-
pleting it in the State Normal School at Westches-
ter. Young Gilbert then came to Lancaster to be-
come a student in the law office of J. W. Johnson.
For three years he studied law, and for a time taught
school, pursuing his legal preparation during the
interim of the school sessions, and was admitted to
practice Oct. 14, 1885. Two years later, according
to the rules of the courts, he was admitted to prac-
tice in the Supreme and Superior courts, in both
of which he has since been a constant worker. Mr.
Gilbert is an ardent Republican, and was honored
with the position of solicitor for the prison inspec-
tors of Lancaster county, and has served as, and is
now, city solicitor of Lancaster.
On Jan. 2, 1887, Mr. Gilbert was married to
Miss Carrie V. Yonkers, whose ancestors were the
founders of the now fam.ous Yonkers, N. Y. This
union was blessed with one child, Rodney Yonkers,
who is now a student of Yeates Institute. With the
exception of the Young Republican Club, Edwin M.
Gilbert belongs to no organization save the Society
of Friends of Bart Meeting, Bart township, devoting
his entire time to the practice of the law, in which
he has been very successful.
JOHN G. WESTAFER, editor and proprietor
of the Elizabethtown Chronicle, and one of the lead-
ing and most influential citizens of Elizabethtown,
Pa., was born in Middletown, Dauphin Co., Pa., on
April 8, 1850. His parents were George and Mary
(Zimmerman) Westafer, of York and Dauphin
counties respectively; the father was a man of
prominence, being both constable and tax collector
of Middletown for a period of twenty-five years.
He passed out of life in 1863, at the age of seventy-
three years, and the mother survived until 1885,
dying at the age of seventy-eight years ; their burial
was in the cemetery at Elizabethtown. They were
consistent members of the Church of God.
John G. Westafer was the only child of his par-
ents, and was educated in the public schools of Mid-
dletown. Between the ages of fifteen and nineteen
he was under the tutorship of J. W. Stofer, in the
printing business, on the Middletown Journal. In
November, 1869, he came to Elizabethtown, and on
Dec. 6 established the Elizabethtown Chronicle,
this excellent journal being now in its thirty-fourth
volume. It began its existence as a six-column
folio, which has been enlarged into an eight-column
folio, and it has a, very large circulation among a
534
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
most intelligent class of readers. Mr. Westafer
wields a ready and facile pen, keeps thoroughly
abreast of the times, and gives his patrons a first-
class, instructive and newsy journal, taking care to
make it a paper suitable for all ages, and a proper
fireside companion. His efforts have been success-
ful, and the influence he wields in the Republican
party ranks is a very important political factor. Mr.
Westafer has a complete job printing department
connected with his office.
Mr. Westafer has held a number of positions
of responsibility. For nine years, despite the ca.res
of a growing business, he has been the very efficient
president of the board of health, and has shown his
interest in the schools by serving as director for
three years. For twenty-eight years he has been a
valued rnember of the I. O. O. F., and no one in his
vicinity doubts his adherence to the principles of the
Republican party.
In September, 1872, in Elizabethtown, . Mr.
Westafer was united in marriage with Miss Esther
Weaver, who was born March 9, 1848, a daughter
of Daniel and Magdalena (Minnich) Weaver, of
West Donegal township, where the former was en-
gaged as a carpenter and also in farming. The two
children born to this union are : Jenny L., wife of
Ambrose Raffcnsberger, who is the telephone pole
inspector at Elizabethtown; and George W., who
married Birdie Angstadt, and has three children.
Vera, Ruth and John G. Since April i, 1902,
George W. has been engaged as a partner with his
father in the printing business, under the firm name-
of John G. Westafer & Son, and he is also irj the
green-house business. The family are connected
with the Lutheran Church, and are prominent in
the social life of their town.
LUKINS PENROSE, of Liberty Square, Pa.,
was born in Drumore township, on the farm which
he now owns, Sept. 6, 1845, ^ son of Ben-
jamin and Hannah (Lukins) Penrose, the former
a native of Bucks county and the latter of Mont-
gomery county.
Benjamin Penrose was born in 1803 and was a
son of Israel Penrose, who married Susan Folk,
both being natives of Bucks county. The children
born to Benjamin and Susan Penrose were: Jane,
who died unmarried ; Elizabeth, deceased, who mar-
ried William Ambler, of Martic township; Edith,
deceased, who married James Martin, of Union
county, Ohio ; Benjamin, the father of Lukins ; and
Joseph, who married Margaret Lukins.
Grandfather Israel Penrose came to Drumore
township with his family in 1828 and purchased the
farm and the mill property which is now known in
this locality as Hess' Mills, and lived there until his
death, in 1857. Benjamin Penrose, the son of
Israel and the father of Lukins, was married about
1835, to Hannah Lukins, and the eight children
born to this union were : Edith, the widow of Isaac
Shoemaker, of Drumore township ; Everard, a resi-
dent of California; Israel A., a retired farmer of
Fairfield, Pa.; Lijkins; Apnie Elizabeth, who died
unmarried ; Sarah S. Rutter, who is living in Dru-
more. T'he others passed away in infancy. Benja-
min Penrose died in 1881.
Lukins Penrose was , reared on the pleasant old
farm and learned his father's trade in the mill, but
in 1865 he began farming operations, cpntinuiijg
through these years to carry on agricultural work,
and his fine farm of 180 acres, which he inherited
from his father, is well improved and very valuable.
Lukins Penrose was married on Dec. 17, 1873,
to Miss Rachel Ankrim, of Drumore township, who
passed out of life on Dec. 17, 1883, leaving a vacant
place which has never been filled. In every way she
was a good woman, a kind friend, and was devoted
to her home and family. The children born to this
union were: Benjamin E., born Nov. 9, 1874, un-
married, and living in Union county, Ohio ; Hannah
Elizabeth, who was born July 11, 1879, ^^'^ '^ now
her father's yery capable housekeeper; Alice May,
born April 2, i88i,'who resides with her uncle,
Israel Penrose, at Fairfield; and Joseph, born June
5, 1883, who died on April 23, 1901.
In his religious belief Lukiqs Penrose is a Qua-
ker. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Penrose
enjoys the esteem of the community, is an excellent
farmer, an accommodating neighbor, a kind and in-
dulgent father, and a man y^bP represents in every
way a high type of citizenship.
GEORGE W. BAIR, a resident of Earl town-
ship, was born in Leacock township, near Ellsworth,
a son of Joel Bair and a grandson of Joel Bair.
Joel Bair, the grandfather, was a farmer in Lea-
cock township, and was classed among the larger
land owners of the day. He married a Miss Wolf,
by whom he had the following family : George,
who died in Upper Leacock township ; Joel, the fa-
ther of George W. ; Daniel, who died in Ohio';
Henry, a resident of Chester county ; Jacob, who
died in Chester county ; Hetty, who married D.
Musselman, and removed to Adams county; Cath-
erine, the widow of Llenry Kurtz, of Cocalico
township : Christina, married to Jacob Hershey,
both deceased; Caroline, who married Daniel Eby,
both now deceased.
Joel Bair, the father of George W., was born
and reared in Leacock township, where he began as
a farmer, making that the occupation of his life.
About 1862 he moved into Earl township, where he
bought a farfn of 126 acres, on which he erected
good buildings, and there he lived until his death.
This home is now owned bv two of his sons. In
course of time he became one of the better known
and substantial citizens of the county, and had
more than a local reputation as a farmer and stock
raiser. He and his wife, Leah Bushong, were
members of the Reformed Church. She was a
daughter of John Bushong, and was born in East
Lampeter township. Her death occurred in 1884,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
5B5
at the age of sixty-six years. Mr. Bair dieid in 1890,
at the age of eighty years. To theffl were bom
seven children: Eve Anna, the wife of Diller
Rauck, of Chester county ; Israel, a resident of New
Holland ; John B., a resident of Leacock township ;
Amanda, the wife of Elam Kling, a resident of Earl
township; George W. ; Amos O., who died when
two years old; Jason D., a merchant in Leacock
township.
George W. Bair was born July 6, 1853, was
reared on the farm and had his education in the
public schools. When he was twenty-five he began
farming on his own account in Uppef Leacock
township, in which occupation he was engaged for
one year, when he returned to EaH township, and
in 1884 located on the farm where he still resides.
This farm contains sixty acres, and is cultivated so
that it ranks among the very best in the county.
He owns a second farm of thirty-two acres, adjoin-
ing his home place, and both are well improved.
Mr. Bair is an enterprising and public-spiHtfed man,
and takes a deep interest in anything that looks to
the public good. He has filled the office of super-
visor and has been a member of the County Repub-
lican Committee. For the last six years he has
dealt largely in phosphates.
Mr. Bair was married Nov. 19^ 1878, to Miss
Laura J. Bushong, daughter of Benjamin and Mary
(Zook) Bushong, who was born in Uppef Leacock
township in 1857. To this union have come four
children: Elva Mary, who died at the age of ten
months : Ira Garfield, born Oct. 8, i88t ; Mabel
Leah, who died when two and a half years old ;
Edna I., born Jan. 20, 1887.
Mr. and Mrs. Bair are members of the Reformed
Church, in which he is an elder. He is president
of the Consistory, and superintendent of the Sab-
bath-school connected with the local church. Mrs.
Bair is a teacher in the Sunday-school, the son is
librarian, and the daughter is organist. Mr. Bair
united with the church when he was seventeen years
of age, and when he was twenty was made a deacon.
Since 1894 he has been an elder of the church,
which he has represented at the Classis.
WALTER S. BUNTING, a prominent and re-
spected farmer of Colerain township, Lancaster
county, was born in the home where he is now liv-
ing, and is a son of Robert and Margaret (Morgan)
Bunting, natives of Colerain and Pequea townships,
respectively.
The mother was a daughter of William Mor-
gan ; the father was the son of Walter Bunting, who
came from Ireland and established the present
homestead in 1782. Here in 1791 he erected a
stone barn which remained in a good state of pre-
servation until Aug. 23, 1902, when it was burned.
The stone house on the property was built in 1817,
and it is one of the good and solid structures of the
present time. Here Walter Bunting and his wife
died, leaving four children: Elizabeth Bunting,
who rriatried a Mr. Smith, and moved to Ohio ; Mar-
garet Bunting, who married a Mr. McCoy, and also
moved into Ohio; William Bunting, who lived and
died in Chester county; Robert Bunting, the father
of Walter S., who settled with his wife on the Bunt-
ing homestead, Nyhere he lived and died. During
his active years Walter Bunting added many solid
improvements to the farm, and brought it into a
high stdte of fertility. He died in 1880, and his
widow two years later.' They were among the foun-
ders of the Presbyterian Church in Colerain town-
ship, and were devoted members of that body. In
politics he was a Democrat, and at various times was
elected to local positions in Colerain township.
Robert Buhting and his wife had seven children.
( I ) Nancy Bunting married A. J. Miller, and lives
in Philadelphia, where he holds a position with the
Pennsylva.hia Railroad, with his office at, Broad
street station. They have six children : John ; Mar-
garet B., the wife of Joseph P. Rea, of Philadelphia ;
Mary; Louisa; Emma; and Francis. (2) William
lives in Philadelphia. (3) Ella was educated at the
Union High School, is unmarried,, and makes her
home in Philadelphia. (4) Robert died when a
young man. (5) Walter S. (6) Mary Bunting
died when a young woman. (7) Thomas Bunting
died in childhood.
Walter S. Bunting was educated in the Union
High School, and remained on the home farm until
his marriage, in February, 1877, when Mary L., the
daughter of James and Margaret (Mclntyre) Lind-
sey, becatile his wife. James Lindsey was bom in
Lower Oxford township, Chester county. Marga-
ret Mclntyre was born near Oxford. ' After their
marriage tliey settled on the John Lindsey home-
stead in Chester county. John Lindsey, the grand-
father of Mts. Bunting, came from the North of Ire-
land in 1782, to make his home in Chester county,
where he lived and died on a farm, leaving five chil-
dren, James, John , Jackson, Mary and Hannah.
The homestead fell to James Lindsey, and there Mrs.
Bunting was born. She was educated at the home
schools, and the Oxford Seminary.
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bunting settled on a farm
adjoining their present location, where they lived
seven years. In 1885 they moved to the old Bunt-
ing homestead, where he has lived to the present
time. He is a man of standing in the community.
On his present farm he has made many very sub-
stantial improvements, has put hot and cold water
and steam heat into the building, and has greatly im-
proved the place. He is the father of four children :
(r) Robert J., secured his education in the Union
High School, and taught school for two years in
Colerain township. In 1899 he secured a lucrative po-
sition at the Broad Street depot of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, Philadelphia. (2) Mary E. attended the
Union High School, from which she graduated, and
the West Chester State Normal, where she was grad-
uated in the class of 1901, and is now one of the
teachers in the Colerain Union School. (3) Walter
536
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
S. and (4) Albert M. were twins ; Albert died when
two and a half yeirs old ; Walter S. is now a student
at the Union High School.
Mrs. Walter S. Bunting belongs to the Presby-
terian Church, with which her husband is also con-
nected. In politics he has always .been a Democrat,
and for seven years was school director.
The Buntings are an old and prominent family
in Colerain township. The- old stock were all Pres-
byterians, and were widely known all over the
county as prosperous and successful farmers, and
worthily wears an honored name.
HENRY B. NISSLEY, now a retired farmer
at Florin, Pa., is somewhat advanced in life, and
has put behind him useful and industrious years as
his contribution to the welfare of his native com-
munity.
Mr. Nissley was born March 28, 1846, the son
of Christ E. and Fanny (Breneman) Nissley, both
of whom were born in Rapho township. For fifteen
years prior to his death the father was a retired
farmer. A man of some prominence in the commun-
ity, he filled the position of school director for
eighteen years and was a shrewd and thrifty farmer,
of good habits and high character. In 1891 he
passed away at the age of seventy years, and his
widow in 1894, at the age of sixty-four years. They
were both members of the Mennonite Church, and
were buried at Landisville. To them were born:
Henry B. ; Samuel, a farmer in West Hempfield
township ; Jonas, a farmer in West Hempfield :
Anna, who married John Stehman, of Lancaster
county; Catherine, who married Daniel Forney;
Fanny, who married Amos Shelly, a farmer in the
township of Mt, Joy; David, deceased; Ellen, liv-
ing in Lancaster, Pa. ; Emma, who married Witmer
Rohrer, a foreman in the silk mill at Lancaster.
The parents of Christ E. Nissley were Samuel
and Emma (Eby) Nissley, who were honest and
industrious farming people near Petersburg, where
they both died on their farm. The maternal grand-
father of Henry B. Nissley was Henry Breneman,
of Lancaster county.
Henry B. Nissley was twice married. Nov. 30,
1869, in Lancaster, Pa., he was married to Rebecca
B. Brubaker, by whom he became the father of
these children: Alice, who died at the age of
twenty-three, years ; Isaac B., a farmer in Salunga,
Pa. ; Frances B. and Enos B. are at home ; Minnie ;
Paris; Walter B., a farmer in this county; Ira B.,
deceased. Mrs. Rebecca B. Nissley was born in
Rapho township, and died Oct. 11, 1888. She was
buried in Graybill's cemetery in East Donegal town-
ship, and was a daughter of Isaac and .Rebecca
(Hershey) Brubaker, both of whom died on their
homestead in Rapho township.
Mr. Nissley and Mrs. Kate (Hofifer) Risser
were married May 18, 1890, in Lancaster, Pa. Mrs.
Nissley is the daughter of Jacob and Mary (Herst)
Hoffer, of Dauphin and Lancaster counties, re-
spectively. Her father died in 1881, at the age of
sixty-four, and her mother in 1877, at the age of
sixty years. They were both buried in the cemetery
connected with the Green Tree meeting house in
Mt. Joy township. They were members of the Ger-
man Baptist Church, and were good, honest people,
of industrious habits and fine character.
Jacob HofFer came to Lancaster county in 1857,
and remained there until his death. To him were
born these children: Mary, Isaac, David and Ely,
all deceased; Kate, Mrs. Nissley; John, deceased;
Tobias, a retired farmer in Elizabethtown, Pa.,
Elizabeth, the widow of Peter Nissley, and living at
Elizabethtown.
Mrs. Nissley's first husband was Christ Risser,
of Mt. Joy, by whom she became the mother of the
following children: Ellen, who married Edward
Ginrich, a retired farmer in Dauphin county; Min-
nie, the wife of Christ Ginrich, a drover of Lebanon
county. Pa. ; LHysses, who married Minnie Hartz,
and is a physician in Campbelltown, Pa. ; Dora, the
wife of Frank Hershey, a machinist of Waynes-
boro, Pa. ; Phoebe, Christ and Herbert, at home ;
Ada, deceased. Christ Risser, who was born in
Lebanon county, Pa., died in 1888, at the age of
forty years, on the farm where his life was spent;
the son of Christ and Mary (Nissley) Risser, he
was a man of considerable importance in the com-
munity where his well-ordered life was devoted to
honest industry.
Henry B. Nissley remained with his parents un-
til he reached the age of twenty-three years, when
he bought a farm of ten acres near Lancaster and
engaged in truck farming for two years. The
young farmer then sold his place and bought a large
farm of 146 acres in East Donegal township, re-
maining there for a few years, and then for nine
years in Mt. Joy township, after which he returned
to his place and continued there until 1896. That
year he came to Florin to make it his permanent
home, and there he has remained until the present
time. In Florin he is engaged in the raising of
fruit, and rents his farm at a good figure.
In his political sentiments Mr. Nissley is a Re-
publican. His wife is a member of the German
Baptist Church. They are prominent and wealthy
people, and well deserve a place in any record of the
better class of Lancaster county.
JOSEPH BARNETT, a retired hotel man of
Lancaster, is probably one of the best known citi-
zens of Lancaster county, and he holds a high place
in the regard of his fellow citizens wherever he is
known. For many years he was an active business
man of the city where he yet makes his home.
Mr. Barnett was born in Lancaster Oct. 18, 1827,
son of Joseph Barnett, a native of Germany, who
came to the United States during early manhood in
order to escape military service. He was naturalized
in Lancaster. He married Catherine Smith, who
was born in the United States, and they became the
^eAJi /jayrnjLCt
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
537
parents of children as follows : Charles, Henry L.,
Caroline, Mary Ann, Joseph and Jacob, of whom
Joseph is now the only survivor. None of this fam-
ily married. The father was a member of St.
Mary's Church, while the mother belonged to the
Reformed Church. She passed away in 1834, and
Mr. Barnett followed her to the grave in 1844, at
the age of sixty-five years. Their remains rest in
Lancaster cemetery. He was a blacksmith by trade,
tut for a number of years engaged in the hotel busi-
ness, carrying on a hotel in the upper part of the city
■of Lancaster.
Joseph Barnett was reared in Lancaster and re-
mained with his parents as long as they lived. He
followed in his father's footsteps, learning the trade
of blacksmith and machinist, for which he possesses
considerable ability, and, rising gradually, became
master mechanic for the Ohio & Mississippi railroad,
at St. Louis, Mo., holding that position one year.
In 1858 he returned to Lancaster, and made his home
with his brother, Henry L., who was at that time
conducting the old "Cadwell House" (now the "Im-
perial"), continuing in its management thirteen
years. After his death, which occurred Oct. 18,
1878, Joseph Barnett took charge of the hotel, which
he carried on until his retirement from business life,
in 1891. As a hotel man he was highly successful,
as, indeed, all the members of the family who have
engaged in that line have been, his genial disposi-
tion bringing the house much popularity and good
will. Though he now leads a quiet life, Mr. Bar-
nett has in his day been a prominent, useful citizen,
and as such won the esteem of a wide circle of friends
and acquaintances. He is now enjoying the ease
to which a long life of activity entitles him. Mr.
Barnett is a Democrat in political faith, and inter-
ested in the success of his party.
ELIAS WOLF. Among the thrifty and well-
established citizens of Akron borough is Elias Wolf,
who successfully conducts a business in coal and
lumber, and through a long career has won for him-
self the respect and esteem of the whole community.
Elias Wolf was born Sept. 17, 1843, a son of
Samuel and Elizabeth (Kemper) Wolf, of Ephrata
township. Samuel Wolf was a son of Jacob Wolf,
a well-known farmer of Lancaster county, was born
in 1810 and died on April 9, 1898; his wife, born in
1810, passed away in 1876. They reared these chil-
dren: Sarah, who married Reuben Mohler;
George, deceased; David, deceased; Susannah;
Samuel ; Elias ; Elizabeth ; Catherine, deceased.
Elias Wolf was reared on a farm and received
his education in the common schools of his district.
Possessed of but limited means, he was both provi-
dent and industrious and in the course of time ac-
cumulated large means, at present being the owner
of an excellent business and two fine farms near Ak-
ron.
The marriage of Elias Wolf to Miss Miranda
Germon, of the borough of Akron, occurred Feb. 20,
1867, and to this union have been born fifteen chil-
dren: Emma Elizabeth, born Sept. 16, 1867, died
June I, 1872; Sylvester, born Jan. 20, 1869, died
May 30, 1872; Ellen, born June 11, 1870; Harry,
born Oct. 17, 1871, died June 12, 1872; Harvey,
born April 28, 1873; Theodore, Aug. 22, 1874;
Clara, Dec. 15, 1875; Ada, Aug. 9, 1877; Samuel,
Jr., Sept. 25, 187S, and died May 17, 1879; Maggie,
Jan. 17, 1880; Mary, Aug. 23, 1881, died March 6,
1882; Elias, Feb. 29, 1883; Bertha, March 13, 1884:
Charles, July 20, died Jan. 19, 1887; and Sadie,
Jan. 6, 1892.
In politics, Mr. Wolf is a staunch Republican
and has held a number of the township offices, filling
them most efficiently ; in his religious belief, he is a
consistent member of the Dunkard Church. In all
Ephrata township there is no man more highly re-
garded as one who is honorable and upright in all
business dealings, and in every walk of life he has
displayed those attributes which make a good citi-
zen, kind husband and careful father.
HIRAM L. BATTEN, the efficient superin-
tendent for the sub-station for the Conestoga Trac-
tion Company, located at Mechanicsburg, Pa., was
born in Upper Leacock township, Oct. 11, 1849; he
was a son of Israel and Elizabeth (Garber) Batten,
the former of Upper Leacock and the latter of West
Earl township. The death of the mother occurred
on the old homestead in 1869, at the age of fifty-
three. The father still resides on the old farm, a
woolen manufacturer who operated mills in West
Earl and East Donegal townships, retiring from ac-
tivity in 1870. Both he and his wife were members
of the Methodist Church. The children born to
them were: Anna E., who died in infancy; and
Hiram L.
The paternal grandparents were Hiram and
Susannah (Meixell) Batten, natives of Downing-
town, Chester county, where he was brought up to
the trade of stone mason, also teaching school dur-
ing his younger days. In 1790 he came to Lancaster
county and operated a hotel in Upper Leacock town-
ship, "and in 1800 purchased the farm property on
which Israel Batten resides. The maternal grand-
parents were John and Rachel (Mc Arthur) Gar-
ber, natives of West Earl township and Chester
county, respectively.
Hiram L. Batten remained with his parents in
the home at Batten's Corner until his marriage. In
his early years he attended the district schools and
from eighteen to twenty he was a student at the
Lebanon Valley College, and later at the Shippens-
burg State Normal School. When about twenty-
one years old Mr. Batten began to teach school, and
from his beginning in Upper Leacock township he
continued in that profession for twenty-one years,
being recognized as one of the leading instructors in
the county. On Feb. 10, 1901, he assisted in estab-
lishing the sub-station at Mechanicsburg and was
made its superintendent. For two and one-half
538
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
years he has been justice of the peace, while for the
.past fifteen he has been the valiied agent for the
Northern Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of Lan-
caster county.
Mr. Batten was married Sept. 18, 1881, in Bird-
in-Hand, to Miss SalHe Armstrong, and to this
union two daughters have been born, Grace E. and
Maud M. Mrs. Batten was born in Williamstown,
Pa., a daughter of Jacob and Susan (Fenninger)
Armstrong, the former of whom was a railroad
engineer, who died at the age of forty-one at Co-
lumbia in 1874. The mother resides in Gordori-
ville, Pennsylvania.
The family are consistent members of the Meth-
odist Church, in which Mr. Batten has been a local
preacher for five years and where they are most
highly estgemed. Iti politics he has ever been in
sympathy with the Republican party.
JOSEPH H. GOCHNAUER. One of the well-
conducted farms of Lancaster county. Pa., located
in East Hempfield township, midway between
Petersburg and Landisville, is owned and success-
fully operated by Joseph H. Gochnauer, a well-known
agriculturist.
Joseph H. Gochnauer, a son of John and Re-
becca (Hersh) Gochnauer, was born April 6, 1844,
on the farm upon which he lives, and was reared
and educated in East Hempfield township, passing
all his years there, with the exception of ten months
spent in the West. In 1873 he took charge oif the
farm by himself and since that time has brought
his sixty acres to a high state of production, con-
fining himself to general farming. Many substan-
tial improvements have been made on the place since
he took charge of it and it is one of the most valu-
able and desirable in the neighborhood.
On Nov. 17, 1872, Joseph H. Gochnauer was
married to Anna Hostetter, a daughter of Christian
and Catherine (Frank) Hostetter, who was born in
Manheim township, in Lancaster county, and three
children have been born of this union: Christian
H., who is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall
College, of Lancaster City, in the class of 1900;
John H., a- pupil in the State Normal School at
Millersville ; and Joseph H., who is a student at
Elizabethtown College.
These worthy people are among the most highly
esteemed residents of the township, and are con-
nected with the Old Mennonite Church, in which
Mr. Gochnauer is a trustee, and where they are
known to be kind, charitable and Christian ex-
amples.
JOHN M. GOCHNAUER. The name of
Gochnauer is an old and well-known one in Lan-
caster county, Pa., the great-grandfather of John
M. Gochnauer, one of the pioneers of the township,
having -met his death while at work in the fields, when
the Indians attacked him on the spot where the
"Black Horse Tavern" now stands. There was one
son left to perpetuate the name, Joseph, who be-
came the grandfather of John M. and was born
and reared in East Hempfield township and spent
a long and useful life there. He was a farmer and
owned and operated a large estate, being one of the
most extensive farmers of the county at that time,
and a man who left an impression upon his genera-
tion, prominent in public affairs and one who was
regarded favorablv by the members of a com-
munity where his advice and judgment were relied
upon. It was by his suggestion that the names of
East and West were given to Hempfield township
at the time the division was made.
The wife of this worthy man died in 1828, in
her fifty-ninth year, but he survived to be eighty-
two years old, and died in March, 1847, having had
the following children: Jacob, the eldest, who
went West to grow up with the country, first to
Ohio and later to Indiana ; John, the father of John
M. ; Michael, who made his home in Lancaster
county until his decease; Joseph, who died in
Lewistown ; Henry, a farmer ; Annie, the wife of
George Weiler ; Elizabeth, the wife of Peter Krei-
der; Magdalene, who married Martin Heisey;
Fanny, who married Adam Brenneman ; arid Mary,
married to George Shriner, of Elkhart, Indiana.
John Gochnauer was born in East Hempfield
in August, 1793, and died Tan. 21, 1858; he was
reared to manhood in East Hemofield township, en-
gaged in farm occupations, became prominent in
the Old Mennonite Church, and in the same town- .
ship married, and in time passed to his fathers.
The first marriage of John Gochnauer was to Anna
Miller, who was born Dec. 3, 1803, and died June
22, 1834, two children surviving: Henry, who
died in 1893, at the age of sixty- four years, a farmer
in East Hempfield township, where he had reared a
family ; and John M., our subject. The father was
married again, to Rebecca Hersh, who was bom
Aug. 2, 1807, and died Oct. 20, 1884, leaving the
following family: Martha, a most estimable ladv.
who resided with John M. until her death. May 20,
1901, at the age of sixty-four years ; Rebecca, who
married Benjamin Reist, and died in 1892; Joseph,
a farmer of East Hempfield township ; and Annie,
who resides with her brother John.
John M. Gochnauer was born on the old home-
stead, near East Petersburg, June 19, 1834, was a
son of John and Anna (Miller) Gochnauer, and a
grandson of Joseph and Annie (Kauffman) Goch-
nauer, and spent his boyhood in that locality. In
1873 he removed to his present farm, since which
time he has lived retired from active work. Among
the leading members of the Old Mennonite Church,
he takes a prominent part in all benevolent enter-
prises, and is much esteemed by the members of the
church and by the whole community.
JACOB L. LANDIS. Among the prominent
and representative farmers of East Lampeter town-
ship is Jacob L. Landis, a worthy grandson of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
539
Abram Landis, who was born on the same farm on
which Jacob L. now lives.
Abram Landis (2), the father of Jacob L. Lan-
dis, was also born on this old home place, in 181 1,
and followed farming all his days. A man who en-
joyed the esteem of every one, Abram Landis be-
came a leading member of the Old Mennonite
Church. He married Esther Landis, the estimable
daughter of Benjamin Landis, and they had five
children born to them: Elizabeth, who died un-
married; Benjamin, a farmer of East Lampeter
township ; Jacob L. ; Mary, deceased, the wife of
Samuel H. Burkhart ; and Abram, a farmer of East
Lampeter township.
Jacob L. Landis was born on the old homestead
on Aug. 22, 1842, and remained with his father
until he was thirty years of age. His education was
obtained in the public schools, but being of bright
intelligence, he soon was far in advance of others
of his age. Mr. Landis has given some attention to
the settling of estates, and has adjusted many mat-
ters with judgment and skill, showing that if he had
directed his attention to a profession he would un-
doubtedly have become prominent in it.
At the death of his father, about 1871, Mr. Lan-
dis inherited the old home, and since that time has
devoted much attention to the improvement of his
property. Mr. Landis was married to Miss Annie
D. Rohrer, and to this union have been born two
children : Emma, who is the wife of Benjamin Wit-
mer and has two children, Hattie L. and Anna
Mary ; and Amos R., who farms the old homestead
for his father. The latter has two grandchildren,
Elvin W. and Esther Susan, the children of Amos
R. and Ida (Weaver) Landis. The religious con-
nection of the family is with the Old Mennonite
Church.
ALVIN BROWN, one of the honorable citizens
and successful farmers of Little Britain township,
resides on his well-cultivated and highly improved
farm of 154 acres, located near the Chester county
line.
He was born in the pleasant home which he now
owns, in 1845. His father was Jacob Brown, who
was born in Lancaster county in 1809, and died in
1861, having had these children: Alvin; David C,
of Cecil county, Md. ; Elmira, a widow, of Kansas ;
Delilah, a teacher- in the public schools of Wilming-
ton, Del. ; Hannah, a trained nurse in Philadelphia ;
Naomi, a professional seamstress of Wilmington,
Del. : and Lewis J., a farmer in Kansas. The mother
of this family was born in 1814, and died in 1876.
Jacob Brown was an honest, upright man, prominent
in th° g^^'o^-y "f frifnHs anrl during his life was one
of the leading citizens of Little Britain townshfp.
His wife had been reared in the Presbyterian
Church and always adhered to that faith.
Alvin Brown was reared on the farm he nov/
owns and received his education in the common
schools of his township. His life has been an agri-
cultural one and it has been crowned with success,
the result of intelligent effort in this line.
Alvin Brown was married on Dec. 28, 1867, to
Anna M. Griffith, of Lancaster county, a member of
one of the honorable old families of this locality.
Her parents were William and Susan (Pugh) Grif-
fith, of Chester county, Pa., and she was born Aug.
13, 1847, the other members of her parents' family
being : Elizabeth, the wife of Atwood Montgomery,
a farmer of Cecil county, Md. ; Martha, the wife of
James Ewing, of Cecil county ; Lucretia, the wife of
Joseph Brobson, of Lancaster county ; and Evan and
Winnifred, deceased.
The six children born to Mr, and Mrs. Brown
were: William J., who lives on the home farm;
Adda P.,^ who married Joshua Wason, a farmer of
Cecil county, Md,, and has one son, Alyin; Hugh
M., a farmer of Cecil county, Md,, who married
Mina Reynolds ; Kirk, a blacksmith in Chester coun-
ty ; Mary S., who married Thomas Cooney, a mer-
chant, and lives in Chestnut Level; and D, C, the
youngest of the family, busy on the home farm.
Mr. Brown is one of the most highly esteemed
citizens of this locality both in public and private
lifcj and is also one of the most intelligent. Not
content with the advantages afforded by the public
schools, he passed through the Fairville High School
and then took a collegiate course in the Clear
Springs Academy, of Indiana. Noted in the com-
munity for his charity and kindness, Alvin Brown
follows in his life the peaceful precepts taught by the
Soxiety of F.weiida._and enjoys in the highest sense,
the esteem of all witK whom he comes in contact. ~-
Politically, he is a Republican and for six years has
faithfully served his township as supervisor, attend-
ing to the duties of the position with the reliability
which attends all his actions.
CHARLES H. TYSON, who holds an honored
place among the farmers of Bart township, Lan-
caster county, where he is now pursuing a retired
life, was born Aug, 25, 1842, in Cecil county, Md,,
his parents being Samuel and Ellen (Timmons)
Tyson, both natives of Maryland, The father .was
born in Cecil county in 1804, and the mother was
born in 1818.
Samuel Tyson was a son of William Tyson, who-
was born in Maryland, and took part in the Revolu-
tion, The family settled in Cecil county, but Will-
iam Tyson died at the home of one of his children in
Chester county, Pa. He had five children, (i)
Amor died when a young man. (2) Maria, born in
Maryland, married Tobias McKinsey, who settled
and died in Newark, Del, where she also died, leav-
ing a family : Elizabeth, deceased ; Zebulon, of New-
ark, Del., deceased ; Susan, the wife of George W.
Moore, of Wilmington, Del, ; William, who lives at
Rising Sun, Cecil Co,, Md, ; Harry, of Newark,
Del. • Elma, unmarried and living in Wilmington,
Del. ; Tobias E, and Mary, both living in Wilming-
ton, Del, (3) Jane married John White, and died
•540
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
leaving no family. (4) Elizabeth, born in Mary-
land, married Eber Nields of Chester county, and has
her home in Coatesville, where he is engaged in the
■contracting and building business. Their children
were : Otley, who married and settled in Coatesville,
where he left a widow and four sons, Morris, Eber,
Wesley and Chester; Anna, a widow in Chester
county ; Newton, died in young manhood ; Emma,
late wife of Joseph Pierce ; Ida, deceased ; Ella, who
married Harry Woodward, of Chester county;
Maggie, married to Joseph Woodward; John, de-
ceased. (5) Samuel was the father of Charles H.
Samuel Tyson was reared in Cecil county, Md.,
married Ellen Timmons in 1839, and engaged as a
miller, working in different parts of Cecil county,
xmtil the later years of his life. He located in Wil-
mington, Pel. In 1873 he visited his son, Charles
a. in Georgetown, and there he died. His widow
survived until 1882, when she died at the home of a
daughter in Wilmington, Del. Mr. Tyson was a
■strong anti-slavery man, and was a stanch Repub-
lican after the formation of that party. To him and
liis excellent wife were born the following children :
■fi) Amelia A. Tyson, born in Cecil county, Md., in
1840, married Edward Thomas, of Delaware, where
they both died. Her death occurred in February,
1878. (2) Charles H. (3) Martha J. Tyson, born
in Cecil county, in 1844, married Daniel Hanna, of
Cecil county, Md., where they lived many years, and
-where he died, leaving her with six children : Ches-
ter; Nettie; Martha, who is the wife of Edward
Hitchens, of Cecil countv, Md. ; Lila; Sherman, and
Heba. (4^ Oliver E. Tyson, born in 1847, married
Anna Scott, of Delaware, and has his home in Frank-
ford, near Philadelphia, where they have had the
following children: Bertha, who married George
Walker, and lives in Philadelphia; Leroy, of Ches-
ter ; William, of Frankford ; Oliver and Edwin, de-
teased. C5) Samuel Tvson, born in Cecil county,
Md., married Miss Sarah Money, of Delaware, and
located in Wilmington, where both died, leaving
two children; Harry and Mary, both of Philadel-
phia; the latter is the wife of Albert Kite. (6)
Annie Tyson, born in Maryland, married Henry
Wright of Cecil county, and after living for some
years on a farm near Elkton, Md., moved to Wil-
mington, Del., where she died in 1893, leavmg a
large familv: Susan, the wife of Joseph Bedwell,
of Wilmington : Clarence, single ; Cecelia, deceased ;
Ellis, unmarried ; Mabel, the wife of John Kirkpat-
Tick, of Cecil county, Md. ; Clinton and Otis, unmar-
ried. (7^ George Tyson, born in Cecil county, Md.,
married Miss Sarah Moore, of Wilmington, where
they live. They have had five children: Estella,
Reba, Ethel and Covington are dead; Grace is at
the family home in Delaware. (8) Amanda Tyson,
torn in Cecil county, Md., married James Tibbitt, of
Delaware, and is now dead, leaving two children:
Viola and Charles. Viola is married to Robert
Morrison.
Charles H. Tyson, the oldest son of Samuel Ty-
son, was reared to manhood in Cecil county, Md.,
and when a young man learned the trade of a house
painter and decorator, in which he was engaged until
after his marriage in 1867. His wife was Miss Lydia
B. Thompson, daughter of Jacob B. and Mary (Clay-
ton) Thompson, born in Christiana, April 28, 1844.
Jacob B. Thompson was bom at Steelville, Lan-
caster county, in 1790, and his wife, Mary Clayton,
was born near Baltimore, in 1818. They settled in
Strasburg, where for some years he carried on busi-
ness as a merchant. He had a general store at differ-
ent times, in Philadelphia, and in other parts of the
State. PL's last location as a merchant was in Chris-
tiana, where he was in business at the time of his
death in 1855. His widow moved to Bart in 1857,
where she lived until her death in 1898. To this
worthy and estimable couple were born the following
children : John C, living unmarried in Bart town-
ship; Lydia B., Mrs. Tyson; James A., deceased;
Harriet E., the wife of Milton Heidelbaugh, a prom-
inent character of the city of Lancaster ; Robert F.,
a commission merchant in Philadelphia ; William
D., a farmer ; Jacob, who married Miss Clara Miller,
and resides on a farm in Bart township.
Charles H. Tyson and wife settled in Wilming-
ton, Del., where he engaged in the grocery trade.
In 1868 he moved to Newark, where he engaged
at the painting trade, and in 1869 removed to Bart
township to spend the ensuing two years with his
wife's mother. He was a clerk in the Nickel Mines
Store, Lancaster county, for Milton Heidelbaugh
some eight years. For a time he was a
clerk in a Georgetown ' store, and then moved to the
farm of Milton Heidelbaugh, where he spent some
eight years. In 1899 he bought the farm on which
he is now living, and where he has a very pleas-
ant home.
Mr. and Mrs. Tyson have three children: Ella
May. born in 18G8, married to Harry Pickell and
living in Cochranville, Chester county ; W. Clayton,
born in Lancaster county, in December, 1869, un-
married and at home; Mary E. A., born in July,
1878, is the wife of Charles D. Hocking, of Lan-
caster City, 'and the mother of three children,
Charles Lee, Beatrice Tyson and John Warren.
Mr. and Mrs. Tyson are members of the Octoraro
Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a Republi-
can, and from time to time has filled various local
offices, such as those of assessor, tax collector and
supervisor. In 1880 he was appointed enumerator
of the census for Bart township.
LEWIS S. HARTMAN, who passed away at
his home on the morning of March 9, r895, was one
of the most dearly beloved and highly respected citi-
zens in Lancaster.
Mr. Hartman was born in that city June 7, 1843,
a son of Lewis S. Hartman, in his time an enterpris-
ing and public-spirited business man. In his boy-
hood Mr. Hartman attended the public schools and
later Yeates Institute. Always a high-spirited and
(^^WV^^^^s^U^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
541
ambitious lad, he entered the business world with an
enthusiasm that never forsook him. He clerked in
a grocery store owned by his brother, John I. Hart-
man, and also in Shultz's hat store. The outbreak
of the Civil war found him but a boy in years, but
fired with a holy patriotism, he enlisted July lo,
1861, in Co. B, 13th P. V. I., and became a part of
the Pennsylvania Reserves, whose record makes a
most brilliant page in the history of the Civil war.
Mr. Hartman enUsted for three years or during the
war ; and after the battle of Antietam, in September,
1862, he was promoted to the rank of corporal, al-
though at that time he was the youngest man in the
company. With his company and regiment he par-
ticipated in many of the most notable and hotly con-
tested conflicts of the war, among which may be
mentioned Gaines' Mills, Malvern Hill, Second Bull
Run, South Mountain, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg,
the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor. In
all of these engagements Mr. Hartman displayed
such conspicuous bravery as to win high commenda-
tion from his superior oificers. Through them all,
too, he seemed to bear a charmed existence, and
while the bullets whistled all around him he miracu-
lously escaped unscathed until the battle of Cold
Harbor. His term of enlistment ha.d expired, but the
regiment decided to take part. In the thickest of the
fight stood the young corporal, and as he turned to
speak to a comrade a bullet pierced his body, and he
sank to the ground. Comrades conveyed him two
miles on a stretcher to the ambulance train, ready to
start for Washington. The ball had struck him under
the left arm, pierced the lung, and passed out at the
right shoulder, making a hole entirely through his
body, and of so dangerous a nature that the army
surgeon gave him up. His recovery is still regarded
as a remarkable one, and he lay for many weeks in
the hospital before being able to be moved home, and
then a year passed before he was considered well.
When once again able to enter the world of com-
merce, Mr. Hartman engaged in the grocery busi-
ness on North Queen street, and later bought out the
cigar store of Andrew McGinnis, known as the "Yel-
low Front." He engaged in the manufacture of
cigars, and also quite extensively in the leaf to-
bacco business, continuing same up to within a few
years of his death, when he sold out to John B.
Markley. However, he retained the rear office, which
he used as his political office and headquarters. He
was one of the founders and heaviest stockholders
of the Fulton National Bank, of which he was a
director at the time of his death; and he was also
one of the founders of th^ Lancaster Trust Company.
Always a Republican in politics, Mr. Hartman
early became one of the leaders in the party organiza-
tion. As early as 1870 he entered the lists as a can-
didate for recorder of deeds, but was defeated in
so far as the office was concerned. The campaign he
made, however, brought him prominently to the
front, and was the fotmdation upon which was built
his later successes. In 1875, and again in 1890, he
was elected prothonotary. It was as a leader or as
an organizer rather than as an office holder that Mr.
Hartman was best known. The excitement of a
political struggle was his ruling passion — the more
desperate the chances the more keenly he became in-
terested, and the harder he worked. Unlike many
politicians, he was intensely loyal to his chosen can-
didates, and once his word was given, he remained
in the fray until the polls were closed. Of generous
impulses, of much personal magnetism, and pos-
sessed of unbounded ardor, he drew men to him,
and even his political foes loved him for his warm-
hearted kindnesses. Thoroughly familiar with the
political features of every section of the county, he
was looked upon as a man who could lead an appar-
ently "lost cause" to victory. He was an ardent
admirer of James G. Blaine, and in 1880 visited the
Chicago convention to use his influence for his favor-
ite; in 1884 he was a delegate to the convention that
nominated the "Plumed Knight," and great was his
sorrow when his defeat came in November.
Socially Mr. Hartman was a great favorite, and
his hospitable nature enjoyed the comforts of
home. He was one of the organizers of the Bay
Club, which made several cruises on Chesapeake
Bay, and has been sorely missed by the members.
From the time of its organization he had been its
treasurer, and at the time of his death was engaged
in making arrangements for its annual celebration.
Out of respect to his memory the club postponed
indefinitely the intended celebration. The com-
munity mourned his death as the loss of a good man,
a kind friend, and an upright citizen, whose place
could not soon be filled.
In 1867, in Lancaster, Mr. Hartman was united
in marriage, by Rev. Mr. Greenewald, of Trinity
Church, with Miss Mary A. Deichler. This union
was blessed with the following children: Walter
S., who died at the age of two years ; Milton H., a
civil engineer, who married Anna Miley; Howard
S., who is engaged in the tobacco business; Alice
R., who married Rev. Elmore L. Wessinger, a Luth-
eran minister at Shiremanstown, Pa. ; Clara E. and
Elizabeth O., both at home ; and Lewis S., who died
at the age of eight years. Mrs. Hartman and family
are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Hart-
man did much to help build up the city and the home
he erected on North Duke street, where his family
reside, is one of the finest houses in the city.
Maximilian Deichler, father of Mrs. Hartman,
came with his parents to America when five years of
age. They settled in Baltimore, Md., and there the
boy grew to manhood, learned the trade of shoe-
maker, and married his good wife, Catherine Mes-
sener. The young couple removed to Lancaster,
where Mr. Deichler found employment in a shoe
store, and later engaged in the shoe business for
himself at the present site of Woolworth's building,
where he remained until his death in 1893, when he
was aged seventy-seven. His wife died in 1887, at
the age of sixty-seven. Their remains rest in Wood-
542
BIOGR.\PHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ward Hill cemetery. Both were members of Trin-
ity Lutheran Church. Mr. and Mrs. Deichler were
the parents of ten children.
JESSE SCOTT. A prominent and successful
farmer, as well as a most estimable citizen of Lan-
caster county, is Jesse Scott, who was born in Bart
township, in this same county, June 7, 1843, a son
of John and Alice (Davis) Scott. The parents were
also natives of this county, and were born in Cole-
rain township, the father in April and his wife in
Sept., 1806. The mother was a daughter of Abner
and Barbara Davis, a pioneer family.
John and Alice (Davis) Scott were married
Jan. 21, 1830, and nine children were born to them.
Abner and Margaret died in childhood. Francis, now
the eldest of the family, was born in 1835, remained
at home after the death of his father and assisted in
the care of the family; he married Miss Rachel
Rockafield, of this county, and they now with their
children reside on his farm in Colerain. Joseph,
born Jan. 27, 1837, married Martha Gilland, of Bart
township ; they lived for a time in Georgetown,
where he worked at his trade of wheelwright, and
later settled in Bart township on a farm, where he
died in 1896, leaving a wife and three children,
Howard, Leah, and Meta, who still reside on the
homestead. Sarah E., born in September, 1839, i^
the wife of Flam Pickle and they reside in Chester
county. Pa., their ten children bearing these names :
William, Harry, Alice, Frank, Davis, Annie, Amos,
Aaron, Dora and Blanch. Harvey, born in June,
1841, married Miss Sidney Thomas, of this county,
and settled on a farm in Sadsbury township, where
he remained until his death, in 1889, leaving a wife
and two sons, Cauley and Walter. Jesse was the
seventh child. George, born in 1846, grew up in the
old home and married Miss Hannah Thompson, of
Bart township, and they now reside in Georgetown,
where he is engaged in business. They have two
children : John and May, the wife of David Myers,
of Chester county, Pa. Barbara A., born Oct. 13,
1850, is the wife of Albert Heidelbaugh, of Bart
township and their seven children are thus named:
Jessie, Alice, Emma, Clyde, Forest, Earle and Le-
nore.
For a few years John Scott and his wife resided
in Bart township, but in 1850 Mr. Scott purchased
the present home farm, with the expectation of pass-
ing upon it a long and useful life. However, but
two years had elapsed when he passed out of lif6,
leaving his bereaved widow with a family of
small children to rear. Mr. Scott had been indus-
trious and had cleared a part of his land, but the
most of it was heavily wooded, and a very serious
future faced the widow and her family. After due
consideration, she determined to retain the farm for
her children, considering that soon her sons would
be able to manage affairs. In this she was not dis-
appointed, as they proved to be affectionate, dutiful
and industrious children.
Jesse Scott grew to manhood on the old place
and assisted his brothers in its management and cul-
tivation, and when they married and moved to homes
of their own, he remained in charge of the farm, tak-
ing care of his mother in her declining years. She
passed away in 1887, at the age of eighty-one.
Through life she has been a thorough Christian
woman, and with her husband had been a worthy
and consistent member of the Presbyterian Church
at Middle Octoraro, in this county, which they had
helped to found.
In politics Mr. Scott is a stanch Republican, al-
though his father always voted with the Democratic
party. For a number of years he has served as
school director and has been interested in all mat-
ters of general interest in the county, during his
long residence there. The old homestead is his
own property, and at the present time he is remodel-
ing and renovating it, making it one of the most
comfortable and attractive homes of the county,
Mr. .Scott has never married.
Jesse Scott is well known and most highly re-
spected. His success as a farmer has been noted
in the county, while his admirable traits as a man
have won him the esteem of all who have come into
contact with him.
ISAAC S. FUNK was born Feb. 21, 1845, in
East Hempfield township, Lancaster county.
Martin Funk, father of Isaac S., was born in
Manor township, Lancaster county, Nov. 10, 1808.
His father died when he was eight years old and he
was bound out at that age to Abram Miller, of
Manor township, where he lived for eight years.
He then went to live with his stepfather, John
Breneman, of Manor township, where he made his
home for nearly seven years. He then married Miss
Elizabeth Shertzer, of Manor township, Nov. 12,
183s, and commenced farming for Abram Stoner,
of East Hempfield township. He continued at that
until 1845, when he removed to Manor township
and engaged in general work for three years. He
then bought the farm where his son Isaac now re-
sides and remained there until his death, March 31,
1876, up to that time following farming exclusively.
During the seven years that he lived with his step-
father he walked twice to Dayton, Ohio. The first
time he walked all the way home, but on his second
jovirney home he bought a horse and rode him.
back, afterwards trading him for a gold watch. He
was a consistent member of the Old Mennonite
Church. He always voted the Democratic ticket
but never sought an office. Mr. and Mrs. Martin
Funk were the parents of the following children:
Elias and Abram, deceased; Elizabeth, the wife of
Levi Good, of Conestoga; Mary S., who died in
childhood ; Isaac S. ; Barbara, deceased ; and Char-
lotta, the wife of John Henry, of Conestoga.
Isaac S. Funk remained at home with his father
until the death of the latter in 1876. Three years
afterwards he purchased the farm and has since
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
543
given his entire time and attention to its manage-
ment. He is a member of the Old Mennonite
Church and is one of its trustees. Like his father
he is a member of the Democratic party but the
only office he has ever held was that of assistant as-
sessor of his township for one term. He married
Annie, daughter of John Warfel, of Conestoga
township. They have but one son, Martin, who
lives with his parents.
Mr. Funk owns a farm of ninety-three acres
which has a magnificent view of the Susquehanna
river and is one of the finest places in the county.
This gentleman is in prosperous circumstances and
is fully abreast of the times in all his ideas. He is
greatly respected and is a good substantial citizen.
THEODORE M. STORE, one of the leading
business men of New Holland, Pa., conducts in
this borough a large and prosperous business in
marble and granite cutting, established by his father,
and now conducted in association with his two sons,
under the firm name of T. M. Storb & Sons. '
Theodore M. Storb comes of excellent parentage,
his father, Theodore Storb, having been for many
years a highly appreciated teacher of languages in
the schools of Pennsylvania, and later the founder
of the business which is so ably carried on by his
descendants. Theodore Storb, Sr., was born in
Prussia, in 1794, a son of Hermann Storb, a black-
smith near Dusseldorf. He came to America at the
age of twenty-three, landing in Philadelphia, and
locating first in Lehigh county. Pa., where he mar-
ried a Miss Grobb, the children born of this union
being Albert, of Pottstown, Pa. ; Caroline, deceased ;
and Augustus and Sarah, who died in childhood,
Mrs. Storb also passing away. In 1831 he married
Elizabeth Minker, of Berks county, this marriage
resulting in. the birth of: Hannah and Henry, who
died in childhood; Theodore M., born Aug. 16,
1835 ; Elizabeth, of New Holland ; Mathias, de-
ceased; and Amelia, who married David S.
Schlauch, of New Holland. The father died in
1872 and the mother in 1884.
The education of Theodore M. Storb, was re-
ceived in the excellent schools of Montgomery
county. Pa. He came with his father when the lat-
ter located in New Holland in 1854, and upon his
father's death in 1872 he succeeded to the business,
since that time greatly extending it and taking into
partnership his two very capable sons, Lewis M.
and Harry K.. Mr. Storb is a practical man, thor-
oughly understanding all of the details of his line
of trade; he has prospered and is now justly re-
garded, as one of the substantial men of the local-
ity, his name carrying with it financial responsibil-
ity and business, confidence.
In Oct., i860, Theodore M. Storb was married
to Miss Mary S. Mentzer, of Earl township, a
daughter of George and Elizabeth (Kurtz) Mentz-
er, of Lancaster county, and to this union have been
born: EllA, who married Dr. John B. Kohler, of
New Holland, and has two children — Mary and
Clara; Lewis M. and Harrv K., both connected
with their father in the marble business. Harry K.
Storb married Mary Besore, of New Holland, and
has two children, Henry and Theodore.
Mr. .Storb is a prominent Republican of Earl
township and occupies a number of important po-
sitions in the county, being a director in the Down-
ingtown and Lancaster Railroad Company ; manager
of the New Holland Turnpike Road Company ; a di-
rector in the New Holland Water Co., and also con-
nected with various other enterprises of minor im-
portance. He is a member and trustee of Earl
Lodge, I. O. O. F., of New Holland. Mr. Storb
is thoroughly representative, and the type of man
who has given Lancaster county its prominence in
the eyes of the business world.
WILLIAM C. GEIGER, a well-known busi-
ness man of Quarryville, Lancaster county, was
born Sept. 29, 1849, ^^^^ Baltimore, Md., son of
Christopher and Annie (Beates) Geiger.
Mr. Geiger is descended from one of three
brothers who came to America from Germany and
settled at Gibraltar, Berks county. Of these, An-
thony bought a tract of land from the Penns. That
he reached Berks county at least as early as 1735
is shown by a land warrant issued to him in that
year. Christopher Geiger, son of Anthony, was
born in 1720, married Mary Robeson, and died in
1805. Elisha Geiger, son of Christopher, was born
in 1776. He married Mary Joiies, daughter of
Thomas Jones, Jr., and died in 1821, leaving two
sons, Christopher and Elisha, and several daugh-
ters. Elisha settled in Lancaster county, where he
died some years ago. Susan died unmarried. Kit-
ty married a Mr. Robinson, who died in Lancaster
county, leaving his widow and one son, Charles,
now a retired business man of New Jersey, and one
daughter, Annie, who married a Mr. Polk, and
moved to Philadelphia.
At the death of his father Christopher Geiger,
then a lad of eighteen years, being the eldest, be-
came the chief support of the family. He con-
tracted for work on the Reading canal when it was
building, and after that was manager in a foundry
at Pottsville, Pa., of which he later became owner,
conducting the business for some time and finally
selling it. He then built a hotel in Pottsville, which
he ran for a number of years; About 1837 he mar-
ried a Miss Park, of York county. Pa., who died
shortly afterward, leaving one daughter, Mary, now
Mrs. Heitshu, of Lancaster, and two sons, Samuel
and Philip, both deceased. In 1848 Christopher
Geiger again married, his second wife being Miss
Annie Beates. They located at the Ashland Fur-
nace, sixteen miles from Baltimore, where Mr.
Geiger' carried on an extensive iron biisiness for a
number of years, and' which he had, in partnership
with Philip and Samuel Small, of York county, Pa.,
and Edward and Joseph Patterson, of Baltimore
544
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
(the brothers of Jerome Bonaparte's wife), built
in 1846. In 1840 Mr. Geiger and the Small broth-
ers had built Manor Furnaces in York county. He
finally sold out, and moving to Lancaster city en-
gaged again in the foundry business at that place,
until i860, when he sold out and removed to Blair
furnace. There he purchased a furnace which soon
afterward was entirely destroyed by fire, entailing
a serious financial loss to Mr. Geiger. He then re-
moved to HoUidaysburg, Blair county, where he
engaged in furnace work for a year, and then
moved back to Lancaster, and began operating in
mines near Knoxville, Md. This was after the con-
clusion of the Civil war, and about 1868. In 187a
he removed to Quarryville, and followed mining
and ore shipping for several years. In 1884 he
built the Sarah Furnace, in Harford county, Md.,
which he operated. He again moved to Lancaster,
where he lived retired until the time of his death,
in 1889, at the age of eighty years. His wife died
in Lancaster in 1880, leaving a family of five chil-
dren: William C, who is the eldest; Annie, born
in 1 85 1, who lives in Lancaster county, and is un-
married; Charles, born in Lancaster county in
1854, and now living at Quarryville, a United
States Deputy Revenue Collector;- Edward, born
in Lancaster county in 1857, unmarried and a
resident of Reading; and Laura, born in Lancaster
county in i860, the wife of P. T. Watt, a general
merchant of Lancaster, who has four children,
James, Charles, Donald and Laura.
William C. Geiger was reared in Lancaster
county, and obtained his education in the public
schools. When a young man he acted as superin-
tendent of mines for his father near Quarryville
and other places. In 1877 he married Mrs. Rebecca
J. Lovett, of an old Lancaster county family, daugh-
ter of Martin and Rebecca Hess. Mrs. Geiger was
born in Drumore township, July 17, 1856, and after
growing to young womanhood married William
Lovett, a business man of Quarryville borough,
who died shortly after their marriage, and left no
children. Mr. and Mrs. Geiger were located near
Quarryville, where he engaged in mining and ship-
ping ore in partnership with the late C. M. Hess.
After the death of his partner, Mr. Geiger contin-
ued the business until 1889, when he engaged in
general storekeeping in Quarryville borough for
three years. In 1876 he was in partnership, in a
general merchandising business, with Charles
Geiger, where the Hawes Dickinson establishment
now is. He sold out his store in 1891, and again
carried on mining and shipping ore. In 1888 he
purchased his present home, a fine brick residence
on Church street, where, in 1895, Mrs. Geiger
opened a millinery business, which she still carries
on. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Geiger, as follows : William F., born in 1877, was
educated in the graded schools of the place; he is
unmarried, and is engaged in the plumbing busi-
ness. C. Martin, born in 1879, is unmarried, and is
engaged in business in Lancaster city. Walter B.,
born in 1883, travels for his brothers, who manu-
facture neckwear in Lancaster city. Harry E., born
in 1883, is at present of the firm of Geiger Bros.,
manufacturers of neckwear, Lancaster city. Ches-
ter A., born in March, 1887, is at present a student
in the borough schools. Anna R. was born in July,
1889, and Joseph Hess was born in 1891.
In politics Mr. Geiger is a Republican, and he
has held the office of street commissioner of the
borough. Mrs. Geiger is an active member of the
Reformed Church. Her parents, Martin and Re-
becca Hess, located on a farm in Drumore township
in 1849. Mr. Hess also kept a hotel in connection
with his other enterprises. Later he purchased a
large farm near Quarryville and built a fine brick
residence upon it, in which he resided for about
thirty-five years. He then purchased a property in
Quarryville, in which his son-in-law, Mr. Fritz,
now resides. Mr. Hess died while a resident of the
village, in 1887, and his wife died at the family
place in 1901. This worthy couple had one son and
four daughters : Abby A., wife of Jacob Fritz ;
Joseph, unmarried ; Susan, wife of Ezra Fritz ; Re-
becca J., Mrs. Geiger ; and Emma, wife of I. G. Le-
fever, of Quarryville.
Mr. Geiger is well and favorably known in
business circles over the entire county, and is a man
of fine character and social qualities. Ever ready
to help, his advice is frequently sought by young
men entering life's struggle. Mrs. Geiger is a lady
of fine mental and business abilities, and of kindly
disposition.
WITMER. The Witmer family is one of the
oldest and longest-known in Lancaster county. It
is of Swiss origin, the first American progenitors,
John Witmer and Benjamin Witmer, having been
born in Switzerland;, John about the year 1688.
They were first cousins, and emigrated to America
together, in 1716, John bringing his family, consist-
ing of his wife, Catharine, and two small children,
Elizabeth and Michael, the latter then about twO'
years of age. They came directly within the
border of the present Lancaster county. Benjamin
located a short distance to the eastward of the pres-
ent city of Lancaster, where he died in 1753, leaving-
a number of children and grandchildren. He wa&^
the grandfather of Abraham Witmer, the originator,
builder and prqjrietor of the present stone turn-pike
bridge over the C'onestoga, east of Lancaster, and
who died in 1818.
John Witmer continued beyond and settled on a
tract of vacant land on a branch of the Little Cones-
toga Creek, three and a half miles west of the pres-
ent city, lying on the south side of and adjoining-
what is now known as the Lancaster and Columbia
turnpike, containing 200 acres and allowance of"
six per cent, for roads and highways, bounded on>
the north by the lands of Christian Pellman and
Henry Parr (now A. B. Kready, Henry Witmer and;
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
345
the turnpike aforesaid) ; on the east by the land of
Andreas Coffman (now Susan C. Kready) ; on the
south by vacant land (now John F. Charles) ; and on
the west by vacant land and the land of Christian
Pellman (now John F. Charles and A. B. Kready,
respectively) . With the exception of a strip of mead-
ow along said stream, the tract was thickly covered
with timber. He built a small log cabin close to a
large spring, near the central part of the tract, and
worked hard to fell timber, make improvements and
a scanty living until 1728, when he died, leaving the
widow and three children to support themselves as
best they could, for he had not yet obtained a title to
the property, nor paid anything on it. In 1724 the
names of John Witmer, Benjamin Witmer and Ben-
jamin Witmer, Jr., were the only Witmer names then
on the assessment list of all the territory now em-
braced within the bounds of Lancaster county, then
known as Conestogoe, and as a part of Chester coun-
ty, then extending westward and northwestward an
indefinite distance beyond the Susquehanna river.
The future town site of Lancaster was at that time
still covered with timber, with the exception of a
swamp in the southern part, and another in the north-
eastern part, and a portion thereof was still vacant
land. About this time one Greorge Gibson erected a
tavern near a large hickory tree, a short distance east
of the present Centre Square, alongside of the great
highway leading from Philadelphia to Wright's
Ferry (now Columbia), and which became known as
the "Hickory Tavern" at Gibson's pasture. On Feb.
26, 1729. tlie first survey of a portion of the bound-
ary of the present town site was made, but was not
completed until sometime during 1730, at which time
the locality was still known by the same name, al-
though it had then attained to a small hamlet of about
two hundred souls.
The inventory of the estate of John Witmer, ap-
praised Dec. 17, 1728, is on file in the register's
office, at West Chester, and contains Only the follow-
ing five items : The improvements of 200 acres of
land, £34, los. ; a parcel of horses, mares and colts,
£51 ; a cow, calves and sheep, £17, 15s. ; all the house-
hold goods and gears, etc., for the plantation, £ig,
ys. ; a parcel of books, 5s. ; total amount, £122, 17s.
The administrator, Christian Vitty, after settling
up the estate, married the widow, but died within a
few years ; and, as the records show, the widow then
made application, and on June 4, 1735, obtained a
warrant of survey in her own name as the widow of
Christian Vitty, deceased. The land was surveyed,
the survey returned, approved and confirmed; and
during the latter part of the same year John Penn,
Richard Penn and Thomas Penn, as absolute propri-
etors and governors in chief of the province of Penn-
sylvania, and the counties of Newcastle, Kent and
Sussex, in Delaware, executed to her a Patent Deed
for ttie said tract, graciously sjaecifying and granting
to her therein, among, other things, the privilege to
hunt, hawk, fish and fowl, on said premises, at all
times. The consideration money therein mentioned
35
is £20 to them in hand paid, and the premises sub-
ject to a yearly quit rent of one silver English shil-
ling for every , hundred acres, to be paid annually
thereafter, on the first day of March, at the town of
Lancaster. Three full and clear fifth parts of all
Royal Mines, free from all deductions and reprisals-
for digging and refining the same, is also fully ex-
cepted and reserved therein. The said deed is dated
Nov. 18, 1735, in the ninth year of the reign of King:
George 11. over Great Britain, etc.
Of the three children, Elizabeth married ChristiaiT
Swartz, and Barbara became the wife of George
Kendrick. I'he son, Michael, married Anna Long,,
and on Oct. 21, 1751, a tripartite deed from his
mother and his sisters and their husbands was exe-
cuted to him for the said tract of land, the consid-
eration money for the same mentioned therein being
now increased to £250, the land subject to the same
reservations as before. The widow died in 1760. Of
the daughters and their descendants we give no
further record.
Michael Witmer, the son, was an unexception-
able, far-seeing, hard-working man, endowed with •
superior business abilities, and prospered far above
and beyond the average farmer of his time and lo-
cality. The issue of his marriage was five chil-
dren : John, born in 1750, married Elizabeth ,
and died June 3, 1817, leaving a widow and nine chil-
dren; Abraham, born in 1756, married Maria
Swartz, and died Feb. 21, 1826, leaving a widow,
(they never had any children) ; Anna, born Aug,
5, 1760, married Jacob Eberly, and died as his.,
widow Feb. 18, 1831, leaving six children (her hus-
band had died Dec. 2, 1810) ; Mary, born in 1763,
married Jacob Knopp, and died in 1789, leaving her
husband and an only child, also named Jacob; and
Herman, born July 22, 1753, was twice married,,
and died Jan. 5. 1829. His first wife was Widow
Barbara Groff, who was born Oct. 6, 1749, and died
July 27, 1797. His second wife was Barbara
Schucker, born Oct. 15, 1779, who died Jan. i, 1862,
In and by the last will and testament of Michael
Witmer, bearing date Aug. 27, 1789, executed only
a few days before his demise, he bequeathed to hi.'}
son, John Witmer, a tract of land bordering on the
south side of the Mahantango Creek, and on the west
fiide of the Susquehanna river, in the northeast cor-
ner of what is now Juniata county, containing 23.2
acres, and allowance of six per cent. Also, another
tract adjoining it, but hdng on the opposite side of
the creek, in what is now Snyder county, containing -
150 acres, more or les.=!. To his son, Abra-
ham Witmer, he gave a tract of 150 acres
and allowance, located at and embracing the
well-known "McKee's One-Half Falls Hotel" and
store property, fronting along the west shore
of the Susquehanna river, thirty-six miles above.
Harrisburg, and also in Snyder county since
the , division of Union, in 1855. To his son, ■
Herman Witmer, he gave the original home tract of
200 acres and allowance, and valued it to him at
546
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ii,6oo. The daughters, the will says, he had previ-
ously provided for, to some extent, and he gives to
Anna the balance of her equal share in cash. To his
grandchild, Jacob Knopp, Jr., he gives £150, to be
put on interest for hirn until he arrives of age, and
then to be paid to him, with the interest. His wife,
Anna, he also provided for liberally and far beyond
her needs, and an itemized list of the various and
numerous now obsolete articles given to her would
appear ridiculously strange if inserted into a will
at the present time. He died during the first week
in September, 1789, and his widow in the beginning
of March, 1792. The three sons occupied, lived and
died on the respective tracts of land devised to them.
Herman Witmer, in his youth, learned the trade
of a shoemaker, which he carried on, along with
his agricultural pursuits, for a long time. He was
an amateur blacksmith, cooper and carpenter, and
did his own blacksmithing, horseshoeing and
repairing in the line of cooper and carpenter
work required on the farm. He also carried
on a distillery on the farm, as most of the farmers
■ did at that time. He was ingenious and inventive, a
leader in experimenting with and introducing new-
implements, machinery and features on the farm
and in the household. He took great delight in
pomology, was an expert in grafting, and introduc-
ing new varieties of fruit, and at the time of his
death there was probably not another farm in Manor
township containing such an abundance and variety
of fruit, and all grafted by his own hands ; and, as
a novelty, he frequently grafted many varieties of
apples and pears promiscuously on the same tree.
He was an industrious and persevering reader, and
a well-informed man, and at the time of his death
had accumulated quite an extensive library of books,
mostly in the German language, and on one of the
fly-leaves at the end of many of the volumes he left a
memorandum in his own handwriting, stating that
he had read the book through, and expressing his
opinion of the contents.
By his first wife Herman Witmer had one son,
Dr. John Witmer, born May 10, 1785, who married
Anna Baer, and died Dec. 14, 1847, leaving a widow
and nine children. His widow was born Nov. 24,
1789, and died May 3T, 1854. By his second wife
Herman Witmer had two children, Jacob .S. and
Elizabeth. The latter was born Dec. 25, 1813, be-
came the wife of Daniel Graybill, a farmer of East
Hempfield township, and died Dec. 21, 1885, leaving
a husband and five children — Magdalena (wife of
Daniel Kreider), Herman W., Amos, Benjamin and
David W. The husband and father died Oct. 29^
1890.
Herman Witmer divided his land, the 200-acre
tract, during his lifetime, between his two sons, giv-
ing to John a little the larger portion. Although
having suffered a heavy loss through a loan and en-
dorsement for an unworthy friend, he was still suf-
ficiently prosperous to leave, at the time of his death,
cash and securities sufficient to give to the daughter,
Elizabeth, an equal share in money.
Jacob S. Witmer, son of Herman, was born Jan.
II, 1804. He married Mary, oldest daughter of
Abraham and Elizabeth Rohrer, of Manor township,
on May 30, 1826. She was bom Aug. 15, 1802, and
died Aug. 23, 1877. To them were born ten chil-
dren— five sons and five daughters. He carried on
farming nearly all his lifetime. In 1837 he sold
his portion of the original farm to his half-brother.
Dr. John Witmer, and purchased another farm, in
the western part of the township, which he occupied
until 1865, when he sold it also and retired to private
life in the village of Millersville until after the death
of his wife, when he made his home with his son,
A. R. Witmer, during the remainder of his life. He
was a m.an of strict integrity, of a kindly disposition,
a reliable and helpful friend to the poor, ever willing
and ready to do a favor, even when against his own
interest, and thereby was often imposed on, and suf-
fered numerous financial losses in consequence. He
possessed good business abilities, and was very ac-
curate and methodical in all business matters, and
settled up more decedents' estates, as executor and
administrator, than any other person in his section
of Manor township. He was assessor and a school,
director of Manor township for many years. He
also held the offices of prison inspector and county
and township auditor, but was never a professional
politician.
It may not be out of place to remark that all the
members of this Witmer family, from the Swiss pro-
penitor down to the present time, always voted the
Republican ticket, or what had previously l^een its
equivalent. Jacob S. Witmer was a good penman,
a very rapid writer, and very industrious reader, but
never a devoted student. He died March 12, 1890.
Of the ten children, Elizabeth, born Aug. 17,
1828, was married March 16, 1849, to Joseph
5. Berger, a son of Philip Berger, of Manor town-
ship. In 1865 they moved to Canton, Ohio, where
they and their children still reside. Henry R. Wit-
mer, born April 6, 1830, married, Nov. 25, 1852,
Fanny Kindig, a daughter of John Kindig, of Manor
township, and in 1866 moved to Canton, Ohio, and
a few years later from thence to Jasper county, Iowa,
where he died March 30, 1899. His widow and chil-
dren still reside there. Anna was born Nov. 14,
183 1, and on Dec. 27, 1863, was married to Eman-
uel S. Frey, of Manor township. In 1865 they
moved to Jasper county, Iowa, where he died Oct.
14, 1901. His widow and two sons still survive.
Jacob R. Witmer was born Dec. 29, 1833, and, after
returning irom the war for the Union, became a
tesident of Jasper county, Iowa, and there, on Julv
4, 1869, married Elizabeth Kindig, a daughter of
John Kindig, of the same place. She died Feb.
6, 1900. Himself and children still reside there.
Benjamin R. Witmer was born March 19, 1835, and
on Dec. 23, 1856, married Catharine Kauffman, a
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
547
daughter of Isaac KaufiEman, of Manor township.
He located in Millersville, and died there Feb. 27,
1901. The widow and several of the children still
reside there. Mary was born July 28, 1836, was mar-
ried to Michael R. Shank Oct. 28, 1856, and became
the mother of fourteen children. They and some
•of the children reside in the city of Lancaster. Bar-
bara was born Feb. 3, 1839, was married Dec. 24,
1871, to Dr. John A. Knox, of Jasper county, Iowa,
and died there May 19, 1873, survived by her hus-
band, but no children. Lydia was born June 7, 184T,
was never married, and has her home with her
brother, A. R. Witmer. Daniel L. Witmer, the
youngest of the family, was born Sept. 27, 1845, and
Dec. 21, 1869, married Esther Witmer, yoi'mgest
daughter of Jacob Witmer, Sr., of Manor township.
He died Jan. 21, 1882. His widow and several of
tlie children reside in Millersville. Jacob, Benja-
min and Daniel, of this large family, enlisted in the
Union army and served during the war of the Re-
bellion.
Abraham R. Witmer, the eldest of this
family of children, was born April 12, 1827,
and raised on a farm, where he was tied
down to hard work until he was eighteen,
and up to that time had but once enjoyed the pleasure
of getting beyond fifteen miles from home. His early
educational advantages were those of the public
schools, such as they were in the rural districts from
sixty to seventy years ago, and he was never favored
with admittance to any other. But he was remark-
ably studious at home, taking more pleasure in read-
ing and study than in play, and thus improved many
an hour snatched from the ceaseless drudgery of the
farm. Several years before quitting school he had
outstripped every other pupil in it, regardless of
age or size. In 1846 the school board of Manor
township tendered him a school, which he accepted,
and taught seven winter terms within the township,
to the satisfaction of the board and patrons. During
his last term he made arrangements with a chance ac-
quaintance of a few years before to take up the study
and practice of surveying with him, at Williams-
ville, Erie Co., N. Y. ; and, at the close of his school,
went thither, remained a year and a half, and then
returned to his old neighborhood, near Safe Har-
bor, in Manor township^ where he purchased sixteen
acres of land, cut off from a farm, whereon he built
a comfortable home which he still occupies, and com-
menced housekeeping, having been married just
previously to making the New York State arrange-
ment, and taken his wife along to board with him in
the family of his employer and instructor. He soon
became very successful in his new line of business,
embracing surveying, scrivening and clerking of pub-
lic sales of real and personal property, along with
farming on a small scale.
A few years later he was elected assessor of
Manor township, and served four years. In 1862
he was elected a justice of the peace of Manor town-
ship, and has been re-elected every term since, and
still holds the office, with, probably, less costs to the
county than any other justice in it — his official fees
in all the cases returned to court during forty years
not yet amounting to one hundred dollars. In 1863
he was elected county surveyor, and held the office
nine years. He also served as deputy coroner over
Manor, Conestoga and Martic townships for nine
years.
While teaching his winter term of 1851-52 Mr.
Witmer took up the science of phonography, or
short-hand writing, studying from text-books on the
subject, without a single lesson from a teacher.
There was then but one system, Benjamin Pitman's,
and it was not taught outside of the larger cities, and
was then something new and unheard of in the rural
districts. As he was then boarding at a country
tavern, where the young men of the neighborhood
congregated nearly every evening to enjoy thmselves
playing cards and dominoes and teasing him for
wasting his time in studying nonsense, as they
termed it, mstead of joining in with them, his bar-
room studies received many interruptions, but, heed-
less of their sneers and gibes, in due course of time
he mastered the system to his satisfaction. In 1853
he commenced keeping a diary of the daily events of
the neighborhood, of his business,, incomes and ex-
penses, state of the weather, and many other things,
and which he has kept up without missing a day
up to the present time ; and all written in short-hand,
and with special care to write plainly rather than
speedily. All his diaries, from first to last, now fifty
in number, are models of neatness and accuracy, and
carefully preserved.
Being fond of travel, after several shorter excur-
sions, Mr. Witmer made his first tour to the Western
country in the spring of 1849, leaving Lancaster with
two trunks, full of a miscellaneous assortment of
books, to sell along the way to pay expenses. He
traveled mostly by canal, along up the Susquehanna
and west branch, and in course of time reached Pitts-
burg, where he replenished his stock, and started
down the Ohio by steamboat, with less than a dollar
in his pocket. On leaving Cincinnati he took passage
aboard a White Water Canal Packet to Cambridge
City, Indiana. By the time he arrived there he had
learned that in order to sell books with success he
was obliged to either strain the truth or not tell it
all, and thereby became disgusted with the business,
boxed up the few remaining volumes on hand, and
shipped them back home by freight. Making in-
quiry, he soon found a three weeks' job of honest
work at sawing and splitting cooper stuff in the
woods, and then a month's work at haying, harvest-
ing and threshing on a farm, mowing grass with the
scythe, and raking and binding wheat after a cradle.
After a visit to Hamilton and Tipton counties he
bought a pair of horses and rode all the way back
home from Indianapolis, over 600 miles, on horse-
back, arriving a few days in advance of the appointed
time to take charge of his school.
His second tour he made in the spring of 1851,
548
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
extending it beyond the Mississippi, where the most
i^eliable mode of travel then was by going afoot and
higging your baggage on your back, as there was
then not a mile of railroad west of the great river,
nor a single bridge across it anywhere. After
trudging over 250 miles afoot over the sparsely
settled western prairies of Iowa and Illinois,
he returned to Indiana, purchased three horses
and rode all the way back home on horseback,
a second time. Since then he has been in every State
and Territory in the TJnioA with the exception of
South Dakota; also in Mexico, British Columbia,
the Klondike and headwaters of the Yukon, Ontario
and Quebec. 7\.mong the endless variety of grand
scenery abounding within the United States which
he has visited and described in his numerous letters
of correspondence for publication in The New Era
and other Lancaster papers, are the Falls of Niagara ;
the White Mountains of New Hampshire ; the Nat-
ural Bridge of Virginia; the Caverns of Luray;
Pike's Peak, on the top of which he spent a night,
nearly three miles above sea level ; the Yellowstone
National Park, spending a week therein ; the Grand
Canyon of the Colorado, and the Petrified Forest
of Arizona; the Ybsemite Valley and the Mariposa
Grove of Big Trees in California ; the Garden of the
Gods in Colorado ; the Bad Lands Region of Deso-
lation in the Western part of North Dakota ; the pic-
tured rocks along the south shore of Lake Superior ;
and many other places of wonderful interest.
Mr. Witmer has visited and become familiar with
nearlv all the large cities of the United States and
British America, including Sitka, Juneau, Skagway
and other small, but important, towns in Alaska.
He has visited the extensive copper mines of Lake
Superior; the Treadwell Gold Mine, the largest in
Alaska ; the Sweet Water Dam, ninety feet in height,
and the Tuolumne Dam, lOi feet in height, both in
("alifornia, and built at enormous expense for irri-
gation purposes; the Lick Observatory on top of
Mount Hamilton, mounted with the monster tele-
scope, 50^4 feet in length, through which he peered
into the crater of an extinct volcano on the surface
of the moon : the great Brooklyn bridge ; the steel
arch bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis ; and
the steel tubular bridge across the St. Lawrence, at
Montreal, which are stupendous works of ingenious
mechanical engineering skill, and he has spent hours
at a time in viewing each of them from different
points of vantage.
He has traveled afoot, on horseback, stage-
coach, prairie schooner, canal packet, river, lake and
ocean steamer; by steamer on the Hudson, the Po-
tomac, the St. John's, the Oklawaha, the Niagara,
the St. Lawrence, the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Illi-
nois, the Columbia, Puget Sound, Long Island
Sound, all the Great Lakes and several coast lines
on the i-\tlantic and Pacific.
Mr. Witmer has always keep strict account of all
his business matters. Also a complete record of
the leading lines of his scrivening, clerking, survey-
ing, and, among other things, he has written 156
wills, nearly 1,400 deeds and mortgages, and clerked
without assistance 784 public sales of real estate and
personal property. He has also settled up twenty-
four estates as executor, administrator and assignee
of the same ; and was appointed and served as guar-
dian for quite a number of minor children. He is,
and always has been, strictly temperate in his habits,
and has never used intoxicants nor tobacco in any
form. He says he has been trying for years past to
get out of business, but finds it is now more difficult
to get out of it than it was to get in.
Mr. Witmer was married Dec. 16, 1852, to Fanny
Buckwalter, a daughter of Jacob and Fanny Buck-
waiter, of Manor township. She was born Aug. 4,
1827, and died July 31, 1887. To them were born,
five children, the second and third of which died
in infancy. The eldest, Annie B. Witmer, was born
Dec. 22, 185.1, and Oct. 24, 1876, was married to
Henry G. Wittmer, a son of John Wittmer, Sr., a
farmer of near Blue Rock, in Manor township. To-
them was born an only child, Clara W. Wittmer, on
Oct. 31, 1890. They .acquired one of the several
farms of his father, on which they reside, and culti-
vate the same. Ellen B. Witmer was born Sept. 30,
1862, remains unmarried, and has her home with her
sister, Annie. She is greatly interested in, and de-
votes much of her time and aid to church, mission-
ary and Sunday-school work. Allen B. Witmer,
born Nov. 28, 1865, married Bertha Steigelman, a
daughter of John Steigelman, late of Manor town-
ship, deceased. He carries on a general store at
Masonville, and is postmaster of Letort, at the same
place. To them have been born three children,
Charles M. Witmer, on Jan. 31, 1891 ; Mary S. Wit-
mer, on June 22, 1892 ; and Ada E. Witmer, on Oct..
6, 1901. The latter died March i, 1902.
EDWARD CORNELIUS HALL (deceased),
who for many years successfully conducted the "Del-
monico," the well-known hotel on Center Square,
Lancaster, and at the same time carried on classes-
for dancing and deportment, was born in Strasburg,
Lancaster Co., Pa., Sept i, 1854.
Mr. Hall was a son of Carpenter and Elizabeth
(Treen") Hall, of Strasburg, who removed to Lan-
caster when Edward C. was a small boy. They had
a family of eight children, as follows : Abram C-
and Joseph, both residents of Canton, Ohio ; John
F., in Massillon, Ohio; Edward C, whose name
introduces this sketch ; and Harry, Albert, Miss
Ella and Ida (wife of George Swain), all four resi-
dents of Lancaster.
After following various occupations Edward C.
Hall engaged in the hotel and cafe business, which
he carried on with marked success for sixteen years
or more, his place of business being known as the
"Delmonico." For eighteen years, ably assisted by
JVIrs. Hall, he conducted dancing classes, which in
their day were the most popular in Lancaster, recei\'-
ing the patronage of the best people of the city. Mr-
A
(l
^^^ . S. Ji^^^c^^^..
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
649
Hall died Dec. 6, 1899, at the age of forty-five years,
in the prime of hfe, and so popular and highly es-
teemed was he that it seemed as if the entire city
attended his funeral to pay the last sad tribute of
•esteem and regard. He was a Knight Templar
Mason, a member of the Knights of Pythias, Knights
«f the Golden Eagle, Knights of Malta, and Arti-
sans. In politics he was a Democrat.
In 1875 Mr. tlall was married to Miss Sarah
Matilda Afflebach, daughter of the late Daniel Affle-
bach, who belonged to an old and well known family
of this section. He died just ten weeks after the
-decease of Mr. Hall. To this union were born four
children, as follows: Miss Mabel Gray, living at
home; Charles Willison, who is learning the jewel-
•er's trade with L. C. Reisner & Co. ; Walter Daniel,
attending Yeates Institute ; and Reah Baker, also at
school.
Mrs. Hall bravely took hold of the work her hus-
Toand had laid down, and the "Delmonico" is kept
fully up to the high popular standard it has all along
Tnaintained.
CYRUS D. STAUFFER. A prominent mem-
l>er of one of the old Lancaster county families
which has long been noted for those qualities which
have given this locality its high standing, is Cyrus
D. Stauffer, now a retired farmer of West Donegal
township, in the outskirts of Elizabethtown, where
he erected his fine brick mansion in 1893.
Cyrus D. Stauffer was born May 21, 1843, son
of Samuel K. and Mary (Dieffenderfer) Stauffer,
of Mt. Joy township. The former died in 1895, in
East Donegal township, aged eighty-one years, and
his widow survived three years, dying at the age
of seventy-five, both being buried in Bossier's
Meeting House cemetery, in West Donegal town-
ship. For a decade prior to his death, he lived a
retired life. Both he and his wife belonged to the
Old Mennonite Church. Their children were as
follows : Aaron D., a retired farmer in East Done-
gal township ; Cyrus D. ; and Samuel D., a prom-
inent resident of Lancaster.
On Sept. 20, 1866, at the home of the bride, in
West Donegal township, Cyrus D. Stauffer was
married to Miss Susan E. Heisey, and the children
born to this union were : M. Grace, who married
Benjamin F. Hoffman, of Conoy township; Dora
M., who married R. S. Buch, a manufacturer of
Elizabethtown ; Irvin H., who is the teller in the
Exchange Bank, in Elizabethtown; Katie H., at
home ; and Mary, Paul H. and Abner H., who all
died young.
Mrs. Stauffer was born May 9, 1845, ii^ West
Donegal township, daughter of Henry B. and Cath-
•erine (WoJgemuth) Heisey, both of whom were
horn in Mt. Joy township, but died in West Done-
gal, where Mr. Heisey was a farmer in his earlier
years, and where he lived for thirty, years prior to
his death in retirement from activity of that kind.
He died in 1895 at th? age of eighty-seven, his wife
having died in 1890, when seventy-four years old.
Both were buried in Pleasant Hill cemetery, in West
Donegal township. They were most estimable.
Christian people, devoted members of the River
Brethren Church.
Until 1893 Cyrus D. Stauffer continued to farm
the old homestead, during which time every part
of his domain was kept up to its full measure of
capacity, winning for Mr. Stauffer the reputation
of being one of the best farmers in his locality.
For several terms Mr. Stauffer served West Don-
egal township on its school board. He belongs to
the Brethren in Christ Church and is a man highly
respected by all who know him.
• Irvin H. .Stauffer. teller in the Exchange
Bank, of Elizabethtown, Pa., was born Sept. 25,
1870, in West Donegal township. His education
was acquired in the common schools and vmtil he
was seventeen years of age, he assisted his father
on the farm. As he advanced to early manhood,
the restrictions of rural life and the limited oppor-
tunities for development of business ability, caused
him to seek a position as clerk in Lancaster. For
a year and a half he clerked in a clothing store in
this city, but desiring to perfect himself in the
higher branches of knowledge, he resigned this po-
sition and became a student at the Millersville
State Normal School. There he took two courses,
returning home in the spring of 1890, in time to
accept the responsible place offered him of teller
in the Exchange Bank, in Elizabethtown. In this
position he has made a record for faithful service
and is in direct line of promotion, possessing every
qualification for a successful financial career. He
takes an intelligent interest in politics, belongs to
the Republican party and is prominent in social life.
He is a member of Christ's Reformed Church, is
one of its liberal supporters and a promoter of
every worthy enterprise in his community.
On Nov. 27, 1901, he was married to Miss Cora
McAllister, daughter of Jacob and Barbara (Grei-
der) McAllister, of Pequea township. She was
born July 5, 1873.
DANIEL ZIMMERMAN. Among the re-
spected and substantial farmer-citizens of West
Earl township, is Daniel Zimmerman, who resides
in great comfort upon his fine farm of seventy-
three acres, located about one mile from the village
of West Earl.
Daniel Zimmerman was born Dec. 25, 1846, a
son of Emanuel and Mary (Stauffer) Zimmer-
man, the former of whom was well known as a good
farmer and worthy citizen. The family of Eman-
uel and Mary Zimmerman numbered nine children,
these being : David, deceased ; Jacob, a farmer of
Earl township ; Daniel ; Samuel, a farmer of Earl
Annie, the wife of Samuel Abot, a farmer of Earl
Elizabeth, the wife of Jacob Horst, an Earl farmer
Mary, the wife of John Good, of West Earl ; Lydia^
at home ; and one child who died }'oung. Mr. Zim-
550
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
merman was born in 1823 and died in 1895, while
his wife was born in 1822, and died in 1892. The
grandfather of Daniel was Christian Zimmerman,
a man of means in his day, whose ancestors came
to America from Germany, and he and his wife
reared a family of ten children: John, Christian,
David, Jacob, Martin, Elizabeth, Barbara, Susan,
Emanuel and Peter.
Daniel Zimmerman was reared on the farm and
all his life has taken a great interest in agriculture.
His present farm gives every evidence of good man-
agement, for his buildings are of the best construc-
tion and all of the other improvements thoroughly
modern. Mr. Zimmerman was educated in the pub-
lic schools, and he has supplemented this with read-
ing, so that he is one of the intelligent and progres-
sive men of the township.
Daniel Zimmerman was married in 1870 to Miss
Annie Erb, a daughter of Jacob L. and Elizabeth
(Groif) Erb, of West Earl township, and this union
has been blessed with two sons and two daughters :
Benjamin, a farmer of West Earl ; Martin, who re-
sides at home ; Mary, the wife of Christian Risser,
of Clay township ; and Elizabeth, the wife of Will-
iam Good, of West Earl township.
In politics, Mr. Zimmerman is a staunch Re-
publican; and he is a consistent member of the
Mennonite Church. His personal character is high,
and he enjoys the esteem of the whole community.
SIMON DENLINGER, a retired farmer of
Leacock township, and one of the most highly es-
teemed and upright residents of that community,
was born in Paradise township, Oct. 23, 1845, a son
of John and Mary (Brubaker) Denlinger. His fa-
ther was born in Paradise township, and his mother
in West Hempfield. The father, who was a farmer
all his life, died in 1895, at the age of seventy-nine
years, his wife having passed to her reward two
vears previously, at the age of seventy-eight. The
remains of both are resting in the Hess cemetery, of
Salisbury township. Mr. Denlinger had retained
his physical abilities to such an extent that he had
been retired only six years before his death. He
and his wife were members of the Mennonite
Church.
To Mr. and Mrs. John Denlinger were born the
following children : Franie, who died young ; Bar-
bara and John, both unmarried, and living on the
old farm; Lizzie, who is the widow of Elias Lea-
man, and has her home in Intercourse, Pa. ; Samuel,
a retired farmer in Paradise township; Elias, a re-
tired farmer in Salisbury township; Simon; Jacob;
Mary, wife of H. E. Musser, of Paradise, Pa.,
whose sketch may be found elsewhere; Tobias, of
whom a sketch is given elsewhere, died in 1898;
Christiann, married to Henry Hershey, of Inter-
course, Pa. ; Evaline, wife of E. H. Hostetter, liv-
ing in Leacock township.
Simon Denlinger was married Nov. 24, 1870,
in Paradise township, to Anna Mary Leaman, by
whom he became the father of the following fam-
ily : Noah B., a farmer, and engaged in the culti-
vation of the old Denlinger homestead and married
to Hannah Eby; Leaman J., a farmer in Leacock
township, who married Emma Hoover, and with
whom Mr. Denlinger makes his home; Jason, whQ
died in infancy ; Harry, living on the old homestead
with his brother Noah.
Mrs. Anna M. Denlinger was born in Leacock
township, March 14, 1851, and died Aug. 10, 1897.
Her remains rest in the Hess cemetery, Salisbury
township. She was the daughter of Jacob and
Lydia (Buckwalter) Leaman, both of Lancaster
county. They were the parents of the following
children: Catherine, who is the widow of John
Kreider, and resides in Paradise township ; Susan,
married to Ephraim Hershey, of Salisbury town-
ship; Elam, a farmer in Leacock township, mar-
ried to Mina Landis; Jacob, a farmer in Leacock
township, who married Annie Hershey; Anna M.,
the wife of Mr. Denlinger; Frank, of Gordonville,.
Pa., married to Ida Hershey; Ezra, a cigar box
manufacturer in Paradise township, married to
Grace Hunsecker. The father, Jacob Leaman, a
farmer, died and his widow married Albert Deffen-
baugh, registrar of wills at Greenland, Pennsyl-
vania.
Mr. Denlinger remained with his parents unti!
his marriage, when he began farming in Hempfield
township, in which he was engaged eleven years-
At the end of that period he removed to a farm in
Paradise township, on which he was located untif
1898, when he retired, and came to live with his son.
Both he and his wife were members of the Mennon-
ite Church; in his politics he is a Republican.
AMOS P. SMITH. Among the honorable and
respected farmers of Drumore township is Amos
P. Smith, who resides on his fine farm of 115 acres,
situated less than a mile from Fairfield, Pa. Mr.
Smith was a grandson of Joseph Smith, who was
a native of Chester county, Pa., coming to Lancas-
ter county when a young man. There he married
Tracy Shoemaker, of Drumore township, who was
born in 1806, he being five years her senior, and
they had a family of four children who grew to ma-
turity: Rachel, a resident of Drumore township;
George and Amos, twins ; and Ellen W., who is the
wife of Hon. William Brosius, a member of the
Legislature from this district, more extended men-
tion of whom may be found elsewhere.
George Smith, the father of Amos P., was born
in 1825, and married Emily Tennis, who was bom
in 1826. They were married in 1848 and reared
four children: Amos P., who was born Oct. 4,
1849; Annie M., born Feb. 15, 1852, wife of Gard-
ner Crawford, of Perryville, Md. ; Gerritt, born
Oct. 17, 1857, who resides on the old home place,
and whose biography appears in this work; and
Ellsworth, born Sept. 6, 1861, who died while stil!
a young man.
BTDGRAPHICAL ANNALS. OF ■ LANGIASTER COUNTY;
551
Amos P. Smith was married on Dec. 5, 1871,
to Lydia S. . Lamborn, who was a daughter of
Smedley and Margaret (Bolton) Lamborn, of Mar-
tic township. She was ..born Oct. 29, 1851. This
marriage has been blessed with these children:
Ellsworth W., born Nov. 27, 1877, at home, unmar-
ried; Eva May, born Jan. 2, 1882; Edna R., June
14, 1884; Emeline T., Oct. 24, 1886; Joseph E.,
Jan. 4, 1890; and George A., Sept. 22, 1892.
Mrs. Smith was reared in a family of ten chil-
dren, as follows : George S., of Martic township ;
Aquilla B., of Britain township; Emeline, the wife
of Joseph Shoemaker, of Drumore township; Ell-
wood, deceased ; William, deceased ; Mary E., the
wife of Thomas B. tlamhleton, a merchant of Fern-
glen, whose sketch appears .elsewhere; Sarah E.,
the wife of Jacob K. Brown, of Fulton township,
whose sketch is a part of this volume; Alice, the
wife of William L. Shoemaker, .of Fulton • town-
ship, whose sketch also appears; Lucinda, the wife
of Benjamin F. Tennis; and Lydia S., the wife, of
Mr. Smith. :r\ •.
-The fine, well-improved farm which is now the
home of Mr. Smith and his family was purchased
by him in 1899, and is one of the most desirable
properties in this county. . It is under excellent cul-
tivation, while the attractive residence, commodious
barns, fruitful orchards and complete fencing, show
that Mr. Smith is a very capable manager of it all,
Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics, although
in no way a politician, and both he and his wife
manifest a great interest in the welfare of the local-
ity. As he was reared, so he has continued, a con-
sistent and worthy member of the Society of
Friends. ' He has taken a great interest in the work-
ings of the W. C. T. U., believing it to be a great
moral factor, and his daughter Eva is the secretary
of the Union at Fairfield. This is one of the truly
representative families of Drumore township.
JOSEPH H. BEILER. Among the passen-
gers on the ship, the "Charming Polly," which
sailed from Rotterdam and landed its cargo at Phil-
adelphia, Pa., on Oct. 8, 1737, was one Jacob Beiler,
who bought land in eastern Pennsylvania and reared
there a family. His son, Christopher S., was a res-
ident of Chester county, as was also his son. Chris-
tian. The next in line was John, who was a son of
Christian and he was the grandfather of our sub-
ject, Joseph H. Beiler, of Upper Leacock township,
in Lancaster county.
John Beiler was born in East Lampeter town-
ship and married Elizabeth Lapp. They were farm-
ing people and members of the Old Mennonite
Church. John Beiler died in Union, county. Pa., in
1868, at the age of eighty-six years, but his widow
survived until 1877, dying at the home of one of her
children, in Upper Leacock township, at the age of
eighty-four years.
Deacon John L. Beiler, son of John Beiler, was
born in Lancaster county and was about two years
old when, his parents removed to Mifflin county,
where he married and remained until 1854, when
he returned to Lancaster county and located on a
farm in East Lampeter township. There he died
in 189::?,. aged seventy-five years, six months and
three days. The mother of our subject was born in
Mifflin county and lived until 1874, dying at the age
of fifty-four. They lie side by side in the old bury-
ing ground known as Rancks, in East Lampeter
township. Both wer,e pious and worthy members
of .the* Amish order of the Mennonite Church.
From. 1866 to his death, in 1892, John L. Beiler held
the honorable office of deacon in the church. This
worthy man was held in the highest esteem through
the locality.
The children born to Deacon John L. Beiler and
his. wife were : ' David, who lived to be forty years
old;; Elizabeth, who liyes in East Lampeter town-
ship,, unmarried; Joseph H. ; Nancy; Sarah; Je-
mima, who married, John Zook, a farmer of Upper
Leacock toyvnship; John, who died at the age of
thipty-one; Samuel, the farmer on the old home-
stead, near Witmer, Pa.; Joel; Rebecca, who died
in infancy; Mary, who died unmarried, at the age
of thirty-five. EHzabeth, Nancy, Sarah a:nd Joel
are all single and reside together on the old farm in
East; Lampeter fownship, highly esteemed in their
neighborhood.
Joseph H. Beiler acquired his education in the
district schools and remained on the home farm, as-
sisting his , father, , until he was about twenty-two
years of age, at which time he began to learn the
carpenter trade and worked at it for the following
three years. However, he later decided to return
to farming and began operations on land in the vi-
cinity of Gordonville, Pa., where he remained until
1875, when he came to his present fine farm, lo-
cated a quarter of a mile 'south of Mechanicsburg,
on the New Holland turnpike. Here in connection
with his farming he has conducted a threshing out-
fit, but since 1892 he has been retired from activ-
ity, his son-in-law carrying on operations on the
farm.
Although Mr. Beiler has retired from active
labor, it is not on account of age, as he was born in
Mifflin county, on June 11, 1845, and is still in the
prime of life. His parents were John L. and Lydia
(Hertzler) Beiler, of whom mention has been made.
On Dec. 15, 1870, in Leacock township, Joseph
H. Beiler was married to Miss Sarah Kauffman,
and to this union was born one daughter, Anna K.,
who married Moses P. Stoltz, who manages Mr.
Beiler's farm. To. Mr. and Mrs. Stoltz three chil-
dren have been born, Daniel, Joseph and Sarah.
Mrs. Sarah (Kaufifman) Beiler was born in
Leacock township, Jan. 11, 1850, a daughter of
John Kaufifman and Susan King, the former of
whom was born in Mifflin county, and the latter in
Lancaster county. Mr. Kauffman was a large
farmer and died in Leacock township on April 3,
1898, at the age of seventy-six years. He had been
552
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
one of the leading men of his county, and was town-
ship auditor at one time, but for some years had
Hved retired from active duties. The mother of
Mrs. Beiler was born in 1826 and now resides in
the daughter's family, every member of which is
solicitous for her comfort. Both she and her hus-
band belonged to the Old Mennonite Church. Their
children were: Samuel, who died young; Eliza-
beth, who married John S. Fisher, and resides in
East Lampeter township ; Sarah, the wife of Joseph
H. Beiler ; Jacob, who is a farmer of Leacock town-
ship ; Susan, who married John B. Fisher, now a re-
tired farmer of this township ; Ely, who is a farmer
in Leacock township; Salome, who died young;
and Rebecca, who died at the age of twenty years.
The grandparents of Mrs. Beiler were old and most
highly esteemed citizens of this part of the State,
those on the father's side being John and Eliza
(Lapp) KauflEman, natives of Chester county, while
those on the mother's side were John and Eliza
(Stoltzfus) King, both natives of Leacock town-
ship. All were farmers and religiously connected
with the Old Mennonite Church.
Joseph H. Beiler has been a life-long Repub-
lican, although he has taken no very active part in
politics, contenting himself with doing his duty as
a citizen. For three years he served his township
as school director and has always shown interest
in all measures promising advantage to the county.
Both he and~his family are connected with the Old
Mennonite Church and he is known to be a man of
integrity and high character.
DAVID H. HESS, a blacksmith of Conestoga
township, is a son of Daniel Hess. The father,
Daniel Hess, was a blacksmith, who learned his
trade with a man named Johnson, in Pequea town-
ship, and followed it all his life. For a number of
years before his death, in 1866, he was connected
with the Old. Mennonite Church. He was a
stanch Democrat in politics, but never sought office.
He married Mary, daughter of Isaac Hoak,
of Slackwater. They were the parents of nine chil-
dren: Christina, wife of Cyrus Stombaugh, of
Millersville ; Tobias, who was drowned in the Con-
estoga about twenty years ago while fishing; Isaac
H., bar-tender for Mrs. Caroline Hoak, of Millers-
ville ; David H. ; John F. M., of Sterling, 111., a car-
penter; Martin H., of Conestoga township, a to-
bacco farmer ; Henry H., of Sterling, 111. ; Lizzie,
wife of Stephen Watson, Conestoga township, a
farmer ; Fannie, wife of John Benge, a paper-maker
in Delaware.
David H. Hess was born Oct. 8, 1855, in Cones-
toga Center. His father died when he was only
eleven years old. He was soon thereafter hired
out to Jacob B. Herr, a farmer in Pequea township,
where he remained four years. He then worked
for Jacob B. Stetman, of Conestoga, for two years.
After this he went with Cyrus H. Stombaugh, of
Millersville, to learn the blacksmith trade and he
remained there three years. He then removed to
Rock Hill, started in business for himself, and has
remained there ever since.
In February, 1877, he was married to Barbara,
daughter of Jacob Burkhart, of Conestoga. They
are the parents of four children, Minnie E., Susan
B., Oscar B. and Charles H., all at home. In addi-
tion to Mr. Hess' blacksmith business, he has a
farm of thirty acres which he uses for raising vege-
tables for market. He rents a stand in the Southern
Market, Lancaster City, where he disposes of his
produce every Saturday afternoon. Mr. Hess had
a common school education but has studied the top-
ics of the day since reaching mature age and is well
posted on all matters of general interest. He has
been successful through his own efforts and is an
honored citizen of his neighborhood.
CHRISTIAN WISE, of the firm of Wise Bros.,
successful brick manufacturers of Lancaster, Pa.,
whose products find a ready sale throughout the
entire county and neighboring districts, is one of
the enterprising business men of the city, and was
formerly a member of the common council. He was
bom Dec. 18, 1845, ^^ Baden, Germany, son of Adam
and Catherine (Meister) Wise, also natives of Ger-
many.
Adam Wise was a weaver in his native land,
and after his marriage he emigrated to America, ar-
riving in Lancaster, Pa., in April, 1847. For some
time after his arrival Mr. Wise was employed in un-
loading coal on the "Engleside," and later engaged
in the manufacture of brick in the employ of George
Kautz, of whom he learned the business. In 1871
he embarked in that line of business for himself,
assisted by his sons, and continued in the same until
his death, which occurred March 4, 1875, when he
was not quite fifty-eight years of age. His wife,
who has now reached an advanced age, resides at
Lancaster. Her father, Lanhait Meister, also emi-
grated to America, and died in Lancaster at the age
of eighty-two. Adam Wise was a Democrat in poli-
tics, in which he took a deep interest. His religious
connections were with the Reformed Church. To
himself and wife eleven children were born, but only
three grew to maturity. Christian, John V. and
Louisa, Mrs. Beaumann, all residing in Lancaster.
John V. Wise, ex-president of the select council of
Lancaster, and one of the leading members of the
Democratic party of this locality, was nominated
county commissioner on the Democratic ticket June
6, 1902. He is the partner of his brother. Christian,
in the firm of Wise Bros. He is a veteran of the
Civil war, and was one of the youngest soldiers re-
ceived into service. On June 23, 1872, John V. Wise
married Margaret Kroft.
When Christian Wise was only eighteen months
old his parents took him to the New World, the little
party landing upon the free soil of their future
home after a stormy voyage of forty-five days. His
boyhood days were spent in Lancaster, where he
Aeyhf^M^/^an^ /^S^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
663
attended the common schools and worked in a brick-
yard. Later he attended school during the winter,
learning at the same time the trade of cigarmaker,
which he put to good use after his return from the
war. But when his father and brother John entered
into the brick business, he joined them and since that
time has devoted all his time and attention to this
branch of industrial life. The brickyards and kilns
owned by Wise Bros., the two brothers succeeding
to sole control after the demise of their father, in
1875, are the best equipped in the county, and are
well adapted to the immense volume of business an-
nually transacted by the firm. The plant is located on
the comer of Manor and Prospect streets, the yards
covering twelve acres, and the plant is fully supplied
with a 30-horse-power engine and all requisite brick-
making machinery. When running full force employ-
ment is given to forty men. There are three kilns
and the annual output averages 3,500,000 brick.
In addition to the manufacture of ordinary bricks,
the firm have a large demand for pressed and hand
moulded varieties. The clay used is of the very best
quality, and great care is exercised in every process
of manufacture. In 1881 Mr. Wise bought a i6o-
acre farm near Richmond, Va., and lived there two
years.
On Feb. 25, 1864, although then scarcely nineteen
years old, Mr. Wise enlisted in Co. C, 2d Pa. H. A.,
being mustered into service at Philadelphia and sent
to the front, and attached to the Army of the Po-
tomac, with which he participated in the battles of
the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor, and
the Siege of Petersburg. Later, he was transferred
to the Army of the James, under Gen. Butler, with
which he remained until the surrender. On July 4,
1864, while on picket duty near Petersburg, on the
Richmond & Norfolk railroad, he. was wounded, a
bullet passing through his right cheek and coming
out at the back of his neck. Although given a justly
earned furlough, before two months had passed the
brave young soldier was at duty again, with his regi-
ment, in which he became corporal. While near
Petersburg, June 17, 1864, he had received a buck-
shot wound in the left knee. He was finally dis-
charged in February, 1866, after he had made a
war record of which he and his children may well be
proud.
In politics Mr. Wise has always been a stanch
Democrat, members of his family having supported
the principles of that organization from the time of
their location in Lancaster. About 1869 Mr. Wise
served as a member of the city council for one term,
and he always takes a most active part in all cam-
paigns ; he has served also as judge of election. Be-
ing recognized as a man of sterling merit, calm
judgment and keen discrimination, he is often called
upon to serve upon the petit juries. Socially he is
well and favorably known throughout the entire
community, and fraternally he is associated with
Monterey Lodge, I. O. O. F., and with the Knights
of Pythias. The family are members of the St.
John's Reformed Church of Lancaster.
In August, 1866, Mr. Wise married, in Lan-
caster, Emma R. Pyle, and the following children
have been born to them : Emma married John K.
Warren, a tailor of York, Pa., and they have had
seven children, two of whom are deceased; Adam,
with his father in the brickyard, and a resident of
Lancaster, married Catherine Benner, and they had
one child ; Frederick, also employed with his father,
married Ida Reece, and has had four children, one
of whom is deceased; Miss Mamie is at home;
Louisa married Samuel Charles, and they have three
children ; Kate married Benjamin Herr, of Lancas-
ter, and they have four children, one of whom is de-
ceased; Miss Minnie is at home. The family re-
side in a pleasant home built by Mr. Wise in 1886.
Mrs. Wise was born in Lancaster Oct. 8, 1843,
a daughter of Frederick and Catherine (Miller)
Pyle, of Lancaster. Frederick Pyle, who was a dis-
tiller, died Sept. 4, 1880, when he was sixty-two
years of age, while his wife died May 18, 1858, aged
forty-eight years, and both are buried in Lancaster
cemetery. They were members of the First Re-
formed and Trinity Churches, respectively. They
had the following family: Rebecca, who died in
childhood; George, of Brooklyn, N. Y.; Sarah,
widow of John Silvas, of Lancaster, Pa. ; John (de-
ceased), who was a soldier in the 79th P. V. I., and
was wounded; Emma R., Mrs. Wise; Mary (de-
ceased), who married Henry Leonard; Wa'shing-
ton, a railroad detective of Lancaster, Pa. (he was
a soldier in the 79th P. V. I.) ; Lucy, deceased ; Mar-
garet, deceased ; Philip, of Lancaster ; Allen, of Lan-
caster; Harry and Frederick, twins, the former of
whom died in childhood, the latter at the age of
twenty-two; and Joseph, deceased. .
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Wise were
Philip and Margaret (Wiikerson) Pyle, he a native
of Germany, and she of Virginia. The history of
Philip Pyle reads like one of the modern novels deal-
ing with by-gone days. Only eighteen, ignorant of
the language of the new land, he was sold in Vir-
ginia for his passage and remained there four years.
At the expiration of his period of bondage, he mar-
ried, and with his faithful wife made his way to
Lancaster, Pa., where he became a distiller and one
of the leading men of that city, dying in 1849, aged
seventy-eight. His wife survived him one year,
dying at the age of seventy-six, and both are buried
in Lancaster cemetery. They were consistent mem-
bers of the Reformed Church. The maternal grand-
father of Mrs. Wise was George Miller, of Lancas-
ter, a prominent pump manufacturer and leading
citizen.
HENRY AUGUSTUS ROLAND was born in
New Holland, Pa., Nov. 26, 1819, and died in that
borough, June 21, 1901. His remains rest in the
Trinity Lutheran cemetery at New Holland, Pa.
Mi
BIOGRAPHICAL. ANNALS OF .-^LANCASTER ^COUNTY
He was a lifelong resident of New Holland and
was descended, both paternally and maternally,
from pioneer Germans, those early Palatinate set-
tlers who, in 1709, on the invitation of Queen Anne,
fled from religious persecution on, the banks
of the Rhine in Germany to seek a haven in the
New World. Ever since their original land grant
from Thomas Penn, as early as 1733, the Rolands
have been large land owners, and have been prom-
inently identified for more than a century and a half
with the management and progress of affairs in the
community, Henry Augustus Roland was the. .fifth
of a family of seyen children born. to Henry and
Margaret (Seeger) Roland, and received his early
education at the New Holland free school and at
Beck's noted Academy at. Lititz, Pa. He .was mar-
ried in 1849 to Jane Whann Heyl,, a daughter of
Philip and Margaret (Whann). Heyl, of. Philadel-
phia, Pa., by whom he had the following family:
Oliver, a physician at Lancaster, Pa.; William H.,
an attorney at Lancaster, Pa.; Frederic A., cashier
of the. Second National Bank at Reading, . Pennsyl-
vania.
Possessed of a strong and. .logical mind, Mr.
Roland manifested from early manhood those ster-
ling qualities, of success, energy, accuracy, tact and
prevision in the successful management of the
many responsibilities that were, thrust upon him.
As a financier he was keen and alert, shrewd and
sagacious, yet prudent and cautious, qualities
which he lived to see bring him his well. earned in-
crement.
It has been truly said, ."he was progressive in
his ideas, and encouraged and supported every
movement calculated to advance the interests ot the
community in which he spent his entire lifetime^.'
He viras from early age a member of the Trinity
Lutheran Church, and was prominently identified
with the erection of their present church building
in 1850. He was, for over fifty years, a director
and manager of the New Holland Turnpike Com-
pany; was chosen president of. the Centennial Ju-
bilee at New Holland, July 4, 1876, and volunteered
much encouragement and assistance in the produc-
tion of the "History of the Three Earls."
He took an active part in the organization of the
New Holland National Bank, in which he was one
of the original stock holders, although magnani-
mously waiving all suggestion in its management,
owing to his growing years. He, nevertheless, al-
ways displayed a keen and solicitious interest in its
progress and success. He advocated the incorpora-
tion of New Holland into a borough, and was active
in the movement which led to that result in 1895.
He encouraged and supported in a substantial way
the organization of the New Holland Water Com-
pany, and was prominent and foremost in all pro-
gres.sive movements.
Although continually employed with financial
cares, he gave much time to literary pursuits, was
thoroughly conversant with the topics of the day.
whilst his voluminous reading extended to the high-
er sciences, to philosophy and to religious thought,
which his reasoning mind was so well adapted to
grasp. As a cultured gentleman, of genial dispo/'
sition, engaging manners and scrupulous integrity,
his companionship was much sought by his friends.
JOHN D. RUTHERFORD, a prosperous and
successful general farmer of Conoy tow.nship, Lan-
caster county, was born in Adams, county. Pa., July
II, 1834, and is a son of William and Leah (Deck-
er) Rutherford. , The parents came into Lancaster
county in 1840, and made their home in Bainbridge;
where their lives were spent. The father was a ma-
son by -trade, and did a tobaccco farming business.
When he died, in 188 1, he had. reached the age of
sixty-seven years. The mother, died in 1870, at the
age .of sixty years, and both were buried, in Bain-
bridge. • They were members of the . Lutheran and
the Reformed • Churches, respectively, and were, the
parents of the following family of . children : John
D.^; Leah, unmarried, who lives in Elizabethtown ;
Julia Ann and Martin, deceased; Levi, a stone ma-
son in Elizabethtown; Daniel, dead; William, a
stone mason, in Elizabethtown; Catherine, dead..;
Henry, a resident of Marietta.
Sam.uel Rutherford, the paternal grandfather of
John D., came from England, and-married a Ger-
man-bora woman, in Adams county, where their
married life. was spent and^ where he died; his wid-
ow died in Bainbridge, Lancaster county.
John D. Rutherford and Rachel A. Shelly were
married Nov. 13, 1859, i" Columbia, by Rev. Mr.
Menges, and to this union came the following chil-
dren : Mary Ann, now dead ; William L., who marr
ried Anna C. Lanstrum, and is a Lutheran pastor at
Dayton, Ohio ;.. Frances, the wife of Samuel Sap-
ling, a cigar maker in Philadelphia; Bellmina and
Mary, both deceased ; John, who married Emma
Dennison and lives in Philadelphia ; Effie, married to
William Harlan and living at home ; Bessie and
Emma (who married George Shields), both de-
ceased.
Mrs. Rachel A. Rutherford was born in Ches-
ter, Pa., Jan. 31,-1834, and is a daughter of God-
lib and Catherine (Iseman) Shelly, both born and
bred in Germany, where they married. When they
came to this country they settled in Chester, but
moved into Lancaster county in 1848, making their
home near New Holland. The father was a farmer,
and worked in tanneries during the winter season.
Born to them were John, deceased; Fredrika, who
married Charles Reisler, and is dead; Louisa, late
wife of Christ. Sweinard ; Rachel ; Emma, the wife
of John Swartz, of Philadelphia ; Agnes, the widow
of George Robbery, who lives in Philadelphia; Liz-
zie, the widow of John Sellers, who has her home
in Philadelphia; Fanny and Lydia are unmarried
and live in Philadelphia.
John D. Rutherford remained with his parents
until he became of age, then for about two years
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
555
worked among the neighboring farmers. After his
marriage he worked eight years on the railroad, and
rented farms for several years. In 1885 he came
upon the farm where he is now found. It forms
part of the Cassel estate, and is a very valuable
piece of real estate.
Mr. Rutherford is a Republican, and has served
as constable four years. Both he and his wife are
members of the Lutheran Church, and bear them-
selves well in the community where their peaceful
and industrious lives are passing. They are
straightforward and strictly honest in all their deal-
ings, and their kind hearts and genial disposition
have made them many friends.
FRANK R. GROFF, a contractor of concrete
and mason work in Conoy township, Lancaster
county. Pa., has extensive farming interests also
in that locality, and has made a comfortable place
for himself in the community in which his useful
life is passing. Mr. Grofif was born in Laupheim,
Wurtemberg, Germany, Oct. 31, 1849, ^"^ came
to this country in 1872, crossing the ocean on the
French ship "The Sign Lawrence." Landing in
New York, he at once made his way to Lancaster
county, and here he has resided to the present time.
He is a son of Fridolin and Waldburger (Romer)
Groff, both his parents living and dying in Ger-
many. The father was a brick layer, mason and
contractor, dying in 1865, at the age of fifty-eight
years; the mother died in 1872, at the age of sixty-
one years. They were both members of the Cath-
olic Church, and had the following children:
George, a Catholic priest, who went to South Amer-
ica in 1853 ; Pius, an architect, who is deceased ;
Frank R. ; Magdelina, deceased wife of Christ.
Weisman, a salesman; Elizabeth, late wife of Jo-
seph Zimmerman, a carpenter and contractor ; Philo-
mena, the wife of Nenzenz Speitel, a miller on the
island of Sicily. Of this family Frank R. is the only
one to come to the United States.
Frank R. Groff and Catherine SchroU were mar-
ried in York county, Jan. 22, 1880, and to their
union were born the following two children : Fran-
ces S., who married Harvey Shank, and lives in
Newville, Lancaster county; Frank P., who is at
home. Mr^. Catherine Groff was born in Man-
chester township, York county, Dec. 8, 1857, and is
a daughter of Solomon and Mary M. (Hartman)
Schroll, both natives of York county, where their
lives were spent. The father was a farmer, and
died in 1892, at the age of seventy-eight years ; the
mother died in 1893, at the age of eighty-two years ;
they were buried in the cemetery connected with
Hoover's Church, in York county. Born to them
were the following children : Jacob, who is dead ;
Henry, a veteran of the Civil war, living in the
Soldiers' Home ; Daniel, deceased ; Solomon, a resi-
dent of Harrisburg ; Emanuel, of Lancaster ; Chris-
tina, of Mt. Wolf, Pa., married to Abraham
Rhoads; Susan, who married James Maze, and is
dead; Elizabeth, who married Joseph Judy, and has
her home in Middletown ; Magdelina, deceased ;
Catherine, wife of Frank R. Groff.
Frank R. Groff remained at home with his par-
ents, working at his trade, until his coming to this
country. After his arrival here he spent some time
in several of the large cities, was at Cincinnati, St.
Louis and Kansas City, making a permanent loca-
tion, however, in Conoy township, Lancaster coun-
ty, in 1877, and moving to his present home in 1881.
He is a capable and energetic man, strictly honorable
and reliable, and belongs to the Mennonite Church.
In his politics he is a Republican, and he is highly
regarded by those who know him best. His wife
belongs to the Dunkard Church.
CHRISTOPHER HAGER, attorney at law.
Marietta, Pa., was born in Lancaster city May 6,
i860, and is a son of Henry W. and Ellen (Hayes)
Hager. Henry W. Hager was a dry-goods mer-
chant, and carried on business in Lancaster with his
brothers, John C. and Charles F. Hager, under the
firm name of Hager & Bros. He was also post-
master at Lancaster under President Grant's first
administration, and died Dec. 23, 1872, at the early
age of thirty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Henry W.
Hager had born to them three children, viz. : Isa-
bella H., wife of John R. Nicholson, Chief Justice
and Chancellor of Equity for the State of Delaware,
and residing in Dover, that State; Christopher,
whose name opens this article ; and Mary Bell, mar-
ried to Robert D. Stewart, a railroad contractor in
Lancaster.
The paternal grandparents of Christopher
Hager were Christopher and Catharine (Sener)
Hager, the former of whom was a dry-goods mer-
chant and also president of the Farmers National
Bank in Lancaster. Christopher Hager, the great-
grandfather, came from Worms, Germany, in 1764,
and settled in Lancaster, where he engaged in mer-
chandising. The maternal grandparents of our sub-
ject were Alexander L. and Isabella (Patterson)
Hayes. Alexander L. Hayes came from York River
Plantation, Sussex Co., Del., to Reading, Pa., in
1820. He had graduated from Dickinson College,
Pennsylvania, and, locating in Reading, practiced
law there a few years, when he moved to Lancaster,
having been appointed Judge of the Lancaster Dis-
trict Court, which was afterward abolished; for
term after term he was subsequently elected Judge
of the General Courts of Lancaster county, serving
a total of more than fifty years on the Bench, and
died in Lancaster in 1.875, ^^ the advanced age of
eighty-six years. Mrs. Isabella (Patterson) Hayes
was a daughter of Col. Galbreth Patterson, a gal-
lant patriot of the Revolutionary war, and was a
granddaughter on the maternal side of Brig. Gen.
William Thompson, of Carlisle, Pa. Gen. Thomp-
son was a brother-in-law of George Ross, of Penn-
sylvania, and George P^eed, of Delaware, both
signers of the Declaration of Independence.
556
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Christopher Hager, the subject proper of these
lines, at the age of eleven years was sent to a board-
ing-school conducted by A. R. Beck, of Lititz, Pa.,
and a year later was transferred to the Franklin and
Marshall Academy, in Lancaster, and two years
later to Cheltenham Academy, in Montgomery
county, from which he graduated when eighteen
years old. He then became a member of the firm
of Hager & Bros., dry-goods merchants, being in
the sales department of the store until 1885, after
which he traveled through the United States and
Europe for a year. In 1886 he entered the law
office of Hon. J. Hay BroAvn, as his first student.
After a course of law study for two years he en-
tered the office of Nathaniel Ellmaker, his uncle,
with whom he remained a few years, after which
time he devoted his attention to fire insurance for
four years, and then sold out his agencies and the
business he had established. He then went to Phila-
delphia, and was appointed cashier of the State In-
surance Company of Philadelphia, with which cor-
poration he remained two years. He then opened a
law office in that city, and for a year had a successr
ful practice there, until November, 1898, when he
settled in Marietta, where he at once rose to promi-
nence as an attorney, becoming borough solicitor,
attorney for the First National Bank of Marietta
and many leading business houses; he is also the
solicitor and treasurer of the Pioneer Fire Company
of Marietta.
In June, 1896, Mr. Hager married, in Marietta,
Miss Maud E. Baker, a native of the borough, and
a daughter of Col. Frederick and Jennie (Jack)
Baker, of Marietta and Lancaster, respectively.
Col. Frederick Baker was for a long time editor of
the Marietta Register, and died in 1885, when
sixty years old. The paternal grandfather of Mrs.
Hager was Peter Baker, a leading lumber merchant
of Marietta, and her maternal grandfather was
Joshua Jack, an architect, contractor and builder,
of Lancaster.
Besides attending to his law business in Mari-
etta Mr. Hager also occupies the old Ellmaker law
office in Lancaster. He is a member of Lamberton
Lodge, No. 476, F. & A. M., the Historical Society
of Pennsylvania and the Society of the Sons of Revo-
lution. He is a member of the Episcopal Church,
and in politics is a Republican. As a lawyer he
stands in the front rank with his professional
brethren, and as a citizen he enjoys the unfeigned
respect of all who know him.
HENRY GERHART, of No. 46 North Queen
street, Lancaster, enjoys the distinction of being
proprietor and manager of the largest merchant
tailoring establishment in that city. His success-
ful career has been the result of his complete mastery
of every detail of his business, and of the absolute
integrity of all his business methods.
Mr. Gerhart was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger-
many, Nov. 22, 1835, a son of Daniel and Elizabeth
(Thies) Gerhart, the former of whom was a mer-
chant in that place, and passed away in 1836. Henry
Gerhart spent his boyhood days in his native town,
and when his school days were ended was appren-
ticed to the tailor's trade. Early in 1850 he sailed
for America, by way of London, landing at New
York, where he studied American methods, and then
began working as a journeyman, coming to Lancas-
ter the same year. In 1865 Mr. Gerhart began busi-
ness for himself, and has proved very successful as
a merchant tailor. For many years he was located
on the east side of North Queen street, but the de-
mands of an increasing trade made better quarters
a necessity, and he secured his present location,
v.'here he maintains by far the largest tailor shop in
the city. In the fall of 1900 Mr. Gerhart added the
making of ladies' tailor-made garments to his other
business, and this new departure brought a very gen-
erous response from the trading public, now rivaling
in volume the original business.
In 1866 Mr. Gerhart was married to Miss Mar-
garet Wittlinger, of Lancaster, daughter of the late
John Wittlinger, a prominent old-time brewer of
the city. Mrs. Gerhart died in November, 1893,
leaving one son, J. H. Gerhart, who after graduating
from Franklin and Marshall College entered the big
establishment of his father on North Queen street,
as an assistant; in 1894 he married Anna M. Wolf,
of Lancaster.
Mr. Gerhart was one of the founders, and a stock-
holder and director, of the Maennerchor Hall Asso-
ciation, of which he was president for a time, and
treasurer for a period of eight years. He belongs
to Zion's Lutheran Church, where he has been a
vestryman for twenty-five years, as well as superin-
tendent of the Sunday-school, and financial secre-
tary of the parish for the same period. Socially he
is a charter member and past officer of Flebel Lodge,
I. O. O. F., and is one of the organizers and former
officers of the Order of Seven Wise Men. In all
the affairs of life Mr. Gerhart has always proved
faithful and worthy of respect and confidence, and
after a mercantile career of thirty-five years in Lan-
caster he is still wide-awake and vigorous, with a
trade that is yearly taking on larger proportions.
He has a wide circle of friends and patrons.
GEORGE LEWIS LYLE. For many years
George Lewis Lyle was a trusted and efficient rail-
road man, but in 1892 he yielded to the wishes of
family and party friends and left that line to accept
the position of justice of the peace in Columbia, in
which situation he gave general satisfaction, testi-
fied to by several re-elections.
Mr. Lyle was born in Paradise township May 17,
1843, 3- son of Samuel B. and Fanny (Graham)
Lyle, natives of Lancaster county. The father was
connected with railroading, and died in Columbia,
at the home of his son, on Aug. 25, 1868, at the age
of sixty-three years, one month and twenty-one days.
The mother passed away Dec. 6, 1875, at the age of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
557
sixty-six years and eleven days. Both parents were
worthy members of the Presbyterian Church, and in
that faith reared a family of six children, these be-
ing : John and Edward, twins, the former a resident
of Baltimore, Md., the latter deceased; Emma and
Fanny, twins, both deceased ; Mary J., Mrs. George
W. Hoover, who, witli her husband, is now dead ;
and George Lewis.
When Mr. Lyle was but two years old his par-
ents moved to Indiana, but they i-eturned to Colum-
bia two years later, and he was reared on a farm,
while he received his education in the public schools.
Before entering upon railroad work he. was employed
for some two years in a saw mill, but he found bet-
ter opportunities on the road, became a brakeman in
the employ of the Pennsylvania lines and in 1861 was
made a conductor. During the great strike in 1877
Mr. Lyle resigiaed his position, later accepting a
similar one with the Reading Railroad.
Although Mr. Lyle had spent many years in rail-
roading and was most highly regarded by all with
whom he had business relations, his family desired
him to make a change, and in 1891, in deference to
their wishes, he resigned his lucrative position, and
the next year was appointed justice of the peace,
having served as constable of Columbia during
i878-79-and-8o. Many quite important cases were
brought before Ju.stice Lyle, and all were adjusted
without appeal to a higher court.
On Sept. 19, 18,67, ^^li"- Lyle was married to
Anna M. Ranck, and the children of this union are:
William D. deceased ; Ella M., who married Henry
E. KHne, of Columbia ; .Samuel E. ; Mary J., who
married Charles Fine and is now dead, leaving one
child, who lives with Mr. Lyle ; John W. ; Anna S. ;
George P. ; Frances- M. ; Joseph C, and Fred T.,
all living at home ; and Jessie L., deceased. The par-
ents of Mrs. Lyle, Jesse and Sarah (Shultz) Ranck,
were old residents of Paradise township. The par-
ents were of German descent. Her father's death
occurred in Ohio, after a number of years spent in
Columbia, in the saddlery business.
In his political affiliations Mr. Lyle is a Demo-
crat, as was his father before him. In 1902,
through political changes, Mr. Lyle lost his office
of justice, and has since acted as notary public in
Columbia. He is becoming unable to perform
much labor, as in 1898 he was partly paralyzed. In
Columbia, where they are all known, the family is
most highly esteemed, and Mr. Lyle is considered
a representative citizen.
WILLIAM K. BENDER. The founder of the
Bender family came from Germany, a country
which has contributed to Lancaster county many
of its best citizens.
David Bender, the founder, located a large tract
of land in Upper Leacock township and became a
large land owner there and a very pronounced Fed-
eralist, always advocating the rights of the colonies.
He was successful in many lines of business, was
the owner of superior horses and operated a dis-
tillery, the product of which he marketed himself in
Philadelphia and in Pittsburg. As a stanch sup-
porter of the Lutheran Church he was highly es-
teemed, and at an advanced age he passed away,
and his is among the earlier tombs in the old Heller
burying-ground, where many of his descendants
also rest. Two . sons and two daughters survived
him: Susan and Elizabeth, who never married;
John, who followed closely in the footsteps of his
father, lived out his life in Upper Leacock town-
ship and there reared a family; and George, the
grandfather of William K., of this biography.
Grandfather George Bender married a member
of the Kinzer family, which came from England,
and they reared a most estimable family, their son,
Kinzer D. Bender, becoming a power in Lancaster
count3^ For many years Kinzer D. Bender was as-
sociated in the closest bonds of friendship with that
great statesman of Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Ste-
vens, and with him held strong views on the slavery
question and other subjects of public morality. At
the time of which we write, it was the universal
practice through the farming regions to supply in-
toxicants to the assistants who helped in the hay-
ing and harvesting, and to take a firm stand against
the practice was almost as serious a business as it
was to break one of the old laws of the Medes and
Persians. However, Kinzer D. Bender was a man
of principle and he took his stand against the cus-
tom and was forced to bear the brunt of much in-
dignation and misrepresentation. As a financier he
was highly regarded, and was welcomed as a direc-
tor in some of the leading banks of the county ; and
as a farmer, he was one of the first to place im-
proved machinery on his estate. The free school
system received his hearty support, and all schemes
for the advancement of his section met with his
approbation. To his church, of the Lutheran faith,
he was generous, and only those nearest him knew
of his charities. His life was extended to eighty-
two years, his death occurring in 1890.
Among the children left by this most worthy
and honored citizen were : Franklin, a resident of
Mechanicsburg ; John W., deceased, who left one
son, who resides near Heller's Church, in Upper
Leacock township ; William K. ; and Mary, the wife
of Jacob Burkholder, who resides near Mechanics-
burg, all of them being among the esteemed resi-
dents of the county.
William K. Bender was reared on the
farm and had the advantages resulting from his
father's intelligent companionship. At the out-
break of the Civil war he enlisted as sergeant in
Co. B., r22 P. V. I., and took part in the battles of
Chantilly, the second battle of Bull Run, Fredericks-
burg and Chancellorsville, and in all of the skir-
mishes in which his regiment- was engaged. At
Chancellorsville he was painfully wounded by a
minie ball, but remained at his post until the regi-
ment was relieved.
558
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
For many years William K. Bender was con-
nected as a director with the Susquehanna Iron
Company, of Columbia, and when it, with the Leb-
anon Iron Company, with which he was also con-
nected was absorbed by the combination now known
as the American Iron and Steel jVEanufacturing
Company, he continued to be financially interested.
As a prominent citizen he is connected with
many of the financial institutions of the county, is a
director in the Lititz Agricultural Mutual Fire In-
surance Company of Lancaster county and is one of
its active promoters. His interest in education
equals that of his father, and in early manhood he
taught in the public schools in his native county for
two years, i860 and 1861, giving that up in 1862 to
respond to his country's call as a volunteer in sup-
port of the administration which received his first
vote. Later he served on the school board for many
years, and has advocated many reforms in the
county.
In 1865 William K. Bender was married to
Elizabeth A. Hartman, of German and French de-
scent and from a most worthy and honorable fam-
ily. At the time of their marriage both were con-
nected with the M. E. Church and were untiring
workers in the Sunday-school field, in both church
and union schools, county and village, advocating
that the period for retirement only comes when the
workman is called to his reward, and this spirit has
been imbibed by their three daughters. Mr. Ben-
der's passion for music, both vocal and instrumental,
was marked, and he found no higher enjoyment
than that which grows from its acquisition and ren-
dering. He has advocated its cultivation in the
public schools as one of the refining forces in mold-
ing and elevating society. In his family he has in-
sisted upon a higher education for his children as a
sure and safe investment, the pleasure imparted re-
paying for the time and expense involved. The
eldest is a graduate of the Collegiate Institute in
Hackettstown, N., J. ; the second, of the Woman's
College, in Baltimore, while the third is a senior in
Dickinson Seminary at Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
ABRAHAM W. ENGLE, an old and highly
respected farmer, at present living in retirement,
was born Aug. 28, 1835, in Conoy township, on the
farm where he now resides, a son of the Rev. Jacob
S. and Barbara (Wolgemuth) Engle.
The father, who was born on an adjoining farm,
was married in 1833, and came to the present home-
stead in 1834. For many years he was a preacher
of the River Brethren Church, having served for
forty-nine years in a clerical capacity ; he also taught
school. From 1870 until his death, Feb. 13, 1894,
he lived retired. At his demise he was eighty-five
years and three months old; his widow survived
him for a time, dying Dec. 18, 1900, at the age of
eighty-eight years and eleven months. They were
members of the River Brethren Church, and were
interred in the East Donegal cemetery. To them
were born the following children: Abraham W.,
born Aug. 28, 1835 ; Fanny W., Jan. 16, 1837, who
died young; Daniel W., Nov. 2, 1839, who died
young ; Barbara W., Oct. 7, 1841 ; Jacob W., Feb.
5, 1844 ; David W., Aug. 8, 1846, who married, first
Fanny Nissley, and second, Maria Sallenberger,
and died June 28, 1890; Anna W., Jan. 15, 1851,
who married Amos B. Musser, the treasurer and a
trustee of the Messiah House, at Harrisburg. The
paternal grandparents of A. W. Engle were Jacob
and Martha (Strickley) Engle, farming people of
Lancaster county. His maternal grandparents were
Daniel and Barbara (Witmer) Wolgemuth, also
farming people of this county.
Abraham W. Engle and Fanny Hoffman were
married in Lancaster Nov. 12, 1863, and to their
union were born the following children: Irwin
H., born Feb. 18, 1865, died Oct. 17, 1896, aged
thirty-one years, who married Amanda StaufFer,
and had one daughter, Lizzie S. ; Martin H., born
Jan. 21, 1867, died Feb. 20, 1867; Hiram H., born
July 24, 1868, who married Emma Herr and is
farming at the old homestead ; Anna, born Jan. 23,
1870, who married E. Hershey, of East Donegal
township, and has three children, Engle, Harry and
Abraham.
Mrs. Fanny (Hoffman) Engle was born in East
Donegal township, July 31, 1843, is a daughter of
Christian and Anna (Snyder) Hoffman, both na-
tive to Lancaster county, and is a lady of many
genial and admirable traits. Her father died April
19, 1873, o"^ the old family homestead in East Done-
gal township, which he had spent his life cultivating.
The mother died in Conoy township, Dec. 24, 1893,
at the age of seventy-nine years, and was buried in
Boslers Meeting House cemetery in West Donegal
township, where her husband had been interred
years before. They were members of the River
Brethren Church, and had the following children:
Eli, who married Fanny Lindermuth, and is a re-
tired farmer in Dickinson county, Kan. ; Mary,
who died young; Christian, who lives in Kansas
and married Lizzie Garber ; Fanny ; Anna, the wife
of John Forney, who is in the creamery business in
Abilene, Kan. ; Lizzie ; Martha, the wife of John
Shank, a farmer of Conoy township; Henry, who
married Lizzie Nissley, who is dead. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. Engle were John and Fanny
(Engle) Hoffman, farmer-folk of Lancaster county,
as were her maternal grandparents, Henry and Mary
(Witmer) Snyder.
Abraham W. Engle remained at home with his
parents until he reached the age of twenty-eight
years, when he went into Dauphin county and spent
six years in farming. After the end of that period
he came back to Conoy township, and settled on his
present homestead, where he has since remained,
and where he has achieved a decided success as a
farmer and as a business man, being widely known
for his sterling manhood and unswerving honesty.
The farm on which he is located has been in the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
559
Engle family for more than a hundred years. Mr.
Engle is a Republican, and is a worthy represent-
ative of one of the good old families of Lancaster
■county.
AMOS HUBER. Not only is Lancaster county
the home of some of the best farmers in the State,
l)Ut it also can claim a number of successful horti-
culturists, who have demonstrated that some of the
finest peaches and melons placed on the market can
be profitably grown in this part of the State. Among
those whose success has made them prominent is
Amos Huber, who has become known through horti-
cultural circles for his successful methods of culti-
vating fruits of all kinds, and for especially fine
specimens of peaches and melons.
Amos Huber can claim an ancestry that reaches
back many years, when it originated in Switzer-
land, from which country came his great-grand-
father, who located in Lancaster county, near Mar-
ticville. Peter Huber, the father of Amos Huber,
was born and reared in the southern part of this
•county and spent the greater part of his life in
Martic and Little Britain townships, but about thir-
teen years previous to his death, he removed to East
Lampeter township, where he died Aug. ii, 1855,
at the age of fifty-nine years and ten months. His
principal occupation was farming, although as he
grew older, he often occupied himself in working for
■others when his services were needed.
Peter Huber was married to Susan Huber, of
Lampeter township, a daughter of Henry Huber,
and to them was born a family of eight children:
Fannie, now deceased, the wife of Henry Hartman,
of Lancaster county; Martha, the widow of John
Ressler, of Lancaster ; Mary, deceased, wife of Fred-
erick Seidofif, of Lancaster county; Susannah, who
is the wife of Abraham Lautz, of Lexington, Rich-
land county, Ohio. ; Annie, of Strasburg township ;
Amos ; Leah, deceased wife of Joseph Nissley, who
lives near Hagerstown, Md. ; and Lizzie, unmar-
ried, who lives with her brother.
Amos Huber was born in Little Britain township,
this county, Feb. 28, 1841, and was but one year old
when his parents removed to West Lampeter town-
ship, and there he remained until he had attained
Tiis legal majority. His education was received in
the public schools, but he had only reached the age
of fourteen, when his father died, and he was com-
pelled to take up the battle of life for himself. For
a lad of but fourteen that is a serious matter, and
thus Amos found it, but he was an honest, indus-
trious boy, and soon obtained employment on the
neighboring farms by the year. After he was sev-
enteen he found it more advantageous to work by the
■day and continued thus, until in his twenty-first year
he decided to learn the millwright trade; as that
<lid not quite suit him, he finally changed to the car-
penter trade, entering the shop of Benjamin Bach-
man, in Willowstreet, and serving his apprentice-
ship there.
As a good workman, Mr. Huber found employ-
ment for a time, but when his uncle, David Huber,
offered him employment with him in tobacco rais-
ing and trucking, in Willowstreet, he accepted and
filled out several busy years in this way. However,
in 1875, he removed to his own property, which he
had purchased in Strasburg township, one and one-
half miles south of the borough ; the original tract
contained twentj -two and one-half acres, to which
he has added two and one-half more, and, with six
acres devoted entirely to fruit, he raises early veget-
ables on the remainder and engages in trucking. Mr.
Huber has had very encouraging success and may
well feel gratified, for he has earned all he possesses
by his own industry and economy.
Amos Pluber was married Sept. 27, 1865, to
Miss Susan Deets, a daughter of John and Annie
(Pickle) Deets, of Lancaster county, both parents
deceased. Mrs. Huber was born in East Lampeter
township, Sept. 18, 1843, '^nd she has become the be-
loved mother of eight children: Hettie, born Dec.
29, 1867, the wife of E. W. Harsh, of Strasburg
township ; Franklin, born May 4, 1871, who married
Miss Kate Mowrer, lives near Providence, and has
two children, Mary and Myrtle; Henry, born Aug.
23) 1873, who married Miss Annie Givin, resides
in Paradise township, and has one son, Clarence;
Elam, born Dec. 29, 1875, who married Miss Mary
Buckwalter; Annie and Mary, twins born Dec. 28,
1S78, Annie married to Enos Herr, and Mary resid-
mg at home; Amos, born Jan. 8, 1881, who died
April 8, 1897 '< ''"d '^^ infant son, who passed away.
Mr. and Mrs. Huber are members of the Old
Mennonite Church, and he is connected with the
Republican party. The family is one which is high-
ly esteemed in the community.
ROLAND S. BRUBAKER, a meat merchant
and the proprietor of a slaughter house in New Hol-
land, was born in that borough Feb. 10, 1838, and
is a son of Isaac R. and Ann (Hoover) Brubaker,
both residents of New Holland. The father was a
butcher, and in his later years a farmer, while for
two terms he filled the office of assessor. He died
in 1889, at the age of seventy, and the mother passed
to her rest at the age of sixtv ; they were both
buried in the cemetery at Grofifdale. They were
members of the Mennonite Church. To them were
born : Isaac H., the proprietor of the "Bird-in-
Hand Hotel ;" David, who died in 1871 ; Roland S. ;
Hester A., married to Abraham Doner, of Lancas-
ter; Saloma, who died in 1898, the wife of Rev.
David Hostetter, a minister of the Mennonite
Church; Jonathan, who is dead; Catherine, who
married Phares Buckwalter, of Lancaster, a teacher ;
Lydia, married to Daniel Eby, a farmer of East Earl
township ; Mary, married to Adam Diller, a contrac-
tor in Lancaster ; Rachel, who married Isaac Groff,
a farmer in East Lampeter township. The pater-
nal grandparents of Roland S. Brubaker were Isaac
and Saloma (Roland) Brubaker, of Lancaster coun-
560
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ty ; they were of Swiss stock, and descendants of
Johann Brubaker, who came to this country in 1709.
The maternal grandparents of Mr. Brubaker were
David and Hettie (Hartman) Hoover. They were
farming: people of Lancaster county.
Mr. Brubaker was married Jan. i, 1861, to Mar-
garet A. Smoker, by whom he had the following
children: Cora, who married James E. S. Paxton,
an engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
has her home at Honey Brook, and has had two
children; Annie, who married Dr. Daniel W. Mar-
shall, a druggist of Reading; Harriet, who married
Dr. W. N. Klemmer, a physician in Germania, Pa.,
and has one child; Gertrude, who married Charles
M. Diller, a merchant of New Holland, and has had
two children, one deceased.
Mrs. Brubaker was born in Earl township, Dec.
25, 1840, a daughter of Isaac and Nancy (Ditlow)
Smoker. Her father died May 6, 1862, at the age
of seventy-one, and his widow passed to her rest
in June, 1871. Both were buried in the New Hol-
land cemetery. They were members of the Luth-
eran Church, where he was a vestryman many years,
and was instrumental in building the elegant struc-
ture in New Holland. In his younger days he did
a business in speculating, and carried on a hotel.
To him and his wife were born : Ditlow, who died
in St. Louis ; John, Isaac and one other child, who
all died in infancy ; Eveline, who died unmarried at
the age of seventy; Abraham G., deceased; Anna,
who married Levi Kinzer ; Amanda B., who married
first Dr. Daniel Henderson, and second, Jacob Ment-
zer ; Louisa, who married Levi Watts ; Amos mar-
ried to Catharine Carpenter; Elizabeth, married to
Henderson Wallace ; George M., who married Fan-
nie Vandersal ; and Margaret A.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Brubaker
were Isaac and Nancy Smoker, both residents of
Lancaster county, and farming people.
Roland S. Brubaker lived with his parents until
he was ten years of age, when he went to Lancas-
ter to attend school for three years. There he re-
mained until he was fifteen, when he was taken into
the store of Aloses Eby, at Intercourse, and held that
position for three years. At the end of that period
of clerking he went into the store of Diller & Bru-
baker, at New Holland, where he was retained for
three vears. At the end of this time he bought out
Mr. Philip R. Brubaker, and with E. C. and Amos
Diller operated the store for ten years. At that time
Mr. Amos Diller retired in favor of his son, William
G. Diller, and for four years the firm was Diller,
Brubaker & Dijler. At the end of this time Mr. Bru-
baker disposed of his holdings, and was retired for
a year and a half, engaging in settling up affairs.
His next business enterprise was in the butcher
business with John Meyers, with whom he con-
tinued until the death of the latter in 1900. Since
the death of Mr. Meyers, Mr. Brubaker has carried
on the business alone.
Mr. Brubaker was president of the town council
for the first three years after the incorporation of
the borough. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker are
members of the Lutheran Church, of which he has
been an elder for twenty years, and Sunday-school
superintendent for forty years. In politics he is
a Democrat.
WILLIAM YEAGER HALDY, proprietor of
the extensive granite and marble works on North
Queen street, Lancaster, is a worthy member of a
family than whom none is better known or more
highly respected in the city or county.
Lewis Haldy, father of William Y., was born Feb.
17, 1825, at Herbezeim, Lorraine, at that time a
province of France, now a part of the German empire..
In September, 1832, his widowed mother, with her
son, tliree daughters and a sister, set sail in the
ship "Pennsylvania," from Havre, France, for Phila-
delphia, and on Sunday morning, Dec. 2, 1832, the-
vessel grounded on a sand bar off Cape Hatteras,' on
the coast of North Carolina. After a day and a night
of great suspense — for the vessel threatened every
moment to go to pieces — passengers and crew were
rescued by a passing vessel and taken to Charles-
ton, S. C, where the unfortunates were cared for
most kindly. Everything they possessed was lost in
the wreck, but the good people of the city provided
them with all necessaries, and looked after their
personal comfort. After three weeks' time the
Haldy family were placed aboard a vessel bound for
Philadelphia, but were fated to not reach their desti-
nation without further trials, for while in the Dela-
ware river the ship they were on became frozen fast
in the ice for six days. At last the "Quaker City"
was reached, and a week later the emigrants were-
taken to Cecil county, Md., by Henry Horstman, a
brother of Mrs. Haldy. There Lewis remained until
1841, early in that year coming to Lancaster county,,
and locating in Strasburg, where he commenced to-
learn the tinner's trade. Not liking that line of
business, however, he, in April of the same year, re-
moved to Lancaster City, and apprenticed himself
to Daniel Fagan, a marble mason, who had his works
en North Queen street. After learning the trade he
went to Reading to work, but not long afterward he-
returned to Lancaster, and for some time was em-
ployed by the Moderwells, who operated a freight
line between Lancaster and Philadelphia. In 1849.
he went into business for himself, on West Chestnut
street, in the granite and marble industry, finally re-
moving to North Queen street, and in 1884 he ad-
mitted his son, William Y., into partnership. For
nine months during the Civil war he served in the
coth P. V. I., as quartermaster, and in 1864 he went
out with the emergency men in the ninety-days can.
On Nov. 15, 1846, Lewis Haldy married Miss
Mary Sabina Yeager, daughter of the late Frederick
Yeager, and in 1896 this honored couple celebrated
their golden wedding. Three children were born to^
them; Walter A., who was cashier of the Lancaster-
'.^a£c
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
561
Cotinty National Bank, and who died Dec. i, 1801 ;
William Y., of whom further mention will presently
be made ; and Miss Mary W., at home. The father
was called from earth April 12, 1899; the mother
is yet living in Lancaster, enjoymg the esteem and
regard of a wide circle of friends and relatives, and
beloved by her children.
Lewis Haldy in religious connection was a prom-
inent member of the First M. E. Church, and in fra-
ternal relationships was affiliated with Lancaster
Lodge, No. 67, I. O. O. F., also with Washington
Encampment, No. 11, and for many years he was a
member of the Tucquan Club. In the days of the old
volunteer fire department of Lancaster he belonged
to Friendship Fire Company, and at one time was its
vice president. For many years he was a director
of the Lancaster County National Bank, and in every
walk of life he was a good citizen, always ready in
his years of health and strength to take part in any
movement for the good of the city in which he passed
over half a century of his life. Probably the most
noble and distinguishing characteristics of Mr. Haldy
were his Christian benevolence and practical pat-
riotism, and during the years of his active life in
Lancaster there was seldom a movement in the in-
terest of religion or charity in which he was not an
active and influential factor. Not a little of the
noblest work of his life was done as the coadjuter
of the Patriotic Daughters, of which society he was
in many ways the main reliance, in their self-sacri-
ficing efforts to aid and comfort the volunteer sol-
diers during the Civil war.
William Yeager Haldy, second son of Lewis, was
born March 11, 1854, in Lancaster, in the old brick
dwelling which is now the North Queen street front
of Haldy's Marble Works. At the public schools of
his native city he received his education, and was
graduated from Lancaster high school July i, 1870.
Just seventeen days thereafter, he entered the em-
ploy of his father as an apprentice to the granite and
marble cutting trade, serving four years and eight
months. On April i, 1884, he was received into
partnership by his father, the firm name becoming
Lewis Haldy "& Son, and during the last ten years
of his father's life the son was practically in con-
trol of the business. Since the death of the former
the latter has carried on the concern under his own
name.
In 1877 William Y. Haldy married Miss Ada F.
Zook, daughter of Noah Zook, who with his brother,
Abraham, was murdered, in 1866, at Vicksburg,
Miss., whither they had gone to engage in the cot-
ton trade. The body of Abraham Zook was found,
but that of his brother, the father of Mrs. Haldy,
never came to light. They were brothers of J. Gust
Zook, the prominent leaf-tobacco dealer, whose
sketch will be found elsewhere. To Mr. and Mrs.
Haldy children were born as follows : Mary S., a
graduate of the Lancaster high school ; Abbie F., who
attended the Girls' high school, Lancaster, class of
36
1902 ; and Harry R. and Fred Zook, both of whom
entered the Lancaster high school in September,
tCfOt The entire family are adherents of the First
M. E. Church, of Lancaster.
Socially Mr. Haldy is one of the most popular
citizens of Lancaster, progressive and loyal. He be-
longs to Washington Encampment, No. 1 1, I. O. O.
F. A thorough business man, and expert in his
particular line, it is not a matter of surprise that the
business established by the father, large as it was,
should have grown to its present mammoth propor-
tions under the management of the son on whom the
mantle fell.
ROBERT S. KNOX, a prominent citizen and
general farmer of Manor township, Lancaster coun-
ty. Pa., Avho owns a farm of forty-five acres near
Letort, was born in Lycoming county, Sept. 27,
1845, and is a son of John H. and Ann E. (Moran)
Knox of Irish descent.
John Knox, grandfather of Robert S., was a
native of County Antrim, Ireland, but at the age
of twelve years he went to Scotland, and soon after-
ward .came to the United States, finding a home at
Larry's Creek, Lycoming county. Pa., where he
grew to manhood, engaged in farming; he also op-
erated both grist and saw-mills, and was altogether
a successful business man. A bitter opponent of
slavery as it then existed at the South, he was an
active worker on the imderground railroad, and his
home was a safe harbor for many a dusky fugitive.
To his marriage with Catherine Stewart, a native
of Lycoming county, but of Irish extraction, were
born four children, viz: Charles, who drifted to
some point in Illinois ; Robert, a civil engineer and
school teacher, who settled in Kansas ; John H. ; and
Jane, who was married to Hughes Russell, an ex-
tensive farmer and miller of Lycoming county. The
parents and children are all now deceased. They
were all members of the M. E. Church.
John H. Knox was born April 15, 1815, was
educated at Carlisle University, was a farmer, and
also erected and conducted a cement mill. .For years
he was an active Republican; when the Civil war
broke out he raised a company of infantry at his
personal expense in April, 1861, was elected its cap-
tain, and was assigned as Co. D, to the i ith P. V. I.,
for three years' service. This regiment had its first
experience at the front under Gen. Burnside, but
early in the campaign Capt. Knox was seized with
camp fever, and returned home, and died Feb. 28,
1862.
To the union of John H. Knox and Ann E. Mo-
ran, daughter of John and Mary (Penny) Moran,
were born four children, viz : Catherine S., wife of
Henry Kehler, of West Hempfield township, Lan-
caster county ; John M., a wholesale commission
merchant, of Hazleton, Luzerne county ; Robert S. ;
and James R., an expert machinist of Richmond,
Virginia.
Robert S. Knox was reared in his native county
562
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and attended the public schools of Jersey Shore
until seventeen years old, and then enlisted June 27,
1863, in the 47th Pennsylvania State militia for
niiiety days and was mustered in as corporaL In
June, 1864, Corporal Knox enlisted in Co. F, 195th
P. V. I., served in Maryland and .West Virginia, and
was honorably discharged Nov. 7, 1864.
At the conclusion of his military career, Robert
S. Knox went to Jeddo, Luzerne county, entered
the mercantile establishment of Q. B. Markle as
clerk, and was also associated with the Lehigh Rail^
road Company as shipping clerk for twelve years ;
he then came to Lancaster county on a visit, but
once here decided to remain. His first marriage
took place in this county Jan. 30, 1879, to, Annie
M., daughter of Joseph and Barbara (Hostetter)
Hershey, and the newly married couple at once set-
tled on the present farm of forty-five acres, which
they converted into a most desirable home. Mrs.
Annie M. Knox, however, passed away Jan. 6, 1888,
without issue, and May 30, 1892, Mr. Knox mar-
ried Miss Annie Garretson, who was born in Flora
Dale, Adams Co., Pa., and is a daughter of Joel and
Anna (Cookson). Garretspn. This union was
blessed with four children: John M., born March
26^ 1894; Robert G., born Nov. 7, 1897; James
Stewart, born July 17, iQpo; and Henry Kehler,
born Sept. 10, 1901, who died Nov. 18, 1901.
Robert S. Knox is a most publi,G-spirited gen-
tleman and has taken a great interest in the wel-
fare of the community since residing in Manor town-
ship ; he has been on the school board for nine
years, now serving his fourth term as a Republican
member, and is a member of Gen^ Welch Post, No.
118, G. A. R.
PETER H. SAUDER. Among the prominent
citizens and worthy representatives of an oU and
honored county family of East Earl township, is
Peter Sauder, who resides on the old farm first pur-
chased by his grandfather, Henry Sauder, supppsed
to have come "hither from his native Switzerland.
His, life was a pastoral one, his acres being many
and his herds lajrge. His death occurred in this lo
cality about 1822 or 1824.
Peter Sauder, son of Peter and father of
Peter (3), was born in 1801, and died in 1864. His
home through life was on the fine old farm located
within one mile of the village of Goodville, whpre
he followed agricultural ptursuits, added to his acre-
age, made improvements and reared a large family
to become highly respected and useful citizens of
this vicinity. He married Esther Hoffman, who was
a daughter of George Hoffman, her death occurring
at the age of fifty-seven years. Seven of their chil-
dren grew to maturity: Henry, who is a resident
of East Earl township, a retired farmer ; Elizabeth,
the wife of David Newswenger, of Caernarvon
township; Esther, deceased wife of Levi Weaver;
George, deceased, a farmer of East Earl township;
Peter H.; Susannah, the wife of Emanuel News-
wenger, of Caernarvon township ; and Mary, the
wife of Abraham M. Brubaker, of East Earl town-
ship. Both parents were consistent and worthy
members of the Mennonite Church, and exemplified
in their lives the simplicity and uprightness of their
religious belief.
Peter H. Sauder, our subject proper, was
born March 24, 1832, and grew from boyhood to
youth and manhood with his interests always cen-
tering in agricultural pursuits. The old farm has
been his home and he owns 100 acres of the land,
die old estate having been divided into two farms,
of some 140 acres each. Mr. Sauder is one of the
most progressive men in the locality as he has also
been one of the most successful. His interest has
always been shown in educational matters and he
has been a leading and influential member of the
school board in his township.
The first marriage of Mr. Sauder was in 1861,
to Miss Annie Wanner, a daughter of Daniel Wan-
ner, of East Earl township; her death occurred in
1874. Eight children were born to this union : Ma-
ria, the wife of David Martin, of East Earl town-
ship; Alice, the wife of Henry Newswenger, of
Salisbury township ; Annie, the wife of John Shetz-
ley, of East Earl township; Moses, of East Earl
township ; Susannah, the widow of Eli Martin, of
East Earl township ; Emma, unmarried ; Barton W.,
who married Hittie Martin, and farms the old home-
stead ; and Margaret, the wife of Morris Banshman,
of East Lampeter township.
For his second wife Mr. Sauder married in Sep-
tember, 1875, Barbara Hurst, a daughter of David
and Leah (Musser) Hurst, a native of Ephrata
township, and a most estimable lady and devoted
wife and mother. The two daughters born to this
marriage are Barbara and Leah, both at home. The
family is one of the old and honored ones of the
i county and has long been prominent in the Mennon-
ite Church.
AMOS GILBERT, mayor of Quarryville, was
born July 7, 1858, in Eden township. His parents
were J. Harding and Hannah H. (Whitson) Gil-
bert, of Lancaster county, where both were bom,
Mr. Gilbert in 1824 and Mrs. Gilbert in 1828.
The father was reared in Lancaster county, and
after arriving at maturity conducted a tannery for
many years in Eden township. Jn 1858 he pur-
chased a farm, which he conducted in connection
with his tannery business. He was elected a jus-
tice of the peace in his township, and held that ofiSce
for over thirty years, and to within a few years of
the time of his death, in 1893. His aged and worthy
wife still resides on the homestead. Of a family, of
seven children, five are living, as follows : May,
born in I .a^caster county, who is the wife of Albion
Walter, a farmer of Bart 1:ownship, and has one
daughter, Emma ; Edward M., a leading; lawyer of
Lancaster City ; Hugh, W., born in Lancaster coun-
ty, a leading business man and postmaster of his
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
563
borough, who. married and has a family of five chil-
•dren ; Joseph H., born in Lancaster county, who is
unmarried and is engaged in the laundry business
in Oxford, Chester county. Pa. Two of the children,
•George and John, died when young.
Amos Gilbert was reared on his father's farm,
and was educated in the schools of the district. In
1886 he married Miss Hannah Dickinson, a young
lady born and raised in Lancaster county. She was
the daughter of James and Ruth Dickinson, a lead-
ing Quaker family of the county. After their mar-
riage Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert moved to Quarryville,
where he purchased a creamery which he still suc-
■cessfully conducts. Mrs. Gilbert died in 1893, leav-
ing her husband and three sons, E. Dickinson, J.
Roland and James D., to mourn her loss.
Mr. Gilbert has always been identified with the
Republicans in polities, and is prominent in that
party. In 1889 he was elected mayor of his borough,
and he still holds that position. When the borough
was first organized he was elected a school director,
and held that office for seven years. In 1902 he was
elected a delegate to the State convention. He is
a member of the Masonic Order, Washington
Lodge, No. 156, of Quarryville.
In 1897 Mr. Gilbert was married to his present
wife, who was Miss Olive Graybill, of Duncannon,
and a lady of fine mental and social qualities. No
children have been born to this union. Mr. Gilbert
takes a prominent part in the social, business and
political circles of his vicinity, and is well and fa-
vorably known throughout the county. His family
is one of the pioneer Quaker families of this part of
Pennsylvania. His father, J. Harding Gilbert, is es-
pecially well remembered by the older members of
the community, as an honest and an upright citizen,
and the same may well be said of his son, for no man
has ever charged him with any unfair transaction or
treatment of a fellow-citizen. He is very popular
and possesses the friendship and esteem of the en-
tire community.
SYLVESTER FRYBARGER. This native-
"horn citizen of Salisbury township, Lancaster coun-
ty, veteran of the Civil war and general farmer, was
"born Dee. 14, 1841, a son of George and Lydia A.
(Sterlinger) Frybarger, natives res.pectively of Ger-
-many and Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.
George Frybarger was but two years of age
when he was brought to America by his father, John
G. Frybarger, in 1804, and put in charge of John
Kurtz to be reared. George Frybarger, who was
"born in 1802, was a school teacher in his earlier
years and later a farmer, and died March 19^ 1873 :
iiis wife, who was born in 1804, died Oct. 17, 1872,
the remains of both being buried in Asbury church
•cemetery. To their marriage were born six chil-
■dren, namely: William L-, deceased; Catherine,
widow of Martin Dein an4 still living on the old
"Home place in Salisbury township; Lydia A., de-
ceased wife o| Levi Bowers; Mary, deceased; Syl-
vester ; and George, a carpenter at Kansas City, Mis-
souri.
Sylvester Frybarger lived on the home farm with
his parents until his marriage, when he went to
housekeeping in another dwelling on the same land
from September until April, and then in another
dwelling elsewhere in the township, meanwhile
working out for the neighboring farmers until his
enlistment. His marriage took place June 2, 1862,
in Salisbury township, to Miss Sabina Fellenbaum,
who has borne him twelve children, namely : Elmer
E., of East Earl township, and married to Cather-
ine Marshall, who is now the mother of eight chil-
dren ; Laura, who was married to Isaac Means, had
four children, and is now deceased ; Matilda J., wife
of John Lowery, a produce merchant of East Earl
township, to whom she has borne three children;
John H., residing in Nankin, Ohio ; Anna M., and
Mary E., who died in infancy; George M., and S.
Clayton, still at home ; Walter H., a farmer in Salis-
bury township and married to Mabel Palmer, who
has two children ; Emma, wife of John Spots, and
the mother of three children ; Lydia S., who died
young ; and Hannah M., still residing with her par-
ents.
Mrs. Sabina (Fellenbaum) Frybarger was born
in Earl township, Lancaster county, March i, 1843,
and is a daughter of Edwin and Hannah J. (Clark)
I|ellenbaum, of Salisbury township, the former of
whom died May 6, 1865, when forty-six years old,
and the latter, Dec. 14, 1865, at the age of forty-
five ; they were buried in Rauck's church cemetery.
Their children, ten in number, were born and named
in the following order : Edwin, . a laborer in the
Middletown pipe mill, Middletown, Pa. ; Sabina,
now Mrs. Sylvester Frybarger; George, a farmer
in Ashland county, Ohio; Susan, wife of Isaac
Palmer ; Thomas, a farmer in East Earl township ;
John, in Missouri ; William, deceased ; Amos, in
Ohio; Sarah J., wife of Benjamin Roland, in Ash-
land county, Ohio ; and Margaret, now Mrs. Roland,
of Elkhart, Indiana.
In the spring of 1863, unable longer to brook the
outrageous contumely of the Rebels at the South,
Mr. Frybarger responded, to the call for ninety-day
volunteers, enlisted, and was stationed at- Hagers-
town, Md., and while there received word that he
had. been drafted in Salisbury township and had
: ben assigned to Co. C, 83d P. V. I. He took part
in his first engagement three weeks after leaving
home, was on picket duty for some time, was all
through the Rappahannock Valley campaign, was at
Cold Harbor and in front of Petersburg, Va., and in
fact in all the marches, skirmishes, sieges and en-
gagements in which his regiment took part, without
receiving even a wound, until honorably discharged
at Harrisburg, Pa.,: July 3, 1865, when he returned
to his home, and the day after his arrival cradled^
tied and shocked two acres of grain.
Mr. Frybarger continued to work out for the
neighboring farmers until 1866, when he purchased
564
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
his present farm, to which he has since devoted his
entire attention, and which is now as fine a farm of
its dimensions as there is to be found in Salisbury
township.
In 1875 Mr. Frybarger met with a serious acci-
dent, being thrown from his horse and breaking his
right leg, which necessitated amputation above the
knee, but otherwise he has enjoyed excellent health
and is remarkably active considering the loss of his
limb.
Mr. and Mrs. Frybarger are consistent members
of the United Evangelical Church, and in politics
Mr. Frybarger is a staunch Republican. He has al-
ways led an industrious life and is deservedly
worthy of the high esteem in which he is held by
his fellow citizens of Salisbury township.
JACOB MELLINGER. Among the early set-
tlers of Lancaster county, whose descendants
still bear the old name with honor, respected by their
fellow-citizens, were the ancestors of the Mellinger
family, who with courage and enterprise did much
to develop the natural resources of this part of the
great State of Pennsylvania.
To go no farther back into ancestral history
than the father of Jacob Mellinger, we reach across
a long space of years, as John Mellinger was born
on Oct. 19, 1790, and lived until Sept. 12, 1855. His
wife was born in Manor township, May 2, 1799,
and died in Strasburg township, March 16, 1871.
These parents reared a family of nine children:
Christian, born Oct. 20, 1816, who lived in Leacock
township at the time of his death; John B., born
Sept. 19, 1818, in Strasburg township, who died
there Nov. 19, 1845, a farmer; Benjamin, born Oct.
12, 1820, who lived on the old homestead with his
brother Jacob, and died there Nov. 16, 1883 ; Eliz-
abeth, born May 12, 1823, who married Abram Den-
linger, of Millersville, and died at the age of seven-
ty-five; Jacob; Abraham, born July 6, 1829, who
died Nov. 16, 1833 ; Ann, born June 30, 1833, who
died about 1897," the wife of John E. Hershey, of
Paradise township ; Mary, born June 26, 1836, mar-
ried to Bishop Isaac Eby, of Kinzers, Lancaster
county; and Susanna, born Feb. 5. 1839, who died
unmarried.
Both John Mellinger and his wife were leading
members of the Old Mennonite Church, where
they were respected and beloved for their many
traits of true Christian character. When John Mel-
linger began farming operations for himself, he lo-
cated in Strasburg township, purchased a farm of
102 acres, situated some two miles north of Stras-
burg and there he spent his days and reared his large
family in peace and comfort, A lover of law and
order, he instilled such principles into his children,
and through life he was one of the. best of citizens,
ever respecting the rights of others, and leaving
behind him a large circle of warm friends.
Jacob Mellinger was born June 27, 1826, on the
farm where he still lives, a son of John and Annie
(Hertzler) Mellinger, and was reared on this farm
and was sent to the public schools. Not imtil his
thirtieth year did he decide to set up a domestic
hearth, being united in marriage Jan. 15, 1856, to
Elizabeth Hershey, a daughter of Rev. Jacob Her-
shey, of Paradise township, who was born March
8, 1831. Seven children have been born of this
union : Margarett, born Oct. 22, 1856, the widow of
Isaac Lefever, of Paradise township ; John H., born
Dec. 7, 1858, who married Barbara Denlinger, and
has seven children, Benjamin, John, Jacob, Enos,
Jesse, Annie and Martin; Ezra H., born Feb. 3,
1861, who conducts a dairy and milk depot, in con-
nection with his father's farrn, married to Mary K.
Andrew, with two children, Annie and Clarence;
Anna, born July 4, 1864, married to Ezra L. Buck-
waiter, who is now a farmer of Marion county. Mo. ;
Jacob H., born Nov. 27, 1866, a farmer, residing
at the old home ; Mary E., who was born April 10,
1870, and died Dec. 3, of the same year; and Fran-
ces, born Sept. 25, 1871, who married Isaac H.
Rohrer, a farmer of Paradise township.
Since 1889, Mr. Mellinger has lived retired from
active life, leaving stronger and younger hands to
carry on the duties of the farm. Having reared his
family in the tenets of the Old Mennonite faith, it
gives him great comfort to find them adhering to
it as they reach maturity. His son Jacob is associ-
ated with the Welsh Industrial Mission as secretary
and assistant superintendent, and he purposes even-
tually to give himself entirely to this work.
ISAAC DILLER. For many years Lancaster
had no more prominent or useful citizen than Isaac
Diller, who passed out of life in that city Nov. 28,
1892, and was laid to rest in Woodward Hill ceme-
tery. He was born in Lancaster Feb. 5, 1823, and
was a direct descendant of Casper Diller, a French
Huguenot, and the progenitor of the family in Lan-
caster county. There are documents in the posses-
sion of the family dating back to Michael Diller
(1543), who was a court preacher and also a dis-
tinguished literary man, some of his works being still
extant. Casper Diller came to America with his wife,
Barbara, whom he had married in England, and their
three children, and in 1738 settled in the locality of
New Holland, on Mill creek, in Lancaster county.
Pa., where he engaged in agriculture, becoming a
very successful man. Many members of the family
have been prominently identified with the medical
and legal professions, and the ministry ; some gained
distinction in the Revolutionary war and in subse-
quent struggles for the rights of American citizens
in the United States. Casper Diller had three sons —
Philip Adam, H. Martin and Casper, Jr. — and seven
daughters.
Philip Adam Diller, son of Casper, was born near
Heidelberg, Germany, and came to Lancaster with
his parents. He married Magdalena, daughter of
Leonard Ellmaker, who came from Germany ' and
S-Cttled in Earl township, this county, in 1726. One
JjOzt^ — /^^^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
565
of their children was Leonard, the grandfather of
Isaac.
Leonard Diller served in the Revolutionary war.
He married Magdalene Hinkle, daughter of Rev.
Paul Hinkle, and left five children, George, Adam,
Jeremiah, Elizabeth and Mary. Gen. Adam Diller,
the second son, was for two terms, beginning in
1835, adjutant general of Pennsylvania — the second
■highest officer in the State at that time. During the
Mexican war he raised a company for the Govern-
ment service and was out for a short time. He was
a bold and courageous man, and a fine horseman.
Dillerville, Lancaster county, was built on his land.
George Diller, son of Leonard, and father of
Isaac, resided in Lancaster, where he was in business
-during the greater part of his life. He married Lydia
Souder, and had eight children: William; Jacob
W. ; George ; Samuel ; Isaac ; Catharine, who married
John Reilly, and left two sons, Edward and John;
Sarah, who married W. Fisher, of Chambersburg ;
and Mary Ann, who became Mr. Fisher's second
wife. The second son. Dr. Jacob W. Diller, was the
i»eloved rector of St. Luke's, Brooklyn, N. Y., for
nearly forty years ; he met a tragic death on board
the ill-fated steamship "Seawanaka."
Isaac Diller was reared at Lancaster, and started
out in life as a boy in the mercantile business. His
"first employment was as clerk in a grocery store,
and from 1836 to 1843 he was a clerk in the dry-
^goods store of George Fahnestock. He spent five
years in the store of John M. Lane, and gained a
reputation for integrity, besides acquiring valuable
?{nowledge of the business. In 1848 he entered the
:Steinman hardware store, as bookkeeper, and after-
ward became a valuable salesman. From i860 to
1872 he was a partner in the firm, which was known
as George M. Steinman & Co. In the last named
year he retired from the firm, but continued his busi-
ness relations therewith until 1877, when he pur-
■chased the large hardware establishment on East
King street, and successfully conducted business
there until his death, assisted by his sons. He was
a vestryman of St. James Episcopal Church until,
in 1853, he helped to organize St. John's Free
Church, of which he was a charter member. He was
•chairman of the building committee, and senior war-
den from 1854 until his death. He always mani-
fested a deep interest in the affairs of the church.
Tn the renovation of the property, in 1871, he as-
sumed three-fifths of the expense incurred, besides
the sum subscribed, and, as the records show, made
"'a generous donation of the lot adjoining." Fra-
ternally he was a member of the Blue Lodge, F. &
A. M. While he was a Democrat in politics, he was
never an active politician, performing only the duties
-of good citizenship.
On June 6, 1849, Mr. Diller was united in mar-
riage to Anna M. Frey, who was born in the city of
"Lancaster, daughter of Jacob and Maria (Haver-
stick) Frey, the former of whom was a wholesale and
retail dealer and general merchant in Lancaster ; he
died in 1875, at the age of seventy-five years. Mrs.
Maria (Haverstick) Frey died in 1876, aged eighty
years. Both were members of the Reformed Church,
and both were interred in Lancaster cemetery. Their
children were as follows : Catherine married Jacob
King, and died in 1902 ; William died in 190 1, in New
Jersey ; Anna M. is the widow of Isaac Diller ; Jacob
L. is a leaf tobacco merchant in Lancaster; Maria
L. (deceased), was the wife of John B. Markley;
Amanda, who is a resident of Lancaster, first married
Harry Zink, and, for her second husband, Jacob
Roth, who is also deceased; Emma (deceased), was
the wife of John D. Skiles, of Lancaster ; James B.
(deceased), was a prominent merchant in Lancaster;
and Adeline (deceased), was the wife of Dr. F. A.
Gast, of Franklin and Marshall College. The pa-
ternal grandparents were Jacob (Sr.) and Cather-
ine (Brisler) Frey, of Lancaster, the former of
whom was a very well-known merchant, and man-
ager of a transportation line between Pittsburg and
Philadelphia before the building of the railroads,
and was also interested in the operations of iron
furnaces in Lancaster county. He was one of the
reception committee of five to receive and entertain
George Washington when he paid his only recorded
visit to Lancaster, on July 4, 1789. Both Jacob Frey,
Sr., and his wife died in Lancaster. They had a
family of twelve children of whom four were named
Jacob, three of these dying in infancy, and the father
of Mrs. Diller being the youngest.
On the maternal side also Mrs. Diller is connected
with old and honorable families. Her maternal
grandparents were William and Mary (Deshler)
Haverstick, the former a native of Lancaster county
and the latter of Philadelphia. William Haverstick
was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary war. In early
manhood he studied medicine under the celebrated
Dr. Rush, but later embarked in the jewelry business
in Philadelphia and in Lancaster, settling again
in Philadelphia, where he died in 1780. He was a
son of Col. Michael Haverstick, who came from Ger-
many to the United States in 1735, and whose title
was obtained by service as an officer in the Revolu-
tionary army ; he is recorded as having been a good
and reliable soldier, and at one time had entire charge
of the wagon trains under Gen. Washington.
, Children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Diller as fol-
lows : Jacob died in infancy ; Miss Lydia is at home ;
Rev. Alonzo P., a graduate of Franklin and Marshall
College, Lancaster, and of the General Theological
Seminary, New York, and afterward ordained a
priest of the Episcopal Church, married Marian Mor-
rell, and he and his wife and child perished in the
terrible Johnstown (Pa.) flood, in which city he
was the beloved rector of St. Mark's Episcopal
Church ; George S. died in infancy ; William F.,
who is a coal and slate merchant in Lancaster, mar-
ried Lida Schofield, and they have three children,
Mary B., Alonzo P. and William F., Jr. ; Charles F.
566
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
is a resident of Lancaster city ; Isaac died at the age
of three years ; Samuel B., who died June 4, 1902, had
one son, Robert D. ; Anna M. is the wife of Dr.
Edwin D. Starbuck, wlio is a professor of the great
Stanford University, of California, and they have
had two sons, Arthur and Edwin (the latter de-
ceased) , and one daughter, Anna M.
Mrs. Diller and family are members of the Epis-
copal Church, and they are factors in the intellectual
and social life of Lancaster. Miss Lydia Diller is
a Daughter of the Revolution and prominent in that
connection, but is probably better known as a man-
ager and secretary of the Witmer Home for Old
Ladies, located in Lancaster. Mrs. Diller is much
esteemed, and hers is one of the refined and intel-
lectual homes for which this beautiful city is noted.
She enjoys her library, and keeps fully abreast of the
times in current literature, being favored with as
good eyesight as in her youth.
HARRY B. SLACK, justice of the peace at In-
tercourse, Lancaster county, who has made for him-
self more than a local name as a wide-awake and
pubHc-spirited citizen, was born March 13, 1851, in
the township where he still lives, a son of Joseph and
Elizabeth (Brower) Slack. His father was born
in Chester county and his mother in Lancaster
county.
Joseph Slack came into Lancaster county in com-
pany with his parents when a child, and was reared
in Leacock township, where he followed farming
for a time, retiring from that occupation some thirty
years prior to his death. For many years he lived
retired in the enjoyment of the competence his in-
dustry and economy had accumulated. A man of
public aiTairs, he was school director for thirty
years, and tax collector ten years and was intimate-
ly associated with local interests in many ways. He
died December 29, 1900, when eighty-six years old,
and his wife passed to her reward Oct. 29, 1891, at
the age of seventy-six. Both were buried in the cem-
etery of Christ Episcopal Church in Leacock town-
ship, of which they were members. Joseph and
Elizabeth Slack had six children: Anna L., the
widow of Samuel Snvder, living in Leacock town-
ship: Esther R., married to John High, who is at
present street commissioner at Christiana, Pa.;
Christie E., who married William Hoar, farmer of
SaHsbury township; J. Milton, who married Jose-
phine Nelson, and died at the age of thirty-three
vears ; Harry B. ; Susannah B., who is unmarried,
and makes her home with her sister, Mrs. Snyder.
The parents of Joseph Sla^ck were John and Ann
(Smith) Slack, of Chester county. Pa., the former
of whom was a blacksmith. In 1816 he removed
his home to Lancaster county, where he lived and
died. Henry Brower was the father of Mrs. Joseph
Slack.
Harry B. Slack was married April 12, 1876, in
Chester, Pa., to Kate E. Raineer, and they have had
four children: Joseph E., who married Susan Le-
fever, and lives in Pittsburg, Pa. ; Charles M., a
school teacher, who is at home, as are also K. Bes-
sie and Harry B. Mrs. Kate E. (Raineer) Slack
was born in 1856 in Philadelphia, daughter of
Charles H. and Kate (Everts) Raineer, of that
city. They removed to Chester, where the father
was engaged in the coal and lumber business, but
he spent his last years in Philadelphia, dying irt
1889, at the age of fifty-two years. Mrs. Raineer..
who now resides in Camden, N. J., was born in 1838^
She belongs to the Methodist Church, as did also.
Mr. Raineer. They were the parents of the follow-
ing named children: Kate E., Mrs. Slack" Sally,
who died at the age of nineteen years ; William B.,.
who died in 1895, in Alabama ; Frances B., who mar-
ried Warren Burgess, and lives in Camden, N. J. ;.
and Charles H., who lives in Philadelphia.
Harry B. Slack remained with his parents until
he reached the age of twenty-two years, when he
entered a general store at Chester and spent eight
years. In 1880 he came back to Leacock township,
and for ten years was engaged in farming and as^
a clerk at sales. In 1890 he was elected a justice
of the peace, and has continued to fill that position
to the present time, with marked credit to himself
and to the satisfaction of the community. He has-
acquired a fine reputation as a business man and an
upright citizen. He has taken the third degree in
Masonry and in religion is a member of the United-
Brethren Church. In his political relations he is ai
Republican.
DAVID E. GROFF. That the State of Penn-
sylvania should stand pre-eminent among her sister
States is not remarkable, when the material front
which she draws her agricultural supremacy is con-
sidered, for the tillers of the soil are the bone and
sinew of any commonwealth, the source of her wealth
and greatness. In the great county of Lancaster
may be found score upon score of intelligent, pro-
gressive farmers, whose industry is untiring and
whose integrity makes of them the best of citizens.
Among the old and honorable agricultural famil-
ies of this favored county is that of the Groflfs, who-
have been connected with farming, milling and min-
ing interests here for a great number of years. The
grandfather of David E. Groff was named Joseph
Groff, and both he and his brother Abraham, as well-
as a half-brother, locally known as "Swamp John
Groff," on account of the location of some of his-
, land, were widely known and became the progenitors-
of large families. Joseph Groff was of German
descent, and was an extensive farmer in Martic,
now -called Providence township, owning a large
farm located some twoTniles southeast of New
Providence. Upon this farm a valuable vein of
iron ore was later opened and operated for some
ysixty years, although not during the life of Joseph
Groif, who devoted his time exclusively to his farm-
ing interests. He lived to a good old age, respected!
by all, and was buried in what is yet called Shenk's;
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
567
burying ground, in Providence township. Joseph
Groff was three times married, the children of the
fiirst union numbering eight, (i) John was a
farmer of Providence township; he first married
Mary Eshleman and second, Leah Kendig. (2)
Jacob was a day laborer of Martic township. By
his first wife he had two sons — ^Eli and Ephraim,
and two daughters; by his second wife, Barbara
Miles, he had four sons, Benjamin, Henry, Alfred
and Emanuel, and two daughters, Barbara atid
Elizabeth; his third wife, Polly Herr, bore him no
chiMi-en. (3) Joseph was a farmer in Drumore
township, where he died. Two of his sons are living :
Isaac, of Drumore township, and Elias N., of Wash-
ington, D. C. (4) Abraham was a farmer of
Strasburg township; he married a cousin, Fannie
Groflf, but all of his family have passed away. (5)
Henry died unmarried. (6) Samuel became the
father of David E. (7) Elizabeth married David
Nesswanger, of Eden township. (8) A daughter
died young. The second marriage of Joseph Groflf
was to Mary Shaub, but no children were born of
this union. Joseph Groflf married for his third
wife Nancy Whitestick, and from this union were
born : David, a blacksmith, of Martic township, who
married Mary Kendig, and removed West; Benja-
min, a farmer, who succeeded to a part of the old
homestead and married first, Eliza Lefever, and
second, Annie Shaub; Amos, who began life as a
farmer, but later became a hotel keeper, and still
later was made sheriflf of Lancaster county ; Frank-
lin, a farmer, and later engaged in hotel keeping;
and Martha, who married John Miller, of Provi-
dence township, formerly a farmer, but latterly a
hotel keeper.
Samuel Groff was born in Providence township
in 1807, and was reared on the old homestead, re-
ceiving his education in the best schools the dis-
trict then afforded. Engaging in farming in Eden
township, he was operating a fine farm of 100 acres
when the Civil war broke out. In the spring of 1862,
he enlisted as a private in the 7th P. V. C. and gave
up his life for his country, dying at Nashville, Tenn.,
in July, 1862, from wounds received in a skirmish
in which he was gallantly fighting. He had married
Barbara Ronk, who was born in Leacock township,
a daughter of Philip Ronk; she died March i, 1849,
in the thirty-eighth year of her age, the mother of
eleven children; Elizabeth, deceased; Rachel, the
wife of Jacob Homsher, of Strasburg; Jesse, of
Lancaster, the trusted night-watchman of the Wick-
ersham Printing House ; Rebecca, the wife of Mar-
tin Reese, of Providence township ; David E., the
subject of this biography; Albert, deceased; Sam-
uel, a resident of Drumore township ; Benjamin, de-
ceased ; Isaac L., a farmer of West Lampeter town-
ship; Jacob, a resident of Lancaster, the competent
engineer of the Penn Rolling Mill ; and Henry, who
died in infancy.
David E. Groflf was born Dec. 25, 1837, grew up
on the farrrt and learned the science of farming in
a practical way, which knowledge he has applied
in the management of his extensive agricultural op-
erations in several townships. At the age of nine-
teen he Started out to carve his own fortune, chose
the milling business, being instructed by Christian
Bitikley and for the following thirteen years fol-
lowed the trade, leaving it to enter farming on an
extensive scale ; he has operated in Strasburg town-
ship since then, with the exception of ten years
passed in Paradise and West Lampeter townships.
Not only is David E. Groflf known to his fellow-
citizens as an excellent farmer, miller and public-
spirited citizen, but they can also easily recall that
in August, 1862, when his country called for de-
fenders, he was one to respond, enlisting as a private
in Co. G, I22d P. V. I. and participating in the bat-
tles at Fredericksburg, Antietam and Chancellors-
ville, serving gallantly and gaining the respect of his
comrades.
On Det. 22, 1864, David E. Groflf was married
to Mary A. Shaub, who was born in Strasburg town-
ship, April 14, 1837, a daughter of Jacob and Sophia
(Huber) Shaub, and to this union eight children
have been born: Charles, born in January, 1867,
died on the day of birth ; Harry F., born in March,
1868, now a resident of East Lampeter township,
who married Ida Leman, and has one child, Dora ;
Christian J., born in May, 1870, who married Nettie
Mowery, and has one child, Catherine; Lizzie S.,
born in February, 1872, who resides at home ; Katie
E., born in November, 1873 ; Amos H., in Novem-
ber, 1875 ; Morris D., in September, 1877 ; and Jesse
R., in March, 1880. Politically, Mr. Groflf is an
ardent Republican, has taken an active part in pub-
lic matters in the township, for five years has served
as the eflScient judge of elections, and is justly con-
sidered one of the leading men of this locality, iden-
tified with all progressive movements. Socailly he
is connected with J. N. Nefif Post, No. 406, G. A.
R., of Strasburg.
ANDREW H. HERSHEY, the well known
merchant of Petersburg, Huntingdon Co., Pa., who
resides in Mountville, Lancaster county, was born in
East Hempfield, April 9, 1850, one of the seven
children of John L. and Elizabeth (Hanlen)
Hershey. The other children of the family are :
Tobias H., in the coal business at Petersburg; Anna
H., wife of Benjamin S. Risser, a retired farmer of
Clay township ; Emaline H., married to Harry S.
Bowers and living on the old homestead in East
Hempfield township ; John H., a farmer in the same
locality ; Susan, wife of David C. Sowders, a mer-
chant in Lancaster ; and Elizabeth, wife of Harry
Cassell, a farmer of Penn township.
The paternal grandparents of Andrew H.
Hershey were Andrew and Elizabeth (Landis)
Hershey, of East Hempfield and Manheim town-
ships, respectively. Andrew Hershey was a life-
long farmer and died in 18.-^2, when forty-eight
years old : his wife had passed away in 1828, at the
568
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
early age of thirty-eight years. To this couple
were born the following children: Anna L., who
married Jacob Snavely, both now deceased; Mary
L., deceased wife of the late Jacob Gotshall ; Jacob
L., who married Anna Stehman and died in Peters-
burg, where his widow still resides; John L., de-
ceased, father of Andrew H. ; Henry L., deceased,
married to Eliza Swarr, who resides in East Hemp-
field; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Jacob Brubaker;
Christian, deceased, married to Sus^n Swarr, who
resides in Landisville; and Andrew, deceased,
whose widow, Susan Kaufman, lives in Petersburg.
The maternal grandparents of Andrew H. Hershey,
Jacob and Eliza (Seachrist) Hanlen, died respec-
tively in 1837 and 1830.
Andrew H. Hershey received a good education
and at the age of twenty-five opened a coal and lum-
ber vard at Petersburg. The following year, in com-
pany with his father, he started another coal and
lumber yard, of which he assumed the entire man-
agement, but a year later the father's interest was
purchased by one of the other sons, Tobias H., and
the brothers then began the handling of leaf tobacco
in addition to the other business. In 1888 Andrew
H. Hershey removed to the village of Cordelia, and
purchased a large stock of general merchandise of
Mr. Habecker; one of his clerks was appointed
postmaster and the office was located in his estab-
lishment. In 1893 he removed to Mountville but
retained his interest at Cordelia until 1896. In 1898
he relinquished his coal and lumber business by sell-
mg that" lucrative trade to his brother, and is now
engaged in the mercantile business in Silver Spring,
Lancaster county, and has tobacco warehouses in
Lancaster City and Mountville, the business in Lan-
caster being conducted under the firm-name of A.
H. Hershey & Co., the junior partner being Jacob
H. Huber. Mr. Hershey is also engaged in the
creamery business at Manheim, under the firm name
of Hershev & Levan.
Mr. Hershey is a director in the Greenwood
Cemetery Association in Lancaster, being also its
treasurer and a director of the People's National
Bank of the same citv. Fraternally he is a member
of the I. O. O. F., the Jr. O. U. A. M. and the A.
O. K. of M. C, of which last he is treasurer.
In politics Mr. Hershey is a Republican. _ In
T890 he was elected a member of the Board of Prison
Inspectors, serving as secretary of the board the
first year, the second year as its treasurer and the
third year as its president. In 1893 he was elected
sheriff, and is well qualified for his responsible po-
sition. His high character and his genial manners
have won him a high place in the regard of his
fellow men.
On Jan. 2, 1877, Mr. Hershey was united in mar-
riage with Miss Salinda B. Kauffman, a native of
East Hempfield township-, and a daughter of John
and Elizabeth (Bimesderfer) Kauflfman, residents
of Petersburg, living Retired. The father was born
in April, 1830, and the mother in December, 1834,
and to this marriage has been born one child only,
Salinda B., now Mrs. Hershey. Her parents are
devout members of the Mennonite Church. The
paternal grandparents of Mrs. Hershey, Christian
and Martha (Miller) Kauffman, are retired farm-
ing people of East Hempfield township. Mrs.
Hershey's maternal grandparents, George and Su-
sannah (Meyers) Bimesderfer, were retired farm-
ing people of East Hempfield, and there George
Bimesderfer died when he was ninety-one years old.
CHRISTIAN SHOFF, the great-grandfather of
Frederic Shoiif, a prominent business man of Lan-
caster county, came from Germany, and settled in
this county on the farm now owned by Shoff &
Good, along the Pequea, in Conestoga township,
Lancaster Co., Pa. He married Miss Nancy Beahm,
of Strasburg township, and they had the following
children: John, a cooper by trade, who lived at
Marticville ; Jacob, a York county farmer ; Abraham,
a farmer of Bajnbridge, Lancaster county ; Christian,
of Clearfield county ; Frederick, grandfather of Fred-
eric; Henry; Barbara, wife of Frederick Buck-
waiter ; Nancy, wife of Bartley Clark ; Susan, who
died unmarried; Martha, wife of John Rumor, of
Center county ; and Fanny.
Frederick Shoft was the father of twelve children,
all now deceased except Christian, the father of
Frederic, viz. : John ; Frederick ; Christian, who
died in childhood; Martha, wife of William Reil;
Nancy, wife of Andrew Mehaflfy ; Abraham ; Jacob ;
Christian (2), born Sept. 27, 1821 ; George; Bar-
bara : Henry, of Martic township ; and Margaret.
Christian Shoff lived on the home farm until
after he was married, and then went to work in the
rolling-mill at Colemanville, where he remained about
fourteen years, after which he went back on the old
farm, which he worked on shares for four years.
He then returned to the rolling-mill for six years,
and back to the farm again for two years. His next
move was to Shenks Ferry, where he kept hotel for
six years. At the end of this time he returned to
Colemanville, the place of his birth, where he has
lived for twenty-four years, and there he still makes
his home, with his children. He married Eliza,
daughter of David Grofif, of Lancaster county, and
they are the parents of the following named children :
Maris, of Philadelphia; Martha, wife of Martin H.
Good ; John, of Altoona, Pa. ; Henry, of Martic
township ; Abram, of Logansport, Ind. ; Frederic,
the subject proper of this sketch; Christian, of
Conestoga; Annie, wife of Martin B. Foulz, of
Conestoga ; and George, deceased.
Frederic Shoff was born April i, 1857, on the
old farm where his ancestors first settled, and he re-
mained at home until he was fourteen years old, when
he started in the contracting business for himself,
taking logs ofif the river and also dealing in furs.
For eight years he followed fishing and trapping,
and then went to work for his uncle for four years,
^^^/t^€?'^t^^ --^^^^^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
569
after which he lived six years on the old farm where
Tie was born. He then bought the place where he now
resides, and has ever since been engaged in farming
and contracting. Mr. Shoff also has a flourmill and
saw and planing mills. He has been highly success-
ful in all his undertakings. One of his first profitable
ventures was the purchase of a bridge which had
been blown into the Susquehanna, from the Pennsyl-
vania Railway Company. He removed it in about
six weeks, and cleared about $20,000 on the deal. In
1896 Mr. Shoff commenced growing Paragon chest-
nuts, establishing an 'orchard of 185 acres, which
he sold in the fall of the same year to a Mt. Joy com-
pany. In 1897 he started an orchard of 300 acres,
which he still holds, and another of 600 acres in York
•county, which he sold in the fall of that year to W.
G. Reist. He also has another grove, of 370 acres,
well started. Aside from several pieces of property
in Columbia and Lancaster — eight dwellings in the
latter place and two in the former — Mr. Shoff is the
owner of over 3,000 acres of land, and in 1901 he
shipped over forty thousand railroad ties — all made
on his own property — and cut and chopped over five
thousand telegraph poles, besides manufacturing
thousands of feet of lumber, etc. He keeps seventy-
five men in his employ.
In 1898 Mr. Shoff conceived the idea of utiliz-
ing the Susquehanna river for generating power,
and he at once organized a company for that purpose,
at York Furnace, known as the York Furnace Elec-
tric Heat & Powei Company, which has already in-
vested several hundred thousand dollars.
In 1901 Mr. Shoff also launched another enter-
prise of considerable magnitude. Having decided
to erect a large hotel on his property at Pequea, on
the Susquehanna river, he at once put the wheels in
motion, and a three-story and basement structure has
lieen put up, which, when completed, is expected to
afford accommodation for 150 guests ; Mr. Shoff in-
tends to keep his hostelry open all the year 'round.
He has also put up twenty-seven cottages at the
■same place, of which he has made a very attractive
summer resort.
In the fall of 1901 Mr. Shoff started a movement
to secure a trolley road from Lancaster to York
Furnace, to be known as the Lancaster & York
Furnace road. After the initial survey was made, at
Iiis own expense, a company was organized with a
capital of $200,000, Mr. Shoff being elected presi-
dent. Under his energetic supervision the matter
has progressed rapidly, and success is now assured,
it having through his individual efforts gained the
right of way.
Mr. Shoff is a Republican in politics, and holds
the position of school director, in which he has served
for the past sixteen years : for six years he was also
director of the poor, and is now commencing his
third term in that incumbency. In politics, as in busi-
ness, he has been very successful, having never suf-
fered defeat when a candidate for office. ' Fraternally
he is a member of Millersville Lodge, No. 496, F. &
A. M. ; of Tribe No. 1003, I. O. R. M., of Shoff, of
which he is treasurer ; and of the I. O. K. of M. C,
of Mt. Nebo.
On Oct. 9, 1878, Mr. Shoff married Miss Delila,
daughter of Samuel Warfel, of Conestoga town-
ship, and they have had eight children, as follows :
Floyd, deceased ; Walter, who is a fireman on the
Pennsylvania railroad; William, at home, employed
in the mill; Chester, who is a clerk in Frey's store;
Milton, deceased; Edgar, with his uncle. Christian;
Earl, at home; and Frederic, Jr., at home.
Mr. Shoff was left without a mother at twelve
years of age, and was almost entirely deprived of
the advantages of an education, but he has ever been
one of the most enterprising and successful men of
Lancaster county. He is very progressive, and al-
ways ready to lend a helping hand to any enterprise
for the advantage of the county in which he lives.
HILL F. DAVIS, who for many years was en-
gaged in farming in Colerain township, Lancaster
county, was born in Delaware county. Pa., in Feb-
ruary, 1844, son of William S. and Catherine
(Engle) Davis. The parents were also natives of
Delaware county, where the father was born in 1804,
and the mother in 1805. His parents, William and
Rachel (Robinson) Davis, passed all their married
life in Delaware county.
William S. and Catherine Davis lived on a farm
in Delaware county until 1855, when he sold the
place and moved into Colerain township, near the
Chester county line, where he owned the large
place known as the "Col. Bell farm." There he re-
mained until his death, in 1887; his wife passed to
her reward in 1883. They were reared in the faith
of the Friends, and always adhered to that belief.
To them were born eleven children, of whom nine
lived to maturity, Caroline and Susan dying in
young womanhood, (i) Joseph Davis, born in
Delaware county, married Miss Lucretia Hayes, of
Chester county, where they made their home for
some years, then moving into Colerain township;
there his wife died, leaving one daughter, Cather- •
ine, who is now the widow of Rufus Springer, of
Chester county. Mr. Davis later married Miss
Anna Wright, of Delaware county, where they lo-
cated, and where he died in 1900. (2) Mary
Davis, born in Delaware county, married James F.
Turner, of Lancaster county, and after living for a
number of years on a farm in Colerain township
moved into Chester county, where Mr. Turner died,
leaving his widow and seven children; William,
now in Dakota; Caroline, wife of Charles White-
side, of Colerain township; Montgomery, in Da-
kota; Engle, of Sioux City, Iowa; Anna, wife of
Samuel Whiteside, of Colerain township ; James ;
and Abbie, widow of William Reynolds, of Atglen,
Chester county. (3) Dora Davis was born and
educated in Delaware county, and married James
570
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
T. Barnard, of Chester county, where they lived
on his farm until April, 1902, when they moved to
Christiana, Lancaster county. Thiey have had seven
children, of whom three died in infancy; William
D., living in Philadelphia, who married Laura
Shrack, of Northumberland, Pa.; Harry W., who
married Ella Sidney Cooper, of Bird-in-Hand, Lan-
caster county, and lives on the old home, "Rosa Mo-
rado Farm," in Upper Oxford, Chester Co., Pa.;
Mary, unmarried, at home ; Dr. Everett, engaged in
the practice of his profession in Philadelphia. (4)
William Davis, born in Delaware county, married
Miss Sheminith Underwood, and made his home
in Colerain township, where Mrs. Davis died. Later
he married Isabelle Holmes, of Chester county, and
with her moved to Northern Kansas, where he died
in 1884, leaving his widow and tow children, who are
still in Kansas ; Carrie, wife of William Harmon,
of Kansas City ; and Edward, who is with his mother
in Leavenworth, Kan. (5) Ellen Davis, born in
Delaware county, married Brinton Walter, a grain
merchant at Christiana, where they were living at
the time of her death, in 1883. She left one daugh-
ter, Georgiana, a graduate (1902) of the Woman's
Medical College, at Philadelphia. (6) Hill E.
Davis is the sixth member of the family. (7)
Louisa Davis, born in Delaware county in 1846, be-
came the third wife of Brinton Walter. (8) Cath-
erine Davis, born in Delaware county in 1848, is
now tlie widow of Joseph Echternach, of Lancaster
county. They were living on his farm in Strasburg
township at the time of his death in 1890. The
widow and her two children have their home in
Christiana. Carrie is the wife of John Danner, and
Joseph is studying dentistry in a dental school in
Philadelphia. (9) Harry Davis, born in Delaware
county in 1853, married Miss Roberta Ross, of Ches-
ter county, and they made their home in Christiana
where she died, leaving two children, Helen and
Norman. Mr. Davis later married Miss Phoebe
Evenson, of Bart township. They have their home
in Christiana, where he is engaged in a planing
mill.
Hill E. Davis was educated in the schools of
Lancaster county, and at the Millersville State Nor-
mal. He remained with his parents, and when a
young man became manager of the home place, upon
which he settled, living there until the spring of
1889, when he purchased the William Paxson farm,
near the line of "Little Britain, one of the finest farms
in the township. There he had a large stone house,
a fine bank barn and outbuildings, and there he re-
mained until the spring of 1902, when he sold the
farm to his son William, and moved to the Johnson
farm near Oxford.
Mr. Davis was married Dec. 7, 1869, to Anna,,
daughter of David and Hannah (Turner) Bunting,
who settled in Colerain township, where he died m
1859, his widow surviving until Jan. 4, 1902. They
were the parents of five children : Nelson, of Cole-
rain township; Washington, of Oxford, Chester
county ; Laura, wife of Jeire King, of Oxford ; Ella,
wife of William Burling, also of Oxford ; and Anna,
Mrs. Davis, who was born in Colerain township in
October, 1849, and comJ)leted her education in the
Union high school. She died on the farm in Cole-
rain, Dec. 15, 1900. Mrs. Davis was a Christian
woman, and long a member of the Presbyterian
Church, having united with that body in her girl-
hood. She was the mother of five children: (i)
Laura Louisa, born in Colerain township, in Decem-
ber, 1870, was educated in the Union high school.
She was married in October, 1892, to Calvin
Swisher, son of Samuel and Amanda Swisher, and
they located in Coatesville, where he was engaged in
the grocery trade up to the time of his death, in
1893. His widow is now living in her father's
home. (2) William S. Davis, born in July, 1874,
who now owns the home place, was married Feb.
19, 1903, to Miss Lena Boyd, of Colwyn, Delaware
Co., Pa. (3) Clyde Davis, born in December, 1875,
died in 1882. (4) Joseph Davis, born in August,
1884, ■ is now a student in the Union high school.
(5) Fred Davis, born in February, 1886, is at home.
Mr. Davis and his family are all members of
the Presbyterian Church of which he has been a
trustee for twelve years. In politics he is a Demo-
crat, and for twelve years has been school director
in Colerain township. Hill Davis, as he is commonly
known, is a man of fine characteV and lofty princi-
ples, and commands the hearty and unstinted respect
of the community in which his quiet but useful life
is passing.
JONAS HUBER. Among the successful and
lepresentative citizens of Martic township is Jonas
Huber, born April 14, 185 1, son of Henry and Annie
(Hess) Huber, both of whom are deceased.
The Huber family was founded in America by
four brothers of the name, who came hither from
Germany in the seventeenth century, one of whom
settled in Lancaster county and one in Bucks county.
Pa. Abraham Huber, grandfather of Jonas, was
the father of ten children, namely, Henry, Nancy,
Martin, Joseph, David, Martha, Barbara and John,
the others dying young. Henry Huber, son of Abra-
ham and father of Jonas, was a merchant and tailor
in Marticville for more than fifty years. He was
the father of nine children, five of whom grew to
maturity, namely: David H., a retired farmer of
Martic township ; Abraham, a farmer of Conestoga
township ; Jonas ; Sarah, the wife of Henry Rohrer,
of the city of Lancaster ; Samuel, also of Lancaster.
Henry Huber was a Republican in his political at-
tachment and was a most highly respected citizen.
He belonged to the Mennonite Church.
Jonas Huber was reared in Marticville and early
made himself useful to his father in the store. Af-
ter completing his education in the public schools,
he entered mercantile business and the wisdom of
his choice of occupation is shown in the success
which has attended his efforts. As a merchant he
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
571
has displayed good business capacity and by honor-
able and upright methods has won and has kept the
best trade of the town and vicinity. His store and
dwelling are both ■ valuable properties, and in the
latter is carried a general line of seeds, suited to the
demandis of his trade, for which there is a contsant-
ly increasing patronage.
Mr. Huber was first married in 1874 to Miss
Mary Miller, of Providence township, a daughter
of Abraham Miller, and two children were born to
this union; Elizabeth, who died in girlhood; and
Annie, the wife of Adam Shank, of Manor town-
ship. Mrs. Huber died in 1889. In 1891 Mr.
Huber was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hess,-
daughter of Amos Hess, of Pequea township, and
this marriage has been blessed with two children:
Verna, now deceased ; and Ethel at home.
Mr. Huber has been an important f?ictor in po-
litical life in Martic township and for a number of
years has most efficiently filled offices of responsi-
bility. For several years he has been postmaster
of Marticville; in 1896 was appointed mercantile
appraiser in the county, in 1898 was made paster
and folder for the State Senate, and in 1900 was
elected jury commissioner of Lancaster county. He
has shown his interest in educational matters by
service as school director and has been assistant as-
sessor of his township. He is known as one of the
leading Republicans of that part of the county. In
both public and private life he' is a man to be held
in high esteem.
CHRISTIAN GEORGE BASSLER (formerly
spelled Bossier), attorney-at-law, Lancaster, was
born in Manheim township, Lancaster county, Jan.
2, 1856, son of the late John and Leah (Minnich)
Bassler. The ancestors of the Bassler family were
of Swiss origin, and came to America from their
native land about 1749.
Christian Bassler, grandfather of Christian G.,
was born in Manheim township, Lancaster county,
and there spent his entire life, engaged in agricul-
tural pursuits. On attaining his majority he mar-
ried Catherine Bachman, who came of one of the
old families of the county, and of their children but
one survives. Christian H., who resides on the old
homestead in Manheim township. Christian Bass-
ler died in 1862, aged seventy-nine years. His wife,
born in 1787, died in 1865, aged about seventy-eight
years. Their remains are interred in the family
graveyard located on the homestead farm.
John Bassler was born in Manheim township
in 1815, and like his father spent his entire life in
his native township, engaged in the peaceful voca-
tion of a tiller of the soil. To him and his wife were
born five children : ( i ) Frances Augusta, married
Herman \y. Graybill and had the following chil-
dren : Nora B., wife of John M. Groflf, attorney-at-
law, Lancaster ; John B. ; Laura, deceased ; Daniel ;
Catherine. (2) Amos H. resides in Lancaster. He
married Kate Miller, and they have one. son, Harry
M. (3) John Jacob resides at home. (4) Christian
G. (5) Benjamin F. died in 1878, aged eighteen
years. John Bassler died in Manheim township.
May 18, 1861. His wife, who survives him, lives
at Petersburg, Lancaster county.
Christian G. Bassler, having lost his father when
but six years old, went to live With his grandpar-
ents and remained with them until 1865. He then
removed to the house of his uncle, Jacob Gamber,
where he remained until he Was fourteen years of
age. During this period his education was limited to
a very brief attendance at the district school. When
he attained the age of fifteen years he went to Man-
heim and lived with his guardian, Elias Bomberger,
and for two years he was a pupil in the Manheim
school. At the expiration of this period he received
a teacher's certificate, and securing a school he
taught in Penn township until 1876. He then entered
the Millersville Normal School for the purpose of
taking a regular course and was graduated there-
from in 1878. He then secured a school in East
Hempfield township where he taught for four years.
Meanwhile he was industriously engaged during his
spare hours in reading and studying law, and he was
admitted to the bar in the fall of 1882. Removing
to North Dakota, he settled in Minewaukan, where
he successfully practiced his profession for five years.
During this, time he served as county attorney for
Benson county, Dakota, for several months. In 1887
he returned to Lancaster county and settled in the
City of Lancaster, since which time he has success-
fully practiced his profession in that city:
Mr. Bassler was married in Lancaster in '1879
to Maria, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Ruth)
Shissler, of Lancaster, and they have had issue
as follows: Olive Lodelia, a teacher in the public
schools ; J ohn Franklin, who died in childhood ;
George H. ; William Sidney. Mr. Bassler. is a mem-
of the Lancaster County Bar Association, and takes
a deep interest in whatever pertains to the advance-
ment of the material interests of the association and
members.
J. MILTON HUBER. The Huber family be-
longs among the old agricultural settlers of Lancas-
ter county, where it has grown and flourished these
many years, its descendants and representatives be-
ing among the most highly esteemed in this part of
the State of Pennsylvania.
Grandfather Abraham Huber was born in Ger-
many, and there he was reared until young man-
hood, when he came to the United States and first
located in the State of Virginia. His permanent
home, however, was made in Lancaster county, and
it was in Lampeter township that he purchased his
first tract of land, consisting of seven acres, which
lay just south of Willowstreet, a village which was
then just being laid out and platted in five-acre
tracts. Mr. Huber, with remarkable foresight, saw
his opportunity, and began buying these five-acre
tracts until he was in possession of 120 acres, a great
572
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
part of this land being now owned by his grandson, J.
Milton Huber.
Abraham Huber was a carpenter by trade, and
-worked at it until his land required his personal at-
tention, when he devoted his later years to its im-
provement and development. He lived to be sev-
enty-eight. He married Polly Stauffer, their chil-
dren being : Katie, who married Abraham Harnish ;
Polly, who married John Huber; Susan, who mar-
ried John Yordy; John, who was a well-known
farmer of considerable prominence in East Hemp-
iield township, and was locally called "Pap"Huber;
and Levi, who was the father of J. Milton. The
parents had reared the family in the instruction and
membership of the Old Mennonite Church.
Levi Huber was born in 1812 and died in 1884.
He was brought up on the farm and received his
primary education in the public schools, his father
later procuring for him a private tutor, under whose
instruction he became educated in the profession of
a scrivener and also of a surveyor, later engaging
in farming, as well as in the practice of these arts.
His life was spent on the old homestead at Willow-
street, as he succeeded to the property, and both
socially and in a business capacity he was widely
l<nown and esteemed.
Levi Huber was married to Catherine Kuperts.
who was born in Conestoga township in 18 19, and
•died in 1893, her life having been devoted to good
works and the rearing of a family of ten children,
these being : Abraham, who was a successful farm-
er in West Lampeter and died at the age of sixty-
three, leaving a widow, since deceased; Elizabeth,
-deceased, the wife of Martin Witmer, of West
Lampeter township, now of Strasburg; John, who
died at the age of thirty-eight, leaving a widow ; in
his profession of physician he served in the Civil
-war, remaining four years at Hilton Head, S. C,
in the Hospital corps, as its superintendent, was a
graduate of Jefferson Medical College and had
previously studied medicine with Dr. Carpenter, of
Lancaster; Catherine, deceased wife of Benjamin
Huffman: Susan, the wife of Benjamin Hastings,
also deceased ; Louisa, the wife of John L. Brenne-
man, of Lancaster City; Mary, who died in child-
hood ; Elam, who died at the age of twelve ; Levi,
-who died at the age of forty-three, a graduate of
Jefferson Medical College, having previously read
with Dr. Boyle, of Hagerstown, Md., and at the
time of his death a surgeon in Kansas, in the em-
ploy of a Western railroad.
J. Milton Huber, of whom this biography is
-written, was the youngest of the family of Levi and
Catherine Huber,' was born Dec. 17, 1853, was reared
on the large farm of his father, and attended the
common schools of the district, later taking a course
in the State Normal School at Millersville. When
twenty-three years old he began work at the car-
penter trade, and since then has given a portion of
'his time to it, and the remainder to operating his
farm, as he owns eighteen acres of the old home-
stead. This place he has improved by the erection
of a fine, modern brick residence and other substan-
tial buildings, which make it a model country home,
and one of the most attractive places in the neigh-
borhood, Mr. Huber demonstrating that he is not
only a competent carpenter, but also an excellent
agriculturist.
As one of the leading men in the district and an
ardent Republican, he has been recognized by the
party of his choice and his activity rewarded by the
appointment to local offices, having been a most
efficient justice of the peace for the past fifteen years.
During this long term of service he has never had
.any of his decisions reversed. His aim has been
to adjust all matters peaceably, and to each case he
gives time and close attention, and has thus gained
the confidence of the community, who feel sure of his
just dealing.
The marriage of J. Milton Huber occurred in
September, 1875, to Henrietta Gall, a daughter of
Henry and Nancy (Furry) Gall, who was born in
Conestoga township in 1851. When Mr. Huber
was but twenty-three years of age he became a mem-
ber of the M. E. Church, and since that time has
been one of its most active supporters and con-
sistent members, has served for several years as
trustee and is the efficient superintendent of the Sun-
day-school ; in every way he is a good citizen, hav-
ing done all in his power to advance his family, sec-
tion and State.
RESH. Henry Resh, who came from Germany
to Pennsylvania in 1748, first settled on a
tract of land a short distance east of Lancaster,
where he spent three years. In 1751 he bought 125
acres in Leacock township, from Joseph Musser,
for which he paid i475. After his death, in 1754,
this property passed into the hands of his widow,
Frena Resh, and from her to her son, John, and,
with the exception of a small fraction, was still held
by his descendants in 1902 — the larger portion, with
the mansion house and original home, by Jacob
Ranck, a great-great-grandson; the remainder be-
longs to the estate of Mary Shirk, a great-great-
granddaughter. Henry Resh was the father of five
children, two sons and three daughters : John, born
in Europe March 2, 1737 ; Elizabeth, born in Europe
Aug. 2, 1739; Christian, born in Europe Sept. 3,
1743 ; Barbara, born in Pennsylvania Jan. 13, 1751 ;
and Magdalena, born in Pennsylvania March 19,
1753- The history of the family is traditional and not
at all full. The daughters all married, Elizabeth to
a Mr. Stoner, and Barbara to a Mr. Miller. The
daughters of Mrs. Elizabeth Stoner married Bress-
lers ; and her son, while yet a young man, was killed
by his horse running away down the little slope just
west of Henry Ressler's mill, on the Old Philadelphia
road, which is now the Bird-in-Hand turnpike. Mag-
dalena married Jacob Denlinger.
John Resh, the eldest son of Henry, came into
possession of the old homestead in 1762. He mar-
<J/jly S Ae^-^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
573
ried Elizabeth Stoner and had the following children :
Barbara, born March 31, 1762; Henry (i), Jan. 13,
1764 (died in infancy); Fronica, April 20, 1766;
John, April 25, 1768; Joseph, Jan. 20, 1771 ; Henry
(2), June 7, 1773; a daughter, Sept. 10, 1775;
Susanna, Jan. 27, 1778; Christian, April 18, 1780.
After the death of his first wife, Elizabeth, John
Resh married Magdalena Eshleman, by whom he
had the following children : Jacob, who died in in-
fancy; Jacob (2) ; Elizabeth; Mary and Magdalena,
twins; and Esther.
John Resh (born April 25, 1768), owned and
lived on the old homestead in Leacock township.
He married Barbara Eby, and they had one son,
David, born Feb. 22, 1802, who died unmarried, at
the age of twenty years. A daughter, Lydia, who
was born in 1803, married John Esbenshade, and
after his death became the wife of Henry Denlinger.
Another daughter, Elizabeth, never married, and died
Dec. 17, 1875. A third daughter, Barbara, married
Adam Ranck. A fourth daughter, Mary, became the
wife of Henry Eby.
Joseph Resh, born Jan. 20, 1771, married Esther
Sensenig, by whom he had the following named
children : Joseph, Daniel, Jacob, Moses, Peter, John,
Samuel, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Susanna, Fanny,
Esther and Mary. All lived in Washington county,
Md., and in Franklin county. Pa., with the exception
of Jacob, who made his home in Lancaster county.
Henry Resh, born in Leacock township June 7,
1773, early learned the carpenter's trade, which he
followed for a number of years, and in connection
with his brothers did much construction in Leacock
township, a number of houses and barns which they
built being yet standing. In his later years he was
a farmer. He died June 5, 1849, ^^ religion a member
of the Old Mennonite Church. His wife, Magda-
lena, daughter of Francis and Magdalena Buck-
waiter, was .born in 1784. They had seven children,
all now deceased, one of whom, Daniel, died in in-
fancy ; Anna married John Bosler, and after his death
became the wife of Jonathan Weaver ; Mary married
Samuel Sensenig; Elizabeth married Peter Herr;
Martha married David Bair; Fannie married John
Buckwalter ; Henry B. is mentioned below.
Henry B. Resh was born in Upper Leacock
township Jan. 23, 1820, and lived with his parents
until he was twenty-seven years of age. His educa-
tion was received in the public schools, and he be-
came a prominent and useful citizen. When he was
twenty-seven he married Mary Buckwalter, daugh-
ter of John and Judith Buckwalter, and by her had
one child, a son, who died in infancy, and was
motherless from its birth. Mr. Resh was later mar-
ried, March 21, 1855, to Susanna Sheaffer, who was
born in Londonderry, Ireland, daughter of John and
Elenore (Garvey) Sheaffer, and came to this country
with her family when quite young. This union was
blessed tvith three children : ( i ) Mary E., born Jan.
4, 1856, died Oct. 14, 1895. She married Dr. John
K. Shirk, of Lancaster, and became the mother of
four children, Florence M., Mary R., Helen R. and
David R. (2) John died in infancy. (3) Anna M.,
born Oct. 4, 1858, married Frank L.Minnich. She
lives with her widowed mother, and devotes herself
to her two young children— Henriette R., born Dec.
3, 1890, and Anna Resh, born Nov. 10, 1895.
Mr. Resh made his home on the old homestead
where he was born, and where he carried on farming
until he was about forty-two years of age, at which
time he retired. He died in 1887. In business circles
he stood high in the community, and was a director
of the Lancaster County National Bank for some
twenty years. In Leacock township he filled the posi-
tion of school director for a number of terms, and
was a progressive and public-spirited citizen, de-
voted to public interests, and taking sides with, the
Republican party in all political issues.
PHILIP MECK. One of the respected citi-
zens of Lancaster county. Pa., who now lives a par-
tially retired life on a fine farm of sixty-six acres,
in West Lampeter township, is Philip Meek, a son
of George Meek, an old resident of this township.
Philip Meek was born June 13, 1829, in the old
Meek homestead, was reared on the home farm and
educated in the country schools, remaining under
the parental roof until he had reached his majority.
His first business yenture for himself was when he
began work by the month for his brother, and a
couple of years later he took charge of one of the
fine farms which his father owned in Manheim town-
ship, where he remained for four years. Upon his
return to the old homestead he worked on shares
until he was prepared to purchase, later becoming the
owner of sixty-six acres of this excellent land.
Until 1884 Philip Meek carried on a general
farming line upon this place, but at that time his
son took charge of active operations and he pur-
chased a home, with ten acres of land, in the village
of Lampeter, and there he has since lived, looking
after this tract and enjoying the ease which his
ample means makes possible- Although Philip
Meek has lived a quiet, unostentatious life, he has
always been ready to respond when called upon to>
lend his influence for the public good.
Philip Meek was married on Dec. 4, 1851, to
Esther Wade, a daughter of John and Susan (War-
fel) Wade, who was born in Strasburg township
May 24, 1824 ; to this union has been born a family of
nine children, many of them among the most re-
spected citizens of this county : - George W., the
farmer on the homestead, who married Mary Ervin
and has a family of three children, Ella, Elmer and
Mable; Martha, who married Benjamin Brubaker,
near Freeport, III, and has three children, Ralph,
Elva and Nora; Susan, who married Adam Tout,
of the vicinity of Columbia, and has four children,
Arthur, Laura, Chester and Bessie; Amos W., of
Providence township, who married Lillie Mowrer
574
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and has four children, Edna, Margie, Lester and an
infant daughter; Mary Ann and Hettie, twins, the
former of whom married Ephraim Kauffman, of
Manor township, and has two children, Ralph and
Benjamin; and the latter married to Christian L.
Herr, of Lancaster township, with four children,
Paul, Esther, Elizabeth and Mary ; Emma, at home ;
Aaron J., a farmer near Freeport, 111., who married
Emma Shoemaker and has two children, Clarence
and Titus ; and Lizzie, married to J. Newton Rohrer,
of Strasburg,with two children, Jay and Esther.
Both Mr. Meek and his worthy wife have long
been connected with the Old Mennonite Church,
where they possess the esteem of all; and no family
in the community stands in higher respect.
ISAAC PHENEGAR, of Strasburg township,
is one of the representative citizens of Lancaster
county. His maternal grandfather, Richard Glass,
was the founder of the family in this locality, and
came from his home in Derry, Ireland, and located
here with his wife, who had been Miss Martha
Watts, a member of the family so well known
through their musical contributions to the various
church hymnals.
Richard Glass and his family settled in Lancaster
county about 1804, and here he lived until his death,
in 1842. He left a family of seven children : James,
who removed to Iowa and died there; Joseph, who
located in Utah and died there ; John, who removed
to Illinois and died in SterHng; Richard, who lived
and died in Iowa; Mary, who married John Petrie
and moved to Ohio; Ann, who became the wife of
Benjamin Phenegar and the mother of Isaac, of this
biography (later married to John Ferguson) ; and
Elizabeth, who married Henry Sides, of Paradise
and Strasburg townships. Ann (Glass) Phenegar
was born in Strasburg township and died at the
home of hej son, in 1884, at the age of seventy-two.
She had two children, Isaac, and James, who died in
infancy.
The birth of Isaac Phenegar occurred Jan. 4,
1832, and he was reared in his native place and at-
tended the common schools, but at an early ag;e_he
began to earn his own way in the world, beginning
by doing odd jobs and assisting on farms, later en-
tering a store and becoming a clerk. It was remarked
that whatever Isaac attempted to do he did well,
and when, on reaching the age of eighteen, he an-
nounced his intention of fitting himself for the pro-
fession of a teacher, his associates knew that he
would accomplish it. After a winter spent in study
he was found able to pass examinations satisfactorily,
and for the following ten years was one of the most
capable among the youngi:eachers of Lancaster coun-
ty, in the meantime being prepared by study and
intelligent application for a very different line of
work.
In 1863 Mr. Phenegar became the manager of the
Strasburg Railroad, and served efficiently in this
capacity for the succeeding ten years, at the end of
which period he leased the road and operated it on
his own responsibility for the following fifteen years.
About this time he became interested in the First
National Bank of Strasburg, with which institution
he has been connected as a director to the present
time. In connection with his business in railroad
matters he conducted a warehouse and dealt in all
kinds of grain, coal, etc., and also engaged ex-
tensively in tobacco packing, managing all these
lines with the intelligence which leads to success.
In 1863 Mr. Phenegar was married to Miss El-
mira Weaver, a daughter of John and Sarah Weaver,
of Paradise township, and he and his wife are the
parents of three daughters : Anna, who married J.
C. Mylin, the railroad agent located at Leaman Place,
and has three children — ^Arthui', Donald and Ever-
ett ; Emma Eugenie, who married Willis C. Herr,
of Lampeter, and has two children, Robert P. and
Richard; and Eva, who married Rev. Joseph H.
Earp, assistant rector of St. James Episcopal Qiurch,"
of Lancaster, and has two children, Marjorie and
John.
For some thirty years Mr. Phenegar has been
the talented chorister of the M. E. Church in Stras-
burg and has been prominent in the affairs of that
denomination and a leader in educational and re-
ligious circles in the community. Mr. Phenegar
has efficiently filled the office of school director for
the past six years and during his residence in Para-
dise township was a justice of the peace. As one
of the most active and progressive business men of
this part of Lancaster county he has gained the con-
fidence and esteem of its citizens, and they see in
his career the results of honesty, energy and appli-
cation, and the rewards of an exemplary life.
SAMUEL ALEXANDER, a farmer and mer-
chant of Mount Nebo, Martic township, is one of its
honorable and esteemed citizens. He was born in
Martic township June 20, 1848, .son of John and
Susan (Zarocher) Alexander, of Martic township,
of Scotch-Irish descent.
John Alexander, the father, was a son of John,
and one of a family of six children, viz., Samuel,
David, James, Thomas, John and Rachel, all de-
ceased. He was born in 1803, married Susan Za-
rocher in 1829, and died in 1877. They had a family
of seven children, namely: Maris, who was killed
while in the service of his country, during the Civil
war ; Martha, the wife of Amos Walton, of Fulton
township ; Mary, the widow of Lewis Jenkins ; Sam-
uel ; Rebecca J., the wife of Henry Marsh, of Lan-
caster; John A., of Mount Nebo; Calvin, deceased.
Samuel Alexander is a leading citizen of Martic
township. His early rearing on the farm gave Mm a
taste and inclination toward an agricultural life, and
after finishing his school course, he engaged' in
iarming and still owns several well' improved farms
in his vicinity. Mr. Alexander also conducts a
first-claas general store in that locality, and is the
postmaster of Mount Nebo, having beeit appointed
RIOGRAPHIGAI. ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
575
by ex-President Cleveland. In politics he has long
been recognized as an important factor in the Demo-
cratic party and at one time was the choice of the
party for the State Senate. In all matters pertain-
ing to the progress and advancement of his locality,
Mr. Alexander takes a deep interest and is known
as both liberal and public-spirited.
On Oct. 20, 1870, Mr. Alexander married Miss
Jennie M. Hagen, of Martic township, born April 3,
1847, daughter of Elijah and Sarah Hagen, and this
marriage has been blessed with eleven children, ten
of whom still survive, as follows: Chester L., born
in 1871, of Chicago; Maris C, born in 1872; Curtis,
born in 1873 ; Gertrude, born in 1875, the wife of
William ToUinger, of Fulton township ; Minnie E.,
born in 1876, at home; Emma, born in 1878, the
wife of Ra,y Neel, of Mount Nebo ; Walter S., bprn
in 1881 ; Harry B.,, born in 1883.; Manie, born in
1884, and Charles, born in 1885. John C, born in
1879, died at the age of two years.
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander are leading members
of the Methodist church, where they both are active
in good works. He is one of the stewards of that
body and is honored and respected by a very large
circle of acquaintances. Mr. Alexander is identified
with these fraternal societies : The I. O. O. F., of
Rawlinsville ; the K. of P., of the same place; and
Lodge No. 158, Mystic Chain, of Mount Nebo,
ADDISON B. LONGENECKER. For many
years Addison B. Longenecker, the owner of 120
acres of some of the choicest and best improved
land in Lancaster county, followed the plow, planted
and sowed and in due season reaped a bountiful
harvest, but now he lives a somewhat retired life,
enjoying the results of his former industry and ac-
tivity.
The Long^enecker family originally came from
Switzerland, the country which has sent to Penn-
sylvania some of her best citizens. Addison was
born Dec. 2"], 1841, a son of Jacob and Sallie (Bar-
doff) Longenecker, of Ephrata township. To them
a . large family was born : Susannah, who died in
childhood; Fiaiina, who married Samuel Schlote;
Henry, a retired farmer of Ephrata township ; Addi-
son ; Mary Ann married to Ai^drew M. Baker ; Al-
len, who resides in Adams county; Serena, who mar-
tied John Bender ; and Emma, who married Samuel
Rupp.
Addison B. Longenecker was reared on a farm
in,. Warwick township and attended the common
schools of his district, starting out in life for him-
self with very limited means. How€ver> he possessed
industry and energy and with those levers he moved
events and put aside diificulties until now he is con-
sidered one of the substantial men of the community.
This is an excellent thing, but Mr. Longenecker pos-
sesses much more than a fine, well cultivated farm,
for he is, held in esteem by the neighbors among
whom his life has been passed and they regard him
as a valued frieOid,, ever ready tO: extend a hand to
help, and as an upright man in all his dealings with
others.
The marriage of Mr. Longenecker occurred in
1871, when he was united to Miss Katherine Shirk,
born Jan. 16, 1849, a- daughter of Emanuel and
Katherine Shirk, and to this union one child has
come, Sallie, born Sept. 19, 1880.
J. MAETIN GOOD, a wealthy and respected
farmer of Bart township, Lancaster county, was
born at his present home in that township. May 6,
1849, aiid is a son of Samuel and Eliza (Hollis)
Good. His parents were both natives of Chester
county, where the father was born Oct. 18, 1799, and
the mother. May 20, 1804. She was a daughter of
George and Nancy ( Moore) Hollis, both of whom
were born in Chester county, Pennsylvania.
Samuel Good was a son of Andrew and Anna
(Boyle) Good. She was born in Chester county, and
came of Irish pa,rentage. Andrew Good was born in
Germany. He settled in West Fallowfield, Chester
county, before the Revolutionary war. Two broth-
ers accompanied him to America ; one settled on the
Schuylkill river, near Philadelphia, and the other
moved to Reading, where he lived remote from the
two. Andrew Good settled on a farm, where he lived
and died. He was the father of seven children, (i)
Grace Good, born in Chester county, died at the old
home in her ninetieth yea,r, unmarried. (2) Polly
Good, born in Chester county, married Thomas
Pearcall, a merchant of Baltimore, and became the
mother of three children: John, Isaac, and Juliet,
who married S. R. Wright, all of Baltimore. (3)
Darlington Good, born in Chester county, married
Sarah Hoar, and moved to Henry county, 111., where
he died. They had the following family: Alban,
Sarah, Darlington, Samuel, and Emma, who married
a Mr. Morris, of Illinois.
(4) Emma Good, born in Chester county, mar-
ried James Turnbolt, and moved to Henry county,
111., where she died, leaving two children, Sarah and
Darlington, a prominent man of Chicago.
(5) Sarah Good, born in Chester county, is the
widow of Samuel Finley, who passed his later years
at Quarryville, where he died leaving the following
children: Echnos; James, deceased; Lewis, who
died in the Civil war; Samuel, of Chester county;
Mary, who married Mr. Kimbell, and lives in
Quarryville; John, of Chester county; and Martin,
of Mechanicsburg, (6) Jane Good died unmarried.
(7) Jacob Good married Sarah Davis, also a na-
tive of Chester county, settled in Chester county, on
the original Good home where he was bom, and left
the following children: Mary, the wife of Martin
Espenheim, living in Chester county; Davis, de-
ceased; Emeline, the widow of John Wilson, of
Philadelphia; Sarah, the widow of Dr. Goman, of
Coatesville; Ellis, who lives in Atglen; Elmira, a
resident of Philadelphia.
(8) Samuel Good; the father of J. Martin, was
rgared in Chester coun,ty, where he was given a
576
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
common-school education, and bred to a farming
life. In 1830 he married Eliza Mollis, and lived for
a year in Bart Valley. In 1832 he bought the farm
en which his son is now established near Bartville,
in the township of Bart ; this he cleared with the as-
sistance of his son, made extensive improvements,
and erected the buildings which are now standing
on the place. In 1880 he removed to Christiana,
where he lived retired, to the time of his death in
1889. His wife died at the farm home in 1863.
They were members of the Presbyterian Church in
Octoraro. Politically he was a Democrat, and held
a number of local offices at different times in his
active and useful life. He was one of the first free
school trustees of Bart township. To him and his
excellent wife came the following family :
(i) J. F. Good, born in Bart township in 1833,
married Miss Mary Mundenhall, of Bart township,
and for a number of years he worked at the carpenter
trade. During the Civil war he served in the State
militia during the Rebel raid into Pennsylvania. For
some ten years he worked at farming, and in 1872
moved to Renova, Clinton county, where he is em-
ployed in the shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Of his children, Clara, the oldest, is the wife of
Charles Van Gordan, of Renova; Florence is the
widow of Charles Young, of Renova; Abraham
lives at Altoona ; George lives at Lancaster, N. Y. ;
Albert is in Renova; Jenietta is the wife of Isaac
Gates, of Renova ; Ella is at home.
(2) Anna E. Good, born Aug. 27, 1835, is the
widow of John McGovan, of Sadsbury township,
and has one son, John W., who is a farmer in Sads-
bury township.
(3) Sarah J. Good, born in June, 1837, is un-
married, and lives at the old home in Chester county,
where she is a dress maker with a pleased and con-
stant patronage.
(4) W. H. Good, born Jan. 5, 1840, a business
man of Philadelphia, married Miss Sally Maloy, and
has one son. Dr. A. P. Good, of that city.
(5) Mary L. Good, born May 15, 1842, is unmar-
ried, and lives in Chester county.
(6) Samuel R. Good, born June 21, 1844, mar-
ried Miss Marv Moore, of Bart township, and lived
with her in Brooklyn, N. Y., where he is a contractor
and builder. The wife died in Philadelphia, leaving
three children, Washington, Nellie and Wilson.
(7) Washington Good, born Nov. 20, 1846, en-
listed in Co. D, 2d Pa. Cav., and died at Camp Stone-
man, Va., April 20, 1864.
J. Martin Good began life as a farmer boy, was
educated in the local schools, and when only four-
teen years of age had charge of his father's farm.
In connection with farming he has followed for
many years the business of an auctioneer.
Mr. Good was married Dec. 25, 1879, to Mary
E., the daughter of Patrick and Susan (McNeal)
Swisher. She was born in Eden township, Sept.
10, 1855. After their marriage the young couple
lived on the old homestead, which has been their
residence to the present time. To this marriage have
come two daughters: Ellen Maud, born Feb. 20,
1882, graduated from the Quarryville high school,
and now a successful teacher in Bart township, hold-
ing a first-grade certificate and enjoying a reputation
of more than the usual ability ; Malissa May, bom
Jan. 7, 1886, a student in the Bartville high school.
Mr. Good has been prominently identified with
the Republican party, and at different times has
held various local and town offices. In 1890 he was
made census enumerator for Bart township, and for
ten years has been road commissioner. He has long
been a judge of the elections, and was actively asso-
ciated with the building of the Central high school
of Bart township. He and his wife are members of
Middle Octoraro Presbyterian Church. He is an
industrious and hard working man, an upright citi-
zen, and a kind neighbor. His neighbors speak
warmlv of his many good qualities and sympathetic
spirit, and he enjoys the hearty and unstinted re-
spect of the community in which his life is passing.
FREDERICK BUCHER. In reviewing the
lives of successful men the keynote that has gained
fame and confidence for them is not uncommonly
sought. Some men win as plodders, others by dash
and brilliancy. In his earlier life, at least, Frederick
Bucher was a man of action. He possessed the cour-
age to choose for himself, to create opportunities
rather than to become their creation, and this faculty,,
with his keen sagacity, has contributed immensely
to his success. As one of the wealthiest, most pros-
perous citizens of Columbia, a brief outline of his
career is especially interesting.
Mr. Bucher was born in Deggingen, Wurtem-
berg, Germany, Sept. 18, 1830, son of Joseph Maxi-
milian and Barbara (Bernauer) Bucher, and was
well educated in his youth in his native town. His
father was a prosperous merchant, and at fifteen
Frederick entered the paternal dry-goods store and
grocery as a clerk. A year later he assumed the
management of a carbonic spring, the property of
his father, located at Ditzenbach, near Deggingen.
Here he rernained six years, gaining a knowledge of
business and men which has stood him in good stead
in the varied business interests in which he has
since engaged. In 1852 Mr. Bucher's name, with
many others, was placed in the "army wheel," but
the drawing of Deggingen's recruits was completed
without his name appearing in the lists, he having
drawn a number which cleared him from military
service. In the fall of the following year he sailed
for the new world beyond the sea, where he hoped to
build a home for himself, make new friends, and a
fortune, all of which he has realized beyond his most
sanguine expectations. Landing at New York, he
did not at once find occupation which suited, the
offer of a clerkship at eighteen dollars a month be-
ing the best that was offered him. Visiting an ac-
quaintance in Philadelphia, he found desirable em-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
577
ployment in that city also beyond his reach. Learn-
ing that (jeorge Tille, whom he had known at Deg-
gingen, resided in Columbia, the ambitious voung
man started for that borough, which he reached in
the winter of 1853. Mr. Tille was a clerk in the hard-
ware store of Jonas Rumple, and there the newly
arrived emigrant started up the ladder of success in
America. For seven months he remained with Mr.
Rumple, and at the end of that time accepted a better
position with Henry Pf abler, also a hardware mer-
chant of the borough, with whom he remained seven
years. In 1858, deciding to seek his fortunes in the
far West, he resigned his position with Mr. Pfahler
and started overland for California. In the vicinity
of Salt Lake City their camp, consisting of fifteen
men, was suddenly attacked one evening by Indians.
There was a vigorous defense, which gradually
Slackened until Mr. Bucher and one other man were
the only survivors of the party. Favored by the
darkness which had come on during the fighting they
fled and made good their escape. Mr. Bucher finally
reached New Orleans, but finding that the city was
suffering from an epidemic of yellow fever, he de-
cided to give it a wide berth, and shipped on a vessel
for Havana. However, the vessel was not allowed to
land, as several cases of smallpox had developed on
board. He then returned to Columbia, via New York
City, and re-entered the employ of Mr. Pfahler. He
became owner in a patented stove, but in 1859 the pat-
terns were destroyed by fire and he had no means
to pay for new ones, consequently the stove enter-
prise proved a clear failure. This, however, was
Mr. Bucher's first and only financial failure, and re-
sulted in his staying with Mr. Pfahler as a clerk
two years longer. In 1861 he accepted a position in
the hardware store of J. W. Cottrell, with whom and
his successors he remained five years. In 1866 he
started in the grocery and hardware business for him-
self at the corner of Fourth and Locust streets, Col-
umbia, which he continued successfully for twenty
years. He also became largely interested in real
estate in Columbia, and is now one of the most ex-
tensive real-estate owners there, in addition to other
property, owning over fifty residences. He is a prac-
tical builder, and his houses have been constructed
under his direct supervision.
In politics Mr. Bucher is a Republican, and has
alwavs given his party a hearty and liberal support.
He was elected a member of the borough council in
1884, and the following year served as its president.
Fraternally he is a member of the I. O. O. F., hav-
ing joined" Susquehanna Lodge, No. 80, in 1856, and
has passed through all the chairs ; of the A. O. M. P.,
with which he has been afiiliated since 1874, and in
which organization he has also filled all the executive
offices; and of Lancaster Lodge, No. 134, B. P. O.
E. As president of the Columbia Rod and Gun
Club he has ably served that society, and is still one
of its most enthusiastic and prominent supporters.
On Sept. 13, 1862, Mr. Bucher enlisted in Com-
37
pany A, 2d P. V. I., and went with his regiment to
Chambersburg, where it remained until Sept. i8th,
when it went to Hagerstown, and thence three miles
out in the Williamsport road, where it formed in
line of battle and remained there twenty-four hours.
It then moved a mile farther and went into camp,
but the same evening started for Greencastle, taking
cars for Harrisburg, where Mr. Bucher, with the rest
of the regiment, was mustered out of the service
Sept. 25th. In T863 Mr. Bucher was the eighth man
drafted in the army from the First ward of Columbia,
but secured exemption, as the ward filled the quota.
As a subsequent draft in the same year, his name was
again the eighth to be drawn, and this time he paid
$300 for exemption.
In addition to' his mercantile and real-estate in-
terests, Mr. Bucher has been prominently identified
with a number of successful business enterprises. For
years he has been a director of the Keeley Stove
Works, of Columbia, and for a time served as treas-
urer of the Columbia Laundry Machine Co. He was
also for a good many years treasurer of the New
York Building & Loan Association.
Mr. Bucher has been an enthusiastic traveler,
having visited Europe, Canada, the West Indies, and
all parts of the United States. In 1880 he made an
extended trip through Europe, revisiting his old
home, and meeting his mother and three sisters, from
whom he had long been separated. Two brothers
had followed him to America, Christian in 1853, and
Max in 1858, both now deceased. Mr. Bucher is
one of the wealthiest citizens of Columbia, but has
not, however, forgotten the Christian precepts of
his early training, and the Golden Rule has guided
his life. He has been generous in the distribution
of his means for the public good. A kind and loving
father and husband, a faithful and efficient public
official, honest and just to his fellowmen, he ranks
as one of Columbia's most prominent and influential
citizens. He is actively interested in the affairs of
life, and his beautiful home on Locust street, oppo-
.site the city park, contains a well selected library
and many curios of interest. His disposition is com-
panionable and genial, his observations keen and
practical, and few men are better liked for their
individual worth and personal character.
In i860 Mr. Bucher married Miss Louisa
Bartsch, daughter of Michael Bartsch, of Chestnut
Hill, Lancaster county, and to this union have been
born four children, viz. : Mary, who resides at home ;
Frederick C, who is a practicing physician in Co-
lumbia, and married Miss Estella Brant; Emilie,
who married Dr. J. W. Grove, and resides in Colum-
bia ; and William, a druggist in Columbia, where he
has two fine drug stores.
BENJAMIN Z. WITMER, a general farmer of
Mt. Joy township, was born in that township July 2,
1858. son of John and brother of David Witmer, of
Elizabethtown.
578
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OP LANCASTER COUNTY
The education of Mr. Witmer was obtained in
the district schools, and until his marriage he resided
with his parents. Following this event, he began
farming on his own account on his father's land,
operating the home farm for three years, moving
then to his well-cultivated farm of twenty-seven
acres, upon which he has remained until the present
time. Mr. W'itmer belongs to the Republican party.
His religious connection is with the German Bap-
tist Church.
On Dec. 23, 1880, Mr. Witmer was married
(first) in Manheim, Pa., to Miss Malinda B. Gar-
man, born in Mt. Joy township, who died May i,
1895 and was buried in Mt. Tunnel cemetery. She
was a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Garman, the
former of whom was a carpenter in Lancaster coun-
ty, where both he and wife died. On Feb. 2, 1897,
Mr. Witmer was married (second) in Mt. Joy town-
ship, to A'liss Susan Kauffman, born in Penn town-
ship in 1863, daughter of Abraham and Catherine
(McMullen) Kauffman, of Lancaster county. Mr.
Kauffman was a carpenter by trade and was a much
respected man. His death occurred in 1880, at the
age of forty-two years, his wife having died in 1872,
at the age of thirty-four years. They both were laid
to rest in White Oak Church cemetery. Their chil-
dren were: Monroe, who is a carpenter, in Bren-
nerville ; Lizzie, who married Samuel Ritter • and
lives in Springfield, Ohio ; James, who resides in
Rapho township ; Henry, a farmer near Pennville,
Pa. ; Nathaniel, who lives in Lancaster ; Katie, mar-
ried to Philip Waterman, of Rickersville, Pa. ; and
Susan, the youngest of the family, who became Mrs.
Witmer. Mr. and Mrs. Witmer have no children.
Mr. Witmer is an excellent farmer, a good neigh-
bor and a first-class citizen. He and his estimable
wife have a large circle of warm friends in their com-
munity.
DANIEL S. VON NIEDA. As proprietor of
one of the most popular summer hotels of Lancaster
county, Daniel .S. Von Nieda has become acquainted
not only with many citizens of Ephrata, but with a
great number of intelligent and agreeable people
?rom various States, who have found in him a model
liost ?nd genial gentleman whom they are glad to
•call friend. The "Ephrata Springs Mountain
House." located at Ephrata, is one of the most de-
lightful summer resorts in that locality, situated
near the summit of Ephrata mountain, in the midst
of a hrge park of some 200 shade trees, and sup-
plied with the. pure and invigorating water of Eph-
rata Springs, which by many are considered very
medicinal.
Dnniel S. Von Nieda was born Dec. 23, 1844,
son of the late Jacob and Catherine (Swartz) Von
Nieda, of Cocalico township. The first ofthe Von
Niedq family to arrive in America, were six broth-
ers and one sister, namely: George, Martin, Jacob,
Philip, Casper. Daniel and Catharine who left the
Pfalz on the Rhine called Grammerchen in 1771.
Of these Jacob settled at Adamstown, Lancaster
county, Pa. Jacob was the father of John, Rudy,
Philip (2nd), Jacob (2nd), Henry, Elizabeth, Mag-
dalena, Anmarie, and Catharine (2nd). Of the
above Philip (and) was the father of the following
children: Solomon, Philip (3rd), Jacob (3rd),
Elizabeth, Susanna, and William, all of whom have
passed away.
In 1842 Jacob Von Nieda (3), son of Philip (2),
married Catherine Swartz, a daughter of Jacob and
Mary (Pannabecker) Swartz, and to them were
born five children: Daniel S. ; Jacob L., born in
1849, who died in childhood; J. Wesley, born in
1853, who married Sallie Boger, of Reading, Pa.,
and is a printer by trade ; Mary Emma, born in 1856,
who married Rev. M. A. Salt, of Oberlin, Pa., a
minister of prominence in the United Brethren
Church ; and Richard W., born in 1858, a printer and
publisher in Reading.
Daniel S. Von Nieda was reared on a farm in his
youth, and received his education in the public
schools of Adamstown, beginning his business ca-
leer as a photographer. During the Civil war he
served eleven months as a drummer boy in the i9Sth
P. V. I. In 1877 he started the Ephrata Review,
ihe first newspaper published in Ephrata, in which
enterprise his brother, J. Wesley Von Niedaj was
associated with him. In 1881 he purchased the
"Mountain House" at Ephrata, and for the last
twent)^ years has been its successful proprietor, mak-
ing it one of the most desirable resorts in that part
of the State. On account of the vigilance which Mr.
Von Nieda constantly exerts, and also his known
pronounced prohibition views, this hotel has justly
gained a reputation for respectability which makes
it much sought after by those of refined and exclu-
sive tastes.
On Oct. 24, 1869, Daniel S. Von Nieda was mar-
ried to Miss Sallie S. Zartman, a daughter of Will-
iam and Annie (Singer) Zartman, and five sons have
been born to this union, all of them children of whom
their parents have reason to feel proud. These chil-
dren are: Oscar L., born Jan. 27, 1871, who mar-
ried Miss Sarah H. Landis, and is a farmer in Eph-
rata; John W., born Dec. 15, 1873, an electrician;
Harry J., born March 27, 1876, who is editor of the
Ephrata Reporter, and resides at home ; Robert D.,
born Aug. 16, 1880, who assists his father; and
Walter H., born Oct. 23, 1883, at home.
As a business man and excellent citizen, Mr. Von
Nieda stands high in the community, and socially he
is known as a charitable and benevolent neighbor as
well as a true Christian gentleman.
NOAH L. GETZ. The first member of the Getz
family to locate, in Lancaster county. Pa., where for
many years its representatives have lived honest and
honorable lives, was John Jacob Getz, who came to
America, in the good ship "Dolphin," and landed in
Philadelphia in 1738, his home having been in Pfalz,
Germany. After a short residence in this country,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
579
he. went back to Germany, but finally returned and
located in Lancaster county, settling on Chestnut
Hill and occupying a large extent of country, some
400 or 500 acres, of the choicest land of this fertile
county. Of an enterprising and progressive spirit,
he favored many measures for public improvement,
and in every way testified to the confidence he had in
the future of the great country where he had found
a hospitable home.
The family born to this emigrant forefather con-
sisted of many daughters and one son, Jacob, who
became the great-grandfather of the present repre-
sentatives of the name in Lancaster county. Great-
grandfather Jacob Getz owned the old homestead,
and in 18 18, after making proper provision for his
numerous sisters, he built upon the place a large
brick house and barn and suitable outbuildings, and
also erected a barn upon the farm which is now in
the possession of Noah L. On this same place in
1822 he built a house and also put up some buildings
at the "Black Horse Hotel." The records show that
he was a man of fertile mind and considerable ca-
pacity, followed farming successfully and carried on
a business in the manufacture of whip stocks, which
were sold in Philadelphia. His family consisted of
five sons : John, George, Peter, Harry, and Jacob :
the large estate was divided between them, and all
settled and married in that locality except ' George,
who was of a more adventurous and restless spirit.
Grandfather John Getz was born June 19, 1790,
and died Nov. 18, 1842. He married Magdalina
Gross, who was born Dec. 2, 1795, and died June 15,
1857. They owned 113 acres of the old homestead,
together with thirty-seven acres of timber land, all
of which now belongs to Noah L. Getz. During his
life John Getz filled a number of situations accept-
ably, being engaged in general farming, while he
also taught school, and was called upon to serve as
clerk at sales, his ability putting him far in advance
of his neighbors. His family consisted of a daugh-
ter, Lydia, and a son, Levi, the father of our subject.
Levi Getz was born Dec. 28, 1827, and passed
out of life Feb. 20, 1896. His wife was a representa-
tive of another old and well-known, as well as nu-
merous, family of Lancaster county, Maria L. Lan-
dis, of Manheim township. After his marriage, in
1849, he succeeded to the property and became not
only a prosperous farmer, but a noted stock raiser ;
buying only thoroughbred stock and raising fine
specimens of Holsteins, Shorthorns, Jerseys, and
Devons, he was one of the leaders in this progressive
industry in the county. The great and Itixuriant
meadows of Lancaster county made the raising of
fine cattle and stock a very profitable business, and
Levi Getz was so encouraged that he went into the
business of improving his other stock also, introduc-
ing some of the best strains of hogs ever brought to
Lancaster county.
For a number of years he was one of the direc-
tors in the Lancaster County National Bank and so
much confidence was placed in him that he was se-"
lected, at the death of Benjamin Landis, his father-
in-law, to become .the guardian of the estate, and
never was a trust more carefully fulfilled, or a great
business matter better adjusted. Two children were
born to Levi Getz and his wife ; Hiram L., a success-
ful practicing physician of Marshalltown, Iowa ; and
Noah L.
Dr. Hirarn Landis Getz was born Nov. 14, 1850,
in East Hempfield township, Lancaster county. His
early education was gained, in the schools of that re-
gion and then followed his professional studies m
Philadelphia, where he was connected with various
hospitals, was assistant and student under the noted
surgeon, Dr. R. J. Levis, and was graduated from
the Jefferson Medical College in 1874. He located
at Marshalltown, Iowa.
In addition to his regular professional work, the
doctor has been at various times connected with life
and accident companies ; has been county physician
for Marshall county : is chief surgeon for the Iowa
Central Railroad and is connected with a number of
other Western roads ; was for three years a professor
in the Iowa College of Physicians and Surgeons;
and has held other professional positions in the state,
too numerous to mention. Dr. Getz is a frequent
contributor to medical and surgical journals and has
invented a number of instruments and conveniences
for professional use. Besides being prominent in
various State societies, he was elected president of
the International Association of Railway Surgeons,
1900-OT. In politics Dr. Gttz is independent; he
has served on many State, boards and as postmaster
of Marshalltown, always introducing many improve-
ments and reforms.
On May 27, 1874, Dr. Getz married Miss Mary
E. Worley, and they have two children : N. y/or-
ley, also a physician ; and Igerna M.
Noah L. Get/, was' born April 9, 1852, and was
reared on the farm and received his education in the
public schools, having the advantages of a short term
at the Manheim Academy. On Jan. 6, 1876, he was
married tq Fannie H. Roher, of East Hempfield,
who was born Nov. 28, 1856, and to them were born
these children : Ferry R., a very bright young man,
born in 1877, graduated from Marshall College,, of
Lancaster City, in the class of 190.1 ; Noah R., horn
in 1879, educated in the common schools and at
present a student in the International School of Cor-
respondence, at Scranton, Pa. ; Mable R., born in
i88n educated' at the Manheim High School and
graduated in the class of 1899 : Annis R., born in
1882, who died in 1886; John R., born in 1883, a
student in the Manheim high school ; Maria R., born
in 1885 ; Henry R., born in 1887; and Roher, born in
1891.
This traces the Getz family in one line, and other
information tells of the will of John Jacob, which
was made in 1803, and mentions that his son Jacob
was one of the keepers of the "Black Horse Hotel,"
and evidently erected the same. It is interesting to
trace family connections with old landmarks and
580
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
much might be written which the limits of this bi-
ography would not permit.
When Noah L. Getz began life for himself he
was twenty-six years old, and he and his wife settled
on a tract of 120 acres of land which he had pur-
chased from his father ; and upon this place he has
made his home, and added many valuable improve-
ments, in 1879 erecting tobacco sheds and several
smaller buildings, and in 1890 erecting a fine
modern brick residence, which is one of the
most attractive homes in the county. In April, 1896,
he succeeded to the old homestead, at which time he
remodeled the buildings and now has one of the
largest as well as one of the best equipped farms in
the neighborhood.
Mrs. Getz was the recipient of a fine property, al-
most adjoining the homestead, which was presented
to her on her birthday, in 1899, the two together
placing in the family the largest farm in Lancaster
county. Mr. Getz has dealt largely in tobacco, also
in walnut lumber, and is one of the largest dealers
in stock and cattle in the county. Prominent in
many ways, he is a member and stockholder in the
Lititz Turnpike Co., and is considered one of the
best representative men of I^ancaster county.
JAMES M. WILSON, a retired farmer of East
Drumore township, was born in York county, "Pa.,
July 8, 1822, son of John and Charlotte (Watt)
Wilson.
John Wilson was born in York county in 1796,
and his wife was born in Chester county in 1795.
John was the son of James and Eleanor (Hutchin-
son) Wilson, who were born in York and Chester
counties respectively, and who reared a family
of five children, three sons and two daughters : John,
father of our subject; James, who moved to Ohio,
and died there ; David, who lived and died on the
old homestead in York county ; Elizabeth, who died
unmarried in York county; and Margaret, who
became ihe wife of John Collins, who died in York
county.
John Wilson, father of our subject, first settled
on a farm in York county, but in 1824 he moved to
the southern part of Lancaster county, where he
followed farming until his death in July, 1886, in
his ninetv-first year; his wife died at their home in
1874. They were members of the United Presby-
terian church and were devout Christians. They
left two sons: James and John D., the latter fwho
is unmarried) being a prominent and wealthy man
of Lancaster county, whose early life was spent as
a farmer, but who afterward engaged as a
merchant in Drumore township ; so continuing until
1861 when he was appointed deputy sheriff, and
moved to Lancaster ; he has also held several other
offices, and is now living retired.
James M. Wilson grew to manhood on his
father's farm, and was educated in the public
schools. He remained on the farm until his mar-
riage, in November, 1876, to Miss Jane Thompson,
daughter of Miller and Mary (Watt) Thompson,
pioneers of Lancaster county. Mr. Wilson located
on his father's homestead where he remained until
the spring of 1884, when he purchased his present
fine farm which joins the borough of Quarry ville.
It is one of the well cultivated and desirable places
of the section, and has a large brick residence and
fine out buildings of all kinds. It was here that
Mr. Wilson's first wife died, in 1892, leaving no
children. In 1893 Mr. Wilson married for his
second wife, Mrs. Harriet E. (Thompson) Catfip-
bell, widow of Dr. John C. Campbell, who in life
was a prominent physician of the county. Mrs.
Wilson was born Jan. 14, 1844, in Colerain town-
ship, whither her parents, George B. and Mary
("Snyder) Thompson, of Chester county, had moved.
The lady is well educated, and for twenty years was
a teacher in the public schools. She had two
children by her first husband: Anna D., born
in 1869, who married Walter Scott, and has one
child, Helen E. ; and Bailey C, born in 1872, who is
now a resident of Harrisburg, and has one son,.
John. Mrs. Wilson is the granddaughter of Francis
and Mary (Black) Thompson, and her maternal
great -grandparents were George and Hannah
(Ross) Black, while her paternal great-grand-
parents were Col. James and Lj'dia F. (Bailey)
Thompson, of Revolutionary fame. Col. James
Thompson was born in Sadsbury township in 1745,.
and died in the same township in February, 1807.
His wife, Lydia F. Bailey, was born in 1750, and
died in 1806. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have no
children. In religion they are members of the
United Presbyterian church, of which both he and
his brother have been strong supporters for a
number of years. His father, John Wilson, was one
of the early members of the United Presbyterian
church of Martic township, and • attended it for
many years, holding various offices in it. Mr.
Wilson has also filled positions of trust and honor
in the same church, and is one of its foremost
members. Volumes might be written of his
Christian benevolence and charity. He is a man of
integrity and honor, and well thought of by all who
know him.
HENRY CLAY GEMPERLING, the popular
court crier, lives in a beautiful home which he has
erected on a part of the estate owned by his father,
the late Daniel Gemperling, on East Orange street,
near Ann street, in Lancaster.
Jacob Gemperling, grandfather of Henry Clay,
who was a distiller and a farmer, was born near
Rohrerstown ; his son Daniel, who was born in
Lancaster, died Nov. 13, 189.S, at the age of eighty-
seven years. The latter and his brother John, were
the leading tinsmiths of the city for many years,
filling many important contracts. Daniel Gemper-
ling conducted the business on East Orange street
alone tn within a short time of his death, and became
bne of the best-known citizens of his time, owning a
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
581
large amount of real estate, and making his influence
felt in business and commercial circles. Anna
Hurst, his wife, was a half-sister of Elam Hurst, a
prominent citizen of Lancaster, and also a sister of
the mother of H. C. Demuth. From this union were
born three children, two of whom, William and
Anna, died in early childhood, and the only surviv-
or is Henry Clay Gemperling.
_ Henry Clay Gemperling was born in the large
brick mansion at the southwest corner of East King
and Jefferson streets, then the home of his parents,
in February, 1846, and was educated in the city
schools and at John Beck's celebraited school in
Lititz. When less than sixteen years old he left
school to enlist in the Union army, joining Co. A,
79th P. V. I., Aug. 19, 1 86 1, and served throughout
the war, receiving his discharge Aug. 12, 1865. He
took a gallant part in all the battles and skirmishes
in which his command participated, and was wounded
in the arm at Jonesboro, Ga., under Gen. Sherman,
being promoted to the position of corporal. After
the war Mr. Gemperling was captain of "The Boys in
Blue," a campaign organization in the first campaign
of Gen. Grant for the presidency. After Gen. Grant's
election the boys in blue were organized into two
military companies, A and B, and attached to the
National Guard of Pennsylvania, Mr. Gemperling
being commissioned captain of Co. B, both compan-
ies taking part in the inauguration of Gen. Grant as
President. Until 1879 he worked with his father
at the tinsmith and plumbing trade, and then re-
moved to Ephrata, where he engaged for himself in
the same lines. There he remained until March 13,
1R95, when he returned to Lancaster, to become a
tip-staff in the court house, very shortly being made
court crier for court No. 2, and in November, 1899,
he was made court crier of the courts of Lancaster
coimty, to fill a vacancy created by the death of Jo-
seph C. Snyder, a position which he still holds.
While living in Ephrata, Mr. Gemperling bought
and remodeled a fine property. For fifteen years he
was deputy coroner of the district, for nine years he
was a notary public, and was the first president of the
Pioneer Steam Fire Engine and Hose Company, and
was acting in that capacity, when he left the bor-
ough ; he was commander of Post No. 524, G. A. R.,
of Ephrata, for three years, and was the second man
to be elected burgess after Ephrata became a bor-
ough.
While a resident of Lancaster he served as a
policeman during Mayor Stauffer's first term, and is
remembered as one of the best police officers this
city ever had. During his residence in Ephrata he
twice arrested Abe Buzzard, the noted outlaw, "put-
ting him behind the bars." This he did as a private
citizen, his fellow townsmen calling on him because
of his well-known fearlessness. When thieves broke
into the store of Schaeffer & Reinhold, at Ephrata,
Mr. Gemperling discovered one of the thieves, ar-
rested him, and took him to jail. This same bravery
was conspicuous all through his army experiences.
Mr. Gemperling was married Aug. 14, 1869, to
Miss Susan Jacobs, daughter of William Adam
Jacobs, a farmer living near Beartown, Lancaster
county. From this union were born four children:
Anna Maria, the wife of E. E. Royer, a farmer of
Ephrata township ; Martha Alpha, unmarried and at
home ; Daniel H., a paper hanger ; and Henry Clay,
jr., now at school.
JACOB H. ZIEGLER. Among the prominent
and successful business enterprises of Lancaster
county, the Conoy Township Creamery has taken a
leading place, under the efficient management of its
owner, Jacob H. Ziegler, a resident of Rowenna.
The founder of the Ziegler family in East Done-
gal township was Conrad Ziegler, born in 1761, who
married Magdalina Schock, born in 1758; his death
occurred in 1831 and hers in 1826. Their remains
lie with those of other old and honored pioneers in
the ancient cemetery of East Donegal. The paternal
grandparents of Jacob H. Ziegler were Conrad and
Catherine (Schock) Ziegler, his birth occurring in
180T, his death in 1880, while she was born in 1799,
and passed out of fife in 1854. Conrad Ziegler was
one of the most estimable men of his time and lo-
cality, a local preacher of the religious denomination
known as Dunkards, a good, pious, charitable and
upright man.
Jacob H. Ziegler, the subject of this biography,
was born on the old homestead Jan. 6, 1857, a son of
John and Barbara (Hertzler) Ziegler. The former
moved to Elizabethtown, Pa., in the spring of 1887,
where he built a comfortable home and there died,
in November, 1894, at the age of sixty-six years.
During life he had been a prominent and influential
man, for many years a director in the First National
Bank, of Marietta- and was a consistent and valued
member of the Dunkard Church.
Jacob H. Ziegler was reared on the homestead
and educated in the best schools of the neighborhood,
remaining at home until his legal majority, when he
engaged in farming in Conoy township, remaining
there for four years. Returning to East Donegal,
he continued in agricultural operations until 1897,
when he removed into Rowenna, having purchased
the Conoy Township Creamery, in 1895. This busi-
ness was established in 1885, by a stock company,
and although, for some years it prospered, negli-
gence had permitted it to run down, and in 1895 it
was sold at public sale, Mr. Ziegler being the pur-
chaser. His judgment told him that if properly
handled, the business could be made a very paying
one, and he has proven the truth of his belief.
The marriage of Jacob H. Ziegler occurred Dec.
17, 1878, in Pequea township, to Miss Barbara Hess,
and to this union were born: John H., who
operates the milk station for his father, in Harris-
burg ; Mary ; Ivah ; Barbara ; Alice, deceased ; Jacob ;
and Arthur. Mrs. Ziegler was born on the old
homestead of her parents. May 25, 1858, a daughter
of Jacob and Mary Ann (Herr) Hess; the father
582
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
was a fanner of prominence and wealth, and was the
treasurer of the New Danville and Lancaster Turn-
pike from the time it was proposed until his death,
and he was one of its principal promoters. He was
interested in all progressive movements in his sec-
tion and was instrumental in the building of the
United Zion Church, of which he was a member.
His life ended in 1898, at the age of seventy years,
his wife having passed away in 1879, and both of
them were buried in the Pequea Church cemetery.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Hess were: Martin
H., residing on the old homestead ; Barbara ; Henry,
a farmer of Conestoga township; Mary, who mar-
ried John W, Eshleman, of Reading, Pa. ; Jacob, a
farrner of Lampeter ; Fanny, who married Aaron B.
Hess, the superintendent of the Chemical works in
Lancaster ; and Susan, who married Martin Rutt,
of West Donegal. Mr. Ziegler lost his first wife,
and was married again, on May 11, 1898, to Ella M.
daughter of T. O. and Emma Fradeneck, of Bethle-
hem, Pennsylvania.
In politics, Mr. Ziegler votes independently.
Without doubt, he is one of the most intelligent men
of the township and is interested in every measure
looking toward the development of his section. For
six years he served as school director, and owns one
of the most complete private libraries in Lancaster
county. He well represents the best class of citizens
of this part of the State.
DANIEL D. HERR is the eldest living repre-
sentative of the male branch of the fifth generation
of a family whose name has ever commanded re-
spect throughout Lancaster county. He himself is
a man of active brain and rare business ability, but
of this more will be told in a subsequent paragraph.
The old homestead in Lancaster township, near Mil-
lersville, has remained in the possession of the family
for more than a century, and it was there that our
subject was born Feb. 28, 1845.
His father, David S. Herr, whose mother's name
was Anna Shenk, was bom in the same house,
June 14, 1816. He began farming for himself on a
small parcel of land in Leacock township, purchased
for him by his father. There he lived for four years,
when he purchased — from the estate of his uncle.
Christian Herr — the farm which is' at present owned
by his son, Daniel D., where the latter conducts the
Fairview Nurseries. From 1843 until 1866 David
S. Herr remained in this location, and in the latter
year he removed to the house which is now occupied
by his son John. He is now in his eighty-eighth
year, but is still active and vigorous. While not able
to do the day's work of fifty years ago, his inborn
aversion to idleness renders it easy for him to find
some out-door occupation, suited to his years and
strength. On Oct. 6, 1840, he married Elizabeth
Dentlinger, who was born Feb. 13, 1823, and died
Aug. 12, 1867. The issue of this union was one
daughter and three sons. Fannie, the eldest of the
family, was bom Dec. 12, 1841 ; she married John L.
Gamber, of Manor township, and is now a widow.
Daniel D., was the second child and eldest son.
David D., was born Oct. 27, 1848, and is a retired
farmer, of Hempfield township. John D., the
youngest of the family, was born May 26, 1852 ; he,
too, is a farmer, and is also a tobacco dealer.
Daniel D. Herr, the subject of this necessarily
brief sketch, is best known to the commercial world
as the proprietor and manager of the Fairview
Nurseries, to which reference has been already
made. His farm, on which they are located, lies
two miles west of the city of Lancaster. It embraces
134 acres, of which forty are devoted to uses indi-
cated. He commenced general farming in 1866, but
some inborn predilection inclined him toward fruit
growing, and he read with avidity as well as shrewd
insight and a retentive memory, all the literature
bearing on that topic on which he could lay his
hands. As a result, when in 1876 he started on his
"new departure," it was with a mind theoretically
well equipped. His beginning was modest, yet he
succeeded from the first, and to-day he carries stock
of the highest class, and finds a ready market in
every quarter of the United States. Besides the
farm on which his nurseries stand, he owns three
others, in Manor, Fulton and Manheim townships,
yet the care of his large and constantly growing bus-
iness absorbs all his personal attention. He is also
a large stockholder in various industrial and finan-
cial enterprises, among them the Manor Township
Fire Insurance Co., and the Farmers' Fencing As-
sociation, As was the faith of his ancestors, so is
his; he is an earnest member of the MSnnonite
Church. In politics he is a staunch Republican. He
takes a deep interest in public affairs, and is ever
ready to aid any well matured project promising the
promotion of the general welfare. He takes espec-
ial interest in education, and has been a member of
the school board for fifteen years.
On Nov. 27, 1866, Daniel D. Herr married Ade-
line Harnish, who was born Aug. 18, 1848, a daugh-
ter of Michael S. Harnish, of Manor. Their union
has been blessed with four daughters; Fannie, An-
nie, Elizabeth and Emma. The youngest is unmar-
ried and lives at home with her parents. Fannie
married Isaac Neff ; Annie is the wife of William R.
Rutt, of East Hempfield township ; and Elizabeth is
Mrs. A. E. Binkley, of Manheim.
FRANK GERBER PENNELL, the efficient
and popular postmaster of Mt. Joy, Pa., is also one
of the city's prominent business men, and a highly
esteemed citizen.
Mr. Pennell was born July 31, 1840, in Warwick
township, near Rothsville, a son of Thomas Wilson
and Christiann (Gerber) Pennell, the former of
whom was a native of Chester county, and the latter
of Lancaster. In 1830, the father, Thomas W. Pen^
nell, came to Lancaster countv and settled in War-
wick township^ where he followed milling and
pump'making, and in 1888 came to Mt. Joy, in order
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
588
to pass his last years with his son. Since 1852 his
residence had been in Marietta, where he was well
known and where he died in 1890, and many old
friends remembered him with esteem and lamented
his death, although he had far outlived the age
allotted by the Psalmist. His wife died in 1843,
at the early age of twenty-severl years. Although
she had been reared in the Presbyterian Church, she
became connected later with the Lutheran Church.
The two children of this marriage were Frank and
a little sister, Mary, who died at the age of four
years.
The second marriage of Thomas Wilson Pen-
nell was to Catherine Bear, who died in 1894, at the
age of seventy-five. The children born of this
union were: Amanda, who married S. N. Ens-
wiler, a machinist of Marietta; Sarah, who mar-
ried Samuel Fisher, of Columbia, Pa. ; and John, of
Mt. Joy, who is associated with Frank G. Pennell
in the carriage and wagon-making business in Mt.
Joy.
The paternal grandparents of Frank G. Pennell
were Hon. Benjamin and Jane (Wilson) Pennell,
of Chester county, who were leading members in
the Presbyterian Church in that locality. They
came to Lancaster county and located in Lancaster
in 1830, and Mr. Pennell soon took a prominent
part in public affairs. His trade was that of wool
carder, but his appointment to the office of justice
of the peace in Warwick township had absorbed
much of his time. During 1841-3 he was a mem-
ber of the Legislature, and his last days were spent
in teaching school, as he was a man of superior at-
tainments. His death was in Lancaster, in 1864,
at the age of eighty, his wife having passed away
in October, 1860, at the age of eighty-four. The
maternal grandparents passed their lives in Lan-
caster, where Jacob Gerber was long held in respect.
When Frank Gerber Pennell was three years
old his young mother passed awav and he was taken
to the home of his grandfather Pennell, who at that
time was teaching school. Under the watchful
care of his grandfather he was well instructed, and
he remained with him until 1847, when his father
married again, and Frank returned home. At the
age of twelve, however, he entered the cotton mills
in Lancaster, where he worked for the following
four years and served an apprenticeship, covering
three years, as a silver plater. His choice of work,
however, was found in Mt. Joy, in a wagon and
carriage-making shop, where he put in practice his
knowledge of nickle plating.
About this time came the outbreak of the Civil
war, and among those who quickly answered the
call for troops was Frank G. Pennell, who con-
nected himself with the U. S. Marines and was in
continual service for fotir years. Until the fall of
Vicksburg he served in the Mississippi squadron
and then was sent to the Atlantic squadron, but later
was transferred to the Pacific squadron, and was
honorably discharged at Mare Island, Cal. He re-
turned home, where he found his old situation
awaiting him, and there Mr. Pennell remained until
1891, when he purchased his present place of busi-
ness, where he conducts wagon, and carriage-mak-
ing in the most modern style of manufacture.
Although closely attending to his regular busi-
ness, Mr. Pennell has found time to take much in-
terest in the affairs of his city, and for three years
served as clerk of the council ; a justice of the peace
for four years, he conducted the business pertaini"<5
to that office with efficiency, but resigned in the mid-
dle of his last term. In 1873 Gov. Hartranft ap-
pointed him a notary public and he continued to
serve in that capacity until July, 1899, when he was
made postmaster of Mt. Joy, by President McKin-
ley. An ardent and active Republican, he has done
valiant work for his party and takes an important
position in its deliberations.
On Feb. 16, 1868, Frank G. Pennell and Char-
lotte Smaling were united in matrimony, and the
children born to this marriage are: Thomas, who
died in infancy; Emma, a young lady, at home;
Catherine, who died in infancy ; Frank, who is as-
sociated with his father in business ; and Alberta, a
young lady, at home. Mrs. Charlotte (Smaling)
Pennell was born in Mt. Joy, May 6, 1840, a daugh-
ter of George and Catharine Smaling, of Lancaster
county, the former of whom was a wagon maker of
Mt. Joy.
Since the age of twenty-one Mr. Pennell has
been connected with the I. O. O. F., and also be-
longs to the other social orders of Red Men, K.
of P., and of the G. A. R., of Mt. Joy. As a pub-
lic official he has given universal satisfaction, and
is regarded as something of a leader, being a man
of high character, who has proven his loyalty to
both friends and party.
IKE FRANCE, whose careful study and prac-
tical experience in the line of insurance make him
one of the best informed men on that subject in the
State, was born at Heckmondv/ike, Yorkshire, Eng-
land, in February, 1853, son of Mark France, an
agricultural laborer.
The lad attended school until he was seven years
old, when he was employed in a brickyard carrying
bricks, and from that time to the age of thirteen he
served as a stable and errand boy on the farm where
his father was employed. He was then apprenticed
to learn the currier's trade, so continuing until he
was twenty-one. When he was nineteen, his father
died. Continuing at his trade until he was twenty-
three, Mr. France was compelled to seek a change
of occupation on account of failing health. Enter-
ing the services of the Prudential Life Insurance
Co., of London, he became a field agent in the Hud-
dersfield District (Yorkshire) and devoted some
years to the thorough canvass of his native town and
surrounding villages. While employed there he
was engaged among two hundred insurance agents
to come to this country by the Metropolitan Life In-
584
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
surance Co., of New York City, and to introduce the
system of Industrial Life Insurance amongst the
working classes of the American people. Arriving in
New York, July 26, 1880, he was sent as assistant
superintendent to Lowell, Mass., thence to Haver-
hill, Mass., and Manchester, N. H., and finally to
Boston, working in that end of the State for eight
years. For three years he was superintendent in
West Philadelphia, and was then called to Worces-
ter, Mass., where after three years as superintend-
ent in that district he was transferred back to Phila-
delphia, where he met with a severe trolley car acci-
dent while performing his duties, and this necessi-
tated rest for about a year. When again able to re-
sume work, he was sent to a smaller field of labor,
spending a year in the Hudson, N. Y., district ; and
on Feb. 2, 1897, he came to Lsfncaster as superin-
tendent for his company and which had not as yet
had a satisfactory business from this city. Mr.
France studied the local conditions, and determined
to win a business for his company that would be in
every way satisfactory. His earnest work wrought
a great change. Instead of three assistant superin-
tendents he had five, instead of fifteen agents he had
twenty-nine; instead of collecting weekly $894.04,
he had in (April, 1901) $1,483.40, in the same terri-
tory, in weekly collections, and on which, had been
collected $2,929 of advance collections in premiums
not then due from members. The intermediate poli-
cies—never less than $500, and as high as the appli-
cnnt cares to go — were increased to $70,500 in four
years, with a goodly number of $10,000 policies out-
standing. Mr. France made a most admirable re-
cord in the four years he was the Metropolitan's su-
])erintendent here. In April, 1901, after a period of
long continued sickness, and three months short of
completing twenty-one years' service, he was placed
on the retired list by the company he had so long re-
presented, and was given a most liberal pension as a
reward for faithful service.
In religious faith Mr. France is a Wesleyan, and
in fraternal relations a Mason, and a member of the
Commercial Traveling Men's Association. While as
thorough an American as though he had been born
here, he never forgets nor belittles the glorious coun-
try from which he sprang, and is a typical English-
American. In the eastern suburbs of Lancaster he
has invested in a beautiful home, and he has made
himself honored and respected in this, the city of his
adoption.
SAMUEL STONEROAD, a retired farmer of
New Providence, is one of the leading men of Provi-
dence township, and its largest taxpayer. Mr.
Stoneroad was born Feb. 2, 1828, in Lancaster coun-
ty, son of Thomas Stoneroad, who was accidentally
killed while engaged in digging a well.
Thomas Stoneroad, the grandfather of our sub-
ject, was one of the early settlers of Lancaster coun-
ty, of German parentage, and during his life was
considered one of the best millwrights in his lo-
cality. His son Thomas was born in 1790, became
a millwright also and engaged in farming. -He had
seven children, four of whom grew to maturity,
namely: John, Henry, Susan and Samuel, but all
of them have passed away with the exception of
Samuel.
Samuel Stoneroad was only seven years old
when his father met with his tragic death, and soon
after this event his mother also died. His educa-
tion was very meagre, and was obtained with great
difficulty, consisting of interrupted attendance dur-
ing the winter seasons in the public schools of his
locality, and from an early age he was obliged to
care for himself. That he possessed unusual ability
must be acknowledged, for from that unfavorable
beginning Mr. Stoneroad worked as a farmer,
saved his money, and now in advanced years is one
of the most substantial men of that part of the coun-
ty, owning two of the best farms ' in Providence
township, one containing ninety-six acres and the
other seventy-two acres, and paying a larger tax
than any other citizen^
On Feb. 10, 1848, Mr. Stoneroad was married
to Miss Annie Mower, daughter of George Mower,
of Strasburg township, and two children were born
to this union, namely : Thomas, bom in 1849, who
died at the age of seven years ; and Franklin, born
the year previously, who is the farmer for his father.
He married Miss Emma Winters, and they have
one son, Samuel, and one daughter, Anna. Mrs.
Samuel Stoneroad died in 1882.
Mr. Stoneroad has always adhered to the prin-
ciples of the Republican party. For many years he
has been a consistent member of the Mennonite
Church, and he is highly respected in his commun-
ity for his honest and upright character.
JOHN R. BITNER, who passed away Aug: 29,
1897, was for an ordinary life time one of the most
conspicuous figures in Lancaster, no man there being
more prominent in banking and business circles. He
was born in Lancaster Aug. 7, 1826, a son of Abra-
ham Bitner.
Abraham Bitner, whose ancestors were of Ger-
man origin and among the early settlers of Pennsyl-
vania, was born in 1791 in York county. By trade
he was a carpenter, but he was a chairmaker and
flour merchant in Lancaster most of his active busi-
ness life. Religiously he was a member of and of-
ficially connected with the German Reformed Church
of the city. He married Elizabeth Porter (1799-
1856), also a member of the same church. Their
children who reached manhood and womanhood
were: Anna R., wife of George Dietrich;
Jacob ; Sarah W. ; John R. ; Charles Au-
gustus; Abraham; Benjamin F., of Trenton,
N. J., who died Dec. 13, 1902; David P.;
and Mary M. All have passed away except Abra-
ham, of Lancaster.
John R. Bitner received his early education in the
schools of Lancaster, and at the age of thirteen be-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
585
gan learning the trade of cabinetmaking, at which
he continued until 1846. For one year following
he was in the employ of the State railroad. In
1847, ill company with his brother, C. A. Bitner
(trading as John R. Bitner & Bro.), he purchased
a few cars and established a fast freight line between
Lancaster and Philadelphia, the cars being run on
the State railroad, and subsequently on the Penn-
sylvania railroad tracks. Their business increas-
ing, additional cars were placed on the road from
time to time, until they were the owners of some
thirty cars, which they ran in transporting and for-
warding merchandise over the railroads of this and
•other States. They were the leading firm in their
line in this section of the State, and did a thriving
Tjusiness from 1857 until the dissolution of the part-
nership, in 1874. In the year 1848 they had also be-
come engaged, in connection with their freighting
business, in grain operations, and in shipping grain
to different points in the East, which afterward de-
veloped into a prosperous trade. In 1854, with
others, they were interested in building the Eden
Paper Mills, and had large interests in the same. In
1855 they built a steam flouring-mill in Lancaster,
which had a capacity of 150 barrels per day,
and which they continued to operate until 1863,
when, owing to the large demands made for sup-
. plies to the Union army, and a consequent need of
storage room, they took down the mill to make room
for an extensive warehouse on the same site.
John R. Bitner & Bro. were large contractors for
the Government during the war, furnishing supplies
to the army, and their transactions were so satis-
factory that at the close of the conflict the Govern-
ment applied to them for supplies for the old army
stock until it could be disposed of. In 1865 they
were members of the company that built the Fulton
•cotton mill, but they disposed of their interest in it
four years later ; they were also members of the com-
pany that built, the same year, the Printers' paper
mills at Binkley's Bridge (which were burned in
Novem.ber, 1882), in which John R. Bitner f-etained
a large interest for years. The firm of John R. Bit-
ner & Bro: continued their freighting business until
1S74, when Mr. Bitner purchased his brother's in-
terest, continued it alone until 1882, and sold out the
business to the Pennsylvania Railway Company.
Mr. Bitner was one of the original founders of
the noted summer resort Ocean Beach, on the New
Jersey coast ; a director in the New Egypt, Farming-
dale & Long Branch railroad, of New Jersey, for
some time; and in 1865, in company with others,
founded a forwarding and commission house at No.
811 Market street, Philadelphia, in which he retained
a partnership until 1870. He was a member of both
branches of the Lancaster city council for several
terms; served for three years as prison inspector
for Lancaster county ; as director of the Lancaster
County National Bank some seven years ; as director
of the Quarryville railroad ; and in February, 1882,
was one of the organizers of the Fulton National
Bank of Lancaster, of which he was chosen presi-
dent.
On April 26, 1852, Mr. Bitner married Fianna,
daughter of David Wiedler, a farmer of Lancaster
county, and they had the following children : Jacob
S. ; Lillie W., Mrs. J. C Martin, who died June 30,
1881 ; William H. ; D. Edwin ; Anna M. ; Abraham ;
Alfred F. ; and Helen O. Mr. Bitner passed away
universally beloved and most deeply regretted; but
it is a source of satisfaction to his friends that his
son, Abraham, now occupying a responsible posi-
tion in the Fulton National Bank of Lancaster,
should be so closely connected with a financial in-
stitution of which his father was one of the organ-
izers, and, at the time of his death, the honored head.
HENRY E. MILLER. The family of Mr. Mil-
ler is an old and honored one in Lancaster county.
His grandfather, who was also named Henry, was
one of three brothers who settled near Salunga
about the time of the war of the Revolution. He
was a large land owner, , successful farmer, and a
member of the Old Mennonite Church. He lived
to be nearly seventy years old, and at his death en-
joyed the confidence and respect of the entire com-
munity. He married a Miss Shenk, whose father
was one of the pioneer settlers in the valley of the
Chickies, near Salunga. He pre-empted and patented
several large tracts of land, and built two mills upon
the stream named. One of these is still known as
the- Shenk Mill, the other as the Garber Mill. To
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Miller six children were born.
The eldest, John, was the father of Henry E., who
is now the head of this branch of the Miller family/
He was born Oct. 15, 1797, and died Sept. 23, 1850,
a farmer and a man of influence. He was long a
member of the school board, and served for many
vears as supervisor. He was a Whig in politics,
and like his father, a Mennonite in religious faith.
On March 22, 1825, he married Elizabeth Erb. She
was born Nov. 9, 1804, and died Aug. 29, i86'j.
They were the parents of eleven children : Emanuel,
born Jan. 11, 1826, who died in infancy; Daniel,
born May 22, 1827, who died Oct. 23. 180^;, at
Elizabethtown, Pa., where he had been first a farmer
and then for many years an innkeeper; Susanna,
born Feb. 19, 1829, the wife of David Weaver, of
Manheim; Henry E. ; John E., born Aug. 22, 1833,
who learned the trade of a tailor and is a cutter at
Portsmouth, Ohio; Andrew, born April 8, 1836,
who died at the age of one month ; Elizabeth, born
April 29, 1837, who died Feb. 16, 1839 ; Joseph E.,
a farmer of Columbia, Lancaster county, born Sept.
5, 1840; Reuben E., born Oct. 14, 1842, a day la-
borer at Salunga; Catherine, born Oct. 21, 1844,
the wife of Levi B. Zug, a farmer living near Lititz ;
Elizabeth, the youngest child, born Feb. 7, 1847,
who died Aug. 22, 1863.
Henry E. Miller was born Nov. 10, 1831. His
586
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
early educational advantages were of the limited
character at that time afforded by the common
schools, and even of these he was deprived at the
age of sixteen years by the failing health of his
father, which compelled his supervision of affairs
upon the farm. He was barely nineteen when his
father died and the farm and personalty connected
therewith were sold, and he, with his mother,
erected another house, which was their home for
eleven years. His filial devotion was constant and
unshaken and its memory is one of his precious
recollections as the fading hues of life's sunset be-
gin to illumine his later years. On Dec. 23, 1862,
he married Amelia K. Miller, daughter of Tobias
and Elizabeth H. (Kauffman) Miller, and to her
unselfish devotion and unwearying aid he attributes
much of his success in life. She was born May 29,
1842. In the year succeeding his marriage he en-
tered into partnership with his brother-in-law,
Hiram K. Miller, in the conduct of a general store
at Petersburg. At the end of two years the firm
dissolved and Mr. Henry E. Miller removed to Sa-
lunga, where he opened a store of his own. He
remained there for three years, engaged in trade and
holding the office of postmaster, and at the expira-
tion of that period returned to Petersburg, where he
lived in retirement until 1871, when he removed to
Lititz, and has since made his home there. Shortly
after coming there, he erected a store at the inter-
section of Broad and Orange streets, which he
stocked and personally conducted until 1882. In
that year he disposed of his business, , leasing .the
realty for four years. Still retaining his residence
at Lititz, he opened and operated a store at Ephrata,
which he successfully conducted for four years. In
1886 he sold this, and, returning to Lititz, resumed
business in his old building, the lease of which had
expired. After eight years, having concluded to
retire from business, he once more disposed of his
establishment and since 1894 has not been engaged
in any active occupation. For three years he and
his family lived in apartments above the store,
which he retained for his own use, but in 1897 he
erected a handsome, modern residence on Broad
street, which is his domicile to-day. About the same
time he sold the store property in which he had so
long carried on business and which had been for so
many years his dwelling place. In addition to con-
ducting a general store, Mr. Miller was for two
years largely interested in packing tobacco, and has
been to a considerable extent engaged in buying
and selling horses, being exceedingly fond of a good
steed and an extremely good judge of equine ex-
cellence. He has, moreover, erected several build-
ings of his own, thereby gaining an experience
which admirably qualified him for the supervision
of the public buildings, a task which he has been
frequently called upon to perform; for nine years
he served upon the school board and for six years
was a member of the municipal council, and in these
capacities had charge of the construction of numer-
ous edifices for public use. He was one of the or-
ganizers of the Lititz Bank and for years one of its
directors. At present (1900) he is a member of
the directorate of the Northern National Bank of
Lancaster. Politically he is a Republican; he and
his family are members of the Moravian Church.
To Mr. and Mrs. Miller two daughters have
been born, — Mary Amanda and Bessie Maud. The
elder was born June 28, 1866, and is the wife of
Jacob G. Rinwold, the proprietor of the "Lancaster
Hotel." She is the mother of four children, Grace,
Henry, Chester and Frank. Bessie Maud, the
younger daughter, was born June 12, 1869. She
married Frank D. Leinbach, of Robesonia, Berks
county, a coal and lumber merchant. They are the
parents of one son, Louis.
Mrs. Henry E. Miller is the granddaughter of
John and the daughter of Tobias M. Miller. Her
grandfather was for many years proprietor of an
inn at Marietta. He was bom March. 14, 1786, and
died in his eighty-eighth year. Her father, Tobias
M., was one of a family of seven children born to
John and his wife, Susanna. Maria, the eldest,
married a Mr. Zellers ; Elizabeth died in childhood ;
John was a traveling salesman for a Philadelphia
shoe house and died at Chicago; Samuel (com-
monly known as "Captain") was a retired hotel
keeper and died in Marietta in 1897; Benjamin died
at Newport, Pa. ; Henry passed away at Medway,
Ohio.
Tobias' M. Miller, the youngest child of John,
and the father of Mrs. Henry E. Miller, was born
March 8, 1815. He was a merchant tailor of Peters-
burg, where he carried on business for twenty years,
He died Nov. 27, 1856. His wife, Elizabeth H.
Kauffman, whom he married on May 26, 1836, was
bom Feb. 16, 1816, near Petersburg. The last years
of her life were spent with her daughter, Mrs.
Henry E. Miller, at whose home she entered into
rest Oct. 22, 1896, at the age of four score years.
To Tobias M. Miller and his wife three children
were born, Hiram K., Mary Amanda and Amelia
K. Hiram K. was bom Dec. 6, 1837; he was a
farmer, merchant and tobacco packer of Peters-
burg, and died Feb. 11, 1896. Mary Amanda, born
March 16, 1839, married on Dec. 6, 1856, Benjamin
Metz, of Clarence Centre, Erie Co., N. Y. Amelia
K., Mrs. Henry E. Miller, was born May 29, 1842.
JOHN F. LEECH, long and favorably iden-
tified with the agricultural interests of Bart town-
ship, Lancaster county, where he made an enviable
reputation for himself as a practical and successful
farmer, was born in Sadsbury township, Oct. 4,
1837, and is a son of John G. and Maria (Rockey)
Leech. The father was born in Lancaster county, in
1797, where the mother also was born, in 180 1. They
were married in this county in 1820, and located in
Sadsbury township, where the father followed the
butcher business until he purchased the family home
in Bart township in 1840. This farm he greatly im-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
58T
proved, building him a stone house and a fine barn,
and there he remained until his death in 1869. His
widow m.ade her home with her son, John F., until
her death in 1890.
John G. Leech was the son of George and Eliza-
beth (Hastings) Leech, who were both born in Gap,
Lancaster county. He was a son of Francis Leech,
who came from Ireland before the Revolution, and
settled at Gap, where he married Isabella Griffith,
who belonged to a wealthy Quaker family of Lan-
caster county. They settled at Gap, where he owned
a fine farm property. George, their son, and the
grandfather of John F., built the hotel property,
which is still in use in Gap ; there he died, leaving
five sons and two daughters, (r) William died a
single man. (2) George, born at Gap, married a Miss
Caldwell, of Curwensville, Clearfield county, where
he lived and died. He was a prominent lumberman,
and at one time served as sheriff of the county. He
was father of the following children : George, Hi-
ram, Hugh, James, Robert, Mary J., Amelia and
Susan, all of whom are married and settled in Clear-
field county, with the exception of Mary, who mar-
ried and moved to the West. (3) Francis married
and moved to Jefferson county, where he died. (4)
Thomas married a Miss Rockey, a sister of the
mother of John F., and settled on a farm in Sadsbury
township, where he died, leaving a family, all of
whom are now dead. (5) Anna Leech and (6)
Elizabeth Leech were unmarried, and died at Gap,
both at the advanced age of ninety years.
(7) John G. Leech, the father of John F., left a
family of ten children, (i) William waa born in
1 82 1, married Mary Homsher, and settled in Phila-
delphia, where he was engaged in a contracting and
building business for many years. Later in life he
moved to Pomeroy, Pa., where he was engaged as a
merchant and a general business man until his death
in 1890. One of his sons is the agent of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad at Pomeroy. The children of this
family were : John S., of Pomeroy ; William H., of
Philadelphia ; Lewis, of Pomeroy ; Emma, who died
at Pomeroy, a young woman of character and cul-
ture.
(2) Jacob Leech, born in Sadsbury township in
1823, married a Miss Griffith, of Philadelphia, where
they lived at the time of her death. His second wife
■was Miss Margaret Watson, of Chester county.
They still reside in Philadelphia, where he is engaged
in business. Their children are as follows : Susan,
who married Harry Bailey ; Anna, the wife of John
Phenegar, of Philadelphia ; Belle, the wife of Charles
Stacey, residing in Philadelphia; Emily, who mar-
ried Harry Kendrick, of Philadelphia ; Thomas, mar-
ried and living in Philadelphia, where his brother
George also lives.
('3) George Leech, born in Sadsbury township
in 1824, married a Miss Catherine Phenegar, of Bart
township, who moved with him to Ohio during the
Civil. war, and there died, leaving the following fam-
ily : Susan, Malinda, Mary, Sarah and George. Mr.
Leech married for his second wife Miss Emily Pow-
ers, of this county, and returned to Ohio, where he
still lives. Of the four children born to this union,
Maggie is the only one living.
(4) Anna E. Leech, born in Sadsbury township
in 1829, married Albert Rhea. They lived and died
in Philadelphia. Their son, Sylvester, still lives in
that city.
(5) Mary J. Leech, born in 1830, died in an early
and promising young womanhood.
(6) Thomas J. Leech, born in 1832, married Miss
Prudence Wilson, of Philadelphia, where he is now
living a retired life, after a very successful career as
a business man. They had four children ; Jefferson,
Frank, Louella and Gertrude.
(7) Catherine Leech, born in 1834, is the wife of
William Ashby, of Chester, Delaware Co., Pa., and
is the mother of Emma; Lillie, the wife of Caleb
Cantnell ; Ella, the wife of Robert Stainton ; and
Anna, all of Chester.
(8) Susan Leech, bom in 1836, married Joseph
Miller, of Russellville, Chester county ; she has since
died, leaving one son, Joseph Dewees.
(9) John F.
(10) Johanna Leech, born in Bart township in
1 84 1, married Charles Wright, of Bart township
where they now reside.
John F. Leech was reared in Bart town-
ship, where he secured his education in the home
schools. Until 1859 he remained on the home farm,
when he went to Columbus, Ohio, where he engaged
in business. In i860 he came back to the old home
in Bart township, and in 1861 enlisted in the Union
Army, as a member of Co. B, 79th P. V. I., at
that time under the command of Col. Ham-
bright, of Lancaster. The regiment was mustered
into service at Camp Curtin, joined the Army of the
Tennessee, at that time under Gen. Thomas, and
later served under Gen. Sherman in his celebrated
March to the Sea. Mr. Leach was engaged in the
battle of Perryville and in a number of minor skir-
mishes. After Bragg's retreat from Kentucky, the
79th was in active service until it "brought up at
Nashville, after much heavy fighting all through
that campaign. It fought seven days continuously
at Murphreesboro, and was in the thickest of the
battle at Chattanooga. In the first day's fight at this
last battlefield, Mr. Leech was wounded in the groin
by a minie ball. On account of this injury he was de-
tained for a long time in the military hospital at
Nashville. On rejoining his regiment Mr. Leech was
again wounded at Bentonville by shell, and his re-
covery was regarded as little less than a miracle.
Until the close of the war he was under treatment in
the military hospital at Goldsboro, North Carolina,,
when he was sent to Washington in time to partici-
pate in the grand review with his regiment. Mr.
Leech was musljered out in that city.
Mr. Leech returned to the old home, and took
688
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
charge of the farming operations, caring for his aged
parents as long as they Hved. He was married Dec.
13, 1866, to Miss Rachel Davis, of Paradise town-
ship, a daughter of Walter and Rachel (Ferree)
Davis. She was born in Sadsbury township, near
Gap, Dec. i, 1839, and was educated in the Bart
schools. Her father, who was born in Ireland, came
to this country when a young man, and married Miss
Rachel Ferree, the daughter of Phillip and Elizabeth
(Slaymaker) Ferree. These families may be traced
back to the early days of the country. Walter Davis
settled in Paradise township, where he spent the
greater part of his life in farming. In his later years
he moved to Bart township, where he resided at the
time of his death in 1853. His widow lived until
June, 1886. Five of their children are still living.
Mrs. Leech is a descendant of one of the first white
families to reach Lancaster county. Mrs. Mary
Ferree was a widow who came from France with her
children in 1704, and is supposed to have been the
first white woman that settled in Paradise township.
Of the children of the Davis family still living, Eliza-
beth is Mrs. Jacob Rife, of Bart township ; Sarah
Davis married William Hamer of Bart township,
and removed to Harrisburg ; Joseph F. Davis is now
a resident of Paradise township ; Rachel is Mrs.
Leech ; Susannah Davis is the wife of Daniel Shees-
ley, of Harrisburg, and has a family of five children.
After the marriage of John F. Leech he became
the possessor of the old Leech homestead, where he
and his wife have lived to the present time. They have
a family of six children.
(i) Amy, born in Bart township, in January,
1868, was educated in the local schools, and grad-
uated from the Millersville State Normal School.
For eleven years she has been a successful teacher in
the Lancaster county public schools.
(2) Ella, born in July, 1869, married Frank
Trout, of Bart township. They now live in West
Virginia, where he is engaged in business as a mer-
chant. They have two children, Marian and Will-
iam Ferree.
(3) William Ferree, born in April, 1872, became
a machinist, and is now employed in the oil fields of
California. (4) Jacob H. Leech ' died when nine-
teen years of age. He was born in 1874.
(5) Anna M., born in 1876, was educated in the
home schools, and later was a student in the Phila-
delphia Shorthand University where she became
adept in shorthand and type-writing. She has spent
sometime as shorthand writer in different offices of
Philadelphia.
(6) John M., born in 1879, was reared at home,
and became a clerk in the Nickel Mines store for
some time. Later he was a shipping clerk in Lan-
caster, and is now carrying on a store of his own at
Buyerstown. He is unmarried.
Mr. and Mrs. Leech are members of the Method-
ist Church of Georgetown. In politics he has al-
ways been a Republican, and for seventeen years has
been school director in Bart township. He was ap-
pointed by the Government to look after the inter-
ests of indigent soldiers in this district. Mr. Leech
is regarded as a man of sterling worth and genuine
character, and enjoys a host of friends.
JOHN A. BURGER has for many years been
known as one of the most prominent contracting
builders, not only in Lancaster and vicinity, but
throughout the State. Although not actively en-
gaged in business now, as in previous years, he is
still interested in building as the head of the firm of
J. A. Burger & son.
Mr. Burger is a native of Allendorf, Prussia,
born Dec. 20, 1828. His father, Philip Adam
Burger, whose birth occurred in the same province,
was a farmer, and followed that occupation till
called to his reward. He married Elizabeth Seel-
bach, who was born in the same locality, and to
their union came five children. John A. Burger, the
only member of the family now living, was reared
in his native land, where he received a good educa-
tion. At the age of thirteen and a half years he
was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade, at
which he served two and a half years, and later
worked as a journeyman carpenter. He contrived
to escape the military draft. For a year he was em-
ployed in Dusseldorf , on the Rhine, and in the spring
of 1849 he embarked on a sailing vessel, leaving
Bremen Feb. 24th, and landing in New York City
on the 1st of May. For about three weeks he
worked in the metropolis, and then came to Lan-
caster county, Pa., and engaged to work with B. B.
Martin, in Millersville. In 1852 he became a con-
tractor and builder, and for eighteen years was
engaged in erecting barns and residences for the
settlers of Manor township. He put up the largest
barn in the county, a two-story building, 90x120
feet in size, on the farm belonging to Christian B.
Herr. In 1869 Mr. Burger came to settle permanent-
ly in the city of Lancaster, and soon became recog-
nized as the most prominent builder and contractor
in the city. Among other buildings which he has
erected in Lancaster are two of the largest school-
houses, and six other school buildings ; and four
market houses, situated in the eastern, western,
southern and central parts of the town, respective-
ly. Two churches, and many ware-houses, store
and office buildings, show marks of his handiwork.
He erected the Trust Company's building and
the People's Bank, both of which are as fine struc-
tures of their kind as are to be found in the State;
and he also built a number of the residences of
the leading citizens, among them those of the late
John Keller, John D. Skiles, B. B. Martin, B. F.
Fshleman, William D. Sprecher, D. P. Locher and
George D. Sprecher. He also built the "Stevens
House." Between the fall of 1875 and the follow-
ing year Mr. Burger erected fifteen buildings for
the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, besides
which he put up the large Opera House on Broad
street, Affenbach's garden and the dwelling of
^^-Lu Q^ioMA i^/OQ.M'
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
589
Mr. Lockard, superintendent of the Pennsylvania
railroad. During that summer he had in his em-
ploy about five hundred men, and the superintend-
ence of so many buildings in course of construc-
tion at the same time told severely on his health.
He has since taken life more moderately, and has
not engaged in works of such magnitude and im-
portance. He built the place known 'as Burger's
Block, in which he still owns five buildings, and
also other property in different parts of the city.
In 1889 Mr. Burger's son, Adam N., became a part-
ner in the business. They have built an industrial
school in Port Deposit; the Thome Institute; the
Soldiers' Orphans' School at Scotland, Franklin
Co., Pa. ; the new Chester County Insane Asylum ;
and, during 1901, erected large buildings in Har-
risburg and Coatesville.
In 1852 Mr. Burger was married, in Millersville,
to Miss Elizabeth Neff, who was born in Baden,
Germany, daughter of Christof Neff, who died in
Lancaster. Mr. and Mrs. Burger had five children,
of whom two are still living : Adam N. and Fran-
ces E. The former was educated in the State Nor-
mal School at Millersville, and at Franklin and Mar-
shall College, where he was a student for two years.
His marriage to Miss Anna C. Miller has been
blessed by the birth of two sons, Robert and Charles.
Frances E. was married Jan. 2, 1900, to Dr. Milton
Ursinus Gerhard, of Lancaster. Mrs. Burger passed
to her reward June i, 1893.
In religious connection Mr. Burger is an active
rnember of the First Reformed Church. Politically
he is a Republican. He has been a director in the
Lancaster Home Mutual Fire Insurance Co. for a
number of years.
Milton' Ursinus Gerhard, M. D., who married
Frances E., only daughter of John A. Burger, was
born in Bucks county, Pa., where his father, the
late Rev. W. T. Gerhard, was then stationed. He
was educated in the public schools of Lancaster and
Franklin and Marshall College, from which he was
graduated in 1871. After teaching four years (two
of them in Lancaster) he read medicine with the late
Dr. John L. Atlee, Sr., he being that distinguished
surgeon's last student. He was graduated from
the University of Pennsylvania in 1877. After act-
ing as assistant in a private sanitarium at Canandai-
gua, N. Y., for three years. Dr. Gerhard became
first assistant in the State Insane Asylum, at Harris-
burg, remaining there ten yelars and then removing
to Lancaster, where he permanently located in Jan-
uary, 1900. He makes a specialty of the treatment
of nervous diseases and inebriety, in which he has
had much experience, and in the relief of which
he has been far more than ordinarily successful.
Dr. Gerhard and his wife make their home with
Mr. Burger, at No. 43 South Prince street. Mrs.
Gerhard has for some years taken her mother's place
a^ the head of the home, which, as the wife of Dr.
Gerhard, she still gladdens.
JOHN MECK. The pioneer of the Meek fam-
ily, in Lancaster county. Pa., was Nicholas Meek,
who left his home in the village of Beyrland, Ger-
many, far back in 1755 and sought a new home
among the fertile lands of the State of Pennsylvania,
locating in Lancaster county, where he found the
Lefever family already settled. Of them he pur-
chased 103 acres of meadow and timber land and
this property has been cultivated and improved for
five succeeding generations and kept jealously in
the hands of the family.
Nicholas Meek was the great-grandfather of the
present representatives of the name, and followed
farming through a long life. His son, Philip Meek,
came into possession of the homestead, and added to
the family property, at the time of his decease own-
ing three of the best farms in the county, two of
them situated in West Lampeter, and one near Pe-
tersburg. His standing was high in the Lutheran
Church, and he had the respect of his fellow-citi-
zens. He married Catherine Ament, and they reared
a family of four children : John ; Jacob, a farmer,
who died at the age of fifty ; George, the father of
the present bearer of the name, a farmer, who lived
to be eighty-eight years old; and Catherine, who
married Jacob Lefever, of West Lampeter, and lived
to be almost eighty years.
Grandfather Philip Meek was a soldier of the
Continental army, during the Revolutionary war
and suffered all the deprivations and trials incident
to those stormy times, bearing himself gallantly all
through the struggle. His son George, was born
and reared in West Lampeter, and lived an honest,
industrious life, the last twenty years of it in retire-
ment. In his younger days he cut a great deal of
wood and engaged in the manufacture and sale of
wooden pipes for the conduct of water, these being
much used in various ways on farms. His farming
operations brought him ample returns, and at his
death he was regarded as one of the township's
most substantial men. A consistent member of the
Lutheran Church for many years, he became at-
tracted late in life to the pious and simple observ-
ances of the Mennonite Church.
George Meek married Martha Nuding, bom in
Germany, who came to this country with her father,
John Nuding, and lived to the age of seventy-five
years, becoming the good and devoted mother of
nine children : Catherine, deceased, who married
(first) Amos K. Raub, and (second) Frederick
Neff; Mary, now a widow, who married John
Furry, and moved to Ohio; Martha, married to Jo-
siah Swinehardt, of Wayne county, Ohio; George,
deceased; Philip, a resident of Lampeter; John, a
resident of West Lampeter township ; David, a far-
mer, who died at the age of sixty-one; Susaii,
the widow of Samuel Wycker, a resident of Bart
township, and Lydia, the widow of Jacob Burk-
holder, of West Lampeter.
John Meek was born on the old homestead, Aug.
590
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
9) 1831, and grew up a farmer boy, receiving
his education in the pubHc schools of his district.
At the age of twenty-two he decided to engage in
farming operations for himself ; and in i860 he mar-
ried Maria Houser, a daughter of Jacob and Eliza-
beth (Brackbill) Houser, and then located on the
farm which they so long occupied, this being pleas-
antly situated in West Lampeter township, four
miles south-east of Lancaster City, and consisting
df sixty-nine acres, where he successfully followed
farming until the time of his death. Two sets of
buildings are upon this place, one of these, the more
modern, having been erected in 1885, by Mr. Meek.
Three children were born to John Meek and his
worthy wife: George H., who is a farmer on his
father's place, is married to Amanda Doner, and has
four children, Ralph, Stella, Earl, and Paul; Jacob
A., a farmer of East Lampeter, who married Mary
Roher, and has three children, Edna, Ada and
Roher; and Lydia E., living with her mother.
On March 25, 1901, John Meek passed away, at
the age of sixty-eight years, and his influence, al-
ways in the direction of temperance, education and
morality, is much missed in the community. He and
his wife were both exemplary members of the
Old Mennonite Church. Since his death his widow
and her daughter have lived in the village of Lam-
peter.
MARTIN MIILER, for many years a promi-
nent farmer citizen of Lititz, Lancaster county,
where he was living retired at the time of his death,
was born Aug. 20, 1823, on the home farm in Man-
heim township, and was educated in the district
school.
John Miller, father of Martin, was born Jan. 16,
1797, and died Nov. 4, 1883. By his marriage in
1822 with Charlotte, daughter of John Weidler, of
Manheim township, he became the father of the fol-
lowing named children : Martin ; Mary Ann, widow
of Jonas B. Nolt, residing on North Duke street,
Lancaster; Andrew, who died in early childhood;
Susan, who also died when a child; and Lavinia,
wife of Aaron H. Summy, of Lancaster. The mother
of these children died in February, 1882.
Martin Miller assisted on the home farm until
he was twenty-three years old, then married, and
two years later purchased a farm of 160 acres about
one mile northwest of Lititz, which he made into a
model place. He resided upon it until 1868, when
he turned it over to his son, and retired to pass the
remainder of his years in ease and comfort at Li-
titz.
Mr. Miller was four times married. His first
wife, whom he wedded in 1846, was Miss Catherine
Johnston, a daughter of Benjamin Johnston; she
was bom near Lancaster City, and died in 1868, at
the age of forty -four years, leaving one. child, Johns-
ton Miller ; he became one of the leading farmers in
Warwick township, though later he removed to
Lititz and followed the insurance business. He
married Miss Emma Minnich, and became the
father of three children, John M., Bessie and Emma.
He died in 1891.
The second marriage of Mr. Miller took place. in
1874, to Mrs. Ann (Wallace) Wise, widow of Chris-
tian Wise. She died in 1879, and in 1884, Mr. Mil-
ler chose for his third wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Shirk,
widow of Isaac Shirk. Mrs. Elizabeth Miller passed
away in 1896, and in the fall of 1897, Mr. Miller
contracted his fourth marriage with Mrs. Elizabeth
Minnich, widow of John Minnich, and daughter of
James and EUanor (Leslie) Stillwell. They lived
in quiet contentment in Lititz, where his death took
place Aug. 28, 1901. He was a member of the Ger-
man Baptist Church, as is also his widow.
Mr. Miller was a stockholder in the Lancaster
County Bank, and in the Farmers' National Bank
of Lancaster, as well as in the Lancaster Trust Com-
pany, the Lancaster Electric Light Company, the
Lititz National Bank, and the Ephrata & Lancaster
Turnpike Company. He never failed to invest his
means in any enterprise that gave promise to in-
crease the benefits and prosperity of his township
and county. In politics he was a Republican from
the time the party was founded.
■ HOFFER. With the best development of Mt.
Joy township the name of Hoffer has ever been
connected; Lancaster and adjoining counties have
had more than one occasion to be grateful to some
representative of the family bearing that honored
name.
Matthias Hoffer, from whom the HofFers in this
country are descended, was born in Klein Heuni-
gen. Canton Basle, Switzerland, Aug. 24, 1718 (old
style) , and immigrated to America, landing at Phila-
delphia, Sept. 2, 1743. He married Maria Wohl-
weider, daughter of a farmer, and settled near Man-
heim. The wife died Jan. 25, 1778, leaving six sons
and six daughters. Mr. Hoffer subsequently mar-
ried a second wife, who bore him five sons and one
daughter.
John Hoffer, fifth son of Matthias, married Bar-
bara Long, and resided in Londonderry, now Cone-
wago township, Dauphin countv, where he died Dec.
4, 1837 . He was the father of eight children, six sons
and two daughters, of whom Samuel, George, John
and Joshua, all settled in this locality and reared
families. Their descendants are still living in this
and adjoining counties.
John (2), fourth son of John, married Mary
Reider, and resided in Conewago township, Dau-
phin county, where he died May 21, 1866. He had
three children: Isaac, of Lebanon; Jacob R., of
Mt. Joy ; and Mary, widow of Rev. William Hertz-
ler, residing in Elizabethtown. Isaac was the first
mayor of Lebanon, Pa. He died Feb. 18, 1893,
leaving three sons, Amos (since deceased), John
and Allen, and one daughter, Mrs. George S. Bow-
man.
Jacob R. Hoffer was born on a farm in Dau-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
591
phin county June 23, 1823. District schools in
those days afforded but meagre opportunities for
acquiring an education, but young Hoffer took
every advantage of such as they were. He also at-
tended Brown's School at Mt. Joy, and later James'
Academy in Philadelphia. His early ambition
turned toward the printer's trade, but circumstances
compelled him to pass his young manhood on his
father's farm. His uncle, Squire Samuel Hoffer,
of Conewago township, Dauphin county, was a man
of considerable learning and high reputation, who
had established himself as a surveyor and scrivener ;
and having taken a fancy to his nephew Jacob,
Squire Hoffer gave him a thorough understanding
of the intricacies of his profession. This Mr.
Hoffer continued to follow until 1864, when ill
health compelled him to abandon a work that re-
quired such great physical endurance; he conducted
a notion store to the time of his death, and also, true
to his early predilection, he turned to the printing
ofRce, in 1864 becoming proprietor of the Mt. Joy
Herald, which had been established by Mr. F. H.
Stauffer in 1854. Although not a practical printer,
Mr. Hoffer soon gained a thorough knowledge of
the details of the business, and during his career as
editor and proprietor of the Herald he greatly ad-
vanced the standard of journalism in his locality.
He was broad and liberal in his views, and gave to
the public a paper clean and wholesome ; conserva-
tive in his expressions, he was a wise moulder of
public opinion, and the farmers and business men
all held him and his paper in high esteem. Since
his death, his sons^ John E. Hoffer and Uriah E.
Hoffer, are conducting the paper for the estate.
Jacob R. Hoffer was united in marriage with
Martha Engle. His death occurred April 15, 1892,
and of his children two sons and five daughters
survive : John E., Uriah E., Mary E., Rebecca and
Hannah, all of Mt. Joy ; Helen, of Philadelphia ; and
Annie A., wife of Dr. C. G. Gabel, of Lancaster.
HENRY S. RUTTER, a retired farmer and
tobacco packer, is a director of the Gap National
Bank, and has his home in Intercourse, Pa. He
was born in Leacock township, Lancaster county,
Oct. 15, 1836, and is a son of Eli and Elizabeth
(Skyles) Rutter.
Eli and Elizabeth Rutter were married Oct. 25,
1832. They were of Leacock and Salisbury town-
ships, respectively. Mr. Rutter operated a hotel in
Leacock township, and was a farmer four years in
Williamstown, where later he was a merchant for
some fifteen years. At the expiration of that period
he retired. He was born Sept. 17, 1806, and died
Dec. 30, 1878 ; Mrs. Elizabeth Rutter was born Feb.
26, 1805, and died Aug. 2t, 1884; both were buried
in the cemetery of Christ Church at Intercourse, Pa.
Mrs. Rutter was a member of Christ Church. To
them came the following family: Plarriet A., born
May 20, 1834, who is the widow of John Hess, a
farmer, and lives at Gap, Pa. ; Henry S. ; Hannah
E., born May 4, 1839, living at Intercourse, the
widow of George Diller, at one time a hotel man and
a drover ; Jacob R., born Nov. 14, 1842, who mar-
ried Maggie P. Lincoln, and is a farmer at Inter-
course, Pennsylvania.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. Rutter were
Jacob and Hannah (Trout) Rutter, and they were
married Jan. 21, 1800. They were farming people,
and also kept a hotel in Intercourse many years.
Jacob Rutter was born April 24, 1769, and died
April 10, 1845, while his wife was born Aug. 6,
1779, and died Oct. 9, i860 ; both were buried in the
Cemetery of Christ Church at Intercourse. They
had the following family : Elizabeth, born Oct. 22,
1800, married to George Rutter; Mary, born May
25, 1802; Uriah, married to Eliza Baker; Eli, who
died Dec. 30, 1878, in the seventy-third year of his
age ; Anna L., who died Feb. 14, 1865, in her fifty-
sixth year, unmarried; Sarah, who died Oct. 29,
1883, at the age of seventy-one years, nine months
and twelve days, the wife of John Miller; Rachel,
born Sept. 24, 1816, married to John Varnes ; Han-
nah v., who married Harvey Varnes, of Washing-
ton, D. C, and is now dead.
The maternal grandparents of Mr. Rutter were
Henry and Rebecca (Dunlap) Skyles, of Salisbury
township, where he was engaged in business, both
as a farmer and a potter.
Henry S. Rutter was married March 7, 1865,
in Williamstown, Pa., to Miss Sarah E. Eckert, by
whom he has had the following family : Blanch, who
died at the age of eight vears ; Laura J., an invalid,
at home unmarried ; Hannah, who married Adam
Diller, a farmer and a drover at Intercourse, Pa.,
and who is the mother of four children; Elizabeth,
who married Tobias Leaman, of Gordonville, Pa.,
and is the mother of one child ; Sarah, married to
Harry Weiler, a clerk in a store in White Horse, Pa. ;
Harry E., a merchant at New Holland, unmarried;
Jacob P., a hardware clerk, living at home ; Etta E.,
at home; Chauncey E., a druggist in Lancaster,
Pa. ; Howard L., at home.
Mrs. Sarah E. Rutter was born in Leacock town-
ship in 1842, and is a daughter of Jacob K. and
Hannah (Varnes) Eckert. Mr. Eckert was a
farmer, and died in 1863, at the age of sixty-four;
his widow died in i8vo, at the aee of sixty-nine
vears ; both were buried in the Rolands Cemetery
in Earl township. They were the parents of the
following family: Rev. John V., a Lutheran
preacher, who died in i8g8; George, living retired
in. Lancaster ; Susannah, married to Jeremiah Sel-
domridge, a retired farmer of Leacock township ;
Lewis, now of PJiiladelphia ; Henry, deceased ;
Mary A., late wife of Robert Hoar ; Sarah E. ; Jemi-
mah, the widow of Henry Harsh, living in Lan-
caster; Eva line, deceased wife of Josiah Zook; Re-
becca, married to Moses Hess, of Duncannon, Penn-
sylvania.
Henry S. Rutter remained on the paternal
homestead until he was eighteen years old, when he
592
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
went to White Horse, Pa., and was employed two
years as a clerk by William Bunn ; then he went to
Williamstown, Pa., where he was engaged with
Harry Worst two years in the mercantile business.
At the expiration of that time, in company with his
father, he bought out Mr. Worst, and operated the
stand until 1865. That year his brother Jacob
bought his father out, and the two were in partner-
ship until 1871. That year Jacob retired from the
firm, and Mr. Rutter was alone in the business for
some two years, when he sold the store to Harry
Brackbill. Moving to Leacock township, he bought
a farm, where he remained until 1880, and in that
year came to Intercourse and began business as a
tobacco packer. At present Mr. Rutter has retired
from both farming and the tobacco packing indus-
tries and is enjoying in his latter years a well-earned
rest.
Mr. Rutter belongs to the Knights Templars ; in
politics is a Democrat, and holds a prominent posi-
tion in the community. His personal qualities have
won him friends, while his business abilities have
made him wealthy.
ABRAHAM HAINES POWDEN, Esq., of
No. 49 North Duke street, is one of the most
promising young members of the Lancaster Bar,
and is a striking illustration of what the American
youth can accomplish even in the face of most
adverse circumstances. He was born July 24, 1876,
at Altoona, Pa., son of A. H. Powden and Margaret
Young. His father was employed at the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad shops at Altoona^ and died there
three months before his son's birth; his mother
dying when her boy was only sixteen months old,
the young orphan was brought to Lancaster by his
grandfather, Isaac B. Powden, who is a wholesale
dealer in cigars and at this time is still traveling
about on business of his house, though over eighty-
four years of age. His grandmother was Elizabeth
Haines. He was kept by his paternal grandparents
until he was four years of age, at which time, upon
the death of his grandmother, he was placed in
the care of a paternal uncle with whom he had his
home until he was eight years of age, and at whose
instance he was sentenced to the House of Refuge
at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Poor, and almost friendless, young Powden was
presented on the day of his sentence to the House of
Refuge, with a silver dollar, by a gentleman of
Lancaster, and encouraged by that kind act, he
resolved to secure an education and become a
lawyer. How bravely and successfully he clung to
that resolution and purpose is now a matter of
record. The silver dollar is carried by him to-day,
and is treasured above all his other possessions,
bearing an inscription from whom the coin came,
to whom it was gfiven, and under what circum-
stances.
Through the efforts of his new benefactor and
other friends who took up his cause, he was
released from the House of Refuge at the end of
three weekSj and placed in the Children's Home at
Lancaster, Pa., where he remained until ten years of
age, at which time he went to live with Samuel O.
Frantz, at Rohrerstown, where he worked on the
farm during the summer and attended school in the
winter, and remaining with this kind-hearted
family until he was sixteen years of age. Striking
out for himself at. that age he secured a position in
a general merchandise store at Mechanics Grove,
where he remained one year, and then returned to
Lancaster as a clerk for Ezra F. Bowman & Co.,
wholesale jewelers, with whom he spent four years.
Clerking during the day, he pursued special studies
by night, giving much attention to Latin, under the
tutorship of a graduate of Franklin and Marshall
College.
Upon the financial failure of the firm of Ezra
F. Bowman & Co., young Powden entered the law
ofiice of C. Reese Eaby, Esq., and after faithful
study passed his preliminary examination, Dec. 16,.
1897, and was admitted to practice Sept. 15, 1900.
He also holds a commission of Notary Public, and
is a member of the Superior and Supreme Court*
of this state.
Mr. Powden is a member of the First Presby-
terian church of Lancaster, and also a trustee of
White Cross Commandery No. 159, Ancient and
Illustrious Order of Knights of Malta. In politics
he is a stanch Republican and very active.
No man of his years has worked more indus^
triously or systematically than this bright and pro-
gressive young member of the legal profession.
Mr. Powden is a man of genial and courteous
address, honest and upright as the day is long, and
has won a host of friends, who justly prize his
manly qualities and genuine work.
DAVID L. MILLER. Through its numerous
descendants and by marriage and inter-marriage
with leading families, the Miller name is well
known all over Lancaster county. A worthy rep-
resentative of this family, who resides in affluence
in Mt. Joy, retired from active business life, is Da-
vid L. Miller, a highly esteemed citizen, and one
who for the past ten years has been a director of the
Union National Bank of Mt. Joy.
Mr. Miller was born in Conoy township, July
16, 1834, a son of David and Anna (Longenecker)
Miller, the former of whom was well known in the
county and township, acting many years in the ca-
pacity of school director. He died in 1887, at the
age of eighty-two, after several years of retirement ;
his widow survived until 1894, and both were buried
in Donegal township, old and prominent members
of the Mennonite Church.
The children of David and Anna Miller were :
Elizabeth, who married Abraham Martin, a farmer of
Conoy town.ship ; Fanny, who married Henry Metz-
gar, of Dauphin county ; Anna, unmarried, a resident
of Conoy township; Christian, a retired farmer of
ou^l^,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
593
Conoy township ; David L. ; John, who died young ;
Henry, a retired farmer of West Donegal township ;
Barbara, who married John Erb, a farmer of Dau-
phin county ; Mary, who married Andrew Stoner, a
farmer of Conoy township ; Leah, who married Ja-
cob Erb, a farmer in Kansas ; Abraham, a farmer of
West Donegal township ; Martin, a farmer of Conoy
township; Samuel, a farmer of Mt. Joy township;
and Mattie, deceased, who married Amos Zimmer-
man. The paternal grandparents were Ernest and
Elizabeth Miller, of "Ephrata, and the maternal
grandparents were Christian and Fanny (Brenne-
man) Longenecker, of Lancaster county, all of these
being old and leading families of the greatest finan-
cial stability, and of honorable standing in their
several communities.
One of a large and happy family, David L. Mil-
ler grew up in his comfortable farm-house home,
surrounded by the good influences which a pious fa-
ther and mother brought into the household. His
education was acquired in the public schools, and
until he was twenty-two years old he remained un-
der the parental roof. For some years he then op-
erated a rented farm, but later, at the time of his
second marriage, purchased a farm in Rapho town-
ship, and there became a prominent farmer and a
leading factor in township affairs, for three years
giving his services as school director and doing
much for the encouragement of education.
The first marriage of Mr. Miller was in 1858,
in Lancaster, to Fanny Garber, a daughter of John
and Catherine (Seachrist) Garber. Mrs. Miller
was bom in West Donegal township, where she lies
buried, having died on March i, 1861, at the age
of twenty-three. Her children were: John, who
married Fanny Heaston, a retired farmer of Mt.
Joy; and Fanny, who died young. The second
marriage of Mr. Miller was in 1863, to Leah Niss-
ley, and to this union has been bom this family:
Anna, who resides with her parents ; Barbara, who
married Amos Stauffer, a miller of East Donegal
township ; Mary, who married Harry Miller, of Mt.
Joy ; Milton, who resides on the old farm, in Rapho
township; and Elizabeth, who married F. B. F.
Hoffer, a hardware merchant in Christiana, Peim-
sylvania.
Mrs. Leah (Nissley) Miller was born in East
Donegal township, Aug. 30, 1835, a daughter of
Peter and Catherine (Krider) Nissley, the former
of whom was a well-known preacher in the Men-
nonite Church, and also a farmer. His birth occur-
red July 22, 1802, and his death in 1893, after a long
life full of good deeds. The beloved mother had
preceded him niany years before, her death taking
place in 185 1. Both were buried in the cemetery of
the Donegal Mennonite Church, where he had min-
istered for forty years.
The children bom to Rev. Peter and Catherine
Nissley were: Mary, who married Rev. Solomon
Swartz, a U. B. minister in Dauphin county ; Esther,
who died at the age' of twentyTone ; John K., de-
38
ceased ; Leah, who is the only survivor of her fam-
ily ; Christiann, who died unmarried ; Barbara, who
married C. F. Hostetter ; Catherine, who died when
but seventeen; and Annie, who died at the age of
two.
The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Miller was
Rev. Christian Nissley, of Donegal township, where
he was for many years a Mennonite minister of
prominence. He married a Miss Graybill and they
had three sons, John, who became a deacon in the
Mennonite Church ; Hon. Jacob, a farmer, who also
became an Assemblyman from this county; and
Peter, the father of Mrs. Miller. On the maternal
side the grandfather also was a minister, the Rev.
John Krider, who married a member of the Denlinger
family, of Lancaster county.
Mr. Miller is a stanch Republican, and is one of
the leading members of the Mennonite Church, with
which the family has so long been prominently con-
nected.
CHARLES RYNEAR, now a retired farmer of
Bart township, Lancaster county, was born in Upper
Dublin, Montgomery county, Nov. 10, 1822, a son
of William and Sarah (Spencer) Rynear, both of
whom were born in Montgomery county, where they
were married. For some years they lived in what
was known as the Indian Settlement, near Rochester,
N. Y., and then moved to Oxford, Chester county, to
engage in a hotel business for several years. The
last few months of his life, William Rynear spent at
Dry Wells, in Eden township, Lancaster county.
After his death, his widow with her four children'
moved to the "Old Trap Tavern" on the Newport
road in Bart township. She later became the wife
of Frederick Rogers, and made her home at George^
town. There she died, leaving one daughter, by her
second husband, Catherine, now the wife of Arthur
Stewart, of Georgetown. ■
Charles Rynear is the oldest child born to his
parents. Elizabeth, the oldest daughter, was born
in New York. She married Peter Ibaugh, a ma-
chinist, who died several years ago. She lives in
Christiana and has five children: Sarah, Spencer,
George, Bruce and Louis. The second daughter,
Harriett, married Isaac N. Lewis ; both have passed
away, Mr. Lewis on July 20, 1891, and his wife
May II, 1896. They had three children, Ellen and
Jenette, deceased, and William E., of Harrisburg.
The fourth child of William Rynear was Jonathan
Rynear, who was born in Montgomery county, and
became a soldier in the Civil war. He enlisted in a
company formed in Juniata county, and made a
good record, both as a gallant soldier, and a loyal
and devoted citizen. After the war he married in
Juniata county, where he still resides. They have
three children; Sarah, Edwin and Charles.
Charles Rynear was reared to manhood in Lan-
caster county, and given a somewhat limited educa-
tion. After the death of his father much of the care
of his younger brother and sisters fell on him. Mr.
594
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Rynear was married in January, 1849, to Rachel M.,
the daughter of Henry and Eliza A. (Swisher) Key-
lor, one of the prominent families of Bart township.
Henry Keylor was born in Germany in 1792, and
his wife in Colerain township, in September, 1809.
She was a daughter of John and Rachel (Woodrow)
Swisher, who had their home in Colerain township,
and came of Swiss parentage. Henry Keylor was
married in 1827, and established his home on a farm
in Bart township, where he Hved until a few years
before his death. He bought a home at Nine Points,
where he died in 1875. His widow passed to her rest
in 1891.
To Plenry Keylor and his wife were born five
children. ( i ) Rachel, who is Mrs. Rynear, was born
in May, 1828, and was given a very fair education in
the public schools of the day. (2) Martha E., born
in 1830, the widow of Joseph Clark, lives in Chester
county, near her four children, Henry, Harland, Jen-
nie and Walter, Oscar and Samuel C. having died.
{3) Elizabeth J., born in Bart township in December,
1832, is the widow of Robert A. Ferguson, and still
lives at Nine Points with her two daughters, Nora
and Ellen ; Ellen is the wife of Samuel McComsey
of Philadelphia. (4) John J., born in 1834, married
Jane McClure, and has a home in Mechanicsburg.
They have three children, Dr. Walter M., Lillie E.
•and William J. (5) Jacob K., born in 1837, married
Rebecca Rutter, of Bart township, where they live
on their farm. They have five children, Howard,
Maggie J., Ella, Adam and Henry.
Mr. and Mrs. Rynear settled at their present
home in 1849 ; on this place he has made extensive
improvements, clearing over a hundred acres, erect-
ing a good set of farm buildings, and developing
one of the choice country homes of Bart township.
To them have come two children.
William B. Rynear, who was born in 1851, mar-
ried Anna M. Keylor, a daughter of Milton Keylor,
of Colerain township. They reside in that township
on their fine farm, with their two children : Rebecca
A., and Spencer C. ; Rebecca A. is a graduate of the
Pennsylvania State Normal School at Millersville
and is now teaching.
Margaret J. Rynear, the daughter, was born in
T854, and is the wife of William Hollis, a prosperous
farmer of Bart township.
Mr. Rynear is associated with the Friends. He
is a Democrat, and has held the position of school
director for fifteen years, also serving one term as
supervisor of Bart township. Mr. and Mrs. Ry-
near have lived to see Bart township grow from al-
most a wilderness to its present rich and prosperous
condition, and their industrious and useful lives have
contributed much to the welfare of the community.
ABRAM KLINE has for many years been one
of the most prominent residents of Lancaster county,
his active connection with numerous enterprises of
"interest and benefit to that section early bringing
him into favorable notice, and he has throughout
life sustained the highest reputation for honor and
integrity in every association. No citizen of Man-
heim has shown a more progressive spirit, or more
enterprise in undertaking and carrying on to com-
pletion whatever he thinks will promote the welfare
of the town ; and he is equally interested in the well
being and prosperity of his friends and neighbors, a
fact which accounts for the confidence displayed by
them in intrusting him with public, affairs.
Mr. Kline is a native of Lancaster county, born
June 17, 1828, near Silver Sjpring, in East Hemp-
field township, where his father, Jacob Kline, was
also born. Jacob Kline spent his early life in his na-
tive township, and at the time of his death was a
resident of Schoeneck, this county. He was first en-
gaged as a stone mason, later as a farmer, and ac-
quired a comfortable competence. In religion he
was a devout member of the Mennonite Church.
Mr. Kline married Miss Susan Hiestand, who, like
himself, was of German descent. , She was the third
in order of birth of the large fa!mily of John Hie-
stand. The later was an extensive land owner near
Landisville, and one of the first distillers of his re-
gion.
Abram Kline passed his early years on the farm,
remaining on the old homestead until he was fifteen
years of age. His education was received in the lo-
cal schools. He learned carpentering and cabinet-
making, serving first with G. W. Peters, of Colum-
bia, this county, and completing his apprenticeship,
which covered a period of four years, with Rabe &
Leib, in Philadelphia. On his return' to Lancaster
county, he was engaged at his trade by John Dyer,
of Manheim, continuing this until he determined to
try merchandising. Mr. Kline's first experience in
this line was with P. & G. Arndt, and he subse-
quently was sent to Mt. Joy as the representative of
Philip Arndt, of P. Arndt, Shaffner & Co., lumber
dealers. Returning to Manheim in 185 1, he pur-
chased an interest in the business of P. & G. Arndt,
and for four years was one of the most prominent
business men in the place, finally disposing of his
share in the concern to enter other fields in Philadel-
phia. There he remained over fifteen years, becom-
ing a member of the firm of Stein, Wanner & Co.,
extensive importers and jobbers of china, glassware
and queensware ; from this he retired because the
multiplicity of .demands upon him was affecting his
health. During this time he invented an improve-
ment on a glass fruit jar, which brought him $21,-
000. In 1 87 1 Mr.. Kline returned to Manheim and
embarked in the business which has since claimed
his attention ; his lumber yard has the reputation of
being the best equipped along the Reading and Co-
lumbia Railway. A gentleman once remarked that
it was the best organized yard in the State. The ca-
pacity for shedding lumber is half a million feet.
The hardware store, located on the corner of Stiegel
and South Charlotte streets, has a frontage of
twenty-two feet on the latter, and extends to a depth
of 100 feet. The store room extends forty feet along
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
595
Charlotte street, the front being entirely of glass. A
heavy stock, of all kinds of hardware, is carried, and
the establishment enjoys a large patronage from
Manheim and the surrounding country.
Mr. Kline is the largest real estate owner in
Manheim, and he has erected a number of modern
houses, all of them a credit to the owner and an im-
provement to the section of the town in which they
are located. Thus Mr. Kline's enterprise has bene-
fited the town, as well as brought him prosperity, for
Tiis undertakings have all been on an extensive scale.
Though he has been wholly successful in business
his reward has been well merited, for no man has
carried a higher standing in financial circles. His
ability and tact are manifest to all who have had
dealings with him. For a number of years past Mr.
Kline has been ably assisted by his son, Charles A.
who has proved himself capable and energetic in
every respect.
As a public-spirited citizen Abram Kline has
long been recognized as one of the leaders in the
town. His influence has always been on the side
of progress, whether promoting new business en-
terprises or advocating public improvements, and
his careful and judicious management of his" own
affairs inspired confidence in his ability to handle
the affairs of the municipality. His alertness and
quickness of perception have been evident on more
than one occasion, and, being backed by good judg-
ment, his opinion on all subjects is eagerly sought
and valued. The part he has taken in borough af-
fairs is well known. When he was burgess the
streets were improved by being graded, curbed and
macadamized. He is one of 'the originators and is
president of the Manheim Building Association;
one of the incorporators and president of the Man-
heim Fafrview Cemetery Association; one of the
original subscribers to the Manheim and Lititz turn-
pike, and likewise to the Manheim and Sporting
Hill turnpike; one of the incorporators and direc-
tors of the Manheim Fire Insurance Association;
president of the Manheim Water Company, an un-
usually successful enterprise which paid a dividend
from the start, and the stock of which is now at a
premium. While in Philadelphia Mr. Kline served
four years as a member of the city council, repre-
senting the thirteenth ward ; he was one of the most
prominent members in that body, and his value was
recognized by his appointment to positions on the
committees of Finance, Schools, Water, and the
Girard Estate, House of Correction and others. He
always manifested a deep interest in the welfare of
the city. One of the original Centennial commit-
tee, he went, to Washington frequently with that
body to have the exposition go where it went. New
York City at the time having made a lively contest
for the great enterprise. He has always been an
active Republican in politics since the days of Fre-
mont. In 1883 Mr. Kline thought it best for the
party to vote for John Stewart for Governor, and
accordingly took an active interest in that notable
campaign.
Shortly after the war broke out Mr. Kline left
Philadelphia with a militia company, and served in
the command that was stationed at Hagerstown,
guarding the government stores during the engage-
ment at Antietam. In 1863 he was again mustered
into the United States militia service for ninety
days, and was with the command that guarded one
of the South Mountain approaches near Funkstown.
He is a member of Gen. Heintzelman Post, G. A. R.
In 1852 Mr. Kline was united in marriage with
Miss Caroline E. Arndt, daughter of Philip Arndt,
of Manheim, and three children blessed this union,
namely : Mary E., wife of H. H. Gingrich, cashier
of the Farmers' National Bank of Lititz; Ida A.,
wife of Wayne A. Ensminger ; and Charles A. The
family residence, in East High street, is one of the
finest in the city, and Mr. Kline, who does not now
attend so closely to business, passes many pleasant
hours there among his books. From youth he has
been an earnest member of the Reformed Church,,
in which he has served many years as elder, and he
is one of the most active workers in the Sunday-
school, having taught the Bible class for some
years. All the religious and benevolent enterprises
of the town receive his hearty approval and sub-
stantial encouragement. Indeed, there is nothing
of interest or good to his fellow men which Mr.
Kline does not uphold, and his approval is never
passive, invariably manifesting itself in some prac-
tical way. He is a warm friend and is beloved by
many in the city of his adoption.
REV. HENRY REED SMITH, who was, by
marriage, a member of a family which had been very
prominent in the Episcopal ministry for nearly a.
century in and about the eastern part of Pennsyl-
vania, was for ten years pastor of St. John's
Episcopal Church, at Compassville, Chester county,
where he endeared himself to the people by his
many noble traits of character, and by the fine ability
which he displayed in the pulpit.
Rev. Henry R. Smith was a native of the town
of Lancaster, where he was born Nov. 14, 1833. He
suffered death while bathing at Beach Haven, N. J.,
Aug. 21, 187s, he at that time being a resident of
Gwynedd, Montgomery county. Rev. Smith was
the eldest child of Richard S. and Mary S. (Triss-
ler) Smith, of Lancaster, the former of whom came
to Lancaster when a young man, and engaged in the
drug business. When the son, Henry, was but one
year old the family removed to Philadelphia, where
the father continued the drug business. They were
members of the Episcopal Church, and were greatly
respected. Their children were : Henry R. ; William
J., a pi-ofessional nUrse now living in Philadelphia ;
Mary D-, who married Rev. Henry C. Pastorius, a
Protestant Episcopal minister at Lahsford, Pa. ; and
Sarah and W. Atlee, who died young.
§96
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Rev. Henry R. Smith was reared to manhood in
the city of Philadelphia, where he was given a thor-
ough education, and where he remained until 1862.
He was not trained for the ministry in youth, but for
a business career, which he entered early, and was
for fifteen years with Horstmann & Sons, large
manufacturers and importers. His qualifications
and temperament were such, however, that his
friends urged him to prepare for the ministry, and
he, therefore, took a course in Theology, and was
ordained to the ministry of the Episcopal Church.
His first charge was St. John's Church, Cdmpassville
Chester Co., Pa., where he settled in 1862, and where
he remained for the following ten years. Owing to
failing health, he then retired from the active duties
of the ministry and removed to Gwynedd, Pa., at
which place he resided at the time of his death.
On April 24, 1862, Rev. Smith was married to
Grace Clarkson, in the Epiphany Church, Phila-
delphia, just prior to settling in his ministerial work.
Their children were Clarkson, born June 2, 1863;
Henry R., born March 17, 1865 ; Emery S., born
Dec. 26, 1867; and Isaac Diller, born Aug. 15, 1872.
Of these Clarkson and Isaac Diller died in youth;
and Henry R. and Emery S., both unmarried are
electricians. Mrs. Smith removed to Lititz, Lan-
caster Co.. Pa., just after the death of her husband,
but in 1880 came to Lancaster, her native place,
where she enjoys the society of old friends. She was
bom in Lancaster, a daughter of Gerardus and Susan
(Trissler) Clarkson. Gerardus Clarkson was born
in Wilmington, Del., while his father Rev. Joseph
Clarkson, was minister of the Old Swedes Church,
of that city. . Mr. Clarkson was for a period of forty
years connected with the Farmers' Bank of Lan-
caster, the latter part of which service was as cashier,
and he was a man of fine business ability and held
in high repute in the business circles of the city. He
retired a few months prior to his decease. Both he
and his wife lie buried in St. James Church ceme-
tery, of which church they were leading and prom-
inent members under Rev. William A. Muhlenberg,
both of them being remembered as having been es-
pecially distinguished for their beautiful voices and
which were for long years heard in the choir of St.
James Church. Their children were: Joseph, de-
ceased in 1889 ; Edward, retired and living in North-
ampton county ; Gerardus, deceased in 1867; Robert
deceased in 1879; Samuel, deceased in 1894; Mary,
widow of Thomas W. Henderson, living near Park-
csburg, Chester Co., Pa. ; Grace (Mrs. H. R.
Smith) ; Susan, residing in Washington, D. C, and
the widow of Miles Roch, a renowned scientist and
geologist who died in Guatemala City ; and Michael,
the youngest child, who died in 1890. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. Smith were Rev. Joseph and
Grace (Cook) Clarkson, the former a native of
Philadelphia, the latter of New Brunswick, N. S.
He was one of the early ministers of the Episcopal
Church in Lancaster and was ordained by the emin-
ent and scholarly Bishop William A. White on his
return from England. Rev. Joseph was a son of
Dr. Gerardus Clarkson, an eminent physician of
Philadelphia in his day.
DAVID CHARLES HAVERSTICK, the vet-
eran pressman in the city of Lancaster, and who for
many years has been superintendent of the Ex-
aminer press rooms, is of the fourth generation of
Haversticks in Lancaster county.
Col. Michael Haverstick, his great-grandfather,
was a native of Germany, and came to America
when twenty-three years old, making the voyage
in the ship "Enropa," Capt. Lunsdaine, from Rot-
terdam, and landing in Philadelphia Nov. 17, 1741.
He came to Lancaster county and was naturalized
in 1 75 1. He located on the Conestoga creek, be-
tween Wabank and New Danville. He was the
father of six sons and four daughters, viz.: Will-
iam, Jacob, Michael, Rudolph, John, Matthias, Mary
Elizabeth, Barbara, Catharine and Ann Mary. In
1775 he was chosen one of the committee of obser-
vation of Lancaster county. He served in the army
of the Revolution, and rose to the rank of colonel.
Himself and family were members of the Reformed
Church. He died in 1793, when seventy-five years
of age, leaving an estate (as per his will) valued
at £7,000. He is buried in one of the private grave-
yards in the vicinity of his home.
Jacob Haverstick, the grandfather of David C,,
lived along the Conestoga creek, near Wabank,
in this county, and there was born David Haver-
stick, the father of David Charles. David Haver-
stick married Sarah Ann Warfel, daughter of a
farmer of New Danville, and eight children were
born to them, five of whom are yet living: Lydia
A., widow of Abraham Lind, of this county; Mar-
garet, wife of George E. Zellers, master fnechanic
of cotton mills No. 2 and No. 3, Lancaster ; David C,
of whom we will more particularly write ; Edward,
a corporal in the I22d P. V. I., who died in the
service in 1863 ; Cyrus, who died in early man-
hood; Benjamin, a soldier in the United States
army, and now stationed in San Francisco ; Rolandes,
now deceased; and Mary Jane, widow of James
Strachan, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
David C. Haverstick was born in 1838, in Stras-
burg township, Lancaster Co., Pa., and received his
education in the schools of his birthplace. At the
age of thirteen years he came to Lancaster city,
and in 1854 entered the old Express office as an ap-
prentice to the printing -business, and soon became
an expert pressman. He has been superintendent
of the press room of the Express (now merged in
the Examiner) for more than forty y^ars, his only
absence from his work being when he was serving
nine months as fifth sergeant in the I22d Regiment,
P. V. I.
In 1865 ^^- Haverstick was married to Miss
Anna St. John, a native of Baltimore, Md., and
daughter of Taylor and Rebecca St. John, who came
to Lancaster from Connecticut. To this union five
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
597
•children were born, as follows : Edward Linnaeus,
who died in 1872 in early childhood ; Myra St. John,
a well known and talented teacher and elocutionist, a
graduate of the State Normal School at Millersville,
who died in 1892; Miss Bertha St. John, living at
home; Aimee St. John, wife of Rev. H. S. Shelley,
pastor of the Reformed Church at Willowstreet, Lan-
caster Co., Pa.; and Ernest War f el, born June i,
1878, now engaged in the jeweling department of the
Hamilton Watch Co., Lancaster.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Haver stick, how-
■ever, has never taken any active part in political af-
fairs, although frequently urged to do so. Outside of
the church he belongs to the Y. M. C. A., the City
Bible Society, and the Mechanics' Library Society
and G. A. R. He is a member of the St. Paul's Re-
formed Church, in which he has also been an elder,
and secretary of the consistory of same for twenty or
more years ; and he was superintendent of the Sun-
day-school for a long time. He has been secretary of
the Lancaster City Bible Society some eighteen
years, vice-president of the Mechanics' Library So-
■ciety, and was president of the Lancaster Y. M. C. A.
for nine years, during which he did yeoman service
in wiping. out the debt of the old Association build-
ing. In all the walks of life — in social intercourse, in
church, in newspaper circles, and among the com-
-munity at large — ^no man commands and receives
"higher esteem than does David Charles Haverstick.
JONAS H. NOLT, a highly respected retired
general farmer and tobacco raiser in West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county, now resid-
ing in Columbia , was born on his present farm
Jan. 4, 1840, his parents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Hoff-
man) Nolt being also natives of this township.
Jacob Nolt was reared as a farmer, and agricul-
ture was the pursuit of his life. He died in West
Hempfield township in 1880, when sixty-eight years
■old, but his wife survived until 1894, when she
passed away at the age of seventy-two years, in the
faith of the Dunkard Church," the remains of both
being interred in Silver Spring Cemetery. Their
children were but three in number, and they were
iDorn and named in the following order : Jonas H.,
-whose name is mentioned above; Mary, who died
-unmarried in 1866; and Jacob, a farmer in West
Hempfield township. The Nolt family for genera-
-tions back, engaged in farming, and the present gen-
eration on both sides is no exception to the rule.
Jonas H. Nolt was united in marriage, in Lan-
•caster, in 1866, with Miss Elizabeth Heise, a native
•of West Hempfield township, and a daughter of
Harry and Hannah (Heidler) Heise ; of whom
■more may be learned by referring to the sketch of
B. Frank Heise, her brother, to be found elsewhere.
This happy marriage of Jonas H. and Elizabeth
Nolt has been blessed with four children, two of
"W'horo, however, died in infancy; Paris was called
away at the early age of ten years; and Harvey,
liorn Sept. 7, 1872, now making his home under the
parental rooftree, was married June 18, 1901, to
Mary A. Grove, who was born near Mountville, in
West Hempfield township, July i, 1878, daughter
of Abraham H. and Fannie (Garber) Grove.
Jonas H. Nolt has always been of domestic, as
well as of industrious, habits, and he has ever been
content to make his present farm his lifelong abid-
ing place. He has not been neglectful, however, of
the affairs of his township, but has been public-
spirited and prompt to promote local progress with
his time and means when called upon, having served
nine years as school director, and having been a
director in the Central National -Bank of Columbia
since its organization. In politics a Republican, he
has been ardent in his support of the principles of his
party and active in promoting its success at the polls,
but he has remained satisfied with the conscious-
ness of having done his part in this quiet way toward
bringing about a victorious result, regardless of self
or of reward through appointment to public office or
other share of "party spoils."
Socially Mr. Nolt enjoys the friendship and re-
spect of the best people in West Hempfield town-
ship, and is universally recognized as being honora-
ble and upright in all transactions of a business
character. He retired from farm life in the spring
of 1902, and now resides in Columbia, leaving his
son as his successor.
The Hoffman family, from which Mr. Nolt is
descended in maternal lines, has long been well
known in the county. His mother, Elizabeth (Hoff-
man) Nolt, was a daughter of Christ Hoffman, who
was born and raised in West Hempfield township.
He had a large tract of farming land near Ironville
(now the property of the Jacob Hostetter family).
He had two brothers, Daniel, of Indianapolis, Ind. ;
and Mike, who lived on a pretty farm in Stark coun-
ty, Ohio, and who is survived by one son, Henry.
Christ Hoffman married Betsy Haymaker, who bore
him twelve children, as follows : Jacob, who died
in 1889, aged seventy-seven, leaving children, Jacob,
John, Martin and Fanny ; John, who lives at Chest-
nut Hill, on a farm ; Christly, who died unmarried ;
Joseph, who married and died ; Fred, who is de-
ceased; Maria; Elizabeth, who became Mrs. Nolt;
Nancy, Mrs. Whitman, born in 1820, now living
near Manheim, the only survivor of the family;
Sarah, married and the mother of four sons and
three daughters ; Mollie, Mrs. Shannon ; Bevia, who
died at home; and Maria (2).
CHRISTIAN ERISMAN, a retired farmer,
whose pleasant and attractive home is at Sporting
Hill, Rapho township, Lancaster county, was born
on the site of the Erisman's Meeting House, which
formed a part of the family homestead in Rapho
township, Feb. 2, 1816, a son of Jacob and Mary
(Metz) Erisman. His parents were both born and
reared in Rapho township, where they passed their
lives, and when they died their remains were laid to
rest in the cemetery connected with Erisman's
598
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Church. The father served as supervisor one year,
and was an honorable and highly respected citizen
and member of the community. Both he and his
wife belonged to the Mennonite Church, and in that
faith they reared their family. Their children were :
Maria, who died at the age of thirteen years;
Elizabeth, who died unmarried at the age of eighty-
three years; Nancy, late \yife of Christ. Hershey;
Christian ; Jacob, who died at the age of sixty-five
years; Abraham, who died at the age of seventy-
five years; Fanny, the widow of John Baker, who
lives in East Hempfield township ; Hen:;y, unmar-
ried ; Mary, unmarried and living in Salunga, Pa. ;
John, a farmer on the old homestead in Rapho
township.
The paternal grandfather of Christian Erisman
was Abraham Erisman ; he was a farmer, and spent
his life in Lancaster county. The maternal grand-
parents were Christ, and Mary (Hackman) Metz,
farming people of Lancaster county. Christ. Metz
was a son of Ludwig Metz, who was born in Ger-
many; coming later to America, in 1771 he built a
stone house on a farm in Rapho township, where
he spent his last years.
Christian Erisman was married March 17, 1840,
in Lancaster, Pa., to Catherine Hostetter, by whom
he had the following children: Susan, unmarried,
and living with her parents ; Elizabeth H., who mar-
ried Joseph Kraybill, a farmer in Clay township;
Metz J., a commission merchant in Philadelphia ;
Sarah A., who died unmarried; Albert, deceased,
who married Lovina Stehman; Mary, who married
Benjamin Miller, and lives in Masonville, Pa. ;
Elenora, who died young ; Amelia G., who married
Eli Baumberger, of Manheim, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Catherine (Hostetter) Erisman was born
in Warwick township, Lancaster county, April 27,
1818, a daughter of the Rev. Jacob and Elizabeth
(Miller) Hostetter. Her father was born in Penn
township, and her mother in East Hempfield. Both
died on the old farm in Penn township, near Man-
heim. They were members of the Mennonite
Church, of which he was a distinguished preacher
for more than fifty-eight years, being a bishop of
that church for thirty-four years. He died April
6, i86r, at the age of ninety years, seven months,
and twenty-three days. His widow survived until
1868, when she too passed away, at the age of
ninety-one years, three months and three days.
Their remains rest in a private burying ground on
their old homestead.
Born to the Rev. Jacob and Elizabeth Hostet-
ter were the following children : John ; Mary, who
lived to be seventy years old; Anna, the wife of
Christ. Wissler; Susan, the wife of John Shaffer;
and Martha, the wife of John Stuffer, all five of
whom are dead ; Barbara, who married Joseph Her-
shey ; Jacob, deceased ; Catherine, noted above ; Fan-
ny, the late wife of David Hershey; David, de-
ceased.
Christian Erisman remained with his parents
until his marriage, when he located for himself in
Rapho township, where he carried on the buying-
and selling of stock in connection with his farming:
operations until 1882. That year he retired, and is.
now enjoying the fruits of an industrious and well-
spent life. He removed his home to Sporting Hill,
where he has formed many pleasant associations,
and is passing his last days in the serene enjoyment
of the privileges and pleasures that should attend
a well ripened life. At one time he was super-
visor, and for six years acted as school director.
He is a member of the Mennonite Church, and his-
life is honest and open to all the world. Politically
he is a Republican, and is exceedingly well informed
on all the current issues of the day.
JOHN CONRAD, the genial and popular pro-
prietor of the Union Hotel, is one of the well-known
and highly regarded citizens of Providence town-
ship. He was born Oct. 9, 1833, in Pequea town-
ship, son of Daniel and Mary (Erisman) Conrad-
Daniel Conrad was born in 1791, and came to-
America from Germany. He followed the black-
smith business through life and died in 1857. In
his political convictions he was a staunch Democrat.
His religious connection was with the German Re-
formed Church. He married Mary Erisman, wh*
was born in 1798 and died Dec. 30, 1883, and they
had a family of eleven children, as follows : Ben-
jamin, deceased ; Jacob, who resides in Refton, Pa. ;
Susan, who married Benjamin Yordy; Mary, who
married Reuben Phautz; Barbara, Daniel and
George, all deceased; John; Henry, who resides in
New Danville, Pa. ; Elizabeth, who married Jacob>
D. Landis ; and Martha, who is the widow of John
Mohn.
John Conrad grew up on the honie farm and
attended the common schools of his district. He
followed farming until 1865, when he became a
member of Co. D, 195th P. V. I., and served as a
faithful soldier through the Virginia campaign in
the Civil war, being -mustered out of the service in
1866. He has long been prominently identified with»
Democratic politics, and was made the first postmas-
ter of New Danville, in 1857, under President James.
Buchanan.
On Jan. 14, 1858, Mr. Conrad was married to-
Miss Mary Brenneman, born Oct. 6, 1837, daughter
of Christian and Catherine (McFalls) Brenneman,
of Providence township. This family is one of
prominence in the county and more extended men-
tion of it will be found in another part of this vol-
ume. A family of eleven children has been born to-
Mr. and Mrs. Conrad, viz. : Catherine P., born
Feb. 14, 1859, who married Simon Gochenaur and
has two children, Jenny and Mary ; Mary E., born
March 24, 1861, who married Jefferson Groff, of
Providence township, and has two children, Charles-
and Walter; Christian F., born May 12, 1862, who-
died March 20, 1877 : Naomi J., born Sept. 30* 1864,
the wife of Joseph Long, of Providence township.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
599
and the mother of two children, John and Carrie;
John F., born Jan. 3, 1867, who married Anna Engle
and had one son, John, now deceased; Susan, born
March 9, 1869, who is the wife of Robert Heisler
and has a daughter, Clara ; Abraham B., born May
25, 1871, a soldier in the Philippine Islands, married
to Barbara Seaman, of Nebraska; Maggie B., born
Feb. T3, 1873, who married Walter Evans and has
five children, Oscar, Augusta, Estella, Mary and
Clementine; Emma L., born Jan. 22, 1875, who is
the wife of Aldus Book, of Drumore township and
has had three children, Lawrence (deceased), Mary
and John ; Estella, born Dec. 4, 1876, who is the wife
of George Lyties, of Drumore township and the
mother of two children, Anna Mary and Grace ; and
Charles W., born Sept. 9, 1878, who married Mazie
Reinhart and has had two children, Lawrence W.
("deceased) and Dorothy. Jenny Gochena^ur, the
daughter of Catherine P., married Ira Book and has
one child, Bessy, the great-grandchild of our sub-
ject.
Although in his early career Mr. Conrad was
hampered to some extent by limited means, his en-
ergy and industry surmounted adverse circum-
stances, and he and his capable and estimable wife
can now enjoy every comfort in their advancing
years. He has been able to rear a large family and
give them proper advantages, and he also has ac-
cumulated much more than a competency, owns a
fine farm in Providence township and a paying hotel
in the village of Union. He is known as a man of
reliability and is considered one of the most hon-
orable citizens of the township.
AARON WITMER, for forty years a veterin-
ary surgeon of Lancaster county, was one of the old
and respected residents of West Lampeter township,
where he owned a fine farm of seventy-six acres,
this being a part of the estate added by his father to
the old homestead.
Aaron Witmer was born April 13, 1832, on the
old home land and attended the public schools, but
early in life manifested an interest in the proper
rearing and care of stock, particularly horses, and, in
order to fit himself with sufficient knowledge to
make his own animals remain in the best condition,
he began the scientific study of the horse. This re-
sulted in an accurate knowledge that was increased
and encouraged by a course of two years' reading
under Dr. C. N. Shanb, when he was so proficient
that he- was made a life member of the Veterinary
Association at Philadelphia.
Although Aaron Witmer continued to farm, his
time soon became so filled with demands for the prac-
tice of his profession that he could not confine him-
self to agricultural pursuits, for all through Lan-
caster county, and into farther counties, he has been
called upon in a professional way. At present his
son, who read and studied under his supervision, has
succeeded to the profession. There is no doubt
but that every stockraiser should have a general
knowledge of the veterinary art, but to master it re-
quires quite as assiduous study as does the science of
medicine.
In 1854 Aaron Witmer was married to Mary
Herr, a daughter of Abraham Herr, of Pequea town-
ship, who was born there Dec. 19, 1831 ; and to this
union three children were born : Frank E., born July
27, 1855, a farmer of West Lampeter township, liv-
ing on a part of the father's old home, who married
Mary Ann Herr, a daughter of Joseph Herr, and had
five children, Ida, Jacob, Elmer, Frank 'and Esther ;
Abraham H., bom June 10, 1857, a farmer, gardener
and florist, residing on the adjoining farm, who mar-
ried Mary A. Bachman, a daughter of Eli Bachman,
of Lampeter, and has three sons, Eli, John and
George ; and J. Elam, born May 25, 1859, a farmer
and veterinary surgeon of this township, who mar-
ried Lizzie Bachman, a daughter of Eli Bachman,
and had three children, Ross, Willis and Mary.
Aaron Witmer died Nov. 15, 1900. The family
is prominently connected with the Mennonite
Church, and all are well known through the town-
ship as honorable and esteemed citizens.
ABRAHAM B. SNAVELY (deceased) was
during his active years one of the leading farmers
of Pequea township, prominent and active in public
affairs, and useful in the community as a neighbor,
citizen and friend.
Mr. Suavely was born in December, 1823, near
Wheatland Mills, Lampeter township, a son of
Abraham B. and Elizabeth (Buckwalter) Suavely;
the father was born in 1787, in wha,t is now Pequea
(then Conestoga) township, and the mother in 1789.
They were plain, unassuming country people, en-
gaged in farming during the greater part of their
lives, and identified with the New or Reformed Men-
nonite Church, in which faith they reared their chil-
dren. The father was a minister in that denomina-
tion. They were married in 1809, and the union
was blessed with children as follows: Annie, Mrs.
Weaver ; Benjamin, who also married ; Abraham B.,
who is referred to more fully farther on ; Martha, un-
married, and now deceased ; and Fannie, who mar-
ried. The father of this family died in 1866, and
the mother passed away the previous year.
Abraham B. Suavely was reared on his father's
farm, passing his youth until he was twenty years of
age alternately between work on the farm and at-
tendance in winter at the neighborhood district
school ; under the direction of his father he became
thoroughly acquainted with general farming opera-
tions. He remained at home vmtil 1866, in which
year he became the owner of the farm in Pequea
township, upon which he lived for the next twenty-
six or seven years, until his removal to New Dan-
ville, in 1893. Upon that farm were achieved the
triumphs and successes of his life, and it was the
scene of his toils and labors, his joys and his sor-
rows, in all of which his faithful helpmeet shared.
That farm, the old homestead, is a fine property.
'600
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
very desirable in many respects ; upon it are good
and substantial buildings and other improvements,
while its fields are fertile and productive, and from
them Mr. Snavely for only a little less than fifty
years derived a good income, engaging in general
•farming and stock raising. From the spring of
1893 until his decease Mr. Snavely lived in retire-
ment at New Danville, he and his wife passing life's
evening in a comfortable home, in the enjoyment of
plenty. They united with the Reformed Mennon-
ite Church April 22, 1900. Mr. Snavely attained
the age of almost four score, dying Nov. 20, 1901.
Mr. Snavely's political affiliations were with the
Republican party, to which he was most loyal. On
four different occasions he was sent as a delegate
to county conventions ; he was active in party affairs
and for three terms served as judge of elections,
also the same length of time as inspector of elections ;
he served one term as school director and three
terms as township assessor. In all these varied po-
sitions he was faithful and honorable, and his reputa-
tion as a public man was above reproach.
In December, 1856, Mr. Snavely married Cath-
erine Rohrer, a native of this county, and to them
were born two children, Rohrer and Stoner.
BYRON GRISWOLD DODGFJ is a representa-
tive business man and citizen of Lancaster, where he
is head of the Armstrong Cork Works, and sole own-
er of the Safety Buggy Works.
Mr. Dodge's fixst ancestors in this country were
two brothers who landed at Old Salem, Mass., in
1629, both being gentleman of leisure and large for-
tune. His grandfather, John Dodge, was born in
Claremont, N. H. His father, George W. Dodge,
was a cork manufacturer, and in company with his
son, Byron G.. established large works in Lancaster.
"The father died in March, 1890. He married Miss
Deborah E. Griswold, of Berlin, N. Y., and to this
union came two children : Ella . J., wife of Rev.
Henry G. Appenzeler, of the M. E. Church, now a
missionary in Corea; and Byron G., of Lancaster.
Byron Griswold Dodge was born in Berlin, N.
Y., Sept. 16, 185 1, and was educated there in the pub-
lic schools, closing his studies at a boarding school
in Vermont, a preparatory school for Williams Col-
lege. After leaving school he worked on a farm
until nineteen, when he learned the machinist's trade
at Westerly, R. I., in a printing-press factory. He
then went into the cork business with his father, at
Berlin, and came to Lancaster in August, 1876.
Their works were first located on Fulton street, the
present site of Rose Brothers' umbrella factory, and
they later built the excellent plant on the Pennsyl-
vania railroad, near McGrann's Park, which with the
Armstrong Cork Works does about three-fourths
of the entire cork business of which it is a syndicate
part, the Lancaster and the Pittsburg works being
the two largest in the country. In the Lancaster
works six hundred people are employed, and many
thousand dollars are annually distributed by this in-
stitution through the various channels of trade in
Lancaster. The Safety Buggy Works, which belong
entirely to Mr. Dodge, rank among the most ex-
tensive industries of the place, employing some 150
men. Besides his interests in the foregoing, Mr.
Dodge is president of the International Cream Sep-
arator Co., at Grant and Christian streets, a con-
cern of rapidly increasing strength.
Mr. Dodge married Miss Anna Smart, daugh-
ter of Capt. Elisha Smart, who was killed while
leading his company in an engagement of the Civil
war; his regiment was formed at North Adams,
Mass. Four children were born of this marriage:
Leon G., now superintendent of his father's Safety
Buggy Works ; Miss Anna, at home ; George, who
graduated from the State College in June, 1901 ;
and Arthur, attending Cornell University, class of
1904. _ Mr. Dodge is a member of the First M. E.
Church. He lives in an elegant home near the cor-
ner of North Duke and Frederick streets, and his
stable contains a string of thoroughbred horses, in
which he finds one of his chief recreations. The en-
tire family are lovers of horseflesh, and all have their
especial equine pets. Mr. Dodge is a liberal, pro-
gressive and intelligent man of affairs, whose in-
fluence for good is often felt in Lancaster.
EMANUEL R. SHIRK belongs to one of the
old and respected families of Lancaster county.
Emanuel H. Shirk, his father, was born in West
Cocalico township Jan. 16, 181 1. He was a farmer
and gave his entire attention to agriculture until his
death, which occurred in 1873. In politics he was
a staunch Republican and a very active member in
the ranks of his party, which he represented in many
State and county conventions. Religiously he was
a member of the German Baptist Church. He mar-
ried Miss Catherine Royer, and they were the par-
ents of ten children: Fianna, wife of Hiram Bol-
linger ; Emanuel R. ; Hiram, a farmer of Indiana ;
Salinda, wife of John Hagey ; Lavina, wife of David
Butzer : John, of Ephrata ; Catherine, wife of Addi-
son Longenecker; Leah, wife of Albert Mumma;
Edward, a cigar maker; and Ementize, who died
in childhood.
Emanuel R. Shirk was born May 28, 1838, on
the same farm where his father first saw the light,
in West Cocalico township. He lived at home with
his parents until he was twenty-three years of age,
and during his earlier years attended the common
schools. He began farming for himself on the old
homestead, where he remained four years, and thence
moved to Schoeneck, for three years, during which
time he followed droving. His next removal was to
Warwick township, where he commenced farming
again, and he has continued it to the present time,
meeting with substantial success. Mr. Shirk is one
of the enterprising farmers of his locality, and one
of its most public-spirited citizens. He has served
his fellow townsmen faithfully in various offices,
having been supervisor, assessor and for twelve
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
601
years member of the school board. In 1893 he was
prison inspector, and held that office for six years.
In politics he has always been an active member of
the Republican party.
Mr. Shirk married for his first wife Miss Sarah
Bucher, and to this union were born five children:
Fannie, who died unmarried; Mary, wife of Sam-
. uel Zwally ; Emma, wife of Franklin Leeking ; Katie,
■wife of William Cuningham; and Sarah, wife of
John Wolf. skill. The mother of the above named
■children died June 26, 1875, a-^d Mr. Shirk later mar-
ried Miss Elizabeth Heffley, who died Oct. 19, 1899.
JACOB R. WITMER. Looking backward to
the year 1716, the family records of the Witmer fam-
ily tell of one Benjamin Witmer, who, in company
■with his son, Abraham, left Switzerland with the in-
teiation of founding a new home in the United States.
His final location was made in Lancaster county,
where Abraham purchased lands which have never
passed out of the possession of the Witmer family.
In 1739 both Benjamin and his son were naturalized,
•so that their descendants are not Swiss, but repre-
sent a portion of the best American citizens of the
State of Pennsylvania.
In 1719 there was another son born to Benjamin
Witmer, named John. This John married Frances
Roland and reared a family of seven children : An-
na, wife of John Kendig ; John, who married Mary
Harmen; Henry, who married Fanny Musser;
David, married to Esther Kendig; Benjamin, who
married Anna Brubaker ; Abraham, married to Molly
Herr; and Daniel, married to Anna Newcomer.
Abraham, the fifth son of this family, in 1798 built
a stone bridge across the Conestoga creek, about one
mile east of Lancaster, called Witmer's bridge,
■which is in good condition at the present day.
The lands purchased by Abraham, son of the
original Benjamin, descended by will at his death,
in 1783, to his nephew, Benjamin Witmer. This
nephew Benjamin had two children: Elizabeth,
married to John Buckwalter; and Benjamin, who
married Esther Buckwalter, and inherited his fa-
ther's farm in 1822. Benjamin and Esther (Buck-
Tvalter) Witmer reared these children: Nancy,
•who married Abram Buchwalter; Polly, who mar-
ried Abram Landis; David; Elizabeth, who mar-
ried Abram Huntzberger; Lydia, who married Ja-
cob Brubaker; and Benjamin, Esq. All of these lie
■buried in the old Mellinger graveyard, and all of
them through life consistently lived up to the Old
Mennonite faith.
David Witmer was born in 1800, and until the
time of his death, in 1875, devoted his life to agri-
cultural pursuits. At the age of thirty-three he was
■ordained a minister in the Old Mennonite Church
and he faithfully performed the duties attaching to
the Mellinger and Stumptown stations. The Wit-
mer lands, now owned by his son, were purchased
hy David, at an appraisement made by his brothers
and sisters, although he had but little ready money.
and the assumed debt occasioned, at the time, con-
siderable anxiety. His character was of such ex-
cellence, and he was so beloved by his congregations
that aid was immediately tendered him in order to
clear the debt, but these kind offers were declined,
and he labored harder on the land, and not only
cleared it off, but at the time of his death left an es-
tate valued at $40,000.
David Witmer married Annie Rutt, who was
born in 1798 and died in 1867, having been the de-
voted mother of nine children : Elizabeth, who died
at the age of sixty-nine years, unmarried; Abram,
who lives retired at Mountville and married Mary
Kendig, deceased; Esther; Annie, the widow of
Christian Kendig; David; Jacob R. ; Barbara, who
married Christian Frey, of Lancaster; Mary, de-
ceased, who married Emanuel Herr ; and Benjamin,
deceased, who m-arried Mary Kreider.
Jacob R. Witmer was born Feb. 19, 1833, O"
the farm which he now occupies. His education
was received in the common schools of his district
and his life has been passed in farming, his tastes
lying in this direction. Immediately after mar-
riage he took charge of the farm of his father-in-
law, as manager, and profitably operated it until
1867, when he bought his present home of the other
heirs. These lands are known through the town-
ship as very desirable, and the improvements made
by the present occupant have been of the most sub-
stantial character.
The marriage of Jacob R. Witmer occurred on
Dec. 2, 1856, when he was united to Esther Ranck,
a daughter of Samuel Ranck, a well-known miller
of the locality. The children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Witmer are: Samuel, deceased, who married An-
nie Grofif and was the father of two children, Jacob
G. and Amelia, who make their home with their
beloved grandfather ; Annie, who died at the early
age of nineteen ; Susan, at home ; and Aaron, who
married Ida Eby, superintends the home farm and
has two children, Enos and Ada.
No family possesses the esteem of the community
in a higher degree than does the Witmer family
of East Lampeter township, and none are more val-
ued as consistent members of the Old Mennonite
Church.
WILLIAM DAGUE. One of the emphatically
self-made retired farmers of Salisbury township,
Lancaster county. Pa., is William Dague, who was
born Sept. 18, 1830, near Cains post-office, in Salis-
bury township, and has there passed his life in the
pursuit of agriculture, with unvarying and marked
success.
His parents, David and Margaret (Ranck)
Dague, were natives of Salisbury and Conestoga
Valley, respectively, were agricultural people, and
descended from a long line of farmers who had lived
in the Keystone State for several generations. David
Dague was a son of Andrew and Annie (Good) Da-
gue, and his wife was a daughter of Peter and Mar-
602
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
garet (Eckholtz) Ranck. David Dague and his
wife had eight children, viz. : William ; Margaret
A., widow of John Glendenning, and a resident of
Philadelphia ; Mary E., wife of Lorenzo Hackett, of
Chester county; Lydia S., married to W. W. Lind-
ville, a farmer of Salisbury township ; David R., who
died young; Catherine C, wife of Evan Bustler, a
farmer in East Earl township; Susan R., deceased
wife of John M. Schultz ; and Peter A., a farmer at
McGovernville, Pa. David Dague, the father of
this family, was an extensive drover as well as farm-
er, and was well kiiown in the former capacity
throughout the country districts of Lancaster and
adjoining counties. He lost his wife in 1878, when
she was seventy-two years of age. She died in the
faith of the Lutheran Church, and her remains were
interred in the Pequea Church cemetery. David
Dague died in 1881.
William Dague early started out to make his
way in the world. He was but fourteen years of age
when, much against the wishes of his parents, he be-
gan to work for the farmers of his neighborhood;
he was of an independent spirit, and was desirous
of earning something he could call his own and do
with as he pleased. He was industrious, persistent
and indefatigable, and soon won the approbation,
encouragement and admiration of the farmers round
about him and was never at a loss for employment
at remtmerative wages. He thus worked as a farm
hand for eight years, then teamed for a year, and
then, through his frugality and industry having
saved some funds, rented and stocked land for seven
years. At the end of this period he found himself
prepared for embarking more extensively in agri-
culture, and he purchased a forty-five-acre farm in
Salisbury township, to which he afterward added an
eighty-acre tract along the foot hills.
In March, 1852, Mr. Dague married Miss Su-
sanna Warner, who was born in Salisbury town-
ship in May, 1833, daughter of David and Susanna
TGarber) Warner, the former of whom was a farmer
and died in 1861, when seventy-seven years old; the
latter died in 1864, at the same age, and their re-
mains were interred in the Old Mennonite cemetery
at Salisbury. They had six children, as follows :
John, Jacob, Isaac, Eliza, Susanna (Mrs. Dague)
and David, all now deceased. David and Eliza died
unmarried. William and Susanna (Warner) Da-
gue had children as follows: Anna M., who is
married to Coleman Kurtz, a farmer of Salisbury
township ; George N., a farmer of Salisbury town-
ship, and married to Mary Mast ; Ella, wife of Dil-
ler Hoover, who is a farmer in Salisbury township ;
and Isaac W., who is married to Lillie Grist, and
with his wife lives on the old homestead with his
father. Mrs. Susanna (Warner) Dague was called
from earth in March, 1894, deeply mourned by her
husband and children. She was a devout Presby-
terian and her remains were interred in the Pequea
Church cemetery.
In 1890, having acquired a competency, through
his persevering industry, skillful management and
unaided personal efforts, Mr. Dague retired irom
the activities of life and sought the well-deserved
rest he is now enjoying, surrounded by many warm-
hearted friends and genial companions, as well as
by his loving children who live in close proximity.
Mr. Dague is a consistent member of the Presby-
terian Church, to which he is a liberal contributor,
and he is an ardent friend of free education, having
served six years as a school director. He then re-
signed, feeling that he had fully done his duty in
that direction. In politics he is a Republican, but
has never been ambitious for holding office, preferr-
ing that others should shoulder the responsibilities
and share in the vainglorious honors attached to of-
ficial position. Nevertheless, Mr. Dague is a very
public-spirited citizen and at all times ready to aid
financially such measures as will redound to the pub-
lic welfare and comfort in the way of public improve-
ments. His walk through life has been such as to
win the approbation of his fellow citizens, and too
much cr-edit cannot be awarded him for the upright
and useful course he has so unswervingly followed.
DAVID L. PAULES, a retired farmer, was born
in East Donegal township, Lancaster county, Dec.
12, 1832, son of John and Catherine (Leber) Paules,
natives of York county, in this State.
John Paules was a cooper by trade. In 1816 he
came to Marietta, where he resided three years and
then removed to East Donegal township, where he
engaged in tobacco growing in conjunction with
coopering. He was a member of the Reformed
Church, and quite prominent as a citizen, serving
as supervisor of his township several years, and also
at different times holding various minor offices. His
wife passed away in 1882, when eighty- two years
old, and his own death took place in December, 1887,
at the advanced age of ninety-four years, eleven
months, one day ; the remains of both were interred
in the Marietta cemetery. To John Paules and his
wife were born ten children, namely: Elizabeth,
wife of George Ebbert ; Henry, who died after mar-
riage ; Sarah, widow of Simon F. Albright, a black-
smith of Maytown, Pa.; Jacob, who. was drowned
when young, in the Susquehanna river; John, who
died young; George, deceased; Mary J., who died
in 1900, the wife of John Herchelroth; Franklin,
who died in East Donegal township in January,
1896 ; John, a tobacco farmer in Cumberland county j
and David L., of East Donegal township. The
paternal grandfather of these children was Michael
Paules, a farmer of York county, and the maternal
grandfather was Jacob Leber, a native of Germany.
David L. Paules attended school and worked on
the home farm until twenty-one years old, and at
twenty-two entered a cooper shop, where he worked
for some years during the winter season. In the
meantime he rented farms, at one time leasing one
of 250 acres, and cultivated land until 1897, when he
retired, although he still does a little tobacco rais-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
60S
ing and vegetable growing near the borough of
Marietta.
Mr. Paules was united in marriage in Maytown,
Feb. 28, 1852, with Miss Anna- Eliza Rumbaugh,
and to this union the following children have been
born : J. Lizzie, wife of George S. Bauchman, clerk
for the Hazelton Iron & Coal Company; Ada M.
and Sarah A., at home ; Harry P., who married Ore
Housegal and lives in Marietta ; Elmer E., who mar-
ried Matilda A. Grady and also resides in Marietta,
engaged in the livery business ; Dr. William R., now
of Danville, Pa., who married Florence Pieflfer ; John
L., a druggist in Homestead, Pa., married to Ida
Bertheisel; and David L., unmarried, who carries
on a livery business in Marietta and lives with his
parents.
Mrs. Anna E. (Rumbaugh) Paules is a native
of Newville, Lancaster county, born May -9, 1832,
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Davis) Rumbaugh;
the former of whom was born in Perry county. Pa.,
and the latter on the Atlantic ocean, when her par-
ents were on the voyage from Ireland to America.
They were married in Maytown, Pa., where John
Rumbaugh carried on his trade of wheelwright. He
was assessor of East Donegal township and was hon-
ored with other positions of trust. His wife died in
Maytown in 1863, aged fifty-eight years and four-
teen days, and Mr. Rumbaugh's death took place at
the home of his son-in-law, David L. Paules, June
28, 1888, at the age of seventy-nine years. Both
were members of the Lutheran Church. Of the four
children born to Mr. and Mts. Rumbaugh Anna E.,
Mrs. D. L. Paules, is the eldest; Mary J. is the
widow of H. S. Book; Amanda L. is the wife of
Solon V. Landis, a retired farmer; and Benjamin
F., the youngest, a carpenter, died in 1887. The
survivors live in Maytown. John Rumbaugh, the
paternal grandfather of Mrs. Paules, was a native
of Germany, was a farmer and an early settler of
Perry county. Pa. Her maternal grandparents,
Michael and Bridget Davis, came from Ireland to
America in 180? and settled in Maytown, Pa.; he
was a plasterer by trade.
In politics Mr. Paules is a Republican, and he
has served his fellow townsmen as school director
nine consecutive years. He and his family are mem-
bers of the Lutheran Church, and socially they min-
gle with the best people of the township. Mr.
Paules has been a remarkably sitccessful farmer, has
acquired a competence and is now enjoying, at his
ease the fruits of his early industry.
HENRY LEAMAN, of Strasburg township, is
one of the representative men of Lancaster county,
and belongs to one of the old and esteemed families,
which established itself here through grandfather
Abraham L,eaman, who was a prominent farmer of
his day. He married Mary Bowman, by whom he
had one son, Benjamin, who was born May 26, 1787,
arid died June 2, 1857.
Beinjamin Leaman adopted farming as his pro-
fession, made his home in East Lampeter township
and there became the owner of a large acreage of
land, one farm comprising no acres, and an adjoin-
ing one seventy-live acres, both of which he operated
himself, at one time. As time passed on and his
family grew up around him, he purchased a farm for
each son, all of these lying in East Lampeter and
Leacock townships. His frienids through the com-
munity were many, and such was the confidence
v/hich they placed in him that all his spare time was
occupied in the settlement of estates and caring for
those who were placed in his charge as wards.
On May 19, 1807, Benjamin Leaman married as
his first wife Catherine Cryder, born March 15,
1789, who died Dec. 30, 1838, the children born to
this union being: Abraham, born in 1808, died in
1839, a farmer, who had married Barbara Buckwal-
ter; John, bom in 1810, died in 1882, a farmer in
Leacock township, who married two sisters by the
name of Landis ; Barbara, who died in infancy ; Ben-
jamin, born in 1813, died in 1891, a farmer
of Leacock township; Susannah, born in 1815, the
wife of Jacob Ranck, of Strasburg township ; To-
bias, born in 1817, died in 1859, a farmer of East
Lampeter township; Jacob, born in 18 19, died in
1889, a farmer of Leacock township ; Henry, born in
1822, who resides in Strasburg township; Isaac,
born in 1824, a farmer of East Lampeter; Joseph,
born in 1828, died in 1857, a farmer of East Lam-
peter; the last of this large family being an infant
son, born in 1830, who died early. The second mar-
riage of Benjamin Leaman was on Sept. 6, 1842, to
Mrs. Elizabeth (Heller) Rohrer, a widow. The
parents were members of the Old Mennonite Church
and the children adhered to the same faith.
Henry Leaman was reared on the farm, in East
Lampeter township, and received his education in the
public schools of his district. On Dec. 3, 1844, he
was married to Sarah Buckwalter, a daughter of
Martin and Nancy (Lefever) Buckwalter, who was
born Feb. 5, 1823. After marriage the young
couple located on a farm in Strasburg township and
two years later purchased a farm of 102 acres near
Refton, which Mr. Leaman operated from 1847 until
he retired from the cares of active life. At that
time he erected a comfortable home in Refton, re-
maining there until 1892, when he removed to his
present home, which is located one-half mile north-
east of Strasburg and contains sixty acres, one of
the best improved places in the county, and now
managed by his son, Reuben.
Henry Leaman has been one of the successful
agriculturists of the county and has always been
known as an upright, honorable man, worthy of the
confidence and respect which he receives, arid a con-
sistent member of the Old Mennonite Church. The
children born to Henry Leaman and his wife were :
Eliza, born in Oct., 1845, who was the wife of Ehas
Herr, a lime-burner and merchant of Warreri county,
Va., and who died Dec. q, 1901, aged fifty-six years,
leaving five children, Harry, Francis, Addie, Reu-
604
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ben and Ira : Susan, born in January, 1847, who mar-
ried Peter Esbenshade, of Manheim township, and
has three children, Frank, Elmer and Cora ; Emma,
born in July, 1848, who resides witli her parents;
Sarah Arm. born in January, 1851, who married
John P. Rohrer, of Strasburg, and had seven chil-
dren, Lillie, Frank, Emma, John, Charles, Harry
and Clair ; Martin, who died young ; Henry B., born
in November, 1856, who married Emma Groff, re-
sides in Paradise township and has two children,
Ross and Mary ; Franklin, born in November, 1858,
who married Amanda Schaffer, resides in Sadsbury
township and has four children, Roy, John, Clair and
Edna ; Mary, born in October, 1861, who died the
same year ; and Reuben B., born Nov. 23, 1863, who
married Ahce Stoner and has four children, Anna,
Lizzie, Mary and Harry. Mrs. Sarah (Buckwalter)
Leaman died Sept. 20, 1901, aged seventy-eight
3-ears.
Reuben B. Leaman is a progressive farmer and
successful dairyman of this county, as well as one
of the most solid and substantial of its citizens. The
family is held in the highest respect through the
whole township and can justly be regarded as rep-
resentative.
JAMES LAW, who has been for a long time
known to the literary world as James D. Law, poet,
is a native of Scotland, having been born in Lums-
den village. West Aberdeenshire, on April 5,
1865. To distinguish him from an uncle of the
same name, for a time Mr. Law adopted the middle
initial D., but in recent years he has gone back to
the original form of his name ; and, while he is still
known to the business world as James D. Law, his
literary work is often autographed as shown under-
neath the annexed portrait specially prepared for
this work.
On his father's side, Mr. Law's ancestors have
been purely Celtic for countless generations. His
mother dying before he was a year old, he was left
to the care of his uncle, John Law, an excellent type
of the sturdy, well informed and enterprising
Scotsman. Our poet attended a "Dame's school"
for a time, and is perhaps one of the youngest men
living, who learned his letters from "the brods."
He remembers carrying a peat to school every
morning, as his daily contribution to the school
fire-fund of the village Dominie. In due course he
passed through the various stages of schooling,
filling in his Saturdays and holidays "herding kye,"
and at other work on his uncle's small farm, thus
becoming familiar with all kinds of rural activities.
A voracious reader, he soon exhausted the little
public libraries and the more pretentious private
collections of the district. He served four years as
a pupil teacher, and at the age of eighteen secured
a position as assistant to the factor of the Durris
estate, Deeside, County of Kincardine. There he
remained three years, when he decided to emigrate
to America. Before sailing he was united in mar-
riage to Miss Agnes Duff, daughter of Robert
Duff, Esq., of New Noth and Old Noth, on Bogie-
side. Mrs. Law, a lady of high culture and fine
personal attainments, was a successful teacher in
Scotland, holding a first-class government certifi-
cate. In May, 1886, the young couple landed in
Boston, and at once proceeded to Philadelphia.
Being without either friends or acquaintances, after
a rather trying probation Mr. Law secured a
position as bookkeeper to an oil-cloth manufacturer
in Camden, N. J., and soon after took up his resi-
dence there. In 1890 he connected himself with
the J. F. Portuondo Cigar Manufacturing Com-
pany, of Philadelphia, having been its first Secre-
tary and attached to it for a year after the death
of Mr. Portuondo. In October, 1898, he came to
Lancaster to take charge of the Havana Cigar
Company and the other Lancaster interests of Mrs.
A. B. Bloomer, a wealthy and accomplished resident
of Cincinnati, Ohio, but allied to Lancaster "county
by hereditary relations, her father, Martin Bare,
Esq., having been bom in the Bareville her grand-
father founded. Mr. and Mrs. Law have been
blessed with seven children, viz. : ( i ) Duff
Christie; (2) Nanette Margaret (deceased); (3)
Estella Maria: (4) John James (deceased); (5)
America Portuondo; (6) Russell Gordon; (7)
Evelyn Agnes.
Mr. Law's predilection for rhyming and his
irrepressible wit and humor were soon asserted,
some of his effusions appearing in the Aberdeen
newspapers before he left school ; and even as early
as 1883, in Edward's Fifth Series of "Modern
Scottish Poets," Mr. Law although then only
eighteen years of age, received a lengthy and
flattering editorial notice, accompanied by several
pages devoted to specimens of his verses. He
never allows the muse to interfere with business,
and, to his credit be it said, he has not missed a
day's work since he first got a foothold in the New
World. He is a man of the strictest temperate
habits, not even being a smoker, although for many
years intimately connected with the great cigar
industry. Essentially a home man, the only club
that can claim him is the St. Andrew's Society of
Philadelphia. At the same time, there is nothing
sour or ascetic in his composition ; no one better
enjoys a social chat than he does, and wherever he
goes he is a welcome and honored guest in the best
houses and establishments in the land. In his busi-
ness trips all over the States, he has cemented by
personal contact many friendships begun through
the medium of the mails. Perhaps no one in the
Commonwealth has a finer collection of holograpl
letters from modern celebrities, not "purchased witt
a price," as such valued rarities generally are, bul
received by Mr. Law himself in the ordinary course
of his correspondence. In a hurried glance through
a partial list are noted specimens of Gladstone anc
Lord Rosebery among statesmen; Whittier
Holmes, Riley and Austin among poets • Blackie
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
605
and Furness among critics; CoUyer and Ingersoll
among orators; Allan, M. P., jostled Brosius, M.
C. ; Brewer, of the Supreme Bench, rested beside
Dewar among scientists, while DePeyster and
Carnegie among philanthropists "led all the rest."
To have come so intimately in touch with such men
of light and leading is in itself no mean tribute to
Mr. Law's ability and versatility. A lover of books
from his earliest years, he has natttrally collected
a fine library, which has been enriched by many gifts
from admiring friends and fellow-authors. One
half of the collection, numbering 5,000 volumnes
or more, is made up of books relating exclusively
to Scotland and Scottish literature, which still re-
mains Mr. Law's first choice. Books, indeed, seem
to be in very nook of his beautiful home in East
Clay street, a well-stocked case in his dining room
being considered as essential to the welfare and
happiriess of the family as the clock upon the
mantel. Raised in such an atmosphere, and with
such surroundings, it is easy to understand why
Mr. Law's children attending school are pronounced
by their teachers to be "the best all around scholars"
in their respective departments.
Mr. Law is the author of several books which
have been widely circulated and received with un-
qualified approbation by the first critics of the age.
It would take a volume to quote the press notices
evoked from all quarters of the globe on his
"Dreams O' Hame" and other poems, Scottish and
American, published in 1893 by Gardner, of Paisley
and London. The very handsome general appear-
ance of the book was the subject of much favorable
comment, and bearing the imprint of the Queen's
publisher was in itself a high compliment to an
American citizen. Mr. Law's latest volume, en-
titled "The Sea-Shore of Bohemia," is his most
ambitious eflfort, and deals with some little-known
episodes in the life of William Shakespeare, special
attention being given to the Scotch friends and
experiences that unquestionably influenced the
Great Dramatist's life and writings. Mr. Law's
poem is in dramatic form, with lyrical interludes,
and historical data can be furnished for all the
interesting incidents introduced into his brilliant
"Conversations." Says a recent critic:
"A remarkable fact about Mr. Law's Muse is
that he is at home in every style of the poetic art,
turning out dramas, epics, elegies, odes, lyrics and
satires with equal facility, and excelling in all. He
is complete master of every known form of rhyme
and rhythm, and has even invented some new
measures, which is not a small poetic feat at this
late day in the history of prosody. He personally
claims that he can only write well in Scotch, his
native tongue ; English, as he says, being a foreign
language to him; but the truth is that he gains
much of his power from the fact that his harp is a
.two-keyed instrument. He has, it is plain to be
seen, a natural gift for writing, and we have it
from the best authority that his poems are entirely
extemporaneous, which may account to a large
extent for the charming spontaneity of his style."
Mr. Law has been a welcome contributor to the
leading metropolitan journals, and his popularity
here is, if anything, exceeded by his reputation in
the old country. The leading Scottish critics have
long since admitted that the best Scotch in the
world is written in America, and Mr. Law is con-
sidered by many to be the foremost poetical
exponent of the Scottish dialect. Several years ago
he was awarded the N. A. U. C. A. prize for the
best original Scotch poem, the competition being
open to Canada and the United States. He is also
a fine conversationalist and debater, and is philoso-
pher enough to understand that a good listener is
not unappreciated. All the local newspapers have
had their pages enriched by Mr. Law's musings,
one of the most admired of his recent effusions hav-
ing been the following Sonnet on the sudden death
of the highly honored Congressman, Hon. Marriott
C. Brosius. We cull it from the New Era of March
18, 1901 :
MARRIOTT BROSIUS. .
"Native here and to the manner horn."
But yesterday we saw and hailed our friend,
As, full of life, he passed along the street;
Ere dawn to-day his heart had ceased to beat.
So swiftly did the fatal stroke descend.
The knell that none could fail to comprehend.
The certain summons that we all must meet; ^ >
And now the glory of a higher seat
Succeeds the term that here has reached its end.
A soldier-statesman ; in his chosen field
We honored him as our repeated choice
Until his name was to the nation knoiwn;
And at the last, with all his worth revealed.
While we lament we also can rejoice
That brilliant Brosius was our very own !
We regret that space will not permit us to give
a better representation of Mr. Law's poetry, but we
cannot refrain from adding to the value of this
meager sketch by inserting his "Columbia-Cale-
donia." This Scottish- American song has already
been accepted on both sides of the Atlantic as a sort
of International Anthem, beautifully blending as it
doeS' the love for the Old Country with the love for
the New, in an exalted strain of the purest patriot-
ism:
COLUMBIA— CALEDONIA.
THE LAND WE LEFT— aye, to us dear !
We've sung it lood and lang;
But hae we nae a country HERE
As worthy o' a sang?
While Scotland's name and Scotland's fame
Wi' us can never dee,
COLUMBIA noo we've made oor hame,
And praise to her we'll gie !
The Mither Land! The Mitiher Land!
Let's couple wi' her name
The Independent ither land
We noo hae made oor hame !
606
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Shak' oot the Starry Banner's fauld,
And let the Thistle wave ;
The Rampant Lion's nae mair bauld
Than is the Eagle brave !
The land we're in's a peerless land,
As big as Scotia's wee;
Weel worthy by her side to stand
And aye oor hame to be !
We'll ne'er forget the Mither Land,
Nor need a Scot think shame
To sing with pridt the ither land
We noo hae made oor hame !
The hame we had — the hame we hae !
O, lang and far ye'U ca'
Afore ye meet, if e'er ye may,
Wi' sic anither twa!
Auld Caledonia's first and best
O' lands across the sea !
And here's the glory of the West,
The country o' the free !
God's blessing on the Mither Land,
And a' within the same.
And also on the ITHER LAND
We noo hae made oor Hame !
Shortly before his death Col. Robert G. Inger-
soU wrote to Mr. Law as follows :
"Your beautiful poems have' given me real
pleasure. They are full of good feeling — comrade-
ship. They are genial and social and human.
Besides they are perfectly natural. They come
from the heart as springs from the ground. Versifi-
cation is easy for you and many of the verses are
worthy of Burns. The comic, the pathetic, smiles
and tears are side by side, and in nearly all the
poems I find the pulse o{ joyous life. Nothing
cynical, and nothing morose, nothing of night;
appreciation, admiration, morning everywhere.
Good health in every line — nothing morbid,
diseased or deformed, but all wholesorne, natural
and true. I congratulate you."
From the eminent Shakespearean scholar, Dr.
Furness, Mr. Law recently received the following
flattering acknowledgement relating to his poem on
"Shakespeare's Gloves:"
"My Dear Mr. Law : — The copy of your delight-
ful verses duly reached me, and I have read, and re-
read and re-read them with ever increasing
pleasure. They are charming. I think Burns him-
self would have chuckled over the humor, appreci-
ated the sentiment and would have been glad to
acknowledge the lines as his own. Can one hair's
breadth be added to this towering praise? If it be
possible, it does not lie in the power of
"Yours very cordially,
"Horace Howard Furness."
The words of a distinguished Scottish-Ameri-
can critic we have pleasure in reproducing:
"We advise Mr. Law to continue to . exercise
his poetic powers. He has accomplished much in
the past, but he is still a young man, and his
countrymen both at home and abroad believe that
he will yet produce something that will send his
name ringing through all parts of the civilized
world where the English language is known. The
Scotch portions of the Globe already know of him,
and in the words of their leading journals have
repeatedly declared, 'among living Scottish poets,
Mr. Law is unquestionably entitled to a foremost
place.' May he never have cause to regret having
sung:
Columbia treats her strangers weel,
The langer kent she grows mair dear,
And, aff the heath, nae Scot can feel
So much at hame as here!
In July, 1902, Air. Law made a long con-
templated trip to Europe, where his family had
preceded him, revisiting his native land after an
absence of over sixteen years. He saw everything
and everybody worth seeing, from the cot to the
castle, and from the King to the Commoner, cover-
ing Scotland and England very thoroughly, and
also looking in on Ireland. Wherever he went he
was well received, and made the recipient of many
honors and high compliments. Amidst all he
found time to share his pleasures by penning many
delightful "Letters of Travel" for American papers,
and contribute'd various articles in prose and verse to
the Scottish press. He returned to Lancaster in
February, 1903, and received a hearty welcome
from all his friends and acquaintances. He has
been officially requested to write the college poem,
song and chorus for the Franklin and Marshall
Golden Jubilee to be celebrated in June, 1903.
DAVID K. GRUBE, a retired farmer and one
of the most highly respected and influential men of
East Hempfield township, was born April i, 1839,
a son of Christian and Rebecca (Kurtz) Grube.
The founder of the Grube family in America was
Casper, a native of Switzerland, who located in the
vicinity of Kissel Hill, in Lancaster county, and was
the great-grandfather of David. This worthy man
had two sons, of whom record has been kept:
Christian, the grandfather of David, and a son
(hame unknown) who died at Kissel Hill. Chris-
tian, the grandfather, a farmer of NefiEsville, who
owned and operated two fine farms^ is supposed to
have been a member of the Lutheran Church, and
lived to the advanced age of eighty-five, his death oc-
curring in 1845. His family consisted of fourteen
children : George, a farmer, who lived and died in
Lancaster county; Christian, father of David; Cas-
per, a farmer, whose whole life was spent in Lan-
caster county; David, a farmer and cattle raiser of
Lancaster county. Samuel, a butcher, who went west
to Indiana, where he died; Joseph, also a butcher,
who lived and died in Lancaster county ; John, a
farmer, who went west to Ohio ; Jacob ; Sally, who
married Henry Hotenstine ; Susan, who was the sec-
ond wife of Mr. Hotenstine ; Elizabeth, who married
Jacob Stoner; three other daughters, names un-
known.
Christian Grube, the father of David, was born
at Neffsville, in March, 1795, and died near that
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
607
town in 1880. Early in life he learned the carpen-
ter trade, which he followed for many years, but
about 1850 he turned his attention to farming. The
maiden name of his estimable wife was Rebecca
Kurtz, a daughter of John Kurtz. Her birth oc-
curred at Roseville, Lancaster county, in the fall
of 1795, and she died in 1867. To her husband she
bore seven children: John, first a carpenter, later
a butcher, and a resident of Perry county, Pa. ; Ma-
garetta, wife of Reuben Bird, of Neffsville; Chris-
tian, a carpenter, a resident of Lebanon, Pa. ; Ed-
ward, a cigar manufacturer, who is a resident of
Neffsville; Lydia; Jacob, a resident of southern
Missouri ; and David K.
David K. Grube spent his boyhood upon his
father's farm and received his education in the public
schools. At the age of eighteen he commenced to
learn the trade of a carpenter, and followed it suc-
cessfully until his marriage, when he embarked in
farming, to which he gave his attention, in conjunc-
tion with burning lime, until he retired, in 1896. The
property owned by him, and upon which he resides,
is a fine one, consisting of ninety-nine acres, one mile
south of Petersburg, and upon it he has made many
desirable improvements. Nearly all of the excellent
buildings were erected by him, and the entire farm
speaks well for his thrifty management.
In 1867 David Grube was married to Amelia
Kauffman, a daughter of Christian and Martha
(Miller) Kauffman, who was born Oct. 19, 1840,
and died Nov. 26, 1894, after having borne her hus-
band four children : Alice, wife of Christian Hoov-
er; Morris, unmarried, who resides in the West;
David, unmarried, who operates a portion of his
father's farm ; Jacob, at home.
David K. Grube is a consistent member of the
German Baptist Church, in which he takes a promi-
nent part, and he is highly respected throughout the
community for his integrity and honesty.
JOHN C. FORREY, a retired farmer of West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county, Pa., was
born on his present farm of 125 acres Aug. 30, 1838,
and is a son of Jacob and Mary (Cophenheffer) For-
rey, of whom Jacob was also born on this farm and
Mary elsewhere in the township. Jacob was a suc-
cessful agriculturist and passed his entire life on the
home place, dying in November, 1871, when seven-
ty-one years old; in 1843 he had lost his wife, who
died when but twenty-five years of age. They were
members of the Mennonite Church, and their mortal
remains were buried in the private or family burial
ground on the home farm. The only children bom
to Jacob and Mary Forrey were John C. and Jacob.
The paternal grandparents of John C. Forrey
were John and Veronica (Seitz) Forrey, the former
of whom was also born on the present homestead,
and the latter in Manor township, but both died on
the farm. Mrs. Forrey lived to the great age of
103 years, eleven months, sixteen days. The John
last nientioned was a son of Daniel, who was also
born on this same West Hempfield farm, and Daniel
was a son of John, the founder of the Forrey fam-
ily in America, who came from Switzerland and se-
cured the grant of the farm from the William Penn
estate in 1746.
In November, 1878, in Lancaster City, John C.
Forrey married Anna Moore, and to this union were
born two children, John M. and Jacob M., both of
whom died young and were interred in the family
burying ground on the farm. Mrs. Anna (Moore)
Forrey was born in West Hempfield township and
is a daughter of Henry and Mary Moore, who were
natives of York county, but who settled in Lancaster
county early in life.
John C. Forrey has always been a good man-
ager, and has succeeded admirably in all his under-
takings and well deserves his reward for his early
industrv and economy. He has always been active
and public-spirited, is a director in the Columbia
Trust Company and was one of its first stockholders,
and has been a school director for six years as the
choice of the Republican party, of which he has
been a lifelong member. He still continues the
cultivation of the home farm, but hires help to
do the work.
JACOB J. BYERS, a retired farmer of East
Drumore township, was born in~ Pequea township
Dec. 13, 1836, his parents being John and Cath-
erine (Johnston) Byers, both natives of Lancaster
county, where he was born March 16, 1807, and his
wife Dec. 9, 181 5.
John Byers was the son of Henry and Barbara
(Crider) Byers, both of Whom were born in this
county, and whose parents came from Germany
about 1730. Henry Byers, the grandfather of Jacob
J., first settled in Martic township, and different
members of the Byers family sustained an honored
part in the Revolutionary struggle. Thev took up a
tract of government land in Pequea and Martic town-
ships, where they lived and reared large families.
Henry Byers and his wife had nine children : Hen-
ry Byers,' of Ohio ; Jacob, of Lancaster county ; Mich-
ael, of Indiana: Daniel, who died in Lancaster;
John ; Sarah, the wife of David Eshleman, of Pequea
township ; Mary, the wife of Benjamin Longenecker,
of Illinois; Nancy, the wife of Michael Crider, of
Lancaster; and Barbara, who married Christian
Warfel, of Lancaster.
John Byers, noted above, married Mary John-
ston in 1833 and settled on the farm of her father,
Jacob Johnston, in Pequea township, where he re-
mained until 1848, when he moved to his own farm
m the same township. Still later he bought a farm
in Lampeter township, where he died Jan. 5, 1856,
liis widow passing to her reward in May, 1877. Both
himself and his wife were members 6f the Mennon-
ite Church. Mr. Byers was one of the old line
Whigs, and became a Republican on the organization
of that party. They had a family of eleven chil-
dren, six of whom are now living: Barbara,
608
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
born in 1834, who married Samuel Minnie, both de-
ceased (four of their children are living) ; Hen-
ry Byers, who died in Lampeter, unmarried;
Jacob J., our subject; Mary A., born in Feb-
ruary, 1840, widow of Peter Sithert, with three
children, John, Benjamin and Lizzie; Sarah, born
in March, 1842, who married Henry Barr, of Pe-
quea township, and is the mother of six children;
Michael, who died in childhood ; John, who died in
Sterling, 111., leaving two children ; David, born in
March, 1848, who married Miss Margaret Hoover,
and is engaged in farming near Sterling, 111., where
they have a family of six children; Anna, born in
September, 1850, who married John Huber and re-
sides in Lampeter township, where they have one
son, Elmer; Benjamin, born July 9, 1853, a butcher,
who married Lillie Eshleman and lives in Lampeter
township, where they have three children ; Amaziah,
born Feb. 21, i8s6, who died when a young man.
Jacob J. Byers was reared to manhood under the
parental roof, and secured his education in the local
schools. His father died when he was eighteen
years old, and he began for himself as a hired man
among the neighboring farmers. He continued at
this occupation for five years. For a time he was
working at the carpenter trade, and then enlisted
in the Union army, becoming a member of Com-
pany E, 79th P. V. I., in the Western Army, under
the command of General Sherman. In the battles
of Chattanooga and Perryville he bore himself well,
and was then attached to the Pioneer Corps, with
which he was connected for eighteen months, fight-
ing, as well as building pontoon bridges and sharing
in other dangerous labors. In the fierce and bloody
battle of Stone River he was a participant, as he
was in other battles of Sherman's campaigns in the
fall of 1863, and he fought at Chickamauga. He
re-enUsted in February, 1864, and remained in the
army until its brilliant achievements became a mat-
ter of history, and the grand review at Washington
declared to the world that the war had ended. Mr.
Byers fought at Buzzard Roost and Kenesaw Moun-
tain. Three times was he wounded, at Peach Tree
Creek, Jonesboro and at Benton. Mr. Byers was
in the hospital in North Carolina, andsurviyed his
wounds, escaping from the hospital to join his com-
mand and share the glory of Pennsylvania Avenue
on the second day of the grand review.
Mr. Byers was married in 1866 to Miss Lizzie
Meek, who was born in Lampeter township in 1843,
a daughter of John and Elizabeth Meek. Her fa-
ther is still living on the home of his great-grandfa-
ther, Nicholas Meek, who was a Revolutionary sol-
dier.
Mr. and Mrs. Byers were farming people in
Lampeter township until 1875, when they removed
to a farm he had bought in East Drumore town-
ship. There Mr. Byers built a barn 1 10 feet long,
remodelled the house and made many improvements.
Mr. Byers now owns 500 acres of land, on which are
seven sets of farm buildings, all but one occupied
by his family. The nine children of Mr. and Mrs.
Byers are all living : (i ) Anna E., born in Novem-
ber, 1868, who married Clayton Alexander, has one
son, Jacob, and occupies one of the farm homes re-
ferred to above; (2) John M-, born in January,
1870, and married to Susan GrofI, of East Drumore,
where he lives on a farm; (3) Henry S., born in
1871, who married Emma Yost, resides in Pequea
township and is the father of four children, Lizzie,
Harry, Benjamin and Sue ; (4) Jacob, born in Aug-
ust, 1872, who married Lizzie Groff, lives in East
Drumore township and has three children, Stella,
David and Wanie ; (5) Amos N., born in March,
1874, who married Miss Nancy Waltman, and re-
sides on his father's home farm, his only son being
Roy; (6) Martin, born in August, 1875, who mar-
ried Miss Sarah Lefever, has one daughter, Emma
E., and resides at the home of his father; (7) Enos,
born in March, 1879, unmarried; (8) Uriah S., born
in February, 1881, unmarried ; (9) Noah M., born
in March, 1889!
Mr. Byers bought his present home in 1896. It
is a mile south of Quarryville, and there he has been
living a retired life. Always a Republican, for nine
years he held the office of auditor in East Drumore
township. Mr. and Mrs. Byers are members of the
Old Mennonite Church at Mechanics Grove.
CHARLES G. SCHUBERTH, proprietor of
the Lancaster Steam Laundry, has one of the finest
plants of the kind in Pennsylvania. He is the pion-
eer of the steam laundry business in Lancaster, hav-
ing established his present place in July, 1886, and
enjoys a fine patronage, employing four delivery
wagons in Lancaster and six in Philadelphia, in
which city he has a heavy custom.
Mr. Schuberth comes from fine German stock on
both sides. His father's uncle, Henry Schuberth,
was honored by the Emperor of Russia, and his
maternal grandfather, William Kahler, was decor-
ated with the Iron Cross by the Emperor of Germany
for distinguished military services. Most of Mr.
Schuberth's relatives in Europe are professional
men — teachers and ministers of the Lutheran
faith.
William Schuberth, father of Charles G., was
born in 1814 in Berlin, Germany, and lived in his na-
tive country until he reached middle age. He re-
ceived a thorough education, becoming especially
well known as a scholar in the Latin, Greek and Ger-
man languages, and was engaged as professor in a
college at Guben, Germany, fof a number of years.
During his young manhood he gave the regular ser-
vice as a soldier. In the early fifties he brought his
family to America, the voyage occupying thirteen
weeks, and located first in the western part of
Pennsylvania, remaining there some four years.
They then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where the
family home was for some years, and Mr. Schuberth
spent his latter year.'; with his children, dying in 1900
at New Brighton, Pa. He returned to the father^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
609
land twice, during the sixties. After, coming to
America he was engaged at cabinet-making. Mr.
Schuberth was an accomplished performer on both
the violin and piano, and took great delight in music.
He was a member of and active worker in the M. E.
Church. In Germany Mr. Schuberth married Kath-
erine Kahler, who was born in 1820, in Hamburg,
and their family consisted of nine children, four
sons — all born in Germany and five daughters — all
born in America : William is one of the leading con-
tractors of Cincinnati, Ohio, and makes his home at
Wyoming, that State. Henry C. is a tobacco dealer
at Miamisburg, Ohio. August C. is in the cigar
business at Falmouth, Ky. Charles G. is mentioned
below. Three of the daughters died in infancy.
Emma is Mrs. Burns. May is the wife of John F.
Snider. The mother died in 1877. She was one of
a large family, and her brothers were all professional
men, either teachers or ministers.
Charles G. Schuberth was born June 13, 1851,
ill Hamburg, Germany, and was a mere child when
he came with the family to this country. His educa-
tional advantages were such as the common schools
afforded. He remained with his parents until he was
fifteen years old, in 1867 going to Cincinnati, where
he learned the carpenter's trade with his brother,
following same three years. In 1870 he engaged in
the tobacco business with another brother, continu-
ing in that line some sixteen years. In November,
1872, he came to Lancaster, Pa., where he has ever
since made his home, remaining in the tobacco bus-
iness until 1886, when he bought the business to
which he now devotes his principal attention, and
which had been established one year. The laundry
is located at No. 146J4 East King street. Under
his able management the concern has grown until he
now has fifty-three employes on his pay-roll and
there is no indication that the limit has been reached,
by any means. His energy and strict attention to
the increasing demands on his plant have not only
brought him success and substantial rewards, but
have won him the favorable notice of business men
in Lancaster generally, among whom he occupies
high standing. He is ever on the elert for possible
and practical improvements, keeping fully abreast
of the times, and may always be depended upon to
have the best in his line, for he is a progressive man
in every respect. He is a prominent member of the
Lancaster Board of Trade.
In 1876 Mr. Schuberth married Miss Clara B.
Arnold, daughter of the late Thomas Arnold, the
pioneer slating contractor of Lancaster, and up to
the time of his death a prominent citizen. Mr. and
Mrs. Schuberth have had three children: William
died at the age of four. Paul was killed by an elect-
ric accident Nov. 8, 1900, at the age of nineteen ; he
had been employed by the Westinghouse Company
in an important position, having forty men under
his control. Karl Arnold, the youngest, is a grad-
uate of Franklin and Marshall Academy, and now
occupies the position of manager of his father's ex-
tensive business.
Fraternally Mr. Schuberth is a member of the
Eoyal Arcanum. He is a director of the Lancaster
General Hospital, though he takes little active inter-
est in outside affairs. In religious connection he is
a member of Grace Lutheran Church, for eighteen
years was one of its vestrymen, and for six years
its treasurer. He is deeply interested in the welfare
of the Y. M. C. A. in Lancaster, of which he is a
member, and took a prominent part in the erection
of their fine building in the city. The hammer used
to tear off the first board of the house which form-
erly occupied the site was sold at public auction and
Mr. Schuberth bought it, paying the sum of $108.
CHRISTIAN H. KENDIG. The ties that bind
the native-born sons o:^ Lancaster county to the place
of their birth seem to be peculiarly strong, for, while
from other counties a large proportion of the young
men drift westward, here there are many who pre-
fer to cling to the associations of youth. Legion is
the name -of those who have spent long and useful
years in the locality where they were born. Mr.
Kendig was one of those to whom the love of home
and native soil appealed with especial strength. Born
on a farm in East Lampeter township, Lancaster
county, Dec. 22, 1829, reared to agricultviral pur-
suits, a farmer by training and by choice, follow-
ing the occupation through all of his life, he finally
entered into rest Jan. 4, 1886, and from his old home-
stead was taken to the Mennonite cemetery in Stras-
burg township, where his body was interred in the
midst of scenes long loved by him.
John G. Kendig, father of Christian H. Kendig,
was a son of Henry and Maria (Groff) Kendig,
farmers of Strasburg township, Lancaster county.
The occupation to which he was reared he selected
for his life calling; after the marriage of his son,
Christian H., he retired from active labor, but con-
tinued to live at the old homestead until his death,
July 31, 1876, at seventy years of age. He was
laid to rest in the Mennonite cemetery. at Strasburg,
by the side of his wife, Susan, who had passed away
in August, 1865, at the age of fifty-seven years.
From childhood both had been earnest members of
the Mennonite Church, and in its doctrines they care-
fully trained their children, Christian H., Mary A.,
Henry, Susan and John. None of them are now liv-
ing except Susan, who is unmarried and makes her
home in Lancaster. Mrs. Susan Kendig was a
daughter of Jacob and Susan (Lefever) Hartman,
and grew to womanhood upon the home farm in this
county.
When ready to establish a home of his own Chris-
tian H. Kendig was united in marriage with Anna
Witmer, the ceremony being solemnized in Lan-
caster Oct. 25, 1855. Four children were born of
their union, viz. : Witmer J., of Lancaster ; David
H., of Reading, Pa. ; Susan E. and Anna M., who re-
39
<610
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
side with tlieir mother in Lancaster, the family hav-
ing in 1892 removed to that city from the old home-
stead farm. Having been reared in the Mennonite
faith, Mrs. Kendig retains membership in that de-
nomination, and is a sincere exponent of its doctrines
of self-sacrifice and kindliness. Her children at-
tend the Reformed Church and are active in various
of its societies.
The ancestry of Mrs. Kendig is traced back to
Benjamin Witmer, a native of Switzerland, who in
1716 sought the, larger possibilities of America, set-
tling in Lancaster county. Three years later his
son, John, was born in this county, of which he re-
mained a lifelong resident. By the marriage of John
Witmer to Frances Roland a son was born whom
they named Benjamin ; this son became a farmer and
married a Miss Brubaker, of an old family in the
<:ounty. Next in line of descent was another Ben-
jamin Witmer, a farmer of East Lampeter town-
ship; by his marriage to Esther Buckwalter a son,
David, was born. Like his ancestors, he never cared
"to remove from his native county, preferring to cling
-to the associations dear to him from his earliest
■recollections. Nor did he seek a new and strange
■calling, but continued to till the soil of the home-
stead acres. At the time of his death, Jan. 9, 1876,
lie was seventy-five years of age. His wife, who
was Anna Rutt, died in 1868, aged sixty-nine years.
Both were interred in Mellinger's cemetery con-
nected with the Mennonite Church, of which de-
nomination they were conscientious m^embers. In
theif family were the following-named sons and
daughters : Abraham R., of Mountville, Pa. ; Eliz-
sibeth, deceased, Hettie, of East Lampeter town-
ship ; Anna, Mrs. Kendig, of Lancaster ; David and
Jacob, farmers of East Lampeter township ; Bar-
bara, Mrs. Christ Frey, deceased ; Mary, Mrs. Eman-
uel Herr, deceased; Benjamin and Joshua, who are
also deceased.
Though a considerable period has elapsed since
the death of Mr. Kendig, he is not forgotten by
those to whom the associations of a lifetime had en-
deared him. His memory is still green in the hearts
of family and friends. Among his old associates
it is often called to mind that he contributed gener-
ously to the maintenance of his church, the Mennon-
ite, as well as to the expansion of its missionary
■movements ; nor has it been forgotten that for many
years he served faithfully and well as school direc-
tor, often leaving his farm to do some work in con-
nection with promoting the welfare of the schools.
Indeed, as citizen, husband, father and friend, his
life was exemplary and his example worthy of emu-
lation.
GEORGE S. LAMBORN. The Lamborn fam-
ily of Lancaster county. Pa., has not only been one
of responsibility and respectability in this locality
for many generations, but it is one of the oldest, also,
tracing an ancestral line far back in the past, reach-
ing even a date as ancient as A. D. 871 English
history has many records of members of this family
who became conspicuous in various circles of life,
during the years that intervened between the date
mentioned and 1659, in which year occurred the birth
of the direct ancestor of George S. Lamborn, of Lan-
caster county.
Josiah Lamborn was born in Easthamstead,
Berkshire, England, in 1659, ten years after the be-
heading of the great English king, Charles I. The
marriage of Josiah Lamborn to his wife Ann re-
sulted in the birth of six children: Thomas, Ma-
riah, Robert, John, William and Sarah. Josiah
Lamborn died Dec. 12, 1749, and his wife passed
away Aug. 11, 1722.
Robert Lamborn, son of Josiah, was born in
1697, and according to the records, his parents were
of the Episcopal faith. At the age of seventeen
years he formed an attachment for the daughter of
Francis Swayne, of Berkshire, England, but this
youthful intimacy was discouraged by the parents
on both sides, and in order to separate the young
people the Swayne family resolved on so stringent
a measure as emigration to America, which was ac-
compli.shed in 171 1. When young Robert learned
of the shattering of his hopes he was stricken with
sorrow, as the location of the Swayne family in the
great and unknown land beyond the sea was totally
unknown to him. Had Robert been of faint heart
this pretty but authentic romance might have been
closed then, but he evidently possessed many of
those attributes which, both earlier and later,
brought prominence and success to his kindred.
With a firm resolve to find the lady of his affections
Robert bade farewell to his family and also set sail
for America, safely reaching these shores in 1713.
After visiting various locations of English people
in Pennsylvania, the m.ost of whom had settled near
Philadelphia, it was in the city of Brotherly Love
that the weary swain met with a reward of his search.
It must be remembered that at that date the present
beautiful city covered much less extent, and thus it
was not so wonderful a happening for Robert to
meet his desired father-in-law on the street. It is
not recorded why the latter greeted the young man
kiridly and invited him to be his guest, but it is
quite possible that in the perseverance of the wooer
he recognized a stability that augured well for the
future.
The home of Francis Swayne was in Chester
county, and Mr. Swayne and his willing visitor made
the trip on horseback, taking turns at riding. It
was the kind father who reached the farm first, and
with a consideration which was doubtless appreci-
ated he sent his daughter, Sarah, out to meet the
guest. Love found its way, in those far off days
as successfully as now, and doubtless Mr. Swayne
thought that the young man had won his bride, for
all parental objections seem to have been removed,
and the marriage of Robert Lamborn and Sarah
Swayne was celebrated, by Friends ceremony, Sept.
5. 1722.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
611
Evidently Robert Lamborn found the farming
lands in this locality to his liking, for he remained
liere all his life, dying on the land he had brought
io a high state of cultivation Nov. 22, 1775, and he
v*ras laid away in the burying ground at London
-Grove, in Chester county. His association with the
Indians, who still roamed over a portion of the State,
seems to have been amicable, as there is an interest-
ing family record of an pccasion upon which an
Indian besought Robert to accompany him to a cer-
tain locality where was situated some of the best land
in the country. This spot, which Robert found
fair, indeed, was the site of the present city of Lan-
caster. However, it at that time was too far from
any means of transportation to make it a desirable
home in which to raise produce for market, and Mr.
Lamborn was obliged to give up the idea of locat-
ing so far from Philadelphia. It was on the site
of the present Center Square monument that Rob-
«ert Lamborn mounted the stump of an old tree and,
after viewing the goodly heritage, the beautiful pros-
.])ect, he involuntarily exclaimed, "this would be such
a beautiful spot upon which to found a city," his
thought having been realized by the upbuilding of
ihe city of Lancaster, in which his descendants have
ieen so well known. His friendly relations with the
Jiedmen have given color to many a pretty story,
well authenticated. After a day's hunt for veni-
son they would often come to his house and sleep
on the kitchen floor, with their feet to the old-fash-
ioned log fire place. When "Lobert," as they called
him, would awaken them in the morning they would
quietly and peaceably leave the house, first telling
'him where he could find a deer shot the day before ;
■occasionally they would carry the game to him.
The children born to Robert and his wife Sarah
were: Robert (2), William, Ann, Elizabeth,
J"rancis, John, Thomas, Josiah and Sarah.
Robert Lamborn (2), son of Robert, was born
June 3, 1723, and died Dec. 8, 1781. By Friends
ceremony he was married to Ann (iVEorris) Bourne
-Sept. 19, 1746; she died June 6, 1790. By trade he
was a blacksmith, and he followed this industry near
London Grove, or Lamborntown, his burial taking
-place there also. By nature he was a kind and char-
itable man, of whom his neighbors cherished pleas-
.ant recollections. The children born to Robert (2)
and Ann Lamborn were: Jesse, Susanna, Robert,
Thomas, Mary, John, Joseph, Sarah, David, Ann,
■Geor'ge, Lydia (who died in infancy) and Lydia (2).
All of these were bom in Chester county, and all
Tvere united in marriage by the simple and beautiful
formula of the Society of Friends.
George Lamborn, son of Robert (2), was born
near Chadds Ford, Chester county, Dec. 23, 1768,
and died Sept. 19, 1856. His first marriage was
Teb. 12, 1790, to Martha Marshall and his second
marriage was March 14, 1806, to Mary Smedley,
who died on Jan. 10, 1857. By occupation he was
loth farmer and blacksmith, following his trade in
the vicinity of his birth until 1806, when he moved
to Lancaster county, buying at that time a farm near
Wentz's Mill, in Martic township. In the estima-
tion of his neighbors he was a prosperous man, and
that he was kind-hearted may be inferred when it
is stated that a signing of a note in order to relieve
a friend from financial difficulties resulted in his own
ruination, making it necessary for him to resume his
laborious trade again. Removing after this disas-
ter to Drumore township, he located near Friends
Drumore Particular Meeting, and there continued
for a time in the blacksmith business, but in 1828 he
emigrated to Jefferson county, Ohio, and rented a
farm near Steubenville. Nine years later he re-
moved to Knox 'county, Ohio, where he bought a
farm, upon which he remained until the time of his
death, his burial being in Millwood cemetery, in the
same county. While George Lamborn was still a
young man and living at Chadds Ford, he acci-
dentally discovered a vein of fine anthracite coal,
while on a hunting tour. On account of the parsi-
mony of the owner of the land upon which it was
found the vein was never worked, the exact loca-
tion of the find being at present known only to two
persons, George S. Lamborn, of Liberty Square,
Lancaster county, and his cousin, Harvey Baker, of
Pittsburg, the former of whom owns the original
draft. The children born to the first marriage of
George Lamborn were: Lewis, Benjamin, Thomas,
Ann, Marshall and Lydia, all of whom were mar-
ried by the Friends' ceremony. The children of
the second marriage were: Smedley; Susanna;
John ; Esther ; Robert : Mary ; Philena ; Jacob ; Lind-
ley ; and Martha. Changes came into this family,
some of the members marrying into other religious
societies, the result being that Smedley, the direct
ancestor of George S. Lamborn, was the only one
who adhered to the simple ceremony of the Friends,
which had united his ancestors.
Smedley Lamborn, son of George and Mary
Lamborn, was born in Chester county Jan. 6, 1807,
and died Sept. 26, 1851. On Dec. 22, 1830, he was
united in wedlock to Margarett Bolton, who was
born Aug. 26, 1810, a daughter of Isaac and Eliza-
beth Bolton; she died on Nov. 21, 1855. Her par-
ents were formerly residents of Bucks county. Pa.,
where he carried on a business of chair and spin-
ning wheel maker, engaging in fairming after locat-
ing in Lancaster county. Smedley Lamborn was a
man of excellent morals and religious habits of
thought, being also a man of liberal ideas and one
much interested in all reform movements. As an
ardent anti-slavery man he took an interested part
in the workings of the Underground Railroad, and
was as active in the cause of temperance. By trade
he was a blacksmith, having been a pupil of Edward
Green, but at the age of twenty-three years he
bought the farm in Martic township on which his
son George now resides. After his marriage he
opened up a smithy on his farm near Wentz's Mill,
612
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and there, with excellent machinery adapted to his
purpose, he did a good business.
It was in that place that George S. Lamborn, of
Lancaster county, was born, and it is recalled in his
mind by several incidents of early childhood, they
probably being the very earliest events impressed
upon his mind, and particularly interesting on that
account. Mr. Lamborn recalls an occasion when
his beloved mother tenderly put him to sleep in his
little bed, and then started to the mill in order to get
som,e flour. On her return she was surprised to
meet her little son on the road, coming to meet her.
What took place then Mr. Lamborn does not recall,
but it was of enough importance to fix the incident
upon his memory. He also recalls a visit which he
made to the smithy and return home through the
dark night, in the arms of one of the apprentices, the
change froni the glow of the forge to the blackness
of the outside world probably accounting for the im-
press made upon the childish imagination,
Smedley Lamborn continued his trade in that
vicinity until the spring of 1837, at which time he
moved to a tenant house on Elijah Worlls' farm,
which was one-half mile northeast of Liberty Square,
and from this place he went back and forth to do a
little farming on his Martic township tract, the resi-
dence being occupied at this time by Jacob Paxon.
Jn the spring of 1839 he moved to that place and
commenced the heavy work of clearing up a farm,
.the first business being the removal of scattered trees,
bushes, stones and rocks and the draining of swamps,
preliminary to fencing, as none of the latter had been
finished, with the exception of fourteen acres. The
buildings consisted of an old log house and barn,
and a stone spring-house, the latter being still a
stanch relic of days prior to the time of Smedley
Lamborn. The old barn was roofed with straw and
was almost in a swamp, while the dwelling was also
old and uncomfortable, being the second one on this
place. Although things had a rather discouraging
outlook Smedley hired help, and being a man of un-
tiring energy he instilled a part of it into his assist-
ants, and in a few years brought a fine farm out of
the seeming chaos. The dwelling was repaired, a
wagon hotise and other shelters were built, and in
1847 a substantial bam was erected. These were
years of unremitting toil, and although there was
never a pause in the industry of the father, he was
ably assisted by tlie efforts of his sons, George S. and
Aquilla B., the labors of the latter including the
clearing of the land, the sawing of logs and the
hauling of limestone and lime, and aside from these
duties, the necessary farm work and chores came also
within their line.
Mr. Lamborn recalls the occasion of his first
experience in hay loading. This was in the summer
of 1839. His father was taking in a load of sweet
meadow hay, and, probably being short of help,
placed his son George S. on the load to trample it
down as he pitched it in great forkfulls from the
ground. Although but a lad of eight years, his
wholesome bringing up had made him sturdy and
strong, and he recalls with satisfaction that from that
first successful experience during the sixty-three
years that have passed since then he has never
missed the enjoyment and exhilaration of participa-
ting in a hay or wheat harvest, and still further, he
has never had a single load to play him the scurvy
trick of falling off.
From 1847 to 1851 prosperity smiled on the ef-
forts of Smedley Lamborn in his farming opera-
tions, although the dear and sympathetic mother
was often seen to be sorrowful that her family had
to be content with such plain food, through the
struggling years. She was a woman of the most ele-
vated character, and was beloved by all who knew
her. In the fall of 1851, Smedley died, and his wid-
ow and the noble sons carried on the work of the
farm for some time. The children born to Smedley
Lamborn and wife were: George S., Aquilla B.,
Emeline, Elwood, William Lewis, Elizabeth, Sarah
E., Priscilla S., Alice Ann, Lucinda and Lydia. AH'
of these married, six of them adhering to the prin-
ciples of Friends to the degree of using the simple
and expressive marriage ceremony, these being
George S., William Lewis, Sarah, Alice Ann, Lu-
cinda and Lydia, while the others were married by
the mayor of the city of Lancaster.
George S. Lamborn, of Liberty Square, Lancas-
ter county, was bom Nov. 24, 1831, the eldest child
of his parents. In the fall of 1853 he attended Benja-
min Hoops's Boarding School, near Avondale, Ches-
ter county, and remained there through that winter.
In the spring of 1854, he hired with his uncle, Ja-
cob Baker, as clerk, and for other work, the uncle
being engaged in the business of lime burning in
Chester county, and Mr. Lamborn remained with
this relative until the fall, at which time he returned
to his home, and with his brother Aquilla B., took
charge of the farm, and in the summer of 1855 they
built a new house. The family still remained to-
gether at this tiriie, with the exception of Emeline,.
and great were the anticipations and preparations
for the occupancy of the new and comfortable resi-
dence. The pleasant plans were forgotten, however,
in the sudden illness of the beloved mother, who was-
taken ill with pneumonia, and died Nov. 21, 1855.
Elizabeth then took charge of the home, but with
the beloved mother gone, the others gradually left,
and the family became scattered.
On May 8, 1856, George S. Lamborn was united
by Friends' ceremony to Sarah W. Coates, who was '
born Feb. 7, 1831, a daughter of Ellis and Abigail
Coates, of Homeville, Chester county. Then George
S. and Aquilla B. took charge of the farm, in part-
nership ; Elwood went to work at the blacksmith's
trade; William embarked in an agency business,
also taught school ; and the younger girls found
homes in neighboring families. In the school year
of 1866-7, George S. taught school, the fall term be-
ing in an old stone schoolhouse situated in a swamp,
near the Buck hotel, that being in the days prior
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
613
to the discovery of the germs, which in later years
•we are disposed to think lurk in every marshy spot.
The winter school was at Oregon schoolhouse,
"which was situated in the forest, south of the Hugh
Penny farm in Drumore township.
In 1861, George S. bought out his brother's in-
terest in the farm, or rather, a division was made,
hy which George S. took the old homestead, and
Aquilla B. the southern portion of the place, which
had been bought and added to the original. This
farm had been taken up in 1754, and it has been the
home of George S. Lamborn for sixty-three years.
In 1856 he became especially interested in mineral-
ogy, his curiosity being awakened by his first find,
when a boy, of a cubic specimen of "fool's gold,"
■or iron pyrites, and during succeeding years he has
continued collecting, until now he has one of the
■most interesting as well as valuable assortments of
tirinerals, Indian relics, fossils, shells and other
curiosities, in the locality, well worth a position in
some public museum. Mr. Lamborn -through study
•of Mineralogy, Geology, Archaeology and Paleon-
tology has become thoroughly acquainted with his
collections, and a study of Philately has also in
some degree, occupied his attention, as he has be-
•come the owner of a valuable assortment of stamps.
Although naturally this collection is very precious
to Mr. Lamborn, and has cost time, money and
•effort, in its acquirement, he is very unselfish about
it, and has endeavored to make practical use of it
in the instruction of the school children of his lo-
■cality.
In 1862 Mr. Lamborn accepted a position as
■school director, being peculiarb^ well qualified for
its duties. As secretary of the board, when making
his monthly visits, it was his custom to take with
liim some of the minerals, and when the children
became interested in looking at these, he would in-
struct them concerning these things, and thus en-
•deavor to awaken a love for the wonders of a
world which too often was but as a sealed
book to them. It was also the commendable
custom of Mr. Lamborn to carry with him
his galvanic battery, and make merry with the
children, while explaining to them its powers
and use. These visits were welcomed by
the children, and the occasions were never for-
gotten. After closing his relations with the school
hoard, after a period of fifteen years, Mr. Lamborn
was elected to the office of district auditor, faith-
■ fully performing the duties pertaining to it until
the present time, having also efficiently served dur-
ing the intervening years as county juryman and
Toad and bridge-viewer.
Perhaps in no way has Mr. Lamborn been more
•conspicuous in his locality, than in his unswerving
allegiance to the cause of temperance. The disas-
trous effects of strong drink were so realized by
him in early life, that at the age of eleven years he
induced eleven other youths to join him in taking
the pledge of the Washingtonian Temperance So-
ciety, this organization then being prominently be-
fore the public, the occasion being at a meeting at
the old Silver Spring schoolhouse, near Liberty
Square. Mr. Lamborn has been consistent in his
attitude on this question, having never handled or
tasted intoxicating liquor, and has been the only
voter of the Temperance ticket in his district.
It was not strange that when Mr. Lamborn
reached the age of mature reflection he should
become a strong anti-slavery man, his feeling of
right making him the advocate of all men, without
regard to color. While still a lad in the public
school, he testified his faith in a schoolmate of an-
other race, the occasion being related by Mr. Lam-
born. A colored lad had been subjected to punish-
ment for some infraction of the rules, and the
teacher decided to exact the "pound of flesh" un-
less the offender could find some one to offer to be
security for him. Doubtless, if the lad had been
white, many excusers would have been found, but
George S. Lamborn was the only fellow-student who
was willing to show that much confidence in him.
When the week of trial was ended, the colored boy
had' fully satisfied his bond. As a testimonial of his
gratitude, he presented his bondsman with a musi-
cal instrument, this being one of his own most val-
ued possessions.
Reared in the Society of Friends, the simplicity
and peacefulness of their religious belief, has al-
ways been of the greatest moment to George S.
Lamborn. To the Bible he has given much study,
and he is inclined to fall in with ns^ny of the lead-
ing religious thinkers of the day, that very much of
it must be taken in a spiritual sense, and that many
of the incidents related therein must have been writ-
ten by different authors, from their own point of
view. It would be his wish to have it so elim-
inated that its history has no contradictions and all
impure sentiments should give way to the lofty
imagery which in that sense makes it the Book of
Books.
Through long years of study and reflection, Mr.
Lamborn has done his best to exert an influence
against impurity in politics, believing that many ma-
chine manipulations tend not only to breed, but to
foster tendencies toward the vile tyrant, Anarchy.
In the true sense of the word, he has been a member
of the Republican party, although at times he has
felt called upon to vote for the man he judged best,
irrespective of party tie.
Possessing a mechanical and inventive turn of
mind, Mr. Lamborn has produced many articles
well worthy the time consumed in their construc-
tion. In connection with his other business, he
bought the agency for farm and other machinery,
his judgment enabling him to select the best and
most satisfactory kinds. As a farmer, he was al-
ways considered one of the most successful and pro-
gressive, having at all times had an eye to conveni-
ence and improvement, both in farm and in farm
buildings. Although Mr. Lamborn has never given
614
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
any attention to the mechanical part of music, his
ear is one attuned to sweet sounds, the blowing
winds, the rolling billows as well as the singing
birds and the whisperings of the forests, producing
harmonies for him. In all her aspects, Nature pre-
sents to him an attractive face.
Few men in this locality have seen more of their
own land than Mr. Lamborn, his enjoyment of
travel being both physical and mental. From the
time he made his first trip, from Strasburg to Phil-
adelphia, in 185 1, until the date of the last one, from
McCalls Ferry to Bedford, Pa., he has covered 14,-
425 miles by railroad, 270 miles by steam-boat, this
not inclusive of the long trips made on foot and by
carriage. In his pleasant wanderings, Mr. Lamborn
has made three trips to Monroe, Iowa, the first in
1879, the second in 1884, and the third in 1893 ; to the
World's Fair, in Chicago; three visits to Niagara
Falls ; the Provincial Fair, in Toronto, Canada ; the
Centennial, in Philadelphia, to sea shore and through
mountains, and all over several counties of the Key-
stone State. The time and money which Mr. Lam-
born has expended on these visits, he considers more
remunerative in every way, than if he had used the
same for either questionable enjoyments or for the
purchase of strong drink, or tobacco, having such
an antipathy to the latter as to refuse even to
grow it.
Mr. Lamborn is most highly esteemed in his
neighborhood, where his kindly, charitable nature
is so well known. His hand is ever extended in
manly friendship to those who deserve it, while
many have been the cases when he has quietly as-
sisted those who did not always deserve his charity.
Social by nature, his travel and study have made
him a very delightful host, and one of the many re-
unions of various kinds, well remembered, is one
which took place on Feb. 22, 1897, the gathering
being composed of his brothers and sisters, in his
hospitable home. At this time, Mr. Lamborn ad-
dressed the company in these words :
Brothers and sisters, relatives and friends: We are
happy once more to welcome you back to the old home-
stead, where memory loves to linger, and where, in child-
hood's unconcern, we children gathered wild flowers in
wood and vale, and fished beside the laughing stream,
chased the butterfly in yonder meadow,' or in wintry sport,
sliding down the icy hills, little realizing the care and
anxiety that filled our parents' hearts for our comfort and
support, for it is but little that children know of the trials
and privations parents undergo for them, only as the ex-
perience in after years proves it.
Yes, when I wander back, in mind, I hear the sweet
voice of our dear mother singing a lullaby to the infant in
its cradle, or hear her merry song as she goes aibout her
daily work, busy with the spinning wheel in the kitchen at
one end of the apartment, or, as the two were one, adjust-
ing her little parlor at the other, while the old clock upon
the wall ticks away the fleeting moments. I imagine, too,
I hear the voice of our dear father, humming a favorite
song, while about the duties of the farm, or whistling a
lively march, as with his brawny arm he forges the heated
iron on the anvil.
I also see that old, old house from within whose
walls came many merry voices, and where were shed many
bitter tears of sorrow ; and through whose roof sifted the
driving snow, spreading its icy mantle upon the humble
couch beneath ; and the beating rains came relentlessly
through the walls and ran in little streams across the
warped and uncarpeted floor. As tradition has it, it wais
used by former occupants as an inn, dealing over its bar
that which brings to the human family untold misery,
woe and want. And seemingly to make amends for the
evil, the old house was so arranged that religious meet-
ings might be held therein. Then in their turn came the
clank of the loom and the humming of the spinning wheel,
which now are hushed. Nothing now remains to mark the
spot where the old house stood but that bunch of roses
planted by our mother's hand. The old shop is gone; the
ring of the anvil is heard no more; and the old barn,
where we frolicked and played upon the straw, and fought
the wasps in the old thatched roof, leaves no trace be-
hind. All have gone, except the old spring-house, which,
too, is following the inevitable law, passing away, passing
away, and then all will be gone save that spring of pure
and sparkling water, at whose brink many weary travelers
have been refreshed, and in whose waters were many bap-
tisms. It alone will remain as a living monument of the
past.
This same law is carrying us down the stream of
time ; and in a few .short years will land us on the brink
of Eternity. There, standing by the waters of the river
of Death, piercing through the over-hanging mist, listen-
ing to the sweet voices from the other shore, beckoning
us to come hither, away from a cold and selfish world
into a state of everlasting bliss — ^yes, the voices of our
parents, sisters and brothers.
Dear ones, let not this review of the past, or thoughts
of the future, discourage us, for the time will soon come
when all knowledge and trace of our existence here will
have passed into oblivion. For such is the law of Nature,
that one generation passes away and another comes. Nbw
many of us are parents, and our children look to us for
support, counsel and influence. Do we fully realize our
responsibility? Can we stand firm for the right? Let not
the light remark or the impertinent reply, coming from
the lips of the little ones we love, permit us to lose our
control in our management of them, for, most assuredly
it will lead to disobedience, first to parent and friend, next
to country, and then to God.
Disobedience to known law leads to ruin, and obedi-
ence to greatness. This is strikingly exemplified in the
life of the illustrious man whose birthday we now cele-
brate, and whose obedience to the guarded care and influ-
ence of a wise and devoted mother, placed him at the head
of our nation, and through his untiring efforts, hardships
and trials, in connection with other patriots of his time,
succeeded in establishing the best form of government the
world has ever seen. Although corruption steals in, yet
the people have the power to rectify all mistakes or griev-
ances that may arise, by exercising their judgment at the
ballot-box. This power can be greatly strengthened by
extending to both sexes alike the right of suffrage, under
certain educational qualifications. When this is done, the
fell monster. Intemperance, with all its ruinous conse-
quences, would soon lose its power and be hanished from
our midst. Would not this be progress? Would not this
be adding to the great work commenced by the Father of
the Republic? The labor they commenced we must
shoulder, and with the battle-axe of right hew down the
forests of evil that exist or may rise before us; and as
each succeeding celebration of the birthday of the Father
of his Country comes upon us, let us see that the portals,
are guarded and the governmental apartments are cleanly
swept.
Also, let it be a reminder that not only this day but
every day should be celebrated unto Him who has seen fit
to place us in this world to work out our own destiny, for
good or for evil. Then let us look on all earthly trials
as lessons given us in the school of adversity, lessons
which, if rightly understood, will teach us to enjoy the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
615
persent; and let that enjoyment be of such a character
that it will leave no sting behind, but will lead us, step by
step, into the paths oi purity and peace.
The children born to George S. Lamborn were :
Margaret Coates; Mary Miller; Priscilla S., John
Comley ; Anna Mary ; Charles Linnaeus ; and Lucre-
tia Mott. Mr. Lamborn is now retired from busi-
ness activity. It has never been an object with him
to accumulate large means, although his standing is
one of substantiality and responsibility in the neigh-
borhood. Few men have crossed the stage of af-
fairs in Lancaster county who have left a more in-
delible impress upon the locality in which circum-
stances placed them than George S. Lamborn,
standing as he always has for the highest standards
of living and ever working to promote those influ-
ences which work for the progress and develop-
ment of the best interests of his section. By ex-
ample, by tongue and pen, he has lived as he has
preached, and represents in every way the highest
type of representative citizen.
Since the above was written, and as if to verify
it, George S. Lamborn appeared as an advocate for
rural free delivery. He was the first in the neigh-
borhood to make a move for the establishment of a
route — a privilege almost unheard, or unthought, of
by most of the inhabitants of his vicinity. He com-
menced his work for it Jan. 13, 1902, and regard-
less of the filed protests against it in the Postoffice
Department, the jeers and scoifings by the country
postmasters and their henchmen, he succeeded by
the kind efforts of Congressman H. Burd Cassel,
and the just considerations of the Postoffice Depart-
mient, in establishing the route on Nov. i,
1902, which he feels to be a crowning effort of his
life work, and a cherished boon to his fellow pa-
trons of the Bonview Route No. i. This new de-
parture is quite a contrast, and Mr. Lamborn has
bridg'ed a period of time in mail facilities almost
unequaled by any other nation of the world. He
well remembers being sent for mail, when a boy,
several miles from home, to be rewarded by receiv-
ing a letter for his father, from the lattcr's father
in Ohio, which had been on the road about ninety
days at a cost of twenty-five cents. Now a letter
can be had from the same place in two days, at a
cost of two cents, and delivered at the yard gate.
Rapid strides have been made in improvements,
economy, extravagance, and selfishness in the last
fifty years of the country's history.
REV. CHARLES LIVINGSTON FRY, long-
time pastor (1881-1901) of the historic old Luth-
eran Church of the Holy Trinity in Lancaster,
founded in 1730, has left a monument to his zeal
and devotion in this great congregation, which is
numerically the strongest in Lancaster, having 1,040
communicants.
Mr. Fry is descended from a family that for gen-
erations has been prominent in Pennsylvania, both
in church and State. His grandfather was famil-
iarly known, during his official life at Harrisburg,
as Auditor General of the State, as "Honest Jacob
Fry." His father, who for thirty-two years was pas-
tor of Old Trinity Church at Reading, Pa., is now
the Professor of Homiletics and Practical Theology
at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Mount
Airy, Philadelphia, and one of the leading spirits in
the venerable Ministerium of Pennsylvania. He is
the author of a work on the Science of Homiletics,
now in general use as a text-book in Lutheran Sem-
inaries throughout the country.
The first ancestor to come to this country, from
the Palatinate, Germany, was Henry Fry, who ar-
rived in America in the year 1680, having been driv-
en from his home by religious bigotry and persecu-
tion. He was one of the founders of Germantown,
where his son Jacob, and his grandson, Henry, spent
their lives on the paternal estate. It is a matter
worthy of note, that in this family for generations
the names of Jacob and Henry alternated.
Dr. Jacob Fry, the distinguished Professor at
Mount Airy, was ordained to the ministry at the age
of nineteen years. Eliza Jane Wattles, his wife,
was born in New England, a daughter of Harvey
Wattles, afterwards a resident of Gettysburg. Toi
this union were born the following children: Rev.
Charles Livingston ; Miss Mary Gross ; Miss Kate
Wattles; Annie Gillespie, wife of Philip S. Zieber,
a lawyer of Reading; Rev. Franklin Foster, for
eleven years pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, of
Bethlehem, Pa., and now of the Church of the Re-
formation, Rochester, N. Y. ; Josephine Cassady,
wife of William Benbow, church organist and musi-
cian, at Reading; and Miss Jennie, unmarried.
Rev. Charles Livingston Fry graduated from
the Reading High School in 1875 ; from Muhlen-
berg College, at Allentown, in 1878, and from the
Theological Seminary, at Philadelphia, in 188 1.
Immediately after his entrance upon the work of
the gospel ministry, he was called to Lancaster, as
an associate of Dr. Emanuel Greenwald, the pastor
of Holy Trinity Church, who was then a very aged
man, and upon his death in 1885 succeeded to the
pastorate by unanimous vote of the congregation.
Mr. Fry has lectured before many institutions of
learning, and educational conventions. While in
charge of Trinity Church, his constant eifort was
to develop the religious life of the young people.
His labor was unceasing to bring the Church close
to the hearts of the people, and in this he was
eminently successful. Mr. Fry has been a frequent
contributor to the press, was associate editor for
some years of Christian Culture, and a member of
the board of trustees of the Pennsylvania Chautau-
qua. He was president of the Lancaster Center of
University Extension from its inception in the city
until his removal to his present metropolitan field
of labor, which occurred Jan. i, 1901, when he be-
came pastor of St. Luke's Lutheran Church, in
Philadelphia, one of the most important churches
in his denomination in the State. He is also the
616
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Literature Secretary of the Luther League of
America, having entire charge of mapping out its
various reading courses and student efforts. The
Sunday school of Trinity Church is one of its prin-
cipal features, and Mr. Fry devoted much of his
time to its interests. The singing of oratorio an-
thems by the young people, and the music on great
festivals, was proverbial as the standard of compari-
son in the community.
On June 9, 1891, Rev. Mr. Fry was married, the
tenth anniversary of his ordination, to Miss Laura
F., only daughter of Henry M. Housekeeper, a re-,
tired architect and builder in Philadelphia. The
summer of that year they spent on a bridal tour in
Europe visiting Holland, Belgium, Switzerland,
Italy, France and England. On their return they
were extended a public reception in which all de-
flominations participated. Mr. Fry was the prime
mover in the refined entertainments that were given
every month in the court house during the winter of
1890-91, free of cost to the laboring classes, and was
for years an active worker in a number of literary
societies of the city.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Fry has been
blessed by the birth of two children : Henry Jacob,
born May 2, 1892 ; and Charles Luther, March 16,
1894. A more ideal family relation can hardly be
found than that which exists in their home, Mr.
Fry is as devoted to his family as to the Church,
and to the great reforming and uplifting agencies
of life. He is a friend of the poor and a helper
to the needy. The descendant of a long line of
Lutheran ancestors from the early days in the
Palatinate, he wears worthily the mantle of his
fathers.
VERY REV. ANTHONY F. KAUL, V. F.,
the founder and present popular rector of St. An-
thony's Roman Catholic Church, of Lancaster, is also
Dean of York and Lancaster counties, the bishop of
the diocese having conferred the title of Dean upon
him in July, 1893. On June 13, 1894, the feast of the
Patron Saint of the church, occurred his silver
jubilee, commemorating the twenty-five years that
had elapsed since his ordination, an event of sur-
passing and memorable interest to the congregation
of St. Anthony and to the community in general.
Father Kaul was born in Sinsheim, Baden,
Germany, June 8, .1846, and his father, Pirmin
Kaul, was born in the same locality May 20, 1808,
a son of John Kaul, of French descent. Pirmin
Kaul was a tailor by occupation, and he was also
engaged in the manufacture of epaulets and military
regalia. He was married, Nov. 28, 1830, to Miss
Magdelene, daughter of George Philip Dick, Bur-
gomaster of Grumbach, Baden; she was born Feb.
20, 1804, in Grumbach. Early in 1847 ^^- ^"^
Mrs. Kaul embarked on an English sailing vessel
at Antwerp, and after a stormy voyage of forty-
seven days landed in New York city, July 7th.
Going to Philadelphia, they remained there a short
time, and then went to Reading, where they resided
for about six months. In April, 1848, Pirmin Kaul
located on a farm two miles from Adamstown,
Lancaster county, where he engaged in agricultural
pursuits until Aug. 15, 1852. From that time until
1862 he was engaged in the hotel business in Read-
ing, after which he retired to private life. In 1877
he came to Lancaster, where he made his home
until his death, which occurred June 5, 1883, at the
ripe age of seventy-five years. Politically Pirmin
Kaul was a Democrat, and in religious belief he was
a Roman Catholic. Mrs. Kaul made her home with
Father Kaul until a few years ago, when she was
called to her reward. In her will she left a bequest
for the erection of a clock in the tower of the
beloved St. Anthony's church, and this clock has
come to be regarded as a veritable public blessing,
particularly to the people of the eastern side of the
city. Of the seven children of Pirmin and Magde-
lene (Dick) Kaul, all but one reached adult age,
and are still living: (i) Annette became the wife
of Christian Burger, of Reading, Pa. ; (2) John
H., a retired merchant, lives in this city; (3)
Joseph, now known as Brother Leopold, is professor
of music in Notre Dame University, South Bend,
Ind. ; (4) Mary W., housekeeper for Father Kaul,
teaches painting and kindred branches at the
Sacred Heart Academy; (5) Elizabeth, now sister
M. Stanislaus, a sister of the Holy Cross and an
adept in music, is Superior of the Sacred Heart
Academy, Lancaster; (6) the Very Rev. Anthony
F. Kaul, of Lancaster, is the youngest of the
family.
Father Kaul passed his early years in the public
and parochial schools at Reading, Pa. In 1862 he
became a student in St. Charles Preparatory Semi-
nary, Glen Riddle, Pa., which school was then
under the direction of the late Bishop Shanahan.
After completing the classical course Father Kaul
entered St. Charles Theological Seminary, on
Eighteenth and Race streets, Philadelphia, where
he pursued his philosophical and theological course,
and was ordained Aug. 22, 1869, at Harrisburg, by
Bishop Shanahan, first bishop of that diocese. The
young priest was sent to Lancaster as assistant to
the late Father F. L. Newfeld, of St. Joseph's
church, arriving Sept. 24, 1869. In the spring of the
following year it was decided to form a new parish
from St. Jospeh's congregation, the boundary lines
being set by the bishop. This comprised all east of
North Water, South Queen and Strawberry
streets. The church, which is located at the corner
of Ann and Orange streets, was founded in April,
1870, by Father Kaul, who worked indefatigably
to achieve this end. The lot on which the structure
stands is 245x340 feet, and was purchased for
$3.500 ; at the time it was used as a cornfield. The
cornerstone was laid Aug. 14, 1870, in the presence
of a large concourse. Rev. Father McGinnis, of
Danville, Pa., being deputed by the late Very Rev.
Bernard Keenan, administrator of the diocese
y^^Z^l*t^l^^^e^*^;h <^U^c^^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
617
during the absence of the bishop at the Vatican
Council at Rome, to take charge of the ceremony.
For the first four years the basement was used for
church services, this portion being dedicated April
9, 1871, by Rt. Rev. Bishop Shanahan. The edifice
was completed and dedicated May 17, 1875. The
church, which is 142 feet in length and 65 feet in
width, is built of brick, and ornamented with brown
stone ; the buttresses are capped with the same kind
of stone. The heighth of the walls above the
foundation is 38 feet, while the height of the cone
of the roof is about 80 feet. In the front of the
church is a tower of brick about 115 feet in height,
which makes the steeple the highest in the city.
The building stands back some distance from and
faces on Orange street, and is entered by three
massive doors of solid walnut, which lead into a
roomy and well-arranged vestibule. From the
vestibule are doors that lead into the church, and a
stairway that leads into the gallery. The audience
room is decidedly the handsomest in the city; it is
about 100 feet long, 63 feet wide and 50 feet high
from the floor to the top of the arched ceiling. The
wainscoting, pews and other woodwork are finished
in walnut and ash. The chancel, which is raised
four steps, is enclosed with a heavy walnut railing
and carpeted with fine brussels. The ceiling is
formed by a Gothic arch springing from the side
walls and flattened at the top. Between the windows
are heavy Gothic ribs resting in brackets and reach-
ing to the flattened part of the ceiling. From each
end of these massive ribs, which are beautifully
frescoed, depend large drops, two feet or more in
length, of handsome pattern and finished in gold.
The gas fixtures comprise ten pedestal lights, being
■of gold and bronze, and of new and handsome
design, placed in two rows, equi-distant from the
middle and side aisles. On either side of the altar
are scroll brackets with five burners each, and
suspended from the ceiling in front of the altar
hangs a large sanctuary lamp, which is kept con-
stantly burning. This is surmounted by a very
bieautiful glass globe, rose red in color. Immediately
behind the principal altar is a life-size and very
excellent picture of the crucifixion, painted by the
late Louis Reingruber, the well known artist of Lan-
caster. On either side are paintings of equal size,
representing the Nativity of Christ and the Adora-
tion of the Magi. On the east and west slopes of the
ceiling are portraits of all the apostles. The
fourteen large oil paintings representing the
stations are framed in walnut ; they are copies of
De Schwanden, the famous Munich artist. On
■either side of the sanctuary arch is an angel with
outspread wings and folded hands, and above the
arch is an angel holding a scroll bearing the words
Ecce tahernaculum Dei. The shading of the ground
work is stone color, so handsomely intermingled
with brighter shades and hues, however, as to be
difficult of description. Nearly every panel con-
tains the picture of a saint, and around these are
"twined a perfect wilderness of arches, columns,
ribs, scrolls, etc. Besides the main altar there are two
other altars in the main audience room. The main
altar stands within a large arched recess, at the
extreme end of the church, and it is painted pure
white, tipped with gold. It is eighteen feet in
height from the top of the "exposition" to the base.
The figure of an adoring angel stands on a pedestal
on either side of the altar, while upon the top of
the altar are placed six candlesticks, each nine feet
three inches in height. On both sides of the main
altar, and a little farther to the front, are two
smaller altars, also placed within handsomely
frescoed arches. One is St. Mary's and the other
St. Joseph's.- They are of handsome design, and
on them are placed respectively statues of the
Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph. The lofty windows
of the church are of beautiful design, and set with
stained glass of many brilliant colors. The upper
sash of each window contains two figures of saints.
All the windows and paintings have been presented
by members or friends of the parish. The three
small windows above the sanctuary contain pictures
of the blessed sacrament, and adoring angels are
represented on either side. The gallery is in the
south end of the audience room and extends
entirely across it. It is supported by handsome
columns and is reached by a stairway built in the
vestibule of the church. The stairway and the
gallery are wainscoted in solid walnut. The church
has a seating capacity of 1,200 people, and cost
over $60,000. The grand pipe organ is valued at
$5,000, and the gold embroidered vestments were
purchased at a cost of $2,000.
In the fall of 1871 a parochial school was opened
in the basement of the church, with two lay teachers,
and two years later the present teachers. Sisters of
the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Ind., took charge, and
also opened an academy and boarding school for
voung ladies, known as the Sacred Heart Academy.
In the spring of 1876 Father Kaul purchased a lot
opposite the church, on the southeast corner of Ann
and Orange streets, for $4,300, on which was
erected the academy, a three-story and basement
brick building, fitted out with all modern improve-
ments. Every facility is afforded in this high-class
and widely-known institution for the education of
young ladies, the curriculum embracing not only
the various branches of elementary studies, but
deportment, physical culture and everything that
goes to the making of perfect womanhood. Special
attention is given to music and art, and every atten-
tion is paid to the comfort and training of pupils —
the place being noted for its homelike and elevating
environments.
In the year 1872 a temporary parochial resi-
dence was built to the east of the church, and in
1873 five acres of land for cemetery purposes were
purchased in the extension of Orange street. In
1892 a like number of acres, adjoining the old
cemetery, were bought, and this is now known as St.
618
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Anthony's cemetery. In 1896, for the benefit of"
the young men of the parish, a commodious and
finely appointed brick building of three stories and
basement was erected, the first floor being used
as a school, the second for library purposes and the
third for a hall, while the basement is devoted to a
gymnasium.
The handsomest rectory in all Lancaster has
been erected on the lot west of the church and con-
nected with the church by a gallery. The various
societies of the church are in a flourishing condi-
tion, the most prominent of these being St.
Anthony's Beneficial Society and the Sodality of the
Blessed Virgin and of the Guardian Angel. The
congregation now numbers about three hundred
families.
In 1881 Father Kaul went to Europe, traveling
extensively in Ireland, Scotland, England, France,
Germany and Italy. While in Rome he had an
interview with Pope Leo XIII, from whom he
received the papal blessing, and upon his return to
his congregation conferred it upon them. In 1886
he made a second trip to Europe, passing most of
his time in Germany; and in 1900, his eyesight
having become seriously impaired, he again made a
voyage to Europe, this time to consult specialists.
Such is a brief and necessarily imperfect
glimpse of Father Kaul,. his ancestry, and the parish
which he founded, and which he has nourished into
its present grand proportions. To tell the complete
story of his noble life and work would in itself fill
a volume. He has been interested in the general
welfare of Lancaster also, and was one of the
active promoters of the Eastern Market — of such
great benefit to the eastern part of the city. The
appreciation of his work — as well as of Father Kaul
personally— rwas fully attested when, in 1900, he
made the trip to Europe to consult noted oculists ;
prayers were uttered by every lip for a safe return
and a full restoration of health and eyesight, and
this alone showed how deep a hold he had on the
hearts of the people, regardless of denomination.
JOHN ROLAND, formerly both a stationary
engineer and a farmer, with his residence in West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county. Pa., was
born in the Rhine province of Prussia, June 19,
1833, to Adolph and Gertrude (Steimel) Roland.
The Roland family came to America in 1852 and
for two months lived in Ne;y Jersey, whence with
only two dollars among them they came to Lancas-
ter county and located at Chestnut Hill, in West
Hempfield township, where they remained until
1862, when, with the exception of John, they moved
to Columbia, near which city the father was em-
ployed in farming. The father, Adolph Roland,
died in Columbia in May, 1864, when seventy years
old, and the mother, Gertrude (Steimel) Roland,
died in 1850, aged seventy-one years, and the re-
mains of both were interred in the Catholic ceme-
tery at Columbia, as they had been devout members
of that church during the entire period of their
earthly pilgrimage. Their marriage was blessed
with the following children : Margaret, deceased
wife of John Baker; Christina, wife of Harmon
Wegand, of Columbia ; John ; Theodore, a coal mer-
chant in Columbia; Helen, deceased wife of W. J.
Shaffer, a druggist of Philadelphia; Rev. Frank,
who was studying for the priesthood, but died at
Vincent College; and Feronigal, who died young in
New York.
John Roland began working for himself in 1853,
in the ore banks in West Hempfield township for
the New York Iron Ore Company and continued!
with this company until April, 1884, when he pur-
chased his present farm of thirty-seven acres.
On April 27, 1863, John Roland married Agnes
Sheit in Lancaster and to this union there were bom
twelve children, in the following order: Theodore,
a stationary engineer at Columbia; John, who died
young; Peter, a music dealer in Columbia; Eliza-
beth, in Lancaster ; Andrew, who died at the age of
twenty years ; Joseph, who died young ; Mary, in
Lancaster; Agnes and Barbara, at home; William,
in Columbia ; Clara, at home ; and Charles, who
died young.
Mrs. Agnes (Sheit) Roland, like her husband,
was born in the Rhine province of Prussia, her
birth occurring May 5, 1840, and her parents be-
ing Peter and Elizabeth (Caber) Sheit, who came
to America in 1850, and settled in Lancaster coun-
ty. Pa., where the father died in 1872, and the
mother in 1888, the latter at the age of seventy-
eight. To Peter and Elizabeth Sheit were born four
children, viz : Agnes, named above ; Catherine, de-
ceased; Anna, deceased, and Barbara, wife of John
Kirch, of Lancaster.
Mr. Roland has made a success of life and by
strict integrity and industrious habits has secured
a competency. Besides his farm he owns other
property in West Hempfield township, and pros-
perity attends his every effort. He and his family
are devoted members of the Catholic Church, to the
support of which they ever contribute most liber-
ally ; in politics Mr. Roland is a Republican, but has
never been willing to accept public office.
ALFRED H. WORREST, son of Henry W. and
Hannah (Sweigart) Worrest, was born 'July 28,
1855, m Salisbury township, Lancaster county, Pa.
Henry W. Worrest, a son of Peter and Margaret
(Fierree) Worrest, the former a farmer, was born at
Parkesburg, Chester Co., Pa., in 1822, and died in
1884. PTannah (Sweigart) Worrest, daughter of
Isaac- and Leah (Reidenbaugh) Sweigart, farming
people, was born near New Holland, Lancaster Co.,
Pa., m 1S25, and died in 1898. Alfred H. Worrest
comes of two of the old families of this section, both
his grandfathers haying operated teams between
Philadelphia and Pittsburg, Pa., before the days of
railroads. Some of the family have dropped the
"re" and spell the name Worst.
^^--^^^T^TP-tS^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
619
Henry W. Worrest, father of Alfred H., was well
and favorably known in the district in which he
lived. He was a member of the Episcopal Church,
his wife was a Lutheran; both are buried in St.
John's cemetery, Compassville,' Chester Co., Pa.
Their children were as follows : Alfred H., living
in Lancaster, Pa. ; Harry, deceased ; Charles S., a
farmer, living in Nebraska ; Miss Lizzie L. and Miss
Annie M., of Pequea, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania.
Until he was twenty-one years of age Mr. Wor-
rest remained with his father, assisting on the farm,
and receiving remuneration in board and clothes.
Any time that he could get off from the farm work
was spent in selling agricultural implements to the
farmers of the neighborhood. The following year
he was employed by his uncle, John P. Sweigart, at
the "Mansion House" at Gap, Lancaster Co., Pa.
The succeeding two years he spent in raising to-
bacco and selling agricultural implements, having as-
sociated himself the second year with his cousin, T.
K. Sweigart, under the firm name of Worrest &
Sweigart, Pequea, Pa. They then sold a full line of
these implements. This firm was dissolved in 1882,
by mutual consent, Mr. Worrest having accepted a
position with the Genesee Valley Manufacturing
Company, of Mt. Morris, N. Y., to represent them as
general agent for eastern Pennsylvania and adjoin-
ing States. This position he held for eight years,
during which time he invented what is known as the
Royal Fertilizer Feeder for grain drills, and which
is used by this company on their drills, they having
a license under the patents to manufacture it. After
severing his connection with the above mentioned
company Mr. Worrest settled on a farm in Glenloch,
Chester Co., Pa. During that year he sold the farm
to Henry Geisse, and the following spring returned
to Lancaster, accepting a position with the Deering
Harvester Company, of Chicago, 111., and remain-
ing with them one season, representing them in Lan-
caster, Chester and Delaware counties. Pa. In this
year (1891) he invented the safety buggy, which he
had manufactured for him by D. A. Altick's Son, of
Lancaster, imder the name of the Safety Buggy
Works, and which he sold for three years. During
this period he had been several times approached on
the subject of forming a stock company to manufac-
ture the Safety Buggy on a larger scale, which
proposition he accepted in 1894, and the Safety Bug-
gy Company, of Lancaster, Pa., was organized. The
concern has one of the largest, if not the largest, car-
riage works in Lancaster county • for five years Mr.
Worrest was manager of and a director in the com-
pany, when the business was sold to B. G. Dodge,
who has continued in its management.
After this Mr. Worrest invented the Standard
Shaft and Pole Coupler, and the Standard Body
Loop, both of which are for use in the construction
of carriages. The Coupler he manufactured and
sold under the name of the Standard Coupler Works,
Lancaster, Pa. l"he Body Loop is made by the
Keystone Forging Company, of Northumberland,
Pa., who manufacture it under the patents and a
license from Mr. Worrest. In 1900 the Coupler
business having grown beyond the expectation of
the inventor, it was bought by the Metal Stamping^
Company, of New York City, for a cash considera-
tion and a royalty on the future sales during the
term of the patents. Both of these inventions are
well known to the carriage trade and have very large
sales. At this writing Mr. Worrest is busily en-
gaged in introducing his latest, and what he consid-
ers his best, invention, "The Standard Ball Axle,"
for carriages and all other vehicles.
At the parsonage of St. John's Episcopal Church,,
of Compassville, Pa., by Rev. Mr. Tullidge, Alfred
H. Worrest was united in marriage with Katherine
F. Wanner, who was born July 17, 1859, in Salisbury
township, Lancaster county, Pa., daughter of Martin
and Martha (Mast) Wanner, farming people of
Salisbury township. Children as follows have been
born to this union : Minnie E., Grace E. (deceased) ,
Elsie M., Edgar' W., Harry (who died in infancy),
Warren W. and Howard A.
Mr. Worrest was reared in the faith of the Epis-
copal Church, of which his daughters are communi-
cants, and of which he is a supporter. His political
affiliations are with the Republican party, while
fraternally he is associated with the Knights of
Malta; I. O. O. F.; Jr. O. U. A. M. ; and K. of
P. His genius has made him known to the manu-
facturing world over a large territory. At his
home he is still the quiet, studious man, whom his
friends have known for years as the good neighbor
and first-class citizen, ever anxious for the welfare
of family, city and State.
DAVID GRAEFF, an eminently respected cit-
izen of Columbia, is a retired machinist. Born Feb.
18, 1 82 1, he has reached the venerable age of four
score and two years, and is passing the evening of
his well-spent life in ease and contentment. His
father, who died in 1825, at the early age of twenty-
six, was likewise named David, and was. a descend-
ant of a family of Swiss emigrants, who formed a
portion of a colony of thirteen families that settled
in Pequea Valley as early as 1702. His mother,
whose maiden name was Catherine Pratt, was a
daughter of James and Stabina (Stauffer) Pratt;
she passed away in 1878, in her eighty-third year.
James Pratt was an Englishman by birth, while his
wife was a native of Lancaster.
After the death of his father young David, who
was an only child, was apprenticed when a boy of
fifteen years by his guardian, Daniel Zahn, to Mi-
chael Ehrman, a brass founder of Lancaster. Mr.
Graeff yet has the articles of indenture, which he
prizes highly. His 'term of apprenticeship covers
a period of five years, two months and twenty-six
days, and in consideration of his services he re-
ceived the sum of ten pounds, and was given the
privilege of attending school for sixteen months.
After the expiration of his term, the young man's
620
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
love of adventure led him to enlist in the United
States navy, and he shipped from Philadelphia as a
landsman, being later transferred to the "North Car-
olina," then lying in the port of New York. After
fourteen months he met with an accident which so
disabled him that he was compelled to leave the
service on Jan. 29, 1843. Returning to Lancaster,
he began working at his trade, which he followed
as a journeyman for about five years, and then spent
another year in charge of the city water works. On
April I, 1850, he removed to Columbia, and estab-
lished a brass foundry which he conducted for four
years, when he disposed of it and began working
as a machinist. In 1864 he entered the machine
shop of the Pennsylvania railroad, but left this posi-
tion after five years to become an engineer in a fur-
nace. Three years later he accepted a position in
the machine shop of Supplee & Bro., but within a
few years returned to the employ of the railroad
■company. He continued in that service until Jan.
I, 1900, when his long years of faithful service were
rewarded by retirement upon a pension. He is a
communicant in the Episcopal Church, and inde-
pendent in politics.
At Lancaster, Pa., David Graeff married Chris-
tiana Lorentz, who bore him three children : Mary
C, John H. and Emma E. The oldest daughter, now
■deceased, married the late Cyrus G. Hinkle, an engi-
neer on the Pennsylvania railroad, who lost his life
in an accident. John H., the only son, is also a rail-
road engineer, and a brief sketch of his life may be
iound below. Emma E., the youngest daughter, is
unmarried, and lives with her parents.
Mrs. Graeff was born in Lancaster, Pa., Jan. i,
1829, a daughter of John and Magdeline (Metzgar)
Lorentz, and a granddaughter of John Lorentz, Sr.
John Lorentz, her father, died in Lancaster in 1834,
at the age of fifty, and the mother survived him until
1855, when, at Columbia, she, too, entered into rest,
liaving lived to pass the seventy-fifth anniversary of
her birth. They were members of the Reformed
and Lutheran Churches, respectively. Twenty-one
■children were born of their union, but owing to im-
perfections in the family records, the names of only
a few of them can be given: Sarah, Jacob, John
(all deceased), Harry, William, Mary, Leah, Eva
and Christiana. Mrs. GraeflF's maternal grandfa-
ther, Jacob Metzgar, accompanied his parents from
Germany to America when a boy of ten years.
John H. GraefJ, the only son of David and
Christiana (Lorentz) Graeff, was born in Colum-
Ibia, Jan. 25, 1852. He attended school until eigh-
teen years old, and then began work in the shops
of the railroad company. After two years thus
spent he took a position as locomotive fireman, and
in less than four years was promoted to fill the
hazardous and responsible position of engineer. He
yet remains in the company's employ, honored and
trusted by his superiors, beloved by his fellowmen,
popular in the community in which he was reared,
and universally esteemed because of his manly traits
of character. He is a member of the Masonic Or-
der and is a Knight Templar, as well as a member of
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. His po-
litical sympathies are with the Republican party,
and his religious faith is that of the Episcopal
Church.
On Jan. 23, 1879, John H. Graeff was married
at Columbia, to Miss Louisa Kistler, who was born
in Lancaster, Sept. 9, 1858. Her father, John J.
Kistler, was a native of Switzerland, and her moth-
er, nee Sophia Mythaler, was born in Baden. They
came with their respective 'brothers and sisters to
Lancaster in 1847-48, and there they were mar-
ried, their parents remaining in the old world. Mr.
Kistler was born in 1823, was by trade a carpenter
and died Sept. 15, 1885. Mrs. Kistler was born
May 15, 1827, and is yet living, making her home
with her soh-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs.
Graeff. Mrs. Graeff is one of six children born to
her parents, the others, in order of birth, being Em-
ma, who married Charles Evans, an iron worker;
Mary, the wife of Edward Edwards, a retired busi-
ness man of New York; William, a stationary en-
gineer of Steelton, Pa. ; Albert, a carpenter and
builder residing in Brooklyn, N. Y. ; and John, a
telegraph operator in New York City. The mar-
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Graelif has been blessed with
five children, namely: Stella, George D., William
L., John H. and Margaret C.
PIERCE LESHER was born in the village of
Reamstown, Lancaster county, May 9, 1853, and
spent his early life upon the farm. He received his
education in the public schools of his native town
and in the State Normal School at Millersville.- For
four yealrs he engaged in teaching school, and then
began the manufacture of cigars. He left that bus-
iness-to enter the United States Internal Revenue
service on July 4, 1885, becoming a deputy collector
under Hon. John T. MacGonigle, collector of the
9th District, at Lancaster, taking charge of the dis-
tilled spirits accounts, and held that position under
Collectors MacGonigle and Hensel until March 11,
1889, when he resigned to become assistant cashier
of the Conestoga National Bank at Lancaster. His
connection with that institution lasted until Aug. i,
1889, at which time he re-entered the Revenue service
as cashier under Collector Hensel, filling the office
until the end of Mr. Hensel's term. He continued
in the Revenue service, as deputy under Collector
Sam Matt. Fridy, Esq., the successor of Mr. Hen-
sel, and as chief deputy under Collectors Shearer
and Hershey. On Jan. i, 1900, he resigned from the
Revenue service to take the position of treasurer of
The Lancaster Trust Co. During the last three
years of Mr. Lesher's connection with the Revenue
service he was chairman of the examining committee
on the Revenue and Post Office civil service boards,
which position he filled with much ability. On April
T. 1903, he resigned as Treasurer of The Lancaster
Trust Co. to accept the position of General Superin-
(jiUuyjCiSjsiuJUiA/
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
621
tendent and Treasurer of the knitting mills of the
Lesher-Raig Knitting Co., Limited, located at
Reamstown, Pa., in which industry he is largly in-
terested.
While in the Revenue service Mr. Lesher was
called upon to pass through -the most trying ordeal
of his life, having been in confidential relations with
the United States secret service men from June,
1898, until April, 1899, no other people in Lancaster
dreaming of what was going on in their midst in the
way of counterfeiting money and revenue stamps,
in what is known as the Jacobs-Kendig counterfeit-
ing cases. The secret service men made Mr. Lesh-
er's home on West Chestnut street a place of meet-
ing, usually calling there at dead of night. Ladders
and tools of all sorts were stored there, and Mr.
Lesher never knew when he retired for the night, but
that he might be called to join some midnight or early
morning raid. These expeditions put him to his
wits' end to smooth over matters to inquiring neigh-
bors, so as to conceal the real object of these night-
ly errands. His high character and unimpeachable
standing, however, carried the matter over success-
fully. When it became neccessary to aquaint his
superior officer with what was going on, he wired
the authorities at Wahsington, and the whole mat-
ter was carried through to a successful conclusion.
All parties connected with this scheme were arrested,
their goods, counterfeit plates, printing presses and
a large quantity of counterfeit cigar stamps being
seized and forfeited to the Government. In connec-
tion with this case, twelve persons were arrested,
convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment,
it having been the most gigantic scheme ever at-
tempted at counterfeiting in the United States. In
the part taken by Mr. Lesher, in assisting to bring
the guilty parties to justice, he displayed great cool-
ness, shrewdness and courage, for which he received
the highest praise froin those under wljom he served
and the public at large.
On Nov. 25, 1885, Mr. Lesher was married to
Kate P. McGinnis, daughter of the late Thomas J.
and Sarah (Powell) McGinnis, the latter of whom
died when the daughter was but three years old,
from which time she made her home with her uncle,
the late Mitchell J. Weaver, whose home she and
her husband, with their two children, Mary Helen
and Clara Elizabeth, now occupy. Mr. Lesher is a
vestryman of St. John's Episcopal Church, and fra-
ternally is prominent in Masonic circles. He was
one of the organizers of the Home Building & Loan
Association and served on its board of directors.
He was also one of the chief promoters in the organ-
ization of the Ephrata & Adamstown Railway Com-
pany and the building of their road, and he is a mem-
ber of their board of directors. Mr. Lesher always
took a great interest in matters pertaining to his na-
tive town and was the first to agitate the building of
this line through the same, and it was owing to his
.efiforts, mainly, that this was accomplished. He is
also a director of the Adamstown & Mohnsville Rail-
way Co. Apart from this, Mr. Lesher has made a
good record as a citizen and business man, by the
intelligence, fidelity and ability he has brought to
bear alike on his private and public labors, and he
is much respected at home and abroad for his manly
qualities and his genial and companionable spirit.
Nicholas and Dorothy Lesher, remote ancestors
of Pierce Lesher, came to America from the Pala-
tinate prior to 1730, and made their home in Lan-
caster county. Here they had three sons, Nicholas,
Abraham and John. John married Elizabeth Bink-
ley, and had one son, whom he also named John,
and who married Catherine Miller. To John and
Catherine (Miller) Lesher were born three sons,
Henry, John and William, of whom John was the
father of Pierce Lesher.
John Lesher married Rebecca Matz, of Spring
township, Berks Co., Pa:, daughter of George and
Elizabeth Matz, and a granddaughter of Lawrence
Matz, who was of German descent. By this union
their were two children, Pierce Lesher and Mrs.
Clara L. Evans, the latter a widow, and living at
Reading, Pa. Mr. Lesher's great-grandfather, John
Lesher, bought a farm at Reamstown, Lancaster
county, which has been in the possession of the Lesh-
er family ever since, and is now owned by Pierce
Lesher, whose name opens this sketch.
WILLIAM CONNARD HOAR. This gentle-
man has been fortunate enough to acquire a knowl-
edge of the mysteries of two callings, one being that
of a blacksmith and the other that of a farmer, but
the latter seems best to please him, as he has re-
linquished the former, and is still engaged in his
pursuit of the latter in Salisbury township, Lan-
caster county.
William C. Hoar was born in Buyerstown, Salis-
bury township, Lancaster county, March 12, 1835, a
son' of James and Mary (Evetts) Hoar, natives of
Salisbury township, who were married Aug. 5, 1819.
James Hoar, the father, was born May 28, 1796,
was a blacksmith all his days, and died in Buyers-
town, Jan. I, 1863. His wife, who was born July
9, 1797, had been called away Aug. 31, 1840. Their
remains rest in the old Friends churchyard in Sads-
bury, among those of their ancestors of generations
gone bv for years. Ten children graced the union
of this highly respected couple, and in order of birth
were as follows : Ann E., who was married to
Michael Beam but is now deceased, her surviving
husband being a retired farmer of Eden township ;
John B., also deceased; Robert, a retired farmer
living in Leacock township ; Rachel, widow of John
Whiteside, a former veterinary surgeon in Parkes-
burg, Chester county, where she still has her resi-
dence; Sarah, deceased wife of William Hasson;
Mary C, living in Paradise township, the widow of
William Shaffer; James, deceased; Margaret, who
died when 3'oung; William C, whose name heads
this biographical notice; and Lettitia L., deceased.
The paternal grandparents of William C. Hoar were
622
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
James and Anna (Chamberlain) Hoar, of Chester
county, early settled in Salisbury township, Lancas-
ter county, and were of the most wealthy and re-
spected Quaker families of this part of the State.
Great grandfather Chamberlain was a man of means,
and primarily a farmer in Sadsbury township, Lan-
caster county, but he was also a sea captain and
was eventually lost while making one of his voyages.
In Leacock township, in 1873, William C. Hoar
was united in marriage with Miss Christiana E.
Slack, who was born in Leacock township Oct. 27,
1S47, 3- daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Brower)
Slack. To this union have been born three chil-
dren, viz: Mary E., who died when but fifteen
years old; and J. Willard and Anna J., both still
imder the parental roof.
William C. Hoar began his business life at the
age of sixteen years in his father's blacksmith shop,
or in about 185 1. In 1855 the father retired, and
William C. continued on with the business until
1882, when he sold out and purchased his present
farm, in connection with which he conducted a
blacksmith shop for two years, and then abandoned
blacksmitEing altogether. As a farmer Mr. Hoar
has met with abundant success, and is classed among
the best in the county. In fact, he follows the lines
which inevitably lead to a victory over all opposi-
tion, and to the triumphant subjection of all ob-
stacles that impede the way, those lines being sound
judgment, unceasing industry and conscientious per-
formance of the duties pertaining to his calling.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoar are devout members of the
Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mr. Hoar
has been a trustee for many years, and to the support
of which they are constant and liberal contributors.
In politics Mr. Hoar is a Republican, but has never
manifested any desire to hold public office.
JOSHUA BRINTON, deceased, son of Moses
and Hannah (Chamberlain) Brinton, of Leacock
and Sadsbury townships, respectively, was born
Feb. 28, 181 1, and died Aug. 4, 1892, and was bur-
ied in the Society of Friends cemetery in Salisbury
township. Moses Brinton was born in 1761, and
died Nov. 23, 1846; his wife, who had remarried,
survived until June 17, i860. They were both con-
sistent members of the Society of Friends and were
buried in the Sadsbury cemetery.
In November, 1848, Joshua Brinton married in
Philadelphia. Miss Mary E. Passmore, of whom
further mention will be shortly made. To this union
were born five children, viz: Phoebe, who is
married to M. P. Cooper, a coal merchant in Chris-
tiana, Pa., and has one child ; Clara E., who is the
wife of Robert U. Knox, a cattle dealer at Gap, Pa.,
and has borne one child, which is now deceased;
Mary and Joshua H., both of whom died young;
and J. Howard, still with his mother.
Mrs. Mary E. (Passmore) Brinton was a daugh-
ter of Enoch and Phoebe (Hollis) Passmore, who
were married in Salisbury township in October,
1822. Enoch Passmore was a substantial business
man and brewer and was conspicuous as a town-
ship official. He was born March 16, 1785, and died
June 6, 1858; his wife died at the age of thirty-
nine. They were members of the Society of Friends
and their remains were interred in the Sadsbury
meeting-house cemetery. To Enoch and Phoebe
Passmore were born eight children, viz : John, who
died in infancy; Sarah, who was born Sept. 19,
1824, who married Benjamin Hershey, and died;
Mary E., born Feb. 3, 1827 ; Seneca, born Nov. 12,
1828, and who died young; Emeline, born July 21,
1830, who died unmarried at the age of fifty; Enoch,
born Oct. 19, T831, now retired from the activities
of business as ticket agent and lives at Kinzers, Lan-
caster county; George W., born Feb. 11, 1833, and
died in infancy; Horace, born Sept. 15, 1834, and
died in the- army. The paternal grandparents of
Mrs. Mary E. Brinton were John and Diana (Davis)
Passmore, and were farming people of some con-
siderable prominence in Chester county.
The late Joshua Brinton was an excellent farmer
but not an excellent manager for the reason that
his too generous nature induced him too often to
expend his means in aiding his friends when he
should have applied them to use nearer at home.
Lacking only a wise economy, he was a consistent
member of the Society of Friends and an unusually
warm tipholder of its principles and methods. In
politics he was a Republican.
T. CLINTON ARNOLD, who stands among the
prominent members of the Lancaster County Bar,
is descended from one of the oldest and best Quaker
families in Pennsylvania. Henry Brosius, his ma-
ternal great-grandfather, is the same as that of the
late Hon. Marriott Brosius, whose family history
is very fully given elsewhere.
His maternal grandfather was Abner Brosius,
who married 'Letitia Wilkinson about 1828. They
were both natives of southern Chester county. Pa.,
but soon after their mai-riage they purchased a farm
near Bethesda, Martic township, Lancaster coun-
ty, where they resided until about the year 1864,
when they removed to Lincoln University, Chestei
county, where Mr. Brosius died in 1876. Mrs.
Brosius died in 1897, aged eighty-seven years, at
the home of our subject's parents. They were both
actively interested in the anti-slavery cause, and on
on one occasion they concealed Fred Douglas, who
had been a slave and was afterward widely known
as a benefactor of his race, in their home, that he
might escape the violence of a mob who tried to
break up an anti-slavery meeting held in the neigh-
borhood, by throwing rotten eggs, hooting and jeer-
mg the speakers, and threatening to ride them on
rails. They were ever ready to reach out a helping
hand to the needy and oppressed.
William Arnold, his paternal grandfather, con-
ducted a store, and at the same time engaged in the
quarrying of slate, at Peach Bottom, Lancaster coun-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
623
ty, in the early days of the development of that
industry in that section. He died in 1852.
William John Arnold, the father of I. Clinton,
now resides on a farm near Peach Bottom, York
county, Pa., where he has resided many years and
has served several terms as justice of the peace, and
was a member of the school board for twelve years,
having been one of the promoters of the township
high school of that section — a pioneer school of the
higher grade. He married Amanda P. Brosius, in
1858. Five children were born to them, all of whom
are living, as follows: I. Clinton, member of the
Lancaster Bar; E. Willard, in the Northern Pacific
Railway service, at Portland, Ore. ; Alice W., wife
of Henry W. Evans, a farmer at Peach Bottom,
Pa. ; Clarence Er, a member of the Bar in San Fran-
cisco, Cal. ; and Mabel B., unmarried and engaged in
teaching school. Four of these, I. Clinton, Alice,
Clarence and Mabel, are graduates of the State
Normal School, at Millersville, Pa. ; the mother
was a student there at the first session of the school,
when it was founded by the late Hon. J. P. Wicker-
sham, and she was a member of the first teachers'
institute held in Lancaster county.
I. Clinton Arnold was born Sept. 7, 1859, ™ Mar-
tic township, Lancaster county, but spent his boy-
hood days on his father's farm, near Peach Bottom,
York county. There the life he led resembled that
of other boys on farms in that day, before railroads
were common, and while the telegraph and tele-
phone were as yet unheard of ; but it was unlike that
of many farmer boys, in that at home he was encour-
aged to work not only at farm work, but in the great
field of learning. His mother was never too tired
or too busy to give help when he wanted it whether
the matter was a hard spelling lesson or something
else. So he learned the great lesson of work and
application, which finally enabled him to do well
in the field of labor which he chose. He got all he
could from the district school, and then did the same
at the Delta High school, traveling over three miles
€ach morning to reach the school. Before he was
quite seventeen years old, he began to teach, his cer-
tificate being granted by B. F. Shaub, then superin-
tendent of Lancaster county. He began his work at
Post Tree school, in the village of Fairfield, Dru-
more township, where he taught two years, and the
following three years taught Harmony school, in
the adjoining district, and a summer term at Home-
ville, Chester county, Pa. In the meantime he had
attended the Millersville State Normal School, and
in 1882 graduated from that institution. After
graduating he taught the Willow Grove school, in
West Lampeter township, Lancaster Co., and the
following year resigned that school to become prin-
cipal of the Friends Select School, at Oxford, Ches-
ter county. When about eight years of age, he de-
cided that he would be a lawyer, when he was a man,
and (Steadily kept that aim in view. Shortly after
his graduation, he passed the preliminary examin-
ation, and was registered as a law student of the
Hon. Marriott Brosius, and in 1885, was admitted
to practice in the several courts of Lancaster coun-
ty, and later to the Supreme and Superior courts of
Pennsylvania. He remembers with pleasure and
gratitude his student days, and the early years of
his practice, the interest and friendship extended
to him by H. B. Swarr, a prominent member of the
Bar and one time legal adviser, and afterward one
of the executors of President Buchanan. Later Mr.
Arnold and Mr. Swarr were .closely associated in
the practice of law, and continued so up to the death
of the latter. In 1885 he was appointed notary pub-
lic by Governor Pattison, notwithstanding he was a
Republican, and he has held a commission as Notary
ever since, with the exception of a few months, when
he resigned, to act as special agent to investigate
the mortgage indebtedness of Lancaster county in
the census of 1890. He has always been regarded as
a reliable counsellor and would always rather keep
his clients out of litigation than to get them into
it when it can be done without sacrificing their in-
terests.
On Jan. 26, 1897, Mr. Arnold was married by
Friends ceremony to Lucy Harris, daughter of
Quinton P, and Mary B. Harris, of Salem, N. J.,
where Mr. Harris was engaged in farming, but is
now living retired. One child, Harris Clinton, was
born of this union in 1900, Mr. Arnold resides at
No. 434 North Lime street, Lancaster, Pa. Relig-
iously he inclines to the Friends or Quakers, from
which he descended. Politically he is a Republican,
and has taken an active part in all Republican cam-
paigns ever since he became a law student. He be-
longs to the ^'^oung Men's Republican Club. That
he should take a keen interest in that political party
is not to be wondered at, when the fact is recalled
that his ancestors were among the earliest and
stanchest Abolitionists of the country, and among
the founders of the Republican party.
GEORGE BENKERT, whose School of Music
is located at No. 147 East King street, has done
much to improve and cultivate the taste for classical
music in Lancaster, and is an artist of rare gifts
in the study and teaching of his art.
' William Benkert, the father of George, was bom
in Carlshafen, Germany. He completed his musical
training in a noted school in Homberg under Dr.
W. Volckmar, and then became a teacher in the
school and an organist in various places in Germany
for a period of fifty years. Matilda Moeller, his
wife, was a native of Kirchberg, Germany, and a
daughter of Jacob Moeller, an organist and pianist
of more than ordinary merit for a period of
fifty-two years, and an intimate associate of Louis
Spohr, the celebrated composer. Thus it is
seen that not only has Mr. Benkert, of Lancaster,
made himself by hard work what he is, but that
there is in his blood a sensibility to the attraction
of musical art that would demand expression.
George Benkert was born in Hessen-Cassel, Ger-
624
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
many, April 14, 1864, and accomplished his educa-
tion in the Fatherland, studying music under the in-
structions of his father and grandfather, at the Hom-
berg Seminary, then becoming a pupil of Prof. Dr.
W. Volckmar and G. Zanger, the latter famous as
an instructor on the violin and in choral training.
The effect of Mr. Zanger's instruction is seen in
the great amount of choral and oratorio work which
Mr. Benkert has successfully and brilliantly accom-
plished in Lancaster. .
Mr. Benkert entered the Seminary at the age
of seventeen years, and was graduated with the hon-
ors of his class conferred by Prof. Dr. Volckmar, in
organ and piano music. Leaving his native land in
1883, he landed at New York, and stopping for a
short period with Julius Stern, of Brooklyn, an old
schoolmate of his father, he afterward made his
way to Lancaster, this city remaining his home to
the present time. From 1883 to 1896 he was the
organist and choir-master of Zion's Lutheran
Church ; for seven years he has been choir
master and organist of the First Presbyterian
Church, and the musical service in that church has
become noted. He brought Sieveking, the great
pianist, to Lancaster, and with his associates barely
escaped a financial loss, but he was satisfied in the
impulse the music of this great master of the piano
gave to the higher musical culture of the city. Adele
Aus Der Ohe was brought by him from New York
on another occasion, and the interpretation of the
piano rendered by this celebrated figure in modern
music was a rich treat to all who love music. Mr.
Benkert's musical pupils have presented numerous
recitals to their friends in Lancaster, and their bril-
liant and finished work attests the thoroughness
of his instruction.
Mr. Benkert was married in 1890 to Clara A.,
daughter of August J. Riske, a merchant tailor in
Lancaster. This imion has resulted in the birth of
three children, two of whom, Catherine Olga and
Anna Marguerite, are living, and one, William Au-
gustus, is now dead, having passed away at the age
of seven years.
Mr. Benkert has assisted in many charitable
concerts, and organized the Mendelssohn Society,
which has given the oratorios of St. Paul and Chris-
tus, both by Mendelssohn, and many choruses from
the best masters. Great indeed have been the results
of the constant efforts of Mr. Benkert to cultivate
a love for music in this community, and no man
among us holds a deeper place in the affections
of the people, than does this quiet and unassuming,
but accomplished gentleman, an artistic pianist and
organist of rare merit and genuine worth.
CHARLES H. SMITH, successor to G. Harry
Reed, at the Old Lakeland Stables, No. 153 North
Queen street, Lancaster, is conducting the largest
livery business in the city, and has been in charge
of same since March 20, 1902. No better equipped
establishment supplies the needs of a cosmopolitan
community anywhere in the cotintry. All manner
of turnouts of modern construction are kept on
hand, and a specialty is made of funeral and wed-
ding rigs, equipages for pleasure parties and general
driving, as well as busses and commercial wagons.
About forty well groomed horses are kept in con-
stant readiness, several of which present a dashing
and spirited appearance before the tally-ho.
A native of Kinzers Station, Lancaster Co., Pa.,
Mr. Smith was born Feb. 11, 1872, son of John. S.
and Mary E. (Slaymaker) Smith, of Williamstown,
this county. John S. Smith was a hotel man in
early life, and conducted the "Kinzers Hotel" for
eleven years, previous to which he had been con-
nected with the "Williamstown Hotel" for six
years. He was one of the first to raise tobacco in
Lancaster county, and was the very first to bring
seed tobacco here. People would come for miles
around to see the plant grow, and so successful was
Mr. Smith that he became the largest tobacco
packer in the county, and made a fair fortune in
that line. He also manufactured cigars, and dealt
extensively in coal, lumber and grain. He was a
man of force and determination, and possessed
personal characteristics which kept him in the front
of public affairs as long as he lived. Before enter-
ing the hotel business he had been a teacher, and
he invariably kept abreast of the times, and was
unusually well informed. Politics entered largely
into his active life, and he held many important
positions at the request of his Republican allies,
being active in promoting the interests of his party.
He was justice of the peace for many years in
Williamstown, and while at Kinzers was post-
master and ticket, freight and express agent. He
was a member of the Presbyterian church, and con-
tributed generously toward its maintenance. Mr.
Smith died in 1885, at the age of fifty-five years,
while yet at the height of his energetic and useful
career. His wife died in 1879, at the age of forty-
seven. They were the parents of the following
children: Clara S., of Harrisburg, Pa., married
Ezra W. Frantz, a railroad engineer; Sarah E. is
•the widow of John M. Eckert, of Cincinnati, Ohio;
Mary S. is the wife of H. S. Armstrong, a railroad
engineer of Philadelphia ; Emma L. is the wife of
Clem A. Hoar, clerk of Trego county, Kans. )
Addie V. is the wife of Nimrod Smith, railroad
postal clerk at Harrisburg, Pa.; Lizzie H. is the
wife of A. Newton Hoar, station master at Hunt-
ington, Oregon; Charles H. is mentioned below.
The paternal grandparents, John and Mary Smith,
were natives of Lancaster county, where he engaged
in the manufacture of harness and collars, and
retired in later life.
For the first six years of his life Charles H.
Smith lived with his parents in the hotel at Kinzers,
where he was born. Then his father retired from
the hotel business and moved his family to Lancaster
for one year, during which time he erected a new
home at Kinzers, whither he again removed his fam-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
626
ily, and where Charles lived until 1885, when his fa-
ther died. He was then thirteen years of age, and
went to live with his sister, Mrs. Eckert, at Chris-
tiana, Pa., where he attended the high school for two
years. Later he worked in a livery stable at' Gap,
Pa., for two years.. In 1889, at the age of seven-
teen he returned to Lancaster, and held the position
of mail messenger for two years , his employer
being John F. Brimmer, at Brimmer's Livery.
During this time he took a night course in Weidler's
Business College, after which Mr. Brimmer took
him into his office, where he held the position of
clerk and bookkeeper for all three branches of Mr.
Brimmer's extensive business — livery, leaf tobacco
business and manufacture of cigars. In 1898, when
Mr. Brimmer sold out his livery business to G.
Harry Reed, Mr. Smith became associated with the
latter in the capacity of manager and as partner of
the new owner, and on March 20, 1902, himself
purchased the entire business from Mr. Reed. Mr.
Smith is a Republican in politics, and is fraternally
connected with the Elks, Artisans and Royal
Arcanum. He was married Aug. 28, 1891, to Miss
Eva B. IMarrow, daughter of John W. Marrow, and
of this union there is one son, Wilbur Grant.
LINDEN HALL SEMINARY. Probably the
best, and at the same time the briefest, descriptive
account of Linden Hall Seminary is that to be found
in the opening paragraph of the annual circular.
It is as follows :
"This institution for the education of young la-
dies, founded in the year 1794, came into existence
at the request of parents living in Pennsylvania and,
Maryland, who desired to have their daughters in-
structed in the elements of a polite education — ^the
opportunities for which were in that day very lim-
ited— whilst their physical and religious well-being
should at the same time be specially consid-
ered and fostered. The recognition of the orig-
inal demand upon it, and of the trust that was
placed in it, has remained the aim and motive of the
school. It exists only for the sake of its scholars.
In their welfare it finds its mission."
As a school, however, the Seminary has had a
continuous existence for more than a century and a
half. From the very beginning of the Moravian
Church in 1457, its history has been a history of ed-
ucation, and wherever Moravian emigrants found
a home in this country the church and the school
house grew up side by side. This was what took
place when a settlement was effected in Warwick
township, Lancaster county. In 1748 a congrega-
tion of the Moravian Church was organized, and the
next year, 1749, a log house was built a little north
of the creek, on "Lititz Springs." This house was
used as a chapel, parsonage and school house. In
1754. George Klein, the owner of a large tract of
land, all of which he gave to the Moravian Church,
built a two-story stone house, on the south side of
the creek, on the site now occupied by the property
40
of Peter S. Reist, Esq., on Main street, to whicb
the chapel, parsonage and school were removed.
The settlement was called Lititz by Count Zinzen-
dorf ill memory of the barony of Lititz in Bohemia,,
where the followers of John Huss found a refuge on
the estate of King George of Podiebrad, and organ-
ized themselves in 1457 into the Church of the Mo-
ravian and Bohemian Brethren.
The corner-stone of the ■ Sister's House, now
"The Castle" part of Linden Hall, was laid June
7, 1758. After its completion and dedication, May
18, 1762, the parochial school for girls was con-
ducted in that building. In 1769 that part of the
present "Hall" occupied by the Principal's study
and the school dining room was built, .and was
known as the "Kinder Haus" (children's house).
This was enlarged in 1804, '^nd the boarding school
was moved into it after the' building had been dedi-
cated on Aug. 26th, of that year. Previous to 1794,
however, the school had existed simply as a paro-
chial or day school, but in that year Mrs. Marvel, of
Baltimore, who was visiting Lititz, insisted that the
Sisters should take charge of her little daughter
Margaret, then nine years of age, in order that she
might attend the regular parochial school. Little
"Peggy" Marvel, as she was called, then became the
first boarding scholar on Sept. 7, 1794, and the
founding of the "Lititz Boarding School," as it was
first called, dates from that time. As a school for
girls there is probably none older in this country,
and as a distinctively Boarding School for the high-
er education of girls and young women it is recog-
nized as the second oldest, having an uninterrupted
history of 109 years (1903).
During this interval upwards of 4,000 young wo-
men have gone forth from its walls prepared for the
serious duties of life. Drawing as it did, it's first pu-
pil from Baltimore, the names of many of the early
and well known families of Maryland and Virsfini-'
are to be found on its rolls, and prominent names of
families high in the councils of the nation, partic-
ularly before the war of the Rebellion, are well rep-
resented. The names, too, and nearly all the moth-
ers, of the old and well established families of Lan-
caster city and county, are to be found somewhere
among the early records of the institution. Unfor-
tunately many of these records have been either lost
or destroyed, and though referred to in private or
church diaries have not been found. A partial list
of pupils between 1794 and 1804 reveals such well
known Lancaster names as Steinman, Henry, Gun-
daker, Clark, Watson, Carpenter, Fahnestock, Ell-
maker, Forney, Lightner and Wilson.
Time and modern ideas have wrought many
changes in this venerable institution. The changes
from wood fires and tallow dips, to steam heat; elec-
tric light, and other modern conveniences, have been
very great. But high ideals of womanly culture and
conduct have ever animated the spirit of the school
life, and if the reminiscences left upon record' by
the pupils of a century ago are trustworthy, life at '
626
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Linden Hall has always been peculiarly happy and
productive of excellent results.
A list of the former principals is appended to
this article, beginning with John Herbst, in 1794,
to the present incumbent Charles D. Kreider, who
entered upon his service of the school as assistant
principal in 1897, and as principal in 1898. The two
men who served the school for the longest time, and
who, therefore, probably impressed their personal-
ity to a greater extent upon its work, were Eugene
A. Frueauif and Herman A. Brickenstein ; the for-
mer was principal from 1838 to 1855, and again
from 1868 to 1873. To him the school owes not
only its name "Linden Hall," but the loyal devotion
of many alumnae. It was he who planted the first
linden trees, and gave the best energies of his life
to the work o'f the institution which he loved. Fol-
lowing immediately in his footstep was the second,
Herman A. Brickenstein, principal from 1873 to
1892. Many are the women today who rise up to
call him blessed. His life, like that of his predeces-
sor, was devoted to education and was an example
and inspiration to all who knew him.
Principals of Linden Hall Seminary : John
Herbst, 1794-1802; John Meder, 1802-1805; John
F. Frueauif, 1805-1815 ; Andrew Benade, 1815-
1822; Christian Bechler, 1822-1824; Samuel
Reinke, 1824- 1826; John G. Kummer, 1826- 1830;
Charles F. Kluge, 1830- 1836; Peter WoUe, 1836-
1838; Eugene A. Frueauff, 1838-1855; Julius T.
Beckler, 1855-1862 ; WiUiam C. Reichel, 1862-1868;
Eugene A. Frueauff, 1868-1873 ; Herman A. Brick-
enstein, 1873-1892; Charles B. Shultz, 1892-1897;
Charles L. Moench, 1897-1898; and Charles D.
Kreider, 1898.
Chari.es D. Kreider, the present principal
(1903), cjCme to his work well equipped to maintain
both the standard and reputation of Linden Hall.
He was born and spent his boyhood in Lancaster
city, receiving his preliminary education in the Lan-
caster schools. After graduating at the Moravian
College, he served six years as teacher at Nazareth
Hall, the Moravian School for Boys at Nazareth,
Pa., and for a year as instructor at the Moravian
College. Imbued with the spirit of Moravian edu-
cational ideas, and familiar with modern method
and practice, his work promises to preserve the well
earned and established reputation of Linden Hall
Seminary as Lancaster county's oldest and most
widely known school for girls and young women.
JOHN SCHOCK, a prominent resident of Mt.
Joy, now living in retirement, was for many years
closely identified with the agricultural and com-
mercial interests of Lancaster county in various
lines, and enjoys the respect and esteem of his fel-
low citizens for his many sterling traits of character.
Mr. Schock was born Jan. 7, 1825, in East Don-
egal township, three miles west of Marietta, and
comes of a family that has been well known in Lan-
caster county for several generations. His great
grandfather, John Schock, a native of Germany,
was the pioneer in Lancaster county, where in 1734,
he settled for life in Manor township, near Cres-
well, on land now occupied by one of his great-
grandsons, John Schock, a farmer. It was includ-
ed in what is now known as Turkey Hill, and as
he gradually added to his possesions, at the time
of his death he owned a large tract. His home was
a rude house of hewed locust logs. Of the family
of eight children born to John Schock and his wife,
we have mention of John, Jacob, Henry and Abra-
ham.
Abraham Schock, the grandfather of John, of
this sketch, was born in Manor township, where he
married and remained until 1785, removing then to
East Donegal township and locating at what is
known as Schock's Mills. Here he engaged in
farming and also conducted a gristmill. His death
occurred in 1820. By his first wife, Anna Grove,
he had four children: Jacob, Henry, Abraham and
Anna, the wife of Thomas Bradley, all of these now
deceased. His second union was with Anna Treich-
ler, of York county, Pa., and the two children of this
marriage, John and Fanny, died young.
Henry Schock was born in 1793, in East Donegal
township, and was a successful farmer, beginning
his agricultural life, on his own account, on a farm
of sixty-five acres, in East Donegal township; as
time passed, he added to the same, until he owned
115 acres, which has since been sold to different
parties. Two gristmills stood on his original place,
and he had them operated for him and cultivated
his land, and thus by thrift and energy accumu-
lated a comfortable competence.
Henry Schock was united in marriage to Anna
Greider, of Conoy township, who was born in 1800,
and died in 1841. His death occurred in 1836, and
both are buried in a private burying ground in East
Donegal township, located on a farm adjoining
their own, which was formerly owned by Mr.
Schock's grandmother Grove. Mr. and Mrs.
Schock did not belong to any church but leaned
toward the German Baptist faith. Their family
consisted of seven children : Abraham, who died in
Lancaster county; Henry, who died in Lancaster
county ; John of this biography ; Jacob, who died in
Lancaster county; Anna, the widow of Sylvester
Crout, of East Donegal township ; Martha, who mar-
ried B. F. Hiestand, of this township, president of
the Marietta Casting Company ; and Mary, who died
in infancy.
John Schock was reared on the old homestead
in East Donegal township, where he remained until
he was sixteen years old, and had obtained his edu-
cation in the neighboring public schools. For the
six years following he was engaged as clerk in a
store in Marietta, in which town he also engaged
in the lumber business for seven years ; during the
next seven years he carried on milling, on the old
homestead, in partnership with his brother Abra-
ham. In 1861, he came to Mt. Joy, where he has
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
627
since resided, and took up the business of his father-
in-law, John Patterson, deahng in coal, lumber, flour
and grain, and later adding the oil business. Until
1895 he continued in these lines, but since then he has
lived retired, his son Clarence now conducting the
business.
Mr. Schock's career has been one of successful
activity in the mercantile world, and he has never
given much time to public affairs, although he has
served two terms as school director, in Mt. Joy bor-
ough, with satisfaction to all concerned. His record
as a business man is one of which he may well be
proud, for besides acquiring a substantial compe-
tence in his active years, he gained and maintained
the highest reputation for integrity and probity, as
well as thrifty management. His political support
is given to the Republican party.
On Feb. 10, 1852, Mr. Schock was married to
Miss Mary Ann Patterson, and four children have
blessed this union : Percy P., editor of the Marietta '
, Register, of Marietta, who married Sue B. Linde-
muth, and has four children. Marguerite, John P.,
Lewis L., and Mary ; Harry C, a prominent citizen
of Mt. Joy, where he is connected with various im-
portant enterprises, being president of the Mt. Joy
Malting Company, president of the Union National
Bank, and a member of the Council for three years,
who married Fredrica C. Frank, and has four chil-
dren, Mary B., P. Frank, Caroline F., and Arthur
P. ; Clarence, who still resides with his parents and
carries on his father's business ; and John L., whose
death . occurred in 1885, after a brilliant career
through the United States Naval Academy, from
which he graduated at the head of his class, of 120
members, taking all the honors. He entered the
Academy in 1877 and was graduated in 1881, fol-
lowing which came his appointment as naval con-
structor, with the rank of first lieutenant.
Mrs. Schock comes of an old and distinguished
family of Lancaster county, and was born in Rapho
township, a daughter of John and Barbara Anna
{ Coffman) Patterson, the former of whom was, in
his day, a prominent and well-to-do merchant.
ALEXANDER PATTERSON, deceased.
Many of the beautiful homes of Lancaster county
have been bereft of those who for many years were
not only esteemed and revered as- heads of house-
holds but possessed the respect of the community in
which their lives had been spent. Such in marked
degree was the case of Alexander Patterson, who
passed out of life Oct. 28, 1887, at the age of sixty-
nine years. While sorrow fell upon the neighbor-
hood, it most deeply touched the devoted wife.
Alexander Patterson was born at Big Chickies,
Pa., in 1818, a son of Arthur and Catherine (Ober-
lin) Patterson, whose family consisted of : William,
who married Elizabeth Wisler; Jane, who married
Peter Lindemuth ; Atexander and Elizabeth, twins,
the former of -whom Tnarried Elizabeth HoUinger,
arid the latter marned Rev. John Arthur, of the M,
E. Church ; Douglas, who died single ; and Arthur,
who became a physician and married Emily A.
Hooper. The pioneer of this family in America
was Arthur Patterson, who came from Ireland, in
1724, and settled on Chiquesalunga creek, in this
county, married Ann Scott, who was a daughter of
Abraham Scott, of Ireland, and became the father
of Samuel Scott Patterson, who was also the father
of a son Samuel, of this county.
Alexander Patterson was reared on the farm and
in his youth attended the best schools of the dis-
trict. At the death of his father he went into the
business of drover, one which at that day was most
necessary and remunerative. As he was very suc-
cessful, he continued on the road until about one
year after his marriage, but in January, 185 1, he
moved to Mt. Joy borough where he resided for the
rest of his life. For some time previous to his death,
he did little more than trucking in a small way. For
many j'ears he filled the position of school director,
as he always took a deep interest -in educational mat-
ters. His political affiliations were with the Repub-
lican party, and in every way he fulfilled the duties
of a good citizen.
Alexander Patterson was married Jan. 7, 1850,
in Philadelphia, to Elizabeth Hollinger, who was
born in Elizabeth township in 1828, a daughter of
Jacob and Barbara (Zortman) Hollinger, of Eliz-
abeth township, this county. The former died at
the old home where they lived in Mt. Joy township,
at the age of sixty-five, the widow surviving until
1885, when she passed away at the age of eighty-
one at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth
Patterson, and was buried in the beautiful cemetery
of Mt. Joy. Both parents were consistent members
of the Lutheran Church. The children of Mr. and
Mrs. Hollinger were : Elizabeth, the widow of Al-
exander Patterson ; Jacob, a farmer, near Paris, 111. ;
Eli, who died on the old farm in 1880 ; and Mary A.,
the wife of Frederick A. Ricker. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. Patterson were Adam and
Barbara Hollinger, the former of whom was a farm- ■
er of Lancaster county. Adam was the son of Jacob
Hollinger, -who came to this country in 1736, and
later took part in the Revolutionary war. The ma-
ternal grandparents, Alexander and Catherine Zort-
man, came to this country from Germany.
Mrs. Patterson has passed through some very
sad experiences. It has been her lot to smooth the
brow and calm the dying hours of her beloved hus-
band, her mother, her brother Eli and his two chil-
dren, and also of Douglas Patterson, her brother-in-
law, and to see them pass out of her home, never to
return. Mrs. Patterson is a consistent member of
the Presbyterian Church, where she gives liberally
to advance every benevolent enterprise.
GEORGE O. ROLAND. It is only within the
last few years that the people generally have come
to realize how very closely the general prosperity
jof the country is connected with the careful manage-
628
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ment of the banking institutions of the land, and
with this knowledge has come a demand for men of
ability to stand at the head of the banks of the pres-
ent dav. New Holland has been and is at the pres-
ent time peculiarly happy in the character of the
men to whom its financial interests are committed,
and among them we find our subject.
George O. Roland, the able and genial assistant
cashier of the local bank, was born in Earl town-
ship, Sept. 13, 1850, is a son of Hon. Jonathan H.
and Elizabeth G. (James) Roland, and a grandson
of Henry and Margaret (Seeger) Roland. The
grandfather was a native of Earl township, and in
his time a very successful farmer. His wife was
born in New Holland.
Hon. Jonathan H. Roland was a native of Earl
township, a successful farmer, and a broad-minded
gentleman of the old school, being so well informed
on men and affairs, that he was often consulted by
his neighbors on various intricate and complicated
questions. His integrity was unquestioned, and his
loyalty to his convictions supreme. In 1857 he was
a member of the State Legislature, and his name
is associated with several noted bills that passed
that body in his term. Elizabeth G. James, his wife,
was a native of Honeybrook, Chester Co., Pa., and
died Feb. 19, 1869. Her remains are resting in the
New Holland cemetery. The Hon. Jonathan Ro-
land, who was born in June, 1812, passed away Dec.
18, 1864, at the age of fifty-three. Both husband
and wife were members of the Lutheran Church.
Of their children Henry died at the age of twenty-
eight ; John is a cattle dealer in New Holland ; Anna
M. is the wife of E. C. Diller, of New Holland ; Mary
married Theodore A. Kinzer, of Lancaster, Pa. ;
Elizabeth J. resides in New Holland ; George O. ;
William S. was killed in a railroad accident, was
superintendent of a surveying corps, and was a man
of more than ordinary ability and prominence.
The first four years of the life of George O.
Roland were passed on a farm, and he was then
brought to New Holland, where he acquired his
literary education in the public schools. At the age
of eighteen, he took a place as a clerk in a drug store,
which he held for three years. He was then var-
iously employed until he was twenty-six years of
age, when he and E. C. Diller engaged in the dry
goods business, which they conducted successfully
for some years. During this period Mr. Roland had
secured a practical business training and had made
a thorough study of finance. In 1882 he saw the
first opening to gratify his tastes, and he accepted
a position in the Bank of New Holland, soon rising
to. his present responsible position of assistant cash-
ier. With his personal afifairs well in hand, Mr. Rol-
and has yet found time to devote to public affairs,
taking an active part in politics and holding strong-
ly to the principles of the Republican party. Mr.
Roland has held the office of school director in- the
borough, but cannot be said to be an office-seeker.
Mr. Roland was- united in marriage in December,
1877, with Miss Katie B. Hull, a native of Lititz,
and a daughter of Dr. Levi and Catherine (Kauff-
man) Hull, both deceased. This happy home has
been brightened by the birth of two children : Seeger,
now a clerk in the railway mail service ; and Ralph,
who is connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company at Philadelphia. Mr. Roland is promin-
ently identified with the Masonic fraternity, and
belongs to the Philadelphia Consistory; he is also
a member of the Knights of the Golden Eagle.
GIDEON W. ARNOLD, who was the pioneer
in the establishment of the cotton mill industry
in Lancaster county, came of old Rhode. Island
stock.
Charles Arnold, his father, was born in West
Greenwich, R. I., and died at the early age of
forty-four years. He married Eunice B. Waite,
who was born in 1804, and who was a daughter of
Gideon and Martha Waite, and through this con-
nection Gideon W. Arnold was a first cousin of
Morrison R. Waite, a Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States, and a nephew of Gen.
Charles G. James, who was a representative in
Congress from Rhode Island for sixteen years.
Five children were born of the union of Charles-
and Eunice B. (Waite) Arnold, and of these only
one survives, Ira W. Arnold, now living at Woon-
socket, R. I. Those who have passed away were
Gideon W., John A., Nathaniel P. and Anna E.
Mrs. Eunice B. Arnold died Jan. 11, 1902, aged
ninety-seven years and nine months. She was a
remarkably well-preserved old lady, and often dis-
cussed the days of the war of 1812, the historic
gale of 1815, and the Mexican war. During the
progress of the latter, her home was in Moosup^
Conn., and she often spoke of the excitement then
being less than during the war of 1812. She was
present at the celebration of the fiftieth wedding
anniversary of her son, Ira W. Arnold, on Jan. 14,
1894.
Gideon W. Arnold, son of Charles, was born in
West Greenwich, R. I., but in his early manhood
removed to Lancaster, Pa., where as previously
stated, he was the pioneer, with his uncle, Charles
G. James, of Khode Island, in establishing the cot-
ton mill industry, an industry that grew to immense-
proportions under the firm name of F. Schroeder
& Co.,' of which Mr. Arnold was the "Co." Mr.
Arnold's name will be held in cherished memory
by thousands of people in the county, as thousands-
were benefited by the remunerative employment he
gave during a long and busy career. Quiet and
unassuming in manner, Mr. Arnold was possessed'
of far more than ordinary intelligence, and he was
a past master in the business of manufacturing cot-
ton goods. His was a successful career, and . yet,
in all his successes he was ever mindful of the in-
terests, of those who so largely contributed to those-
successes — ^his employes ; and these, we know, hold
him in grateful memory. He had the interests of"
GIDEON W. ARNOLD
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
629
all his people at heart, and no one, rich or poor,
ever approached him in the proper spirit without
receiving a kindly smile and a word of encourage-
ment.
Mr. Arnold was married, on Dec. i6, 1850, to
Miss Margaret, daughter of the late Jacob Gable,
and the ancestors on this side lived for generations
in Lancaster. Five children were born of this
union: Ada Eunice, wife of Pressley E. Cham-
bers, a prominent clothing manufacturer of Phila-
delphia; Charles Jacob, who died in early child=-
hood; Walter J., who entered into rest May 27,
1902 ; and Frank W.. and Ira W., of Lancaster.
Mrs. Arnold, the widow of Gideon W., lives in
the fine and commodious home which her husband
erected thirty-seven years ago, at the corner of
South Queen and German streets — a home that
bears ample testimony to the liberality and enter-
prise of one of the best citizens Lancaster has ever
known — Gideon Waite Arnold.
SAMUEL E. GROSH, a prominent carriage
manufacturer of Lititz, Pa., was born in that place
Oct. 10, 1833, and is descended from one of the
old and highly respected families of Lancaster
county. His paternal great grandfather, Valentine
Grosch (as the name was originally spelled), emi-
grated from Germany to this country and took up his
residence in Lancaster county. Pa. The grandfath-
er, Peter Grosch, a farmer of what is now Mechan-
icsville, married Catherine Conrad, and they became
the parents of eight children, as follows : Joseph, a
farmer of Ohio ; Charles, father of Samuel E. ; Tim-
othy, a butcher ; Abraham, a cabinet-maker ; John,
a shoe-maker; Andrew, a teamster; Elizabeth, and
Sophia.
Charles Grosh was born and reared in Manheim
township, 'Lancaster county, and in early life learned
the blacksmith's trade at Kissel Hill. On his re-
moval to Lititz, he erected a shop at that place and
engaged in business there until called to his final
rest at the age of eighty years. His wife, who bore
the maiden name of Susan Shober, died at the same
age. They were both connected with the Moravian
Church. Of their fourteen children eight grew to
years of maturity, namely : Maria, wife of Elias
Buch, of Lititz, who died in March, iQoo; Sarah,
deceased, the wife of James Wolle, of Bethlehem,
Pa. ; Caroline, the widow of Francis Lawall, resid-
ing at Bethlehem, Pa. : Samuel E. ; Henry Harrison,
a veteran of the Civil war, who was a coachmaker
and partner of Samuel E. from 1857 until his death
in 1892 ; Herman, a confectioner of Bethlehem, Pa. ;
Augustus, a blacksmith by trade, and a soldier of
the Civil war, is now deceased ; and Agnes, who
died in 1897.
Samuel E. Grosh was reared in Lititz and edu-
cated in a private school conducted by John Beck.
During his vacations he worked on a farm and at
the age of sixteen commenced learning the black-
smith's trade with his father. After mastering that
occupation he learned the trade of coachmaking at
Allentown, Pa., and then worked as a journeyman
two years. Forming a partnership with his brother
in 1857, they erected a shop in Lititz, and engaged
in the manufacture of coaches, carriages, etc., for
many years, doing a large and profitable business
which is still carried on by Samuel E., who has
given his entire time and attention to this work.
The plant was enlarged in 1884 by the erection of
a large frame building used as salesrooms and fin-
ishing department. The company keep on hand a
good supply of finished work, and the vehicles turned
out by them are among the best in the market. Mr.
Grosh is a Republican in his political views, is an
intelligent and progressive man, and has efficiently
served as a member of the school board of Lititz for
eighteen years.
On Feb. 4, 1858, Mr. Grosh married Miss Aman-
da C, Kramer, who was born on Pine Hill, Lancaster
county, in 1832, a daughter of William Kramer, and
of this union seven children were born, namely:-
Horace E. and Charles William, both mentioned
more fully below ; Lawrence K. ; Bertha, wife
of Walter Souders, of Lititz; Ruth, at home;
and two deceased. The family are members of the
Moravian Church, of which Mr. Grosh has been a
member of the board of trustees for eighteen years.
Horace E. Grosh, the oldest son of Samuel E.,
was born Jan. 17, 1859, and was educated in the
public schools and the Lititz Academy. At the age
of fifteen years he entered the mercantile establish-
ment of H. PI. I'schudy, in whose employ he re-
mained a short time, and then spent four years with
his father, learning the blacksmith's trade. In the
fall of 1881, he went to New Haven, Conn., where
he followed the latter occupation for two years, and
from there went to Charleston, S. C, and Savannah,
Ga., returning to Pennsylvania overland through
Virginia. From 1883 to 1884 he was a traveling
salesman for the firm of B. F. Johnston & Co.; book
]uiblishers. In the fall of 1884 he was elected su-
perintendent of correspondence of the publishing
concern and turned his attention to the discharge of
its duties The following spring he was' made a
member of the firm of B. F. Johnston & Co., with
which he was connected until 1889, when he re-
tired from the book business. He has since followed
mechanical pursuits, organized the Richmond Brass
& Machine Works, at Richmond, Va., and became
the secretary and treasurer. His next venture was
with the Burton Electric Company in the manufac-
ture of Burton electric heaters for street cars, but
in the fall of 1895 he returned to Lititz, where he
now resides, and in, 1896 was made keeper of the
Lititz Springs grounds, which position he now
holds. 1885 he married Miss Lizzie Huber, a
daughter of John Huber, living near Lititz, and four
children were born to them, all of whom are living,
viz ; Mary Esther, Francis Edmund, Robert Samuel
and Anna Elizabeth.
Charles William Grosh, the second son of Sam-
680
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
uel E., was born Aug. ii, i860, and also attended
the public schools arid Lititz Academy. At the age
of fifteen he commenced clerking in the mercantile
establishment of H. H. Tschudy, and was in his em-
ploy two years, after which he learned the trade of
body making in the carriage establishment of his
father and uncle. He subsequently spent almost
two years in William Lee's body establishment at
Easton, Pa.,' and then went to Omaha, Nebr., where
he was employed by A. J. Simpson, a carriage man-
ufacturer, for five years and by other concerns for
two years. He has traveled extensively over the
country from the Atlantic to the Pacific and as far
south as Mexico. Returning to Lititz in 1891, he
took a position in his father s manufactory, and in
1899 became a member of the firm, which is known
as S. E. Grosh & Co. He is not only an experienced
body maker, but a painter and finisher as well, and
now has charge of the woodwork and finishing de-
partments of the factory. He was married, Nov. 8,
1893, to Miss May Siegfried, of Easton, Pa., daugh-
ter of Neander and Emma Siegfried, and they have
three children living, Emma, Mary and Alice; one
died in infancy, Charles W., Jr. Like the other
members of the Grosh family they are connected
with the Moravian Church and take a prominent
part in its work. For a number of years Charles
W. Grosh has taken an active interest in Y. M. C.
A. work, was the first president of the organization
in Lititz, and is now serving as recording secretary.
He is also secretary and and treasurer of the Lititz
Springs Association. He is a Republican in poli-
tics.
Lawrence K. was born Sept. 13, 1862, and on
Nov. 22, T893, married Catherine Brandt, of Li-
titz. They have two children. Earl B. and James
Theodore. He worked in Lititz both as a black-
smith and a cigar-maker, but since 1900 has been
engaged in the insurance business, with his office
in the postoffice building. Main Street, Lititz.
HENRY NEFF KEHLER has for four-fifths
of a century resided in his present home at Locust
Grove, in West Hempfield township, Lancaster
county, having been born there April 17, 1821.
The family is of Swiss descent, the paternal
grandparents, Joshua and Maria Kehler, having
emigrated from Switzerland in early life. The fa-
ther of Henry Neff Kehler, who was also named
Joshua, was born at Strasburg, this county, but took
up his residence at Locust Grove in 1814. There he
successfully cultivated a farm, devoting especial at-
tention to the raising of cattle, and at the same time
conducted the "Locust Grove Jnn." Joshua Kehler
married Anna Neff, daughter of Henry and Anna
(Oberholser) Neff, of West Hempfield, and grand-
daughter of Daniel Neff, who was descended from
Francis Neft, the earliest American progenitor of
the family, who emigrated from Switzerland in 1717,
because of religious persecution, and settled in Ma-
nor township, Lancaster county. Joshua Kehler was
a Mennonite, his wife a member of the German Re-
formed Church. He died in November, 1850, aged
sixty-eight, she Jan. 19, 1874, in her eighty-sixth
3'ear. Henry N. was their only son, and they had
five daughters, Maria, Ann, Elizabeth, Matilda and
Sarah. Ann and Elizabeth both died unmarried.
Maria is the wife of Samuel Caldwell, of Williams-
port. Matilda has been twice married, her first hus-
band being J. S. Clarkson, and her second James
Marshall, of Allegheny City, Pa. Sarah became the
wife of B. F. Spangler, of Columbia, and died in
1859-
Henry Neff Kehler is a substantial and influ-
ential citizen. His farm comprises 140 acres, and
is one of the best in Lancaster county, as his house
is also one of the handsomest. His title to this prop-
erty may be traced back to William Penn, and he has,
as a treasured heirloom, the original conveyance
from that great apostle of the doctrines of George
Fox. Mr. Kehler has been a director in the First
National Bank of Columbia for thirty-five years,
and is held in high esteem for his keen intelligence,
sound judgment and business integrity. Prior to
the outbreak of the Civil war, his political affiliation
was with the Democratic party, but since that epoch
he has been a Republican. He is a consistent mem-
ber of the Presbyterian Church.
On Feb. 23, 1871, m Luzerne county, Mr. Kehler
married Miss Catherine Stewart Knox, and they had
one child, Henry N., Jr., at present teller for the
Columbia Trust Company.
Mrs. Kehler was born at Jersey Shore, Lycom-
ing county. Pa. The first American progenitor of
her father's family was her great-grandfather, John
Knox, who came to this country in 1785 from Bally-
money, County Antrim, Ireland, and located near
Taneytown, Md. He had married Jane Robinson,
who came to America in 1785, with her family of
several children. At that time John, the grand-
father of Mrs. Kehler, was but twelve years of age.
He married Catharine Stewart, daughter of Charles
and Elizabeth (Hunter) Stewart, the latter a daugh-
ter of Capt. Samuel and Catherine (Chambers)
Hunter. , John Hunter Knox, Mrs. Kehler's father,
was a man of superior education, having graduated
from both Milton Academy and Dickinson College.
He was by profession a civil engineer, but also dealt
extensively in lumber. He was a Republican, and
prominent in politics, though he never craved office
and persistently declined all offers to place him in
nomination ; however, he consented for a time to
serve as justice of the peace. He held a captain's
commission in Co. D, nth Pa. Regiment, command-
ed by Col. Coulter, but his untimely death, on Feb.
28, 1862, at the age of forty-seven, cut short a ca-
reer which bade fair to be as distinguished as it was
useful. Few men in his county were more gener-
ally popular or more sincerely mourned. He mar-:
ried Ann E. Moran, who survived him until March
28, 1885, when she too passed away at Hazleton,
in her sixty-ninth year. Mr. Knox was a member
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
631
of the Methodist Church, his wife of the Presbyter-
ian. Mrs. Kehler was their first-born child and
only daughter. She has three brothers, all of whom
are married : John M., a wholesale grocer of Hazle-
ton; Rolfert S., a farmer of Manor township, this
coimty ; and James R., a machinist of Richmond,
Virginia.
On her mother's side, Mrs. Kehler is a great-
granddaughter of Patrick and Arie (Ruggles) Mo-
ran, of Annapolis, Md., and a granddaughter of John
and Mary (Penny) Moran, the former of whom
died in early life. The latter was a daughter of
William and Jane (McGowan) Penny, Scottish peo-
ple of Drumore township, Lancaster county.
; JACOB HERSHEY HERSHEY. From both
paternal and maternal lines of ancestry this vener-
able and cultured resident of West Hempfield town-
ship, Lancaster county, inherits the name of one
of the old families of the couiity. He is the son of
Abraham and Nancy (Hershey) Hershey, and on
the paternal side the grandson of Christian and
Elizabeth (Deal) Hershey and the great grandson
of (Christian Hershey, a pioneer settler and farmer
of Warwick, now Penn, township, who in partner-
ship with John Brubaker purchased a tract of i,ooo
acres of land, upon a portion of which the village
of Petersburg now stands, "the land being divided
between the two men. Christian, the grandfather,
was a farmer of East Hempfield township, where he
lived to a good old age.
Abraham Hershey, the father of Jacob H., was
born in East Hempfield township, Feb. 4, 1790, and
was reared on the old homestead, but in 1817 moved
to Rapho township. He married Nancy Hershey,
who was born in Warwick township, Feb. 12, 1798,
daughter of Christian and Anna (Fox) Hershey,
and the granddaughter of Jacob Hershey, of War-
wick, now Penn, township. Her father was a miller
by occupation and he built the first structure at what
is now known as Cassell's Mills. Nancy was a de-
vout member of the Old Mennonite Church and
Abraham, while not holding membership in any re-
ligious society, exemplified in his life the virtues
and principles of Christianity. He was supervisor
of what is now Columbia, East Hempfield and West
Hempfield townships, and was prominent in local
affairs. In 1840 he retired from the farm to the
village in Sporting Hill, in Rapho township, where
he continued to live until his death, which occurred
Feb. 24, 1869, at the age of seventy-nine years. His
wife died May 28, 1875, aged seventy-seven years.
A family of ten children was born to Abraham and
Nancy Hershey, namely: Christian, born Sept. 5,
1814, died in November, 1879; Isaac H., born March
25, 1816, died May 18, 1854; Jacob H., born Oct.
4, 1817; John H., born Jan. 15, 1820, died Feb. 17,
1890; Daniel H., born March 11, 1822, died June
30, 1872; Abraham H., born April 3, 1824, died
Jan. 24, 1896; Harriet H,, born March 11, 1826,
married to Henry N. Brubaker, of Freeport, 111. ;
Anna H., born Oct. 4, 182R, died Feb. r, 1862; Sol-
omon H., born April 19, 1831, who lived retired at
Buffalo, N. Y., and died in September, 1900 ; Tobias
H., born Oct. 2. 1833, a hotel proprietor at Colum-
bia, Pennsylvania.
The third child, Jacob H., was reared on his fa-
ther's farm in Rapho township and received the
education which the common schools afforded early
in the past century. At the age of eighteen years
he began an apprenticeship to the saddlery trade,
which he completed, continuing to work at his trade
in Lancaster county until 1838, when he moved to
eastern Ohio and was there employed at his trade
for two years. Then returning to Pennsylvania,
he continued the same vocation for two years more,
devoting in all seven years to it. He then began
his life work on the farm.
His marriage to Miss Susan L. Long occurred
Nov. 14, 1841, in Lancaster. She was born in East
Hempfield township, Aug. 21, 1821, daughter of
Abraham and Anne (Kauffman) Long, and the
granddaughter of Christian and Anna (Miller)
Kauffman. Abraham Long was, a farmer and to
■ himself and his wife were born the following chil-
dren: Abraham, deceased; Christian, deceased;
Maria, who died young ; Anna, deceased ; John, de-
ceased ; Susan L. ; Anna, who married Samuel Niss-
ley and is now deceased; Benjamin, of Lancaster;
Fanny, now Mrs. Landis, a widow in Landisville;
Solomon, deceased ; and Maria, who married Abra-
ham Perry, of Lancaster. Seven children were born
to Jacob H. and Susan (Long) Hershey, namely:
Amelia, who married Rev. Levy H. Shenk, a Re-
formed Mennonite minister, and is now deceased;
Washington, of Marietta, Pa. ; Abraham, justice of
the peace in West Hempfield township ; Webster, a
farmer of East Hempfield township ; Benjamin, who
lives with his father on the farm ; Horace and Frank-
lin, both deceased.
Soon after his marriage Jacob H. Hershey began
the active life of a farmer in West Hempfield town-
ship and soon became one of its most prominent cit-
izens. He served as school director for three years
and for thirty-five years was president of the Penn
Mutual Insurance Company. In politics he is a Re-
publican and his first presidential vote was cast for
General Harrison. While years ago surrendering
the active burden of farm life, Jacob Hershey still
supervises the work on his broad acres ; though over
eighty-five vears of age he retains the vigor and
bright mentality of a younger generation, his facul-
ties being unimpaired by the weight of years. He
has always been a student and affords a splendid
example of the truth that men of active minds have
the greater promise of longevity and a serene old
age. Forty years ago he was a school director and
was so advanced in his ideas and so much ahead of
his time that he introduced short-hand writing into
the schools. He was also the first man to start un-
derdraining wet land. He was also one of the or-
ganizers of an Agricultural and Horticultural So-
632
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ciety, the only one of its founders still living. For
thirty-five years he was the president of the Penn
Township Fire Insurance Company and is at pres-
ent connected with a Fire and Storm Insurance
Company. He has been deeply interested in the
genealogy and the early struggles of the pioneer
families of Lancaster county and there has perhaps
been no better local authority on matters of history
than he. His investigation along many lines of re-
search has been thorough and satisfying, so that his
conversation gleams with the ripe and trenchant
wisdom of well-spent years, and his fame as an orig-
inal and sound thinker has gone beyond the immedi-
ate circle of his friends and acquaintances. In brief,
Jacob H. Hershey is of that stanch, sturdy type of
enlightened humanity which blesses and honors the
community where its influence exists.
ELWOOD SHOLLENBERGER SNYDER,
M. D., wtiose elegant home and cozy offices are
located at No. 425 North Queen street, Lancaster,
is one of the most prominent and eminently success-
ful physicians and surgeons of that city.
Grandfather Peter Snyder was a prominent con-
tracting carpenter and builder ' in Hamburg, Pa.
Henry Snyder, his son, and the father of Dr. Sny-
der, married Miss Catherine Shollenberger, daugh-
ter of Thomas and Susan Shollenberger, the former
of whom was a merchant tailor of Berks county.
Five children were born to Henry Snyder and his
wife : Walter, Ettie, Susan, Bertie L. and Dr. El-
wood S.
Elwood Shollenberger Snyder was born in Len-
hartsville, Berks Co., Pa. He entered Hahnemann
Medical College, Philadelphia, from which he was
graduated in May, 1896, coming to Lancaster and
locating here in July of the same year. Purchasing
the home of the lat^ David Evans, county superin-
tendent of public schools. Dr. Snyder at once pro-
ceeded to remodel and enlarge the building, putting
in a yellow pressed brick front and erecting an ele-
gant entrance to his offices, on the south of the
building — creating' one of the handsomest private
residences in that part of the city. The offices are
connected with both telephones, and no physician
or surgeon in Lancaster is better equipped with in-
struments and apparatus for the successful pursuit
of his noble profession. Professionally he belongs
to the American Institute of Homeopathy, the
Homeopathic State Medical Society of Pennsyl-
vania, and the Goodno Medical Society (which is
composed of Homeopathic physicians of the coun-
ties of York, Dauphin and Lancaster).
Dr. Snyder is a man of prominence in many
lines, and seems equally at home in both business
and professional life. His public-spirited attitude
and his liberal ideas have made him a valued stock-
holder and director in the Union Trust Company.
He represents the "Co." in the E. N. Johnson &
Co. planing-mill business, one of the leading indus-
tries in that line in the State. The Doctor is gifted
by nature with a capacity for intense and concen-
trated application, and he has always been found
with the ability to meet the demands of any situ-
ation.
Dr. Snyder has never ceased being a student,
and he has continually advanced in his profession
along with the progress made in his beloved science
and has kept pace with its wonderful discoveries.
In him is found that rare combination of keen busi-
ness sagacity with open-hearted, open-handed gen-
erosity which is seldom discovered, while his ur-
banity and pleasant and genial personality render
him a real physician, a popular comrade and a most
agreeable and trusted friend. Being the personi-
fication of energy and industry, he has made rapid
strides both in business and in professional life, and
has out-distanced many of his older competitors.
His private life is an exemplary one and his home
a center of refined social life. Yet in the prime of
life, having accomplished so much, his friends are
inclined to believe that more laurels await him in
the future.
MARTIN D. SHEAFFER was in his day a
prosperous agriculturist of Upper Leacock town-
ship, and though he passed away when comparative-
ly a young man, he had made his way to a place in
the front rank in his community.
Mr. Sheaffer was born in 1842, a son of Isaiah
and Joanna (Diller) Sheaffer, farming people of
Upper Leacock township, this county. Their family
consisted of the following named children : Rachel,
"Mrs. Samuel Myers, deceased; Diller, who died
young : Martin D. ; John, a resident of Lampeter
township, this county ; Isaac, living in Kansas ; Mary,
Mrs. Isaac Kochel, deceased ; Cyrus, of Bareville,
Lancaster county ; Adam, deceased ; and Joanna,
Mrs. John Good, of Bareville.
In i860 Martin D. Sheafifer was united in mar-
riage with Miss Sarah Ann Sheibly, who was born
Feb. t6, t'836, and of whose family more extended
mention is given below. To this union were born
three children : Susanna, who died when seven
months old ; Alice, now the wife of John J. High, a
farmer of East Earl township ; and Diller "S., who is
mentioned farther on. Mr. Sheafifer followed farm-
ing successfully up to the time of his death, which
occurred in Upper Leacock township, Dec. 18, 1882,
when he was forty years old. His remains rest in
the GrolTdale cemetery. He was a devout member
of the ATennonite Church, with which his widow also
unites. She now makes her home in Leacock town-
ship.
DiLLEK S. Sheaffer was born May 9, 1871, in
Earl township, was reared in Upper Leacock town-
ship, receiving his education in the public schools
there. He remained with his mother until 1886,
spent the next five years at the home of his sister, and
afterward resided on the fine farm in Leacock town-
ship, where he carried on general agricultural pur-
suits and stock raising. Mr. Sheaffer inherited the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
633
thrifty traits of his ancestors, as the results of his
work showed. In political faith he was a Repub-
lican, but was not particularly active in public affairs.
In Sept., 1893, in Lancaster, Mr. Sheaffer married
Miss Emma Burkholder, a native of West Earl
township, and daughter of Isaac and Maria (Rupp)
Burkholder. Her father was engaged in farming in
West Earl township until his death, in 1881, and the
mother still resides there. Two children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Sheaffer, James B. and Carl I.,
the latter deceased. Mr. Sheaffer's death Nov. 14,
1901, at the age of thirty years, five months and
twenty-five days, was most untimely and cut short a
very promising career.
The Sheibly family, to which Mrs. Sarah A.
Sheaffer belongs, has long been prominent in this
county. Henry Sheibly, her grandfather, came to
America with his parents when but seven years of
age, and passed the remainder of his life in Lan-
caster county. A man of great industry, he accumu-
lated considerable property, and cultivated his lands,
on which he made improvements which still remain
to testify to his excellent judgment. In 1797 he built
the stone residence still occupied by his grandson,
Mrs. Sheaffer's brother, and in 1800 he erected a
large barn which is still in use, and, like the dwelling,
in a good state of preservation. In 1817 he built a
large brick house on the farm, which is now occupied
by his great-grandson. He passed away in 1817, at
the age of seventy-two. Henry Sheibly first mar-
ried a Miss Wenger, who died in 1794, and his sec-
ond wife, Elizabeth (Miller), was the grandmother
of Mrs. Sheaffer. She died m 1840, at the age of
seventy-four.
Henry and Susanna (Groff) Sheibly, Mrs.
Sheaffer's parents, were both natives of Lancaster
county, the former born April 11, 1797, at Groff-
dale, the latter on June ir, 1802, in West Earl town-,
ship. They were married March 12, 1822, and chil-
dren as follows blessed this union : Anna, who died
young; Abram G., of Upper Leacock township;
Elmira, Henry and Martin, who all died' young :
Maria, who married John B. Landis ; Susannah, late
wife of Isaac Reif ; Sarah Ann, who is the widow of
Martin D. Sheaffer ; Caroline, widow of Isaac Shaef-
fer, of West Earl township; and Adam, who died
young. The mother of these died in April, 1877,
after a long life of usefulness, filled with kindly ac-
tions and neighborly deeds. Mr. Sheibly survived
until Jan., 188.S, passing away at the home of his
daughter Caroline, in Farmersville. He was buried
from his old home, and laid to rest in the family
burving ground. For many years he was one of the
prominent farmers of his town, active in local pub-
lic affairs and in the work of the Reformed Church,
in which he served as elder. He retired. in 1859.
. GEORGE W. HACKENBERGER, a druggist
and retired teacher in Bainbridge, Lancaster county,
was born in that borough Dec. 9, 1835, son of Sam-
uel and Mary (Custer) Hackenberger.
Samuel Hackenberger was born in Conoy town-
ship, and his wife in East Donegal township; both
died in Bainbridge, to which point they removed
shortly after their marriage. They lived in Bain-
bridge the greater part of their lives, with the ex-
ception of six years spent ■ at Maytown, and two
years at Rowenna. Mr. Hackenberger began life as
a farmer, and then became a manufacturer of cigars
in Maytown. In 1847 he moved back to Bainbridge,
and three years later entered the drug business, in
which he continued until his death which occurred
in 1887, when he was aged seventy-nine years. Mrs.
Mary Hackenberger died in 1881, at the age of sev-
enty-one years. They were members of the Luth-
eran Church. He was a Democrat except during
the war period, when he voted the Republican ticket.
Of their children, John died at the age of fifty-four
years ; George W. is mentioned below ; Mary A.,
who died in 1899, was twice married, first to John
Groff, later to Philip Shaffer; Lavina became the
wife of Lieut. Mullin, of Topeka, Kan. ; Samuel,
Jacob, Elizabeth and Catherine died young; Sam-
uel (2) is a life insurance agent of Philadelphia.
The paternal grandparents of George W. Hack-
enberger were George and Mary (HoUinger) Hack-
enberger, the grandfather born in Germany, and the
grandmother in Lancaster county. They settled in
that cotmty, where they were farming people. When
a very young man he took part in the Revolutionary
war. The maternal grandparents of George W.
Hackenberger were George and Elizabeth Custer,
who came froin Germany and settled in East Donegal
township at an early day, engaging in farming. He
died while still a young man, but his wife lived to
be seventy-five years old.
George W. Hackenberger was married, in Eliz-
abethtown, in September, 1861, to Miss Mary A.
Pence, and to this union came the following chil-
dren : Walter, who died young ; Iva N., who mar-
ried N. R. Hoffman, lives with her father, and is a
drug clerk; Lewis S., a coach builder and painter
in Lancaster, married to Amanda Manning ; George
W., manager of two drug stores in New York City ;
Harry F., chief clerk in a drug house in New York
City, who was with Gen. Miles in the Porto Rican
campaign, as telegraph operator, 9th N. Y. Signal
Corps. Mrs. Mary A. Hackenberger was born in
Conoy township in 1842, daughter of William and
Hettie (Snyder) Pence. Her father was born in
Maytown, and her mother in Conoy township, and
they were farming people all their lives.
George W. Hackenberger spent the first eight
years of his life in Bainbridge and Maytown, going
to school, and then began stripping tobacco and mak-
ing cigars for four vears at or near Rowenna. Then
coming back to Bainbridge, he continued in the same
work till he was twenty-six years old. At that age
he began teaching school. In 1873 he received a
teacher's permanent certificate from the State Su-
perintendent of Public Instruction, the late Hon.
J. P. Wickersham. He followed this calling for
634
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
thirty-four sessions, thirty sessions in one and the
same school. He retired from teaching in 1897, to
take entire charge of his drug store, in which his
daughter Iva had been clerk, while he was teaching
in the school room. Mr. Hackenberger became a
druggist in 1878 and is now (1902) still engaged
in that business. He was elected twelve times as
auditor of Conoy township, for three years each.
He is a man of ability, highly respected in the com-
munity, and holding to a marked degree the confi-
dence of the general public. Mr. Hackenberger is
a member of the G. A. R. and of the O. U. A. M.
In politics he is a staunch Republican, and in relig-
ious belief a devout member of the Lutheran Church.
He is one of the solid and substantial men of his
community, and well deserves a prominent place
among the leadmg men of Conoy township, Lan-
caster county.
Mr. Hackenberger had a somewhat brief but
valuable military experience, enlisting in Co. H,
195th P. V. I., in February, 1865 ; he was discharged
in January, 1866. He was made clerk in a general
court martial, Department of Washington, where
he was on duty for six months. While on picket
duty during the closing days of the war, he partici-
pated in the picket line firing against the noted Col.
Mosby's forces. His regiment was in the 3rd
Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of the Shenandoah,
under Gen. Phil. H. Sheridan.
JACOB HILDEBRAND. Among the well-
known and respected citizens of Strasburg is Jacob
Hildebrand, who has won the esteem and respect
of the community through a long life, during which
he has faithfully served his borough in a number
of public capacities.
Jacob Hildebrand was born Nov. 16, 1822, of
German and French ancestry, a son of Jacob and
Mary. (Heiney) Hildebrand, the former of whom
passed the greater portion of his business life in
Soudersburg and Paradise. In those days there
were no free schools in the locality in which they
lived, and as the parents were limited in means,
young Jacob had few educational advantages, and
was early thrown upon his own resources.
The first attempt of the lad to make an honest
living for himself was in 1832, when he engaged to
drive a butcher wagon and deliver meat to the work-
men building the Pennsylvania Railroad, between
Ronk's Station and Leaman Place. Between the
ages of thirteen and twenty years, the youth worked
for Benjamin Herr, a farmer who lived about one
mile east of Strasburg, laboring for his board and
clothes, and it was through the kindness of Mr.
Herr that he derived the little education which be-
came his, as well as gaining the habits of study and
investigation which proved useful in all his sub-
sequent career. While living here he was permitted
to attend the district school for several sessions,
about four days out of each week, his benefactor
paying the expense.
At the age of twenty, Jacob entered the cabinet-
making shop of Joel Rice, of Strasburg, remained
in his employ for two years, and at the expiration
of this apprenticeship, he started into business for
himself, making furniture and working in carpen-
try, until 1852. At this date he purchased from W.
S.' Warren a stock of merchandise and entered into-
this business, remaining in the mercantile line until
1855, when he sold his stock and again resumed
his former trade, engaging extensively in building
and contracting; in 1856 he was a member of the
building committee in the erection of the town hall.
In 1854, Jacob Hildebrand was elected by his
fellow-citizens as chief burgess of the borough of
Strasburg, and for thirty years held other borough
offices, bi:t retired to private life at last, declining
to serve longer. In i860 he was elected justice of
the peace and immediately began to familiarize him-
self with the higher duties of this office, applying
himself assiduously to the studying of surveying,
conveyancing, the drafting of wills, and other legal
papers upon which he would have to pass judgment,
and until 1898 he was continued in the office, so
efficiently serving that iriany of the difficulties
of the neighborhood were amicably settled accord-
ing to his judgment, without litigation. In the spring
of 1898, he declined a re-election, and his son, J.
Ross, was elected in his place. During one year he
also filled the office of a notary public.
From 1863 to 1871, he owned and operated a
job printing office in the borough, the purchase
being made in order to keep this industry in town,
circumstances being such that otherwise it would
have been removed, and thus he rnade a permanent
business which long flourished.
In 1 87 1, Jacob Hildebrand was elected county
surveyor, of Lancaster county, on the Republican
ticket, and held the office for nearly four years ; dur-
ing that time he prepared with great labor and Care-
ful research connected drafts of the land originally
granted by patent deeds in the townships of Stras-
burg, Paradise, Bart, Eden, and the greater part
of East and West Lampeter.
Jacob Hildebrand. was married Nov. 16, 1847, to
Eliza Spiehlman, who died in 1865, leaving ten chil-
dren : Elizabeth and Mary, deceased ; William W.,
Millard F. ; Ella S., the widow of Samuel Dougher-
ty; John R. : O. J., the wife of D. M. Aument;
Laura K., the wife of Charles Kemerly; Sallie B.,
widow of J. W. Goodman ; and J. Ross. In Novem-
ber, 1866, he married Elizabeth Kendig, the widow of
John Pennell. Two of his sons are engaged in the
leaf tobacco business, under the firm name of Hilde-
brand Bros., of Strasburg.
'Squire Hildebrand, as he is familiarly known,
is recognized as one of the most useful citizens of
Strasburg; from a small beginning, with almost
no educational advantages, but by patient industry
and study, he has advanced to a position of honor
and trust in the community, and has transacted
a large amount of important business, acting very
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
635
frequently as administrator, assignee and executor,
in the settling of many estates.
Fraternally, Mr. Hildebrand is a member of
Strasburg Lodge, No. 361, I. O. O. F., having been
a member since 1849, has passed through all of the
offices of the subordinate lodge, has been secretary
of his own lodge for forty years and has served
as representative to the Grand Lodge of Pennsyl-
vania. Mr. Hildebrand is also a member of the
Lancaster County Historical Society in which he is
much valued, and is one of the official members of
the M. E. Church, having served in the capacity of
trustee since 1862. In his long business and public
career, he has amassed a competency, but what is
better, he has secured for himself a reputation as
a high-miiided, honorable man.
AMOS S. MOWRER, one of the old and most
respected citizens of West Lampeter township, Lan-
caster county. Pa., belongs to one of the oldest fam-
ilies in that part of the State, settlement having been
made here by his ancestors as early as 1700.
Through change and accident many of the old
records of the' pioneer families became mislaid, and
beyond the fact that one of the early settlers of
Lancaster county, coming here about the beginning
of the eighteenth centurv, established the' Mowrer
family in this region, we have no authentic infor-
mation until the time of great-grandfather Balsser
Mowrer, a well-known wheelwright, who industri-
ously pursued his trade and accumulated property.
His farm was in the locality now included in Eden
township, but his remains, lie in the Strasburg cem-
etery, near Providence, where the Reformed Church
has a burial ground. His first wife was the mother
of Adam, who was the grandfather of Amos S.
Adam Mowrer was born, reared and spent his
whole life in this county, where he followed agri-
culture very successfully. He married the widow
of John Shaffner, and from this union seven chil-
dren were born : John, ■who became a successful
farmer and engaged extensively in the lime business
near Quarryville, living to be about ninety years
old; Adam, who became a farmer of Providence
township, where he died at the age of eighty ; Jacob,
the father of Amos S. ; David, who became a farmer
of Eden township, where he died at the age of eigh-
ty-seven; Margaret, who married John Templeton;
Mary, who married Elijah Keene, and lived to the
age of eighty-five; and Julia, who married Henry
Keene. The longevity of this family was most re-
markable, almost all of them filling out more than
the four-score of the Psalmist, and all of them reared
families noted for vigor of body as well as strength
of intellect.
Jacob Mowrer, the father, was born in Strasburg
■township, July 9, 1803, and died July 4, 1892. After
his marriage he settled in West Lampeter township
where he engaged extensively in farming, operat-
ing a farm of 100 acres, becoming well known as a
man of estimable character, and 'prominent in public
afifairs. For many years he was a staunch Whig,
and when that party was merged into the Republican
party, he found himself in harmony with the change.
Jacob Mowrer was married to Mary Strohm,
the daughter of Henry and Mary (Lefever)
Strohm. Mrs. Mowrer was born in 1799, her
life extending to 1891, when she passed away at the
unusual age of ninety-one years and nineteen days.
Both the father and mother belonged to the Old
Mennonite Church. The following children sur-
vived at the death of these worthy people. The
brothers and sisters of Amos Mowrer, who was the
eldest, were : Elizabeth, who resides in West Lam-
peter township ; Martin, who is a miller in Dayton,
Ohio, and has become well known through various
inventions, one of these being the machine used in
the maimfacture of corn grits ; Adam, a farmer of
West Lampeter ; Isaac, a resident of Xenia, Ohio, a
traveling salesman : and Mary, who is the widov/
of Abraham Eshleman, of Strasburg township.
Amos S. Mowrer was born Feb. 15, 1828, in
West Lampeter township, in the locality of Big
Springs, and was reared on the farm, where, accord-
ing to the custom of the day boys were expected to
have many duties. Being the eldest in a large and
growing family, his schooling was frequently inter-
rupted, and although he was apt and studious, he
was not able to accomplish as much as he desired,
in later life, a steady course of general reading, and
a naturally quick comprehension have enabled him
to supply all deficiencies. Being a man of progress,
he has identified himself with public affairs, and has
given his influence toward religious and social ad-
vancement, gaining the confidence of his fellow-citi-
zens to such an extent that he has been called upon to
serve in many of the local offices, including that of
county commissioner.
Formerly he was a Whig and later became a Re-
publican, and has so efficiently served on the school
board that he has been elected five terms, and was
once appointed to fill a vacancy ; for fifteen years he
has been the capable auditor of the West Lampeter
township board ; he has also served as the auditor
of the Penn Township Fire Insurance Company.
In fact, Amos S. Mowrer is one of the citizens of his
township who possesses the esteem of almost all
within its borders,' who have unbounded confidence
in his integrity.
Amos S. Mowrer was married Jan. 10, 1857, to
Annie Harnish, a daughter of Michael G. and Eliza-
beth (Warful) Harnish, who was born Feb. 15,
1836, and died June it, 1881. To them were born
eleven children : Mary Elizabeth, who died in child-
hood ; Barbara, Serenus, and Harnish, all deceased ;
Emma, who married B. Frank Gontner, of West
Lampeter township ; Anna, who married David H.
Huber, of his township : Jacob H., a resident and
implement dealer of Lancaster City, married to Mary
B. Kready ; Mary and Elizabeth, twins, the former at
home, the latter, the wife of Jacob L. Hess, of West
Lampeter township ; Ella, who married Jacob F.
636
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Charles of that township ; and Adda, who resides in
Lancaster City.
Since 1.896 Amos S. Mowrer has lived retired
from active life, and with his daughters, Mary and
Adda, makes his home in Lancaster City, at No. 547
West Walnut street. During her lifetime, his wife
was one of the most devout of women, and a con-
sistent member of the Reformed Mennonite Church,
where she was valued and beloved for her many traits
of Christian character. Mr. Mowrer is passing his
advancing years among his old surroundings, be-
loved by a great circle of friends, who remember
how cheerfully and generously he has ever devoted
time and means to the advancement of his family and
neighborhood.
MRS. MARTHx\ SHIREMAN. Among the
well-known and most highly esteemed residents of
East Donegal township, Lancaster county, was Mrs.
Martha Shireman.
The first marriage of Mrs. Shireman was with
Christian Heisey, who was born in East Donegal
township, and died upon his farm there, in 1846, at
the age of forty-one ; he was buried in Reich's ceme-
tery. His parents were Joseph and Elizabeth
(Kaufifman). Heisey, well-known citizens of the
township. The occupation of Mr. Heisey was farm-
ing, in which he was very extensively engaged. To
his marriage with Martha Zeigler were born: Eli,
who died at the age of fifty- two, married to Anna
Reicht ; Barbara, deceased ; Zeigler, deceased ;
and Jacob B., born in East Donegal town-
ship, on Nov. 3, 1853, who resides in Maytown,
married Barbara Welchans, a daughter of William
and Anna (Drebenstadt) Welchans, and had
four children, William, Martha Z., deceased,
Anna and Mary. The parents of Mrs. Jacob
B. Heisey had these children : Clara ; Joseph, a car-
penter in Harrisburg; Amra, who married Jefif.
Shireman, of Maytown ; Samuel ; Barbara ; Anna,
who married William Staum ; George ; and May,
who married a Mr. Stewart, a cigar-maker of Lan-
caster.
The second marriage of Mrs. Shireman was to
Dr. William J. Shireman, in Maytown, whose death
occurred in October, 1894, at the age of sixty-five;
he was a man of means and prominence, and a con-
sistent member of the Reformed Church. For a
number of years he successfully practiced dentistry
in Maytown, and at his death, left many who felt
deeply bereaved.
Joseph W. Shireman, the brother of Dr. Will-
iam J. .Shireman, was born in East Donegal town-
ship, died in Maytown, March 15, 1900, at the age of
seventy-four, and was buried in the burying ground
of the Reformed Church. His parents were Freder-
ick and Lydia (Welchans) Shireman, of East Done-
gal and York counties, respectively ; shortly after
their marriage they settled in Maytown, where the
former carried on a business of cabinet-making. The
children born to Frederick and Lydia Shireman
were: Aaron, who died in 1894; Samuel, a farmer
of Dauphin county; Jacob, who died at the age of
fifty; Joseph W., deceased; Anna, who was Mrs.
Michael Eazle, deceased; and Dr. William J., who
died in 1894.
Mrs. Shireman was born in East Donegal town-
ship, Feb. 5, 1815, and died in September, 1902. She
had had a long residence in the township, and was
universally esteemed. She had been an interested
witness of the growth and development of the coun-
try and in spite of advancing years remained to the
last one of the most active, intelligent and entertain-
ing ladies of the vicinity.
CALVIN COOPER, of Bird-in-Hand, East
Lampeter township, Lancaster county, now in his
seventieth year, was born there and still Uves
within 150 yards of his birthplace, having bought
a part of the original tract on which his
father first located when he came to that vi-
cinity in 1827. Mr. Cooper was the third child
in the family of nine born to Mark P. and Sid-
ney (Conard) Cooper; is a grandson of Calvin
Cooper, who was a noted carpenter by trade, and one
of the principal mechanics who erected the first
bridge across the Susquehanna river at Columbia;
and a g^reat-grandson of John Cooper, who was
among the first settlers who came to this part of the
country from Wales, and settled in the neighborhood
of Christiana.
The ancestors of Sidney (Conard) Cooper came
from Germany; she was a daughter of Abraham
Conard, who married Catharine Evans, March 24,
1796. Calvin Cooper is therefore a descendant of
Everard Conard, whose parents were among the first
settlers to locate in the vicinity of New Garden,
Chester county, and among the offspring of one
"Thomas Kunders," who emigrated from Germany
through the influence of William Penn, and located,
with others, who accompanied him, upon 500 acres
of land in Germantown, Philadelphia, about the
year 1683.
Calvin Cooper,, whose name introduces this
notice, received his education in the private schools
then common, before the passage of the public
school laws of the State, and also had one term of
four months at a private boarding school at Jenners-
ville, Chester county, and one term at a similar
school of a higher grade in Wilmington, Del. After
this his attention was directed to guiding the plow
and to the methods th_n used for growing field
crops. His farm consisted of about ninety acres, and
he well remembers the arduous duties of a farmer's
life before the introduction of the labor saving im-
plements now so common on every well equipped
place. To handle the sickle deftly, swing a scythe
close to the ground and roll up a good swath, and to
swing .a cradle gracefully were accomplishments
which all good farmers sought after and paid good
wages for.
In the fall of 1858 Mr. Cooper, married.the eldest
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
687
daughter of Peter and Lydia Hunsecker, of Man-
heim township, the former of whom was of Ger-
man descent, and the latter of Welsh.
During the Civil war Mr. Cooper twice joined
the emergency troops and went forward as first non-
commissioned officer to meet the invading Rebel
forces who threatened a raid upon that fertile re-
gion. He was elected for three terms as a member
.of the Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture, serving
eight years, and he has served three terms of five
years each as one of the justices of the peace of his
township, the duties of which office, with surveying,
conveyancing and scrivening, and the growing of
nursery trees have occupied his time fully. With
the help of a loving and industrious wife he has
raised a family of three sons and two daughters,
who are now fighting the battles of life, each in his
own chosen life pursuit ; these children are : Harry
PL, post-master of Nacogdoches, Texas ; Elmer E.,
traveling salesman for the Moline Implement
Work, Dallas, Texas; Milton C, supervising prin-
cipal of the Asa Packer school, Philadelphia ; Mena
May, wife of W. Ross Esbenshade, of Leaman
Place, Pa. ; and Ella Sidney, wife of Harry W. Bar-
nard, of CoUamer, Chester Co., Pennsylvania.
CHARLES C. BRINTON, a general farmer,
was born Sept. 5, 1838, in Salisbury township, on
the farm where he still resides and where agricul-
ture has been the pursuit of" his life. His parents,
Caleb and Ann (Richards) Brinton, were respect-
ively born on a farm adjoining the one just men-
tioned, and on another just across the boundary line
in Chester county, near Kennett Square.
Caleb Brinton was reared a farmer, settled on
the present farm in Salisbury township in 1830, and
there passed the remainder of his life, dying Dec.
18, 1851, at the age of sixty-four years; his widow
survived until Nov. 6, 1888, when she expired at
the advanced age of eighty-eight. Both were
bright lights- in the Society of Friends, and their
mortal remains were laid to rest in the Salisbury
. meeting house cemetery. Caleb Brinton had been
twice married, the first time to Eliza Fox, who bore
him seven children, as follows: Moses, of Ne-
braska, now deceased; Rebecca, widow of Joseph
Hood, of Philadelphia; George, a retired merchant
in West Chester; Letitia, deceased wife of Robert
Swisher; Mary A., of Landstown, Pa., widow of
Clarkson Brosius, the father of Hon. M. Brosius
(deceased) ; Hannah, widow of John Carter, of
Emporia, Kans. ; Elizabeth, who died unmarried.
To Caleb and Ann (Richards) Brinton were born
four children, viz : Phoebe, who died in- 1861 ;
Isaac, who died in Andersonville prison, a member
of the 57th P. V. I. ; Charles C. ; Sergt, Channing
Brinton; of Co. K, 97th P. V. I., who was killed
in front of Petersburg, Va., and whose remains
were brought home for interment in the Sadsbury
cemetery.
The paternal grandparents- of Charles C. Brin-
ton were Moses and Hannah Brinton, of Salisbury
township, and the maternal grandparents were
Isaac and Mary Richards, of Chester county, whose
farm was deeded to their forefathers from William
Penn direct.
Charles C. Brinton began his education in Hun-
secker's Academy at Trappe, Montgomery Co., Pa.,
and next at the age of sixteen entered the Millers-
ville Academy; the remainder of his life has been
passed on the farm with the exception of three
months in 1861, when he was in the Union army,
but he had no part in any battle.
Charles C. Brinton has been twice married:
first, on Oct. 28, 1875, he was united in matrimony
at his present home by the mayor of Lancaster, Cap-
tain Stauffer, with Anna Baker, daughter of Elisha
and Ruth Baker and a native of Chester county ;
she was called away in April, 1883, at the age of
thirty-six year's, leaving one child, Channing, born
June 19, 1879, who died April 15, 1883. Their re-
mains found repose in the Sadsbury meeting house
cemetery.
The second marriage of Mr. Brinton took place
in Philadelphia, March 12, 1890, to Anna Dickin-
son, and this union has been graced with four chil-
dren, Charles, Caleb, Anna and John M. Mrs.
Anna (Dickinson) Brinton was born in Salisbury
township, Dec. 13, 1857, ^"d is a daughter of Henry
and Anna (Baldwin) Dickinson, of Lancaster and
Chester counties respectively. Henry Dickinson
was a farmer by calling, but also conducted a gen-
eral store at Roseneath, Salisbury township. He
was also a justice of the peace for many years.
Somewhat late in life he retired to private life, his
death occurring in 1896, at the age of seventy-five
years, and that of his wife in 1898, at seventy-four,
the remains of both being interred in Sadsbury
meeting house cemetery. The children born to
Henry and Anna Dickinson were eight in number
and named as follows : Lorenzo ; Lydia, deceased ;
Phebe, of Reading, Pa. ; Henry, deceased ,* Hayes,
employed on the railroad at Reading; James, fore-
man in the steel works at Steelton; Bayard, of
Steelton, a doctor ; and Anna, now Mrs. Brinton.
The Brinton family, one of the oldest in the
State, has always been prominent in the manage-
ment of local affairs, has been influential in the So-
ciety of Friends, and after the organization of the
Republican party was largely instrumental in secur-
ing the abolition of slavery.
ABNER PEOPLES, a retired farmer and es-
teemed citizen of Strasburg township, was born
Feb. 27, 1825, in New Providence, Pa., son of John
and Susan (Miller) Peoples, both deceased.
John Peoples was a son of Francis Peoples, a-
farmer of Lancaster county, who had a family of
five children, namely : William, Francis, Samuel,
John and Sarah, all of whom have passed out -of
life. John Peoples, the father of Abner, was born
Dec. 10, 1793, died in New Provid61lce, Dec. 28,
688
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1862, and was a merchant, farmer and lime-burner
and one of the leading citizens of his community.
About 1818 he married Susan Miller, of Lancaster,
and seven children were born to them : Mary, born
Dec. 6, 1820, deceased; Anna, born Jan. 16, 1823,
deceased; Abner; Amanda, born Nov. 6, 1827;
Leah, a widow, born Oct. 14, 1829, who lives in
New Providence, Pa. ; Hiram, born in Feb. 1835, a
retired farmer of New Providence ; John, born July
29, 1837, who resides in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.
Abner Peoples was reared on a farm and re-
ceived his education in the schools of his township.
When he started out in life for himself it was' as a
poor boy, and his present financial position has
been secured by the exercise of industry, persever-
ance and economy. His fine farm of 127 acres, with
its excellent improvements, attests his success, and
he is fully justified in passing his declining years in
rest and retirement. In his earlier years he was a
Whig, but has been an active Republican since the
formation of that party. Both he and his wife are
valued members of the Mennonite Church.
On Nov. 9, 1848, Mr. Peoples was united in mar-
riage to Miss Martha Hess, of Pequea township,
born Sept. 28, 1823, and daughter of John Hess.
A family of four children has been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Peoples, as follows: Lettie, born June 29,
1849, niarried to Henry Groff, of Providence town-
ship, a farmer; Mary, born in 1852, the wife of
Frank Gachnour, a carpenter of Providence town-
ship ; Susan, the wife of Dr. L. M. Bryson, of Para-
dise township; and Thaddeus, who died at the age
of fourteen years.
Mr. Peoples has an ancestry of which he may
well feel proud, both the Peoples and Miller families
being among the leading ones of the county. Great-
grandfather Miller was one of the oldest settlers of
that part of Lancaster county, was born in 1713, and
niarried Mary Brubaker, born in 1719. Their son
David, the grandfather of Abner Peoples, was born
in 1754, married Mary Souder, born in 1753, and
they had a family of nine children : Jacob M., born
in 1776; Annie M., 1778; David, 1781'; Elizabeth,
1784; Mary, 1786; Catherine, 1788; Daniel, 1790;
Isaac, 1793, and Susan, the mother of Abner Peo-
ples, was born in 1797. All these good people lived
worthy lives and at death were mourned with re-
spect and affection. Since the days of the Revolu-
tionary war the families of Peoples and Miller have
been identified with the most of the progress arid
advancement in educational and religious lines in
this vicinity. Abner Peoples is a most worthy rep-
resentative of this combined ancestry.
NISSLY. The pioneer of Ihe Nissly family in
America was Jacob, who emigrated from Switzer-
land in 1 7 19, and settled in Mt. Joy township, Lan-
caster county, Pa., where he took up a large section
of land, purchased irom William Penn. The land
remained in the Nissly family for about 150 years,
when it was bought by David Wolgemuth, who still
owns it. Jacob Nissly was naturalized in 1729. Of
his children, ( i ) Jacob Jr. married and became the ■
father of three sons, Henry, Jacob and Martin ; (2)
John (Hans) married a Miss Sechrist, and had six
sons, Michael, John, Jacob, Abraham, Samuel and
Martin; (3) Martin married a Miss Snyder; (4)
Henry is mentioned below ; and the daughters, three
in number, married respectively, into the Buhrman,
Ebersole and Steward families.
Henry Nissly, son of the pioneer, Jacob, was born
in 1722, and made his home on a mill property, with
160 acres of land, on Chickies Creek in Rapho town-
ship. His descendants now live in Clay township.
He married a Miss Reif and they became the parents
of eight children: Barbara, who married Michael
Brandt; Anna, who married Jabez Shuey; Henry;
Martin ; Catherine, who married Dr. Michael Kauf-
man, of Manheim borough ; Jacob ; Maria and Abra-
ham, who both died in infancy.
Martin Nissly, son of Henry above mentioned,
was born Jan. 16, 1759, and located in what is now
known as Clay township about 1787, on a farm of
nearly 175 acres. He married Elizabeth Hallocker,
'and had two children : Catherine, who. married Ben-
jamin Bollinger; and Henry, married to Catherine
Martin.
Henry Nissly, son of Martin, and great-grandson
of the pioneer Jacob, was born July 12, 1783, became
a prominent farmer of Clay township, and passed
away in 1869, at an advanced age. He married
Catherine Martin, daughter of. Peter and Catherine
(Flickinger) Martin, the former of whom had lo-
cated in Clay township in 1804. To Henry and
Catherine (Martin) Nissly were born nine children:
Peter, who married a Miss Pfoutz, and has a son
Jacob, residing near Richland, Lebanon county;
Martin and Henry, deceased; Samuel; Elizabeth;
John, deceased ; Catherine and Anna, deceased ; and
Isaac, who married a Miss Bryson, and died in 1862,
leaving one child, Ida V., now living in Reading.
Samuel Nissly, son of Henry and Catherine
(Martin) Nissly, was born May 29, 1815. He was
reared upon his father's farm, and received his edu-
cation in the common schools of the neighborhood.
At the age of eighteen he went to Lititz to learn the
cabinet maker's trade, and served his apprenticeship
of two years, after which he worked there for three
years and then returned to the home farm, where he
carried on his trade for the following two years. In
1840 his uncle, Peter Martin, instructed him in the
mysteries of land surveying, and this Mr. Nissly has
since followed. In politics, Mr. Nissly is a Repub-
lican, but originally was an old-time Whig, casting
his first presidential ballot for William Henry Har-
rison in 1840. In 1850 he was elected justice of the
peace, and has been re-elected every five years since.
He is president of the Lincoln National Bank, and
has been a director of the Northern Mutual Life In-
surance Company since its organization in 1844. He
has served as secretary, treasurer and president of
the company in that time. Mr. Nissly is unmarried.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
689
HENRY P. BRENEMAN, a retired farmer now
living in Florin, Pa., was born in Conestoga town-
ship, Lancaster count}', Pa., March 14, 1831, and is
a son of Benjamin and Nancy (Peters) Breneman,
natives of Conestoga and Manor townships, respect-
ively. They settled in the township of Mt. Joy in
April, 1831, and spent their lives on the farm which
they settled upon at that time. The father was a
prominent man in the community, settled many es-
tates, had been supervisor and school director, and
was living a retired life at the time of his death.
Largely instrumental in the organization of the Mt.
Joy Fire Insurance Company, he exerted a wide in-
fluence in its behalf. In 1865 he died at the age of
seventy-onp years, and his widow, who survived un-
til 1879, reached the age of seventy years. They
were both buried in the Kraybill cemetery in
East Donegal township. They attended the
Mennonite Church, though she was baptized
in the Reformed Church. To them were born:
Mary, who married David Brandt, a farmer in
East Donegal township ; Nancy, deceased ; Henry
P. ; George, deceased, who became mute at the age
of seven years, from scarlet fever; Aaron, a retired
farmer of Florin; Kitty, the widow of Jacob Gish,
of Chester county, Pa., living with her daughter;
Fanny, the widow of George Hambright, of Florin ;
Isaac, a retired farmer, who died at Elizabethtown
and was buried in the Mt. Tunnel cemetery, leaving
one son, Benjamin.
Henry P. Breneman has been twice married. In
1857 he was married in Lancaster county to Cath-
erine Flory, by whom he became father of the fol-
lowing children : Henry, who married Anna Baker,
and is now a retired farmer in Florin; Jacob, who
married Malinda Hoffer. He has since died and is
buried in Elizabethtown cemetery.
Mrs. Catherine (Flory) Breneman was born in
Rapho township, and died in 1873 at the age of forty-
two years, and was buried in the Kraybills cemetery.
She was a daughter of Peter and Catherine (Gantz)
Flory, of Lancaster county, both excellent people.
Mr. Breneman was married in Mt. Joy township,
Nov. 18, 1873, to his second wife, Mrs. Mary (Ham-
bright) Barnhart. Mrs. Breneman was born in
Rapho township, and is a daughter of George and
Catherine (Baker) Hambright, born in Rapho
and Mt. Joy townships, respectively. They came to
Florin in 1868, where the father died at the age of
seventy-four. The mother died in 1871, at the age
of forty-nine. They were buried in the Florin ceme-
tery, and both were members of the United Brethren
Church. Mary was their only child. The father was
married a second time to Fanny Breneman, by whom
he had the following children : Benjamin, who mar-
ried Alice Caslow, and is a farmer in Florin, Pa. ;
Amos, who married Elizabeth Yetter, and is an
operator in Florin ; George, who died in 1900, an
operator, unmarried ; John, now attending Annville
College at Annville, Lebanon Co., Pennsylvania.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Breneman
were Adam and Mary (Hosier) Hambright, of
Conestoga and Rapho townships, respectively. Both
died in Rapho township, where he was a farmer and
carpenter, and they were buried in Hossler's ceme-
tery in East Donegal township. The maternal grand-
parents of Mrs. Breneman were George and Anna
(Hoffman) Baker, who lived in Mt. Joy township,
and were buried in Lebanon county, in the old
Lutheran cemetery, which is just on the line.
Martin Baker, the father of George, came from Ger-
many.
Mrs. Mary (Barnhart) Breneman, was twice
married. Her first marriage was on June 4, 1856,
when she was united to Henry K. Barnhart, in Ann-
ville, Pa., by whom she became the mother of two
children : Katie Ann, who married John C. Zug, of
Rapho township, where he is engaged in a mercantile
business ; and Emma M., of Lebanon, Pa., who mar-
ried S. S. Zug, justice of the peace, and whose chil-
dren, Elsie B., Roswell H. and Daisy B., are all at
home. Mr. Barnhart followed farming and also
operated a hotel at Milton Grove. He died in 1872
at the age of thirty-six years, and was buried in the
cemetery at Mt. Joy.
Henry P. Breneman remained with his parents
until he was twenty-six years of age, and then be-
gan a career for himself as a renter of one of his fa-
ther's farms in Mt. Joy township, where he spent a
•number of years, and then removed to a second farm
belonging to his father. On this he remained until
1880, when he came to Florin, to spend his declining
years in the enjoyment of that peace and comfort to
which his industrious years were well entitled.
Mrs. Breneman is a member of the German Bap-
tist Church, and her husband belongs to the Repub-
lican party. They are both excellent people and are
deservedly popular among their neighbors.
LEVI S. GROSS. The great family of the name
of Gross, members of which may be found all over
the United States, was founded in Lancaster county,
Pa., by Johannes Gross, who was born in Germany
about 1736. came to America while still a youth, and
located in Penn township, where he engaged in farm-
ing and thrived until he owned some 532 acres of the
fertile land of Lancaster county, extending through
both Penn and East Hempfield townships. His re-
ligious connection was with the Lutheran Church
and all records go to show that he was a most indus-
trious and respected man, who left a large family be-
hind him, one of whom, Martin Gross, was the
grandfather of Levi S. Gross.
M artin Gross ( i ) was born in 1768, lived a quiet,
agricultural life, and died in April, 1837. He was
a consistent member of the Lutheran Church. His
wife was Elizabeth Weidler and a family of two sons
and six daughters was born to them : George, who
migrated to Dayton, Ohio, where he died; Martin,
the father of Levi S. ; Elizabeth, who married
George Getz ; Charlotte, who married George Sahm :
Sarah, who married A. Shindle ; Mary, who married
640
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
John Getz ; Susan, who died single ; and Anna, who
married Jacob Kimel. The parents were most worthy
people, who were kind neighbors and lived in peace
with their fellow-men.
Martin Gross (2) was a farmer by occupation,
but died in 1847 at the early age of thirty-six years ;
his wife, who had been Mary Stetman, still survives,
at the age of eighty-four, a beloved resident of her
son's .household. To them were born : John S., who
resides with his brother Levi ; Salinda, who married
Levi H. Hess, of Manheim ; Harriet, who married
Isaac B. Espanshader, of Manheim township ; and
Levi S.
Levi S. Gross was born on the farm he now occu-
pies, located two miles northwest of Petersburg, on
Aug. 8, 1836, a son of Martin and Mary (Stetman)
Gross ; he was reared a farmer boy, and educated in
the excellent public schools of his district. On Dec.
2, 1858, he was married to Miss Elizabeth B. Espen-
shader, a daughter of Jacob Espenshader, and settled
down to domestic life on the old homestead, where
he continues to reside. This farm consists of eighty-
one acres, and Mr. Gross has made many valuable
improvements and has attended to the cultivation of
the land in such a manner that its yield is enormous.
However, although much interested in his agri-
cultural life, Mr. Gross has found time to take note
of the needs and wants of his community and was one
of the organizers of the Northern National Bank, of
Lancaster City and is one of its directors ; for several
years, he has been president of the Northern market,
in Lancaster ; is also a stockholder and director in the
Lancaster and Manheim Traction Company, and a
director in the Northern Trust and Savings Com-
pany. In addition to the responsibilities attaching
to these positions, he has served on the school board
for a period of nine years and has ever been most
active in the ranks of the Republican party, repre-
senting his township as a delegate to the county con-
ventions and has most efficiently served on the county
committee.
Seven children have been born to Levi Gross and
his wife : Amelia, who resides at home ; Lillie, who
married Martin L. Nissley, of West Donegal town-
ship ; Ida, who resides at home ; Martin, who married
Miss Lizzie Hershey, and resides in Penn township ;
^Vnnie, who married John H. Stetman, of Penn town-
ship ; Emma, who married Phares S. Moore, of West
Hempfield ; and Clara, who resides at home.
Mr. Gross is one of the representative men of
East Hempfield township and possesses the confi-
dence and esteem of the community where he has
so long made his home.
DAVID H. BRANDT, late a retired farmer
of East Donegal township, Lancaster county,
was born in Mt. Joy township, Jan. 5, 1827, a
son of John H. and Katie (Hosier) Brandt, of East
Donegal and Mt. Joy townships, respectively. The
father died in East Donegal near Maytown, in 1853,
at the age of fifty-four years; the mother died in
1863, at the age of seventy-five years, and their re-
mains are now resting in the cemetery at Mt. Joy,
to which they were removed from the cemetery
in Maytown. Both were members of the Ger-
man Baptist Church.
John H. Brandt was actively engaged in farm-
ing to within six years of his death, and was a man
of much character and standing in the community,
upright, honorable, straightforward and honest.
John H. and Katie Brandt were the parents of the
following family : John H., a miller in East Done-
gal township, who died in 1889; Michael H., a re-
tired mason in Mt. Joy ; David H. ; Fanny H., who
died unmarried; Joseph H., who died in Middle-
town, Pa., in April, 1899. Of the parents of John
H. Brandt it is now remembered only that their
names were John and Fanny Brandt.
David H. Brandt was twice married. In 1853
he was united with his first wife, Elizabeth Longe-
necker, in Dauphin county. Pa. Born to this union
were : Simon L., who married Lizzie S. Eshleman,
and is now living in Marietta, Pa. ; Alphus L., who
married Alice Sherik, and is living with his par-
ents; John L., who died young; Tillie L., at home.
Mrs. Elizabeth Brandt was born in Conewago,
DaujDhin county, and died Sept. 6, 1865, at the age
of thirty-seven years. Her remains were interred
in the Hofter Church cemetery in Conewago town-
ship. John and Barbara (Hoffer) Longenecker, her
parents, were natives and residents of Dauphin
county, where her father engaged in farming, and
in his younger life was a teacher.
The second marriage of David H. Brandt oc-
curred in January, 1868, when he was united with
Mary P. Breneman, of Mt. Joy. Mrs. Mary Brandt
was born in Millersville, Manor township, in July,
1824, and is a daughter of Benjamin and Anna
(Peters) Breneman, both natives of Manor town-
ship. They died in Mt. Joy, to which point they
had removed in 1832. Her father died in 1872, at
the age of seventy-one years ; her mother died Nov.
15, 1879, at the age of seventy-eight years, and both
were buried in the Kraybills Meeting House ceme-
tery. They were the parents of the following chil-
dren : Mary ; Lizzie, who died young ; George, de-
ceased ; Henry P., of Florin, Pa. ; Katie, the widow
of Jacob Gish, now living in Chester county. Pa.;
Aaron, a retired farmer near Florin; Isaac, de-
ceased; Fanny, the widow of George Hambright,
who lives in Florin.
David H. Brandt remained with his parents un-
til his marriage, when he worked his father-in-law's
farm in Dauphin county until his wife's death. Fol-
lowing that sad event he removed to Mt. Joy town-
ship, where he remained until 1872, when he came
to his present farm, a fertile and well cultivated
place of 103 acres. He was an honored member o'f
the Mennonite Church, and stood high in the esteem
of his neighbors. In his politics he was a Demo-
crat, and took a broad and enlightened view of the
affairs of the town and the nation, seeking to do the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
641
full duty of the citizen on all occasions. His death
on April g, 1902, at the age of seventy-five years,
was a distinct loss to the community.
SIMON SEITZ MANN, M. D., enjoys a large
general practice in Columbia, where he has been
actively engaged in the duties of his profession for
several years. Though yet a young man, he has the
confidence and high regard of his patrons and fel-
low citizens in an enviable degree, and he is a
worthy representative of a family whose members
have long been among the most respected citizens
of Manor township, Lancaster county.
Bernard Mann, the grandfather of Simon Seitz,
was born in Manor township, where his grand-
father, Bernhart Mann, who emigrated from Huiff-
enhart, Germany, in 1748, made his home. He al-
ways followed farming, and became one of the lead-
ing agriculturists of his section, owning 106 acres
of valuable land,' which he cultivated profitably all
his active life and which is now owned and culti-
vated by his grandson, Jacob S. Mann. His neigh-
bors and fellow citizens held hini in the highest es-
teem, and his counsel and advice were frequently
sought by them ; noted no less for his business abil-
ity than for strict honesty, he was often called upon
to assist them in their business affairs, and he settled
up and administered over fifty estates. He was also
active in public affairs, and served his township as
supervisor. Mr. Mann was a Democrat in political
faith. He married Anna Wertz, also a native of
Manor township, and a member of one of its old
families, and they became the parents of eight chil-
dren, one of whom died in childhood. John is a
farmer in Cumberland county, this State. Henry
W. is mentioned below. Elizabeth is the wife of
Eli Shuman, of Cumberland county. Margaret is
the wife of John Sherick, of Manor township, this
county. Annie is the wife of Levi Mann, of Manor
township. Simon is engaged in farming in Manor
township. Carrie is the wife of Henry Hershey, of
Lancaster county. The father was a member of the
German Baptist Church.
Henry W. Mann was born June 14, 1820, in
Manor township, was reared on the old home farm,
and received his education in the neighboring pub-
lic schools. He remained with his parents up to the
age of twenty-seven years, when he removed to the
present family home, a 120-acre farm located one
mile east of Washington borough, in Manor town-
ship. He made the place one of the first in the
locality, provided with all modern improvements,
and managed in the most business-like manner,
careful attention being given to all the many details
necessary to the successful conduct of an up-to-date
farm. Mr. Mann fully sustained the reputation
borne by his ancestors for honesty and sterling in-
tegrity. He and his family united with the Men-
nonite Church. Henry W. Mann passed away Dec.
24, 1901. His son, Henry S., resides on and has
taken the home farm.
41
In 1856 Henry W. Mann married Miss Anna
C. Seitz, who was born in 1833 in Manor township,
daughter of Jacob and Annie Seitz, and eight chil-
dren blessed their union. Amos died in early child-
hood. Jacob S. married Emma Herr; EH S. mar-
ried Annie Rohrer; George W. S. married Annie
Kauffman; Henry S. married Maggie Sherick;
these four sons are engaged in farming in Manor
township, the last named on the home farm. Enos
S. married Mary A. Fttlton, of York county ; he re-
ceived a good common school education, engaged in
teaching for a time, and was also employed three
years as clerk of the Columbia National Bank, and
two years in the Lancaster County Bank; studying
medicine, he was graduated from the medical de-
partment the University of Pennsylvania in 1896,
and has since practiced medicine, being now lo-
cated in Dallas town, York Co., Pa. Simon S. is
our subject proper. Hiram died in infancy.
Simon Seitz Mann was born Oct. 28, 1867, in
Manor township, where he grew to manhood on the
home farm. His early education was acquired in
the local public schools, and he also attended the
Millersville Normal, from which he was graduated
in 1890. His medical education he received at the
Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia, from
which institution he was graduated in 1894, and he
has since been engaged in the active practice of his
profession, first as resident physician in the Chil-
dren's Homeopathic Hospital of Philadelphia, then
for three years at Honey Brook, Chester Co., Pa.,
whence he went to Columbia. Dr. Mann has gained
ground rapidly since locating in that town, and now
has a lucrative and still increasing practice. While
preparing for his life work he engaged in teaching
for some time, and met with gratifying success in
that line also. He is a director of the Columbia
National Bank and the Columbia Telephone Com-
pany. Socially Dr. Mann is a Mason (sixth de-
gree) and a member of the Knights of Pythias. His
political support is given to the Democratic party.
WILLIAM H. BUNN. It is seldom that there
is found a United States official whose faithfulness,
integrity and capability have enabled him to retain
his position for more than forty-two years, yet such
is the case with William H. Bunn, postmaster and
merchant at South Hermitage, Lancaster county.
Pa., where, under the firm name of William H.
Bunn & Son, he is conducting a general store at the
same place where he started in the fall of i860.
William H. Bunn was born in Philadelphia, Dec.
23, 1828, the eldest of the nine children that consti-
tuted the family of David and Catherine (Martin)
Bunn, natives respectivelv of Chester and Lan-
caster counties. David Bunn was a carpenter by
trade, as was his father before him, but the latter
was also a farmer. David died in Cochranville,
Chester county, in 1892, at the age of eighty-five
years, while his wife had passed away in 1871,
when sixty-two years old. They were members of
642
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the Presbyterian Church and their remains were
laid to rest in Brandywine Manor. Their children
were named as follows : William H. ; Martin A.,
who died in Illinois ; Mary J., who died at the age
of four; Martha, at the age of three; Mary F;, at
two; Emma, deceased wife of J. C. Buchanan;
Elizabeth, married to Park Rutherford, of High-
land, Pa. ; Benjamin, a farmer of Highland town-
ship, Chester county ; and Hugh W., in the grocery
business at Rockford, 111. The paternal grandpar-
ents of these children were Benjamin and Mary
(Beerbrower) Bunn, natives respectively of Potts-
town, Pa., and Bucks county.
William H. Bunn until sixteen years of age lived
with his parents in Moscow, Chester county, where
he was employed as a clerk for two years ; then he
went to Philadelphia, where he was employed in a
wholesale dry-goods store two years, and then lo-
cated in Rockville, Chester county, and opened a
general store, which he conducted one year. In
185 1 Mr. Bunn came to Salisbury and for one year
was engaged in general merchandising; thence he
went to Pequea, where for four years he was occu-
pied in the same line of trade, and then sold out
and purchased a fai'm in Salisbury township, on
which he resided four years. But the mercantile
instinct was strong within him, and he was ever on
the alert for an opportunity to re-embark in the
business which had engaged his early attention, and
which his tastes and keen insight into its methods
had so eminently qualified him to pursue. Accord-
ingly, seizing an opportunity of profitably disposing
of his farm, in the fall of i860 he opened up business
at his present stand in South Hermitage and was the
same year appointed postmaster, having first been
elected su])ervisor of the township for one term,
and subsequently town auditor.
William H. Bunn was united in marriage
April 21, 1853, in Bellem.onte, Lancaster county,
with Miss Sarah R. Flemming, and this congenial
union has been blessed with seven children, born in
the following order : James R., who died at the age of
three years ; Ada C, who is married to William T.
Irwin, a clerk, resides in Chester, Pa., .and is the
mother of two children ; Olivia, who is the wife of
C. AV. Dampenan, a clerk, resides at Point Pleas-
ant, N. J., and is the mother of three children;
Jemey C. Bunn, living at home with her parents ;
Thresia, residing at Gap, Lancaster Co., Pa., who
is the wife of John D. Knox, a farmer, and has three
children ; David, living with his father, and married
to Mary C. Corbett, who has borne him one son,
Robert O. ; and Charles, a farmer in Eagle, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., married to Lena -Mast, who has
borne him two children.
Mrs. Sarah R. (Flemming) Bunn was born in
SaHsbury township, Dec. 31, 1826, a daughter of
Tames and Olivia (Cowan) Flemming, natives of
Chester and Lancaster counties, respectively, and
parents of the follovifing named family : Sarah R.,
wife of William H. Bunn; Margarette C, widow of
John Wilson and residing in Chicago, 111. ; William
R., who died at the age of forty years ; Joseph 0», a
resident of Lincolrj, Neb. ; Anna W., deceased wife
of a Mr. Garrett ; James P., who died in Cincinnati,
Ohio, when nineteen years old ; Mary E., married to
Davis Roseboro, a manufacturer of wagons at Wag-
ontown, Chester Co., Pa. ; Susan P., of Poughkeep-
sie, N. Y., wife of Frank Woule; and Thomas P.,
deceased.
James Flemming, the father of Mrs. Bunn, was
for years manager of the iron plants owned by the
Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, one of the early Free-Soil
members of Congress from Pennsylvania and a
strong anti-slavery man; Mr. Flemming was also
the m.anager of the plants of James P. Paxton. The
death of Mr. Flemming occurred in Salisbury town-
ship in 1843, at the early age of forty years, and
that of his widow in March, 1895, at the advanced
age of eighty-eight. The paternal grandparents of
Mrs. Bunn, James and Rebecca (Oglebie) Flem-
ming, were highly respected farming people of
Chester county; and the maternal grandparents,
William and Mary (Rutter) Cowan, stood equally
high in the same vocation in Lancaster county.
William H. Bunn has been a Republican ever
since the organization of the party and an earnest
worker in its ranks as well as a sagacious adviser
in its councils. The long tenure of his present po-
sition shows him to hold the confidence not only of
the party's managers but that of the public in general.
He has always taken a leading part in the pro-
motion of the public welfare of Salisbury township,
being public-spirited to an extreme degree and will-
ing at all times to sacrifice his time and means for
the benefit of the community of which he has so long
been a member, and in which his name will be
revered as long as Salisbury township shall endure.
For twelve years he was treasurer of the Pequea
Presbyterian Church, the teachings of which he has
followed throughout his long and useful life.
ISAAC MURR, was born in East Earl town-
ship and died in Intercourse, Pa., March 25, 1898,
having spent his seventy years in Lancaster county
in a most honorable and commendable industry. His
remains rest in the cemetery connected with Ro-
land's church.
Isaac Murr was a son of Jacob and Katie ( Shaf-
fer) Murr. His father was born in Germany, and
his mother in Lancaster county ; both are now dead.
They had the following children : Caroline, now liv-
ing in East Earl township, at the venerable age of
ninety-five years, who has been twice married, to Ja-
cob Usner and to Michael King; Henry, a resident
of Paradise, Lancaster county; John, George, Ja-
cob, Michael, Louis, Isaac and Daniel, all deceased.
Isaac Murr was married in July, 1883, to Cath-
arine Kurtz, who was born in Salisbury township,
a daughter of Henry and Mary (Kurtz) Kurtz.
Pier parents removed in 1854 to East Earl town-
ship, where they spent the rest of their lives. Her
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
643
father died in 1883 at the age of seventy years ; and
the mother, in 1889, at the age of sevefity-nine ; both
were buried in Rancks' Church cemetery. They
were members of the United Brethren Church.
Born to this union were the following children:
Catharine, who is Mrs. Murr; Sylvester, who is a
farmer and phosphate manufacturer in East Earl
township ; Sarah J., who maried E. J. Stunkard, of
East Earl township; Mary A., who died young;
Emma C, who married Martin L. Hummond, a far-
mer of East Earl township.
jVbraham and Magdelina (Martin) Kurtz, the
paternal grandparents of Mrs. Murr, were born in
Salisbury township. Her great-grandfather, Jacob
Kurtz, was also a resident of Lancaster county. Her
maternal grandparents, John and Katie (Sho-
walder) Kurtz, were natives of Salisbury and Cone-
stoga townships, respectively. John Kurtz was a
son of Christian Kurtz, of Salisbury township.
Isaac Murr followed the blacksmith trade the
greater part of his active life. In East Earl town-
ship he worked with Daniel Geist, and while still a
boy, came to Intercourse in 1858. In his later years
he dealt extensively in horses and cattle, and became
very prominent in the community. In his politics
he was a Republican, and took a most intelligent and
active interest in political affairs. He was a good
citizen, an honest man, and a genuine gentleman.
CHRISTIAN E. GOSS, a farmer and teacher
of Conoy township, and a man respected alike for
his character, learning and industry, was born in the
township of West Donegal, Aug. 29, 1857, a son of
Joseph H. and Mary (Erb) Goss.
The father was born in Londonderry township,
Dauphin county, and the mother in Conoy town-
ship. The senior Goss died in Conoy township in
April, 1899, at the age "of seventy-four years. He
was a farmer, and in every way a most estimable
man. For a year he served on the board of super-
visors. His widow who was born in 1832, is now a
resident of Elizabethtown, and is the mother of the
following children : Amos, who died at the age of
eight years; Lizzie, the wife of Abraham H. Meek-
ley, of Columbia ; Christian E. ; Joseph H., a farmer,
of Elizabethtown ; Mary, who died at the age of two
years ; Anna, the wife of David Gable, a merchant of
Mt. Joy ; Ella, the wife of J. W. Shireman, a farmer
of Conoy township ; Emily, the wife of Prof. H. S.
I'rinser, of Bainbridge; Myra, the wife of Joseph
Martin, a teacher of Middletown.
The paternal grandparents of Christian E. Goss
were John and Lizzie (Haldeman) Goss, residents
of Dauphin county, but in later )'ears they removed
to West Donegal township, Lancaster county, where
they died. They were devoted to a farming life, and
were honest and industrious to the last degree. Mr.
Goss's maternal grandparents were Christ and
Lizzie (KraybilD Erb, natives of Lancaster county,
and lifelong residents of Columbia.
Christian E. Goss and Miss Martha Lindemuth
were married in West Donegal township, Dec. 25,
1884, and are the parents of the following children :
Irene ; Clarence, deceased ; Mary, who is now living
with her aunt; Christian; Helen; Joseph, deceased;
Raymond ; Sarah ; Paul ; John. Mrs. Martha Goss
was born in West Donegal township, Feb. 3, 1857,
and was a daughter of Martin and Elizabeth (Engle)
Lindemuth, both natives of Lancaster county. Her
father was a farmer, and died in 1884, at the age of
sixty-five years. Her mother now resides in Eliza-
bethtown.
Christian E. Goss remained at home with his pa-
rents until he reached the age of twenty-seven years.
When he was nineteen he began teaching, and for
twenty-seven years he has taught school in the same
township, nine at Stevens, sixteen at Wickersham,
and two at Bainbridge. For two terms he was
auditor, and for ten years has occupied the position
of justice of the peace; in the spring of 1900 he was
appointed census enumerator for his district. In his
politics he is Republican, and in his religion a mem-
ber of the Church of God, of which he is now an
elder in the local church.
Mr. Goss is a man of fine character, much intel-
ligence and is greatly esteemed in the community
where he has spent his industrious and useful life.
JACOB C. McCONNELL, M. D., a popular
citizen of Terre Hill, Lancaster county, is a native
of Chester county, where he was born April 13, 1848,
a son of Jacob and, Abigail (McCammant) McCon-'
nc!I, both of Scotch extraction, but of American
birth. The family is an old one in Chester county,
where its various representatives have been promin-
ent in both farming and trade.
Dr. J. C. McConnell was reared on the farm, and
had his general school training in the public schools,
and at the Millersville Normal, where he spent two
years. At the end of that time he took up the study
of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Ring-
wolt, of Churchtown, and entered Jefferson Medical
College in the fall of 1868, from which institution
he received his degree in 1870. He pitched his tent
at Terre Hill, where he has remained to the present
time, winning many friends, and building up a good
practice. His footing in the community is unques-
tioned, and his success is complimentary in the high-
est degree.
PLANK IRWIN, a retired miller at New Hol-
land, Pa., was born at Honeybrook, Chester county,
Dec. 5, 1819, a son of William and Christina (Plank)
Irwin. His father was born in Chester county, and
his mother in Lancaster county.
William Irwin was a miller in Honeybrook, and
during the war of 181 2 was a member of the Light
Horse. His death occurred in 1876, at the age of
seventy-six. His wife died in the same year at the
age of seventy-four. The husband and father was a
member of the Presbyterian Church, and the mother
was associated with the Amish church. To William
644
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Irwin and his wife were born : James, William and
John, all of whom are dead ; Martha, the widow of
Louis Emory, living in Coatesville, Pa. ; Plank.
The parents of William Irwin were Mr. and Mrs.
James Irwin. This family came from Scotland, and
James Irwin was a farmer. The parents of Mrs.
Christina Irwin were John Plank and his wife, of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Plank Irwin was married Dec. 5, 1866, to Lydia
A. Kurtz, who was born in Salisbury, and died May
19, 1889, at the age of sixty years. She was a daugh-
ter of Isaac and Julia (Rhodes) Kurtz, of Salisbury
township, Lancaster county, where the father was
engaged in farming and held a very conspicuous
station in the esteem of the people of his community.
Plank Irwin remained at home with his parents
until his marriage, when he engaged in the milling
business, in which he worked for twenty-three years.
In 1884 he retired from active labors, and made his
home on a two-acre tract in New Holland. Mr.
Irwin belongs to the Lutheran Church. In his poli-
tics he is a Republican. Notwithstanding his ad-
vanced age, he is still hale and vigorous, and in the
fall of 1901, cut and shocked his own corn. His in-
dustry and integrity have won him a fair share of
this world's goods, and he is very comfortably sit-
uated.
JOHN HERTZLER, president of The Lan-
caster Trust Company, bears a name that has been
honored in this State for generations. His grand-
father, John Hertzler, a prominent farmer, lived and
died in Rapho township, Lancaster county, leaving
both his estate and his name to his son, who also
lived a useful and quiet life there, dying at the age
of fifty-seven.
The Hertzler family originated in Holland, and
the several generations residing in America have
been principally engaged in agriculture, its members
becoming extensive land owners, excellent farmers,
and most worthy and reputable citizens.
John Hertzler, father of the gentleman whose
name opens this sketch, married Miss Fanny Eshle-
man, who was a daughter of John Eshleman, a re-
tired farmer of Elizabethtown, and a descendant of
one of the leading families of the State. They had
three children: John, the third of his name, presi-
dent of The Lancaster Trust Company; Mary A.,
widow of Jacob Hertzler, a banker of Elizabethtown ;
and Elizabeth, wife of A. F. Murray.
John Hertzler was born in the old homestead in
Rapho township, Dec. 16, 1856, and was educated
in the public schools of his district. At the age of
sixteen years he entered into the banking business in
Elizabethtown, remaining there until 1880, and in
the next year, at the organization of the Fulton Na-
tional Bank, he became paying teller. From this po-
sition he was promoted to that of cashier, remaining
with the institution until 1887, when he resigned and
went to Minneapolis, Minn., there becoming treas-
urer of the Northwestern Milling Company. At
the end of two years he closed his business interests
in the West, and returned to Lancaster to accept the
position of treasurer of The Lancaster Trust Com-
pany, which position he filled with great accept-
ability to both the officers and patrons of the insti-
tition. Mr. Hertzler continued in that office from
1889, the date of the company's organization, until
the death of John I. Hartman, on Dec. 26, 1899, at
which time he was promoted to the presidency of
this stable and popular financial concern.
It is generally conceded that no two men have
contributed in a more marked degree to the success
of The Lancaster Trust Company than John Hertz-
ler and his predecessor. The careful, conservative
course adopted by Mr. Hertzler is supported by the
other officers of the institution, and his field of use-
fulness in this connection seems to extend far into
the future, Although so much of his time and energy
is necessarily given to the affairs of this company,
he is interested in numerous other enterprises, and
serves as president of the Hubley Manufacturing
Company, treasurer of the Star Ball Retainer Com-
pany, secretary of the American Guard Rail Fastener
Company of Philadelphia, and a director of the Lan-
caster County Railway & Light Company (which
controls all the lighting and trolley systems of Lan-
caster county) , as well as a director in a number of
the railway lines controlled by the Conestoga Trac-
tion Company. Mr. Hertzler has developed an abil-
ity to meet important business problems that has-
made his influence felt in all these various under-
takings. He is also a trustee of the Reformed
Theological Seminary, and the Lancaster Cemetery
Company, and treasurer of the board of education
of the Reformed Church of the Eastern Synod of
the United States. In addition to the above he is
an active member of the first Reformed Church, and
one of its most liberal supporters. In politics Mr..
Hertzler has always been a stanch Republican, but
he has never taken an active part in political affairs.
Through his marriage with Miss Emma Groff,.
Mr. Hertzler became connected with one of the old-
est and most substantial families of the county. He
was married in October, 1880, his wife being a
daughter of the late Samuel Groff, who died in No-
vember, 1895.' Mr. and Mrs. Hertzler's three chil-
dren are John Walter, a student of the Lehigh Uni-
versity ; Arthur Groff, also a student at Lehigh ; and'
Emma A.
BENJAMIN F. HOOKEY, of Conestoga Cen-
ter, Lancaster county, descends from Benedict
Huckey, as the name was then spelled, who came to-
the United States from Berne, Switzerland.
Benedict Huckey was a farmer by occupation.
He first settled in Berks county, Pa., but in time mi-
grated to Springfield, 111., where he died at the age of
eighty. He was a man of powerful physique, six
feet in height and of massive frame, a fine specimen-
of manhood. His family consisted of five children .
Samuel, deceased, who was a foreman on railroat}?
L^'^''
/
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
645
construction; Christian, father of Benjamin F. ; Ru-
dolph, a retired merchant of Springfield, 111., now
(1902) eighty-six years old; Mary, who became the
wife of a Mr. Yelk, of Springfield, 111., both de-
ceased ; and John, deceased, who was a carpenter at
Paradise, this county, where he made his home and
died.
Christian Hookey was born Nov. 7, 1812, and
died in June, 1898. He was a carpenter and followed
that trade throughout his life. He married Chris-
tianna Trissler, who was born March 7, 1818, and
still survives; they had a family of ten children, as
follows : John, who died when two years old ; Mary,
who died in 1899, the wife of George W. Nagle, of
York, Pa., deceased in June, 190 1 ; Benjamin F. ;
Elizabeth, who died when fourteen months old;
Ellen, the wife of Frederick Wettig, a retired butcher
of Lancaster ; Harriet, the wife of Aaron Fulmer, of
Lancaster: Emma, who died when nineteen years
old ; Anna, the wife of John Beyerly, of Lancaster ;
Margie, the widow of James P. Plucker, of Lan-
caster ; Samuel, who died when thirty-five years of
age. The children of John and Mary (Huber)
Trissler, maternal grandparents of our subject, all
except Mrs. Hookey now deceased, were: Mary,
wife of Henry Steigerwalt, both now deceased ;
Michael, a butcher of Lancaster ; John, a butcher of
Lancaster; Sophia, wife of William Hubbard, of
Lancaster, both deceased ; Catherine, wife of Will-
iam Hensel, both deceased; Christianna, mother of
Mr. Hookey : David, a butcher of Conestoga Center ;
and Harriet, wife of Henry Stauffer, of Philadel-
phia, both deceased. The father of this family was
a butcher by trade.
Benjamin F. Hookey was born at No. 231 East
Chestnut street, Lancaster, April 29, 1841. He was
reared and educated in that city up to the age of ten
years and then removed to Conestoga Center, where
liis education was finished. At the age of ten he
went to work for his uncle David and after eleven
years in his employ bought out the business, butcher-
ing, which he has since conducted on his own ac-
count. He has a well-appointed establishment, and
does a wholesale as well as retail trade, slaughtering
all his own stock. Mr. Hookey is a leader in his line
in the county. He stands for everything which is to
the advantage of the community, and is ever ready
to lend his support to this end.
On Dec. 6, 1863, Mr. Hookey married Barbara
A. Groff, daughter of Mr. A. Grofif, ex-coroner of
the county, and they have had a family of eight chil-
dren, as follows: Anna L., wife of Henry M. Hei-
beck, of Strasburg; B. Frank, Charles Edgar,
Mamie, and Esther E., all deceased ; John Arthur,
resident of Mellenville, N. Y., a mixer in the chem-
ical department in the Atlas Match Company ; Wil-
ber P., at home ; and Emily, at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Hookey have been members of the
■ M. E. Church of Conestoga Center since i860. He
has long been a member of the board of trustees and
for thirty-two years its secretary, having always
been a regular attendant. He is a member of Cones-
toga Lodge, No. 334 I. O. O. F., and represented the
lodge to the grand lodge several times since 1862,
the last time in 1902 ; a charter member of Kishaca-
quillas Tribe, No. 65, I. O. R. M., of which he has
been chief of records for thirty years ; a member of
Mt. Nebo Castle, No. i;8, K. of M. C. ; of the Order
of the Golden Eagle, A. Herr Smith Castle, No. 158;
and White Cross Commandery, No. 159, K. of M.
He also belongs to Capt. George H. Hess Post, No.
571, G. A. R., Safe Harbor, and is the present com-
mander, having filled that office two different times,
and been its delegate to the state encampment at a
number of sessions of the body. Mr. Hookey served
in Co. A, i8th Pa. militia, having been mustered into
the service Sept. 10, 1862, as a musician; he was
mustered out after a short term of service. He also
has the proud record of settling up more estates as
executor, administrator, assignee, trustee under
wills, etc., than any other man in the Community in
which he resides, in all cases without any solicitation
on his part ; he is held in high esteem by his neigh-
bors for honesty and uprightness and is a man whose
services, advice and support in legal matters are
sought after, and accepted. He has also been hon-
ored by the different orders of which he is a member,
by his election for quite a number of years in suc-
cession as their representative to the grand bodies,
which meet in annual session.
Mr. Hookey is a Republican in politics, has voted
that ticket for forty years, and been an active worker
in his district for more than thirty; he has repre-
sented his district many times in the county con-
ventions as committeeman, and has been return
judge of the election board. He has been a candi-
date several times for the office of county commis-
sioner and expects to be again at the coming election
in 1905, with the prospect of being elected.
JOHN H. PARTHEMER, an honored veteran
of liie Civil war and an old and respected resident
of Elizabethtown, was born at Middletown, Pa., Oct.
15, 1835, a son of John and Anna (Hotts) Parth-
emer, natives of Dauphin and Lancaster counties,
respectively. The father, a farmer, was born in
1799, and died in 1864 at the "White House Hotel."
His widow survived him many years, dying in High-
spire, Pa., in February, 1882, at the age of eighty-
two years ; they were both members of the Church
of God. They were parents of the following family :
Jacob, who died at the age of nineteen ; Mary, who
married A". Fetral, and died at the age of seventy-
two years ; Anna, who lived to be ten years old ;
Lizzie, who died in infancy ; Henry, who lived to be
seventy-one : Elizabeth, who died young ; John H. ;
George W., who lives at Highspire.
The paternal grandparents of John H. Parthe-
mer, Jacob and Elizabeth (Alleman) Parthemer,
were residents of Middletown; his grandfather on
the maternal side, John Hotts, lived in Lancaster
county.
646
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
John H. Parthemer was married in Harrisburg,
Pa., Nov. 23, 1865, to Miss Anna E. Parthemer, and
the children of this union were: Grant A., a tele-
graph operator of Parkesburg, Pa.; Lillie F., who
died at the age of thirteen months; William F., a
telegraph operator in Lancaster; Frances M., who
died at the age of twenty-two years ; Clarence E.,
who died in infancy; Carrie E., at home; Wallace
C, at home, who for the past year has been billing
clerk in the freight depot of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road at Elizabethtown.
Mrs. Anna E. (Parthemer) Parthemer was born
near Hum.melstown, Pa., Nov. 5, 1842, a daugh-
ter of William and Catherine (Sener) Parthe-
mer, of Dauphin county. Her father was a prom-
inent and very successful business man and. farmer
in his community, holding the office of tax collector,
and dealing extensively in real estate for many years.
He died in 1885 at the age of seventy-six years, his
wife having passed away thirteen years before at the
age of fifty-seven. They were members of the United
Brethren Church, and were much esteemed in their
own community by those who were the best ac-
quainted with them. Mr. and Mrs. Parthemer had
the following family : Sarah, who is living unmar-
ried at Annville, Pa. ; Mary, who died in infancy ;
Anna E., who is married to John H. Parthemer;
Samuel, a farmer in Kansas; Fanny, the wife of
Samuel H. Gramm, of Grafton, W. Va., who has
been State Senator, and is a lumber merchant, and
the vice-president of the First National Bank of
Grafton ; Kate, the wife of George L. Hanschue, of
Wrightsville.
Mr. Parthemer began working on the farm at the
very early age of seven years, and continued there
until he was twenty-four years old, when he removed
to Highspire, where he was engaged in farming for
fifteen years. For three years he was engaged in
farming at Duffy's Island, and two years in tobacco
farming at Falmouth, Lancaster county. For a year
he was on a rented farm in Dauphin county, and then
came back to Falmouth, where he continued tobacco
farming until 1876. For four years he was engaged
in the same business in Elizabethtown, and then in
1880 retired from active business.
The military experiences of Mr. Parthemer were
creditable both to his manhood and patriotic devo-
tion. Oct. 9, 1861, he enlisted as a member of Co. I,
93d P. V. I. When his term of three years had ex-
pired he re-enlisted in January, 1864, and served
throughout the war. He was seriously wounded
three times. In the battle of Winchester he received
his first wound while engaged in that conflict under
command of Gen. Sheridan, but he remained with his
company. His second wound was received in the
battle of Cedar Creek, and though severely wounded
in the foot, he remained on the line of battle and did
his full duty as a soldier. His third and most serious
injury was received in the trenches in front of Peters-
burg, March 25, 1865, when the bone of his right
leg was splintered by a bullet, and three pieces of the
bone were removed at City Point Hospital. When
he was able to travel he went home and was treated
by his family physician. Mr. Parthemer entered the
service as a private and was mustered out as a lieu-
tenant, June 27, 1865.
Mr. Parthemer at once applied himself to the arts
of peaceful life on his return from the army. For a
year or more he ran individual cars between Harris-
burg and Elizabethport, N. J., and was employed in a
stone quarry two years, and then began farming on
Duffy's Island, as noted above. Mr. Parthemer has
been school director three years, and was president
of the board one year. In 1895 he was elected to the
town council, and has been re-elected to that position.
In the spring of 1901 he was chosen a member of the
United States jury, and sat in that body at Phila-
delphia for three weeks. He is a member of the
Church of God, and is a Republican in his politics.
An honorable and straightforward man, he has
achieved a fair measure of success in life, and richly
deserves whatever good fortune has come to him.
SAMUEL ELLIOTT, wholesale and retail ice
dealer in Lancaster, is one of the city's prominent
and prosperous business men. He was born in Lan-
caster, Dec. '23, 1847, son of James and Elizabeth
(Ewing) Elliott.
James Elliott, the father, born Oct. 16, 1808, was
a successful agriculturist and operated a number of
excellent farms in Lancaster county, one of these
being that belonging to President James Buch-
anan, in Lancaster township. He died in 1854,
at the age of forty-seven years, his widow sur-
viving until -1893, when she had reached the age of
eighty-two years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Elliott were
members of the Presbyterian Church. They were
buried among the beautiful surroundings of Wood-
ward Hill cemetery. Their children were : Jane,
died unmarried; Margaret, who married Sheaffer
Metzgar, of Lancaster ; Rebecca, who is the widow
of Henry Shultz ; Findly, who was married to Eliza-
beth Hildebrand, of Strasburg, who later died, and
he then married Catherine Mathiot, of Strasburg,
Lancaster county ; Maria, deceased, wife of Thomas
Scott; and Samuel.
Mr. Elliott spent his boyhood in his native city
and was instructed in her excellent schools. He was
engaged in teaming from the age of twenty-three
years until 1872, when he embarked in the ice
business which he has conducted with excellent
judgment and good success ever since, carrying on
both wholesale and retail lines. He is progressive
in his methods and has fine accommodations to meet
the demands of the public.
On Sept. 16, 1878, Mr. Elliott was united in
marriage with Miss Josephine Myers, born in New
York City, Sept. g, 1847, daughter of John and
Catherine (Bream) Myers, of Germany. Mr.
Myers made a trip to America alone, soon after his'
marriage, to benefit his health, and finding the cli-
mate agreeable, he returned to Germany and came'
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
647
back with his wife, locating in New York City where
he carried on the business of a shoe merchant. In
1 85 1 he removed to Lancaster and after the death of
his wife Jan. 21, 1878, at the age of sixty-four years.
he took a trip to the West, remaining for a period of
three years. His death took place in 1890, at the age
of seventy-nine years, and both he and his wife were
buried in the Lancaster cemetery. Mr. and Mrs.
Myers had three children, namely : George G., who
is a justice of the peace, in Coatesville, Pa. ; Gus-
tavius, who conducts a barber business in Lancas-
ter ; and Josephine, who became M.rs. Elliott.
Mr. and Mrs. ElHott have had a family of three
children, namely : John F., born Oct. 28, 1879, who
died in 1895, at the age of fifteen years, eleven
months and twelve days ; Samuel G., born Nov. 12,
1 88 1, who married Miss Hazel Rote and is engaged
in the ice business in Lancaster ; and Florence E.,
born Nov. 20, 1883, at home. The religious con-
nection of the family is with the Trinity Lutheran
Church, to which Mrs. Elliott is a liberal contrib-
utor. In politics Mr. Elliott is a staunch Democrat,
but no office seeker, attending to the demands of his
increasing business with stich close attention that
he finds little time for the political field. However,
Mr. Elliott takes a great interest in the progress and
development of his city and her resources, and fa-
vors those enterprises which prove to be worthy.
WILLIAM C. ARMSTRONG, the popular and
successful proprietor of the "Quarryville Hotel," at
Ouarryvillle, Lancaster county, was born in West
Ontario, Canada, May 26, 1843, ^nd is a son of John
and Jane Armstrong, natives of the North of Ire-
land and of Scotland, respectively. They were mar-
ried in Ireland, and came to Canada in 1836, and be-
gan their career in the New World on a farm where
their industry, thrift and integrity soon brought them,
to the front, bringing them into wide recognition as
prosperous and successful. The father died in 1884,
and his widow two years later. He was a member
of the Episcopal Church, and his wife of the Metho-
dist.
To Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong were born the fol-
lowing children : Robert, now of California ; John
J., of Canada ; David, a lumberman in Canada ;
George,, deceased ; William C. ; Johnston, deceased ;
Margaret J., the wife of Mr. Pierce, of Canada ; Ir-
win, of Canada ; two who died in infancy.
William C. Armstrong received a somewhat
limited education when a boy, and began life as a
blacksmith in London, Canada. After working a
while there and in other Canadian cities, in 1861 he
sought work in Rochester, N. Y. ; for some time he
worked in that city and in New York, and then went
to Nashville, Tenn., where he followed his trade. In
1864 he came to York county, Pa., where he worked
at his trade until 1808. There he married Sallie E.,
the estimable daughter of 'Squire James Johnston,
of York. Mrs. Armstrong was born in 1843, i"
York county, and was educated in the home schools.
She was one of eight children born to her parents :
Nancy Johnston, the widow of Thomas McMasters ;
York county; Mary, the wife of James Maxton, of
York cotmty ; James, a veteran of the Civil war, and
now a resident of Lebanon, Pa. ; Sallie E. ; Samuel,
a farmer on the old homestead; John, a farmer
in York county ; William, deceased ; Hugh, a farmer
of York county.
William C. Armstrong settled at Oxford, Ches-
ter county, where he engaged in work as a black-
smith some eight years, and in addition took charge
of a livery stable there which he purchased, for some
eight years, doing a profitable business in horses
also. In 1886 he purchased the large hotel in Ox-
ford, where he engaged as a hotel man until 1897.
Then he spent about a year on his farm in Russell-
ville. In 1898 he became the proprietor of the
"Quarryville Hotel," where he is still carrying on
what has proved a very profitable hotel venture. To
him and his good wife have come five children, two
of whom died young. Those living are: William,
who is married and has one daughter, Violet, born
in Chester county in 1896; Ross is unmarried and at
home; Florence, the only daughter, is a young wo-
man of much culture and refinement, and is greatly
loved and admired for her many good qualities, her
generous disposition and kindly nature having made
her many friends among the guests of the hotel as
well as among the people of the town. Mrs. Arm-
strong and her daughter Florence, belong to the
Presbyterian Church. Mr. Armstong and both his
sons are Republicans and take an active interest in
party politics. Aside from his very successful career
as a hotel man, Mr. Armstrong has given much
thought and care to fine horses, and he has handled
some of the finest track horses in the State. "Gor-
don H.," the noted stallion, with a national reputa-
tion, is owned by him, as well as several other noted
flyers on the speedway.
BENJAMIN K. LONG. Connected with the
agricultural life of Lancaster county. Pa., since
1729, the Long family have the right to be termed
one of the oldest and best known in this part of the
State of Pennsylvania.
The great-grandfather of Benjamin K. Long
was Herman Long, the founder of the family in
America, who came to this country from Switzer-
land, and located in Lancaster ' county, where he
purchased a large tract of land, in East Hempfield
township, a part of this now being contained in the
town of Landisville. Just east of this property lay
the old Long homestead, which was purchased in
1737, consisting of 350 acres, and the greater por-
tion of this valuable land is still in the possession of
the Long family, Benjamin K. being the fortunate
owner of ninety-four acres, and Herman H. Long,
son of John K. Long, deceased, the owner of sev-
enty-one acres.
John Long, grandfather of Benjamin K., suc-
ceeded to this large estate, and left part of it to his
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNi^LS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
son Abraham, who was born April 20, 1778, and
here he conducted a distillery in connection with his
farming operations. He married Anna Kauffman,
a daughter of Christian Kauffman, Feb. 14, 181 1,
who was born Dec. 4, 1792, and who died Dec. 18,
1870. The father died Dec. 28, 1846. Abraham
Long and wife reared the following children: (i)
Abraham K. married, Jan. 20, 1838, Susan Huber,
and died Jan. 14, 1843, leaving no children. (2)
Christian K. married, Nov. 25, 1847, Anna Hie-
stand, and died Aug. 30, 1896, the father of six
children, as follows: Mary, deceased; Matilda,
who married Christian Nissley, and lives in Rapho
township ; Abraham H., who married Emma Mey-
ers, and lives in East Hempfield township; Lizzie,
who married Elias Herr, of Manor township;
Christian H., of Landisville, Pa. ; and Hiram, de-
ceased. (3) John K. married, Jan. 9, 1849, Eliza-
beth Miller, and died May 11, 1897, the father of
two children : Herman H., who married Lillie
Hoarr, and lives in East Hempfield township ; and
Fannie P., of Landisville. (4) Benjamin K. is the
subject proper of this sketch. (5) Susan married,
Nov. II, 1841, Jacob H. Hershey, and died Oct. 18,
1898, the mother of six children : Emillia, deceased
wife of Levi H. Shenk, of Rapho township ; Wa=''-
ington, who married Sarah Detweiler at Marietta,
Lancaster county; Abraham, who married Fannie
Mellinger, and resides at Silver Spring, West
Hempfield township ; Webster, who married Cath-
arine Zoog, and lives in East Hempfield township ;
Benjamin, who married Lizzie Gamber, and resides
at Silver Spring; and Horace, deceased. (6) Anna
was married Nov. 11, 1841, to Samuel Nissley, and
she died Nov. 15, 1863. Ten children were born
of this union : Harriet, wife of Jacob Hostetter, of
Penn township ; Jonas, who married Anna Charles,
and makes his home in Manor township ; Abraham,
who wedded a Miss Smith, and now lives in East
Hempfield township ; Samuel, of Drumore town-
ship, who married Ellen Hershey ; Herman, of Har-
risburg, who wedded a lady from Mechanicsburg,
Pa. ; Benjamin, who married Anna Hostetter, and
now lives in East Hempfield township ; Frank, who
married Lillie Hoffman, and also lives in East
Hempfield township ; Henry Lincoln, a resident of
Illinois, who married a Miss Johnson, a French
Canadian from Montreal, Canada ; and Ellen and
John, both deceased. (7) Fannie was married Dec.
20, 1849, to Jacob B. Landis (a business man of
Mt. Joy, who died in July, 1863), and became the
mother of seven children, as follows : Benjamin, re-
siding at Erie, Pa., who married Emma Busser;
Ellen ; Aaron, Abraham, Wesley and Jacob, all four
deceased ; and Lemuel, a resident of Lancaster city,
who married Susan Swartly. (8) Maria married
Abraham Perry, of Lancaster, and has one daugh-
ter, Anna.
Benjamin K. Long has always followed farm-
ing, continuing to be actively engaged until 18'^"'
when he retired, and since then has lived in the quiet
enjoyment of a sufficient competency. Benjamin
Long has never married, but his sister, Mrs. Landisj
makes her home with him, as her surviving children
have homes of their own.
Before taking up religion Benjamin Long was
an active Republican, and the principles of that
party he has always considered the best. The re-
ligious connection of himself and sister is with the
Reformed Mennonite Church, where both are highly
esteem^ed.
LEVI ELLMAKER, Esq., one of the best
known members of the Lancaster Bar, belongs to
one of Lancaster's oldest and most prominent fam-
ilies, and their history is given in the sketches of
Mr. Ellmaker's father and his brothers, the late
Nathaniel Ellmaker, Esq., and Dr. Thomas Ell-
maker, elsewhere in these annals.
Levi Ellmaker was born in the old Ellmaker
home on North Duke street (where John D. Skiles'
tobacco warehouse now stands) Feb. 22, 1836. After
attending private and public schools in Lancaster,
in his boyhood, he was sent to the West Chester
Academy, spending three years there, and three years
at the College of St. James, in Maryland. He then
went for a time to Yale. After leaving, college Mr.
Ellmaker went to Colebrook Furnace, Lebanon
county, with the Colemans, remaining there three
years, then spent two years in Kansas, and returned
to Lancaster, arriving here in December, 1858.
In February, 1859, he engaged in the coal business
at Prince and Lemon streets, continuing there until
April, 1866. His next business enterprise was the
purchase of an interest in the Susquehanna Roll-
ing Mill, at Columbia, and after that he read law
with his brother, the late Nathaniel Ellmaker, and
was admitted to practice in April, 1876. After be-
ing engaged in active practice with his brother for
some years, failing eyesight compelled him to
abandon general practice, and to confine himself to
Orphans' Court practice, in which he is engaged
at present.
Although an ardent Republican since 1856, Mr.
Ellmaker has never accepted — and certainly never
sought — public office, although political preferment
has been within easy reach of himself and his
brother, Nathaniel. Neither would accept political
office because, at the death of their father, a paper
was left by him in which he admonished his sons
never to seek nor accept political office, and they
respected the admonition. In his earlier manhood
Mr. Ellmaker was active in Masonry, having be-
longed to Lodge No. 43, and Commandery No. 13.
Religiously he affiliates with the First Presbyterian
Church, having been a pew holder there for an
ordinary life time.
Mr. Ellmaker was married, Jan. 13, 1859, to
Miss Elizabeth, third daughter of the late Robert D.
Carson, who was cashier of the Lancaster County
Bank. Four children were born of this union,
Mary, Elizabeth Elder, Susan Carson, and Amos,
^^P'-^-^a.-^^e^ — ^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
649
Mary and Amos entering into rest in early child-
hood.
Possessed of fine conversational powers, fond of
reminiscence, and withal of a most genial, kindly
nature, Mr. Ellmaker naturally has hosts of friends,
and is as popular professionally as he is socially.
JOSIAH HERSHEY, a well-known retired
farmer of Salisbury township, is a worthy repre-
sentative of a highly esteemed family that has been
known to Pennsylvania since ,1719, when three
brothers came to America from their home in Swit-
zerland, and located in Lancaster county.
Joseph Hershey, the grandfather of Josiah Her-
shey, was for many years a prominent bishop in the
Mennonite Church, and in his life faithfully en-
deavored to follow the rules of the faith he pro-
fessed. He made his home in Salisbury township,
and when he died in 1855, at the age of sixty-four,
his remains were laid to rest on a part of his farm,
set aside as the Hershey burying ground. His wife,
who in her maidenhood was Magdalena Roop, lived
to the advanced age of ninety years, and was laid
to rest at her husband's side. Their children were as
follows : Jacob R., mentioned below ; Christian,
who died at the age of eighteen years; John, who
died young; Abraham; Barbara, who became the
wife of David Hoover, and is now deceased, and
Anna, who died young.
Jacob R. Hershey grew to manhood on his
father's farm, and made farming his occupation
through life. Brought up in a Christian home, he
early professed his faith, and became a preacher in
the Mennonite Church. For forty-two years he has
been en expounder of the doctrines of that sect, and
has lived so as to lead his flock by example as well
as by precept. He is greatly beloved in the com-
munity where he is so well known, and his advice is
ever followed with unfailing fidelity. He married
Margaret Eby, daughter of Peter Eby, whose wife
was a member of the Weaver family. (For sketch of
Eby family, see sketch of Bishop Peter Eby else-
where). To their union were born nine children,
of whom we have the following record : Josiah, our
subject; Magdalena, wife of John R. Buckwalder,
of Kinzers, Pa. ; Peter, who went West, and has not
since been heard from; Ephraim, a farmer of Salis-
bury township : Mary, who married Christian Metz-
ler, a farmer of Paradise township ; Jacob, a farmer
in Salisbury township ; Susan, wife of John S.
Rohrer, a farmer of Salisbury township ; Lizzie, who
died young; and Margaret, deceased.
Josiah Hershey was born Oct. 24, 1839, ^"d he
remained with his parents on the farm in Salisbury
until his rtiarriage, when he moved to a farm about
one mile distant, and there resided about twenty-
five years. He then removed to Chester county. Pa.,
and engaged in farming there for nine years, after
which he passed three years at Gap, Lancaster
county, and two years more in Chester county. The
years passed in Lancaster county in his youth and
early manhood had formed ties time could not break,
and when he retired from active work in 1900, he
returned to his native town and purchased forty-
five acres of land, still, however, retaining his Ches-
ter county farm of 154 acres.
On Aug. 2, 1859, Mr. Hershey was married, at
Reading, Pa., to Mary A. Hershey, and this union
has been blessed with children, as follows: Abby,
who married Francis Lennock, and died at the age
of thirty-one, leaving seven children; Magdalena,
who married Isaac S. Rohrer, of Kinzers, Pa., and
has four children ; Elizabeth, who married Addison
M. Groff, of Lancaster, and has four chil-
dren (he is engaged in the poultry business) ;
Margaret, who fell into a tank of water and was
drowned at the age of twenty months; Jo-
seph I., at home; Maggie, who died at the age of
eighteen months ; Peter E., a farmer of Chester
county, who married Theresa Derringer, and has
three children; Josiah W., who is engaged in the
hardware business at Gap, and who married Gert-
rude Townsend, by whom he has two children; Dr.
George B., of Salisbury, mentioned elsewhere in this
volume; and Naomi, Ruth and Samuel, who all
three died in infancy. Mrs. Mary A. (Hershey)
Hershey was born in Upper Leacock township, Nov.
.14, 1840, a daughter of Jacob F. and Christina
(Bair) Hershey, the former a farmer and miller,
who entered into rest Oct. i, 1896, aged seventy-
nine years, and the latter of whom died in April,
1896, at the same age. They were both buried in
Hershey's cemetery in Salisbury township. Their
children were; John B., a farmer of Salisbury
township; Mary A., Mrs. Hershey; Emanuel, a
farmer and miller of Chester county. Pa. ; Amanda,
wife of J. B. Cadwell, of Philadelphia, Pa. ; Jacob
H., of Philadelphia ; and Ada E., wife of Taylor
Worst, of Philadelphia. The family were brought
up in the Mennonite faith.
Jacob F. Hershey, father of Mrs. Mary A.
(Hershey) Hershey was a son of John and Eliza-
beth (Frantz) Hershey, farming people of Lan-
caster county. Mrs. Christina (Bair) Hershey was
a daughter of Joel and Mary (Wolf) Bair, farmers
and slave owners of considerable prominence.
Josiah Hershey, our subject, has been a man ac-
tive in public affairs wherever he lived. During
his residence in Chester county, he efficiently served
as supervisor, and for three years was a school di-
rector. In politics he is a staunch Republican. Like
his father and grandfather before him, he is a Men-
nonite in religious faith. Upright and honorable
in all his dealings, charitable in his judgments, he is
highly esteemed by all who know him.
ANDREW HERR. Among the prominent and
substantial farmer citizens of Strasburg township,
who for many years has been one of the progressive
and successful men of this locality, is Andrew Herr,
who resides upon a fine estate one mile north of
Refton, Pennsylvania.
650
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Andrew Herr was born in West Lampeter town-
ship, on a farm which adjoins the one he now occu-
pies, March lo, 1841, a son of EUas and Elizabeth
(Hershey) Herr, the former of whom was a son of
Rev. Christian Herr, who, in turn, was a son of
Rev. Christian Herr, the family being an old one in
this county. Elias Herr was born in May, 1804,
and died Oct. 11, 1881. He started on his business
career on the farm, in West Lampeter township
where our present subject was born, where he be-
came the owner of a farm of 100 acres, upon
which he erected a distillery, which he conducted
for many years, later opening up and operating two
other distilleries in Strasburg township. This busi-
ness proved very remunerative and as time went
on he increased his landed possessions until he had
four fine farms in West Lampeter and in Strasburg
townships, and wood lands in Martic township, ag-
gregating many hundreds of acres. In addition to
this property he bought land both in the South and
West. Elias Herr was a man of more than or-
dinary business ability, and while others were willing
to quietly cultivate the soil and enjoy its yield, he was
ever on the alert to develop every part of his land,
and to make it just as productive as the farming por-
tion. Hence, when he found a deposit of lime on his
property he engaged in lime burning, which business
grew to large dimensions, and for many years
yielded considerable income. The lime proved to
be of a fine white quality, and readily sold over a
great extent of territory. This business is still car-
ried on by his sons, and is handled by the Phila-
delphia & Reading Railroad. As a man of known
probity he was called upon to administer many
estates, and was known far beyond his own county.
His connection with the Mennonite Church had
been of many years standing.
The first marriage of Elias Herr was to Eliza-
beth Hershey, who died in 1848, leaving five chil-
dren : Jeremiah, who resides in West Lampeter
township ; Mary Ann, who married Rev. Elias Groff,
of Strasburg township ; Andrew, of this biography ;
Elias, who resides in Limeton, Warren Co., Va.,
engaged in the lime business ; and Benjamin F., of
Lancaster, who is the agent for the Ephrata Min-
eral Springs water. The second marriage of Elias
Herr was to Catherine Hershey, a sister of his for-
mer wife, but she, too, passed away, her death oc-
curring in 1862. His third union was with Mar-
garet Weaver, who died in 1893.
Andrew Herr was reared on the farm and at-
tended the district schools of West Lampeter, and
remained at home, assisting- his father, until his
marriage, in 1863, when he located upon the farm
which he still occupies. This land required much
improvement and ever since locating upon Mr.
Herr has been adding to its value. In 1864 he
erected the residence which at that time was con-
sidered to be both commodious and convenient, but
times have changed, and now Mr. Herr has one of
the most comfortable and attractive residences in
the county, the remodeling having been done in
1900. Modern improvements have been introduced
and now there is no more agreeable country home
in the county. After Mr. Herr located on this place
he turned his attention entirely to farming, and until
1889 engaged in no other business, but at that time
took charge of the lime kilns which had been oper-
ated by his brother, Benjamin F. Herr, and since
that time has carried on both lines of business.
The lime kilns are valuable property, the out-
put since 1867 having been about 50,000
bushels, and all of it is of the highest quality,
being burned exclusively with wood. The home
farm of Mr. Herr contains 140 acres and he
also owns the one adjoining on the west, of
152 acres, and recently purchasing twenty more
acres, he has divided his whole property into
three farms. He has erected new buildings on the
third farm, and has builded the house of brick, as
are the houses on the other two farms. Andrew
Herr is also the owner of a tract of seventy acres of
wood land in Martic township, and thirty-eight acres
in Providence township and also two small tenant
properties, all of these combined, with his other in-
terests, making him one of the most substantial men
in the township. Although a man of wealth and
prominence, he is of quiet and unassuming manner,
and is valued as a good neighbor and kind friend.
On Oct. 27, 1863, Andrew Herr was united in
marriage with Susan Hess, who was born near Lam-
peter, in West Lampeter township, Feb. 28, 1842,
a daughter of Harry and Elizabeth (Herr) Hess.
They have had a family of eight children: Eliza-
beth F., born Dec. 30, 1864, married Jacob E. Wit-
mer, a farmer of Strasburg township ; Milton, bom
in 1866, died in infancy; Lucina V., born Dec. 22,
1867, died Sept. 28, 1870 ; Annie W., born April
10, 1870, died March- 19, 1871 ; Susan E., born Jan.
2, 1872, married Benjamin Shaub, of Strasburg
township ; Harry H., born July 22, 1874, died Sept.
26, 1882; Mary E., born Sept. 2, 1876, married
Tacob W. Brenneman, of Strasburg township : and
Amos A., born Nov. 28, 1880, died Dec. 4, 1880.
Mr. and Mrs. Herr are happy in their children and
rejoice in their five grandchildren, Claire, Susan,
Arthur and Anna Witmer and Myrtle Shaub. Their
religious connection is with the Old Mennonite
Church, with which the family name is associated
through the State.
JACOB B. MECKLEY, a retired farmer and
carpenter of Elizabethtown, Pa., was born in Mt.
Joy township, Sept. 25, 1822, a son of Jacob and
Mary (Brandt) Mecklev, of Dauphin, and Lancaster
counties, respectively. The father was a farmer, and
was killed by a tree falling on him before his son
Jacob B., was born. He was the father of two chil-
dren : Anna, who married Henry Sharrer, and is
now deceased ; and Jacob B. The widowed mother
married for her second husband, Leonard Bender,
by whom she had the following children : Leonard,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
651
deceased; Christian, who is in the West; John, also
in the West ; Mary is married and Hves at Marys-
ville, Pa. ; Fanny, who died unmarried in 1880 ; and
William, m the West. Mrs. Bender died in Cumber-
land county. Pa., in 1880.
The paternal grandfather of Jacob B. Meckley,
Melchior Meckley, came from Germany with his
wife. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Meckley was
Christian Brandt, a native of Lancaster county, where
he lived and died.
Jacob B. Meckley was married in 1847 i" Harris-
burg, to Elizabeth Sherer, and to this union were
born the following children: Isaac, who married
Mary Kob, is deceased; Simon, deceased; Fanny,
who married Joshua Kaylor, a farmer of Conoy
township ; Mary A., deceased ; Elizabeth, deceased
Avife of Miller Metzgar, of Dauphin county. Mrs.
Elizabeth (Sherer) Meckley was born in Dauphin
county, Aug. 15, 1828, a daughter of John B. and
Christiana (Brill) Sherer, farmer people of Dauphin
county, where their entire lives were passed.
Jacob B. Meckley remained with his mother until
he was four years of age, when he was put into the
care of an uncle, Joshua Hofifer, who lived in Dauph-
in county, and the ensuing ten years of his life were
spent with him. At fourteen he began working for
himself among the neighboring farmers, and after
ten years of farm work rented a place for himself,
which he cultivated one year, and then went on a
second farm, where he remained until he was thirty-
five years old. It was near the river in Dauphin
•county, and when its owner died, the estate was sold.
Mr. Meckley and his brother-in-law purchased the
farm, which consisted of 187 acres. They cultivated
this place until 1866, when Mr. Meckley sold out his
interest, and bought a second farm, engaging in its
cultivation until 1880. That year he removed to
Elizabethtown, and gave up active farming opera-
tions.
Mr. Meckley is an enterprising and progressive
citizen of the community, and has taken an active and
intelligent interest in local affairs. For many years
he was treasurer of the town council, and served in
that capacity until 1898. Both he and his wife are
members of the Brinzerites Church, and in political
affairs he is a Republican. Mr. Meckley is a stock-
holder in the Axle Works, and was instrumental in
securing their location. He is a prosperous and
much respected citizen of the community, and richly
deserves whatever respect and good fortune have
come to him in his latter days.
CHRISTIAN HUBER, one of the prominent
and well-known farmers of West Lampeter town-
ship, belongs to an old and respected family of Lan-
caster county. The farm occupied by Christian
Huber is one of the model ones of the to\Vnship, lo-
cated one mile southeast of Lampeter, and contains
ninety-one acres of some of the best land in this sec-
tion.
Christian Huber is a son of Christian and Annie
(Hornish) Huber, both of these names being well
and favorably known throughout this part of the
State, and was born Feb. 27, 1858. His education
was received in the excellent public schools, after
which he remained on the home farm until his mar-
riage, in 1884, at which time he removed to his pres-
ent place. ^\.t that time it consisted of eighty-eight
acres, and was in need of many improvements, all
of which our subject has taken no little pains and ex-
pense to remedy, and now, with an additional three
acres and the erection of good buildings and capac-
ious tobacco warehouses, he has one of the finest
farms to be found in this locality. A general line of
farming is carried on, and modern methods have been
introduced to a larger degree than by any other
farmer of this neighborhood. In 1900 he had a com-
plete system of electric lighting introduced into all
the buildings connected with his place, this being an
innovation that certainly will result in advantage to
its progressive owner.
Christian Huber was married Jan. 20, 1884, to
Elizabeth Lefever, a daughter of Adam and Cathr
erine (Kendig) Lefever, who was born in Lampeter,
May 24, i860, and to this union four children have
been born : Katie, Annie, Daisy and Henry. In his
political connection Christian Huber has been a
stanch Republican, but has never sought or consented
to hold office. In the Old Mennonite Church he has
ever been a member of good standing, and has reared
his family in the same pious way. The family is of
the highest respectability and possesses the esteem
of all.
HON. DAVID McMULLEN, ex-judge of the
courts of Lancaster county, is one of the most popular
counsellors in the county, where his distinguished
legal abilities have long since commanded a wide and
generous recognition.
William McMullen, the grandfather of David,
came to America from Belfast, Ireland, and made
his home in Earl township, Lancaster county. A
weaver by occupation, he found his work popular, for
the farmers were then great growers of flax. After
a time he removed to Pennville, Elizabeth township,
where he continued his weaving until his death.
James McMullen, the father of the Judge, was a
contracting carpenter, and he married Elizabeth
.Sheetz, a daughter of Jacob Sheetz, then living at
what is now known as Halfville, Elizabeth township,
Lancaster county. Three of the four children born
to this union are now living: Susan, wife of Will-
iam Yeagley, a farmer of Cornwall township, Leba-
non county ; Hon. David, of Lancaster ; and Edward,
a farmer of Penn township. Catherine, the oldest
child, married Abraham Kauffman, of Penn town-
ship, and is deceased.
Hon. David McMullen was born near Mt. Hope,
Lancaster county, Oct. 20, 1844, and had his educa-
tion in the public schools of the county, in Yeates
Institute, in the Vermont Episcopal School at Bur-
lington, \^t., and at the State Normal School at Mil-
652
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
lersville, from which he was graduated in 1868. For
two years, after his graduation he taught school, and
then began the study of law, reading under the super-
vision of Hugh C. Graham, of Oil City, where he
was engaged as a teacher until the fall of 1869. The
following spring he entered the office of the late S.
H. Reynolds, of Lancaster, and there continued his
studies until he was admitted to the Bar in Decem-
ber, 1 87 1, being admitted to the supreme court in
due time, and he at once entered upon a liicrative
and growing business.
A Democrat in political faith. Judge McMullen
was elected to the common branch of the city coun-
cils, from the second ward, and has been a member
of the school board since 1889. In 1890 he was
elected its president, and has since been re-elected to
the chair, Mr. McMullen was appointed by Gov.
Pattison in March, 1892, to fill the vacancy caused
by the death of Judge Patterson, the term expiring
the following year. Judge McMullen was nominated
by the Democrats, and supported by a leading Re-
publican paper of Lancaster, made a magnificent run
in this the "banner Republican county" of the State.
It was the most remarkable vote ever polled by a
Democrat in Lancaster county.
Judge McMullen is a member of St. James Epis-
copal Church, where he has been a vestryman for a
number of years, and he has acted as treasurer of the
parish since 1877. He is a trustee of Yeates Insti-
tute, and a member of the board of trustees of the
State Normal School at Millersville. Since the in-
ception of the General Hospital of Lancaster, he has
been president of its board of trustees. Mr. McMul-
len belongs to the Royal Arcanum, and the A. O. U.
W. He was favorite counsel to the late Miss Cath-
erine Long, who gave $300,000 for a home for in-
digent unmarried women and the establishment of a
citv park, and he is counsel for the executors of her
will.
Judge McMullen was married to Miss Susan E.,
a daughter of the late Peter E. Lightner, a farmer,
whose fine country home was just beyond the western
limits of Lancaster. To this marriage were born
two children : Mary R., wife of T. William Benner,
of Lancaster ; and Emily S., the wife of Dr. Samuel
Heller, a practicing physician of this city. Judge
McMullen occupies a prominent place in the legal
profession, and his kindly nature and 'magnetic per-
sonalitv make him welcome in all circles, regardless
of political bias.
RUDOLPH S. HERR. The Herr family is one
of the old and most respected ones of Lancaster
county, and members have been long prominetit both
in the religious as well as the agricultural affairs of
this part of the Keystone State.
David Herr, the father of Rudolph S. Herr, was
born in this county where he passed his whole life,
quietly pursuing the avocations of a husbandman,
and by precept and example demonstrating his fit-
ness for the position of deacon in the Old Mennonite
Church, which honorable office he held for a long
period. David Herr married Miss Susan Schenk,
and they became the parents of nine children, these
being Rev. Christian, a good and holy man, now de-
ceased, a faithful minister in the faith of the Old
Mennonite Church; Susan, deceased, who was the
wife of John Charles ; David, who is a retired far-
mer of Manor township ; Henry, deceased, who was
a farmer of Lancaster township; Annie, deceased,
who was the wife of Jacob La,ndis, a miller of Manor
township ; Rudolph S., the subject of this biography ;
Daniel, who is a retired farmer of Penn township ;
Abram, who is a farmer on the old homestead, in
Lancaster township ; and Mary, who is the widow
of Philip Bausman.
Rudolph S. Herr was born in Lancaster town-
ship Feb. 17, 1827, and he was reared a farmer
boy. His education was acquired in the common
schools of his locality, and later, with his manly
strength and energy, he began his farming opera-
tions, his field of work being the estate upon which
he has ever since resided. In 1899 he permitted the
management to fall upon younger shoulders, living •
somewhat retired since that date. Although a very
thorough agriculturist, Mr. Herr had time and abil-
ity to enter into other enterprises, also. In 1890
Mr. Herr established a large ice plant on his farm,
and very soon, with the assistance of his sons, a
large business was built up in this desirable com-
modity, but in 1900 it was bought by the ice trust.
Mr. Herr has also engaged considerably in the
handling of real estate, and is probably better posted '
on the values of country property through this State
than any other citizen. In politics he has always
been a member of the Republican party, and has
served for an extended period as school director.
The marriage of Mr. Herr was to Miss Magde-
line Landis, who was a daughter of John and Annie
Landis, and to this union were born twelve children,
six of whom died in childhood, the survivors being:
Lizzie L., at heme; John, a farmer; Rudolph L., a
farmer in Manor township ; Christian, a farmer of
Lancaster township ; Jacob, one of the partners In
the ice business : and Magdelina, the wife of Henry
Harnish, of Pequea township. The farm at the old
homestead is managed by Mr. Herr's son, John, a
very capable and reliable young man.
Mr. Herr is widely known and universally re-
spected. Few men in this locality have been more
prominently identified with progressive enterprises
beneficial to the community. His membership in the
Old Mennonite Church has existed since his early
days. .As citizen, friend and neighbor Mr. Herr
enjoys the respect of every one.
THOMAS BENTON HAMBLETON. Promi-
nent among the honorable and thrifty citizens of
Drumore township, few are more highly esteemed
than Thomas Benton Hambleton, who is a merchant
and the popular postmaster at Fernglen. He was
born Jan. 4, 1836, in Fulton township, a son of Elias
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
653
and Martha (Kinsey) Hambleton, the latter being
a native of Drumore township.
James Hambleton, the great-grandfather of
Thomas B. Hambleton, came to America from Eng-
land and settled in early days in Bucks county. Pa.,
and his son, James, became the progenitor of a
numerous family which has settled in many States.
Elias Hambleton, the father of Thomas B., was
a son of James and Hannah Hambleton, of Dru-,
more township, born in 1801. He died in Drumore
township, in 1872. On Oct. 29, 1829, he was mar-
ried to Miss Martha Kinsey, of McConnelsville,
Morgan Co., Ohio, who was born May 12, 1805, a
daughter of Benjamin and Margaret Kinsey; she
died Sept. 5, 1880. The children born to this mar-
riage numbered eleven, as follows : Joseph P., who
was a farmer of Drvimore township ; Margaret Ann,
widow of William McLaughlin, of Martic township,
now of Drumore township ; Benjamin K., a car-
penter in Martic township ; Thomas Benton, sub-
ject of this sketch ; Walter F., deceased ; Miss Mary
E., who resided at Fairfield, Pa., until her death,
Oct. 20, 1901 ; James, who died young; Hannah,
who is also deceased: Elias H., of Drumore town-
ship ; Rankin G., of Fulton township ; and Albert,
of Kansas.
Thomas Benton Hambleton was reared on his
father's farm and received exceptional educational,
advantages, beginning in the common schools of
his district, then entered the Chestnut Level Acad-
emy and later the Millersville Normal School, after
which he entered upon the profession of teaching,
and very successfully followed it for a period cov-
ering several years.
Among the earliest of the enthusiastic and loyal
citizens who responded in 1861 to the call for de-
fenders of the country was Thomas B. Hambleton,
who volunteered on Sept. 30th of that year, be-
coming a member of Co. E, 79th P. V. I., under
Capt. M. D. Wickersham and Col. H. A. Ham-
bright. They were assigned to the 14th Army
Corps, which was under the command of the ven-
erated Gen. George H. Thomas. Mr. Hambleton
saw much hard service, taking part in many en-
gagements. On May 29, 1862, Gen. James S. Neg-
ley commanded an expedition in front of Chatta-
nooga, Tenn., of which Col. H. A. Hambright, of
the 79th P. V. I., had command of the troops im-
mediately in front of the city on June 7 and 8.
The expedition started from Columbia, Tenn., May
29th, and after a march of over 192 miles reached
the heights opposite Chattanooga — the first Union
troops ever in front of the city — in the afternoon
of June 7, 1862. This feint preceded the battle of
Perryville, Ky., Oct. 8, 1862, in which the 79th
Pennsylvania lost thirtv-seven per cent, of those
engaged. Other engagements in which Mr. Ham-
bleton participated with his regiment were: the
battle of Stone River ; Hoover's Gap, Tenn. ; Talla-
homa; Chickamauga; in the skirmishes around
Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge ; then on toward
Atlanta, where the troops were continually exposed ;
with Gen. Sherman in his march to the sea. Later
his regiment went up through the Carolinas, thence
on to Richmond, and to Washington, where Mr.
Hambleton took part in that memorable review,
which still stirs the hearts of all who witnessed it
and felt its significance. In that city our subject
was honorably discharged July 12, 1865. Although
not entirely disabled, Mr. Hambleton did not es-
cape all injury, having been badly wounded at
Hoover's Gap, Tenn., and was also slightly wounded
in the knee at Chickamauga.
After the close of the war Mr. Hambleton re-
turned home and as soon as he could rearrange his
life to peaceful pursuits again he found his old
patrons awaiting him, and he took up his old pro-
fession. In 1 87 1 he came to Fernglen and opened
up a mercantile business which has proved emi-
nently successful, owing to his upright business
methods and his willingness to cater to the reason-
able wishes of his patrons. In 1891 he was ap-
pointed postmaster, and is the only one ever located
in Fernglen, giving perfect satisfaction to all con-
cerned.
On Oct. 19, 1871, Thomas B. Hambleton was
married to Miss Mary E. Lamborn, of Martic town-
ship, who was born June 22, 1840, daughter of
Smedley and Margaret (Bolton) Lamborn, the for-
mer of whom was a son of George Lamborn, who
reared a large family in Chester county, and was a
leading member of the Society of Friends. Mrs.
Hambleton was one of a family of eleven children,
namely: George S., who is a farmer of Martic
township; Aquilla B., of Little Britain township;
Emeline, who was the wife of Joseph Shoemaker,
deceased; Elwood : William Lewis; Mary Elizabeth,
wife of our subject; Sarah Ellen, wife of Jacob K.
Brown, a farmer of Fulton township, of whom more
extended mention can be found elsewhere ; Alice A.,
wife of William L. Shoemaker, a thrifty farmer, of
whom more extended notice is given elsewhere;
Priscilla, who died young; Lucinda, wife of B; F.
Tennis, of Drumore township; and Lydia, wife of
Amos P. Smith, of whom extended mention is made
in another place.
Mr. Hambleton is one of the leading citizens of
this locality, and is especially noted for his upright-
ness of life and most estimable character. He has
been a life-long Republican and carries out in his
life the simplicity of the Quaker belief. In his busi-
ness he is alert and energetic, but thoroughly hon-
est and reliable. He owns a most comfortable
dwelling, a fine stock of goods, with large ware-
house, and considerable property, all of which has
been acquired by legitimate methods. Mr. Hamble-
ton is a member of Post No. 566, G. A. R., and is
the secretary of Co. E, 79th P. V. V. I., which meets
annually for a three-days encampment. He has in
his possession a most interesting diary which he
kept of his life during the Civil war, giving an ac-
count of each day's proceedings during his nearly
654
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
four years of continuous service. He is also the
possessor of a very large library; many books of
very valuable research, among them being fifteen
volumes of The Encyclopedia of Universal Knowl-
edge. He has revisited many of the sanguinary
battlefields in Tennessee and Georgia since the war,
and has in his possession many relics of those hard-
fought contests.
MICHAEL B. MUSSER, a retired farmer of
the township of East Donegal, and a man whose
character and standing are the very highest among
those who know him best, was born in West Done-
gal township, Aug. 15, 1831, a son of Benjamin E.
and Elizabeth (Brenner) Musser, born in East
Donegal and Mt. Joy townships, respectively.
Benjamin E. Musser was born Aug. 14, 1810,
and was accidentally killed in Herington, Kan.,
Sept. 23, 1884. He was in Kansas buying property,
and was accompanied by his sons, Henry and Michael
B. They had driven into the country to complete
the purchase of a section of land, had accomplished
their purpose, and were returning to town, when
they drove through a ravine, and the occupants were
thrown out of the wagon, Michael B., falling first
but escaping serious injury. The father received
such injuries that he died very shortly after being
taken up. The body was brought back to Pennsyl-
vania, and was buried in the Brethren in Christ
Cemetery in East Donegal township. Mr. Musser
belonged to the River Brethren Church, and posses-
sed considerable property in his old age, being able
to retire from active work in 1862. His wife, Eliza-
beth Brenner, died May 25, 1880, at the age of
sixty-eight years. To Benjamin E. and Elizabeth
(Brenner) Musser were born the following chil-
dren : Mary, who married Jacob Flory, and lives
in Ohio ; Michael B. ; John, who died in Kansas ;
Susie, who married Jacob Musser, now deceased :
Benjamin, a minister in Franklin county, Pa. ;
Henry, of Florin; Martha, wife of Daniel Heisey;
Annie, who married Rev. John Kuntz, of Union
Deposit; and Amos, of Harrisburg, Pa., a deacon
in the Messiah Home, which he helped to organize.
The paternal grandparents of Michael B. Musser
were Henry and Mary (Engle) Musser, both na-
tives of Donegal township, where they were honest
farming people. Mr. Musser died a young man,
and his widow married Jacob Hershey for her sec-
ond husband, by whom she had no children. To
her first husband she bore the following children:
Benjamin; Susannah, who married John Gish, who
was a Bishop of the River Brethren Church;
Martha, wife of Michael Hoffman; and Anna M.,
the wife of Jacob Engle.
The maternal grandparents of Michael B. Mus-
ser were Philip and Anna M. (Singhaus) Brenner.
Mr. Brenner was born Nov. 11, 1752, and died July
I, 1836. Both he and his wife were natives of Lan-
caster county, and were buried in the Cross Roads
Cemetery, township of East Donegal. The maternal
great-grandparents of Mr. Musser were Michael
and Susannah (Hoffman) Brenner, who lived and
died in Lancaster county, and were buried in the
Kraybill Meeting House Cemetery, in East Done-
gal township.
Michael B. Musser was married in West Hemp-
field township, to Catharine Musser, and there
were born to this union four children, Elizabeth
M., wife of Rev. A. Z. Hess, of the township of
East Donegal ; Eli M. ; Anna, wife of Benjamin Niss-
ley ; and Martha, wife of Hiram Wolgemuth, of
East Donegal township.
Mrs. Catharine Musser was born in West Hemp-
field township, Nov. 13, 1832, a daughter of Christ
and Catherine (Newcomer) Musser. Her father
was a farmer of Lancaster county, and lived to be
eighty-eight years old. Her mother reached the
same age, and both were buried on the farm. They
were members of the York Brethren Church. Their
children were: Anna, widow of Christ Sheetz, of
Rapho township; Miss Barbara, living on the old
farm, as does also her sister. Miss Mary ; Catharine ;
Christ, a farmer in West Hempfield township ; John,
also a West Hempfield farmer ; Tobias, a farmer in
Rapho township ; Joseph, a farmer in the township
of Rapho ; and Martha, deceased.
Mr. Musser has been on the farm where he is
now living since the age of eleven years, and is a
man of most industrious and exemplary habits. As
a member of the Cross Roads River Brethren
Church, his life is squared by his faith to an uncom-
mon extent, and the esteem in which his associates
hold him is attested by the fact that he has been
deacon of the church for twenty years. In local
afl'airs he is a very prominent man, and may be
fairly called one of the representative men of the
tovvnship.
Eli M. Musser (deceased), only son of
Michael B. JMusser, was born July 29, 1859, on the
farm where he died in December, 1896. His re-
mains were buried in the Cross Roads River Breth-
ren Church Cemetery. He was married in Nov.,
1880, in j\It. Joy township, to Mary Wolgemuth,
by whom he became the father of the following
children : Irvin W., who remains at home and culti-
vates the family estate with a skilled and workman-
like manner, rarely found in so young a man; and
Anna W., Katie W., Mary W., Barbara W., and
Martha W., all at home. Mrs. Mary (Wolgemuth)
Musser was born in Mt. Joy township, a daughter
of Rev. Joseph and Barbara (Nissley) Wolgemuth,
both of whom died in Mt. Joy township, the father
in December, 1884, at the age of sixty-two years, and
the mother in March, 1892, at the age of seventy-
two years. Both were members of the River Breth-
ren Church, of which he was a preacher fif-
teen years. Born to this union were : Daniel, a
farmer in the township of Mt. Joy ; Martin, a re-
tired farmer of West Donegal township ; Anna, wife
of Levi Mumma, living on the old homestead ; Aaron
who died young; and Mary. The paternal grand-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
655
parents of Mrs. Eli Musser were Daniel and Bar-
bara (Witmer) Wolgemuth, both natives of Lan-
caster county, who lived and died in the township of
Mt. Joy. Her maternal grandparents were Martin
and Lizzie (Hershey) Nissley, who spent their lives
in Lancaster county.
Eli M. Musser was a member of the River Breth-
ren Church, and had served as a deacon in that com-
munion two years at the time of his death. Mr.
Musser was one of the prominent people of the
township, and displayed those manly qualities so
well worthy of commemoration.
JOHN N. WOODS. The Woods and the Mc-
Causland families, from whom descended John N.
Woods, of Salisbury township, were among the early
settlers of Lancaster county. Two brothers, Thomas
and Adam Woods, emigrated to America and lo-
cated in Lancaster county, Jr'a., in Leacock township,
near Intercourse, about 1743, the McCausland emi-
grants having come some time early in the eighteenth
century. Thomas married Mary Scott, from near
Conestoga Creek, and Adam married Margaret
Montgomery. The latter had no children, but
Thomas reared nine of the twelve born to him. All
of his daughters married in other localities. One
son, Adam, left home and located in Kentucky where
he amassed a fortune, but never married. David, the
eldest son of Thomas Woods, married Ann McCaus-
land, and they became the grandparents of John N.
Woods.
William McCausland, grandfather of the wife
of David Woods, married Jane Burney, a native of
Ireland who inherited land in the northern part of
that country, and they emigrated to America on ac-
count of religious persecution. They brought with
them six of their children, leaving the eldest son.
John, to finish his apprenticeship to the wheelwright
trade. The second son was Alexander, and soon af-
ter reaching this country, he was placed by his
parents in the classical school kept by Dr. Allison,
who was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church
in Philadelphia, located on Washington Square.
Later Alexander McCausland became a well-known
physican. and married Dr. Allison's daughter.
John N. Woods, a retired farmer and highly
esteemed citizen of Gap, Pa., is a worthy represent-
ative of these fine, sturdy, self-respecting old fam-
ilies. He was born Oct. 15, 1839, in Leacock town-
ship, a son of T. Scott and Caroline (Cooper)
Woods, the latter of whom was born on the farm
now occupied by Scott Woods, Jr., but owned by
our subject. This farm was bought in 1741 from
William Penn, by John Cooper, and inherited from
him by his son Col. John Cooper, who at his death
left it to his son, also named John, who was the
father of Mrs. Caroline (Cooper) Woods. Upon
the death of John Cooper, in 1844, the farm
passed out of the name of Cooper through its inher-
itance by Mrs. Woods. From Mrs. Woods it came
into the possession of her son, John N. Woods,
whose desire is to have it remain in the family
through his sons and their descendants. By mar-
riage Mr. Woods' family is connected with Colonel
David Watson, a Revolutionary soldier of distinc-
tion, through whom Miss Grace, daughter of our
subject, is a member of Donegal Chapter, Daugh-
ters of the Revolution.
T. Scott Woods, the father of John N., was not
cnh' a well-known and substantial farmer in Para-
dise township, but was one of the leading citizens of
ihe county. He was one of the founders and also
a director of the First National Bank of Lancaster,
held all of the township offices of note, and for two
terms was the efficient director of the County Poor
Farm. He died in 1874, at the age of sixty-nine
years. His wife, Caroline Cooper, had preceded him,
in 1843, ^^ the age of forty-three years, and both
were .biu-ied in the cemetery attached to the old
Leacock Presbyterian Church, of which religious
body they had been consistent members. Their chil-
dren were as follows : David, who was killed in
1875, in a railroad wreck; John N., of this sketch;
and N. Milton, who is a resident of Paradise town-
ship and president of the First National Bank, of
Lancaster.
John N. Woods was raised on his father's farm,
and like all farmers' sons of that day and generation
was taught that labor was as honorable as it was
necessary. He attended the district schools in his
neighborhood for a , time, and was then sent to a
school in Lititz taught by Mr. John Beck. This
was followed by a course in the Mt. Joy Academy,
after which he finished his education in Benjamin
Hallowell's Academy, in Alexandria, Va. After
his marriage he continued to engage in farming,
following an agricultural life until 1899, when he
retired from business 'activity and removed to his
pleasant home in Gap. Mr. Woods has very effic-
iently filled a number of important township and
county positions. For one term he was Prison In-
spector, and has served a long period as school di-
rector. For thirty years he has been a director in
the Lancaster Mutual Fire Insurance Co., and for
ten years has been its president. In politics he has
been a life-long Republican.
In January, 1862, Mr. Woods was united in
marriage to Miss Susan Eckert, in Paradise town-
ship, and a family of seven children has been born
to them : George M., a farmer in Leacock town-
ship, married Jane Kinzer, and they have children
as follows, Jean K., Esther, Catherine, John and
George B. : Caroline C. married Herbert Brinton,
now retired and residing in Elwyn, Delaware county,
and they have two children, Charles W. and Helen
W. ; Mary married Samuel McCausland, a commis-
sion merchant in Chicago, 111., and they have two
children, John W. and Catherine ; Sarah died at the
age of five years ; Miss Elizabeth E. and Miss Grace
reside at home ; and T. Scott, who resides in Lea-
cock town.ship, married Mabel Showalter, and they
have one child, Elizabeth. Both Mr. Woods and
656
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
wife are valued members of the Presbyterian Church
in which he has been a trustee for many years.
Mrs. Susan (Eckert) Woods was born in Para-
dise township, in March, 1838, daughter of Lewis
and Sarah J. (.Slaymaker) Eckert, the former of
whom was a miller who lived on Pequea Creek, in
Paradise township. He died in 1868, at the age of
sixty-two years, a highly respected man and a lead-
ing member of the Presbyterian Church. The
mother of Mrs. Woods died in 1874, in Lancaster,
aged sixty-five years, and both parents were buried
in the old Leacock Church cemetery. They had the
followmg children: George, deceased; Mary J.,
married to William Holtzworth; John Howard, a
commission merchant in Cincinnati, Ohio ; Susan C,
wife of John N. Woods ; Elizabeth, deceased wife of
Albert Carpenter, an attorney; Albert, Nathan and
Lovinia, deceased; and Charles W., a merchant in
Lancaster. Mr. and Mrs. Woods belong to a pleas-
ant social circle in Gap, where they are most highly
esteemed. Time has dealt very kindly with them,
and they still enjoy offering a generous hospitality
to relatives and friends, of whom they have a great
number.
JOSEPH HAEFNER, proprietor of the Em-
pire Brewery, one of the largest enterprises of the
kind in Lancaster, is a native of Germany, born in
Ganstadt bei Bamberg, Sept. 3, 1848, son of John
B. and Barbara (Stall) Haefner.
John B. Haefner, father of Joseph Haefner, was
also a native of Germany, and for twenty years
conducted a brewery in his native country, doing a
large business and performing the duties of a promi-
nent citizen. His death took place in 1899, when
he was aged seventy-eight years. His wife died
in 1893, at the age of seventy-two years. Both
were worthy members of the Catholic Church. Mr.
and Mrs. Haefner had the following children : John
B. (deceased) also followed the brewing business;
Peter resides in Germany and follows the butcher
business ; Joseph is mentioned below ; Lizzie mar-
ried Gottleib Smith, a farmer in Montgomery
county, Pa. ; Anna married William Kurtz, who
conducts a hotel in Lancaster ; Lena married Law-
rence Rateline, a farmer in Germany.
Joseph Haefner learned his trade in Germany
with his father, with whom he remained until he
was sixteen years of age, then securing work in
other breweries, where he continued until coming
to America, in 1872. For two years he was em-
ployed in Rupert's brewery, in New York, going
then to Union Hill, N. J., where he remained one
year. Coming to Lancaster, he served one year in
Henry Frank's brewery, and then went to Reading,
where his knowledge of the business secured him a
good position with Fred. Lauer, with whom he
remained six years. Mr. Haefner then went to
Pottsville, and in partnership with Peter Lauer
and Lawrence Smith operated the Archard brew-
ery for two years, and then for about five years was
in Philadelphia. In 1886 Mr. Haefner returned to
Lancaster and bought of Florence Knapp his pres-
ent plant, which he has enlarged to thrice its origi-
nal dimensions, and has more than trebled its pro-
ducing capacity. This immense plant covers at
present a half acre of ground and gives employ-
ment to twenty men. It is fitted with all modem
improvements and is the only brewery in the lo-
cality which manufactures its own ice. This busi-
ness was established in 1868 by Lawrence Knapp,
and since Mr. Haefner became its proprietor has
grown in importance until it ranks with the leading
industries of the city.
Mr. Haefner is independent in politics. He
takes a deep interest in everything looking to the
advancement of the community, and votes for those
whom he deems will best carry out his ideas. Fra-
ternally he belongs to the B. P. O. E. and the
Brewers' Association. In person Mr. Haefner ex-
emplifies the best class of prosperous German-
American citizens. Genial, pleasant, liberal in his
benefactions and charitable to the poor, he has
many in Lancaster who delight to call him friend.
He has won his way to success through his own
efforts, and well deserves the good fortune which
has attended him.
In 1874, in Lancaster, Mr. Haefner was united
in marriage to Margaret Fisher, daughter of
Raphael Fisher, who operated a hotel in Lancaster
for a number of years. He died in 1893, at the age
of seventy-four years, and his wife died in 1884.
They were members of the Catholic Church, and
were interred in the Catholic cemetery.
The following named children were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Haefner : Mary, who died at the age
of four years ; Miss Elizabeth, at home ; and Anna,
Joseph, Catherine, Lauer and Margaret. Mr.
Haefner built his present fine home, opposite his
place of business, in 1890.
LEVI HAVERSTICK, of Washington bor-
ough, Lancaster Co., Pa., was born Jan. 13, 1824,
and descends from one of the oldest German famil-
ies of this county, a brief record of whom is given
in the following paragraphs.
The great-grandfather of Levi was the first of
the Haverstick family to come to America, and on
arriving in Lancaster county, Pa., his only worldly
property, as tradition has it, was an ax. His home
was established on the banks of the Conestoga river,
about two miles southwest of the now city of Lan-
caster, and there he passed the remainder of his life.
Jacob Haverstick, the son of the aforesaid emi-
grant and grandfather of Levi, was reared on his fa-
ther's Conestoga farm, to which he became the heir.
He added to it several other tracts of land, which he
placed under cultivation, and became one of the
wealthiest farmers of his township. Jacob reared a
family of six children, of whom the eldest, Abraham,
succeeded to the Conestoga homestead ; John became
the father of Levi, whose name opens this sketch;
^^V, ^^^^^4^:-^:*^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
657
Jacob passed his life on ik<e old homestead; David
was a hotel-keeper and died in Lancaster city ; and
of his two daughters one married a man named Herr
and went to live in Ohio, and the other became Mrs.
Sbaik, and passed her life in Lancaster county, Pa.
In religion the family were Lutherans.
John Haver sticlc, father of Levi, was born on the
old homestead in 1798, where he rendered faithful
service to his father until his marriage with Mag-
delina Neff, who was born in Manor township, Lan-
caster county, in 1799. Shortly after this happy
• ceremony John's father presented him with a farm
west of the Conestoga, where he lived the greater
part of his active life, but later moved to the north of
Lancaster city. To his marriage were born eight
children, two of whom died in infancy ; the six who
reached mature years were Henry, born Jan. 18,
1818, was a farmer in Manheim township, and died
in May, 1900 ; Jacob, born in January, 1822, is also
deceased; Levi is the gentleman whose name opens
this sketch; John N. died on the old homestead;
Abraharri resides at Neffsville, and Elizabeth, the
widow of a Mr. Hawenstein, resides near Mount Joy.
John Haverstick, the father of this family, died in
1883, and the mother, Magdelina, died at the ad-
vanced age of ninety-four years, in 1893. John
Haverstick was a most public-spirited man and held
many township offices, being very popular in his day
as a Whig, and in 1840 was inspector of election in
the courthouse. Center Square, Lancaster city. In
early life he was a member of the Lutheran Church,
but he died a Mennonite.
Levi Haverstick was reared to manhood on the
home farm at Wabank, and his early education was
acquired in an old fashioned school house, where he
learned his letters by tracing them in sand on a shelf
attached to the wall, instea'd of a slate, or paper and
pencil ; on a desk his'next instruction in writing was
with a goose-quill pen and ink. Later, being an apt
lad, he learned the German and English languages
to perfection, and thus thoroughly prepared himself
for the business of life. Levi remained at home until
1846, when he was married, and the following year
settled on his farm in Manor township, which farm
comprised 100 acres, and which he properly culti-
vated until 1 88 1, when he retired from active agri-
cultural work, and in 1896 erected his present ele-
gant residence.
In 1881,^ Levi Haverstick associated himself with
L. J. Schofield, with whom for one year he was en-
gaged in the lumber business, but in 1882 he as-
sumed full personal control. In 1890 coal was added
to this business, besides which he holds considerable
stock in the First National Bank of Columbia.
The marriage of Levi Haverstick took place in
1846, to Catherine Hostetter, a native of Donegal
township, who was born in 1826, and who died in
1881. To this happy union were born eight chil-
dren that grew to maturity, viz.: Christian H., a
farmer ; Levi, who has passed away, leaving a wife
and family; Kate, whoMied in February, 1896 ; John,
42
a farmer of Manor township; Elizabeth, wife of
Lemuel Swarr, a farmer of Mount Joy ; Emma, wife
of Cephas Hostetter, a\farmer of near Manheim bor-
ough ; Henry H., a farmer of Manor township ; and
Mattie, at home.
Levi Haverstick has been a member of the Men-
nonite Church for many years, and has so lived as to
win the esteem of all who know him; is a public-
spirited and broad-minded citizen, and has a large
circle of truly warm-hearted friends. In political
sentiment he is a Republican. He is a natural me-
chanic, and is possessed, of much inventive genius.
As a boy he made many useful and peculiar contriv-
ances, among them being a sled to run on the ice by
turning a wheel ; the first hay slats, now in general
use ; an improvement in grain drills ; the first roller
mill that chopped corn; made a portable engine to
propel itself; and he also invented an improvement
in a reaper attachment, and a device for unloading
hay by horse power. He made a grist and saw mill
on the farm which he engineered and planned him-
self. His mother often said Levi was born in the
sign "beginning much and accomplishing little."
ABRAM SUMMY, who died at his home April
12, 1902, was a well known coal merchant of Mari-
etta. He was born Nov. 7, 1827, on the farm now
owned by Charles A. Fondersmith, in East Hemp-
field township, Lancaster county. Pa., a son of John
and Susannah (Hostetter) Summy, natives of the
same township.
John Summy was born Jan. 15, 1796, of French
extraction, and in that language the name was
spelled Somme. John Summy was a farmer by
calling, and at the age of thirty years was ordained
a minister in the Mennonite Church. He married
Susannah Hostetter May 4, 181 5, and died on his
homestead in May, 1835. Mrs. Susannah Summy
was born Feb. 21, 1797, and died in Mount Joy,
Pa., in 1874. To their marriage were born seven
children, namely: Jacob H., who died in Illinois;
John H., who died in East Donegal township ; Pe-
ter H., who died in Lancaster; Maria, who mar-
ried Abram B. Landis, and she and her husband
died in Mount Joy ; Abram ; Aaron H., a farmer in
Manheim township ; and David C, killed on a rail-
road in 1852.
Peter and Barbara (Long) Summy, paternal
grandparents of Abram, were natives of Earl and
Rapho townships, respectively, but died on their
farm in East Hempfield township, in which Peter
Summy had held most of the offices. The great-
grandparents, John and Elizabeth (Shirk) Summy,
moved from Earl township to East Hempfield town-
ship, purchased 250 acres of land, and there passed
the remainder of their lives. The first of the Sum-
my family to come to Am.erica was Hans Peter
Summy, a Palatinate Mennonite minister, but a na-
tive of Switzerland. He was the great-great-grand-
father of Abram Summy, and being exiled, sailed;,
in company with his wife and sons, Hans Jacob and
658
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Hans Peter, Jr., and with Otto Fritz and Johannes
and Hans Michael, from Rotterdam, Holland, in
the brigantine "Richmond and Elizabeth," via Ply-
mouth, England, and landed in Philadelphia, in
1733, but settled in Earl township, Lancaster coun-
ty, in 1734.
The maternal ancestors of Abram Summy were
of noble extraction, and the original fariiily name
was Von Hostetter. The great-great-grandfather
of Abram Summy was Jacob Hostetter, also a Men-
nonite minister, who came to Lancaster county. Pa.,
in 171 2, purchased 450 acres of land in Penn's Ma-
nor, and was among the first of the Mennonites to
settle here. The maternal great-grandparents,
Abraham and Catherine (Long) Hostetter, and the.
maternal grandparents, Jacob and Barbara (Funk)
Hostetter, were all born in Lancaster county.
Abram Summy lived on the home farm until
seventeen years of age, and then served an appren-
ticeship at coachmaking, a trade he followed for
eight years. He next formed a partnership with his
brother Aaron H., in the coal and lumber trade, but
two years later sold his interest to his brother and
went to Freeport, 111., where he was employed bv
his cousin. William Haldeman, as bookkeeper and
grain purchaser for his mill. Three years later he
returned to Marietta and purchased from his broth-
er, in 1859, ^he original coal and lumber business,
afterward disposing of the lumber, but continuing
in the coal trade to the time of his death.
On July 15, 1862, Mr. Summy married in East
Donegal township Miss Elizabeth Stauffer, and to
this union were born two children : Mary, still un-
der the parental roof ; and John Logan, teller in the
Northern Bank at Lancaster. Mrs. Elizabeth
(Stauffer) Summy was born in East Donegal town-
ship Feb. 19, 1841, a daughter of John and Martha
(Hostetter) Stauffer, natives of Strasburg and
Penn township, Lancaster count}'. John Stauffer
v/as a miller in East Donegal township many years,
but in 1865 retired and came to Marietta to reside
with Mr. and Mrs. Summy, and here passed away
in 1876, at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife died
in East Donegal township, in r86o, when forty-six
years old. They were members of the Presbyterian
and .i^liennonite Churches, respectively. Two chil-
dren w^re born of their marriage: Elizabeth, now
Mrs. Summy ; and David H., deceased. The pa-
ternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Summy was John
Stauffer, and the grandfather, also named John, was
a farmer, and both were natives of Lancaster coun-
ty. Her maternal grandparents were Jacob and
Elizabeth (Miller) Hostetter, of whom the former
was a Mennonite bishop, and died at the age of
ninety-one years. His father, also named Jacob,
settled in Penn township, Lancaster county, in 1712.
Abram Summy was a Republican in politics, and
served as a member of the school board for twenty-
two years, and as county commissioner one term,
1881-1884. He was county recorder in 1896-97-
98, and was councilman one year. He was a devout
member of the Presbyterian Church, and a member
of both lodge and chapter F. & A. M. As a citizen
he was highly respected, and as a business man and
county official his name stood without a blemish.
SAMUEL S. SNYDER, one of the prominent
residents of Hinkletown, Lancaster county, was
born in Earl township, May 2, 1850, a son of John
K. and Maria (Sensenig) Snyder, the former of
whom is still living, but the latter passed to her
rest April 6, 1876.
John K. Snyder was born Oct. 17, 1829, in ,
Ephrata township, and now makes his home in Hin-
kletown. The Snyders have long been residents of
Lancaster county, and throughout many genera-
tions have sustained a good name, to which no dis-
credit has beeri done by father or son, mentioned
herewith. The great-grandfather of John K. bore
a valiant part in the War of the Revolution, and
proved his devotion to liberty on many a bloody bat-
tle field. His home was in Alaryland. John Sny-
der, the grandfather of John K., had his home in
Ephrata township for many years, where he at-
tained the age of seventy-five. He was a farmer,
and married Catherine Killian, and to them were
born sixteen children, fourteen of whom lived to
maturity, but only one of whom is still living. They
were members of the Reformed Church.
Samuel Snyder, the father of John K., was bom
in Ephrata township, where he was reared and mar-
ried, following at first the career of a laborer, but
presently becoming a tenant farmer, and settled first
in Ephrata township, and afterward in West Eapl,
his last days passing in Earl township. He married
Miss Barbara Keesey, a daughter of Noah Keesey,
a managei- in the Elizabeth Furnace. Mrs. Snyder
was born in Elizabeth tOwnship, where she died
Feb. 24, 1861, at the age of fifty-three. The father
died Jan. 14, 1856, at the age of fifty-four years.
They had four children: John K. ; Samuel K., a
resident of Ephrata, and now retired ; Henry K., a
prominent man, and at one time deputy sheriff of
Lancaster county, and a tax collector in Lancaster,
where he lived; and Catherine, who married Levi
Sensenig, of Lancaster, and is deceased.
John K. Snyder was reared on the family home-
stead, and received his education in the Ephrata
local schools. When he was of age he applied him-
self to the carpenter trade, at which he worked some
seven years. At the end of that time he began farm-
ing on a rented place in the township of Ephrata.
After one year at this he went to a small farm in
Earl township, which he had bought near Hinkle-
town, where he made his home for twelve years, at
the end of that time purchasing a farm of sixty-two
acres from D. E. Heister, on which he has since
lived. In all he owns ninety-nine acres, all his land
being contiguous, and on which he has three sets of
buildings. Mr. Snyder has in his active days proved
himself one of the industrious, honest and thor-
oughly reliable men of the county, a reputation he
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
659
has never lost. John K. Snyder was married in
1857 to Miss Maria Sensenig, by whom he became
the father of four children who outlived their mother,
and of two who died in early life: Samuel S., of
Hinkletown, whose name introduces this article;
Aaron S., a farmer near Vogansville ; David S., who
died March 12, 1895, left a widow, Barbara H. Erb,
of Penn township, and three children, Barbara, Lil-
lian and Jacob ; Henry S., a farmer, engaged on the
old homestead, who married Emma Nolt, and is the
father of two children, -Josie and Harry. Mr. Sny-
.der married for his second wife, Elizabeth Burk-
holder, who died May 23, 1895, at the age of sixty-
five years. John K. Snyder is a member of the Old
Mennonite Church.
Samuel S. Snyder was reared in his native com-
munity, and received his education in the public
schools. When he had attained his majority he be-
gan farming on his own account. He was married
Dec. 26, 1885, to Miss Rachel Lucetta Seldomridge,
who was born June 11, 1864, a daughter of Jacob
G. Seldomridge, of New Holland. After they were
married, the young couple moved to Lancaster,
where Mr. Snyder was employed one year at the
stock yards. At the end of this period, Mr. Snyder
came back to Earl township, and locating his family
■on one of the farms belonging to his father, began
its cultivation. This farm was situated one mile
south of Hinkletown. This farm contained seven-
ty-six acres, and he spent two years on it, then mov-
ing to his present place in Hinkletown, where he
has thirty-five acres, and carries on general farming.
During "the winter he buys hides and other farm
products. Mr. Snyder is one of the spirited and in-
telligent young men of this county, and takes a deep
interest in everything that looks to the public good.
In his politics he is a Republican, and has filled the.
offices of judge and inspector of election? for two
years, and 1897 he collected the outstanding school
tax in Earl township. He and his wife have one
child, Earl J., born Aug. i, 1900.
JOSEPH GIBBONS, M. D., deceased. In the
death of Dr. Joseph Gibbons, which sad event took
place Dec. 9, 1883, Lancaster countv lost not only
a physician who adorned the profession, but also
a citizen of unquestioned integrity and scholarly
pre-eminence, and a reformer of unselfish heart,
with courage of the truest temper.
Dr. Gibbons was born Aug. 14, 1818, and after
a long and useful life was reverently laid to rest in
the Old Friends' meeting-house yard, in Bird-in-
Hand. His parents were Daniel (a son of James
and Deborah (Hoopes) Gibbons) and Hannah
(Wierman) Gibbons. His father was born on the
banks of the stream near which James Gibbons
erected the mill still standing, which was for many
years known by the name of Gibbons' Mill. Daniel
Gibbons was a tanner by trade. All Friends' chil-
dren at that time, in the eighteenth century, were
given trades, but Daniel Gibbons preferred farm-
ing, having inherited a large farm from his father,
a part of the original tract deeded to his grandfa-
ther by John, Richard and Thomas Penn, about
1737. In 1815 he built the present family residence.
Although a man of standing in the community,
identified with all of the philanthropic movements
of his time, he lived a quiet, unostentatious life,
following out the lines laid down by his peaceful
Quaker ancestors. His death occurred in 1853, at
the age of seventy-eight years, his most estimable
widow, who survived until i860, dying at the age
of seventy-three. During the greater part of his
life Daniel Gibbons was deeply interested in the
workings of the "Underground Railroad" and as-
sisted in sheltering about a thousand slaves. After
studying with Dr. Francis Burrowes, of Lancaster,
Dr. Gibbons took a long course at Jefferson Medical
College, in Philadelphia, from which he graduated
in ,1845. Before he became of age he was a member
of the Young Men's Anti-Slavery Society of Penn-
sylvania. His first vote for President and Vice-
President was cast in 1844, for the candidates of the
Liberty party, James G. Birney, of Alabama, and
Thomas Morris, of Ohio. He practiced medicine
for a few years, and then became a farmer. Be-
sides his "Underground Railroad" work, he was a
devoted adherent of the "Free Soil" (the successor
of the Liberty) party, and one of the founders of
the Republican party in Lancaster county. He was
also deeply interested in the temperance cause.
From 1861 to 1865 he was an officer in the Phila-
delphia Custom House. Early in 1873 he founded
The Journal, a weekly paper devoted to the interests
of the Society of Friends, of which he was owner
and editor until his death. Soon after it was com-
bined with The Friends' Intelligencer, of Philadel-
phia. Few braver, more unselfish men than Dr.
Gibbons have lived.
Dr. Gibbons married Sept. 29, 1845, Phebe
Earle, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Hussey)
Earle, of Philadelphia. Children as follows were
born to this union: Marianna, born Dec. 6, 1846,
was married Jan. 15, 1902, to Oram D. Brubaker,
of East Lampeter township, chairman of the Pro-
hibition county committee; Caroline, bom Nov. 6,
1848, married William G. Gibbons, April 2, 1884,
and died March 5, 1900, leaving one child, Wil-
helmina C, who was born Jan. 27, 1887; Hannah
CorneHa, born March 17, 1851, died Sept. 26, i860;
Frances, born Nov. 21, 1852, married Caleb Alfred
Pusey, Feb. 14, 1874, and they have one child, Mary
Hannah, who was born Aug.. 19, 1876; Daniel was
born Nov. 7, i860. This brilliant young man grad-
uated at Franklin and Marshall College June 20,
1878, and then learned the machinist's trade, with
the Pusey & Jones Co., of Wilmington, the presi-
dent of that company, William G. Gibbons, having
married his sister Caroline. Very early in his ca-
reer Mr. Gibbons became interested in journalism,
and in 1884 and the two succeeding years he was.
assistant news editor on the Philadelphia Times.
660
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY '
He graduated in the law, at the University of Penn-
sylvania, in June, 1887. He was editor of the Phil-
adelphia Evening Herald and the Sunday Mercury,
and during that time was interested in municipal
work and exposed certain frauds in public contracts.
In February, 1889, he was a candidate for the city
council on the Democratic ticket, from the Eighth
ward, which was the strongest Republican ward in
the city. His work on the newspapers mentioned
lasted from November, 1887, to April, 1891. Later
he removed to the State of Washington, becoming
interested as a reporter on the Seattle Intelligencer,
and in 1892 on the Seattle Telegram, with which
he continued until 1894. Returning East, Mr. Gib-
bons accepted the position of assistant editor on the
Philadelphia Press, during 1895-96, was associate
editor of the Syracuse, N. Y., Post-Standard in
1898, and was connected with the New York World,
the New York Commercial and the Philadelphia
Record, until 1901. After residing for some time
in the family home at Bird-in-Hand, Mr. Gibbons
returned to Philadelphia, and became connected
with The Times, since merged with The Public
Ledger.
JOHN FRANKLIN BECKER, one of the
leading business men and highly respected citizens
of Manheim, Lancaster county, was born in Rapho
township, this county, March 12, 1865, son of John
B. and Catherine (Nauman) Becker, who were
both killed in an accident on the Pennsylvania rail-
road at Lancaster, April 19, 1887. The father was
born in Lebanon county. Pa., March 24, 1831, and
in 1848 came to Lancaster county with his father,
John Becker, who was successfully engaged in the
practice of veterinary surgery here until his death,
and was then succeeded by his son Henry. His
other children were Michael ; Moses, deceased ;
Sarah, deceased wife of Jeremiah H. Obetz, of Man-
heim ; Annie, deceased wife of Jacob K. Fisher ; and
Catherine, wife of Christian Shelley, both deceased.
John B. Becker was reared on a farm and
worked as a farm hand by the month until seven-
teen years of age, when he commenced learning the
blacksmith's trade, and he followed that in connec-
tion with farming during the remainder of his life.
He was very successful financially, though he
started out with no capital, but by his energy, econ-
omy and diligence he amassed a handsome compe-
tence. He owned and operated a farm of seventy-
six acres in Rapho township, and was numbered
among the progressive men of his locality, uphold-
ing and assisting all enterprises tending to advance
the general welfare. As a Democrat he took an act-
ive part in local politics, and officiated as a member
of the school board for some years. He was quiet
and unassuming in manner, and a consistent mem-
ber of the German Baptist Church. His estimable
wife was born on the old Nauman homestead near
Manheim, in Rapho township, June 18, 1836, daugh-
ter of Samuel and Nancy (Shelley) Nauman. In
their family were six children, of whom John F. is
fourth m the order of birth ; Henry N. is a farmer
and veterinary surgeon, living near Mastersonville ;
Samuel N. is a farmer and blacksmith, living on the
old homestead ; Phares is a physician of Masterson-
ville; Alfred N., who died Sept. 21, 1902, was a
physician of Schaefiferstown, Lebanon Co., Pa.;
Anna Mary (twin of Alfred N.) died in infancy.
On the home farm John Franklin Becker grew
to manhood, and is indebted to the public schools of
the home locality for his educational privileges. On
leaving the parental roof, at the age of seventeen,
he commenced clerking for George H. Danner &,
Co., at Manheim, and remained' with them seven
years, at the end of which time he formed a part-
nership with John N. Becker and embarked in gen-
eral merchandising at that place. After nine and a
half years of successful business in that line he sold
out to his partner and engaged in the coal business,
in January, 1898, succeeding Daniel W. Erb, of
Manheim; he retired from that business Sept.
3, 1902. He also dealt in fertilizers and agri-
cultural implements, and had built up quite an ex-
tensive trade, which was constantly increasing. Mr.
Becker is also a director and stockholder of the Old
Guard Fire & Storm Insurance Co. of Lancaster
County, and is interested in real estate to a consid-
erable extent, having erected several good residences-
in Manheim.
On Sept. 3, 1889, Mr. Becker was united in
marriage with Miss Ella Kline, a native of Man-
heim, daughter of Jacob and Harriet (Mengle)
Kline, and to this union three children have been
born, namely : Helen, Carl and John F., Jr.
Mr. Becker has taken a very active part in politi-
cal affairs, and for some years was one of the lead-
ers in the Democratic party in his district, serving
as a member of the county committee. In 1896 he
cast his lot with the Republican party. He has a
large following, and is quite influential in political
matters. Fraternally he is a prominent member of
Selah Lodge, No. 657, I. O. O. F., of which he is
past grand; Ridgely Encampment, No. 217; is now
serving as district deputy grand master of the sub-
ordinate branch of the order; and belongs to the
Patriarchs Militant. He also belongs to Manheim
Council, No. 154, Sr. O. U. A. M., of which he is
past councilor; and is a member and past chief of
Steigel Castle, No. 166, K. G. E. Mr. Becker is
one of the leading members and deacon of St. Paul's
Reformed Church of Manheim, and has always-
taken a very prominent and active part in church
and Sunday-school work ; he served in the position'
of superintendent of the Sporting Hill Union Sun-
day-school, a mission which was established in May,
1895, from that date until 1901. It was conducted
in a public school building for a time, but after a
few months the school board turned them out,,
owing to State legislation, and a movement was
then started to erect a chapel, and by the zealous and
untiring efforts of Mr. Becker a fine church edifice-
^-^^^*^is^/a^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
661
was at length erected. He is a broad-gauged, pro-
gressive and public-spirited man, and, being a ready
speaker, is often called upon to address large audi-
ences. He has striven earnestly to advance the
moral welfare of his community, and is justly num-
bered among its most valuable and useful citizens.
At present Mr. Becker is living retired in his
comfortable mansion on South Charlotte street, one
of the finest homes of the borough. He is consid-
ering several olfers of incorporated companies, for
though young in years his business experience is
beyond the average, and he has proven by his dili-
gence that the public had recognized real worth in
him. Whatever business he shall adopt will have
no cause, with his direction, to meet with any re-
verses owing to mismanagement.
SQUIRE WILLIAM H. HOGG, an old and
prominent farmer of Colerain township, was born
Jan. 3, 1845, o" the farm where he resides to-day, a
son of Robert Hogg and his wife, Rachel Swisher,
a daughter of Jeremiah and Mary Swisher.
William and Margaret (Hunter) Hogg, grand-
parents of William H., were born in Ireland. For
a time they lived in Strasburg township, Lancaster
county. In 1818, in company with Robert Spencer,
William Hogg bought the land on which William
H. now lives, and the following year bought out Mr.
Spencer. Here Mr. Hogg made many substantial
improvements, and lived until his death in 1844.
His widow survived him some vears, and passed to
her rest in 1858. William and Margaret Hogg had
three sons and one daughter : George, Robert,\yill-
iam and Mary. Of these Mary married William
Ferguson, and settled near Bartville, Colerain town-
ship, on a farm where both died, leaving the follow-
ing family : William H., who went West ; John, of
Providence township, Lancaster county; Benjamin,
who is deceased ; Alexander M., a resident of Col-
erain; Abram, of Atglen, Chester county; Nathan-
iel B., of Philadelphia; Anna, wife of John Wood-
ward, of Marshalltown, Chester county. George
Hogg, after residing for a time on a part of the old
homestead, sold out to his brothers Robert and
William, and moved to Decatur county, Ind., where
he followed farming; his death occurred on his In-
diana farm, and he left three children, William, An-
na, and Malissa, .who still reside in their Indiana
home. William Hogg resided on one of the prop-
€rties purchased by his father, near Kirkwood, and
engaged in farming, making extensive improve-
ments ; both he and his wife died after leading a
tiseful career, and they left the following family:
"W illiam, of West Grove : Howard, of Chadds Ford ;
Forest, of Cochranville, Chester county ; George, of
Colerain township; Dr. Edwin, of Wilkesbarre,
Pa. ; Jeremiah, of Reading, Pa. ; John, of Kirk-
wood; Margaret and Martha R., of Wilkesbarre,
Pa. ; Eliza, deceased wife of George Evans, of Ches-
ter county; Malissa, who married James W. An-
drews, of Colerain, and died, leaving three children,
Albert (of Wakefield, Lancaster county), William
(of Reading) and Louisa (of Wilkesbarre).
Robert Hogg, the father of William H., was
born in Lancaster county, Dec. 25, 1813, and was
reared at the present home of his son, receiving a
limited education in the public schools. He died
Nov. 29, 1886. Rachel Swisher, his wife, was bom
in September, 1823, a daughter of Jeremiah and
Mary Swisher. After his marriage Robert Hpgg
settled on the home farm, and made additional pur-
chases until he had 245 acres of fine farm land. The
old original home put up by his father consisted of
logs and stone, and was replaced by him, with a
brick construction, and the stone house was con-
nected with it, and this is still occupied by Squire
Hogg. He lived on this farm until his death in
1886. His widow passed to her rest in 1899. They
were members of the Presbyterian Church at
Union. Mr. Hogg was a leader in the Democratic
party, and different times was called upon to occupy
a number of local offices. There were born to him
and his excellent wife four children: Francis and
Marion, twins, who died in childhood; Lawrence
P., born in 1857, married Miss Hannah M., a
daughter of Jeremiah and Hannah Hastings, of
Colerain township, and settled at the home of his
father, where he worked as a farmer until his fail-
ing health compelled him to give up the work, and
he died in June, 1878, leaving a widow, and one
daughter, Edna E., who resides in Philadelphia with
her mother ; and William H.
William H. Hogg had his early education in the
district school, and was later a student in the Union
High School. When he became a young man he
was put in charge of the farm, and after the death
of his father gave devout attention to the care of his
aged rnother as long as she lived.
Mr. Hogg was married in February, 1866, tq
Esther, daughter of Jeremiah and Rebecca Hast-
ings, of Colerain township. Mrs. Hogg was born
in 1844, in Colerain, where she received the advant-
ages of a high school education. She died in 1898,
leaving two children, a son and a daughter : Maggie
M., born in 1869 ; and Robert Treate, in July, 1875.
Maggie M. Hogg was given a very fair educa-
tion, and married Eber J. Kosch, of Colerain town-
ship. They settled on a farm, where she died in
March, 1900, leaving two children, Esther L. ; and
William S.. since deceased.
Robert Treate Hogg was educated in the pub-
lic and high school at Union, and was graduated
from Wilmington Commercial College in 1892, and
the Philadelphia University of Short Hand in 1893.
He was married on Sept. 11, 1902, to Miss Maude
Martin, daughter of William Stewart and Joanna
(Davis) Martin, of Octoraro, Pa. He resides in
Frankford, Philadelphia, whei-e he is employed with
Robert H. Foerderer, leather manufacturer, as sales-
man.
Squire Hogg has always been a Democrat, and
has at different times occupied a number of local
662
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
offices, having been auditor and school director
twelve years, and in 1901 was elected justice of the
peace in Colerain township, a position he is now
filling.
HERVEY BAUGHMAN, a well known and
highly respected farmer of Bart township, Lancas-
ter county, was born in that township Dec. 28, 1836,
son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Pickel) Baughman.
As early as 1750 the Baughman family was
planted in Lancaster county by Felix Baughman,
who came from Switzerland and purchased 400
acres of land near Georgetown, in Bart township,
on which he made his home. He left two sons, Ja-
cob and George, of whom the latter lived and died
in Bart township, and three of his grandchildren
still live in the county.
Jacob Baughman, son of the emigrant, was born
iti Bart township, and settled on his share of the
family estate. He married Anna Heidlebaugh, also
a native of Bart, and they had the following chil-
dren : George I. ; Samuel ; Jacob ; and Elizabeth,
who matried Solomon Hamer, and of their children
two daughters are still living, Mrs. Jessie McCal-
ister, and Mrs. John Pickel, both of Bart township.
Jacob Baughman (2), son of Jacob, was born
Jan. 10, 1800, and he settled on the old homestead
of the family, where he spent his life, and where he
died in 1872. He married Elizabeth Pickel, who,
was born in 1806, a daughter of George and Marga-
ret Pickel, of Bart township. She died in 1866.
They were members of the Presbyterian Church,
and were among the first to move in the organiza-
tion of the church at Octoraro. They had the fol-
lowing children born to them: (i) Henry P., born
in Bart township, in 1828, settled in Georgetown,
where he is a contractor and builder, and is still liv-
ing. His six children are as follows : Ella, Lizzie,
Sallie, Jacob, William and Clifford. (2) William,
born in 1830, moved to Virginia, when he was a
young man. and there he married about the time of
the Civil war. He died in 1873. (3) John J., born
in 1832, married Miss Catherine Trout, of Bart
township, and is now living a retired life in Bart
township. (4) Anna E., born in Bart township in
1834, married the late Joseph W. Fawkes, and lives
in Burbank, Cal. She has a family of seven chil-
dren: Howard, Wilbur, Harry, Joseph, Effie,
Charles and Leslie. (5) Hervey is our subject. (6)
Sarah Jane, born in 1840, married George W. John-
son, and both are now deceased, leaving a family of
four children : WilHam, living in Philadelphia ;
Ferree, a farmer in York county ; Elizabeth, wife of
Laven Burkey, of Salisbury township; and Harry,
of Philadelphia. (7) George F., born in 1843, en-
listed in 1861, from Lancaster county, and reen-
listed as a veteran. He was wounded at Atlanta,
and died at Chattanooga, where he was buried. Par-
ticipating in many fierce and bloody engagements
he bore himself as a gallant soldier, and left a rec-
cord of honorable and loyal service. (8) Mary,
born in 1845, is the wife of Rev. John Nelson, a
Methodist clergyman, who is now living in Phila-
delphia.
Hervey Baughman was reared to manhood at
the old home, where he was educated in the district
school, and when he became a young man learned
the carpenter trade,- which he followed for four
years. For fifteen years he lived on the old Baugh-
man homestead, and then purchased his present
farm in Bart township, where he and his family
still reside.
On Jan. 3, 1861, Mr. Baughman was married
to Catherine Phenegar, who was born in Paradise
township Aug. 30, 1841, daughter of Jacob and
Mary M. (Bower) Phenegar, the former of whom
died in 1852. Mrs. Phenegar moved to Bart town-
ship and still has her home in that community; all
four of her children are living: Sarah, at- home;
Benjamin, in Columbia; Newton L., in Philadel-
phia ; and Catherine, Mrs. Baughman. To Mr. and
Baughman have come eleven children : William
A., born in Georgetown ini86i, lived on a farm ad-
joining his father's place ; he married Miss Malissa
Artus, of this county, and has two children, Robert
and Ferree. Anna and Ada, twins, born in 1866,
of whom Anna is the wife of J. E. Withrow, of
Colerain township, and the mother of three chil-
dren, Anna, Ada and Esther ; while Ada is the wife
of Harry K. Wilson, and the mother of five chil-
dren: Howard, Walter, Ethel, Marion and
Charles. Jacob, born in 1869, lives in the West ; he
married Miss Bertha Rice, of Sadsbury township,
and they have three children, Anna, Clarence and
Blanche. Lora, born in 1870, married Joseph Men-
denhall, a farmer in Sadsbury township, and they
have three children, William, Viella and Elsie Hel-
en. Benjamin N., born in 1873, is a supervisor of
Bart township, and resides at home. Jessie M., born
in 1875, married Frank Mendenhali, a farmer in
Sadsbury township, and they have three children.
Park, Rolland and Catherine. Joseph, born in 1878,
is a street car conductor in Philadelphia. Lillie I.,
born in 1880, is at home. George, born in 1882, and
Elsie B., born in 1884, are at school. The family
are all members of the Octoraro Presbyterian/
Church, in which Mr. Bauehman has been an elder.
Politically he is a Democrat, and has been school
director and assessor of the township for many
years. In 1877 he was elected justice of the peace,
a position he held for some ten years. The Baugh-
man family has long been favorably known in Lan-
caster county, and the present representative has
well sustained the honor of the family name.
FREDERICK A. BEATES, living a retired
life in Lancaster, after many years devoted to ex-
tensive farming interests, was 'born near the Eliz-
abeth Furnace, Lancaster county, in 1830, a son of
Rev. WilHam and Mary (Hearbst) Beates, natives
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Rev. William Beates was reared in Philadel-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
663
phia, and in early life made cigars for a living while
studying for the Lutheran ministry. He was or-
dained in 1810, and was for a time local preacher,
but eventually settled in EliKabeth, where he
preached for twenty years. In 1835 he became iden-
tified with the Zion Lutheran Church in Lancaster,
and for twenty-five years was one of the forceful
preachers and large-hearted humanitarians of the
city. He died in 1888, at the age of ninety-two, and
his wife passed away at the age of seventy-five. To
this couple were born the following children : Anna,
who married Christ Geiger, and is now deceased;
William, a former farmer of this county, but now de-
ceased ; Henry, a retired druggist of Philadelphia ;
Samuel, deceased ; Charles, deceased ; Caroline, de-
, ceased wife of George Sprecker ; Elizabeth, the wife
of Rev. John Alda, of Philadelphia; Harmon, a
farmer, but now deceased ; Fred A. ; Susan; deceased
wife of John Prumball; and Catherine, unmarried
and living in Philadelphia. The paternal grandfa-
ther, William Beates, was a tobacconist of Phila-
delphia ; and on the maternal side, the grandparents
had two sons, Henry and Christ Hearbst.
The entire life of Frederick A. Beates has been
spent in Lancaster county, where he attended the
public schools, and at the age of eighteen entered
Gettysburg College for a year. For thirty-two
years he was one of the foremost farmers of his lo-
cality, and he took an active interest in agricultural
and other affairs. At the same time he kept up an
interest in taxidermy and birds, to whicTi as a child
he had been drawn, and in later years he has accom-
plished really creditable work along his chosen line.
He is still a bird fancier, and the feathered tribe
have no more enthusiastic friend and well wisher.
He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and a Re-
publican in national Dolitics.
In 1882 Mr. Beates married Lizzie Wetzel, a
daughter of John Wetzel, a farmer of Lancaster
county. Mrs. Beates died in 1892, leaving no issue.
The second marriage of Mr. Beates occurred in
1896, with Anna Spiker, daughter of Lawrence and
Margaret Spiker, the former retired and living on
East King street, and at present seventy-eight years
old. Mr. Beates bears an enviable reputation among
the farmers of the county and the citizens of the
town of Lancaster, and his career is regarded as a
well directed and useful one.
ROBERT BLAIR RISK, who for over twenty
years has been connected with the editorial depart-
ment of The Examiner, was born in Bart township,
Lancaster county, Feb. 20, 1848, the eldest son of
Samuel McFarland Risk and Francina (Blair)
Risk. His ancestors are of sturdy Irish and Scotch
stock, Presbyterian in faith, and with all the rigid
morality and uprightness of the Calvinistic creed.
His paternal grandfather came, at the age of eigh-
teen, from North Ireland in the latter part of the
eighteenth century, and settled in Bart township, a
few miles from Ouarryvillc, and hammered out a
small fortune in his blacksmith forge and sickle
mill. He left the following children, Robert, David,
James, William, Samuel and Elizabeth, all of whom
became pi-ominent in the industrial, political and so-
cial affairs of the lower end of the county. On the
maternal side, Mr. Risk comes from the Blair stock,
his great-great-great-grandfather being the Rev.
Samuel Blair, of Log College fame, one of the niost
noted divines of his day, but whose great prornise
was cut short by his death at the early age of thirty-
ty-nine. He is buried at Fagg's Manor, Chester Co.,
Pa. He was born in Ulster, Ireland, June 14, 17 12,
and at the age of twenty- two, in the year 1734, he
came to this country. It may be of general local
interest to state that the two daughters of Rev.
Samuel Blair married Presbyterian ministers, viz. ;
Rev. John Carmichael, and Dr. Robert Smith, of
Pequea, this county. Dr. Smith's two sons, Sam-
uel Stanhope Smith and John Blair Smith, became
Presbyterian divines, and later, college professors
and presidents. Their names are illustrious in the
early history of Princeton, Hampden, Sidney, and
Union Colleges. A memorial window in the First
Presbyterian Church, Germantown, bears witness
to the distinguished character and services of Sam-
uel Blair's son. Rev. Samuel Blair.
Many descendants of this branch of the Blair
family are to be found in Pequea township, and
other parts of Lancaster county. It may not be ir-
relevant to state that from John Blair, who was
Samuel's junior by eight years, sprang Francis P.
Blair, of Congressional Globe fame ; Montgomery
Blair, Lincoln's post-master general ; and Frank
Blair, United States Senator from Missouri.
The great-grandfather of Mr. Risk was James
Moore, who married Francina Blair, daughter of
the Rev. Samuel Blair. He left the old homestead
to his son Sarriuel Moore, who, in turn, married
Mary Caldwell. From this union were born several
children, viz. : James, Robert W., Samuel B., Ly-
dia, Rebecca J., Mary R. and Francina Blair, who
was the mother of the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Risk's father failed in business during one
of the early panics, leaving his son' a penniless lad,
four years old, with no greater inheritance than an
old family Bible, and a tendency to rheumatism.
Mrs. Risk and her two sons, Robert and James,
went back to the old ancestral homestead, a farm
near the Buck, now in the former's name. The be-
ginning of his education was in the old log school
house, but at the early age of eleven years, he at-
tended Williamsburg Academy, in Blair county,
this State, and in 1861 came to the academy at
Chestnut Level, where he spent three years under
the instruction of his cousin. Prof. James Morgan
Rawlins, A. M. He completed his academic course
and prepared for college (which he never entered),
under the same instructor at Parkesburg, Chester
Co., Pa., and assisted him as teacher for two
years. He next went west to Kansas, settling
in Topeka, and there began his legal studies
664
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
under Judge Daniel Briar. On account of ill health
he returned to Lancaster, completed his legal course
under the preceptorship of Samuel H. Reynolds,
and was admitted to the Lancaster Bar- in 1873.
The practice of law was never to his taste nor fitted
to his natural aptitudes, so, Jan. i, 1876, he formed
a partnership with W. Hayes Grier, in the publica-
tion of the Columbia Herald, which association
lasted two years. Returning to Lancaster he put
in nearly three years in a little law practice and
much desultory and general newspaper writing.
Upon the resignation of D. Brainard Williamson
from the editorship of the Lancaster Examiner in
October, 1881, Mr. Risk accepted the vacant chair
from Hon. John A. Heistand, and has been con-
nected with the editorial department ever since —
the Messrs. Cochran taking possession of the paper,
March 27, 1889.
In 1893 Mr. Risk published a volume under the
title of "Observed and Noted," being a series of
sketches, humorous, sentimental, pathetic and philo-
sophic, which he had contributed for a number of
years to the Saturday issue of The Examiner. Mr.
Risk has never married and has but one near rela-
tive, a brother, Samuel James Risk, of Quarryville,
this county. The race of both the Risks and Moores
is fast approaching extinction. Although Mr.
Risk's father was an early Abolitionist and the great
friend of Thaddeus Stevens, his son was brought
up under Democratic influences and till 1880 was
the adherent of that party. When it left the faith
of the fathers, he gave his allegiance to the Repub-
lican party, and has labored for its interests ever
since.
JOHN M. GROFF, whose law offices are at
Nos. 40-42 North Duke street, Lancaster, comes
from old and substantial Lancaster county Mennon-
ite stock, his grandfather having been a farmer of
New Providence, Lancaster county, whither the
great-grandfather removed from Grofifdale, a local-
ity peopled by his ancestors, who were among the
early Mennonite settlers of this county.
Adam GroiJ, the father of John M., was a
farmer of New Providence, and his wife, Fanny,
was a daughter of David Mowery, a farmer and
merchant of more than local reputation. To this
union were born four children : Jefferson F., a res-
ident of Downingtowh, where he is in the employ of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. ; Cora E., wife of
Samuel Hoffman, of Harrisburg ; John M., of Lan-
caster City, the subject of this sketch; and Miss
Mary G., at home.
John 1\L Groff was born in New Providence
July 30, 1869, and after attending the public schools
of the district attended the State Normal School at
Millersvilie. He afterward entered the United
States Military Academv at West Point, where he
remained two years, and then registered as a stu-
dent at law with Hon. Marriott Brosius. Mr. Groff
was admitted to the practice of his profession Nov.
6, 1892, and in a few years built up a large practice.
When the war with Spain broke out Mr. Groff, with
his military training at West Point fresh in his
mind, raised a company of volunteers, who elected
liim their captain. Their services were tendered to
the Government, but happily were not needed. Un-
daunted by this, the company held together, and are
known as Company K, 4th Regiment, N. G. P. Dur-
ing the troubled times of 1900 they served forty days,
arid in 1902 served thirty-two days in the coal region,
guarding against riots during the coal strikes.
On June 28, 1808, Capt. Groff was married to
Miss Nora Bassler Graybill, daughter of H. W.
Graybill, a popular coal and lumber dealer of East
Petersburg. To this union has been born one
daughter, Leah Deldee. Mr. Groff 's home is on
the Philadelphia turnpike, just, outside the city
limits.
Capt. Groff won much professional fame by his
able defense of Ralph Wireback, the murderer of Da-
vid B. Landes, president of the Conestoga National
Bank. Every inch of the way was stoutly con-
tested; every step known to the practice of our
courts was taken, but the murder was undisputed,
and the jury refused to accept the plea of insanity.
Never, however, was a client more ably and intelli-
gently defended, and the management of the case
brought Capt. Ciroff into prominence as a criminal
lawyer. In politics he is a Republican, and was
three times a delegate to State conventions before he
was twenty-eight years of age. For five years he
was solicitor for the directors of the poor of Lan-
caster coimty, and was first assistant district at-
torney of his county under the law creating that
office. He organized and is also the solicitor of the
Pennsylvania State Building & Loan Association
and the Union Trust Company, both successful
financial institutions of his county.
JOHN STAMM (deceased). One of the
prominent and successful citizens of Lancaster, who
has passed out of life, but who is still remembered
as a man of integrity and high principle, was John
Stamm, a German by birth and parentage, who be-
came thoroughly identified with American life and
customs.
The birth of John Stamm occurred Dec. 22,
1827, in Willings-Hausen, Kur-Hessen, Germany,
a son of John Stamm, who was an extensive farmer
in Germany. In 1848, at the age of twenty-one.
years, Mr. Stamm came to the United States and lo-
cated at Lancaster, where he engaged in clerking in
a store owned by a Mr. Sprecher. His real life-
work, however, was gardening, for which he had
unusual taste, and as he followed this pleasant oc-
cupation for many years, even until he retired from
active labor, he became well-known in the business
and his services and advice were alwavs in great
demand. Although he was a believer in Democratic
principles and supported that party, he could never
be prevailed upon to accept office. He enjoyed his
/
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
665-
fraternal membership with the Odd Fellows organ-
ization, and was faithful in his attendance upon the
services at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, contrib-
uting liberally to its support. He, it was, who
bought the ground for that now flourishing congre-
gation in said city of Lancaster. Mr. Stamm died
Jan. 29, 1883, and was laid to rest in the Zions
Lutheran cemetery.
In 1856 Mr. Stamm was married, in Lancaster,
to Anna Catharine Dietz, who was born in Waller-
staedten, Germany, Dec. i, 1834, and died June 27,
1897. She was the daughter of John P. Dietz and
Anna Barbara (Landau), his wife, the former of
whom came to America in 1844, and for many years
followed gardening, in Lancaster, during the last
ten years of his life, living retired. The children
born to Mr. and Mrs. Stamm were> as follows:
George P., who died young; Martha E., a well-
known resident of Lancaster ; John P., who died
young; and Carl P., who is a successful dentist, in
Lancaster.
Mi.s.s Martha E. Stamm is highly regarded in
Lancaster, in real estate and building circles, her
business ability being quite unusual. She possesses
most excellent judgment, and Lancaster is indebted
to her for the enterprise she has shown in purchas-
ing vacant and unimproved property and erecting
handsome residences which are attractive and com-
fortable, and large business houses which contrib-
ute to the appearance of the city, as well as add to
its commercial facilities. The family is well known,
and Mr. Stamm was one of the city's representative
men.
JOHN EDWIN RATHFON, who entered into
rest on the night of Oct. 4, 1902, at his residence on
North Duke street, was one of the best-known fig-
ures in the business circles of Lancaster. Indeed,
he was widely known in all circles — church, social
and business — and everywhere he was spoken of
in terms of the highest esteem, for he had a smile
and a kind word for everybody, rich or poor; all
being alike to him, so far as their worldly condition
was concerned.
Mr. Rathfon was born and reared in Lancaster,
receiving a good education, and at the completion
of his studies, he entered the store of Myers & Rath-
fon (his father, the venerable Jacob Rathfon, now
eighty-four years old, being a^member of that firm) ,
where he became manager, and a very popular and
efficient one he proved. He died in the midst of his
busy and useful career, in his fifty-first year. Hi.e
ancestral history will be found in the sketch of his
father, elsewhere in these annals, while the ancestry
of his wife, who survives, will be found in the
sketches of H. E. Slaymaker and George D. Sprech-
er-^Mr. Rathfon's wife having been Miss Lillian
Reigart, daughter of the late John Reigart, who
was in the post office department, the Reigart his-
tory appearing very fullv in connection with H. E.
Slaymaker, whose grandfather, on his mother's side.
was Adam Reigart; while the ancestry of her
mother's people is fully given in the sketch of
George D. Sprecher, who is a brother of Mrs. Rath-
fon's mother. The history of these three families,
the Reigarts, the Sprechers and the Rathfons, is ex-
tensive as well as interesting.
Mr. Rathfon's mother preceded him to the
grave, but he had one sister, Mrs. Mary Ellen Rine,
widow of the late Christian Rine, a prominent leaf
tobacco dealer, and two brothers, J. Harry Rathfon,
city treasurer of Lancaster, and Gilbert B. Rathfon,
freight agent of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis
Railroad, at Buffalo. An only son, William E.,
clerk in the Fulton National Bank, also survives.
Mr. Rathfon was a member of the LutHeran
Church of the Holy Trinity. He was a director of
the Union Trust Co., of Lancaster, a concern in
which he took great interest, and which he lived
barely long enough to see launched in its handsome
home on East King street. Liberal in all his views,
progressive at all times, courteous and honorable
in all his dealings, his taking oflE in the midst of his
usefulness has been universally regretted.
EZRA WISSLER, for many years one of the
progressive farmers of Clay township, was a son of
lacob and Anna (Eby) Wissler, and was born in
Elizabeth, now Clay township, on the old Groff
homestead, May 6, 1809. On Nov. 24, 1831, he
married Mary Fahnestock Bauman, and began
farming on the old homestead. He purchased the
first threshing machine in his community, and did
the threshing for quite a distance, around. In 1839-
40 he built a house and barn on part of the old Groff
homestead, then mostly timber land, which he
cleared gradually. In 1876 Mr. Wissler sold the
farm to Henry S. Brubaker and removed to Brun-
nerville, Pa., where he built himself a house, and
where both his sons resided, Aaron having the
foundry and machine shop, and John B. the store.
Here his wife died in 1886, after which he had a
housekeeper until his death, which occurred Nov.
3, 1891, when he was aged eighty-two years, five,
months and twenty-seven days, after an illness of
over six months occasioned by pneumonia.
Jacob Wissler, father of Ezra, was born in Clay
township in 1778, son of Andrew Wissler, and was
one of the successful farmers of his day, following
agricultural pursuits until his death which oc-
curred in 1853. He had prospered by thrift and in-
dustry, and at the time of his death owned four
farms. He was a man of considerable energy, and
made three journeys to Canada on horseback. He
was one of the Old Mennonites of Lancaster coun-
ty, but did not ignore altogether the law of self-de-
fense, and one of his descendants still cherishes the
cane with which he defended himself against the at-
tack of an Indian, when on one of the trips mention-
ed. In 1800 Jacob Wissler married Anna, daughter
of Christian Eby, and ten children were born to
them, namely: Andrew, a farmer and merchant.
666
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
who moved to Michigan, where he died; Jacob, a
farmer; Christian, a miller and farmer; Ezra, our
subject jjroper; Magdelena, wife of Jacob Landes,
of Ephrata township; Levi, a farmer and tanner;
Sem, a miller of Canada; Mary, wife of Levi Erb;
Miss Catherine, deceased ; and John, a tanner, who
died in Virginia.
The first member of the branch of the Wissler
family in America sailed with his wife from Ger-
many to Philadelphia in 1720. On the voyage, to-
gether with other able-bodied men on the vessel, he
was impressed into the naval service by a man-of-
war. His wife continued the journey to Philadel-
phia, where he joined her on the expiration of his
term of service. She was employed by a farmer of
Germantown, and he also took service with a farm-
er in that locality, where they passed the remainder
of their lives. Andrew Wissler, their son, removed
to Lancaster county, Pa., where he entered the em-
ploy of Jacob Groff, an extensive farmer in what is
now Clay township. In 1767 he married the onlv
daughter of his employer, through whom he became
the owner of the old Groff homestead, which was
taken up in 1724 by John Jacob. Groff, father of Ja-
cob. It was divided into four farms by Jacob Wiss-
ler, son of Andrew, as mentioned elsewhere, but has
ever since remained in the Wissler family. Andrew
had two sons, John and Jacob, the former of whom
died unmarried.
John.Bauman Wissler, voungest son of Ezra
Wissler, was born in the old homestead May 30,
1836, and in his early years worked on his father's
farm, meantime attending common school and a
term at the Lititz Academy, under Professor John
Beck. There he mastered English, German text
and German script writing. He entered the store
of Samuel B. Myers, of Rothsville, as book-keeper,
continuing thus for one year, when Mr. Myers sold
out and removed to Virginia, after which our sub-
ject taught school for three terms, working on the
home farm during the summer vacation. In 1857
Mr. Wissler married Caroline C. Eberly, daughter
of Henry and Sabina (Markel) Eberly, of Clay
township, and by her had four children : the eldest,
Mary Cecilia, died of diphtheria in her eighteenth
year; the second, a son, died of efysipelas when
twenty-nine days old ; the third, Alice Olivia, is
married to A. E. Lane, of Clay, Lancaster county,
by whom she has three children, a daughter,. Alice
W., and two sons, Abram and John Wissler Lane ;
the fourth, Sabina Louise, is unmarried and living
at home.
After his marriage Mr. Wissler intended to
farm, but land was so high in price at the time that
it was considered unprofitable to buy, and the Brun-
nerville (the Whitehall) store stand being sold on
account of the death of Levi H. Yundt, the proprie-
tor, the latter was purchased by Ezra Wissler, the
father, for his son John B. Mr. Wissler rented it
from his father until T877, when circumstances be-
yond John B. Wissler's control induced his father
to give him the deed to the store property. He kept
the store from 1858 to 1892, had the Brunnerville
post office established in 1861, and held it as post-
master until 1892, when he resigned the office and
retired from business, selling his stock of goods to
his son-in-law A. E. Lane. Mrs. Wissler died May
ro, 1898, of gastritis and heart failure after an ill-
ness of over four months.
REV. JONAS H. HESS. The Hess family is
one of the old and honorable ones of Lancaster
county. Jacob Hess, the founder of the family
there, took up land in Warwick township in 1734,
the property since remaining a valued possession in
the family.
Rev. John Hess, son of Jacob and grandfather
of Rev. Jonas H., was born in the old homestead in
1768, and there lived and died. He gave his atten-
tion to farming through a long life. In 1800 he was
ordained a minister of the Gospel of the Old Men-
nonite denomination, and he died Nov. 27, 1830.
His first wife was Esther Hershey, and their
children were ; Christian, who was a farmer near
Rothsville, Pa. ; Henry ; Susannah, who was the
wife of Joseph Eberly ; Esther, who died at the age
of sixteen; Annie, who was the wife of Christian
Oberholtzer ; Barbara, who died at the age of eight
years ; Martha, who was the wife of Samuel Ober-"
holtzer; and Samuel, who died at the age of one
year.
Henry Hess, son of Rev. John and father of
Rev. Jonas H., was born on the old homestead Jan.
17, 1794, and early in life adopted the vocation of
farming, following the same with industry, until
within about five years prior to his death, which oc-
curred June 13, 1867. His religion was the faith of
the Old Mennonites. Henry Hess married Cath-
erine Huber, and they had a family of thirteen chil-
dren, all except one of whom lived to maturity : Ja-
cob, who was a miller of Lancaster county, Susan-
nah, the wife of Isaac Huber ; Catherine,- who died
unmarried ; Henry, a farmer of Penn township ; Es-
ther, wife of Joel Eby ; Fanny, wife of John H. Bru-
baker ; John, a farmer of Warwick township ; Sam-
uel, deceased, was a miller of Elizabeth township;
Martin, a farmer of Manheim township; Levi, a
farmer of Penn township; Annie, wife of John
Franck; and Jonas H.
Rev. Jonas H. Hess was born on the old Hess
homestead March 13, 1841, and he lived, with his
father until he was about twenty-three years of
age. His education was acquired in the public
schools, and he then settled down to an agricultural
life on the old homestead. Always a man of serious
thought and reflection, on Sept. 5, 1889, he was
ordained to the ministrv of the Old Mennonite
Church by Bishop Jacob N. Brubaker, of Mt. Joy, a
most wise and pious man. In Mr. Hess the church
has found a faithful and zealous worker, one who
is noted for his exemplary life and exalted char-
acter.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
667
On Sept. 30, 1862, Rev. Jonas H. Hess was
united in marriage with Annie S. Franck, a daugh-
ter of Christian and Catherine Franck, and to this
union have been born eight children: Lizzie, wife
of Henry R. Bucher ; Catherine, wife of Amos, N.
Musser; Christian, farmer on one of his father's
farms ; Annie, who died when six months old ; Fan-
nie F., at home; Henry F., at Lititz; Jonas, who
died at the age of four ; and Ellen F,, at home.
Rev. Jonas H. Hess is one of Lancaster county's
most respected citizens, and is justly regarded as a
representative both in his church and in his neigh-
borhood. While his interests are claimed by his
ministerial office, he is fully alive to those enter-
prises which pt-omise to benefit his locality in an
agricultural or in a business way.
ARCHIBALD LIGHTNER HENDERSON
(deceased), at one time one of the leading citizens
and most substantial agriculturists of Salisbury
township, Lancaster county, was' born there, on his
father's farm. May 19, 1803, passed his entire life
on the homestead, and there died Dec. 5, 1869; his
remains were interred in the Compassville St.
John's Episcopal Church cemetery, in Chester
county.
William Henderson, father of Archibald L., was
born June 8, 1775, and farming was also his occu-
pation through life. When a lad he was appointed
a midshipman by President Tdhn Adams, but for
some reason did not accept the commission. On
Aug. 5, 1800, he married Rachel Lightner, who was
born Nov. 14, 1777, and died Jan. 22, 1808. The
death of William Henderson occurred April 11,
1853, and the remains of both were laid to rest in
the cemetery of the Compassville St. John's Episco-
pal Church, in Chester county. Following are the
names and dates of birth and death of the children
born to Williarri and Rachel (Lightner) Henderson,
besides Archibald L. : William A., born June 6,
i8or, died Sept. 8, 1819; Lorenzo N., M. D., born
Sept. 14, 1805, died Dec. 4, 1844; Rachel L., born
Dec. 26, 1807, died in infancy.
On Oct. 2, i860, Archibald L. Henderson mar-
ried, at the home of the bride — a farm adjoining
the Henderson homestead — Miss Margaret Ann
Linvill, to which union were born the following
named children: (i) Rachel died in infancy. (2)
William H., born Aug. 14, 1863, died in Connells-
ville, Fayette county, March .31, 1901, and his re-
mains, which were brought home for burial, were
interred in Compassville St. John's Episcopal
Church cemetery. He was a civil engineer by pro-
fession, and was superintendent of the Light, Heat
& Power Company and the Trolley Company at
Connellsville, and surveyor of the company's lines
originally. He married Sarah Ann Livingston, who
went with her husband to Connellsville Jan. i, 1896,
returning to the homestead at his death. To Will-
iam and Sarah Ann (Livingston) Henderson were
born three children : John L. (deceased), Ruth and
Margaret. (3) John, a member of the Denny Tag
& Envelope Company of Chicago, 111., married
Emma Kempton, who has borne him three children,
George L., Walter S. and Robert J. (4) Lightner,
of the firrn of Purdy & Henderson, of New York
and Chicago, civil engineers of construction of steel
buildings, is a graduate of the Lehigh University.
He married Hannah Manson, of Chicago, 111. (5)
Helen is still at home.
Mrs. Margaret Ann (Linvill) Henderson was
born April 8, 1827, daughter of John and Margaret
(Hoar) Linvill, of Salisbury township. They
lived on a farm adjoining that on which their daugh-
ter (Mrs. Henderson) was born. John Linvill (now
deceased) was a very prominent farmer and a
leading citizen in Salisbury township, and for some
years was a member of the board of school directors.
His was a life of true usefulness, and was rounded
out to a ripe old age, his death occurring in 1874,
when he was eighty-one years old ; his wife sur-
vived him until October, 1885, being called away at
the greatly advanced age of ninety years. Both
were members of the Society of Friends, and their
remains rest in the. old Sadsbury Friends' ceme-
tery, but the memory of them and their many vir-
tues is still fondly cherished by those who knew
them best in life.
The late Archibald L. Henderson was a young
man when he was elected a justice of the peace, but
his decisions were never appealed; he was also a
surveyor and conveyancer for several years, and
was noted for his accuracy. His declining years
were passed in retirement, and he died a member of
the Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Henderson
was a Democrat, but he was never an office seeker,.
He was a natural-born mechanic, was practical in
all things; was industrious and thrifty, upright,
charitable and broadminded, and but few men in
the township were more honored for personal merit
and public spirit.
■ DAVID M. EYER, of East Donegal township,
Lancaster county, president of the First National
Brink of Marietta, and general farmer, was born in
Lebanon county, Sept. 7, 1830, a son of John and
Leah (Moyer) Eyer, natives, respectively, of Frank-
lin and Lebanon counties. In 1845 the family came
to East Donegal township, where John Eyer fol-
lowed farming on a river farm until his death in
1890, when eighty-four years old, although for some
years prior to this event he had withdrawn from
active work. His widow lived until 1895, when she
passed away at the age of eighty years ; and her re-
mains were interred beside her husband's in East
Donegal cemetery. The children born to this
couple were seven in number, and were in
order of birth, as follows: David M., whose
name opens this biography; Benjamin and Eliza-
beth, deceased; Henry, a farmer in Abilene, Kan.;
Samuel, farming in East Donegal township ; Fannie,
wife of Dr. Christopher Gish, of Brookville, Ohio;
668
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and Anna, who died unmarried. John Eyer, pater-
nal grandfather of David M., was a farmer in Frank-
lin county, and his maternal grandfather, Benjamin
Moyer, was proprietor of an extensive flour and
clover-seed mill in Lebanon county.
David M. Eyer was but fourteen years of age
when brought to Lancaster county, and here, for the
first three years he worked out as a farm hand.
He then joined his father and worked on the home
farm in East Donegal township until twenty-four
years old, then rented a farm from Henry Musser.
A year later he purchased a farm of 105 acres ; he
has since purchased two additional farms, and now
owns two in East Donegal and one in Conoy town-
ship, but he still resides on his original purchase
which he devotes to general farming.
Mr. Eyer has been twice married. His first
bride, whom he wedded in East Donegal township
in 1855, was Miss Mary Musser, who was born in
the township, a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth
(Geish) Musser, and to this marriage were born
eight children, viz. : Ellen, who died unmarried
at the age of thirty years ; John, who died when
thirty-nine and was also unmarried ; Elizabeth, who
became the wife of Simon C. Heisey, and died when
twenty-eight, the mother of one son, Horace ; Fanny,
who also became the wife of Simon C. Heisey, and
died without issue : Henry M., who died, aged twen-
ty-nine years ; Alice, who married Amos Shank,
now residing on her father's farm, and has three chil-
dren ; Mary, who died when sixteen years old ; and
Anna, who died when eighteen ; Mrs. Eyer died June
4, 1876. The second marriage of Mr. Eyer took
place May 30, 1878, in East Donegal township, to
Miss Catherine S. Lenhart, but to this marriage no
children have been born.
Mrs. Catherine S. (Lenhart) Eyer was born in
East Hempfield township Oct. 22, 1834, a daughter
of George and Elizabeth (Sheets) Lenhart, of
White Oak, Lancaster county. George Lenhart
was a carpenter and builder in his early manhood,
but later in life followed agricultural pursuits. He
was called away March 9, 1888, at ninety-one years
of age, and his wife died on the i8th of the same
month, in the same year, when aged eighty-two,
both dying in the faith of the River Brethren Church.
They were the parents of nine children, viz. ; Cyrus,
who died in Kansas ; Anna, wife of Samuel Hoff-
man, retired farmer of East Donegal township ; Ja-
cob, deceased ; Catherine S., now Mrs. Eyer ; Eliza-
beth, married to Jacob Herr, a farmer ; Martha,
who died young: Sophia, an invalid; Maria, wife
of Henry Eyer, retired and living in Kansas ; and
Barbara, married to Michael Smith, of East Done-
gal township. The paternal grandparents of Mrs.
Catherine S. Ever were George and Barbara (Hol-
linger) Lenhart, of Lancaster county, and the ma-
ternal grandparents were Frederick and Catherine
Sheets, also of this county.
David M. Eyer was elected a director in the
First National Bank of Marietta in 1880, and in
1899 was elected its president. He has been treas-
urer of the East Donegal Cemetery Co. from its or-
ganization in 1873, and for twelve years was direc-
tor of the Marietta & Maytown Turnpike Co. and
its president for five years. He is emphatically a
self-made man in the business sense of that term,
has always led a moral and upright course, has been
industrious and thrifty, and is now one of the most
substantial citizens of East Donegal township. Re-
ligiously, he is a member of the River Brethren
Church.
HON. JACOB L. STEINMETZ, member of the
Lancaster Bar, ex-member of the Legislature, finan-
cier and builder, and owner of many valuable prop-
erties, has for many years been one of the most
conspicuous figures in Lancaster county.
Mr. Steinmetz is descended from that sturdy
and intelligent German stock that had so much to
do with the early settlement of Pennsylvania. His
grandfather, Charles Steinmetz, was born in Ger-
many, and, coming to this country, settled near
Ephrata, of which he was one of the founders, and
there h^ entered into rest at the age of seventy-seven
years. His wife, whose maiden name was Beaver,
lived to be ninety-three years of age. Of their
eight children, two died at the age of ninety-two
years, two at eighty-eight years, and another died
at eighty-seven years.
Jacob Steinmetz, father of Hon. Jacob L., was
born near Ephrata, this county. On reaching man-
hood, he purchased valuable property at South
Ahnville, Lebanon county, where he engaged ex-.
tensively in farming, passing to his reward when
in the prime of manhood, in 1851. His wife was
Catherine Gross, daughter of John Gross, of
Ephrata, who was an extensive landowner, as well
as largely engaged at merchandising. He served as
postmaster, was one of the organizers of the Lan-
caster County National Bank, was one of the pro^
moters and leading stockholders in the Horseshoe
Turnpike Co., and, in brief, was one of the most
prominent men of his section. The wife of John
Gross was a daughter of Col. John Wright, a colonel
in the Revolutionary war, this making Hon. Jacob
L. Steinmetz (the grandson) a true son of the
American Revolution.
Hon. Jacob L. Steinmetz was born at South
Annville, Lebanon Co., Pa., Aug. 22, 1845. His
early education was received in the public schools,
biit later he attended the Annville Academy and
Dickinson Seminary, at Williamsport, graduating
from the latter institution with the degree of Bach-
elor of Arts. Next we find him in the University
of Michigan, from the literarv department of which
he was graduated with the degree of Master of
Arts, and from the law department with the degree
of Bachelor of Laws. At the University he was a
member, and at one time president, of the Webster
Literary Society, and it was there that his forensic
powers, which later in Hfe made him the powerful
J ^^lAAJ^Mv^y^Y^^ SlJLVAV/VYViW
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
669
advocate, first attracted attention. In 1870 Mr.
Steinmetz began the practice of law in Lancaster,
and from that time on his career as a member of
the Lancaster Bar was a continuous triumph. Those
who were constantly in attendance at the sessions
of all the courts of Lancaster, during all the years
in which Mr. Steinmetz won his early battles, cer-
tainly found no man at the Bar more earnest, more
searching or more successful during all those years.
As counsel in leaf tobacco cases, involving immense
sums of money, Mr. Steinmetz was so successful
that his name became a "tower of strength"
not only through Pennsylvania, but in other
States. Like his father, Mr. Steinmetz was a
stanch Democrat, and in 1876 he was a dele-
gate to the National Convention at St. Louis that
nominated Tilden for the Presidency; the same
year he (Mr. Steinmetz) was elected to the Penn-
sylvania Legislature from the city district of Lan-
caster, overcoming a large Republican majority,
and he performed the duties of his office with rare
fidelity and intelligence; After his term in the
Legislature he withdrew from active participation
in politics, devoting himself to the practice of his
profession and to the upbuilding of the city which
he had chosen for his permanent home. In Jan-
uary, 1890, he was elected president of the People's
National Bank of Lancaster, and in January, 1892,
he was instrumental in the organization of the
People's Trust, Savings & Deposit Company, of
which he was made the head, as well as the head
of the Citizens Electric Light, Heat & Power Co.,
and of the Clay & Hinkletown Turnpike Co. In
a word, there was scarcely a movement looking to
the material and financial upbuilding of Lancaster,
for many, many years, with which Mr. Steinmetz
was not identified. The Steinmetz building, at the
corner of North Queen and Grant streets (running
back half a block to Christian street, and many
stories in height) is a monument to the enterprise
which Mr. Steinmetz has shown in the line of build-
ing operations, while "Hotel Cocalico," which he
built in the beautiful borough of Ephrata, will be
an enduring monument to the liberality, enterprise
and good taste of its builder, for it is justly rated
as one of the finest resorts in the State.
On Feb. 5, 1890, Mr. Steinmetz married Miss
Mary Virginia Hawthorn, daughter of the late
James Clemsen Hawthorn, and from this union
one child was born — Hawthorn Steinmetz, now a
bright lad of twelve years, attending "Rumsey
Hall," at Seneca Falls, N. Y., where he is a member
of the Junior Sons of the Revolution, an organization
in which he is entitled to membership on both sides,
for father and mother are descended from Revolu-
tionary ancestry.
Mrs. Steinmetz, who is not only a "Daughter of
the Revolution," but a "Colonial Dame" (of whom
there are comparatively few in this section), has
an ancestry of which she may well feel proud — an
ancestry, indeed, which few people possess. Her
father, James -Clemsen Hawthorn, was born June
14, 1812, and her mother, Mary Louisa Eberman,
on Sept. 14, of the same year — 1812. James C.
Hawthorn, who died Jan. 20, 1875, was a brilliant
and most lovable man, well remembered by some of
the older people of the community. In early man-
hood, he was principal of the Model School at
Millersville, and was destined for the ministry, hav-
ing already been licensed to preach. -His first ser-
mon was preached in the United Presbyterian
Church at Old Octoraro, but the effort — a most
notable one — resulted in the bursting of a blood-
vessel, and this changed his whole career. He be-
came a planter, removing to Winchester, Frederick
Co., Vo., where Mary Virginia Hawthorn, now Mrs.
Steinmetz, was born. While she was an infant in
arms her parents fled because of the war of the Re-
bellion, coming North, where they ever after resided.
They crossed the Potomac in a flat boat, bathing the
face of the future Mrs. Steinmetz in the waters of
that historic stream. They came to Lancaster, where
their daughter, Virginia (named after her native
State), spent her girlhood days and received her
education. The grandfather of Mrs. Steinmetz on
her mother's side was John Eberman, who was born
Oct. 28, 1776, and died Nov. 25, 1846, after having
served for twenty-five years as cashier of the Far-
mers' Bank of Lancaster. Sarah Elizabeth Eber-
man, wife of John Eberman, was born Jan. 30,
1789, and died May 10, 1865. She was a daughter
of Dr. Samuel Fahnestock, one of Lancaster's
most noted medical doctors, and sister of the late
Dr. William Baker Fahnestock, also a noted physi-
cian of Lancaster, whose son, Henry R. Fahnestock,
now lives retired on East King street, after having
held clerkships in the Lancaster postoffice under
Presidents Pierce and Buchanan, and been connect-
ed with the Steinman hardware store for thirty-
seven years. Dr. Samuel Fahnestock married
Barbara Becker (afterward Anglicized to Baker),
Rev. Henry Muhlenberg performing the ceremony.
Samuel Hawthorn, grandfather of Mrs. Steinmetz,
was a gentleman of the "old school," courtly and
dignified, and wore a queue to the day of his death.
He was an extensive landowner, and among his
possessions was "Hawthorn Mill," which was for
many years a landmark near the Old Octoraro
Church, in which Samuel Hawthorn was an elder,
for he was of Scotch-Irish origin and one of the
strictest of Presbyterians.
The ancestry of Mrs. Steinmetz goes back
much farther than this. She is descended from
the Clemsens, who were of the nobility, and who
were among the earliest Swedish settlers on the
Delaware. Their settlement on the banks of < the
Delaware dates back to 1638. Her line is through
James Clemsen, James (2) and James (3). The
latter was a member of the Pennsylvania Legisla-
ture, where he served on important committees, as-
sisted in settling the Independence of the Colonies,
was a justice of the peace before the Revolution,
670
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and was elected a delegate to the general county
convention in 1774, to take action against British
tyranny, voting to resist it. He was a justice of
the peace, and judge of the common pleas in and
for the county of Lancaster, representing Sadsbury
and Salisbury as early as 1790. James Clemsen
(i) lived and died in Philadelphia. He took up
tracts of land from the Penn grant in 17 16, locating
these tracts in the Pequea Valley. He gave to his
son, James Clemsen (2), 400 acres of land near
White Horse, Salisbury township; to his son John
he gave another tract of 400 acres, which was
afterward known as Buckley's Forge ; and to a third
son, Thomas, he gave the tract of land now known
as Gap Station. James Clemsen (i) was a son of
Jacob Clemsen, who was one of the Swedes who
settled on the Delaware in 1656. His son, James,
married Jeane Coates, who came from England with
her father, Thomas Coates, in 1682. Tradition tells
us that they were related to William Penn, and
this was their motto: "We are among those who
believe that any who care not about their early
origin, care little as to anything higher." [See
Rupp's and Harris's histories, as well as the archives
of Pennsylvania.] James Wilson, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence, as well as a signer of
the Constitution of 1779, was the brother of the
great-grandmother of Mrs. Steinmetz ; while another
of her ancestors. Gen. Heard, whose broad acres
were located two miles north of Christiana, was a
general in the war of 1812. In fact it is impossible
in a sketch intended to have a place with other
genealogical sketches in one book, however large
that book might be, to give in complete detail all the
branches belonging to such a family tree as that
of Mrs. Steinmetz. It would involve not only those
already mentioned, but the Andrews, McCaulley,
Doran and Beyers families — all substantial people,
the McCaulleys referred to being John and James ;
the contested will of the latter — in which he be-
queathed $50,000 to the Extension fund of the
Presbyterian Church — was the most noted will case
ever tried in Lancaster county.
Mr. and Mrs. Steinmetz are now living in their
beautiful "Hotel Cocalico," at Ephrata, having
closed, for the present, their elegant home on North
Duke street, Lancaster, one of the finest in the city.
Mr. Steinmetz visited Europe in 1889, and again
in 1894, and Mrs. Steinmetz has paid four visits
to the continent. She is not only a member of the
Daughters of the Revolution and of the Colonial
Dames, but is active and prominent in the Iris Club,
Lancaster's leading social and literary club for
women. Both parents are justly proud of their
only, child. Hawthorn, whose grandest, most en-
during inheritance will be his historic and honored
ancestry.
DAVID B. HUBER, of Manheim township,
who is living retired at Fruitville, is one of the old
and enterprising citizens of Lancaster county. Mr.
Huber was born Dec. 17, 1837, on the family home-
stead iij Leacock township, and when twelve years
of age came to Manheim township with his parents,
where he has made his home. His education was
received in the common schools, and by observation
and reflection he has become a man of much intelli-
gence, reading widely and thinking profoundly and
deeply.
Mr. Huber remained with his parents until 1859,
when he was married and began farming on a part
of the family homestead. A few years later he
bought an adjoining place of sixty-eight acres, on
which he lived for thirty-six years before his re-
tirement from active labors. During this long and
industrious career Mr. Huber has become prosper-
ous and owns six farms, with substantial improve-
ments. In 1900 he put up a beautiful modern resi-
dence in which he expects to pass his remaining
years. Mr. Huber is a director in the Fruitville,
and the Manheim & Penn Turnpike companies. In
the Western Market House also he is a director,
and he is always ready to take an active interest in
anything that looks to the public good.
Mr. Huber was married in September, 1859, to
Miss Fannie, a daughter of the Rev. Christian Bom-
berger, of Warwick township. She died July 17,
1862, leaving one child, Levi B., now a farmer in
Landis Valley, who married Elizabeth Stauifer,, by
whom he has had nine children: Cora, Anna, Liz-
zie, Harry, David, Benjamin, Christian, Enos and
John. David B. Huber married for his second wife.
Miss Caroline, a daughter of Jacob and Hetty
(Reist) Dohner, the wedding occurring Jan. 31,
1865. She was born in Penn township Nov. 27,
1840. This union has been blessed with the follow-
ing children : Annie, who married Henry McNally,
a farmer and dairyman of Hamilton, Ont., and
has four children, Harry D., Carrie M., Herbert
N. and Edward S. ; Jacob, who died at twenty
years of age : Fannie, who died in infancy ; David D.,
a farmer in Manheim township, on the family home-
stead, who married Fannie Rohrer, of East Hemp-
field township ; John D., who died when about five
years old ; Lizzie, deceased at the age of three years ;
and Mary, wife of Milton G. Brubaker, residing at
Fruitville.
Mr. and Mrs. Huber, Levi B. and Mrs. Mary
Brubaker are members of the Mennonite Church,
and are among the most worthy and respected citi-
zens of the community. For fifteen years he has
been a member of the school hoard in Manheim
towiiship. Mr. Huber has been an extensive trav-
eler, and as he is a close observer he has profited
mqch by his journeying abroad. He is a model
fs^rmer, and received a medal and diploma for an
exhibition of oats made at the World's Columbian
Exposition. "When the Sabbath School was started
at Petersburg by the Mennonite Church, Mr. Hu-
ber was made the first superintendent, and he has
ha,d the pleasure of seeing many of the younger peo-
ple pass from the Sunday School into the Church.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
671
MICHAEL G. SHINDLE (originally spelled
Schindle), dealer in tobacco and coal, and also en-
gaged in the fire insurance business in Mountville,
Lancaster county, was born Jan. ii, 1837, in West.
Hempfield, this county, a mile and a half northeast
of his present place of business. His parents, Jo-
seph and Sarah (Gross) .Shindle, were natives of
Manor and East Hempfield townships, respectively,
Joseph Shindle was a farmer, and he died in Manor
township Sept. 25, i860, at the age of forty-nine
years and six months. His wife preceded him to
the grave April 16, 1847, ^t the age of forty-two
years, both dying in the faith of the Lutheran
Church. Their remains were interred at Mount-
ville. They had born to them three children, name-
ly : Michael G., whose name opens this paragraph ;
Mary A., who died in 1849 ; and Harriet, who died
in 1888, the wife of Ephraim Hershey, of Manor
township, and tlie mother of two children. /
We have no definite information concerriing the
early members of the Shindle family in this country.
In 175 1 came John Peter Schindle, who located in
Lebanon county. Pa. In 1755 John Michael Schindle
came hither from Germany, settling in Lancaster
county, Pa. In 1771 came two brothers, John
Conrad and Joseph George, who also settled
in Lancaster county. Michael G. Shindle is sup-
posed to have been a descendant of John Michael,
who was born July 31, 1729, in Euerlebach, Erbach,
in what is now Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, son of
John Conrad and Susannah (Trixler) Schindle.
John Michael, it is supposed, was the great-grandfa-
ther of Michael G., the subject of this sketch; his
grandfather was named Michael. Our subject's ma-
ternal grandparents' were George and Elizabeth
Gross, farming people of East Hempfield township.
Michael G. Shindle remained on the home farm
until i860, when he came to Mountville, and settled
there, and built his present home in 1864. He at
once opened a coal yard, and had his farming done
by hired lielp. He was soon appointed freight and
ticket agent for the Pennsylvania Railway Co., and
acted in that capacity twenty- two years (1866 to
1888). Mr. Shindle has never abandoned the coal
trade since coming to Mountville, and in 1869 began
buying, packing and selling tobacco..
Michael G. Shindle has been twice married. In
1857, in Hempfield township, he wedded Barbara
Stauffer, who was born in West Hempfield town-
ship, daughter of Henry Stauffer, and to this union
were born three children, namely: Florence, wife
of Adam B. Fisher, freight and ticket agent for the
Pennsylvania Railway Co., at Mountville; Sadie,
-wife of Dr. David R. Summy, of Columbus, Ohio ;
and Miss Silvene, residing with her sister Sadie.
Mrs. Barbara (Stauffer) Shindle was called away
in 1 89 1, at the age of fifty-one years, and her re-
mains were interred in the Mountville cemetery. In
1893, in Lancaster City, Michael G. Shindle took
for his second helpmate, Mrs. Barbara (Klugh)
Musser, a widow, and a native of Mountville, daugh-
ter of Charles and Eliza Klugh, of West Hempfield
township. Mrs. Shindle was first married to Amos
S. Musser, who was a farmer all his life and died
in 1887, leaving her with four children: Harvey
K., who is a baker in Lancaster; Miami, wife of
George E. Griffin, in the real estate and insurance
business in Philadelphia ; Stanton, a machinist, who
is unmarried ; and Mabel, residing with Mr. Shindle.
Michael G. Shindle was one of the incorporators
of the Mountville Manufacturing Co., and was the
general manager and secretary of that concern from
the start, in 1888, until he resigned the office in 1895.
He was also one of the incorporators of the Mount-
ville National Bank, of which he was a director for
six years, and then resigned. In October, 1900, he
was made secretary of the Penn Township Mutual
Fire Insurance Association, of which he has been for
many years a member, and in 1896 was elected a di-
rector. In politics he is a Republican, but has
steadily refused to accept public office, although he
is in eveiy respect one of the most public-spirited
citizens of Lancaster county.
JACOB S. HERSHEY, one of the business cit-
izens of Junction, Penn township, is an estimable
member of one of the prominent old families of Lan-
caster county.
Martin Hershey, his grandfather, lived and died
in Dauphin county. Pa., where he carried on the
business of distilling in connection with his farming.
He was the father of these children : Isaac, a farmer
in Dauphin county, who became a politician and
served as register of deeds ; Henry, a farmer of Dau-
phin county ; Joseph, who moved to Ohio and farmed
there ; Jacob, a farmer of Dauphin county ; John,
also a farmer of the same county; and Martin, the
father of Jacob S., of this sketch, who was born in
1801.
In his early business life, Martin Hershey, the
father of Jacob S., was a distiller, later became a
farmer and about 1829 or 1830, he removed to Lan-
caster county and settled near the place where Jacob
S., subject of this sketch, now resides. Here he
erected a distillery and managed it in connection
with his farming operations. His death occurred in
1881. In politics, Martin Hershey was a Republi-
can, and he held the office of school director for
some years. The marriage of Martin Hershey was
to Elizabeth Suavely, and they were the parents of
four children, two of whom died in in:^ncy. Of
the others, Reuben went to Minnesota and died
there, leaving Jacob S., the only surviving member
of the family. Both parents were worthy members
of the Old Mennonite Church.
Jacob S. Hershey was born in Penn township,
March 23, 1836, and remained in the family home,
after finishing his education, until he was twenty-
four years of age. Upon a tract of land in Penn
township, he began his own agricultural .career,
succeeding in a marked degree for five years, giving
that line up in order to embark in the mercantile
672
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
business in the town of Junction. This business
grew in volume through nineteen years, when Mr.
Hershey went into the coal and leaf tobacco busi-
ness, and has also been successful in that line. The
same principles which conduced to make him a suc-
cessful merchant through so many years, are still
followed in his present business, and he has the con-
fidence and good will of his whole community. In
1867 he was appointed postmaster, and he filled the
duties of the position as long as he continued in the
mercantile line.
Mr. Hershey was married to Miss Anna Cassel,
and to this union were born two children, Louisa C,
who died at the age of twenty-one years ; and Lizzie
C, the wife of Martin E. Gross, a farmer of Penn
township. Mr. Hershey is one of the progressive,
energetip and capable business men of Lancaster
county, widely known and most highly respected.
MAN SELL REED, a retired farmer residing in
South Hermitage, Salisbury township, Lancaster
county, although born on Southern soil and of Quak-
er parentage, was one of the defenders of his coun-
try's flag.
Mansell Reed was born in Cecil county, Md.,
Sept. 8, 1838, a son of William and Margaret (Lit-
tle) Reed, of the State of Delaware, where the moth-
er died in 1845, when thirty-five years old, the father
dying in Chester county, Pa., in 1861, at sixty years
of age, both in the faith of the Society of Friends.
They were the parents of three children, viz : Man-
sell ; Mary, deceased wife of Rev. William P. White,
a Presbyterian clergyman, to whom she has borne
four children ; and Elizabeth, who died at the age of
fifteen years. The parents of William Reed were
Ezekie! and Mary (Mansfield) Reed, of Delaware,
the former of whom was a farmer and died in West
Chester, Pa. The parents of Margaret (Little)
Reed were Thomas and Elizabeth Little, of Okeas-
sen, Del., also farming people.
Mansell Reed was but seven years of age when
brought to Salisbury township by an uncle, John
McGill, a merchant with whom Mansell lived in
South Hermitage until twenty-two years old, as-
sisting in the store. He then found other employ-
ment for a year or two, and in May, 1863, enlisted at
Lancaster in Co. F, I22d P. V. I., under Capt. John
Bair as commander of the company.' The most im-
portant battles in which he took part were those of
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, but he also par-
ticipated in numerous skirmishes, and after nine
months of active service was honorably discharged
at Harrisburg. For the two following years he
served as an extra on a wagon train in Washington,
D. C, at the termination of which time he returned
to South Hermitage, Pa., and for a year was em-
ployed in a general store : thence he went to Mount
Pleasant, clerked in a store two years ; then for two
years was a clerk in a store at Compassville, and
finally came to his present property in South Her-
mitage. There he erected his comfortable dwelling
in 1876, and employed himself in farming until 1898,
when impaired health caused his retirement.
The marriage of Mansell Reed took place in
New Holland, Lancaster county, March 19, 1866, to
Miss Catherihe Diem, who has borne him four chil-
dren, namely : Elizabeth, wife of Carson Sterling, a
liveryman of New Holland, and mother of three
children, David Reed, Robert Franklin and William
Chester; Bertha, who died young; Daisy, who died
an infant ; and Chester, who still resides with his pa-
rents. Mrs. Catherine (Diem) Reed is a native of
Salisbury township, was born June 5, 1837, and is a
daughter of Kennedy and Hester (Brower) Diem.
Mansell Reed has ever been one of the most in-
dustrious and enterprising of men, and had it not
been that ill health caused his early retirement from
business, the citizens of Salisbury township would
have found great cause for congratulation from his
residence in their midst. He is very public-spirited
and has always been ready when his means permit-
ted, to assist financially in the promotion of all pro-
jects designed for the welfare of the public, being
an ardent friend of public instruction and of the
maintenance of good roads and such other conven-
iences as are usually required by a progressive com-
munity. His perceptive faculties are quick and com-
prehensive, and he is never slow to see what is re-
quired for the public good nor lax in rendering effi-
cient aid in securing the means for filling such re-
quirements. He is to a great extent what is known
as a '-'self-made" man, and until overcome by illness
was possessed of an immense amount of energy and
business enterprise. Naturally of an aflfable dis-
position and pleasing manners, he has made hosts
of friends who hold him in the highest esteem, and
in this esteem his estimable wife has a full share.
Mr. and Mrs. Reed are devout members of the
Pequea Presbyterian Church, and fraternally Mr.
Reed is a member of the G. A. R. In politics he is a
Republican, but has never desired office of any kind.
GEORGE B. OWEN. One of the oldest, most
promment and wealthy families of Lancaster county
is that of Owen, Richard Owen having taken pos-
session of the plantation now held by George B. Owen
as early as 1723.
The ship "Vine," William Preeson, master, ar-
rived in the Delaware Sept. 17, 1684, from Dolserey,
near Dolgelly, in Merionethshire, Wales. Robert
Owen and wife Jane and son Lewis, Dr. Griffith
Owen (also a son of Robert Owen), his wife Sarah
and son Robert, and daughters Sarah and Elenor,
were on this ship. Robert Owen settled on Duck
creek, in Newcastle county, Del., where his son Ed-
ward had previously settled. Robert Owen had nine
sons, all of age at the time. He was a son of Hum-
phrey Owen, descended from Lewis Owen, Baron of
the Exchequer of North Wales, who was murdered
in 1555- A few months after his arrival Robert
Owen was appointed one of the justices of the peace
for Newcastle county. He died before the end of his
ELIZA OWEN
BENJAMIN OWEN
MARY B. OWEN
GEORGE B. OWEN
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
673
term, and his son Richard was appointed in his stead,
and it was Richard, the son of Richard, who located
in Lancaster county after his marriage, in 1720, with
Elizabeth Knauer, and who was at that time living
in Uwchland township, Chester Co., Pa. The family
were Quakers on arrival in the country, but neither
Richard Owen, on arrival in Lancaster county, nor
his wife were members of that Society. He may have
been a Seventh-day Baptist, as at least two of his
brothers left in Uwchland township certainly were.
What gives color to this is that Bissell, the founder
of the Ephrata Community, first located near to the
plantation of Richard Owen. Be this as it may, it is
certainly true that the grandchildren (the children of
his son Benjamin), Jonathan, Benjamin and Ann,
are the first of the family mentioned in the Lampeter
Meeting Records. The children of Richard and
Elizabeth Owen were Richard, Theopholis, Benjamin,
Mary (wife of John MaxAvell), Anne (wife of Rich-
ard Chiney), Sarah (wife of Peter Potts), and Jona-
than. Richard Owen died in 1760, and, his sons
Richard and Theophilus also being dead, the planta-
tion was taken at the appraisement by his son Benja-
min. Benjamin Owen was very successful, and at
his death, in 1784, left the plantation of his father to
his son Jonathan, and the one adjoining to his son
Benjamin, making provision also for his daughter
Ann, then the wife of John Williams. Jonathan
Owen, son of Benjamin, and grandson of Richard,
was born in Lancaster county, and was married May
17, 1787, to Mary Bonsall, of Darby (then in Ches-
ter, now in Delaware county). Pa., and thereafter
made his home in Delaware county, where all his
children were born. He died there in 1821, and his
wife, who survived until 1863, reached the advanced
age of ninety-seven years.
Benjamin Owen was born in Delaware county,
six miles southwest of Philadelphia. In his early
days he learned the trade of wheelwright, but in 1823
he removed to Upper Leacock township, Lancaster
county, and there engaged in farming during the rest
of his life. He was a man of fine mental equipment,
and held many of the local offices. His death oc-
curred in 1880, when he was aged eighty-seven, and
his wife, Eliza Bender, died in 1877, at the age of
sixty-two; they were buried in Heller's cemetery.
Mr. Owen was of the Quaker belief, and Mrs. Owen
was a fnember of the Reformed church. Two chil-
dren only were born to them, George B. and Mary B.,
the latter dying in December, 1894. Mrs. Eliza
(Bender) Owen was a daughter of George and Mary
(Kinzer) Bender, of Earl township, where the father
resided a short time, removing to Upper Leacock
township, where he died in 1818 ; the mother survived
until 1871, dying at the age of ninety-two years.
Her second marriage was to William Wadely, by
whom she had the following children : Amos ;
Maria, who married Jeremiah Smith; George, who
married Catherine Maltz, of Cumberland county;
and Harriet, who married David Miller. Her chil-
dren by George Bender were : Kinzer, who married
43
(first) Mary Weidler, and (second) her sister,
Susan Weidler ; Margaret, who married Jacob Hull ;
William, who died unmarried, in Mississippi; and
Eliza, the mother of George B. Owen. Daniel Ben-
der, the father of George Bender, was a soldier in the
Revolutionary war.
George B. Owen was born near Monterey, in
Upper Leacock township, Oct. 31, 1835. He was
educated in the public schools, and at New London
Academy, in Chester county, under William F. Wy-
ers, spending three terms at the latter institution.
During the life of his parents and sister he remained
on the old homestead, and he valued greatly this fine
old farm, which has been in the possession of the fam-
ily some one hundred and fifty years, but does not
now reside upon it. Having no family ties, and pos-
sessing ample means, Mr. Owen spends much time
in travel, and has taken a very prominent part in pub-
lic affairs in his county, serving for three years on
the Republican County Committee. For a period of
eighteen months he served as assistant assessor of
United States Internal Revenue, his term ending on
account of the abolishment of the office. Mr. Owen
is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity,
being a Knight Templar, and connected with Lodge
No. 43, in Lancaster. He is considered one of the
representative citizens of this part of the county.
HON. EMANUEL DYER ROATH, justice of
the peace at Marietta, Lancaster county, and a gal-
lant ex-officer of the war of the Rebellion, was born
in Lancaster City, Oct. 4, 1820, a son of Jacob and
Susan (Shireman) Roath, natives, respectively, of
Maytown and Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Jacob Roath was a tailor by trade and was a
member of the company which escorted Gen. Lafay-
ette from Paoli to Lancaster, on the occasion of the
second visit of that noble and philanthropic French-
man to America. Jacob Roath died in Lancaster
at the age of thirty-three years, and his wife, Susan
(Shireman) Roath, removed to Harrisburg, where
her death took place. Both she and her husband
were members of the Reformed Church, and their
rem.ains lie interred in the cemetery of that de-
nomination at Maytown. Their four children were
born in the following order : John C, a cabinet-
malcer, died in Maytown ; Emanuel D. ; Jacob S., a
shoemaker, died in Maytown; and Philip B., a
farjner, died in the same village. The paternal
grandparents of Hon. E. D. Roath were natives of
Baden, Germany, and were early settlers in Lan-
caster county. Pa. ; and of the maternal grandpar-
ents, Jacob and Susan (Brenner) Shireman, the fa~
ther of Jacob was also born in Baden.
The boyhood days of Emanuel D. Roath were
passed at his mother's home. At the age of five years
he was sent to the district school, where he learned
the alphabet the first day. He continued on the farm
until he had secured a sum of money to pay his ex-
penses in a higher institution of instruction, and
from eighteen until twenty-one years old attended
674
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the Shippensburg Academy. On reaching his ma-
jority, he began working out on his own account,
and when twenty-three commenced teaching — a pro-
fession he followed for twelve consecutive winters
in the district schools; for five summers, also, he
taught a private school of his own.
In 1852 Mr. Roath settled in Marietta, and for
two years worked in a lumber yard. On March 18,
1854, he was elected a justice of the peace and was
re-elected Oct. 10, 186 1. At Camp Curtin, Harris-
burg, Mr. Roath was authorized by Gov. Curtin to
raise a company of volunteers for service in the Civil
war, the result being that he enrolled Co. E, 107th
P. V. I., of which he was commissioned Captain, and
he served until March i, 1865, when he was mustered
out at Washington, D. C., being later breveted major
by Presiiient Andrew Johnson, and breveted lieu-
tenant colonel and later colonel hy Gov. John W.
Geary. Following is a list of the engagements in
which Capt. Roath took part while assisting in main-
taining the integrity of his nation's flag: Cedar
Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Thoroughfare
Gap and second Bull Run, all in August, 1862;
Chantilly (where he took command of his regiment).
South iMountain (where he was second in command)
and Antietam (where he was also second in com-
mand and was wounded), all in September, 1862;
Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862, when his bri-
gade charged the Rebels out of their entrenchments,
and was under fire at the same place December 14th ;
imder fire below Fredericksburg, April 30, 1863,
and again May 2nd; at Chancellors ville May 3 and
4, 1863 ; was next in the Wilderness ; was wounded
at Gettysburg July i, 1863, but kept on fighting on
the 2nd and 3rd, having command of the regiment.
He crossed the Rappahannock Aug. r, 1863, and
was at Mine Run November 28th, 29th and 30th;
was at Spottsylvania May r6, 17, 18, 1864, at North
Anna, May 23, and at Bethesda May 30 ; Tolopotamy,
June 2nd; Shady Grove Church, June 3d; White
Oak Swamp, June 13th; near Norfolk and Peters-
burg Railroad, June 17th, and captured it June i8th ;
took the Weldon Railroad August 18. On Aug.
19, 1864, after sharp fighting, he was captured
by the Rebels and confined in Libby prison until
September, 1864, when he was shipped to Salis-
bury, N. C, and held until Oct. 15th; thence he was
transferred to Danville, Va., and in February, 1865,
was returned to Libby Prison, was exchanged, and
arrived at Annapolis, Md., February 22nd ; March i,
1865, he was mustered out as stated above. He re-
turned to Marietta and officiated as a magistrate until
October, 1867, when he was sent to the Legislature
by the Republican party, of which he was an ardent
member.
Hon. Emanuel D, Roath has been twice married.
At Elizabethtown, Pa., in the Reformed Church par-
sonage, he wedded Susan R. Hippie, who bore him
two children : George H., of whom a full biography
is given on another page ; and Anna R., wife of Jacob
Funk, of Marietta. Mrs. Susan R. (Hippie) Roath,
was born in East Donegal township, Lancaster coun-
ty. Pa., daughter of Samuel and Anna Hippie, v/ho
came from Chester county in 1830 and were agri-
cultural people; Mrs. Susan Roath died in 1854 at
the age of twenty-eight years. In 1857, in Colum-
bia, Mr. Roath married Harriet C. Young, a native
of Marietta and a daughter of John and Catherine
Young. She died in December, 1896, when forty-
eight years old, leaving one child, Barcina H., wife
of George Kame, a farmer of East Donegal.
In 1858 Mr. Roath was first elected as the repre-
sentative of his district in the State Legislature and
served one term; in 1868 he was again elected to
this body, and again served one term. He has been
an Odd Fellow for the past fifty-seven years, and is
the oldest member of the order in Lancaster county.
He is a past State Councillor of the Order of Amer-
ican Mechanics, and is a member of the National
Council ; he is also a past Worshipful Master of the
F. & A. M., and is a Knight Templar. Since 1865 he
has been a vestryman of the Episcopal Church, of
which he is a member. He was appointed brigade
quartermaster of a brigade of the Lancaster county
militia by Gen. Jacob Gross. For seven years he
commanded a volunteer company of May town, called
"The Jackson Fencibles," infantry. Mr. Roath has
led a busy and useful life, and although now well
advanced in years is still looked to for further ser-
vice by a host of admiring friends.
JOSEPPI C. YODER, D. D. S., whose well-
appointed office is at No. 305 North Queen street,
Lancaster, is a descendant of several of the oldest
families in Pennsylvania. He is a son of Daniel C.
and Elizabeth (Byler) Yoder, the former a farmer
of Mifflin county.
The Yoder family is descended from Mrs. Bar-
bara Yoder, a native of Switzerland, who landed in
Philadelphia prior to 1727 ; her husband died on the
voyage and was buried at sea. (See P. 10, J. D.
Rupp's collection of 30,000 names of immigrants in
Pennsylvania). Christian Yoder, a grandson of
Barbara, became a farmer and married Esther Hertz-
ler, who was born and raised in Caernarvon town-
ship, Lancaster county. By this marriage the Yo-
ders and Hertzlers became most influential in Penn-
sylvania.
The Hertzler ancestors were originally from
Switzerland. They made a stay of some years in
France, but owing to religious persecution were
obliged to find a new home. They were Amish
Mennonites, or followers of Menno Simon. Jacob
Hertzler, the ancestor of Mrs. Esther (Hertzler)
Yoder, sailed from Rotterdam on the ship "St. An-
drew," and arrived at Philadelphia Sept. 9, 1749.
He located in Berne township, Lancaster county
(now Berks county), and on Jan. 9, 1750, purchased
182 acres and 30 perches of land from Richard and
Thomas Penn, in Philadelphia, paying one dollar
and a quarter an acre. This tract he named "Con-
tentment." Between 1750 and 1773 he added other
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
675
tracts to his original purchase, making in all 404
acres and 4 perches. Nearly all of the Hertslers
have been agricultural people. The old homestead
near Morgantown, Caernarvon township, is still in
possession of the family, being occupied by Isaac
Kurtz, whose wife was Elizabeth Hertzler, daugh-
ter of Daniel Hertzler. (See Hertzler Genealogy,
pp. 238-240) . This grand old place was visited' by
Dr. Yoder in the summer of 1900, and he found it in
fine condition, with beautiful surroundings. The
stone barn, supposed to have been built by the emi-
grant, Jacob, is in good state of preservation. There
is also an old Pennock (Big Romanite) apple tree
still hardy, which measures 10 feet 6 inches near the
ground, and in September, 1902, it was estimated
to have twenty-five bushels of apples.
The Byler family, with which Dr. Yoder is con-
nected on his mother's side, was planted in America
by a Swiss emigrant, who landed in Philadelphia
Oct. 8, 1737, having crossed the sea in the vessel
"Charming Polly" (See Hertzler Genealogy, p. 133.)
Dr. Joseph C. Yoder was born in Mifflin county
Dec. 21, 1844, and was reared on a farm. He served
part of an apprenticeship at the harness maker's
trade in Ohio, but his natural love of learning in-
duced him to abandon that work and seek an educa-
tion. Part of his school days were passed in Kish-
acoquillas Seminary, Mifflin Co., Pa. For two win-
ters he taught in the public schools iii the Kishaco-
quillas Valley, and attended the Seminary in the
summers. In September, 1866, at the close of the
Civil war, he went South, and near Jonesboro, in
Washington Co., Tenn., he organized the George
Washington Seminary, and here one of his first pu-
pils was the lady who afterward became his wife.
Later, in 1867, he united with Prof. S. Z. Sharp, a
graduate of the Millersville (Pa.) State Normal
school, at Maryville, Tenn., sixteen miles south of
Knoxville, where for two years he was the principal
assistant.
While at Maryville, Mr. Yoder was united in
marriage, July 21, 1869, with Seraphina Crosswhite,
daughter of Elder Crosswhite, of Washington coun-
ty, Tenn., the powerful pioneer preacher of the Ger-
man Dunkards. The bride was a bright and cultured
young woman, and for a year had been a most suc-
cessful and popular teacher.
In 1870 Dr. Yoder went to Kansas City, Mo.,
where he engaged in teaching, and was later em-
ployed in the Armour Beef Packing Co. He was
also engaged as weighmaster in a wholesale fur and
bide establishment, and at various times as a book,
fire insurance and fruit tree agent. In 1872, with
his wife and son, Jesse D., he returned to his father-
in-law's in Tennessee, and there taught school under
the provision of the philanthropist George Peabody.
While engaged in teaching he read medicine for
three years under Drs. W. R. Sevier and E. L.
Deadrick, of Jonesboro, but abandoned medicine for
dentistry, becoming associated with Dr. John Lock,
of Lewistown, Pa., a graduate of the Baltimore Col-
lege of Dental Surgery, class of 1846. After practic-
ing dentistry in Mifflin county for a time, he spent
thirteen years of successful work in Huntingdon,
Pa. In 1883 he passed an examination before a
board of dental examiners. Dr. §. H. Guilford of
Philadelphia, Dr. E. A. Magill of Erie (who was
regarded as the father of dental associations in Penn-
sylvania), Dr. Jesse C. Green of Westchester, and
Dr. Gerhart of Lewisburg, and was licensed a pro-
ficient dentist. In 1894 he opened an office in Lan-
caster determined to make that attractive city his
permanent home, and he soon built up a large and lu-
crative practice.
Dr. and Mrs. Yoder became the parents of three
sons : (i) Jesse D., born in Kansas City, Mo., June
8, 1871, died when a lad. (2) Arthur Lee, born near
Jonesboro, Tenn., Jan. 16, 1874, graduated in 1893
from the Juniata Normal College at Huntingdon,
Pa., and in 1895 received the degree of M. E. and
later B. S. from the Millersville State Normal. He
taught school as first assistant at the Alexandria
high school, at Huntingdon, and in the public schools
near Mt. Joy. For two years he was principal of the
LTnionville high school, but resigned to attend
Franklin and Marshall College at Lancaster, Pa.,
from which he was graduated in June, 1902, with the
degree of A. B. During his college course he taught
night school, read meters for the Electric Light
Co., 'and also served as a conductor on the trolley
cars. He also filled the position of teacher of the
.Scientific Class at the Millersville State Normal. In
September, 1902, he began his duties as the head
of the Scientific Department in the Steelton (Pa.)
High school. (3) Ralph Earnest, born March 22,
1876, in Lewistown, Pa., was graduated in 1893 at
the age of seventeen from the Juniata Normal Col-
lege at Huntingdon, in the same class with his broth-
er. He taught two schools in Huntingdon county.
Pa., and became first assistant, as well as one of the
organizers, with Dr. Hershey, of the Gap Academy
in Lancaster county. For two years he taught in
the public schools near Elizabethtown, and declined
a third year in order to join his brother Arthur, and
with him to enter Franklin and Marshall College.
He graduated in June, 1902, with the degree of
A. B. During his college course he was employed
on the trolley cars as conductor and motorman. He
is now principal of the Fulton township high school
in Lancaster county. Both Arthur Lee and Ralph
Earnest hold permanent State certificates as teachers.
Dr. Yoder is a man of deep religious convic-
tions, and is an earnest worker in all religious move-
ments. He is a member of the First Mennonite
Church, corner of Diamond and Fifth streets, Phila-
delphia, and he is a member of the North American
Mennonite Conference. Politically the Doctor was
a Republican, having been a firm supporter of the
martyred Lincoln, but is now a chartered member
of the State Socialist party, having assisted in or-
ganizing and placing a Socialist ticket in the field.
He is one of the county Socialist campaign speakers.
676
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mrs. Yoder and Arthur L. are members of the pro-
gressive Dunkards, belonging to a church in Phila-
delphia. Ralph E. Yoder is a member of St.
Stephen's Reformed Church, the congregation meet-
ing in the chapel in Franklin and Marshall College.
Mrs. Yoder is a lady of culture, and has been a po-
tent factor in the intellectual life of this city, being
editor-in-chief of the Woman's edition of The Lan-
caster Examiner, for the benefit of the General Hos-
pital in Lancaster, an enterprise that netted over
$600 for this worthy object. At another time she
was the business manager for the Woman's edition
of The Nezv Era, for the benefit of the W. C. T. U.,
of Lancaster, from which the sum' of $500 was real-
ized. These ventures were the first of the kind in
this part of the country, and elicited close criticism
which was followed by warm admiration for the sig-
nal ability displayed by Mrs. Yoder and her two
colaborers. Misses Anna M. and Mary Martin. The
late Dr. William H. Egle, then State Librarian of
Pennsylvania, wrote Mrs. Yoder a very complimen-
tary letter, asked for a copy of this special edition
of The Examiner and placed it among the archives
of the State Library.
REES CLEMENS HIM.ES, in his life time a
successful merchant and farmer, was born Jan. 8,
1800, in Honey brook, Chester Co., Pa., and he died
on Spring Run farm in Lancaster county, May 18,
1849, '^i^'^l his remains were interred in the Bellevue
Presbyterian Church cemetery, of which church he
was a m.ember and trustee.
Thomas and Catherine (Clemens) Himes, his
parents, were of Welsh extraction, and were old and
respected residents of Chester county. Thomas
Himes died in April, 1808, aged fifty years, three
months and seventeen days. His wife died March
5, 185 1, aged eighty years, ten months and thirteen
days. Their children, all now deceased, were as fol-
lows: George W., who married Joanna Sturges;
Thomas, who married Susan Himes (of no known
relationship), and was a prominent man in his day,
being the manager of the Margaretta Iron Furnace ;
Eliza, who became the wife of Thomas Whistler;
Hannah, who wedded John Livergood ; Maria, who
married Amos Kinzer ; and Rees Clemens.
The early life of Rees C. Himes was one of ad-
venture and stirring incident. In association with
his brother George W. he became the possessor of a
lead mine at Galena, 111., and if conditions and trans-
portation had been as they now are, there is no doubt
but the mine would have proved of immense value.
At that time, however, work was necessarily slow, as
while one brother worked at getting out the lead, the
other had to guard it from thieves, and so, before any
material benefit accrued, the brothers becanie dis-
heartened and abandoned the enterprise. Their next
adventure was in the purchase of land on the site
of the present great city of St. Louis, Mo., but their
operations were much disturbed by the hostility of
the Indians. For some time Mr. Himes operated a
grist and flour mill and did some farming, but later
the brothers returned to Chester county. The first
white child born in the city of Galena, 111., was Louisa
daughter of George Himes and wife. In 1827 Mr.
Himes embarked in the mercantile business in Hat-
ville, Lancaster county, but in 1831 he bought the
fine farm now occupied by his daughters, and re-
mained there during the balance of his life. This
property is known as Spring Run farm, and com-
prises 1 10 acres of valuable land within one and one-
half miles of Gap. It is now owned and managed
by the three daughters of Mr. Himes, and is one of
the most valuable farms in the locality.
On Dec. 17, 1829, at the home of the bride,
in Paradise township, Rees C. Himes was united in
marriage with Miss Sarah Eckert, and to this union
these children were born: Chnton, who married
Sophia Mcllvaine Negley, and is a resident of Salis-
bury township; George Clemens, who died young;
Cecelia A., who married Rees C. Himes, a prominent
and wealthy farmer residing in Shippensburg ;
Misses Anna C, Susan A. and Martha L., who all
reside on the old farm ; Newton T., who died young ;
and Rees L., a justice of the peace, who resides in
Kinzers and married Margaret Eckert.
Mrs. Sarah (Eckert) Himes was born Nov.
21, iSti, in Paradise township, Lancaster county,
and died Aug. 22, 1899, and was laid to rest by the
side of her husband. She was a consistent member
of Bellevue Presbyterian Church for many years.
Her parents were George and Susan (Kerns) Eckert
of Lancaster county, where the former was a farmer,
and for many years a well-known miller in Paradise
township. For years before his death, on Feb.
27, 1829, at the age of fifty-five years, five months
and nine days, he had given up business cares into
the hands of his son, Louis. His widow survived
until June 14, 1840, her age being sixty-five years,
eleven months and twenty-four days. They were
buried in the cemetery attached to the German Re-
formed Chiirch in New Holland, both being members
of that religious body. Their children were as fol-
lov/s : Jacob, who married Hannah Varns ; Henry,
who married Elizabeth McNeal ; Lewis, who married
Sarah Slaymaker ; Catherine, who married Henry
Kinzer'; Ann, who married James Mcllvaine; and
Sarah, who became the wife of Mr. Himes.
When the Himes brothers started to Galena, III,
they made the trip on horseback. Later George re-
turned to Chester county and married and returned
with his wife, this trip being made by wagon. Among
the many gifts from home that weii't out to what was
then far West, was a choice set of gilt-edged china,
and as a remarkable fact it was not broken on the
way and still is in a good state of preservation, and is
carefully cherished in the possession of Rees C.
Himes, a son, now of Shippensburg.
REV. JACOB R. HERSHEY. The Hershey
family is not only one of the most prominent, but
also one of the oldest, families in Lancaster county.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
677
having been founded by three brothers of the name,
in 1709, who came hither from their home in Switz-
erland. Its descendants have been noted for their
excellence as farmers, their intelligence and moral-
ity as citizens, and for their influence in the Men-
■nonite Church.
Rev. Jacob R. Hershey of Salisbury township is
a worthy descendant of this family, perpetuating 'the
uame of his grandfather Jacob Hershey, who was
long a well-known farmer of Salisbury township.
Jacob Hershey, the grandfather, married Anna New-
comer, and they had children : John, Christian,
Abraham and Joseph. The father of these children
died in 1825, at the age of eighty years, his widow
surviving until 1830, when she died at the age of
eighty-one years.
Bishop Joseph Hershey, son of Jacob, was for
many years a bishop in the Mennonite Church, and
by precept and example promulgated his belief. His
home was on the old Hershey estate, in Salisbury
township, where he died, in 1856, at the age of sixty-
four years. His wife, Magdalena (Roop) Hershey,
died April 19, 18S7, aged eighty-nine years and ten
months, and was laid to rest by her husband's side
in the old Hershey cemetery, in Salisbury township,
this quiet spot having been a part of the original es-
tate. The children born to this union were: Rev.
Jacob R. ; Christian, who died at the age of eighteen
years ; Barbara, deceased, who was the wife of David
Hoover : Anna, who died young. ^
Rev. Jacob R. Hershey, son of Bishop Joseph and
Magdalena (Roop) Hershey, was born on his pres-
ent farm, Aug. 9, 1817, and grew to manhood on his
father's farm. For many years he was a well-known
agriculturist, retiring from active work in that line
in 1877. Brought up under Christian influences, in
a pious and godly home, with noble examples before
him in his beloved parents, the young man early pro-
fessed his faith, and became a minister in the Men-
nonite Church. In 1858 he was ordained to the
work, and for forty-four years he has been a faithful
worker in tire field of usefulness in which he was
placed. Fie is known and much beloved over a wide
extent of territory, and particularly in the Old
Road Hershey and Paradise charges, where his
labors have been much blessed. Although no poli-
tician, his sympathies have always been with the Re-
publican party. For a long period he served as
school director. Except four years on a neighboring
farm, the one he now occupies has always been his
home. Here he is surrounded by all that makes ad-
vanced life comfortable, the center of loving relatives
and friends, and he appears much younger than many
of his contemporaries, as he reads without glasses,
hears without effort, and in every way shows that
Time has yet touched him very gently.
On Nov. 29, 1839, ill Lancaster, Rev. Hershey
was married to Margaret Eby, born July 14, 1819,
in Salisbury township, daughter of Peter and Eliza-
beth f Weaver) Eby, and sister of Bishop Eby. (For
sketch of Eby family, see sketch of Bishop Peter
Eby or Bishop Isaac Eby, of Paradise township,
elsewhere in this volume). To Rev. Jacob R. and
Mar'garet (Eby) Flershey were born nine children,
of whom we have the following record : Josiah ;
Magdalena, wife of John R. Buckwalter, of Kinzers,
Pa. ; Peter, who went West, and has never been
heard from; Ephraim, a farmer of Salisbury town-
ship ; Mary, who married Christian Metzler, a farm-
er of Paradise township ; Jacob E., a farmer in Salis-
bury township ; Susan, wife of John S. Rohrer, a
farmer of Salisbury township ; Lizzie, who died
young; and Margaret, deceased.
Ephraim Hershey, third son of Rev. Jacob R.
arid Margaret (Eby) Hershey, was born on the old
homestead in Salisbury township, Dec. 6, 1844. Un-
til his marriage he remained under the parental roof,
at that time taking charge of the old homestead and
carrying on the farming operations there for three
vears. Then he removed to his present farm of
ninety-three acres, which he has developed in the
same excellent manner. In his locality he is much
esteemed, and he and family belong to the Mennonite
Church. He belongs to no political party, casting
his vote as he deems best for all concerned.
On Jan. i, 1867,' Mr. Hershey was married to
Susan E. Leaman, of Paradise township, and to this
union were born the following children : Ira, a
farmer of Salisbury township, married Sarah
Kreider, and has six children ; Emma M., who niar-
lied John G. Wenger, has four children and lives in
Salisbury township ; Frank B., who married Lydia
W. Buckwalter, is a farmer in Salisbury township ;
and Omer E., Elam W., Ephraim K., Jacob R., Jr.,
and Alice W., all are at home. Mrs. Susan E. (Lea-
man) Hershey was born May 3, 1845, i"^ Leacock
township, daughter of Jacob and Lydia (Buck-
^valter) Leaman, the former of whom was a farmer,
and for many years a school director of East Lam-
peter township. He died in 1891, at the age of
seventy years, and was buried in Mellinger's ceme-
tery, near Lancaster. His widow resides in Para-
dise township, with her daughter Mrs. John Kreider.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Leaman were members of the
Mennonite Church.
J.\coi3 E. Hershey^ general farmer, was born in
.Salisbury township, on his father's farm, Sept. 13,
1856, son of Rev. Jacob R. and Margaret (Eby)
Hershey. He was reared to farm life, and has fol-
lowed agricultural pursuits exclusively on this farm,
all his active life, with the exception of three years
spent on a neighboring estate. Mr. Hershey, like
the other members of his family, is highly esteemed
as a man of honesty and reliability, and belongs to a.
family which is one of the most substantial in this
part of Lancaster county. He has taken a deep in-
terest in educational matters, and has served as
school director for the past fifteen years. In politics
he is a Republican. With his family he belongs to
and assists in supporting the Mennonite Church.
On Oct. 26, 1876, in Lancaster, Mr. Hershey was
married to Miss Mary Esbenshade, and the children
678
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
born to this union were as follows : Herbert, at
home; Clayton, who married Ella Buchwalter has
one child, and lives in Paradise township; Milton,
Elwood, Bertha, Mabel, Edna and Margerie are at
home ; and Willis died young.
Mrs. Mary (Esbenshade) Hershey, was born in
Earl township, Nov. 25, 1852, daughter of Jacob and
Susannah (Bushong) Esbenshade, of Lancaster
county, both of whom died in East Earl township,
where they were farming people all their lives. The
father of Mrs. Hershey died in 1898, aged sixty-nine
j'ears, and the mother died in August, 1901, aged'
seventy-one years. Both parents were interred in
Eaby's cemetery in Upper Leacock township,, having
long been members of the German Baptist Church.
They had these children born to them besides Mary,
the wife of Jacob E. Hershey: Elizabeth, de-
ceased, the wife of John Kochel ; Sarah, the wife
of Rife Myers, a farmer of Earl township ; Emma,
the wife of Frank Buckwalter, of Paradise township ;
Susan, the wife of Elam Kreider, of West Leacock
township ; Lydia, the wife of Martin Ebersole, of
Paradise township ; Amanda, the wife of Walter
Mays, of Ea.'-.t Earl township ; and Adam, a farmer
of East Earl township.
HENRY M. BRENEMAN (deceased).
Though the temporal life of Henry M. Breneman
was ended while he was yet comparatively young in
years, having scarcely more than passed his forty-
seventh birthday'' — a time in the career of an earnest
and successful man when the future looks bright,
when effort is redoubled and the glimmer of hope
points to a season of rest and enjoyment in the dis-
tant years to come, as the. fruition of worthy achieve-
ment— -yet even in the brief span of time, encom-
passed by the life of this exceeding well-doer, an
impression for good was made by the influences ra-
diating from his kindly and ennobled nature, wider
and more lasting than can be readily perceived or
measured. Aided by a devoted, intelligent, capable
and cultured wife, he won recognition as one of the
substantial, progressive and worthy representatives
of Lancaster county.
Henry M. Breneman was born in Manor town-
ship March 10, 1832, son of Jacob and Elizabeth
(Miller) Breneman. The parents were prominent
and life-long residents of Lancaster county, where
they reared a family of nine children, and lived to a
good old age. These children were as follows:
Nancy, widow of Abner Bausman, of Millersville,
Pa.; Elizabeth, widow of Henry Herr, of East
Hempfield township ; Barbara, wife of Henry Baus-
man, of Manor township ; Jacob, of East Hempfield
township; John, of California; Abraham and Kate,
twins, the former a resident of Coldwater, Mich.,
the latter the deceased wife of Isaac Groflf; Henry
M. ; and Sarah, deceased wife of Isaac Baumberger.
Henry M. Breneman was reared on his father's
farm and followed through life that vocation. He
received in his youth a good common school educa-
tion, and then seriously devoted himself to the life
work so prematurely closed by death. He married
in Lancaster county, Nov. 25, 1862, Miss Anna M.
Greider, a native of West Hempfield township, and,
as the daughter of Christian and Susannah (Miller)
Greider, the representative of an old and prominent
family of Lancaster county.
Christian Greider was one of the old and influ-
ential citizens of Lancaster county, son of John
Greider, who for many years was a farmer and miller
in West Hempfield township. Christian was born
about 1799, and followed agriculture until well ad-
vanced in life, when he retired, spending his last
twenty years in the peace and comfort that crowned
many active and successful years. He died in 1889,
aged ninety years. His wife, Susannah Miller, pre-
ceded him "to the grave many years, passing away in
1S64, aged fifty-seven years. They were faithful
and prominent members of the Mennonite church,
and were buried in the Landisville cemetery of that
denomination. Susannah was the daughter of Ben-
jamin Miller, a life-long farmer of Rapho township,
and a member of the Mennonite church. To Chris-
tian and Susannah (Miller) Greider were born chil-
dren as follows : John M., who died in Ohio ; Chris-
tian, who died on the old farm; Benjamin, who was
a lumberman, coal merchant and malter at Mt. Joy,
Pa. ; Elizabeth, who married Daniel Mellinger, and
died in Virginia; Martha, who died j'oung; Mary,
who died in infancy ; Jacob M., a retired farmer of
West Hempfield township ; Susan, wife of Andrew
Garber, of West Hempfield township ; Anna M.,
widow of Henry M. Breneman ; Mary, who for her
first husband married Christian Rohrer, and is now
the wife of John S. Nissley, a retired farmer of Mt.
Joy ; Barbara, wife of Jacob McAllister, a farmer of
Pequea township ; and Amos M., a farmer, now re-
siding on the old homestead. The family was more
than ordinarily active mentally, as shown by the fact
that three of the sons taught school.
To Henry M. and Anna M. (Greider) Brene-
man was born a family of seven children, namely:
Susan G., wife of W. L. Heisey, a merchant and ex-
tensive farmer of West Donegal township ; Barbara,
who died aged five years ; Christian G., a farmer of
Rapho township ; Phares, a dealer in flour, grain and
feed, at Columbia; Amos, at home; Henry, de-
ceased ; and Abraham, at home.
In 1877 Henry M. Breneman purchased and
moved to the farm of ninety acres in West Hemp-
field township, now occupied by his widow. Here
he died two years later, April i, 1879, aged forty-
seven years. In politics he was a stanch Republican,
and in religion he held to the Mennonite faith of his
forefathers. He had won the respect and high es-
teem of the people of Lancaster county through th.e
m.any sterling traits of character exemplified by his
daily life. His widow and their younger sons con-
tinue to occupy the home he had so briefly possessed,
and in addition to general farming they successfully
conducted there, from 1892 to 1901, an extensive
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
679
dairy business. They are communicants in the old
Metmonite .church, and influential members of the
social life of West Hempfield township.
DANIEL HERE (Pequea). The name of Herr
is inseparably connected with the moral and mate-
rial growth of Lancaster county. Members of the
family have for many years held honored places in
the communities in which they have made their
homes.
The hoiTse of Herr is an ancient one. The fam-
ily is of free or noble origin, and its "knights were
brave and worthy." Large and valuable estates were
owned in Schwaben, called Herrn of Bilried. The
founder of the family was known as "Knight Hugo,"
the Herr or lord of Bilried. As far back as 1009
flourished a widely known family from whom the
Herrs are descended, but in the fifteenth century
several members resigned their nobility and joined
the ranks of the citizens. These, however, retained
their noble name and their coat of arms, as is shown
by records in 1593, when John Herr, or Herr of
Bilried, was granted by Emperor Ferdinand, a writ-
ten testimonial, proving the right of his family to
their coat of arms, and to their free and noble de-
scent to the latest generation. By this testimonial
the coat of arms yet rightly belongs to the family.
All this is recorded in the Register of Noble Fam-
ilies, with their Coats of Arms, Book 5, Page 258.
In direct line from this ancient and honorable
family comes Daniel Herr (Pequea), the subject. of
this sketch. The founder of the family in America
was Hans Plerr who emigrated from Switzerland.
John Herr, son of Hans, became the father of Rev.
John, and Rev. John, by his wife Frances became
the father of Christian. Christian Herr married
Maria Bowman, and their son. Rev. Christian mar-
ried Anna Forrer.
Daniel Herr (Pequea) was born in 1818, son
of Rev. Christian and Anna (Forrer) Herr, and
was reared in West Larnpeter township. He began
his early active business career on a farm of 100
acres, now the property of his daughter Mrs. C.
S. B. Herr in Strasburg township, located near the
village of Refton. At several times he added small
tracts to the original farm, and made his home on
this place during his life. Although he began life
as a farmer, and devoted attention to agricultural
pursuits all his life, this did not by any means bar
the way to other large and important enterprises.
Soon after starting out on his own responsibility,
he began the manufacture of grain drills, the first
that were used in this part of the State of Pennsyl-
vania, and was engaged thus for many years, during
which time he also opened up a business in lime
burning, and this became an important industry, his
product being in demand over a very large terri-
tory. He was awarded the contract for the lime
used in the construction of the Millersville State
Normal School, and many other equally large con-
tracts. In addition to these interests, Daniel Herr
became an investor in the pine lands in Potter county
and the manufacture of lumber there, and later be-
came a director in the Beaver Creek Lumber Co.,
of West Virginia, which at that time operated a
tract of 10,000 acres, although of late years it has
greatly increased its acreage. He was the owner of
one-half of this land less one-eighteenth, and was
one of the founders and first directors of this valu-
able company. He founded the village of Refton,
and was one of the founders and a director of the
Lancaster & Quarryville R. R. Co., as well as one of
the founders of the Beaver Creek R. R. Co., of
West Virginia. He was also founder and director
with others of the Beaver Valley Turnpike road, be-
sides being a large land owner in Lancaster county.
In financial circles Daniel Herr was an import-
ant factor; he was one of the originators of the
Strasburg National Bank, and for years was one of
its directors ; he was a director in the Northern Mu-
tual Insurance Co., and was one of the trustees of
the Millersville State Normal school. At his death
he left to his estate, with other large properties,
eight-eighteenths of an interest in the large tract
of land in West Virginia, consisting of both coal
and timber land of great value. Politically he was an
Old Line Whig, and later became a Republican, and
was actively identified with the public affairs of the
county, serving as treasurer, during the term of 1857,
and for several terms as director of the Poor and a
member of the school board. His death occurred
Oct. 19, 1894. During the latter part of his life
he was a member of the Mennonite Church which
had benefited by his benefactions, and in which he
was known for his admirable traits of Christian
character.
Daniel Herr married Anna C. Brenneman, daugh-
ter of Henry Brenneman, and they had a family of •
five children : Henry B., who died in childhood ;
Enos B., who died Sept. 19, 1869; Lizzie A., who is
the widow of C. S. B. Herr, and resides in West
Lampeter township ; Reuben D., mentioned below ;
and one that died in infancy.
Reuben D. PIerr, the only surviving son of his
parents, became his father's assistant and supporter
in many of his varied enterprises. He was born
July 7, 1850, and after completing the common
school course he entered the Lititz Academy, and
then spent one term, during 1868, at the Saunders
Military Academy, in preparation for a college
course, but the death of his brother recalled him
home, and he then took charge of the work which
his brother Enos had managed — the farming and
lime burning — and continued until 1875, when he
discontinued the latter industry. Later he opened
up a coal and lumber business in Refton, and man-
aged that in connection with his farming for one
year, but finding the accumulation of business too
large, he discontinued personally to direct matters
on the farm. About December, 1878, he became the
agent for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Co.,
at Refton, and remained with that company from
680
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1875 to 1881, and later was engaged in various en-
terprises, including that of commercial traveler and
collector, but much of his time was employed in
looking after his father's affairs, and since the death
of the latter, as trustee and executor, his time has
been fully occupied. For the past eighteen years
he has managed a trucking business, finding a mark-
et in the city of Lancaster for the produce of his
small farm of thirty acres in Refton, but the output
from his successful green-houses is shipped to dis-
tant parts of the country.
For a number of years Mr. Herr was a director in
the First National Bank, of Strasburg, and he is
also financially connected with the lumber manufac-
turing industry in West Virginia, and in mining bi-
tuminous coal. Inheriting much of the energy and
business capacity of his father, he, like him, is a
progressive, broad-gauged man, esteemed and re-
spected by business associates and the community
in which he has lived so long.
Reuben D. Herr has been twice married, his
first union being to Plarriet Musselman, daughter
of John Musselman. At her death, on May 30, 1878,
she left two children. Miriam M., who married D.
W. Patterson, of Philadelphia ; and Carolyn M. His
second marriage was to H. Louisa Coho, daughter of
John Lee Coho, of Schuylkill county, and who died
Nov. 9, T900. To this union was born one child —
Clair C, who resides with his father in the old
family home in Refton.
FREDERICK STONER (deceased) was born
Feb. 22, 1790, one mile southwest of Central
Manor, Lancaster county, son of Christian and Anna
(Brenneman) Stoner, and died Sept. 4, 1877.
He was a farmer, and in politics was a Whig. Of
the family of eleven children born to Frederick and
Elizabeth Stoner six grew to maturity, viz. : Chris-
tian, a blacksmith, who settled in Cumberland county,
and died in Februar}', 1898 ; Frederick, of whom fur-
ther mention will be made ; John, who was shot at his
home during the Civil war, supposedly by accident ;
Bernard, a carpenter by trade, and later a farmer and
hotelkeeper of Manor township ; Levi, a wheelwright
at Mountville : and Mary Ann, deceased wife of Ben-
jamin Young, also of Manor township.
Frederick Stoner, son of Frederick, was born
Dec. 7, 1818, in the home now occupied by
Daniel H. Mellinger, at Central Manor, and on
March 14, 1836, began learning the wheelwright's
trade at Mil!ersville,\vith Jacob R. Barr. After fin-
ishing his apprenticeship he worked one month as a
journeyman, and then, in May, 1839, rented a small
shop about a mile from his home, and for one year
carried on business on his own account. Mr. Stoner
next erected a shop on his homestead, where he car-
ried on his .business five years, and in 1845 erected a
shop at Central Manor which is still standing, and is
now utilized as a wagon factory. Until 1885 Fred-
erick Stoner did a large business in wagon manufac-
.turing, and also in repairing threshing machines.
horse powers, grain cradles, etc., and, being a natural
mechanic, he erected on his homestead of seven and
a half acres, besides his shop, two good frame dwell-
ings, and remodeled another frame and brick, having
now four neat and substantial tenements, which are
rented.
On Dec. 24, 1844, Frederick Stoner married
Miss Sarah S. Mann, a daughter of John and Eliza-
beth Mann. She passed away August 8, 1886, at the
age of sixty-eight years, seven months, thirteen days.
They had a family of six children, born in the follow-
ing order: Caroline M., who died in childhood;
Elizabeth, wife of Rev. Abraham R. Myers, of Steel-
ton, Pa. ; Sarah Ann, who died in infancy ; Catherine,
who passed away when nineteen years old ; John J.,
who died at the age of five years and six months;
and Albert M., of Central Manor, who was born July
10, i860, and married Fannie Shenk, daughter o£
Abram L. Shenk.
JOHN G. TANGER. The general aspect of
prosperity and activity noted ■ throttgh Lancaster
county is due in great measure to the energy and in-
dustry of her agricultural residents. Among those
farmer citizens who have done much to advance the
interests of the county, may be mentioned John G.
Tanger, a stibstantial citizen, who owns a most de-
sirable estate of sixty-two acres, located a short dis-
tance east of the borough of Strasburg. '
Andrew Tanger, the father of John G. Tanger,
was born in Willowstreet, and remained there until
hi? death, this sad event taking place when he was
alDout twenty-nine years of age. During the time
he lived there, he conducted a hotel in the village.
His family is an old one in Cumberland county, many
of its members being distinguished in public affairs.
Andrew Tanger married Catherine Gall, a daughter
of Martin and Catherine (Groff) Gall, of Willow-
street, and she survived until 1875. By her mar-
riage with Andrew Tanger, Mrs. Tanger became the
mother of five children : Ann, who married Samuel
Rowe, of Drumore township ; Catherine, who is the
widow of David Donichy, and lives at Christiana;
.A.ndrew, of Strasburg; John, who died an infant;
and John G., of this biography. Mrs. Tanger mar-
ried for her second husband, David Mowery, of
Strasburg township, and was the mother of five more
children : Amanda, who married Jacob Hostetter,
of Strasburg township ; Mary, who is the widow of
Christian Groff, of Providence township; Sarah,
who died early in life ; Martin, a merchant in Phila-
delphia; and David, a resident of Hawkesville, in
Eden township.
John G. Tanger was born June 11, 1836, and
was reared to farm life, obtaining but limited school
opportunities. At the age of eleven years he began
to work with the neighboring farmers for his clothes
and board, and at the age of fifteen he was thrown
completely upon his own resources. Understanding
farm work better than anything else, he continued in
this line, working by the month, or season, at differ-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
6S1
€nt places, making three trips thus through the West,
but in .1874 he returned to Strasburg township, and
purcliased the valuable farm which he now occupies.
At present this farm is one that would command a
very high price if placed upon the market, as Mr.
Tanger has put time, strength and money into the
many permanent improvements which he has made,
resulting in the excellent conditions which exist.
On Nov. 27, 1873, John G. Tanger was married
to Mary A. Huber, a daughter of Michael L. and
Mary (Baer) Huber, who was born in Lancaster
township in November, 1845. Two children have
been born of this union : Landis, born March 10,
1875, who received his education in the Millersville
State Normal school, graduating in the class of
1898, and in the normal course in 1900, has been a
teacher in the public schools for the past six years,
and has been principal of the Millersburg (Dauphin
Co.) High school since September, 1900; and Jacob,
born Oct. 6, 1880, graduated from the Millersville
State Normal school in 1902, and is also engaged in
teaching. Both Mr. Tanger and his estimable wife
are valued members of the Old Mennonite Church,
and possess the esteem of all with whom they are
acquainted, in public or private life.
GEORGE F. BAKER. Among the prominent
and successful farmers, loyal citizens and representa-
tive business men of Lancaster county, is George F.
Baker, of Sadsbury township, a worthy member of
one of the leading families of Chester county. He
was born at Doe Run, Chester county, Feb. 7, 1839,
son of jelra and Martha (MeHarg) Baker.
The Baker family originally came from England.
The great-grandparents of George F. were Aaron
and Sarah (Hayes) Baker, well known members of
the .Society of Friends in Chester county.
John Baker, son of Aaron, lived and died in West
Marlborough township, Chester county, his death oc-
curring there Nov. 13, 1812, at the early age of
thirty years. His widow, Mary McNeil, was born
in 1779, a daughter of William and Mary (Baily)
McNeil, of Chester county, and of English and Irish
extraction. She died in May, 1870, the mother of
the following children : Sarah, born Feb. 20, 1805,
married Reuben Miller, and died in April, 1878;
Aaron, born Oct. 22, 1807, married Alice Leonard,
and died in January, 1888; and Jehu, the father of
George F.
Jehu Baker, son of John and father of George F.,
was born in West Marlborough township, Chester
county, June 18, 1809, and died in Sadsbury town-
ship, Lancaster county, Jan. 18, 1881.
In Colerain township, on May 22, 1834, by Rev.
Andrew Murphy, a Methodist clergyman, Jehu Ba-
ker was married to Martha MeHarg, and the chil-
dren born to this union were : John, who was one
of the gallant soldiers of the Civil war, a member
of the First Pa. Reserves, gave up his young life
to his country, at the battle of Antietam, Sept. 17,
1862; Louise, who resides on the old homestead;
George F. is mentioned below ; and Mary R., the
youngest, married Elwood P. Pownall, a farmer of
Christiana, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Martha (MeHarg) Baker was born at Doe
Run, Chester county, March 22, 1810; she died Feb.
21, 1883, and was laid to rest by the side of her hus-
band in Mount Pleasant cemetery, in Sadsbury
township. She was a daughter of William and Han-
nah (Conner) MeHarg, of County Derry, Ireland,
the former of whom came to America alone in 1793,
v/hen eighteen years of age and later his future wife
came across the Atlantic with her parents. Mr.
MeHarg became employed in an iron foundry, and
died in 1838, at the age of sixty-five years, his wife
dying in 1820, at the age of forty-three years. The
children born to William MeHarg and wife were:
John ; Mary, who married George Fritz ; Nancy,
who married David Irvin ; James, who married Mar-
garet Rogers, of Oxford, Chester county ; Margaret
and Rebecca, twins, the former of whom married
Levi Baker, and the latter died unmarried, at the
age of seventy-four ; Martha, who became Mrs. Jehu
Baker ; Sarah, who married Jacob Bryan ; William,
who married Hope Pettit, of Reading, Pa. ; Hannah,
who became the widow of Daniel Tucker, of Phila-
delphia; and Hiram, who died young. All of this
family have passed away with the exception of Han-
nah Tucker, who resides in Philadelphia in her
eighty-eighth year.
Jehu Baker was engaged in farming all his life,
growing up under the care of his grandfather Mc-
Neil, as his own father died when he was but three
years old. When he was about eighteen, in com-
pany with his brother Aaron, he took charge of the
old homestead farm which had been in the family for
many years, and the brothers operated the farm to-
gether until the marriage of Jehu, at which time he
sold his interest to A.aron, and in 1834, purchased a
farm on Doe Run, in Chester county. There he re-
mained until April, 1839, and in 1843 came to the
present farm which his son now occupies. Jehu
Baker was a most estimable man, honest and upright
in all his dealings. His progenitors were Friends
and he adhered to the principles of that denomina-
tion, but was not a member of the society. In poli-
tics he adhered to the principles of the Republican
party. Flis influence was ever given in favor of
educational and moral movements, and no man in ■
his neighborhood better represented the leading and
best citizens of the county. The beautiful old home-
stead is the property of George F. Baker and his sis-
ter, Louise, is well managed and is considered one
of the most valuable estates in the township.
One of the first and loyal patriots to answer to
the call of his country, in those days of wild alarm
and dire distress when Rebellion lifted its head, was
George F. Baker, who enlisted on June 10, 1861,
and saw service under General McClellan in the
great Peninsular campaign, and was wounded in an
engagement in front of Richmond. Later he was
among the brave and gallant soldiers at South
682
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mountain and Antietam, and received an honorable
discharge. After the close of the war, Mr. Baker
returned to his home in Lancaster county and en-
gaged in farming. He also began to teach school,
continuing for twenty terms, and finally resigned his
position in 1 88 1. In 1889 he came to his present
fine farm, adjacent to the old homestead, although in
1888 he had become interested in the conduct of a
general store at Andrews Bridge, in Colerain town-
ship, continuing here until 1891. Mr. Baker has
been one of the progressive, energetic and intelligent
men of this locality, and has taken a deep interest in
the management of the schools, serving as a direc-
tor for twenty-seven years. In politics he belongs to
the Republican party, and has been township asses-
sor, efficiently filling the duties of the office.
Mr. Baker was married, first, in 1864, Nancy J.
Thurston becoming his wife. The children born to
this union were : John A., a park guard at Willow
Grove, Pa., married Eva J. Todd, and has two chil-
dren, William R. and George E. ; William A. died
in 1890: Martha L., who married H. K. Givin, a
farmer of Sadsbury township, has two children,
I'hurston L. and Jean Gertrude ; and Hannah G.,
a teacher, resides with her aunt Louise, on the old
homestead. Mrs. Baker was born in Ontario and
died in 1880 at the age of forty-two years. She was
a daughter of Hiram and Catherine (Boughner)
Thurston, of Ontario.
In March, 1892, Mr. Baker was married to his
present wife, Mrs. Amanda Althouse, who manages
the affairs of his household with much regard for his
comfort. She was born in Chester county, Pa., in
1858, a daughter of Isaac and Levina (Pennegar)
Allbright, of Lancaster county. Mr. Allbright was
the manager of the well-known "Red Lion Hotel,"
in Sadsburv township for some twenty years, giv-
ing this hostelry up about one year prior to his death,
in 1888, at the age of sixty-eight years ; he was su-
pervisor of the township at that time. Mrs. All-
bright survived until 1899, dying at the age of sev-
enty-three. The children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Allbright were : William, a farmer of Chester coun-
ty; Benjamin, deceased; Newton, a farmer of this
township; Amanda, who is Mrs. Baker; Elizabeth,
who married George Graham, of this township ; and
Jennie, who married Fred. Arnold, a carpenter, in
Lancaster.
The first marriage of Mrs. Baker was to John
Allen, Jr., and the children born to this marriage
were: Mary, who married William Dinkelberg, a
railroad carpenter, of Philadelphia; and Elizabeth,
who married Ira Dorsey, of Lenover, Pa. The sec-
ond marriage of Mrs. Baker was to David Althouse,
and the children born to this union were : Charles
G., at home ; Herman G., of Parkesburg, Pa. ; A.
Wesley, a farmer of Atglen, Pa. ; and Amy E., at
home. Mr. Althouse was born in Eden township,
a son of Woodward and Mary (Harsh) Althouse,
of Lancaster county, and died at the age of thirty-
seven years.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Baker are prominent mem-
bers of the Methodist Church, and are highly es-
teemed in this locality for their generous hospitality
and many estimable qualities. Few families are bet-
ter known or more justly belong to the representa-
tive people of Lancaster county.
JOHN WILSON (deceased). Whether long
life wins success in agricultural pursuits, or whether
the days of the prosperous farmer are naturally
lengfthened, instances have been common where
types of highest physical manhood and types of that
sterling character essential to good farming have
united in the same individual. A splendid instance
of this combination was afforded in the life of John
Wilson, one of the oldest and best known residents of
Drumore township. Pie lived to the age of ninety
years, and he ranked among the most highly re-
spected and most prominent farmers of that town-
ship.
James Wilson, his father, was a sturdy, influen-
tial farmer of York county. Pa., who attained the ripe
old age of ninety-two years. His wife, a Miss
Hutchinson, of Chester county. Pa., lived to the age
of seventy-nine years.
John Wilson was born in Fawn township, York
county, in 1796. He was reared in his native county,
and under tiie capable and inspiring direction of his
father he acquired an inclination and skill for farm-
ing. In 1820 he married Miss Charlotte Watt, a
native of Chester county, daughter of John and
Margaret (Mucully) Watt, natives of Chester and
Lancaster counties, respectively. John Watt bore
arms for the Colonial cause during the Revolution-
ary struggle, and afterward settled down to the pur-
suits of farming. He died about 1816.
John Wilson, in 1824, removed with his young
wife to Lancaster county, there to establish amidst
new surroundings his future home. He purchased
156 acres of land in Drumore township and devoted
his energies to their cultivation. His success was
far above the average. He became one of the pros-
perous and prominent men of the county. With a
taste for his vocation, he sought no preferment be-
yond ; and his political career, aside from the interest
which he ever took in political and social affairs of
the community was limited to the casting of his
ballot. Himself and wife were earnest and active
members of the United Presbyterian church. The
death of his beloved helpmeet which occurred in
May, 1874, after a half century of wedded life, was
a serious blow, and from that time he retired from
the active management of his properties, and enjoyed
the_ peace and rest of retirement from routine work
which he had so richly Avon in his long and success-
ful career. He survived his wife twelve years, pass-
ing away July 4, 1886, aged ninety years. Both are
buried in Chestnut Level cemetery, where a beautiful
shaft marks their resting place. Their lives had
shone with the graces and noble attributes of true
Christianity and their loss, even in the mellowness
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
683
of old age, brought a shock to a wide circle of friends
and acquaintances, who had been helped and in-
spired by their righteousness and many kindnesses
of disposition. Two children were born to John and
Charlotte Wilson: James M., a retired farmer of
Coreyville ; and John David, now a resident of Lan-
caster.
John David Wilson, the younger of these two
children, was born Aug. 1 1, 1825, and he remained
on the farm until thirty years of age, then removed
to the city of Lancaster, where he devoted himself
to business and politics, becoming one of the active
and prominent factors in the life of the city. Ill
health had marked his boyhood and youth and his
education was received chiefly in the neighboring
schools. His mercantile career began in Drumore —
his native township — where for four years he con-
ducted a general store, thence in the fall of i860 he
removed to Lancaster. Later he entered the sher-
iff's ofiice. For eleven years he was deputy sheriff,
and for seventeen years was connected with court
house work. He has engaged profitably in various
business enterprises, and in 1879 retired from ac-
tive work. Mr. Wilson is a member of the United
Presbyterian church. He has traveled extensively,
possesses a broad culture, a keen business ability,
and he ranks high among the prosperous and influ-
ential men of the city.
HIESTAND. The Hiestand family of East
Hempfield township descends from John, or Johan-
nes Hiestand, who prior to 1800 located on a tract
of timber land just northeast of Salunga, of which
tract the present Hiestand homestead or farm is a
part — the original tract having been divided into
four farms. A farmer himself, he passed all his days
in the active pursuit of agriculture uritil he retired.
John Hiestand was three times married, but of the
first two wives nothing is now known, except the
fact that by one or both of them there were six chil-
dren born, viz. : John, Christopher, Abraham, Susan,
Barbara and Maria. By his third and last wife, who
bore the maiden name of Catherine Good, there were
born seven children, who were named as follows :
Jacob, Mary, Magdalene, Sarah, Catherine, Henry
and Benjamin, of whom. Henry is the only survivor,
and who noAv occupies the old farm and homestead
established by John, the pioneer, and by him improved
with its present substantial buildings. The barn,
which was destroyed by fire not long since, bore the
date of 1801, while the dwelling, which' is still stand-
ing, bears the date of 1804.
■ " Jacob Hiestand, eldest born of the seven chil-
dren of John and Catherine (Good) Hiestand, was
born on this farm in 1814, and first confined his la-
bor to the cultivation of the place, but later engaged
in the coal and lumber business at Salunga, but did
not entirely relinquish the supervision of his farm,
which he cultivated by hired help. Jacob Hiestand
was one of the most public spirited and progressive
men of the county, and was a trustee in the Mennon-
ite church. He married Elizabeth Stehman, who
was born in 1820, and died in 1861, the mother of
ten children : John ; Henry S., of whom mention is
made in the sketch of Simon H. Hiestand ; Catherine,
deceased wife of Christian Swarr; Elizabeth, de-
ceased wife of Amos Lehman ; Sarah, wife of Daniel
Kready, of Manor township; Barbara, married to
Abraham Harnish ; Mary, now Mrs. Christian Mus-
sleman ; Susan, deceased wife of Christian Swartley ;
Annie, wife of Phares Mussleman ; and Fannie, who
died unmarried.
Henry S. Hiestand, son of Jacob, received a
sound common school education, and at twenty-six
years of age began farming on his own account on
his present farm of no acres, and continued the
calling until 1899, when he retired. His marriage
to Miss Fanny Herr took place Nov. 11, 1870; she
was born in 1849, ^^^ was a daughter of Christian
and Mary (Hostetter) Herr, both of whom are now
deceased.
SIMON H. HIESTAND, a thriving young gen-
eral merchant, postmaster and agent for the Adams
Express Co. and for the Penn Township Mutual Fire
Insurance Association, at Salunga, Lancaster coun-
ty, was born in East Hempfield township, June 22,
1873, son of Henry S. and Fanny H. (Herr) Hie-
stand, natives of East l^empfield and Rapho town-
ships, respectively.
Henry S. Hiestand, father of Simon H., was
born in 1853, was reared a farmer and is now living
retired on the old homestead in East Hempfield
township. Mrs. Fanny H. Hiestand passed away
in 1891, at the age of forty-one years, a member of
the Mennonite Church, and was buried in Landis-
ville, this county. The children born to Henry S.
Hiestand and wife were seven in number, and were
named as follows ; Amos H., farming on the old
homestead; Simon H., whose name opens this
sketch ; Anna H., Albert, Lizzie, Fanny and Henry,
Jr., all at home.
.Simon H. Hiestand lived on the home farm until
seventeen years old, meanwhile receiving the usual
district school education, and then entered the Lan-
caster Business College, from which he was gradu-
ated in due course, and he then entered the branch
house of Wanamaker & Brown at Harrisburg, in
order to become acquainted with the business, and
after traveling two years for the same firm, he,
on Jan. i, 1895, opened his present store at Salunga.
On IM'arch 26, 1895, Simon H. Hiestand married,
in East Lampeter township. Miss Bertha M. Den-
linger, who has borne him two children : Victor D.,
deceased; and Verne E. Mrs. Bertha M. (Denlin-
ger) Hiestand was born in East Lampeter township,
a daughter of David and Susan (Myers) Denlinger,
the father being a retired farmer and residing in
SaliTuga.
Simon H. Hiestand is a Republican in politics,
and his first public office was that of school director,
to which he was appointed for a year, but proved to
684
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
be so efficient as to be elected for the three years
following. On Nov. 14, 1900, he was appointed
postmaster by President McKinley, and is still sat-
isfactorily discharging the duties of that office. This
young merchant has already made his mark in the
business world, and by his fair and Hberal dealing
has secured the confidence and good will of the gen-
eral public of Salunga and surrounding country.
The Union Trust Co. was organized in January,
1902, and was opened for business the following
March, with an authorized capital of $300,000. Of
this company Mr. Hiestand was elected a director.
Socially Mr. and Mrs. Hiestand enjoy a very desir-
able position, being greatly esteemed by the leading
people of Salunga. They are both consistent mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church.
J. R, MISSENER, editor and publisher of the
Mount Joy Star and Nezvs, and also the editor and
publisher of the Steelton Advocate and Verdict, is a
son of George and Elizabeth Missener, both of whom
are now deceased. He was born on the banks of the
Little Chiques Creek, in Mount Joy township, March
24, 185 1. Mr. Missener's ancestors originally came
from Switzerland about two hundred years ago. His
grandfather was a justice of the peace for many
years. His father, a miller and farmer, died almost
half a centur}' ago.
Mr. Missener spent the first twenty-five years
of his life on the farm where he was born. There
he received the education which the country schools
afforded at that time, and the important practical
training, which industrious employment in farming
gave him. At the age of seventeen he was granted a
teacher's certificate, by the county superintendent,
and he taught school in his native township three
terms. When he was twenty-one years of age he
was elected a justice of the peace for five years, at
the expiration of which he was elected for a second
term. During that time he carried on an extensive
business as a surveyor. In 1875 our subject engaged
in the newspaper and printing business, which he has
followed ever since. At that time he established
the Milton Grove News. In 1878 he purchased the
Mount Joy Star and News, and consolidated the two
papers, under the title of the Mount Joy Star and
News, which paper he published for ten years, en-
larging and improving it, and making it a power in
that section. For a number of years it was the larg-
est of the eighteen newspapers in the county, outside
of Lancaster city. Mr. Missener conducted a news-
paper S3'ndicate for a number of years, during which,
time he edited and published the Florin Independent,
the Bainbridge Banner, Sporting Hill Messenger,
Salunga Sif tings, Landisville Vigil. In 1888 he pur-
chased the Steelton Advocate, which he has been
publishing ever since. At the present time he is is-
suing only a weekly edition, but for some time prior
to the hard times of 1893 he pubHshed the Daily Ad-
vocate. In 1892 Mr. Missener associated his son,
George W., in business with him. The junior mem-
ber of the firm was only fifteen years of age at that
time, and was the youngest editor and newspaper
publisher in the United States. In 1898 our subject
purchased the Steelton Verdict, which he consolidat-
ed under the title of Advocate and Verdict. Mr. Mis-
sener believes in training his sons to practical busi-
ness, and at an early age, in fact while yet in their
teens, all his sons, George, Garfield, John and Ben-
jamin, were associated with him. In 1893 Mr. Mis-
sener again purchased the Mount Joy Star and News,
which he had sold six years before. Since that time
he is publishing the Steelton Advocate and Verdict,
as well the Mount Joy Star and News, but both
offices and papers are as distinct and separate as
though they belonged to different proprietors. In
this feature of his business he is demonstrating, by
practical operation, the advantage of having more
than one newspaper and printing office under one
managenient. This plan has been carried out very
successfully in many branches of business, but had
not before been attempted in the publication of coun-
try newspapers. The result is so eminently success-
ful that he is considering the addition of another
newspaper and printing office to his list.
Mr. Missener has always taken a prominent part
in politics, but though frequently urged to run for
office has never done so, except in the case of local
positions, for which he has never been defeated. His
newspapers have wielded much important influence
in shaping and controlling local politics. While he had
his hands so full of work at home, he has not failed
to look abroad. He has made for himself a notable
record as a traveler, having been to Canada three
times and across the continent twice, going as far
West as the Pacific ocean, and South to the Gulf of
Mexico.
In March, 1877, Mr. Missener was married to
Miss Fannie R. Weaver, by whom he has had nine
children. His two eldest sons, George and Garfield,
are printers in New York City. His sons John and
Benjamin are associated with him in his newspaper
and printing business. His daughters, Mary and
Bertha, and his youngest son, Edgar, are also at
home. Daniel and Kathryn joined the silent ma-
jority in their infancy.
CLINTON HIMES. Historical associations
cluster about the home and the home-life of this in-
fluential and well-known resident of Salisbury town-
ship. His home, known as Ivy mansion, was built
one hundred years ago, and was, before the railroad
era, the old stage coach house and postoffice. Here
Gen. Lafayette, while on his way to Lancaster in.
the year 1825, tarried a few hours and received pub-
lic entertainment. Ivy mansion was then a center
of commerce and travel, past which and through
which the current of human events flowed cease-
lessly.
Mr. Himes was born in Leacock township May
9, 1831, son of Rees C. and Sarah (Eckert) Himes,
and grandson of Thomas and Catherine (Clem-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
685
ens) Himes, of Chester coiintv. The grandfather
died at Honey brook, and Rees'C. came in his boy-
hood with his widowed mother to Lancaster county,
settling in East Earl township. In his early man-
hood lie engaged successfully in mercantile pursuits
in Leacock township, later yielding its more active
duties for the comparative quiet of an agricultural
life, passed in Salisbury township. Here he died in
the prime of life in May, 1849, aged forty-nine years.
He had married Sarah Eckert, a native of Lancaster
county, and a daughter of George Eckert. She sur-
vived him many years, passing away in August,
1899, at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years.
Rees C. and Sarah Himes were active members of
the Bellevue Presbyterian Church. The children
born to them v.-ere as follows : Clinton, subject of
this sketch ; George Clemens, a farmer who died in
1856: Cecelia, who married Rees C. Himes, a re-
tired farmer of Shippensburg, Pa. ; Anna C, who
lives unmarried on the old homestead Spring Run
Farm, in Salisbury township; Susan A. and Mar-
tha L., both residing unmarried on the old home-
stead; P. Timlow, who died young; and Rees L.,
justice of the peace at Kinzers, Pennsylvania.
Clinton Himes was a lad of eighteen years, the
eldest of a family of eight children, when the house-
hold was bereft by the death of the father and hus-
band. Responsibility thus came to him early in life.
He took up its cares, and for many years conducted
the affairs of his mother's estate. He attained stand-
ing in public and religious affairs, and possessing
the taste and the opportunities for a broad culture
he ripened into a deep and influential thinker, attain-
ing prominence in the constantly widening circle of
his acquaintanceship.
Mr. Himes married Feb. 28, 1878, at Peoria, 111..,
Sophia R. (Mcllvaine) Negley, daughter of Rev.
William E. and EHzalDeth (Breading) Mcllvaine.
Her father was a well-known divine of the Presby-
terian church, who for forty-one years was pastor
of East Liberty Church at Pittsburg, Pa., but re-
signing that charge on account of ill health, he re-
moved to Peoria, 111., where he preached for twenty
years.
The McIlvaine family had been prominently
identified with the development of Lancaster county
for several generations. It was founded here by
Robert Mcllvaine, who in 1729, came to the county
from Philadelphia. He had been an elder in the old
Pine Street Church at Philadelphia, and after his set-
tlement in Lancaster he followed farming. His
home consisted of a 200-acre tract lying in Salis-
bury and Paradise townships, which had been pur-
chased from William Penn by his father-in-law,
George Duffield. To Robert and Mary (Duffield)
Mcllvaine were born five children: Andrew, who
removed to Butler county ; William ; Elizabeth (Mrs.
Springer) ; George ; and Robert.
George Mcllvaine, son of Robert and Mary
(Duffield) Mcllvaine, was born about 1742. He
M'^as a lieutenant in the Continental army during the
Revolutionary war, and served at Valley Forge. He
was a man of superior intellectual attainments, and
for forty years was an elder in the Leacock Presby-
terian church. He married Jane Hamilton, and their
family consisted of four children, namely : Robert ;
Mary, wife of William Dickson, editor of the Lan-
caster Intelligence; Jane, wife of Capt. John Slay-
maker ; and Elizabeth, wife of James Boyd, of Phil-
adelphia. George Mcllvaine, the father of these
children, died in 1807, aged sixty-five years ; his
wife died in 1790, aged thirty-two years.
Robert Mcllvaine, son of George and Jane Mc-
llvaine, was, like his father, a farmer by occupation^
He served as an ensign in the war of 1812, and was
for twenty years an elder in the Pequea Church. He
was twice married; by his first wife, Sarah Slem-
mons, who died in 1818, aged thirty-seven years,^
he had six children, namely : Thomas S., George D.,
William B., Jane (who married James Slaymaker)
and John and Sarah (twins, the latter becoming the
wife of Isaac Walker). By his second wife, Abi-
gail Whitill, Robert Mcllvaine had one child, Mary,
who married James McHaffy. Mr. Mcllvaine passed
away in 1832, aged fifty-five years.
William B. Mcllvaine was born in 1807. He
was reared in' Lancaster county and received a col-
legiate education at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa.,,
concluding his theological studies at Princeton The-
ological Seminar}', from which institution he grad-
uated. Pie was thrice married, his first wife being
Sophia S. L. Duffield, daughter of Dr. William Duf-
field, who died at Pittsburg in 1830. His second
wife, whom he married in 1832, was Elizabeth
Breading, who was born in Fayette county, daugh-
ter of Nathaniel and Mary (Ewing) Breading, na-
tives, respectively, of Lancaster county. Pa., and of
Cecil county, Md. Nathaniel Breading served in the
Continental army as commissary in 1777-78; he was
principal of the academy at Newark when the Rev-
olutionary war began, but the Continental troops
took possession of his school, and his occupation
thus gone, he found service in the army. He be-
came judge of the courts in Fayette county, where
he died at Tower Hill. The Breading and Ewing
families came from Londonderry, Ireland, in 1725,
the former settling in Little Britain, Lancaster Co.,
Pa., and the latter in Cecil county, Md. By his
marriage to Elizabeth Breading Rev. William B. Mc-
llvaine had four children : Mary E., who died at the
age of twelve years ; George H., who for many years
was cashier' and later president of the Peoria Na-
tional Bank, and who died Jan. J, 1897; Sophia R.,
wife of our subject ; and William D., who died at the
age of ten years. The mother died in 1850, aged
forty-one years. The third wife of Rev. William B.
Mcllvaine was Margaret McGiffin, daughter of
Thomas McGiffin, of Washington, Pa., and to them
was born a son, Thomas, now a physician at Peoria,
111. Rev. Mcllvaine died at Peoria in May, 1892,
aged eighty-five years.
To Clinton and Sophia R. (Alcllvaine) Himes
686
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
was born one child, a daughter, Sarah Rees, who re-
sides at home with her parents. Mr. and Mrs.
Himes are prominent members of the Presbyterian
Church, of which he has been trustee for the past
forty years. In poHtics he is a RepubHcan. With
its ancestry of several generations, both paternal and
maternal, prominent in the development of Lancas-
ter county, men and women of superior mentality,
possessing strong personal convictions and high prin-
ciples, combined with business sagacity of a high
order, it would be but natural to look to this family
for a representative of the best life of Lancaster
county. Nor would that expectation he disappointed.
The home life of Mr. and Mrs. Himes is one in
which may be found the charm of manner, the graces
and accomplishments which blossom best in an en-
vironment of earnest purpose, of good will towards
men, of interest in public and social affairs, of de-
votion and loyalty to causes espoused. It is a home
from which radiate many strong influences for the
happiness and the development of those whose good
fortune it is to come within its beneficence.
GEORGE EDWARD WISNER, the leading
manufacturer of paper and cigar boxes in Lancaster,
has an exceedingly interesting history, not only in
the matter of his long and illustrious ancestry in this
country, but in the development of his business from
a very small beginning to extensive proportions. His
ancestors on his father's side came from Germany,
while the progenitors of his mother, the Werntzes
and the Eon Dersmiths, came from Berlin. Quite re-
cently articles appeared in the press of this country
telling of the claims the descendants of these people
made to the greater part of Berlin, alleging that it
was given to one of their ancestors in payment for
arms furnished the authorities in one of the early
German wars. Mr. Wisner's great-great-grandpar-
ents on both sides are buried at Strasburg, Lancas-
ter county, thus showing the early settlement of these
families in Lancaster.
Jacob Wisner, the grandfather of George E.,
once farmed the land on which the home and factory
now stand. Indeed, he farmed a large tract of land
in that section before the western development of
the city took place.
Jonah Wisner, father of George E., married Ann
Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel and Rosanna Werntz,
of Strasburg. Mr. W^erntz was known as "The
Blacksmith" of Strasburg, and was employed at
one time by the Colemans, the "iron kings" of Cole-
brook furnace, Lebanon county. By this union there
were four children, of whom George E., is the only
survivor. The father died in 1861, when George
was only thirteen years old, but the mother still sur-
vives and resides with our subject.
George E. Wisner was born April 27, 1848, and
up to the time of his father's death attended the pub-
lic schools of this city, but at that time he bravely
faced his duty as a loyal and devoted son to his
widowed mother, and right manfully set about mak-
ing his way in the world. The young lad first se-
cured employment in the rifle works of Henry E.
Leaman, and his next scene of employment was at
Twining's whip factory. At the age of fourteen he
took entire charge of a soap factory for six months.
In 1 86 1 he entered the old Express office as an
apprentice at printing, remaining there for three
years. From printing he passed to photographing,
and then was employed at the confectionery busi-
ness with Charles Eden and Joseph R. Royer. Af-
ter finishing his apprenticeship he started in the
confectionery business for himself at the corner of
North Queen and Walnut streets, where he remained
five years, when he moved to Columbia, Lancaster
county, and continued in the same business four
years longer. At the end of that time he closed out
his business and returned to Lancaster. In 1884
Mr. Wisner began the manufacture of cigar boxes
at his present location. No. 515 West Chestnut
street, starting the enterprise in the wash-kitchen of
his residence. As his business grew he converted
an extensive chicken coop on his lot into a cigar box
factory. In 1891 he built a four-story brick struc-
ture 20x40 feet, fitting it out with the most modern
requirements for the trade, having added paper
boxes to his line. His business has so greatly in-
creased, that in 1895 he built a four-story brick annex
to his main structure, 40x30 feet, both buildings be-
ing filled to-day with busy workers engaged in sup-
plying Mr. Wisner's patrons in L-ancaster and the
neighboring towns. He employs some sixty hands.
In 1875 Mr. Wisner was married to Miss Mary
R., daughter of the late Charles Kryder, of Lan-
caster, the manufacturer of a celebrated herbs bit-
ters. To this union were born two children, one of
whom died in infancy. The other, Charles Edward,
was the leading salesman in Kirk Johnson & Co.'s
music store for a number of years, but is now a
teacher of music, and an organist and pianist of ac--
knowledged merit; his work is largely devoted to
classical music. He is the organist of the First
Methodist Church of Lancaster. Mrs. Wisner died
in 1885.
Mr. Wisner is a member of the First Methodist
Church, having been associated with tliis body since
1867. He has been a church and Sunday School
worker from boyhood, and was secretary of the Sun-
day School for fifteen years. He is now president of
the Landisville Camp Meeting Association, in which
he is very much interested ; was an organizer and is
a director in the Lancaster General Hospital, and be-
longs to the Lancaster Board of Trade. Mr. Wis-
ner is a member of the Knights of Malta, the Odd
Fellows, and the Junior American Mechanics. In
politics he is a stalwart Republican and a champion
of the temperance cause, in which he has been en-
gaged since he was fifteen years old, and his posi-
tion on that subject is beyond doubt or hesitation.
Positive and upright as he is, his heart is ever open
to the appeals of the erring, to whom he has always
proved a good Samaritan.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
687
_ McGOWAN. Few citizens of Sadsbury town-
ship left more friends when called from earth
than did John McGowan, whose widow, Mrs.
Annie E. McGowan, lives on the comfortable home
place in this township. Mrs. McGowan was born on
the old home farm, in Bart township, whither her
parents had removed in 1832, a daughter of Samuel
and Eliza A. ( Mollis ) Good, natives of Chester coun-
t)\ The mother died in 186 1 at the age of fifty-eight
years, but the father, having lived ten years of re-
tirement, in Christiana, died in 1888, at the age of
eighty-eight years. Their parents were : Jacob and
Anna (Boy!) Good, of Chester county, and Ger-
man ancestry, and George and Ann (Moore) Hol-
lis, natives of Chester county, who moved to Lan-
caster county at an early day.
The children born to Samuel and Eliza A. (Hol-
lis) Good were: Joseph F., who is a machinist, at
Renovo, Pa. ; Annie E., who became the wife of John
McGowan ; Sarah J., unmarried, living in Chester
county; William H., who is an insurance agent in
Philadelphia; Mary L., who lives, unmarried, with
her sister in Chester county ; Samuel R., a contrac-
tor and builder of Philadelphia; George W., de-
ceased ; John M., a farmer of Bartville. The parents
were worthy and consistent members of the Presby-
terian Chtirch, and were buried in Middle Octoraro
cemetery.
John McGowan was born in Sadsbury township
Aug. 20, 1832, a son of John, Sr., and Catherine
(Knott) McGowan, and he died June 28, 1897.
John McGowan, Sr., was born in County Tyrone,
Ireland, son of John and Anna McGowan, natives
of that county. May 2, 1798, and he died in Sads-
bury township Oct. 18, 1851, and was buried in Coch-
ransville cemetery, but in 1895 his remains, with
those of his two daughters, were removed to Mt.
Pleasant, Pa. The other children in the family of
John and Anna McGowan were: Anna, Margaret,
Sarah, James and Thomas. John McGowan, Sr.,
came to America in June, 1819, and settled in
New York for one year, and then removed to Lan-
caster county. Pa., where he was employed on the
farm of David Brisbea, in Salisbury township, for a
period of three years. He then became a clerk for
the late Daniel Buckley in the iron works in the Salis-
bury district, remaining with that firm until the
death of Mr. Buckley in 1825. Later he went to
Lebanon county, and there became a clerk for James
Coleman, in the iron works, for the succeeding three
years, when he was made manager for the late James
Sproul, the iron manufacturer, in Sadsbury town-
ship.
Mr. McGowan rem.ained with this concern for a
period of six years and then became the manager in
the iron works of Swayne & Pennock, located one
mile from his former place of work. Here he re-
mained for two years, but business difficulties as-
sailed this iirm and at a forced sale Mr. Sproul rent-
ed these works for a period of thirteen years, John
McGowan continuing as manager, making money
during this time not only for himself, but also for
Mr. Sproul. After the death of the latter, who had
always taken a deep interest in his faithful manager,
Mr. McGowan moved to Atglen, Pa., where he lived
for one year in retirement. Mr. McGowan, on April
I, 1849, purchased a farm in the valley, in Sadsbury
township, and there he passed the last years of a
very useful life. Mr. McGowan was a man of su-
perior education and great business ability. With al-
most all of the progress and development of his sec-
tion he was thoroughly identified, and he held many
of the local offices, notably, school trustee and audi-
tor, for many years. His family were left very well
provided for, his estate being valued at something
like $30,000, which was efficiently managed by his
widow, who was a woman of excellent judgment and
executive ability.
John McGowan, Sr., was married in 1830 in Lan-
caster, to Catherine Knott, who was a daughter of
William and Sarah ( Miller) Knott, natives of Mary-
land, who came to Sadsbury township at an early
day, where Mr. Knott became an iron worker and
farmer. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Mc-
Gowan were : Hon. William, who for thirty-five
years has been a justice of the peace in Christiana,
Pa., has held all of the local offices except constable,
served with distinction four terms in the House of
Representatives, and was a delegate during two
terms in the county convention; John, mentioned
below ; Joseph, in the government service, who was
a soldier in the Civil war; Samuel, who is a retired
merchant at Christiana, Pa. ; Caleb B., who lives a
retired life at Atglen, Pa. ; Clement B., deceased ;
Dr. Hiram, who is a well-known physician of Har-
risburg, Pa. ; Thomas, who was a deputy internal
revenue collector ; Noble, who is a merchant in Phil-
adelphia; Sarah A., who lives unmarried, in Chris-
tiana ; Rachel, also unmarried, and resident of Chris-
tiana ; Mary, unmarried, and living in Philadelphia ;
Elizabeth, wife of Philip B. Rea, of Chestnut Level,
Pa. ; Hannah P., who died in infancy ; and Margaret,
who died unmarried, at the age of twenty-one years.
The mother died Sept. 17, 1888, at the age of seven-
ty-seven years.
John McGowan grew up on the farm and devoted
his life to that occupation. His education was ob-
tained in the public schools of his neighborhood, and
he became identified with the best interests of his
locality. In politics he was an active member of the
Republican party, and most efficiently filled many of
the township offices, notably those of assessor, tax
collector and auditor, and was a leader in political
circles.
Mr. McGowan was married (first) May 19,
.1S59, to Elizabeth J. Davis, and their two children
were : Catherine, a resident of Christiana ; and Jo-
anna, the widow of William E. Thompson, also of
Christiana. On Feb.' 6, 1879, Mr. McGowan wed-
ded Annie E. Good, at her home in Bart township.
The one son of this marriage, John W., manages the
home farm. Here Mr. McGowan settled in 1891,
688
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
having previously occupied one located within one-
eighth of a mile. It is well improved and valuable,
Mr. A'TcGowan having been an excellent farmer and
good manager. His high character made him es-
teemed through the county, while his neighborly
kindness and domestic virtues made him beloved by
a large circle of friends.
EUGENE BAUER, in his Hfetime a popular
hotelkeeper at Lancaster, was a native of Freiburg,
Baden, Germany, where his parents, John Joseph and
Margaret (Kern) Bauer, were well-to-do people.
They owned valuable stone quarries and a number of
boats on the Rhine. Of their nine children, but three
came to America : ■ Eugene, Margaret, who married
Frederick Munz, and resides in Philadelphia; and
Malena, who married Charles Schmitt, of Phila-
delphia.
When he was eighteen years of age .Eugene Bauer
came to America to win home and fortune amid the
wider opportunities of the new country. His first
employment was at his trade, that of monument
work, and he assisted in the building of the Columbia
Bridge and St. Anthony's Catholic Church. Aban-
doning his trade, he entered the employ of Lawrence
Knapp, of the "Empire Hotel," in East King street,
and after long service there purchased the "Golden
Horse Hotel," which he conducted for thirteen years.
His genial disposition made him an ideal host, and
his hostelry was ever popular and well filled. His
death occurred Aug. 14, 1894, when he was aged
forty-four years.
In early manhood Mr. Bauer married Miss Judith
Lamparter, daughter of the late Eberhart J. Lam-
parter, and two children came to bless their home:
Eugene, who died when one and a half years old;
and Eberhart J. The latter was engaged in the
plumbing and gas fitting business in Lancaster, and
formerly had been manager of the Sporting Goods
Co., but on June 12, 1900, he started on a pleasure
trip to Idaho, and, liking that country, determined to
make it his home. On June 10, 1901, he married
Miss Mabel Hartmyer, of Lancaster. Like his fa-
ther, Eberhart J. Bauer was very popular, and no
two men in Lancaster were greater favorites with the
public than they.
In his political affiliations Eugene Bauer was a
stanch Republican. He was a member of the Ma-
sonic fraternity and of the I. O. O. F. Always look-
ing to the best interests of his adopted town, he was
ever foremost in giving of his time and means to any
measure that would advance the moral or material
welfare of Lancaster. He was an active member of
the Union Fire Co. for a number of years.
Mrs. Bauer still owns the "Golden Horse Hotel,"
but rents it, devoting her time to religious, charita.ble
and social duties. Her greatest pleasure is in doing
good to others.
Eberhart J. Lamparter, father of Mrs. Bauer,
was a tanner at IMillport, in this county. Abandoning
that occupation, he engaged in the manufacture of
glue, and, removing to Rockland, established a glue
factory in 1865, and died there in 1869. The factory
is still run by one of his sons. Mr. Lamparter mar-
ried Miss Elizabeth Helb, sister of Jacob Helb, one
of the pioneer tanners of Lancaster, and to this union
came nine children, six of whom are living : Jacob,
George and Eberhart, glue manufacturers of Rock-
land ; Miss Pauline, living in the homestead on Rock-
land street; Miss Lisette D., pension clerk at Wash-
ington, D. C. ; and Mrs. Judith Bauer, of Lancaster.
The mother of this notable family died Sept. 13,
1899.
JOHN ZERCHER, Superintendent of The Hel-
vetia Leather Co., of Lancaster, is one of the promi-
nent men and leading citizens of this community.
His connection with the above named company has
dated since 1888, after a long business experience
with other reputable firms. He is a native son of
Lancaster county, born in New Danville, April 20,
1838, his parents being John, Sr., and Esther
(Shaub) Zercher,both of Lancaster county.
John Zercher, Sr., was a weaver in early life and
later took charge of the hotel in New Danville, and
then operated a general store in the same village for
two years. He then turned his attention to farming,
and it was upon his farm in Pequea township that
his death occurred in 1872, at the age of sixty-seven
years. Flis widow, Esther (Shaub), survived un-
til 1895, dying at the age of eighty-three years.
They were members of the Dunkard faith, and were
laid to rest in the cemetery of the Mennonite Stone
Church, near New Danville. They had two chil-
dren : Christian S., a millwright, who moved to
St. Louis, Mo., in 1870, and lives there, in retire-
ment ; and John.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. Zercher were
John and Elizabeth (Tanger) Zercher, the former
of whom was a miller in this coujity, of Swiss extrac-
tion. Their family consisted of the following mem-
bers : Harry, deceased, was a miller in this county;
Andrew, deceased, was a wheelwright and a farmer,
and died in Conestoga township, where he lived re-
tired ; John became the father of our subject ; Jacob,
deceased, was a farmer of prominence, a' large land-
holder in Adams county, Ohio; and Anna died at
the age of fourteen years. The maternal grandpar-
ents of Mr. Zercher were John and Esther (Gocgh-
enauer) Shaub, natives and farming people of Lan-
caster county, of German extraction.
Until his marriage Mr. Zercher made his home
with his parents. His early rearing was on the farm,
and his education was acquired in the district schools.
At the age of seventeen he began teaching school at
Run Valley, and taught for eight consecutive terms
^n fact, if Mr. Zercher had not turned his atten-
tion to other lines of usefulness, it is probable that
he would have become a noted educator. Three
years were then spent in farming and then, seeking
a wider field, he went to Lancaster, and there be-
came bookkeeper for Samuel Hess, in the lumber
-*-<
-^.
BIOCxRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
689
business, and also filled the same position for one
year with Thomas & Henry Baumgardner, coal mer-
chants. He then became bookkeeper in the tannery
of Amos Hollinger, which business connection lasted
for twenty years, and during this time Mr. Zercher,
in addition to his other duties, taught two terms of
school. In 1888 Mr. Zercher accepted the position
of bookkeeper, superintendent and general manager
for The Helvetia Leather Co., with R. J. Houston
as president, and Charles J. Landis, as treasurer, the
last named gentleman retaining his connection with
the company until April, 1889, when he became
Judge of the courts in the county. The Helvetia
Leather Co. was established in 1887, and the plant
is located at Nos. 520-538 Poplar street, Lancaster,
and employs a force of ten men. They manufacture
(by patent process) belting, picker, ap.ron and lacing
leather and also oak leather belting. It is one of the
flourishing industries of the city and much of its
prosperity is due to the excellent business methods
and wise supervision of Mr. Zfercher.
In 1863, v/hen the State militia was increased in
order to repel invasion, Mr. Zercher became a volun-
teer in the 50th Regiment under Brig.-Gen. Frank-
lin and Capt. David Bear, for one hundred days'
service. This regiment was used for guard duty
along the Potomac river, and fortunately saw no
serious trouble, being discharged in six weeks, at
Harrisburg. In politics Mr. Zercher is a stanch Re-
publican and has efficiently filled some office in al-
most every place which has been his temporary home.
For six years he was assessor, in Pequea township ;
for eight years he serVed as school director in West
Lampeter township, and was then elected justice of
the peace for five years, serving with credit for four
years, when he resigned the office on account of re-
moval to New Danville. With his family he belongs
to and supports St. Paul's Reformed Church.
In December, 1859, Mr. Zercher was married, in
Lancaster, to Miss Barbara Rowe, born in West
Lampeter township, in May, 1837, daughter of Ben-
jamin and Anna (Weaver) Rowe, of Lancaster
county, where for a considerable period he was a
shoemaker, later operated a hotel at Willowstreet
and then became a successful farmer. The children
born to Mr. and Mrs. Zercher were as follows:
Emma, who is the widow of Jacob M. Harnish, re-
sides with her father ; Ada L., who died at the age
of four years ; George W., who died at the age of
two and one-half years ; Clara A., who married Ir-
vin S. Schmehl, a druggist in Philadelphia, and had
three children, James Frederick, Emma Florence
and John Irwin, of whom the last named died at the
age of five years ; and Miss Nora, who resides at
home. Mr. Zercher is a man of intellect and means,
and is well and favorably known through Lancaster
county.
DAVID B. MYERS, who was well and favora-
bly known for many years in East Donegal and ad-
joining townships, and who died Dec. 17, 1900, was
44
born in East Donegal township Oct. 5, 1834, a son
of Henry and Barbara (Brenner) Myers. The fam-
ily history is quite fully treated under the head of
Michael B. Myers on another page. The parents
lived to a ripe old age, and were much loved and re-
spected in the community in which their peaceful
and well-ordered lives were passed.
David B. Myers was married, in 1876, in Mari-
etta, Pa., to Miss Mary Shoemaker, by whom he
had one chiM, Clara, who married Samuel Eshle-
man, a farmer of Mt. Joy township, and became the
mother of two children, Walter and David, but is
now deceased. Mrs. Mary (Shoemaker) Myers was
born near Manheim, in Raplio township, a daughter
of Christ and Elizabeth (Hershey) Shoemaker, of
the same township, who now live in Mt. Joy town-
ship, where the former who was born in 1828, is now
a farmer. Mrs. Elizabeth (Hershey) Shoemaker
was born in 1833, and died in 1891, and was buried
in Florin Cemetery. Both were members of the Ger-
m.an United Brethren Church. Their children were :
Christ, a farmer in Mt. Joy township ; Elizabeth,
married to Monroe Shaffer, a farmer in Mt. Joy
township ; Anna, who married Jacob Frye, a farmer
at Centreville ; Mary ; Hettie and John, at home ;
Sarah, (deceased) ; and Harry, at home.
David B. Myers was engaged in farming until
the spring of 1900, when he gave up farm work, and
moved to the home he occupied for a number of
years. In his earlier years he was closely associated
with his father in farming operations, and it was not
until T872 that he purchased the farm to which he
devoted a good part of his life. In politics he was a
Republican. For several years Mr. Myers had been
sickly, and shortly before his death was stricken with
paralysis. Before his health failed he built a fine
three-story brick house, which stands on the cross
roads, about a half mile from Florin.
CAPT. PHILIP L. SPRECHER. No more
capable leader or more gallant soldier stepped forth
from the farmer ranks of Pennsylvania into the
garish light of the Union army during the Civil war
than Capt. Philip L. Sprecher, in private life a hotel
manager, merchant, master of the science of deduc-
tion as an expert detective, as well as an all around
versatile man of affairs. In the wake of a strenuous
and varied career he is one of the most popular men
in Lancaster county, and bears a reputation commen-
surate with his large attainments and splendid per-
sonal characteristics. A native son of Lancaster
county, he was born at New Holland, Sept. 12, 1839,
was educated in the district schools, and spent his
earliest boyhood days on the paternal farm. When
ten years of age he found employment in the hard-
ware and implement store of his two half brothers,
George D. and W. D. Sprecher, with whom he re-
mained until the breaking out of the Civil war, an
opportunity which ignited the possibilities of men,
and of none more than Capt. Philip L. Sprecher.
On the paternal side his ancestors are identical with
690
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
those of George D. Sprecher, who is mentioned at
length elsewhere.
The justice of the plaint of the Southern slave
found no greater confirmation than in the service of
such soldiers as Captain Sprecher. No finer record
illuminates this time of unloosed passions, of unreas-
oning and bitter hate. A fair idea of his place in the
roll call of the national honor is best conveyed by the
following interesting account compiled from authen-
tic sources for the United States Army and Navy
Association :
"Philip L. Sprecher enlisted from Lancaster coun-
ty. Pa., on the 4th of June, 1861, to serve three years
or during the war, and was mustered into the United
States service at Westchester, Pa., as a private of
Capt. Thomas B. Barton's company B, 30th Regi-
ment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, known as
the First Pennsylvania Reserve, Colonel R. Biddle
Roberts commanding. The regiment rendezvoused
at Camp Wayne, near Westchester, Pa., and left the
.state for Baltimore, July 22d, thence moved to An-
napolis, Md., where it performed guard duty until
the 30th, when it moved to Washington, D. C,
thence to Tennallytown, Md., where it was assigned
to the 1st Brigade of the Pennsylvania. Reserve
Corps. On October loth marched to Langley, Va.,
and December 20th to Dranesville, Va., reaching the
latter place just after the battle had closed. March
10, 1862, marched to Alexandria, Va., and was soon
after assigned to the ist Brigade, 2nd Division, ist
Corps, and later to the 5th Corps, Army of the Po-
tomac. It participated in the following engagements,
viz. : Tunstall Station, Seven Days Fight, including
Mechanicsville, Gaines Mills, White Oak Swamp,
Charles City Cross Roads, Malvern Hill, Manassas,
Bull Run, Chantilly, Va., South Mountain, Antietam
Creek, Antietam, Md., Bennett House, Fredericks-
burg. Va., Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, Mile Run
Campaign. New Hope Church, Wilderness, Par-
ker's Store, Spottsylvania, Laurel Hill, North Anna,
Jericho Ford, Tol'opotomy, Bethseda Church, and
numerous minor skirmishes.
"The said Philip L. Sprecher was at all times
with his command, and for gallantry and meritor-
ious conduct was promoted to 1 Corporal August 17,
1861, and to sergeant October 18, 1861, and was
commissioned 2nd lietitenant March i, 1863, for con-
spicuous bravery, and to brevet ist lieutenant to date
from March 13, 1865, for gallantry and meritorious
service in the Wilderness Campaign. At the battle
of Antietam, he, with a comrade, forced themselves
into the enemy's lines, but succeeded in returning to
the Union lines, having captured two Rebel officers
and two men. He still has in his possession a sword
that he took from one of the said officials. He was
honorably discharged June 13, 1864, at Philadelphia,
by reason of the expiration of his term of enlistment.
Fle re-enlisted, July 20, 1864, to serve one hundred
days, and was mustered into the service at Camp
Curtin, Philadelphia, and commissioned captain of
Company G, 195th Regiment Pennsylvania Volun-
teer Infantry, Colonel Joseph W. Fisher command-
ing. He veteranized to serve one year or during the
war, and on Nov. i, 1864, was transferred to com-
mand of Company C, of the same regiment, Colonel
Fisher being still in command.
"On July 24, 1864, the regiment moved to Balti-
more, Md., thence to Monocacy Junction, where it
was engaged in guarding lines of railroad, and was
thoroughly drilled, on the 1st of October proceeding
to Berkeley county, W. Va.,-and was posted along the
line of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, with head-
quarters at North Mountain station. In February,
1865, the regiment was re-organized and shortly
afterward ordered to Charleston, where it formed
part of the command of Gen. T. W Eagan. On April
1st the regiment was detailed to guard the fords of
the Shenandoah river, with headquarters at Cable-
town, afterward moved to Berryville and Harrison-
burg, performing guard duty and provost duty until
ordered home for muster out, on the way participat-
ing in a number of" skirmishes with bands of the
enemy.
"Captain Sprecher was constantly with his re-
spective commands during his three enlistments, and
earned high commendations, as is evidenced by his
frequent promotions. He received his final honora-
ble discharge June 21, 1865, at Harrisburg, Pa., by
reason of the close of the war."
But one thing concerning the captain's army
record should be added to the above, and that is that
he was discharged with the rank of brevet major.
Interesting as was his military career, however, his
experiences in civil life have Ween quite as entertain-
ing.
After the war Capt. Sprecher found employment
as a salesman for the late A. W. Russell, hardware
merchant, after which he clerked at the "Leopard
Hotel" for a time, and in 1866 became superintendent
of the "Lititz Springs Hotel," remaining in that ca-
pacity three years. For the following two years he
was proprietor of the "Neffsville Hotel,"' and in
1873 we find him in the office of the chief of police
of Lancaster, serving two terms under the adminis-
tration of Capt. W. D. Stauffer. He then opened
a detective bureau, having discovered a natural apti-
tude for work of this kind, and the wisdom of this
departure was evidenced by the speedy reputation
he made all over the State as a cool, c(Dllected, and
wise determiner of criminal responsibility. The at-
tributes which had made him a soldier par excellence,
were in demand in his new line of work, and by ap-
plying them as occasion demanded he was enabled
to make some of the most important arrests in the
annals of Pennsylvania criminology. He captured
John Frankford, the State's most desperate horse
thief, and in this effort displayed unusual ingenuity.
He followed the much wanted man's wife to Coates-
ville, boarding the train with her unnoticed, and
without a weapon of any kind. Frankford was wait-
ing at the railroad station for his wife, was fully
armed, yet nevertheless surrendered to the Captain
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
691
after being informed that he would put a bullet hole
through him if he refused to surrender. The des-
perado was much disgusted after boarding the train
and being handcuffed, to learn that the Captain's
arms were purely those of the imagination. This
capture led to the conviction of the horse thief, and
his sentence to nineteen years in the penitentiary.
The Captain was also largely instrumental in se-
curing the capture and breaking up of the notorious
Buzzard gang of outlaws, and worked up the case
that led to the conviction of James E. Pannell, the
wife murderer, who, however, cheated the gallows
by committing suicide.
After giving up the detective business Captain
Sprecher entered the United States Internal Rev-
enue service, in fact was twice in the service, from
which he eventually resigned to remove to Franklin
county. Here he found relief from the strenuous ac-
tivity ^vhich had characterized his former life, and,
purchasing a mill, managed the running of the same
for about seven years. Upon returning to Lancaster
he was a salesman in Diller's hardware store, after-
ward in Herr & Snavely's establishment, and then
became superintendent of the weaving department in
the Lancaster county prison, a position which he is
creditably filling at the present time.
Captain Sprecher married Mary Elizabeth
Streaker, daughter of the late Benjamin Streaker.
Of this union there was one son, Edward Diller,
v>'ho died in March, 1898, at the age of twenty-eight.
This son had been a bookkeeper in the Farmers' Na-
tional Bank of Lancaster for ten years. Mrs.
Sprecher died March 3T, 1887. Captain Sprecher,
whose residence is at No. 325 East Walnut street,
Lancaster, is a quiet, unobtrusive gentleman, and
only those who know of his splendidly directed life
would suppose that his mind contained so many
memories of great and important occurrences.
Drawn out, lie is intensely interesting, and his con-
versation is replete with the sparkle and conviction
born of enthusiasm and direct knowledge of his sub-
ject. He is justly popular in military, political, bus-
iness and social circles, and no man of whom we
have anv immediate knowledge in this neighborhood
has greater strength of character, or exerts a more
enviable influence.
!
WILLIAM C. PENNY. One of the thrifty,
and well-established farmers of Drumore township,
is William C. Penny, who was born Feb. 29, 1848,
son of Hugh and Sarah (Wentz) Penny, both of
Drumore township, their extraction being Irish and
English.
Flugh Penny, the father of William C, was born
in 1812, a son of Joseph Penny, and died in 1882.
lie was one of the leading men of his township, well
known and thoroughly respected. In 1836 he mar-
ried Sarah Wentz, who was born in 1817 and died
in 1889 ; she was a daughter of Joseph Wentz, of
Martic township. Their marriage was blessed with
these children: Mary M., who married Henry
Peagan, of Martic township, but is now deceased;
Joseph, who is a farmer of Colerain township ; Ad-
elaide, the wife oi Thomas Wilson, of York county.
Pa.; Maria J., the wife of Aldus Aument, of East
Drumore township; William C, our subject; Hugh
T., of Chester county; and Laura M., who is the
wife of William Overholt, a retired druggist of Bal-
timore, Maryland.
The Penny family in America can be easily traced
to great-grandfather Hugh Penny, who came from
Ireland at an early day and settled in the southern
part of Lancaster county. He was a stanch Pres-
byterian and an uncompromising Democrat, and
these two family beliefs have descended from father
to son ever since.
Joseph Penny, the grandfather of our subject,
reared these children : James ; Hugh ; Hannah, who
married William Wentz ; Sarah, who married John
Wentz; Mary Jane, who married Thomas Wentz;
and Harriet, who married Steele Morrison, all of
these well known in their day, but all have passed
away.
William C. Penny was reared on the farm, and
acquired his education in the common schools of his
native township, choosing farming as his life work.
Although he was hampered in his early career by
limited means, he has been careful and industrious,
and now is the owner of a fine farm with good
barns and improvements, and a most comfortable
residence, as payment for his past labors. Their res-
idence has some historic interest, having been built
by the Calhoun Brothers, about 1815, they being the
])rothers of the great-grandmother of Mr. Penny.
On Dec. 21, 1882, Mr. Penny was married to
Miss Mary J. Bockins, of Little Britain township,
who was born Dec. 25, 1861, daughter of George and
Sylvia (Wilson) Bockins, a family of English ori-
gin. Besides Mrs. Penny their children were : John
L. of Little Britain township; and Fannie M., un-
married, a resident of Britain. Mr. Bockins was
born in 1817 and died in 1889, his father having been
Samuel Bockins, a member of one of the old families
of this part of the State. His wife died in 1885.
Mr. and Mrs. Penny have no children of their
own, but in the kindness of their hearts, they adopt-
ed five-year-old Charles R. Clark, who was born
Aug. 4, 1885, and he has proven a dutiful and af-
fectionate son, honestly grateful for the parental
care he has received from Mr. and Mrs. Penny.
Both Mr. Penny and wife are members of the Chest-
nut Level Presbyterian Church where they are high-
ly valued. Mr. Penny enjoys ■ the esteem of his
neighbors and the affection of his friends, his estima-
ble character being known through the locality. This
is one of the truly representative families, in point
of character and public respect, in Drumore town-
ship.
REUBEN K. SCHNADER, a prominent tobac-
co merchant of the city of Lancaster, as well as one
of its keen, intelligent business men, was born Aug.
692
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
16, 1832, near what is now Terre Hill, East Earl
township, this county, son of Jacob and Lydia
(Clime) Schnader.
The Schnader family originated in this country
with the great-great-grandfather of Reuben K., who
emigrated, in the early part of the eighteenth cen-
tury, to East Earl township, this county, settling on
a farm which is still in possession of the Schnaders.
It is not known where he is buried.
Jacob Schnader, the great-grandfather, was one
of the organizers of the Centre Lutheran and Re-
formed Church, the site of which was the burial
ground of one of his children. When Jacob settled
fotir miles back from the Conestoga river, in the
virgin forest, all the surrounding country was a
wilderness, and he commenced to clear a farm with
his axe. He worked with the energy of those men
of iron, who seemed to know no fatigue, during his
entire life, and at his death this sturdy pioneer was
the owner of 1,000 acres of excellent land. Jacob
Schnader was a most remahkable man, for he lived
to his ninety-fifth year, being born in 1735. arid
died in 1829. He was married for the second time
at the age of seventy-five.
Baltzer Schnader, son of Jacob and grandfather
of Reuben K., was born in 1765, at the old home-
stead, where he resided until he married Barbara
Kitzmiller, when he located in Franklin county, en-
gaging in agricultural pursuits for a few years. He
then returned to the township where he was born,
became the owner of a fine farm of 270 acres, and
erected a stone house for a place of residence. This
was the first stone house built in the neighborhood ;
the roof was imported tiles, and the glass in the
windows only four inches square.
Jacob Schnader, son of Baltzer and father of
Reuben K., was born Dec. 25, 1800, and was one
of a family of fourteen children. His death occurred
Nov. 13, iR6j, when he was sixty years, ten months
and eighteen days old. He married Lydia Clime,
who died Jan. 11, 1878, aged seventy-one years, nine
months and twenty-three days. Both were interred
in Terre Hill Cemetery. During his active life, the
father was a farmer of Terre Hill, East Earl town-
ship, but retired before his death. Both he and
his wife were consistent members of the Evangeli-
cal Church, and most worthy and excellent people.
To them were boi-n : Caroline, deceased, who mar-
ried the late John Bowman of Mt. Joy ; Sophia, de-
ceased, wife of the late Jacob Flickinger ; Davis, de-
ceased ; William, retired landowner of large means
residing in Terre Hill, this county ; Levi, a tinsmith
of Adamstown ; Reuben K. ; and Lydia, who mar-
ried Isaac R, Garman, an invalid retired from active
business, residing at Reamstown, Pennsylvania.
The boyhood days of Reuben K. Schnader were
similar to those of any hearty country boy, he work-
ing upon the farm in summer and attending sub-
scription schools whenever opportunity ofifered.
When he was nineteen, he went to Clearfield county
to prospect for lime, and upon his return passed two
years in his native township, in company with his fa-
ther operating a dry goods, grocery and grain busi-
ness at Terre Hill. His next removal was to Breck-
nock township, this county, where for eight years
he devoted himself to farming. In 1869 he located
in Lancaster, and began handling leaf tobacco, in
which line he has built up a large and constantly
increasing business, and he also deals in cigars. His
goods are reliable and some of his special brands of
cigars have a large sale. In his establishment, he
gives employment to thirty men, and all modern
methods are used in the conduct of his business.
On Dec. 27, 1855, ^^^- Schnader was married at.
Mechanicsburg, Pa., to Eliza Killian, born July 8,
1837, near Mechanicsburg, daughter of Philip and
Nancy (Cunningham) Killian, farmers of Lancaster
county. Mrs. Schnader died Nov. 27, 1896, and
was iiuried in Woodward Hill Cemetery, Lancaster.
Three children were born of this union : Walter R.,
Albert P. and John J., the latter of whom died in
infancy. Walter R. resides in the adjoining house
lo his father, with whom he is in partnership; on
June 21, 1882, he married Clara, daughter of Philip
.Schum, of this city, and they have one child — Ros-
coe. A.lbert P. is unmarried and resides with his
father, he, too, being in business with him. Since
his sons were taken into partnership, Mr. Schnader
has transferred the greater portion of the business to
their shoulders, and has partially retired.
Fraternally Mr. Schnader is a member of Earl
Lodge, No. 413, 1. O. O. F., at New Holland, and
Lodge No. 68, K. P., at Lancaster. In political mat-
ters he is a Prohibitionist, and was school director
in his native township six years, and occupied the
same oiifice for three years in the city of Lancaster,
giving the most complete satisfaction, his interest in
educational affairs being deep and intelligent. For
twenty-five years he has been Sunday School super-
intendent of the Second Evangelical Church, now
known as Bethany United Evangelical Church, of
which he is one of the most honored members, and
he is justly looked up to as one of the leading and
generous supporters of that congregation.
FILBERT SMITH, one of the best known and
most popular freight and passenger conductors in
the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., was
born at Bain bridge. Lancaster county, Jan. 3, 1851.
Mathias W. Smith, his father, was a well-known
grocer and much respected citizen of Millersville,
who for several years filled the office of coroner. He
died Aug. 24, 1895, aged seventy-nine years, five
months and twenty-eight days. • He was an earnest
Christian, and an earnest member of Bethel Church,
as was also his wife, whose maiden name was Mary
Rapp, who was born Jan. 8, 1818, and who died
April 20, 1902, at the home of her daughter, Eliza-
beth, aged eighty- four years, three months and
twelve days. By her marriage with Mr. Smith she
became the mother of ten children : Simon and Eliza,
who died in infancy; Mary (Mrs. Conrad Page);-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
693
Henry, who was drowned in the Pennsylvania canal ;
John, in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Co. ; Filbert ; Horace G., a railroad flagman living
at Columbia ; Sheaffer S., of York ; Elizabeth, the
wife of John Mathis, an iron molder of Royalton;
and Edward, whose home is in Philadelphia.
The paternal grandfather of Filbert Smith was
a farmer, and a life-long resident of Lancaster coun-
ty. The family of Rapp were also Lancasterians,
Mr. Smith's maternal grandfather, Jacob Rapp, be-
ing many years the sexton of the Lutheran Church
at Elizabethtown.
On July 12, 1875, Filbert Smith was married to
Mary C. Killinger, of Lancaster, the wedding taking
place at Camden, N. J. Their union having been
without issue, they adopted a daughter of his brother,
John W. .Smith, whose baptismal name was Pearl.
On reaching womanhood she married D. Luther
Black, a marble cutter of Columbia. Mrs. Smith
was born June 10, 1858. Her father, John F. Killin-
ger, was a hotel keeper of Harrisburg from. 1875 un-
til 1887, Vifhcn he died, aged fifty-two years ; he mar-
ried Catherine Boot, who passed away in 1869, when
a young wom.an of thirty-five years. Of their chil-
dren Mrs. Smith was the third, the others being
Anna, George, John, Edward, Emma, Salina, Sophia
and Martha. Mrs. Smith, with her sisters Anna,
Emma and Martha, are all that survive. Of these
Anna is ATrs. Harry Reese, of Lancaster ; Emma is
the wife of Abel Barnett, of Philadelphia ; and Mar-
tha also lives in Philadelphia. Sophia, deceased, was
the wife of Harry Sanderson. . After the death of
Mrs. Smith's m.other, her father married again, his
second wife being Mary Peterman, who bore him
■one son, Valentine, since deceased.
Filbert Sm.ith remained with his parents until
his twenty- fourth }'ear, and in 1875 came to Co-
lumbia. Long before that date he had become ac-
customed to hard work. When a boy of twelve he
began driving along the towpath of the canal, and
the next twelve years of his life were spent as a ca-
nal boatman. On reaching Columbia he found em-
ployment with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
as a brakeman, and eight years later he was given
a position as flagman. His next promotion was to
the post of freight conductor, and in May, 1900, he
was transferred to the company's passenger service.
He is of genial disposition, sunny temperament and
generous heart, is faithful to his friends and charit-
able toward all. He is a member of various social
and benevolent organizations, and among them are
the ]. O. O. F., the Order of Red Men, Knights ,of
the Mystic Shrine, and the Brotherhood of Railway
Conductors. He is a Republican politically, and in
religious belief an active member of the United
Brethren Church.
WILLIAM MAXWELL. Few families in
Sadsbury township enjoy a higher measure of es-
teem than the descendants of the late William Max-
well, who for many years was a prominent citizen
of Lancaster county, a successful merchant, excel-
lent farmer and one who was ever interested in the
advancement of all educational and moral enterprises
in his locality.
The late William Maxwell was born in Stew-
artsville, N. J., some six miles from the town of
Eastman, June 4, 1791, and after a busy and useful
life of sixty years, passed away in his home on the
farm now occupied by his daughter, in Sadsbury
township, Feb. 4, 1851. His parents were Robert
and Elenora (Salone) Maxwell, born in Ireland,
but v/ith a mixture of Scotch blood, a combination
acknowledged to make the most robust and intelli-
gent race of the present time. These parents came
in their early married life to America, and settled
in the State of New Jersey, where they engaged in
farming and where they reared a large family.
These were : Margaret, deceased, married Maxwell
Kennedy, of Salisbury township, and had a family
of twelve children; Elizabeth, deceased, married
J^imes Kennedy, and also resided in Salisbury town-
ship; Pollen, deceased, married Thomas Barton, and
resided in Belvidere, N. J. ; Anna, deceased, mar-
ried Adam Ramsey; Jane died unmarried; Mary
died unmarried ; John married Mary Maxwell ; and
William.
William Maxwell spent his early years on a farm,
but he was liberally educated, passing through col-
lege with honors, becoming a thorough classical
scholar. He then embarked in the mercantile busi-
ness, in association with his brother-in-law, Adam
Ramsey, this partnership continuing until 1817.
Prior to his marriage, William Maxwell came to the
farm which is still in possession of his children, the
estate originally consisting of 260 acres, from which
ninety acres were sold some fifteen years ago. Al-
though he was left an orphan at the age of eight
years, he became a useful member of society, was
noted for his industry and close attention to business,
living a jiarticularly unobtrusive life. This, how-
ever, did not prevent an active interest in educational
and religious matters, his liberality assisting in the
advancement of many beneficial enterprises. Al-
though not connected by membership, he was a
constant attendant and generous supporter of the
Presbyterian Church. His political interest was
with the Republican party.
On Feb. 20, 1817, William Maxwell was married
in Sadsbury township, to Hannah Templin, and the
children born to this union were: Ellen E., who
was born Aug. 12, 1818, now resides on the old
homestead; Henrietta T., born Jan. 3, 1820, died
June 6, 1902 ; Jane T., born Dec. 13, 1821, died
March 31, 1902 ; Robert, born July 13, 1823, married
Mary Rea, and died in 1899, having been an elder
in the Presbyterian Church for forty-five years;
Richard T., who married Maria Stoner, died from
a wound received during service in the Civil war ;
Henry, born July 2, 1830, died in 1856, unmarried;
Mary T., born April 23, 1828, died June 25, 1890;
Edward, born May 27, 1832, died in infancy; Han-
694
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ford, born April 5, 1835, died Feb. 4, 1854, all of
these having come into the world in the old home-
stead which has for the survivors the pleasant asso-
ciations of a life-time. The three daughters of
William ]\Iaxwell were all ladies of education, in-
telligence and refinement. Their memories of their
parents were among their most precious recollec-
tions. They were universally esteemed through the
neighborhood, and all were leading and consistent
members of the Presbyterian Church.
Dr. J. R. Maxwell, only son of the late Robert
Maxwell, has practiced medicine in Parkesburg, Pa.,
since 1888.
JOH'N LEVERGOOD, M. D. The medical
fraternity of Lancaster has numbered among its
members some very prominent physicians in the past
who have conferred great honor upon their noble
profession. For four decades prior to 1891 Dr.
John Levergood was one of the leading physicians
and surgeons of the city, and a man who was very
prominent in its municipal and educational life.
His surviving widow was the daughter of one of
Lancaster's leading public men in past years. Judge
Emanuel Schaeffer.
Dr. Levergood was born in Lower Windsor town-
ship, York Co., Pa., Feb. 13, 1826, and died in Lan-
caster July 5, 1 89 1, the greensward of Woodward
Hill Cemetery covering all that is mortal of him.
He was the son of Jacob and Frances (Litzenberger)
Levergood, the former of York, and the latter of
I^ancaster county, where Jacob died in 1850, his
wife dying in Wrightsville, Pa., March 3, 1893, at
the advanced age of ninety years. Jacob Levergood
was an extensive farmer of York county and promi-
nent in the public life of his community for many
years. His children were: William, a retired
school teacher of Philadelphia, Pa. ; Jacob P., in the
tobacco business, Wrightsville, Pa., where he is also
justice of the peace; and John.
On Oct. 25, 1849, in Lancaster, Pa., Dr. Lever-
good was married to Margaret Louisa Schaeffer,
who was born in Lancaster, Pa., a daughter of Hon.
Emanuel and Elizabeth (Metzger) Schaeffer.
Emanuel Schaeffer was a native of this county,
born P"eb. 27, 1793. Having lost his father when
young, his mother and her children became part of
the household of his maternal grandfather, John
Miller, an eminent citizen of Lancaster, once high
sheriff of the county, and also a member of the State
Senate. On March 14, 1781, John Miller was ap-
pointed by the Supreme Executive Council of Penn-
sylvania, a commissioner of purchase for the county
of Lancaster, and was active in the patriot cause ;
his descendants are, to-day, found in the McNeal,
SchaetTer and Keller families in this county. At the
age of fifteen, Emanuel Schaeffer was apprenticed
by his grandfather to a harnessmaker, and after
learning the trade, followed it until he had saved
enough to go into business for himself. At the age
of twenty-five he was married to Mary Metzger,
who died five years later, and he then married on
March 8, 1827, a sister of his first wife, Elizabeth
Metzger, who was born Sept. 3, 1803, and, died Nov.
6, 1856, leaving the following children: Mary E.,
deceased wife of John Herr ; Margaret Louisa, Mrs.
Levergood; Emelirie R., deceased wife of Henry
Brady McNeal; and Emanuel W., a retired saddler
of Harrisburg, Pa. The third wife of Mr. Schaeffer
was Mrs. Winebrenner, a native of Ohio, and who
died, leaving no children, in the State of Illinois. In
1841, Judge Schaeffer was appointed by Gov. Por-
ter, associate judge of the courts of Lancaster, which
position he held for the following five years, when he
was reappointed by Gov. Shunk, and discharged his
duties with great fidelity for four years more. He was
prominent in municipal affairs also, having served
for thirteen years in the City Council, besides filling
many other offices of trust. He was also connected
with one of the financial institutions of the town,
having been in 1841 elected president of the Lan-
caster Savings Institution, and which position he
held for many years. In religious matters he was
exceedingly zealous. From the organization of the
Church of God in Lancaster, he was an elder, re-
ceiving his election annually, and he also acted as
Superintendent of the Sabbath School, and was a
delegate to the East Pennsylvania and General El-
derships for a number of years. His death occurred
Nov. 13, 1864, in Newburg, Cumberland Co., Pa.,
where he was at the time in attendance as a delegate
to the Eldership of his church denomination.
The early life of .John Levergood was passed un-
der the strictest of Presbyterian training. His fa-
ther sent him at the age of eleven to the York Acad-
emy, the principal of which at that time was an
old school Presbyterian preacher. Here he attend-
ed for three years, and then was entered as a student
at Strasburg Academy, whose principal was again
an old school Presbyterian, in the person of the Rev.
David McCarter. Here he studied for the following
three years, and then took up the study of his pro-
fession with Dr. Washington L. Atlee, of Philadel-
phia, Pa., and with whose family he resided during
the term of his reading. He passed the examina-
tion and was licensed to practice his profession in
1847, but continued with Dr. Atlee until the spring
of 1848, at which time he began active practice for
himself in the town of Wrightsville, Pa. It was here
he married, and soon after removed to Lancaster,
where he practiced with the exception of two rears
and three months spent in the army as surgeon, un-
til the date of his death. Before going into the army,
he served his country lovally in the hospital service,
being on duty in the Lancaster County Hospital,,
and resigning from that position to accept a sur-
geon's commission in the regular army offered him
by Gov. Curtin. He went to the front and served
faithfully to the close of the war in alleviating the
sufferings of the noble "boys in blue." Returning
to his home, he was appointed by President An-
drew Johnson examining pension surgeon of the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
695
Lancaster County District, in which position he
served for two years.
Dr. I ,evergood was a power in the municipal life
of his community, and was found ever ready to sac-
rifice his valuable time and great executive ability
in the furtherance of her progress. He was a mem-
ber of the common council during the years 1880 and
i88t, during which time he acted as president of the
same. One of the measures which he carried through
while a member of that body, and which resulted in
a great financial saving to the city, was a joint res-
olution instructing the Finance committee to refund
city bonds to the amount of $200,000 at a lower rate
of interest. This measure was carried and resulted
in saving to the city the sum of $4,000. He also took
an active part in the movement to abolish the old
volunteer fire department, and to substitute the pres-
ent efficient paid department. The public work of
Dr. Levergood was probably more efficient in the
line of his dtities as a school director than in any
other line, he having been a member of the board of
education almost continuously from 1859 until 1889.
In this body he is remembered as a splendid parlia-
mentarian, and he left a code of rules governing
that body which is in use at the present time. His
decisions as president of the board were always just,
and very rarely appealed from or reversed. In so-
cial life he was a prominent member of the I. O. O.
F., likewise a member of the Encampment. In po-
litical faith he adhered to the principles of the party
of Jefferson, and was an- active worker in the ranks
of that organization. The history of Lancaster
county could not be written without mention of the
services of this eminent man.
HARRY S. STOLL, foreman of a section crew
on the Pennsylvania railroad, has his home in Florin,
where he is highly esteemed by all who know him.
Mr. Stoll was born in Elizabethtown, Pa., June 14,
1849, a son of John and Barbara (Harry) Stoll, na-
tives of Wurtemberg, Germany.
John Stoll came to this country when a young
man and settled in Elizabethtown, whither his wife
had come the previous year. For forty-six years he
was a section foreman for the Pennsylvania com-
pany, and at his death had been on the retired list
for eight years. He died Nov. 12, 1897, at the age
of eighty years ; and his wife Dec. 15, 1895, at the
age of seventy-five years. They were both buried
in the cemetery at Florin, having made that bor-
ough their home since 1854. Mr. Stoll was a Dem-
ocrat, and both were members of the Methodist
Church. The following were their children : Mary
married George G. Lindsay, who is in business at
Marietta, Pa. ; Harry S. ; John H. is a passenger and
ticket agent at Mt. Joy; Frank is a "boss" section
foreman at Landisville ; and Reuben is deceased.
The oaternal grandfather of Mr. Stoll was John
' Stoll, of Germany, where he spent his life in farm-
ing. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Stoll also
lived and died in Germany.
Harry S. Stoll and Miss Lydia Geistwhite were
married in Florin, Pa., Oct. 13, 1870, and they have
become the parents of the following children : Ed-
win B., a telegraph operator at Pittsburg, married
Mamie Winters, and is the father of two children,
Leroy and Ruth ; Elizabeth A. is the wife of Charles
Warner, of Pikesville, Pa. ; Mary is deceased ; Har-
vey is also deceased; and Dora and Bertha are at
home.
Mrs. Lydia (Geistwhite) Stoll was born in Mt.
Joy township, April 23, 1850, a daughter of John
and Mary (Hoffman) Geistwhite, natives of Dauph-
in county, and Mt. Joy township, respectively. Her
father came to Lancaster county, settling in the
township of Mt. Joy where his life was spent, and
where he died in March, 1846, at the age of forty-
six years. His remains now rest in the cemetery at
Florin. His wife was born in 1829, and is now liv-
ing with her daughter in Florin. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Geistwhite were members of the Methodist Church.
They were parents of the following family : Lydia.
became Mrs. Stoll ; Henry, who died at the age of
twenty-three j'ears, was working on the railroad ;
and Elizabeth married Flenry Musselman, a coach
trimmer of Florin. Mrs. StoU's paternal grandpar-
ents were John and Elizabeth (Winagle) Geist-
white, both natives of Dauphin county, but whose
latter days were spent with their granddaughter,
Mrs. Stoll. Her maternal grandparents were Jacob
and Mary (Shaffer) Hoffman, both of Lancaster
county, where he followed the occupation of a
fence maker.
Harry S. Stoll spent his boyhood days on the
farm, but for the past thirty-nine years has been
in the employ of the railroad company. For five
years he was assistant foreman, and for twenty-six
years has been foreman of the section for the com-
pany. An alert and active man, he has an eye for
every feature of the service, and is regarded as one
of the most valuable on the line. Mr. Stoll is a
member of the Methodist Church, and in his poli-
tics is a Democrat. Socially he is a member of the
Knights of Pythias, and is highly esteemed in that
fraternal order.
JOSEPH DICKINSON COATS POWNALL,
a retired farmer of Christiana, was born in Solebury
township, Bucks county, March 26, 1840, son of
Hon. Moses and Susanna (Walker) Pownall.
Hon. Moses Pownall was born Aug. 5, 1815, and
was a farmer and a merchant. From 1847 to 1849
he operated a store in Christiana, dealt in coal and
lumber, and was interested in a planing mill in Co-
lumbia Until T851, when a fire destroyed about $4,-
000 worth of lumber for him, He was associated in
the firm of Pownall, Dickinson, John L. Wright &
Son. The year he was married he moved to Bucks
county, v/here he farmed until 1845, going from
there to Christiana to take up a mercantile business
as noted above. In 1850 he was elected a representa-
tive in the General Assembly, and was re-elected for
696
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the succeeding term. While in Bucks county he
held the position of justice of the peace and sus-
tained a good reputation as a business man. His
death occurred Feb. 12, 1854. His widow, whose
maiden name was Susanna Walker, was born June
29, 1820, and died March 26, 1882. Both were bur-
ied in Old Friends Cemetery, Sadsbury township,
they being members of the Society of Friends. They
had only one child, Joseph D. C.
The paternal grandparents of Joseph D. C.
Pownall were Joseph and Phoebe (Dickinson) ~
Pownall, of whom the former was born Jan. 5, 1791,
and died in 1870. The maternal grandparents of Mr.
Pownall were Asahel and Sarah (Coats) Walker,
being farming people of Sadsbury township.
Joseph D. C. Pownall was married Feb. 17, 1864,
in Philadelphia, to Mary Haines Stubbs, by whom
he had the following children: M. Wilmer, cashier
of the First National Bank in Coatesville, Pa., mar-
ried Phoebe Thom.pson, by whom he has two chil-
dren, William J., and Malcolm Thompson; Susanna
died in infancy; Vincent S., now in the hardware
business in Coatesville, married Bertha Walton, by
whom he has had one child, Ruth E. ; M. Elizabeth
married E. Clayton Walton, also in hardware busi-
ness in Coatesville ; S. PIdna is at home. Mrs. Pownall
was born in Fulton township, Lancaster county, and
is the daughter of Vincent and Mary (Haines)
Stubbs, the father being a native of Fulton township,'
and the mother of Cecil county, Md. Mr. Stubbs
remained all his life on a farm in Fulton township,
where he died April 8. 1875, 3-t the ag^e of seventy-
eight years. From 1854 he had lived retired from
active work. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Pownall,
died Feb. 28, 1874, being seventy-one years and nine
months old. They were buried in the Friends Meet-
ing House Cemetery in Penn Hill, Little Britain
township. Mr. and Mrs. Stubbs had the following
children : Joseph died at the age of eighteen years ;
Rebecca is the widow of Steven Richards, and lives
in Cecil county, Md. ; Thomas is deceased; Elizabeth
Oxford is the widow of Dr. A. P. Patterson; Ver-
linda married Thomas R. Neel, a retired farmer
of Christiana, Pa. ; Hannah is the widow of Samuel
Parry, and has her home in Oxford, Pa. ; Sophia
married Thomas Smedley, and is deceased ; Pris-
cilla is the widow of Clavton Harland, and has her
home in Oxford, Pa. ; and Mary H. is Mrs. Pownall.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Pownall
were Vincent and Priscilla (Cooper) Stubbs, farm-
ing people of Fulton township. Her maternal grand-
parents were Joseph and Rebecca (Reynolds)
Haines, farming people of CecU county, Maryland.
Joseph D. C. Pownall spent the first seven years
of his life on the farm, and was then brought by
his parents into Christiana. When he was eleven
years of age he began clerking in the store of Mr.
Coats, in which his mother bought a half interest,
and remained there from 185 1 to 1859. While en-
gaged in that store he sold the powder that was
used in the Christiana Riot of 1859. Mr. Pownall
was a student for a time in the State Normal School
at Millersville. For a few years he was interested
in a mercantile enterprise with T. B. Mercer, and for
four years he was engaged in farming in Sadsbury
township ; but then returning to Christiana, where he
became engaged in a general mercantile business,
in which he continued until 1882. From 1880 to
1896 he was connected with brick and pottery manu-
facturing. With his family he belongs to the Soci-
ety of Friends, and is counted among the solid and
substantial citizens of the community. In his poli-
tics he is a Republican.
HENRY S. HERSHEY, general manager of
the Chestnut Hill Ore Mines, in West Hempfield
township, Lancaster county, where his residence is
also located, was born on the banks of the Big Chick-
ies creek, in the same township, March 16, 1827, and
is a son of Christian and Elizabeth (Strickler)
Hershey, natives, respectively, of Donegal and Raphe
townships.
Christian Hershey moved to Columbia, Pa., in
1846, and was there employed by a brother, -Ephraim
Hershey, in a mill. Christian Hershey became a man
of considerable influence; was one of the board of
directors in West Hempfield township, upon the
adoption of the free school system ; was county com-
missioner for Lancaste'r county prior to 1840 ; and
was also tax collector for the borough of Columbia
for several years. His death occurred in Columbia in
1883, when he was aged eighty-two years, and that
of his wife, who was born in 1804, occurred in the
same city in 1871. They were among the founders
of the United Brethren Church in Columbia, and
their remains were interred in Mount Bethel ceme-
tery. In politics Mr. Hershey was a Republican.
The children of Christian and Elizabeth Hershey
were as follows : Henry S., who is mentioned at the
opening of this sketch : Peter, who was killed on the
Mississippi river in 1859, by the explosion of the
boilers of the steamer "Princess ;" EHzabeth, widow
of Thomas P. Cooper, of Columbia, Pa. ; Ephraim,
deceased; David, an engineer in the employ of the
Pennsylvania Railway Company, and residing in
Philadelphia ; Samuel, who was killed when six years
old by a kick from a horse ; Isaiah and Amos, who
died young ; and Wilhelmina, who died when an in-
fant. The paternal grandparents of Henry S. Hersh-
ey were Peter and Anna (Brenneman) Hershey, the
former of whom was a farmer ; he fell from and was
run over by his wagon and was killed.
Henry S. Hershey was born on a farm, and re-
mained there with his parents until thirteen years
old, when he went to Pittsburg and resided with an
uncle and attended school until 1843. He returned
to his native township in 1845, and followed milling
until 1848, when he went West, passing the time in
Illinois and Missouri until 1853. Returning home,
he followed his trade until 1863, when he removed to
Center county, Pa., and there followed lumbering
for a year and a half. He next went to Columbia,
^. ^, y)^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
697
where he held an official position with the Susque-
hanna Rolling Mill Company from 1864 until 1868,
and then operated the Chickies Rolling Mill three
years, after which he engaged in coach building until
1886.
In politics a Republican, Mr. Hershey served two
terms as justice of the peace while engaged in coach-
making, his last term expiring in 1896, and also
served as borough councilman of Columbia several
terms. In 1897 he was appointed to his present posi-
tion, and in August, 1900, moved to his present home.
Henry S. Hershey was married, in Columbia,
Oct. 4, 1855, to Miss Margaret S. Cox, and this mar-
riage has Ijeen blessed with the following named
children: Alice, wife of William B. Stephenson, a
civil engineer in Tacoma, Wash.; Margaret, who
died when fifteen years old; Mary E., widow of
Frank II. Steacy, who was a chemist of prominence
in Columbia; Anna B., who is unmarried, and lives
with her father ; Bertha, who died at the age of eight
years ; and Henry B., an electrical engineer, a gradu-
ate of the Lehigh University, and a resident of New
York City.
Mrs. Margaret S. (Cox) Hershey was born in
Lancaster, Pa., and died in Columbia in June, 1896,
aged fifty-nine years ; her remains were interred in
Mount Bethel cemetery. She was a daughter of
Thomas and Margaret Cox, of the State of Delaware,
both of whom died in Columbia, Pa., where the fa-
ther had been engaged in the coal business, and had
also carried on the manufacture of stages and coaches
in Lancaster.
Henry S. Hershey is a consistent member of the
M. E. Church, and in politics is a Republican. He
has traveled nearly all over the United States, and
has made friends wherever he has been. He is still
healthy and strong, and remarkably activfe for his
age, and no man in the township commands more
profound respect than that which is freely shown to
him.
JACOB L. RANCK. Among the prominent
farmer-citizens of Strasbnrg township, Lancaster
county, is Jacob L. Ranck, who was born on his fa-
ther's homestead, in Paradise township May 27,
1842, a son of Jacob and Susan (Leaman) Ranck,
T>oth of whom are deceased, the father in 1876, pass-
ing away at the age of sixty-five, the mother surviv-
ing until 1883.
Jacob Kanck, the father of Jacob L., was a son
of Jacob and Annie (Stuck) Ranck and was reared
in Paradise township, under the watchful and care-
ful eye of his mother, who was early left a widow,
and was a v/oman of verv superior attainments and
great force of character. When an older brother took
charge of the farm, Jacob remained for eight years
on the hom.e.farm, and then began farming opera-
tions for himself, conducting an estate consisting of
no acres, where he lived for some two years previ-
ous to his marriage, his sisters keeping house for
him. It was remarked. of Jacob Ranck that he al-
ways had an object in view and steadily worked
toward it, and in this way he succeeded where many
men would have failed. His life was a quiet one, as
he loved his home and v^^as domestic in his tastes, de-
voted to the interests of his family and friends. At
the tmie of his decease he had the satisfaction of
knowing that he had done his full duty toward his
children, giving each one a farm which he had earned
for them. Both he and wife were members of
the Old Mennonite Church and none were more
truly worthy of the esteem of their neighbors. The
five children born to these good people were : Ben-
jamin, a resident of Paradise township ; John K.,
who was a farmer and a minister ; Jacob L. ; Annie,
deceased, who was the wife of Bishop Abraham B.
Herr, of New Danville; and Amos L., who resides
on the old homestead, in Paradise township.
Jacob L. Ranck was reared on the old farm and
was educated in the public schools, growing to stur-
dy manhood, alternating school with work on the
farm. At the age of twenty-four he began opera-
tions on his own account on the farm his father had
purchased for him, in Strasburg township, located
about one mile northeast of Strasburg. When Jacob
L. took charge of the place, it was sadly in need of
improvement, as it had been much neglected, but in
a very short time things put on a quite different ap-
pearance and it now ranks with the best in the
county. For some thirty-two years he resided on
this place, becoming one of the leading farmers and,
following the example of his father, has provided
farms in Strasburg township, for his three children.
A stockholder and director in the Strasburg Na-
tional Bank, he is reckoned one of the solid and sub-
stantial men of the county, and for ten years has
been a member of the school board, always taking a
deep interest in educational matters. In 1898 he
erected a fine modern residence near Strasburg —
one of the best houses in the neighborhood.
On Oct. 31, 1865, Jacob L. Ranck was married to
Hettie Herr, daughter of Rev. Amos and Elizabeth
(Rohrer) Herr, born in West Lampeter township.
Time II, 1844, and the children born of this union
were: a son that died in infancy; Elizabeth, who
died at the age of twelve; Amanda, who died at the
age of ten ; Amos, who died at the age of twenty
months ; Reuben, who died at the age of thirteen
months: Milton H., born June 2, 1877, a tobacco
packer in Strasburg, who lives at home ; Anna N.,
born June 28, t88o, living at home; and S. Etta,
born April 5, 1883. The family are all members of
the Old Mennonite Church, with which their ances-
tors and connections have been so closely allied, and
are among the most esteemed of the congregation
in Strasburg, where ]Mr. Ranck is one of the trus-
tees.
MAHLON B. KENT, whose long and credita-
ble career as a hardware merchant at Christiana
abundantly deserves the well earned rest he is now
taking, was born in West Fallowfield, Chester Co.,
698
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Pa., Nov. 14, 1841, son of Daniel and Sarah (Bro-
sius) Kent, natives of East and West Fallowfield
townships, respectively.
Daniel Kent, who was a farmer, died in 1881, at
the age of seventy-nine, proving himself a thorough-
ly competent and successful business man, and skilled
in agricultural industry. He married Sarah Bro-
sius, daughter of Plenry and Mary (Roberts)
Brosius, farming people of Chester county. She
survived until 1894, dying at the age of eighty-six.
They were members of the Religious Society of
Friends. Their children were as follows: Mary
B., who married, first, Caleb M. Brosius, second,
Harry Perry, and third, Elihu M. Clark, is now de-
ceased; Anna E., deceased, married Isaac D. Shoe-
maker : Agnes J., deceased, married J. Calvin Bick-
ing; Henry B. married Jane W. Bailey, of Cam-
bridge, Chester county ; Ruthama married H. K.
Cooper, of Chester county; William L. G. married,
first, Elizabeth Shoemaker, and second, Anna E.
Lofland ; Mahlon B. ; and Thomas E. and Sally A.
both died young.
The paternal grandparents of Mahlon B. Kent
were Daniel, Sr., and Esther (Hawley) Kent. Daniel
Kent, Sr., was born in Limerick, Ireland, and came
to this country in his twentieth year, on the brigan-
tine "Asia." He bound himself by indenture, dated
May 21, 1785, in the sura of £10, los. to the mas-
ter, John Johnson, to pay for his passage. On his
arrival in Philadelphia the indenture was signed
over to Joseph Hawley in consideration of £14, los.
paid by him. The young emigrant faithfully served
his time, and afterward married Esther Hawley, a
daughter of his benefactor. He engaged in farming
in Chester county, though by trade a cutler, and at-
tained considerable prominence in his new home,
serving as justice of the peace for many years.
Mahlon B. Kent was twice married. In 1867, in
Philadelphia, he wedded Maranda Brosius, who be-
came the m.other of one child, Wilfred M., who died
at the age of four months and twenty days. Mrs:
Kent was born in Colerain township, Lancaster
county, in February, 1842, and died June 12, 1872.
She was a sister of the Hon. Marriott Brosius, whose
sketch appears elsewhere. On Nov. 14, 1874, in
Chester county, Mr. Kent married for his second
wife Anna Roberts Walton, who was born in West
Fallowfield township, Chester county, in 1835, a
daughter of Isaac and Mary (Walton) Walton, the
former a successful farmer of that locality.
Mahlon B. Kent was reared on a farm, and there
he remained until 187,^. The following year he se-
cured a position as Indian Agent, and was stationed
at the government reservation in Richardson county,
Neb. For seven years he well and faithfully ful-
filled the arduous duties of this place, when he en-
gaged in the hardware business at White Cloud,
Kans., continuing same for five years. Following
his stay at White Cloud, he was in the coal and lum-
ber business for two years at Hockessin, Del., but
this business did not prove congenial, and he came to
Christiana in 1893, to find a home, which he has
m.aintained to the present time. For six years Mr.
Kent has held a position in the borough council, for
four years acting as president of that body. In re-
ligion he is a member of the Friends' Association,
and in politics he is a Republican.
JOHN E. HERSHEY, a representative farmer
in Lancaster city, belongs to one of the most highly
respected agricultural families of this county.
John Hershey, his grandfather, lived and died
near Bareville, this county, where his farm was one
of the best cultivated and most productive. Through
life a consistent member of the Old Mennonite
Church, he lived a quiet, unostentatious life, devoted
to his work, his religious duties and his family. His
children were: EHza, deceased, who was the wife
of Everheart Weaver; Maria, who was the wife of
John Landis ; Annie, who was the wife of Peter
Brown ; Lydia, who was the wife of Samuel Grofif ;
Andrew, who was a farmer near Bareville ; Saniuel,
the father of John E. ; and Jacob, who was a farm-
er and miller, near Leaman, this county.
Samuel Hershey was born on the old homestead,
about 1813, and was devoted to the tillage of the
soil during his long and useful life, which closed
in 1873. Tn politics he was a Republican and held
the office of school director a number of years. His
religious connection was with the Old Mennonite
Church. He was thrice married. His first wife,
Nancy GrofF, died leaving no children. By his sec-
ond wife, Elizabeth Eby, five children were born, of
whom the eldest died in infancy; Eby (deceased)
was a farmer of Strasburg township ; John E. is our
subject; Mary is unmarried; and Milton E. is a
farmer of Lancaster township. After the death of
his second wife, Mr. Hershey was married to Fanny
Lintner, who still survives. The children of this
union are: Lintner, a farmer, residing with his
mother; Aldus, a farmer of Lancaster township;
"VVillis, of Lancaster township ; and Ella, who resides
at home.
John E. Hershey was born on the home farm, ad-
joining the place where he now resides, in February,
1846. His education was acquired in the public
schools, and he remained with his parents until he
was twenty-three years of age, beginning then his
own career by taking charge of a farm adjoining,
uiion which he remained for three years, when he
moved to his present location. Here Mr. Hershey
has expended time, energy and labor, the result be-
ing one of the best eighty-acre tracts in this locality.
Its value is enhanced on account of its location being
partly within the city hmits of Lancaster. This land
originally belonged to his father, and was purchased
from the latter's estate. Mr. Hershey has most com-
fortable and appropriate buildings, bpth for resi-
dence and for dairying, having been in the latter
business for thirty-two years. ^During the past fif-
teen years he has been fattening horses for New
York dealers.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
699
Mr. Hershey was married to Annie Bausman,
and six ciiildren were born to this union : Mary, at
home ; Clayton, who died at the age of five years ;
Albert, who died at the age of three years; Edith,
at home ; Laura, who died at the age of nine years ;
and Florence, who died at the age of seven years.
Mr. Hershey is one of the most respected and sub-
stantial residents of the township, is well known
through the city of Lancaster, and is a thoroughly
' representative citizen. His political support is
given to the Republican party.
JACOB ZERCIIER, a general farmer and a
man of much character and standing in Mt. Joy,
was born in Pequea township, Lancaster county, Dec.
25, 1840, a son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Johnson)
Zercher, of Lancaster county. His grandparents
were also natives and residents of Lancaster county.
Andrew Zercher died in Conestoga township in
1889 at the age of seventy-eight years, and was bur-
ied in the cemetery connected with the Pequea Meet-
ing Hoitse, in the township of that name. In his
younger days he was a wagon maker, and from 1845
to 1866 he was engaged in farming. His last years
were spent in retirement. Mrs. Elizabeth Zercher,
who is still living in Conestoga township, was born
in February, 1809. They were the parents of the
following children: John J., who died at the age
of thirty- two years; Benjamin, who died at the age
of eighteen years ; Jacob ; and Elizabeth, who mar-
ried CJhrist. B. Miller, a farmer of Conestoga.
Jacob Zercher was married in November, 1866,
in West Hempfield township, to Lizzie S. Hostet-
ter, and born to this union were : Ezra H., a farm-
er in East Donegal, who married Lizzie Hertzler;
Lizzie, the wife of Jacob N. Hfershey, who is in the
creamery business in East Berlin, Pa. ; Mary, mar-
ried to Ezra H. Engle, a farmer ; Fanny, who mar-
ried Abigner Martin, a farmer of West Donegal;
Andrew, at home ; Anna, who died young ; Naomi,
who is at home unmarried ; Jacob, deceased, twin to
Naomi ; and Martha and Ira J., at home.
Mrs. Lizzie (Hostetter) Zercher was born in
West Hempfield township March 15, 1844, daughter
of Rev. Jacob and Anna (Stauffer) Hostetter, na-
tives of West Hempfield and Donegal townships,
both of whom died in West Hempfield. Her father
was a farmer and died in December, 1888, at the
age of ninety years ; her mother died the same year
at the age of eighty-two years. Both were members
of the River Brethren Church, and were buried in
the Cross Roads Church Cemetery in Donegal town-
ship. The father was a bishop in his church for
many years, and was a consecrated and devoted
Christian. The following children were born to
them : Abraham, a retired farmer in Rapho town-
ship; Catherine, who married Martin Musser, a
retired farmer in West Hempfield ; jacob, now a re-
tired farmer in West Hempfield ; Martua, who mar-
ried Michael Grove, a retired farmer in w est Hemp-
field; Christian, a retired farmer living on the old
homestead in the township of Rapho; Mary, de-
ceased wife, of Eli Lindemuth; Anna, who is the
widow of Abraham Engle, and is living in Donegal
township ; Susan, who married Benjamin Zeigler, a
farmer in Providence, Lancaster county ; and Lizzie.
Jacob Zercher remained with his parents until
1867, when he began farming for himself, leasing
land of his father, paying his rent with a share of
the produce. This he continued for six years, when
he took charge of his present farm of two hundred
acres. Here he has done well, both in general farm-
ing, and in the specialties of horse and cattle breed-
ing to which he gives close attention. Mr. Zercher
is "a m.ember of the Church of the River Brethren,
and is regarded as one of the solid and reliable mem-
bers of that commvinion. An energetic and progres-
sive citizen, he has won a good place in life, and
holds the confidence and respect of the community
to a marked degree.
AMOS K. HERR, a retired farmer, and one of
the well-known and highly respected citizens of Lan-
caster, was born Nov. 15, 1839, a son of John and
Fanny ( Greider) Herr, the former a native of Stras-
burg township, and the latter of West Lampeter
township, both of this county.
John Herr was engaged in farming until 1889,
when he retired, removing to Lancaster, and oc-
cupied himself with cultivating some fifteen acres,
all of which land was in excellent condition. His
death occurred Oct. 11, 1894, when he was eighty-
six years, ten months and twenty-two days old, and
his wife died Aug. 26, 1878, aged seventy-eight
years, one month and fourteen days. Both are bur-
ied in Longnecker Cemetery, and they were prom-
inent in the A([ennonite Church. The family born
to them was as follows : Christian, who died Dec.
6, 1855, aged twenty-two years, one month and four
days "; Abraham K., who died Nov. 7, 1896, aged six-
ty-one years, seven months and twenty-one days;
Anna, who died Feb. 21, 1886, aged forty-eight
years and se-\'en months, and who was the wife of
Franklin Bowman ; Amos K. ; Fanny, who married
George L. Buckwalder, a retired farmer of E.
Lampeter township ; and Susan, who married B.
F. Herr, of Millersville, Pa., a prominent merchant
and ex -physician. The paternal grandfather was
Martin Herr, a prominent farmer of Lancaster coun-
ty ; he married Susannah Buckwalder.
The boyhood days of Amos K. Hlsrr were spent
upon a farm, and when he attained manhood's estate,
he engaged in farming for himself, and also manu-
factured bricks at Strasburg, Pa., in 1876, becoming
a partner of Jacob Lahr in the latter calling. This
partnership continued seven years, when it was dis-
solved and for five years Mr. Herr continued the
manufacture alone, then sold his interests, and in
1 89 1 retired to Lancaster, where he has since resided,
enjoying the fruits of his years of labor.
On Feb. 2, 1879, in Lancaster, Mr. Herr was
married to Elizabeth Kohr, born Nov. 17, 1839, in
700
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Conestoga township, daughter of Bishop John
Kohr, Sr., of Manheim township. One child was
born to Mr. and Mrs. Herr, John K., a machinist,
who resides at home. For forty years Mr. Herr has
been a member of the New Mennonite Church, and is
a man of sterling integrity and uprightness of pur-
pose, who enjoys the good will and confidence of the
community in which he makes his home.
SAMUEL- S. HIGH (deceased) belonged to
that class of business men who leave an impress upon
their day and generation, through the integrity of
their dealings and the uprightness of their lives. At
his death the city of Lancaster parted with one of
her most useful and progressive citizens. Mr. High
belonged to Lancaster county by parentage and birth,
the latter taking place Nov. 28, 1839, in East Earl
township. His parents were Jacob and Susan
(Hoffman) High.
The early rearing of Mr. High was on a farm,
and his education was obtained in the country
schools. While still a young man he was engaged in
storekeeping with his brother, ex-Sheriff John H.
High, at Spring Grove, for a period of eight years.
Moving then to Ephrata he embarked in a mercantile
business, continuing at this point until 1872, when
he came to Lancaster. Here Mr. High entered into
a partnership with Isaac Stirk, the firm name being,
Stirk & High, and, the business was located on the
present site of the large new store of Watt & Shand.
This was called China Hall, and a very large and
prosperous business was carried on here, the firm
gaining friends and patrons for many miles in the
vicinity of Lancaster. In 1875 Mr. Stirk retired and
Mr. High took into partnership J. Charles Martin,
his step-son, and the firm style was changed to
High & Martin, and the business was located at No.
15 East King street.
The first marriage of Mr. High was to Harriet
Geist, a native of Earl township, who died without
issue. His second marriage was to Mrs. Catherine
TKinzer) Martin; By her first husband, John J.
Martin, Mrs. High has two children, viz. : Laura,
who married Landis Levan, a miller, in Lancaster
township, and they have five children; and J.
Charles, a retired merchant of Lancaster, who has
one child. Mrs. High was born in East Earl town-
ship, daughter of Amos S. and Maria L. (Himes)
Kinzer, of Lancaster. Mr. Martin was a farmer in
East Earl township, where he died in 1852, aged
twenty -seven years, and was buried in the Weaver-
land cemetery in that township.
Mr. High was a thorough and practical business
man and was- relied upon for his excellent judgment
and keen insight. His prosperity was won through
industry and honorable methods, and when he died,
the community lost a valued citizen. His progres-
sive character was shown in his connection with
some of the leading enterprises of the city. He was
interested in the Electric Lighting Co. and the
Street Railway Co., and also the Steam Radiator
Co., of Lancaster, and was secretary of the Poplar
Bluffs Lumber & Mfg. Co., of Missouri. Although
he had so many business interests, he never forgot
his religious duties and was an active worker in St.
John's Lutheran Church, trustee in the same, and
was chairman of the building committee. At various
times he was trustee and elder, and for many years,
superintendent of the Sunday-school. He was a
man who lived up to his principles and thus won the
sincere esteem of all who knew him.
ABRAHAM E. STAUFFER, a general farmer
and highly respected resident of Silver Spring, in
West Hempfield township, was born in Chickies,
that township, Sept. 11, 1833, son of Henry and
Elizabeth fEshleman) Stauffer, both of whom lived
and died in West Hempfield township.
Henry Stauffer was a farmer by vocation and
was quite a prominent and influential citizen, and
for some years served his fellow townsmen a? school
director and supervisor. His death occurred in 1890,
when eighty-three years old; that of his first wife
had taken place much earlier — in 1849, when forty-
two years of age. To the marriage of Henry and
Elizabeth (Eshleman) Stauffer were born the fol-
lowing named children: Anna, widow of Jacob
Risser, of Maytown ; Hettie, wife of Jacob Bowers,
of Downersville ; Elizabeth, who died young ; Abra-
ham E. ; Jacob, a farmer in West Hempfield town-
ship; Barbara, deceased wife of Michael Schindle;
Mary, the wife of John Fridy, a farmer of West
Plempfield township ; And Miss Susannah, deceased.
Some time after the demise of his first wife, Henry ,
Stauffer married Barbara Harnish, and to this union
were born two children, both of whom died young.
The paternal grandparents of Abraham E. Stairf-
f er were natives of Lancaster county, and were farm-
ing people, and the same may be stated of the ma-
ternal grandparents.
Abraham E. Stauffer assisted on the home farm
until he had attained his majority, then 'rented the
home place for three years, and carried on agricul-
ture on his own accoimt. At the termination of this
period, Henry Stauffer deeded the farm to his son
Abraham, on the sole condition .that the latter was
to pay the former a limited sum annually during life.
Two years later Abraham traded the old place for
his present farm of forty-seven acres.
_ In October, 1854, Abraham E. Stauffer was
joined in matrimony at Black Horse, this county,
with Miss Adaline B. Hoffman, who was born in
East Hempfield township in October, 1836, a daugh-
ter of John and Catherine (Ballmer) Hoffman, of
Lancaster county. To this marriage have been born
five children, viz : Mary A., 'who married Andrew
G. Shirk, a railroad flagman in Columbia, and has
one daughter, Adaline S. ; Miama H., who married
Adam D. Heidlauf, of West Hempfield, and has a
son, Phares S. ; Hiram H., of Manor township, who
married Frances Garber, and has two children, Clar-
ence G. and Anna May ; Catharine H., who married
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS. OF LANCASTER COUNTY
701
Aram Lenhard, a farmer of West Hempfield, and
has a daughter Saloma S. ; and Milton H., unmar-
ried, and living at home.
Abraham E. Staufifer has ever been a hard-work-
ing farmer and an upright man, whose course
through life has been of that even tenor as to gain
the respect unsought, of the entire community in
which he has passed so many years of his useful life.
In politics he is a Republican.
MARIS B. WEAVER. Among the energetic
and successful business men, long and well-known
in Lampeter, is Maris B. Weaver, a member of the
old established family of that name, of whom
this record has had much to say.
Maris B. Weaver was born in Conestoga town-
ship, Jan. 8, 1848, son of Simon R., and a grandson
of Sam.uel, Weaver, both old residents of the county.
Simon R. Weaver was born on the farm near
Lampeter, which is now the property of Henry
Shaub, and there he was reared and learned the
blacksmith trade, which he followed some ten years,
his place of business being at Conestoga Center, but
he later engaged in farming for a number of years,
returniug to his trade, previous to his decease, which
occurred at the age of forty-six. He married Het-
tie Bachman, daughter of John Bachman, of Pequea
township, and to them were born : Maris B. ; Annie,
who married T. L. Stafford, of Colerain township ;
John B., a resident of Gordonville; Emma (de-
ceased), who married William Sterling, a resident
of Gap ; Charles, of Leacock township ;. S. W., of
Paradise township ; Effie, who married Samuel Hart-
ing, of Germantown, Pa. ; Frank B., of Paradise
township ; and Jennie, who married Philip Hotten-
stein, of Lancaster.
Maris B. Weaver was the oldest of the children
and he was reared on the farm. After he had re-
ceived his education in the public schools of his dis-
trict, he entered his father's shop and soon became
a very capable workman. When twenty-six years
■old, he embarked in the business for himself, open-
ing a shop at Stonersville, where he remained for
four years, purchasing his present excellent loca-
tion in 1878, where he has, by close attention to
business and a complete understanding of the farrier
trade, built up a large and increasing business and
has gained the confidence of the publio. In 1899 he
purchased a farm of forty-two acres, in West Lam-
peter township, where he is making valuable im-
provements, and he is also the owner of other real
estate, consisting of a seven-acre tract at Lampeter,
and his residence property. His rank is with the
substantial men of the locality, and he is one of the
stockholders of the People's Bank, at Lancaster
City.
Being a representative Republican, he has taken
an active interest in the public affairs of his district,
and he has been called upon to serve as a delegate to
the State conventions. In 1897 he was honored by
the appointment- as prison superintendent of Lan-
caster county, and served as president, of the Prison
Board in 1899, and has also filled all the local offices
most efficiently.
Maris B. Weaver, was married, in 1874, to Hettie
A. Zittle, a daughter'of Elijah Zittle, of West Lam-
peter townsJiip, and three children have been born
of this union : Effie B., who remains at home ; A.
Mylin, a blacksmith by trade; and Esther, also at
home. This family possesses the respect and es-
teem of the community and well represents the old
and honored families from which it has descended.
HENRY B. HAINES. Among the prosperous
business men of Maj'town, who, by energy and abil-
ity, have done much to place this locality favorably
before the public, is Henry B. Haines, the well-
known cigar manufacturer.
Mr. Haines comes of worthy ancestry. His great-
grandfather, Henry Haines, was born near Colum-
bia, Pa., Dec. 8, 1759, and at an early age was ap-
prenticed to a tailor, according to the custom of the
times, his desultory education being acquired at a
German night school. His eighteenth birthday came
in a trying period of our country's history, and at
that time he was one of the brave young men who
came forward to help to uphold the banner of his
country. Song and story have told the world the tale
of the brave deeds done by the youth of the land dur-
ing the Revolution, and in some of the most stirring
events Henry Plaines bore well his part. On ac-
count of his reliability he was one of the guards
chosen to assist in the removal of the Hessian pris-
oners to Lancaster county, after the battle of Tren-
ton, and later he was attached to Col. Bole's com-
mand, in the expedition up the Susquehanna, against
the Indians. After the close of the war, Henry
I-Iaines settled down in the village of Maytown,
where he became a prominent man. An ardent up-
holder of Democratic principles, he took a leading^
part in the politics of the day, and in 1810 and 181 1
was a member of the General Assembly, being re-
elected in 1825, and again in 1828, but failing health
prevented any more public service. In this connec-
tion it is interesting to record that he was approached
by members of the Anti-Masonic party, which was
then agitating public matters in the country, with a
proposition to become their Senatorial candidate,
on account of his known popularity. This sugges-
tion was met with scorn and contempt by the stern
old Jeffersonian, his Democracy being so pronounced
that at the age of eighty-three, feeble and blind, he
still insisted upon casting his vote in favor of the
party in whose principles he had so much faith. In
1797 he had been appointed a justice of the peace, and
some time afterward was commissioned a captain of
militia, by Gov. Simon Snyder. His death took
place Feb. i, 184.2, and he left a mark upon his day
and generation. Henry Haines' wife also bore the
name of Haines, and to this union were born : Hen-
ry, Jr. ; Thomas ; Anthony ; Catherine, who married
Reuben Welschance ; Elizabeth, who married George
702
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Terry ; Charlotte, who married Philip Shaffner ; and
Rose'tta, who 'married Michael Miller.
Major Henry Haines, Jr., grandfather of our
subject, married for his first wife, Elizabeth Barr,
and their children were as follows : Ann, who mar-
ried A. C. Reynolds, of Elmira, N. Y. ; and Eliza-
beth, who died in infancy. His second marriage was
to Anna Barr, a sister of his first wife. Their chil-
dren were, Henry A., and George B. For his third
wife Major H^iines married Mrs. Jacob Barr, and to
this marriage there were no children.
Capt. Henry A. Haines M^as born Nov. 8, 1835,
and died in Maytown April 7, 1896, at the age of
sixty, his remains being reverently interred in the
Union Cemetery of Maytown. In his death Lancas-
ter county lost a popular veteran and one of its most
prominent citizens. Early in life Capt. Haines had
followed the trade of a shoemaker but in the course
of time became manager of a large tobacco farm be-
longing to Hon. Simon Cameron. Having inherited
from his father a talent and desire for public life
he naturally entered , therein, and for many years
was more or less in the service of the public. For
some time he was captain of the militia company
known as the Maytown Fencibles, and at the out-
break of the Civil war he offered the service of him-
self and his company to the government. Their
offer was accepted, and as Co. A, they were assigned
to the loth P. V. I. for the term of three months,
Capt. Haines being the company's commanding offi-
cer. At the expiration of the three months for which
they had enlisted, the company was mustered out
of service, and Capt. Haines at once raised a com-
pany which became Co. B, 45th P. V. I. under Col.
Welsh, which was raised in Lancaster and adjoining
counties, and in which Capt. Haines was the rank-
ing captain. When the battle of Antietam was
fought, Capt. Haines, who was then in recruiting
service, was commissioned major of the regiment,
he being entitled to the vacant position as he was
then ranking captain. The General commanding the
brigade, with whom the Captain had had some dif-
ferences, refused to indorse the appointment, and
Capt. Haines at once resigned his commission as
captain, although he was urged by men of promi-
nence not to do so. Soon afterward he was made
captain of Co. C, 184th P. V. I., and served with
that regiment until his discharge at Annapolis, Md.,
in 1865. He took part in the battles of Fredericks-
burg and Cold Harbor, and was taken prisoner at
Petersburg and was in rebel prisons eleven months.
Until the Gubernatorial campaign in which Gen.
Beaver was defeated for Governor of Pennsylvania,
Capt. Haines was a Democrat. In that campaign
the Captain took an active part in the interest of his
beloved com.mander, and from that time until the
close of his active life he was an ardent Republican,
as a man of his positive character would naturally
be. Under Collector A. J. Kauffmann he served as
storekeeper and ganger in the revenue service.
During the administration of Gen. Arthur, his serv-
ices to his party were recognized, and he was made
postmaster of Maytown, holding the position until
the election of Grover Cleveland in 1892 made a
change in the office in favor of a Democrat. Fra-
ternally the Captain was connected with Lieut. Will-
iam A. Childs Post, No. 226, G. A. R., Department
of Pennsylvania, and located in Marietta.
On Oct. 13, 1857, in Elizabethtown, Capt. Haines
was married by Rev. Latzel, to Catherine A. Brown,
who was born in Maytown, May 5, 1840. To this
union were born: Anna L., who married Rev. J.
F. jVfackley, a minister of the Reformed Church, of
Fairfield, Adams Co., Pa. ; and Henry B., the sub-
ject of this sketch. Catherine A. (Brown) Haines
was a. daughter of John and Catherine (Murray)
Brown, of Chester county, and of Maytown, respec-
tively. John Brown had come to Maytown at an
early day, in pursuit of his trades of wheelwright
and chairmaker, remaining here until his death in
1852, at the age of sixty-one, his wife surviving
until 1875, and dying at the age of sixty-nine. Both
were interred in the Lutheran cemetery at Maytown ;
they had been devout church members, he of the
Lutheran, she of the Reformed Church. Their chil-
dren were Charles, Elizabeth and William, all three
deceased ; Fanny, of Stockton, Cal. ; Henry, a shoe
merchant of West Milton, Ohio ; Rebecca, the widow
of Abraham Geltmacker, of Maytown ; John, who
died in Andersonville prison, during the Civil war ;
George, a soldier, of Parkersburg, Va. ; Mary, de-
ceased ; and the youngest, Catherine A., Mrs.
Haines, who now resides in Maytown.
Henry B. Haines was born in Maytown, May 3,
1867, and was educated in the public schools. He
assisted his father in the management of the to-
bacco farm until the age of fifteen, when he received
an appointment as assistant express messenger, be-
tween Philadelphia and Pottsville, retaining this run
for five months ; at the end of this time, through the
kindness of Gen. Cameron, he was appointed to a
position in the Electric Light department of the
Philadelphia postofiice, where he remained for eight
years, leaving there as superintendent. At this time
Mr. Haines is manufacturing cigars in Maytown,
his output of cigars annually amounting to great
numbers.
On Nov. 22, 1893, Henry B. Haines and Miriam
L. Longeneclcer, a daughter of Christian Longe-
necker, of Maytown, were united in marriage, and
to this union has been born one son, Henry L. Soci-
ally Mr. Haines is connected with the A. O. U. M.
and the Sons of Veterans, is an active member of the
Republican party, and is a valued and consistent
member of the Reformed Church.
COL. WILLIAM COLEMAN HENDER-
SON. This gallant veteran of the Civil war, and
retired farmer with his residence in Salisbury town-
ship, Lancaster county, on the old Lancaster & Phil-
adelphia Road near White Horse, was born in Salis-
bury township June 22, 1827, a son of Thomas Gil-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
703
fillan and Mary Ann (Jacobs) Henderson, of Salis-
bury and Colebrook Furnace, respectively, and the
parents of nine children, namely: James S., who
died in infancy ; Maj. Samuel J., a retired farmer and
ex-justice of the peace ; Col. William C. ; Mary S.,
who died when twelve years old ; Anna W., unmar-
ried and living with Col. William C. ; James, de-
ceased; Thomas G., who died aged twenty; and
Rachel and Eliza, who died young.
Thomas Gilfillan Henderson, the father of this
family, was extensively engaged in farming and was
familiarly known as "King Tommy," from his own-
ing an immense amount of land. He was a justice
of the peace, and he died honored and esteemed in
1870, at the advanced age of eighty-two years ; his
wife was called away in 1863, and their remains
were buried in St. John's Episcopal Churchyard at
Compass, Chester county.
, Col. William C. Henderson remained with his
parents until seventeen years of age, when he went
to New York City and clerked four years, when, on
account of impaired health he returned to his home
and farmed until i860, when he sold his property
and went to Whiteside county, 111., where he was
engaged in farming when the Civil war broke out.
He at once offered himself in the defense of the in-
tegrity of his country's flag, enlisting in Co. B, 13th
111. V. I., having himself raised the company; he was
appointed quartermaster by Gov. Richard Yates,
served at the front for three years, and bore a brave
and gallant part throughout, and was finally honor-
ably discharged for disability, his avoirdupois having
been reduced from 235 at the time of enlistment to
104 at the date of his discharge at Vicksburg —
rheumatism and diarrhoea having wasted his frame.
Prior to his enlistment Col. Henderson had been
twice married: first, in 1852, at Fairfield, Conn., to
Emma A. Phelps, who bore him one child, George
P., now in the fruit business at Philadelphia, but
residing at Parkesburg, Pa., and married to Lucy
Essick. Mrs. Emma (Phelps) Henderson was born
in Fairfield, Conn., a daughter of George A. and
Eliza (Ayers) Phelps, and died in New York, in
1855, at the age of twenty-four years, her remains
being sent to Fairfield for interment. The second
marriage of Col. Henderson took place Oct. 17,
1856, in Chester county. Pa., to Jane B. Jacobs, and
to this union has been born one son, Richard J., now
a machinist in Newark, N. J., and who first married
Anna Cross, and second Celestia Shaffer. Mrs. Jane
B. (Jacobs) Henderson was born in Chester county.
Pa., a daughter of Joseph B. and Anna (Bowen)
Jacobs, of the same county, and died in Bellefonte,
Pa., while on a visit in 1867, when thirty-seven years
old.
To resume the record of Col. Henderson's life
career from the point where the above digression
was made : on his discharge from the army in 1864
he returned to Whiteside county. 111., with the in-
tention of recuperating his health, but found that his
wife's health had become impaired ; he therefore sold
his farm and returned to Pennsylvania and lived in
retirement in Chester county until the death of his
second wife (in 1867), when he returned to the old
homestead, where he remained until 1871, when he
went to Colorado Springs, El Paso Co., Colo., and
dealt in horses, etc., for five years. Col. Henderson
then came back to the old homestead in Salisbury
township, lived there a few years, when he retired
to his present farm.
In politics Col. Henderson is a Republican, and
for twenty-five years served as township auditor off
and on, finally declining further service; in religion
he is an Episcopalian. His military title was not ac-
quired through his service in the army, but from his
having been appointed an aide-de-camp on the staff
of Gov. William F. Johnson in 1852, on which he
served his full time. Fraternally he is a Master
Mason, and a member of Thompson Lodge, No. 340,
and also a member of Post No. 31, G. A. R., West-
chester.
Col. Henderson, a brother, a sister and a grand-
daughter all reside together in domestic felicity.
The Colonel is still compelled to use crutches on ac-
count of rheumatism contracted while in the army.
Thomas Henderson, great-great-grandfather of
the Colonel, came from the north of Ireland to Lan-
caster county. Pa., in 1727, and settled in Salisbury
township on the old Lancaster & Philadelphia Road,
seventeen miles from Lancaster, forty-nine miles
from Philadelphia, one-eighth of a mile from White
Horse, and there engaged in farming and mercantile
business, besides conducting a hotel. He had a fam-
ily of nine children, to-wit: Matthew (born in
1733); Archibald, William, Thomas, Mary (who
married John Skiles), Rebecca (who married John
Griffith), Catherine (who wedded Robert Darling-
ton), Margaret (wife of John Graham), and John.
The paternal grandparents of the Colonel, James
and Mary (Skidmore) Henderson, were natives, re-
spectively, of Salisbury township, Lancaster county.
Pa., and Long Island, N. Y. The grandfather was a
prominent merchant and farmer, and died in 1822,
at the age of sixty-six, but the grandmother was
comparatively young at her death. They were mem-
bers of the Episcopal Church and were interred in
St. John's cemetery. They were the parents of three
children, viz. : Thomas G., father of the Colonel ;
Rachel, who was married to Richard Suydam, of
New York : and Abigail, who died young. The pa-
ternal great-grandparents, Matthew and Rachel
(Clemson) Henderson, were natives of Lancaster
county, and of whom the great-grandfather was a
farmer and hotel keeper, being landlord of the
"Three Crowns" Hotel (England, Ireland and Scot-
land) , in Salisbury township. He was also a wealthy
landowner. He had born to him ten children in the
following order: James (grandfather of the Col-
onel), Sept. 12, 1756; Sarah H., Jan. 19, 1758;
Thomas, Aug. 30, 1759; Mary, Dec. 17, 1761 ; Clem-
son, March 8, 1766; Archibald, Jan. 31, 1767; Mat-
thew, Sept. 10, 1768; John, July 4, 1770; Barton,
704
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Dec. 4, 1775 ; and Mary Ann, July 17, 1778. Of these
children, James served in the war for American in-
dependence on the British side, as he had had six
fine horses stolen by the Colonial troops ; he fought
all through the conflict, and for his services was
granted land in Nova Scotia by the British govern-
ment, but after a short residence there he settled on
the Col. Atley farm, which he purchased in Salisbury
township, Lancaster county.
Maj. Samuel Jacob Henderson, brother of
Col. William C. Henderson, was born in Salisbury
township, Nov. 8, 1824, and is now living retired.
He was formerly a farmer and a justice of the peace.
He never married, but lived with his parents until
the breaking out of the Civil war, when he was one
of the first to enlist in Co. F, 25th P. V. I., in the
ninety-day service, having . assisted in raising the
company. He was appointed on Gen. B. A. Shaffer's
staff as major and quartermaster, and in time of
peace has served in various civic offices for the past
fifty years. In 1871 he went to Colorado and was
engaged in prospecting for gold until 1875, when he
returned to his home, a panic having occurred. He
is a member of the Episcopal church, and politically
is a Republican, and both brothers are greatly re-
spected as among the most substantial and most pub-
lic spirited citizens of Salisbury township.
AMOS RUTTER, who died Aug. 15, 1902, was
a prominent coal and grain dealer in New Holland,
where he also had an extensive feed and salt busi-
ness. He was born in Leacock township, this coun-
ty. May 24, 1830, son of Amos (Sr.) and Esther
(Rover) Rutter.
The first representative of the Rutter family in
Lancaster county of whom anything definite is
known was Conrad Rutter, who left Rhenish Prussia
in 1682, going to England to escape the French war,
and came to America the following year, making" his
home in Philadelphia. He was one of a colony of
thirteen families who under the leadership of Francis
Danielson Pastorius took up the land which is now
the site of the city of Germantown. There he re-
mained until T689, when he removed to Montgom-
ery county, where he took up land and made his home
until 1700, in that year going into Lancaster county
with some English families by the name of Douglass,
and settling in Salisbury township. Conrad Rutter
still later moved into Leacock township, where he
secured 580 acres of land in one piece. He had two
neighbors, Peter and Llenry Skiles. From this an-
cestor the line is through his son Andrew, who had
a son Henry; Henry became the father of Joseph,
whose son, Amos, Sr., was the father of Amos.
Conrad Rutter was instrumental in founding the
first Episcopal Church in Lancaster county, one hun-
dred and seventy-one years ago. In 1730 Sebastian
Royer donated ground for a Lutheran and Reformed
Church in northern Lancaster, which church was lo-
cated in Brickerville, and became a hospital during
the Revolution ; in 1808 it was rebuilt. The German
Reformed Church built in 1747 was known as the
Royer Church, and was also used as a hospital dur-
ing the Revolution ; it was rebuilt in 1813. Some of
the soldiers who died in the church were interred in
the church burying ground.
Joseph Rutter, the grandfather of Amos, was
born and reared in Lancaster county. On Aug. 29,
1786, he was married, by Rev. J. Frederick Illings,
to Margaret Besore, who bore him the following chil-
dren: John, Joseph, Amos, Sr., Daniel, Henry,
Mary (who married a Mr. Foltz) , and Baltzer.
Amos Rutter, Sr., was born in 1791, and died in
1868. His entire life was passed in Leacock town-
ship, where he was first engaged in shoemaking, but
later followed farming. For the last fifteen years
of his life he lived retired. A man of unusually
sound judgment, he was often called upon to settle
estates and to fill other positions of trust. He mar-
ried Esther Royer, who was born in 1795, daughter
of Jonathan and Anna (Frick) Royer, farming peo-
ple of Lancaster county, and died in 1859. The first
of the Royer family in America was Sebastin Royer,
who left two sons in Montgomery county. Pa., from
whom sprang a numerous progeny in Chester and
Montgomery counties. Sebastin Royer first lo-
cated in Montgomery county in 1720, and the same
year came to Lancaster. Mrs. Esther (Royer) Rut-
ter was in the fifth generation from him. To Amos
Rutter, Sr., and his wife were born the following
children: John, who married Caroline Snader;
Anne, who wedded Levi Good ; Mary, who became
the wife of -Rudy Evans ; Joseph, who married Hen-
rietta Hartman; Catherine, who married Roland
Wenger; Jeremiah H., who married Christiana
Bear ; and Amos, all these now deceased. The sur-
vivors are Jonathan, a "retired farmer of Leacock
township; and Esther, widow of Isaac Miller, of
Paradise township.
■ Through his maternal grandmother, Anna
(Frick) Royer, Mr. Rutter's ancestral line is traced
to Jacob Frick, who was born in 1620 in Switzerland,
where he held an official position in one of the Can-
tons. He suffered terribly in the persecution of the
Protestants, being a convert of Menno Simon, the
Mennonite reformer. He had one son, born in 1650,
who had one daughter, Barbara, and two sons, Jacob
and John.
Amos Rutter was reared on the farm, remain-
ing there until he reached the age of twenty-three,
when he entered a dry goods store in New Holland.
There he continued until 1855, in which year he be-
came a partner with D. Richwine and his brother, in
a dry-goods and notions store in New Holland.
Seven years later Amos and his brother, Jeremiah H.,
purchased the interest of the Richwines. Together
they operated the store a few years, and then dis-
posed of it at a good figure, buying the J. F. Seldom-
ndge store, at Intercourse, where they remained
eleven years, Amos Rutter being postmaster there
during the time. In 1874 he came back to New Hol-
land, and, building a warehouse, engaged in the
^^/p'^^1.^9^'^ cAA/L^^^Zy*^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
705
grain, coal and feed business, in connection therewith
handling second-class freight and tickets for the
Pennsylvania Company, doing also an express busi-
ness until 1892. Mr. Rutter was prison inspector of
Lancaster county for three years, a position thrust
upon him against his will, as he disclaimed all politi-
cal ambitions. He had been a vestryman in the
Lutheran Church from 1862, had been deacon arid
elder, and was a trustee in that body up to the time
of his death. He belonged to the Lancaster County
Historical Society and the Pennsylvania German So-
ciety.
On Sept. 2, 1856, in New Holland, Amos Rutter
was married, by Rev. John Kohler, to Catherine E.
Mentzer, and there were born to this union : Eugene
M., of New Holland, who married Annie Geahr, and
has four children, Lillian M., Mary E., Pauline K.
and Emily G. ; and Lillian, at home.
Mrs. Catherine E. (Mentzer) Rutter was born in
New Holland in 1835, daughter of Paul and Sarah
(Kurtz) Mentzer, who were born in New Holland
and Lancaster, respectively. Paul Mentzer, who
was a blacksmith by trade, died in New Holland in
1892, at the age of eighty-seven ; his wife died Nov.
25, 1864, at the age of sixty years. Both were buried
in the cemetery at New Holland, which is connected
with the Lutheran Church. They had the following
children : Catherine E., Mrs. Rutter, is the eldest ;
Jacob K., now a grocer of Lancaster, married (first)
Margaret Schafer, and (second) Annie M. Leight-
ner ; Annie L. died at the age of twenty- four ; Sam-
uel J. died when a year and a half old ; William H.,
a retired farmer of New Holland, married Jane Wil-
son. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Rutter were
Jacob and Elizabeth (Johns) Mentzer; her maternal
grandparents were Christopher and Magdelina
(Martin) Kurtz. Mrs. Rutter has been a member
of the Lutheran Church of New Holland for the last
fifty years, and for many years has been a teacher
in the Sunday-school. She is a woman of much
character and ability, and was a worthy companion
for Mr. Rutter.
JOHN W. KINARD, M. D. Among the suc-
cessful physicians of Lancaster is Dr. John W. Kin-
ard, who is recognized as a man of ability, wide and
comprehensive study and large experience. Dr.
Kinard is a son of Simon and Elizabeth (Olewiler)
Kinard, natives of York county, Pennsylvania.
The great-grandfather of Dr. Kinard was a na-
tive of Scotland, who emigrated to this country at an
early date, and settled in York county. Pa., engaging
in farming to the time of his death. His son, the
grandfather, as well as Simon Kinard, the father,
were born in this prosperous region of the Keystone
State, and became well known in that locality.
Simon Kinard owned and operated a fine farm of
120 acres near Wrightsville, Pa., residing upon it
until the time of his death, which occurred in 1886,
when he was fifty-six years of age. His wife sur-
vived him until September, 1896, when she, too,
45
passed away, aged sixty-six years, and is buried at
East Prospect. She was a daughter of Jacob Ole-
wiler, also a native of York, Pennsylvania.
Dr. John W. Kinard was born Feb. 15, 1858^ at
Wrightsville, York county, and grew to manhood
upon his father's farm. Of the eleven children, six
sons and five daughters, who lived to grow to ma-
turity. Dr. Kinard is the eldest, and he has one
brother, George C, who is also a physician of Lan-
caster county, and his other brothers are school teach-
ers. Like many country boys. Dr. Kinard attended
the district school, but he had the advantage of an
academic course, after which he followed the calling
of a school teacher for six years. During his vaca-
tions, however, he attended the Millersville Normal
School for five years, and then took up the study of
medicine, for which he had always had a strong in-
clination, with Dr. Bigler, of East Prospect. For a
year he studied with this excellent physician, then
continued his studies with Dr. J. Hay, of York, until
1879, when he was prepared to enter the University
of Maryland at Baltimore, from which he was gradu-
ated in 1882, with the degree of M. D.
Following his graduation, Dr. Kinard established
himself at East Prospect, arid for five years was suc-
cessfully engaged in the practice of his profession in
that locality, building up a large and wealthy list of
patients. But feeling that he needed further experi-
ence and instruction. Dr. Kinard sold his practice to
Dr. J. A. Stoner and went to New York, entering
Bellevue Hospital Medical College, from which he
was graduated March 11, 1888, with degree of M. D.
Prior to this he had taken a post-graduate course in
Philadelphia in the Polyclinic College and College
for Graduates in Medicine. In the spring of 1888
Dr. Kinard located at No. 17 East Walnut street,
Lancaster, where he has since remained, and during
the years which have followed he has firmly estab-
lished himself in the confidence of the people of the
city, while his success demonstrates his ability to
.cope with disease. In politics Dr. Kinard is an
ardent Republican, and supports the principles of
that party upon every occasion. During his resi-
dence at East Prospect he served as school director,
and held every office within the gift of the people
from an inspector to chief burgess. His religious
connections are with St. John's Lutheran Church, of
which he is a liberal supporter. Socially Dr. Kinard
is a thirty-second degree Mason, and belongs to the
F. & A. M., No. 276, Lamberton Lodge, Chapter
No. 43, Knights Templar, and Harrisburg Consist-
ory. He is also a member of the I. O. O. F., East
Prospect Lodge, No. 944; Jr. O. U. A. M. ; A. &
I. O. of Malta, No. 99; Eagles; member and ex-
president and secretary of the Lancaster Pathologi-
cal Society; president of the Lancaster City and
County Medical Society ; member of the State Medi-
cal Society and American Medical Association, and
attended the last session of the American Medical
Association at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., as a repre-
sentative.
706
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
In September, 1883, Dr. Kinard was married to
Miss Isabelle Weidman, of York City, Pa., and their
children are : Kerwin W., attending the University
of Pennsylvania, class of 1905 ; and Margaret C, at
home. Mrs. Kinard, a most charming and accom-
plished lady, is a daughter of Jacob Weidman, a
farmer of York county, and was born in York, where
she was reared and educated. Dr. Kinard possesses
more than ordinary ability, is successful in a marked
degree, and, judging by the light of the past, his
future is a bright and promising one.
JOHN KENDIG (deceased) was during a long
life one of Lancaster county's excellent farmers and
highly esteemed and substantial citizens. He was
bom in West Lampeter township, Lancaster county,
Dec. 18, 1818, and his death took place on his farm
March 4, 1896, his remains being interred in Long-
necker's cemetery, in West Lampeter township.
John and Frances (Herr) Kendig, his parents,
were natives of Lampeter and Manor townships, re-
spectively. The former died in 1848, and the latter
in rS.i^S. They were members of the Methodist
Church, but were interred in the New Mennonite
cemetery at New Danville. Their children were as
follows : Eliza, deceased, married John Hoover ;
Barbara is the widow of Martin Mylin and the
mother of Hon. Amos H. Mylin,. of West Lampeter
township ; Fanny died unmarried ; John is the sub-
ject of this sketch; George is deceased; and Abra-
ham is a farmer of New Carlisle, Ohio.
By birth and environment John Kendig was a
farmer, his honored ancestors having successfully
cultivated the soil for generations. He showed a
■natural aptitude for his vocation, and from the age
of twenty-one years operated the farm upon which
his quiet and upright existence was spent, until his
retirement from activity in 1874. When Mr. Ken-
dig resolved upon shifting the burdens to younger
shoulders, he erected a separate home, which also
was one of comfort and attractiveness. As a man of
scrupulous honesty, highest integrity and. financial
responsibility, Mr. Kendig was prominent in Lan-
caster county. He was one of the directors of the
Willowstreet Turnpike Co., and later president until
his death.
On March 15, 1842, in Lancaster, John Kendig
was united in marriage to Miss Mary Herr, born in
West Lampeter township May 31, 1820, daughter
of Martin and Mary (Herr) Herr, of West Lamp-
eter township, the former of whom was born June
12, 1788, and was a farmer on the old Herr farm of
that locality, and both of whom were members of
one of the oldest and most highly esteemed families
.of the county. His death occurred when he was
aged eighty years. Mrs. Herr died March 5, 1823,
when only twenty-five years of age. Both were con-
sistent members of the Mennonite Church. Their
children were : Frances, born March 28, 1818, died
in infancy ; Mary married John Kendig ; and Martha,
born August 23, 1822, is the widow of Gabriel
Wenger, of West Lampeter township. On the
paternal side the family may be traced on back to
Francis and Fanny (Barr) Herr, farming people of
West Lampeter township, and still farther, to John
Herr, of Lancaster county, father of Francis.
Through intermarriages this family is connected
with almost all of the leading families of the county.
The following children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. John Kendig; M. Frances, who died unmar-
ried, at the age of fifty- five years; Addah L. and
Martin H., twins, the former of whom married
Frank Bare, and died March 14, 1901, the latter of
whom is a farmer of Clark county. Wash. ; John E.,
who died in infancy ; John B., who resides on the old
homestead in Willowstreet, married to Susan R.
Brackbill; Mary, who is the widow of Christian
Herr, of Manor township ; Dr. Elizabeth, now a resi-
dent of Lancaster ; and Miss B. Alice, also a resident
of Lancaster. The removal of Mrs. Kendig from
the farm to Lancaster was accomplished in April,
1896, and she is one of the most highly esteemed
ladies of this city, and a most devoted and worthy
member of the New Mennonite Church.
Dr. Elizabeth Kendig is one of the highly edu-
cated and successful practitioners of Lancaster.
Her tastes early led her to begin the study of medi-
cine, and under the able instruction and direction of
Mrs. Dr. Mary Wilson, of Lancaster, she was pre-
pared for entrance to the Woman's College of Penn-
sylvania, at Philadelphia, from which she graduated
with honors in 1886. She then located for practice
in Reading Pa., where she remained until 1898, go-
ing thence to Chicago, 111. Several months in the
Windy City gave her needed experience, and she re-
turned and located permanently in Lancaster. Here
she has taken a leading position. She belongs to
the Berks County Medical Society.
Miss B. Alice Kendig is a lady of independent
means, and she and her sister. Dr. Kendig, have long
resided together. Both ladies belong to the German
Reformed Church, and mingle with the best social
circles of Lancaster.
JOHN F. CHARLES. This prominent and re-
spected citizen of Millersville is the son of Christian
Charles, a well known and successful farmer of
Manor township, Lancaster county. He was born
Jan. 5, 1843, and received his education in the com-
mon schools of the neighborhood. He remained with
his father upon the farm until his marriage, which
was solemnized Nov. 21, 1865, his bride being Miss
Anna Denlinger, who was born Mav 2, 1844, a
daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth '(Mellinger)
Denlinger. After their marriage Mr. Charles and his
wife took up their residence on a farm of ninety-
seven acres, near Little Washington, in the Susque-
hanna valley. This he continued to cultivate for
eighteen years, when he removed to the paternal
farm, which he managed for fourteen years. In the
spring of 1898 he gave up active work and took up
his residence in Millersville, where he owns a hand-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
707
some, well-appointed home and six acres of land.
His life has been a remarkably sitccessfill one, and
the success is due chiefly to those sterling qualities of
mind and heart which have distinguished him from
boyhood. His ideas on public questions are fully
abreast of the times in which he lives, and his influ-
ence in the community is widely felt. He is a stock-
holder and director in the Mountville Bank, as well
as in the Mountville Manufacturing Co., and is re-
garded as one of the county's foremost and substan-
tial citizens.
To Mr. and Mrs. Charles three children have
been born, two of whom, Henry D. and John D., are
y£t living, to do honor to their parents' name and to
benefit the community in which they reside. Henry
was born May 31, 1874, and John on June 29, 1878.
Both are graduates of the State Normal School at
Millersville, the elder in the class of 1891, and the
younger in 1899, and both have had experience as
teachers. Henry D. is a farmer, working the home
place, and married Hettie Charles. John D. is at-
tending Franklin and Marshall College, in Lancaster,
from which he will graduate in the regular classical
course leading to the degree A. B. in the summer of
1905. The entire family are Mennonites.
JOHN C. SEITZ, a retired farmer, ex-soldier
and greatly respected citizen of Mountville, Lan-
caster county, was born in Manor township, this
county, March 9, 1835, son of Jacob Seitz, Sr., and
a brother of Charles C. Seitz, whose sketch will be
found elsewhere.
In Lancaster City, Aug. 15, 1859, John C. Seitz
married Charlotte Herr, and to this union have been
born six children, as follows : Jacob H., a farmer
residing at Mountville, married Catherine Shuman ;
John H., a carpenter at the same place, married to
Barbara Wriggle ; Aaron H., a grocer at Mountville,
married to Anna Copland ; Susan H. is at home ;
Isaiah H., principal of the Pearl street school in
Lancaster, married to Laura Myers ; and Barbara H.
is at home, but a school teacher by profession. Mrs.
Charlotte (Herr) Seitz was born in New Danville,
Pequea township, Lancaster county, Oct. 2, 1838,
daughter of Rudolph, and sister of Aaron, Herr,
mentioned elsewhere.
John C. Seitz lived on the home farm until
twenty-three years of age, and then farmed on his
own account in Manor township for thirty years,
when he came to live in retirement in Mountville,
doing only such work as suits his taste, occupies his
mind and gives him necessary exercise.
On Aug. 24, 1864, John C. Seitz enlisted in Co.
H, 203d Reserve Pennsylvania Volunteers, Birney's
Sharpshooters, but his company later changed its
commander, Capt. Charles Liman assuming charge.
Mr. Seitz took part in many skirmishes, and in the
bombardm.ent and capture of Fort Fisher escaped
being wounded or taken prisoner, and was honorably
discharged in Raleigh, N. C, June 22, i86Si since
when he has resided in quiet on his farm, or in re-
tirement in Mountville. Mr. Seitz is a Republican
in politics, and his amiable wife is an active and faith-
ful member of the Mennonite church.
HENRY WORST, the senior member of the
mercantile firm of Worst & Shertz, of Springville,
Salisbury township, was born in that village, March
26, 1835, son of Henry, Sr., and Mary (Kurtz)
Worst.
The Worst family was established in Lancaster
county about 1760, by three brothers of the name
who came hither from Switzerland, one settling in
Germantown, one settling in Cornwall, Lebanon
county, and the third in Terre Hill, Lancaster
county. The paternal grandparents of Mr. Worst,
of this sketch, were Peter and Barbara (Weaver)
Worst, farming people of Lancaster county, who
died on the old homestead in Springville.
Henry Worst, Sr., father, was born in the same
house as was his son, and became a well known and
respected farmer of Salisbury township. He was
born in 1795, and died at the age of eighty-nine years.
He married Mary Kurtz, daughter of Samuel and
Barbara (Showalder) Kurtz, of Lancaster. She
died in 1843, aged forty-four years, and was buried
beside her husband on a part of the old farm, in a
private cemetery. Both were members of the Men-
nonite Church. Their children were as follows :
Barbara, deceased, married John Wanner ; Peter, de-
ceased, married Maria Good ; Samuel married Nancy
Kurtz, deceased, and is a farmer of Salisbury town-
ship ; Elias, deceased, married Susannah Gaybill ;
Mary, deceased, married Joseph H, Bair ; Miss Eliza-
beth resides on the old homestead; Susannah, who
married Daniel Kurtz, resides in this township ;
Henry is the subject of this sketch ; Leah died at the
age of six years ; and Catherine died at the age of
eighteen years.
Henry Worst acquired a good, common school
education and remained assisting his father on the
farm until he was twenty years of age, at which time
he embarked in a general mercantile business, open-
ing up a stock of goods, in Springville, at his present
location. In 1871 he admitted C. M. Shertz as a
partner, and the business has been very prosperously
conducted ever since. Both Mr. Worst and Mr.
Shertz are men of,business ability, and have made it
their rule to buy and sell as suits the convenience of
their large number of patrons. Their upright meth-
ods and careful selection of seasonable goods have
attracted and retained a large trade.
In politics Mr. Worst is a Repiiblican, and has
held the office of postmaster since 1855. He is a
member of the Presbyterian Church, and is one of
the representative citizens of Salisbury township.
In June, 1863, Mr. Worst was married in Provi-
dence township to Miss Susan Frailey, born in Earl
township, Aug. 26, 1838, daughter of Daniel and
Anna (Long) Frailick, the former of whom was a
blacksmith and died in Paradise township, in 1888,
and the latter of whom died in 1886, aged sixty-one
708
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
years. They were respectively members of the Men-
nonite and the Dunkard Churches, and they were in-
terred in Mellinger's cemetery, near Lancaster.
Their children were : Joseph, deceased ; Daniel, a
railroad baggage master in Harrisburg, married
Lillie Herr; Anna married Henry Brown, of Para-
dise township ; Rebecca is the widow of Elias Her-
man, of Lancaster; Abby married John Wright, of
Lancaster; Susan is Mrs. Worst. Her maternal
grandparents were Jonathan and Susan (Reno)
Long.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Worst are as
follows : Catherine, who is the widow of Clayton
De Haven, resides at home and has four children;
Clayton, who married Margaret Bowers and has one
child, resides on the old homestead ; Henry, who mar-
ried Mazie Kurtz, has one child, and they live in
Springville ; and Miss Anna is at home.
PHILIP DIETRICH, the founder of the Die-
trich family in Lancaster county, came hither from
Alsace, Germany, and made his home in Manheim
township, along the New Holland Pike road, buying
land located within two miles of the city of Lancaster.
This worthy German emigrant brought with him the
provident habits of his native land, and at the time of
his death left his heirs not only 600 acres of rich and
improved land, valuable on account of its nearness to
a flourishing city, but also a sum of $75,000 in
money. On account of some disagreement, litiga-
tion began over this estate, continuing until it was
about consumed, making one of the most famous
cases in the annals of Lancaster county. The family
of the founder consisted of two sons, Henry and
Michael, and several daughters. Two of his great-
great-granddaughters who now reside in this county
are Mrs. I. P. Mayer, of Landisville, and Mrs. B.
W. Hershey, of the same place.
Henry Dietrich was a well known farmer, and he
lived on the old homestead until the age of fifty-one
years, marrying a member of the Diller family, later,
after her death, marrying her sister, Sally Diller.
The children of the first marriage were : Adam ;
Daniel; Samuel; Mrs. Gip; Mrs. Carpenter; and
Mrs. Michael. The children of the second marriage
were: Philip; Sallie, who became Mrs. Frissler;
and Martha, who married Israel ,Grofif. Both par-
ents were worthy members of the Lutheran Church.
Adam Dietrich, son of Henry and father of Sam-
uel Dietrich of Bamford, was born and reared on the
old homestead, and in the course of time became the
successor of his father in the administration of the
large estate of his grandfather, Philip Dietrich. In
early life Adam Dietrich was a farmer, but later he
engaged in the hotel business, successfully managing
hostelries in different localities until advancing
years made it necessary for him to retire from ac-
tivity. His life extended to the unusual age of
ninety-six years, four months and twenty-six days.
Adam Dietrich married Miss Mary Swope, who was
born in Leacock township, and she lived to the age of
seventy-six years. They had a family of ten chil-
dren : John, who is now deceased, but for many
years was a hotel keeper; Catherine, deceased, mar-
ried Martin Bombarger ; Daniel, deceased in infancy ;
Adam, a drover, now deceased ; Mary, who resides in
Lancaster, and is the widow of Martin Musser;
Henry, deceased, who was, like his father and
brother, a hotel keeper; Samuel, of this sketch;
Elizabeth, deceased wife of John Rudisill ; Sarah, the
widow of Abraham Brown, and living with Mrs. B.
W. Hershey ; and Graybill, deceased.
Samuel Dietrich, son of Adam and great-grand-
son of Philip the emigrant, was born Sept. 10, 1824,
and is a resident of Bainford. Until the age of seven-
teen years he lived on the farm, and then became en-
gaged in assisting his father in his hotel enterprise,
remaining with him tmtil he married. He then re-
moved to Landisville, this county, and there he re-
mained for the succeeding fourteen years, later
occupying several other locations in East Hempfield
township. It was about 1883 that Mr. Dietrich pur-
chased the small property in Bamford, where he
resided until the death of his wife, in 1897,
broke up his home. Since that date Mr. Dietrich has
made his home with his son. By occupation Mr.
Dietrich is a fence-builder, and has constructed
many miles of fencing in this and adjacent counties,
and has also done the butchering, in the season, for
his farmer neighbors, this being a very important
branch of work on the farm. A man skilled in the
art of preparing meats for winter consumption is
always in demand through the rural districts.
In 1854 Mr. Dietrich was married to Miss Mary
Steward, who was a daughter of Alexander Stew-
ard, who was born in East Hempfield township, and
lived a most estimable life through sixty-six years,,
passing away in 1897. A family of six children was
born to Mr. and Mrs. Dietrich : Elizabeth, who mar-
ried I. P. Mayer; Emma, who married B. W.
Hershey ; Henry, deceased ; Sarah, deceased ; Frank-
lin, who makes his home in the West; and Adam,,
who is, a resident of Bamford. The Dietrich
family have always been supporters of the Lutheran
Church. Mrs. Dietrich was a member of the Ger-
man Baptist Church. Both she and her husband en-
joyed the esteem of a wide circle of friends.
GEORGE K. HERR, a resident of Pequea
township, was born in West Lampeter township,
near the mouth of Mill Creek, May 27, 1847, son of
Jacob and Mary (Kreider) Herr (both deceased),
and grandson of Christian and Catherine (Kauff-
man) Herr.
Jacob Herr was born Nov. 17, 181 7, near Millers-
ville, in what is now Lancaster township, where he
was reared and educated in the public schools. He
was married Oct. 13, 1846, to Mary, a daughter of
George and Mary (Swarr) Kreider, a native of
Pequea township (which then bore the name of
Conestoga) , where she'was born Nov. 4, 1822. After
their marriage the young couple located at the mill
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
709
in West Lampeter township, where Mr. Herr was
engaged in the milUng business some twenty-four
years, and was familiarly known as "Sawmiller Jacob
Herr." His attention was largely given to the manu-
facture of lumber until 1870, when he purchased
seventy-seven acres of land, near Hollinger, in West
Lampeter township. His death occurred Dec. 4,
1871, and his widow survived until Feb. 28, 1898.
They were members of the old Mennonite Church,
and had the following children : George K. ; Chris-
tian, a resident of West Lampeter township ; Jacob
K., who died July 17, 1902; Miss Mary; Henry K.,
who died in infancy ; Catherine K., the wife of Sam-
uel Gochnauer, of West Lampeter ; Miss Elizabeth ;
Barbara, the wife of John Herr, of Lancaster town-
ship; and Benjamin K., of East Lampeter township.
George K. Herr was reared to the sawmill busi-
ness and received his education in the common
schools. When he was twenty-six, in 1873, he mar-
ried and took charge of the mill that had been so
long operated by his father. He put in a chopping
mill, and carried it on for twenty-one years. In 1895
he purchased a farm of ninety-one acres at Baum-
gardner Station, in Pequea township, which has
teen his home to the present time. Here he has made
valuable improvements and brought the farm up to
a high condition of cultivation. For three years Mr.
Herr was a member of the school board in West
Lampeter township.
On Nov. 27, 1873, Mr. Herr was married to
Elizabeth Harnish, daughter of Jacob and Barbara
(Buckwalter) Harnish, who was born in. Conestoga
township, June 10, 1853. They have been blessed
with the following children : Jacob, who married
Miss Barbara Huber, daughter of Abraham and
Elizabeth (Reinhart) Huber, operates the Martic
mills in Pequea township ; and Mary, Aaron, Annie,
Lizzie and Barbara, all of whom are still under the
parental roof.
ELI AS H. HERR, now living retired, was long
one of the energetic and successful farmers of East
Lampeter township, where his family has for many
years been one of the most respected. He is a son
of Solomon Herr, and a grandson of Abraham Herr.
Abraham Herr was born in Lancaster county-
and lived near Lancaster City all his life. By occu-
pation he was a farmer and distiller. He was one of
the Old Mennonites in Lancaster county. His fam-
ily consisted of five children, as follows : Solomon,
the father of our subject; Peter, Abram and Chris-
tian, all deceased ; and Annie, wife of Henry Herr.
Solomon Herr was born in East Lampeter town-
ship, Jan. 6, 1806. He lived at home with his par-
ents until he was of age, receiving a common school
■education, and he then began farming for himself
on the place a part of which our subject now owns.
He, too, was a member of the Old Mennonite
Church. He married Miss Catherine Herr, daughter
of John and Barbara Herr, of Manor township, and
they became the parents of six children, two of whom
died in infancy ; Emanuel H. ; Abraham and Elias H.,
our subject, twins, of East Lampeter township; and
Adam H., of Lancaster City.
EHas H. Herr, whose name introduces this
sketch, was born in East Lampeter township, Aug.
12, 1842. He lived at home with his father until
he was twenty-one years of age, received a common
school education, and he then began life for him-
self. After living one year on the farm of his father-
in-law, he took charge of that place, where he re-
mained thirty-one years. He has since lived retired.
Mr. Herr has ably sustained the reputation which
all the members of his family have enjoyed for in-
dustry, honesty and upright living, and he ranks, de-
cidedly, among the most valuable citizens of his sec-
tion of Lancaster county.
Oh Nov. 5, 1863, EHas H. Herr was married to
Mary L. Rohrer, daughter of John Rohrer, of East
Lampeter township, and to this union have been
born two children ; Aaron R., who died when six
years of age ; and Elam R., who still lives at home.
Mr. and Mrs. tierr are both members of the Old
Mennonite Church.
CHRISTIAN H. COBLE (deceased). Few
men in Mt. Joy township were better known or more
thoroughly respected through a long and successful
life than was Christian H. Coble. He was born Feb.
22, 1836, in Conewago township, Dauphin Co., Pa.,
just over the line of I^ancaster county. Pa., and he
died in February, 1896, in the village of Bellaire,
which at one time was a portion of his farm. His
burial took place in Risser's Meeting House ceme-
tery, in Mt. Joy township.
Christian H. Coble was the second son of Chris-
tian and Eliza (Hoffer) Coble, farming people of
Dauphin county, where Christian died in 1880, and
his years had reached seventy-five. His second wife,
Nancy Snyder, died in 1897, aged eighty years. No
children were born to the second marriage, but those
born to the first union were as follows : Barbara,
deceased, who married Isaac Meckley ; Isaac, who is
a farmer in Dauphin county ; and Christian H.,
John, Jacob and Samuel, all deceased. The parents
were buried on a portion of their old farm, set aside
for that purpose.
Christian H. Coble was reared on the farm and
acquired his education in the district schools. He
became an excellent farmer and continued to follow
agriculture until the wheel of progress, in the shape
of the Cornwall & Lebanon Railroad, was turned
across his land. After satisfactory arrangements
were made with this road in 1880, Mr. Coble em-
barked in the grain, coal and lumber business, open-
ing up a first-class general store, and he conducted
this with success and ability until his death. His
very capable wife still carries on the business, which
is one of the prosperous ones in the village of Bell-
aire. Mr. Coble had the honor of being appointed
the first postmaster of Bellaire, which position he
most efficiently filled until his death, when its duties
710
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
were assumed by his son and wife. Mr. Coble was
prominently identified with Republican politics, and
faithfully served the county as one of its commis-
sioners for a period of six years. He was a convey-
ancer and surveyor, was also justice of the peace, in
fact, was one of those estimable, level-headed men
who naturally become almost a necessity to a grow-
ing community. In every relation of life Christian
H. Coble bore an honest, manly part, and won the
esteem of his fellow-citizens.
In 1854 Mr. Coble was married, in Harrisburg,
to Anna A. Eby, and a most estimable family was
born to this union, as follows : Allen A., a farmer of
Mt. Joy township, married Emma Keiper; Edwin
E., who married Mary Meckley, is a jeweler in
Elizabethtown and is president of the Electric Light
Co. ; Clara C. married Harry Bachman, the" pro-
prietor of a hotel in Campbellstown ; Christian L.,
deceased, married Alice Ressler, of Bellaire ; Samuel
L. and Grant died young; Robert A., a grain and
coal dealer, married Jennie Breneman, and lives at
home ; and Emlin W. died at the age of eleven years.
Mrs. Anna A. (Eby) Coble, who so efficiently
manages the business left in her hands by her hus-
band, was born March 17, i8,-^6, in Derry township,
Dauphin county, daughter of Peter and Mary (Wis-
ler) Eby, natives of Dauphin and Lancaster coun-
ties. The former was a farmer in Dauphin county,
where he died in 1846, aged forty-two years. The
latter made her home subsequently with Mrs. Coble,
where she died in 1894, aged ninety years. They were
members of the Mennonite Church. Their children
were: Samuel O., who is in the hotel business at
Bismarck, Pa. ; George W., who died in 1902 ; Henry
B., a merchant in Bachmanville, Pa. ; Anna A., the
widow of Mr. Coble ; Mary, deceased, wife of John
Detwilder; and Peter, deceased. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. Coble were Michael and Eliza-
beth (Oberholtzer) Eby, of Lancaster county, and
the maternal grandparents were George and Anna
(Breneman) Wisler, also of Lancaster. Mrs. Coble
is a valued member of the Mennonite Church, and
a lady who enjoys the friendship and respect of a
very large circle of- friends.
JOHN H. DIEM. The agricultural supremacy
of some portions of Lancaster county can easily be
explained when one considers the various classes of
farmers who manage these interests. Good farmers
are no more accidents of chance than are capable
workers in any other line. To be a successful farmer
every branch must be understood, from a knowledge
of the properties of the soil, and its adaption to the
vegetable and cereal growths, to the economical
breeding and feeding of stock.
Among those who have thus succeeded in Sads-
bury township is John H. Diem, who is now retired
from active labor, enjoying the ease won by earlier
effort. He was born in Earl township, this county,
March 21, 1842, son of Kennedy and Hettie
(Brower) Diem, the former of whom belonged to
Salisbury and the latter to Earl township, by virtue
of birth. Kennedy Diem was a miller by trade and
died in Salisbury township, Jan. 21, 1891, at the age
of seventy-eight years, the mother of John H. pass-
ing away Aug. 21, 1862, when but forty-five. Both
these worthy people were consistent members of tbe
Pequea Presbyterian Church, and they were buried
in its shadow. For a number of years Kennedy
Diem was the efficient supervisor of his township,
and a prominent man in public affairs. The children
born to Kennedy Diem and wife were : Mary, who
died in 1896, first married George Sweigart, and sec-
ond, Davis Weller ; Catherine, who married Mansell
Reed, of .Salisbury township ; Emma, who married
David High, and lives in Philadelphia ; John H. ;
Lavina, who married Joshua Roop, of Colerain
township; Ellen, deceased; Kennedy, who is a ma-
chinist of Atglen, Pa. ; Sarah, who married William
Axe, of Salisbury township ; Margaret, who mar-
ried Harry Parker, of Parkesburg; Christiann, who
lives, unmarried, in Philadelphia; Susan, who mar-
ried Frank Hall, an attorney in Lancaster; Benja-
min, who is a farmer in Kentucky ; and Harvey, who
lives in California. John Diem, father of Kennedy
Diem, was a shoemaker in Salisbury township at the
time of his death, although he had been born in Ger-
many. His wife's maiden name was Kennedy.
Belonging to a large family, John H. Diem fin-
ished his public school education in order to become
an earning factor in the family, at the tender age of
ele\en years leaving home to assist neighboring
farmers. Until he was eighteen this was his cus-
tom, his ready and willing service always making
him welcome. Then Mr. Diem learned the wheel-
wright trade in Salisbury township, and was en-
gaged in this when came the stirring events of 1861.
His services were with the transportation depart-
ment, and as a driver and wheelwright he was in the
service of the Government until -the close of the war,
often being placed in the most dangerous situations,
but he returned to Salisbury township in safety.
For one j'ear Mr. Diem engaged here in his trade,
and then added to it a coach manufacturing business,
continuing in this line for a period of thirteen years.
In 1881 he moved upon his present farm, which con-
sists of forty acres of well-improved land, and here
he remained, also interested in his other enterprises,
until 1891, when he retired. Formerly Mr. Diem
was connected with a number of fraternal organiza-
tions, but resigned from them all, and for manv years
has been an Independent in politics, voting' as his
judgment directs, trying to select the best man for
the position, irrespective of party ties.
In December, 1868, in Lancaster, John H. Diem
was married to Miss Catherine Trego, and the fam-
ily born to this union is one of the most highly es-
teemed in this township. Thev are as follows : Har-
Im, who operates the home farm ; Dorothy, who mar-
ried Christian Erb, a farmer of this township r
Amanda, who married Harry Mullen, a livery
keeper, of Christiana ; Frederick, who resides in Lan-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
711
caster; Rebecca, who is attending college in Phila-
delphia; Evanna, who is attending the Millersville
Normal School ; Brinton, a barber by trade, living at
home ; Scott, deceased ; and Flora, deceased. All of
these children have been afforded excellent educa-
tional advantages.
Mrs. Catherine (Trego") Diem was bofn in Sahs-
bury township Jan. 25, 1843, daughter of Robert and
Dorothy (Ely) Trego, the former of whom was a
native of Chester county, and the latter of Lancaster
county and Salisbury township. In his younger
years Mr. Trego was a mason by trade, but later he
purchased a farm and operated it until within two
years of his death, when he retired from active work.
The father of Mrs. Diem died April 15, 1880, at the
age of seventy-seven years, and the mother at the age
of eighty-three years, having survived until 1888.
Both parents had been most worthy members of the
Presbyterian Church, and they were laid to rest in
the cemetery at Pequea, regretted by all who knew
them as kind neighbors and reliable friends. The
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Trego were : Mary
A., who married John Ream, a farmer of Salisbury
township; George M., who is a retired farmer of
Gap; Christiann. who died young; Catherine, the
wife of John H. Diem ; and John L., who is a farmer
of Salisbury township. The grandparents of Mrs.
Diem were Peter and Mary C. (Jenkins) Trego,
farming people of Chester county, and George and
Catherine (Pearl) Ely, of Lancaster county.
Mr. Diem is one of the substantial and respected
citizens of this township, who built up a large busi-
ness by the exercise of sound methods, and in con-
nection proved hiniself a most excellent farmer and
a representative citizen.
PARKE EDMUND SHEE, secretary of the In-
ternational Cream Separator Co., whose works are
located at the corner of Grant and Christian streets,
is a Lancasterian by adoption, having lived h5re for
the past three vears, and has had business relations
with our Deopie for twenty years. One year ago,
he became* the organizer of the Cream Separator Cp.,
of which he is secretary. The other officers are:
Byron L. Dodge, of cork works and safety buggy in-
terests, president ; ex-sheriff John H. Myers, vice-
president ; and Charles H. Locher, -president of the
City Trust Company, treasurer. The cream sepa-
rator which this company manufactures saves twen-
ty-five per cent, over the old crock process. It is not
strange, therefore, that the output of the company
should find vast sales, not only all over the United
States, but even in South Africa, Portugal, Spam,
Venezuela, England and other foreign countries.
Mr. Shee has an exceedingly interesting his-
tory, and no man in the State— perhaps no man m
the country — is descended from a more historical
line of ancestrv. These ancestors came from West-
meath, Ireland', arid were the owners of Ardanogroh
Castle. They left Ireland on account of the tea riots,
and settled in Germantown, where their lands were
confiscated by the British. Mr. Shee's great-great-
uncle is mentioned in the Encyclopedia Britannica
as President of the Royal Academy of Arts, in Lon-
don, and hid great-grandfather, Walter Shee, who
was a successful wholesale tea merchant in Philadel-
phia, was a brother of Gen. John Shee, who was com-
mander of the Ninth Continentals in the Revolution-
ary war, and who afterward succeeded Muhlenburg
as Collector of the Port at Philadelphia, to which
position he was appointed by President Madison.
Walter and John Shee, tea merchants, were among
the first to sign the Non-importation Act in 1773,
and their names hang in Independence Hall. Mr.
Shee's great-grandmother, on his father's side, Ce-
cilia Parke, was a sister of Col. John Parke, of Rev-
olutionary fame, who carried to Washington the
news of the surrender of the British in New York
harbor, and the renowned John Parke Custis was a
cousin. Few, indeed, among us, can boast of Rev-
olutionary ancestry like this. His grandfather,
Parke Shee, was one of the oldest paper manufactur-
ers in Delaware county (near Media), and he was
one of the most prominent Whigs in the State. He
died about thirty-five years ago, aged eighty-six
years, and the paper business descended to his son,
Edmund Brooks Shee, the father of Parke E. Shee,
of Lancaster.
Edmund B. Shee, who entered into rest at the
early age of forty-two years, married Emaline D.'
Wayne, daughter of Joseph Wayne, a wholesale lum-
ber merchant of Philadelphia, and a granddaughter
of a brother of "Mad z\nthony" Wayfie. Four chil-
dren were born of this union, one of whom, Frank,
died in early childhood. The survivors are : Ed-
ward, in the insurance business, in Philadelphia ;
Anna, widow of William Thompson, a lawyer of
New York, and now making her home in Maryland,
near Washington, D. C. ; and Parke Edmund, of
Lancaster.
Park Edmund Shee was born in Philadelphia
Aug. 8, 1855, and was educated in the public schools
of that city. He began his business career as a
clerk in a sugar refinery, afterward held the position
of time keeper for the Wharton Railroad Switch Co.,
for two or three years. He then passed three years
as assistant superintendent of the Riverside Oil
Works, and six years with the Seabc^rd Oil Works.
Two years more were spent with Thomas P. Conard,
dealer in rails and equipment, boilers, engines and
machinery, after which he engaged in the same bus-
iness for himself, in Philadelphia, for three or four
years. In 1898, Mr. Shee came to Lancaster, and is
very comfortably located, with his family at No.
552 West James street. College Heights.
Mr. Shee has been twice married. His first wife
was Miss Marguerite Bonsall. daughter of Job T.
Bonsall, of Middletown, Delaware county. Five
children were born of this union, one of whom died
in infancy. The survivors are Parke B., a machinist
in Philadelphia, married and has one child ; Emma
and Mary, both attending Maryland College at
712
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Lntherville. Md. ; and Warde attending school in
this city. The mother of these children died at
Chester, in 1897, and on April 2, 1899, Mr. Shee
married Miss Sarah Roberts, daughter of the late
Samuel Roberts, of Lancaster. Religiously Mr. Shee
is of the Episcopal faith, although his ancestors, pa-
ternal and maternal were Hicksite Quakers. Politi-
cally he is a Republican, but he never held any office
save that of census enumerator, in Delaware county
in 1880. Socially he is a member of the B. P. O. E.
He is a thoroughly wide-a-wake, progressive and lib-
eral minded business man and citizen.
JOHN B. STROH, who is serving as justice of
the peace in Manheim, has filled that position for
twenty years with credit to himself and satisfaction
to his constituents. He is thoroughly impartial in
meting out justice, his opinions being unbiased by
either fear or favor, and his fidelity to the trust re-
posed in him is above question.
Mr. Stroh was born in Annville, Lebanon Co.,
Pa., May 22, 1847, son of John and Leah (Booser)
Stroh, both of whom are deceased. Being left
motherless in infancy, he was reared by his maternal
grandmother and an aunt, Elizabeth Booser, and was
educated in the common schools and the Annville
Academy, attending the latter institution during the
summer months. At the age of sixteen he began
teaching in the public schools of Dauphin county,
and taught eight years in the same township, work-
ing on the farm during vacations and in the evenings.
He devoted allihis spare moments to study, and by
close and continuous application gained a large fund
of practical knowledge.
In 1872 Mr. Stroll came to Manheim, Lancaster
■county, where he purchased property, and at once se-
cured a position as teacher in the public schools. Each
spring he also assisted in the Manheim National
Bank for some four weeks. At first he had only a
county certificate for teaching, but in 1880 he secured
a State certificate, signed by J. P. Wickersham. He
always took a great interest in his pupils, and through
his devotion to them turned out some fine scholars.
On first coming to Manheim he had charge of the
secondary school ; later served as assistant principal
one term; and then had charge of the grammar
school. In 1879 he taught the high school, but after
his election to the office of justice of the peace he
returned to the grammar school, with which he was
connected until 1898, when, on account of his in-
creasing duties in his private affairs, as well as his
official work, he retired from school teaching, hav-
ing been re-elected justice of the peace at each suc-
ceeding election. He is now serving his fourth term
in that office, has been notary public many years, and
has also been a member of the town council and audi-
tor of his borough, as well as deputy coroner for
Manheim and vicinitv for eight years, having just
been reappointed for another term. Mr. Stroh as-
sisted in establishing the city water works, was also
one of the promoters of the Manheim Heating &
Manufacturing Co., of which he was secretary and
treasurer, and is engaged in the fire and life insurance
business, while in a legal capacity he does a large
business in executing deeds, etc.
In 1867 Mr. Stroh married Miss Susan Stern, a
native of Lancaster county, and to them were born
seven children, of whom two died in "infancy. Those
living are John Jacob Uriel, a graduate of the high
school and Union College of Lancaster, and now
chief bookkeeper in a wholesale house in Philadel-
phia; Mary Ann, wife of A. K. Huber, of Crete,
Neb. ; Elizabeth, wife of W. C. Enck, of Beatrice,
Neb. ; Susie Maud, a graduate of the Manheim high
school, now at home ; and Florence Bell, also at home.
Fraternally Mr. Stroh is an honored member of
Manheim Lodge, No. 587, F. & A. M. ; Chapter, No.
43, R. A. M., of Lancaster ; Lancaster Commandery,
No. 13, K. T. ; Manheim Lodge, No. 657, I. O. O.
F. ; Ridgly Encampment, No. 217, of Lancaster;
Canton No. 25 ; Kittanning Lodge, No. 25, A. O.
U. W., of Lebanon; Washington Camp, No. 590,
P. O. S. A. ; Manheim Council, No. 154, O. U. A.
M. ; Steigel Castle, No. 166, K. G. E. ; and the Man-
heim Volunteer. Fire Company. At present he is
serving as senior warden in the Masonic Lodge. He
attends the Lutheran Church, has been a member of
the choir for the past twenty years, and also takes
an active part in Sunday-school work, teaching the
Bible class. Since 1878 .Mr. Stroh has taken quite
an active and influential part in political aifars ; is
at present a member of the Republican committee of
his ward; of the Republican county committee, in
which he is serving on the execu1»re board ; and has
been a hard and constant worker m the party ranks.
He is a recognized power in his community, and has
always been alert and active in advancing any enter-
prise for the public good of Manheim and Lancaster
county in general. He has erected a nice modern
home in Manheim, complete in all its appointments.
MARTIN WITMER. One of the representa-
tive citizens of whom all speak with respect and
e.steem, in Strasburg township, is Martin Witmer,
a member of one of the oldest and most honorable
families of Lancaster county.
Martin Witmer was born July 6, 1836, and was
reared on the farm of his father, the well-known Ja-
cob Witmer, of West Lampeter. With others of his
age, Martin attended the district schools and ac-
quired a very fair education, remaining with his fa-
ther until the age of twenty-four, since which time
he has been operating upon his own responsibility.
L'ntil 1892 he was the efficient manager of one of his
father's farms, consisting of forty-nine acres, and
when it came into his possession at that date, he added
a small tract to it. Much interested in all agri-
cultural pursuits, he has been a very successful farm-
er, and is so regarded by his neigh^)ors, and has also
shown himself a public-spirited and progressive cit-
izen, interested in all the affairs for the good of the
county.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
713
The first marriage of Mr. Witmer was on Sept.
2, 1862, to Lizzie Huber, a daughter of Levi Huber,
of Willowstreet, who died in 1871, at the age of thirty
years, four months and seventeen days, leaving four
children: Ida L., born May 27, 1863, married J.
Frank Herr, of Paradise township, and they have
four children, Ivan, Edna, Myrtle and Miriam ; John
H., born Oct. 3, 1864, a resident of Strasburg town-
ship, married Barbara Irvin, and they have six chil-
dren. Clara, Irvin, Lizzie, Clayton, Cora and Irene;
■Cathenne, born Dec. 22, 1865, was the wife of Isaac
Hostetter, of Paradise township, and died May 2,
1893, aged twenty-seven years, four months, and
ten days; and Martin, born March 11, 1868, a resi-
dent of Lancaster, married Naomi L. Finnisfrock,
and has one son, Howard ; the youngest of the family,
Abraham, born Jan. 12, 1870, died on Sept. 7th, fol-
lowing. The second marriage of Mr. Witmer was on
Nov. 13, 1873, when Mary Mowrer, a daughter of
Adam and Mary Mowrer, became his wife. She
was born near Strasburg Oct. 14, 1836. To this
tinion were born five children : Adam, born June 29,
1874, resides in Strasburg, and married Lizzie
Groff; Aaron, born Oct. 20, 1876, resides in Stras-
burg, married Florence McClune, and they have two
children, Nora and Sarah ; Amos, born Oct. 27,
1879; Mary, Aug. 27, 1881 ; and Enos, born Oct.
6, 1SS3, all these younger children still remaining at
home. The family is one which has long been con-
nected with the Old Mennonite Church, and in it'
and in the community at large it enjoys the esteem
of ali. In 1892, Mr«. Witmer took possession of his
property at Strasburg, adjoining the borough on the
north, this place containing twenty-eight acres, and-
on account of its close proximity to the town it is
very valuable and desirable.
MARTIN M. FIELES, a retired hotel man of
Christiana, Pa., who bears well the weight of many
years, was born in Warwick township, Feb. 20,
1823, a son of Peter and Magdelina (Manderbach)
Fieies. natives of Duesseldorf,' Germany, and Penn-
sylvania, respectively.
Peter Fieies came to this country alone when only
eleven years of age, and was sold for his passage,
serving out its cost in Lancaster county, for a man
named Batterman. He worked in the distilling
business near Lititz, Pa., and for over forty years
operated a distillery in Warwick township at the
same stand. After a successful career he lived re-
tired, and died near Berlin, Lancaster county, in
1S50. He took an active part in county politics, and
on several occasions served as a delegate to the
Democratic conventions, though he would not ac-
cept office. His wife died in 1853, at the age of
fifty-six. They were members of the Moravian
Church, and had the following family: Elizabeth,
deceased, married Samuel Bricker; Catherine mar-
ried Isaac Kline, and is now deceased; William is
also deceased ; Maria married John Shirk and Abram
Bair, and has entered into rest ; Henry is deceased ;
Matilda, deceased, married Nathan Sole ; Lucy Ann,
deceased, married Jeremiah Rhodes ; Reuben and
Henrietta are both deceased; Martin M. ; Thomas
B. is a retired butcher at Amboy, 111.; William (2)
was a resident of Haysville, Pa., but has passed
away.
Martin M. Fieies was married in February, 1848,
to Ellen R. Rogers, who wa.s born in Leacock town-
ship, Dec. 26, 1830, a daughter of WilHam and Mar-
garet Rogers. This union was blessed with the
following children: Martin L., deceased; Morde-
cai M.., a hotel man in Christiana; Margaret C, and
Kansas M., who both died young; William R., a
hotel man in Christiana, who married Cecilia Peters,
by whom he has two children. Myrtle and William ;
Mary E., who married Giles Rush, and lives in
Washington (They have lost one child) ; Maggie,
who died at the age of twelve years and two months ;
Carrie B. and Harry P., twins, who both died young;
and two sons and two daughters that died in early
infancy.
Martin M. Fieies remained at home with his
parents until he was twenty-eight years of age, for
three years being in partnership with his father in
the distilling business in Warwick township. In
185 1 the distillery was sold, and Mr. Fieies then en-
gaged in the hotel business in Williamstown, Lan-
caster county, being located there for some three
years. At the end of that period he spent several
years on a small farm in Leacock township. For
seven years he was in the hotel business at George-
town. This hotel was destroyed by fire, and for
about twelve months he was out of business. For
the ensuing seven years he was in a hotel at Paoli,
Chester county, after which he lived retired at Lit-
itz some seven years, and then removed to Balti-
more, to take charge of a hotel, which he conducted
for ten years. In the spring of 1887 he came back
to Christiana, and bought a hotel for his two sons,
which they have continued to carry on to the pres-
ent time.
Mr. Fieies takes a Democratic view of the politics
of the country. He recalls with satisfaction the
fact that in all his busy life he was never before a
court, that his fees and dues as a hotel man were
promptly paid, that he maintained the most friendly
relations with his servants, and that he never sold
a drink on Sunday. The hotel at Christiana is a
four-story brick structure, containing twenty-five
rooms, and is furnished with baths and electric
lights.
William Fieies runs a livery and feed stable in
connection with the hotel, and also handles trained
hunting dogs. In Baltimore he was an extensive
shipper of pigeons.
PLANK REESER. Agriculture has found in
the person of this gentleman an able exponent of its
theories as scientifically understood, and as a dem-.
onstrator of its actual value through practical labor,
although he is now living in retirement in his na-
714
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
tive township of Salisbury, Lancaster county. He
was born April 4, 1838.
John and Elizabeth (IVIast) Reeser, his parents,
were born, respectively, in Salisbury township, Lan-
caster county, and in Berks county, Pa., and in Sal-
isbury township the mother, who was born in 1804,
was called to rest in 1S69, '^^d the father, who was
born in 1800, died in 1887. Both were members of
the Mennonite church, and their remains were in-
terred in the C^ld Road Mennonite cemetery. Their
children were eleven in number, born and circum-
stanced as follows: Jacob, a retired railroad man
and living in Philadelphia; Christian, who lost his
life at a barn-raising ; Barbara, living in Berks coun-
ty, the widow of Christon Mast; John, deceased;
Nicholas, a retired farmer in Chester county ; Susan-
na, wife of David Wanner, also a resident of Ches-
ter county ; Plank, in whose interest this biography
is prepared ; Martha, deceased, but who was twice
married, first to Am.os Kurtz, and secondly to Mil-
ton Coffroad; Joseph, a retired merchant in Lan-
caster City ; and Samuel and Amos, retired farmers
of Salisbury township. The paternal grandparents
of Plank Reeser were Jacob and Barbara (Plank)
Reeser, of Lancaster county.
Plank Reeser aided in the cultivation of the
homestead until his marriage, Dec. 8, 1865, in Salis-
bury township, to Miss Mary Ann Wanner, who
has borne him six children, viz. : Samuel J., a farm-
er; Mrs. Amanda Eby, who is the mother of one
child ; John A., still at home ; Elias P., a farmer,
and married to Sarah A. Reeser; Harry W., also
a farmer and married to Lena Metzler ; Martin H. ;
and Anna E. The three last named still reside un-
der the parental roof, and the others reside elsewhere
in the township. Mrs. Mary Ann (Wanner) Reeser
was born in Salisbury township April 13, 1845, ^
daughter of Jacob and Nancy (Kurtz) Wanner, the
former of whom followed agriculture from boyhood
until within twelve years of his death, which oc-
curred in May, 1898, at the well advanced age of
eighty-one years; his wife died in 1869, when she
was but forty-eight years old. ' The remains of both,
however, now rest side by side, in the Old Road
Mennonite cemetery, they having been life-long
members of the Mennonite Congregation. They had
born to their union five children, namely : Mary Ann,
wife of Plank Reeser ; Elias, a farmer in Salisbury
township : Margaret, wife of Moses Hershey, _ a
farmer in Leacock township ; Lydia, deceased wife
of Frank Kurtz ; and Elizabeth, who died in infancy.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Reeser were Da-
vid and Susannah (Garber) Wanner, and the ma-
ternal grandparents were Jacob and Mary (Whit-
zel) Kurtz, both families being of German extrac-
tion and of old Pennsylvania parentage, whose pur-
suit through life was entirely of an agricultural na-
ture.
At his marriage. Plank Reeser and wife located
on a farm adjoining the Reeser homestead, on which
they resided and then settled on an adjoining farm
of 114 acres, which has since been their home. To
this they have since added another adjoining farm
of 114 acres, and own besides a farm of 119 acres
and one of 107 acres, both in Salisbury township.
Mr. Reeser has been one of the best agriculturists
that Salisbury township has ever had within its lim-
its, and he has won for himself the competency that
he now so deservedly enjoys.
In politics Mr. Reeser has been a life-long Re-
publican, has been very' popular with his party, and
has served seven years as township auditor. He has
been very liberal in his contributions in aid of the
public improvements of the township, and in the
maintenance of the Mennonite church, of which he
and wife are devout members, and the teachings of
which they unswervingly follow.
WILLIAM HAMILTON. The pursuit of agri-
culture, although at times vexatious and disappoint-
ing, is as -a rufe not unpleasing, and if understand-
ingly and persistently followed is sure to reward
the pursuer with returns adequate to the time and la-
bor expended, as the retired gentleman whose name
heads this brief biography can testify, he having
been born and reared to the vocation of farming. His
birth took place in Leacock township, Oct. 23, 1818^
but his home is now in Salisbury township. He is
a son of William and Elizabeth (Miller) Hamilton,
natives of Bart and Paradise townships, and, respec-
tively, of Scotch-Irish and German extraction.
William Hamilton, the father, was a carpenter
by trade and died in 1828, at the age of forty years,
his remains being buried in the old Presbyterian
churchyard in Leacock ; the second marriage of Mrs.
Hamilton was to Eli Jackson. To William and Eliz-
abeth (Miller) Hamilton were born seven children,
named as follows : James, now deceased ; Marga-
ret, who died young; Mary, who died unmarried at
the age of twenty-six years ; William, whose name
opens this article ; Joseph, deceased ; Elizabeth, wid-
ow of Charles Marron, and residing in Philadelphia,
and Sarah, widow of Michael Murr, and now living
in New Holland, this county. To Eli and Elizabeth
(Hamilton) Jackson were born two children: Sa-
billa. deceased wife of James Miller ; and Mardula,
widow of Benjamin Weaver of Lancaster. The
mother of these children was called away in 1879, at
the vvell-advanced age of eighty-six years, and her
remains now lie at rest in the Episcopal cemetery
in Leacock township.
William Hamilton, whose name heads this sketch,
aided his mother on the home property until he was
twenty-two years old, and then worked out among
the neighboring farmers until he was twenty-nine.
On March 4, 1847, in New Holland, he married Sar-
ah Miller, and began farming on his own account
in Salisbury township. This marriage was crowned
with the birth of five children, namely : Maria, who
IS married to Jacob Rife, a farmer in Salisbury town-
ship, and has four children: Elizabeth, wife of
James High, also a farmer in Salisbury township.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY"
715
has five children; Veronica, twin of Elizabeth, died
in infancy; Susannah, also died in infancy; Lydia,
who is married to Winfield Ramsey, farmer in East
Lampeter township, has three children.
Mrs. Sarah (Miller) Hamilton was born in Up-
per Leacock township, Lancaster county, Feb. 22,
1822, and died in 1866, when she was about forty-four
years old, her remains being interred in Christ
Church cemetery in Leacock. Her parents were
George and Mary (Ronk) Miller of Lancaster coun-
ty, the former of whom was a carpenter and died in
1857, when eighty 3'ears old; his wife died in 1855,
at the age of seventy-nine years, and their
remains were interred in West Leacock Dunkard
cemetery, they having been members, respectively,
of the Christian Lutheran and German Reformed,
churches. They were the parents of the following
named children : Emma A;, deceased wife of Will-
iam Anderson ; Henry, deceased ; George, deceased ;
Maria, -deceased wife of Michael Wise, and Sarah,
\he deceased wife of William Hamilton, of this bi-
ographical memoir.
Since the death of his wife, Mr. Hamilton has
made his home with his daughter and son-in-law,
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Rife, although he has ample
means to pay his way anywhere ; here he is at home,
with loving hands to attendto his every want. Mr.
Hamilton and his family are members of the Epis-
copal church. In politics he is a Democrat. Re-
markably active and well-preserved for his years,
very generous in all things and charitable in the
broadest sense of the word, he is looked upon as one
of the best natured men in the county. He has many
friends, and there is not an individual in the town-
ship that does not respect and honor him.
' HERMAN W. GRAYBILL. The founder of
the Graybill family in Lancaster county was Daniel
Graybill, who came from Switzerland to America,
and made his home in the new land, upon a fine farm-
ing tract in the locality of what now is Pennville —
the original purchase of 100 acres, inade more than
a century ago, still being in possession of the same
family. Two farms have been made of this pro-
ductive land, upon which succeeding owners have
been honest and energetic .tillers of the rich soil ever
since. The early members of the family were among
the founders of the German Baptist Church in this
locality.
Daniel Graybill had three sons : David, who re-
moved to Ohio,' and was the founder of a family there,
which has many descendants ; Samuel, who settled
down near his birth place and engaged in farming,
rearing a worthy family ; and the second son, Daniel,
was the grandfather of the Graybill family of this
vicinity.
Tn'1813 Daniel Graybill, son of the founder, came
into possession of the old homestead, and thereon
erected a residence which still is fit for occupancy,
■and remained on the place until his eldest son was
readv to marrv and form a home for himself, when
he purchased some 200 acres of the old Hershey es-
tate at Petersburg, removed to it, and gave up the
homestead to his son. There he died, at the age or
seventy-two, having been during his entire life a
farmer. His wife was Mary Hollinger, and to them
were born : Joseph, Daniel and Isaac, deceased ; Ja-
cob, who died at the age of seventy-seven years ; and
Benjamin, Martha, Elizabeth and Barbara, all de-
ceased.
Daniel Graybill, the third of the name, was born
in 1814, and died in 1890. He always followed a
pastoral life. Politically he belonged to the Republi-
can party, but ever set an example of the value of a
qiiiet life, devoted to his family and his religious
duties, and reared a family which possesses the re-
spect of the community in which it holds a prominent
place. He married Elizabeth Witmer, the daugh-
ter of Herman Witmer, who died in 1886, and Daniel
Graybill died at the age of seventy-six. Their chil-
dren were : Martha, the wife of Daniel Kreider, re-
sides on the old Graybill homestead, near Peters-
burg; Herman W. is our subject; Amos W. died
while on his way to California, from his home, in
Kansas, where he had located, at Morrill, and was
a well-known carpenter, farmer and undertaker;
Benjamin W. is a farmer and stock raiser of Ore-
gon : and David W. is a tobacco dealer of Petersburg.
Herman W. Graybill was born Sept. 15, 1842,
and was reared as a farmer boy, early learning the
duties and pleasures of agricultural life. He re-
ceived his education in the most excellent schools
of his district, his farther educational career being
interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil war. In
1863 he enlisted in Co. H, 47th State Militia, and
faithfully served for three months. Mr. Graybill
had advantages superior to the ordinary farmer boy,
as he was able to spend two years in travel,
visiting in this tour seventeen States, and gaining
much experience and seeing life under many phases.
Upon his return to Petersburg, he engaged in the
coal and lumber business, also doing some farming,
but public affairs have claimed a great portion of his
time ever since he reached his maturity. Of a progres-
sive and energetic nature, he has been identified with
almost all the matters of public interest and im-
provement, and has been particularly prominent in
all educational movements. For twenty-four years
he has served on the school board, for sixteen years
being its efficient secretary, during which time many
needed reforms have been made in the conduct of the
schools, and in the erection and management of build-
ings, the demands of increasing population making
the labors no light task. Mr. Graybill has filled al-
m.ost everv local office in the gift of his party, and was
a delegate to the Republican County Convention, as
early as his twenty-first year, has been judge of elec-
tion's, and is now serving his fourth term as director
of the poor, the confidence of the whole county being
placed in him. Many estates are satisfactorily set-
tled by his good judgment and knowledge of law;
for the past twenty-five years probably four or five
716
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
have been in his hands at one time. No man stands
higher in the community, and no one is better fitted
worthily to represent it.
Mr. Graybill has been married three times. His
first marriage was to Martha Landis, a daughter of
Henry Landis, of Petersburg, but .her death, with
that of her infant, occurred in 1868. Mr. Graybill
was married second in 1869, to Mrs. Kate Minnich,
a daughter of Jacob Swarr, but her death occurred
about one year later, and on Oct. 21, 1873, he married
Fannie A. Bassler, the estimable daughter of John
Bassler. To this union were born four children:
Nora, who is the wife of John M. GrofI, an attorney
of Lancaster City; John B., who fives at home, a
brilliant young man, who, after graduating with
honors from the Franklin and Marshall College, of
Lancaster City, in the class of 1900, was immedi-
ately appointed a justice of the peace for Petersburg ;
and Daniel and Kathryn, at home. The religious
connection of the family is with the Reformed
Church, where it is much esteemed. Mr. Graybill
is a man who deserves the high favor in which he
is held by his fellow-citizens, and in the many trusts '
that have been placed in his hands, he has acquit-
ted himself with credit and to the satisfaction of all.
JOHN G. ZOOK, publisher of The Express,
Lititz, was born in Manheim township, on the farm
now occupied by James Purvis, on the Conestoga,
a mile north of Binkley, May 30, 1853. He obtained
his education in the common schools, with an ele-
mentary course at the Millersville Normal school
from which he graduated in 1875. While attending
Normal school in summer, he taught school in win-
ter, teaching six terms in all. In 1877 his father,
John Zook, moved to Lititz, where, in connection
with E. Z. Ernst, the subject of this sketch start-
ed the printing and publishing business, the first
publication being The Sunbeam, a literary and edu-
cational monthly. In 1879 Mr. Ernst withdrew from
the firm and went West. In September, 1881, in con-
nection with C. N. Derr, Mr. Zook changed The
Sunbeam to the Lititz Express, and it has been pub-
lished now for twenty-one years. Mr. Derr with-
drew in February, 1895. The Express has been po-
litically mainly independent. The pubHsher was a
Republican until 1889, when he espoused the Pro-
hibition cause, and voted the ticket as a matter of
conviction of the riehteousness of the cause. In the
same manner he examined the Socialist program, and
is now a conscientious advocate of the public owner-
ship of the means of production and distribution as
the best way to secure social and economic justice.
He haS held no public office except that of school
director in 1887-89, and from which he retired be-
cause he was a candidate on the Prohibition ticket.
He said he would rather be right than school direc-
tor. He is a member of the Moravian Church, the
congregation's treasurer and assistant superintend-
ent of the Sunday School.
In 1879 Mr. Zook was married to Alice Carey,
daugliter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wolfe, of Marietta.
Their children were : Harry W., with the Pennsyl-
vania Steel Co., at Steelton; Ethel, assisting in the
bookstore of her father at Lititz ; Herbert, employed
in The Express office ; and Alice and Edna, at home.
Mr. Zook's mother, who has attained the advanced
age of four score years, is now an honored member
of his home at Lititz, but his father passed away in
1880, at the age of sixty-seven.
Our subject's grandfather, John Zook, lived in
Chester county during the Revolution, and the fences
on his farm were taken down before the battle of
Brandywine. As far as Mr. Zook can gather from
tradition the great-grandfather. Christian, was one
of three brothers Zug (changed to Zook) who emi-
grated from Zug, Switzerland, early in the i8th cen-
tury, and from whom all the Zooks descended. The
name is now spelled four ways, Zug, Zuck, Zuch and
Zook.
BENJAMIN M. BARR. Among the old and
well-known families of East Lampeter township,
that of Barr takes a prominent place, having been
founded in Lancaster county many years ago by
German pioneers. The name of Benjamin has been
a favorite one in this family, and there are many
who still recall the father of Benjamin M., also Ben-
jamin, who was a son of Benjamin, the grandfather.
The latter had his residence near Willowstreet, where
he was known as a distiller and prosperous farmer ;
he married Catherine Mayers, a member of another
old family, and to them were born : Samuel, who
married Maria Stauffer; Harry, who died at the
age of twenty-one; Benjamin; Elizabeth, who mar-
ried John Hernley; Mary, who married Jacob
Kr eider ; and David and Katie, both of whom died
in childhood. The burial of the grandparents was
in the cemetery at the Old Brick Church, near Wil-
lowstreet.
Benjamin Barr, son of Benjamin, was born near
Willowstreet, May 10, 1796, and died Jan. 29, 1890.
His life was passed in agricultural labor, in which
he was very successful, as he accumulated land and
means, and was one of the highly esteemed residents
of the township. He married Mary Mayley, and the
children of this union were : Elizabeth, who is the
widow of Isaac Hostetter; Catherine, who is the
widow of Isaac Weaver; Martha, born in June,
1826,^ now the widow of John Landis ; Martin, who
married Elizabeth Parent, and resides in Darke coun-
ty, Ohio; Mary, who married Jacob Denlinger;
Benjamin M., of this biography; Fanny, who mar-
ried Henry Groff , both of whom are dead ; and Su-
sanna, who resides at Fertility, on the Strasburg pike
road, a lady who is known far and wide, in the
neighborhood, as a pious. Christian woman, full of
good deeds and kind acts, and one of the most de-
vout m.embers of the Reformed Mennonite Church.
The parents of this family of children were rever-
ently interred in the cemetery at the Longenecker
Meeting House.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
717
Benjamin M. Barr was born in Manor township
Dec. 9, 183 1, a son of Benjamin and Mary (Mayley)
Barr, and was reared on the farm. Until he was
twenty years of age, he attended the schools of the
district, although his tendencies were not of a lit-
erary bent, being more inclined to learn something of
the world by observation, than from books. " At the
age of twenty-four he accompanied his father on a
trip to Darke county, Ohio, and he had some idea
of remaining in that State, with his brother Martin,
but at the termination of six months, he became
homesick and returned to Lancaster county. Before
settling down permanently on the old farm, he made
another short trip to Ohio, and then went on a pros-
pecting trip, at the instance of his brother-in-law,
John Landis, into West Virginia, but likewise re-
turned from the South, well contented with Lancas-
ter county as a home.
On Oct. 9, i860, Benjamin M. Barr was married
to Lydia, the estimable daughter of Thomas and
Leah (Urban) McMullan, of Pequea township, and
they began housekeeping upon a small farm of nine-
teen acres, on the Wilmington pike road, this now
being included in the farm of Samuel Burkhart. On
that farm Mr. Barr and his family resided until in
1873, when he purchased the present farm, consist-
ing of thirty-eight acres. In 1878 he bought a fine
farm adjoining, but sold it seven years later.
To Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Barr were born these
children: (i) Ellis G., the capable manager of the
home farm, has been twice married, the children of
the first marriage being : Ada E., Lydia May, Ben-
jamin E., and Martin B. .(who died in early child-
hood) ; his second wife, Ida Andrew, has borne him
one son, Martin McKinley, born January i, 1898.
(2) Benjamin Franklin, familiarly known by his
second name, Frank, is one of the well-known
and active young business men of Lancaster, where
he is engaged as a florist.
Although Mr. Barr has never connected himself
with any religious denomination, he stands very high
in the community, and is regarded by his neighbors
as an upright man, and a useful, charitable and hon-
orable citizen.
SAMUEL N. ROOT. Among the well-known
citizens and highly respected residents of East
Heinpfield township, who now makes his home in
Landisville, Lancaster Co., Pa., where he is engaged
in the tobacco business, is Samuel N. Root, whose
birth took place m East Donegal township. While
but a babe he was taken by his parents to East
Hempfield township, and there reared, and there re-
ceived his preparatory education in the public schools.
Later he took a business course at the well-known
Eastman Business College, in Poughkeepsie, N. Y.,
and then engaged in farming.
Prior to his attendance at College, Mr. Root had
been for a year engaged in the implement and feed
business in East Petersburg, but after his return he
settled on a farm about one mile north of Petersburg,
and there continued agricultural labors until 1900,
when he moved into the town of Landisville, erecting
there a three-story building for a warehouse, with
dimensions of 102x40 feet, managing the tobacco
business in connection with farming. He is a man
of business ability and owns several fine farms, one
of forty-two acres in East Hempfield township, and
another in Drumore township, consisting of eighty-
five acres, both of them well cultivated and finely
improved.
Politically the neighbors of Samuel Root know
just where he is, for he is a stanch Repubhcan, and as
becomes a good citizen, never fails to cast his ballot.
On Aug. 2, 1887, Mr. Root was married to Amanda
Swarr, daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth (Nor-
wich) Swarr, who was born in East Hempfield town-
ship on the old family homestead situated along the
Plarrisburg Pike road. Both Mr. Root and wife are
prominent members of the German Baptist Church,
where they are highly valued for their Christian
character.
ABRAHAM HARNISH. Agriculture is the
noblest, as well as the most essential, of all the em-
ployments to which the hand of man can be turned,
and when to this industry its follower adds the art of
building, which in its higher branches may be terrhed
a fine art, he is indeed fortunate. Abraham Harnish,
whose brief biography is herewith presented, can
justly lay claim to title of expert in both callings, be-
ing a stone mason, brick-layer and farmer, with his
residence in Salisbury township, Lancaster county,
Pa. He was born near Conestoga Centre, this coun-
ty, March 19, 1837, son of Elias and Fanny (Urban)
Harnish, of Swiss descent.
Elias Harnish was a distiller in his younger days,
but later became a farmer, and was very successful.
He died in February, 1877, when sixty-nine years
old. Mrs. Fanny (Urban) Harnish was called away
in August, 1853, at the early age of thirty-nine years.
The remains of these parents were buried in West
Lampeter township, they having been members of
the New Mennonite church. Their nine children
were born in the following order : Sabanah, who
married Levi Eby of Lampeter township, and died
in 1898; Lydia, who died single in 1900; George, a
farmer in West Lampeter township ; Abraham,
whose name stands at the opening of this biograph-
ical notice; Anna, wife of Jacob Eshleman of Stras-
burg, Lancaster county; Catherine, deceased wife
of Abraham Herr ; Frances, unmarried and living in
Strasburg; Elias, deceased; and Amanda, deceased
wife of John C. Kaylor, a school teacher in Stras-
burg.
Abraham Harnish was united in marriage May
9, 1869, in Lancaster with Miss Frances Dieffen-
baugh, who has borne him eight children, in the fol-
lowing order : Enos, who is a plumber at Stevens
Point, Wis. ; Avzula, wife of Howard Kemmer, a
shoemaker in Paradise township, Lancaster county.
Pa., and the mother of three children ; Adelia, mar-
718
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ried to Duffy Folk, a bricklayer in Strasburg ; Alta,
unmarried and at home ; Chester L., a farmer in Lea-
cock township; Morris, Lizzie and Harry F., all
three at home.
Mrs. Frances (Dieffenbaugh) Harnish was born
in Willov/street, Lampeter township, Sept. 4, 1847,
daughter of Jacob and Martha (Urban) Dieffen-
baugh, the former of whom was a prominent farmer,
but died in 1852, at the early age of thirty years ; the
latter survived until 1895, when she was called to rest
at the age of sixty-four. Their remains were in-
terred in Lancaster. They were the parents of the
following children : Harry, a farmer in Oklahoma ;
Martha, wife of Adam Lefever, a machinist in Mil-
waukee; and Frances, Mrs. Harnish. The mother,
however, was twice married, her second husband
being James Kern, and to this union were born:
James, a horse trader in Trenton, N. J. ; Anna, de-
ceased ; Augustus, of New York ; Charles, deceased ;
and Ada, tmmarried and living in New York City.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Harnish were
Henry and Anna (Bressler) Dieffenbaugh, of Tan-
nery, Pa. [Further particulars concerning this re-
spected family will be found in the biography of
Mrs. Jason K. Eaby, of Leacock township.]
Abraham Harnish remained with his parents
until his marriage and then located at Intercourse,
Leacock township, where he conducted a general
store seven and a half years, and finally settled on his
present farm in the spring of i88r, filling in several
intervals by working at his trade. In politics he is
a Democrat. He is strictly upright, and bears a
name that is respected wherever known.
HON. JEREMIAH ALBERT STOBER, whose
residence is in Schoeneck, Lancaster county, repre-
sents the 14th Senatorial District in the State Legis-
lature.
Jacob Stober, his grandfather, was of German-
born parentage. He is supposed to have been the
first of the family to settle in Lancaster county. His
home was in Clay township, and there he followed,
farming. His life was brief, as he was called away
when he was but forty-two years of age. He was
interred in the Brickerville Lutheran cemetery. His
wife belonged to the Zartman family, prominent in
Lancaster county for many years ; after the death of
her husband she made her home with her only son,
Elias, until her death.
Elias Stober, the father of Senator Stober ,_ was
born on the old Stober place in 1816, and made it his
home until 1842. In 1837 he was married to Sarah
Zeigler, a daughter of Dr. Charles Frederick Wolf-
gang Zeigler, who had come from Stuttgart, Ger-
many, when a' young man. After his arrival in this
country Dr. Zeigler was married to Mary Regar,
and became the father of a family whose home was
at Reamstown. For many years he practiced medi-
cine at Reamstown, and died at Akron, in 1841. The
first child of Elias and Sarah Stober was the subject
of this sketch, who was born Jan. 20, 1842, on the
old homestead, the birthplace of both his father and
grandfather.
About 1842 Elias Stober removed with his fam-
ily to near Lincoln, then named New Ephrata, in
Clay township, where he was engaged as a clerk in
the general store of Levi S. Hacker, and became quite
prominent in the community, being elected a school
director soon after the establishment of the free
school system. Another son and three daughters
were here born to Mr. and Mrs. Stober, but not one
of them survived the perils of childhood, and Sena-
tor Stober remained their only living child. It was
in this community that Elias Stober acquired suffi-
cient means to enter upon a business career for him-
self, and he accordingly established a general store
in a building which is now occupied by the Lincoln
National Bank. Some eight years later he bought
the general store run by Allen W. Mentzef, and es-
tablished himself at Schoeneck, where he continued
in business until 1893. Mrs. Sarah Stober died Dec.
31, 1S99. Both were devout members of the Brick-
erville Lixtheran Church, where they had attended
from early youth.
Jeremiah Albert 'Stober, whose name introduces
this sketch, is well known in the political circles of
the northern part of Lancaster county, as Senator
"Al. Stober." He spent his early boyhood in the vicin-
ity of Lincoln, Clay township, and attended the local
schools. One of his early teachers, William Ober-
ly, is still living in Ephrata, and another, the Rev.
Isaac Keller, is the present pastor of the Baptist cir-
cuit, of which Springville is the center. When about
fourteen years old Mr. Stober attended the famous
"Ephrata Academy," then conducted in the. Cloister
buildings at Ephrata, as a private enterprise under
Prof. Hill, and a little later under Prof. Yeager, the
father of the present editor and proprietor of the
Ephrata Review.' Here .Senator Stolaer completed
his common school education. His next step was to
take a clerkship in the general store of S. P. A. Weid-
man, under whose efficient eye he acquired a practi-
cal knowledge of business in many of its most fa-
miliar forms. At tlie end of two years he entered
his father's store as a clerk. Shortly after this he
married Harriet Musser, and moved to Schoeneck.
Mrs. Stober was a daughter of William Musser, of
Lincoln, and a sister of Edwin Mwsser, the present
auditor of Lancaster county. At the time of her
marriage Mrs. Stober was about twenty-four years
of age. About a year after coming to Schoeneck,
Mr. Stober was appointed postmaster, his commis-
sion bearing the name of President Grant. His first
presidental vote was cast for the re-election of Pres-
ident Lincoln, and from that day to this he has al-
ways been a stanch Republican. After serving as
postmaster for about a year, Mr. Stober resigned to
take the position of justice of the peace of West
Cocalico township. For twenty-eight years he has
been_ justice, except when he represented his dis-
trict in the House of Representatives. In 1875 he was
elected a member of the Legislature from the Third
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
719
district of Lancaster county. He was re-elected and
served four continuous sessions of the Lower House.
At tlie expiration of this period he was again elected
justice of the peace, and continued to serve in that
capacity until his election to the State Senate in
1898, from the 14th Senatorial District.
Senator Stober is an efficient member of the Up-
per House, and keeps a vigilant eye on everything
that might affect the interests of his constituents.
He was active in securing the appropriation of $5,000
for the erection of a monument to the memory of the
Revolutionary soldiers, who were buried at Mt. Zion,
near Ephrata, and he delivered the historical address
to an immense audience at its unveiling. Senator
Stober served his country during the late war, and
was a volunteer in the 50th Regiment, Pa. Militia.
He is now a member of Major Ricksecker Post, No.
152, G. A. R., at Lincoln, and was a delegate from
this post to the last State Encampment.
Senator Stober is prominent in fraternal circles,
being a master IVlason, and a member of Ashara
Lodge, No. 398, F. & A. M., at Marietta; a past
grand of Lodge No. 408, 1. O. O. F., at Reamstown ,
a member of Lodge No. 253, K. of P., at Lititz, in
which order he was deputy grand chancellor, of
Lancaster county; a member of Camp No. 13, P. O.
S. A., at Denver, in which order he has served two
terms as District president for Lancaster county.
From a poor boy Senator Stober has risen to a
condition of independence, and has accumulated a
fair competence. In business life he is as prominent
as he is in politics. In Schoeneck he has a modest but
attractive home, and is in business as a dealer in leaf
tobacco and a manufacturer of cigars. During his
long service as justice of the peace, scrivener and
surveyor, he has deeply impressed himself upon this
section of the county, and he has made a name for
himself above reproach.
WILLIAM BRINTON, in his life time a suc-
cessful farmer, was born in November, 1785, and he
died in the present home of the family, which is sit-
uated on the Newport Pike, about half way between
Gap and Christiana, Lancaster county, Feb. 10, 1878.
His remains are resting in a private burying ground
on the family homestead.
The Brintons are of English descent. William
Brinton, a native of England, came to America in
1684, and settled in Chester county. Pa. Moses
Erinton, son of the emigrant and grandfather of the
subject of this sketch, was born in Chester county in
1725, but in 1747 he located on land in Leacock town-
ship, Lancaster county, given him by his father. He
married Eleanor, daughter of Hattel Verman, a na-
tive of Ireland, and died in 1789.
Joseph Brinton, son of Moses and Eleanor, was
born Nov. 22, 1754, and died in 1809. He was mar-
ried in 1784 to Susanna Rigbe, and their children
were: William, whose name introduces this arti-
cle ; James and Samuel, both deceased ; Marv, who
rriarried (first) Joseph Cole, (second) David Town-
send, and died at the age of ninety years ; Sarah, born
m 1793, who married Joseph Cooper, and died in
William Brinton engaged in agricultural pursuits
all his life, and in 1858 located on the place yet occu-
pied by his family. In Sadsbury township, Lancas-
ter county, in 1823, he wedded Gulielma Cooper, by
whom he had the folloAving children : Cassandra R.,
who married Thomas Harvey, and died the mother
of three children ; Jane, who married Parvin Smith,
became the mother of eight children, and is now de-
ceased ; Joseph, who married (first) Mary H-owland,
and (second) her sister Anna; Susanna; and Mary
B. who married Joseph J. Hopkins, a farmer in
Sadsbury township. Mrs. Gulielma (Cooper) Brin-
ton was born in Chester county. Pa., and died Dec.
29, 1879, at the advanced age of eighty-six. She
was a daughter of James and Mary (Paxton) Coo-
per, of Chester and Berks counties, respectively, and
a granddaughter of Calvin Cooper, of England.
James Cooper was a fuller by trade, and spent his
entire life in Chester county ; his children were ; Jo-
seph, Gulielma, Cyrus and Aaron.
William Brinton was a man of pronounced Aboli-
tion convictions ; he took an active part in freeing
slaves, and helping them on their way North. All
the Cooper family belonged to the Society of Friends.
Miss Susanna Brinton, who occupies the old home,
has ample means to gratify her charitable inclina-
tions, and has given among other substantial public
benefits, two large iron fountains for watering horses
to the borough of Christiana.
SAMUEL McNEAL, a retired carpenter, of
Gap, was born in Earl township, Lancaster county,
Sept. 27, 1 82 1, son of Archibald and Catherine
(Corl) McNeal, both natives of this county.
Archibald McNeal, who resided in Sadsbury
township, was a plasterer by trade, and while work-
ing, in 1850, when in his seventieth year, fell from a
ladder, and died. His remains were buried at
Georgetownr. His widow, Catherine Corl, born in
April, 1795, died in Gap, in October, 1886, her
burial being in the Gap cemetery. The children born
to this union were: Daniel, deceased; Samuel, of
this sketch ; Cyrus, a retired carpenter of Bart town-
ship ; Jacob ; John, deceased ; Mary A., who died
young; Henry, deceased; Archibald, a carpenter, in
Philadelphia ; Elizabeth, who died young ; Abraham,
a carpenter at Pottsville ; Rebecca, who married
Thomas Nixon, a blacksmith at Gap ; and Margaret,
wife of Jacob Wise, a farmer of Salisbury township.
Until his marriage Mr. McNeal remained at
home working for his parents, and after that he lived
with them, and for some years followed his trade,
which he had already learned. In 1870 he moved
to Philadelphia, where he lived until 1893, when he
came back to spend his declining years among his
old friends in Lancaster county. Mr. McNeal has
been a successful man in his line of work and enjoys
ample means. Both he and wife are consistent
720
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
members of the Methodist Church in which he is
one of the trustees. In his political sympathy, Mr.
McNeal is a Democrat, but has never sought ofHce.
On Feb. lo, 1846, Mr. McNeal was united in
marriage in Lancaster, to Miss Elizabeth Grofif, and
the children born to this union were as follows :
William, a minister in the M. E. Church, resides in
Monroe county. Pa., married Isabella Guthrie and
they have one child ; Cyrus is a machinist in Phila-
delphia, married Anna Baldwin, and they have had
six children, three of whom are deceased ; Mary died
unmarried at the age of forty-seven years; and
Susan married William B. Williams, a miller in
Chester county, and has four children.
Mrs. McNeal was born in Strasburg, Lancaster
county, Sept. 10, 1825, a daughter of George and
Mary (Myers) Grofif, of Lancaster county, the
former of whom was a well-known brick manu-
facturer, who was born in Lancaster in 1789, and
died in 1842. His widow died in November, 1876,
aged eighty-four years, and they were both interred
in the cemetery of the German Lutheran Church,
being consistent members of that religious body.
Their children were: Samuel, George and Angel-
ica, deceased ; Kate, deceased, the wife of James
Brady ; Elizabeth, who became Mrs. McNeal ; Mich-
ael, deceased : John, who is a painter in Oxford ; and
Susan, deceased, who married William Strine.
RICHARD BLICKENDERFER, proprietor of
the general iron foundry and machine works at Lan-
caster, is one of that city's prominent business men
and highly esteemed citizens.
The Blickenderfer family originated in Switzer-
land, from which country came Christian Blicken-
derfer, born in 1751, to join his two brothers, who
had previously come to the United States. One of
these located in Maryland, and the other settled in
the western part of Pennsylvania, where he became
conspicuous later as an Indian fighter. Christian,
who was the grandfather of Richard, located in Lit-
itz, Lancaster county, where many of -his country-
men of the Moravian faith had made their homes,
and there he passed his life.
Henry Blickenderfer, father of Richard, was born
in Lititz August 17, 1808, and in 1832 married El-
vina L. Beitle, who was born in Nazareth, North-
ampton Co., Pa. He settled down in his birthplace
to the business of manufacturing cigars, a line in
which he engaged very extensively until 1849, when
he moved to Neffsville, where he spent one year as
manager of a hotel. From there he moved to Lan-
caster, taking charge of the "Washington House,'' a
hotel which occupied the site of the present "North-
ern Market House," and there he remained until
1864, when he retired from activity. For a long
period Mr. Blickenderfer was prominently identified
with public affairs in Lancaster county. During the
administration of President Buchanan he was census
enumerator, and with efficiency filled various offices
in the gift of the Democratic party. He was par-
ticularly well known as a Free Mason, being a mem-
ber of both Council and Commandery (treasurer of
the latter) , and he belonged also to the Odd Fellows
and Red Men. His religious training was received
in the Moravian Church, of which he was a birth-
right member. He died Jan. 31, 1897, and his
widow still resides in Lancaster City; although she
was born in 181 2, she still retains her faculties in a
remarkable degree. Mr. and Mrs. Blickenderfer had
children as follows : Ellen, born Feb. 14, 1834, mar-
ried the late Judge Henry Starbuck, of Salem, N.
C, whose son is now notable as being the youngest .
judge of the Superior Court in North Carolina;
James, born August 20, 1835, is now a resident of
Colorado; William, born April 5, 1837, is a grocery
merchant in Lancaster (he served in the Civil war
with credit to himself and his country) ; Edward,
born Feb. 27, 1839, was in the dry-goods business in
Lancaster, and died Nov. 20, 1887 ; Richard is men-
tioned below ; Mary, born May 9, 1842, married
Emanuel Weidler, of Reading, Pa. ; Harry, born Feb.
26, 1846, served in the Civil war, was later, as a
skilled machinist, a foreman in his brother's foundry,
and died Jan. 12, 1891 ; Jacob, born March 8, 1845,
is postmaster at Farmington, Wash, (he was also
a soldier in the Civil war) ; Miss Emma, born August
5, 1848, resides with her venerable mother, in Lan-
caster; two died in infancy.
Richard Blickenderfer was born in Lititz, Lan-
caster county, Feb. 3, 1841. His education was ac-
quired in the public schools, and at the age of eigh-
teen years he entered a cabinet shop in Lancaster.
There the first call for troops reached him, at the
outbreak of the Civil war, and with loyal enthusiasm
he assisted in forming Company B, of the 1st Re-
serves, for three years' service, but owing to an acci-
dent he never served in that company. Ori Oct. 14,
1861, he enlisted at Pitts, Pa., in Company C, 79th
P. V. I., and was under Capt. Dysart until his death,
in Kentucky, when Capt. Boone took charge. Mr.
Blickenderfer remained with his company until Oct.
8, 1862, when, at the battle of Perryville, he was
seriously wounded, a minie ball passing through his
right leg. Although he was taken to hospital No.
8, Louisville, Ky., gangrene set in, and he was mus-
tered out of the service at Louisville on March 27,
1863. A truly brave as well as loyal man, the fol-
lowing June found him engaged in forming Com-
pany D, of the 50th Emergency Regiment, in which
he was commissioned second lieutenant. This regi-
ment was engaged in guard duty along the Susque-
hanna river, at Williamsport, Md., and on the Po-
tomac river, and was finally discharged, in 1863.
Then Mr. Blickenderfer went to Washington, D. C,
where he served in the Quartermaster's department
until all danger of invasion was over. Returning
to Lancaster, he re-enlisted, entering the 3d Heavy
Artillery, with which he was stationed at Fortress
Monroe for two months, later taking a transfer to
Company E, i88th P. V. I., 24th Army Corps, and
serving in the James River campaign. He was hon-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
721
orably discharged June 18, 1865. After this long,
varied and faithful service Mr. Blickenderfer re-
turned to Lancaster, but did not remain idle. He
apprenticed himself to Arburger, McCollough & Co.,
for one year, and worked for them as a journeyman
until April i, 1866, as a patternmaker. In April,
1867, he started a brass foundry. After three rrionths
of such experience, the opportunity presented itself
for him to enter into an iron foundry business, which
he purchased from Marsh, Bank & Martin, and he
operated the same at Duke and Chestnut streets until
May II, 1879, at which time his plant was destroyed
by fire. Mr. Blickenderfer was not to be discour-
aged in this way, and after looking about a short
time purchased his present valuable plant. This was
built by William Diller, in 1855, and is located at
Water and Marion streets, extending back to Arch
street ; the establishment comprises a general foundry
and machine work shops, and employs a force of
fifty-five men. By July following his loss by fire
he had his new business in fine running order. He
has continued its operation ever since, and through
energy and ability has placed it in the front rank
among the industries in this part of the State.
In August, 1866, Mr. Blickenderfer married, in
Lititz, Miss Clara A. Kryder, and to this union
have been born these children: Minnie O. mar-
ried H. L. Zook, a leather merchant and dealer in
shoe findings in Lancaster; Charles H., who mar-
ried Bessie Manby, is a patternmaker with his fa-
ther; Bertha M. married H. L. Forry, who fills a
clerical position in Lancaster; Miss Mabel E. is at
home.
Mrs. Clara A. (Kryder) Blickenderfer was born
in Lititz, Pa., daughter of Charles H. and Olivia
Kryder, the former of whom was a tailor, but later
engaged in the wholesale liquor business. For four
years he operated a hotel in Neffsville, but his later
years were spent in Lancaster, his death occurring
in 1897, at the age of seventy-eight years. His first
wife died in 1863. They had these children : Ade-
laide (deceased), who was the wife of Martin GrofI;
Theodore (deceased), who married Fanny Miller,
of Washington, D. C. ; Mary (deceased), who mar-
ried George Wisner, a box manufacturer of Lan-
caster ; and Clara A., wife of Mr. Blickenderfer. By
his second marriage, to Sarah Christ, Mr. Kryder
had one daughter, Sarah, now deceased. Mrs.
Kryder lives in Lancaster.
In politics Mr. Blickenderfer is a stanch Repub-
lican, but he always declines to accept office. He
is justly valued as a comrade of the G. A. R. post
in his city, and also, belongs to the Royal Arcanum,
of Lancaster, and to the Masonic fraternity, holding
membership in Blue Lodge No. 43, Lancaster ; Chap-
ter No. 43; Council No. 19; Commandery No. 13,
Lancaster; and Harrisburg Consistory, 32d degree.
Like his forefathers, Mr. Blickenderfer belongs to
the Moravian Church. Coming of a family which
has taken an honorable part in the history of Lan-
caster county, full of energy and business acumen,
46
he has fulfilled the expectations of his friends, who
have with interest watched his upward career. Mr.
Buckenderfer is regarded as a strong man in busi-
ness, .a most admirable citizen, and a representative
factor, in many ways, in the progressive industrial
life of this city.
ISAAC W. SLOKOM, president of the Chris-
tiana National Bank, of Christiana, Lancaster coun-
ty, and one of the most prominent men in his sec-
tion of the State, comes of a family which has been
represented in Lancaster county for over a century.
The Slokoms are of English origin, and four
generations of the family rest in a private burying-
ground in Lancashire, England. Isaac Slokom,
great-grandfather of Isaac W., came to America
from his home in Lancashire after his marriage. He
first came to Pennsylvania, and located in the Wy-
oming Valley, about two years before the famous
massacre, carrying on farming there until a short
time prior to that event, when he removed to Jeffer-
son county, W. Va. There he passed the remainder
of his days, and his family of three children grew
to maturity in that section : Thomas was the grand-
father of Isaac W. ; Jane married Jafnes H-eath, and
after his death made her home in New Holland, Lan-
caster count}', where she died ; Nancy married Isaac
La Rue, after whose death she moved with her fam-
ily to Ohio, 'settling at Skeel's Crossroads, in Wash-
ington township, Mercer county, where her son,
Uriah La Rue, still resides.
Thomas Slokom migrated to Pennsylvania in
1798, and first resided in Providence, Lancaster
county, in 1810 settling in Sadsbury township.
There he carried on farming, and he also conducted
the old "Red Lion Hotel," which he erected, until
his death, Aug. i, 1833. Plis remains rest in Sads-
bury graveyard. Thomas Slokom married "Susanna
Miller, and of the eight children born to this union
Samuel, father of Isaac W., was the last survivor.
Mrs. Slokom died in 1842, at the home of one of her
daughters, Mrs. Cross, in Redford, Mich. She was
a descendant of Jacob Miller, who was born in 1663,
emigrated to America from Germany, and purchased
a large tract of land in the Pequea Valley, in Stras-
burg township, this county. His son Samuel was
the first child born in the Swiss colony. Henry
Miller, a descendant of Jacob, was a member of the
convention that framed the Constitution of Pennsyl-
vania.
Samuel Slokom was born Feb. 5, 1817, in Sads-
buiy township, where he spent his entire life. When
his father died he fell heir to the hotel and forty acres
of land connected with that property, and he carried
it on for six years. In 1841 he sold this place and
purchased an improved farm in Wayne county,
Mich., intending to settle there, but deciding to re-
main in his old home he bought a farm of 108 acres
in Bart township, and worked the same for about six
years. His next purchase was a farm of thirty acres
near Christiana, and during his three years' residence
722
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
on that place he carried on the Noble foundry in the
village. During the last year he was in partnership
with William F. Baker, to whom he sold his interest
in 1853. He then invested in a farm at Coopers-
ville, consisting of 102 acres, with three residences,
a store and a blacksmith shop, and resided there for
one year. The next year he carried on the Boone
farm, of 108 acres, which he had purchased. In
1857 Mr. Slokom removed to the old Pownall farm
at Christiana, comprising 128 acres, which he pur-
chased of Timius P. Marshall, and there he spent the
remainder of his life, which closed in 1889. As
may be inferred from the various transactions in
real estate referred to, Mr. Slokom was a man of
keen judgment in land values, and he dealt largely
in real estate, having executed over three hundred
title deeds for lands. As a business man he was
recognized by all who knew him to possess superior
ability, which, combined with wonderful energy and
industry, was the means of bringing him a fine com-
petence. His judgment in the ordinary affairs of
life was unusually sound, his practical common
sense and wide knowledge of human nature, applied
to every problem which presented itself, enabling
him to foresee clearly many results to which others
were blind or indifferent. As was natural for a man
of such strong character, he exerted considerable in-
fluence in his section, and he was respected wherever
his name was known. Mr. Slokom was chiefly in-
strumental, in 1882, in the organization of the Chris-
tiana National Bank, of which he was elected presi-
dent, and he held that position until his death. For
over twenty years he was a director in the Lancaster
County Mutual Insurance Co., of which he served as
president a number of years prior to his decease.
Mr. Slokom acted as justice of the peace fifteen
years, and was county commissioner one term. In
1855 he lacked but one vote of receiving the nomina-
tion of his party for the State Senate. His political
affiliation was originally with the Democratic party,
but he voted for Fremont, and from that time was
an active worker in the Republican party.
On Tan. 4, 1837, Samuel Slokom married Mary
Walker, who was born April 6, 1806, in Sadsbury
township, daughter of Isaac and Deborah Walker,
and they had four children who grew to maturity,
Susan, Dora D., Isaac W. and Mary R. Susan is
the wife of Thomas J. Houston. Dora D. married
William H. Sproul, and thev have two children,
Samuel E. and William C. Isaac W. is mentioned
below. Mary R. is the wife of James Sproul, and
they have three children, Dora, Anna and Mary.
Mrs. Mary Slokom died in 1892, and she and her
husband are buried in the old cemetery of the So-
ciety of Friends, in Sadsbury township. Both were
Friends in religious connection, Mr. Slokom join-
ing the Society in 1844.
Isaac W. Slokom was born June 26, 1841, in
Sadsbury township, and attended the district schools
until he was eight years of age, after which he went
to school m Christiana. He was also a student in
the Christiana high school and at the Millersville
Academy, from which he was graduated in 1862.
Following this he read law for a year with Judge
Livingston, and on leaving his office entered the
Chester Valley Bank, as teller, remaining there
until he entered the army for service in the Civil
war, in 1863. He was clerk at Gen. Sheridan's
headquarters to the close of the Rebellion, and after
his return home served one year as deputy county
treasurer. His next position was in the Mechanics
Bank of Lancaster, where he was paying teller for
two years, and for the two years following this con-
nection he was chief clerk and assistant superintend-
ent of the Lancaster Mfg. Co., which conducted
what is now known as the Penn Rolling Mills. He
was then internal revenue collector for a year and a
half, at the expiration of which time he went to
Washington, D. C, to take a position in the Treas-
ury Department, where he was a clerk for two years.
From this time until 1889 Mr. Slokom acted as
cashier of the National Bank of Christiana, in the
latter year succeeding his father in the presidency of
that institution, which he has ever since retained, so
managing the business that it has been successful
far beyond the expectations of its founders. He ,
has also been president of the Christiana Water Co.,
since its organization, in which he was one of the
prime movers. He was also instrumental in the for-
mation of the Christiana Building & Loan Associa-
tion, in 1890, and has been one of the directors from
that time to tlie present.
Mr. Slokom was the first burgess of Christiana
borough, resigning that office after three years' ser-
vice. He served another year after the death of
his successor in that incumbency, but resigned
again, and he has steadfastly refused all offers of
official honors since, though it is not saying too much
to assert that he could have any office in the gift of
his fellow townsmen. He is popular in the Repub-
lican party, and popular in his locality irrespective
of party, and the nomination to such high position
as representative in Congress has been urged upon
him, but he has so far resisted all the efforts of his
friends and enthusiastic townsmen to get him to
assume public duties. His business affairs occupy
a large share of his time, and though he began life
under very favorable circumstances he has made
good use of all his talents, has worked as industri-
ously as any man in his community, and has man-
aged his affairs so ably as to materially increase his
heritage. His property holdings in Christiana and
Sadsbury township are extensive, and well looked
after. Mr. Slokom needs no higher praise than the
simple statement that he is a worthy successor to
his father, whose standing in Lancaster county, both
as a business man and as a citizen generally, is too
well known to need remark here.
In February, 1867, Mr. Slokom was married, in
Winchester, Va., to Laura V. Shyrock, and two chil-
dren cam.e to this union, Samuel and Charles S., both
of whom are in the Christiana National Bank, the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
723
former as cashier, the latter as teller. Samuel mar-
ried Anna Gibney, of Chester county, Pa., and they
have two children, Samuel and Virginia. Charles
is unmarried, and lives with his parents. Mrs.
Slokom was born in Newtown, Frederick Co., Va.,
daughter of Col. Charles E. and Martha Shyrock,
who still live in that State. Col. Shyrock was a
large land owner before the Civil war, which all but
broke down his fortunes, and he was a prominent
man in his section during his active years. He
served as a colonel in the Confederate army during
the Civil war. Mrs. Slokom's paternal great-grand-
father was a colonel under Washington during the
Revolution, and her maternal great-grandfather was
also an officer under that leader in the same struggle.
Mr. Slokom is a member of the Society of
Friends, to which his wife and sons also belong.
JOSEPH K. BRENEMAN, a well-known farm-
er of Manor township, residing two and a half miles
south of Millersville, where he owns fifty-three acres
of what was formerly known as the old Stehman
farm, was born Sept. 30, 1845, on the Breneman
homestead, of which full mention is made in the
Breneman Family sketch, to be found elsewhere.
Joseph K. Breneman was reared to farming on
the parental homestead, southeast of Creswell, and
was educated in the common schools of his district.
At the age of twenty-five years he started in busi-
ness for himself by cultivating the home place for
two years, and he then moved upon Reuben Garber's
farm, where he conducted general farming for twen-
ty years. In 1891, Joseph K. purchased his present
Iiome, and in 1892 took possession, making many
valuable improvements and now owning one of the
best farms of its dimensions in the township, if not
the county.
In 1869 Joseph K. Breneman first married Mary
Eshleman, daughter of Martin Eshleman, and to this
marriage were born four children, viz: Elizabeth
and Annie, deceased; Christian, at home; and Ella,
wife of John Hoover, of Manor township. Mrs.
Mary (Eshleman) Breneman passed away in 1880,
and in 1882 Joseph K. Breneman m.arried Miss Fan-
nie M. Neff , daughter of Jacob Neff, and this union
has been blessed with three children, namely:
Emma and Phares, deceased ; and Amanda, at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Breneman are Mennonites in religion,
and are classed among the county's most worthy citi-
zens.
JACOB C. KREITER, a progressive farmer of
Warwick township, residing one mile from Lititz,
comes of a family which has long been prominent
among the agricultural citizens of Lancaster county.
Christian Kreiter, his grandfather, was born Jan.
3, 1789, and lived and died in Lancaster county, pass-
ing away Jan. i, 1874. He was a farmer for the
greater part of his life, but at one time was inter-
ested in a brewery at Lititz. He belonged to the Old
Whig party and served as a school director for some
time. He married Catharine. Behmer, and they be-
carhe the parents of one child, Solomon, who was the
father of our subject.
Solomon. Kreiter was born April 16, 1827, near
where our subject now resides. He, too, was a
farmer, and followed that Calling until his death,
which occurred May 8, 1863. He was baptized in
the Moravian Church, but eventually joined the
Lutheran Church. Mr. Kreiter married Maria
Grossman, and they were the parents of eight chil-
dren, two of whom died in childhood ; Jacob C. is
our subject; John S. is a physician in Akron, Pa.;
James E. died in 1885 ; David H. and Henry D. are
twins, the former living in Fairland, the latter in
Ephrata, this county ; and Martha M. is the wife of
Levi H. Wissler.
Jacob C. Kreiter was born May 20, 1849, in
Warwick township, on the farm of which he now
owns a part, and where he resides. His father died
when he was a mere lad of fourteen years, and he re-
mained at home with his mother until he was twenty-
three years old, receiving his education in the com-
mon schools of the county, with one term in the State
Normal at Millersville, and two in the Lititz Acad-
emy. He then began life for himself at farming on
the place adjoining the one whereon he now lives.
Pie purchased his home place in 1879, ^^'^ is one of
the respected citizens of Lancaster county, broad-
gauged, public-spirited and fully alive to all the
needs of his community. In politics he is a stanch
Republican, and he has held the office of assessor
since 1891.
On Nov. 14, 1872, Mr. Kreiter wedded Miss
Mary A. Brunner, who was born Dec. 12, 1853,
daughter of Peter and Susan Brunner. To this
union came one child that died in infancy.
DAVID W. KURTZ (deceased). Reverence
for the memory of departed loved ones is .an in-
stinctive attribute of human nature, and it is often
intensified with the lapse of time. Ai the contem-
plative mind in its hours of solitary retrospection
throws back the portals of memory on their resting
hinges, and peers into the caverns where lurk the
recollections of former relations, friends and associ-
ates, a brighter and more hallowed light seems to
enshroud the objects of the mental vision and to give
to them a coloring before unnoticed, or at least but
dimly seen, and through which new characteristics,
so to speak, become perceptible and add to the mel-
ancholy interest felt for the departed loved one, un-
availing though that interest may be; practically
such, however, are the conditions that pervade the
recollection of the late David W. Kurtz.
David W. Kurtz was born Feb. 5, 1830, on the
farm still occupied by his widow and surviving child
in Salisbury township, and died on the same farm in
October, 1884, his i-emains being interred in the
United Evangelical Church cemetery. His parents,
Christian and Anna (Weaver) Kurtz, were also na-
tives of Lancaster count", where Christian was all
724
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
his life a farmer, and where his remains after death
were buried in a private cemetery beside those of
his wife,- both having been devout members of the
Mennonite Church. They were the parents of seven
children, born in the following order, but all now de-
ceased, including the youngest, David W., himself.
To- wit : Maria, who was married to Moses Sharp ;
Susannah, married to Moses Eby; Jonathan, who
married Prudence Good ; Elizabeth, married to Peter
Eby; Joseph, who died in young manhood; Lydia,
who was married to Christopher Umble ; and David
W., whose name is mentioned above.
In January, 1853, David W. Kurtz was married
at the parsonage in Salisbury — the ceremony being
performed by the late Rev. John Wallace — to Miss
Maria Hurst, a most amiable young lady, who was
born June 5, 1829, in Leacock township, a daughter
of Henry and Mary (Varnes) Hurst. To this
union were born two children, namely: Harry H.,
who married Sallie Hamilton, had two children,
Guy (deceased) and Alta M., and is now living re-
tired with his mother, Mrs. David W. Kurtz ;
Laura E., who married Luther Mentzer, a farmer
in Salisbury township, and has had five children,
viz: Herbert, Helen (deceased)", Luella, Ruth and
Guy.
Henry Hurst, father of Mrs. David W. Kurtz,
was a native of Leacock township, was a farmer by
vocation, and a prominent and well-known citizen.
His death occurred Jan. 5, 1856, at the age of sixty-
two years and ten months, and that of his wife in
June, 1848, when forty-two years old — the latter
being of German parentage. The remains of this
honored couple were buried in a private cemetery
in Leacock township, the mother having been a
pious and consistent member of the German Re-
formed Church, while the father, although not a
member, was a constant attendant at the same, and
a liberal contributor to its support. To the marriage
of Henry and Mary (Varnes) Hurst) there were
born seven children in the following order: Mar-
tin, who died young; John, who married Julia Dor-
sey, and lived to be seventy-two ; Hannah, who was
married to David Brisben, and died at twenty-eight ;
Henry, who died young; Maria, now Mrs. David
W. Kurtz; Rebecca and Susan, who died young.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Kurtz were John
and Annie Hurst, of whom more may be learned by
reference to the biographical sketch of M. S. Hurst,
of Leacock township.
The late David W. Kurtz was all his life a
farmer, and passed his entire life on the.i33-acre
homestead on which his birth' took place, and which
came to him by inheritance. While his wife was
and is an earnest member of the United Evangelical
Church, Mr. Kurtz could never be induced to join,
but he was, nevertheless, a sincere Christian and a
constant attendant at the services of the congrega-
tion. He freely contributed financially toward the
maintenance of this, as well as other religious bod-
ies, and to the very deserving work of charity that
was brought to his notice. In promoting works de-
signed for the convenience, comfort and happiness
of the public he was ever foremost, often taking the
initiative in such measures and aiding them prompt-
ly with his capital. He was also prompt and reli-
able in all business transactions, and was quiet and
domestic in his home relations. He possessed a
handsome competence, which has passed into the
hands of his widow, who is making such use of it
as she feels would have pleased her late husband.
Mr. Kurtz was a truly beloved and honored citizen,
whose acquaintance extended all over the township
and into the adjacent country, where his pleasant
ways and cheerful countenance are still cherished in
the memory of his former associates.
M. G. SCHAEFFER, a proiTiinent member of
the Lancaster Bar, is a son of Martin Schaeffer, of
Bareville, whose sketch and ancestry will be found
elsewhere among these annals.
Mr. Schaeffer was born in Earl township July
30, 1868, and- after studying in the schools of the
district, went to Muhlenberg College, from which
he was graduated in 1890. After his graduation,
he entered the law office of the late Judge Brubaker,
and was admitted to practice in the courts of Lan-
caster county, in November, 1893. Two years later
he was admitted to the Supreme Court, and now
practices in that court as well as the. local courts,
the Superior Court, and the United States District
Court. During the three years' term of office of
District Attorney W. T. Brown, Mr. Schaeffer acted
as assistant district attorney, proving a most pains-
taking, efficient and popular official. An ardent Re-
publican, he has been a local campaign orator since
1891, doing most effective service for his party's
cause. He was slated by the Republican State Cen-
tral Committee for State campaigning, but never
took up the work, preferring the local field.
On May 6, 1895, Mr. Schaeffer was married to
Miss Anna M. Light, daughter of Bishop H. E.
Light, of Mountville, a well-known clergyman of
the German Baptist Brethren. Two children have
been born of this union: Elizabeth Dorothy and
Anna Martha. Mr. Schaeffer's law offices are at
No. 13, North Duke street, and his home is at No.
137 PZast James street, in the city of Lancaster. As
one of the younger members of the Lancaster Bar,
Mr. Schaeff'er has been very successful, enjoying the
absolute confidence of a large clientage, and we be-
speak for him continued success, and a constantly
increasing practice in his chosen profession, as the
well merited fruits of industry and close attention to
business.
JACOB EABY. The general farming inter-
ests of Salisbury township, Lancaster county, have
a fitting representative in the person of Jacob Eaby,
an ex-soldier who although in but the prime of life
has attained prominence in the pursuit of agricul-
ture and has secured for himself a competency. He
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
725
was born May i8, 1846, in Intercourse, Leacock
township, a son of Moses and Susannah (Kurtz)
Eaby, the former of whom had been a merchant in
that village for forty years.
Jacob Eaby passed his boyhood days in aiding
his father in his business and in attending school
until a little over seventeen years old, when, seeing
that the slavery propagandists of the South were de-
termined to disrupt the Union rather than see their
pet institution perish for want of new territory in
-which to nourish it, he enlisted, March 24, 1864, for
three years, as a defender of the integrity of the
States, provided the war was not sooner brought to
a close. He was assigned to Co. C, Lieut. Cyrus L.
Eckert, 79th P. V. I., and although he had a part in
■several skirmishes did not have an opportunity of
being engaged in a regular battle, and was honorably
discharged, unhurt, at Alexandria, Va., July 12,
1865, about three months after the close of the
war.
On returning from the army Mr. Eaby re-entered
his father's store, where he remained three years ; he
then went to Kansas and entered 160 acres of land
which, four months later, he abandoned. He then
returned to his old home in Leacock township, Lan-
caster county, worked three years among the farm-
ers, added to his savings and purchased his present
home of fifty acres. At Lancaster, Oct. 10, 1871,-
Mr. Eaby married Miss Lucie E. Murr, the accom-
plished daughter of Isaac and Anna (Glouner)
Murr, of East' Earl township, but her own birth took
place in Leacock township March 31, 1854. Isaac
Murr was a blacksinith by trade, was greatly re-
spected in his community during his long and use-
ful life, and died. March 27, 1898, at the age of sev-
«nt3'-two years ; his wife died in 1865, when she was
but forty-two years old. The remains of both were
interred in Roland's Church cemetery, in Earl town-
ship. To Mr. and Mrs. Murr were born five chil-
dren, namely: Lucie E., now Mrs. Eaby; Joseph,
■a blacksmith, in Leacock township; Maria, wife of
Harry Grover, a milk dealer at Long Branch, N.
J. ; Anna, wife of Newton Hoar ; and Ida, married
to Henry Hoar, a blacksinith at Intercourse, Lan-
caster county. The paternal grandfather of Mrs.
Eaby was Jacob Murr, a farmer of Lancaster coun-
ty, and the maternal grandparents were Jacob and
Anna Glouner, natiyes of Lancaster county. Pa.,
and Germany, respectively.
To the marriage of Jacob and Lucie E. (Murr)
Eaby have been born a family of thirteen children,
all with the exception of Isaac W. still living,
viz: Moses, a farmer in South Hermitage, Salis-
bury township, married to Anna Ayers, who has
borne him four children ; Cora, wife of Frederick
Heim, of Lancaster, is the mother of one child ; Miss
Cecelia M. lives in Philadelphia; Anna M. married
J. Willis Martin, a jeweler, and is living in Savan-
nah, Ga. ; Miss Mary E. resides in Philadelphia ;
Isaac W. died young ; David K. lives in Lancaster ;
Grade M. ; Jason K. and A. Amanda are twins ;
Susan C. ; and Samuel S. and Nellie B. are twins.
The six last named are all at home.
Mr. Eaby is an up-to-date agriculturist, and al-
though his farm comprises but fifty acres it is one
of the best tilled and most productive in the town-
ship of Salisbury. He thoroughly understands his
calling and has. always been industrious and thrifty.
He is a genial, good-natured gentleman and counts
his friends by the score, who all hold him in the high-
est esteem and admire him for his personal merit
and his upright walk through life. In politics Mr.
Eaby is a Republican.
JACOB C. SEITZ comes of an old Lancaster
county family, his grandfather, John Seitz, with his
wife, Annie Garber, having settled in Manor town-
ship in early days. John Seitz was a hard working
farmer ; he was the father of one son, named Jacob
G., who in turn was the father of Jacob C. John had
three brothers, Michael, Jacob and Henry.
Jacob G. Seitz was born in 1814, and died in
1892. He cultivated a farm of three hundred acres,
but ceased active work several years before his
death. He was a man of progressive ideas, stimu-
lated by natiye shrewdness and close observation,
and was noted for his enlightened public spirit. No
well-matured scheme for the general welfare was
ever submitted to him without commanding his
hearty approval and liberal support. In early life
he was an Old Line Whig, but after the formation
of the Republican party he affiliated with that or-
ganization. His fellow citizens attested their con-
fidence in his ability and integrity by elevating him
to various positions of honor and trust. In educa-
tional and sociological matters he cherished a deep
interest. He served as prison inspector and as a
member of the school board, and after the passage
of the new State school law officially aided in carry-
ing it into execution. He was a man of means, and
for many years was a director in the First National
Bank of Columbia. He married Barbara Charles,
who died in her forty-first year. She was the
mother of nine children : Anna, John, Jacob C,
Charles, Amos, Barbara, Elizabeth, Christian and
Henry. The two last named died in early child-
hood. Anna married Henry W. Mann, of Manor.
John is a resident of Mountville, as are also Charles
and Barbara and Amos, none of whom are married.
Elizabeth is the wife of Jacob R. Myers, of Manor
township.
Jacob C. Seitz was born in Manor Oct. 30, 1836.
At the age of twenty-three years he began farming
on his own land, and is today one of Lancaster coun-
ty's most successful agriculturists, owning 123 acres
of choice, highly cultivated land, within a mile of
Mountville. Like his father, he is a man of broad,
advanced views on all questions of public import,
and like him he has made his influence felt in the
community at large. For nine years he served upon
the school board, and he succeeded his father in the
directorate of the First National Bank of Columbia.
726
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Genial and generous, with a heart lenient toward the
failing of others, he is deservedly popular, number-
ing his- friends by scores. He is an enthusiastic
sportsman with both rod and gun, and his home is
filled with trophies of his prowess. He is an expert
taxidermist, and has himself mounted his specimens
with his own hands. He is no less dextrous in wood-
carving, and he exhibits to his friends numerous
specimens of his skill in the form of walking sticks,
embellished with figures symbolic of the achieve-
ments of the sportsman in field and stream, executed
with a boldness and delicacy which might well
awaken envy in the breast of a professional artist.
Mr. Seitz has been twice married. His first wife
was Lucy Ann, a daughter of Joseph Stoner, to
whom he was united in 1857. The issue of this mar-
riage was two sons, Joseph and Clayton, both of
whom are Manor township farmers. On Sept. 30,
1866, Mr. Seitz was married to Elizabeth, a daugh-
ter of Benjamin K. Lehman; her mother, before
marriage, was Elizabeth Newcomer. One daughter
has been born to them : Mary E. L., who graduated
from the State Normal School, at Millersville in
1899, and lives with her parents. Her first actual
experience as a teacher was during_ the winter of
1899-1900. Mrs. Seitz is a member of the Mennon-
ite Church.
BENJAMIN W. HERSHEY, who entered into
rest Feb. 3, 1902, aged forty-nine years, four months
and twenty-two days, was a contractor and builder
of Landisville, Pa., and was one of the leading citi-
zens of Lancaster county. He was born on a farm
in West tiempfield township, this county, Sept. 11,
1852, son of John N. and Mary (Witmeyer) Her-
shey, both of whom were natives of Lancaster
county.
John Hershey, Sr., his grandfather, married
Mary Nolt, and they reared a large family. Mr.
Hershey was not an industrious farmer, preferring
the pleasures of hunting and kindred sports, but hav-
ing inherited a large fortune, it was not a necessity
for him to till the soil.
John N. Hershey, son of John, Sr., and father of
Benjamin W., was born on' the farm near Silver
Springs, in West Hempfield township, where he re-
mained for twenty-one years, removing then to the
Hoffman Flershey farm in West Hempfield town-
ship, where he lived six years. He then came to
his farm of eighteen acres in East Hempfield town-
ship, .within one mile of the village of Landisville,
and here he lived until his death, in 1883, at the age
of sixty-five years, his birth having been in 18 18.
John Hershey was married to Mary Witmeyer, and
she still resides in the village of Landisville. They
had a family of thirteen children, and Benjamin W.
was the third in order of birth.
Benjamin W. Hershey acquired his education in
the public schools, and remained at home until the
age of twenty-three years, beginning then a trade
in which he afterward attained such marked success.
For two years after finishing his apprenticeship to
the carpenter trade he worked as a journeyman, and
then, at his father's request, returned home, renting
what was known as the John Hess farm. This he
operated in connection with his trade, and by his
industry and energy became the owner of consider-
able property, and reared a family of seven children
in comfort, giving them educational advantages, and
at his death he was considered one of the substantial
citizens of the county.
Mr., Hershey owned his residence tract near
Landisville, and also'a valuable building lot in Rohr-
erstown. He assisted in the erection of many of the
most substantial and imposing buildings in the beau-
tiful city of Lancaster, his work being seen in the
Western Market house, also in Rohrerstown; the
Mennonite Church and the school building, while
a great number of the commodious and convenient
barns which make Lancaster county known to the
tourist as a prosperous agricultural section were
erected by his skill and mechanical knowledge. Mr.
Hershey was one of the examples of capable indus-
try who are always found where prosperity reigns,,
for when the winter settled down, and both farming
and carpenter work were at a stand-still, he assisted
his farmer neighbors in their butchering, this being
a very important branch of agricultural industry.
Few men in this locality displayed more energy or
industry than did Mr. Hershey, and few men were
more thoroughly esteemed. Mr. Hershey was a de-
voted and consistent member of the German Baptist
Church, and in 1899 he was ordained a deacon, an
honor which was well deserved,' as he was a sincere
and conscientious man.
On Dec. 5, 1878, Mr. Hershey was married to
Miss Emma Dietrich, and a famih' of seven chil-
dren were born to this union: Dora, who is a
teacher in the public schools ; Milton, a brakeman ;
Samuel, a clerk in a store; Franklin, Emma, Mary
andjohn, at home. Mrs. Hershey was born on the
old Andrew Kauffman farm near Landisville Dec.
17, i860, a daughter of Samuel H. and Mary (Stew-
art) Dietrich, the former of whom is still surviving
at the age of seventy-six years, in Bamford, the
mother having died Jan. 12, 1898, at the age of sixty-
six years, two months and twenty-six days. She
was a most worthy member of the German Baptist
Church, a devoted mother, excellent wife and kind
neighbor. Mr. Dietrich is a consistent member of
the Lutheran Church.
GEORGE L. BUCKWALTER. Prominent
among the leading citizens of East Lampeter town-
ship is George L. Buckwalter, a popular and pro-
.gressive member of an old and honored family of
the county. Although now living a retired life, he
formerly was well and favorably known through this
locality as a successful stockdealer, and an excellent
man of business.
George L. Buckwalter was born on the farm of
which he is the present owner, located in East Lam-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
727
peter township, on the Williamstown pike road, lo-
cally known as the old Philadelphia road. His par-
ents were Martin and Ann (Lefever) Buckwalter,
the former of whom was a son of John Buckwalter,
Sr., and a brother of John Jr., and Eliza. One
daughter of John Buckwalter, Sr., Susanna, de-
ceased, married first Hugh Moore, and later became
the wife of Tobias Leaman, who now lives retired
at Millersville, with his son's widow ; and Elizabeth
married Abram Leaman.
The original title, in the Buckwalter family, to
the lands now owned by George L., was held by
grandfather John Buckwalter, who improved the
property with out-buildings, and who also erected
two stone dwellings, facing from opposite sides of
the road, this location being formerly of some note,
being famous under the name of "Running Pump
Hotel," and the first proprietor of this comfortable
hostelry was John Buckwalter, Sr., and at his death
he was succeeded by his son, John.
The children of Martin and Ann Buckwalter
were: Maria, the widow of Christian Rohrer;
Susan, deceased wife of Isaac Bushong; Sarah, the
wife of Plenry Leaman ; Eliza, deceased wife of
David Lefever ; Annie ; and. George L. The par-
ents of this family were buried in the old Mellinger
burying ground. They were good and consistent
members of the German Reformed Church.
George L. Buckwalter grew to manhood on the
farm, with only common school advantages, and he
has been a very successful agriculturist and has been
identified with much of the progress of East Lamp-
eter township. Politically he is a stanch Republi-
can. In 1874 he wedded Eliza E. Esbenshade, whose
death occurred in 1878. For his second wife he
married Miss Fanny Herr, fifth child of John and
Fanny (Kreider) Herr, both of whom were of the
Reformed Mennonite faith. They now rest in the
old Longenecker cemetery.
The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Buckwalter
were: Christian K. died uninarried in 1855, at the
age of twenty-two; Abraham K. married Serena
Diller, and died in 1896, at the age of sixty-two
years; Anna, who died March 21, 1886, aged forty-
eight years, was the wife of Franklin Bowman, and
left one daughter, Annetta H., a charming and ac-
complished woman ; Amos K. married Lizzie Kohr,
daughter of John Kohr, and has one son, John K. ;
and Sue A. married Dr. B. F. Herr, of Millersville,
and has one daughter, Fannie M.
WITMER. The name of Witmer has long been
known and respected in Lancaster county. David
Witmer passed a long and useful life there, leaving
behind him the record of an exemplary life, as a
minister in the Old Mennonite Church, as an ex-
cellent and industrious farmer, kind neighbor and
devoted care-taker of his family. For a number of
years he officiated at the Mellinger meeting house,
well known in his locality. He married Annie Rutt,
and they became the parents of eleven children, all
but two of these reaching maturity: Jacob, a re-
tired farmer, lives in East Lampeter township;
Abram was a farmer and tobacco dealer; David;
Hettie is unmarried; Annie is the widow of Chris-
tian Kendig ; Mary, deceased, was the wife of Eman-
ual Herr; Elizabeth died unmarried; Barbara, de-
ceased, the wife of Christian Frey ; and Benjamin R.
Benjamin R. Witmer was born in East Lampeter
township in 1838, and during a life that reached to
1888 he devoted his time to agricultural pursuits, be-
coming one of the most successful farmers of this
locality. His well-tilled fields and excellent improve^
ments testify to his thrift and good management.
His most estimable wife was Mary Kreider, and ten
children were born to them, two of whom died in
infancy, the others attaining maturity and becoming,
some of the most highly esteemed residents of this
part of Lancaster county. These are: Annie K.,
the wife of Elias Myer ; John K., the farmer on the
old homestead ; Mary K. ; Amos K., a farmer of
East Lampeter township; Benjamin K., a farmer
also of East Lampeter township ; David K., a farm-
er of Leacock township ; Daniel G., a farmer of Lan-
caster township; and Esther K., at home. Both
parents were worthy members of the Old Mennon-
ite Church, and no family in the township is held
in higher esteem.
AMOS A. WEAVER, one of the progressive and
substantial farmer-citizens of Lancaster county, who
owns and occupies the old family homestead in
Strasburg township, was born March 9, 1852, a son
of Henry K. and Christianna (Hoover) Weaver.
Henry K. Weaver was born Sept. 7, 1823, in
Juniata county. Pa. His father died when he was a
small boy, and soon after this affliction the mother
with four of her children moved into Lancaster coun-
ty. After some residence in Providence township
the mother married Tobias Kreider, and the chil-
dren of her first marriage became scattered. These
were : George ; Samuel, who married the daughter
of Simon Groff : Catherine ; and Henry K., the fa-
ther of the subject of this sketch. A man by the
name of Yordy took Henry K. as an apprentice on
his farm, and there he was reared and later learned
the tailoring trade, with John Raub, in Martinsville,
working at this for some eight years, and gave it up
in order to give his attention to farming, which had
always been a favorite occupation. In 1878 he
bought a farm of seventy-nine acres of fine, valuable
land, located three miles south of the borough of
Strasburg, and here he spent the remainder of his
days, his death occurring March 15, 1891. Through
life he had been a consistent member of the Reformed
Mennonite Church. On Oct. 16, 1845, he was mar-
ried to Christianna Hoover, a daughter of Abraham
Hoover, who was born in Strasburg township Oct.
I, 1822, and died Aug. i, 1883, the mother of eleven
children: Mary Emma, born in July, 1846, resides
on the old homestead; Gideon, born in September,
1848, died in 1852 ; Ada, born in January, 1850, mar-
728
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ried John E. Lantz, of Strasburg township; Amos
A., born in March, 1852 ; Hettie, born in November,
1853, married Jacob Weaver, a machinist ; Barbara,
born in October, 1855, resides with her brother, on
the old homestead; Milo H., born in September,
1857, is a farmer and stockraiser of Strasburg town-
ship; Catherine Amanda, born in November, 1859,
died in Februar)% 1878; John F., born in November,
1861, a miller by trade, resides in Providence town-
ship; Samuel Albert, born in. April, 1863, is a resi-
dent of Easton, Md., where he manages a creamery ;
and Enos George, born in February, 1867, died in
July, 1889.
Amos A. Weaver, who resides upon the old
homestead, has devoted the greater part of his life
to farming interests, although he learned the black-
smith trade, when younger. His line has been gen-
eral farming, and since taking charge of the old place
he has added land imtil he now owns ninety-two
acres, and this he has improved until he possesses
one of the best properties in the neighborhood. Both
he and his sisters are devoted and consistent mem-
bers of the Reformed Mennonite Church, where
they are valued for their Christian life and char-
acter. The family is one of the most highly re-
spected in Strasburg township.
ALBERT ROSENSTEIN, the senior member,
of the well-known business corporation known as
the Lancaster Silver Plate Company, manufacturers
of umbrella, parasol and cane mounts and fine natural
sticks, with a New York office at No. 89 Franklin
street, is one of the leading and substantial citizens
of Lancaster.
Albert Rosenstein was born in Lancaster June
29, 1854, a son of Levi and Caroline (Strauss) Ros-
enstein, the former a native of Hanover, Prussia,
and the latter of the vicinity of Frankfort. Both
came to Philadelphia in 1850, where they met and
were married, and later located in Lancaster, where
Mr. Rosenstein engaged in the grocery business for
a period of forty years, living retired thereafter until
his death, which occurred in February, 1897. His
burial took place in Lancaster. Mr. Rosenstein was
one of those careful, quiet, conservative business
men, whose excellent methods and untiring industry
invariably bring them success. His widow, now
aged seventy-five years, is an esteemed resident of
Lancaster. The children born to these most estima-
ble people are among the most respected residents
of Lancaster county : Albert is one of the propri-
etors of the Lancaster Silver Plate Company ; Ros-
alie married M. H. Marx; Miss Hattie conducts a
millinery establishment in Lancaster; Morris is a
cigar manufacturer of Lancaster; Emma married
Isadore Goldberg, a cigar manufacturer and jobber,
of Coatesvile, Pa. ; Isaac represents the Silver Plate
Company in New York.
Albert Rosenstein was educated in the public
schools of Lancaster, attending up to the age of thir-
teen years, when he went to New Yprk City, and
there entered the employ of J. Rosenthal & Co., im-
porters of fancy goods, with which firm he contin-
ued until he was twenty years of age. Then he re-
turned to Lancaster to engage in business for him-
self, embarking first in a wholesale notion business,
but soon changing to merchant tailoring, in which
for five years he was a leader in Lancaster. Mr.
Rosenstein attracted the very best and most critical
custom of the city, and conducted the businejs until
the present company was organized, when he sold
his former establishment to Robert Pierce.
In 1887, with a force of thirty hands, Mr. Rosen-
stein, in partnership with M. W. Fraim, organized
the I^ancaster Silver Plate Company, which has
gradually increased in magnitude until employment
is now given to 250 hands, and a New York office is
necessary to handle the constantly increasing trade,
which extends all over the United States and Europe.
In 1894 occurred the death of Mr. Fraim, and Mr.
Rosenstein continued alone until 1898, when he sold
a half interest to H. Z. Rhoads, who is the other
member of the present firm. Theirs is the largest
umbrella, parasol and cane mounting establishment
in the world, and they not only sell but purchase
choice goods and raw materials in every land.
In February, 1875, Mr. Rosenstein was united in
marriage with Hannah Rosenthal, who was born in
Philadelphia, a daughter of Jacob and Lefta (Et-
tinger) Rosenthal, natives of Germany who came to
America in 1845, ^''"i engaged in the manufacture
of clothing in Philadelphia, Mr. Rosenthal becom-
ing one of the largest manufacturers of his day. He
died in 1887, aged seventy years ; he had been retired
from business for some time. His widow survived
until 1892, dying at the age of sixty-eight.
To Mr. and Mrs. Rosenstein have been borji
three children, namely : Edwin I., who is in his
father's employ; Florence, who married Isadore
Rosenthal, Esq., an attorney of Lancaster ; and Miss
Helene, at home. Mr. Rosenstein is of a social tem-
perament, genial and ' affable, and is identified with
the following fraternities : K. of P., I. O. O. F., I. O.
B. B., Royal Arch. In politics he supports the Re-
publican party. His religious membership is with
the Temple Shairry Shomaim.
Mr. Rosenstein lives a busy life, looking care-
fully after his business interests, as befits one with
so large a capital at stake, while his civic pride and
social obligations also command much of his time
and attention. In every way he ranks with the lead-
ing citizens of Lancaster.
EZRA PFAUTZ. When death removed Ezra
Pfautz, at the early age of twenty-four years, there
passed out of life one of the most honorable and es-
teemed citizens of Warwick township, Lancaster
county, a quiet, just and unassuming man, who lived
a most estimable life in the discharge of his daily
duties, leaving behind him a memory that will long
be tenderly cherished.
Ezra Pfautz was a son of John and Mary (Roy-
^^1-^^^^E.^ v/WZ^^:^^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
729
er) Pfautz, of Warwick township, the former one
of the most prominent men of Lancaster county, and
the latter connected with one of the old and honored
families, both paternal and maternal names being
known among the earliest settlers.
John Pfautz, the grandfather, was of German
origin, and became one of the wealthiest farmers of
Lancaster county. He reared a most estimable fam-
ily of children, these being : Daniel, Mary, Joel, John,
Ephraim, Lydia, Leah and Annie, all of them being
•consistent members of the German Baptist Church,
and all of them haying now passed out of life.
John Pfautz (2), son of John and father of Ezra,
was the father of four children : Elias, Joseph and
Ezra, deceased ; and John Jr., who lives in Elston-
ville, Manheim township, where he is a thrifty
farmer.
Ezra Pfautz was born May 10, 1845, and died
Jan. 21, 1870, in the flower of his youth, leaving be-
hind him a devoted wife, Susanna (Rupp) Pfautz,
whom he had married Nov. 7, 1867, and an infant
■daughter, Matilda, born March 25, 1869, she being
now the representative of the sixth generation of
the name in America.
Thirteen years ago Mrs. Pfautz and her daugh-
ter removed to Ephrata, buying at that time the valu-
able property located at No. 32 West Main street,
where they established themselves in handsome
style. They are regarded as not only among the
most substantial, but the most highly respected,
among the residents of the borough. They are
highly valued and consistent members of the Ger-
man Reformed Church, at Ephrata, giving liberally
to its support, and are interested in its benevolent
and charitable enterprises.
During life Ezra Pfautz was an honest, indus-
trious and God-fearing man, a kind husband and
father, and one of the best of neighbors and most
excellent of citizens. Such men are an honor to a
neighborhood, and at their death are deeply deplored.
PRESTON E. HANNUM, who is postmaster
at Christiana, where he has been engaged for many
years as a cattle dealer, was born in 'Aston township,
Delaware Co., Pa., Sept. 27, 1851, a son of William
and Anna (Eyre) Hannum, both natives of Dela-
ware coimty.
WilHam Hannum was a son of Aaron and Sarah
(Mercer) Hannum, farming people of Delaware
county. He, too, was in his earlier life a farmer, but
became a miller when he was about forty years old,
making milling his occupation for the rest of his
active life. He died in August, 1884, at the age of
sixty-three. His widow, whose maiden name was
Anna Eyre, survived until 1900, when she too passed
away, at the ripe age of seventy-three years. Will-
iam Hannum held various township offices, was jus-
tice of the peace, and school director, and in his time
a very active and public-spirited citizen. Both he
and his wife were members of the Friends Associa-
tion. To them were born the following children:
Sally, who married Hayes Clark, a farmer of Chester
county. Pa. ; Preston E., whose name appears at the
opening of this article ; Belle W., a teacher in Bucks
county ; Rebecca E., who married George Hoopes, a
farmer in Chester county ; Harriet W., who married
J. Edson Shallcross, a resident of Coatesville, Pa.;
Frank M., in the lumber business at Christiana;
Walter, in Chester county ; and George W., with our
subject.
On April 18, 1878, Preston E. Hannum was mar-
ried, in Atglen, Chester Co., Pa., to Lottie E. Philips,
by whom he has had the following children : John P. ;
Sarah and Anna, who are dead ; William ; and Caro-
line B. Mrs. Lottie E. (Philips) Hannum was born
in Atglen, a daughter of John M. and Sarah (Jones)
Philips, both natives of Chester county. Her fa-
ther, who was a farmer, died in Chester county, and
her mother, born July 28, 1819, died July 19, 1902.
Mr. Hannum remained on his father's farm until
he was thirteen years old, when he entered the mill,
and learned the milling trade under the parfental
care and direction. He was engaged in the opera-
tion of the mill until 1884, when he sold it, and turn-
ing his attention to the cattle business, soon built up
a very good trade. He was appointed postmaster
June I, 1897, and by his genial disposition, business
abilities and accommodating disposition he has made
a host of friends since his accession to the postmas-
tership. Mr. Hannum has been school director for
thirteen years, and clerk of the borough since its
incorporation. For the past ten years he has been
on the County committee. In politics he is a Repub-
lican, and in religion a member of the Baptist
Church. His standing in the community in every
way is beyond question, and he is numbered among
the leading citizens of Christiana.
JACOB PICKEL, one of the successful and rep-
resentative farmers and dairymen of Sadsbury town-
ship, was born in Bart township, this county, Sept.
1, 1845, son of Leonard and Mary E. (Miller)
Pickel, natives of Bart and Pequea townships.
Leonard Pickel was a man well and favorably
known in this county, and was equally at home in the
trades of farmer, cooper, carpenter and horse dealer.
His business connections were extensive, and it was
while he was attending to some large transaction in
Ogden, LTtah, in 1881, that he died, at the age of
sixty-five years. The mother survived until Sept.
2, 1895, dying at the age of seventy-two years. For
many years Leonard Pickel was a prominent man
in Lancaster county, was poor director and county
commissioner for some years. The children born
to Leonard Pickel and wife were: Ross M., who
died at the age of sixty years ; Ephraim, who is a
farmer and carpenter, in Paradise township ; Jacob ;
Samuel G., a farmer of Sadsbury township ; ElUs, a
grocery merchant of Lancaster : Saminah, deceased,
who married James Martin ; Elizabeth E., who mar-
ried Jonathan Hoke, of Illinois ; and Flora, who mar-
ried Ray Reed; a bookkeeper, in Lancaster.
7S0
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Until his marriage. Jacob Pickel remained with
his parents, assisting his father in his various lines
of business. The seventeen months succeeding his
marriage were employed in the smelting furnace in
Paradise township, and then he accepted the man-
agement of a farm of 218 acres, in Salisbury town-
ship, for Joseph Warton, and continued with him, as
his reliable and efficient superintendent, for a period
of thirty years. In 1899 he moved to his present
well-cultivated and valuable farm, purchasing the
same from Samuel Fogle. Here Mr. Pickel has
made many valuable improvements, and now owns
one of the best farms in this locality.
In February, 1869, in the Presbyterian parson-
age, in Bart township, Jacob Pickel married Mary
E. Smith, and the children born to this union are:
Esther M., who graduated from Millersville State
Normal School in 1892, married William P. Hoar,
a lumber merchant of California ; Leonard C, who
married Cora Wise, daughter of Jacob Wise, has
one child, and is a farmer in Chester county; Mary
F., who married William Virtue, a farmer of Sads-
bury township, has two children; Leeta M., is a
music teacher, at home ; and Emma R. is at home.
Mrs. Pickel was born in Paradise township July
6, 1848, a daughter of Stewart and Mary A.
(Worth) Smith, both of Chester county. Shortly
'after their marriage they settled in Paradise town-
ship, where they became farmers, and there he died
in 1885, at the age of seventy-six years, her death also
being in April, 1885, at the age of sixty-four years.
Both were members of the Presbyterian Church, and
both were buried in the cemetery at Octoraro. Their
children were : Susannah, the widow of Jesse
Pickel, of Chester county; Hester, the widow of
Lewis Pickel, of Sadsbury township ; Emma, who
married Miller Mendenhall, of Bart township ; Rob-
ert, of Sadsbury township ; Miller, deceased ;
Phoebe, who married Aaron Harnish, of Chester
county; Joseph, of Philadelphia: and Mary E., Mrs.
Jacob Pickel.
Mr. Pickel is a leading member of the M. E.
Church in this locality, and has long been promi-
nently identified with the Republican party. His
upright dealing and kind neighborliness have made
him many friends in the township, and he is much
respected.
DAVID HUBER. In its farming community is
found the bone and sinew of a State's prosperity.
Questionable is it if any other profession is so well
represented in the legislative bodies of the State, and
her prominence in the Union is gauged not by her
population, but by the value of her agricultural prod-
ucts. In Lancaster county are located a number of
old and wealthy agricultural families who have for
many years done worthy service in placing their sec-
tion favorably before the country, and among these
is the Huber family, well and favorably known all
through the countv.
Henry Huber, the grandfather of David Huber,
of whom this biography is written, was reared on
Beaver Creek, south of Strasburg, where he owned
and operated a large property. He spent his whole
life there, engaged in its improvement. His wife
was Ann Plerr, a granddaughter of Rev. Christian
Herr, who came from Switzerland in 1709, with his
father, Hans Herr. Henry and Ann (Herr) Huber
had a family of nine children : Henry, John, David,
Christian, Jacob, Abraham, Fannie (who married
John Rush), Ann (who married Jacob Herr), and
Maria (who died single). The mother of this fam-
ily lived a long and eventful life, her birth taking
place far back in the i8th century, and her experi-
ences being those of early pioneer days. For seventy
years she was a devout member of the Mennonite
Church, and was noted for her Christian piety. At
the age of ninety-two she passed away, leaving be-
hind her an example worthy to be emulated by her
descendants,
Henry Huber, the eldest child of this family, was
born near Strasburg in 1773, and his death occurred
in 184.9. Early in his business life he engaged in
tcammg, his route being between Wilmington and
Philadelphia to other points of more or less dis-
tance, as at that time the most of the transportation
had to be accomplished in this way, but previous to
his marriage he located on a farm in Lampeter town-
ship, consisting of 120 acres, which belonged to his
mother. There he made many valuable improve-
ments in the way of fences, planting of orchards,
draining and the erection of commodious and suita-
ble buildings, and as this property later came into
his possession, he remained upon it until his removal
to the fine estate now owned by David Huber, this
location taking place in 1822. This fine property was
originally owned by Hans Herr, and descended in
line to the son. Rev. Christian Herr, and ever since
has been in the family, with the exception of a few
years, when it was owned by the Withers family.
The father of David Huber purchased and restored
it to the family. Henry Huber lived upon this place
until the time of his decease, a quiet, domestic man,
at peace with his neighbors, and a worthy member
of the Mennonite Church.
Henry Huber married Veronica Buckwalter, of
near Muddy Creek, Lancaster county, and her life
extended over seventy-six years, filled with good
deeds. She was also a consistent member of the
Mennonite Church. Eight children were born to
this worthy couple: Mary, deceased, married Da-
vid Hess, a deacon in the Mennonite Church ; Susan,
deceased, married Peter Huber ; Christian became an
extensive farmer on the place in West Lampeter
township, on which his father had settled, and is
now deceased; Ann, deceased, married Nathaniel
Harnish; Fannie, deceased, married Jonathan,
Stauffer; Elizabeth, deceased, married first John
Harnish, and second, Adam Gochnauer ; Martha,
deceased, married Samuel Burkholder ; and David.
David Huber was born Sept. 4, 1822, and was
reared on the farm which he now occupies, receiving
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
731
his education in the public schools of his locality. As
his father was the owner of large properties, young
Huber found sufficient work to engage his atten-
tion as soon as he had finished his school days, and in
the course of time came into possession of the home
farm of seventy-five acres, which he has managed,
since proving himself to be one of the successful ag-
riculturists of the county. In connection with this
estate, David Huber also owns other valuable prop-
erty, both in this county and in some of the Western
States. A man of recognized probity, he has been
entrusted with the management of many estates and
has administered them with judgment and justice.
By the rectitude of his life he has won the confidence
and esteem of all, being called upon to identify him-
self with some of the most important public interests
of the place. For many years he was a business
leader, for twenty years was a director in the Lan-
caster County Bank, in which he is also a stockholder,
and was one of the promoters of the Southern Market
House.
David Huber has twice married, his first wife
having been Elizabeth Good, a daughter of Christian
Good, of Pequea township, and three children were
born of this union : Frank, who is an extensive farm-
er and stockraiser in Missouri, located twenty miles
south of Kansas City, near Belton, in Cass county ;
Catherine, who married Amos Good, of West Lam-
peter township ; and one that died in infancy. The
mother of these children died in 1848. The second
marriage of David Huber was to Maria McCartney,
a daughter of John McCartney, of Pequea township,
and to this union four children were born : Amos,
an extensive farmer of Cass county. Mo. ; John, who
resides at home, engaged in the tobacco packing
business, and who is one of the directors in the
Southern Market Plouse of Lancaster city; Mary,
who married Martin Hess, of Pequea township ; and
David H.. a farmer of West Lampeter township, and
a member of the school board. For many years Da-
vid Huber has been a member of the Mennonite
Church, and is one of its most esteemed and consist-
ent attendants. Although advanced in years, he is
still possessed of much of the keen business ability
of youth, and is quite capable of attending to the
business which his large property entails. The fam-
ily is one of honor and respectability in Lancaster
countv.
1
JAMES P. MARSI-T, a general metchant and
highly esteemed citizen of Gap, Pa., was born in this
town Oct. 22, 1846, son of Jehu and Rosanna Marsh,
more extended notice of the family being found else-
where.
Mr. Marsh was reared in his native village and
acquired his education in the district schools. He
early manifested an inclination for a business life
and began his successful career in the capacity of
clerk in the employ of Coates & Thomas Marsh. In
1869 he went to Smyrna, in Sadsbury township,
where he was engaged in clerking, when he was ap-
pointed postmaster by President Johnson. In 1873
he left Smyrna and spent one year as a farmer in
Sadsbury township, and then became traveling rep-
resentative for R. J. Houston. On year later he re-
turned to his clerical work, in the employ of the
Nickel Mine store, which was then under the man-
agement of Hon. Milton Heidelbaugh, in which sit-
uation he continued for three years. He then was
engaged on the mine farm for a period of eight
months, when he took charge of Esquire Frees' store
which was located in Georgetown, Pa. In 1878 after
this varied experience, Mr. Marsh returned to Gap,
and in partnership with his father, engaged in a gen-
eral mercaBtile business, and since the death of his
father has operated it alone.
Since assuming sole charge of this business, Mr.
Marsh has enlarged its original scope and propor-
tions fully one-half, and now carries a large and
varied stock, second to none in quantity or quality,
in this locality. Under the first administration of
President Cleveland, Mr. Marsh was postmaster at
Gap, having been a stanch Democrat at that time.
With many others of his political faith, he changed
his views when Bryan was the nominee for President,
and cast his vote for the late President McKinley.
For a long period Mr. Marsh was a leading mem-
ber" of the Old Democracy in this locality, and very
often was sent as a delegate to the county and State
conventions. Mr. Marsh is a liberal supporter of the
Methodist Church, to which his whole family be-
longs, and he is a leader in all public movements look-
ing to the advancement of his town.
Mr. Mar.sh was married (first) in 1871, in Sads-
bury township, to Miss Julia Rockey, and two daugh-
ters, Anna and Ida, born to this union, both died in
infancy. Julia (Rockey) Marsh was born in Sads-
bury township, a daughter of Leonard Rockey, a
farmer in the township, and she died in 1875, at the
age of twenty-five. The second marriage of Mr.
Marsh occurred Sept. 5, 1876, in Bart township,
when Miss Sally J. Johnson became his wife. She
was born near Oxford, Chester county, Aug. 3, 1854,
daughter of William and Mary (Speakman) John-
son, the former of whom was a wheelwright by
trade and a resident of Chester county all his life;
there he died Feb. 20. 1897, at the age of sixty-four
years. The death of the mother of Mrs. Marsh oc-
curred in 1893, when she was aged sixty-two years,
and both "parents were interred in the cemetery con-
nected with the Union Methodist Church at Notting-
ham, of which they were members. Their children
were as follows : Rev. Charles B., who is a minis-
ter located at Strasburg; Mary A., who married
Frank Thompson, a farmer near Des Moines, Iowa;
William B., who resides at Andrews Bridge, in Lan-
caster county; Flarry, who is the foreman of the
Pullman Car shops at Wilmington, Del. ; Harvey,
who is a carpenter in Philadelphia ; and Frank, who
is a carpenter in Strasburg; Mrs. Marsh being the
second of the family. Her paternal grandparents
were James and Jane (Alexander) Johnson, natives
732
BIOGRAPHICAI. ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of England who came to America and lived out their
lives in Chester county, engaged in farming. The
maternal grandparents were Joshua B. and Sarah
(Mahlan) Speakman, who were English Quakers
who settled for life in Chester county. The family
born to Mr. and Mrs. Marsh have all been spared to
them, and are as follows : Alice F., who acceptably
taught school for one year, and is now in her father's
store ; Mary A., who has graduated with high honors
at Millersville, and has been a successful teacher for
the past four years ; and Mabel E., James G. C,
Frances F. and Sarah H., all remaining at home. So-
cially the family is prominent, and all number a wide
circle of friends.
HENRY C. MILLER, of Rohrerstown, is one
of the leading business men of his section of Lan-
caster county. He was born March 2, 1850, in
East Hempfield township, this county, son of An-
drew Miller, and grandson of Henry Miller.
Henry Miller was a land owner in Lancaster
county, where he was born and where he spent his
entire life. He was a devout member of the Men-
nonite Church, and all who knew him respected him
for the faith which he so earnestly upheld. He mar-
ried a Miss Shenck, and to them were born six chil-
dren: Andrew, Henry, John, Jacob, Adeline 'and
Anna. The last named married Philip Hottenstein,
now deceased.
Andrew Miller was born in East Hempfield
township in 18 12, and received a practical education
in the public schools. Like his father, he followed
agricultural pursuits, owning a valuable tract of 200
acres. In politics he was a Republican after the
formation of that party, and loyal to its principles,
but he never sought office, content to use his influ-
ence in a quiet way. Mr. Miller married Susan
Greider, daughter of Jacob Greider, a farmer of
East Hempfield township, and to this union came sev-
en children, as follows : Elizabeth, Phares, Adeline,
Clara, Annie, Andrew and Henry C. The father
died March 28, 1861, and was followed to the better
land by his good wife in July, 1892, when she was in
her sixty-sixth year. Mrs. Miller was also a mem-
ber of the Mennonite Church.
Henry C. Miller was reared on his father's farm,
where he received a thorough training to agricul-
tural work in all its branches. During his boyhood
he attended the local school. On starting out for
himself he engaged in farming, carrying on a good
sized place until 1885, when he purchased a gristmill
in the township. In 1890 he took up the business of
a coal and feed merchant, succeeding Jacob Mauk
in this line. Mr. Miller still continues in both enter-
prises, having from the start met with success which
exceeded his highest expectations. The business
has doubled within the last ten years, and is, still
on the increase. All this has been brought about by
Mr. Miller's unfaltering desire to please his patrons,
to deal honorably with all, and to retain the esteem
of those with whom he is associated, whether in com-
mercial or private life. His business interests have
naturally received the greater share of his attention,
but though he has given up the active work of farm-
ing, he still owns forty-two acres of fine land. The
busiest citizens of a commimity, those who come, in
daily contact with every phase of its life, know best
the public needs and are most concerned in the gen-
eral progress. Mr. Miller is no exception to this,
and he has ever taken a deep interest in the advance-
ment of his town and county. Though not an ofiflce
seeker, he has consented to serve as township audi-
tor, which incumbency he has filled, it is scarcely
necessary to say, satisfactorily, for the past ten
years. In political opinion he is still a strong Re-
publican.
On Nov. 9, 1875, Mr. Miller was married to
Miss Elenora I3inkley, daughter of William Bink-
ley, of East Hempfield township, now deceased.
This union has been blessed by one daughter, Alice
B., who in 1898 became the wife of W. Scott Bush-
ong; they have one child, Blanch. Mr. and Mrs.
Bushong occupy a fine residence erected by Mr.
Miller, with whom he is associated in business, as
clerk and part owner.
JOHN M. WADE presents in his own life an
illustration of the value of natural intelligence, grit
and honorable and persistent effort.
John Wade, his father, was born in the North of
Ireland, but came to the United States when a young
man, landing in Philadelphia,, and eventually settling
in Butler county, where he entered into the life of
a farmer.
John M. Wade was born July 20, 1861, and he
acquired his education in the neighboring schools.
When he was thirteen years of age he went to Parker
City, in the oil regions, there securing employment
with a furniture dealer and undertaker. At the age
of seventeen he came back to Butler county, and at-
tended the district school for two winters, and for
a time he attended the North Washington Academy,
later engaging as a teacher. He attended Curry
University and Union Business College, Pittsburg,
Pa., where he took two courses, and then engaged in
teaching in Michigan. His schooling was finally
completed at the Northern Indiana Normal School,
Valparaiso, Indiana, sustaining himself by teaching
and tutoring among the students there attending,
until he could graduate. This occurred in 1884, and
for five years after he was a teacher in a business
college at Wilmington, Del. From there Mr. Wade
went to Wilkesbarre, where he purchased a half inter-
est in a business college, which he held for a year,
and then selling it, located in Lebanon, where in July,
1895, he established the Pennsylvania Business Col-
lege, and in June of the following year the College
was removed to Lancaster, and located in the Eshle-
man Law Building. At once the College sprang into
prosperity, and its increased patronage demanded a
more commodious location in the Frey Building,
Nos. 7 and 5 East King street, whither it was re-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
733
moved in the early part of 1899. By the following
spring the school demanded the use of the entire
second, third and fourth floors of that great build-
ing, and there, ending with July, 1900, one hundred
and seventy-five young men and women were gradu-
ated in the studies of bookkeeping, commercial law,
stenography, and similar work usually done in a
first-class college, in less than twelve months. This
college practically never closes, but is in continuous
session the entire year. Mr. Wade is. assisted in his
work by his two brothers, William J. and Robert M.
Wade, the first, a thorough teacher of all com-
mercial branches, and the latter an expert in short-
hand. In addition to the above, able assistants are
engaged in each department. The yearly enrollment
is about one thousand. The Pennsylvania Business
College has proved a blessing, and hundreds of
young men are prospering to-day through its instruc-
tion.
Mr. Wade is an active member of St. Andrews
Reformed Church, where he serves as an elder. In
all that he undertakes to do he is conscientious and
thorough. Aside from his school business he is ac-
complished and skilled in a ntimber of lines of work ;
and he is the author of valuable text-books on com-
mercial subjects which he publishes. Mr. Wade's
knowledge is largely of the self-acquired kind, and
very practical and serviceable. His versatility is due
to continuity of effort.
ISRAEL P. MAYER, the genial and popular
proprietor of the "Sycamore Hotel," of Landisville,
Pa., has been one of the main factors in the progress
and development of his section. He was born on a
farm situated one mile from Rohrerstown, Lancaster
county, Feb. 25, 1850, son of Henry and Anna
(Hoefgen) Mayer, both of" whom were natives of
this county, and both of whom have passed from
life.
Jacob Mayer, his grandfather, was a native also
of this county, and was a prominent and successful
farmer of his time.
Henry Mayer, son of Jacob, and father of Israel
P., was for a number of years a laborer, becoming a
section boss for the Pennsylvania railroad. He was
also an auctioneer, and in his later years retired to a
farm, j^assing his last days thereon, and dying when
about seventy-one years of age. His wife passed
away at the age of sixty-seven. They had a family
of fourteen children : Emanuel, deceased ; Eliza, de-
ceased, first married John Rudisell, and second, Isaac
Hurtz; Jacob, deceased; Maria, the wife of Jacob
Gerbach, of Lancaster: Christian, of Lancaster;
Henry, deceased; Abraham, of Indianapolis, Ind. ;
Sarah Ann, who died unmarried ; John, of Trinidad,
Colo. ; Israel P., of this .sketch ; Annie, a Mrs. Smith,
of IndianapoHs; Samuel, of Indianapolis; Emma,
the wife of John Lichty, of Columbia; and Sally, de-
ceased.
Israel P. Mayer was educated in the public
schools of his township, and at the age of eighteen
years learned the carpenter trade with William Bow-
ers, at Landisville, and entered the employ of Israel
Brinkheiser of the same place, remaining three years,
and later worked with John D. Boering for one year.
Mr. Mayer then moved to the country and purchased
a farm, continuing in its operation for three or
four years, and working in the meantime at his trade.
Mr. Mayer then moved to Lancaster, and there, after
one year of journeyman work, began contracting
and building, following this for a period of eighteen
years, becoming the heaviest contractor in Lancaster
City. Specimens of his handiwork and skill can be
found all over the city, some of the notable buildings
erected bv him being: the Lancaster Hotel, the
Northern' Market, the First M. E. Church, the West
Chestnut street school, the Western M. E. Church,
Rathvan & Sons establishment on North Duke street,
the residence of Henry Cochrane, of James and David
Rose, on West Chestnut street, of Henry Rathborn,
the row for Myers & Rathborn on East Chestnut,
the I^ancaster Planing mill, houses on West James
street, the Green stone row, on North Duke street,
the famous Northern Hotel, and many others that ,
might be cited, among these being a large warehouse
on North Queen street, also Jacob Shirk's warehouse,,
this being the first warehouse erected in Lancaster
City which has remained solid on account of its
proper construction. Other builders have since fol-
lowed Mr. Mayer's plans.
Mr. Mayer was the first man to lay cement pave-
ment in Lancaster and he was the principal factor in
securing the northern end sewer system for the city.
His business operations amounted to hundreds of
thousands of dollars yearly, while the value of his
work in building up the permanent improvements
can not be computed. His employes numbered fifty
men at times, and he became one of the heaviest tax-
payers in the city. Always a man of public spirit, in
1884, Mr. Mayer accepted an election to the city
council and served as a capable member of the board
for several terms, declining a last election. In 1896
he removed to Bamford, and there was engaged for
a time in the mercantile business and was the means
of having a postoffice established at that point, Mrs.
Mayer being the first postmistress. Two years later
Mr. Mayer removed to Landisville, and took charge
of the "Sycamore Hotel," becoming one of the most
popular hotel keepers in this section. His wide ac-
quaintance through the county and also through the
•State attracts to his hostelry all of the traveling pub-
lic in this section, and in this well appointed and
modern inn both friend and stranger are hospitably
entertained.
In 1871 Mr. Mayer wedded Elizabeth Dietrich,
the estimable daughter of Saul Dietrich, and to this
marriage was born one daughter, Annie E., who has
been thoroughly educated, and who resides at home.
Few men in this locality have displayed more en-
ergy and ability than has Isaac P. Mayer. His bus-
iness tact and judgment have been only equaled by
his public-spirit, and many sections have had cause to
734
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
feel grateful not only for his progressive ideas, but
also for the ability which he showed in carrying them
out for the benefit of the public. Mr. Mayer is pe-
culiarly well qualified for the position he now holds,
his genial personality and true hospitality making his
house one of the favorite resting places for a large
part of the traveling public.
JOHN L. GROFF, of Strasburg borough, is one
of the leading and representative citizens and be-
longs to an old and prominent family of Lancaster
county.
John L. Groff was born in the old Groff home-
stead March 12, 1847, a son of Emanuel Groff, and
was reared on the farm,_ early becoming skilled in ag-
ricultural labor. His education was pursued in the
common schools of the district, and at the age of
twenty-four he took charge of his father's farm, con-
ducting it on shares for a period of eighteen years,
and then purchased it. This most valuable property
has been under his care for thirty years, and con-
. tains 112 acres of some of the best land in the coun-
ty. In 1900 he removed into Strasburg, where he
erected a fine, modern residence, which is probably
just as complete as any in the town, being equipped
with electric lights, and hot air heating, in combina-
tion with all improvements which are designed to
make life comfortable.
On Nov. 10, 1870, John L. Groff was married to
Barbara Leaman, a daughter of Tobias and Eliza-
beth (Denlinger) Leaman, who was born Feb. 21,
185 1, in East Lampeter township, and one son,
Aaron L., born April 7, 1873, blessed this union.
Aaron L. married Lizzie Groff, and they reside in
Leacock township, where he is a successful farmer.
Both Tilr. and Mrs. Grofif are consistent members of
the Old Mennonite Church, and the family is one
of the most highly respected in the community.
JOHN R. FRANTZ, junior member of the mill-,
ing firm of Frantz & Son, of Millersville, is a worthy
representative of an honored old family which has
been identified with the business interests of this
county for over a century.
Jacob Frantz, his great-grandfather, when a
young man, about 1815, purchased property near
Leaman Place, east of Lancaster, consisting of a
farm of 200 acres and a flouring mill, for which he
paid $40,000. Locating here, he devoted the remain-
der of his life to the operating of his farm and mill,
and being a keen, shrewd business man he accumu-
lated much wealth. He was one of the leading and
influential citizfens of the county, and an active work-
er in the Mennonite Church. He died in 1840, at the
age of seventy years, and his wife, who bore the
maiden name of Elizabeth Hershey, died at the age
of ninety-five. Of the- children born to them two
died in early childhood. The others were as follows :
(i) Jacob received the mill property and eighty
acres of the home farm, where he remained through-
out life, dying there at the age of seventy years. He
operated the mill and was often called upon to settle
estates for his neighbors. He married but had no
children. (2) Joseph is mentioned below. (3) An-
nie married Sem Eby, now deceased, and she died at
the age of over eighty years. (4) Henry secured a
part of the old homestead, where he followed farm-
ing for a time, but finally sold out and moved to Bal-
timore county, Md. He spent his last years, how-
ever, in Rock Island, Illinois.
Joseph Frantz, grandfather of John R., was born
near Lititz, Lancaster county, Nov. i, 1807, and died
Aug. 25, 1897. After his marriage he located in
East Earl township, where he purchased 113 acres
of land and engaged in farming, but finally sold that
property and bought eighty-seven acres of land and a
mill in Salisbury township. He added to the farm
sixteen acres, and operated the mill three years, af-
ter which he lived a retired life, while one of his
sons conducted the farm until it was sold in 1899.
He was a Mennonite in religious belief, was a man of
good business ability, and was called upon to settle
a large number of estates. He was twice married,
his first wife being Annie Martin, his second Bar-
bara Kreider, also deceased. In his family were
twelve children, seven of .whom reached mature
years, three of these by the first marriage, and four
by the second. They were David, father of John R. ;
Jacob, who died at the age of nineteen years ; Eliza-
beth ; Hettie, wife of John Brackbill, of Souders-
burg; Joseph, who is director of the poor of Lan-
caster county, and a retired resident of Souders-
burg; Ezra, an engineer on the Pennsylvania rail-
road and a resident of Harrisburg ; and Barbara, de-
ceased wife of Adam Eby.
David Frantz, senior member of the milling firm
of Frantz & Son, of Millersville, was born in East
Earl township, Lancastef county, Dec. 9, 1830, and
there grew to manhood on the home farm, attending
the public schools of the neighborhood. At the age
of twenty he commenced learning the miller's trade
at the Brook Mill, in East Earl township, with David
Martin, where he spent two years, and then assisted
his father in the operations of the farm until he was
niarried in 1863. Later he rented a farm at Good-
ville four years, and one in Salisbury township seven
years, after which he had charge of his father's mill
for twenty-six years, or until 1900, giving his whole
attention to the milling business. AVith his son John
R. he then leased the Groff Mill, or what is more
familiarly known as the Normal Mill, at Millersville,
which they are now successfully conducting. Since
boyhood he has been an active and consistent mem-
ber of the Mennonite Church, and while a resident
of East Earl township served as a member of the
school board. He married Maria Rohrer, a daugh-
ter of Benjamin and Mary (Landis) Rohrer, and by
this union five children have been born : Ida ; John
R. ; Jacob, a miller of Fairton, N. J. ; Anna E., who
has been teaching in the public schools of Lancaster
county since 1897; and Benjamin, who died at the
age of seven years, five months and- twenty-five days.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
735
John R. Frantz, whose name introdvices this re-
view, was born May 24, 1865, in Goodville, but was
only two years old when the family moved to Salis-
bury township, where he was reared and educated.
On account of his father being a miller he early be-
came familiar with that business, assisting him in his
labors until he started out in life for himself. In
1889 he entered the mill of Michael Moore at Colum-
bia, as assistant, but as the position was not con-
genial, remained there only a short time, and in 1890
commenced working in the mill of E. E. Hunsecker,
with whom he remained three years. During the
following three years he was assistant miller for
Levan & Sons in Lancaster township, and for two
years had charge of the plant as head miller. In
1898 Mr. Frantz leased the John D. Myer's mill at
New Danville, a custom and merchants' flouring
mill, which he conducted until 1900. On April 7th,
of that year, he formed a partnership with his father,
under the firm name of Frantz & Son, and leased the
Normal Roller Mills, of Millersville, which is also a
custom and merchant mill with a capacity of 100
barrels. In this undertaking they are meeting with
well-deserved success, for they are thorough mill-
ers and capable, enterprising business men.
On Aug. 15, 1889, John R. Frantz was united in
marriage with Annie S. Eby, a daughter of Benja-
min and Lizzie (Hoover) Eby, and to them have
been born six children, namely: Ira E., Roy E., Eva
Amanda, Marie Elizabeth, Lillie May and Willis E.
The family are members of the Mennonite Church,
and Mr. Frantz is a stanch Republican in politics.
GEORGE HIBSHMAN. In the northeastern
portion of Lancaster county but few family names
date farther back in the settlement thereof, and none
that has been connected with it is more of historic in-
terest than the name of Hibshman, of which George
Hibshman is a proud and worthy representative —
proud in knowing that his ancestors served the State
and nation prominently and ably in both civil and
military capacities in the early days of our country's
history.
John Gerhard Hibshman, the founder of the fam-
ily in America, was a native of Switzerland, and left
the land of his birth in 1732, at the age of nineteen.
Five years afterward he returned to his native land
for his wife, returning with her to America Sept. 24,
1737, in the ship "Saint Andrew," which sailed on
that date from Rotterdam, Holland, bound for New
York. Upon landing in the New World, where he
was to make for himself and family a home, he came
to Lancaster county, and, allured by the natural
beauty of the country and the richness of the soil, he
purchased the tract of land which is now the farm of
Israel Miller, four miles north of the borough of
Ephrata, and thereon made his home. _ He and his
wife were blessed with four children, viz. : Wendel
is mentioned below; Henry married and moved to
Lebanon county, Pa. ; Catharine married an Albrecht,
and moved to Selins Grove, Pa. ; Elizabeth married
Conrad Mentzer.
Wendel Hibshman became the owner of the farm
uj^on the death of his father. He married Hannah,
daughter of John and Elizabeth HefHey, who were
also among the early settlers of Ephrata township.
The farm owned by John Heffley passed to his daugh-
ter, Mrs. Hibshman, and from her to her son Jacob,
through whose son John it descended to George. To
Wendel and Hannah Hibshman were borne five chil-
dren, viz. : Jacob, Henry, John, Plannah and Mary
Wendel Hibshman was a man of marked ability, and
naturally became a leader among the people of east-
ern Pennsylvania. On the breaking out of the Revo-
lutionary war he espoused the cause of the Colonies,
and as major of the 3d -Battalion of Pennsylvania
troops did good service in the war which ended in the
formation of the Republic. After his marriage he be-
came the owner of the farm which had belonged to
his wife's family, but on the farm he first bought he
passed the remainder of his days, an honored and in-
fluential citizen of the commonwealth whose soldiers
he had commanded in the struggle for independence.
He and his wife were both interred in the family
burying-ground on the home farm.
Jacob Hibshman, eldest son of Wendel, became a
man of prominence, and added luster to the family
name. At an early age he entered the field of politics
as a Jeffersonian Democrat, and for years wielded
an influence second to none in his part of the State.
He was a scrivener, and for many years a justice of
the peace. He was a distinguished member of the
XVIth Congress, having defeated James Buchanan,
afterward President of the United States, in the Con-
gressional election of 1820. At one period he was
surveyor general of his district, which was composed
of the counties of Lancaster, York and Dauphin, and
was twelve years associate judge of the Lancaster
county court. In 1824, when Gen. LaFayette visited
the United States, Mr. Hibshman, then a member of
Congress, was chairman of the committee appointed
by the citizens of Lancaster county to receive and eti-
tertain him, and had the honor of introducing the
distinguished Frenchman to the people who met to
do him honor. Mr. Hibshman was also prominent in
the military affairs of his State, and reached the rank
of brigadier general. He married Miss Elizabeth At-
kinson, daughter of Thomas and Saloma Atkinson,
who bore him the following children : Polly, Lydia,
Edward, Jacob, Elizabeth, Amelia and John. Jacob
Hibshman inherited the home farm which is now
owned by his grandson, George Hibshman, and on
which he died May 19, 1852. He was a man of noble
qualities and upright character, and passed away
honored and esteemed by a wide circle of friends and
fellow citizens. His wife's death took place May 4,
181 1, and both sleep their last sleep in the Hibshman
family burying-ground.
Henry Hibshman, a younger son of Wendel
Hibshman, was also a man of prominence in his day
736
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and generation, and held offices of honor and trust
in his native State, the most important of which was
that of member of the State Legislature. Like his
brother, Jacob, he took an active interest in the State
militia for many years, and retired from its service
with the rank of general. He married Miss Catha-
rina Miller, who bore him two children : Wendel
and Elmira. For his second wife he married Hanna
Sweitzer, and their children were Lewis Harrison
and Mary.
John Hibshman, son of Gen. Jacob, and father of
George, was born on the home farm March 7, 1807,
and grew to manhood there. His education, like that
of all farmers' sons of the time, was obtained in the
district school of his neighborhood, and was deemed
sufficient to fit him for the avocation marked out for
him, that of tiller of the soil, which he followed and
honored through a long and well spent life. In time
he became the owner of the Hibshman homestead,
which he successfully managed, and which at Jiis
death, Oct. 14, 1871, became by purchase the property
of his son George. In early life he was a Whig in
political belief, and when the Republican party sprang
into life under the oaks near the city of Jackson,
Mich., he became, and until his death remained, a
stanch ' member thereof. But although he was al-
ways active in the support of his party and its prin-
ciples, he was not an office seeker, but was content to
be a private in its ranks. In March, 1838, Mr. Hibsh-
man was joined in marriage to Miss Magdalena
Shirk, who was born Aug. 4, 18 13, daughter of John
and Annie (Eberly) Shirk, residents of West Co-
calico township, where they were well-to-do and
prominent agriculturists. The children of Mr. and
Mrs. .Shirk were Magdalena, Leah and Michael.
Mrs. Hibshman passed from earth June 18, 1898, at
the ripe old age of eighty-five years. To Mr. and
Mrs. John Hibshman were born eight children, as
follows : Annie, deceased ; Elizabeth, wife of Dr. D.
Rhine Hertz, of Ephrata ; Jacob, deceased ; John (de-
ceased), who married Hannah Boyer, and had five
children, all of whom died in infancy except Harry,
the present cashier of the Ephrata National Bank;
Henry, deceased ; Isaac, deceased ; George, men-
tioned below ; and Amelia, who married J. Craig, of
Chester, Pa. In the family cemetery on the farm
where he was born, and where all his life was spent,
John Hibshman and his wife Magdalena are sleeping
the sleep that knows no waking until the dawn of the
resurrection morning.
George Hibshman, like his father and grandfather
before him, was bom on the farm of his ancestors,
which is now his own. Like them, he grew to man-
hood thereon, and obtained his education in the dis-
trict schools, and he too selected as his vocation the
life of a farmer, having been content to till in an in-
telligent and successful way the beautiful farm any
man might be proud to own. Year by year he adds
to his wealth, and the beauty and comforts of his
surroundings, thus setting an example some of the
sons of his farmer neighbors will surely follow.- In
politics he is a Republican, and one as to whose posi-
tion there is never any questioning, and who sees no
shame in being called stalwart. He is active in the
interests of his party, but has no time to seek and no
desire to hold public office. He is a member of the
Republican township committee, and was a delegate
to the Republican State convention held in Harris-
burg in June, 1902.
On Dec. 3, 1874, Mr. Hibshman married Miss
Mary Kratz, who was born Oct. 18, 1852, daughter
of David and Mary (Bear) Kratz. Their union has
been blessed with two children: Alice, born Sept.
16, 1884, who died June 2.^, 1897 ; and Edward, born
Sept. 9, 1887.
David and Mary (Bear) Kratz were natives of
Bucks county and Bareville, Leacock township, Lan-
caster county, respectively. Mr. Kratz was born
Aug. 12, 1824, and died June 27, 1892. Mrs. Kratz
was born July 27, 1829, and resides in Ephrata, in
the home which has been hers for thirty-five years.
HON. HENRY K. BLOUGH, M. D., prominent
in the professional, political and social circles of
Elizabethtown, is a native of South Hanover town-
ship, Dauphin Co., Pa., born Dec. 29, 1844, son of
George and Mary (Keller) Blough, natives of New
York State and Dauphin county, respectively.
George Blough accompanied his parents to
Dauphin county, Pa., shortly before his inarriage.
He was a bricklayer and stonemason by trade, and
followed these callings all his life. He married Mary
Keller, who was born in 1823, a daughter of Michael
Keller, a farmer of Lancaster county, .Pa., who died
in Dauphin county at the age of seventy-four. Of
the children born to this union, Sarah is unmarried
and at home ; David LI. is a stock dealer and farmer
of Dauphin county ; Hon. Henry K. is mentioned be-
low. The parents were both faithful members of
the United Brethren Church.
Henry K. Blough was educated in the public
schools and at Palmyra Academy. In early man-
hood he learned the miller's trade, and followed it
from the age of fifteen years — the time of his leav-
ing home. At the age of twenty-three he began
reading medicine under the direction of an uncle.
Dr. D. C. Keller, of Union Deposit. By 1870 he had
finished his medical studies, graduating from the
University of Philadelphia, and began the active
practice of that profession in Bachmanville, where
he_ remained until 1872, at which time he located in
Elizabethtown, his present home. He has been emi-
nently successful in practice, and by his careful
treatment of the afflicted, his kindly, sympathetic na-
ture, and his ever bright and cheery manner, has won
hosts of friends. He has found success not only in
the professional world, but has taken an active part
in the advancement of the material welfare of his
town. In 1887 he helped to organize the Elizabeth-
town Exchange Bank, and has since continued as
one of its directors. He is also president of the
Elizabethtown Water Company, having served as
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
737
such since its organization in 1897, and president of
the Elizabethtown branch of the Lebanon Building
& Loan Association, he having been one of the first
to offer inducements for the estabhshment of such
a branch.
In municipal affairs the Doctor has played a
prominent part. For twenty-four years he has been
a school director, and in 1891 and 1892 he served as
a representative from his district to the State Legisla-
ture, of which he is also a member at present, having
been again elected in 1902. Ifolitically he has for
years been an enthusiastic worker in the ranks of the
Republican party. Socially he belongs to the Jr.
O. U. A. M., while professionally he is identified with
the city and county medical societies. He has also
served on the staff of the Lancaster County Hospital.
The Doctor is a great lover of fine horses, and is
the owner of several, whose pedigrees entitle them to
great consideration.
On Sept. 14, 1869, Dr. Blough was united in
marriage with Elizabeth Shank, of Annville, Leba-
non county, who was bom in 1850, a daughter of
Abraham and Leah (Moyer) Shank, both now de-
ceased. Two children blessed their union : Albert
S., a graduate of the Philadelphia Medico Chirurgi-
cal Institute ; and Jennie, wife of Dr. D. Frank Kline,
a prominent physician of Lancaster. Dr. Blough is
an extremely popular man, and is held in high esti-
mation for his tipright life.
JACOB B. BRUBAKER, a general farmer in
East Donegal township, was born in Rapho town-
ship May 7, 1857, son of Andrew and Mary (Bru-
baker) Brubaker, of the same township.
. Andrew Brubaker was born Sept. 20, 1832, a son
of Jacob and Elizabeth (Strickler) Brubaker, resi-
dents of Rapho township, where the former was en-
gaged in farming all his life. Andrew Brubaker was
a farmer and a man of considerable importance in
the community in which his industrious and well or-
dered life was passed, and where he served six years
as school director. He died June 17, 1892, in East
Donegal township, and was buried in the Cross
Roads cemetery, a well known burial place in that
township. He married Mary Brubaker, who was
born June 6, 1836, daughter of Benjamin and Maria
(Lehman) Brubaker, farming people of Rapho
township. She is now living in Mt. Joy, Pa. To
Andrew and Mary Brubaker were born : Elizabeth,
who married Peter Graybill, supervisor of Mt. Joy
township, and a resident of Florin ; Mary, who is at
home with her mother ; Jacob B. ; William B., a pro-
fessor in a polytechnic college in Brooklyn, -N. Y. ;
and Harvey B., in the United States Postal Service,
at Florin. Benjamin Brubaker, father of Mrs.
Mary Brubaker, married for his second wife Mary
Landis, of York county.
On Nov. 13, 1884, Jacob B. Brubaker and Bar-
bara Felker were married in East Donegal township,
and to this union were born : Frances K., now de-
ceased; Simon, deceased; and William, Amos, Ja-
47
cob B. and Mary, all of whom are at home. Mrs.
Barbara (Felker) Brubaker was born in Rapho
township, Nov. 6, 1863, daughter of Philip and
Fanny (Kaufman) Pelker, who were born in Rapho
and Manor townships, respectively. Philip Felker
was a farmer in East Donegal township, where he
died Feb. 12, 1899, and his remains were buried in
the Graybills Cemetery. Fanny (Kaufman) Felker,
who was born in 1840, is now residing in Rapho, a
faithful member of the Mennonite Church. They
had the following children : John and Amos, both
of whom died young ; Barbara ; Amanda, who mar-
ried J. K. Layman, a drover in Mt. Joy township ;
Abraham, a farmer in East Donegal township,
Elizabeth, who married Christ Rohrer, a farmer in
Rapho; Mary, of Lancaster; Philip, a school
teacher in Mt. Joy; Frances, deceased; Anna, who
is living in Elizabethtown ; Samuel, a day laborer irl
' Mt. Joy township ; and Catherine, who is living with
her mother. Both the Felkers and the Kaufmans
were all residents of Lancaster county.
Jacob B. Brubaker remained at home with his
parents until his marriage, when he worked for the
neighboring farmers until 1894. That year he pur^
chased the farm on which he is now residing, where
he has achieved a decided success in his agricultural
labors. He is a thrifty and energetic farmer, with
a good place and a reputation for thorough and care-
ful work. In his politics he is a stanch Republican.
William B. Brubaker, who is mentioned above
as a professor in a polytechnic school in Brooklyn,
was born in the township of Rapho, March 14, 1866,
where he spent his early life on the farm, and began
his education in the district school. At the age of
sixteen years he began a course in Millersville Acad-
emy, from which he was graduated in both branches-
in 1887. During this time he also attended the old
Franklin and Marshall Academies. For four years
he taught district school, and for eight years was a
teacher in the Millersville Academy, achieving such
a reputation as an instructor and a valuable all-
around teacher that in September, 1899, he was taken
on the teaching force of the Polytechnical Institute
in Broolclyn, where he is now engaged. Prof. Bru-
baker thoroughly understands the work he has in
hand, and is an earnest and inspiring teacher.
CHRISTIAN KINDIG, Jr. The baptismal
name of Mr. Kindig's father was Christian, and his
mother's maiden name was Alice Milan. He was
one of the substantial and influential citizens of Lan-
caster county in his day, and first saw the light in
Conestoga township, on Dec. 29, 1815. His long and
useful life of eighty-three years came to an end at
Millersville on July 21, 1898. While he died at Mil-
lersville, his life was passed in Conestoga and Manor
townships, chiefly in Conestoga. He was a success-
ful farmer, owning 120 acres, of his own, and was a
prominent and influential citizen, a man of broad and
enlightened public spirit, and he filled various local
offices. One of the early Whigs, he cast his first
738
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
presidential vote for General William Henry Harri-
son, and his last for Benjamin Harrison in 1888. He
was a member of the Mennonite Church. Mary
Frantz, his wife, died in 1881, at the age of sixty-
eight years. A family of nine children was born to
them: E. J., Mary, Barbara, Elizabeth, Annie,
Christian, Adeline, Maggie and Amanda. E. J. oc-
cupied the old homestead, and became a man of influ-
ence in public affairs. Mary married Abraham
Eshleman, of Millersville. Barbara became the wife
of Jacob Herr, of New Danville, in Pequea township.
Elizabeth married Amos Harnish, of Lancaster.
Annie married Jacob Miller, of New Danville, and is
deceased. Adeline married Abraham Nissley, of
South Hempfield. Maggie became the wife of the
Rev. Daniel Lehman, of Manor. Amanda, the
youngest of the family, is unmarried, and lives at
Millersville. Christian, Jr., lives in Manor township.
Christian Kindig, Jr., was born May 15, 1848.
He grew up on the old homestead in Conestoga and
attended the common schools of his native town. On
Dec. 12, 1871, he married Mattie L., daughter of
John Hess and Elizabeth Landis, his wife, of Man-
heim township, who was born Oct. 2, 1849. Mr.
and Mrs. Kindig are the parents of six children, one
of whom died in infancy. The others — Ivan H.,
Minnie H., Mary H., Lizzie H. and Annie H. —
live at home with their parents.
After his marriage Mr. Kindig settled upon a
farm.of 138 acres, bought by his father in 1863, and
situated one mile west of Millersville. There he still
lives, although he has added to his original holdings
by the purchase of seventy-five acres adjoining on
the north. The land is under high cultivation, and
the improvements, nearly all of which have been
made by Mr. Kindig, are extensive and modern in
character, such as might be made by a farmer of
progressive ideas and keen, close observation. As a
citizen he is broad minded and public spirited, es-
teemed and influential. As a husband and father he
shows estimable Aartue, and as a Christian his life is
without reproach.
Mrs. Kindig's paternal grandparents were
Christian and Barbara (Hoover) Hess. Her father,
John Hess, was born May 31, 181 5, and died Jan.
20, 1891. He was a man of substantial means, and
a devout member of the Mennonite Church. In early
life he was a farmer, but later owned and operated
the Oregon mill in Manheim for nearly a quarter of
a century. His marriage to Elizabeth Landis oc-
curred Oct. 18, 1838. She was born Oct. 7, 1820,
daughter of Benjamin L. Landis and Anna Lang.
Mrs. Kindig was one of a large family of children :
Annie, the eldest, married Peter G. Hershey, of Lan-
caster; Benjamin L. lives in Manheim; Barbara died
while a child of four years ; David L. is a resident
of Manheim ; Lizzie L. died in childhood ; Mattie L.
is Mrs. Christian Kindig. Maria L. is unmarried
and lives with her mother. Fannie died in childhood,
as did also an infant son. Isaac L. is a missionary in
China, laboring under the direction and care of the
Christian Alliance, in the province of Quangsai,
where he has been stationed since 1896. Amelia L.
is a practicing physician in Philadelphia. Mrs. Hess,
the mother of Mrs. Kindig, is yet living, a lovable old
lady, hale and well preserved, despite her four score
years of active, patient toil; her father, Benjamin
Landis, died in his fifty-ninth year, while her mother
lived to be nearly eighty-five.
DAVID FRANCIS MAGEE, a prominent mem-
ber of the Lancaster Bar, enjoys the somewhat unique
distinction of having practically built in Lancaster
county an enterprising village — White Rock, where,
he still retains extensive business interests.
James Vincent Magee, father of David Francis,
was born at Kennett Square, Chester county, where
he was a farmer and, following in the footsteps of his
father, James Magee, a cattle dealer. Later for a
few years James V. Magee kept a hotel in Wilming-
ton, Del., afterward moving to Lynchburg, Va.,
where he died. Pie married Mary Ann Bradley, a
daughter of John Bradley, who came from Ireland
in 1806, settling in Phoenixville, where he became a
well-known farmer and cattle dealer, and where he
died in i860. To James V. and Mary Ann (Brad-
ley) Magee came eleven children, two of whom died
in infancy and three after reaching maturity. The
survivors are: Margaret, Ann, Kate and Mary, all
living in Philadelphia ; Laura, the wife of John Frer-^
ron, a farmer by occupation, and at present a mem-
ber of the board of county commissioners of Ches-
ter county ; and David Francis, of Lancaster.
David Francis Magee, familiarly known as
Squire Magee, by reason of his having been justice
of the peace so many years, was born in Wilmington,
Del., in December, 1854, his parents removing to Vir-
ginia during his infancy. There they remained until
1868, when they came back to this State, settling in
Hopewell, Chester county. Mr. Magee remained
with his parents until 1880, when he removed to
White Rock, Lancaster county, at that time a mere
country cross roads, with one dwelling house and a
small store. Mr. Magee completed his schooling in
Georgetown College, but he has always been a
student, and has followed out the study of political
economy to such an extent that he is one of the best
posted men on that subject in the State. For five
years he was a school teacher, but on his removal to
White Rock became an active business man, building
a warehouse, a creamery, a smithy, a wagon-maker's
shop and six dwelling houses. His enterprise has
opened the way, and White Rock is to-day a hustling
and energetic village. Mr. Magee still owns consid-
erable property there, though living in Lancaster.
For thirteen years he served as a justice of the peace,
and was three times elected in a Republican district,
though he was and is an uncompromising Democrat.
During his long service as a justice of the peace he
had fully seven hundred cases before him, and every
case stood as he decided it. In 1894 Mr. Magee was-
nominated by the Democrats for Auditor General of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
739
the State, and made a handsome run, speaking in
almost every county in the State. Mr. Magee began
reading law with Theodore K. Stubbs, but stopped
only to begin reading again with J. A. Coyle, and
was admitted to the Bar in 1888. Before he was
eligible, on account of the time limit, he argued a
case in the Supreme Court, to which he was formally
admitted just as soon as the two years had expired.
Mr. Magee is a ready and fluent speaker, and
challenged the prominent Republicans of the State
for a discussion of the tariff question. This discus-
sion was with many of the best-posted Republicans
of the State, and extended over some twelve years.
It attracted much attention and demonstrated the
fact that Mr. Magee was thoroughly informed as to
all matters under consideration. After being ad-
mitted to the Bar Mr. Magee retained for several
years a silent partnership in all his business enter-
prises, including that of the White Rock Warehouse
property, which he had greatly improved, and a store
of considerable magnitude. He was an organizer, a
director and the first counsel for the Octoraro Tele-
phone Co., which proved a great local success.
Mr. Magee was married in 1878 to Miss Lew-
rainer Twaddell, a daughter of John Twaddell, a
farmer of Chester county. From this union were
born: Lewrainer T. and Mary T., both graduates
at Emmitsburg, and now at home with their parents ;
D. Frank, a graduate of the Lancaster high school,
and now a clerk with Reilly Brothers & Raub;
James F., Helen A. and Charles Albert, all three at
school.
Mr. Magee is a member of St. Mary's Catholic
Church of this city, and is grand president of the
Pennsylvania Catholic Beneficial League, whose
headquarters are in Lancaster, and of which he was
one of the principal organizers. Mr. Magee is quite
an enthusiast in cycling, and is president of the Lan-
caster Cycling Club, entertaining the members annu-
ally at his country home, and going along with the
"boys" when they make the run to his elegant man-
sion at White Rock. Although Mr. Magee tips the
scales at 220 pounds he rides the wheel with more
than ordinary ease, and is so much interested in the
exercise that he has taken up the matter of good
roads, writing a series of articles on the subject for
the Lancaster press, which have since been brought
together and published in book form.
ABRAHAM H. MECKLEY, a trusted and
popular engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad and
a resident of Columbia, was born on a farin in Conoy
township, Lancaster county, Jan. 21, 185 1, the sev-
enth of ten children born to Benjamin and Barbara
(Halderman) Meckley, the former of whom was first
a farmer and then sawmill proprietor, but his latter
years were passed in retired ease. He lost his wife
in 1859, when she was forty-five years old, and his
own death tbok place in 1895, at the age of seventy-
five. They were members respectively of the Menno-
nite and United Brethren churches and the remains
of both were interred in Conoy cemetery. Their ten
children were born in the following order: Jacob,
who is a lumber merchant in Bainbridge, Pa. ; Anna,
wife of Benjamin Fink, a carpenter in Conoy; Chris-
tian, a cigarmaker in Lock Haven ; Elizabeth, wife of
Andrew Shenk, of Bainbridge; Barbara, with her
brother in Bainbridge; Mary, who died young;
Abraham H. ; Benjamin and Samuel, deceased; and
Martin, of Conoy.
Abraham H. Meckley assisted his father on the
home farm until eighteen years old, and then learned
the carpenter's trade, at which he worked until 1880.
He then made two trips on the railroad as brakeman,
spent six years, nine months and nineteen days as
fireman, and was then promoted in 1887 to engineer.
On April 13, 1884, Mr. Meckley was married, in
Elizabethtown, Pa., to Miss Elizabeth Goss, and to
this union has been born one child, Cora. Mrs.
Elizabeth Meckley was born in West Donegal town-
ship, Lancaster county, April 29, 1855, a daughter of
Joseph and Mary (Erb) Goss, natives respectively
of Hanover, York Co., Pa., and Conoy township,
Lancaster county. Their family comprised nine chil-
dren, viz.: Amos, who died young; Elizabeth;
Christian, school-teacher, farmer and justice of the
peace in Conoy township ; Joseph, in Elizabethtown ;
Mary, who died in infancy ; Anna M., wife of David
F. Gable, of Mt. Joy; Ella married to John Shire-
man, a farmer in Conoy ; Emily, married to Harrison
Brenzer, a school-teacher in Bainbridge; and Myra,
wife of Joseph B. Martin, a school-teacher in Middle-
town, Pa. Joseph Goss, the father, was a farmer by
vocation and died in Conoy township in May, 1899,
aged seventy-four; and his wife, who was born in
November, 183 1, now resides in Elizabethtown.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Meckley were
John Goss, a farmer, and Elizabeth (Haldeman)
Goss, both of Lancaster county ; her maternal grand-
parents were Christian and Elizabeth (Grable) Erb,
who moved to Ridgeville, Conoy township, when
they retired from business. Mr. Erb was a justice
of the peace.
Abraham H. Meckley is a Democrat in politics,
and religiously he and his wife and daughter are
members of the Church of God ; socially they stand
very high in the esteem of their neighbors.
REUBEN SHAUBACH, one of the representa-
tive young men of Strasburg township, resides upon
his farm one mile north of Martinsville, this county.
He was born in West Lampeter township, Dec. 31,
1853, son of Andrew Shaubach, and he was brought
up on a farm and educated in the common schools.
Until he was thirty years old he remained assisting
his father, but after marriage located in the village
of Refton on a farm of 139 acres, which he rented for
two years, and he then removed to the desirable place
where he has since lived, and which, since it has
come into his possession, has been transformed into
one of the finest in this locality. The farm owned by
Mr. Shaubach comprises fifty acres and upon it he
740
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
has made many improvements, erecting all of the
buildings except the residence; and he has shown
himself to be one of the progressive farmers who, by
industry and good judgment, become the substantial
men of the future. In 1898, Mr. Shaubach, in asso-
ciation with his brother Martin, purchased a farm of
112 acres in Providence township, and this is in
charge of Martin Shaubach.
On Nov. 15, 1883, Reuben Shaubach was united
in marriage with Miss Susan Barge, daughter of
Witmer J. Barge, who was born in Strasburg town-
ship Dec. 25, 1849. Three children have been born
to this union; Annie B., born May 6, 1885, and two
sons who died at birth. The whole family are val-
ued and consistent members of the Old Mennonite
Church, and none are more highly respected in this
neighborhood.
FRANK R. FOLMER, who conducts a thriving
butcher business in Columbia, is a native of Lebanon
county. Pa., born Nov. 4, 1858.
John Folmer, his father, was the only son of John
Folmer, Sr. Both were coachmakers by occupation.
John Folmer died in 1861, in his twenty-sixth year.
He married Miss Angeline Gerhart, who was third in
the family of five children born to Henry H. and
Sabina (Carl) Gerhart, namely: Cornelius C, a
Union veteran of the Civil war, lives in Lebanon;
John, who also served in the Civil war, is deceased ;
Milton, a resident of Lebanon, also served in the
Union army during that conflict ; and Sarah married
Isaac Docker, and both are now deceased. Henry H.
Gerhart made his home in Lebanon county, and he
died in Lebanon in 1847, "^ his thirty-sixth year.
His widow made her home with her daughter An-
geline during her latter years, and died in Columbia
in 1882, in her sixty-sixth year. Both were members
of the Reformed Church. To John and Angeline
Folmer were born three children, of whom the eldest,
Phillip H., is a yardmaster in the employ of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Co., at Columbia; he married
Bridget Welsh. Frank R., whose name opens this
sketch, is mentioned below. John, the youngest, died
in childhood. In May, 1864, Mrs. Folmer became
the wife of Plugh Donnelly, who is mentioned else-
where, and by that union had two children : Mary
E., now the wife of Gordon W. Blakesley, a grocer
of Lansing, Mich. ; and Alex. C, who died in child-
hood.
Frank R. Folmer received his education in the
public schools, and was but ten years old when he
commenced work, being employed three summers in
a brickyard. He then learned the butcher business,
with C. W. Minich, with whom he continued four-
teen years, at the end of that time embarking in busi-
ness on his own account. He has been engaged thus
up to the present time, with uninterrupted success,
and has met with substantial reward, which he justly
deserves. Mr. Folmer owns some valuable property,
and, as a result of industry and good business meth-
ods, is now comfortably situated. In 1885 our sub-
ject was married, in Columbia, to Miss Alice M,
Rupp, a native of Cumberland county. Pa. They
have no children. Mr. Folmer is a Republican in
politics, and fraternally unites with the I. O. O. F.
In religious connection he is identified with the M. E.
Church.
Daniel Rupp, father of Mrs. Folmer, was born in
Cumberland county, Pa., son of George Rupp, a na-
tive of Germany, who came to this country and set-
tled in that county, remaining there until his death.
Daniel Rupp was a carriage maker by occupation.
On May 27, 1855, in Mechanicsburg, Pa., he married
Elizabeth Moler, who was born Oct. 8, 1836, also a
native of Cumberland county, where her parents,
Samuel and Rachel (Miller) Moler, passed all their
lives. Mrs. Rupp now makes her home in York, Pa.
She is an Adventist in religious belief. Mr. Rupp
died Jan. 13, 1886, in Shiremanstown, Pa., aged fifty-
four years. To this union were born children as fol-
lows : Samuel ; Laura and Sarah E., both of whom
died young; Benjamin H., of Lancaster; Alice M.,
Mrs. Folmer ; Barbara A., Mrs. Charles H. Hock, of
Columbia; Abraham L., Jennie E. and Emma G., all
of whom died young ; Lillian R., wife of Amos H.
Groff, of Columbia; Maggie I., wife of Harry Cor-
nish, of York, Pa. ; Daniel E. and Idella D., both of
whom died young; and Mirvin S., a resident of
York, Pennsylvania.
MENNO MARTIN FRY. Among the promi-
nent and representative citizens of Lancaster is
Menno Martin Fry, who is not only the leading busi-
ness man in his line in that city but is also one of the
largest dealers in leaf tobacco in the State.
Mr. Fry was born at Millport, Warwick town-
ship, Sept. 3, 1854. After finishing his course in the
public schools of his district he entered the State
Normal school at Millersville, and so well did he im-
prove his opportunities that he was accepted as a
teacher at the age of sixteen years, and followed that
profession through four terms. He then began the
manufacture of cigars at Rothsville, and continued
in that business for three years, removing at
that time, to Lititz, enlarging his scope by add-
ing leaf tobacco to his trade. Here he remained
for the succeeding twelve years. Mr. Fry de-
sired still larger fields of operation, and then
removed to Lancaster, where in partnership with
his brother, Phares W. Fry, he began trading
m leaf tobacco, under the firm name of M. M.
Fry & Bro. Their first location was on Market street,,
but the business increased to such a degree that a
change was soon necessitated, and the fine warehouse
at the southeast corner of Grant and Christian streets
was built for their use. After four years of partner-
ship the brothers dissolved the connection, and for a
time each conducted business in the same warehouse
but It was not long before the quarters again became
too contracted, this resulting in Phares Fry with-
drawing to another warehouse and Menno Martin
employing all of this building for his own use How-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
741
ever, by July, 1900, Mr. Fry found it necessary to.
secure a still larger building, and he completed ar-
rangements by which he secured the Steinmetz
building, at the northwest corner of Grant and
Christian streets, the most complete tobacco ware-
house in this section, if not, indeed, in the whole
State. This building is six stories in height and has
a storage capacity of 7,000 cases of tobacco. In addi-
tion to these buildings, Mr. Fry has a large ware-
house at Landisville, in this county. His business is
one of large proportions, consisting in selling in large
quantities to the jobbers and to all of the important
cigar manufacturers in the United States.
Mr. Fry was married to Miss Anna Hess, the
accomplished daughter of the late Capt. Hess, of
Safe Harbor, who fell in battle during the Civil war,
a brave young martyr to his country. No children
have been born to thein. In social circles both are
prominent, and generous hospitality is shown in the
elegant home at No. 624 West Chestnut street, Lan-
caster. Although an ardent Republican, Mr. Fry has
never taken any very active part in politics, his large
business interests requiring his close attention. For
a number of years he has been a leading member of
the First M. E. Church, where for six years he served
as trustee, and where he is a liberal contributor to all
benevolent and charitable enterprises. He is widely
known and is esteemed as a man of integrity and high
business principle.
HARRY LIGHTNER TROUT, proprietor of
the leading book bindery in Lancaster, and the pres-
ent clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions, is a native
of that city, born Oct. 28, 1853.
Mr. Trout is connected with one of the oldest and
best known families in this locality, and his father,
Adam Trout, is well remembered by many of the
older citizens as a genial, popular man. He married
Salome Lefever, who died in 1857.
Harry L. Trout received a liberal education at
the public schools of Lancaster, completing his
studies at the age of fifteen years. In 1870 he went
to Philadelphia, for three years was there engaged in
the queensware business, and then returning to Lan-
caster commenced a four years' apprenticeship to
the trade of bookbinder, by diligence and application
thoroughly mastering all the details of the business.
In 1881 he commenced for his own account in the
city, his first bindery being in Centre square, whence,
his business having rapidly increased, he removed
to more commodious quarters on North Christian
street, in rear of the New Era building, and at a
considerable pecuniary outlay equipped his estab-
lishment with the very latest and best appliances for
efficiently carrying on a first class bindery. Mr.
Trout soon established a reputation as an expert and
reliable bookbihder, and he does much of the finest
work for the county offices, besides enjoying patron-
age from all over the State, and from even far distant
localities.
On Sept. 2, 1875, Harry L. Trout was married to
Miss Sarah E., daughter of Joseph Y. Colby, at one
time prominently identified with the cotton mill in-
dustry in Lancaster. One child has blessed this
union, Maude, now the wife of James Wesley Har-
vey, a lawyer of Baltimore.
In politics Mr. Trout is a stalwart Republican,
and for years has been recognized as a leader in the
ranks of the party. For nearly a dozen continuous
years he represented the Fifth ward of Lancaster in
the city council, and for three terms served as pres-
ident of the Common branch; but these incumben-
cies he had to resign in order to take the office of clerk
of the court of Quarter Sessions, to which he was
elected in November, 1899, entering upon his duties
Jan. I, 1900.
Mr. and Mrs. Trout are identified with the First
Presbyterian Church of Lancaster. Socially he is
a member of Lamberton Lodge, No. 476, F. & A. M.
A whole-souled, generous man, with a friendly nod
and a pleasant word for everybody, faithful in his
friendship and open and manly in his political or oth-
er differences with men, Harry L. Trout is personally
one of the strongest men in the community in which
he lives.
ELI L. NISSLEY, a noted packer of leaf to-
bacco, and very successful dealer in this line of farm
produce, was born on the paternal homestead in the
township of Mt. Joy, Lancaster county, July 11,
1862, a son of Christ H. and Barbara (Lindesmith)
Nissley.
Christ H. Nissley was born on the family home-
stead where the Nissleys had long lived, and he died
in Florin, Pa., Sept. 12, 1894. He had operated the
old Graybill mills for years, but in 1880 sold out to
Levi R. Nissley, and moved to Florin. In his day he
was an experienced miller and farmer, and engaged
along both lines in Mt. Joy township for many years.
In local and county affairs Mr. Nissley had long held
a prominent position. From 1866 to 1869 he was
county commissioner, county auditor for three terms,
prison inspector for two terms, and school director of
Mt. Joy for many years. Mrs. Barbara (Lindesmith)
Nissley was born in West Donegal township, and
died Jan. 12, 1899, at the age of seventy-four years,
and was buried in the cemetery connected with the
Graybills church. Mr. and Mrs. Nissley were the
parents of the following family: Martin, who died
in infancy ; Mary L., who married J. G. Hershey, a
farmer in the township of East Donegal (mentioned
more fully elsewhere) ; Amanda L., who married
Henry Meekly, of Mt. Joy township; Christ L., a
retired farmer ; Jacob, who died at the age of four-
teen years ; Elizabeth N., who married L. R. Nissley,
of East Donegal township, where he is engaged in
milling ; and Eli L.
The paternal grandparents of Eli L. Nissley were
Martin and Elizabeth (Hershey) Nissley, the former
born on the old Nissley homestead in Mt. Joy town-
ship. Martin Nissley was a miller on the old home-
stead, and operated a mill of his own construction.
742
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
His death occurred after he had reached his sixty-
ninth year. Mrs. Elizabeth Nissley died in 1829 at
the untimely age of thirty years, and was buried in
the burying ground at Graybills. They had the fol-
lowing family: Nancy (who is living a widow in
Dauphin, county. Pa.), Fanny, Barbara, Maria,
Katie, Christ H. and Martin.
The maternal grandparents of Eli L. Nissley
were Jacob D. and Barbara (Zeigler) Lindesmith, of
West Donegal. Mr. Lindesmith was a prominent
and successful farmer, and at the time of his death
was worth more than $roo,ooo. The long life that
was given him measured more than eighty years, and
his wife lived four years longer. Both were buried
in Boslers burying ground in West Donegal. Their
children were: Martin, deceased; Martha, deceased
wife of John Engle ; Fanny, who married John Bren-
ner, and is deceased; Betsy, deceased, who married
John B. Meyers; Barbara, twin of Betsy; Leander
J., deceased ; and Mary, who married Jacob W.
Nissley.
On Sept. 27, 1883, Eli L. Nissley was married in
the township of East Hempfield, Lancaster county,
to Lizzie R. Shenk, by whom he became the father
of the following children: Henry Roy, Eli Jay,
Christ Lloyd and Walter S. Mrs. Lizzie R. Nissley
,was born in Hempfield township, Sept. 29, 1863, only
.daughter of Henry K. and Mary (Rhodes) Shenk,
who were born in Manheim and Manor townships,
respectively. Henry K. Shenk is now living in East
Hempfield the honored life that belongs to a farmer
who has worked hai-d all his years and seeks rest and
peace at the close of his days. Mrs. Shenk died in
1893, at the age of sixty years, and was buried in the
Lutheran Church Cemetery at Maytown.
Eli L. Nissley was reared on the home farm,
where he remained with his parents until he was
fourteen years of age, and then accompanied them in
their removal to Mt. Joy township and to Graybills,
spending three years at each location. When he was
seventeen years of age he came to Florin, and six
years later became engaged in the leaf tobacco busi-
ness, which has continued his occiipation to the pres-
ent time and in which he is remarkably successful.
Mr. Nissley is a Republican, and has taken a
leading position in the community. In 1901 he was
elected a school director for a three years' term. In
1899 he was made a director of the First National
Bank of Marietta, and his business judgment, always
good, is making itself felt throughout the county.
Mr. Nissley is a pushing and energetic character,
bound to make progress, and is widely known as an
enterprising and thoroughly reliable man.
BENJAMIN F. BYERS. The ancestors of the
Byers family, in I>ancaster county, came from a
country which has given the world some notable men,
and whose people, the country over, are considered
among the best of American citizens.
John Byers, his grandfather, was a native of
Germany, and in that country he was reared and there
married, soon after emigrating to the United States
and locating in Pequea township, Lancaster county.
Here he purchased a large tract of land which was
situated north of Baumgardner Station, and on this
property was built what is known as the Byers
Church, the Byers family contributing a tract for that
purpose. John Byers came upon this land as a pi-
oneer, being one of the first settlers, finding the local-
ity unimproved, and when viewing the extraordinary
change that has been made, one can not but admire
.and comment upon .the zeal, intelligence and energy
that has so successfully made of this region one of
the best improved in the county. John Byers lived
to advanced age in spite of the exacting life of the
pioneer, and was noted for his progressive spirit and
force of character, rearing a large and excellent fam-
ily, many of whom located in the West, and have es-
tablished family branches there.
John Byers (2), son of the pioneer, was born in
1807, and died in 1852, having been reared on the
homestead in I'equea township. After his marriage
he came to West Lampeter and located on a farm
about one mile south-east of Willowstreet, where he
bought and operated over 100 acres, and there pur-
sued agricultural activities all his life with excellent
results. He was highly esteemed, being made super-
visor and for a long time serving as school director.
John Byers (2) married Kate Johnston, daughter
of Abraham Johnston, of Pequea township, who died
in 1879 ^t the age of sixty-three. They had a fam-
ily of ten children : Barbara married Samuel Min-
ney, of West Lampeter township ; Henry died at the
age of forty-four, unmarried; Jacob is a farmer of
Ouarryville, Lancaster county; Mary is the widow
of Peter Sicor; Sarah is the" wife of Henry Barr,
of Pequea township ; John died at the age of twenty-
eight, leaving a wife and two children ; David is a
resident of Whiteside county. 111. ; Annie is the wife
of John Huber, of Willowstreet; Benjamin F. ; and
Amaziah died in childhood.
Benjamin F. Byers was born July 16, 1853, and
was reared on the home farm, attending the public
school of his district, until the age of twelve. At this
early age he started from home with the intention of
taking care of himself, engaging in farm work by the
month, and thus he continued until he was twenty-
five. At this time he saw a favorable opening in the
butchering business, at Lampeter, and since that time
has been engaged in that line, very successfully, being
both a wholesale and retail merchant. Mr. Byers
has the best of facilities for his work, having erected
a^large slaughter house, and supplying the Lancaster
City markets, as well as the country trade. Being
a live business man, his future success is assured,
the public having learned to repose confidence in his
mtegnty. As a stanch Republican, he has filled a
number of the local offices in the gift of the party,
servmg efficiently under all circumstances.
Benjamin Byers was married in 1886, to Eliza-
beth Eshleman, a daughter of Christian Eshleman of
West Lampeter township, and three children have
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
748
been born of this union : Willis, Myrtle and Harold.
This is one of the representative families of the town-
ship, and by his energy and industry, Mr. Byers has
place his business in a front rank in this part of Lan-
caster county.
WILLIAM B. DETV/ILER. Prominent in the
realty business, in Mt. Joy, Pa., and one of the most
progressive and enterprising business men, is Will-
iam B. Detwiler, a native of Rapho township, where
he was born in 1851, a son of Joseph and Anna Det-
wiler. The name is one well known in financial and
business circles, carrying with it the suggestion of
uprightness of character, combined with sound busi-
ness ability.
Mr. Detwiler remained with his parents until his
marriage, and then engaged in farming on the old
homestead in Rapho township, successfully operating
a large farm, for fourteen years. Since that time,
his residence has been in Mt. Joy, the varied and in-
creasing interests of his father, requiring his as-
sistance in their management. Aside from the vast
amount of work entailed in successfully managing
tiis father's estate, he is also engaged in the real es-
tate business, for which he has shown great capacity.
The marriage of William B. Detwiler occurred
in Conoy township, when Emma Hoffman, a daugh-
ter of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Rhodes) Hoffman,
of Manor township, became his bride. They now
reside in Conoy township, where Mr. Hoffman is one
of the most extensive farmers and tobacco merchants
in that locality. They are pious and worthy people,
members of the River Brethren and the Church of
God, and are the parents of ten children. Mr. and
Mrs. Detwiler have four children, — Parthenia A.,
who married Dr. B. E. Wright, a dentist of Harris-
burg : Joseph H., Jr. ; Mabel ; and Beulah.
For the past six years, Mr. Detwiler has been a
member of the city council, and is one of the lead-
ing politicians in this section.
JAY BACHMAN. The Bachman family, of
Lancaster county, possesses an old and honorable an-
cestry, its members having been identified with the
advancement of the county since as early as 1746,
when its founder in the United States located in West
Lampeter township. His son, Jacob, became the
grandfather of Jay Bachman, the immediate subject
• of this biography.
Jacob Bachman was born April 25, 1782, and
died May 10, 1849, and on March 3T, 1814. married
Barbara Eshleman, who died at the age of seventy-
eight years, eight months and three days. Jacob
Bachman was a farmer, but po'^sessed a natural
aptitude for working in wood, and the family still
possesses some valued examples of his cabinet work.
Both were members of the Old Mennonite Church,
and both were of quiet, domestic habits of life. Un-
der their roof grew up a large and intelligent family,
many members of it having made homes for them-
selves in other States, everywhere being known as
quiet, well-ordered citizens and worthy of their
name. To Jacob Bachman and wife were born:
Maria, born in 18 15, married William Parker and re-
moved to Illinois, where she died. May 13, 1854;
Susan, born in 1816, died single ; John, born in 1818,
died Sept. 15, 1894; Anna, born in 1820, married
David Longenecker and removed to Maryland,
where she still survives, a widow since Feb. 5, 1889 ;
Jacob, born in 1825, married Elizabeth Eshleman, re-
sided in Strasburg township, and died March 8, 1888 ;
Fannie, born in 1827, married John Jameson, and in
1855 removed to Quincy, Ills., where she died in
1893 ; Benjamin F., born in 1829, removed to Cali-
fornia when a young man, and spent his life in that
State; and Elizabeth, born in 1832, died in infancy.
John Bachman, son of Jacob and father of Jay
Bachman, was born in West Lampeter township,
and when a small boy accompanied his parents in
their removal to Strasburg, when location was made
upon the fine farm now occupied by Jay Bachman.
Here John Bachman was reared and sent to the pub-
lic schools, later being given educational advantages
in both select schools and an academy. About the
time of his legal majority he purchased a farm in
Ohio, which he cleared and worked for a period,
remaining until his father's death called him home,
when he returned to the homestead, and with his
brother Jacob undertook the management of the
estate. Until his marriage this arrangement con-
tinued, at which time he took full control and made
it his home.
For many years John Bachman resided in the old
homestead, engaged in farming, but when his son
Jay had reached manhood he turned the farm over to
him and retired from active life, remaining in the
old place, however, tmtil his days ended. For a long
period John Bachman was one of the prominent, as
well as one of the most substantial men of the locality,
a man of more than ordinary intelligence and superior
education. His services were frequently required in
the settlement of estates, on account of the known
probity of his character. He was one of the original
directors in the Strasburg Bank, so continuing for
many years.
On May 11, 1869, John Bachman was married
to Lizzie B. Rohrer, daughter of Christian and
Maria (Buckwalter) Rohrer, who was born Sept.
29, 1844. Four children were born to this union:
Minnie, born Feb. 13, 1870, married Morris Bach-
man, of Pittsburg, Pa. ; Jay, born Oct. 21, 1871, re-
sides on the old homestead ; Ed, born Dec. 10, 1874,
died April 16, 1876; and Park, born Nov. 12, 1879,
was a student of mechanical engineering at the
Western University, at Pittsburg.
Jay Bachman, who is one of the most progressive
3'oung farmers of Strasburg township, and a son of
John and Lizzie (Rohrer) Bachman, was reared on
the farm he now occupies and which he is improving
with modern buildings and stocking it with high-
grade stock and cattle. His education was acquired
in the excellent public schools of Lancaster county.
,744
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
which he has supplemented with reading and scien-
tific studies in relation to his agricultural and stock
interests. The Bachman homestead farm contains
io8 acres of some of the most valuable land in
Strasburg township, located three miles southwest
of Strasburg, and is one of the oldest, although the
stanch old buildings, almost a century old, give no
such impression. Mr. Bachman has remodeled and
modernized them and put them into proper condition
to accommodate his growing operations. In connec-
tion with his farming industries, he also conducts
one of the best and largest dairies in the vicinity, the
butter from which commands the highest market
price and is in much demand.
On Oct. 5, 1898, Jay Bachman was married to
Edith Musser, daughter of Dr. Harry Musser, of
Lampeter, and one little son, Harry M., was born,
Nov. 3, 1899. In his political affiliations Mr. Bach-
man is a Republican, and he is one of the most
esteemed citizens of Strasburg township. His re-
spected mother resides in Strasburg, enjoying a
peaceful old age, beloved and esteemed by all who
know her.
HENRY S. IMMEL, an extensive cigar manu-
facturer at Mountville, Lancaster county, employing
forty-three men, began business here in 1890, and has
made an uneqtiivocal success of it. He was born in
ISIillersville, this county, Feb. 26, i860, a son of
Henry B. and Catherine (Staufifer) Immel, of Manor
township, where the parents resided until 1891, when
they came to Mountville. Of their ten children, El-
vina died young; Henry S. is our subject; Emeline
is married to Joseph Froelich, a carpenter of Mount-
ville; Calvin, John, Edwin, Franklin and Ida all died
young ; and two others died in infancy.
Henry B. Immel, father of Henry S., was born in
Millersville, July 12, 1831, was a blacksmith and car-
riage builder, and after 1891 carried on his calling
in Mountville. Henry B. was a son of John and
Elizabeth ( Berk) Immel, who were' born and who
lived and died in Manor township, the latter event
occurring in Millersville. John Immel was a black-
smith by trade, and was a very popular citizen, hold-
ing many township offices in the early days. His
death occurred in 185 1, when he was fifty-seven
years old, but the wife survived until 1873, when she
died at the age of seventy years. They were members
of the Reformed church and their mortal remains
were. interred at Millersville. Thev were the par-
ents of eight children, born in the following order:
Levi, now of Reading, Pa. ; Henry B. ; Martin, a
merchant in Nebraska ; Adeline, wife of Emanuel
Lehr, of Millersville, Pa. ; Jacob, deceased ; Mary,
deceased, was first married to Jacob Brenner, and
next to Sebasten Nestile ; Rebecca, deceased wife of
Christ Keller ; and Catherine, deceased wife of Christ
Hartman.
On Feb. 14, T856, Henry B. Immel married Cath-
erine Stanflfer, who was born in Manor township in
October, 1833, daughter of John and Elizabeth ( Wit-
mer) Stauffer. John Staufifer was a distiller in his
younger days, then became a farmer, and finally re-
tired from active life. Henry B. Immel is a consist-
ent member of the German Reformed Church, and in
politics is a Republican.
Henry S. Immel worked in his father's blacksmith
shop, off and on, until he had attained his majority,
but in the meantime, when but seventeen years of age,
had begun learning cigar making and tobacco rais-
ing, and finally engaged in business for himself in
that line in Millersville, where he had resided for
thirty years. After five years' experience in the cigar
trade in that town, he came to Mountville, and es-
tablished his present extensive business. He has
since erected a large factory where he manufactures
his cigars.
On Sept. 16, 1884, Henry S. Immel was joined
marriage, in Mountville, to Anna Shookers, and to
this union have been born two children, Elizabeth
May and Luella. Mrs.. Anna (Shookers) Immel is
a native of Mountville, a daughter of Henry and
Elizabeth Shookers, well known residents of the
town. Mr. and Mrs. Immel are members of the U.
B. Church, and fraternally Mr. Immel is a Knight
Templar Mason, belonging to Commandery No. 43,
Lancaster ; a Knight of Malta ; and a member of the
O. U. A. M. Politically he is a Republican. In 1890
he purchased his residence property in Mountville,
and has one of the pleasant homes of that village.
SAMUEL B. KOSER, M. D., a rising young
physician and surgeon at Mountville, Lancaster
county, was born at Junction, Penn township, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., April 28, 1866, and is a son of Will-
iam and Mary A. (Behn) Koser, natives, respect-
ively, of Lancaster arid Dauphin counties.
William Koser was born in 1836, and was reared
a farmer. The family Kved in Lancaster township,
where Mrs. Koser died June 4, 1897, at the age of
sixty-four years, and in 1899 the father retired to
Lancaster, where he lives at ease and free from care.
To the marriage of William and Mary A. Koser were
born seven children, in the following order : . Eliza-
beth, wife of Timlow Long, a shoe merchant of Lan-
caster; Samuel B.; John B., deceased; William, a
farmer on the old homestead in Manheim township ;
Jonas, a cigar manufacturer in Lancaster ; Mary, re-
siding with her sister, Mrs: Long ; and Martin, also
a cigarmaker in Lancaster.
The paternal grandparents of Dr. Koser were
Frederick and Rebecca (Young) Koser, of Lancaster
county, the former of whom, a farmer, died in Man-
heim m 1872, and the latter still resides there,
l-rederick was a son of Frederick, a native of Switz-
erlancl, who settled near White Oak, Lancaster coun-
^^■j l^v ^°'^,toi"'s maternal grandparents were John
and Elizabeth Behn, of Campbelltown, Lebanon
Co., Pa., where they lived on a farm for more
than forty years.
_ Samuel B. Koser lived on the home farm until
sixteen years old, and then attended Millersville Nor-
4^^^1±:^i^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
745
mal School two seasons. He was then employed in
the drug business in Columbia, Pa., for five years,
and was later engaged in the same business for two
years in Baltimore, Md. In the meantime he had
teen assiduously studying medical works, and had
prepared himself for entrance to Baltimore Medical
College, in which he took a full course, and was
graduated with the class of April 15, 1891.
Dr. Koser began the practice of his profession
in Columbia, where for six months he met with grati-
fying success, but there was a more inviting field
opened up to him in Mountville, of which he at once
availed himself, and has there since enjoyed a large
remunerative and constantly increasing patronage.
The Doctor is a member of the Lancaster City and
County Medical Societies, the State Medical Society,
the National Medical Association, and the College of
Physicians & Surgeons, of Columbia, Pa., and keeps
well abreast of the progress made in the art and sci-
ence of medicine.
Fraternally Dr. Koser is a Freemason of the
seventh degree (Royal Arch) ; is a member of the
K. of M., and likewise of the I. O. O. F. Re-
ligiously he is a member of Trinity Reformed
Church. In politics a Republican, the Doctor has
been a school director for the past eight years, now
serving his third term. Socially he mingles with the
highest classes in Mountville, by whom he is highly
esteemed as a gentleman and as a physician.
REUBEN J. MYERS, Superintendent, and a
member of the firm, of the Grey Iron Casting Co.,
of Mt: Joy, Pa., one of the most important industrial
institutions in this part of Lancaster county, belongs
to an old and prominent family of Pennsylvania.
Jacob and Esther (Strickler) Myers, the paternal
grandparents of Reuben J. Myers, were well-known
and highly regarded residents of Lancaster county,
where the former taught school and also followed the
trade of stone-mason, residing in the house in Mt.
Joy which is now occupied by the beloved mother of
our subject. These good people reared a large and
estimable family, but nearly all have passed away.
These were : Eliza, who died unmarried ; Mary, de-
ceased wife of David Stoner ; Henry, deceased ; Ja-
cob, deceased ; Anna, deceased wife of Augustus
AValton; Esther, deceased wife of Henry Zell; and
Catherine, widow of Thomas McFalls, who resided
in Quincy, 111., until her death in July, 1901.
The maternal grandparents of Reuben J. Myers
were no less prominent in Lancaster county, and were
Isaac and Anna (Martin) Hershey, of Penn and
Rapho townships, respectively, who died in Mt.
Joy borough and East Donegal township. Their
children were : Fanny, who married Jacob Myers ;
John, living retired; Eliza, deceased, who mar-
ried Daniel Lehman; Andrew, living retired;
Ephraim, deceased; Christian, deceased; Anna, the
widow of Frederick Stettler, of Jersey City, N. J. ;
George, a retired farmer of Iowa ; Reuben, a resident
of Illinois ; Sarah, who married Reuben Risser, who
conducts a steam laundry in Mt. Joy; and Naomi,
who married Ely Fletcher, a retired Illinois farmer.
The maternal great-grandparents were Christian and
Elizabeth (Snyder) Hershey, the former a son of
Christian Hershey, an old settler of Lancaster county.
Reuben J. Myers was born in Mt. Joy Aug. 9,
1854, son of Jacob and Fanny (Hershey) Myers, the
former of whom followed the. business of cabinet-
making in this locality until his death in 1869, at the
age of fifty-one. During life he was prominently
identified with the temperance movement and was a
consistent member of the Church of God, known as
the Bethel. Mrs. Fanny (Hershey) Myers, who
resides in Mt. Joy, was born July 30, 1821, and be-
came the mother of these children : Regina, a suc-
cessful educator in the Mt. Joy schools ; Emma, the
widow of John Singer of Mt. Joy; Hershey, who
died in 1871 ; Mary, the wife of J. D. Boyce, a wagon-
maker of this place ; Reuben J. ; Ezra M., yardmaster
for the Pennsylvania railroad, in Philadelphia; Al-
len, a contractor and builder, in Lincoln, Neb. ; and
Harvey, a baggage master on the Pennsylvania rail-
road, and located in Philadelphia.
Reuben J. Myers, whose name in Mt. Joy stands
for great business sagacity as well as financial re-
sponsibility, was reared and educated in that town,
finishing his school days at the age of fourteen. With
inclinations in the direction of machinery and iron
work, he entered a foundry wh^re he remained some
time, and then made his way to Harrisburg, in 1870
completing his instruction in one of the great foun-
dries of this city, and remaining engaged in work un-
til the spring of 1871. Thoroughly proficient and
well aware that this proficiency would always secure
him lucrative employment, Mr. Myers left home, in-
tending to see something of the country, and traveled
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, working at his trade,
and learning much which in later years benefited
him in many ways. In 1874 he returned to Mt. Joy,
and there remained during the succeeding two years,
thence going to New York city, where for five years
he was connected with business firms in his line.
LTpon his second return to his old home, he opened
up a foundry and galvanizing plant, which he suc-
cessfully operated until 1892, when he became a
member of the great firm of the Grey Iron Casting
Co. This business was established in 1882 by Stauf-
f er & Eby, for the manufacture of novelties and cast-
ings, also shelf hardware, and, as now conducted,
employs 120 men, and is one of the most important
industries of this locality. The present firm which
is composed of the well-known solid and responsible
business men, T. B. Himes, president; J. W. Eshle-
man, secretary and treasurer; and R. J. Myers, su-
perintendent. They purchased this business in Feb-
ruary, 1891, and have conducted it ever since with
signal success.
In December, 1879, Reuben J. Myers was mar-
ried to Miss Helen Brennesholtz, and to this union
have been born : Edith, Ralph and Ethel. Mrs. Myers
was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1859, a daughter of
746
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Peter P. and Helen (Johnson) Brennesholtz, who
were residents of New York, where he conducted a
business as newsdealer. The political affiliations of
Mr. Myers are with the Republican party, although
his busy life leaves him no time for office-holding.
Fraternally he is a valued member of the Masonic or-
der, and is connected with the F. & A. M., No. 147,
Cope Stone, N. J. ; and he also belongs to the I. O. O.
F., No. 277, of Mt. Joy. For many years he has been
a consistent member of the Bethel Church, where he
is active in all benevolent and charitable enterprises.
iMIr. Myers is a self-m.ade man, and one who has won
his prominence and the respect and esteem of the
community through his own efforts.
HARRY K. RUBY, one of the best known and
most highly respected railroad conductors residing in
Columbia, Pa., was born in York, this State. March
I, 1858, a son of Joseph and Sarah (Barnhart)
Ruby, natives of Somerset and York, respectively.
Joseph P.uby, a cabinetmaker by trade, who
•served as constable for several years, was born Jan.
20, 1809, and died in York, Dec. 11, 1871. His wife,
Sarah Barnhart, was born April 19, 181 1, and died
Nov. 23, 1895, the remains of both being interred in
the York cemetery. She was a loving wife and de-
voted mother, and for seventy long years was a con-
sistent member of the Presbyterian Church. At the
time of her death her eldest child was sixty-five years
of age, and the youngest thirty-seven. During her
girlhood she was one of several young ladies, who,
dressed in white, received General LaFayette on his
last visit to this country, and had the honor of shak-
ing hands with that distinguished gentleman when
he passed through York.
Harry K. Ruby is the youngest in a family of nine
children. The others in order of birth are as fol-
lows: William, editor of the Maryland Journal at
Towson, Md. ; Susan, who married Henry R. Ruby,
a cousin, and is now a widow living in Chambers-
burg, Pa. ; Adeline, widow of J. S. Boyer and a res-
ident of York ; Frank, a conductor on the Pennsyl-
vania railroad and a resident of Columbia; Walter,
who is now conducting a restaurant in York ; Emma,
wife of a Mr. Gingrick, a railroad engineer of Phila-
delphia; Emerson, a railroad engineer of Chicago,
ni. ; and Kate, wife of Harry Flayhart of Towson,
Maryland.
Until he attained his majority Harry K. Ruby_ re-
mained a resident of York, Pa., and in the meantime
worked at anything which he could find to do. He
then went to Philadelphia, where he clerked in a
grocery store for six months, and during the fol-
lowing two years worked in the Chicago & Eastern
Illinois railroad freight house at Chicago, after which
he returned to Pennsylvania and spent one year in
Harrisburg. Since then he has made his home in
Cokimbia, and has been in the employ of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad Co., first as brakeman eight years,
as fl?ip-man fourteen years, and as conductor since
that time.
In Chicago Mr. Ruby was married, Nov. 16,
1879, to Miss Catherine Westhaffer, a native of York
county. Pa., where her parents, Emanuel and Sarah
( Strine) Westhaffer, were also born, their early home
being in Strinestown. The father, a farmer by occu-
pation, is now sixty-five years of age, while the
mother is fifty-nine. Mrs. Ruby is the oldest of
their children, the others being Emma, wife of Will-
iam Wise, of York; Daniel, deceased; and Minnie,
wife of Frank Deamer of Lebanon, Pa. Mr. and
Mrs. Ruby have four children, namely : Maud, now
the wife of Clarence E. Lloyd of Columbia ; Joseph;
Harry and Addie, all at home.
Fraternally Mr. Ruby is a member of the Brother-
hood of Railroad Trainmen; the Pennsylvania Re-
lief Department; and the Junior Order of United
American Mechanics, and religiously he is a mem-
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. By his bal-
lot he supports the men and measures of the Demo-
cratic party, and never withholds his aid from any
enterprise which he believes will prove of public
benefit.
JOHN H. HOOK, who is a prominent citizen of
Lancaster, Pa., and one who has long been identified
with the material improvement and growth of the
city, was born April 5, 1858, in Lancaster, a son of
John and Catherine (Klaus) Hook, natives of
Greiss, Gross-Gerau, Hessen Darmstadt, Germany,
although they met and were married in Lancaster,
Pa. John Hook emigrated to America in 1831,
while the date of his wife's emigration was one year
later. They have their pleasant home in Lancaster,
where he is employed as a stone-mason and stone-
cutter. He was born in October, 1823, a son of Ja-
cob and Christiana Hook, natives of Hessen Darm-
stadt, Germany, the former of whom was born on
April 14, 1804, came to America in 1831, and died
March 2, 1871. Mrs. Christiana Hook died in Ger-
many, in 1850, aged fifty-six years, four months and
twenty days. Mrs. Catherine (Klaus) Hook was a
daughter of Ernest and Margaret Klaus, of Drei-
burg, Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, who came to
Lancaster county, in 1834, where lie died, and was
buried at Strasburg, Pa. John and Catherine (Klaus)
Hook are members of the German Lutheran Church.
In politics he is a supporter of the Democratic party.
They had born to them these children : John H. ;
Elizabeth, who married Frank Witmer, of Lancaster ;
Henrjr, vvho resides at home, unmarried ; Adam P.,
who died of yellow fever in Havana ; Catherine, who
married William Zercher, a tobacco merchant of Lan-
caster ; Frederick, who is a barber ; and William F.,
unmarried, who lives at home.
John H. Hook was reared in a home where he was
early taught the value of industry. Until be was
thirteen years of age, he attended school and then be-
came water boy on the railroad, retaining his con-
nection with railroad work, from 1871, when he made
this humble beginning, until 1898, when he quit the
road. From 1884 to 1889 he was master stoner
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
747
mason for the Frederick Division of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Co. In October, 1889, he made his
beginning in contracting with J. F. Kellar and until
his health failed, in June, 1898, he continued at that
work. During that time Mr. Hook was engaged in
building and contracting on a large scale, in Lancas-
ter City, and in 1898, in association with Dr. M. L.
Davis, began the building of garbage crematories,
and in 1898 built a 100-ton crematory for the United
States Government at Havana, Cuba. It would be a
task to name all the work which has been completed
by Mr. Hook in the building line, but a few of the
notable constructions are: No. 13 bridge over the
Juniata River, near Altoona, Pa., containing 10,700
cubic yards of masonry, built at a cost of $107,000,
on the Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad,
and for the same, a bridge over Stone Creek, at
Huntingdon, Pa., containing 4,000 cubic yards of
masonry; also a bridge for the same over Shaver's
Creek, at Petersburg, Huntingdon Co., Pa., contain-
Jiig 3>500 yards of masonry. ■ It was at this point that
Mr. Hook was stricken with paralysis, the heavy
demands made upon his physical strength being more
that he could endure. His present business includes
contracting and grading, and probably there is no
more competent man in his line in Lancaster county.
In September, 1884, Mr. Hook was united in
marriage with Mary E. Boud, who was born at Bar-
ren Hill, Montgomery Co., Pa., a daughter of James
and Sarah (Fisher) Boud, natives of that county.
The former was a son of James and Elizabeth Boud,
natives of New Jersey. Mrs. Hook's father was a
contractor and builder, and he died in 1879, at the
age of sixty-seven years. Her grandfather was a
cooper. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Hook
were George and Elizabeth Fisher, farming people of
Montgomery county. Mrs. Hook's mother was born
in January, 1821, and now resides at Audubon, Pa.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Boud were : William
H., who keeps a hotel at Audubon; Kate F., who
married Clinton Custer, and lives at Audubon, where
he is engaged in brick manufacturing; Mary E.,
who became Mrs. Plook; and Margaret, who died
unmarried. The children born to Mr. Hook and
wife were: Adam, deceased; Henry B. ; Irene M.;
Josephine ; Mary E. L. ;John F. ; and Paul R.
Mr. Hook has led too busy a life to have taken a
very active part in politics, although no citizen of
this locality is better qualified. For six years he
consented to be judge of elections, but finally re-
signed the office. Until fhe silver question agitated
the Democratic party, he had always adhered to its
principles, but since that time, has been identified
with the Republican party. For the past twenty-
three years he has been an Odd Fellow, and also be-
longs to the order of Seven Wise Men. Mr. Hook
v/as reared in the Lutheran Church, and is a most
liberal contributor to its support, his family being
regular attendants on its services and active in its
work.
Although somewhat hampered by ill-health, Mr.
Hook has retained in a very remarkable degree his
energy, and still is the active and intelligent head of
his business. It is to Mr. Hook that the city is indebt-
ed for the very satisfactory electric plant, erected at
Slack Water, which supplies Lancaster with its
light. He is also president of the South Mountain
Kaolin Co., capitalized at $250,000, and president of
the Cline Stock Car Co., capitalized at $100,000. Mr.
Hook is one of the reliable, energetic and progressive
citizens, who leave worthy monuments behind them,
when called from life, and who can be but illy spared.
He enjoys the esteem and confidence of his fellow-
citizens, and also has a large circle of personal
friends.
HENRY W. GIBSON, secretary of the Y. M.
C. A., at Lancaster, has done such a noble work for
the uplifting of the men and boys of his native city,
that his name is entitled to most honorable mention
on these pages devoted to the notable men of this
community. He comes from an old family in this
county, and is in direct descent from the Gibsons
who were early settlers in Lancaster county, so early
that Gibson's Corners has a history that runs back
farther than the establishment and naming of the
city of Lancaster. The Gibsons came from Ireland,
and the great-grandfather of Henry W., with two
brothers made his appearance here at a very early
day. His wife died when our subject was about ten
years old. Their son, Michael Gibson, married Mary
Shertz, who died a few years ago.
John Gibson, the father of Henry W., was a car-
penter in Lancaster, and he married Rebecca J. Mc-
"Cann, of York county. Pa. From this union three
children were borij : Henry W., of Lancaster ; Sadie
J., the wife of David J. Dailey, cigar manufacturer ;
and John, who died in infancy.
Henry W. Gibson was born in Lancaster, Oct.
21, 1867, and obtained his education in the city
schools. Leaving school at the age of twelve years he
entered a shoe store, where he remained four years,
and then secured another engagement with a second
shoe store, where he was employed three years. His
next move was to Harrisburg, where he began work
as an assistant secretary of the Harrisburg Y. M. C.
A. ; after a year he went to Chambersburg, where he
was called to fill the office of secretary of the local
association. There he spent a year and a half, and on
Sept. I, 1891, came to Lancaster, to assume the office
of secretary of the Lancaster Association, and to be-
come the organist of the First Presbyterian Church.
He remained in charge of the organ until 1897, when
the increasing duties of the Association work de-
manded all his time. Mr. Gibson is still singing in
the choir, and is noted as one of the finest tenors in
this city; he is also director of the Amphion male
quartette, whose work is confined to classical music,
and whose services are in much demand abroad. This
organization, which took shape as late as 1898, large-
ly through the work of Mr. Gibson, has already won
an enviable reputation. The church, the Sunday
748
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
School and the Association are his world, and music
is his recreation and delight. When only twelve
years old he was given charge of the organ at the
Memorial Presbyterian Church, and for eight years
officiated there.
Mr. Gibson may be said to have two hobbies, boys
and music. When he began his work in Lancaster,
there were only five young men who were paid-up
members of the Association ; now there are 667. The
library has been largely increased; the old building
was enlarged and remodeled, and the new and mag-
nificent building at North Queen and Orange streets
erected, at a cost of $200,000, by the tireless worker
and enthusiastic Secretary, whom the people have
learned to love. Mr. Gibson effected the organiza-
tion of the Junior branch, and this may be said to be
a pioneer in the field. Secretary Gibson is in de-
mand in other cities to speak on various phases of his
successful work, and he has managed and accompa-
nied six camps of Juniors and Seniors at Sheibley's
Grove, and at Mt. Gretna, with never an accident to
mar the joy of these gatherings. In the summer of
1900 at Mt. Gretna, Mr. Gibson presided over a tri-
state camp, which was named "Camp Shand," after
the beloved president of the Y. M. C. A., with 114
representatives present from Philadelphia, New Jer-
sey and New York. In addition to all this Mr. Gib-
son is the assistant to the Chancellor; and a director,
of the Pennsylvania Chautauqua, whose summer
.school is held at Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania.
FREELAND L. DENLINGER, who occupies
the old home farm of his father in East Lampeter
township, was born there March 23, 1865, son of
John L. Denlinger. ,
Jacob Denlinger, the grandfather of our subject,
was also a native of Lancaster county. He was a
carpenter and builder by trade, but in the latter part
of his life followed farming in East Lampeter. In ■
his religions connection he was a member of the Re-
formed Mennonite Church. He married Miss Mary
Landis, by whom he became the father of seven chil-
dren, namely : Anna, deceased wife of David Weav-
er; Martha, wife of Joseph Swartley, of Ohio; John
L., deceased, mentioned below; Benjamin L., de-
ceased, of East Lampeter; Jacob, of Ohio; David,
of Salunga, Pa. ; and Mary, deceased wife of George
Wisler.
John L. Denlinger was born in East Lampeter
township in 1824, and he began farming in early life,
continuing same until his death, which occurred in
1886. He married Miss Elizabeth Harnish, and they
were the parents of seven children : Mary A., wife
of Cyrus Weaver ; Naomi, who died in infancy ; Flam
H., of Lancaster City ; Frank, who died in his twen-
ty-first year; Jacob, who died aged thirty-seven
years ; Freeland L., our subject; and Miss Lizzie F.,
unmarried, of Lancaster City.
Freeland L. Denlinger was educated in the public
schools, and lived at home until he was twenty-one
years of age, when he began life for himself, farm-
ing one year on the farm of Mrs. Elizabeth Fralish.
Then his father died, and he inherited the home farm,
on which he now resides, and where he has continued
farming ever since. He takes a deep interest in the
general welfare of the community in which he re-
sides.
On Nov, 24, 1885, Mr. Denlinger wedded Miss
Amanda Fralish, daughter of David and Elizabeth
Fralish, and to this union have been born two chil-
dren, J. Cletus, Nov. 27, 1887 ; and Miriam E., March
27, 1894.
DANIEL H. DENLINGER. The Denlinger
family is of Swiss extraction, but has long been dom-
iciled in Lancaster county. Daniel H. Denlinger
was born in Leacock township May 23, 1855, son of
Daniel and Margaret (Hershey) Denlinger, natives,
respectively, of Paradise and Salisbury townships.
Daniel Denlinger, the father, was a prominent and
successful farmer. In his early manhood he was a
miller, operating in Salisbury township what is now
known as Hunsecker's mill. During the last fifteen
years of his life he lived retired from active farm
labors. He died in 1884, aged sixty-nine years, and
is buried in Hershey's Mennonite cemetery. His
widow, the mother of Daniel H., survives and is a
resident of Leacock township.
Daniel H. Denlinger remained on the home farm
until his marriage in Leacock township, in October,
1878, to Miss Anna M. Kreider, who was born in
that township in 18G0, and who died July 19, 1882,
aged twenty-two years, leaving two children, Anna
E., who married Landis O. Brackbill, of Gap, Lan-
caster county ; and John K., who lives at Coatesville,
Pa. For his second wife, Daniel H. Denlinger mar-
ried, Jan. 30, 1884, Fanny K. Landis, who was born
in East Hempfield township. May 9, 1858; daughter
of Rev. John B. and Anna (Kreider) Landis, of
East Lampeter township, and granddaughter of
Abraham and Elizabeth (Brenneman) Landis, of
Lancaster county, and of Jacob Kreider, of Lancaster
county.
Rev. John B. Landis has been a Mennonite minis-
ter for the past fifty-two years. He was born March
10, 1819, and retired from active farming in 1871.
He is a man of prominence ajid unusual mental vigor.
His wife died in 1880, aged sixty years and twenty-
four days, and is buried in East Petersburg Mennon-
ite cemetery. To Rev. John B. and Anna (Kreider)
Landis were born children as follows: Elizabeth,
who married Israel F. R6ot, and is now deceased;
Mariah, widow of Martin P. Swarr, of East Hemp-
field township : Anna, wife of Christ F. Charles, a
farmer of Rapho township ; Catherine, wife of Ben-
jamin F. Charles, a farmer of East Hempfield town-
ship ; Hettie, wife of John M. Denlinger, a farmer of
Manor township ; Fanny K., wife of Daniel H. Den-
linger, subject of this sketch; and Jacob A., of Los
Angeles, CaHfornia.
To Daniel H. and Fanny K. (Landis) DenHnger
have been born five children, namely: LilHe L.,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
749
Daniel L., Fanny M., Margaret R. and Jacob L., all
at home.
Following his marriage in 1878, Mr. Denlinger
settled upon his farm of 115 acres in Salisbury town-
ship, which he still occupies. He is a successful and
progressive farmer and one of the prominent citizens
of the township. For ten years he served as school
director, and in various ways has demonstrated his
enterprise and public spirit. In politics he is a Re-
publican, and in religious affiliation himself and wife
are active members of the Mennonite Church.
AMOS H. HOFFMAN. Had the biographer
the time and space it would be most interesting to
compare the appearance of the land and the surround-
ing conditions of life, with those of the present, when,
many years ago. Christian Hoffman, the founder of
the Hoffman family in Lancaster county, established
here a saddlery business, upon the large farm of
which he became the owner. It was during his youth
that he located in East Hempfield township, and
this locality has the honor of having been the home
of a real inventor, the teamster whip, which he first
invented and then manufactured in large numbers,
being a successful article, and one which found ready
sale, as at that time the volume of business in the way
of transportation, was done along the highway, by
teamsters. His religious connection was with the
Lutheran Church, and for that time and locality, he
was rated a very substantial man. His marriage uni-
ted him to Magdalena Geezy, and they reared these
children: Henry; Christian; John; Susan; Eman-
uel ; Levi ; Magdalena, who married Michael Goch-
nauer ; and Annie, who married A. Harlacher.
Henry Hoffman, who purchased the home prop-
erty, lying one mile east of Landisville, was born and
reared on the place, his birth occurring in 1813, and
his death, in 1894. Farming was his chief occupa-
tion, in connection with the saddlery, succeeding to
this business after his father's death. He did much
to improve the land, as at the time he took charge of
the property, much of the native forest still remained.
In his political affiliations he was a Democrat, and
although he took an active part in the deliberations
of his party, he never consented to hold office. He
was a member of the Mennonite Church. His inter-
ment took place on the old homestead burying
ground, where his parents long had slept. His wife,
Elizabeth Hiestand, was born in 1824, a daughter
of Christian Hiestand, of Landisville; she died in
1896, the mother of the following children : Chris-
tian, a farmer and produce dealer, of East Hempfield ;
Annie, the wife of Benjamin Nolt, a prominent mil-
ler and drover, of this township ; Levi, who died un-
married, at the age of thirty-five ; Maggie, deceased
wife of Jonas E. Witmer ; Lillie, deceased, who mar-
ried F. L. Nissley ; Harry, who was connected with
the establishment of Hager Bros., and died in Lan-
caster, leaving a widow and one child; John, de-
ceased; and Amos IT.
Amos H. Hoffman, who resides on the old home-
stead, was born Feb. 21, 1867, and was reared on
this pleasant old farm, receiving his preparatory ed-
ucation in the common schools, later becoming a
student at the State Normal "school at Westchester,
immediately after entering the profession of teacher,
satisfactorily pursuing that for six sessions. About
this time he received an appointment as U. S. store-
keeper and gauger, and served in that capacity in the
Ninth Revenue district for four years, resigning the
position, however, to take charge of the homestead
farm he had purchased in 1895, since which time he
has engaged in farming rather extensively.
Mr. Hoffman has been an active member of the
Democratic party, has served on the County commit-
tee and has been a frequent delegate to Democratic
county and State conventions.
On Dec. 20, 1896, M^r. Hoffman married Les-
tella M. Foust, a daughter of William Foust, a well-
known distiller, of York county, and to this marriage
two children, Ruth and William have been born. The
Hoffman family is one of the most highly respected
in the county, and Amos H. Hoffman is a worthy rep-
resentative of it.
BENJAMIN BARR, a paper-hanger and water-
color decorator, of Lancaster, was born Feb. 2, 1872,
on his father's farm, in Pequea township. He served
his apprenticeship with J. B. Martin, beginning in
August, 1888, and he has remained with the same
employer ever since, ha-ving taken up the work as a
master workman on the completion of his apprentice-
ship service.
In April, 1897, Mr. Barr married Miss Sue Dief-
enbach, who was born in Erie, Pa., a daughter of
John Diefenbach, a railroad engineer who was killed
while on duty in Kentucky, in 1885. Mr. Barr pur-
chased his present home, No. 212 South Ann street,
three months after his marriage — a substantial in-
dication of his industry and thrift. His political affil-
iations are Republican, and his social with the
Knights of Pythias, and his fine qualities are appre-
ciated at home and afar;
John Barr, now deceased, the father of Benjamin,
was a farmer. He was born in Pequea Nov. 10,
1813, and died there on his farm, Feb. 13, i884,^and
his remains are buried in the cemetery in Pequea.
He was married in Lancaster in i860 to Elizabeth
Good, and the following is a list of their children in
addition to Benjamin, above mentioned: Maurice,
who died at the age of four years ; John, living with
his mother ; Aaron, who died at the age of nine ;
Maurice (2), now an engineer living in St. Louis,
Mo. ; Lizzie, now of Steelton, Pa., and the wife of
Frank Loy, by whom she has two children ; and
Abraham, now at home with his mother. Mr. Barr,
tlie father of this family, was brought up to farming
and tanning, under his own father, who in 1841, re-
tired in his favor, the successor then being twenty-
eight years of age. Thenceforward until his death
he continued both industries, a period of over forty
years, and achieved a competency for his family.
760
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
leaving it prominent in the community, prosperous
and comfortable. He was always a liberal supporter
of the church, but not a member, and he could never
be induced to accept political office. His widow sold
the farm and tannery, and moved to Lancaster in
April, 1888. She was born in February, 1837, in
Martic township, daughter of John and Fannie (Mil-
ler) Good. Her father was a farmer who died in
1884, at the age of eighty-two; her mother having
preceded him in 1881, aged seventy-five. Both were
members of the Old Mennonite Church, and both are
buried in tlie Byrland Church cemetery at Pequea.
Their children besides Elizabeth, were as follows:
Barbara married Abram Harnish, and both are de-
ceased ; Jonas is now deceased ; Miss Fanny, of Lan-
caster; Susan, now Mrs. Benjamin Martin, of Lan-
caster; Miss Mary, of Lancaster; and L.eah, now
Mrs. Samuel Rissel, wife of a retired farmer of
Lancaster. Mrs. John Barr's grandparents were
Jacob and Barbara (Shenck) Good, farmers of Lan-
caster.
Benjamin Barr's grandfather was also Benjamin
Barr; his grandmother, Barbara (Miller) Barr; and
they were both of Lancaster county. We have al-
ready told that this Benjamin Barr passed his farm-
ing and tanning business on to his son John, and re-
tired in 1841. He was a man of prominence in the
community, and was well-to-do. He and his wife
were both members of the Mennonite Church. Their
sons and daughters were : John, already mentioned ;
Fanny, who died unmarried at the age of seventy-
three; Eliza, deceased wife of Benjamin Snavely;
and Benjamin, a farmer of Landisville, this county.
HENRY RESSLER. For many years the mill-
ing interests of one section of Lancaster county, have
been efficiently looked after by members of the Ress-
ler family, and that name is known far and wide for
excellent and satisfactory work. Henry Ressler, the
owner and operator of one of the most complete and
best conducted mills in this part of the county, in-
herited from his father a great faculty for, and un-
derstanding of, the business, and he is regarded as an
authority on the subject.
Henry Ressler was born in Upper Leacock town-
ship, Jan. 9, 1870, son of William and Mary (Mar-
tin) Ressler, the former of whom was a native of
Berlcs county and was born in 1819. When he first
decided to leave home, in order to learn a trade, Will-
iam Ressler chose that of shoemaking and became
apprenticed to a local cobbler, but later resigned the
position to an older brother and went to learn the
milling business with David Ressler, at what is now
known as Rupp's mill, on Conestoga creek, a short
time later entering the employ of David Binkley, at
Binkley's Bridge, and thus formed a friendship which
lasted through the life of Mr. Binkley and had much
to do with the shaping of some years of Mr. Ress-
ler's career. After finishing his apprenticeship with
this employer, he became his chief miller and re-
mained with him for nine years.
About this time occurred the marriage of William
P^essler and following this event, he rented the mill
which is now known as Zook's mill, on Cocalico
creek, and this he operated for two years, and then
engaged with Isaac Rohrer, in the management of
what is now called Snaveley's mill, but before he had
become thoroughly identified with the business here,
David Binkley died, and in his will he requested that
Mr. Ressler return and take charge of his mill proper-
ty, to conduct until his youngest son had reached his
majority. Some dissatisfaction arose, owing to a mis-
understanding between Mr. Ressler and the eldest
son of Mr. Binkley, and after seven years the former
gave up the mill. Not long, however, could he
remain out of his favorite business, and soon after
this, he leased Frey's mill, on Lititz creek, this now
being known as Kafroth's mill, where he remained
for two years. Shortly before the expiration of his
lease a desirable mill property near Lancaster
came into the market, and of this Mr. Ressler became
the owner, paying for this $20,000.50, but he never
operated this mill, selling it, at the same figure, on
the day of purchase, and on the same day, bought
another mill property, in Upper Leacock townshp,
for which he paid $20,000, and this is now known as
the Ressler mill. Not being able to gain immediate
possession of the property, he pursued farming for
the following year. He died in 1892. His children
were : Joel, of whom nothing is known ; Jacob K.,
the owner and operator of the Ressler mill, who mar-
ried, Dec. 2T, 1881, Annie M. Groff, a daughter of
Levi Grofif, at one time a well-known distiller and
large land owner ; Dora L. ; Lizzie, who married W.
S. Reidenbaugh, of Lancaster; J. Light, a graduate
of the University of Pennsylvania, and now a prac-
ticing physician of Bird-in-Hand ; Henry ; and Mary,
wife of Samuel Herr, residing at Bird-in-Hand.
Henry Ressler lived upon the farm until he at-
tained his majority, and his first business venture,
when he was between nineteen and twenty-two years
of age, was in the auctioneer business, and he became
well and favorably known through the township in
that capacity. However, the milling instinct was but
dormant, for, in 1894, he began operations in the
family business, in that year purchasing what is
known as the Seldomridge mill, which he success-
fully operated from April, 1895, to November of the
same year, at which time he sold it to C. E. Seldom-
ridge, who is the present owner. The following
year Mr. Ressler passed quietly in Ephrata, but in
the spring of 1896, he leased his present mill property,
known as the Bushong mill, located on Mill creek,
and on Oct. 4, 1899, became its owner. Here Mr.
Ressler has an excellent grist and custom business
and also here manufactures lumber. This desirable
property includes thirty-five acres of fine land, and
a commodious two-story brick residence.
On Dec. 22, 1896,' Mr. Ressler wedded Miss
Emma E. Ranck, a daughter of Rev. David W.
Ranck, of West Earl township, and to this union one
daughter, Emma E., was born, but Mr. Ressler was
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
751
bereaved by tlie deatb of his wife, Oct. 8, 1898. As a
business man and practical miller, Mr. Ressler has
gained the confidence of the community, and is one
of the reliable and substantial citizens of East Lam-
peter township. In politics he is a Republican, and
in February, 1902, he was elected township auditor,
succeeding Dr. A. N. Miller, who had held the office
for thirty years.
_ B. FRANK WALTER, the enterprising pro-
prietor of a popular establishment at Christiana that
is devoted to the sale of coal, lumber, fertilizers, and
other goods in demand by the farming community,
was born in Sadsbury township, Jan. 14, 1856, son
of George H. and Hannah (Brown) Walter, natives
of Chester county.
In 1854 George H. Walter came to Lancaster
county, and located in Sadsbury township. In early
life he was a merchant in Russellville, but after ar-
riving in Lancaster county he devoted, himself to
farming. He became prominent in local affairs, and
served as school director and as supervisor. Both he
and his wife died in Sadsbury township in 1889, he
at the age of eighty-one, and she at seventy-five, and
they sleep in Bart Cemetery. Mrs. Walter was a
member of the Society of Friends. They had the
following family : Brinton, a resident of Christiana,
is engaged in business in Parkesburg ; Jesse died in
the army; Lydia married William L. Jackson, a
farm of Christiana ; Mary married Francis Whitson,
who is living retired in Christiana; Georgianna is
deceased; Louisa married Dr. L. W. Pownall, of
Altoona ; and B. Frank.
The paternal grandparents of B. Frank Walter
were Brinton and Mary Walter, of whom the former
was a farmer and a hotel man in Chester county,
near Avondale, and he died in 18 18, at the age of
fifty years. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Wal-
ter were Thomas and Hannah Brown, farming people
of Chester county, who have entered into rest.
B. Frank Walter was married in 1883, in Ches-
ter county, to Sarah Linvill, by whom he has had the
following family : Laura L., Maurice and Margaret.
Mrs. Walter was born in Bart township, Lancaster
county, in i860, daughter of Sylvester D. and Sarah
Walker Linvill. Sylvester D. Linvill was a school
teacher in his early life, and later a farmer.
Mr. Walter lived with his parents until the age
of twenty, when he engaged as assistant to his broth-
er Brinton in the business, and so continued until
1892, in which year he purchased his brother's bus-
iness, both wholesale and retail. Mr. Walter was
elected borough councilman, and in February, 1901,
was chosen president of the council. In his political
views he is a Republican. In religion he is a mem-
ber of the Society of Friends, and he lives an upright
and consistent life.
JOSEPH BARR McCASKEY, D. D. S., the
oldest and most prominent practitioner of dentistry
in Lancaster, whose commodious and comfortable
office is located at No. 1 1 East King street, over the
First National Bank, is one of the best-known men
in Lancaster city and county.
William McCaskey, father of the Doctor, owned
and conducted a farm in Leacock township, this
county, and in early manhood married Miss Marga-
ret Piersol, who belonged to a well-known family of
Compass, this county, near the Chester county line.
To their union the following named children were
born : J. P., Ph. D., the veteran principal of the
Boys' High school, of Lancaster ; Joseph B., of this
biography ; Kate, who is the wife of James H. Mar-
shall, ex-postmaster, and now assistant postmaster,
of Lancaster ; Col. William S., of the United States
army, who entered the volunteer service at the age of
seventeen years, distinguished himself during the
war of the Rebellion, and since that time achiev-
ing lasting fame as a soldier ; Cyrus D., in the Bal-
timore & Ohio Railroad service; Maggie (deceased),
who was the wife of Wellington Spoon, a passenger
conductor on the Reading railroad ; and J. Newton,
a dentist, now following his profession in H'arris-
burg.
Joseph B. McCaskey was born on his father's
farm in Leacock township, this county, in 1839,
passed his early boyhood days there and in 1843
came to Lancaster. Here he was educated in the
public schools, finishing in the Boys' High School,
and then began the study of dentistry, in 1854, his
preceptor being Dr. William Whiteside, a soldier of
the Civil war, who ranked high in his profession.
About 1861 Dr. McCaskey went to Hanover, York
county, practicing dentistry there for three years, at
the end of which time he returned to Lancaster and
opened up the office where he has remained
ever since. Here he has enjoyed one of the
largest and most substantial dental practices ever
known in the county, and all these years has
been a close student, never being satisfied with
what he has already accomplished in his pro-
fession, but ever striving after the mastery of the
latest scientific methods and discoveries. No man
has ever lived in the city who has enjoyed so high
a reputation in his business, and he was the pioneer
in introducing to people the idea that it is better to
save than to remove teeth. His crown and bridge
work is unexcelled, and his patrons are numbered
among the best and most prominent people in the
city and county.
In 1857 Dr. McCaskey married Miss Fannie Con-
nell, a daughter of the late Mark Connell, of Me-
chanicsburg, this county, who was a prominent
farmer and live stock dealer. This union was blessed
with three children : Harry and Joseph B., Jr., both
of whom are dentists, the latter being associated with
his father: and Clothilda, at home. The family
residence has been at No. 320 North Duke street
for twenty-seven years.
Dr. McCaskey comes of strong ancestry, being
of Scotch-Irish stock of the Presbyterian faith, no-
ted for their tenacity of purpose and their will
752
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
power, as well as their ability! Many of these traits
have come down to him, and he has been called upon
to occasionally make use of them. If the Doctor
confesses to a fad it is for horses and tests of their
speed, and many times has he been urged to act as
judge of such trials, but he has refused. As an
owner of many fine animals, and fond of many sports,
he has done much toward elevating the amusements
in his community, but he is not a sporting man, and
only looks to racing as a mere agreeable pastime.
The main business of his life still continues to be,
as it has been in the past, the successful practice of
dentistry.
HARRY S. BEATES, one of the prosperous
young farmers of East Donegal township, was born
in West Donegal township March 4, 1872, a son of
William Christopher and Barbara Anna (Myers)
Beates, both of whom belonged to old Lancaster
county families.
Samuel Beates, his grandfather, was a son of
Rev. William and Anna M. (Herst) Beates, of Phil-
adelphia, who moved to Lancaster county, where Mr.
Beates ministered in the Lutheran Church. .Samuel
Beates had once been a drug merchant in Philadel-
phia, and later engaged in the mercantile business in
Lancaster, but he lived a retired life thirty years
prior to his death, his last three years being spent in
East Donegal township. He died in East Donegal
township in June, 1889, at the age of sixty-seven.
He married (first) Elizabeth Brenner, a daughter of
Christopher and Elizabeth (Crider) Brenner, the
former of whom was a farmer and hotel keeper in
Lancaster. She died when her son, William Christo-
pher, was but eighteen months old. Both Samuel
Beates and his wife were buried in Woodward Hill
cemetery, Lancaster.
William Christopher Beates was born in Lancas-
ter Sept. 9, 1847, and after the death of his young
mother was taken to the home of his grandfather
Beates, where he remained for thirteen years, and
then went to work on a farm near Londonderry, in
Dauphin county, where he continued for five years.
By this time he was prepared to purchase a farm, and
this he operated for the following five years, and
rhen changed his residence to Lancaster county, and
farmed in East Donegal township for twenty years.
In 1894 he retired from active life and now resides
in Marietta. In politics Mr. Beates voted with the
R.epublican party, and in religious mattershe is an
active member of the Lutheran Church, in which
he is a trustee. In December, 1869, Mr. Beates was
married to Barbara Ann Myers, and two children
have been born to this union: Harry S., of this
sketch; and Sarah, who married John D. Orth, a
meat merchant of Marietta. Mrs. Beates was born
in Dauphin county. Pa., July 30, 1844, a daughter of
Henry and Sarah (Coble) Myers, of Lancaster coun-
ty, but both died in Dauphin county, just over the
line of separation, the father in 1890, aged eighty-
six, the mother in 1848, aged thirty-five, and both
were buried at Conewago, Lancaster county. They
had lived irreproachable lives, consistent members-
of the United Brethren and Dunkard Churches,
Their children were : Christian, a resident of Run-
ning Pump, in tliis county ; Eli, deceased ; Barbara ;.
David, a carpenter, in Elizabethtown ; Catherine, who
died young ; and Sarah, the wife of Harry Shoap, a
farmer of Dauphin county. Henry Myers married
second, Maria Zimmerman, who bore him two chil-
dren: Simon, a machinist of Elizabethtown; and
Ellen M., who married Ephraim D. Shenk, a farmer
of Dauphin county.
Harry S. Beates was brought by his parents to-
the East Donegal farm when he was but two years
old, and that was his home for many years. Farming
was his chief occupation, and he has always been re-
garded as one of the most promising and progressive
among the younger agriculturists of this section.
Mr. Beates was married first in January, 1894,.
in Columbia, Pa., to Miss Frances Miller, a daugh-
ter of Joseph Miller, of West Hempfield township.
She was born there in 1871, and she died in 1897,
and was buried in Silver Spring cemetery. On Jan.
28, 1898, at Oberlin, Pa., Mr. Beates wedded Miss
Ellen S. Bishop, and to this union two interesting
children have been born. Bertha and Alvin H. Mrs.
Beates was born Sept. 6, 1872, at Oberlin, Dauphin
county, a daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Metz)
Bishop, farming people of that locality, the former
born in 1833, and the latter in 1843. They both are
members of the Lutheran faith, and are among the
esteemed citizens of Oberlin. Their children arer
Albert G., who resides on the old homestead ; Oliver
C, who is the principal of the Oberlin Schools ; Ida
B. ; Ellen S., Warren J., Katie E., Hiram E. and
Norman D., all of these residing with their parents,
with the exception of Mrs. Beates and Albert G.,
the latter having the old homestead, which is located
one-half mile from where the family reside. The
paternal grandparents were Peter and Catherine
(Millicen) Bishop, of Lancaster county, who died
in Dauphin county, having moved there following
their marriage. The maternal grandparents were
George and' Sarah (Fisher) Metz, of Dauphin
county.
Following the death of his first wife, Mr. Beates
went to Marietta and worked for one year in a
planing mill, in that place, but later returned to the
farm, where the family enjoy every comfort of life
and extend a generous hospitality to their numer-
ous friends. The political faith of Mr. Beates is that
of the Republican party, while his religious connec-
tion is with the Lutheran church.
JACOB STONER, the efficient treasurer of Lan-
caster county, comes from old Mennonite ancestry
who fled to this country at an early day, to escape
bitter religious persecution in their native land.
Jacob Stoner, his grandfather, was a farmer of
Dauphin county. Pa., but removed to Lancaster
county in middle life.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
753
Jacob Stoner, father of Jacob, was born in
Dauphin county in 1804, and died in Manheitn town-
ship, this county, in 1881. Susanna Funk, his wife,
born in 1813, died in 1889. She was the daughter of
a welI-l<nown farmer of Manor township. They had
twelve children, four of whom are now hving:
Jacob, who is mentioned below; Barbara, wife of
Martin R. Herr, a machinist of Lancaster; Fanny,
wife of Jacob P. Hollinger; and Susan, wife of
Christian Haverstick, a farmer of Manor township.
Jacob Stoner was born in Indiantown, Manor
township, Feb. 19, 1842, and received his education
in the public schools of Lancaster township, to which
section his father had removed when he was a child
of only one year. After leaving the district school
young Stoner attended the State Normal School at
Millersville for a time, but after teaching school two
terms he returned to farming, which he has made his
principal business in life. In 1901 he put his farm
into the care of a tenant, and has given tip hard and
laborious farm work, feeling that he has richly
earned a few years of ease and comfort. For twelve
years he was a member of the board of school direc-
tors, and for some seven or eight years has been on
the Reptiblican county committee. He is prominent
in Masonic cirdes, having risen to membership in
the commandery.
Mr. Stoner was elected county treasurer of Lan-
caster county in 1899 by a good majority. He is a
man of fine social qualities and generous impulses,
and his integrity is beyond question. He enjoys the
esteem of the public, and his election to the responsi-
ble position of treasurer of this wealthy county is
a tribute to his integrity and ability.
T.-B. ACHESON, a retired farmer of East
Drumore township, Lancaster county, was born in
Eden township in October, 1839, son of Cuningham
and Anna (Markley) Acheson.
Cuningham Acheson was born in Ireland in 181 1,
son of George Acheson, who came to this country
and made his home in Philadelphia, where he died
leaving two sons, Charles and Cuningham, who set-
tled on farms in Lancaster county, where they lived
and died. Frank and Ross Acheson, sons of Charles,
still live in this county.
Cuningham Acheson, father of T. B., settled on
the present Acheson home in East Drumore, town-
ship, where both he and his wife spent their lives.
He died in 1887, and his widow in February, 1889.
Among the improvements he made were only small
buildings, the present large and handsome structure
having been put up by his son, T. B. One of the
old-time Presbyterians, he was a helpful and devout
member of the Church. In politics he was a Demo-
crat. Mr. and Mrs. Cuningham Acheson were the
parents of six children: (i) Mary, born in 1838,
is unmarried and lives in Harrisburg with her sister.
(2) T. B is mentioned below. (3) George, born in
T84T, learned the carpenter's trade, and settled in
Philadelphia, where he married Miss Ella Kelly,
48
by whom he has had six children. May, James, John,
Robert, Agnes and Anna (who died in early woman-
hood). (4) Isabell, born in 1842, married Benja-
min Finley, of Harrisburg, where she died in 1901,
leaving one daughter, Laura. (5) Robert, born in
1846, married Sadie Goodman, of Philadelphia,
where they were living at the time of his death, in
1880. He was a conductor on the Pennsylvania rail-
road, and was killed in an accident, leaving a widow
and one daughter, Catherine. (6) Emma, born in
1849, became one of the successful and accom-
plished teachers of Lancaster county, and married
Mahlon Erb, of Martic township; they have the
following children— Annie (who married Amos
Patton, of Columbia), Oscar, Mahlon, Robert and
Alma.
T. B. Acheson received his early education in
the home schools, and remained with his parents
until they died. In 1891 he married Alice Trimble,
who was- born in Drumore township in 1874, daugh-
ter of John and Amanda (Connelly) Trimble; her
mother died when she was a child, and she made her
home with the parents of her husband. They set-
tled on his father's homestead, where Mr. Acheson
put up a new house in 1890. There he has engaged in
farming very successfully to the present time. They
have four living children: Mary E., born in 1891 ;
Anna G., born in 1893 ; Ruth, born in 1895 ; and
Mabel A., born in 1899.
Mr. Acheson h3.s always been a Democrat polit-
ically. He -was reared in the Presbyterian faith, and
socially he belongs to Drumore Lodge, No. 509, L
O. O. F. A few years ago Mr. Acheson suffered a
serious accident, and has not been able to engage in
active work for some time. Notwithstanding his
sore affliction, he has a cheerful disposition, and
looks upon the brighter side of things. To those
who know him well his finer nature stands out
bright and. clear. He is proud of his devoted wife
and family.
JOHN M. BOWMAN, a retired farmer of Prov-
idence township, Lancaster county, is a well-known
resident and estimable citizen of that locality. He
was born Aug. 5, 1830, in Strasburg township, son
of Isaac and Ann (Musser) Bowman, both of whom
are deceased.
Isaac Bowman, the father, was a son of John
Bowman, who had a large family, of whom Joseph,
Isaac and Maria were the only ones to grow to ma-
turity. Isaac Bowman was born in 1802, and died
in 1880, and the record of the intervening years is-
that of a worthy citizen and good man. About 1829"
he married Ann Musser, daughter of John Musser,.
aiid the following children were born to them : John
M. ; Elizabeth, deceased ; Henry, who lives in
Dauphin county; Susan, who is deceased; Isaac, a
resident of Lancaster county; Joseph, who lives in
Philadelphia; Amanda, and Benjamin, both de-
ceased ; and Ann, who is the wife of Abraham Bru-
baker, a minister of the Mennonite Church.
754
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
In 1853 John M. Bowman was united in mar-
riage with Miss Catherine Overly, of Camargo vil-
lage, who died in 1859. They had children as fol-
lows: John F., of Lancaster city; Elizabeth (de-
ceased), wife of Daniel M. Stauffer, of Lampeter
township; and Charles J., of Lancaster city. On
March 28, 1866, Mr. Bowman was married (sec-
ond) to Mrs. Martha (Boreman) Starr, born in
1840, and this marriage has been blessed with eight
children, namely: Catherine, born in 1866; Benja-
min G., in 1868; Elinora, in 1870; Martha, in 1872;
Enos E., in 1873 (deceased) ; Rheubine H., in 1875 ;
Ezra A., in 1878; and Sarah, in 1880.
Mr. Bowman passed his early life on the farm,
and has followed agricultural pursuits, combined
with sawmilling, all his active life. His career has
been a very successful one, although he has de-
pended upon his own resources from the age of
twelve years. Of careful, frugal habits, and en-
dowed with energy and determination, he soon ac-
cumulated means, and now, in the evening of life,
is most comfortably situated. His farm in Provi-
dence township is valuable and well improved.
In his political views Mr. Bowman is a member
of the Republican party, and he takes an interest in
all its movements. Although he is not formally con-
nected with any religious body, he upholds the Chris-
tian religion, and gives of his means to further
worthy enterprises. Mr. Bowman is one of the hon-
orable and upright men of Providence township.
HENRY MICHAEL SHREINER is the son
of Martin Shreiner, and the grandson of Martin
Shreiner. His great-grandfather came from Ger-
man)', and settled in Lancaster county at a very early
period in its history, and here the ensuing genera-
tions have been born and nurtured.
Martin Shreiner, the grandfather of Henry M.,
was the manufacturer of the celebrated eight-day
Shreiner clocks, the ''grandfather" clocks once so
popular, and now coming into favor again. Henry
M. Shreiner is the possessor of the first of these
clocks, the handiwork of his grandfather, bearing
the inscription, ''Martin Shreiner, No. i." It is as
good as the day it was made, and would command
an immense price if offered for sale, instead of be-
ing preserved as an heirloom. The total number of
these clock made by the elder Shreiner, so far as has
been discovered, was 317, that being the number the
family has been able to record. Every clock was
numbered in the order of its manufacture. This
Martin Shreiner helped while he was still an ap-
prentice, in 1784, to build the town clock of Lancas-
ter, which was in constant use until about two years
ago, when it was removed from the court house to
give place to a clock of modern design. Martin
Shremer was the founder and owner of Shreiner's
cemetery, a beautiful burying ground in the western
part of the city. It was named "Concord Cemetery,"
and in that silent and unpretentious city of the dead
lie the mortal remains of Thaddeus Stevens, known
in the history of his times as the "Great Commoner."
This place was selected by himself as his final home,
becatxse there was inscribed on its gateway, "The
only Cemetery in Lancaster where there is no dis-
tinction as to race, color or religion.''
Martin Shreiner, father of Henry M., was also a
watch worker and a jeweler, and had his shop in
an old-fashioned building, long since torn down to
make way for the Lancaster Trust building. The
site on which this building stands had been in the
Shreiner family for three generations, and in that
time there had never been a dollar of incumbrance
placed upon it, ah instance almost unparalleled
in the history of the State of Pennsylvania.
Henry Michael Shreiner was born in Lancaster
Oct. 3, 1832, and is the oldest surviving member of
this historic family in the city. When a boy he en-
tered the jewelry and watchmaking establishment of
his uncle, Michael Zahn, at No. 30 North Queen
street, and there he has remained fifty-five years,
with good prospects for many years longer, as he
presents a remarkably healthy and robust appear-
ance. Beginning as an apprentice, he learned his
trade, and then worked on journeyman's wages, fi-
nally becoming, with his brother, owner of the bus-
iness, and then for some years being the sole owner.
A year or two ago he sold out the contents of his
store by auction, and rented the room for another
purpose, retaining for himself, however, a small cor-
ner of the room for his bench and stand, that he
might still care for his patrons, some of whom had
given him their trade for half a century, and would
have no other watchworker so long as he was alive
and willing to attend to them.
HENRY SANDER, one 'of the leading agri-
culturists of East Earl township, worthily repre-
sents an old and highly respected family of Lancas-
ter county. Pie was born in 1820, and is a surviving
son of Peter Sander, long since passed out of life.
Henry Sander was reared to agricultural pur-
suits and has followed farming all his hfe. Soon
after marriage he purchased a farm of 'ninety-nine
acres near Terrehill, and there he lived for a period
covering forty years, moving then to a small place
adjoining the family homestead, which he continued
to cultivate for fifteen years. In 1895 Mr. Sander
came to make his home with his son Isaac, three-
fourths of a mile south of Terrehill. In politics he
has always been a stanch Republican, and has suc-
cessively served his township as supervisor, and as
a member of the school board.
Henry Sander was married to Miss Nancy Mil-
ler, who was a daughter of Isaac Miller, born in
1824, in Cocalico township, and still survives. Both
flenry Sander and his wife are consistent members
of the Mennonite Church. Their children are:
>,tary Ann, who is the wife of John Weaver, of Terre-
hill ; David, who is a farmer of Brecknock township ;
Hettie, a cigar-maker ; Henry M., a farmer on the
old homestead ; Peter, a bridge-builder in the West ;
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
755
Isaac, a farmer in this township ; and Lizzie, the wife
of Samuel Zinn, a carpenter in Martindale.
Henry M. Sandf;r, one of the prosperous and
representative farmers of East Earl township, was
born on the farm of his residence,- Oct. 13, 185 1,
a son of Henry and Nancy (Miller) Sander. He
obtained his education in the public schools, and at
the age of twenty-three took charge of the old home-
stead farm, containing nearly a hundred acres of
fine land, and located one mile south of Terrehill.
Some two years later, he purchased the old home-
stead and has devoted much care, time and money,
in making it one of the most attractive country
homes in this locality. General farming has been
carried on in progressive lines, with improved ma-
chinery and his success has been very gratifying.
On Nov. 19, 1874, Henry M. Sander was mar-
ried to Mary M. Hershey, who was born Nov. 7,
1851, a daughter of Deacon John and Magdalina
(Musser) Hershey, of Salisbury township. Three
children have been born of this union: John H.,
born Feb. 10, 1876, married Fannie Zimmerman, and
resides in Martindale, in this township, their three
children being, ]\'Iary, Jacob and Francis ; Maggie,
born July 2, 1879, is an accomplished seamstress
and resides at home; and Annie, born Feb. 25, 1884,
also lives at home. All the members of this family
belong to the old Mennonite Church, and are very
highly esteemed in this neighborhood.
HON. HIRAM PEOPLES, ex-member of the
House of Representatives of the State of Pennsyl-
vania, and the proprietor of the most extensive fish
hatcheries in this State, is a typical Pennsylvanian,
and is known far and wide for his public spirit, his
liberal promotion of all interests promising to be of
lasting benefit to his State or locality, and for his
progressive ideas along many lines.
The home of Mr. Peoples is in the commodious
and comfortable dwelling house at New Providence,
this county, which was erected here by his father,
John Peoples, and which was the scene of his birth,
on Feb. 14', 1835. His grandfather was a native of
Chester county, but lived in Martic township, Lan-
caster county, for a considerable period retired from
activity, and there he died prior to the birth of his
grandson.
John Peoples was also born in Chester county,
but moved to Providence, Lancaster county, about
1822, where he became one of the most active and
energetic men of his locality. In the building trade
he was particularly active, erecting as additions to
the village of New Providence, a large storehouse,
four dwelling houses, a blacksmith and a wheel-
wright shop and other structures, doing more in this
line than any other man in the vicinity. John Peo-
ples was prominent in public affairs in his communi-
ty, faithfully served the county as director of the
poor, and his efforts were always to be counted upon
to assist in any public enterprise. He married Su-
san Miller, thus connecting two honorable families.
Their children included three sons and four daugh^
ters : Abner, Hiram, John M., Annie, Mary, Aman-
da and Leah P., and of these, Annie married George
Witmer ; Mary married John Rohrer ; Amanda mar-
ried John Tweed ; and Leah P. married Dr. John K.
Raub. Abner married Martha, the daughter of
John Hess, of Strasburg township; John M. mar-
ried Maggie Royer, of Pottstown, and he became
professor of mathematics in the State Normal
school at Lock Haven, Pa. The Miller family was
one of the oldest in the State, its early settlers hav-
ing been the founders of Millersville, which in
after years became the seat of the widely known and
justly celebrated State Normal School.
Hiram Peoples, who for many years has been in
the public eye, was carefully educated, receiving in-
struction in the public schools of his district^ and
later at White Hall Academy, going from there to
the Millersville Normal school, where he attained
distinction as an apt and appreciative student. After
leaving the latter institution, he engaged in teach-
ing for one term, but as he was gifted in a musical
line, he decided to put his ability to practical use,
and for a considerable time he instructed pupils in
vocal music, and also taught both organ and violin.
His attention was then engaged in the mercantile
business, but later he took up agricultural pursuits,
locating on the old homestead, and for more than
thirty years this has been his delightful home. This
farm comprises ninety acres of land, but it is not
operated for the cultivation of grains or vegetable
products alone, his energies having developed other
possibilities which he has brought to be certainties.
It was in 1881 that Mr. Peoples began the propa-
gation of fish, introducing the German carp to this
section, continuing its cultivation until 1900, since
which time he has directed his efforts to the hatch-
ing of black bass and gold fish, finding a ready and
eager market all over the country. Philadelphia,
Atlantic City, Reading and Lancaster are his nearest
large consumers, but his business has far outgrown
all local fines. Mr. Peoples owns the largest fish
hatchery in the State, having twenty immense fish
ponds on his estate, and it is from his fishing grounds
that the State Fish Commission obtains its bass. It
has required much business sagacity to inaugurate
successfully and to conduct a business on these lines,
and only a liberally educated man could have pros-
pered as has Mr. Peoples. Both in public and pri-
vate life he has shown his interest in this subject,
in which he is most justly regarded as an authority,
as well as a pioneer in this locality.
Politically Mr. Peoples is a Republican, and he
has long been an important factor in that party. For
five terms he was honored by his fellow-citizens of
Lancaster county with election to the House of Rep-
resentatives, being chosen for his last two terms,
practicallv without opposition, so great is his popu-
larity. His first term began in 1877, his second in
18S1, his third in 1887 and his next in 1896, and he
was re-elected in 1898, at the close of which term
756
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
he declined to be again a candidate for the coming
election. During his long service, he was a
member of many important committees, and
chairman of three, notably the committees on
Agriculture, on Roads, and on Game and
Fish, and his efforts were instrumental in obtaining
some very desirable legislation on these important
matters. When the Fish Commission Bill was be-
fore the Legislature, the attitude which Mr. Peo-
ples took, attracted attention and much favorable
comment all over this and other States. This was
that the bill should provide more liberally for the
management of fish culture, and less harshly in its
prohibitory and protective features, advancing ar-
guments and statistics in support of this position.
Mr. Peoples was united in marriage with Miss
Maria Brackbill, a daughter of the late John Brack-
bill, who was a prominent farmer of Strasburg. She
is a descendant of Hans Herr, who was the founder
of the Herr family in the United States, one of the
largest and most influential families of Lancaster
county, prominent alike in agricultural and religious
circles. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Peoples, all of whom still survive: Capt. John B.,
the eldest, is the popular owner of the yacht the
"Lady Gay," proprietor of "Peoples Bathing Resort,"
manager of the Woolworth Roof Garden, and he is
also widely known in connection with the North-
western Life Insurance Co. ; Ida S. married Dr.
Charles E. Helm, of Bart township ; Angle Winona
is at home ; Annie Ca-rlotta, who has inherited great
musical gifts, is an artist on the violin, and resides
at home; and Maria married Martin Rush, who
was formerly a farmer, but who later became a leaf
tobacco dealer of Willowstreet.
This brief sketch but incompletely presents a
few of the leading characteristics, interests and ac-
complishments of a citizen of Lancaster county, who
numbers among his friends and well wishers the ma-
jority of those whom either the demands of business,
the claims of public affairs, or the gentle amenities
of social life have brought within his radius. Up-
right, honest and public-spirited, his devotion to his
locality is well known, and the people of Lancaster
county point to him with pride as a representative
citizen.
REV. JACOB K. NEWCOMER, a devoted
servant of his Master and earnest worker in the
Mennonite Church, was born on a farm two miles
south of Mountville, Oct. i8, 1832, a son of Jacob
Newcomer and his wife, Barbara Kauffman.
Jacob Newcomer, the father, was a native of
Manor township, and died in 1861, at the age of
sixty. As he was the eldest son at the death of his fa-
ther, there entailed upon him grave responsibility
and weighty care for one so young — he being then
a lad of twelve years. It devolved upon him to as-
sist his mother in the care of the farm, and he passed
his life in the old homestead. He was a man of
deep and earnest piety, and an active member of the
Mennonite church, and for many years a deacon in
that organization. His wife died in 1858. She was
the mother of ten children, nine of whom reached
the age of m.aturity. Elizabeth, the eldest, married
Abraham Sanders and is deceased. Barbara died un-
married. Christian was the husband of Elizabeth
Mellinger, and he, too, has. died. Jacob K., the sub-
ject of this brief biographical sketch, was the fourth
child. Joseph, the next in the order of birth, is a
farmer of JNIanor township ; he has been twice mar-
ried, his first wife being Elizabeth Rohrer, and his
second Elizabeth Seitz. Mary became the wife of
Jacob Suavely. Catherine is the widow of Jacob
Lindeman, of Manor. Abraham resides in the same
township ; he married Mary Rutt. Isaac died a
bachelor. Anna was taken away from earth in child-
hood.
Jacob K. Newcomer received his early education
in the common schools, and passed his youth upon
the paternal farm. At the early age of twenty-five
he began farming on his own account, and is still
erigaged in agricultural pursuits. His first farm em-
braced one hundred acres, and to this he has added
thirty-one. It has been occupied and cultivated by
his son since 1885, in which year he removed to
another farm — of fifty acres — also owned by him,
and on which he still lives. In 1887 his home was
destroyed by fire, and he at once erected a new and
modern residence of handsome architectural appear-
ance. He has thoroughly improved both properties.
He also owns twenty-one acres in Manor township,
formerly the property of his brother Christian — a
part of the old homestead.
Born of devout, God-fearing parents, and reared
in the Christian faith from infancy, he early became
imbued with an earnest desire to be actively identi-
fied with church work. In 1884 he entered the Men-
nonite ministry, and since then has labored earnest-
ly among the churches of Habecker's, Masonville
and Mountville. His Hfe also has been a living ser-
mon by way of godly example, while he and his de-
vout wife have reared their large family "in the
fear and admonition of the Lord."
Rev. Jacob K. Newcomer was married, Nov.
■25, 1856, to Anna Buchwalter, who was born May
30, 1838, near Safe Harbor, Lancaster county,
daughter of Jacob and Fannie (Eschbauch)' Buch-
walter, both of whom are deceased, each dying at the
age of fifty-six years. This union has been blessed
with twelve children, and their grandchildren num-
ber twenty, (i) Aaron B., born March 12, 1858,
died March i, 1899; he was a farmer, and married
Elizabeth Witmer. (2) Susanna B., born Nov. 25,
1859, is the wife of Benjamin Shertzer, of Millers-
ville. (2) Anna B., born June 28, 1861, married
I-evi Brubaker, of New Danville. (4) John B., born
Oct. 16, 1863, died in infancy. (5) Ehzabeth B.
(Mrs. Henry Haverstick), of Washington borough,
Lancaster county, was born Jan. 15, 1865. (6)
Amanda B,, born Feb. 23, 1867, married Amos Mar-
tin, of Manor township. (7) Ida B., born Jan. 31,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
757
1S69, is unmarried, arid lives with her parents. (8)
Jacob B., born Jan. 27, 1871, is a prosperous farmer
of Manor township ; he married Sallie Greider. (9)
Catherine B., born March 27, 1873, died in her sev-
•enteenth year, (10) Mary B., born Feb. 7, 1875,
lives at home, unmarried. (11) Harvey, born June
30, 1877, died at the age of eighteen years. (12)
Christian B., the youngest of the family, born Dec.
23, 1879, lives with his parents.
REESE H. DAVIS, long time a resident of
Terrehill, is one of the representative men of Lan-
caster county, and belongs to one of the time-honored
families of this section of the State.
Isaac Davis, his grandfather, was a minister in
the Albright Church, although he was reared a Pres-
byterian. From him the Lancaster Davises are all
•descended. Isaac Davis died in Caernavon township
Jan. 5, 1838, at the age of eighty-three years and
nine months. He was a farmer, and his home was in
Earl township, in which he had very extensive real
estate holdings, which have since been divided into
three farms. In religion he was deeply interested,
and was a local minister in the Albright Church.
His wife, Lydia, died Oct. 5, 1821, at the age of six-
ty-three years. They were blessed with a large fam-
ily of children, of whom Richard, the father of Reese
H., was one.
Richard Davis was a farmer in early life, and
was later engaged in a mercantile business, in con-
nection with farming in Brecknock township, Lan-
caster county, where he died. He was one of the
leading Republicans of that part of the county, and
held various local offices, such as member of the
school board, and other positions. He was a liberal
contributor to the churches, as well as to any project
for the public good. He married Catherine (Strohm)
Yundt, who by her first husband was the mother of
three children: Harriet, who married Moses Wen-
ger, is dead; Mary married Samuel Slick, and is
dead; John died in Franklin coimty. To Mr. Davis
she bore the. following children : Ann, born in 1818,
and was the wife of Jacob Manderbosh, died in Ohio,
May 15, i860; Isaac, born Jan. 23, 1821, died April
23, 1830; Henry, born Sept. 10, 1822, died April 10,
1853; "Richard,' born May 15, 1824, died Sept. 8,
1859, at Naperville, 111.; Lydia, born Oct. 21, 1825,
is the deceased wife of John W. Oberholtzer ; Elmira
C, born Sept. 18, 1829, died at the age of seventeen ;
Reese H., whose name appears at the opening of this
article, was born Feb. 5, 1828 ; and Samuel B., born
Jan. I, 1832, is retired, and has his home in Terre-
hill. The father died Oct. 10, 1861, at the age of
seventy-two years and six months. His widow
passed' to her rest March 31, 1868. He was a suc-
cessful man, and became one of the most prominent
citizens of his native county.
Reese H. Davis was reared on the farm, and edu-
cated in the common schools. When a lad well in
his teens, he learned the carpenter trade, following
it, however, only a short time, and about the time
he attained his majority, in company with his broth-
er, Richard N., he became engaged in stock dealing,
handling horses and cattle for some five or six years.
After this the two brothers went into Illinois, but
sickness, however, compelled Reese H. to return to
Lancaster county, and to go from this State to Cali-
fornia via the Isthmus route. He spent some five
years in that State, prospecting and conducting a
stock ranch. His career in the Golden West was not
devoid of the discomforts that attended the pioneer
life of the early days, and among other dangers and
perils, he had several narrow escapes from the In-
dians.
Mr. Davis returned to Lancaster county a sec-
ond time, where he married and located at Terre-
hill. Here he became prominent locally, and served
three years as supervisor, and three years as a mem-
ber of the school board. He was engaged in a cigar
manufacturing busmess at TerrehUl for some twenty
years, and at one time employed as many as thirty
or forty hands in his factory. Since his retirement
from the cigar shop he has devoted himself to his
private affairs, and to the discharge of his duties as
director in the New Holland Bank.
Mr. Davis was married, in 1863,. to Miss Mary
Clime, a daughter of Abner Clime. To this union
have come two children : ( i ) Dora, who died Aug.
14, 1866, at the age of one year and seven days.
(2) Richard B., who was born Nov. 4, 1868, belongs
to the firm of Davis & Watts, at Terrehill, where
they are extensively engaged in the mercantile busi-
ness ; he married Miss Margie Weaver, and is the
father of two children : Mary and Reese H. Both
Richard B. and his wife are members of the Evan-
gelical Church, of Terrehill, he being one of its
trustees.
CHRISTIAN F. HOSTETTER, a highly es-
teemed and prosperous farmer of the township of
East Donegal, Lancaster county, was born in Man-
heim township, Aug. 9, 1837, son of Christian (2)
and Catharine' (Franck) Hostetter, who were born
in the townships of East Donegal and Warwick, re-
spectively.
The history of the Hostetter family begins with
Jacob Hostetter, a Swiss Mennonite, who arrived
in the province of Pennsylvania with his wife Anna,
in 171 2. They made a home on the north side of the
Conestogai within the present limits of the city of
Lancaster, where he died in 1761. They had the
following children : Anna, who married John Bru-
baker, and died in 1787, two years after her husband,
John; Jacob, who died in Manor township in 1796;
Barbara, who married Christ Hershey; Elizabeth,
who married Christ Bomberger ; Abraham, who
married Catherine Long; Margaret, who married
John Kreider ; John, who married Elizabeth Shenk ;
and Catherine, who died unmarried in Manor town-
ship.
John Hostetter, son of Jacob the immigrant,
married Elizabeth Shenk, as above stated. They
758
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
became the parents of the following children : Jacob,
who married Maria Bachman; Ann, the wife of
Christ Kauffman ; John, who married Ann Kreider ;
Barbara, the wife of Michael Kreider ; and Christian,
the grandfather of our subject.
Christian Hostetter, son of John, lived in East
Donegal township, and there married Catherine
Kreider, who died in May, 1844, aged seventy-five
years. He died Nov. 20, 1847, ^t the age of eighty-
two years, six months and eighteen days. They were
both buried in Eberly Cemetery, Mt. Joy, Pa. Their
children were: Michael, who married Catherine
Kauffman ; Jacob, who married Anna StaufEer ;
John; Christian (2), the father of our subject, who
was married to Catharine Franck; Catherine, who
married Jacob Newcomer; Anna, who married
Henry Nissley, and on his death David Brubaker;
and Benjamin, who married Elizabeth Heistand.
Christian Ho^etter (2), son of Christian and
father of Christian F., was born Feb. 19, 1805, and
was a farmer by occupation. Fie died in Manheim
township, Jan. 28, 1879. His wife, Catharine
Franck, was born Sept. 2, 1807, a daughter of John
and Maria (Bournage) Franck, farming people of
Warwick township. She died Der. 20, 1886, and
was buried in East Petersburg. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Hostetter were members of the Mennonite Church,
and were thoroughly honorable and- respectable peo-
ple. The following children , were born to them':
Michael, born in September, 1832, is a'retired farm-
er in Penn township ; John is a carpenter in the
city of Lancaster ; Christian F. ; Catherine is the
widow of Isaac Stoner, Penn township ; Henry is
living on the old Manheim township homestead;
Benjamin, born May 15, 1844, died March 18, 1862;
Anna married Joseph Gochnauer, a farmer in East
Hempfield township ; and David is a farmer in' Man-
heim township.
Christian F. Hostetter, the subject proper of this
sketch, remained with his parents until he reached
the age of twenty-one years, when be began for him-
self by working some time among the neighboring
farmers, and was in Whiteside county. III, for about
seventeen months. After this visit in the West he
came back to Lancaster county and continued work-
ing out among the farmers around him until after
his marriage, when he came to his present place.
Here his adult years have been spent, and here he
is watching the shadows lengthen behind him,
knowing that he has lived a good life, honest, manly
and square with all. Never has he sought for show,
place or power, but has been ever willing to stand
in his own place, and to do the work given him.
On Nov. 28, 1867, by Bishop John Brubaker,
Christian F. Hostetter was united in marriage with
Barbara K. Nissley. This union was blessed with
one daughter, Catherine, who married Rohrer Sto-
ner, who farms the home place ; they have had a
bright little family, consisting of Ellen H., Ada H.,
Christian H., Mary H. (deceased), Esther H. and
Isaac H.
Mrs. Barbara K. (Nissley) Hostetter was born in
her late home March 4, 1840, and there she died Sept.
16, 1888, aged forty-eight years, six months and
twelve days, and her remains are now resting in the
Graybill Meeting Flouse Cemetery in East Donegal
township. Mrs. Hostetter was the daughter of the
Rev. Peter and Catherine (Kreider) Nissley, the
former a son of Christian and Anna (Snyder) Niss-
ley. Rev. Peter Nissley was born July 22, 1802, and
died Jan. 16, 1890, aged eighty-seven years, five
months and twenty-four days. He was a farmer and
Mennonite preacher, and moved to the present home
of our subject in 1825, and passed the rest of his hfe
there. His. wife, Catherine Kreider, born Sept. 28,
1809, died July 31, 1852. Both were buried in the
Graybill Meeting Flouse cemetery. To Rev. Peter
and Catherine Nissley were born the following chil-
dren : Mar}', who married Solomon Schwartz, and
is deceased; Esther, who cHed single; John K., de-
ceased, who married Mariah Reist ; Leah, who mar ■
ried David L. Miller, a retired farmer of Mt. Joy bor-
rough ; Christ W., who died unmarried ; Barbara K.,
Mrs. Hostetter ; Catherine K., who died unmarried ;
and Anna K., who also died unmarried.
I
HENRY FISHER (deceased). The history of
a community is made by the substantial, public-
spirited citizens of that locality, and whenever a
record is made, mention must consistently be made of
those who, although no longer living, still speak in
the memory of their deeds. Such a man was Henry
Fisher, of Lancaster, who passed away in this city,
Sept. II, 1879, and is now buried in Woodward
Hill Cemetery.
Henry Fisher was born May 2, 1825, in Gears-
dorf, France, a son of John G. and Catherine E.
(Helsel) Fisher, also of Gearsdorf, but who came to
A,merica, in 1829, with their children, one of whom
died on the voyage and was buried at sea. The other
children were : George, of Hollidaysburg, Pa., de-
ceased : Lewis, of York, Pa., deceased ; Michael, who
died in Lancaster; Henry; and Charles, a tailor of
Lancaster, Pa. The father died in 1847, aged six-
ty-eight years, while the death of the mother oc-
curred in 1872, when she was seventy-five years of
age, and both are buried in Woodward Hill Ceme-
tery. By occupation, the father was a tailor, and he
taught his trade to all his sons.
Henry Fisher was reared in Lancaster, Pa., and
learned the trade of a tailor under his father, follow-
ing this calling until he purchased a grocery store,
and operated it until his death, being very success-
ful in his enterprises, and gaining the respect and
esteem of all with whom he had business relations.
On Oct. 19, 1848, Mr. Fisher was united in mar-
riage, by Rev. John C. Baker, in Lancaster, Pa., to
Elizabeth Flood, born in that city, June 4, 1826,
daughter of George and Anna (Messenger) Flood,
of Ireland and Germany, respectively, who died
when Mrs. Fisher was quite j'oung, and who were
buried in Lancaster. The children born to Mr. and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
759
Mrs. Flood were : Alexander, deceased ; Elizabeth,
Mrs. Fisher; Mary,. now deceased, who was the wife
of Rudolph Shultz, a now prominent cigar manu-
facturer of the city; Margaret, deceased; and
George, deceased. The children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Fisher were : Henry M., a printer of Lancas-
ter, who married Susan C. Snyder; William F., of
Lancaster, and George L. (married to Kate Steever),
both engaged in the grocery business established by
their father, under the firm name of Fisher Bros. ;
and M-ary E., of Westchester, I'a., married to Frank
P. Thomas, a printer.
Mr. Fisher was a prominent member of all the
Masonic bodies and of the order of Odd Fellows,
and took an active part in these fraternities. In re-
ligious matters he was a life-long and consistent
member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. He al-
ways took a deep interest in matters pertaining to the
welfare of the city, serving at various times as a
member of the city council and as school director.
Mrs. Fisher resides in her pleasant home, with
her son William, surrounded by the comforts of life,
and looked up to and loved, not only by her children,
but eight grandchildren and three great-grandchil-
dren, as M''ell as the whole community, where she is
recognized as a lady of high Christian character, a
kind neighbor and a devoted mother and grand-
mother.
ROBERT A. SCOTT. Lancaster county num-
bers among its citizens many influential and progres-
sive farmers, and a good representative of this im-
portant class is Robert A. Scott, of Little Britain
township, who was born June 26, 1847, a- ^on of
Robert and Martha J. (Gibson) Scott.
Alexander Scott, great-grandfather of Robert A.,
was a native of Ireland, and was one of the first
settlers of Little Britain township, where he pur-
chased the home now owned by Robert A. Scott.
Alexander' Scott, Jr., son of the emigrant, was
reared to manhood on the farm in Little Britain
township.
Robert Scott, son of Alexander, Jr., and father of
Robert A., was born on the old home farm in 1805,
and followed farming as an occupation until his
death in 1S82. He married Martha J. Gibson, who
was born Sept. 5, 1816, and who passed away Aug.
19, 1900. Twelve children were born of this union,
eight of whom reached mature years, as follows :
Mary Ann, wife of Alexander Ewing, of Oxford,
Pa. ; Eliza, who married Joseph Wood, of Erie, Pa.,
but is now deceased ; Martha J., wife of James Clen-
denin, of Little Britain township ; Harriet G., who
married J. L. Walker, of Little Britain township,
and is now deceased ; Emma G., wife of Ellis Brown,
of Little Britain township ; Robert A. ; Amelia, who
married William Risk, of Drumore township; and
Alice, wife of E. P- Housekeeper, of Fulton town-
ship.
Robert A. Scott was reared upon his father's
farm, and attended the district school during the
winter months, as did all farmer boys of his day.
As he grew to manhood, he continued farming, and
has made that calling his life work. The homestead,
which he now owns, is a fine one, consisting of 150
acres, all of which is in an advanced state of cultiva-
tion, and Mr. Scott has made many improvements.
Thoroughly understanding his- business, Mr. Scott
has made a success of farming, and is regarded as
one of the substantial men of the township.
On Sept. 2, 1874, Mr. Scott was married to Miss
Mary G. Cauffman, a daughter of Christopher and
Emeline (Gibson) Cauffman, of Fulton township.
Mrs. Scott was born Sept. 2, 1853, and was one of
a family of seven children born to her parents : Lena,
wife of Jeremiah Haines, of Philadelphia ; Mary G,
wife of Mr. Scott ; Ida, wife of Fred Paxson, of
Britain township ; John, of Britain township ; Emma,
wife of Amos Nesbitt, of Fulton township ; Fred, of
Fulton township ; and William, also of Fulton town-
ship. The parents of Mrs. Scott are of German de-
scent and they still reside in Fulton township, where
they are highly respected.
Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Scott :
Blanche, born July 25, 1875, is the wife of William
Hambleton, of Fulton township ; Leiper, born July
24, 1878, married Florence Herr, of Fulton town-
ship, a daughter of Silas Herr (see his sketch else-
where in this volume) ; Robert C, born Dec. 18,
1.882 ; Fred L., born Jan. 8, 1885 ; and Frank G.,
born Jan. 20, 1887. Mr. Scott is a stanch Republi-
can, and has served his party as auditor, discharging
the duties of his office to the entire satisfaction of
his constituents. His religious affiliations are with
the Presbyterian church, of which he and his wife
are members, and they attend the Church of that de-
nom^ination in Little Britain. Having always lived
uprightly, being an honorable man in all his deal-
ings, and kind and liberal in his home, Mr. Scott has
gained in the highest degree the respect and esteem
of his neighbors, and the friendship of the best men
of the county, and the records of this locality would
not be complete without a sketch of so representative
a citizen.
JAMES H. FERRY, a retired mechanic of Cole-
rain township, Lancaster county, was born in Bart
township, same county, j\Iay 10, 1820, his parents
being Patrick and Catherine (Dugan) Ferry, both
of whom were born in Donegal, Ireland.
Patrick Ferry was the son of Patrick Ferry, Sr.,
who came from Ireland in 1780, and located at
Georgetown, Lancaster county, where his son Pat-
rick grew to manhood. The younger Patrick fol-
lowed neddling until he earned money enough to
buy a farm in Bart township, where he lived until
his death in 1827, at which time he left a wife and
three sons, his daughter, Margaret, being born three
months after his death. His widow later married
Samuel Sharp, and moved with him to Kansas, where
she died leaving two sons by her second marriage,
Isaac, a noted lawyer now practicing his profession.
760
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in Washington, D. C. ; and J. L., still unmarried and
living in 'Kansas.
Of the children of Patrick and Catherine Ferry,
James H. was the eldest. Samuel B., born in Bart
township, in 1823, married in Steubenville, Ohio,
where he worked some years as a machinist, and
where he died ; he was a soldier in the Union army
during the Civil war, and served three years at the
front, being a member of a corps of engineers formed
at Philadelphia. Joseph F., the third son, born in
Bart township in 1825, was sent to West Point,
from which he graduated in 1846, receiving an ap-
pointment as lieutenant of artillery ; during the Mex-
ican war he was at the front, and was killed while
leading the assault of the battle of Molino del Rey,
known as the "Forlorn Hope," being only twenty-
two years of age, and a youth of much promise.
Margaret Ferry, the only daughter, born in Bart
township, in 1827, married William Laughan, of
Gettysburg, Pa., where he was then engaged in the
coach making business. Some years later, with his
wife, and two children, he started on a journey to
Illinois, where he intended making a home in Joliet,
but with air his family was killed in a railroad
wreck.
James H. Ferry received a very fair district
school education, and was numbered among the
bright and scholarly youths of his native town. When
a young man he took up teaching, and followed it as
a business for some years. In 1842 he was married
to Mary M. Montgomery, daughter of Samuel and
Ellen (Baily) Montgomery, one of Colerain's old
families, and represented in that township since
1780. Mrs. Ferry was born in 1822. Mr. and Mrs.
Ferry settled in "Dry Wells Hotel," Lancaster coun-
ty, where he kept hotel until the building was de-
stroyed by fire, when he moved to Lancaster, to take
up his trade of tailoring, at which he worked in the
summer season, and taught school during the winter.
In 1858 he boitght land and built a home. He worked
at different trades, being good at tailoring, carpenter
work and at stone masonry.
Mr. Ferry enlisted as a soldier in the Union army,
becoming a member of Co. I, 122nd P. V. I., which
regiment received its arms at Harrisburg, and was
at once moved to the front under command, at first,
of Gen. McClellan, and later of Gen. Burnside. It
participated in the great battles of Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville, and in the fighting along the Wel-
don Railroad; beside many skirmishes that in less
important wars would rise to the dignity of noted
battles. Mr. Ferry was promoted to second ser-
geant, and was honorably discharged at Harrisburg.
Mr. Ferry returned to his wife in Colerain town-
ship, where he has maintained his home to the pres-
ent time. In these years he has won a high standing
for personal probity and business ability. His wife
died in March, 1901, leaving him no family. They
had three children, but they all died in infancy. She
was long a member of the Baptist church, and lived
an upright and Christian life, and was much beloved
by all who knew her.
Mr. Ferry has always voted the Republican tick-
et, and belongs to Byerly Post, No. 511, G. A. R., at
Quarryville. He is a member of the Masonic lodge
at Christiana, and of the lodge of Odd Fellows at
Kirkwood. Mr. Ferry is one of the old and highly
esteemed citizens of Colerain township, and is much
respected, alike for his learning, industry and char-
acter. In his long and active life he has displayed a
kind heart, and is possessed of a host of lasting
friends where he is known the best.
WILLIAM HARM, the enterprising and suc-
cessful grocer of Columbia, was in the Fatherland,
during his youth, a school teacher, having acquired
a good education, and possessing a fondness for in-
tellectual pursuits. Emigrating to America, mercan-
tile business cla'med him, and he became one of the
prosperous and substantial citizens of Columbia, pub-
lic-spirited, influential and forceful as a man of his
character should be.
Mr. Harm was born in Wurtemberg, Ger-
many, May 6, 183S, a son of John and Catherine
(Wolf) Harm. The father was a lifelong farmer
in Germany, and died in 1852, aged sixty-five
years. His wife survived him until 1873,
passing away at the age of seventy-four years.
Their children were: Fred, who died in Ger-
many; Leonard, a coal merchant, who died in Har-
risburg, Pa. ; John, who farms the old homestead in
Germany; Christian, a machinist of Steelton, Pa.;
and William.
William Harm attended school during his youth,
and at the age of eighteen became a school teacher.
He taught for a term of seven months, and then came
to America, where a bright and prosperous future
awaited him. Locating in the city of Philadelphia,
he soon obtained employment in a bakery, in which
he worked steadily for nine years. He then started
in business for himself, and conducted a bakery at
Philadelphia successfully for three years. Then re-
moving to Columbia, he opened a grocery store, and
soon became one of the reliable, substantial business
men of the borough. -He remained continuously in
trade until 1895, when he transferred his grocery
business to his son George. Upon the latter's death,
in 1898, Mr. Harm again assumed control of the
business, which he now conducts with the assist-
ance of his sons Harry and John. In 1896 the Co-
lumbia Brush Company was organized as a stock
company, of which, the concern faiUng in 1898, Mr.
Harm and Thomas Edwards became the successors ;
they at once changed the name to the East Columbia
Brush Company, which they have thus far run suc-
cessfully, and not only reap wealth from it, but also
give employment to a hundred men in the works and
a number outside, who take material and work it up
in their own homes. Mr. Harm was one of the
original stockholders in the Columbia Trust Com-
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
761
pany, and is now one of its directors. In politics he
is a Democrat, bnt he is in no sense an office seeker.
He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and one of
its liberal supporters. Fraternally he is a Knight of
Pythias.
In 1863 Mr. Harm was married, in Columbia, to
Miss Barbara Greene, who was born in Bavaria,
Germany, Aug. 15, 1845, daughter of Jacob and
Elizabeth Greene. Her mother died in February,
1846, and four years later the father, with his two
young children, Jacob (a farmer of St. Cloud, N. J.)
and Barbara, came to America and settled in New
York, where he died in 187 1. To William and Bar-
bara (Greene) Harm were bom the following chil-
dren: Emma, wife of Charles Rochow, of Colum-
bia ; Katie, who died young ; Lizzie, deceased ; Will-
iam, who married Effie Seasholz, and is manager of
the East Columbia Brush Co. ; George, who married
Mary Wolf, of Lancaster, and died in 1898; Rosa;
Charles, deceased ; Harry ; Albert, a traveling sales-
man ; John ; Minna ; Bertha ; Mary ; and Huber. Mr.
Harm is another instance of the industrious, pros-
perous American citizens the Germans become in the
land of their adoption. He not only has a beautiful
home and a competency, but he has gained an en-
viable position as a citizen and a business man in the
borough where he has resided for the past thirty-
six years.
JOHN S. NAUMAN (deceased), was born in
Manheim, Lancaster county, Aug. 23, 1818, and died
at Elizabethtown April 7, 1894, his remains lying
at rest in Mt. Tunnel cemetery. He was a son of
John and Elizabeth (Showers) Nauman. The fa-
ther, who was a farmer, died in Manheim, and the
mother's death occurred in Mt. Joy. They were
members of the United Brethren Church. They
had the following children, all now deceased: Su-
san D., who married Henry Shaffer ; Mary, wife of
Henry Shaffner ; Rebecca ; Annie ; Elizabeth, wife of
John Dyer ; and John S.
John S. Nauman was married in Lancaster, July
19, 184.2, to Annie R. Reese, by whom he had the fol-
lowing children: WilHam H., of Elizabethtown;
Miss Annie E., who resided with her mother in
Elizabethtown; J. Wesley, who married Sophia
Lehman, and is a resident of Mt. Joy township ;
Francis, a carpenter of Florin, this county, who mar-
ried Sallie Menaugh; Sampson R., who married
Fanny Brown, and is a produce merchant of To-
peka, Kans; Charles J., who married Laura Hard-
ing, and is a farmer near Topeka, Kans. ; Carrie A.,
wife of Plenry Straub,- of Harrisburg; James R.,
who married Christiana Kuhn, and is a lumber-
man in Elizabethtown ; and George W., a farmer in
Mt. Joy township, who married Lillie Wademan.
Mrs. "Annie R. Nauman was a native of Mountville,
Pa., born Nov. 22, 1825, daughter of Sampson D.
Reese, and a sister of S. D. Reese, whose history
appears elsewhere.
John S. Nauman followed the honorable and la-
borious life of a blacksmith until 1892, when he re-
tired from active labor, moving to the home where
his widow resided until her death, to spend the last
two years of his life. In his active days he was a
man of considerable prominence in Mount Joy town-
ship, where he was engaged in farming and black-
smithing for many years. He' served as tax collec-
tor there. For thirteen years he lived in Mt. Joy
borough, prior to his removal to East Donegal town-
ship, where he farmed six years, and then located in
Mt. Joy township, where he farmed thirty-nine
years.
Mrs. Nauman's grandfather Reese was drowned
at the age of forty years. Her great-grandfather
Reese, who lived to be one hundred and eleven years
old, passed his hfe near Frederick, Md. Mrs. Nau-
man was a lady of much character, highly esteemed
by all who knew her for her industrious and ex-
ceedingly useful life, as well as her amiable disposi-
tion and kind heart. She passed away March 17,
1901.
ABRAHAM S. RHOADS. Among the promi-
nent, substantial and highly esteemed citizens of
IMaytown was Abraham S. Rhoads, who was born in
Conestoga township, a son of George and Elizabeth
(Sweiger) Rhoads, of Rapho township, both of
whom died in East Donegal, the former on the farm
to which he had moved, in 1841, and the mother in
May town. The father was born in 1801, and died
in September, 1854, while the mother survived until
June, 1885, dying at the age of eighty-four years.
Both were worthy members of the Lutheran Church,
and are buried in the old Maytown cemetery. Chil-
dren, as follows, were born to their marriage : Abra-
ham S. ; Fanny, who married George M. Lutz ;
Elizabeth, who married Benjamin Hoffman, a farm-
er of Conoy township ; Mary, who married Henry
Shenk, deceased ; Levi, a farmer of Eden township ;
and Susannah, widow of Christ Brandt (he died
Oct. 7, 1891, aged fifty-three, and she resided in
JMa}'town with her brother Abraham) ; and George,
a farmer of East Donegal township.
Abraham S. Rhoads was reared on the farm and
attended the schools of his district, remaining with
his parents as their comfort in their declining years.
After the death of his father he conducted the farm
for ten more years, and then moved into Maytown,
in 1865, where he lived retired until his death, Sept.
28, 1901. ' In politics he was a stanch Democrat,
and was one of the leading members of the Lutheran
Church. Mr. Rhoads was known as an upright man
and excellent citizen.
NATHANIEL S. GROFF, whose home is in
Manheim township, a mile and a quarter east of Pe-
tersburg, was born March 25, 1841, in the old home-
stead. When eight years of age he went to live with
his sister, Mrs. George Shriner, on the farm where
he has since made his home, until he was ready to
begin operations for himself. His education was
762
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
gained in the common and Normal schools. When
he was fifteen he went West with his brother Sam-
uel, who bought a drove of cattle in Ohio, which
they drove through to Lancaster county, young Na-
thaniel walking the most of the way, and leading an
ox at the head of tlie herd.
When he was nineteen Mr. GrofiE formed a part-
nership with his brother-in-law, Mr. Shriner, and
went alone to Ohio, to buy a drove of cattle, which
he brought back unassisted. This was the laying of
the foundation of a prosperous career, as the ven-
ture was quite a success. H'js entire attention was
given for some years to the droving business, bring-
ing cattle to the Lancaster markets. After a few
years in the cattle business he associated himself
with his brother-in-law in farming. Farming and
stock dealing have seemed to go so well together that
Mr. Groff has combined them all his life. With his
brother Abraham he bought the family homestead,
and has purchased his own farm of 113 acres, which
is one of the fine places of the county. Mr. Groff
buys and packs tobacco, and has a warehouse on his
farm, handling much stock yearly. He also grows
tobacco extensively, and has met with success in this
branch of farming.
A public-spirited man, he has been a stockholder
in several of the banking enterprises of the county,
and also in other enterprises, such as the Penn Turn-
pike Company. A stanch Republican, he takes an
active interest in politics.
Mr. Groff was married, March 25, 1871, to Miss
INIary, daughter of Israel Groff, of Eden, and they
have one child, George, who married Miss Mary
Haverstick, by whom he has two children, Paulina
and Leon. Mrs. Groff and the son are members of
the Lutheran Church.
AARON EDWARD REIST, cashier of the
Conestoga Traction Company, and sole manager of
the Conestoga Park Amusements, is one of the best
known figures in Lancaster. His ancestors came to
America from Germany, and were among the very
earliest settlers of Lancaster county. But one fam-
ily of Reists came across the water, and from them
ail the Reists in this section are descended.
Abraham Reist, grandfather of Aaron E., was
bom near Manheim, Lancaster county, where he
died, on the old homestead where his father had
lived before him. His son, Aaron E., father of
Aaron E., of Lancaster, is now living between Man-
heim and Lititz, where he is leading a practically
retired life. He married Anna Zook, daughter of
John Zook, a farmer, and to them came three sons :
Nathan E., a school teacher in Lititz; Amos E., a
contracting builder, of Pittsburg; and A. Edward,
of Lancaster.
Aaron Edward Reist was born in Manheim, in
1859, and was educated in the pubHc schools of the
district. Leaving school when sixteen years of age,
young Reist became a clerk in the dry-goods house
of George S. Danner, of Manheim. When he had
clerked there a short time he took a business course
at the Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie,
N. Y., after which he engaged with Stawbridge &
Clothier, at Philadelphia. For two years he remained
with them, and then spent eleven years in the dry-
goods house of Givler, Bowers & Hurst. At the ex-
piration of this prolonged period he connected him-
self with Watt & Shand, at the New York Store,
Lancaster, but failing health compelled him to give
up his work and seek an out-door life. When he had
partially regained his health Mr. Reist entered the
service of the Traction Company, and by the advice
of his physician ran on the line four months. By
this tiniie his health was again normal, and he was
taken into the office of the company, where he has
been cashier for nine years, and for the past four
years manager of the Conestoga Park Amusements,
which are under the auspices of the Tra,ction Com-
pany. ■ All the money of the company passes through
his hands, and all employes are paid by him. As a
manager of attractive amusements his ability is
known to the community, and in every position in
which he is placed those whose interests he serves
are delighted with his able and attentive management
of the cluties intrusted to him.
Mr. Reist was married, in 1884, to Miss Rettie,
daughter of William Laverty, the principal employe
of the Pennsylvania railroad at Leaman Place for
forty years. To this union were bom two chil-
dren, Anna and Georgia, both attending the Girls'
High School at Lancaster.
Mr. Reist is a • Presbyterian, belonging to the
First Presbyterian Church of Lancaster, and fra-
ternally is connected with the Odd Fellows, the
Knights of Malta, the Royal Arcanum, and the Jr.
O. U. A. M. In these and in various other circles
he is most highly esteemed.
EMANUEL H. ZERCHER, a resident of Con-
estoga Center, was born April 17, 1.854, and was a
lad of nine years when. his father died. He lived with
his grandfather until he arrived at the age of four-
teen, when he started out in Hfe for himself. For one
year he worked for his uncle, David Nissley, and
then went to work on his mother's farm, where he
remained two years. From there he went with Milo
Herr, and worked for him one year, when he again
returned to his mother's place in Providence town-
ship and did general work. He then went with
Abraham li. Schock to learn the tinsmith's trade,
and worked for him four years. After farming
Benjamin Kneisley's farm for three years, he bought
out the business of A. H. Schock at Safe Harbor,
and carried on the business for one year, when he
removed to Conestoga Center to engage in the same
line, and he still carries it on.
On Dec. 2, 1877, Emanuel H. Zercher married
Mary A. Kneisley, daughter of Benjamin and Re-
becca Kneisley, residents of Conestoga township. Mr.
and Mrs. Zercher had eight children, as follows:
Benjamm F., at home single ; John C, of Conestoo-a
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
768
Center ; E'mma L., wife of Charles Kreider ; Bertha
M., who died in infancy; Clara A., at home, single;
Andrew and Ezra, deceased ; and Anna M., at home.
Mr. Zercher is a Republican, and has always
taken an active part in the political affairs of the
county. He was a county committeeman for three
years; a school director for six years, from 1893
to 1900; and was appointed justice of the peace in
1898, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of
P.'C. Hiller. He is a member of O. A. K. of M. C,
Conestoga Lodge, No. 178, in which he has passed
all the chairs, and is now recording scribe. Mr. and
Mrs. Zercher are consistent members of the United
Evangelical Church, and have been such since 1879.
They are highly estimated in their community and
enjoy the friendship of a wide circle.
HENRY H. WITMEYER, a general merchant
and representative citizen of Penryn, Pa., is a de-
scendant of one of the old and honored families of
Lancaster county.
David Witmeyer, the great-grandfather of Hen-
ry H., was an emigrant to America from Germany,
and he founded the family in Lancaster county. His
son, David, was born in the western part of this
county, Jan. 31, 1800, and became a carpenter by
trade, and also understood the intricacies of watch-
making. The greater part of his life was spent in
carpenter work, and his death occurred April 7,
185 1. He married Miss Elizabeth Hummer, and
they were the parents of eight children : John, de-
ceased ; David ; Jacob ; Aaron, a watchmaker in In-
diana; EHzabeth, the wife of Dr. Shaffer, of Shaf-
ferstown ; Priscilla, the wife of Jacob Shue ; Cath-
erine, the wife of Samuel Plasterer ; and Anna, who
died at the age of twenty years.
David Witmeyer, the father of Henry H., was
born on April 13, 1832, and early in life he learned
the trade of watchmaking, following this all his life,
and being recognized as a very skillful workman.
His death occurred on July 28, 1861. His wife,
Susanna Hummer, bore him three children, the
oldest one dying in infancy ; Jeremiah H., a mil-
ler in White Oak, Pa., and Henry H.
Plenry H. Witmeyer was born at Penryn, Nov.
17, 1857. When he was four years old, his father
died, and he lived with his mother until he was twelve
years of age, attending school. At this time he be-
gan to learn the cigarmaking trade with David
Kauffman, continuing for one year. From there he
went to Manheim, where he worked at cigarmaking
for three years during summer seasons and attend-
ed Manheim high school during winter seasons. At
this time he accepted a position as clerk in the gen-
eral store in Cornwall, conducted by David Kaufif-
man. Here he remained for two years, and spent
the two following years at Millway, in the store of
Simon Eisenberger, going "from there to Clay,
where he was the valued clerk for George Stein-
metz for three vears.
Mr. Witmeyer then returned to his native place
and embarked in the cigar business, also opening up
a mercantile line, three years later purchasing the
business where he is now located. His long expe-
rience in the mercantile business, under wise and suc-
cessful merchants, enabled Mr. Witmeyer to become
thoroughly instructed in this business, both as to
buying and selling. This has been demonstrated
by his success, and he has now one of the most com-
plete general store stocks in the county, and a lucra-
tive trade. In politics Mr. Witmeyer is an ardent
Republican, and in 1889, he was appointed post-
master, efficiently filling the office at the present time,
holding also the position of deputy coroner. Mr.
Witmeyer is one of the most progressive citizens of
this community, taking a just pride in adding to the
prosperity of this section, in proof of which, he has
erected some ten of the finest residences in the town,
worthy in every way to decorate a much larger bor-
ough.
The marriage of Mr. Witmeyer was to Miss Dora
A. Gross ; to them were born six children : David,
who died at the age of fourteen years ; Sadie S. ;
Elsie G. ; Gertrude G. ; Chester G. ; and Harry G. ;
a family of beautiful and intelligent young people
who reflect credit not only upon their parents, but
also upon the prosperous village of their birth.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN LANDIS, the wide-
ly known shoe merchant at Nos. 28-30 South Queen
street, Lancaster, is descended from a very old Penn-
sylvania family.
Jacob D. Landis, the father of Benjamin F., was
a son of Benjamin Landis, a farmer in Montgomery
county, where he died full of years and honor. Ja-
cob D. Landis is still a well preserved man, and bears
his years so lightly that he is able to render his son
assistance in his bixsiness. He came to Lancaster
when he was only nineteen years of age, and made
a home in Manor township. Later in life he mar-
ried Elizabeth Conrad, the daughter of Daniel Con-
rad, a hotel keeper at New Danville, the place bear-
ing his name because he owned the land on which
it was established. The union of Jacob D.' Landis
and Elizabeth Conrad was blessed with eleven chil-
dren, of whom now survive, as follows : Jacob H.,
shipping clerk for Long & Davidson, of Lancaster ;
Mary S., the wife of Daniel Volrath, a salesman for
the A. & P Tea Co., of Lancaster ; Sarah, the wife
of Henry Brenerman, of Pequea ; Elizabeth, the wife
of Henry Eager, of Columbia; Elvina, the wife of
Henry Killian, of Lancaster ; Emma, unmarried and
at home; and Benjamin Franklin.'
Benjamin Franklin Landis was born at Slack-
water, Pa., April 3. 1857, and acquired his educa-
tion in the public schools of Pequea. When he was
eighteen years of age he left school to become an ap-
prentice at shoemaking in a shop at New Danville,
in which he spent three years. When he had mas-
tered his trade he worked at it a year and a half in
Lansdale, Montgomery county, and for three years
in Millersville. Mr. Landis was connected with the
764
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
shoe house of Shaub & Brother in Lancaster, for
seven years, where he developed so much abihty as
a salesman, and won so many friends by his genial
ways and accommodating disposition, that he felt
warranted in starting in business for himself. In
the fall of 1889 he opened a shoe store at No. 37
South Queen street. His business was transferred
after a year and a half to Nos. 12-14 South Queen
street, where it remained five years, and was then
removed to its present commodious quarters at Nos.
28-30 South Queen street. The entire building is
occupied by Mr. Landis, both as a store and a resi-
dence, and here he enjoys a most excellent trade.
Mr. Landis was married to Mary D., a daughter
of Henry and Elizabeth Shuman, the former of
whom IS now deceased. One child has blessed this
union, Edna, who is now at home with her parents.
Mr. Landis belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the
Knights of the Golden Eagle, the Knights of Malta,
the Jr. O. U. A. M., the I. O. O. F. and the Royal
Arcanum. In politics he is a Republican, and in re-
ligion he is a member of St. Paul's Methodist
Church, of which he was a trustee and steward for
several years. He is a thorough business man,
prompt in all his dealings, and courteous and kind
to all with whom he comes in contact.
JOHN H. BLETZ (deceased), a popular con-
ductor on the I'ennsylvania railroad, and an honored
resident of Columbia, was born in that city, March
19, 1849, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Mellin-
ger) Eletz, also natives of Lancaster county, the
former born in Mountville, the latter in Manheim.
Soon after their marriage they located in Columbia,
where the father conducted a grocery store. He
died March 6, 1865, aged forty-one years, his wife,
April 6, 1867, also aged forty-one. To them were
born six children, namely : Mary J., who died young ;
Harriet A., wife of James Crowther, manager of
the Columbia Opera House ; John H. ; Susan B.,
deceased wife of John Hernizer, a railroad man;
Benjamin F., who died at the age of twenty-five
years : and Anna L., who died at the age of thirty-
one. The grandparents of John H. Bletz were
Jacob and Mary Bletz, and David and Susan Mellin-
ger, all residents of Lancaster county.
During his boyhood John H. Bletz clerked in his
iincle's store at Columbia, and later spent some time
in the West. Subsequently he a;ccepted a position
as conductor on the Pennsylvania railroad running
from Philadelphia, and remained a trusted employe
of the company up to the time of his death, which
occurred March 26, 1898. Politically he was identi-
fied with the Democratic party, fraternally affiliated
with the Order of Railway Conductors and the
Knights of Malta ; and religiously was a member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church. He commanded
the confidence and respect of all with whom he came
in contact either in business or social life, and had a
host of warm personal friends.
On Nov. 25, 1875, in Columbia, Mr. Bletz mar-
ried Miss Naomi Hart, by whom he had one son,
Ira M., who is clerking in a foundry in Columbia and
resides with his mother. Mrs. Bletz is a native of
Druniore township, Lancaster county, and a daugh-
ter of Samuel and Susan (Newport) Hart, of Pe-
quea, same county. The father, who was a farmer
by occupation, died in 1877, aged sixty-seven years,
tlie mother, in 1895, aged eighty-one, and their re-
mains were interred at Clearfield, Pa. Religiously
they were active members of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church. Their children were Hester, wife of
Frank Binds, of Frenchtown, Md. ; Susan, wife of
Washington Walker, of West Hempfield township,
this countv ; Mary, widow of Eland Crider and a res-
ident of Wilmington, Del. ; Sarah, wife of John Gra-
ble, of Drumore township, this county ; John, who is
living retired in that township ; Barbara and Harry,
both deceased; and Naomi, now Mrs. Bletz.
JOHN F. HAINES. It is a happy conjunction
of callings which combine farming and hotel keep-
ing, inasmuch as in the latter capacity a person has
the constant demand for the delicacies produced from
the garden, and in the former a ready means of sup-
plying such demand, as was the case with John F.
Haines, ex-hotel keeper and retired farmer of Spring
Garden. Salisbury township.
John F. Irlaines is a native of Salisbury township,
born Aug. 20, 1853, son of Stephen and Mary A.
(Place) Haines, the former of whom was born in
Salisbury township, Nov. 21, 1817, was a farmer by
occupation, and died Oct. 8, 1864. Mrs. Mary A.
Haines was born Dec. 20, 1818, and died March 7,
1889. Stephen Haines was a highly respected and
popular citizen, served as township supervisor for
many terms, and was classed with the solid men of
his locality. The remains of Stephen and his wife
were interred in the Pequea Presbyterian Church
cemetery, of which church they were members.
Their children were ten in number : Christian, who
died in infancy; Hannah E., wife of Frederick B.
Wilson, a retired marble manufacturer, of Coving-
ton, Ind. ; George W., deceased ; James S., also de-
ceased; William D., a farmer at Newport, Ind.;
John F., of this sketch ; Alfred A., a farmer in Salis-
bury township; Clement H., deceased; Minnie F.,
deceased, wife of WilHam Stirk; and Eva J., un-
married, and living in Lancaster.
At the age of twenty-two years John F. Haines
rented a farm in Salisbury township and cultivated
it until 1899, when he abandoned the calling and rent-
ed the "Spring Garden Hotel," which he conducted
one 3'ear and then retired to his present home. His
marriage took place in New Hblland. Pa., Feb. 13,
1883, to Miss Sallie Shirk, and to this union have
been born six children, in the following order ■ Ches-
ter S., Lida M., Ruth J., Mable F., Elva M. and
Minnie E.
Mrs. SaUie (Shirk) Haines was born in West
Earl township, Lancaster county, Jan. 25 iS";-^
daughter of Samuel and Barbara (Beltz) ' Shirk
BIOGRA.PHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
765
prominent agricultural people of Lancaster county.
Samuel Shirk retired from the cares and duties of
agricultural life somewhat late in life ; his wife died
Sept. II, 1882, at the age of fifty-seven years, after
which Mr. Shirk resided with Mr. and Mrs. Haines,
until his death in 1897, at the ripe age of seventy-
four. Mr. Shirk and his wife were devout members
of the Blue Ball German Baptist Church, and their
remains were interred in its cemetery. Seven chil-
dren were born to them, as follows: Wilson, who
died in infancy ; Anna E., who is married to W. A.
Warner, of Reading; Sallie, now Mrs. John F.
Haines ; Kate, wife of Isaac Taylor ; Isaac, a farmer
in Earl township ; John, a carpenter in Philadelphia ;
and Harry, a traveling salesman of Butler, Pennsyl-
vania.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Sallie ( Shirk)
Haines were Peter and Martha Shirk, prominent
people of Lancaster county.
John F. Haines is a substantial and honored citi-
zen of Salisbury township; and has secured for him-
self an ample competency. He is a Republican in
politics, and in 1897 was register of his township.
GEORGE W. WALTON, who is at once the
merchant, postmaster and telegraph operator at Fal-
mouth, Conoy township, Lancaster county, was born
in that township, Feb. 22, 1853, son of David C.
and Anna (Kinney) Walton, natives of New Hol-
land, York county, and of Lancaster county, respec-
tively.
David C. Walton was a farmer until the last five
years, when he became a track walker for the Penn-
sylvania Railroad, and was killed while engaged in
the performance of his duty, Sept. 17, 1899, his re-
mains being interred in the cemetery at Falmouth.
His widow, Anna Kinney, who was born in 1849,
is living in Falmouth. Early in life they became con-
nected with the Bethel Church, and their industri-
ous habits and upright character cast no discredit
upon their faith. The children born to them were:
George W., of whom mention is made later in this
sketch; Mary M., widow of Daniel Bryan, living at
home ; and Edgar W., a mail agent, living at Harris-
burg.
The paternal grandparents of George W. Walton
were Hiram and Mary (Dunkel) Walton, natives of
Chester county, who died in Yorlc county, where they
had long followed an agricultural life. Mr. Walton's
maternal grandparents were George C. and Anna
Kinney, who were born in York county, but moved
to Lancaster county in 1848, and there near the vil-
lage of Bainbridge, in Conoy township, engaged in
farming,
George W. Walton and Mary B. Keller were
united in marriage June 11, 1884, in Harrisburg.
Mrs. Walton was born in Lock Haven, Pa., a daugh-
ter of John and Mary- (Bricker) Keller, both born
in Bainbridge, Lancaster county. For many years
her father was a merchant, and in his later years an
employe of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He died in
Harrisburg in 1882, at the age of sixty-four years.
Mrs. Keller is still living, and makes her home with
Mrs. Walton. Both father and mother were mem-
bers of the Lutheran Church. They had the follow-
ing children : Frank, a railroad man in Harrisburg ;
Mary; Elmer, also in the railroad employ; Harvey,
a manufacturer and wholesale dealer in medicine;
Bertha, wife of Louis Bridgeon, a merchant in Har-
risburg.
Mr. Walton's grandparents were all farming peo-
ple, and natives of Lancaster county, where their en-
tire lives were spent.
George Walton remained with his parents until
he reached the age of twenty-eight, when he estab-
lished his own home. At the age of nineteen years
he began learning the art of telegraphy, and spent his
first year in that study in Bainbridge, and then
worked at the telegrapher's desk in Parkesburg,
Ronks, Dillerville, Harrisburg, Highspire, Steelton
and Middle Town Branch, effecting a permanent lo-
cation at Collins in the spring of 1884. In 1886 he
was appointed the village postmaster, a position he
has retained to the present time, and one in which he
is very popular.
Mr. Walton is affiliated with the I. O. O. F. and
the K. of G. E., taking much interest in the success-
ful working of these orders, and holding from time
to time various official positions. In his politics he
is a Democrat, and is one of the leading citizens of
this part of the county.
JACOB H. ENGLE (deceased), was born in
Rapho township, June 14, 1850, and came to the
farm where his family now reside March 27, 1899,
and there he died March 13, 1900. His remains rest
in the cemetery connected with the Cross Roads
Meeting House in East Donegal township.
Rev. Henry and Fannie (Hoover) Engle, his
parents, were of East Donegal township, and moved
to the present Engle homestead in i860. There the
father lived retired for forty years, a successful
and prominent farmer, and for about fifty years
an active and influential minister of the Brethren in
Christ. When he died Jan. 12, 1896, he was aged
eighty-eight years, two months and six days. His
wife died in 1881, and they were buried in the ceme-
tery connected with the Cross Roads Meeting House
in East Donegal township. Rev. Henry and Fannie
Engle had the following children : Noah H., a farm-
er in Abilene, Kans. ; Mary H. died in 1891, unmar-
ried ; Michael H. is a retired farmer in Elizabethtown,
Pa. ; Sarah H. lives in Maytown, the widow of Chris-
tian Hershey; Ann H. is unmarried, and has her
home in Mt. Joy ; Eli H. is a farmer in Mt. Joy ; John
H., who is engaged in the butcher business at Mt.
Joy; and Jacob H.
Jacob H. Engle was married in January, 1871,
in Rapho township, to Harriet Missemer, by whom
he had the following family : Norman M., a farm
foreman at Woodland, Cal., and as yet unmarried ;
Dr. Howard M., of San Francisco; Walter M., at
766
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
home; Joseph M., , deceased ; Henry J., at home;
Robert M., deceased; Fanny G., M. Lena, Bertha
M. and Bruce Q. C, all at home.
Mrs. Harriet Engle was born in Rapho township,
a daughter of Jacob and Magdelina (Gantz) Misse-
mer. I'hey were both born and reared in Lancaster
county. Jacob Missemer followed the milling busi-
ness until his death in 1883, at the age of sixty-six ;
his widow died in 1890, at the age of sixty-seven.
Their remains rest in the burying ground of the
Cross Roads Meeting House in East Donegal town-
ship. They were members of the Lutheran Church.
Their children were: Susan, who married Rev.
■David Wohlgemuth, now a retired farmer and a
Dunkard preacher at Florin ; Elizabeth, wife of Ja-
cob Gruber, a farmer in Rapho township; Kate,
widow of Henry G. Snyder, with her home in Mt.
Joy; Henry, who died in infancy; Sarah, who mar-
ried Henry Martin, a farmer in East Donegal town-
ship ; Mattie, who married David Brant, of Mt. Joy
township ; Anna, wife of Samuel Witmer, of Rapho
township; Jacob, Henry, David, Adam, William,
Joseph and Frederick, who all died in infancy ; Har-
riet, Mrs. Engle ; Louise, who married Dr. W. B.
Thome, of Mt. Joy township, whose sketch may be
found on another page ; and Mary, who married Ed-
ward Boyd, of Manheim.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Engle were
Jacob and Lena (Hoeman) Missemer, who were
born in Berks county, Pa., and came to Lancaster
county in an early day. Jacob Missemer married,
for his second wife, a Miss Kraybill, of Lancaster
county.
Jacob H. Engle, who was a farmer all his life,
remained at home with his parents until his mar-
riage, when he removed to a farm in Chiques Creek,
where he remained twenty-seven years. His next
move was to the farm where his family is now liv-
ing. Mr. Engle was in his life time a man of char-
acter and standing in the community, where his in-
dustry, integrity, and simple and unaffected manli-
ness commanded ready recognition, and won a host
of friends. For three years he was a school director.
For many years he followed tobacco buying, and met
with much success. Connected with no church, he
was a man of fine character and absolute integrity,
much beloved and esteemed by all who knew him.
His legacy to his children was, above all, a good name
and a spotless reputation.
ROBERT C. LINTOKf, an elderly farmer in
Colerain township, was born in East Drumore town-
ship, in September, 1844, a son of Alexander and
Margaret (Glackin) Linton.
Alexander Linton was born in Ireland, and his
wife, who was a daughter of John Glackin, in Dru-
more, Lancaster county. After his marriage Mr.
Linton settled on a wild wooded farm- in East Dru-
more township, which is now owned by his son,
James, and good buildings and thorough cultivation
have made this one of the fine farm homes of that
section. Here Alexander Linton died in 1865, and
his widow in 1899. They were members of the Pres-
byterian and Catholic churches. Mr. Linton was a
stanch Dem.ocrat, and a Union man during the war.
Of their family of six sons and two daughters, four
are living : Mary and Rachel died young ; John and
Augustus died in early manhood; Sylvester, the
eldest living son, married Eliza Linton, of Lancaster
county, and they now reside on his farm adjoining
the old homestead, and have a family of four chil- •
dren : John, Mary, (who married Benjamin Drauch-
er, of Bart township), Augustus and Anna; James,
who is now living on the old homestead, where he
was born, is still single; Jasper, born at the East
Drumore home, went to Iowa, when a young man,
where he married and settled (he is the father of
three sons) ; and Robert C.
Robert C. Linton was born and reared on the old
home, attended the district school after the usual
farmer fashion of the time, working on the place dur-
ing the summer season, and attending school in the
winter. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted
in Co. G, 1st Battalion, P. V. I., at Camp Curtin,
Harrisburg, where the command was drilled and pre-
pared for service. They did duty at Chambersburg,
and were then marched to Hag^erstown, Md., where
they went into camp until assigned to special duty
at Philadelphia, being set to guarding deserters and
drafted men in that city. They were mustered out in
Harrisburg, Jan. 4, 1864.
Mr. Linton returned home and worked on his fa-
ther's farm until his marriage, Feb. 24, 1870, to Miss
Fannie Boohar, a daughter of Jacob and Angeline
(Mercer) Boohar. Mrs. Fannie Linton was born
in November, 1848, and when she was still young her
parents moved into the city of Lancaster, where their
children might be educated. Mr. Boohar was a mil-
ler, and worked at his trade in different mills in the
county imtil i86t, when he moved to the Puseyville
Mills, where. he was employed until 1871, when he
died. His widow survived until 1891. Of their fam-
ily of seven children, six are living : Handford died
in Christiana ; Ross W., born in Chester county, lives
in Christiana: Walter E., born in Chester county,
married and resides in Philadelphia ; Henrietta mar-
ried Thomas Carpenter (deceased), of Philadelphia,
and they had one daughter. May ; Josephine married
Joseph Barkley, of Chester county ; Adaline married
Bayard Stott, and lives in Philadelphia ; and Fannie
married Mr. Linton.
Mr. and Mrs. Linton settled on the old Linton
homestead, where they lived for seven years. In
1870 he bought the Dr. Dare farm in Colerain town-
ship, where he has since erected a large bank barn,
wagon sheds and other outbuildings, improving the
house, also, and making the place one of the most
desirable homes of this county. To Mr. and Mrs.
Linton have come seven children : Lina, born in De-
cember, 1870, married Walter Scott, of Bart town-
ship, and they live in Strasburg township ; they have
no family. Oliver J., born in 1872, married Miss
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
767
Sadie Eckman, of Quarryville, and lives in Chris-
tiana ; they have one son, Claude C. Margaret, born
in August, 1873, died Dec. 6, 1902. Ada N., born
in July, 1877, married Harry Groff, of Georgetown,
and had one son, Uhler, who died Oct. 17, 1901. Ed-
gar A., born in August, 1879, is single, and at home.
J. Clyde was borri in May, 1881. Robert G. was born
in August, 1884.
Mr. Lvinton has always taken an independent po-
sition in politics. Both he and his wife belong to the
Methodist Church. They are well-off, highly re-
spected and have always been closely identified with
the best interests of East Drumore and Colerain
townships. The farm shows a thrift characteristic
of the Linton family.
WILLIAM O. MARSHALL, one of the best
known and most popular men in Lancaster, is one
of the oldest surviving members of a family that has
long been associated v/ith the city's business inter-
ests. For many years he was associated with his fa-
ther in the shoe trade in Centre square, and, after
his father's death, conducted the business himself,
but he is now living retired — that is, retired from ac-
tive business pursuits, although he is kept well occu-
pied in looking after his private interests, as well
' as the interests of the church, of which he is so de-
voted a member. Mr. Marshall was born in Phila-
delphia Oct. 12, 1840, son of Mr. and Mrs. James
Marshall. His grandfather Marshall, with two of
his brothers, came to Lancaster at an early day.
James Marshall was a shoemaker. He married
and located in Philadelphia, in which city he worked
at his trade until 1844, when he returned to Lancas-
ter and became a manufacturer and retailer. In
1865, his son, William O.; became a partner, the firm
name being J. Marshall & Son. James Marshall,
now deceased, but who lived to advanced age, was
an active member of St. John's Free Episcopal
Church for' many years. His wife, whose maiden
name was Maria Okeson, was a native of Lancaster,
a daughter of John Okeson, who came from England.
The mother died at the age of seventy years, leaving
a family of six children, three of whom are living:
William O., George A. and Lizzie C.
William O. Marshall obtained a good common
school education, and at the age of thirteen was ap-
prenticed to learn the printer's trade. He served five
3'ears, and then became foreman in the composing
room of the Evening Express, which position he held
for two years, at the end of which time he entered
Franklin and Marshall College. Fie remained in
college three years, until the close of the Sophomore
year. This was during the war of the Rebellion, and
he enlisted in the Union army. After the war he
took up his trade on the Express and other journals.
In 1868 Mr. Marshall wedded Miss Mary Rich-
ards, daughter of the late Luther Richards, of Lan-
caster, who was one of the founders of the Examin-
er and Herald, and was prominent not only as a
journalist, but as a Republican, that party having
elected him to' some of the most important positions
in the gift of the county. By his marriage with Miss
Richards, Mr. Marshall became the father of two
children : Elizabeth R., a graduate of the high
school, who married John S. Thackeray, of Philadel-
phia; and Charles L., also a graduate of the high
school, and business college, and now bookkeeper for
the extensive clothing house of S. M. Myers & Com-
pany. Charles L. Marshall married Miss j\l. Lou-
ise Stamm, daughter of Frederick Stamm, the inven-
tor, whose interesting sketch will be found else-
where. He is a Mason, being senior warden of Blue
Lodge, No. 43, and he belongs to the chapter, coun-
cil and command ery.
William O. Marshall is a Republican in politics,
and served two years in the common council from the
Third ward. In 1877, he was elected a member of
the school board, and two years later he moved into
the Fifth vv^ard, and was re-elected. In 1879 he was
made treasurer of the school board, and held that
position for more than twenty years. He was also
the receiver of school tax for many years. He is an
honored member of the Masonic fraternity, belong-
ing to the Blue Lodge, Chapter, Council and Com-
mandery, and has held all of the chairs, and was at
one time Deputy District Grand High Priest. In re-
ligious connection he is a member of St. John's Free
Episcopal Church, and has been one of the vestry-
men for an ordinary life time.
PETER O. ELSER, one of the representative
citizens of Clay township, was born March 18, 1851,
in this township, a son of Samuel and Catherine El-
ser, both deceased.
Peter Elser, the great-grandf^ither of Peter O.
Elser, was born in 1760, and he left a son, also Pe-
ter, the grandfather from whom our subject takes his
name. Grandfather Elser was a farmer in Eliza-
beth township, and was twice married. Two sons,
John and George, were born to the first union, and
one son, Samuel, and four daughters, by the second
marriage, these being: Catherine, Rebecca, Sarah
and Elizabeth. ,
Samuel Elser was born in 1812, and died May
4, 1879. He married in Clay township, and had a
family of ten children, aS follows : Miss Mary Ann ;
Rebecca, deceased; Elizabeth, the wife of Solomon
Eberly, of Clay township ; Catherine and Susan,
twins, the latter of whom died at the age of fifty-
two years, the former the wife of William Ramig;
Peter O. ; Hannah, the wife of Henry Mellinger, a.
resident of Brickerville, Pa. ; Fannie, the wife of
Zocher Fory, of Clay township : John, a resident of
Harrisburg ; and Adeline, deceased.
Peter O. Elser was reared on the farm, and was
educated in the public schools. Although he has
engaged in farming to some degree all his life, he
has also had other important lines of business. He
learned the carpenter's trade, and for several years
worked as a mill carpenter. All of his ventures in a
business line have prospered, as he possesses the
768
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
proper qualifications to insure success. Mr. Elser
is one of the leading Democrats in his township, and
has most efficiently filled a number of the local offices.
He has been a delegate to State conventions a num-
ber of times, and is an effective party worker. Mr.
Elser has performed the duties of supervisor and
school director with credit to himself and to the sat-
isfaction of the tax payers in his township.
On Nov. 26, 1 87 1, Mr. Elser was united in mar-
riage to Miss Maggie Weit, daughter of Henry
Weit, of Clay township, and two children were born
to this unioi^ : Lillie, the wife of J. W. Gerhert, of
Clay township; and Samuel W., living unmarried,
at home, the carrier of the U. S. mail between Eph-
rata. Clay and Hopeland. Mr. Elser and family are
highly esteemed in Clay township. He is known as
one of the reliable and honored citizens who truly
represent this important portion of Lancaster county.
FRANK SHILLOTT, deceased. Germany has
given to America many of her most estimable and
prominent citizens. Biographical records in the
United States present many Examples of young men
from the Fatherland who to better their conditions
have come strangers to a strange land, and, with no
advantages, have by the mere force of their native
talents won success and a prominent place among the
people of their adopted land. Prominent among
these must be mentioned the late Frank Shillott.
He was never a shirk. The eminence he attained
was the result of honest and untiring eflEort, and he
was a most highly esteemed resident of Columbia,
where he lived retired from active business duties.
He was born in Rheinpfalz, Germany, June 21, 1827,
son of Frank and Victoria (Glauveau) Shillott, na-
tives of Germany of French extraction, and grandson
of John Shillott, a native of France.
Frank Shillott, who was a butcher and drover
by trade, came to America in 1842, and settled in
New Orleans, La., but within a year he fell a victim
to fever and died at the age of forty-one years. His
widow, Mrs. Victoria (Glauveau) Shillott, emi-
grated to America in 1853, the year after her son
Frank had crossed the ocean. She settled at Colum-
bia, Pa., and died of cholera in 1854, aged fifty-three
years. The family of Frank and Victoria Shillott
consisted of the following children: Victoria,
widow of Joseph Kelp, of Columbia; Charles, who
died at Columbia; Frank, whose name opens this
sketch; Katie, who married Michael Thomas, and
died at Columbia ; John, a butcher at Marietta, Lan-
caster county, now deceased ; and Thesbia, widow of
Peter Dersch, a blacksmith.
Frank Shillott, at the age of ten years, entered
his father's butcher shop in Germany. In 1849 he
entered the German army, but after three years' ser-
vice, having tired of military life, he ran away. Com-
ing to New York friendless and alone, he secured
employment in a butcher shop in that city, and three
months later came to Columbia, Pa., accepting for
a time whatever employment he could secure. Then
for three years he worked at the butcher business
for Harry Minnich, after which he embarked in the
business for himself, continuing thus most success-
fully for seventeen years. Mr. Shillott then conduct-
ed a general store at Columbia for three years, at
the end of which time he withdrew to a farm, and in
addition to agricultural pursuits he also followed
butchering for fourteen years. He subsequently
lived in retirement, enjoying the leisure which he had
so well earned, until his death, which occurred June
5, 1902. Mr. Shillott was one of the organizers of
the Central National Bank of Columbia, of which
he served as a director from the beginning until his
decease. He was highly esteemed in the locality
where he had passed the greater part of his useful
life.
In February, 1855, Mr. Shillott married Cath-
erine Schroeder, who was born in Baiern, Germany,
in April, 1825, daughter of Andrew and Barbara
(Schwautz) Schroeder, of Marksteinhock, Germany,
and granddaughter of Andrew Schroeder. Her fa-
ther, who was a brickmaker, died in 1821 ; Barbara,
his wife, lived until 1840. Their children were:
John, who died at Baltimore, Md. ; Barbara, de-
ceased ; George John, who came to America and has
not since been heard from ; and Catherine, widow of
Frank Shillott. Mrs. Shillott came to America in •
1851, and settled at Columbia. To Mr. and Mrs.
Shillott were born four children, namely : Caro-
line, of Newark, N. J., is the widow of H. L. Snyder ;
she has two children, Katharine M. and Florence P.
Franklin, proprietor of a hotel at Columbia, married
Katie Ament, and has eight children, Martin, Eliza-
beth, Cecilia, Charles, Stella, William, Edward and
Regina. Catharine M., widow of John W. Swartz,
a prominent butcher of Columbia, has one child,
Lillian Marie. Charles died in Denver, Colo., Aug.
28, 1901.
Mr. Shillott was a member of Trinity Catholic
Church. In politics he was always a Democrat. By
his many sterling qualities and industrious applica-
tion to business he gained a goodly competence, and
was a representative citizen and a typical self-mad^
man. His increased means, however, were not fol-
lowed by ostentatious display. He retained the plain,
simple manners of his early years, and held the es-
teem and regard of all who knew him.
JEREMIAH H. WITMEYER, one of the well-
known and highly respected citizens of Penryn, Pa.,
now engaged in the milling business, is a worthy de-
scendant from an honorable Lancaster county iam-
David Witmeyer, his great-grandfather, came
to America from Germany and settled in Lancaster
county at a very early day. His son, David (2), the
grandfather of J. H., was born in this county Jan.
31, 1800, and he combined tlie trades of watchmaker
and carpenter, working principally at the latter trade.
His death was on April 7, 1851. His wife was Eliz-
abeth FFummer, and they had a family of eight chil-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
769
dren: John, who died young; David, who was the
father of j. H., of this sketch ; Jacob ; Aaron, a watch-
maker in Indiana; EHzabeth, the wife of Dr. Shaf-
fer, of Shafferstown ; Priscilla, the wife of Jacob
Shiie ; Catherine, the wife of Samuel Plasterer ; and
Anna, who died at the age of twenty years.
David Witmeyer (3), was born April 13, 1832,
and in early life he learned the trade of watchmaker
and followed the same through life. On Oct. 11,
1855, he was married to Susannah Hummer, and
his death took place on July 28, i86i. Their chil-
dren were three in number, the two survivors being
Jeremiah H., of this sketch; and Henry H., the suc-
cessful merchant of Penryn.
Jeremiah H. Witmeyer was born in Penn town-
ship Dec. 24, 1859. He was but one and one-half
years old when his father died, and he remained with
his mother until he neared twenty. His education
was obtained in the district schools of the township.
Later he learned the cigarmaking trade with his
brother, continuing- to work at it for over five years,
becoming then associated with his brother in the mer-
cantile business in Penryn. Here he remained until
1900, since which time he has been occupied in mill-
ing and farming. In 1894 "he purchased the mill
property at White Oak, and has since resided there.
Mr. Witmeyer is a consistent member of the German
Baptist Church, and is one of the leading citizens
of his neighborhood. His friends are numerous and
he is known to be a man of the highest integrity as
well as a citizen of public-spirit.
The marriage of Mr. Witmeyer was to Miss Liz-
zie Arndt, who was a daughter of John and Eliza-
beth Arndt, and to this union were born ten children :
Lillie A., Emma A., Susan A., Mary A., Aaron A.,
Lottie A., Annie A. and Bessie A., and two who died
in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Witmeyer have these
bright young people with them yet, all receiving the
best of educational advantages. Few families in this
locality are more highly esteemed.
JOHN S. KREITER, M. D. Prominently iden-
tified with the interests of Akron borough where he
is known and most highly esteemed, is Dr. John S.
Kreiter, who was born near Lititz, Pa., Nov. 25,
1852, and for many years has been the faithful and
successful physician in the majority of the old fam-
ilies of this part of the county.
Christian Kreiter, his grandfather, was a prosper-
ous farmer who was located near Lititz, and near this
place Dr. Kreiter was born and reared, a son of Sol-
omon and Maria (Grossman) Kreiter.
Solomon Kreiter was born in April, 1827, and
died on May 8, 1863, at the early age of thirty-six.
In November, 1847, he married Maria Grossman,
and to this union eight children were born : Jacob,
the present assessor of Warwick township, resides
at Lititz ; Catherine, born in 1851, died in childhood ;
John S. ; James E., born in 1855, died in 1884 ; David
Henry and Henry David, twins, born in 1858, are
thrifty farmers of Lancaster county; Martha mar-
49
ried L. H. Weisler, of Clay township ; and Solomon,
Jr., died in infancy.
Dr. Kreiter was reared on a farm and passed his
boyhood there, attending the common schools, Lititz
Academy and later the Normal Schools at Millers-
ville and Indiana, Pa. In 1879 he began the study
of medicine, under Dr. J. C. Brobst, graditating from
Bellevue Plospital Medical College in New York
city in 1,882, the same year locating at Akron, where
he has since practiced his profession with success.
On Oct. 15, 1885, Dr. Kreiter was married to
Miss Carrie L. Zentmyer, of Lititz, daughter of Ben-
jamin and Caroline (Sands) Zentmyer, and to this
union have been born two sons and three daughters :
Irene A., born Dec. 28, 1886 ; John E., born Nov. 6,
1888, died Jan. 20, 1889 ; Robert Ellsworth, born Jan.
28, 1890; Maud Victoria, born Nov. 22, 1892; and
Josephine Alberta, born July 11, 1901.
In his political belief the Doctor is an ardent Re-
publican and has taken a great interest in public af-
fairs. Socially he is connected . with the Lancaster
City and County Medical Society, also with the State
J^.Tedical Society, and is an efficient member of the
board of health of Akron. Always interested in ed-
ucational matters, he has frequently served as school
director, and at all times gives his time arid, means
to measures which promise good to the community.
During the years of his residence in Akron, he has
not only built up a fine practice by his skill, but he
has gained the confidence and esteem of the whole lo-
cality by his display of the characteristics of a true
citizen.
ELLA M. WINTER, of No. 14 South Queen
street, is the only representative in Lancaster, bear-
ing the family name of one of the oldest and best
known families of Lancaster county. Her ancestors
settled in this county early in 1700, and they have
lived for generation after generation in Providence
township. Her great-grandfather was a very ex-
tensive land owner of Providence, and possessed, at
the time of his death, eight fine farms, bequeathing
one to each of his eight children. Miss M'^inter's
grandfather, Christopher Winter, and her father,
Silas Winter, were both born on the old homestead.
There, -too, Aliss Ella was born, as were most of her
brothers and sisters. Her mother was Miss Cather-
ine Marks, daughter of Nicholas Marks, a store-
keeper, potter and farmer of West Willow. Ten
children were born to Silas and Catherine Winter,
of whom seven are living, as follows : Miss Ella M.,
of South Queen street : Mary A., wife of Martin Le-
fevre, a farmer of Chestnut Level ; Augustus, a
farmer of East Drumore ; John F., of Pittsburg;
Catherine, wife of Martin K. Reese, a milk dealer
of Lancaster ; Laura, wife of J. Albert Rockey, a
traveling salesman of Atglen ; and Walter H., a
farmer of East Drumore. Silas Winter died in this
city June 27, 1900, having retired six years before
his death, and his wife entered into rest on March
21, 1895.
770
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Miss Ella M. Winter was born, as stated above,
on the old homestead in Providence township. She
was educated in the schools of that district, and came
to Lancaster in 1875. Here she at once began dress-
making, a pursuit in which she has been more than
ordinarily successful. For six years she conducted
dressmaking parlors over Rogers's confectionery
store. West King street, and then for about four years
was located in the Metzger & Haughman building in
the same block ; in March, 1895, she took possession
of th.e large building at No. 14 South Queen street,
subletting some portions, but retaining enough room
for her business and residence. She has been emi-
nently successful, and in her busy seasons, frequently
employs half a dozen or more expert dressmakers.
Her work is noted for its reliability, and the artistic
creations from her establishment are much prized
by the ladies of Lancaster. Miss Winter is very in-
telligent and well-informed on all general subjects.
She is a member of the First Presbyterian Church,
and popular alike in business, church and social
■circles.
JOFIN C. THOMPSON, an industrious, suc-
cessful and highly esteemed farmer of Bart township,
Lancaster county, was born in the borough of Stras-
burg Feb. 3, 1842, his parents being Jacob B. and
Mary (Clayton) Thompison. The father was born in
Steel ville, Chester county, Dec. 5, 1792, the mother,
in Maryland, July 6, 1818.
Jacob B. Thompson was a son of James and
Lydia ( Bailey) Thompson, both of whom were born
in Sadsbury township, this county, he in 1745, and
his wife in July, 1750. The Thompsons were of
Scotch-Irish extraction ; and the Claytons of English
blood. James Thompson, grandfather of John C,
was a soldier in the Revolution, and the sword he
carried is now in the possession of his grandson, John
C, in a good state of preservation. James Thompson
lived for a time in York county, where he began his
business life as a merchant, but later moved to Steel-
ville, Chester county, where he bought a large body
of land. There he erected a gristmill, cleared up a
farm, and did a general trading business in flour,
feed and such goods as were usually carried in a
country store, his goods being conveyed on wagons
from Philadeljjhia. He died at his home in Steel-
ville in 1807, and his wife passed away in 1806. They
left a large family : Elizabeth, born in York coun-
ty, in 1774, married James Paxton, of Lancaster
county: William died young; Robert was born in
177S; Andrew was born in 1781 ; Francis, born in
May, 1785, died in 1820; James died in childhood;
Tames (2), born in October, 1786, died in March,
1809: William (2), born in March, 1790, died in
1793; Jacob B. is the father of John C.
Jacob B. Thompson was reared at home, and
was" married in March, 1840, to Mary Clayton, a
daughter of John and Harriet Clayton, both of whom
were natives of Maryland, and early settlers of York
county, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson made their
home in. Strasburg borough for several years, and
there he began business as a merchant. After a time
they removed to Nobleville, on the line of Chester
and Lancaster counties, where he conducted a gen-
eral store for many years. It should be noted that
upon his marriage he kept store some ten years at
Buck, in Drumore township. At one time he was a
very prosperous and successful merchant, but his
brother being in difficulties he endorsed for him —
an unfortunate move, as much of his savings were
swept away. He died at his home in March, 1855, .
and his widow came to Bart township, where she
purchased the present home of the family in 1857,
making her home with her son until her death, July
26, 1898. Both she and her husband were members
of the Presbyterian Church for many years. He
was a Whig in political sentiment, and a thoughtful
and public-spirited citizen. They had a family of
seven children, of whom ( i ) John C. was the eldest.
(2) Lydia Thompson, born April 28, 1844, married
Charles H. Tyson, of whom a sketch appears else-
where. (3) James A., born in May, 1845, married
Miss Ella Whiteside, of Colerain, and located on a
farm near Collins, in that township, where he died
April 14, 1899, leaving his wife with four children —
John B. and Charles, of Bartville; William N., at
home; and Violet, who graduated from the high
school, and was just entering upon a bright and
promising young womanhood when she was called
to the Better Land, in September, 1900. (4) Har-
riet, born in May, 1847, married Milton Heidel-
baugh, a member of the Pennsylvania Senate from
Lancaster county, and they have four children —
George Ferree, a train dispatcher in Philadelphia;
Mary Blanche, wife of Rev. William B. Anderson,
now a minister in India (they have had two chil-
dren) ; and Jacob and Willie, at home. (5) Robert,
born in October, 1849, married Miss Martha Gilli-
land, of Lancaster county, and lives in Philadelphia,
where he is engaged in business as a commission
merchant. (6) William D., born in March, 1851,
married Miss Ella Baughman, of Bart township,
and resides in Christiana, where he is a clerk in a
store.. They have four children — Mary L., wife of
Frank Pickle, of Bart township ; Maud, wife of
Amos Fickning. of Bart township ; Clyde, who mar-
ried Miss Lillie Groff, and resides in Bart township ;
and Harry, who married Marian Helm, and has his
home in Georgetown. (7) Jacob G., born in July,
1853. married Miss Clara Miller, a daughter of Will-
iam and Sarah L. (Gilliland) Miller, and lives on
his farm in Bart township. Their six children all
live at home, James, Charles, Marvin, Frank, Anna
G. and Robert M.
John C. Thompson was reared and educated at
home. His father died while he was still a boy, leav-
ing him to care for his mother and manage the fam-
ily estate. He has lived at home, and has remained
unmarried. While the other children married and
established homes of their own, he lived with his
aged mother until her death. Since that time he has
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
771
continued on the home farm, his mother's estate,
and he has taken high standing as an industrious and
upright citizen. He has many warm friends in his
locality, who cherish him for his kind acts and be-
nevolent spirit. In politics he is a Republican, and
he has held the office of township auditor. The
Thompsons have mostly been associated with the
Octoraro Presbyterian Church, and have held a high
place among the families of the section.
HACKMAN. The Hackman family is promin-
ent in Manheim township, Lancaster county, and its
oldest representative in that township is Jacob W.
Hackman, who was born April 29, 1824, son of Ja-
cob and Susan (Wise) Hackman, both natives of
Clay township, where their lives were passed. The
great-grandfather of Jacob Hackman is supposed to
have been Henry Hackman, who came from Ger-
many and settled in Clay township, where some of
his descendants are still residing. The first of the
family to come to this county was a farmer and
probably a clergyman of the Mennonite Church.
Jacob Hackman, the grandfather of Jacob W.,
was one of the extensive farmers of Clay township.
His son, Jacob, the father of Jacob W., was reared
in Clay, but after his marriage removed to Rapho
township, where he spent some twenty years in farm-
ing, then moving to Stark county, Ohio, and from
there to Indiana, where he died at the age of sixty-
five. His wife died when only about thirty years of
age. They were the parents of four children : Pe-
ter, who was a farmer, had his home at Millport,
Warwick township, where he died at the age of sev-
enty-two; Elizabeth died unmarried; Jacob W. is
mentioned below ; Susan married Samuel Ruhde, and
died in Upper Leacock township.
Jacob W. 'Hackman was reared in Rapho town-
ship and educated in the public schools. At the age
of twenty-one years he engaged in farming in East
Donegal township, where he remained two years, and
then rented a farm in Millport, Warwick township,
for twenty years being engaged in cultivating rented
property in that township. In the meantime he had
purchased a farm of 117 acres near the borough of
Akron, which he cultivated for a time in connection
with his rented property, and then sold it to buy a
farm of no acres, lying in both Clay and Warwick
townships, on which he lived for some nine years.
He then bought a farm of 138 acres near Oregon,
Warwick township, which became his home for more
than twenty years. Pie is now retired from active
farming labors, and is making his home with his
daughter, Atrs. A. S. Lutz, of Warwick township.
When Mr. Hackman was a young man of some
thirty-five years he united with the German Baptist
Church, of the West Conestoga district, and in 1862
was ordained to the ministry by Bishop Christian
Bambarger. After his ordination he was assigned to
the West Conestoga district, where he served as a
faithful and God-fearing minister in active labors
until within a very few years. Advancing years and
the infirmities of age had made the duties of the
head eldership burdensome to him, and after a long
and devoted service he resigned its labors to younger
men. Throughout the church he is much beloved
and highly esteemed for his long and faithful minis-
try. He is a venerable gentleman, and bears his
years well.
Mr. Hackman was married, Oct. 9, 1,845, to Miss
Elizabeth Stauffer, daughter of John and Julia Ann
(Kinsey) Stauffer. Mrs. Hackman was born in the
east part of Lancaster county, Feb. 24, 1821, and is
still living. To this union came five children : Julia
Ann, wife of A. S. Lutz, of Warwick township ;
Franklin S., a resident of Manheim township ; Jere-
miah, residing in Mastersonville, Rapho township,
where he is engaged in business as a merchant (he
was a director of the Manheim Bank for about ten
years, when he opened the store, and his directorship
was then transferred to his brother, Jacob S., who
continued to serve for some years) ; Jacob S., a resi-
■ dent of Rapho township ; and Fianna, who died at
the age of nine years.
Franklin ,S. Hackman was born Aug. 24, 1849,
and was reared on the home farm, receiving his ed-
ucation in the public school and in the State Normal
at that point. About 1872 he began operations as
a business man on his own account, being engaged
in various enterprises until his marriage. After that
event he followed farming. For four years, however,
his farming operations- were interrupted by his con-
nection with the Rossville mill. His home was in
Warwick township until 1889, when he removed to
his present beautiful home, three miles north of Lan-
caster city, where he has a fine farm of 152 acres.
He had previously lived on rented property. On this
farm he has made extensive improvements, and the
place bespeaks the ownership of a thrifty and suc-
cessful farmer. The house has been thoroughly re-
modeled, and Mr. Hackman has built a fine barn.
He is a pulalic-spirited man, ready to co-operate in
movements for the general good. While in Warwick
township he was a member of the board of education
for six years.
Mr, Hackman was married, Nov. 20, 1874, to
Miss Mary G., daughter of Joseph and Martha
(Graybill) Pfautz, of Warwick township. She was
born near Lititz, and is the youngest of the family,
her birth occurring Jan. 16, 1855. Mr. and Mrs.
Hackman have five children, Clayton P., Gertrude,
Ada B., Franklin P. and Mabel. Gertrude is teach-
ing in the county schools. The family have musical
tendencies, and the home gives evidence of taste and
refinement. The family belong to the German Bap-
tist Church, and stand high in the community.
AMOS SPIAUBACH. Since about 1844 the
name of Shaubach has been known in various parts
of Lancaster county, and has always represented re-
spectability, honesty and industry.
The family originated in Germany, Andrew
Shaubach, the father of Amos, having been born
772
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
about 1826, at Hessen-Darmstadt, near the beautiful
Rhine, the river of song and story, where he was
reared, and learned the trade of turner. When eight-
een years old Andrew Shaubach came to America,
and found his way to Lancaster county, where he
knew he would find countrymen. His first employer
was Henry Mussleman, of Strasburg, with whom
he remained several years, learning all of the details
of farming. His means were limited, but he applied
himself so industriously that when he wished to set
up a home for himself he had the money and the
knowledge to enable him to start farming on shares,
and the succeeding two or three years were spent in
that way. In the meantime Andrew Shaubach had
purchased a small property in the vicinity of Herr-
ville, comprising thirty-seven acres and for five years
he worked this place, later disposing of it, as it was
too small for his energies. Until 1871 he rented a
large farm, at which time he was able to purchase
one of his own, consisting of 152 acres, located in
Strasburg, along the Beaver Valley pike road, near
Refton, upon which place he made his home until
his death. An accident terminated the life of this
excellent and worthy man, on Dec. 19, 1889. As an
example of the success which attends' earnest effort
the life of Andrew Shaubach deserves wide consid-
eration, and the universal opinion of the cornmunity
was that the township had, in his death, lost a good
citizen and a kind neighbor. In politics' he was a
member of the Reptiblican .party ; he never held
ofHce.
Andrew Shaubach married Christianna Wirth,
who was also born in Hessen-Darmstadt, in 1829,
daughter of Paul Wirth, coming to the United States
when ten years of age; she passed away Feb. 26,
1898. To this union came a family of six children:
Amos, the subject of this article; Reuben, of Stras-
burg township ; Annie, wife of Jacob S. Harnish,
of .Strasburg township ; Andrew, a stockman of Lan-
caster city; Maggie, wife of Adam Hornig, of East
Lampeter township ; and Martin, a farmer of Prov-
idence township. The parents of this family be-
longed to the religious body called Dunkards.
Amos Shaubach was born Oct. 16, 1850, and was
reared a farmer boy, attending, in season, the dis-
trict schools of his neighborhood. When he decided
to marry, at about the age of twenty-six, he rented
an excellent farm in Strasburg township, and con-
tinued at general farming for six years, at the end
of that period finding a property for sale which he
desired. This land is situated two and one-half miles
southeast of Strasburg, and contains eighty-eight
acres, which under his excellent management com-
pare favorably with any other tract in the county. A
part of the success which has attended his efforts is
no doubt due to the fact that Mr. Shaubach is a pro-
gressive man, and believes thoroughly in the use of
improved machinery and modern methods of tillage.
His buildings testify to his taste and good manage-
ment, while his cattle and stock speak well for the
manner in which he cares for them. No new im-
provement is introduced in the locality that does not
find him an investigator of its merits, and if he finds
it sensible and desirable he is often one of the first
to put it into operation.
Amos Shaubach was married, Dec. 7, 1876, to
Elizabeth Lutz, daughter of George and Sarah ( Na-
gle) Lutz, who- was born in New Danville, Pequea
township, Dec. 24, 1853. To this union have been
born seven children : George, who died in infancy ;
Enos, born May 16, 1879 ; Jennie May, Aug. 5, 1881 ;
Sarah Ella, January, 1884; Park, July, 1887; Amos,
January, 1890; and Elizabeth, September, 1896.
EDWIN H. BROWN. Few residents of Lan-
caster have left a more enviable reputation in the
wake of their tireless activity than did Edwin H.
Brown, for thirty-two years connected with the
Farmers' National Bank of Lancaster, of which in-
stitution he was cashier for twenty-eight years. An
innate public-spiritedness dominated the career of
Mr. Brown, an earnest endeavor to advance the best
interests of his native town, along lines approved
by latter day thought and achievement. He was born
in Sterling, Oct. 28, 1830, and died among the scenes
which had profited by his business sagacity and un-
questioned integrity, Oct. 17, 1889.
John Brown, the father of Edwin H., was a
watchmaker by trade, and through his union with
Deborah Herman, reared to years of usefulness four
children. Of these, Mary was the deceased wife
of Jacob Rath f on, of Lancaster; Gilbert, also de-
ceased, was at one time editor of a magazine, and
was also coroner of Philadelphia ; Edwin H. ; and
William, deceased, lived in Baltimore, Md. The
children of John Brown received as good an educa-
tion as the circumstances of their father permitted,
and in his youth, Edwin H., especially,* improved the
chances that came his way. After quitting the pub-
lic schools he gained his first business experience in
the dry goods establishment of David Bair, with
whom he remained for five years, and then resigned
to accept a similar position for one year in Shamokin,
Pa. He then returned to Lancaster and was em-
ployed in the postoffice, in charge of Mrs. Mary
Dixon, and continued his position under the admin-
istrations of G. W. Flammersley and Henry M.
Reigart. He resigned from the postoffice to enter the
employ of Reigel Brothers, dry goods merchants, of
Philadelphia, in . which capacity he continued to
serve until his return to Lancaster, Jan. 12, 1854.
As bookkeeper of the Farmers' National Bank he
worked his way into the good graces of the bank
authorities, and proved himself so thoroughly in
touch with advanced business methods that his pro-
motion was from the first an assured thing. He
soon became general bookkeeper, was after that re-
ceivmg teller, and was elected cashier Oct i 1858
succeeding Henry R. Reed. At that time he was the
youngest man ever assigned to so important a re-
sponsibility. Upon his resignation and retirement
Nov. 22, 1886, he was succeeded by C. A. Fon Der
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
773
Smith, the present cashier. Mr. Brown was noted
for his faithfulness to every trust that came his way,
for his devotion to his friends, and for his conserva-
tive and wise characteristics. He was a member of
St. John's Lutheran church, in which he was an ac-
tive worker, and he was for many years Hbrarian of
the Sunday school. He was "a Republican in poli-
tics, but as became so broad-minded a citizen, be-
lieved rather in personal fitness than in political
creeds. He was very prominent in the general af-
fairs of the town, was highly esteemed by his busi-
ness and social associates, and exerted a progressive
influence in the various avenues of activity to which
nature and inclination called him.
In his home relations Mr. Brown was p'articu-
larly happy. His first marriage, which occurred in
1857, was with Susan Widmyer, born in Lancaster,
Pa., a daughter of Christian and Harriet M. (Brown)
Widmyer, natives, respectively, of Germany and Co-
lumbia, I-ancaster Co., Pa. Mr. Widmyer came
to America when eighteen years of age, and settled
in' Philadelphia for a few years, later removing to
Lancaster, where he was the pioneer cabinet maker
and undertaker of the town. He died in 1892, at
the age of eighty-six,, his wife have pre-deceased him
in 1886, aged seventy-eight years. He is buried in
W'oodward Hill cemetery. He was a member of St.
John's Lutheran church, and filled many positions
•of trust in the community, including that of direc-
tor in the Farmers' National Bank. He built the
first four-story building in Lancaster, his old home
being on the present site of the court house. To him-
self and wife were born the following children : Su-
san A., deceased wife of Mr. Brown ; Clara H. ;
Mary E., the wife of Daniel S. Bursk, a prominent
■grocer of Lancaster ; Emily F., living with Mrs.
Brown ; J. Harry, a deceased undertaker of Lancas-
ter ; and Christian H., a real estate dealer of Phila-
delphia, Pa. To Edwin H: Brown and his first wife
were born two children, of whom Christian H. is a
physician of Philadelphia ; and Clara is the wife of
Harry Williamson, a dry goods merchant of Lancas-
ter. In 1884, two years after the death of his wife,
Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Mrs. Clara
H. CWidmyer) Kauflfman, widow of Daniel M.
Kautfman (and sister of the first Mrs. Brown), by
whom she had one son, Harry S., deceased when
•eighteen years of age. Mr. Kauffman was a jeweler
of I,ancaster, and died in 1861, at the age of twenty-
five. He is buried in Woodward Hill cemetery.
JOHN C. BROOME, contractor and proprietor
•of plaster and cement works, and a specialist in lay-
ing granolithic pavements, with his works and resi-
dence in Columbia, Lancaster county, was born in
Windsor township, York county. Pa., Jan. 17, 1847,
son of Isaac and Mary (Frey) Broome, natives of
Chester and York counties, respectively.
Isaac Broome was a brickmaker at Black Horse,
Chester county, but after settling in York county be-
came a charcoal burner. He died in the latter county
in 1879, at the age of eighty years, and his wife died
in Columbia, in 1892, aged seventy-two, both in the
faith of the United Brethren church. To their mar-
riage were born the following children : George D.,
deceased ; Esther, wife of Isaac B. Uhl, of York coun-
ty ; Maria, deceased wife of David Tarbert ; Cather-
ine, deceased wife of George W. Johnson ; Elizabeth,
who was married to John C. Kingbell, but is now de-
ceased; Harriet, also deceased, who was the wife
of Orril Ketters ; John C, whose name heads this ar-
ticle ; Isaac, a contracting plasterer in Columbia ;
Stephen, deceased ; and Mary, who became the wife
of Dr. Wilmont Ayres, of Harrisburg, and died Nov.
7, T902. The paternal grandfather of John C.
Broome was named Isaac, and was a native of Ches-
ter county, and the maternal grandparents, Frey,
were natives of Bavaria, Germany.
John C. Broome remained with his parents until
he was twelve years old, and then worked on an out-
side farm until fourteen ; for two summers he worked
on the canal. On Aug. 27, t86i, he enlisted for three
years in Co. C, 87th P. V. I., and was first under
Capt. Andrew J. Fulton, and later under Capt. Find-
ley Thomas, and was assigned to the Army of the
Potomac, taking part in all its marches and engage-
ments as a brave and gallant soldier until April 4,
1864, when he veteranized in the same company.
A synopsis of his service, though necessarily
brief, is here given: His company joined its regi-
ment at York, Pa., Sept. 11, 1S61, and Sept. 28th
was stationed at Cockneyville, Md., on the Northern
Central Railroad, where it remained until May 19,
1862, when it was transferred to Baltimore; June
22nd it was sent forward to New Creek, Va., and
Aug. 22nd was started out in the real activities of
war. Its line of march was for Elkwater, Va., via
Rowlesburg, St. George and Beverley, in quest of
the notorious Imboden; Sept. 12th it marched for
Clarksburg and other points, and arrived in Win-
chester Dec. 24th, after having had a skirmish with
the enemy at Strasburg. On June 23, 1864, in a
charge on the Weldon Railroad, he was wounded in
the right thigh and was confined to the hospital from
that date till January, 1865, but still suffers from the
injury, as it was a suppurative wound. On Feb. i,
1864, he took part in battle, and May ist was pro-
moted to be corporal ; June 23d, he was wounded at
Petersburg; later he fought at Winchester, Front
Royal, Wapping Heights, Kelley's Ford, Locust
Grove, Mine Run, Spottsylvania, North. Anna,
Gaines' A'lill, Cold Harbor, Bermuda and Petersburg
(both battle and siege). Mr. Broome received an
honorable discharge, and was mustered out of the
service at Danville, Va., June 12, 1865. He returned
to his home in York county, but in September,
1865, came to Columbia, and began the plaster busi-
ness, and in 1872 began his present extensive con-
tracting operations.
On Feb. 22, 1865, John C. Broome was married
at York, Pa., to Miss Mary J. Laucks, and to this
union have been born thirteen children, viz. : Charles
774
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
F., at home ; Maggie A., wife of Samuel Arms, mer-
chant in Columbia ; Belle, at home ; Samuel L., mar-
ried to Maggie Fisher, and still living in Columbia ;
Essie, Helen, Nelson and Esther, all four deceased ;
J. Garfield ; Edward S. ; Lulu ; Melvin and Lillian,
all still under the parental roof.
Mrs. Mary J. (Laucks) Broome was born in
Windsor township, York county, Pa., June lo, 1846,
daughter of Samuel and Margaret (McGuigan)
Laucks, of Chester county, but for more than fifty
years residents of the county of York, where the fa-
ther was engaged in agricultural pursuits until his
death, which took place in 1887, at the age of sev-
enty-two years; his M^dow lived to be eighty-three
years old and passed away in 1896. Their children
were born in the following order : John, a plasterer ;
Elizabeth, wife of John Schenberger ; Samuel, a car-
penter ; Philip, a farmer ; Margaret, married to Hen-
ry Gilbert, a farmer : Mary J., now Mrs. Broome ;
George, a merchant ; and Mattie and Hettie, both of
whom died young. With the exception of Mrs.
Broome and the deceased children, the others reside
in York county, and all were reared in the faith of
thfe Lutheran church.
Mr. Broome is a contributor to the support of the
L^nited Brethren church, although not a member.
He belongs to the K. O. T. M., and G. A. R., and is a
Mason of high degree. In politics he is a Republican,
and as a citizen is honored and respected wherever
known.
SIMEON W. SWISHER, Esq., a much re-
spected and retired farmer of Colefain township,
was born in the home where he still lives. Sept 11,
1835, son of Uriah and Eliza (Coulter) Swisher,
born in Colerain and Bart townships, the father in
1802, and the mother in i8or.
John Swisher, grandfather of Simeon W., was
born in Colerain township in 1762, and his wife,
Rachel Woodrow, in 1769. They were married
in 1789, and settled on the farm which is now
owned by our subject, and there Mr. Swisher
died in 1840, and his wife passed away in 1851,
aged eighty-two years. They had a family of
eight children, of whom all the sons except John
settled hi Colerain township: (i) John married
Rebecca McConnell, and settled in Cecil county,
Md., where he lived and died; his family are
also all deceased. (2) Simeon Swisher, born in
1792, married Elizabeth Pennington, and lived on
a farm in Colerain township, until his death in 1859.
(3) Henry. (4) Jeremiah Swisher, born in 1796,
married Mary Pennington, and located on the farm
now owned by his son, Samuel, and later in his life
he bought property in Kirkwood, where he lived
until his death, leaving a family, three of whom are
living: Samuel, a farmer in Colerain township;
Eliza, who married Hiram McClelland, and has her
home in Ohio; and Hannah, the wife of Hiram
Pierce, of Kansas. (5) Martha Swisher, who was
born in 1799, died unmarried in i8r8. (6) Uriah
was the father of Simeon W. Swisher. (7) Ellen
Swisher, born in 1807, married John Coulter, and
settled in Bart township, where they both died, leav-
ing two children : John, who lives on the old home-
stead; and Rachel, who married John Homsher, a
merchant in Bartville. (8) Eliza Swisher, born in
T809, married Henry Key lor, and both are deceased;
they left a family as follows: Rachel, who mar-
ried Charles Rynear, of Bart township ; Martha,
who married Joseph Clark, of Chester county; Bet-
sy, who married Robert A. Ferguson; John J., a
resident of Mechanicsburg ; and Jacob, a farmer in
Bart township.
Uriah Swisher was reared at the old home
where he received a good education in the subscrip-
tion schools, there being no free school system at
that time. Remaining on his father's farm all his
life, he took care of his parents in their old age, and
displayed qualities of a high order. The farm was
deeded to him. He was married in September, 1824,
lo Eliza Coulter, the daughter of John and Eliza-
beth (Caughey) Coulter. The other children of Mr.
and Mrs. Coulter were as follows : John, Jr., mar-
ried Ellen Swisher, and died in Bart township;
Mariah became the wife of Matthew Scott, removed
to Iowa many years ago, and is deceased; Martha
died unmarried ; Hugh married Anna Ross, of Ches-
ter county, who moved to Iowa, where he died ; and
Samuel married a Miss Caughey, and moved to Ohio,
where he died. Uriah Swisher died in February,
1871, and his widow, Jan. 4, 1893. They were worthy
and consistent members of the Presbyterian church,
which they supported many years. In politics he
was a Democrat, and was one of the first members
of the school board after the establishment of the
free school system in Pennsylvania. In the county
conventions of his party his face was familiar, and
he was a leading politician of his day. Several local
positions were filled by him, including that of town-
ship treasurer, and he was much respected in the
community in which he lived. To Uriah Swisher
and his good wife were born the following: John
H., born in 1825, died in 1844; Marshall E., bom
in 1827, died the following year ; Jeremiah F., born
in 1829, died in 1844; William M., born in 1832,
died in 1843 : Martha A., born in 1839, died in 1844;
and Simeon W.
Simeon W. Swisher was reared on the farm and
was given such educational advantages as the times-
afforded. In 1850 he entered the store of Thomas-
Ferguson, at Bartville, where he proved himself a
capable and reliable clerk. Four years later he en-
tered the employ of Graham & Wilkinson, at George-
town, but did not long remain there, going back tO'
the old homestead where he took charge of the farm
in his father's declining years. In 1857 he was mar-
ried to Anna L. Pennington, of Chester county,
daughter of Samuel and Mary A. (Starr) Penning-
ton. Mrs. Swisher was born at Coatesville, Chester
county, Aug. 12, 1836, and was reared to young-
womanhood in a Quaker family. Her people had
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
775
always been prominent in the Friends' Association.
Mr. and Mrs. Swisher settled on the old homestead,
where have been born six generations. The modern
improvements on this farm are the result of the
labors of both the present and late owners of the
place, and it is regarded as one of the most desir-
able pieces of property in Colerain township.
Mrs. Anna L. (Pennington) Swisher died Aug.
i8, 1900. She was a faithful and consistent mem-
ber of the Presbyterian Church. Her husband and
a family of six children survive: (i) Mary E.,
born in 1858, received her education in the county
union high school,, and is at home with her father.
(2) Leonora, born in September, 1859, received a
classical education, and married Lewis Ferguson, of
Colerain township, where they reside on his farm,
with their two children, Thomas W., and Charles
L. (3) R. Luella, born in September, 1861, was
educated in the Millersville Normal School, and for
ten years was a successful teacher in the schools of
Lancaster and Chester counties ; she is now the wife
of Dr. E. Hogg, of Wilkesbarre, Pa., and has three
children, Marian R., Edwin, and Orion. (4) Clem-
ent P., born in July, 1863, died in childhood. (5)
Charles P., born in October, 1864, was given
an education in the home school and in the high
school at Union and at Pennington (N. J.) Semin-
ary. In young manhood, he engaged in farming
the home place with his father, and for the last
twelve 3'ears has taken its management in his own
hands. He was married in March, 1890, to Maud
L. Patterson, the daughter of T. L. and Elizabeth
Patterson, representatives of old and prominent fam-
ilies in Little Britain township. For three years they
lived on a part of his father's home, and later moved
into the present home of the family, where his wife
died Nov. 27, 1895, leaving two children, Harold P.,
born in 1891 ; and Mary A., born in 1894. Mr.
Swisher has remained at the home of his father, and
is now engaged as manager and treasurer of the
Southern Telephone and Telegraph Co., of which
he is a stockholder and a leading spirit in its con-
struction. He is a young man of fine business ability,
and is a devoted church man, being an elder in the
Union Presbyterian Church, and superintendent of
the Sunday school. (6) Anna A., born in January,
1867, was educated in the Westchester Normal, and
the Fernwood Ladies Seminary, and was a success-
ful teacher for some seven years; she is now the
widow of Howard P. Harvey, of Pomeroy, Chester
county, who on the night of Nov. 22, 1901, was
shot by an unknown hand, his body being found
the following morning. (7) Minnie B., born March,
1873, was educated at the high school, and at the
Drexel Institute, Philadelphia, and is at home, un-
married.
Simeon W. Swisher is a Democrat, and has long
taken an active part in politics. For over twenty
years he has held the office of justice of the peace,
as well as other positions, such as school director
and treasurer of the township. He has often been
a delegate to county conventions. Mr. Swisher and
his family are connected with the Presbyterian
Church. He is a charter member of Lodge No. 417,
F. & A. M., at Christiana (with which his son also
affiliates), and was also a charter member of Lodge
No. 544 I. O. O. F. He is the second oldest past
master of the Christiana Masons now living. For
twenty-seven years Mr. Swisher has been president
of the Southern Mutual Insurance Fire Co., and for
forty-seven years has been an auctioneer in Lan-
caster county, where he is one of the leading and
popular citizens, much esteemed for his solid and
substantial character.
FREDERICK HOEFEL (deceased) was for
many years a prominent business man of Lancaster
county, where he left many evidences of his ability
in the shape of buildings of his construction.
Mr. Hoefel was born July 22, 1847, in Wurtem-
berg, Germany, son of Christian and Magdalena
(Wagner) Hoefel, who passed all their lives in the
Fatherland. The father was a cooper by occupation.
Frederick was one of a family of five children, name-
ly: George, who is in the coopering business in
Wurtemberg, Germany ; Michael, who died in Wur-
temberg; Frederick; Magdalena, whose husband is
engineer on a railroad in Germany; and Christian,
a carpenter of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Frederick Hoefel was reared and educated in his
native land, and there learned the trade of cabinet-
maker. At the age of nineteen years he came to the
New World, locating at once in Lancaster, Pa., where
he entered the employ of Philip Dinkleberg, con-
tractor and builder. After four years' work with
that gentleman, he in 1873 commenced business on
his own account, and was actively engaged thus until
his death. In all he erected some five hundred houses
in Lancaster City, among which we may mention
the Maennerchor Hall, a square of buildings on Lime
street, another on Frederick street, and a full square
on New street from Duke to North Queen, besides
many others. All testify to his skill and thorough-
ness, which brought him so large a patronage. Hon-
esty and integrity were his marked characteristics,
and when Mr. Hoefel undertook a piece of work
it was a guarantee that it would be well done. He
gave his entire attention to his business, and though
often solicited to accept office by his fellow citizens
invariably refused. He acquired a well-deserved
competence, and though a comparatively young man
at the time of his demise, which occurred April 16,
1890, at the home in Lancaster now occupied by his
widow, had gained a substantial position in his adopt-
ed home. He is buried in Lancaster cemetery. So-
cially Mr. Hoefel was a member of the Maenner-
chor and the Schiller Verein, and in religious con-
nection he united with Zion Lutheran Church, in
which he was an active worker. His political sup-
port was given to the Democratic party.
On May 4, 1871, Mr. Hoefel was married, in Lan-
caster, Pa., to Elizabeth Hoffman, a native of Hes-
776
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
sen-Darmstadt, German}', and children as follows
blessed this union : Elizabeth is the wife of W. T.
Killinger, who is in the stone business in Lancaster.
Frederick is a tinsmith in Pottsville, Pa. George
is a carpenter in Lancaster. Lena is the wife of
Clifford Funk, a grocer in Lancaster. Harry is
deceased. Christian, who was a telegraph operator,
died May 30, 1902, at the age of twenty-one years ;
he was accidentally killed while on an outing with
his club. William, Mary and Philip are at home with
their mother.
George and Catherine (Hoerr) Hofifman, par-
ents of Mrs. Hoefel, were natives of Germany, and
passed all their lives in that country. The father
was a coach builder by occupation. They had chil-
dren as follows : William, deceased, who was a
coachmaker in Germany; George, who is a school
teacher in German)- ; Philip, deceased, who was a
resident of Lancaster; and Elizabeth, widow of
Frederick Hoefel.
JOSIAH BEYER, a retired farmer of Bart
township, Lancaster county, was born in Colerain
township, April 15, 1830, son of David and Mary
(McElwain) Beyer.
The Beyer family came originally from Germany.
Daniel Beyer, the grandfather of Josiah, was born in
Montgomery county. Pa. He was a millwright by
trade, and pursued that work in a number of mills
in Lancaster county, and was the owner of a farm in
Colerain township (which is still in the family),
where he died. He married Rebecca Woodward,
also a native of Montgomery county. The Wood-
wards were of Welsh origin. To Daniel and Re-
becca Be3'er were born : One child that died in
infancy, before tlieir removal from Montgomery
county ; Henry, who lived and died in Colerain town-
ship; Andrew, a resident of Colerain township,
where he lived and died ; Daniel, born in Colerain
township, where he married, lived and died ; Rebecca,
who married John McElwain, a farmer of Colerain
township, where one of their children yet lives ; Rob-
ert, of Colerain, who married a Miss Johnston, and
had a family, two of whom are still living' — Mrs.
WilHam Jacks, of Colerain, and Mrs. Joseph Car-
heart, of New Jersey : David, father of Josiah ; and
Thomas, born in Colerain, who spent his life in his
native town, and died leaving a widow and five chil-
dren, of whom one son, W. F., is a noted lawyer of
Lancaster.
David Beyer, father of Josiah, was born in
Colerain township Dec. 26, 1803, and engaged in
farming there. For some years he was also engaged
in cutting wood for the iron company, to be used for
charcoal. In 1832 he purchased the farm now owned
by his son, and two years later moved upon it, erect-
ing a house and barn, as well as making other sub-
stantial improvements : he devoted the rest of his
Hfe to its tillage, and died there in July, 1865. He
married Mary McElwain, who was born in 1797,
daughter of Patrick and Mary McElwain, who were
born in Ireland and London, England, respectively,
and who located in Colerain township soon after the
close of the Revolution. Mr. McElwain crossed in
the ship "Faithful Steward." He came to this coun-
try to escape military service in the British army,
and with others had been obliged to remain in hiding
in his native country in order to escape fighting
against the American Colonies in the Revolution.
Mrs. Beyer died in 1874. Both she and Mr. Beyer
were members of the Middle Octoraro Presbyterian
Church. In politics he was a Democrat. To David
Beyer and his wife were born the following named
children : Rebecca, born in Colerain township, mar-
ried Milton Keyler, a highly respected citizen of this
county, whose sketch appears elsewhere ; Mary, mar-
ried William McElwain, and both are now deceased ;
David, born in " ^38, lived to be eighteen years of
age, when he was called to the Promised Land ; and
Josiah is mentioned presently.
Josiah Beyer was reared to manhood at the pres-
ent home of himself and family, and secured his edu-
cation very largely by attendance at the winter
schools while he was growing to manhood. He con-
tinued to remain at home throughout the lifetime of
his parents. In December, i860, he was married to
Miss Hannah, daughter of Henry and Julia (Baugh-
man) Heidelbaugh, prominent and respected farm-
ing people of Bart township, the former born there
Dec. 6, 1802, and the latter in 1804. Of the eight
children' of Henry and Julia Heidelbaugh, two are
living, George, Peter, Elizabeth, Mary A., John and
Margaret being depeased ; Susan is the wife of Sam-
uel Keen, of Bart township; and Hannah is Mrs.
Beyer.
Mr. and Mrs. Beyer went to live on the old Beyer
homestead after their marriage, and there they have
remained to the present time. He has made his in-
fluence felt in the community, as a good citizen, a
successful business man, and a thoroughly competent
farmer. In the past forty years he has greatly im-
proved the old place, and converted what was always
a good farm into one of the best in the county. Four
children have come to brighten the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Beyer: (i) Laura, born in June, 1862, was
reared and educated at home, receiving her instruc-
tion at the local schools, and proving one of the bright
and capable young women of the day. She married
Edward H. Johnston, of Chester county, and they
live on her father's farm in Sadsbury township ; they
have one daughter, Lillian May. (2) David H.,
born in November, 1863, married Anna E. Shimp,
and they, have their home on one of his father's
farms in Bart township ; they have two sons, David
S. and Ralph S. (3) John D., born in 1866, lives at
home. He belongs to the Middle Octoraro Presby-
terian Church, of which he is one of the elders. (4)
Anna M.,_born in 1872, was given a collegiate educa-
tion, and is a fine musician and instructor in the art
of music. She is now the wife of Amos Pickle, and
they have their home near Cochranville, Chester
county. Josiah Beyer and his family are' all mem-
WOdJOyh
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
777
bers of the Middle Octoraro Presbyterian Church,
of which he has been a trustee for more than thirty
years. In poHtics he has been a Democrat. He is
a kind and pleasant Christian gentleman, and a thor-
oughly competent and reliable agriculturist.
JOHN N. LEHMAN. The family of Lehman
is one of the oldest and most deservedly esteemed
in Lancaster county.
Joseph Lehman, the great-grandfather of John
N. Lehman, was a farmer of West Lampeter town-
ship. He was a Mennonite in faith, and a man held
in reverence for his many virtues, dying at an ad-
vanced age. He was the father of five sons and two
daughters: John, Joseph, George, Samuel, Abra-
ham, Elizabeth and Charlotte. All the sons were
farmers, and Charlotte married a Mr. Bruneman,
who was also a farmer.
John Lehman, the grandfather of John N., was
born in East Lampeter, Nov. 2, 1782, and died Dec.
2, 1870, having reached the advanced age of eighty-
eight years. His wife, Elizabeth Kreider, was born
July 7, 1780, and entered into rest April 21, 1857.
Their three sons were named Joseph, John and Ben-
jamin K., of whom Joseph was born Aug. 22, (812,
and died in 1899, aged eighty-seven years ; and John,
was bom June 15, 1814, and died in 1897.
B'enjamin K. Lehman, the father of the gentle-
man whose life forms the subject of this biography,
was born Nov. 8j 18 17, in West Lampeter town-
ship. He was an infant of some eighteen months
when the family removed to Manor, where his father
was for some j^ears a farmer in a small way. He
lived at home until he had passed his twenty-fifth
birthday, when he secured a farm for himself, and
made a home for his parents until their death. His
filial devotion was in consonance with his character,
which was at once gentle and robust, tender yet
firm. He continued to cultivate the farm until 1874,
when he gave up active physical labor, and removed
to his present home, two miles south of Mountville.
At the age of forty-five he entered the Mennonite
ministry, and in this field of Christian effort he has
ever since been an earnest, zealous, self denying
laborer. The Habacker and Masonville churches
have been the chief objects of his pastoral care, he
conducting services in these places on alternate Sun-
days. His influence in the communit)^ has been potent
for good, and it is not surprising that men admire
his devotion and seek to follow in his footsteps.
In 1840 he pledged his marital troth to. Elizabeth
Newcomer. She was born April 25, 1818, daugh-
ter of John Newcomer and his wife, Elizabeth Eshle-
man. She entered into rest eternal in her seventy-
fifth year.
To the Rev. Benjamin K. Lehman and his wife
were born ten children : Elizabeth, John N., Anna,
Amos, Benjamin, Leah, Daniel, Catherine, Sarah
and Emma. Elizabeth, born Dec. 3, 1841, married
Jacob C. Seitz, of Manor township. John N., the
subject of the present sketch, was born Oct. 9, 1843,
and a somewhat extended account of his life and
work may be found in the succeeding paragraphs.
Anna, born in 1845, is the widow of Abraham Shel-
lenberger, of West Hempfield. Amos, born April
14, 1847, is a Manor township farmer. Benjamin,
born May 4, 1849, is a resident of Philadelphia.
Leah died in infancy. Daniel, born Oct. 12, 1852,
is a Mennonite minister and stationed at Millers-
ville. Catherine, born Nov. 24, 1855, is the widow
of Cyrus Neff. Sarah, born Sept. 18, 1857, is now
Mrs. Peter Kreybill, of West Donegal. Emma
(Mrs. Henry Haverstick), was born July 11, i860,
and died in July, 1887.
John N. Lehman, as has been said, was born
Oct. 9, 1843. The first thirty years of his life were
spent upon the homestead farm, and it was while
living there that on Oct. 15, 1868, he was married
to Emily ,S. Mann, whose parents were Bernard and
Mary Ann (Staner) Man^, of Manor township,
where she herself was born Aug. i, 1845. Six years
after his marriage Mr. Lehman purchased the prop-
erty known as the Berger farm, comprising seventy-
five acres, and there he and his wife took up their
home. There, too, they remained for twenty years,,
the energy, sound sense and probity of our subject
rendering his success a certainty in both general
farming and market gardening. In 1894 he sur-
rendered the management of this property to his
son, and retired to his present home, which is sit-
uated two miles south of Mountville. There he owns
a plot of five acres, in the cultivation, improvement
and beautifying of which he takes great pleasure.
He has enlarged, renovated and practically remodeled
the house standing on the land when he purchased
it, and has erected barns and outbuildings of a sub-
stantial character and -ornate appearance, rendering
his place one of the most attractive in that section
of Lancaster county. He has been an investor in
various enterprises. Among them are the Mount-
ville National Bank, the Columbia Stove Works,
and the Mountville Manufacturing Co. He is thor-
oughly well informed on public affairs, and takes
a deep interest in everything pertaining to pubHc
interests, and calculated to promote the general wel-
fare. In religious matters, also he feels a vital con-
cern, both he and Mrs. Lehman being active, devout
and consistent members of the United Brethren
Church. Their marriage has been blessed with two
sons — Harvey M. and Cyrus. The younger died
while a youth of seventeen years. Harvey M. Leh-
man manages his father's farm ; he married Miss
Florence Sherrick, and has had three children, of
whom two, Carrie S. and John S. are living. Mr. and
Mrs. John N. Lehman have also taken to their home
and hearts a little one named Amanda C. Schultz,
to whom they have given parental love and care
since her babyhood.
HENRY WOLF. For the past thirty-six years
Henry Wolf. has been identified with the business
interests of Lancaster, winning the esteem and con-
778
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
fldence of his fellow-citizens. He is one of the most
highly respected German-American residents of this
city, and was born in Baden, Germany, June 3, 1845,
son of Henry and Philipena (Gaberdiel) Wolf.
Henry Wolf, the father, came from Germany to
America in 1851, settling with his family in Lan-
caster, Ea., where he engaged in the manufacture
of rope, but his career was stopped by his death
about six months later, in April, 1852, at the age
of forty years. His wife was born in 1810, and died
in 1893. Both parents of our subject were most
worthy members of the Lutheran Church, and their
remains lie in the Old German Lutheran and Lan-
caster cemeteries. The mother's second marriage
was to Christian Hug, but no children were born
to that union.
Henry Wolf, subject of this sketch, was one of
three children born to his parents, and the only one
who survived infancy. He accompanied his father
and mother to Lancaster' in 185 1, and was educated
in the German schools. He began to learn the cab-
inetmaking trade with Anthony Iski, of this city,
remaining with him two and one-half years. In
January, 1863, he entered the army and worked as
a wheelwright for the Government, at Falmouth,
Va., for four months. On his return he was again
employed by Mr. Iski for a few months, prior to
going to Philadelphia, where he followed his trade
a short time, later doing carpenter work in Wash-
ington City, in this way seeing considerable of the
country, and at the same time gaining valuable ex-
perience in his trade. Upon his return to Lancaster,
Mr. Wolf worked at his trade for a short time, but
then accepted a Government offer and returned for
ten months to Washington. When he again took
up work in Lancaster, it was for himself, opening
up a business in cabinetmaking and furniture deal-
ing, also undertaking, continuing until June, 1899,
when he retired from the last named line, and in No-
vember, 1901, gave up business activity, deem-
ing it time to take the rest his long years of industrj'
had so well earned.
Although deeply engrossed in his business, Mr.
Wolf has always found time to perform the duties
of a good citizen. Politically he is a Democrat.
For one year he was a very efficient member of the
common council, and for two years belonged to the
select council. His interest in educational matters
has been shown by a membership of ten years on the
school board. He has been liberal minded and pub-
lic-spirited and possesses in a high degree the re-
spect of the community. Mr. Wolf has been prom-
inent in fraternal circles, being a Commandery and
Chapter Mason, while in the order of Odd Fellows
he was a representative of the order to the Grand
Lodge for twenty years, and was trustee also for
many years. In the order of Knights of Pythias
he has also been very active, and has passed all the
chairs with the exception of the Seven Wise Men.
He belongs to Zion Church.
On Oct. 16, 1866, Mr. Wolf married Anna Hoff-
man, born in Hessen, Germany, in December, 1845,
daughter of Christian and Mary (Kreigbaum) Hoff-
man, who came from Germany to America in 1847,
and carried on a tailoring business in Lancaster.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wolf were:
Anna M., who married J. Henry Gerhart; Mary,
who died at the age of four years ; Wilhelmina, who
married William L. Marshall, a clerk in the Farmer's
Bank, in Lancaster; Henrietta, who died young;
Louisa, who died young; and Ella and Elizabeth, at
home.
EI.J L. KREIDER, a successful farmer of East
Lampeter township, comes of a family which has
been long established in Lancaster county.
Jacob Kreider, his grandfather, was bom and
reared in West Lampeter township. When a young
man he purchased a farm near where our subject
now lives, in East Lampeter township, and contin-
ued to follow agricultural pursuits during his entire
life. He married Miss Lizzie Denlinger, of Lan-
caster county, and they were the. parents of the fol-
lowing children: Polly, the wife of John Buck-
holder ; Barbara, the wife of Joseph Frantz ; Tobias,
a farmer of West Lampeter; Jacob, a farmer of
Leacock township ; Lizzie, wife of Benjamin Landis ;
Hettie, wife of Isaac Stoner ; Annie, wife of John
Landis, a preacher in the Old Mennonite Church;
Abraham, the father of our subject; Catherine, wife
of Benjamin Landis; and Isaac, a farmer of East
Lampeter township.
Abraharh Kreider was born in East Lampeter
township, Aug. 5, 1821, and followed farming all
his life on a place of which our subject now owns
part. He died Feb. 20, 1899. On Jan. 14, 1845, he
was married to Elizabeth R., daughter of Benjamin
and Elizabeth Landis. They had a family of eight
children, one of whom died in infancy. The others
are : Elizabeth, wife of Isaac Lefever ; Anna, wife
of Jacob Bernheimer; Eli L., our subject; Amanda,
wife of Levi Weaver ; Barbara, wife of Harry Den-
linger; Mary, unmarried; and Amos L., a resident
of East Lampeter township. The parents were both
members of the Old Mennonite Church.
Eli L. Kreider was born in East Lampeter town-
ship, Alay 12, 185 1, and lived at home until about
1887, since which time he has continued on the place
where he now resides. He has also conducted his
father's farm. He owns a place of about twenty
acres, on which he and his father have made ex-
tensive improvements. Mr. Kreider is one of Lan-
caster county's progressive men and most respected
citizens.
HENRY TERRY, a retired and highly respect-
ed farmer and citizen, was bom Sept. 10, 1829, in
his present home in Maytown, East Donegal town-
ship, son of George W. and Elizabeth (Haines)
Terry, the former a native of Bucks county, Pa., and
the latter of Maytown, Lancaster county.
George W. Terry, a shoemaker by trade, came
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
779
to Maytown a single man, was here married and
here died in 1837, at the age of forty-three years,
his widow surviving him until February, 1870, when
she passed away aged seventy-seven. They were
members of the Reformed church, and their remains
were interred in the cemetery of that denomination
at Maytown. The children born to George W. and
Elizabeth Terry were four in number, and were as
follows: Anthony, who died at the age of forty-
three years; George, also deceased; Elizabeth, who
died unmarried when twenty-two years old; and
Henry, whose name opens this sketch.
The paternal grandfather of Henry Terry was
a farmer by calling and was of Scotch descent; the
maternal grandparents, Henry and Elizabeth
(Haines) Haines, were natives, respectively, of May-
town and the lower part of Lancaster county.
Henry Terry, at the age of thirteen years, entered
a tailoring establishment in Philadelphia, learned the
tailor's trade, and at the age of eighteen went to
Caledonia, Tenn., where he worked for a brother
two years. He then went to Mills Point, next to
Memphis, which latter city was his headquarters for
a year and a half while he worked at his trade up and
down the river. After an absence of two years Henry
Terr J returned to his home, and went on the road
as a salesman, clearing about $1,800 for his employ-
ers in a year and a half, and with his own share of
the earnings paid for his schooling at the high school
in Maytown for two years. Later, he attended the
Millersville State Normal School, in which he was
a member of Page Literary Society. Of this So-
ciety, in 1863, including Mr. Terry, loi members
formed a military company (under Captain J. P.
Wickersham) and offered their services to the Na-'
tion for the protection of its flag and the preserva-
tion of the Union, but the company was never mus-
tered into the service, although for seven days it was
stationed before Wrightsville, whence it was re-
turned to Lancaster and dismissed. On his return
from this little military duty, Mr. Terry taught
school seven sessions, then engaged in the agricult-
ural implement business for eleven and a half years,
and then in farming in East Donegal township for
fifteen years, retiring in 1894.
Henry Terry has been twice married, his first
wedding having taken place in Manheim, in 1854,
to Caroline P. Arndt, to which union was born one
child, Cyrus, who died in infancy. Mrs. Caroline
P. (Arndt) Terry, a native of Manheim, Pa., was
called away in 1856, at the age of twenty-two years.
She was a daughter of George and Mary A. Arndt,
who are among the most respected residents of Man-
heim borough.
In December, 1864, in Mechanicsburg, Pa., Henry
Terry, married Susan E. Deemy, a record of whose
antecedents will be given later on. To this happy
union have been bom six children, -in the following
order : Ion E., druggist at Millville, N. J., and mar-
ried to Sally Trover ; Hiester C, married to Tenah
Harmon, a molder of Maytown, Pa. ; Edith T., mar-
ried to Adam Kautz, farmer of East Donegal town-
ship; Laura E., married to Wilson McMullen, also
a molder; Virginia E., married to Charles Evans,
bricklayer, of Maytown; and Blanche C, married
to Albert Johns, a molder of the same town.
Mrs. Susan E. (Deemy) Terry was born in Cum-
berland county, Pa., Feb. 10, 1841, and is the seventh
of the eight children born to Jacob and Mary (Page)
Deemy, of Dauphin county. Pa., where they resided
many years, and whence they removed to Cumber-
land county, where the father died in 1868, when
seventy-four years of age, in the faith of the Luther-
an church; his wife had passed away in 1857, when
fifty years old. The eight children alluded to as
constituting the Deemy family were born in the fol-
lowing order : Christ, William and Jane, deceased ;
Emanuel, a physician of Mechanicsburg, and form-
erly a surgeon in the army ; Daniel, a farmer in Kan-
sas ; Samuel, deceased ; Susan E., now Mrs. H. Ter-
ry ; and Martha, deceased wife of John Schaffer.
Politically Henry Terry is a Democrat. In re-
ligion he is a member of the Reformed Church, was
the first vice president of the Nevin Missionary So-
ciety in Maytown, and is a remarkably moral and
abstemious gentleman. He has never sworn an oath
in his life, nor has he ever been under the influence
of strong drink. He is extraordinarily spry for his
years, and his chirography is both elegant and free
from nervousness.
SAMUEL ESHLEMAN. Among the old, hon-
ored and substantial families of Lancaster county,
none are held in higher esteem than that of Eshle-
man, and one of its worthy representatives was Sam-
uel Eshleman, of Strasburg township, who entered
into rest Jan. 2, 1902, aged seventy-one years, two
months and twenty-nine days.
Samuel Eshleman was born on a farm adjoin-
ing the one upon which he died, Oct. 3, 1830,
son of Jacob and Barbara (Miller) Eshleman, both
of whom were highly regarded in that locality. Sam-
uel grew up on the farm and attended the common
schools, remaining at home until the age of twenty-
one, when he began agricultural operations on his
own account, on the place he last occupied as a home.
When he first took charge of this property, the farm
consisted of seventy-two acres, but with the ad-
ditions he was afterward able to make it now com-
prises 103 acres. Mr. Eshleman owned other de-
sirable property, consisting of a farm of seventy-
one acres which adjoins the home farm, and another
of sixty-two acres, located in Providence township.
In addition he owns several tracts of timber land in
Providence and Martic townships, ranging from four
to eighteen acres, and a farm of forty-two acres in
Strasburg and one of twenty-one, which adjoins the
farm, east of the homestead.
Mr. Eshleman devoted almost his entire time to
his farming interests, operating the homestead and
the adjoining farm, carrying on a general line and
also raising considerable stock. Some years ago,
780
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mr. Eshleman took a rest from active labors, but
later resumed operations. Through life he was in-
dustrious and made a success of his business, be-
cause he paid such close attention to it, and his life
was an excellent example of what can be accom-
plished by one who has sufficient energy and de-
termination, as most of Mr. Eshleman's property
was acquired by his own efforts.
In 1870, Samuel Eshleman was married to Miss
Annie Eshleman, a daughter of Elijah and Chris-
tiann (Barr) Eshleman, and they became the par-
ents of ten children : Enos J., born June 28, 1871,
lives at home, and is the executor of his father's
estate ; Ira S., born April 7, 1873, married Miss Ma-
tilda Stively ; Edith Annie, born April 17, 1876, died
Feb. 15, 1883; Mary Emma, born Oct. 24, 1877;
Ellis Miller, born March 8, 1879. died Jan. 2, 1883 ;
John Henry, born Aug. 19, 1880; infant son, de-
ceased ; Clara Susan, born Jan. 15, 1884 ; Anna Eliza-
beth, born March 17, 1885 ; and Emlin Franklin,
born on June 3, 1889. Mrs. Eshleman is a valued
and consistent member of the Reformed Mennonite
Church, of which Mr. Eshleman was also a mem-
ber, and in which he had been a deacon since 1888.
The family is one of the most worthy and respected
in this part of Strasburg township.
ISAAC BUCKWALTER, a well-known resi-
dent of West Lampeter township, belongs to one of
the old families of Lancaster county, being the fifth
generation of the Buckwalters.
John Buckwalter, hi-s father, was born on the old
family homestead in East Lampeter township, about
a half mile north of Greenland, in 181 5, son of John
Buckwalter, Sr., also a resident of East Lampeter
township. John Buckwalter was reared on the farm
where he was born, and after his marriage located
on a farm of seventy-nine acres in West Lampeter,
two and a half miles southeast of Lancaster, what
was known as the Yordy Farm, which he greatly
improved, remodelling the house, and making the
place one of the most desirable in the township. All
his life he was a farmer, and was known as a man
who never sought, or would accept, a public office,
much preferring the peaceful and happy life his fam-
ily and friends afforded. John Buckwalter was mar-
ried to Fannie Resh, daughter of Henry and Judith
(Buckwalter) Resh, who lived north of Bird-in-
Hand. She was born in 1815, and died in 1884, her
death and that of her husband occurring in the same
week. They were both members of the Mennonite
Church and were the parents of a family of seven
children: Annie is the wife of Jonas Harnish, of
Strasburg ; Jacob lives in East Lampeter township ;
Martha is the widow of Henry H. Herr, of New-
Providence; Judith is single; John died in April,
1900, when fifty years of age ; Isaac ; and Lizzie is
unmarried. In 1872 Mr. Buckwalter retired from
active life, and removed from the farm where he had
passed so many industrious years to another prop-
erty which he owned in the same township, where he
lived retired, and in due time died full of years and
honor.
Isaac Buckwalter was born Aug. 31, 1854, on
the farm where he is now living, and which he is
engaged in cultivating. His education was secured
in the public school, and when he was twenty-four
he was married. At this time he began farming op-
erations on his own account; taking charge of the
farm where he is now living. His entire attention
has been given to farming and dairying. For nine
years he had a milk route in the city of Lancaster,
his dairy being known as the "Crystal Springs
Dairy." In 1899 he retired from the milk business,
and is now giving his entire attention to the conduct
of his farm, on which he has made some very valu-
able improvements. Both as a man and a citizen ihe
worth of Isaac Buckwalter is conceded, and he has
been chosen to administer several large estates.
On Nov. 25, 1877, Isaac Buckwalter was mar-
ried to Mary Stauffer, who was born in East Lam-
peter township in 1859, daughter of Benjamin and
Annie (Kreider) Stauffer, and who died in the
spring of 1881, at the early age of twenty-two years,
leaving two children, Benjamin S. and Fannie. Ben-,
jamin S., who married Cora Seaboldt, and has one
child, Paul, lives in West Lampeter township ; Fan-
nie died in infancy.
On Nov. 22, 1884, Isaac Buckwalter was mar-
ried to Annie Kreider, daughter of Benjamin' and
Lizzie (Good) Kreider. To this union have come
five children: John K., Elias K., Mary K., Annie K.
and Lizzie IC. All the Buckwalters belong to the Old
Mennonite Church, and are reckoned among the most
substantial people of this section of the county.
DAVID LEFEVER. Among the old and high-
ly respected families of East Lampeter township, is
that of Lefever, whose numerous descendants have
scattered over many parts of the Union, and with
the name have established reputations for thrift, hon-
esty and uprightness of life. David Lefever, a much
esteemed farmer of this township, was born in East
Lampeter township, Oct. 15, 1824, son of John and
Magdalena (Neff) Lefever, and grandson of John
and Betsey (Howry) Lefever.
To John and Betsey (Howry) Lefever were born
four children : Daniel, who married Barbara Neff ;
George, who married Barbara Denlinger ; John ; and
one child, who died in youth.
John Lefever, the father of the subject of this
biography, was bom Feb. 27, 1792, and died in 1856.
He married Magdalena Neff, who was born Nov.
i9> 1797. and who died in 1831. Their children
were: Susanna, born Jan. 11, 1819, is the widow
of Henry Kreider, and lives in Illinois ; Henry, born
April 7, 1820, died April 6, 1900, leaving his widow,
Charlotte (Blair) Lefever, a resident of Sterling,
111., where he was engaged as a merchant, miller,
dealer m lumber, etc. ; Daniel, born June 19, 1821,
married Frances Martin (deceased), and died April
3, 1898; John, born Jan. 26, 1823, married Mary
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
781
Douer and lives retired, in Millport; David; Jacob,
born Dec. 19, 1826, married Annie Kreider, and is
a retired farmer, of East Lampeter township ; Bar-
bara, born July 25, 1829, first married Benjamin
Diffenbach, and is now the widow of Levi Howard ;
George N., born July 25, 1829, a twin brother of
Barbara, married Annie Landis, and resides in West
Lampeter township.
This farnily has a very remarkable record of
longevity, the first death in the family circle of chil-
dren being that of Daniel, on April 3, 1898, on which
date the youngest in the family had reached the age
.of seventy. The parents of these children reared them
in the religious atmosphere of the Old Mennonite
Church, of which they were consistent members, and
they rest in the cemetery connected with the Mel-
linger Church.
David Lefever was reared on the farm and was
but seven years of age when his kind mother was
removed by death. Until he was nineteen years old,
he was able occasionally to attend school some six-
teen or seventeen days in a term, if the threshing or
corn planting did not have to be done, and as he was
a studious lad, made all the progress he could. The
school house at Mellingers, he remembers as being
equipjjed with slab seats and the light admitted
through windows of four or five panes of glass,
6x8, and all of the other surroundings were of a
similar nature. However, in making any compari-
son with the superior advantages afforded the chil-
dren of to-day, we should pause and question whether
the probabilities are that the latter will fit for the
battle of life any class of citizens more likely to adorn
every station of life, than those who obtained their
desultory education under such adverse circum-
stances.
At the age of twenty-one, David Lefever was
married to Eliza Buchwalter, a daughter of Martin
Buchwalter, and at once began housekeeping, rent-
ing a farm belonging to his wife's grandfather, John
Buchwalter. For the succeeding three years he op-
erated this farm, but in 1848 purchased a farm in
Bareville. It required much good management and
economy to pay off the indebtedness on this place,
but his energy and industry were untiring and he
soon had improvements under way and was pros-
pering, when he had the misfortune to lose his barn
by fire. This he replaced by a better one and later
sold this farm to advantage, buying his present most
desirable farm in 1880, and taking possession of it
in 1881. This is one of the model farms of the coun-
ty, all of the improvements being of the most sub-
stantial and modern character, and all of the sur-
roundings indicating the thrift and prosperity which
prevails.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lefever,
■Were: Sarah; Martin, who was given an excellent
education and taught school for several terms;
Amos ; twins, both of whom died ; David, a student
of Annville College, who taught school for ten years
and is now publisher of a newspaper at Ephrata;
Eliza, the twin of David, born Jan. 5, 1855 ; Elias,
who is a Baptist clergyman, in Ephrata; Martha, a
deceased twin sister of the latter ; John ; and Emma.
The beloved mother of this family died Sept. 10,
1894, having been a devoted Christian, a member
of the Old Mennonite faith, a kind neighbor and a
woman of the most exemplary character. David
Lefever is also a consistent member of the Old Men-
nonite Church, and is a man who possesses the re-
spect of the community in which he has lived so long.
His influence is always given in the direction of ed-
ucation, charity and temperance.
F. W. WOOLWORTH, the millionaire owner of
seventy-five Ten Cent Stores, all east of Pittsburg,
and who has erected the finest business block in Lan-
caster, and one of the finest in the State, practically
began his business life in that city, as it was there
he achieved his first pronounced success. The store
which he established here June 21, 1879, was a
small affair 14x35 feet, at No. 170 North Queen
street, but it was a success from the moment he
opened its doors. In recognition of the encourage-
ment which the Lancaster people had given him at
the beginning of his career, Mr. Woolworth put up
the magnificent structure on North Queen street,
known as the Woolworth Building, which was
opened to the public just before the Christmas holi-
days of 1900. This gentleman is regarded as a Lan-
castrian, not only by adoption, but by feeling, sym-
pathy and loyalty. Although modest and unassum-
ing to a marked degree, there is that about him which
indicates the strength of purpose and execution of
a giant. In the New York Tribune, Jan. 6, 1901, ap-
peared a half-page article, accompanied by pictures
of himself, his Lancaster building, and his palatial
residence at Fifth Avenue and 80th street. New
York City, of which F. W. Woolworth was the sub-
ject. From this lengthy and interesting article the
substance of the following paragraphs is taken :
"In the old Stewart building, on the corner of
Broadway and Chambers street. New York, a ca-
pacious suite of rooms is occupied as the headquar-
ters of the Woolworth stores. From this private
office Mr. Woolworth keeps his hand upon the large
commercial structure which he has reared. With
the telephone he talks with his seventy-five managers
whenever the occasion requires, hears their verbal
reports and gives orders for their guidance. Each
store has a local manager ; there is one man who does
nothing but look after, the ^ various fixtures of the
different properties; two inspectors, who keep con-
stantly on the move, and arrive when least expected ;
a financial manager; five buyers of domestic goods,
and two of foreign goods ; and a large force of office
employes.
"Mr. Woolworth's buyers go abroad on business
every year, and the population of several consider-
able German towns is entirely occupied in filling his
orders. This plan goes far to explain the large value
received by the purchasers of the Woolworth goods.
782
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS (t' T-ANCAST^j^ COUNTY
Cash is paid, and there is no middle profit. Mr.
Woolworth imports a larger tonnage of toys and
tree ornaments than all other United States buyers
put together, more than one-half the product of the
world. In the holiday season he employs more than
5,000 people in this country, while in midsummer his
employes may not number more than 1,800. His
salary list last year exceeded half a million dollars."
F. W. Woolworth, the proprietor of the Wool-
worth stores, is typical of the Americans who see
the road to success through original ideas, who have
the courage and pluck to follow that path. Still on
the sunny side of fifty years, erect, clear-eyed and
vigorous, direct of speech and manner, it is not diffi-
cult to see in him the qualities that have made Ameri-
can trade and commerce synonymous with enterprise
and pluck the world over. Mr. Woolworth comes
of an English and Irish stock, and was bom in
Rodman, Jefiferson Co., N. Y., on his father's farm,
April 13, 1852. He had ten years' schooling, walk-
ing two miles back and forth for it in the hard win-
ter weather of that country, and in the summer help-
ing his father on the farm. The elder Woolworth
moved to Great Bend, N. Y., in March, 1859, where
he bought another farm. Here, the boy led the life
of a farmer until he was twenty-one years old, in
the meantime completing a thorough course at the
Watertown Commercial College. This was done by
the exercise of the strictest economy, young Wool-
worth and his chum boarding themselves, while his
mother not only made his clothes, but drove in the
old mare from the farm ten miles away, every week,'
and brought them a basket of "board."
Following his graduation young Woolworth went
to work in the dry-goods store of Augsbury & Moore,
which became Moore & Smith, of Watertown, N.
Y., who introduced a five cent counter where Wool-
worth got the idea of a five cent store. For six years
he remained at Watertown, displaying such business
ability that his employers backed him with a small
line of credit for the establishment of a store in Utica.
This was in February, 1879, ^^d the enterprise was
practically a failure. Undaunted and undiscouraged
his former employers extended the credit of Mr.
Woolworth, and he came to Lancaster, Pa., to open
a store near the corner of North Queen and Chestnut
streets. This was a success, and from it Mr. Wool-
worth has gone on to a brilliant career.
Mr. Woolworth was married June 11, 1876, to
Miss Jennie Creighton, then of Watertown, N. Y.,
her father, Thomas Creighton, being a farmer of
Picton, Ontario, Canada. This union was blessed
with the birth of three children, Helena, Edna and
Jessie, the latter still at school. They all display
marked musical talent, and enjoy the best oppor-
tunities of the great metropolis.
EDWARD J. KNOX, who is now a retired farm-
er at Christiana, where he has in former days ably
filled the position of justice of the peace, is one of
the prominent citizens of this part of Lancaster coun-
tf- . ' ' ■ k well-earned reputation for ability
and c lai . ■-'.-* ■'li'. Knox' was born in Leacock town-
ship, this iSiiiief; Dec. 20, 1844, son of David S. and
Anna (Jacobs) Knox, also natives of that town-
ship.
David S. Knox, who was a prominent and wealthy
farmer, began life with nothing to help him but his
strong arm and good clear mind, and he left at his
death an estate of over $60,000. His later years were
spent in Salisbury township, where he lived retired
from business cares and activities, and where he
passed away Dec. 8, 1898, at the age of seventy-nine.
His wife, Anna Jacobs, died in 1888, at the age of.
sixty-seven, and both were buried in Bellevue Cem-
etery at Gap, Pa. They were members of the Pres-
byterian Church. To them were born the following
children: Edward J., whose name appears at the
opening of this article ; Robert N., a drover and cat-
tle dealer at Gap ; Martha A., on the old home farm
in Salisbury township ; John D., a farmer in Sads-
bury township ; Eva M., married to Harry Reeser,
a farmer in Chester county; and Clara; who died
young.
The paternal grandparents of Edward J. Knox
were Robert and Martha (Sterling) Knox, farming
people of Leacock township, where they spent their
lives. His maternal grandfather was Edward Jacobs,
also a farmer of Leacock township.
Edward J. Knox remained with his parents until
he was twenty-one, when he took charge of one of
his father's farms, which he carried on for six years
before he was married. After that event he continued
to live on this place for a few years, and then set-
tled on another farm in Sadsbury township. After
a time he purchased a farm in that township, on
which- he made his home until 1900, when he gave
up active work and located in Christiana, where he
lives retired. Shortly before his removal to his pres-
ent quarters he was elected- justice of the peace at
his home in Sadsbury township, for a term of five
years.
On Jan. 9, 1873, Edward J. Knox was married,
in Sadsbury township, to Frances A. Williams, a
daughter of Zachariah B. and Hannah (Dolby)
Williams. He and -his wife belong to the Bellevue
Presbyterian Church, and are highly respected for
their many good qualities. In his political views he
is a Democrat, and has proved himself a good and
upright citizen.
HENRY B. BUCH, an enterprising and pros-
perous coachmaker in Lititz, was born Oct. 23,
183,=;, at Kissilhill, Lancaster Co., Pa., and is a son of
Jacob and Maria (Brubaker) Buch, also natives of
Lancaster county. Jacob Buch was born at Kissil-
hill in 1810, was a blacksmith and coachmaker, was
a Democrat in politics, and died in 1877 ; his widow-
is now eighty-six years old. Their children were:
Henry B., whose name opens this article ; Jonathan
B., deceased ; Sarah, wife of Joseph R. Bollinger, of
Lititz ; Jacob A., in the lumber business in Reading,
BIOGRAPHIC'
-I "5, OF LANCASTER COUNTY
783
Pa.; and Franklin B., manager (". .Y^'rr'rri'frto-) ' le
Knitting Mill, but a coachmaker b} '■'■"
Henry B. Biich was reared at Kis. .nui, was edu-
cated in the common schools and at an academy in
Mechanicsburg, Cumberland county. He first learned
the blacksmith's trade under his father, and then
woodwork and painting under Isaac Hollinger. At
the age of twenty-two years he married and started
in business at Kissilhill, and for twenty-four years
did an extensive business, employing a large num-
ber of hands. In 1879 he came to Lititz, and for a
time was connected in business with his son-in-law,
and later with the Srosh Carriage Co. In 1890 he
started in business on a small scale, on his own ac-
count, and now does quite an extensive business in
coach manufacturing and in repairing.
On May 12, 1857, Mr. Buch married Miss Cath-
erine L. Stehman, a daughter of Christian and Cath-
erine Stehman, and to this union have been born five
children, of whom two only reached the years of ma-
turity, viz. : Elizabeth Ida, wife of Joseph B. Wiss-
ler, a farmer in Clay township; and Ellen, married
to John M. Amer, manager of Barney McGran's
farms, at Lancaster. Mr. Buch is a member of the
Evangelical Church. In politics he is a stanch Demo-
crat, and is very popular with his party and with the
public, as is evidenced by the fact that he has been
twice elected a burgess — a body which stands four
Republicans to one Democrat. He has also been a
member of the Democratic county committee, and
has often been sent as a delegate to Democratic
conventions. He is a useful and public-spirited citi-
zen, and is ever ready to lend a heliiing hand in pro-
moting the prosperity of his borough and township.
GEORGE H. ROATH, patternmaker and gen-
eral machinist for the Marietta Casting Co., and re-
siding in East Donegal township, West Marietta
borough, was born in this township Sept. 26, 1850,
son of Hon. E. D. and Susan W. (Hippie) Roath,
of whom a full biography is given on another page
in this work.
George H. Roath lived on a farm from i860 until
1865, then located in Marietta and worked at various
occupations until 1868, when he entered a coach-
maker's shop and there worked two and a half years.
He was next employed by his father, who was con-
ducting a machine shop in partnership with a Mr.
Stibgen, learned the trade, and became an expert
, mechanic, but in 1873 the father sold out his interest.
George H. then went to Middletown, Pa., for a few
months, and thence to Mount Vernon, Ohio, where
he worked in a 'steam-engine foundry a few months
longer. Owing to the panic in the fall of 1873, he
thought it prudent to return to Marietta, Pa., where
he worked at coachmaking until 1874, then as a ma-
chinist until 1875. In 1876 Mr. Roath and Henry
Stoner leased a foundry in Drumore township and
operated it imtil 1878, when Mr. Roath returned to
Marietta, and for two and a half years conducted a
machine shop for R. J. Clark & Co. His next em-
ployment was on the road as engineer for the Ameri-
can Steam & Heating Co. From 1884 until 1889
Mr. Roath worked in a sash and door factory, and
then accepted his present position with the Marietta
Casting Co., giving the greatest possible satisfaction,
as he is a natural-born mechanic, and can make al-
most anything that can be made from iron or wood.
In June, 1887, Mr. Roath married, in Marietta,
Maria Fisher, and to this marriage came one child,
who died young. Mrs. Maria (Fisher) Roath was
born near Birmingham, E'ngland, daughter of Edwin
and Louisa (Marrifield) Fisher. Edwin Fisher, who
is now living in retirement in East Donegal township,
was born in Smethwick, Staffordshire, England, July
2, 1818, son of Joseph and Mary (Johnson) Fisher,
the former of whom served seven years in the British
army, participating in the war in the Spanish penin-
sula, the battle of Waterloo, and on his discharge was
decorated with four bars by the Government. To
Joseph and Mary Fisher were born : Edwin, father
of Mrs. Roath; Eliza, Salina, Mary, Matilda, Han-
nah and Sarah, all of whom were married and all de-
ceased, save Edwin. Joseph Fisher died in England
in 1855, and his wife in 1871, at the age of seventy-
two years. Of the children, Edwin, Salina and Mary
came to America.
To the marriage of Edwin and Louisa (Marri-
field) Fisher were born the following children:
Sarah A., who was married to Joseph Mason, but
both of whom are now^ deceased'; Joseph, a machin-
ist in Marietta; and Maria, now Mrs. George H.
Roath. Mrs. Louisa (Marrifield) Fisher, daughter
of Isaac and Ann. Marrifield, died in 1876, at the age
of seventy-six years, and her mortal remains were in-
terred in Marietta. Edwin Fisher was a glassblower
in England, and came to America in 1872 with the
intention of becoming a farmer, but changed his
mind after arrival. He settled in Marietta and
worked in the hollow- ware works until 1888, when
he retired, and now, with George H. Roath and wife,
has his pleasant home in the city of his adoption.
Mr. and Mrs. Roath are members of the Protest-
ant Episcopal Church, and Mr. Roath is a member
of the Knights of the Golden Eagle, the Red Men and
the Knights of Malta. In politics he is a Republican,
and socially the family are universally respected.
AMOS F. HERR, one of the old and honored
citizens of West Lampeter township, was born on
the old homestead that lies adjacent to the Longe-
necker Church (which in fact occupies a part of the
farm). May 18, 1818, a son of Francis and Fannie
(Neff) Herr, natives of West Lampeter and Stras-
burg townships, respectively. The grandfather of
Amos F. also bore the name of Francis Herr.
Francis Herr, the father of Amos F., was born
in West Lampeter township, and there passed his
life following the occupation of farming, and pos-
sessing such fine business qualifications that he was
often called upon to settle estates. In local politics
he was much interested, and took a forward position
784
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in the community. For many years he was a di-
rector in the Farmers' National Bank at Lancaster.
Several farms in the two townships belonged to him,
and he ranked among the successful men of his day.
When he died he was sixty-nine, and his wife lived
to be eighty. She belonged to the Reformed Men-
nonite Church, and was the mother of the following
children: Cyrus N., Franklin J., Amos F., Eliza-
beth, Anna, Fannie, Charlotte and Amanda.
Amos F. Herr was reared on the farm of his
birth and educated in the common schools. Remain-
ing at home until his marriage in 1848, he then lo-
cated on the property where he still makes his home.
It belonged to his father, and comprises 122 acres
along the Strasburg pike, at the Longenecker Church.
This is one of the most desirable and attractive homes
of Lancaster county, and the residence, which was
erected in 18 10 by John Longenecker, has been great-
ly remodelled since it came into his possession. He
also owns fifty-six acres in Martic township, and a
six-acre tract of timber land in Drumore township.
His attention has been given to farming, and by his
industry and integrity he has won the warm regard
of a wide circle of friends.
On Oct. 22, 1848, Amos F. Herr was married
to Anna Frantz, who was born in East Lampeter
township in 1828, a daughter of Christian and Eliza-
beth (Miller) Frantz. The following family has
blessed this union: Homer A. is a mechanical en-
gineer in Philadelphia; Francis ,C., a physician in
Ottawa, Kans., graduated from the University of
Pennsylvania ; Willis C. is a traveling salesman for
the Keystone Manufacturing Co., of York, and has
his home in Strasburg ; Harry N. is a civil engineer
in Lancaster, and a graduate of Lehigh University;
Ida E. is the wife of Amos R. Frantz, of York, Pa. ;
Mary F. is unmarried and lives at home ; Anna A. is
the wife of A. Lincoln Moyer, of the Conestoga
Bank, of Lancaster; Edith C., the wife of J. Elmer
Frantz, of Waynesboro, Pa. ; and Lottie L. is unmar-
ried and at home.
Amos F. Herr and his wife early became mem-
bers of the Reformed Mennonite Church, and their
industrious and useful lives have placed them among
the most respected people of the county.
LEVI S. RHOADS. Among the prominent and
successful farmers of Eden township is Levi S.
Rhoads, a highly respected citizen of Lancaster
county. He was born in Manor township, this coun-
ty, June II. 1835, son of George and Elizabeth
(Sweigert) Rhoads, both of Neffsville, this county,
and both bom in 1801. John Rhoads, the grand-
father of Levi S., was also a native of Lancaster
county, but of Canadian parentage. His family con-
sisted of four sons, — Jacob, John, Henry and George.
The three elder brothers moved to Ohio, in which
state they all married and established homes.
George Rhoads learned the trade of blacksmith
when a young man, and followed same for twenty-
five years. He became a citizen of prominence in
the community, and was known as Capt. Rhoads, be-
ing the commander of a company of State Militia.
He was very prosperous in the pursuit of his trade,
but finally bought a farm in Manor township, on
which he settled, some years thereafter moving
to East Donegal township, near Marietta. There he
purchased a large farm upon which he resided until
the time of his death, in 1859. Following his decease
his widow sold the farm and removed to West Done-
gal township, later to Maytown, where her death took
place in 1879.
A family of seven children was born to George
and Elizabeth Rhoads, as follows : Abram S., born
in this county, died in Maytown at the age of seventy-
seven years, ten months, eleven days, unmarried;
Fannie (deceased) was the wife of George Lutz, of
Manor township (they left no family) ; Elizabeth
married Benjamin Hoffman, has a family, and resides
near Bainbridge; Mary (deceased) was the wife of
Henry Shenk, of East Donegal township, and left
one daughter, Elizabeth, who is the wife of Eli Niss-
ley, of Maytown; Levi S. is the gentleman whose
name introduces this sketch ; Susan, born in 1837,
married Christian Brandt, of Maytown, where they
reside (they have no family) ; George, born in 1840,
married Annie Groflf, of Maytown, and they, reside
in Maytown; they have one son, George S., now a
young man, who resides at home.
Levi S. Rhoads was reared on the home farm, and
was educated in the local district schools and in Mari-
etta. Commencing before the death of his father,
and until his marriage, he engaged in farming on the
home place. He and his wife settled first near Co-
lumbia, where for two years he cultivated a farm.
Then he removed to Mountville, where he bought a
large farm, upon which he resided for seven years,
at the end of that time selling the place advantage-
ously, and removing his family into the village of
Mountville, One year later he took charge of a
farm in Conoy township, continuing there for two
years, and then returned to Mountville.
In 1881 Mr. Rhoads purchased the well-known
Jacob Bushong farm, in Eden township, which con-
sists of 143 acres of finely cultivated, fertile land. It
is by far one of the best farms in that part of the
county, and Mr. Rhoads has spared neither labor nor
money in its improvement.
In 1864 Levi S. Rhoads and Miss Frances Herr,
of Lancaster, were united in marriage. She was
the estimable daughter of Abram H. and Maria Herr,
prominent old settlers of the county, and was born
in Salunga, West ■ Hempfield township, Jan. 24,
1845, received exceptional educational advantages,
and is a lady of education and culture. She is
a member of the Old Mennonite Church. To
Mr. and Mrs. Rhoads ten children have been
born, as follows: Mary, born in this county Jan.
21, 1866, married A. B. Collom, a machinist of
Philadelphia, where they reside; they have no
children. Abram H., born July 25, 1867, mar-
ried Miss Mary Herr, a native of Drumore town-
\
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
785
ship, who was a daughter of Benjamin Herr, and
they reside on a farm in Eden township ; they have
three children, Irwin, Jerome and Mary E. Benja-
min F., born July 19, 1869, married Miss Jessie Mc-
Clure, of this county, and they reside in Eden town-
ship, where they purchased the Harding Gilbert farm
and are farming people; they have three children,
Abram T., Francis M. and Margaret I. Levi H.,
born Jan. 13, 1871, married Miss Katie Groff, daugh-
ter of John Groff, a prominent citizen of this county,
and he purchased a farm in Eden township; their
two children are Edith E. and John L. Lillie F.,
born Oct. 9, 1873, married Benjamin F. Yunginger,
a resident of near Martinsville, and they now live on
his farm in Strasburg township ; their three children
are Jay R., Marion R. aad Francis M. Emma S.,
bom March 31, 1876, was educated in the home
schools and is a talented and cultivated lady, living
at home. Charles H., born August 21, 1880, is un-
married, and is the very capable manager of -his fa-
ther's farm; he stands high in the public esteem.
Bertha M., born May 7, 1883, was educated in the
home schools, and also in Quarryville high schools,
and is a very talented and cultured young lady, an
ornament to the home circle. Elsie O., born June
21, 1885, died Sept. 5, 1889. George S., born July
16, 1887, resides at home. This domestic circle has
been invaded but once by Death, and is one of the
most closely bound and most highly esteemed fam-
ilies of Lancaster county.
In politics Mr. Rhoads has always been identified
with the Democratic party, and has most efficiently
served as school director for a period of three years.
The daughters are members of the Old Mennonite
Church, and the unmarried ones manage the home,
in which comfort and simplicity reign.
Mr. Rhoads has always been interested in ad-
vancing the agricultural interests of his section, has
kept thoroughly posted on modern methods, and has
not hesitated to make use of them when his judgment
assured him of their value. His fine farm is a testi-
monial to the soundness of his views and methods.
ANDREW F. SHROM, justice of the peace at
Vogansville, is one' of the representative men of
Lancaster county, and a -son of Frederick Shrom,
who is now deceased.
Frederick Shrom was a native of Bavaria, where
he spent his earlier years, and served in the Bavarian-
army. Soon after his discharge from the army, he
came to this country, and made his home in Leacock
township, Lancaster county, where he entered the
employ of Rev. Henry Lantz, a farmer, and a min-
ister of the Amish Church. With that gentleman he
made his home until his marriage, when he located
in the neighborhood, and worked for the neighbor-
ing farmers some years. In 1855 he moved to Illi-
nois, and bought a tract of thirty-six acres near De-
catur. The land was covered with timber, and Mr.
Shrom set himself to clearing it and making a home
for his family, but he died the same year, at the early
50 ■
age of forty-eight. Coming of Scotch-Irish ances-
try, he was in religion a Catholic. Anna Frank, his
wife, was a daughter of Jacob Frank, and her ances-
tors, the Franks and Shaeffers were old settlers and
honored residents of Lancaster county. She is still
living at the advanced age of eighty-two. After the
death of Frederick Shrom, his widow brought her
four children back to Lancaster county. They were
Andrew F. ; John F., a mechanic of Reading ; Fred-
erick, a blacksmith of Lancaster ; and Susan, who is
unmarried, and lives with her mother. Three chil-
dren of this worthy couple died in infancy.
Andrew F. Shrom was born Feb. 17, 1845, ^^'^
received but a limited schooling, as he was reared
among the Amish. When he was eighteen he struck
out in tlie world for himself. For a time he worked
on a farm, and then learned the trade of a brick and
stone mason. When he had accomplished this, he
began a contracting and building business, in which
he has acliieved a large success. In the county he
has had many large and important contracts, and has
employed many men. His work has stood the clos-
est inspection, among his most important construc-
tions being the Ephrata school building, the ware-
house, the United Brethren Church, and George
W. Kinzer's residence at New Holland. He is not
only deeply interested in his business, but is a broad-
minded and public-spirited citizen. In politics he
has filled the offices of assessor and justice of the
peace, holding this last position eleven years. At
first he was appointed justice of the peace, and has
been re-elected three times. It is a rare compliment
to his judicial spirit that none of his decisions have
been reversed on appeal to the higher courts. In the
Civil war he served during its closing scenes in the
Union army, enlisting Feb. 20, 1865, in Co. I, 195th
P. V. I., being mustered out Jan. 31, 1866. Much of
the time from 1862 he had been out with the forces as
a teamster. His patriotic spirit was profound, and he
would have been in the ranks before, but was deemed
inehgible.
In 1868 Mr. Shrom was married to Miss Lydia
Garra, who was born in Earl township, a daughter
of David H. and Lucy (Shaffer) Garra. Five chil-
dren blessed this union : David G., a farmer, mar-
ried Miss Emma Sensenig, and is the father of three
children, Ruth, Blanch and Amos ; Anna, the wife of
Jacob Fritz, of Reading, Pa., has two children, Ja-
cob and Andrew ; Lilly wife of Augustus Lescher,
of Reamstown, Pa. ; Edgar W. is a teacher in the
county schools ; and Mabel is at home. Mr. and Mrs.
Shrom are members of the Reformed Church, he tak-
ing an active part in the church work, and while in
New Holland served as deacon and elder. The eld-
est son is a member of the Evangelical Association.
All the family stand high in the community.
LEWIS FRANKLIN SIEGLER, M. D., whose
cozy home and offices are at No. 115 South Queen
street, is a familiar figure in Lancaster, where his
entire life has been passed.
786
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Ludwig- Siegler, his father, came from Gruorn
(Oberampt Urach), Wurtemberg, Germany, in
1851, and settled in York county, removing to Lan-
caster the following year. Here, for years, he op-
erated an establishment for the manufacture of bone
dust, knife and fork handles, etc., and in 1873 em-
barked in the hotel business, from which he retired
in 1888. He entered into rest March 27, 1894, aged
seventy-five years and one week. His widow, who in
her maidenhood was Regina HoUinger, was also a na-
tive of Wurtemberg, Germany. She died Sept. 25,
1901, aged seventy-seven years and seven months.
Thirteen children were born to this couple, but only
three are now living, namely : Matthias C, a cigar
maker, and at one time an efficient member of the
police force of Lancaster; Rosie, wife of John
Ripple, superintendent for Siegler Bros., cigar man-
ufacturers; and Dr. Lewis Frankhn.
Lewis Franklin Siegler was born in Lancaster
Sept. 8, 1866, and, after receiving a good education
in the public schools of the city, read medicine with
the late Dr. Henry Carpenter, one of Lancaster's
most prominent physicians. He was graduated from
Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1886, and
immediately after graduation, he began the practice
of his profession in Lancaster — first in an office in
East King street, later in East Orange street, and
finally in South Lime street, where he bought a home.
In 189 1 Dr. Siegler removed to Reihhold's Station,
this county, where he practiced medicine and sur-
gery until 1898, at which time he returned to Lan-
caster, and, abandoning the practice of his profes-
sion, became the general agent for Lancaster, Dauph-
in and Lebanon counties of the American Relief As-
sociation, an organization which not only pays a
benefit at death, but which pays a weekly amount in
case of sickness or accident. This system of insur-
ance is so admirable that it commends itself to all in-
telligent people, and Dr. Siegler is so able and ef-
fective in his furthering of its interests, that his name
appears monthly on the "roll of honor" in the month-
ly publication issued by the association, no man's
name appearing on that roll unless he has written
twenty applications during the month. The Asso-
ciation had received 23,543 applications up to Dec.
I, 1902, and had paid $80,536.38 in benefits up to
that date— -a most remarkable showing. So con-
spicuous have been the Doctor's services that he was
elected a director of the Association in 1899, and re-
elected in 190D, IQOI and 1902.
Dr. Siegler has been twice married. His first
wife, Ellen Lutz, of Ohio, died May 12, 1898. On
Oct. 20, 1899, the Doctor married Margaret L. Mil-
ler, of Bridgewater, Va., and three children have
been born of this union: Lewis F., Jr., born in
1900 ; Anna Marguerite, who passed away Aug. 30,
19c I, aged ten weeks; and Reinhold Richard, born
Sept. 30, 1902. During Dr. Siegler's active practice
in Lancaster, he served two years as health com-
missioner, and two terms as physician to the Lancas-
ter county prison. Politically he is a stanch Republi-
can and active in party work. In religious belief, a
Lutheran, he is affiliated with Trinity Church. While
practicing his profession he was a member of the
Lancaster City and County Medical Societies, and of
the State Medical Association of Pennsylvania, to
which latter organization he was one time sent as a
delegate from the local society. Dr. Siegler has al-
ways been active and enterprising, and so positive
in his convictions that there is never an uncertainty
as to his position.
MICHAEL HARNISH (deceased) was in his
life time one of the well-known residents of West
Lampeter township, where he was born Jan. 7, 1798,
and where he died in September, 1881.
Jacob Harnish, his father, was a farmer of West
Lampeter township, and cultivated his father's farm
as long as he lived, dying at the age of fifty-two
years, his father surviving him four years. Jacob
Harnish- left a family of six children : Michael,
whose name introduces this article ; Jacob, who
moved to Cumberland county. Pa., where he died;
John, who moved to Ohio, where he died ; Emanuel,
who moved to Cumberland county, where he died;
Elizabeth, who married Samuel Hershey, of Mt. Joy
township; and Mrs. Coyler, who moved to Ohio.
Jacob Harnish and his wife were members of the
Reformed Mennonite Church.
Michael Harnish was reared and spent his life
in West Lampeter township, where he owned the
old homestead farm of 118 acres, which at present
belongs to George Lampeter. He also owned a farm
of eighty-two acres, which is now owned by David
Kendig, a son-in-law. A timber lot of six acres,
which belonged to him, is now the property of Ben-
jamin Harnish.
Michael Harnish was an industrious and honora-
ble man, who possessed the confidence of the people
to a very unusual degree. Susanna Hess, who be-
came his wife, died in 1883, at the age of eighty-five
years. To this union were born: Catherine mar-
ried Benjamin L. Denlinger, who preceded her to
the grave ; A.nn married Henry Zindt, of East Lam-
peter township, and is now dead; Benjamin; Mary,
the wife of Amos Weaver, of East Lampeter town-
ship, is now deceased ; Susanna is the wife of David
Kendig, of West Lampeter township; Michael is
now living in Lancaster ; and Jacob is also a resident
of Lancaster. The parents of these children be-
longed to the Reformed Mennonite Church.
Benjamin Harnish was born Dec. 14, 1828,
and was reared on the farm, receiving his education
m the common school. When he was twenty-two
he began farming operations on his own account,
cultrvating his father's place for a year, and then
went mto the country north of Lancaster, where he
remamed four years. Returning to West Lampeter
township he again engaged in the cultivation of his
fathers farm, and continued with him some five
years. At the expiration of that time he bought a
farm of seventy-seven acres from his father-in-law.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
787
Martin Harnish, in East Lampeter township, and
there for more than twenty years he made his home,
and it is now owned by his son, Elam. In 1882 Ben-
jamin Harnish moved to the farm he has since occu-
pied in West I-ampeter township, containing twenty
acres at the time it passed into his possession. Since
buying it he has added seventeen acres to it, and
greatly improved it. Adjoining this he owns a tract
of fifty acres, and both of these are being conducted
by his son, Michael, an expert young farmer, while
Mr. Harnish himself has lived retired since 1890. He
also owns sixty-two acres in East Lampeter town-
ship, which his son, John A., manages and cultivates.
Mr. Harnish has ever been a leading farmer, and his
integrity and industry have won for him a large cir-
cle of friends.
Benjamin Harnish was married Nov. 7, 1850, to
Susanna, daughter of Martin and Martha (Weaver)
Harnish, who was born in West Lampeter township,
Oct. II, 1831, and is still living. To this union were
born : Benjamin, a farmer of East Lampeter town-
ship, married Miss Emma Groff , by whom he has had
eight children; Elam, a farmer of East Lampeter
township, married Miss Emma Froelich, by whom
he has had four children ; Emma, the wife of Samuel
Eshleman, of Strasburg township, is the mother of
four children; John, who is a farmer of East Lam-
peter township, married Miss Catherine Frye; Mar-
tin is living at home ; and Michael, who lives on the
home place, married Miss Lizzie Nolt.
Mr. and Mrs. Harnish belong to the Reformed
Mennonite Church, and are people highly esteemed
for their good works and excellent character.
HENRY F. McCANNA, of Columbia, and a
well-known conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad,
was born in Gordonville, Lancaster county. May 2,
1850. John and Elizabeth (Starr) McCanna, his par-
ents, were natives of Lancaster county, where they
resided until 1859, when they removed to Chester
county. John McCanna had been employed by the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company for many years as
foreman of construction and died in Chester county,
Feb. 13, 1885, when seventy-two years old. His
widow, who was born July 21, 1814, now has her
home with her son, Henry F., in Columbia. To this
venerable couple were born eleven children, in the
following order : Mary J., widow of Harry Whit-
man, of Cumberland county, Pa. ; Kate, William and
James, deceased; Sue, married to David Boyer, of
Harrisburg; John, deceased; Emma, residing in
Harrisburg and unmarried ; Henry F. ; Cecelia, wife
of Joseph Quinn, of York, Pa. ; Alice, deceased ; and
George, a brakeman at Harrisburg.
The paternal grandparents of Henry F. McCanna
came from Ireland and settled in Lancaster county,
when children, and there the grandfather plied his
trade of carpet weaver until his death ; the maternal
grandparents were natives of Chester county and
early settled in Lancaster county.
Henry F. McCanna lived on the farm with his
parents until twenty years of age and then began
jjraking on the Pennsylvania Railroad ; two years la-
ter he was made a flagman, and two years afterward
was promoted to a conductor ship.
On May 20, 1874, Mr. McCanna married Miss
Salome A. Knipe, and their family of children were
six in number, viz. : John M., a physician in Phila-
delphia ; Harry A., a telegraph operator in Philadel-
phia ; William K., deceased ; Charles B., a clerk at
Columbia"; Maria M., deceased ; and George R., bag-
gage master at Lancaster. Mrs. Salome A. McCan-
na was born in Schaefferstown, Lebanon Co., Pa.,
Feb. 2, 1855, a daughter of Henry C. and Maria
(Knipe) Knipe, of Lebanon county. Henry C.
Knipe was a blacksmith and died April 25, 1865, aged
thirty-six years. To his marriage were born six
children, viz. : Henry and John, who died in infan-
cy ; Salome ; Kate, wife of John Welsh, of Philadel-
phia; and Ida and Anna, deceased. Mrs. Maria
Knipe, some five and a half years after the death of
her husband, married John Ross, who died in March,
1893, and to this marriage was born one child, Laura,
wife of Luke Lederman, a merchant in Los Ange-
les, Cal. The mother resides in Philadelphia, at the
age of se\'enty years. The paternal grandparents of
Mrs. McCanna were Henry and Elizabeth (O'Con-
nor) Nipe, and the maternal grandparents were
John and Mary (Farmer) Nipe, all of Lebanon
county, Pa. The two grandfathers were brothers,
and the change of the name from Nipe to Knipe
came during the war, when Gen. Knipe, a brother of
Mrs. Ross, began spelling his name with the "K,"
and the family adopted that spelling.
Henry F. McCanna is a member of the O. of R.
C, and of the Church of God, and in politics is a Re-
publican. Socially he and family are held in very
high esteem by their neighbors, and as a conductor
Mr. McCanna has the implicit confidence of his Com-
pany.
MAJOR MICHAEL BRENNEMAN STRICK-
LER, a retired farmer and a gallant ex-Union offi-
cer of the war of the Rebellion, was born in West
Hempfield township, Oct. 10, 1831, and West Hemp-
field township is still his home.
Henry H. and Ann (Brenneman) Strickler, his
parents, were born, respectively, on this home-
stead in West Hempfield township and in the town-
ship of East Donegal. Henry H. Strickler was an
extensive cattle dealer, who made trips to Virginia
each fall, bought stock, fattened it and shipped it to
market. Mr. Strickler was the owner also of a fine
farm of 138 acres, which was always under a high
state of cultivation, and which was utilized also for
fattening live stock. On this homestead he passed
away June 18, 1841, at the early age of thirty-eight
years, btit his widow lived to be eighty-one years old,
and she died Oct. 8, 1885. They were members of
the Presbyterian Church, and their remains were
interred in the family burying ground on the present
homestead. In politics Mr. Strickler was an old-
788
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
line Whig. To Henry H. Strickler and wife were
born four children, of whom Catherine E. died in in-
fancy; Sarah J., deceased, was married to John S.
Given ; Jacob H. died on the homestead ; and Michael
B. is the gentleman in whose interest this sketch is
chiefly prepared. The paternal grandparents of the
Major were Jacob and Sarah (Wilson) Strickler,
the former of whom was born on the West Hempfield
homestead, and the latter in York county, and to
their union were born three sons and eight "daugh-
ters. Jacob Strickler was very wealthy, owning 3,000
acres of land in this community. He and wife died
on the farm now owned by the Major.
Henry Strickler, paternal great-grandfather of
Major Strickler, came from Switzerland to America
in 1727, sailing on the ship "Friendship" from Rot-
terdam, Capt. John Davis, and coming via Cowes,
England, which port he left June 30, 1727, with 200
other passengers, and eventually reached Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania.
The maternal grandparents of Major Strickler
were Michael and Catharine (Snyder) Brenneman,
of Donegal township, now Conoy township and to '
their union were born two children only : John, de-
ceased ; and Ann, mother of the Major, also deceased.
Michael B. Strickler remained on the home farm
until 1857, and then traveled a year in Virginia.
Upon his return North he was employed by the Penn-
sylvania Railroad Company as brakeman at Colum-
bia from 1S58 until 1861, when in the fall he enlisted,
in Philadelphia, in the 8th P. V. C, was mustered in
as chief, or regimental, bugler, and remained with
the regiment until February, 1863, when all musi-
cians were mustered out by special order. Ex-Bugler
Strickler now raised a company of cavalrymen,
which was assigned as Co. B to the 20th P. V. C,
with himself as captain, and at the expiration of six
months the company veteranized, re-enlisting for
three years or during the war. The Captain had
in the meantime been promoted to Major, and took
part in all the marches and engagements and skir-
mishes in which his regiment had a share and served
until honorably discharged at Cloud's Mills, W. Va.,
June 20, 1865, with the rank of Major, although he
had frequently acted as Colonel of his regiment.
On returning home the Major purchased two
teams and hauled stone for the furnaces in his vicin-
ity for two years, and was then re-employed by the
railroad company as brakeman for a few years.
Renting a farm adjoining that which he now owns,
he farmed it for five years, and then worked for the
railroad company a year and a half. Finally, in 1879,
by reason of his mother's age and his brother's ill
health, he settled on his present farm, on which he
was born.
In August, 1866, at Philadelphia, Major Strickler
married Marian Virginia Corbit, who was born in
Harrisburg, Pa., in 1846, daughter of William and
Mary L. (Sprigman) Corbit, the former of whom
was the State printer at the time, but who later died
in York, where he had been engaged in printing.
book binding, publishing, etc. No children have
been born of this union.
Major Strickler is a member of Post No. 118,
G. A. R., at Columbia, and in politics is a Republican.
He and wife are members of the Reformed Church,
and socially stand with the best circles in Lancaster
county.
MARTIN WEAVER. The name of Weaver
in Lancaster county is well-known, and represents
integrity, morality and wealth. Hanns Weber, or
in English John Weaver, the founder of the family
in Pennsylvania, was a native of Switzerland, who
came to America in 1717, locating in Lancaster coun-
ty, where he took up a large tract of land, consist-
ing of 370 acres in West Lampeter township, one
mile northeast of Lampeter Square. Here he en-
gaged in farming and spent the balance of his life,
leaving at death one son, Jacob, who inherited the
property, and in turn transmitted it to his descend-
ants, and the greater part of the original estate is
still in the possession of the family. Many changes
have been made, divisions and sub-divisions, but
could the original owner return to view his old home,
he would find in place of the wild land and forest
trees, great fields of waving grain and lush meadows
where sleek cattle browse, and also eleven residences
and a school house in which his children's children
are instructed. Surely he would feel satisfied that
it was indeed a "goodly heritage."
Jacob Weaver, son of the founder, had twin sons
born to him, on July 4, 1750, and at his death he
divided the estate equally between them. His mar-
riage was to Magdalena Barr, and the family con-
sisted of four children: Jacob and John, twins:
Magdalena, who married Jacob Rohrer; and Bar-
bara, who married Abraham Herr. John Weaver
married Ann Landis and died in 1832.
Jacob Weaver, son of Jacob, born July 4, 1750,
died July 25, 1824. He married Esther Neiif, who
was born Sept. 27, 1756, and died Feb. 2, 1817, '
daughter of Jacob and Ann (Brackhill) Nefif. They
reared the following f amilv of children : ( i ) John,
born Oct. 3, 1777, died Nov. 10, 1779. (2) Susan-
nah, born Nov. 23, 1779, died April 30, 1805. (3)
Jacob, born Sept. 12, 1780, died Nov. i, 1872; he
married Mrs. Anna Mylin, daughter of Francis and
Fannie (Barr) Herr, and had a family of six chil-
dren, all of whom died young. (4) Samuel, born
March 8, 1782, died Oct. 23, 1840; he married Mag-
dalena Rush, daughter of Jacob and Martha (Ken-
dig) Rush, and they had seven children. (5) Ann
born March 28, 1784, died Oct. 24, 1865. (6) David
born Nov. 25 1785, died Oct. 2, 1817. (7) Martha,
born May 16, 1787, died Dec. 10, 1864; she mar-
ried Martm Harnish, son of David and Lizzie (Groff)
Harnish, and they had three children. (8) John
born June 12, 1789, died Aug. 24, 1869; he married
Elizabeth Kreider, who was born Jan. 23, 1797,
daughter of Christian and Ann (Harnish) Kreider'
and who died May 26, 1886, the mother of nine chil-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
789
<iren. (9) Rev. Joseph, born April 5, 1792, died
April 5, 1872 ; he married, first, Barbara Barr, daugh-
ter of Jacob and Ann (Kendig) Barr, by whom he
had seven children; on March 5, 1843, he married,
second, Mrs. Esther Brubaker, daughter of John
and Elizabeth (Bowman) Stehman, and they had
two children. (10) Elizabeth, born March 10, 1794,
died Sept. 20, 1820; she married Rev. Henry Bow-
man, son of Henry and Elizabeth (Herr) Bowman,
and they had one child. (11) Hettie, born April
5, 1798, died July 3, i88r ; she married Jacob Lantz,
son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Rodaker) Lantz, and
they had twelve children. The parents of this fam-
ily belonged to the Reformed Mennonite Church.
John Weaver, the eighth child of the above fam-
ily, was born on the old homestead in Lampeter town-
ship, where his father and grandfather had first seen
the light, and was reared to be a good farmer and
worthy citizen. A portion of the old farm came to
him by inheritance, and here he spent his life in the
peaceful pursuit of agriculture, and here he and his
gbod and pious wife worthily reared a family of
nine children : (i) Martin, born Aug. 6, 1820, mar-
ried Nov. 28, 1843, Annie C. Herr, who was born
Jan. 26, 1816, daughter of Francis and Fannie (Nef?)
Herr; she died Sept. 7, 1882, the mother of four
children. (2) Christian, born May 14, 1823, mar-
ried Nov. 6, 1849, Rebecca Brubaker, daughter of
Samuel and Esther (Steaman) Brubaker; she was
born Feb. 14, 1831, and became the mother of ten
children. (3) Amos, born May 22, 1825, married,
Dec. ID, 1850, Mary Harnish, who was born Feb.
16, 1831, daughter of Michael and Susan (Hess)
Harnish; she died April 11, 1894, the mother of
seven children. They were residents of East Lam-
peter township. (4) Elizabeth, bom May 2, 1827,
resides in Strasburg. (5) Ann, born March 25,
1829, died Feb. 24, 1899. (6) John K., born March
15, 1832, married Rebecca Frantz, a daughter of
, Christian and Elizabeth (Miller) Frantz, and they
have one child. (7) Cyrus J., born March 2, 1835,
married Oct. 7, 1856, Mary Witmer, daughter of
Abraham and Susan (Newcomer) Witmer, and
they have four children; they reside near Lenover,
in Chester county. (8) Francis J., born April 7,
1838, married Mary Buckwalter, a daughter of Ben-
jamin and Betsey (Mylin) Buckwalter, and they
have four children ; they reside on a part of the old
estate in Lampeter township. (9) Dr. Jacob G.,
born April 9, 1840, married Dec. 31, 1873, Lizzie
Shultz, daughter of Christian and Maria (Dieffen-
bach) Shultz, who was born July 28, 1846, and they
have six children. All of these children were
reared in tfie Reformed Mennonite Church.
Martin Weaver, eldest child of John and Eliza-
beth (Kreider) Weaver, was born on the old home-
stead. His education was acquired in the common
schools of his district and he prepared himself for
an agricultural life. His first essay for himself
was on the old homestead, which he successfully
managed for two years, and then rented a farm in
West Lampeter township from his father, where he
remained three years, and spent the succeeding three
on a farm in Strasburg township, finally settling
down upon a fine farm of 107 acres, located in East
Lampeter, some six miles east of Lancaster. Until
his retirement from activity, in 1875, this was his
home, but at that date he purchased a comfortable
little property at Midway, on the Strasburg and
Lancaster Pike road, and made his home there until
1899, when he removed into Strasburg, where he and
his sister Elizabeth, reside together. For the past
fifty-four years, Mr. Weaver has been one of the
leading members of the Reformed Mennonite Church,
while for fifty years his sister has also been a mem-
ber of that beautiful faith.
In 1882 Mr. Weaver lost his wife, leaving him
four children: (i) Frances E., born June 8, 1846,
was married Dec. i, 1872, to John H. Weaver, son of
Rev. Henry and Anna (Howery) Weaver, and they
have three children, Elmer- G., Charles M., and Cora.
(2) Anna M., born Sept. 19, 1849, was married, Dec.
10, 1876, to Daniel D. Girvin, son of Samuel and
Elizabeth (Dieffenbach) Girvin, and they have three
children, Meta, Anna, and Emily. (3) Enos H., born
Aug. 3, 1851, was married, Oct. 8, 1879, to Mary
N. Musser, daughter of Dr. Benjamin and Naomi
(Herr) Musser, who died Oct. 6, 1895, leaving six
children, Myrtle, Annie, Maud, Martin M., Mary
and Ruth. The second marriage of Enos Weaver
was to Annie Esbenshade, and they have one daugh-
ter, Catherine. (4) Ida Naoini, born Aug. 27, 1854,
married Dec. 26, 1875, Rev. John Kohr, a son of John
and Hettie (Denlinger) Kohr, and they have one
child, Enos W., born in 1879, and they reside in
Manheim township. This numerous and long-lived
family is connected by marriage with many of the
other old and prominent families of the county, and
very generally belongs to the Mennonite faith.
LANDIS LEVAN, a merchant miller of. Lan-
caster township, is a member of an old and highly re-
spected family of this section of country.
George Levan, his father, was born in Berks
county Feb. 7, 1817, and came to Lancaster county,
when a boy of thirteen. At this early age he engaged
with a Mr. Bowman, of Ephrata, and learned the
fulling trade. About 1843 he began the manufacture
of woolen goods, near Bareville, where he remained
for two years, and then located at Intercourse, con-
tinuing the manufacture of woolen goods for a num-
Iser of years. In 1857 ^e moved to Wabank, where
he took charge of a woolen mill, and two years later
he assumed control of a flour mill, running the two
establishments in conjunction. There he remained,
successfully engaged in his work until 1863, when
he removed to what is known as the Willow Grove
mills, Manor township, ind for five years operated
that concern. At the expiration of this time he lo-
cated in Lancaster City, and operated a woolen mill
on Prince street, continuing there until 1870, when
he erected the works known as the Levan mills, about
790
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
a mile south of Lancaster City, on the Lancaster and
New Danville pike, and conducted a woolen and
flour mill until 1877, when he abandoned the woolen
mill and converting the whole building into a flour-
ing mill, operated it until his death, which occurred
May 19, 1892. George Levan was a very worthy
man, beloved by his friends and trusted by all who
knew him. For twenty-five years he was trustee of
the State Normal school at Millersville, and was
chairman of the building committee when the beauti-
ful chapel was erected. In his religious affiliations
he was a member of the German Baptist Church, and
took an active part in its work. He married Nancy
L.andis, and to them were born : Samuel L., now in
partnership with our subject ; Mary A., who died
unmarried in 1900; Sallie A., wife of J. J. Ross, of
Seaford, Del. ; and Landis.
I.andis Levan was born at Ephrata, June 20,
1855, and remained with his father until he was
twenty-three years of age, receiving his education at
the district schools, and at the State Normal School
at Millersville. A partnership was then formed, the
members of the firm being George Levan and his two
sons, Samuel and Landis, under the style of Levan
& Sons, which name is still retained. The mill has
a capacity of two hundred barrels per day, and they
export considerable of their product to Scotland.
Landis Levan has since that time devoted his entire
attention to the merchant milling business, and has
attained a success that is enviable. For thirteen
years he was secretary of the State Millers' Associa-
tion, and has been its treasurer for twenty-two years.
Landis Levan was married to Miss Laura E.
Martin, daughter of John J. and Catherine Martin,
and to them five children were born : S. High, of
Lancaster City; George K., Catherine E., Marie L.
and John J., all at home. The beautiful home erected
by George Levan in 1877 is now the property of
Landis Levan, and is considered one of the finest res-
idences in the entire township, and is conveniently
located to the works. Mr. Levan is justly regarded
as one of the representative and. leading men of Lan-
caster county, and has always given his support to
all measures calculated to prove of benefit to the
community, where he has passed all of his business
life, and in which he and his family have so many
friends. His political principles are those of the Re-
publican party.
GEORGE HEIM. No better illustration of the
characteristic energy and enterprise of the typical
German-American citizen can be found than that
afforded by the career of this gentleman, who at pres-
ent is practically living, a retired life in Columbia,
Pa. Coming to this country with no captial except
his abilities, he has made his way to success through
wisely directed effort, and can now look back with
satisfaction upon past struggles.
Mr. Heim was born Feb. 13, 1832, in Hessen-
Darmstadt, Germany, where his parents, Adam and
Catherine (Yorhann) Heim spent their entire hves.
In his younger years the father followed the shoe-
maker's trade, and later worked as a lumberman. He
died in 1857, aged seventy-five years; his wife died
aged ninety-five years. Their children were : Peter,
who died in Germany; John, a shoemaker of York
county. Pa. ; Leonard, a millwright of Germany ;
Cieorge ; and Catherine, who married George Beitsel,
a miller, and died in Germany.
During his boyhood George Heim attended school
until fourteen years of age, and then commenced
learning the shoemaker's trade, which he has made
his life work. On Dec. 2^, 1852, he came to Amer-
ica, and first located in East Prospect, York Co., Pa.,
where he followed his chosen occupation four years,
but since then his home has been in Columbia. There
he has met with success, and is now quite well-to-do,
being able to lay aside active labor. For the past five
years he has practically lived retired, though he does
a little work now and then. For twelve years he has
been a director of St. Joseph's Building Association,
and he is also a director of the Home Building &
Loan Association, which was founded in 1899. The
Democratic party finds in him a stanch supporter of
its principles, and he is an active member of Salem
German Lutheran Church.
On May 39, 1856, in Columbia, Mr. Heim mar-
ried Miss Christina Gussler, a native of Wurtemberg,
Germany, and a daughter of George Gussler, a mason
by trade, who spent his entire life in that country.
Mrs. Heim came to America in 1854, and died Feb.
9, 1895, at the age of sixty-four years. She left four
children, namely : George, a conductor on the Penn-
sylvania Railroad and a resident of Columbia, mar-
ried Ella Carter, and has four children, Rosa,
Charles, Clara and Lillie ; John, an engineer on the
Pennsylvania railroad, and a resident of Columbia,
married Lizzie Ambrose, and they have three chil-
dren, Edgar, Harry and Walter ; Charles, a baker of
Prospect, Pa., married Emma Leber, but they have
no children ; and Lillie is the wife of Edwin Marley,
a bricklayer of Columbia, and they have two chil-
dren, George and May.
MARTIN HUBER. Although each man builds
his own character, it is a satisfaction to belong to a
family whose name in one locality has stood for honor
and respectability for generations, and such is the
case in the present instance. Martin Huber, one of
the mo,st highly respected citizens of West Lampeter
township, is a worthy representative of one of the
best and most favorably known agricultural families,
in this locality.
Henry Huber, his grandfather, with his wife
Anna, were, during life standard bearer* in the Old
Mennonite Church, and hospitable and esteemed resi-
dents of one of the excellent farms of this region.
Jacob Huber; son of Henry, was also a farmer.
He died at the age of forty-one, while his wife,
Mary Herr, lived to be sixty-one, rearing a family of
five children ; Jacob, a farmer of the county, died
near Beaver; Henry moved to Illinois, where he
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
791
died ; Susanna ; Eliza, who married Cyrus Zittle, is
deceased ; tlie only members of the family surviving
being Martin and Susanna, the latter now about
seventy years of age.
Martin Huber was born on the old family farm
near Big Springs, July 23, 1823, a son of Jacob and
Mary (Herr) Huber, and was reared and educated
in the common schools of the district. At the early
age of ten years he left home, and went to live with
an uncle, with whom he remained until he was eight-
een years old. At that time he began to learn the
the wheelwright trade under the instruction of Jacob
Hoover, and completed his apprenticeship when he
was twenty-one. This business Martin followed for
fourteen years and then began farming in West
Lampeter township, between Lampeter and Stras-
burg, operating an eighty acre farm for ten years, at
the close of that period selling it, and returning to
his trade in Willowstreet, which he followed for the
succeeding twenty-five years, being industrious and
worthy of all confidence. Since that time he has
lived in retirement, enjoying a competency which he
has earned. Aside from the home property, Martin
Huber owns a fine farm of eighty-six acres and both
places are well improved, the home dwelling being
erected in 1869.
On Nov. 15, 1847, Martin Huber was married to
Maria Hoover, daughter of Christian Hoover and
Anna (Shaub) Hoover, who was born in Strasburg
township Sept. 18, 1825, and four children were born
to this union : Aaron, who died in childhood ; Anna
M., who died young; Emma, who married David A.
Huber, of W'est Lampeter ; and Frances E., who mar-
ried Henry Shenk, a farmer of this township. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Huber are respected and esteemed in
the community, are worthy members of the Old
Mennonite Church and well known to a wide circle
of friends. Among her neighbors Mrs. Huber is
known for her kindness, and also for her skill in care
for the sick, being most successful in alleviating
whooping cough, by means of some of her own medi-
cines.
JOHN MARTIN BACHMAN, the widely-
known contracting house carpenter and builder whose
beaixtiful residence is at No. 830 Columbia avenue, is
descended from one of the oldest families of Lan-
caster county, the Bachman family to which he be-
longs having come to America from Germany with
Hans Herr, the progenitor of all the Herrs in this
country.
Mr. Bachman has several Bibles in his possession
, that came to him through his ancestors among the
, Rohrers, and one of these bears an inscription, which
shows it was in the possession of Mr. Bachman's an-
cestors as early as 1640.
It is very natural for our subject to be a carpenter
by trade, for his father, grandfather and great-grand-
father were carpenters, and all of thern were born in
Lancaster county, where they carried on their trade
and died. All of them were named John, and all lived
in the vicinity of Willowstreet, where Mr. Bach-
man's father died in 1876. The mother of our sub-
ject was Annie Herr, a daughter of Benjamin Herr,
a farmer of Lampeter. To our subject's parents
eleven children were born, of whom the following
are living : Abraham, a carpenter of Lampeter ; Hat- •
tie, widow of Simon Weaver, of Lancaster ; Hannah
fwhom her brother John M. has not seen for thirty-
eight years), wife of Christian Zercher, a carpenter
of St. Louis, Mo. ; Amanda, wife of Benjamin
Weaver, of Lancaster; and John Martin, of Lan-
caster.
John Martin Bachman was born at Pequea, this
county, Aug. 6, 1841, and was educated in the pub-
lic schools of the district. When fifteen years old he
became an apprentice at carpentering, learning his
trade with his brother Benjamin, at Willowstreet,
where he remained until 1895. In that year he built
a model dwelling on Columbia avenue, Lancaster, and
removed to that city. For more than thirty-five years
he has engaged in contracting as a builder, and dur-
ing that time has erected many hundreds of dwell-
ings, in the city and county, and also in other sections.
Some years ago he had a very large contract for the
erection of buildings at the well-known sea-side re-
sort of Oceanport, where he put up twelve large
structures, including one that covered seven acres.
He built eight public school houses in Lancaster
county, and was the contractor who built three model
barns for the Lancaster County Almshouse — the first
in 1883, and the second in 1886; the third in 1902;
all were destroyed by fire. He rebuilt the Lancaster
County Insane, Asylum some years ago, after it had
been partially destroyed by fire. Mr. Bachman is a
Republican in politics, and served as a justice of the
peace for West Lampeter for ten years.
Mr. Bachman has been twice married, his first
wife having been Mary B. Harnish, daughter of
Jacob Harnish, the retired dry-goods merchant of
West King street. After her death he married
Susan Harnish, her sister. Four children were
born of the first union, only one of whom survives,
Jacob, who served in the Spanish American war.
To the second marriage have been born four sons,
all of whom are living, namely: Benjamin Frank-
lin, a carpenter, who is assisting his father at house-
building ; John Ira, a plumber, of Pittsburg ; Leroy,
a watchmaker, employed in the Hamilton Watch
Factory, Lancaster; and Arthur Garfield (born on
the day that James A. Garfield was nominated for
the presidency), who was in the class of 1902, Le-
high University.
A model builder and a model citizen, Mr. Bach-
man enjoys the highest regard of the entire com-
munity, and we honor him — as well as the patriotic
deed — by closing this sketch with a deserved tribute
to his soldier brother, Amos W. . Bachman. The
record of this gallant soldier, who gave up his
studies at the State Normal School at Millersville,
to enlist as a soldier for the Union, is as follows :
Private of Co. C, 99th P. V. I., mustered in Aug.
792
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
8, 1861 ; promoted to corporal, sergeant and first
sergeant; commissioned second lieutenant, to rank
from Feb. 3, 1863; first lieutenant, May 17, 1864;
captain, July 8, 1864. Service: 1862, assigned 2nd
Brigade, ist division, 3d Army Corps. Kettle Run
or Bristol Station, Aug. 27th ; Grovetown and
Gainesville, Aug. 28th and 29th; Bull Run, Aug.
30th; Chantilly, Sept. ist; White Ford, Sept. 15th;
Fredericksburg, Dec. 13th. In 1863: assigned to
2nd Brigade, 3rd division, 2nd army corps. Army of
Potomac. Chancellorsville, May i-3d; Gettysburg,
July i-3d; wounded slightly June 2d; Wapping
Heights, July 23d; Auburn, Oct. 14th; Kelly Ford,
Nov. 7th; Mine Run, Nov. 26-28th; Wilderness,
May sth, wounded; Spottsylvania, May nth,
wounded ; North Anna, May 22-27th ; Tolopotomy,
May 29-3 1st; Cold Harbor, June i-i2th'; Peters-
burg, June i6-23d; Deep Bottom, July 27-28th;
mine explosion, July 3d; captain of Co. A, 203d
P. V. I., mustered in September, 1864; lieutenant
colonel, Feb. 14, 1865 ; colonel, June 15, 1865. As-
signed to 2nd Brigade, 2nd division, loth Army
Corps, Army of the James. Service: Darbytown
Road, Oct. 7th ; Fair Oaks near Richmond, Oct.
27th; Fort Fisher, Jan. 15th; advance on Wilming-
ton, Sugar Loaf Battery, Feb. nth; Fort Anderson,
Feb. 18th ; capture of Wilmington, Feb. 22nd ; mus-
tered out June 22, 1865. Such is the record in brief
of Col. Bachman's gallant service in the Civil war.
He died at the home of his brother John M. Bach-
man at Willowstreet, in the prime of manhood, in
his fiftieth year. His remains were interred in
Fernwood cemetery, Philadelphia, where a grand
memorial tablet' was erected to his memory. The
ceremony of unveiling this tablet was a memorable
one, and the Philadelphia papers contained lengthy
account of the exercises. No more gallant soldier
than Col. Bachman could be found among all the
brave men who fought that this country might live.
ANDREW R..SHELLENBERGER, a retired
farmer residing in West Hempfield township, was
born a half-mile distant from his present farm, Aug.
25, 1836; son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Rohrer) Shell-
enberger, natives of the same township, the former
of whom was born on the same farm on which his
son was afterward born.
Jacob Shellenberger was a life-long farmer, and
was quite prominent in his day, being supervisor of
his town when still a young man. His death took
place in February, 1877, when he was seventy-six
years old, but his wife, who was born March 17,
1809, survived till Jan. 22, 1890. They were mem-
bers of the German Baptist Church, but their re-
mains were interred in Habekers ]\Iennonite Church-
yard. Their family consisted of eight children, viz :
Susannah R., who was born on the old homestead
June II, 1832. and has never married; Daniel, born
Feb. 23, 1835, died Aug. 23, 1835 ; Andrew R., is
the gentleman whose name opens this biographical
notice ; Abraham, born June 10, 1838, died Jan. 10,
1898; Jacob R., born March 9, 1841, a physician in
Germantown; Elizabeth R., born May 15, 1844., lives
in Mountville, and is the widow of Abram Mellinger ;
Sarah, born Nov. 15, 1847, died Nov. 17, 1847, and
Mary, born Oct. 26, 1848, was married to Amos N.
Lehman, of Manor township, and died Nov. 22, 1873.
Andrew R. Shellenberger lived in the old home-
stead until the spring of 1869, and then came to his
present farm of eighty-four acres, where he is en-
gaged in raising tobacco. Abraham Shellenberger,
brother of Andrew R., was born on this farm, and
here died. This farm was granted from John,
Thomas, and Richard Penn, sons of William Penn,
Sept. 17, 1746,- to Ulrick Shallenberger, an ancestor
of the present family. Further allusion to Abraham
Shellenberger's family will be made a little fur-
ther on.
On Nov. 22, 1868, Andrew R. Shellenberger
married Martha Mellinger in Lancaster City, and to
this union have been born three children as 'follows :
Ella M., April 7, 1873, died Aug. 22, 1875 ; Jacob
C, born July 9, 1876, is still unmarried ; and Edward
M., born Feb. 28, 1882. Mrs. Martha (Mellinger)
Shellenberger was born in Manor township Feb. 15,
1841, daughter of Christian and Susan (Hertzler)
Mellinger. The family are Mennonites. Andrew
R., the father, has served as township auditor, being
elected by the Republican party of which he is a
stanch advocate.
On Jan. 14, 1872, Abraham Shellenberger, spoken
of above, married Anna N. Lehman, a native of
Manor township, a daughter of Benjamin Lehman
and sister of Amos NT Lehman, of whom further may
be read on another page of this volume. To Abra-
ham and Anna N. Shellenberger were born three chil-
dren, viz: Elizabeth L., Mary L., and Daniel L.
The father, Abraham had a fine farm of 140 acres,
on which he passed his entire life. A Mennonite in
religion, he was a Deacon in that church at the time
of bis death ; in politics he was a Republican.
THOMAS F. McSPARRAN, a member of one
of Lancaster county's leading families, was born in
Fulton township Nov. 20, 1837, son of James and
Amelia F. (McCullough) McSparran, of Lancaster
county. The family is of Scotch-Irish origin.
James McSparran, the grandfather of Thomas
F., was a son of pioneers of the county, and was bom
here, on the family homestead now owned and occu-
pied by his grandson, Thomas F. This place, which
stands near Peach Bottom, will be one hundred years
old in 1904, and is still in a good state of preserva-
tion-. The foundation was commenced about 1800,
and the house was completed in about three years.
James McSparran was the father of fifteen children,
of whom James, Jr., father of. Thomas F., born in
1801, died in 1864 ; he was a twin brother of Isabell,
the wife of John King, both of whom are deceased;
Elinor IS deceased; Thomas, now (1903) eighty-
three years old, resides in York county; William,
twin of Thomas, is deceased ; Miss Rachel, now over
t/^^^^-^O^LJlJ Jf ^^
U^^i^^ /l^r...^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
793
seventy, resides in Drumore township, and she and
Thomas are the only survivors of this large family.
James McSparran, father of Thomas F., was
married in 1832 to Amelia Fraiser McCuUough, a
daughter of Hugh McCuUough, of Lancaster coun-
ty, and eight children were bom of this union : James
and Hugh, both deceased ; Thomas' F. ; Miss Mary
E., who died in April, 1902 (she lived in Fulton
township) ; Eleanor, who died in infancy ; Grace B.,
widow of Rev. Alonzo Michael ; Sanders ; and John
K., deceased. Mrs. James McSparran died in 1900,
at the age of eighty-six years.
Thomas F. McSparran married Miss Ada Berta
McClure, of Philadelphia, Feb. 15, 1897. She was
born Dec. 6, 1858, of Scotch-Irish parents. Thomas
F. McSparran has traveled extensively. He was in
the West from 1868 to 1882, and owned a large farm
of 280 acres in northwestern Missouri. In 1882 he
returned to Lancaster county, to manage the family
farm of 240 acres, which he purchased at the death of
his mother, in 1900. Half of this farm lies in Fulton
township, with the farm buildings, and half in Dru-
tnore, where he resides. His place has first-class
improvements, and is in a high state of cultivation.
In politics Mr. McSparran holds to the old Jeffer-
sonian doctrines, and is a leader in his party. Alto-
gether he occupies a prominent place in the com-
munity, and he is greatly respected for his many
sterling traits of character.
FRANKLIN DILLICH. The ancestors of
Franklin Dillich, one of the well-known business
citizens of Lampeter, Lancaster county, were of
German origin, his parents, Martin and Mary (Sny-
der) Dillich, both having been born and reared in
Bavaria, Germany, where they man ied, coming soon
after to the United States. Many of their country-
men had alread)r settled in Lancaster county, and
hither they came, locating in Strasburg township, but
soon after removing to Paradise township, where
Martin Dillich purchased a small farm, and until his
death, at the age of seventy-five years, his principal
avocation was farming. His last days were spent
in the home of his son Franklin, at the "Lamb Hotel,"
in West Lampeter township, his death occurring in
1876. His wife had passed away seven years previ-
ously. They were both devoted adherents of the
Catholic Church, and piously reared a family of three
children : Franklin, who lives in Lampeter ; Charles,
a carpenter by trade, who for sixteen years was in
the employ of the Pennsylvania R. R. Co., and now
lives in Lancaster ; and Martin, also a resident of the
city of Lancaster, a blacksmith by trade, in the em-
ploy of The Champion Blower & Forge Company.
Franklin Dillich was born March 4, 1837, and was
reared on a farm, receiving his education in the public
schools of his district. At the age of twenty-two, he
decided to learn the blacksmith's trade, and with this
end in view, entered the shop of Peter Eberly, at
Strasburg, where he remained until he was competent
to open up a business of his own. Purchasing the
Rudy Shaub property, located in Strasburg borough,
he conducted a blacksmith business in that place for
the following seven years, and then took charge of
the "Lamb Hotel," at HoUinger, conducting this hos-
pitable and popular house for five years in connec-
tion with his other business. Upon selling this prop-
erty he removed to Lampeter, where he has since
been actively engaged in the conduct of his smithy,
and also does some farming, owning a tract of four-
teen acres, which is highly cultivated and well im-
proved. Mr. Dillich proves that- he is not only an
excellent blacksmith, but also one of the best farmers
in this locality.
The first marriage of Franklin Dillich was to Kate
Yeager, a daughter of Christian Yeager, who died
without issue. His second marriage was to Mary
Ann Finefrock, a daughter of Peter Finefrock, and
to this union were born two children: Frank J.,
who is a blacksmith by trade and is associated with
his father in business; and Anna, wife of F. Gertz,
of Lancaster City. The mother of these children died
in 1883, and Mr. Dillich married Martha Crawford,
a daughter of George Crawford, and one child has
been born of this marriage, George M. The whole
family are devoted members of the Catholic Church,
and Mr. Dillich is justly regarded as one of the rep-
resentative business men of Lampeter.
DANIEL MUSSER, a retired farmer of Lan-
caster, was born in West Lampeter township, this
county, June 18, 1829, son of Martin and Anna (Hos-
tetter) Musser, of Lampeter and Manor townships,
respectively.
Martin Musser was a farmer and physician and
died in West Lampeter township in 1847, aged fifty-
six, while his wife died in 1862, aged seventy-two,
and both are buried in Longeneckers Church Ceme-
tery. They were members of the Reformed Mennon-
ite Church. Their children were as follows : Jacob ;
Benjamin; Henry; Martin; Daniel; Gideon, who
died in childhood; Martha, deceased, who mar-
ried John F. Herr; Anna, deceased, who married
Theodore W. Herr, of Denver, Colo.; Susan, de-
ceased, who married Daniel K. Herr ; Emma, second
wife of Theodore W. Herr.
The boyhood days of Mr. Musser were spent like
those of ordinary country boys, working upon the
farm and receiving such educational advantages as
lay within the means of his parents. When he at-
tained to manhood's estate, he began farming for
himself, operating a fine farm in Locust Valley,
Strasburg township, this county, until 1891, when he
retired from active business life, and has since then
lived in Lancaster, enjoying leisure earned by years
of toil and thrifty management.
On Nov. 7, 1858, in Longenecker's Church, Mr.
Musser was married to Miss Susannah Herr, born
March 17, 1836, at New Danville, Lancaster county,
daughter of Henry and Mary (Rohrer) Herr, of this
county, where the father was a farmer and miller
until 1877, when he retired and removed to Lancaster,
794
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and there died in 1895, aged eighty-one; his wife
died in 1838, aged twenty-four. Both are buried in
Longenecker's Cemetery and both were members of
the Reformed Mennonite Church. Two children
were born to the parents of Mrs. Musser : Daniel K.,
now a florist of Lancaster ; and Susannah. After the
death of his wife, Mr. Herr married Fanny Herr,
who died in 1857, aged sixty-two, leaving no children.
Mr. Herr married a third time, his choice being Char-
lotte Herr, who bore him one child, Lizzie, who died
unmarried in 1890. Mrs. Charlotte Herr is still liv-
ing, and resides in Lancaster. The paternal grand-
father of Mrs. JMusser was Martin Herr, a farmer
and a very prominent man of his locality, who mar-
ried Susan (Buckwalter) Herr, of Lancaster county.
. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Musser :
Mary A., and Susie, who died in childhood; Martin
H., a dentist of Lancaster, who married Mary Herr,
of Strasburg, Pa., but has no children; and Emma
E., now deceased, who married Hiram Bellinger, of
Paradise, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Musser are consistent
members of the Reformed Mennonite Church, and
are highly esteemed in Lancaster, being possessed of
true charity and Christian kindliness which wins them
many trusty friends.
CHRIST G. LONGENECKER. Among the
well-known and reliable business men of Maytown,
and identified with its best interests all his life, is
Christ G. Longenecker, the capable and efficient
manager of the Hoffman Bros.' cigar manufacturing
plant, of Maytown.
Christ G. Longenecker was born in that town
April 4, 1851, son of Jacob and Mary (Grove)
Longenecker, the former of whom was a farmer of
East Donegal township, who was a man of means,
a school director many years and who died June 14,
1879. Mrs. Mary (Grove) Longenecker survived
until Aug. 8, 1888, dying at the age of sixty-five
years, and was buried beside her husband in East
Donegal cemetery. Both had been most worthy mem-
bers of the Church of God. Eight children were born
to this worthy couple, as follows : Elizabeth, who
married John C. Swiler, and resides in Phila-
delphia; Amanda, who married W. W. Shireman,
and is now deceased ; Anna, who married A. M. Cas-
sel, of Denver, Colo. ; John, deceased ; Christ G. ;
Mary, deceased; George, manager of Watt &
Shand's store, Columbia, Pa. ; and Ella, who married
J. W. Parkerson of Denver, Colorado.
The Longenecker family originated in Switzer-
land, leaving that country on account of the pro-
scription laws, and settled in Lancaster county at an
early day. The paternal grandparents of Christ G.,
the subject of this biography, were John and Eliza-
beth Longenecker, farmers of East Donegal, and the
maternal grandparents were Christ and Elizabeth
Grove, whose ancestry was also Swiss. •
Christ G. Longenecker was reared on the home
farm where he remained until he was fifteen years
old, and then went to Philadelphia where he learned
the trade of bookbinder, remaining four years, and
then returned to his old home. A favorable opening
presenting itself, Mr. Longenecker entered the man-
ufactory of the S. B. Francis Cigar Co., as foreman
and manager, continuing as their efficient and faith-
ful employe for a period of twelve years. On July
I, 1900, he accepted a similar position with Hoffman
Brothers.
On Dec. 24, 1874, Mr. Longenecker was married
to Miss Harriet Johnstin, and to this union have
been born : Miriam J., who married H. B. Haines,
of Maytown ; Sarah J., who married John H. Miller,
of Marietta, Pa. ; Howard J. ; Mary J. ; and Ruth M.
In politics Mr. Longenecker. is a leader in the Repub-
lican party, and fraternally is connected with the
American Mechanics. He has long been influential
in the Lutheran Church. As a citizen he stands well
before the pegp.'e of his town, and possesses the es-
teem of all, both in commercial and social circles.-
SHENK. One of the old and influential families
of Lancaster county is that bearing the name of
Shenk. Among its worthy representatives several
generations ago was Martin. Shenk, a native of Man-
heim township. His wife, Elizabeth, was a native
of West Hempfield township. They were life-long,
industrious, honest toilers of the fertile soil, and
reared a large family of children.
John Shenk, one of their sons, was born in Man-
heim township, Lancaster county, about 1808. John
was reared on the farm and followed farming as his
vocation in life. He married Mariah Kauifman,
daughter of Jacob Kauffman, one of the sturdy set-
tlers of Manheim township. They were devout mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church, and lived in West
Hempfield township through life. John, in his later,
years, was a Republican in politics, and lived to the"'
ripe old age of eighty-five years, passing away in
1894. His wife, Mariah, died in 1870, aged sixty-
six years. They are. buried at Marietta. Six chil-
dren were born to John and Mariah Shenk, namely r
Henry K., a retired farmer of West Hempfield town-
ship, whose sketch appears below ; Martha, who mar-
ried John Minnick, a farmer of West Hempfield
township; Jacob, who lives retired in Myerstown,
Lebanon county ; Elizabeth, wife of Henry Royer, a
farmer of Lebanon countv ; Christian K., farmer and
tobacco merchant of West Hempfield township,
whose sketch also appears herewith ; and Mariah, of
Lewistown.
Henry K. Shenk, one of the old and highly hon-
ored citizens of West Hempfield township, for almost
half a century, has lived on the farm which he now
occupies. He came to the farm when twenty years
of age, and his earnest, active, influential and success-
ful career is known to all men in that locality He
is the son of John and Mariah (Kauffman) Shenk,
and was born on the old homestead in Manheim
township Feb. 27, 1833. He married Dec. 2K, 1862,
in East Donegal township, Mary S. Rhoads, who
was born in Manor township, April 8, 1833 daughter
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
795
of George and Elizabeth Rhoads, residents of East
Donegal township, where George Rhoads was widely-
known as an industrious and skillful blacksmith, and
as an enterprising farmer. To George and Elizabeth
Rhoads were born six children, as follows : Abra-
ham, who lived retired in Maytown, Lancaster coun-
ty, and is now deceased ; Elizabeth, wife of Benjamin
Hoffman of Conoy township ; Mary, deceased wife
of Henry K. Shenk ; Levi, a retired farmer of Quarry-
ville ; Susan, widow of Christian Brant of Maytown ;
and George, a farmer of East Donegal township.
Mary, the wife of Henry K. Shenk, died Dec. 23,
1893, aged sixty years. The only child of Henry K.,
and Mary S. (Rhoads) Shenk is Elizabeth, who mar-
ried Eli L. Nissley, a tobacco merchant of East Done-
gal township, by whom she has a family of four chil-
dren. In politics Henry K. Shenk is a Republican.
His well cultivated farm comprises ninety-eight
acres, and as an agriculturalist he has been progres-
sive, wide awake and eminently successful. As a
public spirited citizen he ranks high, and he holds the
deep esteem of a wide circle of friends and acquaint-
ances.
Christian K. Shenk is one of the most active
and prominent citizens of West Hempfield township,
— c^ man who has engaged extensively in agricultural
pursuits for many years, latterly in connection with
the tobacco business, and prospered to a marked de-
gree. He was born in Manheim township, March 5,
1840. He remained on the home farm with his par-
ents, assisting in the arduous agricultural pursuits
of the times until his marriage, which occurred, when
he was twenty-nine years old. He was married at
Columbia, in December, 1869, to Miss Anna Heidler,
and by this marriage had two children : Oliver, who
married Elizabeth Hostetter and lives in Manor
township ; and Laura, who married Benjamin Koch,
Dec. 27, 1900, and lives in Conshohocken, Pa. The
wife died in March, 1876, aged thirty-five years, and
for his second wife. Christian K. Shenk married at
Columbia in December, 1881, Martha Heidler, sister
of his deceased first wife.
They were the daughters of Levi and Martha
(Hougendobler) Heidler, who individually repre-
sented two of the oldest families in Lancaster county.
Levi was the son of William and Nancy (Forry)
Heidler, natives, respectively, of Bird-in-Hand, and
of West Hempfield township. Both died compara-
tively early in life, while residents of Marietta. Will-
iam Heidler was drowned in 1826, at the age of thirty-
five years, while fishing in the Susquehanna river.
His wife died in 1829, aged thirty-three years. They
left five children as follows : Levi ; Nancy, who mar-
ried Samuel Johnson and is now deceased; Hannah,
deceased wife of Harry Heise ; Cyrus, deceased ; and
William who became a miller and went West. Levi,
who was a prominent retired farmer of Cordelia, was
born Aug. 26, 1815, and died in October, 1901.
Levi Heidler married in Lancaster, Jan. 9, 1838,
Martha Hougendoubler, who was born in West
Hempfield township April i, 1820, daughter of Nich-
olas and Barbara (Geldmaker) Hougendobler, and
granddaughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Peters) Hou-
gendobler. Isaac and his three brothers emigrated
from Germany, and were among the earliest settlers
of West Hempfield township, Lancaster county, buy-
ing the land from William Penn. Nicholas, son of
Isaac Hougendobler, was born in West Hempfield
township, and was a weaver by trade and later a dis-
tiller. He died in Indiana in 1880, aged eighty-seven
years. He married three times. By his first wife
Barbara Geldmaker, who died in 1827, aged thirty
years, he had four children : Barbara, deceased wife
of Jacob Bard; Nancy, deceased wife of Michael
Crider; Martha, who married Levi Heidler; and
Henry, a tailor of Manheim. By his second wife,
Mary Conklin, Nicholas Hougendobler had one child,
Samuel, a tailor, now deceased. By his third wife,
Mary Eston, he had eight children, namely : Sarah,
who married Amasiah Young, of Manheim; Jacob,
Amos and Abraham, who live with their mother in
Indiana; and Harriet, Lizzie, Franklin and Harriet
(2), who died young.
To Levi and Martha (Hougendobler) Heidler
were born eleven children, as follows: Anna, who
married Christian K. Shenk, and is now deceased;
William, who married Mary Bart, and lives in Cor-
delia ; Henry, of San Diego, Cal. ; Barbara ; Harriet,
wife of Henry Brenneman, a veterinary surgeon of
Mt. Joy ; Cyrus, proprietor of a bakery at Mountville,
Pa. ; Sarah, wife of Dr. Charles McAuley, a physician
of Petersburg ; Martha, wife of Christian K. Shenk ;
Mary who died young.; Samuel, who married Adelia
Bunn, and is a school teacher of Springfield, 111.;
and Horace, a telegraph operator of Chickies, Lan-
caster county. Levi Heidler retired from active
farming in West Hempfield in 1887, after which he
lived in Columbia and Cordelia, successively. In
politics he was a Democrat, and in religious faith he
was for many years a member of the English
Lutheran Church, to which his wife also belongs.
After his marriage Christian K. Shenk operated
his father's farm for ten years on the shares. He
then engaged in the tobacco business in connection
with farming and trucking and is now one of the
prominent tobacco merchants of the county. In poli-
tics he is a Republican. His wife is a member of
the Lutheran Church. They are prominent in the
social life of the township, and most highly esteemed
for their many estimable qualities. Christian K.
Shenk has proved himself a successful business man,
and his keen business judgment integrity and energy
have placed him among the foremost citizens of West
Hempfield township.
CLOYD R. COLLIER, one of the most reliable
engineers on the Pennsylvania Railroad and now re-
siding in Columbia, Lancaster county, was born in
MifHintown,- Juniata Co., Pa., March 23, 1845,
son of James and Margaret (Tyson) Collier, who
had a family of nine children, namely : Cloyd R. ;
Elizabeth J., wife of William A. Partner, a farmer
796
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of Mifflintown ; Alice A., married to George Kelley,
a railroad engineer of the same place; Lucian W.,
Loran McG., and John M., deceased; Harvey F.,
a brakeman ; Charles, of Columbia ; and William A.,
of Harrisburg. The father died at the age of fifty-
three years, and the mother in 1899, ^t the age of
seventy-three, the former in the faith of the Bap-
tist Church, and the latter in that of the Lutheran.
Cloyd R. Collier was reared on a farm, but at the
age of sixteen years he left home to become a de-
fender of the integrity of his country's flag. He en-
listed for three years or during the war, in August,
1862, in Co. F, i6th P. V. C, under J. Robinson,
who went out as captain and returned as colonel.
During his service he took part in some of the
severest battles that occurred in the Army of the
Potomac, and in skirmishes inntiraerable. He was
mustered out at Richmond, Va., and honorably dis-
charged at Harrisburg, Aug. 23, 1865.
Mr. Collier, on reaching home, was employed as
a laborer on the tracks of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Co' until 1867, then went to Gettysburg, where
he farmed until 1871. He then returned to Lan-
caster and resumed work in the furnaces. He con-
tinued to be thus employed until 1874, when he be-
gan as fireman with the Railroad Company, and in
1882 was promoted to engineer.
On July 2, 1868, in Chickies, Lancaster county,
Mr. Collier was united in marriage with Miss Sarah
A. Lochard, who was born in Newtown, Pa., a
daughter of John and Margaret (Hammonds.)
Lochard; she died March 25, 1899, jit the age of
forty-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Lochard were
the parents of the following children : Margaret J.,
wife of George W. Humble, engineer at Columbia ;
James W., who died young; Cloyd R., boilermaker
for the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., at Columbia, and
married to Katherine Hougentogles ; John F., a
brakeman at home; Saloma C, wife of John L.
Madden, a machinist at Columbia ; and Alice F. and
Charles C, at home.
John Lochard, the father of Mrs. Collier, is a
retired stationary engine manufacturer, and was
born in March, 1824. He lost his wife March 4, 1888,
she being sixty-four years of age at the time
she died, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal
church. There were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lochard
nine children in the following order : Saloma, wife
of Joshua Collier, a lumberman of Marysville, Pa. ;
Sarah A., the deceased wife of Cloyd R. Collier;
Emma F., married to J. K. Snyder, a street-car con-
ductor in Philadelphia; John B., of Columbia;
Samuel, in the West; Anna M., Maggie J., and
Ulysses G., deceased ; and Clara B., wife of George
White, a tinsmith in Columbia.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Sarah A.
Collier were John C. and Anna (Conklin) Lochard,
of Newtown, where the grandfather was engaged in
farming, and also conducted a temperance hotel;
the maternal grandparents came from Chester coun-
ty to Lancaster county, where grandfather Ham-
monds also conducted a hotel, and here he and wife
passed the remainder of their days.
Cloyd R. Collier is one of the most trustworthy
engineers in the employ of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Co., and with the children that now form the
home circle is in the enjoyment of the highest es-
teem of all his neighbors. They are consistent mem-
bers of the English Lutheran Church, and Mr. Col-
lier is a member of the B. of L. F., the Relief, and
the K. O. T. M. In politics he is a Democrat.
LEMUEL CHEW EBY, the popular and suc-
cessful local representative of the American School
Furniture Co., of New York, is a conspicuous and
welcome figure in this community. He comes from
a prominent and long-lived family, his great-grand-
father having died at the age of eighty-three years ;
his grandfather at eighty-four ; his father at eighty-
one ; his mother at eighty-four. The line of ancestry
is a lengthy one. The paternal great-grandfather and
grandfather bore the name of John.
John Eby, the grandfather, lived in Brickerville,
Lancaster county, and the father. Christian Eby, was
a fruit-grower of Conestoga Center. Mary Eby, the
mother of Lemuel C, was a daughter of John Kendig,
a well-known hotel keeper of Conestoga Center. To
Christian and Mary Eby were born six children,
three of whom are living. Lemuel C, of Lan-
caster ; L. H., of Philadelphia ; and Elmina, the
widow of Aldus Groflf, of Philadelphia.
Lemuel C. Eby was born in Conestoga Center,
Sept. 2; 1843, ^iid was educated in the district schools
until he reached the age of eleven years. In 1854 he
came to Lancaster to take a position as a newspaper
carrier, and was then employed in the book store of
his uncle, the late Elias Barr. He remained seven
years, in the book store of John Bears' Sons when
he took a position with the American School Furni-
ture Co., of New York, where he soon became a very
successful traveling salesman. There is not a school
probably in Lancaster county that does not possess
some article which it has bought from this gifted and
energetic representative of the great firm. In the
spring of 1900 he placed 600 chairs in the Lancaster,
Court House,, and in October of the same year he
secured the contract to supply 1000 opera chairs for
the main auditorium of the Y. M. C. A.
Lemuel C. Eby was married, in 1868, to Miss
Mary, a daughter of the late David B. Hostetter, one
of the most respected citizens of Lancaster. By this
marriage he became the father of two children : Ed-
ward G., who is now at the head of the notion de-
partment of the New York Store of this city ; and
David Charles, who is at the head of the shoe depart-
ment of J. R. Foster's Department Store.
Mr. Eby was elected by the Republicans of the
Sixth ward to a seat in the common branch in the
city council, but was obliged to resign, after serving
two terms, on account of the fact that his headquar-
ters are now in Philadelphia, and he is able to spend
only Saturday and Sunday with his family in their
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
797
elegant and new home on East Chestnut street.
From boyhood he has been a member of the First
Methodist Church, and was at one time a member of
the board of trustees of the Church, but his absence
from Lancaster during the week compelled him to
retire from the Board ; for seven years he was super-
intendent of the Sunday School. Mr. Eby is a mem-
ber of the Knight Templar degree of the Masonic
Fraternity. As a representative of a great business
house he has won hosts of friends by his genial man-
ners, urifailing courtesy and honorable methods.
Liberal in his views and acts, and indefatigable in
his efforts to promote the interests of his house, all
,who know him wish him success in an unmeasured
degree.
WILLIAM H. GUTHRIE, a leading contract-
ing painter and decorator, Lancaster, with place of
business at No. 38 West Walnut street, comes of a
long-lived rugged Scotch ancestry, some of whom
were among the early settlers of Pennsylvania.
Joseph Guthrie, grandfather of William H.,
came to America from Scotland, settling in Chester
county. Pa., where he founded the now thriving vil-
lage of Guthriesville, becoming prominent in all the
affairs of the locality, and first postmaster of the
village. From Chester county he removed to
Franklin county, and here passed the rest of his
days. Of his family three are yet living, viz. :
William D., in Chambersburg, Pa., aged eighty-
three years ; and two daughters aged, respectively,
'eighty and eighty-two, one residing in Chambers-
burg, the other in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
, Allen Guthrie, father of William H., was for
many years the leading house painter in Lancaster,
coming to the city in 1848, after having followed the
business in Chester and Franklin counties. He
married Miss Mary A. Garrett, a native of Chester
county, born of Scottish ancestry, and seven children
wete the result of their union, five of whom are yet
living. The father passed away Feb. 17, 1893, in the
sixty-ninth year of his age, and no man in the city
died more deeply lamented. The mother was called
from earth in 1882, mourned by a wide circle of rela-
tions and friends. They were active and consistent
members of the Methodist Church, and interested in
everything looking to the uplifting of their fellow
creatures.
William H. Guthrie was born near Guthries-
ville, East Brandywine township, Chester Co., Pa.,
and was a small boy when the family moved into
the city of Lancaster. Here his earlier education
was secured, and for a time he attended Franklin-
and Marshall College. In 1864 he commenced an
apprenticeship at the trade of machinist in the Nor-
ris Locomotive Works, now known as the Pennsyl-
vania Iron Works; but after three years he aband-
oned this line and took up the painting and decorat-
ing business, under his father's excellent tuition. In
1882 his father admitted him into partnership, under
the firm name of Guthrie & Son, which continued
until 1892, since when William H. has conducted
the business alone. That he has made a success goes
without saying, and the many' fine residences and
public buildings he has painted and decorated tes-
tify to his skill. Among the latter may be mentioned
the Duke Street M. E. Church, the "Hotel Lan-
caster," and the Folmer & Clogg umbrella factory,
all in Lancaster ; the Industrial School and Soldiers'
Orphan School, at Scotland, Franklin county; the
new Chester County Insane Asylum, besides many
other buildings, while, year after year, he and his
expert painters, grainers and decorators are kepi
busy nearly the whole time at the ancestral home
of the Grubb family at Mount Hope, Lancaster
county. In March, 1901., Mr. Guthrie had the con-
tract for painting a large building in Coatesville,.
Chester county, which was among the lesser con-
tracts he had secured for the spring work of that
year.
In April, 1882, William H. Guthrie married
Miss Mary S. Etter, daughter of Josiah Etter, a
prominent farmer of Franklin county. Pa., and four
children have blessed this union: Mary (a grad-
uate of the Girls' High School, Lancaster, class of
1900), Roswell, Helen, and Allen Herschell. Mr.
and Mrs. Guthrie are members of Grace Lutheran
Church, of which he is serving as vestryman.
Socially Mr. Guthrie is a member of the Odd
Fellows, being a past officer in Herschel Lodge, No.
123, and its representative to the Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania. He also belongs to the Masonic fra-
ternity, including Harrisburg Consistory 32nd de-
gree. A Republican in politics, he was elected on
that ticket to the city council, and has served in same
with his well-known zeal and ability. He enjoys a.
wide and influential social .and political connection,,
while personally, no man stands higher in the com-
munity than William H. Guthrie.
ADAM WISMAN. Among the prominent, suc-
cessful and self-made men of Marietta is Adam Wis-
man, one of the well-established business citizens who
is held in high esteem. His business is that of tin-
smith, plumber and jobber, and on account of his re-
liability he has a large patronage which is steadily ■
on the increase.
The birth of Adam Wisman occurred in Hessen-
Darmstadt, Germany, Oct. 27, 1846. His parents,
Adam, and Anna M. (Erhardt) Wismari, came to
America in 1847 ^^^ settled at York, Pa., where
the mother died in the same year; she was born in
1799. The bereaved husband continued to live in
York, and remained there as a laborer until his sec-
ond marriage. He wedded Catherine Dysert, making
a comfortable home in York until his death in 1882,
when seventy-nine years old. During life he was
a consistent member of the Lutheran Church. The
children of the first marriage were: George, who
died in Baltimore, Md., in 1897 ; Barbara, who mar-
ried Henry Bernstock, a plumber of Wrightsville ;
and Adam, of this sketch. The children of the second
798
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
marriage were: Lewis, of York; Mary, who mar-
ried Andy J. Nickey, of Illinois, where she died;
John, who was killed on the railroad in 1881 ; and
William.
The home life of Adam Wisman was not a happy
one for the little lad, after the death of his mother,
and at the tender a^e of eight years he ran away,
securing work with a kind farmer who lived four
miles from the city of York. There he remained for
two years, and then went back to the city, entering
in the employ of Capt. John Hay, with whom he re-
mained until 1859, and then acted as an errand boy
for six months or until the opening of the Civil war.
Among the striplings who enlisted Nov. 25, 1861, in
Co. B, 3rd. Md. V. I., was Adam Wisman, but he
was soon discharged on account of being too light
for the service. Nothing daunted, the brave boy en-
listed then in Co. I, 130th P. V. I., as a drummer
boy, although it was his intention to carry a gun in-
stead of a drum, and he efi&ciently served through
nine months, re-enlisting in Co. B, 13th P. V. C.,
under Capt. H. H. Gregg, and served with gallantry
until November, 1865, taking part in the battles of
Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and
other great battles, and was in thirty-two engage-
ments, but did not escape unharmed. His first wound
was received from a gun shot, on the field of Chan-
cellorsville, again a gunshot at Charles City Cross
Roads, and a third wound was from a sabre on nose
and chin, at Sycamore Church, where he was obliged
to escape from the enemy in his underwear, as he was
on his way to take a message to Gen. Grant. Mr.
Wisman displayed his courage and endurance by
never entering a hospital for care, but submitted to
the rude and bungling assistance which the members
of his company gave him. .
After his return from the war Mr. Wisman en-
tered as an apprentice in a shop some three miles
from York, and received $40 for that year, and then
went to York and worked for D. D. Dowdell for
three years, under instruction. He then passed nine
months in the Pennsylvania railroad shops, going
from there to Goldsboro, Pa., where he opened up a
tinsmith and plumbing business. This did not prove
a good location, and he returned to York and worked
there and in Wrightsville, at his trade, also doing
some work in Lancaster, until 1874, when he came
to Marietta and engaged for one year as a workman
with Sterritt & Spangler, this association lasting for
twelve years. In 1886 Mr. Wisman opened up a
business of his own and since that time has done
the principal business in tinsmithing annd plumbing
in this town.
On Jan. 26, 1868, in the village of Dillsburg, York
county, Mr. Wisman was united, in marriage to Miss
Sarah J. Ziegler, and the children of this union are :
Harry, who married Susan Starr ; Lotta, who mar-
ried John H. Smith, and lives in Marietta ; Sarah J.,
deceased; Walter, who married Elizabeth Weston-
hoeffer, and resides in Marietta; Laura, at home;
Mamie, who married Joseph C. Kline, of Klinesville,
this county; George: Maud; Area; Horace; and
James, Anna and William, deceased.
Mrs. Sarah J. (Ziegler) Wisman is a native of
York, Pa., born in 1847, a daughter of Samuel and
Charlotte (Banner) Ziegler. The former was a man
of prominence, a saddler by trade, and the treasurer
of York county for three terms. His death oc-
curred in January, 1867, at the age of fifty- eight,
and that of his widow, in 1872, at the age of fifty-
two. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Ziegler were:
James B., an attorney in York ; IMary, deceased, who
was the wife of Jonas Neice ; Jacob, deceased ;
Emma, who married James B. Mundorfif, postmaster
at Mount Holly Springs, Pa. ; Sarah J. ; Samuel, de-
ceased; Laura, who married William H. Lewellyn,
of Marietta; Catherine, who married J. Krurg, of
Hanover ; Edward ; and Daniel, of Hanover.
Mr. Wisman has taken a prominent part in Demo-
cratic politics in the county and city, and has been
a member of the council for two years, his sensible
and sound advice being of great value in civic affairs.
His fraternal connections are with the G. A. R. ;
the I. O. O. F., Encampment No. 176; the Red Men,
and he is president of the Pioneer Fire Co., an or-
ganization of much merit. The religious connection
of the family is with the M. E. Church. Mr. Wis-
man is a man of large charities and generous im-
pulses.
ISAAC HERR, an industrious carpenter in the
township of West Lampeter, was born in the com-
munity where his life has passed since May 29, 1837,
a son of Abraham and Anna (Stoner) Herr, and a
grandson of Joseph Herr.
Joseph Herr was a native of Pequea township,
and in his time an extensive farmer. His last years
were spent in West Lampeter township. He was
a man of fine character, of great liberality and broad
charity. He m.arried Miss Maria Forrey, by whom
he had the following children : Abraham, the father
of Isaac ; Martin, a hotel keeper ; Joseph, an under-
taker and a carpenter at Willowstreet ; David, who
followed farming in Pequea and in Leacock town-
ships, and died in the last named township ; Barbara,
who married Isaac Houser ; M^ria, who became the
wife of John Harnish ; and Anna, who married John
Stoner.
Abraham Herr, the father of Isaac, was born Dec.
19, 1803, and he mastered the milling trade when a
young man. After his marriage he located at
the mill now known as Pugh's mill, between Lan-
caster and Hollinger, which he operated as long
as his wife lived, when he took up farming and to-
bacco handling, going into cigar making on a small
scale. On Jan. 26, 1832, he married Anna Stoner,
who was born Feb. 9, 1806, and died Nov. 30, 1838,
Abraham Herr died Feb. 18, 1885. Four of their
children grew to maturity : Fannie, who. married
John K. Bender; Anna, who married George Lea-
man ; Abraham S., living in Leacock township ; and
Isaac. The father of these children was a member
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
799
of the Mennonite Church, and a man of character
and standing in the community.
Isaac Herr learned the cabinet-making trade with
his uncle Joseph at Willowstreet, beginning at the
early age of fifteen years. On the completion of his
apprenticeship he attended school a year, and then
resumed his trade as a journeyman. After his mar-
riage in November, i860, he began operations for
himself, and the following year he bought a half acre
of land, where he erected a shop and a small house
in which to live. As time passed and his family in-
creased, his means grew larger, and from time to time
his home was improved, increased and modernized,
the shop having been moved to make room to meet
the needs of the larger residence. Here Mr. Herr
and his wife have lived for forty years, and reared
a good family in peace and tranquility. Mr. Herr
gives his attention to undertaking and carpenter
work. In the years that have passed he has laid to
rest many of the prominent people of this commun-
ity, and his sympathizing spirit and kind heart, to-
gether with his unquestioned integrity and indus-
trious ways have won him the confidence and es-
teem of the community. His sons, Abraham L. and
Benjamin L., are now associated in business with
him, under the firm name of Isaac Herr & Sons.
Mr. Herr was married Nov. 29, i860, to Miss
Mary H., who was born in East Lampeter township,
April 28, 1837, a daughter of Samuel and Barbara
(Heller) Leaman. This union has been blessed by
a numerous family, of whom two are deceased:
Barbara L., Jan. 30, 1862, is a seamstress, giving
special attention to the making of burial robes,
and for the past twenty years she has been a blessing
to the community for her sympathetic services in the
laying-out of the dead ; Annie L., born Aug. 26, 1863,
died Sept. 10, 1864; Lizzie L., born April 6, 1865.
is the wife of Martin .S. Zimmerman, of East Lamp-
eter township ;• Hettie L., born June 7, 1866, is the
wife of Frank S. Lefever, of West Lampeter town-
ship; Abraham L., born Aug. 29, 1867, married Miss
Amanda Herr, and has his home in West Lampeter
township, where he is engaged as carpenter and is
also associated with his father in the undertaking
business, being a graduate of the Philadelphia School
of Embalming; Mary Ann, born June 18, 1870, is
at home; Isaac L., born Aug. 22, 1871, graduated
from the State Normal School at Millersville, class
of 1895, lives at home, and is a teacher in the county
schools, having begun the work in 1893, and he is
also the township assessor ; Samuel L., born Feb. 17,
1873, is a farmer at home ; Emma L., born July 6,
1875, married Abraham D. Metzler, and lives in East
Lampeter; George L., born Nov. 13, 1877, graduated
at the State Normal School at Millersville in 1898,
and has been a teacher in the public schools since
1898 ; an infant daughter, born Nov. 7, 1878, died un-
named; Benjamin L., born Jan. 29, 1882, was a
student at the Millersville State Normal, and in 1901
was graduated from the Renouard School for Em.-
balmers, is also associated with his father in the
undertaking business.
Isaac Herr owns a fine farm of forty acres, on
which he makes his home. Beginning his career with
lio capital save his strong heart and ready hand he
accumulated with the assistance of his wife and the
help of his children, a good property, and is classed
among the well-to-do people of the county. The fa-
ther, mother and all the children belong to the Men-
nonite Church.
SAMUEL SPRECHER. This gentleman was
prominently identified with the industrial and civil
life of Lancaster for a number of years prior to his
decease in 1888. He was a civil engineer of note,
having during his life time been connected with some
of the largest enterprises in this part of the State,
and being also identified with the Pennsylvania Rail-
road in the laying out of a good many of its feeders.
He died from a severe attack of pneumonia, Oct. 15,
1888, in Denison, Iowa, while on his way to Cali-
fornia for the benefit of his health.
Samuel Sprecher was a native of Lancaster, where
he was born Nov. 5, 1850, son of Lewis and Lavina
(Baer) Sprecher. The Sprechers are one of the old-
est and most prominent families in Lancaster coun-
ty, the name having been a landmark in Lancaster
on account of the old "Sprecher House," which for
long years was the chief hostelry of the city. This
was built by Lewis Sprecher, who was also the owner
of the "Leopard Hotel," and a large amount of
other city property. The old "Sprecher House" still
stands on Duke street, and is still the property of
the Sprecher family. The parents of Mr. Sprecher
were leading citizens in the public and social life
of Lancaster during their life time, and were identi-
fied with the Trinity Lutheran Church, of which they
were active members. The following children besides
Samuel were born to them : Jonathan, deceased at
the age of thirty-five ; Amanda, the wife of Enos
Sheaffer, a farmer living in Leacock township ; Sol-
omon ; Elizabeth ; and Mary A., who died young.
For further matter concerning the early history of
the Sprecher famil)% the reader is referred to the
sketch of George Sprecher.
Samuel Sprecher was reared amid the refining
influences of a Christian home, and his early educa-
tion was received in the private schools of his native
town. He later entered Tuscarora Academy, where
he was prepared for Lafayette College, Easton, Pa.,
from which institution he graduated in the course
of civil engineering in the year 1874. For several
years thereafter he was in the employ of the large
contracting firm of Keller & Reilly in Lancaster. He
then opened an office for himself, which he conducted
until he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road. One of his early more important enterprises
was the running of the boundary line between Ches-
ter and Lancaster counties. It was in the year 1878
that he was first in the employ of the Pennsylvania
800
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Railroad, and for the next five years he was busied
in the laying out of branch lines. In the year 1883
he became superintendent of Robert H. Coleman's
Conowingo Ore Mines, which position he held until
they suspended work in 1884. He remained in the
employ of Robert H. Coleman until his death. He
was, during this latter period, interested in convert-
ing the mountain wilderness of Mt. Gretna, then the
property of Mr. Coleman and since famous as a sum-
mer resort, into one of the most beautiful summer
residence places in the State. In the fall of 1886 Mr.
Sprecher was taken down with pneumonia, and par-
tially recovering, a trip to California was advised
by his physician, from which he returned much im-
proved. In 1888 he again started for California to
remain permanently. But he was not able to make
the trip in his weakened condition, and he died as
stated. Mr. Sprecher was a leading member of the
Trinity Lutheran Church, and in political life voted
the Republican ticket, although he took but little part
in politics.
In 1875 Mr. Sprecher was married nearLandis-
ville on the present site of Bamfordville, Lancaster
county, to Miss Lottie S. Buch, who bore him two
children, and who still survives him: Lewis B., a
shoe merchant of Lancaster; and Clay, mechanical
engineer of Pittsburg, Pa. The mother of these chil-
dren was born at Neffsville, Lancaster Co., Pa.,
daughter of Benjamin and Anna (Grube) Buch.
Benjamin Buch was for long years connected with
the cattle industry of Lancaster county, being a
drover of large property. He died in the home now
occupied by his daughter Aug. 22, 1899, at the age
of seventy-three years, and now lies buried in Wood-
ward Cemetery. He lived in Lancaster from 1869.
His wife still survives, living in the home of her
daughter; she was born Feb. 28, 1835, and is still
hale and hearty, with the exception of some little
rheumatic afflictions. She became the mother of
Lottie S., Mrs. Sprecher; Ada ,M., deceased; and
Harvey M., now residing in the West. "The Buch
family were also pioneers of Lancaster county. Peter
and Mary (Leib) Buch, the parents of Benjamin,
were born and reared in Lancaster County. On
the maternal side the grandparents, David and Mar-
tha (Stoner) Grube, were also natives of this county.
Mrs. Sprecher and her mother are ladies of many
gentle traits of character, and are much esteemed in
the more exclusive circles of Lancaster, where they
have passed a great part of their lifetime.
HON. DAVID W. GRAYBILL, one of the lead-
ing citizens and most influential men of Lancaster
county, well known in both public and private life,
and identified with some of its most important in-
dustries, is pleasantly located in the village of East
Petersburg, where he manages a large tobacco busi-
ness, of which he has made a great industry, which
gives employment to a large force of men, and has
opened up commercial relations with many other sec-
tions, much to the advantage of his locality.
David W. Graybill was born in East Peters-
burg, Lancaster Co., Pa., Nov. 10, 1853, and there-
he has resided all his life, with the exception of two>
advantageous years spent in study at the State Nor-
mal School at Millersville. His' preparatory edu-
cation was received in the public schools of his town,
and after his return to his home from Millersville he
engaged in business for some time prior to his mar-
riage, in 1880, following which he set up a domestic
hearth of his own and more extensively engaged in
the tobacco business. Mr. Graybill has been a very
active dealer in his line, and his progressive spirit
has been of the greatest advantage to his locality,,
giving an impetus to other lines of trade. The years
1899 and 1900 were particularly prosperous, and Mr.
Graybill found employment in his great warehouses-
for a force of 140 men. He has warehouses in both
East Petersburg and Rohrerstown, three at the
former place, and one at the latter, which was built
in the fall of 1899.
Aside from his private interests, which are many
and varied, for he is a keen, practical man, educated
and alive to all that promises to conduce to prosper-
ity, Mr. Graybill has always been animated by high
ideals of business and civic life, and has probably
done more than any other one citizen toward the per-
manent upbuilding of East Petersburg. His own
residence is the most desirable in the village, and the
creditable enterprise lately shown by the other citi-
zens may, in a measure, be attributed to his example,
Mr. Graybill was one of tlie promoters of, and is
also a stockholder and a director in, the Farmers'
Creamery Company, of E^st Petersburg, and has
taken a prominent position in the organization from
the first. Politically he has been a strong man in
the Republican ranks, taking an active part in all
party matters, and was twice made a delegate to the
State convention, first in 1883, and later in 1898.
For some eighteen years he has served as a justice
of the peace, having been elected to that position four
different times. In 1879 he was made a notary, but
resigned this office in order to accept the former one,
which he also resigned in Jime, 1900, in order to
accept the nomination from the Republican party
for the State Legislature. During his service in the
Legislature, in 1901-02, he served on the committees
on Railroads, Senatorial and Representation Appor-
tionment, Counties and Townships, and others. The
bill known as Centralization of Public Schools re-
ceived his hearty co-operation, and was passed large-
ly through his efforts, and it was in favor of this bill
that he made his maiden speech. He firmly opposed
the bill for the removal of the State Capitol. He has
received the nomination for a second term in the
Legislature, by nearly 5,000 majority, at a primary
election held March 15, 1902. For three years Mr.
Graybill most efficiently served as 'township assessor
in East Hempfield township, and for the fifth time
he has had the honor of being chosen chairman of the
Republican County Committee, an honor never be-
fore conferred, in his district, upon the same indi-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
801
vidual twice in succession. Mr. Graybill throws him-
self heartily into whatever he undertakes, and, where
his judgment and sagacity sanction it, knows no such
word as fail.
Fraternally Mr. Graybill is as prominent as he is
in both public and private life, being identified with
Lancaster Lodge, No. 43, F. & A. M., and also Lan-
caster Lodge of Perfection ; is a past grand of Selah
Lodge, No. 657, I. O. O. F., of Manheim; also a
member of Meridian Sun Commandery, No. 99,
Knights of Malta; Lancaster Castle, No. 126,
Knights of the Mystic Chain ; Red Rose Co., No. 20,
Military Branch of Knights of the Mystic Chain,
serving as assistant inspector general of the State,
with the rank of brigadier general; paist regent of
Conestoga Council, No. 463, Royal Arcanum, and
past councillor of the Loyal Addition ; he is also a
member of the Annual Annuity of the Mystic Circle,
and was the first representative of this lodge to the
grand lodge; and is consul commander of Cherry
Camp, No. 83, Woodmen of the World. These many
connections have made him better known through
various parts of the State than almost any other citi-
zen of his vicinity, and he is everywhere regarded as
a high-minded, honorable man in whatever capacity
he may be found.
David W. Graybill was married April 27, 1880,
to Miss S. Alice Martin, a daughter of William K.
and Susan C. (Getz) Martin, residents of East
Hempfield township. To this union have been born
three interesting children, all sons, Guy M., Reid M.
and David W.
The religious connection of the family has been
with Trinity Reformed Church, to which Mr. Gray-
bill has been a most generous contributor, and in
which both he and his estimable wife are highly val-
ued for their many excellent traits of character. Mr.
Graybill possesses the esteem of his neighbors, and is
looked upon in the county as one of the progressive
and honorable citizens who are, by sound business
sense and individual application, the men who build
. up and prove of most value in any community.
JOSEPH G. KAUFHOLD, a grocer and one
of Columbia's prominent business men and influen-
tial citizens, was born in that town Aug. 27, 1856,
a son of Jacob and Catherine (Geislar) Kaufhold.
Jacob Kaufhold was born in Prussia, and his
wife in Bavaria. The latter emigrated to this coun-
try in 1848, and Mr. Kaufhold's feet first touched
American soil two years later. They were married
in Columbia, where he was employed in a blast fur-
nace. Jacob Kaufhold died in 1881, aged sixty, and
his widow still survives, her home being in Colum-
bia. She was born July 12, 1836. Jacob Kaufhold
and his wife were the parents of nine children. The
eldest, Sarah, is the widow of L. Bitner, of Colum-
bia; Anna married Edward Pordahl, of Lebanon;
John, the third child and eldest son, is a resident of
Columbia ; George J. is in the monument business in
Columbia; Bartholomew and William have both
51
seen service as L^nited States soldiers, the former
having done duty in Cuba, and the latter being at
present stationed in the Philippines; Margerie, the
youngest daughter, is at home and unmarried. Jo-
seph Kaufhold's paternal grandparents were Joseph
and Helen (Mockenruts) Kaufhold, of Germany.
The former died in 1846, in his sixty-seventh year,
and the latter in 1831, aged forty. Their children
were Conrad, Lawrence, Duridale, Jacob and Joseph
(second). The grandfather married a second time,
after the death of his first wife. His second wife
was Catherine Artleb, and the issue of the mar-
riage was two children: John, who died in the
Fatherland; and Bartholomew, of Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania.
Mr. Kaufhold's maternal grandparents were
George and Anna (Stegar) Geislar. They emi-
grated from Germany to America in 1848, and set-
tled in Havre de Grace, Md. At that time they were
youth and maiden, and no word of troth had passed
between them. Two years thereafter they were
united in marriage, and removed to Columbia, Pa.
He worked in an iron furnace, and died in 1891,
after reaching the ripe age of four score years. His
wife died in 1897, aged eighty-six. Their chil-
dren were four in number, Mr. Kaufhold's mother,
Catherine, being the eldest. The others, all of
whom are deceased, were Sarah, Margaret and
John. Sarah married Martin Eppley, and died in
May, 1900. John died in 1899, and Margaret in
childhood.
In October, 1886, Mr. Kaufhold was married to
Miss Elizabeth Hagel, at Columbia. The issue of
the union has been four sons and eight daughters :
Clara, Mary, Frank, Bartholomew, Anna S., Beau-
tie, Gertrude, Margaret, Charles, Sabina, Joseph
and Lucy. Gertrude and Joseph are both deceased,
as is also Charles, who was Margaret's twin brother.
Mrs. Kaufhold was born at Chestnut Hill May
12, i860, daughter of Peter Hagel and his wife,
Sabina Spangler. Both her parents were Bavarians,
and were married in the country of their birth, and
both are now deceased. They emigrated to Amer-
ica in 1850, and, coming to Lancaster county, settled
at Chestnut Hill. He was a farmer, but also a miner
as well. Mr. Hagel lived to the age of sixty-nine,
and died Jan. 25, 1881. His wife passed from life
April I, 1895, having reached the same age as her
husband at the time of his demise. They were both
Catholics, and sleep in the cemetery at Columbia.
Mrs. Kaufhold was the sixth of seven children born
to this union. Joseph and May, the two eldest,
are both deceased; Mary is the wife of Anthony
Seebower, a furniture dealer of Columbia; Anna is
deceased; and Catherine, who is unmarried, makes
her home with Mr. and Mrs. Kaufhold.
Joseph G. Kaufhold faced the world in early
life. That he has struggled successfully against its
temptations and won the battle of life, alone and un-
aided, is chiefly due to his indomitable pluck, his,
tireless energy, and his unassailable probity. At
802
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the early age of twelve years he began working in a
grocery store. For two years he followed this toil,
being able to attend school for only six months.
From 1 87 1 to 1883 he found employment in a roll-
ing mill. Industry, sobriety, patience and integrity
enabled him to embark in the grocery business then
on his own account. The same sterling character-
istics have won for him a steady, uninterrupted suc-
cess. He believes in the faith of his ancestors, and
is a devout and practical Catholic. Politically he is
a Democrat. He is a member of St. Joseph's So-
ciety, and of the P. C. B. L.
ALBERT M. HERR, wholesale florist and car-
nation specialist, located at Rider avenue and Elm
street, Lancaster, is one of the prominent business
citizens of the city.
Henry Herr, the grandfather of Albert M. Herr,
was both a merchant and miller in Strasburg town-
ship, retiring from activity in 1861, and dying in
1894, at the age of eighty-one years. He married
(first) Mary Rohrer, who died in March, 1838, at
the early age of twenty-four years, leaving two chil-
dren, Susannah, who is the wife of Daniel Musser,
a prominent retired farmer; and Daniel K., the fa-
ther of Albert M. The second marriage of Henry
Herr was to Fanny Herr, widow of Samuel Herr,
and his third marriage was to Charlotte, daughter
of Francis Herr. The paternal great-grandparents
of our subject were Martin and Susan (Buck-
waiter) Herr, farming people of Strasburg town-
ship, of Swiss ancestry.
Daniel K. Herr, son of Henry and Mary (Roh-
rer) Herr and father of Albert M., was born in New
Danville, Pequea township, Dec. 2, 1837. Prior to
his thirty-seventh year he engaged in milling in
Strasburg township, and then began gardening,
which business he followed for three years, the busi-
ness developing into market-gardening and finally
into that of florist, Mr. Herr being for twenty years
one of the best-known and most successful whole-
sale florists in this part of the county. For the past
four years he has made his home in Lancaster, but
prior to that lived in Lancaster township. Mr. Herr
has a large business for which he has most excellent
accommodations, comprising four hot houses with
dimensions of 100x18 feet, and with some 8000 feet
of glass. He is a member of the Mennonite Church,
and is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of
Lancaster. In December, 1859, Mr. Herr was mar-
ried in Lancaster township, to Miss Susan Musser,
born in West Lampeter township, daughter of Dr.
Martin Musser. who died March 3, 1870, at the age
of thirty-five years, and was buried in Longenecker
cemetery, in Lampeter township. The one child
born to this union was Albert M., of this sketch.
Albert M. Herr was born July 19, 1862, in Stras-
burg township, and resided there with his father un-
til his fourteenth year, accompanying him then to
Lancaster. He became interested in his father's
business, first assisting him and then thoroughly
learning the same, and in 1881 began the business
for himself. Mr. Herr's greenhouses cover an acre
of ground, and he has 60,000 square feet of glass,
his first building being done in 1888. At various
times since he has made additions, and has intro-
duced all of the latest improvements in floriculture,
and his carna,tions and other specialties have gained
for him a wide and deserved notoriety.
Mr. Herr is prominently identified with all of
the Masonic bodies in Lancaster, and also belongs
to the Mystic Shrine in Reading; is a member of the
B. P. O. E., being one of the original fifteen mem-
bers in Lancaster, and serving as secretary of the
lodge for five years. He belongs to a number of
horticultural societies, is secretary of the American
Carnation Society, and is treasurer of the Florist
Hail Association. In politics he is a Republican.
Few men are better or more favorably known to the
trade than is Mr. Herr, the deep interest he has
taken in his line having enabled him to advance the
science of floriculture very much.
On Feb. 24, 1897, Mr. Herr was united in mar-
riage, in Philadelphia, to Miss Elizabeth Irwin, born
in Sadsbury township, Chester county, daughter of
Andrew and Mary (Clendenen) Irwin, the former
of whom is a railroad carpenter, residing with his
family in Philadelphia. One son, Daniel Irwin, has
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Herr. The family is
held in high esteem in Lancaster.
CONRAD Z. HESS, one of the intelligent, pro-
gressive agriculturalists of Pequea township, was
born there, Nov. 5, 1856. He comes from a family
of Lancaster county whose members have always
commanded the highest respect, being a great-
grandson of Michael Hess. The last named bought
a farm of 115 acres for five shillings — the place now
occupied by the father of our subject.
Abraham Hess, the grandfather, was born in
Pequea township, and there passed his entire life.
He married Elizabeth Musser, and to this union
three sons were born, one dying in infancy ; Benjamin
died at the age of eighteen months ; and Abraham
M. is the father of our subject. He was born in
Pequea township in 1829, was educated in the com-
mon schools of the county, and began life for him-
self when twenty years of age, taking up farming
which he has always followed. In the fall of 1850
he married Elizabeth Hess, and one son was born to
them, Emanuel, who died in infancy. The mother
died in the fall of 1851, and Mr. Hess afterward
married Anna Zigler; of East Donegal township, by
whom he had seven children: Conrad Z. ; Ben-
jamin, of Fulton township ; Abram, of East Done-
gal township ; Noah Z. ; Ezra, deceased ; Ezli, who
died in infancy ; and Mattie, wife of Paris Engle, of
Columbia, Pa. Mrs. Anna (Zigler) Hess died in
July, 1868. Abraham M. Hess then married "Bar-
bara Herr, who became the mother of four children:
Annie, wife of Graybill Mann, of Manor township ;
Enos, of State College, Pa.; Barbara, who died in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
803
infancy ; and Lizzie, who is at home. Mr. Hess is
a member of the Dunkard Church, better known as
the River Brethren Church, and he has been a dea-
con in same for a number of years. He has settled
up a number of estates, and has been guardian for
several famihes, a fact. which testifies forcibly to the
estimate placed upon his character and ability by
those who know him well.
Our subject lived at home with his father until
he was twenty-one years of age, meantime receiving
his education in the common schools of the county.
He then went to live with his uncle on a farm in
East Donegal township for two years, returning
home again for one year, after which he went to
Quarryville, and engaged in raising tobacco for one
year. He then purchased a farm of his father, in
Quarryville, and conducted same for nine years, at
the end of that time coming back to his old home
and taking charge of his father's farm. Here he has
remained to the present time.
Mr. Hess represents the Agricultural Insurance
Co., of Lititz. He has proved himself in the man-
agement of his fine property, an able business man,
and he is regarded by all who know him as a valu-
able citizen, one who works for the good of the com-
munity, as well as for his own advancement in life.
On Jan. 19, 1S82, Mr. Hess married Ada Sue
Keen, daughter of David Keen, of Eden township,
and they are the parents of eleven living children
and have lost two by death. Those living are:
Anna Martha, Abraham Musser, Alice May, Ada
Mary, David Avery, Martha Ann, Emma Rhoda,
Ruth Lizzie, John Zigler, Beulah Viola, and Verna
Pauline, all at home. Mr. and Mrs. Hess both
belong to the Dimkard Church, known also as the
River Brethren in Christ.
CHARLES EDGAR SHREINER, a well-
known native citizen of Lancaster was born Oct. i,
1863, son of the late Charles F. and Eleanor (Cox)
Shreiner, more extended mention of the family be-
ing found in another part of this volume. Charles
F. Shreiner passed away in July, 1865, and his
widow, who was a native of New Jersey, in 1883.
The children of their marriage were nine in number,
the survivors being: William M., who is a printer
in Sioux City, Iowa ; Sallie A., and Charles Edgar,
the well-known advertising man.
Charles Edgar Shreiner was given an excellent
common-school education in Lancaster, and then
spent five years in the grocery establishment of the
late George Wiant, and the succeeding eight years
in the service of the Pennsylvania railroad, in Phil-
adelphia. Returning to Lancaster in 1893, he or-
ganized the Shreiner Advertising Co., with offices
at No. 43 East Marion street, near the post-office.
Although this company makes a specialty of out-
door advertising, it also engages in the business in
other lines, much of its work commanding attention
and admiration. That it has proved such a success
is due to the energy and ability of its founder, and in
it he supplies a want that has long been felt in this
community.
In August, 1887, Mr. Shreiner was married to
Miss Alice A. Hale, a daughter of John Hale, who
is now a retired contracting carpenter, of George-
town, Mass. Mrs. Shreiner came of distinguished
ancestry, one of her forefathers being a Spofiford,
and belongs to the same family as A. R. Spofford,
so long the librarian of the Washington Library.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Shreiner are:
Helen Spofiford, Sallie Agnes, Carl Hale and Anna
Frances.
Fraternally Mr. Shreiner is connected with the
Knights of Malta, while politically he is an ardent
and active Republican. His religious rearing was
in the Moravian faith, but Mrs. Shreiner is a Con-
gregationalist, her ancestors long having been prom-
inent members of that body, in New England. Few
young men have made better business showings in
the same time than Mr. Shreiner, his pleasant per-
sonality winning him friends, while his upright
methods, and the excellent work turned out by his
company, have gained him the confidence of even
a critical public. It is no small matter to control a
trade in which so large a city as Philadelphia at-
tracts on account of its proximity. This Mr.
Shreiner has been able to do, and his prosperity re-
flects not only credit upon. him, but also upon the
public spirit of the community.
JOHN RUPP EURKHOLDER, a wholesale
grain dealer in the Northern National Bank Build-
ing, Lancaster, and at one time manager of the
broker business of his father-in-law, Hon. A. H.
Summy, belongs to a family long and favorably
known in Lancaster county. His grandfather was
Jonas Burkholder, who lived and died in the eastern
part of this county.
Isaac Burkholder, father of John R., died in 1882,
in West Earl township. He married Maria Rupp,
daughter of Samuel Rupp, a well-known farmer of
West Earl township, and they had fourteen chil-
dren, thirteen of whom are living at the present
writing ; Samuel R., a farmer in Kansas ; Joseph
R., a horse dealer in Manheim township ; Jonas R.,
a traveling salesman from Lancaster ; Isaac R., a
traveling salesman in Ohio; John R., our subject;
Elizabeth R., wife of Wayne Carpenter, a farmer
of Warwick township ; Maria, wife of Frank Stauf-
f er,-a farmer of West Earl township ; Susan, wife of
Amos Dillman, a carriage builder at Farmersville ;
Annie, wife of J. Musser, a farmer of Lititz ; Bar-
bara, wife of J. M. Sheaflfer, a merchant of Eph-
rata; Hattie, wife of B. Hoover, a farmer of New
Holland; Emma, wife of Diller Sheaffer, a farmer
of Bird-in-Hand ; and Sarah, at home with her
parents.
John Rupp Burkholder was born in West Earl
township Jan. 25, 1856, and was educated in the
public schools of the home district. Leaving school
when sixteen years of age, he entered his father's
804
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
flour mill, where he remained until 1880. For a
period of about twelve years following he was en-
gaged in the milling business in different mills along
the Conestoga. In 1892 he came to Lancaster, and
entered into a partnership with H. K. Keller,
in the wholesale grain business, trading under the
firm name of H. K. Keller & Co. In 1895 this part-
nership was dissolved, and Mr. Burkholder opened
an office in the Northern National Bank Building,
where he has since continued his grain business.
In 1901 Mr. Summy bought out the broker busi-
ness, which had been established on the second
floor of the Northern National Bank Building, and
Mr. Burkholder became his manager, conducting
the broker business in connection with his grain
offices. The broking is done through J. B. Flesh-
man & Co., of Philadelphia, with whom direct tele-
graphic communication is had. Genial and clever
in his intercourse with the public, Mr. Burkholder
has built up a handsome shipping trade, and is well
and favorably known.
Mr. Burkholder was married, in 1883, to Miss
Annie Summy, a daughter of Hon. A. H. Summy,
whose history appears elsewhere. To this union
has come one child, Guy Summy, born in 1886, who
is now a pupil of the Boys' High School, Lancaster.
Mr. Burkholder is of Mennonite descent. Politically
he is a Republican, as are all the members of his
family.
HENRY WEILL, dealer in driving, heavy
draft and fine coach and saddle horses, with sale and
exchange stables at Nos. 200-216 West Orange
street, Lancaster, and also extensive dealer in leaf
tobacco, was born in Alsace, France, March 16,
i860, son of Benjamin and Esther (Woertenslock)
Weill, the former of whom was born in Alsace,
the latter in Strasborg, France.
Benjamin Weill, the father was engaged in
the horse business for a great many years, but
retired in 1892 and resides in Alsace at the ad-
vanced age of ninety-two years. The mother
of our subject died in 1873, at the age of forty-
nine years. They had these children: Solomon,
who engages in the horse business in the old home
in P"rance; Benjamin, also in the horse busi-
ness in Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Myer, also in the sanae
business in France; and Henry, the subject of this
sketch.
When our subject was but thirteen years of age
he was deprived of the love and care of his mother
by her death, and he left his home, working at vari-
ous kinds of labor in his native country, until at the
age of twenty years he found himself in Paris. Af-
ter one year in that great city, he determined to reach
America and make a career for himself. In 1881
he reached Lancaster, and with his brother Benja-
min, began the buying and selling of horses, the part-
nership lasting for ten years, since which time he
has carried it on with increasing success on his own
account.
Mr. Weill is a self-made man, and has ac-
cumulated large means and established great busi-
ness connections by his own efforts. The horse busi-
ness is one with which he is thoroughly acquainted,
being one in which several generations of his family
have successfully engag:ed. Until 1899 he dealt
both wholesale and retail, but since that year has
retired from the retail business. In 1892 he built
at a cost of $10,000, his fine sale stable to accommo-
date 100 horses, and has been a large horse exporter,
exporting as many as 2,000 horses to London each
year. Since 1897 he has been extensively engaged
in the leaf tobacco business, and employs about fifty
men in his warehouse. Few men in this locality
have displayed better business judgment than has
Mr. Weill.
On Aug. 26, 1884, in Lancaster, Mr. Weill mar-
ried Julia Pioso, born in Alsace, France, who died
May 24, 189s, at the age of twenty-nine years. Her
children were. Adeline P., Beatrice P., Blanche
P. and Rosa P. Mrs. Weill was a daughter of Lath-
rase Pioso, who came from Alsace with his family
to Lancaster in 1881, and engaged in the horse busi-
ness. He died in 1887, aged forty-five years. His
widow resides with our subject at the age of sixty-
one. On April 3, 1900, Mr. Weill was married to
Rose Hirsh, born in Lancaster, daughter of Abra-
ham Hirsh, a retired millinery merchant of Lan-
caster. Mr. Weill is a well-known and highly re-
spected citizen of Lancaster, where he is liberal in
his support of all pubHc-spirited enterprises. He
belongs to no political party. He is a member of
the Jewish Synagogue, and is generous in his sup-
port of its work.
NOAH Z. HESS. Among the most esteemed
residents of Pequea township is Noah Z. Hess,, who
is descended from a family of Lancaster county,,
whose members have always commanded the high-
est respect. Michael Hess, his great-grandfather,,
bought a farm of 115 acres for five shillings and the
place is now occupied by the father of our subject.
Abraham Hess, the grandfather, was born in
Pequea township, and there passed his entire life.
He married Elizabeth Musser, and to this union
three sons were born, one dying in infancy : Ben-
jamin died at the age of eighteen months ; and Abra-
ham M. is the father of our subject.
Abraham M. Hess was born in Pequea town-
ship in 1829, was educated in the common schools,
of the county, and began life for himself when
twenty years of age, taking up farming, which he has
always followed. In the fall of 1850 he married
Elizabeth Hess, and one son was born to them,.
Emanuel, who died in infancy. The mother died in
the fall of 185 1, and Mr. Hess afterward married
Anna Zigler, of East Donegal township, by whom he
had seven children: Conrad Z., of Pequea town-
ship ; Benjamin, of Fulton township ; Abram, of
East Donegal township ; Noah Z. ; Ezra, deceased ;
Ezli, who died in infancy ; and Mattie, wife of Paris-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
805
Engle, of Columbia, Pa. Mrs. Anna (Zigler) Hess
died in July, 1868. Abraham M. Hess then mar-
ried Barbara Herr, who became the mother of four
children : Annie, wife of. Graybill Mann, of Manor
township; Enos, of State College, Pa.; Barbara,
who died in infancy; and Lizzie, who is at home.
Mr. Hess is a member of the Dunkard Church, bet-
ter known as the River Brethren Church, and he
has been a deacon in same for a number of years.
He has settled up a number of estates, and has been
guardian for several families — a fact which testifies
forcibly to the estimate placed upon his character
and ability by those who know him well.
Noah Z. Hess was born in Pequea township, Jan.
15, 1861, and was educated in the common schools
of the county, remaining at home until he was about
twenty-six years of age, when he married Miss Ada
Eckman, of Pequea, and began life for himself. Af-
ter farming on his father's place for three years he
purchased the place where he now resides, and con-
tinued in agricultural pursuits in which he has met
with gratifying success. He owns a farm of 138
acres, one of the finest places in Pequea township,
and he holds a high place among the best citizens
of his community. Mr. Hess was admitted to the
ministry of the River Brethren Church by Bishop
Henry L. Heisey, in May, 1897, and officiates at the
churches in Lancaster, Strasburg and Pequea.
Mr. and Mrs. Hess are the parents of four chil-
dren : Mamie E., at home ; Ira E., who died in in-
fancy; and Ada E. and Roy Noah, at home.
JOHN JOHNS BAIR, the genial head of the
coat and wrap department of Watt & Shand's big
establishment, Lancaster, comes from a family who
settled in Lancaster county early in the eighteenth
century. Three brothers Bair came to America and
secured from William Penn, a large land grant
along Mill creek, extending from Spangler's mill to
Hoover's mill, near the Welsh mountains. This
tract extended for a distance of perhaps five miles,
and the road which these three Bair brothers laid out
was originally only an Indian foot path.
Of the descendants of these pioneers, John Bair
became a prominent drover and farmer, and his son
Levi E., was for many years a farmer, but is now
livipg retired, by reason of ill health. Levi E. Bair
married Josephine Johns, a daughter of the late Ja-
cob Johns, a farmer of West Earl, and who, like the
Bairs, came from an old and honored family. The
marriage was blessed with six children, only two of
whom are living: Levi R., of the class of 1902,
Franklin and Marshall College ; and John J.
John Johns Bair was born in Upper Leacock
township, Oct. 12, 1867. His parents removed from
that section when he was only two years old, and his
education was obtained at Honey Brook, Chester
county (where he was graduated from the high
school), and at the State Normal School at Millers-
ville. After leaving the State Normal, Mr. Bair
returned to his father's farm, and, after spending
two years there, entered the service of Messrs. Watt
& Shand. This was in 1886 and he has remained
there ever since. Alter mastering the details of a
general mercantile business in the ever popular New
York store, Mr. Bair took charge of the cloak de-
partment— a department which, largely through his
exertions, has become noted all through the com-
munity. Mr. Bair does all the buying, and superin-
tends all the selling of that important part of this
big establishment. He is accepted as an authority
on ladies' wraps by many of the best dressers of
Lancaster.
Socially Mr. Bair is a member of the Knights of
Malta, and Odd Fellows, being a past officer of the
latter ; politically he is a Republican ; and religiously
a Lutheran, being identified with Grace Lutheran
Church. In all the walks of life he is a courteous,
intelligent and conscientious gentleman.
WILLIAM S. GROFF. There are many lines
of business successfully carried on in the large cities
of the country, by those who have been reared in
quiet country homes and there taught by excellent
parents those principles which have contributed
much to their later prosperous careers. Such is the
case with William S. Groff, one of the well known
fruit and produce merchants of Philadelphia.
Abram Groff, his grandfather, was a farmer and
miller in West Earl township, where he died March
4, 1885, at the age of seventy-eight. His wife, Het-
tie (Wenger) Grofif, died in 1852, at the age of
thirty-five years, both of them being buried in the
Groffdale cemetery. Mr. Groff had been long a
leading man in his community, and for many years
served as school director. His children were :
Daniel W., deceased; Abram W., deceased; Maria
W., who is the widow of John Graybill, of Upper
Leacock township; Martin W., deceased; Samuel
W., the father of our subject; Christian W., a farm-
er of West Earl township ; and Hettie W., of Read-
ing, Pa., who is the widow of Peter Snyder. The
second marriage of Abram Grofif was to Mrs. Cath-
erine (Bare) Good, and one son was born to this
union, Elam, now a retired farmer of Bareville.
Samuel W. Grofif was born in West Earl town-
ship, May 19, 1839, and he remained with his pa-
rents until he had reached his majority, at that time
taking charge of a farm in West Earl township,
where he remained until his purchase of his present
farm in 1886. On Dec. 22, 1864, he was united in
marriage to Miss Susannah Sprecher, and to this
marriage was born one son, William S., who is the
subject of this biography.
Mrs. Susannah (Sprecher) Grofif was born in
Earl township, Nov. 3, 1841, a daughter of WilHam
and Susannah (Wenger) Sprecher, who were na-
tives of Earl and Upper Leacock townships, re-
spectively. Mr. Sprecher died in 1878, aged sixty-
eight years, his widow surviving until 1898, dying
at the age of seventy-eight, and both were buried in
the cemetery attached to the Lutheran Church of
806
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
New Holland, of which they were consistent mem-
bers. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Sprecher
were: Elizabeth, of New Holland; Susannah, the
wife of Mr. Groff ; Maria, the wife of George Groff,
of Bareville; George, a farmer and supervisor in
Brecknock township; William, a farmer of West
Earl township ; and John,- Amanda and Louisa, de-
ceased. William Sprecher was a son of George
Sprecher, and his wife, Elizabeth Sheaffer ; and Su-
sannah (Wenger) Sprecher was a daughter of Jo-
-seph Wenger, of Lancaster county.
William S. Groff of this sketch was born in Earl
township, Oct. 23, 1867, son of Samuel and Su-
sannah (Sprecher) Groff. He was educated in the
public schools of his district, and until he was ten
years old he remained with his parents in his native
township, and then accompanied them to Upper
Leacock, where he continued until the age of six-
teen. At this period he entered the store of J. D.
Buckwalder, as a clerk, remaining with him for
eleven years. When Mr. Stump purchased the busi-
ness, he continued with the new proprietor for the
succeeding two years, going then to Philadelphia
where he engaged in his present business, which he
has most successfully conducted ever since. Mr.
Groff resides at No. 2223 Columbia avenue, Phila-
delphia,'and is known as a highly esteemed citizen
and upright man of business. Politically he is a
Republican, and he takes a very active interest in
public affairs.
On May 10, 1899, William S. Groff was married
in Philadelphia to Miss Eva M. Myer, a daughter of
the late Rev. Samuel and Amanda (Evans) Myer,
of Upper Leacock township.
' WILLIAM DAVID KING, a well known busi-
ness man of Lancaster city, is descended from a
very old and influential family of this county. His
grandfather, Jacob King, was one of the pioneer
coopers of the section, and his father, the late David
King, was a leading grocer of Lancaster for thirty-
five years. David King married Miss Margaret
Ann Lewars, who belonged to a well known family
of this city, and eight children were born to them,
four of whom are deceased. Among those who have
passed beyond was Dr. George A. King, for many
years one of the most prominent physicians in Lan-
caster. The surviving children are Walter E., a
telegrapher in the Western Union service. New
York; W. Newton, extra cashier in the Third Na-
tional Bank of Baltimore; C. Henry, who is assist-
ing his brother, William D., in the wine and liquor
business ; and William David, our subject proper.
William David King was born in Lancaster
thirty-eight years ago, and was educated in the pub-
lic schools of this city. At an early age he entered
his father's grocery store as clerk, remaining there
several years, and then passing ten years as a clerk
in the grocery store of Capt. J. L. Binkley. Leav-
ing the Binkley establishment, Mr. King spent one
year with D. S. Bursk, grocer, one year with Sam-
uel Clark, grocer, and two years with A. A. Shaeffer,
wine and liquor merchant, and on April I, 1900,
purchased and took possession of the extensive
wholesale and retail wine and liquor establishment
of the late S. G. Gensemer. It is located at No.
253 North Queen street. Mr. King has greatly in-
creased the business since taking possession, for
he has given it the closest personal attention, and
had added largely to the trade.
Politically Mr. King is a Republican, but he takes
no active part in politics. Religiously he is a mem-
ber of St. Paul's Reformed Church. Mr. King owns
and occupies a beautiful cottage on the Philadelphia
turnpike, in the eastern suburbs of the city, and his
venerable mother, to whom he is devotedly attached,
makes her home with him. His wife was Sadie '
Fisher, daughter of Henry Fisher, millwright of
Salisbury township, Lancaster county.
WILLIAM. L. SHOEMAKER, a farmer of
Fulton township, was born Dec. 20, 1843, son of
Jesse and Sarah (Lukens) Shoemaker (deceased),
of Martic township. The father and mother origi-
nally resided in Montgomery county. Pa., and re-
moved to Martic township during their younger
days.
Jesse Shoemaker was a son of Joseph Shoe-
maker, who was a native of Montgomery county.
Joseph Shoemaker was the father of four children:
Abraham, Jesse, Charles and Lydia, all deceased.
Jesse Shoemaker was born in 1796. His first wife
was Miss Sarah Ambler, to whom he was married
in 1825. One child, Hannah A., was born to this
union and is now deceased. Mr. Shoemaker mar-
ried (second) Miss Sarah Lukens, in 1828, and six
children were born of this union, namely : Joseph,
born July 9, 1829, is deceased ; Enos, born Nov. 19,
1830, is deceased; Abraham, born May 12, 1832, is
a farmer in Martic township; Martha Ann, bom
April I, 1837, is deceased ; Charles, born Nov. 2,
1840, is deceased; and William L., born Dec. 20,
1843. .
William L. Shoemaker married Miss Alice A.
Lamborn, daughter of Smedley and Margaret ( Bol-
ton) Lamborn, on Jan. 20, 1870. Mrs. Shoemak-
er's parents were of English origin. The marriage
of Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker has been blessed ,with
children as follows : Winona E., born Dec. 7, 1870,
and is the wife of Harry J. Drennen, of Fulton town-
ship ; Jesse, born Sept. 19, 1880, and died in child-
hood ; and Lula M., born Oct. 30, 1888. Mrs. Shoe-
maker was reared on a farm and was one of eleven
children. Her father, Smedley Lamborn, was born
Jan. 6, 1807, and married, Dec. 22, 1830, Miss Mar-
garet Bolton, who was born Aug. 26, 18 10. He
died Sept. 26, 1851, and his wife died Nov. 21, 1855.
They had children as follows: George S., born
Nov. 24, 1831, resides in Martic township; Aquilla
B., was born Feb. 23, 1833 ; Emeline,. born Sept.
30, 1834, is the wife of Joseph Shoemaker, of Martic
township; Elwood, born Aug. 4, 1836, is deceased;
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
807
William L., born Jan. 6, 1839, is deceased; Mary
Elizabeth, born June 22, 1840, is the wife of Thomas
B. Hamilton; Sarah, born Nov. 8, 1842, is the wife
of Jacob Brown, of Fulton township ; Priscilla, born
Jan. 19, 1844, is deceased; Alice A., was born April
14, 1847 ; Lucinda, born Aug. 22, 1849, is the wife of
Benjamin Tennis, of Drumore township; and
Lydia S., born Oct. 29, 185 1, is the wife of Amos
Smith, of Drumore township.
William L. Shoemaker was reared on his father's
farm, and received his education in the public schools
of his district. He chose farming as a vocation, and
has followed that occupation ever since. His farm
of 113 acres is finely improved and shows every evi-
dence of careful care and cultivation. Mr. Shoe-
maker is also half owner in the old homestead, con-
sisting of eighty-nine acres, in Martic township.
He is a Republican in politics, and at present holds
the office of president of the school board of Fulton
township (he has been a member of the board for
sixteen years), a position which is of considerable
importance in the educational interests of the neigh-
borhood. He and his family are members of the
Society of Friends. He stands as one of the fore-
most men of Fulton township, on account of his
well known probity of character and kindly disposi-
tion.
FRANCIS L. HERR, one of the prominent busi-
ness men of Lancaster, treasurer and bookkeeper of
the Lancaster Cork Works, was born near Stras-"
burg, Pa., Aug. 3, 1844, son of Benjamin G. and
Mary Emma Herr, and remained with his parents
on the farm until his sixteenth year, in the meantime
improving his educational opportunities to the ex-
tent of graduating from the high school and attend-
ing the State Normal School. Mr. Herr then lo-
cated in Lancaster, and for three years was employed
in the office of the clerk of Sessions court. After-
ward he secured a position in the First National
Bank at Strasburg as clerk and teller, but in June,
T863, at the time of the invasion of Pennsylvania by
the Confederate army, he enlisted in Company D,
50th P. Y. I. Three years later he assumed the
management of a cotton plantation in Arkansas,
owned by a Lancaster firm. Owing to ill health
Mr. Herr was obliged to cut short his plantation
experience at the end of a year and a half, and, in
the hope of restoring his health, settled on the old
homestead and farmed for several years. In 1870
he was employed by Jay Cadwell in his cork works,
and from the position of bookkeeper rose to manager
of the works, which position he held until 1874,
when he resigned for the purpose of associating
with others to establish the Lancaster Cork Works.
This factory subsequently passed into the hands of
George W. Dodge & Son, and was operated by them
until i8qi, when it was purchased by the Armstrong
Cork Co., of Pittsburg, and has since been operated
by this company in connection with their works in
Pittsburg, Pa. These two works furnish four-fifths
of the corks manufactured in this country. The Lan-
caster branch moved into their present factory in
1881, which has been enlarged from time to time,
and now employs five hundred men and girls. Mr.
Herr has been identified with the works during the
whole time since they were first established.
In 1874 Mr. Herr was married to Sarah A. My-
ers, daughter of David and Elvina Myers, of Lan-
caster city. Mrs. Herr died Feb. 2, 1882, leaving
two daughters, Mabel E. and Alice A. Mr. Herr
is well and favorably known in business and social
circles of Lancaster, and he has many friends to
appreciate his financial ability and admirable per-
sonal characteristics. Politically he affiliates with
the Republican party.
EPHRAIM H. REITZEL, Sr. Mr. Reitzel is
now in his sixty-second year, having been born Feb.
4, 1842. His life has been an active and useful one,
and he is one of the honored veterans of the Civil
war. He is a grandson of Conrad Reitzel, a weaver
by trade, who emigrated to America from Switzer-
land, and settled in West Hempfield township, where
he died. Mr. Reitzel's father was named Joseph.
He, too, learned the carpet weaver's trade in early
youth, and in later years that of a miller, but toward
the end of his life embarked in business as a butcher,
in which line he continued until his death, which oc-
curred in 1867, after he had attained the age of four
score years and four. He was distinguished for
patriotism and personal courage, and carried a col-
onel's commission during the war of 1812, and set-
tled in Lancaster county in 1825. While not a pro-
fessing church member, he was a man whose stand-
ard of moral conduct was regulated by deeply seated
Christian principles. He was twice married. His
first wife's maiden name was Boner. She bore him
four sons and two daughters, none of whom are
living. Their names were : Jacob, Joseph, John
(a teamster in the Union army during the Civil
war), .Samuel, Margaret and Elizabeth. His sec-
ond wife, who has also passed away, was Elizabeth
Mann, of Chester coimty, a brief sketch of whose
family history may be found in a succeeding para-
graph. She was a member of the Winebrennerian
denomination, and died June 15, 1893, at the same
age as her husband.
Ephraim H. Reitzel was the third child of his
father's second marriage. The others were : Will-
iam, Harrison, Augustus, Calvin and Sarah. Will-
iam, now deceased, served as captain of Co. G, 2nd
Reserves, P. V. T., during the^Civil war, and was
wounded in his country's service. Sarah is unmar-
ried, and resides with her brother, Ephraim. The
other children died before reaching mature age.
The first twenty-one years of Mr. Reitzel's -life
were passed in Mountville. At the age of nine he
began working on a farm, and when fourteen years
old found employment as a lime burner in the stone
quarries. In his nineteenth year he commenced to
learn the trade of blacksmith, but in 1862 entered
808
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the Pennsylvania Corapan)r's repair shops, remain-
ing there until Feb. 15, 1864. He then enlisted in
Co. G. i86th P- V. I., commanded by Capt. D. P.
Billington, and remained in the service until he was
mustered out, Aug. 13, 1865, at Philadelphia. On
his return from the army he re-entered the service of
the railroad company in his former position. After
a few years he took the position of brakeman, and
after eighteen months was made flagman. A year
and a half later he was promoted to a conductorship,
the duties of which post he continued to discharge
with marked ability and unwearying fidelity until
i8g6. In that year an accident, caused by a defect
in the air brakes, incapacitated him for further work
as a conductor, he having sustained "a fracture of
several ribs, as well as other serious injuries. On
his recovery he accepted the post of watchman, and
in that caoacity he is still in the employ of the corti-
pany, which he has served so long and faithfully.
He is a Republican in politics, and is a member of
the Brotherhood of the Union, having been deputy
grand chief Washington of the order in Lancaster
county.
Mr. Reitzel was married in August, 1862, at
I-ancaster, to Miss Catherine, daughter of Andrew
and Catherine (Fair) Sheriff. Her father was a
successful farmer of Perry county, where she was
born Feb. T3, 1843. She was the youngest of a fam-
ily of seven children. John, the eldest, lives in the
old homestead. Isaiah and Mary (who married
Christian Hauss) are deceased. Conrad and David
are farmers in Cumberland county. The marriage
of Mr. and Mrs. Reitzel has been blessed with five
daughters and seven sons. The eldest two, Lydia
and Andrew, died in childhood. Henry married
Anna English, of Columbia. Sarah is the widow
of Joseph Schleif , who lost his life in a railroad acci-
dent, and lives with her brother Ephraim. Mary is
the wife of Lewis Ibaugh, a brakeman, and resides
in Colum.bia. Edward is a brakeman, and married
Ida Witman ; he, too, lives in Columbia. Adam
died before reaching mature years. Albert and
Ephraim are both railway brakeman, whose homes
are in Columbia. The first named married Lillie
Harman, and the latter lives with his parents.
George is deceased. Catherine and Lucy are both
unmarried and live at home.
Ephraim H. Reitzel's mother, whose maiden
name was Elizabeth Mann, belonged to a family
distinguished for ardent patriotism, as well as noted
for the longevity of its members. Her paternal
grandfather was William Mann, of Fallowfield
township, Chester county. .He married Jane
Brown, a first cousin of the noted general, "Mad"
Anthony Wayne, from which relationship it may be
inferred that she came of fighting stock. She had
four brothers, who served in the patriot army, John,
David, Matthew and Eli. The two latter lost their
lives in the massacre at Paoli. David was wotmded
and carried an English bullet in his body until his
death. He and his brother John returned from the
war and settled in Ohio. To William and Jane
(Brown) Mann were born eight sons: James,
John, Jonathan, William, Joseph, Samuel, Ezekiel
and Eli. John Mann, the maternal grandfather of
Mr. Reitzel, was also a Revolutionary hero. His
wife was Anna Devine, a daughter of William De-
vine and Isabella Moore, who emigrated from Scot-
land to the American colonies during the trouble-
some times of the Revolution. Isabella (Moore)
Devine lived to the very old age of one hundred and
'seven years, and sleeps in the burying ground of
Upper Octoraro township, in Chester county. Jane
Brown, the wife of William Mann, and the great-
grandmother of E. H. Reitzel, lived to be one hun-
dred and two years old. Her dust rests in a grave
at Fallowfield. John and Anna (Devine) Mann
were the parents of four sons and seven daughters,
Mr. Reitzel's mother being the seventh child in order
of birth. The others were Jacob, William, John,
Samuel, Anna, Jane, Mary, Sarah, Hannah and
Margaret. The warlike spirit of their ancestors
fired the hearts of the sons, and two of them, al-
though beyond the maximum limit of age for enlist-
ment, entered the Union army. Anna married
Emanuel Baughman, and three of their sons also
fought under the Stars and Stripes throughout the
Civil war, two of them dying upon the battlefield.
Mrs. Baughman died in 1896 at the age of ninety.
Jane Mann became the wife of John Mowrey, and
removed to Michigan. She was the mother of three
daughters, two of whom married soldiers who fol-
lowed the flag South, and one of whom lived to
mourn a husband who never returned. Mrs. Jane
Mowrey is still living.
FRANK BURROWS TROUT is one of the
most prominent figures in the business and social life
of Lancaster, and is a brother of H. L. Trout, Clerk
of the Court of Quarter Sessions, whose sketch ap-
pears elsewhere.
Mr. Trout was horn in Lancaster, and was edu-
cated in the public schools of that city. After gradu-
ating from the high school he became an apprentice
at bookbinding with the late George Wiant, and at
the close of his apprenticeship was recognized as an
expert finisher. He took charge of the State Bindery,
at Harrisburg, Pa., and after six months there re-
moved to Washington, D. C, where he became one of
the heads of departments- in the Government book
bindery, remaining there ten years. His next move
was to Philadelphia, where for three years he was
connected with the noted J. B. Lippincott Publishing
Company. Then he came back to Lancaster, and,
under the firm title of Trout & Shank, established a
gents' furnishings store, shirt factory and laundry
in North Queen street, where the Northern National
Bank is now located. Continuing this until 1888, Mr.
Trout bought the old Gruel Confectionery property,
Nos. 166-168 North Queen street, which he com-
pletelv remodeled, and he has now erected the hand-
some building known as the Trout Building on that
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
809
site. In 1898 he closed out the gents' furnishing
business, but still retains an interest in the laundry-
business, which is now a company concern'. How-
ever, he has practically retired from business pursuits,
and spends his time in looking after his varied in-
terests.
Mr. Trout is a stanch Republican in politics.
He is a member of the board of school directors of
Lancaster from the First ward, now serving his sec-
ond term. Fraternally he belongs to the Blue Lodge,
F. & A. M., Benevolent Protective Order of Elks,
Hamilton Club, the County Golf Club, and the Lan-
caster Road Drivers' Association, of which latter he
is an enthusiastic member, for he not only loves a
good horse, but always owns one. Socially he is
popular everywhere ; in brief, no man in Lancaster
is more popular than Frank Burrows Trout. Re-
ligiously he is a Presbyterian.
JOHN LUTHER HAYS. In every commun-
ity may be found representative citizens, who, as
they begin to feel the weight of advancing years
after an active life, have settled down in comfort
to enjoy the fruits of former activity. Prominent
in this class in Maytown, Pa., is John Luther Hays,
who was born there Oct. 11, 1843, son of John and
Elizabeth (Garst) Plays, natives of Adams county
and of Marietta, respectively.
In young manhood John Hays came to Maytown,
and here conducted a saddlery business, also en-
gaged in raising tobacco, being among the first to
believe in its successful culture. In the course of
time he became one of the prominent men of the
community, served as assessor for the township, up-
held the principles of the Lutheran Church, and died
in 1893, at the age of eighty-one ; his wife survived
until 1899. To this worthy couple were born:
George, deceased : Maggie, who married Samuel
Klair, and resides in Columbia ; John ; and Alice R.,
who married A. R. Houseal, a retired manufacturer
of Maytown.
John Luther Hays remained under the parental
roof until of legal age, assisting his father in the
raising of tobacco, and then learned the carpenter
trade, which became his principal business through
life. Much of the excellent work to be seen
in the building line in this vicinity testifies
to the workmanship of Mr. Hays, and even yet
he can show skill, in the use of the tools of his trade.
Mr. Hays was married in Cumberland county.
Pa., to Miss Elizabeth Johnstin, and to this union
were born : Nellie J., now occupying the important
post of matron of the Columbia Hospital ; Maggie
M., who died in 1897; Charles B., who died in in-
fancy ; and Rosella. Mrs. Hays was born in May-
town Oct. II, 1841, a daughter of James and Leah
(Lightner) Johnstin, of Maytown and York county,
respectively, the former of whom was a mercantile
clerk, and died at the age of thirty-three ; the mother
still survives, although an invalid, and resides with
Mrs. Havs. The children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Johnstin were : Elizabeth ; Harry, of London,
Ohio ; James F., a farmer of East Donegal ; and
Winfield S., of Middletown, Pennsylvania.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Hays were
Francis and Catherine (Hawk) Johnstin, natives of
Scotland ; and the maternal grandparents were Will-
iam and Esther (Brenneman) Lightner, of Green-
castle, Pa., and of Lancaster county, respectively,
the former a wealthy man who was said to have
spent two fortunes, while the father of the latter
was the noted Dr. Hans Brenneman.
In politics Mr. Hays is a Democrat, and has been
one of the progressive and leading men in the vicin-
ity. In 1864, with H. H. Klugh, he enlisted in the
195th regiment for service in the Civil war, and he
was also a member and sergeant of Co. B, 114th P.
V. I. His life has been a busy and useful one, and
he well deserves the ease which he is able to take,
surrounded by the respect and affection of friends.
WILLIAM B. MOORE, who has followed the
carpenter trade very successfully for many years in
Christiana, Pa., was born in Sadsbury township
4mo. 20th, 1846, son of Walker and Anna (Smed-
ley) Moore, natives, respectively, of Sadsbury and
Little Britain townships, this county.
Andrew Moore, the great-great-grandfather of
William B., came from the town of Armagh, Coun-
ty Tyrone, Ireland, in 1723, and settling in Sadsbury
township, Chester county, built the first mill to be
erected in that part of the county. There he pur-
chased land to the extent of a thousand acres, lying
partly in Chester and partly in Lancaster counties.
Pie was one of the Friends active in having the
Meeting for Divine Worship established at Sads-
bury in 1724.
John Moore, son of Andrew, grew to manhood,
and became prominent in the agricultural and re-
ligious life of Chester county. He married Sarah
Downing.
John Moore (2), son of John and Sarah, made
his home in Sadsbury township, where he -engaged
in farming and blacksmithing. After his marriage
he moved across the line into Lancaster county. He
married Mary Walker, who was born in 1782, and
died 9th m.o. 5th, 1843. He died the Sth mo. 14th,
1864, at the age of ninety.
Walker Moore, son of John (2), and father of
William B., was born ist mo. 14th, 1810, and he
died at the present home of our subject 9th mo. 29th,
1890. He married Anna Smedley, who was born
9th mo. 4th, 1818, daughter of Joseph and Rachel
(Balance) Smedley, natives of Chester county, who
removed to I-ancaster county at an early day, and
took a prominent place in the life of the times.
Anna (Smedley) Moore died 1st mo. loth, 1876,
and was buried in Bart Cemetery, as were also the
remains of her husband. Both were members of
the Orthodox Society of Friends. Their family
consisted of the following children: Rachel, who
married William Wickersham, a farmer in London
810
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Grove township, Chester county ; Sarah and Susan-
nah, who both died young; WilUam B. ; Joseph S.,
a bookkeeper at Galena, Kans., who married Clara
Thoren, of Philadelphia ; John W., deceased ; Anna,
who married Howard Webster, a farmer of New
London township, Chester county ; Asahel, a farmer
and surveyor, who lived and died in Lancaster coun-
ty, and who married Hannah Mendenhall, of Ches-
ter county ; Pascal, a carpenter, who married Anna
Mendenhall, of Chester county, and is now de-
ceased: Caleb, a carpenter in Quakerville, Kans.,
who married Mary Harvey, of Spring River, Kans. ;
Joshua, who died young; and Mary, who married
Eugene Scott, a grocer at Malvern, Pennsylvania.
William B. Moore lived with his parents until
1864, when he began the carpenter trade with a
cousin, Truman C. Moore, with whom he remained
twelve years. He then bought a farm in Sadsbury
township, on which he remained sixteen years, and
which he still owns. In 1891 he gave up farming,
and moving to Christiana, he has since followed
carpentering, although practically living retired.
For five years he efficiently served as supervisor,
one year as tax collector, and at the present time he
is treasurer of the Christiana Fire Co., and of the
Christiana Building and Loan Association. . His
political faith is that of the Republicans. In his
religious belief he adheres to the faith of his fathers
and belongs to the religious Society of Friends.
Photography has furnished him a pleasing recrea-
tion, and he has many fine views of old buildings
and interesting scenes in Lancaster county.
William B. Moore has been twice married. On
5th mo. 28th, 1874, in New London township, Ches-
ter county, he wedded Phoebe J. Moore, who was
born in Sadsbury township, Chester county, in 1847,
and who died 4th mo. loth, 1876, the mother of one
child, Anna E., born 12th mo. 6th, 1875, and died
7th mo. loth, 1876.
Phoebe J. (Moore) Moore was a descendant of
Andrew Moore, a farmer of Lancaster county. In
1762 he built a stone house, in what is now Christi-
ana, as a home for his family, and this house stood
until 1894, when it was taken down by Isaac Slocum,
and the present house built on the site of the old one.
Andrew Moore died in Harrisburg while on his way
to Center county, Pennsylvania.
Jeremiah Moore, son of Andrew, was born in
Sadsbury township. He was afflicted with lack of
power of speech and hearing from birth, but al-
though thus afflicted he made a success of life, and
proved himself a good business man, being both a
millwright and a manufacturer. His wife, Phoebe
Jones, was born in Chester county.
Jeremiah Moore (2), son of Jeremiah and father
of Phoebe J., was born 5th mo. 12th, 1803, in Ches-
ter county. When he was four years old he was
brought into Lancaster county by his parents, and
remained in this county until his marriage, when he
settled in Chester county. By occupation he was a
farmer and undertaker. He married Elizabeth W.
Ely, of Solebury, Bucks county, who died 2nd
mo. 1 2th, 1874, at the age of seventy-one. He
died 1st mo. nth, 1887, and was laid to rest be-
side his wife in New West Grove cemetery in
Chester county. They were both members of the
religious Society of Friends. Their children
were: Mary E., who married Benjamin McFad-
gen, of Chester county ; Sarah M., who married M.
P. Wilkinson, and after his death Joseph J. McFad-
gen, both of Chester county; Anna M., who mar-
ried David Balderson, of New Hope, Bucks
county : Levi P., who married Elizabeth L. Faxson,
of Chester county, and is deceased; Elizabeth E.,
who is the present wife of William B. Moore ; and
Phoebe J., deceased wife of William B. Moore.
On 5th mo. 28th, 1878, William B. Moore mar-
ried for his second wife, Elizabeth E. (Moore)
Michiner, born 3d mo. 7th, 1843.
JOHN K. DIEM, who has Hved retired since
1891, was for thirty years one of the most energetic
business men of Intercourse, Lancaster county, en-
gaged in several lines of industry. Mr. Diem de-
serves special credit for the unusual success he
achieved, as he commenced life with no financial
assistance, and he is a self-made man in the truest
sense of that often misused term.
Our subject is a native of this county, born
April 6, 1842, in Salisbury township, and is of Ger-
man descent in the paternal line, his grandfather,
John Diem, having been born in Germany. The lat-
ter married Hannah Kennedy, a native of Lancaster
county. William Diem, father of John K., was
born in Lancaster county, and here passed his entire
life, dying in Salisbury township in 1880, at the age
of seventy-two. Fie was a shoemaker by occupa-
tion. He married Maria Moyer, also a native of
Lancaster county, who died in 1890, aged seventy-
eight years, and both rest in the Pequea Church
cemetery in Salisbury township. Their religious
connection was with the Presbyterian Church. Mr.
Diem was one of the respected men in his commun-
ity, and was active in local affairs, serving as town-
ship assessor. Of his children, Catherine married
Daniel D. Warfel, and lives in Salisbury township ;
Elizabeth, of Philadelphia, Pa., is the widow of
James Ayres ; Mary, Mrs. David Kurtz, is deceased ;
John K. is mentioned more fully below ; Ellen, Mrs.
Foreman, resides in Lancaster ; Hannah is the wife
of Edward Ranck, of Salisbury township ; William
is a contractor and builder in Chester county, this
State : Hettie is the widow of William Cof roth, of
Salisbury township; Bellmina lives in Philadelphia;
Christ, a contractor and builder, is a resident of Mal-
vern, Chester county.
John K. Diem received his education in the com-
mon schools, and remained under the parental roof
until he was eighteen years of age, since when he
has fought life's battles on his own account. Hav-
ing served an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade,
he followed same for a quarter of a century, from
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
811
i860 to 1885, in time taking up contracting and
building. Pie also engaged in the undertaking busi-
ness, conducting a large number of funerals in his
locality. Meantime, in 1884, he added coal and
lumber dealing to his other interests, and continued
in that line until his retirement, ten years ago. Mr.
Diem's patrons found him uniformly reliable and
straiglatforward in every transaction, and this fact,
taken into consideration along with a faculty for
good management and sound judgment, accounts
for the abundant success which rewarded him in all
his undertakings. In the accumulation of a com-
fortable competence he has retained the respect of
all his associates, and he is passing his days among
friends gained by years of upright living and devo-
tion to duty. Mr. Diem owns a fine farm, which
his son cultivates. Since 1901 he has been engaged
in the wholesale tobacco business, packing, etc.
His strict attention to business has prevented him
from taking any active part in public affairs be-
yond the casting of his vote, by which he usually
supports the candidates of the Republican party.
Mr.- Diem has been twice married. His first
union, with Miss Margaret Parmer, was celebrated
in 1863, in Salisbury township, and was blessed with
children as follows : ( i ) Alfred E., of Philadel-
phia, is an undertaker ; he has married twice, first to
Miss Susan Hoar, subsequently to Miss Phoebe
Betz. (2) Henry W. is married and living in
Wells'v'ille, Ohio, where he is foreman in the Penn-
sylvania Railway Shops. (3) John W., a butcher
of Lancaster, married Anna Bowermaster. (4)
Mary A. is the wife of Ulysses Musser, of East
Lampeter township. (5) Walter S., married and
living in Gordonville, is a cigar box manufacturer.
(6) Edgar E., a farmer of Leacock township, mar-
ried Carrie Mowery. (7) Margaret married Amos
Brubaker, a farmer of Upper Leacock township. (8)
Emma is the wife of Jesse Bowermaster, of Lancas-
ter. (9) Susie married Daniel Bork, a boot and
shoe merchant of Lancaster. (10) Annie E. mar-
ried Milton Woodward, of Coatesville, Chester coun-
ty. The mother died in 1881, aged thirty-seven
years, and was buried in Leacock cemetery. She
was born in Earl township, this county, daughter of
Joseph and Elizabeth (Bowers) Parmer. In 1884
Mr. Diem married, in Upper Leacock township.
Miss Emma Bender, amd they have had four chil-
dren, Nettie V., Elsa G., Estella L. and Lloyd F.,
all still living at home. Mrs. Emma Diem was born
in 1854, in Upper Leacock township, a daughter of
Kinzer D. and Leah (Berkenbine) Bender.
Kinzer D. Bender first married Mary Weidler,
and of the children born to this union, Franklin is
a retired farmer, now making his home in Mechan-
icsburg; John, deceased, was a farmer of Upper
Leacock township ; Henry died young ; Mary mar-
ried Jacob Burkholder, of Upper Leacock township ;
and William K. is a resident of Strasburg. The sec-
ond marriage of Mr. Bender was to Susan Weidler,
the sister to his first wife, and one son was born of
this marriage, Weidler, who died when grown to
maturity. The third marriage of Kinzer Bender
was to Leah Berkenbine, and to them were born:
George, of Lancaster ; Emma, who married John K.
Diem; Kinzer, of Upper Leacock township; Anna,
who married Edward Sutton, a traveling agent;
and Salome, deceased. The father died in Sep-
tember, 1887, at the age of eighty- three years, and
was buried in Heller's Church cemetery. The
mother is still living in Lancaster City. She is a
member of the Evangelical Church, as was also her
husband.
JACOB C. PFAHLER (deceased). By their
lives men win the imperishable respect, affection and
gratitude of their fellow citizens, if deeds and daily
habits are' of noble type. When the name of Jacob
C. Pfahler is spoken, it is with kindliness, respect
and true regard. The career of Mr. Pfahler at
Columbia was one of earnest endeavor, crowned
with deserved success. For more than half a cent-
ury he was a prominent citizen of that borough. As
a youth of sixteen years, about 183 1, with hope and
ambition to live a worthy life, with principles of
rectitude and righteousness firmly implanted in his
nature, he came to Columbia, and there he continued
to reside, one of the borough's most estimable citi-
zens, until his death, Sept. 10, 1899.
CHristopher Pfahler, his father, migrated from
Germany, his native land, to America when a lad,
and in 1803 settled in York county. Pa. There he
followed farming and the trade of turner, which he
had acquired in the Fatherland. He married Cath-
erine Hilderbrand, and of their five sons Jacob C,
born Jan. 13, 1815, was the eldest. Henry, late a
resident of Columbia, was the last survivor.
As was common sixty or seventy years ago,
Jacob C. Pfahler acquired a trade, that of a saddler,
and that vocation he followed at Columbia for a
period of sixty-five years. The most estimable char-
acter which he developed won him the friendship
and affection of all who knew him. During the
war he served as burgess, and for several years was
councilman. For a period of forty-two years he was
treasurer of the Columbia Public Grounds Co. He
was also treasurer of the Mt. Bethel Cemetery Co.,
of the Columbia & Marietta Pike Co., and of the
Pennsylvania Bible Society, holding these offices at
the time of his death. In his younger years he was
a Democrat, but later in life supported the principles
of the Republican party. Mr. Pfahler was a man
of deep and sincere religious convictions. Early in
life he became connected with the Presbyterian
Church, and in 1870 became an elder in the church,
continuing in that official capacity until his death.
The marriage of Jacob C. Pfahler and Sarah
J. Schnaeder was solemnized at York, Pa., in 1839.
The wife died March 23, 1868, aged forty-nine
years. Two children were born to them : Charles
H., who died unmarried in 1891 ; and Mrs. Jemima
M. Trnscott, who died July 5, 1901, and who was
812
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the solace of Mr. Pfahler in his declining years. Ill
health had obliged him in 1881 to retire from active
life, and his later years were made pleasant by the
ministrations and care of his daughter. She suc-
ceeded him as treasurer of the Pennsylvania Bible
Society.
Jacob Pfahler possessed those charitable and
broad views of life which distinguished the true
nobleman. His business talents and application
had gained for him a deserved competence, but
financial success only deepened and mellowed the
governing principles of humanity and charity which
marked his entire career. His loss has been keenly
felt not only by his immediate friends but by the
wide circle of acquaintances with whom his memory
will linger long as an inspiration to that which is
best and highest in mankind.
PETER FOREMAN. The history of the
Foreman family in America begins with the com-
ing of Frederick Foreman from Germany, to make
his home in Berks county, Pa., where he worked
as a day laborer, and lived to be over eighty years
old. Bis religious affiliations were with the Luth-
eran Church, and his career in life, though lowly,
was in every way honorable.
Peter Foreman, his son, and the grandfather of
Peter Foreman, whose name appears above^ spent
the most of his life in Berks county, where he was
born. A few. years before his death at the age of
seventy-two, he came into Lancaster- county to make
his home. A shoemaker by trade, he followed that
occupation the most of his life. Elizabeth Styer,
his wife, was a native of Lancaster county, and be-
came the mother of a large family of children : John,
the father of Peter Foreman; Samuel, a collier in
Caernarvon township ; Daniel, who is living at Mor-
gantown, Berks county, where he followed the car-
penter trade for many years ; Katie, who married
Adam Styer, of Caernarvon township ; Eliza, who
married Nona Quaintance, of Reading, Pa. ; Mary,
wife of Charles Thomas, of Philadelphia; Sarah,
who wedded Thomas Murphy, and lives in Illinois ;
Rebecca, wife of William Conway, of Caernarvon
township, and who now has her home in Phila-
delphia ; Ellen, a twin sister of Daniel, and who died
unmarried.
John Foreman was born Nov.- 4, 1816, and died
Oct. 2, 1893. Although born in Berks county, the
most of his life was spent in Lancaster county,
where he owned an eighty-acre farm two miles
northeast of Churchtown. A successful farmer and
a self-made man, he was an enterprising and public-
spirited citizen of the community, taking a deep
interest in the welfare and progress of his lo-
cality. His farm was wild and uncultivated when
it came into his possession, but under his industrious
and practical management was thoroughly im-
proved, and equipped with buildings, machinery
and everything needed for its perfect cultivation.
Mr. Foreman was married March 14, 1837, to
Rachel Pierce, a daughter of Edward and Elizabeth
Pierce. Mrs. Foreman was born in Lancaster coun-
ty Nov. 6, 1816, and died April 20, 1898. They
had a family of twelve children, as follows : Eliza-
beth died unmarried; Catherine is the widow of
Thomas Nelms, of Chester county; Martha and
Margaret, twins, of whom Martha married Wash
Woods, of Pittsburg, and Margaret became the wife
of John Menzer, of New Holland; Elizabeth (2)
died unmarried; Peter; Abraham is a laborer at
Morgantown; Sarah is the wife of Frank Mc-
Clellan, of Pittsburg ; John died young ; Mary Jane
married J. L. Black, of Morgantown ; Clement lives
in Birdsborough, Pa. ; and Abner died young.
Peter Foreman was born Dec. 25, 1844, and
spent the first sixteen years of his life on the farm,
receiving his education in the public school. At
that age he began working for wages, and was en-
gaged in this way until he was twenty-five years of
age, when he married and rented a farm, beginning
that career in which he has passed his life. For
some years he operated rented property; but in
1884 bought his present farm, consisting of seventy
acres just north of Churchtown, which he has great-
ly improved with fine farm buildings, making it one
of the fine country homes in this part of the county.
Mr. Foreman and his worthy wife began at the bot-
tom with little resources, and they have, by patient
persistence in industry, thrift and integrity, risen to
an enviable standing among the leading and influ-
ential people of the county. While following gen-
eral farming in the main, Mr. Foreman has made a
specialty of tobacco culture, and is said to be the
most extensive tobacco grower in the eastern part
of Lancaster county. The Havana Seed is raised
by him, and he furnished the tobacco for the Lan-
caster county exhibit at the World's Fair at Chicago.
Mr. Foreman also deals in fertilizers in connection
with his farming. In his politics he is a stanch Re-
publican, and takes a deep interest in the welfare of
the party. He is a member of the township board
of education, and has served as supervisor. He
has also been a member of the Republican county
committee.
Mr. Foreman was married Feb. 8, 1870, to Miss
.Susan . Foreman, a daughter of John and Mary
(Bartman) Foreman, natives of Lancaster and Mont-
gomery counties, respectively. Most of their mar-
ried life was spent in Lancaster county, but their
last years were passed in Chester county, where the
father died at about the age of seventy years, and the
mother at about sixty-five years. The father was
a forgeman in the iron business. They were both
members of the Methodist Church. Jacob Bart-
man, the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Foreman,
was an undertaker and cabinet maker, and also
owned a farm in Montgomery county. Of the chil-
dren of John P'oreman, Henry is a resident of Safe
Harbor, Lancaster county ; Matilda is the widow of
John Slater, of Philadelphia ; Catherine married the
Rev. Ben Christ, and died in Minnesota; William
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
813
was a soldier in the Civil war, and was killed in the
Seven Days' battle in front of Richmond; Mary is
the widow of Isacher Freeman, and lives in Chester
county ; Susan is Mrs. Foreman ; Edward is in Phil-
adelphia ; Mahlon is in Philadelphia ; and two chil-
dren died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Foreman have seven children:
Walter, at home ; Henry, a hat finisher at Reading,
who served in the Spanish-American war for eight
months, being in the front in Porto Rico, and mus-
tered out a corporal (he married Miss Agnes
Ober) ; Bessie, at home ; Mary, a seamstress at
Philadelphia ; John, at home ; Rachael, a student at
the Reading Hospital Training School ; and James,
at home. The Foremans are all Methodists, and
Mr. Foreman is a trustee of the Church. The good
lives of the various members of this notable family
well entitle them to honorable mention in this book
of men who have done things, and who have lived
for the good of their kind in Lancaster county.
PHILIP D. REA. Among the leading and
prosperous farmers of Drumore township is Philip
D. Rea, a son of the late William and Sarah Ann
(Drancker) Rea, of Sadsbury township.
William Rea, the father, was born March 5,
181 1, while his wife was born in 1819; he died Oct.
14, 1881, and .she passed away Nov. 8, 1899. Will-
iam Rea was a son of James Rea, and James Rea had
the following family: William; Henry; Eben;
Jefferson; Robert; Louisa; Eliza; Mary; and Han-
nah. The great-grandfather, also James Rea, was
born on board ship in the middle of the Atlantic
ocean, while his parents were on their way to
America, and he was of Scotch-Irish descent.
William Rea was a farmer by calling and the
father of the following family : Amor, a farmer of
Bart township : Mary, the wife of Samuel Fogle, of
Christiana; Miss Hannah, on the old homestead;
Philip D., of Drumore; Adam T., unmarried and
residing on the home farm in Sadsbury ; Miss Sarah,
a teacher in the Lancaster county schools ; Elizabeth,
wife of Gilbert Smith, a sketch of whom appears
elsewhere in this work; Miss Emma, at home;
Tames, of New York City, a teacher in a busmess
college and the youngest of the family. The father
was a stone mason and bridge builder by trade, and
helped to build the old Georgia Central railroad
bridge that was destroyed by Sherman's army on
their march to the sea.
Philip D. Rea was married, on Feb. ir, 1876, to
Miss Eliza McGowen, a daughter of John and
Catherine (Nott) McGowen, of Sadsbury township,
and they were also of Scotch-Irish descent. Mr.
and Mrs. Rea have had the following children:
Catherine, wife of Charles Evans, of East Drumore
township ; E. Noble ; and Hiram M.
Philip D. Rea was educated in the common
schools of his township, and at the Academy of
Christiana. He early began life for himself, and he
now owns one of the best farms in southern Lan-
caster county. In politics he is a Republican, and
throughout the neighborhood he is highly respected
and esteemed as a good citizen and obliging neigh-
bor, and as a man worthy the confidence of his fel-
low townsmen.
WILLIAM KAHL. The wealth of encourage-
ment emitted from the life of William Kahl, former
brick manufacturer of Lancaster, is perhaps the
greatest legacy left by this intrepid and remarkably
successful man. His life story moves with steady
and unswerving, persistency from the unwilling
bound-child of tender years to his marriage with
fifty cents in his pocket, and on through a splendid
soldier service in the Union ranks, to the possession,
at the time of his death in 1888, not only of an hon-
ored and influential name, but of eighteen houses in
Lancaster, besides one of the largest, best equipped,
and best paying brick manufactories in the county.
A native of Marietta, Pa., Mr. Kahl was born in
1821, and was third in the order of birth of the chil-
dren of Frederick S. and Elizabeth (Boas) Kahl,
also born in Lancaster county. Pa. Of the other
children of the family, Henry is deceased ; John was
for years the partner of his brother William, but
is now deceased ; Mary married John Kuhns, a
tobacconist, and is deceased; and Lavinia became
the second wife of Mr. Kuhns, and is also deceased.
When very young William Kahl was bound out
to service, but was dissatisfied and ran away. He
finally brought up in a comb factory, where he re-
mained for several years, and in 1847 entered the
brick yard owned by Jacob Shirk, in time advancing
to the position of manager. During the several
years thus employed he gained a fair knowledge of
the business which was to stand him in such excell-
ent stead in later life, and in 1855 started a like busi-
ness for himself with his brother, John, as a partner.
He purchased the site of the present home of his
widow, one block extending from Lemon to James
streets, Mary and Pine streets having since been
opened through it, and there he built his kilns and
general appurtenances, his brother having a half
share in the whole. During the war the brother
managed the business, and upon the return of Will-
iam from service, he purchased his brother's inter-
est, and continued until the brick possibilities of the
land were completely exhausted. He therefore pur-
chased another tract of ground, and erected larger
and more modern manufacturing appliances, and
for the remainder of his life made brick by steam
power, and in increasing quantities. In the mean-
time the land comprising the site of the former
plant was undergoing a change from a manufactur-
ing center to one of the residence parts of the town,
for Mr. Kahl erected many houses thereon, and in
fact was responsible for the upbuilding of the great-
er part of the northwestern portion of the town. He
furnished brick for many of the prominent build-
ings in Lancaster, and the quality of his product
was as superior as skill and long experience could
814
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
produce. At the time of his death he had an order
for a milHOn brick, which order was necessarily can-
celled.
No more ' gallant and enthusiastic soldier left
growing and responsible interests to shoulder arms
in a just cause than Mr. Kahl. In .1861 he enlisted
in Co. E, 79th P. V. I., and served until his discharge
at the end of three years, Oct. 3, 1864. After a
short visit to his home he re-enlisted March i, 1865,
in Co. A, 87th Regulars, was attached to the ist
Brigade, and discharged after the Grand Review
up Pennsylvania avenue, Washington, June 25,
1865. He saw much of the terrible and grewsome
side of warfare, and participated in most of the his-
torically interesting battles. Among other adven-
tures he was wounded by gun shot in the calf of his
leg, and his eyes were weakened by sap from the
cedar trees. Thrice captured, the third time he
escaped with no clothes on, and swimming the river,
succeeded in joining his regiment. He was pro-
moted to the position of wagon master.
On July 19, 1846, in Lititz, Pa., Mr. Kahl mar-
ried Anna E. Edgerley, a native of Lancaster, and
sister of Capt. Edward Edgerley. Mrs. Kahl, who
died Jan. 17, 1902, at the age of eighty years, was
the mother of six children, viz ; Fred S., deceased ;
William E., deceased; Jacob, deceased; Sarah L. ;
Gideon S., of Lancaster; and Charles, deceased.
Mr. Kahl was identified with the I. O. O. F., the
K. P., and Post No. 405, G. A. R., and he was a mem-
ber of the Lutheran church. He was a man of large
heart, and practical generosity, and the nobility and
usefulness of his life appealed to all with whom he
came in contact. His death occurred just one day
previous to the forty-second anniversary of his mar-
riage.
HENRY E. MUSSER, M. D. For four gen-
erations the name of Musser has been identified
with the history of the successful practice of medi-
cine in Lancaster coimty. According to the best
authenticated reports, the first of the family to set-
tle within that shrievalty was Dr. Benjamin Musser,
who took up his home in Manor township about the
middle of the eighteenth century. Details as to his
career are wanting, but the fact that he was twice
married is well established. His first wife was a
Miss Nicely, and seven children were born of this
union. After her death he married Maria Souders,
the issue of their marriage being three sons and two
daughters: Benjamin, Jacob, Martin, Martha and
Lizzie. Dr. Benjamin Musser was the great-grand-
father of Dr. Henry E., and Martin (his second
son) was the grandfather. Mention of the latter
is made in the succeeding paragraph, but a brief
reference to collateral genealogical lines is of inter-
est. Jacob, the eldest son of the second marriage
of Dr. Benjamin Musser, was born Jan. 8, 1771 ; he
married a daughter of John and Catherine Nissley,
and died March 4, 1840. Benjamin, born Aug. 5,
1799, died March 7, 1824 ; he married a daughter of
Christian and Barbara Kendig. Martha and Liz-
zie married John and Abram Hess, respectively.
Following down the direct genealogical line of
Dr. Henry E. Musser, the historian finds it neces-
sary to pursue the fortunes of Martin, the third son
of Benjamin, and the direct antecedent, in the third
generation, of this successful and popular physi-
cian. Martin Musser was born March 5, 1793. He
read medicine under the enlightened, kindly tute-
lage of his father, and at the age of twenty-two be-
gan the practice of his profession. To his duties
he brought both skill and patience; yet the life of
a countrv practitioner, with all the care and toil inci-
dent to It in those (comparatively) early days, was
not to his liking. He followed the life for twenty
years and then resolved to seek a more quiet mode
of existence. Accordingly, in 1835, he purchased a
farm, on which he passed his remaining years, dying
Aug. 9, 1849. His wife's maiden name was Ann
Hostetter, and his children were nine in number,
named Jacob, Benjamin, Henry, Martin, Daniel,
Martha, Susan, Anna and Emma. All the sons,
with the exception of Daniel, followed family tradi-
tion, and treading in ancestral footsteps, became
students of the divine art of healing. The home of
Jacob was in Smoketown, where he built up a large
and successful practice, and where he died; there,
too, he married Martha Herr. Benjamin practiced
in Strasburg township, and died there ; he was three
times married ; first to Letita Neff ; second to Naomi
Herr; and third to Catherine Buckwalter. Henry
was the father of Dr. Henry E. Musser. Martin
(the fourth son of Martin, Sr.) practiced medicine
successfully in Cumberland county, but died in
early manhood. Daniel is the husband of Susan
Herr, and is leading a retired life at Lancaster, Pa.
Martha married John F. Herr, and both she and
her husband are deceased. Susan (deceased) be-
came the wife of Daniel Herr. Anna married The-
odore Herr,' of Denver, Colorado, and died in the
West. Her younger sister, Emma, is the wife of
Theodore Herr.
Henry Musser, third son of Dr. Martin, and
father of Dr. Henry E., was born in Lancaster
county Oct. 5, 1822. He supplemented a good rudi-
mentary education by a more or less desultory study
of medicine, but never entered upon its practice.
Instead, he became a successful farmer and was
always a man of broad, progressive ideas. As a
citizen he was public-spirited, with an eye ever open
to the general good ; while as an individual he closed
neither his ear, his heart nor his purse strings to a
tale of distress. His fellow citizens appreciating
his character, regarded him highly, recognizing not
only his moral worth but his natural aptitude for
solving sociological and educational problems, as
well. For three years he served as clerk of the
court of Quarter Sessions (1868-71). He also
served for several years as director of the poor, and
no public man or private citizen in Strasburg town-
ship has proved himself a more ardent or better en-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
815
lightened champion of public education than he.
He married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Brenne-
man. Two sons were born to them, Milton B. and
Henry E. Both studied medicine, the elder receiv-
ing his diploma from Jefferson Medical College in
1868, and at once beginning practice in Philadel-
phia. His success was pronounced from the first;
■indeed, phenomenal for so young a man ; but it was
cut short by his death, which occurred, in 1888. He
married Caroline S. Swain.
Dr. Henry E. Musser was born Feb. 17, 1852.
He enjoyed exceptionally good educational advan-
tages, physical, intellectual and moral. His father,
by both precept and example, instilled sound princi-
ples into his youthful mind, while the free untram-
meled life of the farm aided not a little in developing
to perfection a constitution which was naturally ro-
bust. He studied at Jefferson Medical College, and
graduated from tliat institution in 1875. His first
five years of professional life were passed in Center-
ville, Lancaster county, and in 1880 he removed to
Smoketown, which has been his home for the past
twenty years. Here he has built up a large and
lucrative practice, being held in high repute, not less
for his many virtues as a man, than for his recog-
nized skill as a physician.
On Nov. 24, 1875, Dr. Musser married Myra,
a daughter of John Musselman, of East Lampeter
Three sons have been born to them. The eldest,
Charles Milton, is in the employ of the People's
Trust Co., at Lancaster; while the second, Guy
Musselman, is a graduate of the Philadelphia Col-
lege of Pharmacy; and the youngest, Parke N., is
in the Custom House at Philadelphia. Dr. Musser
is a member of Lancaster Lodge, No. 252, A. O. U.
W., and of the Masonic fraternity.
JULIUS PAUL- SIEBOLD, the successful
East End florist of Lancaster, is a conspicuous ex-
ample of a self-made man. Born in Mansfield,
Germany, he came to this country in 1877, landing
on these shores with little other capital than energy,
honesty and an ambition to succeed. At fourteen
he commenced to learn locksmithing, and later be-
came an expert machinist, studying that trade in
Berlin. But not liking it, he came to America in
May, 1877, and after working on a dairy farm in
New York State for a time, came to Lancaster, in
October, 1877. Although he had never before
worked on a farm, he filled the bill as though born
to the business. After paying two visits to the
West and one to the Southwest, he concluded to lo-
cate permanently in Lancaster, and in May, 1888,
he and his wife settled in that city.
After working for a local florist from 1889 to
1894. Mr. Siebold began business for himself in
gardening and floriculture on East Orange street,
where his growing trade soon took on such dimen-
sions that he was presently compelled to seek other
quarters. Lie then found another location on East
Chestnut, where it terminates in the Groffstown
road. There he leased three acres, erected two large
hothouses, and, making many other improvements,
soon won the reputation of being the most pro-
gressive and foremost gardener of the city. Assist-
ed by his wife, whose industry, intelligence and
courtesy have contributed much to the business, he
has built up a trade of great proportions, and com-
mands a patronage from the very best people of the
city. The Siebolds are successful growers of fine
flowers and vegetables of every kind, and for years
past their celery has been the standard of the market.
They have celery on sale as late as May ist, an
achievement accomplished by no other gardener.
Their celery sales are enormous, as they also have
the choice of the product of Mrs. Siebold's uncle in
Tioga county, who grows over 400 acres each year,
and of a cousin in Chester county, who has 200
acres of this and other choice products, operating
at the same time over seventy hothouses. During
the winter of 1901 Mr. Siebold grew celery under
glass, as well as tomatoes and other vegetables,
making a great hit on the early spring market. Mr.
Siebold has telephone connections, has stands in all
the leading markets of the city, and no man, there
or elsewhere, is more industrious and hardworking.
In the fall of 1902 Mr. Siebold threw two hot-
houses into one, increased the length, and created
one of the finest up-to-date hothouses in the interior
of the State, this being in perfect keeping with the
liberal and progressive work of Mr. and Mrs. Sie-
bold in their chosen business — a business which they
have reduced to a fine art, as can be attested by the
hosts of people in this community who enjoy the
products of their skilled labor. During the sum-
mer of 1900 they cultivated a dozen of the choicest
and most beautiful flower beds in Woodward Hill
cemetery ever seen in Lancaster.
Mr. Siebold was married, in 1885, to Miss Anna
Theresa Mueller, a daughter of Charles Mueller,
who passed away in his native Germany. Mr.
Mueller lived for years in Carola, Mo., where his
daughter, Anna Theresa, finished her education,
which had been begun in Germany. She attended
the Poplar Bluff high school, and secured an ex-
cellent education, to which her conversation and
writing bear testimony. Her father returned to
Germany because he could not sell his property
there without a great sacrifice, and in November,
1 90 1, entered into rest.
Mr. and Mrs. Julius P. Siebold are members of
the Lutheran Church of the Advent, Mrs. Siebold
being actively associated with the Ladies' Sewing
Circle, and being a teacher in the main Sunday-
school, while Mr. Siebold is a member of the church
council and also treasurer.
The father of Julius P. Siebold was a master
mechanic, and had lais own works at Mansfeld, when
only twenty-one years old, employitjg twenty skilled
workmen. He was later employed in Berlin, and
worked for a time in the service of the Russian Gov-
ernment at Odessa, where he received a special gift
816
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of 500 roubles and a diploma from Czar Alexander
for his magnificent work in superintending the erec-
tion of docks, etc. His father, Carl Siebold, was a
soldier under Napoleon the Great, and took part
in the disastrous retreat from Moscow.
GEORGE KURTZ, a retired farmer of Provi-
dence township, is one of the most highly respected
German-American citizens of his locality. He was
born in Wittenberg, Germany, April 23, 1824, son
of John M. Kurtz, now deceased.
John M. Kurtz, the father, was also born in Wit-
tenberg, and spent his whole life in Germany. He
was the father of six children, these being : Rosena,
Dora, Andrew, Barbara, Margaret and George, the
latter being the only survivor of the family and the
only one who ever came to America.
George Kurtz has had some unusual occurrences
in his career since settling in America. Pie landed
in New York on Nov. 4, 1854, and went directly to
Philadelphia, thence to Lancaster. However, he
soon went to one of tlie southern States and was re-
siding in the South at the outbreak of the Civil war.
This resulted in his conscription into the Confed-
erate army, and he was fqrced to participate in some
of the hardest fought battles of the war. Finally
he escaped to the North, but it was with the loss of
his five years' earnings. After remaining a time in
Philadelphia, he went to Lancaster county, where, in
1867, he bought his farm of fifty-six acres of land in
Providence township, and by great industry and
frugality has accomplished much. Mr. Kurtz has
been a hard-working man for many years, and has
earned the comfort which he is now alDle to enjoy.
On March 24, 1864, Mr. Kurtz was married in
Lancaster county to Miss Amelia E. Vollrath, born
in 1833, in Germany, and a family of five children
has been born to this union, as follows : Edward,
who follows the carpenter trade in Philadelphia;
Miss Mary, of Atlantic City, N. J.; Emma M., a
resident of Lancaster; Bertha, who also resides in
Lancaster ; and Charles, who operates the home farm
since his father has given up active labor, the farm
being well-improved and productive.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz are valued members
of the M. E. Church. In politics Mr. Kurtz is a
Republican. The whole family enjoys the respect
of the community, while Mr. Kurtz is noted for his
honesty, his truthfulness and his many acts of kind-
ness and charity.
WILLIAM B. THOME, M. D., the leading
physician in Milton Grove, Mt. Joy township,_ and
one of the most highly respected and useful citizens
of that section, was born Feb. 18, 1854, in Lebanon
county. Pa., near Lawn, a son of Dr. Joseph S. and
Sarah (Brown) Thome.
Dr. Joseph S. Thome was a native of Lancaster
county, born in Manheim, and died in Mastersonville
Jan. 8, 1890, aged sixty-nine years. In his younger
days he assisted his father in surveying and as a
scrivener, later becoming a physician and making
his home in Lawn, Lebanon county, for a period of
forty years, returning to Lancaster county six years
prior to his death. He was laid away in Milton Grove
cemetery. Both he and wife were long members of
the Lutheran Church. She was born in Lebanon
county in 1824, and now resides with her son Will-
iam B. They were the parents of four children,
namely : John, who is an iron worker in Lebanon ;
Margaret, who died young; William B. ; and May,
who died at the age of two years.
William B. Thome was afforded excellent edu-
cational opportunities by a farsighted and intelligent
father. He made his home with his parents until
1876, when he graduated from the University of
Pennsylvania. After his marriage he settled for
practice in Mastersonville, this county, remaining
there for ten years, at the end of which period he
came to Milton Grove, where he has remained ever
since, becoming a leading citizen. Dr. Thome is
widely known, and his practice is not confined to his
immediate locality, his skill being in requisition over
a wide extent of territory. In politics, like his father.
Dr. Thome is a Democrat, but he has . no political
aspirations, and did not even seek the office of school
director, to which he was elected. He belongs to the
Lutheran Church, although his duties interfere with
a very regular attendance.
On June 13, 1876, in Lancaster, Dr. Thome was'
married to Miss Louisa G. Missimer, and to this
union were born two sons, Winfield M. and Arthur
J., both of whom are attending Baltimore Medical
College. Winfield M. was married, in 1902, to Miss
Gertrude G. Engle, daughter of Simon H. and Mary
(Graybill) Engle, of Conoy township, Lancaster
county. Mrs. Thome was born in Rapho township,
daughter of Jacob and Martha (Gantz) Missimer,
of Lancaster county. Mr. Missimer was a miller by
trade, and operated what was known as the Heistand
mill, on the Chiques creek, for many years, following
the example of his father. Esquire Jacob Missimer,
who built the mill and operated it a very considerable
time. Jacob Lfissimer was a prominent man, and
served his district as school director for a long period.
He died at the age of seventy years, in 1888, his
widow dying in 1892, at the same age. They were
buried in the Cross Roads River Brethren Church
cemetery, in East Donegal township, although they
were members of the Lutheran Church. Their chil-
dren were: Susan G. married Rev. David Wolge-
muth, a River Brethren minister ; Martha G. married
David Brandt, a farmer of Mt. Joy township ; Sarah
G. married Henry B. Martin, a farmer of East Done-
gal township ; Catherine G. is the widow of Henry
N. Snyder, of Mt. Joy township ; Anna G. married
Samuel G. Witmer, a farmer and trucker of Rapho
township ; Mary G. married Edward B. Boyd, a mer-
chant of Manheim; I-ouisa G. is the wife of Dr.
Thome ; Elizabeth G. married Jacob Gruber, a farmer
of Rapho township ; and Harriet G. is the widow of
Jacob Engle, of East Hempfield township.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
817
ABRAHAM H. HERR, one of the representa-
tive men of Lancaster county, was born on the farm
he owns and occupies, Oct. 5, 1855, a son of Chris-
tian and Susanna (Hess) Herr. Reared on the
home farm, and educated in the pubhc schools, he
remained at home with his parents, taking charge of
the farm about two years before his father's death.
The parents lived with him until their death, his fa-
ther dying in 1883, and his mother in October, 1900.
Mr. Herr gives his attention to farming and
dairying, keeping some eighteen head of cattle, and
for seven years ran a milk route in Lancaster. At
the present time he does no retail business. His
farm which consists of 112 acres, is classed among
the better places of the county. It has been con-
siderably improved since it came into the possession
of Mr. Herr, and is thoroughly cultivated. Mr. Herr
is a public-spirited citizen, and is deeply interested
in all propositions that affect the public good. He
has never sought nor accepted public station, though
frequently asked by his friends to take certain town
offices. His home is under the charge of his sister
Elizabeth, who with him is deeply interested in Sun-
day-school work. All the members of this numerous
and widely scattered family are among the most
orderly and industrious in the community, where
their good character, integrity and honor have made
them many friends.
CHRISTIAN HERR (deceased), in his life
time one of the more prominent citizens of Lancaster
county, was born March 25, 1807, a son of Joseph
and Mariah (Frower) Herr, both of Pequea town-
ship. Christian Herr was born in Pequea township,
where he was reared to farm life. He was married
Nov. 30, 1839, to Susanna Hess, and located on the
farm near Hollinger, where his son, Abraham, is
now found. There he devoted his life to farming,
and there died June 29, 1883. In his earlier man-
hood he was engaged in the milling business at what
is now known as the Pugh Mills, being associated
with his brother, Abraham. At one time he took
much interest in the culture of silk worms, erecting
a building for that purpose, and growing his own
silk, but did not keep at it long, as the conditions
were unfavorable to its success. The later years of
his life were entirely devoted to farming, and he was
well and favorably known throughout the county.
Mrs. Susanna (Hess) Herr was a daughter of
Jacob Hess, of Pequea township, born April 27,
1815 ; she died Oct. 26, 1900. By her marriage with
Mr. Herr she became the mother of seven children :
Jacob H., of Willowstreet, born Aug. 26, 1840;
Joseph, a resident of West Lampeter township, born.
Jan. 6, 1842; Maria, born Feb. 23, 1844, died in
childhood; Christian H., born 1846, died Feb. 21,
1898, in Manor township, where he had followed
farming, and at one time had been a school teacher ;
Barbara, born Oct. 28, 1850, now the wife of Jacob
Lindeman, of West Lampeter township; Elizabeth,
born Sept. 13, 1853, now housekeeper for her brother
52
Abraham; and Abraham H., born Oct. 5, 1855, re-
siding on the old homestead. Christian Herr, the
father of this family, was a Dunkard, but his wife
belonged to the old Mennonite Church.
Jacob Here, the oldest member of the above
family, was born and reared on the old homestead
and educated in the public schools, and in the high
school in Cumberland county. Remaining at home
until 1880, he then located at Willowstreet, operat-
ing a small tract of five acres, giving the most of his
attention to the Lancaster and Willowstreet Turn-
pike Co., of which he has been superintendent and
treasurer. The office of secretary is also filled by
him. He married, Jan. 13, 1880, Mrs. Catherine,
widow of Martin Kreider and daughter of Christian
and Elizabeth (Forrer) Mylin, born in Pequea
township, July 8, 1835. They have one of the most
pleasant homes found at Willowstreet. In religious
belief they belong to the Mennonite Church, and
they are highly respected for their many good
qualities.
HENRY H. AMENT, who has followed carpet
weaving and carpentering in Columbia for a number
of years, was born March 19, 183S, in Manor town-
ship, this county. The Ament family is one of the
oldest and most respected in Lancaster county,
where our subject's grandparents settled on their
emigration from Germany, their native country.
George Ament, the father of Henry H., was born
Sept. 16, 1792. He did a prosperous teaming busi-
ness in the early days, carrying goods between Phil-
adelphia and Pittsburg, when railway connections
between those, two places was yet a dream of the
future. He was a man of many resources. By
trade a carpet weaver, in his later life he became a
farmer, and at the same time carried on business
as a butcher. He died May 3, 1873, aged eighty
years, seven months and eighteen days. He mar-
ried Catherine Herr, daughter of Christian Herr, of
Lancaster county, and they became the parents of
nine children, namely: Christian; Catherine, who
married Martin Manning, of Highville, this county;
Benjamin, born Jan. 29, 1829, who died Sept. 22,
1870, aged forty-one years, seven months and
twenty-four days, the father of nine children ; Eliza,
who married Christ Kaufman, of Highville; Elias
and Mary Ann, both deceased ; Henry H. ; and
Abraham and Fanny, twins, the former a resident
of Highville, the latter the wife of Jacob Kaufman,
the brother of Christ, of Lancaster. The parents
were members of the Lutheran Church. Mrs.
Ament passed away in 1885, aged seventy-four
years.
Henry H. Ament was reared to farming pur-
suits, which he followed up to the age of nineteen
years, meantime receiving a practical education in
the common schools. He then learned the carpen-
ter's trade, and he has also acquired a thorough
knowledge of carpet weaving. Since 1888 he has
been engaged at both trades, and he has prospered
818
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
well — industry and honest work bringing their own
and just rewards. He resided at Highville until
June, 1899, when he removed to Columbia, where he
has since had his home. As a worthy member of
one of the old respected families of the county, Mr.
Ament is held in high esteem, and he is fully de-
serving of the substantial place he holds in the re-
gard of his fellow men.
In November, 1856, Mr. Ament was married,
in Lancaster, Pa., to Miss Catherine Schoff, a na-
tive of Manor township, and daughter of David and
Susanna (Benedict) Schoff, of Lancaster county.
Mrs. Ament died Aug. i, 1896, aged sixty-one years.
Of the children born to this union, Amos is a resi-
dent of Columbia, this county ; Elizabeth is the wife
of Henry Mellinger, of Columbia ; Jonas and Frank-
lin are deceased; Elias is a carpenter in Highville;
David is deceased ; and Mary married Elmer Eshle-
man, of Columbia. In religious connection Mr.
Ament is a member of the Evangelical Church. He
is independent in politics.
ADOLPH EFINGER, proprietor of the
"Seventh Ward Hotel," is one of the popular and
successful German-Americans of whom the citizens
of Lancaster are justly proud. He was born in
Wurlemberg, Germany, the home of his ancestors,
Dec. 30, 1853, a son of Bernard and Caroline (Crim)
Efinger.
Bernard Efinger was a man of more than ordin-
ary attainments, and although he never wandered
from his native land, he contributed not a little to
the steady advancement of the locality in which he
lived. In early life he took to surveying as a de-
sirable means of livelihood, and so successful did he
become, that he was given a public position as
surveyor, the arduous duties of which he creditably
maintained for more than half a century. He was
interested in politics also, and his popularity and
general fitness may be best estimated from the fact
that he was burgomaster or mayor of Aixheim,
Wurtemberg, for about thirty years. His death oc-
curred in 1897, at the age of seventy-four ; his wife
died in 1881, at the age of fifty-four. They were
members of the Catholic Church, and had the fol-
lowing children besides Adolph: Remius, who came
to America in i860, is a tinsmith in Philadelphia;
Catherine, who died in Germany, married Francis
Gruler ; Otto is a farmer in Germany ; Mary is liv-
ing in G,ermany ; and Anna is also a resident of Ger-
many.
More ambitious than his sire, Adolph Efinger
sought to enlarge his sphere of action by removal
to the United States in 1871, his objective point be-
ing Lancaster, Pa., where resided an uncle, Jacob
Efinger. Under this uncle he served an apprentice-
ship as a cabinet-maker for three years, following
which he engaged as journeyman in his trade for
six years. For twelve years he was employed in a
planing mill, and in 1889 started in the hotel busi-
ness, of which he has made a success. He has en-
tered actively into general town afifairs, and as a
stanch Republican has been a member of the city
council since 1898. Fraternally he is associated with
the Masons and Odd Fellows, but is not a member
of any church, although his family attend the Ger-
man Lutheran Church. His wife was formerly
Mary J. Dinkelberg, a native of Lancaster, and who
has borne him two children. Bertha K. and Philip
C. Mr. Efinger is well adapted to the occupation in
which he is engaged, his tact, geniality, and all
around good fellowship, contributing in no small
measure to his success as host to the traveling public.
He is exceedingly well posted, has a thorough knowl-
edge of human nature, and by virtue of his appli-
cation and integrity has acquired a substantial place
among the moneyed men of Lancaster.
REV. WILLIAM FRANCIS SHERO, A. M.,
rector of St. John's Free Episcopal Church, in Lan-
caster, is a gentleman of far more than ordinary
literary genius, and is doing splendid work in the
parish to which he has ministered since September,
1898, having officiated there for one year while fill-
ing the office of headmaster of Yeates' Institute. In
the rectorship he is the successor of the late lamented
Rev. J. E. Pratt.
Mr. Shero's paternal ancestors were French
Huguenots, who left France at the time of the Revo-
cation of the Edict of Nantes, going first to Ger-
many, and from that country to America. His
grandfather came to America, bringing with him an
infant son, Lewis, who became the father of the Lan-
caster clergyman. Lewis Shero married Clarissa
Francis, daughter of Egbert Francis, who was lead-
ing a retired life at Fredonia, N. Y. Of this union
there were born seven children, all of whom are
living.
Rev. William Francis Shero, A. M., was born
near Fredonia, N. Y., in 1863, and was educated in
the normal school in his native town, and in the
University of Rochester, from which he was grad-
uated in 1887. He then attended the Theological
Seminary in New York City, from which he was to
be graduated in 1890, but left in 1888 to engage in
teaching. For four years he worked in the school
roorn, in the meantime continuing his theological
studies, while he was principal of the schools at
Smethport, Pa. During this time he took a post-
graduate course in the University of Rochester,
writmg a thesis on "The Dis-establishment of the
English Church," and in the study of political econ-
omy was awarded the first prize— a sum of $300
m money. Mr. Shero was ordained deacon Dec. 22,
18S9, and priest, Feb. 22, 1891. His first call was to
Angelica, N. Y., where he served one year and a
half, and for four years was chaplain of DeVeaux
College at Niagara Falls. At the end of that period
he came to Lancaster to take the position of head
master of Yeates' Institute, a position he filled with
credit for two years, and then, as noted above be-
coming rector of St. John's Free Episcopal Church
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
819
The degree of Master of Arts was bestowed upon
him by Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y., in 1890.
Mr. Shero was married June 12, 1891, to Miss
Lucy S. Rogers, a daughter of Col. Lucius Rogers,
a veteran of the war of the Rebellion, and now serv-
ing as postmaster at Kane, Pa. In 1869 the Colonel
was elected prothonotary 'of McKean county, and
three years later he was elected a member of the
General Assembly. For eleven years he was journal
and reading clerk of the State Senate, and was elected
county treasurer in 1889. Col. Rogers is a veteran
journalist of much reputation, and by the dignity
and candor of his work has made a name for himself
that will long endure in McKean county. Col. Rogers
has two other children beside Mrs, Shero, Fantine
Livia, the wife of Dr. W. P. Bundick, of Mt. Jewett,
Pa. ; and H. Smull, a lawyer at Mt. Jewett, who
bears the name of Mr. Smull, of "Legislative Hand-
book" fame. Mrs. Shero has Bishop Kidder, of
Bath and Wells, England, among her more dis-
tinguished maternal ancestors, among whom is also
found Noah Webster. From the union of Mr.
Shero with Miss Rogers, were born two children,
Lucius Rogers, and Livia Francis.
Mr. Shero has met with much success as rector
of St. John's Parish, and his people are devotedly
attached to him. Of a deeply spiritual nature, his
fine social qualities render his work doubly effective,
and with a fine pulpit presence and power he has all
the elements which enter into the success of a priest.
His record in Lancaster is a story of honest and hon-
orable labor, of deep devotion, and of faithful eflfort
for the improvement of his people.
SIMON PETER WAYNE, an old and well-
known engineer on the Pennsylvania railroad, with
his residence in Columbia, Lancaster county, was
born in Colebrook, Lebanon Co., Pa., on the old
Robert Coleman estate. May 15, 1847, a son of David
C. and Sarah (Knipe) Wayne, natives, respectively
of Hanover, York county, and Schaefferstown,
Lebanon county, in which latter place they were
married.
David C. Wayne was a miller by trade, at which
calling he worked from the age of fifteen to 1878,
when advanced years precluded further work in the
mills, and he then engaged in the patent medicine
business until ten years prior to his death, when he
retired. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. David C.
Wayne were born the following named children:
William H., who died from the effects of an injury
received on the old State railroad ; Mary A., widow
of John Eyman, who was master painter at Pitts-
burg for the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. ; Catherine,
deceased wife of Samuel Clair ; Sarah, widow of
Isaac Hogentogler, of Columbia; John, who was
wounded at the battle of Malvern Hill, June 30,
1861, while serving in Co. I, 23d P. V. I., died in
hospital at Washington, D. C, in October, 1861 ;
David A., a locomotive engineer, was killed in a rail-
road wreck; Simon Peter was the next in order of
birth: Elizabeth married James Devine, a railroad
engineer at Elizabethtown, Pa. ; Emma is the wife
of Milton Monahan, a railroad conductor at Phila-
delphia ; Rebecca, of the same city, is the widow of
Jacob Michael, who was -a locomotive engineer'; and
Lydia married Amos Lewis, a railroad engineer
at Shippensburg, Pa. Mrs. Sarah (Knipe) Wayne
was very active and earnest in her work for the
United Brethren Church, and in 1856-1858 col-
lected the money with which was built the first
church edifice of that denomination in Columbia, the
first sermon .having been preached in German in the
dwelling of David C. Wayne, by the Rev. Christian
Kaufman, to the embryo congregation of that faith.
David C. Wayne was born Oct. i, 1809, and died
Jan. I, 1888, and his wife was born Sept. 18, 1814,
and died April 28, 1882, the family having come to
Columbia about 1849.
Simon Peter Wayne, at the early age of eight
years, was sent out by his parents to earn in part
his own livelihood, and among the farmers of the
neighborhood he found employment until fifteen
years of age. He was then apprenticed to John Q.
Denney, to learn the molder's trade, and was to re-
ceive fifty cents per day the first year; seventy-five
cents per day the second year; and one dollar per
da)' for the three following years. He was in the
shop, however, but little over a year when the war
of the Rebellion broke out, and all the molders in
the factory, save one, went to the front. Young
Wayne was then tested by his employers, and found
to be capable of casting a molding, and his wages
were fixed at $2 per day, until the expiration of his
apprenticeship. He next worked as a journeyman
for Malby, Case & Co., and other foundrymen until
January, 1874, when he was given a place, on the
T5th of INIay, as fireman for the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Co., and six years later, Aug. 20, 1880, he was
promoted to engineer, a position he still occupies.
In 1891 he was transferred to Philadelphia, as pas-
senger engineer, but in November, 1893, was re-
turned to Columbia as freight and extra passenger
engineer.
Mr. Wayne was united in marriage, March 13,
1867, in Lancaster, with Miss Kate Mayer, and to
this union was born one child, William M., who
died at the age of three years and twenty days.
Mrs. Kate (Mayer) Wayne was born in Bern-
ville, Berks Co., Pa., March 13, 1848, a daughter of
Gotlieb and Mary (Boyer) Mayer, natives- of Ger-
many and Berks county. Pa., respectively. Gotlieb
Mayer came to America in boyhood, and learned the
miller's trade under David C. Wayne, father of
Simon Peter. To his marriage to Mary Boyer were
born seven children, namely: Kate, now Mrs.
Wayne; Anna, wife of Orrick Richards, paper-
hnneer in Columbia; Clara, widow of John Hinkle;
Elizabeth, wife of H. P. Young, retired, in Middle-
town, Pa. ; Ella, in Columbia ; John, in Marietta ;
and Emma, who died young. Mr. Mayer died in
Columbia at an advanced age in the faith of the
820
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Lutheran Church, and his widow, who was born
May 21, 1824, is also a Lutheran and still resides in
Columbia.
Mr. Wayne is one of the kindest and most charit-
able of men. He has had educated in music several
children not members of his family, and has reared
three as his own. At present he has living with him
a niece, Miss Bessie E. Young, whom he has reared
from the age of two to seventeen years, although her
father is quite wealthy, and is a resident of Middle-
town. Mr. Wayne is a member of the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers, in which he. holds three
offices, those of corresponding secretary, chairman
of the board of legislation, and chairman of the com-
mittee of adjustments. He is also, a member of the
general board of the Pennsylvania system. Mr.
Wayne is a past grand in the I. O. O. F., a Knight
of Malta, and past chancellor, K. P. He also be-
longs to the Columbia Fire Department. In politics
he is a Republican, and has served in the borough
council two consecutive terms as president, an honor
never before conferred upon a president of the Co-
lumbia council. By appointment he also filled out
an unexpired term of six months as chief burgess
of Columbia. From a business point of view Mr.
Wayne is a self-made man, as he has through his
integrity and industry, been given by the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Co., lucrative employment which has
enabled him to acquire a competency for the years
when old age will make his being able to sit under
his own vine and fig tree, without a thought of the
morrow, a blessing indeed. For the kindness and
favors shown him by the company he has a feeling
of gratitude, which grows deeper and stronger as
the years go by. His elegant home on Chestnut
street is an evidence of what a man may acquire by
living an industrious and frugal life, and should be
an incentive to the coming generations of railroad
men to do likewise, and, like Mr. Wayne, to be hon-
ored and respected by all.
WILLIAM D. SNYDER has long been well
and favorably known among business men in Co-
lumbia, where he has risen to special prominence in
his important position of manager for the Keeley
Stove Company.
Mr. Snyder was born Feb. 13, 1843, in Chillis-
quaque, Northumberland county, this State, son of
John Frederick and Mary (Dehart) Snyder, also
natives of the Keystone State. The paternal grand-
father of our subject, John B. Snyder, was born in
Montgomery county, where he spent the greater
part of his life, following the trade of shoemaker.
He was a Democrat in politics, and understood well
the political issues of his day, taking an active part
in the local affairs of his town. For three years he
was a member of the town council, for eight years
served as overseer of the poor at Milton, and in
numerous other positions aided in the upbuilding
of his community. He was a true Christian gentle-
man, greatly interested in the progress of the Re-
formed Church, of which he was a member. He
participated in the Black Hawk war, serving as
captain of a company that was sent to the front.
John B. Snyder married Sarah Elizabeth Rumer,
a native of Northampton county, this State, and they
had three sons and one daughter, of whom J. Fred-
erick, our subject's father! was the eldest. The oth-
ers were Peter ; Albert, who was killed during the
Civil war; and Sarah. The grandfather died in
1875-
J. Frederick Snyder was born in Montgomery
county, where he made his home until his marriage,
and he was given a good education in the public
schools. On reaching mature years he began clerk-
ing in a store, and continued to act as salesman
from 1842 to i860, after which he followed boating
on the Pennsylvania Canal, which occupation he
abandoned in order to accept work offered him in
a sawmill, for which he received better pay. He
passed away while residing in Milton, in 1887,
when in the sixty-fifth year of his age, a devout mem-
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. J. Fred-
erick Snyder was twice married, and by the first
union were born five children, of whom William D.
was the eldest; Sarah, the next in order of birth,
is deceased ; Mary is the wife of Jeremiah Dates-
man, and resides in Columbia ; and the two remain-
ing members of the family, twins, are deceased.
The wife and mother passed to the land beyond in
1850, at the age of thirty-one.
William D. Snyder received his early education
in the common schools of Milton, after which he
took a course in the high school, and he subsequent-
ly received instruction from Rev. A. G. Dole, pastor
of the Reformed Church of Milton, studying Eng-
lish grammar, rhetoric and geometry. At the age
of eighteen he engaged in boating, continuing thus
until he apprenticed himself to learn the trade of a
tin smith. Mastering the business in three years,
he followed it with fair success until 1872, when he
formed a partnership with Mr. Overpeck, the firm
name being Overpeck & Snyder. They carried on
a thriving trade in tinsmithing and sheet iron work,
until the death of the senior partner in 1876, when
the style was changed to W. D. Snyder & Co., and
continued as such for the following three years.
At the end of that time our subject disposed of his
interest in the business, remaining with the new
firm, however, until 1881, when he went to Middle-
town, becoming superintendent of Raymond &
Campbell's mounting establishment in that place.
After remaining there a short time, however, he lo-
cated in Columbia in the employ of the Keeley Stove
Co. On Thanksgiving day, 1891, Mr. Snyder was
elected to the position of manager of the concern
by the board of directors, and has remained in that
capacity ever since, to the satisfaction of all con-
cerned. He is a thorough business man, and what-
ever he undertakes is bound to succeed. The firm
are doing a paying business, transacting over
$200,000 worth of business each year, and give em-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
821
ployment in all departments to about one hundred
and forty men. The factory is a large structure,
five stories in height, including cellar, located on
Maple and Second streets. They have also a sales-
room at No. 21 South Charles street, Baltimore.
In his political views Mr. Snyder is a Prohibi-
tionist, and believes that the time will soon come
when that party will elect a president. He has
been very active in church work since early man-
hood, and has served twelve years as superintendent
of the Sunday-school and eight years as deacon.
In social affairs he is a prominent Odd Fellow, be-
longing to Mutual Lodge No. 84, at Milton; and
he is also a member of Milton Lodge No. 256, F.
&A. M.
Mr. Snyder married, in February, 1865, Miss
Sarah E., daughter of Peter Smith, of Milton, and
to them was born one daughter, Mary, now the wife
of Edgar Fager, of Columbia. Mrs. Snyder died
in 1867, and our subject subsequently married Miss
Nancy C, daughter of James McClosky, of Clinton
county, this State. To them have been born four
children : Zella, deceased ; .William Lloyd ; Jennie
B. ; and one that died in infancy.
WILLIAM B. SCHNEITMAN, a well-known
implement dealer of Elizabethtown, was born in
West Donegal township April 3, 1854, son of Mat-
thias F. and Regina (Brantley) Schneitman. The
parents were natives of Wurtemberg, Germany,
where they remained after their marriage until
1844, when they came to America, locating in Eliza-
bethtown. They remained in the borough a year,
and then settled on a farm a mile from the town,
v/here they lived and died, Mr. Schneitman passmg
away in 1876, at the age of seventy-two years, and
his widow in 1884, at the age of seventy. Both were
members of the Lutheran Church. They were the
parents of the following family : Charles, who is
deceased ; Gotlieb, who lives in Lebanon county ;
Christianna, wife of Samuel Sherrer; Kate, wife of
John Mashey, a farmer of Dauphin county ; Henry,
a furniture dealer in Casey, Iowa; Mary, wife of
Israel Engle, of Lancaster county; William B. ;
and Louisa, who died young.
William B. Schneitman was married in Novem-
ber, 1881, in Elizabethtown, to Mary Rutt, and to
this union was born one child, Harry R. Mrs.
Mary (Rutt) Schneitman was born in West Done-
gal township April 3, 1856, daughter of Christian
S. and Susan (AlHson) Rutt, natives of West Don-
egal and Rapho townships, respectively. Her father
farmed all his life on the farm where he was born.
He died Feb. 21, 1882, at the age of seventy-eight
years, ten months, and his remains are resting in
the Rutt cemetery, on the old homestead, which has
been in the family for more than 200 years. Chris-
tian S. Rutt and Susan Allison were married in
Lancaster in 185 1, and to their union were born the
following cliildren : Peter, who is deceased ; Mary,
Mrs. Schneitman ; and Simon, who is engaged in
the cultivation of the old farm in West Donegal.
Mrs. Susan (Allison) Rutt was born in Newtown,
Rapho township, April 6, 1826, and is now making
her home with Mrs. Schneitman. Her parents,
Abraham and Suskn (Kaufifman) Allison, were na-
tives of Ireland and Lancaster county, respectively,
and both died at the home of their daughter, Mrs.
Susan Rutt, being interred in the old Rutt cemetery.
They were members of the River Brethren Church.
The father was a mason by trade. Mr. and Mrs.
Allison were the parents of the following children :
Barbara, widow of John Cassel; John, who died in
Kansas; Abraham, a farmer in Kansas; Benjamin,
Fanny and Anna, all deceased ; and Susan.
William B. Schneitman remained with his par-
ents on the home farm until he was twelve years of
age when he was bound out, working for his board
during the winter, and receiving six dollars a month
during the summer season. He made good use of
the winter schools, and when he was twenty years
old began teaching, in which capacity he was en-
gaged for two years. For the next eight years he
followed tobacco farming, and then took up the
business in which he is now engaged. He moved
to Elizabethtown in 1884, but also continued to
carry on tobacco farming in West Donegal town-
ship. While in that township he was clerk two
terms, and in 1894 he was elected school director
in Elizabethtown and re-elected in 1897. He and
his wife are both members of the German Reformed
Church, and in politics he is a Democrat. They
are intelligent people, and enjoy an enviable stand-
ing in the community.
JACOB D. KOHR, who lives one mile north-
west of Lancaster, belongs to one of the old families
of the county, and well sustains the honor of the fam-
ily name. His father, Rev. Bishop John Kohr, now
deceased, was a noted man in the church ; he is men-
tioned elsewhere.
Jacob D. Kohr was born April 14, 1845, on the
place adjoining the one where he now makes his
home. His education was gained in the public
school, and when he was twenty-five years of age he
began business for himself on a sixty-five acre farm
belonging to his grandfather, in Manheim township,
where he remained one year. His next location was
in East Lampeter township, where he operated two
rented farms of sixty-five acres each, remaining
there only one year, however, when he moved to
Lancaster to become the. first steward of Harbach
Hall, Franklin and Marshall College. At the end
of a year he resigned this position, in which he had
given good satisfaction, as he was needed at home
to take charge of the farm. With his brother he
carried on the family homestead for three years, and
then established himself on the old David O. Shirk
farm. The following year he located on a farm
which his father had bought for him, consisting of
sixty-seven acres, a portion of which he sold to the
railroad company, and then operated the remainder
822
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
from 1876 to i8q6. In the latter year he bought
the home property, where this writing finds him re-
tired from active farming. This property comprises
three acres, and the place has been thoroughly re-
modeled to meet his ideas of what a neat and attrac-
tive home should be. Though not now engaged in
active farming, Mr. Kohr is still in active business,
putting up for the market Saratoga chips, fruit but-
ters, catsups, and a similar line of toothsome
dainties.
Mr. Kohr was married Dec. 24, 1868, to Miss
Mary F., a daughter of Benjamin and Lydia Lan-
dis. She was born in Franklin county. Pa., near
Waynesboro, Sept. i, 1848. To Mr. and Mrs.
Kohr have come the following children: (i)
Frank L., born Jan. 3, 1870, married Miss Barbara
Harnish, by whom he has had one child, Elizabeth,
and is a florist. (2) Annie L., born Oct. 21, 1871,
is the wife of Jacob L. Kreider, a grocer at the
corner of Chestnut and Nevin streets, Lancaster,
and is the mother of three children, Esther, Jesse
and Mary. (3) Alice, born May i, 1875, is the
wife of Elmer J. Weaver, the florist, of East Lamp-
eter township, and is the mother of one child, Lloyd.
(4) Howard L., born Aug. 5, 1877, is a machinist
employed at the Westinghouse airbrake works, in
Pittsburg. (5) Esther, born Sept. 7, 1883, is at
home. (6) Lydia was born July 8, 1885. (7)
John was born Feb. 8, 1890. Mrs. Kohr is a mem-
ber of tlie Reformed Mennonite Church and the
family are among the Christian and highly intelli-
gent people of this section of the county.
Frank L. Kohr, the eldest son, obtained his edu-
cation in the public schools and in the State Normal,
where he attended two years. In 1875 he estab-
lished his greenhouse on the site where he has since
built up a prosperous business, having removed his
plant from the farm, where he was reared, and
where he began the business in 1890. Beginning
with 3,000 feet of glass, he now has 7,000. He
makes a specialty of carnations, and also of bedding
plants, such as geraniums, begonias and petunias.
His product goes to Philadelphia and Reading. In
1892 he began trucking, and conducts a truck farm
of five acres in connection with his floral business.
He has some 300 peach trees, and watches the Lan-
caster markets very closely. In 1892 he bought his
home, situated about a mile northwest of Lancaster
city. Mr. Kohr belongs to the Society of American
Florists, and is a member of the Page Society.
ABRAHAM HIRSH. The Hirsh Brothers
may be justly placed in the front rank of the busi-
ness men of Lancaster by reason of their pronounced
ability in trade, their intelligent observation of com-
mercial and mercantile matters, their wise discern-
ment of the wants of the people, and their readiness
to cater to the wants of the people as well as their
uniformly satisfactory dealing with their patrons.
These have been prominent factors in their success
in building up a trade in the city second to none, and
in acquiring fortunes that have placed them among
the heaviest taxpayers of Lancaster. They have
been the architects of their own fortunes, earning
what they owned, and in the afternoon of life are
surrounded by happy families, in the full enjoyment
of all the good things that wealth affords.
Like many other successful business men of
Lancaster, the Hirsh brothers were not to "the man-
ner born," but first saw the light in Hessen-Darm-
stadt, Germany, only a few miles from the famous
city of Worms. Their parents, Meyer and Dora
Hirsh, frugal and industrious villagers, reared their
boys until they had attained manhood, when they
were sent forth at their own request to the New
World, with but small capital, to carve out their
own fortunes.
Leopold Hirsh, the first of the brothers to come
to America, arrived in New York in 1851, and there
purchased a small stock of notions. He made his
way to Reading, Pa., where he was joined the fol-
lowing year by his eldest brother, Abraham. The
brothers united their little sayings and worked
hand in hand as peddlers of fancy notions, and
within a year had made sufficient advance to be able
in 1853 to open a store at Danville, Pa., where at
the time was building the Catawassa railroad, and
the Montrose Iron Works were in full blast. The
young merchants rented a store and, vigorously
pushing the jewelry and notion business, made
money rapidly. Before they had been in business
twelve months they rented another building, on the
opposite side of the town, and fitted it up as a
clothing store. Abraham Hirsh went to Sunbury,
where he rented a room and began the watch and
jewelry trade, having an old and experienced watch-
maker from Germany as his assistant. He did a
fair business. As times changed at Danville the
brothers sought another location, selling the two
stores in that place, and the Sunbury establishment
passing into the hands of the German assistant. In
1854 the Hirsh brothers made their advent in Lan-
caster. They opened a small store on North Queen
street, near Center Square, and there was the mod-
est beginning of the extensive millinery and notion
store of A. Hirsh. The place extended but half way
through to Market I'lace, and one-half the front
was occupied by another dealer. In this contracted
space they began business, and soon afterward ob-
tained the adjoining storeroom, which they fitted
up as a clothing store. Their business rapidly in-
creased to large proportions, and in 1857 they were
able to purchase the Griel property, which they had
rented. In 1861 they bought from John Farnum
the property on the northwest corner of Center
Square and North Queen street, extending it
through to Market Place. In November of the same
year they sold to Jacob Bowers the rear portion of
this property for $8,000. In 1884 they bought the
property back for $20,000, their expanding business
demanding more room. The building was entirely
remodeled to meet the wants of their trade. All
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
823
the partitions were taken out and each floor thrown
into one room, the principal salesroom extending
from North Queen street to Market Place, new
fronts were put in, and the entire building was ad-
mirably heated and ventilated. From the ground
up it is stocked with an immense amount of cloth-
ing, uncut cloth and men's furnishing goods. Be-
fore these improvements were made to the corner
building equally extensive improvements were made
on the Griel property. It had been extended
through to Market Place, and the entire ground
floor thrown into one large salesroom for the mil-
linery, jewelry and fancy goods trade, the upstairs
rooms being stocked with an extensive assortment
of miscellaneous merchandise. The original firm
of Hirsh Brothers, consisting of Abraham, Her-
man and Leopold Hirsh, was dissolved in 1874,
Abraham Hirsh taking the millinery department,
and Herman and Leopold taking up the clothing de-
partment, under the name of Hirsh Brothers. Le-
opold Hirsh died Dec. i, 1901, at his home in Phila-
delphia.
Abraham Hirsh continued in the millinery bus-
iness until 1899, and i" IQOO disposed of the jew-
elry business, retiring at that time from active life.
His was the guiding hand for this extensive busi-
ness in its earlier days, and he was known as a
shrewd and keen business man, his success well at-
testing his reputation in that respect. Personally
he is an affalile and courteous gentleman, and he has
been one of the most enterprising men of Lancaster
since the day of his arrival. He has always been
a generous contributor to all the deserving charities
of the city, without regard to age, creed or condi-
tion.
Mr. Hirsh has owned and controlled a large
amount of real estate in Lancaster, both alone and
in company with his brothers, and he is still the pro-
prietor of a fine farm, as well as of valuable real
estate in the city. He also has good property in the
West, and was ever alert for a good business in-
vestment. In 1867, in company with his brothers,
he established a manufacturing business in Phila-
delphia, putting on the market a very desirable um-
brella, and this business was successfully conducted
by them for more than ten years. Abraham Hirsh
was one of the promoters and founders of the street
railroads of Lancaster, as well as of the Quarry-
ville railroad. He was largely interested in the
successful establishment of the Lancaster Inquirer.
Mr. Plirsh belongs to the F. & A. M., holding
membership in Kensington Lodge, No. 21, and he
is one of the oldest members of the Jewish Syna-
gogue in the city of Lancaster, having been its pres-
ident for the last sixteen years. He was formerly
a Democrat in politics, but now supports the Repub-
lican party. Llowever, he is not active in party af-
fairs. His residence is at No. 129 North Duke
street.
Mr. Hirsh was born June 21, 1827. He mar-
ried for his first wife Miss Fannie Greenwald, of
Philadelphia, by whom he had four sons and three
daughters. The eldest son, Leopold, was a success-
ful merchant in McKeesport, Pa., where he died
March 21, 1895. David, the second son, is in the
tobacco business in New York. Harry, the third
son, is in the tobacco trade in Lancaster ; he is mar-
ried and has one child, Fanny. Benjamin, the
youngest son, is in the livery business at Lancaster.
Celia, the eldest daughter, married Morris Hock-
himer, an extensive dealer in wool in Wheeling, W.
Va., and has three sons and one daughter, Benja-
min, Ell wood, Herbert and Florence. Rosa G., the
second daughter, is the wife of Henry Weil, a lead-
ing horse dealer of Lancaster, and has one child,
Hortense. Estella, the youngest daughter, is the
wife of Henry Rider, a wholesale cigar dealer of
Lancaster, and has two children, Fanny and Adrian.
Mr. Hirsh married for his second wife the widow of
Abraham Sussman, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
SAMUEL A. SHELLEY, retired farmer of
Rapho township, was born Sept. 27, 1846, on a farm
adjoining the one he now occupies, and he still owns
it.
Samuel Shelley, his father, died on the old home-
stead near by the farm of his son in 1886, at the
age of seventy-eight years. He was buried on the
farm. He married Maria Acker, who was born in
1819, and is still living with a daughter. Samuel
Shelley was a member of the Brethren in Christ
Church. For years during his life he was a director
of schools for his district. The following children
were born to him and his wife': Isaac A., a retired
farmer of Sporting Flill ; Emanuel A., a farmer of
Rapho township ; Samuel A., whose name opens
this sketch ; Anna A., wife of Henry Gibble, a
farmer; Maria A., wife of Daniel Wolgemuth, a
farmer : and Aaron A., a farmer of Rapho township.
Samuel A. Shelley's grandparents were Abraham
and Lizzie (Brandt) Shelley, of Rapho township.
The grandfather died at the age of ninety-two
years, and his father, also named Abraham, lived to
the age of ninety-four. The grandfather on the
mother's side was Jacob Acker, of Lancaster county.
On Nov. 23, 1869, Samuel A. Shelley married
Miss Fanny A. Erhart, of Lancaster county, the
ceremony being performed by Rev. W. T. Gerherd.
To this marriage has come one daughter, Fanny E.,
now the wife of John B. Hossler, a farmer of
Rapho township ; they have four children, Jennie
S., Claj'ton S., John S. and Henry S.
Mrs. Samuel A. Shelley was born in Rapho
township April 7, 1849, daughter of John and Re-
becca (Brubaker) Erhart, of Rapho township. Thp
father is still living on his farm, but the mother died
in 1881, at the age of fifty-five years. She is buried
in HernJev's Meeting House cemetery. She was
of the Mennonite faith. Mr. Erhart retired from
farming in 1880. He and his wife had children as
follows : Benjamin, a retired farmer of Rapho
township; Fanny A., wife of Samuel A. Shelley;
824
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Samuel, a farmer of Rapho township ; and Rebecca,
who died at the age of thirty-six years. Mrs. Shel-
ley's paternal grandparents were John and Fanny
(Rohrer) Erhart, of Lancaster county, of Swiss
origin. Her grandparents on her mother's side
were John and Anna (Wenger) Brubaker, of Lan-
caster county.
Samuel A. Shelley remained on his old home-
stead until 1900, when he retired and moved to his
present residence, turning over his former place to
his son-in-law. The family are members of the
Mennonite Church. Mr. Shelley votes with the
Republican party. He is a prominent man in his
district, and is respected and looked up to by all who
know him for his many sterling qualities.
SAMUEL F. FREY, senior member of the well
known firm of S. F. Frey & Son, furniture dealers
and undertakers, at Marietta, is one of the most suc-
cessful merchants and prominent citizens of Lan-
caster county. Many of the most prominent citizens
of America, to-day, are self-made men — men who
through poverty and obscurity have fought their way
to prominence and honor. A volume of the biog-
raphies of representative men of Lancaster county
would indeed be incomplete without a sketch of Sam-
uel F. Frey, who strikingly illustrates the force of
well-directed energy, steadfast purpose and persistent
effort for the accomplishment of noble results, and
the overthrow of those obstacles that beset the prog-
ress of the young man who, unaided and alone, com-
bats with life's stern realities.
The Frey family has been long and honorably
connected with the history of Pennsylvania, whither
the original representatives came from France.
They were identified with the Huguenots as early as
1629. Originally the home of the family was in
Switzerland, Cantons Aargau and Fribourg having
been the ancient cradle of this race. In the old town
of Fribourg there are docum.ents proving beyond a
doubt the origin of the name of Frey. These records
tell that because of the bravery displayed by the chief
and his clans of Aargau, and the prominent part they
had taken in the victory over Charles the Bold, at
Morat, 1476, they were declared "Free" (German
"Frei") , were authorized to adopt the name of Frey,
and were constituted a free and separate principality
in Switzerland.
Abram Frey, great-grandfather of Samuel F.,
was an ordained clergyman of the Evangelical Asso-
ciation, and was for many years connected with the
itinerary service, continuing thus in the Master's
cause until called to his reward, at the age of seventy-
five years.
Samuel Frey, son of Abram, was born in Union
county, Pa., and became a farmer by occupation. In
his religious views he followed the faith of his father,
joining the Evangelical Association. In politics he
was a supporter of the Old-line Whigs. He married
Anna Bowman, and they became the parents of two
sons, Abram and Samuel, and one daughter, Anna,
who married Abram First, of Harrisburg, Pa.; all
are now deceased. Samuel Frey, the father, died in
Union county at the age of forty-nine, and his wife
passed away at Florin, this county, Jan. 7, 1879, aged
seventy-four years.
Rev. Abram Frey, son of Samuel, and father of
Samuel F., was born in Union county. Pa., Nov. 14,
1823. He was a man of superior intelligence, and in
early life engaged in teaching public school. Feeling
called to consecrate his life to the work of God, he
became a minister of the Evangelical Association,
and filled pulpits at various points in Lancaster, Leb-
anon, Berks, Montgomery and Dauphin counties,
continuing thus for eight years, or until his death,
from typhoid fever, April 23, 1859, ^t the age of
thirty-six. Besides his ministerial labors he had been
extensively engaged in the manufacture of coverlids
and counterpanes, and in dealing in wool at Mt. Joy,
Lancaster county. These enterprises were managed
by Joseph Classley, and were very prosperous until
the panic of 1857. The heavy losses sustained then
had not been overcome when Rev. Mr. Frey died, so
that practically his wife and six children were left
with nothing except a small home. On July 3, 1845,
Rev. Abram Frey was united in marriage with Miss
Mary Fauby, and this union was blessed with three
sons and three daughters, as follows : Martha, wife
of Joseph Heineman, of Philadelphia; Abram, an
artist of note in Washington, D. C. ; David, who died
at the age of eleven years ; Samuel F., whose name
opens this sketch ; Lizzie, wife of Dr. N. A. Saylor,
of Philadelphia ; and Emma, wife of O. G. Hull, of
Kansas City, Mo. In his political faith the father
was a Whig until the disintegration of that party,
after which he affiliated with the Republicans. Mrs.
Mary (Fauby) Frey, the beloved mother of this fam-
ily, entered into rest, in New York City, May 5, 1898,
at the age of seventy-five.
Abram Frey, son of Rev. Abram, and mentioned
in the foregoing as an artist of note, made a trip
abroad in 1878, sailing from Philadelphia, on an
American Line steamer, April 18, 1878 ; he made an
extended tour, and passed much time in France, and
while in Switzerland saw the papers proving the
origin of the family name.
Samuel F. Frey was born near Bloomfield, in
Juniata tovmship. Perry Co., Pa., Dec. 16, 1852. For
some years he was a student in the public schools of
Mt. Joy, and for one year was under the instruction
of Christian Engle, a most capable instructor, near
Mt. Joy. The condition of the family finances made
it necessary not only that he support himself, but also
that he assist in the care of the family. At the age of
sixteen he left school and faced the stern realities of
life for himself. On Feb. i, 1868, he apprenticed
himself to Henry S. Myers, of Mt. Joy, to learn the
trade of cabinetmaker and undertaker, remaining
thus employed for three and one-half years. On Jan.
3, 1872, he went to Marietta, and, finding a suitable
opening, at once embraced the opportunity of em-
barking in business. Through close economy and
tiyCMd
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
825
hard work during extra time allotted him during his
school days and apprenticeship, he had been able to
save $800. Renting a small cabinet shop and ware-
rooni in the Welchans building, he bought a stock of
furniture and funeral supplies. Success rewarded his
efforts from the start, and he was obliged to move to
larger, quarters. In 1887 he purchased the Roath
property, in the heart of the business district, and,
after tearing down the old buildings, erected a sub-
stantial brick structure 50x80 feet, three stories and
basement. This commodious building inspired Mr.
Fray to hold religious services in it before using it
for business purposes. With him, to think is to act,
and he at once made known his intentions to the best
citizens. His project met with great favor, and after
the seats had been arranged a large number of people
assembled to consecrate, as it were, the building to
the services of God. Rev. A. B. Saylor, pastor of the
United Evangelical Church of Mt. Joy, preached the
sermon, assisted by Rev. Mr. Hickman, pastor of the
Presbyterian Church of Marietta.
Mr. Frey now conducts the business under the
firm name of S. F. Frey & Son, his son Samuel L.
having been admitted as a partner. As a business
man Mr. BVey has not confined his interest to his
store alone. He has been largely interested in real
estate, and owns considerable property in Marietta
and Columbia, also being interested in farming in the
northern part of the county. With others he started
the Marietta Manufacturing Company, and is one of
its board of directors, as well as a stockholder in the
Marietta Silk Mills, using his efforts to secure the
location of same in Marietta. He is an owner of
stock and president of the Home Building & Loan
Association, and is a director of the First National
Bank of Marietta.
Education has no warmer friend in Lancaster
county than Samuel F. Frey. In 1897 he was elected
school director, and is now serving his fifth year. In
1898 he served as president of the school board, and
he was one of the prime movers in the erection of the
present modern school building, which is a credit to
the town. Mr. Frey has held many positions of trust,
and has frequently been called upon to settle up es-
tates, acting as executor and administrator.
In religious affairs the name of Samuel F. Frey is
written high as a zealous and disinterested worker in
the cause of Christ. He, with a few others, made it
possible, in 1896, to build Columbia Grace United
Evangelical Church, corner of Locust and Walnut
streets, and was the advisory member of the building
committee, and the one who helped them bridge over
the financial part of the question. They moved for-
ward with undaunted trust and courage, never giving
a thought of failure with a man like Mr. Frey by
their side, until they were able to make other arrange-
ments and help themselves, and had established con-
fidence in their community and elsewhere, proving
that they were a truly devoted, loyal Christian people,
and could, and certainly would, accomplish their pur-
pose by the grace and help of their Divine Master.
It was a success. The church was completed, and
to-day there is no,t a more thriving congregation.
Mr. Frey is not narrow in his religious work, his
sympathies being broad enough to embrace all de-
nominations, and he has assisted financially and
otherwise in the upbuilding of a number of other
churches. As an example of his untiring efforts may
be detailed the establishment of the United Brethren
Church of West Marietta, in 1879. Rev. J. M.
Lesher (afterward sent as a missionary to Africa)
called upon Mr. Frey, and said, in substance : "I am
looking for a place to hold services to preach the
Gospel, and I think there is room here. I have been
informed West Marietta is a very wicked place, and
has room for missionary work; that the harvest is
ripe, and laborers are needed. I understand there is
an M. E. chapel in that part of the town that is seldom
used. This is just what I want, if I can get permis-
sion to use it. I was directed to you, being a mem-
ber of the United Brethren faith, and as I need a
place to stay when here to preach." Rev. Lesher was
misinformed as to Mr. Frey's religious connection,
inasmuch as he had been reared in the Evangelical
Church, but that was immaterial. He welcomed him
into his home, enthusiastically entering into all his _
plans, and agreeing to assist him as much as was in
his power. These two men, armed with faith and led
by the Master, wrought wondrous changes in the
locality unto which they ministered. Success
crowned the caiise in the salvation of many precious
souls rescued by the routing out of sin and wicked-
ness ; the homes were thoroughly changed and sancti-
fied, where the praises of God are now sung. A more
radical change was never witnessed, and there are
many witnesses living to-day who will be happy to
testify to this. Thirty-eight were converted, and
united with the church. Not only had Mr. Frey
assisted Rev. Mr. Lesher in the spiritual part of this
work, but there had to be a place provided for these
people to worship regularly undisturbed. They were
rich in courage, and in the spring of 1880 arrange-
ments were made to purchase the M. E. chapel, Mr.
Frey giving his own personal obligation as security
for the payment. After a few years the debt was
wiped out, and the church marched triumphantly for-
ward without the aid of outside help. The following
was contributed by Rev. William Yenser, pastor of
Zion's Reformed Church, Marietta: "In church
work Mr. Frey is as active and thorough as in busi-
ness, and his activities are not confined to any par-
ticular part of church work, but embrace all its
departments. This activity in church life is sup-
plemented by an unstinted generosity, which is exer-
cised not only in behalf of his own denomination and
congregation but which is as freely given to Christ's
church of other denominations, he having very gen-
erously aided other congregations in their need, one
of which was our own congregation, and especially
at this present time, in the building of our new
church." In religious faith, as noted above, Mr. Frey
clings to the faith of his fathers — the Evangelical As-
826
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
sociation, — now known as the United Evangelical
Church.
On Sept. 5, 1876, Samuel F. Frey was united in
marriage with Miss Anna H. Longnecker, eldest
daughter of Rev. John B. Longnecker, of the»01d
Brethren in Zion, now located in Florin, this county.
Five children blessed this union: Samuel L., who
was educated in Albright College, and now, fully
equipped for business, is his father's partner, and is
adding a strong progressive spirit to the firm ; Anna
and Myra, both students at Albright College; and
Cora and Wilbur, at home. Politically Mr. Frey is a
Republican. The success that has attended his ef-
forts has been richly merited, and his industry, in-
tegrity and perseverance make him an example well
worthy of emulation.
JACOB K. HERR, who entered into rest July
17, 1902, was a son of Jacob Herr, who, in his life-
time, was one of the representative men of West
Lampeter township, Lancaster county, and who was
born in Manor township, this county.
Jacob K. Herr resided on the farm his father
purchased in 1869, some years before his death. It
contains seventy-six acres, lying just south of
Hollinger, and is one of the choice and model farms
of Lancaster county, attracting attention by its neat
condition and thorough cultivation. Before his
death Jacob Herr put up a fine barn, and his son
also made many valuable improvements.
Jacob K. Herr took a lively interest in the gen-
eral welfare of his community, and was always re-
sponsive to any proposition that affected the public
good, being ever ready to assist in any enterprise
that looked to the advancement of his section. At
his death he was aged fifty-one years, eleven months
and twenty-two days.
Jacob K. Herr was married, Feb. 20, 1896, to
Sarah, daughter of Jacob and Lydia Zercher. Mrs.
Herr was born in West I^ampeter township.
WILLIAM J. BELL, who since 1885 has been
one of the efificient and trusted conductors on the
great Pennsylvania railroad, is a native of Colum-
bia, born Jan. 4, 1853. His parents were William
and Mary (Welsh) Bell, natives of Ireland, from
which country they came when young. William
Bell was a carpenter by trade, and would undoubt-
edly have accumulated means, but he fell a victim
to the cholera in July, 1854, when but forty years
of age. William was bereft of his mother in No-
vember of the same year. They left a family of
six children, only two of whom yet survive, James
(a mechanic of Harrisburg) and William J. The
others were: Anna, who married Michael Baum-
berger ; Maggie, who married Jonas Leas ; and
Thomas and Mary, who died in infancy.
Bereft of both parents, William J. Bell, when a
child, was taken by his kind aunt, Ellen Supplee, to
her home in Montgomery county, Pa., where he
grew up engaged in healthful exercise on a farm
until he was sixteen years old. At that date he
went to Philadelphia, and served an apprenticeship
at the painter's trade, which he followed until 1877,
when he came to Columbia and was employed by
the Pennsylvania railroad as a brakeman until 1882 ;
he then served as flagman until 1885, when he re-
ceived his promotion to conductor. Mr. Bell gained
this position by proving his reliability, and receives,
as he deserves, the confidence of his employers and
the respect of the community.
Mr. Bell was married, April 22, 1879, in Colum-
bia, to Miss Sally Adams, and to this union have
been born seven children, the two youngest, John
and Emil, passing out of life while young ; the others
are: William, who is a member of Company C,
4th Militia : Margie ; Frederick ; Harry : and Sarah.
Mrs. Bell was born in 1862, daughter of Joljn M.
Adams, and a sister of Frederick Adams, of Co-
lumbia.
Politically Mr. Bell is connected with the Re-
publican party, and socially with the orders of Rail-
way Conductors and the P. R. Relief. He has long
been associated with St. John's Lutheran Church.
SAMUEL SNYDER (deceased) was a reliable
and progressive farmer in Leacock township, Lan-
caster county. He was born in Harristown, Para-
dise township, March 26, 1844, and died on the
farm where his widow and sons are now living,
Dec. 18, T898. His remains rest in the cemetery ~
connected with Christ Church in Leacock town-
ship.
Samuel Snyder was a son of Aaron and Hannah
(Fenninger) Snyder, his father being a native of
Germany, and his mother of Paradise township.
The father died in 1864, at the age of sixty-one ; and
the mother in 1879, at the age of sixty-one. They
were members of Christ Church, and were buried
in the "cemetery of that church. Their children
were as follows: Sarah, who died at the age of
forty-eight itnmarried ; Elizabeth, widow of John
Slaymaker, and living at Gap, Pa. ; Joanna, widow
of Adam Groff , and residing in Lancaster ; Jane,
who lives unmarried in Lancaster, as does her sister,
Rebecca ; and Hannah, Avho married J. P. Herman,
of Gordonville, Pennsylvania.
Samuel Snyder was married Jan. 7, 1874, to
Anna M. Slack, of Leacock township. To them
have come the following children: Elizabeth pre-
pared herself for teaching by taking a course at the
Millersville State Normal, and has now taught very
successfully in the home schools' for eight years ;
Anna R. died when a year old; John S. and J.
Aaron, both single, operate the home place for the
heirs of their father's estate. Mrs. Anna M. (Slack)
Snyder was born in Leacock township, and is a
sister of H. Slack.
Samuel Snyder came to the present farm home
of his familv in 1890, removing from Paradise
township, where he had held the position of super-
visor two years. He and his wife were members
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
827
of Christ Church, in Leacock township, where he
had held the position of warden, and was a vestry-
man. In his politics he was a Democrat. In his
earlier life he was a cabinet maker, but in 1870
turned to farming, spending the rest of his life in
that vocation. Very successful in all his under-
takings, he became quite well-to-do, and reared a
family whose useful lives and high character do
credit to his watchful care.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN STAUFFER, in-
surance man, who is the district special agent of
the great Northwestern Life Insurance Company,
and also manager of the Mutual Fire Insurance
Company, of Coatesville, is one of the best-known
and most successful men in his line in Lancaster
county. Although still a young man, he has so
thoroughly grasped the details of the insurance bus-
iness that he has become an example to others who
have spent a lifetime in the same.
Mr. Staufifer was born in Manor township
March 30, 1861, son of Jacob and Maria K. (For-
rey) Stauffer, both of whom were born in Manor
township, in which are located the old family home-
steads of both the Stauffer and the Forrey families.
The father died in 1896 in Washington borough,
after a retirement of one and one-half years, at the
age of sixty-seven, and was laid away in the old
Mennonite cemetery at the Habecker Meeting
House. His active years had been spent as a
farmer and drover. In politics he was a Democrat,
and he was a man who won the respect of the entire
commtinity. The mother, who was born in 1830, re-
sides in Washington. The children of this union
were as follows : John J., who died in infancy, as
did also Daniel ; Emma, who married Joseph K.
Shultz, of Washington; Benjamin Franklin; Albert
F., who is a farmer of Washington ; Elizabeth, who
married Martin Strickler ; Harry F., deceased ; Mil-
ton F., who is professor of the short-hand depart-
ment in Temple College, Philadelphia; Isaiah, who
died in infancy; and Kate F., who resides with her
mother. The older generation was represented by
John Stauffer, who married a Charles, both coming
of old families of Manor township.
Until the age of seventeen Benjamin Franklin
Stauffer remained upon the farm where he had been
born and reared, and then became a student in the
State Normal School at Millersville, and, being un-
usually studious, he was able at the age of eighteen
to accept a position as teacher in the public schools
of Lancaster county. Until 1883 he alternated
teaching and attendance at the Normal, where, in
that year, he was graduated. His success in in-
surance lines has been very gratifying, and since
1898, when the business of the Mutual Fire In-
surance Company was placed in his hands, he has
found little time to look after other interests. Since
assuming control of the latter business in this lo-
cality he has placed nearly $2,000,000 in risks.
Although not a politician in the usual meaning
of the term, Mr. Stauffer is a Republican and al-
ways does a citizen's duty. His connection with
the Lutheran Church has lasted through many
years. On July 5, 1893, Mr. Stauffer was married
to Miss M. Grace Jackson, and two daughters have
been born to this union, Kathryn M. and Sara M.
Mrs. Stauffer was born in Columbia in February,
1873, daughter of Newton and Sarah (Albright)
Jackson, of Pequea and West Hempfield townships,
respectively, now residents of Columbia, Mr. Jack-
son being a foreman in the roundhouse of the Penn-
sylvania railroad. The children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Jackson were : John W., of Columbia ; Will-
ian K., who is a clerk in the Custom House in Phila-
delphia; and M. Grace, Mrs. Stauffer.
MRS. ANNA B. WITHERS. The name of
the most estimable lady of whom this short biog-
raphy is given, carries with it through Eden town-
ship the weight of public confidence and high es-
teem. Her high Christian character, her devotion
to her church, and her numberless charities and acts
of neighborly kindness have made her not only be-
loved by her immediate family, but most kindly and
affectionately regarded through the whole com-
munity.
Anna B. Withers was born in Lampeter town-
ship, this county, Nov. 26, 1824, the estimable
daughter of John and Fannie (Erb) Bireley, an old
and leading family of this county. John Bireley,
the father of Mrs. Withers, married into the promi-
nent Erb family. Miss Fannie Erb belonging to one
of the best known families of the county. After
marriage they . settled in Leacock township, on a
farm, remaining there until his death, and his
widow also died there, the children, besides Mrs.
Withers, being as follows : Elizabeth, deceased,
was the wife of William Good, of Lancaster county ;
Leah was the wife of William Good, deceased, of
Leacock township ; John became a brave soldier and
served his country through the Civil war, later mar-
ried Leah Yoder, of this county, and they moved to
Cleveland, Ohio, in which city he, died, leaving a
widow and children ; Susan, who was born in this
county, is the wife of Reuben Clampson, who is a
resident of Ohio, and they have a family; Fannie,
born in this county, is the deceased wife of Thomas
Wright, and lived in Eden township at the date of
her death, when she left two children, Jeremiah and
Annie; and Mary, now deceased, married David
Graham, of this county, and her death left nine chil-
dren motherless, namely: David, George, Will-
iam, Samuel, John, Joseph, Leah (the wife of John
MsGriggan, deceased), Lizzie (widow of Amos
Shisley) and Mary (wife of George Struble, of this
county).
Mrs. ^yithers grew up in her pleasant country
home with her brothers and sisters, and was edu-
cated in the public schools of her neighborhood.
In February, 1849, she was united in marriage to
Abraham Herr, of this county, and they settled on
828
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the present home farm, in Eden township, where the
father of Mr. Herr had started in life himself.
Three years later Mr. Herr died, and his bereaved
widow was left with one son, Abraham B., who died
in childhood. The second marriage of Mrs. With-
ers occurred in 1859, when she was united to
Augustus Withers, a prominent and wealthy busi-
ness man of Lancaster county, who was the founder
of the Mount Eden furnaces. Following their mar-
riage, Mr. and Mrs. Withers settled on the present
farm, and here Mr. Withers engaged in agricultural
pursuits until his death, Oct. 25, 1868. Again was
this estimable lady bereaved, but four children re-
mained as her comfort and stay. These were :
John B., born in October, i860, married Miss Sallie
Hall, and they reside in Hanover,. York county,
where he is successfully engaged in conducting a
hotel, and has one son, Howard: Thomas A., born
in this home, in November, i86r, married Miss Liz-
zie Hall, who was a sister to the wife of his brother,
and their residence is in Lancaster City, where he is
manager of the County Bending Works, and his sev-
en living children are Jessie, Charles, Bertha, Mable,
Jennie, Hazel and Grace; Mary H., born Dec. 17,
1862, and grew to womanhood in the old home, be-
ing well educated in the ptiblic schools, and in
1880 she was married to Joseph S. Groff, of Colerain
township ; and Howard H., born Oct. 2, 1865, is still
unmarried, and follows railroading.
Joseph S. Groff was a son of John and Ellen
Groff, the family being long a prominent one in
Lancaster county. He and his family now reside
at the Withers home, where they have the care and
management of Mrs. Withers' farm. The four
children of Mr. and Mrs. Grofif are : John A., born
in May, 1881, married Anna Strimbel, of Eden
township, and they reside in Quarryville, where he
is engaged, as a barber, and they have one son, How-
ard; Eva B., born in August, 1884, is a student in
Weidler's Business College, Lancaster City; Earl,
born in October, 1888, is also a student; and Clyde,
born Oct. i, 1890.
Augustus Withers was born in Lancaster coun-
ty Sept. 12, 1807, a son of John and Hannah (Hen-
derson) Withers, who at an early date came from
Germany and settled in Lancaster county. Their
family consisted of four sons and one daughter,
these being: Augustus; John, deceased, who was
associated with his brother in the founding of the
great industry of this township, known as the Eden
furnaces, his death occurring in Virginia ; William,
who died in Lancaster county; Thomas, who died
in the city of Williamsport, in this State ; and Han-
nah, who died unmarried.
Mr. Withers was educated for a professional life,
starting out upon what promised to be a successful
medical career, but failing health made it necessary
for him to give up the practice of medicine and turn
his attention to other lines. As a business man he
became very successful, and the flourishing indus-
try of which he was was the founder lives as a rec-
ord and testimonial to his energy and sagacity. In
politics Mr. Withers was long one of the leading
Republicans of this section, and was active in the
interests of his party. His devotion to the Episco-
pal Church was a marked feature of his life, and
there he was highly valued as a most worthy and
consistent Christian.
Mrs. Withers and her family are equally de-
voted to the Lutheran Church, in which she has been
active through many years, and where she is a
liberal supporter of charitable enterprises and mis-
sion work. Perhaps no individual in the township
has more personal friends than this very lovable
and estimable lady.
WILLIAM MABLE, who died in Columbia at
the comparatively early age of fifty-four, was an
Englishman by birth, having first opened his eyes
in Northumberland, England, May 28, 1839. His
father was christened John, and his mother's maid-
en name was Isabella Hendry. John Mable was a
tenant farmer, and a stanch Calvinist. Several of
his children settled in County Antrim, Ireland, and
the history of the family is full of interest.
To John and Isabella Mable were born seven
children, of whom William was the third in the
order of birth. Margaret, the eldest daughter,
married Alexander Henderson, and died in Eng-
land. Thomas is a farmer in Ireland. Isabella
died in Ireland, unmarried. Mary married Thomas
Moore, and also passed from life in the Emer-
ald Isle. The two younger sons, John and George,
both emigrated to this country. The first named is
a mechanic living in Columbia, and the other a mer-
chant residing in Marietta.
William Mable passed his early years in farm-
ing in both England and Ireland. In 1869, then a
young man of thirty years, he crossed the ocean,
finding his way to Wisconsin, where he found em-
ployment on a farm. At the expiration of four
years he returned to Ireland to claim his promised
bride, Margaret Miller. They were married Jan.
7, 1873, and crossed the water together, to seek a
common fortune in a strange land. They settled
in Columbia, and young William, then strong and
stvirdy, went to work in an iron furnace. Two years
later failing health compelled him to quit active
work, and he continued an invalid until the time of
his death.
His widow, Margaret (Miller) Mable, is still
living. Some seven years before her husband's
death, in 1886, she opened a grocery store in Co-
lumbia, in the conduct of which (her youngest son,
John, acting as manager ") she has been fairly suc-
cessful. .She has but one other child, a daughter,
Margaret, who is unmarried and resides at home,
but is now visiting relatives abroad. Mrs. Mable
was born in County Antrim, Ireland, May 25, 1844.
Her paternal grandparents were James and Rachel
(Bowman) Miller, of .Scotland. James was a
farmer, and died in County Antrim, Ireland. Her
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
829
mother, .whose maiden name was Margaret Service,
was a daughter of William Service and Margaret
Stewart. Her father died in January, 1892, after
completing his eighty-second year. Her mother
survived him until April, 1900, when she, too, fell
asleep, after attaining the extraordinary age of
ninety-one years. Her grandfather, William Ser-
vice, died of old age, in his ninety-ninth year. She
is the third child of a large family, the others being
named William, Rachel, James, Samuel, John and
Robert. William is a merchant in Ballymena, Ire-
land. Rachel is the widow of William Moore, of
Belfast. • James and Samuel are farmers in County
Antrim, Ireland. John is the manager of a quarry
in County Down. Robert, who was at one time a
merchant at Antrim, is deceased.
AMOS BOWMAN. Among the worthy and
representative citizens of Lancaster county is Amos
Bowman, who lives a retired life on his fine farm of
sixty acres, situated one mile east of Lampeter, in
West Lampeter township. He was born in Provi-
dence township Sept. 25, 1849, a son of Rev. Henry
and Mary (Baer) Bowman.
Rev. Henry Bowman was but twenty-eight
years of age when he was chosen a minister of the
Reformed Mennonite Church, and from that time
until his death faithfully ofi&ciated in the capacity
of minister and bishop. He was thrice married;
his first wife, Elizabeth Weaver, bore him one son,
Jacob. By his second wife, Susannah Weaver, he
became the father of the following children: Eliz-
abeth, wife of Henry Trout; Annie and John, de-
ceased; Esther (Hettie), deceased wife of Christian
Kreider ; and Henry, deceased. For his third wife
Rev. Bowman married Mrs. Mary (Baer) Brenne-
man, widow of Jacob Brenneman. Two_ sons
blessed this union, Frank and Amos.
Amos Bowman was reared in Providence towii-
ship, and was educated in the public schools. When
he was twenty-eight years of age he engaged in
farming operations in East Lampeter township,
where he remained for one year, and then in x868
purchased his present farm of Abraham Herr.
Many valuable and permanent improvements have
been made to this farm, and now all its surround-
ings testify to the thrift and excellent management
of its owner. For many years he was well-known
in the affairs of the township, but since 1870 has not
taken an active part in either farming or public
matters, enjoying the ease of ample means.
In 1867 Amos Bowman married Barbara Weav-
er, a daughter of Joseph and Esther (Stehman)
Weaver, the former of whom was a minister of the
Reformed Mennonite Church. No children have
been born to Amos Bowman and wife, but they gave
parental care and aiifection to two little sisters,
Emma and Catherine Sloat, whom they reared to
maturity, and who now have homes of their own,
Emma having married Rohrer Snavely, of New
Danville ; and Catherine, G. H. Shirtz, of Lancaster.
Mr. and Mrs. Bowman are most hospitable people,
and none in the county possess the esteem of their
neighbors in a higher degree. They are both ac-
tive workers in the Reformed Mennonite church.
Rev. Joseph Weaver, father of Mrs. Bowman,
was born on the old Weaver homestead in West
Lampeter township, and is a direct descendant of
the founder of the family who settled in this country
in 1711. Rev. Joseph Weaver was born April 5,
1792, and for many years was a devoted and valued
minister of the Reformed Mennonite Church in
Lancaster county. Early in life he was a farmer,
but later devoted his entire time to ministerial work
and to the upbuilding of the Church. His was a
beautiful .Christian character, and all who came
within his influence were benefited. He married
first, Barbara Baer, and their children were : Isaac,
Ephraim, Jacob and Eliza, all deceased; and Mary
and Susannah, living. For his second wife Rev.
Weaver wedded Esther Stehman, a daughter of
John Stehman, of Strasburg township, and two
children were born of this marriage : Barbara A. ;
and Annie E., who is the wife of John S. Kurtz, of
Lancaster City.
LEVI MOHLER. Among the substantial re-
tired agriculturists of Lancaster county, no one is
better or more favorably known than Levi Mohler,
who owns and occupies the old homestead which
was established by the founder of the American
branch of the family five generations ago.
Ludwig Mohler, the Swiss ancestor of the Moh-
ler family, came to the United States as early as
T730, and here founded a family which has given
many manly sons and blooming daughters to the
State of Pennsylvania, their descendants having
settled throughout this and many of the neighbor-
ing States.
John Mohler, the father of Levi Mohler, was
born in 1786, and about 1814 married Salome Gline,
and they reared nine children: Amanda, born in
1816, married Harry Keller; Cyrus, born in 1819;
John, born in 1820; Frederick, born in 1823; Levi,
born in 1824; Reuben, born in 1826; Salorrta, born
in 1828; Isaac, born in 1830; and Samuel, born in
183.S.
Levi Mohler, the subject of this biography, was
born Oct. 25, 1824, and has had a busy although a
quiet life. Pursuing farming exclusively, he has
become possessed of large means, owning two of
the finest farms in Lancaster county, one of these
containing one hundred acres, and the other sev-
enty-two acres, both of these being fihely improved.
In 1852 he was married to Miss Magdalena Bitzer,
the estimable daughter of John and Elizabeth
(Royer) Bitzer, and to this union five children were
born: Elizabeth, born in 1852, married Nathan
Fahnestock; Solomon, born in 1855, died in child-
hood; Louisa, born in 1857, died in girlhood;
Fianna, born in 1859, married William J. Echart, of
Berks county. Pa. ; and John, born Feb. i, 1862.
830
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
John Mohler married Jane Dinger, of Lebanon
county, Pa., and manages the home place for his
father, his family of children bearing these names:
Lizzie, Alice, Levi, Urias, Ida, Emma, Hiram and
Allen.
In politics our subject is a stanch Republican,
and has long been a prominent member of the Ger-
man Baptist Church. His declining years are spent
in peace and contentment, esteemed and respected
by the community, and he well represents the law
abiding, upright citizens of which Lancaster county
has cause to feel proud.
GEORGE BOWMAN BRESSLER, alderman
of the Fifth ward, Lancaster, bears the name of a
noted Methodist divine, and belongs to an old and
influential family in his part of the State. He is
the fourth George in the family since its settlement
in America.
George Bressler, his grandfather, was born at
Strasburg, this county, son of a native-born Ger-
man who came to the United States and settled in
Pennsylvania. George Bressler was a farmer, and
a man of character and standing.
C. H. Bressler, father of George B., of Lan-
caster, was born in Mill Hall, Clinton county. Pa.
After receiving a thorough elementary education he
determined to take up the study of medicine and
surgery, for that purpose entering the office of the
late Dr. Washington L. Atlee; the late Dr. Henry
Mellinger was also a student under Dr. Atlee at
the same time. C. H. Bressler was graduated from
Jefferson Medical College with the degree of M.
D., and from 1839 to 1849 practiced medicine in
Lancaster. Finally becoming associated with the
late Dr. Ely Parry, one of Lancaster's most noted
dentists (father of Dr. H. B. Parry, the East King
street druggist), and becoming himself proficient
in dentistry. Dr. Bressler took up that branch in
connection with surgery, removed to Center county,
and in 1854 to York county, where he built up a
very extensive practice in both lines. Dr. Bressler
was an ardent Republican politically, and at one
time was a candidate for Congressional honors, and
later appeared on the State Republican ticket as a
candidate for Congressman at large. In 1866 he
was commissioned by Gov. Curtin sherifi' of York
county, to fill a vacancy. A devout Methodist, few
stood higher in the estimation of his associates in
the Church than did this zealous Christian gentle-
man.
Dr. Bressler married Miss Sarah A. Tonner,
daughter of Rev.- John N. Tonner, of the Methodist
Church, who died at Canton, Ohio. Eight chil-
dren were born of this union, seven of whom are
hving: Dr. John T., a dentist of Shepherdstown,
Cumberland county ; George B., mentioned below ;
Emma Barnett and Clara V., of York ; Dr. Wilbur
C, a dentist of York; Andrew Curtin, a traveling
salesman of York : and Ella M., at home. The fa-
ther of this family died in February, 1894, at the
age of seventy- four years; and the mother died in
1868, when thirty-eight years old.
George Bowman Bressler was born in Belle-
fonte, Center county, April 23, 1851. He was par-
tially educated in the public schools of York, and
after leaving the city schools took an academic
course. When only fourteen years of age he tried
to enlist in the Union army, at Harrisburg. The
officer in command of the station, seeing that young
Bressler, though much under age, was bright and
trusty, made him a clerk at the recruiting station,
where he remained until the close of the war.
When he was seventeen years of age he became an
apprentice at printing in the office of the True Dem-
ocrat, at York, and in 1870 came to Lancaster to
enter the employ of Pearsol & Geist, proprietors of
the Express, where he remained until his entrance
upon a clerkship in the post office in 1874, under
Postmistress Hager. At a later period he became
a letter carrier, but he was thrown out of service
by a change in the National administration.- After
working for some time in the Lancaster Watch
Works Mr. Bressler became a grocer, in the fall of
1885.
In 1892 Mr. Bressler was elected an alderman on
the Republican ticket, from the Fifth ward of Lan-
caster, and so satisfactory was his administration
of the duties of that position that in 1897 he was
again elected, without opposition, and he was again
honored with re-election in 1902.
George B. Bressler was married, Aug; 13, 1874,
to Miss Eleanor Henry, daughter of the late Benja-
min Henry, one of the oldest and most respected
citizens of Lancaster. To this marriage three chil-
dren have been born : Eleanor, wife of W. Hayes
Farley, a jeweler of Lock Haven; Charles H., at
home_; and Anna L., wife of William E. Dietz, of
Sutton, West Virginia.
Mr. Bressler, like his father, is devotedly at-
tached to the Methodist Church. Fraternally he
is a member of Lamberton Lodge, No. 476, Royal
Arch Masons, and of the Lodge of Perfection.
SAMUEL H. BOYD. Among the well-known
business men of Columbia of established reputations
is the present tax collector of that borough, Samuel
H. Boyd, who for the past twenty years has been
elected annually to that responsible position. A
more direct evidence of general public esteem and
confidence it would be difficult to find. Mr. Boyd
was born in Columbia Aug. 20, 1850, son of John and
Elizabeth (Stanley) Boyd, both of whom were na-
tives of Lancaster county. His paternal grandpar-
ents were James and Mary (Fisher) Boyd. The
grandmother, a native of Columbia, died a victim of
cholera. The maternal grandparents of Samuel H.
were James and Catherine (Hinkle) Stanley, of
York county, Pennsylvania.
John Boyd, father of Samuel H., was a life-long
railroad man. For many years he was keeper of the
warehouse at Columbia for Leach and for the Penn-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
831
sylvania lines. He died in 1871, aged fifty-five
years. His wife died in 1865, aged forty-five years.
Both were buried in Mt. Bethel cemetery. Five
children were born to them, namely: Mary A.,
who married David Welsh, of Columbia, died Dec.
29, T902 ; James, deceased ; Ella, wife of Dr. H. V.
Grass, of York county. Pa.; Catharine, widow of
Joshua T. Hughes, of Columbia, who was killed at
the Electric Railroad plant during a cyclone in that
borough in May, 1896 ; and Samuel H.
Samuel H. Boyd, the youngest of the family, has
been a life-long resident of Columbia, and a life-long
resident of the home he now occupies. He received
a good education in the public schools, and in the
earlier years of his manhood he entered the railroad
service, for twelve years being employed by the
Pennsylvania Railroad in caring for the ware house
at Columbia. In 1880 he was appointed tax col-
lector by the school board of Columbia, and has been
elected each term since, filling the duties of the office
in a businesslike and satisfactory manner to the peo-
ple of Columbia, and with credit to himself.
In politics Mr. Boyd is a Republican. He at-
tends the Methodist Episcopal Church. Prominent
in the fraternal orders of the borough, he is an active
member of the I- O. O. F. of Columbia, and of the
A. O. M. P. of Ridgely. Mr. Boyd has evinced ex-
cellent business qualities through life and possesses
a good competence in consequence.
GEORGE W. BIRELEY. One of the leading
men of Eden township, who has been prominently
identified with the best interests of Lancaster coun-
ty all his life, and who, now in his declining years,
enjoys the high regard and esteem of his fellow-citi-
zens, is George W. Bireley, a retired farmer, who
was one of the loyal citizens who fought for his
country's flag during the Civil war.
Mr. Bireley was born in Leacock township, this
county, July 6, 1835, a son of George and Mary
(Kunkle) Bireley, both of whom were born in Stras-
burg, in this county, the former in 1807, and the
latter in 18 13.
(reorge Bireley, the grandfather of our subject,
came of German ancestry, an*d Revolutionary stock.
He settled in Strasburg, engaged in farming, and
provided well for his three sons, John, who settled
in Leacock township as a farmer, and died many
years ago, leaving a family; Jacob, who settled for
a time in Leacock township, later moving near Lan-
caster City, where he engaged in farming all his life,
and left a family at his death ; and George, the last
named being the father of our subject.
George Bireley, son of George, and father of
George W., settled in Leacock township, later moved
to Strasburg, where he lived until 1859, and then
removed to Chester county, in this State, making his
home with his son, George W., who was living there
at that time, returning with him to Eden township
after the war, and lived with him until his death in
He married Mary Kunkle, daughter of Hen-
ry Kunkle, of English parentage. She shared with
him all the hardships of pioneer life, and survived
until March, 1901, dying in Chester county, at the
home of her son Zacheus, at the age of ninety years.
These parents were blessed with seven manly sons,
and one daughter, namely: (i) Christiana, born in
1828, in Lancaster county, married James Shields,
a native of Ireland, and after marriage they settled
in Leacock township, where she soon died, leaving
one daughter, Mary J., a telegraph operator in Har-
risburg. (2) Henry, born in Lancaster county, in
1830, married Maggie Hoover, of Chester county,
and they reside in Sadsbury township. When the
Civil war broke out he was one of the first to re-
spond to the call for soldiers, and after his return
from serving his enlistment, he was made marshal
of this district, and efficiently served as such until
the close of the war, when he settled in Bart town-
ship, where he lived until the time of his death ; his
wife died some years later. (3) George W. is men-
tioned below. (4) Daniel, born in 1840, also offered
his services to his country, enUsting in the 79th P.
V. I., under Col. Hambright, of Lancaster, served
three years, and then, re-enlisting, he filled out the
period until the close of the war. At the battle of
Chattanooga he and six others were all that re-
mained of a company of one hundred men, and he
took part in many other severe engagements, return-
ing home, however, in safety. He married Caroline
Ikerley, of Strasburg, and they settled in Lancaster
county, but later removed to Kansas City, Mo.,
where they still reside and have a numerous family.
(5) Jacob M., born in Lancaster county, in 1842,
also came forward, like his brothers, and offered his
life to his country in the trying days of 1861. After
a service of three years he too re-enlisted and re-
mained in the service until the close of the war, and
participated in all of the battles in which his regi-
ment took part, until near the end, when he was
taken sick, was sent home and died soon after, as
much a martyr as if killed on the field of battle. (6)
Winfield Scott and (7) Zachary Taylor, twins, born
in 1846, both enlisted for service in the Civil war,
when less than sixteen years of age, entering Co.
D,_203d P. V. I., at Camp Cadwallader, Philadel-
phia, but Winfield died in a hospital at Wilmington,
N. C. Taylor served through the war, participat-
ing in many hard-fought battles and returned with
so honorable a record that he has been State marshal
since. After his return he was married to Emma
Steel, of this county, and they reside in Chester
county. Their children are : Annie, wife of Will-
iam Clinton, of Chester county ; Clara, wife of Thom-
as Hilton : Cora, wife of Frank Hilton ; Winnifred ;
John B. ; Marshall ; and Roy. (8) William T., born
in Lancaster county, was a soldier through the Civil
war, belonging to the 122nd P. V. C, and from three
enlistments had three honorable discharges. He
too, survived the dangers of war, and after his re-
turn was married to Mary Steel, of this county, and
, they settled in Eden township, where his death oc-
832
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
curred in 1891, leaving a widow and family who are
residents of Chester county, the children being Lillie/
who married Howard Alexander, of Chester county,
and has two children, Bertie and Robert ; Susan, who
married Newton McGinnis, and has one son, Will-
iam; George D. and Benjamin F., both unmarried,
and both residents of Chester.
George. W. Bireley, of this biography, was reared
in the midst of a home where was taught industry
and loyalty. His education was acquired in the dis-
trict schools, and when his age warranted his en-
gaging in work he soon found employment in the
county in quarrying and lime burning. At that date
this work was very extensively carried on in his lo-
cality. In 1857 he was united in marriage to Sarah
J. Hoover, the estimable daughter of Mathias and
Anna Hoover, prominent farming people of Ches-
ter county. Mrs. Bireley was born in 1835, and
grew up in Lancaster county.
That George W. Bireley was roused to patriotic
action when the call came for soldiers to defend his
country, did not surprise those who knew him best.
He became a member of Co. D, 203d P. V. I., and he
took part in all of the engagements in which his
regiment participated, until he was seriously wound-
ed at Wilmington, N. C, and was placed in a hos-
pital, where he remained until the close of the war.
He also suffered from rheumatism and lumbago, as
a result of the exposure and hardships endured in
that great struggle.
At enlistment Mr. Bireley left his wife and two
children in Chester county, and he returned there, but
soon after removed to Eden and remained there until
in 1890, when he purchased the Eden Furnace prop-
erty. Mr. Bireley has been held in high esteem by
his fellow-citizens for a long period, this being
proven by his election for a season of sixteen years
as supervisor of Eden township, while he has also
efficiently served as county and school tax collector,
and for nine years as county and township tax col-
lector. Politically he is an ardent and active mem-
ber of the Republican party.
In June, 1879, occurred the death of Mrs. Bire-
ley, at which time she left five children, Anna M.,
born in Chester county, in May, i860, who married
Henry Wolf, of this county, and they reside in Eden
township, their five children being Daniel J., George
W., Lizzie S., Henry, Lena; and Daniel J., born Feb.
3, 1862, in Chester county, who married Sallie Ha-
gan, of this county, and they reside on his father's
homestead, and their two children are Letta I. and
Dora M. ; Barbara A., born in December, 1866, in
this county, is the wife of Harry Frackman, of
Georgetown, and their four children are Annie, Jen-
nie, Virgie and Etna ; Lydia P., born in July, 1870, is
the wife of George Gaul, a farmer of Eden township,
and their three children are Hilda, Enos and Myrtle ;
and Iva H., born in September, 1872, is the wife of
William Althaus, a resident of Paradise township,
and their two children are Walter and Earl.
On Dec. 29, 1881, Mr. Bireley was married to
Augusta Louisa Kemmerly, a native of Lancaster
county, and a daughter of Franklin and Christianna
S. Kemmerly. The family came to America from
Germany in 1862. Mrs. Bireley was born in Ger-
many Aug. 3, i860, and she grew to fair young
womanhood and was educated in this county. Four
children have been born to this union, namely:
Catherine E., born in April, 1886 ; George H., born in
August, 1888 ; Winfield S., born in April, 1891 ; and
Agnes L., born June 9, 1895.
Few families in the country, and surely none in
Lancaster county testified to their loyal love of coun-
try as did the honored one of which our subject is
a member. Fitting, indeed, was it that the G. A.
R. Post of this locality should be named in his honor,
and that of the brave young brother who lost his
life in the cause of his country. Mr. Bireley has
taken a deep interest in this noble organization, and
has been honored as its commander. Entirely aside
from his war record, Mr. Bireley has won the con-
fidence and esteem of the community by his honora-
ble life, his public-spirit, and the interest and enter-
prise he has always shown in the advancement of his
section and people. Both he and wife are lead-
ing members of the Lutheran Church, where he is
a liberal supporter and regular attendant.
Mr. Bireley met with a misfortune in 1892. which
has caused untold regret to his many friends. By ac-
cident he received a gun shot wound in the foot,
which has necessitated his use of crutches, but it is
the fervent hope of friends and acquaintances that
time may remedy or mitigate the injury. Few men
are more universally popular than is George W.
Bireley of Eden township.
BENJAMIN P. MILLER. For nearly thirty
years this well known retired merchant of Lancaster
was engaged in the wholesale grocery trade in that
city. He established the business, which under his
supervision grew and prospered. Late in the after-
noon of life himself and business partner transferred
the valuable business to their sons and retired from
active life. The career of Mr. Miller has been such
that he is entitled to great credit. Handicapped in
his early life by ill health, yet filled with determina-
tion, he did best that work which lay before him,
changing the nature of his employment as he found
it overtaxing his strength, until, in the creation of the
wholesale house now so well and widely known, he
found the vocation which has yielded adequate reward
to his intelligence and well-directed application.
Mr. Miller was born in Lancaster April 2, 1827,
son of Martin and Elizabeth (Mylin) Miller, early
residents of Lancaster county, and was but a year
and a half old when his father died. When a child of
ten years he removed with his mother from Lancaster
to a farm in Rockhill, where he remained two years.
He then attended school at Lancaster for two and a
half years, after which he began an apprenticeship at
the carpenter's trade. Owing to ill health he aban-
doned that trade a few years later, and embarked in
'^^^^''
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
833
1855 in business as a retail grocer at Lancaster, con-
tinuing thus until 1865. The confinement incident to
that business also in time proved unfavorable to his
health. He had conducted the store successfully for
tenyears, and after traveling some time, selling gro-
ceries, he engaged in business at Lancaster as a
wholesale grocer. Two years later he admitted to
partnership John I. Hartman, and for nearly thirty
years the firm was prominently connected with the
commercial interests of Lancaster. Wishing to see
the business continued after their prospective retire-
ment, their sons were thoroughly taught the details
of the expanded trade, so that in the year 1895 the
business was surrendered to them. Mr. Miller's
business judgment is keen and accurate, his knowl-
edge and interest in public affairs broad and thor-
ough, and as one of the most prominent citizens of
Lancaster he is held in the highest esteem by his
numerous business and social friends and by all who
know him.
Mr. Miller married, at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1862,
Miss Mary C, daughter of Frederick Miller ; she died
April 5, 1885. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller were born
seven children, two sons and five daughters; namely :
Ella L. ; Charles A., wholesale grocer at Lancaster,
who married, in January, 1892, Mrs. Jennie Gardner,
and has one child, Mary ; Ora, who married, Oct. 5,
1893, David S. Widmeyer, furniture dealer and un-
dertaker, of Lancaster, and has one son, John Henry ;
Mary ; Benjamin P., Jr. ; Mabel G., who married,
Oct. 20, 190T, Christian Engle ; and Edna M. In re-
ligious affiliation Mr. Miller is an old and prominent
member of St. John's Lutheran Church, having
joined the church in 1854. He has served as town
councilman for two years, being elected by the Re-
publicans. In early life he belonged to the I. O. O. F.
OLIVER CROMWELL BALMER, the genial
and successful manager of the Lancaster city office
of the Western Union Telegraph office, is a native
of Elizabethtown, Lancaster county, and comes of a
long and useful line of manly and sturdy people.
His ancestors were French Huguenots, who sought
a refuge on these shores from bitter persecution,
and have always been a hardy and long-lived race.
Elizabeth (Haybecker) Balmer, the grandmother of
Oliver C, attained the venerable age of -ninety-five
years. Samuel Balmer, his grandfather, was a
school teacher and a contracting carpenter. His
brother, Daniel Balmer, served the State as member
of the Legislature many years ago.
William Henry Harrison Balmer, father of
Oliver Cromwell, now resides at Carnegie, Pa. He
was for many years a druggist and merchant of
Elizabethtown, this county. He married Martha,
daughter of Mrs. Daniel Shank, living near Eliza-
bethtown, and to this union were born five children,
four of whom are living: Samuel H., shipping
clerk of the Steelton Flour Mill Co., Steelton,
Pa. ; Oliver C, at Lancaster ; Elizabeth Haybecker,
wife of A. T. Stewart, president of the A. T. Stew-
53
art Implement Manufacturing Company, at Carne-
gie, near Pittsburg; Mabel Blanche, wife of Henry
Hamme, shipping clerk of the York Wall Paper
Company, of York, Pennsylvania.
Oliver Cromwell Balmer was born at Elizabeth-
town Sept. 6, 1865, and was educated at Columbia,
Pa., to which place his parents had removed. At
the age of ten years he began carrying newspapers,
and at eleven entered a store, becoming messenger
boy for' the W-estern Union Telegraph Company
when not thirteen years old. This place he held for
three years, when he went to Harrisburg, in the em-
ploy of the same company, also as messenger. He
was appointed operator at the old Pennsylvania rail-
road depot at Harrisburg, and filled that position for
a year and a half. In 1883 he was appointed man-
ager of the telegraph office in the "Brighton Hotel,"
subsequently taking charge of the main office at At-
lantic City for a short time. In 1884 he was trans-
ferred to Lancaster, to hold an operator's chair, and
there he worked for a year and a half, when he was
transferred to Harrisburg, to remain a year and a
half. He was then transferred to Birmingham,
Ala., and remained in the Southern city nearly a
year, when he was recalled to Harrisburg to fill the
position of operator and wire chief, continuing in
that place until 1892, when he became manager at
York. There he was employed until the opening
months of 189Q, when he was appointed manager of
the Western Union office in Lancaster, an unbroken
service in the employ of the Western Union Tele-
graph Company of nearly twenty-three years.
Mr. Balmer was married to Miss Lilly D.,
daughter of Prof. D. G. Williams, for nine years
superintendent of the public schools of York coun-
ty, and who is now a notary public engaged in the
insurance and real estate business. To this union
two children were born: Oliver Cromwell, Jr.,
and David Williams.
Mr. Balmer belongs to the First Methodist
Church of Lancaster, and is a teacher in the Sunday-
school. In politics he is a Republican. He belongs to
several benevolent organizations. As manager of the
Western Union office he has made many friends by
his unfailing courtesy and close attention to all busi-
ness that passes through his hands.
G. J. P. RAUB, general insurance manager at
Quarry ville, was born in Eden township Aug. 15,
1852, son of Dr. John K. and Leah ("Peoples)
Raub. The parents were both born in Lancaster
county.
John K. Raub, after his marriage, settled in
Hawkesville, where he taught school for a time, and
then took up the study of medicine, which he prac-
ticed for many years, becoming prominent both as a
physician and citizen. He accumulated large means
by putting the income from his practice in invest-
ments which returned good interest. He moved to
New Providence, where he practiced up to a short
time before his death, in 1867. His wife is still liv-
834
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ing, and is now the wife of Edward Aston, of New
Providence. Dr. John K. Raub left one son and one
daughter: G. J. P., and Lillie. The daughter
was educated at the Millersville Normal School,
married Elam K. Herr, formerly of Quarryville
borough, but now residing at Rloomfield, Iowa;
they have two daughters, Ella and Miriam.
G. J. P. Raub was educated at the Millersville
State Normal School and Kutztown Normal
School. His early life was spent as a clerk in a coun-
try store, until he entered into partnership with F.
W. Helm, in a general store at New Providence, at
which place he continued for five years. He then
moved to Quarryville, where he entered into a part-
nership with George W. Hensel, his father-in-law.
The firm continued as Hensel & Co. until 1874, when
Mr. Raub purchased Mr. Hensel's interest and con-
tinued the business until 1890. He then sold out
and engaged in general insurance for the Northwest-
ern Life Insurance Company, of Milwaukee, Wis.,
which he has continued until the present time. Since
1890 he has engaged in the insurance business, and
he is now manager of the district, a position of honor
and profit. He received a medal from the company
for careful and judicious management of its af-
fairs. When he first began in the insurance business
his territory consisted of parts of Lancaster and
Chester counties, but now he has charge, in addition
to the foregoing, of the counties of Franklin and
Fulton, and a part of Schuylkill, in Pennsylvania,
and of Washington, Frederick and Montgomery, in
Maryland. In point of business Mr. Raub stands
first in the State of any representatives of his com-
pany, and has been awarded medals to that effect
from the company.
In 1873 G. J. P. Raub married Miss Ella M.
Hensel, daughter of George W. and Anna M. Hen-
sel. He has two children : Florence H., who was
born in 1875 ; and Charles H., born in 1879, who is
a graduate of the State College of Center county.
Pa., class of 1901.
In politics Mr. Raub is a Democrat, but he has
never aspired to office. Fraternally he is a member
of the order of Elks, Chambersburg Lodge. He and
his wife are members of' the Reformed Church of
Quarryville.
Mr. Raub is scrupulously honest, and his integ-
rity is well known and esteemed by all. He is a
man of more than ordinary ability, and his life has
been one of active business, which he has made suc-
cessful by giving it his entire attention and time.
M. H. GROFF. Among the leading and repre-
sentative citizens of Drumore township is M. H.
Groff , who is a native of Lancaster county, born in
West Lampeter township, Oct. 24, 1847, ^ son of
Eli and Susan (Herr) Groff, the former of whom
was a son of Jacob Groff, a native of Germany, who
became a highly respected and well-known farmer
of Lancaster county.
Eli Groff married Susan Herr about 1840, and
three sons were born to them : Harvey H., whose
young life went out on the terrible battle field in Vir-
ginia, in 1863, a member of Co. G, 21st P. V. C. ;
Aquilla, who died in Williamsport, Wyoming Co.,
Pa., in his seventeenth year; and M. H. Groff, of
Drumore township.
Although in earlv life M. H. Groff possessed little
in the way of worldly goods, he was full of energy
and ability, and as the years passed on he accumu-
lated means, and now is the fortunate owner of one
of the best small farms in his township, which is
improved with excellent and comfortable buildings.
On Dec. 9, 1874, Mr. Groff' was married to Miss
.A.nnie C. Rowe, of Drumore township, who was born
on May 25, 1854, a daughter of Samuel and Annie
(Tanger) Rowe, of Drumore, the former of
whom was born July 3, 1826, and the latter
April 22, 1827, and they both reside with
M. H. Groff. Mrs. Groff has but one brother,
Benjamin F. Rowe, who is a farmer of Dru-
more township. Three children have been born to
Mr. and Mrs. Groff : Samuel Chester, born in 1875,
married Naomi Harnish, of Drumore, and they have
one son,- Maurice H. Groff ; Annie Myrtle, born in
1877, died at the age of twenty-one years; and Iva
S., born in 1881, resides with her parents.
In politics Mr. Groff has always been devoted to
the interests of the Republican party, and he has
been called upon at various times to serve his party
as supervisor of roads and assessor, filling these posi-
tions with satisfaction to all concerned. In 1890,
and again in 1900, Mr. Groff was appointed to take
the census in Drumore township, and this duty was
performed with carefulness and efficiency. Mr.
Groff is a leading member of the Chestnut Level
Presbyterian Church, and is now ( 1902) one of the
trustees, and. in every way he is a reliable and repre-
sentative citizen of his township, in which he is uni-
versally esteemed.
OTOMER S. ECKERT. Prominent in West
Earl township is Otomer S. Eckert, one of the pros-
perous and highly respected farmer-citizens. As a
good farmer and liberal minded citizen, interested
in all that promises benefit to his locality, he has won
the esteem and confidence of the community where
his home has been so many years.
Otomer S. Eckert was born Nov. 4, 1859, a
son of Peter and Katherine (Johns) Eckert, both of
whom belonged to old and substantial families of
Lancaster county. Peter Eckert was born Feb. 20,
1828, and now resides on a fine farm in Manheim
township. His wife was born Oct. 8, 1824, and died
March 14, i8qo. Their marriage was celebrated in
1830, and their family numbered four children:
Mary, born in 1853, is the wife of Elias Bard, of
l^pper Leacock township ; Levi C, born in 1855, is
a farmer in Manheim township ; Kate A., born in
1857, IS the wife of George K. Diller, a farmer and
drover of East Earl township; and Otomer S., of
this sketch. Levi Eckert, the grandfather, was a
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
835
prominent farmer and large landowner of Leacock
township, and was the father of these children:
Caroline, the wife of John Bair, of Leacock town-
ship ; Clara, wife of George De Haven, of East Earl ;
Elmyra, deceased ; Peter C. ; Otomer S., a farmer of
Leacock township, now deceased; and Levi, who
died in childhood. The great-grandfather of the
Eckert family came to America from Switzerland,
and was one of the early settlers of this part of the
county.
Otomer S. Eckert was educated in the public
schools, and grew up a farmer boy, early learning in
the school of experience all the details of an agri-
cultural life. From choice he has followed farm-
ing pursuits, and has become one of the substantial
men of this locality.
Mr. Eckert was happily married on March 8,
1882, to Miss Mary J. Geist, who was born Dec. 28,
1859, a daughter of John and Charlotte (Harnish)
Geist, of Upper Leacock township, and to this union
have been born four daughters: Lottie, Katie,
Clara and Minnie. In politics Mr. Eckert is a Re-
publican, and the family have always been members
of the German Reformed Church. In educational
matters Mr. Eckert has continually shown his inter-
est, and is now serving as school director. In the
neighborhood the esteem in which he is held is very
marked, and he may be justly regarded as one of the
best representatives of the superior citizens who find
their home in West Earl township.
JACOB G. STAUFFER, a lumber merchant of
Elizabethtown, combines with his hardwood inter-
ests, extensive dealings in coal, flour and grain mill
products, operates an important stone crushing en-
terprise, and contracts crushed stone in any quantity
to cities and corporations. An enterprising and
pushing business man of high character and deserved
popularity, he is widely recognized as one- of the
representative men of diis part of the State.
Mr. Stauffer was born six miles from Elizabeth-
town, in the township of Mt. Joy, May 29, 1850, son
of Jacob and Mary ( Groff ) Stauffer, natives of Mt.
Joy and Rapho townships, respectively. They died
on the old family homestead which was the birth-
place of their son, Jacob G. The elder Stauffer was
a man of considerable prominence in his home com-
munity, and was supervisor for thirteen years, hold-
ing at the same time other local positions of more or
less importance. He died at the age of sixty-eight
years. Both he and his wife were members of the
German Baptist Church, and their remains are at
rest in the cemetery connected with the Chickies
Meeting House. They were the parents of the fol-
lowing children : Fannie, the wife of Samuel Risser,
of Lebanon county; Mary, the widow of David
Moyer, of Mt. Joy township ; Rebecca, deceased ;
John, a farmer of the township of Mt. Joy; Abra-
ham, a farmer of Lebanon county; and Jacob G.
Both the paternal and maternal grandparents of
Jacob G. Stauffer were natives of Lancaster county.
and belonged to families long prominent in industry
and business in this part of the State.
Jacob G. Stauffer was married in November,
1870, in Mt. Joy township, to Miss Lizzie Witmer,
and the children born to this union were as follows :
Amanda, who has been twice married, her first hus-
band being Irwin Engle, and her second, John Bink-
ley, a miller in Mt. Joy township ; Anna, who died at
the age of seven ; Ada, who died at the age of two ;
and Harry, at home. Mrs. Lizzie Stauffer was born
in Mt. Joy township, and died in 1892, at the age of
forty-two years, and her remains are resting in Mt.
Tunnel Cemetery. She was a daughter of Henry
Witmer, and a lady of much character with those re-
fined and womanly traits that command a host of
friends.
Mr. Stauffer contracted a second marriage Nov.
30, 1893, in Elizabethtown, with Mrs. Mary H.
Bentz, a daughter of David Huntzberger.
Mr. Stauffer remained at home with his parents
until he attained his majority, when he rented a farm
for a time and then bought it, only to sell after some
four years of cultivation at a very good profit. After
selling out his farming interest Mr. Stauffer moved
into Elizabethtown, where he had bought a flouring
mill, which he has operated to the present time. In
1886 he had achieved so much success as a miller
that he felt warranted in branching out and taking
up in addition to his mill work, coal and grain, as
well as lumber, making many irons in the fire, but
he is able to keep them all going at a white heat. Mr.
Stauffer has served on the borough council six years,
and has been a burgess ten consecutive years. He is
a Republican, and an enterprising, thrifty man, as
well as a prominent and public-spirited citizen.
DAVID A. HUBER. One of the progressive
and public -spirited citizens of West Lampeter town-
ship, Lancaster county, is David A. Huber, the own-
er and operator of a fine farm of forty-eight acres of
rich, well-improved land in close proximity to the
village of Willowstreet. His birth occurred on the
old family homestead which has been in the posses-
sion of the Hubers for generations, on Aug. 11,
i860, and he was educated in the common schools
of the district.
Until his marriage David H. Huber remained at
home, engaged in agricultural pursuits, but when
he established a home for himself, on Jan. i, 1888,
he located upon his present farm, where he made
many permanent improvements and carries on a
general line of farming. His marriage was
to Emma S-, a daughter of Martin and Maria
Huber, of West Lampeter township. She was
born Oct. 26, 1861, and by her marriage has be-
come the mother of three children: Carrie May,
born Aug. 13, 1891 ; Martin, born Aug. 25, 1892;
and Christian, born Nov. 13, 1893.
This family is one of the county's most respected,
and in every way David A. Huber is a man to be es-
teemed and highly regarded by his fellow-citizens.
836
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Honest, industrious, energetic and home-loving,
these are the qualities which form the character of
typical Americans.
EZRA B. WOLF, owner and proprietor of The
Press, of Denver, Lancaster county, is a native of
West Cocalico township, where he was born Aug.
20, 1852, son of Christian and Susan (Burkholder)
Wolf.
Christian Wolf, the father of Ezra B., was born
and reared in Warwick township, son of Henry and
Leah Wolf, the former of whom died when Christian
was very small. The latter was reared to farm life,
became a carpenter also, and was skilled in cabinet
making, and had an undertaking establishment in the
village of Schoeneck, where he died in 1881, at the
age of fifty-eight years. As a cabinet maker and
manufacturer of furniture he became well known
and prosperous. He had a family of six children,
namely: Salinda, deceased, who wedded John F.
Harnish, of West Earl township; Henry, a car-
penter and undertaker, at Lincoln ; Ezra B., our sub-
ject; Susan, the widow of Jacob E. Shirk, of Stev-
ens ; Mary, the widow of J. M. Millinger, of Denver ;
Emma, the wife of T. G. Burkholder, of Denver.
The mother of this family also resides in Denver.
Ezra B. Wolf was reared on the farm, and learned
the cabinet-making trade, taking naturally to work-
ing in wood. He became his father's most skilled
assistant. Before he was sixteen years old he had
learned the details of the undertaking business, and
had become so competent that his father regardd
him as worthy of excellent wages. When about
twenty-two years of age he succeeded to his father's
business at Schoeneck and later established a branch
at Denver, resulting in his removal to the latter place
in 1883. Since that time Mr. Wolf has been promi-
nently identified with the progress and development
of this town, first engaging in the furniture and un-
dertaking business which he carried on some years,
but later dropped the furniture line and now conducts
a first-class undertaking business, being a graduate
of two embalming schools.
In 1895, in association with Dr. S. G. Burk-
holder, he purchased the leading newspaper in this
section. The Press, which had been established in
1890 by Myers & Lutz, Mr. Myers succeeding the
above named firm, and in turn being succeeded by
our subject and Dr. Burkholder as stated. At that
time it was a single sheet journal of some six or
seven columns, which has been transformed into a
double sheet paper of eight pages, which is issued
weekly. In 1896 Mr. Wolf assumed entire con-
trol and has ably conducted it ever since, giving its
patrons one of the best edited and most satisfactory
papers of this locality. As a wise measure in a grow-
ing community, the paper is non-partisan and hence
can comment without bias on general events of inter-
est, while it can be made a power in the upbuilding
of the borough. In 1900 the village of Denver was
made a borough, and Mr. Wolf was a very important
factor in effecting the desired change. He is pres-
ident of the board of education, and his public-spir-
ited efforts meet with the commendation of the
public.
The first marriage of Mr. Wolf was to Miss Liz-
zie Eberly, daughter of Isaac Eberly. Her death
occurred in 1890, her two children preceding her.
The second marriage of Mr. Wolf was to Mrs. Linda
Yeager, widow of John Yeager, and daughter of
John Fahnestock, of Warwick township. The three
children born to this union are : Mary Esther, Ray-
mond Hobson and Christian Herbert. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Wolf are members of the U. B. Church, in
which he is trustee and steward, and to which he is
a liberal contributor. Fraternally Mr. Wolf is con-
nected with Chandler Lodge, No. 227, F. & A. M.,
of Reading ; Cocalico Lodge, No. 408, I. O. O. F. ;
Cocalico Lodge, No. 400, K. of P. ; Camp 13, of Den-
ver, P. O. S. of A. ; and Lodge No. 205, K. of G. E.
Mr. Wolf has done much for the borough of Den-
ver in the way of improvement of real estate, and has
erected a number of handsome edifices, among them
being two dwellings, a store building, the building
occupied by The Press, also offices for lodge rooms
of various kinds, and others which are among the
best in Denver. He was one of the principal con-
tributors to the present U. B. Church building, and
also to the public school. His commercial and per-
sonal standing is very high in the young city where
he has chosen his home, and where he has many
friends.
SAMUEL G. ENGLE, one of the well known
and highly esteemed farmers and dairymen of East
Donegal township, Lancaster county, is located one
and one-half miles from Marietta, Pa., where he suc-
cessfully conducts a most prosperous business. The
Engle family is one of the oldest in the county, the
early records reaching back to 1754, when Ulric and
Anna (Brechtbill) Engle left their home in Switzer-
land and came to the United States, locating in Penn-
sylvania. Their numerous descendants have scat-
tered over the Union.
Samuel G. Engle was born on the old homestead
in East Donegal March 7, 1850, a son of Daniel and
Mary (Kraybill) Engle, of Conoy and East Donegal
townships, respectively. The two-story brick resi-
dence upon the homestead was built by Daniel En-
gle in 1874, and both he and his wife died here, the
former in August, 1888, at the age of seventy-five,
the latter in November, 1900, aged eighty-four.
Both had been valued members of the religious de-
nomination known as River Brethren. Daniel
Engle was a very intelligent and progressive man,
much interested in educational matters, and was one
of the first school directors of his district, when the
free school system was put into operation. He was
the originator of the Marietta Nursery Co., of East
IJonegal, in 1853, locating it on the o'ld homestead,
and he conducted it successfully for many years,
finally retiring and leaving it in the capable hands
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
837
of his two sons, Hiram G. and John G., it now being
operated by the latter. The children born to Daniel
Engle and wife were: Fanny, who married John
B. Brenneman, a groceryman, of York; Barbara,
who married Henry S. Garber, of Mt. Joy ; Hiram,
deceased ; John G. ; Samuel, of this sketch ; and Dan-
iel G., the postmaster of Marietta, Pa. The pater-
nal grandfather of Samuel G. Engle was John
Engle, of Conoy township, whose wife belonged to
the Myers family ; he was a farmer and died in 1861.
The maternal grandparents were Christian and Mary
(Nissley) Kraybill, farmers of Lancaster county.
Samuel G. Engle was reared in an agricultural
family and neighborhood, and acquired his educa-
tion in the public schools, remaining at home and
farming on the old homestead for eighteen years,
and coming to the present fine farm in October,
1896, where he has since conducted an excellent dairy
in connection with his farming operations. For six
years he served as school director, and has always
cast his influence in the direction of morality in his
neighborhood. In politics Mr. Engle is a pro-
nounced Republican, but has never consented to
hold political office.
The marriage of Samuel G. Engle occurred on
Dec. 3, 1874, in East Donegal township, when Miss
Mary B. Bossier became his bride. One daughter,
Mary B., has been born of this union. Mrs. Engle
was born in West Donegal township, a daughter of
Christian and Ann (Brenneman) Bossier, the form-
er of whom was a farmer of East Donegal township,
where the family is well known. Mr. Engle is a
worthy representative of an old and numerous Lan-
caster family, and possesses the respect of the com-
munity in which he lives, and where he has shown
that he is an honest and upright citizen.
ELIZABETH M. KENDIG, whose attractive
ice-cream and confectionery parlors are located at
No. 132 North Duke street, Lancaster, can boast of
having Revolutionary ancestry in both paternal and
maternal lines.
Henry Kendig, her grandfather, was a veterinary
surgeon of Lampeter township, where he lived and
died, as did his father before him.
John Kendig, son of Henry, was a farmer of
Providence township, and died in September, 1884.
He married Elizabeth String, daughter of John
String, a tailor of New Providence, and nine chil-
dren were born of this union, five of whom are liv-
ing, as follows : Hiram S., of Lancaster, a veteran
of the war of the Rebellion : Samuel, a farmer and
tax collector of the township of Providence ; John B.,
a contracting painter of Covington, Ky. ; Elizabeth
M. ; Louisa S., who makes her home with Miss Eliz-
abeth.
Elizabeth M. Kendig was born on the old home-
stead near New Providence, and, coming to Lancas-
ter, entered the confectionery establishment of
George R. Erisman, later becoming connected with
the confectionerv of the late R. H. Anderson. After
the death of the latter Miss Kendig, on July 11,
1898, bought the confectionery store of Mr. Eris-
man, on North. Queen street, and on April i, 1899,
she removed to No. 132 North Duke street, where
her business soon increased to double its proportions.
Miss Kendig's goods soon became noted throughout
the community for their excellence; and this fact,
coupled with her courtesy and promptness, has won
a host of patrons, and the store is justly noted as
one of the leading confectionery marts of the city.
WILLIAM H. WOLF, a favorite railroad con-
ductor at Columbia, was born in York county Feb.
20, 1849, son of Hon. William W. and Agnes G.
(Smith) Wolf, of New Holland, who were the par-
ents of eight children, viz: Abner, who died in
Fort Desula, Dak., while in the United States service
as scout ; Flora, deceased wife of Emanuel Hoppen-
stal; Agnes, widow of Jonathan Schenberger, who
was killed on the railroad at S2nd St., Philadelphia,
Pa. ; William H. ; Adam, carpenter at Wrightsville ;
John, killed on the Pennsylvania railroad at West
Philadelphia ; Mary, wife of George L. Fox, of Cam-
den, N. J. ; and Sarah, wife of James Patton, ticket
and freight agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad Co.
at Little Washington.
Hon. William W. Wolf, son of Adam Wolf, a
farmer and general merchant in York county, also
became a farmer and general merchant. He was tlie
founder of Mount Wolf Station on the North Cen-
tral Railroad, and was the agent of the Railroad
Company at that station for many years. He was
for a long time a justice of the peace, represented
his district in the State Legislature one term, was
commissioner of York county several terms, and at
the time of his death, which occurred in 1865, at the
age of forty-nine years, was serving as sheriff of
York county. His widow died in 1892, aged sev-
enty-six years. Both had been consistent members
of the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Agnes G. (Smith)
Wolf was a daughter of Philip and Mary Smith, of
York county, where the former was a prosperous
farmer, and one of the earliest pilots on the Susque-
hanna River.
William H. Wolf remained on the home farm
until fourteen years of age, then attended Cottage
Hill school at York four years. After leaving school
he served an apprenticeship of two years at the tin-
smith's trade, but relinquished it and ran ore cars
for the Henry Clay furnace for two years. On Oct.
24, 1870, he came to Columbia, and for sixteen
months was brakeman for the Pennsylvania Railroad
Co., was next a flagman until 1883, and was then
promoted to conductor, a position he still holds.
Mr. Wolf has been twice married. He first
wedded, in York, Pa., Jan. 9, 1870, Miss Mel-
vina Peters, who was born in York county, a
daughter of Jacob and Lillie A. Peters, the
former a shoemaker. Mrs. Melvina Wolf passed
away in November, 1884, the mother of four chil-
dren, viz: John (deceased), Charles, Jeanette and
838
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Edward (deceased). The second marriage of Mr.
Wolf took place Sept. i6, 1891, at Camden, N. J.,
to Miss Sallie A. Milton, but no children have been
born to this union. ■
Mrs. Sallie A. Wolf is a daughter of William
and Louisa (Kennedy) Milton, natives, respectively,
of Columbia and York counties. Pa. Her father was
in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. four-
teen years, of which period' he was eight years a con-
ductor. He served three years in the 20th P. V. C.
in the war of the Rebellion, and then received an
honorable discharge. He was a member of the order
of Red Men, and died in Columbia, June 24, 1878, at
the early age of thirty-four years. His widow, who
was born in August, 1849, still resides in Columbia,
and is now the wife of Joseph L. Deemer, of that city.
To Mr. and Mrs. William Milton were born six
children, viz : Sallie A. (Mrs. Wolf) ; Charles H.,
deceased; Mary A., widow of Thomas Donnan;
Georgianna, deceased ; Ida M., wife of Howard Clin-
ton ; and Alice C, who married George W. Kiss-
inger, of Lancaster, and died leaving one son, Jos-
eph F. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Sallie
A. Wolf were Isaac M. and Mary A. (O'Freeold)
IMilton, of Kentucky, who came to Columbia in 1842,
the former being then a manufacturer of oil-cloth.
Here both passed the remainder of their lives. The
maternal grandparents of Mrs. Wolf were Samuel
and Sarah (Harman) Nefif, of York county, where
his death took place, but that of his wife occurred in
Lancaster, and her remains were interred in Co-
lumbia.
William H. Wolf and his family are members of
the Lutheran church, and in social circles are held in
the highest esteem. Mr. Wolf is a member of the
P. R. R. Relief, and also belongs to Lodge No. 134,
B. P. O. E., of Lancaster, and to Lodge No. 331,
O. R. C, Columbia, besides several social clubs in
the latter place. He is in politics a Democrat, but
has never condescended to seek a public office. .
WILLIAM MEHL, assistant yardmaster of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Co. at Columbia, Pa., was
born in Odersbach, Weilburg, Province of Nassau,
Gei-many, May 30, 1852, a son of John C. and Maria
C. (Hoin) Mehl, who landed in New York City
June 4, 1853, ^^'^ came thence to Lancaster, Pa., re-
maining there until April 7, 1870, when they located
in Columbia.
John C. Mehl was a stonemason and also carried
on a marble and monument yard. He died in 1871,
in the faith of the German Lutheran Church, at the
age of forty-seven years ; and his widow passed away
in 1898, aged sixty-two. They were the parents of
six children, the eldest of whom is William, whose
name opens this sketch. The others are: Frank,
who succeeded to his father's business at the old
stand ; Henry, who ran away when fifteen years old,
made a trip around the world, returned home and
started on a second trip, and it is supposed was lost
at sea; Mary, married to Matthias Swartz, hotel-
keeper at Columbia; George, a clerk in Lancaster;
and Miss Louisa, living on the old homestead.
William Mehl, in 1864, left school, and for two
years worked in the cotton factory at Lancaster.
He next served an apprenticeship of three years
at cigarmaking, and in 1869 obtained a situation
with the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. at packing
tools for a crew of stone masons, so continuing
until the spring of 1870, when he began
stone cutting' with his father, remaining until
the death of the latter, when he took charge of
and managed the business until October, 1876. He
was next a brakeman for the railroad company until
1879, flagman until 1881, then a conductor for ten
years. For several years he was employed in super-
numerary work in the yards, and in July, 1897, was
promoted to the position of assistant yardmaster.
Mr. Mehl has been twice married. His first wed-
ding took place March i, 1881, in Columbia, when
he married Tillie Retheiser, who was born in Colum-
bia, and who died Jan. 10, 1882, at the age of twenty-
one years, without issue. The second wedding took
place Oct. 31, 1883, when Josephine M. Retheiser, a
sister of his first wife, became his bride. To this
union have been born four children, viz : William
H., Tillie R., John C. and Daniel R.
Daniel Retheiser, the father-in-law of Mr. Mehl,
was born in Bavaria, Germany, Jan. 15, 1839, a son
of Jacob and Margaret H. Retheiser, who came to
America in 1840, and settled in Columbia, Pa.
Jacob was a laborer and died in 1848, a member of
the German Lutheran church, aged forty-one years,
and the father of two children. Daniel, and William,
of York county. Mrs. Retheiser was next married
to John Wonder, to whom she bore one child, John,
a brakeman in Columbia. Mrs. Wonder was born in
1815, and died in 1865, also in the faith of the Luth-
eran church.
Daniel Retheiser lived with his parents until he
was seventeen years old, and then learned the trade
of shoemaking, which he followed until his death,
June 9, 1902. He had always made Columbia his
home, with the exception of five years, 1858 to 1863,
passed in Driftwood, Pa. On Jan. 2, i860, he mar-
ried, in Ridgway, Elk Co., Pa., Theresa Berry, and
to this union were born Tillie, deceased wife of Will-
iam Mehl, whose name opens this article ; Josephine
M., now Mrs. Mehl ; Annie, married to Harry Upp,
a telegrapher in Philadelphia; Catherine, wife of
Edward Seafalls, a compositor on the New York
Herald; William, a machinist in the same metropo-
lis ; Elizabeth, wife of Edward Roche, a druggist
in Frenchtown, N. J. ; Jennie, wife of John Musser,
assistant superintendent of a shirt factory in Scran-
ton, Pa. ; and Emma, also in Scranton.
Theresa (Berry) Retheiser was born in Ger-
many March 31, 1840, a daughter of Benedict and
Margaret Berry, who came to the United States in
1846, and settled in St. Marys, Elk Co., Pa., where
the father is engaged in farming.
William Mehl, like all the members of his fam-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
839
ily, is a Lutheran in religion. In politics he is inde-
pendent, being capable of thinking and judging for
himself. He is a member of the Brotherhood of
Railroad Conductors, by whom he is greatly re-
spected, and he stands equally high in the esteem of
the public at large.
C. H. HILTON, who is one of the successful
farmers of Little Britain township, was born March
27, 1855, a son of William and Elizabeth (Warren)
Hilton, of Drumore township, this county.
Joseph Hilton, his grandfather, was a farmer of
Drumore township, and he reared a family of seven
children, all of whom, with himself, were respected
members of their various localities. The children
were : Lewis, Joseph, Daniel, George, William,
Mary and Elizabeth.
During life William Hilton, the father of C. H.
Hilton, was an industrious, honest and upright man,
for a number of years considered a most reliable
workman at his trade of carpenter. His death oc-
curred in 1882, and his widow resides with her son.
Four children were born to William Hilton and wife :
C. H. : Ella, the wife of Erastus Hastings, of Phila-
delphia ; Laura, deceased : and Viola, the wife of
Henry Clendennin, of Oxford.
C. H. Hilton, who now is one of the substantial
and representative citizens of Little Britain, was
reared to the duties of a farmer boy, and attended
the district schools. From youth he has been very in-
dustrious, and he is now the owner of considerable
valuable property, consisting of the home farm, com-
prising 102 acres, with excellent residence and com-
modious barns, and also a house, lot and paying
blacksmith shop at Mechanics Grove, in East Dru-
more township. For a period of five years Mr. Hil-
ton carried on a mercantile business, at Mechanics
Grove, but in 1887 he came to the home farm, after
a short time in Peters Creek, where he also had a
general store. Until quite recently Mr. Hilton has
been engaged in the creamery business, in connection
with his farming.
On July 19, 1877, Mr. Hilton was married to
Miss Mary Eberly, of East Drumore township, a
daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Herr) Eberly,
and was born April 4, 1856. By trade Abraham
Eberly is a wheelwright. In 1862 he was a volun-
teer in the service of his country. Retired from
active life now, both he and wife are spending
their advancing years in ease at their old home in
East Drumore township. They reared a family of
seven children : Susan, wife of Wilson Walker, of
Providence township ; Martha, wife of Morris Shoe-
maker, of Lancaster; Sarah, wife of Samuel Whit-
mer, of Quarryville; Daniel, who lives in Mount
Hope ; Mary, wiie of Mr. Hilton ; Henry, who lives
in Providence township ; and Catherine, wife of
John H. Herr, of East Drumore township.
Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Hilton: Linnie L., born Jan. 22, 1878; Laura
Emma, born March 4, 1882 ; William Roy, born Aug.
I, T887; Ada A., born April 10, 1889; Elsie May,
born May 12, 1893 ; Grace Ruth, born June 21, 1896 ;
and Eberly Frank Gillispie, born June 21, 1902.
Like his father, Mr. Hilton has been a life-long
member of the Democratic party, and all of his fam-
ily, including himself, are members in good stand-
ing in the Presbyterian Church at Little Britain. In
Fulton township he enjoys the respect and esteem of
his neighbors, where he is known as an honest, up-
right man, a good neighbor, a kind friend and an
exemplary member of society.
DANIEL N. FORREY, a general farmer and
much respected citizen of Rapho township, Lan-
caster county, was born Feb. 8, 1856, in the town
where his honorable and useful life is passing, a son
of John and Mary (Newcomer) Forrey. His fa-
ther was born in 181 5 in Manor township, his mother
in Rapho ; they are now living retired in Rapho town-
ship. Both are members of the Mennonite Church.
Mr. Forrey was for some years a director of the
First National Bank of Columbia. His general
reputation for integrity and ability has been well
sustained through life, whenever he has come into
contact with important business interests, and he is
regarded as one of the substantial and reliable citi-
zens of Rapho township. To John and Mary For-
rey were born the following named children : Cath-
erine married Ezra Hostetter, a farmer of West
Hempfield township; Lizzie married Jacob Snyder,
and they live retired in Mt. Joy, Pa. ; Anna N. is the
wife of Harry Buckwalder, a farmer in Penn town-
ship ; Isaac N. lives in East Donegal township ; Amos
N. is a farmer on the old homestead, where his father
still resides; Harry N. is in the creamery business
m York county ; Mamie N. is the wife of Eli Garber,
the proprietor of a creamery near Lititz, Pa. ; Emma
married John Minnich, a farmer in West Hempfield
township; Daniel N. is the gentleman whose name
introduces these lines.
Daniel Forrey, the paternal grandfather of Dan-
iel N. Forrey, married a Kauffman; both were na-
tives of Lancaster county.
Daniel N- Forrey was married Nov. 11, 1875, in
Lancaster, to Catherine B. Nissley, by whom he has
had the following children, all the survivors being
at home: John N. ; Simon N.; Daniel N. ; Ellen
N. ; Lillie N. ; Emma N. ; Clayton N. and Norman
N., deceased ; Walter N. ; and Oliver N.
Mrs. Catherine B. (Nissley) Forrey was born in
West Hempfield township Dec. 2, 1854, daughter of
Christian E. and Fanny (Borneman) Nissley. The
father, who was born in West Hempfield township,-
was a retired farmer in Salunga,- for the last ten vears
of his life, and there died Oct. 29, 1889, at the age of
seventy years, nine months, seven days. The
mother, who was born in East Donegal township,
died in 1804, at the age of sixty-three years. They
were members of the Mennonite Church, and people
of much respectability and good standing in the
community. At one time Mr. Nissley served very
840
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
acceptably , as school director. Christian E. and
Fanny Nissley had the following children : Henry
B., a resident of East Donegal township ; Samuel B.,
a farmer, living on the old homestead; Jonas B., a
farmer in East Donegal township ; Anna B., wife of
John Stehman, a farmer located near Lancaster
Junction ; Catherine B., Mrs. Forrey ; Fanny B., who
married Amos Shelly, and lives at Mt. Joy; Emma
B., who married Witmer Rohrer, a bookkeeper in
Lancaster ; and Ellen B., unmarried, who makes her
home with her sister, Mrs. Shelly. Mrs. Forrey's
paternal grandparents, Samuel and Catherine Niss-
ley, were life-long residents of Lancaster county.
Daniel N. Forrey remained at home with his par-
ents until after his marriage, and was reared to
farming. When he married he was given part
of the old homestead, consisting of a tract of seventy
acres, and there he built a residence, farm buildings,
etc. During the passing years he has become quite
well-to-do, and holds a fine position as a man, a citi-
zen and a farmer in the community in which he is
passing his peaceful and useful life. In religion he
and his family are members of the Mennonite
Church, and in politics Mr. Forrey holds strongly to
Republican views.
HENRY BARTON, deceased. Every locality
has its list of well remembered names, representative
of those of its esteemed and useful citizens who have
passed out of life, and one of those long familiar in
Upper Leacock township was Henry Barton, whose
integrity of character and sterling worth made him
conspicuous during life.
Mr. Barton was born Feb. i6, 1803, since which
date the country and even the county he loved so well
and served so faithfully have made great and won-
derful strides. The Barton family is an old and hon-
ored one, far back to the time when three brothers
left England and first located in Scotland, where they
established shipyards. Later their descandants went
to County Tyrone, Ireland, and thence in 1772 John
Barton, the grandfather of Henry, came to America
with his brothers James and Samuel. James settled
in the Tuscarora Valley, Samuel settled in Virginia,
and John made his permanent home in Upper Lea-
cock township, Lancaster county.
John Barton, son of John, married Isabella Vegan,
who was a native of Vogansville, this county. By a
previous marriage, to a Miss Redick, he had three
children, John, Robert and Sarah, and to this second
marriage the following children were born: Mar-
garet, who married Mark Connell ; Leah, who mar-
ried Robert Cormell ; Rachel, twin of Leah, who died
at the age of seventy-nine unmarried ; Isaac ; Samuel ;
Henry ; James ; Eliza, who married Archimedides
Robbs ; and William.
John Barton, the father of this family, was a na-
tive of County Donegal, Ireland, and came to Amer-
ica at the age of eighteen years, landing at New
Castle, Del. There he remained five years, engaged
in teaching school, and in 1787 came to Lancaster
county, taking up his residence in Leacock township.
Fanning did not occupy all of his time, and he be-
came a drover, often driving his cattle all the wa.y
from his farm to Philadelphia. At the time of his
death, in 1853, at the age of eighty-nine years, he
owned two fine farms, was a wealthy and prominent
man, and had served for a long period as county com-
missioner.
Henry Barton, son of John (2), was born on the
farm in Upper Leacock township which is owned
and operated by his son, William H. His entire life
was given to agricultural pursuits and to the advance-
ment of the material interests of his family, county
and State, and in the meantime he also built up a
reputation for honesty and integrity which will long
reflect credit upon all who bear his name. Mr. Bar-
ton was particularly interested in educational mat-
ters, and consented to serve as school director for a
period of six years. He died July 21, 1885.
Henry Barton was married Feb. 20, 1845, i"
Philadelphia, by Rev. Thomas Clark, to Miss Mar-
garet L. Simon, and the following named children
were bom to this union : John C, who is in the life
insurance business in New Holland, Pa., married
Anna Rutter; William H., who is farming the old
homestead, married Nellie Burwell ; and Miss Lizzie
I. resided with her mother until the latter's death,
Sept. 21, 1901.
Mrs. Margaret L. (Simon) Barton was born in
Philadelphia, Pa., July 17, 1809, and at the time of
her death was one of the esteemed residents of Me-
chanicsburg, this county. She was a daughter of
David and Elizabeth (Ireton) Simon, the former a
noted teacher of music, who instructed in one of the
academies.
In politics Mr. Barton was a firm advocate of
Democratic principles, but was no politician. Both
he and wife were long leading members of the Pres-
byterian Church. The family is one of the most sub-
stantial and highly esteemed in the township, and
Mr. Barton was recognized as one of its representa-
tive men.
CHARLES FONDERSMITH STAUFFER,
one of the leading general contractors of Lancaster,
and a man widely known throughout the State, was
born Oct. 8, 1869, on the farm of his father, located
near Florin, Mt. Joy township, consisting of one
hundred acres, one of the most highly cultivated and
substantially improved farms in the county at that
time. He is the son of John Forney and Clara S.
(Fondersmith) Stauflfer.
John Forney Stauffer, who was at one time one
of the most efficient Street Commissioners Lancaster
has ever had, was born in Penn township Aug. 6,
1845, son of Benjamin Miller and Sophia (Forney)
Stauffer. He was reared in his native place, edu-
cated in the celebrated Beck School at Lititz, learned
the trade of miller, operated the Bossier Mill for two
years, an4 retired from active life until 1872. In
that year he removed to Lancaster and became a
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
841
railroad contractor and sewer builder, being ex-
tensively employed throughout the State. On April
I, 1894., he was elected Street Commissioner, and
held that office for four terms. At present he is ac-
tively engaged in the manufacture of electric fans
and motors. His political opinions make him a
stalwart supporter of the principles of Republican-
ism. Socially he is connected with the Royal Ar-
canum. He was Warden of Trinity Lutheran Church
for three years, and is an earnest worker in and mem-
ber of that body.
Johannus Stauffer, the great-grandfather of John
F. Stauffer, and great-great-grandfather of Charles
F., was a native of Switzerland, who came to Amer-
ica in 1700, built the large stone mill at White Oak,
Penn township, and conducted it as long as he lived.
Upon his death his son, John, inherited the property.
His son, Benjamin M., in the course of time, came
into possession of this mill, when twenty-one years
of age. In 1856 he was elected Register of Lancas-
ter county on the Republican ticket and so disposed
of the property, purchasing a farm near Mt. Joy.
He cultivated this farm with great success from 1859
to 1863, when he bought the old Bossier Mill near
Manheim, on Chickies creek, but in 1868 he disposed
of his interest therein and returned to Mt. Joy. He
later resided in Lititx, where he died in 1897. He
married Miss Sophia Forney, who was born in Earl
township, daughter of John Forney, and was a
cousin of John W. Forney, the founder of the Phila-
delphia Press. Her father was the proprietor of
the "Forney Inn," on the Reading road, and there
made his home for a number of years. Mrs.
Benjamin M. Stauflfer died in 1884, leaving two chil-
dren : John F., the ex-Street Commissioner of Lan-
caster; and Benjamin, a member of the Board of
Trade, Chicago.
On- Nov. 25, 1868, John Forney Stauffer was
married to Miss Clara S. Fondersmith, the youngest
daughter of John and Catherine (Reed) Fonder-
smith, of Lancaster, and two children were born of
this union, Charles F. and B. Grant, the latter secre-
tary and treasurer of the Towle Manufacturing Com-
pany.
Mrs. John Forney Stauffer's great-great-grand-
father was Ludwig von-der Schmitt, a descendant
of the Royal House of Hessen-Darmstadt, who was
a manufacturer of guns in Germany for the Govern-
ment. He came to this country about 1749 and set-
tled in Strasburg township, Lancaster county, where
his son, John Fondersmith, manufactured guns for
the war "of 181 2, at Fondersmithville. Gov. Pow-
nall, in his journal, speaks of passing through Lan-
caster county in 1754, and of a manufactory of guns
for which the county was celebrated, it being the
business of John Fondersmith, a manufacturer of
"defensive arms" for the Revolutionary patriots.
John Fondersmith, Esq., father of Mrs. John F.
Stauffer, and grandfather of Charles Fondersmith
Stauffer, was one of the most prominent and
esteemed citi.^ens of Lancaster. He died at his resi-
dence, No. 303 East King street, Sept. 27 1874. He
was elected clerk of the court of Quarter Sessions
in 1842 by the Republican party, having been a
stanch Republican, and twice the nominee of that
j)arty for mayor. Although firm in his principles,
he was much respected by men of all parties, being
a man of superior intelligence, strict moral character
and fine social traits. He was the owner of one of
the pioneer stores of Lancaster, "Fondersmith's
Corner," at East King and Shippen streets, having
been as familiar to the people of Lancaster City and
county as was Centre Square.
Charles Fondersmith Stauffer was taken from
the farm, when but one year old, to Mt. Joy, and
after two years to Lancaster, Pa., where he was edu-
cated first in the public schools and later at the Epis-
copal Parish School, Yeates Institute and the high
school, from which he was graduated. After leaving
school he entered the employ of Hager & Bro.'s car-
pet house, in Lancaster, and there remained for two
years. In the spring of 1889 he became associated
with his father in contracting, and eighteen months
later engaged in business for himself, with offices in
Penn Square, Philadelphia. Mr. Stauffer has built
the roads and avenues and executed the landscape
work on the Drexel tracts at Overbrook, Wayne Es-
tate, at Wayne and St. David's, and Robert Smith Es-
tate, at Strafford. He has also been extensively
employed in railroad work, grading and bridge con-
struction of various kinds, in many localities.
Among the railroads for which he has employed his
talents may be mentioned the Reading Terminal
Company, Pennsylvania Railway Company, Phila-
delphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railway Com-
pany, Chambersburg & Gettysburg Railway Com-
pany, New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
Company, and Philadelphia & Reading Railway
Company. He has in addition to all this notable work
left specimens of his sewerage, street paving and res-
ervoir work at York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Provi-
dence and Lancaster, and has laid out many of the
beautiful landscape gardens to be found in and about
Philadelphia. Many private country places along
the main line of the Pennsylvania railroad owe their
beauty of surroundings to Charles F. Stauffer's
work. He erected the large boulder at Gulf Mills,
marking the point at which the Continental Army,
under Gen. Washington, ceased retreating, and re-
constructed the landscape about the church at old
St. David's, which Longfellow named "The Little
Church Among the Graves," where Anthony Wayne
is buried and Gen. Washington attended services
during his stay at Valley Forge. The Continental
and British armies both used this church as a hos-
pital, the Continental army having cut the leaded
windows out to make bullets. The Main street at
Jenkintown ; the landscape, drives and lawns, rustic
walks and bridges, at the "Beachwood Inn," and the
private grounds of country places of Philadelphia
millionaires along the Philadelphia and Reading
railroad all show his work. He is at present en-
842
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
^aged in the paving of soms of the main thorough-
fares and the constructing of sewers for the city of
Lancaster, and is also constructing a large lake for
boating and skating, and a general landscape work,
incident to the making of a Park, for the Long's
Park Commission of Lancaster. In addition to his
other interests, Mr. Stauffer is Director of the Towle
Manufacturing Company. In religious matters he
belongs to Old Trinity Lutheran Church, of whose
vestry he is a member. Like his ancestors, Mr.
Stauffer is a stanch Republican, and takes an inter-
est in local affairs, but has never desired or sought
office, preferring to devote all his time and attention
to his business. Socially he is a member of the F.
O. E., B. P. O. E., the Lancaster Maennerchor,
Hamilton Club, Young Men's Republican Club,
Citizen's Republican Club and other like organiza-
tions, in all of which he is very popular.
Although a young man, Mr. Stauffer has already
made a record in his business of which he may well
be proud, and judging the future by the light of the
past, his success in time to come will be even greater,
for he possesses the requisite qualities — energy, fore-
sight and ability — to grasp opportunities when of-
fered, and a thorough knowledge of his work. Out-
side his business connections Mr. Stauffer has many
friends, and is popular with all on account of the
genial manner and pleasant attributes he possesses,
and the kindly courtesy he accords those with whom
he is brought into contact.
WILLIS GROSS KENDIG, Esq., one of the
younger members of the Lancaster Bar, comes from
old and honored stock. John Kendig, his great-
grandfather, came to America from Switzerland
and settled in Lancaster county, and there his son,
Daniel Kendig, was an ironmaster, owning much
landed estate at Safe Harbor, this county.
Dr. Benjamin E. Kendig, son of Daniel, is a pop-
ular practicing physician at Salunga. He married
Barbara Stauffer, daughter of John Stauffer, a farm-
er of Manor township, and of this union seven chil-
dren were born, four of whom are living, as follows :
Jerome S., a physician of Salunga ; John D., a dentist
at Manheim ; Willis G. ; and Esther C, who conducts
a private kindergarten at Marietta.
Willis Gross Kendig was born at Salunga Sept.
23, 1874, and was educated in the public schools of
the district, at the State Normal School at Millers-
ville, and at Franklin and Marshall College. Then
he studied dentistry for two years with his brother,
who was at that time practicing in Shamokin. Re-
turning to Lancaster, Mr. Kendig taught school for
four years, in Conoy and West Hempfield townships,
and then became a law student with Eugene G.
Smith, Esq., now Judge of the Orphans court of
Lancaster county. He was admitted to practice
March 30, 1901.
On June 19, 1901, Mr. Kendig was married to
Miss Henrietta M. Hassert, daughter of the late
John Hassert, a prominent grocer of Philadelphia,
and they live in a charming home at No. 232 South
Ann street. Mrs. Kendig is a lineal descendant of
William the Conqueror; the original name of the
family was Hazzard, instead of Hassert, as now
written.
Mr. Kendig belongs to no secret societies. His
religious connection is with the First M. E. Church
of Lancaster. Courteous at all times, devoted to
his profession, and sterling in his character, he has
every promise of a bright, useful and successful fu-
ture.
ISAAC H. WEAVER, one of the prominent and
well-to-do citizens of Lancaster, and one of the most
extensive dealers of leaf tobacco in this part of the
county, is indebted for his success solely to his own
efforts, to sterling integrity and due regard for the
best interests of those with whom he has to deal.
He was. born in West Lampeter, this county, April
17, 1864, and from his parents, Isaac and Martha
(Hoover) Weaver, inherited habits of thrift and
enterprise. The mother died in Fertility, East
Lampeter, March 20, 1894, at the age of sixty-nine,
and was buried in Longnecker's cemetery, connected
with the Mennonite Church, of which she was a de-
vout member. The father, a retired farmer, who
oWns several fine country properties, and was very
successful during his active life, is living in East
Lampeter at the age of seventy-eight, having been
born in April, 1824. He also is a member of the
Mennonite Church, and is prominent in the locality
where he has lived for so many years. To himself
and wife were born : Susan, who married Jacob L.
Houser, a farmer of West Lampeter; Mary, de-
ceased wife of E. H. Denlinger ; Emma, who became
the wife of S. O. Frantz, farmer and manager of
the New Ideal Seat Company of Rohrerstown, Pa. ;
and Isaac H.
Until his twenty-fourth year Isaac H. Weaver
lived on the paternal farm, assisting his father in the
manifold duties there presented, at the same time
acquiring a liberal education at the district schools.
His first outside business venture was as a buyer of
leaf tobacco, in which occupation he has since ac-
quired such pronounced success. Until Jan. i, 1890,
he purchased for others in the business, but after
that he bought a tobacco business in Lancaster and
at Strasburg, which he has since continued to con-
duct, and, in connection therewith, two other branch-
es, located respectively at Dayton, Ohio, and West
Carrollton, Ohio, which have also profited by his ad-
rnirable management. In March, 1901, he bought
his present warehouse, on North Prince .street, where
he employs fifty hands. In his Ohio houses he em-
ploys as many as seventy-five hands. He handles
great quantities of leaf tobacco annually, and is an
expert in judging of the value of this popular weed.
Mr. Weaver is active in the general affairs of his
city, and among his other responsibilities is that of
director of the Conestoga National Bank, to which
position he was appointed in 1900. He is a Repub-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
848
lican in political affiliation, and fraternally is associ-
ated with the Royal Arcanum and the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks.
On Sept. 26, 1894, Mr. Weaver married Edith,
daughter of Christian and Barbara Bachman, and a-
native of Strasburg, Pa. Christian Bachman was
born in Lancaster, Pa., and was an undertaker and
furniture dealer of prominence during his active ca-
reer. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Weaver, Herbert B. and Edward B. Mr. Weaver
is popular in business and social circles of Strasburg,
and his many desirable and substantial personal char-
acteristics have won and retained many friends.
CHARLES L. MOENCH, who has throughout
his active years been active in the ministry of the
Moravian Church, was born Feb. 20, 1855, in Lititz,
Lancaster county, son of William N. and Louise
M. (Schneider) Moench. When about three years
old he removed with his parents to Brooklyn, N. Y.,
where he spent his boyhood days, receiving his early
education in the public schools of that city, and
later attending the Moravian College and Theologi-
cal Seminary at Bethlehem, Pa. He graduated from
the latter institution in 1875, and after spending two
years as teacher at Nazareth Hall took a post-gradu-
ate course at Union Seminary, New York City. In
May, 1878, he was ordained to the Moravian minis-
try and served in pastoral charges at the following
places: Blairstown, Iowa; Hopedale, Wayne Co.,
Pa. ; Philadelphia Second Church ; Lititz, Lancaster
Co., Pa. ; and Philadelphia First Church, his present
incumbency. In 1897 and 1898 he acted as Principal
of Linden Hall Seminary, at Lititz. At the synod
of the Church held at Lititz in 1898 Rev. Mr. Moench
was elected and consecrated a Bishop, and besides
discharging his duties as pastor and Bishop, he is
at the present time serving as President of the Board
of Trustees of Linden Hall Seminary, and President
of the Board of Trustees of the Moravian College
and Theological Seminary at Bethlehem, Pa. All
in all he has proved himself an efficient worker in
his chosen field, in the educational as well as the
strictly spiritual interests of the Moravian Church,
and his services have a distinctive value.
EDGAR FILLMORE FULTON, merchant
and postmaster at McSparran, Lancaster county, is
a well-known and leading citizen. He was born in
Cecil county, Md., May 4, 1856, a son of Minshell
and Harriet Cecilia (Osborn) Fulton,, natives of
Harford county, Maryland.
John Fulton, his grandfather, was born in Lan-
caster county and removed to Cecil county, Md.,
where he built the homestead where Edgar F., the
subject of this sketch, was born and reared. The
family is related to the great Robert Fulton, inventor
of steamboats, and is of English origin. John Ful-
ton, the grandfather, was the father of six children :
Benjamin; Rachel, who is the wife of Theodore
Marshall, resides in Cecil county, at the age of eighty-
one years ; Cyrus and Mary, who died at about the
ages of fourteen and sixteen years, respectively,;
Elizabeth, who was the wife of John Brown, of Cecil
county : and Minshell, who was born in Cecil county,
Md., in 1823, and died in 1897.
Minshell Fulton was the father of a family of four
children: John, who is a farmer of Fulton town-
ship ; Edgar F., of this sketch ; and William M. and
Joseph, both residents of Cecil county.
Edgar F. Fulton was married to Miss Hannah
L. Reynolds, of Fulton township, Jan. 24, 1884.
They have no children. Her sister Sarah is the wife
of William Bicknell, of Fulton township.
Mr. Fulton was reared on the farm and received
his education in the public schools of Cecil county.
After moving to Pennsylvania, he began, at the age
of seventeen years to clerk in a country store in
Kirk's Mills, Lancaster county. He remained there
for three years, and then went back to Cecil county
to engage in general merchandising for himself. He
returned to Pennsylvania, and remained in Little
Britain for four years, when he again moved, find-
ing a home in McSparran, where he continues to
reside. Mr. Fulton started out in life without a dol-
lar, but by hard work and strict economy has accumu-
lated a fair competency. He owns a good store
property and stock of general merchandise; has a nice
farm of ninety acres near McSparran, with first class
improvements. In fact he is a leading business man
of his neighborhood, and is regarded as a leader in
the business and social circles of the entire section.
He is a director and stockholder in the Oxford Na-
tional Bank, at Oxford, Chester county, besides hav-
ing other interests.
EPHRAIM HULL SHAUB, assistant highway
commissioner of Lancaster, is one of the best known
men of that city. His grandfather, Christian Shaub,
was a veteran in the service of the Pennsylvania
Railway Company, having had charge of the station
at Leaman Place for many years. His death oc-
curred in Lancaster, in which city he had lived re-
tired for a long period.
Jacob H. Shaub, father of Ephraim H., is now
living retired in Lancaster. He, too, served many
years in the employ of the Pennsylvania Company, a
great part of the time as a conductor. He married
Hetty Ann Hull, who was a daughter of the late
Jacob Hull, a pump manufacturer of Strasburg. Her
mother was Lydia Potts, a member of the large and
influential family of that name in southern Lancaster
county. Two of her uncles were in the Pennsyl-
vania railroad service also for a great many years,
and one of them received a gold watch from the
road for making a phenomenal run upon one occa-
sion.
Children as follows were born to Jacob H. Shaub
and his wife : Two who have passed away ; Harry,
who is chief engineer of the fire department of
Lewistown, occupying also a responsible ' position
with the Standard Steel Company of that place ; A.
844
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
A., who is connected with the Harrisburg Silk Mill ;
Lydia, who is the wife of William Keller, of Lan-
caster, a retired soldier, who served thirty-one years
in the United States army, and was then retired as
ordnance sergeant on two-thirds pay, the only in-
stance of this kind in Lancaster county ; Ella, wife of
George Kauffman; Anna C, a teacher in the pub-
lic schools of Lancaster; and Ephraim H. In No-
vember, 1901, the parents celebrated the fifty-first
anniversary of their marriage, an event which
created wide interest among their large circle of
friends.
Ephraim Hull Shaub was born in Conestoga
Center, Jan. 29, 1854, and was educated in the pub-
lic schools of Lancaster. His first employment was
in one of the cotton mills in the city, where he re-
mained for a period of five years, becoming then an
apprentice in the printing business with Pearsol &
Geist, and remaining in the employ of Mr. Geist for
almost thirty-one years continuously, the connection
being mutually pleasant and profitable. On April
I, 1901, Mr. Shaub was made assistant highway
commissioner of Lancaster, which position he fills
with fidelity and ability.
Mr. Shaub was married to Miss Susan B. Imhoff ,
a daughter of the late Jacob Imhoff, a distiller of
Petersburg, and two children were born to this
union : Leila M., at home ; and Esther M., at school.
The family residence is a most comfortable one at
No. 25 West James street, Lancaster, where both
Mr. Shaub and his estimable wife delight to dis-
pense hospitality.
Fraternally Mr. Shaub belongs to the Order of
American Mechanics and the Knights of Pythias.
He is a generous supporter of Grace Lutheran
Church. The family is well and favorably known
throughout Lancaster, and personally, socially and
politically, Ephraim H. Shaub is esteemed by his fel-
low-citizens.
C. S. ROWE, one of the well-known and re-
spected citizens of Providence township, and the
owner and operator of an excellent farm, was born
in West Lampeter township, Oct. 8, 1854, son of
John B. and Ann (Shaub) Rowe, both natives of
Lancaster county.
John B. Rowe, the father of C. S., was born in
1826, married, in 1852, Ann Shaub, who was born in
1 83 1, and they had a family of six children, viz. : C.
S., our subject ; John M. of Drumore township ; and
Misses Emma L., Mary, Amanda, and Franklin, all
of Eden township. John B. Rowe was a farmer all
his life, and he was a son of Adam Rowe, also a na-
tive of Providence township, who had these chil-
dren : Henry, John, Jacob, Elizabeth, Ann, Samuel
and Adam.
C. S. Rowe passed his boyhood days on the farm
and in attendance upon the public schools. He has
always been known as an energetic and industrious
man, and is now reckoned among the best farmers of
Providence township. He is a Republican in his
political sentiments, and takes a deep interest in
educational matters, serving for some time as one of
the efficient directors of his township.
On Nov. 7, 1878, Mr. Rowe was married to Miss
Harriet Lyne, daughter of Simon and Ann (Ress-
ler) Lyne, of StrasTiurg township, and this union has
been blessed with three children, namely : Annie M.,
born March 24, 1880; Daisy A., bom May 29, 1882;
and Myrtle E., born March 25, 1892. Mrs. Rowe
was born June 8, 1S53, the others of her family be-
ing as follows : Alfred, deceased ; John, a farmer
of Drumore township; Susan, the wife of Wesley
C. Shirk, a carpenter of Providence township;
Emma, deceased; Martha, the wife of Aaron
Conckle, of Providence township; and George, of
East Drumore township.
Mr. Rowe and family are held in high esteem
in Providence township. He is notably honest and
upright in his dealings with others, attends closely
to his business, and carefully guards the welfare of
his wife and children, living up to the high standard
of Christian citizenship.
DAVID K. PATTON, general farmer and
ex-horse dealer, of Cambridge, Salisbury township,
and one of its prominent and substantial citizens,
was born in Salisbury township April 19, 1855, son
uf Samuel and Anna (Mearing) Patton, of Salis-
bury and East Earl townships, respectively.
Samuel Patton was born in 1822, and was a car-
penter by trade, but also followed farming and con-
tinued engaged in the latter occupation until his
retirement from activity, in 1882. Through his
active life he was much interested in public and edu-
cational matters, serving four years as school di-
rector, and he now resides on his farm in East Earl
township. The children born to Samuel and Anna
(Mearing) Patton were as follows: Newton C,
who is a coach manufacturer at Sherman, Texas;
Emma, who married Adam Sullenberger, resides in
Salisbury township ; David K., the subject of this
sketch; Lizzie, deceased, the wife of Taylor Bair;
Lydia, who married John Groff, a farmer near Des
Moines, Iowa: Anna, who married Jacob Showal-
ter, a farmer of New Holland; Cora, who married
Addison Wanner, a farmer of Chester county, Pa. ;
and Miss Amanda and Miss Mary, at home.
The early life of David K. Patton was spent in
farm work, and in attendance on the district schools
of his locality. He remained at home until his
marriage. In 1874 he began to learn the carpenter
trade, with Josiah Hummel, in East Earl township,
and followed this trade at various intervals for some
six years, when he rented a farm of Levi Bard in
West Earl township. This farm Mr. Patton re-
tained for fifteen years, when he came to his present
property. While living in West Earl township Mr.
Patton dealt extensively in horses, and he is a very
good judge of cattle and stock of all kinds. He
was very prominent in township affairs, was school
director and deacon in the Reformed Church. In
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
845
politics Mr, Patton is a Republican, and one of the
most intelligent and well-read men of this locality.
His interest in educational matters has always been
deep, and he has given his children every possible
advantage, his eldest daughter being afforded a col-
legiate education.
On Nov. 21, 1881, Mr. Patton was married to
Emma A. Hahn, and the children born to this union
were: Miss Mable B.; Mary A. H., who died
young ; Park H., who died young ; Alma A., Pierce
H. and Harold H., all at home.
Mrs. Emma A. (Hahn) Patton was born in
Hinkletown, Pa., in 1854, daughter of Chambers
and Eliza (Carpenter) Hahn, of Hinkletown and
Earl township, respectively. By trade Mr. Hahn
was a carpenter who lived in retirement during the
latter years of his life, his death occurring Feb. 6,
1901, at the age of seventy-three years. His burial
was in the Bergstrasse Church cemetery, in Ephrata
township. The mother of Mrs. Patton died in 1875,
at the age of fifty-two years. She was a worthy
member of the Lutheran Church, her husband be-
ing connected with the Reformed Church. Their
children were as follows: Frances, who married
Elias Killean, of Reamstown ; Harvey, who is a car-
penter, contractor and builder at Ephrata; Emma
A., who is Mrs. Patton; Alice and Missouri, twins,
the former the wife of Rolandus Buck, and the lat-
ter the wife of Henry Miller, in the cigar business
in Lancaster ; Roberta, who married John Brubaker,
of Earl township ; Jacob, a prominent contractor in
La Grange, 111. ; Elmer, an equally prominent con-
tractor, in Cleveland, Ohio; Horace, deceased, also
a skilled builder and contractor; and Hester, who
died young. The paternal grandparents were Dan-
iel and Frances (Shirk) Hahn, of Lancaster coun-
ty, and those on the maternal side were Michael and
Julia (Kline) Carpenter, also of Lancaster county,
all of these names being associated with old and
prominent families.
FRANK S. GROFF, one of the younger mem-
bers of the Lancaster Bar, is a well-known figure
in the city of Lancaster. He is a descendant of
Hans Groff, who settled near Groffdale, in West
Earl township, Lancaster Co., Pa., where Christian
Groff, the grandfather of Mr. Groff, was born.
Christian Grofif married Susan, daughter of
Valentine Ranck, who was one of the numerous
family of that name living in Lancaster county.
They had six children, Mary, Daniel, Jacob, Sam-
uel, Christian and Isaac, of whom Mary is now the
only survivor. She is the widow of James H. Rob-
inson, and resides in Honey Brook township, Ches-
ter Co., Pa. The Groffs and Rancks were members
of the Mennonite Church.
Daniel Groff was born June 12, 1816, in Honey
Brook township, Chester Co., Pa., near Cambridge,
and there spent his entire life. He married Rach-
ael Edwards, daughter of David and Rachael Mc-
Kinley Edwards, respected farming people of the
same township. Eight children were born to them,
to wit: David McKinley Groff is superintendent
of the wheel department of the Columbia Wagon
Company, and resides in Lancaster city ; he married
Emma McCowan. Mary F. Groff (deceased) was
married to George M. Robinson, of White Horse,
Salisbury township, Lancaster Co., Pa. S. Lavinia
Groff is the wife of Owen Guiney, a farmer of
Honey Brook township, Chester Co., Pa. James
H. Groff is a cattle dealer of Rapho township, Lan-
caster Co., Pa; he married Annie Myers. Frank
S. Groff is mentioned below. R. Josephine Groff
is the wife of William Martin, of Parkersburg,
Chester Co., Pa., who is in the service of the Penn-
sylvania railroad. Daniel Clarence Groff is a farm-
er near Haddonfield, N. J. ; he married Katie Wan-
ner. Jacob Brinton Groff is a farmer of Honey
Brook township, Chester Co., Pa.; he married
Annie Guiney. Daniel Groff, the father of this
family, was a miller by trade, but of later years
took up the occupation of farming; He died Jan.
9, 1894. The mother, who survives, makes her
home for the greater part of the time with her
daughter, Mrs. Guiney.
Frank S. Groff, whose name introduces this
sketch, was born Aug. 13, 1861, at the old homestead
in Honey Brook township, Chester Co., Pa., and re-
ceived his education in the schools of Cambridge
and Honey Brook. He afterward studied under
private teachers, and when seventeen years of age
became a teacher in the public schools, teaching
eleven years in all, six years in Salisbury, two years
in East Earl, two years in Earl and one year in Lea-
cock townships, Lancaster Co., Pa. While a resi-
dent of Salisbury township he served two years as
tax collector and nine years as a justice of the
peace, being first commissioned in May, 1889. On
Nov. 15, 1889, he registered as a law student in the
office of Brown & Hensel, and after two years of
assiduous study passed the final examination and
was admitted to practice in the courts of Lancaster
county, Nov. 20, 1891. During the time he served
as justice of the peace he transacted a great deal of
civil and criminal business, and gained a practical
insight of the law as practiced in justice courts.
He resigned the office of justice of the peace in 1898,
before the expiration of his last term, and located
in Lancaster city, where he has devoted his time to
the practice of law. He has been admitted to prac-
tice in the Superior and Supreme courts of Pennsyl-
vania and enjoys a lucrative practice. He is a mem-
ber of the Library Association and the Lancaster
County Bar Association.
In 1898, in a triangular contest for District At-
torney in the Republican nomination, viz.: W. T.
Brown, Frank S. Groff and Thomas Whitson, Mr.
Brown received the . nomination and was elected.
Mr. Groff polled 8,180 votes, the largest vote ever
received by a defeated candidate in a triangular
contest for that office. During the canvass he
formed a wide acquaintance among the voters of
846
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the county, and in the spring of 1901 he was nomi-
nated for the ofHce of District Attorney by the Re-
publican party of the county without opposition,
and was elected in November, 1901, taking charge
of the office in January, 1902. Mr. Groff is a firm
believer in the principles of the Republican party,
and during the Presidential and gubernatorial cam-
paigns he actively engages in the work of teaching
the principles of his party from the stump.
Mr. Groff married Miss Ida R. Bowers, a daugh-
ter of Levi and Lydia Bowers, of Salisbury town-
ship, Lancaster Co., Pa., in 1881. Two children
have been born to them: (i) Lowell E. Groff,
born Jan. 9, 1882, attended Franklin and Marshall
Academy for two years, and prepared to enter the
college of that name, but instead left the academy
and went on board the school ship "Saratoga," from
which he graduated in October, 1900. He is now
in the employ of the New York Telephone Com-
pany, of New York City. (2) Ira P. Groff, who
was born Aug. 10, 1886, is a student of the Lancas-
ter City High School.
GEORGE B. McGINNESS, now residing in
Frederick City, Md., was a respected citizen of
Columbia, where he was born May 25, 1862, and
where he has spent the greater part of his life, hon-
ored by all who know him because of his many
sterling qualities of mind and heart. He is a son of
John J. McGinness and his wife, Sarah Adair.
John J. McGinness was a canal boatman, and
was so highly esteemed by his fellow townsmen that
for seventeen years he held the office of constable,
discharging its duties with a courage, fidelity and
intelligence which won for him unstinted praise.
He died in May, 1875, shortly before completing his
forty-ninth year. His wife had preceded him to
the grave in 1869. Both were earnest Christians;
he was a consistent member of the Presbyterian
Church, while she was of the Lutheran faith. They
were the parents of seven children, George B. being
the fourth. John J., the eldest, as well as Grant
and Sadie, the two youngest, are deceased. Al-
fonso, the oldest living son, is a carpenter, living in
Denver, Colo. Irene, the first born daughter, mar-
ried Page Brown, who successfully conducts a
laundry at Seattle, Wash. Anna is the widow of
the late Frank Butzer, of Millersville.
The marriage of George B. McGinness took
place on Nov. 28, 1889, at Frederick City, Md., his
bride being Miss Kate Jacobs, the eldest daughter of
Emanuel and Louisa (Morgan) Jacobs, both of
whom are yet living in Frederick. Mr. Jacobs was
born July ri, 1845, and is a huckster. His wife
came into the world Dec. 26, 1844. Both are mem-
bers of the United Brethren Church. The younger
brothers and sisters of Mrs. McGinness were Clara,
John H., Ella M., Charles, Grover C. and Marshall.
Clara is the widow of William J. Sturquel, of Balti-
more, in which city John H. also has a home. Ella
M. is Mrs. Robert Rippeon, of Frederick. The
younger children, with exception of Marshall, who
died in childhood, live with their parents, neither of
them being married. To Mr. and Mrs. McGinness
four children have been born : Sarah L., Anna E.,
John A. and Clara M.
WILLIAM SPRENGER BARNHOLT, head
of the firm of W. S. Barnholt & Co., correspondents
of J. B. Fleshman & Co., commission and stock
jobbers of Philadelphia, is one of the best known
and most popular young men of Lancaster. He
was born May 15, 1873, son of Edward Barnholt,
who has been for many years past the leading de-
tective of the city. In the fall of 1900 he purchased
the "Mountville' Hotel," of which he took charge
the following spring. Edward Barnholt married
Emma Winters, daughter of Cyrus Winters, a
prominent merchant tailor of Lancaster, and they
have had eight children : William S., Cyrus W. and
Adam, all three of whom have learned the art of
telegraphy, and have followed it at times ; John S. ;
Hay Brown ; Mabel ; Emma ; and Helen.
William Sprenger Barnholt was educated in the
common schools of Lancaster. Leaving school at
the age of fifteen, he spent some time in Fraim's
Lock Works, and then in Brown & Hensel's law
offices, finally entering the office of the Western
Union Telegraph Company as a messenger boy.
There he remained until he was twenty-one years
old, becoming a thorough master of the art and
science of telegraphy. For four years he was with
the Postal Telegraph Company, serving as manager
the last two years, and then returned to the Western
Union, to take the position of manager, which he
held until 1898. That year he resigned, and he and
his brother, Cyrus, became the correspondents of
J. B. Fleshman & Co., opening an office at No. 43
North Queen street. After two years of unusual
success they removed to the magnificent quarters
they now occupy, in the new Woolworth building,
on the corner of North Queen and Grant streets.
Mr. Barnholt and Miss Maud Binkley were mar-
ried Oct. 17, 1894. Mrs. Barnholt is a daughter
of John L. Binkley, and belongs to one of the old
families of Lancaster. They have become the par-
ents of two children : Mary, who died in infancy,
and Lewis, a bright little fellow of five years. Mr.
Barnholt is as popular socially as he is in business
circles, and has a host of friends. He belongs to
the Young Republican Club, the Elks, the Masonic
fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the fraternal
Order of Eagles. Both himself and his wife are
associated with Grace Lutheran Church. A natural
wit, a good singer and of a most genial nature, Mr.
Barnholt is much sought socially, and his presence
anywhere is a signal for good fellowship and enjoy-
ment.
FRANKLIN M. HEISTAND, a retired
farmer of Rapho township, was born in Mt. Joy
township July 13, 1855, son of Christian J. and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
847
Elizabeth (Moore) Heistand, of East Hempfield
and Penn townships. .
Christian Heistand, the father, who was born
Nov. 24, 1821, died in Florin, Pa., Dec. 9, 1896, and
IS buried in the cemetery in Mt. Joy. He was a
farmer during his early life, but for twenty years
prior to his death was engaged in the milling busi-
ness. For a number of years he was a director in
the Union National Bank of Mt. Joy. His widow,
who was born June 21, 1822, now resides in Florin.
There were born to their union the following chil-
dren: Daniel, a miller, residing on the family
])lace in Mt. Joy township ; Amos, a farmer of West
Donegal township ; Simon, deceased ; John, a farmer
of East Flempfield township; Franklin M., subject
of this sketch; Harriet, wife of Samuel Myers, a
farmer of Lebanon county ; and Emanuel, who died
in youth. Mr. Heistand's paternal grandparents
were Christian and Catherine (Heistand) Heistand,
of Lancaster county. The grandfather was during
his lifetime a distiller of large means, being a director
of a bank, holder of turnpike stockj and was a man
of prominence in his district. He retired in the lat-
ter days of his life. Mr. Heistand's grandfather on
his mother's side was named Michael Moore.
On Sept. 29, 1878, Franklin M. Heistand was
married to Miss Barbara Shelley, of Rapho town-
ship. The following children have been born to
this marriage: Elizabeth S., wife of Samuel G.
Nohrenhold, who lives on the old Heistand home-
stead; and Emma S., Anna S., Fanny S., Amanda
S. and Barbara S., all of whom reside at home with
their parents. Mrs. Barbara (Shelley) Heistand
was born Jan. 11, 1858, in Rapho township, daugh-
ter of Benjamin B. and Eliza (Shaub) Shelley.
Mr. Heistand lived with his parents until the
time of his marriage. He received his education
in the schools of the county, and was employed dur-
ing a greater part of his time at work on the farm.
After marrying he sought employment at various
places for two years, after which he took a farm on
•shares for three years. He then bought his present
farm and has prospered finely ever since. He re-
tired from active duties in the spring of I901, and
since that time has taken life easily. The family
are members of the Brethren in Christ Church, and
are also prominent in the social circles of the town-
ship. Mr. Heistand. is a man of more than the aver-
age ability, and has taken a prominent part in the
economic affairs of his district. He is well regard-
ed by the whole community.
JOHN MICHAEL SNYDER (deceased) was
for many vears a well-known citizen of Lancaster,
and was the genial and popular host of several of
the leading hotels of that city. His birth occurred
in 185 1, in Germany, and his death took place Dec.
22, 1889, in Lancaster, where he was interred. His
parents were George M. and Anna M. (Snyder)
Snyder, natives of Baden, Germany, who came to
Lancaster in November, 185 1. The father's busi-
ness was that of a tobacco grower. He died May
5, 1888, at the age of sixty-seven years, his wife sur-
viving until Feb. 8, 1891, when she was also sixty-
seven years old. They were buried in the Lancaster
cemetery. Their children were as follows : John
Michael; Martin, a hotel-keeper at Middletown,
Pa. ; Lawrence, deceased ; J. Adam, a hotel-keeper
in Lancaster ; David, a cigar manufacturer at New-
ark, N. J. ; and Mary, wife of John McGinnis, of
Mt.- Joy, Pennsylvania..
On Jan. 31, 1875, John Michael Snyder was mar-
ried, in Lancaster, to Mary Getz, who was born in
1852, in Lancaster, a daughter of George F. and
Magdelina (Herzog) Getz, both natives of Ger-
many. The Getz family is well known in Lancaster,
as both parents came there in youth, prior to their
marriage. Mr. Getz carried on a baker business,
and was also a drover. In 1865 he removed his
family to Lima, Ohio, where he died in 1870. The
mother still resides on her farm near Lima. She
was born July 16, 1832. Both were consistent mem-
bers of the German Reformed Church. They be-
came the parents of the following named children:
Jacob C, who was killed in a gold mine in Colorado ;
George F., who died in infancy ; George F. (2), who
resides with his mother on her farm ; John W., who
resides in Los Angeles, Cal., and operates a green-
house; Julius B., who served in the Spanish war;
and Mary, who married Mr. Snyder.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Snyder were
as follows: Mary M., widow of Emil Holtz, who
resides with her mother, and has four children,
Emil H., Anna M., Lena E. and Lewis; John M.,
who resides at home ; Harry M., a cigarmaker in
Lancaster, who married Catherine Anderson;
Charles D., deceased ; James A. G., who is at home ;
George F., deceased; Anna M., deceased; and
George M., who is at home.
Mr. Snyder was only four months old when his
parents brought him to Lancaster, and there he at-,
tended school until the age of fourteen, when he
began cigarmaking with Jacob Fry. He followed
that trade in several States, until 1877, when he took
charge of Schoenberger's Park, operating same for
several years, and then went into the hotel business,
conducting an inn on Manor street for several years,
and the "Plow Tavern" very successfully for eight
years. Mr. Snyder then retired to private life,
moving to No. 803 Manor street, but lived only a
few weeks to enjoy its comforts. He was a member
of the social organization the Shilter Verein, and
was also connected with the K. of P. and the Red
Men, and in politics was identified with the Repub-
lican party. His religious membership was with
Christ Lutheran Church.
The second marriage of Mrs. Snyder was to
Robert E. L. Tomlin, who was a son of Robert
Tomlin, and was born in Alexandria, Va. His bus-
iness was tobacco packing. One daughter was born
to this marriage, Ida Corinne M., who resides at
home. Mrs. Tomlin is a lady of ample means, and
848
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
is very highly regarded in the community for her
many most estimable traits. Her acquaintance is
large and she numbers her friends by the score.
JOSEPH R. ROYER, a confectioner of Lan-
caster, was born on the family farm in Manheim
township, Lancaster county, March 5, 1835, son of
Joseph and Catherine (Royer) Royer, and grandson
of Joseph Royer. Both father and grandfather were
natives of Manheim township, while Mr. Royer's
mother was a daughter of Joseph Royer, of Clay
township.
Joseph Royer, father of Joseph R., died in May,
1843, at the age of forty-one years, and is remem-
bered as one of the intelligent and progressive farm-
ers of Lancaster county, having taken a leading posi-
tion in his community. A man of broad and pro-
gressive ideas, he was the first farmer in Lancaster
county to own a threshing machine, which was made
by Kirkpatrick; it was the subject of much interest
at the time of its introduction into the county. Mrs.
Royer, who died in 1876, was a woman of gentle
spirit, and was much beloved in the circle of her
acquaintance. Both were members of the Dunkard
Church. They were the parents of the following
family : Israel, now deceased ; Sarah, widow of John
Batruflf, of Perry county, Pa. ; David, living in Lan-
caster ; Catherine, deceased ; Joseph R. ; Frances, de-
ceased wife of Clement Gritner, who went to North
Carolina from Lititz ; Martin, deceased ; and Tobias,
an ex-soldier, now living retired at home on Duke
street, Lancaster.
Joseph R. Royer started out for himself when
hardly ten years of age, and secured work on a farm
at four dollars a month, then considered very high
wages for so young a boy. Remaining on the farm
until he was thirteen years old, and having accumu-
lated seventy dollars, the enterprising young lad went
to Mt. Joy, where he began at the trade of saddle and
harness making under Christian Martin, with whom
he finished the trade. For seven years Mr. Royer
carried on his trade at Petersburg, Pa., and was there
when the Civil war broke out, having become quite a
prominent character, holding the position of post-
master, and being proprietor and manager of the vil-
lage hotel. He was intensely interested in the Union
cause, and in the spring of 1862 raised a company
near Petersburg, of which he was commissioned sec-
ond lieutenant ; the command was organized for the
defense of Chambersburg. Late the same year a
company was organized at Petersburg, in which he
was also second lieutenant. This command was at-
tached to the iS7th P. V. I., which fegiment in
March, 1863, was stationed at Washington for the
defense of that city, where it was held until Febru-
ary of the following year. Upon arrival at Wash-
ington M. Royer was made quartermaster, and
served as such until his capture by the Rebels, April
13, 1864. Mr. Royer, while still at Washington, had
become first lieutenant, and accompanied the regi-
ment to Fairfax, Va., where, as noted in the preced-
ing paragraph, he was taken prisoner while out for
supplies at Gaines' Mills. For six weeks he was held
at Libby Prison, Richmond, Va., was at Danville,
Va., two weeks, and was then sent to Macon, Ga.,
from which point he was sent to Charleston, and kept
under fire for six weeks. The breaking out of yellow
fever necessitated their removal to Columbia, S. C,
where they were confined in a stockade from Novem-
ber until the following February, being herded to-
gether like sheep, and were driven to Wilmington,
N. C., at which point they were exchanged March 13,
1865. Mr. Royer on his return to the service was
made quartermaster of the 191st P. V. I., and served
in that capacity until the close of the war, being mus-
. tered out in June, 1865. When he was captured he
was shot through the hand, was reported dead, and
for six months was regarded by his people as lost.
For about a year after Mr. Royer's enlistment his
wife conducted his business, but finding it too much
of a burden she disposed of it, and gave up the post
office as well. When Mr. Royer came home he rested
for only about two weeks, and then took up the work
of civil life as strenuously as he had his army work.
Going to York, he bought a number of horses from
the Government, and sold out at a good profit in
about ten days. After the successful conclusion of
this enterprise he came to Lancaster and bought out
the confectionery store of Charles Eden, located at
the corner of Prince and West King streets, where he
was engaged for some two years, at the expiration of
that time buying the Whiteside property, on West
King street. This he rebuilt, and he became noted
as the first merchant in Lancaster with a plate glass
front to his store. It was of French plate, which at
that time was very expensive, and attracted much at-
tention to the business which he established at that
point, and which became popular at once. Mr. Royer
was also the first man in the city to put his name on
his delivery wagon. He has the oldest business in
his line in the city, and his name is known through-
out the county by a host of friends and patrons. He
was one of the first in this part of the State to make
ice cream soda, advertising it as early as 1868, and
was the first man in the city to open that line.
_Mr. Royer is intensely devoted to his business, at
which he works many hours a day, and calculates
that if the time it had absorbed out of life were
measured by ten hours a day labor he would have
spent eighty years at it. He is still a young-looking
man, and few would imagine him to be above fifty
years. In disposition he is a warm-hearted and genial
gentleman, with many friends throughout the
county.
Joseph R. Royer and Miss Annie Shuman, of
Manor township, daughter of Amos B. Shuman,
were married in Manor, where her father was long a
prominent farmer. This union was blessed with the
following children: (i) Minnie, who was the wife
of William Rush, died at the age of twenty-five. (2)
Milton is associated with his father, having charge
of the factory. He is married. (3) Joseph C. is
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
849
married, and is a professional musician in New
York. (4) Clarence de Vaux, a musical director, is
a graduate of some of the most noted musical uni-
versities in Europe, where he studied under some of
the most noted masters of the day. In i88r the
mother of these died, and Mr. Royer and Miss Leah
Balmer, daughter of Andrew Balmer, of Lancaster,
were married. She died in 1891, and on June 5,
1893, Mr. Royer married Miss Viola Smaling, daugh-
ter of Jacob Smaling, of Lancaster.
As might be expected from his long and credit-
able service at the front, Mr. Royer is deeply inter-
ested in the Grand Army of the Republic, being asso-
ciated with George Thomas Post, No. 84, of that
patriotic order. He is also a member of the K. of
G. E.
JOHN BANZHOF. The larger number of the
excellent farms of Lancaster county are owned and
operated by descendants of German ancestors, and
one of this class who possesses a valuable and most
desirable farm in Strasburg township is John Banz-
hof.
David Banzhof, the father, was a native of Wur-
temberg, Germany, and came to the United States
while still a young man, locating in the rich and
fertile county of Lancaster, after a short sojourn in
Philadelphia, where he engaged in his trade of
cooper. His first home was in Montgomery county,
but he made no long stop there, his inclinations
leading him into Lancaster. His first employer in
Strasburg was Samuel Brubaker, and from there he
went to the shop of Samuel Eshleman, near Mar-
tinsville, quietly pursuing his trade and accumulat-
ing means, so that in 1859 he was prepared to buy
a small place in the eastern part of Strasburg town-
ship, and there he established a coopering shop of
his own. In connection with his trade he operated
a small farm, and lived until Jan. 4, 1899, dying at
the age of seventy-two years and four months.
Both he and wife were consistent members of the
Reformed Alennonite Church. The latter was born
in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, in 1832, and she
still survives. They were the parents of nine chil-
dren : Jacob, who operates a planing mill in Lan-
caster; John, of this sketch; Annie, who married
David Hornish, of Brownstown; David, who died
at the age of nineteen ; Christian, who lives on the
old homestead; Katherine, a trained nurse, a grad-
uate of the Philadelphia Training school, residing in
Baltimore; Mary, who married Edwin Aulthouse,
of Paradise township ; Emma, who married Dr. W.
J. Wilkinson, of Philadelphia; and Magdalena, also
a trained nurse, a graduate of the Philadelphia
Training school, and a resident of Baltimore.
John Banzhof, the second child of the family,
was born in Strasburg township Aug. 7, 1859, and
grew up on the farm and learned his father's trade.
His education was pursued in the public schools,
and he remained at home associated with his father,
until about the age of twenty-two, when he began
54
the carpenter trade, taking his first instruction from
John Johnson, but later was under his brother
Jacob's teaching, and developed into a fine workman.
For the succeeding five or six years he followed
the carpenter's trade, but in 1889 located on his
present farm, since then becoming its owner, and
here he carries on a general line of farming. This
is a tract of sixty-seven acres, and Mr- Banzhof has
proved that he is not only a very reliable carpenter,
but also a first-class farmer. As an indication that
he has by no means forgotten the skill of his craft,
he has made many very desirable and attractive im-
provements upon his farm, although he finds no
time for such employment for others.
Mr. Banzhof was married on Dec. 11, 1890, to
Miss Elizabeth Brubaker, a daughter of John and
Frances (Hess) Brubaker, who was born in Stras-
burg township Jan. 9, 1864. They have a family of
four children: J. David, born Dec. 11, 1891 ; Fan-
nie Magdalena, born Nov. 11, 1896; Willis John,
born Nov. x6, 1897, and Marie, born April 29, 1900.
Mr. arid Mrs. Banzhof are members of the Reformed
Mennonite Church, and the family is one which is
greatly respected in Strasburg township.
HARRY BACKENSTOE ROOP., M. D.
During the few years which Dr. Roop has practiced
in Columbia he has amply attested his professional
skill and has won a large and lucrative practice. He
possesses those personal qualities which are essen-
tial in spheres of wide professional influence, and
easily ranks among the foremost of the younger
medical practitioners of his borough.
The paternal grandparents of Dr. Roop were
natives of Germany, people of devout and industri-
ous character. They emigrated to America and set-
tled in Dauphin county. Pa., where the grandfather
followed farming. He also officiated frequently as
a local minister of the Gospel.
Henry J. Roop, his son, and the father of Dr.
Harry B., was born in Highspire, Dauphin county,
where he was reared, and where he received a good
common school education. He engaged in agricul-
ture for many years, on a beautiful farm of about
300 acres, part of which is the site of the borough
of Highspire. In 1884 he built a fine residence, on
a commanding part of his farm, in which he is liv-
ing a retired life. He married Miss Justina Back-
enstoe, daughter of John Backenstoe. She died in
1883, aged forty-five years. To them were born
five children, namely : Hervin U. Roop, A. M., Ph.
D., who is president of Lebanon Valley College,
Annville, Pa.; Harry B., subject of this sketch;
Delia F., who married Prof. B. F. Daugherty, A.
M., Ph. D., professor of Latin at Lebanon Valley
College ; Sarah, who is at home with her father ; and
William, a graduate of Lebanon Valley College.
The father is a prominent member of the United
Brethren Church, and a highly respected citizen of
Highspire.
Harry B. Roop was born at Highspire, Dau-
850
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
phin county, Feb. 24, 1870. He was reared on the
home farm, and there remained up to the age of
eighteen years, when he entered Lebanon Valley
College, graduating from that institution in 1892.
Choosing medicine as his profession, he entered the
office of Dt. H. McDaniel, at Highspire, as a stu-
dent, and in the fall of 1893 matriculated at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, receiving his degree of
M. D. in the spring of 1897. Dr. Roop located at
Columbia, where he has since continued success-
fully in practice.
In religious faith the Doctor is a member of the
United Brethren Church. In politics he is a Re-
publican. He is affiliated with the lodges of the I.
O. O. F. and the K. P. at Columbia, and Lodge No.
134, B. P. O. E., at Lancaster, and in social life is
one of the leading spirits. However, his profes-
sional duties absorb most of his time, for his prac-
tice is large. His interest in his work amounts al-
most to enthusiasm, and he devotes a large share of
his attention to the current progress- made in medi-
cine and surgery. '
JAMES HAWKINS SPOTTS, a member of
the firm of S. M. Myers & Co., successors to Myers
& Rathfon, merchant tailors and clothiers on East
King Street, Lancaster, is descended from a very
old family, whose first progenitors in America came
from Germany and settled in Caernarvon township,
Lancaster county, where the grandfather of James
H., who was a fai^mer, lived and died.
Joseph Spotts, his son, and the father of James
H., was an undertaker, and lived for many years in
Churchtown. For a time he was in the West, and
then returned to Pennsylvania, locating in Chester
county, where he made his home in Downingtown,
and he built up a fine business. He came to an un-
timely and tragic end, being struck by a passing
train and killed while crossing the railroad track.
This occurred in 1875, when he was fifty-three
years old. His widow, Mrs. Barbara (Ax) Spotts,
belonged to the prominent Ax family of Church-
town. She still survives, carrying her years easily,
and retaining all the faculties of body and mind in
a serene and beautiful old age. She was the mother
of ten children, only four of whom survive : Ber-
tha, wife of George W. Lewis, of Philadelphia, a
passenger conductor on the Pennsylvania railroad,
who has been in the service of that company for
more than thirty-five years ; Frances, wife of Allen
S. Heller, a builder of Philadelphia ; Hallie, wife of
Milton H. Stanley, of Phoenixville, also in the Penn-
sylvania railroad service; and James H., of Lan-
caster.
James Hawkins Spotts has had a most interest-
ing history. He was born in Churchtown March 25,
1868, and after being educated in Downingtown
and New Holland came to Lancaster to take a posi-
tion as clerk in the "Leopard Hotel," which he held
for two years. For a year he was employed at the
Broad street station of the Pennsylvania railroad in
Philadelphia, and then entered the Lancaster cloth-
ing house of Myers & Rathfon, where he has re-
mained to the present time, and of which he is now
one of the proprietors. It was in 1888 that he en-
tered this house, and as the years have passed his
worth has become manifest, as he personally super-
intends the manufacturing of clothing, doing all the
purchasing of ready-made goods, and buying the
material for the factory.
Mr. Spotts was married, in November, 1899, to
Miss Adelle Dora Frankenfield, daughter of Prof.
H. L. Frankenfield, a widely-known teacher of band
music, as well as composer and publisher of music,
who served in the 5th N. Y. Heavy Artillery as
leader of a regimental band during the Civil war,
the musicians who served under him being his de-
voted friends to the present day. From this union
one child was born, Dorothy, a lovely little girl, who
entered into rest April 19, 1902, in the sixteenth
month of her age.
Mr. Spotts belongs to St. John's Episcopal
Church, of Lancaster. His political relations are
with the Republican party, and he served as a mem-
ber of the Republican City Committee for three
years, as a representative from the Second ward.
He also belongs to the Young Men's Republican
Club. Socially he is connected with the Odd Fel-
lows, the Artisans, and the Mutual Benefit Associ-
ation of New York. He is a genial, clever and well-
rounded man, and deservedly enjoys the good- will
of a host of friends.
GEORGE K. GARRETT, a well-known and
respected farmer of Martic township, born March
14, 1858, was a son of Henry and Annie Garrett,
of Conestoga township.
Henry Garrett, the father, died when our sub-
ject was but three years of age. He was the father
of eight children, as folUows: Elizabeth, the wife
of John Finnen, of New Danville, Pa. ; Mary, de-
ceased; Annie, deceased; Amos, a resident of Safe
Harbor ; Leah, the wife of Philip Mowery ; Barbara,
the wife of Walter Albright, of Lancaster ; George
K., of this sketch ; and Catherine, the wife of Sam-
uel Peters, of Colemanville.
George K. Garrett is an example of what may
be accomplished by the exercise of perseverance,
industry and economy. The early death of his fa-
ther left the large family in reduced circumstances,
and when he was but a lad it became necessary for
him to begin his struggle with life for himself. It
is a source of satisfaction for him to see how well
he has accomplished this. His educational advan-
tages were those provided in the district schools,
and all his life labor has been along agricultural
lines. He now owns a fine farm comprising 160
acres of valuable land, with excellent improvements.
Some of this farm was piirchased in 1895, when he
secured it for $20 per acre. He is known through
the township as an excellent farmer, industrious and
reliable, and he has a wide circle of attached friends.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
851
In 1889 Mr. Garrett was married to Miss Alice
Fawkes, of Philadelphia, daughter of Walker
Fawkes, and the two children born of this marriage
are : Mary and Walter. Mr. Garrett is one of the
leading Republicans of Martic township and is a
member of the board of school directors. He has
the good of his community at heart, and gen-
erously supports all moral and educational en-
terprises looking toward its advancement. He is
a useful citizen, a kind neighbor and an exemplary
husband and father, in fact is one of the men of
whom Martic township has reason to feel proud.
ROCHOW. The Rochow family of Columbia,
Lancaster county, was founded in America by the
late William Rochow, whose sad and tragic death
occurred at his home in Columbia early on the
morning of April 7, 1900.
William Rochow was born in Strelitz, ■ grand
duchy of Mecklenburg, Germany, Jan. 15, 1829, the
only child of Frederick and Wilhelmina (Miller)
Rochow, the former of whom was master and owner
of a sail boat, handled freight, and died in 1852, at
the age of fifty-three years ; the latter came to Amer-
ica with her son, William, in 1857, and first located
in Bridgeport, Montgomery Co., Pa., where Will-
iam resided one year ; he then passed a year in Nor-
ristown, a year in Philadelphia, and then came to
Columbia, after six months assisting a friend in the
dyeing department of a woolen factory. He here
turned his attention to the junk trade, bought and
sold hides, bones, cast-off articles of all kinds, did
a lucrative business until 1886, and then retired in
favor of his son, Charles. Mrs. Wilhelmina Roch-
ow, mother of William, died in Columbia, Pa., at
the age of seventy-one years.
William Rochow was first married in Berlin,
Germany, to Emma Kaiser, and to this union were
born the following children: William, a book-
keeper in a hotel at St. Louis, Mo. ; Charles, in the
junk business at Columbia, Pa. ; Ernest, a clerk for
his brother, Charles ; and Bertha, married to John
Rensink, a contractor and builder in Chicago, 111.
The mother of the family was born in Berlin, was a
daughter of Ferdinand Kaiser, and died in Co-
lumbia, Pa., in 1872, at the age of thirty-three years.
The second marriage of William Rochow took place
in Columbia in 1875, Rosa Knob becoming his
wife. To this marriage was born one son, Albert,
an attorney at York, Pennsylvania.
In alluding to the sad death of Mr. Rochow the
Columbia Daily News of Saturday, April 7, 1900,
gave the following account: "WilHam Rochow
died at his residence. No. 513 Locust street, shortly
before two o'clock this morning, from the effects
of burns received on Friday while taking a vapor
bath. Mr. Rochow was burned in a shocking man-
ner over his back, arms, hands and limbs, from
which the skin hung in shreds and in some places his
flesh was burned to a crisp. Everything known to
medical science was resorted to, but the burns were
of such a character that little hopes for his recovery
were entertained. During the afternoon he became
delirious and it was with difficulty that he could be
kept in bed and restrained from tearing the band-
ages from his wounds. At five o'clock last even-
ing he grew very weak, and gradually sank into a
state of unconsciousness, dnd remained in that con-
dition until death came. His end was peaceful and
apparently without pain."
In politics he was a Democrat, but would never
accept an office. In religion he was a Lutheran and
was a member of German Salem Lutheran Church.
He was one of the substantial citizens of Columbia,
and was a stockholder in the Central National Bank
from its organization. He was public spirited, yet
conservative, and acted only when he saw that the
end to be accomplished was worthy of aid.
Charles Rochow^ son of William and Emma
(Kaiser) Rochow, was born in Columbia April 17,
1862, and is now his father's successor in business,
dealing at wholesale (in scrap iron and metals). He
has had experience in business elsewhere than in Co-
lumbia, but altogether in the tobacco trade, to wit :
Six months in Philadelphia ; two years in New York
City ; one and a half years in St. Louis, Mo. ; and a
year and a half in Chicago, 111. In 1882 he returned
to Columbia and joined his father, becoming pro-
prietor as intimated above in 1886.
In August, 1885, Mr. Rochow was most happily
united in marriage, in Columbia, with Miss Emma
L. Harm, the accomplished daughter of William
and Barbara Harm, the former a grocer in Colum-
bia, the latter a native of Philadelphia. To Mr.
and Mrs. Rochow have been born six children, in
the following order : Rosa, Lillian, William, Wal-
ter, Charles and Robert. The family worship at
the Salem Lutheran Church, of which Mr. Rochow
is treasurer and member of the board of trustees.
Mr. Rochow is an excellent man of business and
ever alert and enterprising. He is a director in
the Columbia Telephone Co., and was formerly its
treasurer; he is likewise a director in the Central
National Bank, and in the Loder Brewing Co., and
energetic and fully up-to-date in all things. Socially
he is very popular, and is a member of the Hepta-
sophs, while in politics he is a Democrat, yet no
office seeker.
AMOS SHELLY, a prominent and successful
farmer, was born in Rapho township, Lancaster
county, July 30, 1857, and has always made his
home in his native town.
David and Susannah (Herr) Shelly, his par-
ents, were born, respectively, in Rapho and Lan-
caster townships. David Shelly was a son of Abra-
ham Shelly, and was a farmer, who entered into
rest in 1880, at the age of sixty-seven years, his re-
mains being laid to rest in the Cross Roads Meeting
House burying ground. The widowed mother,
who now resides with her son in East Donegal town-
ship, was born in August, 1829. To David Shelly
852
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and wife were born: Amos, whose name intro-
duces this article; David, deceased; and Elias, a
farmer in East Donegal township.
Previous to his marriage with Susannah Herr,
David Shelly had wedded Susannah Engle, who be-
came the mother of the following children : Martha,
deceased, who married John M. Engle; Henry E.,
born July i8, 1839, "ow a farmer in Rapho town-
ship ; Israel and Harriet, who both died unmarried ;
and Eli, a farmer in East Donegal township. Mrs.
Susannah Engle died in 1850, at the age of thirty-
six years. She was born in Rapho township, and
with her parents belonged to the Dunkard Church.
Amos Shelly was married Alay 14, 1878, in
Lancaster, to Fanny Nissley, by whom he became
the father of these children: Emma, deceased;
Amos N. and Ada N., at home; and Ellen N., de-
ceased.
Mrs. Fanny (Nissley) Shelly was born in West
Hempfield township May 13, 1858, a daughter of
Christian E. and Fanny (Breneman) Nissley, both
of whom were born and reared in Lancaster county.
Her father died in Salunga, Pa., in 1889, at the age
of seventy-one years. For eleven years prior to
his death he lived retired, and for nine years he held
the position of school director. His widow died in
1896, at the age of seventy years. Her remains
were laid to rest in Landisville, Pa. They were
honorable and upright people, much respected by
all who knew them, and members of the Mennonite
Church. They had eight children, of whom Henry
B. is a farmer in East Donegal township ; and Fanny
is Mrs. Shelly.
Amos Shelly came to the farm where he is found
to-day with his parents when he was eighteen years
old, and here he has won for himself a very credita-
ble standing among the leading citizens of the town.
In religion he belongs to the Mennonite Church, and
in politics is a Republican.
H. R. HEAGY, the very capable agent for the
Pennsylvania railroad, at New Providence, is one
of the most highly respected citizens of that town-
ship. He was born in the borough of Manheim
Dec. 8, T856, son of Francis and Lydia (Royer)
Heagy, who were also residents of that part of Lan-
caster cotmty. Francis Heagy was born in Ger-
many, and came to America while still a youth. He
is now a retired farmer of Penn township. His five
children were: H. R., whose name opens this
sketch: Catherine, wife of Frank Ritter, of Penn
township; Elizabeth, wife of Cassius Snyder, of
Manheim ; John, of Penn township ; and Frank, of
Lancaster.
H. R. Heagy grew up on the farm and received
his education in the public schools. When nine-
teen years old he began to study telegraphy with
J. B. Myer, of Lancaster Junction, and on March
I, 1877, he came to New Providence and took charge
of the station at that point. His capital then con-
sisted of his knowledge of his trade and his deter-
mination to, succeed, and by steady application to
his duties he soon gained the favor of his employ-
ers and gradually won his way into the esteem of the
public. By a provident husbanding of his means
Mr. Heagy soon became independent and acquired
property, owning now a handsome residence and a
prosperous business, in partnership with his son,
in the lumber, coal and fertilizer line.
Mr. Heagy is a stanch Republican, and he was
elected justice of the peace in 1893, efficiently per-
forming the duties of that office ever since. He has
been very prominent in the aifairs of the Reformed
Church in New Providence, and is president of the
Christian Endeavor Society.
On July II, 1882, Mr. Heagy married Miss
Lydia Groff, daughter of John and Maria (Bru-
baker) Groff, of New Providence, and this mar-
riage has been blessed with seven children, viz :
Miss Florence, a teacher in the Lancaster county
schools ; John F., with his father in the railroad of-
fice ; Maria and Walter, at home ; Helen, deceased ;
and Ruth and Paul Hiram, at home.
Mr. Heagy has been very successful in his busi-
ness career, and when questioned about it, frankly
attributes it to hard work. As an indication of his
close attention to duty it may be mentioned that he
has been absent from his post but ten days in the
past twenty-five years. He is one of the most
highly esteemed citizens of New Providence, a very
public-spirited one, and few men in this locality
have more attached personal friends.
MILTON THOMAS GARVIN, dry goods,
merchant of Lancaster, was born in Fulton town-
ship, Lancaster county, Aug. 14, i860.
Milton Y. Garvin, his father, was descended,
from the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian Garvins who
settled in Delaware about 1750, and the English
Quaker family of Brown, who were among the first
Quaker settlers of Chester county. Milton Y>
Garvin married Hannah R. Hannum, whose ances-
tors were the Welsh Quaker family of Hannum,
and the English Quaker family of Reynolds, both of
whom settled in Pennsylvania during ■ the governor-
ship of .WiUiam Penn.
Mr. Garvin spent his early boyhood with his-
father's sister on a farm in Cecil county, Md. At
the age of thirteen years, his uncle having died, he-
came to Lancaster City to live with his mother, who-
was now married to William J. Baer. A few
months later, at the age of fourteen, he entered the
dry goods store of R. E. Fahnestock as errand boy,,
and two years later was promoted to be salesman.
In 1882, through physical infirmities, Mr. Fahne-
stock was obliged to have some one to manage his.
business and assume its cares, and the selection fell
upon Mr. Garvin, who had just reached his major-
ity. Appreciating the responsibility of the posi-
tion, he took vigorous hold, and managed this busi-
ness for twelve years.
In 1886 Mr. Garvin married Catherine A.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
853
widow of Abijah D. Gyger, and a daughter of An-
thony and Catherine (McLaughHn) Lechler, who
was born at Paradise, this county, where her father
was famous as a hotel keeper, but who subsequently
moved to Lancaster, where for years he kept the
County House-.
Early in 1894, on account of old age and total
disability, Mr. Fahnestock decided to retire, and
Mr. Garvin took over the business and succeeded
him. On March 5th, of the same year, under the
firm name of M. T. Garvin & Co., he opened the
store at the old stand, Nos. 35 and 37 East King
street, next to the Court House, which, under the
popular name of "The Leader" is to-day one of Lan-
caster's best-known shopping marts. Mr. Gar-
vin's business is conducted on strictly up-to-date
cash principles, with one price to all and discounts
to none as one of the fundamentals. The interests
of the employes, of whom there are an average of
forty-five, are well cared for and kindly considered.
In early life Mr. Garvin received only such edu-
cation as was obtained at the short winter sessions
of a log cabin school, in Maryland, but the founda-
tion laid there was afterward built upon by the de-
votion of spare moments to reading and study, and
the knowledge thus gained has stood him in good
stead in later years. While not a member of any
church, Mr. Garvin takes an active interest in the
Friends' Association of I Lancaster, and the new
Unitarian movement. In politics he is independent
and progressive, and usually affiliates with the
Democratic party. Mr. Garvin is connected with
various interests in his adopted city. He is an of-
ficer of the Mechanics' Circulating Library; an ac-
tive member of the Board of Trade, of which he is
president ; a director of the General Hospital ; sec-
retary of the Lancaster Dry-goods Association; a
member of the Society for the Prevention of Cru-
elty to Animals; the Lancaster County Historical
Society; the Society for Psychical Research, and
others, and he is always to be counted upon as an
active supporter of Lancaster's charitable institu-
tions.
JAMES PRANGLEY, Jr., of the general in-
surance and real estate firm of James Prangley, Jr.,
No. 27 East Orange St., Lancaster, was born in
that city March 28, 1864.
His grandfather, also named James, was an en-
gineer near Liverpool, England. His father, James
Prangley (2), came to America sixty years ago,
when nine years old. His first employment was
with the saw' manufactory of Henry Disston & Sons.
He went to Lancaster in 1863, and opened a "Cheap
John" store in North Queen street, between
Orange and Chestnut. He then moved to the pres-
ent location of Watt & Shand's New York store in
East King street. In 1872 he retired from the store,
and in 1S79 engaged in the leaf tobacco trade. In
188 1 he established a cigar factory, employing from
one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five people.
He remained in this until 1897. Mr. Prangley also
m.anufactured brick for twenty years, until the plant
was destroyed by fire in April, 1900. Late in 1900
he engaged in the coal business, and still continues
in that line. Mr. Prangley married Miss Mary Ma-
caulif, daughter of John Macaulif, a musician of
England, and of this marriage three children were
born: Lida and Bessie, at home; and James, Jr.
A half sister of the latter, Alice, was the wife of
Henry Martin, of the Henry Martin Brick Machine
Manufacturing Co., but she died several years ago.
Mrs. Mary (Macaulif) Prangley died in August,
1899.
James Prangley, Jr., of the third generation
bearing the same name, was educated in the Lan-
caster schools, leaving the Boys' High School to at-
tend Weidler's Business College, from which insti-
tution he was graduated. He became a partner of
his father in the cigar factory, but quit it in 1897 to
enter his present business as partner of Martin Rife.
This has proved highly successful.
On October 17, 1893, Mr. Prangley married
Miss Catherine Knapp, daughter of the late Law-
rence Knapp of Knapp Villa, a place familiar to
all. Two sons have been born of this marriage:
James, named for his father, grandfather and great-
grandfather; and Lawrence, named for his grand-
father Knapp. Mr. Prangley has a pleasant home
at No. 690 Columbia avenue. He is a member of
Trinity Lutheran congregation, and has played the
chimes of that church for the past twelve years, his
early morning concerts being features of all church
festival days, such as Christmas, Palm Sunday,
Easter, etc., while his patriotic airs arouse the peo-
ple at four o'clock on every Fourth of July morn-
ing. For nine years he was a warden of Trinity,
and both he and his wife are members of the church
choir, in which they are very popular. Mr. Prang-
lev belongs to the Odd Fellows, the Royal Arcanum,
the Knights of Malta and the Elks.
GEORGE GABRIEL GOLDBACH, the suc-
cessful florist and landscape gardener, located oppo-
site the Lancaster county Almshouse, on the Phila-
delphia turnpike, is a son of Lorenz Goldbach, now
leading a life of well-deserved retirement at his home
on the Grofifstown road, just east of Lancaster.
Lorenz Goldbach came to America from Ba-
varia, and settled on a farm near Bareville, this
county, in 1876, removing to Lancaster in the spring
of 1885, and locating on Rockland street, where he
carried on gardening. In 1895 he removed to his
present home, on the Groffstown road, where he car-
ried on trucking until recently, when he retired from
active pursuits. His first wife was Miss Gertrude
Busenbrugge, of Westphalia, Germany, by whom
he had the following children : John, who died at
Spokane Falls, Wash., in 1889; Theresa, wife of
Oscar Hilbert, of the New Era job department;
Charles, a traveling salesman for a Philadelphia
drug house; Henry, a shoe cutter, who died in 1894,
854
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
while in the employ of the Kray Shoe Co. ; Herman,
a florist and gardener, now managing his father's
place on the Groffstown road; and George G. Af-
ter the death of the mother of these children Mr.
Goldbach married, in January, 1882, Miss Anna
Kiehl, of New York, who was born in Germany,
and the following children have blessed this union :
Amelia, a dressmaker; Frank, who works for
George G. Goldbach, the florist; Mary and Lizzie,
at home; and Anthony, who died in 1896, aged four
years.
George Gabriel Goldbach was born in Upper
Leacock township Feb. 6, 1878, and, his parents re-
moving to Lancaster when he was young, his educa-
tion was received in St. Anthony's Parochial School.
When he was thirteen years old his father placed him
with A. D. Rohrer & Bro., florists, and there he re-
ceived the training that has made him the expert
florist and landscape gardener that he is to-day. In
T897, in association with his brother, Herman, he
leased the Rohrer hothouses, and until September,
1900, they carried on the business as Goldbach
Bros. The firm was then dissolved, George G.
Goldbach continuing the business alone. He con-
fines himself largely to wholesaling, finding a ready
sale for all he can produce in the Philadelphia mar-
kets. He makes a specialty of growing violets, and
his annual output in this flower alone is the bloom
of 10,000 plants. With 15,000 feet under glass, the
plant, flower and vegetable producing capacity is
immense. As a landscape gardener Mr. Goldbach's
work stands high, the flower beds at Rocky Springs
Park having been laid out and planted by him for
several }'ears in the past.
On June 26, 1900, Mr. Goldbach was married
to Ida, daughter of the late John Ransing, of Lan-
caster. They began housekeeping in a pretty cot-
tage on the Philadelphia turnpike, almost directly
opposite the hothouses, but Mr. Goldbach recently
purchased a lot of ground at the corner of East
Orange street and Ranck avenue, where he intends
building himself a fine home. One child, Agnes
Mary, born May i, 1901, has blessed their marriage.
Mr. Goldbach is a member of St. Anthony's Cath-
olic Church, of St. Michael's Society, the Knights
of St. John, St. John's Beneficial Society, the Young
Men's Democratic Society, and the American Flor-
ists Association. Industrious, energetic, intelli-
gent and prompt in his business methods, he cer-
tainly gives promise of a most successful future.
ELLIS PICKEL, proprietor of the grocery
store at South Duke and Church Streets, Lancaster,
is descended from a family who have been promi-
nent ii^ agricultural circles in Lancaster county for
many generations.
Leonard Pickel, his father, owned a farm at
Georgetown, Bart township, and from there re-
moved to a point between Nickel Mines and the
Furnace, where he bought another farm and en-
gaged very successfully in its cultivation. Promi-
nent in politics, and enjoying an excellent reputa-
tion, he was elected a director of the poor on the Re-
publican ticket. He died over twenty years ago,
respected by all who knew him for his private and
public worth.
Ellis Pickel was educated in the- schools of his
home district, leaving school at tne age of eighteen
years to drive ore teams for his father, in which
work he was engaged for about three years. For
a time following this he was a clerk in the White
Hall store of Milton Heidelbaugh (since then a
member of the State Legislature), and later on
farmed for himself for three years on a place near
Gap. Then he came to Lancaster and took a posi-
tion with Flinn R- Breneman, which he held three
years ; for three years he rented and farmed the
Elmaker place near Gap; and then he again entered
the employ of Flinn & Breneman, remaining with
them this time for a period of sixteen years. In
1897 he bought the grocery store noted above, and
the business has already proved a flattering success,
presenting most encouraging prospects.
Mr. Pickel married Miss Mary Jane Brooks,
daughter of Boyd J. Brooks, a farmer of Bart town-
ship, and to this union was born one daughter,
Elsie, who is now the wife of A. Heber Francis, a
well-known cigar broker of Lancaster.
Mr. Pickel has long been associated with church
work, and was a trustee of his church while living in
the country. He is now a member of the First
Methodist Church of Lancaster, and fraternally is
a member of the Knights of Malta, the American
Mechanics, and the Artisans. Conscientious,
courteous and accommodating, he has made hosts
of friends, whose friendship grows the stronger the
longer he is known.
THOMAS HIBSHMAN KELLER. Among
the prominent citizens of Lititz is Thomas Hibsh-
man Keller, who comes of most excellent stock, his
ancestors having been among the oldest and best-
known people in this section of the State. He is a
grandson of the well-known John Keller, a native
of this county and a farmer of Ephrata township,
whose father's farm extended along Indian Creek,
toward Ephrata. On the maternal side he is a
grandson of Flon. Henry Hibshman, a senator of
the State of Pennsylvania, belonging to a family
whose members were distinguished as jurists and
in the affairs of the State.
Harry B. Keller, father of Thomas H., was a
merchant of Lincoln, this county, where he died in
1854. He married Mary Hibshman, and to this
union the following named children were born:
Henry B., who occupies a responsible position in
the United States Mint, in Philadelphia; and
Thomas H., of Lititz.
Thomas Hibshman Keller was born at Lincoln,
this county, in 1853, and was educated in the public
schools of the district, leaving school at the age of
fifteen years and becoming a clerk in Royer's store,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
855
at Lincoln. Later he engaged in clerking in Weid-
man's store, at West Lincoln, remaining there three
years, at the end of which time he began baking the
now famous Lititz pretzels, and has been so engaged
ever since.
In 1876 Mr. Keller married Miss Clara V.
Sturgis, daughter of Julius F. Sturgis, the original
manufacturer of the Lititz pretzels, and to this
union nine children were born, seven of whom are
living: Mary Jane, wife of William Fishburn,
editor and pubHsher of the P^phrata Reporter; Julius
Henry, an artist in modeling, in Philadelphia ; Lottie
Cecelia and Carrie M., both at home; Thomas H.,
Jr., attending the Lititz high school ; and Lewis R.
and Philip Deichler, at school, the latter attending a
kindergarten.
Mr. Keller is a stanch Republican in politics,
and he has served as a member of the school board
of Lititz for a term of three years. He is a devout
Moravian in religion, and fraternally he is a mem-
ber of the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of
the Golden Eagle. Apart from his business and
church affairs, and his societies, Mr. Keller has
given much time and attention to enterprises look-
ing to the welfare of the historic borough of which
he is so popular and progressive a citizen. He was
one of the most active managers of the first Lan-
caster County Fair ever held in Lititz, and has also
been manager of eight county fairs held in McGran-
nis Park, Lancaster, being one of the gentlemen
most closely concerned in the fine fairs held in 1899
and 1900; he was secretary as well as manager of
the latter, the most successful fair in the history of
the county. Kind and courteous to everybody, ever
ready to help a friend, and ready to give of his time,
efforts and interest, as well as means, to promote
the interests of the community in which he lives, Mr.
Keller has fairly earned a prominent place in the
public regard.
As an inventor Mr. Keller has made an enviable
record. His first invention (1879) was a pretzel
machine, and for the past seven years he has been
working on and perfecting an automatic cigar ma-
chine, in company with B. W. Suavely, of New
Brunnerville. Their first patent on this was re-
ceived Jan. 10, 1899, since when additional patents
have been granted on the invention. This machine
is expected to revolutionize the cigar manufacturing
industry throughout the world.
JOHN W. ARMSTRONG. Among the pop-
ular extra conductors on the Pennsylvania railroad
none have more friends than this gentleman, who
makes his home in Columbia. He is a native of
Lancaster county, born in Marietta, Nov. 8, 1864,
a son of John W., Sr., and Kate (Kugle) Arm-
strong.
John W. Armstrong, Sr., was born at Donegal
Springs, same county, a son of Hon. Andrew A.
and Mary A. (Brcnneman) Armstrong, the former
a native of Silver Springs township, Cumberland
Co., Pa., the latter of Mt. Joy township, Lancaster
county. Both died in Mt. Joy, Andrew A. Arm-
strong was a farmer in early life, and being one of
the most prominent and influential men of his com-
munity, he was elected to the State Legislature.
On his retirement to private life, he embarked in the
gray and malleable iron business, which he carried
on until his death, which occurred in 1876, when he
was sixty-seven years of age. His father, James
Armstrong, was of Scotch-Irish extraction, and
emigrated from Scotland to the United States in
1745, locating in Silver Springs township, Cumber-
land Co., Pa., where he conducted a tannery through-
out the remainder of his life. John W. Armstrong,
Sr., the father of our subject, followed farming until
the Civil war broke out, when he entered the service
as a member of Co. B, 45th P. V. V., and was killed
at Petersburg, Ya., July 17, 1864, at the age of
twenty-two years. His widow afterward married
William McNeil, and by that union had seven chil-
dren. She is a resident of Marietta, where she was
born, a daughter of George Kugle, an agriculturist
of Lancaster county.
John W. Armstrong, of this review, spent the
first three years of his life in Marietta, and then went
to live with his paternal grandfather at Donegal
Springs, remaining with him until the latter's death,
when he was sent to the Soldiers' Orphans' School at
Mt. Joy, where he was graduated in November,
x88o. He was his father's only child. After leaving
school he com^menced learning the printer's trade,
at which he worked in Carlisle, Pa., from November,
1880, until the next April, when the firm with which
he was connected sold out, and he went to St. Louis,
Mo. After working on the Mississippi river for
nine months, Mr. Armstrong returned to Lancaster
county, Pa., and worked at the molder's trade in
Mt. Joy until January, 1886, when he came to Co-
lumbia and entered the service of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Co. as brakeman. In September, 1892,
he was made flagman, and was promoted to extra
conductor April 10, 1900.
On Sept. 5, 1884, at Florin, Lancaster county,
Mr. Armstrong married Miss Anna A. Buck, who
was born in York, Pa., Nov. 10, 1868, a daughter of
Nathaniel and Susan (Lowe) Buck, also natives of
York county. The father, a farmer by occupation,
is now residing in Lehigh county. Pa. He was a
soldier of the Civil war and was wounded in the ser-
vice. To Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong were born four
children, namely : Oscar C. ; Mamie E., whp died
Aug. 28, 1886; Edward S. ; and John W. Politi-
cally, Mr. Armstrong affiliates with the Republican
party, and fraternally is connected with the Brother-
hood of Railroad Trainmen, the Knights of Pythias,
and the Improved Order of Red Men.
LEVI BECKER. The prosperity of the great
State of Pennsylvania does not rest upon her com-
mercial relations, nor upon her wealth of mineral
deposits, as much as upon her great agricultural re-
856
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
sources. The farmers are the backbone of the State,
and in no county are they more prosperous and
thrifty than in wealthy, solid and respected Lancas-
ter county. The revenue gathered into the coffers
of the State from that county alone would give sur-
prise to many of those unfamiliar with existing con-
ditions.
Among the successful agriculturists of Ephrata
township is Levi Becker, a most estimable and highly
respected citizen, who owns 112 acres of some of
the choicest land in the county. He was born Feb.
21, 1872, a son of the late Israel and Caroline Becker,
of this county. Israel Becker was a son of Henry
Becker, a prominent farmer of the county, a German
by. ancestry, and the father of a family of fourteen
children. Israel Becker was also a farmer, and well
and favorably known in the neighborhood near
Lititz, and reared these children : Henry B. married
Mary Seibert; John B. is a farmer located about
two miles from Lititz, in Warwick township ; Leah
resides near Brunersville, Pa.; Henry; Levi; and
Katie, deceased.
Levi Becker was reared on a farm, and as his
father before him, chose farming as his life work.
His education was received in the common schools
of his district, and soon after finishing the course,
he engaged extensively in agricultural pursuits, his
fine, well cultivated farm showing that he thoroughly
understands all matters pertaining to the proper
tillage of the soil.
On Jan. 7, 1894, Levi Becker was married to
Miss IJllie Habecker, of Clay township, the esti-
mable daughter of Augustus Habecker, and two
children have been born of this union: Elsie, born
in 1895 ; and Leroy, born Oct. 6, 1897. In his polit-
ical affiliations, Mr. Becker has always voted with
the Republican party, but has never taken the time
to seek for office, leaving that for those who have
less fine land to cultivate. Although not formally
connected with any religious denomination, he be-
lieves that a moral life is better than many protesta-
tions, and is regarded by his neighbors as a model
husband and father, and as one of the best and most
reliable of the citizens of Ephrata township.
REV. JOHN ALLEN CRAWFORD, pastor
of the Memorial Presbyterian Church, South Queen
street, Lancaster, is a native of West Virginia, born
April 2, 1868, in the city of Wheeling, and comes of
Scottish-English ancestry.
Michael C. Crawford, his father, came to Amer-
ica from the North of Ireland about the year 1856,
and settled in Wheeling, W. Va. He married Eliza-
beth Malinda Allum, daughter of John Allum, of
Washington county. Pa. Rev. John Allen Crawford
was thesecond child in a family of six children, the
names of the others being Lucy, Virginia Lillian,
James Dellmore, William Theodore, and Robert
Cecil.
John Allen Crawford received his earlier edu-
cation in part at Lindsley Institute, in part at the
high school in Wheeling, from which latter he was
graduated with first honors in 1884. He next at-
tended the University of West Virginia, at Morgan-
town, that state, and after three years' study there
he entered the college at Adrian, Mich., from which
he was graduated June 21, 1888. In September' of
the same year Mr. Crawford began his course in the
Western Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian
Church, at Allegheny, Pa.; on April 9, 1890, he
was licensed to preach, by the Presbytery of Wash-
ington, at Claysville, Pa., and on May 7, 1891, was
graduated from the Theological Seminary. Im-
rnediately after his graduation from the seminary
he was called to the First Presbyterian Church of
Hillsdale, Mich., and was ordained and installed
Sept. 16, 1891, remaining there until Oct. i, 1894,
when he accepted a call to Dillsburg, York Co., Pa.,
at which place he continued until the spring of 1899,
serving the churches at Dillsburg and York Springs.
In May, 1899, Mr. Crawford accepted the call to
the Memorial Presbyterian Church of Lancaster,
and was installed pastor thereof June 8, 1899. He
has since met with gratifying success, the church
having steadily grown under his pastorate.
This, in brief, is the interesting career of one
who, although a resident of Lancaster but a com-
paratively short time, has made his influence greatly
felt in this community, and being in the very vigor
of young manhood his future is full of bright
promise, for all who know him and have watched
his progress look confidently for the fullest fruition
of the good seed thus early sown by him.
On June 14, 1893, Mr. Crawford was married
at Ridgway, Pa., to Miss Blanche Webster Powers,
daughter of H. M. Powers, a prominent member of
the Bar of Ridgway. Mrs. Crawford's family were
from Maine, and related to Daniel Webster, the fa-
mous statesman and orator ; she is also connected,
by descent, with Gen. Stark, of Revolutionary fame.
EDGAR B. KREADY, a thriving young to-
bacco packer and merchant at Mountville, Lancaster
county, was born in Manor township, same county,
Oct. 29, 1866, and is a son of Jacob C. and Mary
(Bowers) Kready, natives of West Hempfield town-
ship.
Jacob C. Kready was a farmer and distiller in
Manor township in his early days, but abandoned dis-
tilling in 1861. Pie served as county commissioner,
and held at different times various township offices.
He died in Manor township in October, 1884, at the
age of fifty-six years, a member of the Reformed
Church at Rohrerstown, where his rerriains were
buried. Mrs. Kready still has her residence in
Manor township. She was born in 1842. To
Jacob C. and Mary Kready were born seven chil-
dren, viz. : Alfred B., a farmer of Manor township ;
Elizabeth, living with her mother ; Emma B., wife of
C. B'. Charles, a farmer in Manor township ; John, a
farmer, living with his mother; Edgar B., whose
name opens this review ; Mary, wife of Jacob Mow-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
857
rer, in the machine business at Lancaster; and
Harry, deceased.
Edgar B. Kready lived upon the home farm until
1893, when he came to Mountville, as he had, al-
though a Republican, been appointed by Grover
Cleveland — Democratic President of the United
States — postmaster at Mountville. On coming to
Mountville he engaged in mercantile business in con-
nection with his post office duties, and also began
buying, packing and selling tobacco. On Nov. i,
1899, Mr. Kready discontinued the general merchan-
dising branch of his business, and went into partner-
ship with his brother-in-law, C. F. Charles, confining
himself exclusively to the tobacco trade.
In April, 1895, Edgar B. Kready was united in
marriage, in Columbia, Pa., with Miss Laura M.
Walker, and this union has been crowned with three
children — Marion W., Esther W. and Mary Eliza-
beth. Mrs. Laura M. (Walker) Kready was bom in
West Hempfield township Aug. 10, 1873, and is a
daughter of Christian F. and Esther A. (Kelley)
Walker. Her father, who was a contractor and
builder, in 1889 removed his family to Columbia, and
was killed in Lancaster city, by a fall from a scaffold,
Jan. 8, 1890, at the age of fifty-two years. He had
served as a private in the war of the Rebellion, and
was a member of the G. A. R., a Mason and an Arti-
san. To Christian F. and Esther A. Walker were
born three children, viz. : Mary M., wife of Harry
Forry, of Columbia ; Laura M. ; and William,' who
died in infancy.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Edgar B.
Kready, William and Martha (Fridy) Walker, were
natives of West Hempfield township ; the grand-
father was born in 1816, and lived retired in Kleins-
ville, Lancaster county, where he died Oct. 14, 1901 ;
the grandmother was called away in 1885, at the age
of seventy-five years. The maternal grandparents of
Mrs. Kready, John and Mary (Houghendougler)
Kelley, were also natives of West Hempfield town-
ship, where Mr. Kelley was a raftsman on the river,
and where he died ; his widow then married John
Kame.
Edgar B. Kready is a member of the Jr. O. U.
A. M., affiliating with Lodge No. 65, at Mountville;
and also unites with the Knights of Malta, No. 159,
at Lancaster ; and the K. of M. C, at Mountville. In
politics he is a Republican, and he is a very popular
young man with his party, but has never sought an
office. He is known in the business world as a
"hustler," one who drives his business.
D. JEFFERSON HERR, an enterprising young
farmer of Strasburg township, was born there July
S, 1873, son of C. S. B. and Lizzie A. Herr. The
father is deceased, and the mother now makes her
home in West Lampeter township.
Our subject was given a good practical educa-
tion in the public schools of his native township. He
was reared to farming on the place he now conducts
and since he commenced life on his own account has
given all his attention to that occupation, with grati-
fying results, it must be conceded. In 1897 he took
full charge of the home place, which comprises too
acres of valuable land, devoted to general crops. Mr.
Herr has already displayed a most progressive spirit
and advanced ideas, as regards the development of
both the agrictiltural interests and the welfare of his
section in general. He bids fair to become a worthy
representative of a family which has stood second to
none in Lancaster county for generations.
On Sept. 4, 1900, Mr. Herr married Miss Cora
L. Groff, daughter of Henry L. Groff, of that town-
ship. In religion Mr. and Mrs. Herr are members
of the Old Mennonite Church. Politically he is a
Republican.
SAMUEL S. SHELLY, general farmer and
fertilizer agent, was born in Rapho township Dec.
I, 1868, a son of Emanuel and Anna (Shearer)
Shelly, of Rapho and Mt. Joy townships, respect-
ively.
The parents now reside near Manheim, in
Rapho township, where they reside on and conduct
a fine farm. The following children blessed their
union : Samuel S. ; Anna, wife of Aaron Peters,
a Rapho township farmer ; Emma, who died in child-
hood; Emanuel, who died in youth; Nathan, living
with his father ; and Amos, Maria, Ephraim, Har-
vey, Lizzie, Minnie and Emma, all residing at home
with their parents. The grandparents of Samuel
S. Shelly were Samuel and Maria (Ager) Shelly, of
Lancaster county.
In 1890, at Manheim, Samuel S. Shelly was mar-
ried to Miss Emma A. Keener. There have been
born to this union the following children: Daisy
K., Mabel K. and Minnie K. Mrs. Emma (Keen-
er) Shelly was born in Rapho township in 1867,
daughter of Jacob and Mary (Fretz) Keener, of
Lancaster county. The father died on his farm in
March, 1900, at the age of fifty-eight years, and is
buried in- Sterns' Meeting Hoii.se cemetery. Mrs.
Keener was born in 1848, and is still living m
Rapho township. The following children of this
union are living: Clayton, a farmer occupying
the homestead ; Maggie, unmarried, residing with
her mother ; and Emma, wife of Mr. Shelly.
Samuel S. Shelly lived in the farm with his par-
ents until his marriage, receiving in the meantime
a good education in the public schools of the dis-
trict. After his marriage he worked for his father
on a share proposition until 1894, when he pur-
chased and removed to his present home. He has
been more than usually successful, which fact is
due to his careful and thrifty habits. He is a Re-
publican in politics, but has not yet sought for nor
held office. Friendly to all, he commands the best
wishes and respect of his neighbors. Mr. Shelly
has at heart the best interests of his township, and
allows no opportunity to pass which enables him
to assist in measures for the improvement of the vi-
cinity both socially and financially.
858
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Clayton F. Keener, brother of Mrs. Samuel
S. Shelly, is a general farmer of Rapho township,
and was born on the family homestead, where he
now resides, Aug. 27, 1871. As already mentioned,
the father died in 1900, while his widow resides in
the township, near Chiques Church. Mr. Keener's
grandfather, Joseph Keener, died in Milton Grove,
in May, 1899, at the age of eighty-four years. For
several years prior to his death, he lived retired,
resting from the cares of business in which he had
for so many years been so actively engaged. Mr.
Keener's grandparents on his mother's side were
Daniel and Margret Fretz. In March, 1897, in
Manheim, Clayton F. Keener was married to Miss
Amanda Metzger. One child, Jacob L., has been
born to them. Mrs. Keener was born near Mid-
dletown, Dauphin Co., Pa. Mr. Keener has, as
stated, always lived on the family homestead, and
under his management the place has yielded an
abundant income. He is a Republican in politics,
and takes an active interest in the affairs of the
party. He is well known and well liked in his dis-
trict, and, being progressive in all his tendencies,
will some day, undoubtedly, take a prominent posi-
tion in his community.
ALDUS C. MYLIN, a prominent and substan-
tial farmer and stock raiser of West Lampeter town-
ship, Lancaster county, has been identified with the
improvement and progress of that section for many
years, residing on the old family homestead, which
is located adjacent to the village limits of Willow-
street.
John B. Mylin, his father, resided upon the place
previous to his retirement, at which time Aldus C,
having been prepared by training, for an agri-
cultural life, took charge of the estate, which he has
most successfully managed ever since. The orig-
inal homestead consisted of 126 acres of fine land,
and to this Aldus C. Mylin has added two other
tracts, of considerable extent, one of sixty acres, in
West Hempfield, and another of 100 acres, in Manor
township ; he is also the owner of a number of lots
and smaller tracts. Some of his land is peculiarly
adapted to the raising of stock and cattle, and is used
for that purpose, as Mr. Mylin is much interested in
and very successful in the breeding of stock; some
of his horses have been regarded as very valuable.
His stock and cattle are all high grade, and he has
taken great pains to introduce only the finest strains
into the neighborhood, thus benefiting his locality,
and setting an example for others.
All of the properties belonging to Aldus _C. Mylin
may be recognized by the excellence of the improve-
ments, and the air of thrift and prosperity which
surrounds them, Mr. Mylin taking a personal in-
terest in their preservation and adornment. He is
known far and wide as a man of great generosity,
ever ready to extend the helping hand, and although
he has sometimes been the victim of ingratitude he
has not lost faith in the world, and keeps on his
Christian way. Although a stanch Republican, from
principle, he has never sought nor consented to hold
political office. Mr. Mylin received his education in
the common schools.
Aldus C. Mylin was married March 29, 1885,
to Adaline Herr, daughter of David O. and Mary
Ann (Huber) Herr, who was born in Manor town-
ship, on the old homestead, near Creswell (formerly
known as Turkey Hill), March 5, 1857. After mar-
riage Mr. and Mrs. Mylin began housekeeping where
they have resided ever since, and they are among the
most respected members of the community.
David Herr, the father of Mrs. Mylin, was born
on the farm in Manor township June 30, 1826, son
of David and Barbara (Olenweiler) Herr, and died
Sept. 16, 1890. He was reared on the farm where
he lived for a long time after marriage, residing
there at the time of his death. His wife was born in
West Hempfield, near Mountville, July 18, 1832,
daughter of John and Elizabeth Huber, and died
Nov. 19, 1876. A family of ten children was born to
them : One that died in infancy ; John, who became
a resident of the West ; Emma, residing in Millers-
ville; Elizabeth, who married Jacob B. Herr, of
Fulton township ; Adaline, who married Aldus C.
Mylin ; Anna Mary and Susan, twins, deceased ; Ida,
deceased, who married Amziah Herr; Fannie, de-
ceased, and one that died in infancy. The members
of this family were consistent members of the
Evangelical Church.
CLAYTON LANDIS GRABILL, the popular
grocer of West King street, Lancaster, descends
from ancestors who came from Germany to this
country about 1700, settling in Lancaster county,
and furnishing to this section some of its most re-
liable and trustworthy people. John Grabill, his
great-grandfather, was a farmer at Bareville. His
father, Abram R. Grabill, was a farmer near Earl-
ville, Lancaster county, and married Fianna Landis,
daughter of Benjamin Landis, a farmer of Bareville.
The children of this union are as follows : Henry
M., a farmer in Kansas ; Ida A., wife of J. H. Black,
a merchant tailor at Akron, Lancaster county ; Clay-
ton L., of Lancaster; Landis B., at home; Ella, at
home; Minnie C, wife of Rev. G. W. Hangen, of
Lebanon ; and Carrie, at home.
Clayton Landis Grabill was born on the old home-
stead, near Earlville, in 1866, and was educated in
the public schools of the district, attending until he
reached the age of eighteen years, when he came to
Lancaster and entered the grocery store of his uncle,
with whom he remained seven years. At the expira-
tion of that time he opened business on his own ac-
count, establishing a store on West King street,
which has become very popular under his careful
and attentive management, and where he is found
at the present time. So successful was Mr. Grabill
in his efforts to please the public that he was en-
couraged to open a branch store at the corner of
North Queen and Lemon streets, which, conducted
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
859
on the high plane on which he has always done busi-
ness, has commanded a very good patronage.
Mr. Grahill married Miss Orpha Good, daughter
of Daniel D. Good, well known in connection with
the cattle trade. Mr. Grabill is an active and earnest
member of the Covenant U. B. Church, of which
he has been a trustee for the last ten years. No man
of his years has shown more progressive business
methods than has Mr. Grabill. Both his stores are
constantly stocked with the latest and the best goods,
and courtesy, fair dealing and a readiness to oblige
and accommodate have won wide patronage.
ABRAM K. ROHRER, member of the whole-
sale florist firm of A. K. Rohrer & Co., Lancaster,
was born in West Lampeter, Lancaster county, Nov.
i6, 1872, son of Henry D. Rohrer, who is now par-
tially retired from the florist business.
Mr. Rohrer lived with his parents during his
youth and early manhood, and received a practical
education in the public schools of his neighborhood.
In 1893 he became associated with the business life
of Lancaster as a partner of L. S. Landis, of this city,
continuing thus until June i, 1902, and he has since
allied his energies with the firm of A. K. Rohrer &
Co., florists. He is regarded as one of the promising
and capable business men of Lancaster.
On April 2, 1901, Mr. Rohrer married Anna E.
Edgerly, daughter of Capt. Edward Edgerly, of this
city. Mr. Rohrer is a member of the I. O. O. F.,
Lodge, No. 1 104, and is a Republican in National
politics.
Henry D. Rohrer^ father of Abram K., was
born in East Lampeter, Lancaster county, in March,
1847, son of Abraham and Susan (Denlinger) Roh-
rer, of East Lampeter, and grandson of Jacob
Rohrer, who lived and died on his farm in Lampeter ;
he was of Swiss extraction. Abraham Rohrer was
a farmer in early life, but retired from business cares
during the last twenty years preceding his death,
which occurred in 1901, at the age of eighty-eight
years. He is buried in Mellinger cemetery, beside
his wife, who died in 1892, when eighty-three years
of age. Born of this union were the following chil-
dren: Abraham D., who died in 1901 ; John D. E.,
a retired farmer ; Henry D. ; Benjamin, living on the
old homestead at East Lampeter ; and Anna D., who
married Jacob Landis, a retired farmer of East Lam-
peter.
After attaining his majority Henry D. Rohrer
left the paternal farm and went to that of his father-
in-law, which he managed for about five years. In
1875 he bought with the proceeds of his toil some
property in Lancaster, upon which he started a
i^orist business with his brother Abraham D., con-
tinuing the same with marked success for eighteen
years. The brother then entered upon a retail florist
business, and Mr. Rohrer built the present wholesale
plant at the end of East Orange street, which he
still owns and manages. He has accomplished great
good for his special part of the town, and may be
said to have entirely laid out the east end at his own
expense, planting trees and shrubs, and otherwise
imparting an air of thoughtful care to an erstwhile
neglected suburb. The greenhouses, which have no
stiperior, and which are still managed by him, are
known from one end of the State to the other, and in
many of the large cities in the surrounding States.
In addition to roses, violets and carnations the firm
ships more mushrooms than any other one concern
in the State. They do only a wholesale business.
In October, 1869, Mr. Rohrer married Mary
Kreider, daughter of Tobias Kreider, a retired farm-
er living in West Lampeter, at an advanced age.
To Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer have been born three chil-
dren : Abram K., Harry K. and Ella.
JACOB L. SNYDER. The agricultural inter-
ests of Lancaster county, are in no .danger of
neglect as long as such active and progressive young
men are at the helm as is Jacob L. Snyder, the sub-
ject of this biography.
Mr. Snyder was born Jan. 14, 1872, a son of
Christian and Susan (Longenecker) Snyder, of
Warwick township, the former being one of the
leading agricultural men of that section living near
the town of Lititz. The grandfather of Jacob L.
Snyder, was Christian Snyder, well known in his
day as a wealthy and respected man, and reared
these children : Simon, a farmer in Clay township ;
Hiram, of Stevens ; Mrs. Mary Nolt, of Hinkletown ;
Mrs. Barbara Striner, of Murrell ; Abraham A., a
farmer near Murrell ; and Christian B., the father of
Jacob L.
Christian B. Snyder married Susan Longe-
necker, in t866, and four children were born of this
union : Agnes, who married Jacob Wissler, of Clay
township ; Jacob L., of this sketch ; Amanda, who
died in childhood; and Nathan, born Nov. 20, 1876,
who married, Oct. 10, 1897, Emma Brubaker.
Jacob L. Snyder was born on. the farm in War-
wick township, and grew up accustomed to agri-
cultural pursuits, receiving his education in the ex-
cellent common schools of his district. The fine cul-
tivation which his farm of eighty-three acres shows,
and the improvements mark him as one of the pro-
gressive, careful and successful farmers of this part
of the county. Prosperity has smiled upon him,
but it is because he has carefully attended to his
affairs, living an industrious and upright life, and
possessing the respect and esteem of his neighbors.
On Aug. ID, 1893, Jacob L. Snyder was married
to Miss Sadie H. Walter, of Lititz, the estimable
daughter of Jacob and Kate (Hacker) Walter, of
Lititz, and to this tmion has come one son, Christian
Walter, born Nov. 6, 1895. The farm of our sub-
ject is pleasantly located about one-half mile east
of the town of Lincoln, and thus the family can en-
joy both town and country associations. Reared in
the Mennonite faith, Jacob L. Snyder has lived an
upright life, and possesses every requisite for a long,
happy and useful career.
860
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
EZRA H. ZERCHER is a young farmer of
East Donegal township who is rapidly coming into
notice as thoroughly awake and progressive in his
calling, that of agriculture, to which he has devoted
his life. Mr. Zercher is engaged both as a general
farmer and as the manager of the chop mills, which
are very popular among his neighbors as a means of
getting cattle feed in the best shape, and at moderate
prices.
Ezra H. Zercher was born in Conestoga town-
ship, Lancaster county, Jan. ig, 1870, son of Jacob
Zercher, whose family history arid personal sketch
are found elsewhere. Mr. Zercher was married,
Nov. 24, 1893, at the home of the bride's parents, in
the township of Rapho, to Lizzie F. Hertzler, and
the following children have been born to this union :
Hpward H., who is deceased; Anna, deceased; and
Beulah.
Mrs. Lizzie F. (Hertzler) Zercher was born in
Rapho township, Aug. 10, 1874, daughter of John
H. and Salinda (Forney) Hertzler, who were born
in Manor and West Donegal townships, respectively.
They are now living in Rapho township, where they
are spending their last days in quiet and peace, hav-
ing given up the active care and labor of life to
younger and more vigorous hands.
Ezra H. Zercher remained at home with his par-
ents until his marriage, when he began business for
himself on a farm of eighty-four acres in East Done-
gal, where he did well, making many friends by his
industrious habits and upright character. In 1901
he bought a farm of seventy-four acres, three-fourths
of a mile south of Mt. Joy, and a few days after
making the purchase, with the kind aid of his neigh-
bors, he tore down the old structures, which were
probably the oldest in the locality, the rude figures
upon the builder's stone indicating the year 1765.
These structures are now laid low with the ground,
and in their place is erected a new house and barn,
with all the modern improvements. In 1902 Mr.
Zercher moved from the old farm to his new home,
which he has just completed. The chop mill, which
is noted above, was put up for Mr. Zercher in June,
1899, by Stauffer & Newcomer, of Mt. Joy, and is
operated by a twelve-horse power gasoline engine.
It is a fine piece of machinery, and is regarded as
one of the best in the county.
In politics Mr. Zercher votes the Republican
ticket, and in his religious convictions he is a de-
vout member of the Church of the River Brethren,
to which the Zercher family have long belonged.
ALBERT HARTMAN. One of the progres-
sive and successful business citizens of Lancaster
county is Albert Hartman, the leading hatter, who
conducts a large hat and gents furnishing store at
Columbia, and another, equally prosperous, in Lan-
caster. Mr. Hartman owns and carries on the oldest
hat store in the county, having lately purchased the
Arnold hat store, in the Zahm building, located on
the Square, in Lancaster.
Mr. Hartman was born in Columbia July i,
1869, son of John and Elizabeth (Heller) Hartman,
the former of whom had been born and reared with
his parents in York county, and the latter at Colum-
bia, in Lancaster county. In 1847 Mr. Hartman
moved to Columbia, where he engaged in painting,
contracting and decorating for some years, and later
became a successful speculator in real estate. His
death took place Aug. 2, 1895, when he was aged
sixty-five years. His widow, now aged sixty-nine
years, is one of the very highly esteemed residents of
Columbia. The children born to John and Elizabeth
Hartman were: William, a decorator, living in
Columbia ; Emma, who died young ; John, a resident
of Columbia; Anna, who died young; Charles, of
Columbia ; and Albert, whose home is also in Colum-
bia, although he does business also in Lancaster, as
noted.
Mr. Hartman was reared in Columbia, and there
attended the public schools until he was twelve years
of age, when he entered the hat and furnishing goods
store of H. H. Lockard, as a clerk, remaining there
four years, during which time he became thorough-
ly instructed in the details of the business. He then
accepted a position in a merchant tailoring establish-
ment, and two years later again became associated
with the hat business, with M. P. Roop, with whom
he remained three years. Mr. Hartman had now
reached the age of twenty, and had so completely
learned his business that he felt qualified to embark
in the same line, opening up a business in hats and
gents furnishings which has continued to gather
fresh patronage since its start. On April 24, 1902,
he purchased the above mentioned store in Lancas-
ter, and has invested a large capital, which is bring-
ing him ample and satisfactory returns. His long
experience in this line enables him to buy and sell
to advantage, while his trade connections are such
as to insure the best and latest designs in his very
complete line.
In Columbia, in 1899, Mr. Hartman was united
in marriage with Miss Lillie A. Rodgers, who was
born in Milltown, Lancaster county, daughter of
John B. Rodgers, of this county.
Mr. Hartman is a member of the Masonic fra-
ternity, affiliating with Lodge No. 286, of Columbia.
He ranks high in the world of trade, and in- his home
comnumity is held in esteem on account of personal
characteristics, having a wide circle of warmly at-
tached friends.
ACTON ASH LeFEVRE, druggist and per-
fumer in Lancaster city, belongs to a family as old
as that of the Penns. His first ancestor in America
was Isaac LeFevre, a French Huguenot, who, com-
ing to this country to escape persecution, joined
Penn in London, and accompanied him in 1682.
Some time before coming to this country he secured
from Queen Anne a grant of land of 2,000 acres,
lying between what is now Strasburg borough and
Paradise, in this county. Strasburg was named in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
861
honor of the old historic French city from which he
came. The earhest of his ancestors in Europe of
whom we have any knowledge translated the Bible
mto French for the first time, and was a correspond-
ent of Martin Luther and Zwingli. One of this fam-
ily became a great general under the first Napoleon.
Part of the Strasburg grant of land is still in the
possession of the LeFevres, and the cornerstone of
the first log house erected by the first ancestor of
the family in that section is still preserved.
Franklin Penn LeFevre, the father of Acton A.,
was a widely known resident of this county. He
married Catherine Fulmer Ash, a descendant of a
family of Revolutionary fame, and to this union were
born five children, all of whom are living: Elmer
I., in the lumber trade at Coatesville ; Acton A., of
Lancaster; Elizabeth S. ; Benjamin Herr, a florist
of Washington, D. C. ; and Mary, unmarried and
at home.
Acton Ash LeFevre was born Feb. 5, 1870, on
the homestead near Strasburg, and was educated in
the public schools of Lancaster, to which city his
father removed while he was still a young lad.
Leaving the high school, he entered the drug busi-
ness, and after satisfactory examinations entered
the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, from which
he was graduated in 1894, acquiring the degree of
Ph. G. The same year he opened an elegant drug
store at the corner of South Queen and Conestoga
streets, where he built up a handsome trade, and for
four years of the time he was the owner of the sec-
ond drug store located in the western part of the city.
On Jan. i, 1900, Mr. LeFevre began the manu-
facture of perfumery, being the first in Lancaster
to engage in that line. His first effort was on the
Acton Carnation Pink, which sprang into instant
and widespread popularity, and he has customers
throughout the United States and Canada. He now
manufactures a full line, consisting of many flower
extracts, toilet waters, sachet's, soaps and specialties.
His trade of these delicate toilet articles extends
throughout the country and is rapidly spreading,
and has necessitated the erection of an extensive
new laboratory.
Mr. LeFevre was married Oct. 15, 1894, to Miss
Emma L., daughter of Frederick Wettig, a respected
citizen of Lancaster. To this union have been born
two children, Helen Catherine and Adelyne. Mr.
LeFevre is a Baptist in religion and a Republican in
politics. An earnest and progressive business man,
his methods rank with the best in the community,
and his personal character is such as to command the
confidence and respect of all with whom he deals.
JACOB L. EBERSOLE, a general farmer and
highly-respected citizen of Conoy township, was
born on the farm where he is now living. May 3,
1866, son of Jacob R. and Anna (Lehman) Eber-
sole, whose married life was passed on the same
place. There the father was born, and is now living
retired, at the age of sixty-five years ; and there the
mother, who was born in Dauphin county, died Sept.
29, 1897, at the age of sixty-four years, and was
buried in a private burying-ground which forms a
part of the estate. Both parents were members of
the Mennonite Church. They had the following
children : Peter L., a farmer in Conoy township ;
Lizzie, who is unmarried and lives at home ; Maria
L., at home ; and Jacob L.
The paternal grandparents of Jacob L. Ebersole
were Rev. Peter and Mary (Risser) Ebersole, the
former of whom was a bishop in the Mennonite
Church for many years, and was engaged in farm-
ing in addition to his clerical labors. He died in
1870, at the age of eighty years, his wife in 1866.
Their children were: Barbara, who lives in this
county, and is unmarried; Peter R., who died in
1899 ; Anna R., wife of Jacob Ebersole, of Lebanon
county ; Fanny R., deceased, wife of John E. Eber-
sole ; and Jacob R.
Peter Lehman and his wife lived in Dauphin
county, where he was engaged in farming, and where
his daughter, Anna, the mother of Jacob L. Ebersole,
was born.
Jacob L. Ebersole and Miss Sadie U. Ober were
married in Manheim in September, 1888, and have
had the following children : Johnson O., Jennie O.,
Reuben O., Bertha O., Lizzie O., Agnes O., Sadie
O. and Emma O. Mrs. Ebersole was born in West
Donegal township, this county, Feb. 21, 1865, a
daughter of John Ober, a wagonmaker of that town-
ship. Her parents were honorable and industrious
people, and she is a woman highly respected by all
who know her.
Mr. Ebersole has remained with his parents on
the home farm up to the present time. He takes an
active and enlightened interest in public affairs, is
a clever and thrifty man, energetic and enterprising,
and has made an enviable name for himself. Both
he and his wife belong to the Mennonite Church,
and in politics he is a Republican.
BENJAMIN W. HIRSH, youngest son of
Abraham Hirsh, whose biography appears else-
where, was born in Lancaster, and acquired his edu-'
cation in the city schools. Early in life he was taken
into his father's store and given a practical knowl-
edge of the extensive business which that gentleman
had developed. The young man remained in the
store for some time, but millinery and jewelry did
not seem to be his line, and in 1887 he succeeded
Cyrus Colvin in the livery business in Lancaster,
continuing in that business until 1893, when he
turned his attention to the handling of fine horses
for the Philadelphia markets, buying largely in
Canada and Wisconsin, and preparing the horses
for sale at his own stables, known as the Eagle
stables. This business he conducted for five years,
in connection with the stables of the Northern Bank,
and then was engaged exclusively for himself two
years, with as many as eighty-six horses on his hands
at one time. He has owned and tracked some of the
862
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
most speedy horses in the State. Mr. Hirsh moved
to North Queen street in 1895, and opened one of the
largest stables in the city, which was destroyed by
fire the following year, the loss to him being very
heavy. For several months following the fire he was
in charge of the Northern Bank stables, and -then
located at Cherry alley, his present location. Mr.
Hirsh is a thorough horseman, and a fine judge of
horseflesh, and his attention is given exclusively to
the horse business. He is a keen and shrewd busi-
ness man, and is advancing rapidly to the front
among the solid and successful men of Lancaster.
He has been long recognized as a progressive and
broad-minded citizen, one of the kind who prove
useful members of a community. Socially Mr. Hirsh
belongs to the Germania, Maennerchor and Club, and
the Liederkrantz Society.
Benjamin W. Hirsh and Mrs. Cora Cheever
were married June 12, 1900. Mrs. Hirsh is a
daughter of J esse Good, and is a lady of many charm-
ing traits and characteristics.
MISS ANNA MYER, of Conestoga township,
Lancaster county, has the distinction of owning and
conducting a farm herself quite as well as a man
could do it. Her great-grandfather, Samuel Myer,
who came from Germany, settled in Conestoga town-
ship about 1720, and took up 180 acres of land near
Conestoga Center; he always followed farming.
There were five children in his family: Nathaniel,
who went to Oregon Territory and died there; So-
crates ; Rudolph, who was^ drowned in the Susque-
hanna river; Peggy, wife of Benjamin Shenk, of
Conestoga township ; and Samuel, grandfather of
Miss Anna Myer.
Samuel Myer was a minister of the Old Men-
nonite Church. He started in the tanning business
about 1812, on the farm where Miss Myer now lives,
and the business is still carried on by her brother
Abram. He married a Miss Harnish, of Conestoga
township, and they became the parents of fourteen
children: Anna, wife of Benjamin Kauffman;
Rudolph, father of Anna Myer; Maria, wife of
Christian Herr; Fannie, wife of Abram Miller, of
Manor township ; Jacob, of Ohio ; Barbara, wife of
Christian Hertzler, of Cumberland county; Eliza-
beth, wife of Abram Miland, of Pequea township;
Abram, of Conestoga township; and several chil-
dren who died in infancy.
Rudolph Myer, father of Anna Myer, was born
in 1807. Pie was educated in the public schools and
lived at home with his parents until the age of eight-
een, when he went to work in the tanyard where he
was employed for something over six years, at the
end of that time buying the business from his father
and continuing it on his own behalf until the time" of
his death, in 1886. He was a member of the Old Men-
nonite Church. He married Miss Susan Miller, of
Manor township, and was the father of eight chil-
dren: Barbara, wife of Jacob Charles, of Pequea
township; x\bram, of Conestoga; Mary, wife of Jo-
seph Eshleman, of Martic; Rudolph, who died in
childhood ; Isaac, who died in childhood ; Samuel, of
Conestoga township; Susan, wife of Joseph Har-
nish, of Pequea township; and Miss Anna, whose
name opens this sketch.
INIiss Myer is a fine manager, and under her rule
the old homestead is kept in the very finest condi-
tion and is profitable as well. She is certainly to be
congratulated on her fine executive ability, and is
respected and esteemed by all who know her.
REV. CHARLES TOMPSON KNOX. The
city of Lancaster takes a prominent place with her
sister cities in educational, philanthropic and re-
ligious enterprises, and it is not a matter of surprise
that within her borders Rev. Charles Tompson
Knox, a Baptist minister endowed with youth, abil-
ity and true Christian spirit, should have been able
to so interest the citizens at large, that they wel-
comed the establishment there of a little mission
which was modestly named by its founder "The
Strangers' Mission." Few at that date could have
been found, however, to believe in the self-denial '
and continued enthusiasm of the young clergyman,
or to have predicted the wonderful results from
that small beginning.
Rev. Charles Tompson Knox was born at Rock
Island, 111., June 24, 1867. His paternal grand-
father, Charles Bishop Knox, was born in Bland-
ford, Mass., and after his marriage to Mary Gor-
ham moved West, settling in Rock Island at a time
when that thriving city contained only three houses.
Curtis Bishop Knox, a son of Charles Bishop
Knox, for the past thirty years has been in the em-
ploy of the United States Government, in the Rock
Island Arsenal. He married Martha Tompson, and
three children were born to this union: One child
died in infancy; Martha Tompson married George
Stoughtenberg, who is a merchant in Moline, 111.,
and the third is the founder and the beloved pastor
of "The Strangers' Mission" and "The Door of
Hope" in L-ancaster.
Mr. Knox obtained his education at Shurtlefif
College, Alton, 111., and afterward was ordained a
Baptist minister, on Sept. 10, 1891. Coming to the
city of Lancaster for a temporary sojourn, the
trend of events, in June, 1895, led him into the work
which resulted in the establishment of "The Strang-
ers' Mission" and, later, "The Door of Hope," in-
stitutions which have done more in the way of phil-
anthropy and charity and general usefulness than
almost any other combination of benevolent enter-
prises. No such missionary work as has been done
by Mr. Knox has ever been accomplished by any
other agency or association of individuals in the his-
tory of the city. The scope and history of this won-
derful work is told by Mr. Knox himself in a modest
but convincing way, in "The Manual of the Strang-
ers' Mission," from which we have been permitted
to make the following extract :
"In 1895 I was in Lancaster temporarily for an-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
other purpose, and was induced to start a Sunday-
school in the Httle old schoolhouse opposite the Lan-
caster County Almshouse, which I secured through
the kindness of the school board. This was done
through the urgency of a lady whom I met, who
felt the need of Christian work among the people
of the East End.
"Accordingly, on July 7, 1895, the first session
was opened with twenty-eight people present. Hav-
ing other business that engaged me closely during
the week, so that there was no time nor strength
for pastoral work, it was nevertheless agreeable to
me to preach the Word of God once on Sunday.
To this I consented. It bound me to nothing and
pledged no one else. There was no covenant and
no salary. Miss Eliza E. Smith, a rich and benevo-
lent lady of Lancaster, became the first contributor,
and a warm friend and substantial patroness of the
work.
"In this way, trusting only in God, and free to
leave when I would, the first year passed quickly
away. With the first anniversary in 1896, came the
intimation that the school board could no longer
permit us to occupy the school building for religi-
ous services. The members of the board were not
in any way unfriendly to the good work, but out-
side affairs now forced them to refuse us the use of
the schoolhouse any longer.
"Not discouraged, we set about securing other
quarters, and an undenominational church was
organized, and the Holy Communion was admin-
istered. During 1896 the work grew rapidly,
friends multiplied, people were drawn into the
Church and many souls saved.
"At the end of the second year the work had so
enlarged, and my pastoral duties became so mani-
fold, that I now felt sure God would have me to cut
loose from all visible means of support and trust
Him alone. Whereupon I took up my abode in the
Mission house, spread my table, and opened my
door to all who came needing help or shelter. No
one has ever been turned from the door, and God
has succored the work, and we never lacked assist-
ance in, nor futherance of, the good work.
"The needs of the poor of our city now impressed
me, and a Day Nursery was opened to care for
children whose mothers were obliged to toil for
their daily bread. An employment agency- was
also opened, to serve as a medium where those
wanting help and those in need of employment
could have their respective wants filled. And still
another branch of the uplifting work was the estab-
Hshment of a free medical dispensary, to aid the
sick poor. The following well-known physicians
of Lancaster have been untiring in their services
in connection with my various charities : Drs. M.
L. Herr, A. M. Underwood, F. G. Hartman, T. B.
Appel, Wm. H. Herr, Frank Alleman, W. S. Bren-
holtz and G. L. Cassel."
The third anniversary found the work still pro-
gressing. Willing and influential friends made it
possible to open the second "Strangers' Mission" in
Faegleyville, a quarter in Lancaster that had long
been in need of such missionary work, and where
under the earnest ministrations of Rev. Mr. Knox
and his loyal band of helpers, most encouraging
headway has been made.
The fourth anniversary, in 1899, found the
pastor of this unique church, with its auxiliary mis-
sionary work, with new responsibilities confronting
him. "A Door of Hope," for fallen women, had
been opened. On Oct. 2, 1899, the home was con-
secrated to its grand, soul-saving and rescuing pur-
poses, and it immediately opened its doors to fallen
but repentant women. During that year the insti-
tution fed and sheltered many. As freely as assist-
ance came to it from all quarters, so freely and
bounteously it was dispensed to those in need.
In the winter of 1901, influenced by a strange
leading of God, while visiting Mrs. E. M. Whitte-
more, of New York, Rev. Mr. Knox felt the need of
a gospel meeting to be held every night for the peo-
ple of the street in Lancaster. This same peculiar
leading, working on H. Z. Rhoads, caused him to
offer a hall in his beautiful building in the center of
the city, and thus was opened Central Hall, where
the Gospel of Jesus is preached and sung every
night.
This work is essentially a faith work, and as
such has been blessed by God. The faithful pastor
has never received one dollar as salary, and though
all the contributions which support the various
enterprises are entirely voluntary, the work has
never halted an hour for lack of means. Mr. Knox
is a strong man, one whose heart has been set upon
a clearly defined purpose, and no personal lack has
ever turned him from the great and noble standard
which he has set up to reach. May he be still
prospered in his labors!
MARTIN G. HESS, the efficient and popular
cashier of the Keystone National Bank of Manheim,
is a native of Lancaster county, born in Penn town-
ship April 5, 1865, son of Levi H. and Salinda .S.
(Gross) Hess, now residents of Manheim. His fa-
ther is a retired farmer, is domestic in his tastes, and
a Republican in politics. Religiously both he and
his wife are members of the Mennonite Church. In
the family of this worthy couple were ten children,
namely ; Noah, a fruit grower and farmer of Roths-
ville, Lancaster county ; Henry, deceased ; Martin
G., of this review ; Mary, wife of A. H. Brubaker,
living near Rohrerstown, Lancaster county; Levi,
manager of a branch house of the American
Wringer Company at Springfield, Mass. ; Phares,
a teacher in the public schools of Lancaster county ;
Salinda, at home; Elam, a school teacher in Lan-
caster county ; Ammon, attending school at Mt. Her-
mon, Mass. ; and Jerome, who is attending school in
Manheim, and resides at home.
Martin G. Hess received his early education in
the public schools near his boyhood home, and later
864
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
took a business course at the Coleman Business
College, Newark, N. J. In June, 1888, he entered
the Keystone National Bank, as a clerk, and in No-
vember, 1890, was appointed cashier, which re-
sponsible position he has since filled with credit and
distinction. In December, 1901, he assisted in the
organization of the Denver National Bank, of Den-
ver, this county, and was elected its first president.
He was one of the promoters of the Lancaster,
Petersburg & Manheim trolley railroad, of which
he is a director. Mr. Hess is a young man of good
business ability, energetic and progressive, and
commands the respect and confidence of all with
whom he comes in contact, either in business or in
social life.
On Sept. 23, 1890, Mr. Hess married Miss
Emma R. Erb. Both hold membership in the Ger-
man Reformed Church.
JOHN F. LANDIS, a retired farmer of West
Donegal township, whose years and industrious life
alike command respect and confidence, is still en-
gaged in operating a feed mill in that township, on
the farm where he has spent so many honest and
laborious years.
Mr. Landis was born in Manheim township,
near Neffsville, Sept. 30, 1837, son of David and
Nancy (Frick) Landis, both natives of Lancaster
county. The father was a farmer, and in his
younger days a blacksmith, and retired from active
work some two years prior to his death, Dec. 25,
1864, at the age of fifty-eight years. His widow
survived many years, dying June 23, 1885, when
over seventy-six years old. They were buried in
the cemetery connected with the Landis Meeting
House, a well-known place of worship in Manheim
township for the Mennonite people, to whom they
belonged. To them were born the following chil-
dren, all deceased but Abraham and John F. :
Eliza married George Shreiner ; Mary died young ;
Ephraim died in Wadsworth, Ohio, at the age of
fifty-three years ; David died in Lancaster in 1900,
aged sixty-five years; Abraham is a retired farmer
in Washington "county, Md. ; Samuel died Oct. 21,
1865; his twin sister, Ann^, married John Bol-
linger; Fanny married Jacob Kertz; Margaret
married Christ Hess, of Manheim township, and
died in 1900; John F. is mentioned below.
The paternal grandparents of John F. Landis
were John and Mary (Suavely) Landis, of Lan-
caster county, who spent their lives in farming.
His maternal grandparents were John and Ver-
onica (Martin) Frick, both Lancaster people.
John F. Landis ' and Magdelina Keller were
married in Manheim township, Sept. 13, 1859, and
to them have come the following children : Lizzie,
wife of Jacob Horst, a farmer in Mt. Joy township ;
Franklin K., an employe at Buch's works, in Eliza-
bethtown. Pa.; Martin K., engineer in Kreider's
shoe factory, Elizabeth, Pa. ; Amanda K., deceased ;
Phares K., a farmer and operator of a steam
thresher in West Donegal township ; Samuel K., a
farmer, gristmiller and coachmaker in Rapho town-
ship; Maggie K., who married George Floyd, of
West Donegal township ; John K., deceased ; Katie
K., married to Harvey Hostetter, a farmer in West
Donegal township; Harry K., salesman for the
New Holland Machine works, who resides at Mt.
Joy; and Clayton K., deceased.
Mrs. Magdelina Landis was born near Lititz,
Pa., Dec. 6, 1839, daughter of Frederick and Cath-
arine (Gross) Keller, both natives of Lancaster
county, her father having been born on a farm in
Ephrata township, and her mother in East Donegal,
on the Gross homestead. They were farming
people, and led worthy lives.
John F. Landis remained with his parents until,
he reached the age of twenty-two, when he married,
and for eight years was engaged in the cultivation of
the old homestead. At the end of that time he sold
out and moved into Elizabeth township, where he en-
gaged in farming for twelve years. Selling out, he
moved to West Donegal township, on the farm of
his wife's uncle, John Gross. In 1880 he built a new
barn, in which he put up a steam custom chop milL
which he ran together with the farm until the spring
of 1887, when he gave the charge of the farm to his
son Phares and contimied milling. On the night of
Nov. 18, 1897, the barn mysteriously burned down..
It was rebuilt, and the mill has continued in opera-
tion up to the present time.
John F. Landis and his wife belong to what is.
called the Stauflfer denomination, a non-voting peo-
ple, who take no part in any office of the Common-
wealth or participate in any worldly corporation.
HENRY KEENER, one of the old and most re-
spected citizens of Lancaster county, has presented
in his career an example of what may be accom-
plished by exemplary living, and the exercise of hon-
esty and industry. Coming to Lancaster county a
poor boy, with no capital but youth and energy, he
is now regarded as one of the substantial citizens,
whose financial backing would be sufficient to en-
sure the success of almost any enterprise. His ac-
cumulation of means Tias been accomplished through
hard, earnest toil, as his principles would never have-
permitted him to look with any favor upon any specu-
lative scheme with a view to increasing his possess-
ions.
Henry Keener was born Jan. 31, 1819, in Bavaria,.
Germany, son of Henry and Maggie (Springling)
Keener, both of whom in time became residents of
the United States, and passed away in this land-
Grandfather Keener was a member of the Old Men-
nonite Church, but the parents of Henry Keener
were connected with the Presbyterian Church, in
which the father was an elder. The mother lived
to be seventy-three years old, and died in the home of
her son George, while the father died in the home of
his son Philip, at the age of seventy-five ; both were-
buried in the old Musser burying-ground, in Lea-
f^m?^ /{xe^u\
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
865
cock township. Henry and Maggie Keener were
the parents of eight children: Philip, deceased;
Peter, who died in Leacock township ; Henry, whose
name introduces this biography; Catherine, widow
of Philip Hohman, who resided near New Hol-
land ; Stephen, a farmer of Leacock township ; Mat-
tie, deceased, who was the wife of A. Burtice;
George, who was a farmer in Washington county,
Md. ; and Adam, a resident of Westchester, Penn-
sylvania.
Henry Keener was reared in his native country,
and remained there until the age of twenty, at which
time he decided that he could better his prospects
by emigrating to the United States, and he was the
first of his family to leave the old home. Making
his way to a port in France, he embarked on the ves-
sel "Louis Philippe," and landed on these shores
March 23, 1840, a very homesick and discouraged
youth for a time, as he was a stranger in a strange
land, and understood very little of the language. The
season for farm work was about opening, however,
and he obtained a few months' employment at farm
labor near Albany, N. Y. But after the harvest was
gathered there was no more work for him in that
locality, and he made his way to the metropolis, later
to Philadelphia, and finally to Lancaster county,
where he knew he should, at least, find countrymen.
The fifty cents he had in his possession at the time of
his arrival lasted but a short time, and he again felt
almost disheartened, but calling his resolution to as-
sist him he made his way to Bird-in-Hand, and
soon made friends with a most excellent man, John
Stauffer. This friend in need gave him employment
at wood cutting and general utility work, and here
he was also offered work in the mills, at $15 per
month, but he wisely decided that he could prosper
better at farm worlc, and remained with his new
friend and employer for more than a year.
In his early home Henry Keener had been taught
habits of frugality, which he continued to practice
later in life, the result being that year by
year he was able to add to his means. When
he married, in 1843, he began farming, in a
small way, on sixteen acres of land in East Lampeter
township, renting this property for two years.
In the meantime he had purchased a small
tract of land, upon which he lived two years,
finally disposing of it and again renting, cultivating
for two succeeding years a farm of eighty acres.
Going next to Benjamin King's place, he took charge
of his farm, remaining upon it for seven years, and
then, in association with his brother Adam, rented
the Lime Valley mill, conducting same for one year.
At this time Mr. Keener felt ready to purchase the
farm upon which he now lives, consisting then of
seventy-one acres, and in the course of time bought
seventy-five adjoining acres, later selling ten of these.
He entered upon general farming on an extensive
scale, giving that work his undivided attention, and
employing the most approved methods in the pro-
duction and succession of crops, demonstrating that
55
his long management of the land of others had well
prepared him to make the best returns from his own.
At present his son, John B., possesses the old farm,
Mr. Keener retaining his last purchase, now sixty-
five acres, for his own residence.
Henry Keener was married, in 1843, to Barbara
Bally, who was born Feb. 22, 1822, and who died in
February, 1 90 1. They had three children: Mag-
gie, who- is the wife of Sylvester F. Sweigert, a
farmer and baker in Paradise township ; Lizzie, who
is the wife of Samuel Martin, of Strasburg ; and John
B., who is one of the leading farmers of Strasburg
township, is an elder in the Old Mennonite Church,
and wedded Lizzie Martin. Mr. Keener is an ad-
herent to the Old Mennonite faith, as was also his
wife. He is one of the stockholders in the Strasburg
National Bank. Many still remember when he was
a poor but honest boy, a stranger in their midst, and
his life tells its own lesson of what can be accom-
plished by steady,, persistent effort. Mr. Keener
has had a beneficial influence in Lancaster county,
and no family is more highly respected, either in the
church or in the community, than his.
JACOB FRANKLIN TREXLER, M. D., an
eminent surgeon and physician of Lancaster, was
born in Berks county May 5, 1863. His parents,
Henry J. and Mary A. (Kercher) Trexler, are both
descended from ante-Revolution families who came
to America from Germany, and received their land
grants in Berks county, Pa., from the then reigning
king of England. The founders of the Trexler fam-
ily in this country were two brothers, one of whom
settled in Oley and the other in Mertztown, Berks
county, the Doctor belonging to the latter branch
of the family. Most of the members of this family
have been engaged in farming and the iron in-
dustry, but several adopted professional pursuits,
and became eminent in the ministry of the Lutheran
Church and in the practice of medicine.
Jacob F. Trexler passed his boyhood on the
home farm. He attended the district school, and
on leaving the public school attended the Keystone
Normal, and later Wyoming Seminary, at Kings-
ton, Pa., finally entering Muhlenburg College, at
Allentown. In 1885 he began the study of medi-
cine under Dr. P. W. Wertz, of Long Swamp, and
in 1886 entered the University of Pennsylvania,
and after three years of arduous study entered Jef-
ferson Medical College, in 1893, from -which he
graduated with the class of 1894. There was an in-
terim, however, between his leaving the University
and his entering Jefferson College, of which he
availed himself to travel quite extensively. For a
time he was associated incidentally with the cele-
brated Dr. Agnew, from whom he received consid-
erable assistance in the prosecution of his medical
studies.
After graduation Dr. Trexler located in Lan-
caster, where his ability and skill found immediate
recognition and secured for him a sure and re-
866
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
munerative practice. He gives considerable atten-
tion to bacteriology, as well as pathology, and he is
now connected with St. Joseph's Hospital as a mem-
ber of the staff, having charge of all examination
with the X-ray apparatus. He is a constant and
devoted student of his art, and is a member of the
County Medical and Pathological Societies, to
which he has contributed many valuable essays and
reports of his personal experiences.
Besides his extensive medical practice the
Doctor finds time to interest himself in industrial
pursuits, so comm.on in the great State of Pennsyl-
vania. In partnership with his brother, John Louis
Trexler, who individually operated a corn mill in
Mertztown, the Doctor has been engaged since 1897
in the stave and lumber business at the same place,
under the style of the Trexler Stave & Lumber
Company, Limited, with branch plants at Ashfield
and Huntingdon,- and of this company the Doctor
is president. They employ about eighty-four men,
and the output is principally distributed throughout
the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Dr. Trexler was united in marriage, in 1891, at
Farmdale, Lancaster county, with Miss Ella
Stoner Moore, daughter of Michael H. and Bar-
bara S. Moore. The Doctor and his wife are mem-
bers of Trinity Lutheran Church, in the work of
which the Doctor has always been earnest and ac-
tive ever since his confirmation in the faith. He
was a member of the executive committee which
organized the Lutheran League of America, and
for two years was a treasurer of the State Lutheran
League. The Doctor is very affable, and has won
for himself hosts of friends, and he and his wife
are ever welcome in the highest social circles of
Lancaster, while his professional reputation is such
as any physician might well take pride in, and still
not be suspected or accused of vanity — a failing
quite foreign to the Doctor's make-up.
AMAZIAH H. HOSTETTER, a very success-
ful and popular hardware and implement dealer at
Intercourse, was born in Paraaise township, Lan-
caster county, Sept. 7, 1861, a son of Abram and Ly-
dia A. (Herr) Hostetter. The father was born in
1833 in New Providence, was a farmer, and is now
living retired in Paradise township. In his more ac-
tive years he was quite prominent in local affairs,
and long served as school director. He and his
wife are members of the Mennonite Church. Abram
and Lydia A. Hostetter have had the following
children : Letitia married Andrew Harnish, of
Strasburg township ; Amaziah H. is mentioned be-
low ; Isaac, who married a Miss Slaymaker, is a
farmer in Paradise township ; Jacob is a resident of
Strasburg township ; Abraham died young.
The parents of Abram Hostetter were David
and Catherine (Miller) Hostetter, farming people
of Lancaster county. The parents of Mrs. Lydia A.
Hostetter were Isaac and Elizabeth Herr, farming
people of Lancaster county.
Amaziah H. Hostetter was married Nov. 28,
1883, in Lancaster, to Miss Evaline B. Denlinger.
To this union came one child, Mary A. Mrs. Eva-
line B. Hostetter was born in Paradise township
Nov. 13, 1861, and is a sister of Mrs. Henry
Hersliey.
Amaziah H. Hostetter was reared on the paternal
estate, and remained under the parental roof until
he reached the age of twenty-three years. For the
twelve years ensuing he was engaged in farming,
until 1895, in which year he went into his present
business, which has become both lucrative and
pleasant. His place of business he bought from
Abram Kurtz. For some three years he was in
partnership with Elmer Hilt, whom he bought out,
and has since carried on the business alone. He is
a member of the Mennonite Church, and in politics
is a Republican.
ALDUS F. NEFF, a truck farmer of East
Lampeter township, is one of the energetic and
thrifty young farmer citizens of his locality. He
was born July 13, 1864, in West Lampeter town-
ship, this county, son of Frederick Neff.
Frederick Neff was born in Lancaster county
Sept. 7, 1820, received a common-school education,
and lived at home until he was about twenty-one
years of age. He then learned the carpenter's
trade with Peter Baker, of East Lampeter town-
ship, and after he had served his time began busi-
ness for himself, contracting and building, which
he followed imtil his death, Oct. 18, 1884. Mr.
Neff was a member of the Lutheran Church. He
married for his first wife Miss Joanna Caskey, and
they were the parents of eight children : Mary, de-
ceased; Jacob, of Lancaster City; John, deceased;
Catherine, wife of Abraham Hoover; Salome, wife
of Hosmer Aument; Barbara, deceased; Elam, de-
ceased; and Susanna, deceased, wife of Henry
Jones. The mother of these died March 24, 1858,
and Mr. Neff married Mrs. Catherine (Meek)
Raub, widow of Amos Raub. They became the
parents of three children : Amanda, wife of David
W. Herr; Amos, who is deceased; and Aldus F.
Aldus F. Neff lived at home with his parents
until he was about twenty years of age, when he
began farming and trucking for himself. He has
continued same up to the present time by prefer-
ence, although he learned the carpenter's trade with
his father. In 1899 he purchased the place where
he now resides, and which contains four acres, one
of the finest garden spots in Lancaster county. Mr.
Neff is public-spirited and active in the affairs of
his locality, having served efficiently as collector,
three 3'ears ; judge of election, four years; and in-
spector, four years. In political sentiment he is a
Republican.
On Dec. 30, 1890, Mr. Neff wedded Miss Min-
nie Weitzel, daughter of George Weitzel, and to
this union have been born two children. Earl W.
and Catherine E., both at home. Mr. Neff is one
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
867
of Lancaster county's most progressive young men,
fully alive to the best interests of the community in
general.
LAFAYETTE HAMILTON. There are many
young men and thriving agriculturists in Salisbury
township, Lancaster county, but there are few who
have reached prominence in two lines at so early an
age as Lafayette Hamilton, whose residence and
shop are in the village of Spring Garden.
Mr. Hamilton was born in the township of Para-
dise, May 30, i860, son of Joseph and Margaret
(Hoover) Hamilton, the former of whom was a
prosperous farmer, and died near Gap, in Salisbury
township, July 3, 1878, at the age of fifty-eight
years; his wife died April 4, 1875, when she was
forty-five years of age. They were devout mem-
bers of the Episcopal Church, and were interred in
Paradise township. Their family comprised six
children, named as follows: Henry H., who is
ticket agent for the railroad company at Atglen;
Sally, wife of Henry H. Kurtz, a retired farmer of
Salisbury township ; Lafayette, whose name opens
this sketch : Franklin, a conductor on the Pennsyl-
vania railroad at Philadelphia ; and Edwin and Wal-
tei, deceased. The paternal grandparents of La-
fayette Hamilton were William and Elizabeth (Mil-
ler) Hamilton, and the maternal grandparents were
Jacob and Catherine Hoover, of Lancaster county,
the former of whom was of Swiss extraction and a
prominent farmer.
Lafayette Hamilton resided with his parents un-
til he was nineteen years of age, and then served
an apprenticeshp of three years at blacksmithing
at White Horse, Lancaster county. Later he
worked for his brother-in-law, Harry H. Kurtz, for
five years, and then settled on his present farm, on
which is situated a hotel, which he also owns.
On Jan. 27, 1886, Lafayette Harailton married,
in Spring Garden, Miss Clara A. Worst, and this
union has been blessed with two children, Clyde H.
and Harry W. Mrs. Clara A. (Worst) Hamilton
was born Nov. 10, 1859, on that part of Mr. Hamil-
ton's farm on which the hotel alluded to above is
situated, and is a daughter of Peter and Maria B.
(Good) Worst, who came from Springville, Salis-
bury township, and Leacock township, respectively,
and were married in 1858. Peter Worst was a pros-
perous farmer in his earlier life, but tiring of farm
labor he built the "Spring Garden Hotel," in 1852,
and conducted it successfully for six years. He then
relinquished the business solely on account of the
death of his wife, and rented out the premises.
Mr. Worst next engaged in droving and butchering,
but finally returned to farming, at which he contin-
ued until the marriage of his daughter, when he re-
tiied in favor of his son-in-law. He was the father
of two children: Clara A., Mrs. Hamilton; and
George B., of • St. Louis, Mo. Mrs. Maria B.
(Good) Worst was called away in December, 1862,
at the age of twenty-five years, and Peter Worst
died Jan. 5, 1897, at the age of seventy-four, the re-
mains of both were interred in the private burying-
ground of the Worst estate, in Springville. Mr.
Worst was quite prominent in his community, was
very popular, and served as school director for
many years. Henry and Mary (Kurtz) Worst,
the paternal grandparents of Mrs. Clara A. Hamil-
ton, were farming people of Lancaster county. The
grandfather died in 1884, at the age of eighty-nine
years, his wife preceding him to the grave June 22,
1853. Their remains were also buried in the Worst
■family burying ground. Henry and Mary Worst
were members of the Mennonite Church. They
reared a family of ten children, as follows :
Barbara, deceased wife of John Warner; Peter, de-
ceased; Samuel, a farmer in Salisbury township;
Elias, deceased ; Mary, deceased wife of Joseph
Bear; EHzabeth, unmarried, and living in Spring-
field; Susannah, wife of Daniel Kurtz, a retired
farmer living in Spring Garden ; Henry, a merchant
in Springville; Leah A., deceased; and Catherine,
also deceased. The maternal grandparents of Mrs.
Hamilton were Cyrus and Lovina (Bear) Good,
farming people of considerable prominence in Lea-
cock township.
In politics Mr. Hamilton is a Democrat, but
has never been an office seeker. The family ranks
among the most respected residents of Salisbury
township, and although comparatively young in
years iVir. Hamilton enjoys an extended acquaint-
anceship, of which any man might well be proud.
EVANS. James Evans, the founder of
the Evans family in Lancaster county was a
native of Ireland, born in 1761. He married
a Scottish woman, Margaret Miller, and came
to Lancaster coimty, possibly locating in the
vicinity of Lititz. His death occurred in 1805,
and his widow lived to the advanced age of
ninety-three years. She was buried at Browns-
town, Lancaster county, while the remains of her
husband lie in Lititz. They had a family of three
sons: (i) John, is mentioned below. (2) James,
who was a tailor, lived and died in Lancaster
county. (3) Robert, who was a minister of the
Evangelical Church, spent his life in Lancaster
county. In his later years he was an auctioneer.
The father of this family was a mason by trade, and
helped to build Binkley's Bridge.
John Evans, the eldest child in the above family,
was born in August, 1799, and died Oct. 8, 1863.
In early life he engaged in business as a butcher,
locating in Manheim township, where his active ca-
reer was spent. A short time before his death he
moved to Lancaster City, where he lived retired.
He carried on the butcher business for many years,
and his establishment has been kept up to the pres-
ent time. For many years he was an able and suc-
cessful auctioneer. He was one of the leading citi-
zens of his section. Of a patriotic disposition, at the
outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in the State
868
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Militia,, notwithstanding his advanced years, and
was ready to go to the front. In poUtics he was a
stanch RepubHcan.
John Evans married Miss EHzabeth, daughter
of Frederick Nagle; her mother was a Hoofnagle.
Mrs. EHzabeth Evans died in 1861, when sixty
years of age. To them were born the following
named children: (i) Maria married Hiram
Campbell, and is deceased. (2) Isaac, who was a
butcher, died in Lancaster when some seventy years
of age. (3) David died when sixty years old. For
thirteen years he was superintendent of the Lancas-
ter count}' schools, for many years was a teacher
in the public schools, and was a graduate of Frank-
lin and Marshall College. Later in his active, life
he was a real-estate dealer in Lancaster. (4) John
is a retired farmer and cattle drover of Warwick
township. (5) Frederick was a carpenter, and
died at the age of fifty-six years. (6) Benjamin,
the father of William L. Evans, is mentioned else-
where. (7) William is an auctioneer at Lititz.
(8) Charlotte is the wife of J. K. Stoner, of Lan-
caster. (10) Amanda is the widow of Samuel R.
Myer, of Bareville, Lancaster county. (11) Anna
E., unmarried, is a resident of Lancaster.
WILLIAINI L. EVANS, one of the leading men
of Manheim township, belongs to one of the old
and honored families of Lancaster county, and was
born in the city of Lancaster Jan. 27, 1863, son of
Benjamin and Elizabeth (Groff) Evans, and grand-
son of John and Elizabeth Evans. The great-
grandparents of William L. Evans came from
Ireland.
Benjamin Evans was born on a farm about a
half mile east of Nefifsville, was reared on the farm,
and learned the butcher's traide with his father.
Very early in life he entered upon that business, be-
ing assisted by his brother-in-law, Hiram Camp-
bell, while in Nefifsville. Benjamin Evans had his
shop in Lancaster on North Queen street, where
he lived at that time. He followed butchering all
his active days. About 1871 he purchased a tract
of eighty-four acres, to which he added until he
owned a farm of 144 acres, just north of Fruitville.
There he established a butchering plant, which is
now owned and operated by his son, and it is noted
as one of the most complete in that part of the
county. The slaughtering and dressing of the
meats is all done there, and the salesroom is on
North Queen street, Lancaster. Benjamin Evans
long made his home on the farm, but his last days
were spent under the roof of his son, Benjamin,
where he died May i, 1900, when sixty-nine years
old. He was a man of genial temper and
jovial spirits, and enjoyed the friendship of a large
circle. Tn his death the community lost a valued
citizen. For many years he was treasurer of the
Dunkard Church, of which he was a member. He
was very active in the promotion of the Baptist
Brethren Church on Charlotte street, in the city of
Lancaster, and was always zealous in its welfare
and upbuilding. His widow is still living at the age
of severity-four years.
Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Evans were the parents
of the following children: Sarah, wife of Jerry
Stump, of Bareville; Alfred D., a farmer in Man-
heim township; Frank, who is engaged in the meat
market at Lancaster; Milton, who died when three
years old ; Ella, who died when seventeen years old ;
Lilly, wife of J. W. Lausinger, of the Millersville
State Normal School; William L. ; Benjamin G.,
a farmer in Manheim township ; and one that died
in infancy.
William L. Evans, whose name appears at the
of)enmg of this article, was reared to the butcher's
trade, and received his education in the public
school. When a young man he had a printing press,
and did job work; he was expert in scroll work,
and still retains some fine specimens of his skill in
that line which adorn his home. When he had at-
tained his majority, he associated himself with his
father and brother in the butcher business, under
the name of Benjamin Evans & Sons. In 1898 the
father retired, and then- the firm name became Ben-
jamin Evans' Sons. For over a hundred years the
Evans name has figured in the market annals of
Lancaster county. Since the sons have had control
they have made some radical changes in the conduct
of the business, in both wholesale and retail lines.
Their retail business is of large volume, and in the
manufacture of sausage and Bologna they have at-
tained a creditable reputation. William Evans has
charge of the slaughtering and manufacture,- while
his brother looks after the store in Lancaster.
Mr. Evans, owns a farm of fifty-four acres
where he has a fine home, which he has ihoderni'zed
and made beautiful. He was married Aug. 4, 1885,
to Miss Fannie, daughter of Samuel and Fannie
(Brubaker) Keller, formerly from Penn township,
but now residents of Manheim township. Mrs.
Evans was born at Lime Rock, Penn township, Oct.
16, 1864. ]\Ir. and Mrs. Evans have the following
children: Samuel B., WilHam Edgar, Florence A.
and Paul K. They belong to the Dunkard Church,
of the Mountville District, and all stand among the
most worthy and respected people of the county.
B. FRANK MUSSER, deputy register of Lan-
caster county, residing at Mountville, this county,
was born Nov. 13, 1864, a son of Martin G. and.
Mary Ann (Root) Musser.
Martin G. Musser, leaf tobacco merchant, and
ex-vice president of the Mountville National Bank,
was born near Silver Spring, West Hempfield town-
ship, Lancaster county, Jan. 19, 1842, a son of
Michael and Elizabeth (Gerber) Musser, natives,,
respectively, of West Hempfield and East Donegal
townships, and both of whom died on their farm,
near Silver Spring. Martin G. Musser, during the
year 18B8, purchased the Root Plow Works, located
in the borough of Mount Joy, and caused the same to-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
869
be removed to Mountville, where it was incorpor-
ated and became known as the Mountville Manu-
facturing Co., of which he was elected its first presi-
dent, serving as such until 1896, when he was elected
register of wills of Lancaster county, and served
for the term of three years. Mr. Musser was one
of the organizers of the Mountville National Bank,
and was vice-president until 1901, when he re-
signed. He has ever been one of the most active
and progressive business men of Mountville, and
there is no one in the community who has borne a'
cleaner business character than he. His advice in
business matters is invariably sought by the people
of the place in which he resides.
On June 9, 1864, Martin G. Musser married
Mary Ann Root, and to this union was born the
following family: B. Frank; John M., railway
mail clerk; Mary E., wife of Iverson A. Witmer;
Elizabeth, at home; and Martin E., a graduate of
Franklin and Marshall College, formerly a teacher
of Latin in the Lebanon High School, then a student
one year in the University of Pennsylvania, and
now a law student. Mary Ann (Root) Musser was
born in East Lampeter township, Lancaster county,
March 2, 1840, and died June 12, 1891. She was
a daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Frantz)
Root, who settled in West Hempfield township in
1848, the father dying in Landisville.
Michael Musser, father of Martin G. Musser,
was born Feb. 24, 18 15, was a farmer and school
director for many years, and died in 1895. His
wife was born March 12, 1816, and died in 1857,
the remains of both being buried on the old home-
stead, in West Hempfield township. To Michael
Musser and his first wife, Elizabeth Gerber, there
was born a large family, as follows : Jacob, born
March 28, 1830, is deceased; Benjamin G., born in
September, 1838, is a farmer in West Hempfield
township ; Anna G., born July 18, 1840, became the
wife of Henry Kaufman, and died in 1899 ; Martin
G., born Jan. 19, 1842, is mentioned above ; Michael
was born in February, 1844; Barbara, born April
19, 1846, is married to Daniel D. Forry, a farmer
of West Hempfield township; Elizabeth, born in
July, 1848, is the wife of George Strickler, a farmer
of York county; Fanny, born Sept. 18, 1850, is
married to J. H. Nolt, a farmer of West Hempfield
towriship ; John, born in January, 1853, is a farmer
of East Hempfield township; Andrew, born in
March, 1855, died in infancy; and Mary, twin of
Andrew, died when she was in her seventh year.
The second marriage of Michael Musser was to
Fanny Hersh, and to this union have been born two
children: Chri.st H., born June, 1859, ^ farmer in
West Hempfield township, and Henry H., born in
July, 1864, who is farming the old homestead.
The paternal grandparents of Martin G. Mus-
ser were Martin and Anna (Sechrist) Musser,
natives and farming people of West Hempfield
township. The maternal grandparents were Jacob
and Barbara Gerber, who were also farmers.
B. Frank Musser lived on the home farm until
seven years old, when his parents removed to
Mountville. Here he attended the district schools
until nineteen years of age, and then the business
college at Poughkeepsie, N.'Y., from which he was
graduated in 1881, when he began assisting his
father in the leaf tobacco business. From 1886 to
1897, he engaged in farming, and also in the sale
of farming implements.
B. Frank Musser was married to Nora Yohn,
in 1885, and this marriage has been favored with
one child, Mary B. Mrs. Nora Musser was born
in Mountville, a daughter of Edward and Mary
(Baker) Yohn.
WILLIAM CHRISTOPHER L I L L E R .
Among the prominent citizens of Lancaster, par-
ticularly conspicuous on account of his official posi-
tion as Adjutant General of the Spanish- American
War Veterans of the United States, is William
Christopher Liller, the able editor of The United
States Volunteer, ^^e official organ of that associa-
tion. Aside from official duties, Mr. Liller is a
keen and successful man of business, and with abil-
ity fills the offices of president and general manager
of the Liller Manufacturing Company, and at the
same time holds a controlling interest in the Volun-
teer Publishing Company, an incorporation organ-
ized in Delaware,
Christopher Liller, the grandfather of William
C, married a sister of Frank Pfeififer, who for many
years was Lancaster's most prominent slater. Mrs.
Liller is now deceased, but Mr. Liller is still an
esteemed resident of the city.
The parents of William C. Liller were George
C. and Anna (Lippold) Liller, the former a well-
known manufacturer of toilet articles, and the latter
a sister of Charles Lippold, the efficient school tax
collector. A family of seven children was born to
George C. Liller and his wife: Lottie, who is the
wife of George Krantz, of Lancaster; George, who
is a soldier in the United States army, stationed at
Fort Russell, Wyo. ; Henry, Annie, Frederick and
Herbert, at school ; and William C.
William Christopher Liller was born in Lancas-
ter Sept. 8, 1878, and after receiving a partial edu-
cation in the public schools of the city attended the
University of Tennessee for a time. He then en-
tered the office of Col. H. Frank Eshleman, one
of the leading members of the Bar, as a student at
law. Mr. Liller was connected with the Lancaster
Daily Intelligencer, on which he gained his first
knowledge of newspaper work.
So little time has elapsed since our Nation was
aroused over the issues of the Spanish-American
war that it is only necessary to refer to the thrilling
uprising among the youth of the land, ready, will-
ing and anxious to offer their lives for their country,
and to make a personal application, in the case of
Mr. Liller. With loyal enthusiasm he put aside his
books and the certainty of success in his chosen ca-
870
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
reer, and enlisted for service in the 6th United
States Cavalry on May 15, 1898, faithfully serving
through the Santiago campaign, in the 5th and the
4th Army Corps, until the peace protocol had been
signed, when he received an honorable discharge
from the army, his papers having the endorsement
which reads "service honest and faithful," which'
his children will preserve with care among their
dearest records. While a trooper in the famous
6th Cavalry this young soldier was appointed troop
clerk, his many excellent qualities and sterling
attributes being recognized, and winning him pro-
motion and the esteem of his superior officers.
Upon his return to civil life Mr. Liller at once
set about the organization of the Spanish-American
war veterans into a National association similar in
intent and purpose to the Grand Army of the Re-
public, and how well he has succeeded, acting co-
jointly with other comrades, finds daily illustration
in the rapidh' swelling ranks of this large and al-
ready powerful organization, of which he has the
honor to be adjutant general, and acting quarter-
master general.
In taking the initiative in forming this new
Grand Army Mr. Liller had with him the patriotic
sentiment of the country, and he soon interested a
number of prominent men in the project, these in-
cluding such reliable and upright officers as Gen.
Joseph Wheeler, Gen. J. P. S. Gobin and Gen. Fitz-
hugh Lee. It required a man of exceptional ability
to bring about the solidity of this organization, and
that Mr. Miller possessed the necessary attributes
is evidenced by its present condition, although he
has found it necessary to give time, money and pei»-
sonal attention to it.
During the annual national convention Mr. Lil-
ler won many personal friends and admirers, his
youth and enthusiasm inspiring all to renewed ef-
fort for the success of this laudable enterprise.
There are now some 500 camps of Spanish-Ameri-
can War Veterans, scattered through every State
and Territory, including our colonial acquisitions.
Col. A. L. Hawkins Camp, of Lancaster, having
over 125 members on its honorable roll, including
such distinguished men as Capt. Hobson of "Merri-
mac" fame.
Although the life of a soldier leaves little time
for outside work, Mr. Liller kept up his newspaper
connection to the extent of contributing some of
the most able and succinct war articles published
at that tiine, many of them being so pertinent and
interesting that they found their way into the city
press, in New York and Philadelphia. His present
enterprise is an outgrowth of the organization
which it represents, and no more able editor could
be found than Mr. Liller. His pen is that of a ready
writer, and he has had the satisfaction of noting
that a number of his editorial articles have ap-
peared, with approval, in the columns of leading
papers in various sections. While the duties of the
association are exacting, he is able also to attend
to his personal business interests with ability, his
position as President of the Volunteer Publishing
Company and the affairs of the Liller Manufactur-
ing Company giving him no time to take any active
part in politics. However, he finds time for active
membership in the Society of the Army of Santiago
de Cuba, Order of the American Eagle, United
States Volunteer Association (National secretary),
Military Order of Foreign Wars, American Flag
Association, and Army and .Navy Union.
Mr. Liller was married April 2, 1900, to Miss
Alice May Kreider, daughter of Jacob Kreider, a
retired citizen of Lancaster, and into their happy
home have come twin sons, Richard Coryell and
Eugene Montgomery, who have the best chance in
the world of being trained into loyal and patriotic
citizens of a country which their father so proudly
served.
WILLIAM HOPKINS, prominently known in
the business circles of East Drumore township,
where he was born May 23, 1855, son of James M.
and Harriet L. (Webb) Hopkins, has made a place
for himself among the successful men of Lancaster
county.
James Hopkins, his grandfather, was in his time
a prominent lawyer in Lancaster. He became the
father of four sons and one daugnter, and two of
the sons, Washington and George, following in the
footsteps of their distinguished father, were bril-
liant members of the legal profession. Anna, the
only daughter, married Newton Lightner, also a
lawyer. William was a farmer in East Drumore
township.
James M. Hopkins, son of James, and father of
William, was born in Lancaster March 19, 181 r,
and lived ' in East Drumore township, where for
many years he carried on the Conaway furnaces,
founded by his father, becoming one of the promi-
nent and influential citizens of his section of the
county. His death occurred in January, 1896, when
he was in his eighty-sixth year. His wife, who
was born in 18 19 at Pine Grove Forge, this county,
passed to her reward in 1900. They were the par-
ents of twelve children, seven of whom are living:
(i) Elizabeth O. married James Alexander, a
lawyer of Lancaster, and both are deceased. They
had four children, Howard, Percy, Mary (who
married George S. Washington, of Philadelphia)
and James H. (2) Washington W., born in 1838,
lives in Port Deposit. By his first wife, Harriet
Rogers, he had three children — Louisa, who died
young; Edward, a resident of Philadelphia; and
Herbert, who died young. By his second marriage
to May Loag, were born two children. Christian
and Marion. Mr. Hopkins practiced law in Lan-
caster many years. (3) Laura is the widow of
Samuel H. Rutter, of Pottstown, Pa., and lives in
Lancaster. (4) Henry C, born in East Drumore,
is a real-estate dealer in Lancaster. He married
Miss Annie Naumbee, by whom he has four living
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
871
children, Henry, Annie L., Elizabeth Isabell and
Ralph. Elizabeth died young. (5) Louisa died
in young womanhood. (6) Robert ' C. is a
banker at Port Deposit, Md. He married Miss
Mary Rowland, a daughter of Dr. Rowland, of
Cecil county, Md., and four of their children are liv-
ing, Louisa (the wife of John Matthews), Francis,
Mary and Ross. (7) Anna died at the old home
in her early womanhood. (8) James was a soldier
in the Civil war, and died in hospital. (9) Harriet
married Clinton Deaver, of Dayton, Ohio, where he
is a college professor. They have four children,
Walter, Richard, Mary and Catherine. (10) Mew-
ton died at the home of his parents in 1876. (11)
Emma married Harry Gardner, and lives in Lan-
caster. They have one daughter, Harriet L. (12)
William is mentioned below.
William Hopkins received his education in the,
public schools of I^ancaster county and at Cham-
bersburg. For twenty-five years he was manager
of his father's extensive interests, looking after his
grist mill, farms, etc. In Decemlier, 1882, he mar-
ried Miss Mary C., daughter of William and Martha
(Rutter) Brooke, and sister of Major Gen. John R.
Brooke, now of Governors Island, New York har-
bor. Both the Rutters and Brookes were prominent
in Montgomery county. William Brooke was born
near Pottstown, where he was known as Major
Brooke, and died at his home in that city in 1873,
after an active and useful life. His widow passed
to her reward in 1879, leaving one son, the Major
General, and two daughters : Caroline, who is the
wife of Samuel S. Campbell, and Mary C, Mrs.
Hopkins, who was born in Montgomery county,
and obtained her education in the Pottstown
schools. She is a scholarly lady, of many charms,
and enjoys many friends.
After his marriage Mr. Hopkins located on his
father's farm in East Drumore, where he has re-
sided to the present time, and ma:de a creditable rep-
utation for himself in agricultural and commercial
circles. He owns a large herd of Jersey cattle,
which he devotes to his own creamery.
All the members of the Hopkins family are
stanch Republicans. William Hopkins has been
school director for several years. Both himself and
wife belong to the Chestnut Level Presbyterian
Church, where he is one of the elders.
JAMES G. McSPARRAN. Among the lead-
ing citizens of the southern part of Lancaster
county, is James G. McSparran, a retired farmer
of Fairfield, Drumore township, who is one of the
wealthy, intelligent and traveled residents of this
section.
Mr. McSparran was born Dec. 19, 1843, i"
Drumore township, a son of the late John and Isabel
(McCullough) McSparran, and a grandson of
James McSparran, one of the influential farmers of
this part of the county, where he took part in public
affairs, and reared a numerous family, eleven of
his fifteen children living to maturity, these being :
James and Isabel, twins; Grizzell; Eliza; John;
Eleanor; Fleming; Thomas; William; Rachel and
Margaret. Grandfather McSparran was of sturdy
Scotch-Irish ancestry, and came to Lancaster county
among the early settlers, purchasing the farm which
is still in the possession of the family, being now
the property bi Thomas McSparran, whose sketch
appears in another part of this volume.
John McSparran, the father of James G. Mc-
Sparran, was born April 28, 1808, and died May
25, 1885. On Jan. 9, 1.840, he was united in mar-
riage to Miss Isabel McCullough, who was born
Nov. 23, 1815, and died Aug. 29, 1845, a daughter
of William McCullough. She also claimed among
her ancestors natives of both Ireland and Scot-
land. The only surviving child of this union was
James G., who is the subject of this sketch. John
McSparran was an active and ardent Democrat all
his life, and was identified with political and re-
ligious matters for many years, being considered
justly one of the leading citizens of Lancaster
county. His rearing had been in the Presbyterian
Church, and he never departed from its teachings,
living a most estimable life.
James G. McSparran was reared as a farmer
boy, and has never lost his deep interest in agricul-
tural matters, for many years operating one of the
finest farms in this part of the county. His primary
education was conducted in the common schools
of Drumore township, and later he became an apt
pupil of the Chestnut Level Academy, but to his
great love of reading and his extended travels must
be attributed in great measure the intellectual at-
tainments which make of him one of the most in-
telligent and thoroughly educated men of this com-
munity. His advantages have been manifold, and
he has utilized them all.
The only child of his parents to reach maturity,
our subject inherited their considerable property,
improving and adorning it, adding other land to
his possessions, as years went by, until at present
Mr. McSparran is reckoned one of the most sub-
stantial men of the township. His farm land in-
cludes two valuable properties in Drumore town-
ship, and one in Providence township, located near
Quarryville. The home farm is situated in Dru-
more township, near Fairfield, and here is found
an ideal country home, surrounded as it is with fine
buildings, and supplied with all of the modern ap-
pliances and conveniences which add not only to
the comfort, but also to the health, of its occupants.
Mr. McSparran also owns a valuable store property
in Chestnut Level, and in addition to this he pos-
sesses personal property aggregating a large
amount. He is one of the original stockholders,
and is a director of the Union Trust Co., of
Lancaster.
On Dec. 29, 1864, James G. McSparran was
married to Miss Sarah M. Collins, of Colerain
township, who was born on Nov. 13, 1843, a daugh-
872
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ter of Thomas C. and Grace (McCulloug-h) Collins,
of Colerain township. To Mr. and Mrs. Collins
were born seven children, as follows : James, a
jironiinent farmer of Colerain township ; Hugh M.,
also a well-known farmer of Colerain township;
Mary, deceased ; Grace, a resident of Drumore
township ; Cornelius, deceased ; Thomas ; and
Sarah M., who is the wife of Mr. McSparran. She
has, also, the following half brothers and half
sisters : Ross C, a resident of Quarryville ; Emma
G., who is the wife of WilHam Anderson, of Ohio ;
and Bertha I., who is a teacher in a college at Tar-
Ido, Missouri.
The children who came to bless the marriage of
Mr. McSparran and his estimable wife were: Isa-
bella May, born Aug. 12, 1867, was married Jan.
23, 1901, to Charles A. McSparran, secretary and
chief bookkeeper in Metc,alf's Malleable Iron Co.,
in Erie, Pa. ; Thomas C, born Nov. 13, 1869, died
Sept. 27, 1875 ; Chella Grace, born Sept. 23, 1871,
resides at home; John A., born Oct. 22, 1873, a
very brilliant young man and fine scholar, is an
A. B. graduate of Lafayette College, Pa. ; and
James O., the youngest, was born March i, 1877,
and resides in Philadelphia.
Perhaps no man in this section has kept up more
with public interest and progress, outside of pro-
fessional or political life, than has Mr. McSparran,
for he is a man of wide and extended reading and
is a reflective thinker. Although one of the most
active members of the Democratic party, loyal to
its candidates and principles, he is no office seeker,
consenting only to serve in the capacity of school
director, having ever had a deep interest in educa-
tional matters. His -own children have been afiforded
every possible advantage. Mr. McSparran is a
leading member of the Chestnut Level Presbyterian
Church, in which he has long been an elder, and
is the interested and efficient Sunday school super-
intendent. In 1890 Mr. McSparran took a trip
through Palestine and the Holy Land, going about
two-thirds around the world, fitting himself very
thoroughly as a teacher in his beloved Sunday
school, where he is most highly appreciated. The
past year has been enjoyed by himself and wife in
an extended trip through California, the journey
homeward being heightened in pleasure by a visit
to the Pan-American exposition at Buffalo. In
every relation of life Mr. McSparran has borne him-
self in a manly, upright, conscientious manner, and
well deserves the high encomiums lavished upon
him by his neigtibors who have known him through
so many years.
HENRY CLAY SHIiNCK, dealer in second-
hand furniture and' antiques, located opposite Fulton
Opera House, on North Prince street, Lancaster, is
a son of the venerable Henry S. Shenck, a sketch of
whose life and ancestry appears elsewhere.
Henry Clay Shenck was born at Chickies (where
his father then kept hotel), Oct. 24, 1843. He was
educated in the public schools of Lancaster, and left
the Boys' High School shortly before the graduation
of his class to enter the army, enlisting April 20,
1 86 1, in the Jackson Rifles of Lancaster, when the
first call for 75,000 men for three months was made,
in the war of the Rebellion. This company became
a part of the 1st P. V. I. Having been honorably
discharged July 27, i86r, by reason of the expiration
of his term of enlistment, young Shenck re-enlisted,
Sept. 16, 1861, this time with the 79th P. V. L, for
three years, but was discharged Sept. 3, 1862, at
Nashville, by general orders. Next we find him
veteranizing, March 24, 1864, for a term of three
years, this time with the 9th Pa. Vet. Vol. Cal., to
which his brother, A. F. Shenck, belonged, and in
which he himself became a corporal. While a mem-
ber of Company K, 79th Regiment, he was detached
for a time as a musician, but after having been mus-
tered out as a musician, in 1862, re-entered the ser-
vice as a private. Between his second and third en-
listments he served, during the Morgan raid, in the
Ohio militia. From the time he became Corporal
Shenck, in the 9th P. V. V. C, in March, 1864, to
the close of the war, it is safe to say that he was en-
gaged in fully one hundred battles and skirmishes,
including the siege of Savannah, and other memora-
ble military movements and engagements. The war
ended, he was discharged at Lexington, N. C, July
18, 1865, and went to Ohio, following his trade, that
of a wheelwright, in that State, until 1875, when he
returned to the East, spending seven years in West-
chester in the same business. Returning to Lan-
caster, he became turnkey at the station house, hav-
ing been appointed to that position by the late D. P.
Rosenmiller, then mayor of Lancaster.
In 1886 Mr. .Shenck opened the pioneer business
in second-hand furniture in the city, starting in the
building on North Prince street, where he is still lo-
cated, and which belonged to the estate of the late
Hon. Anthony E. Roberts, ex-member of Congress
from this District. Later he purchased the building,
as well as the adjoining property on the south, which
he occupies as a dwelling. The property used for
business purposes has a frontage of seventy-two feet
on Prince street, is four stories high, and has seven-
teen rooms, every one of which is filled with second-
hand furniture, much of it antique and therefore very
valuable. In fact, Mr. Shenck makes a specialty
of antiques, shipping these goods to New York,
Illinois, Georgia, California — all over the country.
Indeed, so extensive had the business become at the
date of this writing (1901) that its originator and
owner was preparing plans for an addition of two
rnore floors, and the erection of an electric elevator,
his purpose being to conduct a great storage as well
as furniture business.
On July 26, 1877, Mr. Shenck was married to
Eliza J. Boozer, daughter of Harry Boozer, of West-
chester, and to this union came three children, one
of whom died in infancy. The survivors are Helen
who is at home; and Henry Sheldon, of the class
WVD, AO. '^iutyvA.ciX-0
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
873
of 1904, Boys' High School. Mr. Shenck is a mem-
ber of Post No. 31, G. A. R., of Chester county.
Politically he is a Republican, as are all the members
of his family ; but the only political preferments he
ever received were his appointment as turnkey of
the city station house, under Mayor Rosenmiller,
and his appointment as alderman of the First ward,
to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Alderman
Gtmdaker. This appointment was made by Gov.
Hastings, and Mr. Shenck served for at least seven
months. Although exercising not a little political
influence in his district, as well as in city and county
affairs generally, Mr. Shenck attends strictly to busi-
ness, and no better evidence of this is needed than
is found in the success which has attended him.
JOHN JACKSON. Lancaster county is noted
for its successful farmers, and among those who be-
long to that class is John Jackson, of Little Britain
township, who was born Dec. 4, 1854, son of Rob-
ert and Eliza (Irwin) Jackson.
Robert Jackson was born in Ireland in 1828, and
died in April, 1898. His wife, who was also born
in 1828, died in 1893. They came to America
while young, and were the parents of eight chil-
dren, seven of whom grew to maturity : Annie
Margaret, wife of Dr. J. S. McNutt, a physician of
Philadelphia, Pa. ; John ; Andrew A., a farmer of
Little Britain township (mentioned elsewhere) ;
Robert, a farmer of Little Britain township ; Joseph,
a farmer of Little Britain township (mentioned else-
where) ; Mary, wife of Fred Gregg, a farmer of
Drumore township ; and Ella, wife of George Pol-
lock, a merchant of Philadelphia, Pa., the young-
est of the familv now living. Robert Jackson,. the
father. of this family, was a Democrat in politics.
He was a man who earned the esteem of his neigh-
bors and labored hard to rear his family well.
John Jackson was reared upon the farm, and at-
tended the district schools. While still a boy he
commenced to work his way in life,, and he now
has one of the best cultivated farms in Lancaster
county, consisting of 150 acres of excellent farm-
ing land, on which he has a comfortable residence
and commodious barn — the pride of the surround-
ing country. His outbuildings are in excellent
condition, and in addition to general farming Mr.
Jackson is an extensive dealer in stock, being very
successful in all bis enterprises.
On Feb. 25, 1880, Mr. Jackson was married to
Miss Alice M. Jenkins, a daughter of Isaac and
Eliza Jenkins, of Little Britain township. Mr. and
Mrs. Jenkins had a family of five children: Re-
becca, unmarried, of Oak Hill, Pa. ; Evan S., de-
ceased; Jacob E., of Fulton township; George P.,
of Oak Hill ; and Alice M., Mrs. Jackson. Elijah
Jenkins, Mrs. Jackson's grandfather, was one of the
earlv settlers of Lancaster ciounty.
The following children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Jackson: Laura E., Annie L., Walter
R., Mary R. and John E., all at home. They are
a happy, contented home circle, undisturbed as yet
by death. Mrs. Jackson and the family attend the
Presbyterian Church of Little Britain. In politics
Mr. Jackson, like his father before him, is a stanch
Democrat. In all the relations of life he has proven
himself a worthy, good man, a kind-hearted neigh-
bor, and the respect in which he is held by those
who know him is well deserved.
P. HARRY WOHLSEN, one of the well-
known young men of Lancaster, was , born in that
city Oct. 29, 1875, and is a son of WilUam Wohlsen,
one of its well-known business men of high stand-
ing.
Peter Wohlsen, grandfather of P. Harry, was
born in 1824 in Hanover, Germany, and grew to
manhood on a farm in that coimtry. He learned
the trade of bricklayer, which he followed, and after
coming to America, in 1884, he worked with his
son William until 1896, since which time he has
lived retired. He married Catherine Oelrich, also
a native of Hanover, who died in 1895, at the age
of seventy-one. She is buried in Zion Lutheran
cemetery. Peter and Catherine Wohlsen had chil-
dren as follows: William, father of P. Harry;
Peter N., who is a contractor and builder of Lan-
caster; Herman F., also a contractor and builder
of Lancaster; and Anna, wife of Henry Elsen, of
Lancaster.
William Wohlsen was born Dec. 24, 1847, in
Hanover, Germany, passed his youth on his father's
farm, and when seventeen years of age began to
learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed in
Germany until his emigration to America, in 1870.
On coming to this country he immediately settled
in Lancaster, and for a year worked as a contractor
and builder, in 1871 purchasing a small planing-
mill. He has continued in that business to the
present day, enlarging his mill from a one-horse-
power concern to one of the largest and best patron-
ized establishments in Lancaster county, giving em-
ployment to fifty hands. Meantime Mr. Wohlsen
had continued to carry on contracting and building,
but he gave up this branch of business in order to
give the greater part of his time arid attention to
his mill interests. Of late he has had another de-
mand on his time, the management of the affairs of
the Union Trust Company, organized Oct. 17, 1901,
and opened for business March 17, 1902. The com-
pany has an authorized capital of $300,000, and a
paid capital of $150,000. Mr. Wohlsen is presi-
dent of the concern, with D. F. Buchmiller as vice-
president ; S. Z. Evans, secretary and treasurer ; and
John M. Groff, solicitor.
In 1869 Mr. Wohlsen married Catherine Klenck,
a native of Hanover, born in October, 1849, daugh-
ter of Henry Klenck, a farmer of Germany, who
never came to this country. Of the children born
to _Mr. and Mrs. Wohlsen, Mary married Stewart
Griffith, teller of the Union Trust Company; Anna
married Henry Behren ; P. Harry is mentioned be-
874
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
low ; William H. is connected with his father's mill ;
John O. is shipping clerk for his father; Catherine
is attending school in Philadelphia; Clarence L.
and E. Frank are living at home ; Minnie and Emma
died when young. In religious connection Mr.
Wohlsen is united with the Lutheran Church, and
has been a member of the vestry for the past twelve
years. Fraternally he holds membership in the I. O.
O. F., the Red Men and the Freemasons, in which
latter he has reached the Knight Templar degree.
His political sympathy is with the Republican party.
He was appointed by the court to the board of park
commissioners.
P. Harry Wohlsen was reared and educated in
his native city, and at an early age commenced
working with his father in the planing-mill, in
which all his business career has been passed. When
a young man he took a course at business college,
attending until he was eighteen, at which time he
was made superintendent in the mill, a position in
which he was retained until January, 1901, when he
went into business with his father, having ably
demonstrated his ability and fitness.
On Sept. 26, 1901, Mr. Wohlsen was united in
marriage with Miss Catherine Shaub, daughter of
Samuel C. and Elizabeth Shaub, of Lancaster, where
the wedding was celebrated. He is a member of
Trinity Lutheran Church, and socially is connected
with the Masonic fraternity. His political support
is given to the Republican party. As a well-bal-
anced, industrious young man, full of energy and
business "go," Mr. Wohlsen holds an enviable
place among the younger men in the business cir-
cles of Lancaster county.
REV. SANFORD B. LANDTS, a zealous and
popular minister of the Mennonite Church, is as
yet a young man, in the full vigor of life's prime,
having been born in Leacock township, Lancaster
county, Aug. i, 1867. His family is one of the old-
est, best known and most esteemed of that bailiwick,
and he himself is one of the« most popular and
respected members of his community. His grand-
father, Benjamin Landis, married Mary Buck-
waiter.
Jacob Landis, father of Sanford B., was born
in the township of Upper Leacock in 1840, and fol-
lowed the vocation of a farmer until twelve years
after his marriage, when he removed to Philadel-
phia and engaged in the business of a commission
merchant. He was successful in this venture, and
continued in the same line of trade until his death,
which occurred Feb. 6, 1890. In 1859 he married
Mary Bender, and to this union came three daugh-
ters and two sons: Nettie, Emma, Ida, Theodore
and Sanford B. All the daughters are married,
Nettie to Aaron D. Landis, Emma to Harry L.
Sheaflfer, and Ida to Abram Landis. Theodore, on
reaching manhood, became associated with his
father in business, and is still a commission mer-
chant in Philadelphia.
Sanford B. Landis enjoyed in youth only the
rather limited educational advantages afforded by
the common schools, but he improved them to the
utmost. Naturally fond of study, he devoted every
spare hour to adding to the store of knowledge ob-
tained at school, and throughout life he has been a
constant, thoughtful and critical reader. He is
also fond of cultivating the soil, in which vocation
he has been exceedingly successful, owning a choice
farm in the eastern part of East Lampeter township,
which he has highly improved. In 1896 he was
chosen and ordained to the Mennonite ministry, and
he has since officiated in the Mellinger and Stump-
town districts, where his devoted spirit, kindly dispo-
sition and broad charity have made him honored by
the community, and best loved by those who know
him best.
On Jan. 24, 1892, Sanford B. Landis married
Miss Nora Landis, daughter of Adam and Lavinia
Landis. 'ihree children have been born to them,
Edna May, John Ellis and Elma.
BENJAMIN OWEN BRACKBILL (de-'
ceased V A man of quiet manners yet forceful in
his influence upon the community in which he lived
until cut off by an untimely death, was Benjarnin
Owen Brackbill, a representative of a sterling old
Lancaster county family, a life long farmer and a cit-
izen who won the esteem and good will of his many
acquaintances. He was born in Paradise township,
Lancaster county, Sept. 19, 1848, son of Benjamin
and Susan (Howry) Brackbill. He was reared
in Paradise township, where members of his
father's family still reside, attending the district
schools, and in the serenity of agricultural life de-
veloping a character of strength and of many lov-
able traits. He was married in the Mennonite
Church of Salisbury township, Nov. 5, 1878, to
Miss Anna Martin, whose ancestors were old and
prominent pioneers of the county. She was born
in Salisbury township Aug. 14, 1853, daughter of
Joseph and Mattie (Oberholtzer) Martin, natives,
respectively, of Salisbury and Warwick townships,
and the granddaughter of Abraham and
(Hurst) Martin, prominent farmers of Lancaster
county, and of Samuel and Martha Oberholtzer,
also farmers of Lancaster county. Abraham Mar-
tin, the paternal grandfather, was twice married,
his second wife having been Anna Hostetter.
Joseph Martin, the father of Mrs. Brackbilll, was
born in 1822, and was a life long farmer. He died
in September, 1900, aged seventy-eight years, and
was buried in the old Mennonite cemetery near Far-
mersville. His wife, Mattie, died in 1869, aged
forty-one years, and was buried in Hershey's ceme-
tery. They were devout members of the Mennonite
Church. To Joseph and Mattie Martin were born
the following children: Elizabeth, who married
John Keener, a farmer near Strasburg ; Magdalena,
who married Elam Landis, and is now deceased;
Anna, wife of Mr. Brackbill ; Samuel, who resides
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
875
on the old homestead in Salisbury; Abraham, de-
ceased; Henry, deceased; Isaac, deceased; Joseph,
deceased; and David, deceased. Joseph Martin,
the father, was twice married, his second wife hav-
ing been Catherine Oberholtzer, a sister of his first
wife. To this second marriage was born one child,
Susannah, who died young.
To Benjamin O. and Anna (Martin) Brackbill
were born children as follows: Martin, a book-
keeper at Lancaster; Edith S. ; Abraham B., a
student at Millersville State Normal School; Isaac
D. ; Mary E. ; Joseph E. ; and Moses A. Benjamin
Owen Brackbill settled upon the farm of eighty
acres in Salisbury township, which he continued to
occupy until his death Sept. 26, 1896. He was
buried in the Old Hershey Mennonite Church ceme-
tery in Salisbury township. He was a consistent
member of the Mennonite Church, to which faith
. his surviving family adheres. In politics he was a
Republican. Aided by the worthy efforts of his de-
voted wife he made a success of the farm and was
regarded as a prosperous and enterprising agricul-
turist. His widow survives, and is highly respected
for her womanly qualities and her devotion to home
and children.
JACOB L. BRISON, of Columbia, is of Irish
ancestry. His grandfather, William Brison, came
to this country in 1773, settling in Lancaster county.
He was a farmer, hale and robust, and lived to the
extraordinary age of ninety-four.
William Brison, father of Jacob L., a farmer,
was born in Paradise township, as was also his wife,
Martha Harsh, whose father, Jacob, was a veter-
inary surgeon. Mr. and Mrs. William Brison re-
moved from Paradise to Bart township in 1848.
There, in 1852, the wife died, at the age of thirty-
two. Pie survived her forty-five years, passing away
in 1897, in Strasburg, after passing his eighty-fifth
milestone. Both rest in New Holland cemetery.
Their seven children were named : Mary E., Jacob
L., James, Martha E., Amanda, Louis and Win-
field. Mary E. and James are deceased. Martha
E. is the wife of Fred Stively, a farmer of Stras-
burg township. Amanda is unmarried, and lives
in Lancaster. Louis is a successful physician of
Paradise, and Winfield holds a responsible position
in connection with the railroad repair department at
Quarryyille.
Jacob L. Brison grew up on his father's farm,
and in 1876 began life's battle on his own account.
Going to Columbia, he worked for three years for the
Pennsylvania road as brakeman. He spent three
and a half years in the position of fireman, and was
then placed in charge of an engine. He is still in
the company's service in that capacity, his experi-
ence, fidelity and capability standing him in good
stead. He is a Republican in politics, and, through
his natural intelligence and ready grasp of public
questions, has won for himself the sincere esteem
of all who know him.
Mr. Brison married, in October, 1869, Susan
Huber, of Quarryville, who was born in Providence
township March 21, 1850. Her parents were Henry
S. and Fanny Barr Huber. Mr. Huber was a far-
mer, and died in 1887, at the age of sixty-five, his
wife passing away in 1856, in her forty-first year.
Mrs. Brison was their fourth child. After her
mother's death her father married Anna Barr, by
whom he was the father of one child, Mary E., who
died in childhood. Of the brothers and sisters of
Mrs. Brison, Christianna, died in infancy; Anna
married Amos Groff, whose biography may be
found elsewhere; Elam is a shoemaker in New
Providence; Christian is a farmer; Fanny died be-
fore reaching womanhood.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Brison has been
blessed with a daughter and two sons. Anna, the
eldest child, married Willard P. Lindermuth, of
York, a railway brakeman. Charles M. is foreman
of the Grey Iron Works, and married Mary Spong.
William H., the youngest son, lives at home.
JOHN GRADY. Conspicuous among the busi-
ness men of Marietta, Pa., where he conducts a suc-
cessful livery business and is identified with much
of the commercial and public life of the town, is
John Grady, a son of Adam and Catherine (Hel-
wick) Grady, born Nov. 7, 1840.
Adam Grady was a native of Hessen Cassel,
Germany, where . he married Catherine Helwick,
and in 1839 brought his family to America, settHng
in Marietta, where he lived a busy life as a laborer,
always doing his full duty until his death, in 1888,
at the age of eighty-one; his faithful wife passed
away two months previously, at the age of seventy-
nine. Both had been consistent members of the
Reformed Church. They reared these children,
only two of whom survive: Catherine; John, the
subject of this biography; Harry C, who served in
the Civil war, and is now in the tobacco business,
in Marietta; Anna, who married Christian Troub;
and Frederick.
John Grady was reared in Marietta, where he
attended school and worked in the surrounding
farming region until the outbreak of the Civil war,
when he entered the army as a wagon master, be-
ing sent first to Harrisburg, later to Hagerstown,
Md., and then with his train followed the Army of
the Potomac, continuing to be thus engaged until
T863. At this date he enlisted as a private in Co.
K, iqgth P. V. I., and remained until the close of
the war, faithfully serving his country, and was
honorably discharged and mustered out, near Rich-
mond, Virginia.
After the close of the war, Mr. Grady returned
to his home and took up peaceful pursuits, finally
becoming interested in tobacco culture, in which
he was eminently successful, and he remained in this
business until 1885, when he opened up a first-class
livery establishment.
Mr. Grady was first married in 1866, in Mari-
876
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
etta, to Miss Mary A. Hartman, and the children
born to this union are; Charles A., who married
Mary C. Heidler, is a representative of the Penn-
sylvania Construction Co. ; and Tillie A. married
Elmer E. Paules, manager of the livery business,
in Marietta. The mother of these children was born
in Marietta, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth
(Ockard) Plartman, of Lancaster county, and died
in 1888. The second marriage of Mr. Grady was
in Maytown, in 1892, to Mrs. Lucinda (Sherbahn)
Shafner, a daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Reiff)
Sherbahn, of Maytown, where the former was a
brick manufacturer. Mr. Sherbahn died in 1865 at
the age of fifty-five, while his wife survived until
1876, and both were interred in the Reformed ceme-
tery in Maytown ; the former had lived a consistent
life as a member of the M. E. Church, and the latter
of the Reformed Church. Their children were:
Margaret; Lucinda; Horace, of Nebraska; Abra-
ham, of Michigan; Benjamin, of Ohio; Albert, of
Nebraska; Anna, who married Albert Collins, of
Danville, 111. ; William, deceased ; and John, of Ne-
braska, almost all of the sons being engaged in the
brick business.
The first marriage of Mrs. Grady was to Jere-
miah Shafner, a native of Maytown, where he car-
ried on a tailoring business for a number of years,
although he was retired from active life at the time
of his death.
Mr. Grady has ever been identified with the in-
terests of the village in which he resides. In politics
he is an Independent, and efficiently served East
Donegal township as supervisor for seven terms,
and also one term as tax collector. His fraternal
connections are with the O. U. A. M., the M. C,
the I. O. R. M., the G. A. R. in all of which organi-
zations he is justly popular, and he is a worthy mem-
ber of the Reformed Church. In the community,
Mr. Grady's standing is high, and he is generally
recognized as one of the representative citizens of
his town.
DR. DORATHEA JOHANNA LOUISA
GRASNICK, widely known among the better peo-
ple of Lancaster county, has done much to relieve
physical suffering in her community. Her maiden
name was Paschke, and her parents lived in Berlin,
Germany, where she was born. Her grandparents
were farmers. Anton Paschke, Dr. Grasnick's
father, has been a locomotive engineer on the
Emperor's railway, running out of Berlin, for over
forty years, and received a reward from the
Emperor at the end of thirty-six years of continu-
ous service on that line. Her only brother, August
Paschke, is a machinist; and her only sister is the
wife of Karl Schonert, a candelabra manufacturer,
formerly of Berlin, but both now living in
Lancaster.
Mrs. Grasnick was educated in private schools
in Berlin, and then attended the high school in that
grand old city, finally taking special studies in medi-
cine in a Berlin institute, and receiving her diploma.
She married Hugo Grasnick, who is a graduated
electrician, and their two 'sons are; George F., a
drug clerk, who married Anna Elizabeth Warner,
and lives in Atlantic City ; and Erich, a young man
of nineteen, who is still pursuing his studies.
Mrs. Grasnick arrived in America April 12,
1893, coming directly to Lancaster, where she has
been practicing her profession with great success.
Her success has been marvelous, and her services
are much sought for among the ladies of this city,
as her treatment of physical ailments to which she
devotes her attention is successful far beyond the
ordinary. No woman in the city is more respected,
and her gentle manners have made her welcome
everywhere; while in the sick room she inspires,
confidence and hope.
Mrs. Grasnick is a consistent member of the
Lutheran Church, and is greatly esteemed by a
large circle of clients among whom she numbers
many of the most prominent ladies of the city.
GUY L. ALEXANDER, M. D., physician to
the County Hospital and Insane Asylum a.t Lan-
caster, Pa., was born at White Rock, in Little
Britain township, Lancaster Co., Pa., Oct. 13, 1871,
son of Vincent K. and Harriet E. (Levis) Alexan-
der, natives of Colerain township, Lancaster county,
and Cecil county, Md., respectively.
Vincent K. Alexander was born in 1844, and in
his early life was a farmer by occupation, but now
resides in Lancaster. In politics he was a Repub-
lican, and always gave liberally of his time and
money toward the support of party issues. He took
an active part in local affairs, serving as county com-
mitteeman of the lower end of the county; deputy
Internal Revenue collector, for four years ; was
school director in the lower part of the county. His
wife was also born in 1844. Both are members of
the Presbyterian Church. Three children were born
to this union ; May Curtis, Norris Day and Guy L.
The paternal grandparents, John and Mary (King)
Alexander, were of Irish birth, and came to this
country in 1814 settling in Lancaster county, Pa.
Here the father engaged in the charcoal iron busi-
ness, and was the pioneer ironmaster of the county
for twenty-one years, until his retirement.
Dr. Alexander was reared upon a farm, attend-
ing the schools of his district until he was seventeen
years of age, when he went west to Omaha, where
he was in the employ of the county surveyor for two
years. About this time many were going, to Port-
land, Oregon, with the belief that there was plenty
of money to be made in that city, and Dr. Alexander
was one of those who made the trip. Arriving in the
city, he entered the employ of the Evening Telegram,
a new paper, as assistant cashier, remaining in that
capacity for three years'. During all of this time Dr.
Alexander had been attracted toward the medical
profession, and at the expiration of his three years
in Portland he returned to the State of his birth,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
877
and entered the Medical Department of the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, being graduated from that
institution in the class of- 1898. Immediately after
graduating Dr. Alexander began practice at the
Buck, in Lancaster county, continuing there three
years. In 1901 he located in Lancaster, where he
opened an office, and accepted the appointment of
physician to the County Hospital and Insane Asy-
lum, in which capacity he is showing great ability
and skill, treating the tmfortunate ones tmder his
care. Although young in his profession. Dr. Alex-
ander is recognized as a physician of ability, and his
general practice is steadily increasing. In politics,
like his father. Dr. Alexander is a Republican, and
is interested in local matters. His religious connec-
tions are with the Presbyterian Church, in which
body, as in society generally, he is very popular.
JOHN S. BLANK, one of the leading and thor-
oughly representative citizens of Earl township, Lan-
caster county, was born in Leacock township July
27, 1844, a son of Jacob and Maria (Stoltzfus)
Blank.
John S. Blank was reared on the farm, receiving
his education in the public schools. As there was
much work to be done on the farm, and the school
house a long way from his home, the schooling which
Mr. Blank received in his youthful days was limited.
He is a good reader, and has been a close observer of
the life .iround him, so that he has the most practical
of all educations, that worked out in the great school
of life, with experience for a task-master. When he
was about twenty-nine years old Mr. Blank began
farming operations for himself, locating on a farm in
Earl township, which became his by right of owner-
ship in 1871, and where he still keeps his home. It
lies about a mile north of New Holland, contains
eighty-six acres, and is regarded as one of the fine
farms of the county. Here he has made many valu-
able improvements, and has thoroughly improved
and modernized his residence. The appearance of
the place indicates thrift and industry, an impression
which is strengthened by closer acquaintance with
the good people who make their home here. He is
one of the successful farmers of the county, and owns
two other places in Salisbury township.
Mr. Blank was married in Leacock township,
Feb. 24, 1874, to Miss Fannie Renno, a daughter of
• Jacob and Fannie (Fisher) Renno, born in Leacock
township, Aug. 27, 1855. Mr. and Mrs. Blank have
the following children : (t) Jacob R., who was born
July 14, 1877, married Katie Stoltzfus, and is a
farmer in Upper Leacock township, living on a
twelve-acre farm belonging to his father; (2) Mary
R., born June 8, 1881, is the wife of Ezra Zook, and
lives on the old homestead with her father, Mr. Zook
farming the land ; (3) Fannie R., born Nov. 2, 1884,
is at home; (4) Daniel S. was born April 14, 1890.
Mr. and Mrs. Blank are thoroughly upright and
honorable people, and are highly respected by all who
know them. They are members of the Amish
Church, and their influence is pronounced for all
good and true measures that look to the improve-
ment of the community in which they live.
ISAAC B. GOOD. Many lines of trade are suc-
cessfully pursued in the thriving little borough of
Ephrata, Lancaster county, all of them requiring
close attention and energetic methods. Among those
who have succeeded admirably on account of his
honest and- energetic management is Isaac B. Good,
who is a manufacturer of cigars and also the pro-
]jrietor of a shirt manufacturing establishment.
Isaac B. Good was born Jan. 22, 1861, a son of
Joseph and Louisa(Warlow)Good, of Pequea town-
ship. Joseph Good was a carpenter by trade, fol-
lowing that occupation all his life, and died in 1877,
at the age of forty-three. In 185 1 he married Louisa
Warlow, who survives him, and resides in Philadel-
phia, and to them were born children as follows:
Amos, deceased; Mary, deceased; Susanna, wife of
John Hummell, of Philadelphia; Enos, of Farmers-
ville ; William, a cigarmaker, of Philadelphia ; Isaac
B; ; George, who died in infancy ; Charles, foreman
in a cigar shop in Reading, Pa. ; Henry, residing in
Ephrata ; and Albert, a patternmaker in the rolling
mills of Reading.
Although Isaac B. Good has made so successful a
manufacturer, he was reared on a farm, and remained
there until the age of twenty-two, receiving his edu-
cation in the common schools of his district. Until
1893 he worked as a cigarmaker, and then opened up
business for himself in that line, proving his business
ability and succeeding so well that in 1894 he entered
into the manufacture of shirts. Though his means
were very limited at first, by the practice of economy
and diligence he has accumulated considerable prop-
erty, owning three valuable houses and lots in Eph-
rata, in addition to other possessions.
Mr. Good was married July 14, 1884, to Miss
Salinda Bowman, of Ephrata, a daughter of John L.
Bowman, of Reading, Pa., and to this union one
daughter has come, Katie F., born April 21, 1895.
Mrs. Good was born Nov. 27, 1863. In politics Mr.
Good is a Democrat, but he is not an office seeker,
being occupied with his flourishing business. Pos-
sessing the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens,
Mr. Good may be justly regarded as one of the rep-
resentative business men of Ephrata' borough.
PETER Y. FOLTZ, a resident of Terre Hill,
Lancaster county, is a worthy representative of an
old and honored family in the community in which
his industrious and useful life is passing. He was
born near Center Church, in East Earl township,
March 29, 1853, being a son of Squire Samuel B.
and Mary (Yohn) Foltz, both of whom are now liv-
ing in Terre Hill.
Peter Y. Foltz was reared on the family home-
stead in Terre Hill, and was aflforded his education
in the public schools. When he was twenty-one
years of age he set himself to learning the carpenter
878
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
trade in East Earl township under J. W. Horst, and
for the ensuing thirteen years was engaged in this
work, a part of this time being associated with Mr.
Horst as a partner in the building business. The
Terre Hill school house stands as a monument to his
constructive ability and honest dealing. After thir-
teen years as a carpenter Mr. Foltz took up teaming
in Terre Hill, and has since been engaged in that
occupation, all the time employing two teams and
part of the time three in his work. The teaming for
the village of Terre Hill is substantially done by him,
as he makes daily trips between that point and East
Earl Station. He owns a farm of twenty-two acres,
and devotes himself to its cultivation, also renting
additional land, and keeping himself busy all the
while. He has done some building for himself in
Terre Hill, and owns a comfortable and attractive
home in the village. Mr. Foltz is an earnest Repub-
lican and an intelligent and thoughtful voter.
Peter Y. Foltz was married, in 1875, to Miss
Emma Coleman, a daughter of Abraham and Caro-
line (Clime) Coleman, and a native of Terre Hill.
They have a family of five children: Abraham, at
home ; Harry, who married Miss Libbie Witmer, and
is a resident of Terre Hill, where they have a family
of two children, Jacob and Tames ; William, who is a
cigarmaker and lives at home; and Samuel and
George, at home. Both Peter Y. Foltz and his wife
are members of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ,
and he is very active in Sunday-school work, being
superintendent of the school, as well as class-leader
and trustee in the church.
JOSEPH B. KERNER was born in Columbia
July 2, 1858, son of John Andrew and Anna Barbara
(Keidesch) Kerner, both of whom were for many
years residents of Columbia. The father was born
in Wittenberg, Germany, in 181 3, son of George
Kerner, a miller, and emigrated to America with his
wife and family in the spring of 1847, settling at
Columbia, where he remained until his death, Aug.
30, 1887, at the age of seventy-four years ; his wife
survived until June, 1895. They were devout and
prominent members of the Lutheran Church. John
A. Kerner had learned from his father the trade of
miller. He followed baking for a time in Columbia,
Lancaster county, later entering the employ of the
Pennsylvania Railway Company, with which he re-
mained until his death. The children of John A. and
Anna Barbara Kerner were John B., of Columbia, a
conductor on the Pennsylvania road; Fredericka,
wife of Daniel Marks, a hotel-keeper at Danville,
Pa. : Andrew, who died in infancy ; Catherine, wife
of Jacob Sample, a telegraph operator of Columbia ;
and Joseph B.
Joseph B. Kerner was reared in Columbia, re-
ceiving a fair common-school education. _ At the age
of twelve years he began an apprenticeship to a con-
fectioner, and followed that trade for ten years. This
term of employment was broken by a three-months
experience in the United States army, Mr. Kerner's
taste leading him to a more active life. After his
discharge, at the expiration of three months, he re-
sumed candy making at Columbia for a time, and
then began his service on the Pennsylvania railroad.
For seventeen years he was employed as brakeman
and flagman, in May, 1893, became an extra con-
ductor, and on Sept. 4, 1899, was appointed regular
conductor, still retaining that position. He met with
an accident Nov. 29, 1899, through which he lost
his right arm.
Mr. Kerner married at Columbia, in 1880, Miss
Lizzie Brown, who was born in Rapho township
Nov. I, 1862, daughter of Harry and Sarah Ann
(Hougendoubler) Brown, and granddaughter of
Joseph Brown, of York county, and of Michael and
Anna (Grann) Hougendoubler, of Lancaster coun-
ty ; her maternal grandfather was a tinner by trade.
Harry Brown, her father, was a carpenter, and in
1867 removed from Newtown, Rapho township, to
Columbia, following his trade until 1876, when he
became a brakeman on the Pennsylvania road. He
was killed on the road at Philadelphia, March 8,
1881, aged forty-four years ; his widow still survives.
To Harry and Sarah A. Brown were born the fol-
lowing named children : Anna, wife of Harry Baker,
a railroad engineer at Harrisburg, Pa. ; Simon, a
freight condtictor, who died Oct. i, 1899; Lizzie;
Isaiah, who died aged eight years ; William S., who
died in infancy; Harry, who died aged sixteen
months; Effie, wife of Charles Miller, a railroad
brakeman at Harrisburg ; and Edward, deceased.
To Joseph B. and Lizzie (Brown) Kerner was
born one child, Catherine A. The wife and mother
died June 26, 1899, and the daughter died Nov. i,
1901, aged nineteen years.
Mr. Kerner was again married, Dec. 25, 1902, to
Miss Sara Harper Adams, who was bom at New
Germantown (Toboyne township). Perry Co., Pa.,
Nov. I, 1874, daughter of Robert C. and Sara
(Yhost) Adams. Her father, Robert C. Adams,
was bom at New Germantown May 4, 1847, and by
occupation is a farmer. Her mother was born at
Duncannon, Perry Co., Pa., April 29, 1853. To Mr.
and Mrs. Adams were born the following children:
Wilson H., of New Germantown, who married Annie
Seager, of the same place ; Sara H. ; Franklin, who
died in infancy; Luemma; Theodore; Alton, who
died in infancy ; Lawrence ; Grace ; Wilmot ; Cloyd ;
Harry; and Earl.
Mr. Kerner is a member of the B. of R. R. T., of
the I. O. O. F., the B. of U., and the Firemen's Re-
lief Association. In politics he is a Republican. He
has proved a most valuable railroad employe and
official, and in both railway and town circles is highly
esteemed for his many good qualities.
MARTIN L. MILLER, a prominent farmer of
Conoy township, Lancaster county, was born Aug.
6, 1846, on the farm where he is now living, son of
David and Anna (Longenecker) Miller. The par-
ents were born in Ephrata and Donegal townships,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
879
respectively, the father on Aug. 3, 1805, the mother
on Feb. 23, 1808. They were married March 5, 1828,
and both died in Conoy township, David Miller on
July 16, 1889, his wife in August, 1894; she was
buried in the cemetery connected with Goods Meet-
ing House, in West Donegal township. They were
members of the Mennonite Church. The father was
an active and hard working farmer until 1875, when
he retired to spend his last days on a small place in
Conoy township. For six years he was a school
director, and he held a good place in the opinion of
his neighbors, who judged him an honorable man of
industry and integrity. He and his wife had the fol-
lowing children: (i) Elizabeth, born March 15,
1829, is the widow of Abraham Martin, of Conoy
township; (2) Frances, born Aug. 18, 1830, married
Henry Metzger, now a retired farmer of Dauphin
county; (3) Anna, born Nov. 25, 1831, is living in
Conoy, unmarried; (4) Christian L., born Feb. 20,
1833, is a retired farmer of Conoy township; (5)
David, born July 16, 1834, is a resident of Mt. Joy,
and his personal history may be found elsewhere ;
(6) John, born May 20, 1836, died at the age of
eleven months; (7) Henry, born March 22, 1838, is
a retired farmer in West Donegal township; (8)
Barbara, born May 16, 1839, married John Erb, a
truck farmer of Dauphin county; (9) Mary, born
Nov. 13, 1840, married Andrew Stoner, a farmer of
Conoy township ; ( ro) Leah, born March 14, 1842,
is the wife of Jacob B. Erb, of Harvey county, Kans. ;
(11) Abraham, born Jan. 23, 1844, is a farmer in
Conoy township; (12) Martin L. is mentioned be-
low; (13) Martha, born Nov. 2, 1849, married Amos
Zimmerman, of York county, Pa., and died in Janu-
ary, 1883 ; (14) Samuel L., born March 14, 1852, is
a farmer in Mt. Joy township.
Ernest Miller, the paternal grandfather of Mar-
tin L., came from Ireland, and his ashes are reposing
in the Hill Church cemetery in Ephrata. The ma-
ternal grandparents. Christian and Fanny (Brene-
man) Longenecker, were residents of Lancaster
county and prominent at an early day in the history
■of their community.
Martin L. Miller has been twice married, the first
time, Sept. 5, 1 871, in Lancaster, to Miss Lizzie Con-
ley. To this union were born: (i) Emma C, who
died in infancy; (2) Phares, a farmer of Conoy
township, who married Emma Kraybill; (3) Ellie,
the wife of Arthur Albright, a cigar maker of York,
Pa. ; and (4) Jacob, who married Lizzie Demmy,
and is a painter in Elizabethtown. Mrs. Lizzie
(Conley) Miller was born in Lancaster county, and
died in' 1877, at the age of twenty-three years, her
ashes being interred in the cemetery connected with
Bossier's Church. She was a daughter of Samuel
and Magdelina (Brubaker) Conley, of Lancaster
county. The second marriage of Martin L. Miller
occurred Sept. 5, 1878, at the home of his wife's par-
ents, in Fairview township, York Co., Pa., when
Miss Elizabeth Zimmerman became his wife. To
this union have been born the following named chil-
dren: Samuel Z., David Z., Martin Z., Ira Z. and
Irvin (twins), Levi Z., Anna Z., Reuben Z., Lizzie Z.,
Benjamin Z. and Frances Z. All are at home except
Irvin, who is deceased.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Zimmerman) Miller was born
in Fairview township, York county, Nov. 18, 1852,
a daughter of Peter and Barbara (Hess) Zimmer-
man, natives of Lancaster and York counties, re-
spectively. Both her parents died in Fairview town-
ship, where her father was a farmer, he having set-
tled in York county as early as 1820. He passed
away Sept. 14, 1874, at the age of seventy-two years,
eight months and nine days, and the mother died
June 27, 1896, at the advanced age of eighty-three
years, having been born March 30, 1813 ; they were
buried in the Slate Hill Church cemetery in Cum-
berland county. Both were members of the Men-
nonite Church. Their children were : (i) Samuel,
who is a retired farmer in Dauphin county; (2)
Christian, of York; (3) Amos, a farmer of York
county; (4) David (deceased); (5) Benjamin, a
bishop of the Mennonite Church, who is a farmer in
Cumberland county; and (6) Elizabeth, wife of
Martin L. Miller. By his first marriage, to Magde-
lina Weaver, Peter Zimmerman had children as fol-
lows: (i) Moses, who is now a retired farmer in
Illinois ; (2) Henry, a farmer of Cumberland coun-
ty; (3) Esther, who died unmarried, at the age of
twenty-nine years ; (4) Mary, who died at the age
of three years; (5) Peter, a farmer in Cumberland
county; and (6) Magdelina, who died unmarried,
January r, 1902, aged sixty-four years, four months
and seventeen days.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Elizabeth
Miller were Peter and Esther (Martin) Zimmer-
man, both born and reared in Lancaster county.
They died in Cumberland county, whither he moved
in 1819 and engaged in farming. Mrs. Miller's ma-
ternal grandparents were Christ and Lizzie (Mar-
tin) Hess, farming people of Lancaster county.
With the exception of three years following his
marriage, when he was engaged in farming near
Bainbridge, Martin L. Miller has spent his entire
life on the farm where he is now found. He is a
Republican, and with his wife and family belongs to
the Mennonite Church. They are all thoroughly
honorable and upright people, leading good lives
and identified with the best elements of the commun-
ity where their peaceful and industrious lives are
passing.
NEWTON FRANKLIN HALL, whose office
is at No. 37 East Grant street, Lancaster, is one of
the most widely known members of the Lancaster
Bar. He was born in Brecknock township, Lancas-
ter Co., Pa., April 29, t86o, and. after attending
public school for a time went to the State Normal at
Millersville for further study. He taught school
until 1886, beginning this work at the early age of
sixteen. After reading law with J. W. Johnson he
was admitted to practice, in 1886; and to the Su-
880
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
preme court in 1888. He has been a practitioner in
the Superior court from its organization. Mr. Hall
is a Republican in politics, and as a recognition of
his party fealty and services he was elected solicitor
to the board of inspection of the Lancaster County
Prison in 1891, receiving re-election year after year
until he resigned, in May, 1901, to accept the posi-
tion of County Solicitor, to which he was elected by
the county commissioners, to fill a vacancy caused
by the resignation of A. B. Hassler, appointed
county comptroller by Gov. Stone.
On Dec. 20, 1888, Mr. Hall was married to Miss
C. Sue Deem, daughter of the late Kennedy Deem,
a farmer of Salisbury township. One daughter,
Mary Violet, was born to this marriage Dec. 31,
1889. Mr. Hall is a member of the First Reformed
Church. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow and Elk.
He is universally well thought of because of his up-
right, manly bearing and conduct, and has a future
which promises well for himself and family.
WILLIAM OTTERBEIN FRAILEY, propri-
etor of the East End Pharmacy, at the corner of
East King and Shippen streets, Lancaster, is a
descendant of a Revolutionary family, whose history
is closely connected with that of Pennsylvania.
Leonard Frailey, the first ancestor of the family
in America, came from Switzerland in 1750, sailing
from Rotterdam on the ship "Royal Union," and
landing in Philadelphia. This, vessel was com-
manded by Capt. Nicholson, aiid carried 253 male
passengers. Leonard Frailey settled at Overbrook,
on a farm which long remained in the hands of his
descendants.
Peter Frailey, great-grandfather of William O.,
was in his time one of the most prominent men in
Berks county, as shown by the records of the State.
He was elected a member of the General Assembly
in 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801 and 1802, and be-
came register, recorder and clerk of the Orphans'
Court, holding this ofifice from 1802 to 1809. He
was again returned to the Assembly in 1810 and
1812, and was State senator from 18 13 to 1820.
After retiring from public station he was tendered
a reception at Lancaster which amounted to an ova-
tion. His wife was a sister of Gov. Ritter.
Jacob Frailey, grandfather of William O., was
a soldier in the war of 1812. He owned farm lands
at one time in Schuylkill county, in which rich de-
posits of coal were found after he had disposed of
the property. He was married to Mary Troyer, and
to this union were born ten sons and three daughters,
those living at the present time being : Charles R.,
who is an artistic penman; Jacob; Andrew; and
Anne, widow of John Stetter.
Henry L. Frailey, the seventh son of Jacob, was
in early life a school teacher, but in later years en-
tered the real estate business, and was for many
years solicitor, inspector and secretary for the Lan-
caster Home Mutual Fire Insurance Company. For
three terms he was city assessor. He died April 9,
1890. Pie married Frances -Steinecke, who was born
in Saxony, Germany, and who came to this country
with her parents when she was only six years old.
William O. Frailey, son of Henry L., was born
in Lancaster, and was educated in the city schools.
After he had completed the high school course he
became an apprentice to the drug business with W.
T. Wiley, with whom he remained four years, and
then became a student of the College of Pharmacy,
in Philadelphia, from which he was graduated with
honor. Returning to Lancaster, the young phar-
macist became head clerk for John R. Kauffman,
with whom he remained three years, and then opened
business for himself at his present location. Three
years after he had bought the business he was able
to buy the property, and presently enlarged and re-
modeled the building to fit the needs of a modern and
progressive business. It is now one of the hand-
somest and most desirable drug stands in Lancaster.
Not satisfied with the goods beldnging to the drug
trade, he began manufacturing specialties of his
own, notable among them being a Wine of Iron, a
syrup of Blood Root, Wild Cherry and Hoarhound,
Toothache Drops, a Corn Cure, aromatic essence of
Jamaica ginger, Circassian Cream, Cream of Beauty,
Chilblain and Prickly Heat remedy, a Vermifuge
Syrup, Beef Wine and Iron, Sarsaparilla Com-
pound, a Vegetable Stomach Bitters, Liver Pills,
Kidney Pills, Cream of Camphor, Worm Lozenges,
Antibilious Powders, Benzoine and Glycerine Lo-
tion, Pearl Dentifrice, Occidental Tooth Powder,
Oriental Tooth Powder, a Hair Tonic and an almost
endless list of toilet waters. These are of
his own compounding, discovery and manufacture,
bearing his name. Mr. Frailey also gives special
attention to trusses, fitting them to the most
difficult cases. His standing in the profession
is well attested by the positions he has held
and holds in the various organizations : He is
secretary of the Lancaster Retail Druggists' Associ-
ation, and was its delegate to the National Associa-
tion of Retail Druggists held in Buffalo in 1901, and
in Cleveland in .1902, and at the latter meeting he
was made chairman of the committee on the form of
organization of the National Association. He is
also chairman of the executive committee of the
Pennsylvania State Pharmaceutical Association,
having been elected for two consecutive terms.
Notwithstanding these labors as a part of his calling,
Mr. Frailey is secretarv of the Lancaster Home
Mutual Fire Insurance Company, a position to which
he succeeded at the death of his father, in 1890; is.
also secretary of the Washington National Loan &
Building Association ; and of the Lancaster Real Es-
tate & Improvement Company. Blessed with a fine
voice and a great love for music, Mr. Fra:iley has
been associated from an early age with the leading-
musical organizations in the city, and was a director
for a time of the choir of St. Mary's Catholic
Church. At the present time he is singing in the
choir of the Presbyterian Church, being a member
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
881
of that church, and he has repeatedly contributed his
musical talent for the benefit of worthy charities.
In 1884 Mr. Frailey was married to Miss Eliza-
beth Fredericke Strobe], daughter of Henry Strobel,
a highly respected citizen of Lancaster, who was
born in the Tyrol, Austria. Mrs. Frailey is an
accomplished church organist, having filled that po-
sition at various times in St. Mary's, St. Joseph's
and St. Anthony's Catholic churches, and being still
engaged at the latter. Mr. and Mrs. Frailey have
been blessed with five children, of whom the sur-
vivors are: Henry Edward, William O., Jr., and
Frances Mary Elizabeth. Virginia Edna and
Charles Joseph died in infancy. Mr. Frailey is a
member of the I. O. O. F. and the Royal Arcanum.
Wherever found, he shows himself an earnest and
enthusiastic worker, always ready to help others.
ELWOOD C. WARFEL, the genial and popu-
lar proprietor of the "Sorrel Horse Hotel," in East
Earl township, was born at the "White Horse Ho-
tel," in Salisbury township, this county, Dec. 24,
1856, son of Jacob D. Warfel, auctioneer of New
Holland.
Mr. Warfel was eight years of age when the
family removed to Intercourse, Lancaster county,
where they had their home for four years. The next
two years were spent in Leacock township, and a
short time later Jacob D. Warfel moved to Salisbury
township, still later returning to Leacock township.
He spent one year in West Earl township, but again
returned to Leacock township, and thence moved to
Honeybrook, in Chester county ; it was at that place
that Elwood C. Warfel cast his first vote. His edu-
cation had been obtained in the public schools, and
at the age of twenty-three he married. Following
this event A^r. Warfel engaged in dealing in stock,
and later spent three years in the huckster business.
In 1885 he first made a success of the hotel business,
in Beartown, where he continued to manage an ex-
cellent inn for eight years, at the end of that time
coming to Fetterville and purchasing the "Sorrel
Horse Hotel." Since Mr. Warfel has taken the
management of this hostelry it has become one of
the best regulated houses of rest and entertainment
in the county, its genial and courteous proprietor
being noted for his ability to accommodate his guests
and provide for their comfortable sojourn with him.
When it is remembered how large a proportion of
the representatives of many branches of business
spend the greater part of their lives far from their
own roofs, it can easily be seen how dependent they
are, for* the comforts of home, on the kindness and
care of the hotel-keeper, and how appreciative they
become of the efforts of those who look after their
safety and interests. Therefore Mr. Warfel has a
large and growing patronage.
Mr. Warfel does not confine his energies to look-
ing after his hotel, as he is also engaged in the stock
business, and has a tobacco farm. He takes a deep
interest in all of the progressive movements in his
56
locality, and may always be counted upon to further
all enterprises for the benefit of the community.
Mr. Warfel was married, June 2, 1879, to Miss
Rachel L. Brubaker, who was born Oct. 3, 1861, in
Caernarvon township, Lancaster county, daughter of
Perry and Sarah Brubaker, of Lancaster county. A
family of six children has been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Warfel: Jacob P., Edward F., James C, Vincent,
Flossie L. and Lottie May.
Jacob P. Warfel, the eldest son of Elwood C.
Warfel, was primarily educated in the public schools,
then became a student in the Millersville' Normal
School, and still later attended the University of
Pennsylvania. After one term of teaching in this
county he accepted a position as tracer with the
Gimbel Brothers house, in Philadelphia, and is a
very bright and promising young man. The family
is highly regarded in Lancaster county, and Elwood
C. Warfel is one of its worthy representatives.
ISAAC B. ESBENSHADE, one of the older and
very highly respected residents of Manheim town-
ship, Lancaster county, was born Sept. 15, 1848, on
the old homestead north of Eden, in that county,
where he was reared to farm life and educated in the
public schools. At the age of twenty-five he mar-
ried, and entered into business for himself. His
marriage, which occurred Nov. 26, 1872, was to
Miss Harriet Gross, a daughter of Martin Gross,
who lived in East Hempfield township, and is now
deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Esbenshade located at once
on the farm adjoining the place where they are
found to-day. It contained seventy-five acres, and
was their home until 1900, when they removed to
their present location, one mile north of Lancaster.
By thrift and management, as well as industry and
character, Mr. Esbenshade has become a wealthy
land holder, owning three farms, one containing
seventy acres, another seventy-five, and a third fifty-
three acres. They adjoin, and are regarded as among
the best farms in the county. He also owns a small
property along the Oregon pike, in Manheim town-
ship. Mr. Esbenshade has improved all three places
mentioned, and on the one containing seventy acres
erected a fine bam in 1898. A progressive and en-
ergetic farmer, he keeps fully abreast of the times.
Mr. and Mrs. Esbenshade are the parents of three
children: (i) Martin G., born Dec. 16, 1875, mar-
ried Miss Kate Zeamer, and is the father of one
child, Marie ; he lives on the farm adjoining his fa-
ther's home. (2) Bertha G., born Sept. 5, 1877, is
at home. (3) M. Laura G., born April 15, 1 881, is
at home. Mrs. Esbenshade is a member of the Old
Mennonite Church, and all the family are associ-
ated with the best people of the community. Mr,
Esbenshade is a stanch Republican and takes a deep
interest in party affairs.
J. MARTIN SLAYMAKER, M. D., a prom-
inent and successful physician of Salisbury township,
and one of its most highly esteemed and substantial
882
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
men, was born in 1864, in Paradise township, Lan-
caster county, son of John M. and Elizabeth (Sny-
der) Slaymaker, natives of Williamstown, Paradise
township.
The Slaymaker family is a very old and most
highly respected one in Lancaster county, and was
founded here by five brothers of the name, who
came hither from their home in Strasburg, Ger-
many, after the settlement of this section by William
Penn. These brothers each bought 1000 acres of
land and a part of this land was contained in the
present site of the prosperous town of Williams-
town, Paradise township, of which this family hold
.deed from William Penn.
John M. Slaymaker, the father of our subject,
was born in Williamstown, and resided in Paradise
township all his life, his death occurring in 1874,
when he had reached the age of fifty-eight years.
He was interred in the cemetery connected with the
Leacock Presbyterian Church, in Paradise town-
ship. Mr. Slaymaker was a man of large means and
much prominence in his township. As a farmer he
was regarded as one of the best in his locality, and
he owned three of the finest farms in the township,
while as a man of iniiuence in social and political
life, he was known beyond his own neighborhood.
For a long period he was an active politician, and
was- attached to the Know Nothing party, but never
accepted any political office. His connection with the
Underground railway and assistance given to escap,-
ing slaves, was never concealed, he being a man who
boldly followed his convictions of right. In his
earlier days he belonged to the Presbyterian Church,
but at the time of his death belonged to the commun-
ion of the Episcopal Church. John M. Slaymaker
was a son of Mathias and Rebecca (Ferree) Slay-
maker, the former of whom was an extensive farmer
in Paradise township. These parents died in their
old home and lie at rest in the old Presbyterian cem-
etery in Paradise township.
John M. Slaymaker was married (first) about
1850, to Miss Emma H. Jack, and the daughter
born to this union was Emma, who married Silas
K. Eshleman, who is a retired farmer of Leaman
Place, Pa. Mrs. Slaymaker died soon after the
birth of her daughter. Mr. Slaymaker was married
(second) in 1856, to Miss Elizabeth Snyder, born in
Paradise township. The children born to this union
were as follows : Elizabeth, who married Dr. Ira
Gabbert, graduate of the Literary College of Mis-
souri, and of Jefferson Medical College, and who is
now located at Caldwell, Kans. ; Sarah R., who mar-
ried Charles F. Diller, of Lancaster, foimder of the
Peerless Emery Wheel Works ; James, who died
in young manhood from the effects of typhoid fever ;
Dr. John Martin, our subject; Anna M., who mar-
ried George W. Himes, a prominent and wealthy
resident of Shippensburg, director of one of the
banks and connected with many of the industries
of that city; Misses Martha J. and Mary M., at
home ; and Samuel F., who resides with his family
in Philadelphia, where he is engaged in a general
grocery business.
Dr. John Mairtin Slaymaker was reared on the
old homestead at Williamstown, in Paradise town-
ship, until the age of fifteen years. He attended
the district schools until that time, and then spent
three years as a student at the Lehigh Literary
Academy. Resolving to adopt the profession of
medicine, at the age of seventeen he came to Lan-
caster and began his medical reading under Dr. Car-
penter, who prepared him for entrance into Jefferson
Medical College, from which he graduated when
but twenty-two years of age. Dr. Slaymaker lo-
cated at Gap, and almost immediately acquired a
large practice which has continued to increase in
volume and importance ever since. He was ap-
pointed P. Pv. R. Surgeon at Gap in 1888. He is
one of the. most popular as well as successful phy-
sicians in this part of the county, and is so fully
occupied with the demands of the public, that he
finds little leisure for anything else, although he is
a large landowners, also, in the township. Dr. Slay-
maker is surrounded with the comforts of life and
resides, in a handsome brick residence which he
had built and fitted up in elegant style. Five years
after his location in the village. Dr. Slaymaker was
joined by his mother and sisters, they leaving the
old farm in 1888. The family is one of social prom-
inence in Gap and every member is held in the high-
est esteem.
Dr. Slaymaker is a stanch Republican, but his
professional duties give him no time to accept public
office although he is unusually well qualified to do
so. He belongs to the county and State medical
societies. With his mother and sisters, the Doctor
belongs to the Episcopal Church, of which they are
liberal supporters.
JACOB B. KELLER. Among the old and hon-
ored families who have made Lancaster county what
it is, the name of Keller has considerable prominence.
The founder of the family in the United States was
Jacob Keller, who was born Nov. 14, 1706, and who
came to America from Canton Basel, Switzerland,
between 1725 and 1730. He purchased, May 7, 1730,
a tract of land which now is included in Ephrata
township, from John, Thomas and Richard Penn,
sons of William Penn. He was a Seventh Day Bap-
tist in religion. His death occurred March 10, 1794,
and his remains were buried in Cloister cemetery.
His wife, born Feb. 2, T708, died May 24, 1787. At
his death Jacob Keller left three sons, one- of whom,
Jacob, retained the homestead ; Sebastian Ideated in
Elizabethtown ; and the third in the State of Vir-
ginia.
Jacob Keller (2), was born on the old homestead
at Springville, CocaUco township, at the head of
Trout creek, Feb. 15, 1733, and died Aug. 20, 1804;
his wife, Barbara (Landes) Keller, who was born
July 3, 1736, died March 18, 1818, and both of them
rest in the old homestead cemetery. Of their chil-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
888
dren, Jacob is mentioned below ; Samuel, born May
24, 1763, was a miller at Keller's mill, in Cocalico
township, and died Jan. 5, 1848, and John, bOrn
Aug. 30, 1766, located near Lititz, and died April
26, 1850.
Jacob Keller (3) was born on the old homestead,
Sept. 14, 1761, and died April 12, 1830; his wife,
Barbara (Huber) Keller, born in 1764, died in 1794.
Her sister, who became his second wife, was born
Nov. 13, 1766, and died Dec. 14, 1849. He was the
father of five sons and three daughters : ( i ) John,
born Aug. 6, 1784, died July 27, 1875. He married
first a Miss Hershberger, and second a Miss Zent-
myer, and his children were, Lydia, Salome, John
H., Daniel, Jacob H., Leah, Michael, Samuel, Eliza-
beth, Henry and Mary. . (2) Jacob, born Nov. 30,
1786, located at Springville, and died Aug. 14, 1841.
He married Elizabeth Shirk, who was born Feb. 23,
1790, and died Feb. 6, 1872. (3) Samuel, born Aug.
7, 1791, died Feb. 27, 1855. His first wife Magda-
lena'Erb, born June 11, 1794, died Oct. 5, 1825.
(4) Mary married John Hershberger, and had six
children, Lydia, Jacob, Sally, Henry, Susannah and
Leah. (5) Barbara married David Erb, at Hammer
Creek, and had nine children, Samuel, Reuben,
Ephraim, Israel, David, John, Levi, Elizabeth and
Sallie. (6) Frederick, born Jan. 5, 1794, married
Catharine Gross, had thirteen children, and died
March 17, 1879. (7) Susanna, married Joseph
Shirk and had ten children, Christiana, Leah, Maria,
Sallie, Fianna, Annamahala, Lizzie, Jacob, Joseph
and Reuben. (8) George is mentioned below.
George Keller, the father of the immediate sub-
ject of this biography, was born Oct. 22, 1799, and
died Jan. 15, 1849, aged forty-nine years, two
months and twenty-six days. He was twice mar-
ried ; his first wife belonged to the Long family of
Landis Valley ; his second wife was Christina Bru-
baker, born Nov. 6, 1802, who died April 17, 1842;
both are buried in the old cemetery at Springville.
Of the children in the family of George Keller, the
eldest son George, born in December, 1823, died at
the age of sixty-two, leaving a large family; Jacob
B. ; Leah, born in 1827, married Jacob S. Wissler,
moved to Canton, Ohio, and died, the mother of
seven children, Ezra S., Jacob S., Isaac, and four
daughters ; Susanna married David Mohler, and had
ten children; Elias B., born in 1832, married Re-
becca Hershberger, and had eleven children ; Isaac,
born in 1835, became a German Baptist minister,
married a Miss Rudy, and had eight children; and
Annie, born in 1839, married Aaron Weidman, and
lives at Reading, Pennsylvania.
Jacob B. Keller, a worthy representative of this
old and established family, was born Oct. 31, 1825,
and was the second son of George Keller. Reared
on the farm, one of a large family, he early became
accustomed to the duties of an agricultural life, and
pursued it for a number of years. At school he was
an apt pupil, and finished the common school course
with credit, and then took up the profession of teach-
ing, but in x86o he engaged in the milling business,
six years later removing to Ephrata where he be-
came a contractor and builder, and also dealt ex-
tensively in real estate. A man of more than average
intelligence, Mr. Keller has taken a great interest
in his family ancestry, of which he lias reason to
be justly proud, for few, like him, can look back over
former generations and find the record so universally
in favor of sobriety, uprightness and good citizen-
ship.
On Nov. 6, 1846, Mr. Keller was married to
Miss Rebecca Stupp, a daughter of John and Sarah
(Eckert) Stupp, of Berks county. Pa., and to this
union were born four children : Emrna, born Aug. 11,
1847, who married William K. Seltzer, a prominent
attorney and justice of the peace, in Ephrata town-
ship ; Alice, born Sept. 7, 1862, married B. F. Bair,
a stock-dealer, in Philadelphia ; while Frank and
James died in infancy.
Ever since the administration of President Lin-
coln, Mr. Keller has been an active and ardent Re-
publican, and he exerts a wide influence for his
party in his locality. For many years he has been a
valued and consistent member of the German Bap-
tist Church, where he is one of the most cheerful
supporters of all charitable and benevolent enter-
prises. Although now living a retired life in his
comfortable home in the borough of Ephrata, Mr.
Keller has not permitted his intellectual faculties to
become rusty, as during the year 1898 he compiled
and arranged a neat genealogy of the Keller family
in America, which he notes was prepared for his per-
sonal satisfaction, but which must have required
much study and research, and it is of inestimable
value to all who are permitted to bear the honorable
name.
SOLOMON H. GOOD, a successful farmer
and butcher of Pequea township, and the present
auditor of that township, is actively identified with
various interests in his section of the county, and is
well and favorably known.
Jacob K. Good, his father, was born in Lancas-
ter county about 1S15, and followed farming, dis-
tilling and milling until his death, which occurred
in 1897. He was a Republican in politics, and held
the offices of school director and supervisor for some
time. He married Miss Mary Havistick, daughter
of Jacob Havistick, of Pequea township, and they
had a family of eleven children : Joseph, now de-
ceased ; Susan, wife of Michael Hess, of Manor
township ; John, deceased ; Elizabeth and Mary,
who did not marry; Jacob, of Millersville ; Cath-
erine and Barbara, both unmarried ; Sarah, widow of
William Beshtold ; Abraham, deceased ; and Solo-
mon H.
Solomon H. Good, whose name introduces this
sketch, was born in Pequea township Jan. 21, 1861,
and remained at home until he was about twenty-
seven years of age. He was educated in the com-
mon schools of the county. In 1884. he began the
884
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
butcher business for himself, and has continued
same ever since, together with farming, meeting
with well deserved success in both branches. He
has recently bought the Amos S. Kreider farm, of
seventy-five acres, west of his home place. Like
his father, Mr. Good is a Republican in politics, and
he now holds the office of auditor, discharging the
duties of that office with characteristic fidelity and
a regard for the interests of his community.
C)n Dec. 25, 1887, Mr. Good wedded Miss Eliza-
beth K. Good, daughter of Benjamin and Susan
(Kling) Good, both of Pequea township, and they
have one son, Benjamin Harrison.
H. C. HUBER, a prominent farmer of Provi-
dence township, was born Dec. 19, 1863, son of
Henry and Susan (Charles) Huber, who were
natives of Mart.ic township, Lancaster county.
Henry Huber, father of H. C, was born in 1833,
and died in 1894. He followed farming all his
life in Martic township, where, in 1856, he married
Susan Charles. A family of nine children was born
to this union, as follows : Annie ; Aaron, of Lan-
caster ; PI. C. ; Morris, of Lancaster ; Louisa, wiie
of Albert Eshleman, of Providence township ; Abra-
ham, of Martic township ; John, of Conestoga town-
ship; Benjamin, of Manheim township; and Milton,
of Pequea township. The family is an old one in
Martic township, where Grandfather Abraham
Huber was a well-known farmer in his day. Their
political .connection is with the Republican party. In
religion they are consistent supporters of the Men-
nonite Church.
On Sept. 17,. 1885, H. C. Huber was united in
marriage with Miss Mary Eshleman, daughter of
Eli and Susan (Mack) Eshleman, who had the fol-
lowing children born to them: Martin Mack, of
Martinsville; Daniel, of Drumore; Elizabeth, wife
of Joseph G. Rankin, of Martic township ; Jacob P.,
of Pequea township ; Susan, wife of Chester An-
drews, of Columbia, Pa. ; George, of West Lam-
peter ; Mary, wife of H. C. Huber ; Eli, of Provi-
dence township ; and Lydia, wife of Martin Eshle-
man, of Pequea township. Four children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Huber, namely : Annie, Anna,
and Mary and Harry, twins.
Mr. Huber was reared on the farm, and acquired
his education in the public schools of his district.
His interest in the schools has caused him to consent
to serve as one of the directors in Providence town-
ship. He is one of the most highly respected citizens
of his locality, and is widely known as a man of good
judgment and reliability.
ELMER T. PRIZER, M. D., of Lancaster, has
by his skill and magnetic personality, as well as care-
ful attention to his profession, proved himself an
ideal and successful follower of .^sculapius.
The Prizers came to America from Germany
some time between the years 1720 and 1740, set-
tling in Montgomery county. Pa. Benjamin Prizer,
one of the Doctor's ancestors, engaged in the manu-
facture of flour near Phoenixville, Chester Co., Pa.
There John Prizer, father of Dr. Elmer X-> was
born. He married Plarriet Towers, daughter of
Michael Towers, a contractor of considerable note,
of Spring City, Chester county, and four children
were born to this union, one of whom died in in-
fancy. Those living are Delia, wife of John Deisher,
a furniture dealer in Phoenixville, Pa. ; Lura, wife
of Henry Wells, in the Pennsylvania railroad ser-
vice at Phoenixville ; and Elmer Towers.
Elnier T. Prizer was born Nov. 24, 1867, near
Phoenixville, Chester Co., Pa., and received his edu-
cation in part at Kimber's Academy, at Kimberton,
same county, and in part at the State Normal School
in West Chester, afterward.taking a course in medi-
cine at Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia,
graduating therefrom in 1896. Immediately after
that event the Doctor came to Lancaster, and, open-
ing an off.ce at No. 25 South Prince street (formerly
occupied by Judge Hayes), has since enjoyed a
lucrative practice, having among his patients many
of the representative families of the city and vicinity.
In December, 1896, Dr. Prizer was married to
Miss Jessie Butler, daughter of James Butler, a
retired iron merchant of near West Chester, and
niece of the distinguished Judge Butler. One child,
Rachel, has graced this union. Mrs. Prizer is
descended from one of the oldest and most prom-
inent Quaker families of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Primer is identifie4 with the Presbyterian
Church. Socially he is a member of the Free and
Accepted Masons; of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows; of the Knights of Malta; of the
Knights of the Mystic Circle; and of the Junior
Order of United American Mechanics.
JACOB L. GARBER. Not only is agriculture
the oldest occupation in the world, but it is also the
most important, for upon the failure or success of
the crops of a nation depends its commercial
prestige. Therefore, the calling of a farmer is one
of importance and responsibility, and the progres-
sive agriculturist of to-day is adopting every means
to increase the value of his acres, and in return reaps
large harvests. The latest improved machinery is
used ; new methods of drainage are adopted, and a
regular system of alternation of crops is pursued,
so that each acre may bring forth abundantly-
Among the farmers of this class is Jacob L. Garber,
of East Hempfield township, Lancaster county, who.
was born June 13, 1857, in East Donegal township,
son of Christian S. and Annie (Lindermentt) Gar-
ber, who died in 1882 and 1876, respectively.
Christian S. Garber was a native of West Done-
gal township, but upon his marriage removed to
East Donegal township, where he spent the greater
portion of his remaining years, engaged in farming.
After a useful and successful Hfe, he died, in the
respect and esteem of the entire community. To^
himself and good wife were born seven children:.
J!^ C?4^
^^f^y^.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
885
Mary Ann, deceased, wife of Amos Hustand;
Jacob L., of East Hempfield township ; John L.,
residing in West Donegal township; EH L., resid-
ing in Lititz, engaged in the creamery business;
Barbara, wife of John Hess, of Manheim township ;
Katie, wife of Enos Hess, of Roseville, Lancaster
county ; and Christian, deceased. The reUgious con-
nection of the parents was with the Old Mennonite
Church.
Jacob L. Garber was reared upon the farm, and
received his education in the public schools of his
district. When he reached the age of twenty-three
the young man resolved to see something of the out-
side world, and made a trip West, where he remained
six months, and ujjon his return to Lancaster county
he married and located upon the farm he now owns,
renting it for two years. At the expiration of this
time he removed to Penn township and purchased
a farm of eighty-six acres, remaining there for seven
years. In 1890, the farm he had rented previously
coming on the market, he purchased it, and has
since carried on general farming, developing the
property, which contains ninety-seven acres, until
it is one of the finest farms in the county.
In t88i Mr. Garber married Lizzie Buckwalter,
a daughter of Joseph Buckwalter, and eight chil-
dren have been born to them : Harry B., born July
28, 1882 ; Annie May, Feb. 5, 1883 ; Alvin B., Oct.
6, 1885 ; Jo.seph B., Feb. 23, 1887 ; Lizzie, June 27,
1895 ; Ella' and Jacob, twins, May 18, 1897 ; and
Christian, May 7, 1899.
Both Jacob L. Garber and his wife are consistent
members of the Old Mennonite Church. They are
very worthy people, whose popularity in East Hemp-
field is well deserved, as they possess many admir-
able qualities, which have made for them hosts of
friends.
CHRISTIAN B. MILLER is a grandson of
Christian Miller, who was born and reared in Lan-
caster county, owned a 190-acre farm in Conestoga
township, and followed farming all his life. He
was a member of the Old Mennonite Church. He
married Elizabeth Kendig, of Strasburg township,
and they became the parents of seven children:
Abraham, father of Christian B. ; Christian K., of
Conestoga township ; Susan, wife of John Frantz,
of Manor; Amos, of Conestoga; Abner, of Cones-
toga; Martha, wife of John Nestleroth, of Manor;
and John, of Conestoga.
Abraham Miller, father of Christian B., was
born in Conestoga township, and lived there until
he was about twenty-two or twenty-three years old,
when he married Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob
Buckwalter, of Manor township. Removing to near
Millersville, in Manor township, he there engaged
in farming until he was sixty years old, when he
entered the mercantile business, following same for
eight years, after which he retired from active life.
Both he and his wife were members of the Old Men-
nonite Church. He was always a Republican, held
the office of school director for a number of years,
and was for a long time auditor of the township.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller had the following children:
Amos B., Jacob B. and Abram B., all of 'Manor
township; Christian B., whose name opens this
sketch : and Martha, wife of Abram F. Witmer, of
Manor township.
Christian B. Miller was born June 3, 1847, in
Manor township, and when he was two years old
moved to Conestoga township to live with his grand-
parents, remaining with them until he was fourteen,
when he returned to his father's home in Manor
township. He received his education in the public
schools. Mr. Miller resided with his parents until
he was twenty-one years old, when, on Nov. 10,
1868, he married Miss Lizzie, daughter of Andrew
Zercher, of Conestoga township. Soon afterward
he began farming for himself, living four years on
his uncle's farm in Conestoga, after which he moved
to the farm where he has since resided, and which
at that time belonged to his father-in-law, Andrew
Zercher. He purchased it in 1876, and has since
given his entire time to its management. The farm
consists of 109 acres, near the center of Conestoga
township, one of the best in the neighborhood, and
he has recently built one of the finest barns in the
vicinity. He is recognized by all as one of the pros-
perous men .of his community.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of eight
children: Myra J., wife of Benjamin F. Kendig,
of Manor township; Anna M.; Jacob Z., who was
married Jan. 16, 1902, to Ella Wissler, of Manor
township, and lives at home ; Landis L., who was
married Nov. 28, 1901, to Katie Frey, of Manor
township, and lives at Creswell ; Lizzie B., who was
married Nov. 20, 1902, to Ezra E. Wolgemuth, of
Mt. Joy township, and resides there; Harry J.,
who was drowned in a spring on the place, when
two years old; and Mary J. and Cora E., at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller, and three of their children,
are members of the River Brethren Church. Mr.
Miller was ordained a minister in that faith in 1889,
by Rev. Jacob N. Graybill, and since his ordination
has officiated at the Pequea Church.
JOHN FLICKINGER is proprietor of the
Flickinger Mills, built by John Miller in 1801, and
located on Mill creek, in Leacock township, twelve
miles from Lancaster. They are operated at the
present time by both steam and water power.
Mr. Flickinger was born Sept. 6, 1861, on the
place where he is found to-day, son of William and
Caroline (Moore) Flickinger, who were married
in August, 1852. The father was born in East
Cocalico township, this county, and the mother in
Berks county. William Flickinger was engaged in
the milling business from his early boyhood, and in
1856 located at the Flickinger Mills, where he spent
the remainder of his life. He was born Feb. 2,
1828, and died Feb. 26, 1899. His wife was born
Nov. 24, 1831, and died April 8, 1885. Both were
886
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
buried in Roland's cemetery. They were members
of the Reformed Church. Mr. and Mrs. Flickinger
had the following family: (j) Richard, who died
at the age of twenty-four years, was a miller by vo-
cation, and operated his father's mill No. 2, formerly
known as Eckert's mill, in Leacock township; he
had conducted the mill but one year at the time of
his death. (2) Katie married J. D. Bair, formerly
a merchant of Leacock township, now a resident of
New Holland. (3) John is mentioned below.
Richard and Anna (Zeigler) Flickinger were
the paternal grandparents of John Flickinger. He
was a drover, and died in East Cocalico township,
and he is buried at Adamstown. The maternal
grandparents of Mr. Flickinger were Jacob and
Catherine (Switzer) Moore, both of Berks county,
where he was engaged in farming and milling.
John Flickinger and M. Elizabeth Evans were
married Dec. 29, 1886. She is a daughter of John
and Rachel (Overly) Evans, and was born in
Honeybrook, Chester Co., Pa., in 1864. To this
union have been born W. Gordon and J. Harold.
Mr. Evans was a. blacksmith, was married in Lan-
caster county, and settled at Honeybrook, where he
died in 1892, at the age of sixty-five; his remains
rest in the Honeybrook cemetery. His widow, who
was born in 1829, is still living, and has her home in
Honeybrook. They had the following family : '( i )
Margaret .married William Moore, of Upper Lea-
cock township. (2) M. Elizabeth is the wife of
John Flickinger. (3) Amos W. is an undertaker
in San Francisco. (4) A. Barton is a manufacturer
of springs in Philadelphia. The paternal grand-
parents of Mrs. Flickinger were Adam and Eliza-
beth (Trego) Evans, and her maternal grand-
parents were Samuel and Margaret (Plank) Overly.
Mr. Flickinger lived with his parents until his
marriage. He belongs to the Reformed Church,
and is one of the leading and influential citizens of
the community.
DAVID F. ESHLEMAN, a leading and repre-
sentative farmer of Manor township, was born in
the village of Creswell, that township, April 11,
t86o, son of Amos and Mary (Frey) Eshleman. He
attended the public schools near his boyhood home,
and as his early life was passed upon a farm he
earlier became familiar' with all the duties which
fall to the lot of the agriculturist, and is to-day re-
garded as one of the most thorough and skillful
farmers of his community. At the age of twenty-
two years he started out in life for himself as a far-
mer, and in 1897 purchased his father-in-law's
farm, comprising fifty-four acres of land under a
high state of cultivation, and well improved. Here
Mr. Eshleman is now successfully engaged in gen-
eral farming. He is a member of the Church of
God, and is held in high regard by all who know
him.
On Aug. 30, 1885, Mr. Eshleman was united in
marriage with Miss Lizzie Shank, and to them have
been born six. children, namely : Cora, Ada, Harvey,
Ira, Irene and Lillie.
Isaac Shank, father of Mrs. Eshleman, was born
on a farm in Lancaster county Jan. 16, 1830, and
was two years old when with his parents he removed
to the farm near Central M^anor, in Manor township,
where he now resides, having made his home there
ever since. With the exception of four years, im-
mediately after his. marriage, he followed farming
until he sold his .place, in 1897, to his son-in-law,
Mr. Eshleman. Fie is one of the good, substantial
citizens of his community, and is highly respected
and esteemed. In i860 he married Miss Sarah Frey,
who was born Dec. 5, 1839, daughter of Rudolph
P"rey, and they have become the parents of three
children: Sarah, how the wife of John Green, of
Manor township ; Barbara, wife of Christ Kline, of
the same township ; and Lizzie, wife of David F.
Eshleman, whose name introduces this sketch.
JOHN L. LEAMAN, who is spending the clos-
ing years of an exceedingly industrious and earnest
life at his home in l^eacock township, Lancaster
county, where for many years he carried on farming
in an enlightened and progressive manner, was born
in that township March 28, 1841, a son of John and
Mary (Landis) Leaman, of East Lampeter town-
ship.
John Leaman, the father, who was a farmer, and
died on his farm in 1882, had lived retired during
the last thirteen years of the seventy-two which had
been given him. He was a man of considerable
importance, ' and was a director of the Lancaster
County Bank at the time of his death. His wife,
who died in 1848, at the early age of thirty-six
years, was buried in Mellinger's Cemetery. They
were both members of the Mennonite Church. Born
to this union were: (i) A son who died in in-
fancy; (2) Elias, who died in 1892; (3) Esther,
deceased wife of Emanuel Denlinger; (5) Tobias,
a retired farmer of Leacock township ; and (4) John
L., whose name appears above. The father was
married a second time, Barbara Landis becoming
his wife, and the mother of one child, who died in
infancy. Benjamin Leaman, the grandfather of
John L., was a native of East Lampeter township,
and was a farmer in his early life. John Landis,
the rnaternal grandfather of John L. Leaman, was
a native of Lancaster county.
John L. Leaman has been twice married, the
first time on Dec. 5, 1861, when Anna Hershey be-
came his wife. To this union came one child, An-
netta, who died in infancy. Mrs. Anna Leaman,
who died in October, 1863, was the daughter of
Abraham and Barbara (Eby) Hershey, both of
Lancaster county. The second marriage of John
L. Leaman occurred Jan, 10, 1873, when he was
united in matrimony with Mary Landis. To this
union were born: (i) Violetta married Ezra Zim-
merman, a farmer in Leacock township, and became
the mother of five children — John, who died in early
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
887
childhood; Willis, Enos, Maurice and Edna, at
home. (2) Hershey died in infancy. (3) Landis
died in infancy. (4) Celia is the wife of Clayton
Groff, and they have three children, Irwin L.,
Bethel M., and Lester L. (5) Freeland died at
the age of six years. Mrs. Mary (Landis) Leaman
was born in West Laimpeter township Feb. 2, 1845,
daughter of David and Barbara (Groff) Landis, of
East Lampeter township. Her father, who was a
miller, died in 1884, at the age of sixty-eight years.
The mother passed away in i8go, at the age of sev-
enty-two years, and was buried in Mellinger's ceme-
tery by the side of her husband. Both were members
of the Mennonite Church. They were the parents
of the following family: David, a retired farmer
of East Lampeter township ; Benjamin, who died at
the age of twenty-three years ; Lavina, the wife of
Adam Landis, a retired farmer; Mary wife of our
subject; Anna, who married Harry L. Grofif, of
Strasburg; and Frances, who died when thirteen
years old.
John L. Leaman remained with his parents un-
til his marriage, when he began the cultivation of
the farm on which he is found at the present writ-
ing. In 1876 he put up new buildings, and the place
has been greatly improved under his intelligent and
industrious tillage. In 1877 he gave up active farm-
ing, and is now living retired, sustained by that
competence which represents thrift, economy and
industry to a marked degree. For six years Mr.
Leaman has been town auditor, and he is regarded
as one of the leading men of the community. In
religion he is a member of the Mennonite Church,
and in politics he is a Republican.
AARON HERR, a highly respected general
farmer, tobacco grower, and proprietor of the Cor-
delia Dairy Farm, in West Hempfield township, was
born in Pequea township, Lancaster Co., Pa., Oct.
20, 1846, son of Rudolph and Barbara (Brenneman)
Herr, of Conestoga township, who reared a family
of eleven children, born in the following order:
Charlotte, wife of John C. Seitz, retired farmer at
Mountville; Elizabeth, wife of Frederick K. Heise,
a farmer in Mifflin county ; Susan, widow of Abra-
ham Musser, of Columbia; John, who died in the
army ; Jacob, a farmer in West Hempfield township ;
Aaron, mentioned above; Lydia A., wife of Harry
Dambach, farmer of Manor township; Benjamin,
who died in Columbia ; Adam, a painter in Mount-
ville ; Barbara, wife of Albert Wagner, a horse
dealer in Newark, N. J. ; and Amisiah, a farmer in
MifHin county. Pa. The father of this family was
a farmer by calling. He served two terms as a
school director. He died on the West Hempfield
farm in 1897, aged eighty-one years, ten months;
the mother died in Mountville in 1895, at the age
of seventy-two years, both passing away in the faith
of the Mennonite Church. Their remains are in-
terred at Mountville.
In October, 1871, at Lancaster city, Aaron Herr
married Miss Catherine Dambach, who has borne
him four children, viz. : John M., a farmer in
Manor township, and married to Mary Sowders;
Elizabeth, wife of Paris G. Garber, 9. farmer in West
Hempfield township; Harvey, who died at the age
of sixteen months ; and Minnie, still at home. Mrs.
Catherine (Dambach) Herr was born in Manor
township Jan. 8, 1851, daughter of Martin Dam-
bach and sister of David H. Dambach, of Manor
township, a biographical sketch of whom will be
found elsewhere.
Aaron Herr lived with his parents on a farm
until his marriage, when he rented a farm in Manor
township for a year, and then came to West Hemp-
field township and purchased his present place of
eighty-three acres, on which he has ever since lived,
and has so well succeeded in a pecuniary sense that
he is about to retire from the activities of business
and pass the remainder of his days in quiet leisure.
He raises ten acres of tobacco annually, and has
been in the dairy business since 1882. Mr. Herr is
a Republican in politics, and has been a school di-
rector for the past two terms of three years each.
Fraternally he is a member of Susquehanna lodge,
I. O. O. F. ; religiously, with his family, he belongs
to the Mennonite Church. Socially the family enjoy
the esteem of all their neighbors, being steady-go-
ing, self-respecting people.
FRANK MICHAEL, a prominent and success-
ful business citizen of Terrehill, this county, was
born at Rothsville, in Warwick township, Oct. 27,
1847, son of Cyrus and Catherine (Wagner)
Michael, the former of whom now is a resident of
Disston, Lancaster coimty. He is aged eighty- two
years, having been born Oct. 28, 1820.
Cyrus Michael is a son of John and Sally
(Foltz) Michael, whose parents came to America
from Germany. The father established a shoe shop
some two miles north of Rothsville, and there spent
the greater part of his life. His death occurred at
Farmersville, both he and wife dying there, at the
home of their daughter, Mrs. Mary Ann Dillman,
he at the age of seventy-two years, she when seven-
ty-six. Both had been consistent and most worthy
members of the Lutheran Church. Their children
were: Charles (deceased) was a farmer; John (de-
ceased) was a farmer in Franklin county; Cyrus is
mentioned below ; Sallie married Michael Kaufif-
man : Mary Ann married Isaac Dillman.
Cyrus Michael was for many years one of the
most extensive farmers of Warwick township, and
became a substantial citizen, owning considerable
property. His energy took him into many lines —
huckstering, the management for some years of a
gristmill, and for three years hotel-keeping. In
early life he was a member of the Democratic party,
but voted for President Lincoln, and ever afterward
supported the Republican party. His wife died
March 27, iSq8, at the age of seventy-two years.
They reared a family of six children : Frank ;
888
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Charles, unmarried; Salinda, widow of George
Shreiner ; Rebecca, wife of David Good, of Disston ;
Priscilla, wife of David Roder, of Terrehill; and
Aquilla, wlio died at the age of four years. The be-
loved mother of this family was a devout and pious
member of the Dunkard Church.
Frank Michael was reared at Rothsville, and ob-
tained his education in the common schools. At the
age of twenty-four years he began his independent
business career, entering a store in Rothsville in
the capacity of clerk, and remaining in that connec-
tion for seven years. He was then for a time en-
gaged in the sewing machine business, and later
learned the carpenter's trade, in time accepting a
position in the box factory of Sol Lessley, for some
six years.
In 1885 Mr. Michael embarked in the manu-
facture of boxes himself, in Terrehill, and has been
very successful in that line, now employing six men,
and turning out a product that compares favorably
with any on the market. At times, when rushed,
Mr. Michael employs as many as twenty-two help-
ers. His establishment is known as the Old Maple
Cigar Box Factory. His upright methods of doing
business have gained for him the confidence of the
trade, and he has been an important factor in the
industrial life of Terrehill.
Mr. Michael was married in 1872 to Miss Susan
Wechter, a daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Lutz)
Wechter. One daughter has been born to this
union, Carrie K., who is the wife of Amos B. Esh-
leman, a cigar manufacturer of Terrehill, and has
one daughter, Celesta. They are members of the
Trinity United Evangelical Church. All the fam-
ily are counted among the most highly respected
residents of this locality.
CHRISTIAN GUNZENHAUSER, a prom-
inent business man and respected citizen of Lan-
caster, proprietor of the large bakery at No. 255
West King street, was born in Wurtemberg, Ger-
many, July 23, 1857, son of Leonard and Anna
(Kauffman) Gunzenhauser.
Leonard Gunzenhauser, the father, was born in
Germany, and died there, as did also his wife, the
former when Christian was but one year old, and the
latter when he was but twelve. They were the par-
ents of six children, five of whom came to America.
By trade the father was a miller, and he operated a
mill of his own.
After the death of his father Christian Gunzen-
hauser lived with his mother until orphaned by her
death. He lived with his sister two years, and was
only fourteen when he came to work out his own
future in America. Knowing that many of his coun-
trymen were in Lancaster, he went thither, and for
two years did such work as he was able to find,
finally entering the bakery of Lawrence Goos, where
he continued for two years, thoroughly learning the
trade. For several years succeeding he worked as
a journeyman for George Goebel, and then went to
Philadelphia, working for ten years with different
firms, thus learning all methods and all kinds of
baking and mixing. He first started in businessfor
himself in Lock Haven, Pa., where he continued for
two 3'ears, and then went back to Lancaster, where
he bought the Goebel bakery, located at No. 231
West King street. He successfully conducted same
until 1900, when he purchased his present building,
and has continued to prosper. He improved the
property and has it now in perfect condition, taking
a pride in its clean and sanitary arrangement, by
which he can offer to his patrons a high class of
healthful and most attractive line of breads, pastries
and all kinds of cakes. His sale of bread alone
reaches over' 25,000 loaves a week. Mr. Gunzen-
hauser has twelve delivery wagons employed in dis-
tributing his goods in various parts of the city and
county, and employs some fifty assistants. In ad-
dition to his Lancaster store, which is a three-story
brick building, he has built a three-story brick build-
ing 48x72 feet in dimensions, which he has equipped
with the latest improved machinery, in fact, it is
considered one of the finest bakeries in the State.
Mr. Gunzenhauser has a number of branch stores
throughout the county. While no kind of bakery
production is neglected in this establishment, a
specialty is made of wedding cakes. His equipment
and accommodations would do credit to any city.
Mr. Gunzenhauser is connected with various
German organizations in Lancaster, and also belongs
to the A. & O. K. of M., White Cross Commandery,
No. 2 ; B. P. O. E., No. 134. He is a member of the
Lutheran Church. In politics he is independent.
In 1882 Mr. Gunzenhauser married Katie L.
Schaefer, who was born in Lancaster, daughter of
Christian Schaefer, a well-known notion merchant of
West King and Water streets, Lancaster, and a
prominent citizen. Four children have been born to
this union: Harry (who died at the age of six
years), Margaret, Frank and Charles. The suc-
cessful career of Mr. Gunzenhauser shows the re-
sult of industry, energy and economy. He began
life with small meaps, and has won his own way to
the confidence of his business associates and the es-
teem of his community, and is justly regarded as a
representative business man of his adopted city.
PETER M. STERN, a general farmer of Mt.
Joy township, was born on the old homestead Sept.
19, 1856, son of Christian and Catharine (Moyer)
Stern, the former of whom still resides near the old
home. This property has been in the possession of
this family ever since its purchase from the Penns,
these broad acres having become the property of
the great-great-grandfather of Peter M. Stern Feb.
3, 1759, and some one of his descendants has held
the farm ever since, each generation improving it
and making it more and more valuable.
The first of Mr. Stern's ancestors to come to this
country was his great-great-grandfather, Johan (or
Hannes) Stern, who emigrated hither from Switzer-
^^A ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
/^^/^d^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
889
land in 1736. He and his wife, Barbara, had a fam-
ily of four sons and one daughter, namely : Jacob
was the great-grandfather of Peter M. Peter, who
moved to Bedford county, Pa., married a Miss
Moyer. John, who also moved to Bedford county,
Pa., settling at Morrison's Cove, died young. Philip,
born April 25, 1776, died Dec. 22, 1862; his first
wife, Mary, died Jan. 23, 1806, aged twenty-five
years ; his second wife, Barbara, born Jan. 27, 1789,
died Sept. 16, 1862. Barbara married a Mr. Null.
Jacob Stern, great-grandfather of Peter M., born
May 7, 1767, died May 31, 1853. He married Eliza-
beth Wolgamuth, who was born Oct. 13, 1770, and
died Jan. 2J, 1822. They had children as follows:
(i) Catharine, born Feb. 23, 1793, died Dec. 20,
iv874; she married David Thomas, born April 6,
1782, who died Aug. 21, 1873. They had no chil-
dren. (2) Johanna, born Jan. 25, 1795, died when
three years old. (3) Elizabeth, born May 18, 1797,
died at the age of ten years. (4) Jacob, born Feb.
12, 1799, died Nov. 6, 1880. He married Susan
Lehn (sister of his brother Christian's wife), born
Dec. IT, T796, who died Oct. 4, 1875. They had
three sons and one daughter. (5) Christian was
the grandfather of Peter M.
Christian Stern, born June 5, 1802, died March
7, 1878. He married Catharine Lehn, who was born
July 5, t8o2, and died Feb. 3, 1896. They had
children as follows : Elizabeth, widow of John
Evans, is a resident of Mt. Joy, Lancaster county;
Christian is mentioned farther on ; Catharine, widow
of Jeremiah Martin, lives at Elizabethtown, this
county. Mrs. Catharine Stern was a daughter of
Samuel Lehn, who was born Oct. 3, 1771, in the
vicinity of Ephrata, this county, and there spent
most of his life, dying Jan. 20, 1854. He married
Magdelene Shreiner, who died March 4, 1847, aged
seventy-five years, seven months, five days.
Christian Stern, father of Peter M., was born
March 18, 1828, and still survives, living near the
old hom.e, with his second wife ; he has been retired
from acti ve labor for a long period. He still clings
to the speech of his ancestors, never having cared
to learn the English tongue. Mr. Stern is a con-
sistent member of the Mennonite Church. His first
wife, Catharine Moyer, was born Jan. 31, 1829, in
Mt. Joy township, and died Oct. 22, 1878 ; she was
buried in a private burying ground on the old farm.
Children as follows were born to this union : Mar-
tin, born Nov. 11, 1853, died the same day. Eliza-
beth, born Dec. 22, 1854, married John Bomberger,
a farmer near Lititz. Peter M., born Sept. 19,
1856, is mentioned below. Christian' M., born Sept.
6, 1858, lives on the old farm which has been in the
family since 1795 ; he married first Maggie K. Stern,
and for his second wife Mary Westenberger.
John Moyer, maternal grandfather of Peter M.
Stern, was born Aug. 6, 1790, and died May 2, 1858.
His wife, Elizabeth (Mea.shey), born Feb. 4, 1798,
died in May, 1859. They had children as follows :
Peter married Betsev Shearer, and both died in
Dauphin county. Pa. Jacob married Catharine
Meckley, and they died in Lancaster county. Mary,
widow of Daniel Shoemaker, is a resident of Illi-
nois. Nancy, widow of John Snyder, lives in Lan-
caster county. Betsey married Joseph Horst, and
died in Lancaster county. John married Betsy
Brubaker, now also deceased, who lived in Lan-
caster county. Christian, now deceased, married
Rosanna Verner. Catharine became the mother of
Peter M. Stern. Martha is the widow of Peter
Haldeman, of Milton Grove, Lancaster county.
Samuel, who married Anna Weaver, lives at Vian,
Dauphin county.
On Sept. 15, 1878, Peter M. Stern was married,
in Manheim, Pa., to Miss Anna Mary Groff, and
two children have come to this union, Samuel G.,
who was married Oct. 14, 1902, to Anna Mary
Johnson, and Stella M. Until his marriage Peter
M. Stern resided with his parents, and then removed
to his present farm, which he has operated ever
since most successfully. He is generally regarded as
one of the most progressive farmers of his neighbor-
hood, and the air of thrift and prosperity which sur-
rounds his place, does much to prove the wisdom of
his methods. In politics Mr. Stern is identified with
the Prohibition party. In religion he belongs to
and generously supports the United Evangelical
Church. Mr. Stern justly enjoys the esteem and
respect of his neighbors, and is known as a man of
honest speech and upright conduct.
Mrs. Stern was born in Mt. Joy township,
daughter of Samuel S. and Elizabeth (Newgard)
Groff, the former of whom was a native of Ohio,
and the latter of Rapho township, Lancaster Co.,
Pa. Mr. Groff was brought to Lancaster county
by his mother when he was but three years old, and
all the rest of his life was spent here. He became
a skilled carpenter and an excellent farmer. He
died in Mt. Joy township, May 8, 1897, at the age of
sixty-six years, and Mrs. Groff, who was born in
1838, resides in Milton Grove. The only child born
to this marriage was Anna Mary, who became Mrs.
Stern.
Frantz Groff, Mrs. Stern's paternal great-great-
grandfather, emigrated to America from Switzer-
land about the year 1736. He died at an advanced
age, and is buried near Mastersonville, Lancaster
count)'. His son, Samuel Groff, mairried Barbara
Wolgamuth. He is interred in a private burying
ground near Rheems, Lancaster county. Samuel
Groff, son of Samuel, and grandfather of Mrs.
Stern, was born in Lancaster county. He married
Lydia Shaeffer, also a native of this county, born
Jan. 20, 1804, who died Aug. 25, 1885. They went
to Ashland county, Ohio, where Mr. Groff died,
- and a railroad now passes through the cemetery
where he was buried. The widow returned with her
children to Lancaster county.
Jacob Schaeffer, great-great-grandfather of
Mrs. Stern through her grandmother, Mrs. Lydia
(Shaeffer) Groff, emigrated to America from
890
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Switzerland about 1736, and was killed by the In-
dians somewhere in the neighborhood south of what
is now Middletown, Dauphin Co., Pa. He had" a
family of four sons and two daughters, and at the
time the father was killed one of the daughters,
then about thirteen years of age, was captured by
the Redmen. She lived with them seven years, at
the end of which time she with some twelve others
(taken prisoners at the same time) was returned to
the white settlers, and she subsequently married a
white man ; at the time of her return she was dressed
entirely in silk. All of the girls taken by the Indians
at that time had dark eyes and black hair.
Jacob Shaefifer, son of the emigrant, had a fam-
ily of thirteen children, all of whom married and
had families. Peter married Nancy Hoffer. John
was the next in the family. Henry married Eliza-
beth Staly. Catharine married Peter Bishop, of
Oberlin, Dauphin Co., Pa. David married a Miss
Bringits. Margaret married Daniel Scanders. Ann
Maria married a Mr. Weaver, of Franklin county.
Pa. William married Barbara Hoffer. Adam mar-
ried a Walters. Sally first became Mrs. Brandt,
afterward Mrs. Nagly. Molly married a Mr. Baum.
Elizabeth became Mrs. Sowers. Lydia was Mrs.
Stern's grandmother Groff. The father of this fam-
ily served in the Continental ariny during the Revo-
lutionary war, and took part in the battle of Trenton.
His eldest son, Peter, was also a soldier on the
American side in that conflict, and fought in the bat-
tle of Brandy wine.
Lorentz Newgard, Mrs. Stern's maternal grand-
father, came to America from his native land, Ger-
many, in 1830, when twenty-seven years old. He
married Elizabeth Boyer, and they had children:
Joseph married Elizabeth Gantz, both are deceased.
Elizabeth, Mrs. Samuel S. Groff, was the mother
of Mrs. Stern. Kate, who married George Greiner,
is living near Mastersonville, this county. Samuel,
who still survives, married Maria Stauffer ; she died
some time ago. The father died in 1875, at the age
of seventy-three, and is buried in the Catholic ceme-
tery at Elizabethtown. He was a member of the
Catholic Church.
ELLIS E. HUNSECKER, proprietor of a rol-
ler mill and justice of the peace in Gap, Lancaster
county, is one of the prominent citizens of Salis-
bury township.
Mr. Hunsecker was born Oct. 26, 1861, at Lea-
man Place, Paradise township, son of Jacob and
Elizabeth J. (Oberly) Hunsecker, natives of Lan-
caster county. Their present residence is in Para-
dise township, Mr. Hunsecker being a retired mil-
ler, having given up his business in that line in 1884,
at which time he located in his present home. From
1865 until 1883 Mr. Hunsecker served his district
in the capacity of school director, and took an ac-
tive interest in both educational and religious mat-
ters. He was born in 1827, and his wife in 1836.
They both are esteemed members of the Episcopal
Church. They had children as follows: Grace,
who married Elzra H. Leaman, a box manufacturer
in Paradise township; Austin, who died -young; and
Ellis E.
The paternal grandparents of Ellis E. Hun-
secker were Rudolph and Mattie (Longenecker)
Hunsecker, natives of Dauphin county, who came
first to Columbia and later to Paradise township,
where the former carried on milling. On the ma-
ternal side he is a grandson of John Oberly, a far-
mer of Lancaster county.
In 1863 Ellis E. Hunsecker accompanied the
rest of the family to Salisbury township, was reared
on the farm, and acquired his education in the com-
mon schools. When his father retired from ac-
tivity in the milling business, he took his place, and
has since then been the successful operator of both
mill and farm. From his childhood he has been fa-
miliar with the workings of the mill. The mill with
which Mr. Hunsecker is connected is located in
Salisbury township, three miles from Gap, on the
Newport road, and was erected in 1780 by Christian
Hess. Since 1863 the mill has been the property of
the Hunsecker family. It is well equipped for busi-
ness, being fitted with a forty-horse waterpower
and modern rollers. Under Mr. Hunsecker's man-
agement its patronage has steadily increased, and
it is one of the most prosperous industries iii this
section. Mr. Hunsecker and his family have re-
sided in Gap since November, 1896.
On Aug. 21, 1900, Mr. Hunsecker was appointed
justice of the peace, to serve out an unexpired term,
and his administration was approved by his election
to the office in February, 1901. His interest in edu-
cational matters has been active, and from the age
of twenty-one years he was connected with the
school board, his removal into Gap alone severing
this long association. Fraternally he is a Blue
Lodge Mason. In politics he has always been a
stanch Republican. He was reared in the faith of
the Episcopal Church and is one of its consistent
members and liberal supporters.
On Sept. 22, 1880, Mr. Hunsecker was united
in the bonds of matrimony with Miss S. Vina
Skiles, and one son has been born to this union, J.
Lloyd. Mrs. Hunsecker was born Sept. 23, 1861,
in Sali-sbury township, daughter of John and Sophia
(Elmar) Skiles, both of whom were natives of Lan-
caster county. Mrs. Skiles was born July 7, 1831,
and her death occurred July 11, 1888. Mr. Skiles
was born April 19, 1826, and is now a retired farmer
in Salisbury township. Mr. and Mrs. Skiles be-
longed to the Episcopal Church. Their children
were as follows: Anna, who died young; Cath-
erine E., who married Frank B. Greenell, a cigar-
maker in Philadelphia ; Emma, who married H. B.
Worst, of Philadelphia ; S. Vina, who became Mrs.
Plunsecker; Miss Lydia L., who resides in Phila-
delphia ; Martin V., who is a carpenter in Salisbury
township ; and Wilkes B., deceased. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. Hunsecker were John and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
891
Elizabeth (Henderson) Skiles, of Lancaster county,
the former of whom was a well-known shingle man-
ufacturer. The maternal grandparents were Peter
and Catherine (Rhoads) Elmar, natives of Lan-
caster county.
In Gap and the surrounding country Mr. Hun-
secker is well known and very highly regarded as
an upright and reliable citizen. The family is prom-
inent in social life, and they all enjoy the esteem of
the community.
MONROE B. WENGER, proprietor of the
"Washington House," at Maytown, Lancaster
county, was born in West Earl township, this
county, Nov. 8, 1842, son of Jacob G. and Lucy
(Bear) Wenger, natives of West Earl and Bare-
ville. Pa., respectively.
Jacob G. Wenger operated the "Akron Hotel"
(Lancaster county) from 1850 until April, 1882,
when his son, Monroe B., purchased the hostelry,
conducting it until 1895. Jacob G., after disposing
of the hotel, lived in retirement, in a house adjoin-
ing, until his death, which occurred in 1891, at the
age of sixty-nine years, his widow surviving until
December, 1897, when she passed away at the age
of seventy-three. Their remains were interred in
the Metzlar Meeting House cemetery, in Earl town-
ship, the land for which meeting house and cemetery
was donated to the Mennonite congregation by
Grandfather Wenger. To Jacob G. Wenger and
his wife were born nine children, three of whom
died in infancy. Of the survivors, who reached,
or nearly reached, mature years, Monroe B. is the
eldest: Clayton was a member of the i22d P. V. I.,
and was shot at Chancellorsville ; Zacharias was
twice married, and died when fifty years old;
Lemon B. was a soldier of the Civil war, was a
stenographer and telegraph operator, and died in
Illinois; Ambrose, who served in the 17th Pa. Cav.
in the Civil war, was a carpenter and contractor,
and assisted in rebuilding Chicago, 111., after the
great fire of 1871 (he died in Akron, Pa.) ; Ellen,
deceased, was the wife of Horace Killan, a merchant
of Akron, who is also deceased.
Samuel Wenger, the grandfather of Monroe
B. Wenger, was a farmer of West Earl township.
He married a Miss Groff, who bore him four chil-
dren, viz. : Isaac, deceased ; Henry, a retired far-
mer of Elkhart, Ind. ; John, deceased; and Jacob
G., father of Monroe B. Samuel Wenger's wife
was called away when a comparatively young
woman. He himself survived to a ripe old age, dy-
ing in 1880, at the age of ninety-two years.
The Wenger and Groff families were among the
early settlers of Lancaster county, Hans Groff, the
pioneer on the maternal side, coming from Germany
in 1 716, and. settling in what is now known as
Groffdale, Lancaster Co., Pa., about the year 1716.
From him have descended all the members of this
now distinguished "Pennsylvania-Dutch" family
of the name.
On Feb. 15, 1864, Monroe B. Wenger was united
in marriage, in Lancaster, with Miss Susan A.
Bender, who has borne him the following named
children: Clayton F., a barber of Akron, who
married Viola Writzel; Elmer, who died July 5,
f 888 ; Minnie C, wife of John Albright, of Akron,
a farmer and cigarmaker; Lemon N., a decorator;
Jacob B., who is married to Norah H. Shirk, and
resides with his father; and John, who died in in-
fancy.
Mrs. Susan A. (Bender) Wenger was born in
Lancaster, daughter of John and Mary (Bush)
Bender, and died Aug. 21, 1894, at the age of forty-
seven years, seven months, seventeen days, her re-
mains being interred at Akron. The second marriage
of Mr. W^enger took place Sept. 17, 1898, in Lancas-
ter, to Mary F. Foran, a native of Washington, D. C.
To this marriage have come no children.
Monroe B. Wenger was a patriot of the Union
army during the Civil war, having enlisted at Har-
risburg June 8, 1861, in Co. D, 12th P. V. I., in
which he served until June 11, 1864. He fought
at Drainesville, South Mountain, Antietam, Freder-
icksburg, Second Bull Run, Gettysburg, and in the
battle of the Wilderness, where he was wounded in
the hand. At the first battle of Fredericksburg he
lost the third finger of his left hand and was con-
fined in Lincoln Hospital for a month, being sent
thence to Philadelphia. After his honorable dis-
charge he came to Lancaster and followed his trade
for two years in the locomotive works, and after-
ward, for a year, was engaged in grading a mile
and a quarter of the road. He then ran a construc-
tion train on the Reading & Columbia road for two
years, and was then promoted to the position of en-
gineer, in which capacity he acted until April 14,
1877. He then worked at his trade until April, 1882,
when he returned to his old home and purchased
the "Washington House," now one of the most pop-
ular hotels in Lancaster county.
Fraternally Mr. Wenger is a member of the I. O.
O. F. In religion he is a free thinker, in politics a
socialist, and individually he is one of the most
popular men in the town of Maytown.
DAVID N. LANDIS, a general farmer of Up-
per Leacock township, was born in East Lampeter
township Dec. 26, 1842, a son of David and Mary
(Netf) Landis, natives both of East Lampeter town-
ship. Previous to his death in March, 1882, Father
Landis lived retired for fourteen years, and was sev-
enty-four at the time of his death. 1 ne mother died
in 1848, at the age of thirty-five, and both were con-
sistent members of the Mennonite Church, and were
buried in Mellinger's cemetery, in East Lampeter
township. The children born to the parents of our
subject were: John, a retired farmer of East
Lampeter township; Christian, a farmer; Moses,
a retired farmer of this township ; David N., of this
sketch; Suisan, deceased, who married Isaac L.
Landis; Mary, who married Benjamin L. Landis,
892
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of Lancaster; Leah, who married Jacob R. Buck-
walder, of East Lampeter; Evan, who married
Adam Ranck, a farmer of Paradise township ; Anna,
who married Michael L. Rohrer, of Upper Leacock
township ; and Lizzie, who married Jacob Hostetter,
of Lancaster, who occupies the position of turnkey
in the prison. All of this family are among the
highly respected citizens of this county.
Uavid N. Landis is one of the substantial men of
this county. Until he was twenty-one years old he
remained assisting his father on the home farm,
then removed to Upper Leacock township on a farm,
thence, in 1901 to his present farm, being the for-
tunate owner of three of the most productive and
best improved farms in this locality.
The first marriage of David N. Landis occurred
on Nov. 23, 1866, in Lancaster, when Hettie Rohrer
became his wife. She was born in Upper Leacock
township, and died in 1871, at the early age of
twenty-seven years, and was interred in the Rohrer
burying place. She was a daughter of Isaac and
Mattie (Einkley) P>.ohrer, of Lancaster county. The
children of this rnarriage were : Eleanora, who mar-
ried Wayne Bare, a farmer of East Lampeter; and
Mary M., who married Amos Witmer of East
Lampeter. Mr. Landis was married, second, on
Dec. 25, 1877, in East Lampeter township, to Cath-
erine L.andis, and to this marriage two sons were
born, Harry L. and Aaron L.
Mrs. Catherine (Landis) Landis was born in
Upper Leacock township on June 16, 1843, ^ daugh-
ter of David and Elizabeth (Hostetter) Landis,
natives of East Lampeter and Lancaster townships.
Mr. Landis, the father, retired from activity in 1873,
having long been a prominent farmer, and he died in
January, 1891, at the age of seventy-eight years.
The mother died in 1872, at the age of fifty-nine,
and both were buried on their old farm, and both
of them were leading members of the Mennonite
Church. The children born to David and Eliza-
beth Landis were: Mary Ann, widow of Jacob
Metzler, of West Earl township; Hettie, the wife
of Samuel Burkholder, of West Earl township;
Barbara, widow of Abram Kochel; Anna E., wife
of John Wenger, of Manheim; Catherine, wife of
Mr. Landis, of this sketch; Louisa, the wife of
Abram Herr, of East Lampeter; John, deceased;
Jacob, residing on the old homestead in Upper Lea-
cock; and David deceased.
David N. Landis has always been a member of
the Republican party, and with his family belongs
to the Mennonite Church. He is held in high es-
teem in his community, being a man of strict integ-
rity and upright life.
HENRY H. CHARLES, a prosperous and
progressive farmer of Manor township, Lancaster
county, was born Nov. 14, 1859, on his present farm,
five miles west of Lancaster City, a son of John and
Susan (Herr) Charles. Henry H. Charles was edu-
cated in the public schools, and at the age of twenty-
one years began operations on his own account by
engaging in general farming on his present tract of
seventy acres, and about 1885 embarked in the
poultry business, beginning in a small way with the
Silver Wyandottes, but has since added the Light
Brahmas,' Barred Plymouth Rocks, Buff Cochins,
Rose Comb Brown Leghorns, Buff Orpingtons,
Black Wyandottes, and White Plymouth Rocks, his
stock comprising the finest and purest strains in the
country, and this stock is in demand wherever poul-
try raising is indulged in either for profit or pleasure.
The Henry H. Charles plant is supplied with every
modern convenience and contrivance for the profit-
able raising of poultry, and his incubators will ad-
mit of the introduction of 3,000 eggs at one hatch-
ing, and the yards, poultry-houses, coops, etc., are
perfect in every respect. His general farm is a
model in itself, and is conducted on scientific and
practical principles.
On Nov. 8, 1880, Henry H. Charles married Miss
Lizzie L. Landis, daughter of Benjamin and Mary
(Landis) Landis, of Landis Valley, and born May
4, i860. To Mr. and Mrs. Charles have been born
nine children, namelv: David L., Anna L., Henry
L., Benjamin L. (deceased), Lizzie L., Mary L.,
Alice L., John L., and Laura L. The family are
members of the Christian Alliance at Lancaster, of
which Rev. Noah Hess is pastor.
PETER REESER. One of the most successful
agriculturists residing in Salisbury township, Lan-
caster county, and now in the prime of life, is Peter
Reeser, who was born in East Kaolin, Chester Co.,
Pa., July 14, 1844, a son of Peter and Catherine
(Mast) Reeser, natives, respectively, of Lancaster
and Berks counties.
Peter Reeser, the father, was a very successful
farmer through life. He removed from Lancaster
county to Chester county in the spring of 1844, and.
settled near the Lancaster line, where he followed
his vocation until his death, which occurred Oct. 15,
1856, when he was but forty-eight years old, while
his widow lived to be seventy-seven, and died
March 17, 1884, their remains being interred in
Hershey's Mennonite Church Cemetery in Salis-
bury. Their parents were Jacob and Barbara
(Blank) Reeser and David and Mary (Kurtz)
Mast, of Lancaster county. Their own children were
four in number, and were as follows : David, who
married Mary Sparr, but has since been called away ;
Jacob, married to Sarah Plank, and now farming in
Chester county; Peter, whose name stands at the
opening of this biography ; and Mary, who is the wife
of Chris Hoover.
Peter Reeser, the subject proper of this bio-
graphical notice, rented a farm in Salisbury town-
ship in 1 87 1, his mother and sister becoming his
housekeepers, and thus the household was con-
ducted until December 20, 1879, when Mr. Reeser
was united in marriage at White Horse, Salisbury
township, with Miss Lizzie Umble, who has borne
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
893
him twb children, Anna M., and John U. Mrs.
Lizzie (Umble) Reeser was born in Salisbury town-
ship, Jan. 23, 1847, a daughter of John and Eliza-
beth (Kurtz) Umble, natives, respectively, of Salis-
bury and Upper Leacock townships, who came to the
farm on which Mr. Reeser and wife now reside in
1836, and here passed the remainder of their lives,
the father dying on Jan. 20, 1892, at the age of
seventy-nine years, and the mother in 1853, when
forty-one. John Umble was prominent in the com-
munity as a farmer and drover, served his fellow-
citizens as tax collector, school director and super-
visor, and was otherwise recognized as a useful and
public-spirited citizen. The remains of this couple
were interred in Plank's cemetery in Salisbury town-
ship. Their children were two in number, namely,
Anna, who died at the age of two years ; and Lizzie,
who is now Mrs. Peter Reeser. The paternal grand-
grandparents of Mrs. Reeser were John and Mary
(Kurtz) Umble, of Lancaster county, the former
of whom was a farmer, and the maternal grandpar-
ents were Jacob and Anna (Yoder) Kurtz, of the
same county and also farming people.
At his marriage Peter Reeser settled on his pres-
ent farm of 102 acres, on which he has made many
improvements, and the tillage of which has received
his constant attention until the present time. He has
never frittered away his time in seeking for office,
but when called upon to serve his fellow-citizens in
any capacity has felt it to be his duty to do so to the
best of his ability, and for this reason has for the past
seven years filled the position of school director. He
and his wife are sincere in their profession of the
doctrines of the Evangelical church, of which they
are members, and to the maintenance of which they
liberally contribute. Mr. Reeser by his industry
and good management has acquired a competency,
and although still comparatively a young man en-
joys a wide spread and well-deserved respect
throughout the township. His wife's family are
also held in high esteem, and she individually is hon-
ored by the entire community for her many amiable
qualities and womanly graces and virtues.
JOHN G. MOYER, one of the prominent and
representative farmer-citizens of Mt. Joy township,
was born in Rapho township, Lancaster coimty,
Aug. 6, 185 1, son of Rev. John W. and Mary
(Greiner) Mover, the former of whom was born in
Lebanon county, and the latter in Rapho township,
Lancaster county.
Rev. John W. Moyer came to Lancaster county
in 1849, ^"<^ for forty years labored faithfully as a
minister in the Evangelical Church. Both he and
wife died on the farm now occupied by their son
John G., in 1898, where they had resided since 1865.
The father of our subject died at the age of seventy-
nine years and two months. The bereaved widow
only survived him five weeks, and they were both
buried in Milton Grove cemetery. They had three
children, namely: Harriet G., who died Jan. 29,
1900 ; John G., of this record ; and Anna Mary, who
died at the age of seven years. The paternal grand-
father was David Moyer of Lebanon county, where
he died, and the grandmother, whose maiden name
was Wolgemuth, passed away at the home of her
son Rev. John W., in Rapho township, Lancaster
county. The maternal grandfather was John
Greiner, a large farmer in Lancaster county, and
he and his wife, a member of the Kiser family, were
buried on the old Greiner farm, in Rapho township.
John G. Moyer comes of agricultural ancestors,
and he has confined his efiforts to farming through
a very successful life, remaining as his father's as-
sistant until 1890. He then operated a farm in East
Donegal township until 1901, when he returned to
his present farm, the same upon which he was
reared. He has been identified with many of the
public improvements in this part of the county, and
not only owns considerable stock in the Elizabeth-
town Turnpike Co., but is one of its directors.
For three years he served on the township school
board, and is known for his enterprise and public
spirit. In politics he is a Republican, and he belongs
to the fraternal order of Knights of Malta.
In August, 1874, in Lancaster, Mr. Moyer- was
married to Miss Hettie Gibble, and the four children
born to this union are as follows : Hiram, who died
young; Aaron, who married Belle Arnold, is a
farmer in Mt. Joy township ; Miss Mamie is at home,
as is also John P. G. Mrs. Moyer was born Feb. 12,
1 85 1, in Rapho township, daughter of Michael and
Hettie (Grove) Gibble, natives of that township,
where they spent their lives. Mr. Gibble was a
farmer and a member of the Old Dunkard Church.
He died May 30, 1877, aged sixty-six years, and his
widow died in 1883, aged sixty-nine years. They
were laid to rest in private ground in the old Gibble
farm. Their children were as follows: Benjamin,
a farmer in Rapho township; Anna, wife of Ben-
jamin Brookhart, a farmer of Manheim township;
Michael, a farmer of Rapho township ; Abraham, a
farmer in Lebanon county; Hettie, the wife of Mr.
Moyer ; Jacob who lost his life by an accident. May
27, 1882, while assisting in raising a Dunkard
Church, in Rapho township ; Amos, a farmer in
Rapho township ; and Nathan, also a farmer in
Rapho township. The paternal grandfather was Rev.
Abraham Gibble, who was a farmer and later a
preacher in the Old Dunkard Church ; his wife's
maiden name was Menger. The maternal grand-
father was John Grove, the latter name being spelled
Groff in Switzerland, where the family originated;
his wife belonged to the Bicker family.
DAVID S. BLANK, who resides on his farm
just north of New Holland, belongs to one of the
oldest and most respected families of Lancaster
county. He was born in Salisbury township, Nov.
20, 1841, a son of Jacob, a grandson of John, and a
great-grandson of Jacob, who died in 1835. The
great-grandmother of David S. Blank died in 1794.
894
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
They lived in Salisbury township, where they reared
a family of eight children: (i) Maria, born July
29, 1780, died Dec. 26, 1848; (2) Anna, born Jan.
13, 1782, died Nov. 30, 1856; (3) John, born Sept.
24, 1784, died in 1846; (4) Jacob, born April 29,
1786; (5) Samuel, born July 13, 1788; (6) Bar-
bara, born Feb. 2, 1790, married Christian New-
hauser, and died March 5, 1873 ; (7) EHzabeth,
born June 11, 1792, died June 24, 1874; (8) Chris-
tian, born June 24, 1794, died in Juniata county. Pa.,
April 7, 1844.
John Blank, the grandfather of David S., was a
farmer, and owned considerable estate in Salisbury
township, where' his life was largely passed. He was
also a minister of the Amish Church, and his work
extended over a large territory. In 1809 he was mar-
ried to Fannie Lantz, of Mifflin county, a daughter
of Jacob and Magdalina Lantz, natives of Mifflin
county, where she was born Dec. 20, 1787. She
died in 1859. To this union were born: (i) Lydia,
born May 22, 1810, married John Newhauser, and
died April 24, 1851 ; (2) Samuel, born Oct. 24, 18 13,
died Nov. 19, 1879; (3) Jacob, father of David S.,
born March '28, 1816, died Feb. 25, 1893 ; (4) John,
born Aug. to, t8i8, died Oct. 2, 1822; (5) Chris-
tian, born Sept. 8, 1820 ; (6) Magdalina, born April
12, 1823, became the wife of John Smoker, died
Nov. 30, 1887; (7) Stephen, born Jan. 30, 1826,
was killed on the railroad Jan. 18, 1851.
Jacob Blank, noted above as the father of David,
was reared on his father's farm in Salisbury town-
ship, where he spent his active life, retiring in old
age to a home in Earl township, and dying at the
home of his son, John S. He was a devoted Chris-
tian man, a member of the Amish Church, and be-
came well-to-do in the community in which he was
highly respected. Mary, his wife, was a daughter of
David and Nancy (Fisher) Stoltzfus, and was born
in Leacock township, Sept. 2, 1819. She died April
I, 1893. They had six children: (i) Fannie, born
Nov. 23, 1839, married Jacob Stoltzfus, a resident
of West Earl township ; (2) David S. ; (3) John _S.,
born July 27, 1844, is a farmer of Earl township;
(4) Annie, born Dec. 25, 1848, is the wife of John
Miller, of Leacock township; (5) Sarah, born Dec.
29, 1 85 1, is the wife of Simeon Stoltzfus, of Earl
township ; (6) Mary, born Aug. 11, 1859, is the wife
of Eli Schmucker, of Earl township.
David S. Blank was reared in Salisbury town-
ship, and educated in the public schools. When he
was twenty-four he began cultivating oh his own
account a farm of his father, in Salisbury township,
remaining there until coming to his present home in
1868, to dwell on what has become under his capable
tillage one of the very best farms in this section of
the coimtv- It comprises eighty-six acres, every
foot of which is under high cultivation. Mr. Blank
is a prominent and influential citizen, takes an in-
telligent interest in public affairs, and is one of the
broad-minded and progressive men of the day.
Mr. Blank was married Jan. 15, 1866, to Miss
Mary Byler, of Mifflin county, who was born May
15, 1845, a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Lantz)
Byler. To this union have come the following chil-
dren: (i) Joseph, born Dec. 16, 1866, is a farmer,
and has his home in Salisbury township; (2) Jacob,
born Oct. 24, 1868, died young; (3) David, born
March 11, 1870, is a resident of Leacpck township;
(4) Malinda, born Nov. 5, 1871, married Daniel
Byler, of Leacock township; (5) Mary, born May
23, 1873, married Gideon Byler, of Leacock town-
ship; (6) John, born June 8, 1875, died March 31,
1891 ; (7) Emma, born Aug. 24, 1878, is at home;
(8) Samuel, born May 25, 1880, is at home; (9)
Isaac, born Oct. 17, 1882, is at home, as is his sister,
(10) Sarah, born Dec. 23, 1884; (n) a son. Mr.
and Mrs. Blank and family are members of the
Amish Church, and hold a creditable position among
the good people of this section of Lancaster county.
AMOS N. STAUFFER, the proprietor of the
Little Chickies Mills, on the banks of the Little
Chickies about three miles from Mt. Joy; Pa., is en-
gaged in its operation, and uses both water power
and a gasoline engine. This mill was built by Ben-
jamin Miller, and has been in the Stauffer family
about forty years.
Mr. Stauffer was born on the place where he is
now living Dec. 24, 1864, a son of Peter H. and
Anna (Newcomer) Stauffer, who were married in
Lancaster, Jan. 3, 1854. They were born in West
Donegal and Rapho townships, respectively, and
began their married life in West Donegal, but
in the year of their marriage they moved to
the mill property, which Mr. Stauffer purchased
from his father's estate. Jacob Snyder had been its
owner prior to its acquirement by the Stauffer fam-
ily. Peter H. Stauffer was born Feb. 16, 1827, and
now resides with his son Amos N. The mother, who
was born in 1830, died in February, 1886, and was
buried in the Kraybills cemetery. They were both
members of the Mennonite Church. Their children
were : Christ, who died at the age of forty-two
years, who was married to Elizabeth Bear ; Levi is in
the engine and implement business in Mt. Joy, Pa.;
Elizabeth died young ; and Amos N.
The paternal grandparents of Amos N. Stauffer
were Jacob and Catherine (Hershey) Stauffer, of
Lancaster county. The grandfather died on the old
homestead in i860, at the age of fifty-nine years;
and the grandmother in 1875, at the age of seventy-
three, both in the faith of the Mennonite Church.
They were both laid to their last rest in the family
burying ground on the old West Donegal homestead.
They had the following family: Benjamin, de-
ceased ; Anna, deceased ; Peter H. ; Fanny, deceased
wife of Christ Snyder ; Joseph, deceased ; Christ, de-
ceased : Jacob, a retired • farmer ; Henry, a farmer
near Lititz ; Abraham, engaged in the cultivation of
the old homestead ; and Saul, in Dayton, Ohio.
The paternal great-grandparents were John and
Anna (Nissley) Stauffer, farming people of Lan-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
895
caster county, where he was also engaged in the
operation of a mill near Manheim. The maternal
grandparents were Christian and Elizabeth (Niss-
ley) Newcomer, of the township of Rapho, where
they followed farming and died on the old home-
stead.
Amos N. Stauffer and Barbara Miller were mar-
ried Oct. 25, 1887. This union has been blessed by
the birth of five children: Norman M.,- Bertha M.,
:Mary M., Leah M. and David N. Mrs. Barbara
Stauffer was born in Conov township, a daughter of
D. L. Miller, of Mt. Joy. '
Mr. Stauffer remained with his parents until
1892, when he purchased the farm, and his father
has resided with him. In religion he is a member of
the Mennonite Church, and in politics a Republican.
Both father and son are highly respected members
of the community and sustain a fine reputation for
honesty, industry and neighborly spirit.
AMOS ADAM SHEAFFER, a successful busi-
ness man of Lancaster, belongs to an old family
of the county. His great-grandfather, Martin
Sheai?er, and his grandfather, also named Martin,
both lived and died in Lancaster county, where they
were substantial farmers.
Adam G. Sheaft'er, father of Amos A., was a
farmer of Ephrata township, and died in April,
1893, at the age of seventy-three years. He married
Mary Catherine Fry, daughter of Jacob Fry, a
farmer of Ephrata township. His farm was close
to Frysville, a village founded by the family. Mr.
and Mrs. Adam G. Sheaffer were the parents of
eleven children, six of whom are living : Martin,
a hotel-keeper at Kinzers ; Amos A., whose name
appears at the opening of this article; Martha
Louisa, wife of Conrad Sheaffer, of Lancaster, who
is now living retired ; Susan, wife of Cyrus Sheaffer,
a farmer of Bareville ; Harriet Emma, wife of Jacob
Herr, who is living retired at Bareville; and Eliza
Missouri, wife of John M. Ranck, a farmer of New
Holland. Among the deceased was Jacob F., the
distiller, whose '"Golden Rod" -whisky was widely
known.
Amos Adam Sheaffer was born on the old home-
stead, now known as Hinkletown, Nov. 22, 1861,
and was educated in the public schools, which he
left when eighteen years of age. For a time he was
employed on a farm, and in 1885 became a salesman
for his brother Jacob, who had his liquor business
at No. 3 North Queen street. There he remained
until September, 1889, when he purchased a store.
Seven years ago Mr. Sheaffer secured a front room
on East King street, and, uniting the two rooms,
opened a large and convenient liquor store. It is
not unusual for him to wholesale seventy barrels of
whisky a month, his leading brands being the "Sheaf-
fer," the "Golden Rod" and the "Club" whiskies.
Mr. Sheaffer has the formula of the "Golden Rod,"
and his copper distilled "Golden Rod" has become
even more popular than the original brand.
Mr. Sheaft'er married Miss Eliza Long, Jan. ir,
1893. She is a daughter of a farmer who lives on
the old Long homestead liear Neffsville. To them
have come three children : Mary May, who is now
at school; Benjamin Leon and Amos Paul. They
have a very charming home at No. 537 North Duke
street, where Mr. and Mrs. Sheaffer have lived since
their marriage. Mr. Sheaffer is a Republican, and
belongs to the I^utheran Church at Bergstrasse,
where his mother and her father lie buried. The
Sheaffer ancestors were for the most part buried at
Groft'dale.
WILLIAM J. CALDWELL, a well-known and
prosperous general farmer in Leacock township,
Lancaster county, was born Aug. 23, 1867, in the
township where his active years are passing, son of
John B. and Amanda (Hershey) Caldwell. His
parents were farriiing people, and remained in Lea-
cock township until 1895, when they removed to
Narberth, Montgomery Co., Pa., to live retired, Mr.
Caldwell having relinquished active labor in 1898.
He was born in 1839, Mrs. Caldwell on May 5, 1845.
Both are members of the Presbyterian Church. The
father has been a Republican all his active years,
and is now devoted to the tenets of the party which
in former days meant so much to him. The children
of this estimable couple are as follows : William J. ;
Charles E., a traveling salesman from Philadelphia ;
John A. ; and Robert W., who is in the coal and feed
business. The paternal grandparents of William J.
Caldwell were William and Sarah (Buyers) Cald-
well, and the maternal grandparents were Jacob F.
and Christiana (Bair) Hershey, all natives and resi-
dents of Lancaster county.
William J. Caldwell was' married Oct. 17, 1888,
to Lillie E. Hurst, who was born Nov. 12, 1865, on
the farm where she and her husband are now es-
tablished, daughter of Mathias S. Hurst. To this
union have come two children, Grace L. and
Bertha E.
Mr. Caldwell lived with, his parents until his
marriage, and for seven years was engaged in culti-
vating the old family homestead. At the end of that
time he moved to the farm where he is now to be
found, a handsome and well appointed place of 109
acres. Mr. Caldwell has been school director for
five years, and is a Republican in his political views.
He and his wife belong to the Lutheran Church.
SAMUEL F. FOLTZ, a deputy collector in the
9th Internal Revenue District, belongs to one of the
old families of Lancaster county, whose various
representatives for several generations have played
an important part in local affairs. He was born in
Caernarvon township, Lancaster county, Aug. 3,
1859, and received his education in tlie public
schools. When he was about twenty years old he se-
cured employment in the store of Mr. Wechter, at
Terrehill, where he remained about two and a half
years. P'or another year he was engaged in farming.
896
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and then set himself to the carpenter's trade, at
which he was engaged for a number of years.
In 1885 Mr. Foltz was elected to the office of
constable, being also assessor, as the two offices were
at that time associated. He filled these positions for
five consecutive terms, and while in office was ap-
pointed, May 15, 1890, a deputy revenue collector
for the 9th District. After four years of work in
that position he was ousted by a change of adminis-
tration. In 1895 he was appointed to fill a vacancy
in the office of tax collector, to which, after two
years' employment he was elected, continuing therein
until September, 1898, when he was again appointed
a deputy Revenue collector, in the same district in
which he was before engaged. Here he has been re-
tained to the present time, and has a very creditable
record as a capable and efficient Revenue official.
Mr. Foltz has served scA'eral times as a member
of the Republican committee, and is recognized as
one of the wheel horses of his party in the countv.
Mr. Foltz belongs to the A. O. K. of M. C, and
to the L.O. O. F., Terrehill Lodge, No. 454. Socially
he has made many friends by his frank and' endear-
ing qualities.
Mr. Foltz was married, April 23, 1880, to Miss
Frances S. Peters, who died in 1891, leaving two
children, Lizzie V. and Percy. Mr. Foltz married,
for his second wife, Dec. 24, 1893, Miss Mary L.
Nelson. She belongs to the Evangelical Church.
HERMAN BOMEISLER GRIFFITHS, man-
ager of Rocky Springs Park, a famous picnic resort
near Lancaster, although not a native of Lancaster
county, has done so much for the promotion of en-
joyment and healthful amusement among the people
of the city that they regard him as "one of their very
own." For seven years he has had his business
there, and in that time has commended himself most
favorably to the local public.
James Griffiths, the father of Herman B;, set-
tled in Philadelphia, and was one of the early steel
engravers in this country. A gentleman of much
intelligence and fine physique, he was -active and
vigorous during a long and useful life, until his last
illness, from which his death resulted Jan. 2, 1896.
James Griffiths was married in early manhood to
Mary Boraeisler, and by her became the father of
three sons, William M., Herman B. and James A.,
all of whom have been amusement caterers for more
than twenty years. Among the cities and towns
where they have had charge of rinks, parks and
other places of attraction are : Atlantic City, Oma-
ha, Meriden, Richmond, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Mt.
Gretna, Pa. (where H. B. Griffiths has also been in
charge six years), Nishaning Falls, Pa., Wilming-
ton, Sea Isle City, Cape May, Chesapeake Beach,
Md., and other places of more or less importance.
Herman B. Griffiths was born in Frankford, this
state, Feb. i, 1854, and was educated in the schools
of Montgomery county. At the age of seventeen
years he applied himself to the calico printing busi-
ness in company with his father, at Gloucester, N.
J., where he worked four years. On March 4,
1880, he was married to Sarah Emma, daughter. of
William and Isabella Hillborn, both natives of this
State, and Quakers, of English descent. The fam-
ily was reared in that faith for many generations,
and Jesse G. Webster, the maternal grandfather of
Mrs. Griffiths, was a cousin of Daniel Webster.
From this union were born two children, Isabella
Hillborn and William Herman. After his marriage
Mr. Griffiths began the cultivation of the paternal
estate, which is now in the possession of his mother.
In the spring of 1896 he took possession of Rocky
Springs Park, near Lancaster, on a six years' lease,
having an option on the place, This interesting
park consists of forty-two acres along the pictur-
esque Conestoga river, the only wooded tract any-
where near the city that can be used for general pic-
nic and park purposes. Two commodious steam-
ers were put on the river by him for the purpose of
carrying passengers to and from the Park, and he
also built a dance pavilion, a large show pavilion,
and a pavilion for the purpose of protecting pas-
sengers while waiting for the boat, besides beautify-
ing the place with exquisite flower beds, adding
birds and animals to the place, building a large to-
boggan, a switch back railroad, etc. He introduced
electric lights for the densely shaded grounds, re-
placing the coal oil torches and lamps formerly in
use, and the park was so improved in every way that
it soon became the great picnic resort of Lancaster,
more than one hundred thousand people visting it
every season. Their general and generous response
to his efforts so pleased Mr. Griffiths that he has
already secured ownership of one-third of the Park,
and still retains his option on the remainder.
Such has been the career of one who has done
so much to give the people of Lancaster a resort
where the young and old, rich and poor, can spend
a day or an hour in recreation at a trifling cost, and
he has certainly proved himself a public benefactor.
GEORGE KINZER HOFFMEIER, who is in
business with his brother, Charles Stamm FEoffmeier,
under the name of Hofi'meier Brothers, dealers in
furniture at No. 40 East King street, Lancaster, is
descended from a very old Pennsylvania family.
His paternal grandfather, the well-remembered J. L.
Hoffmeier, was born in Millersville, Lancaster coun-
ty. The progenitor of the family in this country
came from Germany. J. L. Hoffmeier was for years,
clerk of the Lancaster county prison, filling that
office with rare ability.
Amos K. Hoffmeier, father of the Hoffmeier
Brothers, was also a furniture dealer in East King
street for many years, and was the inventor of some
very excellent devices in furniture. He died in 1894.
His widow, Mrs. Mary (Stamm) Hoffmeier, be-
longs to a very old family and is a sister of Frederick
Stamm, who attained considerable fame as an in-
ventor. The surviving children of Mr. and Mrs.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
897
Hoffmeier are as follows : George K. and Charles
S. constitute the firm noted above. Mary Grace is
the wife of Prof. Thaddeus G. Helm, principal of
Franklin and Marshall Academy, Lancaster. Her-
bert Miller is one of the assistant superintendents of
the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Lan-
caster. Two children have passed away.
George K. Hoffmeier was born in Lancaster Dec.
13, 1861, received his education in the city schools,
after which he was employed in his father's estab-
lishment for two years, when he became manager of
the telephone service in the city and county. This
position he held for four years. For three years he
had charge of the telephone department of the fire
insurance patrol in Philadelphia. In July, 1886 he
came back to Lancaster to take a position in his fa-
ther's store, which he held until 1889, when, in com-
pany with his brother Charles, he embarked in his
present enterprise.
Mr. Hoffmeier was married, Nov. 14, 1889, to
Miss Emma D. Stauffer, a daughter of the late Mar-
tin Stauflfer, of Gap, who had retired from active
business some years before his death. Mr. Hoff-
meier belongs to St. Paul's Reformed Church, and
to the Artisans. He and his wife live in a charming
home at No. 26 Chester street.
Charles Stamm Hoffmeier, of the firm of
Hoffmeier Brothers, was born in Lancaster, Aug.
21, 1864. He attended the public schools until he
reached the high school, which he left to enter his
father's store, which was only a few doors from the
magnificent establishment of which he is now one
of the proprietors. There he remained until 1889,
when the firm of Hoffmeier Brothers became a
reality and began the successful business which is
still conducted at the present stand. For some years
They conducted their business on the second and third
floors. After taking possession of the first floor of
the building the business seemed to grow to amazing
proportions. In 1901 an addition was built — a five-
story building, thus giving a depth of 230 feet from
East King street ; it is one of the finest furniture es-
tablishments in the State.
Mr. Hoffmeier was married. May 22, 1889, to
Miss Helen N. Bidwell, daughter of the late Solo-
mon Bidwell, an inventor, of Philadelphia. To this
union were born Rhea Charlotta and Helen Louise.
The very cozy home of the family is at No. 22 Ches-
ter street. Mr. Hoffmeier is a member of St. Paul's
Reformed Church. He is one of the charter mem-
bers of the Young Republicans. The brothers are
energetic and capable men, and no firm in the city
enjoys the confidence of the people in a more marked
degree.
B. Z. HESS, of Fulton township, is among the
best and most favorably known citizens of the vicin-
ity in which he resides. He was born in Pequea
township, Lancaster county, April 5, 1858, and is a
member of one of the oldest families of the county,
being a son of Abraham M. and Annie (Zeigler)
57
Hess, both natives of Lancaster county. The fa-
ther is still residing in Pequea township, at the ripe
old age of seventy-two years.
Abraham Hess, grandfather of B. Z., was also
born in Pequea township. He was the father of six
children : Barbara, Elizabeth, Annie, Maria, Susan
and Abraham M. The family adhered to the old
Dunkard religion, and in politics the men were for
the most part Whigs and later Republicans.
Abraham Hess was married (first) in 1850 to a
Miss Hess, who, however, bore no relationship to
his family before her marriage. They had one child,
who died in infancy, the mother soon after following
it to the grave. In 1855 ^^- Hess married (second)
Miss Anna Zeigler, of an old Lancaster county fam-
ily, and they had a family of seven children : , Con-
rad is a farmer in Pequea township ; B. Z. is men-
tioned below; Abraham A. is a farmer in Donegal
township; Noah is a farmer of Pequea township;
Martha is the wife of Parris Engle, of Columbia,
Pa. ; and Ezra and Elsie died in childhood. Mr.
Hess lost his second wife by death, and married
(third) Barbara Herr, of Manor township, by whom
he has had four children: Annie is the wife of
Jacob G. Mann, of Manor township ; Enos resides in
Virginia; Barbara died in infancy; and Elizabeth
remains at home.
B. Z. Hess was reared on the home farm, receiv-
ing a common-school education. On May 17, 1882,
he married Barbara, daughter of Henry and Susan
(Buckwalter) Warfel, of an old family of Lancaster
county. Two children have come to Mr. and Mrs.
Hess : Susan A., born Nov. i, 1884, and Barbara,
born Oct. 21, 1893, both residing at home. The
mother, Mrs. Hess, was born Dec. 8, 1861.
Mr. Hess chose farming for his life vocation, and
though he started out in moderate circumstances he
is to-day the owner of a fine farm of 231 acres, with
first class improvements. Mr. Hess is a Baptist in
religious belief, and in politics is a member of the
Republican party. He is one of the best known men
in the southern part of Lancaster county, and is al-
ways associated with any movement whose object
is the betterment of the community in which he lives.
GEORGE ARMENT LANE. The immediate
ancestors of George Arment Lane were Thomas and
Susanna (Graham) Lane, the former of whom passed
out of life at the home of his son on March i, 1884,
in the sixty-seventh year of his age. His occupation
through a busy life had been that of carpenter and
cabinetmaker, which business he followed in Para-
dise township, where he. lived and died respected by
, all who knew him. His widow still survives, at the
age of eighty years, and makes her home with her
only child. George Arment Lane. The grandpar-
ents of Mr. Lane were Robert and Elizabeth (Ar-
ment) Lane, and Edward and Fanny Graham, the
latter having been born of Scotch-Irish parents from
the North of Ireland, who later settled in Harris-
town, Paradise township, this county.
898
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF. LANCASTER COUNTY
George Arment Lane was born Nov. 5, 1853, in
Harristown, an<i obtained, his education in the public
schools. His opportunities were limited by lack of
means, and at the age of fifteen years he decided that
he would adopt teaching as a step in the career
marked out for himself. As the law declared, that
no teacher under the age of seventeen was entitled
to remuneration, he was obliged to consider his work
in the light of practice, as he received no pay, al-
though he secured a school before he was sixteen
years of age. . For seven years he followed the pro-
fession of teaching, at; the same time adding to his
own knowledge. in preparation for the career he had
planned for himself.
In 1876, Mr. Lane came to Lancaster city in
order to engage in the study of law. He entered the
office of the late Philip D. Baker, Esq., and was ad-
mitted to the. Bar April 28, 1878. He entered the
arena of politics, and was. chosen County Solicitor,
being elected for a second term, and serving six
years in that responsible office, from 1889 to 1894. In
1895 he was elected District Attorney of Lancaster
county, his term of office extending through 1896,
1897, 1898. The period during which Mr. Lane was
District Attorney of I^ancaster county was important
in the annals of that county. , Many important cases
were tried by him. It was during his term of office
that Ralph Wireback was convicted oLthe murder
of D. B. I>andis and executed, being the first to re-
ceive the extreme penalty of the law in this county
since 1858. Bertha McConnell was convicted of
attempted murder, and served her time ; Jerry Green,
colored, was convicted of murder in the second de-
gree for killing his half-brother, and was sentenced
to twenty years imprisonment; and young Leipold,
whose forgeries of the name of a millionaire attracted
attention all over the State, was sent to the Hunting-
don Reformatory after Mr. Lane had convicted him.
These are some of the most noted cases out of nearly
three thousand disposed of^ during his term.
Mr. Lane was elected to the Lancaster School
Board from the Sixth ward for six years, during a
greater part of this time being chairman of the com-
mittee on Finance. This position he resigned when
he became District Attorney, the offices being in-
compatible. :
.Mr. Lane- was married, in 1881, to Miss Annie
Fulton, a daughter of James and Rosanna Fulton,
of Parkesburg, who was principal of the Parkesburg
schools at the time of her marriage. Four children
.were born ■ to this miion, two of whom survive :
Anna May, of the class of 1902, MiHersville State
Normal School, who possesses musical talent, and
is a piano pupil of Prof. George Benkert ; and James
Thomas, a grammar school lad of twelve years, who
is also gifted in music, being a vioHn. pupil of Prof.
Carl Thorbahn, more extended mention of whom
may be found elsewhere.
. Mr. Lane is a member of the First Presbyterian
Church of Lancaster, and was the superintendent
of the Sunday-school for nine years. Fraternally he
is a member of Herscihel Lodge, No, 123* I. O. O. F.,
and of Lancaster Council, No. 912, Jr. O. U. A. M.
Mr. Lane is a self-made man. He is a genial,
kind-hearted gentleman, and his friends in Lancaster
county are many, as- is evidenced by the support he
received when a candidate for political office..
ABRAHAM, MYERS! The Myers family,
which is now scattered until there are members in
almost every State of ,. the Union, originated, in
Switzerland, from which country came John Myers,
who founded the American branch of the family, in
the latter part of the eighteenth century. Taking
part in the Revolutionary war, he became thoroughly
identified with the progress and development of the
United States, particularly Pennsylvania, where he
found a comfortable home and a warm welcome from
the pioneers who were then settling in the forests of
Lancaster county. John Myers settled in Eden
township, cleared up a tract of wild land and con-
verted it into a fine estate, leaving a good property
to his children, who were: Henry, of Eden town-
ship; John, of Eden; Frederick; David; Benjamin,
who died in young manhood ; Sophia, who died un-
married; Betsey, who married John Fickinger;
Susan, who married William Pearson, of Eden;
Sallie, who married Harry Rowiskey; Mary, who
died on the old home place, unmarried ; and Jacob,
father of Abraham Myers.
Jacob Myers was born in Eden township in
March, 1798, and there married Susan McMichael,
who was born in 1819. She was a daughter of Will-
iam and Anna McMichael, the McMichael family
being well known in the pioneer annals of the county.
Jacob Myers settled on his father's old homestead
after the death of the father, and there lived until
his death, in 1879, at the age of eighty years. His
twelve children were: Lydia, Malinda, Eliza, and
one son died in childhood. Christian, born March 28,
1835, married Miss Ella Pickle, of Lancaster coun-
ty, and settled on one of his father's farms, where
he died in November, 1898, leaving a widow, who
resides on the farm with her three children, George,
Ada, and Clara. Abraham is mentioned below,
Lavina, born at the old home in 1838, is the wife of
John Carmahan, of this county, and they reside on
his farm in Eden township ; their two children are
Harry J. and Susan. Benjamin, born in Eden town-
ship in 1-845, married Mary- McElhaney, and they
reside on his farm near the old homestead ; they have
no family.- Amanda, born- in 1850, is the wife -of
Wilson. W. Jackson, and they reside in Eden town-
ship; they have ho family. ' Emeline; born in 1856,
is the wife of Sylvester Aulthouse, and they reside
on his fine farm in Sadsbury township ; their three
children are Lydia, Susan and Ruth. Elizabeth,
born in 1858, married Lewis Irvin, who resides in
Eden township, his farm being located there, and
they have three children, Jessie, Charles, and May.
Eliza, born in the old homestead, married Christian
Mowrer, and they reside on his estate in Colerain
BIQGRABHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
899
township ,' their four children are Ida, Amanda,
John and Chester.
The old homestead was the home of Abraham
Myers for some years, after his marriage; His edu-
cation was acquired in the common schools of his
district. Reared a farmer boy, he has continued in
agricultural- pursuits all his life, making [farming
his Hfe work. On Dec. 22, 1874, he was united in'
marriage, with Miss Jemima. C-E. Herr, daughter
of John and Margaret (Ralston) Herr, who was
born Jan. 11, 1850, in Eden township, received. an
excellent pommon-school education, and by a careful
mother was thoroughly instructed in housewifely
'ways. Her family is prominent in the religious an-
nals of the county and State, as well as in business,
and social circles.
For four years after his marriage, Mr. Myers
and his family lived on the old homestead farm, and
then he purchased what is locally known as the John
Easier farm, in Eden township, where he and family
have resided until the present date (some twenty
years). Mr. Myers has done much improving here,
in the way of rebuilding, remodeling, and fencing,
and has now the satisfaction of owning one of the
most attractive, valuable and productive farms in a
county which is rioted for its handsome homes.
The two sons born to Mr. and Mrs. Myers are :
(i) John A., born Oct. i, 1875, received his primary
education in the district schools, and later became an
ambitious student in the Millersville Normal School,
from which great institution he graduated with
honor in the class of 1898 ; during the next year, at
the same institution, he took advanced work in lan-
guages and higher mathematics, since which time he
has followed the profession of teacher during the
winter months, being acceptable through the whole
county, where he is considered one of the most prom-
ising young men of the community. During the sum-
mers he engages in carpenter work, and many of the
very attractive and convenient buildings on the home
farm are testimonials to his skill in that trade, as,
well as a humber of creditable achievements in the
machinist's line ; he is now employed as a traveling
machinist by the Piano Manufacturing Company,
of Chicago, 111. (2) C. William was born at the
old home in Dece.mber, 1878, also attended the dis-
trict schools in boyhood, and later became a student
in the ■.Millersville Normal School; Both sons re-
flect great credit upon their parents and their home^
training, and are respected through the community.
In politics Mr. Myers has been a lifelong Demo-
crat, and his sons are no less stanch in their Democ-
racy, believing the principles advanced by that .party
to be the best for the .country. : Rut Mr. Myexis is no.
politician, -and invariably refuses to accept office.
Brought, up in the. Lutheran Church, he has never
departed from its teachings. He is well and favor-
ably known throughout his part of. the county, and
well represents the honorable ancestry from which
he sprung.: His life has been devoted to the farming
interests of the community, his early training on the
pioneer farm giving him a thorough knowledge of
methods of work and the possibilities of, different
kinds of land. As a neighbor and citizen his sterHng
character has been recognized, and in the highest
degree he enjoys the esteem of his loyality, his neigh-
bors and business associates uniting in their judg-
ment of him as an honest man and a fit representative
of the community. . ■- . ■^.
GEORGE R. HEISEY, , attorney at law and
certified public accountant, was born in East Done-
gal township, Lancaster Cg„ Pennsylvania.
^ Eli Z. and Annie H. (Reich) Heisey, his par-
ents, were natives. of East Donegal township. Eli
Z. Heisey was a farmer, and followed that calling
until his death, April 2, 1893. Annie H. Heisey,
his wife, died June 15, 1898. They were the parents
of five children : Eleanor, who died in infancy ;
George R, ; Ethelbert R., teller of the First National
Bank of Marietta, Pa ; and Jacob Z. and Annie M.,
both of whom died in infancy. The paternal grand-
parents were Christian and Martha (Zigler) Heisey,
of East Donegal. The maternal grandparents were
Dr. George and Mary (Long) Reich.
George R. Heisey was educated at Schuylkill
Seminary, Palms National Business College, and
Close & Black's School of Shorthand. He followed
the profession of public accounting until April, 1901,
when he was admitted to the Lancaster Bar, and has
since practiced law. He is the managing director of
the Pennsylvania State Building & Loan Associa-
tion of Lancaster, Pa., and a member of the Pennsyl-
vania State Examining Board of Expert Account-
ants.
In, August, 1891, Mr. Heisey was united in mar-
riage at Marietta with Mary A. Steacy, a daughter
of George S. Steacy, who is mentioned below. No
children have come to this union. Mr. Heisey is a
Republican in politics.
George S. Steacy^ father of Mrs. George R.
Heisey, was born in Strasburg, Lancaster county,
and died in 1874, on his farm in East Donegal town-
ship, three miles from Marietta. His parents, John
and Sarah Steacy, had eight children, viz. : John,
Williarn and Edward, deceased ; Sarah, widow of
Rev. Mr.. Atmore ; Grace, Mrs. Connard, deceased ;
Elizabeth, deceased wife of Rev. John Edward;
Mary, -deceased wife of. Rev; Mr. Bishop; and
George S.
George S.. Steacy was married in Marietta, in
185.6, to Miss Margaret A. Stahl, and to this union
were bom the -following named children: Emma,
who died, young; Mary A., wife of George R..
Heisey ; William, a carpenter in Fresno, Gal. ; and
George S., a mechanic in York, Pa. Mrs. Margaret
A. (Stahl). Steacy Was born in Marietta, 'daiughter
of- Jacob and Agnes (Park) Stahl, of Lancaster.
Jacob Stahl was a lumbermaxi in early and middle
life, but lived in retirement in Marietta for many
3'^ears prior to his death, which took place in 1882,
when he was eighty-two years of age; his widow
900
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
survived until 1890, dying at the age of eighty-seven.
They were members of the Presbyterian Church, of
which Mr. Stahl was an elder for more than thirty-
five years. Their four children were George W.,
deceased ; Mary J., widow of A. N. Cassel, of Mari-
etta; Margaret A., widow of George S. Steacy; and
Miranda, wife of J. H. Grove, M. D., of Philadel-
phia. The grandfather of Mrs. Margaret A. Steacy
on the paternal side was John Stahl, of Lancaster,
and her maternal grandparents were James and
Mark (McWicker) Park, also of this county.
Mr. Steacy was an agriculturist all his days in
Conoy township; he was injured while threshing,
and the accident resulted in his death. He was a
good Christian, and highly respected, although not
a member of any church organization. In politics
he was a Republican.
AMOS E. BURKHOLDER, a prominent young
member of the Lancaster Bar, emanates from
parentage influential and widely known in social
and professional circles. His ancestors, who were
of the Mennonite denomination, came to this country
several generations ago, and his grandfather, Chris-
tian Burkholder, a farmer by occupation, was born
in West Earl township, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania.
Ezra Burkholder, father of Amos E., was well-
known surveyor, conveyancer, notary public and
justice of the peace, and transacted volumes of busi-
ness of a very important character during his -life.
He died July 12, 1890. In 1853 he married Annie
M. Hoffman, daughter of Christian Hoffman, a
merchant of Vogansville, Lancaster county, but
originally a farmer, and six children comprised their
family, five of whom are living : E. H., a surveyor,
conveyancer and justice of the peace, of Farmers-
ville, Pa. ; Mary, intermarried with V. C. Sheetz ;
Amanda, interniarried with Oscar Hackman ; Fran-
ces, intermarried with Joseph K. Tobias; and
Amos E.
Amos E. Burkholder, whose name introduces
this sketch, is a native of Pennsylvania, born in May,
1866, in West Earl township, Lancaster county. He
received his earlier education at the district and
select schools of that locality. Later on he finished
his studies at Central Pennsylvania College, from
which institution he graduated in 1888. Mr. Burk-
holder taught school from the fall of 1888 up to 1893,
in which year he entered the law offices of John E.
Malone, Esq., at Lancaster, Pa. In 1896 he was ad-
mitted to practice law, and within the prescribed time
became a practitioner in the Supreme and Superior
courts. He is located at No. 48 North Duke street,
Lancaster.
In 1893 Mr. Burkholder was married to Miss
Clara E- Bolster, daughter of George Bolster, mar-
ble and granite dealer at Ephrata, Pa. A son,
Henry Clay, now five years old, and a daughter,
Margaret Elizabeth, now one year old, have been
born to them. The family have their home at the
old homestead, occupied by Mr. Burkholder's par-
ents, at Farmersville, Pa., which place Mr. Burk-
holder has greatly enhanced, modernized and beauti-
fied, thus affording comfort to his family. He at-
tends faithfully to his practice in the' city, good
railroad facilities permitting him to be at his office
early in the morning and return in the evening.
Mr. Burkholder is a pronounced Republican, but
has never sought party preferment. In 1901 he was
appointed prison solicitor. In religious faith he is
a member of the German Reformed Church. He is
a careful and intelligent counselor, entirely devoted
to, his profession ; has built up a fine clientage, and is
popular alike inside and outside the circles of the
honorable profession of which he is an honored
member. •
LEVI SHULTZ, one of the progressive, reliable
and representative citizens of Strasburg township,
who resides one and one-fourth miles north of
Martinsville, was born in West Lampeter township
Jan. II, 1846. His parents were John and Elizabeth
(Marison) Shultz, well-known residents of that,
township.
Levi Shultz was reared on the home farm, and re-
ceived his education in the common schools. Until
he was thirty years old he remained assisting his
father, and at that time he purchased the farm of
thirty-five acres which has been his home ever since.
Here he carries on general farming, and he has made
many valuable improvements which have increased
the value of the place very considerably. All of the
surroundings denote the presence of an excellent
manager, and his is one of the most comfortable and
attractive homes of the neighborhood.
In 1876 Mr. Shultz married Miss Hannah Barge,
who was born in Strasburg township Jan. 8, 1853, a
daughter of the late Witmer Barge. Mr. and Mrs.
Shultz are the parents of four children : Lizzie B.,
wife of Harry Deiter ; and Witmer J., Harry B. and
Emma Maud, all residing at home. Mr. Shultz is
a man of standing in his locality, and both he and
his wife, with the two eldest children, belong to the
Mennonite Church, where they are valued for their
excellent traits of character and have many friends.
SAMUEL U. STOLTZFUS, who is one of the
leading and respected citizens of Earl township, and
resides on his farm a mile and a half west of New
Holland, was born in Earl township, Lancaster
county, Nov. i, 1851, a son of John and Elizabeth
(Umble) Stoltzfus.
John Stoltzfus, now deceased, was born Jan. 13,
1810, a son of Christian and Anna (Blank) Stoltz-
fus. Leacock was his native township, and there he
was reared and educated. Bred to farming, he fol-
lowed that avocation all his life. After his mar-
riage he came to Earl township, locating near Hink-
letown, but later purchased a farm of ninety acres,
which lies two miles west of New Holland, and which
was his horne until his death, March 22, 1897. He
was a leading citizen of his day, and a Christian
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
901
gentleman of high character and broad spirit. For
years he was an active minister in the Amish Church,
his work being largely in the lower Mill Creek Con-
gregation, where his Christian example and long de-
votion to his Master made him a host of friends.
John Stoltzfus was twice married, his first wife,
PZlizabeth Umble, becoming his bride March 7, 1830.
She died Oct. 2T, 1S53, when forty-two years, six
months and nine days old. They had the following
family: Anna, who was born March 27, 1831, is
the widow of Christian Lapp, of Leacock township ;
Mary, born April 25, 1832, died unmarried; Jacob,
born Sept. 22, 1833, is deceased; John (2),
born Sept. 11, 1835, lives in Caernarvon town-
ship, Lancaster county; Jonas, born May 19,
1839, lives in Caernarvon township ; Fannie,
born Sept. 17, 1840, married Henry Fisher, a
resident of East Lampeter township; Daniel, bom
Oct. 29, 1841, is a resident of Chester county ; Henry,
born Jan. 3, 1843, lived in Chester county until his
death in December, 1901 : Christian, born Aug. 3,
1845, is a resident of Berks county ; Amos, bom Nov.
20, 1847, lives in Upper Leacock township; Eliza-
beth, born Feb. 20, 1849, mdrried Joel Fisher, of
Lancaster township; and Samuel, born Nov. i, 1851,
is a resident of Earl township. The father married
for his second wife, Feb. 5, 1857, Elizabeth Nof- 1
singer, who was born Jan. 16, 1820, by whom he had
two children : J. Bena, born July 22, 1859, married !
John B. Schmucker; and Isaac, born Dec. 15, 1861,
lives on the old homestead. The parents of the sec- \
ond Mrs. Stoltzfus were Peter and Jacobine (Swart- :
sentauber") Nofsinger, natives of Illbach, Germany.
The mother is still living.
Samuel U. Stoltzfus was reared on the paternal \
farm, and educated in the public schools. When he I
was only twelve years old he began working for
wages, and at twenty-four began farming on his :
own account, renting a place of ninety-six acres, :
which he farmed for ten years. At the end of that
time he bought thirty acres, a part of his father's '
farm, which he improved with buildings, and where
he made his home for four years, when he bought
an 85-acre farm, where he is still to be found. Here
he has also made extensive improvements, and is
known as a very successful farmer. On his farm
Mr. Stoltzfus has a fine stone quarry, and for several
years he has been engaged in quarrying and crushing
stone. In 1899 he bought an approved stone crush-
ing machine for the highways, and now gives all
his time to a very extensive stone business, which
he has worked up in the neighborhood.
In 1874 Mr. Stoltzfus was married to Miss
Elizabeth Zook, a daughter of Lydia Zook, who was
born near Binkley's Bridge, and to them have come
seven children: Lydia, the wife of David Beiler,
of Bird-in-Hand ; Reuben, who married Miss
Sarah Renno, and lives in Leacock township ; Fan-
nie, at home, as are the other children, Levi, Mary,
Annie and Elmer. Mr. and Mrs. Stoltzfus are mem-
bers of the Amish Church, and the family are counted
among the most worthy and respected citizens of
the county.
SIMON SHISSLER, who carries on an ex-
tensive retail business as a cigar manufacturer in
Lancaster, is one of the most enterprising citizens of
that place, both in business and public circles. He
has filled numerous positions of trust, with uniform
satisfaction to all concerned, and his popularity is
the result of faithful service and honest methods in
every relation of life.
Mr. Shissler comes of that sturdy German stock
to whose characteristic thrift and industry Lancas-
ter county owes its present prosperous condition, and
his family has been identified with the county for two
hundred years. The Shisskrs originally came from
Germany, and were devout adherents of the
Lutheran Church. John Shissler, grandfather of
Simon, was born in Manor township, and died there
at a good old age. His wife lived to the age of nine-
ty-eight. Jacob Shissler, father of Simon, was born
in Manor township in 1805, and died in Lancaster
in 1868. He was a cooper by trade, and built the
large distillery near Strasburg. In 1858 he came to
Lancaster and took charge of the cooperage owned
by Philip Baker, continuing in that employ until
his death. Jacob Shissler first married a Miss Mil-
ler, by whom he had seven children, five sons and
two daughters. Four of the sons served in the Civil
war : Jacob was a member of Company I, 79th P. V.
I., and met his death while in the service, after fight-
ing bravely for nearly three years. Albert, who be-
longed to the same company and regiment, was a
-private; he died in Andersonville prison. Philip
and Amos were both members of the soth Pennsyl-
vania Militia. The former is now a resident of Stras-
burg, and the latter makes his home near that city.
By his second wife, Susan (Snyder), a native of
Strasburg, Jacob Shissler had three children : Anna,
now Mrs. Binkley, of Philadelphia ; Harry, of Lan-
caster; and Simon, whose name opens this sketch.
The mother of these is still living in Lancaster, and
though now nearly ninety years of age is vigorous
both mentally and physically. She is a member of
Trinity Lutheran Church.
Simon Shisskr was born April 16, 1856, in Para-
dise township, thi« county, and has lived in Lancas-
ter since he was two years old. His education was
received in the public schools. He was only thir-
teen years old at the time of his father's death, and
a year later commenced his apprenticeship to the
trade he has followed all his life, becoming a practi-
cal cigarmaker under the instruction of John Hull,
with whom he remained three years. Later he was
in the employ of Albright & Bros, and Metzger &
Wiley, until 1885, in which year he received his ap-
pointment as letter carrier in the post office depart-
ment. He served thus four years. In June, 1889,
Mr. Shissler embarked in business on his own ac-
902
BIOGRAPBICAL A-NNiALS^ OF ■LANCASTER €OUNTY
count, at No. 52 J4 North Queen street, where he
has ever since remained, and the store is one of the
most popular in Lancaster. He has always made a
specialty of the finest grades of goods, employing
the best workmen obtainable, and the products of
his factory, which is located in the rear of his store,
are justly celebrated. Fifteen hands are kept busy
constantly. Mr. Shissler's standing among business
men is unquestionable.
Mr. Shissler has taken a prominent part in the
improvement and progress of the city, and he has as-
sisted acceptably in the local civil administration for
a number of years. In 1890 he was elected to the
city council from the First ward by a good majority,
although he is a Democrat, and the ward and city
are conceded to be Republican. Iii 1892 he was
elected president of that body by a large majority,
and as such served on the Special Water committee,
which in 1892 placed in operation the ten-million
gallon pumps. The following year he removed to
the Fifth ward, of which he has since been a resi-
dent. In the spring of 1900 a vacancy occurred on
the school board of the ward, and Mr. Shissler was
unanimously chosen to the position. His greatest
honor from his fellow citizens, however, was received
in the spring of 1898, when he was nominated and
elected mayor of Lancaster, serving one term in that
office. No more convincing evidence of the high
esteem in which he is universally held could be given.
Mr. Shissler is an ardent worker in the Democratic
party, and has served several years as secretary of
the City Democratic committee.
In 1879 M*"- Shissler Was married, in Lancaster,
to Miss Alice Anderson, a native of Warrenton, Va.,
whose father. Perry Anderson, was engaged in "busi-
ness in that State, retiring after the war and making
his i home in Lancaster. Three children have blessed
this union, Henry, Walter (deceased) and Clyde.
The family have a fine home at No. 119 Charlotte
street. Mrs. Shissler is an intelligent woman; In
religious connection she is a member of the Duke
.Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Shisisler
affiliates with Lodge No. 43, F. & A. M.; Emanuel
Lodge, No. IJ04, I. O. O. F.; th& Knights of the
Golden Eagle ; the Knights of Malta ; and the Jr. O.
U. A. M. ;■ ■
MARTIN F. WITMER, a native-born citizen
and most respected farmer of Matior township, Lan-
caster county, was bom April 2, 1850, on the home-
stead'on which he still lives, two miles west of Mil-
lei-sville, son of Christian K. and Susan' (Furik)
Witmer. He acquired his education in the public
schools, arid continued to assist his father until 1878,
when he began operations on his own account, and
is now classed among the leading and most progres-
sive agriculturists of Manor township.
Ori Dec. 5; 1877, Martin F. Witmef: married
Elizabeth -B.'Harnish, who was born on Chestnut
Hill April. 20, ■ 1-854, daughter of Le-v-i and Leah
(Butt) Harnish, the former of whom died Feb. 12,
1902, aged eighty-five years, five months, ten days,
after an illness of nine weeks. This marriage has
been blessed with five children, viz. : Leah H., born
April 8, 1880: Alice H., Sept. 28, 1881 ; Levi H.,
Jan. 4, 1884; Elizabeth H., March 11, 1886; and
Simon H., Aug. 20, 1888 (died Oct. 28, 1893). The
family worship at the Mennonite Church, are among
the most respected residents of Manor township,
and their homestead of sixty acres is a model of neat-
ness and comfort.
Abraham Witmer, grandfather of Martin F.
Witmer, was also a native of Manor township. He
married Maria Kilhifler, and by her became the
father of four children, namely: Jacob, Abraham,
Betsey (who was married to Christian Charles),
and Christian K., all of whom lived and died in
Manor township.
Christian K. Witmer was born in Manor town-
ship June 24, i8ig, and was reared a farmer. He
first married Susan Funk, who bore him two chil-
dren, Abraham F. and Martin F., both farmers of
Manor township. His second marriage was to Eliza-
beth M. (Kindig) Doerstter, daughter of John Kin-
dig, and to this union were born three children,
namely : Mary, wife of John Krieder ; Fannie ; and
Lizzie, widow of Aaron Newcomer. Elizabeth M.
Witmer died Nov. 7, 1900, aged eighty-two years,
twenty-two days ; she was sick but one day, having
had a stroke of paralysis early in the morning. Chris-
tian K. Witmer died July 22, 1902, aged eighty-three
years, twenty-seven days. The surviving members
of the family are all Mennonites, and as the Witmers
are among the oldest residents of the township, they
are held in very high esteem by their neighbors.
DAVID C. HAUCK. Andrew Hauck, the
grandfather of David C, was reared on the line be-
tween Bucks and Lahcaster counties, and was a
laborer in hi^ active years, which were very largely
spent in Earl and Salisbury townships. He married
Catherine Fiar, and they became the parents of ten
children : John, Andrew, William, David, Matthias,
Hannah, Barbara,- Peggy, ^.-atnerine and Mary, all
deceased excepting the two last hiamed; : . r :." ■; .i
William Hauck, father of DavidC, 'was rieared
to the life of a laborer, and wca-ked' among- the -fafi
mers of Salisbury and Earl townships, owning a
small home in the former township; He married
Miss Margaret Caffery, a native of Lancaster coanty,
who died about 1890, at the age of sixtyrfive- years.
William Hauck died at the. age of fifty^six, in 187.5-
Both were members of the Methodist Chtirch. They
were the parents of -eight children r'Lircetta^ de-
ceased) I'narried Jonathan Wallace r David C. is menf
tioned belbw; William died at the age of eighteen
)'ears; Catherine (deceased) married -Moses Wat
lace : Henry lives in-' Salisbury township.;. Margaret
married Harry Griffeth,' of Paradise-'township-'.Mil--
tott is a resident of Earl' township; Diller.is also a
resident of Earl township; .. ;.:.. ;.:.;:.;,;
David C. Hauck was born Feb. 25, 1845, in Earl
BIOGRAPHICAL^ -ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
908
township, and was educjtted in the local, schools.
When he was nine years of age he began working
out among the farmers, working for wages, until he
was twenty-five years of age, when he began farming
in Paradise township, near Kinzers, renting a farm
of eighty-seven acres for five years. At the expira-
tion of that period he bought twenty acres in Lea-
cock township, of J. D. Warfel, which he sold ten
years later, to buy eighty-one acres of Abraham
Groff, a f arrh located in the southeastern part of Earl
township, where he has made his home since 1885,
and is engaged in general farming. In politics he
is a Republican, and he has been supervisor of Lea-
cock township for three years.
In December, 1868, Mr. Hauck married Miss
Catherine Sweigart, who was born in Philadelphia,
daughter of Barnhart and Julia Ann (Defifenbach)
Sweigart, and they have six children : Elizabeth E.,
wife of Ludwig Pflaumer, a resident of East Earl
township ; J. H., at home ; David F., at home ; Ruth
Ann ; Naomi C. : and Ithamar A. Mr. and Mrs.
Hauck are members of the Old Mennonite Church,
and are numbered among the worthy and respected
people of this county.
JOHN F. BALTHASER is one of the prosper-
ous business citizens of Ephrata, being the proprie-
tor of an extensive meat business, dealing in all kinds
of fresh and salted meats, and supplying a large ter-
ritory, with a constantly increasing patronage.
John F. Balthaser was born July 26; 1863, son
of Jacob and Lena (p-aust) Balthaser, natives of
Berks county, where his grandfather, also named
Jacob, was an extensive farmer. The father was born
in 1839, and married Lena Faust in 1859, and they
reared eight children : Howard, born in i860 ; John
F., born in 1863 ; Thomas, borii in 1866 ; Franklin,
borri in 1868; Sallie, born in 1870, who married
Alain Baker ; Jacob, born in 1873, who lives in Read-
ing; Emma, born in 1875, who married Hahrey
Noecker ; and William, born in 1880, living at home
with his father.' - ■^-
John F. Balthaser ha^ had his own way to make
in the world. When nine years of age the family re-
moved to Reading, and there lie was eniployed in a
brickyard, receivitig forty tents a day for "the first
year, after which he received one dollar per day. At
the age of thirteen, during the panic of 1876,- he
worked for forty cents a day,' .walking three rftiles
back and forth daily. --.He received his pay in scrip
which was redeemable only -at oti6 , store, in goods
or in cash, at a discount bf'-twehty per cent, At the
age of ..'sixteen he entered the "brewiiig business, re-
maining at same about one yeafy'and ^hen entered a
foi'indry in Risading to become a finished- niQider.
Later he went' to Denver, Pa., Where he- -worked at
brickmakiKg for about onie year^ and' then erigaged in
the butcher business^ niaking, a success of it; -But
seeking a larger fieM'fpi^^-his' business,; he reniGvea
to Ephrata, Pa.,'and took -m-'a partner ;' the 'firm
iaiied, and Mr. -Balthaser -lost all he hid. ^ In 'spite
of these drawbacks he started again,. and, as he says,
having had enough of a partnership business, he
first worked for another butcher until he accumUT
lated money enough to buy the first steer in order to
start for himself. Ever since, by economy, industry
and good management, he has been very successfully
engaged in business.
John F. Balthaser was married March 7, 1885, to
Miss Mary Baker, a daughter of Isaac and Fannie
(Drybread) Baker, of Lancaster county, and six
children have been born to this union : Jacob, July 4,
1886; Harry, July 22, 1888; Edna, May 29, 1889;
John Jr., March 14, 1891 ; Maud, Dec. 10, 1893 ; and
Isaac, April 15, 1896.
Mr. Balthaser has gained the confidence of the
public by his invariably honest dealing. His pos-
sessions number several nice buildings in the bor-
ough, and he stands well as a citizen. For many
years he has been a stanch Republican, and has been
twice elected a member of the Borough Council. He
is fraternally connected with the I. O. O. F. and with
the Sons of America, and in religion is a consistent
member of the Lutheran Church.
GEORGE LEIBLEY, a well-known resident of
Lancaster, living at No. 634 East King street, and
who has been in the United States Railway Mail
Service for many years, belongs to a very old Lan-
caster county family, his ancestors having lived here
for generations. Indeed, no family name in the re-
gion has been more familiar than that of Leibley
during the past century. Jacob Leibley, father of
George, was one of the pioneer butchers of Lancas-
ter. He entered into rest in 1852, aged sixty-nine
years, while the mother, who was Charlotte Miller
before marriage, and a native of Lancaster, passed
away in T885, aged seventy-nin4 years.
George Leibley was born Feb. > 12, 1843, on the
old family home on South Queen street,' where all
the members of his family were born. After receiv-
ing a partial education in the public schools, he left
at an early age, to become a printer's apprentice. He
had just finished his apprenticeship when, ' in 1861,
he enlisted as private i-ii the 79th Pennsylvania Vol-
unteers, serving over three years. He was 'detailed
•fronj the -ranks -and made a clel'k at Gen. Negley's
Division Headquarters, and later was transferred ib
-the comrhissary department at Gen. George H.
Thoihas's Headquarters, Army- of the Cumberland.
•His service ended, Mr. Leibley again went to print-
ing, but was soOn appointed a route agent on the
Pennsylvania railroad. After tontinuing thus- two
years he left that serviee, and- soon' afterward was
appointed clerk in the House oi Represehtatives
Post Office, Washington," Di C, serving there for
two sessions, having been 'appointed to that posi-
tion by Thaddeiis Stevens-,- -then xneinbef - Of Goftgress
from' this" district. In 18S9" Mr. Leibley -wa'sfe-ap-
"poiiated to^ the IJiiited' States; Mail-Servi-ee, -in-'which
-He' still;' f'erndin'^, 'funning frbm-''^Ne'w'--York -City-fo
■Pittsburg.'-'" ■■- ■ . ■' '■■- ■■■ i;^;^"':- ■■-.' ■lijr:
904
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
On May 19, 1866, Mr. Leibley was married to
Miss Mary Clara McCarter, daughter of the late
Arthur McCarter, of Norristown, Pa., and niece of
the late Col. James McCarter, a veteran of the Civil
war, and who was a clergyman, having ministered
for a time to the people of the First M. E. Church, of
Lancaster, the older members of which still hold him
in loving remembrance. To Mr. and Mrs. Leibley
have come seven children, one of whom died in in-
fancy. Blanche, who was the wife of William D. D.
Long, entered into rest June 17, 1898, leaving two
children, one a boy babe only a day old, who has ever
since been a member of the household of his grand-
father, George Leibley. The surviving children are
Arthur, who is employed at John Wanamaker's,
Philadelphia; Mildred, wife of C. J. Rhen, of the
firm of Rhen & Reese, job printers on North Queen
street; Katharine, at home; Albert, in the jewel
setting department of the Hamilton Watch Factory ;
and Harold, at school.
Mr. Leibley is a Lutheran in his religious faith,
and the only organization to which he belongs is
that of the Railway Mail Service Relief Associations.
Of genial, generous nature, possessing fine conversa-
tional powers, Mr. Leibley is a most companionable
gentleman, and the regret is that owing to the re-
sponsible duties which call him from home so much
of his time his fellow-citizens see so little of him.
WILLIAM C. WHITESIDE. The commer-
cial life of Tayloria, Lancaster county, is well repre-
sented by William C. Whiteside, the well-known
merchant and justice of the peace, who was born in
Colerain township, May 6, 1866, a son of James and
Elizabeth (Irwin) Whiteside, also of Colerain town-
ship.
James Whiteside was born in November, 1825,
and died in 1893, being a son of Robert Whiteside,
who came from Ireland to Lancaster county, about
one hundred years ago, settling in Colerain township,
where he lived and died. He was the lather of four
children : Saniuel, Robert, John and James, all now
deceased. About 1857, James married Elizabeth
Irwin, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Irwin, of
Chester county. This marriage was blessed with
five childreri : ' John W., of Colerain township ; J.
Charles ; Samuel P., of Colerain township, all far-
mers ; William C. ; and one now deceased. During
his lifetime, James Whiteside was among the highly
respected citizens of the township, and at the time
of his death, he owned four fine farms.
William C. Whiteside was reared upon his
father's farm, and received his education first in the
district schools and later in the excellent academy of
Colerain township. In 1889, he embarked in a gen-
eral merchandise business at Tayloria, and has con-
tinued in this line with marked success, ever since.
He served also as postmaster, until his election as
justice of the peace in 1894 necessitated his resigna-
tion. He discharged the duties of that office to the
entire satisfaction of all. In 1894 he was first ap-
pointed justice of the peace, and having been re-
elected, still holds that important office. In politics
he is a stanch Democrat in his views. In addition
to his other interests, Mr. Whiteside owns one-
quarter interest in a fine farm of 183 acres, and is
regarded as one of the substantial men of the town-
ship. The stock carried in his store is thoroughly
modern, well selected, and offered at very low
prices, while the service is excellent. Knowing the
needs of his customers, Mr. Whiteside is able to
cater to them, and as a result enjoys a very large
oatronage.
On Aug. 29, 1888, Mr. Whiteside was married
to Miss Jennie R. Tavlor, of Little Britain township,
a daughter of B. F.' and Ruth (Kirk) Taylor, of
Britain township, old settlers of this locality. Her
grandfather, Joseph C. Taylor, was a farmer and
merchant at Tayloria for many years, and the place
was named for this estimable gentleman. Mr. and
Mrs. Whiteside have had eight children: Violette
Ruth, born April 27, 1889 ; Joseph Taylor, born July
9, 1891 ; William Clymer, Jr., born Dec. 10, 1893 ;
Edward Craig, born Feb. 6, 1895 ; Benjamin Frank-
lin, born Nov. 14, 1896; Susanna Jane, born July
20, 1899 ; Frances Elizabeth, born March 21, 1901,
died Sept. 17, 1901 ; and David Malcolm, born Sept.
6, 1902. Although a young man, Mr. Whiteside
has firmly established himself in the confidence of the
community, and is regarded as one of the leaders in
local affairs. Genial, open-hearted, generous, be-
loved in his home and esteemed in the community,
his success in life is something of which he may well
be proud, although it is but the just reward of his
honest efforts.
HIRAM L. DETWILER, general farmer and
proprietor of a valuable sand pit in West Hempfield
township, Lancaster county, was born in York
coimty. Pa., Oct. 6, 1834, and is a son of Christian
and Elizabeth (Landis) Detwiler, natives of Lan-
caster and Chester counties, respectively. In 1837
the parents returned with their children to Lancaster
county, settling near Columbia, in West Hemp-
field township, where the father followed farming
the remainder of his Hfe, dying in 185 1, when seven-
ty-three years old. The mother survived him until
1890, passing away at the remarkable age of ninety
years, a member of the United Brethren Church.
Her remains were interred in the Mountville ceme-
tery. To the marriage of Christian and Elizabeth
Detwiler were born seven children, namely: Elias,
Joseph, Levi, Henry, Jeremiah, Hiram L. and Zach-
ariah, all of whom are deceased with the exception of
Hiram L., whose name opens this sketch.
In the city of Lancaster, Pa., in 1859, Hiram
L. Detwiler married Elizabeth Kauffman, and to
this union were born twelve children, namely:
David K., who died at the age of five years, two
months, three days ; Abraham K., married, and em-
ployed by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at
Columbia ; Mary K., wife of Tobias Shupp, of East
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
905
Hempfield township; Samuel L., married, who is
with the railroad company in Lancaster; Elizabeth
K., who died young ; Daniel K., a machinist in Co-
lumbia, married ; Isaiah K., at home ; Solomon K.,
married and at home; Horace K., married and at
home; Emma K., who died at the age of fourteen
years ; and Harry K. and Wilson K., at home.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Kaufifman) Detwiler was born
in West Hempfield township May 28, 1840, daugh-
ter of Jacob and Mary (Roop) KaufiFman, of the
same township, where he was an extensive farmer
and tanner, and a very influential citizen, being a
director of the Farmers' National Bank of Lan-
caster, and a leader in the Mennonite Church. Jacob
Kaufifman died in 1865, at the age of eighty-one
years, and his widow died at the same age, in 1881 ;
their remains are buried in the Silver Spring ceme-
tery. To Jacob Kaufifman and his wife were born
seventeen children, of whom seven reached, or nearly
reached, mature age: Susannah, widow of Thomas
Carter; David, now deceased; Leah, of Mountville,
unmarried; Mary, wife of John Piffer, a farmer at
Millersville ; Elizabeth, Mrs. Detwiler; Samuel, who
died in 1900 ; and Catherine, who died when a young
woman. The remaining ten died in infancy.
Hiram L. Detwiler was only in his seventeenth
year when his father died, and from that time has
taken care of himself, first working four years on a
farm for his brother Joseph, and then working for
his brother Henry, until 1859, the year of his mar-
riage. He then rented a farm for two years, after
which he purchased his present farm of sixty-eight
acres, on which he has a valuable sand pit, as has
been intimated. He has recently made some changes
in the operation of his sand pit, a corporation having
been formed, which continued operations under the
name of the Detwiler Sand Company. Mr. Detwiler
is also interested to a limited extent in sundry gold
and silver mines at Breckenridge, Summit Co.,
Colo., in partnership with his nephews, but it will
require some little time as yet to develop them. In
politics Mr. Detwiler is a Democrat.
MICHAEL F. BOWERS is a citizen of Lan-
caster who has risen from comparative obscurity
to a high place in the public esteem. He is extensive-
ly engaged in general house painting and decorating,
and is identified with some of the most ambitious
undertakings in that line in his part of the county.
Mr. Bowers was born in East Lampeter, this
county, April 6, 1857, of stanch Teutonic ancestry.
His parents, John and Maria M. (Arnold) Bowers,
were born in Germany, and emigrated to the United
States in 1847. John Bowers settled in Lampeter
township, where he engaged in farming for some
years, afterward working in the cotton mills of Lan-
caster. For ten years he was employed by the city,
and in 1895, he retired from active life, taking up
his residence with his son, Michael F., in 1900. He
was born in 1820, and is therefore eighty-two years
of age, yet he possesses imimpaired many of his best
faculties. He is a Catholic in religious belief, and
a member of St. Peter's Society. Mrs. Bowers died
in 1874, at'the age of forty-nine, and is buried in the
cemetery of Zion Lutheran Church, of which she
was a member. Mr. and Mrs. Bowers were the par-
ents of the following children : John C, deceased ;
Margaret, deceased; Frederick, an ice merchant of
Lancaster; Conrad A., engineer of the Lancaster
city water works ; Michael F. ; Elizabeth, deceased ;
Ernest C, a cigar manufacturer of East Petersburg,
Pa. ; Jacob A. ; William, deceased ; and Albert, de-
ceased.
Michael F. Bowers was reared on the paternal
farm, attending the district schools of his neighbor-
hood. When eighteen years of age he left the home
place and lived for a year in Lancaster, where he
found employment in a furniture factory and learned
the trade of painter. This peaceful occupation was
interrupted by his enlistment in the regular United
States army for five years, during which service he
was stationed on Davids Island, New York harbor,
for two years, was assigned later to Co. D, 20th In-
fantry, Col. E. S. Otis commanding, at Fort Brown,
Texas, where he remained for a year, and was then
at Fort Dodge, Kans., for six months. At Fort Reno,
Indian Territory, Mr. Bowers was discharged in
October, 1883. He rose to the rank of first sergeant,
an office maintained during the last two years of his
service. This military experience was augmented
by his service from 1884 to 1887 as captain of Co.
C, 8th regiment, P. N. G., from which he resigned to
engage in painting for the railroad. He also com-
manded Lancaster Commandery No. Tj, M. B. K.
G. E., during the years intervening between 1892
and 1900.
After his five years of service with the United
.States army Mr. Bowers returned to Lancaster and
resumed his association with the furniture company
for a couple of years, and for the following seven
years was employed as painter by the Pennsylvania
Railway Company. In 1891 he started in business
for himself as a painter and decorator, and the wis-
dom of this departure has been repeatedly demon-
strated in the meantime, for he has a large patronage,
and thoroughly understands the highest tenets of
his interesting and constantly improving occupation.
Mr. Bowers married Cecelia M. Dinkleberg, a
native of Lancaster, born in August, 1861, daughter
of Philip Dinkleberg. Mr. Dinkleberg was born in
Germany, as was also his wife, and both came to
America when children. He was a prominent con-
tractor in Lancaster, and erected some of the most
pretentious buildings there, including the Farmers'
National Bank, the Fulton National Bank, Zion
Lutheran Church, Trinity chapel, and the steeple of
the Presbyterian Church, besides other structures of
equal importance in the growth of the city.
To Mr. and Mrs. Bowers have been born three
children : Albert G. and Florence C, both attending
high school ; and Maria M., in the grammar school.
Mr. Bowers is associated with the F. & A. M., Lodge
906
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER- COUNTY
No. 43 ; the Knights of Pythias, Lodge No. 68 ; and
the K. of G. E., Castle No. 292. In October, 1899,
he became a member of the Master House Painters
and Decorators Association of Pennsylvania, and is
a member of the executive board; In September,
1902, he organized the prominent master painters of
his city into a local association, of which he was
elected first secretary. He is a member of Trinity
Lutheran Church, and politically is an independent
Republican.
JOHN H. GAMBER was, like many other old
residents of Manor township, Lancaster county, born
at the homestead which has been the residence of his
family for many generations, and in which both his
grandfather and his father first saw the light of day.
He is a son of John L. and Faniiie D. (Herr)
Gamber, and a grandson of Rudolph and Mary
(Landis) Gamber. The family are Mennonites in
religious faith, and in politics both John H. Gamber
and his father have been stanch Republicans.
John L. Garriber was a farmer, as is also his son,
John H. His wife, who is. a daughter of David S.
and Elizabeth (Dentlinger) Herr, survives him,
making her home with her son, John. Four children
were born to them, of whom John H. is the third ; of
the others, Alice is the wife of Benjamin Stauffer,
of Manor township ; Fannie married John S. Heller,
a farmer of East Hempfield township ; David H. died
in boyhood.
John H. Garnber was born Sept. 5, 1866, received
a good common-school education, and upon the death
of his father succeeded to the management of the
home farm. In 1893, in company with John D. Herr,
he began buying and packing tobacco, having the
same packed near Mountvdlle, and the business has
steadily grown' and prospered. In 1899 the partner-
ship was dissolved, Mr. Gamber now carrying on the
business On his own account. .During ■ three years,
also, he and Mr. Herr; w^remterested in' Operating
a . mill and girain warehouse near Mbuntvill6. Mr.
Camber's present tobacco warehouse covers a site
of 8b by 36 feet, arid is three and a half stories in
height. ' He also has -other interests there, b.eirig a
stockholder and director m the Mountville National
Bank, as well as 3 stockholder in several of the Lan-
caster batiks. .His farth eriibfaces nearly riinety acres,
and is one of thebest managed in the .county.
Mr. GJimber'Tias been .largely the architect of
his oWn fortune/''^ He is. a young man of broad, prp-
gressive ideas', -'ke^ti- iirtelligfence, quick,' perception
and tireless eriei'gy, aind- for siich'frieh -there is no
such word. as;' fail; ',' '"'.'.
EMANUEL SHELLY, a ..g^enetal f^atmer of
-Rapho' township, was "Born in the" iaifie township,
Aug. I, -1844, .son of Samuel and' Mariaft ; (Ager)
'Shelly; 'of Rapho 't'bwriship./ ""'l,''
''Saniuel Shelly, thfe •father, die.^ini^9Q, at the ag^
of. sixty-Keveri'"f€ars,,-and is buried dri' histoid farm.; ,
his widow stilf resides iri^ the ibwrifehip, where she
was born in 1819. Mrs. Shelly is a member of the
Brethren in Christ Church, of which denomination
Mr. Shelly was also a member during his lifetime.
Thefe were born to them the following children:
Isaac, a retired farmer living in Rapho township;
Samuel A., a farmer of Rapho township; Aaron;
Anna : Mariah ; and Emanuel.
In October, 1866, at Mt. Joy, Emanuel Shelly
was married to Miss Anna Shearer. There have
been born to this couple the following children:
Samuel S., of Rapho township; Anna. S., wife of
Aaron Peters,. a farmer of Rapho township; Nathan
S., at home ; Amos S^ ; Emma S. ; Mariah S. ; Eman-
uel S., deceased ; Ephraim S. ; Harvey S. ; Lizzie S. ;
Minnie S. : and Emma S., deceased.
Mrs. Anna (Shearer) Shelly was born Aug. 7,
1849, in ^^*^- J*^y township, daughter of Samuel and
Elizabeth (Witmer) Shearer, of Mt. Joy township.
Her mother died in 1857, at the age of thirty-nine
years, while her father still resides on the family
farm retired from the active duties of life. There
were born to Mr. and Mrs. Shearer the following
children : Barbara, deceased wife of Henry Cinder ;
John W., a farmer of Mt. Joy township; Anna 'W.,
wife of Emanuel Shelly; Michael W., a Donegal
township farmer; and Lizzie W., wife of Amos
Heisey, of Mt. Joy township. Samuel Shearer mar-
ried Miss Anna Herr for his second wife, and this
union resulted in the following named children:
Samuel H., a farmer of Mt. Joy; Amos H., a Mt.
Joy farmer; Katie H., wife of George Hossler, a
farmer at Bellaire, Pa. Mrs. Shelly's paternal
grandfather's name was John Shearer, of Lancas-
ter county.
Emanuel" Shelly remained at home with his par-
ents, gaining, in the meanwhile, an education in the
common schools, until the time of his marriage, when
he moved to his present home. He and his family
are members of the Brethren in Christ Church, and
are proininerit in the social circles of the vicinity.
Mr. Shelly has been frugal and careful in his habits
and business transactions, and as a result has ac-
quired a fine competency. Respected by all who
know him, life Tias many pleasant phaseis for his
contemplation.
THOMAS EVANS STOLE was born in Upper
Leacock township, July 6, i84i8, and died Feb.- 5,
1898. Hi& remains rest in the cemetery connected
with the Leacock Church. He was a sbri of John and
Elizabeth. (Evans) Sigle, of Lancaster county.
John Sigle was ah undertaker in Upper Leacock
township, and is now living "in Bird-in-Hand, Pa.,
where he leads, a retired life. He- was born in
November, 1822, and his second wife is still living.
Mr. Sigle is the father of the following "children-:
Thomas E. and George, both of whom are deceased;
Robert C, a plumber and tinsmith iii Camden, N; J.-
John, deceased; Miss Celesta, who niakes her honie
with her" parents ; Agnes, who married John Bohn,
of Philadelphii'-; Anna, 'who married George Ham-
BIOGRAPHICAL AN'NXLS- OF LANCASTER- GOtjNTY
907
bright, a ticket agent in the employ of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad at Lancaster; and Elizabeth, who
died young.
Thomas E. Sigle was married Nov. 23, 1871) in
New Holland, Pa., to Barbara Ranck. To this
union were born: Mary E., who married Elmer
Groff, a carpenter of Upper Leacock township, and
is the mother of three children; Miss Anna R. ;
Celesta ; Robert ; and John R., at home. Mrs. Bar-
bara (Ranck) Sigle was born in Leacock township,
Dec. 28, 1843, ^"d is a sister of Adam M. Ranck,
whose sketch appears elsewhere.
Mr. Sigle came to the farm occupied by his fam-
ily in February, 1877, moving from a farm in Para-
dise township. Until his marriage his home was
with his parents. After his marriage he worked in
a mill near Willawstreet two years, and was at work
on a farm in Paradise township two years. At the
expiration of that period he settled on the farm where
his family is found today, and where his life was
spent. Mr. Sigle belonged to the Presbyterian
Church. In his politics he was a Democrat. For
some three years before his death he bought tobacco
in connection with his farming, and was a popular
and successful tradesman.
WALTER SCOTT _ BRENHOLTZ, M. D.
Among the well-known citizens of Lancaster is Dr.
Walter Scott Brenholtz, a physician and surgeon
who, for the past five years, has been established
in his comfortable ofhces at No. 36 East Walnut
street, that city.
Dr. Brenholtz requires no ancestral stock to sup-
port his claims to eminence, nevertheless he has it.
His great-great-grandfathfer, Frederick Brenholtz,
although born in Germany, was an American patriot
in the war of the Revolution, giving up his life for
his adopted country at the battle of Brandywine.
Great-grandfather John Brenholtz was born in
Chester county, where the family had. been located,
and Henry Brenholtz, the Doctor's grandfather, was
a resident, of and died in Hughesville, Lycoming
county." Isaac "John Brenholtz, son of Henry, and
father of 'Dr. Brenholtz, Was a native of Hughes-
ville; Pa., where for many years he has been a hard-
ware meriehaht. He married Miss Fanny Springer,
daitgfhler- of CHtistian Springer, of Muncy ' Vkliey,
irt'Lybbming county, a;hd two children were born to
this union: Miss Anna, at home; and Dr. Walter
S., of Lancaster. •' •' - • .
Walter Scott Brenholtz was born in Hughes-
ville Nov.- 20, 1867, and acquired- his pfepafatory
education iii the public schools of his district,' going
then to-Gettysburg Cojlege, and later to the;Umver-
sity of -Pennsylvania, from, which great . institution
he graduated-lii-i892. Dr. Brenholtz began' the pi-ac-
tice of his ptof ession in Columbia, where he remained
■five' years ; "and' theii took"- a ' post-gi-aduate .'course iri
the Ear,; Nose anti;TItroat;'at tne Polyclinic Hos-
pital,'in Philaddphia.'"' .;.■..-;.
Dr. Brenholtz located in Lancaster Feb. i, 1898.
He is a member of the Lancaster City and Cotinty
Medical Societies, of the College of Physicians and
Surgeons, of Columbia, the ^Lancaster City Patho-
logical Society, and also of the State and American,
or National, Medical Societies.. In 1893 he was a
delegate to the State Medical Society, and in 1897
to the National Medical . Society. Dr. Brenholtz
enjoys also the distinction of being a member of the
medical staff of the General Hospital in Lancaster.
Dr. Brenholtz was married in 1893, to Miss Mary
Alta Metzger, a daughter of Dr. G. W. Metzger,
of Hughesville, brother of the late distinguished
Judge Metzger, of Lycoming county. Three chil-
dren have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Brenholtz,
Fanny Rebecca, Anna and Mary Metzger, all bright
and unusually attractive little ones.
Religiously Dr. Brenholtz is a member of St.
John's Lutheran Church, where he is a deacon, and
where he is the teacher of the Young Men's Bible
class. Socially and professionally he enjoys the es-
teem and confidence of his fellow-citizens.
SAMUEL CAMPBELL. It is but natural that
Samuel Cam.pbell should choose an active vocation,
for he comes of an ancestry who were prominent men
and women, and whose lives were filled with public
and business achievements. Mr. Campbell is en-
gaged in the livery and feed stable business, operates
a mail route, and has engaged extensively in de-
tective work. He is a native of Columbia, where he
was born Aug. 25, 185 1, son of George K. and Julia
(Lloyd) Campbell.
James Campbell, his paternal great-grandfather,
was a native of the south of Ireland, ernigrated to
America, and located in Lancaster county. He mar-
ried Emma Boggs, of Columbia, and both are buried
at Lancaster.
William Campbell, the grandtather ' of Samuel,
was born in 1809. He married Sarah Krumloff, of
Norfistowh, Pa., and in 1836 settled at Columbia,
where he followed the business of, a merchant tailor
until his death, in 1840, at the age of thirty-one years.
His wife died in 1848. Their children were : George
K. ; John, who died young; Mary, who married Sam-
uel Bennett, a railroad engineer, and died in Phila-
delphia, in 1878 ; Cyrus, who died yoting ; Reuben,
who died young; Emma, wife of Henry Fishef, re-
tired, of Lancaster; and David, a farmer of Lan-
caster.
George K. Campbell, father of Samuel, was born
in Norristown^ Pa., Sept. 15,- 1828. When eight
years of age he came to Columbia with' his parents,
and remained a resident of that borough until his
death. When a youth he acquired a knowledge, of
the tanner's and currier's trade, and "was a'litfle latet
connected with shipbuilding. But the activity' of
railroad work attracted him. He ;was yard enginfer
of ..the Pennsylvania' Railroad Companv for forty-
'.seven years, and spent the. last year of .his life in
deserved i-etifernent"from'active duties. " Tn' rfeligious
faith he was a member of the United Brethren
908
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Church, and in politics a Republican. In November,
1850, Mr. Campbell married Julia Anna Lloyd, who
was born at Penn's Grove, near Philadelphia, March
20, 1833, daughter of Capt. John B. and Julia (Ben-
nett) Lloyd. Capt. John B. Lloyd was a sea captain,
the son of John and Charlotte (Church) Lloyd,
Quakers, of Churchtown, Pa., where they remained
through life. Julia Bennett, wife of Capt. John B.
Lloyd, was the daughter of John and Rachel (Kel-
ler) Bennett, natives of England and Ireland, respect-
ively, v/ho were married in Berks county. Pa. They
had emigrated to America at the ages of eighteen
and fifteen years, respectively, and John Bennett
served in the Revolutionary army under LaFayette.
John B. and Julia (Bennett) Lloyd were married in
Columbia in 1824, and three months later returned
Lo Philadelphia, the wife's former home. He died
in 1877, aged seventy-five years, and she passed away
in February, 1857, aged fifty-one years. The chil-
dren of Capt. John B. and Julia (Bennett) Lloyd
were as follows : Elizabeth, wife of David Bird, of
Philadelphia; Isaac; Nathan; John; Julia A., Mrs.
Campbell ; Thomas : James ; Charlotte ; Rachel ;
Jacob G. ; Mary C. ; Charles ; and Jane A. All are
deceased except Elizabeth, Julia A-, James and Jane
A. James, who served in the army, is now a carpen-
ter at Philadelphia. Charles was a bugler during the
Civil war, and was among the missing.
To George K. and Julia Anna (Lloyd) Campbell
were born nine children, namely : Samuel, whose
sketch appears below ; Melvina, wife of Joseph
Cooper, a railroad engineer of Columbia, Pa. ; Lloyd ■
James, who died at the age of ten years ; Sarah A.,
who married Dr. Samuel Roberts, a veteran of the
Civil war, and who died in 1895 ; Elizabeth, wife of
Tyson Simpson, a railroad conductor of Columbia;
Minnie, who married Thomas Bennett, a seaman of
Tampa, Fla. ; Emma and Maggie, twins, the latter
the wife of John F. McGee, a furniture merchant of '
Columbia, the former the wife of Stephen Baker, a
railroad engineer of Columbia ; and Ida M., who died
young. George K. Campbell, the father, died Dec.
12, 1898, aged seventy years ; his widow survives, a
resident of Columbia.
Samuel Campbell has always made Columbia his
home. Of an active temperament, he has traveled
greatly as a dealer in horses, wagons, etc., and also
in his extensive detective work, which he has fol-
lowed for the past twenty years. In 1879 he em-
barked in the livery business, which he has contin-
ued uninterruptedly ever since.
Mr. Campbell married at Columbia, in August,
1870, Caroline Glosser, who was born in Columbia
in February, 1852, daughter of Andrew and Sarah
Glosser, natives of Germany, who emigrated to
America and settled at Columbia. Andrew Glosser
was a railroad engineer and was killed while on duty
on his engine. To Samuel and Caroline Campbell
were born two children : Charles and William. The
latter died at the age of one year. Charles married
Ada McCann, and to them have been born two
•laughters, Caroline and Mabel.
Samuel Campbell is a man of much force of char-
acter, a good business man, and his integrity is
unimpeachable. He has strict regard for his
word, and accordingly is very popular and is
held in high respect by all who know him, enjoy-
ing the complete confidence of his fellow citizens.
For the past eighten years he has served as con-
stable. Prominent in fraternal and social orders, he
is a member of the I. O. O. F., the Home Circle
Lodge, the National A. I. Co., of New York, etc.
In politics he is a Republican, and in religious prefer-
ence has been a constant attendant of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. He is remarkably well informed,
and has a most excellent library.
DAVID LINCOLN HARNISH, the pioneer
paint manufacturer of Lancaster, and one of the
pioneer paint dealers of the city, belongs to one of the
old and reputable families of Lancaster county.- The
old sandstone house in which his mother was born,
in West Lampeter township, was the home of many
generations of his maternal progenitors, and is one
of the old and historic buildings of the county, hav-
ing been frequently selected for illustrations in his-
torical publications.
Michael Plarnish, grandfather of David L., was
a farmer in Conestoga township. His son, D. W.
Harnish, father of David L., is a retired farmer, and
is still living, having a cosy and attractive home at
No. 131 East Walnut street, Lancaster. D. W. Har-
nish married Miss Barbara K. Mylin, a daughter of
one of the best known farmers of West Lampeter
township, and they had six children, four of whom
are living: David Lincoln; Michael, a farmer on
the old home farm in West Lampeter township;
Harry, a traveling salesman for a wholesale shoe
house; and Martin, a lawyer, who has associated
himself with William R. Harnish.
David L. Harnish was born on the old homestead
in West Lampeter in August, 1861, and, receiving
his education in the home district, left school at the
age of eighteen years, and worked on his father's
farm until he was twenty-one. At that time he made
a change in his life, becoming a clerk in the store of
Marshall & Rengiers, of Lancaster, and later went to
Newark, Del., where he had a good position as clerk
in a store.
In June, 1885, Mr. Harnish struck out for him-
self, setting up a paint store in Lancaster, at Nos. 5
and 7 South Queen street. His beginning was mod-
est, and made with misgivings, but there was some-
thing attractive in his way of doing business, and
his trade quickly outgrew the limited quarters in
which he had begun. In 1896 he moved to Centre
Square and South Queen street. Meanwhile he had
established an extensive paint factory on Charlotte
street. The business still continued to prosper and
increase, and in October, 1900, Mr. Harnish made a
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
909
second move, this time to No. 235 North Prince
street, which property he purchased, there building
a factory and store-room. The dimensions of this
building, which is of brick, are 40x145 feet, and it
is three stories high. The leading paint which he
puts on the market is the "Lancaster Ready-Mixed
Paint," which is sold extensively throughout Penn-
sylvania and the neighboring States. The house car-
ries paints, oils, varnishes, glass, brushes, cement,
etc., and so popular are their brushes that they have
been shipped as far as New Mexico. The concern
is one of the largest and most important of the kind
in the State, and Mr. Harnish has the very highest
standing in the commercial world.
Mr. Harnish married Miss Elizabeth Brown,
daughter of Elias Brown, a retired merchant of
Stevens, Lancaster county, who is now living in one
of the two handsome houses which he has erected on
the Philadelphia turnpike, opposite the Lancaster
County Hospital, Mr. Harnish living in the other.
To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Harnish three children
have been born: Raymond B., David Paul and
Anna B.
Mr. Harnish has behind him a long line of Men-
nonite ancestors in both maternal and paternal lines,
and his relatives, with those of his wife, constitute
a very large and influential circle. Mr. Harnish is a
Republican politically, but his business and church
command all his attention.
JACOB BETZ, a prosperous farmer and quarry
owner of the city of Lancaster, was born in Manheim
township, Lancaster Co., Pa., Oct. 5, 1856, son of
Jacob and Catherine (Meisel) Betz.
Jacob Betz, Sr., the father, now deceased, was a
prominent business man of Lancaster, and passed
away May 14, iqoo. He was born Dec. 4, 1822, in
Rheinbaiern, Germany, son of Jacob and Magdelina
(Huhn) Betz, natives of Dressen, Germany. The,
grandfather, also named Jacob, died in his native
land, and the grandmother came to America about
T846. Jacob Betz, Sr., emigrated to America in
1842, settling in Manheim township, and later re-
moving into the city of Lancaster. At first he was
engaged in the dairy business and farming, but soon
became interested in quarrying stone and sand for
building and furnace purposes, having delivered
stone for many years for Mr. Geiger, at the Lancas-
ter furnace, and later for Peacock & Thomas. In
1859 he moved to Lancaster, and he had sand pits
on Rockland and Ann streets, which are worked
now by his son. He also had a pit in East Lampeter
township. For many years he supplied the car shops
at Altoona with all the core sand used. In addition
to quarrying stone, Mr. Betz also took contracts for
hauling it, and during his active business career,
was a prominent factor in the commercial life of
the city, by his enterprise and industry building up
a fine husiness. In 1881 he moved to Lancaster
township, where he remained up to the time of his
death, on his farm of thirty acres near City Mill.
In 1889 Mr. Betz retired from business in favor of
his son Jacob. Besides his large quarry business
Mr. Betz, at the time of his death, was the owner of
some forty new houses and a large tract of unim-
proved land in the Sev'enth ward, Lancaster; one
tract of unimproved land in East Lampeter township ;
the farm in Lancaster township where he died, and
had large amounts invested in bonds, stocks and
mortgages. After his retirement Mr. Betz devoted
the greater portion of his attention toward the build-
ing of houses for investments. During a long and
useful life he was a consistent member of Zion
Lutheran Church. In political matters he was a
Democrat, but never desired nor sought office.
On April 19, 1851, Mr. Betz was married in Lan-
caster, Pa., to Catherine Meisel, and the following
children were born to this union : Peter died at the
age of three years ; Mary died at the age of eighteen
months; Jacob is mentioned below; Catherine mar-
ried Charles Beidel, of Lancaster; Elizabeth mar-
ried Mark Keeport, a jeweler of Reading. Mrs. Betz
was born at Geltheim, CJermany, Aug. 9, 1825,
daughter of Nicholas and Barbara (Meiselin) Mei-
sel, of Germany. Nicholas Meisel was a farmer in
his native land, where -he died in 1830, at the age of
thirty years, while his wife died in 1835, at the age
of thirty-two. They had two children : Christina,
who died at the age of thirty-five years, married Fred
Nevis, and he died in New Jersey. Catherine came
to America in 1847, making the trip one year'after
her sister, and taking forty-five days in the journey ;
she settled in Lancaster. Mrs. Betz is very well
preserved, and is cheered by her children's love and
devotion after her life of hard work.
Jacob Betz, Jr., was reared upon the farm, re-
ceiving an education in the English and German
branches at Zion Lutheran Church School. In 1871,
he left school (at the age of fourteen years) and
commenced to work with his father, whom he as-
sisted on the farm and in the sand and stone business
until 1889, when the father, retiring, left all the busi-
ness to him. He has continued to deliver and ship
core sand to many foundries, also building sand and
stone, and he is the executor of his father's estate,
which he oversees and manages for the heirs. .Mr.
Betz owns a large number of building lots in Lan-
caster, on which he has built some twenty new
houses, and also has four acres within the city limits.
In March, 1889, Mr. Betz was married, in Lan-
caster, to Elmira Throne, and the following children
have come to their marriage: Jacob, born in
December, 1898; Clarence, born in March, 1891 ;
Catherine, born in December, 1892 ; Luther, born in
November, 1894; and Paul, who died in March,
1897. Mrs. Betz was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in
1856, daughter of Henry and Charlotte (Smith)
Throne, the former of whom was a blacksmith of
Pennsylvania. In politics Mr. Betz is independent,
preferring to vote for the man whom he deems best
fitted for the office in question. He and his family
are members of the Zion Lutheran Church. Through
910
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
industry and thrift Mr. Betz has gained a comfort-
able fortune, and his property is steadily increasing
in value on account of its location. Mr. Betz com-
mands the confidence and respect of the entire com-
munity, and the sviccess which has attended his ef-
forts is well merited.
ALBERT A. MANNING, the well-known post-
rnaster and merchant pf Highville, Lancaster county,
was born;at that place July 29, 1856, and is a repre-
sentative of one of the old and highly respected fam-
ilies of the county. , .
When a lad of possibly fifteen years his- great-
grandfather, John Manning, a native of England,
was sent to sea for the purpose of learning the art of
sailing by his father, a man of some prominence and
distinction in England. The boy was apprenticed
to the captain of a sailing vessel, who proved to be a
rascal, for upon reaching the port of Philadelphia
he deliberately sold the boy to a farmer until he
should attain his majority. He thus beca,me the
founder of the Manning family in Lancaster county,
Pa., as it was here he was brought and served out
his time to his master. After securing his freedom
he decided to remain here, and purchased 160 acres
of land from William Penn, in Manor township,
on the road between Highville and Creswell, which
land he cleared, making his home there until his
death. Throughout his active business life he en-
gaged in farming, but after arriving at old age he
divided his property, giving each of his sons twenty
acres. He was almost eighty years of age at the
time of his death. He was twice married, and had
children bv both unions, his family including Joseph,
Thomas, Jacob, William and Samuel.
Joseph Manning, a son by the second marriage,
and the grandfather of Albert A., was born and
reared on the old . homestead in Manor township,
and to the twenty acres of land given him by his
father he added by purchase another twenty acres,
making a good farm of forty acres, where he spent
his entire life, dying at the age of sixty-four years.
He married Verona Kendig, and they had eight
, children : Mary, deceased wife of Joseph Butt ;
Elizabeth, deceased wife of George Fry; Christian
and John, wlio both died in Indiana ; Fannie, de-
ceased wife of Samuel Fry ; Nancy, deceased wife
of Henry Brenneman ; Susannah, who died in child-
hood ; and Martin K,,. father of Albert A.
. Martin K. Manning, the only one of the family
now living, was born April I3y 1822, and grew to
manhood on the home farm. During the , greater
part of his life he has followed fence building and
post making, ,and owns a small tract of seven acres
pf land in iVfanor township, where he.lives. In poli-
tics he is a RepubKcan. In 1844 he was married to
Catharine Ament, a daughter of George Ament, and
of the eight children born tp this worthy couple
Sarah is now the wife of Cyrus Guntner, of Manor
township; Henry and Isaiah both died in infancy;
Elias died at the age of nineteen years ; Delilah died
in infancy ; Fannie died in childhood ; Catharine died
in infancy ; and Albert A. completes the family.
Albert A. Manning is indebted to the public
schools of Manor township for his educational ad-
vantages. He remained on the home farm until he_
attained his majority, when he was married, April
II, 1878, to Miss Amanda- Nicholas, a native of
Washington borqugh, and a da.ughter of Leonard
and Mary (Otstatt) Nicholas. By this union were
born six children; . Harry N. ; Ira, who died in child-
hood; I'itus N. and Bertha, both at home; and
Abram and Eleanora, twins, the former at home» the
latter deceased. .
At the age of eighteen years Mr. Manning com-
menced learning the carpenter's trade, which he fol-
lowed for seven years, making his home in High-
ville. He next engaged, in threshing for eleven
years, and in 1894 succeeded John Ament in the mer-
cantile business at Highville, where he has since
successfully carried on operations along that line.
After locating here he was made assistant post-
master, and on the death of his father-in-law, Leon-
ard Nicholas, who was serving as postmaster, Mr.
Manning was made acting postmaster, serving as
such until McKinley was made President, when he
was regularlv appointed to the office, in 1897. In
connection with his mercantile establishment he
handles feed, flour, etc., and receives a liberal share
of the public patronage. As a business man he is
upright, honorable and energetic, and well merits
the success that has attended his efforts. In politi-
cal sentiment he is a Republican.
Harry N. Manning, eldest son of Albert A., as-
sisted his father in the mercantile business from the
age of thirteen years until he was twenty-three.
He was always a bright boy and was well liked by
the patrons. At the age of twenty-three he accepted
a position as salesman with the Steinman Hardware
Company, in Lancaster city, where he is engaged at
the present time. On Dec. 3, 1902, he married
Christina Lefever, of Highville, and they will re-
side in Lancaster city..
. ELMER M. BRENEMAN, a well-known resi-
dent of Manheim township, has his home on the
family estate, just north of the city of Lancaster,
and bears an old and honored name. He was born
June 29, 1869, son of Adam B. and Mary M.
(Myers) Breneman. His father was a son of
Adam Breneman, of. Turkey Hill, Manor township,
was born and reared in Manor township, and
became a farnrier, locating after his marriage on the
farm where the family still reside. His entire at-
tention was given to farming. He was a man hon-
ored and respected, by his fellow townsmen, and was
called to serve on- the school. board. He married a
daughter of Martin M. Myers, of Manheim town-
ship, and they became the parents of two children,
Elmer M. and Minerva, the latter deceased in child-
hood. Adam B. Breneman united with the Men-
nonite Church in 1878, and was a minister in that
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
911
Church for thirteen years prior to his death, hav-
ing charge of the Landis Valley Church. He re-
ceived ordination from the hands of Bishop Chris-
tian Baumbarger in 1885. A devout and zealous
minister, he was ever ready for the demands his high
office made upon him, and was especially interested
in missionary work. He died. Feb.' 17, 1898, at the
age of sixty-three years, and his widow is still
living.
Elmer M. Breneman was born and reared, in
the home where he still resides. He attended the
public schools until sixteen years of age, after which
he entered H. C. Weidler's Business College, for
one year. From that time he remained at home until
his father died, when he took charge of the family
estate. J-Te has already made himself known as one
of the spirited and enterprising young men of his
township.
Mr. Breneman was married, in 1892, to Miss
Lizzie K. Rupp, who was born April 3, 1868, a
daughter of David and Sarah (Kurtz) Rupp, of
West Earl township, and to this union has come one
child, Adam Roy, born June 21, 1898.
. HENRY F. BINKLEY, who ranks high as one
of the energetic and thorough-going agriculturists
of Manor township, Lancaster county, was born on
the old homestead where he now resides, June 7,
1845;
The first of the Binkley family in Lancaster coun-
ty of whom we have any record was his great-grand-
father,, Henry Binkley, in 1765, whose parents were
probably from Germany and the founders of the
family in this country. They were buried in the city
of Lancaster.
David Binlcley, son of Henry, was left an orphan
there when quite small, and in early life learned the
millwright's trade, becoming one of the best known
representatives of that calling in the county, where he
erected a large number of inills. In 1799 "he pur-
chased the farm now known ias the old Binkley home-
stead, which consists of seventy-one acres of land
"ahd~is pleasantly situated on the Little Conestoga,
midway between Millersville and Safe Harbor. Here
he made his home with his family throughout the re-
mainder of his life, and carried on farniing in con-
nection with work at his trade. After his retirement
from "active life the millwright's business was con-
ducted' iinder his supervision by his son Christian,
and his son-in-law, John Herr. He was a leader in
the Reformed Mennonite Church, was widely and
favorably known, and was called upon to administer
many estates.. He died Nov. 5; r8-4S, at the age of
seventy-six years, nine months, and twenty days, and
his wife; who bore the maiden name of Mary Yordy,
died Sept. 6,' 1846, afthe age of seventy-seven years,
nine months and twenty days. : She was-- a sister of
•Peter Yordy, a lame man, who owned a farm in the
center of what is now -known as Lampeter Square,
the name of which was derived from Lame Peter, by
which epithet he was known. David and Mary
(Yordy) Binkley had five children, namely: (i)
David married and had two children, but he and his
family died young. (2) Zephaniah is mentioned be-
low. (3) Christian, a millwright and farmer, reared
a family near Columbia^ in Manor township, and died
Dec. 24, 1872. (4) Mary wedded John Herr, and
died March 20, 1890, at the age of eighty-nine years;
(5) Elizabeth married Jonathan Binkley, and moved
to Montgomery county, Ohio.
Zephaniah Binkley, father of Henry F., was born
on the old homestead, Dec. 2, 1806, and died March
20, 1880, his- remains being interred in the family
burying ground on that farm. He adopted agricul-
ture as a life work, and never left the farm wliere he
was born. He married Catharine Frey, a daughter
of Peter Frey. She was born Sept. 21, 1808, on a
farm embraced within the Indiantown tract, in Manor
township. She died Jan. 5, 1875. In the family of
Zephaniah and Catharine (Frey) Binkley were nine
children, namely : David F. is now living with his
son-in-law, John N. Herr, in Manor township; an
infant son died Aug. 20, 1828; Magdalena, born
March 30, 1830, died .Feb. 9, 183 1 ; John has been a
minister of the United Brethren Church since 1866,
and is now a resident of Lebanon county. Pa. ; Chris-
tian F. is a resident of "West Lampeter township,
Lancaster county; Peter died Sept. 21, 1871, at the
age of twenty-nine yea;rs, eleven months and twenty-
one days ; Henry F. is mentioned below ; Mary is the
wife of Simon Reese. of Lancaster; and Catharine is
the wife of Isaac Keeport of Manor township.
Henry F. Binkley, whose name introduces this
review, received a good common-school education,
and in the spring of 1873 began farming on his own
account, in Providence township, and after the death
of his father, returned to the old homestead which
he still occupies. He is an enterprising and up-to-
date farmer, and has met with well-deserved success
in his labors. By his ballot he supports the men and
measures of the Republican party.
On Oct. 29, 1872, Mr. Binkley was united in mar-
riage with Miss Catherine M. Kreider, who was born
in "West Lampeter township, April 11, 1846, a daugh-
ter of John and Leah (Mayer) Kreider. They have
a family of three children ; Emma K., born April 4,
1874, now. the wife of Thaddeus R. Wiker ;. Jacob'
K., born Jan. 4, 1876, at horhe; and Annie K., born
Jan. 14; 1879, also at home.
CHARI.ES A. LOCHER. The death of Charles
A. Locher, March' 31, 1892,' removed from ac-
customed haunts in Lancaster an honored and prom-
inent citizen, and one who embodied in. his character
and attainments the nobility of,, purpose, . untiring
zeal, and inherent thrift characteristic of , the .well
born and. well reared German, He was JDorn
about 1 834" in Bavaria, Germany, in whieb country
his father, Jacob, Locher, was a well-known mer^
chant, and a devout member of the Reformed Church.
In his native land Charles A. Locher learned
something of chemistry, and after his removal to the
912
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
United States and Lancaster in 1855, secured,
through the influence of the druggist, James Smith,
a clerical position in the Lancaster County National
Bank. At the expiration of ten years, and after the
death of Mr. Smith, Mr. Locher assumed charge of
his drug store at No. 9 East King street, and con-
tinued to guide its affairs with the same discretion
and business j udgment evinced by its former owner.
He possessed more than ordinary intelligence, and a
fund of well assimilated knowledge, and a keen in-
sight into human nature suggested an unfailing tact
in dealing therewith. He was popular with all
classes,, and entered heartily and practically into all
efforts to improve the general condition of the city,
his name being foremost in many projects which else
had lost their stanchest support. He was a member
of various organizations in the town, and was identi-
fied with the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Society.
Mrs. Locher was formerly Margaret Parks,
niece of James Smith, former proprietor of the
Locher drug store. Mrs. Locher lives in a delight-
ful home in one of the fashionable parts of Lancaster,
She holds membership in the Lutheran Church,
and her daughter Katlierine in the Episcopal. Mr.
Locher also left a sister, Caroline, the wife of Major
Gen. Frederick Faber, of Munich, Bavaria.
EZRA GROFF, a substantial retired farmer of
Upper Leacock township, still resides in the locality
of his birth, which took place on Dec. 26, 1849, and
he was a son of Samuel G. and Lydia (Hershey)
Groff, the former of West Earl township and the lat-
ter of Upper Leacock township. The father was a
merchant and postmaster at Mascot, Pa., operating
a store there for twenty-seven years. From 1873
until his death, in 1891, he lived retired from activity,
dying in the latter year at the age of eighty-four
years, after a, useful life. The death of the mother
had occurred years before, in 1866, at the age of
fifty-seven years. Their last resting place is on the
old Hershey homestead. Mr. Groff was one of the
wealthy men of the community, owning three large
farms, which are now in the possession of his three
sons, — Ezra, Rev. Hershey, and Milton. For many
years Mr. Groff faithfully served his school district
as director, taking a great interest in educational
matters in his locality.
The children born to Samuel G. Groff and wife
were: Anna, who married Benjamin Wenger of
West Earl township ; Mary, who died young ; Lydia,
who married Jacob Greider, a farmer of Upper Lea-
cock township ; Martha, who married John Rank, a
farmer of Paradise township; Milton, a farmer of
LTpper Leacock township ; Elam, who died at the age
of nine years; Rev. Hershey, a farmer and also a
German Baptist minister, and Ezra, of this sketch.
The fine old farm upon which Ezra Groff of this
sketch has resided so many years, has been his home
since he was four years old ; he retired from active
exertion in its cultivation at the marriage of his
daughter, when her husband relieved him of duty.
This is considered one of the finest and most modern
farms in this locality, the improvements being in
excellent shape. Mr. Groff has always been a pro-
gressive and intelligent farmer and thoroughly be-
lieves in good machinery and the most scientific ways
of cultivation, his fertile and productive fields for
many years showing the results of his methods.
Mr. Groff was married on Nov. 28, 1873, in Lan-
caster tq Miss Matilda Leman, and the daughter born
fc this union was Lizzie L., who married Aaron L.
Groff, their one child, Ralph, dying in infancy. Po-
litically Mr. Groff belongs to the Republican party,
and both he and family are connected with the Men-
nonite Church, where they are highly esteemed.
JOSEPH DETWILER. Prominent among the
substantial and influential farmers of Mt. Joy, now
living somewhat retired from active life, is Joseph
Detwiler, one of the most esteemed citizens of his
part of Lancaster county.
Joseph Detwiler was born April i, 1820, in West
Hempfield township, son of Joseph and Susan
(Garber) Detwiler, the former of Lancaster county,
and the latter of York county. From Lancaster
Joseph Detwiler, Sr., moved to York county in 1825,
settling on a farm near Wrightsville, and there en-
gaged in farming. His death occurred April 30,
1870, when he was aged eighty-one; his wife died
the previous August, and both were buried in the
Wrightsville cemetery. During his long life Mr.
Detwiler had been prominent in public affairs, was
supervisor, and for the same length of time was the
efficient county commissioner, while for a number of
years he was the manager of the Wrightsville pike ;
at his death this latter office was placed in the hands
of his son David. Joseph Detwiler, Sr., was an ex-
tensive farmer, owning two farms in York county
and one in Lancaster county. His political faith
was that of the Democratic party, and in this respect
his son Joseph follows his esteemed father's example.
The children born to. Joseph and Susan Detwiler
were as follows: David, who was a farmer and
was the manager of the Wrightsville pike and a di-
rector in the Wrightsville Bank, died in Wrights-
ville ; Joseph is mentioned below ; Daniel is a
retired banker of Columbia, Pa. ; Miss Susan is a
resident of York, Pa.; Solomon died in Columbia,
where he was the cashier of the First National Bank ;
Anna, a resident of York, Pa., is the widow of
Abraham Heaston, who was a farmer, miller and
well-known distiller (the death of Mr. Heaston took
a. prominent man from this neighborhood).
In his sixth year Joseph Detwiler, whose name
introduces this record, accompanied his parents upon
the family's removal to York county, and grew up
on the farm which adjoins the town of Wrightsville.
In 1849 he moved to a farm in Rapho township,
this county, located one mile north of Mt. Joy, where
he remained until 1877, when he took up his resi-
dence in that pleasant town. Mr. Detwiler is a man
of large means, owning three large, well stocked
Cf^^ ^-et^i^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
913
farms, two stone quarries, and a lime kiln, which has
been operated since 1873, and he also has conducted,
in his interest, hay and straw baling and stone crush-
ing. He is also financially interested in the Union
National Bank, to which he has given the support
of his name as one of its directors, since its organiza-
tion in i860.
On Sept. 24, 1844, Mr. Detwiler married Anna
Eberly, of Donegal township, and to this marriage
the following named children were born: Elmira,
who married C. G. Shirk, a retired farmer of Mt.
Joy; Susan, who married Adam B. Bear, a retired
farmer of Rohrerstown, this county ; Emma, widow
of Calvin C. Budding, a lime manufacturer of
Wrightsville ; William B., the capable manager of
his father's interests in farming, stone and lime, who
also looks after the other real estate owned by Mr.
Detwiler; Eva, who is the widow of Hon. H. H.
Heiise, of Columbia, Pa., whose sad death in a trolley
car wreck, near Chickies Park, on Aug. 9, 1896,
caused wide-spread regret ; and Alice, who married
H. H. Meyers, a farmer, and manager of the Farm-
ers' Creamery Company (he also raises gold fish).
Mrs. Anna (Eberly) Detwiler was born in East
Donegal township, and died Feb. I2, 1891 ; sh« is
buried in Mt. Joy cemetery. Her parents were
Henry and Anna (Leib) Eberly, of Mt. Joy town-
ship, where the former was a farmer, and for inany
years president of the Union National Bank of Mt.
Joy. His death occurred in February, 1876, when
he was aged eighty-one, and his wife passed away
from earth in 1870, at the age of sixty-six. Both
were leading members of the Evangelical Church,
and they were interred in Eberly cemetery, which
was a part of his estate. The children of Mr. and
Mrs. Eberly were: Mary, Anna, Simon, Henry,
Christian and Benjamin, all deceased but the last
named, who is a hardware merchant in Mt. Joy.
Aside from filling the office of councilman for
six years, Mr. Detwiler has refused public office, but
he continues to, be a busy man, for his active brain
will not permit him to entirely lay aside business
cares. Possessing much vitality and excellent
health, he enjoys overlooking the various lines of
work which are performed by younger, but no more
capable, instruments. Of his family he has great
reason to be proud, all of them occupying honorable
positions in the business and social world. He has
twelve grandchildren, and three great-grandchil-
dren, who are the delight of his advancing years.
DAVID HERR BARTHOLOMEW, proprietor
of the Lancaster Planing Mill Co., and one of the
leading business men of Lancaster, has been identi-
fied with the industrial interests of that city through
his business career, and has been no small factor in
the development of many lines of commerce.
Mr. Bartholomew was born Jan. 4, 1848, near
Strasburg, Pa., son of Mathew and Hester Ann
(Herr) Bartholomew, both of Lancaster county.
The father was a millwright and followed that trade
58
all. his life, dying at the age of fifty-seven,. in 1863.
The mother died in 1851, aged thirty-three. They
were laid away in Strasburg cemetery. Their chil-
dren were as follows: Amanda (deceased) was the
wife of Robert E. Bunce; Mary C. married (first)
Jonathan Holt, and (second) William Fichthorn,
of Reading; Benjamin F. lives in Lancaster; John
died in infancy, and David H. was the youngest.
David Herr Bartholomew had the educational ad-
vantages afforded by the common schools of Lan-
caster, and at the age of seventeen was prepared to
enter upon his, apprenticeship to the machinist trade:
He was employed in a cotton mill in Lancaster for
four years, and' then embarked in the saw mill busi-
ness and became a manufacturer of cigai- box lumber,
associating himself with his uncle, David ,B. Bar-
tholomew ; this partnership continued until the death
of the latter, in 1885, when Mr. Bartholomew en-
gaged in the same line upon his own account, and
still continues it, at present individually; formerly
there were three members of the firm known as the
Lancaster Planing Mill Co., David H. Bartholomew,
John W. Holman and Frank Spicer, Jr. The first
location was across the street from the present site,
but in 1896 Mr. Bartholomew sold that and pur-
chased the valuable property and business which he
has so ably managed ever since. The large brick
structure now occupied was built by the firm of Wil-
son & Bradbury, in 1870, and covers two acres of
ground. It is well equipped, and the establishment
gives employment to forty men, the output being
sash, doors, blinds and general mill work.
Mr. Bartholomew is an excellent man of busi-
ness, and thorough in his management of the large
concern with which he has so long been identified.
Under his ownership the business has been much en-
larged, and is now one of the leading lines of indus-
try m the city. In politics he is a Republican, and
fraternally he is connected with the I. O. O. F., K.
of P., A. O. IT. W. and Royal Arcanum. For eight
years he served with usefulness in the city council,
his administration being honest and clean. Mr.
Bartholomew is a member of the Presbyterian
Church.
In 1872, in Lancaster, Mr. Bartholomew mar-
ried Miss Elizabeth Eckman, born in Lancaster,
daughter of Henry and Anna (Hoak) Eckman, the
former of whom was for many years a shoemaker in
Lancaster county. His father was a well-known
resident of the county; he was for many years af-
flicted with blindness, but it is related of him that
so thoroughly did he recall localities that he was
able not only to harness his horse himself, but to
drive without accident to any part of the county he
desired. To Mr. and Mrs. Bartholomew have been
born the following children : Anna, who died at the
age of eight years ; David B., who is a carpenter but
now is employed by the Pennsylvania Railway Com-
pany, married Alice M. Raub; Miss Mary A., at
home ; Henry M., who married Hannah Hunter, and
is an architect in Lancaster ; Miss Amy C., Guy C.
914
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and Miss Anna E., at home ; Elizabeth, who died at
the age of six years ; Sarah E., at home ; John W.,
who died at the age of six years, and Edith, who died
at the age of four years.
JOHN ADLAI CANNON (deceased), of Lan-
caster, though cut off in the prime of his Hfe, was for
a number of years one of the most respected business
men in Lancaster, and the establishment which he
founded is now being conducted by his widow, who
is the only lady embalmer in Lancaster county.
Mr. Cannon was born July 23, 1858, at Wilming-
ton, Del., son of James Cannon, a farmer of Dela-
ware, and came to Lancaster in 1890, locating on
West King street. Engaging in business as an un-
dertaker and funeral director, he introduced new
methods and features in that line, and as a result of
his intelligence and earnest attention to his profes-
sion, established a lucrative business. He was a
skilled embalmer, a graduate of Clark's College. In
1896 Mr. Cannon bought the grand old dwelling
house that had been the home of the late Judge
Hayes, at No. 27 South Prince street, and proceeded
to remodel it, converting it into two dwelling houses.
The porch and entrance which Mr. Cannon built on
the portion now occupied by his widow, is one of the
handsomest in the city. On Feb. 23, 1897, Mr. Can-
non married Miss Amelia Elizabeth Long, further
mention of whose family is made below, and two
children were born to them : John Paul, now ( 1903)
aged five years ; and Mary Amelia, aged three years.
Mr. Cannon entered into rest, July 7, 1901, in his
forty-fourth year, after a lingering illness, and his
widow has bravely taken hold of his business affairs,
and endeavors to follow the lines laid down by Mr.
Cannon, who always kept abreast with the most ad-
vanced methods. The establishment is equipped with
the most modern conveniences, telephone, etc.
Taken from life in the midst of his usefulness, no
citizen of Lancaster was more deeply regretted or
more generally missed. Mr. Cannon was trustee of
the St. Vmcent de Paul, an association that looks
after the poor of the church ; a charter member of the
Knights of St. Lawrence, of Wilmington, Del. ; a
member of St. John's, St. Michael's, St. Joseph's, and
Leo XIII societies of Lancaster ; a member and one
of the organizers of Council No. 16, Catholic Benevo-
lent Legion, of Delaware ; and in business connection,
a member of the State Board of Undertakers, and
secretary of the Lancaster County Funeral Directors
Association. He was identified with St. Mary's, St.
Anthony's and St. Joseph's Catholic Churches, for
he contributed to and was in fellowship with all of
them, but he was a communicant and active member
of St. Mary's, was buried from there, and his remains
lie in the beautiful St. Mary's cemetery, near those
of the lamented Very Reverend Father Bernard
Keenan, who was for more than half a century the
beloved priest of St. Mary's.
Frederick G. Long, father of Mrs. Cannon, was
long a well-known citizen of Lancaster, and entered
into rest in May, 1894, in his seventy-fourth year.
He married Miss Mary C. Gegg, of Lancaster, who
now makes her home with Mrs. Cannon, and they
had twelve children, eight of whom survive, as fol-
lows : Louis G., who is a grocer, at Lime and
Dauphin streets ; Joseph, a tinsmith and plumber, at
East Orange and Plum streets ; Mary A., wife of
John Yeager, a baker of Newark, N. J. ; Frank A.,
a grocer, at East Chestnut and Marshall streets;
Amelia Elizabeth, widow of John A. Cannon ; Harry
A., a salesman in Watt & Shand's New York Store
in Lancaster; Albert, a salesman in Wanamaker's,
New York City, and Rosa Helen, who makes her
home with Mrs. Cannon. No family in the city can
boast of members who have led more worthy lives.
MICHAEL P. THOMAS, an engineer in the
employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, was
born in Columbia, Lancaster county, April 2, 1855,
and is a son of Michael and Catherine (Shillott)
Thomas, of Bavaria, Germany, who were married in
Lancaster, Pa., in June, 1854.
Michael Thomas, the father, was born June 28,
1828, in Bavaria, Germany, a carpenter by trade, and,
in 1852, came to America and settled in Columbia,
where he still lives retired from business. His wife
was a sister of Frank Shillott, deceased (a sketch of
whose life will be found on another page), and died
in 1894, when sixty-five years old, devout in the faith
of the Catholic Church. Their children, nine in
number, were born in the following order:' Frank,
died in infancy; Michael P. and Ulrich, twins, of
whom the former is the subject proper of this sketch,
and the latter died when five years and six months
old; Kate, in St. Francis Convent; William, who
died in infancy; Elizabeth, also in St. Francis Con-
vent; Charles, a car inspector in Lancaster; Mary,
wife of John Haller, of Thurlow, Pa., and Frank (2),
a brakeman in Columbia. The paternal grandpar-
ents, Michael and Elizabeth Thomas, came to Colum-
bia, Pa., in 1855, from Germany. He was a butcher
by trade. Michael was their only child. The mater-
nal grandparents were Frank and Victoria Shillott.
Michael P. Thomas at the age of fourteen years
began driving a team, and this was his occupation
for three years ; he next followed boating on the river
five years, and then for fourteen months was em-
ployed as brakeman by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company; he then served as fireman for the same
company seven years and six months, when he was
promoted to engineer.
On Nov. 20, 1884, at York, Pa., Mr. Thomas
married Miss Catherine Elsesser, and to this union
have been born nine children, as follows : Anasta-
sia, Elizabeth, Alfreda, William, Francis, Anthony,
Damian, Agatha and Cuthbert Joseph, the three last
named being deceased. Mrs. Catherine (Elsesser)
Thomas was born in York- county, Nov. 2, 1863, and
is a daughter of John and Barbara (Moser) Elsesser,
natives of Bavaria, Germany, and York Co., Pa., re-
spectively. John Elsesser was born in 1837, and his
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
915
wife in 1835. John came to America in' 1847 and ^°^
eighteen years conducted a hotel in York county, and
is now Hving- in retirement. The children born to
John and Barbara Elsesser were named as follows,
in order of birth : Mary, married to George Selack,
plumber in York county ; John, deceased ; Catherine ;
Margaret, wife of John Kaufhold, of Columbia;
Albert, George, Charles and Harry, all of York. The
family are all pious members of the Catholic Church,
to which they contribute liberally of their means in
aid of its good work.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Thomas were
Conrad and Elizabeth Elsesser, the former of whom
died in Germany and the latter in York Co., Pa. ; her
maternal grandparents, Abraham and Rachel Mo-
ser, were natives of Maryland and York Co., Pa.,
respectively. Both died in York county.
Michael P. Thomas is in religion a true Catholic,
and in politics a Democrat. He has led a consistent
Christian life, and is greatly respected wherever
known.
WILLIAM H. KENNEDY. When it comes to
a question of prominence, substantiality and high es-
teem, no citizen of Lancaster county is more justly
representative than William H. Kennedy, of Fulton
township. A self-made man, schooled in early years
to the hard, practical view of life, by the application
of those principles of industry and economy which in
every age of the world have been rewarded, William
H. Kennedy has also won his measure of success.
The birth of William H. Kennedy was on Dec.
T3, 1858, in the township of his present residence, and
he was a son of John and Elizabeth (James) Ken-
nedy, both also of Fulton township, where John Ken-
nedy was long known as a, farmer and also hotel
keeper. John Kennedy came of sturdy Irish ances-
try, and in his earlier years was engaged in rafting
on the Susquehanna river. In his political convic-
tions, he was always identified with the Democratic
party, and is remembered as an honorable man and
respected citizen. His marriage was to Elizabeth
James, and they had a family of nine children, seven
of whom grew to maturity : Mary, who is the wife
of W. R. Maxwell, a coach-maker of Fulton town-
ship ; Hannah, who married William Walker, of
Little Britain township ; Virginia, who married R.
S. Hamilton, of Little Britain township ; John O.,
deceased ; William H. ; Margaret, who is the wife of
J. C. Gorsuch, of Norfolk, Va., and Ida, who is the
wife of J. M. Eckert, of Erie, Pennsylvania.
William H. Kennedy had his early rearing on a
farm, and until the age of sixteen years, enjoyed the
advantages afforded by the public schools. At that
age he commenced to learn the cabinet making trade,
at Wakefield, Pa., under W. R. Maxwell, but a boy-
ish love of adventure and a desire to see something
of the world, led him to remain but a short time here.
For a considerable period, Mr. Kennedy traveled
over the country, working principally in the various
railroad shops, gaining many experiences, but finally
he returned to Fulton township where on Jan. 4,
1882, he was united in marriage to Miss Laura Hen-
sel, of Drumore township, and the four children born
to this marriage were : John Russell, who is now in
college ; Henry Clay and Bertha M., at home, the
other child having died young. Mrs. Kennedy was
a daughter of Edwin F. and Mary J. (Moore) Hen-
sel, who were natives of Maryland.
It was in 1885 that Mr. Kennedy embarked in the
patent medicine business, in Harrisburg, Pa., a line
of activity for which he seemed to be peculiarly well
fitted, for fifteen years prospering in this business.
Mr. Kennedy is still the proprietor of a large drug
house in Harrisburg, and also of one in Reading,
Pa., but he makes his home on his fine farm in Ful-
ton township. This estate, both on account of its
extent, its cultivation, its location and extensive and
elaborate improvements, is One of the most attractive
places in southern Lancaster county. His elegant,
modern brick mansion, commodious and substantial
barns, his sleek cattle and their comfortable housings,
all testify to the excellent management of this ideal
country home. Mr. Kennedy devotes his time to his
interests here, his drug business in Harrisburg being
under the efficient management of his brother-
in-law, Philip K'. Hensel, the firm name being Ken-
nedy & Co., a house which stands high in commercial
circles.
Mr. Kennedy is a stanch Democrat, and is liberal
in his religious views, adopting no special creed, but
he displays in a high degree the manliness of an ex-
cellent citizen, and is the promoter of progress and
development in his section, the encourager of benevo-
lent and educational enterprises, and the protector
of his home and family.
EBERHART J. LAMPARTER, for many years
associated with the commercial activity of the flour-
ishing city of Lancaster, Pa., was born in Wurtem-
berg, Germany, July 6, 1846, a son of Eberhart and
Elizabeth (Help) Lamparter, natives of the same lo-
cality.
Eberhart Lamparter, the father, came to Amer-
ica in 1853, and located in Lancaster, where he em-
barked in the manufacture of glue, and continued in
the same line until his death. From a small begin-
ning, he increased his facilities and the capacity of
his plant, to meet the demands of his constantly
growing trade, until his house ranked among the
.foremost of its kind in the county. His death oc-
curred in 1869, when he was sixty-one years of age,
and his wife survived until 1898, when her death took
place at the age of eighty-eight years. This couple,
who are buried in Woodward Hill cemetery, were
the parents of the following children : George, en-
gaged in manufacturing glue at the old factory;
Jacob J., retired glue manufacturer, large landowner
and real estate dealer of Lancaster; Elizabeth, un-
married and living in Washington, D. C. ; Amelia
deceased at the age of fifty years ; Pauline, unmarried
and living in Lancaster; Judith, Mrs. Bauer, a
916
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
•widow, of Lancaster; Eberhart J.; Henry, de-
ceased, and Sabina, deceased, married a Mr. Mertz.
Eberhart J. Lamparter of Lancaster, was reared
upon a farm, attending the district school^ and when
eighteen years of age he was employed in a brewery,
and engaged in that line for five years, in Lancaster,
with L,awrence Knapp. Upon the death of his fa-
ther, Mr. Lamparter took charge of the glue factory,
and managed it for his mother, until her demise,
when he purchased the property and is now sole
proprietor of the business which is operated under
the title of The Conestoga Glue Works. The build-
ings and grounds cover eleven acres, all located with-
in the city limits, and upon a portion of the old home-
stead. All modern appliances are used in the conduct
of the various processes of the business, and the prod-
uct has gained a world wide reputation for its excel-
lence. The present flourishing condition of the con-
cern is due to the enterprise and excellent manage-
ment of Mr. Lamparter.
Mr. Lamparter has never married, but is asso-
ciated with a number of fraternal organizations,
namely : the I. O. O. F., the K. of P., Seven Wise
Men, Masonic order, in which he has taken sixteen
degrees. His religious connections are with the
Trinity Lutheran Church, in which body he takes an
active part, and to whose support he is a liberal con-
tributor. In politics, Mr. Lamparter is an Independ-
ent, preferring to vote as his conscience dictates,
rather than according to party lines, although he has
devoted more time to his business than to public
affairs. Pleasant in manner, a thorough business
man, he has firmly established himself in the con-
fidence of the general public, and numbers many
friends among his fellow townsmen.
WILLIAM F. YOHN, a well-known drover of
Mountville, Lancaster county, was born in that vil-
lage Aug. i:;, 1865, a son of Edward F. and Mary
A^ (Baker) 'Yohn.
Edward F. Yohn was a son of John and Jane
(Aliddleton) Yohn, and was born near Churchtown,
Caernarvon township, this county, April 26, 1839.
On May 5, 1863, he married Mary A. Baker, and to
this union there were born the following children:
Elnora, Jan. 23, 1864, married B. F. Musser, of
Mountville ; William F. is mentioned in the opening
paragraph of this sketch; John A., a farmer of
Wayne county, Ohio, married Emma Beam; Harry
B., a graduate from Franklin & Marshall College, is
now a practicing attorney at the Lancaster County
Bar ; and Jennie A., is unmarried and at home. Mrs.
Mary A. "(Baker) Yohn was a daughter of Henry
Baker, a farmer and blacksmith, and was born in
West Hempfield township, Lancaster county, Feb.
8, 1841, and died Oct. 19, 1875. The second mar-
riage of Edward F. Yohn occurred June 14, 1881,
his bride being Annie B. Johnson, a daughter of
Samuel Armstrong, a contractor, and native of Ches-
ter county, Pa., who was born in Sadsbury township,
that county, Nov. 21, 1839. Edward F. Yohn set-
tled in Mountville at an early age, and engaged in the
cattle business, which he carried on very extensively
and successfully. He was one of the organizers of
the Mountville National Bank, and a director from
its organization until his death. He was a public-
spirited citizen and charitable, and very well and
favorably known for his strict integrity and honesty.
In politics he was a stanch Democrat.
William F. Yohn was trained to the cattle busi-
ness from the time he was old enough to handle a
gad, until he was taken into the business by his fa-
ther as a partner, and since his father's death he has
been conducting the business for himself. On April
14, 1897, he married Miss Emma Heise, daughter of
B. PYank Heise, residing near Columbia borough.
Pa., and to this union have been born two children ;
Fanny C, April 25, 1898, and Mary Ellen, Nov. 11,
1900. Mrs. Emma (Heise) Yohn was born on the
Heise homestead, where her father still resides.
William F. Yohn is, fraternally, an Odd Fellow,
and a member of the Jr. O. U. A. M. In politics he
is a Democrat. He is a member of one of the oldest
and best known families in Lancaster county, and for
this reason and because of his own intrinsic merits
he stands very high in the esteem of the community
in which he was born and reared.
JOHN E. SNYDER, an attorney of Lancaster,,
has attained a large law practice, to which he gives
that close personal attention essential to success. He-
is the son of Edwin E. and Margaret C. Snyder, and
grandson of Jacob and Margaret (Erisman) Snyder,
residents of Lancaster city. The father, a native
of Lancaster, was for many years foreman in the
cotton mills at Lancaster, and died in 1886, aged fifty-
six years. The mother survives and is still a resident
of that place.
John E. Snyder was reared in his native city, and
at the completion of his education entered the office of
David G. Eshleman as a law student. In 1887 he-
was admitted to the Bar and located at Lancaster,
where he has built up a large law practice. For
many years he has been a director of the North-
ern National Bank of Lancaster. In politics he is
a Republican, and for two years, in 1892 and 1893,
was city solicitor. He is a member of the F. & A..
M., I. O. O. F., and Mechanics. He was married in
1895 at Lancaster to Miss Minnie L. Esbenshade,
daughter of Emanuel Herr Esbenshade, of Leamanj
Place, Lancaster county.
ADAM B. LONG, one of the foremost and most
progressive citizens of Lititz, which city he has done-
much to build up and improve, was born at Neflfs-
ville, Manheim township, Feb. 2, 1855, son of Isaac
and Sarah (Bear) Long. He was educated in the-
public schools and at Lititz Academy, and for twelve-
years after graduating from the last named institu-
tion followed the life of a farmer. Coming to Lititz:
he engaged in the coal and lumber business, and in
1 89 1 became a partner in the firm of Bear & Long,,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
917
composed of Albert R. Bear and himself, the concern
succeeding Hess & Bear, and the house having been
originally founded by William Evans, in the sixties.
They carry on an extensive business in lumber for
building, as well as in coal and phosphates, and their
plant is the largest of its kind outside of Lancaster
city. In 1893 he was one of the chief promoters and
organizers of the Lititz Water Works, and was made
treasurer of the company owning and operating the
same, which ofhce he still fills. The following year
(1894), with five others, he formed the company
which erected the Lititz Electric Light Works, the
first plant of this description to be installed in the
borough. Not content with being connected with
three important enterprises so beneficial to the city
of his residence, in 1897 he became prominently iden-
tified with the founding of the Keystone Underwear
Mill, of Lititz, which has a capacity of turning out
two hundred dozen pairs of underwear daily. Of
the company owning this establishment Mr. Long is
secretary. In the year 1898, with thirteen others,
Mr. Loiig applied for a charter and organized the In-
dependent Telephone Co., of Lancaster county, Pa.,
which proved successful from a financial point of
.view, as well as from that of general utility. In 1901
the company sold out the plant to the United Tele-
phone & Telegraph Co., at a good profit to the stock-
holders. In the spring of 1901 Mr. Long was elected
a director of the Lititz National Bank.
As may be readily believed, a citizen of his pro-
gressive ideas and energetic nature has acquired not
a little popularity. To a broad public spirit he joins
a genial, generous temperament, a keen, alert intel-
lect, and an unblemished name. He is, in politics, a
life long Republican, and socially, is a member of
Lititz Lodge, No. 1050, 1. O. O. F.
On Nov. S, 1877, Mr. Long was married to Mary,
a daughter of Jacob H. Miller, of Ephrata, Lancas-
ter countv. Four children have been born to them :
C. Eugene : Florence V., who died in infancy ; Ber-
tha; and Mabelle. Both Mr. and Mrs. Long are
members of the Moravian Church.
SAINIUEL S. CONNELLY, the popular and
efficient agent of the Philadelphia & Reading rail-
road at White Oak station, belongs to one of the lead-
ing families of Penn township, and an old one of
Lancaster county.
Grandfather Jacob Connelly lived a long and
useful life in this "county, following the trade of car-
pet weaving, and also owned a small farm. He was
a pious and godlv man, a member of the religious
body known as the River Brethren. By his marriage
to A. Ritter he became the father of fifteen children,
many of whom and their descendants are still resi-
dents of Lancaster county : Nancy, deceased ; John,
deceased: Elizabeth, wife of Benjamin Geib; Jacob,
deceased; •Benjamin, a resident of Penn township;
Catherine, deceased; Samuel, deceased; Joseph, of
Rapho township ; Henry, father of Samuel S. ; Polly,
widow of Henrv Eby; Rebecca, wife of Samuel
Gruber ; Michael, deceased ; William, deceased ; Fan-
nie, wife of Henry Gruber ; and Abraham, deceased.
Henry Connelly, father of Samuel S., was born in
Penn township- in 1826, became a farmer, and fol-
lowed that occupation until 1886, since which period
he has been engaged in the coal business in White
Oak. He is a valued member of the Baptist Church,
and a man who enjoys the respect of the community.
He married Susan Stoneroad, and they became the
parents of ten children : Benjamin, of Mt. Joy ;*Liz-
zie, Susan, John, Henry and Thomas, all deceased;
Samuel S. ; Jacob, a cigarmaker of Halfville ; Cath-
erine, wife of John McAllister ; and Joseph, a farmer
on the old homestead.
Samuel S. Connelly was born at Mt. Hope, Dec.
7, 1864, and lived at home with his father until he
was twenty-seven years of age, acquiring his educa-
tion in the public schools. Very early in his business
career he displayed those qualities which gained for
him the confidence of the management of the Penn-
sylvania & Reading Company, and he was considered
the proper man to take charge of White Oak station,
an office he has filled with satisfaction to all con-
cerned. In 1895 he was appointed postmaster at that
place, and now combines the duties of both offices.
In addition he finds time to most efficiently manage
his father's coal business, and is one of the most
capable young business men of this community.
Mr. Connelly was married to Miss Susan S. Min-
nich, estimable daughter of Abram and Susan Min-
nich, and one child has been born to this union, which
passed away in infancy. Mr. Connelly is not only
devoted to the interests of the great corporation which
he represents, but he is public-spirited, and identifies
himself with all enterprises which seem to promise
to be of benefit to his community.
AMOS M. GREIDER, general farmer, and one
of the substantial and respected citizens of West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county, was born
Sept. 3, 1850, on his present homestead, and is the
voungest of the twelve children that crowned the
marriage of Christian and Susannah (Miller)
Greider, natives, respectively, of West Hempfield and
Rapho townships.
Christian Greider engaged in farming until his
seventieth year span was reached and passed, when
he withdrew from labor, and for twenty years lived
in quiet retirement, dying on his farm in 1889, aged
ninety years, in the faith of the Mennonite Church,
of which both he and his wife were devout members.
His wife had passed away on the same farm in 1864,
aged fifty-five, and the remains of both are interred
m the Mennonite cemetery at Landisville. The
twelve children that blessed the marriage of Chris-
tian and Susannah Greider were born in the follow-
ing order: John M. died in Ohio; Christian was
married, had one child, and died on the old farm;
Benjamin, a lumberman and coal merchant at Mt.
Joy, fell and died suddenly ; Elizabeth was married
to Daniel Mellinger, and died in Virginia; Martha
918
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
died younsr ; Mary died in infancy ; Jacob M. is a re-
tired farmer in West Hempfield township ; Susan is
the wife of Andrew Garber, whose sketch appears
elsewhere ; Anna is the widow of Henry Brenneman,
of West Hempfield township ; Mary was first mar-
ried to Christian Rohrer, and subsequently to John
S. Nissley, a retired farmer at Mt. Joy ; Barbara is
the wife of Jacob McAllister, a farmer in Pequea
township ; Amos M. is the gentleman whose name
opens this sketch. Three of the sons were school
teachers.
Amos M. Greider lived on the home farm until
1874, and then went to Harrisburg, where he was
employed about three years in producing malt.
Thence he moved to Landisville, this county, and for
a year was in the tobacco trade, was next in the same
line at Mt. Joy for two years, and then returned to
the farm.
On Feb. 18, 1870, in Rapho township, Amos M.
Greider married Elizabeth Cassel, and to this union
were born the following children: Harry C, who
was graduated from the Millersville Normal School,
was a school teacher in Manheim borough grammar
school, but is now a merchant and resides at Landis-
ville ; he married Anna Hershey. B. Frank, general
merchant and school teacher at Lancaster Junction,
married Minnie Seachrist. Charles A., formerly a
school teacher in Rapho township, and now a mer-
chant at Mt. Joy, married Emma Nissley. Howard
G., and Christian C. are at home.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Cassel) Greider was born in
Rapho township, Oct. 28, 1850, a daughter of Eman-
uel and Maria (Rohrer) Cassel. Emanuel Cassel
was a farmer and school director, but the last ten
years of his life were passed in retirement, and he
died in Penn township in December, 1899, at the age
of eighty years ; his wife, born in 1824, is a resident
of Landisville, and is, as was her husband, a member
of the Mennonite Church. The children of Emanuel
and Maria Cassel were nine in number, viz. : Mary,
unmarried and living with her mother ; Susan, wife
of Aaron Kling, a coal merchant at Mt. Joy ; Eliza-
beth, Mrs. Greider ; Emanuel, express agent at Leb-
anon ; John, a farmer in Penn township ; Hettie, de-
ceased ; Emma, wife of John Eby, a farmer in Rapho
township ; Clara, married to Harry Swarr, a farmer
of East Hempfield township; and Harry, farming
in Penn township.
Amos M. Greider is in politics a Republican, and
has served his fellow citizens as school director for
six years. He is highly esteemed throughout the
township and county, and he and his estimable wife
are upright members of the Mennonite Church.
CHRISTIAN RUDY. The establishment of the
Rudy family in Lancaster dates back to the year
1835, when George and Catherine Rudy brought
their family across the ocean from Germany. The
voyage was made in a sailboat, and lasted one hun-
dred days. Among their children was a son, Martin,
who at the time was eleven years of age. Being of
an industrious disposition, he took up the problem
of self-support at an age when the majority of boys
are in school, and during all of his active life he was
a hard-working man, finding employment in the
foundries, also with the city and in other capacities.
In the sixties for about three years he was night
watchman of Lancaster, calling out the hours. With
advancing years his eyesight failed him, and now,
in his blindness and age, he is cared for by his chil-
dren. His wife Barbara, whom he married after
coming to Lancaster, was like himself, a native of
Germany. At the time of her death, which occurred
in OctolDer, 1897, she was seventy-seven years of
age. Both were from youth earnest members of
Zion Lutheran Church. In their family were five
children, namely : Christian ; Maggie, who married
George Hirsh, a tinsmith of Quarryville, Pa,; Mar-
tin, who is employed on the Pennsylvania Railroad ;
Catherine, Mrs. Calvin Hess, of Lancaster; and
Louis, an expert designer, living in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The school days of Christian Rudy came to an
end when he was tourteein. Prior to this he had led
a care-free existence in his native city of Lancaster,
where he was born May 20, 1853. On starting out
for himself he secured work in the cotton mills, start.-
ing in a very humble position and at the minimum of
wages. After five years in the mills fte began to learn
the baker's trade, serving an apprenticeship of two
years, and then working as foreman for Mr. Goos
for five years. The inception of his present bakery
dates from 1878, when he started an independent
bijsiness, and began building up the excellent trade
he now receives at the hands of the people of Lan-
caster. In order to meet the demands of his trade,
two wagons are in constant use. The fine quality of
the bakery goods, as well as the known integrity of
the proprietor, contribute to give the establishment
a recognized position in the line of its specialty. Dur-
ing, the course of his busy Hfe Mr. Rudy has met
with his share of reverses and has met with more
than one narrow escape, notably at the time of the
well-remembered explosion at the cotton mills, when
a boiler was blown a distance of one square. He was
working in the mills at the time, and narrowly es-
caped death. While in politics he has never dis-
played any partisanship, he is a decided Democrat
and never fails to vote with his party. In religious
connection he is a member of Grace Lutheran
Church, in which he has served as deacon six years,
and as elder three years, while fraternally he is as-
sociated with the Knights of Pythias and Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows.
The marriage of Christian Rudy and Anna M.
Gilgore occurred in Lancaster in 1877. Born of this
union were the following children : Charles C, who
died Jan. 2, i88t ; Walter H., who died Feb. 3, 1882 ;
Bertha L., who married Walter K. Barley, of Lan-
caster ; and Christian C, at home. Mrs; Rudy was
born in Lancaster Oct. 29, 1853, a daughter of Will-
iam and Julia A. (Bruner) Gilgore. Through her
father, she traces her lineage to worthy Scotch ances-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
919
.tors, her grandparents, William and Rebecca Gil-
gore, having been natives of Scotland ; while on her
mother's side she is of direct German descent, her
maternal grandparents having been Jacob and Cath-
erine Bruner, natives of Germany. After a busy
life devoted to the occupation of a marble mason,
William Gilgore died Aug. 12, 1890, aged sixty-
eight years. For some years he was survived by his
wife, who died in March, 1901, at the age of seventy-
five years. Both were interred in the Lancaster ceme-
tery. Their children were named as follows:
Thomas J. ; Lydia A. ; William, deceased ; J. Au-
gustus, a sculptor residing in Lancaster; Anna M.,
Mrs. Rudy; Louis H., proprietor of a bookstore in
Lancaster; John, a member of the police force of
that city ; George W. and Emma A., both of whom
died in childhood ; and Francis S., who is a partner
of his brother in the book business.
JONAS E. SHANK, a prominent farmer of
Lancaster township, belongs to a family well known
in Lancaster county, and was born Jan. 30, 1858, on
the farm where he now resides.
Grandfather John Shank was born in Lancaster
township, where he lived and died, and followed the
calling of a farmer. In 1835 he was ordained a
minister of the Old Mennonite Church, in which
body he was a faithful worker until his death, which
occurred Nov. 2, 1857. He married Susanna Har-
nish, and they had eleven children :_ Elizabeth, wife
of Christian Herr ; Jacob, who died unmarried Nov.
6, 1899 ; Mariah, wife of Michael Wheider, deceased ;
Andrew H., father of Jonas E. ; Jonas H., a farmer
of Lancaster township ; Martin (deceased), a farmer
of Lancaster township ; Susan, wife of Abner Miller,
of Conestoga township; Barbara, unmarried; Mar-
tha, wife of Abram S. Stauffer, of Manheim town-
ship ; Sarah, unmarried, of Manheim township ; and
Fannie, wife of John E. Nestleworth, deceased.
Andrew H. Shank, father of Jonas E., was born
in Lancaster township, on the old homestead, Nov.
4, 18 18. When a young man he commenced farming
on the farm now owned by his son Jonas, and con-
tinued farming until April, 1882, when he retired
and located in Millersville. In politics he is a stanch
Republican, and for thirteen years was supervisor
of the township. His religious affiliations are with
the Old Mennonite Church.
The first wife of Andrew H. Shank was Catherine
Harnish, and their marriage occurred Feb. 7, 1843.
To them were born three children : Mary Ann, who
died at the age of nine years ; and Harry (deceased)
and Jonas E., twins. Mrs. Shank died Feb. 10, 1890,
aged sixtv-nine years, three days, and Andrew H.
Shank subsequently' married Mrs. Elizabeth Shirt-
zer, widow of Benjamin Shirtzer.
Jonas E. Shank remained at home, working upon
the farm, and receiving his education in the schools
of the township. When he married he assumed
charge of the Shank homestead, and has since de-
voted himself to agricultural pursuits. His farm,
which is one of the finest in the township, consists
of eighty-four acres, conveniently located one mile
from Lancaster City, on the Lancaster and New
Danville pike. The pleasant house, surrounded by
shade and fruit trees, flowers and shrubbery, the well
cultivated fields, neat fences and substantial outbuild-
ings, all testify to the prosperity and good manage-
ment of Mr. Shank. In addition to attending to his
farming interests he is a director of the Lancaster
and New Danville pike, and also a director in the
Manor Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
On Oct. 25, 1881, Mr. Shank married Miss
Catherine R. Landis, a daughter of Henry and Cath-
erine Landis, of Manheim township (both now de-
ceased), and the liveliness in their home, well-kept
garden and many beautiful floral effects on their fine
lawn prove that his choice was well made. To Mr.
and Mrs. Shank four children have been born : Em-
ma L., attending Prof. Moore's Madame Cotta Col-
lege; Landis L., attending Wade's Pennsylvania
Business College, Philadelphia ; Andrew Hilke, who
died at the age of five years, nine months, five days ;
and Walter L., at home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Shank
are consistent members of the Old Mennonite
Church, and no people are_ more highly esteemed
than they in Lancaster township. Mr. Shank is a
man of broad sympathies and public spirit, and he
alwavs bears a leading part in all matters calculated
to prove of benefit to the community.
DANIEL S. NEFF, a progressive and enterpris-
ing agriculturist living near Central Manor, Manor
township, was born upon his present farm Sept. 21,
1863, son of Benjamin and Anna (Shenk) Neff, and
grandson of Henry and Susanna (Neff) Nefif. The
father spent his entire life upon that farm, engaged
in agricultural pursuits. By his ballot he supported
the men and measures of the Republican party, and
for eighteen years he efficiently filled the office of
school director. In religious belief he was a Men-
nonite. He was twice married, his first wife being
Anna Hostetter, who died in 1854, at the age of twen-
ty-six years, and of the two children born of that
union, Cyrus, the elder, is also deceased. Benjamin
is a resident of Central Manor. The second wife was
Anna Shenk, daughter of Henry Shenk, of Manor
township, and to them were born two children : Dan-
iel S. and Anna, the latter the wife of Harry Gamber,
of Landisville, Lancaster county. The father died
in June, 1880, at the age of fifty-eight years, the
mother in 1897, at the age of sixty-five.
Daniel S. Neff grew to manhood on the old home-
stead and attended the district schools of the neigh-
borhood. He earlv became familiar with all the du-
ties which fall to the lot of the agriculturist, and on
the death of his father took charge of the home place,
consisting of seventy-three acres, which he has since
successfully operated. He has made many valuable
improvements upon the farm, including the erection
of a fine brick residence in 1899.
In 1888 Mr. Neff married Miss Annie R. Herr,
920
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
daughter of Henry and Lizzie Herr, and to them have
come two children ; Ira H., born in 1889, and Harry
C, born in 1893. Since attaining his majority Mr.
Neff has been identified with the RepubHcan party,
and he has taken an active part in its work, doing all
within his power to insure its success. He is pro-
gressive and public-spirited, and has capably served '
as a member of the school board in his district since
1898.
PHILIP AUGUSTUS METZGER, head of the
firm of Metzger & Haughman, dry-goods merchants
at Nos. 38 and 40 West King street, Lancaster, be-
longs to one of the very old families of Lancaster
county.
Philip Metzger, his first ancestor in this country,
came to America from the Palatinate, Germany, in
1749, leaving his beautiful Old World country be-
cause of bitter religious persecution. He had three
sons — Jacob, Philip and John — and one daughter.
Philip A. Metzger, of Lancaster, is the fourth Philip
in the direct line of descent, and his son Philip, who
died in 1878, when five years old, was the fifth. The
commodious old brick dwelling at No. 25 South
Queen street, Lancaster, was built by the grandfa-
ther of Philip A., and there, in the same room, have
been born his father and himself, and two of his
children. This home was in the possession of the
Metzger family from 1791 to 1891, when it passed
into other hands. Philip Metzger (2), according
to the records, was the grandfather of Philip A.
Metzger, whose father's name was also Philip. The
latter married Eliza Wayne Sprigman, a cousin of
the late John W. Forney, the well-known journalist,
and to this union were born ten children, five of
whom are now living: Anna, widow of B. F.
Charles; Louisa, widow of I. F. Abele; Margaret,
unmarried; George W., of Lancaster; and Philip
Augustus.
Philip Augustus Metzger was born in the old
•homestead in Lancaster, Nov. 27, 1839, and was edu-
cated in the public schools of that city, leaving the
high, school to enter the dry-goods store of R. E.
Fahnstock, with whom he remained twenty-six
years. At the eijd of that long period he severed
■commercial relations with Mr. Fahnstock to enter
into business for himself. For more than twenty-
two years he. has been a merchant in Lancaster, and
he and his partner have conducted a most successful
business. In the fall of 1886 Mr. Metzger bought
the present store, which in former days was the
"Golden Lamb Hotel," and in 1887 a large addition
was made to the building. They enjoy a very flatter-
ing patronage.
Mr. Metzger was married in 1866 to M. Elizabeth,
daughter of the late George A. Weaver, a member
of one of the old Lancaster county families; her
great-grandfather was a captain in the Revolution-
ary war. To this union were born five children, two
of whom are still living : Miss Mary Gertrude is at
home ; Carrie Louisa is the wife of Charles Emory
Long, who is now engaged in the leaf tobacco trade, .
and thev have two children, Elizabeth M. and
Philip M.
Mr. Metzger was for more than thirty-five years
a member of the .Duke Street Methodist Church, and
a trustee for about twenty years. When the new
church building was erected on the northwest corner
of Duke and Walnut streets, in 1891, Mr. Metzger,
by his indefatigable energy, zeal and liberal contri-
butions, prevented the cutting out from the plans of
the beautiful tower that so fittingly adorns it. In
February and March, 1897, he accompanied the
popular and beloved pastor. Rev. J. T. Satchell, D.
D., on an extensive trip to the Bermudas and the
West Indies.
Mr. Metzger is now a member of the First Pres-
byterian Church. In politics he is a Democrat, and
time and time again has been nominated by his party
in the Second ward for the Select Council. Several
times he was strqngly urged to become his party's
nominee for the position of mayor of Lancaster, but
for various reasons felt impelled to decline. Fra-
ternally Mr. Metzger belongs to the Odd Fellows
and Knights of Pythias. He is a most genial and
charming gentleman. His business integrity is be-
yond question, and his standing in the business world
of Lancaster most enviable.
JOSEPH H. McGLAUGHLIN, one of the lead-
ing residents of the town of Mechanicsburg, was
born in Horse flollow, Martic township, Lancaster
county, June 11, 1867, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth
(Henry) McGlaughlin.
Samuel McGlaughlin, one of the leading citizens
of Conestoga Center, was born in Providence town-
ship Oct. 26, 1834, a son of Joseph and Sarah (Peo-
ples) McGlaughlin. The family records show that
Joseph McGlaughlin was born Aug. 12, 1799; his
mother's maiden name was Hettie McKorkle. On
Dec. 30, 1824, he wedded Sarah Peoples, who was
.born Oct. 10, 1802.
Samuel McGlaughlin was formerly supervisor,
and is now tax collector of Conestoga, his adminis-
tration being considered one of the best and most
judicions-the county has ever had. During the Civil
war he served as a soldier in Co. E, 79th P. V. I.,
under Gen. Hambright, and was often in posts of
great danger, having charge of some of the trans-
portation. On Oct. 12, 1865, he was married, by
Rev. J. J. Strine, to Elizabeth Henry, who was born
between Conestoga Center and Rock Hill, Jan. 16,
1843, a daughter of John and Magdalena (Thomas)
Henry. The children of this union were as follows :
(t) Joseph H. is the subject of this article. (2)
A. Laura, born in Conestoga Center Jan. 13, 1870,
was married Oct. 22, 1901, to Tilden Falk, a machin-
ist by trade, and now resides in New York City. (3)
Harvey M., of the firm of Diehm & McLaughlin,
coachmakers at Honey Brook, Pa., was born in
Conestoga township Dec. 13, 1871, and was married
Dec. 26, 1900, to Miss Helen Wesley, of Little Brit-
/^^^^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
921
ain township. (4) M. Letitia, for some time a school
teacher and seamstress, was born in Pequea township
Dec. 24, 1873, and on Jan. 26, 1902, was married' to
Robert A. Erb, and now lives on a farm at Mount
Nebo, Pa. (5) John Miles, deceased, was born in
Conestoga Center Feb. 26, 1876. (6) Effie N., of
Lancaster, was born in Conestoga Center Jan. 23,
1S78. (7) Franklin P., stenographer and book-
keeper for Follmer, Clogg & Co., umbrella manu-
facturers at Lancaster, was born Nov. id, 1881.
Loth Samuel M cGlaughlin and his wife are members
of the Old Mennonite Church. John Henry, father
of Mrs. Elizabeth (Henry) McGlaughlin, was born
Jan. 26, 1804, a son of Michael and Susan (Rathfon)
Henry, and was a stone mason and shoemaker by
occupation. He married Magdalena Thomas, who
was born Jan. 16, 1810, a daughter of Jacob and
Elizabeth (Keeports) Thomas.
Joseph H. McGlaughlin was reared on the home
farm, and between the ages of ten and fifteen years
he assisted neighboring farmers. He then learned the
cigarmaker's trade, but only as a means of enabling
him to gratify his ambition for a higher education.
His inclinations led him to the profession of teacher,
and he entered the Millersville State Normal School
to prepare himself for that calling. In the fall of
1887 he began his eminently successful career as an
instructor, and has continued to teach ever since,
sometimes even teaching summer sessions. His work
has been appreciated through the county, and he is
very popular with both patrons and students. Mr.
McGlaughlin has done much in the interest of edu-
cation in his locality, and his influence has been the
means of promoting and instituting a number of
needed reforms. He has also during the summer
seasons been engaged extensively in trucking. His
artistic sense has found expression in highly orna-
mental penwork, and many specimens of his handi-
work have found their way into the possession of his
acquaintances, and are now scattered over much of
our country.
On March 30, 1893, Mr. McGlaughlin was united
in marriage, by Rev. D. W. Gerhard, with Miss Clara
W. Weinhold, daughter of Peter G. and Eliza
(Weinhold) Weinhold, and this union has been
blessed with two children: Elsie Mabel, born in
Upper Leacock township Jan. 9, 1894, who died Sept.
3, 1897; and Grace Leona, born Dec. 25, 1895. In
religious connection Mr. and Mrs. McGlaughlin are
members of Heller's Salem Reformed Church. Mr.
McGlaughlin has been prominently identified with
the Republican party for many years, and for four
years was judge of elections. He is a genial, pleas-
ant citizen, and is well known and highly esteemed.
Peter G. Weinhold, father of Mrs. McGlaughlin,
was born in East Cocalico township, between Denver
and Muddy Creek, Jan. 5, 1840, a son of Philip Wein-
hold. He is now a prominent farmer in Upper Lea-
cock township. His wife, Eliza (Weinhold) Wein-
hold, was born in East Cocalico township April 18,
1848, a daughter of Peter S. and Leah (Yagi) Wein-
hold, the former of whom, born Dec. 10, 1818, died
April 26, 1896 ; the latter, a daughter of Joseph and
Catharine (Loraw) Yagi, born Nov. 25, 1820, died
Aug. 13, 1902. To Peter G. and Eliza Weinhold
were born children as follows : Henry W., of Read-
ing, a florist in the employ of the Pennsylvania Rail-
way Company, was born in East Cocalico Feb. 17,
1867, and on Dec. 24, 1891, was married to Clara A.
Ludwig. Frances W., born July 16, 1868, on Nov.
24, 1889, married Henry W. Lutz, a farmer near Hel-
ler's Church. Solomon W., a farmer and laborer
near Leacock, was born Dec. 19, 1869, and married
Adelia R. Espenschied Feb. 25, 1897. Clara W. is
ithe wife of Joseph H. McGlaughlin. Pierce W.,
born July 25, 1873, died June 4, 1874. Annie E.,
born Nov. 19, 1876, was married Oct. 12, 1899, to
Abram S. Getz, a laborer and farmer of Leacock, Pa.
James, a plumber and gas fitter of Reading, Pa„ was
born Dec. 23, 1878. Minnie, born Dec. 31, 1886, is
at home. All the family attend Heller's 5alem Re-
formed Church except the parents, who are members
of the Muddy Creek Reformed Church.
Pliilip Weinhold, the father of Peter G., was born
Nov. 19, 1796, son of Peter and Elizabeth (Grill)
Weinhold, and on reaching man's estate wedded
Elizabeth Kress.
SAMUEL S. STAUFFER, a substantial and
well-known farmer of Mt. Joy township, was bom
April 12, 1867, on his present home farm, which is
the old homestead of the Stauffer family, where
many of the name have first seen the light in the
past.
Mr. Stauffer is a son of Abraham G. and Har-
riet (Shelley) Stauflfer, the former of whom was
born in 1842 on the present farm, son of Jacob
Stauffer; the mother was born in Rapho township,
daughter of Henry Shelley. Abraham G. Stauffer
removed in 1891 to Lebanon county, where he is
engaged in farming. During his residence in this
county he was identified with many of its sound in-
stitutions, notably the Elizabethtown National
Bank, in which he was a director from its organiza-
tion until the spring of 1901. His wife was born
in December, 1844, and died Dec. 21, 1901, aged
fifty-seven years, two days. She was a member of
the German Baptist Church, to which her husband
also belongs. To Abraham G. Stauffer and his
wife were born the following named children:
Harry S., who is a stock dealer living in Manheim ;
Samuel S. ; Fanny S., who married Albert Garber,
a merchant in Lebanon county; Harriet S. and Ja-
cob S., both of whom died young ; Andrew S., who
owns a warehouse and is engaged in the fruit busi-
ness in Palmyra, Pa. ; David S., also residing in
Palmyra: Katie S., who resided with her parents
and died Aug. 22, 1901, aged twenty-four years,
fourteen days ; Abraham S. and Mamie S., both of
whom died young ; and Anna S., at home.
Mr. Stauffer was reared on the farm and has
passed his whole life there, engaging in farming
922
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
from his youth. The place is one of the valuable
estates which help to make Lancaster county famous
as a farming section.
On Nov. 29, 1892, Mr. Stauffer was married, in
Manheim, to Miss Amanda B. Graybill, and to this
union has been born one daughter, Minnie G. Mrs.
Stauffer was born Aug. 12, 1870, in Penn township,
daughter of Seth and Fannie (Bentz) Graybill, of
Lancaster county. Mr. Graybill was born in 1845,
and is now a retired farmer of the village of Penn-
ville, having lived free from business care for the
past six years. His wife was born in 1850. Both
are valued members of the German Baptist Church.
Their children were as. follows : Amanda B., wife
of Mr. Stauffer ; Joseph B., a farmer of Penn town-
ship ; and Hayden B. and Noah B., both deceased.
The family is of Swiss origin, and the paternal
grandfather of Mrs. Stauffer was Joseph Graybill,
of Lancaster county, who married a Lutz.
Mr. Stauffer is identified with the Republican
party, and is one of the progressive and intelligent
young men of his locality.
BENJAMIN M. SHENK, one of the highly
esteemed retired farmers of Lancaster county, is a
worthy representative of one of the oldest families
in this locality. This family originated in Switzer-
land, coming to America about 1730. Michael
Shenk was the original settler on the old homestead,
and his son, Henry (it is thought) succeeded him.
John Shenk, the great-grandfather of Benjamin M.,
was a son of Henry, and he lived and died in Pequea
township. His life was devoted exclusively to
farming pursuits and to the ministry of the Old
Mennonite Church. The children he left were:
Henry; John; Anne, who married a Suavely; and
Mary, who married a Hostetter.
Henry Shenk, son of Rev. John, became the
grandfather of Benjamin M., of this sketch, and he
was born in Pequea township, where he tilled the
soil. His duty led him in the direction of a relig-
ious life, and for four years he was a minister in the
Old Mennonite Church, and on June 3, 1843, he
was ordained a bishop. For a number of years he
was a power in the church, operating in the Con-
estoga, Millersville, Rohrerstown and Manor dis-
tricts. His simple, pious life, combined with his
ability as a preacher, exerted a great influence for
good, few men ever having been more highly es-
teemed or more dearly beloved. As a fitting close
to a life of estimable deeds, he died suddenly, Oct.
22, 1865, aged seventy years, eleven months and
twenty days, after giving testimony after a sermon
preached bv his co-worker, Jacob Brubaker, of
Manor District, Rev. Joseph K. Brubaker being also
present, in the Stone Meeting House, in Pequea
township.
The marriage of Rev. Henry Shenk was to
Susanna Huber, and they became the parents of
twelve children: John, who died in 1892; Henry,
who died Jan. 6, 1854; Michael, who died young;
Tobias, who resides in Manheim township; Mary,
deceased; Jacob, of Pequea township; Isaac, twin
to Jacob, deceased; Rudolph, of East Drumore
township : Samuel, of Pequea township ; Susan, the
widow of Andrew G. Bower; Benjamin, deceased;
and Anna, the wife of Martin Herr, of Pequea
township.
John Shenk, father of Benjamin M., was born
on the old homestead in Pequea township, Aug. 28,
1816, and lived there until 1842, when he moved to
Lancaster township, locating on the farm which
Benjamin M. Shenk now owns, giving his whole
attention to the cultivation of his land for a number
of years. He was, however, an intelligent and pub-
lic-spirited man, was active in the ranks of the Re-
publican party, filling many of the local offices with
great efficiency, notably those of assessor, auditor,
school director and supervisor. Mr. Shenk was
identified with many of the public enterprises of his
locality, and until the time of his death was a
director in the Marietta Pike road. As a consistent
member of the Old Mennonite Church, his life was
filled with good and charitable deeds. His relia-
bility was recognized in the demands made upon
him in the matter of settling up estates, many trusts
being confidently placed in his hands. His mar-
riage was to Miss Magdalena Musser, and they had
a family of six children, three of whom died in
childhood, the others being: Henry, a farmer in
Penn township; Benjamin M., of this sketch; and
Susan, wife of Rev. Abram B. Herr. The mother
of these children died Aug. 13, 1861, and Mr. Shenk
married Mrs. Magdalena Bassler, and he died May
10, 1892.
Benjamin M. Shenk was born on the farm where
he now resides, on Aug. 21, 1844, grew up acquainted
with all the necessary details of a farmer's life, and
after completing the common school course, settled
down to a farming life. After his marriage in 1870
he began farming on the home place, which was his
by inheritance, and here, until the spring of 1901,
he followed agricultural pursuits, becoming one of
the most substantial and highly esteemed citizens of
this county. For as long a period as seventeen years
Mr. Shenk has been a school director, always cast-
ing his influence in the direction of progressive edu-
cational methods, and has stanchly supported the
principles of the Republican party. ' Mr. Shenk has
been identified with a number of the important en-
terprises of the county, notably the Mutual Insurance
Co.j having been a director for many years. Many
of the complicated estates of this neighborhood have
been placed in his hands for adjustment, his fellow-
citizens being so well assured of his integrity, ability
and uprightness.
The marriage of Mr. Shenk was to Miss Leah
G. Charles, and to this union were born five children,
two of whom died young, the others being: John
C, a farmer of East Hempfield township ; Abram C,
a farmer on the home place ; and Anna C, residing
with her parents. Both Mr. and Mrs. Shenk are
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
923
consistent members of the Old Mennonite Church,
and are kind, neighborly and hospitable, and among
the very best people of their township.
EDMUND GARDNER was born Nov. 8, 1870,
at Colemanville, Lancaster county, where he now re-
sides. He comes from an old Pennsylvania family.
Valentine Gardner, his great-grandfather, lived
and died in Martic township, about one and one-
half miles from the home of Edmund Gardner. He
was a tanner by trade, and carried on that business
for some years in connection with farming, carting
his leather by team to Philadelphia and Baltimore.
His wife's maiden name was Good.
John Gardner, the grandfather, was born in Mar-
tic township in 1808, and lived at home until he was
about twenty-eight years of age. He was educated
in the common schools of the county. At the age
of twenty-eight he went to Conestoga township, and
engaged in farming, which he continued until 1871,
when he retired from the active affairs of life. He
married Miss Leah Shenk, of Conestoga township,
in 1836, and they were the parents of eleven chil-
dren, of whom eight died in infancy or early child-
hood. Those who grew to mature years were:
John Wesley, father of Edmund; Leah, wife of Jo-
seph Clark, of Mt. Nebo ; and Valentine, who at the
age of twenty-one was drowned, in 1871, while
skating on the Pequea. Mr. Gardner and his wife
were members of the M. E. Church, he being one of
the trustees and a steward for about thirty years.
John Wesley Gardner was born in Conestoga
township, Feb. 14, 1840, and lived at home until he
was twenty-two years old. He received a common-
school education. In 1862 he enlisted in Co. C, i22d
P. V. I., was mustered into service Aug. 11, 1862,
promoted to corporal Jan. 21, 1863, and with his
company was mustered out of the service May 15,
1863.
In 1866 John W. Gardner married Miss Henri-
etta Costello, of Conestoga township, and they be-
came the parents of two children : Florence, who is
the wife of H. B. Barr, of Colemanville; and Ed-
mund. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner are members of the
M. E. Church, and Mr. Gardner was trustee and
steward of the church for a number of years, and
was also superintendent of the Sunday-school. He
was engaged in merchandising for about thirty
years, and retired in 1894, Edmund Gardner, his
son, continuing the business to the present time.
John W. Gardner is a member of Stewart Post, G.
A. R., of Rawlinsville ; of the K. of P., at Rawlins-
viUe; and the A. O. K. of M. C, No. 158, of Mt.
Nebo.
Edmund Gardner remained at home with his
parents, and upon the retirement of his father, in
1894, took charge of the business. During his
youth he was educated in the county schools, and
supplemented this training with a two-years course
at the State Normal School at Millersville. He has
given his entire attention to the mercantile business.
and has been very successful in it. Politically he is
a Republican, and was made postmaster March 30,
1894. He is a member of the Charles M. Howell
Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 496, of Millersville ; and is
also a member of the A. O. K. of M. C, No. 158,
Mt. Nebo.
On Aug. 16, 1893, Mr. Gardner was married to
Miss Mary, daughter of P. C. Hiller, of Conestoga
township. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gardner are members
of the M. E. Church of Colemanville, and he is one
of the trustees. They have four children, namely :
J. Harold, Grace, Reba and Clare, all at home.
Although a young man, Mr. Gardner has already
gained a permanent standing in the community, and
is regarded as a useful, progressive and liberal-
minded man in both business and social circles, well
deserving the high esteem in which he is held.
MRS. MARY SALENA (PROSSER) BAUM-
GARDNER, widow of the late Henry Baumgardner,
was born about sixty-five years ago in Hartford,
Conn., daughter of James L. and Mary (Lillibridge)
Prosser, and remained with her parents until her
first marriage. James L. Prosser was an extensive
farmer, and a horse and cattle dealer of prominence
in one of the very wealthiest sections of the United
States. Of his family, all are now deceased but
Mrs. Baumgardner and her sister, Mrs. Brown, who
lives at Lexington, near Boston. The others were:
John, who died aged twenty-one; Levi, who
amassed wealth in speculation and employed it in
charity ; Amisa, who died young ; and Angeline, who
married Park Fellows, formerly of Syracuse, N. Y.,
now a wealthy resident of San Francisco, Cal. This
family is of noble lineage, but Mrs. Baumgardner's
proudest boast is that she is the daughter of an honest
man.
Mary Salena Prosser first became the wife of
Jay Cadwell, who came of an honorable family —
people whose word was as good as their bond. His
brothers are all deceased, and his sister is still liv-
ing on the old place a few miles from the city of
Hartford, which has been in the family for over
two hundred years. After his marriage Mr. Cad-
well came- to Lancaster county. Pa., and engaged in
tobacco culture, which venture proving disastrous
he remained only one season. Going to Philadel-
phia, he opened the first silver-plating establishment
there, as a member of the firm of Filley, Mead &
Cadwell. His health failing, he was advised to re-
main in the open air as much as possible, and ac-
cordingl}'^ returned to Lancaster county, where he
commenced to buy stock. He eventually took up
the cork manufacturing business, in which he was
engaged up to the time of his death, March 24,
1874. His remains rest in Lancaster cemetery. Mr.
Cadwell had been successful in business, but ill
health and the results of the panic of 1873, together
with the fact that he had bet heavily on the election
of Horace Greeley, of whom he was a great admirer,
left him in debt, and his widow was left with a heavy
924
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
burden to shoulder. His assets were equal to his
liabilities, but the material had to be worked up and
put on the market, and she took up the work cour-
ageously, and the fact that she had a daughter to be
cared for was a wonderfvtl incentive for her to make
the effort. Her father and brother came to Lan-
caster and offered her their assistance, but though
they were men of wealth she only expressed her
gratitude and persuaded them to return home, say-
ing she felt confident that she would "come out all
right," and she did. She managed her husband's
plant and business for eight years with great suc-
cess, only abandoning the business when the estab-
lishment was destroyed by fire ; but she had previ-
ously paid the entire indebtedness, dollar for dollar,
and felt that she could afford to retire.
After four years of widowhood Mrs. Cadwell
was united in marriage with Henry Baumgardner, a
prominent citizen of Lancaster, where he had a suc-
cessful business career, and both made and lost a
great deal of money. He died in May, 1898, and
is buried in the Lancaster cemetery.
Notwithstanding her strenuous life, Mrs. Baum-
gardner is a remarkably bright, active and even
youthful lady for her sixty-five years. She was the
first subscriber in Lancaster county to Dun's Mer-
cantile Agency. She and aU of her connections are
of the most prominent and leading citizens, and all
are well-to-do in the world. She is a member of the
Lancaster Historical Society, and of the Y. M. C. A.
Auxiliary Body, socially prominent and clever, and
a woman of engaging manners and of charitable
disposition and habits.
Mrs. Baumgardner's daughter, Ida, is the wife
of H. C. Moore, and has three children, Samuel,
Edith and Mary S. Mr. Moore is a prominent citi-
zen of Trenton, N. J-, being president of two traction
companies. Mrs. Baumgardner has a niece, Mrs.
George Field, living at Newton Center, Massachu-
setts.
NORMAN M. CHRIST, an enterprising and
rapidly rising young farmer of Manor township,
was born in Conestoga township, Lancaster county,
Feb. 3, 1872, a son of Michael K. Christ, who resides
two and one-half miles southwest of Miller sville, and
is one of the most respected farmers of Manor town-
ship.
Michael K. Christ was born in Manor township,
Lancaster county, Sept. i, 1850, son of Amos B.
Christ, a native of the same township. Michael K.,
was reared on the home farm, was educated in the
district schools, and also attended the State Normal
School at Millersville for three terms, in 1868-69-
70. He taught in the winters of those years, and in
the fall of 1870 located at Masonville. In 1876 he
purchased a farm of eight and one-half acres in
Manor township, where he has since been engaged
in farming. He has also passed considerable
time in clerking, and in 1889-90-91-92 was collector
of taxes for Manor township ; in 1897 he was mercan-
tile appraiser for Lancaster county; in 1898 he was
delegate to the Republican State Convention, having
previously attended several county conventions. Mr.
Christ has acted as administrator of several estates.
Michael K. Christ was married Aug. 17, 1870, to
Miss Mary S. Miller, daughter of Christian and
Barbara Miller, both of whom are deceased. To
this union have been born four children, viz. : Nor-
man M., with whose name this sketch opens ; Ben-
jamin M., a veterinary surgeon, at home; Haldy M.,
a graduate of the Millersville State Normal School,
class of 1897, and since a teacher of shorthand and
typewriting at home; and Ida V., also at home, a
teacher of music.
Norman M. Christ received a sound public-school
education, and at the age of twenty years began farm-
ing by working out by the day. By saving his earn-
ings he was able, in the fall of 1896, to purchase
twenty acres of the Jacob Doerstler farm, one-
quarter mile east of Creswell, which place he has
greatly improved, having one of the finest little places
in the county; he carries on general farming, and
also deals in fertilizers.
On June 18, 1891, Norman M. Christ married
Miss Sarah Sneath, who was born in Manor town-
ship, daughter of William A. Sneath, deceased. To
this marriage have been born three children, Blanche,
Irene and Walter.
Norman M. Christ is one of the active young Re-
publicans of Manor township, and takes a deep in-
terest in the party's affairs, but although frequently
solicited to accept nomination for public office has
- persistently refused to become a candidate. Mr. and
Mrs. Christ are members of the Evangelical Church,
and are among the most respected of the residents
of Manor township.
WALTER M. ESHLEMAN, proprietor of the
"Buck Hotel," in East Drumore township, Lancaster
county, was born in Marticville April 20, 1868, son
of Martin and Hattie (McCardee) Eshleman. Mar-
tin Eshlemanwas born in Martic township in 1840,
and his wife was born in Conestoga township in 1843.
Henry and Mary Eshleman, the grandparents,
were both natives of Lancaster county, and of Ger-
man parentage. They lived in the Revolutionary
period. Henry Eshleman owned much land in this
section of the county, and both he and his wife died
in Martic, on his old homestead. They had ten chil-
dren : Henry, who lives in East Drumore township ;
Samuel, a butcher in Marticville ; Calvin, who died
at the home of his parents ; Maris, a butcher, who
died at the old home unmarried ; Eli, who died at the
old homestead, leaving a widow and nine children,
Martin, Jacob, Daniel, George, Eli, Elizabeth (who
married Joseph Rankin), Susan (who married Chris-
tian Andrews), Mary fwho married Henry Hoover)
and Lydia (who married Martin Eshleman) ; Eliza,
born in Marticville, who married Jacob Johnson, of
Smithville, Lancaster county, and died leaving a
family ; Susan, who married John G. Good, and is the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
925
mother of four children, Elizabeth (wife of George
W. Hiney), Mollie (wife of John Plank), Barbara
(wife of Samuel Young) and Henry (deceased) ;
Cilinda, de.ceased, wife of Joseph Hoover; Louisa,
wife of Alexander Humphrey, of Lancaster; and
Martin. ^
Martin Eshleman was reared on the old home-
stead, and was engaged in farming until the break-
ing out of the Civil war, when he enlisted in the cav-
alry service of the Union army, and served under
Sheridan. At Gettysburg he was seriously wounded,
and lay for many house uncared for on that bloody
field. Surviving the perils of the tented field and
battle strife he came home, and is now living retired
on the old family homestead, with all the comforts
that industry and integrity have a right to expect.
To him and his good wife have come four sons, all
of whom are honorable and prosperous citizens of this
county: (i) Harry, born in 1866, married Miss
Bertha' Shofif, of Martic township, where he is living.
He is a supervisor.. They have two children, Clyde
and Florence. (2) Walter M. is mentioned below.
(3) Joseph, born in 1874, married Miss Katie
Handle, and is a farmer in Martic township. They
have one daughter, Emma. (4) Ezra, born in 1877,
lives at home, and is manager of the home farm.
Walter M. Eshleman grew to manhood under the
parental roof-tree, and took up farming as his life
business. In 1891 he was married to Lizzie, daugh-
ter of Simon and Hettie Good. Mrs. Eshleman was
born in Providence in 1870, and was educated in the
local schools. Mr. and Rlrs. Eshleman lived for a
time in Martic township, where he was a farmer, and
bought and sold stock on an extensive scale, a busi-
ness he still follows. In 1900 he added to his other
labors the cares of hotel-keeping, and has a hotel at
the Buck, where he is doing a good business and has
a fine patronage. Bessie, the only child of Mr. and
Mrs. Eshleman, was born Jan. 15, 1892.
Mr. Eshleman and his father are both Repub-
licans. The grandtather was a Whig, and in time
became a Republican. Fraternally Walter M. Eshle-
man belongs to the I. O. O. F. He* was reared in
the Mennonite faith, his mother being a member of
that church.
In 1898 Mr. Eshleman made an extensive "western
trip, traveling in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,
Kansas and Nebraska, and returned by way of Ken-
tucky and Virginia. Mr. Eshlenjan is a young man
of excellent business qualifications, and is widely
known, not only for his abilities as a stockman, but
for his very successful management of the "Buck
Hotel," which is one of the popular hostelries of the
county.
LEVI B. HUBER, one of the progressive and
prominent young farmers of Lancaster county, living
about a mile southeast of Landis Valley, belongs to
an old and honored family, and is a son of David B.
Huber, of Fruitville. He was born Jan. 12, i86r, se-
cured his education in the public schools, and, being
a man of keen perception and good observation, has
become one of the best informed citizens of the
county.
When a young man of twenty-two Mr. Huber
began on his own account on the place he now occu-
pies, known as Fountain Farm. It comprises sixty-
two acres, largely devoted to potato growing. Mr.
Huber keeps in touch with the advance of the times,
being a reader of and occasional contributor to the
agricultural press. He is interested in bees, and has
five stands of the Italian variety. He also keeps some
300 hens, improved White Leghorns, and regularly
supplies a number of the families in Lancaster with
eggs.
Levi B. Huber was married, in November, 1883,
to Miss Elizabeth K., daughter of Benjamin R. and
Anna vS. (Kreider) Staufler. She was born in East
Lampeter township March 3, 1863. To this union
have come the following children: Cora S., born
Oct. 25, 1885 ; Anna S., April 14, 1887 ; Elizabeth S.,
July 27, 1888; Henry S., Aug. 13, 1889; David S.,
Dec. 15, 1890; Benjamin S., Feb. 26, 1892; Enos
S., July t. 1896; John S., July 3, 1898; Christian
S., Feb. II, 1894 (died March 17, 1895). Mr. and
Mrs. Huber belong to the Mennonite Church, and
he is assistant superintendent of the Sabbath-school.
MARIE REBECCA VAN NESS, M. D., not
only won distinction in medical circles in Lancaster
for her own success as a practitioner, but also as the
wife of a distinguished physician and .surgeon, Dr.
AVilliam W. Van Ness, now retired after forty years
of active practice. She is the daughter of the late
David Saladin, who came to America from Baden-
Baden, Germany, in 1831, and settling in Lancaster,
engaged in mercantile trade there, having been a
storekeeper in Europe. However, he abandoned that
business, and became a contracting house painter.
Mr. Saladin married Miss Mary Elizabeth Troyer,
daughter of the late John Andrew Troyer, of Lan-
caster, whose ancestors were of Revolutionary fame
on both sides. To this union were born five children,
only two of whom are living, Marie Rebecca and
John F., the latter a wholesale dealer in millinery
and silk at Greenville, Ohio.
Marie Rebecca Saladin was born in Lancaster,
and received her early education there, finishing her
studies at the American Medical College, at St.
Louis, from which she was graduated. She has been
an earnest searcher after the truth, and made a close
sttidy of Christian Science, which she practiced with
great success for three years in Denver, Colo., though
she subsequently confined herself to medical practice.
Dr. Van Ness was the only woman in Lancaster who
ever enjoyed the distinction of being medical exam-
iner for an insurance company, holding that position
in this section for the Security Medical Life Insur-
ance Company, of Binghamton, N. Y., conducting the
examination of lady applicants for insurance. She
belongs to the American Medical Association, at
Washington, D. C. Dr. Van Ness is as thoroughly
926
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
versed in literary mattefs as she is in medicine. Re-
ligiously she is a member of the Unitarian denomina-
tion. Socially, professionally and religiously she is
a model type of womanhood.
Almost forty years ago our subject became the
wife of Dr. William Van Ness, who was born and
reared on the Hudson. Both his grandfathers came
over with Gov. Stuyvesant, when New York was
known as New Amsterdam. Dr. William W. Van
Ness is a graduate of Columbia College, New York,
and is now living retired after an active practice ex-
tending over forty years, during twenty of which he
was associated with his wife, who practiced with him
in New York for that length of time. She practiced
ten years in Lancaster. Two children were born to
this union, one daughter, now deceased, and one son.
Rev. Thomas J. Van Ness, who is pastor of the sec-
ond oldest church in the city of Boston, an Unitarian
Church. He stands at the head of the six most prom-
inent clergymen in that city. Dr. Van Ness may
well feel a pride in the work of her husband and son
in their respective callings, as well as in her own
success in the learned profession of her choice.
SAMUEL L. OBERHOLTZER, one of the
well-known citizens and leading farmers of Mt. Joy
township, was born on the farm he now occupies
July 12, 1859, son of Jacob and Barbara (Lehman)
Oberholtzer, natives of the same township, and who
were for many years residents of the same farm.
Jacob Oberholtzer, father of Samuel L., was born
on the old farm Dec. 31, 1812, son of Samuel arid
Fanny (Longenecker) Oberholtzer, natives of Dau-
phin county, who moved to Lancaster county in 1797,
locating on this farm, in Mt. Joy township, where
their days were passed. They were members of the
ATennonite Church. They had the following named
children: John, Jacob, Samuel, Peter, Joseph,
Christian and Elizabeth. Until 1862 Ja;cob Ober-
holtzer farmed on the old homestead, removing then
to an adjoining farm. He died after living some time
in retirement, Dec. 31, 1897, and was buried in a pri-
vate burying-ground on his own land. On Oct. 13,
1855, Jacob Oberholtzer married Barbara Lehman,
in Lancaster, and they had the following children:
Samuel L. is a resident of Mt. Joy township ; Jacob
L. died at the age of five years ; Amanda L. married
Daniel B. Brubaker, a farmer of Mt. Joy township ;
Miss Lizzie I-. resides with her mother and her sis-
ter, Mrs. Brubaker. Mrs. Oberholtzer was born Oct.
6, 1835, in Mt. Joy township, daughter of Daniel and
Elizabeth (Lehman) Lehman, natives of Lancaster
and Dauphin counties, respectively. Daniel Lehman
died in Franklin county in 1886, his wife dying in
1846, at the age of forty-two years. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Lehman were members of the Mennonite
Church. They had the following children : Henry is
a retired farmer, living in Ohio; Nancy married
Peter Witmer, and lives in Dauphin county ; Barbara
married Jacob Oberholtzer; Polly (deceased) mar-
ried Christian Gish; Liz?ie is the widow of Peter
Horst, of Franklin county ; Fannie died young ; Katie
married John Landis, of Franklin county. The sec-
ond marriage of Mr. Lehman was to Nancy ( Shank)
Barricks, and they had children as follows : Sarah
(deceased) married Henry Bricker; Daniel (de-
ceased) married Annie Shenk ; Peter married Annie
Zug, and is a farmer in Franklin county ; Lydia and
Mattie both died young; Susan' married Samuel
Longenecker, a farmer of Dauphin county; David
married Annie Burkholder, and is a farmer in Frank-
lin county. The paternal grandparents of Mrs.
Jacob Oberholtzer were Peter and Hettie (Hoover)
Lehman, and the maternal grandparents were Abra-
ham and Maria Lehman, all of whom died in Lan-
caster county. Jacob Oberholtzer was a man of large
means, and his family is one of the most substantial
of the old families who reside in this vicinity and who
come from a fine old German ancestry. Although
he was not formally connected with any religious
body, he lived a. Christian life, and was respected
wherever he was known.
Samuel L. Oberholtzer was but two years of age
when the family moved from the old farm and lo-
cated on an adjoining one. Here he remained with
his parents, attending the district school, and assist-
ing his father in operating the farm until his mar-
riage, when he located on his present farm, the place
of his birth, where he has continued ever since. He
has been very successful in general farming, and
during the past few years has paid considerable at-
tention to poultry raising. As a representative citi-
zen Mr. Oberholtzer has filled various public posi-
tions with great efficiency, notably that of township
auditor for six years ; for a similar length of time he
was election inspector. In political belief he is a
member of the Republican party. He belongs to the
Mennonite Church, in which he was ordained a dea-
con Dec. 25, 1900.
In November, 1883, occurred the marriage of
Samuel L. Oberholtzer and Miss Minerva Weaver,
who was born in West Donegal township, and died
Feb. 6, 1896, at the age of thirty-two years. She
was buried in • Mt. Tunnel cemetery. She was a
daughter of Henry and Catherine Weaver, natives
of Lancaster county, who now live in West Donegal
township, where the forrner is a retired farmer. The
two children of this marriage were Katie W. and
Walter W., both of whom live at home. The second
marriage of Mr. Oberholtzer was to Mrs. Lizzie B.
(Lehman) Gantz, of Conewago township, Dauphin
Co., Pa., who was born Oct. i, 1855, in Lebanon
county, daughter of Samuel and Caroline N. (Bru-
baker) Lehman, the former a native of Lebanon
county, and the latter of Lancaster county. Mr. Leh-
man moved to Lancaster county in 1888, and now is a
prominent retired farmer, residing in Elizabethtown.
He was .born in 1831, and his wife was born in 1833.
They were married in 1854, and had the following
children : Lizzie B., now Mrs. Oberholtzer ; Aman-
da, who married Nathan Brandt, a farmer residing
at Fontana, Pa. ; Emma, who married Amos Risser
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
927
lives in Mt. Joy township ; and David, the youngest,
a telegraph operator in 1 .ancaster city, who married
Emma Shaub. The paternal grandparents of Mrs.
Oberholtzer were John and Polly (Kinzie) Lehman.
Mrs. Oberholtzer was married (first) Oct. 21, 1875,
in Lancaster, to John E. Gantz, who was born in Lan-
caster county July 12, 1854, son of John L. and Anna
(Enterline) Gantz, of Lancaster county, and died
March 12, 1896. Mr. Gantz was a well-known agri-
culturist of Dauphin county, and died on his farm.
He was interred in Milton Grove cemetery. Three
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gantz, namely :
Allai L., who married Anna Longenecker, of Dau-
phin county, and has two children, Carry and Walter ; ■
and Cleveland L. and Tihlman L., both residing with
Mr. Oberholtzer.
The Oberholtzers are among the substantial and
representative families of Mt. Joy township, well
thought of in their neighborhood, and worthy of the
kind feeling and respect which surrounds them on
every side,
■ WILLIAM M. MEARIG. Among the citizens
of New Holland, Pa., is William M. Mearig, who
was born in the village of Mechanicsbtirg, Lan-
caster county, Feb. 15, 1868, son of George K. and
Caroline (Miller) Mearig, both families being
among the old and respected ones of Lancaster
county.
George K. Mearig was born in Upper Leacock
township and was reared to the trade of miller, but
as he could not stand being near the water, he took
up butchering. Shortly after his marriage to Caro-
line Miller he moved to Mechanicsburg, where he
died in 1890, at the age of fifty-five years, and he
was buried in the Zion Lutheran cemetery. His
widow, the mother of our subject, lives in Mechan-
icsburg. The children born to these parents were:
Albert, who died in infancy ; Elizabeth, who resides
with her mother; and William M., of this sketch.
George Mearig, the grandfather of William M.,
was a native of Lancaster county, where he married
Elizabeth Kolb, and carried on a tailoring business
in this town for many years, a well-known and re-
spected man. The maternal grandparents of our
subject were Peter and Fanny (Rudy) Miller, both
natives of Lancaster county. Mr. Miller was a
blacksmith by- trade, but his eyesight failed him, and
he lived in retirement in Mechanicsburg during his
later years.
William M. Mearig was reared in Mechanics-
burg, and was educated in the public schools of this
town. For three years after the close of his school
days our subject worked as a tinsmith. He then be-
came clerk in a real estate office in Jenkintown, and
in Philadelphia, where he worked for about six
months. An opportunity ofifering he accepted a po-
sition with the firm of Kuhns & Bowers, wholesale
dealers in wood and willow-ware, in Philadelphia,
and for some six months was employed as their
traveling salesman, but since February, 1889, he has
been connected with the house of Lambert & Kirk,
one of the drug firms in the city of Philadelphia.
'Mr. Mearig was almost a continual resident of
Mechanicsburg up to the spring of 1902, when he
moved to New Holland, Pa., where he now resides.
His political affiliations are with the Democratic
party, and from 1893 to 1897 he was the postmaster
in his native town.
On June i, 1893, Mr. Mearig was united in
marriage to Miss Mary Kohler, in New Holland.
Three children have been born to our subject and
wife, namely: George, Anna and John F. Mrs.
Mearig was born in Trappe, Montgomery Co., Pa.,
April 9, 1865, a daughter of Rev. John and Louisa
(Baum) Kohler, of Union county. Pa. Rev. Mr.
Kohler was one of the well-known ministers of the
Lutheran Church, and continued his work through
a period of fifty years.
JOHN D. HOOD, who resides in Columbia,
Lancaster coimty, is a native of Lewes, Sussex Co.,
Del., born July 11, 1859, a son of John N. and
Jane O. (Wolfe) Hood, whose four children were
born in the following order: Hannah M., on the
old homestead at Midway, Del. ; Amanda B., also on
the homestead ; John D., of No. 403 Walnut street,
Columbia, Pa. ; and Thomas W., salesman for the
Ross Brothers, sons of ex-Gov. Ross, at Slaford,
Del. These children are all married with the ex-
ception of Hannah M.
John N. Hood, whose post office is still at Mid-
way, Sussex Co., Del., is a son of John and Hannah
(Greene) Hood, and was born near Lewes, Del.,
March 2, 1817. Two of his uncles. Dr. William
Hood, of North Carolina, and Dr. Stephen Greene,
of Laurel, Del., were among the most prominent
physicians of their day. Among his living relatives
are Hon. Judge Joseph Carey, ex-congressman, and
Dr. John Carey, both of Cheyenne, Wyo., and Theo-
dore and Davis Carey, of the well-known publishing
firm of Carey Bros. & Grevemyer, in Philadelphia,
the Careys being his first cousins. The Hood fam-
ily and the Wolfe family, with which Mr. Hood is
allied by marriage, are two of the oldest and most
prominent in the State of Delaware, his grandfather,
Robert Hood, a gentleman of wealth and intelli-
gence, having come from Pennsylvania.
John Hood, the eldest son of Robert Hood, was
also a native of Pennsylvania. He bought, and for
many years resided upon, a large and valuable tract
of land lying on the coast near Rehoboth City, Sus-
sex Co., Del. In politics he was a Democrat, and in
the war of 1812 he served in the defense of his
adopted State as captain of a company of volunteers
stationed at Lewes. He married Hannah, daughter
of Richard Greene, who came from Rhode Island,
and settled on the farm which is now the Hood
homestead.
John N. Hood was married, in 1855, to Jane
Oliver Wolfe, who was born Sept. 5, 1817, a daugh-
ter of Daniel and Mary (Ball) Wolfe. The descent
928
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of Mrs. John N. Hood is clearly traced to the Ball
family of which the mother of Gen. George Wash-
ington was a member. Joshua B. Wolfe, brother of
Mrs. John N. Hood, was with Gen. Winfield Scott
at the taking of the city of Mexico, and was greatly
distinguished for bravery throughout the Mexican
war. Mrs. John N. Hood, as well as her husband,
was an earnest worker in the Presbyterian Church,
and the family has always been influential and dis-
tinguished. Mrs. Hood died in 1885, at the age of
sixty-eight years, and Mr. Hood is now living in re-
tirement.
John D. Hood, whose name opens this biograph-
ical sketch, remained on the home farm until 1881,
when he went to Dakota, California and Oregon. He
passed five years in the West, and during a part of
this period carried on a cattle ranch in Clackamas
county. Ore. In 1885 he returned home, passed sev-
eral months in leisure, and the same year began rail-
roading as fireman, from which position he was pro-
moted to an engineer. In 1887 he was transferred
from Philadelphia to Columbia, and this has since
been his home.
Mr. Hood was united in marriage at Philadel-
phia, Oct. 16, 1889, with Mrs. Kate H. Hershey, a
native of Columbia, and to this marriage have been
born three children, viz. : John V., Marion B. and
Harold W. Mrs. Kate H. Hood is a daughter of
Christian and Sarah R. (Hinkle) Hershey, and a
granddaughter of Christian and Catherine (Bren-
ner) Hershey. She was first married to Amos
Hershey, a locomotive engineer, who died March
19, 1882, at the age of thirty-one years. He was born .
in Lancaster county, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth
(Hertzler) Hershey. To this first marriage were
born four children, namely : Daisy ; Christian, who
married Maud Melville, and resides in Philadelphia ;
Harry and William, both clerks in Columbia. Mr.
and Mrs. Hood are members of the First English
Lutheran Church, of Columbia. In politics Mr.
Hood is a Democrat, and socially is a member of the
B.'of L. E. and the Pennsylvania Railroad Relief
Association.
Christian Hershey, deceased father of Mrs. Kate
H. Hood, was born in Manor township, Lancaster
county, Feb. 5, 1824. He married Sarah Rebecca
Hinkle, in Columbia, and to this union the follow-
ing named children were born : Mrs. Kate H. Hood ;
Harry, of Columbia ; William, of whom further men-
tion will be made ; Sarah E., wife of Clauston Shert-
zer, a farmer of Washington borough, Lancaster
county; and Anna, who died young. The father of
this family was a gentleman of wealth and respecta-
bility, and was called away Nov. 10, 1899, his re-
mains being interred in Mount Bethel cemetery.
William Hershey, the third child born to Chris-
tian and Sarah R. (Hinkle) Hershey, is a native of
Columbia, and at the age of twenty-two years began
braking for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company ; a
few months later he was made a fireman and filled
that position five years, when he was promoted to
engineer, and is now considered as one of the most
trusty and faithful in the employ of the company.
He is still single. He is a Master Mason, also a
member of the Commandery and Chapter, and in
politics is a Republican.
KIRK JOHNSON is known in Lancaster as a
man who has done more probably than any other
citizen of the county toward making it possible for
a musical instrument to be placed in every home,
however humble, in the city. He was born on his
father's farm in New Jersey, June 4, 1861, a son of
John W. Johnson, a native of Port Republic, New
•Jersey.
John W. Johnson is now living retired after
years of activity on his farm. He devotes much of
his time to the church, in which he has been a class-
leader and exhorter for sixty-one years. In politics
he is a Republican. His wife, Sarah Adams, of New
Gretna, N. J., had six brothers, five of whom became
Methodist ministers. To John W. Johnson and his
wife were born ten children, as follows : Elizabeth,
Mrs. B. E. Norris, of Atlantic City, N. J. ; William
N., superintendent of the American Ice Company,
Atlantic City ; Bella, Mrs.. Kirby, of Atlantic City ;
Carrie, Mrs. Cramer, of New Gretna, N. J.; Ell-
wood S., with the American Ice Company; Kirk;
Morris L., manager of Kirk Johnson's store at At-
lantic City; J. Newton, an attorney in New York
City; Virginia May, Mrs. Sommers, of Oceanville,
N. J. ; and Revilla, deceased. The mother died Jan.
24, 1898.
Kirk Johnson, after trudging across the country
six miles to attend district school for a very limited
period, was kept at home to help on the farm until
he was twenty-one years of age. At that time, with
no other capital than that probity which his father
and his now sainted mother had so deeply implanted
in his breast, he started out to brave the world and
hew his own future. He succeeded in securing em-
ployment with F. A. North & Co., the noted musical
dealers of Philadelphia, and was sent to Paterson,
N. J., where a branch house was established by the
Philadelphia firm. In 1883 Lancaster was made the
objective point for the operations of this company,
and here Mr. Johnson opened a branch house, con-
ducting it for two years, when he embarked in busi-
ness for himself. The beginning was modest, but
he kept on and persevered until his place of business.
No. 24 West King street, became the center of at-
traction for all lovers of music. He has thirteen em-
ployes, and at his branch store in Atlantic City there
are nine. During this long residence in the county
of his adoption Mr. Johnson has not only proved an
educational force in the world of music, but has been
equally forcible and beneficial in the public schools
of the township in which he resides. His beautiful
home is on the Philadelphia turnpike, just outside
the city limits, in the upbuilding of which populous
section he was a pioneer. The three handsome sub-
urban cottages which he caused to be erected there
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
929
formed the nucleus for a number of handsome
homes. And as a recognition of his ability and pub-
Uc spirit the people of Lancaster township elected
him to meriibership on the school board, where he
hf.s served for six years, and is still in office. Mr.
Johnson has taken a lively interest in the erection
of the new school building, which was conipleted in
1900, and which is now pronounced the finest pub-
lic school building in Lancaster county. In politics
Mr. Johnson is a Republican, and in religious views
he is a Methodist, as is also his wife. Socially he
belongs to Hershel Lodge, No. 134, I. O. O. F., and
he is also a member of the O. U. A. M., and the
B. P. O. E. Mr. Johnson has taken a leading posi-
tion in the community as a man of integrity, public
spirit and genial character, and his friends are
legion.
In March, 1884, Mr. Johnson was united m mar-
riage with Allan M. Tompkins, who was born in
Haddonfield, N. J., a daughter of Andrew and Sallie
Jane Tompkins. Five children blessed this union,
Orville W., Nelson C, George K., Ruth and Kirk
Devon.
FREDERICK SAMUEL ENGLE, of the firm
of F. S. Engle & Bro., millers, at Engleside, a
southern suburb of Lancaster, has his home at No.
142 South Queen street, in one of the seven elegant
dwelling-houses which his father, the late Frederick
Engle, built.
Frederick Engle was born July 11, 1835, and died
Dec. 19, 1899. He was one of the best known citi-
zens of Lancaster, and did much to aid not only in
the material improvement of the city, but in that of
the suburbs as well. Having bought the old Greaff
hotel property, and much other property about
GreafFs Landing, Mr. Engle proceeded to improve
it, rebuilding the hotel and equipping it after the
fashion of the best city hotels, providing electric
lights, call bells, etc. He also planted a grove of
young trees, now grown to fine proportions, and
making the place one of the most delightful resorts
in the section. Mr. Engle received a common-school
education, and worked in the cotton mills until sev-
enteen years of age, at which time he was apprenticed
to learn the trade of a molder. He went to New
Orleans, and for about six months in 1857 worked
at his trade in that city, then returning to Lancaster,
where he pursued his trade until 1861, when he en-
listed in the loth P. V. I., becoming a member of
Company E. He served in the three months call,
after which he re-enlisted in Company K, 79th P. V.
I. He served three years, and participated in all
the battles in which his regiment was engaged. He
was mustered out as sergeant after a four-years'
service for his country. During the whole time of
the Civil war he was never sick or wounded, and
made an excellent soldier. Mr. Engle engaged in
the bottling business from 1871 until 1897, from
which time he lived retired until his death, in 1899.
Mr. Engle married Elizabeth Suter, daughter of
5Q
Rudolph Suter, who years ago kept a shoe store in
East King street. Of this union five children were
born, three of whom are living, as follows : Cather-
ine, wife of E. H. Rowley; Lewis Hartman, asso-
ciated with his brother in the flour-mill business ; and
Frederick Samuel.
Frederick Samuel Engle, who can boast of an-
cestors who were patriots in the Revolutionary war,
was born in Lancaster Sept. 17, 1871. The public
schools afforded him facilities for a good education,
and when he left the class-room it was to assist his
father in the bottling business. On April i, 1901,
Mr. Engle, associated with his brother, Lewis Flart-
man Engle, took possession of the well-equipped
modern gristmill at' Engleside which had been their
father's, and which became theirs by inheritance.
Here they have built up an excellent business, which
is constantly on the increase.
Mr. Engle is a member of Lancaster Aerie, of
th^ Fraternal Order of B'agles. His name appears
on the membership roll of the Reformed Church,
and he takes an active interest in religious work.
Politically he is an ardent Republican. Liberal in
all things, and of genial, kindly nature, Frederick
S. Engle is of the type of men to which his father be-
longed— whole-souled and deservedly popular.
GILBERT SMITH. The Smith family of Dru-
more township has long been one highly esteemed
in this locality, and one of its most worthy members
is Gilbert Smith, of Liberty Square, a prominent
farmer of this neighborhood.
Gilbert Smith was born in this township, Oct. 13,
185 1, a son of Preston and Hannah (Carter) Smith,
deceased. Their ancestry reaches back to both Scot-
land and Ireland. Preston Smith was a son of Sam-
uel Srtiith, who reared four of his five children to
maturity, Preston, born in 1816, died March 3, 1883 ;
and Howard, Elizabeth and Samuel, all of whom
have also passed out of life.
Preston Smith was united in .marriage, Feb. i,
1844, to Hannah Carter, of Martic township, born
in 1821, and died Nov. 5, 1894. She was a daugh-
ter of Alexander Carter, of Martic township, and
she became the devoted mother of eight children:
Edwin, born Jan. 28, 1845, died in 185 1; Albert,
born May 8, 1846, is a farmer of this township, and
he married Harriet Martin; Elmyra, born in 1848,
died in 1850; Kersey, born in 1849, died in 1850;
Gilbert; Oliver, born in 1853, died in 1864; Clar-
inda, born Sept. 18, 1855, is the wife of J. Mar-
tin Ankrim, of this township; and Nora, wha
v/as born Oct. 5, 1863, married George H. Brown,
of Little Britain, more extended notice of whom is
given in his sketch. During life Preston Smith was
a well-known citizen, a Republican in his politics,
and a Quaker in his religious belief.
Reared in a pious and intelligent home, Gilbert
Smith was equipped with good principles when he
started out in life for himself, although his means
were limited. His education had been acquired in the
930
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
common schools, and after leaving his books he
started out for himself as a farmer boy. By the ex-
ercise of economy, energy and honesty, he graduall}'
accumulated means, until now he owns one of the
finest farms of the township, consisting of Ii8 acres,
well cultivated and suitably improved.
On Oct. 8, 1887, Gilbert Smith was married to
Elizabeth Rea, of Sadsbury township, a daughter of
William and Sarah (Draucker) Rea, of Scotch-Irish
and German ancestry. This family was one of the
prominent ones in the early settlement of Lancaster
county, James Rea, the great-grandfather, a son of
an early settler, having located on the farm which is
still in the possession of the family. Two children
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Horace Rea,
born March 11, 1890; and Eugene Carter, born
June 13, 1895. Nine children were born to the par-
ents of Mrs. Smith : Amor, a farmer of Bart town-
ship; Mary, the wife of Samuel G. Fogle, of this
county ; Hannah, who resides on the old home place ;
Philip D., a farmer of this township, whose sketch
appears in another part of this volume ; Adam F., a
farmer of Sadsbury township ; Sara A., a teacher
in the Lancaster county schools ; Elizabeth J., born
Feb. 27, 1858 ; S. Emma, single, living at home ; and
James, who is a teacher in a college, in New York
City. William Rea was born March 5, 181 1, and
died Oct. 14, 1881 ; his wife was born Aug. 27, 1819,
and died Nov. 8, 1889.
While he does not belong to any particular sect,
Mr. Smith believes in all moral influences, and fol-
lows out in his life the precepts he learned in early
years. His wife is a member of the Chestnut Level
Presbyterian Church. In politics Mr. Smith is a
stanch Republican and has been active in his party
because he thoroughly believes in its principles, but
he is no seeker for office.
GEORGE BAIR HERSHEY, M. D. Among
the prominent and representative citizens of Gap,
Pa., is Dr. Georg'e Bair Hershey, who is well known
in this locality both as a physician and as an edu-
cator. He was born Nov. 28, 1872, in Buyerstown,
Lancaster county, son of Josiah and Mary Ann (Her-
shey) Plershey, of Lancaster county.
Dr. Hershey was reared on the farm and re-
mained with his parents until he was seventeen years
old. His primary education was obtained in the com-
mon schools, and this was supplemented with one
session in Parkesburg Academv and one year of
student life. 1890-1891, in the Millersville State
Normal School.' The young man then engaged in
teaching, first in Bareville, where he continued one
year, and then went to New Milltown, where he
taught two years, going thence to Harmony School,
at Gap, where, after one year of teaching he organ-
ized the Gap Academy. This institution became very
popular with Dr. Hershey as principal, and Ralph
Yoder, vice-principal. Thfe first year enrolled sixty-
seven pupils, and more applied for admission who
could not be accommodated. After teaching through
the first two sessions at the Academy, in 1895-1896,
Dr. Plershey entered upon the study of medicine,
living on the farm with his parents a part of the time.
For six months he read under the supervision of Dr.
G. W. H. Frew, of Paradise township, and further
prepared for entrance to the University of Pennsyl-
vania where he remained four terms, graduating in
1900. During the summer of 1899 Dr. Hershey took
a special course of surgical training under the per-
sonal supervision of Dr. Joseph Spellissy, at the
Pennsylvania Hospital, in Philadelphia. While at
college he defrayed his expenses in part by getting
out a set of questions on dissecting-room anatomy;
by assisting the publisher in the preparation of a
manual of Therapeutics, and one on special surgery ;
and by private tutoring. On Aug. 7th, following his
graduation, he located for practice in Gap where he
has remained. Dr. Hershey has shown skill and a
high order of ability in his profession, and he num-
bers among his patients many of the leading families
of this locality. He has been prominent in Sunday
school work, and for one year was local secretary of
the Lancaster County Sunday School, and in 1894
was president of the Gap Local Institute. Dr.
Hershey belongs to the Old Mennonite Church. In
politics he is a Republican and is one of the progres-
sive and public-spirited citizens of Gap.
On C)ct. 31, 1900, in Philadelphia, Dr. Hershey
was married by Rev. Chas. Mervine, to Miss Anna
M. Portner, born in Gap, Pa., daughter of Edward
and Elizabeth (Simpson) Portner, the former of
whom was born in New York City, son of Henry
N. and Marie (Haenchen) Portner. Henry N. Port-
ner was born in Bavaria, Germany, and was a son
of Conrad Portner, a native of Switzerland, who
died in Bavaria. Henry N. Portner died in Phila-
delphia, in 1870, at the age of forty-five years, and
was buried in that city. In 1830, in Zweibruecken,
Germany, Henry N. Portner was married to Marie
Haenchen, and in 1832 they came to America where
Mr. Portner followed the cabinet-making trade in
New York City for five years. In 1837 he removed
to Philadelphia. He and wife were members of the
German Reformed Church. Their children were:
Edward, the father of Mrs. Hershey ; and Miss Caro-
line, of Salisbury township.
In 1873 Edward Portner came with his family to
Lancaster county and settled on a farm in Salisbury
township. He was an artist by profession, and had
for a considerable period been proprietor of a dry-
goods store, but when his health failed he removed
to the country in the hope that the fresh air and
change of occupation would enable him to regain it.
However, he died in 1883, at the age of fifty years,
and was interred in Bellevue cemetery. In 1870, in
Philadelphia, Edward Portner was married to Miss
Elizabeth Simpson, who still survives and resides
on the farm in Salisbury township. The family of
Mr. and Mrs. Portner consisted of these well-known
inembers : Marie, who married iloward M. Scott,
a farmer near Sadsburyville, Chester Co., Pa. • Ed-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
^31
ward J., who is a chemist in Philadelphia; Henry,
who is a druggist in Gap; Anna M., the wife of
Dr. Hershey ; William, who is in the life insurance
business in Philadelphia ; and Miss Lena, at home.
Dr. and Mrs. Hershey have one child, Margaret
Elizabeth, born Jan. 15, 1902.
DAVID L. GARBER, one of the substantial
farmers. of East Donegal township, was born in this
township Aug. 31, 1855, a son of Benjamin and
Fianna (Landis) Garber.
Benjamin Garber (or Gerber, as he chose to spell
the name) was born in East Donegal township July
II, 181 8, and died July 18, 1900, his burial being in
Kraybill cemetery. His occupation through life was
that of a farmer, and he was a man who took much
interest in the affairs of the township, serving most
efficiently as supervisor. For twenty-eight years
prior to his death, he lived a retired life. He mar-
ried Fianna Landis, who was born in Manheim town-
ship, and who died in October, 1893. Both of these
estimable people were members of the Kraybill
Church, near which they now rest. The children
born to Benjamin and wife were : Israel, Jacob and
Barbara, who all died young; Anna, who married
Joseph L. Risser, of Mt. Joy township ; Benjamin L.,
a retired farmer on the old homestead in East Don-
egal township ; Fianna, who married Clement K.
Brubaker; and David L., of this biography.
The paternal grandparents of David L. Garber
were Jacob and Barbara (Miller) Garber, both of
whom died on the old farm on which Benjamin now
resides. Their children were : Benjamin; Andrew;
Barbara, who married John Nissley ; Elizabeth, who
married Isaac Hershey. All of them have passed
away. The maternal grandparents were Benjamin
and Anna (Long) Landis, of Lancaster county, and
the former was a farmer and miller in Manheim
township,, where both he and his wife died, having
lived Christian lives, as members of the Old Men-
nonite Church. Their children were: Fianna, de-
ceased; Elizabeth, the widow of John Hess, of
Manor township ; Maria, deceased, the wife of Levi
Getz ; Fanny, who married Samuel Hess, deceased ;
Nancy, who married Samuel Hershey, and resides
near Strasburg ; Amelia, who married Michael Nolt,
deceased; Benjamin, a retired farmer of Lancaster;
Henry and Isaac, deceased; Israel, unmarried, an
inventor, living retired in Chicago, 111. ; and Daniel,
deceased, who was a farmer of "Manheim township.
David L. Garber remained under the parental
roof until he was twenty-four years of age, employed
in agricultural pursuits, and he then took charge of
his present farm, which then consisted of 132 acres,
to which he has added until now he has under culti-
vation 1 54 acres, one of the best farms in this local-
ity. Here Mr. Garber has lived a quiet, industrious
life, has voted the Republican ticket and taken a
good citizen's interest in public affairs, and has been
one of the most highly regarded members of the
Mennonite Church.
In October, 1879, Mr. Garber was married to
Emma S. Plershey, and two sons have been born to
them, Benjamin F. and J. Hoffman. The birth of
Mrs. Garber occurred in West Hempfield township,
Sept. 26, 1855. Her parents were J. Hoffman and
Barbara (Brenneman) Hershey, natives of West
Hempfield and of Manor townships, respectively.
For many years Mr. Hershey was one of the most
prominent farmers of West Hempfield township,
and accumulated substance ; in middle life he was one
of the organizers of the First National Bank, of Man-
heim, and became its cashier, so continuing until his
health failed and he retired from business cares. He
survived for twenty years, beloved and esteemed by
all. His interest in educational matters was marked,
and he served as school director and did much for
his locality. His lamented death occurred in West
Hempfield township, near Salunga, April ir, 1896,
and his remains were reverently interred in the cem-
etery in Landisville. His presence was missed from
the Mennonite Church, where his place was seldom
vacant. The mother, who was born Nov. 3, 1824,
resides on the old home place.
The family born to Mr. and Mrs. Hershey num-
bered ten children: Frances, who married Harry
M. Mayer, surveyor and conveyancer, and also far-
mer, of Rohrerstown; Rebecca A., who married
Hebron Herr, a retired farmer of Lancaster ; Simon
A., who resides with his mother ; Amos B., who mar-
ried Rebecca Bones, and died in 1897 ; Emma S. ;
Mary E., who married Frank M. Herr, a retired
farmer and Mennonite preacher, of West Lampeter
township : Martha J., who married Cyrus G. Fry,
a farmer of Rapho township ; Barbara A., deceased,
who married Levi K. Brubaker, a_ retired farmer of
Lititz ; J. Hoffman, who died in 18S6; and Abraham,
who died young.
ENOS B. WEAVER. One of the prominent
general farmers and truckers of Upper Leacock
township is Enos B. Weaver, who is a native of East
Lampeter township, where he was born Dec. 13,
1865, a son of Aaron and Susannah (Houser)
Weaver, natives of West Lampeter township.
Aaron Weaver remained in West Lampeter
where he was born in 1840, until in the spring of
1864, when he mioved to East Lampeter, where he
remained until the death of his wife, Sfept. 9, 1895,
at the age of fifty-four. He then retired and moved
to Lancaster. Both he and his wife were long con-
nected with the Mennonite Church. The children
born to them were : Enos B„ of this sketch ; Jacob,
who conducts a greenhouse on the old homestead;
Lizzie, who married Ephraim H. Stoner, a farmer
of Strasburg township ; Harry, a farmer of East
Lampeter township ; Fanny, who married Christ
M. Brubaker, a farmer of East Lampeter ; Ida, who
married Amos R. Landis, of East Lampeter ; Anna,
who resides with the above named sister ; Mary, who
resides with her sister, Mrs. Brubaker; and Ella,
who lives with her sister, Mrs. Stoner.
932
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
After he reached his majority our subject, Enos
B. Weaver, went to Oregon, Pa., where he operated
a greenhouse, raising flowers and early vegetables
for the market, remaining there for two years and
then coming to his present location in the spring of
1 90 1. \A'^hile in Oregon our subject met the esti-
mable and intelligent lady who, in May, 1899, became
his wife — Miss Susan S. Shank — and to this union
one daughter. Mary S., has been born. Mrs. Weaver
was bom in Pequea township, this county, a daugh-
ter of Jacob R. and Mary S. (Stoner) Shank, the
former of whom was born in 1828, and the latter
in 1S32. Mr. Shank is a retired farmer and both
he and wife belong to the Mennonite Church. Their
children were: Jacob S., on the old homestead;
Mary S., deceased; John S., a hardware clerk in
Lancaster ; Susan S., the wife of Mr. Weaver. The
paternal grandfather was John Shank, of Lancaster
county, who was thrice married ; the grandmother of
Mrs. Weaver was, in her maidenhood, Miss Rush.
Mrs. Weaver began -teaching school at the age
of seventeen, being so engaged at the time of her
marriage ; she is a lady of taste, education and re-
finement. In politics Mr. Weaver is an ardent Re-
publican, atid both he and wife are valued members
of the Mennonite Church, and highly respected
through the neighborhood.
WALTER BAER WEIDLER, M. D., is now
located at No. 128 North Duke street, Lancaster, in
the offices that for forty-three years were occupied
by the late Dr. J. Aug. Ehler.
In the paternal line Dr. Weidler comes from a
very old Lancaster county family, his grandfather,
Henry Weidler, having been a farmer of Mechanics-
burg.
Prof. H. C- Weidler, son of Henry, is the widely
known and popular educator, who has graduated so
many hundreds from his business college. He mar-
ried Mary Ann Baer, daughter of William Baer, a
farmer of Intercourse, and this union was blessed
with the following named children : Alice, wife of
Clarence A. Krouse, general manager of the Ameri-
can Fire Insurance Company, Philadelphia; Milton
Baer, a clerk in New York City ; and Dr. Walter B.,
of Lancaster.
Mrs. Mary Ann (Baer) Weidler is descended
from Conrad Rutter, 'who went to England from
Prussia in 1683, and then emigrated to America,
making the voyage to this country in company with
Francis Daniel Pastorius, in the ship "America,"
which landed at Philadelphia Aug. 20, 1683. He
was of the original thirteen families who laid out
Germantown on Oct. 12, 1683. After some time in
Germantown Conrad Rutter located in what is now
known as Pittston, where he remained until, in 1716,
he came to this county, settling in Leacock. He took
up 588 acres of land on a grant from Williarn Penn,
and" this land was afterward divided among his three
sons, one of whom, Joseph, was Dr. Weidler's great-
great-grandfather, and whose eldest son, Henry,
married Elizabeth Schultze, first cousin of Gov.
Schultze, of Pennsylvania. As early as 1729 Con-
rad Rutter helped found the first Episcopal Church
in the eastern part of Lancaster county ; and Joseph
Rutter, from whom Dr. Weidler is descended, built
one of the first schoolhouses in Leacock township.
Walter Baer Weidler, M. D., was born in Me-
chanicsburg Oct. 14, 1873, and after attending the
public schools of his district came to Lancaster, and
was graduated from his father's business college,
where, for two years after graduation, he was as-
sistant instructor. In October, 1894, he began the
study of medicine, in the University of Pennsyl-
vania, from which he was graduated in June, 1898.
After spending eight months as house surgeon in
the Philadelphia Home for the Incurables, and one
and one-half years as house surgeon in the Wills
Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, Dr. Weidler went to.
Europe, where he took up the special study of Eye,.
Ear, Nose and Throat, pursuing his studies for six
months in Vienna, two months in Berlin, and four
months in London, returning to his old home in
Lancaster on July 9, 1901.
B. FRANK HEISE, general farmer and pro-
prietor of Heise's Locust Grove Dairy, a farm com-
prising 132 acres and located in West Hempfield
township, one mile east of Columbia, was born on
this tract Feb. 17, 1845, ^ son of Harry and Hannah
(Heidler) Heise.
Harry Heise was born on the present homestead,
and Mrs. Hannah Heise was born in Marietta, in
the same township. The father died in February,
1862, when fifty-eight years old, and the mother died
in Cohimbia, aged sixty-five years, in December,
1877, having resided in that city for seven years
prior to her death, and in that city the remains of
both parents rest side by side. To Harry and Han-
nah (Heidler) Heise were born seven children, viz. r
Harry, who was chief burgess of Columbia, and was
killed on the electric railway Aug. 9, 1896 ; Elizabeth,
wife of Jonas H. Nolt, a farmer of West Hempfield
township; William, who died young; B. Frank,
whose name opens this article ; Anna M., who died
when fourteen years old; Salinda H., widow of John
Wilmot, of Washington, D. C. ; and Sally, deceased
wife of Jacob P. Agnew.
B. Frank Heise lived until 1854 on that part of
the home farm which he at present occupies, and then
moved with his parents to another part of the prem-
ises, where he remained until 1867, and then returned
to his present home. On Dec. 5, 1867, he was married
in Reading, Pa., to Miss Fanny Swarr, and to them
have been born four children, viz : Emma, wife of
William F. Yohn, of West Hempfiela township;
Harry, at home ; Edward, a traveling salesman, who
was suffocated in the disaster at the Park Avenue
Hotel, New York, Feb. 21, 1902, when twenty-six
years old ; and Ella, wife of Howard Smoker, a drug-
gist of Mt. Joy.
Mrs. Fanny (Swarr) Heise was born in East
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
933
Hempfield township, a daughter of John and Susan
(Frick) Swarr, the former of whom was a school
director in East Hempfield, was a farmer by voca-
tion, and for many years prior to his death led a re-
tired life. He died in the Mennohite faith, and his
remains were interred in East Petersburg. To John
and Susan Swarr were born nine children, namely :
Aaron, deceased ; Benjamin, a retired farmer of East
Hempfield township ; Eliza, widow of Henry
Hershey, of the same township ; Mary A., of Landis-
ville; Susan, widow of Christian Hershey, also of
Landisville ; Mattie, wife of Daniel Forrey, a farmer
at Millersville ; Sarah, who married H. G. Bowers,
of East Hempfield town.ship ; Barbara, wife of Christ
Miller, a retired hotel man, of Neffsville ; and Fanny,
Mrs. Heise.
B. Frank Heise is one of the most progressive,
as well as one of the most prominent and popular
men of his township. In politics a Republican, he
has been auditor of his township for the past seven
years, and a school director for six years ; was a
•director of the Columbia Wagon Works for several
years ; and in iqoi was elected a director of the Cen-
tral National Bank, of Columbia. As a farmer he
has but few equals in the county. Since 1865 the
grove on the farm, known as Heise's picnic grounds,
lias been used as pleasure grounds, having been pre-
pared for that purpose by Mr. Heise, who has erected
pavilions, etc., on the premises. The grounds are
known all over this part of Lancaster county as the
popular resort of the section. Fraternally Mr. Heise
is a Freemason, and a Heptasoph, and socially he
and his family stand high in the esteem of the com-
munity, in which they have so long lived.
JACOB DENLINGER, an old and prominent
farmer of Leacock township, Lancaster county,
where he is highly respected and esteemed for his
many manly and honorable qualities, was born in
Paradise township, Oct. 30, 1849, ^ son of John and
Mary (Brubaker) Denlinger, both of whom were
natives of Lancaster countv.
John Denlinger died in Paradise township, Feb.
5, 1892, at the age of seventy-seven years, eleven
months and twenty-two days ; his widow passed to
her rest Sept. 12, 1893, at the age of seventy-seven
years, nine months and eighteen days. John Den-
linger was a man of considerable orominence in his
active days, and held public position, being both
school director and supervisor. The remains of both
him and his wife rest in the cemeterv connected with
the Hershey Church in Salisburv township. They
were the parents of the following children : Barbara
"had her home in Paradise township until her death,
June 19. 1902, when she was aged sixtv-six years,
one month and twenty-five days ; Samuel B. is a re-
tired farmer in Paradise township ; Lizzie is the
widow of Elias'Leaman, and resides in Leacock
township ; Elias is a resident of Salisburv township ;
Simon married Anna M. Leaman, since deceased,
and resides in Leacock township ; Mary married H.
E. Musser ; Jacob is a farmer of Leacock township ;
Esaias is a farmer of Paradise township ; John is liv-
ing retired in Paradise township, and is unmarried ;
Tobias married Lizzie Eby, and died in 1898, at the
age of forty-three ; Christie Ann is the wife of Henry
Hershey; and Evaline married A. H. Hostetter, an
implement merchant of Intercourse, Pennsylvania.
Jacob Denlinger was married Nov. 24, 1874, in
Gap, Pa., to Susannah Eby, by whom he has had
the following children : Henry E., who was married
Nov. 12, 1902, to Amy Grofif, of Upper Leacock
township ; Lizzie M. ; John M. ; Jacob P. ; Willis B. ;
Tobias S.
Mrs. Jacob Denlinger was born in Salisbury
township, Nov. 12, 1852, a daughter of Peter and
Magdalina (Musser) Eby, born in Salisbury and
Earl townships, respectively. Her father, who is a
farmer in Salisbury township, was born in 1824, a
son of Henry and Susannah (Sensenig) Eby, of
Lancaster county. Her mother, who was a daughter
of Henry and Anna (Martin) Musser, of Lancas-
ter county, died in 1864, at the age of thirty-three.
They were both members of the Mennonite Church,
and were the parents of the following family : Menna
S. died at the age of eighteen years ; Anna died when
three years old : John is a farmer in Earl township ;
Elizabeth is the widow of Tobias Denlinger ; Mag-
delina married Israel Hershey, of Paradise town-
ship ; and Mary married Samuel Sechrist, a farmer
in East Lampeter township.
Jacob Denlinger remained with his parents until
his marriage, when he settled on a farm in East
Hempfield township, which he was engaged in culti-
vating some six years. At the end of that period he
removed to his present home place, which comprises
some ninety acres, in a fine state of tillage. He also
owns another farm, and is well ofif. Both he and his
wife belong to the Mennonite Church, of which he
is a trustee at the present time. In politics he is a
Repttblican, and holds an enviable place in the esti-
mation of his neighbors, who know him well, and
speak highly of his honest character, industrious
habits, and genial disyjosition.
DANIEL D. GRAUL, one of the best, known
citizens of the town of Penryn, Pa., traces his an-
cestry back to Germany, his great-grandfather hav-
ing come to America from that country.
John Graul, his grandfather, was born in Berks
cotmty, and spent his whole life there, for many years
working as a laborer in the Reading car repair shops.
By trade he was an excellent brickmaker. His mar-
riage was to Anna Prince, and their children, five
sons and five daughters, were : Daniel, in the brick
business : William, also engaged in the brick busi-
ness ; Henry, a hatter, in Reading ; Frederick, a car-
penter in car shops, who became the father of Daniel
D. ; John, a laborer ; Emma, the wife of William
Nachtrieb ; Hettie, the wife of Geat Weidner ; Susan,
the wife of William Achenbach ; Catherine, who died
single ; and Caroline, who married William Gundry.
934
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Frederick Graiil, son of John, was born in Berks
county, in 1839. In early life he learned the car-
penter trade and followed this until his death, Jan.
26, 1866. His marriage was to Sophia Greider, and
they had a family of four children : Harry, who is
associated with Daniel D., in his work ; Joseph, who
is a boss baker, and is employed at the State Asylum
at Wernersville, Berks Co., Pa. ; Grant L., who is a
cigarmaker of Reading ; and Daniel, of this sketch.
Daniel D. Graul was born in Reading, Pa., Jan.
18, 1862, and was left without a father's care at the
early age of five years. Until he was ten years old
he went to school, and then went to work in an en-
deavor to add to the family resources, in the Jack-
sons Rope Works, at Reading, where he remained
until his mother moved with her little family to
Lititz, Lancaster county. Here the ambitious and in-
dustrious lad soon obtained employment in the Lititz
brickyard where he remained for four years, after
this going to learn the baker's trade with William
Bollinger, remaining for four years, thoroughly
learning this business also. For six years Mr. Graul
worked as a journeyman, and in 1887 started into
business for himself at Penryn, and so well has he
succeeded that he has remained ever since in this
pleasant village. By close and careful attention to
his business, he has built up a large and constantly
increasing trade, his wares taking the place of others
previously put upon the market, and relieving many
of the cares of the modern housewife.
Mr. Graul was married to Miss Emma Eaby, a
daughter of Henry and Anna Eaby. Fraternally he
is connected with the I. O. O. F., No. 657, of Man-
heim, and the K. of P., No. 253, of Lititz. Mr. Graul
is one of the progressive young business men of this
neighborhood, and has won his place in the business
world by his own efforts, possessing now not only a
fine patronage in his chosen line, but also the respect
and esteem of his fellow-citizens.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BARNETT, of
Fairfield Village Green, is a most worthy citizen of
Drumore township, where he carries on a successful
blacksmith business. He was born in this township
July 6, 1857, a son of James and Emily (Ritchie)
Barnett, also natives of this township, and of Scotch-
Irish ancestry.
James Barnett, the father, reared twelve children,
but only six of these grew to maturity: Joseph, a
blacksmith of C^hestnut Level, married Harriet
Shank; James, a railroad conductor, married Mar-
garet Brown, and lives in Renova, Clinton Co., Pa. ;
Charles, a resident of Conowingo, Md. ; Mary, the
wife of Clark Bishop, of Chestnut Level ; Louisa, of
Drumore township; and Benjamin Franklin, of this
sketch. James Barnett was born in 1820 and spent
his life as a farmer, was prominent in the Methodist
Church, and was a Democrat in his political belief.
His widow still survives, living in Centerville, Pa.,
in her seventy-sixth year.
The successful business career of Mr. Barnett
should be an inspiration to others who are obliged to
submit to the disadvantages of limited means in
youth. At the age of fourteen years he went into the
blacksiTiith shop belonging to Mr. Hensel, and re-
mained there for three years, or until he had mastered
every detail of this business. Then, without a dollar,
he started out courageously for himself, and estab-
lished a shop in Fairfield, where, by energy, economy
and industry, he has earned a most comfortable home
and shop, and all the expensive tools necessary to
his trade.
Mr. Barnett was united in marriage on April 6;
1883, to Sarah L. Brown, of Drumore township,
born Feb. 13, 1855, a daughter of John S. and Sarah
(Hellam) Brown, of Eden township. Mr. and Mrs.
Brown reared a family of five children : Margaret,
who married James Barnett, she now being deceased ;
Clara, who married Aldus Rineer, of Lancaster;
Sarah L., the wife of our subject ; William, deceased ;
and John, of Lancaster. A commingling of Eng-
lish, Scotch and Irish blood was in the Brown an-
cestry. Both parents have passed away. The two
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Barnett are : Scott B.,
born Nov. 24, 1885 ; and Elsie, born Feb. 27, 1888,
both bright and beautiful, as well as intelligent,
children.
Mr. Barnett has been a life-long Democrat, while
in religious connection both he and wife attend, and
most heartily support, the Methodist Church. Mrs.
Barnett has assisted her husband by her housewifely
skill, and is much esteemed in the neighborhood.
Socially he is connected with the I. O. O. F., where
he is valued. Perhaps no family in the village en-
joys more thoroughly the high esteem of the com-
munity than does that of Benjamin Franklin Barnett.
JOSEPH G. RANKIN, one of -the leading and
stibstantial men of Martic township, who has been
prominently identified with its a.gricultural interests-
for a number of years, was born Oct. 17, 1842, in
Conestoga township, this county, son of Samuel and
Catherine (Goodman) Rankin.
Samuel Rankin, the father, was a son of
Rankin, whose father was one of six brothers of the
name who came to America frorri Ireland, about 13a
years ago. Their descendants have become widely
scattered, and many of the name have been prom-
inent in various walks of life. Samuel Rankin was.
also born in Conestoga township, carried on farming
and married Catherine Goodman. They had these
children born to them: Samuel; Jacob; Annie;
Mary, the wife of Abraham Good ; Frederick ; Dan-
iel ; and Joseph G., of this sketch. Samuel Rankin
belonged to the Mennonite Church and was a highly-
respected man.
_ Joseph G. Rankin was reared on a farm, and ob-
tained his education in the public schools of his dis-
trict. He proved his loyalty to his country by en-
listing in her service in 1864, entering the 203d P.
V. I., and participating in a number of severely con-
tested battles, being honorably discharged in July,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
935
1865, with an excellent record. Mr. Rankin has
been verj' successful in carrying out his enterprises.
Although he began life for himself with limited
means, his industry and business ability have re-
sulted in a very substantial standing in his com-
munity. Mr. Rankin owns a fine farm of eighty-
eight acres of well improved land, a handsome brick
dwelling, and also one of the best paying lime quar-
ries in the township. He has been engaged in the
lime business quite extensively.
On Sept. 15, 1873, Mr. Rankin married Miss
Elizabeth Itshleman, and a family of fourteen chil-
dren was born to them, ten of these still surviving:
Samuel E. ; Susan ; Jacob ; Henry ; Martin ; Mary
E. ; Joseph , Edward ; Chester ; and George. Cath-
erine, Till, Lydia and William died young. Mrs.
Rankin was born in 1854, and was one of a family
of twelve children, the nine survivors being : Mar-
tin, Daniel, Elizabeth, Jacob, Susan, George, Eli,
Lydia and Mary.
Mr. Rankin is not only an excellent farmer, but
he is also a progressive and useful citizen. In 1897
he was elected school director, and still serves, do-
mg all in his power to advance educational matters
in his district. He belongs to the Old -Mennonite
Church. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Rankin
is regarded as one of the leading citizens of the town-
ship and is known to be a kind neighbor, and a man
who looks well after the welfare of his family and
com]nunity.
B. BARTON WITMER, a general merchant of
Quarryville, was born May 10, 1861, son of Benja-
min and Lydia (Lefever) Witmer.
Benjamin Witmer was born near Quarryville,
in Bart township, in 1835, and his wife was born in
1839, and was the daughter of Daniel and Lizzie Le-
fever, a prominent family, of Lancaster county.
Benjamin was the son of David and Elizabeth
(Macumpsey) Witmer. David Witmer's first wife
was Hannah Hastings, who died soon after marriage,
leaving one daughter, Elizabeth A., who is still liv-
ing and is the wife of Adam Mowrer, of Quarry-
ville. David's second wife bore him eleven children,
of whom', Benjamin, father of our subject, grew
to manhood and was educated in Lancaster county.
When a young man he was engaged in general mer-
chandising in Quarryville, his being the first store
in this section of the countv. He remained in this
business until after the death of his wife, who left
eight children. He then removed to Colerain town-
ship, where he entered the business of tobacco buying
and shipping in large quantities, to Eastern markets.
Mr. Witmer engaged in this occupation until a short
time prior to his death. He was widely and favorably
known for his integrity and good business qualities.
He made many friends and very few enemies. The
family left are' as follows : Franklin, deceased, was
born in Quarryville, in 1856, and married Miss Ella
Reese, of Quarryville ; he worked at his trade of cab-
inet-maker" during life, and died, in 1898, leaving a
wife but no children. Jennie was born in 1858, and
is the widow of Witmer Lefever, deceased, who .re-
sided in Lancaster city; they had two sons, Ross
and William. B. Barton was the next child. Ella
was a twin sister to our subject, and is the wife of
Edward Gaston, who resides in York City, Pa., and
has a family of three children, as follows : Robert,
Hyat and Guy. Amy was born in June, 1868, and is
the widow of Miller Smith, of Philadelphia, in
which city she resides with her three children,
Roy, Clara and Pascal. George was born in 1870,
grew up and married a lady of New York, in which
city they now reside. Ettie was born in 1872, and is
the wife of Plerbert Adams of Lancaster ; she has one
daughter. Leafy. Charles was born in 1875, and
married Etta Helm, and they reside in Georgetown,
where he is engaged in business ; they have one
daughter, Leta.
B. Barton Witmer was educated in the schools
of Lancaster county, and, when a boy of sixteen
years, he commenced work as a journeyman miller,
working at that trade for seven years. In December,
1882, he married Miss Katie Anderson, of Lancaster
county, and daughter of Robert and Sarah Anderson,
old settlers of Lancaster, who were born in Ire-
land, "and moved to this country fifty years ago. Mrs.
Witmer was born in Lancaster .county in 1863. After
marriage Mr. Witmer lived on a farm near Drumore
for four years. In 18S7 he engaged in a small way
as a general merchant and in the produce business,
and from a small beginning he has become one of
the leading dealers in the place, carrying a large stock
of goods. In 1894 he built himself a fine brick
house, modern in every respect. From a poor boy
Mr. Witmer has become a man of importance in his
community. He is well-to-do and prosperous in all
his undertakings. He has two children : Sadie O.,
born Aug. 22, 1884, is a graduate of the High School
and a bright young lady; Chester A., born Aug. 22,
1887, is a student in the home schools. In politics
Mr. Witmer has always^ been identified with the
Democratic party. He and his family are members
of the Reformed Church. Mr. Witmer is a popular
man in his town, and well thought of by all who know
liim.
PHARES K. LANDIS owns and operates a
threshing machine in West Donegal township, where
he is also engaged in general farming on the old
parental homestead. He was born near Neffsville,
Lancaster county, July 15, 1865, son of John F. and
Magdelina (Keller) Landis, whose personal history
forms the subject of an interesting sketch elsewhere.
Phares K. Landis was married Nov. 30, 1886, at
the home of the bride in West Donegal township, to
Lizzie L. Heisey. This union has been blessed with
two children: Simon H., born July 19, 1889; and
Lizzie H., born Sept. 12, 1892. Mrs. Lizzie L. Lan-
dis was born in West Donegal township, and is a
sister of W. L. Heisev, of that township. Her par-
ents, Jacob W. Heisey and Fanny Longenecker,
936
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
were married in Lancaster, in 1868, by Rev. J. J.
Strine ; her father Hved to be almost ninety years of
age.
Phares K. Landis spent his childhood and youth
with his parents, and was afforded such educational
privileges as their circumstances permitted. An
alert and keen-eyed business man, he has made his
way in the world, and holds a good position in the
judgment of the public. In the spring of 1887 he
began cultivating the parental homestead on his own
responsibility. For the last twelve years he has
operated two steam threshers with marked success.
Mr. Landis is a member of the Mennonite Church.
He takes no part in political affairs.
ABRAHAM L. LEAMAN, manufacturer of
umbrellas and umbrella handles, ex-manufacturer of
paints, and owner of one of the finest farms in East
Lampeter township, was born in East Lampeter Feb.
16, 1853, and has been a resident of Lancaster since
1889.
Joseph and Mary (Landis) Leaman, his parents,
were farming people during their active lives, in
Lampeter. They were born Jan. 14, 1828, and Feb.
I, 1825, and died Oct. 8, 1857, and March 31, 1.860,
respectively. To them were born the following chil-
dren : Lydia, who died at the age of eighteen ; Mary
A., who died at the age of nineteen; Benjamin F.,
who died when twenty-eight years of age ; Abraham
L. ; and Joseph, a retired farmer and ex-merchant of
Lancaster. The paternal grandparents were Ben-
jamin and Barbara Leaman, and the maternal grand-
parents were Abraham and Barbara Landis. Both
of Mr. Leaman's grandfathers devoted their lives to
farming and stockraising, the latter living on the
well-known Landis farm, which has furnished a live-
lihood to so many bearing the name. The family
of Landis is supposed to have originated in Switzer-
land ; at least several generations of the family lived
among the mountains and valleys of that country.
The youth of Abraham -L. Leaman was spent in a
manner not unlike that of the average farm reared
boy, yet he was more ambitious than many, and when
his duty to the family and home interests terminated
when he became of age, he started out on a tour of
inspection through Ohio, Missouri and Illinois.
Finding no locality that offered inducements supe-
rior to his native surroundings, he returned to East
Lampeter, and purchased what was- known as the
Evergreen Dairy Farm, of forty-seven acres, advan-
tageously located on the Conestoga river, within
easy access of the city, and now under a high state of
cultivation — a vast improvement over its state at
the time of purchase, at which time the price was
$300 per acre. There is a two and a half story brick
house, besides the other well constructed buildings
on the farm, and the implements and general appur-
tenances are of the most advanced kind to be found
on the market.
After leaving the active management of his farm
to other parties, Mr. Leaman engaged in the manu-
facture of paint, conducting the Lancaster Paint
Works in partnership with D. L. Harnish, in Lan-
caster, their factory being located at No. 338 North
Charlotte street, the store on Center Square, in the
old New Era building, formerly the old "Swan Ho-
tel." Mr. Leaman continued thus until October,
1900, when he disposed of the business to S. M.
Boyd & Co. He then retired until April, 1902,
when he started a manufactory for umbrellas and
umbrella handles, with a capital stock of $12,000.
This enterprise bids fair to meet with the success
which has been characteristic of all Mr. Leaman's
business efforts, which have placed him in a substan-
tial position in the community of Lancaster. He
was a charter member of the Lancaster Board of
Trade, and of the Land & Development Company.
In October, 1881, Mr. Leaman married Anna
Rohrer, daughter of Peter and Mary (Wissler)
Rohrer, the former a farmer during his active life.
He died in March, 1900, at the age of seventy-two,
and Mrs. Rohrer, who was born in Clay township in
1836, is now living in Petersburg, Pa. Mr. and
Mrs. Rohrer had the following named children:
Anna, Mrs. Leaman; Barbara E., wife of Edward
Houser, of York, Pa. ; Jacob W., a retired farmer of
Petersburg; and P. Bachman, a farmer of East
Petersburg. The paternal grandparents of Mrs.
Leaman were Jacob and Mary (Bachman) Rohrer,
the former of whom was a veterinary surgeon known
for miles around his home ; and her maternal grand-
parents were Jacob and Barbara Wissler, the former
a farmer of Clay township, Lancaster Co., Pa. Mr.
and Mrs. Leaman have six children : Mary R.,
born Dec. 17, 1882; Benjamin Franklin, Dec. 30,
1884; Ada R., Feb. 5, 1887; Anabel R., Sept. 5,
1893: Barbara N., Nov. 5, 1897; and Theodore
Roosevelt, Dec. 2, 1901. Mr. Leaman and his fam-
ily belong to the Presbyterian Church. He is pro-
gressive and public-spirited, and takes a keen interest
in many affairs outside his direct business. He has
the faculty of making and keeping friends, and the
advantage of a ready sympathy with all with whom
he comes in contact. In political sympathy he is a
Republican, but he is no office seeker.
B. WILLIS DENLINGER, who was born Feb.
10, 1867, on the farm in East Lampeter township
where he now resides, is one of the vounger agricul-
turists of his section of the county, but is rapidly
working his way to the front as a progressive and
thrifty man, fully awake to all the requisites of those
who would be successful in his line.
Jacob Denlinger, the grandfather of B. Willis,
was also a native of Lancaster countv. He was a
carpenter and builder by trade, but in the latter part
of his life followed farming, in East Lampeter. He
was a member of the Reformed Mennonite Church.
He married Miss Mary Landis, and they were the
parents of seven children, namely : Anna, deceased,
wife of David Weaver; Martha, wife of Joseph
Swartley, of Ohio; John L., deceased; Benjamin L.,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
937
■deceased, who is mentioned below ; Jacob, of Ohio ;
-David, of Salunga, Pa.; and Mary, deceased wife
of George Wisler.
Benjamin L. Denlinger was born in East Lam-
peter July 4, 1826. Pie lived at home until he was
twenty-two years of age, in his youth attending the
common schools, and began life for himself at farm-
ing, continuing same until he retired, in 1881. He
died Sept. 26, 1894. Mr. Denlinger married Miss
Catharine Harnish, who died Aug. 13, 1901. They
became the parents of six children, namely : Susan-
tia, who died in childhood ; Jacob H., of East Laih-
l^eter ; Lettie L., wife of Albert Rowland ; Annie C,
wife of Amos Hosteter; Mary E., wife of Jacob
Weaver; and B. Wilhs. The parents were both
-members of the New Mennonite Church.
B. Willis Denlmger remained at home up to the
time of his father's death, after which he purchased
the old homestead place, and has followed farming
almost exclusively. He was educated in the common
schools of Lancaster county, and is a credit to the
community in which his life has been passed, and to
the honorable family to which he belongs. On Dec.
ID, 1895, Mr. Denlinger wedded Miss Mary K. Kel-
ler, daughter of Isaac Keller, of Lancaster county.
This union has been blessed with one child, a daugh-
ter, Lettie M.
EDGAR HERR LEVAN, of No. 56 North Duke
street, Lancaster, comes from very old Pennsylvania
families in both paternal and maternal lines.
The progenitors of this branch of the Levans
were three brothers, who came from France to Amer-
ica at the time of the great exodus of French Hugue-
nots on account of religious persecution. These
three brothers settled in Berks county. Pa., and from
•one of them Edgar H. Levan is descended. His
grandfather, Isaac Newtoii Levan, was a hatter, and
was the organizer and president of all the building
associations of Reading. Edgar M. Levan, our sub-
ject's father, was born in Clarkson, Columbiana Co.,
Ohio, in what was known as the "Western Reserve,"
on Dec. 25, 1850, was admitted to the Berks county
Bar in 1872, and at thirty-three years of age was
nominated by the Democrats for district attorney of
Berks county. His death, in August, 1890, in the
fortieth year of his age, resulted from a railway ac-
cident. He was married Dec. 25, 1874, to Miss Ann
Elizabeth Herr, sister of Col. D. H. Herr, the widely
■known patent attorney, who is a lineal descendant of
Hans Herr, who came to America and settled in
Pennsylvania contemporaneously with William
Penn. One child was born to Edgar M. and Ann
Elizabeth ("Herr) Levan, Edgar Herr.
Edgar H. Levan was born in Reading, Pa., Nov.
19, 1877. After studying in private schools in his
native city he came to Lancaster, where he was
graduated from the Bpys' High School in 1893,
taking the third honor. Pie graduated from the
York" Collegiate Institute in 1804, and from Frank-
lin and Marshall College in 1898. Some time aftei
his graduation from college Mr. Levan entered as a
student at law with C. Reese Eaby, Esq., but gave
up his studies to accept a position with the Interna-
tional Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pa.
While at Franklin and Marshall College he took an
active interest in the College Glee Club, and was its
leader for one year. He is a fine pianist and organ-
ist, and was for two and a half years organist and
choirmaster of St. Mary's Catholic Church, Lancas-
ter. Socially Mr. Levan is a member of the Benevo-
lent Protective Order of Elks, and religiously he is
a member of the First Presbyterian Church. The
son of a brilliant father, and coming from a sturdy
race on his mother's side, his future is certainly full
of promise.
MICHAEL F. GABLE. At the tender age of
three years Michael F. Gable, now one of the well-
known, substantial citizens of West Hempfield town-
ship, Lancaster county, crossed the ocean with his
parents from Germany — ^tneir native land — to seek
in America the good fortune, which common report
had ascribed to citizens of the New World. These
parents were Michael and Margaret (Flat) Gable
and the long journey was made in the year 1851.
The father settled at once on Chestnut Hill, in West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county, and there
passed the remainder of his years, living the life of.
the industrious vicinity, finding the occupation
which brought comparative comfort and ease. He
died in 1869, aged seventy years, and his faithful
wife passed away in June, 1897, aged seventy-seven
years. They were btiried in the Catholic cemetery at
Columbia. To Michael and Margaret Gable were
born the following children : John, a farmer of
West Hempfield township ; Michael F. ; Peter, who
died in India ; Margaret, wife of Henry Rearick, of
West Hempfield township ; Barbara, deceased ;
Mary, wife of Joseph Fonwall, a merchant of Har-
risburg ; Adam, who died young ; and Elizabeth, de-
ceased.
Michael F. Gable was born in Germany Nov. 2,
1847. Fie was reared in West Hempfield, receiving
a good common-school education, but at the age of
fifteen he began life in earnest by working on the
banks, and on the surrounding farms. He remained
at the home of his parents until he was twenty-five
years of age.
On Oct. 14, 1873, in Lancaster, Michael F. Gable
married Miss Clara E. Johns, who was born in Lan-
caster township, Nov. 9, 1855, daughter of Eli and
Sarah C Goodwin) Johns, granddaughter of John
and Eva Johns (natives of Germany and Lancaster
county, respectively), and granddaughter on her ma-
ternal side of John and Amelia Goodwin, who were
old residents of Lancaster county. Eli Johns, her
father, fills a soldier's grave, dying in 1864, at the
age of thirty-five years, while serving in a Pennsyl-
vania regiment in the Civil war. His widow, who
was born in 183 1, still survives, a resident of Lancas-
ter county ; she is a member of the Mennonite Church.
938
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
The family of Eli and Sarah Johns consisted of the
following children: Clara E., wife of Michael F.
Gable ; Elvina, wife of Abiah Wiker, a stone cutter
of Witmer; John, who resides with tiis mother at
Milton ; Mary, at home ; and Sadie, wife of George
Brenner, a cigarmaker of Lancaster.
To Michael F. and Clara E. Gable were born a
family of eight children, namely: Henry, Sarah
A., Michael, Emma, Margaret, Flora, John and
Charles. All are at home except Sarah A., the eldest
daughter, who has married Daniel Dietz, a tanner,
and lives in West Hempfield township.
After his marriage Michael F. Gable spent twelve
years on the farm of Abra Mellinger in Manor town-
ship. He then moved to his present farm of twenty-
eight acres in West Hempfield township, which he
purchased in 1892 from Casper Teller, and he has
since resided there, engaging in general farming,
and by his good judgment and persistent effort win-
ning a creditable success. In politics he is a Demo-
crat. In public affairs he is a careful and patriotic
citizen, and his many friends and acquaintances hold
him in high respect and esteem.
JACOB DURWARD FOX, the proprietor and
owner of the "Eagle Hotel" at Lampeter Square,
West Lampeter township, was born near Steelville,
in Sadsbury township, Oct. 12, 1858, a son of Will-
iam and Eliza Lucretia (Williams) Fox. His father
died in 1873, at the age of sixty-one years. In early
life he was engaged in the butchering business, and
was in the mercantile business in Atglen, Chester
county, and also at Daleville, in the same county, for
a number of years. He sold the store in his later
days, and bought a farm of 144 acres near Steel-
ville, which was known as the Gen. Steel farm, and
here he lived and died. William Fox was twice
married, his first wife being Elizabeth Kane, and two
of her children are now living, Sarah J., the wife of
David Siner, of Atglen ; and Anna Margaret, the wife
of James Philips, of Axford, Chester county. The
second Mrs. Fox was Eliza Lucretia Williams, a na-
tive of Russellville, Chester county. She is still liv-
ing at the age of sixty-three years, and is the mother
of the following family: Jacob Durward, whose
name introduces this article ; Samuel Owen, a resident
of Foggs Manor, who married Katie McMullen, and
is a hard-working and trustworthy man; William
Bernard, an engineer of Philadelphia, who married
Miss Alice Malioney ; Mahlon George, a farmer, who
remains on the old farm, and is married to Miss Ada-
line Bitter ; Phoebe Ella, wife of Henry Eckman, of
Daleville, Chester county ; and Mary Louisa, wife of
Dennis Mahoney, a farmer of Steelville.
Jacob D. Fox was reared on the farm, and had his
education in the public schools, and in Chestnut Hill
Academy. When he was but a lad of fourteen years
of age, he lost his father, and by virtue of the fact
that he was the oldest boy, he was called upon to take
the lead in the affairs of the farm, and his mother
soon put its management into his hands, where it re-
mained. The young man spent a year in Ohio after
he had attained his majority, and in 1880 he was mar-
ried, locating in Steelville, and operating the farm
on shares for a year. At the end of that time he es-
tablished himself on a farm in Bart township, Lan-
caster county, where he rented a place of ninety acres.
This he farmed for a year, and then returned to the
home place, remaining until 1893, when he established
himself on the Robert Sampson place in Colerain
township. The following year Mr. Fox came to
West Lampeter, and rented the hotel, which he has
since conducted, and his management of which has
shown great adaptability. He is a genial and com-
panionable character, makes friends readily, is atten-
tive and courteous to all his patrons, and has won a
large circle of personal friends throughout this part
of Lancaster county. In December, 1900, he was
able to purchase the hotel at a good figure, and is
rapidly becoming a successful and well-to-do citi-
zen of the town.
Mr. Fox was married Oct. 27, 1880, to Miss Abbie
Ann Bush, who was born May 23, i860, a daughter
of Henry and Sarah Bush, and they have become
the parents of the following children : William
Henry, born May 15, 1882 ; Ada Lucretia, born Aug.
21, 1886; and Mary Elizabeth, born July 7, 1889.
Mr. Fox is a Democrat, and belongs to the Knights
of the Mystic Chain.
DEACON HENRY D. HELLER. Many of
the old and prominent families of Lancaster county
have occupied the same lands for generations, and
have established for themselves reputations for up-
rightness of life and prosperity in business which are
synonyms for their names. Such is the . case with
the Heller family,, of which Deacon Henry D. Heller
is a worthy representative.
John Heller, his grandfather, a well-remembered
prosperous farmer and large landowner, resided
upon the farm which has passed into the possession
of the heirs of the late Isaac D. Heller, his grandson.
To John Heller and wife were born: John, the
father of Deacon Heller; Peter, who lost his life
through an accident, at the age of seventeen ; Eliza-
beth, who was twice m.arried, first to a Mr. Rohrer,
the second time to Benjamin Leaman; Fanny, who
married Abram Brubaker; Mrs. Miller;' Mrs.
Longenecker ; and Mrs. Leaman.
John Heller, Jr., was born Nov. 4, 1808, and
through an active life of over fifty years, made a
lasting impress upon his family and neighborhood.
Of more than usual intelligence, he embraced every
educational advantage offered at that time in his
locality, and he was always an ardent advocate for
higher education. It was a great gratification to him
that he was permitted to live to see the free school
system firmly established, and his influence was ever
given in favor of progress. Mr. Heller was called
upon to serve as school director for years, and at
the time of his death, which was greatly lamented, he
was the wise and efficient director of the poor of the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
939
township. On March i8, 1850, he passed from earth,
and many were the expressions of sorrow at the loss
of a good neighbor, a kind friend, a wise counsellor,
and a devoted husband and' father.
John Heller, Jr., wa:s married to Annie Denlinger,
and their children were : Abram, who married Eliza
Landis, and died at the age of thirty-seven, leaving
a son and a daughter ; Isaac D., who was reared on
the farm, and at the time of his death, July 25, 1900,
was the owner of the old Heller homestead, in East
Lampeter, and was thrice married, first to Barbara
Staufi'er (from which union three children were
born), second, to Maria Landis (from which union
one child was born, which died in infancy), and third,
to Mary Buchwalter (who bore him two children,
both of whom died in infancy) : Mary, who married
Henry Shreiner, a farmer of Manheim township;
Annie, who married Samuel Ehy, who lives retired
in Upper Leacock township ; Lizzie, who married
Adam Landis, a retired farmer of Lancaster town-
ship; Hettie, who married Benjamin Hess, of Man-
heim township ; John, who died in childhood ; Henry
D., of this sketch ; and B. D., who was born Nov. 3,
1849, and received a good common-school education
whicli was supplemented by study for some time
at the Millersville Normal School, and thus pre-
pared, engaged in teaching for three terms, and
later married Anna Hess, a daughter- of Samuel R.
Hess, of Clay township, and the children born of this
union are : Samuel, a practicing physician of Lan-
caster, who is a graduate of the University of Penn-
sylvania, and who married Miss Emily, a daughter
of Judge David McMullan, of Lancaster; Harvey,
who is a teacher in the graded school of Oregon,
Lancaster county, is a graduate from the Millers-
ville Normal School, and is the present owner of the
old homestead; Benjamin, who is a teacher in East
Lampeter ; Jacob ; John ; Laura ; and Parke. The
family are members of the Old Mennonite Church.
Henry D. Heller was reared on the farm, and re-
ceived excellent educational advantages, fully fitting
him for the profession of teacher, but his inclinations,
after one term of teaching, led him back to the farm.
On Oct. 22, 1867, he was united in marriage to Eliza-
beth Leaman, a daughter of Tobias and Elizabeth
(Denlinger) Leaman, the former of whom died in
June, 1859, since which time the mother has resided
with her daughter. The children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Heller are: Annie, who married John H.
Kreider, a farmer, has two children, Amos and Edna ;
Amanda, who married Newton G. Herr, has one
daughter, Bertha ; Lizzie, who married John Roher,
has three sons, Harry, Elvin and Enos ; Abram, who
married Anna Denlinger, has one son, Clarence;
Enos ; and J. Henry is at home. Immediately after
marriage, Mr. Heller took charge of the farm of his
deceased brother, Abram, and continued to operate
it until in 1873, when he purchased his present farm,
located in East Lampeter, consisting of 55 acres. The
original dwelling house still stands, but since taking
charge of this place, Mr. Heller has been continually
making improvements, and it ranks well with any
other in the township. In 1891 he purchased a sec-
ond farm of seventy-five acres in the same township,
formerly his grandfather's land. The standing of
Deacon Heller is very high in the community where
he is recognized as one of the leading men. In Oc-
tober, 1876, imder Rev. Benjamin Herr, Henry D.
Heller was ordained a deacon, in the Old Mennonite
Church, and in that office has served ever since, with
faithfulness and -fidelity, worthily upholding an old
and justly honored name.
ELAM SHEETZ MYERS, a general farmer
in East Donegal township, Lancaster county, takes
rank with the intelligent and progressive young
agriculturists of the present day, and is engaged in
the cixltivation of the old homestead on which he
was born Jan. 20, 1878. He is a son of Christ H.
and Anna (Sheetz) Myers, who are mentioned else-
where.
Elam Sheetz Myers and Emma J. Weiser were
united in marriage- Nov. T2, 1896, the ceremony
being performed at Mt. Joy, Pa. To this union
have been born two sons. Earl W. and Lloyd W.
Mrs. Emma J. (Weiser) Myers is a charming and
attractive young woman, of good judgment and a
kindly disposition, and is very popular in her neigh-
borhood. She was born in East Donegal township
Jan. 30, 1876, daughter of John E. and Hannah M.
(Stumm) Weiser, who were married in York county
in 1869. Her parents had the following children:
Sarah B., who is living at home unmarried ; Emma
J., Mrs. Myers ; and Catherine, Wilbert. Daisy and
Paul, all at home. The father, John E. Weiser, has-
been a farmer all his days, and has made a substan-
tial place for himself as an industrious and trust-
worthy man. He came to Lancaster county in 1874,
and here has remained to the present time, in 1889-
settling on the farm where he is now found. In
political sentiment he is a Republican. Mrs. Hannah-
M. Weiser was born in Lancaster county in 1850,,
daughter of John and Sarah (Custard) Stumm,
who lived in Lancaster county, and moved into-
York county in i860. They were farming people.
Elam S. Myers remained with his parents until
his marriage, when he settled on his present farm, a
small but productive place' of forty-three acres, and
he is known as a capable and thrifty young fanner.
In politics he is a Republican.
OLIVER H. SHENK, proprietor of the only
feldspar and flint rock quarries in southeastern Penn-
sylvania, resides in Manor township, Lancaster
county, four miles west of Lancaster city. He was
born in this county March 23, 1873, son of Christian
K. and Annie (Hiedler) Shenk, and was reared in
West Hempfield township, receiving his education
in the public schools and the Northwest Secondary
School.
On May 10, 1895, Mr. Shenk began business on
his own account as a dealer in flint rock and feldspar.
940
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and now employs about twenty-five men in his sev-
eral quarries. His output he disposes of in various
States, to manufacturers of porcelain or so-called
■chinaware, shipping to such concerns as the Stand-
ard Flint & Spar Company, of Frenchtown, N. J.,
the Golden Sons, of Trenton, N. J., the Eureka
Flint & Spar Company, of the same city, and the
Columbia (Pa.) Flint & Spar Company. His ship-
ments reach eight carloads per week, and his main
■quarries extend across the line into the States of
Maryland and Delaware. In addition to his quarry-
ing business Mr. Shenk handles large quantities
of clover seed, in which he has a very remunerative
trade. He also does quite a business supplying the
Lancaster . Trolley Company with poles and ties,
which he obtains in central Pennsylvania, princip-
ally in Cumberland county.
' Mr. Shenk was united in marriage, Nov. 5,
1896, with Miss Lizzie Hostetter, the only child of
Ephraim and Mary (Charles) Hostetter and to this
union has come one son, born Dec. 22, 1897, who
died Aug. 9, 1898. Mr. and Mrs. Shenk are mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church, and both are active
workers in the Sabbath-school. They occupy a
modern residence at Kreadyville, one of the most
delightful in the county, erected in 1896, and Mr.
Shenk is recognized as one of the most enterprising
young men in the county of Lancaster.
Ephraim Hostetter, father of Mrs. Shenk, was
born in Manor township, Lancaster Co., Pa., Jan.
7, 1853, was a prosperous and highly respected
farmer", and died Dec. 22, 1878, in the faith of the
Mennonite Church, leaving his widow with her only
child, now Mrs. Oliver H. Shenk.
BENTAMIN B. HARNISH. Much of the fer-
tile farm'ing land of the great State of Pennsyl-
vania is located in Lancaster county, and the well
tilled farms are owned and occupied by agricultur-
ists who have made farming a life business, and have
succeeded in developing the land to its greatest ca-
pacity and in accumulating comfortable fortunes.
Among the resident farmers of East Hempfield
township is Benjamin B. Harnish, the eldest son
of Levi Harnish, who was born on a farm in West
Hempfield township, Jan. 28, 1848, and was there
reared a farmer boy, obtaining his education in the
district schools of 'his locality. Until the age of
twentv-two he remained at home, but at that time
decided to engage in business for himself, selecting
the excellent tract of almost fifty-three acres upon
which he is located in East Hempfield township,
two miles west of Rohrerstown. Upon this place
our subject began immediately to make improve-
ments which have resulted in much added value to
the land, and have made it yield well, and here he
carries on general farming.
In November, 1869, was celebrated the marriage
■of Benjamin B. Harnish to Martha M. Musselman,
a daughter of Christain Musselman, a native of
East Hempfield township. To this union have been
born children as follows : Ida, who married Henry
Sauder, of Landisville; Sarah, who married Grant
Noll, of this township; Benjamin, who married
Mary Herr, of East Hempfield; Martha M., who
married Isaac Seachrist, a niiller of West Hemp-
field; Leah, who married Albert Myers, of Mount-
ville ; Fannie, at home ; Annie ; Maggie ; Mary ; and
Lizzie. This family has been well reared and given
Christian teaching and example, the mother and
several of the daughters being connected with the
Old Mennonite Church, and one of the daughters
has become a member of the United Brethren de-
nomination. Benjamin B. Harnish is highly es-
teemed by his neighbors, and is considered one of
the representative citizens of the township where
he has lived so long.
THOMAS S. HOOD, for over ten years the
freight and passenger agent of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company at New Holland, Lancaster
countv, was born at Fort Concho, Texas, June 27,
1869, 'a son of Gen. Charles C. and Louisa (Skinner)
Hood, the former a native of Somerset, Perry Co.,
Ohio, and the latter of Woodstock, Connecticut.
General Hood was born in 1841, and served
through the Civil War, where he was twice
wounded. His services in the army have been con-
tinuous since he entered. He participated in the
Spanish-American War and on the Texas frontiers.
At Ponce, Porto Rico, he was the military com-
mander, 1898 and 1899, and held a most responsible
position. He was appointed by Maj. Gen. Otis as
the first military governor in the Philippines, hav-
ing charge of three large provinces, with head-
quarters at Aparri, serving three years, 1899-1902.
On Oct. 18, 1902, he was appointed a Brigadier
General, L'''nited States Army. Mrs. Louisa Hood
died in St. Louis, May 31, 1875, at the age of thirty
years. She was the mother of the following chil-
dren : Thomas S. ; Anita and Sarah, who both died
young. General Hood was a second time married,
Frances A. Skinner becoming his wife. To this
union came the following children : Charles, de-
ceased ; Marion, who is making her home with her
mother ; and Evangeline, who is also at home.
The father of General Hood was Thomas Hood,
a lawver by profession and born in Somerset, Perry
Co., Ohio. For many years he held a position at
Washington as judge of claims. He had previ-
ously served as Judge of Countv Court at Madison,
Wis., and as Senator in the Wisconsin Legislature.
Thomas S. Hood was married April 17, 1901,
in Lancaster countv, to Catherine Kinzer, a daugh-
ter of the late W. W. Kinzer, whose biography may
be found on another page. A daughter, Dorothy,
was born July 3. 1902, at New Holland.
Mr. Hood was reared in the various forts where
his father was stationed, and when old enough be-
gan his education in Miami Universitv, Oxford,
Ohio, and finished at Central High School, Phila-^
delphia, which institution he left in 1887 to take a
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
941
position with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Devon,
Pa., from which he was later removed to Coatesville,
to take a place as a clerk in the freight oihce. He
came to New Holland, July 5, 1892, to take the po-
sition as freight and passenger agent, where he dis-
played abilities of a high order, and was regarded
as one of the best men in the service of the com-
pany. On Aug. I, 1902, Mr. Hood was further
promoted to represent the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company in the important position of freight agent
in the famous iron manufacturing town of Coates-
ville, Chester Co., Pennsylvania.
Mr. Hood belongs to the Masonic fraternity,
and is a member of the Knights Templar Command-
ery. No. 43, of Lancaster. In his politics he is a Re-
publican.
JACOB J. LAMPARTER. The name of Lam-
parter in Lancaster was originally connected with
the pioneer glue industry of the town, an enterprise
still controlled and managed by members of this
substantial German- American family. Other ave-
nues of activity have latterly been invaded by those
bearing the name, chief among these being Jacob J.
Lamparter, retired glue manufacturer, and at pres-
ent a large land owner, engaged in the real-estate
and building business, tie was born in the an-
cestral home in Wurtemberg, Germany, a son of
Everhart and Elizabeth (Helt) Lamparter, natives
of the same German principality.
Everhart Lamparter came to America in 1853,
and located in Lancaster, where he started the glue
business, to which he devoted the rest of his life.
From a comparatively small beginning he increased
the capacity of his manufactory to meet the demand
created by his excellent commodity, and thus came
to rank among the commercial adjuncts of his lo-
cality. He died in 1869, at the age of sixty-one
years, and was survived by his wife until 1898, she
dying at the age of eighty-eight years; they are
buried in Woodward Hill cemetery. They were the
parents of the following named children: George,
who is engaged in manufacturing glue at the old
factory ; Jacob J. ; Lizette, unmarried and living in
Washington, D. C. ; Amelia, who died at the age of
fifty years ; Pauline, unmarried and living in Lan-
caster ; Judith, widow of Eugene Bauer, of Lancas-
ter; Everhart, one of the managers of his father's
glue business; Henry, deceased; and Sabina, Mrs.
Mertz, deceased.
Jacob J. Lamparter was eleven years of age when
the family came to America, and the greater part of
his training and education was therefore on Ameri-
can lines. As there were so many children in the
family he was obliged to shift for himself, and ow-
ing to the limitations of the factory he sought em-
ployment elsewhere. At the age of twenty he en-
tered the factory, and remained for nearly thirty-
seven years, or until the death of his mother, in
1898, since which time he has bought and sold prop-
erty, and accomplished considerable building in
different parts of the city. He is the owner of ten,
pieces of property, and is a very successful and wide-
awake business man.
By his marriage to Margaretta Arnold Mr.
Lamparter became connected with a French and
German family, the parents of- Mrs. Lamparter
being John and Margaret (Eppinger) Arnold, the-
former, formerly a brewer of Lancaster, now de-
ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Lamparter have had children,
as follows : Harry, who served as a soldier in the
Philippines; Everhart, a coach trimmer of Lan-
caster (married to Gertrude Weidle) ; Reinholdt, a
blacksmith of Easton, Pa. ; Walter, who died at the
age of twenty-tliree years; Dorothea; Amelia;
Judith; Charles; and Jacob, the five last mentioned
living at home. Mr. I^amparter is a member of the
Knights of Pythias and the Seven Wise Men. In
politics he is a Republican. He is prominent in the
community, and is recognized as one of its most en-,
terprising, up-to-date and resourceful citizens.
CHRISTIAN GOOD REESE, who is engaged^
in the brick making business and in the handling of
ice in Elizabethtown, is one of the leading brick men
of this section, putting on the market yearly more
than a million brick, largely used in building and in
sewer construction. He was born in Elizabethtown
Sept. 10, 1868, a son of Samson D. Reese, whose
biography is presented elsewhere.
Christian G. Reese was reared in his native com-
munity, and May 12, 1898, was married in Balti-
more, Md., to Miss Bertha F. Weirs, by whom he
has had two children, Maud W., and Marian M.
Airs. Bertha F. Reese was born near Baltimore,
July 25, 1874, a daughter of Henry and Amanda J.'
Weirs. Her parents were born in Maryland, where
they were married, and they were engaged in farm-
ing. Her father, who died in 1896, was seventy-
two years old. For many years he was a justice,
of the peace, and was very successful in all his enter-
prises. Her mother, who was born in 1836, is now
living in Baltimore. She was the mother of the,
following children : William, a train despatcher, at
Baltimore ; John, of Sparrows Point, Md. ; Thomas,
a telegraph operator at Sherwood, Md. ; Alfred, de-
ceased; Laura, who married C. W. Shipley. Jr., an,
engineer on the N. C. Railroad, with a home at Balti-
more ; and Bertha F., wife of Mr. Reese.
Christian G. Reese remained at home with his
parents until he reached the age of twenty years,
when he took a position as a bookkeeper with the
Miller Fifth Wheel Manufacturing Co., at Eliza-
bethtown, which he held for two years, and then em-
barked upon his present business career. The brick
yard which he is now operating, he purchased from
J. C. Keener, and in its management he has attained
a very large success, making a name and a standing-
for himself that bespeaks his integrity, ability and
business sense.
Mr. Reese is a member of A. O. K. M. C, and
belongs to the Reformed Church. In his politics he.
942
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
is a Republican, and for the past four years has been
a member of the board of health. Mr. Reese pre-
pared for that business career in which he has been
so successful by taking a full commercial course in
the Byrant & Stratton Business College at Buffalo,
N. Y., where he went at the age of fifteen years, and
from which he was graduated with a high standing.
He is one of the leading men of his home town, and
is justly regarded as one of the representative citi-
zens of this county.
WILLIAM C. GRUBE, secretary and director
of the poor of Lancaster county, was born at Blue
Ball, this county, Oct. lo, 1872, son of Martin H.
Grube, a prominent citizen of Lancaster county.
The children born to Martin H. Grube were Will-
iam C. and a brother now residing at New Holland,
an extensive sketch of whom appears elsewhere.
William C. Grube was reared in the county of
his birth, attending the common schools of his dis-
trict, and later had the advantage of a course at
Peck's Business College, and also went to Valen-
tine's Shorthand & Telegraphic School, from which
he was graduated in 1893. He accepted his present
position March 27th of the same year, since which
time he has faithfully and satisfactorily performed
his duties, with credit to himself.
On Nov. 14, 1894, Mr. Grube was married, in
Blue Ball, to Miss Clara Kurtz, and two children
have been born to this union: Helen M. and J.
Franklin. Mrs, Grube was born at Blue Ball, Pa.,
Oct. 19, 1872, daughter of John G. and Anna (Mus-
ser) Kurtz. John G. Kurtz is a prominent farmer
of East Earl township, Lancaster county, and was
graduated from the Normal School at Millersville.
In politics he is a Republican, and has held several
local ofHces. Both he and his most estimable wife
are earnest members of the Mennonite Church.
Mr. Grube is a member of the F. & A. M.,. being
a Knight Templar, and also holds membership in
the B. P. O. E., of which he is esquire. He and
Mrs. Grube are members of the Presbyterian
Church, in which they are very active, and of which
they are liberal supporters. In political matters Mr.
Grube is a strong Republican, and is very prominent
in local affairs. He is one of the leading young men
of the city, enterprising, thrifty, ready to grasp every
opportunity offered, not only for the furtherment of
his private affairs, but also those calculated to prove
beneficial to the city and county, and in his position
he has been of great service to the authorities, his
judgment and discrimination being exercised to
produce the best results to all parties.
MAHLON ERB. One of the well-known as
well as most highly esteemed citizens of Mount
Nebo, Lancaster county, is Mahlon Erb, a retired
farmer of Martic township, who with his estimable
wife lives in ease and plenty in this pleasant village,
after a life of prudent industry. He was bom in
Conestoga township, this county, Dec. 13, 1848, son
of John and Maria (Whitmer) Erb, both natives of
Lancaster county, the former of whom was born in
West Lampeter township Aug. 25, 1814, and died
Dec. 31, 1894.
Jacob Erb, grandfather of Mahlon, was the
founder of the Erb family in Lancaster county. The
children of Jacob Erb were : Jacob, Rudolph, John,
Samuel, Joseph, David, Rachel, Susan, all of whom
lived lives of probity and respectability and many of
them left numerous descendants.
John Erb was married Aug. 13, 1840, to Maria
Whitmer. Their children, twelve in number, were:
Susan, who resides on the home place; Amaziah,
deceased; Annie E., deceased; John, deceased;
Mahlon; Amanda, deceased; Henry, a merchant in
Mount Nebo, Pa.; Mary Jane, who resides on the
home place ; Emanuel, deceased ; Clayton, the farmer
on the home estate ; Frank, a miller in Martic town-
ship; and William W., a successful young farmer
of this locality.
Mahlon Erb grew up on the farm, and has
always been devoted to an agricultural life. As soon
as he had finished his education in the public schools
he chose farming as his vocation and has indus-
triously followed the same through many years. Oh
March 26, 1868, Mahlon Erb was united in mar-
riage to Miss Emma Achison, who was a daughter
of Cunningham and Anna (Markley) Achison, her
birth occurring in Drumore township May 27, 1848. ,
To this marriage have been born five children:
Annie, who is the wife of Amos Patton, of Colum-
bia; Oscar, a farmer of Conestoga township, who
married Elvina Buckwalter ; Mahlon C, farming on
the home farm, who married Mary Railing; Rob-
ert, who married Letitia McLaughlin, and is farm-
ing at Mount Nebo ; and Alma, at home.
Mahlon Erb owns a well-cultivated and im-
proved farm of ninety-three acres, and also ^ smaller
farm with comfortable buildings. To younger
hands he has resigned the cares of active life. Both
he and wife are consistent members of the New
Mennonite Church, and throughout the community
they are held in high esteem.
ISAAC N. HILDEBRAND conducts one of
the largest butchering businesses in Lancaster
county, and, though yet a young man, ranks high in
commercial circles. He is a grandson of Jacob Hil-
debrand, who lived and died in* Strasburg, this
county, but little is known of him by his grandson
except that he was quite a politician and held the
ofHce of justice of the peace for. a number of years.
Jacob Hildebrand, the father of Isaac N., was
born in West Lampeter township about 1844, and
passed his early life in his native place, receiving his
education in the local schools. In 1861 he ran away
from home and enlisted in Co. K, 79th P. V. I. He
married Miss Fannie Harmon, daughter of Samuel
Harmon, of Willowstreet, and they became the par-
ents of seven children : Susan, wife of David Good
of Quarryville; William, of Lampeter township-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
943
Isaac N. ; Lillie and John, both of whom died in
childhood ; Miss Mary, who lives at home ; and Ja-
cob, at home.
Isaac N. Hildebrand was born in Willowstreet
April 3, 1 87 1, and lived at home with his parents
until he was about twenty-two years of age, in the
meantime receiving his education in the common
schools of the county. On March 18, 1894, he mar-
ried Miss Lizzie Hoffman, of Hanover, York Co.,
Pa., and then began life for himself, engaging in the
butcher business, which he had learned from his
father. He has been very successful, and has built
up a thriving business, which has become one of the
largest in Lancaster county, and he is regarded by
all who have had dealings with him as one of the
substantial men of his community. Mr. and Mrs.
Hildebrand have had one child, a daughter, who
died in infancy.
J. EDWARD SHOMIER. As secretary and
treasurer of The Keeley Stove Co., one of the pros-
perous industries of Columbia, Mr. Shomier leads
an active and influential life. He was born at Co-
lumbia, July 17, 1868, son of John and Mary (Zel-
lers") Shomier, and grandson of John and Mary
Shomier, Wurtemberg, Germany.
John Shomier, when about twenty years of age,
migrated with his parents from Germany to Colum-
bia, Pa. About the same time Mary Zellers migrated
from the Fatherland to America, and also located
at Columbia where her marriage to John Shomier
occurred. He died in 1869, at the age of thirty-six
years ; she survived until 1888, passing away at the
age of fifty-eight years. Four children were born
to John and Mary (Zellers) Shomier; Anna, de-
ceased ; John, deceased ; Mary, who married George
Tille, manager of Lippincott's Wholesale Grocery
House ; and J. Edward. .
J. Edward Shomier was reared and educated in
Columbia, was graduated from the Columbia high
school, and soon after his school days ended, began
his career in the present factory of The Keeley Stove
Co. Six years later he was elected to the office of
secretary of the Company, and several years there-
after became also its treasurer, when these two offices
were combined under one head. He has been filling
these offices uninterruptedly ever since, and as an
officer of the company he has been careful, indus-
trious and progressive.
In 1896, at Columbia, Mr. Shomier married Ce-
celia Westerman, a native of Columbia, daughter of
John and Mary Catherine (Metzger) Westerman.
Her father was born in Fruitville, Lancaster county,
Oct. 26, 1854, son of Leopold and Anna (Wagner)
Westerman, and grandson of Matiiias Westerman,
who about 1850 emigrated with two of his nine chil-
dren to America and settled in Lancaster county.
Leopold Westerman was a carpenter and contractor,
and died in Lisbon, Iowa. John Westerman, when a
lad of fourteen years, entered the butcher shop of
Milton V¥ike in Columbia, with whom he remained
six years. He then started in business for himself,
and now owns a large establishment. He is identi-
fied with various business interests, and is one of
the most prominent public men of Columbia. In
politics a Democrat, he was appointed postmaster
during President Cleveland's second term, and has
filled various local offices. Of his four children,
Mrs. Shomier is the second. To Mr. and Mrs.
Shomier have been born two children: John and
Mary.
Mr. Shomier is a Democrat and is prominent in
business, social and political circles. In religious
affiliation he is a member of the Lutheran Church.
He has prospered in business, and though yet com-
paratively young in years ranks among the fore-
most citizens of Columbia. He is a member of the
local board of education, having been elected to rep-
resent the Fourth ward, which is very largely Re-
publican. Mr. Shomier is assistant secretary of the
Columbia Hospital Association, and a member of the
board of managers of that institution.
PIENRY G. CAREER, the well-known pro-
prietor of Sunrise Farm in Manor township, Lan-
caster county, two miles west of the city of Lan-
caster, was born in West Hempfield township, the
sariie county, March 7, 1863, a son of Andrew and
Susan (Greider) Garber. He was reared on the old
homestead, and the education acquired in the public
schools of that locality was supplemented by two
terms' attendance at Lebanon Valley College, Ann-
ville. Pa. On leaving school he took up the occupa-
tion of farming, conducting the home farm of 120
acres for ten years, and in 1898 located upon his
present farm in Manor township, consisting of
twenty-nine acres, upon which he has made many
improvements, so that it is now one of the most de-
sirable farms of its size in the locality. Mr. Garber
is successfully engaged in general farming and
dairying. By. his ballot he supports the men and
measures of the Republican party, and as a public-
spirited and progressive citizen gives his influence to
all enterprises calculated to prove of public benefit.
On Dec. 15^ 1887, Mr. Garber was united in mar-
riage with Miss Frances Leonard, who was born
near Miller sville, in Manor township, Feb. 18, 1867,
and they have become the parents of two sons:
Harry, born Oct. 10, 1888; and Charles, born Oct.
19, 1891. The wife and mother is a consistent mem-
ber of the Trinity Reformed Church.
Abraham Leonard, Mrs. Garber's father, was
born in Manor township, Jan. 31, 1833, a son of
Abraham and Annie (Rinehart) Leonard, and a
grandson of Frederick and Elizabeth (Lutz) Leon-
ard. Soon after his marriage Frederick Leonard
left home for the purpose of entering the service in
the war of 181 2, and what became of him after that
is unknown, as all trace of him was lost. He left
only one child, Abraham Leonard, grandfather of
Mrs. Garber, who was a farmer by occupation and
a member of the River Brethren in Christ. He died
944
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in May, 1898, at an advanced age, and his wife, who
was a native of Lancaster county, died in 1851. In
their family were eight children, namely: George,
a retired resident of Middletown, Ohio; Abraham,
father of Mrs. Garber ; Levi, deceased ; Frederick, a
cigar manufacturer of Mountville, Lancaster coun-
ty: David, a farmer of West Hempfield township,
Lancaster county ; John, a farmer of the same town-
ship ; William and Jacob, both deceased. Mrs. Gar-
ber's father was reared and educated in his native
township, and at the age of twenty-three began
farming for himself and continued to follow that
occupation until 1892, when he retired from active
labor. He married Miss Fannie Johns, a daughter
of John and Eve (Benedict) Johns, and in 1885 he
purchased a small tract of land on which they resided
until her death, which occurred in August, 1891,
when she was fifty-four years of age. Of the four
children born to them, the oldest, a son, died in in-
fancy ; A-ldus married a daughter of John Brown, of
Columbia, Pa. ; Milton is a resident of Manor town-
ship ; and Frances is the wife of Henry G. Garber.
Mr. Leonard has been a life-long Democrat in poli-
tics, and in religious belief is a Lutheran.
ABRAHAM M. ZIMMERMAN, one of the
worthy and energetic young business men of New
Holland, Lancaster county, the proprietor of The
New Holland Machine Works — manufacturing as a
specialty the Cob & Feed Mills — comes of German
origin, his grandfather, John Zimmerman having
founded the family, near Martindale, Pa., where he
became a prominent farmer and the father of these
children: Susannah, who married Isaac Martin,
of Goodville, Pa.; Martin, the father of the subject
of this biography ; Israel, a farmer near Terre Hill,
Pa. ; and Mary, of Earl township.
Martin W. Zimmerman, a thrifty farmer of Earl
township, married Anna Martin, and they became
the parents of eight children : Aaron, an Earl town-
ship farmer: EH, also a farmer of Earl township;
Abraham M. ; Martha, wife of J. H. Sensenig, a
jeweler of New Holland; Adam, a machinist; Mar-
tin, a farmer ; George, a farmer, and Moses, at home.
Abraham M. Zimmerman was born July 31,
1869, and was reared on the farm, although his nat-
ural inclinations were in another direction. His
education was acquired in the common schools of
Earl township, but as early as fourteen years he de-
cided to become a machinist. By the time he was
nineteen years old he started to serve his apprentice-
ship, and the following three years were spent in
Lancaster. In 1895 he came to New Holland, and
the same year organized his present flourishing
business, starting with a repair shop, working him-
self, while his brother Adam began to learn the
trade. Later, he merged his business into a manu-
facturing plant, a great demand having been created
for his specialty, the New Holland Cob & Feed Mill,
and at present the factory is running with full force
of twentv-one men in order to fill the orders for these
valuable machines and also for his improved gaso-
line engines. That he has succeeded so well is due
to his energy and perseverance, as he began his
business career with little financial assistance.
In 1893 Abraham M. Zimmerman was married
to Miss Lizzie Martin, a daughter of J. B. Martin,
of New Holland, and to this union have been born
two children : Annie E., and Ivan M. In his politi-
cal belief, Mr. Zimmerman is a Republican, and is
a consistent and valued member of the Mennonite
Church. Possessing all the qualifications for good
citizenship, he well represents the best type of resi-
dent of Earl township, where he is universally es-
teemed.
PEARSON E. GRUGER, of the firm of Gruger
& Moedinger, South Queen street, Lancaster, deal-
ers in stone work for cernetery and buildings, has-
been engaged in business in that city for almost forty
years.
The family is of Huguenot descent. Peter
Gruger, the grandfather of Pearson E., died wheii<
his son Adam (Pearson E. Gruger's father) was
only ten years old. Adam Gruger was born in Le-
high county. Pa., in June, 1808, and learned the sad-
dler's trade, followingf it for a number of years. He
also engaged in coach trimming. He belonged ta
the Reformed Church, and was a member of the Mt.
Lebanon I^odge of Masons, long since disbanded.
He died in February, 1891, at the age of eighty-two
years. In 1833 he married Hannah Sallada, a daugh-
ter of John and Martha (Vohr) Sallada, who was
born in 1815, and died in 1897.
Pearson E. Gruger was born in Stouchsburg,.
Berks Co., Pa., Oct. i, 1834, but when a boy came
to Lancaster with his parents, and attended the pub-
lic schools there, finishing his education at the old
Franklin College (now Franklin and Marshall Col-
lege) , then located on North Lime street, Lancaster.
At seventeen years of age he became apprenticed to
marble cutting with Major Charles M. Howell, re-
maining with him five years. For the next six years
he worked in Philadelphia, and then returned to
Lancaster, where he has since engaged in business,
supplying granite, marble and other stone work for
buildings and monumental work. His work is
found in some of the notable structures of the city.
The business, of which he is the senior proprietor, is
located at No. 25 South Queen street, and is a large
one; the marble works are located in the rear of
the mansion erected by the Metzger family over one
hundred years ago.
On May 20, 1858, Mr. Gruger married Rebecca,
daughter of the late Philip Metzger, and eight chil-
dren were born, to this union, as follows : Charles,
Florence (who died in infancy), Margaret, William,
Francis, Walter, Catherine and Harry. Mrs.
Gruger died Jan. 9, 1875, aged thirty-eight years.
On Dec. 25, 1883, Mr. Gruger married Miss Salome,
daughter of the late David Nauman. Mr. and Mrs.
Gruger are members of Trinity Reformed Church
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
945
of Columbia, and for many years Mr. Gruger was
an elder. He is active, useful and prominent in
everything with which he connects himself. In poli-
tics he is an independent Republican. Possessed of
more than ordinary intelligence, he is favorably
known to every one in the community, and his record
in public and private life is irreproachable. Mr.
Gruger is a designer and sculptor of some note, and
his work has always and everywhere been most
favorably received. He is now the oldest active
member of his craft in the city, venerable Major
Howell having long since retired from active busi-
ness.
ROBERT K. WOOD. One of the promising
young farmers of Little Britain township, who en-
joys the confidence and esteem of the citizens of his
community, is Robert K. Wood, a representative of
one of the leading families of southern Lancaster
county. He was born Oct. 6, 1873, a son of Jesse and
Maggie (Killough) Wood. His home has always
been on the farm owned by Abner Carter, near
Wood's chrome mines, and since 1871 operated by
his father, Jesse Wood. His education was obtained
in the public school at Eastland, the Friends' Normal
Institute of Rising Sun, Md., and a three months'
course in agriculture at Pennsylvania State College.
Since 1897 he has been a member of the school board
of Little IBritain township, since March, 1899, serv-
mg as its secretary. His political affiliations have
ever been with the Republican party, and he is a
member of the religious society of Friends, to which
all of his paternal ancestors have belonged since set-
tling in America.
Robert K. Wood was married, Dec. 18, 1901, to
Hanna M., daughter of Robert A. and Lucretia M.
(Fisher) Way, of Stormstown, Centre Co., Penn-
sylvania.
Jesse Wood, the father of the subject of this
sketch, was born Feb. 26, 1849, a son of James and
Mercy M. (Carter) Wood. He is a prominent and
' thrifty farmer in Little Britain township, a member
of the Society of Friends, and in politics, a Repub-
lican. On Dec. 19, 1872, he was married to Maggie
Killough, of Fulton township. The only child of
this union was Robert K. of this biography.
James Wood, father of Jesse and grandfather
of Robert K., was born in Little Britain township,
July 17, 1821, and was married Feb. 26, 1845, to
Mercy M. Carter, also of Little Britain township.
The children of this union were : Alfred, a farmer
of Fulton township, whose sketch appears in another
part of this volume; Susan, wife of Elwood H.
Townsend, whose sketch elsewhere appears in this
volume; Jesse; Mary, deceased wife of Davis E.
Allen ; Lucretia, wife of John W. Smedley, a retired
farmer of Chester county ; Lewis, a farmer of Little
Britain township, mentioned elsewhere; Ida, who
died in young womanhood ; and James, a farmer of
Little Britain, who is also mentioned elsewhere in
this volume.' James Wood was one of the leading
60
inen of the county. Not only was he a successful
farmer but he was also a financier and man of affairs,
he was president of the Farmers National Bank of
Oxford from its incorporation to the time of his
death, and at one time was commissioner of Lan-
caster county. As a member of the Society of
Friends his influence was wide spread. Few men in
the county took a more intelligent interest in the
Republican party than he. He died Aug. 9, 1894.
James Wood was a son of Jesse and Sidney
(Yarnell) Wood, of this county. Jesse Wood was a
prominent farmer and mill-wright of his day. He
was a son of Joseph Wood, a son of Thomas Wood,
the founder of this branch of the Wood family in
America. In the days of William Penn, Thomas
Wood came to America to secure religious freedom,
and was an important member of a colony of Quak-
ers who settled near Philadelphia. The peaceful
and law-abiding influence of this religious body still
pervades the locality, and counts many of the best
citizens among the members of the Society of
Friends.
About 1760 Joseph Wood came from York coun-
ty and settled on a farm in West Nottingham town-
ship, Chester Co., Pa., now owned by his great-
grandson, Jesse Wood, the father of Robert K., of
this sketch. Here he raised a family of eight chil-
dren: Thomas, Joseph, Jesse, Lydia, Elizabeth,
David, John and Day, several of whom afterward
settled in neighboring parts of Lancaster county.
All became agriculturists and this has been the fam-
ily occupation in every generation.
Maggie K. Wood, the mother of the subject of
this sketch, was born Oct. 6, 1849, ^ daughter of
Robert and Sidney (Hoopes) Killough, of Fulton
township. Robert Killough was a farmer, and en-
joyed the high esteem of the community, serving
several years in various township offices. He was
born Aug. 12, 1812, a son of John and Margaret
(Porter) Killough, and always occupied the farm
on which he was born. On Jan. 2, 1845, he mar-
ried Sidney Hoopes, of Fulton township. The chil-
dren of this union were John, a hardware merchant
of CHnton, 111.; Mary M., who died Sept. 15, 1885;.
Maggie, wife of Jesse Wood, and mother of Robert
K., Phianna, wife of Leander O. Wright, a farmer
of Fulton township, who now owns and occupies the
Killough homestead ; Jane E., wife of C. W. Moore,
proprietor of Clinton greenhouses, Clinton, 111., but
formerly of Fulton township ; Phebe Roberta, liv-
ing with her sister Phianna ; and Elmer E., of Clin-
ton, 111. Robert Hoopes died Jan. 5, 1886, and his
wife, Sidney, on March i, 1890.
LEWIS BACHMAN. Mr. Bachman was born
in Bart township, Lancaster county, on May 15,
185 1. Since reaching the age of twenty-three,' with
the exception of two years spent in farming, he has
been in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company. His first service for that corporation was
rendered in the capacity of brakeman and he has.
946
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
risen, through the grade of flagman, to be con-
ductor, haying been appointed to that position in
1884. He is one of the company's most valued men,
bringing to the discharge of his duties a keen in-
telhgence and an unwavering fidelity. He is one
of the Knights of Malta, and in political faith, a
Democrat.
His father was Samuel S. Bachman, and his
mother's maiden name was Ann E., daughter of
John Rockey. Samuel S. was the son of George
Bachman, who married a Miss Bingham, and spent
his life in Lancaster county. He himself was a
wheelwright and wagon maker, and a devout mem-
ber of the M. E. Church, as was also his life. Sam-
uel died in 1864, aged sixty-two years, and his wife,
Lewis Bachman's mother, in 1878, shortly before
reaching the age of three score. They were the
parents of five children, of whom Lewis was the'
fourth in order of birth. Mary E., deceased, the
eldest daughter, married John L. Garner. Belinda
is the widow of John M. Pichel, of Bart township.
Martin R., the third child, and first son, died in
1875. The youngest child was Uriah, now a Lan-
caster county farmer.
Mr. Bachman was married, on Jan. 2, 1873, to
Martha M. Stauffer, the ceremony being solemnized
by Rev. W. O. Owen, at Colerain. She was born in
Eden township, on Feb. 6, 1853. Her father was
Jacob Stanffer, the son of John and Barbara Stauf-
fer, and her mother, before marriage, was Anna
Landis, whose father's name was Peter. Jacob
Stauffer was a miller, and died in 1887, having been
born in 1817. Mrs. Stauffer died in Jan. 1878, in
her sixty-third year. Their children were five in
number; Maria, Henry, Barbara, Susan and Mar-
tha, the youngest two being twins. Barbara is de-
ceased, and Susan is the wife of Jacob Shelly, of
Eden township.
Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Bachman. Harry, the eldest, married Lona Bud-
ding, and resides in Columbia. Lizzie is the wife
of Jarnes Miller, of the same place. Charles is a
telegraph operator at Hatborough. In April, 1899,
he was married to Margaret, daughter of John and
Mary Plank, of Lancaster City. The younger chil-
dren, Amos R., Edwin, Anna, Mary L. and Clara,
live at home with their parents.
LEVI PI. HAVERSTICK (deceased) was born
in Manor township, Sept. 20, 1850, a son of Levi
and Catherine (Hostetter) Haverstick. The par-
ents reside in Manor township, but were born and
reared in East Donegal township. Their history
appears on another page, and the name of J. M.
Haverstick, a brother, also appears elsewhere.
Levi PI. Haverstick was married Dec. 24, 1875,
in Manor township, to Anna B. Miller, by whom he
has had the following children: Benjamin M.,
single, and at home ; Lizzie and Mary, both unmar-
ried, and at home ; Anna, deceased ; Gertrude B., and
Levi H., also at home.
Mrs. Anna B. (IVliller) Haverstick was born in
Manor township, and is a daughter of Abraham
and Elizabeth (Kaufifman) Miller, both of whom
were born and reared in Manor township. Her fa-
ther passed an honorable and useful life on the old
home farm until 1890, when he died at the age of
seventy years. His, remains were interred in a pri-
vate cemetery on the farm. His widow, who was
born in 1826, now resides in Manor township. They
were members of the Mennonite Church. Their
family was as follows : Barbara, who is dead ;
Lizzie, deceased, married J. E. Witmer, of York
county ; Anna B., whose name apears above ; Mary,
at home, unmarried ; Benjamin K., married and
living on the home farm.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Anna B.
Haverstick were Abraham and Mary Miller; they
were farming people of Lancaster county, and stood
very high in the community in which they passed
their lives. Her maternal grandparents were Ben-
jamin and Anna (Myers) Kauffman, also farming
people.
Levi.H. Haverstick remained with his parents
until his marriage, when he established himself on
the farm where his family may still be found. It
consists of 118 acres, and has been maintained in
a high state of cultivation. With his wife, he be-
longed to the Mennonite Church, and both were
recognized as among the solid and substantial peo-
ple of the county. In politics he was a Republican,
and in his life time was regarded as an influential
citizen. The widow has operated the farm, but
gives the farm dairy over to the management of her
son. They reside near Mt. Joy, and are associated
with the best elements of that section of Lancaster
county.
JOHN T. WEBER. Among the well-known
educators of Lancaster county is John T. Weber,
who belongs to one of the oldest and most honored
families of this portion of the State of Pennsylvania.
His grandfather, Jacob Weber, lived and died in
Earl township, where he engaged in farming and
also building, being a practical mechanic. Some
of the first corn shellers used in Earl township were
built by him. Jacob Weber was also a minister in
the Old Mennonite Church. His marriage to Miss
Esther Musser connected him with another of the
old settled families of Lancaster county, and resulted
in the birth of eight children : HenrV, a farmer in
Indiana ; John M., a farmer in West Earl township,
in this county; Jacob M., a minister of the Men-
nonite Church ; Michael, the late father of John T. ;
Martha, the wife of Martin Buckwalter ; Catherine,
the wife of Daniel Buchwalter; Annie and Eliza-
beth, deceased.
Michael Weber, the father of John T., was born
m Earl township, in 1834, and in early life he was
a farmer, but later engaged in the manufacture of
a kind of condition powder for horses and cattle, a
preparation which gained a wide sale. Michael
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
947
Weber was a man of special intelligence, a great
reader, and was particularly interested in the edu-
cational advancement of his community. His mar-
' riage was to Miss Mary Taylor, their only child be-
ing John T., the subject of this sketch.
John T. Weber was born in _West Earl township,
on Sept. I, 1858. His boyhood was spent on the
farm, his education being acquired in the public
schools, which he attended during the winter ses-
sions, making such progress in his studies that at
the age of seventeen, he was able to begin teaching.
For two years he was engaged at Speedwell, in
Elizabeth township, and after that he spent one
year in the produce business. For the five succeed-
ing years he was engaged in the tobacco farming-
business, but at tlie close of this period he returned
to Penn township, teaching one term of school in
Elizabeth. Then began a period of teaching in the
Fairview school, Penn township, which has ex-
tended over seventeen years, the ties between pupils,
patrons and instructor being close and mutually
productive of good.
Mr. Weber in politics is a Republican and takes
an intelligent interest in all public matters. For
seventeen years he has served in the office of justice
of the peace and has been prominently identified
with all of the educational movements in his town-
ship. Mr. Weber was the first registry assessor of
his township, was a member of the Republican
county committee, and is one of the zealous workers
m the Lutheran Church in Penryn, and also the
superintendent of the Sunday-school.
The marriage of Mr. Weber was to Miss Olivia
Biemsderfer, and nine children were born to this
union two of whom passed away. The seven sur-
vivors are Harvey B., Elizabeth B., Benjamin H.,
Edgar B., Mamie B., Vera B., and Ruth B., all still
under the home roof.
Few men in this part of county have done more
for the advancement of education than Mr. Weber.
His standard is high and his influence in the direc-
tion of progress is felt through the community. The
family is highly esteemed and justly considered a
representative one of Penn township.
GEORGE CRANE. This distinguished citi-
zen of Lancaster county is widely known and highly
esteemed in commercial and financial circles
throughout eastern Pennsylvania. His well-ap-
pointed home is at Mountville, but his place of busi-
ness is at Columbia, where he holds the responsible
position of treasurer of the Columbia Trust Com-
pany. The story of his life forms an integral part
of the later financial history of the county and is
replete with interest. ,
Mr. Crane was born Aug. 29, 1849, at Jersey
Shore, Lvcoming county, the son of Robert Crane.
His mother was Elizabeth McClung, a daughter of
Jacob M. Strickler. His early education was ob-
tained in the common schools of Jersey Shore and
Columbia, his' parents removing to the last named
place when he was yet a child. In 1868, at the age
of nineteen, he began life's battle for himself. His
first employment was as baggage master and assist-
ant ticket agent at the Pennsylvania Railroad sta-
tion. After two years thus spent, he accepted the
office of agent for the Adams Express Company be-
tween Columbia and Philadelphia. In this respon-
sible position he displayed those qualities of un-
swerving integrity, sound sense and cool, ready dis-
crimination which have since won for him a respect
which is at once undisguised and unlimited on the
part of those who know him best. For nineteen
years he was paying teller of the First National
Bank of Columbia. Resigning this position he re-
moved to Wilkes Barre to accept the agency of the
Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. Dur-
ing his residence at Columbia, Mr. Crane married
Mrs. Emily M. Gossler, the widow of Col. Philip
Gossler.
The position of agent did not prove congenial
to Mr. Crane's tastes, and seeing an opportunity to
establish a bank at Mountville, he removed thither
from Wilkes Barre within six months. Such was
his reputation for quick perception of business op-
portunities, good judgment and unfailing veracity,
that within twenty-four hours he had secured the
pledge of $50,000 necessary to put the institution
on its feet, and on Nov. 21, 1887, the Mountville
National Bank opened its doors for the transaction
of business. The institution proved successful from
the day of its inception. It paid honestly earned
dividends of five per cent, and when Mr. Crane
withdrew from the management, after eleven years
he left $19,000 in undivided profits. He sundered
his connection with the bank, however, to accept his
present position with the Columbia Trust Company.
Another successful business venture by Mr. Crane
was the organization of the Mountville Plow Works.
This concern purchased the plant of the Mount Joy
Plow Works and removed it to Mountville. The
legal title of the corporation is the Mountville Manu-
facturing Company, and Mr. Crane acted as its
treasurer until March i, 1900, when he resigned the
office. He has also been a director in the Susque-
hanna Rolling Mills for seventeen years.
Mr. Crane is an active member of the Masonic
fraternity, of high degree, belonging to the blue
lodge, of which for twenty years he has been the
chairman of its trustees. When he assumed the
management of its affairs he found the lodge with
only $150 in the hands of its trustees. To his new
duties, however, he brought the business acumen,
executive ability and sterling integrity which have
been his salient characteristics through life, and at
the present time the institution has a comfortable
balance in the bank of over $2,300, and a Masonic
Temple costing $28,000.
Mr. Crane is a devout, liberal and consistent
member of the Presbyterian Church, having served
for nine years as a trustee and been a deacon for six
years. Both these offices he has now resigned. He
948
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
is a generous contributor to the cause of religion
and his private charities, while unostentatious, are
numerous. Prior to 1896 he acted with the Demo-
cratic party in politics, but in that year voted for
the Republican candidates, tie is deservedly pop-
ular, and his influence throughout the county is
potent and far-reaching.
Reference has been made to his marriage with
Mrs. Emily Gossler, which occurred Nov. 21, 1878.
Mrs. Crane is the daughter of Major Daniel- and
Sarah Washabaugh, of Bedford, her mother a na-
tive of Hagerstown, Md. Her father was an iron
founder and a man of wealth and prominence, both
social and political. During the Civil war he was
attached to the staff of Pennsylvania's great "war
governor," Andrew G. Curtin, to which fact he.
owed his title of major. Mrs. Crane's first husband
was Col. Pliilip, the son of Philip and Catherine
Gossler, of Columbia. Philip, Sr., was the son of
Jacob Gossler, and was born in Germany, as was
also his father. For many years father and son con-
ducted the "Gossler (afterward the "Sun") Hotel"
in Columbia.
DAVID W. MOWRER, harness merchant of
Quarryville, Lancaster county, was born Sept. 19,
185 1, son of Adam and Elizabeth A. (Witmer)
Mowrer. He was educated in the public schools of
Quarryville, and, in 1870, he began to learn the
trade of saddler and harnessmaker with A. R. Wolf-
ersberger, of Quarryville, remaining with him for
three years. He then purchased his employer's
stock, and has since conducted the business. In
1894 he admitted William Fisher, who had learned
the trade with him, into partnership. The business
has been very successful and the stock includes a
full line of harness, blankets, robes, and all essentials
of the trade. While Mr. Mowrer began with limited
capital, he has become one of the most prosperous
merchants of the borough. He owns an entire
block of property on Church street, where his place
of business is located.
On Oct. 26, 1875, Mr. Mowrer married Anna
L., daughter of Amos and Mary Wade, of Lancaster
county. Mrs. Mowrer was born in Drumore town-
ship, Dec. 27, 1855. No children have been born to
this union. In politics, Mr. Mowrer is a Repub-
lican, was one of the first councilmen after the or-
ganization of the borough, and still occupies that
office. Mr. and Mrs. Mowrer are members of the
Reformed Church, and Mr. Mowrer is elder, treas-
urer and sexton of the church. He is also secretary
and treasurer of the Quarryville Cemetery Com-
pany. He is a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge,
of Quarryville, and is regarded as a leading busi-
ness man of the place, at all times ready to lend a
helping hand in aiding any project for the improve-
ment of the town. He has worked his way from a
poor boy into a place at once honorable and prom-
inent in the community. He is charitable and is a
liberal contributor to the support of the church and
other institutions of use and benefit. Both he and
his worthy wife have many friends in Quarryville
and its vicinity.
Adam Mowrer, the father of David W., is a
retired lime burner and farmer of Quarryville, and
was born in Eden township, Lancaster county, Aug.
4, 1823. The parents of Adam Mowrer, John and
Christina (Barr) Mowrer, were both born in Lan-
caster county, and John's parents were Adam and
Elizabeth M'owrer, who were the founders of the
family in Pennsylvania, coming from Germany.
The latter couple were the parents of eight children,
all of whom were living at. the time of the death of
the aged pioneers, in 1846. The record is as
follows: Katie (now deceased), wife of David
Herr; John, father of Adam, who died in 1884, at
the age of eighty-six, and whose wife died four
years later ; David, who settled on a farm in Lan-
caster county, where he died; Jacob, who is de-
ceased; Julia (deceased), wife of Henry Keen, of
Hawkesville, Lancaster county; Margaret (de-
ceased), wife of John Pendleton; Mary (deceased)
wife of Eli Keen, of Eden township.
John Mowrer, father of Adam, settled on a farm
in Eden township, where he spent the greater part
of" his life, working the place and burning lime. He
died in 1884 and his wife in 1888. This couple were
the parents of thirteen children, ten of whom are
still living, Jacob, the eldest, having died in Lancas-
ter county in 1898, and left a widow and family
still residents of the coimty; Adam, the father of
our subject; Martin, of Lancaster county; David,
a resident of Missouri; Benjamin, of Lancaster
City; Amos, of Christiana, Lancaster county; Al-
bert, a carpenter, living at Christiana; Samuel, of
Lancaster City; Susan, unmarried, living with her
brother Albert; Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Keen (de-
ceased), of Lancaster county; Mahala, wife of
Charles Girfin (deceased), of Lancaster county.
Adam Mowrer was married to Elizabeth Ann,
daughter of David and Hannah Witmer, of Bart
township, in August, 1846. After their marriage,
they moved to East Lampeter township, where Mr.
Mowrer worked at .farming for three years ; then
they moved to the village of Quarryville, where he
built him a house, and where they have since resided
for a period of fifty years, there being only four
houses in the place when they moved to it. They
are the parents of eight children, two of whom are
dead: Laura died in childhood. Benjamin (de-
ceased), born in 1854, married Miss Harriet Reese;
they resided in Lancaster city, where the husband
died in 1894, leaving a widow and four children,
who still reside in Lancaster city. John, born in
February, 1847, resides.at Coatesville, and has a wife
and one daughter, Ida, the wife of Frederick Fisher,
of Chester county. Catherine, born in December,
184Q, is the wife of James Cummings, residing in
Strasburg township; they have three children,
Emma, Elizabeth and John. William H., born
April 23, 1853, went to Newcomerstown, Ohio, mar-
BIOGRAPHfCAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
949
ried there, and is an engineer in that city; he has
five children, Roy, Myrtle, Frederick, Bessie and
Essie. Christiana, born March 4, 1858, is the wife
of George Beck, of Colerain, Pa. ; they have seven
children, Anna, Florence, William, Charles, Harry,
Teresse and David. Susan, born in September,
1866, is the wife of Henry Siffner, a business man of
Lancaster City; they have no children. Ida, born
Nov. 9, 1863, is the wife of John Clov, a business
man of Lancaster city ; they have no children.
Adam Mowrer is a Republican in politics, but
has never sought office at the hands of his party.
Both he and his wife are members of the Reformed
Church, and during the many years of their resi-
dence in Quarryville, have been the instruments of
many good deeds and acts of charity. They enjoy
the friendship and esteem of all those whose pleas-
ure it is to have been their acquaintances.
SAMUEL S. FAUSNACHT is a retired farm-
er of Rapho township, and was born in Lebanon
county, Pa., Oct. 29, 1847, son of Henry and Mary
(Shirk) Fausnacht, of Lebanon county. • ,
Henry Fausnacht, the father, was a farmer un-
til the latter years of his life, when he retired from
active duties. He died in 1880, aged sixty years,
and his wife followed him in 1889, ^t the age of sixty-
eight years. They are buried at Hershey's Church,
Dauphin Co., Pa. The following children were born
to this union: Elizabeth (deceased), wife of Levi
Brown ; Jacob, who died in 1899 ; Leah, wife of
John Bowman, a retired farmer of Lebanon ; Fianna
(died in 1896), wife of Samuel Kegerise; Henry, a
farmer of Lebanon county ; Michael, a retired farmer
of Lebanon, Pa., and Eli (deceased), twins; Samuel
S. (the subject of this sketch) and Adam S. (farmer
of Lebanon county), twins; and George, who died
in 1898.
On Sept. 23, 1871, Samuel S. Fausnacht mar-
ried Miss Susan Baker, of Lebanon county. No
children have been born to them. Mrs. Fausnacht.
was born in Rapho township, Oct. 3, 1841, daugh-
ter of John and Ann (Stauffer) Baker, of Rapho
township, where both died. The father was a farm-
er. He died in 1874, at eighty-two years of age,
and his wife died in 1891, at the age of eighty-four
years. They are buried in the Lutheran Church
cemetery in Londonderry township, Chester county.
There were born to this union : Catherine, widow of
Abraham Stauffer, living with her brother-in-law,
Mr. Fausnacht; Mary, widow of John Coble, of
Steelton, Pa. ; George, a farmer of Conewago, Pa. ;
Samuel, a farmer of Mt. Joy township; John, a
farmer in Lebanon county; Elizabeth, widow of
Peter Pickle, of Rapho township ; Martin, who died
■ in youth ; Solomon, a retired farmer of Salunga, Pa. ;
Joseph, a jeweler in Lebanon county; Susan, wife
of Mr. Fausnacht; Anna, wife of Josiah Fitterer,
of Palmvra, Pa. : Caroline, of Lebanon, Pa. ; and
Sallie, unmarried, living with her brother-in-law,
Mr. Fausnacht.
Samuel S. Fausnacht lived at home with his par-
ents until twenty-one years of age, and then began
farming on his own account. His efiforts have always
been well directed, and he has been highly pros-
perous. He retired from active work in 1900 and
since then has taken life easy. He keeps himself
well posted on all current events and stands high in
his vicinity as a man and neighbor. He and his
family are members of the German Baptist Church.
DAVID M. ESHELMAN, a plumber and steam
fitter at Elizabethtown, was born in Mt. Joy town-
ship, Lancaster county, July 20, 1858, and is a son
of the Rev. Abraham L. and Anna H. (Martin)
Eshelman, both born and bred in Mt. Joy township.
The father was a carpenter and cabinet maker in his
younger days, and then became a farmer. In 1880
he gave up active farm work, having been ordained
as a German Baptist preacher two years previously.
He was born Nov. 24, 1830, and died March 20,
1896. Flis widow died Jan. 5, 1897, and both were
buried in the Green Tree Church cemetery. She
was sixty years of age at the time of her death, and
was the mother of the following children: David
M., whose name appears above; Isaac, who died in
infancy; Annie, who married Henry Musser, and
lives on the old homestead in the township of Mt.
Joy.
Isaac Eshelman, grandfather of David M. Eshel-
man, was born near Colebrook, Lebanon county,
April 26, 1794. During his younger years he moved
to Mt. Joy township, Lancaster county, where he
learned the blacksmith's trade and later engaged
in farming; he married Barbara Longnecker, also
a native of Lebanon county. She was born Nov. 4,
1792, and died March 24, 1861. Her husband died
March 8, 1877. Both are buried in the family burial
ground, located on the farm which they occupied,
situated about two miles southeast of Elizabethtown.
David M. Eshelman was married Nov. 20, 1880,
in Londonderry township, Dauphin county, to An-
nie M. Kieffer, a native of Dauphin county, and a
daughter af Rev. Samuel and Catherine (Brinser)
Kieft'er. Her parents were born in Dauphin county,
but moved to Elizabethtown in 1891, and there spent
the remainder of their days. Her father was a
preacher of the United Zion Brethren Church, and
died May 18, 1897, at the age of fifty-eight years,
his remains being interred in Mt. Tunnel cemetery.
Prior to his ordination as a minister in 1878, he was
a farmer. Mrs. Catherine Kieffer is now living with
her daughter, Mrs. Eshelman, and has attained the
age of sixty-one. Their children are as follows :
Daniel B., a horse dealer in Middletown, Pa. ; Annie
M., who is the wife of David M. Eshelman.
The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Eshelman was
the Rev. Daniel Kieffer, a farmer and a United Zion
Brethren preacher, who lived and died on the Kieff-
er homestead near Hanoverdale, Dauphin county.
The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Eshelman were
Rev. Matthias and Catherine (Heisey) Brinser,
950
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
both natives of Dauphin county. He was a farmer,
a preacher, the founder and first bishop of the
United Zion Brethren Church. By a singular co-
incidence, both Mr. Eshelman and his wife seem to
have descended from a family of preachers, for not
only were the fathers of both ministers of the gospel,
but Mr. Eshelman had three uncles and one grand-
uncle of that profession, all of various denomina-
tions, while his wife has a record of both grand-
fathers, three uncles and one granduncle who were
ministers.
Mr. and Mrs. Eshelman remained on the old
Eshelman homestead until 1889, when they removed
to Elizabethtown, where he secured a position with
the firm of A. Buch's Sons, which he has held to
the present time, with satisfaction to his employers
and credit to himself. Mr. and Mrs. Eshelman are
members of the United Zion Brethren Church, and
are highly esteemed in the community where their
industnous and useful lives are passing. He is a
Republican and a man of the utmost integrity.
SAML^EL B. ERB, a prominent business man
of Lititz, Lancaster Co., Pa., was born on his fa-
ther's farm near that borough Nov. 8, 1861, and was
educated in the public schools and the Lititz Acad-
emy.
Samuel Erb, father of Samuel B., was born in
Warwick township, this county, at Erb's Mill, in
1815, and passed his boyhood on the home farm and
in his father's mill, in the meantime receiving his
education in the public schools. Agriculture was
his calling through life and he became a man of
great influence and prominence in the community.
He was one of the founders of the Lititz National
Bank, and one of the directors for about fifteen
years. He married Miss Annie Brubaker, who was
born in Elizabeth township, Lancaster county, in
1817. To this marriage were born three children,
viz. : Elizabeth, deceased ; Barbara, wife of An-
drew Lane, of Manheim township, and Samuel B.
The father of this family died July 5, 1894, and the
mother in 1896.
Samuel B. Erb began his business life as a farmer
and followed the vocation seventeen years. In 1895
he became identified with the Rome distillery, one
mile east of Lititz, and has since operated it. In
1898 he retired from farm life. Mr. Erb was one
of the four gentlemen who founded the Keystone
Knitting (or underwear) Mills at Lititz, of which
he is now the third owner. He was a stockholder
and director in the old waterworks company of
Lititz, but later became one of the organizers of the
new system. He was a director in the Independent
Telephone Company of Lancaster county, of which
he was one of the founders, and is a director in the
Lititz National Bank. He was also one of the
founders, directors and principal movers of The
J. M. Mast Manufacturing Company, now in opera-
tion, located at Lititz, Pa., and formed in 1902 ; one
of the promoters and founders of The Wellington
Mfg. Co. (known as the Mother's Starch Company),
located at Lititz, Pa., and organized in 1902, of which
he is now half owner; and promoter of the Lititz
Bretzel Company, of Lititz, Pa., an industry well
worthy of its name. He is certainly one of the most
enterprising and public-spirited men in Lititz, and
as such enjoys a reputation that is enviable in every
particular.
In 1879, Mr. Erb married Miss Ida M. Rupp, a
native of Leacock township, Lancaster county, and
a daughter of Joseph and Barbara Rupp. This
union has been graced with two daughters. May R.,
and Anna R., now accomplished young ladies and
ornaments of the society circles of Lititz.
JOHN P. M. R.\UB, a retired hotel man of
Quarryville, Lancaster county, was born in Dru-
more township Dec. 8, 1861. He was reared on his
father's farm and received a common-school educa-
tion. In 1885 he began business for himself, engag-
ing in the butcher's trade, which he followed for
about two years, leaving it to enter the livery busi-
ness; this he continued for nearly three years. In
1890, he was married to Miss Melissa Swisher,
daughter of Patrick and Susan Swisher, prominent
people of Eden township. Mrs. Raub was born in
1871, and grew to womanhood on her parents'
homestead, gaining her education in the common
schools of the district. After their marriage, Mr.
Raub settled on a rented farm where he lived one
year, when he sold out his stock and purchased the
"Railroad Plotel" in Quarryville borough, which he
successfully conducted for six years. He then sold
out to William Armstrong, and bought the "Wash-
ington Hotel," in the same borough, which he com-
l^letely remodeled into one of the best hotels in the
neighborhood. He continued in the "Washington
Hotel" until 1901, when he sold the place to Will-
iam Armstrong, the same man who' had bought the
"Railroad Hotel'' from him at an earlier period. Mr.
Raub, since his retirement from the "Washington
Hotel," has not been actively engaged in the busi-
ness, in which, during his earlier career, he was so-
very successful. He has been able to accumulate
considerable wealth, which speaks volumes for his
judgment and sagacity, as he started in life with
small means. No children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Raub.
In politics Mr. Raub has always been identified
with the Old-line Democracy, and has been a mem-
ber of the borough council for four years. He was
reared in the Presbyterian faith. Although yet a
young man he has for the last eighteen years been
well and favorably known ; landlords of this portion
of Pennsylvania, and every one who has the pleasure
of his acquaintance, speak in terms of the highest
praise of him. His name will be a lifelong memory
to many who have partaken of feasts at his hos-
pitable board. Mrs. Raub also will be kindly re-
membered for her courtesy and affable manner by
the local as well as by the traveling public.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
951
J. iVr. P. Raub is the eldest son of Dr. Henry E.
Raub, a leading physician of Quarryville, who was
born in Martinsville, Pa., Octrsi, 1830. His par-
ents were John and Mary (Miller) Raub.
John Raub was born in Soudersbnrg, Lancaster
county, in July, 1800, son of Jacob Raub, who was
born in Switzerland, emigrated thence to this coun-
try, and, after the war of 1812, settled in Lancaster
county, where he raised a family of nine children,
who afterward settled in different parts of the State.
John Raub married Miss Mary Miller in 1823, and
located in Martinstown, where he followed the trade
of tailor for some time, afterward engaging in mer-
cantile pursuits, which occupied his attention until
a few years prior to his death, in 1865. His wife
was born in 1800, and died in the family home at
Martinsville, in 1853. The couple reared a family
of five sons: (i) J. Miller, who was born in 1854,
engaged for many years in the lumber trade on the
Schuylkill river, and then, moving to Michigan,
followed the same business, dying at Big Rapids,
Mich., a few years ago. His widow and three chil-
dren are still residing in Michigan. (2) Dr. John
H. was born in Lancaster county, in March, 1828,
and after admission to practice, settled in Quarry-
ville, where he continued living until 1856, when he
moved to Providence, and practiced there until his
death, in 1867. He is survived by two children —
Gaylord, of Quarryville, and Lilly S., wife of Will-
iam Herr, of New Bloomfield, Iowa. (3) S. W.
was born in 1832, is now a merchant tailor of Lan-
caster city, and has a family of five children. (4)
Prof. A. M. was born in March, 1840. He received
a classical education at various institutions, and was
elected superintendent of the Ashland schools, and
served in that capacity for some time, afterward
filling a similar position in the Kutztown school for
a number of years. He was then appointed prin-
cipal of the Lockhaven Normal School, in which
position he served until elected county superintend-
ent of education of Clinton county, Pa., which po-
sition he held until 189 1, when he was elected presi-
dent of the Delaware College, at Newark. He still
resides in that place, but resigned his position some
time ago, and is living a retired life. Considerable
of his time, however, is given to literary work, in
educational lines, and he is widely known in this
connection. He has a wife and six children, two
of his sons holding prominent positions in educa-
tional work in Boston and Philadelphia. (5) Dr.
Henry E. grew to manhood in Lancaster county.
After teaching school and clerking in his father's
store for a time, he in 1854, took up the study of
medicine. In 1856 he was graduated from the Penn-
sylvania Medical College, and then began practice
in Drumore township, afterward coming to Quarry-
ville, where he has resided and followed his profes-
sion for the past thirty years. From time to time,
he purchased real estate in Quarryville borough and
other . localities, and owns several well-cultivated
farms in the vicinity of his home. In 1861 he mar-
ried Catherine, daughter of Patterson and Amelia
Mordewell, of Columbia, Lancaster county. Mrs.
Raub was born in Selins Grove, Pa., in 1832, and is
the mother of three children — J. M. P., already
referred to in this sketch ; Harry M., born in 1864,
unmarried, and acting as superintendent of his fa-
ther's farms ; and Dr. R. V. S., who was born in
1872, and educated in the Millersville schools, where
he took a special course in languages. He after-
ward graduated at the Jefferson Medical College,
in Philadelphia, and is now practicing in Chester
county. He married Miss Lizzie Groff, of Quarry-
ville borough, and to their union one son, Henry E.,
has been born.
In politics Dr. Plenry E. Raub is a Jacksonian
Democrat. He has held the office of school director
in the borough for many years, was the first burgess
of the borough, and filled that position with marked
ability. The Doctor was brought up in the Luth-
eran faith, while his wife is a member of the Pres-
byterian Church. He is a member of Washington
Lodge of Masons, No. 156, and has for many years
been a member of the Odd Fellows.
BENJAMIN F. MINICH, a veterinary surgeon
of considerable note at Columbia, Lancaster Co.,
Pa., was born in that borough April 17, 1858, and
is a son of Henry G. and Anna C. (Albright) Min-
ich, of whom a biographical sketch will be found
elsewhere.
In 1876, Benjamin F. Minich left Columbia and
went to Kent, Ohio, and for four vears worked for
his brother, N. J. A. Minich, publisher of the Kent
Saturday Bulletin; for the following four years he
had charge of the printing department of the Rail-
way Speed Recorder Company. In 1884 he went to
New York City and took a two-years course in the
American Veterinary College, and on graduating
returned to Columbia, where he has secured a lu-
crative practice and achieved an enviable reputa-
tion, and where he is engaged in horse breeding,
owning several fine stallions.
In 'October, 1888, Mr. Minich married Miss
Anna R. Hinkle, a daughter of Joseph Hinkle, and
for eight years a school teacher in Columbia. To
this union has been born one child, Mary Jones.-
Joseph Hinkle, late retired' contractor and
builder, was born in Columbia, Dec. 16, 1835, a son
of Joseph and Margaret (Fisher ) Hinkle, also na-
tives of Columbia. Joseph Hinkle was a farmer in
his younger days, was noted as an expert wood--
chopper and he and Joseph Maze, who married his
(Hinkle's) sister, cleared most of the land on which
Columbia is now built. Joseph Hinkle, the father,
died in 1866, at the age of eighty-six years.
The mother died in 1845, at the age of fifty-five.
Both were members of the Lutheran Church, and
their remains were interred in Mt. Bethel cemetery.
Joseph Hinkle, however, was three times married,
and to his first marriage were born four daughters
and two sons, viz : David ; Patience, who was mar-
952
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ried to George Fisher; Isaac; Susan M., who was
married to a Mr. Lawhead; Elizabeth; Christiann,
who was married to Charles Strine — all now de-
ceased. The second marriage was to Margaret
Fisher ; and to this union were born Sarah, wife of
John Haines, retired, of Harrisburg; Joseph;
Henry H., who died in Lanijaster; Samuel, an ex-
soldier and now superintendent of a rolling-mill in
Harrisburg, and William, a machinist in Columbia.
The third marriage was to Martha Fairs, but to this
union no children were born.
On May i6, 1857, Joseph Hinkle, the younger,
married, in Columbia, Miss. Mary Jones, and to this
union the following named children were born:
Thomas W., a contractor and builder; Anna, who
died young; Anna, married to Benjamin Minich;
James I^., a contractor and builder in Cleveland,
Ohio ; Maria J., wife of Henry Albright, a shipping
clerk in Columbia. Mrs. Mary (Jones) Hinkle was
born in Caernarvonshire, South Wales, March 4,
1833, and is a daughter of John and Anna (Bowen)
Jones, the latter of whom died in 1837. The former
married again and came to America in 186 1 ; he
was a farmer and settled in Wisconsin, in which
State he died in 1862, at the age of eighty years. To
this marriage there were born eight children, viz. :
Henry, who was an officer in the British army, and
died in London ; John, who died m Pittsburg, Pa. ;
William, who died in Wheeling, West Va. ; David,
who was also an officer in the English army and
died in London ; Thomas, who enlisted in the regu-
lar army of the United States and died in this coun-
try ; Reece, who died in Pittsburg, Pa. ; Evan, a
farmer in Ohio, and Mary (Mrs. Hinkle). The
paternal grandparents of Mrs.- Mary Hinkle were
farming people and passed their lives in Wales.
Joseph Hinkle attended school about two
months each year in boyhood, but from the age of
eight until seventeen years he worked hard for his
father on the farm ; he was then employed in farm
teaming for two months with a half-brother, James
Riter, then worked three months in a stone quarry,
and next served an apprenticeship of two and a
half years at stone masonry and bricklaying with
Henry Albright ; after that he worked at teaming
for quarries, foundries, etc., and at bricklaying.
He was toll-gate keeper on the Columbia-Chestnut
Hill turnpike from 1878 until 1895, and while hold-
ing this position did a great deal of contracting and
building, erecting about nineteen houses in Colum-
bia, and retiring in the year last mentioned. In
politics he was a Republican, and served as chief
burgess in 1866 and 1867. Fraternally he was a
Red Man. He died Oct. 11, 1902, and now sleeps
in Laurel Hill cemetery, near his birthplace.
JACOB F. WISLER, who for a number of
years prior to his death lived retired in Columbia,
was born in that borough June 6, 1813, son of Lewis
and Anna (Forrey) Wisler, natives of Philadelphia
and Lancaster county, respectively. The father,
who was born in 1780, came to Columbia to engage
in the manufacture of brick, and died in Bainbridge,
Pa., while on a visit, Sept. 25, 1852 ; his wife, who
was born in 1781, died in 1856. In religion she was
a Mennonite. They were married in Columbia, and
had a family of ten children, all now deceased, viz. :
John, who died March 10, 1863; Michael, who died
in February, 1862; Elizabeth, who died in infancy;
Philip, who died near Newportville, Bucks Co., Pa.,
in 1890; Jacob F., whose name opens this para-
graph; Mary, deceased, in 1871, who was married
to Robert M. Harry, who died in 1885 ; Samuel,
who died in January, 1895 ; Henry who died May
II, 1 90 1, a retired farmer of West Hempfield town-
ship, Lancaster county, he and Jacob F. being the
last survivors of this large family; Anna, Mrs.
Wentz, who died in Virginia in 1870; and Lewis,
who died in Kansas, June 26, 1891.
The Wisler family of Columbia, Pa., and vicin-
ity, had for its first progenitor in America, Michael
Wisler, who came to this country between 1740 and
1750. His son Michael, who was born in Chester
county, Pa., in 1756, in May, 1776, enlisted for ser-
vice in the Revolutionary war, serving twenty
months under Capt. Henry Christ, who commanded
a company in Col. Miles' regiment of riflemen ; with
that command he participated in several engage-
ments, viz. : Flatbush, L. I., where but one-fifth of
the Americans escaped ; White Plains, N. Y. ; Tren-
ton and Princeton, N. J. ; and Brandywine and Ger-
mantown, Pa. He was twice wounded in these en-
gagements. In January, 1778, he was discharged
from. the service, at the camp at Valley Forge, on
account of disability. Some time afterward he mar-
ried Sophia Harpel, who was born in Montgomery
county in the year 1761. Her name, as shown in
the "Tauff Schein," was Sophia Herblin, but has
always been known as Harpel among her descend-
ants. In 1794 Michael Wisler volunteered to serve
in the army then being sent to the western part of the
State, to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion, then dis-
turbing the public peace ; when a portion of the army
bad come to and was crossing the Susquehanna
river, at Columbia, then but recently (1788) laid
out as a town, he met and conversed with Samuel
Wright, owner of the ferry and promoter of the new
town, who nientioned that a manufacturer of brick
was needed in the promising young community. Mr.
Wisler told Mr. Wright that he had acquired a
knowledge of the business in Philadelphia, and that
after the war was over he would stop at Columbia
on his way back to Philadelphia, and look for suit-
able clay ; he did so, and found it on the farm north
of town which is now occupied by his descendants,
and where brick was made for m^ny years. His son
Lewis became the owner of the farm, and was suc-
ceeded by his son Henry, who lived there until his
death. Michael Wisler died Sept. 14, 1824.
Jacob F. Wisler attended school continuously
until eleven years old, and then went to work in the
brickyard, and while there employed had school ad-
J'a e ct^^cTj^ ^(^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
953
vantages during the winters only until about fifteen
and a half years old. He then went to Millersville,
Lancaster county, served an apprenticeship of four
and a half years at blacksmithing, then worked on
the home farm for a while, and later again in the
brickyard until 1848. He then rented a blacksmith
shop at the railroad yards in Reading, conducting
same ten years, and next built a brewery in the same
town, which he operated eight years. He then
started a brewery on a small scale at his present
Tiome, and in 1884 retired from active business. His
death, which occurred Feb. 27, 1902, was mourned
by the community generally. In politics Mr. Wisler
was originally a Democrat, but at the breaking out
of the Rebellion became a Republican. He served in
the town council.
On April 3, 1842, Jacob F. Wisler was joined in
marriage, at Columbia, with Miss Susan Anna Baer,
and to this union there were born two children:
John B., secretary of the Fairview Milling Com-
pany, who married M. Lillie Snyder, of Columbia;
iind Rebecca B., who died at the age of two years.
Mrs. Susan A. (Baer) Wisler was born in York
county, Pa., May 30, 1819, and died March i, 1901.
She was a daughter of John and Mary A. (Beh-
miller) Baer, of York county, who died there. John
Baer was a river pilot, and also conducted a gun-
smith shop, in which he employed several men. He
■died in 1841, when forty-five years old, and his wife
preceded him to the grave in 1825. The paternal
grandfather of Mrs. Wisler, Isaac Baer, of Stras-
burg, Lancaster county, carried on a gun shop in
York, Pa., and there died.
JOHN HOCKING was born Oct. 18, 1852, in
the parish of St. Germans, in the eastern part of
Cornwall, bordering on Devonshire, near the old
town of Plymouth. His parents were Samuel and
Mary Hocking, and the Hocking family is of a very
ancient line as appears by the annals of the various
parishes in that part of England, where the differ-
ent generations of this name were principally en-
gaged in farming and as mechanics.
John Hocking was baptized in the parish church
at St. Germans, which belonged to the Church of
England. His education was secured at a national
school, which at that time was , under the control
of the Established Church. Following a natural
incHnation, he went into mining early, and worked
in the deep mines of England, where he operated in
lead, copper and coal. Interested in the scope of
mining, which he found to be very wide, he studied
mineralogy and geology, as well as mining ma-
chinery. His investigations covered native forma-
tions, the nature of the material in which the dif-
ferent formations are found, and the different forms
in which they lie. Mr. Hocking felt that greater
opportunities and a larger field to work would be
found by him on this side of the Atlantic ocean, so
at the age of nineteen years he came to America,
and located at Nickel Mines in Lancaster county.
where he entered the employ of Joseph Wharton,
whose works were at that time managed by Charles
Doble. The business connection, thus early formed,
was unbroken for many years until the closing of
the works.
Mr. Hocking was married in the spring of 1875
to the oldest daughter of Charles Doble, and to this
marriage were born three boys and two girls. Some
years after their marriage they purchased a farm
near Georgetown, in Bart township, which was
made the family home for fourteen years, Mr.
Hocking continuing at the mines, and employing
men to carry on the farming, to which his children
were reared.
After the closing of the nickel mines, Mr.
Hocking, finding that his children's tastes did not
run to an agricultural career, put his oldest son in
the store at Nickel Mines. He purchased the dwell-
ing, store property and stock of H. Gottschalk, at
Kinzers, and opened a mercantile business at that
point, with his two sons, Charles and John, April
12, 1896. He was made postmaster of Kinzers and
had his two sons for assistants. The enterprise
there proved a decided success, and he intended go-
ing out of the mining business, and following mer-
cantile pursuits. In 1897, however, he received a
letter from J. Jessop, of York, making inquiries
about some work in raining which he was carrying
on in Maryland. Out of this correspondence grew
the Liberty Copper mines, and the opening of this
enterprise was managed by Mr. Hocking at a very
fair salary. In the meantime he received a letter
from Mr. Wharton asking him to superintend the
work of developing the old nickel mines of Lan-
caster county. This work being near his home and
his business at Kinzers, he resigned his position at
the Maryland works, and engaged with Mr. Whar-
ton, who found by 1899 that the nickel mines were
not rich enough to warrant competition with other
countries. For a time he worked in Maryland with
the people he had been employed by before, but the
profits were not enough to warrant the search for
gold, and Mr. Hocking was sent to Petersburg,
I^ancaster county, to develop zinc mines, which were
thought to run through that section of the lime
stone valley in paying quantities. At the present
time, Mr. Hocking is engaged again with J. Jessop
& Co.,' of York, and has made some new develop-
ments in the iron ore on Chestnut Hill, Lancaster
county, in close proximity to Charles Grubb's mines.
The property was owned and operated by the New
York Mining Company up to 1876, but then the
mines were considered to be exhausted and had been
abandoned from that time. Mr. Hocking made care-
ful examinations and found the courses of the ore,
which in due time will show and produce large
quantities of very rich ore.
For many years Mr. Hocking and his family
were associated with the Episcopal Church at
Nickel Mines, where he filled all the offices of the
vestry, and for many years was one of the wardens.
954
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
For twenty-six years he was superintendent of the
Sabbath school. Personally, Mr. Hocking is a
man of fine character, liberal attainments and a
knowledge of mining superior to any other man in
Lancaster county. His business methods are be-
yond question, and he has accumulated a very fair
fortune.
ABRAM HERNLEY, a general farmer of
Rapho township, resides on the family homestead
where he was born, June 22, i860. He is the son
of Peter and Barbara (Hershey) Hernley, who re-
sided for many years on the same place.
Peter Hernley, the father, died June 7, 1892,
and is buried in Hernley 's Meeting House cemetery.
The mother is still living at the age of seventy-five
years, on a farm adjoining her son's place. There
were born to Mr. and Mrs. Peter Hernley the fol-
lowing children : Anna, the wife of Samuel Snave-
ly, a Rapho township farmer ; Mary, widow of Ab-
ram Metzler, of Penn township ; Lizzie, wife of
Henry B. Longenecker, of Penn township, near
Limerock, died Sept. 9, 1897 ; and Abram, the sub-
ject of this sketch. Mr. Hernley's paternal grand-
parents were Peter and Elizabeth (Lehman) Hern-
ley, who resided on the farm owned by their grand-
son, Abram. Peter Hernley died on the farm. He
was a son of Christian Hernley, who, in turn, was
the son of the pioneer of the family, Ulrich Horn,
or Hernley, who emigrated from Switzerland and
landed in Philadelphia Sept. 26, 1737. In 1759
this Ulrich Horn, or Hernley as he was afterwards
known, secured from the Penn family patents to
174 acres of the present Hernley homestead. He
was a shoemaker by trade, going from house to
house, and as he could not always return home by
night, his family often stayed alone in their little
house. This house was closed by a shutter on the
outside, and by aid of a ladder Mrs. Hernley and
tlie children crawled up, drawing the ladder up after
them. Thus they would remain through the night,
listening to the wolves howling around the hut.
Downingtown was the nearest place where the fam-
ily could secure flour, and they were obliged to carry
it all on horseback. He lived and died and is buried
on the place which has ever since remained in the
possession of the family. It will thus be seen
that six generations of Hernleys have at different
times owned the broad acres of the homestead, taken
up and settled upon by their great-great-great-
grandfather. Abram Hernley's grandparents on
his mother's side were Abraham and Annie Her-
shey, of Lancaster county.
On Oct. 26, 1882, in Lancaster, Abram Hern-
ley married Miss Lizzie Metzler. There have been
born to this union the following children : Norah
M., Minnie M., Barbara M., Peter M., Lizzie M.,
Martha M. and Esther M., all living at home with
their parents. Mrs. Lizzie (Metzler) Hernley was
born on the family homestead in Rapho township
Aug. 5, 1862.
Abram Hernley has always lived on his present
home, with the exception of ten years which he
passed on an adjoining farm. At the time of his
marriage he removed to the old place, and has since
resided on it. Mr. Hernley is a Republican in poli-
tics, but the only office he ever filled was that of
school director for a short term. He is thrifty in
his habits and devotes his time to personal busi-
ness affairs and has accumulated a fortune. With
his family he is a member of the Mennonite church,
and is well regarded in both religious and social
circles for his moral character and pleasant ways.
ABRAHAM W. BURKHOLDER. Among
the prominent, wealthy and much esteemed citizens
of West Earl township is Abraham W. Burkholder,
a son of John and Fannie (Wenger) Burkholder,
who was born on Oct. 18, 1852, coming of sturdy
German stock.
Grandfather Abraham Burkholder established a
large and honorable family in Lancaster county,
many of whom have become connected by marriage
with other old and prominent families. The names
of the children of Abraham Burkholder were Chris-
tian, Abraham, Jonas, John, Samuel, Mary, Lizzie
and Sarah. His son, John Burkholder, was born in
1808, and died in 1862, and was the father of nine
children: Daniel, a resident of Ephrata; Levi, de-
ceased ; David, a farmer of West Earl township ;
Nancy, deceased ; Hattie, wife of David Burkholder,
of West Earl township ; John and Abraham, who
died in infancy ; Abraham, of this biography ; and
Lizzie, the wife of Isaac Weaver, of Earl township.
Abraham W. Burkholder was reared on the farm
and received his education in the common schools,
continuing to pursue agricultural pursuits after he
had reached his majority. Endowed with good
judgment, Mr. Burkholder has made a success of his
farming operations, and owns much valuable prop-
erty in Lancaster county. His home farm is located
one mile northeast of Farmersville, and consists of
sixty-six acres ; in addition to this, he owns a farm
of seventy acres at Farmersville, a small farm of
twenty-one acres in the same vicinity, and one of
seventy acres in the neighborhood of Hinkletown.
All of these properties are under a high state of cul-
tivation, and have been improved, representing a
large amount of money.
Abraham W. Burkholder was married on Jan.
25, 1873, to Miss Katherine Zimmerman, a daugh-
ter of Rev. Jacob and Katherine Zimmerman, of
West Earl township, and this union has been blessed
with these children : Martin, born in 1874, a farmer
of West Earl township ; Fannie and Katherine died
in childhood; Marv, at home; Eli, born in 1882, at
home; Abraham, born in 1886, at home; and Jacob,
born in 1890, at home.
As one of the largest landholders in the town-
ship Mr. Burkholder takes a leading position, and
!"; a progressive and excellent citizen is known very
favorably. In politics he is a Republican, and he is
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
955
one of the prominent members of the Mennonite
church. As a neighbor he is kind and helpful, and
lives a moral and estimable life, devoted to his
family.
JOHN N. MUSSER, a representative of one
of the old families of East Hempfield township, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., was born in Rapho township, near
Mt. Joy, on the old homestead, Aug. i, 1857, a son
of John and Catherine (Nissley) Musser, both now
deceased.
John, the father, was a son of Benjamin Musser,
and a Miss Miller, while the maternal grandfather
was named John Nissley. John Musser, the father
of John N. Musser, was born in Conestoga town-
ship, and when fifteen moved with the family
to East Hempfield township, near Salunga, where
he remained until he was married. At that time he
removed to Rapho township, and purchased 109
acres "of land, and there lived until his retirement
to Salunga, at which place his death occurred May
4, 1894, when he was sixty-seven years and twenty-
five days old. During his life he was one of the
successful farmers of the county, and he and his
excellent wife were members of the Old Mennonite
Church. To these parents were born nine chil-
dren: Annie, wife of Henry Bender, of West
Hempfield ; Lizzie, wife of John Weidman, of Penn
township ; Benjamin N., a resident of East Donegal
township ; John N. ; Fannie, wife of Phares Bom-
berger, of Pennville, Penn township; Amos N., a
resident of the old homestead in Rapho township ;
Henry and two infants, deceased. The father was
one of the active supporters of the church, and was
twice a member of the building committee. The
death of the mother occurred on Jan. 5, 1892, when
she was sixty-four years of age.
John N. Musser worked on his father's farm and
received his education in the common schools of
the neighborhood. When he was twenty-three, in
1880, he assumed the management of a farm in East
Donegal township, belonging to his father, and here
he remained for three years. Then he removed to
The Junction, in Penn township, and remained there
four years, when he located on his present farm,
which is pleasantly located just north of Mechanics-
ville, in East Hempfield township, and consists of
thirty-four acres. Mr. Musser also owns the sixty
acres adjoining his farm, and all of his property is
well cultivated ; his improvements are in accordance
with the latest ideas with regard to farming. His
buildings are in excellent condition and his acres
yield him good crops. In addition to his farming
interests, Mr. Musser is a director in the Manheim
National Bank, and a dealer in tobacco, and is very
successful in all his ventures.
On Oct. 19, 1879, Mr. Musser was married to
Miss Anna H. Cassel, who was born in Rapho town-
ship Dec. 25, i86t, the daughter of Jacob and Bar-
bara (Hernlev) Cassel. One child has been born
to Mr. and Mrs. Musser, Minnie C. Mr. Musser
and his excellent wife are active members of the Old
Mennonite Church, and are most worthy and highly
respected people. In all matters of public interest
Mr. Musser can always be depended upon to take
a leading part, and the success which has followed
him through life is well deserved, for he has always
been thrifty and hard working.
WILLIAM W. FAIRER, Jr., of the firm of
Fairer & Son, proprietors of the Columbia (Pa.)
Boiler Works, was born in Lancaster city Feb. 10,
i860, and is a .son of Thomas and Frances (Myers)
Fairer, natives, respectively, of Lancaster city and
Manor township, in Lancaster county.
Thomas Fairer was a carpenter by trade, and
followed this calling until 1857, when he learned
boiler making, at which he worked as journeyman
in Lancaster; later he came to Columbia and es-
tablished the boiler works at present operated by
his son, William W., under the original firm name.
In addition to boilermaking, the firm did general re-
pairing and also conducted a bicycle store, and these
industries are still continued by his son, the father
having died March 9, 1894, at the age of sixty-five
years. The works occupy a half acre of ground
and furnish employment for twenty men.
Mrs. Frances (Myers) Fairer was born in 1835
and now resides in Lancaster. By lier marriage to
Thomas Fairer she became the mother of eight chil-
dren, viz : Ida, the widow of Charles Phillips, and
a resident of Lancaster ; Anna, who died young ;
William W., whose name opens this biography;
Frank, who passed away in childhood; Emma, the
wife of Charles Bowman, a jeweler in Lancaster;
Margerie, who is married to Harry Gast, a shoe-
dealer, also in Lancaster; Myra, living with her
mother; and Bessie, who died young.
The paternal grandparents of William W. Fair-
er were Lanslott and Elizabeth Fairer, of whom the
former was a native of England and a shoemaker
by trade, and the latter a native of Lancaster, where
both ended their days.
William W. Fairer has been twice married. In
1883 at Lancaster he chose for his bride Maggie
Schenk, who was born in that city in 1861, and was
a daughter of Henry and Mary Schenk. Her fa-
ther, now deceased, was a jeweler; her mother still
lives in Lancaster. Mrs. Maggie Fairer bore, her
husband two children, Ada and Bessie, and passed
away in 1889.
In September, 1890, Mr. Fairer chose for his
second companion Miss Ella G. Cornog, and she
has borne him one child, W. Atlee. Mrs. Ella G.
Fairer was born in Newark, New Castle Co., Del.,
and is the only child of George and Catherine Cor-
nog.
Mr. Fairer is regarded as one of the most enter-
prising business men in Columbia, and socially
mingles with the best classes of its residents. Fra-
ternally he is a member of the K. of M. and Junior
Mechanics, and in politics is a Republican.
956
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
H. M. DRYBREAD, a leading citizen of Clay
township, was born Dec. 12, 1856, son of Jacob H.
and Annie Druckehbrode, the name being changed
by the subject of this* sketch to its present English
spelling.
Jacob Druckenbrode, the grandfather of H. M.
Drybread, was an old settler in Clay township, and
was the father of nine children : Jacob, Isaac, Ben-
jamin, Jonas, Peter, Nancy, John, Jeremiah and
Henry, all deceased. Jacob Druckenbrode, the fa-
ther, was born in 1829, ^ii<i died in 1886, and was
the father of five children, namely : H. M., of this
sketch; Samuel, deceased; Amanda, wife of George
Roshorn, of Clay township; Mary, wife of Theo-
dore Yeager, of Lancaster; and Hattie, the wife of
George Dommoyer, of Clay township.
Mr. Drybread began life as a poor boy, and it
is through his own efforts that he has become pos-
sessed of his present fine farm of seventy- two acres,
"with its comfortable dwelling, and other property.
In politics he is a member of the Republican party
and at present efHciently fills the position of town-
ship auditor and has also served as judge of elec-
tions. Although he is now engaged in extensive
farming, he is also a miller, and in his earlier years
Tan a mill in this township. For many years he has
been active in religious work and is identified with
the Motint Airy Union Sunday School as its super-
intendent.
Mr. Drybread was married on July 11, i88r, to
Miss Amanda Wealand, of Clay township, arid two
•children have been born to this union : Annie, the
wife of C3'rus Boyer, of Clay township ; and Alice,
■at home. Mr. Drybread is a man of sterling integ-
rity, and is very highly esteemed in Clay township.
GEORGE E. SIPLE is one of the tried and
trusted engineers of the Pennsylvania system, who
has been in the emplov of the company for more
than twenty years. His father was named Jacob
Siple. and his mothef, whose Christian name was
Mary Margaret, was a daughter of Jacob and Mary
(Williams') Stuckey, who were originally of Cum-
"berland, but moved thence to Perry county. Jacob
Siple was a son of Jacob Siple and Rebecca Shan-
non, who were born respectively in Lancaster, Pa.,
and in Maryland. He, Jacob, the grandfather of
George E. Siple, was the son of a German immi-
■gran't. He was a tailor by trade, but also cultivated a
farm. Mr. Siple's father was born Sept. 15, 1828.
He resided in the borough of Washington until 1885
when he removed to Columbia. While a resident of
Washington he was engaged in tobacco culture. Af-
ter taking up his residence in Columbia his occupa-
tions were various ; he still carried on the culture
of tobacco, but in addition acted as pilot on the Sus-
quehanna river through the summer, while conduct-
ing a cooperage business during the winter months.
He is still living, and for the past five years has been
employed in grading and otherwise improving the
highways of Columbia borough. His wife, Mr.
Siple's mother, died in her fifty-ninth year, in 1886,
and is buried in Washington borough. Both she
and her husband were members of the Church of
God.
George E. Siple is the second child and eldest
son of this couple. He was born in the borough
of Washington, county of Lancaster, on July i,
1856. His eldest sister, Anna, is the wife of John
D. Lewis, a farmer of Conewago. Another sister,
Elizabeth B., is unmarried, and lives with her fa-
ther. Jacob, a brother, has his home in the far
west. Ira is employed in the rolling mills at Co-
lumbia. Emma is Mrs. William McCall, of Lan-
caster. Sarah is unmarried and lives in Columbia.
Hetty married William Bard, a railroad engineer,
residing in the same town. Rebecca, the youngest
of the family, is the wife of Clinton Meshey, a
brakeman. Their home is at York.
Mr. Siple was married July 8, 1878, to Miss An-
nie R. Lenox, of Columbia, whose birthplace was
Mt. Joy. Her parents were Richard and Rebecca
(Porter) Lenox, of the latter place. Her father
was a Union soldier, and died in a Confederate
prison during the Civil war. The issue of this mar-
riage was three sons and two daughters : James,
Emma, William, George and Lucinda. James, who
is a fireman, married Anna Sargent; the other chil-
dren are unmarried. Mrs. Siple died Nov. 14, 1892,
and on Sept. 30, 1897, Mr. Siple married again.
His second wife was Mary Stradtman, by whom he
is the father of one son, Albert D. The present
Mrs. Siple is the daughter of Henry and Wilhel-
mina Stradtman, both of whom came to America
from Germany in early youth, and who were mar-
ried in Lancaster county. Her father, a carpenter,
died in 1892, aged sixty-eight years, and her mother
on June 18, 1896, at the age of sixty-two. They
were the parents of nine children, their daughter
Mary being the eighth. The others, in order of
birth, were: Louisa, now Mrs. Fred Brandt, of
Lancaster county; Magdalina, the wife of John
Weidler; Henry, of Columbia, a shoemaker by
trade ; Amelia, who married John Herneiser, of Co-
lumbia ; Susan, who became the wife of Amos Aux-
er, a Lancaster county farmer; John, whose home
is in Lancaster; William, a printer of the same
place ; and Peter, also a resident of that city.
Until he reached the age of fourteen years young
Siple remained at home. He then went to Manor
township, where he found work upon a' farm. Af-
ter reaching his twenty-second year he went West,
and Avas engaged for a year in canvassing for books
in Missouri. Returning to Columbia, he took
charge of a dairy for Silas Purple, and after a year
entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railway Co.,
as a brakeman. Two years later, he was given the
post of fireman, and in Feb., 1892, was promoted
to the position of engineer. He is a member of
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engfineers. of the
B. W. H. F., of Pennsylvania; and the Knights of
Malta. He is a member of the Church of God, and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
957
in politics a Prohibitionist. His intelligence, indus-
try and high moral worth have won for him a large
number of friends, as well as the esteem of the com-
munity at large.
ELI H. WOLGEMUTH, a general farmer in
West Donegal township, was born on a farm which
adjoins the one he is now cultivating as his home
farm, July ii, 1855, and is a son of Rev. John M.
and Hester Hernley Wolgemuth, both of Lancaster
county, whose history is fully presented elsewhere
under the name of Rev. John M. Wolgemuth. In
1858 his parents came to the farm on which he is
now found, and engaged in its cultivation for twenty
years.
Eli H. Wolgemuth married Lizzie Hostetter,
who was born in Conoy township Jan. 7, 1858, a
daughter of Abraham and Fanny (Musser) Hos-
tetter. Her parents were born in West Hempfield
township, and now reside in Rapho township, where
they are spending their last days in that peace and
comfort that belong to the closing period of honest
and industrious lives, a certain beautiful law of na-
ture making the closing days of a normal life its
loveliest and most attractive.
Eli H. Wolgemuth made his home with his par-
ents, and assisted his father in the care of the pater-
nal acres until that gentleman was obliged by ad-
vancing years to give up the farm, and then young
Eli took charge of it himself, and has since been
engaged in its cultivation, to the entire satisfaction
of all concerned. Eli H. Wolgemuth is a Republi-
can, and has filled the position of school director for
six years. His father lives in an adjoining house,
• and both are creditable types of Pennsylvania farm-
ers and churchmen.
CYRUS JOHNSON, a leading farmer of Prov-
idence township, was born Jan. 7, 1858, a son of
Jacob and Eliza (Eshleman) Johnson, both of
whom are now deceased.
Jacob Johnson was born in 1818, in Lancaster
county, followed the blacksmith trade through life,
and died Jan. 19, 1890, leaving behind him an hon-
orable record as a man of reliability, honesty and in-
dustry. He belonged to one of the respected fami-
lies of Lancaster county, and faithfully followed the
teachings of the Dunkard religious faith. In his
political sympathy he was a Republican. He mar-
ried Eliza Eshleman, also of Lancaster county, and
they had a family of ten children, their names be-
ing as follows: Mary, the wife of Henry Ecker-
man, of Providence township ; Jacob ; Henry ;
Amos; Eliza, who married Henry Heidelbaugh, of
Quarryville; John and Benjamin, residing in Provi-
dence township ; Cyrus ; Morris, residing in Provi-
dence township ; and Susan, the wife of Joseph Hall.
Cyrus Johnson grew up to be a farmer, and after
he had finished his attendance in the district schools
he settled down to an agricultural life. Like many
of his neighbors, he began at the bottom of the lad-
der, and to his industry and frugality may be at-
tributed his present comfortable circumstances. He
now is the owner of one of the best farms of the
township, comprising eighty-eight acres of fine land,
which he has improved with first-class buildings..
Although no office seeker, he takes an intelligent
interest in public affairs and votes with the Repub-
lican party.
Mr. Johnson was married Dec. 29, 1881, and he
and his wife, Laura, have had four children, the
only survivor being Howard, the eldest. By one
of those sad dispensations which sometimes afflict,,
the three other children passed away from earth
within a few days of one another, a scourge of diph-
theria being the cause. Neomi, born in 1884, died
Jan. 9, 1901, following her sister Ella, born in 1887,.
who died Jan. 4, 1901, and her brother. Park P.,
who was born in 1890, and died Jan. 8, 1901. In
this sad affliction Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had the
deep sympathy of the whole community. They are
consistent members of the Church of God, and are
known and regarded through their neighborhood
with esteem on account of their many kind and
neighborly qualities. Mr. Johnson has always taken
a deep interest in his locality, and in every way .may
be regarded as an estimable citizen.
J. ROBERT LONG. Among the leading citi-
zens and prominent farmers of Drumore, is John
Robert Long, who was born Sept. 24, 1861, son of
H. Harvey Long, deceased, of East Drumore town-
ship.
The original settler of the Long family in Penn-.
sylvania was a John Long, an iron maker who came
to Lancaster county about 1735 and made the hinges
and furnished the iron used in the building of the
Presbyterian Church at Chestnut Level, Drumore
township, Lancaster county, in the year 1765. The
Long family was of Scotch-Irish descent. John
Long, grandfather of J. Robert, was married three
times : the first wife was Harriet Steele and the fol-
lowing family was born of the union : Ann, Eliza-
beth, William, Mary, Harvey, Harriet and Robert.
Of these the two survivors are Elizabeth, wife of
John Jordan, of Philadelphia, and Mary, who mar-
ried Franklin Sutton, of Lancaster City. For his
second wife John Long married Sarah Ross, by
whom he had no children. His third wife was
Mary Moore, and by this marriage also there were
no children. Mr. Long was an iron maker by trade
and was one of the leading men of the county, serv-
ing as a member of the Leeislature several terms,
and he died deeply regretted by all.
H. Harvey Long, a leading farmer and citizen
of his time, was born Nov. 7, 1821, and died Nov.
3, 1875. He was a farmer in Drumore, now East
Drumore, township, and in company with his
brother William owned and operated a flour and
feed' mill, now known as the Groff mill, in East
Drumore. In 1858 he was married to Miss Rosan-
nah J. Barnes, from a family of old settlers of Lan-
958
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
caster county. She was born April i, 1835, and
is still residing in Drumore township. To
H. Harvey I-ong and his wife six children
were born, of whom J. Robert is our subject; Will-
iam B., a farmer of East Drumore township,
born Oct. 29, 1863; Laura I., born March 14, 1866;
Lillie B., born Sept. 26, 1871 ; and H. Harvey, a
farmer of East Drumore, born Feb. 26, 1876.
J. Robert Long was reared on the farm and was
educated in the common schools of his neighbor-
hood, with the additional advantage of attending an
academy at Chestnut Level. When he attained to
mature years he began farming for himself and now
possesses a most excellent farm of 230 acres, on
which is a fine residence and one of the best barns
in Lancaster county. His farm is conducted upon
scientific principles, and the results prove that he
is one of the progressive farmers of today. All of
his property is well improved, fences and outbuild-
ings are in excellent order, and his entire farm
speaks well for his industry, management and thrift.
On Dec. 18, 1895, Mr. Long was married to
Miss I-aura J. Clark, the daughter of A. Scott Clark,
of Drumore township, one of the old and highly
respected citizens of Lancaster county. Mr. Clark
was born Oct. 30, 1815, and died March 8, 1898,
deeply lamented by a wide circle of friends. The
mother of Mrs. Long, Isabel (Neeper) Clark, was
born Nov. 22, 1822, and died Nov. 27, 1897. In
religious matters Mr. Clark was a strong Presby-
terian, taking an active part in all church work ; and
politically supported the candidates of the Repub-
lican party. Throughout his useful life Mr. Clark
was highly respected and was regarded as one of
the leading men of his locality. Mr. and Mrs.
Clark had, besides Laura J. : Lettie P., wife of
James Maxwell, of East Drumore township; Rob-
ert W., a physician in active practice in Pittsburg,
Pa. ; James Lindley, a mining engineer of North-
ampton, Mass. ; Harry Scott, a druggist of Union-
town, Pa. ; and Annie Bell, wife of Irwin Cutler, of
Drumore township.
The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Long, Robert
Clark, was born on the place now owned by Mr.
Long, and was of Irish descent. By his wife, Ag-
nes Scott, he had ten children : Thomas A. ; Will-
iam J. ; Elizabeth M., married to Sam Neeper ; Mar-
garet, married to James Black; Nancy, married to
James Morrison ; Mary, married to Franklin Scott ;
Jane, who became the second wife of Franklin Scott ;
Robert A. ; James ; and A. Scott, the father of Mrs.
Long.
The political convictions of Mr. Long lead him
to be a strong Republican and he devotes his time
and energy to insuring the success of his party's can-
didates. In recognition of his ability and merit, his
party has honored him by election to the position of
school director for two terms, and he is now serving
most acceptably as auditor of the township. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Long are consistent members of the
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Level, in which
they take an active part, and they are recognized
as being among the leading representatives of the
old settled families of southern Lancaster, county.
By honesty, industry and unfailing good manage-
ment, Mr. Long has attained his present prosperous
condition, and his success is most certainly well mer-
ited. In public as well as private life Mr. Long
discharges the duties assigned him with prompt ex-
actitude and his friends feel that the future before
him is bright, anticipating his continued success as
a prosperotis farmer and patriotic citizen.
WAYNE B. ROHRER. A prominent and
highly esteemed resident of Lancaster county, who
carries on general farming in Upper Leacock town-
ship, is Wayne B. Rohrer, who was born on his
present farm Dec. 18, 185 1. His parents were Isaac
and Martha (Binkley) Rohrer, the latter of whom
was born in Manheim township, and the former of
whom was a native of Upper Leacock township,
where he carried on extensive farming operations
until his retirement from activty, in 1874. Then
Mr. Rohrer moved to the vicinity of Heller's Church
and resided there until his death, in 1898, at the ripe
age of eighty-three years. His wife passed away in
1874, at the age of fifty-nine years, and both of them
had been among the leading members of the Men-
nonite Church, and were respected and beloved resi-
dents of their neighborhood. They were laid to rest
in the old private cemetery on the Rohrer farm.
Mr. and Mrs, Rohrer had these children : Bar-
bara, who died at the age of nineteen years ; Hattie
B., deceased, who was the wife of David N. Landis ;
Gabriel B., a farmer in Wayne Co., Ohio; Maria
B., who married Milton Grofif, of Bareville, Pa. ;
David B., a farmer in this township ; Wayne B., the
subject of this sketch ; Amanda B., deceased ; Lem-
uel B., a farmer in Texas ; and Emma E., who mar-
ried Christian Landis, of Lancaster City.
Wayne B. Rohrer grew up on the home farm and
acquired his education in the public schools. His
residence has been on the home farm and he has
done much in the way of cultivation and improve-
ment. Although his life has been a quiet and un-
eventful one, he has been much occupied in looking
after his large farming and stock interests, in rearing
his children to honorable maturity, in advancing the
various educational and religious enterprises of his
locality and in setting an example of industrious
and upright living.
The marriage of Mr. Rohrer was on Nov. 19,
1874, in Lancaster, to Miss Barbara A. Staufifer,
and three children were born to this union : Em-
ma, who died at the age of eleven years ; Susannah,
who married Milton B. Landis ; and Christian, who
resides at home. Mr. Rohrer has one granddaughter,
Esther M.
Mrs. Barbara A. (Stauffer) Rohrer was born
at Millcreek, Upper Leacock township, Aug. 8, 1856 ;
she was a daughter of Christian and Susannah
(Rutt) Stauffer, the former of whom was born in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
959
Pequea township, and the latter in the State of New
York. Mr. Stauffer was a farmer for many years,
but lived retired for some twenty years prior to his
death, his life coming to a close Aug. 15, 1900, at
the age of seventy-seven years. His burial was in
Stumptown cemetery. He and his family had for
many years been consistent members of the Men-
nonite Church. The death of the mother was on
May 5, 1900, at the age of seventy-one, the two par-
ents not suffering a long separation. The children
of Mr. and Mrs. Stauffer were: Harry, who died
at the age of thirty-seven; Christian, a farmer in
this township; Barbara, the wife of our subject;
Susan, the wife of David Kreider, a farmer of East
Lampeter township; Benjamin, a farmer of this
township : Israel ; Daniel, who was the oldest, died
young. By a previous marriage, to Anna Rohrer,
one son was born, John R., a farmer of Bart town-
ship.
In politics Mr. Rohrer is a stanch Republican
and takes much interest in the leading issues of the
day. With his family he has for years been a con-
sistent member of the Mennonite Church.
AMOS LEAMAN, a general farmer in Lea-
cock township, where his manly character and in-
dustrious habits have won both friends and a very
generotis share of the goods of this world, was
born in Leacock township Feb. 18, 1853, ^ son of
Benjamin and Fanny (Rohrer) Leaman. The fa-
ther was born in East Lampeter township, and the
mother in Strasburg township.
Benjamin Leaman was a farmer, and died June
15, 1892, at the age of seventy-six years, his wife
having passed to her reward in 187^, at the age of
fifty-six years. They were members of the Men-
nonite Church, and were buried in Mellinger's ceme-
tery, east of Lancaster. Mr. Leaman retired in
1867, and was school director many years. Mr. and
Mrs. Benjamin Leaman had the following family:
Lizzie, married to Henry H. Hershey, of whom a
biographical sketch may be found in another place ;
Benjamin; Catherine; Henry; Fanny, who is dead;
Amos ; Emma.
Amos Leaman was married in New Holland, in
Dec, 1875, to Anna Hershev. To this union was
born one child, who died in infancy. Mrs. Lea-
man, who was born in Leacock township, died Sept.
19, 1877, at the age of twenty-five years, and was
buried in the Hershey cemetery. She was a daugh-
ter of Peter E. Hershey, and the family history is
presented in connection with the sketch of her
Ijrother, Henry Hershey.
The second marriage of Amos Leaman occurred
in Oct., 1880, when he was married in Byerstown,
Pa., by Bishop Isaac Eby, to Lizzie Heller. To this
union have come the following children: Cora,
Bertha, Ivin, Ira, Walter and Isaac, all of whom are
dead ; Noah, Nettie and Mary, at home.
Mrs. Lizzie (Heller) Leaman was born in East
Lampeter township, and died in July, 1893, at the
age of thirty-four years. Her remains rest in the
Hershey cemetery. .She was a daughter of Isaac
G. Heller and a Miss Stauffer, of Lancaster county,
both of whom are dead.
Mr. Leaman remained with his parents until his
marriage, when he began farming, which has been
his occupation to the present time. In 1894 he
moved to the farm where he is found to-day, and
where he has achieved a decided and commendable
success in the tillage of the soil. In his religion he
is a member of the Mennonite Church ; and in his
politics, a Republican.
JOFIN H. LUTZ, a well-known citizen of Co-
lumbia, was born Jan. 4, 1850, in West Hempfield,
son of Reuben and Sarah (Hoffman) Lutz, of Lan-
caster county, who were married Aug. 6, 1846. The
former, born May 11, 1825, died Jan. 8, 1890. The
mother, born Aug. 2, 1827, daughter of Jacob Hoff-
man, died Nov. 14, 1897. Mr. and Mrs. Lutz had
a family of thirteen children. John H. Lutz re-
mained on the home farm up to the age of nineteen,
meanwhile availing himself of the advantages of the
public schools. He then went to Columbia, where
he served an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade
with W. W. Upp and G. W. Paules, and he still
continues to follow this trade.
On Sept. 3, 1872, Mr. Lutz was united in mar-
riage with Miss Amelia E. Beaver, who was born
May 2, 1849, daughter of Martin Beaver, and they
have had two children, Harry B., born June 8, 1875,
who died in 1900, and Myra B. In social connec-
tion Mr. Lutz is a member of the Knights of Malta,
the Knights of the Mystic Chain and the Improved
Order of Heptasophs.
THOMAS S. COLLINS, one of the leading
farmers of Drumore township, was born on July 10,
1855, in Colerain township, a son of James and
Elizabeth (Ewing) Collins, of the same township.
James Collins was born in Colerain township
on April T2, 1830, and is still residing there, a re-
tired farmer. James Collins was the son of Thomas
C. and Mary (McCullough) Collins, of Colerain
township, and they were numbered among the old
settled families of Pennsylvania. Grandfather
Thomas C. Collins was the father of the following
children, born of his first marriage : James ; Hugh
M., of Colerain township ; Cornelius, deceased ;
Thomas H., deceased; Mary, deceased; Grace, the
wife of J. L. Evans ; Sarah, the wife of James G.
McSparran, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in
this work. By his second wife the grandfather had
four children: William, deceased; R. C, of Quar-
ryville ; Emma, of Ohio : Bertha, single. The
maiden name of the second wife was Isabell Camp-
bell. The Collins family is of Scotch-Irish descent,
the great-grandfather, James Collins, coming from
Scotland in the early days and settling in Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania.
The father, James Collins, had eieht children :
960
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
George W., of Colerain township; Thomas S. ;
Saunders M. ; Mary M., wife of F. M. Stevenson;
Grace A., single; Samuel W. ; Eugenia; Hugh R.
James Collins was one of the leading farmers of his
township and is so still, serving as school director,
county auditor and in other capacities, giving great
satisfaction. In addition, he also has been a dele-
gate to the State convention several times, and like
his father before him, and his sons after him, is
a devout member of the Presbyterian Church.
Thomas S. Collins was married to Miss Jennie
N. Clark, of Drumore township, on Dec. 25, 1879,
she being a daughter of Robert and Matilda (Ank-
rim) Clark, of Drumore, and was born on Oct. 12,
1857. Seven children have been born of this union :
Lottie M. and Ethel E., who are at home; Rachel
S., deceased ; Robert S. ; James Ewing, deceased ;
Scott E. ; Hazel N., the youngest.
Mrs. Collins was one of four children: R. L.
of New Park, Pa., a minister of the Presbyterian
Church ; Rachel S., deceased ; James H., deceased ;
and Mrs. Collins. Robert Clark, her father, was
born on Dec. 5, 181 1, and died on March 31, 1885,
while his wife was born on Jan. 6, 1819, and died
in March, 1889. Robert Clark was the son of Rob-
ert Clark, who married Nancy Scott, and they had
the following family: Thomas; Robert; William;
A. Scott: Mary; Jane; Margaret; Nancy; James;
and Eliza.
Thomas S. Collins was reared upon the farm
of his father and received his education in the ex-
cellent schools of I^ancaster county. After attain-
ing his majority, he decided to follow farming as an
occupation and now owns a fine farm of 13s acres
of land under a good state of cultivation, and upon
which is a fine residence well supplied with modern
conveniences. In politics he is a stanch Republican
and has served as school director for the past twen-
ty-one 3'ears. In addition to his other duties, he has
been an auctioneer for many years. All of the fam-
ily are consistent members of the Presbyterian
Church. Honorable in all his dealings, a good citi-
zen and kind neighbor, he has won and held the
esteem of a large circle of friends.
HENRY WISLER, in his lifetime a prominent
agriculturist and highly esteemed citizen of West
Hempfield township, was born on his farm there,
which adjoins the city of Columbia, April 12, 1819,
son of Lewis and Anna (Forrey) Wisler.
Michael Wisler, his grandfather, served about
two years in the Revolutionary war. He was orig-
inally a shoemaker by trade. He jnoved to the farm
lately occupied by Henry Wisler in 1798. He was
a native of Chester county, and his wife, Sophia
(Harpel) Wisler, was born in Montgomery county,
this State. Her maiden name, as shown on the
"Tauff Schein," was Sophia Herblin, but has al-
ways been known as Harpel by her descendants.
Lewis Wisler was born in Philadelphia, Dec. 27,
1780, and was eighteen years of age when, with his
parents, he removed to the farm which in time be-
came the home of his son Henry. He died in Bain-
bridge, Lancaster county, Sept. 25, 1852, and was
buried in Laurel Hill cemetery, which was laid out
upon his farm. In connection with farming he
operated a brickyard for some years, and the busi-
ness was later conducted by his sons. He served as
bridge inspector, and was one of the prominent and
influential citizens of his community. He married
Anna Forrey, who was born, in West Hempfield
township May 31, 1781, and died June 11, 1856. In
their family were the following children : John, who
died March 10, 1863; Michael, who died Feb. 18,
1862 ; Elizabeth, who died in childhood ; Philip, who
died near Newportville, Bucks Co., Pa., Jan. 10,
1890, at the age of eighty years ; Jacob • F., late a
retired citizen of Columbia, who died Feb. 27, 1902 ;
Mary, who married Robert M. Harry, and died in
Columbia, Feb. 26, 1871 ; Samuel, who died in the
same place Jan. 28, 1895 ; Henry, whose name intro-
duces this sketch ; Anna, who married Jonah Wentz,
and died at Litwalton, Va., July 23, 1870; and
Lewis, who died in Hutchinson, Kans., June 26,
T891. Mrs. Anna (Forrey) Wisler was a daughter
of John and Elizabeth (Bixler) Forrey, farming
people, the former of whom was a native of Lan-
caster county, Pa., the latter of Switzerland.
Henry Wisler spent his entire life on the old
homestead, and throughout his active business ca-
reer was successfully engaged in agricultural pur-
suits, making a specialty of dairying. He was- a
man of good business ability and keen discrimina-
tion, and became one of the most prosperous men of
his community, so that in his declining years he was
surrounded by all the comforts of life. In politics
he was independent. He efficiently served as school
director in his district for seven years.
In Columbia, Jan. 29, 1845, Mr. Wisler married
Miss Sarah B. May, who was born in that city
March II, 1826, daughter of Joseph and Patience
(Hinkle) May, of this county. She died Dec. 5,
1854. By that union five children were born, name-
ly : Anna, wife of Joseph H. Zeamer, cashier of the
Centra] Bank of Columbia ; Catherine, who died at
the age of four and a half years ; Mary, who died at
the age of twenty-two; and Elizabeth and Sarah,
both at home.
Mr. Wisler was again married, in West Hemp-
field township, Nov. 25, 1858, his second union be-
ing with Matilda Hogentogler, by whom he had four
children: Henry, who married Anna Hinkle, and
assists in the operation of the home farm ; and Sam-
uel, Emma B., and Minnie A., all at home. The hus-
band and father entered into rest May 11, 1901, and
sleeps in Laurel Hill cemetery.
M rs.. Wisler was born in West Hempfield town-
ship Feb. 6, 1839, daughter of Jacob and Ann (Hog-
entogler) Hogentogler, who spent their lives in that
township, the father, who was a mechanic, dying in
1865, aged sixty years; the mother died in 1893,
aged eighty-seven. Their remains rest in Laurel Hill
Wt^t^iyyt^Oj-C^^/m^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
961
cemetery. Religiously they were members of the
Reformed Church, and they were most estimable
people. In their family were the following children :
Mary, deceased wife of Samuel Lockard ; John and
Sarah, deceased ; Joseph ; Matilda, now Mrs. Wisler ;
Henry, who was a farmer on the old homestead, and
died Aug. 13, 1901, and was buried in Laurel Hill
cemetery ; Frank, a machinist of Columbia ; and
Charlotte, wife of Edward Billett, a mechanic of
Columbia. Mrs. Wisler's paternal grandparents
were John and Christiana Hogentogler, of West
Hempfield township, and her maternal grandparents
were John and Mary (Charles) Hogentogler, na-
tives of West Hempfield and Manor townships, re-
spectively.
S. P. MODERWELL, one of the representative
farmers of Lancaster county, is also one of its most
intelligent and highly esteemed citizens. Mr. Mod-
erwell was born on Jan. 28, 1852, in Colum-
bia, Pa., a son of Adam Patterson and Amelia
Moderwell, Adam a native of Lancaster county, and
Amelia a native of Selinsgrove.
Grandfather John Moderwell was the father of
eight children: Samuel, Robert, Thomas, John,
Adam, Eliza, Nancy and Mary J., all of them hav-
ing passed out of life.
Adam Patterson Moderwell, a son of John, and
the father of S. P. Moderwell, of Martic township,
was born in 1812, and in 1835 was united in mar-
riage to Amelia Snyder Selin, of Selinsgrove, Sny-
der county, and to them were born ten children :
Catherine, who married Dr. H. E. Raub, of Quar-
ryville, Lancaster county ; Samuel S., of Philadel-
phia ; Sarah E., of Columbia ; Maggie, deceased ;
James R. S., deceased; Susan, deceased; John, de-
ceased ; Robert, deceased ; Mary, the wife of Will-
iam B. Fasig, of Columbia ; and S. P., of Martic.
Mr. Moderwell began his business career at the
age of fourteen years, in a printing office, remain-
ing until he was master of the trade, and then enter-
ing into partnership with William Hays Grier on
the Columbia Herald, later selling his interest to
Robert Risk. Then Mr. Moderwell embarked in
the job printing business, combining with it book-
binding. When he also sold this, he removed to
his farm, in Martic township. During his residence
in Columbia he was elected to the office of chief
burgess, and during Cleveland's last administration
was in the government employ. Since coming to
his farm, which contains fifty acres of fine land, Mr.
Moderwell has given it his entire attention. His
elegant, modern residence is probably the finest in
this section and here he and his charming and es-
timable wife delight to show hospitality to their
scores of friends.
The marriage of Mr. Moderwell united him
with a lady of culture, education and refinement.
Miss Nellie J. Haldeman, of Columbia, a daughter
of Benjamin and Mary Haldeman, the marriage be-
ing celebrated on Feb.' 15, iSy^,- One son has been
61
born to j\Ir. and Mrs. Moderwell, Charles _ Selin,
born on Sept. 18, 1874, who remains with his par-
ents, carrying on farming operations. Like his
father, he is a stanch member of the Democratic
party, and occupies an enviable place in the com-
munity.
Mrs. Moderwell was born on Aug. 8, 185 1, and
she was reared and educated in Columbia. Her
father, Benjamin Haldeman, was born in 181 1 and
died in 1885, and in 1835 married Mary Ann Sneed-
er; she was born in 1815, and died in 1879. They
reared a family of eight children : Sarah J., de-
ceased; Mary A., deceased; Benjamin S., deceased!;.
Ann Elizabeth, deceased ; John D., deceased ; James
B., a Civil war veteran, who has made his home
with Mrs. Moderwell for the past nineteen years;
Nellie; and Neal Dow, also deceased. The family
is of German ancestry.
For several years Mrs. Moderwell was a teacher-
in the public schools of Columbia and in the county,,
and is a lady of accomplishments and literary tastes.
She cultivates those refining influences which give-
pleasure to life and in these efforts is ably assisted
by both her husband and son. The family is one
which is valued highly in the neighborhood and
throughout the community.
SAMUEL BARD, Jr., a prominent and suc-
cessful farmer and tobacco packer, residing in Me-
chanicsburg, I^ancaster county, was born on the old
homestead in Upper I^eacock township, on April 7,
1863, and comes of one of the old and substantial
families of the county. His parents were Samuel'
and Leah (Stuck) Bard, the latter also of a well-
known family.
Samuel Bard, the father, now a retired farmer
of this township, was born here on Oct. 15, 1816,
and was a son of George and Elizabeth (Swope)
Bard, residents of Upper Leacock township, al-
though both died in East Lampeter township. Un-
til 1843 Grandfather Bard was a farmer, but hav-
ing acquired a competency, he retired at that time,
dying in 1856, at the age of eighty-four years. The-
mother died in 1850, at the age of sixty-six, and
both these grandparents of our subject were laid
to rest in a private cemetery on a part of their old
farm. Grandfather Bard was a prominent man in
the county and he was entrusted with the office of
poor director. Both he and his wife long were
members of the Lutheran Church. The children
born to this couple were : Margaret, who married
David Kurtz; Jacob; Henrv; Mary, who married
Henry Shreiner ; George ; Adam ; Levi ; Samuel, the
father of our subject; Elizabeth, who married Hen-
ry Forney; Peter, and Abraham, all of this numer-
ous family having passed away with the exception
of Samuel Bard. The great-grandparents were
George P. and Margaret (Kitzmiller) Bard, farm-
ers of Upper Leacock township.
Samuel Bard, son of George Bard, and the father
of Samuel Bard, Jr., was married on Nov. 21, 1843,
962
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in Leacock to\ynship, to Leah Stuck, and to this
union were born : Susannah, who died young ;
G. WilHe, who died at the age of seven ; Harry S.,
who married AmeHa East, and lives in Reading.
Pa. ; Sarah Ann, died in infancy ; Milton, who died
young; James M., still unmarried, who lives in
Reading; Laura F., who married A. B. Bausman,
a veterinary surgeon of Millersville ; Justice F., a
farmer and tobacco packer of Upper Leacock town-
ship, who married Alice Miller; Agnes, residing at
home ; Samuel ; and Ida A., residing in the old home.
The mother of our subject was born in Cocalico
township on Dec. 31, 1824, and died on Feb. 5, 1901,
and was reverently laid away by the side of the little
children gone before, in the old burial spot, on the
family grounds. She was a daughter .of George
A. and Sarah (Withers) Stuck, of Ephrata town-
ship, the former of whom was a well-known farmer.
His death occurred in Cocalico township in 1832,
at the age of forty; the mother of Mrs. Bard died
at the age of eighty-five.
Lentil 1888 Samuel Bard cultivated the old home
farm, but at that date he retired from activity, re-
moving then to his present most comfortable home
at Bards Cross Roads on the New Holland and Lan-
caster turnpike. Mr. Bard has long been an active
Republican and anxious to advance the interests of
his party, but he has never sought office, serving
only in the position of township auditor, filling that
office with credit to all concerned. He is held in
high esteem through his neighborhood.
Samuel Bard, Jr., of this sketch, is one of the
leading men of this section of Lancaster county,
both on account of his honorable family and also as
a result of his extensive farming interests and to-
bacco operations. From 1888, when his father re-
tired from the active management of the business of
the large farm, the son has conducted it success-
fully, moving to his present highly cultivated and
improved estate in 1900.
The marriage of Mr. Bard connected him with
a family which traces an almost unbroken line back
to its native Switzerland. The Rohrers are one of
the oldest families of Lancaster county, though they
first settled in Montgomery county. The wedding
of Samuel Bard, Jr., to Miss Lettie F. Rohrer was
in Mechanicsburg, on Dec. 27, 1887, and the chil-
dren born to this union are : Florence J., Leah E.,
G. Philip and Margaret F.
Mrs. Lettie F. (Rohrer) Bard was born in East
Lampeter township, Lancaster county, on Feb. 7,
1868, and she was a daughter of Adam and Eliza-
beth (Buckwalder) Rohrer, who were prorninent
farmers of Lancaster county, and also leaders in the
tobacco packing business.. Father Rohrer died on
July 15, 1895, "at the age of fifty years, and both
father and mother belonged to the Old Mennonite
Church. The mother still resides in Lancaster.
Mr. Rohrer took a great interest in educational mat-
ters and for a long period was a school director.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer were : Wit-
mer B., a clerk in Rossmere, Pa. ; Sadie A., who
married Luther A. Kunkle, residing in Berwick,
Pa. ; Lettie, the estimable wife of Mr. Bard ; Susie
J., Mary and Ida, all of whom reside in Lancaster
with their mother. The paternal grandparents of
Mrs. Bard were Jacob and Mary (Shaffer) Rohrer,
the former of whom removed to Greenfield Station
after he retired from active work on the farm. He
died in 1902 at the age of eighty-one and his wife
died in 1885 at the age of sixty-five. The maternal
grandparents of Mrs. Bard were Benjamin and
Susan (Johns) Buckwalder, also farming people of
this county. Mrs. Buckwalder died in 1862 at the
early age of forty-six, but her husband lived to be
eighty- two, dying in 1898.
Mr. Bard of this sketch, like his father, is an
ardent Republican and has efficiently served his
township as clerk. The family belong to the Luth-
eran Church and Mr. Bard is one of its leading sup-
porters and constant attendants. His standing be-
fore his fellow-citizens proves that he fulfills the
duties of life in a manner to commend him to their
confidence and respect.
JOHN S. HAMAKER. Prominently identi-
fied with the material growth of Mt. Joy, Pa., is
the well-known citizen, John S. Hamaker. Mr.
Plamaker was born in Conoy township, this county,
on June S, 1854, a son of Abraham and Catherine
(Spickler) Hamaker, of Conoy and Mt. Joy town-
ships, respectively.
Abraham Hamaker is a resident of Manheim,
Pa.; he was born in Conoy township in 1828, and
has followed the occupation of a miller. His wife,
who was born in 1827, died in 1897, and the children
belonging to this family are : Samuel, a cigar man-
ufacturer, of Manheim; John S., of this sketch;
Mary, who married Benjamin Donevan, a wheel-
wright and an ex-postmaster of Manheim; Amos,
who lives retired, in Manheim; Abraham, a cigar
manufacturer, of Manheim; William, a carpenter,
of Manheim; Emma, who married Warren Druck-
enmiller, a cigar manufacturer, of Manheim;
Frank, an artist, of William sport, Pa. ; and Kate, de-
ceased. The paternal grandparents were John and
Elizabeth (Bossier) Hamaker, farmers in Lan-
caster county, while the maternal grandparents were
Peter and Mary (Shreiner) Spickler.
John S. Hamaker was reared and educated in
his home neighborhood, but early evinced a talent
in wood working, and at the age of fifteen prevailed
upon his parents to permit him to learn the cabinet-
making trade, in Mount Joy, under the capable in-
struction of Martin Strickler, and in three years was
a reliable and careful workman. Until 1878 Mr.
Hamaker followed the carpenter trade, and then be-
gan his successful career as contractor and builder.
This business requires more skill than in former
years, as people are becoming more cultivated and
more exacting in their demands, but Mr. Hamaker
has been prepared for this, and the present beautiful
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
963
town of Mt. Joy proves the assertion, for the larger
number of its stately residences and attractive
homes are the work of his brain and hands.
The marriage of Mr. Hamaker was in Mount
Joy, to Miss Anna M. Barnhart, who was born in
Mount Joy, a daughter of Israel and Lydia (Bear)
Barnhart, of York county; the latter has passed
away, but the former resides with his son-in-law.
Two sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hamaker,
William, attending a medical college^ and Edgar, at
home.
Mr. Haymaker for three years was a school di-
rector and has always taken an interest in educa-
tional matters. Socially he is connected with the
order of Red Men, and with the A. M. U. A., and
the Knights of the Golden Eagle. For many years
he has been an elder in the religious body known as
the Church of God. In politics he is a Republican,
and is one of the best citizens of this locality, well
representing the building interests of this part of
the township. He also is a member of the town
. council and is the superintendent of the Church of
God Sunday School.
WILIJAM THOMAS WORTH, M. D., a
young and rising physician of Bainbridge, Lancas-
ter county, was born in Colerain township, in this
county, April 21, 1872, and is a son of Albert and
Letitia J. (Beyer) Worth, both natives of Colerain
township, where they are now making their home.
The father was a farmer, and in his more active
days took a prominent part in public affairs, serving
two terms as county commissioner, and filling other
town offices. The father was born Sept. 18, 1843,
and the mother, March 6, 1844; they have had the
following children born to them: Lydia L., a
teacher, and at home ; William T. ; Davis R., who
died at the age of eighteen years ; Delia R., the wife
of John Kimble, a farmer at Nottingham, Pa. ;
Lillian and Lenora, twins, who both died young;
Mary A., at home.
Dr. Worth was married March i, 1898, in Uni-
corn, East Drumore township, in this, county, to
Miss Elizabeth Nissley, and they have one child,
Gretta Allene. Mrs. Worth was born in East Dru-
more township, and is the daughter of Samuel and
Ellen (Hershey) Nissley, both born and bred in
this county, and now residing in East Drumore
township. Mrs. Worth is a bright and charming
young woman, and makes her home the center of
many warm and hearty friendships.
Dr. Worth was reared on his parents' farm un-
til he reached the age of eighteen years, and had
prepared himself for admission to the State Nor-
mal School at Millersville, from which he was grad-
uated in 1893. Immediately he entered the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, from which he was gradu-
ated in 1897. For two vears he practiced his pro-
fession at Unicorn, and in April, 1899 removed to
Bainbridge, where his thorough knowledge of his
profession and his manly character have commanded
a generous recognition, winning him many friends,
and building up a good practice.
Dr. Worth belongs to the I. O. O. F., and the
Sr. O. U. A. M., where his presence is very wel-
come and his influence felt. In his politics he is
a Republican, and in his religion he is a member of
the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Worth is known as
a capable and progressive member of his profession,
and is actively connected with the following medi-
cal societies : The Pennsylvania State Society, The
Lancaster City and County Medical Society, and
The College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia,
Pa. He is a public-spirted citizen, awake to the
best interests of the community in which he has cast
his lot.
GEORGE A. SHILLOW, the enterprising
young proprietor of a slaughter house and meat
market in Columbia, was born in Marietta, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., Dec. 3, 1869, and is a son of John
and Margaret (Zeigler) Shillow, natives of Ger-
many. John Shillow came to Columbia, Pa., in an
early day and was proprietor of a meat-market. He
lost his wife in 1880, when she was forty-five years
old, and his own death took place in January, 1886,
at the age of fifty. He had been twice married, first
to Margaret Zeigler and secondly to Frances
Knapp, of whom mention is made in full on another
page. To his first marriage were born seven chil-
dren in the following order: John, meat-market
proprietor in Marietta; Anna, deceased wife of
Ernest Manlick; Frank, a speculator in Columbia;
George A. ; Leonard, a traveling salesman of Lan-
caster; Margaret, unmarried, in Philadelphia; and
Elizabeth, also single, in Columbia.
George A. Shillow lived with his father until the
latter's death, and then with his brother John, on
the old homestead, until 1894, when he came to Co-
lumbia. On June 30, 1892, he married Marinda
M. Peck, and to this marriage have been born Mar-
guerite, George (deceased) and Anna C. (de-
ceased). Mrs. Marinda M. (Peck) Shillow was
born in East Donegal township, Lancaster Co., Pa.,
Dec. 28, 1870, and is a daughter of Nicholas L. and
Malinda L. (Martin) Peck, respectively natives of
East Donegal township, Lancaster county, and York
Co., Pa. Nicholas L. Peck was born March 22,
1841, and his wife, Nov. 22, 1848; they are re-
tired farming people and live in Maytown, East
Donegal township. To their marriage were born:
Anna L., wife of Dr. H. S. Williams, of Meriden,
Conn. ; Marinda, now Mrs. Shillow ; Bertha K.,
married to Henry P. Frank, of East Donegal town-
ship ; and Nicholas M. and Verna F., at home.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Shillow were
Nicholas M. and Eliza L. (Longenecker) Peck, of
East Donegal township, the former of whom was
a farmer and veterinary surgeon. The maternal
grandparents were Jacob and Catherine (Hess)
Martin, of Manor township, Lancaster county, who
early removed to York county and led an agricul-
964
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
tural life. George A. Shillow and family are mem-
bers of the Catholic church and are highly respected
both within and without its pale. He is a member
of the Catholic Benevolent League, and in politics is
a Democrat.
CALVIN R. STRICKLER, the well-known
hardware merchant of Columbia, Pa., is a native of
York county, this State, born in Hellam township,
Nov. 8, 1866, a son of Alfred D. and Elizabeth
(Ruby) Strickler. His father is a farmer by occu-
pation and has served as school director in his dis-
trict for two terms. Calvin R. is the oldest of their
children, the others being Edward D., a cigar box
manufacturer ; and Susan, wife of Morgan E. Gipe,
of the -firm of Strawinski & Gipe, dry goods mer-
chants of York.
Calvin R. Strickler traces his ancestry back to
Jacob Strickler, a native of Switzerland, who, on
his emigration to America, located in Hellam town-
ship, York county. His son, John Strickler, spent
his entire life as an agriculturist upon the old home
farm in York county. He married Susan Garber.
The next in direct descent were Jacob and Eliza-
beth (Deitz) Strickler, the grandparents of Calvin
R. They, too, lived on the old homestead in York
county. The grandfather was a farmer by occu-
pation, and was one of the organizers of the First
National Bank of Wrightsville, of which he was
a director up to the time of his death. Calvin R.
Strickler's maternal grandfather was Samuel Ruby,
a native of York county, and a son of Peter Ruby,
one of the pioneers of the county. There the former
made his home throughout life, being engaged in
farming and the operation of a mill. He was a
shrewd and capable business man, and legal adviser
to many. He was one of the leading Democrats of
his township and served as surveyor and justice of
the peace.
Reared on the home farm, Calvin R. Strickler
attended the country schools during the winter
until eighteen years of age, the York County Acad-
emy, York, Pa., the Millersville State Normal
School and the Poughkeepsie Business College,
graduating from the latter institution in February,
1885. He then came to Columbia, Pa., where he ob-
tained a position in the First National Bank as mes-
senger, and so capably and satisfactorily did he dis-
charge his duties that he was promoted several
times, having served as receiving teller, individual
bookkeeper, and paying teller. He is a man of ex-
cellent business ability and sound judgment and has
met with well-deserved success in his undertakings.
He was at one time director and vice-president of
the Columbia Electric Light & Power Company,
and is at present director and treasurer of the East
Columbia Land Company, and treasurer and di-
rector of the Columbia Flint Company.
On June 8, 1894, in Lancaster, Pa., Mr. Strick-
ler married Miss Harriet M. Bursk, by whom he
has three children, namely : Alford B., Daniel B.
and Jacob H. Mrs. Strickler is a .native of Lan-
caster, where her parents, Daniel and Ellen (Wid-
meyer) Bursk, still reside, her father being the
oldest grocer engaged in business in that city. He
is an active worker in the Lutheran Church and
one of the main instigators of the Young Men's
Christian Association, of which he was the first
president.
Mr. Strickler is a prominent and active member
of the Presbyterian Church of Columbia, in which
he is now serving as secretary and trustee. By his
ballot, he supports the men and measures of the Re-
publican party and takes a commendable interest in
public affairs, giving his support to all enterprises
which he believes calculated to prove of public
benefit. He is now serving his second term as bor-
ough auditor.
HIRAM P. HERR, a farmer of Rapho town-
ship, Lancaster county, was born in Mt. Joy town-
ship, Nov. 16, 1864.
John Herr, his father, a veterinary surgeon of
Rapho township, was born in Mt. Joy township,.
Jan. II, 1834, son of Rudolph and Anna (Hostet-
ter) Herr, of Manor township. Rudolph Herr was
born March 10, 1801, in Manor township, where he
married, and moved to Mt. Joy township, remain-
ing there until the time of his death, which occurred
March 23.. 1888. He retired five years previously.
The mother was born Sept. 26, 1796, and died Sept.
28, 1884. There were born to this union the fol-
lowing children: Abraham, who is a farmer of
Mt. Joy township ; Mattie, deceased wife of Abra-
ham Zook : Mary, widow of John Shiffer, of Mt.
Joy town.ship ; Anna, wife of Samuel Sherer, of Mt.
Joy township ; Rudy, of Dauphin county ; John ;
Catherine, who died unmarried in 1901 ; Susanna,
unmarried, of York county. Pa. ; and Elizabeth,
widow of Fliram Beatty, of East Donegal township.
John Herr married Barbara Peters Nov. 23,
1856, in Mt. Joy township. To this union have been
born the following children: Lizzie, wife of Ben-
jamin Whutman, a carpenter of Rapho township;
Henry, a farmer of Rapho township; John, a far-
mer of Penn township; Hiram P., our subject;
.Anna, wife of Samuel Becker, of Manheim town-
ship ; Jacob, a farmer of Rapho township ; Benja-
min, deceased; Abraham, deceased; Joseph, de-
ceased in infancy ; Kate, wife of Simeon Ginder, of
Mt. Joy township ; Minnie, wife of Peter Brubaker,
a farmer; and Eli. Mrs. John Herr was born in
Mt. Joy township, Oct. 2, 1838, and was the daugh-
ter of John and Lizzie (Shank) Peters, of Mt. Joy
and West Donegal townships. Both the parents
died in Mt. Joy township, the father in 1863, at the
age of fifty-seven years, and the mother in 1891, at
the age of eighty-two years. He was a farmer.
They were members of the Mennonite Church.
Children as follows were born to their union :
Susan, widow of Edward Brinze, of Mt. Joy; Bar-
bara, Mrs. Herr ; Lizzie, wife of Jacob Hoffman, of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
965
Mt. Joy township; Anna, wife of Samuel Risser,
of Dauphin county; and Katie, wife of Henry Eby,
of Mt. Joy township.
John Herr hved with his parents until the age
■of twenty-three years, when he engaged in farming
for himself. In 1872 he moved to Rapho township,
and has practiced as a veterinary surgeon for the
past forty years. He is a member of the River
Brethren Church and in political sentiment is a Re-
publican.
Hiram P. Herr was married to Miss Lizzie
Shelley, of Rapho township, Sept. 26, 1886. No
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Herr.
Mrs. Herr was born in Rapho township in October,
1862, and is a daughter of Benjamin Shelley. Mr.
Plerr is a member of the Brethren in Christ.
WILLIAM W. ERB, of Mt. Nebo, Lancaster
county, is one of the enterprising farmers of Martic
township: he was born in Conestoga township on
Nov. 26, 1863, a son of John and Maria (Whitmer)
Erb, both of whom were natives of Lancaster
county.
John Erb -was born in West Lampeter township
on Aug. 25, 1814, and he died in Martic township
on Dec. 31, 1894, leaving a most estimable widow,
who still resides on the home farm. Her birth was
■on Feb. 2, 1824. Grandfather Jacob Erb was one
of the early settlers of Lancaster county. The chil-
dren born to John Erb and wife were : Susan, of
Martic township ; Amaziah, deceased ; Anna E.,
deceased ; John, deceased : Mahlon, a resident of
Martic township; Amanda, deceased; Henry, a
merchant of Mt. Nebo; Mary J., residing at-home;
Emanuel, deceased ; Clayton, a farmer of Martic,
■on the home farm ; Frank, a miller, of this township ;
and William.
William W. Erb is one of the best educated and
most thoroughly equipped farmers in this locality.
His education was obtained in the public schools,
and this has been supplemented by judicious read-
ing and study of the best methods of carrying on
agricultural work. His fine farm of 131 acres of
excellent and productive land testifies that he is a
practical as well as a theoretical farmer, while his
fine residence is both comfortable and attractive,
and his tobacco barn and excellent stables are just
what they should be in order to ensure successful
and remunerative farming.
The marriage of William Erb was on Nov. 27,
1890, to Miss Emma D. Stevenson, of Mount Nebo,
a daughter of Columbus and Marv (Clark) Steven-
son, of Martic township, her birth being on March
15, 1866. Four little ones have come to Mr. and
Mrs. Erb: Walter C, born on Oct. 2, 1891, a
bright little lad: Ruth S., born on Jan. 7, 1894;
Samuel C, who was born on Dec. 4, 1896 ; and Mary
Maria, born April s, 1902. All of these are particu-
larly bright and attractive children.
Mr. Erb was reared in the Mennonite faith and
is a young man who can always be relied upon to
cast his influence in the direction of those enter-
prises which promise to advance his section in
morality, temperance and education. Although not
an active politician, he is a stanch member of the
Republican party. As an honorable citizen, excel-
lent neighbor, devoted husband and father, Wil-
liam W. Erb stands in high esteem among the citi-
zens of his community.
KINZER BENDER, Jr., a farmer and stock
dealer of Upper Leacock townshijD, was born on
his present farm, Feb. 28, 1857, and is a son of
Kinzer and Leah H. (Bergenbine) Bender. His
father, who is dead, was born on the farm where
Kinzer Bender, Jr., is now living; and his mother
was a native of Warwick township. Kinzer
Bender, Sr.,' was a farmer on the one place for over
forty years, and died in Upper Leacock township,
where he had lived retired for some ten years. He
was buried in the Heller Church cemetery in Upper
Leacock township. His widow, who was born in
.1821, is still living in Lancaster county. To them
were born : George, in the livery business in Lan-
caster; Salome, who married Enos Diller, and is
now dead; Emma, who married John K. Deam,
and lives in Intercourse; Kinzer; Anna, married
to Edwin Sutton, of New Holland ; David and
Aaron, who both died in infancy. Mr. Bender was
married three times, his first wife being a Miss
Weidler, and his second wife, a sister to the first.
The paternal great-grandparents of Kinzer
Bender were the first to be buried in the Heller
Church cemetery, in Upper Leacock township. The
present farm was settled by them. In 1812 their
son rebuilt the present brick house, one of the ver}^
first of the kind in L-ancaster county. In 1805 was
built a bam, which was destroyed by fire.
Kinzer Bender, Jr., was married Nov. 24, 1878,
in Upper Leacock township, to Lizzie Geist, a
daughter of John Geist. She was born in Man-
heim township, Oct. 23, 1858. To them were born:
Olive, who married Joseph N. Mohn, a school
teacher ; Lettie, who married Clayton Ravegum, a
farmer of West Earl township; Ida V., at home;
Ellis G. ; Aaron K. ; J. Miles: Herbert L. ;
Vernon U.
Mr. Bender remained on his present farm until
T891. That year he bought a farm of eighty-seven
acres in York county. The two farms he carries
on together, and is largely engaged in stock raising.
Mr. Bender belongs to the Evangelical Association,
and in politics is a Republican. He stands well in
the community, and is highly considered by those
who know him best.
ALBERT M. KEEN, of Fulton township, is
one of the young and energetic farmers of Lancas-
ter county. He was born Feb. 27, 1861, at Quarry-
ville, Eden township. He is the son of Jacob and
Elizabeth Keen, of Lancaster county.
Elijah Keen, the grandfather, was a native of
<J66
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Lancaster county, but of German origin. He had
the following family : Eliza ; Josiah and Jacob, de-
ceased : Henry, residing in Quarryville ; Isaac, of
Little Britain township; Elias, of Eden township;
and Mary Ann, of Lancaster City. Jacob Keen,
father of Albert M., married Elizabeth, daughter of
John Mowrer, of Quarryville, Pa., in 1857. The
union of Mr. and Mrs. Keen resulted in the birth
of the following children: Emeline, single, a resi-
dent of Lancaster City; Albert M., of this sketch;
John G., single, of Lancaster; Abbie, of Camargo,
Eden township, unmarried; Edgar T., married,
living in Chester county ; and Laura E., single, liv-
ing at home with her mother, in Quarryville.
Albert M. Keen married Miss Mary E. Seipel,
daughter of Joseph Seipel, of Drumore township, ■
Lancaster county. This marriage has b.een a happ}/
one and has been blessed with a fine family, as fol-
lows : Louisa Elizabeth, born Sept. 4, 1884, and
now at home ; Jacob A., born Dec. 5, 1886 ; Edith
v., born Aug. 13, 1888; Roy, born Jan. 28, 1890;
and Bertha, born April 15, 1894. Mrs. Keen was
born Jan. 20, 1854.
Mr. Keen had a struggle to get a start in life,
but he got it and has made every use of his ability
in the accumulation of a competency. He owns 103
acres of land, his farm having a handsome dwelling
on it and all outbuildings of the most modern and
approved character. He is a member of the Pres-
byterian Church. He votes the Republican ticket.
His family is highly respected in the neighborhood
and has long been prominently identified with social
life, and he is regarded as one of the substantial
and responsible citizens of the township.
MICHAEL WENGER. The Wenger family
is an old and prominent one of Lancaster county,
where it has conducted large agricultural operations
for many years.
Michael Wenger was born on the old Wenger
farm in West Earl township. May 9, 1822, and died
Feb. 28, 1858, and was buried with' others of his
family in the old Mennonite cemetery in Groffsdale.
His parents were Michael, Sr., and Elizabeth
(Groff) Wenger, of West Earl township, the former
of whom was a prominent farmer there. The chil-
dren born to these worthy people were : Mattie,
who married Levi Groff ; Maria, who married Chris-
tian Mellinger: Marks, who married Maria Gray-
bill ; Gabriel, who married Mattie Herr ; Michael ;
Susannah, who married Benjamin Westheffer ; Joel,
who first' married Ann Swarr, and, second, mar-
ried Sally Kaffroth; Elizabeth, who married Benja-
min Mover; Menno, who married Fannie Ham-
maker; and Frances, who married Benjamin Groff.
The paternal grandparents of Michael Wenger were
Rev. Joseph and Mary (Herst) Wenger, natives of
Lancaster county, the former of whom was a noted
Mennonite preacher as well as farmer.
On Nov. 30, 1847, Michael Wenger was married
in Lancaster, by the Rev. Becker, to Susan Diller,
and the children born to this union were: Levan,
a farmer of West Earl township, who married Hat-
tie Sensenig, deceased; Francis, who died at the
age of twelve years ; Anna M. ; and Sarah E., who
married Dr. H. F. C. Heagey, of Cochranville, Pa.,
and who has four children — Francis W., Anna R.,
Susie M., and Mary E. (deceased).
Mrs. Susan (Diller) Wenger was born in New
Holland, on March 5, 1822, a daughter of Isaac and
Susan (Graybill) Diller; the former of whom was.
born in New Holland, and the latter in West 'Earl
township. They were farming people, and the
father died in 1835 at the age of thirty-three years ;,
the mother in 1824, at the age of twenty-two; both
were buried in Carpenter's Church cemetery, in
Earlville. The children of this marriage were;
Anna, deceased, who married Adam Wenger, and
had three sons ; Susan, the wife of Michael Wenger.
The second marriage of Father Diller was to Sarah
Graybill, and the children of this marriage were;
Rachel, who married Diller Bear, and had two-
daughters ; and Roland, who died unmarried. The
paternal . grandparents were Isaac and Susan
(Roland) Diller, of New Holland, where the former
was a farmer. Isaac Diller was a son of Isaac Dil-
ler, and grandson of Philip A. Diller. Casper Diller
came from Switzerland in 1731 and settled on lanq.
which is now the site of New Holland, and his sons,
were: Hans A.; Philip Adam; Peter; and Daniell
Michael Wenger remained on the old homestead
farm of eighty acres, although for a time in his-
younger days he taught school: He lived a life of
piety antl industry, and was an active member of the
German Baptist Church. In politics he was a Re-
publican. After his death his family removed to-
another farm and again in 1870, to Bareville. Mrs.
Wenger is connected with the German Baptist
Church, while her daughter is equally active in the
United Brethren Church, the whole family being:
among the most highly esteemed citizens of Lan-
caster county.
HENRY H. KAEGEL, proprietor of the Mari-
etta Rolling Mills, of East Donegal township, lo-
cated on Big and Little Chickies creeks, is one of
the prominent citizens of Lancaster county. Mr.
Kaegel was born in Lancaster, Pa., in June, 1857, a.
son of Adam and Caroline (Herman) Kaegel,
natives of Illinois, who came to Lancaster county
about 1855, settling there and engaging in milling
for a number of years. The death of Adam Kaegel
took place in West Hempfield, in 1882, at the age
of seventy-five; The mother, aged seventy, resides
in Marietta in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Mary
Appel. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kaegel connected them-
selves with the Lutheran Church, many years ago-
and their lives ever displayed Christian traits. The
children born to these estimable people were:
Henry H. ; John, a miller, in Juniata county ; and
Marv, who married Harry Appel, of Marietta.
Henry H. Kaegel, of this biography, was edu-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
967
cated in the common schools of his district, re-
maining until the age of nineteen with his father,
learning the milling business, and in 1873 he pur-
chased the Big Chickies mill, located in Rapho
township, operating this mill for seventeen years,
and becoming well and favorably known to the
farming district for many miles in the township.
Later Mr. Kaegel took charge of his present mill,
purchasing it from B. F. Heistand. This plant
was erected in 1S14, by William Sherrer and is a
landmark in the neighborhood, having stood since
those early days without mark of decay. It is a
valuable property, the power being 60-horse water
power, and is well and successfully managed by
its competent owner.
In Marietta, Pa., in 1876, Henry H. Kaegel and
Susan A. Marley were united in marriage, and to
this union have been born : Ella, Elwood, Rebecca,
Oliver, and Raymond. Mrs. Kaegel was born in
York county. Pa., on Oct. 13, 1857, a daughter of
Adam and Rebecca (Derr) Marley, of York county,
who came to Lancaster county in 1858, settling in
Rapho township, where the father followed his
trade of cooper. He died in 1894, at the age of sev-
enty-five, and was buried at Silver Springs. The
mother resides with her daughter in East Donegal
township, a beloved member of the family. The
family of Mr. and Mrs. Marley consisted of six
children : George, of Columbia, Pa. ; Edward, of
Marietta; Elizabeth, who married Granville Shoe-
maker and lives at Collins Station, Lancaster
county; Adam, of Marietta; Catherine, who mar-
ried Herman Drager, and lives in East Donegal;
and Susan.
The family of Mr. Kaegel has been reared in
the faith of the Lutheran Church, and he possesses
the respect and esteem of the whole community.
During a long and industrious life, he has accumu-
lated considerable means, by the application of
honesty and energy, and is still at the head of an
important and growing industry.
RUFUS K. COOPER. Among the prominent
and successful business citizens of Mechanicsburg,
Pa., is Rufus K. Cooper, who has been prominently
identified with many of the local offices during the
past few years, but is now the owner and operator of
a first-class bakery, supplying a long felt want in
this part of the town.
The paternal grandparents of our subject were
Isaac and Rebecca (Geyer) Cooper, natives of
Berks and Lancaster counties, respectively, and the
maternal ancestors bore equally honorable names,
being John P. and Catherine (Kinzie) Kraatz, of
Lancaster county, ' where the former was a well-
known school teacher.
Rufus K. Cooper was born in Brownstown, in
West Earl township, Jan. 13, 1863, a son of Martin
G. and Hannah (Kraatz) Cooper, natives of this
county, the former of whom was born in West Earl
and the latter in Ephrata townships, the birth of the
father being on July 21, 1838, and that of the
mother, on March 24, 1840. By trade Mr. Cooper
is a paper hanger, glazier, grainer and painter. Both
he and his wife are members of the Evangelical As-
sociation Church. The two children of these par-
ents are Rufus K., and Katie C, who married
Charles Swartz, a merchant in Talmadge, Pennsyl-
vania.
On Feb. 3, 1884, Mr. Cooper was united in mar-
riage to Miss Susan L. Kreider, and they have had
the following family : Clarence K., Gertie K., Mamie
K., Charles R., Lester K., Lottie M. and Mabel H.
Mrs. Cooper was born in East Lampeter township,
and was a daughter of J^avid L. and Mary (Landis)
Kreider, prominent farmers.
The early education of Rufus K. Cooper, of this
sketch, was secured in the district schools and later
he enjoyed educational advantages at the Central
Pennsylvania College, of which he is a graduate,
beginning his course there at the age of seventeen
years. Following his marriage he engaged in farm-
ing, although from the age of thirteen to twenty-
one he had assisted his father at painting, thus be-
coming qualified to follow that trade. His father-
in-law desired his assistance on the farm in East
Lampeter township and he remained operating it
for sixteen years. In the spring of 1901 he came to
Mechanicsburg to live, opening up his present pros-
perous business.
In politics Mr. Cooper has always been an active
Republican, and has been of signal use to his party.
For two years he was clerk in the recorder's office
and assisted materially in the making of the new
index. He also made a new index in the Orphans'
Court office in 1891, and since then has been at dif-
ferent times assistant clerk in the Orphans' Court
office. On Sept. 11, 1901, he was appointed justice
of the peace by Gov. Stone, for an unexpired term,
and in February, 1902, was elected for a full term
ending May 6, 1907.
SIMON CAMERON HEISEY, one of the
leading business men of Rheems, Pa., has several
distinct lines of action to occupy his attention, and
it is not too much to say that each one is thoroughly
worked. He is a farmer, carries on a butcher busi-
ness of no slight proportions, and is one of the High
C Lime Manufacturing Company, an institution
with a bright future before it. Mr. Heisey resides
in West Donegal, where he was born on a farm ad-
joining the one he makes his home, Feb. 27, i860,
and is a son of Jacob W. Heisey, of whom a full
history, both personal and family, is published in
another place, to which the reader is referred for full
information regarding the family antecedents of the
gentleman, whose name introduces this article.
Simon C. Heisey has been married three times,
the first time Nov. 8, 1883, when he was united in
marriage with Lizzie M. Ever, at her home in East
Donegal township. To them was born one child,
Horace E., now at home with his father. Mrs!
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Heisey, who died Feb. 1 1, 1888, at the age of twenty-
seven years, and was buried in Reich's cemetery,
was a daughter of D. M. Eyer, whose personal his-
tory is given on another page.
Mr. Heisey was married to his second wife, Nov.
5, 1889, at her home, when he became the husband
of Fanny M. Eyer, a sister of the first Mrs. Heisey.
Mrs. Fanny Heisey died Sept. 21, 1892, and was
buried in Reich's cemetery.
The third marriage of Mr. Heisey occurred Oct.
10, 1893, when he was married to Anna H. Linde-
muth, at her home in East Donegal township. To
them have come three children: Mabel, Alice L.
and Fanny L. Mrs. Anna H. Heisey was born on
the old Lindemuth homestead in East Donegal
township, Dec. 2, 1862, and is a daughter of Elias
and Mary (Hostetter) Lindemuth, natives of East
Donegal and Rapho townships, respectively. Her
father, who was in his active days a very prominent
man, is now a retired farmer, and is making his
home on the farm where he was born in September,
1S.35. Her mother died in September, 1896, at the
age . of fifty-nine years. They had the following
children: Simon H., Elmira H. and Susan H., all
died young ; Anna H. is noted above ; Mary H. mar-
ried Jacob Krider, and has her home in Landisville,
Pa. ; Steven H. is a farmer in East Donegal town-
ship ; Elias H. is at home ; Lizzie H. married Harry
L. Heisey, of Rheems, a brother of Simon Cameron ;
Jacob H. and Monroe H. are at home.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Heisey were
Ludwig and Susan (Zeigier) Lindemuth, natives of
East Donegal township, and both died on the farm
where their grandson, Elias H. Lindemuth, now
makes his home. Mrs. Heisey's maternal grand-
parents were Jacob and Anna (Stauffer) Hostetter,
whose lives were spent in Lancaster county. They
were farming people.
Simon C. Heisey remained with his parents un-
til he reached his maturity, when he married and
located on the farm where he now lives. Here he
engaged in general farming and in the dairy busi-
ness until 1891, when he gave up his milk interests.
He is an enthusiastic breeder of Guernsey cattle,
and is a member of the Guernsey Association. In
politics, he takes strong Prohibition views and is a
good citizen. His personal standing is beyond ques-
tion and his name fitly goes into the list of the repre-
sentative men of Lancaster county.
WILLIAM H. BARTON. One of the lead-
ing agriculturists and prominent citizens of Lan-
caster county, residing on and operating the fine
old homestead farm, in Upper Leacock township,
is William H. Barton, who was born in his present
residence: Sept. 28, 1849.
The Barton family is one of the old and honored
ones in this part of the county. John Barton came
to America from Scotland in 1772, with his brothers,
James and Samuel. James settled in the Tuscarora
Valley. San:nc1 in Mrginia, and John in Upper Lea-
cock, Lancaster Co., Pa. John Barton, son of John
the emigrant, married Isabella Vogan, whose farn-
ily founded Vogansville, in this county. To this
union were born ; Margaret, who married Mark
Connell; Leah, who married Robert Connell;.
Rachel, twin sister, who lived single, dying at the
age of seventy-nine ; Isaac ; Sainuel ; Henry ; James ;
Eliza and William.
Henry Barton, the father of our subject, was
born on the farm in Upper Leacock township, and
there his whole life of eighty-three years was spent.
He was a man of prominence in his community and
accumulated large means. His marriage was to
Miss Margaret L. Simon, of Philadelphia, and the
children of that union were: John C, of New FIol-
land; William H., our subject; and Lizzie, who
resides with her mother.
William H. Barton was educated in the common
schools, finishing his school life in the Millersville
State Normal. In 1880 he took charge of the home
farm, consisting of 160 acres, and so continued un-
til his father's death, when it was divided and sold,
William H. retaining the original homestead of 100
acres. In politics he is a Democrat.
WilHam H. Barton married Mrs. Nellie Bur-
well, of Mecklenburg, a great-granddaughter of
Gov. Spottswood, of Virginia.
SAMUEL BRUBAKER HARTMAN, M. D.,
physician and surgeon, and founder of the celebrated
Hartman Sanitarium, at Columbus, Ohio, was long'
associated socially and professionally with the peo-
ple of Lancaster, Pa. His wife, too, is a daughter
of one of the best known citizens of Lancaster, now
deceased, and is descended from one of the oldest
families in the county. Dr. Hartman's history reads
Hke a romance, and the recital of his struggles and
successes should be an incentive to all young men
whose only capital in life consists of brains, energy
and honest principles.
Henry Hartman, his grandfather, was a promi-
nent farmer, who lived two and one-half miles from
Witmer's Bridge. The Brubaker family, of which
the Doctor's mother was a member, is well
known in the county, and Mrs. Hartman was an aunt
of the late George Brubaker, ex-district attorney for
Lancaster county, and a great-aunt of the late Judge
N. Clay Brubaker.
Dr. Hartman was born two and one-half miles
east of Harrisburg, in Dauphin county, April i,
1830, but he bears his years so lightly that his ap-
pearance would suggest to no one such an age. His
father, who was a farmer, died when he was a mere
child, and his mother was left penniless with eight
children — five boys and three girls — looking to her
for support. An uncle of these children brought
them and their mother to Lancaster county, convey-
ing all their effects in a four-horse wagon. On their
arrival the family took possession of a log cabin in
Manor township, and the older children were ap-
prenticed. Of this family but three are now living:
'« ' ^J*"*
'oAyhrux/n^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
969
Samuel B. ; Harriet, widow of Joseph Rutter, of
New Holland ; and Henry, a retired farmer, eighty-
iive years of age, residing in East Greenville, Ohio.
After coming to Lancaster county Samuel B.
Hartman lived for a time with his uncle, and was
then sent to live with John Charles, who became his
guardian, the lad having received $150 as a bequest
from an aunt. Young Hartman spent some time at
Medway, Ohio, attended Farmers College, a literary
institution at College Hill, Cincinnati, and then took
-up the study of medicine, under Dr. Shackelford, at
Medway, later attending lectures in the Medical De-
partment of the Western Reserve College, at Cleve-
land, Ohio. When he was twenty-four he began the
practice of his profession at Tippecanoe City, Ohio,
where he remained two years, and then entered
Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, from
which famous school he was graduated in 1857.
Following his completion of the course in Philadel-
phia, he settled in Millersville, Lancaster county,
where he practiced his profession for twelve years,
and became so forehanded that he thought he might
retire from active work, and devote his time to study
and research. To his surprise, however, in six
months he found himself as penniless as when his
father died, having in his open-handed and generous
tnanner given away all his possessions. This inde-
fatigable worker started anew, and after traveling
from place to place as a specialist established the
Hartman Sanitarium, at Columbus, Ohio, and
pressed with all his energy the manufacture and sale
-of "Peruna," a remedy that has enormous sales all
over the United States. The demand for it has be-
come so widespread that a branch house was opened
in Montreal, Canada, early in 1901.
Dr. Hartman married Miss Sallie Martzell,
whose father came from a family of substantial
farmers, but who chose hotelkeeping as a business,
and was for an ordinary lifetime the owner and
keeper of the "Plow" tavern, on West King street,
in Lancaster. To Dr. and Mrs. Hartman have come
two children : John Henry, entered into rest while
in the graduating class of Franklin and Marshall
College, at Lancaster (his tomb is marked by a life-
like and life-sized statue of the deceased student, and
is one of the attractive spots in Lancaster cemetery) ;
Maribel is now the wife of F. W. Shoemaker, the
advertising manager of the Hartman Sanitarium,
and of the "Peruna" remedies, and they have one
daughter Maribel. Dr. Plartman is still devoted
to the noble profession of which he has so long been
a close student, and in which he has done so much
to relieve suffering humanity.
WILLIAM T. STRAUSS, a well-known en-
gineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad at Columbia,
was born near Bainbridge, Lancaster Co., Pa., Sept.
6, 1845.. and is a son of George and Sarah (Talbert)
Strauss, who were natives of the same county and
the parents of the following named children : Sarah,
deceased wife of John Brubaker ; Henry, of Indiana ;
Margaret, widow of James Zitch, late of Harris-
burg, Pa.; Aaron G., deceased; George T., of Wil-
liamsport, Pa.; Mary, widow of John Judy, and
residing in Middletown, Pa. ; William T. ; and Cy-
rus, deceased. George Strauss, the father of this
family, was a shoemaker by trade, and died in 1850,
at the age of forty-nine years; his widow died in
1858, when forty-eight years old. Both were mem-
bers of the Lutheran Church, and their remains were
interred at Bainbridge.
After the death of his mother, William T.
Strauss worked out on farms in his neighborhood
until 1863, when he went to Washington, D. C,
and there worked in a government blacksmith shop
for sixteen months. He then enlisted in Co. G,
203d P. V. I., but was shortly afterward transferred
to Co. B, 76th P. V. I. Although he had a part in
several skirmishes, he was never in a general en-
gagement, and was mustered out at Raleigh, N. C,
in July, 1865, and honorably discharged at Harris-
burg, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Strauss, after his discharge from the ser-
vice, returned at once to Washington, D. C, and for
a week was employed in the quartermaster's depart-
ment, and when the government ordered the trans-
fer of 500 six-mule teams to Leavenworth, Kans.,
Mr. Strauss, who was anxious to go to California,
availed himself of the opportunity to accompany the
mule teams to the West as far as their destination,
going as gflardsman, but at Indianapolis orders were
received to dispose by sale of 250 of the mule-teams
and to take the remainder to Chicago, 111., where
they were sold at auction. Mr. Strauss then re-
turned to Marietta, Pa., and served an apprentice-
ship at the blacksmith's trade for three years, after
which he was employed for five years as track re-
pairer by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He
was then appointed fireman on the Philadelphia di-
vision of the road, but three years and four months
later was thrown or fell from his engine and had
his knee crushed. On his recovery he was made
track foreman, in which capacity he served five
years, and then resumed his place as fireman, which
position he filled from May 15, 1881, to Sept. 19,
1881, when he was promoted to engineer, his present
position.
Mr. Strauss has twice married. In Dec. 1867,
at Marietta, he wedded Miss Florence Brooks, a
daughter of James and Sarah (Foltz) Brooks. James
Brooks was a cooper by trade. He and his wife
had the following children besides Florence : James
B., an iron molder, Walter V., and Matilda, all of
Chicago, 111. ; Margaret, deceased. Mrs. Brooks
is not living. In 1874 Mr. and Mrs. Strauss settled
in Columbia. Here Mrs. Florence Strauss passed
from earth at the age of forty-seven years, in 1895,
without issue, and her remains were interred at
Columbia, Pennsylvania.
The second marriage of Mr. Strauss took place
in Lancaster, Dec. 20, 1898, to Mrs. Emma Shirk,
who was born in Washington borough, Lancaster
970
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Co. Pa., in Dec. 1846, and is a daughter of Wil-
liam and Rebecca (Sounders) Parker, the former of
whom was a carpenter and farmer, who died in
1892, at the age of sixty-nine years'. He had lost
his wife four weeks previously at the age of sixty-
eight. To Mr. and Mrs. Parker were born the fol-
lowing children: John, an engineer of Washing-
ton, Pa. ; Emma, now Mrs. Strauss ; Sarah A., de-
ceased; William, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of
Thomas McAfee, of Rawlinsville, Pa. ; Margaret
S., deceased; and Francis P., of Washington, Pa.
William Shirk, the first husband of Mrs. Emma
Strauss, was a son of Matthias Shirk, of Lancaster,
and died in 1894, when thirty-six years old. No
children were born to him, nor have any been born
to Mr. Strauss by either wife.
In religion Mr. Strauss is a Presbyterian, and in
politics is a Republican. He is a member of the
G. A. R., the K. of P., the A. and I. O. K. of M., the
B. of L. E., and F. and A. M., and is greatly esteemed
in Columbia for his many personal merits, in which
esteem Mrs. Strauss holds an equal share.
EDWARD P. DeHAVEN, a retired farmer at
New Holland, Pa., was born in East Earl township,
Lancaster county, Oct. 11, 1853, a son of George
and Clara (Eck'ert) DeHaven. The father was
born in New Holland, and the mother in Leacock
township.
George DeHaven was an honorable and success-
ful farmer, and died in Earl township, in May, 1894,
at the age of seventy-six years. His remains are
resting in the Cedar Grove cemetery. His widow,
who was born in 1823, is still living, and has her
home in Earl township. George DeHaven and his
wife were members of the Presbyterian Church.
They had the following children : Mary, who died
at the age of eighteen years ; Abraham, who is a
farmer in Earl township, and furnishes the topic
for a sketch that may be perused elsewhere; Clara
and Elmira, twins, of whom the former is living with
her mother, and the latter is married to William K.
Hurst, a farmer in Caernarvon township ; Levi, who
died in 1895 ; George, who died in infancy ; Edward
P.; Clayton, who died in 1896; Ottomer and Caro-
line, tvifins, both of whom died in infancy ; William
and Phoebe J., who are at home, unmarried.
The paternal grandparents of Edward P. De-
Haven were Abraham and Susan DeHaven,
both of Lancaster county, where the DeHavens
have had a long and honorable history. The
maternal grandparents of Edward DeHaven were
Levi and Mary Eckert, also residents of Lancaster
county.
Edward P. DeHaven was married Feb. 21, 1877,
in New Holland, Pa., to Margaret E. Worst. She
was born in Springville, Dec. 13, 1853, and was a
daughter of Jacob and Julia (Rhoads) Worst, both
of Salisbury township, where he was engaged in
farming in early life. In his middle life he was a
merchant, setting up at Springville in 1855, and
ten years later came to New Holland, where he re-
mained until 1885, retiring that year to make his
home with a daughter in Earl township, where he
died in March of that year, at the age of seventy-
two. His wife passed to her reward in March,
1884, at the age of sixty-seven. Both were members
of the Lutheran Church, of which he was trustee
for many years. Born to this worthy couple were
the following children: Catherine, who died at
the age of fourteen; Anna M., who died at the age
of four years; Margaret, who is Mrs. DeHaven.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. DeHaven were
George and Mary Worst, both of Salisbury town-
ship; and her maternal grandparents, Jacob and
Catherine (Kinzer) Rhoads, residents of Lancaster
county, near Springville.
Edward P. DeHaven remained at home with
his parents until his marriage, when he took up the
occupation of farming and was engaged in that line
for seven years in East Earl township. At the end
of that period he came to New Holland, where he
has since resided, living a retired Hfe. Here he has.
a very good standing in the public esteem, and has
been borough councilman for the last six years. In
his politics he is a Republican, and is one of the
prominent and popular citizens of this end of Lan-
caster county. In his business relations he has been
very successful, is the owner of two farms, besides
other property, and enjoys a most enviable business
standing.
JOHN W. ENGLISH, of Columbia, Lancaster
Co., Pa., and one of the most reliable of the locomo-
tive engineers in the employ of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Companv, was born five miles from Alli-
ance, Ohio, Aug. I, 1 85 1, and is a son of Daniel
V. and Elizabeth (Severn) English, natives of New
York State and Pennsylvania, respectively, pater-
nally of English descent, and on the mother's side,
of German.
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel V. English were parents
of a large family of thirteen children, named as fol-
lows : Sarah A., deceased wife of Matthew Lewis ;
Ellen, widow of Frederick Newsbaum, of Liverpool,
Ohio; Emma, widow of William Smith of Phila-
delphia; Louis J., an attorney at Wapakoneta,
Ohio ; Daniel V., of Jackson, Mich. ; Adeline, who
died in infancy; Eliza, wife of Frank Bagely, of
East Liverpool, Ohio; William, of the same place;
John W., whose name opens this sketch; Edward,
a stonemason of Media, Pa. ; Leah, wife of Frank
Mead, of Philadelphia; Howard, a boilermaker in
the same city; Charles, who died in infancy. The
father of this family was born in 1800 and died on
his farm near Alliance, Ohio, in August, 1864, aged
sixty-four years, and the mother, born in 1815, died
in Salem, Ohio, in August, 1877; both were mem-
bers of the M. E. Church. The father was quite
prominent in his day, and served as constable and
justice of the peace.
John W. English was reared a farmer and fol-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
971
lowed agricultural pursuits until twenty-five years
old, beginning his bucolic career at the age of four-
teen years, when he left his home and hired out as
herder of sheep and later as a farmer. In 1876 he
went to Philadelphia and entered the emplov of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a brakeman.
In 1882 he was given a position as fireman, was
transferred to Columbia in March, 1885, and in 1891
was promoted to engineer, a position he has since
filled to the entire satisfaction of the company. Mr.
English married Dec. 12, 1883, in Columbia, Miss
Lucy A. Witmer, who was born in Manor township,
Lancaster Co., Pa., March 19, 1862, and is a daugh-
ter of Christian and Elizabeth (Siple) Witmer.
To Mr. and Mrs. 'English have been born six chil-
dren, in the following order : Irene, at home ; Helen
and Esther, deceased; Albert, at home, and Flor-
ence and Lizzie, deceased.
Christian Witmer, father of Mrs. English, was
a miller, tobacco-raiser and general farmer in Manor
township, and died March 4, 1880, at the age of
forty years. He was a member of the Church of
God. His widow, who was born Dec. 16, 1843, still
resides in Columbia, and is the mother of eight
children, viz. : Lucy A., now Mrs. English ; Alice,
who died young ; Catherine, wife of Israel Manuel ;
William ; Harry ; Esther, wife of Charles Hull ;
George ; and Lettie, who died young. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. English were Jacob M. and
Martha (Huber) Witmer, and the maternal grand-
parents were William and Lucy (Olds) Siple, all of
Lancaster county.
In politics Mr. English is a Republican and in
religion he and his wife adhere to the faith of the
Church of God. Fraternally, he is a member of the
B. of L. F., the B. of L. E., and the Relief. He
has a happy home on his own property and is sur-
rounded with a circle of warm friends who hold
him and his family in highest esteem.
REV. AMOS M. SHEETZ, general farmer,
was born near his present home in Rapho town-
ship, Jan. 15, 1856. He is the son of Christian and
Anna (Musser) Sheetz, of Rapho, and formerly of
West Hempfield township.
Christian Sheetz, the father, was a farmer until
two years prior to his demise. He died on his old
homestead, Oct. 14, 1886, at the age of sixty-seven
years. The mother survived him and is living with
her son, the Rev. Amos M. Sheetz. The family are
members of the Brethren Church in Christ. There
were born to Mr. and Mrs. Christian Sheetz, the fol-
lowing children : Fanny, wife of Joseph Brubaker,
of Mastersonville, Pa. : Katie, wife of A. B. Nissley,
farmer of Cumberland county. Pa.; John, a mer-
chant in Dickinson Co., Kans. ; Christian, a Rapho
township farrner; Amos M. ; Tobias M., farmer of
Dickinson Co., Kans. ; Jonas, a mechanic at Leb-
anon, Pa. ; Anna, wife of Samuel L. Hoffman, an
East Donegal township farmer; Barbara, wife of
A. M. Brandt, a carpenter of Dickinson Co., Kans.
Mr. Sheetz's grandparents on his father's side
were John and Barbara (Hertzler) Sheetz, of Lan-
caster county, who both died on the old family home-
stead in Rapho township, The maternal grand-
father was Christian Musser, of Lancaster county.
On Sept: 21, 1879, in Rapho township, the Rev.
Amos M. Sheetz married Miss Fanny Shelley.
There has been born to them a daughter named
Alice, wife of Daniel E. Wolgemuth, a farrner of
Mt. Joy township, and from this union there is one
son, named Amos, for his grandfather. Mrs. Fanny
(Shelley) Sheetz, daughter of Elder Benjamin and
Eliza (.Shaub) Shelley, of Rapho and Pequea town-
ships, was born Jan. 20, 1856, in Rapho township.
Her father was a farmer and died in 1890, at the
age of sixty-one years. He was an elder of the
Brethren in Christ Church for twenty-five years
prior to his death. The mother died in 1863 at the
early age of twenty-nine years. The Elder is buried
in the Mastersonville cemetery and his wife in the
Shelley cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Shelley were the
parents of the following children : Susan, who died
at the age of nine years ; Fanny, wife of Rev. Amos
M. Sheetz; Barbara, wife of F. N. Heistand, a re-
tired farmer, of Rapho township ; Anna, wife of
Elder Henry Hoft'er, of Rapho township ; Lizzie,
wife of Hiram Herr, a farmer in Rapho township ;
Deacon Abraham, living on the old Shelley home-
stead; and Benjamin, a farmer, of Rapho township.
Mrs. Sheetz' paternal grandparents were Abraham
and P'anny (Brubaker) Shelley, of Rapho town-
ship and Lebanon county. Her maternal grand-
parents were John and Barbara (Metzler) Shaub,
of Lancaster county.
The Rev. Amos M. Sheetz lived with his par-
ents until two years prior to his marriage. He
worked for various farmers in the neighborhood
until shortly after that event, when he moved onto
the old Sheetz homestead and lived there for four
years. He then moved to his present residence. On
Oct. 9, 1898, he was ordained a minister of the
Brethren in Christ Church and since then he has had
charge of the Mastersonville church of that faith.
The reverend gentleman is a widely-known and
very scholarly man, treating the social and moral
problems of the age with clearness and ability. He
is a power for good in the community and is highly
esteemed by all classes.
CHARLES A. DOBLE, the present genial and
popular, as well as capable and successful superin-
tendent of the Nickel Mines properties in Bart
township, Lancaster county, was born in that town,
in 1859, son of Charles and Barbara (Sandoe)
Doble.
Charles Doble, the father, was born in Devon-
shire, England, in 1826, and came to this country
in 185 1, to work for the company then owning and
operating the nickel mines. The history of this
notable industry of Bart township begins in 1730,
when it was opened and operated as a copper mine.
972
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
In 1852 Mr. Doble discovered that one of the prod-
ucts which they were throwing away as sulphurate
of iron was nickel. He demonstrated that it would
be more profitable to use -this in the manufacture of
nickel than to continue mining copper. A company
was organized under the name of the Gap Mining
Co., for the manufacture of nickel, which business
was continued until i860. The ore was melted in
the company's furnaces near the mines. In 1862,
after the mines had been closed for a time, Mr.
Joseph Wharton, of Philadelphia, secured the con-
trol of the enterprise and has operated it almost con-
tinuously, ever since. In the manufacture of nickel
he has brought many thousand dollars into Lancas-
ter county. At the present time he owns about 800
acres of land, which he has operated on a most ex-
tensive scale since the mines became his property.
Charles Doble presently became the superintendent
of the mines and later still the management of the
mines, farms and investments passed under his di-
rection. He continued with Mr. Wharton until
1896, when he retired from his extensive and com-
plicated duties, giving way to his son. The follow-
ing year he died. In 1902 Mr. Wharton sold part
of the above property, including the mines, to the
American Nickel Works. Mr. Doble was married
in 1852 to Miss Barbara Sandoe, who was born in
this county in 1826. Her people were prominent
-and influential. Mr. Doble was an Episcopalian in
rehgion and a Republican in politics. His widow
still resides near the mines at the advanced age of
seventy-seven. To them were born five children.
(t) Elizabeth, born in Bart township, married John
Hocking, a native of England, who came to this
country, to work in the Nickel mines. For a num-
ber of years they had their home at the mines, but
are now residents of Lancaster, where he is in busi-
ness. They have five children: Charles D., mar-
ried and located in Lancaster, where he has three
children ; Mary, at home ; John, a clerk ; William
and Anna, at home. (2) Mary died young. (3)
Charles A. is our subject. (4) Harry, born at
Nickel Mines, is a farmer in Paradise township.
He married Miss Emma Knox and they have had the
following children: Charles, Cora, Edgar, Harry,
Joseph and Ralph, of whom the last named is de-
ceased. (5) Jennie, born at Nickel Mines, is the
widow of George M. Snead, and has her home in
Kinzers, Lancaster county. She is the mother of
five children: William, Edna, Paul, Walter and
Mabel.
Charles A. Doble received his education in the
Bart schools, and when a young man, took up the
work of engineering for the Nickel mines. For
some fifteen years he had the care and management
of all the mining machinery used in that enterprise.
When his father gave up the position of superin-
tendent, he was at once called upon to fill his place,
and has held that office to the present time.
Mr. Doble was married in Nov., 1883, to Han-
nah J. Williams, of Bart township, the daughter of
Thomas and Jane Williams, both of whom were
born in England, and came to this country in 1864.
They made their home at the Nickel mines commun-
itv, where the husband and father was employed un-
til his death in 1897. His widow and the following
children survive him : Thomas and Robert, born
in England; John, Richard, Eliza and Hannah.
Mrs. Hannah Doble was born in Bart in 1865. Mr.
and Mrs. Doble have three children: James B.,
born in 1884, a student in Wades Commercial Col-
lege, of Lancaster ; Jennie L., born in 1885 ; and
Bessie V., born in 1887, students in the home schools.
Mr. Doble is a Republican. In religion he is a mem-
ber of the Episcopal Church, and his wife of the
Methodist Church. Mr. Doble belongs to the Parks-
burg Lodge of the I. O. O. F., No. 764, where he
is highly esteemed for his character and ability.
In his life work his careful management, mechani-
cal ability and absolute integrity have given him a
standing with his employers that is beyond question,
while his fellow workmen in the mines recognize in
him a man well fitted in every way for the responsi-
ble position he so ably fills.
SIMEON GUILFORD SUMMY, the popular
proprietor of the "Summy House," of Manheim,
Lancaster Co., Pa., was born in that place, Sept. 2,
1843, 3- son of Jacob and Martha (Minich) Summy,
representatives of old Lancaster county families.
The father was reared on a farm near Nefifsville,
and learned the miller's trade with his father, John
Summy, who owned and operated the old Summy
Mill, one mile southeast of Sporting Hill, near Lan-
caster Junction, now known as the Seller's Mill.
Jacob Summy succeeded to the business, but after
a few years was compelled to give it up on account
of his health. He then moved to Manheim, where
he conducted the old "Globe Hotel," which has since
been destroyed. At the end of two years he removed
to Sporting Hill, whei-e he purchased a hotel and
thirty-six acres of land, and was engaged in the
hotel business there for fifteen years, after which he
followed farming' for some years, until his retire-
ment from active labor. His last days were spent
in Manheim, where he died in 1892, 'at the age of
seventy-eight years, and his wife departed this life
in 1898, at the age of eighty-two. Of the twelve
children born to them, seven reached maturity,
namely: Simeon Guilford; Henry, a butcher
and farmer, who died at the age of thirty-two years ;
Emeline, deceased wife of Edward Hall, of Soort-
mg Hill ; Levina, also deceased ; Catherine, wife of
Jacob Keller, of Bloomsburg, Columbia Co., Pa.;
Anna, wife of John Capp, of Martinsbtirg, Va. ; and
Jacob, proprietor of the Washington House, of
Manheim, who died at the age of thirty-two years.
Simeon G. Summy was reared at Sportino-' Hill
and attended the local schools. Fie began his busi-
ness career as clerk in the store of Noah Zook in
Sporting Hill, at the age of eighteen, and remained
with him two years, after which he engaged in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
973.
clerking for John G. Hacker the same length of time
and for M. N. Brubaker three years. He then took
the management of Martin Grube's store at Chickies
and conducted it two years. The following two
years were spent in school teaching in Rapho town-
ship, Lancaster county.
In 1866 Mr. Summy wedded Miss Mary Balmer,
a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Singer) Balmer,
and by this union three children were born, two of
whom are still living. Harry, the elder, is a gradu-
ate of the New York Veterinary College and is now
engaged in the practice of his profession in Man-
heim. He married Leah Carpenter and they have
one child. Homer, a shoe dealer of Manheim, mar-
ried Theda Kauffman, and they have one child,
Ralph.
After his marriage' Mr. Summy turned his at-
tention to farming and auctioneering, following the
former occupation eight years, and still continuing
to prosecute the latter calling. In 1877 he purchased
the "Black Horse Hotel," in ManUeim, which he
conducted two years, and then erected his present
hotel, which at that time was a two-story structure
contaming but eight sleeping apartments. As his
business has increased, he has' added to it until he
now has one of the finest blocks in Manheim, con-
taining several good business rooms besides the
hotel apartments, which now comprise twenty-eight
sleeping rooms. The Masonic Order occupy the
hall, and the store rooms below accommodate two
mercantile establishments and a barber shop. Be-
ing a man thoroughly up-to-date, energetic and en-
terprising, he conducts his hotel on the most ap-
proved modern plan, and is a most genial and oblig-
ing landlord. Politically he is a supporter of the
Republican party and its principles. As a citizen
and business man he stands high in public esteem.
JOHN E. CAREER, a general farmer of West
Donegal township, and a man of fine standing in
the community where he has passed his life, was
born on the old Garber homestead, and is a son of
John S. and Susan (Erb) Garber. A sketch of
these admirable people, whose long years and useful
lives alike command reverence, appears in another
place.
John E. Garber was married in Rapho town-
ship, in 1887, to Alice Newcomer, and to them were
born the following children: Stella N., Paris N.,
Barbara N., AHce N., Jonas N., Rhoda N. and
Christian N., who is dead.
Mrs. Alice (Newcomer) Garber, who was born
in Rapho township Nov. i, 1866, is a daughter of
Jacob and Barbara (Wademan) Newcomer. Her
father was born in Rapho township, and her mother
in East Hempfield township. They are now living
in Salunga, Lancaster county, where her father, who
was born in 1835, has given up active work. Her
mother was born three years later than her hus-
band, and both are members of the Mennonite
Church. During the more active part of his life
Jacob Newcomer was school director and super-
visor in Rapho township, and was a leading man in.
his community. Jacob Newcomer and his wife have
had the following children : Elizabeth, who died in
infancy ; Amos W., a farmer in Rapho township ;
David W., a farmer in Drumore; Fanny W., who.
married Harry Bear, a farmer in Salunga; Alice
W., noted above as the wife of John E. Garber ; Levi
N., a resident of Rapho township ; John W., a farm-
er in Mt. Joy township; Barbara W., wife of Ira
Longenecker, a farmer of East Donegal township ;
Ezra W., who lives in Mt. Joy, and whose life-story-
appears on another page..
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Alice Gar-
ber were Christ and Elizabeth (Nissley) Newcom-
er, natives of Lancaster county, as were the parents
of her mother, David and Elizabeth (Stehman)
Wademan.
John E. Garber remained with his parents until
1882, when he began that career as a farmer in
which he has proved so successful. In 1887 he
moved to the farm where he is found today. Mr.
Garber has impressed himself on his community
as a man of character and ability, and for seven
years has served as auditor of West Donegal town-
ship. In his politics he is a Republican, and his
influence in the party is by no means slight. In
religion both Mr. and Mrs. Garber are members of
the Mennonite Church, and their peaceful and well
ordered lives cast no discredit upon their faith.
BENJAMIN S. MARTIN, residing one and a
half miles southeast of Columbia, in Manor town-
ship, Lancaster Co., Pa., was born in West Lampeter
township, in the same county, Sept. 26, 1859, and
is a son of John and Susan (Shaub) Martin.
Benjamin S. Martin attended the public schools
and worked on the home farm in Lampeter town-
ship until fifteen years of age, when his parents
died, and he had recourse to any kind of labor that
would net him an honest dollar ; he made his home
meanwhile with a brother until his marriage, when
he rented a farm near Landis Mill and two years
later removed to the old Dambach farm in the north-
western part of the township. This farm comprises
ninety-five acres, devoted to general farming,
market gardening and dairying.
On Nov. II, 1884, Benjamin S. Martin was
united in marriage with EHzabeth H. Dambach, and
this union has been crowned with six children, five
of whom still survive, viz. : John D., Mary D.,
Elizabeth D., Susan Alva and Benjamin F. ; the
deceased child, Amos, was a mere infant at the time
of its death. The parents of these children are mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church, and in politics the
father is a Republican. Mr. Martin is one of the
broad-minded and progressive men who give vitality
and vigor to the community in which they live, and
is ever ready to assist with his influence and means
every measure designed to promote the pubHc wel-
fare.
974
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Adam Dambach was the founder of the family
bearing this name in Manor township, and was the
great-grandfather of Mrs. Martin, but was a resi-
dent of Conestoga township. In religion he was a
Lutheran. His son, also named Adam, was prob-
ably born in Conestoga, but came to Manor township
and settled at Creswell, was a shoemaker by trade
and married Mary Wagoner, to which marriage
were born the following named children: Henry,
Adam, John, Martin, Joseph, Amos, Benjamin, Eliza
and Mary, all members of the Lutheran Church at
the time of decease.
Martin Dambach, father of Mrs. Martin, was
born in Lancaster Co., Pa., Sept. 21, 1813, and was
married Sept. 27, 1835, to Elizabeth Herr, daughter
of Abraham and Mary Herr, and born May 26,
1816, in Manor township. The newly married
couple lived on the old Herr homestead a short time,
whence they moved to Funk's Division, as it was
called, and purchased a small farm on which they
resided six years ; then for one year they rented the
Blue Rock farm ; next, they returned to Funk's Di-
vision for seven years, where they lived on a place
adjoining their former home there; and in April,
1857, located on the homestead of 250 acres in north-
western Manor township. At that time it was one
of the finest farms in the county, but it has since been
divided into three separate tracts, which are respect-
ively occupied by his two sons, John and Henry, and
by Joseph K. Newcomer, who bought the third part.
In 1870, Martin Dambach purchased and re-
moved to a thirty-acre farm west of Central Manor.
On this farm Martin passed the remainder of his
life, dying Nov. 12, 1875, in the faith of the Men-
nonites. His widow died July 19, 1901. To Martin
Dambach and wife were born fifteen children, of
whom twelve grew to maturity and are still living,
viz. ; Mary, wife of Christ. Kauflfman, of Peters-
burg, Lancaster county; Susannah, wife of John
H. Keagy, of Adams county; John H., also of
Petersburg; Fannie, wife of M. D. Kindig, of
Manor township; Martin H., residing near Win-
dom; Henry H., living near Columbia; Joseph H.,
of the same neighborhood ; Catherine, wife of Aaron
Herr, of West Hempfield township; Amos H., of
Columbia City; Adam H., of Pequea township;
David H., of Manor township ; Elizabeth, wife of
Benjamin S. Martin, whose name opens this bio-
graphical review. The three deceased children of
the fifteen born to Martin and Elizabeth (Herr)
Dambach were named: Abraham, the second in
order of birth, who died at the age of nine months ;
Elizabeth, the third born, who died when four
months old; and Benjamin H., the fourteenth in
order of birth, who died in infancy.
WILLIAM AHERNE. The early home of
this popular florist and prominent business man, of
Columbia, Pa., was on the other side of the Atlantic,
for he was born in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland,
Aug 8, 1849, a son of Michael and Margaret
(Welsh) Aherne, who spent their entire lives at
that place, where the father was employed as a
gardener. He died there in 1895, at the age of sev-
enty-five years, while the mother survived till 1902.
In their family were eight children, namely: John
M., now a florist of Mt. Vernon, O. ; William;
Mary, wife of Peter Heffernan, a plasterer of New
York City ; Patrick, a member of the United States
Cavalry; James, Michael, Edward and Alice, who
all died in Ireland.
In his native land William Aherne grew to man-
hood, and in Dublin, he was married, Aug. 8, 1871,
to Miss Mary Brady, who was born in Wexford
City, County Wexford, Ireland, Dec. 15, 1849, a
daughter of Peter and Margaret (Furlong) Brady,
who never left the Emerald Isle. By occupation the
father was a maltster. Mrs. Aherne is the oldest of
their three children, the others being: Michael, a
temperance lecturer and telegraph operator, of Ire-
land; and John, manager of a dry goods store in
Dublin.
Mr. • and Mrs. Aherne have a family of which
any parents might well be proud. Michael, the old-
est, was born in Ireland and is now a resident of
Columbia, Pa. For fifteen years ne has been a mem-
ber of the Pennsylvania National Guards and served
as sergeant major in Co. C, 4th P. V. I., at Porto
Rico during the Spanish-American war. William
is a resident of Brooklyn, N. Y. John P. and
Robert E., twins, residing at home, were also mem-
bers of Co. C, 4th P. V. I., and were with the army
at Porto Rico, the latter serving as corporal in his
company. They are at present employed in Brook-
lyn, N. Y., as machinists. Mary lives with them as
housekeeper. Agnes M. is a trained nurse, now at
Ithaca, N. Y. Alice is -a trained nurse from the
Germantown Hospital, Philadelphia, graduated
Nov. 12, 1902. Maggie is at home. Francis and
Philip died in childhood.
Under the able direction of his father, William
Aherne learned much about the florist business be-
fore he was eighteen years of age. He then went
to Lakeland, near Midleton, where he spent three
years in gardening, and at the end of that time re-
turned home for a few months. Subsequently he
was engaged in gardening at London, England', for
a few months, and later spent three years in Dub-
lin, Ireland. In 1873 he came to America, and
after spending five months working at his trade
in Philadelphia, took up his residence in Colum-
bia, Pa., which has since been his home. He
was in the employ of S. H. Purple, a florist,
for six years, and went upon' the railroad as
brakeman for the Pennsylvania Company. -A
year later, however, during the strike, he re-
turned to Mr. Purple's employ, remaining with
him a year at this time. For six years he was em-
ployed in the railroad round house at Columbia, and
also attended to their plants, but since 1890 he has
been successfully engaged in the florist business on
his own account. He possesses superior skill and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
975
ability in his line and has built up an excellent trade.
In politics Mr. Aherne is independent, in religious
belief is a Catholic, and in his social relations is a
member of the Knights of St. Patrick R. C. For
many years he was a member of the Pennsylvania
National Guards, enlisting as a private, Oct. i6,
1878, in Co. H, lithe Reg., now Co. C,- 4th Reg.
He was appointed corporal Aug. 3, 1881 ; sergeant,
March 4, 1884; first sergeant, April 6, 1886; and
was commissioned ist lieutenant, Feb. i, 1891. He
was in active service nineteen days during the
Homestead riots. Although of foreign birth, Amer-
ica has no more loyal and patriotic citizen than Mr.
Aherne, and he merits and receives the confidence
and respect of all who know him.
WILLIAM H. EDWARDS, cabinetmaker and
undertaker, is one of the leading citizens of New
Providence, Lancaster county. He was born in
Strasburg township March 2, 1850, son of James D.
and Lydia (Rineer) Edwards, of Lancaster county,
of Scotch-Irish origin.
James D. Edwards, the father of William H.,
was born in 1825, and died 'Jan. 10, igoo; he was
■ a veteran of the Civil war, discharged in Aug.,
1865. His father was Daniel Edwards, who had the
following children: James D., Jonathan, Thomas,
Josiah, Daniel, Amos and Sarah. In 1849 James
D. Edwards, who was a successful farmer of Lan-
caster county, married Miss Lydia Rineer and they
had the following children : William H. ; H. M.,
bom in 1851; Susan S., born in 1855; Madison,
born in 1856; Jesse, born in 1858; Annie, born in
i860; Ellsworth, born in 1861 ; Thomas, born in
1863; Ella M., born in 1866; Christian, born in
1871 ; and Nora and Rebecca J., died in childhood.
The Edwards family is an old one in Lancaster
county and their ancestry can be directlv traced to
Henry Ferre, who died in Germany and whose
widow came to America and bought land in Penn-
sylvania of William Penn, as early as 1680.
William H. Edwards was the eldest of his fa-
ther's large family. He was reared on the farm and
acquired his education in the common schools. His
tastes led him to learn the cabinetmaking trade,
which, in connection with undertaking, he has fol-
lowed ever since. • Mr. Edwards came to New
Providence March 27, 1868, has proven himself an
excellent man of business and is now regarded as
one of the substantial citizens of the town, where
he owns a handsome and comfortable home and
well-appointed shops. In politics he is a Democrat,
and zealously works for the success of his party.
On Dec. 26, 1872, Mr. Edwards was married
to Miss Mary C. Herr, born Aug. 30, 1852, daugh-
ter of Martin and Catherine Herr, of Providence
township. Mrs. Edwards is a direct descendant
of Hans Herr, who was one of the very first settlers
in this county. She was one of a family of six chil-
dren born to her parents, as follows : Emma, the
wife of Harry Smith, of Lancaster; Mary, who be-
came Mrs. Edwards ; Elam, a resident of Drumore
township; Martin, a resident of Quarryville; Benja-
min, a resident of Martic township ; and John, a resi-
dent of Drumore township. To Mr. and Mrs. Ed-
wards has been born a family of eleven children,
William F., who married Annie Heidelbaugh;
Catherine L., who married Hugh R. Collins; John
E., who married Cora Clarkson; Nance May, de-
ceased ; Emma N., who married Diller Reese, Sept.
4, 1902; Minnie B. ; Bertha L. ; Harry Charles;
Josephine M., deceased; and Abraham and James,
twins, who died young.
Mr. Edwards and family are regarded with feel-
ings of esteem in their community. They are prom-
inent in social life and reflect credit upon their hon-
orable families which have for so many years been
leading ones in Lancaster county. They are mem-
bers of the United Brethren Church at Reftoii,
Strasburg township, Lancaster county.
JOHN BENDER, one of the prominent citi-
zens and substantial retired farmers of Lancaster
county, owns a fine estate in Upper Leacock town-
ship, but since 1891 has retired from active opera-
tion of it. He was born in this old home Oct. 23,
1861, son of John W. and Anna (Buckwalter)
Bender.
John W. Bender was born in Upoer Leacock
township, Jan. 22, 1833, and died on his late farm
Nov. 30, 1877, and was buried in Heller's Reformed
churchyard, which sacred ground adjoins the old
home farm. He was a son of Kinzer D. Bender,
and a brother of Franklin of this township, William
K. Bender, of Strasburg, Pa., and Mrs. Jacob Burk-
holder, of Talmage, Pa. John W. Bender remained
with his parents, who were well-known and most
highly esteemed residents of the township, until his
marriage, and then moved to the farm now in the
possession of his family. For eieht years he was
a school director and was identified with all impor-
tant educational advancement in his' neighborhood
In politics he was ever a stanch Republican, and he
was one of the leading members of the Methodist
Church. On Nov. 16, 1856, John W. Bender was
married, in Lancaster, to Miss Anna W. Buckwal-
ter, and the children born to this union were : John,
of this sketch ; and Aaron, who after studying in
the common schools in 1885 entered Pennington
Seminary (N, J.) to fit himself for the ministry, but
he died in 1886, aged twentv-three years.
Mrs. Anna W. (Buckwalter) Bender was born
in East Lampeter township. She was a daughter
of Abraham and Anna (Witmer) Buckwalter, na-
tives of East Lampeter township. Mr. Buckwalter
was a well-known farmer who died in 1840 at the
age of forty-eight, his widow surviving until 1886,
dying at the age of ninety-one. Their burial was
in the Mellinger Mennonite cemetery. They had
been worthy and consistent members of the Men-
nonite Church. Their children were: Esther, de-
ceased, who married Joseph Wenger; Benjamin, de-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ceased, who married Susanna Johns ; Ehzabeth, de-
ceased, who married David Grofif ; Lydia, who is the
widow of Jacob Leaman, of Leacock township ;
Barbara, who is the widow of Abraham Rohrer, of
Manheim township : Abranam, who is a retired far-
mer of Upper Leacock township ; Levi, deceased ;
and Anna, who is the mother of John Bender, of
this sketch.
John Bender was born and reared on the home
farm where he has spent all his active life. His
education was acquired in the public schools, and
Mr. Bender has been identified with the public
affairs of his township, having for the past two
years been township auditor. Since 1891 he has not
engaged actively in operating the farm. The fam-
ily is one much respected in this neighborhood and
Mr. Bender is regarded as one of the thoroughly
reliable representative citizens of Upper Leacock.
The family have always been members of the Meth-
odist Church, the father being one of the founders
of the church of that denomination at Leola, where
John Bender, our subject, was superintendent of the
Sunday-school for eleven, years. He takes a deep
interest in music, and has charge of the church choir
at Leola. Mr. Bender has at times been urged to
take town office but declined.
AARON E. HARTMAN was born in East
Lampeter township, Oct. 21, 1856, and is one of its
most successful farmers and progressive and public-
spirited citizens. His father's name was Henry, like
that of his grandfather. A somewhat detailed gene-
alogical sketch of his family is given elsewhere. The
maiden name of his grandmother was Hildebrand,
and his father, Henry, was her only son, although
her marriage was blessed with four children. Henry
Hartman, Jr., was born upon his father's home
farm, which subsequently became his through in-
heritance. It adjoined that now owned by his son,
Aaron E., and is at present the property of another
son, Samuel. The land has been in possession of the
family since it was granted to the first American
progenitor by William Penn.
Henry Hartman married Elizabeth Eaby. He
was the father of six children, of whom Aaron E. is
the youngest. The others, in order of birth, were
Samuel, Anna, Elizabeth, Kate E. and Henry E.
He was a hardworking and successful farmer, and a
man noted for his high moral and consistent Chris-
tian character. He was a devout member of the
Methodist Church, while his wife adhered through
life to the Mennonite faith, in which she had been
reared. He died in 1879 and she fell asleep in 1895.
Both now rest, side by side, in the peaceful Mel-
linger cemetery, in the hope of a glorious immor-
tality. Some brief mention of their children will be
of interest in this connection. Samuel married
Catherine Price and lives, as has been said, in the
old homestead. Anna is the wife of Samuel K.
Landis, of East Petersburg. Ehzabeth married
John H. Esbenshade, and is deceased. Henry E,
married Nettie Hostetter.
Aaron E. Hartman was educated in the common
schools and at the State Normal School, at Millers-
ville. He taught with success for three terms, but
ultimately chose the life of a farmer in preference ta
that of a pedagogue. He has always taken a deep
interest in the cause of education, however, and has
served three terms as school director. He is re-
garded by his fellow townsmen as a safe counselor,
while his blameless life has commanded their undis-
guised respect.
In 1881 Mr. Hartman was married to Frances, a
daughter of Abram Diifenbaugh. Four children
have been born to them : Henry C, Benjamin
Franklin, Ellis Blaine and Mabel Priscilla.
WILMER P. BOLTON. The Boltons are
among the oldest and most honorable residents of
Lancaster county. Evart Bolton, the founder of
this estimable and well-known family, came ta
America from England about 1682 or 1683, and set-
tled at Cheltenham, Pa., and as they were of Quaker
faith they were probably with the Penn family, and
followed their fortunes and leadings. The descend-
ants are not numerous. This family is distinct from
the New England Boltons.
The children born to the original settler were:
Eurette, Elizabeth, Hannah, Mary, Samuel, Abel,.
Sarah, Lydia, Isaac, Rebecca and Margaret. Isaac
Bolton, son of the settler, was born in 1697. His
family consisted of Margaret, Rachel, Sarah, Re-
becca, Jemima, Isaac, Joseph and Eurette. Isaac
Bolton (2) was born April 27, 1735, and his son,.
Isaac Bolton (3), who wds the grandfather of Wil-
mer P. Bolton, was born in Philadelphia in 1771,
and married Elizabeth Townsend Nov. 11, 1802.
Their children were: Evan, Sarah, Abie, Jason,
Elizabeth, Margaret and Isaac, all of whom have
passed out of life.
Jason Bolton, the father of Wilmer P., was mar-
ried to Anna Pennock Sept. 28, 1845. He was born
in Philadelphia county July 5, 1814, and died Sept.
28, 1888. His wife was born April 15, 1815, in
Chester county, Pa., daughter of Simon and Sarah
Pennock. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jason
Bolton were but two in number: Wilmer P. and
Emily T. The latter was born July 14, 1849, ^^^
died July 6, 1897, unmarried. For many years Mr.
Bolton was director and for several years superin-
tendent of the schools of Drumore township.
Wilmer P. Bolton is one of the leading farmers
and nurserym.en of Lancaster county, and for twenty
years has been the capable general agent for the
Chester County Mutual Fire Insurance Company..
He was born June 3, 1847. His early studies were
pursued in the common schools of his neighborhood,
and he later attended both the Millersville Normal'
School and a business college in Philadelphia. Al-
though Mr. Bolton has been interested in and identi-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
977
fied with many other enterprises, he has always made
farming his leading interest. His farm and resi-
dence are located three-fourths of a mile from the
village of Liberty Square, and the property was pur-
chased by his grandfather in 1818. Mr. Bolton
owns three farms in Drumore township, all of which
are well improved and have excellent buildings.
_ The marriage of Mr. Bolton on Jan. i, 1879, to
Miss Cassandra S. Cutler, of Drumore township,
united him with another of the old and well estab-
lished families of this county. She was born August
20, 1855, daughter of Alban and Mary (Coats) Cut-
ler, and was one of a family of three children:
Horace, who is deceased; Cassandra S.; and Ella,
who married Charles Shoemaker, a farmer of Ful-
ton township. Grandfather Jesse Cutler was a
prominent and wealthy farmer of his time, in Dru-
more township, and the family ancestry is given else-
where. Mr. and Mrs. Bolton had three children:
Theodore C, born Nov. 21, 1882; LesHe Isaac, born
June 8, 1886; and Edgar J., born Oct. i, 1888, who
died Sept. 21, 1889.
Mr. Bolton is prominent in educational matters
in his to\viiship, having served as school director for
twelve years, and he has carried on the business of
conveyancer and surveyor in the county for the last
thirty years. His religious connection has ever been
with the Society of Friends, and his life has been in
consonance with the simplicity of their belief. He
has been active in temperance circles, and for sev-
eral years was district chief templar of Lancaster
county. As an honest, upright citizen he has dealt
fairly with his fellowmen, and enjoys their esteem
and confidence. Since youth Mr. Bolton has been
an active Republican, but he has never desired any
political preference, his activities and interests lying
in the direction of business and educational matters.
He is a most worthy representative of his family.
GEORGE G. CULLY. For many years the
name of Cully has been an honored one in Lancaster
county, the family having been founded here more
than 150 years ago, by, Thomas Cully, the great-
grandfather of George G. Cully of Martic town-
ship.
The birth of George G. Cully was on Feb. 15,
1856, and he is a son of William and Susan (Bru-
baker) Cully, the former of whom was born in this
township, in 1830 and died in 1873. In 1850 he was
married to Susan Brubaker and they had a family
of four children : William, of the city of Lancaster ;
George G. ; Laura, who married William Robinson ;
and Lennie, who died young. Mrs. Cully still sur-
vives and is an esteemed resident of this township.
William Cully was a son of George and Mary
(Boyd") Cully, respected farming people of this
township, living on the old farm upon which Thomas
Cully settled so long ago.
George G. Cully grew to manhood on the Martic
township farm and attended the public schools of his
district. His Hfe has been passed in agricultural
62
lines, his fine farm of 200 acres showing the careful
cultivation of an excellent farmer while the pleasant
surroundings and handsome dwelling bespeak the
thrift and plenty which conduce to make the hus-
bandman the happiest and most fortunate of men.
The marriage of George G. Cully was on Jan.
23, 1878, to Miss Mary G. Striggle, of Martic town-
ship, a daughter of Michael and Elizabeth Striggle,,
her birth being on April 10, 1861. The other mem-
bers of her family are: Benjamin, Grizzelle, Cath-
erine, Belle, Annie, Edith, John and Michael. The
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cully were : George,,
born July 28, 1879; Annie, born April 3, 1881, died
at the age of ten years ; Milton, born Jan. 23, 1883,.
at home; John D., born April 25, 1885; Amy M.,.
born Dec. 29, 1887: Herbert, born June 14, 1892;.
and Thomas Kirk, born May 31, 1895.
Mr. Cully is a Democrat in political sentiment,,
and is a man of force of character, known in his com-
munity as honest and upright in all his dealings..
Although never placing himself before the public in
any conspicuous position, Mr. Cully has exerted an
influence tending toward the advancement and prog-
ress of his section in religious and educational lines.
Both he and his excellent and highly esteemed wife-
are worthy and consistent members of the Bethesda
Methodist Church. In his domestic circle, Mr..
Cully is respected and beloved and .his friends in
the neighborhood are counted by many scores.
CHARLES FRANK. Many lines of trade are
most successfully prosecuted in East Donegal town-
ship, on account of the energy and industry of its
citizens, and among those who have been especially
prosperous is the well-known carriage and wagon
builder at Ramsey's Toll Gate, Charles Frank, a
citizen of the highest standing in the community.
The birth of Mr. Frank was in Kinderhook,
West Hempfield township, July 7, 1861, a son of
Richard and Lena (Beehler) Frank, both of whom
came to America from Saxony, Germany, and mar-
ried in Mountville, Lancaster county. Richard
Frank was a son of Frederick and Amelia Frank,,
natives of Germany, where they passed their lives,
the latter a good and worthy woman, the former a
man of prominence as a writer and much esteemed
by the King of Germany.
Frederick Frank was one of the best educated
men in Saxony, writing and speaking five languages,
including English. As a boy of fourteen he acted
as interpreter for Napoleon in 1812-13. He corre-
sponded for two years with Kreider and Coppen-
heafifer, of Chestnut Hill, Pa., and when his son
later came .to that place, Kreider said to him : "Your
father knows more of the United States law and all
other matters of interest here than most of those
born here ; if he would come to the United States he
would be governor." Frederick Frank was a special
favorite with the Herzog, or Duke, of Sax Alten-
burg, and as often as the ruler visited Ronneburg
Frank was invited to be his companion, even sitting
J
978
BIOGRy^PHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
at the Duke's table. , When appointed by the Herzog
Ernst to be burgomaster, Frank refused the position
for himself but was permitted to select a man in his
place. With many opportunities to become a rich
man, he did not care to improve them, preferring to
work for the good of his fellow men, and he was an
adviser for everyone in the place, rich or poor. He
was a close friend not only of the Herzog Ernst, but
also of his father, Joseph, the preceding Duke.
When Frailk died, in i860, the courts, stores and
saloons alike were closed, and rich and poor took
part in the funeral. The newspaper describing the
ceremonies was printed with black edges and every
advertisement was omitted. Frederick Frank had
fourteen children, eight of whom died when quite
young. The survivors were Franz, Herman, Karl,
Richard, Mary and Laura. The boys were all
weavers by trade.
Richard Frank, father of Charles, was born in
1834. When eight years old, his father, the Ordi-
nance Postmaster, appointed him letter carrier, and
for five years he served, the youngest carrier in Ger-
many. In those days many letters contained money,
usually silver, and the amount was marked on the
outside of the envelope. The receiver was obliged
to write his name and the amount of the money in
the carrier's book before receiving his letter. Even
with these complications not a single mistake oc-
curred while the child was carrier. His sister Emily
was a carrier for ten years before him. Aug. 12,
1858, Richard started for America, landing Oct. i.
After marriage he settled on Chestnut Hill, in
West Hempfield township, following a laboring life,
although by trade he is a weaver. His wife was
born in 1837, and both of them belong to the United
Brethren Church. Their children are : Lena, wife
of Eli Weaver, living in Ironville, Pa.; Clara, wife
of Harry Sillers, living in York, Pa. ; Charles, the
subject of this biography; Mary, wife of George
Breemer, of York, Pa. ; Franz, residing in York ;
Elizabeth, wife of Lewis Resh, of Rapho township ;
Henry, associated with Charles in business; John,
a resident of York ; Catherine, wife of Frank Clin-
ton, of York; and Herman, who is a cigar manu-
facturer.
At the age of twenty-one, Charles Frank, who
had .been reared on a farm, took up the trade of
blacksmith, with Martin Ramsey, and continued as
his faithful assistant for four years, becoming a
superior workman. At that time he opened up a
coach-making business, utilizing the building ad-
joining the shop in which he had worked so long,
and in 1892 engaged his brother Henry with him,
since which time the business has prospered exceed-
ingly and is continually extending. The methods
adopted by Mr. Frank in the conduct of his busi-
ness have gained for him the confidence of the pub-
lic, and no enterprise in East Donegal township is
more promising than this. Charles Frank has made
an honorable name for himself in East Donegal
township and has many friends. In politics he is a
Republican, and a worthy member of the United
Evangelical Church.
On Dec. 24, 1885, occurred the marriage of
Charles Frank and Miss Mary Ramsey, and to this
union two children have been born, Harvey and
Elizabeth. The birth of Mrs. Frank was in 1865,
a daughter of Martin and Elizabeth (Gruver) Ram-
sey. The father was born in Londonderry town-
ship, Dauphin county, in March, 1825, a son of
Isaac and Mary (Steinmetz) Ramsey, 6i Lancaster
county. In 1858, in West Donegal township, Mar-
tin Ramsey married Elizabeth Gruver and to this
union were born: Daniel,' deceased; John W., a
tobacco salesman of Maytown ; Abraham, a produce
merchant of Atlantic City; Samuel, a clerk in a
clothing store in Lancaster; Mary, the wife of
Charles Frank; and Martin, a baker, in Mountville.
Martin Ramsey was reared by his mother and
his grandmother Steinmetz, remaining until he had
passed his seventeenth year ; he then began to learn
the blacksmith trade, in West Donegal township,
under the supervision of Benjamin Ober, remaining
there three and one-half years. Then he went to
Dauphin county, working with different people, un-
til 1853, when he opened up a business for himself.
In 1843 he had come to this location, but it was ten
years later before he built here his comfortable home
and commodious shop. Mr. Ramsey is also the effi-
cient keeper of the toll gate on the Maytown and
Elizabethtown turnpike, and is one of the consist-
ent members of the religious denomination known
as Brethren in Christ.
Henry Frank, a brother of Charles Frank, was
born in West Hempfield township Dec. 7, 1869 ; on
Oct. 3, 1893, he was married to Miss Reberta Peck,
and to this union two children have been born, Edna
and Harry. Reberta (Peck) Frank was born in
East Donegal township in May, 1873, ^ daughter
of Nicholas and Malinda (Martin) Peck, the for-
mer of whom is an undertaker and veterinary sur-
geon in Maytown. Until he was eighteen years of
age Henry Frank remained with his parents, going
then to York, Pa., where he learned the trade of
coach -maker, this business being a favorite one in
the family, Charles, Henry, John and two of the
brothers-in-law being engaged in it. In 1892 Henry
came to his present location, engaging with his
brother as a wood worker. In politics he votes inde-
pendently, and is fraternally connected with the O.
U. A. M.
DANIEL WEBSTER STYER, M. D., a popu-
lar and representative citizen of Churchtown, Lan-
caster county, was born in Caernarvon township,
Sept. 6, 1863, fi son of Peter and Elvina (Sweitzer)
Styer. Peter Styer is living, but his wife is dead.
Dr. Styer was reared on the parental farm, and
educated in the public schools, arid in the normal
schools at Kutztown and Millersville, and for four
years was a teacher in the public schools of Lan-
caster county. In the meantime he had developed
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
979
much interest in tHe healing art, and decided to make
that his profession. He did his preliminary reading
and studying in the office of Dr. A. H. Kissinger.
After taking a special course at the Millersville Nor-
mal, he entered Jefferson Medical College, from
which he was graduated with high honors. At the
Philadelphia Hospital for skin diseases he took a
special course; and another at the Pennsylvania
School of Anatomy and Surgery, receiving credit-
able and complimentary diplomas from each of these
institutions. With Dr. Styer surgery is specialized,
and he is an enthusiastic student of its various
branches. At Churchtown he has built up an in-
creasing and lucrative practice, and takes high rank
among the practitioners of the healing art in that
part of the county. Dr. Styer belongs to the County
and State Medical Societies, as well as the American
Medical Association, and has attended these various
associations as a delegate.
Dr. Styer was married in Feb., 1890, to Miss
Annie Cox, a daughter of John and Ellen Cox. Her
father is dead. The Doctor and his wife belong to
the Lutheran and the Episcopal Churches, respect-
ively, and have many warm and devoted personal
friends in the community where they are best known.
THEODORE KISINER, a well-to-do farmer
of Fulton township, Lancaster county, residing a
half mile southwest of McSparran, where he has a
very pleasant home, was born Oct. 19, 1844, son of
Jacob and Rebecca (Jenkins) Kisiner.
Jacob Kisiner, grandfather of Theodore, was
born in Ireland, of English origin, and lived to the
advanced age of ninety-three years. He was a
cooper by trade. His family consisted of seven chil-
dren ; Jacob, Jr., David, Washington, Eliza, Reuben,
Lydia A. and Ann.
Jacob Kisiner, Jr., born in Lancaster county in
1816, was married in 1843 to Miss Rebecca Jenkins,
who was born in this county in 1820. They had
seven children as follows: Theodore, the subject
of this article ; George, a farmer of York Co., Pa. ;
John W., a miller of Stewartstown, York county;
J. Scott and W. Henry, farmers of York county;
Sarah J., the wife of William Simmers, of Mary-
land; Mary, the wife of Reed Almony, of York
county. The father of this family died April 26,
1962, the mother, June 6, 1901.
Theodore Kisiner married Miss Landie McAfee,
of Fulton township, Oct. 19, 1881, and this mar-
riage was blessed with three children: Emma
R., born July 30, 1883; Anna S., born March 15,
1886 ; and Dora, born Aug. 30, 1889, all residing at
home. Mr. Kisiner lost his beloved wife July 3,
1899; she was born Feb. 26, 1855. Mrs. Kisiner
was a member of the Society of Friends, and a noble
Christian woman, a good wife and a kind and loving
mother, and is greatly missed by her family.
Mr. Kisiner started in life very poor, but by hard
work has accumulated a competency. In 1863, at
the age of nineteen, he enlisted in the cavalry volun-
teers known as the Pennsylvania Volunteer Cav-
alry. He has followed farming since he started out
for himself, and now owns a farm of one hundred
acres, with a nice residence and first class outbuild-
ings. His home place, near McSparran, consists of
eleven acres, with a good house and necessary farm
buildings. For many years, besides conducting a
farm, he has carried on a commission business with
profitable results. His time is now largely occu-
pied in stock feeding.
Mr. Kisiner is not a member of any religious
denomination but attends the meetings of the
Friends Society. He votes the Republican ticket,
has served as road supervisor, and at present is one
of the school directors. Mr. Kisiner is a self made
man, having acquired what he owns by strict econ-
omy and sober habits. He has never had a lawsuit,
or trouble with his neighbors, and is universally re-
spected. Being a leading man in his district, his
opinion is often sought, and his advice followed in
many matters which work for the good of the
vicinity.
BENJAMIN F. MARKLEY was borfi March
23, 1853, in Providence township, Lancaster Co.,
Pennsylvania.
Adam Markley, his grandfather, emigrated from
the old country and settled at Strasburg, Lancaster
county, where he followed the trade of shoemaker.
He was the father of six children : Nancy, wife of
Cunningham Atchison, of Lancaster county; John,
the father of the subject of this sketch; Jacob, of
Buck, Lancaster county; George, also of Buck,
Lancaster county ; Susan, the wife of Joseph Graver,
of Little Britain, Lancaster county ; and Margaret,
who is the widow of John Duke, of Lancaster City.
John Markley, father of Benjamin F. Markley,
was born in Lancaster county. May 31, 18 17. He
lived at home with his father until quite a young
man, during which time he received a good common-
school education. He then went to learn the carpen-
ter's trade with a man named Long, He remained
at this work about five years when he bought a farm
in Providence township and followed farming the
balance of his life. He was a member of the Presby-
terian Church, presided over by the Rev. Mr., Put-
ter, and was one of its trustees. In politics he al-
ways voted with the Republican party.
On Sept. 22, 1842, Mr. Markley married Annie,
daughter of Henry Funk, of Safe Harbor. Mr. and
Mrs. John Markley were the parents of five children :
William H., deceased; James, deceased; Susan, the
wife of Joseph Clark, of Lancaster City; John M.,
residing in Safe Harbor; and Benjamin F. The
last and youngest son, Benjamin, lived at home with
his parents until his eighteenth year, receiving in the
meantime an education gained in the schools of the
district. He then went to work, doing general farm
work for ten years.
On Jan. 15. 1884, Mr. Markley married Annie,
daughter of Benjamin Good, of Conestoga, and from
980
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
that time, for nine years farmed on shares for John
Gardner. He then bought the farm where he now
resides and continues engaged solely in agricultural
pursuits. He, like his father, is a stanch Repub-
lican, but never sought or held office. He is a mem-
ber of the Evangelical Church of Millersville. He
is a member of the I. O. O. F., No. 374, of Rawlins-
ville; also of the A. O. K. of M. C, No. 158, of Mt.
Nebo.
Mr. Markley is the father of four children: A.
Roy, Susie B., Edna M. at home, and one son, Ben-
jamin T., who died early in life.
In addition to his home place Mr. Markley owns
a ten-acre place in Conestoga township. Mr. Mark-
ley is a liberal-minded and progressive man, and is
one of the highly respected citizens of his vicinity.
GEORGE H. BROWN. One of the substantial
and successful farmers of Little Britain township
is George H. Brown, who by his own efforts has
climbed up the ladder from the bottom rung and has,
in a comparatively few years changed his condition
from a youth with little but his brains and hands as
capital, to that of one of the leading and solid farm-
er-citizens of his township.
The Brown family of Little Britain township
probably came of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and George
H., of this sketch, was a son of John and Eliza
(Patton) Brown, most highly respected citizens of
the township, and was born on Sept. i, 1863.
John Brown, the father, was born in this town-
ship also, in 1824, and died in 1879. In 1849 ^^ was
married to Eliza Patton, who was a daughter of John
Patton, of Lancaster county, and she still survives,
at the age of eighty years, a member of the family
of her son PYanklin, of this township. John Brown
was a son of Samuel Brown, who was the father of
three other children: Jacolj; Leutitia, married to
Henry Jenkins, and Ellis. The children born to
John Brown and wife numbered eleven, those
who grew to maturity being : William Henry, who
lives in the West; Samuel E., who is a farmer of
Britain tov^nship; Robert F., who is a blacksmith
of Little Britain township ; Jacob L., deceased ;
Alice, who married George Phillips, residing in
Kansas ; George H. ; John, who is a farmer of Dru-
more township; and Edgar S., died Jan. 21, 1902.
George H. Brown of this biography was reared
a farmer boy and attended the district schools. His
occupation has been that of farming and through
energy and industry, he has been more than usually
successful. Mr. Brown now owns a fine, well-im-
proved farm of ninety-one acres in Little Britain
township, and also a one-half interest in a farm of
172 acres near White Rock, Pa., in partnership with
his brother Ellis.
The marriage of Mr. Brown was celebrated on
Nov. 3, 1887, to Miss Nora E. Smith, who was born
Oct. 5, 1863, one of a family of four children born to
her parents, Preston and Hannah (Carter) Smith,
of Drumore township, more extended notice of the
family being given in the sketch of Gilbert Smith.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith had the following children t
Albert A., a farmer of Drumore township ; Clarinda,.
the wife of J. M. Ankrim, of Drumore township, ani
Nora E., the wife of Mr. Brown. Mr. and Mrs..
Brown have had children as follows : Edna S., born!
Dec. 18, 1888 ; Arthur E., born Sept. 28, 1890 ; Vera
May, born Oct. 13, 1891 ; Hannah E., born March.
28, 1893; Ivan W., born Oct. 20, 1897; Dwight L..
M., born April 10, 1900; and Gilbert P., born Oct.
18, 1902.
Mr. Brown is a stanch Republican, and both he-
and his wife are consistent and valued members of
the Presbyterian Church. For the past ten years he
has most efficiently served his township as school
director and takes a great interest in the educational ,
advancement in his locality. No citizen is more
highly esteemed and in every relation of life he bears .
an honorable part.
JOSEPH J. LONG. Among the highly re-
spected citizens of Drumore township is Joseph,
J. Long, a farmer and justice of the peace, who was
born April 10, 1863, in Drumore township, a son of
J. Harrison and Elizabeth (Harner) Long, of Dru-
more, of Dutch-Irish and German descent, respect-
ively.
J. Harrison Long, now a retired farmer of Dru-
more, was born July 27, 1836, and is a son of James
B. and Catherine (Jefferson) Long of Drumore
township. James B. Long was born Oct. 3, 1802, .
and died Oct. 20, 1873. 'Five children were born to -
him : Margaret, the widow of Amos Rutter of Ohio ;
J. Harrison ; Lucinda, the wife of John S. Harner, a
farmer of Martic township ; George, deceased ; Rob-
ert Lindley, of Phoenix, Ariz. The last named is
superintendent of public instruction and one of the-
leading citizens of that flourishing city, being a man
who is true and sincere to his convictions, with an
extended knowledge of business and a broad and lib-
eral mind. For many years he has made his home in ■
the far west and the name of Robert L. Long is
identified with the best interests of the place as well '
as with the workings of the Republican party, of
which he is a stanch member.
The great-grandfather, James Long, was born
on the old farm now owned by Samuel M. Long,
and he was a grandson of the first of that name to
settle in Pennsylvania, in 1726. The first settler of ^
the name of Long came from Scotland. By trade
he was an iron worker and made the irons and hinges .
still in use in the Presbyterian church at Chestnut
Level, Pa. about 1765 or 1770. From this John
Long comes the Long family of Drumore township, .
Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania.
J. Harrison Long was married to Miss Elizabeth
S. Harner of Martic township, Nov. 6, 1859, daugh-
ter of Joseph and Mary (Slingluff) Harner, of '
Montgomery Co., Pa. ; she was born Oct. 20, 1830.
and died Nov. 3, 1892. Two children were born of"^
this union, Joseph J. and Mary C, the latter having
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
981
•been born Dec. 15, 1864, and married to L. Russell
Ambler, a farmer of Martic township. J. Harrison
Long, the father, is one of the wealthy farmers of
Drumore, owning a large farm of 300 acres, all well
improved and supplied with good buildings. In
politics he is a stanch Republican; he is an earnest
:member of the Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church.
Joseph J. Long spent his early days upon the
farm of his father and attended the district schools
and also the Chestnut Level Academy for two years.
For two years more he attended the West Notting-
ham Academy of Maryland. Returning home, he
resumed his farming operations and now owns three
■excellent farms, all of which are in fine condition
and supplied with good buildings. In politics, he is
a loyal Republican and has acceptably served the
township as school director and township auditor
and at present is justice of the peace. Religiously,
"he is an earnest member of the Chestnut Level Pres-
byterian Church.
Joseph J. Long was married to Miss Anna M.
McComb, of Drumore township, on Oct. 14, 1891,
a young lady of Irish descent and a daughter of
William and Matilda (Carrick) McComb. On Feb.
.21, 1899, she died without issue, having been a
;gentle, loving wife and kind Christian woman. As
she was born on June i, 1862, she was still in the
prime of life and her loss was deeply felt not only by
lier family, but also- throughout the community
where she had made her home.
Joseph J. Long is a man of deep convictions,
liberal views and high-minded honesty. Being well-
informed upon the leading topics of the day, he is
an entertaining conversationalist and has always
■proven himself a kind neighbor and public-spirited
citizen.
HENRY HERSHEY, who has retired from
active farming, and is living in Intercourse, Pa.,
in very comfortable if not affluent circumstances,
was bom in Leacock township. May 19, 1855, and is
a son of Peter E. and Anna (Landis) Hershey, of
Leacock and East Lampeter townships, respectively.
Peter E. Hershey is a retired farmer in Leacock
township. He was born in Salisbury township, Feb.
1826 ; his wife was born in East Lampeter township ;
thev are both members of the Mennonite Church.
Mr. Hershey was long a school director and town-
ship auditor. In his politics he is a Republican.
Born to him and his wife were the following : Chris-
tian L., who died at the age of eighteen years ; Anna,
■who married Amos Leanian, of Leacock township,
and is now dead ; Henry ; Mary, who married Esaias
Denlinger, a farmer of Paradise township ; Landis,
a farmer in Salisbury township, a deacon of the
Mennonite Church.
The paternal grandparents of Henry Hershey
were Abraham and Anna (Eby) Hershey, both of
Lancaster county.
Henrv Hershev was married in December, 1877,
in New Holland, Pa., to Christie A. Denlinger, by
whom he has had the following children : Anna M.,
who married Isaac M. Good, a farmer of Leacock
township ; Noah, who died in infancy ; Alice D., who
died in infancy ; Lloyd.
Mrs. Hershey was born in Paradise township,
Feb. 16, 1857, 3-iid is a daughter of John and Mary
(Brubaker) Denlinger, farmer folk of that town-
ship. Her father was school director and supervisor
for many years. Both were members of the Men-
nonite'Church. Her father died Feb. 5, 1892, lack-
ing but eight days of being eighty years old. Her
mother died Dec. 12, 1893, aged seventy-seven years,
nine months and nineteen days. The remains rest
in the Hershey Church burying ground in Salisbury
township. Mr. and Mrs. Denlinger had the foUow-
mg family: Barbara, a maiden lady of Paradise
township ;' Samuel B., a retired farmer of Paradise
township; Lizzie, the widow of Elias Leaman, of
Leacock township ; Simon, living in Leacock town-
ship, married to Anna M. Leaman, who is now 'dead ;
Mary, married H. E. Musser, of Paradise township,
who is the subject of a sketch on another page ; Jacob
a farmer of Leacock township ; Esaias, a farmer of
Paradise township; John, unmarried, a farmer of
Paradise township : Tobias, who died in 1898, at the
age of forty-three, leaving Lizzie Eby for his widow ;
Elias, a retired farmer of Salisbury township;
Christie A. ; Evalin, who married A. H. Hostetter,
a merchant at Intercourse, Pennsylvania.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Henry
Hershey were John and Christie A. (Hurst) Den-
linger, of Lancaster county. The grandfather was
twice married, his first wife being a Miss Hurst. ^
Henry Hershey lived with his parents until his
marriage, and then .brought his wife there. They
remained there until 1893, ..when he retired from act-
ive farm work, and coming to Intercourse, es-
tablished a very pleasant home in that charming
place. For the last twelve years he has been town-
ship auditor, and is a director of the Lancaster
Chemical Company. In the Mennonite Fire Insur-
ance Company he is a director and treasurer. In the
Mennonite Church he is one of the leading members,
and much confidence is expressed in his integrity,
ability and general trustworthiness. In politics he
is a Republican.
JOHN B. SENGER gained a firm footing in
business circles in his section of Lancaster county,
and after his removal to his present location, at
Kinzers, built up a thriving trade in his especial
line. He was born Nov. 13, 1850, in Caernarvon
township, near Churchtown, and on the maternal
side comes of stock which has long been identified
with the agricultural interests of the county and
prominent in the Mennonite Church. Daniel Geh-
man, his great-grandfather, came from Switzerland,
and settled near Adamstown, this county. The grand-
father. Christian Gehman, who also lived near Ad-
amstown, was a preacher in the Mennonite Church.
He died in March, 1856. He married Barbara Kurtz,
982
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
who was from near Roland's Church in Earl town-
ship, and their family consisted of thirteen children,
five sons and eight daughters, Lydia being the
mother of Mr. Senger.
Mr. Senger's ancestors on the paternal side also
came from Switzerland. His grandfather died when
his father was a young child, and the latter was
raised as a "bound" boy by Joseph Martin, of Weav-
erland. He married Lydia Gehman Feb. 2, 1838,
and to them were born six sons and two daughters,
John B. being the sixth in the family.
John B. Senger was reared to farming, which
pursuit he followed up to the age of nineteen years.
He received a good common-school education in the
public schools of Leacock township, and after he
abandoned agriculture, he took up teaching, engag-
ing at that profession until 1889, since when he has
been in business. For eight years he ran a portable
saw mill, in Chester and Delaware counties, and in
1897 lie purchased the coal and lumber yard and
warehouse at Kinzers which he conducted till April
I, 1902, when he s6ld his business. Mr. Senger dealt
in grain, feed, flour, coal, lumber, slate, phosphate,
salt, and various other commodities in those lines,
and also filled orders for sawing oak lumber. Al-
together, he commanded a very lucrative patronage
in Kinzers and the surrounding country, where his
thorough honesty and straightforward methods were
recognized and appreciated.
In religion, Mr. Senger follows in the footsteps
of his ancestors, uniting with the Mennonite Church,
and he has been a devoted Christian worker all his
active life. On Jan. 18, 1900, he was ordained to the
ministry and since 1902 has devoted his entire time
to the work. On Oct. 24, 1872, he was married to
]\lagdalene Rutter, daughter of Jonathan Rutter, of
Leacock township.
Henry Gehman, a second cousin of our subject,
is a preacher in the same district where his grand-
father officiated. Mr. Senger has two first cousins
by the name of Witmer, their mother having been a
sister of Mrs. Lydia Senger, one in Weaverland, the
other in Grofifdale, this county ; and another, Samuel
Gehman, in Juniata Co., Pa., who is a descendant
of the first Gehmans that came from Switzerland.
These cousins are also ministers.
HENRY K. DILLINGER, the energetic and
pushing proprietor of the Sporting Hill Steam Mill,
was born in Penn township, Lancaster county, Sept.
27, 1853, a son of Henry B. and Fanny M. (Kauff-
man) Dillinger. The father was born in East
Hempfield township, and the mother in Rapho
township.
Henry B. Dillinger operated a water mill in Penn
township, and later removed to Milton Grove, where
he was engaged in m.illing until 1856; that year he
came to the mill where his son, Henry K., is now
established, and here he carried on milling until
1888, when he died at the age of sixty-four years.
He and his wife belonged to the Mennonite Church,
and his remains rest in the cemetery at Sporting
Hill. His widow, who is still living, and is making
her home with her son, Henry K., was born June 8,
1832. These were her children : Henry K. ; Jacob,
who died at the age of twenty-eight; Matilda, who
died in infancy; and Susan, deceased at the age of
fifteen.
The paternal grandparents of Henry K. Dil-
linger were Michael and Catherine (Baker) Dil-
linger, both of whom were born in Lancaster county.
They were members of the Lutheran Church, and
their remains rest in a cemetery in East Petersburg.
The grandfather, who was a weaver by trade, died
in East Hempfield township in 1873, at the age of
sevejity-five. His widow, Catherine, died the fol-
lowing year at the age of seventy-five. They had
the following children: Flenry B., the father of
Heni-y K. Dillinger-; Andrew and Benjamin, all de-
ceased ; Michael, a blacksmith at Lancaster ; Eman-
uel, now dead; Fanny, the widow of David Walter,
living in Florin, Pa. ; EHzabeth, who married Peter
Walter, and is dead; Susan, the wife of George
Mann, in West Hempfield township; Amos, de-
ceased.
The maternal grandparents of Henry K. Dil- ■
linger were Jacob and Catherine (Martin) Kauff-
man, both of Lancaster county. Mr. Kauffman, who
was a distiller, died in Rapho township in 1849, at
the age of fifty-four years. His widow, Catherine
Kaufifman, died in 1875, at the age of seventy-three
years. Their remains rest in the cenietery at Sport-
ing Hill. Born to them were the following children :
Jacob, Henry and Elizabeth, who married Michael
Weidman, who are all dead; Maria, the widow of
Joseph Bomberger, living in Cumberland county;
Fanny, noted above; Magdelina, who died young.
Henry K. Dillinger was married in November,
1873, in Lancaster, to Kate Leib, by whom he has
had one child, Monroe L. Mrs. Dillinger was born
in Warwick township, in 1853, a daughter of Christ
and Mary (Hernley) Leib, both of Lancaster county.
Her father, who is now a retired farmer, has his
home in Akron, Pa., where he has attained the ripe
old age of eighty-five. Her mother died in 1854.
They were the parents of the following children:
Elizabeth, who married Amos Musselman, and has
her home in Sporting Hill ; Barbara, the widow of
Samuel Hofifman, living in Manor township ; Har-
riet, married to Harry Brown, and residing in Cole-
rain township; Anna, who married William Whit-
craft, and lives at Reinhold, Pa. ; Kate, noted above
as Mrs. Dillinger.
Mr. Leib was a second time married, to Matilda
Sweigert, by whom he had the following children r
Susan, who married Wayne Zell ; David ; and Ade-
line, Mrs. Adams. All three live in Akron, Penn-
sylvania.
Henry K. Dillinger remained at home with his
parents, and when a boy of eleven years of age en-
tered his father's mill. At the time of his father's
death he was fully able to operate the mill, and at
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
983
once took charge of it. This was a mill built by
Abraham Metz in 1814, and has long been one of
the notable landmarks of the county.
Mr. and Mrs. Dillinger belong to the Lutheran
Church, and their neighborly ways, kindly disposi-
tion and modest nature have made for them a host
of friends. He is a Republican, and his general in-
telligence, moral purpose and approved integrity
combine to give him much influence in his com-
munity.
PHARES D. KEMRER, a cigar manufacturer
at Vintage, Lancaster county, was born in that coun-
ty, in Paradise township, Sept. 13, 1856, a son of
Joseph and Susan (Hershour) Kemrer, at that time
residents of Harristown. P. D. Kemrer was born in
this village, and was educated in the public schools
and at the Millersville State Normal School, where
he attended three sessions.
Mr. Kemrer' was a school teacher in his early
manhood, and for six years was engaged in teach-
ing in Lancaster county. Then he turned his at-
tention to the cigar trade, and learned how to make
a good cigar. Since 1884 he has been engaged in a
cigar factory at Harristown, his post office being
Vintage. His goods, which are mostly medium and
cheap grades, are sold in the New York markets,
and his trade is rapidly growing. Mr. Kemrer owns
a farm property of thirty acres, which lies close to
the village where he lives, and to the cultivation of
this he devotes all the time he can spare from his
factory business.
Mr. Kemrer v/as married in 1889 to Lillie, a
daughter of Benjamin and Catherine Kramer, of
Paradise, where she was born in 1868. To this
union have come four children, Alice, Lloyd, John
and Dorothy.
The great-grandfather of Phares D. Kemrer
came from Germany and engaged in a distillery, near
the city of Lancaster. Much money was lost by him
in endorsing for a man whom he supposed to be his
friend. His son Joseph, the grandfather of Phares
D. Kemrer, was associated with his father in the
distillery, and died when about thirty-five. He mar-
ried Miss Sarah Dunning, and she lived to about
seventy years of age. They had five children : Mary,
who became the wife of Henry Grubb, of Lampeter
township; Elizabeth, married to Jacob Greenawalt,
formerly a county commissioner; Frances, married
to Jacob Treasure, of Sterling, 111. ; Joseph, the fa-
ther of Phares D. Kemrer; George, living near
Mountville, Lancaster county. The mother of these
children was a member of the Reformed Mennonite
Church.
Joseph Kemrer was born in Conestoga township,
in Lancaster county, Nov. 22, 1824. When only
four years old he lost his father, and for the next
nine years he lived on the farm of Jacob Weaver.
At the age of fifteen he set himself to learning the
shoemaker's trade, a business which he followed
many years at Harristown after a year at Lampeter.
He put his money into land, buying in small tracts
until he had come to own about thirty acres. All
this has now come into the possession of his son,
Phares D., with the exception of the acre-piece on
which he has his home. For several years he kept
a shoe store.
Joseph Kemrer was married Sept. -23, 1844, to
Miss Susan Hershour, a daughter of James and
Hannah Hershour. Mrs. Kemrer was born in 1825,
and has' become the mother of the following chil-
dren: Joseph, a shoemaker and trucker at Will-
iam.stown: Elizabeth, late wife of Benjamin H.
Lintner ; Phares D. ; Sadie, wife of Edwin Traut, of
Christiana; Howard, a shoemaker in Paradise;
Clinton, deceased ; Frank, residing at home ; Annie,
the wife of B. Frank Weaver, of Paradise.
J. MARTIN ANKRIM. One of the thrifty
and honorable farmers of Drumore township is J.
Martin Ankrim, who was born Feb. 25, 1855, a son
of S. Martin and Phebe A. (Kyle) Ankrim, of Dru-
more township, both of whom are deceased.
William Ankrim, the grandfather of J. Martin,
of this sketch, was born Oct. 20, 1770, and was of
Scotch-Irish' ancestry. In 1813 he bought and took
possession of the farm which has been in the Ank-
rim family ever since. His children were : Martha
Ann, born Aug. 25, 1806, died May 20, 1880; Sam-
uel M., born Oct. 23, 1808, died Aug. 4, 1880;
Nancy H., born Nov. 27, 1812, died June 12, 1888;
Margaret, born Oct. 22, 1815, died Dec. 23, 1867.
Archibald Ankrim, the great-grandfather of our
.subject, was one of the first settlers in Lancaster
county, and settled on a property adjoining that
afterward bought by his son.
S. IMartin Ankrim was united in marriage to
Phebe Kyle, in January, 1847. She was a daughter
of Joseph and Harriet (Morrison) Kyle, of Lancas-
ter county, and the seven children born to this union
were as follows: William J., born Nov. 13, 1847,
died Sept. 22, 1850; Harriet, born April 6, 1849,
died Sept. 21, 1850; William J., born Feb. 24, 1851,
residing in Philadelphia ; Hannah L., born Dec. 14,
1852, died March 17, 1853 ; Jennie, born Jan. 4,
1854, living with her brother ; J. Martin, born Feb.
25, 185s ; Lewis, born Dec. 13, 1857, a practicing
physician of Pittsburg, and the youngest of the fam-
ily. Mrs. Ankrim was born Nov. 5, 1823, and died
June 20, 1887.
J. Martin Ankrim, of this sketch, was reared a
farmer boy and attended the common schools.
When he started out on his business career it was
as a poor young man, but the evidences of his suc-
cess are in the fine farm of 180 acres and his elegant
and costly residence, first-class barns and other im-
provements which make him one of the substantial
men of this township. Mr. Ankrim owns his own
creamery and does a large and prosperous business
in this line in connection with his farming interests.
The m.arriage of our subject was to Miss Clar-
inda Smith, on Feb. 24, 1887, a daughter of Preston
984
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and Hannah (Carter) Smith, of Drumore township,
and they have had a family of six children, namely :
Alva M., born April 25, 1889 ; Joseph E., born Jan.
I, 1891, died April i,' 1891 ; Howard, born Feb. 28,
1892, died April 7, 1892; Preston S., born May 23,
1893 ; Lncetta May, born May i, 1895, died Dec. 19,
1895 ; and Grace Elizabeth, born Jan. 12, 1898.
The birth of Mrs. Ankrim was in, September,
1855, in Drumore township. Her parents, Preston
and Hannah (Carter) Smith, were married "Feb. i,
1844, and the former was born Dec. 27, 1816, and
died March 3, 1883, while the latter was born Jan.
I, 1823, and died Nov. 8, 1894. They had a family
of eight children, four of whom are living, namely :
Albert, born May 8, 1846, a farmer of Drumore
township, married to Harriet Martin ; Gilbert, born
Oct. 13, 1851 (see his sketch) ;.Clarinda, the wife
of Mr. Ankrim: and Nora Elizabeth, born Oct. 5,
1863, the wife of George H. Brown, of Little Brit-
ain township.
Politically Mr. Ankrim is a Democrat, and both
he and his wife are among the leading members of
the Presbyterian Church. As a farmer he stands
high in agricultural circles, while socially and finan-
ciall)'' he is one of the prominent factors' in the life
of this community.
ELAM GEIST BOOK, of the village of Refton,
in Strasburg township, belongs to one of the old
established families of Lancaster county, and is one
of the prominent business men of his section, as well
as a justice of the peace. Pie was born on a farm
near Strasburg Feb. 8, 1844, a son of John and Anna
(Geist) Book, and a grandson of David Book, a well
known resident.
John Book was reared in West Lampeter town-
ship, but spent the greater part of his life in Stras-
burg and Providence townships, residing in the lat-
ter until he retired from active life, when he removed
to Strasburg township, where he died at the age of
eighty-four years. His life was largely devoted to
farming, although early in life he had learned and
practiced the trade of a shoemaker. His first ven-
ture in farming was on shares, but about 1843 he
purchased a farm of 156 acres in Providence town-
ship, where he resided for twenty-two years, and
then, having purchased a second farm in Strasburg
township, he removed thither, renting the old farm
in Providence township to his son. On this farm
of twenty-five acres near Strasburg Mr. Book spent
his remaining years, and there both he and his be-
loved wife died. They had a family of nine chil-
dren: Catherine (deceased) was the wife of Tobias
Herr, of Strasburg township; Levi (deceased) was
a cigarmaker of Strasburg; David (deceased) was
a farmer, and removed to Illinois ; Barbara married
B. F. Weaver, of Sterling, 111. ; John was a farmer of
Drumore township ; Mary Ann (deceased) married
Aaron Alexander, of Chester county; Daniel (de-
ceased) was a victim of the Civil war, in which he
served as a private in the I22d P. V. I. ; Elam G.
is mentioned below ; Amos is a farmer near Gordon-
ville. All of the children became persons of high
esteem in their respective communities. The father
was a self-made man, having started out in life with
few advantages, but succeeded in becoming one of
the solid farmers of the county. Both he and his
wife belonged to the religious sect known as the
Dunkards.
Elam G. Book, who was reared on the farm; was
interested in farm work and attended school, and at
the age of eighteen began his public life by engaging
to teach school. So well did he satisfy the school
directors in Providence township that he was re-
tained for seven terms, or until he took charge of the
"Mill Valley Hotel," at the same time serving as
assessor. When he- closed up his connection with
the hotel he removed to Strasburg township and car-
ried on farming for the two following years, and
then moved to a place located just north of the
borough, where for three years he grew tobacco. In
all these lines he showed ability as a man of busi-
ness. Mr. Book has the honor of being the first
citizen of Refton. For two years he was the effi-
cient manager for R. D. Herr, in the coal and lum-
ber business, later entering the employ of James
Meek, with whom he continued, in the same line,
for five years, finding time during this period tofill
the office of assessor of Strasburg township. For
two years after leaving the employ of Mr. Meek he
was engaged with H. F. Haverstick in the coal and
lumber business, this relationship continuing for five
years, at the end of which time he formed a partner-
ship with Daniel Herr, known as Pequea D. Herr,
■ in the coal and lumber business. This association
lasted until the death of Mr. Herr, at which time
Mr. Book took control of the business, which he has
since conducted with increasing success. Although
he is the principal dealer in lumber, coal, fertilizers,
grain, flour and feed, in Refton, he finds time to
supervise his fine farm of 156 acres in Providence
township.
Mr. Book has been an ardent Republican, and an
active worker in the party's ranks. For six years
he has been county committeeman and for four years
has been township clerk. In 1888 he was elected
to the office of justice of the peace, and in the dis-
charge of the duties of that office has given universal
satisfaction by his decisions, none of them ever hav-
ing been reversed. In 1901 Mr. Book was appointed
to the office of paster and folder at Harrisburg,
which he filled honorably.
In 1867 Mr. Book wedded Miss Eliza Ann Laird,
who was born in Rawlinsville, this county. May 6,
1844, daughter of David Laird, and this union has
been blessed with seven children : Anna, who mar-
ried Harry Zittle, a lime burner of Strasburg, and
has three children. Alpheus, Catherine and Harry;
Emnia, who married Irvin Lefever, a farmer of
Providence township, and has four children, Agnes,
Myrtle, Florence and Elwood; Sherman, a farmer
of Providence township, who married Miss Sue V.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
985
Herr, and has three children, Edna, Willis and
Olara; Ira, a resident of Providence township, who
was educated in the Lancaster Business College, and
who married Miss Jennie Gochnauer, and has one
-child, Bessie : Milo, who was a student of the Penn-
•sylvania Business College, and now resides at home ;
Myrtle Amelia, at home ; and Ida, deceased.
HENRY B. HERR, a prominent farmer of
East Drumore township, Lancaster county, was
iDoni in EasfHempfield township, Aug. 27, 1853, a
son of Henry R. and Elizabeth (Brenneman) Herr.
They were both born in Manor township, he in 1818
and she in 1822. Henry Plerr was in his time one
•of the leading farmers of Lancaster county. After
ills marriage he settled in East Hempfield township,
where he died on his farm in 1865, when only forty-
seven vears of age. His widow is still living on the
old farm, and notwithstanding her advanced years,
is alert and vigorous.
To Henry and Elizabeth Herr were born the
following family: (i) Emanuel Herr, born on the
■old homestead, was a soldier in the Union Army
during the Civil war, belonging to one of the Penn-
sylvania regiments. He served until his enlistment
■expired, though at one time very ill with typhoid
fever. After the war he spent three years in Cali-
fornia, when he returned, to cultivate the old home-
stead, afterward buying into a creamery in Chester
■county. He was very successful in his business.
He died in 1897, aged fifty, leaving a widow, who
-was born Emma Phillips. (2) Jacob Herr, born in
1848, married Miss Lizzie Herr, and for som.e years
lived on a farm in Manor township, later moving
■onto their own place in Fulton township, where he
is living retired. (3) Magdalena Herr, born in 1852,
married John Stauffer, of East Hempfield township.
(4) Benjamin Herr, born in 1855, married Miss_
Lizzie Witwer, and purchased a farm in East Dru-'
more township, adjoining that of Henry B. These
are his seven children: Maggie; Ida; Benjamin;
Ella ; Alice, died in March, 1902 ; Edna ; and Amos.
(5) Amos Herr, born in 1859, married Miss Emma
S. Rosher, June 4, 1902, and has charge of the home
farm; (6) Henry P..
Henrv B. Herr received a common school edu-
cation. He rented neighboring farms until his mar-
riage, when he settled in life. His marriage oc-
curred in November, 1879, when Miss Lavina R.
Graybill became his wife. ' She was the daughter of
John and Elizabeth (Reist) Graybill, of Penn town-
ship, and both natives of Lancaster county. Her
father is dead, but her mother is still living on the
old home farm with her son John. They had three
children : Lavina R., who is Mrs. Henry B.' Herr,
born in August, 1855 ; Elizabeth Graybill, who is the
widow of David R.' Brandt, and lives in Lancaster
with her children, Gertrude, Eva and Leon; John
Graybill, who is unmarried and lives at home with
his mother.
Mr. and Mrs. Herr lived on a farm in East
Hempfield township for two years, when he pur-
chased his present home near Unicorn. Here Mr,
Herr has erected a handsome residence and a large
bank barn, making many other and extensive im-
provements, and converting his farm into one of the
best in I-ancaster county. Mr. and Mrs. Herr have
two children : Ervin J. Herr, born in February,
1881, single and living at home ; Olive Herr, born in
December, 1884, a student in the home schools.
Mr. Herr is a Republican, but, though urged by
his neighbors, has persistently declined to accept
public station. By industry and thrift he has be-
come prosperous, and from a very modest beginning
has accumulated a very handsome property. His
life has been one of honest toil, and his intelligence
and integrity are conceded by all who know him.
LEANDER SHOEMAKER, a prominent farm-
er of East Drumore township, Lancaster county,
was born in Martic township, Feb. 13, 1862, a son of
Joseph and Emaline (Lamborn) Shoemaker. Jo-
seph Shoemaker was born in Montgomery county
in 1829, and his wife in Martic township in 1831.
Joseph Shoemaker was the son of Jesse and
Sarah Shoemaker, both of whom were born in Mont-
gomery county, he in September, 1796, and his wife,
Sarah Lukens, in June, 1806. Jesse Shoemaker was
a farmer all his married life in Martic township, and
with his wife was a member and an active worker in
the Friends' Church. Mrs. Shoemaker died in 1872,
and he ten years later. They left a family of four
living children. The three children who died were
Charles, Martha and Enos. Jesse Shoemaker was
twice married, his first wife being Sarah Ambler, of
Montgomery county, by whom he had one daughter,
Hannah, born' in 1822 in Montgomery county, who
died unmarried in 1895. His second wife bore him
seven children, four of whom lived to manhood.
Joseph Shoemaker, born in Montgomery county
in 1829, noted above as the father of Leander, had a
common school education in Martic township. He
worked on the farm until his marriage in 1854 to
Miss Emaline Lamborn, a daughter of Smedley and
Mary Lamborn. They made their home on a part
of his father's old farm for some nine years, when
they purchased a farm in West Drumore township,
and there his wife died in 1880. After that sad event
he lived with his children until 1899, when he died.
He was the father of nine children, of whom Cynthia,
born February, 1855, died in 1876. Charlps, born in
March, 1856, married Miss Ella Cutler, and is a
farmer near Fulton House, where they have a family
of five children, — Ethel, Emaline, Jessie, Arthur
and CliflFord. Allison Shoemaker, born in April,
1858, went to Wyoming in 1879, where he has since,
been engaged in cattle raising, owning a large ranch
in that state ; he is a single man. Lewis Shoemaker,
born in 1873, was educated in the high school, and
was married to Miss Sarah Bradley; they live in
Akron, O., where he is a druggist; they have two
children, Mary and Blanche. Edgar Shoemaker,
986
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
born in 1871, married Alice Reed, and is a farmer,
in Fulton township ; they have one son, Earnest.
Leander Shoemaker was educated in the home
schools, and in the Academy at Chestnut Level.
When a young man he became a miller for a time.
In February, 1883, he married Miss Leora Kent,
the daughter of Garrison and Elizabeth (Shoe-
maker) Kent, of Chester county. Mrs. Shoemaker
was born in 1862, her mother dying one year after
her birth. The motherless child was reared by her
father's sister, Agnes Kent Bicking. Mrs. Shoe-
maker was the only child of her parents. Her father
married Anna Laflin, of Dover, Del. They moved
to Virginia, where he died when Mrs. Shoemaker
was eleven years old. She was educated in the pub-
lic schools, in the Westchester Normal School and
Swarthmore College. She was a teacher of much
success before her marriage. Mrs. Shoemaker's
father had two children by his second marriage,
William and Lillian, both living in Philadelphia,
where the brother is a trolley-car inspector and the
sister is a secretary in a publishing house.
Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker lived a year on his fa-
ther's farm, when they moved to a farm in Chester
county, which they occupied three years. In 1889
Mr. Shoemaker purchased the Showalter farm in
East Drumore township, a mile south of Unicorn.
This farm has been greatly improved since coming
into his hands. He has built a fine residence and
greatly improved the appearance of the place. His
children are: Lawrence J., born in December, 1884;
Mahlon, born in August, 1886; Olive L., born in
November, 1888; Raymond K., born in June, 1890;
Charles L., born Aug. 20, 1891 ; Evan L., born April
I, 1896; Lewis E., born in June, 1898; Almus J.,
born in January, 1900; Sara K., born Oct. 20, 1901.
All excepting the younger children are students in
the high school. Olive is a pianist of much skill
for one of her age.
Mr. Shoemaker is a Republican, and belongs
with his family to the Penn Hill Friends' Church.
ANDREW J. ZERCHER, undertaker and for-
merly merchant of Conestoga Center, Lancaster
county, was born in that place Feb. 15, 1857, son of
John J. and Maria M. (Mess) Zercher.
Andrew and Elizabeth (Johnson) Zercher, his
paternal grandparents, were of German and English
ancestry, respectively. Andrew Zercher died when
seventy-seven j^ears old, his widow passing away in
January, 1901, when almost ninety-two years of age.
He was a mechanic and in early life followed the
trade of plow-making and wagon-making, later
farming. He was a member of the Dunkard Church
and a public-spirited man. It was with these worthy
people our subject spent his boyhood, and by them
he was taught the principles of honesty and upright-
ness which he has so nobly upheld in his daily life.
John J. Zercher died in 1865, at the early age of
thirty years, from tvphoid fever, contracted on the
battlefield of Gettysburg, which he visited after the
battle for purposes of investigation. He had been a
teacher in the public schools, and was one of the
foremost educators in Lancaster county at the time
of his death. He commenced in the public schools
and Mt. Joy Academy, where he took a full course,
and he also had the advantages of a supplemental
course at the State Normal School, Millersville. He
was a great reader and deep thinker, and his con-
stant aid yvas toward the betterment of public school
facilities. He was a member of the Dunkard Church
and was extremely temperate in his mode of life.
His wife survived him, afterward marrying Andrew
Eidemiller, of Providence township. A family of
six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Zercher:
Emanuel H., a resident of Conestoga township and
justice of the peace; Phoebe, who died when two.
years of age; Andrew J., the subject of this sketch;
Elizabeth, wife of H. N. Eberly, of Providence
township ; Elmira, wife of A. J. Winter, of Lancas-
ter; and Abraham, a tinsmith, who died at twenty-
five ^'■ears of age, unmarried.
Andrew J. Zercher was a boy of only seven years
at the time of his father's death, and, as already
stated, was placed with his paternal grandparents,
who lived on a farm north of Conestoga Center,
where he worked most of the time until he was six-
teen. His education was limited and was obtained
principally during the winter months. At this time
he began working by the month for pay, and after
two years at farm labor he was apprenticed to
George D. Brown, of Millersville, to learn the cabi-
net trade. After serving three years he returned to
Conestoga and established himself in business, and
has since conducted a cabinet and undertaking es-
tablishment. In 189S Mr. Zercher engaged in the
mercantile trade, running it in connection with his
already established bu.siness. In 1898 he was ap-
pointed postmaster of Conestoga Center, and in 1901
he disposed of the mercantile part of his establish-
ment, and has since devoted himself to undertaking
and looking after his farm property. Mr. Zercher
has always been regarded as a public-spirited, pro-
gressive man, ever ready to take part in any affair
calculated to enhance the interests of the community
in which he resides. He is a leading Republican,
and has been elected to office as the candidate of that
party. He has represented his district in State con-
ventions three times, and has twice been assessor
and once inspector of his district. In 1901 he com-
pleted and now occupies the finest home in his vil-
lage.
On Nov. I, 1880, Mr. Zercher married Miss
Martha A. Bruner, daughter of P. M. and Elizabeth
(Ohmet) Bruner, of Conestoga Center. They have
two children, Blanche B., at home, and Charles M.,
a student at the Millersville Normal School. Mr.
Zercher is a member of Kishacaquilla Tribe, No. 65,
I. O. R. M., in which he has passed all the chairs ;
Conestoga Lodge, No. 334, I. O. O. F. ; Knights of
the Mystic Chain, of which he is commander ; and
of Charles M. Howell Lodge, 496, A. Y. M.. of Mil-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
987
lersville, Pa. He is a member of the Lancaster
County Funeral Directors' Association, He and his
family unite with the Reformed Church, Mr. Zer-
cher being an elder and Sunday-school superintend-
ent and taking a great interest in church work. He
commands the esteem of the community in which he
has his home and has a wide circle of personal
friends.
AMOS L. RLSSER. Although some sections
of the country complain that the younger generation
of the agricultural sections are prone to leave the
cultivation of the soil to hirelings and find less re-
munerative careers in the city, Lancaster county has
had no cause to complain, for among the most suc-
cessful farmers are those who have been reared to
manhood on the fertile lands where they gladly re-
main, proud of their independence.
Among those in Ephrata township who have
prospered according to their just deserts, is Amos
L. Risser, whose fine farm is located about a quarter
of a mile north of Lincoln, Pa. Although Mr. Ris-
ser began life with limited resources, he has been
energetic, careful and industrious, and this has re-
sulted in the accumulation of means and the acqui-
sition of the valuable property upon which he re-
sides.
Grandfather Risser was of German ancestry and
was well known in Elizabeth township as a man of
substance and respectability, his family consisting
of three sons and three daughters : Peter, deceased ;
Christian ; Henry ; Katharine, who married Joseph
Bucher ; Elizabeth, deceased ; Fa.nnie, who married
Benjamin Stauflfer, deceased.
Christian Risser, the father of Amos L., of this
biography, was born in 1828, and in 1850 married
Katherine Landis, five children being born of this
union: Reuben L., a prominent farmer of Clay
township ; Mary, who married Eli Hess, a farmer of
Elizabeth township ; Amos L. ; Henry L., a farmer
of Elizabeth township ; and Christian L., on the old
homestead, where the father still resides with him.
The mother died April 16, 1900, aged sixty-nine
years.
Amos L. Risser was born Aug. i, 1859, and was
reared to farm work, acquiring his education in the
excellent public schools of the district. Industrious
and provident, he soon became able to purchase land
and finally secured his present fine farm, where he
has made improvements of all kinds. The leaf to-
bacco business has claimed considerable attention
and in this line he has had eminent success.
The marriage of Mr. Risser was on Sept. 26,
1886, to Miss Susan Eberley, a daughter of Michael
L. and Louise (Gockley) Eberley, of Clay township,
and three children have been born of this union:
Lulu, born on Jan. 27, 1889; Kathryn, born Oct. 8,
1891 ; Helen Edith, born July 9, 1902. Michael Eb-
erley, the father of Mrs. Risser, had five children:
Lizzie died at the age of sixteen ; Susan, Mrs. Ris-
ser ; Alice, married to Daniel E. Miller, of Brunner-
ville; Lewis, a miller, of Clay Mills; David, a
stenographer in Philadelphia.
While a Republican in politics, Mr. Risser has
never given much attention to political matters, al-
though he has consented to serve in several positions
where he was directly interested, as school director,
judge of elections and road supervisor, and in all
worked for the good of the community to the best
of his ability. An upright, excellent citizen, it is
proper that his name should appear in a record of
the representative men of Lancaster county.
ABRAM REESE, one of the leading citizens,
substantial farmers and representative men of Provi-
dence township, was born Feb. 11, 1852, in this
township, son of Emanuel and Anna (Elliott) Reese,
both deceased.
Emantiel Reese, father of Abram, was a son of
Andrew Reese, born in Martic township, Lancaster
county, where he married and became the father of
nine children, namely: Benjamin; Martin, born in
1800; Jacob; Harry ; Nancy, who married Abraham
Isenberger ; Emanuel ; Eliza, who married Jacob
Fisher; Abner, who was drowned in the Susque-
hanna river ; and David, a resident of Lancaster City,
the only member of that generation of the family still
surviving. Emanuel Reese was born March 26,
1816, and died Aug. 19, 1888. He married Miss
Anna Elliott, of Martic township, born Nov. 30,
1818, died in 1893. They had a family of eight chil-
dren, namely : Leah, born May 8, 1840, married to
Abraham Mehaffy, of Lancaster, and now a widow ;
Amanda, born Feb. 15, 1842, residing on the old '
home place in Providence township ; Andrew, born
April I, 1844, a lumber dealer, residing in Jefferson
county, Pa. ; Hiram, born May 19, 1846, .proprietor
of a planing mill in Jefferson county; Eli, born
March 14, 1848, an engineer on the Galveston &
Sante Fe railroad and residing in Galveston ; Abram,
our subject; Martha J., born Dec. 25, 1854, the wife
of John M. Grebinger, a cigar manufacturer in Mil-
lersville ; and Mary Ann, born July g, 1857, residing
at Willow street, Pennsylvania.
The early life of Abram Reese was passed as a
farmer boy and he acquired his education in the
public schools of Providence township. At the age
of eighteen years, he went to Osceola Mills, Clear-
field county, where he was employed in the lumber
regions for seven years, and after his return ta
Providence township he followed contracting and
carpentering for the succeeding seven years. Mr.
Reese then began farming, although his limited
means enabled him to begin only in a small way ; but
energy, industry and good management soon brought
success and at present Mr. Reese is the owner of the
fine farm of 109 acres where he lives and upon
which he has made many substantial improvements.
His comfortable dwelling and commodious barns
as well as the general air of thrift which prevails in
his surroundings, testify to his continued prosperity,
which is justly deserved. In politics, Abram Reese
988
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
is one of the stanch Republicans of Providence town-
ship, and he has served with great efficiency as as-
sistant assessor and for seven years as school di-
rector. He ajso serves as deputy-coroner of Provi-
dence township.
Mr. Reese is connected with the following fra-
ternal organizations: Masonic, No. 156, of Quarry-
ville ; I. O. O. F., No. 374, of Rawlinsville ; Knights
of Golden Eagle, of Rawlinsville ; K. of P., No. 423,
of Rawlinsville.
On Feb. 25, 1880, Mr. Reese was united in mar-
riage with Miss Lila V. Rockey, born April 12, 1855,
daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Miller) Rockey, of
Whiteside Co., 111., formerly of Bart township, Lan-
caster county, and this marriage has been blessed
with five children: Howard E., born Sept. 6, 1881 ;
Anna L., born March 20, 1883 ; Leah M., born Dec.
13, 1884; Morris J., born Aug. 17, 1887; and Abra-
ham W., born Sept. 2, 1898. Mrs. Reese was reared
in a family of seven children, these being: Lila,
Mrs. Reese; Louisa, the wife of John Winters, of
McKees Rocks, Pa. ; John, of Illinois ; Anna, the wife
of Salem Campbell, of Fort Dodge, la. ; George, of
Des Moines, la. ; and Jacob and Harry, of Illinois.
Mr. Reese is one of the leading, progressive and
public-spirited citizens of his township and is a man
who commands the respect and esteem of all who
know him.
HENRY N. MARTIN. The township of West
Earl has, in its efficient road supervisor, one of
-the most highly esteemed of its business citizens.
Henry N. Martin was born on April 11, 1853, and
was the son of Samuel and Mary (Nolt) Martin,
•who were of German origin, and were united in mar-
riage about 1843. Their family numbered thirteen
children : Jacob, a resident of Ohio ; Hattie and
Annie, deceased ; John, of New Holland ; Samuel, of
■Ohio : Barbara, deceased ; Susan ; Henry N. ; Mary ;
Juniata; Elias, of this county; Michael, deceased;
and Jacob. The grandfather of Henry N., was also
the father of a large family, whose names were,
Jacob, Samuel, John, Susannah, Mary and Eliza-
beth. Many of these reared families of. their own
and the name is a respected one through a large sec-
tion of country.
Henry N. Martin was reared on a farm and re-
ceived his education in the district school. His
tastes did not induce him to pursue an agricultural
life, and he learned the harnessmaker's trade, which
he followed some twenty years in West Earl, where
he became well and favorably known. Although Mr.
Martin has been handicapped to some degree, on ac-
count of an accident, in his youth, which necessitated
the amputation of his leg, at the knee, he has ac-
cumulated a competency and is the owner of two de-
sirable residences in West Earl and three lots in the
same town. His close application to business has
resulted both in his gaining the confidence of the
public, and in successfully preparing for advancing
years. For the last five years he has been the very
efficient supervisor of the township and is a man who
numbers many friends.
The first marriage of Mr. Martin was in 1873,
to Miss Mary Cramer, and three children were born
of this union : John, of Lancaster county ; and Ella
and Plenry, both of whom died in childhood. Mrs.
Martin died in 1884. The second marriage of Mr.
Martin was to Miss Cora Shirk, a daughter of Mar-
tin and Salinda (Spangler) Shirk, of Ephrata town-
ship, on Sept. 13, 1886, and to this union have been
born: Martin Harason and Bauton Morton, twins,
who died in childhood; Bessie, who died in child-
hood ; and Essie, born on Dec. 16, 1893.
In politics,. Mr. Martin is a Republican and is
one of the most honorable and respected citizens of
West Earl township. In his exemplary life he dis-
plays those attributes which win him the regard not
only of those in the domestic circle, but of the whole
township, where he is so well known.
JACOB W. ROYER, M. D., a noted physician
and surgeon at Terrehill, Lancaster county, belongs
to an old and honored family of this section of the
State. He was born in the village and in the house
in which he is still living. May 4, 1867, and is a son
of Henry S. and Margaret Weaver Royer.
Dr. Royer was reared in Terrehill, and educated
in the public schools. In the fall of 1887, he entered ■
the office of Dr. McConnell, of Terrehill, taking up
the preparatory study of medicine ; two years later
he entered Jefferson Medical College, from which he
was graduated with the class of 1892. In addition
to his general studies he took a course at the Charity
Lying-In Hospital in Obstetrics and Female Dis-
orders. After receiving his degree he spent nine
months at Oregon, Lancaster county, in the practice
of his profession, locating in the spring of 1893 at
Terrehill, where he has built up a very flattering
practice.
Dr. Royer has been a close student, has attained
a high standing in his profession, and enjoys a sub-
stantial footing in the community, where he has a
large patronage from the best families of this part
of Lancaster county. He is a member of the Lan-
caster County and City Medical Societies, and also
of the State Medical Society. Among the Odd Fel-
lows he is very popular, and belongs to Terrehill
Lodge, No. 454, Ridgely Encampment, No. 217, the
P. O. S. A., the Golden Eagle, A. O. K. M. C. and
the American Mechanics.
Dr. Royer was married in 1895 to Miss Vinetta
Swarr, a daughter of Jacob and Alice Swarr, of
Lititz. To this union have come two children, Erla
and Mary. They belong to the Trinity United
Evangelical Church, and the Doctor takes a deep
interest in Sunday-school work. He teaches the
young men's Bible class.
MRS. ELIZABETH LEWIS OWEN. This
venerable lady of ripened age, and rich alike in mem-
ories and in good works, lives in Columbia in the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
989
old homestead in which she was born. Her father,
Samuel Bethel Heise, -was one of the town's oldest
and most highly esteemed citizens, and the story of
his life is replete with interest and instruction. He
was born near Hagerstown, Md., July 9, 1798. At
the age of six years he came to Columbia, and be-
came the adopted son and heir of his uncle, Samuel
Bethel. He received an education superior to that
vouchsafed to most youths of those days, and his
uncle was anxious that he should be trained to his
own profession, the law. But young Heise's tastes
were mechanical, and in compliance with his own
preference, he learned the trade of a cabinet maker.
He succeeded well in business, and in addition to a
cabinet-making establishment, conducted a sawmill.
He was the first to introduce tobacco culture into
Lancaster county, importing seed from Cuba as
early as 1845, and sowing it regardless of ridicule.
Time has vindicated his sagacity. Other ventures,
however, such as silk and sugar culture, proved less
successful. He was married, in 1819, to Miss Emily
B. Lewis, the fruit of the marriage being five daugh-
ters. Four of these survived him : Mrs. Anna B.
Esseck, of Columbia, since deceased; Mrs. E. L.
Owen, the subject of the present sketch; Mrs. Alex-
ander Caldwell, the wife of a well-known banker
and pubhc man of Leavenworth, Kan.; and Mrs.
Mary B., widow of John A. Wright, of Freeport,
111. Mrs. Caldwell's baptismal name was Patience,
and the child who died before reaching womanhood
was christened Margaret. The name Patience was
given in honor of Mr. Heise's mother. Patience
Bethel, his father's Christian name being -Solomon.
Mrs. Heise, nee Emily B. Lewis, the mother of
Mrs. Owen, was the daughter of Paschall and Eliza-
beth (Bowd) Lewis, the former born in Kent Co.,
Del., and the latter in Lancaster Co., Pa. Mr.
Heise died in 1885, having lived nearly four score
years and ten. His wife died aged forty-seven.
Both were devout and consistent members of the
Presbyterian Church.
Reference has been made to Mrs. Owen's resi-
dence at the old family homestead ; a bit of history
in reference thereto will prove of interest, more par-
ticularly as it sheds not a little light on the Bethel
and Heise genealogies. To recount it intelligently,
however, it is necessary to go back to the first settler
of Columbia, Samuel Blunston. As early as 1726,
he became possessed of 850 acres, and after several
years imported brick from England with the view of
erecting a more substantial and comfortable home.
He died before the arrival of the material, which
was subsequently used in Mt. Bethel cenietery.
Blunston's property ultimately descended to his two
nieces, Sarah and Hannah, both then unmarried.
Sarah Blunston married Samuel Bethel, who for
many years kept a tavern in Lancaster, on the pres-
ent site of the "Cross Keys." A son and daughter,
Samuel and Mary, were born to them. Mary mar-
ried Dr. Samuel Boude, an eminent physician and
druggist, and became the mother of Gen. Thomas
Eoude, who achieved distinction in the war of the
Revolution. Samuel married a Miss Taylor, a
granddaughter of the first John Wright who came
to Lancaster. One son, Samuel, was the uncle and
adopted father of Mr. Heise, Mrs. Owen's father;
while a daughter. Patience, married Solomon Heise,
his father by nature. The greater part of the Blun-
ston estate finally came into the possession of Samuel
Bethel, the great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Owen.
The site of the homestead came to be known as Bethel
and later as Heise's Hill. About 1800 Samuel
Bethel, the adopted father of Mr. Heise, tore down
the greater portion of the old Blunston home and
built the present structure.
Mrs. Owen has been twice married. In 1848,
at Columbia, she was united to Dr. W. S. McCorkle,
of that place. He was a son of Hugh McCorkle, his
mother's name before marriage having been Sarah
Strickler. Three children blessed this union. The
eldest, Emily, is the widow of Dr. J. A. Fitzgerald,
a United States Army surgeon, who died while visit-
ing home on leave of absence. Mrs. Fitzgerald's
home is in Marietta. Sa,rah, the second daughter,
also married an army officer. Major Case. He is at
present assigned to duty in the Philippines, while
she remains with her mother. Col. Case's present
address is Army Bldg., Whitehall street. New York
City. Samuel B., the youngest child and only son,
married Miss Mary M. Owen, of Philadelphia, and
is at present with his mother, having charge of the
management of her estate.
Dr. McCorkle died at the age of fifty-one yearsj
and some years thereafter his widow was united
in marriage to the Rev. Dr. Roger Owen, an eminent
Presbyterian divine of Philadelphia, who was for
half a century a faithful and honored servant of hi^
church. Fram 1845 to 185 1, Dr. Owen was pastor-
of a church in Columbia, and for thirty years was
in charge of a parish at Chestnut Hill, near Phila-
delphia. He entered into rest in 1890, after passing
an honored and useful life of seventy-six years. In
1891 Mrs. Owen returned to Columbia, where she
has since resided, esteemed for her many noble traits
and beloved for her piety and her unostentatious
benevolence. The family is one of the most honored
in Lancaster county.
JOHN L. HESS, proprietor of the "New Texas.
Hotel" at Lyles, Fulton township, is a well-known
and popular citizen. He was bom Nov. 30, 1862,
in Little Britain township and is a son of Jeremiah,
and Sarah Jane (McCrabb) Hess, who were both
natives of Lancaster county.
Jeremiah Hess, the father was of German origin,
and his wife was of Irish origin. The former was a
■son of Abraham Hess, also a native of Lancaster
county, who was the father of the following seven
children; John B., Jeremiah, Henry, Smith, Sarah,
Fanny and Elizabeth, all deceased. Jeremiah Hess
was married to Sarah Jane McCrabb, in 1843. He
was born in 1821 and died in 1887, lyhile his wife
990
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
was born Jan. 15, 1820, and still survives, in New
Texas, Fulton township. They had seven children,
namely : Benjamin, a machinist in Iowa ; Henry M.,
Emma C. and Frederick C, deceased ; Howard, a
farmer of Little Britain township ; Mary, deceased ;
and John L., the subject of this sketch. Jeremiah
Hess was a farmer and brickmaker and a first-class
citizen. He was a Democrat in politics and an hon-
orable and upright man. A member of the Presby-
terian Church, he was a God-fearing man.
John L. Hess was married to Miss Rachel Kyle,
of Little Britain, Nov. 10, 1887. She is the daugh-
ter of James Kyle, a farmer and blacksmith. Mr.
and Mrs. Hess have no children. He was reared on
the home farm and received his education in the
common schools of Little Britain township. Until
the age of thirty years he followed farming as an
■occupation and then went into the hotel business at
Conowingo, Md. He kept a place in that town for
two years and then purchased the "New Texas
House," his present place, a good property with
twenty-one acres of land attached to it. He has
lived in New Texas since 1895, and has been very
successful in business. The place is kept in Mr.
Hess' well known style, and the table is always first
class.
Mr. Hess is a Democrat in politics, and an ad-
mirer, of Jeffersonian doctrines. He attends the
Presbyterian Church. He and his wife are among
the honored and respected citizens of New Texas,
and have a large circle of friends. Mrs. Hess was
one of a family of six children : Rebecca, the wife
of Henry Hess, of Britain township; Rachel, Mrs.
John L. Hess; Laura, the wife of Homer Hackett,
of Fulton township; John W. living in Lancaster;
Ella I., the wife of Lewis Pusey, of Douglas, Wyom-
ing ; and Belle, the wife of John McGuigan, of Oak-
wood, Maryland.
BENJAMIN F. TRISSLER was born May 20,
1857, in Conestoga township, Lancaster Co., Penn-
sylvania.
Emanuel B. Trissler, his grandfather, was born
June 30, 1789, and died Nov. 6, 1849. He emigrated
from England to this country, and settled in Lan-
caster City, where he followed the butchering busi-
ness. He also owned and operated the stone quar-
ries on the corner of North Queen and James streets.
He was the father of the following family: John,
an engineer on the Pennsylvania railroad; Anna,
wife of Christian Hookey, of La,ncaster City ; Mich-
ael, a butcher, of Lancaster City; Harriet, wife of
Mr. Stauffer, of Philadelphia ; Sophia, wife of Will-
iam Huppert, a carpenter of Lancaster City ; and
David, the father of Benjamin F. Trissler.
David Trissler was born in Lancaster City, Aug.
18, 1820, was there educated in the public schools,
and was married at the age of eighteen to Miss Sarah
Huber, of Lancaster. He then began life for him-
self, and followed butchering in Lancaster for one
year, when he moved to Conestoga. There he en-
gaged in the same business, following it until the
time of his death, June 9, 1892. Mr. Trissler was
married twice, and by his first wife he had ten chil-
dren, six of whom died either in infancy or early
childhood. Harriet died in childhood, and John,
when a young man. Those now living are : An-
geline, wife of Maris McMullin, of Chester Co.,
Pa. ; Caroline, wife of Joseph Stokes, of Lancaster
county; and William, of Lancaster county. Mr.
Trissler's first wife died in 1854, and in 1855 he
married Anna, daughter of Philip Harmon, of
Conestoga. They became the parents of seven chil-
di'en, the first of whom died in infancy; Benjamin
F., our subject; Mary, the wife of Morris Groff, of
Conestoga; Adeline, the wife of David Warfel, of
Conestoga; David, a resident of Rawlinsville, Mar-
tic township; Catherine, the wife of Augustus
Barth, of Lancaster; and Charles, living in Cones-
toga. The father was a member of the I. O. O. F.
in Lancaster City, for about forty years. In relig-
ion he was a member of the M. E. Church. In early
life he belonged to the Democratic party, but later
joined the Republican.
Benjamin F. Trissler lived at home with his par-
ents until he was nineteen years old, receiving in
the meantime, a good common-school education. At
this age he began business for himself, raising to-
bacco and doing general farm work. This continued
for about five years, when he went to work for Mor-
ris Groff in the butcher business, and .in 1892 he
started in the same business for himself, on the place
which he now owns and farms and on which he re-
sides. Mr. Trissler has a farm of eighteen acres on
the boundary of Conestoga Center, upon which he
raises fine fruit of all kinds. In politics, Mr. Triss-
ler is a Republican but he has never sought office,
though he is public-spirited and progressive in his
ideas and makes a first-class citizen. He is a mem-
ber of Conestoga I. O. R. M., Kishiquilla Tribe, No.
65, in which he has passed all the chairs ; also of
A. O. K. of M. C, Mt. Nebo Castle, No. 158. Our
subject is very fond of the chase, and has a fine pack
of fox hounds.
Mr. Trissler was married Seot. 10, 1876, to
Mary, daughter of Jacob Duke, of Conestoga Center.
They are the parents of twelve children: Rachel,
wife of Noah Boyer, of Conestoga ; Harry, of Beaver
county, who is employed at railroading; Anna and
Maud at home ; Ida, at Millersville ; Mary, Barbara,
Florence, Benjamin, Jr., Martha, and John and
Sarah, twins, born May 19, 1901, all at home.
JOSEPH H. ZEAMER. Agriculture contrib-
utes more lavishly to the professions and to large
business enterprises than does any other vocation.
Men ^Yho win renown or wealth in their chosen field
of activity often owe it largely to the strength of
muscle and brain gained by early experience on the
farm. An instance of this preparatory work for a
most successful career is presented in the life of
Joseph H. Zeamer, cashier of the Central National
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
991
Bank of Columbia, and one of that city's most pros-
perous and prominent citizens. He is a native of
Lancaster county, born near Silver Springs, West
Hempfield township, April 3, 1846, son of Henry
and Mary (Hogentobler) Zeamer.
Henry Zeamer was born in Brecknock township,
Berks county, March 2, 1818, fifth child and third
son of Jeremiah and Rachina (Gephart) Zeamer,
the former of whom was born Jan. 25, 1778, in
Berks county, a son of Johan Heinrich and Cather-
ine Ziemer. Zohan Ziemer was born Aug. 2, 1743,
a son of Jeremiah Ziemer, who died in 1795. The
family in Berks county all spell the name Ziemer,
but the branch of Jeremiah, grandfather of our sub-
ject, spell it Zeamer, the change probably taking
place in some unaccountable way when the family
moved to l^ancaster county. In 1822 Henry Zeamer
accompanied his parents on their removal from
Berks county to the vicinity of Churc'htown, Lan-
caster county, where they lived ten years. In 1832
they removed to a farm on the Marietta turnpike in
the vicinity of "Wheatland," one mile west of Lan-
caster, where they remained five years. In 1837
they removed to near Bainbridge, and the following
year to a farm on Chestnut Hill in the vicinity of
the ore banks, where they lived two years. In the
spring of 1840 they went to Cumberland county.
Soon afterward Henry Zeamer married and settled
in Lancaster county. He was a life-long farmer
and one who was remarkably successful. In 1849
he removed from Silver Springs to the Mullison
farm, near Columbia, which he purchased and op-
erated until 1857. In that year he removed to the
Kinderhoop farm in West Hempfield township,
where he remained eight years. Mr. Zeamer next
lived three years on the George Heise farm near
Columbia, and then two years on the Miller farm
near Marietta. Living a retired life for a year, he
purchased the John Shirk farm, near the Shirk ore
mines, on the Marietta and Lancaster turnpike. He
died in West Hempfield township, Feb. 21, 1899,
having almost completed his eighty-first year. He
had married Mary Hogentobler, daughter of Joseph
Hogentobler, a well-known resident of Lancaster
county. She died March 10, 1873, aged fifty-five
years. To Henry and Mary Zeamer were born two
children, Mary, widow of Henry G. Shirk, a farmer,
and Joseph H. Henry Zeamer was a stockholder
of the First National Bank of Columbia and of the
Central National Bank. He was a man of unusually
good business judgment and was eminently success-
ful in life.
LTrltil he was twenty-four years of age Joseph
H. Zeamer remained on the farm. He attended the
district schools to the age of seventeen, then taught
seven terms of school, four in West Hempfield, two
in Marietta and one at Mt. Joy, teaching during the
winter and spending the summer on the farm. The
young school teacher's taste was for a business life,
and during tjie spring of 1865 he attended the
Quaker City Business College, and was graduated
from that institution June 7, 1865. On March 30,
1870, he entered the Columbia Deposit Bank, and
on Aug. 15, of the same year, was appointed general
bookkeeper of the First National Bank of Colum-
bia, a position which he held until March 6, 1888.
He resigned to assume the duties of cashier of the
Central National Bank, which had been organized
March 5, t8S8, and began business May 7, of the
same year. Mr. Zeamer has ever since filled that
position most efficiently, contributing in a large
measure to the success of that institution. He has
developed financial abilities of a high order and has
been associated with many of the local business en-
terprises.' P"or the past fourteen years he has been
treasurer of the Columbia & Chestnut Hill Turn-
pike Company. Since its organization in 1895 he
has been treasurer of the Fairview Milling Company.
For a time he was treasurer of the Loder Brewing
Company, and since 1892 he has been secretary and
treasurer of the Farmers & Citizens Market Com-
pany. The same offices he has filled for the Colum-
iDia I.and & Improvem.ent Company since its organi-
zation in 1893. In politics Mr. Zeamer is a Repub-
lican. He has served as school director at Columbia
for five years. Among the fraternal orders he is a
member of the A. O. M. P.
Mr. Zeamer was married, Dec. i, 1868, at Lan-
caster, Pa., to Miss Anna M. Wisler, who was born
Sept. 22, 1846, on the old Wisler homestead, adjoin-
ing the borough of Columbia, daughter of Henry
Wisler, of Columbia. To Mr. and Mrs. Zeamer
have been born two children : Harry W., born Nov.
23, 1869, a druggist of Columbia, and Minnie W.,
born March .15, 1871. Both now reside at home
with their parents.
JACOB B. OBERHOLTZER. Among the
leading agriculturists and prominent citizens of
West Earl township no one is better or more favor-
ably known than Jacob B. Oberholtzer, who resides
upon his well cultivated and finely improved farm,
of seventy-three acres, located about two miles north
of Farmersville.
The Oberholtzer family is of German origin, and
Christian Oberholtzer, the grandfather, firmly estab-
lished this branch in West Earl township, where he
became one of the prosperous and influential farm-
ers. His children were: Christian; Henry a resi-
dent of Iowa ; Annie, who married Henry Myers, of
West Earl township ; and Hettie, also of West Earl,
all of them consistent members of the Old Men-
nonite Church.
Christian Oberholtzer, the father of Jacob B., is
a substantial and highly respected farmer of West
Earl township, and a leading member of the Old
Mennonite Church. His marriage was in 1862, to
Elizabeth Brubaker, and the two sons of this union
are: Jacob B., who was born June 15, 1864; and
Christian, Jr., who was born March 20, 1870, and is
a farmer of. Manor township.
Jacob B. Oberholtzer was reared on the farm
992
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and received his education in the public schools of
West Earl township. His life has been devoted to
agricultural pursuits and he has the reputation in
the township of being one of the best farmers as well
as one of the leading citizens. The land owned by
Mr. Oberholtzer shows a. fine state of . cultivation
and is well stocked, the improvements consisting of
excellent and commodious barns and a fine brick
dwelling.
The happy marriage of Mr. Oberholtzer, in 1884,
was to Miss Fianna Martin, the estimable daughter
of John and Elizabeth (Weaver) Martin, and this
union has been blessed with five children: Lizzie
May, born in 1887 ; Elmer, born in 1889 ; Ivan, born
in 1892; Alta, born in 1894; and Melvin, in 1899.
The mother of this interesting and intelligent fam-
ily was born in 1865, and is a lady noted for her
gentle manners and kind deeds, both in her family
and through the neighborhood.
Jacob B. Oberholtzer enjoys the esteem of the
community, and has taken a great deal of interest in
the various measures which have been inaugurated
for the benefit of the district, and is one of the effi-
cient school directors of West Earl township. In
politics he is a Republican, and is much interested in
public affairs, although he does not seek any recog-
nition from the party, and is one of the valued mem-
bers of the Old Mennonite Church, which claims,
among its adherents, some of the best citizens of
Lancaster county.
ROSS C. COLLINS. The Collins family, of
which Ross C. Collins is a most worthy member,
are among the few families who still hold land
brought into their possession by ancestors 120 years
ago. It has been represented by members promi-
nent in business and educational circles, has scat-
tered over a wide extent of country, and through
intermarriage has become connected with many of
the leading families of the State.
Thomas Collins, the father of Ross C, was born
in Colerain township, this county, in 1796, son of
James and Judith (Clarke) Collins, both of whom
were born in Lancaster county, where they died,
leaving these children, all , now are deceased:
Elizabeth was the wife of Edward Crawford, of
Drumore township ; Margaret was the wife of Eli-
jah Morrell, of Drumore; Cornelius, born in this
county, was a farmer and was a member of the
Legislature for two terms (he left no family, and
his wife died prior to his own demise) ; Thomas was
the father of Ross C.
Thomas Collins grew up in Colerain township,
and first married Grace McCollough, by whom he
had seven children. Later, in 185 1, he married Isa-
bella Campbell, daughter of Ross A. and Sarah
(Barkley) Campbell, who were both born and
reared in this county. Mrs. Collins was born in
June, 1824, and still survives. She is the mother of
one son and two daughters, of whom Emma is the
wife of W. P. Anderson, a farmer of Greene county.
Ohio, and Bertha I. 'is instructor in French and Elo-
cution in Tarkio College, Tarkio, Missouri.
Ross C. Collins, eldest child of Thomas and Isa-
bella Collins, was born in Colerain township Jan. i^
1854, and received his early education in the district
schools of Colerain, taking an academic course at
New -London, and later entering Iberia College, in.
Ohio; in 1876 he became a student in the West-
minster College, of Pennsylvania. With this thor-
ough preparation he was fully capable of taking;
charge of and managing the large estate of his fa-
ther, which he did until the death of the latter, iit
1883. Then he purchased the old homestead, this^
farm having come into the family from William'
Penn himself, and a part of the original house which
was erected by James Collins is still standing, in a
good state of preservation, long after its first owner
has crumbled into dust. This is one of the historic
homes of the locality, filled with relics of an inter-
esting period in the State's history.
Ross C. Collins was married, in. 1879, to Miss-
Mary E. West, the estimable daughter of Clarkson
and Isabel (Blair) West, prominent pioneer people,
one of the most respected families in Harford county,
Md. Mrs. Collins was born in 1855, in Harford
county, and received her education in Lancaster
county and in Hartford. Six children have beeni
born to Mr. and Mrs. Collins : Isabel M., born in
Colerain township in 1880, was given exceptional
educational advantages, especially in music, for
which she displayed remarkable talent, and gradu-
ated from the Conservatory of Music, in Baltimore^
later adopting the profession of music teaching,
which she follows in Cleveland, Ohio. Cassandra
B., born in Colerain township in 1882, is a graduate
of the high school at Quarryville, class of 1898, and
was one of the most valued teachers in the public
schools of Lancaster county; she is now in Cleve-
land, Ohio, on the staff of the Journal. Florence
M., born in 1884, is also a graduate of the Quarry-
ville high school, class of 1900 ; she was for a time
a writer on the Cleveland (Ohio) Journal. Ross C,
Jr., born on the old homestead in 1884, resides
in Pittsburg. Clarkson W., born in 1886, was a
skilled mechanic in the Baldwin Locomotive works,
in Baltimore, but is now in Pittsburg. Bertha B.,
born in Colerain township in 1888, is a student in the
home schools. All of this family display very re-
markable intelligence, each being gifted in a different
way. Mr. Collins has taken a just pride in affording
them every possible educational advantage.
Following his marriage Mr. Collins settled on
the old homestead, where he remained until 1894,
at that date removing into Quarryville, where he
owned a warehouse. He engaged in partnership
with E. B. Fritz, the firm being Fritz & Collins,
dealers m hay, straw, etc., and large shippers to
Baltimore and other points. This association was
■ continued for five years, and then Mr. Collins sold
his interest and emljarked in the livery and auction-
eering business, in which he is still engaged. In
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
993
this borough Mr. Collins has purchased what is lo-
cally known as the S. M. Hess home, and has made
improvements thereon which have made it one of the
most desirable residences in the locality.
Politically Mr. Collins has always been identi-
fied with the Republican party, and he is an ardent
and faithful supporter of their men and measures.
His influence in political circles in his vicinity is
considerable. Many of the local offices of respon-
sibility have been tendered him, and he has most
efficiently served for three years as auditor of the
borough. While still a resident of Colerain town-
ship he served as justice of the peace for eleven
years, with judgment and discretion, and since lo-
cating in Quarryville has held the same office for
one year. Mr. Collins was reared in the faith of the
Presbyterian Church, his father and mother having
been among the founders of that church in Colerain
township. Mr. and Mrs. Collins are faithful at-
tendants of and liberal contributors to the church,
where they are most highly esteemed. For over
fifty years the father of Mr. Collins was one of its
elders, and all of the educational and benevolent
enterprises of this body found in him, as in his son,
an ardent and active supporter.
JOHN W. STEPHAN, one of the best-known
business men of the borough of Ephrata, is the pros-
perous proprietor of the Ephrata Planing Mills, and
the owner of considerable property in this locality.
Mr. Stephan comes of German ancestry and was
born on March 14, 1864, a son of Frederick and
Mary (Wertch) Stephan, natives of Wurtemberg,
Germany, who came to America about 1854, land-
ing in Philadelphia and coming from there to Lan-
caster county, where they knew they would find
countrymen. Near other German citizens who had
founded comfortable homes and become among the
best residents of Clay township, Mr. and Mrs. Ste-
phan bought a farm and settled down to an agricul-
tural life, rearing a family of seven children:
Charles, deceased; Henry, of Lancaster county;
Samuel, of the borough of Ephrata; William, a
cigar maker ; John W. ; Katie, who married Thomas
Grand, of Millway; Jacob, who lives at Stevens
Station, where he follows the trade of wagon-maker.
John W. Stephan was reared on a farm and re-
ceived his education in the common schools of Clay
township, but his inclinations did not lead him
toward an agricultural life. At the age of twenty he
began to learn the carpenter trade at Ephrata, under
the wise supervision of M. D. Hoover, and this trade
he followed successfully for some twelve years, at
the end of this period going into the planing mill
business ; he is now the owner of his mill and a very
comfortable dwelling, and has every promise of con-
tinued prosperity.
The marriage of Mr. Stephan was on Oct. 30,
5, to Miss Mary Snader, a daughter of Jonathan
and Catherine (Powell) Snader. Mr. Stephan was
reared in very limited circumstances and was
63
obliged to make his own way in the world without
much assistance, but he possessed energy and de-
termination and has placed himself with the sub-
stantial men of the borough. A stanch Republican,
he takes an active and intelligent interest in public
affairs, and lives an honest and upright life.
HARRY R. BOOKMAN. Like many of the
leading citizens of Columbia, Pa., Mr. Bookman is.
connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company^
He is a native of Lancaster county, born in West
Hempfield township, Jan. 19, 1862, and is a son of
William H. and Mary (Reitzler) Bookman. The
mother was born Oct. 19, 1842.
William H. Bookman was born in York county.
Pa., Oct. 15, 1842, and is a son of William and Eliza-
beth (Moore) Bookman, natives of York and Lan-
caster counties, respectively, who in 1847 removed to
Mountville, Lancaster county, and in 1872 took up
their residence in Columbia. William Bookman, the
grandfather, was born Dec. 7, 1812, and died Dec.
7, 1896, his last years having been spent in retire-
ment at the home of his son, William H., in Co-
lumbia. His wife was born September 17, 1809, and
died May 4, 1875. They were members of the M. E.
Church, and the parents of the following children:
Margaretta and Catherine, who died in childhood;
John, a retired stone mason of Columbia; William
H., mentioned below; Samuel M., a soldier of the
Civil war, who died in Brooklyn, N. Y. ; and Mary
A., wife of Michael Keach, baggage master at Co-
lumbia. Our subject's paternal great-grandfather,
John Bookman, was of English extraction.
William H. Bookman, father of Harry R., was
reared on a farm. In October, 1861, at Columbia,
he enlisted in Co. K, 45th P. V. I., under Capt.
Rambo, and re-enlisted at Knoxville, Tenn., in the
same company and regiment, Dec. 31, 1863. He
participated in the battles of Blaine's Cross Roads,
Knoxville, Cold Harbor, the Wilderness, Spottsyl-
vania, Petersburg and Poplar Grove. During the
last named engagement he was taken prisoner, Sept.
30, 1864, and incarcerated at Salisbury, N. C., for
five months, at the end of which time he was ex-
changed and paroled at Fort Fisher. At Annapolis
he was granted a sixty-days furlough, as he was
entirely unfit for active service, having been nearly
starved to death while in prison. When his furlough
expired he was discharged on account of disability,
at Annapolis, in 1865, and returned home. After
spending one year recuperating, he went to Colum-
bia and entered the service of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company as brakeman. A year later he
was made flagman, and after serving as such two
years was promoted to conductor, in which capacity
he was employed until February 26, 1894, when he
had a paralytic stroke while on duty at Glen Lock,
Pa. He is still a member of the Brotherhood of
Railroad Conductors, the Improved Order of Red
Men, belongs to the M. E. Church, and is identified
with the Republican party. On April 13, 1869, at
994
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Columbia, he married for his second wife Laura J.
Reed, and to them came ionr children : Charles W.,
who died in childhood; Emma, deceased wife of
Harry Ciladfelter ; William, a blacksmith of Colum-
bia; and Carrie, wife of Joseph Keasie, a railroad
brakeman of Columbia. Our subject's maternal
grandparents were Joseph and Barbara (Weller)
Reitzler, of West Hempfield township, Lancaster
county.
During his minority Harry R. Bookman lived on
a farm, and on coming to Columbia, in 1883, com-
menced work in a coalyard. A few months later,
however, he entered the service of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, with which he has since been
connected. He was employed on repairs two years
and a half, was fireman twelve years,- and has since
efficiently served as engineer. He is a member of
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the
Knights of the ]Maccabees, of the Penn. Voluntary
Relief Department, and the United Brethren Church.
In politics he is a Republican, and he is one of the
most progressive and public-spirited citizens of Co-
lumbia.
On Feb. 22, 1881, in Columbia, Mr. Bookman
married Miss Sarah A. Murr, and to them were
born two children, Ida M., who died in infancy, and
Bertha, at home. Mrs. Bookman was born in New
Holland, Lancaster Co., Pa., April 4, i860, a daugh-
ter of Jacob and Katie (Rutter) Murr, who died in
that place, the former in April, 1880, at the age of
fifty-two years, the latter in July, i860. To the
union of Mr. and Mrs. Murr four children were born,
namely : .Samuel, a tinner, living with Mr. Book-
man ; Harry, a resident of Gordonville, Pa. ; Daniel,
deceased: Sarah A., now Mrs. Bookman. The fa-
ther, a carpenter and contractor by occupation, was
three times married, his first wife being Maria
Smith, by whom he had five children: George, a
railroad engineer, of Columbia ; Jacob and William,
both blacksmiths of that place ; Mary, deceased wife
of John B. Rogers ; and Emma, deceased wife of
Salem Smith. Mr. Murr's second wife was the moth-
er of Mrs. Bookman, and the third was Maria Foltz.
I
HOWARD L. OBERLIN, of the firm of Ober-
lin Bros., jewelers, Columbia, was born at his pres-
ent home in West Hempfield, Lancaster Co., Pa.,
May 8, i860, and is a son of Luther C. and Anna E.
(Lemmon) Oberlin.
Michael Oberlin, the founder of the family in
Pennsylvania, and a native of Germany, came early
in life to Lancaster county and settled on Conestoga
creek, near Hinkletown, and passed his life in farm-
ing. His son Jacob, great-grandfather of Howard
L. Oberlin, moved from Hinkletown to Donegal, Lan-
caster county, early in 1800, and was also a farmer.
He married a Miss Harter, of this county. Samuel
Oberlin, son of Jacob, born in 1795, was first a
coachmaker and later a farmer. He lived in Mari-
etta, Lancaster county, many years, held various
township offices, and was also a member of the old
pioneer fire department. He married Mary Cas-
sel, of Lancaster county. To this union were born
five children, viz. : Anna, who died unmarried ;
Catherine, deceased wife of Franklin Thompson, of
Marietta ; Margaret, who died in infancy ; Luther
C, and Jacob H., a farmer of West Hempfield, who
served four years in the Civil war as a member of
the 79th P. V. I. The father of this family died in
1888, at the age of ninety-three years, and the
mother in 1882, aged eighty, and their remains now
rest in peace in Mount Bethel cemetery, Columbia.
Both were members of the Lutheran Church.
Luther C. Oberlin, justice of the peace in West
Hempfield, was born in Marietta, Lancaster county,
Oct. 29, 1834. The maternal grandfather of Luther
Oberlin, David Cassel, who married Miss Hernley,
was a merchant at Sporting Hill, Lancaster county,
for some years, and thence moved to Marietta, where
he built a large hotel known as the "St. John's
House," which he conducted with phenomenal suc-
cess for a decade or more. His son, Abraham, was
postmaster of Marietta for twenty-five consecutive
years.
Luther C. Oberlin passed his youthful days in
the carriage factory his father conducted in Mari-
etta, but in the meantime was educated at the Mari-
etta Academy imder Hon. J. P. Wickersham, who
later became State superintendent of instruction.
At the age of twenty years, in 1854, he himself be-
gan teaching in Hempfield township and followed
the profession in several places until 1892. In 1880
he was appointed a census enumerator and in 1885
was elected justice of the peace, on the Republican
ticket, and in this capacity is now serving his fourth
term. He is a member of Susquehanna Lodge, No.
80, I. O. O. F., and of the First EngHsh Lutheran
Church.
On Aug. 2, 1859, Luther C. Oberlin married
Miss Anna E. Lemmon, and to this union have been
born five children, viz.: Howard L., senior mem-
ber of the firm of Oberlin Bros., jewelers at Colum-
bia ; Bertha C, and Amy C, unmarried ; Susan E.,
who is married to E. W. Weaver, a school teacher
in the Brooklyn high school, N. Y. ; W. Shelley, who
married Ella M. Nicholson in 1897, and is in part-
nership with his brother, Howard L. Mrs. Anna E.
(Lemmon) Oberlin was born in Lancaster City,
Nov. 5, 1836, and is a daughter of Robert and Eliza-
beth (Stallings) Lemmon, who were respectively
born in York Co., Pa., and ten miles from Annapolis,
Md., and settled in Lancaster, Pa., where Robert was
a teamster on the route between Philadelphia and
Pittsburg. Robert Lemmon died in 1885, at the age
of eighty-two and his wife in the same year at the
age of eighty-seven years, and their remains were
interred in Ironville cemetery. Their four children
were named: Susan, who now lives in Cleveland,
Ohio ; Anna E. ; William, an inmate of the Soldiers'
Home, Va. ; and Mary E., who died at the age of
ten years.
W. Shelley Oberlin attended school in Norwood,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
995
West Hempfield township, until the age of sixteen
years, next served an apprenticeship of five years at
printing with J. W. Yocum, of Columbia, and then
united with his brother in the jewelry trade in the
same town. To his marriage with Miss Ella M.
Nicholson has been born one child, Margaret E.
Mrs. Ella M. Oberlin was born in Hudson, N. Y.,
and is a daughter of William and Margaret (Wit-
field) Nicholson, natives of the same city. Mr.
Oberlin is a member of Susquehanna Lodge, No. 80,
I. O. O. F., and of the Artisans, Lodge No. 20.
Howard L. Oberlin, already mentioned as a
member of the firm of Oberlin Bros., attended
school until eighteen years old, when he served an
apprenticeship of three years in the jewelry store
of H. F. Yergey, in Columbia, and afterward for a
few months worked for him as a journeyman. In
1897 he started in business at the present stand. He
also is a member of Lodge No. 80, I. O. O. F., and
Artisans Lodge No. 20.
WEIDLER B. BURKHOLDER. Prominent
among the successful general farmers of Upper Lea-
cock township, Lancaster county, is Weidler B.
Burkholder, the subject of this record.
The birth of Mr. Burkholder was in Ephrata
township, on Aug. 12, 1857, and he was a son of
Jacob S. and Mary (Bender) Burkholder, who were
natives of West Earl and of Upper Leacock town-
ships, respectively.
Jacob S. Burkholder was born. Nov. 21, 1831, and
he was a son of Jonas and Kate (Souders) Burk-
holder, of West Earl and of Earl townships ; the
former, a farmer all his Hfe, died in 1871, at the age
of eighty-six years, and was buried at Groffdale.
The mother died in 1873, at the age of sixty-nine
years. Both were members of the Mennonite
Church. The children born to the grandparents of
our subject were: Isaac, who died at the age of
fifty-five years; Jacob, the father of our subject;
Samuel, a retired farmer of West Earl; Joseph, a
farmer of West Earl ; Susan, deceased, who married
Abram Martin ; Elizabeth, who is the widow of Sam-
uel Bucher, of West Earl ; Catherine, deceased, who
married Isaac Hoover ; and Mary, who also married
Isaac Hoover. The grandparents of Jacob S. Burk-
holder and the great-grandparents of our subject
were Abraham and Catherine (Eaby) Burkholder,
farmers of West Earl township. Abraham Burk-
holder was a son of Christian Burkholder, of Switz-
erland, who was the pioneer settler of the family in
this county.
The marriage of Jacob S. Burkholder took place
on Oct. 16, 1856, in Lancaster, to Mary Bender, and
six children were born to this union : W. B. is the
subject of this sketch. Anna, who resides with her
parents, is the widow of Abraham K. Lefever, the
children born to them, being Mary and Ida, de-
ceased. Kate married Mano H. Brubaker, of Eliza-
beth township, and their children were Lotta and
Bertha. Jacob, of West Earl township, married
Lizzie Oberholtzer, and their children are, — John,
Aaron and Lizzie M. Emma, who married Clay-
ton Rupp, lives in West Earl township, • and their
children are Elsa and Hallie. Mary died at the age
of two years.
Weidler B. Burkholder, the eldest son in his par-
ents' family, attended the district schools and re-
mained on the home farm, assisting his father, until
his marriage. The present farm has been his home
ever since and is well cultivated and finely improved.
The marriage of Mr. Burkholder was on Oct.
29, 1885, in Ephrata, to Miss Amanda Eshleman,
and their children are : Nettie, Harvey E., Laura
E. and Weidler E., who survive; those who have
passed away were Minnie and Ella E. The birth of
Mrs. Burkholder was in Earl township, Dec. 25,
1862, and she was a daughter of Daniel and Mary
(Burkholder) Eshleman. Until about fifteen years
prior to his death Mr. Eshleman was a farmer, but
at that age he retired and moved into the village of
Ephrata, where his death occurred. He was one of
the wealthy and prominent citizens of the county.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Burkholder are consistent
members of the Old Mennonite Church, where they
are highly regarded. In politics our subject has
been a life-long Republican, and is one of the most
esteemed citizens of his township.
ENOS P. HAYES, a prominent farmer of Tay-
loria, Pa., was born Feb. 7, 1855, and was a son of
John P. and E^lizabeth (Pennell) Hayes, of Little
Britain township.
The Hayes family originated in Ireland, the
founder of this family in Lancaster county being
John Hayes, who left the Emerald Isle in youth,
settled in this locality and became a large landowner
and respected citizen. William Hayes, son of John,
the emigrant, became the grandfather of Enos P.
Hayes of this sketch. The other children of John
Hayes were Charles and John.
William Hayes was born in 1797, married Jane
Ewing and died in 1874. Their children were:
John P., Calvin, Jane, James, Washington, Nathan-
iel, George and Margaret. The family was noted for
its devotion to the Presbyterian Church and the
Democratic party.
John P. Hayes, son of William, was born Feb.
14, 1822, and died in October. 1899. In 1849, he
was married to Elizabeth Pennell, of Britain town-
ship, who was a daughter of John and Rebecca
(Brown) Pennell, of Britain township. Six chil-
dren were born to this union, five of whom grew to
maturity: James Franklin, who is a druggist, in
Philadelphia ; Rebecca Jane, who conducts a dress-
making establishment in Philadelphia ; Enos P., of
this sketch ; William N., who is also in the drug busi-
ness, in Philadelphia ; Sarah H., who is the widow
of Clarence Galbreath, of Oxford, Pa. ; and Edward,
deceased.
During life John P. Hayes was an industrious
and highly esteemed citizen, and faithfully served
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
his township as tax collector and assessor. His
widow still survives, and resides in Oxford, Pa., hav-
ing celebrated her seventv-second birthday on Oct.
I5> 1902.
Enos P. Hayes of this sketch was reared on the
farm and became thoroughly instructed in farm
work, even while obtaining his education in the pub-
lic schools. By the time he was ready to begin his
own career, although with limited means, he had
both experience and knowledge sufficient to enable
him to succeed in his chosen line, and now he is the
owner of one of the best farms in this locality, con-
sisting of 125 acres, and improved with excellent
buildings. Energy and industry have enabled Mr.
Hayes to reach his ptesent financial position, and his
success illustrates, without farther comment, the
sure result of properly applied energy.
The first marriage of Mr. Hayes was on Feb. 14,
1886, to Miss Ella King, of Little Britain township,
who was a daughter of Marcenas and Isabel (Reath)
King, of Britain township, and to this union three
sons were born; Howard M., John P., and Mar-
cenas. The death of Mrs. Hayes was in 1892.
On Jan. 16, 1901, Mr. Hayes was united in mar-
riage to Miss E. Laura McLaughlin, of Britain town-
ship. (Extended mention of this well-known fam-
ily will be found in another part of this volume.)
They have one son, James McLaughlin Hayes, born
Dec. 3T, 1901.
Like his forefathers, Mr. Hayes is sincere in his
devotion to the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church,
and to the principles of the Democratic party. In
his community he is known as a man of honor and
responsibility, and the old stone house, now the
family residence, erected over 100 years ago, offers
hospitality to his many sincere friends.
IRWIN CUTLER. A worthy representative
of the Cutler family, in Lancaster county, is found
in Irwin Cutler, one of the leading citizens of Dru-
more township, now retired, who was born Sept. 16,
1861, son of Benjamin and Mary I. (Long) Cutler,
of Chestnut Level.
Benjamin Cutler, the great-grandfather of Irwin
Cutler, was born in Bucks county, Pa., and there
made his home until some years after his marriage.
On July 25, 1778, he wedded Susannah Dunn,
daughter of Ralph Dunn, and their fchildren were:
Ruth, who married John Wood; Rachel, who be-
came the wife of Joseph Blackburn; Benjamin, who
married Marion Quinby; Jacob, who died unmar-
ried; Hannah, who wedded John Fulton; Rebecca,
who married George McMillan ; Jonathan, who was
twice married; Susannah, who became the wife of
William Cook; Jesse, who married Mary Stubbs;
and Annie, who wedded John Stubbs. In religious
belief the family were all Quakers.
Jesse Cutler, son of Benjamin and Susannah, and
the grandfather of Irwin Cutler, came from Bucks
county. Pa., to Fulton township, Lancaster county,
with his parents, when he was still a lad, and was
reared in the Quaker belief. He married Mary
Sttibbs, daughter of Joseph and Ruth (Pyle)
Stubbs, the former of whom lived to the advanced
age of ninety-six years. Besides Mrs. Cutler they
had one other child, Orpha, who married Thomas
Richards. To Jesse and Mary (Stubbs) Cutler
were born : Joseph, who died young ; Adeline, who
married William C. Boyd; Alban, deceased; Phi-
lena, who married Elwood Stubbs, and Benjamin,
who was the father of Irwin Cutler, of this sketch.
Benjamin Cutler, son of Jesse and Mary, was
born p-eb. 13, 1825, and engaged in farming, but
is now living retired in Chestnut Level. He is one
of the leading old settlers of southern Lancaster
county, one of the most influential and one of the
wealthiest. A stanch Republican, he always does
his full duty as a citizen, but has never been pre-
vailed upon to accept any party recognition. In the
Presbyterian Church he is a devoted member and
has long been a most liberal contributor to the sup-
port of its charities and mission. work. On Nov. 21,
i860, Benjamin Cutler was married to Miss Mary
J. Long, who was born Jan. 22, 1832, a daughter
of John and Ann Eliza (Read) Long, and one child,
Irwin, blessed this union. John Long was a son of
James and Margaret (Buchanan) Long, and was
born Feb. 19, 1801 ; he died in 1884. The other
children in the family of James and Margaret Long
were : James B., who married Catherine Jefferson ;
Robert, who married Elizabeth McVey; Arthur,
who wedded. Eliza Shaw; Mary Ann, who became
the bride of William C. Boyd; Eliza Martha, who
married Jacob Awl; and George Henry, who was
twice married. Mrs. Ann Eliza (Read) Long was
a daughter of John and Jane (Bingham) Read,
whose family consisted of the following children:
Mary, born 1783, died 1856, married John Irwin;
Margaret, born 1786, died unmarried in 1868; Jane,
born 1790, married Samuel Martin, and died in
1841 ; Ann Eliza, born 1795, married John Long
and died in 1861 ; and George married Jane Shan-
non, of Indiana. John Read was born Oct. 10, 1754,
a son of George and Mary (McElroy) Read, the
former born in Martic township in 1725 and the
latter in 1723. Mrs. Jane (Bingham) Read was
twice married, her first husband having been Capt.
Patrick Marshall, of Revolutionary fame, who was
killed in 1777. John and Ann Eliza (Read) Long
were the parents of four children: Margaret J.
died young: James Henry, born in August, 182=;,
died single; Mary I., born in 1832, married Benja-
min Cutler; and John G. died young.
Irwin Cutler acquired his education in the public
schools of Dnimore township, and later took an acad-
emic course in the Chestnut Level Academy, of Dru-
more township. He has been interested in farming
ever since, and owns one of the finest properties in
this locality, and is one of the leading citizens. For
five years he has been school director and for sev-
enteen years was a trustee of the Chestnut Level
Presbyterian Church; at present he is one of the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
997
stockholders in a home telephone company, known
as the Southern Telegraph and Telephone Co., of
Lancaster county.
On Dec. i8, 1884, Mr. Cutler was married to
Miss Annie B. Clark, of Drumore township, who
was a dau^-hter of A. Scott and Isabella (Neeper)
€lark. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Cutler, but a little girl, Ertha Reifsnyder, born on
Sept. 16, 1880, was taken as their own, when she
was quite small. Mr. and Mrs. Cutler are con-
sistent members of the Presbyterian Church, and the
family is one of the honored and leading ones of the
•county.
The first of the Clark family in America was
John Clark, a native of Ireland. Thomas Clark,
the great-grandfather of Mrs. Cutler, was born in
Drumore township and became the father of the fol-
lowing children : William, born Sept. 4, 1754 ; Vio-
let, born June 11, 1755 ; Jean, born on Feb. ,25, 1757,
married to James Ewing; Margaret, born Jan. 21,
1759, married to David Scott ; Mary, born June 10,
1760, married to Mr. Hutchison; John, born June
13, 1762; Abraham, born Aug. 28, 1764; Thomas,
born Aug. 22, 1765, went to New York; Elizabeth,
born Nov. it, 1767; Gabriel, born Oct. 12, 1709, a
resident of New York ; Robert, born April 18, 1772 ;
and Margaret, born Aug. 8, 1774.
Robert Clark married Agnes Scott, who was
born April 17, 1772, and died June 7, 1849. They
were the parents of ten children, as follows : Thomas
A., born Dec. 18, 1805, died July 22, 1885 ; William
J., born Feb. 6, 1807, died Aug. 9, 1865 ; Elizabeth
M., born Aug. 29, 1808, died July 25, 1881 ; Mar-
garet S., born March 16, 1810, died May 2, 1886;
Robert, born Dec. 5, 181 1, died March 3, 1885;
Agnes, born Oct. 24, 1813, died March 14, 1880;
A. Scott, mentioned below; Mary, born March 18,
1818, died April 6, 1863 ; James L., born June 15,
T820, died Feb. 12, 1832; and J. Rebecca, born Sept.
2, \'&2.2., the widow of Franklin Scott, of Lancaster
county.
A. Scott Clark, father of Mrs. Cutler, was born
Oct. 30, 1815, and in 1845 married Isabella J.
Neeper, who was born Nov. 7, 1822, and who died
Nov. 30, 1897. He died March 8, 1898. On Feb.
2,0, 1892, they celebrated their golden wedding. For
fifty-two years no death occurred in the Clark
family.
BENJAMIN M. HERSHEY, who is the pro-
pi-ietor of two threshing machine outfits, and devotes
much of his time in season to their operation, was
at one time an active farmer, and now has his home
on his farm, which, however, is under the manage-
ment of a son-in-law.
Mr. Hershey was born in Paradise township,
Lancaster county, June 21, 1855, and is a son of
Christian and Magdalina (Metzler) Hershey. His
father, who was born in Salisbury township, died
in Paradise township, in May, 1895, at the vener-
able age of eighty-four years. For more than twen-
ty years he was a school director, and the utmost
confidence was felt in the community both in his
personal rectitude and in his business ability, a con-
fidence that often took the expression of committing
to him the settlement of important estates, and the
administration of considerable trust funds. During
his last fifteen years he lived a strictly retired life.
Mrs. Magdalina Hershey, who was born in Paradise
township in 1820, is still living on the old homestead,
as active and as industrious as when younger, and is
regarded by her family and the community with
much reverent love and esteem as a lady of high
character and Christian devotion. She became by
her marriage with Mr. Hershey, the mother of the
following children: Barbara, who married Elam
Brackbill, of Paradise township ; Mary, who married
C. H. Brackbill, of Kinzers, Pa. ; Abraham, of De-
troit, Mich.; Benjamin, whose name appears above;
Israel, who lives in Lancaster; Magdalina, who is
unmarried, and lives at home; Joseph, who is at
home, married; Amos, married, and is living at
home; Sarah, who is the wife of Levi Wenger, a
farmer of Leacock township.
Mr. Hershey was twice married, his first wife
having been Barbara Stauffer, by whom he had two
children, Isaac, who is dead, and Anna, who is the
wife of Samuel Denlinger.
Benjamin M. Hershey was married Dec. 9, 1875,
in Lancaster, Pa., to Barbara A. Kreider. To this
union have come the following children : John K.,
who married Emma -Sweigart, and is a farmer in
Leacock township ; Nettie A., who died at the age
of nine years, and Cora M., at home, immarried,
twins ; Anna M., who married Edwin Good, and
lives at home, having one daughter ; C. Aaron ;
Benjamin K. ; Barbara A., who died an infant;
Amos K. and Emos K., twins, who both died in in-
fancy ; Alta E., who is at home.
Mrs. Barbara A. Hershey was born on the farm
where she is now living. May 30, 1856, a daughter
of John and Anna L. (Landis) Kreider, both na-
tives of Lancaster county. Her father was a farmer,
and came to the present home of Mrs. Hershey when
a lad of nine years of age. There he spent his life.
He became a man of considerable prominence in
the community in which he lived and was elected to
various township offices. His death occurred in
November, 1874, at the early age of forty-nine years;
His widow passed to her reward in 1887, at the age
of sixty years. Both were buried in the cemetery
connected with the Mellinger Church. They were,
like the parents of Mr. Hershey, members of the
Mennonite Church. To them were born the follow-
ing children : Abraham, who died in infancy ; Bar-
bara, who is Mrs. Hershey, noted above ; Anna, who
married a Dillinger, and is now dead; Jacob, who
died in infancy. The paternal grandparents of Mrs.
Hershey were Jacob and Anna Kreider, both of
Lancaster county; her maternal grandparents were
Abraham and Barbara '(Landis) Landis, also of
Lancaster county.
998
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Benjamin M. Hershey remained at home with
his parents until his marriage, when he located on
his present place, where he has led a most indus-
trious and useful life. For the last five years he
has been school director, and is one of the prom-
inent and influential men in his community. In his
politics he is a Republican, and in religion both he
and his wife are devoted members of the Mennonite
Church.
TILLMAN N. HOSTETTER, who is the
ticket and freight agent for the Pennsylvania Rail-
way Company, at Florin, where he is also agent for
the Adams Express Company, is extensively en-
gaged in the coal, grain and feed business at that
point. The mill, which he owns and operates, was
put up by him in 1885, and is equipped with a thirty-
horse power engine, and is regarded as one of the
best in this part of the State. Mr. Hostetter is an
energetic and pushing business man, of strict in-
tegrity and popular character.
Mr. Hostetter was born in East Donegal town-
ship, one mile south of Florin, Dec. 14, 1858, and is
a son of Jonas E. and Barbara (Nissley) Hostetter,
who were born in Manor and Mt. Joy townships,
respectively. They now reside in Florin, to which
point they moved in 1897, to spend their declining
years in freedom from the cares and responsibilities
that attend farming life.
Jonas E. Hostetter was born Jan. 13, 1833, and
is the son of John and Catherine (Eby) Hostetter,
natives of the townships of Manor and Elizabeth,
respectively. Both died on the farm, where Jonas
E. was born, and where he remained until his re-
moval to Florin. The grandfather, who was born
Jan. t6, 1787, and died Sept. 24, 1854, was a farmer
all his days. The grandmother, who was born Aug.
12, 1795, died March 6, 1848, and was buried in the
cemetery on the farm in Manor township. They
were married April 12, 1816, and were both mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church. The following chil-
dren were born to them : Magdelina, who married
Henry Shenk, a Mennonite minister, is dead ; Maria,
the wife of Christ Herr, is dead; John is a retired
farmer in Petersburg, Pa,; Catherine, the wife of
Jacob Shenk, is dead; Henry died young; Elias is
a retired farmer in Mt. Joy; Jonas E. ; Abraham
died at the age of fifty-three years. The great-
grandfather of Tillman N. Hostetter was John
Hostetter, who married Miss Resch; they were
farming people of Manor township, and members
of the Mennonite Church. John Hostetter died at
the age of sixty-three years, and his widow at the
age of eighty-five. They had five children, Cather-
ine and Susanna, who both married Herrs; John;
Barbara, who married a Greider, and Anna, who
married Rudolph Herr.
Jonas E. Hostetter and Barbara Nissley were
married in Philadelphia, Nov. 3, 1857, and had the
following family : Tillman N. ; Jacob, who mar-
ried Emma Rohrer, is a coal dealer in Chicago;
Levi, who married Lillian Eckenroth, is a traveling
salesman from Chicago ; Mary married Joseph Ha-
becker, a farmer in East Donegal township; Amos
died in infancy ; Elam is farming the old homestead
in East Donegal, and is married to Amanda Swart-
ley; Jonas, who married Lillian Kreider, is a cigar-
maker and dealer in implements in Mt. Joy; Abner
died in infancy; Simon died in infancy. Mrs. Bar-
bara (Nissley) Hostetter was born in Mt. Joy town-
ship Jan. 7, 1837, and is a daughter of Jacob and
Elizabeth (Graybill) Nissley, both natives of Lan-
caster county. Her father, who was a farmer, died
in 1861, at the age of fifty-four.
Jonas E. Hostetter remained at home with his
parents until he reached the age of twenty-four
years, when he rented a farm in East Donegal town-
ship. This he continued to rent for sixteen years,
and was then able to buy it. In 1897 he leased it,,
and moved to his present home in Florin. He is a
Republican, and with his wife belongs to the Men-
nonite Church.
Tillman N. Hostetter and Susan Forney were
married Oct. 16, 1884, at the home of her parents
in East Hempfield township, and to this union were
born: Nettie F., Walter F., Ruth F., Jonas F. (de-
ceased), Emma F., Jay F., Marian F., and George
D. Mrs. Susan Hostetter was born in Manheim
township, May 9, i860, and is the daughter of
Joseph and Susan (Gouchman) Forney, who are
now living on a farm in East Hempfield township.
Tillman N. Hostetter remained at home with
his parents until he was twenty-one years of age,
receiving from them opportunity to acquire a good
education, which included a year at the H. C Weid-
ler Business College, in Lancaster, Pa. When he
had reached his majority he went to the western
part of the country, and spent a year in Abilene,
Kans., where he worked in a lumber yard. Return-
ing to his native State, he engaged in the coal and
feed business, building in 1885 the mill where he
does his work. In 1882 he entered the service of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and is re-
garded as one of the most efficient men on their lines.
Mr. Hostetter is a' member of the Masonic fra-
ternity, and belongs to Lodge N. 551, and is also a
member of the order of K. of G. E. In his politics
he is a RepubHcan, and in his reHgion, a member of
the United Brethren Church. A prominent and
leading man of the community, he has won his pres-
ent enviable standing by strict attention to business,
honesty and integrity in' all matters, however
minute, and an unceasing devotion to the best and
noblest in life.
HARRY M. HINKLE, the trusty young loco-
motive engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad, of
Columbia, was born in West Hempfield township,
Lancaster Co., Pa., Oct. 3, 1862, and is a son of
Joseph Hinkle, deceased, whose sketch will be found
on another page.
Harry M. Hinkle farmed in West Hempfield
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
999
township, until eighteen years of age ; then he came
to Columbia, and at the age of nineteen, began work
as a fireman on the railroad, and at the end of nine
years and five months was promoted to be engineer.
Mr. Hinkle married at Columbia, in 1883, Miss
Anna L. Wisler, and to this imion has been born
one child — Florence W., still at home.
Mrs. Anna L. (Wisler) Hinkle was born in
Philadelphia, and is a daughter of Samuel Wisler,
a native of Columbia county, and Hannah Immel,
born at Kingsessing, Philadelphia county. The
mother died in Philadelphia in 1892, at the age of
forty-six years. The father, who was born July
5, 1843, left Columbia about 1862, and settled in
Philadelphia, and in the war of the Rebellion served
for some time on guard duty. To Samuel and Han-
nah Wisler were born six children, to-wit: Anna
L. (Mrs. Hinkle); Susie, wife of William , Craw-
ford, of Philadelphia, who has four children, Elsie,
William, Ethel and Samuel ; Fanny, married to Tom
Tobin, of the same city, but residing with the
father : they have two children, Melva and Thomas
G. ; Rachel, deceased; Samuel and Garfield, at home.
The family are members of the Christian Church.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Hinkle were
Michael and Martha (Cressinger) Wisler, and the
maternal grandparents were Alexander and Han-
nah Immel.
Harry M. Hinkle is a member of the Brother-
hood of Locomotive Firemen ; with his family he is
a member of the Lutheran Church, and in politics
is a Republican.
David Hinkle, uncle of Harry M. Hinkle, was
born in West Hempfield township, Lancaster Co.,
Pa., March 13, 1842, a son of Henry and Sarah
(McGee) Hinkle, who came to Columbia in 1839,
where the father died in 1872, at seventy-four years
of age, and she in 1866, aged sixty-one, both mem-
bers of the Lutheran Church. Their children were :
John, deceased ; Rebecca, deceased wife of Chris-
tian Hershey ; Isaac, a retired farmer of Wrights-
ville; Jo.seph, deceased; William and Charles, de-
ceased ; Catherine, wife of William Hardy, a black-
smith in Columbia; and David. The grandfather
of David was John, better known as Hans Hinkle,
a native of Germany, who came to America at the
beginning of the Revolutionary war, in which he
served as teamster. After the war he lived on a
rented farm in West Hempfield township, on which
he toiled until his death in 1840, at eighty years of
• age. The farm is now within the borough of Colum-
bia. The last ten years of David's life were spent in
retirement.
ELI W. DAVIS, a farmer of Colerain town-
ship, Lancaster county, was born on the farm which
he now owns, and which is his home at the present
time, March 21, 1851, his parents being Joseph B.
and Elizabeth Davis. Both his parents were born
in Lancaster county, the father in 1818, and the
mother in 1812. She was a daughter of Abner and
Barbara (Hess) Davis. Abner Davis was born
near Philadelphia, and came of a mingled German
and Welsh ancestr)'. He was born in 1783, and
served in the war of 1812. His death occurred in
1863.
Joseph B. Davis, the father of Eli W., was a son
of Eli and Catherine (Sellers) Davis. Eli Davis
made a home in Sadsbury township, where he lived
and died, leaving a family of four children : Eliza
died unmarried; Anna married Elisha Harper, and
moved to Iowa, where she died; Sarah Davis mar-
ried James Prentice, who moved to Columbus,
Ohio, where she died (they had one son, Alvin Pren-
tice, who now lives in Chicago) ; and Joseph B.
Joseph B. Davis was reared in Chester county, where
he became a wheelwright, an occupation he followed
at Andrew's Bridge, Colerain township, for some
years. He married Elizabeth Davis in 1844; five
years later he purchased the farm, which is now the
home and property of Eli W., and there he lived the
balance of his life. Good substantial buildings were
put up by him, and many improvements effected on
the farm. He died in December, 1897, his widow
following him the following June. They left a son
and a daughter. Both father and mother were mem-
bers of the Presbyterian Church, and were active
workers in the church at Union many years. In
politics Mr. Davis was a stanch Republican, and
though he never sought or aspired to office, was as-
sessor for two years in Colerain township.
Emma Davis, the daughter of this family, was
born in 1848, and with her brother received in-
struction of Thomas Baker, in his private school,
and of Prof. Andrews, at the Union High School.
For some ten years she was a successful teacher in
the county schools. She married John M. Rutter,
of Sadsburv township, where they reside on his
farm, with their four children: Howard T., Ab-
ner Davis, Emile and Bessie.
Eli W. Davis studied at the Baker Private
School and in the Union High School under Prof.
Andrews, becoming well informed. He remained at
home with his parents, and for about ten years was
the manager of his father's farm. His father was a
confirmed invalid some ten years before his death,
and his care fell very largely upon the son, who was
tender and devoted to his ailing sire. In May, 1883,
he married Miss Mary B. Newcomer, the daughter
of Louis R. and Esther (Brosius) Newcomer.
Mr. Newcomer was born in Washington Co.,
Md., in 1819. His wife, Esther, was born in Chester
county, in 1825. They lived in Baltimore, where Mr.
Newcomer was superintendent in the post office for
thirty-two years. In 1870 he purchased the Mahlon
Brosius homestead in Chester county, where they
lived until 1900, when they became inmates of the
home of Mrs. Davis. They have two sons and a
daughter. Mary B. is the wife of Mr. Davis. She
was born in Baltimore in i8;o, and secured her
education in her native city. Howard K. Newcomer
was born in Baltimore, in 1852, and is now a resi-
1000
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
dent of Colerain township. lidwin B. Newcomer
was born in Baltimore, and is now a resident of
Philadelpnia.
After nis marriage Mr. Davis located on the
old home, where he is found at the present time.
To him and his excellent wife have come three chil-
dren : Bessie and Liicretia, twins, were born in
September, 1891 : Bessie died when she was six
weeks old ; Lucretia is a student of the local schools ;
Joseph Davis died when four months old. Mr. and
Mrs.' Davis belong to the Union Presbyterian
Church. Mr. Davis votes the Republican ticket. He
is a man of fine standing in the community, and is a
worthy representative of a well-known family. The
father was a man of excellent character and his
only surviving son does honor to his instruction and
rearing.
MICHAEL BECKER, general manager of the
Mt. Hope grist, saw and feed mill, farms, furnaces,
etc., comprising an area of 2,000 acres in Lebanon
and Lancaster counties, was born in October, 1828,
four miles from the town of Lebanon, Lebanon coun-
ty, son of John and Hannah (Brandt) Becker, of
Lebanon, and later of Lancaster county.
John Becker, the' father, moved from Lebanon
to Lancaster county in 1846, and settled in Rapho
township, residing there until his demise, in 1875,
at the age of sixty-six years. His wife died in 1880,
and both are buried in private grounds on the old
homestead of his mother. There were born to John
Becker the following children : Michael ; John B.,
who was accidentally killed with his wife by a rail-
road train several years ago ; Henry Bi, who died on
the old homestead; Catherine B., wife of Christ
Shelley; Anna B., wife of Jacob Fisher; Sarah B.,
deceased wife of Jere Obetz ; and Moses B., a black-
smith, who died at his home near White Oak some
time ago.
The grandparents of Michael Becker on his fa-
ther's side were Nicholas and Catherine (Rudy)
Becker, of Lebanon county, where they remained
until their demise, Mr. Becker being a veterinary
and blacksmith of considerable prominence. The
father of Nicholas Becker fought under Gen. Wash-
ington, in the Revolutionary war. The family is of
Swiss origin. Michael Becker's maternal grandfa-
ther was John Brandt, a farmer of Lancaster county,
also of Swiss origin.
Michael Becker married Miss Anna Nauman, of
Lancaster county, in October, 1855, and to this union
were born the following children: John, unmar-
ried, is a dry-goods merchant of Manheim, Pa.
Lizzie, wife of Joseph Baker, a hotel-keeper of Lititz,
has three children. Maria died at the age of eight
yeai's. Henry B. died in infancy. Alfred died in
infancy. Michael, who lives at home, acts as as-
sistant to his father; he was married, June 28, 1902,
to Carrie B. Weidler, daughter of I. M. Weidler,. of
Rothsville, -where she was born and reared.
Mrs. Michael Becker was born in Rapho town-
ship in 1834, daughter of Samuel and Anna (Shel-
ley) Nauman, of Lancaster county. The family is
of Swiss descent.
Michael Becker was reared on his father's farm,
and remained with his parents until he became of
age, meantime attending school under Baron Stigle,
who at one time owned the Elizabeth furnace. Dur-
ing vacations and other spare times he worked on
the farm. Soon after becoming of age, in company
with his brother John, he opened a blacksmith shop
in Rapho township, and combined this business with
that of hauling for the Grubb family, large employers
of the locality. Mr. Becker has worked for the
Grubbs almost continuously for the past forty years,
first with A. B. Grubb, for twenty-two years, as
assistant manager; in 1885, upon the death of Mr.
Grubb, he became general manager, and still fills
this responsible position.
Mr. Becker is. a Republican in politics, and has
been postmaster at Mt. Hope since the death of Mr.
Grubb, the former occupant of the office for many
years. Mr. Becker is careful and painstaking in
everything he undertakes, and the result is that noth-
ing he attempts miscarries. His record is one of
which any man may well be proud, and his standing
in his community is as high as that of any other
member.
S. H. BINGEMAN, one of the leading and
enterprising citizens of Clay township, a justice of
the peace, appointed June 12, 1902, to fill the va-
cancy caused by the death of his brother, H. H.
Bingeman, and a well-known cigar manufacturer
of that place, was born Oct. 27, 1846, in Ephrata
township, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Hacker)
Bingeman, both deceased.
Samuel Bingeman, the father of S. H. Bingeman,
was a much esteemed citizen of Ephrata township,
a shoemaker by trade and a Republican in politics.
He became the father of nine children, eight of
whom grew to maturity. The record is- as fol-
lows : Levi, deceased ; Daniel, deceased ; George
H._, of St. Joseph, Mo. ; Henry H., now deceased,
a justice of the peace in Clay township for twenty-
five years; Priscilla, widow of Samuel Resser, of
Clay township; S. H., our subject; and Elizabeth,
wife of William Valentine, of Clay township.
S. H. Bingeman was reared on the farm and ac-
quired his education in the public schools, teaching
school for a period of twenty-three terms, after fin-
ishing his own education. Then he went into the
business of cigar manufacturing and for twelve
years has been a leader in that line in Clay town-
ship, his home and business being located in Hope-
land, where he has been postmaster for some time.
In politics Mr. Bingeman is a stanch Republican
and has taken ah active interest in the attairs of his
party in this section. For several years he has
served as a very efficient school director and is
prominent in all enterprises looking toward the
development of Clay township. Mr. Bingeman was
.y^tiy/iail. /J^^^CjiA^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1001
reared by pious parents in the belief, of the United
Brethren Church, and both he and his wife are con-
sistent members of the same, in Hopeland, and gen-
•crous in its support.
On Sept. 23, 1871, Mr. Bingeman was united
in marriage with Miss Catherine Ruth, daughter
■of WilUam and Susannah Ruth, and this marriage
has been blessed with two children, namely : Alice,
born Dec. 18, 1873, married John G. Donough, of
Hopeland, and they have two children, Elmer and
•Grant; and Harvey M., now postmaster of Hope-
land, born Sept. 3, 1874, married Miss Lydia Noll,
•of Clay township, and they have one son, Milton
Dewey, and one daughter, Virgie May.
Mr. Bingeman enjoys the respect and esteem of
.his fellow-citizens and is justly regarded as one of
the reliable representatives and substantial men of
-Clay township. .
WILLIAM R. ROGERS. This well-known
-and popular citizen of Columbia is one of the Penn-
sylvania Company's experienced and trusted engi-
neers. He was born in Wrightsville, York county,
on Aug. 31, 1858, and is the eldest of five children
born to Samuel S. and Sarah (Cohick) Rogers, of
that county, his parents having married July 4,.
1856. His younger brother, Americus V., con-
ducts a well equipped barber shop in Columbia; his
sister, Christina, is the wife of Joseph Archer, a
railroad conductor, and lives in Philadelphia. The
two younger children. Grant and Byron, died in in-
fancy. Samuel S. Rogers was a gallant Union sol-
-dier during the Civil war, a member of the 145th
P. V. I., and received a Confederate bullet in his
arm. He was a carpenter, and after receiving his
discharge, worked at his trade in his native baili-
wick. He died at the age of sixty-three years, in
1895. He was the son of an English immigrant,
Hobert Rogers, who married Elizabeth Sloat, of
York county. The father was employed in build-
ing the old State road and later in the construction
of the Pennsylvania line; he died in 1872. Samuel
S. Rogers, the father of William R., was the eldest
of their three children, the others being John and
Mary A.
As has been already said, the maiden name of the
mother of William R. Rogers was Sarah Cohick.
Her father, Robert, was a railroad man, and lost
his life in an accident on Jan. 16, 1861, having
reached the age of forty-eight years. He married
Christina Buckin, who first saw the light as it shone
xipon the crested billows of the Atlantic. Her par-
ents settled at Rohrerstown. Her mother lived to
be four score years and died on March 13, 1890. Her
younger sisters were Clara (Mrs. Robert Hall), of
Columbia; Mahala, the widow of William Allen,
of Philadelphia ; Anna M., the wife of Elliott Fred-
erick, of the same city; and Amelia, who married
David Coleman, the proprietor of a barber shop in
Columbia.
At the age of five, in 1863, William R. Rogers
came to live with his grandmother in Lancaster
county, but returned home after four years. There
he remained until his marriage to Miss Eva Mc-
Clane, which occurred on Sept. 5, 1891. They have
had two sons. Grant G. and John F. Mr. Rogers
IS a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive En-
gineers; in politics a Republican, and in religious
faith, a Lutheran.
Mrs. Rogers is the daughter of Henry and Eliza-
beth (Morrison) McClane, of Adams county. Her
father was a shoemaker and a justice of the peace,
and died in May, 1896, in his eighty-second year.
Her mother, who was born in May, 1827, is still
living in Manor township. Besides Mrs. Rogers,
eight children were' born to them: Mary, John,
Joseph, Susan, Douglas, Christian, George and
Levi. Only three of these are living. Joseph is
a resident of Marietta, Pa., and Douglas of Port
Royal, in this State. Susan is the wife of Henry
Wise, of Petersburg.
CLARENCE B. HERSHEY, a leading business
man of Mt. Joy, Pa., who is engaged in the insur-
ance business and is also a justice of the peace and
pension agent, was born in Florin, Mt. Joy township,
on Nov. 21, 1862, a son of Christian and Fanny
(Brenneman) Hershey, of Lancaster county. Chris-
tian Hershey was born near Mt. Joy, and carried
on a business in carpentering and cabinet-making
until his death, in 1876, at the age of sixty-eight.
His widow survives and resides in Mt. Joy; she
early united with the religious denomination known
as Church of God. Clarence B. Hershey, of this
biography, was their only child. The second union
of Mrs. Hershey was to Frederick Gantz and the
two children born of that marriage were : Gertrude,
who died in infancy; and Joseph B., a resident of
Mt. Joy, now engaged in plumbing. The death of
Frederick Gantz took place in 1890. The paternal
grandparents of Mr. Plershey were Isaac and Anna,
of Lancaster county, and those on the maternal side
were Joseph and Nancy (Bossier) Brenneman, also
of this coimty.
Clarence B. Hershey was reared in the village
of Florin, where he attended school until he was
nine years old, and then accompanied his parents
to Mt. Joy, where at the age of fourteen he began to
learn the trade of cigar-making. This business he
followed for ten years, and then entered a news-
paper office and became a typesetter, remaining in
the printing business for four years ; he is thus
eauipped with two trades. However, Mr. Hershey
has been ambitious and has been very successful
in still another line, that of insurance, and now
handles both fire and life insurance, representing
some of the best known and most substantial com-
panies in the country; he carries on a real estate
agency and also deals in typewriters and typewriter
supplies. On Feb. 2T, 1899, he was made justice
of the peace, and since that time has devoted him-
self very closely to the duties of the office.
1002
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
On one occasion this position nearly cost him
his life. On Oct. 2, 1902, while at the supper table,
he was assaulted by a man who had a fancied griev-
ance against him. His assailant had given the jus-
tice a bill to collect fot him and had been promised
its payment on Oct. 4th. Being, however, under the
influence of liquor, he imagined that Mr. Hershey
had kept the money himself, and so attacked him
with a pocket-knife. The culprit was placed under
arrest for a preliminary bearing and then committed
to prison for trial at court in November, 1902.
Socially, Mr. Hershey is connected with the
Foresters of America, in which order he has held
manv of the offices; and is also a member of the
Junior O. U. A. M., and the O. S. B., of Mt. Joy.
In politics he is an ardent Republican, and his re-
ligious connection is with the Church of God. In
every way, Mr. Hershey is a rising young man, and
enjoys the esteem and confidence of the citizens of
Mt. Joy, who see in him a thoroughly representa-
tive citizen.
ANDREW JACKSON. Among the leading
and representative citizens of Little Britain town-
ship, Lancaster Co., Pa., is Andrew Jackson, who
was born in Britain township, on Nov. 4, 1854, a
son of Robert and Eliza (Irwin) Jackson, deceased,
Robert Jackson was born in County Armagh,
Ireland, in 1828, and died in Britain township, April
8, 1898, having come to America when still a young
man. His wife was born in 1830, and died in 1893.
They were the parents of eight children : Margaret,
second wife of Dr. McNutt, a physician of Phila-
delphia; John, a thrifty farmer of Britain township
(whose sketch appears elsewhere) ; Andrew ; Mary,
who died in childhood; Robert, a farmer of Kirk's
Mills, Pa. ; Mary, wife of Fred Gregg, a fanner of
Drumore township ; Joseph, one of the leading
farmers of Britain township (whose sketch appears
elsewhere) ; Ella, wife of George Pollock, a dry
goods merchant. The father, Robert Jackson, was
a hard-working, industrious man, and a life-long
Democrat.
Andrew Jackson, of this biography, was edu-
cated in the district schools and early learned the
work of a farmer. All his life, he has tilled the soil,
and now is the owner of one of the best farms in
Lancaster county, on which he carries on general
farming, and also is an extensive stock dealer, be-
ing very successful in both vocations. His resi-
dence is a fine, two-story brick building, and his
stable and outbuildings are thoroughly up-to-date
in their arrangements and appointments. Mr. Jack-
son is a man who believes in the employment of im-
proved machinery in his work, and his well-culti-
vated acres testify to his practical knowledge of his
vocation. As his parents grew older, Mr. Jackson
tenderly cared for them, and helped to educate his
youngest sister, Ella.
On June 23, 1887, Mr. Jackson was married to
Emma Runner, of Little Britain township, a daugh-
ter of Samuel and Annie (Pierce) Runner, of Cecil
Co., Md. Mrs. Jackson was one of a family of seven
children: William,' of Britain township; George,
of Britain township; Rebecca, wife of J. M. Wil-
son, a farmer of Little Britain township (whose
sketch appears elsewhere) ; Rachel, wife of Irvin
Hill, of Cecil Co., Md. ; Taylor, of Britain township;
John, of Britain township ; and Emma. The Run-
ner family is of English descent and among the old
settlers of Lancaster county.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jackson are :
Leiper G, born on May 8, 1888; Anna E., born
March 17, 1889; Flora R., born Sept. 10, 1890; Will-
iam A., born Nov. 27, 1892; Rachel E., born Oct.
27, 1894. Mrs. Jackson was born April 18, 1854,
and is a lady of gentle disposition, kind and capable,
and much beloved by all who know her.
Mr. Jackson is a strong Democrat and has al-
ways taken an active part in local affairs. In 1899,
he was the Democratic nominee for sheriff of Lan-
caster, and ran ahead of his ticket, making a good
race, although, the county going Republican, he was
not elected. At present he is county committeeman,
and is very influential in party councils. Having
gained the esteem of his neighbors, Mr. Jackson
occupies a position of prominence in the township,
and whether in business life, among his political
friends, or in his home, he is looked up to and
respected by all with whom he comes in contact.
ALBERT R. BEAR, senior member of the well-
known lumber firm of Bear & Long, at Lititz, Pa.,
was born in Upper Leacock township, Lancaster
county, Nov. 24, 1850, a son of Grabill and Anna
(Reist) Bear. His boyhood and youth were spent
partly in his native township and partly in Man-
heim township, and his education was acquired in
the public schools. From 1875 to 1883, he clerked
in Harnish & Company's store, Lancaster. In 1883
he made his first business venture as a lumber dealer
in Lititz with William C. Evans, under the firm
name of Evans & Bear. This connection continued
three years, when Mr. Evans retired and was suc-
ceeded by John B. Hess, the firm name being
changed to Hess & Bear. On the death of Mr. Hess,
in 1890, Adam B. Long became associated in busi-
ness with Mr. Bear, under the style of Bear & Long,
by which name the firm is still known. They do the
largest business in their line of any company in the
city, and Mr. Bear devotes his undivided attention
to it.
On Feb. 22, 1877, Mr. Bear was united in mar-
riage with Miss Lizzie Grosh, a native of Man-
heim township, Lancaster county, and a daughter of
Daniel and Sarah Grosh. Two children bless this
union. Bessie May and Ruth Agnes.
Mi. Bear is one of the leading and representa-
tive men of his borough, is wide-awake and progres-
sive, and affiliates with the Republican party. He
i^s an active member of the Moravian Church and the
Y. M. C. A., of Lititz, and is also a member of the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1003
Mystic Chain, Lititz Castle, No. 19, and a member
and trustee of the Knights of Pythias, Lodge No.
253, of Lititz.
WILLIAM SCHLOTT. Coming to America
with his parents when a child of only two years,
this prominent young farmer of West Hempfield
township, Lancaster county, was reared in Pennsyl-
vania. Having the taste fcvr an active life, he de-
voted the earlier years of rtianhood largely to the
carpenter's trade. More recently he has adopted
an agricultural career and has become one of the
leading and successful farmers of Lancaster county.
John Schlott, the father, in his last years a re-
tired farmer at Mountville, Pa., was born in Prus-
sia, Germany, Aug. 8, 1827, the son of Frederick
and Anna Mary (Ruse) Schlott. Frederick Schlott
entered the army at the age of seventeen years and,
after his military service, became a carpenter and
farmer in Germany. He died in 1857, aged seventy
years, and his wife, born in 1791, survived to the
age of sixty-nine years. To Frederick and Anna
Mary Schlott were born children as follows : Fred-
erick, who was a shoemaker and is now deceased;
Conrad, who died young; Elizabeth, who died
young; Elizabeth (2), now deceased, who married
Frank Short, of Germany, by whom she had a
daughter, whose son is a priest ; John ; Mary Cather-
ine, who died at the age of twenty-three years ;
Catherine Margaret, widow of Henry Huth, of
Lancaster. John Schlott married in Germany, in
1855, Miss Margaret Moses. He followed farming
in the Fatherland and became a large land owner.
Selling his property there, he, in 1865, migrated to
America and first located in West Hempfield town-
ship, Lancaster Co., Pa., but later removed to
Columbia, and thence to Mountville. He was a
member of the Lutheran Church, of Columbia, and
in politics was a Democrat. He prospered in Amer-
ica and was the owner of large estates. His death
occurred March 24, 1901. Children were born to
John and Margaret (Moses) Schlott as follows:
Henry, a butcher at Mountville, Pa. ; Caroline, wife
of Israel Garber, of West Hempfield township ; Will-
iam, a farmer of West Hempfield, a sketch of whom
appears below ; Minnie, who married Alvin Hershey
and is now deceased ; Maggie, wife of John Sprout,
a molder, of York ; Katie, wife of William Lehman,
a railroad man, of Columbia; and Lizzie, wife of
Daniel W. Sheaiifer, for a time agent for the Swift
Meat Company, Lancaster, Pa., but now in business
for himself, at 416-418 N. Pine street, Lancaster.
William Schlott, son of John and Margaret
(Moses) Schlott, was born in Germany, March 3,
1863, and two years later was brought by his par-
ents to America. At the age of sixteen years he
began a three-years apprenticeship at the carpen-
ter's trade, with John M. Froelick, of Mountville,
and at the completion of this term he followed his
trade for a period of twelve vears. In 1894 he con-
cluded to adopt farming as his vocation and he be-
gan his agricultural life on one of his father's farms,
in West Hempfield township. His present farm of
eighty-five acres he purchased from Abraham Leon-
ard in the spring of 1900.
In 1885 he married in Columbia, Miss Anna W.
Cooper, by whom he has two children, Mabel and
Maggie. For his second and present wife, he, in
1895, rnarried Miss Katie B. Mellinger, a native, of
East Donegal township, Lancaster county, daugh-
ter of Henry and Fanny (Bucker) Mellinger, now
residents of Columbia. Henry Mellinger was born
in Lancaster county, Dec. 14, 1837, and is a black-
smith by trade. Fanny, his wife, daughter of Chris-
tian Bucker, of Lancaster county, was born Aug. 14,
1838. To Henry and Fanny Mellinger were born
five children. Of these, David, Elmer and Harry
are deceased; Christ is foreman in the roundhouse
at Columbia, and Katie B. is the wife of William
Schlott.
In politics William Schlott is a Democrat. He
possesses the thrift, industry and other sterling
virtues of his fatherland, and with these he has
united the progressiveness and adaptability of his
adopted country. He is one of the valuable and
prominent citizens of Lancaster county, having won
an enviable standing in the community in which he
has made his home.
EZRA H. BURKHOLDER, justice of the
peace, of Farmersville, West Earl township, is one
of the most widely known citizens of Lancaster
county. The farnily were among the early settlers
of this section, his great-grandfather, Abraham
Burkholder, a farmer, being born in the county.
Christian Burkholder, son of Abraham and
grandfather of Ezra, was born in what was then
known as Ear! township, now West Earl township,
and there engaged in farming until his death, in
1871, at the age of eighty years.
Ezra Burkholder, son of Christian, was a printer,
surveyor and conveyancer, who was born in West
Earl township, and who died there, in 1890, aged
sixty-three years, respected by all who knew him.
At the age of twenty- three he was made deputy-
registrar of wills under the late George Brubaker,
Esq., serving from 1849 to 1851. After leaving the
registrar's office, Mr. Burkholder was elected to the
office of justice of the peace, of West Earl township.
Many public positions were tendered him in the
course of his career, which were always refused, as
he preferred to serve the people in legal matters at
home. He was an expert scrivener and drew up his-
legal papers with the skill of an attorney. A man
of high principles, he was entrusted with the set-
tlement of many estates. He was a director in the
Ephrata National Bank, an active spirit in that in-
stitution, and always manifested much interest in
its success* In his disposition he was charitable,
but made no display of his benefactions. He mar-
ried Mhs Magdalina A. Hoffman, daughter of
Christian Hoffman, a merchant of Vogansville, Earl
1004
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
township. Six children were born of this union,
five of whom are living: F)zra H. ; Mary, wife of
Volney C. Sheets, of Red Run, Brecknock town-
ship ; Amanda, wife of Oscar Hackman, of Ephrata ;
Frances, wife of Joseph K. Tobias, of Ephrata ;
Amos E., of Farmersville ; and Christian, who died
-in infancy.
Ezra H. Burkholder was born in West Earl
township, Nov. 4, 1854, and was educated in the
(public schools of the district. Upon leaving school
he entered his father's printing office and soon
learned the trade of printer, to which he added the
duties of surveyor and conveyancer, so that when
his father died, his place was very capably filled by
his son, now the widely known justice. With slight
intermissions, he has held this office from the age
■of twenty-one, until the present time. His admin-
istration of the law is so correct that he is often con-
sulted on intricate legal problems arising in the
neighborhood. The Squire was elected county sur-
veyor some dozen years ago, and has many times
been elected a delegate to Republican county and
State conventions.
Mr. Burkholder was married to Miss Elizabeth
S. Weidler, daughter of Jacob G. Weidler, a well-
known farmer of Upper Leacock township, where
he still resides. Mr. Burkholder is a member of
J the Reformed Church, and has been an elder of St.
Paul's Reformed Church, of the New Holland
-charge, for years, and superintendent of the Sunday
School for over twenty years. He has often been
a delegate from his church to the Reformed Synods.
The Squire wields a ready pen, and twice in his
life has edited newspapers — The West Earl Ban-
ner and The Guiding Star. He is a director and
secretary in the Earl Mutual Fire Insurance Com-
pany, of Lancaster county ; a director and secretary,
from its organization, of the Old Guard Fire and
Storm Insurance Company, headquarters at Lan-
caster; a director in the People's National Bank of
Lancaster, being one of the organizers of that and
•of the People's Trust Company ; and a director of the
Lancaster Chemical Company. Besides all these in-
terests, he carries on a business of conveyancer, and
handles extensive real estate interests. He is always
able, however, to find time to give a friend a pleas-
ant word, and a more kindly man is not to be found
■anywhere.
RUFUS D. GREYBILL, a highly respected
citizen of Talmage, and one of the most prosperous
of the county's business men, is proprietor of the
Talmage Roller and Flour Mills, located in West
Earl township.
Henry B. Greybill, father of R. D., was born in
1825, in Schaeflferstown, Lebanon county, and died
in 1894, deeply mourned by all who knew him. For
many years he was a successful merchant of Tal-
mage, and also proprietor of the Talmage Grist
Mills, leaving at his death a valuable estate, all ac-
cumulated by his own eftorts, as he commenced
business life a comparatively poor man, save in am-
bition and enterprise. In politics he was first a
Whig and later a Republican, and in religious faith
was a member of the German Baptist Church. In
1850 Henry B. Greybill married Elizabeth R. Dep-
pen, daughter of Samuel Deppen, of Wernersville,
Berks county, and four children were born to them :
Emma, deceased in childhood; John, a miller in
Carlisle, Pa. ; Samuel, . living retired in Talmage,
Lancaster county; and Rufus D., of whom* this
sketch more particularly relates. The mother of
this interesting family is yet living, at the advanced
age of seventy- four years, having been born in 1826,
highly esteemed and surrounded by hosts of friends.
Rufus D. Greybill received a liberal educatio>n
at the common schools of Talmage, and secured his
business training in his father's store, at the same
time learning the milling business. Since 1896 he
has successfully conducted, as proprietor, the Tal-
mage Roller and Flour Mills, which have a wide
reputation for the excellent quality of their products.
In politics he takes little active interest, although as
a stanch Republican he never fails to support his
party and makes himself felt at the polls. Mr. Grey-
bill has not married. He deserves the high regard
in which he is held by the community.
DAVID K. MOHLER eminently deserves
classification among the purely self-made men of
Lancaster county who have distinguished them-
selves for their ability to master the opposing forces
of life and wrest from fate a large measure of suc-
cess and an honorable name. He is to-day one of
the leading business men of Lancaster.
A native of Lancaster county, Mr. Mohler was
born in Ephrata. Oct. 27, 1869, ^^^ is a son of Da-
vid and Susan (Keller) Mohler. He was reared at
home until thirteen years of age, when his father
died and he started out in life for himself. His
education was obtained in the public schools. After
working on a farm two years, he devoted six months
to cigarmaking, and then worked at the tinsmith's
trade for one 3'ear in Ephrata. The following
four years were spent in Manheim, and at the end
of that period he went to Harrisburg, where he re-
mained some six months. Going to Millersburg,
Berks Co., Pa., he opened a stove and tinware store,
and also carried on a manufacturing department,
doing a sticcessful business there for two years and
a half. In 1894 he returned to Manheim, and em-
barked in business as a dealer in stoves, tinware and
house furnishing goods and a manufacturer of tin-
ware. He carried a large and well selected stock of
goods and furnished employment to two men. In
1896 he became interested in the marble business
and manufactured all kinds of monuments. In 1900
he erected a large building to be used as a dwelling,
ware room and marble shop.
In the latter part of that same year he sold out
his business interests at Manheim, retaining only his
real estate, and located at Lancaster, where he now
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY 1005
resides. In 1901 Mr. Mohler went to Syracuse,
N. Y., to work for the Kelsey Heating Company
for the purpose of learning more about their sys-
tem of heating. At the beginning of 1902 he se-
cured the agency for Lancaster county for the sale
of the Kelsey Warm Air Generator, in which ca-
pacity he is now exclusively engaged, covering an
extensive territory. He is one of the most pro-
gressive young business men of the county and is
strictly self-made as he started out in life for him-
self a poor boy, and with no assistance has already
accomplished in a business way what it takes most
men many long years to do. He is an active mem-
ber of the Junior Order of American Mechanics in
Manheim, and he and his family are among the
most worthy and highly respected citizens of that
place.
Mr. Mohler was married, in 1892, to Miss Bar-
bara Felker, a native of Rapho township, Lancaster
county, and a daughter of Samuel Felker. They
now have two children, Irvin and Edna.
CLAYTON ERB, one of the honorable citizens
and leading farmers of Martic township, was born
on the farm that he now has charge of, on March
17, 1858. His parents were John and Maria (Wit-
mer) Erb, both of whom were natives of Lancaster
county, the former being born in West Lampeter
on Aug. 25, 1814, and dying on Dec. 31, 1894. His
widow still survives and resides on the old home
place. She was born on Feb. 2, 1824, and was mar-
ried to Mr. Erb, Aug. 13, 1840, becoming the beloved
mother of a family of twelve children. Some of
these have passed out of life, the family names be-
ing: Susan, born May 19, 1841, who resides w'ith
her mother ; Amaziah, born May 6, 1842, died June
19, 1872; Anna E., born April 26, 1844, died May
II, 1866; John, born April 17, 1847, died Dec. 26,
1882 ; Mahlon, born Dec. 13, 1848, mentioned else-
where in this volume; Amanda, born Dec. 11, 1851,
died Dec. 4, 1852; Henry, born April 15, 1853, a
merchant in Martic township; Mary J., born Oct.
8, 1854, residing at home; Emanuel W., born July
25, 1856, died April 21, 1892; Clayton; Frank, born
Nov. 13, i860, a miller in Martic township ; and
William W., born on Nov. 26, 1863.
Clayton Erb was educated in the public schools
and has put his knowledge to good purpose in the
successful management of the home farm, which
consists of 205 acres. In this work he has taken a
deep interest, and, being a progressive and ener-
getic man, has made use of modern methods and
machinery with excellent results. His farm is one
of the best in this locality and shows the results of
the care and attention he has given it. The mar-
riage of Clayton Erb was on June 3, 1884, to Miss
Hattie Wissler, a daughter of Elias and Anna Wiss-
ler, and to them have been born a family of eleven
children, nine of these still surviving: Anna W.,
born Aug. 25, 1885 ; John W., born Dec. 8, 1886 ;
Clayton, born Feb. 14, 1888; Edna, born May 2,
1889; Maria, born Dec. 28, 1890; Susan, born May
12, 1892; Esther, born Feb. 28, 1894; Fannie, born,
Dec. 7, 1895 ; Elias, born Aug. 14, 1897, died Dec.
17, 1898; Ada, born April 25, 1900; Enos, born May-
7, 1902, died May 19, 1902.
Mr. Erb is a man of intelligence, who believes
in progress and development, doing at all times his.
full duty to advance the best interests of his local-
ity. As one of the efficient school directors of his-
township he looks carefully after the interests of the
rising generation, believing that knowledge is pow-
er. In politics he is identified with the Republican
party, and while liberal in his religious views, he-
gives his influence at all times in the direction of
morality. Not only does he manage his large es-
tate with capability, but in township and county
matters, as well as in the domestic circle, he proves
himself an important and valued adviser, a thor-
oughly upright man.
CHARLES G. HANNA, one of the thrifty
young farmers of Fulton township, Lancaster coun-
ty, was born Nov. 9, 1863, and was a son of James
A. and Mary C. (Anderson) Hanna, also of this
county. The fovtnder of this branch of the family
in Pennsylvania was John Hanna, who came in
early days from Ireland. James A. Hanna, the fa-
ther of Charles G., was a son of James and Esther
(Ailes) Flanna, whose children, besides James A.,
were : Rebecca, deceased ; Sarah, ' deceased ; Mar-
tha, the widow of Daniel Carter, of the - State of
Washington ; Matilda, the wife of Edward ToUinger,
of Fulton township; Edith, deceased; Andrew, de-
ceased ; and John and Marion, deceased.
James A. Hanna, the father of Charles G., was
born in 1834 and died on March 4, 1900. He was
married in 1858 to Mary C. Anderson, who was
born Oct. 26, 1838, and who still survives. This
marriage was blessed with four children:' Ralph,
who died young; Eva, who is the wife of John
Moore, of Wilmington, Del. ; Charles G., who is our
subject; and Mary, who also died in childho'od.
James A. Hanna was one of the most highly re-
spected citizens of his neighborhood, his upright life
reflecting honor upon himself and upon his descend-
ants.
Charles G. Hanna grew to manhood on the farm
and received a practical education in agricultural
pursuits while attending the district schools. In
the management of his fine seventy-acre farm he
has put his knowledge to the test, and this has re-
sulted in his gaining the just reputation of being one
of the best and most progressive farmers of this part
of the county.
The marriage of Mr. Hanna was on Dec. 26,
1899, to Miss Mabel Nefif, who was born on Jan.
I, 1 88 1, and who was a daughter of Samuel and
Bell Neff, of Fulton township. Her brothers and
sisters were: Viola, the wife of William Fagan;
Sarah, wife of Clinton Love, of Maryland ; Amos ;
Samuel ; Ida ; and Lawrence. The only child born
1006
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
to Mr. Hanna and wife is Mary, born Oct. 26,
1900.
Charles G. Hanna is one of the leading young
men of this part of the county, and a most worthy
representative of a family which has long been
prominent in the county. Frorn the time of his
great-grandfather, who was a major in command of
a militia company in the war of 1812, and his grand-
father, who for so long was a justice of the peace
and a well-known citizen, to himself, the name has
been one of honor in Lancaster county. In politics
Mr. Hanna has been a life-long Democrat. His re-
ligious connection is with the Primitive Baptists.
BARBAR.\ A. CHARLES belongs to one of
the old and honored families of Lancaster county.
Henry Charles, her grandfather, lived and died
in Conestoga township, where he spent a lifetime
in the cultivation of the soil. He belonged to the
old Mennonite Church, where his modest character
and genuine worth were warmly recognized. Cath-
erine Kartman, his wife, bore him nine children:
Benjamin, the father of Barbara; Henry, a farmer
of West Lampeter township; John, a farmer, who
went t(7 Indiana, with his family, and there diti.i ;
Elizabeth, the wife of John Harnish ; Daniel, a farm-
er and miller in Conestoga township ; Abraham, a
farmer in Manor township ; Polly, the wife of Chris-
tian Hess; Barbara, the wife of Adam Dietrich;
and Catherine, who died young.
Benjamin Charles, son of Henry, was born in
Conestoga township in 1790, and in early life be-
came a miller, an occupation which he followed
some years. About i860 he turned to farming,
having purchased a place in Lancaster township, to
which he gave his entire attention for the remaining
years of his life, and where he died in 1875. Po-
litically he was a stanch Republican, and a zealous
worker fdr the party interests. Catherine Urben,
his wife, bore him nine children : Leah, the wife of
Christian Kreider, now deceased; Leahna, the wife
of Dr. D. M. Brubaker, now deceased ; Barbara A.,
whose name appears at the opening of this article;
Mary, who married Brenneman Sherman, and has
passed away; Benjamin, a farmer on the old home-
stead ; John, a farmer of West Lampeter township ;
Abram, a farmer of Lancaster township ; Adam, un-
married, and at home, where he is engaged in farm-
ing; and Eli, who died in infancy. Both Benjamin
Charles and his good wife were faithful and de-
vout members of the Old Mennonite Church.
Barbara A. Charles was born in Conestoga town-
ship May 25, 1838. She was reared on the old
homestead, and remained with her parents as long
as they lived. Since their passing to the better land
she has continued at the old homestead, and is re-
garded as the head of the family, as she has done
so much to keep it together, and help on its indi-
vidual members. In her religious faith she follows
the steps of her ancestors and is a faithful and loyal
member of the Old Mennonite Church. Conspicu-
ous for her womanly qualities and real worth, she
has many friends in the community in which she is
passing her quiet and helpful Ufe.
CHRISTIAN B. OBERHOLTZER, whose
home is in Manheim township, two miles from Ore-
gon, was born in West Earl township Sept. 3, 1869,
a son of Christian H. and Elizabeth (Brubaker)
Oberholtzer, both natives of West Earl township.
For so young a man he has won an enviable place
in the social and commercial circles of this section
of Lancaster county.
Christian H. Oberholtzer was born on the farm
he now occupies, and on which his life has been
spent, in 1837. This place comprises ninety-three
acres of fine land, and is kept in the very best
condition. A public-spirited and enterprising man,
Mr. Oberholtzer was a director in the Ephrata Na-
tional Bank for many years, and has long been one
of the most active and influential members of the
Old Mennonite Church. Twice married, his first
wife, Elizabeth Brubaker, a daughter of Jacob Bru-
baker, of Upper Leacock township, bore him two
children: Jacob B., a farmer of West Earl town-
ship; and Christian B., whose name appears above.
The second wife of Mr. Oberholtzer was Lydia
Weaver, who was a daughter of Francis Weaver,
of Earl township. She is the mother of two chil-
dren : Henry, who is a general merchant at Akron,
Lancaster county ; and Anna, who is the wife of
John Landis, a farmer in Manheim township.
The grandfather of Christian B. Oberholtzer
also bore the name of Christian Oberholtzer. He
was born at Rothsville, Lancaster county, and with
his -wife, who was a daughter of John and Ester
Hess, began housekeeping on the farm where Chris-
tian H. now resides. There their lives were spent,
and they acquired some two hundred acres of land
lying in West Earl and in Earl townships. He was
a member of the school board. His death occurred
when he was aged eighty-two years, ten months
and twelve days. He was the father of eight chil-
dren, of whom, Samuel and John H. were twins, of
whom Samuel died unmarried, and John died aged
forty-two years; Hettie died unmarried; Henry is
a retired resident of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Martin
died unmarried ; Anna is the deceased wife of Henry
Myers, of West Earl township ; Christian H. is the
father of the subject of this, article. He is
he was married to Miss Ada May, daughter of John
and Anna (Hess) Martin, of Manheim township.
Christian B. Oberholtzer was reared on the old
homestead and educated in the public schools.
When he was twenty-seven he married and located
on the farm still occupied by him in Manheim town-
ship, which contains sixty-three acres, and is de-
voted to general farming. He is one of the bright
and progressive farmers of the county, as his house
and surroundings well indicate. On Nov. 26, 1896,
he was married to Ada May, daughter of John and
Anna (Hess) Martin, of Manheim township. To.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1007
this union was born one child, Anna May. They
are members of the Old Mennonite Church, and are
associated with the best people of the community.
SAMUEL D. MARTIN, the young and enter-
prising proprietor of the Caernarvon Mill, at Hertz-
ler, in Caernarvon township, was born Jan. 29, 1875,
and is a son of David and Annie (Witmer) Martin.
His father is dead, and his mother, who married
Henry Weaver, lives in Weaverland.
Samuel D. Martin was reared in East Earl
township, at the Goodville Mill. His father was
the miller at that time, and taught his son the same
business. Eli Martin was also his instructor in
this line. Samuel D. Martin operated the mill at
Goodville for some two years prior to his locating
at his present home. In 1898 he purchased the
Caernarvon mill, with fifteen acres of land attached
to it, and is now operating the mill, and farming the
land. His mill is one of the best in the county,
and is fitted up with the roller process machinery.
It has a capacity of twenty-five barrels a day, and
does a general custom business. Mr. Martin gives
his entire attention to the mill.
Samuel D. Martin was married in 1896 to Miss
Mary Weaver, a daughter of Aaron and Mary
Weaver. She was born in 1876, and is the mother
of three children : ' Florence, Elmer and Ruth. Mr.
and Mrs. Martin belong to the Old Mennonite
Church, and are coimted among the very worthy
and popular people of the day.
HENRY M. STAUFFER, of H. M. Staufifer
& Co., Safe Harbor, Lancaster county, was born on
a farm in Manor township, Lancaster county, in
1863, and is the son of Benjamin and Mary (Smith)
Staufifer, both deceased, the father dying in 1882
at the age of seventy years, and the mother in 1890,
at the age of seventy years. They were both na-
tives of Lancaster county and spent their lives on
a farm in Manor township. He was a Republican
and served for eleven years as tax collector in his
township. Mr. Stauifer's grandfather came from
Germany and was the founder of the family in the
United States.
The firm of which Henry M. Stauffer is the head
deals in lumber and coal, operates a grist mill and
sells feed, farm implements and hard wood, also
doing mill work. Mr. Stauffer and George T.
Rose, succeeded to the business in 1896, when they
bought out the firm of Haskell, Tripple & Com-
pany, the present firm being the company part of
the old concern. The business is being conducted
along the same lines as before, except that the mills,
formerly operated in connection with the Safe Har-
bor concern, have been dropped. The trade is very
prosperous and is under the personal management
of Mr. Stauffer, who began his business career irt
1884 as a clerk with George A. Tripple & Com-
pany's general merchandise store in Safe Harbor
and worked his way to a partnership, in 1893. Al-
though yet a young man, he is active and shrewd,
and is looked upon as one of the strong commercial
men of the county. He was reared on the family
homestead in Manor township and received his edu-
cation in the public schools, supplemented by two
terms at the Millersville State Normal Institute, and
went into business at the age of twenty years. His
life since that time has been extremely active, he
being at all times a hard, persistent worker and fully
deserving the success which has attended his ef-
forts.
On April 27, 1898, Mr. Staufifer was married
to Miss Emma C. Posey, daughter of David and
Mary (Groff) Posey. Mrs. Staufifer was born at
York Furnace, York Co., Pa., in July, 1864. Mr.
and Mrs. Staufifer are members of the M. E.
Church, and he is very active in Sunday School
work, having for years served as superintendent of
the Sabbath School at Safe Harbor, which position
he still holds. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.,
No. 334, Conestoga Lodge, and has represented
the order in the Grand Lodge, and was repre-
sentative again in 1901 ; he is a past master of
Charles M. Howell Lodge, 496, F. & A. M.
Mr. Stauffer is a broad-gauged, public-spirited
man, fully abreast of the times and also a strong
supporter of any thing for the public good.
MENNO B. MARTIN, a resident of Earl town-
ship, whose home is about two miles west of New
Holland, was born on the farm he occupies April 8,
1879, ^^^ is a son of John B. and Anna (Wenger)
Martin, residents of I-eacock township.
Menno B. Martin was reared on the farm, and
educated in the public schools. When he was nine-
teen he began for himself, working at day's labor
among the farmers. In 1900 he began farming,
taking his father's place in Earl township, where he
does general farming.
Mr. Martin was married Feb. 13, 1898, to Miss
Elizabeth Buchen, a daughter of Jacob and Mattie
(Martin) Buchen. She was born in West Earl
township. To this union has come one child, Noah,
who is now dead. Mrs. Martin is a member of the
Mennonite Church. .She stands high in the com-
munity. Mr. and Mrs. Martin are honest and in-
dustrious people, and have made a good place for
themselves in the consideration of the community in
which they live.
ABNER H. MARTIN, a general farmer of
West Donegal township, was born in Conoy town-
ship Jan. 26, 1875, and in the few years in which
he has been engaged in business he has won a most
enviable standing as a capable and industrious man,
thoroughly reliable and upright.
Rev. Jacob N. Martin, the father of Abner H.,
a minister of the Brethren in Christ Church, now
residing in West Donegal township, was born in
Rapho township July 2, 1848, and is a son of Benja-
min and Elizabeth (Nissley) Martin, natives of
1008
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Lancaster county, where their entire Hves were
spent. Benjamin Martin, born in 1815, was a
farmer, and died in Conoy township Feb. 26, 1885.
Mrs. Martin died in 1899, at the age of eighty-four
years, and both were buried in the Conoy Church
cemetery. They had two children, Leah, who died
in infancy, and Rev. Jacob N.
Rev. Jacob N. Martin and Miss Sarali G.
Heisey were married in Mt. Joy, Pa., Nov. 3, 1866,
and to this union were born : Amanda H., the wife
of Harry Gish, of Maytown, Lancaster county;
Levi H., who married Anna Wolgemuth, and lives
in Rapho township; Lizzie H., the wife of Elmer
Engle, a farmer in East Donegal township; Fanny
H., unmarried, at home; Josiah H., who married
Rhoda Zook, and is a missionary in India ; Abner
H., at home. Mrs. Sarah G. Martin was born in
the present home, where she has lived so many
years, June 26, 1846, and is a daughter of Abraham
and Elizabeth (Goss) Heisey, both natives of West
Donegal township, and all their lives devoted to
farming.
Rev. Jacob N. Martin followed farming until
1898, when he retired. In 1885 he was ordained a
minister of the Brethren in Christ Church, and is
still engaged actively in the work of the pulpit.
Abner H. Martin was married to Fanny H.
Zerdier in Oct., 1898. Mrs. Martin is the estimable
daughter of Jacob Zercher, of East Donegal town-
ship, whose personal and family history is given in
another place. She was born in East Donegal May
21, 1877, and is a bright and charming young
woman.
In 1881 Mr. Martin came with his parents to the
farm on which "he is now located, and this has been
his home ever since. He belongs to the Brethren
in Christ, and is an upright and industrious young
man, well thought of in the community where he
lives.
JOHN HERR KRANTZ, one of the progress-
ive young farmers of Paradise township, was born
in West Lampeter township, this county, March 3,
1874, son of John and Fannie (Herr) Krantz.
Mr. Krantz was reared in Strasburg township,
where he received his education in the public
schools. At the age of twenty-one he began opera-
tions on his own account. For three, years he
worked by the year at farm work, and after his mar-
riage he continued at day work until the spring of
1900, when he purchased his present farm of thirty-
seven acres, one of the fertile and well-cultivated
farming properties in Paradise township. It is lo-
cated one and one-quarter miles east of Strasburg
borough. Mr. Krantz is engaged in general farm-
ing, and is recognized as one of the enterprising and
industrious citizens of his township. On Dec. i,
1897, he married Miss Millie Kachel, who was born
in Dnmiore township Nov. 21, 1878, daughter of
Ezra and Mary (May) Kachel. To Mr. and Mrs.
Krantz has been born one daughter, Mildred.
In politics Mr. Krantz is a Republican, wide-
awake and earnest in public questions, whether local
or national, and interested in all matters pertaining,
to the general welfare. He is well liked for his
many sterling qualities, and has many friends and
well wishers throughout his own and adjoining,
townships.
MARTIN K. GROFF, proprietor of the Fair-
view Roller Mills, of Bart township, Lancaster coun-
ty, was born in Warwick township, Oct. 10, 1855,,
son of Martin and Fianna (Kofsroth) Groff.
Martin GrofiE was born in Lancaster county in
1825 ; his wife, Fianna (Kofsroth), whom he married
in 1852, was born in the same county in 1832. Mar-
tin Groff was engaged in the milling business in.
Warwick township. In 1855 he made a visit to^
Springfield, Ohio, where he sickened and died, leav-
ing his widow with two children, Susanna and Mar-
tin. Susanna married James Carpenter, then of
Lancaster, but now living retired in Warwick town-
ship, and they have one son Joseph, who is employed
in Lancaster. The widowed mother later married
Manelius Ressler, of Lancaster county, and they
settled in Warwick township, where Mr. Ressler has-
followed his trade of a blacksmith to the present
time. Mrs. Ressler died in November, 1899, leav-
ing four children by her second marriage : Morris^
of Lancaster; Tillie, who married Monroe Shriner,.
of Warwick township ; John, living in Rothsville,.
Lancaster county ; and Scott, of Warwick township.
Martin K. Groff was reared in Warwick town-
ship, where he attended the local schools. . When he
was eighteen years old he engaged as a miller's ap-
prentice with Jesse Runk, at Bird-in-Hand. All his-
life he has been a miller, and for several years was-
employed at a salary. After his marriage he took
charge of a mill at Bird-in-Hand, on his own ac-
count, and he remained in this business until the fall
of 1884, when he purchased the Cooper mill prop-
erty at Georgetown. There he is running one of the
improved roller mills of the county, and his work
attracts much attention. The mill was burned down,
in March, 1897, but Mr. Groff rebuilt it thoroughly
and substantially, putting in the most modern ma-
chinery, and making it one of the best roller mills in,
this section of the State. ,
In 1877 Mr. Groff was married to Miss Mary
Miller, who was born in Lancaster county in. 1857,
daughter of George and Elizabeth Miller. Her
mother's people, the Tregos, are an old and noted
family in Lancaster cotlnty. To Mr. and Mrs. Groff
have come the following children : ( i ) Harry, born
in 1879, is a working miller at Georgetown. He
married Miss Ada Linton, of Colerain township, by
whom he has had three children, all now deceased.
(2) Lillie, born in 1 881, married Clyde Thompson,,
and has two children, Wallace and William M. (3)
George died when one year old. (4) Florence, born
in March, 1898, is a bright and winning little
maiden.
my^
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
100
Martin K. Grofif has made his way in the world
by his own strength and energy. Starting in Hfe
as an apprentice boy, he has become one of the soHd
and substantial citizens, and business men of Lan-
caster county. He is a fine penman, and his mill
books are models of expert bookkeeping. Person-
ally he is a man of high principles and clean char-
acter, and enjoys the confidence and respect of all
who know him. Politically he is a Republican, and
for twelve years has been township auditor. Mrs.
Groff is a member of the Lutheran Church, where
her husband attends. He belongs to the I. O. O. F.,
Lodge No. 6i, of Paradise township, and is also as-
sociated with the American Mechanics at Lancaster
city.
AMOS N. LANDIS, one of the progressive and
representative young farmer-citizens of Clay town-
ship, was born in Manhcim township Aug. 3, 1869,
son of John D. and Emma (Nolt) Landis, of Landis
Valley, in Manheim township.
John D. Landis, the father of Amos N., was
born March 6, 1843, married Emma Nolt in 1865,
and died Aug. 2, 1878. He was a son of Christian
B. Landis, who was the father of these seven chil-
dren : John D., the father of our subject ; Chris-
tian, of Lancaster ; Benjamin, of Nefifsville ; Eliza-
beth, wife of David Rudv. of Nefifsville; Susan,
wife of Harry Groff; Fanny, who died unmarried;
Jacob, of Akron, Pa. Four children were born to
John D. Landis and wife, the two survivors being
Amos N., of this sketch ; and Ella, the wife of Isaac
Buchen, of Lincoln. After the death of her hus-
band Mrs. Landis married John Wissler, of Weid-
manville.
Amos N. Landis was reared on the farm and
attended the public schools of Manheim township.
At the age of thirteen years he removed with his
mother to Clay township, and here, Dec. 5, 1893,
he married Miss Amanda Snyder, daughter of Si-
mon and Fannie (Bucher) Snyder, of Clay town-
ship. The children born of this union are: Si-
mon, born Feb. 21, 1895 ; John, born Aug. i, 1896;
and Lizzie, born Aug. 17, 1901.
Mrs. Landis was born June 17, 1872, and was
reared in a family of eight children, namely : Bar-
bara, the wife of John Stoner, of Earl township;
Annie, the wife of Jacob Doster, of Ephrata town-
ship ; Sarah, wife of Lemon Weist, of Clay town-
ship ; Catherine, the wife of Samuel Stoner, of Eph-
rata; Amanda; Christian, of Clay township; Lizzie,
of Ephrata township ; and Lavina, also at home, in
Clay township.
Mr. Landis is one of the active and intelligent
farmers of Clay and owns a fine farm situated on
the pike road between Weidmanville and Clay. In
politics he is a stanch Republican, has been a very
efficient school director for the past five years, and
takes an active interest in all measures looking to-
ward the advancement of education in his locality.
He belongs to the Dunkard Church.
64
• Although Mr. Landis belongs to one of the old-
est and most honorable families of Lancaster county,
he is dependent upon no such support, for he coin-
mands the esteem and respect of all, through his.
personal attributes.
NORMAN F. HERCHELROTH, a prominent
and successful farmer citizen of East Donegal town-
ship, was born on his present farm on Sept. 13,
1869, a son of John and Mary J. (Paules) Herchel-
roth, the former of East Donegal, the latter of Leba-
non county, Pennsylvania.
John Herchelroth died Aug. 11, 1892, at the
age of seventy-four, but his wife survived until
March 21, 1900, and both were laid to rest in the
Maytown cemetery. They were good and worthy
people, consistent members of the Reformed
Church. To them were born : Anna, who married
Harry Eshleman, of Maytown ; Mary, who married
George Farmer, of Rawlinsville ; Hiram, who mar-
ried Anna Lehman (deceased), and resides in Bain-
bridge ; Emma, who resides in Philadelphia ; John,
a professor in a business college in Philadelphia,
who married Addie Redmond ; Jacob, who married
Sophia .Shaffer, and is a practicing physician in
Philadelphia; and Norman F., the sfibject of this
biography.
On Sept. 19, 1893, Mr. Norman F. Herchel-
roth was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Ruther-
ford, and to this union one son has been born, —
Victor F. Mrs. Herchelroth was born in Bain-
bridge, this county, in 1871, a daughter of William
and Amanda (Rothrock) Rutherford, residents of
Elizabethtown, where Mr. Rutherford is a well
known stone mason.
Mr. Herchelroth has always lived upon this
farm, with the exception of the time spent at school
attending the Millersville Academy. Reared on the
farm, he thoroughly understands its management
and is considered one of the best agriculturists in
this locality, the excellent state of his land and the
comfortable surroundings giving evidences of thrift
and prosperity. . In politics he is a Republican, and
is one .of the substantial and representative citizens
of East Donegal.
CHRISTIAN E. BRACKBILL. One of the
most skillful, and consequently most successful,
young farmers of Salisbury township, Lancaster
Co., Pa.,' is Christian E. Brackbill, who was born
on the farm on which. he still lives Jan. 13, 1871.
His parents. Flam and Barbara (Hershey) Brack-
bill, are natives of Paradise township, Lancaster
county, where they now reside, but they came to
Salisbury township in 1870 and remained until the
spring of 1892, when they returned to' their native
township. Elam Brackbill, a" general farmer, was
born- in 1841, and his wife Barbara (Hershey)
Brackbill, in 185 1. To their marriage have been ■
born eight children in the following order: Chris-
tian E., whose name opens this biography; Susan
1010
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
E., who is married to Daniel Eshleman, a farmer
in Leacock township; Magdelina, unmarried; Ida
E., wife of John Eshleman, a farmer in Salisbury
township; Anna M., wife of John Groff, a farmer
also of Leacock township ; Harry G., a school teach-
er, at home ; Esther S., also at home ; and Elam, de-
ceased. Elam and Barbara (Hershey) Brackbill
are members of the Mennonite Church, and for
many years Mr. Brackbill was a school director, an
office which he filled with marked astuteness. The
paternal grandparents of Christian E. Brackbill
were Benjamin and Susan Brackbill, and the mater-
nal grandfather was Christian Hershey, who mar-
ried a Miss Metzler, both of Lancaster county.
Nov. 2, 1893, Christian E. Brackbill was united
in marriage with Miss Anna Buckwalter, who has
borne him one child, Ellis B. Mrs. Brackbill was
born June 14, 1867, in Salisbury township, and is
a daughter of Isaac and Magdalina (Hershey)
Buckwalter, of whom further mention will soon be
made. Immediately after marriage Mr. Brackbill
settled down on the farm of • 102 acres in Salisbury
township and began operations on his own account.
As he had been born and reared on the place and was
familiar with every feature and phase of its condi-
tions and intimate with the constituents of its soil
and its mutations imder climatic or thermal influ-
ences, his success was assured at the beginning and
he has now as profitable a farm as there is of its
dimensions in the township.
In politics Mr. Brackbill is a Republican, but
has never sought public office; yet he has served
one term as school director, by appointment to fill
out an unexpired term. He is an attendant at the
Mennonite church, of which Mrs. Brackbill is a
devout member, and his walk through life is such
as to merit the esteem of his numerous warm-heart-
ed friends and that of the general public, which is
accorded him in a marked degree.
Isaac Buckwalter, father of Mrs. Christian E.
Brackbill, and now living in retirement in Salis-
bury township, Lancaster county, was born in East
Lampeter township Nov. 21, 1837, and is one
of the eleven children born to Henry and Bar-
bara (Neff) Buckwalter, the former of whom died
in 1 861 at the age of fifty- four years, and the latter
in 1864, when fifty-six years old, their remains be-
ing interred in Mellinger's cemetery in East Lamp-
eter township. The eleven children comprising the
Buckwalter family were born in the following or-
der: Mary, living in Soudersburg, the widow of
John Downer; Anna, deceased wife of Benjamin
Eby; Susan, who v/as first married to Walter and
next to John Denlinger, but who has now passed
away ; Sarah, deceased wife of Emanuel Denlinger ;
Hattie, wife of Israel Landis, of East Lampeter
township ; Lizzie, wife of Daniel Kreider, of the
same township ; Barbara, wife of Peter Hershey,
of Paradise township; Benjamin, deceased; Free-
land, of East Earl township; Martin, of Strasburg
township ; and Isaac, named above. The paternal
grandparents of Isaac Buckwalter were named John
and Judith Buckwalter and were natives of Lan-
caster county.
Isaac Buckwalter and Mattie Hershey were
joined in matrimony at Lancaster in 1864, and eight
children have resulted from this marriage, namely:
Anna, now Mrs. C. E. Brackbill ; John, still at home ;
Mary, married to Chris Zimmerman, a farmer in
East Earl township, to whom she has borne three
children ; Barbara, wife of David Sensinick, mother
of two children, and residing in Salisbury township ;
Isaac, Freeland, David and Martha — all four still at
home. The mother of this family, Mrs. Mattie
(Hershey) Buckwalter, was born in Salisbury
township, in Jan., 1845, and is a daughter of John
and Mattie (Musser) Hershey.
Mr. Buckwalter at marriage rented his present
farm but by leading a frugal and industrious life
soon became its owner, and is now one of the
wealthiest men in the township. He and his wife
are members of the Mennonite church, and in poli-
tics Mr. Buckwalter is a Republican.
ABRAHAM B. GROFF, whose residence is
near New Holland, Pa., was born in Upper Lea-
cock township Nov. 8, i860, and is a son of Abra-
ham and Carlotte (Shaeffer) Groff, both of whom
are dead. His grandfather, Abraham Groff, re-
sided in Groffdale, Lancaster county.
Abraham B. Groflf was reared in Upper Lea-
cock township, where he was educated in the public
schools, and at twenty years of age established him-
self in West Earl township. Two years later he
came to Earl township, where he has since made his
home. His active life was begun on the farm, and
the tillage of the soil has been his life work. In
1886 he purchased the property where he is now
living, just south of New Holland, only a quarter
of a mile from the borough line. This place com-
prises twenty-four acres, and is finely improved.
He has a handsome residence, a commodious barn,
and ample tobacco barns. These substantial im-
provements have been effected since the land passed
into his possession. In 1892 he began dealing in
tobacco and farm implements, and is very com-
pletely equipped for the trade, large quantities of
tobacco passing through his hands. As an imple-
ment dealer, his trade is second only to the heaviest
dealers in the city of Lancaster. He handles all
kinds of implements, making special features of the
Advance binders, the Hoover Wagon Company
buggies and the Columbia wagons. He has drills,
and seeds of all kinds. Mr. Groff has lately built
a tobacco warehouse, 32 ft. x 60 ft., of four stories,
where he can store 1,500 cases of tobacco; he has
also put up an implement warehouse, 48 ft. x 100
ft., two stories high, in New Holland borough, on
Railroad avenue, near the Pennsylvania Railroad
station. His new headquarters is the largest im-
plement building in Pennsylvania. He enjoys an
immense trade, and takes satisfaction in the thought
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1011
that it represents his own labor. He is a member
of the school board of Earl township. Beginning
at the very bottom, with nothing but his pluck and
energy to carry him through, his success is evident
from the fact that he is now among the most pros-
perous men of the community.
In 1880 he was married to Miss Lizzie Bear, who
died in Feb., 1899, at the age of thirty-seven years,
leaving four children : Leroy W., Christian M., A.
B. Charlie, and Annie C. Mrs. Groff was a mem-
ber of the Reformed Church. Leroy W. is a teach-
er in the public schools of Earl township, and had
his training for the work at Millersville.
HARRY B. HERR, a resident of Lime Val-
ley, West Lampeter township, Lancaster county,
was born on the Herr homestead in Strasburg town-
ship, June 21, 1 87 1, and was reared on the farm.
His education was secured in the public schools,
and his life has passed peacefully, and with but little
excitement, in Strasburg and West Lampeter town-
ships, just as the most useful lives are often the
most iraeventful.
After his marriage Mr. Herr began farming on
the home place, where he spent the two ensuing
years. In the spring of 1895 he removed to his
present place, which consists of a hundred acres.
Here he does general farming and gives much at-
tention to the handling and preparation of draft
horses for the eastern markets. He buys from
western stockmen, and will take only the best bred,
so that his name has already become identified with
the upper ranges of the market. Mr. Herr is a bright
and progressive young man, and by observation,
study and close attention, keeps abreast of the
times. He is highly regarded in the business com-
munity, and has won many friends in the eastern
cities, who are glad to tender him any courtesy and
attention they can when he comes their way, as he
has those personal qualities that arrest attention and
command respect.
On Nov. 4, 1896, Mr. Herr was married to Miss
Minnie L., a daughter of Henry L. Groflf, of Stras-
burg township, and to them has come one child,
Anna Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Herr are both mem-
bers of the Old Mennonite church, and are highly
respected in the community in which their useful
and well ordered lives are passing.
CALVIN G. HINKLE, a well-known locomo-
tive fireman, was born on the edge of Columbia bor-
ough, in West Hempfield township, Lancaster Co.,
Pa., May 16, 1873, is a son of Joseph and Anna
(Mellinger) Hinkle, and still has his home in Co-
lumbia. Joseph Hinkle, the father, of whom men-
tion is made in another part of this volume, was a
wealthy farmer, but is now deceased.
Calvin G. Hinkle lived with his parents until
twenty-two vears of age, attending the district
school until fifteen years old, then for three years
working in the Keeley Stove Works, and at the age
of nineteen beginning work as a fireman on the
Pennsylvania railroad, a position he has filled up to
the present time with credit to himself and satisfac-
tion to the company.
July 3, 1895, Calvin G. Hinkle was joined in
matrimony at Lower Windsor, York Co., Pa., with
Miss Virgilla P. Heindel, and this union has been
blessed with one child, Beatrice. Mrs. Virgilla P.
(Heindel) Hinkle, is a native of Lower Windsor,
was born March 18, 1877, and is a daughter of John
and Mary (Fox) Heindel, who still reside in Lower
Windsor. John Heindel was born in 1835, was
reared a farmer, is a man of considerable promi-
nence locally, has held many township offices, and at
one time was treasurer of York county. At pres-
ent he is a director of the York County Fire Insur-
ance Company. He and his wife are members of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are the par-
ents of nine children: George, a clerk in Elgin,
III. ; Laura, wife of William Ensign, of Lower
Windsor, Pa. ; Samuel, a dentist in Manheim, Pa. ;
Valetta, wife of Byrd Hinkle, a farmer of York
county ; Moses, keeper of a grocery and dry-goods
store in Wrightsville ; Rev. John, a Lutheran minis-
ter in Jersey City, N. J. ; Charles, with his father
on the home farm ; Virgilla, now Mrs. Hinkle ; and
Sadie, also at home.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Hinkle were
Henry and Julia Heindel, natives of Germany, who
settled in York county, Pa., on the farm now occu-
pied by their son, John. Her maternal grandparents
were Samuel and Mary (McFarley) Fox, also farm-
ing people of York county.
Calvin G. Hinkle is classed among the repre-
sentatives of the older and more respected families
of Columbia and West Hempfield townships, enjoys
the esteem of his fellow firemen, and, with his wife,
the respect of the community in which he lives. Mr.
and Mrs. Hinkle are members of the Lutheran
Church, while he belongs to the Brotherhood of Lo-
comotive Firemen, and the Relief Corps. In poli-
tics he is a Republican.
SAMUEL G. GRAYBILL, a successful ware-
house man and dealer in grain, coal and feed in
Rheems, Lancaster county, handles along with these
leading lines, flour, salt, seed, phosphates, hay and
straw, paving stone and tile, and has built up for
himself an enviable reputation as a tradesman and
an upright and reliable man.
Mr. Graybill was born in Penn township, Lan-
caster county, Oct. 31, 1872, and is a son of Rev.
Reuben S. and Rebecca (Groff) Graybill. They
were born in Penn township, where they remained
and followed farming until 1896. Since then they
have lived a retired life. The father has been a
German Baptist preacher since 1886, and is a man
much respected by those who know him. Born in
1841, he keeps his health and strength. The mother,
who was born in 1846, has reared the following chil-
dren: Amanda G., the wife of James W. Boyd, a
1012
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
farmer of Penn township ; John G., married to Min-
nie Keller, and a teller in the National Bank at Man-
heim, Pa. ; Nathan G., married to Ella Gibble, and
a farmer in Penn township; Samuel G., noted .at
the beginning of this article.
Samuel Graybill, the grandfather of Samuel G.,
was born in Lancaster county, and came of good old
Swiss stock. In early years this branch of the fam-
ily changed the spelling of the name from Kraybill
to Graybill.
The maternal grandfather of Samuel G. Gray-
bill was John Groff, who married a Miss Brubaker.
They also were natives of Lancaster county, and
were descendants of a Swiss ancestry.
Samuel G. Graybill and Miss Katie Groff, the
bright and accomplished daughter of Benjamin G.
Groff, were married in Elizabethtown, Pa., in 1896.
A biographical sketch of the father of Mrs. Gray-
bill may be found on another page.
Samuel G. Graybill remained at home with his
parents imtil he reached the age of twenty-three
years, when in company with his father-in-law, Mr.
Groff, he embarked in the lumber, feed and grain
business. At the end of four years they dissolved
partnership, and Mr. Graybill came to his present
stand. Here he has built tip a good business, and has
many warm' and ardent friends throughout the com-
munity.
Mr. and Mrs. Graybill are members of the Ger-
man Baptist Church, and are prominent and wealthy
people in the community where they live. In poli-
tics he is a Republican, and is counted one of the
good citizens of the day. At the present time
Mr. and Mrs. Graybill are living in Elizabethtown,
while he does business in Rheems.
ABRAHAM W. ROOT, a prominent business
citizen of East Hempfield township, Lancaster Co.,
Pa., is the owner and manager of a large nursery
business, located one and one-half miles north of
East Petersburg, and was born on the home farm,
one mile north of this village, on March 7, 1872,
a son of Abraham F. Root, of this township.
Benjamin Root was the grandfather of Abra-
ham W. Root, and was a son of Jacob Root, who
married a Miss Buckwalter, of an old family of New
Holland, Lancaster county. Benjamin was born in
1814, and died in 18S7, and was one of a large family
nine of whom grew to maturity. Reared on the
farm, he always followed that occupation, and quite
early in life started out to work for himself, in 1845
removing "to East Hempfield township, where he
first farmed land on shares, but later purchased a
farm of about fifty acres, located between Peters-
burg and Landisville, this being now owned by
Jacob Roher. After disposing of this property
Benjamin Root bought some fourteen acres in
Mountville, where he lived for a time, but later re-
moved to Landisville, and there he died, being at
that time a member of the board of education. He
was a consistent member of the Old Mennonite
Church. His marriage was with Elizabeth Frantz,
a daughter of John Frantz, of Lampeter township,
born on a farm one mile from Bird-iri Hand; her
death occurred in Sept., 1863.
Nine children were born of this union: Abra-
ham F., the father of our subject; Israel, a farmer
and a dealer in agricultural implements, in Landis-
ville; John, who died at the age of twenty-one;
Adam, a resident near Elizabethtown, Pa.; Amos,
a teacher in the public schools of Mt. Joy; Simon,
a farmer near Elizabethtown; Mary, who married
M. G. Musser, of Lancaster, and is deceased ; Ben-
jamin, deceased ; and an infant, deceased.
The father of these children was a leading and
representative raa.n, and was well and favorably
known, leaving to his eldest son a name which he
could bear and cherish with pride. Abraham F.
Root, the father of our subject, was born May 20,
1836, and received his education in the public
schools of his neighborhood, and also enjoyed one
session at the State Normal School, at Millersville,
making his home with his people until he left to
form new ties, in 1863. At this time he began
farming on shares, according to a prevalent cus-
tom, in Mt. Joy township, remaining one year, but
in 1864 he purchased his present homestead, in East
Plempfield township, consisting of fifty-four acres,
located one and one-half miles north of East Peters-
burg, and here he has one of the very pleasantest
homes in this part of the county, the valuable im-
provements being of substantial character, and the
surroundings most attractive. General farming
has proved most remunerative to him, and he has-'
taken a deep interest in developing his land to its
greatest extent.
Probably Abraham F. Root is one of the largest
owners of valuable land in this locality. In 1887
he purchased a farm of twenty acres, situated be-
tween his home and Petersburg, which he improved
with a complete set of new buildings, and presented
this valuable property to his son, S. N. Root, and in
1891 he continued his fatherly kindness by the pur-
chase of forty-four acres lying northwest of his
home farm, and presented this to another son, Abra-
ham W. Root. Later, he added a small tract of
five acres, lying on the old Lititz road, one mile west
of his residence, and upon this property he is busily
engaged in the erection of substantial and com-
modious buildings, and other permanent improve-
ments which will make this in the near future a
very desirable place. Not all of his time, however,
is occupied in farming or in looking after his real
estate holdings, as for a long season he has been a
school director, always interested in all educational
matters, and he is a stockholder and one of the
directors in the Northern Market, of Lancaster City.
On Sept. 13, 1862, Abraham F. Root- married
Mary Nissley, of East Donegal township, a daugh-
ter of Joseph Nissley, and to them have been born
three children : Samuel N., a farmer and tobacco
dealer ; John, who died at the age of seventeen • and
BIOGRAPtllCAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1013
Mary, who died at the age of fourteen. The mother
of these children died on March 29, 1869, and in
January, 1871, he married the widow of Elam Fritz,
her maiden name having been Sarah Witmer, the
•daughter of George Witmer, of New Providence
township. To this union has been born a family
of four children : Abraham W., farmer and nurs-
eryman ; Jacob W., at home on the farm ; Emma and
Laura, at home. Both Abraham F. Root and wife
are members of the Old Mennonite Church, and few
there are, in this community, who are better or more
favorably known.
Abraham W. Root, the son of the above worthy
people, was reared on the farm, and early taught
those principles of industry and thrift which he has
displayed with such a successful result, in the man-
agement of his own business. His mind seemed
to have a natural bent toward horticulture, and while
but a lad of ten years he began his experiments in
fruit growing, and he wisely decided to direct his
attention to that field of labor. While storing his
mind with all the literature he could iind upon the
subject, he was not content with this theoretical
knowledge, but visited various nurseries both in this
and in the State of New York, and in 1893 opened
up a small nursery plant which he has increased un-
til he now has some fifteen acres stocked, making
a special feature of apple, peach and plum trees;
he also carries a good assortment of small fruits,
in fact everything that can be found in any first-
class nursery, and successfully operates a farm of
forty-four acres. His stock is mostly disposed of
in this State, for which he employs eight salesmen,
and he has just taken his brother, Jacob W. Root,
in as partner and is branching out on a much larger
scale. A member of the State Horticultural so-
ciety, he both teaches and learns at its meetings.
The marriage of Abraham W. Root was on Nov.
21, 1895, to Ella Shenk, a daughter of John Shenk,
of Manheim township, and to this union have been
born two children, Mary and Ira. Both he and his
estimable wife are members of the old Mennonite
Church, where they enjoy the esteem of a large cir-
cle of friends.
LOUIS WEBER, jeweler, watch maker and
optician, has Hved in Lancaster for almost thirty
years, all but one of which he has been identified
with the best commercial life of the city.
Louis Weber, Sr., his father, came to this coun-
try from Baden, Germany, in 1848, settling in Phila-
delphia where he still resides. He was a lithograph
painter, and was of the pioneers in that trade in this
■country. His marriage to Lena Gunther was con-
summated in Philadelphia. From this union were
Tiorn seven children, three of whom are deceased.
The others are: Louis, in Lancaster; Rudolf, of
Philadelphia: Lena, wife of P. R. Paynter; and
Henry, of Lancaster.
Louis Weber came to Lancaster March 4, 1873,
and secured employment for a year with a prominent
jewelry house in this city, and then set up for him-
self in Centre Square, where he remained for six
years. Having learned his trade in a first-class es-
tablishment in Philadelphia, he was thoroughly
equipped, and his reputation as an expert workman
soon became extended, bringing him much trade,
and compelling his removal to larger quarters, at
No. I595'^ North Queen street, where he is still
found.
In the early days of his career in Lancaster Mr.
Weber was united in marriage to Miss Anna L.,
a daughter of the late Philip Fitzpatrick, who was
one of the best known citizens of Lancaster. They
have had one child, George R., who learned his fa-
ther's trade, and then, taking a course in optics in
New York, became a graduate optician, and opened
optical parlors above his father's store, equipping
them with paraphernalia unknown before in this
section.
During the long period he has dealt with the Lan-
caster public, Louis Weber has enjoyed the reputa-
tion of being not only skilled in his work, but thor-
oughly reliable in his business methods, and now has
an extended clientage. An intelligent citizen he
never obtrudes his opinions and confines himself
strictly to his business, always being at his post.
ABRAM SHOEMAKER, one of the highly es-
teemed citizens and substantial retired farmers of
Lancaster county, was born on the farm in Martic
township, which he now owns. May 12, 1832, a son
of Jesse and Sarah (Lukins) Shoemaker, who were
natives of Montgomery coimty, who located in Lan-
caster county in 1828.
Grandfather Joseph Shoemaker was of German
ancestry, and he reared four children : Abraham,
Jesse, Lydia and Charles, all of whom have gone to
their reward.
Jesse Shoemaker, a son of Joseph and the father
of Abram, was born in 1796, and died in 1883, at
the age of eighty-seven years. His first wife was
Sarah Ambler, and one daughter, Hannah, now de-
ceased, was the only child of this union. The second
wife of Jesse Shoemaker was Sarah Lukins, and to
this union six children were born : Joseph, deceased ;
Enos, deceased; Abram; Martha Ann, deceased;
Charles, deceased ; and William L., of Fulton town-
ship, of whom more extended mention may be found
elsewhere.
Abram Shoemaker was reared to agricultural
pursuits, and through life has followed farming in
all its branches. His industry and energy 'have been
substantially rewarded, as he is now the owner of
two of the best farms in this county, his home being
in every way one of the most attractive and desirable
in his neighborhood. .A man of sterling worth, re-
spected and valued by his acquaintances and beloved
by his family and friends, he is a citizen who worth-
ily represents the great State in which he was born
■ — a State whose children are never ashamed to con-
fess that they are Pennsylvanians.
1014
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Abram Shoemaker married Regina Y. Idall, who
was the estimable daughter of William and Mary
(Streeper) Idall on Dec. i6, 1858. Three children
were born to this marriage: Annie S., who is the
widow of Benjamin F. Treas, of Philadelphia; Wil-
mer G., who died at the age of twenty years; and
Mary A., who resides at home. Mrs. Shoemaker
was born on Sept. 3, 1838, and is a lady well known
as a kind and sympathetic neighbor and as one who
in every way sustains the character of a Christian
woman.
Abram Shoemaker was educated in the public
schools and has alwa3's taken an interest in their ad-
vancement. In politics he belongs to the Republican
party, and is a consistent member of the Society of
Friends.
DR. HENRY F. BRENEMAN, the well-known
veterinary surgeon, residing near Mt. Joy, in East
Donegal township, is a native son of Lancaster
county, and he inherited from his father the sym-
pathetic love of dimib animals that was the guiding
star to his chosen calling. He was born in Rapho
township Sept. 10, 1843, ^ son of Dr. John and
Fanny (Freed) Breneman, natives of Lancaster
township, this county, and New Philadelphia, Pa.,
respectively.
Dr. John Breneman died in Rapho township, in
1877, at the ag'e of sixty-one. He was a farmer by
occupation, and also a veterinary surgeon. In all
his work he was very successful, and his genial man-
ners won him many friends. He was prominent in
public aflfairs and served as supervisor of his town.
He was twice married. His first wife, Fanny Freed,
died in 1854, at the early age of thirty-seven. This
union resulted in children as follows: Dr. Henry
F. ; Kate F., widow of Amos Witmer, a farmer near
Nefifsville. Pa. ; Samuel F., a school teacher, now de-
ceased ; and Miss Fanny F., of Silver Springs. For
his second wife Dr. Breneman married Mrs. Mary
(Miller) Stauffer, and by this marriage became the
father of Christian, a farmer of Rapho; and Rev.
Benjamin, a United Brethren minister at Silver
Springs. Mrs. Mary (Stauffer) Breneman was born
near Lancaster, of Swiss descent, and died in 1900,
aged eightj'-two years. She had been married prior
to her union with Dr. Breneman, her first husband
being John Stauffer. By this marriage she was the
mother of five children, namely: John, a farmer,
now deceased; Mary and Abraham, both deceased;
Henry, of Lancaster ; and Jacob, a farmer, now de-
ceased.
Henry F. Breneman remained with his parents
until he attained his majority. During these years
he had worked on the farm and assisted his father in
the care of sick stock. After leaving home he learned
the tanner's trade, which he followed twelve years,
and then again began the practice of veterinary sur-
gery, which he has since followed. He located in
his present place of residence in 1872, and has met
v/ith much success in his calling, and has won many
friends. Politically he is a stanch Republican, and
actively interested in public affairs. In religious be-
lief he adheres to the tenets of the Old Mennonite
faith.
On Jan. o, 1873, Dr. Breneman married Harriet
H. Hfidler, who has borne him the following chil-
dren: Ira H., who died at the age of two years;
Minnie H., who married Dr. E. W. Newcomer, of
Mt. Joy ; and Nora FI. and Martha H., both at home.
Mrs. Harriet H. (Heidler) Breneman was born
in West Hempfield township, June 10, 1849, ^
daughter of Levi and Martha (Hougendobler)
Heidler, now living retired in that township. Levi
Heidler was born Aug. 26, 1813, and his wife on
April I, 1820. Both are members of the Lutheran
Church. Their children were : Anna, deceased wife
of Christian Shank; William, a tobacco packer of
Ironville, Pa. ; Henry, of Faithcure, Cal. ; Barbara,
at home; Cyrus, in a bakery in Mountville, Pa.;
Sarah, wife of Dr. C. A. McCauley, a physician of
Petersburg, Pa.; Martha, wife of Christian K.
Shank, of West Hempfield township; Harriet H. ;
Mary, who died young; Samuel, a school teach-
er in Springfield, 111. ; and Horace, an operator of
West Hempfield.
AMOS CHARLES. Among the prominent
farmers and successful business men of Lancaster
county, who have been identified with prosperous
business interests for a number of years, in this vi-
cinity, is Amos Charles, who resides on his finely
cultivated farm in East Hempfield township, one
mile west of the village of Rohrerstown.
Mr. Charles was born on the old family home-
stead, in Manor township, Aug. 2, 1849, ^ son of
Christian H. Charles, deceased, the latter of whom
was a son of Jacob and Barbara (Herr) Charles,.
who were the parents of five daughters and two sons.
The mother of our subject was Fannie (Forrey)
Charles, and both parents were consistent members
of the old Mennonite Church.
Amos Charles received a very fair education irk
the public schools of his district, remaining with his.
parents until he had reached the age of twenty-one,,
when he began farming operations for himself, early
displaying the good judgment which has since
marked his career, and which has been one element
of his success. The first tract of land upon which
our subject began his independent farming labors
was one which adjoined the old homestead, in Manor
township, and here he remained until 1884, at which
time he removed to his present fine farm of eighty
acres, in East Hempfield, and immediately began the
improvements and operations which have made of
this place one of the most productive in the county.
Until 1888 he gave his whole attention to his farm-
ing interests, but realizing the desirability of an es-
tablishment where the neighboring farmers could
more easily obtain the commodities like coal and
feed, than by going some distance, he opened up on
his farm, yards for the same, and since that time has
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1015
been actively engaged in this business. Amos
Charles is one of the progressive men who never
stagnate, their active minds always seeing oppor-
tunities for the further enlargement of their busi-
ness interests, at the same time advancing the com-
mercial prospects of the community.
In 1896 Mr. Charles accepted the opportunity of
becoming the owner by lease, of what is well known
as the Willow Grove gristmill, in Manor township,
located one mile north of M'illersville, and this is
now most successfully operated bv the son of our
subject, Amos B. Charles, the mill being well pre-
pared to do all kinds of milling. Amos Charles is one
of the stockholders and is also a director in the Fair-
view Milling Co., of Columbia, Lancaster county,
having been one of the founders of the same, an
organization well and favorably known throughout
the State. t
In 1870, Amos Charles was married to Mary A.
Bowers, who was born in East Hempfield township
July 24, 1 85 1, daughter of Benjamin Bowers, of
Manor township, and four children have been born
of this union: Amos B., the efficient assistant of
his father in the milling business ; Willis B., a farmer
of Manor township; Christian E., who was grad-
uated with honors from Franklin and Marshall Col-
lege, June 20, 1900, ranking sixth in a class of thirty-
nine, and is now principal of the Bart central high
school — a position to which he has been elected a
second time; and Clayton B. Both Amos Charles
and wife have long been most valued members • of
the Mennonite Church, in which they were reared
by good parents, and our subject is the most efficient
superintendent of the Rohrerstown Sabbath school,
holding that position for five years. The entire fam-
ily is respected and esteemed throughout the town-
ship.
ENOS D. SHEAFFER. This worthy and re-
spected representative of the agricultural interests of
Lancaster county is a resident of Leacock township.
Both himself and wife are worthy members of two
of the oldest families in the coimty, whose individual
members have always been citizens of the highest
character.
Mr. Sheafifer was born Dec. 3, 1856, in the town-
ship in which he still resides, son of Bear and Eliza-
beth (Heller) Shaeffer, and comes of a race of farm-
ers, his father and grandfather before him having
cultivated the soil. Bear Sheafifer died in 1873 at
the age of forty-five years, and lies buried in the
Roland Church 'burying-ground in Leacock town-
ship. His widow resides with her daughter, Mrs.
Martha Sharp, and is quite active at the age of sev-
enty-seven years. They were the parents of : Sam-
uel,'a farmer of Paradise township; Henry, de-
ceased; Enos D. ; Martin, a farmer of Lancaster
county; Joseph, a telegraph operator in Lancaster;
Catherine, Mrs. Albert Rutter, of Leacock township ;
Margaret, deceased wife of Freeman Bitzer; Sallie,
unmarried ; and Martha, widow of Christian Sharp.
Samuel Sheaffer, the paternal grandfather of Enos
D., lived and died in Lancaster county. On the ma-
ternal side the grandfather was Joseph Heller, also
a resident of Lancaster county.
Enos D. Sheaffer was reared on a farm in Lan-
caster county and received a good common-school
education in the district schools of Leacock town-
ship. He remained on the farm until 1879, when
he set up an establishment of his own at his present
home, and where he has since followed the life, of an
agriculturist most successfully. He is looked upon
as one of the most thorough farmers in the county,
and his farm has an appearance of thrift and neat-
ness which is an evidence of the distinguishing char-
acteristics of its owner. Mr. and Mrs. Sheaffer are
worthy members of the Reformed Church of Lea-
cock township, and are useful members of society in
that rural community. In politics Mr. Sheaffer
votes for principles promulgated by the Democratic
platform.
Mr. Sheaffer was married in 1879 in New Hol-
land, Pa., to Miss Amanda Sprecker, who was born
in the "Leopard Hotel," Lancaster, and is a sister of
Samuel Sprecker, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Sheaffer
are the parents of three children : Louis, Jonathan
(who died in 1884) and Anna. A man of fine
strength of character, genial and hospitable in dis-
position, Mr. Sheaffer merits the high esteem in
which he is held in Lancaster county.
JOSEPH G. DESCH, who at the time of his
death was living retired in Columbia, was for many
years actively identified with the business interests
of that city, and having acquired a comfortable com-
petence was able to lay aside all business cares and
enjoy a well-earned rest.
Mr. Desch was born in Bavaria, Germany, Sept.
ID, 1833, son of Philip and Mary H. (Herr) Desch,
natives of the same kingdom, who in 185 1 emigrated
to America and took up their residence in Baltimore,
Md., where the father lived retired for ten years. In
his native land he had engaged in merchandising.
Returning to Germany on a visit, he died in that
country in 1870, at the age of seventy-five }^ears,
while his wife died in Baltimore, in 1875, at the age
of seventy-six. In their family were the following
children: John and Peter, who died in Baltimore;
Mary, wife of Leo Bruner, a retired merchant and
ex-postmaster in Germany; Baldser, a traveling
agent of Germany ; Anthony, who was killed in the
battle of Fredericksburg, during the Civil war ; Jo-
seph G., whose name introduces this sketch; Gert-
rude, wife of George Smith, a cooper of Baltimore ;
and George and Margaret, who both died in that
city.
Before leaving his native land Joseph G. Desch
was employed as a traveling agent with his father.
At the age of eighteen years he came to the United
States, landing in New York, whence he proceeded
to Baltimore, where he spent five years. He then
came to Columbia, Pa., where he followed the butch-
1016
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
er's trade nine years, and conducted a tavern thirty-
six years, during the last six years of which time he
also operated a brewery. From 1890 he lived re-
tired, enjoying the fruits of his former toil. Mr.
Desch was a member of the German Catholic
Church, and an ardent supporter of the Democratic
party. Throughout I^ancaster county he was widely
known and he had a host of warm friends.
In 1858 Mr. Desch was married in Columbia to
Miss Caroline Rider, and to them the following chil-
dren were born: Frederick, who died in 1879;
Elizabeth, wife of Edward Bittner, a cigar manufac-
turer of Columbia ; Charles, George and Mary, all
of whom died young; Carrie, wife of Henry Glot-
felder, who is clerking in Columbia; CeciHa, at
home ; Jennie, wife of John Payne, a stove molder of
Columbia ; Joseph A., who married Lillie Granford,
and conducts the "Operatic Exchange Hotel," Co-
lumbia ; Avigust, who married Mabel Eshleman, and
is engaged in clerking ; and Stella and William, both
at home.
Mrs. Desch was born in Columbia Jan. 28, 1840,
the only child of Frederick and Elizabeth (Graff)
Rider, natives of Germany. The father, who was a
carpet weaver by trade, came to the New World
when a young man and located in. Columbia, where
he spent the remainder of his life, dying there in
Januar)"-, 1850, at the age of thirty years. He was a
Lutheran in religious belief, while his wife was a
member of the Catholic Church. When a child she
came to' this country with her parents, and contin-
ued her residence in Columbia throughout life. She
died in 1890, at the age of seventy-four years.
ARTHUR A. JOHNSON, who passed to his
reward Feb. 10, 1897, was born in Little Britain
township, March 20, 1830, a son of John and Mary
Johnson, of that township.
John Johnson was the father of the following
family : James ; Arthur A. ; Elizabeth ; Mary, wife
of Dr. John W. Zell (see sketch elsewhere in this
volume) , of Little Britain township ; Miss Phcebe,
of Fairmount ; John, deceased ; Franklin, deceased ;
and Sarah, deceased.
Arthur A. Johnson was one of the leading farm-
ers of the township, and a prominent citizen. In
politics he was a stanch Republican, and in religious
matters was a regular attendant of the Presbyterian
Church. At the time of his death he was in very
comfortable circumstances, leaving an estate con-
sisting of his fine farm of 175 acres, all well im-
proved and with excellent buildings. He was a kind
neighbor, an honorable citizen and a loving husband
and father. His untimelv death was mourned by all
who knew him, and his family have never recovered
from his loss.
On Jan. ti, 1867, Mr. Johnson was married to
Miss Margaret Hays, of Little Britain township, a
daughter of John and Margaret (Clendennin) Hays,
and two children were born of this union : Mary N.,
born May 28, 1873, died Feb. 14, 1884 ; and Leeta
H., born May 27, 1879, died June 25, 1898, she being
a student at Normal when she was taken ill; her
death was a severe blow to her already bereaved
mother, and she is remembered as a loving girl,
bright, attractive and gentle, a true Christian and a
general favorite.
Mrs. Johnson came of a family well known in
Lancaster county, and was one of nine children born
to her parents: Catherine, born June 10, 1815;
Mary, born Sept. 21, 1817; WilHam, born Jan. 2,
1820 ; Johrr, born Feb. 28, 1822 ; Wallace, born June
2, 1824 ; Jemima, born June 10, 1827 ; Charles, born
Jan. 16, 1830; James, born July 2"], 1832; and Mar-
garet, Mrs. Johnson. All are now deceased except
Mrs. Johnson and her brother Charles, of Little
Britain township. Bereft of her loved ones, Mrs.
Johnson now lives wholly for others.
«
AMOS G. FUNK, a progressive and successful
farmer residing on his homestead of sixty-five acres
one mile south of Millersville, was born April 25,
1838, on his father's farm in Manor township, and
farming has been his life occupation.
Martin M. Funk — a well-known name in Lan-
caster county — was born on the family homestead
near Central Manor, son of Henry Funk, a very
prominent citizen of Manor township. Martin M.
passed his entire life in agricultural pursuits, and
was verv successful. To his marriage with Mag-
dalina Greider were born seven children, as follows :
Elizabeth, deceased; Annie, widow of Michael
Brenneman; Mattie, immarried; Amos G., with
whose name this sketch opens ; Tobias G., a farmer
of Martic township; Martin G., of Landis Valley;
and Mary G., who married Christian H. Herr.
Amos G. Funk attended the public schools
in his youthful days, and proved an apt scholar.
He began his business life by farming on the
old homestead for one year, and then settled on
his present farm, which is one of the finest of its
dimensions in the vicinity of Millersville. About
1892 he succeeded to the original Funk homestead,
which contains 102 acres, on which two of his sons
at present have their residence. In connection with
farming Amos G. Funk has for the past twenty-
three years conducted a dairy, supplying Millers-
ville with milk, cream, butter, etc., and together with
his cattle and fields has made for himself a comforta-
ble competency.
In 1867 Amos G. Funk married Miss Elizabeth
Herr, daughter of Christian and Elizabeth (Shenk)
Herr, and five children have graced their union, viz :
Mattie H., the eldest, died in infancy. Christian,
married Miss Mary Herr, and has a family of three
children, Roy, Christian and Amos; he resides on
the old homestead. Martin, also residing on the
home farm, is married to Susan Herr, who has borne
him one child, Elizabeth. Elizabeth H., married
Willis Hershey, of Lancaster township, and they
have one child, Ruth Elizabeth. A. Herr, the young-
est, lives at home.
AMOS G. FUNK
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1017
The Funk family are members of the Mennonite
Church, of which they are among the strongest sup-
porters financially, and the teachings of which they
strictly follow, thus winning' the heartfelt esteem of
all who know them.
JOHN B. BAIR, a general farmer and one of
the notable citizens of Leacock township, where he
has been supervisor and school director, was born
Jan. 24, 1848, on the farm where he is yet living,
son of Joel and Leah (Bushong) Bair.
Joel Bair was born in Upper Leacock township,
•and was a farmer all his days. He died July 4, 1893,
at the advanced age of eighty. His wife passed to
Tier reward Nov. 18, 1884. She was born Nov. 12,
1818, in East Lampeter township. Mr. Bair moved
to Earl township, where he passed the remainder of
his life. Both himself and wife were members of
the Reformed Church, and they were buried in
Rolands cemetery, in Earl township. To them were
born: d) Evanah married Diller Rank, a farmer
in Chester county. (2) Israel is a clerk in New Hol-
land, Pa. (3) John B. is mentioned below. (4)
George W. is a farmer of Earl township. (5) Leah
A. married Elam E. Kling, a farmer of Earl town-
ship. (6) Jason D. is a merchant in Leacock town-
ship. (7) Amos O. died young.
The paternal grandparents of John B. Bair were
Joel and Mary (Wolf) Bair. His maternal grand-
parents were John and Annie (Meyers) Bushong, of
East Lampeter township. John Bushong was born
in 1797, was a farmer, and died in 1868, and both he
and his wife were buried in Heller's Church ceme-
tery. The maternal great-grandparents of Mr. Bair,
John and Anna E. Bushong, were also of Lancaster,
county.
John B. Bair was married Nov. 11, 1872, in New
Holland, Pa., by Rev. D. W. Gerhard, to Caroline
C, daughter of John and Caroline (Eckert) Bair.
She was born in Upper Leacock township April 23,
1852. To this union have come: Bertha Eckert,
Anna Magdelina and Joel A., all at home.
John Bair, the father of Mrs. Caroline C. Bair,
was a farmer. He died in December, 1893, at the
age of seventy-seven years, following his wife, who
passed to her reward in February, 1885, at the age
of sixty-six vears. They were members of the Re-
formed Church. To them were born the following
children : Levi E., who is living retired in Lan-
caster; Mary, who married Henry Bair, of Earl
township, and is the mother of six children ; Elmira,
widow of John Royer, of Leacock township ; John T.,
a resident of Earl township ; Caroline C., wife of
John B. Bair ; Anna M., widow of David Kling, of
Lancaster ; George L., who died at the age of seven-
teen years ; and Rufus G, in the West. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. John B. Bair were George and
Magdalina (Shafer) Bair; her maternal' grand-
parents were I-evi and Mary (Sides) Eckert.
John B. Bair remained at home with his parents
until his marriage, when he engaged in farming on
his own account. In the spring of 1874 they settled
on the farm where they are found to-day,- and where
very satisfactory success has crowned their efforts.
For the past thirteen years Mr. Bair has been school
director, and for three years he has filled the posi-
tion of supervisor. Both he and his wife belong to
the Lutheran Church. In politics he is a Republi-
can, and he is in every way a prominent and success-
ful citizen, one whose career is well worthy of com-
mendation, and who is highly esteemed by the com-
munity in which his useful life is passing.
HARRY H. RUHL, whose home is one and
one-half miles north of New Holland, Lancaster
county, is a son of Samuel and Susan (Hackman)
Ruhl. Llis grandfather came from Germany, and
made his home in Penn township, where he became
engaged in farming. His thrift, industry and wise
management made him wealth)"-, and although he was
the father of fourteen children, he was able to give
each one a farm. He lived to he advanced in years,
and died much respected by all who knew him.
Samuel Ruhl, noted above as the father of Harry
H., was born and reared in Penn township, where
he resided some twelve or thirteen years. From
Penn township Mr. Ruhl moved into Manheim
township, and spent his last days at Rothsville,
where he bought a farm, and died at the age of sev-
enty-six. All his life an industrious and hard-
working farmer, his character was beyond reproach,
and his career in every way honorable. Susan
Hackman, his wife, was a daughter of Jacob Hack-
man, of Indiana, and she died in 1868, at the age
of forty-five }'ears. They had a family of seven
children : Susanna, who married Isaac Zwally, and
is now deceased ; Elizabeth, the wife of David Ben-
der, of Rothsville ; Harry H. ; Mary Ann, who mar-
ried Henry Leib, and is a resident of Rothsville ;
Samuel and Fianna, both dead ; and Alice, the wife
of Martin Miller, of Akron. The parents of these
children were both honored and devoted members of
the'United Brethren Church.
Harry H. Ruhl was born July 26, 1848, on the
family homestead, and was educated in the common
schools. When he was twenty-three years of age he
was married, and locating near Oregon, for some
fourteen years was engaged in farming. At the end
of that period he bought a neat little farm of six-
teen acres, where he has made his home to the pres-
ent time, and where he carries on a general farming,
so far as the limits of his place make it possible.
His manly character, industrious habits and personal
integrity, combined with his genial spirit, have won
and hold for him a large number of devoted friends.
Mr. Ruhl was married, July 2, 1870, to Miss C.
Laura Bushong, a daughter of Daniel and Sarah
(Hoffman) Bushong, farming people of East Lam-
peter township, the former also engaging in teach-
ing, but both are now deceased. Daniel Bushong
and wife were associated with the old and historic
families of Lancaster county ; he died in 1856, when
1018
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
only twenty-eight years of age, while the wife and
mother lived until 1895, when she passed to her rest
at the age of seventy-three. To them were born only
two children: C. Laura; and Mary, who married
Samuel Fasnacht, of Weaverland, Lancaster county.
Mrs. Ruhl was born Sept. 23, 1853, and has be-
come the mother of two children : Clara, who is
now the wife of Henry McCarty, of Earl township ;
and Oliver, who married Caroline Graybill, who is
working in Lancaster, where he has his home. Mr.
and Mrs. Ruhl are members of the Evangelical
Church, and are highly respected by all who know
teem.
SAMUEL WITMER was before his death a
retired farmer of Quarry ville, Lancaster county.
He was born on his father's farm, near Quarryville,
in 1839, son of David and Elizabeth Witmer, an old
family of the county, and of German stock. David
Witmer lived on his farm in Bart township for
many years, but for a short time before his death
had made his home in Quarryville. They had a
large family of whom three are still living: John,
Lavenia and Herr.
Samuel Witmer was educated in Lancaster coun-
ty, while residing on his parents' farm, and part of
the time clerked in a store owned by his father. In
July, 1851, he married Miss Margaret M. Lyle, who
was born and raised in Quarryville. She is the es-
timable daughter of Thomas and Frances (Barr)
Lyle, prominent in Lancaster county life. Mrs.
Witmer was born in April, 1840, and grew to
womanhood in the town of Quarryville, at the old
Ark house in the West End of the borough. Thomas
Lyle, her father, was born in Bart township, Lan-
caster county, and was a member of a very old fam-
ily; he married Frances Barr, daughter of Jacob
Barr, of old Puritan stock, and a participator in the
Revolutionary war. The family owned over 2,000
acres of ground in and around Quarryville, and be-
came very wealthy land-owners in their day.
Thomas Lyle and wife, soon after their marria'ge,
moved to Williamsport, L3'Coming Co., Pa., to en-
gage in lumbering, and he was killed soon after
while employed at his business. He left a widow and
two daughters: Margaret, wife of our subject;
and Miss Annie, a scholarlv lady, who has been a
teacher in the Millersville Normal school for over
thirty years.
After Mr. and Mrs. Witmer's marriage they lo-
cated on the old Witmer farm, adjoining Quarry-
ville borough, and lived there for two years, after
which he bought a farm in Colerain township. He
resided there until 1898, when he purchased real
estate in Quarryville borough, erected a fine house
with all modern improvements, and moved into it
a short time before his death, which occurred in July,
1900. He was thrown from his buggy and received
internal injuries from which he died leaving a widow
and eight children, as follows : Charles, the eldest,
born in Lancaster county, in January, 1862, mar-
ried Emma Esbenshade, of Colerain township, and
at present lives near his father's old homestead on
his own farm ; he had two sons : Arthur and Edgar.
William H., born in May, 1863, married Matilda
Brewer, of Philadelphia, where they reside, he be-
ing manager of a printing ofHce. Edwin Barr, born
in Colerain township in February, 1865, married
Miss Lottie Brewer, of Philadelphia, and they reside
in Williamstown, N. J. ; he was educated in the Mil-
lersville State Normal School and is now engaged
as a book-keeper in a large New Jersey glass fac-
tory ; he has one son. Brewer Witmer. Samuel H.,
born July 6, 1867, was educated in the public schools
and married Miss Cora Diem, of Lancaster county ;
they reside in Morristown, Pa., where he is engaged
in business; they have one daughter. May Pearl.
Laura, born in September,, 1869, was educated in
the home schools, and in 1898 was married to U.
S. Grant Kennedy, of Lancaster county; they set-
tled on his father's farm where he died eleven months
after marriage, leaving no children ; she afterward
married Ira B. Buckwalter, of Christiana. George,
born in 1872, died in childhood. John L., born April
4, 1873, married Miss Maud Phillips, of Lancaster
county ; they reside on his farm in East Drumore
township. Ira, born in 1878, died in childhood.
In politics Mr. Witmer was always a stanch Re-
publican. He and his wife were members of the
Methodist Church, the faith of the family. Mr. Wit-
mer was a kind-hearted man and of genial disposi-
tion, as he always looked on the bright side of life.
He was modest and unassuming in manner ; and
was interested in everything that tended to advance
the interests of farming, he himself putting into
practice the best methods. His fine farm in Cole-
rain is a monument to his in^telligence and industry.
Mrs. Witmer is a lady of culture and refinement,
and loved by all her friends and neighbors. This
lady was a teacher in her younger days, and a pro-
ficient one.
LEWIS B. GREGG, of Drumore township,
one of the leading farmers of the community in
which he makes his home, was born in York county,
Pa., Sept. 26, 1849, a son of the late Evan and
Alice (Brown) Gregg, who were natives of Lan-
caster county.
Evan Gregg was born Jan. 6, 1823, a son of
Abraham and Rebecca (Lake) Gregg, also of Lan-
caster county, and died Nov. 8, 1882. On April 7,
1848, he married Alice Anna Brown, who was borii
July 5, 1B28, and died Feb. 11, 1882. Mrs. Gregg
was a daughter of Nathan and Rachel (Reynolds)
Brown, of Scotch-Irish descent, who were members
of the Society of Friends. Six children were born
to Evan Gregg and his wife : Lewis B. ; Emma L.,
born Sept. 25, 1850, now the wife of Rankins Ham-
bleton, of Drumore; Annie M., born Nov. 18, 1852
now the wife of Alexander Ewing, of Chester coun-
ty ; Elizabeth R., born Oct. 6, 1858, now the wife of
Walker Drennen, of Fulton township; Mercy B
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1019
wife of J. Allen Boyd ; and Isabell C, born Nov. 15,
1864, who died'youngf.
On Jan. 25, 1872, Lewis B. Gregg married Mar-
garet White, of Lancaster county, who was born
Nov. 13, 1832, and died Feb. 20, 1885. Two children
came to this marriage : Russell, born June 22, 1874,
resides on the home farm ; Walter Lewis, born Feb.
17, 1876, married Ella Adams, of Fulton township,
and is also engaged in farming on the homestead.
Mrs. Gregg was one of a family of seven children :
Margaret, Mrs. Gregg; William, born May 21, 1834,
deceased ; Catherine, born in 1836, wife of George
Evans, of Drumore township ; Alice, born in 1838,
wife of James Johnson, of Colerain township ; John
H., born in 1841, who died young; George Russell,
born in 1844, residing near Coatesville, Pa. ; and
Anna E., born June 6, 1850, residing on the home
place with her brother-in-law, Lewis B. Gregg, for
whom she has kept house since the death of his wife.
Samuel White, father of Mrs. Gregg, was born in
1800, married Nov. i, 1831, and died in 1878. His
wife was born in 1806, and died in 1890.
Until he was four years of age Lewis B. Gregg
resided in the village of Bryansville, York Co., Pa.,
where he was born, and where his father engaged
in a mercantile business. The family then removed
to Drumore township, one-half mile west of Fairfield,
and there he received his education in the common
schools. Having been reared upon a farm, he chose
that calling for his life occupation, and now owns a
fine farm of 147 acres, on which is a fine mansion
house and good tenement building. All of the land
is well cultivated.
In politics Mr. Gregg is a stanch Republican,
and he is a Quaker in religious belief. Mrs. Mar-
garet (White) Gregg was a Presbyterian. A good
citizen, a kind neighbor, upright in all his dealings,
Mr. Gregg is universally respected throughout the
community, and is one of the representative men of
his township.
SAINIUEL WELSH TAYLOR, in early life a
painter but later a groceryman in Lancaster, was
an industrious and thrifty citizen, who grew to old
age in the midst of friends and unbounded esteem.
His youth was spent in York, Pa., where he was
born in 1S14, and where he learned the painter's
trade as a means of future livelihood. His parents,
Joseph and Sarah Taylor, were born in York county,
where the father worked at his trade of watchmak-
ing during the whole of his active life. After retir-
ing from business he lived for five years with his
son, Samuel, but died at the home of his daughter, in
Berryville, Clarke Co., Va. He was a member of the
Society of Friends. His children were: Samuel
W. ; Thomas, deceased ; Mary, who is the wife of
Prof. Frank T. Barrington, a music teacher at Balti-
more ; Maggie, widow of Dr. Picking, of York, Pa. ;
Sarah, deceased; Kate, widow of James Stewart,
of Berrvville, Clarke county, Va. ; and Anna, wife of
Charles Dinkle, a farmer near Berryville, Virginia.
As a young man Samuel Welsh Taylor carried
on an extensive painting business in Lancaster, but
in 1867 embarked in a grocery business, successfully
conducting same until three years before his death,
Dec. 1, 1890. When his health began to fail his wife
imdertook to manage the grocery, and the business,
so long tjie pride of her husband, is still carried on
by this admirable business woman. Mrs. Taylor
was formerly Mary L. Carpenter, born in Lancaster
in 1827, a daughter of John and Ellen (Martin)
Carpenter. Mr. Taylor was prominent in many lines
of activity in Lancaster, and his sane opinions upon
public questions received the attention due their
practicability and general worth. He was a stanch
Republican and filled several offices of a local na-
ture, including that of assessor of the Northwest
ward. He was a member of the Conestoga Council
No 8, the American Mechanics, and Melamora
Tribe No. 2, I. O. R. M. As the founder of the
Gotwald Mission on West James street, erected to^
the memory of a beloved pastor. Rev. Gotwald, of St.
John's Lutheran Church, who died in 1869, he was
assistant superintendent of the Sunday-school from
the time of its starting until failing health compelled
his resignation. He was conscientious, painstaking,
humane and gracious, and during his life in Lan-
caster made many friends and few enemies.
JOHN D. PENNY, one of the leading and well-
known citizens of Drumore township, resides on his
well appointed and improved farm, which is located'
one mile west of Buck. He was born June 14, 1846,
a son of James C. and Mary Maria (Wentz) Penny.
The Penny family is an old and honored one in
this part of the State of Pennsylvania, and traces its
ancestry back to the days of William Penny, who
came hither from Ireland, and with his two brothers
settled in what was then a wilderness in Lancaster
county.
Joseph Penny, the son of Hugh Penny, one of the
emigrants was the grandfather of John D. Penny,,
of this sketch, and became a very large landowner.
He reared these children : Hugh ; James C. ; Sarah-
Ann, who married John Wentz; Margaret, who
married William Wentz ; Mary J., who married
Thomas Wentz; and Harriet, who married Steele
Morrison, and is deceased.
James C. Penny, son of Joseph, was born Nov. 2,
1819, and he died May 7, 1885. His wife, Mary
Maria Wentz, who was born Sept. 17, 1823, still sur-
vives, residing in comfort with her only son, John
D. James C. Penny was one of the leading men of
his time, and a very successful farmer. He was a
stanch Democrat in his political faith, while his re-
ligious belief was that of the Presbyterians, and he
was long connected with the Chestnut Level Church.
John D. Penny was reared on the farm, and ac-
quired his education in the common schools of his
neighborhood and Chestnut Level Academy. His
farm consists of one hundred and twenty acres of
fine land, under a high state of cultivation, and is
1020
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
improved with comfortable and commodious dwell-
ing, barns, granaries, etc. ; and he is known as one
•of the best agriculturists of this locality.
On Nov. i6, 187 1, Mr. Penny was married to
Miss Martha McPherson, of Drumore township, a
•daughter of James A. (who was the son of James)
and Lydia S. (who was the daughter, of Dr.
James Ankrim) McPherson, these parents being of
Scotch-Irish ancestry. She was born May 21, 1850,
and was one of a family of eight children, these be-
ing : William, who married Rebecca Robinson ;
Elizabeth, wife of John J. Penny; Lydia J., wife of
Israel Penrose ; Mary E., deceased, who married
John J. Long ; Lucinda, wife of John Wentz ; Rachel,
who died single; Martha M., wife of our subject;
and James F., who married Alice Morrison, all of
these having passed away, except Mrs. Penny.
To Mr. and Mrs. Penny have been born four
•daughters : Irena L., at home ; Mary M., a graduate
•of the Millersville State Normal school, in the class
of 1896, a highly cultured young lady teacher in the
Lancaster schools ; Lizzie Grace and Stella Calhoun.
Mr. Penny and his family belong to the Chestnut
J^evel Presbyterian Church of Drumore township,
in which he has been an elder for sixteen years, is
•one of the trustees, clerk of the sessions, and the
capable and efficient Sunday-school superintendent.
With his family Mr. Penny has ever been active in
"work for his Church, where all are highl)^ esteemed.
His political opinions are those of Jeffersonian
Democracy. Both Mr. and Mrs. Penny are repre-
sentatives of old settled families of southern Lan-
•caster county. They are good neighbors and en-
joy the esteem of all. Mr. Penny has always been
devoted to the welfare of his family as well as to that
■of his church and community.
SAMUEL K. MILLER, of Columbia, one of the
popular conductors in the employ of the Pennsyl-
vania Railway Company, was born in Manor town-
ship, Lancaster county, Sept. 29, 185 1, son of Amos
and Anna (Kaufman) Miller, natives of Lancaster
and Manor townships, respectively.
Amos Miller was born in 1828, and was early
initiated in the principles and practices of millwright-
ing and milling. Lie was a miller for forty years,
although for a time he conducted a hotel in Lan-
caster. He now resides in Marietta, but his wife
passed away in August, 1809, ^^ the age of sixty-
nine years, in the faith of the Methochst Episcopal
Church. To Amos and Anna Miller were born six
children, in the following order : Samuel K. ; Amos
K., a puddler in Lancaster ; Caroline, wife of Monroe
Good, a butcher in Allentown ; John, a molder in
Marietta ; Mary, married to Samuel Klein, also of
Marietta, and Westley, a puddler in Columbia.
Samuel K. Miller was reared on a farm until
sixteen years of age, and then worked in a gristmill.
For one year he was employed in a rolling-mill, and
then for five and a half years was a brakeman for
the Pennsylvania Railway Company. He was then
advanced to the position of flagman, and also served
as extra 'conductor, seven years, after which he was
given a permanent position as conductor, which he
has most satisfactorily filled for the past fourteen
years.
On May 22, 1871, Mr. Miller was united in mar-
riage, at Lancaster, with Emaline Dohner, who was
born in White Oak, Lancaster county, Sept. 22,
1854, a daughter of Abraham and Eliza (Dean)
Dohner, and to this union have been born three chil-
dren, viz. : Irwin D., Albert, and Emma, all still
under the parental roof. In politics Mr. Miller is a
Republican, and fraternally he is a member of the
R. Co. Relief.
FREDERICK A. RICKER. Prominently iden-
tified with the business of insurance and real estate
in Mt. loy is Frederick A. Ricker, who since 1875
has been an efficient justice of the peace in that town
and a leading citizen in every movement of reform
and progress.
' Mr. Ricker was born Feb. 19, 1832, in Dauphin
county. Pa., six miles east of Harrisburg, in the
Lebanon valley, a son of Frederick and Catherine
(Backenstoe) Ricker, both of whom were natives
of Dauphin county, where the former was a prom-
inent farmer. The death of the father occurred in
1878, at the age of eighty-three, the mother surviv-
ing until she was eighty-seven, in 1885. Both were
consistent members of the Lutheran Church, good
and worthy people, who left the world better than
they found it. Mr. and Mrs. Ricker had ten chil-
dren : Levi, David and Alfred, deceased ; Eliza-
beth, who is the widow of John Myers, of Mt. Joy ;
Catherine, widow of Michael Bann, of Harrisburg;
Frederick A.; Louisa and Sarah, deceased; Mary,
widow of Rev. Israel Carpenter, of Reading, Pa. ;
and George, who resides on the old farm in Dauphin
county.
The family is of German origin. The paternal'
grandparents were John and Magdelina Ricker, of
Dauphin county, the former of whom was a soldier
under Gen. Washington in the Revolutionary war.
The maternal grandparents were George and Eliza-
beth (Hoober) Backenstoe, natives of Dauphin
county, where the former conducted a tannery.
Frederick A. Ricker was reared on a farm, and
his educational advantages were those of the dis-
trict school. Until the age of twenty-six he con-
tinued at agricultural pursuits. He then came to
Mt. Joy and entered the hardware business, changing
his line to lumber in 1868, and after some years of
prosperity he opened up an insurance and real-estate
business, which he has managed ever since. A stanch
Republican in politics, he has been active in the ranks
of his party, and in 1875 he was appointed justice of
the peace, and has been re-elected every succeeding'
term. For five years Mr. Ricker was a valued mem-
ber of the council, and he served as school director
for six. years.
Mr. Ricker was married in January, 1859, in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1021
Philadelphia, to Mary A. Hollinger, and to this
union. have been born: Howard H., a traveling
salesman, who married Jennie Carlson, and resides
in Minneapolis, Minn.; Seward A., a printer by
trade, residing at home; William T., a shoe sales-
man, at Wilkesbarre; Jacob and Charles, who died
young; and Clara H., at home. Mrs. Ricker was
born in Mt. Joy township in 1834, a daughter of
Jacob and Barbara (Zortman) Hollinger, of Eliza-
beth township, this county. The former died at the
old home where they lived, in Mt. Joy township, at
the age of siKty-five, his widow surviving until 1885,
when she had reached the age of eighty-one, and
dying at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth
Patterson ; she was buried in the beautiful Mt. Joy
cemetery. Both parents were consistent members
of the Lutheran Church. The children of Mr. and
Mrs. Hollinger were as follows : Elizabeth, widow
of Alexander Patterson, of Mt. Joy ; Jacob, a farmer
near Paris, 111. : Eli, who died on the old farm, in
;i88o; and Mary A. The paternal grandparents of
Mrs. Ricker were Adam and Barbara Hollinger,
the former of whom was a farmer of Lancaster coun-
ty. Adam was a son of Jacob Hollinger, who came
to this county in 1736, and took part in the Revolu-
tionary war. The maternal grandparents, Alexander
and Catherine Zortman, came to this county from
Germany.
Mr. Ricker is a leading member of the Presby-
terian Church, and gives liberally to advance all
benevolent enterprises. His business relations have
given him high standing in the community as one
of the truly representative men of Mt. Joy.
ABRAHAM P. SNADER. The manufacture
of fine cigars is one of the flourishing industries of
Ephrata, and one of the most successful men en-
gaged in that line is' Abraham P. Snader, who was
born Jan. 31, 1861, the eldest son of Jonathan and
Catherine (Powell) Snader, residents of West Earl
township.
Jonathan Snader was a son of John Snader, one
of the early settlers of Lancaster county, and was
born in 1826. He died in March, 1898. Through-
out a long and useful life he was a prominent and
highly respected aericulturist, leading an exemplary
life, and he was universally lamented in his neigh-
borhood at the time of his decease. In 1859 he mar-
ried Catherine Powell, and they reared a family of
six children : Abraham P. ; David, a resident of
Akron, Pa. ; Mary, who married John Stephan, of
Ephrata; Susan, who married David Fasnacht, of
Hinkletown; Hettie, who married Noah Weidman,
of Akron ; and John, also a resident of Akron.
After finishing his course in the common schools
of his localitv Abraham P. Snader began to learn the
cigarmaker's' trade, and, although he began with
limited means, he was by 1893 prepared to enter the
manufacturing business, locating in Ephrata. At
present he is the owner of a large factory, and has
become one of the most important factors in the in-
dustrial life of the borough, giving employment to
some sixty hands and turning out as many as 3,000,-
000 cigars yearly. This has not been accomplished
without hard and continuous work, but Mr. Snader
is one of the most progressive and energetic of men,
and deserves the success which has crowned his ef-
forts.
On Sept. 2, 1884, Mr. Snader was united in mar^
riage to Miss Sarah Killhefner, of Ephrata, daugh-
ter of Jacob and Catherine (Garber) Killhefner, and
four children have come into this household : Katie,
born July 23, 1886 ; Mabel, Nov. 27, 1889 ; Eugene,
Feb. ID, 189s ; and Caleb, July 24, 1897.
Politically Mr. Snader is a stanch Republican
and very active in the ranks of his party. His stand-
ing in the community is of the best, and he is reck-
oned among the solid men of business, owning his.
large factory and business. He is erecting an ele-
gant mansion in a choice section of the borough. As
a citizen he has taken a deep interest in all matters
which his judgment has caused him to consider of
benefit to his section, doing his part to further every
worthy enterprise. Religiously he is connected with
no organization, but believes in a moral life and in
acting up to the Golden Rule. Socially he is very
popular, his pleasant personality and genial manners
making him welcome in every circle.
AMOS F. BRUCE, one of the successful and
representative farmers of Providence township, was
born Nov. 16, 1856, in that township, son of Amos
and Mary (Rhoades) Bruce, both also of Providence
township.
Amos Bruce, the father of Amos F., was born-
Dec. 25, 1822, and died Feb. 12, 1899, a consistent
member of the Mennonite Church. He followed
farming all his life. In politics he voted with the
Republican party. His father was Robert Bruce, of
Lancaster county. Eight children were born to
Amos Bruce and his wife, five of whom grew to
maturity, namely : Thomas M., of Mt. Nebo, Pa. ;
Harriet S., wife of Amos Hostetter, of Strasburg
township ; Amos F. ; Fannie L., wife of D. K. Sie-
freid, of Manor township ; and B. M., a coach manu-
facturer of Marticville.
Amos F. Bruce was reared on the farm, receiv-
ing his education in the public schools, and has fol-
lowed agricultural life almost exclusively. He has
been intelligently interested in the progress of his
community, and by word and example has been a
worthy and useful citizen. In politics he is a Re-
publican. With his family he attends the M. E.
Church, all being members and liberal contributors
to the support of that religious body.
On Oct. 31, 1878, Mr. Bruce married Miss Laura
Groff, of Martic township, born Jan. 13, i860,
daughter of F. B. and Maria (Brecknell) Groff, who
came to America from England, and of whom the
former is now deceased. Three children were' born
to Mr. and Mrs. Bruce, namely : Olivia L., who is
the wife of Alfred' Thomas, of Pequea township;
1022
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Martha C, who after being educated at the Millers-
ville Normal School, became an educator in Provi-
dence township ; and Earl V., who was a student in
the Drexel Institute of Art, in Philadelphia, and a
young man of great promise, and who died Aug. 29,
1902.
The Bruce family is a very old one in America
and has had many distinguished members. Its rep-
resentatives in Providence township, Lancaster
county, worthily represent it in integrity of life and
usefulness to their day and generation.
HUGH DONLEY, who has reached the age of
seventy-three years, is one of the substantial and re-
spected residents of Columbia. His life has been one
of hard work, but his tireless industry and unques-
tionable integrity have at once won for him a com-
petence and commanded the esteem of all who know
him.
Mr. Donley was born at Agees Furnace, now
Robesonia, Berks county, Oct. 31, 1829, and was the
eldest of eleven children born to James and Cath-
erine (Wike) Donley. The others were Ann, Eliza-
beth, George, Fanny, Benjamin, Abraham, Daniel
R., Louisa, Thomas J. and James. Ann married
John Fox, who lost his life during the Civil war,
and afterward became the wife of George Martin;
she lives in Lebanon. Elizabeth is the widow of
George Wolf, of Steelton, and lives with her son at
Allentown. George died in 1892. Fanny, whose
home is in Lebanon, has been twice married, her first
husband being James Garrett, and her second James
Peters. Benjamin, who is a Union veteran, resides
at the Soldiers' Home at Hampton Roads, Va. Abra-
ham died in childhood. Daniel R. is a puddler in an
iron mill at Lebanon; he served in the war of the
Rebellion, in the 93d P. V. I., and was present at
Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Louisa is Mrs.
William Brooks, of Sheridan, Pa., and Thomas J.
lives at Sparrows Point, Md. James died in child-
hood.
James Donley, the father of Hugh, was born Jan.
12, 1804, at Lebanon, and married Catherine Wike,
of Berks county. He died April 7, 1885, at the age
of eighty-one years, and his wife passed away in
February, 1868, after a useful and honored life of
threescore. Mr. Donley was a teamster until 1845,
and afterward a miner until within five years of his
death, when he gave up work to spend his declining
years in quiet retirement. He was a Methodist by
religious profession, while his wife was a member
of the Lutheran communion. His father, Hugh
Donley, was a teamster, and married Rachel Ram-
sey. The parents of Mrs. James Donley were Fred-
erick and Elizabeth (Rager) Wike; grandfather
Wike served in the war of 1812 at Baltimore.
Hugh Donley has been twice married. His first
wife, whom he wedded in October, 1853, was Erne-
line Auchenbach, of Lebanon. Her father, Joseph
Auchenbach, who was born in 1808, died in July,
1901, in his ninety-third year ; her mother's maiden
name was Nancy Bleecker. The first wife of Mr.
Donley bore him six children : James, Joseph, Si-
mon, Wesley C. B., Anna E. and George. James is
a gardener; he married Mary Karney, and resides
in Chester county. Joseph married Caroline Gilder-
sleeve; he was in the employ of the Pennsylvania
Railway Company, and lost his life in an accident
at Swa'rr's Siding, his head being severed from his
body. Simon is a car inspector at Columbia ; he mar-
ried Anna Stinson. Wesley married Barbara
Shaffer ; he is a stove m.older at Columbia. George
is a car inspector at Pottsville; his wife is Bessie
Long. The mother of these died in March, 1863,
aged twenty-nine; and in May, 1864, Mr. Donley
was united to Mrs. Angeline (Gerhardt) Folmer,
widow of John Folmer, a coachmaker, who died in
1861, in his twenty-sixth year. He was the only son
of John Folmer, Sr., who was also a coachmaker.
Mrs. Donley was the third in the family of five chil-
dren born to Henry H. Gerhardt, whose home was
in Lebanon county, and who was a saddler by trade.
He died in Lebanon in 1847, before he had reached
his thirty-sixth 3'ear. Mr. Gerhardt married Sabina
Carl, who during the latter years of her life made
her home with Mr. Donley, dying in Columbia in
1882, in her sixty-sixth year. Both were members
of the Reformed Church. Mrs. Donley's eldest
brother, Cornelius C, is a Union veteran, and lives
in Lebanon. Another brother, John, also served in
the Federal army, and is deceased. Milton, the third
brother, also wore the Union uniform through the
Civil war ; he has his home in Lebanon. Sarah, the
youngest of the family, married Isaac Docker ; both
she and her husband have died.
Mrs. Donley's first marriage was blessed with
three children. The eldest, Philip FT. Folmer, was
reared by his stepfather ; he married Bridget Welsh,
and is yardmaster in the employ of the Pennsyl-
vania Railway Co. at Colum.bia. Frank R., the sec-
ond son, is a butcher, conducting a profitable busi-
ness at Columbia; he married Alice Roop. John,
the youngest, died in childhood.
By his second marriage Mr. Donley has two chil-
dren: The eldest, Mary E., married Gordon W.
Blakesly, a grocer of Lansing Mich. ; the younger,
Alex C, died in childhood.
In the spring of 1833 Mr. Donley's father moved
to what is now known as the old Colebrook Charcoal
Furnace, and there Hugh commenced to attend
school. In the spring of 1837 they moved to Corn-
wall, where he passed the rest of his boyhood. When
thirteen he was hired out to David Srnith, a farmer,
for nine months, and went to school three months
during the winter. In the spring of 1844 he hired
to Joseph Witmer for nine months, and again went
to school three months in the winter. In the spring
of 1845 he hired to George Bowman for nine months,
and during that year also had three months' winter
schooling. The following spring he went to work
on the famous Cornwall ore banks, continuing at
that until 1849, when he helped to build Anthracite
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1023
Furnace No. i. In the spring of 1850 he went to
South Annville township, Lebanon county, where
he served a two-years apprenticeship to the black-
smith's trade with Mathew Slyrd. In 1852 he en-
tered the employ of John Enck, with whom he
worked two years, in the spring of 1854 moving to
Cornwall, where he resided until the spring of 1869.
He followed his trade for five years altogether, when
he began work in an anthracite furnace. Beginning
as cinder snapper, he worked as such for nine months,
and gradually rose, through the gradations of filler
and helper, at each of which positions he worked one
year, to be the keeper of a furnace, being engaged
thus twelve years. In 1869, coming to Columbia, he
was made a night boss. He worked in the Shawnee
(for three years and seven months) and in the St.
Charles furnaces, filling the position of boss founder
at the last named establishment. After twenty years
of this laborious work the furnaces shut down, but
he was not a man to remain idle. Industry, sobriety
and sotmd judgment had enabled him to accumulate
a moderate competence. He embarked in business
as a grocer, but after five years disposed of his store
and retired to enjoy a well-earned rest. However,
he is at present serving as janitor of the Poplar street
school in Columbia. Notwithstanding the hard
work which has been his daily habit since boyhood,
he has found time to cultivate his mind, and is in
close touch with public opinion on the leading issues
of the day. He has been a stanch Republican since
the formation of the party, and in religious belief is
a Methodist. He is a member of the Artisans Mu-
tual Protective Association and of the I. O. O. F.
WEAVER MUSSELMAN, a well-known
farmer of Earl township, belongs to a family that
has lived in Lancaster county for several genera-
tions.
Henry Musselman was in his life time one of the
representative men of Lancaster county. His home
was in Earl township, where he was born in 1835,
a son of Samuel Musselman, and died in 1889. He
was reared and educated in his native township,
finishing his education in Whitehall Academy. One
term he was engaged in teaching, when he married
and settled on a farm of 102 acres, two miles south
of New Holland, where he lived until his death. His
entire attention was given to farming, and in it he
was greatly prosperous. The buildings on this
place were put on by his father. His widow is still
living in Lancaster at an advanced age. They had
a family of four children : Mary, the wife of B. F.
Buckwalter, a resident of Earl township ; Weaver ;
Harry, who is unmarried and has his home in Earl
township; and Ira, a resident of Lancaster, who is
also unmarried. The parents were members of the
Mennonite Church.
Weaver Musselman was born Oct. 24, 1861, and
was reared on the farm of his birth, where he still
lives. His education was acquired in the public
schools, and when he was twenty-four, he began for
himself, taking charge of the homestead, which now
contains ninety-three acres. His standing in the
community is good, and his industry and honesty
have won him many friends.
In December, 1884, Weaver Musselman was
married to Miss Anna Martha, a daughter of John
G. Kurtz, a resident of East Earl township. To
them have come five children: Anna, Alta, Mary,
Roy and Etta. Both Weaver Musselman and his
wife are worthy and consistent members of the Men-
nonite Church.
ALFRED WOOD, a farmer of Fulton town-
ship, Lancaster county, was born Dec. 3, 1845, son
of James and Mercy M. (Carter) Wood, of Little
Britain township.
James Wood, his father, was born July 17, 1821,
and died Aug. 9, 1894; the mother, who survives
him, and still resides in Little Britain township,
was born Nov. 29, 1822. James Wood was a son of
Jesse Wood, a native of Chester county. Pa., who
was born in 1773, and died in 1852. Jesse Wood
was first married to Rachel Carter, by whom he had
but one son. Day Wood, that lived to manhood. His
second marriage was to Sidney Yarnall, and they
had one son, James Wood, the father of Alfred.
The earlier members of the family were Whigs in
politics. They belonged to the Society of Friends.
James Wood was a farmer and prominent citi-
zen, was president of the Farmers National Bank of
Oxford for about a quarter of a century, served one
term as commissioner of Lancaster county, and also
held other im>portant trusts with credit. He married
Mercy M., daughter of Jeremiah and Susan
(Moore) Carter, of Lancaster county, on Feb. 26,
1845. This marriage was blessed with the follow-
ing named children: Alfred is mentioned below;
Susan, born Oct. 5, 1847, is the wife of Elwood H.
Townsend, of Little Britain township; Jesse, born
Feb. 26, 1849, is a resident of Little Britain town-
ship; Mary, born Sept. 12, 1850, died Dec. 22, 1878
(she was the wife of Davis E. Allen, of Chester
county) ; Lucretia, born March 2, 1852, is the wife
of John M. Smedley, of Chester county; Lewis, of
Little Britain township, was born Jan. 27, 1854;
Ida, born Dec. 24, 1855, died Oct. 19, 1890; James,
of Little Britain township, was born Sept. 17, i860.
Alfred Wood married Elmira King on Jan. 31,
1878. She is the daughter of Thomas P. and Phebe
M. King, of Fulton township. The marriage of
Alfred and Elmira Wood has been blessed with the
following children: Cora, born Feb. 27, 1879, is a
graduate of the Millersville State Normal School,
class of T901, and a teacher in the Fulton township
public schools ; Walter, born Oct. 25, 1880, is at
home, engaged in farming; Galen and Helen were
born Dec. 27, 1887; and Norman, born Jan. 24,
1 89 1, is the youngest of the family.
Elmira Wood, wife of Alfred, was one of a fam-
ily of four children, and was born Aug. 26, 1849.
Lauretta A. King, born Nov. 20, 1852, died Jan. 7,
1024
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1892, was the wife of Samuel J. Kirk. Luella King,
born Jan. 22, 1857, is the wife of Lewis Wood, of
Little Britain township, a brother of Alfred Wood.
The only brother of Elraira Wood, William P.
King, was born Sept. i, 1861, and resides in Fulton
township. Her father, Thomas P. King, was born
July 19, 1824, and died June 10, 1889 ; her mother,
Phebe M. King, was born Feb. 4, 1827, and died
Feb. 5, 1889. The family were members of the So-
ciety of Friends.
Alfred Wood is a prominent man in his district
and owns one of the finest farms in the township,
comprising 120 acres. For several years past, in
conjunction with his other duties, he has practiced
surveying and also land conveyancing, having a very
thorough knowledge of the same. He is also a di-
rector of the public schools of his township, actively
interested in the advancement of education. He is a
Republican in politics. He is an honest, square-
dealing man, well thought of in the community, and
a leading member of the Society of Friends. Taking
a great interest in his family, he is very fond of home
ties and society, at the same time being a leader in
all public movements tending to the prosperity and
advancement of his section.
JACOB M. SAUDER, who now conducts a
fine farm of sixty acres in East Donegal township,
has been a lifelong farmer of Lancaster county.
Farming was also the vocation of his father and
grandfather, both natives of Lancaster county. The
latter, Jacob Sauder lived and died in Manor town-
ship.
Jacob T. Sauder, father of Jacob M., was born
on his father's farm in Manor township, and culti-
vated that place successfully to the close of his life.
He married Anna Miller, a native of East Hemp-
field township, born in January, 1826, who survives
him, now making her home in Rohrerstown. Mr.
Sauder passed away in June, 1885, at the age of fifty-
seven years, and was buried in the Mennonite ceme-
tery at Millersville. He was a member of the Men-
nonite Church. To Jacob T. and Anna (Miller)
Sauder, were born children as follows: John, who
died in infancy; Jacob i\L, our subject proper;
Amanda, who died at the age of sixteen years;
Isaac, who died at the age of eight years ; Amos, who
is married and engaged in farming in East Hempfield
township; Michael; and Benjamin, who is employed
in a tobacco house in Rohrerstown.
Jacob M. Sauder was born Nov. 25, 1852, near
Safe Harbor, in Manor township, on the farm which
was also his father's birthplace. He obtained his
education in the common schools, and was trained
to agricultural pursuits from early boyhood. Until
his marriage our subject remained with his parents,
and he spent the ten years following on two other
'farms in Manor township, renting five years on each.
He then spent three years on a rented farm in East
Hempfield township, whence he removed to his pres-
ent home in East Donegal, which he owns, and
where he engages in general farming. The careful
training he received under his father's tuition has,,
backed by intelligent management, brought him suc-
cess in the conduct of his affairs, and he is in com-
fortable circumstances as a result of continued and
well directed industry. Mr. Sauder has not been
particularly active in public matters, although he
takes a public-spirited pride in the progress of his
community. His political support is given to the
Republican party.
In January, 1875, in Lancaster, was celebrated
the union of Jacob M. Sauder and Miss Fannie Wit-
mer, who was born in 1855 in Rapho township.
Five children have blessed this marriage, namely:
Clayton W., who is engaged in farming in Rapho
township, was married in November, 1900, to Miss
Lillic Myers; Aaron died young; Harry, May and
Minnie are at home.
Mrs. Sauder is a daughter of Peter F. and Eliza-
beth (Eshleman) Witmer, both natives and resi-
dents of Manor township, who moved to East Done-
gal in 1834. The father was a farmer, but lived re-
tired the last twenty- four years of his long life ; he
died in December, 1896, when within eight days of
being eighty-eight years old. His remains were in-
terred in Graybill's Mennonite cemetery. Mrs.
Witmer is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Eliza-
beth Nissley, in Landisville, Pa. She was borr*
April 9, 181 1, and is a member of the Mennonite
church. Born to this union were Catherine (de-
ceased) ; Jacob E., a farmer of East Donegal town-
ship ; Peter, a farmer in Rapho township ; Elizabeth,,
who is living in Landisville, the widow of Joseph
.Nissley : Jonas, a hotel proprietor in Marietta, Pa. ;
Anna, married to Jesse Myers, of Carroll county,.
Md. ; Henry, a farmer in East Donegal township ;
and Fannie, who married Jacob M. Sauder.
SAMUEL DORSEY (deceased) was during his
life time a prominent and well-known farmer of
Fulton township, this county. He was born in Cecit
county, Md., Sept. 28, 1828, and died in Fulton
township, Lancaster Co., Pa., March 23, 1896. He
was a son of Nathaniel and Phoebe (Enning) Dor-
sey, natives of Maryland,- who were the parents of
four children: William A. is a retired farmer of
Cecil count)^ Md. ; Oliver is deceased; Samuel is
deceased ; John is a retired farmer of Drumore town-
ship, Lancaster county. The Dorsey family have
nearly all been Democrats in politics, and Presby-
terian in religious belief.
Samuel Dorsey married Miss Martha Reynolds,
a daughter of Elisha and Sophia (Weeks) Rey-
nolds, of Fulton township. The Reynolds family is
a pioneer family of Lancaster county, and its mem-
bers have always enjoyed high repute for sterling
worth. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Dor-
sey was blessed with a family of seven children:
Sophia, born March 26, 1852, died in childhood;
Melissa is also deceased ; Mary L., born Aug. 4^
1857, died March 23, 1882; Annie, born Oct. 23I
SAMUEL DORSET
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1025
i860, married Anson Ambler, and died July 13, 1899,
leaving three children— Clyde D., Norman E. and
Martha M. ; Elmer E., born Nov. 24, 1866, died in
childhood; Oliver J., born May 21, 1868, died in
childhood; and Harriet Eliza, born Oct. 30, 1872,
died young. „
Mrs. Martha Dorsey, widow of Samuel Dorsey,
was born in Lancaster county April 1 1, 1830. When
she and her husband were married they were poor,
but by toil and industry they owned, at the time of
Mr. Dorsey's death, two fine farms and a nice mill
property in Fulton township. Mr. Dorsey became a
substantial citizen, and was well liked by his neigh-
bors. For a time he followed the carpenter's trade,
and many of the. houses in the vicinity were put up
by him. Mrs. Dorsey is the only surviving member
of her family, her husband and children having gone
before. She is comfortably situated in McSparran
village, where she enjoys the universal esteem of
her neighbors.
ABRAHAM B. KAUFFMAN, a prosperous
general farmer and highly respected citizen of Cor-
delia, West Hempfield township, is a native of that
place, and was born Maj^ 3, 1840, a son of David
and Susan (Bishop) Kauffman, of Lancaster
county.
David Kauffman was a teamster, owning his own
team, and was chiefly employed in handling ore from
the banks or pits to the smelting furnace at Colum-
bia. To his marriage with Susan Bishop were born
four children, viz. : Abraham B. ; Harry B., who
died in 1885 ; jNIartha B., wife of John B. Eshleman,
of West Hempfield township ; and Catherine B., who
married Gideon H. Smith, a blacksmith at Silver
Spring. David Kauffman was called away in 1847,
aged forty-three years. His widow married Michael
Kauffman, a brother of David, and to this union
were born four children, viz. : David, a stonemason
in Cordelia; Jacob, deceased; John, a puddler in the
Columbia Rolling mill, but lives at Cordelia; and
Sarah, wife of Horace Brookhart, a retired mer-
chant at Columbia. Mrs. Susan Kauffman died in
1873, at the age of fifty-four. She was a member of
the United Brethren Church.
Abraham B. Kauffman has himself been twice
married — first in 1862, in Cordelia, to Catherine
Irwin, a daughter of James and Catherine Irwin, of
Lancaster county, and to this marriage was born one
child, EflEie, who is the wife of Jacob Kindig, a drover
at Silver Spring. Mrs. Catherine Kauffman died in
1864, at the age of twenty-four years, and was buried
in Columbia. On May 30, 1866, Abraham B. Kauff-
man chose for his second wife Anna Eisenberger,
and to this union have been born thirteen children,
viz. : Samuel E., married to Anna Musser and liv-
ing in Columbia; Elizabeth E., wife of David Her-
shey, a carpenter, also in Columbia ; Harry E., who
married Susan Daum, and is a puddler at Colum-
bia, but lives at Cordelia; Edward E., a puddler at
Columbia, and married to Mary Berntheitzel ; Amos
65
E., a railroad man, at Columbia, and married ta
Elizabeth Lichty; David E., also of Cordelia, and.
married to Emma Harry ; Franklin E., Abraham E.,.
John E., Horace G., Flora E., Anna E. and Chris-
tian M., all seven at home.
Mrs. Anna M. (Eisenberger) Kauffman was
born in Kinderhook, West Hempfield township, Dec.
6, 1842, a daughter of Samuel and Anna (Mumma)
Eisenberger, the former of whom was a quarryman
and died in 1885, at the age of seventy-three years,
in the faith of the Reformed Church ; the latter had
died in 1872, when fifty-nine years old. To their
marriage were born eleven children, namely : Abra-
ham, of Reading; Peter, who died young; Margaret
M., married to David H. Kline, at Klinesville ; Cath-
erine, also deceased; Anna; Elizabeth, married to
Henry Kline, of Columbia; Mary, of York county,
wife of John Kline ; Henry, a bricklayer in Kinder-
hook; Christian, who died yoimg; Barbara, wife of
John Evans, of Cordelia; and Samuel, who died
young.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Anna M.
Kauffman were Abraham and Margaret (Slough)
Eisenberger, natives and farming people of Lan-
caster county ; and her maternal grandparents were
Peter and Anna (Gramm) Mumma, also of Lan-
caster county, and followers of agricultural pur-
suits.
Abraham B. Kauffman began life by handling
ore, but also began renting farms in 1868, doing
hauling and farming together. He is a Republican,
has served as judge of elections, and is now in-
spector of elections.
CHRISTIAN C. LIPP, who has resided on his
present place, in Pequea township, since 1885, was
born of German descent, in Conestoga Center, Lan-
caster county, Jan. 23, 1852.
Christopher Lipp, his grandfather, emigrated
from Germany when a young man, and engaged in
farming and general work. He wedded Miss Mar-
tha Kreider, of Lancaster county, and they became
the parents of nine children : Susan, wife of Ben-
jamin Miller, of Providence township ; Jacob, of
West Lampeter township ; Christian, the father of
our subject; Mary, deceased; Barbara, deceased;
Martha, wife of John May, of Columbia; Benjamin,
deceased, who was a resident of Pequea township ;
Elizabeth, wife of John Krieder, of Martic town-
ship ; and John, of Lancaster.
Christian Lipp,. son of Christopher, was born in
Pequea township about 1830. His father dying
when he was but twelve years of age, he went to live
with Jonas Harnish for a short time, and from there
went to live with Thomas Groff, of Providence town-
ship. Later he learned the blacksmith trade with
William Amet, of Lancaster county, after which, for
some years, he worked at his trade for different men.
For some years he engaged in well digging, and it is-
said he dug 100 wells in Lancaster county. He mar-
ried Miss Mary Charles, of Conestoga Center, and
1026
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
they have had six children: Christian C. (our sub-
ject) and Daniel C, twins, the latter a resident of
Lampeter township ; Benjamin, who died in child-
hood; Elizabeth, wife of Benjamin Dagen; Benja-
min (2) , who lives at home with his father ; and Miss
Martha, at home. The parents are both members of
the United Evangelical Church, and Mr. Lipp was
for some time trustee of that church.
Christian C. Lipp remained at home with his
parents until he was twenty-four years of age, re-
ceiving a common school education. He then mar-
ried Kate Christ, daughter of Amos Christ, of Manor
township, and began life for himself, being employed
at general work, and in raising tobacco. In 1885 he
purchased the farm where he now resides, and he
has since engaged continuously in farming. He has
a stand in the Central Market in Lancaster City,
where he disposes of the products of his farm every
Saturday morning. Mr. Lipp is one of the ener-
getic, progressive residents of his township, and is
highly esteemed by all who know him.
Mr. and Mrs. Lipp are both members of the
United Evangelical Church at Millersville. They
are the parents of seven children, four living and
three deceased: Mary Cora, deceased; Susie Alice,
at home ; Esther Naomi, deceased ; Christiana Au-
gusta, Charles Parson and Edna Irene, at home ;
and Raymond Arthur, deceased.
REV. ABRAHAM M. WITMER. This de-
voted servant of God is a member of the ministry of
the Mennonite Church, whose creed was the faith
of his ancestors, as it is of his children. His family
is of Swiss origin, but the name of the earliest an-
cestor who emigrated from Switzerland to America
is not khown. He settled in Manor township, how-
ever, and it was there that his son Jacob, Mr. Wit-
mer's great-grandfather, was born in 1760.
Jacob Witmer was a farmer, and, like most farm-
ers of his day, toiled early and late to cultivate the
soil and subdue the rebellious forces of nature. He
married Fannie Kauffman, and was the father of
three sons and four daughters : John, Abraham,
Jacob, Anna, Fannie; EUzabeth and Magdalena. Of
the daughters Fannie and Magdalena remained spin-
sters ; Anna married Abraham Herr ; and Elizabeth
married FTenry Stoner ; John married Lizzie Martin,
of Lancaster cotmty, and later removed to Frank-
fin county, where he met death through falling from
the limb of a tree; Jacob was a Lancaster county
farmer, and the husband of Elizabeth Ensman.
Abraham Witmer, the secon3 son of Jacob, was
Rev. Mr. Witmer's grandfather, and was also en-
gaged in farming. His death occurred after
his fortieth birthday. He married Maria Kilhiffer,
who bore him three sons and one daughter : Jacob,
Abraham, Christian and Elizabeth. Jacob lived in
the old homestead; he married Mary Miller, but
their union was without issue. Abraham was the
father- of Rev. Mr. Witmer, and a more extended
story of his life is given in the following paragraph.
Christian died in July, 1902, at the age of eighty;
he had been twice married, his first wife, Susan
Funk, leaving him with two sons, Abram F. and
Martin F. ; his second marriage was with Elizabeth
Kendig, the issue being three daughters : Mary
(Mrs. John G. Kreider), Lizzie (widow of Aaron
Newcomer) and Fannie (who lives at home, un-
married) . Elizabeth, the only daughter of Abraham
(first) became the wife of Christian Charles, of
Manor.
Abraham Witmer (2), son of Abraham, was,
himself, a minister in the old Mennonite Church,
having been ordained in 1849, and he faithfully
served his people in a clerical capacity for nearly a
third of a century. His labors were chiefly in the
churches at Masonville and Habacker. By trade
he was a cabinet maker, but after his marriage he
began farming, and in 1849 bought a farm of 102
acres in Manor township. This is now owned by
Rev. Mr. Witmer, who has added eight acres there-
to. In 1875 he gave up active work, and on Oct.
15, 1882, he passed from earth, to enjoy a better es-
tate than the world can give. He married Leah,
a daughter of Abraham and Mary (Kaufman) Mil-
ler. Their five children were: Maria, Abraham
M., Isaac, Mattie and Jacob. Isaac and Jacob died
in childhood.
Abraham M. Witmer was born on his father's
farm (now owned by S. M. Kaufman), near Cen-
tral Manor, Nov. 5, 1842. He received a good com-
mon school education. On his thirty-second birth-
day he married, and at once took charge of the home
farm. For many years he was a director in the
Mennonite Fire Insurance Co., but since ordination
to the ministry on Sept. 8, 1892, he has devoted all
his time and energy to the service of the Church.
His work has been chiefly in the same fields of labor
as those cultivated by his father, although while the
latter addressed, his flocks in German, the son
preaches in English. His earnest piety and blame-
less life have greatly endeared him to the people
among whom his lot has been cast, while his broad,
Christian spirit, kindly disposition and spotless in-
tegrity have won for him the unafifected respect of
the community at large. The devotion of such la-
bors in the Lord's vineyard cannot go unrewarded.
The maiden name of his wife was Mary Esh-
bach, whose father, John, was well known and high-
ly esteemed. She was born Jan. 5, 1853, and died
Nov. 15, 1886. Six children were born of their mar-
riage, one died in infancy and the surviving five live
at home, unmarried, with their bereaved father.
Their names, with dates of their births, are as fol-
lows: Fannie E., Jan. 17, 1876; John, March 13,
1877 (died Oct. 14, 1878) ; Abraham E., April 17,
1879; Benjamin E., March 10, 1881 ; Annie E., Dec.
13, 1882; and Leah E., Oct. 4, 1884.
HENRY S. ESHELMAN, a retired farmer and
a native of West Hempfield township, Lancaster
county, was born on a farm adjoining the village
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1027
of Cordelia Sept. 14, 1826, a son of David and Maria
(Summy) Eshelman, who were farming people —
the father dying in 1833, at the age of forty-eight
years, on the homestead in West Hempfield town-
ship, and the mother in Clark county, Ohio, in 1880,
when seventy-one years of age.
David and Maria Eshelman had born to them a
family of eleven children, namely: Anna, Jacob
and Benjamin, deceased; David, a retired farmer in
Illinois ; John, died in Ohio ; Elizabeth, in Carlisle,
Ohio, and widow of Joseph Musser ; Peter, a retired
merchant in Carlisle, Ohio; Martin, a carpenter in
Illinois; Henry S., whose name opens this sketch;
Maria, deceased wife of Isaac Neiswanger, of Ohio ;
and Barbara, who is married and is living in Spring-
field, Ohio.
Henry S. Eshelman lived on the home farm until
twenty years of age; and then began an apprentice-
ship at shoemaking in Manor township, with David
Bixler, with whom he worked four years, then re-
turned to his home, worked at the trade until 1857,
and then began farming on a small scale, purchasing
fourteen acres of his present farm in 1858.
On Aug. 5, 1852, Henry S. Eshelman married, in
Lancaster, Miss Hettie Weller, and there have been
born to this union ten children, as follows : ' Mary,
wife of Abraham Meisky, of Columbia; Sarah, un-
married and at home ; Albert, deceased ; Emma,
widow of Benjamin Herr, of Columbia; Alice, who
died a young lady; Anna, wife of Amos Schuman,
farmer of Manor township ; Ulysses G., professor of
music at home ; Aaron, also a professor of music at
Lancaster; Elizabeth, wife of James Youtz, a ma-
chinist at Mountville; and Martha, twin of Eliza-
beth, married to Philip Bard, a stonemason in West
Hempfield township.
Mrs. Hettie (Weller) Eshelman was born in
West Hempfield township April 2, 1833, a daughter
of Frederick and Anna (Kuhns) Weller, early set-
tlers of the township. Frederick Weller was a shoe-
maker and died in the township in 1875, when sev-
enty-five years old, and his widow died in Lancaster
in 1882, at the same age. Both were members of
the Lutheran church, and to their marriage were
born the following children: Mattie, who died in
Ohio, the wife of Jacob Binkley ; Elizabeth, deceased
wife of Frank Piffer; Hettie, now Mrs. Eshelman;
Fred, who was killed in an ore bank in West Hemp-
field township ; Anna, widow of William Irwin, of
Columbia; Fannie, deceased wife of Henry May;
Isaac, an ex-soldier in Dayton, Ohio; and Harriet
and Sarah, twins, living in Lancaster.
Henry S. Eshelman is a Republican in politics,
is very popular with his party, and has served as
assessor one year, supervisor one year, and as reg-
ister-assessor fifteen years. He is a member of the
G. A. R., having been in the military service of the
United States, although never in battle. Mr. Esh-
elman enlisted at Lancaster, in February, 1865, in
Co. F, 195th P. V. I., under Capt. John Rutler, for
twelve months or during the war, but as the war
closed in April, before the regiment reached the part
of the front where active hostilities had been going
on, Mr. Eshelman was honorably discharged at
Washington, D. C, and was mustered out at Phila-
delphia.
HENRY S. HOTTENSTEIN, a well-known
and representative business man of Mt. Joy town-
ship, carries on his furniture, cabinetmaking and un-
dertaking business in a well equipped building lo-
cated on the Manheim road, some two miles from
the village of Elizabethtown. . There he was born
July 17, 1857, son of Benjamin and Susan (Shiffler)
Hottenstein, the former of whom was a native of
East Petersburg, Lancaster county, and the latter
of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania.
Benjamin Hottenstein, the father of Henry S.,
was a son of Jacob and Catherine (Neece) Hotten-
stein, of East Petersburg. Jacob Hottenstein was a
well-known manufacturer of brushes, spinning-
wheels, etc., for many years, his work being con-
sidered excellent in every particular. He retired
from business after a long career of usefulness, and
died in Elizabethtown at a good old age. Benjamin
inherited much of his father's skill and also became
a manufacturer in wood. He moved to the location
previously mentioned in 1855, and prior to his death,
in 1893, at the age of sixty-nine years, the firm be-
came Hottenstein & Son, Henry S. being the junior
partner. The mother of Henry S. Hottenstein was
a daughter of Henry and Catherine ShifHer, natives
of Dauphin coimty, who later lived in Lancaster
county ; the life of Henry Shiffler ended in Naper-
ville. 111., where he was engaged in farming. Mrs.
Hottenstein died in November, 1896, at the age of
seventy-one years, and was interred in Mt. Tunnel
cemetery. Henry S. was the only child of his par-
ents.
Henry S. Hottenstein was educated in the com-
mon schools of Lancaster county and learned his
business with his father, becoming the latter's part-
ner at the age of twenty-four years. Since that
time he has conducted a very successful and pros-
perous furniture and cabinetmaking business. He
is one of the best educated undertakers in the town-
ship, having been instructed in embalming in Har-
risburg. Mr. Hottenstein is a member of the Ger-
man Baptist C^hurch. In politics he is a stanch Re-
publican.
On Nov. IT, 1880, Mr. Hottenstein was united
in marriage with Miss Mary A. Gruver, and two
children were born to this union: Amos
G. and Sarah A., the latter dying when one day past
her third birthday. Mrs. Hottenstein was born
Aug. 28, 1863, in Mt. Joy township, died April 7,
1900, and was buried in Mt. Tunnel cemetery. She
was a daughter of Christian and Rebecca (Staufler)
Gruver, of Lancaster county, the former of whom
for a long period was engaged in the grocery busi-
ness in Elizabethtown, and had retired but a few
months prior to his death, which occurred in March
1028
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1894. Mr. and Mrs. Gruver had a family of four
children, namely: Jacob, who died at the age of
twenty years ; Peter, who is a farmer in Conoy town-
ship ; Mary A., the late Mrs. Hottenstein ; and
Sarah, the wife of Oliver T. Leinbaugh, who is in
the sewing machine business in Harrisburg.
As a business man of reliability Mr. Hottenstein
is highly regarded in his community, and he merits
the esteem he enjoys as a first-class citizen.
JOHN SCHOCK, a native of Manor town-
ship, was born Oct. 15, 1854, and is a descendant of
one of the earliest settlers of the county. The fam-
ily is of German origin, and a brief record of the
American branch is as follows :
Jacob Schock, the founder of the Lancaster
family bearing his surname, was from Hessen, Ger-
many, and emigrated to this country about 1750,
making his first purchase of land from the United
States Government in 1759. This tract, situated in
Manor township, Lancaster Co., Pa., comprised 185
acres in the woods, from which, through untiring
industry, he wrought out a comfortable home, as it
is a well known fact that he was a poor man on his
arrival in the country. Jacob Schock married
Esther Grove, who bore him the following named
children: Barbara, born Feb. 13, 1746; Anna, Aug.
18, 1747; Elizabeth, Jan. 3, 1749; Fannie, Sept. 20,
1750; Mary, Jan. 25", 1752; Jacob, Aug. 16, 1753;
John, Jan. 16, 1756; Magdalena, Oct. 6, 1758; John,
March 25, 1761 ; and Abraham, July 25, 1764. The
parents died in the faith of the Dunkard Church,
leaving a name of which their descendants are justly
proud.
John Schock, son of Jacob, married a Miss
Stoner, and reared a family of seven children, viz. :
Fannie, born July i, 1802, married Abraham Hos-
tetter, and died Ai\g. 4, 1882; they left no descend-
ants. Kathrine married Conrad Zigler, of Done-
gal. Magdalena married Christian Engel, also of
Donegal. Anna married a Mr. Zook, from Frank-
lin county. Barbara married a Mr. Myers, of
Franklin county. Jacob married a Miss Strickler,
from York county. John is next in the line of
descent.
John Schock, son of John, was born Nov. 29,
1795, on the old homestead farm in Manor town-
ship, which his father willed to him. He married
a Miss Seigrist, who died verv young, and his sec-
ond wife was Fannie Kurtz, who was born Sept. 13,
1793, and died in 1857. His death occurred in
1867. They had two "children, Jacob and Magda-
lena, the former of whom will be spoken of in full
a little farther on. The latter, born July 11, 1826,
died unmarried Nov. 3, 1899, at the age of seventy-
three, highly respected.
Jacob Schock, son of John, was born Oct. 17,
1824, and was reared to farming on the old home-
stead. He married Rebecca Strickler, who was
born in \''ork county, Pa., in 1823, and they reared
a family of five children, and lost five who died in
infancy. The others were as follows : Mary, de-
ceased wife of Tobias Seagrist, of Manor township ;
Fannie, married to Martin Hostetter, of West Hemp-
field township; Rebecca, unmarried; John, whose
name opens this sketch ; and Isaiah, who died at the
age of seventeen years. Jacob Schock died in the
faith of the Dunkard Church Nov. 22, 1875, and his
widow survived until March 22, 1S99.
John Schock was reared on the old homestead
one mile north of Creswell, and was educated, like
most farmer lads, in the district school. On March
27, 1877, he married Mary Musser, who was born
in West Hempfield township Dec. 17, 1854, daugh-
ter of Martin and Catherine (Hostetter) Musser.
To this felicitous union have been born twelve chil-
dren, whose names and dates of birth are as follows :
Martha, June !,• 1878; Katie, Oct. 2, 1879; Isaiah,
Nov. 6, 1 881; Rebecca, Aug. i; 1883; Martin, July
25, 18S5 (died in infancy) ; Jacob, Feb. 27, 1887;
Mary May, May 26, 1889; Amelia, Feb. 17, 1891
(died in infancy) ; Naomi, Sept. 12, 1892; John;.
June 16, 1894; Elizabeth, Nov. 26, 1896; and Fan-
nie, Aug. 23, T899. The family, so far as the par-
ents and elder children are concerned, are strict
members of the Dunkard Society, to the teachings
of which they have faithfully adhered, and they have
gained the esteem of all who know them.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HERSH, a general
blacksmith in East Donegal township, was born irt
East Hempfield township Nov. 24, 1858, and is a
son of Cyrus and Catharine (Hertzler) Hersh, whc>
were natives of Drumore and Manor townships, re-
spectively. Both died in West Donegal township,
where the father was engaged in blacksmithing..
He was born Jan. 19, 1832, and died April 3, 1894 ;
the mother, who was born June 26, 1831, died Nov.
I, 1894. They were buried in Graybills Church
cemetery, and both had been for years honored and
respected members, of the Mennoiiite Church. They
had three children : Flam, a machinist at Rheems
Station, Pa. ; Benjamin F. ; and Harry, a painter at
Rheems Station.
Cyrus and Elizabeth (Cohic) Hersh, the pater-
nal grandparents of Benjamin F., lived in Pequea
township. His maternal grandparents, Jacob and
Catharine (Herr) Hertzler, lived in Manor town-
ship. All are now deceased, and they are buried in
the Millersville and New Danville cemeteries, re-
spectively.
Benjamin Franklin Hersh was married, in Co-
lumbia, Pa., Sept. 27, 1887, to Miss Amanda N.
Risser, and to this union have been born three chil-
dren: Willis R., Katie M., and Esther R., bright
young people who give promise of a useful future.
Mrs. Amanda N. (Risser) Hersh was born in
the township of Mt. Joy, Lancaster county, Nov.
29, 1859, daughter of Joseph and Fanny (Nissley)
Risser. Her father was born in Dauphin county,
and her mother in Mt. Joy township, Lancaster
county. Joseph Risser died in Mt. Joy township
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1029
Jan. I, 1896, at the age of seventy-three. He fol-
lowed farming all his life, coming into Lancaster
county to engage in the cultivation of the soil a few
years before his death. Mrs. Fanny Risser died
Feb. 4, 1883, at the age of sixty-two, and was buried
in Rissers Church cemetery, in Mt. Joy township.
Mr. and Mrs. Risser had the following children:
Levi, who was killed by a separator ; Elizabeth, who
married Christ Good, a farmer of Conoy township ;
Mary, of Elizabethtqwn, wife of Rev. Levi Eber-
■cole, a minister qf tjie Mennonite Church ; Anna, de-
■ceased wife of Levi Longenecker; Joseph, a farmer
in the township of Mt. Joy; Fanny, who married
A. B. P,eramy, and lives in Elizabethtpwn ; Martin,
a farmer in Mt. Joy township ; Amanda N. ; and
Amos, a farrner in Mt. Joy township.
The paternal grandparpnts of Mrs. Hersh were
' Peter and Fanny (Witmer) Risser, who lived on a
iarm in Dauphin county, where they were married.
Her maternal grandparents were Martin and Eliza-
beth (Hershey) Nissley, lifetime residents and farm-
ing people of Lancaster county.
Benjamin Franklin Hersh remained with his
parents until he reached the age of twenty-nine
years. When he was eighteen he entered the black-
smith shop, thoroughly learning the trade, which he
iollo\Yed imtil 1887. That year he came to the home
where he is now found, and put up the shop in which
"he has been doing business for over fifteen years to
the satisfaction of his patrons and h's own credit.
Mr. Hersh is a member of the Mennonite Church,
and is a Republican in his political ideas.
L. SCOTT KURTZ, the well known dealer in
saddlery, was born June 21, 1853, in Spring Garden,
Salisbury township, Lancaster Co., Pa., orie-half mile
Tiorth of his present place of residence, a son of Rev.
Jonathan and Prudence (Good) Kurtz, of Salisbury
township and Chester county, respectively.
Christian Kurtz, the great-grandfather of L.
Scott, died in the eighty-eighth year of his age. His
wife, Mary, died in her sixty-third year.
Christian Kurtz, grandfather of L- Scott, was
married twice, first to Ann Weaver, by whom he had
seven children, all of Lancaster county, viz. : Maria
married Moses Sharp, a farmer of Leacock town-
ship ; Susanna married Moses Eaby, a merchant of
Intercourse ; Elizabeth married Peter Eaby, a farmer
of Salisbury township ; Jonathan is mentioned be-
low ; Lydia married Christian Umble, of Salisbury ;
David W. was a farmer of Salisbury township ; Jos-
€ph died in his twentieth year. For his second wife
Christian Kurtz married Elizabeth Mason.
Rev. Jonathan Kurtz was a farmer as well as a
local Evangelical preacher for about twenty-five
years, and died Dec. 6, 1879, at the age of fifty-nine
years, four months, nine days, his body being iDuried
in Pequea United Evangelical cemetery ; his widow
lived until Feb. 13, 1893, dying at the age of seventy-
one years, one month, ten days. The five children
.of Jonathan and Prudence (Good) Kurtz were
named as follows : Newton L., who is a farmer in
Salisbury township; L. Scott; Park M., who died
when six years old ; Howard H., a clerk in the cloth-
ing house at Christiana, Lancaster county ; and Ida
D., who was married to Thomas H. Livingston, and
who, with her husband, is now deceased.
John Good, the maternal grandfather of L. Scott
Kurtz, was born Feb. 9, 1788, and his wife, Barbara
Brunner, was born Dec. 4, 1789, in Chester county.
They had eight children, as follows : Elizabeth, who
was married to Daniel Hetherey ; Owen B. ; Jesse,
living retired in York county; John, retired, in
Downington, Chester county ; Prudence, Mrs. Kurtz ;
Abraham; Mary A., deceased wife of Benjamin F.
Clemerson, a Methodist Episcopal clergyrhan in
Delaware ; and Barbara, wife of N. W. Benun, also
a clergyman of Delaware.
L. Scott Kurtz was educated while still under the
parental roof, from which he departed at the age of
seventeen, beginning an apprenticeship at saddlery
with William Phillips in Sali-sbury townhsip, with
whom he served four and one-half years. In 1876
he returned to his old home and engaged in the har-
ness business until July 22, 1879, when he erected
his present shop in Spring Garden. On Nov. 21,
1878, he married Lavinia M. Livingston, and this
union has been graced with nine children, namely:
William Jonathan, Walter Scott, Anna Araminta,
Ida Elva, John Blanchard, Frank Livingston, Abram
Carl, Harry Edgar and Clement Baldwin. William
Jonathan, the eldest son, died Jan. 21, 1902, in Phil-
adelphia, in his twenty-third year, and was laid to
rest in the Pequea United Evangelical cemetery.
Mrs. Lavinia M. (Livingston) Kurtz was born
in Salisbury township Sept. 13, 1856, daughter of
William G. and Rachel (Lindville) Livirigston, the
former of whom was born in the same township
in November, 1828, and is a stock dealer. Mrs.
Rachel Livingston died in i860, at the age of thirty-
two years, and her remains were interred in Sads-
bury Meeting House cemetery, she, with her hus-
band, having been a member of the Society of
Friends. She was the first wife of William G. Liv-
ingston, and they had four children, namely : Ann
J., who was married to John R. Wilson, a merchant
of Spring Garden, and died in 1879 ; John L., a farm-
er residing in Philadelphia ; Lavinia M., Mrs. Kurtz ;
and William F., who died in infancy. The second
marriage of William G. Livingston was to Catherine
D. Mong, of Stark county, Ohio, and to this union
have been born five children, namely: Edwin M.,
William C, Henry S. (a traveHng salesman), all of
whom have their home in Philadelphia; Mary E., a
school teacher in Salisbury township ; and Alice G.,
wife of Charles Trout, a carpenter. The paternal
grandfather of Mrs. Kurtz was John Livingston, and
Hon. J. B. Livingston, of Lancaster, was her uncle.
L. Scott Kurtz is a Republican in politics, and
has served as a county committeeman. Fraternallv
he is a member of the Jr. O. U. A. M., Intercourse
Council, No. 650. He is an up-to-date business
1080
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
man, and has maintained a most enviable reputation
not a breath of reproach ever having been breathed
•against his fair name. As a citizen he enjoys the
respect of every resident of Spring Garden and Salis-
bury township. He is regarded as a substantial and
public-spirited gentleman, ready on all proper oc-
casions to advance from his means his full share of
such funds as may be necessary to consummate the
construction of such public improvements as may
be essential to the convenience and comfort of his
fellow citizens, and he is ever foremost in suggest-
ing and promoting all projects designed for the hap-
piness and health of the community and the increase
of its prosperity.
REV. REUBEN S. NOLT. Not only is Lan-
caster county justly noted for the wonderful fer-
tility of her soil, but also for the superiority of her
farmer citizens, many of them being consistent mem-
bers of the devout religious body known as Mennon-
ites, whose frugality and industry produce the signs
of thrift and prosperity shown in their surroundings.
Among these worthy people who have for genera-
tions exerted a beneficial influence through the coun-
ty- are the representatives of the Nolt family, an ex-
emplary member of which is Rev. Reuben S. Nolt,
a leading citizen of Strasburg township.
Reuben S. Nolt was born Feb. 23, 1844, in West
Hempfield township, a son of Jonas and Elizabeth
(Schrader) Nolt, both of whom have long since
passed away, the father when Reuben was but four
years of age. Blessed with a most devoted and pious
mother, he grew to manhood with good principles,
obtaining his education in the public schools, and re-
maining on the old farm, his mother's helper, until
the spring following his marriage, in 1876. At this
time he removed to his present farm in Strasbure:
iownship, purchasing eighty-six acres of very de-
sirable land, at that location, and here he has since
built up a beautiful home, erecting commodious
buildings, not only for comfortable residence but
also for the proper housing of his fine stock and the
yield of his fields. Reuben S. Nolt is a very intelli-
gent agriculturist, and realizes the advantage of good
machinery and proper drainage and cultivation of
the land, as well as the desirability of giving atten-
tion only to the best of stock and cattle.
On Oct. 31, 1876, Reuben S. Nolt was married
to Lavinia IJerr, a daughter of Abraham and Leah
(Mayers) Herr, of West Lampeter township, who
was born Nov. 22, 1848. To this tmion seven chil-
dren have been born: Lizzie L., Nov. 5, 1877:
Emma, born Oct. 11, 1878; Lettie, born Dec. 22,
1880 ; Annie M., born May 6, 1882 ; Willis, born July
31, 1883; Harry, born April 13, 1885; and Fannie,
born Jan. i, 1887.
Since 1885 Mr. Nolt has been connected with the
Reformed Mennonite Church, and on Dec. 30, 1894,
was ordained to its ministry by Bishop Elias H.
Hershey. His ministerial work covers Lancaster
county, where he is everywhere recognized as a
man of worth and sterling traits of character. In his
estimable wife he finds a worthy help-mate. Mrs.
Nolt belongs to two of the best known and respected
of the old pioneer families of the county, her an-
cestry dating as far back as 1709.
DANIEL F. HARNISH, whose home is in
Manheim township, a half mile west of Neffsville,
was born in Conestoga township July 21, 1831, a
son of David and Susan (Torrey) Harnish,- both af
whom are now deceased. He was but a small boy
when his parents moved into Manheim township^
and there his life has passed. His education was
received in the common schools, and in i860 he mar-
ried and located on the old homestead. In 1865 he
moved to a' second farm, near Itiis present home, and
there he cultivated rented land for four years, when
he moved to East Hempfield township for a stay of
two years. In 1871 Mr. Harnish purchased the farm
of forty-three acres which is his home at the present
time, and here he has made many improvements, re-
modelling the house, erecting a tobacco barn, and
other farm buildings. Always interested in public
affairs, he is known as one of the old and substan-
tial citizens of Lancaster county.
On Nov. 20, i860, Mr. Harnish was married
to Miss Salinda L., a daughter of George and Fan-
nie (Landis) Wiedler, who was born in Manor townr
ship Feb. 10, 1836. To this union have come three
daughters : Clara W., born Sept. 3, 1862, married
Harris Bumisderfer, of Kissel Hill, and has five chil-
dren, Charles C, Fred G., Stanley G., Luke and
Grace; Ellen W., born March 12, 1864, married
Levi Erb, of Landisville, and has six children, Zenas,,
Ellen, Mabel, Jacob, Barbara and Salinda; Ida W.,
born April 6, 1867, married Nathan Bush, of Lititz,
and has four sons, Roy, Guy, Robert and Nathan.
Mr. and Mrs. Harnish are members of the German
Baptist Church of the Mountville District, of which
he is one of the trustees. They are highly esteemed
for their upright characters and good lives.
JOHN L. MILLER was during many years of
his life a well-known business man of Lancaster,
as well as a highly respected citizen. He was born
near Rohrerstown, West Hempfield township, Jan.
30, 1822, son of David and Barbara (Landis) Miller.
David Miller was a farmer in West Hempfield
township, and there he married Barbara Landis. To
this union were born these children : Elizabeth, who
married Jacob Bosler, of West Hempfield township ;
John L., the subject of this sketch; Christian, who
is a_ retired farmer of Warwick township ; and
David, who is a retired farmer of Petersburg. The
Miller family is of Swiss descent.
John L. Miller grew up on his father's farm and
attended the district schools. He remained in West
Hempfield township engaged in farming until 1869,
when he removed to Lancaster and embarked in the
dry-goods business. He was a man of most ex-
cellent business judgment and carried on a success-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1031
ful business until 1885, when he retired from activ-
ity. He died in his home in Lancaster March 22,
1899, and was buried in the cemetery of the Men-
nonite Church, in Millersville. He was much in-
terested in all matters pertaining to the church, and
set a good example both by action and precept. He
was a director in the Mennonite Mutual Fire In-
surance Company.
On Oct. 3T, 1843, in Lancaster, John L. Miller
married Barbara Bair, and the children born to
them were: Amos B., who married Fanny Bear,
is a practicing physician in Lancaster; Lizzie, who
married Benjamin Snavely, of Lancaster; Miss Fan-
ny,- at home; and Anna, who married Joseph R.
Dickeler, of Lancaster. Mrs. Barbara (Bair) Mil-
ler was born in East Lamoeter township, daughter
of John and Elizabeth (Landis) Bair, of Lancaster
county, the former of whom was a farmer who died
Nov. 14, 1843, aged forty-five years, nine months
and eleven days. The mother died Feb. 18, 1870,
at the age of seventy years, eleven months and sev-
enteen days, and both were buried in this county,
the former at Lancaster, and the latter in the ceme-
tery of the Mennonite Church at Landis Valley.
Two children were born to this union: Christian,
who died April 25, 1851, at the age of thirty-two
years; and Barbara, the widow of John L. Miller.
The mother contracted a second marriage, Michael
Martin becoming her husband, but there were no
children born to this union. Mrs. Miller and her
unmarried daughter still reside in Lancaster, where
they are numbered among the most esteemed mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church.
MARTIN H. BAER, one of the enterprising
farrners of the township of East Hempfield, Lan-
caster county, now residing on his fine farm three
and one-half miles west of Lancaster City, was born
on the farm adjoining his present- one August 31,
1843.
Martin Baer, son of John and father of Martin
H. Baer, died when the latter was only six weeks
old, at the early age of thirty-five. All of his life
was spent in East Hempfield township, where he
was born and where he carried on farming. He
married Mary Baer, and three children were born
of this union : Levi, a resident of East Hempfield
township : Sara, widow of Dr. John W. Hess, now
residing in Lancaster ; and Martin H. The mother
of these children married again, her second hus-
band being Jacob Bausman, to whom she bore one
child : J. W. B. Bausman, president of the Farm-
ers National Bank, of Lancaster City. The death
of the mother occurred in 1857, when she was only
forty-five years of age.
The early life of Martin H. Baer was spent upon
the home farm, and he attended first the common
schools of the neighborhood, and later the State
Normal school at Millersville. At the age of twen-
ty-five years he began farming operations for him-
self, purchasing a farm of nine acres along the Har-
risburg pike, in East Hempfield township, where for
sixteen years he lived, making extensive impro\e-
ments, and then selling at a good profit. His pres-
ent home was purchased, and consists of ten acres
of the best farming land in this section of country,
and upon it Mr. Baer carries on general farming.
During the time he has owned this property he has
made many improvements, and has one of the most
attractive and comfortable homes in East Hempfield
township.
In 1869 Martin H. Baer married Miss Susan
H. Krieder, a daughter of Jacob Krieder, of Pequea
township. Eight children have blessed this union:
Ella, wife of Louis Koenig, of Reading; Annie, at
Lancaster; Sadie, at home; L. Miles, a druggist of
Philadelphia, who married Bertha Sener; Walter,
a student at the University of Pennsylvania, Phila-
delphia ; Clyde, a drug clerk in Philadelphia ; Mar-
tin, a clerk in the Northern National Bank, Lancas-
ter; and Grace, at home. Mrs. Baer is an active
member of the Reformed Mennonite Church, and
all of the family are highly respected throughout
the entire community in which they make their
home. Mr. Baer is recognized as one of the sub-
stantial men of the township, and he is one of its
public-spirited and representative citizens.
DAVID P. BITNER. During the greater part
of his active life David P. Bitner was creditably
identified with business enterprises in Lancaster, and
his death, March 26, 1901, removed from accus-
tomed haunts a man of most honorable intent, and
apt money making capabilities. A native son of
Lancaster, he was born Aug. 12, 1843, a son of
Abraham and Elizabeth (Porter) Bitner, of Lan-
caster county. An extended account of the Bitner
ancestry may be found in the monograph of Abra-
ham Bitner, a nephew of David P., and a prominent
business man of Lancaster.
In his youth Mr. Bitner had fair educational ad-
vantages, and in later life it was his pride to read
much and to mamtain an interest in current events.
All things combined to throw him upon his own re-
sources, and to make him, while quite young, the
arbiter of his own destiny. He seems to have
planned wisely and well, for he left considerable
property, and was safely launched in the confidence
of the business and social world. In early life he
was in the employ of the freight line firm of J. R.
Bitner & Bro., and he afterward repaired to Phila-
delphia and hauled freight for the Pennsylvania rail-
road. Upon returning to Lancaster he was at one
time a member of the freight line firm of C. A. Bit-
ner & Co., afterward dissolved, and he was also a
member of the coal firm of Bitner, Sprecker & Coho.
Eventually he embarked in an independent coal busi-
ness, and at the time of his death was known as an
extensive dealer in this necessary commodity.
On April 12, 1863, Mr. Bitner was united in mar-
riage with Amelia, daughter of Samuel and Mary
E. (Brown) Kurtz, of Lancaster, the former a gun-
1032
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
smith by trade, but for the last thirty-three years of
his hfe a railroad engineer. He died in 1876, at
the age of sixty-tvvo, having been survived by his
-wife, who died in 1880, at the age of sixty-five. The
parents were members of the Trinity Lutheran
church, and were buried in Lancaster county. Be-
sides Mrs. Bitner, who was the youngest of the chil-
dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz, there were : Paul,
•deceased; Clarence, deceased; and Haldy. To Mr.
and Mrs. Bitner were born the following children:
A. Wayne, a coal merchant of Philadelphia ; Samuel
K., who married Elizabeth Wicker, and lives in Phil-
adelphia ; David B., unmarried, and living at home ;
Hattie M. ; Bessie A.; James V.; Paul, deceased;
atid L. Haldy, deceased. Mrs. Bitner and her chil-
dren are members of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and are among the prominent and popular
people of the community.
JOSEPH KURTZ, general farmer and lime
manufacturer of Salisbury township, is one of its
leading and highly esteemed citizens. He was born
on the old homestead in this township April 8, 1841,
son of John and Mary (Boley) Kurtz.
John Kurtz, the father of Joseph, was a promi-
nent and successful farmer of Salisbury township,
owning at the time of his death six of the fine farms
of that township. Although no member, he was
a constant attendant and a very liberal supporter of
the Old Mennonite Church, of which his wife was a
consistent member. John Kurtz died April 16,
1871, at the age of eighty-one years, and his wife
died in January, 1888, aged eighty-eight years. Both
were buried on the old Kurtz homestead in Salis-
bury township. The children born to John and Mary
Kurtz were as follows : Daniel is a retired farmer
of Salisbury township ; Nancy, deceased, was the
wife of Samuel Worst ; John died in Kentucky, and
was brought for burial to this township ; Martha
married Harvey Sweigert, a farmer of Salisbury
township ; Jacob, a soldier during the Civil war, died
in New Me.xico; Abraham is a retired farmer in
Salisbury township ; Samuel resides in Denver,
Colo. ; David is a farmer of Salisbury township ;
Mary married James Roseboro, of Lancaster; Mar-
tin resides on the old homestead ; and Joseph is a
farmer and lime manufacturer in Salisbury town-
ship, and the subject of this sketch.
Jacob Kurtz, the paternal grandfather of Jos-
eph Kurtz, was an intelligent and prosperous farm-
er of Lancaster county, although he began his busi-
ness career as a poor man on the old John Warner
farm, near the Pequea ]\Teeting House. He was noted
as being unusually large physically, weighing 200
pounds. He married Martha King, of Manheim
township, who died at the age of seventy-four years.
Jacob died in 1822, at the age of seventy-five years
and two months, and both were interred on a part
of their old farm twelve miles east of Pequea Meet-
ing House. They were consistent members of the
Amish Church.
Joseph Kurtz grew up on the farm and attended
the public schools, remaining with his father, as-
sisting in agricultural work, until within three years
before his marriage. Then he began farming in
East Earl township, where he remained for two
years, when he came to his present fine farm of 120
acres in Salisbury township. In 1869 Mr. Kurtz
began the manufacture of lime, and with three kilns
he manufactures 27,000 bushels of lime yearly. The
business is well managed and produces a fine income.
In politics Mr. Kurtz is a Republican, and he takes a
great interest in all public affairs. ,
On April 20, 1869, Mr. Kurtz was marriedf to
Miss Elizabeth Ranck, and the children born to this
union were: Flora, who married Charles Norris,
a mail agent in Salisbury township ; Ada, who mar-
ried Lytle Skiles, a hotel keeper in New Holland, and
has three children; Sallie, deceased, who married
Ralph Seabold, a railroad ticket agent at Honey-
brook, and had two children; Charles H., who re-
sides at Los Angeles, Cal. ; Jennie, who married Har-
ry Eshleman, of Coatesville, and has three children ;
Lydia, who married David K. Sweigert, mail agent
at White Horse, and has two children ; Mabel, Bar-
ton S. and Chester L., all at home.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Ranck) Kurtz was born in East
Earl township April 8, 1843, daughter of Samuel E.
and Sallie (McElroy) Ranck, of Lancaster county.
Mr. Ranck was a prominent man in East Earl town-
ship, was identified with politics, filled the offices of
supervisor, assessor and tax collector and it was
through his influence that a post office was estab-
lished at Green Bank, Pa., of which he was post-
master for many years. He died in 1889, aged
eighty-two years, his wife surviving until 1896, dy-
ing also at the age of eighty-two years. Both were
buried in the Ranck Church cemetery, in East Earl
township. They were members of the U. B.
Church. Their, children were as follows: Sallie,
who died in infancy ; Laban, a resident of Camden,
N. J.; Aaron, a resident of Council Bluffs, Iowa;
Elijah, a shoemaker who resides at Blue Ball, Pa. ;
Elizabeth, who is Mrs. Kurtz; Edward, a farmer
.of Salisbury township; Lvdia, widow of Isaac Sel-
domridge, and a resident of Coatesville; and
Phoebe, deceased. The paternal grandparents
of Mrs. Kurtz were Peter and Margaret (Eck-
holtz) Ranck, of Lancaster county, and the
maternal grandparents were James and Sarah
(Wisher) McElroy, farming people of Lancaster
county, all highly respected in their various localities.
REA'-. GEORGE BUCHER, a noted preacher
and- farmer of East Drumore township, Lancaster
county, was born at Cornwall, Lebanon Co., Pa.,
July 21, 1845, son of Jacob and Veronica (Bru-
baker) Bucher.
Jacob Bucher was a son of Dr. Benedict Bucher
who was born at Denver, Lancaster county, in Aug--
ust, 1759. and grandson of Dr. Bens Bucher, a na-
tive of Switzerland, who settled at Denver, this coun-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1033
ty, in the earlier part of the eighteenth century. Dr.
Benedict Bucher located at Cornwall, where he prac-
ticed medicine many years. Of his children, (i)
John B., who was born in 1785, was a farmer in
Lebanon county. He and his wife and four chil-
dren are deceased. One of his grandsons, Cyrus,
■of Astoria, 111., is a mhiister. (2) Benedict, born in
April, 1792, had two daughters, and died in Leba-
non county. His daughter, Eliza, married Isaac
Brubaker, a minister, and his daughter, Sarah, be-
■came the wife of Michael Hershberger, of Lebanon
county. (3) Christian, born in 1796, was a prac-
ticing physician in Lebanon county for many years.
His family consisted of Dr. Samuel, of Freeport,
111., now deceased; Susan, wife of Henry Houck,
■deputy State superintendent of schools, of Lebanon
county; Dr. Alfred, deceased; Mary A., wife of
Frank Goshert, of Lebanon county ; Dr. Isaac, who
is a prominent resident of Lebanon county ; and
Elizabeth, who was Mrs. Rocky. (4) Henry
Bucher, born in 1798, settled near Cornwall, where
he engaged in farming. He was the father of the
following children: Mary A., wife of Dr. A.
Smith, of Lebanon county; Catherine, wife of Jos-
■eph Horst; Dr. Benedict, of Lebanon; Lovina, un-
married; and Henry, a farmer of Lebanon county.
(5) Susanna, born in 1802, died unmarried. (6)
Maria, born in 1804, married Michael Snyder, and
died in Lebanon county, leaving six children, Henry,
Susan, Mary, Leah, Israel and Josiah. (7) Jacob
"was the father of Rev. George.
Jacob Bucher was born March 24, 1807, at Corn-
wall, and was reared in Lebanon county, where he
followed farming all his life. His death occurred
in November, 1871. He married Veronica Bru-
baker, who was born in January, 1812, at Cornwall,
and died in November, 1868. In his religion Mr.
Bucher was a member of the German Baptist
Church. He took a prominent part in school mat-
ters, being a member of the school board at the time
free schools were established in Lebanon county.
To him and his good wife were born the following
children : (i) Christian became a minister early in
life, and is now a bishop of the German Baptist
Church. He has a wife and seven children, Mohler
'(a deacon), Alice, Esther, Allen (a minister), Clara,
Amy and Ada. (2) Anna married Henry Horst,
and is deceased. (3) Jacob, a successful farmer,
is now residing near the old home in Lebanon coun-
ty. (4) .Susan married William Gingrich, of Leba-
non county, and they have a son, Alfred, in the min-
isti-y. (5) Veronica married Jonas Royer, of Leba-
non county. (6) Elizabeth married John Ketter-
ing, of Lebanon county. (7) George is mentioned
below.
Rev. George Bucher was reared at the old home-
stead and received a district school education. Be-
ginning life as a farmer, he also taught during the
■winter seasons for a time. in Lebanon county. When
a young man he was called to the ministry, and for
thirty-six years has preached the gospel in Lebanon
and Lancaster counties, being self-supporting. In
1896 he purchased a farm near Mechanic Grove,
where he has followed farming, and he still preaches
on the Sabbath. In 1898, very largely through his
influence, a church was erected at Mechanic Grove,
where he ministers to a congregation of some thirty
families of the Dunkard faith.
In 1866 Mr. Bucher was married to Miss Anna
Pfoutz, who died in i88r, leaving him seven chil-
dren : ( I ) Mary is the wife of Prof, and Rev. Isaac
Newton Harvey Beahm, now of Elizabethtown, who
has proved himself one of the best of teachers and
preachers. His labors have extended from the At-
lantic to the Pacific. They have four children,
Annie, Sadie, Willie and Esther. (2) Lizzie, for a
time a successful teacher in Lebanon county, is the
wife of Prof. L. D. Eikenbury, principal of the
North Manchester (Ind.) College, and has two chil-
dren, Anna and Flora M. (3) Sarah is the wife of
John J. John, a minister, and teacher in the Union
Bridge College, in Maryland, and they have three
children, George B., Eva and Donald. (4) Prof.-
Aaron, born in Lebanon county, is unmarried, and
lives in South Bend, Wash. He is a graduate of the
Lebanon Business College. (5) George lives in the
State of Washington, with his brother Aaron, who
has filled important positions in Eastern colleges.
(6) Annie lives with her parents. (7) Benoni also
resides at home.
Rev. George Bucher was married Sept. 26, 1882,
to Mrs. Fianna (Pfoutz) Philippy, at that time the
widow of Peter F. Philippy. She was born Sept.
21, 1850, and belongs to one of the old families of
Lebanon county, her father, Amos Pfoutz, being an
old tailor and farmer of the county. To this union
have come: (i) Rufus, born in 1883, who was
selected for the ministry in 1901 ; (2) Fianna, born
in June, 1886; and (3) Willie, born in September,
1888.
Mr. Bucher has never taken any part in politics,
devoting himself entirely to his work as a preacher of
the Gospel and to his farming, owning two large and
well cultivated farms. Beginning with but little
education, by close application and a lifetime of
study he has become one of the best informed men
in the county. His integrity is unquestioned, and he
is greatly respected by all who know him.
HENRY F. ESHBACH, one of the representa-
tive farmers of Lancaster county, now retired from
the active conduct of his farm, belongs to one of the
old and honored families of the State of Pennsyl-
vania.
Christian Eshbach, grandfather of Henry F.,
was born in Conestoga township, this county, ac-
companying his father, John Eshbach, to Lancaster
township, when he was a lad of eight years. He
was reared on the farm which is still in the posses-
sion of the family, and became one of the most suc-
cessful agriculturists of the county. Christian Esh-
bach was a good, honest, conscientious man, be-
1034
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
loved by his family and the community, and valued
in the Old Mennonite Church, of which he had long
been a member. He married Mary Brant, and they
became the parents of three children:' John, de-
ceased, who was a farmer of Lancaster township ;
Mary, deceased, who was the wife of Henry Herr ;
and Christian, father of Henry F.
Christian Eshbach (2), son of Christian, was
born on the old homestead Jan. 29, 1833, and con-
tinued on the piace until he had attained his majority.
His education was acquired in the common schools
of his locality, and he managed the home farm until
1877, when he retired from activity in favor of his
son, Henry F. In 1853 he married Miss Anna For-
rey, and one son was born to this union, Henry F.
Both parents are consistent members of the Old Men-
nonite Church.
Henry F. Eshbach was born on the old family
homestead Sept. 29, 1S54, ^"^ was educated in the
common schools of the county. Taking entire charge
of the farming operations at the age of twenty-two,
• he has devoted all his energies to agriculture and
Icindred lines. The members of this family have long
been known as the best of farmers, and Henry F.
Eshbach has kept up the standard of excellence. In
the spring of 1896 he retired, moving from the old
homestead to his present comfortable residence, on
the Millersville pike road, within three miles of the
city of Lancaster.
Henry F. Eshbach was married Sept. 26, 1876, to
Barbara M. Denlinger, who passed out of life Dec.
21, 1899. Mr. Eshbach is one of Lancaster county's
most highly respected citizens, is public-spirited and
liberal minded, and has been identified with all of the
progressive movements in his section, in the interests
of morality and good government.
JACOB M. STAUFFER (deceased) was born
in West Hempfield township July 18, 1849, '^nd died
on the family farm Aug. 19, 1899. He was buried
in the Chiques Hill Meeting House cemetery in
Rapho township.
John StauflFer, his father, was a farmer of West
Hempfield township and died there in May, 1849,
at the age of fifty years. He married Mary Miller,
who died May 14, 1900, at the age of eighty-one
years, and is buried on Mussers' farm, in West
Hempfield township. She belonged to the Old Men-
nonite Church. To the union of John and Mary
Stauffer were born the following named children:
John M. (deceased), who was married twice, first
time to a Hossle, and second to a Greider ; Abraham
(deceased), who married Miss Kate Nissley; Henry
M., of Rossmere, Lancaster county; Anna M. ; and
Jacob M.
In November, 1878, Jacob M. Stauffer mar-
ried Miss Ella Young, of Lancaster, and to this
union were born : Cvrus Y., Alice Y., Abraham
Y., David Y. and Jacob Y. Mrs. Jacob M.
Stauffer was born in Mt. Joy township, daugh-
ter of Abraham and Susan (Hershey) Young,
of that township, where they now reside on a
farm. Mr. Young was born in 1833, and Mrs.
Young was born in 1832. They are mem-
bers of the German Baptist Church. For a
number "of years Mr. Young was a school director.
Mr. and Mrs. Young had children as follows : Jacob
H., a farmer of Mt. Joy, married Miss Anna Heis-
tand ; Clayton H. died in infancy ; Ella H. is the
widow of Jacob M. Stauffer. Mrs. Staufifer's grand-
parents on her father's side were John and Susan
(Kauffman) Young, and her maternal grandfather
was Jacob Hershey, who married a Witmer. All
were of Lancaster county.
Jacob M. Stauffer remained with his parents
until two years prior to coming of age, after which
he worked for different farmers in the neighbor-
hood. After his marriage he engaged in the manu-
facture of lime for two years, and then took his
father-in-law's farm in Mt. Joy township, where he
remained four years. He then took the David
Hershey farm, in Mt. Joy township, where he re-
mained thirteen years. In April, 1898, he purchased
and took charge of the John L. Brandt (formerly
Sam Hossler) farm, in Rapho township, where he
remained until his death. He was a good Chris-
tian man, and an active member ot the German Bap-
tist Church. His widow remains on the farm,
which is a fine place of ninety-seven acres, managed
for her by her sons. They are progressive, and un-
der their efforts the tract is very profitable. The
family is well known and respected in the commun-
ity and none stand higher in the good will of all
who know them, than Mrs. Stauffer and her sons
and daughters.
JOSEPH G. JAMISON. Among the energetic
and representative farmer citizens of Little Britain
township, residing in Oak Hill, is Joseph G. Jami-
son, who carries on a prosperous machinery and im-
plement business in that place, doing business for
the Walter A. Wood Harvesting Machine Co. He
also manages a small, well kept and finely improved
farm, and is one of the successful and reputable citi-
zens of his part of the county.
Mr. Jamison was born in Little Britain township
June 7, 1848, son of John and Mary (Gyles) Jami-
son, of the same township, the latter a daughter of
Joseph Gyles, of Chester county. John Jamison was
a son of John and Mary Ann (Patton) Jamison, the
former of whom was born in Ireland, and was an
early settler in Lancaster county. Ox their twelve
children, nine grew to maturity:- Joseph, James,
Samuel, John, Adam, William, Isabel, Catherine
and Margaret, all of whom have passed away.
John Jamison was born in 1820, and was married
m 1842. His wife died in 1866, and he survived un-
til Aug. 5, 1896. Their eleven children were:
Robert P., who died during the Civil war;
Mary A., who married Allan C. Dance, of
Wilmington, Del. ; Joseph G. ; Laura J. ' and
Florence E., twins, the former of whom mar-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1035
ried Elwood Yonng, of Chester county, and the lat-
ter of whom married John Ritter, of Westchester,
Pa. ; Harvey, who Hves in Chester county ; Estella,
who died at the age of fourteen years ; and several
who_ died in infancy. John Jamison was a true
patriot and loyal citizen, serving faithfully and well
in Company D, 178th P. V. I. Iri politics he was a
Republican, and he was an honorable and industri-
ous citizen.
Joseph G. Jamison was reared on the farm, and
was educated in the public schools of his district.
In his eighteenth year, during the Civil war, he was
in the employ of the United States Government at
Giesboro Point, Washington, D. C. Fraternally
Mr. Jamison is connected with several orders, being
a past grand of the I. O. O. F. ; sachem of Oclo-
conee Tribe, No. 324, I. O. R. M. ; and a member
of the Good Templars. He his also organized a
lodge of the Improved Order of Heptasophs, by a
commission of the supreme organizer, John W.
Cruett, of Baltimore. In political preference he has
long been a stanch Republican, and is school di-
rector of Little Britain township. He is prominent
in business as well as in social and political circles.
On Dec. 9, 1869, Mr. Jamison was married to
Miss Hattie Reburn, born Jan. 6, 1849, daughter of
Thomas and Jane (Featherman) Reburn, of Ches-
ter county. She was one of a family of six children
born to her parents, the other members being:
Michael, a resident of Fulton township ; Nancy
Jane, unmarried; Benjamin, of Lancaster; Eliza-
beth, unmarried; and Jane.
JOHN BENDER, the genial proprietor of the
"Eden Hotel," is a representative of an old settled
family in Lancaster county.
David Bender, the great-grandfather of John,
was born in Upper Leacock township, July 26, 1741,
and died April 20, 1824. His wife, Margaret, was
born Oct. i, 1755, and died Sept. 21, 1809. Mr.
Bender was one of the founders of that branch of the
German Reformed Church which is known as the
Heller's Church. He was a successful farmer, and
when he died left his two sorts, John and George,
each a fine farm. He also was the father of five
daughters: Catherine, the wife of Joseph Heller;
Susan and Sarah, who died unmarried; one who
married a Mr. Whideler ; and another who married
a Mr. Shreiner.
John Bender, son of David and grandfather of
John, was born in Upper Leacock township, where
iie followed farming until his death. Elizabeth
Rinzer, his wife, became the mother of eleven chil-
dren: One that died in infancy; David; Michael;
Mariah ; George ; \^''illiam ; John ; Adam ; Diller ;
Joseph ; and Widler.
George Bender, the father of John, was born in
TJpper Leacock township in 1819, and was a life-
long farmer. He was married Feb. 10, 1842, to
Miss Harriet Johnson, of Maytown, by whom he
became the father of the following children : John,
whose name introduces this article; Mary C, the
wife of Daniel R. Donor; Diller, deceased; Anna
E., widow of Samuel Patterson; Carpenter W., of
Newhall; George J., of East Dubuque, Iowa; Alice,
wife of Milton Groff ; and Frances L.; wife- of David
Myers.
John Bender was born March 3, 1843, in Upper
Leacock township, where the family had long been
established, and where he was reared on the farm.
He was educated in the public schools, and when he
was about twenty-eight years of age, he began farm-
ing for himself in Earl township, where he remained
some five years. He was in West Earl township
one year, and in 1880 removed to Manheim town-
ship, to take charge of a farm for Mr. B. J. Mc-
Grann, following farming and teaming for two
years. At the end of that time he sold his stock and
bought the hotel at Eden, which he conducted for
four years. After selling it, he bought it back again
in 1889, and continues as its landlord to the present
date. . A genial and pleasant man he has proved
peculiarly successful in his hotel work, which has
proved very profitable to him. As a farmer he ex-
celled, and at a plowing contest in the county won
a prize of $500 offered for the straightest furrow
and the most even plowing. Mr. Bender is a broad-
gauge man, and is deeply interested in the public
welfare. He bears one of the old and honored names
in Lancaster county, and his life has been such as tcv
add to its lustre.
Mr. Bender was married Feb. 27, 1882, to Miss
Serena B., a daughter of Jacob and Selma (Bod-
derf ) Longenecker ; she was born near Lincoln, Lan-
caster county, Aug. 19, 1849. They are pleasant
and affable people and are among the most worthy
and respected citizens of the community. Mr.
Bender takes much pride in the memory of his abil-
ity as a teamster in the days when he was on the
road. He won the "bells," given as a token of being
the best driver on the road.
FRANKLIN BOOKS, a noted farmer of East
Drumore township, Lancaster county, was born in
that township near the Colerain line, Feb. 24, 1840,.
a son of Samuel and Mary (Reed) Books, both na-
tives of this county.
Samuel Books was born in 1800, a son of Mi-
chael and Nancy (Groff) Books, one of the old
families of Lancaster county, who reared a large
family, all the members of which are dead. He
settled on a twenty-five-acre tract, now a part of the
Books farm, on which he erected a small house.
Gradually he increased the farm by frequent pur-
chases of small amounts of land, until he had come
to own one of the large farms of the township. In
1870 he built the house where Franklin Books is
now living, and where his wife, Mary Reed, who-
was about four years his junior, died in Februarv,
1874, preceding him to the Better Land by some five
years. Samuel Books and his wife were the parents
of sixteen children, twelve of whom were living at
1036
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the time of their death. We have record of the fol-
lowing: (i) William died imraarriea in 1892;
(2) Samuel, born in 1832, lives in York county ; (3)
George, born in 1836, died in childhood ; (4) Jacob,
born in 1838, is married, and lives in Oxford, Ches-
ter county; (5) Franklin is our subject; (6) Ben-
jamin, born in 1842, lives in Indian Territory; (7)
Alice, born in 1843, is the widow of William Lewis,
of Little Britain, and is the mother of two children ;
(8) James, born in 1846, is married and has a fam-
ily in Little Britain, where he is engaged in business
as a farmer: (9) Michael and (10) Elizabeth, twins,
torn in 1848, of whom Michael is a farmer and has
a wife and family in Chester county, while Elizabeth
is the widow of David Rimer, of Eden township;
(ir) Ivan, born in 1852, is married and lives in
Chester county; (12) Sarah, born in 1854, married
Frank Conklin, and died, leaving one son, Lindley;
{13) Mary, born in 1857, is the wife of Harry
Brooks, of Lancaster, and the mother of Daisy, War-
ren, Cora and Nellie.
Franklin Books was reared on the home farm,
and has remained on the parental home, caring for
"his parents as long as they lived, and he still holds
the farm. When a young man he engaged in team-
ing and in hauling ore and lime.
In March, 1883, Franklin Books was married to
Miss Lizzie J. Suters, a daughter of John and Eliza-
l)eth (Book) Suters, long established in the county.
The father was born in Little Britain, and the mother
in Colerain township. They lived on a farm in Cole-
rain township, 'where Mrs. Franklin Books was born
in 1846, having her education in the public school
of East Drumore township, where her parents soon
established their home, and where they lived and died.
Shortly after his marriage, Frankliri Books estab-
lished himself in Chester county, and four years later
Tie bought the old Books farm, on which he is found
at this writing.
Franklin Books and his wife are the parents of
four children: Harry, born in 1884; Gaylon, born
in 1885; Anne, born in 1887; and George C, born
in 1890, but who died in infancy. Mr. Books is a
Republican, and holds the same political ideas which
his father cherished. He and his wife are among
the most respected people of this section of Lancaster
county, and their generous hospitality is shared by
many neighbors and warm friends.
DAVID LEAMAN, one of the old and honored
•citizens of Lancaster county, has his residence on his
farm, one mile southeast of Neffsville. He was
torn on a farm in West Lampeter township, March
^31, 1 83 1, a son of Abraham and Barbara (Buck-
waiter) Leaman, and has worthily sustained the
honor of the name.
Abraham Leaman was the eldest in the family of
■eight children of Benjamin Leaman. He died when
only thirty years of age, but though cut off early in
life, gave indication of a strong and virile nature.
He married Barbara Buckwalter, a daughter of
David Buckwalter, of East Lampeter township, and
had five children : David ; Benjamin, of Lititz ; Miss
Catherine, a resident of Lancaster ; Maria, deceased
wife of Daniel Book, of West Lampeter township;
and Sariniel, who died in childhood. After the
father's death the mother was married to Isaac
Powell, by whom she had two children, Eli and
Amanda, both residents of Lancaster. The mother
died in her eighty-fifth year. She and her husTaand
were members of the Mennonite Church.
David Leaman was reared on the farm in East
Lampeter township, and educated in the common
schools. When he was twenty-one years of age he
entered into business activities for himself, and began
farming on the place he now occupies, containing
seventy-four acres. Following farming steadily un-
til 1888, he then retired and located in a handsome
and attractive house which he had built on the farm
adjoining the old family homestead, where he expects
to spend his declining days in peace and quiet.
Mr. Leaman was married Oct. 22, 1850, to Eliza-
beth Landis, a daughter of Abraham and Barbara
Landis, born in East Lampeter township, Sept. 27,
1829. This union was blessed with eight children,
of whom two are deceased : Barbara, wife of David
Rohrer, of Upper Leacock township ; Matilda, wife of
Ezra Groff, of Lower Leacock township ; Abraham, a
farmer of Manheim township; Mary Ann, wife of
Frank Landis, of East Lampeter ; David, who lives in
the old homestead and is wejided to Lizzie B. Hess ;
Elizabeth, wife of Benjamin Hess, of Oregon; and
Benjamin and Ezra, who both died in childhood. Mr.
and Mrs. Leaman and their children are members of
the Landis Valley Mennonite Church, where Mr.
Leaman has been a deacon since 1873.
JOSEPH AIKIN, a resident of Vintage, Lan-
caster county, was born in County Antrim, near Bel-
fast, Ireland, Dec. 22, 1834, a son of William J. and
Margaret (McCormick) Aikin, the former of whom
was a carpenter, and lived and died in Ireland, as did
also the latter.
Joseph Aikin was reared in his native land, and
had his education in the local schools. In 185 1 he
came to the United States, and located at Williams-
town, Lancaster county, where he had an uncle and
an aunt living, with whom he made his home. He de-
termined to learn the cabinet-maker's trade, and for
the ensuing three years he was engaged in serving
the necessary apprenticeship. At the end of that time
he went into business for himself as contractor and
builder, which he followed until 1899, when he sold
out his business to his sons, Joseph and William. In
contracting and building he had developed an ex-
tensive patronage, and was widely known through-
out the eastern part of Lancaster county, as a reliable
and capable workman, whose word could be safely
taken. In 1879 Mr. Aikin purchased some six acres
of land, and the following year erected a very hand-
some residence, which is still counted among the
most attractive and desirable in the village.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1037
On May 25, 1858, Joseph Aikin was married to
Miss Sarah W. Walker, a daughter of James and
Mary (McFadden) Walker. James Walker, who
was a native of County Den-y, Ireland, came to this
country when a lad of sixteen years, settling in the
vicinity of Williamstowh, Lancaster county, where
he made his home until his death, in 1849, at the age
of seventy-seven years. Mary (McFadden) Walker,
who was the second wife of James Walker, was born
in Lancaster county, and she became the mother of
two children : Sarah W., wife of Joseph Aikin, and
Anna, who married George Bower, of The Gap, and
died in 1900. By his first wife, who was Miss Anna
Kane, Mr. Walker had one son, Isaac, who died at
Peoria, Illinois.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Aikin are the parents of
five children : ( t ) James W. married Mary Witwer,
and lives at Nine Points, Lancaster county; he is a
blacksmith, and holds the office of justice of the
peace. (2) William John married Miss Clara
Hershey ; he is a contractor and builder at Williams-
town, where he has taken up his father's business.
(3) Anna Mary married Edward Charles, a far-
mer at Thorndale, Chester county, Pa. (4) Eliza-
beth is the wife of Amos K. Mcllvaine, of Philadel-
phia. (5) Joseph Leman is in business with his
brother, William J. ; he is unmarried. All the family
belong to the Paradise Presbyterian Church, where
Joseph Aikin serves as a trustee.
JAMES M. LONG, one of the leading citizens
of kirks Mills, Little Britain township, was born
June 26, 1861, in East Drumore township, a son of
Hugh and Rebecca (Pusey) Long, the former of
whom is one of the most highly respected of the citi-
zens of that township.
Hugh Long was a son of James Long, and a
grandson of John Long, who came from England
about 1750, and settled near Chestnut Level. By
trade he was an iron worker and some of the iron
work which has stood the storms of many years in
the Presbyterian Church in Chestnut Level, attests
his skill. The children born to Hugh Long and wife
numbered three, namely : James M. of tnis sketch ;
Annie, who is the wife of Martin Coulter, of Bart
township ; and Sanders, who manages the home farm.
In his youth James M. Long attended the dis-
trict schools of his" locality, growing up accustomed to
farm duties. His choice of career made of him an
agriculturist, and although at first his means were
limited and there was great need of industry, he
conquered all difficulties, and he is now one of the
substantial and leading farmers of his neighborhood.
His estate comprises one of the valuable and desir-
able tracts of land in Little Britain township, located
within one and one-half miles of Kirks Mills ; it con-
tains 192 acres' of fine land, improved with excellent
buildings of every kind.
On Nov. 28, 1889, Mr. Long was married to Miss
Alicfe C. L. Lanborn, of Drumore township, a daugh-
ter of Aquilla B. and Ann (Ambler) Lanborn, born
Feb. 14, 1867. Her parents had a family of three
children, the others being William, who was killed
by a kick of a horse ; and Addie, who resides with
Mrs. Long. Mr. Lanborn can trace a long line of
ancestry, as far back as the year 1697, when occurred
the birth of Robert, in Berkshire, England. Robert
had a son Robert, who came to America, and his
son George was born in Lancaster county. Pa.
George (2), son of George, was born in Chester
county Dec. 23, 1763, and his son, Smedley Lanborn;
was born June 6, 1807, and became the. grandfather
of Mrs. Long. Aquilla B. Lanborn was born Feb.
23, 1833, and he resides in the home of his daughter;
his wife, born March 25, 1831, died Jan. 11, 1894.
In 1888 Mr. Long removed from East Drumore
township and purchased his present farm, and has
ever since been prospering in farming and stock-
raising. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Long
are : Ralph W., born Aug. 30, 1891 ; Wynona May^
born July 19, 1893 ! Anna M., born iept. 6, 1895 ;
and Forest, born June i, 1901. In their pleasant
country home, surrounded by their bright and inter-
esting children, Mr. and Mrs. I^ong realize the best
there is in life. Mrs. Long was reared in the Quaker
belief, but Mr. Long is a member of the Presbyterian
Church, and both of them are among the most highly
respected residents of this township, where they have
lived so long.
AMOS M. RETTEW, master-painter for the
Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co., was born in
Cordelia, West Hempfield township, Lancaster
county, April 20, 1848, and is still a resident of the
village.
George R.ettew, father of Amos M., and also a
native of West Hempfield township, was a teamster
by vocation, and also served many years as consta-
ble. He died in 1866, aged forty years, and was bur-
ied in the Brookhart cemetery in West Hempfield
township ; his widow died in 1898, when seventy-
two years old, and her remains were interred in the
United Brethren cemetery, at Cordelia. To the
marriage of George Rettew with Elizabeth Mumaw
were bom nine children, namely: David, who died
young ; Elizabeth, who died in infancy ; Amos M. ;
George, who died young; Henry, a farmer in West
Hempfield township; Adeline, wife of John Eiker,
.1 carpenter in Cordelia; Harriet, unmarried; Eliza-
beth, wife of Samuel Kidinger, of Stark county,
Ohio ; and Andrew, who died young.
The paternal grandparents of Amos M. Rettew
were David and Mary (Kellar) Rettew, of French
extraction, the former a farmer in West Hempfield
township, who passed his latter days in retirement
and died in Marietta; his wife died in Maytown.
The maternal grandparents were Peter and Catherine
(Metzgar) Mnmaw, the former being a wood-cutter,
living in Lancaster.
Amos M. Rettew began making his own liveli-
hood at the age of fourteen years by hauling ore
in the banks, and five years later went to work in
1038
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the smelting furnaces, where he remained four years,
when he entered the employ of the R. & C. R. R. Co.,
as fireman. After two years, he returned to work in
the furnaces, and a few years later opened a tavern
in Cordelia, which he successfully conducted four
years, and then became a painter for the P. & R. R. R.
Co., and was advanced by degrees until, in 1892, he
was made foreman — the position he still holds.
In August, 1868, at Lancaster, Amos M. Rettew
married Mary Hoffman, and to this union have been
born three children, viz. : George, who married Mary
Strictmater, and is a laborer in Cordelia ; Lizzie, de-
ceased wife of Albert Bard, also a laborer in Cor-
delia; and Frederick H., deceased. Mrs. Mary
(Hoffman) Rettew was born in West Hempfield
township Dec. 12, 1850, a daughter of Frederick and
Magdelena (Snyder) Hoffman, who were born in
Germany, but who were married in Lancaster county.
Pa., and who died in West Hempfield township —
the father in 1889, at the age of seventy-one years,
and the mother in 1885, when sixty-seven years old.
They were members of the Germa,n Lutheran church,
and their remains were interred in the Lutheran
cemetery in West Hempfield township. Their chil-
dren, five in number, were as follows : Peter, a con-
ductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad; Mary, wife
of Amos M. Rettew ; Gertrude, wife of Albert
Harthorn, a farmer of Conoy township; Kate,' mar-
ried to George Stubefifoll, a carpenter in Philadel-
phia ; and Lena, deceased.
Amos M.. Rettew is a member of the P. & R.
Relief Association, and in politics is a Republican.
He has led an industrious and strictly honorable life,
and his present prosperous condition is the result
of his integrity and good management, as well as
of his unfailing courtesy toward all with whom he
had business transactions or social relations.
DAVID H. HARNISH, a substantial farmer
and business than of Pequea township, who is quite
extensively engaged in the truck gardening branch
of agriculture, and who also through the winter
seasons is a large slaughterer of hogs for the markets
of the country, belongs to that thrifty, frugal class
v/hich has given character and standing to Lancas-
ter county.
Mr. Harnish was born in the year 1841, in what
was then Conestoga township, but is now Pequea,
son of Martin and Fanny (Harnish) Harnish, and
the grandson of David Harnish, who was a success-
ful farmer and land owner of this locality. The
latter married Lizzie Suavely and to them were born
children as follows : Jacob, a resident of the City
of Lancaster'; David, a resident of Stark county,
Ohio; Abram, who also moved to Ohio, and who
died in that State ; Fanny, married to Abner Rohrer,
and now deceased ; John and Eliza, .also now de-
ceased ; and Martin.
Martin Harnish, the father of David H., was
reared to agricultural pursuits. On reaching ma-
ture years he was married to Fanny Harnish, who
was born March 11, 1804. They were plain, unas-
suming country folk, good Christian God-fearing
people, who reared their children in that line and to
habits of industry and usefulness. They were iden-
tified with the Reformed Mennonite Church. They
died, the father in 1884, and the mother in 1887,
and their remains rest in the cemetery at New Dan-
ville. Their children were: Fanny (died in in-
fancy), Lizzie, Annie (deceased wife of John L.
Brenneman), Martin and 'David H.
David FI. Harnish was reared on the home farm,
and not unlike lads of the general farmer of that
period, had only such schooling as the neighboring
district schools afforded. These he attended but for
a brief period between work in the winter months,
for through the seasons of preparation and planting
and harvesting he was hard at it in ploughing, sow-
ing and reaping; and in the winter season between
the doing of his chores and the riding of horses in
tramping out and threshing the grain, he had only
intervals at school, and hence meagre educational
advantages. He has for years paid considerable
attention to gardening, the raising of vegetables, etc.,
for the city markets. He is largely engaged through
the winter slaughtering hogs for market, in which
business he is probably the most extensively engaged
of any one man, outside of the city, in Lancaster
county. In the winter of 1899-1900 he killed be-
tween 200 and 300 head. He has been industrious,
energetic and frugal, and through his persistency
and his tenacity of purpose, has risen to a creditable
position among his fellow men. He has been a good
manager, and has met with deserved success. He
adheres to the religious faith of his forefathers, and
is a consistent member of the Reformed Mennonite
Church, as are also all members of his family.
On October 31, 1878, David H. Harnish was mar-
ried to Barbara Eckman, daughter of Isaac and
Delilah (Benedict) Eckman, and two children have
blessed the union, namely : Noah, who is associated
in business with Riley Brothers & Raub, hardware
merchants of Lancaster ; and Cora.
T. M. ROHRER, M. D., a well known member of
the medical profession in New Providence, Lancas-
ter county, was born Dec. 7, 1854, a s.on of John K.
and Mary (Peoples) Rohrer.
The ancestors of John K. Rohrer came from Al-
sace, Germany, and emigrated to this country, set-
tling in Lancaster county in the early days. John
Rohrer, the grandfather of our subject, left a family
of two children, by his first marriage. John K.,
the father of our subject; and Maria, who married
John Sides, and moved to Steriing, III, where she is
still living at an advanced age. By a second mar-
riage he had four children: Benjamin, Jacob, Isaac
and Annie.
John K. Rohrer, son of John, settled in New
Providence, where he followed merchandising until
his death in 1863. His wife, Mary Peoples, daughter
of John and Susan Peoples, pioneers of Lancaster
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1039
county, died in 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer were
survived by four children : (i) B. F., born in 1843,
was reared in Lancaster county, and received his
education in the schools of the county and at Pough-
keepsie, N. Y. ; he married Miss Kate Kelley, of St.
Louis, and they now reside at Hummelstown, Dau-
phin Co., Pa., where Mr. Rohrer is engaged as a
bookkeeper for the Brown Stone Co. ; they have three
daughters : Sue, Mary and Katie, all graduates of
the Millersville State Normal school. (2) Susan,
born in 1846, is the wife of Dr. W. J. Wentz, of New
Providence. They have a family of six children, as
follows ; Bertie, wife of A. W.' Meyer, of Lancas-
ter county; John, of Providence; B. Frank, a phy-
sician of Philadelphia; Mary; Emily; and Charles,
a student in the Philadelphia Medical College. (3)
John, born in 1848, married Miss Annie Leaman, of
Lancaster county, and they reside on his farm in
Strasburg township ; they have a family of seven
children. (4) Dr. T. M. is the subject of this sketcn.
Dr. T. M. Rohrer was reared in Lancaster county.
Pie attended the State Normal school at Millersville,
and then entered the Jefferson Medical College in
Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1881. He lo-
cated in the town of Quarryville after graduation,
and has since practiced his profession in that town.
In 1890 Dr. Rohrer married Miss Sue E. Hensel,
and three children have been born of this union:
Mary H., born in 1891 ; Robert H. and Richard P.,
twins, born in 1895. Mrs. Rohrer was born in 1863,
daughter of George W. (deceased) and Anna M.
Hensel, of Quarryville borough. She is a lady of
culture and refinement, and is a gradtiate of Linden
Hall Seminary, in Lancaster county. Dr. Rohrer
is a Republican in politics, and has been a burgess
and member of the council. The Doctor and wife
are members of the Reformed Church. He is a mem-
ber of the Lancaster County and the State Medical
Societies. The Doctor owns and occupies a fine
house in the borough, and is one of the well-to-do
practitioners of the district. He is a kind-hearted
and charitable gentleman, whose hand has always
been open to the deserving. He is well-known and
universally respected for his merit as a man and a
member of society.
WESLEY MILLER, tax collector of West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county, for the past
five years, and a lifelong farmer, is one of the best
and most favorably known residents of Silver
Spring. He is yet a comparatively young man, but
represents one of the old families of Lancaster coun-
ty. He was born in East Hempfield township Oct.
20, 1857, son of Christian and Catherine (Moul)
Miller, natives, respectively, of East Hempfield
township, Lancaster county, and of Cumberland
county.
Christian Miller, born in June, 1828, followed
farming through life and is now a resident of Ful-
ton township, Lancaster Co. His wife, Catherine,
was born in April, 1828, daughter of John Moul.
To Christian and Catherine Miller were born the
following children : Caron, deceased ; Edwin, de-
ceased ; Franklin, a farmer of Pequea township ;
Wesley; John, deceased; Richard, of Fulton town-
ship; Hiram, a farmer of Fulton township; Mary,
at home; and Susan, wife of Winfield Smith, of
Fulton township.
Wesley Miller was reared on the farm, receiv-
ing a good common school education, and early ap-
plying his energies to agriculture. He married,
Sept. 21, 1879, in Mountville, Pa., Miss Mary Leon-
ard, born in Pequea township Sept. 14, 1856, the
daughter of Abraham and Barbara (Shawb) Leon-
ard. Her paternal grandparents were Frederick
and Elizabeth (Lutz) Leonard, of Manor township,
the grandfather serving as a soldier in the war of
1812. Her maternal grandparents were Martin and
Catherine (Book) Shawb, prominent farmers of
Providence township. Abraham Leonard died May
25, 1898, aged eighty-seven years; his wife died in
December, 1875, aged fifty-four years. Both were
devout members of the Dunkard church. Their
family of four children consisted of Martin, a car-
penter of West Hempfield township ; Mary, wife of
Wesley Miller; Catherine, deceased; and Aaron, a
farmer of West Hempfield township. To Wesley
and Mary (Leonard) Miller three daughters have
been born, of whom Katie, the eldest, and Stella M.,
the youngest, are at home ; and Alice B. is deceased.
in 1899 Mr. Miller retired from active farm life,
and is now a resident of Silver -Spring. In poli-
tics he is a Republican and is one of the leading
members of the party in West Hempfield township.
He is a member of the Mystic Chain, and in the so-
cial and business interests of the township is popu-
lar and influential.
CLINTON E. REMSBURG. Among the
flourishing industries of the town of Maytown is
the bakery business, and a leader in this line is
Clinton E. Remsburg, who, since 1894, has there con-
ducted a first-class modern bakery, and is the pur-
veyor through the surrounding country of fine
bread, cakes, pies and pretzels, requiring two wagons
to supply his customers.
Mr. Remsburg was born in Walkersville, Fred-
erick Co., Md., Jan. 22. 1862, a son of Edward and
Sarah (Pacely) Remsburg, the former a native of
Maryland, the latter of France. Both parents are
residents of Walkersville, where they live retired,
and both are valued members of the Reformed
Church. To them were born : Cordelia, who mar-
ried Jacob W. Cramer, a farmer near Walkersville ;
Lauretta V., widow of John V. Cramer; Amer-
icus E., of Fairfax countv, Va. ; Florence J., the wife
of Dr. M. E. Leatherman, an eye and ear specialist
of Washington, D. C. ; Alice M., wife of Milton
Sparr, of Woodsboro, Md. ; Charles D., a druggist
of Washington, D. C. ; and Clinton E.
Although Clinton E. Remsburg has made a suc-
cess as proprietor and manager of the Excelsior Bak-
1040
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ery of Maytown, he was reared on a farm in his na-
tive State, where he was educated and remained until
he was twenty-two years old. His natural bent was
in the direction of a business life, and for two years
he was a very successful salesman in the wagon and
carriage line, but in 1887 he changed his residence
from Walkersville to Marietta, Pa., and for a year
was engaged in the leaf tobacco business. Later he
saw a better opening in the sign and house painting
line, which he followed for five years, coming to
May town in December, 1894.
Mr. Remsburg has no practical knowledge of the
baking business, but he is a capable manager, and
understands the needs of the line into which he has
entered with such success, hiring the most thorough
workmen and using only the very best materials. In
this way he has built up a trade second to none out-
side of the cities of the State, and his patronage is
constantly increasing, as he endeavors, in ev^ery way,
to fulfill every demand and keen abreast of the times,
in all kinds of substantial and delicate bakery goods.
Mr. Rernsburg was married, Dec. 11, 1884, to
Miss Alice G. Brenneman, of Frederick, Md., and to
this union have been born the following children :
Charles R., Elwood, Walter and Robert, the last
named deceased. Mrs. Remsburg was born in East
Donegal township May 14, 1863, a daughter of John
B. and Fanny (Engle) Brenneman; the family re-
moved to Frederick, Md., in 1865. In 1885 Mr.
Brenneman, with his family, returned to East Done-
gal, in 189T rAribving to York, where he is now
successfully engaged in the grocery business. Both
he and his wife arc consistent members of the
Church of God. They have had children as fol-
lows : Anna, who married Hon. R. M. Neighbors,
an official of the Frederick county, Maryland, Or-
phan Asylum ; Lizzie, who married George E.
Longenecker, of Philadelphia; Monroe, deceased;
Martha, who married William Kellar, foreman in
a large mill in Ellicott City, Md. ; Rhoda, who mar-
ried E. E. Grove, of Maytown ; Alice G., Mrs. Rems-
burg; Ella, who married H. B. Picking, of York;
Sallie, deceased : Myra, who married George Anth-
rom, a ticket agent for the Pennsylvania Railway
Co.; Harry, deceased; Lotta,who married Harry
Kochenwawer, of Lancaster; Mary, who married
William Kellar, assistant superintendent of the coal
mines at Irwin, Pa. ; and Daniel, who assists his
father in the store.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Remsburg are leading mem-
bers of the Reformed Church, and in his political
affiliations he is a Republican. Mr. Remsburg oc-
cupies a high position in the public esteem, and is
universally regarded as one of the substantial and
representative citizens of Maytown.
CHRISTIAN H. HOOVER. By both his pa-
ternal and maternal lines of ancestry Christian H.
Hoover, one of the prosperous and influential citi-
zens of Paradise township, is the representa-
tive of one of the oldest family names in
Lancaster county. It was originally spelled Huber,
and the pioneer forefathers of Christian H. were
known by that name. He is a son of Jacob H. and
Annie (Huber) Huber.
Christian Huber, his maternal grandfather, was
a son of Christian Huber, and was born in Strasburg
■ township, where he passed his entire life as one of
the sturdy and prosperous farmers, owner of a prop-
erty of 141 acres, located two miles south of the bor-
ough. He married Miss Annie Shaub, and to them
were born the following named children : Henry
S., who was a farmer of Providence township ; Bar-
bara, who married first Martin Groff and later Sam-
uel Wenger, of Providence township ; Fannie, who
is still living, unmarried, at the age of eighty-twO'
years, in Strasburg township, with D. E. GrofiE;
Martha, who died unmarried ; Maria, wife of Martin
Huber, of Willowstreet ; Christiana, who married
Henry H. Huber, and removed to Illinois ; Chris-
tian, a farmer, who died in Strasburg township ; and
Annie, the mother of Christian H. Christian Huber,.
the father of the above children, lived to the age of
almost seventy years, and his wife reached the age of
seventy-two. They were faithful and earnest mem-
bers of the Old Mennonite Church.
Jacob Huber, the paternal grandfather of Chris-
tian H., was born in West Lampeter township, near
Big Spring, and remained there engaged as a farm-
er until his death, at the age of forty-five years. He
married Mary Herr, and to them were born the fol-
lowing children : Jacob H., father of Christian H. •
Martin, of Willowstreet ; Henry H., who went West
and there died ; Eliza, who married Cyrus Zittle, of
Lampeter ; and Susan, who is living unmarried, in
Lancaster, at the age of sixty-eight years.
Jacob H. Floover, father of Christian H., was
born in West Lampeter township May 7, 1822. He
was reared in his native township and prior to his
marriage removed to Strasburg township, where
he engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death.
He married Miss Annie Huber, who was born in
Strasburg township in 1822. Of their eight chil-
dren four died in childhood. The survivors are
Christian H. ; Amos, a farmer of Sterling, 111. ; Fan-
nie, wife of Elias Esbenshade, of Strasburg town-
ship ;_and Elias, of Paradise township. The father
died in 1895, at the age of seventy-three years, and
the mother on Aug. 12, 1896, aged seventy-four.
Christian H. Hoover was born Nov. 4, 1842, and
was reared on the farm. He received his education
in the public schools, and when twenty-three years-
of age began his career as an agriculturist in Stras-
burg township, where for nine years he farmed on
rented property. He then removed to the farm he
now owns, which was then the property of Peter
Herr, his father-in-law. This farm he continued to
operate under lease until 1894, when he purchased
the property. It contains ninety-four acres, and is
one of the finest farms in Lancaster county. Its im-
provements, which are among the best, were made
by Mr. Hoover, who has amply evinced that he is
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1041
one of the wide-awake and public-spirited farmers
of the county. He does not farm merely as a means
of livelihood, nor because that vocation was- nearest
to him, but because he likes the work, and it is his
fondness and interest in agricultural work that ac-
count very largely for his marked success.
Mr. Hoover married Miss Martha Herr, who
was born March 14, 1839, on the farm they now
occupy, daughter of Peter Herr. Mr. and Mrs.
Hoover have no children of their own, but have
given a home to a nephew, Moris H. Mylin. They
are members of the Old Mennonite Church, and
their lives, in one of the rich and favored regions of
Lancaster county, have been spent in usefulness and
value to those about them. They are most highly
respected by all who know them.
THE REV. SYDNEY KEY EVANS, Rector of
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Manheim, and of Hope
Church, Mount Hope, is from an old English family,
which has achieved much distinction in Theology,
Medicine and Law. He was born at Aberavon,
South Wales, Oct. 20, 1873, and is the son of Will-
iam and Elizabeth (Key) Evans. With his parents
he came to America in 1885, and settled at Scranton,
Pa. After graduating from the Scranton high school,
in 1800, he finished his preparation for college at
the "School of the Lackawanna," Scranton, and in
September, 1891, entered Trinity College, Hartford,
Conn. Many prizes in Latin, Greek and English,
and other college honors, the presidency of his class,
the editorship of his college paper and the College
Annual, fell to him. At the college commencement,
in June, 1895, he delivered the Latin Salutatory, and
received the degree of Bachelor of Arts with special
honors in Latin, Greek and English. While at col-
lege Mr. Evans was a member of the I. K. A., the
second oldest college society in America, and at the
end of his Junior year his scholarship won him an
election to the Phi Beta Kappa Society. In 1898 his
Alma Mater conferred upon him the degree of Mas-
ter of Arts.
In September, 1895, Mr. Evans entered the Gen-
eral Theological Seminary, New York, where he
pursued his studies with much distinction. At his
graduation, in May, 1898, he was one of five in a class
of fifty to receive a special degree of Bachelor of
Sacred Theology. On June 15, 1898, Mr. Evans
was ordained to the Diaconate at St. Luke's Church,
Altoona, by the Right Rev. Ethelbert Talbot, D. D.,
Bishop of Central Pennsylvania; and on Dec. 18,
1898, at his old parish church, St. Luke's, Scranton,
he was ordained to the Priesthood by the same
Bishop. On July i, 1898, he became curate at St.
James' Church, Lancaster, but resigned this charge
to assume his present rectorship, on Thanksgiving
Day, 1898. Under his devoted care there has been
a remarkable spiritual and material development in
the churches at Manheim and Mount Hope. It was a
happv day for Mr. Evans, when, on St. Luke's Day,
1900,' Hope Church, Mount Hope, was re-opened
66
after a year spent in enlarging and remodeling the
church by the addition of a new Chancel, Vestry and '
Porch, with a beautiful stone Altar and Pulpit and
Font, and many other memorials, at a cost of over
ten thousand dollars, the whole expense being borne
by Miss Daisy E. B. Grubb, of Lancaster, in memory
of her beloved parents, the late Clement and Mary
Brooke Grubb. On Christmas Day, 1902, a splendid
Baptistery, with three beautiful memorial windows,
were unveiled. The Baptistery is also a gift from
the same generous friend of the parish, in memory of
her parents.
St. Paul's, Manheim, has more than quadrupled
its communicant list under its present rector. The
parish is now out of debt, has made many improve-
ments, and has secured the ground and a goodly sum
of money toward a new and larger church building,
which has become a necessity. After such success,
and with the outlook so promising, it is not strange
that the Rev. Mr. Evans has received numerous calls
to other and larger fields, but he has laid them all
aside in unselfish devotion to his people. And it
goes without saying, that his people are devoted to
him.
SOLOMON R. HERR. Prominent among the
representative farmers of Lancaster county residing
in Upper Leacock township is Solomon R. Herr.
A native son of the county, his whole life has been
spent here, carrying agricultural pursuits to the
highest perfection, and by a life of industry and in-
tegrity, reflecting credit upon a very old and honor-
able name in this part of the State. He was born at
Bird-in-Hand, in East Lampeter township, Oct. 4,
1858.
His paternal grandparents were Benjamin R. and
Mary (Rank) Herr. farming people of East Lam-
peter township, while on the maternal side of the
family he is a grandson of Solomon and Elizabeth
(Hoover) Myers, the former of whom was a native
of Upper Leacock, and the latter of Earl township,
they, too, being wealthy and prominent farmers.
Jacob R. and Susannah (Myers) Herr, the par-
ents of Solomon R., were natives of Leacock and
Upper Leacock townships, the former still residing
in his native locality, where he was born March 18,
1828. Since 1891 he has lived retired. The mother
of our subject was born Nov. 16, 1828, and died July
24, 1884, her remains now resting in the Myers
cemetery in Upper Leacock township. The children
born to Jacob R. and Susannah (Myers) Herr were :
Benjamin ; Solomon R. ; Martin, who died in in-
fancy; Jacob M., deceased, who married Anna C.
Shaffer, and died April 30, 1888; Daniel, who died
in infancy; Samuel M., a farmer in Paradise town-
ship: Elizabeth, who died in infancy; and Abraham
M., a farmer in East Lampeter township.
Solomon R. Herr was reared on the farm and
attended the district schools, assisting his father un-
til his marriage, when he took entire charge of the
old homestead farm for one year, removing to an-
1042
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
other tract in Upper Leacock township, where he
remained for three years. In 1893 he removed to
his present most valuable, improved and finely cul-
tivated farm where he has continued ever since.
On Jan. 10, 1889, Mr. Herr was married to Miss
Lydia A. Landis, a representative of one of the oldest
and most substantial families in the county. No
children have been born to this union. Mrs. Lydia
A. (Landis) Herr was born in Upper Leacock town-
ship. May 10, 1856, a daughter of Christian R. and
Hettie S. (Landis) Landis, of Upper Leacock town-
ship. Mr. Landis retired from active farming oper-
ations twenty-five years prior to his death, and he
was one of the leading and influential citizens of Lan-
caster county, being a director in the Lancaster
County National Bank; director in the Bridgeport
Pike Co. ; poor director ; and prison inspector. He
was one of the substantial and consistent supporters
of the Mennonite Church of his township, and was
the promoter of many religious and moral enterprises
in the county. His burial was in Stumptown. His
estimable widow, who was born Nov. 2, 1819, died
March 22, 1902. The children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Landis were : Henry L., who died in 1899, married
Mary Sechrist ; Abraham L. died Jan. 9, 1842 ; Amos
L. died on the same day and was laid away in the
same grave; Reuben L. resides with our subject;
Adam h., a farmer of East Lampeter township, mar-
ried Lavinia Landis ; Milton L., a farmer of Upper
Leacock township, married first Mattie Becker, and
second Lizzie Becker; and Lydia A. is the wife of
our subject.
Mr. Herr has always been a Republican in poli-
tics. Both he and wife have from youth been mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church. They are most
highly respected people, are esteemed through the
neighborhood, and valued in the Mennonite Church.
HENRY B. WOLGEMUTH, who is one of the
leading farmers and prominent citizens of Mt. Joy
township, belongs particularly to this locality, hav-
ing been born on his present farm Oct. 21, 1852,
and having made it his home during many years.
His parents were Henry and Fanny (Brubaker)
Wolgemuth, the former of this township, and the
latter a native of Rapho township.
Henry Wolgemuth, the father of Henry B.,
was a farmer in" this township for many years, con-
tinuing to manage his land until within four years
of his death, the latter event occurring on his farm,
Dec. 19, 1885, at the age of fifty-nine years, one
month and four days. His burial was on his own
land, in a private burial place, sacred to thp family.
His widow, who was born in 1834, resides in Mt.
Joy township. Mr. Wolgemuth was a member of
the River Brethren Church. Their children were:
Henry B., who married Lizzie Witmer, is a farmer
in Mt. Joy township ; Isaac B. married Sarah Horner,
and is a retired farmer at Dallas Center, Iowa ; Dan-
iel B. married Maria Shelley, and is a farmer in
Rapho township ; Eli B. married Amelia Gantz, and
is a farmer in Mt. Joy township ; Fanny B., Eliza-
beth B., Abraham B. and Catherine B., died in in-
fancy; and Barbara B. died at the age of eleven
years.
The paternal grandparents of our subject were
Daniel and Barbara (Witmer) Wolgemuth, the for-
mer of whom was born in Lancaster county, Dec. 13,
1778, and died Sept. 13, 1851; the latter was born
April 21, 1789, and died April 4, 1866. Both were
buried on the old farm where our subject now re-
sides. Grandfather Wolgemuth was a farmer, and
both he and family belonged to the River Brethren
Church. Their children were as follows : Joseph ;
Samuel, who married Barbara Sherrer ; Henry, who
became the father of our subject ; Barbara, who mar-
ried Jacob Engle; Catherine, who married Henry
Heisey; and Nancy, who married Abraham Bru-
baker. On the maternal side the grandfather was
Henry Brubaker, a native of Lancaster county, whose
wife, a member of the Longenecker family, was born
in Dauphin county. Both died near Florin, in Rapho
township.
Henry B. Wolgemuth of this sketch, remained in
his childhood home with his parents, until he was
prepared to found a home of his own. The succeed-
ing five years were spent in operating the farm for
himself. He finally left his present farm to his
parents and went on an adjoining farm. For seven
years he operated a farm in Cumberland county,
and after his return to Mt. Joy township, worked on
another farm for one year, and then purchased the
old farm from his father's estate. Thus Mr. Wolge-
muth has had a long and thorough experience, and
well deserves his reputation of being one of the lead-
ing and reliable agriculturists of the township. He
has taken considerable interest in educational mat-
ters, and has served very acceptably as school di-
rector for six years. In politics he belongs to the
Republican party, and he is always well posted on
current affairs.
On Sept. 28, 1876, in Harrisburg, Pa., Mr.
Wolgemuth was married to Miss Lizzie Witmer,
and three children have been born to this union,
namely : Abraham W., a farmer in Rapho township,
married Emma Ober; and Katie F. and Emily A.
are at home. Mrs. Wolgemuth was born May i,
1856, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Urich)
Witmer, natives of Lancaster county. They moved
to Franklin county in 1844, remaining there until
1857, Mrs. Wolgemuth being born there. Later re-
moval was' made by the family of Mr. Witmer to
Dauphin county, where he died in 1890, at the age
of seventy-one years. The mother of Mrs. Wolge-
muth died at the latter's home in 1883, at the age of
seventy-two years. They were buried in Chambers
Hill cemetery, in Dauphin county. Both belonged
to the River Brethren Church. The children born
to this union were : Fanny C, the widow of Samuel
Braham, of Steelton, Pa.; David W., a farmer in
Dauphin county ; Abraham W., a farmer in Dauphin
county ; and Elizabeth B.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1043
The Wolgemuth family and its connections are
all prominent in both agricultural and financial cir-
cles in Lancaster county. They also are noted in
all the branches for producing estimable women and
men who make reliable, law abiding and useful citi-
zens.
JOHN G. KURTZ, one of the well-known and
respected citizens of Lancaster county, who was for
many years a resident of East Earl township, and
now a resident of B3arl township, belongs to one of
the old and honored families of Lancaster county.
The first of his American ancestors came from Ger-
many.
Joseph Kurtz, his father, was born in Earl town-
ship, son of Samuel and Barbara (Showalters)
Kurtz, the former a farmer in that township. Joseph
Kurtz followed farming, and made a name as a
thoroughly successful man. He married Mattie
Groff, a descendant of Hans GrofF, and a daughter
of John Groff, of Earl township. He died in his
seventy-ninth year ; his wife died in her fifty-first
year. They had three children : Maria, who married
John Zimmerman, a resident of Earl township ; Leah,
who died young; and John G. They belonged to
the Mennonite Church.
John G. Kurtz was born Aug. 29, 1834, and was
reared on the farm of his birth, and his education was
received in the public and boarding schools. When
he was twenty-three he located in East Earl town-
ship for himself, where he owns the old homestead
of 120 acres, and followed farming until his retire-
ment in 1883. Always a public-spirited man, he held
several of the town offices in his more active days.
John G. Kurtz was married to Annie Musser, a
daughter of Henry and Anna (Martin) Musser.
Seven children blessed this union : Emma, wife of
Barton Z. Martin, of East ' Earl township ; Mary,
wife of A. G. Giffen, of Buckhannon, W. Va. ;
Martha, wife of Weaver Musselman, of Earl town-
ship; Martin, a resident of Shillington, Berks
, county ; Lizzie, wife of Samuel High, a resident of
Earl township ; Clara, wife of W. C. Grube, a resident
of Lancaster ; and Viola, wife of H. S. Muntzer, of
Leola, West Earl township.
WAYNE BARD, v/ho ranks among the prom-
inent and substantial farmer citizens of Upper Lea-
cock township, was born on the farm adjoining his
present place of residence, Dec. 15, 1842, son of
George and Caroline (Shindle) Bard. He is a
brother to George Bard, one of the prominent citi-
zens of the same township.
Until his marriage Mr. Bard remained assisting
his father on his farm, removing then to another
tract, on which he remained for three years, then re-
moving to Chester county. There he remained six
years, occasionally changing his location, and in 1878
he came to his present fine and well improved
property.
Mr. Bard was married, in October, 1866, in Lan-
caster, to Miss Susannah Weidler, and they have had
one son, Nathan W., who conducts a mercantile and
grocery business in Wilmington, Del. ; he married
Gertie Diamond, and they have three children,
Nathan W., Paul F. and Ruth S. Mrs. Bard was
born in Manheim, in August, 1846, daughter of
Jacob G. and Margaret (Stoner) Weidler, who live
in comfortable retirement in Mechanicsburg.
Mr. Bard has been a lifelong Democrat and up-
holds the principles of his party, believing they are
the best for the country. Both himself and wife
are consistent members of the Lutheran Church,
where they were highly esteemed.
JOSEPH WOLF. Among the well-known resi-
dents and retired business citizens of Lancaster is
Joseph Wolf, who for a number of years carried On
a large blacksmi thing establishment, which enjoyed
1 large patronage on account of the .excellent work
turned out and the honest and satisfactory methods
2m.ployed. Mr. Wolf was born in Baden, Germany,
June 9, 1830. His father was a blacksmith by trade,
and died in Baden in 1843, ^t the age of fifty-six
years. His widow, Catherine, survived until 185 1,
dying at the age of sixty years. Both parents were
worthy members of the Catholic Church. Their
five children were : E., who died in Germany ; John,
who died in Philadelphia; Shaffear, who died in
South America ; Catherine, who died in South Amer-
ica ; and Joseph, of this sketch.
Joseph Wolf attended school in Germany through
childhood, but when only thirteen years old entered
his brother's blacksmith shop in order to learn the
trade. He worked there as a journeyman until 1850,
and then emigrated to America, going, for the first
few months, to his brother, John, in Philadelphia.
He then found work at his trade, which he followed
there for twelve years. After coming to Lancaster,
he worked through two years for Mr. Nolty, and then
for others, but a little later he started into business
for himself and continued so engaged until 1897, at
which date he retired from active life. Mr. Wolf
was very successful and had a high standing among
business men. Fraternally he is connected with the
I. O. O. F. He is a constant attendant upon the ser-
vices of the Reformed Church, and a liberal con-
tributor to its support, although he is not formally
connected with it as a member.
In 1858, in Lancaster, Mr. Wolf was married to
Miss Barbara Ressler, and the following children
were born to this union: John A., who operates
his father's business at the old location, being himself
a skilled workman ; Emma L., AHce A., Kate and
Ida E., young ladies at home, the last named being a
successful teacher and a talented artist; Mary J.,
widow of George Harm, residing at home ; Barbara
E., at home ; Joseph M., a blacksmith also, married
to Lizzie Shaffer ; and Miss Bessie, at home.
Mrs. Wolf was born Dec. 23, 1837, in Baden,
Germany, daughter of Martin and Catherine (Hols-
worth) Ressler, of Baden, where their lives were
1044
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
passed. The former was a farmer and he died in
1850, at the age of fifty-five years, while the latter
died in 1843, ^t the age of thirty-six years. Their
children were as follows : Martin, who died, in Lan-
caster; Jacob, who lives in Dauphin county; John,
who died in Philadelphia; Mary, widow of George
Hulsworth, of Canada ; and Barbara, who became the
wife of our subject.
Mrs. Wolf and her children belong to the Re-
formed Church where they are valued and beloved.
Mr. Wolf is a fine example of sturdy, well-preserved
manhood and his kind manner and friendly neigh-
borliness have made him many warm personal
friends. The Wolf home is one of comfort, culture
and modern conveniences, and is adorned with speci-
mens of the talented daughter's brush. Socially the
family is prominent.
PHILIP STUMPF (deceased) was for many
years a prominent builder in the city of Lancaster and
surrounding country, where he enjoyed a high repu-
tation both as a tradesman and as an honorable busi-
ness man, for his interests never suffered from any
lack of ability in either respect.
In common with many of the most substantial
citizens of this locality, Mr. Stumpf was of German'
nativity, having been born Oct. 10, 1844, in Hessen-
Darmstadt. He was a son of John and Lena (Frees)
Stumpf, also natives of the Fatherland, who followed
him to the L^nited States in August, 1865, and settled
m Lancaster, Lancaster county. There the father
died in 1875, at the age of sixty-six years, but the
mother is still living in Lancaster, with her son Jacob
since 1868, at the advanced age of over ninety, hav-
ing been born May 30, 181 1. She is well preserved,
being very active, and possessing a remarkable mem-
ory. This worthy couple had children as follows:
Adam, who died in Germany ; Philip, mentioned be-
low; Mary, deceased wife of Martin Binkley; and
Jacob, a successful contractor and builder of Lan-
caster.
Philip Stumpf passed his early years and received
his education in his native land, but he soon decided
that his ambition needed another field. On coming
to this country, at the age of sixteen years, he made
his home in Lancaster, Pa., and was so well satisfied
with his location that he passed the remainder of his
life there. He gave his entire attention to his trade,
that of cabinetmaker, carpenter and builder, and was
rewarded by an ample competence, every dollar of
which he earned by well directed industry. The fru-
gal habits of his race, coupled with honest work and
g-ood management of its returns, insured his success,
and, what was of far greater value, secured for him
an enviable place in the confidence and esteem of his
iellowmen. Mr. Stumpf built St. Joseph's Hospital
and many other well-known buildings. He was pro-
gressive and displayed this spirit in his work as well
as in efiforts for advancement in inatters of public and
private concern.
In 1863, Mr. Stumpf was married in Lancaster,
Pa., to Henrietta Fritsch, and this union was blessed
with the following named children : John, who was
police patrolman two years, then police sergeant of
I.ancaster for four years, is now engaged in the hotel
business in that city; he married Lizzie Swartz.
Mary M. married George Effinger, who is in the hotel
business in Lancaster. Charles, who is also in the
hotel business in Lancaster, married Mary Utzinger.
Miss Rosa lives at home. George has been police ser-
geant in Lancaster for the past three years, and re-
sides at home. Albert married Florence Pickel ; he
is engaged in wall paper and decorating business with
his brother Philip. Philip is single and at horne.
Harry, a brick layer in Lancaster, married Mary
Burgie. Edward, who lives at home, is a cigarmaker
by trade. The family are Catholics in religious be-
lief, and Philip Stumpf, the father, held member-
ship in St. Joseph's Church. He was a fine singer,,
and was a member of the local Liederkranz, of which,
he served as president. His political support was
given to the Republican party. His death occurred
at the present home of the family in Lancaster,
March 15, 1896, and he is buried in St. Joseph's
cemetery.
Mrs. Henrietta (Fritsch) Stumpf was born June
26, 1844, in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, daughter
of .Sebastian and Theresa (Judith) Fritsch, of Hes-
sen-Darm.stadt, but who later came to America. Mr.
Fritsch was a stone mason by trade. He died in Jan-
uary, i8q8, aged eighty years, and his wife, who
preceded him to the grave, in 1893, reached the age
of seventy-five. They are buried in St. Joseph's
cemetery. Their children were : William, deceased ;
Henrietta, Mrs. Stumpf; Anna, Mrs. John Snyder,
of Lancaster ; Charles, now deceased ; John, a retired
resident of Lancaster: Rosa, wife of Jacob Wing-
inder, a baker of Lancaster ; George, who carries on
a cigar factory in Lancaster; and Frank, deceased.
BENJAMIN F. BLEACHER, in his life-time
a prominent and respected farmer of East Drumore
township, Lancaster county, was born Dec. 18, 1842,
a son of Benjamin and Mary (Herr) Bleacher. The
father settled on the farm in East Drumore town-
ship, where Walter Winters now lives, and became
one of the prosperous farmers of this section of the
county. To him and his wife were born eight chil-
dren, of whom Benjamin F. was the second. The
others are mostly living in the West.
Benjamin F. Bleacher attended the school at
Buck when a boy, and in early manhood enlisted in
Co. F, 122nd P. V. L, his regiment being assigned
to the 3d Brigade, 13th Army Corps. Mr. Bleacher
participated in the battles of Clouds Mill, Va., sec-
ond battle of Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chan-
cellorsville. In this last conflict he was wounded
by a bayonet in the right leg, and so injured, that he
was ordered discharged in February, 1863.
In December, 1865, Mr. Beacher was married
to Miss Ellen E. Graybill, who was born April 15,
1848, in East Drumore township, a daughter of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1045
Christian and Mary A. (Young) Graybill. Her
father was born in 1808 in Lancaster county, while
his wife was born in Northumberland county, the
following year. They made their home in East Dru-
more township, where he lived until his death, in
June, 1889. The wife and mother passed to her re-
ward in August, 1879. They left two sons and one
daughter : Amos ; Samuel, of York county ; and
Mrs. Bleacher.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bleacher set-
tled on a farm in East Drumore township, which has
teen the home of the family to the present time. Mr.
Bleacher died Feb. 13, 1890, leaving a widow and
nine children, as follows: (i) Oliver F., born in
September, 1866, located in Philadelphia in his early
manhood, where he is engaged in the barber busi-
ness : he married Jennie Gamber, and they have three
children, Ella, Nellie and Mary. (2) Erastus J.,
born in January, 1868, is now a resident of the city
■of New York. (3) William H., born in October,
1870, is a farmer and lives in East Drumore town-
ship, where he married Sarah Shop, and they have
three children, Sarah, Martha and Walter. (4)
Benjamin, born in August, 1872, lives in East Dru-
more township ; he married Mary Walton, and is
the father of three children, Earl, Ira and Alta. (5)
Mary E., born in November, 1874, married Walter
Graybill, lives with Mrs. Bleacher, and has one
•daughter, Ella. (6) Ephraim, born in September,
1876, died when eighteen years old. (7) John,
torn in September, .1879, is single, and is a type-
writer and phonographer, and helps support the fam-
ily at home. (8) Catherine N., born in April, 1883,
married Milton Graybill, and has her home in East
Drumore township. (9) Samuel A., born Aug. 7,
1888, is at home.
Mr. Bleacher was always a Republican, and was
a devoted member of the Methodist Church at Mount
Hope. He was well known, and widely respected
for his many good qualities and his excellent char-
acter.
AARON B. DEMMY, the leading paper
hanger, painter and wall paper merchant of Eliza-
hethtown, is a man of extensive business interests,
and in addition to his work just mentioned, he is
president of the Elizabethtown Electric Light Co.
He was born in Mount Joy township, Lancaster
■county, Jan. i, 1850, a son of Christ, and Matilda
(Brandt) Demmy, both natives of Lancaster county.
Christ. Demmy was a farmer and a shoemaker,
and at one time served his community as tax collec-
tor. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran
Church, and thev died in Mt. Joy township, much
respected for their peaceful and industrious lives.
Thev were parents of the following children : Har-
riet,"^ wife of Emanuel Flowers, of Harrisburg;
Fiana, who married, first, Daniel Killian, and after
his death Harrison Shultz, a notary public at Eliza-
bethtown ; Sarah, wife of William Connely, of Har-
risburg; Miss Lavina, a re.sident of Harrisburg;
Aaron B.; Miss Tillie B., a resident of Elizabeth-
town ; and Lydia, wife of George Smith, a painter of
Elizabethtown. The father died in 1883, at the age
of seventy-one, and the mother in 1890, at the age
of seventy-three ; both were buried in the Mt. Tun-
nel Cemetery. The mother was twice married, her
first husband being a Mr. Balmer, to whom she bore
one child, Fanny., deceased wife of Abraham Shaffer.
John Demmy, the father of Christ. Demmy, and
the grandfather of Aaron B., was a life-long resident
of Lancaster county.
Aaron B. Demmy was married, in 1877, in Bain-
bridge, Pa., to Miss Fanny Risser, and three children
were born to bless this union: Phares, deceased;
Lillie R. ; and Ada R. Mrs. Fanny (Risser) Demmy
was born in Mt. Joy township Jan. 10, 1854, a daugh-
ter of Joseph and Fanny (Nissley) Risser, natives
of Lebanon and Lancaster counties, respectively,
and both died at their home in Mt. joy township.
Her father was a farmer, and died in December,
1896, at the age of seventy-seven years. The mother
died in March, 1882, at the age of sixty-four, and
their remains are resting in the cemetery connected
with Risser's Church. They were members of
the Mennonite Church, and were known as thor-
oughly honorable and upright people.
Mr. and Mrs. Risser have had the following chil-
dren: Lizzie, wife of Christian Good, of Conoy
township ; Levi, who married Amanda Nissley, and
is now deceased; Mary, who married Rev. Levi
Ebersole, a Mennonite clergyman in Elizabethtown ;
Anna, who married Levi Longenecker ; Fanny ; Jo-
seph, a farmer located on the old homestead in Mt.
Joy township; Martin, a farmer and minister at
Zion's Church; Amanda, wife of Ben Hersh; and
Amos, a farmer in ]Mt. Joy township.
Mrs. Demmy's paternal grandfather was Peter
Risser, of Lancaster county, where he passed his
entire life. Her maternal grandfather was Martin
Nissley, also of Lancaster county, where his Hfe was
passed in agricultural pursuits; his wife's maiden
name was Hershey.
Aaron B. Demmy remained on the farm with his
parents until he reached the age of eighteen years,
when he began to learn the painter and paper-hang-
ing trade at Harrisburg. When his apprenticeship
of three years was over, he came to Elizabethtown,
and embarked in business for himself under very
favorable auspices, which have been amply fulfilled
by the large and profitable trade he has secured. He
and his wife are members of the Mennonite Church,
and in his political views he harmonizes with the
Democrats. Not very long ago in connection with
several wise and conservative investors he bought
the Elizabethtown Electric light Co., of which he
was made president, and which has proved an ex-
tremely profitable investment.
JONAS L. MINNICH. Among the well-
known citizens of East Hempfield township is Jonas
L. Minnich, the popular auctioneer of this whole
1046
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
locality, who' was born at Landisville, Lancaster
county, July 5, 1858, a son of Simon and Elizabeth
Brubaker Minnich.
Reared in the village of Landisville, Jonas L.
Minnich had the advantages of an excellent educa-
tion, and as early as seventeen began his business
career by engaging in the raising of tobacco, two
years later beginning to show ability in the line of
an auctioneer. Although he still continues to farm
and owns one of the finest places in the neighborhood,
containing 120 acres, he has made a reputation for
himself through the whole county as a most capable
and successful auctioneer, and much of his time is
occupied in this calling, for which he is well fitted,
being a genial, pleasant man, with a great fund of
anecdote, and a pleasant manner. He has no su-
perior in his Une in Lancaster county.
Mr. Minnich is one of the progressive and in-
telligent stockraisers of the county, also, and has
devoted much attention to the improvement of the
stock of this section. His active participation in the
councils of the Republican party has brought him
into prominence in the county, where he is regarded
as one of the representative men.
Jonas L. Minnich was married on May 4, 1880,
to Annie M. Stehman, a daughter of H. H. Stehman,
of Millersville, and two children have been born of
this union: An infant son, deceased; and Barbara
Elizabeth.
ELWOOD H. TOWNSEND. One of the rep-
resentative farmers of Little Britain township, who
owns and operates an estate of 120 acres near Kirks
Mills, is Elwood H. Townsend, who is also a worthy
representative of one of the old and honored famil-
ies of southern Pennsylvania. He was born in that
township June 19, 1847, a son of Henry and Sarah
(Spencer) Townsend, the former of whom was a
son of John and Matilda (Paxton) Townsend, and
a grandson of Joseph Townsend, one of the early
English settlers of Chester county, Pennsylvania.
Henry Townsend was born May 25, 1820, and
his only sister was Elizabeth, who married John
Bowden. His marriage to Sarah Spencer occurred
in 1843, and they reared a family of nine children,
namely : Marietta, with whom her mother lives, on
the old homestead : Joseph S., who is a farmer in
Little Britain township ; Elwood H. ; John P., who
has passed away; J. H., who resides in Oxford,
Chester county; Annie E., wife of Cecil Stubbs, a
farmer of Little Britain township; William, who
lives in Chester county; Sarah G., who resides at
home; and Harvey, who has passed away. In poli-
tics Henry Townsend was one of the stanch Repub-
licans of this section, and belonged to the .religious
body of Quakers, a man who was highly esteemed for
his upright character. Henry Townsend was a man
in whom his fellow-citizens could place implicit con-
fidence, and he faithfully served them as school di-
rector and as supervisor. The family is one which is
held in high esteem in Pennsylvania, many of its
members having become prominent in educational
and philanthropic circles.
Elwood H. Townsend was reared on the farm
and received his education in the public schools of
his neighborhood. His father was an excellent agri-
culturist, and by example and precept inculcated
lessons of industry and frugality, and the result may
be seen in their prosperity. At the death of this
honored father on July 26, 1897, he left a cornfort-
able competency and large estate, while his children
had grown to be respected and substantial members
of the community.
On Dec. 31, 1868, Elwood H. Townsend was
married to Susan Wood, of Little Britain township,
a daughter of James and Mercy M. (Carter) Wood
(a more extended notice of the Wood family will
be found elsewhere in the sketch of Lewis Wood).
Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Town-
send, as follows: James M., born May 19, 1870,
married Minerva Pyle, of Fulton township, now de-
ceased, and their two children were, — Leroy W. and
Jesse W. : Elizabeth, who married Frederick Bick-
nell, of Fulton township, was born on Aug. 5, 1871 ;
Mercy M., who was born on Nov. 20, 1874, resides
at home, as do also Mary E., born Oct. 10, 1878,
and Harvey, born Nov. 5, 1883.
Mr. Townsend cultivates 120 acres of fine land,
raising the usual products of his locality in the great-
est abundance, and showing his excellence as an
agriculturist in all departments of that line of busi-
ness. Like his father he is an ardent Republican,
and, while not formally connected with the .Society
of Friends, has a leaning toward their simple faith.
Socially he is connected with the I. O. O. F., No.
324, of Oxford : and with the order of Jr. O. U. A.
M., No. 832. Few men in his locality are held in
higher esteem.
JOHN S. BRADLEY, a prominent man of
Rapho township, was born there July 9, 1847, son
of Henry and Esther (Shelley) Bradley.
Henry Bradley, the father, was first a carpenter
and weaver, but afterward took up farming, which
he continued until he retired from active life, in
1852. He died in 1864, at the age of fifty-eight
years, and was buried in Rohrer's private cemetery ;
Mrs. Bradley died April 22, 1892, at the age of sev-
enty-nine years, and is buried in Erisman's Meeting
House cemetery. There were born to this union the
following children : Samuel S., of Rapho township ;
Miss Anna S., of Rapho township ; Abraham S., a
retired farmer of Rapho township ; Henry S., for-
merly a teacher, and now a tobacco farmer ; Mary S.,
wife of John M. Metzler, of Rapho township ; John
S., subject of this sketch; Catherine S., wife of Levi
W. Nissley, farmer and creamery man of Rapho
township; Benjamin, of Rapho township; Fanny S.,
wife of Samuel M. Cober, of Rapho township ; and
Barbara and Hettie, both deceased.
On Sept. 12, 1872, in Lancaster, John S. Brad-
ley married Miss Emma S. Ebright, and there have
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1047
been born to them the following family : Miss Katie
E., at home ; John E., a farmer of Rapho, who mar-
ried Miss Mary Buch, and has two children ; Henry
E., at home ; Franklin E., deceased ; and Morris E.,
Emma E. and Levi E., all at home. Mrs. Bradley
was born Dec. ii, 1849, in Rapho township, daugh-
ter of George and Mary (Stauffer) Ebright, of Leb-
anon and Lancaster counties, respectively. George
Ebright was a school teacher in Lancaster county
for many years, and he died at Manheim, Pa., in
1867, at the age of fortv-five years ; his wife died in
185s, and they are buried in the cemetery at Man-
heim. Mr. Ebright was a member of the Reformed
Church and Mrs. Ebright of the United Brethren
Church. To Mr. and Mrs. Ebright were born:
Henry, who died at the age of four years ; Emma S.,
wife of John S. Bradley; Maria, who died at the age
of two years ; Kittle A., who died at the age of three
years ; Franklin, a resident of Illinois ; and Lizzie,
who died in infancy. Mrs. Bradley's paternal grand-
parents were Samuel and Ulda (Hoog) Ebright, of
Lebanon county. Pa., and the maternal grandpar-
ents were John and Polly (Shank) Stauffer, of Lan-
caster.
John S. Bradley lived with his mother until his
marriage, and in 1873 moved to his present farm,
where he has since resided. At the age of seven-
teen years, after having attended the schools of the
county, he began teaching school in connection with
his farm duties, and continued this until 1872, when
he gave up the profession. In 1879 he was elected
assessor of Rapho township, and at every election
since, having held the office continuously to the pres-
ent time. In 1896 he assisted in organizing the
Lawn Mutual Fire, Storm and Lightning Insurance
Co., and became its secretary, but did not enter upon
the duties of the position until Jan. i, 1897, since
which time he has filled the position with marked
ability. Mr. Bradley and his wife are members of
the United Brethren Church, of which he is steward
and a member of the board of trustees. In politics
he is a Republican. This gentleman is prominent in
business and social circles, and no one stands higher
among all classes than he does — an enviable posi-
tion which he has gained by his strict integrity and
affable manners.
JOHN AMMON. Probably the best known
man of his years in Salisbury township is John Am-
mon, a general farmer and ex-proprietor of "Welch
Mountain Inn," the uttermost building in the north-
eastern corner of Lancaster county. He was born in
Salisbury township May 28, 1844, a son of John and
Catherine (Reeser) Ammon, of that township.
John Ammon, the father, rented the present farm
and the hotel alluded to above in 1852 from Squire
Robinson and conducted both for three years, when
he purchased them, and continued to operate them
until 1864, when he retired, transferring them to his
sons, John and Herman H., who managed them un-
til 1868, when an elder brother of these, Jacob, took
charge and condticted them for three years. The
hotel was next rented to various parties who carr
ried it on until 1884, when it was finally closed, and
John, the son, settled on the farm. John Ammon,
Sr., was a son of John Ammon, a native farmer of
Lancaster county, and died Jan. 12, 1884, at the age
of fifty-nine years; his widow survived until Oct.
17, 1894, when she expired at the age of eighty —
their remains being interred side by side in Pequea
cemetery. Their children, nine in number, were as
follows : Hiram, deceased ; Jacob, a farmer in Ches-
ter county; John, the subject proper of this sketch;
Elihu D., in the laundry business at Wooster, Ohio ;
Herman H., a merchant in Compassville, Pa. ; Will-
iam, who died in 1901 ; Bender, also deceased ; Anna
N., wife of Jonas Stauffer, a merchant in Reading,
Pa. ; and Cecelia, wife of Joshua Hoops, a farmer in
Chester county.
John Ammon, whose name introduces this bio-
graphical notice, was united in matrimony in Salis-
bury township, in December, 1873, with Miss Emma
J. Marple, who has borne him two children, namely :
E. Estella, who still has her home under the parental
roof ; and Hurbert S., who died Dec. 23, 1891, aged
five years and seven months. Mrs. Emma J. (Mar-
ple) Ammon is a native of Salisbury and a daughter
of Benjamin M. and Anna (Stroll) Marple. Ben-
jamin M. Marple was the proprietor of a tannery,
which his father had owned before him, and also
operated a saw-mill and was a manufacturer of
washing machines and fork and rake-handles. He
died in 1876, at the age of sixty- three, and his re^
mains rest in Pequea Church cemetery; his widow,
who was born Oct. 28, 1822, now finds a home with
the surviving children of the nine of whom she was
the mother, viz.: Emma J. (Mrs. Ammon) ; Susan
E., wife of Isaac Allison, a resident of Mortonville,
Chester county; Edith E., who died in infancy;
Serena L., who is married to Samuel Reel, of Coates-
ville. Pa. ; Harriet A., Abel N. and David S., de-
ceased: Esther, wife of John Hammond, of Com-
passville ; and Harriet E., married to Rev. Henry
Mower. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Am-
mon were Abel M. and Harriet (Mevay) Marple,
the former of whom was a tanner and farmer in
Salisbury township. The Marple family were very
prominent people in their day, and the father of Mrs.
Ammon left the impress of his strong individuality
on his offspring, who even to this day manifest- in a
marked degree traits of his sterling qualities. The
Ammon family have also been very prominent in the
coimty for generations.
John Ammon is held in high esteem throughout
Salisbury township, and although very popular with
the Democratic party has never sought a public office,
yet int'imations have been given him to the effect
that his acceptance of nomination at various times
as a candidate for township positions would be ac-
ceptable to his party, as well as to the general pub-
lic, and he has always turned a deaf ear to such
solicitations. Mr. Ammon attends the Honey Brook
1048
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Methodist Episcopal Church quite regularly, and
although not a member contributes liberally towards
its support.
HARVEY BRENEMAN LUTZ, one of the
younger members of the Lancaster County Bar, with
residence in Lancaster, is closely identified with one
of the oldest and most noted families of this section
of the State.
The first of the name in Pennsylvania was Cas-
per Lutz, a farmer, who came to America in 1738,
locating first at Reading, thence soon afterward re-
moving to Muddy Creek, this county. The descent
of Harvey B. from Casper Lutz is through John,
John (2), Jesse and Joseph K., the two last named
being grandfather and father, respectively, of Harvey
B. One of the ancestors was a colonel in the Revolu-
tion. Grandfather Jesse Lutz was an extensive man-
ufacturer of hats in this county, and during the
Civil war he also manufactured guns ; he died Jan. i,
1899, aged ninety-four years. At one time he
owned the "Black Plorse Hotel" property on North
Queen street, Lancaster, a famous old hostelry, well
remembered by the older citizens of the city. His
wife was a member of the Clan Keith of Scotland,
after whom was named the town of Keith in Banff-
shire.
Joseph K. Lutz, father of Harvey B., in early
manhood engaged in mercantile business in Phila-
delphia, later owning stores in Fritztown, Berks
county, and Blainsport, Lancaster county, finally
embarking in the hardware trade at Reading, which
he successfully carried on for years. He is now liv-
ing retired at Blainsport. In 1868 he married Miss
Frances J. Breneman, daughter of John and Mary
Breneman, of Donegal, this county. Mr. Breneman
died about 1861 ; he was a lineal descendant of Mel-
choir Breneman, who came to America in 1717, set-
tling in this county, where he took up an extensive
land grant from the Penns. To Joseph K. and
Frances J. (Breneman) Lutz were born two chil-
dren: Trwin B., a druggist in Denver, this county;
and Harvey Breneman, who is fully spoken of below.
Harvey B. Lutz was born June 26, 1872, at
Blainsport, Lancaster county, and was educated in
part at the schools of his district and in part at
Palatinate College (Myerstown, Pa.), Muhlenburg
College (Allentown, Pa.), and Lafayette College
(E^ton, Pa.), from which latter institution he was
graduated in 1893. Almost immediately after his
graduation Mr. Lutz entered the law office of
Charles I. Landis, now one of the judges of the
courts of I-ancaster county, and was admitted to
practice .Sept. 18, 1896.
On Oct. 12, 1898, Harvey B. Lutz was married
to Miss Mabel O. Russell, daughter of Joseph C. and
Teresa Russell, the former of whom is general super-
intendent of the National Transit Co., more famil-
iarly known as the Standard Pipe Line Co., with
offices in Pittsburg and elsewhere, Mr. Russell's
chief office being in the Woolworth building, Lan-
caster. To Mr. and Mrs.. Lutz have been born two
children, Joseph Russell and Kathryn Teresa. Mr.
Lutz, while at college, belonged to the Alpha Tau
Omega fraternity. Socially he is a member of the
Blue Lodge, F. & A. M., of the I. O. O. F., and of
the Elks. In politics he is a Republican. The home
occupied by the family is an ideal one, pleasantly
situated on Marietta avenue, in the western suburbs
of the city of Lancaster, and it is noted for the hos-
pitality of its inmates.
DAVID L. MOYER, a retired farmer of Rapho
township, Lancaster county, was born in London-
derry township, Lebanon Co., Pa., March 3, 1842,
son of Jacob and Barbara (Longenecker) Moyer,
of Lebanon county.
Jacob Moyer died in 1880, at the age of seventy-
seven years, and the mother, in 1885, also at the age
of seventy-seven years. They were both buried in
private burying grounds on a part of their farm in
Lebanon cou.nty. They were members of the Evan-
gelical Church. Their children were : Catharine,
wife of Cyrus Ruhl, a farmer of Lancaster county;
Barbara, widow ot Felix Gingrich, of Lebanon coun-
ty; Samuel, a farmer of Dauphin county; Jacob, a
retired farmer of Palmyra, Pa. ; Anna, wife of Christ
Brandt, a Lebanon county farmer; and David L.
Jacob Moyer, the father, was a son of David Moyer,
a farmer of Lebanon county.
In 1867 David L. Moyer married Miss Fanny
Werner, of Lancaster. To this union were born the
following children : Jacob, who married Miss
Emma Moyer ; Louisa, who became the wife of
Aaron Dieffenderfer, a farmer of Mt. Joy, and has
three children; and William, who married Miss
Katie Minnich, of Penn township. Mrs. Moyer was
born in Mt. Joy township, near Elizabethtown, Pa.,
Aug. 17, 1847,'daughter of Jacob and Fanny (Gib-
ble) Werner, of Rapho township. The father, who
was born April g, 1819, was a farmer until twenty
years prior to his death, which occurred Feb. 22,
1894. Mrs. Werner was born Aug. 6, 1813, and
died July 18, 1883, in the faith of the German Bap-
tist Church. They are both buried in Chiques
Church cemetery. There were born to this mar-
riage the following children: William, a farmer
of Rapho township ; Fanny, wife of David L- Moyer ;
Elizabeth, wife of John Eshleman, of Mt. Joy town-
ship ; and Amos, a farmer of Rapho township. Mrs.
Moyer's grandparents on her father's side were
Peter and Catherine (Shank) Werner, farmers, and
her maternal grandparents were Abraham and Bar-
bara (Wenger) Gibble, of Lancaster county.
David L. Moyer lived on the farm with his par-
ents until he was eighteen years old, when he began
to learn the wagonmaking trade. He continued at
this sort of work for twelve years, and then went to
his present home, where he began farming, and
where he has since remained. It was in 1865 when
he first came to Lancaster county from Lebanon
county to work at his trade in Mt. Joy township.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1049
He worked awhile at the wagon trade in Rapho
township near his present farm before he took to
farming, operating a wagon shop of his own for
«!ght years of the twelve that he was in the business.
He retired from active work in the spring of 1899.
Mr. Moyer has been a school director for three
years, and was a director in Mt. Joy township Fire
Insurance Co., for three years. He and his wife are
members of the Evangelical Church and are prom-
inent in its concerns. Mr. Moyer is a Republican in
politics, and ever ready to aid the party by action or
other means. He is well-to-do in worldly goods and
has a high standing in his community for integrity,
kind heartedness and progressive ideas.
J. FRANK BRUBAKER, a general farmer, and
also a surveyor and regulator of New Holland bor-
ough, was born in Manheim township, Aug. 28,
185 1, a son of Thompson and Anna L. (Bair) Bru-
baker, born in XJpper Leacock and Leacock town-
ships, respectively.
Thompson Brubaker was a farmer all his days,
and died in Earl township, in March, 1900, at the
age of seventy-five. At one time he was postmaster
at Binkley's Bridge. His widow, who was born
.Aug. 8, 1828, is still living in Earl township. She
was a member of the Reformed Church, and Mr.
Brubaker while not a communicant member, was
for years a trustee of Rolands Reformed Church in
Earl township. Their children were : Oliver B.,
James W. and J. Frank. The parents of Thompson
Brubaker were Samuel and Elizabeth (Eckert) Bru-
baker, farming people of Earl township. The ma-
ternal grandparents were Samuel and Sarah (Bru-
baker) Bair, both of Lancaster county.
J. Frank Brubaker was married in Hummels-
town, Pa., in October, 1889, to Ellen C. Numbers, a
daughter of Joseph W. and Hannah (Witwer)
Numbers : she was born in Derry, Dauphin county,
June I, 1864. They have the following children:
Edna D., Gerald O. and Mark A.
Joseph W. Numbers was married Sept. 25, 1855,
to Hannah Witwer, in Lancaster. Soon after mar-
riage they moved to Lebanon county, where they
settled in 1856. He was a farmer, and died in Man-
heim, Pa., in 1881, at the age of sixty-three. His
widow resides in Earl township. She was born Oct.
25, 1827, and became the mother of the following
family: Clarissa R. married Oliver Brubaker, a
farmer of Earl township ; Erastus B. is a farmer of
Earl township ; E'dward W. is a farmer of Earl
township ; and Ellen C. The maternal grandparents
of Mrs. Brubaker were Noah and Mary (Backman)
■Witwer, of Lancaster county. The mother was twice
married, her first husband being Peter Diller, by
whom she had the following family : Enos O., now
a farmer near Sterling, 111. ; Emma E., married to
John T. Bair, a farmer of Earl township ; Francis,
deceased ; and Ada H., also deceased.
J. Frank Brubaker lived at home until 1876, when
he went to Indiana where he spent two years work-
ing among the farmers, and in the butcher business.
Returning to Earl township, he resumed work at
home, and farmed until 1900. When his father
died he took charge of the family estate and brought
it to a settlement. His education was acquired in
Millersville Academy, and in 1873 he attended Iron
City Commercial College.
At the age of twenty-one he attended Academia
College, in Juniata county. Pa., where he made a"
special study of surveying. For the past four years
he has been auditor of Leacock township, and has
Ijeen regulator of New Holland borough for the past
six years, and had charge of the surveying for the
electric road through New Holland. In politics he
is a Republican, and holds a prominent place in the
community. With his wife and family he belongs
to the United Brethren Church.
JOSEPH HARNER, one of the leading citi-
zens of Lancaster county, is a man of energetic char-
acter, who started out in life with very limited means,
but who has lived in such an industrious and provi-
dent way, that he now is the fortimate owner of one
of the fine farms of Martic township, where he is a
representative man.
The birth of Joseph Harner occurred in Mont-
gomery county, Pa., Sept. 24, 1832, the early an-
cestors of his parents having come from Germany,
although both his father and grandfather were na-
tives of Montgomery county, the latter, John Har-
ner, having carried on, a" blacksmith business there
through life. The parents of Joseph Harner were
Joseph and Mary (Slingluff) Harner, the former of
whom was both a farmer and a lime manufacturer.
A family of seven children was born to Joseph Har-
ner and his wife, Mary : John S., who is a retired
farmer of Martic township ; George, deceased ; Sam-
uel, a retired farmer of this township; Mary Ann,
who married Thomas Cully, of Martic township ;
Elizabeth, who married J. Harrison Long, of Dru-
more township ; Joseph ; and Jesse, a retired farmer,
of Drumore township.
Joseph Harner was reared on a farm and obtained
his excellent education in the common schools, and
in reading and associating with the world. Al-
though in early life, his means were limited, his am-
bition was to become an honorable and substantial
citizen, and to this end he has faithfully worked, be-
ing now so well placed that he can afford to live a
life of ease, and to enjoy the results of former in-
dustry.
On Dec. 31, 1874, Joseph Harner was married
to Miss Rebecca Sides, of Martic township, and one
child was born to this union, but it passed away in
infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Harner have reared an
adopted daughter, Emma J., who is now the wife of
George Harner, of this township.
Mrs. Harner was born Nov. 17, 1839, one of a
family of seven children born to Jacob Sides and
wife, of Martic township: Grizzell, who married
John Kilgore ; Mary, who married Jesse Harner, the
1050
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
brother of Joseph, and is now deceased; Rebecca;
Clark ; Jacob ; James ; and Elmyra, who is the wife
of Owen Cramer, of this township, the greater num-
ber of these having more extended mention else-
where. Jacob Sides was of Dutch descent, and his
wife Rebecca, was of Irish extraction and one of the
descendants of the Neil family.
Joseph Harner is a stanch Democrat and actively
supports the principles of that party. He has long
been a leading member of the Bethesda Methodist
Church, to which his wife, adopted daughter and her
husband also belong, and they endeavor consistent-
ly to practice in their daily life the principles they
profess. In the community no residents have a larger
circle of warm friends.
GEORGE A. KEMPER. The Kemper family,
of which George A. Kemper, the reliable and pros-
perous hardware merchant of Akron, is a worthy
representative, is one of the oldest in Lancaster
county. The early records tell that John Henry
Kemper, the founder of the family in America, was
born in 1696, and sailed from Rotterdam for Phila-
delphia in the spring of 1738, in the good ship
"Nancy," reaching his destination in the fall of that
year. He came to Lancaster county and purchased
land on the Conestoga creek and near Akron, in
West Earl township, and here was born in 1748,
his son David, who became the father of Henry
Kemper, the great-grandfather of the subject of this
biography.
Henry Kemper, his son, was born in 1804, and
became the father of Jacob Kemper.
Jacob Kemper, one of the highly respected citi-
zens of the community, was born March 20, 1824,
and died April 25, 1899. He was a successful busi-
ness man and prospered in the tinsmith and printer's
trades. Starting in the tinsmith business in 1845,
he was the pioneer in that line in this section, and he
continued in it until 1880, when his son George took
the same shop and added to it general hardware.
Jacob Kemper was a justice of the peace for. many
years, and a notary public, having been appointed
first by Gov. Hartranft. He was a member of the
Bergstrass Lutheran Church of Ephrata township,
of which he was deacon and elder, and for thirty-
five years its secretar)' and treasurer. He was buried
at Bergstrass Church. In 1847 Jacob Kemper mar-
ried Margaret Bentz, daughter of Christian and
Sarah (Zartman) Bentz, of Lancaster county. One
child, George, was born of this union. Mrs. Kem-
per, at the age of seventy-four, is still living, making
her home with her son.
George A. Kemper was reared in Akron and at-
tended the common schools, supplementing this with
a course in the Crittenden Commercial College, of
Philadelphia, and he entered business life in the
printing office in Akron under his father's supervis-
ion. At present he conducts one of the most com-
plete hardware establishments in this vicinity, and
finds time to attend to the duties of a notary public.
F'or some time he served as justice of the peace, and
is one of the intelligent and active Republicans who
exert a great influence in this neighborhood. He
has also found time to study civil engineering and
is following that profession in connection with his
other work.
On May 16, 1875, Mr. Kemper was married to
Miss Martha Hartman, of Lancaster county, who
was born C)ct. 26, 1849, a daughter of David and
Maria Hartman. Enjoying the esteem and high
regard of the community, Mr. Kemper well may be
classed as one of the representative business men of
the prosperous borough of Akron.
JOSEPH BURKHOLDER. Admirably sit-
uated but one mile from the flourishing town of
Farmersville, the fine farm of Joseph Burkholder
attracts the notice of the public on account of the
air of neatness, thrift and prosperity which sur-
rounds it. la this pleasant country home Mr. Burk-
holder has passed many years, and has become one
of the respected and leading citizens of West Earl
township.
Joseph Burkholder was born on June 8, 1838, a
son of Jonas and Catherine (Sowders) Burkholder,
the former of whom was one of the substantial farm-
ers of the township and a leading member of the
Mennonite Church. Eight children were born to
Jonas Burkholder and wife: Isaac, deceased;
Susan, who married Abraham Martin, deceased :
Jacob, a farmer of West Earl township; Elizabeth,
who married Samuel Bucher; Samuel, a farmer of
West Earl; Joseph, of this biography; Katherine,
who married Isaac Hoover, deceased; and Mary,
who became the second wife of Isaac Hoover.
The name of Burkholder is an old and honored
one in the agricultural regions of Lancaster county,
Abraham Burkholder, father of Jonas and grand-
father of Joseph, having been an early settler in this
township. His family numbered nine children:
Christian, Abraham, John, Samuel, Katherine,
Elizabeth, Annie, Mary and Jonas, the greater num-
ber of. whom married and reared families of their
own, who are now among the best citizens of the
county.
Joseph Burkholder received his education in the
public schools. He was reared to farm life, and fol-
lowing the example of his ancestors, he adopted an
agricultural life, which he has most successfully
pursued ever since. His farm consists of ninety-
two acres of finely improved land, and it also includes
a very handsome residence and commodious barns.
On Sept. 17, 1865, occurred the marriage of
Joseph Burkholder to Miss Emma Powell, of Lea-
cock township, who was born in 1849. To this happy
union have been born eleven children : John, born in
1866, resides near Lancaster ; Susan, born in 1867,
married Benjamin K. Herr; Eliza, born in 1872,
married John B. Rupp ; Mary, born in 1873, mar-
ried Edwin H. Nolt; Levi, born in 1875, resides in
Illinois ; Ida, born in 1877, married Isaac N. Hoover ;
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1051
Cora, born in 1879, is at home ; Annie, born in 1881,
IS at home; Katie, born in 1885, is at home; Frank,
born m 1887, resides at home; and Ezra, born in
1889, also remains under the home roof. This fam-
ily has been carefully reared in the Mennonite faith,
and its members are among the most highly es-
teemed in this locality. As a" quiet, unassuming and
law-abiding citizen, as well as an exemplary man, in
every relation of life, Joseph Burkholder may be
regarded as a fit representative of the best element
of West Earl township.
ANDREW H. KREIDER, a respected and suc-
cessful farmer of Penn township, is a son of Cor-
nelius and Lydia (Hoerner) Kreider, the former of
whom was born in Germany and settled in Lancaster
county about 1828. For a short time he was em-
ployed in work on the railroad, later at a general
line of labor, but finally located in Penn township,
and continued to be a farmer until the end of his
life, his death occurring in January, 1875. In the
German Baptist Church he was a consistent and
worthy member, and possessed the esteem of all who
knew him. His five children were: Andrew, of
this sketch; Susan, the wife of Samuel Graybill;
Mary, the widow of Francis Meisky ; John, a farmer
of Penn township ; and Lizzie, the wife of Lem
Forney, of Manheim township.
Andrew H. Kreider was born in Penn township,
June 26, 1839, and being the eldest son, he remained
assisting his father on the home farm until he was
twenty-seven years of age. His education was ob-
tained in the common schools of his township, and
all his life has been spent in agricultural pursuits.
In 1875 he bought the farm which he operates, this
being situated about two miles south of Manheim;
it contains 160 acres, and is justly regarded as one
of the finest in this township. Here Mr. Kreider has
made extensive improvements, which have increased
its attractiveness and comfort, and have also added
materially to its former value.
The marriage of Mr. Kreider was to Miss Han-
nah M. Kolp, a most estimable lady, a member of
the Reformed Mennonite Church, and to this union
were born four children : Mary, who is the wife of
H. B. Bucher, of Clay township; Alice, who is the
wife of A. G. Kurtz, a farmer of Penn township;
Cornelius, who is a farmer on his father's estate ; and
John, who is at home. Mr. Kreider is not only one
of Lancaster county's most respected citizens, but
also is one of its best farmers and is so recognized.
Both he and Mrs. Kreider have many friends and
enjoy dispensing hospitality at their beautiful home.
JOHN HESS. The Hess family is a numerous
one in Lancaster county, where it has been known
and honored for many years. A worthy representa-
tive of this family in Strasburg township is John
Hess, who was born on Aug. 16, 185 1, a son of Ben-
jamin and Susan (Leaman) Hess.
Benjamin Hess was a son of John and Martha
(Musser) Hess, of Providence township, the for-
mer of whom was born March 29, 1788, and died
Dec. 16, 1842. Benjamin Hess spent his life as a
farmer on the old Hess homestead, which is situ-
ated between New Providence and Quarryville.
His death took place in 1894, his wife, Susan Lea-
man, surviving until April i, 1899; both of them
had been devout and worthy members of the Old
Mennonite Church. Their family consisted of eight
children : Emma, who died when but nineteen ;
Amos, who passed away in childhood; Joseph, a
resident of Strasburg, where he is a farmer and •
horse dealer; John, of this biography; Lydia, who
died in childhood; Benjamin, who farms on the old
homestead in Providence township; Sue, the wife
of Will Conner, of Bart township ; and Harry, who
was a farmer of Providence township, but died May
15, 1896, in Strasburg township, leaving a widow
and one child. Park.
John Hess grew to manhood on the home farm,
in his youth attending school and also learning the
details necessary for success in an agricultural life.
Following his marriage, in October, 1877, he moved'
upon a farm of seventy-five acres which he had pur-
chased, and for four years he operated it, and then
sold it and removed to West Lampeter township,
locating one-half mile south of Willowstreet upon a
farm of 145 acres. For fourteen years he conducted
that farm, but after his purchase of his present farm,
which contains 142 acres, located but one-half mile
northwest of Refton, he moved upon it and here has
successfully engaged in general farming. Mr. Hess
has his own ideas about farming, and has been very
successful.
The marriage of Mr. Hess gave to him a most
estimable companion. Miss Amelia Witmer, a daugh-
ter of A. R. Witmer, of Mountville, West Hempfield
township, and five children have been added to the
home: Minerva, born Oct. iq, 1879; Howard, born
Feb. 8, 1882; May, born Aug. 21, 1884; Harry and
Maud, twins, born July 21, 1888. In their pleasant
home hospitality abounds, and probably no family in
the neighborhood possesses the respect of the com-
munity in higher degree than that belonging to
John Hess.
HENRY H. BOMBERGER, a prosperous farm-
er-citizen of Warwick township, is a descendant of
one of the oldest settlers of Lancaster county. The
first of this family came to this country from Baden,
Germany, in 1722, and the land of which our subject
now owns a part, was bought by the family from the
Penns in 1738 — this purchase comprising 544 acres.
John Bomberger, the grandfather of our sub-
ject, was born on the old place, Nov. 22, 1780. He
was a carpenter by trade, and also cabinetmaker,
following these trades with farming all his life, dy-
ing Nov. 16, 1861. His wife, Anna, was born in
1787, and died Dec. 6, i86t. They were members of
the Old Mennonite Church. Their family con-
sisted of children as follows: Christian, deceased.
1052
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the father of otir subject ; Jacob, deceased, who was
a farmer ; Maria, wife of David Doner, of Lebanon
county; Anna, wife of Jacob Bollinger, of Lincoln,
Pa. ; and Elizabeth, wife of Jesse Gibble, of Rapho
township, this county.
Christian Bomberger was born on the old place,
March 5, 1818. His occupation was also that of a
furrier, and he followed the same until his death,
-which occurred Jan. i, 1898. He married Miss
Catherine Hess, who was born in Rothsville in 18 19,
iind died in 1875. Both were members of the Old
Mennonite Church, in the ministry of which he was
ordained and served thirty-five years. They were
the parents of eleven children, one of whom died in
infancy; Annie, deceased, was the wife of Christian
Bucher ; Fannie, deceased, was the wife of David B.
Huber ; John H. is farming on part of the old home-
stead ; Catherine is the wife of Rev. Henry E. Long-
enecker, a Mennonite minister ; Christian H. lives in
Warwick township ; Barbara is the wife of Andrew
G. Nissley, of Ml. Joy; David H. is a farmer in
Elizabeth township ; Martha is the wife of Amos B.
Brubaker, of Petersburg, Pa; Amos H. is a miller
of Lititz ; and Henry H. is our subject. .
Henry H. Bomberger was born on the old place
Oct. 24, 1863, and here he has resided ever since,
having inherited the homestead at his father's death.
He has throughout life given his entire attention to
farming interests, and is a very extensive tobacco
grower. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and
is one of the school directors. As one of the suc-
cessful agriculturists of his community, and a man
who has shown his ability and public spirit in vari-
ous ways, he exerts a marked influence for good in
his locality.
On Feb. 10, 1887, Mr. Bomberger was united in
marriage with Miss Mary S. Huber, daughter of
Abraham and Harriet Huber, and to this union have
been born five children, as follows : Mazie H.,
Abram Z., Hattie H., Paul H. and Lloyd H., all at
liome. Mr. and Mrs. Bomberger are both merhbers
of the old Mennonite Church, and he is superintend-
ent of the Sunday school.
LEVI LANDES. Among the many substan-
tial, retired farmer citizens of Ephrata township, no
one possesses in a higher degree the esteem and re-
spect of his neighbors than does Levi Landes, who
comes of fine old ancestry, dating back to both Switz-
erland and to Germany. He was born June 4, 1824,
a son of Samuel and Hannah (Mohler) Landes,
who were among the wealthiest residents of the
township. Thev reared these children: Lydia,
who married Israel Myers, deceased; Nancy, who
married George Levan, of Lancaster city; Rebecca,
single; Hannah, a resident of Ephrata; Catherine,
who married Samuel Harley, of Ephrata; Levi, of
this sketch ; Simon, who lives in Boston, Mass. ; and
Samuel, deceased.
Levi Landes was reared on a farm, growing up
like manv hundreds of other farmer boys, and at-
tended the district schools of Ephrata township.
When he started out for himself it was with very
limited means, but he has demonstrated the fact that
it is possible to accumulate large means honestly
and rapidly, by the application of industry and en-
ergy. At present Mr. Landes is the fortunate owner
of a fine farm in the township, as well as a most com-
fortable two-story brick residence, and he is able to
enjoy the comforts of life earned by his own efforts.
On Dec. 28, 1847, Levi Landes was married to
Miss Elizabeth Landes, who was born Feb. 11, 1828,
a daughter of Jacob and Magdalena (Wisler) Lan-
des, of Ephrata township, and to this union six chil-
dren were born: Ezra, born Nov. 6, 1848, died
Julv 16, 1881 ; Israel, born July 15, 1851, died Sept.
2i,'i874 ; Levi, Jr., born Jan. i, 1853, resides in Han-
over, Pa. ; Jacob, born Nov. 7, 1854 ; Samuel L., born
Nov. 14, 1858, resides in Illinois; and Mary Ann,
born Aug. 9, i860, resides with her parents.
Levi Landes has long been one of the leading
members of the German Baptist Church, and is
everywhere regarded as a man of exemplary Chris-
tian character. His connection has always been with
the Republican party, and he is regarded as one of
the best of citizens. Both he and his beloved wife
are passing their declining years in peace and hap-
piness, and they possess the good will of the whole
community.
JOHN PENNYPACKER, leaf-tobacco mer-
chant and packer at Mountville, Lancaster county,
was born in Conestoga Centre, same county, Sept.
2, 1845, a son of James and Filena (Yentzer) Pen-
nypacker, natives, respectively, of Chester county,
Pa., and Conestoga Centre, Lancaster county, but
now deceased.
James Pennypacker was a small farmer and
school teacher, and also a scrivener, writing deeds,
etc., for the people of his neighborhood. He died in
Conestoga Centre in 1852, when forty-five years old ;
his widow died in Mountville in 1896, at the age of
eighty-two years. Both were members of the Re-
formed Church. To their marriage were born the
following named children: Mary A., deceased;
Elizabeth, wife of Henry Martin, a merchant in
Conestoga Centre; Miss Elvina; Frank, retired;
Amos, an iron worker of Conestoga Centre ; John ;
Lena, who died young ; and James, a stonemason of
Lancaster city. The family is of German extraction.
John Pennypacker was reared on a farm until
seventeen years old, and then learned the shoemak-
er's trade, which he followed until i8go. In 1870,
however, he settled in Mountville, and in 1883 en-
gaged in his present business of dealing in tobacco.
Mr. Pennypacker was joined in marriage in
1869, in Washington borough, Lancaster county,
with Martha G. Brady, and to this union have been
born the following children, Charles, a school-
teacher in York, Pa. ; Elvina, wife of Joseph Hoover,
a confectioner in Mountville ; Philena, who died
young; and John B., still at home.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
105S
Martha (Brady) Pennypacker was born in
Manor township, Lancaster county, in August,
1849, a daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Getz)
Brady, natives, respectively, of Hummelstown, Dau-
phin county and Lancaster county, both of whom
died in Manor township. The father, who was born
in 1810, died in August, 1875, and the mother, born
in 1810, died in 1861. Mr. Brady was a miller. Both
were members of the U. B. Church, and they are
buried in Stehman cemetery. Besides Mrs. Penny-
packer children as follows were born to Charles and
Elizabeth (Getz) Brady : Caroline, who was mar-
ried to Amos Harnish, a coachmaker at Harrisburg ;
Elizabeth, wife of Chris Frey, a farmer of Manor
township; Anna, married to Hiram Wittmer, a
farmer in the same township; Mary, deceased wife
of Aaron Friday; Barbara, of Indiana, widow of
Newton Lewis ; and Samuel, of Manor township.
Fraternally John Pennypacker is a member of the
I. O. O. F., and politically he is a Republican, under
the auspices of which party he served as township
tax collector for eight years. He has made his own
way through the world, has always been industrious
and steady-going, and has so lived as to win the con-
fidence and esteem of all who know him, and there
are very few in Mountville who do not. In July,
1864, Mr. Pennypacker enlisted in an independent
Lancaster troop, P. V. I., for one hundred days, and
was mustered out at Plarrisburg, Pa., Oct. 29, 1864.
TOBIAS LEAMAN, a retired farmer of Lea-
cock township, Lancaster county, was born Sept. 19,
1844, on the farm where he is to be found at the pres-
ent time, a son of John and Mary (Landis) Leaman.
John Leaman died in Lampeter township in 1882,
at the age of seventy-three years ; his wife early pass-
ing to her rest, in 1847, at the age of thirty-three
years. Both were buried in Mellinger Church ceme-
tery. For some nineteen years before his death the
father had lived a retired life. In religion they were
members of the Mennonite Church. He had been
township auditor, and was highly esteemed in the
community where his quiet and useful life had
passed. Mr. and Mrs. John Leaman were the par-
rents of the following family : Benjamin was burned
to death in infancy; Elias died in 1891 ; Esther mar-
ried Emanuel Denlinger, and died in 1861 ; John L,
is a retired farmer, and the subject of a sketch that
appears elsewhere; and Tobias.
Tobias Leaman and Elizabeth Denlinger were
married in Lancaster, Dec. 13, 1864. To them were
born ; Ida married Daniel D. Eby, a farmer in
Salisbury township, and is the mother of four chil-
dren; Anna married Phares B. Buckwalter, has
five children, and lives on the old farm in Leacock
township ; Jason died when four years old ; Ella mar-
ried J. Frank Denlinger, a farmer in Salisbury town-
ship, and is the mother oi one child ; Minnie married
Sem Eby, a farmer of Paradise township ; and El-
mer D.,'who is a telegraph operator, lives at home.
Mrs. Tobias Leaman, who was born in Paradise
township in 1842, is a sister of John B. Denlinger,
whose sketch appears elsewhere.
Mr. Leaman has spent his active life on the old
homestead, and is still found on the farm where he
was born. In 1881 he built the present comfortable
and elegant home in which his family is located.
For some years he has given up the active labors of .
farming, and has come to an old age of peace and
comfort, in which he is well circumstanced, and is
regarded as one of the solid and leading farmers of
this end of Lancaster county.
NOAH G. HESS, a progressive and successful
farmer of Rothsville, Lancaster county, is one of
the active and intelligent citizens of his neighbor-
hood, and is highly respected by all who know him.
Mr. Hess comes of good pioneer stock of Lan-
caster county. His grandfather, Henry Hess, was
born Jan. 17, 1794, and was a farmer and miller
all his life. He was a member of the old Mennonite
Church. He married Miss Catherine Huber, and
they were the parents of thirteen children, as fol-
lows: Jacob, Susanna (wife of Isaac Huber),
Catherine, Henry, Esther, Fanny, John, Serti, Mar-
tin, Levi H., Annie, Jonas and Cothem.
Levi H. Hess, the father of our subject, was
born Jan. i, 1836. He, too, was a farmer, and
followed that occupation until he retired, in 1898.
In politics he is a Republican, and he held the office
of school director for some time. He is a member
of the old Mennonite Church. Mr. Hess married
Miss Salinda S. Gross, and to this union were born
ten children, namely: Noah G., our subject; Harry
G., who died when nine years of age; Martin G.,
cashier in the Keystone Bank of Manheim; Mary
G., wife of Andrew Brubaker ; Levi G., a merchant
of Springfield, Mass.; Salinda G., at home; Phares
G., a teacher, who is a graduate of the Pennsburg^
School and of Bucknell University; Elam G., at-
tending College at Gettysburg; Ammon G., at
Colurtibia, this county, employed by the Independ-
ent Telephone Company ; and Jerome G., a teacher,
still at home.
Noah G. Hess, whose name opens this sketch,
was born in Penn township, Sept. 7, 1861, and re-
ceived his education in the local public schools. He
remained at home until he was twenty years of
age, when he began life for himself, farming on
his father's place for three years. He then moved
to Lititz, where he was engaged at various kinds
of work, and he was one of the first to start a
creamery there, where he remained four years. At
the end of that time he purchased the farm at
Rothsville, where he now resides, ' and where he
has given his entire attention to farming. He has
one of the finest farms in Warwick township, and
makes a specialty of fruits, such as peaches, pears
and plums. Mr. Hess has spent a great amount
of money in beautifying his place, and the entire
surroundings bespeak thrift and enterprise of the
owner. In politics he is in sympathy with the
1054
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Prohibition party, and was one time nominated for
poor director.
On Nov. 27, 1884, Mr. Hess married Miss Har-
riet Becker, and to them has come one child, Carrie
B., born Dec. 6, 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Hess are
both members of the German Baptist Church.
REV. ABRAHAM Z. HESS. The Hess fam-
ily enjoys the distinction of being one of the oldest
and most respected of the families of the early
settlement of Lancaster county. Like many
other prominent ones, it originated in the freedom-
loving land of Switzerland, and came with a colony
of others to that part of Lancaster county, now
known as Pequea township. Here Samuel Hess
reared a numerous family. In 1734 one of his sons
took up 200 acres of land, located one mile east of
Lititz — this portion of the county being named
Warwick township. A part of this land is owned
by Jonas H. Hess, and here is located the old Hess
Mennonite Meeting House and the cemetery in con-
nection with it, where many of the family lie at
rest.
From these ancestors came Abraham Hess, who
married Elizabeth Musser, the former being born
in Pequea township, and the latter in Providence
township. Abraham was a son of Michael, and all
were farming people who lived worthy, quiet, useful
lives, and did their part in the conversion of Lan-
caster county into the home of a rich and contented
people. To Abraham and Elizabeth (Musser) Hess
was born a family of children, one of these being
a son, Abraham M., who became the father of our
subject.
Abraham M. Hess was born Feb. 18, 1829, in
Pequea township, Lancaster county, and has lived
a long and laborious life, well sustaining the narne
and position of an honest and independent farmer.
At present he is living retired from active farm-
ing, his years giving him an excellent reason for
retirement. Abraham M. Hess has been three-times
married. By his first marriage one son was born,
Emanuel, who is now deceased. His second mar-
riage was to Anna Zeigler, who died July 3, 1867,
at the age of thirty-three years. She with her hus-
band belonged to the Brethren in Christ Church.
She was the mother of these children : Conrad, who
is engaged in farming on the old homestead; Ben-
jamin, a farmer in Fulton township; Abraham Z.,
of this sketch; Rev. Noah, a farmer in Pequea
township; Esli, deceased; Ezra, deceased; and
Mattie, who married Paris Engle, of Columbia, Pa.
Mr. Hess' third marriage was to Barbara Herr, by
whom he had the following children: Anna, the
wife of J. G. Mann, a farmer in Manor township ;
Enos, a clergyman in the Brethren in Christ church,
also a professor in the Pennsylvania State College
in Center county. Pa. ; and Miss Elizabeth, at
home.
The maternal grandfather of Rev. Mr. Hess was
Conrad Zeigler, a highly respected resident of the
township of East Donegal ; his nephew. Dr. Zeigler,
of Mt. Joy, Pa., occupies a prominent position.
Rev. Abraham Z. Hess was reared on his par-
ents' farm and when he reached the age of twenty
years, married and moved to East Donegal, leasing
his father-in-law's farm, which he operated a num-
ber of years. Later he bought the property, and
has been engaged in its cultivation until the pres-
ent time. The farm contains eighty-eight acres,
and it shows thorough cultivation and most care-
ful management. Mr. Hess took up carpentering
in 1888, and has worked in that line also to some
extent.
On Dec' 2, 1879, Rev. Mr. Hess was married,
in East Donegal, to Elizabeth M. Musser, and to
this union have been born these children : Anna
M. ; Martha M., who died young; Abraham M.;
Mary M. ; Katie M. ; Henry M. ; Barbara M. and
Benjamin M. Mrs. Hess was born in East Done-
gal township, daughter of Michael B. and Cath-
erine (Musser) Musser, both residents of East Don-
egal township.
Mr. Hess is a minister of the Brethren in Christ
Church, and is counted one of the strong men of
its clergy. Its preachers and pastors are expected
to sustain themselves as do other men by the work
of their hands, and he is no exception to the rule,
an honorable and hard-working man, with high
ideals and a sincere devotion to the faith in which
he was bred. In 1894 he was ordained a minister,
and his subsequent career has justified the action
of the church to an unusual degree. An industrious
as well as a thrifty man, he works hard at his man-
ual labor, and brings to the pulpit the inspiring en-
thusiasm of a soul that feels the deep realities of re-
ligion.
JOSEPH N. RISSER, a general farmer and
also a painter in Mt. Joy township, was born Oct.
15, 1856, son of Joseph and Fanny (Nissley) Ris-
ser, the former of whom was born in Lebanon coun-
ty and the latter in Mt. Joy, Lancaster county.
The father of Mr. Risser moved to the farm
which the latter now occupies in 1886, and there
he died Dec. i, 1896. The mother died on her old
homestead in January, 1885, aged sixty-three years,
the father living to be seventy-five. They were
members of the Old Mennonite Church, and were
buried in Risser's Meeting House cemetery, in Mt.
Joy township. They reared a goodly family, as fol-
lows: Elizabeth, who married Christian Good, a
farmer in West Donegal township; Mary N., who
married Rev. Levi Ebersole, a retired farmer, in
Elizabethtown ; Levi N., deceased, who married
Amanda Nissley, and she now lives in Elizabeth-
town; Anna N., deceased,, wife of, Levi Longe-
necker ; Fanny N., who married Aaron Demmy, of
Elizabethtown ; Joseph N. ; Rev. Martin H., a farm-
er on the old homestead and a preacher in Zion
Church, who married Fanny Hosier; Amanda N.,
who married Benjamin Hersh, of East Donegal
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1055
township ; and Amos N., a farmer of Mt. Joy town-
ship, who married Emma Lehman.
Joseph N. Risser came with his father in 1886
to the present farm, which is a well cultivated tract
of twenty-two acres, and here he has resided ever
since. In politics he is a Republican. He is a
consistent member of the German Baptist Church,
and one of the most respected men in this locality.
In connection with his farming, he follows his trade
as painter.
On Oct. 23, 1888, in Mt. Joy, township, Mr.
Risser was married to Miss Lizzie S. Stauffer, and
four children have been born to this union, namely :
James S., Fanny S., Ivan S. and Herman S. Mrs.
Risser was born June 20, 1864, in Mt. Joy town-
ship, near Milton Grove, where her parents, John
G. and Maria W. (Shelly) Stauffer, still reside.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Risser have a wide circle of
attached friends, and both are most highly esteemed
in the community.
JOHN S. WOLF, a well-to-do agriculturist of
Warwick township, has passed all his life on the
fine farm he owns and occupies, having been born
there Sept. 9, 1850, in the house which is still his
home.
Mr. Wolf is a member of one of the oldest famil-
ies of this section, his grandfather, Jacob Wolf, hav-
ing been born in 1779, in Ephrata township, about
a half mile from the place where our subject now re-
sides. He was a farmer and followed that calling
exclusively until his death, which occurred in 1823.
He married Miss Catherine Landis, and they were
the parents of seven children; Samuel, who was a
farmer in early life, was Station Agent at Akron,
and also a coal and lumber dealer ; George, a farmer ;
Jacob, a miller ; Sarah, wife of Daniel Bard ; Eliza-
beth, wife of Samuel Landis ; Lydia, wife of Abra-
ham Zook ; and Henry.
Henry Wolf, the father of our subject, was born
in the old Wolf homestead in Ephrata township
Nov. 10, 1820. He was reared to farming, and gave
his entire attention to that occupation until his re-
tirement in 1873. He died June i, 1893. Mr. Wolf
was successful in his business affairs, and was a di-
rector in the Lincoln Bank for some years. He mar-
ried Miss Lavina Sheaflfer, and they had two chil-
dren : Elizabeth A., wife of Harry R. Erb, of War-
wick township ; and John S., whose name opens this
sketch.
John S. Wolf was educated in the local common
schools and at the State Normal at Millersville. In
1873 he commenced farming on his own account
on the place where he was born, and has given his
entire attention to agricultural pursuits, in which
he has met with the substantial success he has well
deserved. He has been a director in the Lincoln
National Bank, for the past ten or twelve years, and
he is regarded as a reliable business man by all who
have had dealings with him. In 1874, Mr. Wolf
wedded Miss Lizzie W. Rupp, daughter of Abram
and Anna Rupp, and to this union have been born
four children : Bertha, who is the wife of Grabill G.
Minnich; Henry Arthur, who died May 6, 1901,
aged twenty years and nine months; and Anna R.
and Mabel R. are at home. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf are
both members of the United Evangelical Church,
and he is a member of the board of trustees of that
congregation. He occupies high place in the esteem
of his fellow citizens, and as one of the progressive
and public spirited citizens of his locality, is regarded
with respect by all who know him.
FRANK A. RIEKER has been a resident of
Lancaster for thirty-five years, during which period,
he has proved his interest in his adopted home in
many substantial ways. In building up the industry
with which he has for so many years been actively
identified; he aided materially in the growth and pros-
perity of the city, where he has ranked high among
the successful business men of his generation.
Mr. Rieker is a native of Germany, born March
10, 1844, in Wurtemberg, and his father, John
Rieker, passed his entire life in that country. He
was a farmer by occupation. John Rieker married
Anna Lechleitner, a native of Wurtemberg, whose
father, Jacob Lechleitner, was an Austrian, born in
the Tyrol. After his settlement in Wurtemberg,
Mr. Lechleitner engaged in the hotel business and
farming. Mr. and Mrs. Rieker had eight children
who grew to maturity, and seven still survive. Frank
A. is the only member of the family that came to
America. He lived with his parents up to the age
of thirteen years, when he was apprenticed to learn
the trade of brewer, working three years with his
maternal uncle, a large brewer of Esslingen. For
some time following he traveled — as is the custom
among journeymen in the Fatherland — visiting dif-
ferent parts of his native land, France, Switzerland,
Italy, Austria and other countries. In 1863 Mr.
Rieker came to the United States, sailing from Ham-
burg, and for a year after his arrival in this country,
he worked in New York City. His next location was
in Philadelphia, where he was employed two years,
and in 1867 he was engaged as foreman in Frank's
Brewery, in Lancaster, in which position he remained
another two years. He was also in the employ of
Joseph Wacker, in the same line, for two years, be-
fore starting out in business on his own account.
For a short period he carried on a brewery in Colum-
bia, Lancaster county, and then returning to Lancas-
ter became a partner in the firm of Sheid, Gertz &
Co., who conducted the Lion Brewery. Subsequently,
for one year, he rented the plant, in connection with
Messrs. Struble & Co., and at the expiration of that
time became sole proprietor of what is now known
as the Star Brewery, and which he has developed
into one of the finest and most complete establish-
ments of the kind in the State. He rebuilt and greatly
enlarged the old plant, until its capacity was 12,000
barrels per year. He erected his new brewery on
modern principles, and equipped it with every de-
1056
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
vice and improvement known to the business, includ-
ing up-to-date ice machines, electric plants, etc. The
present capacity of the establishment is 45,000 to
50,000 barrels per year, and the sales from 30,000 to
35,000 barrels. The brewery, a building five stories
m height, and a block in depth, is located on West
King street, First street and Rieker aveune. There
are three storage houses, engine and boiler room,
in addition to the main building. The principal
building was erected in 1892, at a cost of $95,000, and
further improvements have been made at an expense
of $30,000, the plant now covering an area of one
and one-half acres. Employment is given to forty-
two.
In the long and successful conduct of the Star
Brewery Mr. Rieker accumulated a handsome com-
IDetency, the result of the practical application of
those qualities characteristic of his nationality — per-
severance, industry, honesty and thoroughness in
every detail. Good judgment and executive ability,
combined with an intelligent knowledge of both the
commercial and industrial departments of his busi-
ness, completed an equipment not to be despised,
and which has stood the test of long years of competi-
tion, in a day when progress must be matched with
progress, if one would succeed.
In 1868 Mr, Rieker married Cressentia Harmanh,
who was born in Lancaster, daughter of John Har-
mann. Six children have come to this union : Frank
J., Annie M. (wife of Robert Ramsgate, a diamond
broker of New York City), Mary, Charles, Harry
and Ralph. The pleasant family home is at No. 606
King street. Mr. Rieker is a member of St. Joseph's
Catholic Church, and fraternally affiliates with the
B. P. O. E. He is independent in politics.
Frank J. Rieker, who since 1897 has been man-
ager of the Star Brewery, is one of the most popular
young men in Lancaster. He was educated in the
common schools and Weidler's Commercial School.
On Oct. 19, 1893, he married Katie E. Ganse, of Lan-
caster, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth E. Ganse.
Politically Mr. Rieker is a' Democrat, and he is chair-
man of the Democratic countv committee. Socially
he belongs to the Elks ; the Fraternal Order of Eagles,
of which he is trustee and D. D. G. P. ; and to the
Knights of Pythias, of which he is also trustee.
JOHN H. GAMBERLING, one of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company's most competent engineers,
with his residence in Columbia, was born in Bain-
bridge, Lancaster county, March 14, 1854, and is a
son of Charles and Susannah (Cowder) Gamberling,
natives of Maryland, and Lancaster county. Pa.,
respectively.
Charles Gamberling came to Lancaster county
when a young man, was a painter by trade, and was
married in Bainbridge. His death there took place
in 1880, at the age of eighty-two years, and that of
his widow, in 1890, at sixty-nine years of age, both
being members of the Lutheran Church. Their chil-
dren were born and named in the following order :
Barbara, wife of Henry Machin, a farmer in Bain-
bridge ; Susan, widow of Joseph Poulton, of Harris-
burg : Philip, Simon and Ella, deceased ; and John H.
Philip Gamberling, father of Charles, was born
in England, and his family name was in reality
Chamberlain, but was changed after his arrival in
America. He was a butcher and first settled in Havre
de Grace, Md., where he carried on his business until
driven off by the French, who fired his home. He
then came to Harrisburg, Pa., where he and his wife
passed the remainder of their days. Philip Cowder
and his wife, maternal grandparents of John H.
Gamberling, were natives of Germany; the father
was a carpenter by trade, and both he and his wife
died in Bainbridge, Pa., of which place they were
early settlers.
John H. Gamberling attended school in Bain-
bridge, Pa., until eighteen years old. He then went
to Churchville, Pa., and served one year at coach-
making; his employers running out of work, he re-
turned to Bainbridge, finished learning the trade with
Henry Faus, and remained with him five years and
a half, in all. Mr. Gamberling next went to Mount
Wolf, York county, and for eighteen months car-
ried on business on his own account; he next went
to Steelton, Dauphin county, and was employed four
years as a carpenter by the Steel Company ; in 1880
he came to Columbia, served nine months as brake-
man on the railroad, then eleven years as fireman
and • was then promoted to his present position of
engineer.
In Columbia, in 1878, Mr. Gamberling married
Miss Percilla Dohner, who was born in White Oak,
Lancaster county, Sept. 8, 1857, and is a daughter
of Abraham and Eliza (Diehm) Dohner. To Mr.
and Mrs. Gamberling have been born four children,
named as follows: Carrie, Orpha, Charles D., and
Margaret. The family attend the German Reformed
Church and are greatly respected by all who know
them. Mr. Gamberling is a member of the B. L. of
F., and B. L. E. In politics he is a Democrat.
JONATHAN M. WILSON, a prominent far-
mer of Little Britain township, was born June 22,
1840, and is a son of Needham and Jane (Patterson)
Wilson, both of Little Britain township. Grandfather
Benjamin Wilson was of English origin and married
Anna Sidwell, whose ancestors were Scotch-Irish.
They were early settlers in Lancaster county, and
consistent members of the Society of Friends.
Needham Wilson, son of Benjamin and father
of J. M., of Little Britain township, was born May
I5> 1797. ^inc! di'sd Sept. 22, 1872, while his wife was
born May 10, 1797, married Nov. 26, 1826, and died
Sept. 7, 1890, at the age of ninety-four years. Their
children were: Dorestus, a farmer, in Chester
county; Sidwell, deceased; Silvia A., who married
George Bockius, deceased; Dr. Needham, a physi-
cian in Philadelphia ; and Jonathan M.
_ Jonathan M. Wilson was born in a log cabin in
this township, a relic of pioneer days, and obtained
• BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1057
his education in the public schools. His tastes have
made him an excellent farmer and his well-cultivated
and finely improved estate is one of the most valuable
in this locality. His land consists of lOO acres of
great fertility, and attractiveness, where a general
line of farming is carried on, the most approved
methods and machinery being employed.
Mr. Wilson was married Feb. i8, 1869, to Miss
Rebecca E. Rummer, of Little Britain township.
She was born June 14, 1843, and was one in a family
of seven children: William, deceased; Rebecca E.,
who is Mrs. Wilson; George W., of Little Britain;
Rachel, who is the wife of Ervan Hill, of Cecil
county, Md. ; Taylor, of this township ; John R., of
Drumore township ; and Emma, the wife of Andrew
Jackson, whose sketch appears in this volume.
Grandfather William Rummer came of Dutch stock,
and was one of the old settlers in his part of the
county. The parents of Mrs. Wilson were Samuel
and Annie M. (Pierce) Rummer, of Cecil
county, Md.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were :
Sanders, who is a penman, and who lives near Har-
risburg. Pa. ; Malinda, married ; Margaret, residing
at home, one of the leading teachers of music in this
county, a lady of high attainments, and the graduate
of several schools of music ; Anna J., a valued teacher
in this county, a lady of culture, refinement and edu-
cation, who graduated from the Millersville Normal
School at the age of seventeen ; Elnora and Harriet,
who died young,
Mr. Wilson is one of the leading citizens of this
county, a member of the Democratic party, and one
of the supporters of the Little Britain Presbyterian
Church, of which he and family are consistent mem-
bers. This is a very intellectual family and stands
high in the esteem of the neighborhood.
A. JACKSON HARRAR, a successful and
noted farmer of Colerain township, Lancaster coun-
ty, v/as born in the township where he has passed
his useful and industrious life, Oct. 13, 1844, his par-
ents being Miller and Margaret (Galbraith) Harrar.
Miller Harrar was born in Delaware, in April,
1S17, and his wife Margaret, in Colerain township,
in 1821, a daughter of William Galbraith, a native
of Ireland, and a farmer in Colerain township in
his later years.
Miller Harrar was the son of Daniel and Mar-
■garet (Miller) Harrar, who came into Lancaster
county from Montgomery county, after living for
a time in Delaware. In j'823 they settled on a farm
in Colerain township, their farm now being part of
the place occupied by A. Jackson Harrar. They lived
and died on the borne farm, the father dying in 1865,
and his widow in 1868. They had three sons and
two daughters, (i) William, who married Isabelle
Galbraith, a sister to the mother of A. Jackson Har-
rar, settled on a farm in Colerain township, where he
lived and died, leaving one son, Daniel, who still
lives on his father's farm, (2) Daniel married
67
Isabella Harrar, a daughter of Jesse Harrar, and
settled on the old Harrar homestead until 1861. That
year he bought the old Joseph Harrar farm, adjoin-
ing the one on which he had been living. Here he
lived until 1893, when he bought a farm in Delaware,,
where he died leaving a widow and four daughters,
who are residents of Chester county. (3) Lydia A.,
born in Lancaster county, died unmarried some years
ago. (4) Margaret J., a young lady, died at the
home in Colerain township. (5) Miller.
Miller Harrar received a somewhat limited edu-
cation in the subscription schools of the time, and re-
mained under the parental roof until he reached ma-
turity. During his youthful days he learned the mill-
wright trade, but he never followed it as a business.
In 1843 he married Maggie Galbraith, and located on
the old homestead, to which he added very substan-
tial improvements, making this his home until his
death, in Feb., 1888. His wife passed to her rest
in 1886, They were members of the Baptist Church,
and the Harrars were among the founders of the
first Baptist Church in Colerain township. They
were all Jacksonian Democrats. They were the par-
ents of two sons and a daughter. A. J. was the eldest
son. Francis Marion, born in August, 1849, was a
student in the home schools, where he received a
fair education, and married Miss Abbie Keehn, a
daughter of Samuel and Rebecca Keehn, of Dru-
more township. They moved in with the parents at
the old home. After the death of the father, the farm
was divided between Marion and A, J. Harrar, the-
latter keeping the old home for his residence. Marion
died in May, 1896, leaving a widow, his son Earnest
having died nearly two years before. The widow has
since married Thomas Cassidy. Ida, the daughter
of Miller Harrar, died in childhood.
A. Jackson Harrar, whose name introduces this
article, received the benefits of the district school,
and remained at home as long as his parents lived.
For several years before his father's death he had
the management of the farm in his own hands.
Mr. Harrar was married in Nov., 1867, to Miss
Phoebe Lovett, the daughter of Patterson and Mary
Lovett, of Lancaster county. Mrs. Harrar was born
and reared in East Drumore township, and died at
the old Harrar homestead in May, 1888, leaving one
son, Ellwood A., who was born in Aug., 1868, and
was educated in the home schools. For several
years he was bookkeeper in a Philadelphia house.
In 1896 he entered the Theological Seminary at
Chester, Delaware county, from which he was grad-
uated in T899. He was given charge of a mission
in the Baptist Church, and the same year he was
ordained and installed as pastor o± the Alpha Bap-
tist Church, of Philadelphia. Miss Lillian Jeffries,
who became his wife, was born in Philadelphia. They
have one son, Norman Jackson.
A. Jackson Harrar was married to his second
wife, Miss Ida Keehn, a daughter of Samuel and Re-
becca Keehn, in May, 1889. Mrs. Harrar was born-
Aug. 9, 1859, and received her education in the Union
1058
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
High School. She became the mother of one child,
who died when very young.
Mr. Harrar built a fine house and barn in 1889,
and put his farm in good order. He is a fancier of
good horse flesh, and has one of the finest norses in
Colerain township. Both Mr. and Mrs. Harrar be-
long to the Baptist Church, where he has been
trustee, treasurer and clerk, and an active worker for
many years. In politics he is a Prohibitionist, and
has been tax collector of Colerain township. Mr.
Harrar is agent for the Agricultural Mutual Fire
Insurance Company, of Lancaster county, and be-
longs to Lodge No. 544, I. O. O. F., at Kirkwood,
in which he has filled all the chairs except that of
treasurer. For several years he has filled the chair
of financial secretary.
JOSEPH DENNISON, of Columbia, Pa., is one
of the most reliable engineers in the employ of the
Pennsylvania Railway Company. He was born in
Conoy township, Lancaster county, in a log house,
March 13, 185 1, and is a son of John and Susan
(Brubaker) Dennison, natives of West Donegal and
Conoy townships, respectively, the former of whom
died on the home farm in 1893, at the age of sixty-
six years, his remains being interred at Falmouth;
the latter is still living on the old homestead at sev-
enty-four years of age. The children born to these
parents, five in number, were named as follows :
Amanda, at home ; Joseph ; Sidney, at home ; Anna,
. wife of Dr. Frank Hinkle, of Columbia ; and John,
of Bridgeport, Pa. The paternal grandfather of
Joseph Dennison, Andrew, was born in Lancaster
county. Pa., but died on his farm in Illinois. The
maternal grandparents were David and Rachel
(Brooks) Brubaker, the former of whom was an old
tax collector of Lancaster county ; of the Brubaker
family an interesting sketch will be found elsewhere.
Joseph Dennison lived on the parental farm until
thirty years of age and then came to Columbia, and
entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railway
Company, as fireman, in which capacity he served
.nine years and four months, when, for his faithful-
ness and attention to duty, he was promoted to en-
gineer.
Joseph Dennison was united in marriage, in
Bainbridge, Lancaster county, Dec. 24, 1872, with
Miss Eliza Dohner, who has borne him three children,
Norman, Abraham and Clement, the latter deceased.
Mrs. Eliza (Dohner) Dennison is also a native of
Lancaster county, and was born Aug. 5, 1851, daugh-
ter of Abraham and Eliza (Diehm) Dohner, of Penn
township. Abraham Dohner was a carpenter in his
early manhood, but in his latter years was a farmer
in Conov township, and died on his farm in February,
1874, when fifty-six years old. Mrs. Eliza (Diehm)
Dohner now makes her home with Mr. Dennison at
Columbia. She was born Sept. 5, 1820, and is a
consistent member of the Reformed Church. Her
six children were named, in order of birth, as fol-
lows : Eli, who is a farmer in West Hempfield town-
ship ; Sarah and Anna M., who died young ; Eliza,
now Mrs. Joseph Dennison; Emaline, wife of Sam-
uel K. Miller, a railroad conductor residing in Co-
lumbia ; and Priscilla, wife of John H. Gamberling,
of the same borough.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Eliza (Doh-
ner) Dennison were born in Lebanon county, Pa.,
were agricultural people, and early settled in Lancas-
ter county. Her maternal granaparents, John and
Sarah (Seidsinger) Diehm, were respectively na-
tives of Lititz, Lancaster county, and Berks county,
Pa. John Diehm was a farmer and died on his
homestead in Lancaster county in 1873, when sev-
enty-seven years old ; his wife had preceded him to
the grave in 1867. They were the parents of five
children, viz. : Eliza, mother of Mrs. Dennison ;
Leonard, deceased ; Sarah, wife of David Smith, of
Penn township; Harry, a retired railroad man of
Middletown, Pa.; and Priscilla, deceased wife of
Christ Ebersole. Michael and Margaret Seidsinger,
maternal great-grandparents, came from Berks to
Lancaster county at a very early day.
Joseph Dennison is a member of the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers, and of the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Firemen. He belongs to the Reformed
Church. He is a Democrat in politics, but has never
been an office seeker. He has always been attentive
to his duties as a railroad man, has won the confi-
dence of his company, and has also gained the un-
feigned respect of all his neighbors.
JAMIiS C. LEISEY, an efficient and popular
conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad, with his
residence at Columbia, was born in Cocalico town-
ship, Lancaster county, Feb. 25, 1853. His parents,
Frank and Barbara (Zell) Leisey, were also natives
of Lancaster county. The former worked at farming
in the proper season and at other times at broom-
making, and such other work as he could tvirn his
hand to with profit. To his marriage with Miss Zell
were born : Martin, a cigar manufacturer at Lititz ;
James C. ; Frank, a mechanic at Lancaster City ;
Emma, wife of Albert Book, of Neffsville, Pa. ;
Alice, married to Milton Long, of Lancaster ; Sarah,
of Akron, Pa. ; Reuben, a painter in Witmer, this
county ; and Allen, a farmer, also of Lancaster
coimty. Frank Leisey, the father, died Nov. 14,
1898, at the age of seventy-two years, his wife hav-
ing died eighteen years before, at the age of fifty-
three ; they were members of the Lutheran Church,
and their remains were interred at Reamstowii.
The paternal grandfather of James C. Leisey
was Joseph Leisey, a farmer of Lancaster county,
and his maternal grandparents were Nicholas and
Barbara (Keel) Zell, of the same county, and also
agricultural people of English extraction.
James C. Leisey worked about on farms until
fourteen years of age and then learned cigar-
making, a trade he followed for eleven years ; he was
then employed as brakeman on the Pennsylvania
Railroad for a year and a half, when he returned
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1059
to farming for two years and then again to tlie rail-
toad unti^l July, 1884 ; he was next a flagman until
March 28, 1898, when he was promoted to his pres-
ent position as conductor.
May 5, 1879, Mr. Leisey was united in matrimony
with Miss Ella Keinard in Lancaster. This marriage
has been blessed with ten children, born in the follow-
ing order : Ira, Minnie, Arabella, Oscar (deceased),
Leon, p-erman, Raymond, Ola, May and Dora Ellen,
all the survivors still having their home with the
parents. Mrs. Ella (Keinard) Leisev was born in
York county, Jan. 5, 1858, and is a daughter of
Michael and Mary A. (Bellinger) Keinard, farming
people, who had born to them the following family :
Randolph, a farmer in York county ; Elizabeth, de-
ceased wife of John Kaufman; Anna M., deceased
wife of John Quail ; Aaron, also deceased ; Catherine,
wife of Peter Resline, farmer of York county;
Martha, married to Howard Auble, of Wrights-
ville. Pa. ; Caroline, wife of Harry Kramer, of Har-
risburg; Louise, Henry, Milton and Emma, all de-
ceased; and Ella. The mother of this large family
died Jan. 10, 1871, at the age of fifty-five years, and
the father in Nov., 1874, aged fifty-eight, both de-
voted members of the Evangelical Church.
Mr. Leisey in politics is a Democrat and as a
citizen is greatly respected by the residents of Colum-
bia generally.
CLIFFORD COOK, one of the leading farmers
of Little Britain township, was born July 23, 1858,
a son of Reuben and Deborah (Brown) Cook, the
former of whom was born in Fulton township in
1818, and died on the old home place Feb. 10, 1889.
Reuben Cook was a son of William Cook, who was
born in Lancaster county, although the family
originated in Wales. It has long been one of the most
honorable among the old and established families of
southern Lancaster county. By marriage it is con-
nected with many of the names well known for
many years in this part of the state. The children
born to William Cook were: Clarkson; Allen;
Mercy, who married Mark Haines ; Ruth Ann, who
married Warrick Coats; and Reuben, the father of
Clifford Cook, of this sketch.
The mother of Mr. Cook wa;s a daughter of Hon.
Jeremiah Brown, who was a prominent member of
the bar, a judge, a member of Congress and one of
the leading citizens of Lancaster county. She was
born in Fulton township, in 1822, and still survives
and makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. R. H.
Archer, of Philadelphia. She was married to Reuben
Cook about 1839, and the following children were
born to them : ' Kersey, who resides in Jefferson
Citv, Mo. ; Howard, deceased, who was a captain in
the Union army during the Civil war, and at the
time of his death was a prominent physician in
Omaha, Neb.; Walter B., who is a bookkeeper at
the Broad street station -of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road, at Philadelphia, and who was for fifteen years
in the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad, at
Omaha, Neb. ; Millard, who spent the greater part
of his life in Kansas and Nebraska, but died at the
old home, in Sept., 1901 ; Myron, who is a farmer in
Labette county, Kansas; Clifford, of this sketch;
Annie M., who is in the employ of Dr. Kelly's private
institute, in Baltimore, Md. ; and Alice B., who is
the wife of R. H. Archer, of Philadelphia. During
life Reuben Cook was a very prominent farmer in
his locality, and was a man esteemed throughout the
community.
The early education of Clifford Cook was ac-
quired in the public schools of his neighborhood,
and he grew up on the farm, learning practical agri-
culture. Although he has now a fine farm, of 150
acres, with a most comfortable residence and one of
the most capacious barns in this township, he has
been industrious and frugal all his life, and has
earned his substantial position in the county. His
land under his wise management and careful and in-
telligent methods, produces abundant crops in all
the products of this section.
The marriage of Mr. Cook was on Dec. '2, 1888,
to Mrs. Helen E. Mearns, the widow of J. A.
Mearns, and the daughter of Joseph T. and Mary A.
(Alexander) England, natives of Cecil county, Md.
She was born Dec. 2, 1855, and was one of a family
of three children, the others being Joseph and Isaac
H., both of whom reside in Zion, Md. The children
born to Clifford Cook and his wife are: Marian
Virginia, born July 30, 1892 ; and Eugene Maurice, _
born April 7, 1901. Mrs. England still survives,*
at the age of seventy-eight years.
Few men in this township have taken a more
intelligent interest in its progress than has Clifford
Cook. As a leading member of the Republican party,
he has most efficiently served in a number of the local
offices. For the past six years he has shown his in-
terest in educational matters by serving as school
director and through 1882-83-84 he was town-
ship auditor. His religious connection is with the
Society of Friends, and he enjoys the high esteem of
all with whom he comes in contact, whether in public
or social life.
E. S. WOLF, a resident of Hopeland, Pa., is a
well-known farmer and miller of Clay township,
and a leading citizen in this community. He was
born June 10, 1863, son of Samuel and Lydia (Stief)
Wolf, both deceased.
Samuel Wolf, the father of E. S., was a son of
Jeremiah Wolf, a respected farmer and old settler
of Clay township. Samuel Wolf married Lydia
Stief and they had a family of seven children,
namely : Harriet, Louisa, E. S., Salinda, Samuel, de-
ceased, Cassie, and Amelia, deceased.
E. S. Wolf was reared on the farm and attended
the common schools of his localitv in his youth.
For a number of vears he carried on farming with
success, and by his industry became the owner of
valuable land. Recently he sold a farm of 148
acres of land and turned his attention to milling.
1060
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
buying the Eagle Grist Mills, of Hopeland, which
he operates, also running a portable saw mill. Mr.
Wolf is a man of varied talents and succeeds in al-
most every business he undertakes. For quite a con-
siderable period he engaged in the manufacture of
cigars, but his time and attention are mainly given to
his farming and milling at present. He is a stanch
supporter of the Republican party, a progressive citi-
zen who takes a great interest in his community, and
serves with efHciency on the school board. Mr. Wolf
is a member of the United Brethren Church.
In September, 1882, Mr. Wolf was united in
marriage with Miss Sahnda Druckenbrode, born in
1862, daughter of Jacob Druckenbrode, of Clay
township. This marriage has been blessed with seven
children, as follows : AHce, born April 18, 1883 ;
Daisy, born June 28, 1890; Samuel, born Sept. 21,
1892 ; Elva, born Feb. 7, 1896; Bessie, born Oct. 18,
1897 ; Le Roy, born Dec. 25, 1899 '< ^"d Irvin, born
May 10, 1901.
Mr. Wolf is a prominent citizen in Clay township,
an honorable man, a good neighbor, and one who has
the welfare of his family, his church and his home
very near to his heart, and who commands the esteem
of all who know him.
JOHN F. HEIM was born in Columbia, March
27, 1861, and is one of the town's most respected
citizens. For twenty years he has been in the employ
of the Pennsylvania Company, and in no relation of
life has he ever been found derelict. He is the son
of George Heim, and an outline of his family history
may be found on another page. His boyhood was
passed upon a farm, where he remained until twenty
years of age, when he entered the employ of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a brakeman.
After a year he was made a fireman and some ten
years later was promoted to be engineer. This po-
sition he still holds. He is a member of the Brother-
hood of Railway Engineers, and is one of the trustees
of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is a con-
sistent and active member and a liberal supporter.
In political faith he is a Democrat.
On July 26, 1882, he was married to Miss Lizzie
A. Ambrose, of Columbia. The issue of the union
has been four children: Edgar F., Clara R. (de-
ceased), Harry C. and Walter M. Mrs. Heim is
a daughter of Benjamin A. and Martha (Morrow)
Ambrose, and was born June 14, 1857, at York. Her
mother died in 1858, but her father is still living.
He is a son of parents who emigrated from Ireland
early in life, and settled in York county, in this State.
The same statement holds good, also, as to her ma-
ternal grandparents. Mr. Ambrose was born in 1822.
In early life he was a boatman, but is now a farmer.
For many years he conducted a mail route. He is
a member 01 the M. E. Church. He has been three
times married, Mrs. Heim being the second and
youngest child born to the first union. Her elder
sister, Anna A., died in childhood. His second wife
-was j\'Iary Stormer, who also bore him two children,
Robert J. (deceased), and Charles, a farmer in York
county. His third marriage was to Susan Brown^
the issue being a son and two daughters. John A.,
the eldest child, resides in Lancaster ; Ella married
Edgar Hate; and Mamie married William Fry, both
prosperous York county farmers.
AMOS ZIEGLER. Among the elegant homes-
and fine farms of Lancaster county, is that of Amos
Ziegler, who resides in the village of Rowenna, seven
miles from Columbia, Pa., living somewhat retired,
but intelligently interested in the public affairs of
the country, and through others, conducting oper-
ations on a large scale in mica and asbestos mining,,
in the State of Virginia.
The family of which Amos Ziegler is a worthy
representative, is one of the old and important ones-
of East Donegal township, the founder having es-
tablished himself here as early as 1782. Amos Zieg-
ler was born May 14, 185 1, a son of John and Bar-
bara (Hertzler) Ziegler, the former 01 whom was
one of the leading men of this part of Lancaster
county : he was on the board of directors of the First
National Bank, of Marietta, with which he was con-
nected for many years. He died in 1894, leaving:
much property. His religious connection had been
with the Dunkard Church, in which he was highly
valued. The estimable mother of Mr. Ziegler was
born Dec. 4, 1831, and since 1895, has made her
home with her son Amos.
The family born to Mr. and Mrs. John Ziegler
was as follows: Benjamin, who died in infancy;
Jacob H., a successful farmer and owner of a cream-
ery, in Rowenna ; and Amos, the subject of this biog-
raphv- The latter was reared on the home farm and
attended the district schools, remaining engaged in
farming pursuits until the spring of 1876, when he
came to his present place, continuing to operate both
farms, although not engaged in active labor himself.
Mr. Ziegler, in 1892, laid out the flourishing village
of Rowenna, being one of the most enterprising and
energetic of men. In association with others, he is
prospecting for mica and asbestos in Bedford county,
Va., where there is every indication of remarkable
results.
The marriage of Amos Ziegler was on Oct. 17,
1876, in East Donegal, to Miss AHce Musser, wha
was born in Rowenna, a daughter of John and
Martha (Berg) Musser, of Donegal township. In
May, 1900, Mr. Musser removed to Salem, Va., and
now resides with his son, Henry C. From the
foundation of the First National Bank, of Marietta,
he was one of its officers, serving many years as its
president, and was a prominent member of the
Dunkard Church in this township. Formerly he was
a Republican in politics, but latterly has voted with
the Prohibitionists. His children were : Henry C, a
farmer of Salem, Va. : Alice ; Hiram, deceased ; and
Eugene, deceased.
Mr. Ziegler has served a number of years as
school director and is fraternally connected with
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1061
the Masonic order, in politics being an Independent.
A genial, pleasant man, Mr. Ziegler is an agreeable
host, and delights to show his visitors his fine collec-
tion of birds, being something of a taxidermist, as
well as one of the most intelligent citizens of this part
of the county. The stanch old Ziegler family finds
in Amos Ziegler, a worthy representative.
DAVID H. MEYERS, late a highly respected
iarmer of the township of West Donegal, was born
in Conoy township, June 2q, 1837, and is a son of
John and Barbara (Metzgar) Meyers, born in Conoy
township and in Dauphin county, respectively. The
father died in Conoy township in 1841 at the early
age of thirty-one years, having devoted his active
life to farming. The mother, who was born in 1815,
is still in good health. They were both members of
the Lutheran faith, and to them were born three
sons, Jacob and John, both of whom died young, and
David H., whose name is given above.
Isaac Meyers, the paternal grandfather of David
H., was born in Lancaster county, and moved into
the far West about 1838. The maternal grandfather
■of David H. Meyers was David Metzgar, born in
Dauphin county, where he lived and died as a farmer.
David n. Meyers was married Nov. 7, 1861,
in Lancaster, to Miss Anna Shank, and to them
were born the following children : ( i ) Cather-
ine S. is single and at home. (2) Barbara S.
married William H. Farber, who has a place
adjoining that of her father, David H. ; they
have had six children, of whom Anna, Roy and
David D. are dead ; the others are Earl M., William
C. and Katie B. (3) David S. died in infancy. Mrs.
Anna (Shank) Meyers was born in Mt. Joy town-
ship, in Feb. 1836, and is a sister of Aaron Shank,
of West Donegal township, of whom a sketch ap-
pears on another page, where will be found a full
liistory of the Shank familv.
David H. Meyers spent the first twenty-two
years of his life at home, and then purchased the farm
on which he lived until his death, making an enviable
record as an honest man and upright citizen. For
fifteen years he was school director, and gave much
attention to school interests, discharging his duties
in this connection with the same conscientious fidelity
that marked all his other labors. In politics he was
a Democrat, and in religion a member of the Men-
nonite Church. He died at his home June 11, 1902,
when nearly sixty-five years old.
CHRISTIAN N. LANDIS was born Feb. 2,
1841, on the place where he yet resides, in East Lam-
peter township. His grandfather, John Landis, was
also a native of that township, born in 1785. He was
a prominent man in his day and filled many of the
most important offices in Lancaster county. He
Avas president of the Lancaster County Bank from
the time it was founded, in 1841, until his death,
which occurred in 1865. He was one of the Pres-
idential Electors in 1848. In religion he was identi-
fied with the Old Mennonites of the county. Mr.
Landis married Evanna Grofl', and they were the
parents of the following children: Betsey, wife of
John Donar; Susan (deceased), wife of Tobias
Herr; Hattie (deceased), wife of Michael Metzger;
Polly, wife of John Leaman ; Annie, unmarried ; Ben-
jamin, deceased ; David, father of our subject ; John,
deceased; and Martin, of East Lampeter township.
David Landis remained with his parents until he
was of age, and was educated in the common schools
of the county. He then began life for himself, farm-
ing on the place where our subject now resides, and
continued thus until his death, which occurred March
9, 1882. He was a member of the Old Mennonite
Church. He married Miss Mary Neflf, of East Lam-
peter township, by whom he had nine children, viz. :
Susan (deceased), wife of Isaac L. Landis; Mary,
wife of Benjamin Landis : John, of East Lampeter;
Leah, wife of Jacob R. Buckwalter; Evanna, wife
of Adam S. Runk; Christian, our subject; David,
of Leacock township ; Moses N., of Leacock town-
ship ; and Annie N., wife of Michael L. Rohrer. The
mother of these children died in 1841, and the father
afterward married Miss Rebecca Eckman. To this
union were born two children : Elizabeth, wife of
Jacob Hostetter ; and Martin-, who died in childhood.
Christian N. Landis continued to live with his
father until the latter's death, and he inherited the
farm, which is one of the finest in Lancaster county,
comprising roo acres of most productive land, which
Mr. Landis has tilled with steady profit.
In 1866 he married Miss Leamon, daughter of
Tobias Leamon, of East Lampeter township, and to
this union have been born four children : Mary, wife
of Frank K. Lefever; Lizzie L., (deceased) wife of
David G. Landis ; and Anna L. and David L., both
at home. Mr. and Mrs. Landis, with their daughter,
are members of the Old Mennonite Church. Our
subject has given his entire attention to agricultural
pursuits, and he is regarded as one of the intelligent,
representative citizens of his section.
HENRY B. HOFFMAN, a noted merchant at
Beartown, Lancaster county, was born in East Co-
calico, July 7, 1850, and is a son of Henry and Bar-
bara (Beam) Hoffman, natives of Berks county, and
Brecknock township, Lancaster county, respectively.
The father was reared in Morgantown, Berks county,
and when a small boy was taken by his parents to
East Cocalicc.
Balser Hofi^man, the grandfather of Henry B.,
came from Germany, and was, as is supposed, a very
small child at the time of his coming. He was a
farmer, and attained an advanced age.
Henry Hofifman, the father of Henry B., learned
the trade of weaving, which he followed the most of
his life. He was a member of the Lutheran Church,
to which his wife also belonged. His death occurred
in 1873, when he was seventy-four years of age; his
wife passed away at the age of fifty-seven. To this
marriage were born ten children: The first three
1062
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
died in infancy; Susan married Henry Dietrich, of
Ephrata, and is dead ; Martin is a shoemaker at Mar-
tindale; Catherine is the wife of Henry Reed, of
Earl township ; Elizabeth is the wife of Harry Sload,
of Rohrerstown ; . Louisa is the wife of Andrew
Becher, of Elizabethtown ; Lucetta is the wife of
Henry Echenroad, of Murrell, Lancaster county;
Henry B. is mentioned below.
Henry B. Hoffman was reared in East Cocalico
until he reached the age of thirteen years, since which
time he has taken care of himself. His career began
in farm work, and at the age of seventeen he entered
a cigar factory, to learn the art of making cigars.
When he was twenty, he learned the carpenter trade,
which he followed for some five years ; at the end of
this period he applied himself to tobacco farming
on a tract of seven acres at Beartown. Almost every
year he has had some tobacco, though in 1885 he en-
gaged in a mercantile establishment at Beartown,
which he has since very successfully conducted. For
eight years he has been postmaster at Beartown,
where he has resided continuously, with the exception
of 1893, when he had a grocery store at Martindale,
where he held the position of assistant postmaster.
Mr. Hofi'man is a progressive and public-spirited
citizen of Beartown, and is ever ready to lend a help-
ing hand to any movement that looks to the public
good. One of the leadmg Republicans of this part
of Lancaster county, he has been supervisor of his
township for two years. In 1874 he was married to
Miss Katie Troop, a daughter of Samuel and Sallie
(Miller) Troop. She was born in Brecknock town-
ship, and is the mother of five children: Ida is the
wife of Diller Silknittler, of Caernarvon township,
and they have one child, Gertie ; Samuel married
Clara Smith, and lives in Beartown, where they have
one child, Gerlatine ; Edgar, Harry and Katie are at
home.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman belong to the Lutheran
Church, and are among the solid and substantial
people of Lancaster county.
FRANKLIN G. HARPLE, farmer, justice of
the peace, surveyor and conveyancer, of Bareville,
Pa., is a well-known and highly esteemed citizen of
Lancaster county. His birth occurred Oct. 2, 1840,
in this village, and he was a son of Lewis and Anna
M. (Knox) Harple, the former of whom was born
in West Prussian Germany, and the latter, in Lan-
caster City, Pa. Father Harple came to America
with his parents when he was but six years of age
and settled near Spring Grove, Pa., later moving to
Upper Leacock township. For many years Father
Harple conducted a distillery for Adam Bare and
John Hershey, operating it near Bareville, and in this
place he died April 3, 1849, ^t the age of fifty-six
years. The mother died June 13, 1863, both of them
being buried in the old cemetery at Heller's Church,
now Salem, being members of the Lutheran faith.
In politics Mr. Harple was a Democrat.
The family of children born to Lewis and Anna
M. Harple included ; Henry, who died in infancy ;
Henry L., who died at the age of thirty-nine, crushed
by the cars at Gordonville, Pa. ; Sarah, deceased, who
was the wife of Abraham Beerbauer, of Chester
countv ; Lewis E., the trusted messenger of the First
National Rank, of Lancaster; Sabrina, who is the
widow of Henry W. Kessler, of Burt county. Neb. ;
Catherine, who was murdered Aug. 9, 1849, while
picking blackberries in Upper Leacock township;
Samuel, who is a carpenter, located in Erie, Pa.;
John, a farmer, of Baltimore county, Md. ; Anna
Maria, deceased, who married George W. Deitrick;
Martin, who died young ; Elizabeth, who died young ;
and Franklin G.
The paternal grandparents of Franklin G. Harple
were Ludwig and Anna M. Harple, or Harbill, of
Germany, Lutherans who came to America in 1779,
settling in Spring Grove, where the former carried
on a weaving business until he removed to Upper
Leacock township. He died at Lancaster. The ma-
ternal grandparents were Robert Knox, born in Lon-
don, Eng., and Sabrina Stauffer, a daughter of the
brave Swiss, Captain Stauft'er, who commanded a
company in the Battle of Brandywine, and assisted
in bringing Hessian prisoners to Lancaster.
Justice Harple acquired a good education in the
common schools of his district and passed his boy-
hood on a small farm consisting of ten acres of land,,
belonging to his parents. After they were called from
earth, he located in his present place, in 1864, engag-
ing in surveying under William Weidman, where he
worked until he attained his majority and then re-
turned and purchased the old homestead, farming
there until 1873, when he made a trip to Wayne
county, Ohio. There he made himself useful, work-
ing through the season on the farms and then went
on to Erie, Pa., reaching that locality in July, 1873 ">
here he found employment in carpenter work and m
bridgebuilding, which kept him occupied until
March, 1875, when he returned to Lancaster county.
After his return, Mr. Harple purchased his pres-
ent home, in 1881, having previously farmed here,
and then he began the business of surveying, on his.
own account, his previous work under Mr. Weidman
having taught him all the details. Active in the
ranks of the Republican party, he has been called
upon to serve in many of the local offices, and has
been township auditor, -tax collector, deputy coroner
and, on Oct. 9, 1 881, he was appointed justice of the
peace, his former efficient management of public
office making this appointment gratifying both to
Republicans and to Democrats. This has been
proven by re-election ever since.
The marriage of Justice Harple and Miss Sarah
L. Keplinger was celebrated on Dec. 9, 1864, ia
New Holland, and the children born of this union
have been r Alfred, who died in infancy ; Austin K.,
V\^ho married Sarah Poutz and is in the nursery busi-
ness in Talmage, Pa. ; Alice M., Franklin K. and
Charles M., all of whom are at home.
\
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1063
Mrs. Harple was born in Earl township, March
9^ 1844, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Bair)
Keplinger, of Lancaster county, where they were
farming people. The former died on Nov. 3, 1877,
aged sixty-eight years and twenty days ; the mother
died on_ Jan. 25, 1885, at the age of seventy-three
years, six months and fourteen days. They were
members of the Reformed Church, good, Christian
people. Their children \yere : David, who Hves in
Lancaster, Pa. ; Barbara, who married Jacob Dier-
dorf, and lives in Bird-in-Hand, Pa.; Susan, de-
ceased, married to James Neil; Sarah, who is the
wife of Justice Harple; Samuel, who went to New
Jersey and- was not heard from ; Emma, late wife
of Michael Dissinger, of Leola, Lancaster county;
Catherine, who resides unmarried in Philadelphia;
and Elmira, who died while young.
Justice Harple enjoys the esteem of the commun-
ity and is most highly regarded in both legal and
business circles.
ISAAC MARTIN, the son of Christian Martin,
was born in 1808, and died in 1885. His birth
occurred on the Big Springs Farm in Earl township,
and he spent his life in that vicinity, where
he learned the milling business when a young man.
After his marriage he purchased his father's mill
property in Earl township, which he operated for a
time, and then replaced it with the structure in -1833,
which is still standing. There he was engaged in
milling for twenty years, and made a reputation as
an honorable and upright miller that was widely
spread throughout his section of Lancaster county.
At the end of that time he rented his mill property and
engaged in farming, and was living ori his farm at
the time of his death. He is remembered as one of
the thoroughly successful and reliable men of his
community, where he was esteemed not only for his
industrious habits, but for his integrity and general
good character. He served as a school director, and
took an active part in local affairs. In religion he
affiliated with the Mennonite Church, and was one
of its most devoted members and supporters.
Isaac Martin was married to Christiana Groff, a
daughter of John Groff, of Grottdaie, and to this
union were born the following children: Fianna,
who resides at Martindale, Lancaster county, the
widow of L. Zimmerman; Susanna, the wife of
Jacob Musser, who has her home in Groffdale ; Isaac
G. ; Amanda, unmarried. Mrs. Martin lived to be
eightv-one years old.
Isaac G. Martin was born July 29, 1848, and
was bred to the milling business. His education was
gained in the public school, and when he was twenty-
six years of age he was married and went into the
milling business on his own account, at the old
stand of his father. The mill property was bought
bv him, and he has since devoted himself to its oper-
ation. He does custom work very successfully. A
farm of sixty-one acres, which was once the property
of his father, has descended to him, and he keeps it
in a high stalte of cultivation. His standing at home
is of the very best, and he is known as one of the
leading men.* of the township. His public spirit is
pronounced, i,ind he is always ready to assist any-
thing that loot's to the public good.
Isaac G. ]\\'lartin was married in 1873 to Miss
Kate Mohler, &' native of Ephrata township, and a
daughter of Cyr.us and Mary (Bitzer) Mohler. Mr.
and Mrs. Martin had three children, only one of
whom is living now. ^ Nora died when twenty years
old ; she was a graduate ©f^the State Nornial 'School.,
at Millersville, and had become a teacher in the pub-
lic schools of the county. Newton E. received his
education in the public schools, and is a machinist.
Alta Blanche died at the age of seven years. Mrs.
Martin died Aug. 21, 1902, in her forty-eighth year.
Mr. Martin is a member of the German Baptist
Brethren, or the Dunkard Church, of which he is a
deacon in the church at Spring Grove. For the last
twenty years he has been an active church worker,
and is ever ready to lend an active support to any
enterprise that looks to the prosperity of the church.
FRANKLIN W. SENSENICH, a well-known
veterinary surgeon of New Holland, Pa., was born
in East Ear! township, Lancaster county. May 23,
1841, and is a son of George W. and Anna (Worst)
Sensenich. His father was born in East Earl town-
ship, and his mother in Pequea township.
George Sensenich was a tanner, and had a tan-
nery in East Earl township for many years. He died
in 1884, at the age of sixty-five, having lost his wife,
who died in 1843, ^^ the age of twenty-four. Both
were buried in the Bridgeville cemetery in East Earl
township. They were members of the Evangelical
Church. To Mr. and Mrs. George Sensenich were
born two children: John, who died in infancy, and
Franklin W., whose name introduces this article. Mr.
Sensenich was married a second time to Elizabeth
Kurtz, by whom he had the following children:
Lydia, who married James Emory, a farmer in Salis-
bury township ; Harriet, who married Lavan Wenger,
and is now dead; Emma, who lives in Caernarvon
township, and is unmarried.
The paternal grandparents of F. W. Sensenich
were Francis and Elizabeth (Weaver) Sensenich,
farmer folks of Lancaster county.
Franklin W. Sensenich was married in Oct., 1865,
in Caernarvon township, Lancaster countv, to Louisa
R. CofiFroath, by whom he has had the following chil-
dren : Anna C, who is at home ; Levi W., a farmer,
and married to Susan Witmer ; Mary A., at home.,,;.
Mrs. Sensenich was born in Caernarvon town-
ship in Feb., 1841, and is a daughter of Levi and
Catherine (Weiler) Coffroath, farming people of
Lancaster county. Her father died in 1895, at the age
of eighty-two; her mother, in 1880, at the age of
seventy-five. They were buried in the Bridgeville
cemetery. To their union were born: Louisa R.
1064
BIOGRAPHICAL AMnALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
who is noted above as the wife of Mr. ^ensenich;
Mary, who married John Rife, a farmer c^^f Caernar-
von township ; Lucetta, unmarried, and l^^ving on the
old homestead in Caernarvon township.,
Mr. Sensenich remained with his Barents until
the death of his mother, when he weni/ to live with
his father's parents, remaining under ^heir roof un-
til he was fifteen years of age. The ensuing three
years were passed with his father, a^id he was em-
ployed in the tannery. When he^as eighteen, he
entered a machine shop at Goo^ville, where he re-
mained two years. When the,§iiop closed at the end
of that time, he secured a position in a store kept by
John S. Weaver, in Goodville, with whom he spent
two years. For several vears after this he was en-
gaged in the tannery business, and while thus oc-
cupied he began the study of veterinary surgery.
After living a year in Philadelphia, he came to New
Holland, in T8q6. For some years prior to this he
had lived. on a farm in Caernarvon township. In
East Earl township he filled the position of assessor,
and in Caernarvon township was a school director.
He and his family are members of the United Breth-
ren Church. In his politics he is a Republican ; and
he has been school director in the borough of New
Holland.
FRANK S. BRUBAKER, a respected farmer
citizen of Warwick township, descends from one
of the oldest and most prominent families of Lan-
caster county.
Joseph Brubaker, his grandfather, was born in
Lancaster county and lived and died there. He was
a farmer and followed that occupation exclusively
all his life. He was a member of the old Mennon-
ite Church. His children were as follows : Bar-
bara, who became the wife of Christian Snyder;
Catherine, who became the wife of a Mr. Bomber-
ger ; Levi, who was the father of our subject; Jonas,
deceased ; Joseph and David, who were farmers of
Warwick township ; John, a farmer of Manheim
township ; Anna, deceased wife of Jacob Shirk ;
Mary, who married Christian Bomberger; and
Eliza, the wife of Levi Weaver.
Levi Brubaker, the father of our subject, was
born in Warwick township May i, 1822, received a
common school education and gave his entire at-
tention to farming until he retired, about 1873. He
died Oct. 16, 1898. In politics Mr. Brubaker was
a stanch Republican, and he often represented his
party in State and county conventions. He held
the office of school director for some years. On
Oct. 23, 1845, he married Miss Elizabeth Sheaffer,
who was the daughter of Jacob Sheafifer, and they
became the parents of five children, as follows:
Phares, of Fargo, North. Dakota; Isavius, who died
at the age of eighteen years; Frank S., our subject;
Sheafl:er S., of Warwick, Pa. ; and Joseph, of Lan-
caster. The parents were both members of the Old
Mennonite Church.
Frank S. Brubaker was born Oct. 28, 1852, on
the old homestead in Warwick township, and re-
mained at home until he was twenty years of age.
He was educated in the Lititz Academy, and began
life for himself by farming on the old homestead for
eight years. He then purchased the place where he
now resides, in Millway, and he has given the most of
his time to farming and droving. In 1888 he was
appointed storekeeper and ganger, by the President,
a position which he held four years and two months.
Mr. Brubaker is a very active worker in the Repub-
lican party, but has never sought office.
On Nov. 5, 1872, Mr. Brubaker wedded Miss
Emma, daughter of Martin and Sallie Gross, and
to this union have been born three children: Ger-
trude M., born Nov. 12, 1875, who is the wife of
Daniel J. Hahn, of Findlay, O. ; Miss Stella E., born
June 26, 1885, and Ralph G., born July 24, 1888, are
at home. Mr. Brubaker is one of Lancaster coun-
ty's most esteemed citizens and his public spirit is
shown in many ways.
AMOS H. GROFF. One of the representative
citizens and a descendant of one of the old and
honored families of Lancaster county is Amos
Groff, who has retired from an active life and enjoys
the results of previous industry, in a pleasant home,
located just east of the borough of Strasburg.
Great-grandfather Groflf, who bore the name of
David; a favorite one in the family, resided in East
Lampeter township, as did his son David ; the latter
died there at the comparatively early age of forty-
one years, and soon afterward occurred the death of
his wife, five children being left orphans. These
were: Benjamin, David, Elizabeth, Martin and
Annie. Of these, the last died single; Martin is
a resident of Manheim township, near Eden ; Eliza-
. beth is the widow of Jacob Erb and resides in Earl
township; and David is a resident of East Lampeter
township.
Benjamin Groff, the eldest of the family, was
born in September, 1814, in East Lampeter town-
ship, and was but twelve years old when his parents
died. His uncle, Jacob Miller, gave him a welcome
to his home in Strasburg township, and there he
grew to manhood and then returned to the old home-
stead in East Lampeter township, which he occu-
pied during his active career. When he retired he
erected a home upon the farm where he spent his
last years, his death occurring Aug. 14, 1899. His
marriage had been to Elizabeth Hoffman, a daugh-
ter of Nicholas and Elizabeth (Miller) Hoffman, who
was born in Strasburg in 1816 and died in 1854,
having borne four children, three of whom survive :
John, of West Lampeter township; Benjamin, who
resides on the old homestead; and Amos H. The
other brother, Jacob, died in July, 1890, leaving a
widow and four children, who reside in Upper Lea-
cock township. The second marriage of Benjamin
Groff was to Hettie Landis, who still survives, a
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1065
highly esteemed resident of East Lampeter town-
ship. She had two children: Susan, who is the
wife of Tobias Leaman, of East Lampeter town-
ship; and Franklin, who died at the age of sixteen.
Benjamin Groff was well and favorably known, and
at death had built up an admirable character which
reflects honor on his children.
Amos H. Groff, of this biography, was born on
the old homestead Aug. lo, 1846, and grew up on
the farm of his ancestors, receiving his education
in the public schools. At the age of twenty-one he
started out on his own account and began operating
a farm of sixty-two acres, continuing on the same
place for seven years ; he then purchased a farm of
144 and one-half acres and soon became known as
one of the most successful and prosperous agricul-
turists of the township. Mr. Groff engaged in gen-
eral farming and also did considerable stock rais-
ing, his operations in this line doing much toward
the improvement of stock in East Lampeter town-
ship. In 1S98 he retired and removed to his present
home, where ail the surroundings are of the most
attractive kind.
In 1867 he was united in marriage to Miss Cath-
erine D. Leaman, a daughter of Tobias and Eliza-
beth (Denlinger) Leaman, who was born in East
Lampeter township May 9, 1B47, and is the mother
of three children : Elizabeth, who is the wife of
Homer Weaver, clerking with Clay Miller, of Lan-
caster, and the mother of three children, Clyde,
Ralph and Walter; Benjamin, at home; L. Leaman,
residing in Philadelphia, all of them children who
reflect credit upon their worthy parents. Lemuel
Leaman Groff' is a member of the well-known firm
of Diffenbaugh & Groff, real estate and insurance
agents, of Lancaster City. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Groff are members of the Old Mennonite Church
and are highly esteemed throughout the neighbor-
hood.
JOSEPH S. RICE, a well-known and highly
siiccessfui farmer, and one whose entire career has
been run in his native township, was born in Bart
township, Lancaster county, Aug. 7, 1843, and is
a son of Daniel and Susan (Miller) Rice. The
Rices and the Millers are both old and prominent
families in the county. Daniel Rice was born in
Bucks county, Pa., in' March, 1802, and Susan Mil-
ler in this county in 1805. She was a daughter of
John and Susan" Miller, who came from Germany,
and v^ere among the early settlers here. Daniel
Rice was a son of Edward and Elizabeth Rice, who
were born in Berks county, of Scotch-Irish extrac-
tion. Edward Rice purchased the Nickel Mines prop-
erty in 1824. and located in Bart township, where he
lived and died, leaving two sons, Daniel and Ed-
ward, both of whom are dead. Edward Rice sold
his proper-ty in 1852 and lived on a farm in Bart
township, where he died, leaving a family. Daniel
Rice sold his interest in the mines the same year
and bought the Asel Walker property, on which he
lived for some years, when he moved to the farm
now occupied by his son, Joseph S., and there he
died in 18S2. His wife passed to her reward in
1852, leaving her husband with the following fam-
ily:
(i) Catherine Rice married Charles Stewart, of
Lancaster, and she died leaving the following
children : Bernard, of Lancaster ; Alex H., of Phil-
adelphia ; Raymond, of Lancaster ; Newton, of Lan-
caster ; David, of Parkesburg, Pa. ; Clara, the wife
oi George Johnston, of Strasburg township, where
he is engaged in farming ; Rebecca, the wife of John
George, of Lancaster; Lizzie, the wife of Newton
Hirst, of Lancaster.
(2) John Rice married Harriet Dunlap, of Lea-
cock township, and moved to Indiana in 1857. In
t868 they went still farther to the West, and located
in Chippewa Falls, Wis., where he died in 1898.
His three children, Daniel, Jennie and Ida, live in
Minnesota.
(3) Jacob M. Rice married Rebecca Wright, of
Bart township, and located in Paradise township,
where they died, leaving the following family:
Willeanna, the wife of 1). Miller, of Strasburg;
Martha, who married Harry Hampshire, of Mis-
souri ; Joseph, living in Lancaster ; George, living in
Harrisburg ; Art, a resident of Strasburg township ;
Jessie, in Paradise township; Freeland, in Oxford,
Pa. ; Lydia, the wife of John Lockwood, a section
"boss" on the Pennsylvania Railroad, at Bird-in-
Hand.
(4) Sarah Rice, the wife of Alex. Stewart, lives
in Chester county, and is the mother of two daugh-
ters : Anna, who is Mrs. Cooper, of Chester coun-
ty ; and Ada, who married Foster Rigg, of the same
county.
(5) Susan Rice, the wife of George Whiteside,
a butcher in Lancaster, has one son, George.
(6) Daniel Rice enlisted when a young man in
Co. C, 79th P. V. I., and took part in the glorious
achievements of that gallant command. He was
with Sherman when he made his March to the Sea,
and served throughout the war, having the misfor-
tune to lose a limb at Bentonville, when the struggle
had almost ended. He married Miss Catherine Nel-
son, of Bart township, and they are now living in
Lancaster, where they have had a family of eight
children: Elias B., Elizabeth, John H., Maggie,
Mamie, William, Lottie A. and Daniel.
(7) Joseph S. Rice.
(8) Lizzie Rice married Edward Miller, and they
are both dead, leaving one daughter, Rebecca, who
married William Pearson, of Lancaster county.
All the members of the above family were bom
and reared in Bart township, and given such educa-
tional advantages as the situation of the parents and
the advancement of the public school system made
possible.
Joseph S. Rice enlisted in Aug., 1861, as a member
of the famous 79th P. V. I., being a member of Com-
pany C. The command was mustered in at Pitts-
1066
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
burg in Oct., 1861, and took steamer for Louisville.
From there it was marched to Green River, Ky.,
to Bell City, to Bowling Green, and on to Nashville.
The regiment fought its first battle at Surdus Grove.
It was in the terrible conflict at Chattanooga, and in
the battles of Sperryville and Edgefield Junction, at
Nashville in the fall of 1862, and at Gallatin, Green
River and at West Point, on the Ohio River. Late
in 1862 the command was brought back to Louis-
ville, where it was reorganized, and placed under
the command of Gen. Buell, and on its battle flag
are inscribed the names of the battles following re-
organization : Perryville, where all the command-
ing officers of the regiment were killed or wounded ;
Stone River, Hoovers Gap, and Tallahoma. After
this last battle Mr. Rice was prostrated with fever,
and sent to the Nashville hospital, where he re-
mained until Feb., 1864, when he rejoined his regi-
ment in time to have a hand in the battle of Buz-
zard's Roost. After this he was transferred to the
78th Regiment, in March, 1864, and started in the
Atlanta campaign, but was discharged at Atlanta
on account of physical disabilities. He was wounded
three times during the war, but survived all its per-
ils. For ten days he was held a prisoner by the
Rebels.
Mr. Rice returned to Lancaster county, where he
was married in 1870 to Miss Lydia A. Wright, bom
m Bart township June 8, 185 1, and a daughter of
Thomas and Martha (Nilckolson) Wright. Thomas
Wright settled in Bart township in 1840, on a farm,
where he and his wife lived and died. They left
the following- family: Rebecca, who married Jacob
Rice, Levi and D. M., all dead ; Sarah, who married
Henry Hughes, and is a resident of Wilmington,
Del. ; Elizabeth, deceased wife of W. D. Brown, of
Lancaster; Margaret, the wife of John Jackson, of
Chester county : Charles, living in Bart township ;
Thomas, in Christiana; Louisa, who married Con-
rad Lowry, of Parkesburg; George, living in Wil-
mington, Del. ; Lydia, Mrs. Rice.
Mr. and Mrs. Rice lived on a farm in Paradise
township until 1876, when they purchased their
present elegant home at the Nickel Mines, where
they have lived to the present time. To their mar-
riage have come eight children: (i) Anna Rice,
born in 1871, is the wife of Winfield Thompson, and
has her home in Sadsbury township, where they have
a family of three children, Chester, Charles and
Lydia Leslie.
(2) Joseph M. Rice, born in July, 1872, is at
home with his parents.
(3) Lucy S. Rice, born in Nov., 1875, is the
Vi^ife of Harry Welk, a farmer of Sadsbury town-
ship, and the mother of three children, Meta, Edna
and Joseph.
(4) Harry Rice, born in Oct., 1877, married
Miss May Beack, and lives in this county. They
have two children, Lydia and Levina.
(5) Martha and (6) Mary M., twins, born in
Nov., 1880. Martha is the wife of John Showaker,
of Bart township, and has one daughter, Elsie ; Mary
is the wife of Samuel King, of Paradise, and has one
daughter. Bertha.
(7) Samuel W. Rice, born in April, 1884, and
(8) Bertha E., born in April, 1887, are both at
home.
In politics Mr. Rice has always been a Repub-
lican, and has served as inspector of elections. In
religious matters he is a devoted member of the
Presb)-terian Church. He belongs to the 14th Vet-
erans of Lancaster county. Personally he is a man
honored and respected by all who know him, and
his children may well be proud of his record, both
as a soldier and as a v/orker in the arts and indus-
tries of peace.
SILAS STONER HERR. Among the respect-
ed and thrifty farmers of Fulton township, Lancas-
ter county, none stand better than Silas Stoner Herr,
who was born in Manor township, in the same coun-
ty, April 21, 1846, and comes from the well known
family of that name, which is of German origin.
Christian O. and Amelia (Stoner) Herr, his par-
ents, were both born and reared in Manor township,
and Christian Herr, his great-grandfather, was also
a native of the same township, and one of the pio-
neers of Lancaster county. David Herr, grandfa-
ther of Silas Stoner, was the father of a family of
eight children : Christian O. ; Annie ; Kate ; David
O. ; Dr. E. B., who is a resident of Lancaster ; Bar-
bara, wife of Henry Stehman ; Isaiah ; and Susan,
widow of George Kindig, of Millersville.
Christian O. Herr, father of Silas S., was mar-
ried to Amelia Stoner, of Manor township, in 1843,
and to this union came a family of eleven children :
(i) David S., born Oct. 11, 1844, married Mary
L. Rhodes, of Safe Harbor, who was born Sept. 22,
1850, and died June i, 1901 ; David S. is a merchant
at Pleasant Grove, Pa. (2) Silas S. is the subject
of this sketch. (3) Annie Herr, born Sept. 3, 1848,
is the widow of Rev. Amos M. Stirk, of Lebanon,
Pa.; Rev. Mr. Stirk was born June 15, 1838, and
died in Feb., 1899. (4) Barbara, born July 20,
1849, is the wife of Peter W. Pratt, of Delaware
county. Pa., who was born May 12, 1847. (5)
Mary A., born March 29, 1851, is the wife of Jacob
Fry, of Manor township, who was born July 18,
1849, 3^nd is now a resident of Lebanon county. (6)
Amelia, born Aug. 19, 1852,- was married in Erie,
Pa., to David Ohlwiler, of Altoona, Pa., who was
born July 3, 1849. (Z) Alice, born March 8, 1857,
married John B. Fisher, who was born May 9, 1855.
(8) Christian S., born Oct. 3, i860, married Miss
Nettie Peck, who was born Feb. 20, 1864. (9)
Jacob H., his twin brother, married ]\Iiss Mary
Davis, of Altoona, Pa., who was born June 19, 1864";
both of these couples reside in Altoona. (10)
Martha, born Dec. 29, 1862, married Edward Uhler
Sowers, of Lebanon, Pa., who was born Sept. i,
1864. (11) Elmer E., born Sept. 16, 1867, mar-
ried Catherine Dean, of Williamstown, Pa., who
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1067
was born March 6, 1874; they reside in Trenton,
New Jersey.
Christian O. Plerr, the father of Silas S. Herr,
was born Aug. 13, 1819, and died in Manor town-
ship July 23, 1875. His wife was born March 13,
1S25, and is still living in Lebanon, Pa. Christian
O. Herr was a worthy farmer and citizen, and a con-
sistent member of the M. E. Church. He was al-
ways regarded as a leading man of his township.
Silas Stoner Herr was married May 19, 1870,
to Miss Adeline Fry, who comes from one of the old
families of Lancaster county, being a daughter of
Frederick and Elizabeth Fry, of Manor township.
This marriage has been blessed with a large family.
David, Minnie and Ambrose died in infancy. Cal-
vin E., born Jan. 4, 1875, married Miss Beaver, of
Perry county. Pa. He is in the general mercantile
business at Pleasant Grove, with his uncle, David
Herr. Florence A., born May 4, 1877, who is at
home, received her education at the State Normal
School at Millersville. Clara F., who graduated at
the State Normal School at Millersville, has been
engaged in teaching at the Central school, in Fulton
township. James Garfield, ' born Dec. 6, 1882, is
at home on the farm ; and Emmet L., born Jan. 16,
1887, is at home. Mr. Herr began life in very mod-
erate circumstances, but now owns a splendid 160-
acre farm, with line stone dwelling and first-class
outbuildings. He was a partner with his brother,
David, in the general merchandise business, but sold
out his interest to his son. In religion he is asso-
ciated with the M. E. Church, and in politics votes
the Republican ticket. Fraternally he is a Mason,
being a member in good standing of Lodge No. 496,
Millersville, Pennsylvania.
JOSEPH MILLER, a substantial and promi-
nent farmer of Martic township, was born May 18,
1844, son of Martin and Maria Miller.
Martin Miller, the father, was a son of Abraham
Miller, a farmer of this township, and the father of
four children. Christian, Fannie, Martin and Eliza-
beth, all deceased.' Martin Miller was born in 1798
and died in 1880, a farmer all his life. When twen-
ty-four years old he married Mary Breneman, who
bore him two children : Elizabeth, who married
Daniel Breneman, of Providence township; Abra-
ham, who married Fanny Hidlebauch, of Pequea
township. His first -^ife dying, Mr. Miller mar-
ried Elizabeth Good. They had two children:
Fanny, widow of James Huber ; and Jacob, who died
in childhood. Elizabeth Good Miller died in 1832,
and for his rhird wife Mr. Miller married Maria
Miller, daughter of Joseph Miller, of Conestoga
township. They had four children: Martin, of
Manor township ; Mary Ann, the wife of John D.
Sensenig ; Susan, wife of Henry Good ; and Joseph.
Mr. Miller was a member of the Mennonite Church
and when fifty years old was ordained a minister,
serving for thirty-two years.
Joseph Miller grew up on his father's farm and
attended the public schools of Martic township^
Through great industry and good business ability
he has accumulated large means, although he be-
gan at the bottom of the ladder when he entered
upon his business career. He now owns one of the
best farms in Martic township, which he has made
more valuable with excellent and substantial im-
provements. His farm comprises 150 acres, and
his management of it has demonstrated his excel-
lence as a farmer.
In Jan., 1869, Mr. Miller was united in mar-
riage with Miss Catherine Charles, of Pequea town-
ship, and to this marriage the following children
have been born : Annie, the wife of John F. Shenk,
of Providence township; Plenry, a resident of the
State of Wyoming ; Elizabeth, at home ; Elvina, the
wife of Amos Nissley, of Manor township; Ida, at
home ; Catherine, at home ; Martin ; and Joseph.
Mr. Miller stands high in the estimation of his
fellow citizens, and he is generally regarded as a
man of the highest integrity, an excellent farmer,
a kind neighbor and a first-class citizen. In politics
he is a stanch Republican. He is a member of the
Mennonite Church.
MICPIAEL S. HANCK (deceased) was born,
in Manheim township, near Oregon, Feb. 28, 1841,
and died June 30, 1888, being a son of George and
Anna (Shriner) Harick.
Mr. Hanck was reared on the farm, and fol-
lowed farming all his life. To this work he added
veterinary surgery, and also dealt in horses very ex-
tensively. His father was his instructor in the
science of mediqine as applied to animals, being well
versed in anything that related to a horse. He was
a man who made money on a large scale, but his
kind heart and generous disposition would not per-
mit him to deny his friends, and in one way and an-
other he lost largely through liis confidence in those
he called his friends. Mr. Hanck purchased from
his father the family estate, which consisted of
fifty-one acres, a half mile south of Landisville, and
there his widow and son are now found.' Consider-
able stock in the Fruitville turnpike was owned by
hini, and he was always a broad-minded and public-
spirited man. His ability and integrity were showrb
by his being called upon to settle a number of large
estates. His political views were those of the Re-
publican party, and he was an earnest advocate of
its principles.
Michael S.' Hanck was married to Miss Maria
Myers, a daughter of Joseph and Esther (Rohrer)
Myers, and a native of Leacock township, where
she was born Nov. 13, 1838. To this union were
born four children : Jacob M., born Nov. 8, 1866,
a horse dealer in Lancaster ; Annie, born March 8,.
1868, died Feb. 18, 1877; Samuel M., born Oct. 26,.
1869, a farmer and horse dealer; Michael, born
March 25, 1880, unmarried, and living at home.
Mrs. Maria Planck, the widow, is living on the
homestead with her two youngest children, Michael
1068
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
<incl Samuel. Both she and her husband were mem-
bers of the German Baptist Church.
Samuel M. Hanck, the son who remains at home
to conduct the farm for his mother, was educated
in the common schools, and at the death of his father
took charge of the farm. With his brother, Jacob
M., he deals in horses, every two weeks buying and
shipping from the West to Lancaster county a car-
load of liorses. Some of the best stock in the county
;has been imported by them from western points.
They are both thoroughly skilled in veterinary sci-
-ence as it is applied to the common needs of life, and
-are alive to the best interests of the community.
Samuel M. Hanck was married Dec. i, 1898, to
Ada, a daughter of Frank and Amanda (Badorf)
Bentz, a native of Brunnerville, Warwick town-
ship, where she was born July 25, 1878. To this
amion were born two children, Anna Kathryn, Aug.
-2, 1899, and Rhoda Alberta, born Sept. 2, 1902.
THOMAS POTTER FORDNEY, one of the
representative citizens of Lancaster county, is a
■resident of Manheim township, and is a son of Will-
iam B. and Ellen (Jenkins) Fordney. Both his
father and grandfather, William Jenkins, were
prominent members of the Lancaster bar, Mr. and
Mrs. Fordney were people of more than ordinary
■character and worth, and enjoyed the respect and
■confidence of a wide circle of friends.
Thomas P. Fordney was born in the city of Lan-
•caster, on Duke street, Nov. 8, 1840, received his
•earlier education in the very excellent public schools
of that city, and was prepared for Trinity College, at
Hartford, Conn., in St. Paul's School in Concord,
"N. FT. Mr. Fordney was married in 1875 to Ida,
a daughter of Sarah" and Friend Cox. After their
marriage they located on a farm near Lancaster,
where they still live. Mr. Fordney is fond of agri-
culture and out-of-door life, and takes especial de
"light in his dog and gun. In politics Mr. Fordne
-affiliates with the Democratic party. j
Mr. and Mrs. Fordney have the following chil-
dren : Ellen, who is the wife of William B. FranI
lin, a merchant, of Philadelphia ; Thomas P., a not-
iree hand artist ; Mary ; Sara ; Alice ; William Bus!
^11 being at home except the oldest.
SAMUEL L. BRANDT, who passed away Oct.
10, 1890, was a lifelong resident of East Donegal
township, and is remembered as one of the prosper-
-ous, intelligent agriculturists of that locality. Son
•of Christian and Elizabeth (Long) Brandt, he was
Tjorn Oct. 20, 1841, on the farm where a:ll but four
years of his useful life were passed.
The Brandt family is of German origin, our
■subject's great-great-grandfather, Samuel Brandt,
the first oi the name to immigrate to the American
shore, having been a native of the Palatinate. In
1 732 he left Rotterdam., going to London, where he
took passage on the ship "Samuel," Hugh Pierce,
master. He settled in Rapho township, Lancaster
county, and his name appears among those assessed
by the officials of that township in their report of
1756, the earliest on record. Besides the landed
estate he owned there, he possessed several large
farms in Dauphin county (then Londonderry town-
ship, Lancaster county), which were occupied by
his sons, John and Michael. He engaged in farm-
ing in Rapho township up to the time of his death,
in 1784. His children were named as follows:
Michael, Christian, John, Yost, Anna, Maria, Eliza-
beth, Esther and Jacob. John Brandt, one of his
sons, and the great-grandfather of our subject, af-
ter his marriage occupied a farm which lies on the
right bank of the Conewago creek, in the township
of the same name. Dauphin county, within a mile of
the junction of the three counties of Dauphin, Lan-
caster and Lebanon. This place is now owned by
Levi Meckley. After the death of John Brandt his
widow, Maria, married a Mr. Dempsy, and lived .
in Elizabethtown. The children of John Brandt
were: Christian, born Nov. 23, 1765; John, Feb.
24, 1767: Barbara, Feb. ii, 1769 (wife of Jacob
Longenecker) ; Samuel, Oct. 9, 1771 ; and Michael,
April 24, 1774., The father died in 1774.
John Brandt, grandfather of Samuel L. Brandt,
in 1784, was indentured to George Rutt for three
years and eight months to learn the trade of joiner
and spinning wheel maker. After he had grown
to man's estate, he, with his employer and fellow
carpenters, built a number of Swiss barns in the
vicinity of Maytown. Among these buildings was
one erected for Christian Bucher, one of the wealthi-
est citizens of Donegal township, who was bom
March 27, 1742, and died Dec. 27, 1825. The young
carpenter, John Brandt, fell in love with Mr. Buch-
er's third daughter, Frances, born Jan. 18, 1769,
and they were married April 26, 1791. Her eldest
sister, Anna, married John Taylor, and among her
grandchildren was Bayard Taylor, of Chester coun-
ty, the noted traveler, author and poet. After his
marriage Mr. Brandt occupied a farm of 130 acres
, belonging to his wife's father, and adjoining his
I homestead, this place being situated about one and
*a half miles northwest of Miytown. In 1804 he
bought the property, and there resided until his
death, which occurred Dec. 14, 1842. His widow
survived until Sept. 10, 1857. They were the par-
ents of the following named children: Frances,
born Jan. 28, 1792, who married James Maginnis,
after his death became the wife of Samuel Bossier,
and died May 8, 1874: Anna, born Sept. 15, 1793,
who first married Joseph Clepper, and after his
death, Jacob Holdeman, and died in Bennett, Ilk,
Jan. 20, 1880; Ch.ristian, born Sept. 12, 1795, died
Jan. 7, 1870; John, who was born Oct. 7, 1797, mar-
ried Catherine Hossler, and died Dec. 24, 1854 ;
Joseph, who was born March 20, 1800, married
Nancy Nissley, a widow, and died Feb. 12, 1845 >
Elizabeth, who was born Dec. 21, 1803, married
John FloUinger, and died Oct. 5, 1829.
Christian Brandt, the father of our subject, was
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
106»
born on the old Brandt homestead, and resided there
throughout his lifetime. In 1827 he married Eliz-
abeth Long, who was born in Lancaster county in
1808, and died in 1889; she was a daughter of
Abrani Long, who lived near Donegal Springs. Mr.
Brandt was a tenant farmer until his father's es-
tate was settled, when in 1858 he became the owner
of the old farm. He was a Democrat, but took very-
little interest in politics. Religiously he was a mem-
ber of the Mennonite Church, an exemplary chris-
tian, and, like his ancestors, was specially noted for
his strict integrity, industry and sobriety. He died
Jan. 7, 1870, when in his seventy-fifth year. He
had eight sons: Jacob, who was born Oct. 11,
1829, and died from the effects of accidental scald-
ing at the age of three years ; John L., who was born
Jan. I, 1 83 1, and married Mary Ann Hossler; Abra-
ham, who was born Aug. 19, 1833, married Anna
Mary Creider, and died Nov. 11, 1888; Christian,
who was born April 19, 1836, married Susannah
Rhoads, and died Oct. 7, 1891 ; David, who was
born April 6, 1840, married Maria Hess, and resides
in Londonderry township, Dauphin county; Samuel
L., born Oct. 20, 1841, and mentioned below; Solo-
mon, born Feb. 8, 1845 ; and Joseph L., cashier of
the Exchange Bank at Marietta.
Samuel L. Brandt, whose name introduces this
sketch, received his education in the public schools
near his home, and was reared to the vocation of his
ancestors. As previously stated, he spent only four
years of his life away from the homestead. After
his marriage he lived in a rented house, and worked
for others for a time, but he finally purchased the
home place, and continued in its cultivation up to the
time of his death. The farm comprises ninety
acres, all in a high state of cultivation, systematically
worked, now, as always, with profit for the owner,
and cared for with every regard for appearance. On
June 15, 1869, Mr. Brandt was married, in Lan-
caster, Pa., to Miss Maria E. Stauffer, who was born
in Jan., 1847, in Lexington, Elizabeth township, the
daughter of Henry Stauffer. Eight children were
1.iorn to this union : ( i ) Elmer E., who now man-
ages the farm for his widowed mother, married
on May 25, 1897, Mary Sniyser, a trained nurse, of
Philadelphia, who died Nov. 17, 1898, aged twenty-
five years, leaving one child, Elmer E., Jr., who lives
with his father and grandmother on the old Brandt
farm; Mrs. Mary ^Brandt was buried in Reich's
cemeitery. (2) Harry S. is deceased. (3) Miner-
va S. married Ezra Briner, of New Bloomfield, Per-
ry Co., Pa., who is county superintendent of that
county. (4) Anna S. and (5) Agnes M. reside in
Lancaster. (6) Elizabeth S., (7) Rylie S. and (8)
Christian S. are at home. Mrs. Brandt is a member
of the Old Men'nonite Church, with which our sub-
iect also united. He was a Democrat in political
affiliations, Mr. Brandt is interred in Reich's Meet-
ing-house cemetery, in East Donegal township.
The Stauffer family, to which Mrs. Brandt be-
longs, have been residents of Lancaster county from
an early day. John Stauffer, her grandfather, was
a farmer and butcher by occupation. He died in the
southern part of the county. He married Anna
Charles, and their son Henry, born in Lancaster
county, was the father of Mrs. Brandt. He, too,.
was a farmer during his active years, but he lived
retired for some time prior to his death, making his.
home in Mt. Joy. Henry Stauffer married Miss
Maria Eitnier, who was born in Lancaster county,,
daughter of John and Maria (Hoffer) Eitnier, na-
tives of Lancaster and Dauphin counties, respective-
ly. He was a tailor by occupation. Henry and.
Maria Stauffer became the parents of six children r
Leah, Mrs. Daniel Shaub, deceased; Henry (de-
ceased), who married Anna Horst; Maria E., Mrs.
Brandt; Peter, now residing in Ohio, who married
Rebecca Stabler ; Samuel, a cabinet maker, of Phila-
delphia, who married Ella Shireman ; and John, wha
died young. The father of this family died in 1874,.
at the age of seventy-two, the mother surviving until.
March 15, 1895, reaching the advanced age of
ei.ghty-three years. They are buried in Erisman's
cemetery. Both were devout members of the Men^
nonite Church.
JOHN B. MYERS (originally spelled Mayer),,
a prosperous agriculturist and substantial citizen of
Pequea township, resides on the farm on which he
was born, and where his father before him had passed
many years in agricultural pursuits.
David Mayer, the grandfather of our subject,,
was born Sept. 20, 1772, and died Dec. 25, 1847.
He was a landowner and resident of Manheim town-^
ship. His wife, Elizabeth, was born Sept. 25, 1774,-
and died Oct. 21, 1855. Their union was blessed
with three sons and one daughter, the sons belug-
as follows: David, father of our subject; Rev..
Martin R., born April 3, 1798, died Oct. 4, 1873;
and Benjamin, born June 12, 1812, died June 28,.
1849. The remains of the father now rest m the
private burying ground of the John Keller Farm..
David Mayer was born Jan. 10, 1810, in Manheim
township, was reared a farmer arid continued so
occupied throughout life. He was married when
twenty-two years of age to Miss Barbara Burk-
liolder, who was born March 3, 1807. Immediately
after their marriage the young couple located on the
farm which is now the property and residence of
their son, and here they passed the remainder of their
lives, he dying Nov. 9, 1881, and she Feb. 14, 1884.
They were frugal, industrious people, and were h^ld
in high esteem and respect in the community in
which they lived. To them were born children as
follows : John B., referred to farther on ; Amos
B., who makes his home with his brother ; Ana, died
March 3, 1884.
John B. Myers, our subject, was born Sept. 20,
1836, and received such school privileges as were
given the sons of the general farmers, attending in
the winter season the district school of the neighbor-
hood. Like his father and grandfather, he chose
1070
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the vocation of farming, and has made it his chief
life work. He possesses a good farm of 150 acres,
well improved and conveniently located, three miles
from the city of Lancaster, in a southerly direction.
He has made the raising of crops, and agriculture
in general, a study, and through a long lifetime of
practical experience has become possessed of much
and valuable knowledge pertaining to his calling.
In addition to his valuable farm Mr. Myers is the
owner of a good mill property situated at the second
lock on Conestoga creek, and in connection with
farming he operates an extensive mill which is
equipped with modern rollers and prepared for chop-
ping purposes. Frugal and industrious through
life, and being a good manager and financier, he has
prospered and become possessed of a competence.
He has been useful in his community, and is regard-
ed by his fellow townsmen as one of their best citi-
zens. His religious connections are with the Men-
nonite Church, of which he is a trustee. In politi-
cal sentiment he is a Republican. He is a director
and large holder of stock in the Lancaster County
Bank.
At the age of twenty-six Mr. Myers was mar-
ried to Martha B., daughter of Martin and Maria
(Brubaker) Herr, and to this union have come
children as follows : David ; Ada, who married
PYank Bausman, and has three children, John, War-
ren and Martha ; Annie, who married David Baus-
man, and has two children, Edna and David ; Mar-
tin, who married Elizabeth Snavely, and has four
children, Mervin, Arthur, Anna and Maud; Elam;
and Henry, who married Elizabeth Bollinger. One
son, Martin, is actively connected with educational
matters.
MICHAEL S. SHUMAN has been a continu-
ous resident of Columbia since 1844. He came to
the town as a young mechanic, not yet out of his
teens, and the place he has won in the history and
development of Columbia marks- the attainments of
a self-made man. Alert for advancement, possess-
ing an active and capable mind, he parted ways with
a daily wage and launched on a long and prosperous
business career as a contractor and builder in Co-
lumbia, where many of the finest buildings attest his
superior workmanship. In later years insurance
work has monopolized the time which he has wished
to devote to active life, this business having been
entered upon more than forty years ago, and fol-
lowed successfully and persistently ever since.
Mr. Shuman was born in Manor township, Lan-
caster county, Sept. 16, 1825, son of Jacob and Mary
(Witman) Shuman, and a descendant of George
Shuman, who in 1772 settled in Manor on the upper
end of Turkey Hill. Jacob Shuman was born about
1781, and in his youth acquired the tailor's trade,
which he followed through life. He died in March,
1837, aged fifty-six years. By his first wife, Mary
Witman, his children were: George; Jacob; Dan-
iel ; John ; Catharine ; Henry, of Lafayette, Ind. ;
Frederick, of Richmond, Ind.; and Michael S.,
whose sketch appears herewith. By his second mar-
riage, to Margaret Wisler, Jacob Shuman had five
children, namely: Christian, deceased; Andrew,
who died in Chicago; Abraham, a mail agent of
South Evanston, 111.; Benjamin, of Iowa, now de-
ceased ; and William C, a school teacher of Evans-
ton, Illinois,
Michael S. Shuman was reared on a farm. His
mother died while he was an infant, and his child-
hood was passed at the home of an aunt, Mrs. Stre-
big, with whom he remained until he reached his
seventeenth year. Deciding to learn a trade, he
served a year with a millwright, but, the latter re-
tiring from business, he was obliged to look else-
where for employment. Coming to Columbia in
1844, he served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's
trade with John Young, and worked faithfully at
the trade for a period of twenty-three years. In
1867 IVir. Shuman engaged in the refining of oil,
being one of the firm of Truscott & Co., and contin-
ued in that business for eighteen years. During
a portion of this time they also carried on a 'milling
business which he later conducted alone. In 1885
Mr. Shuman practically retired from the active cares
of a business life. ' However, he has retained his in-
surance work and now represents at Columbia the
Farmers Fire Insurance Co., of York; the Conti-
nental of New York; and the Citizens Fire In-
surance Co. of Missouri. He has been agent for the
York company for the past forty-three years.
Mr. Shuman married at Lancaster, Pa., in 1857,
Margaret Lehman, a native of York county, daugh-
ter of Daniel Lehman. To Mr. and Mrs. Shuman
have been born these children : Mary, wife of Dr.
William R. Powell, of Camden, N. J. ; Catherine,
wife of John R. Bucher, manager of the Columbia
Crackery bakery, Cohimbia, Pa.; Anna, deceased;
George, deceased : Michael, a traveling salesman of
Columbia, Pa. ; Jane, wife of E. G. Smith, foreman
in the Wilson Laundry machine shops at Columbia,
Pa. ; and John, of Columbia, who married Miss Lot-
tie Menroe.
Mr. Shuman has been called to fill various local
offices, and has served as councilman, school director
and in other positions of trust and responsibility.
He is a member of Susquehanna Lodge, I. O. O. F.,
and of the Encampment. He has prospered in busi-
ness, is regarded as a wide-awake and intelligent
citizen, and holds the unstinted esteem and respect
of all who know him.
ISRAEL PENROSE. Prominent among the
estimable citizens of Fairfield is Israel Penrose, a
retired farmer of Drumore township. His birth
occurred in that township June 9, 1841, and he was
a son of Benjamin and Hannah (Lukens) Penrose,
who were natives of Montgomery county, Pennsyl-
vania.
Great-grandfather Penrose was of Welsh de-
scent; Grandfather Israel came to this country in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1071
1827 and settled on the farm where his grandson
Lukens now lives. He married Susan Folk, in
1790, and they had these children : Elizabeth, born
Dec. 25, 1791; Edith, born June 25, 1794; Enos,
born Oct. 15, 1796; Thomas, born May 23, 1800;
Jane, born Jan. 31, 1802; Benjamin, born July 9,
1803; Edith, born Oct. 7, 1806; and Joseph, born
Sept. 6, 1808.
Benjamin Penrose, the father of Israel, of this
sketch, was united in marriage to Hannah Lukens,
of Montgomery county, Pa., on Oct. 2, 1834. She
was a daughter of Enos Lukens, who was of Ger-
man ancestry. Eight children were born to Ben-
jamin Penrose and wife: Lukens, born March 3,
1836 ; Edith, born May 3, 1837, the widow of Isaac
B. Shoemaker, of Drumore township ; Everard, born
Aug. 19, 1839, a retired farmer, in Santa Ana, Cal. ;
Israel, born June 9, 1841 ; Lukens, born Sept. 6,
1845, on the home farm in Drumore township ; An-
nie E., born Jan. 24, 1848, who died unmarried;
Sarah S., born Oct. 10, 1850, the widow of Thomas
Rutter, of Drumore township ; and Charles L., born
Jan. 8,^1853, who died young. The mother of Is-
rael Penrose was born Nov. 20, 181 3, and she died
Dec. 25, 1869. In politics Benjamin Penrose was
a Whig, and he and his wife belonged to the Society
of Friends.
Israel Penrose, of this biography, was reared on
the home farm and received a good common-school
education. His life work has been in the line of
agriculture.
In 1865 Israel Penrose was united in marriage
to Lydia J. McPherson, the estimable daughter of
James A. and Lydia McPherson; the children of
this union died in infancy, the wife also passing out
of life in 1869. On Feb. 2, 1875, Israel Penrose
was married to Emma J. Rutter, who was a daugh-
ter of John and Elizabeth Rutter, natives of Mont-
gomery county. There has been no issue of this
union. Mrs. Penrose was one in a family of eight
children, Ruth A., Edward, Mary, Thomas, Emma,
James, William and Elizabeth. None remain except
Mrs. Penrose, who was born June 4, 1840.
Politically Israel Penrose is one of the active
supporters of the Republican party, and has served
his township as auditor. His religious connection
is with the Society of Friends, and he is one of the
most highly esteemed citizens of this community.
With his amiable and excellent wife he is living a
somewhat retired life, in his very pleasant home in
Fairfield.
GEORGE HARRY REED. The Lakeland
Livery Stables and Cab Company represents the best
service in this line which the city of Lancaster has
ever enjoyed, and its genial proprietor is George
Plarry Reed, the only surviving son of the late
George K. Reed, one of this city's oldest and best-
known bankers.
G. Harry Reed was born on Dec. 7, 1868, a son
of the late George K. and Mary (Fetter) Reed, the
former of whom passed out of life May 16, 1898,
while the latter, a lady of lovely Christian character,
resides in this city, one of its best beloved residents.
G. Harry Reed received exceptional educational ad-
vantages and grew to manhood a self-reliant and
respected citizen. Upon completing his studies at
Beck's school, in Lititz, he entered the State Nor-
mal School, in Millersville. After leaving the latter
institution he became associated with his brother,
John, in the -cigar and tobacco business until the
death of his brother, when he opened up the Lake-
land service, which he has conducted in a most sat-
isfactory manner for the public and with substan-
tial returns for himself.
The marriage of G. Plarry Reed was to Miss
Anna Grace Roth, a daughter of Mr. John B. Roth,
a retired dry-goods merchant, of this city, and from
this union one son has been born, Norman Elwood
Reed. The sisters and brother of G. Harry Reed
were: Susette Elizabeth and Catherine Hoff, both
of whom died in early childhood; and John Fetter,
who became prominent in Lancaster in both business
and church circles, and who died Jan. 4, 1897.
WILLIAM H. HAMP, Sr., now living retired
in Gordonville, Pa., was born at Lancaster Dec. 3,
1843, ^iid is a son of Christ and Eliza (Leonard)
Hamp. His father was born in Germany, and his
mother in Lancaster.
Christ Hamp came to Lancaster with his parents
when only six years of age, and for many years
carried on a butcher shop in Lancaster, Pa. In
1873 he left the shop, and retired to a ten-acre farm
in West Lampeter township, where he died in Oct.,
1885, at the age of sixty-six years. His remains
were laid to rest in Woodward Hill cemetery. Fa-
ther and mother were both members of the Lutheran
Church. She is still living at Lancaster, at the age
of seventy-six years. To them were born: Will-
iahi H. ; Kate, who married Prof. Herman New-
meyer, of Harrisburg, Pa. ; John, a butcher at Johns-
town, Pa. ; Emma, who married John Shilling, of
Lancaster; Clara, deceased; Oscar, landlord of a
hotel at Chambersburg, named "The McKinley;"
Anna, with her mother ; Ida, wife of Samuel Miller,
of Lancaster, Pa. ; Walter, deceased.
The paternal grandparents of William H. Hamp
were John Hamp and wife, of Gap, Pa., where he
was engaged in the .butcher business. John Leon-
ard was the grandfather on the mother's side.
William H. Hamp was married Feb. 11, i866,
at Honey Brook, Pa., to Anna E. Smith, who was
born in Marcus Hook, Delaware Co., Pa., May 10,
1845, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Syfrit)
Smith, both of old Chester, Pa. To this union were
born: William H., Jr., a butcher in Gordonville,
who married Esther I,. Yarnall, of Lancaster,
and has three children, William H., Charles
Y. and Robert S. ; and Minnie E., who was
married, on June 25, 1902, to William F. Bell,
of Philadelphia, engaged in the. grocery and
1072
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
provision business. Peter Smith was a farmer
and builder, with much ability as a contract-
ing architect. He died in 1847, ^t the age of
thirty-seven years ; his widow died Oct. 18, 1885, at
the age of seventy-three years. They were mem-
bers of the Episcopal and Methodist Churches, re-
spectively. He was laid in the burial-ground of the
church he built, and she was interred in the Wood-
ward Hill cemetery. To them were born : Robert,
who was wounded at Antietam, and died in the
Fredericksburg hospital; Peter F., who died in in-
fancy; Peter F., who vvas killed in the battle of
Chancellorsville ; Thomas ; Anna E. ; Fredrick J. ;
Henrietta and Marietta,, twins, now dead, as are all
the above, excepting Anna E.
Mr. Hamp was born and reared in Lancaster,
where he was bred to the butcher business. In
Sept., 1 861, he ran away from home, and enlisted in
Co. K, 79th P. V. I. His father found him at Pitts-
burg and brought him home. Aug. 2, 1862, was
the date of his second enlistment, when he enlisted
in Co. B, Pa. Reserves, serving under Capt. Thomas
B. Barton, and Capt. William Bair; he entered for
a three years' term, and passed through some of the
severest fighting in the war, but returned home un-
wounded. Mr. Hamp participated in the following
battles. South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg,
Gettysburg, Mine Run, Bristol Station, in all of the
battles of the Wilderness, and at Bezaziah Church.
After his discharge in June, 1865, he came home
and worked for his father until Sept. of the fol-
lowing year, when he went to Philadelphia, to take
a position as brakeman and flagman on the Penn-
sylvania railroad, which he held for nine years, ris-
ing to be a conductoir on the line. In 1875 he came
to Lancaster, and resumed the butcher business,
which he carried on until 1897, when he retired.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Hamp belong to the Luther-
an Church, and he is an active worker in the local
post of the G. A. R., where his long and commend-
able services in the Union Army constitute him a
valuable member. In his politics he is a Republican,
and is regarded as one of the most substantial and
influential citizens of the community.
JOHN H. CARTER, of Liberty Square, Dru-
more township, is one of the leading and honor-
able citizens of that township, and carries on a
blacksmithing business in the village, where he has
been located since 1870. Mr. Carter owns a very
comfortable home, his shop and tools, and enjoys
the respect and esteem of every citizen.
John H.. Carter was born in Martic township,
Oct. 21, 1840, and was a son of Alexander and
Margaret (Fullerton) Carter, who were natives of
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.
Alexander Carter was a son of John Carter, a
farmer of the township, who became the father of
four children ; Joseph, William, Alexander and
Elizabeth, the latter becoming the wife of Samuel
Smith. Great-grandfather Carter also bore the
name of John and he was one of the early settlers
of southern Lancaster county. Alexander Carter
was born in 1796 and died in 1874, his wife having
been born about 1800 ; they were united in marriage
in 1820 and had the following children: Hannah,,
who married Preston Smith ; Rebecca, who married
Thomas Cummings, of Lancaster City; William
W., of Oxford, Pa., a retired merchant; Elizabeth,
who died single ; Margaret, deceased ; Alexander ;
Franklin, who died at the age of twenty -five years ;
and John H., of this sketch.
John H. Carter was educated in the public
schools of his district and commenced to learn the
blacksmith trade at the age of eighteen years, at
Liberty Square, under the excellent direction of
Jacob Carrigan. When the Civil war broke out and
his country needed his services, John H. Carter was
not found wanting, his enlistment taking place on
Sept. 26, 1861 ; he entered Co. E, 79th. P. V. L
under Capt. Wickersham, and H. A. Hambright as
colonel, the beloved Gen. George H. Thomas being^
in command of the corps. Mr. Carter's army serv-
ice took him through the Kentucky campaign against
the army of Gen. Bragg, and he was present at the
battle of Hoover's Gap, the shelling of Chatta-
nooga, Tullahoma, Tenn., and at Dalton, Ga. ; he
was also a participant in the battles of Chickamauga
and Missionary Ridge, marching then with Sherman
on his triumphal course to the sea and was with
the other brave and gallant men at the grand re-
view in Washington city, where he was honorably
discharged on July 12, 186=^. During this long and
dangerous campaign he fortunately received but one
slight wound.
After nearly four years of service, Mr. Carter
returned to peaceful pursuits and took up his trade,
first, however, spending some time at Elk View, in
Chester county, where he was railroad agent, ex-
press agent and postmaster, going thence to Mount-
ville, where he began work at his trade, but in 187a
coming to Liberty Square.
The marriage of Mr. Carter was to Miss Rebecca
Fralish; of Mountville, Lancaster county, Dec
24, 1865, and this marriage has been blessed with
two children. Oliver F., who was born Sept. 30,
1866, married Miss Cynthia Tennis, of Drumore
township, and they have four children, — Clarence
E., Carrie L., Ethel E. and Reba May. Harry Eras-
tus, who was born Aug. 31, 1869, married Miss
Annie Blackburn, of York county, and they have
three children, — Reba C, William N. and Letta
May. Mrs. Carter was born March 29, 1848, one of
a family of eleven children, six of whom grew to
maturity. We have record of: Elizabeth, the
wife of Henry Colm, of Mountville, Pa.; Harry,
of Mountville; Fannie, deceased; Annie, wife of
William Seitz, of Mountville; and Rebecca, who is
Mrs. Carter.
Tn politics Mr. Carter has been active in the Re-
publican party and has efficiently served as tax col-
lector of his township. Socially he is connected with
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1073
the G. A. R., Post No. 556, of Rawlinsville. Mr.
Carter has been particularly prominent in the Beth-
esda Methodist Church, where he has been a trus-
tee for some twenty-five years, and for the past six-
teen years has been vice-president of the Rawlinsville
Camp Meeting Association. Mr. Carter is one of
the most highly esteemed citizens of his locality,
having an honorable and enviable war record, and
still holding his faith in the principles for which he
fought. As a citizen, business man or member of
social, religious or domestic circles he is truly rep-
resentative of his part of Lancaster county.
DENNIS SOMMERS. The great traveling
public owe a measure of regard to the efficient offi-
cials of the trains which enable them to cover so
quickly and safely such immense distances, and
probably no one holds so responsible a position as
does the conductor, who, as his official name signi-
fies, conducts the management and makes possible
the passage of the great railroad trains with such
safety and rapidity. To be a conductor requires
long practice in other railroad work, and the Penn-
sylvania railroad does not place its patrons in the
care of any unskilled or inefficient man. Since 1890,
Mr. Dennis Sommers, of Columbia, has been one
of the trusted conductors on the Pennsylvania
lines.
Dennis Sommers was born in Columbia, in Nov.
185 1, a son of Michael and Joanna (O'Neil) Som-
mers, of Wexford, Ireland, where they were born,
reared and married, coming to Columbia in 1851.
Michael Sommers entered the service of his adopted
country during the Civil war, belonging to Co. K,
5th Pa. Reserves, and lost his life at Petersburg.
He served practically through the whole war,
dying at the early age of thirty-five years. The
children left fatherless were : Dennis ; William H.,
an engineer; and Mary, who married Moses Mur-
phy, an electrician of Schuylkill.
When but a lad of twelve years, Dennis Sommers
began to take care of himself, and found his first
regular work on the canal. For five years he faith-
fully followed the tow path during the long, hot,
summer days, and in winter there were few jobs of
his capacity in the neighborhood that escaped his
attention. After leaving the canal, he went into a
blast furnace and worked there for two years and
later engaged in various lines, always keeping busy,
until by 1874, he obtained employment with the
Pennsylvania railroad as brakeman, remaining in
that position for seven years. Proving his relia-
bility, he was made a flagman and then an extra
conductor, in 1890, soon after assuming the duties
of a regular conductor, giving at all times efficient
service and satisfaction to the road.
The marriage of Mr. Sommers was on Sept. 19,
1876, in Columbia, in St. Peter's Church, to Miss
Anna Rourke, and to this union were born two chil-
dren : Michael H., who died at the age of twenty-
two months ; and William P., who is at home. The
68
birth of j\Irs. Sommers was in County Meath, Ire--
land, Sept. 16, 1846, a daughter of William an(J
Mary (Markie) Rourke, of Ireland, who came to
America in 1847 ! they settled in Columbia for a few
years and then went to Marietta, Pa., where the
father was unfortunately killed by a horse, at Mus--
selman Furnace on June 10, i860. The mother was
born March 24, 1825, and now resides in Steelton,
Pa. She married a second time, her husband being
James Kelley. The children of her first marriage
were : Thomas, a retired hotel-keeper of Marietta ;
Mary (i), and Mary (2), both deceased; Katie,
who married John Hanley, of Steelton ; James, who
lives in Sparrow Point, Pa. ; William, a resident of
Indiana; and Anna, who is Mrs. Sommers. The
children of the second marriage were : Mary, who
married Jerry Gorman, of Steelton; CeceHa, who
married James Kirby, of Steelton, Pa. ; John, a
resident of Harrisburg; and Margaret, who is the
efficient assistant postmaster, of Steelton.
Mr. Sommers is fraternally connected with the
B. of R. C. and K. of St. Patrick ; also of P. Re-
lief, in all of which he takes an active interest. Po-
litically Mr. Sommers affiliates with the Democratic
party ; he is a member of the Catholic Church. His
record as an efficient official places him in the regard
of the Pennsylvania road, and in Columbia he is
looked upon as a worthy and respected citizen.
WALTER H. WINTERS, a noted farmer of
East Drumore township, Lancaster county, was born
in Providence township, Aug. 6, i860, his parents
being Silas and Catherine (Marks) Winters. Silas
Winters was born in Providence township, July 5,
1821 ; and his wife, Catherine Marks, in York coun-
ty. May 14, 1821.
Silas Winters was the son of Christopher and
Esther (Gochenauer) Winters, both of whom were
born in Lancaster county, and came of German
parentage. Christopher Winters was located in his
early manhood on a farm near Providence, which
he cleared from the woods. There his wife died,
and he then moved to the West, where he died,
leaving two sons and one daughter : Augustus,
who settled in Providence township, and died a
single man ; Hetty, who married William Gontner,
and settled in Lancaster, where they both died,
leaving two daughters, Catherine, deceased, and
Mary : Silas Winters, noted above. Mrs. Catherine
r Marks) Winters belonged to one of the very old
families of this county.
Silas Winters lived on his farm in Providence,
where he had settled after his marriage, working as
a cooper, until a few years prior to his death. In
June, 1900, he moved to Lancaster, where he lived
retired. His wife died on the old homestead in
Providence township, in 1895, leaving a family of
seven children : Ella M., born in 1844, is a seam-
stress in Lancaster. Mary A., born in 1845, mar-
ried Martin Lefever, of Drumore township, and is
the mother of seven children: Ida B., Minnie B.,
1074
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Charles A., William B., Walter C, Ella B. and
Laura C, who died in early womanhood. Augustus,
born in 1849, married Anna Esbenshade, and lives
on his farm in East Drumore, where they have
four children: Curtis G., Lulu M., Roxie A. and
Robert C. Catherine, born in 1850, married Martin
Reese, and resides in Lancaster; they have a large
family of children; Ward, Harvey, Minnie, John,
Clarence, Clements, Edna (deceased), Stella, Clay-
ton, Gordon, Ray and Mary. John F., born in
1855, married Miss Louise Rockey, and lives in Mc-
Keesport, Pa., where they have a family of six chil-
dren, Walter, Mabel, Charles, Anna, Cora, and a
baby. Laura, born in 1856, married John A. Rockey,
and resides in Atglen, Chester county, where they
have a family of six children, Edna, Alma, Silas,
Helen, Mary and Walter. Walter H.
Walter H. Winters had his education in the dis-
trict school, and remained on the family homestead
until he was twenty-three, when he began his own
business career. In 1882 he was married to Miss
Christie G. Kauffman, a daughter of Abraham and
Anna M. (Geahr) Kauffman. Mrs. Winters was
born in Manor township in Sept., 1857, and is next
to the youngest of a family of eleven children. Her
education was receiv£d in the local school and in
the State Normal at Millersville. After their mar-
riage'they lived a year on his father's old home in
Providence, and then removed to Martic township,
where Mr. Winters was engaged in farming for
seven years. In T891 he bought the Bleacher farm
in East Drumore township. This farm contains
108 acres and has a large brick house, and a com-
modious barn, making it one of the finest farms in
the township. The place shows signs of improve-
ment at his hands, and is largely devoted to cattle
raising, as Mr. Winters owns one of the finest
herds of Holstein cattle in the county.
Mr. and Mrs. Winters belong to the Reformed
church at New Providence. In politics Mr. Win-
ters is a Democrat. He belongs to the Fulton
Grange, No. 66.
Walter Winters began life with but small means,
and the savings of his wages as a farm hand,
judiciously invested brought him results by which
he is able to hold, clear of incumbrance, the fine
farm which is his present home. He is
a born farmer, and of him it may truly be said,
"that he has made two blades of grass grow where
one grew before." While he and his good wife have
no children of their own, their generous hearts and
ample means carry sunshine into many other homes.
EDWIN S. STAIR, late a prominent dry-goods
merchant of Columbia, was born in York, Pa., and
was a son of George S. and Maria (Wall) Stair,
natives, respectively, of York and Philadelphia.
George S. Stair was a shoemaker and a man
greatly respected wherever known. To his mar-
riage with Miss Wall there were born the follow-
ing children : Amelia, wife of John Strickler, who
is in the iron business at York ; George, a carpenter
in Harrisburg; William, an ex-soldier; and Edwin
S., deceased.
Edwin S. Stair at the age of twelve years en-
tered a dry-goods store in York, being regularly
apprenticed to the business. When his time had
expired he went to Indianapolis, Ind., there lived
several years and then returned to York. A year
or two later he came to Colurnbia and clerked in
Henry Fondersmith's dry-goods store and in the
store of Mr. Haldeman until 1872, when he em-
barked in business for himself and had a success-
ful career until the day of his death, August 8, 1898,
at the age of fifty-two years.
The marriage of Mr. Stair took place in Colum-
bia, March 22, 1871, to Miss Eunice Wike, and
this marriage was graced with five children, viz. :
George, who was called away at the age of eight-
een; Nellie, who died when five years old; Ed-
win, Charles and Filbert are still at home with their
mother.
Mrs. Eunice (Wike) Stair was born in Colum-
bia, and is a daughter of George and Sarah Wike,
and a sister of Milton Wike. Mrs. Stair, her three
children and her mother, now constitute the family,
and live in quiet retirement, honored and respected
by the entire community.
The deceased Mr. Stair was a member of the
Order of Artisans, the Heptasophs and the I. O.
O. F., lodge and encampment. For some years
he was a school director and was recognized gen-
erally as a useful citizen, while as a business man
his name stood without a flaw or blemish.
J. F. WEAVER, miller, of New Providence, was
born Nov. i, 1861, in Strasburg township, son of
Henry K. and Christianna (Hoover) Weaver, of
Strasburg township.
Henry K. Weaver, a tailor and farmer, was a son
of Samuel Weaver, who died at the age of thirty-
three years, leaving four children ; Samuel, George,
Catherine and Henry, all now deceased. Henry K.
was born in 1829 and died in 1891. In 1849 he was
niarried to Christianna Hoover and thev had a fam-
ily of eleven children, ten of whom grew to maturity,
as follows : Mary, who lives on the old homestead
in Strasburg: township ; Amos A., a farmer" of Stras-
burg township ; Addie the wife of John E. Lantz, of
Strasburg township; Hattie, the wife of Jacob C.
Weaver, of Strasburg township ; Lizzie, living with
her sister on the old home place ; Melo H., a farmer
of Strasburg township ; J. F., of this sketch ; Sam-
uel A., of Talbot county, LMd. ; Enos, deceased ; and
Catherine, deceased. Henry K. Weaver was an
honorable, respected citizen, a member of the Re-
formed Mennonite Church. In political connection
he was a Reoublican.
The early life of Mr. Weaver of this sketch, was
passed on the farm, where he remained assisting
his father and going to the public school until he
was about nineteen years of age, when he went to
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1075
Paradise township and began to learn the milling
business with H. S. Rohrer. After leaving Mr.
Rohrer, he ran a mill for Elam B. Trout in the
same township and then went to Cecil county, Md.,
where he took charge of a mill for S. C. Magrow,
but later returned to Lancaster county, on account
of failing health. After regaining his health, Mr.
Weaver rented a mill for three years in Strasburg,
and then came to the mill in New Providence, which
he now owns. He rented this property for five
months, then for one year and then for five years,
at the end of this lease, in 1897, purchasing the
property, which is one of the most valuable in its
Hne, in the township. Mr. Weaver is now engaged
in a general milling and grain business, and his
plant is fitted with modern rollers and improvements
which enable him to compete with any mill of its
size in Lancaster county. In politics Mr. Weaver
is a member of the Republican party. He belongs to
the Reformed Mennonite Church.
On Aprils, 1894, Mr. Weaver was married to
Miss Amanda K. Rupp, of West Earl township, born
in 1862, daughter of David and Sarah Rupp, the
father deceased. Two children have been born to
Mr. and Mrs. Weaver, Herbert R. and Edwin R.
Mr. Weaver stands very high in the esteem of his
community, his influence and example being such
as to command the respect of his fellow-citizens.
A man who has never used tobacco in any form, one
who has never used intoxicating drink of any kind,
and one whose moralitv could not permit him to
either gamble or make use of profanity, must of
necessity exert a beneficial influence in any com-
munity. In addition Mr. Weaver is a law-abiding
and public spirited citizen, a kind and loving hus-
band and father, and a helpful neighbor, while his
pleasant, genial manner wins him friends on every
side. He is justly regarded as a leading man in
New Providence, where his word is considered at all
times as good as his bond.
JOHN L. MINNICH, a farmer of East Dru-
more township, Lancaster county, was born in War-
wick township, Jan. 31, 1853, son of John and Eliza-
beth (Longenecker) Minnich, natives of Lancaster
county, the.father being born Jan. 18, 1818, in War-
wick township. Mrs. Elizabeth (Longenecker)
Minnich was born in June, 1818. ' They were both
of German antecedents, the great-grandfather of
John L. Minnich being German-born. His son, the
grandfather of John L., was born in Lancaster
county.
John Minnich and his wife were married in
1839, and lived for a time in Warwick township, and
then moved to Richland, Lebanon county, where
they spent three years, then selling out their farm
and coming back to Lancaster. Mr. Minnich pur-
chased a farm in Warwick township, on which he
lived until his death, May 10, 1895, his wife having
already passed to her reward, Jan. 8, 1882. They
were members of the German Baptist Church, which
is commonly known as the Dunkards, in which he
served as a deacon for many years. In politics he
was first a Whig, and in later life a Republican.
Mr. and Mrs. Minnich had a family of eight
children, (i) Elizabeth and (2) Maria, twins,
were born in Warwick township, in 1841. Eliza-
beth, the late wife of Aaron Swarr, of East Hemp-
field township, was the mother of five children:
Amanda, the wife of S. N. Root, of Landisville;
Harry, of Mountville, who married Clara Cassle;
Hiram, of Philadelphia; Lizzie, the wife of P. W.
Baker, living on the old Swarr homestead ; John, who
married Anna Price, deceased. Maria, the other
twin, married I. G. Pfautz, and lives in Lititz, where
they have had the following family: Wellington,
a farmer of Warwick township; Lizzie, the wife
of A. Boyd, a merchant of Manheim ; Isaac and Jo-
seph, residents of Philadelphia ; Emmaline, the wife
of Rev. Paul Schultz, engaged with her husband in
missionary work in the West Indies; John, single,
and living on the old Pfautz homestead in Lancaster
county ; Charles, single, and living at the home. (3)
Jacob Minnich, born in Warwick township, in 1844,
married Miss Harriet Graybill, of East Hempfield
township, lived on a farm in Warwick township for
three years, and then lived in Clay township until
1895 ; that year he moved back to the Minnich home-
stead. He and his wife have reared a large family :
Alice, the wife of John Badorf, of Warwick; Em-
ma, the wife of Benjamin Evans, of Manheim town-
ship; Graybill, at the home in Warwick township;
Hiram; Sadie; and Emma. (4) Amanda Minnich,
born in 1846, married Phares P. Swarr, now a re-
tired farmer of- East Hempfield township, and is
the mother of one daughter, Ellen, who married
Rev. Milton Forney, and now has her home on the
old Swarr farm in East Hempfield township. . (5)
Anna Minnich, born in 1848, is the wife of the
Rev. Henry Sonan, who lives in East Hempfield;
they have three children: Milton, married, and a
farmer on the old home place; Lizzie, the wife of
William Ridenbach, of Neffsville, Lancaster coun-
ty; Emma, the wife of Nire Bushong, of Leacock
township. (6) Emma Minnich, born in Warwick
township, Nov. 28, 1850, married Johnston Miller,
now deceased, but in his time a very prominent
man. He was the father of three children, John M.,
Bessie and Emma. (7) Fannie Minnich, born in
1856, married Jacob B. Neff, of Warwick township,
who for a time was a miller in Lancaster county,
and then a farmer in Ephrata township, where he
died, leaving five children: John; Alice, who is
Mrs. Samuel Young; Nathan; Jacob; and Chris-
tian. Mrs. Neff married for her second husband,
George Shreiner, and has her home in Lititz. (8)
John L., whose name introduces this article.
John L. Minnich was reared and educated in
Warwick township, and worked for his father until
he was twenty-one. In Oct., 1884, he was mar-
ried to Miss Barbara Stehman, a daughter of Henry
and Barbara Stehman, prominent people in Penn
1076
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
township for many years. Mrs. Minnich was born
June 23, 1853. Her youth was passed in Penn
township, where she secured her education in the
public schools. The young married couple settled on
the old homestead in Warwick township, where they
remained until 1895, when they purchased the old
Barnes homestead adjoining the village of Unicorn,
comprising 180 acres, and being one of the most
desirable homes in Drumore township. Mr. Min-
nich has this place well stocked, and is provided
with all the needed machinery for its successful
operation. He owns many horses and cattle, and
is regarded as among the brightest and most pro-
gressive farmers of this section of the county.
Mr. and Mrs. John L. Minnich have had the fol-
lowing family : Ellen, who died in childhood ; Katie,
who was born in 1882 and died in young woman-
hood ; Mahlon, born in Jan., 1876, married and resid-
in at home; Harry, born in Dec, 1878, graduated
from ihe College at Brentsville, Va., for a time en-
gaged in business in Lancaster county, and now in
business in California, having moved to that State in
1899; Bessie, born in Aug., 1880; Charles, born
in April, 1884; Emory, born in May, 1886; Har-
rison, born Aug. 30, 1888; John, born in Sept.,
i8q2; Stehman, born in Sept., 1894; Amanda, born
May 26, 1896. Emory died Oct. i, 1901 ; Bessie,
and the others following, are all at home.
Mr. Minnich has always been a Republican, and
i;; treasurer of the school board of East Drumore
township. He and his wife belong to the German
Baptist Church, and he is a deacon and treasurer
of the organization at Mechanics' Grove. Rigidly
does he adhere to the faith of his ^fathers, and his
honorable life is open to all the world. Modest
and retiring, and shrinking from popularity, he
lives a true and noble life, and his kind and loving
nature stands out plainly to the knowledge of his
friends and neighbors.
CHARLES SWARTZ. One of the prominent
and prosperous young business men of Talmage is
Charles Swartz, who owns and conducts a suc-
cessful mercantile business, and is well known as an
excellent and reliable painter.
Charles Swartz was born on May 12, 1866, and
he was the son of Jonathan and Matilda (Weidler)
Swartz, of Berks county. Jonathan Swartz was a
carpenter by trade, and was the father of nine
children : Tillie, the wife of John Hoover, of
Lebanon county; Angeline, the wife of John Aich,
of Lancaster county; Cecelia, the wife of Samuel
Bethel, of Berks county; Lizzie, the wife of Ben.
Lemonworth, of Harrisburg; John, a resident of
Hummelstown; Frank, a resident of Myerstown;
Henry, who went to Indiana, in 1890, and since
then has been lost sight of; Charles, of this biog-
raphy ; and Alice, who married John Bender, of the
city of New York.
Charles Swartz is a self-made man. Left fa-
therless at the tender age of six years, and a mem-
ber of a large family, he was early obliged to face
the world. Hiring out to neighboring farmers, he
did such work as his strength permitted, and at-
tended school, until he reached the age of four-
teen, when he came to Lancaster county. Here he
was employed in farm work until the age of twen-
ty-one, when he went to Reading and obtained lucra-
tive employment in the boiler shops of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad.
Charles Swartz was married on Dec. 24, 1890,
to Miss Kate Cooper, of West Earl township, a
daughter of Martin Cooper, well known in this lo-
cality as an excellent painter. Three children have
been born of this marriage : Grace E. ; Matilda and
Hanna, twins, the; latter of whom died in infancy.
After his marriage Mr. Swartz began work for
his father-in-law as a painter, and developed a
great deal of skill in that line, still carrying it on.
In 1898 he opened up a store in Talmage, stocking
it with most desirable goods, and offering many
attractions to the public, which have been appre-
ciated, as his patronage is large and constantly in-
creasing. The store is under the capable manage-
ment of Mrs. Swartz, as Mr. Swartz finds his time
occupied in his other line.
Mr. Swartz is a Republican in his political
faith, an honest, industrious and progressive citi-
zen. As a business man he has established a repu-
tation for integrity, and in the home circle he is
much beloved as a model husband and father.
LEVI SENER, a retired farmer residing in
Mountville, Lancaster county. Pa., is a native of
East Hempfield township, was born Jan. 9, 1839,
and is a son of Jacob and Leah (Balmer) Sener,
natives of Manor and Manheim townships, re-
spectively, in Lancaster county. Jacob Sener, a
farmer and drover, removed from East Hempfield
to I^ancaster city, in the spring of 1863, there lost
his wife, she dying in 1S70, aged fifty-five years, a
member of the Moravian Church, and tliere, Nov.
I, 1880, he also was called away, at sixty-nine years
of age. The remains of both were interred in the
Lancaster cemetery. To Jacob and Leah Sener were
born four children, viz. : Anna, still residing in
Lancaster and unmarried; Harriet, wife of George
Missincup, a horse dealer in Lancaster ; Levi, whose
name opens this paragraph, and Daniel, a farmer of
Lancaster.
The paternal grandparents of Levi Sener were
Gottlieb and Elizabeth (Bletz) Sener, the former
of whom was a farmer and died in Manor town-
ship, Lancaster county ; the maternal grandparents,
the Balmers, were also farming people and died in
Manheim township.
Levi Sener was brought up on the home farm
m East Hempfield township. In 1851 his father re-
moved to Lancaster, remaining there four years
before returning to the former homestead. In the
fall of 1867 Jacob Sener sold his farm, comprising
143 acres, to John McGovern and from that time
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1077
till he retired to his present home, in 1900, Levi
Sener rented the place.
The marriage of Levi Sener took place in Lan-
caster, Pa., in Dec, 1862, to Lizzie Herr, and to
this union were born the following children : Harry,
who died at the age of sixteen years; Clara, wife
of Hiram Bossier, a painter and tobacco packer of
West Hempfield township, to whom have been born
three children, Maud S., and two that died in in-
fancy. Mrs. Lizzie (Herr) Sener was born in
Providence township in Jan., 1837, and is a daugh-
ter of Abraham and Hannah (White) Herr, of
New Providence, Lancaster county, both of whom
■died in Mountville. Abraham Herr was reared a
farmer, but became a hotelkeeper and conducted
the business at New Providence, Rawlinsville and
Marticville, and in 1S58 caine to Mountville, man-
aged a hotel for four years, and then retired. Abra-
ham lost his wife in i860, at the age of fifty-five
years, and his own death occurred in 1892, at eighty-
seven years. He wa.s a member of the M. E.
Church. To Abraham Herr and wife were born
six children, viz. : Anna, widow of George Tang-
•ert, of Mountville; Louvene, widow of Henry Mc-
Cann, of Reading; Mary, deceased wife of Henry
Stone; Lizzie, now Mrs. Levi Sener; Abraham, D.
D. S., of Reading; and Martha, deceased wife of
Jacob Clair.
Mr. and Mrs. Sener are members of the United
Brethren church and in politics Mr. Sener is a
Democrat. He has been a hard working and thrifty
farmer and well deserves the repose he is now en-
joying and which his early industry has won for
him.
DAVID E. BINKLEY, a prosperous and pro-
gressive farmer of Manor township, was bofn June
II, 1856, near Safe Harbor, Lancaster Co., Pa.,
reared to farming on his birthplace and educated in
the public schools.
David F. Binkley, father of David E., was born
about seventy-two years ago in Manor township,
and is still one of the representative and leading
citizens of this oart of the county. Farming has
been his life-long calling, in which success has been
his from the beginning. His wife bore the maiden
name of Annie Eshleman, is now about sixty-eight
years old and has borne her husband eleven chil-
dren, of whom nine grew to maturity, and were
named as follows: Kate, wife of Rudolph Hess;
Fannie, now Mrs. James McDevitt; Benjamin, de-
ceased ; David E. ; Molly, widow of Christ Kupats ;
Jacob, a druggist of Norfolk, Va. ; Aaron, a travel-
ing salesman of Lancaster City ; Isaiah, an employee
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Lancas-
ter; and Abraham, a farmer of Neffsville. Two
■children died in infancy. The parents and the sur-
viving children are conscientious members of the
United Brethren Church and contribute liberally of
their means to its support.
David E. Binkley until marriage assisted in car-
ing for the old homestead and then located on one
of his father's farms in another locality, managing
it until 1896; then he purchased 116 acres near Safe
Harbor and has ever since been most successfully
engaged in general farming, being one of the en-
terprising and active men of the township and
county.
In 1879 David E. Binkley married Miss Annie
J. Weidlich, daughter of Gottleib Weidlich, of
Martic township, Lancaster county. To this mar-
riage have been born three children, Howard, Har-
ry and Mary. The family attend the Methodist
Church at Safe Harbor and in politics Mr. Binkley
is a stanch Republican.
The oldest son, Howard, is married to Miss
Annie Cramer, of Columbia, Pa., lives at Harris-
burg, Pa., and is in the employ of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company. The daughter, Mary, is mar-
ried to Prof. Ira T. Warfel, of Conestoga, Pa.,
who is principal of the schools at Prospect Hill,
Lancaster county.
JAMES J. KEYS. One of the successful and
thoroughly self-made men of Columbia is James J.
Keys, who occupies the important position of yard
master for the Pennsylvania Railroad, at this point.
The birth of Mr. Keys was on Dec. i, 1861, in
York county. Pa., a son of Thomas and Mary Ann
(Doyle) Keys, the former a native of York county
and the latter of New York city, the death of. both
occurring in Columbia, where they located in 1879.
Mr. Keys was a laborer and both he and his wife
were consistent, and beloved members of the Cath-
olic Church. The father lived to be fifty-one years
old, dying in May, 1886, while the mother survived
until April, 1900, dying at the age of sixty-three.
The family born to these parents consisted of : Anna
Columbia, who married John Metzler Barney, of
Camden, N. J. ; James J. ; Clark, of Columbia ;
Mary, who married Edward Boyle, of Columbia;
Joseph, of Columbia; Jennie, who lives in German-
town, Pa. ; and Agnes, deceased, who was the wife
of George Halter.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. Keys, of this
biography, were Thomas and Anna (McCune)
Keys, and those on the maternal side were Dennis
and Anna (Hurley) Doyle, of Dublin, Ireland, who
came to America in 181 7 and settled in New York
city, later moving to Wrightsville, Pa., where he
was a boatman and locktender on the canal.
When he was but a lad of nine years, Mr. Keys
began to display those industrious habits which have
succeeded in making him a man of substantial im-
portance at present. His first work after the fam-
ily settled in Columbia, was to drive horses on the
canal, and seven long, hot summers were employed
in this manner, and then he went into a stone quarry,
the next winter finding him at work in a rolling
mill, where three years were profitably passed.
Several years more were spent in work in the re-
pair department of the Pennsylvania Railroad; for
1078
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
three months he acted as brakeman, and then was
given the position of flagman, which very respon-
sible situation he held for two years. The next
nine years were spent as conductor and then he
accepted his present position at Columbia as yard-
master for the great Pennsylvania road. Mr. Keys
has given the best years of his life in service to
this road and that he is highly valued may be seen
by his long retention and promotions.
James J. Keys was married on Nov. 22, 1886,
ir, Columbia, to Miss Clara Stein, and to this union
have been born children as follows : Mary, Anna,
Thomas, Vernard D., George, and John and Frank,
twins. Mrs. Keys was born in Birmingham, Pa.,
on Sept. 8, 1866, a daughter of Frederick and Anna
(Cornwall) Stein, of Gugleheim, Germany, who
were married in Philadelphia, and after a residence
of several years in Lancaster county, died in Colum-
bia, the father, in 1887, at the age of fifty-six, and
the mother in 1879, at the age of thirty-five. By
trade Mr. Stein was a dyer, but in his latter days
conducted a hotel in Columbia for two years. The
children of Mr. and Mrs. Stein were Clara; Mary,
who died young; Sophia, who married George
Kauffman, of Columbia; Francis, who resides with
Mr. Keys; and Mary, of Columbia. The parents
were members of the Lutheran and Catholic
Churches, respectively.
A characteristic of Mr. Keys is that he has
never sought out the easy ways of work, all of his
employment taking him into vigorous and manly
lines, and thus he has become so thoroughly pre-
pared for his present position. Thoroughly in
earnest in all that he attempts, he has had a suc-
cessful career, on account of that thoroughness.
In his political sympathies he is a Democrat, and
be is a member of several fraternal organizations,
and of the Catholic Church. The Pennsylvania
Railroad has no" more capable or reliable employe,
nor has Columbia a more desirable citizen, than
James J. Keys.
WILLIAM H. McFALLS. Among the honor-
able citizens who once were prominent in Provi-
dence township, none are recalled with more sin-
cere esteem and respect than William H. McFalls,
for many years a well-known contractor and suc-
cessful farmer. He was born Nov. 23, 1846, in
Providence township, a son of Henrv and Rachel
(McCordle) McFalls, of that town, the family be-
ing of Scotch-Irish origin. Five children were
born to these parents, as follows: John, Amos,
William H., Oram and Mary, all of whom have
passed out of life with the exception of Amos, who
is an estimable citizen and resident of Lancaster
city.
On June o, 1869, the late William McFalls was
united in marriage with Miss Susan Travis, born
Jan. 19, 1849, daughter of Washington and Nancy
McNarian (Robinson) Travis, the former of whom
was a native of Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. Travis
had a family'of four children, John, Ella, Joshua and
Susan, the survivors being Joshua and Susan. The
marriag^e of Mr. and Mrs. McFalls was blessed with
six children. Aldus E. is a farmer of Providence
township, who married Emma St)Te and had two
children, Chester, since deceased, and Annie. Ella
Naomi is the wife of Aldus Worth, of Lancaster,
and has had four children; William E. (deceased),
Susan v., Harry C, and Aldus Wesley (deceased).
William Wesley commenced business for himself
at the age of twenty- three in Providence township,
dealing extensively in timber, and at the death of
his father purchased the family home, on which
he now lives. Cora is deceased; and George and
Harry are at home.
William McFalls was reared on the old family
homestead now in the possession of Aldus E. and
through life found his greatest pleasure in agri-
cultural pursuits, although he was known as a suc-
cessful contractor and dealer in timber. At the time
of his death, March 30, 1899, he was possessed of a
large and well improved farm, which had been ac-
cjuired entirely through his own' eflforts. He was
not only known as a most industrious and capable
man, but also as one of the most honorable and up-
right citizens of his township. In his home circle
his death was a sad affliction, his many lovable
qualities having endeared him to all with whom he
became associated. His interest in the public
schools was constant; he there received his own ed-
ucation, and as school director he sought to improve
those in his section in every way possible. His
political affiliation was always with the Democratic
party. The death of William H. McFalls was a
distinct loss to Providence township, and he was
sincerely lamented. He and his wife were both as-
sociated with the Methodist Church.
HARRY M. STAUFFER, postmaster, dealer
in coal, lumber and feed -at Leola, Pa., was bom
in New Holland, April 24, 1863, son of David and
Anna (Miller) Staufl^er, natives of Roseville and
Landisville, respectively, who died at Leola, Penn-
sylvania.
David Stauffer was bom in 1825, son of Abraham
and Elizabeth (Yottie) Stauflfer, of Lancaster coun-
ty. Pa., and New Jersey, respectively. He was a
pump manufacturer, and became quite prominent in
public affairs, having been supervisor of Manheim
township in 1850. Pie was a member of the New
Mennonite Church. He died Jan. 16, 1894, highly
respected by all, and his wife, Anna Miller, born
ni 1827, died April 5, 1899. She was the daughter
or John and Catherine (Eshleman) Miller of Lan-
caster county, Pa. Her remains rest with those
ot her husband in the cemetery at Brownstown, West
Earl township. To- David Stauffer and wife were
bom: Fanny, who married Graybill Mentzer ex-
clerk m the recorder's office ; and Harry M.
During his bovhood days, Mr. Stauflfer worked
upon his father's farm and learned all the details of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1079
that occupation thoroughly. His education was
completed at the Lebanon Valley College. On Nov.
7, 1889, in Blue Ball, this county, Mr. Stauffer was
married to Lizzie Weaver, and to their happy union
have been born; Fanny, Anna M., Claude R., Ar-
leen M. and Elizabeth. For two years he farmed on
his own account, but then his attention was turned
to his present business of dealing in coal, lumber
and feed. In Nov., 1890, he bought the ground
where he is now located and established his busi-
ness, erecting an up-to-date warehouse. Six years
later this was superseded by a most complete three-
stpry building, with a capacity of eighteen carloads
of grain and feed, all accessible from the lower
floor._ To this building, besides elevator and grain
cleaning machinerv, have been added saws, planer
and matcher, driven by a fifteen horse-power gaso-
line engine. In 1891 he received the appointment
of postmaster, being generally recognized as the
man best fitted for the place. He has built for him-
self a modern home, heated by hot water and con-
taining the comforts and luxuries of latter-day
homes. In 1901 a barn costing $2,000, with ice-
house and other shed attachments, was built ; and
in 1902 he erected a co^l packet at a cost of $6,000,
with a capacity of 2,000 tons of anthracite coal.
The yard contains buildings 20x100 ft. for feed
in sacks, salt, etc., and also shed room, 20x760 ft.,
for lumber. This is considered the most complete
country business property of its kind in the State.
On Jan. 7, 1901, Mr. Stauflfer was made one of the
directors of the Conestoga National Bank of Lan-
caster.
Socially Mr. Stauffer is a member of the Ma-
sonic fraternity, belonging to Blue Lodge, No. 476,
F. & A. M. ; Goodwin Council, No. 43 ; Royal Arch
Chapter, No. 43 ; and Lancaster Commandery No.
13, all of Lancaster. He is also a menlber of the
Knights of the Golden Eagle. Politically he is a
stanch Republican, and both he and his wife are
earnest members of the Methodist Church. Both
as a private citizen and a public official, Mr. Stauffer
has done his entire duty, and his sterling honesty
and uprightness of character have gained for him
the unqualified esteem of a large circle of friends.
JOHN P. MUELLER, of the firm of Stump
&. Mueller, the leading hardware merchants of
Marietta, Lancaster county, was born in Lancaster,
Pa., Sept. 12, 1866.
John C. and Margaret (Ulrich) Mueller, his
parents, were natives of Gross Gerau, in the grand
duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. John C.
Mueller was a tailor by trade. With his wife and
two children he came to America in 1854, settling
in Lancaster, Pa., where his wife nassed away in
June, 1898, when sixtv-six years old, and where
his own death took place in Sept. of the same year,
when he was aged seventy-two years. They were
members of Zion's Lutheran Church, and their re-
mains were interred in its cemetery. The children
born to Mr. and Mrs. John C. Mueller were ; Eliza-
beth, who was married to Philip Lindeman and
died in Lancaster; Rev. George P., a Lutheran
clergyman, a resident of Philadelphia and superin-
tendent of the Orphans' Home, who died in Read-
ing while there on business, leaving his widow,
Anna C. (Stump) Mueller, with eight children
(she is now at Lancaster) ; Christopher, who died
in infancy ; Christiana, at home, in Lancaster ; Mary
and John Henry (a tailor), also at home; and
John P.
John P. Mueller attended school in his native
city until thirteen years old and w^s then employed
as errand boy by Myers & Rathfon, later receiving
promotion to the position of salesman. On March
12, 1891, he came to Marietta and formed his pres-
ent partnership.
On April 12, 1894, Mr. Mueller was- married,
in Lancaster, to Miss Anna C. Hess, and to this
union have iDeen born three children: Anna M.,
Rosa E. and John Richard. Mrs. Anna C. (Hess)
Mueller was born in Lancaster, daughter of John
and Anna (Wittlinger) Hess, natives of Germany,
who early came to Lancaster, Pa., where the father
for some vears conducted the "Swan Hotel" but in
his declining years retired and passed the remainder
of his life in ease and comfort, dying in 1885. His
widow still resides in Lancaster.
Mr. Mueller may well be styled a self-made man,
as it is through his own unaided exertions that he
has attained his present high position. In addition
to his duties in the mercantile work pertaining to
his large hardware trade, he finds time to serve
as a director in the Marietta Water Company and
as auditor of the Building & Loan Association of
Marietta. At the last borough election in Marietta
Feb. 18, 1902, he was elected school director. In
politics he is a Republican and in religion he is a
member of Zion's Lutheran Church.
MICHAEL STUMP, senior partner in the pop-
ular hardware firm of Stump & Mueller, of Mari-
etta, was born in Baden, Germany, in Jan., 1835,
and was brought to America by his parents, Adam
and Barbara (Gulp) Stump, in 1852. The family
located in Marietta, Pa., and here Mrs. Barbara
Stump died in 1854, when forty-seven years old, a
member of the Lutheran Church. Adam Stump
with his son, Jacob C, then went to Ohio, and en-
gaged in farming until within a few years of his
death, which took place in 1886, at the advanced
age of eighty-four years. The children born to.
Adam and Barbara Stump numbered four and were
named as follows : Michael ; Jacob C, a farmer in
Ohio ; Lovina, widow ol Adam Swartzculp, residing
in Baltimore, Md. ; and Caroline, widow of William
Westenhafer, late foreman of the Haldeman quarry.
Michael Stump at the age of ten years began plow-
ing on his father's farm, and was held down to this
labor until he was fourteen. He then served a three
years' apprenticeship at shoemaking, and subse-
1080
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
quently worked on a farm, then with brick and
stone masons, in fact at anything he could find to
do, until 1859, when he came to Marietta and found
employment on his present premises. The place
was then occupied as a general store, in which dry
goods, hardware and other stock were handled. Al-
though the store changed hands several times, the
services of Mr. Stump were found to be indispen-
sable, and eventually, in 1891, in partnership with
Mr. Mueller, he purchased the stock from S. P.
Sterrett & Co.^ founding the present prosperous
firm.
Mr. Stump was married in Lancaster, in 1861,
to Miss Leah Hoover, and to this marriage have
been born three children, viz. : Anna, widow of
Rev. G. P. Mueller, late of Philadelphia; John, de-
ceased; and Rev. Joseph, a Lutheran clergyman in
Phillipsburg, New Jersey.
Mrs. Leah (Hoover) Stump was born in Dau-
phin county. Pa., in 1844, daughter of Joseph and
Elizabeth (Conrad) Hoover, the former of whom
was a farmer, and died in 1849. To Mr. and Mrs.
Hoover were born five children,- viz. : Kate, widow
of Joseph Eversol, living in Columbia; Leah, Mrs.
Stump ; Mary, wife of Samuel Schrite, a miller at
Mt. Joy ; Abraham, in New Mexico ; and Elizabeth,
wife of John Haas, a railroad man in Marietta.
Mrs. Elizabeth Ploover married, for her second
husband, Jacob Dyer, also now deceased, and to
this union were born three children, viz : William,
a farmer of Ironville ; Louisa, wife of Harry Brant,
of Mt. Joy; and John a carpenter of Florin. Mrs.
Dyer, who was born in 1816. now resides in Florin,
Lancaster county.
Mr. Stump is a consistent member of the Lu-
theran Church, of which he has been for years a
trustee. In politics he is a Republican. He is a
self-made business man, and has reached his pres-
ent advanced position in mercantile circles entirely
through his indefatigable industry and his strict in-
tegrity and square dealing. Mr. Stump is a director
in the Home Building & Loan Association.
JOHN A. BRIMMER, proprietor of the Pret-
zel Bakery and one of the leading business men of
Lancaster, Pa., was born in Dec, 1861, in Lan-
caster, Pa., on the premises he now occupies, son
of Andrew and Sarah (Ehler) Brimmer, he a
native of Germany and she of Lancaster, Pennsyl-
vania.
Andrew Brimmer came to the United States in
1838, with his father. John Brimmer, and four
brothers, the mother having died in Germany. After
arriving in the new country. Andrew Brimmer set-
tled in Lancaster, Pa., and was a cigar maker until
1861, when he embarked in the manufacture of pret-
zels, which concern is now so ablv continued by his
son, John A. Andrew Brimmer died Feb. 11, 1900,
aged seventv-one vears, while his wife passed away
in 1885, aged fifty-six, both being buried in Lan-
caster cemetery. They were members of St. John's
Episcopal Church. The following family was born
to them: Margaret C, married to A. H. Hammond,
a printer of Lancaster ; Albenia, who married F. S.
Stacey, a saddler of Lancaster; Mary E., wife of
O. J. Kindig of Lebanon, Pa. ; Emma S., a school
teacher of Lancaster; Sarah J., who died in in-
fancy ; John A. ; James W., who died in Dec, 1901 ;
George E., who died in infancy. The father was a
man who commanded the highest respect of all with
whom he had either business or social relations,
and the mother was a woman of high Christian
character, beloved by her family and a large circle of
intimate friends.
As soon as he was old enough to enter his fa-
ther's place of business, John A. Brimmer began
to learn the trade of a baker, and later was asso-
ciated with his father. When the latter died, John
A. and liis brother James W. assumed charge of the
bakery, but in Dec, 1901, James W., too, died, and
John A. became the sole proprietor. The Pretzel
Bakery is the largest of its kind in this part of the
State, the annual output being about fifty-two tons,
all of which product finds a ready market, the repu-
tation of this house for the excellence of its goods
being widespread. Having devoted his life' to the
work, Mr. Brimmer understands every detail of it,
and gives his personal supervision to every process
of manufacture, thus insuring perfection in every
particular.
On Sept. 9, 1880, Mr. Brimmer was married
to Sarah R. Beitzel, of Lancaster, Pa., and one
child has been born of this union, Edith R., a charm-
ing young lady, who resides with her parents. Mrs.
Brimmer was born June 22, 1859, at Parkesburg,
Pa., daughter of Charles and Henretta A. (Bear)
Beitzel, natives of York and Lancaster counties, re-
spectively. The father died in Lancaster, Pa., Jan.
30, 1900, aged seventy-one years, but the mother
still survives, and lives in Lancaster. By occupa-
tion, the father was a tailor, and was very success-
ful in his business, leaving a comfortable amount
of property at his death. The children born to Mr.
and Mrs. Beitzel were as follows : Charles E., pret-
zel baker of Lancaster; Sarah R. ; Mary E., mar-
ried to Edward S. Jones, a printer of Philadelphia ;
Martha A., married to Louis Darmstetter, a butcher
of Philadelphia ; William E., an electrician of Pitts-
burg; Ella B., unmarried, who resides with her
mother. Mr. and Mrs. Beitzel were consistent mem-
bers of the Moravian Church, and Mrs. Beitzel is'
still greatly interested in its good work. During his
lifetime, _Mr. Beitzel enjoyed the highest respect of
a wide circle of business associates, as well as nu-
merous friends. The paternal grandfather o£ Mrs.
Brimmer was Benjamin Beitzel, a carpenter of
York, Pa. On her mother's side, the grandfather
of Mrs. Brimmer was Andrew Bear, of Strasburg
township, Lancaster county. Pa., where he was one
of the leading men, being a merchant and one-
time proprietor of a hotel at the old Pennsylvania
station, Lancaster.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1081
Mr.. Brimmer is not only a most excellent busi-
ness man, but he also takes great pleasure in his
fraternal connections, belonging to numerous
lodges, in which he has held all the chairs and con-
tributed, both of time and money, toward their
success, for he is a firm believer in the good ef-
fected by these institutions, not only in promoting
good fellowship, but also in providing a convenient
method of insuring against accident and death.
Among the various lodges to whicn Mr. Brimmer
belongs are the K. of P., in which he has been Dis-
trict Deputy for the past fourteen years ; I. O. O. F.,
No. 123; Artisans No. 27, O. M. P.; Aerie No.
^4, F. O. 0. E. ; treasurer of Lancaster County
U. R. K. of P. ; No. 6 Lancaster Maennerchor and
Lancaster Liederkranz. Mr. Brimmer and family
are members of St. John's Episcopal Church, in
which they take an active part, and all are among
the leading people of Lancaster. The political con-
victions of Mr. Brimmer are Democratic and he
takes special interest in the work of that party.
JOHN W. WHITESIDE, a prominent farmer
of 'Colerain township, Lancaster county, was born
in the township where his busy and useful life is
passing, Sept. 13, 1858, and is the son of James and
Elizabeth (Irwin") Whiteside.
James Whiteside was born in Colerain town-
ship, Sept. 23, 1825 ; and his wife, Aug. 29, 1828,
in Chester county, the daughter of Peter and Mary
Irwin, who were born in Ireland. They settled in
Chester county, where they left a family of five
children : John, who is dead ; Jane, married to John
Pollock, of Downingtown, Chester county; Martha,
who married William Mowdy, of Chester county,
and is dead; Rebecca, late wife of C. Hammond;
Elizabeth, who married James Whiteside.
James Whiteside was a son of James Whiteside,
who first settled in Colerain township, being a na-
tive of this country, and of Scotch-Irish parentage.
The Whitesides were Presbyterians in religion, and
were interested in th» founding of the first Pres-
byterian Church in Colerain township. They set-
tled on the farm now owned by Charles Whiteside,
where they made imorovements on an extensive
scale. The grandfather of James Whiteside, Sr.,
liad four sons and one daughter. John, Robert,
William, and James, all settled and died in Colerain
township, James being the onlv one to marry and
rear a family. The daughter, Tersey, died a maiden
lady, aged eighty-two.
James Whiteside, the father of John ,W., set-
tled on the old homestead, where he made extensive
improvements, and where he died in Dec, 1891.
His widow passed to her rest in March, 1894. They
were consistent members of the Union Presbyterian
Church, in which their children were reared. In
politics Mr. Whiteside was a leading Democrat,
and held local positions during his active years.
He left a family of four children; John, Charles,
Samuel and William. Charles Whiteside was born
April 16, i860, married Carrie Turner, of Lancaster
county, and has his residence on the old homestead.
To them were born three children: Mary, Walter
and Dora. Samuel Whiteside was born April 12,
1864, and lives at Colerain. His sketch may be
found in another place. William Whiteside, born
in May, 1866, is a merchant in Little Britain town-
ship, and is the father of a numerous family.
John W. Whiteside, whose name introduces this
article, was educated in the Union High School,
and when a young man, he farmed for his uncle,
John Whiteside, at the present home, which he
purchased after the death of that good man. Mr.
Whiteside was married Feb. 22, 1880, to Mary
E., the daughter of Frank and Jane A. (Farr)
Jones, both born and reared in Philadelphia, and who
settled in West Bradford township, Chester county,
where they engaged in farming, and where they
both died. Mrs. Whiteside was born in Chester
county, in Nov., 1856, and was given such educa-
tional advantages as the local schools afforded.
After their marriage they settled on the farm, and
lived in a stone house, built by Samuel McCom-
mon, and later the property of the uncle, as noted
above. To Mr. and Mrs. Whiteside has come one
son, James Fred, born in Aug., 1886. He is now a
good and promising student in the Union High
School. Thev are members of the Presbyterian
Church, at Union, in politics Mr. Whiteside is a
Democrat, and has had the office of collector for
four years. He has been a member of the board,
and has held other official positions.
Mrs. Whiteside has a sister, Mrs. Milton Keech,
living in Colerain township. One brother, George
Jones, is a business man of Chester county. Benja-
min and Chester Jones live in Colorado. Lydia
Jones married Joseph Darlington, of Chester county.
Maurice Jones, now deceased, was a resident of Ches-
ter county, where he died, leaving two daughters :
Delia, who lives with Mr. and Mrs. Whiteside, and
Jennie, a resident of Chester county.
John W. Whiteside belongs to an old and promi-
nent family of Colerain township. The Whitesides
are good farmers, and their neat and well cultivated
places are monuments to their thrift and industry.
JOSEPH A. HALL. This efficient and popu-
lar conductor in the service of the Pennsylvania
Railway Companv Was born on a farm some three
miles from the town of Oxford, in Chester county,
on July 21, 1850. His grandfather was Isaac Hall,
a farmer and cooper, and his father, whose name
is Isaac A., is also engaged in agricultural pursuits.
His mother was Mary A. Newlin, and his parents
removed from Chester to Lancaster county in 1855,
settling near what is known as the Leaman place,
in Paradise township. Isaac A. Hall has been a cit-
izen of prominence, having served as a school di-
rector and supervisor for six vears. Both he and
his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.
He was born in 1823 and she in 1822. Joseph Hall
1082
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
is the second child and eldest son of his parents.
His elder sister, Margaret, married William Ken-
nard, and died in May, 1896. A brother, Franklin,
is a successful Lancaster county farmer. Salina,
Mrs. Samuel Skeene, lives in Lancaster. Keziah
married John Withers of Hanover. Ida is Mrs.
Choat Heim, and resides at New Hanover. The
two younger daughters, Elizabeth and Lizzie, are
also married, the former to Thomas Withers, of Lan-
caster, and the latter to Aaron Delaney of Dillerville.
Joseph A. Hall grew up on the paternal farm,
and not until he reached his twenty-sixth year
did he decide to cnoose another pursuit in life.
On Oct. 5, 1876, however, he came to Columbia,
to become a brakeman for the Pennsylvania Com-
pany. After eight years he was made flagman,
and in Oct., 1888, was promoted to be a conductor.
That he is well qualified to discharge the ardu-
ous and responsible duties of his position is at-
tested by his twelve vears of faithful and successful
service. He eniovs the well earned confidence of
the company and the genuine respect of his fellow
townsmen. He belongs to the Order of Railway
Conductors, and in politics he is a Republican. All
his farnily belong to the M. E. Church.
In January, 187 1, at Bellemonte, he was married
to Miss Mary E. Shaub. She was born at Stras-
burg, on, June 7, 1853. Her father was Rudolph
Shaub, a blacksmith, and her mother's maiden name
was Aument. Both are deceased, Mr. Shaub hav-
ing passed away at the home of Mr. Hall in 1880.
Mary was the youngest child of their marriage, hav-
ing had three sisters and two brothers older than
herself, named Anna, Albert, Josephine, Frank and
Nellie. Anna is Mrs. Hildebrand of Harrisburg;
Albert is deceased; Josephine married Harry Tar-
bert, an engineer, and lives in Philadelphia; Frank
is married and lives in Philadelphia; and Nellie is
unmarried in Lancaster. Mrs. Hall died Dec. 15,
1898, and rests in Mt. Bethel cemetery. Her mar-
riage was blessed with seven daughters and two
sons. Anna E., the eldest, is a school teacher, and
unmarried. Jennie E. married Owen McCuUough,
a telegraph operator of Wrightsville. The younger
children, Bessie M., Eva R, Mabel C. Harry T.,
NelHe R., Leon T. and Gladys, live at home.
JAMES DE VEAUX MIFFLIN, a retired
druggist, of Columbia, is a native of the borough and
was JDorn March 8, 1852, at No. 163 Walnut street,
in the mansion now occupied by his brother. Dr.
Flouston Mifflin.
The parents of James De V. Mifflin were John
Houston and Elizabeth (Heise) Mifflin, the former
of whom was a portrait painter. After his marriage
his attention was diverted to the care of his real
estate, most of the property being within the borough
of Columbia. John Houston and Elizabeth Mifflin
were the parents of the following named children:
Bethel, who died at the age of five years; Lloyd,
landscape painter, and author of several volumes of
poems ; Martha, who died young ; Houston,' a phy-
sician and surgeon in Columbia ; James De V. ; Mary,
who died unmarried: and Charles, of New York
City. The father of these children died in 1888, at
the age of eighty-five years, and the mother in 1854,
both in the faith of the Presbyterian Church.
James De V. Mifflin, at the age of twenty, en-
gaged in the coal trade for three years. He then went
to California on a prospecting tour, but after a year
spent there, he returned to the East and secured a
position as superintendent of an industrial plant at
Deshler, Ohio. He next went to Philadelphia, where
he was engaged in manufacturing for two years.
He then went to North Texas, and for a season en-
gaged in sheep-raising, after which, for six years,
he was in New Mexico, successfully raising cattle.
He then went to Pueblo, Colo., where for six years
he was a druggist, and came back to Columbia, Pa.,
in 1894, to attend to his real estate interests.
In June, 1892, in Silverton, Colo., Mr. Mifflin
married Miss Sallie G. Austin, who was born in Old
Town, Grayson Co., Va., a daughter of John and
Evaline Austin, the former of whom is a planter,
the latter deceased. Mr. Mifflin cast his first presi-
dential vote for LT. S. Grant, but is now inclined to
the silver policy, which is diametrically opposed to
that of the Republican partv. Mr. Mifflin is a mem-
ber of the A. O. U. W., and of the W. of W.
PETER DORSHEIMER, Nos. 150 & 152 East
Kine street, Lancaster, is a wholesale and retail
dealer in wines and liquors, and imports direct
Rhine wine, Holland gin, French brandies and
Scotch and Irish whiskies. He has made ten trips
to Europe in the interests of his business, purchasing
direct from the distilleries the goods he cases. This
gives his trade a great advantage, because the public
knows he has the genuine article.
Mr. Dorsheimer was born in Hesse Darmstadt
July -12, 1840. His father, also Peter Dorsheimer,
sailed for America May 5, i860, landing at New
York, July 5. Accompanied by his wife and three
children, the elder Dorsheimer went direct to Lan-
caster county, where he settled on a farm and pros-
pered. Latterly he retired and spent his declining
years in Lancaster, where he died at the age of
eighty-two. His wife, whose maiden name was
Anna M. Jenner. was born in Hesse Darmstadt, the
daughter of Phillip Jenner, a highly educated man,
for years a manufacturer of clay stoves. His brother,
Dr. Edward Jenner, was the famous discoverer of
vaccination which has proved such a blessing to
mankind. Mrs. Dorsheimer died at the age of seven-
ty-six years. Peter Dorsheimer, the wine and liquor
merchant, was educated in his native land, being
nineteen years old when he arrived in this country.
He first secured work on a farm near Lancaster, but
after five years went into the hotel business. He
became interested in real estate and built between
thirty and forty houses in the city and county, em-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1088
ploying as many as one hundred men at times. Mr.
Dorsheimer started his wine and liquor business in
1887 and has been very successful in it.
In 1860 Mr. Dorsheimer married in this city, Miss
Anna E. Stanffer, who was born at Berne on the
Rhine, and from this union twelve children were born,
all of whom are living, as is also the mother. The
children are Daniel M., a hotel keeper at Parkesburg,
Pa. : Frank, a carriage builder at Coatesville, Pa. ;
Ada, at home; Henry P., a carriage builder at
Parkesburg, Pa. ; George, a carriage builder at
Coatesville, he being in business in the west end,
while his brother Frank manufactures vehicles in the
east end ; John, in the cigar business in Boston ; May,
wife of William Peterson, manager of freight ship-
ping in New York City ; Elizabeth, wife of Charles
W. Pennypacker, with the Reading Railroad, at
Reading; Benjamin F., associated with his brother,
Daniel M., in the hotel business, at Parkesburg;
Martin, engaged with his brother Frank in carriage
building; Garfield, employed at Slaymaker's lock
works, Lancaster ; and Arthur, who assists his father
in the wine and liquor business. This is surely a
remarkable family record, seldom equalled, a family
circle complete and unbroken.
All the family attend the St. Paul's Reformed
Church. Mr. Dorsheimer is one'of the popular men
of Lancaster. He belongs to no secret society, and
about the only hobby he has is the Lancaster Road
Drivers' Association, of which he is a member and
in connection with which he was a prominent figure
in the great parade given by that association in Lan-
caster, Wednesday, June 12, 1901. No man in the
parade was saluted oftener than Peter Dorsheimer,
for no man is better knowi; and liked.
HARRY LANDIS HERSHEY, collector of
internal revenue, although a resident of Harrisburg
and a native of Dauphin county, is descended from a
family who were among the early settlers of Lan-
caster county, while his wife's father was at one time
a merchant of Lancaster. For these reasons, if no
other, Mr. Hershey is fairly entitled to representa-
tion in the biographical annals of Lancaster county.
However, he has another and very substantial claim,
in. that he fills the most important office in this coun-
ty, "an office that has more to do with the people, in
a financial way, than any other. His district includes
fifteen counties, Lancaster, York, Dauphin, Adams,
Bedford, Blair, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Hunt-
ingdon, Juanita, Lebanon, Mifflin, Perry and Snyder.
His office force consists of twelve clerks, and, be-
sides these, he has thirteen outside deputies (one at
Harrisburg and two at York), thirty-three store-
keepers and gangers, and three United States or
general gangers. Mr. Hershey has the distinguished
honor of being the internal revenue collector for. the
biggest cigar manufacturing district in the United
States, the output for the fiscal year ending June 30,
190 T, having been 62.4,844,177 cigars; while the
moneys for which Mr. Hershey had to account for
that year, amounted to the colossal sum of $3,528,-
250.39. His term of four years expired June i,.
1902, and was continued after that date by filing a
new bond. Collector Hershey is also custodian of
the public building at Lancaster, Pa., and as such
has made a great many improvements in it. It was.
during the first term of Collector Plershey, that the
great Jacobs-Kending counterfeiting case was dis-
covered and it was largely through his efforts that
It was brought to light. For this the Secretary of the
Treasury, L. J. Gage, and Commissioner of Internal
Revenue G. W. Wilson highly complimented him.
Harry Landis Hershey is descended from one
of three brothers who came to Lancaster county from
Holland in the early settlement of Pennsylvania.
Two of them left Lancaster county, one of these set-
tling in Dauphin county, and there becoming the
ancestor of Harry Landis Hershey. Christian
Hershey, grandfather of our subject, was born in
Dauphin county, where he engaged. in farming un-
til his death.
Henry Hershey, son of Christian, died forty-five
years ago. He married Nancy Landis, daughter of
Christian Landis, a distiller and farmer of Dauphin
county, who owned teams and carried freight from-
Philadelphia to .Pittsburg long before the days of
railroads. Mr. and Mrs. .Henry Hershey became
the parents of seven children, five of whom are liv-
ing: (i) Diana, wife of Dr. Thomas G. Fox, a re-
tired physician, ex-Representative of the House of
Pennsylvania, and ex-Prothonotary of Dauphin
county, of Hummelstown; (2) Christian L. Hershey,.
a retired farmer of Hummelstown; (3) Elizabeth,,
who became the wife of the late Dr. t. M. Groff, a
practicing physician of Ephrata, and who died at her
cottage at Asbury Park, in 1895 ; (4) A son who died
in infancy; (5) Mary A., widow of Witmer C.
Ranck,'who with her daughter now lives on College
avenue, Lancaster; (6) Henrietta, widow of George
W. Boyd, a merchant of Harrisburg, Pa. ; and (7)
Harry L. Hershey, Collector of Internal Revenue.
Harry Landis Hershey was born at Hummels-
town, Dauphin county, July 7, 1852, and, after being-
educated in the public schools of his district and in
the Sunnyside Seminary at Hummelstown, went into-
the grocery and general merchandising business at
Hummelstown, remaining at that for eight months.
He then left the familiar scenes of his boyhood, and
went to Philadelphia where he clerked for two years
in the wholesale flour and feed store of Ronk &
Bachman C who were Lancaster county people) . Be-
fore beginning that clerkship, however, Mr. Hershey
was graduated from Crittenden's Business College,
in Philadelphia. Leaving Philadelphia, he went to-
Harrisburg, and there clerked in Bergstressen &
Boyd's wall-paper store for three years, when the
firm failed and Mr. Hershey bought the stock and
entered into business for himself. This he continued
with much success until he was elected clerk of the
1084
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
orphans and recorder of deeds for Dauphin county.
He entered upon the duties of this office Jan. 4, 1891,
and, after serving three years, was re-elected. Dur-
ing the last year of Mr. Hershey's term as recorder
of deeds, he made application for appointment as
Collector of Internal Revenue for this district, re-
ceiving the appointment on April 30, 1898, and en-
tering upon the duties of his office May 30, 1898.
In 1880 Mr. Hershey was married to Miss Mary
■Gertrude Buehler, a daughter of one of the early
grocers of Lancaster. Her mother was Ann Locher
Buehler, a sister of the late D. P. Locher, founder
of the banking house of D. P. Locher & Sons, now
known as the Lancaster City Trust Company. Mr.
Hershey makes his home in the capital city of the
State, but spends three and four days of every week
in his office in Lancaster, where he is as popular,
personally and politically, as he is in Harrisburg.
In the latter city, it will be remembered, a big cam-
paign club was named after him, the Harry L.
Hershey Club, an organization that did very effect-
ive work in both of the McKinley campaigns, and
which came to Lancaster and took part in a monstrous
parade in 1896, Mr. Hershey accompanying them to
this city. Always active in politics, Mr. Hershey
was made chairman of the Republican City Execu-
tive Committee, of Harrisburg,. for four consecutive
years, and, after a lapse, was made chairman of it
"for two years more. Socially he belongs to no organ-
ization, save the Heptasophs, being entirely devoted
to the discharge of the responsible duties devolving
upon him, for the intelligent performance of which
be has received so much well merited praise.
OLIVER B. MILLER. Among the substantial
and much respected farmer citizens of Lancaster
county. Pa., is Oliver B. Miller, the owner of one of
the best farms in Strasburg township. His worthy
father, Henry S. Miller, died in 1844, at the age of
fifty-two years, in Lancaster city, although he was a
native of Philadelphia, where he spent his early life
and learned the trade of a shoemaker. His marriage
took place in Philadelphia, to Susan Watson, a
daughter of Oliver Watson, of Strasburg township,
and they reared a family of children : _ Elizabeth,
who married and moved to Illinois ; Oliver ; John,
Tabitha, and Sarah, all deceased. By a previous
marriage, the mother had two children, Mary and
Lydia Ann Dunkle. Later Henry Miller mo^ed to
Lancaster city and engaged in his trade, for a tune
being associated with Jacob Gable.
Oliver B. Miller was born in Philadelphia, Oct.
19, 1840, but lived in Lancaster city until he was six-
teen. On account of limited means, he was compelled
to assist in the family -support, entering the woolen
mills as early as nine years. The educational advant-
ages offered Oliver were very meager, six weeks of
attendance at night school covering the whole period,
but he did not on this account grow to maturity ignor-
ant;, with a desire for knowledge, he took advant-
age of every opportunity to increase it, read every
book within reach, and opened his intelligent mind to
all chances for improvement, this resulting in an as-
tonishing amount of general information. That Mr.
Miller is an intelligent, well posted man, he owes en-
tirely to his own persistent efforts, by which he over-
came many obstacles which would have discouraged
one less determined.
At the age of sixteen he left the mills and made
his way into the surrounding country, determined to
become a farmer and the owner of some of the fertile
land of this vicinity. His first efforts were by the
month, and during the following five years he was
thus constantly employed, and then began to farm on
shares, following this plan so advantageously that at
the close of nine years he was possessed of sufficient
means to purchase the fine farm which he now
owns. This consists of eighty-four acres and is lo-
cated three miles from Strasburg, and here he has
successfully carried on general farming. Since lo-
cating here he has made many permanent improve-
ments and now has one of the most desirable estates
in this locality.
The marriage of Oliver B. Miller was on Dec. 19,
i860, to Elizabeth Lyons, a grand-daughter of Abra-
ham Hoover, of Strasburg township, and to this
union have been born six children: Edward C, a
farmer on the home place, who married Mary Wolf,
of Lancaster city; Frank H., now residing at home,
who married Ella Weaver, who died in 1892 ; Gideon
C, who died in 1899, at the age of thirty, a teacher,
a graduate of the Millersville Normal School, and for
seven years an employe of the government, married
to Mary Garber, of Mr. Joy; Mary E., a teacher in
the public schools, a graduate of the Millersville
Normal School, and also of a college in Columbus,
in penmanship and drawing; Ann Elizabeth, who
married Enos H. Miller, a farmer of this township ;
and Park O., who died at the age of nineteen years.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Miller are consistent mem-
bers of the Reformed Mennonite Church, and the
family is one of the most respected in the neighbor-
hood. Mr. Miller has taken a great interest in edu-
cational matters, and has given his children every
possible advantage.
WILLIAM K. GABLE. For twenty-four years
Mr. Gable has been in the employ of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company, having risen from the po-
sition of brakeman to the more responsible post of
engineer. In the discharge of these duties he has
exhibited the keen intelligence, quick perception and
rugged honesty which have characterized him
through life. He was born in the township of West
Hempfield, Dec. 15, 1852. His father, whose Chris-
tian name is Henry, was born in 1827. He is by
trade a blacksmith, but ceased active toil many years
ago, and is passing life's evening in well earned re-
pose. The name of Mr. Gable's mother before mar-
riage was Marl Cluke. She was born in 1831, and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1085
passed away Oct. 4, 1891. Both she and her husband
were earnest members of the Reformed Church.
They came to Columbia to reside in 1877, and were
the parents of four children : William K., Harry H.,
Anna and Martin. Harry H. is a Pennsylvania
Company's flagman and lives in Reading. Anna is
the wife of John Kleinfelter, of Cumberland county.
Martin is also a railroad man, his home being in
Reading.
. William K. Gable remained at home until he had
passed his thirteenth year, when, a mere boy in
point of age, yet full of pluck and grit, he found his
way to Chicago, 111. For a year he attended school
there, and for three years worked in a box factory.
In 1870 he returned to Lancaster county, finding
employment as an apprentice in a blacksmith shop
in Mountville, where he remained for three months.
From Mountville, he went to Lancaster, where he
passed six months. The next eighteen months he
spent in Mt. Joy. Having learned the trade he
readily found employment in Harrisburg as a jour-
neyman during the three and a half years following.
He subsequently found work at his trade at Pitts-
burg and at other points, but his natural impulse
was toward the exciting, perilous (and sometimes
underpaid) life of a railroad man. His yearning
was gratified in 1876, when he entered the Pennsyl-
vania Company's seiwice as a brakeman. Six months
later he was made a fireman ; and after riding in the
cab for five years and eleven months in that capacity,
he was promoted to the position of engineer. He is
a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engin-
eers, and in politics is a Republican. Both himself
and family attend the Lutheran Church.
He married, June 18, 1878, Sally E. Jefifers, who
was born at Lancaster, April 3, 1857. Her father,
John, was a Union soldier, who sacrificed an arm in
his country's service. He died in 1864, in his forty-
first year. Mrs. Gable's mother's name before mar-
riage was Catherine Lingars. Mrs. Jeffers sur-
vived her husband for five years, and died in 1869,
aged forty-two 3'ears. Mrs. Gable was their only
child. Her mother, however, married again, her
second husband being Benjamin Roodman. The is-
sue of the second marriage was one daughter, Anna,
who married William Noxtoof, of Lancaster.
Twelve children have been born to the marriage of
Mr. and Mrs. Gable: Albert, Harry, Florence,
William, Mattie and Stella (twins), John, Irene,
Greda, Edna and Alex (twins), and Howard. Five
survive and live at home with their parents: Al-
bert, Harry, Florence, Stella and Howard.
THOMAS H. WENTZ, M. D., a prominent
physician of Kirkwood, Colerain township, Lancas-
ter county, was born near Peach Bottom, this coun-
ty. Feb. 17, 1848, son of John S. and Sarah A.
(Penny) Wentz, who were both natives of Lancas-
ter county.
' The Wentz family is of German origin. . In 1277
is found mention of Wentzenfeld (Wentz's field),
near Bingen-on-the-Rhine, which field was entailed
to the Bishops of Mayence. In June or July, 173 1^
four brothers, Beltzer, John, George and Karl,
sailed in the ship ''Samuel" from the Palatinate, in
Germany. Purchasing land on Skippac creek, in the
northern part of Philadelphia (now Montgomery)
county, they located there and built a church, which
still exists, and is known as Wentz's Church. From
these four brothers are descended the many of the
name in Lancaster county.
John Wentz, great-grandfather of Dr. Wentz,
settled in Lancaster county. He had a large family
of children.
Joseph and Mary (Smith) Wentz, the Doctor's
grandparents, were born in Bucks county. They
lived for a time in Chester county, and then moved
to a place near McCall's Ferry, where he owned a
grist and sawmill. He was prominent and prosper-
ous in his day, and continued to live at that place
for many years, serving long as justice of the peace
there. Joseph and Mary Wentz had a large family,,
of whom John S., the father of Dr. Thomas H., was
the eldest. Joseph died unmarried. William died
in Martic township, where he was a farmer. Isaac
died in Illinois. Thomas is still at the old home
near McCall's Ferry. Susan A. died unmarried.
Sarah married Hugh Penny, who lived and died in
Drumore, near the' Buck; she is also deceased.
Maria is the widow -of James Penny, and has her
home in Drumore township.
John S. Wentz, the Doctor's father, was born in
1805, in Martic township. He purchased a portion
of his father's farm near McCall's Ferry, and de-
voted his life to its cultivation. His wife died at
their home in 1874, at the age of sixty-two, and he
passed away at the home of his son, the Doctor, in
1882. Both were consistent and devout members of
the Methodist Church. Politically he was active in
the Democratic party. Mrs. Wentz belonged to
a family of Scotch-Irish extraction, members of
which were named in the assessment rolls of Dru-
more as early as 1756.
To John S. and Sarah A. A¥entz were born nine
children, of whom Mary Wentz, the eldest, is the
widow of William F. L. Morrison, resides at Chest-
nut Level, and is the mother of two children : Alice,
who is the widow of Franklin McPherson; Retta,
who died when a young lady.
Joseph Wentz, the first son born to John S.
Wentz, was born at Liberty Square, in Lancaster
county, married Mary McCreary and settled on a
farm at Chestnut Level, Lancaster county. To them
were born the following family : Harry E., an un-
dertaker at Atglen; where he is married and stands
high in the community; Zella, married to Thomas
Ankrim, of Drumore; Myrtle, married to William
Witman, of Little Britain; Sadie, wife of Morris
Bunting, a resident of Colerain township ; Ora, who
married Thadeus Dennis, a merchant at Kirkwood
and who is now dead. ^
1086
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Dr. William J. Wentz, the second son, studied at
the Millersville State Normal School, and received
his professional education in Jefferson Medical Col-
lege, one of the noted schools of Philadelphia from
which he was graduated in 1865. He began his pro-
fessional career at New Providence, where he is
still in the active practice of his profession. His
wife Susan Rohrer, belongs to an old and prominent
family, and they have six children : Anna Laverta,
who married Alfred W. Mayen, of Lancaster ; John >
Mazee ; Emily ; Frank, a practicing physician of
Philadelphia ; Charles, a student of medicine in Phil-
adelphia.
Hugh P. Wentz, the fourth child, was born in
Drumore township, where he was reared, married
Miss Retta Steel, a native of Lancaster county, and
settled at the old homestead, where he died very sud-
denly in 1898, aged fifty-seven, leaving a wife and
three children, Dwight, Edgar, and Blanche.
John Wentz was born at the old homestead,
where he was reared to manhood, and married Miss
Lucy McPherson. They settled in Martic township,
where he is engaged in a mercantile business, at
Bethesda. His wife died, leaving him one son, Mel-
ville, and he was later married to a lady of Stras-
burg, by whom he has had four children: Ira, a
merchant and a partner with his father; Maud;
Emma, and Ida.
Thomas H. Wentz was the sixth child.
Emma Wentz married William C. Boyd, of West
Drumore, and both passed away, leaving two chil-
dren, Clarence, and Letta, who is dead.
Laura Wentz was born at the old homestead,
married James McSparran, now of West Drumore,
and is the mother of six children, Guy, Walter, Ell-
wood, Clyde, James and Sarah, who is dead.
Hattie, the youngest daughter of John Wentz, is
the widow of John McComb, of Fairfield, Lancaster
county, and is the mother of two children, Mabel
and Helen.
Dr. Wentz, whose name introduces this article,
received his education at the Chestnut Level Acad-
emy, and in a private school at Spring Valley under
Prof. John Peoples. When a young man he taught
school for three years, and in 1871 took up the
study of medicine with his brother at New Provi-
dence, and the following year he entered the Jef-
ferson Medical College at Philadelphia, from which
he was graduated in 1874. The same year he began
the practice of his profession at Kirkwood, where
he has continued for twenty-seven years. He has
purchased real estate in the village and put up a
very neat and attractive home. He has been very
successful, and stands high in his profession.
Dr. Wentz was married Jan. 7, 1879, to Miss
Anna Roop, a daughter of Joseph and Mary Roop,
and a descendant of an old and prominent family.
Mrs. Wentz was born in Lancaster City, Oct. 6,
i860, was educated in the city schools, and is the
mother of four children : Alletta M., a graduate of
the West Chester State Normal School, class of
1901, and now teaching at Kirkwood; Paul R.,
a student for two years at Union Academy, for
one year at Lowe Institute, Port Deposit, and now
at the F. and M. College in Lancaster; Mary G.,
and Joseph C.
Dr. Wentz is a Democrat ; he belongs to Chris-
tiana Lodged No. 417, F. & A. M. Mrs. Wentz,
Alletta, Paul and Mary are all members of the Union
Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Wentz began for himself at the foot of the
ladder of fortune, and has made himself what he
is, When he came to Kirkwood, in 1874, he was
without financial resources, and had only his own
ability and courage to help him. By devotion to his
profession, and by living a clean and wholesome life
he has built up a profitable practice, and is now
known as one of the leading physicians of the county.
HON. FRANCIS BERNARD McCLAIN,
member of the Legislature from the city district,
is one of the most conspicuous figures in the social,
political and business life of Lancaster.
Francis McClain, Sr., his father, came to Amer-
ica from County Londonderry, Ireland, in 1840, and
settled in Lancaster in 1841. After working for
the McGranns for a time he went into the cattle
btisiness m partnership with the late Patrick Kelly.
He is now leading a retired life, beloved by all who
know him, and carrying his eighty odd years with
wonderful vigor, mentally and physically. After
locating in Lancaster he married Susan Mulhatten,
a daughter of Bernard Mulhatten, whose old home
at the corner of North Duke and James streets was
for many years one of the landmarks of the town.
To this marriage five children were born, four of
whom are living, as follows : Francis Bernard, our
subject; George Edward, of Philadelphia; Mary
Gertrude, wife of James Maloney, in the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad service at Dillerville; and John
Charles, superintendent in the Kendig Chocolate
Works, Lititz, Pennsylvania.
Francis Bernard McClain was born in this city,
April 14, 1864, and after attending the parochial
school, entered the High School and was graduated
therefrom in 1881. Entering the employ of Levi
Sensenig, the extensive live-stock dealer, young Mc-
Clain was bookkeeper, buyer and salesman until
1890, in which year he went into the cattle trade with
George R. Sensenig and Andrew F. Frantz. This
continued until 1897, and from that time on Mr.
McClain and Mr. Frantz conducted their business
together. In 1894, Mr. McClain was elected to the
Legislature by the Republicans of the city district,
and was re-elected in 1896, and again in 1898 ; and
Nov. 6, J 900, he was triumphantly elected for another
term, which gives him more terms than any other
man has ever had from the city district. Mr. Mc-
Clain has made a record in the Legislature of which
any man might well feel proud. He was a member
of the special committee appointed to investigate
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1087
the State Treasury of 1897 ; on the committee to in-
vestigate the charges of bribery, in connection with
the election for United States Senator ; on the Com-
mittee on Buildings , and Grounds ; continuously,
during all his terms, on the Committee on Ways and
Means; Chairman of the Committee on Municipal
Corporations — a committee that has to do with all
the legislation affecting municipalities, 1897-99 5 and
Speaker pro tern, of the House in 1897, presiding
over all the stormy closing deliberations of that ses-
sion. In 1901 he was Chairman of the Committee on
Corporations; Vice-chairman of the Committee on
Appropriations ; Floor Leader of the House on the
Republican side ; and again Speaker pro tern.
In 1888, Mr. McClain was married to Miss Ellen
Bernardine O'Neil, granddaughter of the late James
McCafferty, for an ordinary life time connected with
our cotton-mills; and a grand-niece of the deeply
lamented and dearly-beloved Very Reverend Father
Bernard Keeman, who was for more than half a cen-
tury pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church, of this
city and at the time of his death, the oldest priest in
the United States, having passed away at the age of
ninety-seven years. One child was born of this
union, but entered into rest in infancy. Mr. Mc-
Clain possesses one of the finest tenor voices ever
heard in this community, and he is the tenor soloist
in St. Anthony's Catholic choir. He has taken part
in innumerable concerts for charitable purposes and
has never charged nor accepted the slightest re-
muneration for services thus rendered, or even for.
his expenses. A Catholic in faith, he is liberal in
his religious views as he is in all other matters, and
he never asks whether Protestants or Catholics are
to be the beneficiaries when they knock at his door in
the name of charity.
ANTHONY G. GREINER, a well-known and
highly respected farmer of Mt. Joy township, who
now occupies the old homestead farm of his ances-
tors, was born there May 19, 1853, son of David S.
and Anna (Good) Greiner, both of Mt. Joy town-
ship.
The parents of Mr. Greiner located on this fine
farm in 1852 and for many years David S. Greiner
gave his attention to its care and cultivation. For
seventeen years prior to his death, however, he took
little part in active work. When he passed away
June 20, 1900, he had reached his seventy-ninth
year and left behind him the record of a kind, useful
and benevolent life. The devoted wife survived him
but a few months, her death occurring in November,
1900, at the age of seventy-two years. They were
laid side by side in Hill Church cemetery, in Lebanon
county. Both had been members of the Lutheran
Church. Their children were as follows : Anthony
G. ; Elizabeth, married to Amos H. Brandt, of
Rapho township ; Anna, deceased ; Mary E. mar-
ried to Aaron Grossman, near Lititz, Pa. ; Malinda,
married to John L. Rue of Rapho township; and
George, who married Emma Filliart, and is a horse
dealer.
Anthony G. Greiner was reared on the farm aud
obtained his education in the district schools. Until
he was twenty-five years old he remained on the home
farm, and then, for four years, worked by the day at
various kinds of employment. He then purchased a
small farm in Rapho township, which he operated
for twO' years, and then returned to the present farm.
In politics Mr. Greiner is a stanch Republican, and
he is regarded as one of the substantial men and
useful citizens of his township.
On Nov. 6, 1877, Mr. Greiner was married in
Manheim, Pa., to Miss Malinda Ruble, and three
children have been born to this marriage, the eldest,
William R., dying in infancy. Two other sons,
Aaron R. and Harvey, reside at home. Mrs. Greiner
was born March 10, 1857, in Rapho township,
daughter of Cyrus and Catherine (Myers) Ruble,
natives of Lancaster county who now reside in
Rapho township, engaged in farming. The father
was born in 1823, and the mother in 1825, and both
are members of the U.. B. Church.
Mr. Ckeiner during an industrious career has
accumulated ample means and enjoys the respect of
the community, who know him to be a man of in-
tegrity and reliability.
EPHRAIM C. GINDER, a general farmer of
Mt. Joy township, was born March 28, 1855, ^^
Rapho township, Lancaster county, son of Samuel
and Mary (Kapp) Ginder, natives of Lancaster
county, who, at the age of over seventy years, still
reside on their farm in Mt. Joy township. The
mother is a consistent member of the Lutheran
Church. They were the parents of the following
children: Sarah C, who married Morris McAllis-
ter, a miller in Mt. Joy township ; Ephraim C. ; Maria
C, who married Thomas Smith, of Lebanon county ;
Kate C, who married Harry Bennesterfer, of Leba-
non, Pa. ; and Lizzie C, at home.
The pateriial grandfather of Ephraim C. Ginder
was Martin Ginder, a farmer of Rapho township,
who married a Fishburn. The Ginder family is one
of the old and prominent ones, wealthy, and highly
regarded as farmers. The founder of the family
came to Lancaster county from Germany about 1730,
and many of the name can be found among the best
and most substantial citizens of Mt. Joy and other
townships. The religious connection of the family
has been almost altogether with the Lutheran
Church.
In 1879, in White Oak, Lancaster county, Ephra-
im G. Ginder was united in marriage with Miss
Susan Baumberger, and three children were born to
this union, viz. : Harvey, who died in infancy ; and
Morris B and Farris B., two intelligent young men,
residing with their parents. Mrs. Ginder was born
in 1856, in Lancaster county, and died there in April,
1890. She was buried in Hill Church cemetery. She
1088
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
was a daughter of Cyrus and Elizabeth (Keller)
Baumberger, both natives of Lancaster county.
Until his marriage Mr. Ginder lived at home with
his parents, beginning at that time to operate his
present farm, where he has remained ever since. He
is a successful farmer and a much respected citizen.
In politics he is a Republican. Like other members
of his family, he belongs to the Lutheran Church.
«
WILLIAM J. INGRAM, of Pleasant Grove,
Fulton township, Lancaster county, is one of the
most substantial citizens of his neighborhood. He
was born in Bart township, July 20, 1845, and was
educated in the comtaon schools. He is the son of
Archibald and Mary (Johnson) Ingram, of Bart
township.
Archibald Ingram, Sr., the grandfather -of Will-
iam J., was a native of Lancaster county, of English
origin. He was the father of these children : John,
born March i, 181 1 : Mary, Oct. 15, 1813; Nancy,
Oct. 6, 1815; Archibald, Jr., March 10, 1816 (died
Dec. 14, 1893) ; William, March 16, 1818; and Re-
becca, born March 20, 1820. Archibald Ingram,
the father of William J., married Miss Mary John-
son in 1 84 1, and to this union came a family of five
children : George W., born July 15, 1843, deceased ;
William J.; John M., born Jan. 5, 1848, deceased;
Mary Rebecca, born July 30, 1852, unmarried ; and
Archibald Newton, born Sept. 5, 1856, residing in
the West.
William J. Ingram married Miss Martha Mc-
Elwain, daughter of William McElwain, of Lancas-
ter county, on Dec. 24, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Ingram
have had seven children, as follows: William A.,
born Sept. 26, 1875; Mary M., born July 24, 1877;
Nellie A., born Nov. 17, 1879, all of them at home;
Ila L., born July 26, 1883 ; L. Zaidee, born Oct. 29,
1885; Hattie May, born May 2, 1890; and Josiah
Elmer, born Nov. 4, 1893.
Mr. Ingram was reared on the farm and chose
that occupation of his own volition. Although poor
at the beginning of his career, he has accumulated
a sufficiency of worldly goods to keep himself and
fam-ily in comfort. His farm comprises 104 acres
and is well stocked and improved with all modern
farm accessories. In politics this gentleman votes
the Democratic ticket ; in religion he is a member of
the Presbyterian Church.
Mrs. Ingram was born Sept. 5, 1854, and was
one of an interesting family of six children, the
others being Amanda, John B., William E., Josiah
E. and Ella R. Mr. and Mrs. Ingram and family
have the respect and kindly regard of all their neigh-
bors and are prominent in the social circles of the
district.
HENRY FOX was during his life one of the
leading business citizens of Gap, Pa., and a man of
reliabilit)- and integrity. He was born May 28, 1841,
in Benhousen, Germany, and passed away at his
home in Gap, Pa., Jan. 29, 1895. He was interred in
Bellevue cemetery. His parents were Henry and
Henrietta (Baker) Fox, both of Germany.
Henry Fox, the father of the late Henry Fox,
came to America in 1852, with his family and set-
tled in Paradise township, in Lancaster county. Pa.
He was an accomplished musician, but also possessed
a talent for mechanics, being able to manufacture
many articles. He was an excellent broom-maker
and carried on this business to some extent in Para-
dise township, where the family resided until the
death of both parents. Mr. Fox possessed ample
means. He died in 1.872, at the age of sixty years,
his widow surviving until 1886, dying at the age of
eighty years. They were members of the Mennon-
ite Church. The children born to this union were as
follows : J acob, a retired farmer of Stroudsburg ;
Barbara, deceased, who married Lawrence W. Lud-
wig ; Peter, deceased ; Henry ; Elizabeth, widow of
Samuel Etchels, of Lancaster ; Mary, deceased ;
Christian, who is a machinist, painter and photog-
rapher in Parkesburg, Pa. ; and Uriah is a conduc-
tor on the Pennsylvania Railroad, living at Harris-
burg.
Mr. Fox was a tailor by trade and this business
he followed through life, beginning work on the
table at the age of eighteen, in time widening its
scope until it embraced all branches of merchant
tailoring and clothing. He served his apprentice-
ship in Williamstown with John Falk, and there he
did business on his own account for five years, re-
moving then to Paradise, Pa., where he worked for
.two years. He was then engaged at various places
until 1871, when he returned to Gap, where he
found an excellent opportunity for opening up a
first-class clothing and tailoring business. Mr. Fox
had found just the place he desired and he concen-
trated his energies on this business to its great suc-
cess. In 1879, with a careful father's forethought,
he obtained possession of an adjoining store, which
he fitted up as a restaurant, confectionery and to-
bacco store, in order to give his children employment
and interest, and the excellence of his judgment has
been demonstrated by the success which has attend-
ed this enterprise. Although the kind and provident
father has passed away, the business is in the hands
of his children, who have reason to be thankful for
his care for their welfare.
Mr. Fox was for a long period a notary public,
filling that office for some thirteen years. ' His' po-
litical affiliation was with the Democratic party. In
religious belief, he was a member of the Bellevue
Presbyterian Church. Fraternally he belonged to
the Knights of Pythias and the Mystic Chain.
On July 25, 1863, Mr. Fox was united in mar-
riage with Miss. Margaret J. Brown, and the family
born to this union consisted of the following mem-
bers: Henrietta, deceased, who married Adrian
Stone; Christian, who is a telegraph operator mar-
ried Catherine Baldwin of Lancaster, and has three
children; Mary died in infancy; Samuel M., the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1089
Chicago collector of the Philadelphia Press, who
married Anna G. Fisher, of Tacony, Pa., and has
two children ; Harry, at home, an assistant in the
business, as are also Lizzie V., Thomas, Annie and
Charles E.
Mrs. Margaret J. (Brown) Fox was born in
County Derry, Ireland, daughter of Samuel and
Margaret J. (Scott) Brown, of County Derry, who
came to America in 1850 and settled in Gap, Pa.
Mr. Brown was a linen weaver in his native land
and followed the business of carpet weaving in his
new home. He died in 1867, at the age of sixty-
five years, his wife dying in 1878, also aged sixty-
five years. They belonged to the Scotch Presbyter-
ian Church, and they were interred in the Bellevue
cemetery. Their children were as follows : Joseph,
deceased ; Robert, who enlisted for service in the
Civil war, but never returned home ; Sarah, deceased
wife of John Patterson; Matilda, late wife of Lin-
coln Beck ; Mary, who married Albert Gray, of West
Chester, Pa. ; Margaret J., who married Henry Fox ;
Elizabeth, who married Uriah Fox, a railway con-
ductor at Harrisburg; and William, deceased.
Few women could have more successfully man-
aged the cares of a large business than Mrs. Fox has
done ever since the death of her husband. She was
appointed notary public in his place and has also
filled the duties of that position with excellent judg-
ment. The business established by Mr. Fox is now
a large department store filled with an assortment of
both ladies' and men's furnishing goods of all kinds,
fully up-to-date in every particular, comprising also
clothing, while the restaurant continues to be as
successfully conducted as formerly. Mrs. Fox with
her very capable force is enabled to manage the
store, the restaurant, and the cigar, tobacco and con-
fectionery connection without outside assistance,
and the same honest methods are employed which
brought this business to the notice of the public in
its beginning. Patrons are certain to meet with
pleasant and careful attention, their wants are
studied and in consequence no more popular, first-
class establishment can be found in Gap. The fam-
ily is held in high esteem, the children all having
grown up to be thrifty, self-supporting, independent
and respected.
ELIAS HERR, now living a life of retirement
in his cozy home, No. 23 North Ann street, Lan-
caster, well deserves the ease and comfort he is
enjoying, for. he was for thirty years an active
farmer.
One of the descendants of Hans Herr, the pro-
genitor of most, if not all, of the Herrs in the United
States, Elias Herr can boast of a very ancient, very
numerous and very influential relationship in' Lan-
caster county. His grandfather, Abraham Herr,
was a farmer of Eden township, and his father,
Benjamin Herr, was born on the old homestead in
that township. Benjamin Herr removed to Leacock
69
township, near Bird-in-Hand, where, after farming:
for many years, he retired, continuing to live on the
farm, however, until his death, which occurred in
1879; his beloved wife passed away in 1881. Ben-^
jamin Herr married Mary Ranck, a daughter of
Jacob Ranck, a farmer of Strasburg township, and!
six sons and. two daughters were born of this union,
of whom only three are now living: Jacob, a re-
tired farmer of Bird-in-Hand ; John, a retired farmer
of Bird-in-Hand; and Elias, of Lancaster.
Elias Herr was born on the old homestead in
Leacock township, July 12, 1845, ^^^ after being
educated in the public schools of the district, left
school at the age of seventeen years to work on
his father's farm, where he remained for nine years.
Then he married and located in East Lampeter
township, where he rented and worked a farm be-
longing to his father, afterward purchasing that
place which he still owns. Mr. Herr, who is a Re-
publican in politics, served two terms as a member
of the board of school directors of East Lampeter
township, and he was always among the foremost
in advocating all that was advanced and modern in
school matters. Religiously he is a member of the
Reformed Church, as are also his wife and daugh-
ters.
Mr. Herr was married in 1870, to Miss Lydia
Groff, daughter of the late Samuel Groff, a farmer
of Leacock township. To this union have come two
daughters, Mary A. and Maggie G., both of whom
are at home and are assisting their mother. Mr.
Herr had the good sense to retire at the age of fifty-
six years, and spends his time • pleasantly, taking
especial delight in reading, and occasionally "run-
ning out" to his elegant sixty-five-acre farm near
Bird-in-Hand, working about the old place just
to "keep his hand in."
WINFIELD SCOTT KAUFFMAN, the genial
and popular landlord and proprietor of the "Gor-
donville Hotel," at Gordonville, Leacock township,
Lancaster county, was born at Roseville, Manheim
township, Jan. 25, 1869, and is a son of Amos H.
and Susan (Frey) Kauffman.
Amos H. Kaufifman was born in 1846 in Manor
township, and for thirteen years was engaged in the
hotel business. The most of the time until 1875
he was a farmer, that year taking charge of a hotel
ac Mt. Joy, which he conducted for a year; for
ten years he was a landlord of a popular hotel at
Rohrerstown : at Masonville he was engaged in the
same business something over a year. At the end
of that time he resumed farming in Providence town-
ship, where he is still engaged in the cultivation of
the soil. He married Susan Frey, who was born
in 1847 ; and they are the parents of the following-
family: Winfield Scott; Anna May, who died
young; George W., deceased; Harry, a farmer in
Providence township; Frances, deceased; Ella wife
or Amos Groff, living in Drumore township ; and
i-illa, unmarried, and at home.
1090
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mr. Kauffman's paternal grandfather, Isaac
Kauffman, married a Hess, and they were farming
people of Lancaster county; his maternal grandfa-
ther was Frederick Frey, also of Lancaster county.
Winfield Scott Kauffman and Laura E. Weiler
were married at Quarryville, Pa., in Novenjber,
1893, and their union has been blessed- bv the birth
of one child, Laura M.
Mrs. Laura E. Kauffman was born in Caernarvon
township, Sept. 28, 1866, and is a daughter of Silas
and Rebecca (Lockard) Weiler. Her father was
born in Caernarvon township, and was in the hotel
business at Quarryville at the time of his death in
1879. Her mother was born in Chester county, and*
after her husband's death, carried on the hotel until
her death in 1898. She was seventy-two years old
at her demise, and her husband fifty-six. Both fa-
ther and mother were members of the Mennonite
Church, and were buried in the cemetery connected
with the Mennonite Church in Providence. They
had the following children: Anna, married 'to
James Jeffers, and now dead; Diora, married to
Christ. Trout, and now dead; Heber, in the hotel
business at Delta, Pa. ; Theodore, a resident of East
Earl township ; Ida, unmarried, and living in Lan-
caster, Pa.; Thornton, deceased; Laura E., Mrs.
Kauffman; Isaiah, deceased; Maggie, wife of Lea-
man Bair.
Mrs. Kauffman's paternal grandparents were
David and Elizabeth (Beam) Weiler, of German
birth. Her mother's parents were Samuel and Sarah
Lockard, who were born in Ireland.
Winfield Scott Kauffman was reared in the hotel
where he spent the earlier part of his life. When
he was sixteen years old he was sent to Millersville
Normal, where he spent two years. For a year he
was employed on the farm, and then was engaged
as a hotel clerk in various places until 1897, when
he took charge of the hotel at Safe Harbor, where he
remained a year and a half. In April, 1899, he came
to his present location, and here he has achieved
a decided success. Socially he is connected with
the Red Men and with the I. O. O. F., where he
has taken the Encampment Degrees, and holds im-
portant positions ; he is also a member of the
Patriarchs Militant, I. O. O. F., and Rebekah De-
gree, I. O. O. F. ; a past officer in the subordinate
Lodge and Encampment; and a member of F. O.
E. Aerie No. 84. He is a Republican, and is mak-
ing himself felt as a leading man in the community.
EZRA M. GOOD, who was until recently
the popular and affable hotel proprietor at Cen-
tral Manor, is a native of Lancaster county and
was born June 11, 1863. He was reared on
the farm of his parents, John J. and Elizabeth
(Mylin) Good in Martic township, and was educated
in the public schools. At the age of twenty-one
years he left the home place and for a year farmed
on his own account, and for the next two years
was engaged in burning (or making) lime. He
then succeeded David G. Good, at Marticville, as
hotelkeeper, becoming quite a favorite with the
transient as well as permanent population whose
circumstances made it convenient to avail themselves
of hotel accommodations, and the result to himself
was so satisfactory that he retained the manage-
ment of the hotel fully eight years. Mr. Good then
purchased the commodious and well equipped
establishment at Central Manor, succeeding Mrs.
Brennerman, and this is the oldest and most home-
like public house in the county. Mr. Good, how-
ever, on securing this hotel, at once set to work at
remodeling and improving it in all its parts, making
it one of the most attractive resorts in the county,
as well as the most comfortable. He set a choice
table, and took pains to have the attendants polite
and attractive. The sleeping rooms are clean and
well furnished, and the weary traveler or exhausted
local- business man, if he be so fortunate as to find
a lodging within the walls of this house, always
secures a sound and refreshing night's rest.
On April i, 1901, Mr. Good rented the "Central
Manor Hotel" and moved to Millersville, Pa., where
he bought a home. He also purchased a warehouse
and is at present dealing in leaf tobacco, as well as
carrying on a business known as the Safe Harbor
Sand Co., with works at Safe Harbor and Refton,
Pa., whose daily capacity is 300 tons.
Politically Mr. Good is a Republican, and fra-
ternally is a member of Kosciusko Lodge, No. 374,
I. O. O. F., and Royal Arcanum, No. 1105.
Mr. Good was united in marriage, in 1885, to
Miss Cecelia M. Groff, daughter of Francis B. Groff,
and to this marriage have been born three children :
Gertrude, born Sept. 15, 1886; Hattie, born Dec. 15,
1891 ; and Stella, born Nov. 10, 1893.
Mr. Good is looked upon as one of the most
progressive men in the county, and in his calling
there is not one who equals him in popularity, or is
held in higher esteem by the general public.
SAMUEL WILLIAM DILLER, clerk to the
county commissioners of Lancaster county, belongs
to a family that has for generations been prominent
in the business affairs of this community. His
grandfather, George Diller, was in his day and gen-
eration the most noted auctioneer in Lancaster. His
father, Samuel Diller, has long been identified with
local industries ^ as a manufacturing coppersmith,
and, although in his eighty-first year, still carries on
that busmess. Samuel Diller married Mary Re-
becca Kantz, daughter of the late J. F. Kantz, a
government contractor, who was the intimate friend
of James Buchanan, President of the United States
Five children were born of this union, three of whom
survive, as follows: George J., a cigar dealer of
Lancaster; Samuel W., our subject; and Charles
G., who IS assisting his father in the coppersmithine
business. ^
Samuel William Diller was born in Lancaster,
Feb. 7, 1863, and received his education in the pub-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1091
lie schools. He left the high school to work at cop-
persmithing with his father, remaining at that em-
ployment until January, 1899, when he was elected
chief clerk of the county commissioners for one
year, to fill an unexpired term. At the end of that
time, by reason of his faithfulness and efficiency, he
was re-elected for a term of three years, expiring on
the first Monday in January, 1903.
Mr. Diller was married Dec. 11, 1886, to Miss
Florence Beard, daughter of the late David F. Beard,
of Lancaster. Mrs. Diller entered into rest June 15,
1900, leaving two children : May, who attends the
Madame Cotta College ; and Samuel W., Jr., also at
school. Mr. Diller owns and occupies a comfortable
home at No. 137 South Prince street. He is a mem-
ber of the Artisans, the Benevolent Protective Order
of Elks, and the Blue Lodge and the Lodge of Per-
fection of the Masonic Fraternity. Religiously he
is an Episcopalian, belonging to St. John's Episcopal
Church. The Dillers have long connected with that
denomination, in which some of the family have been
prominent clergymen; a first cousin of Samuel W.
Diller, Rev. Alonzo P. Diller, was among the vic-
tims of the terrible Johnstown flood. An intelligent
and painstaking official, Mr. Diller has made hosts
of friends as clerk of the county commissioners, a
position that brings him in contact with great num-
bers of the most prominent people, and which calls
for qualifications not necessary in performing the
duties of an ordinary clerkship. All who have
watched the affairs of the Lancaster county com-
missioners are free to admit, however, that Mr.
Diller "is the right man in the right place."
HENRY R. BAIR, of Earl township, Lancaster
county, belonged to a family which has been estab-
lished in the country since about 1707, and worthily
sustains an old and honored name. That year three
brothers came from Germany, and settled in Earl
township, near Ellsworth, or what is now known as
Vici. Of these three, Jacob was the ancestor of
Henry R. The three brothers took up a large tract
of land in the southern part of Earl township, and
making a clearing in the forest founded a home
which to the present time has never wanted a Bair
for an owner. It is said that when the Dififen-
derfers came into Lancaster county, they had hard
fortunes, and Jacob Bair, the great-great-grandfa-
ther of Henry R., presented them with a cow, as a
donation towards a fresh start in life. The Bair
family were sturdy pioneers, honorable and indus-
trious people, and early established a lasting reputa-
tion for honesty and integrity.
David Bair, the grandson of Jacob, noted above,
is the next in the family line of whom anything defin-
ite is known. He and his wife, Barbara, were the
grandparents of Henry R. Bair. He was a farmer,
and died in 1848, at the age of eighty-one years. To
this worthy couple were born nine children; Will-
iam, Samuel, Martin, Isaac, David, Annie, Eliza-
beth, Rachel and Susan. This David Bair was a
member of the Mennonite Church, and a man of
character and standing in his day.
David Bair, noted as the fifth member of the
above family of children, was born and reared in the
vicinity of Ellsworth, where he spent his life, and
died at the age of seventy-five years, in 1880. He
kept close to the soil, and was a striking representa-
tive of the agricultural interests of Lancaster coun-
ty. His landed possessions were quite extensive,
and he became very prosperous. Magdalina Resh,
his wife, was a daughter of Henry Resh, and was
born in Leacock township, not far from Bird-in-
Hand, on Jan. 21, 1810; she died Jan. 13, 1885. To
them were born three children : Annie, who became
the wife of Dr. Albright, of Lancaster, and died in
1871 ; Isaac, a resident of Philadelphia ; and
Henry R.
Henry R. Bair was born on the farm near Ells-
worth, June 25, 1841', and when about twenty-two
years of age began farming on the old homestead,
where he remained some seven or eight years. About
this time he sold out and went west to Darke county,
Ohio, where he engaged in milling. After six
months he was obliged to give it up on account of
malaria, and returned to Lancaster county, to take
up for a time the pump making business, putting out
many of the "old common sense pumps" that are so
numerous still in Lancaster county. For several
years he was engaged in the ice business, erecting a
large ice plant with a capacity for 1,000 tons. -He
did a wholesale business, and supplied New Holland
and many other local points. His home, put up in
1875, was comfortable and pleasant, in everything
indicated thrift and prosperity, and was one of the
most attractive in the neighborhood.
Mr. Bair was married Dec. 31, 1864, to Miss
Mary Bair, a daughter of John and Caroline (Eck-
ert) Bair, of Upper Leacock township, where her
parents lived.
John Bair was a farmer, and was also a drover,
doing a large business, and was one of the prominent
men of the county in his day. His death occurred in
1892. He was born in 1817. His wife was born
Dec. 21, 1820, and died Feb. 7, 1887. They had a
family of eight children : Levi, living in Lancaster ;
Mary, noted above as Mrs. Henry R. Bair ; Elmira,
the widow of John Rover, having her home in Lea-
cock township ; John T., who resides in Earl town-
ship; Caroline C, the wife of John Bair, and living
in Leacock township ; Anna M., the widow of David
Kling, residing in Lancaster; George L., deceased;
Rufus G., who lives in the West.
The grandparents of Mrs. Bair were George and
Magdalina (Shaefifer) Bair. They were members
of the Dunkard Church, and were farming people of
I'^pper Leacock township.
Henry R. Bair and his wife had a family of six
children who are living, and one who is dead : El-
mira, the wife of Diller Honder, of Philadelphia,
1092
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Pa. ; Emma and Caroline, at home ; Annie, the wife
of Mihon Jackson, of Coatesville ; Miss Mary, who
is a cigarmaker at Philoda, Pa. ; Alta R., at home.
Mrs. Bair and. her daughters belong to the United
Brethren Church.
Mr. Bair was a Republican, and served by ap-
pointment for one year as a justice of the peace. The
old family burying ground in Earl township, near
the village of Ellsworth, where the faniily for many
generations have been laid to rest, was incorporated
under the name of the Bair Cemetery Association,
Henry R. Bair being president, J. D. Bair being
secretary, and Aaron H. Bair, treasurer. The fund
for the preservation and maintenance of the ceme-
tery, $250.00, was donated by William Bair, an uncle
of Henry R. Mr. Bair died Jan. 31, 1902.
MARTIN R. GOOD, a prominent citizen and
well-known farmer of Salisbury township, was born
in New Holland, Pa., July 16, '1843, son of Michael
and Ann M. (Ranck) Good, this family being one
of the old and honorable ones of Lancaster county.
( More extended mention 'will be found in another
part of this volume.)
Since he was ten years old, Mr. Good has taken
care of himself, at that early age beginning to work
among the neighboring farmers. He then learned
the saddler trade and worked at it in various locali-
ties, at intervals, for twenty-five years. He spent
one year at the trade in New Milltown, several
months at Hinkletown, a few months at Philadel-
phia and then was at Blue Ball, Pa., where he
worked until June, 1863. At this time he enlisted
for a three months' service in the army, being dis-
charged seven weeks later, in Reading, having been
connected with the 47th P. V. He then went to
Washington city and acted as night watchman in
the Quartermaster's department for a few months,
afterwards returning to Blue Ball, where he lived
until Sept. 10, 1864, \yhen he re-enlisted, entering
Company K, 199th Regiment, P. V., for a one-year
term, and was sent to the army then located near
Richmond. He saw some hard service during this
time, participating in all the battles of the regiment
in the front of Petersburg, Bush River, Rice's Sta-
tion, Farmvi-lle and Appomatox, and was mustered
out of service at Richmond, Va., receiving his hon-
orable discharge in July, 1865, at Philadelphia. After
his discharge from the army, he went to New Hol-
land, Pa., and for twenty years was engaged in the
harness business in that place.
After his marriage, Mr. Good moved near Cam-
bridge and engaged in tobacco culture for one year,
moving to his present farm, in the spring of 1887.
This valuable property comprises seventy-two acres
and he has placed it under fine cultivation, making
it not only a comfortable- home, but a profit producing
piece of property. He is a Republican in his political
sympathv, while fraternally he is connected with the
K. of P.', being a P. C, and with the I. O. O. F.,
both lodge and encampment in this order, being a
P. C. P. in the latter. Although he does not belong
to the Reformed Church, he accompanies his wife,
who is a member, and is one of the liberal supporters.
On March o, 1886, at Anselma, in Chester coun-
ty, Pa., Mr. Good was married to Rebecca E. Davis,
and a little daughter Ann M. was born to this union,
Oct. 28, 1890; she died in infancy. Mrs. Good was
born in Uw'chland township, Chester county, daugh-
ter of Madison and Ann (March) Davis, of Chester
county, the former of whom was a successful farm-
er, who was born in 1813, and died in 1863. His.
wife survived tmtil 1890, dying at the age of seventy-
three years. They were members of the German Re-
formed Church. ' Their children were : Mary A.,
the widow of Jerome March, who lives with Mr.
Good; Amanda, who died in infancy; Lavina, wha^
died in 1899, the wife of Thomas Garber; Emma
E., who married Penrose H. Emrey, a dairy farmer
of Cambridge, Pa.; Maggie, who died in Kansas,
May 12, 1894, the wife of John W. Barrett; Re-
becca, the wife of Mr. Good ; Ella R., who married-
John W. Overdorf, a farmer in Chester county, and
who died Feb. 3, 1902; and Louis R., who died in
1885.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Good were
Roland and Rebecca (Keely) Davis, of Chester
county, where Mr. Davis was a farmer. He was of
Welsh extraction. On the maternal side, the grand-
parents were farming people of German extraction,
Nicholas and Elizabeth (Emrey) March.
Mr. Good is very well known in his community
and enjoys in marked degree the respect and con-
fidence of his fellow citizens. Taking great pride
in farming, and being a great reader of modern agri-
cultural literature, he keeps well posted on all the
latest topics, as well as experimenting a great deal
on his farm. He is well in the front rank of his pro-
fession, so much so that his advice and counsel are
often sought by his neighbors and friends, who place
great confidence in him on all such matters.
JOHN KAUFFMAN WISLER, ex-deputy
sheriff of Lancaster county, and now interested in
the Lancaster Realty Company, at Nos. 18-22 East
Orange street, is one of the best known men in Lan-
caster.
Mr. Wisler's great-great-grandfather came tec
America from Germany, so the family is a very old
one in this country. His grandfather, John Wisler,
who was a farmer of Montgomery county. Pa., long
ago entered into rest. Mr. Wisler's father, Jomas-
Wisler, although now almost eighty years old, is
actively engaged at farming in Drumore township,
Lancaster county. Jomas Wisler married Fanny
Kauffman, daughter of Henry Kauffman, a prom-
inent farmer of Manor township, and eleven children
were born to them, of whom seven are living, as fol-
lows : Frank, a retired resident of Lancaster ; Mary,
wife of William Henry, a farmer of Providence
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1093
township, this county; Jacob, a tobacco fanner of
East Hempfield ; Rachel, wife of George Shenk, of
Lancaster city; Lavina, wife of David Martin, of
Ephrata; Salinda,. widow of Frederick Shoff, and
now keeping house for her venerable father; and
John Kauffman.
John Kauffman Wisler was born in Montgomery
-county, Pa., April i8, 1859, and, his parents having
removed to Lancaster county, he was educated in the
public schools of East Hempfield township. At the
age of thirteen years he left school and went to work
on his father's farm, remaining there until he was
twenty-eight years old, when he married and went
to farming on his own account, in Drumore town-
ship. There he remained four years. Tiring of
farrning, Mr. Wisler came to Lancaster, and, after
serving one year as under keeper in the Lancaster
county prison, became a deputy sheriff, remaining in
that responsible position for six years under Sher-
iffs Hershey and Myers. We next find him an auc-
tioneer for Moore & Rudey, the real estate dealers ;
then he became successor to Mr. Rudey, retired, and
for a time was a partner of the auctioneer branch of
the business. On the formation of the Lancaster
Realty Company, Mr. Wisler became interested
again in the auctioneering branch of the business,
and so remains, having succeeded in building up an
immense trade. It is not denied that Mr. Wisler has
conducted more sales, during the years he has been
in business, than hais any other auctioneer in the city
ill the same period.
Mr. Wisler married Miss Lizzie Blotenberger,
daughter of Christian Blotenberger, a prosperous
farmer of East Hempfield township, and two chil-
dren were born of the union, liva and Chester, both
of whom are attending school. Religiously Mr.
W^isler is of the New Mennonite Church ; socially he
belongs to the Jr. O. U. A. M. ; politically he is a
Republican ; and politically, socially and personally,
ex-deputy sheriff" John K. Wisler is a justly popu-
lar man.
SAMUEL G. GENSEMER, who died April 24,
1896, was a pioneer in the modern building improve-
ments of North Queen street, Lancaster. He erected
the commodious store and dwelling now in the pos-
session of Mrs. Gensemer, at a time when it took
•courage to erect such a large and costly building.
He was also one of the promoters of the Northern
Market, and was at one time an extensive stock-
iiolder there. After coming to Lancaster, Mr. Gen-
semer kept the "Washington Hotel" for three years,
and then successfully engaged in the wine and liquor
business for thirtv-two years. He was very popular
in business and social circles, and no man in the
community died more lamented.
Mrs. Gensemer was, in her maidenhood, Mary
A. Stauffer, daughter of the late Daniel Stauffer,
a farmer of Manor township, and his wife, Martha
Martin, daughter of Samuel Martin, a farmer of
Drumore township, and a member of a long-lived
family. Mrs. Stauffer is now eighty-six years of
age, one of nine children, seven of whom are living,
among these are two pairs of twins, the oldest pair
being now eighty-three years old and the youngest
two, seventy-three. Mrs. Gensemer's grandfather
died at the age of eighty-five years, and her grand-
mother at the age of eighty-two. In Daniel- Stauffer's
family was one pair of twins. Mary A. Stauffer
was married to Samuel G. Gensemer, in 1862,
and their union was blessed with two children:
George, who died in infancy ; and Emily, the wife
of Samuel King, who, for the past nineteen years,
has been engaged in the lumber business in Eliza-
bethtown, N. C. Mrs. King entered into rest when
her daughter, Emily Gensemer King, was only
seventeen days old. From that day to this. Miss
Emily has made her home with her grandmother,
Mrs. Gensemer, who has shown her all the love and
tender care that her now sainted mother could have
given; she is in the class of 1903, Girls' High
School, Lancaster.
Mrs. Gensemer is an earnest member of the
Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, and being
possessed of a gentle, kindly nature, has hosts of
friends. She resides in the large and handsorne
home which her husband built at No. 251 North
Queen street.
JOHN SHENBERGER (deceased), through
the years of his identification with Columbia, enjoyed
the highest respect of his fellow townsmen by reason
of his strict integrity and sterling worth. He was
an upright and honorable business man and the
prosperity that crowned his efforts was certainly well
deserved. His devotion to the public welfare also
made him a valued factor in public life, and in his
death, Columbia was deprived of one of her best
citizens.
Mr. Shenberger was born at Margaretta Fur-
nace, York Co., Pa., Nov. 20, 1827, a son of George
and Margaret (Poff) Shenberger, of that county,
where the father died in 1840, aged about thirty-
eight years, the mother in 1893, aged ninety-one
years. At the time of her death the latter was
living with her son in Columbia, but visiting in York
county. The children of the family were: Sarah,
widow of Henry Graybel and a resident of Hellam,
York county ; Mary, wife of Henry Reisinger ; Mar-
garet, deceased wife of Benjamin Kaufman; John;
Eliza, deceased wife of Adam Goodman; and
George, deceased.
The boyhood and youth of John Shenberger were
passed on the home farm until fifteen years of age,
when he came to Columbia and served an appren-
ticeship with John Shuman, a cabinetmaker and
undertaker. On attaining his majority, he bought
out his employer, John Shuman, and began business
for himself along those lines, but in 1880 commenced
handling carpets and furniture and devoted his at-
tention to those lines and to undertaking until his
death.
1094
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mr. Shenberger was three times married, his
first wife being Martha Wilson, who died leaving
no children. His second wife was Eliza Schroder,
a native of York county, who died in 1861, at the age
of twenty-seven years. There were three children
born of this union, but John died at the age of thirty
years, and Mary E. at the age of twelve. The only
one now living is William H., who succeeded his
father in business, and now conducts a large furni-
ture, undertaking and carpet establishment in
Columbia. He is one of the most progressive and
prominent business men of the city.
On Nov. 12, 1862, in Middletown, Del., Mr.
Shenberger married Miss Anna J. B. Layton, who
was born in Newcastle county, in that State, a daugh-
ter of Albert and Lydia A. (Straughen) Layton,
natives of Salem county, N. J. Her father, who
was a prominent farmer, died at the age of fifty-
seven years, her mother at the age of sixty-seven.
Both were active and faithful members of the M. E.
Church. In their family were the following chil-
dren : Hiram and Rachel, both deceased ; Safety, a
M. E. minister, who died in a hospital on Staten
Island while returning from Mexico ; Thomas, a
car manufacturer of Wilmington, Del. ; Lydia,
widow of John Cleaver and a resident of Clayton,
Del. ; Albert and Nathan, deceased ; Margaret E.,
who spent eight years as a missionary at Calcutta,
India, and then returned home, but four years later
went to Cawnpore, India, where she died of cholera ;
and Anna J. B., now Mrs. Shenberger.
Mr. Shenberger died Nov. 12, 1895, and was
laid to rest in Mt. Bethel cemetery, Columbia. As
a Republican, he took an active interest in political
affairs, and served as chief burgess of Columbia one
year. Fraternally he was Master Mason, and also
a member of the Artisans and the Independent Or-
der of Odd Fellows and Encampment. He was an
active and prominent member of the M. E. Church
of Columbia, and was connected with the official
board during his entire relation with the church.
His life was manly, his actions sincere, and his
example well worthy of emulation. His estimable
wife is also an active worker in the church, and has
been corresponding secretary of the Woman's For-
eign Missionary Society for the past seventeen
years.
EMANUEL P. HOSTETTER, a successful
florist of Manheim, Lancaster Co., Pa., was born on
the old homestead about a half mile from that place,
Oct. 6, 1856, a son of David and Maria (Piffer)
Hostetter, also natives of Lancaster county, and rep-
resentatives of two of its old families. The former
was born on the old homestead near Manheim, the
latter near Petersburg. It is supposed that the pa-
ternal grandfather. Rev. Jacob Hostetter, was also
born on the old homestead, as he was a native of this
county, and made his home there throughout life.
He was a very ambitious man and very successful.
Being a natural mechanic, he made some of his own
farm machinery and wagons, also did tailoring and
shoemaking, and later in life made baskets, but farm-
ing claimed the greater part of his attention. He
was a minister of the Mennonite Church many years,
and served as bishop in the same. His wife, Eliza-
beth Miller, was also a native of Lancaster county.
David Hostetter, father of Emanuel P., was
educated in the common schools, and during his
active business life engaged in farming on the old
homestead, where he died in 1885 at the age of
sixty-nine years, three months, twenty-two days, his
wife in 1898, at the age. of seventy-eight years,
eleven months and nineteen days. They were de-
voted to their family and were people of the high-
est respectability. They had ten children who grew
to maturity, namely : Jacob P., now deceased, long
engaged in farming near Lancaster Junction, but
living a quiet, retired life near Manheim at the time
of his death ; Lizzie, the wife of Henry N. Eby, of
Salunga, Lancaster county; Josiah, deceased, a
farmer near Manheim ; Abraham, a florist of Man-
heim ; David M., a retired farmer, green house veg-
etable grower and florist, of Marshalltown, Iowa;
Sarah A., a resident of Manheim ; Nathan, a farmer
living one mile from that place ; Emanuel P. ;
Cephas, a farmer living near Manheim; and Benja-
min F., a farmer and truck gardener of Lancaster.
During his boyhood Emanuel P. Hostetter at-
tended the public schools and remained on the home
farm until after the death of his father, when he
came to Manheim and engaged in the trucking busi-
ness for several years. In 1890 he commenced cul-
tivating carnations and violets in a small way, erect-
ing two green houses, 50x9 ft., but ere long he found
his accommodations were not adequate to meet the
demands of his constantly increasing business and
he was compelled to enlarge his plant, which is now
one of the finest in this section of the State. He has
erected additional buildings from time to time, and
now has between 70,000 and 75,000 feet of glass in
his greenhouses. He raises carnations, violets, sweet
peas, mignonette, pansies and vegetable plants, and
finds a ready market for his goods in Philadelphia,
Harrisburg, Lebanon, Reading, Allegheny and Pitts-
burg. He grows annually as many as 45,000 plants,
and devotes his entire time and attention to his
business. Although he began as a novice, he has.
developed into a first class florist. Mr. Hostetter
is also a stockholder and director of the Manheim
& Lancaster Turnpike, and is a man of marked busi-
ness and executive ability, energetic and progressive.
In his political affiliations he is a Republican, and
has efficiently served as a member of the city counciL
MICHAEL SCHAIBLEY, a prominent wheel-
wright and successful business man of Columbia,
Pa., was born in Wurteraberg, Germany, Jan. 18,
1845, a son of Conrad and Catherine (Deitz) Schaib-
ley, also natives of Wurtemberg, where the father.
successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits untip
1 866, when they came to America and took up their
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1095
residence in Columbia, Pa., living retired through-
out the remainder of his life. He died in 1875, at
the age of seventy-five years, his wife in 1868, at the
age of eighty-eight, and both were buried in Mt.
Bethel cemetery, Columbia. They were earnest
members of the Lutheran Church and were held in
high regard by all who knew them. Of their twelve
children four died in infancy and the others were as
follows : Jacob, who died in Lancaster, Pa. ; Mary,
wife of John J. W. Duttenhofer, who is living re-
tired in that city; Conrad, a farmer of Lancaster
county; Catherine, wife of John Pfeifer, a retired
resident of Columbia; Sophia, who married first
Philip Hagert and second Conrad Myers and died in
1869; Margaret, who married John Metzger and
died in Germany; Regina, who married Nicholas
Wholes and died in Lancaster, Pa.; and Michael,
who is mentioned below.
During his boyhood Michael Schaibley attended
the public schools of his native land.' Bidding good-
by to home and friends, he came to the New World
alone, at the age of fifteen years and located in Co-
lumbia, Pa., where he served a three years' appren-
ticeship to the wagonmaker's trade with J. W. Dut-
tenhofer. In March, 1863, during the dark days of
the Civil war, he went to Washington, D. C, and en-
tered the government service as a wagonmaker, and
remained there until May 30, 1864, when he was
transferred to the division of the army then sta-
ttioned in front of Petersburg, where he remained
until discharged, June 16, 1865. Returning to Co-
lumbia, Mr. Schaibley continued to work for Mr.
Duttenhofer until April i, 1867, when he purchased
the business and has since carried it on with marked
success.
On Feb. 20, 1867, in Columbia, Mr. Schaibley
married Miss Dora Stetter, and to them were born
five children, namely : William, who died at the age
of three years and four months; Charles W., who
married Mary E. Elden and is conducting a five and
ten cent department store in Waynesboro, Pa. ;
Harry S., who died in 1880 ; and Emma R. and Edith
M., at home. Mrs. Schaibley was born in the Grand
Duchy of Hessen, Germany, June 30, 1849, and
was brought to the United States in 1862 by her par-
ents, William and Margaret Stetter, also natives of
Germany, who located in Columbia, Pa. The fa-
ther, who was a shoemaker by trade, died- in that city
in 1872, at the age of sixty-nine years, but the mother
is still living at the age of ninety and now makes her
home with Mr. Schaibley. Their children were
Hannah, wife of Philip Habel, of Columbia; Eliza-
beth, wife of Michael Beinhauer, of the same place ;
Mary, wife of Joseph Grab, of Germany : William,
a railroad engineer of Columbia, Pa. ; and Dora, wife
of Michael Schaibley of this review.
Mr. Schaibley affiliates with the Republican
party, is a Lutheran in religious beHef, and in his
social relations is a member of the Odd Fellows
Lodge and Encampment, and the Heptasophs. His
business interests have been so managed as to win
him the confidence of the public and the prosperity
which should always attend honorable efifort, for he
has led an upright and useful life.
JOHN H. BAILEY, one of the prominent engi-
neers in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, and a highly esteemed citizen of Colum-
bia, was born June 3, 1857, in West Fallowfield
township, Chester county. Pa., of which county his
parents, John H. and Catherine (Albright) Bailey,
were also natives. The father was a farmer by oc-
cupation and one of the prominent and influential
citizens of his community, filling several township
offices, such as assessor, tax collector and supervisor.
His religious belief was more in accordance with the
doctrines of the Baptist Church, while his wife held
membership in the M. E. Church. He died in Ches-
ter county, June 4, 1871, aged forty-seven years,
and she departed this life at Gap, Lancaster county.
May 24, 1884, aged fifty-eight. In the family of
this worthy couple were six children, all of whom
are now deceased, with the exception of John H.,
the fourth in order of birth. The others were Sarah
A., wife of Samuel McDonald; Salinda, who died
in infancy; Catherine, wife of Adam Wise; Benja-
min F. ; and Elizabeth L., wife of George Brown.
Mr. Bailey, whose name introduces this review,
was reared on a farm, and at the age of fifteen com-
menced operating a threshing machine, being thus
employed for a few years. In 1879 he entered the
service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in
the humble capacity of water carrier for the track-
man, and on his removal to Columbia was given a
position as brakeman, serving as such until 1884,
when he commenced firing on an engine. On May
9, 1892, he was promoted to engineer, and is to-
day one of the most careful and painstaking engi-
neers on the road.
On March i, 1881, in Columbia, Mr. Bailey was
united in marriage with Miss Ida R. Martin, and
to them were born five children, namely: Maud
M.; Haslett, deceased; John H., jr.; James J.; and
Charles E., deceased. Mrs. Bailey was born in New-
ville, Cumberland Co., Pa., Feb. 28, 1859, a daughter
of James and Rachel (Guestwite) Martin, also na-
tives of Cumberland county, whence they came to
Lancaster county in June, 1859, locating in Colum-
bia, where the father engaged in teaming until, killed
on the Pennsylvania Railroad Feb. 24, 1880, at the
age of forty-eight years. The mother, who was born
March 17, 1837, moved to Lancaster, Pa., in May,
1900, and there she now makes her home. Mrs.
Bailey is the oldest of their children, the others being
Johnson S., a railroad conductor of Columbia ; Cora
A., who is the widow of John Evs and lives with Mr.
and Mrs. Bailey; George B., a railroad conductor
of Camdem, N. J. ; Mary A., wife of Harry Heckin-
ger, of Columbia ; James H., a molder of Columbia ;
Elizabeth C, a silk weaver of Lancaster ; Martha
E., at Jiome with her mother ; and Charles E. a
1096
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
druggist of Philadelphia, Pa. Mrs. Bailey's paternal
grandparents, Johnson and Mary (Baker) Martin,
were natives of Cumberland and York counties. Pa.,
respectively, and farming people, while her mater-
nal grandparents, Moses and Elizabeth (Brady)
Guestwite, were both natives of Cumberland .county.
Fraternally Mr. Bailey is a member of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, the Pennsyl-
vania Relief Association, the Brotherhood of Loco-
motive Engineers and the Independent Order of
Heptasophs ; and politically he is identified with the
Democratic party. He has always been found true
to every trust reposed in him, whether public or pri-
vate and is justly entitled to the high regard in which
he is uniformly held.
ISRAEL MANUEL, a prominent conductor on
the Pennsylvania railroad, whose home is in Colum-
bia, Pa., was born in Silver Springs, Lancaster coun-
ty, Oct. 28, 1859. His parents, Isaac and Anna
(Meiskey) Manuel, were natives of Dauphin and
Lancaster counties, respectively, and were married
near Silver Springs, where they made their home
until 1882 and then removed to Columbia. The fa-
ther, who was a farmer by occupation and served as
constable in West Hempfield township for three
years, died Sept. 13, 1884, at the age of sixty-four
years, and the mother departed this life Feb. 19,
1892, at the age of sixty, their remains being in-
terred in Mt. Bethel cemetery. She was an earnest
member of the Mennonite Church. The children
of the family were : Rebecca, wife of William Stre-
big, of Columbia ; Elizabeth, widow of George Fry
and a resident of Columbia; Anna, wife of Samuel
G. Rooth, of the same place; Israel, the subject of
this review ; Aaron, a resident of Columbia ; Elmer
and Clayton, both deceased ; Josiah, a railroad brake-
man and a resident of Jersey City^ N. J. ; and Sarah,
wife of David Nolte, of Columbia.
Israel Manuel was reared in much the usual man-
ner of farmer boys of his day, and remained on
the home farm until 1880, when he came to Colum-
bia and entered the employ of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company as brakeman, in which capacity
he served for two years. During the following two
years he was flagman and brakeman, and in 1884
was made regular flagman, serving as such until
promoted to conductor in Jan., 1888, since which
time he has filled that position in a most creditable
and acceptable manner.
At Columbia, in April, 1885, Mr. Manuel mar-
ried Miss Catherine Witmer, a native of Little
Washington, Lancaster county, and a daughter of
Christian and Elizabeth (Seiple) Witmer, who were
also born in Little Washington, and there the fa-
ther, a miller by trade, died in 1880, at the age of
forty-two years. The mother is still living at the
age of fifty-eight years, and now makes her home in
Columbia. Both held membership in the Church of
God. Their children were : Alberta, wife of John
English, a railroad engineer of Columbia; Alice,
who died at the age of nine years ; Catherine, now
Mrs. Manuel; William and Harry, both residents
of Columbia ; George, a machinist of the same place ;
Esther, wife of Charles Hull, of Columbia; and
Lettie. Mrs. Manuel's paternal g;randparents were
Jacob and Martha (Huber) Witmer, who were
iDorn in Lancaster county, and died in the city of
Lancaster. The grandfather was a miller by trade.
The maternal grandparents, William and Lucy
(Olds) Seiple, were also born in Lancaster county
and died in Washington, this State. Mr. Seiple
was a farmer by occupation.
Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Manuel,
namely: Ella, Lucy, Anna, Harry W., Lettie and
Helen, all at home ; Ralph, Catherine and Raymond,
who died in infancy; and Ethel, at home. Mr.
Manuel is a member of the Church of God. He be-
longs to the Pennsylvania Relief Department, and
in his political affiliations, is a Republican. He is
a man of exemplary habits, commendable purpose
and unbending integrity, and in all life's relations
merits the confidence so freely accorded him.
SQUIRE S. C. BAER. A career of usefulness
as an educator, a manufacturer, a justice and a pub-
lic spirited citizen, marks the subject of this sketch
as one of the important factors in the upbuilding of
Quarryville, Lancaster Co., Pa., where he has made
his home for many years.
Mr. Baer was born in Mechanicsville, Lancaster
county, Dec. 25, 1856. His parents were Henry M.
and Fannie (Kauffman) Baer, who were both born
in Lancaster county, the former in 1813, and his wife
in 1820.
The Baers came of German parentage while the
Kauifmans have a Swiss origin. For half a century
the father of our subject was well known and popu-
lar among travelers who used the old pike between
Lancaster and Manheim. It was heie he made his.
home, keeping a hotel and working at his trade, that
of blacksmithing, until his death in 1890, his worthy
wife having preceded him in 1884. They raised a
family of eight children, four of whom are living.
Andrew Baer was born in 1841, and married Mary
Blontz, of Brickerville, Lancaster county, and set-
tled at Lancaster city, where he was manager of the
"Cooper House" until his death in 1879. He left a
wife and two sons, Edward and Milton. Malinda
Baer was born- in 1843, and married John H. Hol-
Imger, of Lancaster city, where they resided at the
time of her death in 1898, leaving her husband and
two sons. The elder of these, Walter B. Hollinger,
IS one of the auditors of the Reading Railroad, and
resides in Philadelphia. John W. Hollinger is a
New York traveling man. Mariah L. Baer was born
in 1845, at the old homestead. She is the deceased
wife of Amos Minich, who settled near his wife's
home on a farm. She left one daughter, Fannie B
of Manheim. Amelia A. Baer was born in 1847, at
the old home, where she grew to womanhood, and
married Jacob M. Baker, of Lancaster county. They
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1097
resided at Lititz, where she died in 1894, leaving
four children: Florence, a teacher in the public
schools of Lancaster county ; Joseph, a stuaent in the
Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, where he is
preparnig for the ministry; May, a resident of
Lititz, and a graduate of the local schools; and
Helen, who has remained at home. Henry Baer was
born in 1830. He married Miss Mary Lee, who
resided in the same county. They live in the town
■oi Manheim. They have one daughter, Nora V.,
the wife of John S. Matter, a teacher in the Mari-
lieim schools. They have two daughters, Edith and
Lillian. John F. Baer was born in November, 1852,
and married Miss Fannie Gingrich, of Lancaster
•county. They reside on the old homestead. Two
daughters, Leona and Grace blessed this union. Ed-
win K. Baer was born in 1859, and married Miss
Katie Wolf, of Lancaster. They reside at Lancaster
City, where for a number of years he manufactured
tigars. He is now manager for a Lancaster cigar
firm at Lititz, Pa. He has one son, Edwin.
The subject of this sketch, S. C. Baer, grew to
manhood at the old home, where he attended the
district schools and laid the foundations for a wider
and deeper knowledge. Later he spent some time in
the Manheim select schools, preparing for the higher
branches. Here he developed a taste for teaching
and soon decided upon a career as a teacher. In
1875 he attended the State Normal School, at Mil-
lersville, and further prepared himself for teaching.
For twenty years he has been one of the successful
teachers of Lancaster county. Two years of this
time he was school director in one of the districts.
In 1877 he married Miss Lizzie G. Swarr, the es-
timable daughter of Jacob and Maria (Groff) Swarr,
members of the pioneer and prominent families.
Mrs. Baer was born near Lancaster City, in August,
1858, and grew to womanhood in this county, receiv-
ing a fair education in the district schools. Mrs.
Baer and one brother, Levi G. Swarr, are all that is
left of this old family. Our subject first settled in
East Drumore township, where he resumed his pro-
fession of teaching in the local schools. Eight years
of success followed, and in 1885 he purchased real
-estate in Quarryville, and he erected a good house.
Here he resumed teaching, continuing until 1898.
In 1892 he was appointed by the Governor of Penn-
sylvania to fill a vacancy in the office of justice of
the peace. In this important capacity he has served
the people to the present time, discharging his duties
■conscientiously and faithfully, in accordance with
the letter of the law and with justice to the people.
Squire Baer is the father of three children : Charles
C. Baer, the eldest, was born in East Drumore town-
ship", in 1880. He graduated from the Millersville
State Normal School in 1898, being one of the
youngest graduates* of that school in years. After
serving two years as druggist under Dr. Rohrer, of
.Quarryville, he entered the School of Pharmacy in
Philadelphia. Both at home and abroad Mr. Baer
has been recognized as a bright and scholarly young
man, a worthy son of his father. Annie L. Baer, the
second child, was born in December, 1887. She is
now a student in the high school, junior class, of
Quarryville. Edna M. Baer was born in October,
1892.
Our subject was always identified with the Re-
publicans, his father having been a Whig in the early
days of the party. Religiously Squire Baer and his
wife have for many years been identified with the
Reformed Churcli of Quarryville, where they have
taken an active part in church work, Mr. Baer being
an elder, a member of the choir and secretary of the
Sunday-school and other church organizations. He
is one of Quarryville's foremost citizeUs in church
and school work, and a man honored and respected
by his fellow townsmen.
JOHN JACOB SHERTS, who for the third
part of a century has been a dealer in groceries and
general merchandise in Lancaster, his present place
of business being at the corner of East King and
Ann streets, comes of an ancestry in this country
antedating the Revolutionary war. The first of the
name in America were three brothers who came
from Germany some time prior to the Revolution,
and one of these, by name Jacob, was the grandfa-
ther of John Jacob Sherts. A farmer by occupation,
he settled on a large tract of land in what was then
Paradise township, in the eastern part of Lancaster
county. Henry Sherts, son of Jacob, and the fa-
ther of John J., was also an agriculturist. He mar-
ried A'liss Elizabeth Pickel, of Bart township, daugh-
ter of a well-known farmer of that locality, and
seven children were born of this' union, five of whom
are yet living: J. H., a farmer of Strasburg town-
ship; Anna, widow of Isaac Esbenshade, a farmer
of Paradise township ; Miss Elizabeth and Miss Re-
becca, both living in the borough of Strasburg ; and
John Jacob.
John Jacob Sherts, whose name opens this sketch,
was born in March, 1845, on the old homestead in
Paradise township, Lancaster county. Pa. After
attending the public schools and, for a time, the
State Normal School at Millersville, in 1863, he
entered the Union army. For eight months he
served in Co. I, 20th Pa. Cavalry, his brother, J. H.
being at the same time in Gen. Stoneman's cavalry
corps. Mr. Sherts' horse fell on him, inflicting a
painful injury to his right leg, but otherwise he
escaped hurt of any kind. On his return from the
army he carried on farming for several years in
Lampeter township, Lancaster county, and then em-
barked in a mercantile business in Strasburg, con-
ducting it successfully until 1894, in which year he
removed to the city of Lancaster. Here he opened
a grocery store at the corner of East King and Plum
streets, where he remained until March, 1898, at
that time purchasing the Hopkins property (with
a dwelling house thereon) at the corner of East
King and Ann streets. This he converted into a
1098
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
grocery store and dwelling combined, adding many
improvements, and making it one of the most at-
tractive corners in the East end of the city. The
ground of this property extended for half a block
south, along Ann street, and at the southern end
of this tract Mr. Sherts built six of the finest two-
story mansard-roofed dwellings in the city, three
of which he sold shortly after completion.
On Nov. 17, 1868, Mr. Sherts married Miss
Catherine J. Withers, daughter of George Withers,
a retired farmer living in Willow street, Lancaster
county, who later removed to 27 S. Lime street,
Lancaster City. The iirst of the Withers family in
this country was Augustine Wither (as the name
was then spelled), two of whose sons served in the
war of the Revolution, a third son being employed
by the Federal government as a gunsmith. Aug-
ustine Wither, who died in 1766, had evidently,
judging from records, been in this country a long
time prior to his decease, though the exact date of his
coming has never been fully determined.
To Mr. and Mrs. John J. Sherts were born five
children, one of whom, J. Clarence, died in Sep-
tember, 1895. A brief record of the others is as
follows : Elizabeth and Ann C. are graduates from
the Girls' High School of Lancaster; G. Howard
learned the art of printing, but is now connected
with his father's store; and H. H. is a
coach trimmer. With the exception of one daugh-
ter, who is a Lutheran, the creed of her mother's
people, all the family, including the parents, are
Presbyterians. Socially Mr. Sherts is affiliated
with the F. & A. M. and the I. O. O. F., also with
Capt. Neff post, G. A. R., and it may be truly said
of him that no man' in the community ranks higher
in all that pertains to good citizenship.
Among the treasured heirlooms of his arlcestors
Mr. Sherts prizes none more highly than an en-
cyclopedia, a large and copiously illustrated volume
printed in the German language in 1560, and brought
to this country by one of the three brothers already
mentioned. These brothers secured a grant of land
from the Penns and one of them served in the war
of the Revolution, his sword and pistol being still
in the possession of his descendants.
HARRY A. BENNETT, a native of Columbia^
Pa., was born May 10, 1857, and is one of the most
trustworthy locomotive engineers in the employ of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. On another
page of this work a full biographical record is given
of "his parents, Joseph M., and Frances N. Bennett,
and it is therefore unnecessary to speak further of
them at this point.
Harry A" Bennett, after leaving school in Co-
lumbia at the age of fourteen years, went to work
for six months in Purple's brickyard, and then
clerked for two and a half years in a general store,
after which he worked in the Susquehanna Rolling
Mill nine months. Dec. 4, 1878, he began braking
for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and on
Nov. 8, 1879, was made a fireman, in which capacity
he faithfully labored until Aug. 16, 1886, when he
was promoted to his present responsible position of
engineer.
Mr. Bennett was joined in marriage, in Colum-
bia, Feb. 12, 1880, with Miss Mary M. Specken-
bach, who was born in Cohimbia Feb. 2, 1859, and
is a daughter of Peter and Margaret (Butt) Speck-
enbach, natives of Germany, but married in Colum-
bia, Pa. Peter Speckenbach was a laborer, and to
his marriage with Margaret Butt there were bom six
children, as follows: John, deceased; Mary, now
Mrs. Bennett; Frederick, Henry, Anna and John,
all of Columbia. The father of this family died in
1889, at the age of seventy-two years, and the moth-
er in 1894, when sixty-four years old. The chil-
dren that have blessed the marriage of Harry A.
Bennett and wife are seven in number and are named
Joseph F., William E., Fannie L., Frederick P. (de-
ceased), Maggie E., Mary I., and Harry T. Mr.
and Mrs. Bennett are members of St. John's Luth-
eran Church, in the faith of which they rear their
children.
In politics Mr. Bennett is a Democrat, and has
been a member of the town council for the past two
years. He has always been filled with a spirit of
enterprise for the good of the public and was one of
the original citizens to encourage the people to take
the step that resulted in the Columbia Centennial cel-
ebration in 1888. He is a member of the I. O. R.
M., of the B. of L. F., of the B. of L. E., of the
Pennsylvania Relief; he is also a member of the
board of managers and a trustee of the P. R. R. Y.
M. C. A. He and his family live on their own prem-
ises, and enjoy to the full the esteem of all who
know them.
LEMON S. LANDIS. One of the most
thrifty and successful florists in Pennsylvania is
Lemon S. Landis, proprietor of the East End
Green Houses, near Lancaster. This popular cen-
ter of floral supply has a more than local reputation,
for the products of its gigantic green houses are
shipped for the greater part to Pittsburg, Harris-
burg, Philadelphia and New York. In their great-
est perfection enormous quantities of roses, violets,
carnations and other standard flowers are reared in
the three houses, each covered with fifteen thousand
feet of glass.
A native of Lancaster county. Pa., Mr. Landis
Avas born at the City Mill Farm, Lancaster town-
ship, Feb. 12, 1869^, and is a son of Eli and Mary A.
(Johns) Landis, and grandson of Abraham Landis,
the latter a farmer of Swiss extraction. Eli Landis
was also a farmer in Lancaster county, and came
to an untimely death through a run away team in
1875, at the age of thirty-eighl; years. His wife
died at the home of her son. Lemon S., in the east
end of Lancaster City, April 17, 1900, at the age of
fifty-two years. The parents are buried' in Mel-
linger's cemetery. Besides Lemon S., who was the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
109»
oldest in the family, there were born Minnie, the wife
of attorney A. S. Johns, of Lancaster; and Lizzie,
the wife of Luther Able.
Lemon S. Landis was reared to an agricultural
life, and when thirteen years of age entered the em-
ploy of A. D. Rohrer and brother, under whose capa-
ble instruction he mastered every detail of the florist
business. In 1892 he started a business along the
same line on his own responsibility, and two years
later entered a partnership with his former employ-
er, Mr. Rohrer. The same year he married Eliza-
beth Groff, daughter of Harry E. Groff, a well
driller. Mr. GrofiE does a large business in his line,
employs six men and drills wells all over the State.
Mr. Landis is a Republican in politics, and is a mem-
ber of the Lutheran Church. He is progressive
and enlightened, and adds to a pleasing personality
and honest name an exhaustive insight into his de-
lightful and remtmerative occupation.
Harry E. Groff, justice of the peace and
well driller, residing on the outskirts of Lancaster
City, was born in Detroit, Mich., Dec. 7, 1849, a
son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Griffin) Groff, na-
tives, respectively, of Lancaster county. Pa., and the
state of Maine. Abraham Groff left Lancaster
when a boy and settled in Detroit, Mich., where he
engaged in the drug business until 1872. He then
returned to Lancaster and continued his former oc-
cupation until three years prior to his death, in 1900,
at the age of seventy-six years. His last days were
spent with his daughter, Carrie, in comparative re-
tirement, in Wilmington, Del. He was a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Groff came to Lancaster in 1867 and up to
1887 engaged in the carpenter business. He then be-
came interested in well drilling, of which he has made
a distinct success, his services being in demand in this
and surrounding States. He is a careful, pains-
taking workman, and understands all there is to
know about his business. A Republican in na-
tional politics, Mr. Groff was elected justice of the
peace in 1890, and has served continuously ever
since. He is a member of the Lutheran Church,
and is one of the upright and reliable members of the
community.
JACOB D. HERSHEY, M. D., a young and
popular physician and surgeon of Manheim, Pa., is
a native of Lancaster county, bom in Mountville
March 31, 1875, and a son of Jacob R. and Catherine
Hershey, of that place. He had good educational
advantages, attending first the public schools and
later the Millersville Normal. In 1893 he com-
menced the study of medicine with Dr. Martin Ring-
wait, and a year later entered the University of
Pennsylvania, where he was graduated with the de-
gree of M. D., in the class of 1898. Soon after his
graduation Dr. Hershey located in Manheim and
opened an office. He now has a well established
practice which is constantly increasing, and he is
meeting with marked success in his chosen calling.
He is a member of the Lancaster County Medi-
cal Society, and the Pennsylvania State Medical So-
ciety, and also affiliates with the Knights of Malta,.
Odd Fellows and Free and Accepted Masons. He
belongs to the Republican party. Socially he is-
a whole-souled, genial gentleman who makes many
friends, and is held in high regard by all who know
him.
The Doctor was married, Nov. 15, 1898, to Miss
Elizabeth McBride, a native of Philadelphia, and a
daughter of the late J. F. McBride.
EDGAR L. McSPARRAN. The McSparran
family is one of the oldest in Lancaster county, and
was founded by one James McSparran, who emi-
grated from the north of Ireland, and with his wife,
a representative of the Fleming family, settled near
Peach Bottom. He had an enormous family, and
his son, James, was born on the old homestead in
1764, married Elenor Neel, daughter of Thomas and
Gresall (Penny) Neel, and died March 18, 1827.
Mrs. Elenor (Neel) McSparran died Aug. 12, 1841,.
and was laid to rest beside her husband in the old
cemetery near the Presbyterian Church at Chest-
nut Level, to which all the family are faithful ad-
herents. There were fifteen children born to this-
union, (i) James and (2) Isabella Fleming^
(twins), were born May 25, 1801, of whom James
married Amelia F. McCollough March 8, 1832, and
died May 31, 1863. His widow owned the fine old
homestead farm, where she lived with her daughter,.
Lizzie (since deceased) and son, Thomas, who now
owns the place. Isabella married John King April
2b, 1827, and died Dec. 14, 1871. Of her daugh-
ters, Ellen married B. F. Sides," M. D., and Jean-
ette married Sanders McCollough. (3) Thomas-
Neel was born March 6, 1803, and died March 28„
1820. (4) Gresa!], born Oct. 31, 1804, married
Samuel Morrison June 2, 1831, and died Dec. 31,.
1856. (5) Eliza Martha, born S'ept. 12, 1806, mar-
ried James Barnes July 26, 1827, and died Oct. 5,.
1853. (6) John, born July 15, 1808. (7) Elenor
Jean, born Feb. 15, 1810, was the second wife of
James Barnes,, and died Sept. 22, 1874. (8) Rachel
Neel, born Feb. 4, 1812, died Aug. 28, 1819. (9)
Margaret, born Dec. 8, 1813, married William
Steele and died May 27, 1866. (10) Samuel, born
Nov. 20, 1815, was accidentally shot by his brother,.
James, Feb. 18, 1837. (i^) Fleming McSparran,,
born Sept. 12, 1817, is mentioned below. (12)
Thomas Neel and ("13) William, twins, were born
Nov. 20, 1820. Thomas married Lydiann Pusey,
sister of the wife of Fleming. William married
Alice, daughter of James Caldwell, Esq., who lived
but a short time after her marriage. He married
again, his second wife being Marcilena Williamson.
( 14) Joseph was born June 26, 1823, and died July
24, 1834. ds) Rachel, born March 7, 1827.
Fleming McSparran was ten years 'old when his
father died, and James Penny, who was appointed
his guardian, apprenticed him when he reached the
i=.
1100
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
age of sixteen to William Eves, of Chester county,
Pa., for two and a half years, to learn "the art, trade
and mysteries of tanning." After serving his ap-
prenticeship he worked on the home farm for his
brother, James, for some time. About 1838 he went
to Illinois, where he was engaged in agriculture for
a year. The following year he spent boating on
the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers frorn Pittsburg to
New Orleans. Traveling from Pittsburg on horse-
back, he returned to Lancaster county, and with
Amer Stubhs, April 4, 1840, entered the business of
lumber dealer on the Susquehanna, at Barnes' saw-
mill, now known as Benton Station, on the Columbia
and Port Deposit Railroad: the firm-name was
Stubbs & McSparran. In this business he continued
two years, when, suffering from bad health, he sold
■out to James Barnes. For the near 1842 he was tax
collector for his district. The following April, with
l]is brother, Thomas, as partner, he returned to the
lumber business at the same place, where he re-
mained until March 15, 1845, when he purchased the
store property at Fairfield, and there spent the re-
mainder of his life. While in the lumber business
lie and Joseph Woodward were contractors for re-
l)uilding the public road around Mitchell's Rock,
near Benton. The road had been previously washed
away by the ice and high water, but the new con-
tractors were triumphant, and built a road that has
borne the floods and battering of ice for years, and
still remains an example of honest workmanship
thoroughly done. On Dec. 30, 1846, he married
Mary E. Pusey, of Puseyville, and opened a store
at Fairfield the following spring. A large family
was born to them, as follows : Emma Housekeep-
■er, born Oct. 3, 1847 ; James Mahlon, Dec. 23, 1848 ;
Lydia Ellen, Jan. 21", 1850; Edwin Pusey, April
26, 185 1 ; Samuel Cheyney, Oct. 28, 1852; Mary
Alice, Nov. 27, 1854; Ida Elizabeth, April 9, 1856;
William Fleming, Dec. 13, 1857; Marion, Sept. 19,
1859; Edgar Lyons (the subject of this biography),
June 18, 1861 ; Isabel King, June 16, 1863 ; Mar-
garet Steele, May 15, 1866; and Anna Pusey, May
4, 1867. Edwin died Aug. 14, 1867; Mary, May
16, T855; Margaret, Sept. 10, 1866; and Anna,
March 28, 1S71. Emma married David Weidley
Oct. 2, 1876. James M., a farmer, married Laura
H. Wentz Dec. 24, 1879. Samuel C. married
Floretta C. Cain Dec. 29, 1880. Fleming McSpar-
ran died March 20, 1876, and his wife March 4,
3879, greatly beloved and deeply regretted by the
whole community.
Edgar L. McSparran, son of Fleming, is one of
the honorable and thrifty citizens of Fulton town-
ship. His education was obtained in the public
schools. Chestnut Level Academy and the York Col-
legiate Institute. Later he was graduated from
a business college in Philadelphia, after which he
clerked for Peter Wright & Sons of the Quaker
City for a tiriie, and then entered the employ of W.
H. Phelan. of the same place, as foreman in the
lumber business. At the end of three years he took
a pleasure trip through the West and in 1887 re-
turned to Lancaster county. He located in Goshen,
and engaged in the creamery business, in which he
continued imtil Jan., 1902, with marked success. He
has purchased a large farm of 225 acres iii Dru-
more township, and has made other profitable invest-
ments.
On Jan. 14, 1891, Mr. McSparran married Har-
riet A. Hess, a daughter of J. M. and Martha Hess,
of an old settled family of German origin. Like
his ancestors, Mr. McSparran is a Presbyterian of
the old school. Politically he is a Democrat, but
has no ambition to hold public office. Fraternally
he is a INIason, identified with Washington Lodge,
No. 156, Quarry ville. He is a man of considerable
business ability and is strictly upright in all his deal-
ings, thereby well meriting the high esteem in which
he is held.
JACOB KELLEY, a pleasant and popular rail-
road conductor residing in Columbia, Pa., was born
six miles from Middletown, Lancaster county, Jan.
20, 1862, a son of Henry and Mary E. (Eshleman)
Kelley. The father was born in the West and was
a son of Michael Kelley, who was bom in County
Clare, Ireland, and died in the West. The latter's
wife was an English lady. Henry Kelley came to
Lancaster county, Pa., in 185 1 and settled near
Elizabethtown, where he was employed as repairer
by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. His first
wife was a Miss Hossler, by whom he had one
daughter, Kate, now the wife of William Little, a
shoemaker of Marietta, Pa. His second wife, Mary
E. Eshleman, was a native of Elizabethtown. She
died in March, 1896, at the age of sixty-seven years.
She was a consistent member of the Lutheran Church
and a most estimable lady. Her children were:
Richard, who died in infancy; Elizabeth, who mar-
ried George Little and died in Feb., 1893 ; Henry,
who died in infancy; J^ohn, a butcher, who died
April 26, 1889; Jacob, whose name introduces this
sketch ; and Anna M., wife of Frank Straub, a fur-
nace man of Marietta, Pennsylvania.
Jacob Kelley was only a year old when the fam-
ily removed to Marietta, where he made his home un-
til 189T, and has since been a resident of Columbia.
At the age of thirteen he commenced working in a
glass furnace, and after coming to Columbia worked
in the rolling mills of that place from April until
June, i8qi, after which he was employed in a coal
yard until he entered the service of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company as brakeman, Jan. 17, 1893.
Three years later he was made flagnian, arid at the
end of another three years was promoted to con-
ductor, in which capacity he i? still with the com-
pany, one of its valued and trusted employees.
Mr. Kelley was married, in Marietta, April 20,
1882, to Miss Josie Dowhower, who was born in
that citv Feb. 15, 1867, a daughter of Jacob and
Rosetta (Stape) Dowhower, of Lancaster county,
who died in Mt. Joy, the former in May, 1896,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1101
aged seventy-three years, the latter in Feb., 1899,
aged seventy. Both were earnest members of the
Mennoriite Church; the father, was a blacksmith
by occupation. Their children were: Julia Ann,
who died in childhood; Harry, a resident of Mt.
Joy; Elizabeth, wife of John McCloskey, of
Wrightsville, Pa.; Jacob, deceased; Mary, wife of
James L. Pell, of Mt. Joy; Susan, wife of Levi Hol-
linsworth, a school teacher of Dauphin county. Pa. ;
Frank, living in Nebraska ; Emma, wife of George
Lannig, of iS eb. ; Oma, wife of John Eshleman, of
Neb. ; Josie, now Mrs. Kelley ; and Elva, wife of
Eli Shickley, of Columbia. To Mr. and Mrs. Kel-
ley were born seven children, namely: Bessie A._,
Mamie E., William J., Harry H., Horace M. and
George, all at home ; and Leo, who died young.
Since attaining his majority Mr. Kelley has af-
filiated with the Democratic part)', and takes an ac-
tive and commendable interest in public affairs. He
is a faithful member of the M. E. Church, and an
active member of the Brotherhood of Railroad
Trainmen, the Pennsylvania Relief Association and
the Improved Order of Red Men.
AARON BILYEU HASSLER, a member of
the Lancaster bar, now occupies the position of coun-
ty controller.
Mr. Hassler's great-grandmother on his father's
side was a daughter of John Waldschmidt, a dis-
tinguished Reformed clergyman, a gentleman noted
as one of the most earnest and most successful of
the pioneer missionaries ; and his great-grandfather
was one of the Hasslers who removed from Lancas-
ter county to the Cumberland Valley, settling in
Franklin county. John Hassler, his grandfather,
was a farmer and married Katura Clugston, of
Scotch-Irish descent.
Rev. John Waldschmidt Hassler, son of John
and Katura Hasslet, was born in Franklin county.
Pa., was graduated from Pennsylvania or Gettys-
burg College in 1852, and in 1854 was ordained a
Lutheran clergyman. Muhlenberg College con-
ferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity upon him.
Rev. Dr. Hassler married Miss Abbie Bilyeu, daugh-
ter of Aaron P. Bilyeu, a contracting builder of
Philadelphia, and this union has been blessed with
five children, three of whom have passed away:
Lilly Patton, who died in 1865 in infancy; Luther S.,
a clerk in the Internal Revenue office, died in 1895,
aged thirty-four years; and Helen, who married
Rev. H. N. Bassler, a Reformed clergyman of
Franklin county, and died in May, 1896. The sur-
vivors are : Mary, wife of J. S. Hoffman, a leather
dealer of Philadelphia; and Aaron B. Hassler, of
Lancaster.
Aaron Bilyeu Hassler was born at Center
Square, Montgomery county, April 13, i860. His
early education was acquired in the public schools
of New Holland, to which place his father moved
when the subject of this sketch was only five years
old. He was graduated from Muhlenberg College in
1882, and then taught school for one year in New
York City, attending the Columbia Law School
while engaged in teaching. Returning to Lancas-
ter county, Mr. Plassler registered as a law student
with the late George Nauman, was admitted to prac-
tice on June 5, 1885, and was subsequently admit-
ted to the Supreme and Superior Courts. In poli-
tics he is a Republican. He served as solicitor to
the board of prison inspectors of Lancaster county
for two years, and was county solicitor for three and
one-half years, resigning from the latter office May
17, 1 90 1, to accept from Gov. Stone the appointment
of countv controller for Lancaster county, which ap-
pointment was for the term ending in the first Mon-
day in January, 1902. He was elected in Novem-
ber, 1901, to a three years' term of that office, suc-
ceeding himself in January, 1902. Mr. Hassler be-
longs to the Young Republicans. He is a member
of Lodge 43, F. A. M. ; of Lancaster Lodge of B.
P. O. Elks, of which he is Past Exalted Ruler; of
the Knights of the Golden Eagle ; of the Odd Fel-
lows ; of the tiamilton Club ; the Tucquan Club ; the
Conestoga Country Club ; and of the State Bar As-
sociation. At college he was a member of the Chi
Phi fraternity. He is also a member of the board
of examiners for admission to the Lancaster bar.
Mr. Hassler is unmarried, and, with his parents,,
lives at No. 26 North Lime street.
JOHN ADAM GREER. This distinguished
veteran of the Civil war is one of the great intelli-
gent, well-to-do middle class which must always
constitute the very backbone of a true and rightly
constituted democracy. He is at once a trusted em-
ploye of the great Pennsylvania Railroad Company
and an honored citizen of the community in which-
he has lived for many years. Although he has.
reached the age of three score years he stands erect,
strong and vigorous in body, and with undimmed
mental faculties .
Mr. Greer is the son of Joseph and Mary (Fogle)
Greer, and was born in Bart township Oct. 31, 1840.
His father was a native of the same locality^ while
his mother was born in Manor. The elder Greer
was a farmer, and died in 1853, at the age of forty-
six; his widow. is yet living. John A. was the first
born of five children, the others being Mary, Jos-
eph, Susan and Martha. Mary married Hiram
Kendig, a successful farmer, now retired from ac-
tive cares and living in Lancaster. Joseph is de-
ceased. Susan is the wife of B. Frank Althouse, a
farmer of Bart ; and Martha, whose husband is also
a farmer, is Mrs. Franklin Deets, of the some town-
ship.
Mr. Greer's paternal grandfather, also Joseph,
was born in Ireland, but came to this country in early
life, settling in Susquehanna county, Pa., and becom-
ing a farmer. His mother was the daughter of
Adam and Susan Fogle. of Germany, likewise im-
migrants, who settled in Lancaster county. Mr.
Fogle was also a farmer and a man who command-.
1102
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ed high respect for his many admirable qualities.
He was for many years a justice of the peace, and
became a large property owner.
John Adam Greer was united in marriage,
on Aug. 31, 1866, at Lancaster, to Miss Lillie
L. Herring. She was born at Simflower, in Para-
dise township, Lancaster county. Her father was
John Herring and her mother, Catherine McCoy.
He came to Lancaster county in 1828, settling in
Paradise township. His wife, Mrs. Greer's mother,
was born in Bart township. He was a shoemaker
by trade, but in addition to working in his shop was
also a schoolmaster. They are both dead, he hav-
ing passed away in 1888, and she in 1892. Their
respective ages were eighty-four » and eighty-eight.
They were both devout members of the M. E.
Church. Mrs. Greer was their fifth child, their off-
spring having been six in number. The eldest,
Elizabeth L., married- Michael Freimeyer, of Lan-
caster county, and is deceased. Sarah J., John and
Joseph died either in infancy or early childhood.
Margaret, who has also died, married Charles Alt.
Mrs. Greer's paternal grandfather was Patrick Her-
ring, a substantial farmer of Morrisville. Her
mother's parents were Daniel McCoy and Ruth E.
McCrady. Daniel McCoy was born in Ireland
and his wife in Scotland ; both crossed the ocean at
an early age, he when but a boy of sixteen, and both
settled in Lancaster county, where they were mar-
ried, he having become a prosperous farmer.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Greer has been
blessed with nine children: Alma Glendora, un-
married and living with her parents ; Elsie Britanna,
the wife of George S. Deeg, an iron worker; Mary
Catharine, the wife of John A. Watson, a Columbia
merchant ; Joseph, a stove molder of Columbia, who
married Elizabeth Freymeyer; Martha E., the wife
of Wilson Snyder, a Columbia druggist; John Ar-
mor ; William Scott : Truman K. ; and Adam Hum-
phriss. All the four younger boys are living at
home.
John A; Greer was reared upon a farm and ac-
quired his strong vitality and rugged health from
the hard toil which farmers' sons have to undergo.
At the age of fifteen, however, he found other, and
jjerhaps more laborious, employment in the Gap
nickel mine, Lancaster county. Pa., and on Sept. 16,
1861, he enlisted as a private in Co. H, 79th P. V.
L, for a period of three years. At the expiration
of this term, on Oct. 3, 1864, at Atlanta, Ga., he re-
enlisted, this time in Co. B, 215th P. V. I. On April
6, 1865, he was promoted to be corporal. He was
mustered out July 12, following. He participated
in many engagements, and was present at the sur-
render of Johnston to Sherman. He also took part
in the grand review at Washington at the close of
the war. While noted for his gallantry in action,
he was never wounded ; yet his devotion to the cause
of his country in the malarial swamps and bayous
of the South implanted in his constitution the seeds
of rheumatism, from which he yet suffers. He
keeps alive the memory of his eventful life during
those stirring times, through his membership in
Post Relief of the G. A. R.
After receiving his discharge Mr. Greer re-
turned to Columbia. For several years he was em-
ployed as a stationary engineer in different posts
of trust, and for a time was in the service of the
Keystone Bridge Company as a bridge builder. In
1868 he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Rail-
way as a brakeman. After three years he was
made a flagman, and within five years was promoted
to be a conductor. This responsible position he has
filled for a quarter of a century, discharging its
duties with the same fidelity and gallantry which he
laid upon the altar of his country in the gloomy,
trying days of our great internecine struggle.
SIMON E. GARBER, a farmer in West Done-
gal township, whose neat and well-kept place shows
the hand of a man who loves his calling and believes
in modern and progressive agriculture, was born on
the old Garber homestead in West Donegal town-
ship Nov. 19, 1863, and is the son of John S. and
Susan (Erb) Garber. A sketch of his parents ap-
pears on another page, and it contains their history
and ancestral data.
Simon E. Garber and Fanny F. Eby were united
in marriage in West Hempfield township Nov. 10,
1887, and to them have come the following chil-
dren: Henry F., Norman E., Susan E., John S.,
J. Clarence and Monroe E. Mrs. Fanny F. (Eby)
Garber was born on the old Eby homestead in West
Hempfield township May 31, 1866, and is a daugh-
ter of Henry N. Eby, one of the old and prominent
citizens of that township. A. F. Eby, of East Don-
egal township, whose history appears elsewhere, is
her brother,
Simon E. Garber remained with his parents until
shortly before the completion of his twenty-fourth
year, when he was married, and at once located with
his wife on the farm where he is found today. Mak-
ing good use of the opportunities that came to him
for an education, he is a bright and brainy young
man, and was elected school director in Feb., 1900.
In his politics he is a Republican, and in his religion
he is a member of the Mennonite Church.
JOSEPH CARRIGAN, one of the highly re-
spected retired farmers of Lancaster county, now
a resident of Fairfield, was born in that town, in the
house which is now occupied by Mr. N. N. Henselj
on Dec. 6, 1850. Michael Carrigan, the grandfa-
ther of Joseph, was a native of Conestoga township,
this county, was of Irish origin, and was the father
of two sons : Jacob, the father of Joseph, who was
born July 15, 1826, and died June 14, 1881 ; and
Amos S., who was a volunteer in an Indiana regi-
ment and died during the Civil war. The maiden
name of Grandmother Carrigan was Elizabeth
Warfle.
The parents of Joseph Carrigan were Jacob and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1103
Ann (McLaughlin) Carrigan, the latter of whom
was a daughter of Joseph McLaughlin, of Provi-
dence township ; she was born Oct. 6, 1825, and died
July 13, 1881. Their marriage, which took place
in 1848, was blessed with two sons: Enos, who
was born July 22, 1849, resides in Drumore town-
ship, and married Bertha Penrose, their children
being Rena, Leora, Harry, Lester and Grace; the
other was the Joseph Carrigan of this sketch. Jacob
Carrigan was a blacksmith by trade, and became a
man of means, owning at the time of his death one
hundred and fifty acres of fine farming land. In
his early years he worked very hard, for on accoimt
of the death of his father the support of his mother
fell upon him. He received but $10 per month
while learning his t.rade, but by close economy and
much self-denial he was able to save $300 in the
three j^ears, which he used to purchase land, and as
this increased in value he sold and bought other
land, thus by good management acquiring much
more- than a competency. During life he adhered
to the principles of the Democratic party.
Joseph Carrigan grew up under his father's
roof, receiving a good, common school education,
and has followed farming all his life. His present
farm consists of ninety-five acres of rich land and he
also has a comfortable and convenient home in Fair-
field.
The marriage of Mr. Carrigan was on Dec. S,
1878, in Drumore township, to Miss Iowa Ambler,
who was a daughter of Edward Ambler, a cabinet-
maker of Drumore township. This marriage has
been blessed with three children: Kersey, born
Nov. 3, 1879, is a graduate of the State Normal
school at Millersville, later followed teaching for
a time, and has recently accepted a position as book-
keeper in the Quarryville National Bank; Lulu,
born Aug. 7, 1881, is also a graduate of the Normal
School, and is one of the most successful teachers in
Lancaster county; M. Murrell, born Oct. i, 1889,
died Oct. i, 1891.
Mrs. Carrigan was born May Sj 1858, and she
was reared in a family of four children: Anson,
a farmer of Fulton township ; Iowa, who is Mrs.
Carrigan; Evan L., who is teller in the Quarryville
Bank ; and Harry C., who is a merchant of Liberty
Square. INIr. and Mrs. Ambler reside near Liberty
Square and are among the leading residents of the
county.
In politics Mr. Carrigan is a Democrat, while
the religious connection of the family has always
"been with the Methodist Church. Mr. Carrigan is
highly esteemed in this neighborhood, where he is
known for his many estimable characteristics, and
is one of the prominent citizens.
MATTHIAS S. HELFRICH, the genial and
hospitable proprietor of "Helfrich's Hotel," at Cor-
delia, West Hem^pfield township, Lancaster Co., Pa.,
was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, Jan. 16,
1854, and is a son of Michael and Susan (Van
Staten) Helfrich, also natives of Hesse-Darmstadt,
where they lived until 1856, when they came to the
United States and settled in the neighborhood now
known as Cordelia. There, in 1865, the father
opened the hotel now operated by his son, Matthias,
and conducted it quite successfully until about 1887,
when he retired. Mrs. Susan (Van Staten) Helf-
rich was called away in 1889, in the faith of the
Catholic Church, when she was sixty-seven years
old, and her mortal remains were interred in the
Catholic cemetery in Columbia; Michael survived
until March 28, 1897, when he also passed away, at
the age of eighty years and twenty days, in the faith
of the Lutheran Church, and was buried at Iron-
ville cemetery.
To Michael and Susan (Van Staten) Helfrich
were born eight children, namely : Peter, married
and farming in Carroll county, Md. ; Frederick, a
carpenter in Cordelia, Pa. ; Matthias S., mentioned
at the opening of this brief sketch; George, mining
for gold in Alaska ; Mary, deceased wife of Emanuel
Wells ; Elizabeth, wife of F. M. Bard, of Cordelia ;
Michael, a railroad man in Tacoma, Wash. ; and
John, a farmer in West Hempfield township, Lan-
caster county, Pennsylvania.
Matthias S. Helfrich was reared to his present
business and thoroughly understands it, as he had
assisted his father from boyhood up to the latter's
death, and then purchased the interest of the other
heirs. The "Helfrich" is to-day one of the best'
and most popular hotels in the county, and has a
reputation much more than local.
NATHAN EVANS WIKE, who has been con-
ductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad since 1873, i^
one of the most respected citizens of Columbia, and
belongs to a family whose members have long com-
manded the high regard of their fellow citizens in
Lancaster county. He was born in Columbia Jan.
26, 1835, son of George and Sarah (Eberlin) Wike.
George Wike was born Jan. 11, 1805, in Colum-
bia, and spent all his life in that township. He
learned the trade of cooper, but for many years was
a pilot on the Susquehanna river, was employed in
his latter days as a slip boss, and finally retired to
pass the remainder of his days in ease and comfort.
He also engaged in contracting, and built a portion
of the Tide-Water Canal from Wrightsville to
Havre de Grace. He died in Columbia Dec. 31,
1857, at the age of fifty-two years, a Lutheran in
his religious belief, although not a member of any
congregation. His widow, who was born Nov. 3,
r8o6, still survives, and has her residence in Co-
lumbia. She is a member of the Episcopal Church.
They were married in Columbia April 26, 1827, and
the children born to them were fourteen in num-
ber, as follows : Susan, who died when five years
old; John F. E., who was married, but is now de-
ceased; Milton, spoken of elsewhere in this vol-
ume ; Ann Jane, of Philadelphia, the widow of Jacob
Wall; Nathan E., the subject of this sketch; Emma
1104
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Frances, who died young ; George Washington, mar-
ried to Mary J. Wagner; Henry M., who was killed
in the army ; Hannah G., wife of Henry Mullen, of
Philadelphia; Samuel F. (a widower), a railroad
engineer, in Columbia; Andrew J. and Albert, who
died young ; Eunice, widov/ of Edwin Stair, who
was a dry-goods merchant of Columbia ; and Frank-
lin, who died young.
George Wike, paternal grandfather of Nathan,
was a shoemaker by trade, was a native of Germany,
and came from Berks county to Lancaster when a
young man. * Later he removed to Columbia, where
he died at an advanced age. Mrs. Wike was twice
married, and had children as follows : George,
John, Mary (Mrs. Henry Mathiot), Sarah (Mrs.
John Hudders), and Betsey (Mrs. Mullen). Our
subject's maternal grandparents, John and Anna
(Neil) Ebeflin, were natives of Germany and Lan-
caster county, respectively. John Eberlin was born
in Wonseck, a town in the Margrave der Bysith, in
the circle of Franconia, Nov. 25, 1755, and was
Confirmed in the Lutheran faith. His father, also
named John, was a butcher, and also a burgomaster
of Wonseck, and his mother bore the maiden name
of Margaret Ballach. John, the younger, landed in
America June 3; 1777, and on May 4, 1784, married
Anna Neil, who was born in Hempfield township,
Lancaster county, Pa., April 6, 1767, and was a
daughter of John and Jean (Mease) Neil. To their
union were born the following children : John, born
Oct. 15, 1785, died Oct. 20, 1785 ; Jean, born Sept.
30, 1786; Margaret, born June 14, 1788; and Eliza-
beth, born April 10, 1790. All the children had
their nativity in Columbia, and all, with the excep-
tion of one who died in infancy, were married.
Nathan E. Wike remained with his parents up
to the age of nineteen, and worked until then with
his father, in the butcher business. For the next
four and a half years he was employed as fireman
on the Pennsylvania Railroad, after which, until the
Civil war broke out, he was in St. Louis, Mo., en-
gaged as a street-car conductor. On July 12, 1861,
he enlisted, for three years or during the war, in
Co. I, 8th Mo. V. I., under Capt. Hart, and he took
part in numerous important engagements, among
them the battles at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicks-
burg and Missionary Ridge. At Larkinsville Land-
ing, Ala., on April 4, 1864, Mr. Wike was wounded
in the shoulder and side, by minie balls, and he was
unfit for duty up to the time of his discharge, in St.
Louis, July 12, 1864. The intervening time, he
spent in three different hospitals, being first taken
to a field hospital, and finally to the hospital at Jeffer-
sonville, Iiid. After his discharge our subject re-
turned to Columbia, where he was in the recruiting
service a few months, and he then went to St. Louis,
taking his old position on the street cars for six
months. Since then he has made his permanent
home in Columbia, and has been continuously in the
employ of the Pennsylvania road, the first few
months working as switchman. Then for several
years he worked as brakeman, and in 1873 he be-
came conductor, in which position he has been re-
tained ever since, most convincing evidence of faith-
ful and satisfactory service. Mr. Wike belongs to
the P. R. R. Relief Association, and fraternally
unites with the Red Men. His political sympathies
are with the Republican party.
On June 18, 1870, Mr. Wike was married in
Mount Nebo, Lancaster county, to Miss Elizabeth
Gohn, and children as follows have been born to
them: George A., a stove molder, of Lansdale,
Pa., married to Sarah Welsh; Edwin S., a molder,
residing in Columbia, married to Fanny Brubaker ;
Warren C, Mary L., Elva W., Sarah" and Milton
died young; Nellie S., Charles M., Nathaniel G.,
Percival W. and Anna V. are at home ; Blanch and
Flora died young.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Gohn) Wike was born Dec. 12,
1852, in Columbia, daughter of George and Mary
( Strohman) Gohn. Her father first married Nancy
Sweeny, by whom he had five children : Daniel, of
Columbia, who is a brick manufacturer ; James) now
deceased ; Anna, deceased, who married Jonas Crom-
well, of York county, Pa. ; Susan, widow of George
Snyder, of Columbia ; and Mary, deceased, who was
the wife of Joseph Hogentogler. Mr. Gohn married,
second, Mrs. Mary (Strohman) Glatz, widow of
John Glatz, by whom she had five children, all of
whom died young. Three children were born to this
later union : Elizabeth (Mrs. Wike) and George T.,
twins, the latter deceased; and Sophia, who died
young. For his third wife, Mr. Gohn married
Elizabeth Shaffer. No children were born to them.
JOSEPH AMBROSE ULRICH, a prominent
citizen of Elizabethtown, Lancaster Co., Pa., where
he is engaged in the leaf tobacco business, was born
in Cornwall, Lebanon Co., Pa., June 20, i860, son
of Sebastin and M. A. Catharine (Eagle) Ulrich,
natives of Baden Baden, Germany, and Maytown^
Pa., respectively.
Sebastin Ulrich, now a retired farmer of West
Donegal township, was born Jan. 20, 1826, son of
Anthony and Engleberth (Conrad) Ulrich, of Baden,.
Germany, where their entire lives were spent, the fa-
ther dying in 1838, at the age of fortv-four, and the
mother m 1845, at the age of forty-five. They were
the parents of five children: Rosannah, deceased
wife of a Mr. Galvarish ; Sebastin ; Charles, in Ger-
many; Constantine, a farmer of Minnesota; and
Barbara, wife of John Walsh, of Wisconsin. Se-
bastin I.Tlrich remained with his parents until he had
attained the age of seventeen, when he came to
America, landing at New Orleans after a voyage
lasting forty-six days. He remained in that city for
four months, but owing to the outbreak of the yellow
fever was obliged at the end of that time to find an-
other location. He accordingly came to Lebanon
county, Pa., where he had an uncle residing, and re-
mained in that coimty until 1867 when he purchased
his present fine farm in West Donegal township.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1105
After coming to America, he learned the carpenter's
trade, at which he worked until after he had erected
the comfortable' house on his farm. He has become
one of the prominent citizens of his town. In poli-
tics he is a Democrat and has held a number of local
offices, among them being that of tax collector. In
religious belief, he is, as was his father before him, a
devout adherent of the Roman Catholic faith. In
November, 1854, in Elizabethtown, Pa., Sebastin
Ulrich was united in marriage with Catharine Eagle,
who was born in East Donegal township in 1832, a
daughter of Henry and Ann M. (Felix) Eagle, and
to this union have been born children, as follows :
Henry, a farmer of Dauphin county, Pa., married to
Ella Dougherty ; Anthony, a farmer and stock raiser
of British Columbia ; Mary, wife of J. P. Daugher-
ly, of Harrisburg, Pa.; Joseph Ambrose, of Eliza-
bethtown ; Steven F., a cigar box manufacturer ;
Dr. Sylvester, a successful physician of Elizabeth-
town ; John E., a cigar and liquor merchant of the
same town : Anna, now Sr. Mary Joseph, Superior
of Saint Patrick's School, in Charleston, S. C. ;
Catharine, now Sister Serena of St. Joseph's Acad-
emy of Tekoa, Wash. ; Ida, now Sr. Sylvina, in Holy
Cross Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah ; and Jerome,
at home with his parents in Elizabethtown.
Joseph Ambrose Ulrich was reared on his fa-
ther's farm, making that place his home until his
marriage. During this time he acquired a thorough
knowledge of agriculture under the excellent prac-
tical tuition of his father, and at the age of sixteen
began to learn the business of packing tobacco. He
has ever since continued in the tobacco industry,
in 1882 going into the business on his own account,
locating in Elizabethtown in the spring of that year.
He is very industrious and owes his success to his
unceasing toil and careful business methods. He is
thoroughly up-to-date and in any measure for the
general good of his town, he may be found among
the leaders of the movement.
On April 16, 1885, Mr. Ulrich was united in mar-
riage with Miss Louisa Lynch, daughter of James
and Mary Lynch, and five children have blessed their
union: Sylvester, Mary, James, all living; and
William and Ambrose, deceased. In religious con-
nection the family are all communicants of the Cath-
olic Church, and active in its work.
JAMES A. LYNCH, a prominent retired farmer
and cattle dealer of Elizabethtown, Pa., was born in
Londonderry, Dauphin Co., Pa., July 21, 1838, son
of James and Mary A. (Gross) Lynch, of Middle-
town, of that county.
Dennis and Bridget (Sweeney) Lynch, who
foimded the family in this country, left County
Donegal, Ireland, in 1800, to found a new home on
the western shores of the Atlantic ocean. They set-
tled in West Donegal township, Lancaster county,
later moving to Dauphin county where they made a.
permanent home. He followed the distillery busi-
70
ness in Ireland and in Dauphin county, Pa., and be-
came a man of means, operating many stills in this
section.
James Lynch, son of Dennis and father of James
A., was a school teacher in early life, conducting a
school of his own until his marriage to Mary A,
Gross, daughter of George Gross, a carpenter and
cabinet maker of Dauphin county. After his mar-
riage Mr. Lynch took one of his father's farms and
operated it in connection with brick making and the
hotel business. He became one of the prominent
public men of that section and held a number of im-
portant offices in the town, serving as justice of the
peace for two terms, and school director for several
terms. In 1858 he moved to Elizabethtown, where
he also conducted a hotel, besides being ticket and
freight agent and express messenger until his re-
tirement in 1867. In Elizabethtown, as well as in
his former home, he became one of the well known
progressive citizens, taking an active part in the
political life of the day, and being especially inter-
ested in educational questions, serving several terms
as school director. In politics he was a Democrat,
and in religious belief a Roman Catholic. He died
Nov. I, 1890, aged seventy-nine, and his good wife
on Nov. 29, 1893, aged eighty-one; the remains of
both rest in the Catholic cemetery in Elizabethtown.
Their children were : Mary Ann, widow of Will-
iam Kirby, a retired drover of Harrisburg, Pa. ;
James A. ; John T., a retired merchant of Harris-
burg ; Margaret, wife of George Baxstresser, a shoe
merchant of Elizabethtown; Catherine, of Eliza-
bethtown ; and Louisa, wife of Joseph Ambrose Ul-
rich, a leaf tobacco merchant of Elizabethtown.
James A. Lynch was reared on his father's farm,
where he remained until he attained the age of six-
teen years, when he went to Harrisburg and clerked
in a grocery store for two years. At the end of that
time he returned home and worked on the larm until
1858 when he came to Elizabethtown and operated
market cars between there and Philadelphia, con-
tinuing in that work for two years, when he engaged
in the clothing business for a year, and afterward in
the cattle business, making trips as far west as Chi-
cago to purchase his stock. This naturally led him
back to farming, and he settled down to agricultural
pursuits in West Donegal township, where he con-
tinued to make his home for twenty-four years. He
met with uniform success in his undertakings, and
finally retired to pass the remainder of his life in the
enjoyment of his hard earned competency. He rose
to important place among the citizens of his town
and for a time served as school director, but finding
his own affairs engrossed so much of his time that
he could not give it the attention he felt it deserved,
he resigned. In politics he is a Democrat, and in
religion, like all of his family, is a communicant of
the Church of Rome.
In February, 1867, Mr. Lynch was married to
Miss Louisa Gable, who was born in Lancaster, Pa.,
1106
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in August, 1841, daughter of Jacob and Mariah
(Buchas) Gable, the former a tinsmith and prom-
inent man of Lancaster. Six children were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Lynch, of whom James died in in-
fancy. The others are : Mary A., at home ; Ada,
wife of James Wittman, a blacksmith, of Elizazbeth-
town ; Margaret, Katie and Agnes, all at home.
DAVID K. GOOD, dealer in general merchan-
dise at Disston, Lancaster county, occupies a high
place among the young business men of his section.
He comes of a family whose members for several
generations have been among the respected residents
of the county, being a grandson of Franklin Good,
W'ho was born in the county, where he lived and
died. He was a cooper by trade, and followed same
in connection with farming until his death, which
occurred in 1876. He married Miss Elizabeth
Sengerwalt, and they had one child, Jacob S., who
was the father of David K.
Jacob S. Good was born in Lancaster county,
and has given his entire attention through life to
farming. He married Miss Margaret R. Kiehl, and
their family consisted of five children, two of whom
died in infancy : Miss Lizzie K. is at home ; David
K. is mentioned below; Franklin K. is engaged in
farming on the old homestead.
David K. Good was born in West Earl town-
ship, this county. May 10, 1868, and remained at
home until he was nineteen years of age, meantime
receiving a good common-school education. Mr.
Good clerked two years for J. A. Frynyer, at the
same store which he now occupies, and two years
later entered the business for himself. He keeps
a general line of merchandise, and enjoys a good
share of the patronage from the town and the sur-
sounding country. Fair dealing and good business
methods have won him success from the start, and
have also gained him the good will and respect of
all with whom he has come in contact. He was
appointed postmaster by John Wanamaker in 1891,
and has held the office ever since.
On Sept. 4, 1890, Mr. Good wedded Miss Re-
becca Michael, daughter of Cyrus and Katie Mich-
ael, and to this union has come one child, Katie
Elizabeth, born April 24, 1893.
ERNST ROCHOW, a native of Columbia, Lan-
caster county, was born June 8, 1868, a brother of
Charles Rochow, in whose biography will be found
the genealogy of Ernst Rochow. Ernst is the pres-
ent clerk of the business conducted by Charles, who
is a wholesale and retail dealer in rags, tallow, etc.,
at Columbia.
Ernst Rochow left his home in Columbia, at the
age of fourteen years, and went to Chicago, 111.,
where from 1882 until 1886 he served an appren-
ticeship at electrotyping, and then returned tQ
Columbia, where he has since been very ably assist-
ing his brother in his present business.
On May 13, 1890, Ernst Rochow married, in
Columbia, Miss Amelia Reller, and to this union
have been born three children, viz: Amelia M.,
July 8, 1891 ; Oscar O., April 22, 1894, and Edna
F., Nov. 14, 1895. Mrs. Amelia (Reller) Rochow
was born at Miltonsburg, Monroe Co., Ohio, July
24, 1870, a daughter of Michael and Mary (Deakick)
Reller, who were bom respectively, Sept. i, 1826,
in Rheinpfalz and April 22, 1833, in Hessen Darm-
stadt, Germany, but who were married in McKees-
port. Pa., and now reside at Miltonsburg, Ohio.
Michael Reller is a wheelwright by trade, and man-
ufactures and deals in wagons, plows, buggies, etc.,
doing a wholesale and retail business. ' Mr. and Mrs.
Reller have had born to them a family of eleven
children, namely: Michael, deceased; Charles, a
painter in Barnesville, Ohio; Rev. Henry, a clergy-
man in the German Lutheran Church, at Albany,
N. Y., but who at one time had charge for ten years
in Columbia, Pa., and during this period his sister
Amelia, while on a visit to him, first met her hus-
band, Ernst Rochow; John, a farmer at Smithland,
Iowa; Rev. Herman, a minister of the English
IvUtheran church with a charge at Aspinwall, Pa. ;
Louis, a grocer at Saltsburg, Pa. ; Otelia, deceased ;
William, manager of five groceries in Chicago, 111. ;
Amelia, wife of Mr. Rochow ; and Edward and Otto,
both deceased. The parents of this family are de- .
vout members of the German Lutheran Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Rochow are members of the Ger-
man Lutheran Church, and in politics Mr. Rochow
is a Democrat ; he is also a member of the Society of
Heptasophs. In social circles Mr. and Mrs. Rochow
occupy a very high position, and as a business man,
Mr. Rochow is regarded as shrewd and enterpris-
ing, but as being strictly upright and of unswerv-
ing integrity in all his dealings.
SAMUEL W. RANCK. One of the prominent
and successful farmers and stock dealers of Lan-
caster county, is Samuel W. Ranck, who was born
in Upper Leacock township, near Bird-in-Hand,
on Oct. 21, T872, and he was a son of A. M. and
Caroline fWenger) Ranck, of this township.
Samuel W. Ranck attended the district schools
of his locality, was reared on the home farm where
he remained until the age of twenty-one years, and
then entered the employ of Milton Kendig and for
seven years was engaged in the business of selling
horses and mules, on the road. Then Mr. Ranck
rented his present fine farm from his father, and
since that date has successfully carried on his former
business in his own interest.
On March 24, 1894, Mr. Ranck was married in.
Akron, Ephrata township, to Frances M. Pfautz,
who was born in Warwick township and was a
daughter of Hiram G. and Louisa (Reisener)
Pfautz, the former a native of Warwick township,
and the latter of Lebanon county. Mr. Pfautz was
born in 1835, his wife two years later, and until
iQoo when he retired from activity, he was a prom-
inent farmer of Warwick township. The children
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY HOT
of Mr. and Mrs. Pfautz were: Emma and Mary,
deceased; Graybill, a teacher in Rothsville; Alice,
who married William Tausnach, a bookkeeper of
Lititz, Pa. ; Harry, a cigar manufacturer, of Roths-
ville ; and Monroe, a conductor on the Pennsylvania
and Reading Railroad.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Ranck were
Joseph and Martha (Graybill) Pfautz, farmers of
Lancaster county, of Swiss ancestry, while the ma-
ternal grandfather was Christian Reisener, who
married a Miss Smith ; the former came to America
from the city of Worms, Germany, when he was
young. His father had been a judge and the mayor
of that city.
ANDREW BAKER ROTE, proprietor of the
A. B. Rote Architectural & Structural Iron Works,
Lancaster, has had a phenomenal career as a manu-
facturer. He is descended from a family who have
lived in Lancaster for generations, and his father,
William Rote, was a locomotive builder in his
younger manhood, and now assists his son (A. B.)
in the Architectural Iron Works.
William Rote married Miss Mary A. Hartley,
whose people were from Carlisle, Cumberland
county. From this union nine children were born,
seven of whom are still living.
Andrew Baker Rote was born in Lancaster, Oct.
26, 1871, and was educated in the public schools.-
At a very early age, he became an apprentice at en-
graving, then entered a clothing store for a time,
next worked at making and engraving umbrella
handles, and at the age of fifteen went into the iron
business as an errand boy. He was promoted to
be draughtsman in the establishment, and at eigh-
teen vears became superintendent of the works.
Mr. Rote's next move was to start in the iron fence
and architectural iron business for himself. This
was in 1891, but the business gradually grew into
building and structural steel and iron work, and
the plant, located on East Chestnut street, soon be-
came too small for the rapidly growing trade. In
1898 Mr. Rote bought the Brady Edge Tool Works
at Cherry and Walnut streets, and after enlarging
and remodeling the place to his use, carried on
his business more extensively than ever. Among
the notable structures for which the A. B. Rote works
have supplied the iron and steel work are the Lan-
caster County Insane Asvlum, the Woolworth Build-
ing and the Woolworth Roof Garden, the new Y.
M' C a. Building, the American Caramel Company
Building, the new Science Building of Franklm &
Marshall College, the bridge and iron work for the
Armstrong Cork Works, all the steel work for the
Lancaster Electric Railway, Light and Power Co..
all the steel and iron work for the Pennsylvama
Railroad freight station at Lancaster, and the grand
entrances for St. Mary's and Greenwood cemeteries ;
and, at the time this .sketch was written (Jan. 1903)
thev had the contracts for the ^iron and steel work
of the annex to the Follmer-Clogg umbrella works.
all the fire escapes and iron stairways of "Hotel
Wheatland," and the structural steel and iron work
for the big annex to the Hamilton Watch Factory,
and the fine building which Frank B. Trout is erect-
ing next door to "Hotel Wheatland." These are
only a few of Mr. Rote's larger contracts in the
vicinity while among his out of town work may be
mentioned the beautiful .iron entrance at Lititz
Springs, and the fence and entrance to the Morris-
ville Cemetery near Trenton. So vast has this line
of work become, indeed, that Mr. Rote has opened
a large lot near his works for structural iron work,
and has secured a commodious warehouse on Wal-
nut street. As we write, he is engaged on the iron
and steel work for the new General Hospital of
Columbia, and the new General Hospital of Lan-
caster, as well as on the grand new entrance for
Lancaster cemetery. His career, in brief, has been
simply wonderful.
Mr. Rote was married, on April 4, 1893, to Lillie
M. Boehringer, a daughter of J. George Boehringer,
a well known citizen of Lancaster, and this union
has resulted in the birth of two children : Mary
Regina, aged eight years, and Andrew Herbert,
aged five years. They live in a cosy home at No.
no S. Ann street, which Mr'. Rote purchased early
in his married life. Religiously, the family is iden-
tified with Trinity Lutheran Church, while socially,
Mr. Rote is a member of the Lancaster Board of
Trade, the Young Republicans, Odd Fellows,
Knights of Malta, American Mechanics, Royal Ar-
canum, and Artisans. Politically, he is a stanch
Republican, and has served the people of the seventh
ward for one term in the common council, and has
been re-nominated for a second term, for he is as
popular politically as he is personally.
EZRA W. N EWCOMER, V. M. D., is one of the
leading veterinary surgeons of his section of Lan-
caster county, and, though yet a young man, has
by his skill won the confidence of his patrons in a
degree often attained only after years of successful
practice. Mr. Newcomer was born March 31, 1876,
in Rapho township, this county, where the family
has long resided.
His grandparents, Christ and Catherine (Niss-
ley) Newcomer, were natives of Manor township,
and settled on a farm in Rapho township, where they
died. Jacob N. Newcomer, the father of our subject,
was born July 28, 1835, in Rapho township, where
he still resides. He adopted his father's calling, has
been a life-long farmer, and owns a fine farm of 104
acres. Mr. Newcomer married Miss Barbara Weid-
man, who was born May 26, 1838, in Rapho town-
ship, daughter of Amos and Barbara (Suavely)
Weidman, farming people of Lancaster county.
Children as follows blessed this union: Elizabeth,
who died in infancy; Amos, a farmer of Mt. Joy
township ; David died March 23, 1902 ; Fanny, wife
of Henry Bear, a farmer of East Hempfield town-
1108
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ship ; Alice, wife of John E. Garber, a farmer of West
Donegal township; Levi, unmarried, who lives with
his parents ; Jacob, a farmer of East Donegal town-
ship; John, a farmer of East Hempfield township;
Barbara, who died April lo, 1902, wife of Ira Longe-
necker, a farmer of East Donegal township; and
Ezra W., whose name opens this sketch. The par-
ents are members of the Old Mennonite Church.
Mr. Newcomer is a Republican politically, and he
has served three years as supervisor of his town-
ship.
Ezra W. Newcomer remained on the home farm
until he was sixteen years of age, meantime receiv-
ing a practical education in the local public schools,
which he supplemented by one year's attendance
at the Millersyille State Normal School. He then
clerked a year in a drug store in Mt. Joy, spent the
following year on his father's farm, and at the end
of that time entered the University of Pennsylvania,
where he took a three years' course, graduating in
June, 1899, with the degree of V. M. D. He has
since been located in Mt. Joy, where he has devoted
himself to the practice of veterinary surgery, in
which he already enjoys a lucrative patronage. Mr.
Newcomer bids fair to establish himself among the
most respected and substantial citizens of the com-
munity, and toward that end he cannot do better than
to follow the example of his honored father. He is
a Republican politically.
Mr. Newcomer was married in April, 1900, to
Miss Minnie Breneman, of East Donegal township,
where the wedding took place. Her parents, Henry
and Harriet (Heidler) Breneman, natives of Lan-
caster county, reside in East Donegal ; he is a veter-
inary surgeon.
ABRAHAM E. BINKLEY is one of the bright
and progressive young men of the community in
which he lives, and belongs to an old honored fam-
ily of Lancaster county. The respected name
which he bears suffers no loss of credit in his in-
dustrious and useful life.
Mr. Binkley was born in Manor township, near
Safe Harbor, June 7, 1874, and is a son of David
and Mary Ann (Eshleman) Binkley, both of Manor
township. Reared on the farm, and educated in
the public schools, at the age of twenty years he
began life for himself, and worked a year in the
nursery of his father-in-law, Daniel D. Herr, of
Manor township ; then removing to a property he
had purchased at Neffsville, Manheim township,
which contained thirty-four acres. Since then he
has bought four acres more, and in 1898 erected
a beautiful modern residence, which is a credit to
the town. Here is his home, and his attention is
devoted to farming and dairying, as he has a milk
route in Lancaster. In 1901 he purchased a new
threshing outfit and is now threshing, crushing
stone, shredding fodder, etc., throughout his com-
munity.
Mr. Binkley was married Dec. 5, 1895, to Miss
Lizzie H. Herr, a daughter of Daniel D. Herr, the
noted nurseryman of Manor township. Mr. and
Airs. Binkley have a family of three children who are
living, and have lost one child. Their children are
as follows : Anna Mary ; Miles Lloyd, who is dead ;
Howard Melvin; Clarence Ray. Mr. and Mrs.
Binkley belong to the Mennonite Church, and are
esteemed and respected by all in the community for
their many good qualities.
ELDER HENRY B. HOFFER, a general
farmer of Rapho township, was born in Penn town-
ship Sept. 4, 1857, son of George and Mary (Baum-
berger) Hoffer, of Penn township.
George Hoffer, the father, died in Rapho town-
ship, Jan. 3, 1890, at the age of sixty-three years and
is buried in Hershey Meeting House cemetery,
Rapho township. During his younger lif? he worked
at the carpenter trade but afterwards bought a
farm and resided on it until his death. The widow
of George Hoffer was born March 9, 1831, and
resides in Manheim, Pa. Both the deceased and
his widow were members of the Mennonite Church.
They were the parents of the following children:
Fanny, wife of Abraham Summy, a Penn township
farmer ; Allen B., a Rapho township farmer, mar-
ried to Miss Fanny Hershey; Henry B., the subject
of this sketch ; Emanuel, a Rapho township farmer ;
and Cassie, wife of Joseph B. Ginder, a Mt. Joy
township farmer.
, Mr. Hoffer's paternal grandparents were Eman-
uel and Barbra Hoffer, of Lancaster county, the
family being of Swiss origin. His maternal grand-
parents were John and Elizabeth Baumberger, of
Penn township.
On Oct. 5, 1884, Elder Hoffer was married to
Miss Anna Shelley, of Rapho township, the cere-
mony being performed by Rev. Jacob M. Engle. No
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hoffer.
Mrs. Anna (Shelley) Hoffer was born in Rapho
township, in 1860 and is the sister of Mrs. A. M.
Sheetz, wife of Rev. A. M. Sheetz, of Rapho town-
ship.
Mr. Hoffer lived with his parents until the time
of his marriage, after which he sought various
farm employments in the vicinity. He then rented
a farm on shares and conducted it successfully for
three years. In 1888 he purchased his present home
place and has prospered finely with it. In 1892 Mr.
Hoffer was ordained a minister of the" Brethren in
Christ Church, of which he is a member, and in
1896 he was made an elder. In this church elders
have the same jurisdiction that a bishop of the
Mennonite Church holds. It is a very honorable
and responsible clerical office and is only bestowed
on the most capable men of the church. Elder
Hoffer has the esteem and confidence of the whole
community, irrespective of religious belief, for he
is tolerant and fair, in his views on all subjects,
secular or otherwise.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1109
WALTER C. HOWRY, for some years a car-
riage maker and blacksmith at Marietta, Lancas-
ter county, was born in Willow Street village, West
Lampeter township, this county, June i8, 1872, son
of Rev. Christian K. and Susan (Shroad)
Howry, of East and West Lampeter townships, re-
spectively. Christian Howry was a tailor by trade.
He was a pious and moral man by nature, and was
a Mennonite clergyman for twenty-seven years,
^ying' June, 1900, at the age of seventy-two years,
beloved by all who knew him. His widow, who
■now resides in Lancaster, is about sixty-nine years
old. The children born to Rev. Christian K.
Howry and his wife were ten in number, and were
as follows : Samuel, deceased ; Mary, unmarried,
who is residing with her mother ; Ernest, deceased ;
Tilly, widow of Hiram Horting, and now married
to Jacob Andes, a farmer and fruit-grower of
Ephrata ; John, deceased ; Edward, a truckman, of
East Lampeter township ; William, a carriage-
maker in Shiremanstown, Pa. ; Kate, wife of Martin
Weaver, a florist of East Lampeter township, Lan-
caster county ; Phebe, wife of Elmer Trout, of Lan-
caster : and Walter C. The paternal grandparents
of Walter C. Howry were Abraham and Elizabeth
(Keephart) Howry, farming people, and quite
prominent in West Lampeter township.
Walter C. Howry at the age of sixteen years
left his home and went to Paradise, Lancaster coun-
ty, and there served an apprenticeship of four years
at the blacksmith's trade with Jacob Winger. His
"time" completed, he went to Lancaster City, where
he worked seven years for Edward Edgerley. In
January, 1900, he came to Marietta and established
his blacksmith business, which he conducted very
successfully. Late in 1902 he went out of this busi-
ness to take his present position as foreman in the
automobile business at Chester, Delaware county.
In Soudersburg, Nov. 30, 1893, Mr. Howry mar-
ried Miss Ida M. Andrews, and to this union have
been born two children, Reba M. and Aaron D.
Mrs. Ida (Andrews) Howry was born in East
Lampeter township, in November, 1874, and is a
daughter of Christian F. and Mary A. (Dieffen-
baugh) Andrews, natives of the same township,
where the father, who was a shoemaker, passed
away Sept. 3, 1874, at the early age of thirty years.
Mrs. Howry was the sole off-spring of these par-
ents. Mrs. Andrews remarried, and is now the
wife of Aarbn Denlinger, a retired farmer of East
Lampeter, but to this union no children have been
born.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Howry were
Daniel and Catherine (Farrie) Andrews, of Cum-
berland, and East Lampeter township, 'Lancaster
county: Daniel was a school teacher and farmer,
and a son of Peter Andrews, a native of Germany,
and a Mennonite preacher. The maternal grand-
parents were Abraham ' K., and Fanny (Hess)
Dieffenbaugh, of East Lampeter township, the for-
mer of whom was a farmer and a son of Harry
Dieffenbaugh, of Lancaster county, and whose par-
ents were born in .Switzerland.
In politics Mr. Howry is a Republican. He is
an expert mechanic and through his accommodat-
ing disposition he secured a very large patronage.
DAVID L. GLATFELTER is a great-great-
grandson of Casper Glattfelder, who was a son of
Felix Glattfelder and Barbara Gorins, and a grand-
son of Hans Glattfelder, who for many years held
the office of Ammann (the president and sheriff)
in the town of Glattfelden, Canton Zurich, Switzer-
land, in the very early days of the seventeenth cen-
tury. The family comes remotely from Celtic
sources, deriving the name from "Feld der Glatt," a
branch of the River Rhine. Prof. Dr. Daendliker,
of Zurich, the well-known Swiss historian, says:
'We find the name connected with the earliest his-
tory of the community, as also of the parish church
at Glattfelden. Recent investigation shows that the
town of Glattfelden was founded by the ancestors
of Casper, where they held important offices." The
name is still well represented there.
Casper Glattfelder was born in 1709, at Glatt-
felden, and in 1843 came with his wife to America.
They journeyed down the Rhine to Rotterdam,
where they took passage in the "Francis and Eliza-
beth," and arrived in due time at Philadelphia,
where he qualified as a citizen Aug. 30, 1743. [Sec.
Archives of Pennsylvania, Vol. 17, 2d Series] Cas-
per Glattfelder settled in Springfield township, York
county, which was then a part of Lancaster county,
p.nd applied himself to his trade of millwright,
which was perhaps the most valuable at that time
in the Colonies. Five sons were born to him, and
four of these bore arms in the Revolution.
Casper Glattfelder, Jr., the great-grandfather of
David L., served in the 5th Company, 7th Battalion,
under command of Capt. John Erman and Col.
David Kennedy. His three brothers, Michael,
Henry and Felix were enrolled in the 6th Company
under Capt. George Geiselman. Casper Glattfelder,
Jr., was in his lifetime a very extensive real estate
owner, and followed farming the greater part of
his life. In religion he was a member of the Re-
formed Church. He was the father of six sons
and two daughters.
John Glattfelder, grandfather of David L., was
a millwright, and there are miMs in this part of
Pennsylvania which are still in operation that show
the character of his handiwork. To him were born
four children, of whom Isaac K., the youngest, was
the father of David L.
Isaac K. Glatfelter was born in 1825, and in
early life taught school. He took an active part
in establishing the free school system. His wife,
Sarah Feiser, daughter of Peter Feiser, a much re-
spected farmer, bore him nine children, of whom
David L. was the youngest.
1110
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
David L. Glatfelter was born Feb. 29, 1872.
After completing his education he taught school
for a time. In 1890 he accepted a position in the
Drovers' and Mechanics' National Bank of York,
Pa., and in 1892 he was elected a clerk in the First
National Bank of Columbia, where he filled the
position of discount clerk for a number of years.
When the Columbia Trust Company was organized
he became its teller, and is still continued in that'
position, which he ably fills. He is secretary of the
Home Building and Loan Association and is vari-
ously connected with other local enterprises. Known
throughout this part of the county as an enterpris-
ing and pushing business man, he is esteemed alike
for his manly character, business integrity and gen-
ial disposition.
Mr. Glatfelter was married in 1893 to Anna L.,
a daughter of H. M. Crider, bookseller and pub-
lisher . of York, Pa. They have three children :
David, born in 1895; Frank, 1896; and Sarah,
1899.
MISS MAGGIE E. McCOMMON, a retired
lady of Colerain township, Lancaster county, was
born in this township, in Feb., 1853, and is a daughter
of Joseph and Catherine (Hays) McCommon.
Joseph McCommon was born in Colerain town-
ship, June 13, 1813, while his wife was born in
Little Britain, in June, 18 15. She was a daughter
of John and Margaret (Clendenin) Hays, and came
of a Scotch-Irish "parentage.
Joseph McCommon was the son of James and
Elizabeth (Patterson) McCommon, who were among
the first settlers of Colerain township. He cleared
a farm and erected a home where some of his de-
scendants still live. They left a family of five sons
and three daughters, (i) Samuel married Isabella
Ross, of Chester county ; they lived in Colerain town-
ship some years, and then moved to Oxford, Ches-
ter county, where they died, leaving a family of
children : James, of Oxford ; Ross, of East Drumore ;
Petterson, who died in Colerain ; Howard, of Marys-
ville. Mo. ; Samuel, of Virginia ; Leal B., who died in
Colerain ; Lester R., who lived and died in Virginia ;
Jemima R., of West Grove, Chester county. (2)
James McCommon died unmarried. (3) Robert died
in Ohio. (4) John died on the old homestead. (5)
Mary married Hugh McConnell, and moved with
him to Ohio, where she died. (6) Margaret married
Alexander Morri.*>n, and died at their home near
Kings Bridge, leaving five children: Rev. James,
of Washington ; Dr. Joseph, of Marvville, Mo. ;
Samuel, who died in Missouri ; Alexander, of Little
Britain; Annie E., widow of E. King, of Little
Britain. (7) Eliza McCommon died a maiden lady
at Oxford. (8) Joseph was the father of Miss Mc-
Common.
Joseph McCommon grew to manhood on the
farm, and was educated in the home schools and the
Hopewell Academy, where he received a fine classical
training, and for a number of years was a popular and
successful teacher. After his marriage he purchased
the farm where Miss McCommon lives today. There
he died in 1894, his wife having passed to her reward
in Dec, 1893. Both Mr. and Mrs. McCommon were
active members of the Presbyterian Church, where
he was an elder for a number of years. In the build-
ing and founding of the present church of that faith
in LTnion, he was actively interested, and always con-
tributed to its support. In politics he was a Demo-
crat, and held local offices during his life. They
left one daughter, Maggie.
Miss Maggie E. McCommon received her educa-
tion in the Union high school, and was a young lady
of more than ordinary culture and character. She
has always remained at home, and before the death
of her parents took charge of the farm, and continued
its management. She was a tender, loving and duti-
ful daughter, and gave her parents every atten-
tion in their declining years. She is a member, of
the Presbyterian Church, and is greatly esteemed
in the community for her many good qualities and
characteristics.
JOHN M. YOUNG, of Lancaster, a notable ex-
ample of a self-made man, was born in Philadelphia,
Aug. II, 1872, son of William L. Young, a native of
Philadelphia, whose father came from Hamburg^
Germany, to settle in the Quaker City. William L.
Young was engaged for twenty-seven years as a
horse dealer in Easton, and later in' Allentown.
John M. Young received a limited public school
education as a boy, and the broader and deeper knowl-
edge which he now enjoys, is the result of his own
efforts in his battle with the world. When he reached
the age of eleven years, he began his career in life as
an errand boy in a store, where he earned a dollar a.
week and his breakfast, his day's work beginning at
five o'clock in the morning. At the age of fourteen
years he attended a business college, working for a
crockery house before and after his school' hours.
Completing his course at the end of a year, this in-
dustrious youth assisted the management of the
school in the night sessions, but worked during the
day to earn a little more money. Beginning as an
errand and general utility boy in one of the stores
of the Grand Union Tea Company, he worked his
way up until he became a manager, remaining with
this company for twelve years, five of which were
spent in Lancaster.
On Sept. 30, 1899, Mr. Young resigned, and in
company with George R. and E. R. Heisey, of Mari-
etta, he established the H. Y. H. Tea and Coffee
store, at No. 114 North Queen street. In this busi-
ness William L. Young, mentioned above, took part
as an assistant. The business greW" so rapidly that
inside of a year it was converted into a department
tea and coffee store, introducing brands and grades
of goods never before offered to the Lancaster pub-
lic, the firm thus becoming educators and pioneers.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
nil
In this departure from old time methods, Mr. Young
was cheerfully and gladly sustained by the public.
Late in the summer of 1901, after having been in
business about two years, the H. Y. H. Tea and Cof-
fee Company closed its affairs, and retired from busi-
ness. Mr. Young was recalled by the Grand Union
Tea and Cofifee Company and again became the man-
ager of their Lancaster store, a frontier he had held
before with so great credit to himself and with so
much satisfaction to the company.
PETER A. KRODEL, Among the prominent
and enterprising business citizens of Columbia none
are better or more favorably known than Peter A.
Krodel, who conducts one of the largest mercantile
houses in the city, his line including dry-goods, mil-
linery, cloaks and notions.
Mr. Krodel was born in Columbia, March 29,
1844, son of Conrad and Anna Dorothea (EUer)
Krodel, who were born in Bavaria, Germany, Dec.
•22, 1794, and July 2, 1800, respectively. In 181 2
Conrad Krodel was conscripted, and he served six
years in the Prussian army, seeing some hard ser-
vice until the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1818
he was honorably discharged, and returned home.
Some years later he married. In the fall of 1837 he
started for America with his family, landing at New
York, Jan. i, 1838, and arriving at Columbia, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., a week later. There. he made his
home until 1848, when he moved his family to York
county, and there engaged in farming until 1865,
when he sold out and moved back to Columbia, where
he died in 1867. The mother survived until 1876.
Both were buried in Mt. Bethel cemetery. During
life both father and mother were active and consist-
ent members of the German Lutheran Church, in
which they were beloved and respected. Three chil-
dren were born to them: Margaret, who died in
1856; John J., who died in 1891, in Elizabethtown,
where he was well known as a most reliable carpen-
ter and builder ; and Peter A.
Peter A. Krodel spent his early years on a farm,
but, his natural inclination has never been toward an
agricultural life. When he was but four years old
his parents moved to York county, where he re-
mained until 1862, at which time he engaged with
Jacob Sneath, then living at Mountville, to learn the
carpenter's trade, at which he continued until 1876.
He then opened up a grocery business, successfully
conducting the same until 1880, when his energy and
enterprise induced him to open up the magnificent
store which is an adornment to the town. He car-
ries on a business of which Columbia is proud, and
has built up a trade very gratifying to himself. His
relations with his customers are such that he has
gained their confidence, a feeling which is con-
stantly on the increase.
Mr. Krodel was married in Columbia, in Octo-
ber, 1872, to Miss Emily F. Fischer, and the follow-
ing named children have been born to this union:
Mary and Delia, who died in infancy; Anna, who
died at the age of seven; Florence, who died in in-
fancy; Charles, who died at the age of four; and
Charles F. and T. Johnson, the latter of whom has
been organist of St. Paul's P. E. Church since the
age of seventeen, and is an accomplished musician,
both on the piano and pipe organ. Charles is a fine
violinist, and leader of Krodel Brothers Orchestra;
both the boys are bright and intelligent, and are par-
ticularly gifted in music.
Mrs. Krodel was born in Columbia, on the same
block in. which she now lives, daughter of John and
Barbara (Siebert) Fischer, of Mecklenburg and
Bavaria, Germany, respectively, the former of whom
located in Columbia, where he followed his trade of
cabinetmaker, polisher and engraver, and was con-
sidered a finished workman. His death occurred at
the age of fifty-eight, his widow surviving until
1899 ; she was seventy-three'at the time of her death.
Mr. Fischer was a man of wealth and prominence
in his native country. He was much missed, and
was buried in Mt. Bethel cemetery. He and his wife
had been connected with the Lutheran Church, in
which they were known as worthy and deservedly
esteemed people. The children of Mr. and Mrs.
Fischer were: Mary, who married Charles F.
Eager, of Columbia ; Emily F., Mrs. Krodel ; Lydia,
who died at the age of twenty; and Barbara, who
lived to be but two. The paternal grandparents of
Mrs. Krodel were Ernest and Magdalena (Schroe-
der) Fischer, of Mecklenburg, Germany, where they
lived out thir lives, and were people of wealth and
prominence ; all the relations surviving are there yet
and occupy important stations both socially and po-
litically.
Mr. Krodel has been connected with the Masonic
fraternity for over thirty years, being a past officer in
Chapter, Commandery and Illustrious Order of the
Red Cross of Rome and Constantine. Although the
family are not formally connected with the Lutheran
Church, they worship there, and are most generous
and willing contributors to all its charities.
CHRISTIAN HERSHEY was in his fife time
one of the well-known men of Paradise township,
where his industrious habits, honest character and
genial disposition made him one of the leading farm-
ers of that portion of Lancaster county.
Mr. Hershey was born in Leacock township. May
7, 1813, son of Christian, Sr., and Susie (Hershey)
Hershey, and died May 15, 1895. All his earlier
years were spent in his parents' home. His first
marriage occurred in February, 1837, when Batbara
Stauffer became his wife. She became the mother
of four children : Susie and Henry, both deceased ;
Isaac, who died at the age of thirty-two years ; and
Annie, wife of Samuel Denlinger, of Paradise town-
ship. Mrs. Hershey died in 1844, and Christian
Hershey was married in 1845 to his second wife,
Magdalena Metzler, a daughter of Christian and
1112
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Nancy (Werner) Metzler; she was born in Cones-
toga township, Oct. 12, 1824, and is still living.
When she was a little girl the family moved into
Paradise township, where her life has since been
passed. Christian Hershey followed farming until
he retired, which he did some years before his death.
One of the successful farmers of Lancaster county,
he was widely known as an upright and kind-hearted
man.
Christian Hershey and his wife Magdalena
had the following family:- Lizzie, who died at
the age of sixteen years ; Barbara, wife of Elani
Brockhill, of Paradise township; Mary, wife of
Christian Brockhill, collector of Paradise township ;
Abraham, who resides in Detroit, Mich., where he
is engaged in the furniture business (he married
Martha Cling) ; Christian, who died in infancy ; Ben-
jamin, a retired farmer, living at Gordonville, where
he is a member of the school board ; Magdalena, at
home ; Hettie, who died in childhood ; Sarah, wife
of Levi Wenger, of Gordonville ; Israel, a resident
of Lancaster, who married Magdalena Eaby ; Joseph,
who married Magdalena Hershey, and resides at
Paradise ; and Amos, who married Miss Sarah
Grofif, and resides in the old home in Paradise town-
ship, where he is a tax collector.
Mr. Hershey, his wife, and all their children with
the exception of three, joined the Old Mennonite
Church. Two of the three belong to the Reformed
Mennonite Church, and all are counted among the
very best people of this part of Lancaster county.
There are thirty-one grandchildren in the family, and
are all bright and intelligent young people, giving
promise of success and honor in life. '
WILLIAM LLOYD JACKSON, a retired
farmer of Christiana, is a son of James and Abigail
(Rakestraw) Jackson, who were born in Chester
county, Pa., and in 1843 settled in Bart township,
Lancaster county. The father was a farmer. He
died in April, 1881, at the age of seventy-two years,
and the mother was seventy-one at the time of her
death, in October, 1881. They were members of the
Society of Friends, in which the father was a min-
ister for some twenty years. They had the follow-
ing children: Mary, who married Joseph Brocius,
of Chester county. Pa. ; Thomas, who died at the age
of two years ; Eliza, deceased, who married Thomas
Baker; Edith, who died young; Lydia, who mar-
ried James Brinton ; William L., whose name ap-
pears above ; Ellwood, a farmer at Nine Points, Lan-
caster county ; and James J., a farmer in Lancaster
county.
William Lloyd Jackson was married March 23,
1865, at the home of the bride, in Sadsbury township,
to Lydia Walter. Children as follows were born to
this union : Hannah married Charles Maule, a
farmer in Sadsbtiry township, by whom she has
three children : James died at the age of nineteen ;
Mary married John Morris, and lives in Chester
county ; Elsie married Gilbert Everson, a farmer in
Sadsbury township; Jessie Walter is attending the
University of Michigan ; George Walter is at home.
Mrs. Lydia (Walter) Jackson was born in Chester
county, daughter of George H. Walter, and sister
of B. F. Walter, a leading citizen of Christiana.
William L. Jackson lived with his parents until
his marriage, when he began farming in Sadsbury
township. Twenty years later he bought the property
upon which he now resides. He has led a useful
life. He owns three good farms, and is one of the
thrifty and provident farmers whose industry and
integrity have greatly raised the level of agriculture
in Lancaster county. For more than twenty years
Mr. Jackson has filled the position of school director,
and he has taken a' lively interest in every move and
enterprise looking to the common good and the wel-
fare of all. He is a member of the Society of
Friends, and in politics is a Republican.
ROLANDUS BRUBAKER, a most worthy rep-
resentative of an old and honored family of Lancaster
county, and an esteemed citizen of Martic township,
was born in Providence township Jan. 27, 1827, son
of John and Martha (Sides) Brubaker.
John Brubaker, the father, was born in 1800, and
died in 1855. He married Martha Sides, of another
old family of the county, and they had ten children,
nine of whom grew to maturity: George, of Lan-
caster ; Rolandus ; Barbara, deceased ; John, of Mar-
tic township; Susan, wife of Thomas Lebozier, of
Martic township ; Henry, of Martic township ; Ben-
jamin (a twin brother of Henry), who died in 1863,
in the army; Martha M., wife of David Kreider of
Martic; and Fannie, wife of John Alexander.
Rolandus Brubaker is one of the substantial and
highly respected men of Martic township, and his
long and honorable life of adherence to duty teaches
its own lesson and shows its reward. His early ef-
forts were carried on with very limited means, and
when the country needed his services he put aside
his own interests and became, in 1863, one of her
defenders. He served in the soth P. V. I., in the
Army of the Potomac, and made a fine record as a
soldier. Subsequently he became a successful farm-
er, and he is entitled to his life of ease in retirement
from activity, having worked hard to accumulate
his ample means. His large, well improved farm
contains 223 acres, well stocked.
In 1849 Mr. Brubaker married Miss Jane Stew-
ard, who was born in 1829, and died in 1897, daugh-
ter of Thdmas and Margaret (Nelson) Steward, of
Lancaster county. Four children came to this
union, namely: William, born in 1850, is an engi-
neer, and lives in Cleveland, Ohio; Oscar D., born
in 1855, married Miss Dora McGuigeon, of Martic
township, and has charge of the old home place;
John T., born in 1857, is a blacksmith of Mt. Nebo,
and prominent in local politics; Harry C, born in
1868, is a resident of Lancaster.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1113
In politics Mr. Brubaker is a stanch Republican.
He has long been a member of the M. E. Church of
Mt. Nebo. He is held in the highest esteem in his
community as a man of integrity, of charitable im-
pulses, and of exalted Christian character, one who
numbers the best in his neighborhood among his
warmest personal friends.
_ GEORGE W. GRESS, a well-known resident
of Columbia, Lancaster county, and a conductor on
the Pennsylvania railroad, was born on a farm in
Franklin county, Pa., Dec. i8, 1845, son of George
and Mary (Thomas) Gress, the former of whom was
born in Germany and the latter in Franklin county,
Pennsylvania.
George Gress, the father, was born in 181 o, and
came to America when a young man with two broth-
ers, one of whom was Adam. George was a shoe-
maker and farmer. He was married in Franklin
county, Pa., and to this union were born nine chil-
dren, in the following order : John, who died in
Salisbury prison, N. C, during the war of the Re-
bellion ; Sarah, deceased wife of Jacob Weiser ; Mar-
garet, married to Abram Zimmerman, a farmer of
Ironville, Pa. ; George W., whose name opens this
sketch, Catherine T., of Columbia, widow of Henry
C. Long ; Peter C, a physician in Atchison, Kans. ;
Ellen M., unmarried, and a resident of Philadelphia ;
Matilda, deceased wife of Frederick Stotts; and
Hezekiah, of Mechanicsburg. George Gress, the
father of this family, passed away in 1885, a member
of the German Reformed Church, and his wife died
in 1889, when sixty-nine years old.
The paternal grandfather of Mr. Gress, also
named George, was sixteen years in the German
army as cavalryman, was an officer, and died in his
native land. The maternal grandparents were Sam-
uel and Sarah (Ballow) Thomas, of Franklin coun-
ty, Pa., the former of Irish parentage.
George W. Gress, whose name opens this sketch,
lived on the home farm until twenty years old, and
then worked on a farm in Illinois for two years.
Coming east again he worked in a tannery two years,
and on Oct. 18, 1870, took up his home in Columbia,
entering the employ of the Pennsylvania Railway
Company as brakeman and flagman ; he filled these
positions ten years, and was then promoted to con-
ductor.
On Nov. 12, 1874, in Lancaster, Mr. Gress mar-
ried Miss Mary B. Hiestand, and to this marriage
have been born five children, viz. : Minnie Kathryne
was married, Jan. 30, 190T, to Daniel Webster Mere-
dith, of New York; Harvey Hiestand enlisted in
1898 in Co. G, 4th United States Infantry, for three
years, and served three years in the Philippine Isl-
ands, in that command and in Co. G, 21st Infantry,
receiving an honorable discharge June 3, 1902;
Elizabeth Mae, Anna Mary and Charles W. are at
home.
Mrs. Mary E. (Hiestand) Gress was born in
West Hempfield township, Lancaster county, Oct.
II, 1847, daughter of Jacob D. and Mary (Bruck-
hart) Hiestand, both of Lancaster county, th£ for-
mer of whom was a prosperous farmer. Mr. and
Mrs. Hiestand had three children, namely: Eliza-
beth, who died young; Mary B., now Mrs. George
W. Gress; and Martha B., unmarried, and a resi-
dent of Freeport, 111. Mr. Hiestand died in August,
1849, at the early age of twenty-eight years, and his
wife died in November, 1851, aged twenty-six years.
The paternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Gress
v/as a patriot in the war of the Revolution, and her
paternal grandparents, John and Susan (Gamber)
Hiestand, were farming people in Lancaster county,
as were also her maternal grandparents, John and
Martha (Krider) Bruckhart.
Mr. Gress and his family are members of the
German Reformed Church, arid in politics he is a
Republican. Socially the family are held in very
high esteem, and each member is individually
respected for his or her personal merits.
CHRISTIAN G. CARPENTER, a prosperous
cigar manufacturer and farmer of Brunnerville, is
descended from an old German family of Lancaster
county. His grandfather, who lived and died in the
county, was the father of the following named chil-
dren: Mary, Mrs. Weidner; George, a farmer of
Warwick township ; Jacob, who was engaged in gen-
eral work; and Emanuel, the father of Christian G.
Emanuel Carpenter was born in 18 12 in Warwick
township. He learned the carpenter's trade in early
life, and followed it until about 1868, during the re-
mainder of his active life keeping hotel at Brunner-
ville and Warwick. He died in February, 1896.
Mr. Carpenter married Miss Fianna Good, and they
became the parents of nine children : Mary, wife of
Levi Kemper; Frank, deceased, who kept hotel at
Warwick and Brunnerville ; Joseph, deceased, who
was a carpenter by trade ; Samuel, of Kansas, also a
carpenter ; Christian G. ; Rebecca, wife of John B.
Graybill; Emanuel, who was employed at general
work; Josephine, wife of George Hallacker; and
Catherine, who died in infancy.
Christian G. Carpenter was born in Brownstown,
Lancaster county, Sept. 11, 1841, and lived at home
until he was seventeen years old. He was educated
in the common schools of the county. On begin-
ning' life for himself he clerked two years for Bare
& Hissill, in Oregon, this county, and there, at the
call of his country, he enlisted, Sept. 21, 1861, in Co.
F, 9th Pa. Cavalry, for three years. He was mus-
tered out of the service in Harrisburg Jan. 5, 1865.
After a short vacation he went to work for the Penn-
sylvania Railway Co., at his trade, in Philadelphia,
and continued thus for about twenty years. The
next two years he spent in the oil regions of Penn •
sylyania. In 1893 he moved to his present place of
residence, where he has carried on cigar manufactur-
ing and farming, meeting with good success. Mr.
1114
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Carpenter is a member of the Artisans Order of Mu-
tual Protection, in Philadelphia. In religious con-
nection he is a member of the M. E. Church, and act-
ive in its work, being superintendent of the Sunday-
school.
Mr. Carpenter ranks among the best citizens of
his locality, and takes high standing in business,
social and church circles. He was married to Miss
Elizabeth, daughter of Seth and Hannah Buck-
waiter, of Lancaster county, and to this union have
been born two children: Florence May, born Dec.
7, 1867, who lives at home; and Stella La June, born
Jan. 31, 1875, wife of John M. Reighter, of Carlisle,
Pennsylvania.
JOHN KESSLER, a blacksmith and coach-
maker at Kinzer's, Lancaster county, was born in
Soudersburg, this county, Sept. 5, 1857, a son of
David and Mary (Myres) 'Kessler. The mother,
who still survives, is now aged seventy-six years.
The father died at the age of sixty-eight years, in
1892, at the home of his son John. David Kessler
was born in Lancaster county, and was a son of Leo-
nard Kessler, who came from Germany, was a wheel-
wright by trade, and carried on that business for
years at Soudersburg, finally selling out to his son
David (noted above as the father of John) , who con-
tinued the business for years. Finally selling out,
he bought a farm in Salisbury township, containing
some eighty acres, not far from Cambridge. To this
he added a small tract, and there he made his home
as long as he lived. He and his wife belonged to the
Presbyterian Church at Pequea, Salisbury township.
Mrs. Kessler was born in Berks county, Pa. ' To Mr.
and Mrs. Kessler were born the following family:
Lizzie, the wife of Henry Gault, of Cambridge,
Amos, a blacksmith, of Cambridge (he married Miss
Abbie Obenkirk) ; John ; DoUie, the wife of William
Witman, of Mast, Salisbury township ; Ida, who
married Jacob Fisher, of Chester county, and is de-
ceased ; Harry, who went to blacksmithing in 1877,
and died in 1878, aged eighteen years; Susie, who
died unmarried ; and Sallie, who died in infancy.
John Kessler was reared on the farm, and re-
ceived his education in the public schools. When he
was eighteen he began to learn the blacksmith's
trade, which he mastered, and then located, in 1879,
in Buena Vista, where he carried on his trade for
seven years. His second location was at Kinzer's,
where he is still engaged in business. There he pur-
chased ground and erected a building for the manu-
facture of carriages and all kinds of vehicles. He
thoroughly understands his trade, and his own work
is rated very highly. He has done as much as, or
more than, any other man in the town in the way of
building up the village, having erected three dwell-
ing houses and a large shop.
John Kessler was married, Dec. 23, 1878, to Miss
Mary Skiles, who was reared in the family of Samuel
S. Kauffman, of Kinzer's, and to this union have
come two daughters, Laura Amanda and Sarah
Emma, the latter of whom died in infancy ; they also
have adopted a son, Charles Fisher. Mr. and Mrs.
Kessler are members of the Gap Methodist Church,
of which he has served as a trustee for fifteen years.
They are associated with the best elements of the
community in which they live.
REV. CLEVELAND FRAME, the present pas-
tor of Pequea Presbyterian Church, was ordained in
1897. He was born in Philadelphia, a son of Sam-
uel and Mary (Armstrong) FrameJ who still reside
in that city, and to whom have been born eight chil-
dren, as follows: William, who died in infancy;
Sadie H., wife of Jacob Sieman, of Wilmington,
Del., now deceased ; William James, Mary and Sam-
uel, who died in infancy; Rev. Cleveland; Asher,
living in Philadelphia; and Elwood T., living at
Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.
Rev. Cleveland Frame was educated primarily
in the public schools of Philadelphia, which he at-
tended until thirteen years old, and was then em-
ployed in a retail dry-goods store for five years, and
for two years was employed in a wholesale dry-goods
house. He left the mercantile world at the end of
that time and prepared for college at Rittenhouse
Academy, in Philadelphia, and, in 1890, entered
Princeton College, from which he graduated in 1894 ;
he then entered Princeton Theological Seminary, and
graduated from there in 1897. During his theologi-
cal course he also did post-graduate work in Prince-
ton College, and in 1896 had conferred upon him the
degree of M. A. In 1896, also, he was licensed to
preach by the Philadelphia Presbytery, and in 1897
he was ordained in Lancaster by the Westminster
Presbytery and assumed his present charge, which
includes the librarianship of the John McAlly Li-
brary, in South Hermitage, for which he purchases
all the literary matter.
In 1897 Rev. Cleveland Frame was married to
Miss Mary Robinson Hunter, who was born in Phil-
adelphia, and is the daughter of Charles and Cather-
ine (Robinson) Hunter. The mother is now de-
ceased and the father resides in Philadelphia. To
Mr. and Mrs. Hunter were born five children : Mar-
garet, wife of Rev. Robert H. Kirk, pastor of the
Union Church of Colerain township; Andrew, a
physician, living at McKeesport, Pa. ; Mary R., the
wife of Rev. Cleveland Frame ; Catherine and Robert
J., living in Philadelphia.
MARTIN K. BRU BAKER. In reviewing the
prominent and representative men of Mt. Joy the
name of Martin K. Brubaker comes to the front, as
a successful farmer, tobacco raiser and cider manu-
facturer, as well as one of the most highly respected
citizens of the locality. Through ancestry and mar-
riage Mr. Brubaker is connected with some of the
oldest and most honorable families of Lancaster
countv.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1115
Martin K. Brubaker was born in Warwick town-
ship Nov. II, 1854, son of Jonas and Leah G. (Kel-
lar) Brubaker, the former of whom was a prominent
farmer in his township, and served as a school di-
rector. He was a consistent member of the Men-
nonite Church. He died in Warwick township May
10, i8q7, at the age of seventy-one years, nine months,
eighteen days, his widow only surviving until Dec.
18, 1897, when she passed away at the age of sixty-
six years, eight months, twelve days ; both were laid
to rest in Erb's cemetery, in Warwick township.
The children born to these good people were : Na-
thaniel, a cider manufacturer of Warwick township ;
Catherine, who died young; Clement, a retired far-
mer of East Donegal township; Anna, who died
young; Martin K. ; Elizabeth; who resides on the
old homestead ; Barbara, who died young ; Levy,
who resides on the old homestead with his sister;
and Jonas, who died young.
None of the retired farmers of Brunnerville, this
county, enjoyed more respect than did Joseph and
Mary (Bucher) Brubaker, Mr. Brubaker's paternal
grandparents. His maternal grandparents, Fred-
erick and Magdalina (Gross) Kellar, were highly
esteemed among the farming people in the neighbor-
hood of Lititz.
The life of Mr. Brubaker has been almost en-
tirely devoted to agricultural pursuits. Born and
reared on a farm, he remained at home until he was
twenty-five years old, and then removed to one of his
father's farms, in East Donegal township, where he
remained for three years. He then came to Mt. Joy
and entered upon the business of tobacco farming,
which he pursued for a number of years very suc-
cessfully. In 1900 he again resumed tobacco farm-
ing, and has been very successful in his culture of
that plant. In 1887 he engaged in the manufacture
of cider on a large scale, placing a very fine article
on the market. Since 1883 the family has resided
upon the present location, which is one of the most
desirable in the neighborhood.
Martin K. Brubaker was married Oct. 30, 1879,
on the old farm, to Miss Anna Bear, and the follow-
ing named children have been born to this union:
Irvin B., born March 29, 1881 ; Nathan B., Oct. 20,
1884; Edwin B., March 4, 1887; Jonas B., June 7,
1889; Samuel B., Aug. 17, 1891 ; Ruth B., March
18, 1897; and Anna Vesta, June 17, 1901. All are
under the parental roof, a happy, united family.
Mrs. Anna (Bear) Brubaker was born in Mt.
Joy July 22, 1861, the estimable daughter of Samuel
and Anna A. (Lane) Bear, of near Lititz, and of
Manheim township, respectively. Samuel Bear came
to Mt. Joy in 1857, and followed the trade of mill-
ing, dying there "in 1866, at the age of thirty. The
mother of Mrs. Brubaker died in Manheim township
in 1875, at the age of thirty-eight, and both were
buried in the township where their last days were
passed, the former in Donegal, the latter in Man-
heim. The mother was a devout and consistent
member of the U. B. Church. By her first marriage
she had two children : Anna, Mrs. Brubaker, and
Frances M., who married Amos R. Nissley, a retired
farmer of Florin. Mrs. Bear married for her second
husband John Keehler, and became the mother of
three children : Alice, who married Milton Landis,
a farmer of Hinkletown ; Elizabeth, who died young ;
and John, a farmer of this county. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. Brubaker were Gabriel and
Anna (Rudy) Bear, of Chester county, the former
of whom was a son of Samuel and Barbara (Weaver)
Bear. The maternal grandparents were Abraham
and Anna (Long) Lane, farming people of Manheim
township.
Mr. Brubaker has always taken an intelligent in-
terest in matters of public policy, and has voted with
the Republican party, and both he and his wife are
among the leading members of the Mennonite
Church.
JOHN B. MYLIN, deceased. On Sept. 17, 1899,
there passed from life one of the representative men
of Lancaster county, a member of the old and hon-
orable family of West Lampeter township. Mr.
Mylin was born in the old Mylin homestead in Wil-
lowstreet, Nov. 10, 1809, when the nineteenth cen-
tury was still young, and lived a long and useful
life, at the close of which the esteem in which he
was held was only equaled by the love and affection
he had inspired, not only in his own family, but
throughout the community.
John B. Mylin was a son of Abraham and Eliza-
beth (Barr) Mylin, was reared on the farm, and was
the only one of the five sons who clung to the soil.
Others went out into the world in search of careers,
but he found a congenial life occupation in farming
and the raising of stock, and in time became one of
the leading agriculturists of the county. His delight
was in fine horses, and his finely bred animals were
noted for their excellent points. John B. Mylin re-
ceived his education in the public schools, in which
he ever after took a deep interest, and he served on
the board of education for a period of twelve years.
Of a genial, pleasant disposition, he made many
friends, and was known for his generosity and ben-
evolence. His massive frame and agreeable person-
ality made him a noticeable figure among his neigh-
bors, by whom he was affectionately styled "Uncle
John." He was a man of strong convictions, and as
a Republican he never left any one in doubt as to his
party affiliations. Delighting in the best farm, the
best cattle and the finest horses in West Lampeter
township, John B. Mylin, in 1884, erected one of
the finest houses in his section of the country, in the
village of Willowstreet, where he lived until his deaths
at which time he was a consistent member of the
Old Mennonite Church.
John B. Mylin married Mattie Stehman, the only
daughter of Tobias and Mattie Stehman, of Cones-
toga township, who was born June 26, 1819, and died
1116
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
March 2, 1888. A family of four chilaren survived
them: Henry S. married Levinia M. Hoover, and
at the time of his death was a farmer ; Aldus C. is a
farmer on the old homestead in West Lampeter town-
ship ; Martha E. was married Dec. 7, 1892, to Abra-
ham Lincoln Eshbach ; and Amanda C. married Mar-
tin Lefever, of West Lampeter township.
Abraham L. Eshbach was born at Millersville,
Lancaster Co., Pa., son of Michael and Anna R.
CHaverstick) Eshbach, the former of whom died
Oct. I, 1879; the latter, who still survives, is a resi-
dent of Lancaster city. The father was born in Mil-
lersville, and was reared there and educated in the
public schools. Later he adopted farming as his
vocation, and became one of the representative ag-
riculturists of his section'. He was a lifelong member
of the Old Mennonite Church, as was also his wife,
and both were noted for their admirable traits of
character. Michael Eshbach' married Anna R. Hav-
erstick, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Rush)
Haverstick, and to them were born seven children:
Jacob, who is a resident of Lancaster city ; Elizabeth,
also a resident of that city ; Katie, who died in child-
hood; Teressa, deceased, who was the wife of F. F.
Able, and died at the age of forty-seven; John, a
farmer of Martic township ; Isaac, a farmer of Provi-
dence township ; and Abraham Li
Abraham L. Eshbach was reared at Millersville
and remained with his parents until the age of ma-
turity, when he engaged in farming for himself, lo-
cating at NefTsville. There he continued for five
years, after which he accepted a position as clerk
in a general store in the city of Reading, Pa., where
lie was engaged for three years. Coming then to
Willow street, he opened up a general' mercantile
husiness, and for four years successfully conducted
the same. Two years after his location in that place
lie was appointed postmaster at Willowstreet, which
position he has held continuously ever since 1893.
The cares of his office and of the conduct of his large
farm induced Mr. Eshbach to dispose of his stock of
^oods. As the owner of 230 acres of some of the
finest land in Lancaster county, and as one of the
largest stock and cattle raisers of the locality, he
is justly regarded as one of the most substantial citi-
zens of West Lampeter. In April, 1899, he pur-
chased the store property which he occupies, and
which is in the best part of the village of Willow-
street, being considered one of the best locations,
irom a business point of view, in that part of the
country. All of his property is kept in good repair,
the five complete sets of buildings on the farm re-
ceiving careful attention, and the whole estate being
conducted in a thrifty and judicious manner.
Like his respected father-in-law, Mr. Eshbach
is a stanch Republican, and he has taken an active
part in the deliberations of the local wing of his party.
The religious connection of both himself and wife
IS with the Beohms Methodist Episcopal Church at
Willowstreet, in which Mr. Eshbach is a trustee, a
steward and superintendent of the Sunday-school.
His interest in church and educational matters is
well known, and he has been a delegate to the M. E.
conventions at times, the last one being held in Har-
risburg, in 1900. Both Mr. and Mrs. Eshbach are
among the most highly respected residents of their
part of Lancaster county.
J. MONROE MARKLEY, who is engaged in
the butcher business and farming at Lexington, is
one of the prosperous and respected residents of
that section of Lancaster coimty. He descends from
an old German family of the section, his grandfather,
Leonard Markley, having emigrated from Germany
and settled in Lancaster county, where he followed
farming all his life. He was the father of the fol-
lowing named children: Abraham, the father of
J. Monroe ; John, deceased, who was a merchant in
Ohio ; Jacob, a watchmaker of Whiteoak ; Isaac, de-
ceased, who was a farmer of Lancaster county;
Elizabeth, wife of David Hellman; Mary, wife of
Fred Uncle, of Philadelphia; and Catherine, de-
ceased, who was the wife of George Unger.
Abrahani Markley was born in Lexington in
1 829. He was occupied as a carpet weaver and stone-
mason, and in the latter part of his life he started
butchering, in Lexington, in all these lines meeting
with success. He married Miss Annie Markley,
daughter of Michael Markley, and they became the
parents of two children : Louisa, deceased wife of
Harry Eusminger, a painter of Manheim; and J.
Monroe, whose name introduces this article.
J. Monroe Markley was born in Lexington Feb.
T9, 1854. He remained at home until he was twenty-
five years of age, and learned the butcher business.
During his boyhood he attended the common schools
of the county. On commencing business life for
himself he started butchering in the place where he
is still located, and has been engaged in that line
continuously, as well as in farming. Industry and
good management have brought their just rewards,
and he has met with deserved success in business.
In October, 1879, Mr. Markley was married to
Miss Mary B. Brubaker, daughter of Moses and Mol-
lie Brubaker. This marriage has been blessed with
two children: Edwin B., born Aug. 28, 1880; and
Harvey B., born March 17, 1883. Mr. and Mrs.
Markley are both members of the German Baptist
Church.
JOHN H. WARFEL, a resident of East Hemp-
field township, whose home is at Rohrerstown, Lan-
caster countv, belongs to an old and honored family,
and worthily wears a noble name.
John B. Warfel, his father, was born in Conestoga
township, where he was reared, and where he spent
his life engaged in farming. Jacob Warfel, the grand-
father of John H., was a farmer, and a resident of
Conestoga township. John B. Warfel owned and
conducted a farm of 1T5 acres, where he died in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1117.
1867, at the early age of forty-three years. He mar-
ried Elizabeth Hess, daughter of Abraham Hess,
a minister in the Dunker Church, and she is still liv-
ing, having her home in Conestoga Center. They had
a large family, remarkable for both its numbers and
the general intelligence and high character of all its
members : (i ) Fannie is the wife of Frank Hack-
man, of Rohrerstown; (2) Lizzie is the wife of
George Fry, of Manor township; (3) Hettie is the
wife of James Entis, of Rohrerstown ; (4) Jacob mar-
ried Anna Johnson, and lives in Strasburg township ;
(5) Susan married Abraham Charles, of Manor
township, and is deceased ; (6) Barbara is deceased ;
(7) Annie is the wife of Benjamin Kreider, of Rohr-
erstown ; (8) Benjamin married Mary Herr, and is
deceased (his widow resides in Millersville) ; (9)
John H. is mentioned below; (10) Emma married
Harvey Miller, of East Hempfield township, and is
deceased ; ( 1 1 ) George married Christie Witmer, and
lives in Rohrerstown; (12) Frederick is deceased.
The parents of this family were devout members of
the Dunker Church.
John H. Warfel was born Aug. 27, i860, and was
reared in Conestoga and Manor townships, where
he attended public school until he was sixteen years
of age, at which time he started out for himself,
being employed for a time at farm labor. In 1881
he began market gardening and fruit raising on the
place where he is now located. His fruit culture is
very interesting, his work covering such a wide range,
being attended with such excellent results. He has
extensive greenhouse facilities, and all his operations
are thoroughly modern and up-to-date.
Mr. Warfel was married, in February, 1880, to
Miss .Sonora Peifer, daughter of Jacob and Cather-
ine (Manning) Peifer, and to them has come one
child, Oscar P., who is at home. They attend the
Church of God, of which Mr. Warfel is a member.
The 'familv are well regarded and much esteemed by
those who know theni — their neighbors in the com-
munity where they live. Mr. Warfel is a Republican.
ISAAC DILLER EBY, prison inspector for
Lancaster county and a general farmer of Salisbury
township, is one of the leading men and much
respected citizens of his locality. He was born on
his present farm. May 14, 1863, son of Christian and
Margaret (Diller) Eby, of Salisbury township.
Christian Eby was brought by his parents to his
son's present farm, at the age of eighteen months,
and there made his home through life, his death oc-
curring March 29, 1891, at the age of sixty-seven
years, two months, twenty-seven days. He was
buried in Hershey's Mennonite cemetery. His
widow, born in 1829, still resides on the old home-
stead. Their children were: Anna, who married
Alfred Wanner, a farmer of Salisbury township;
Amanda, who married Samuel Reeser, of Salisbury
township ; Isaac D. ; and John N., who married Ida
Reeser, and died at the age of twenty-eight years.
Isaac Diller Eby was educated in the common
schools of his locality, and has followed an agricul-
tural life almost exclusively. He is well-known in
his neighborhood as one of the solid, reliable men and
intelligent and upright citizens, and has been some-
what active in politics. His sympathies are with
the Republican party. For the past two years Mr.
Eby has been the, very capable prison inspector of
Lancaster county, a position requiring an excellence
of judgment and an eye to business details which
few men possess to a greater degree that he. For
•three years he served on the school board, and was ac-
tive in effecting a number of desirable improvements
in his district.
On Oct. 14, 1886, in the Salisbury township
Presbyterian parsonage, Mr. Eby was united in mar-
riage to Miss Martha E. Worst, and' three children
have been born to this union, namely : Chester W.,
Margie J. and Anna L. Mrs. Martha E. (Worst)
Eby was born in SaHsbury township, July 25, 1865,
daughter of Samuel and Anna (Kurtz) Worst, the
former of whom is a retired farmer of Salisbury
township. Mrs. Worst died Feb. 8, 1896, at the
age of sixty-seven years, and was interred in the
Pequea Presbyterian Church cemetery. Both par-
ents were long connected with the Presbyterian
Church and most highly esteemed in that religious
body. Their children were : Mary, who married J.
F. Seldomridge, proprietor of a hotel at White
Horse, Pa. ; Ida, who married Milton Bair, of West
Leacock township ; Amanda, who married Milton
Hershey, of Leacock township ; Barbara ; Martha E. ;
Susan ; Frederick ; and Laurel. These families and
their connections represent some of the best and most
substantial people of Lancaster county, citizens noted
for intelligence, high moral character and social
prominence.
FRANK X. SCHLEGELMILCH, the popular
assistant freight and ticket agent of the Pennsylvania
Railway Company, at Watts Station, in East Donegal
township, Lancaster county, was born at the Station
Feb. 2, 1859.
Frank Schlegelmilch, his father, was born in
Baden, Germany, Jan. 28, 1828, and was a wagon-
maker by trade. After a voyage of sixty-eight days
on the ocean he landed in America, in 1846. He
first located at Florin, then known as Springville,
Lancaster Co., Pa., and in April, 1853, removed to
Watts. He was married in Lebanon, Pa., to Miss
Elizabeth Hartman, who was born in Berks county,
Pa., Aug. 14, 1829. This union was graced with four
children, viz. : Rebecca, Michael and Leo, deceased,
and Frank X. The father continued active work at
wagonmaking until T882, and then retired to enjoy
in peace the competence his industry had won. The
paternal grandfather of Frank X. Schlegelmilch,
also named Frank, was a distiller, and lived and died
in Germany ; the maternal grandfather, Michael
Hartman, was born in Berks county, removed to
1118
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Lebanon county, and passed his life in agricultural
pursuits.
Frank X. Schlegelmilch at the age of thirteen
years began learning his trade in his father's wagon
shop, and continued at the business nine years. He
next worked at the Vestra furnace for three months,
and then, May 2, 1884, entered the employ of the
Pennsylvania Railway Company, as assistant freight
and ticket agent — a position he has since filled in
the most satisfactory manner.
Mr. Schlegelmilch was united in marriage,, in
Philadelphia, with Miss Anna Cleary, and this union-
has been blessed with three children, viz. : Frank X.,
Elizabeth M. and Anna R. Mrs. Anna (Cleary)
Schlegelmilch is a native of Ireland, and is a daugh-
ter of James and Eunice Cleary, the former of whom
was a farmer by vocation. Both parents died in their
native land, in the faith of the Catholic Church, leav-
ing four children : William, who manages a hy-
draulic crane; James, a machinist; Isabella, wife of
Peter Gormley — all of Philadelphia ; and Anna, Mrs.
Schlegelmilch.
Frank X. Schlegelmilch is a Democrat, in poli-
tics, and for three years was town councilnian of
Marietta, in which borough he resided for nineteen
consecutive years, then returning to his native town-
ship, in 1898. In religion he is a devout Catholic,
freely contributing to the support of his church and
aiding it every way in its good work. He is attentive
to his duties, and has won for himself the good-will
and esteem of his neighbors and of the general pub-
lic, both in Marietta and at Watts Station.
JOHN D. HERR is one of the enterprising and
progressive farmers of Lancaster county, as well as
an extensive grower of tobacco. His farm is in
Manor township, and his home is located about one
mile east of Mountville.
Mr. Herr was born in that township, on a farm
once owned by his father. The old family residence
is yet regarded as the "homestead," though now oc-
cupied by Isaac M. Neff. The family removed to
the present residence of John D. Herr when he was
a boy of fourteen years. Like most boys of his day
and generation Mr. Herr received his early educa-
tional training in the common schools of his district.
On attaining his majority he assumed the conduct
of the farm, bringing to the discharge of this duty,
experience, intelligence and fidelity. Through good
judgment and hard, work he became ti^c owner of
150 acres in Manor township, which in 1894, for
family reasons, he divided into two farms, reserving
a portion for himself, which he devotes to tobacco
culture. He began handling tobacco in 1887, in com-
pany with George Derr, and the venture proved a
success from the outset. The partnership continued
for five years, when John H. Gamber bought the
interest of Mr. Derr. The partnership between
Messrs. Herr & Gamber lasted about two years,
and since then Mr. Herr has conducted the business
alone. He has a large, well-built warehouse stand-
ing on his farm, where he stores and handles his
stock. His business success has been pronounced,
and has been due alike to his native capability and his
recognized integrity. Mr. Herr also owns two farms
in West Hempfield, their acreage aggregating 154
acres, and forty-five acres of woodland in Martic
township, as well as property in Mountville. His
farm buildings are among the finest in the county,
and no one can drive through his land witnout re-
ceiving the impression that the controlling spirit has
its origin in conservative thrift, careful attention and
farseeing perception. An illustration of his astute
management may be readily given. In 1875 he
erected a fine barn, which was destroyed by fire in
1897, but within two months it was rebuilt, on a
better plan. Nor has he neglected his property in
West Hempfield. Active, energetic and farseeing,
he is ever on the alert to guard his interests. Genial
and generous, he readily makes friends and easily
retains them. A mati of broad public spirit, he com-
m.ands the respect and confidence of his fellow towns-
men. In 1887 he was one of the incorporators of the
Mountville National Bank, and has ever since served
on the directorate of that institution. In 1890 he
was one of the organizers of the Mountville Manu-
facturing Company, and is still a director of that
corporation, in whose councils he has held the office
of vice-president for many years. Mr. Herr was one
of the organizers of the Mennonite Church in Mount-
ville, and has always been one of the trustees. The
present edifice was erected in 1897. The successful
career of such a man affords at once a guaranty and
a promise to the rising generation.
On Nov. 13, 1873, Mr. Herr married Barbara
G. Nissley, who was born July 7, 1855, daughter of
John and Barbara Nissley, of Rapho township. Six
children have blessed the union: Anna N., born
Sept. 7, 1874, is the wife of Amos K. Musser, of
West Hempfield. Barbara Ni, born Oct. 10, 1876,
married Christian N. Nissley. Alice N., born Oct.
7, 1878, married John H. Herr, of Lancaster town-
ship. Mary N. was born April 14, 1881 ; Sadie N.,
Feb. 16, 1883 ; Fannie N., May 13, 1891. The three
younger children are at home. Mrs. Musser and
Mrs. Nissley, the two eldest, are, like their father,
consistent members of the Mennonite Church.
AMOS B. HARNISH. The stamp of the twen-
tieth century is upon farming operations as well as
on the conduct of metropolitan life. The primitive
plough, the heavy flail, the awkward scythe, have
given place to machinery manipulated by steam ; the
leanto shed and rail corncrib, to spacious barns and
commodious outbuildings ; the fences no longer con-
sist of split rails; and instead of. great swamps fields
of waving grain bear evidence to the efficiency of
the present drainage system. Among the progres-
sive farmers of East Hempfield, Lancaster county,
is Amos B. Harnish, who was born in West Hemp-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1119
field township, this county, Nov. 3, 1859, a son of
Levi and Leath (Butt) Harnish.
Abraham Harnish, the grandfatner of Amos B.,
was one of the successful farmers of Pequea town-
ship, Lancaster county. His home farm was at
Willowstreet, in that township, and in addition to
that good-sized property, he owned several farms
in the vicinity. He married Elizabeth Hoover. 'In
religious belief he was a member of the Old Men-
nonite Church. He lived to the age of seventy-
five.
Levi Harnish, the father of Amos B., died Feb.
12, 1902, at the advanced age of eighty-five, having
been born Sept. 2, 1816, in Pequea township. Al-
ways following farming, he located in West Hemp-
field when about twenty-seven, and there remained
until 1885, when he took up his residence in East
Hempfield township. The home farm consisted of
T 19 acres, which was conducted so successfully that
he became a wealthy man, all through his own exer-
tions. Late in life he connected himself with the
Old Mennonite Church, of which he remained an
honored member until his death. The faithful part-
ner of his joys and sorrows passed away in 1891, at
the age of sixtv-eight. They had a family of nine
children: Benjamin, a farmer of East Hempfield
township ; Abraham B., a farmer of East Hempfield
township ; Maggie, wife of George Hellman, of West
Hempfield township ; Lizzie, wife of Martin Witmer,
of Manor township ; John B., a farmer of West
Hempfield township ; Mary, wife of Henry Hatten-
stein, of East Hempfield township ; Amos B. ; Leath,
wife of Daniel Landis, of East Hempfield township ;
and Barbara, wife of Benjamin Barr, of West Hemp-
field township.
Amos B. Harnish was reared upon his father's
farm, receiving his education in the excellent schools
of the district and during his entire life has followed
the calling of a farmer, with the exception of three
years, when he bought and packed tobacco. In 1894
he married Miss Elizabeth S. Spangler, daughter of
Jacob Spangler, of West Hempfield, and after his
marriage removed to Lancaster city, but within a year
he returned to his farm in East Hempfield township.
In 1895 he was called upon to take charge of his
father's large property, and the following year pur-
chased a tract of five acres in the vicinity. To him-
self and wife have been born two bright little chil-
dren: Rena, who was taken away when but ten
months and twenty-seven days old, and Lloyd S.,
born June 3, 1897.
Amos B. Harnish is one of the leading young
Republicans of his township, and has served for three
years upon the county Republican committee. When
the Centerville Cemetery Association was incorpor-
ated Amos B. Harnish was very active in the organi-
zation and was selected as the man best fitted to fill
the post of president, which position of trust he still
holds. In all the relations of life he has proven him-
self worthv of the highest esteem, and justifies the
confidence his fellow citizens have placed in him.
In religious matters both he and his wife are con-
sistent members of the United Brethren Church, and
prominent in its good works.
EDWIN H. STAUFFER. Among the flourish-
ing interests of Willowstreet, Lancaster county, is
the mercantile business, and its most successful rep-
resentative is Edwin H. Stauffer, one of the progres-
sive and public-spirited men of the community. He
bears a name that has long stood for business integ-
rity in Lancaster county, and is a fit representative
of an old and honored family.
Grandfather Isaac Stauffer was reared in Lan-
caster county, and spent his life there. Early in his
business career he conducted a mercantile business
m Pennville, \'\'here he lived until a short time prior
1.0 his death, when he removed to Lancaster city and
opened up a coal business with his brother, Henry.
His death occurred about a year later. His religious
connection was with the German Reformed Church.
His family consisted of seven children: William,
Samuel, Albert, Delilah, Henry, Amanda, and one
that died in early childhood.
Henry Stauffer, son of Isaac, was born at Penn-
ville in 1842, son of Isaac and Catherine (Erb)
Stauffer. He was about eight years of age when his
parents removed to Lancaster, and one year later
his father died, and he went to Adamstown, where
he learned the trade of harnessmaker, and remained
there som.e three years. Going then to Reamstown
and thence to Reading-, he spent three years at the lat-
ter place, and then located at Churchtown, Pa., in
which. village he conducted a business of his own for
some three years more. He spent a short time in Ohio,
but later returned to Lancaster county, locating first
at Chestnut Level, where for eighteen years he was
the best workman in the neighborhood. He then
came to Willowstreet, and has since been firmly
established in that village. In connection with
harnessmaking, he also engages in trucking, and
for three years was the Republican appointee for
deputy coroner.
In 1865 Henry Stauffer married Margie Houston,
a daughter of William Houston, born in Williams-
port, Pa., and three children came to this union:
Edwin H., the principal merchant of Willowstreet;
Carrie B. ; and John P., who is engaged with his
father in harnessmaking.
Edwin H. Stauffer was born in Wooster, Ohio,
Sept. 14, 1869, a son of Henry and Margie (Hous-
ton) Stauffer, esteemed residents .of Willowstreet.
He was but eight months old when his parents moved
to Lancaster county, and he was reared in Drumore
township and educated in the public schools. At the
age of seventeen he became a clerk with the firm of
George A. Fripple & Co., of Safe Harbor, remaining
two years as an employe in their general store, and
then went into the butcher business with J. W. Roher,
in Willowstreet, for five years. But his tastes lay
1120
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in the direction of merchandising, and he embraced
the opportunity oft'ered by A. L. Eshbach, and for one
year was his eiificient clerk. In 1893 he succeeded
to the business. At that time the stock was worth
only $700, but he immediately increased it to more
than $12,000 worth, and he has built up a trade second
to none in Lancaster county out side of Lancaster city.
Mr. Stauffer is possessed of keen business faculty,
and his energy, combined with good judgment, and
assisted by a pleasant personality and courteous
manner, will insure his future success as he yearly
extends his business. One much appreciated feature
he has introduced, for the enjoyment of his coun-
try trade, is that of dispensing ice cream, both whole-
sale and retail, during the heated term. The line
carried by Mr. Staufifer incbides almost all articles
generally found in a first-class establishment of the
kind, necessities and also luxuries, and for the past
four seasons he has added farm machinery, for the
convenience of his many country patrons.
On May 10, 1894, Edwin H. Staufifer was mar-
ried to Carrie M. Caddy, a daughter of John R. and
Louisa Caddy, and one child, Mildred, has come to
this imion. born in July, 1896. Socially Mr. Staufifer
is a member of the K. of M. and the K. of G. E., in
both of these organizations being deservedly popu-
lar. A stanch Republican, he has since Aug. 22,
1894, been the efficient deputy postmaster at Willow-
street.
DANIEL S. FISHER, superintendent of the
Chestnut Hill Ore Mine, in West Hempfield town-
ship, Lancaster county, and a resident of Silver
Spring, was born at Sarah Furnace, in Harford
county, l^ld., March 12, 1857, son of Anthony W.
and Catherine (Schetroupf) Fisher. The parents
were natives of Chester county, Pa., and Germany,
respectively, the father born Aug. 12, 1819, the
mother on Feb. 25, 1828. They came to Lancaster
county, Pa., locating in 1868, in New Providence
township, whence they removed in 1890 to Drumore
township. Anthony W. Fisher is a mechanical en-
gineer by calling, but is now retired from active
labor ; his last service for many years was with
Christopher Geiger, in Lancaster city. He is a Re-
publican in politics, and has served as county com-
mitteeman. Mrs. Catherine Fisher is a devout mem-
ber of the Lutheran Church. To the marriage of.
Anthony W. and Catherine Fisher have been born
seven children, in the following order: Anna M.,
wife of Peter Snyder, a farmer in Strasburg, Pa.;
Josephine, wife of Harvey Smith, a mine superin-
tendent living in Lancaster; Alford, a stationary
engineer in New Providence township; Daniel S.,
whose name introduces this biographical memoir;
Rebecca, married to Charles Wittick, a farmer at
West Willow, this county ; Ida, now Mrs. John Potts,
of Eden township ; and Clara, wife of David Potts,
of Strasburg, this county.
Daniel S. Fisher remained with his parents until
twenty-one years old, and then began work on his
own account. Pie had entered a mine at the age of
thirteen years, and from that time on followed min-
ing with the exception of five years passed on the
railroad, as repairman. Mining continued to be his
occupation in Lancaster county until 1892, when he
came to West Hempfield township and entered the
Chestnut Hill Ore Mine, to the superintendency of
which he was promoted in 1896.
On April 2, 1885, Daniel S. Fisher was united in
marriage, in Quarryville, Lancaster county, to Miss
Anna Potts, who has borne him nine children, in the
following order: Eugene, Robert, Paul, Blanche,
Lester, Helen, Carrie, y\nna and Daniel H., Jr. Mrs.
Anna (Potts) Fisher was born in New Providence
township Feb. 10, 1867, daughter of Frank and
Sarah Potts, of Lancaster county, who now reside
in New Providence township, where the father is
engaged in carpenter work.
Daniel S. Fisher has reached his present responsi-
ble position through his personal merits, industry
and devotion to his employers' interests. He began
at the foot of the ladder and persistently ascended,
rung by rung, until he reached the top, where he
now stands, an honored and respected man and citi-
zen. Fraternally he is a member of the I. O. O. F.,
and politically he is a Republican.
JOSEPH B. WEAVER. Prominent among the
excellent agriculturists of East Lampeter township is
Joseph B. Weaver, a worthy representative of one
of the old families of Lancaster county, who still
occupies the farm which was the property of his
grandfather, Joseph Weaver, this estate originally
consisting of 260 acres, but now comprising only 125
acres.
Joseph Weaver became a well-knowrt and in-
fluential man in the township, and was the father of
a large family, which, by marriage, has become
connected with many of the other old and honorable
county families. He was first married to Barbara
Bear, and to this union were born : Isaac, father of
Joseph B. ; Ephraim, who died unmarried, at the
age of forty-five ; Jacob, whose death, at the age of
sixteen, was due to an accident ; Annie, who became
the wife of John Frantz ; Mary, who resides in Lan-
caster ; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Christian
Witmer, and had one son, John, who became a drug-
gist in Philadelphia, and died at the age of twenty-
nine ; and Susan, who resides with her sister Mary,
in Lancaster. The mother of these children died
March 5, 184c. The second marriage of Joseph
VVeaver was to Esther (Stehman) Brubaker, widow
of Samuel Brubaker, and to this union two daughters
were born : Barbara, who is the wife of Amos Bow-
man, of Lampeter Square; and Annie, who is the
wife of John Kurtz, of Lancaster. All of the family
were born on the old farm now owned by Joseph B.
Weaver. Joseph Weaver was an upright man, a
minister in the Reformed Mennonite Church, and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1121
he and both his wives were interred in the Longe-
necker burial ground.
Isaac Weaver, the eldest son of Joseph, was born
Sept. 20, 1820, on the farm now owned by his son,
and died in 1887. His life was devoted to agricul-
tural pursuits. He and his wife were members of the
Reformed Mennonite Church, in which faith they
reared their children. On Oct. 20, 1850, he married
Catherine Barr, and the following named children
were born to them : Mary A., wife of John F. Gir-
vin, a farmer and miller of Leacock township ;
Joseph B. ; Aaron, Benjamin F. and Milton L., far-
mers of Manor township ; and Elizabeth F., who died
March 27, 1897.
Joseph B. Weaver was the eldest son of Isaac
and Catherine (Barr) Weaver, and was born Oct.
2.3' 1853. His educational advantages were meager,
but he has supplemented them with observation and
reading, and is now regarded as one of the best-in-
formed and most intelligent farmer-citizens of his
locality.
In 1876 Mr. Weaver married Lizzie Houser, a
daughter of John and Lydia (Lefever) Houser (the
former of whom, was a farmer), who were the par-
ents of : Christian, deceased ; Jacob L., a farmer in
West Lampeter township ; Kate, the wife of Abram
•Bachman, a farmer of Lampeter; and Lizzie, Mrs.
Weaver. The parents of Mrs. Weaver are buried
in the Longenecker Meeting House cemetery. Five
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Weaver:
Clara M., Harry M.. M. Roy, Ada L. and Anna M.
As a successful farmer Mr. Weaver is known,
throughout his township. In addition to attending
to his agricultural interests he also operated a chop-
ping and saw mill, although these were conducted
more for his own convenience than for any other
purpose. On April t, 1902, he purchased and took
possession of the C. Musselraan property, at Witmer,
consisting of a coal, lumber, hay and grain business,
and a feed mill. He has also continued to improve,
that property, adding a chopping mill. Mr. Weaver
believes in modern methods and is a most progressive
man. His improvements are of the latest descrip-
tion, and his country home is fitted up with the con-
veniences of a modern city residence, heated by
steam, and water is conveyed to all parts of his build-
ings by means of pipes. Mr. Weaver's religious
connection is with the church in which he was reared,
and in which his family has long been a leading sup-
port. In the community, in all the relations of life,
Joseph B. Weaver is considered a truly representa-
tive citizen.
HENRY H. SNAVELY is of German descent,
both his parents. Christian and Elizabeth (Hartman)
Snavelv, having been born in the Fatherland. They
emigrated from Wurtemberg early _ in the present
century, and were married in America. Both were
poor, but they were industrious, and little by little,
through thrift and good management, they accumu-
71
lated a competence. The father began life as a farm
laborer, and at the time of his death, in 1871, he
was the owner of three farms, well situated and well
improved. His wife survived him for twenty-seven
3-ears, passing away in 1898. Mr. Suavely was a
RepubHcan in his political creed, and both he and his
wife were members of the Mennonite Church. Their
marriage was blessed with seven children. The
three eldest — Christian, Catherine and John — are
deceased. Elizabeth is the wife of Samuel M. Nolt,
of Oregon, Lancaster county. Tobias is a farmer,
living near Lititz. Henry H. is the sixth in order of
birth, and Moses, the youngest, is a farmer of Lititz.
Mr. and Mrs. Snavely, with those of their children
who have died, sleep in Landis Valley.
Henry H. Snavely was born in Oregon, Lancaster
county, Jan. i, 1859. His early life was passed much
after the fashion of the sons of other farmers of the
neighborhood. The common schools gave him the
only education which he ever received apart from
that obtained in the broad school of experience, but
he was ambitious, active and enterprising, and at the
age of twenty-one he began farming on his own ac-
count. However, he found that life too quiet, and
going to Rothsville Station he opened a coal and
wood yard, at the same time acting as ticket agent
for the Reading & Columbia railroad. From Roths-
ville he went to Millway, where his duties and line of
business were similar. There he remained for more
than three years, thence coming to Lititz, where he
embarked in the hotel business, in which he was em-
inently successful, being well quahfied for the duties
of a landlord by a genial temperament and an intui-
tive knowledge of human nature. In 1888 he pur-
chased the "Warwick Inn," which hostelry from
1890 until 1901 was under his personal management.
He remodeled it throughout, providing accommoda-
tion for one hundred guests. In the spring of 1901
Mr. Snavely retired from hotel-keeping in order to
give his whole attention to his other lines of business,
which have been constantly on the increase. In
1900 he commenced the erection of a comfortable
modern dwelling in Lititz, the finest in the borough,
where he took up his residence in 1901. For the past
two years he has dealt heavily in cattle, shipping in
stock cattle in the fall, and shipping out fat cattle.
He also deals extensively in fancy horses. In the
fall of 1901 he established a market in Lititz, where
he has succeeded in establishing a lucrative patron-
age. After coming to Lititz Mr. Snavely purchased
the race track in the town, which he rechristened
the Warwick Driving Park. This he conducted for
five years, holding exhibitions for the trial of speed.
In 1897 he opened the Warwick Sales Stables, where
sales are held every alternate Saturday, and which
have proved of no little advantage to the farmers in
the surrounding county. Much against his own in-
clinations he has found himself obliged to fill the
role of auctioneer, and the urbanity and honesty
with which he discharges this onerous task have
1122
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
added not a little to his established popularity. In
1899 he purchased the Lititz Camp Grounds, where
annual camp gatherings are held, and his manage-
ment of the same has thus far been extremely suc-
cessful. Mr. Snavely is interested in all projects for
the public good.
Mr. Snavely was married, in 1880, to Miss Lizzie
M., daughter of Jonas B. Nolt, and they have one
child, Christian. Mr. Snavely is one of the most
esteemed and honored citizens of Lititz, broad-
minded, generous and public-spirited, and has made
hosts of friends who admire him for his many ami-
able traits and respect him for his unassailable in-
tegrity.
CHRISTIAN ESHLEMAN. Not only is the
State of Pennsylvania pardonably proud of her po-
sition in the sisterhood of States, and of the number
and variety of her natural resources, but she claims
superiority also on account of the class of citizens
which forms her agricultural community. Among
these the residents of Lancaster county take no ob-
scure place, and one of the most flourishing of its
communities may be found in West Lampeter town-
ship.
The Eshleman family well represents the farm-
ing interests of West Lampeter, its members hav-
ing been good citizens and industrious and worthy
tillers of the soil of Lancaster county for genera-
tions. Martin Eshleman, who was the head of the
branch of this family now located in West Lampeter,
was a native of Providence township, where he be-
came not only a large landowner, but an influential
man, both in the affairs of the township, and also in
the Old Mennonite Church. He married Elizabeth
GrofF, and to them came an estimable family of six
stalwart sons and seven worthy daughters, who in-
herited excellent traits from both parents, and be-
came the progenitors of families of their own. These
children were : John ; Martin ; Samuel ; David ;
Jacob ; Abraham ; Ann, who married Adam Thomas ;
Elizabeth, who married Jacob Herr, and moved to
the West ; Maria, who married Martin Hoover and
also moved West ; Fannie, who married Andrew
Reese ; Susie, who married David Martin ; Katie,
who married John Groff; and Barbara, who mar-
ried Samuel Dieffenbach. The parents lived to a
good old age, respected by all who knew them.
Samuel Eshleman, son of Martin, was born in
Providence township in 1770, and became a very
capable miller, following that vocation in his home
township. After his marriage he conducted the plant
known as Strohm's mill, later moving to Hummels-
town, in Dauphin county, where he conducted a
successful milling business for some time. Desiring
to retire from this industry, he then moved into Lan-
caster county again, and purchased a farm in Stras-
burg township, tipon which he remained the balance
of his life, passing away at the age of seventy-three.
When he could not work on the farm he kept busy
teaming to both Wilmington and Philadelphia, as
he was a most industrious man, energetic and frugal.
Samuel Eshleman married Anna Martin, who was
born in Strasburg township in 1772, daughter of
Christian and Anna (Bear) Martin, and died in her
eighty-third year. Her ancestors belonged to the
oldest families in the State. Two children were born
of this marriage : Jacob, who died in his torty-third
year, the father of Christian; and Ann, who died
March 16, 1902, aged ninety years, ten days. Both
Samuel Eshleman and his wife were consistent mem-
bers of the Reformed Mennonite Church.
Christian Eshleman resides in West Lampeter
township, between Lampeter Square and Big
Springs, on a small farm which he cultivates himself,
his large farm of 136 acres, located in Strasburg
township, being occupied by his son. Mr. Eshleman
was born in Strasburg township Aug. 10, 1834, a
son of Jacob and Barbara (Miller) Eshleman, was
reared on the home farm, and was a student in the
public schools until the death of his father, at
which time he was fifteen years old. Thus early de-
prived of a father's care and advice, he assumed re-
sponsibilities beyond his years, at the age of twenty-
one taking entire charge of one of his father's large
farms, in Strasburg township, where he followed
farming for a number of years. Later he sold that
place advantageously, and purchasing another farm
in the same township, remained thereon for some
years, the time he spent on both these farms
aggregating twenty-eight years. In 1885. he pur-
chased the farm upon which he now resides, con-
taining but twelve acres, which is small enough to
permit him to operate it comfortably without assist-
ance. His line has been general farming, and he has
proved himself a very efficient agriculturist.
Christian Eshleman was married Nov. 13, 1856,
to Mary Cassel, who was born in Montgomery
county. Pa., and came to Lancaster county with her
parents, Samuel H. and Barbara (Hansbery) Cas-
sel, both of whom are deceased. Samuel H. Cassel
was born in Montgomery county Oct. 15, 1795, son
of John and Elizabeth Cassel, the former of whom
died in 1841, the latter in 1838. They were the
parents of three children : Abraham, born in 1783,
was a farmer of Strasburg ; Maria, born in 1785, mar-
ried Joseph Rittenhouse, a farmer of Montgomery
county : and Samuel H. was the father of Mrs. Eshle-
man. Samuel H. Cassel married Barbara Hansbery,
of Montgomery county, and they had the following
children: Martin, born in 1820,' a coachmaker, died
at Witmer ; Elizabeth, born in 1821, died eleven years
later ; Lydia, born in 1825, died at the age of sixty-
four; John was born in 1826; Magdalena, born in
1828, died at the age of sixty-one; Samuel, born in
183 1, a coachmaker by trade, a resident of Lancaster,
was for many years one of the efficient teachers of
the county, and now supplies the market with
produce; Mary, born April 29, 1833, is the wife of
Christian Eshleman ; Aaron, born in 1835, is a coach-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1128
maker, residing in Witmer, Lancaster county; and
Emanuel, born in 1837, is a truck farmer of West
Lampeter township. When a young man Samuel
H. Cassel, the father, learned the trade of cabinet-
maker, and became a fine mechanic, but later in life
he followed farming and labored faithfully as a min-
ister in the Reformed Mennonite Church. His ad-
vent into Lancaster county was in 1853, ^^d his min-
isterial labors extended over both Lancaster and
jVl^ontgomery counties.
A large family was born to Christian and Mary
Eshleman : Annie, born Aug. 12, 1857, died March
q, 1881 ; Franklin, born Dec. 6, 1858, is a farmer of
Chester county, and married Grace Hall ; Elizabeth,
born Sept. 10, i860, married Benjamin F. Byers, a
butcher, of West Lampeter; Samuel, born Jan. 17,
T.862, is a farmer of West Lampeter, and married
Emma Harnish ; Christian, born May 3, 1863, con-
ducts a creamery at Shippensburg, Cumberland Co.,
Pa., and married Annie Albright, of Chester county;
Mary, born Sept. 9, 1864, married Dr. A. J. Shartle,
of Millersville, and died in 1889; Eletta was born
Tune 4, 1866 ; Flam, born Oct. 28, 1868, for the past
fifteen years has been one of the efficient teachers in
the public schools of the county, having been thor-
oughly educated in the State Normal School at Mil-
lersville and in the C)hio Normal University, and also
in Philadelphia (he married Mary Shaw, of Tioga
county) : John, born March 18, 1870, died in August,
of the same year : Barbara, born Feb. 21, 1872, died
in 1890; Willis E., born April 13, 1877, is a butcher
by trade, and follows that profession in this locality.
Christian Eshleman and his wife have reared this
large family to be worthy citizens, and in religious
faith all are in harmony with the teachings of the
Reformed Mennonite Church. They are among the
most esteemed residents of West Lampeter township.
KAUFFMaN. The earliest progenitor of the
Kauffman family to settle in Lancaster county was
Andrew Kauffman. He emigrated from Switzer-
land during the first half of the eighteenth century
and located on a tract of five hundred acres near what
is now Central Manor, for which he had obtained
a grant. A very considerable portion of this tract
yet remains in the possession of his descendants,
and ranks with the best farming land in the county.
Andrew Kauflfman died about 1760. He was a Men-
nonite, and his descendants have been reared in the
same religious faith. He and his wife, Elizabeth,
were the parents of six sons and gix daughters, viz. :
ZVTichael; Andrew; Christian; John; Jacob; Isaac;
Anna, wife of Alexander Stockslager; Elizabeth,
wife of Christian Myer; Mary, wife of Christian
Shenk ; Barbara, wife of Michael Shenk ; Magdalena,
wife of John Correl ; and Verronica, wife of Jacob
Witmer.
Michael KauiTman, the eldest son of Amdrew,
and the ancestor of the line we are tracing, passed
his days at the paternal homestead. He married a
Miss Immel, by whom he had seven sons who grew to
maturity, Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, Andrew, Chris-
tian, John and Benjamin. Jacob was a miller, and
erected what is now known as the Landis mill; he
died after attaining the age of eighty-eight years.
Abraham removed from Pennsylvania to Maryland,
taking up his residence in Baltimore, where he con-
ducted a hotel ; he died in his eighty-ninth year.
Isaac was a farmer of Manor township, and died in
1825, aged seventy-one years. Andrew, the fourth
son, lived in Washington borough ; he was a scriv-
ener, and. for many years held a commission as
justice of the peace. Christian had his residence at
the old homestead, and was for a half century an
earnest and efficient minister of the Mennonite
Church ; he died Feb. 11, 1849, after reaching the age
of eightv-four. John studied medicine, and was
for many years a successful practitioner at Mount-
ville. Benjamin was a farmer ; he took a deep inter-
est in public affairs, and commanded the respect of
his fellow citizens to such an extent that they chose
him to represent them in the Colonial Assembly ; he
died at the age of forty-five years.
Christian Kauffman, son of Michael, married
Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac Kauffman. She was
born Jan. 19, 1767, and died April 10, 1832. They
had five children, and their eldest son, Benjamin,
succeeded to the ownership and occupancy of the
homestead, where he died in 1854, in his sixty-second
year. Abraham, the second son, was a school teacher,
and was held in high regard; for many years he
filled the office of township assessor, and he died un-
married, at the age of seventy-two. Isaac, the third
in order of birth, was a farmer ; like all the members
of the family, from one generation to another, he
was a Mennonite, and was for many years a deacon
in that denomination ; he passed away at the ripe old
age of eighty-six. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter,
married Henry Schopf, of Manor; she died at the
age of "three score years and ten." Barbara, the
second daughter and fifth child, became the wife of
Jacob Newcomer.
Benjamin Kauffman, the eldest son of Christian,
was noted for his quiet, unassuming manners, and
he seems to have been equally distinguished for a
kindly and liberal disposition. He appears, however,
to have viewed his "house" very much in the light of
a "castle," and to have shut himself up therein after
a rather exclusive fashion. He married Anna Myer,
whose parents, Samuel and Barbara (Harnish)
Myer, were well-known and sincerely respected resi-
dents of Conestoga township. To Benjamin Kauff-
man and his wife were born nine children who
reached mature years. A brief mention of each may
prove of interest. The eldest (i) Elizabeth, is the
widow of Abraham Miller, of Manor township. (2)
Leah (deceased) was the wife of George S. Mann,
of Millersville. (3) Samuel is a farmer, owning and
cultivating fifty-one acres of the original ancestral
tract; he married Martha, daughter of Henry and
1124
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Anna (Hertzler) Mellinger, and is the father of three
children, Annie M., Henry M. (mentioned below)
and Lizzie M. The mother died in 1879, at the age
of fortj'-eight. (4) Benjamin C. is mentioned below.
(5) Christian, born in July, 1835, is a retired farmer,
and lives at Letort. He is unmarried. (6) Reuben,
who resides in the same place, was born in 1838.
He married Esther Hershey, daughter of Joseph and
Barbara Hostetter Hershey. (7) Anna did not
marry. (8) Abraham M. died leaving a wife and one
child. (9) Nathaniel died unmarried.
Benjamin C. Kauffman was born Aug. 27,
1833, grew up on the old homestead, and was edu-
cated in the common schools, the first "seat of learn-
ing" which he attended being the "old log school
house" in the school district in which he was born.
He was a young man of twenty-two when his father
died, in 1854. The management of the homestead
at once devolved upon his sturdy young shoulders,
and he met the grave responsibility with the same
quick perception, the same practical common sense,
and the same dauntless courage, with which he has
encountered every vicissitude in his latter years.
At that time the paternal estate consisted of 123
acres, which is now his property, and throXigh judi-
cious purchase he has increased his holdings to 188
acres. This property he has improved and beauti-
fied until it has become one of the most valuable and
attractive places in Manor township. He has de-
voted not a little attention to the propagation and
raising of choice varieties of stock, and has been for
many years an importer of fine breeds of Jerseys and
other breeds of cattle. By this means he has done
much toward improving the county's standard of
cattle, thereby proving himself a public benefactor.
For the last few years he has made a. specialty of
this branch of farming, and has become a recog-
nized authority on the breeding and raising of stock.
He is thoroughly progressive in his ideas on all sub-
jects, and keeps fully abreast of every advance made
in his day and generation. His political creed is
Democratic, and both he and his family are mem-
bers of the Old Mennonite Church. On Jan. 20,
1862, Mr. Kauffman married Barbara? daughter of
Jacob Hoover and Barbara Shenk. She was born
in Lancaster township Aug. 23, 183 1. Mr. and Mrs.
Kai,iffman had two daughters and one son, Annie,
Ephraim H. and Amelia. The eldest married George
W. Mann, of Manor township. Ephraim H., who
married Mary Meek, Hves upon the old homestead.
Amelia is immarried and lives at home.
Henry M. Kauffman was born Sept. 21, 1862,
and even from youth exhibited those rare gifts of
intellect which have so largely contributed to his
phenomenal success. Early in life he learned the
trade of machinist, and readily qualified himself as
an engineer. From early boyhood he exhibited a
natural aptitude for mechanical pursuits, and while
he is, in large measure, self-educated, he has over
and again demonstrated his superior ability in his
chosen profession; His early years were passed in
farm work, and his first experience in engineering
work was obtained in the management of a portable
threshing machine. He still owns one of these, but
his own energies are exercised in a higher and
broader field. He erected his present plant. As a
manufacturer of steam fittings for residences he
met with success from the outset, and today he com-
mands and controls the very best custom in his line.
There is no branch of the work with which he is not
familiar, and no detail in any department of his es-
tablishment which does not fall under his own per-
sonal supervision, from the signing of a contract to
the turning of a screw. He employs no foreman
whom he does not know to be thoroughly competent,
jet over all is the guiding, directing, controlling hand
of the master. Apart from his extensive dealings
with owners of private dwelling houses he has done
excellent work for manufacturing plants. His shop
is conceded to be one of the best equipped in the
country as regards its facilities for the repair of
farm machinery, while he also handles engines,
separators, stationary engines, and boilers. He is a
Democrat in politics, and has been repeatedly nom-
inated by his party for office. On Dec. 18, 1900,
Mr. Kaufifman married Miss Mary F. Herr.
ANDREW MELLINGER GARBER, of Sa-
lunga, known to almost every man, woman and child
in Lancaster county as the "Pillsbury flour man,"
comes from one of the oldest and most prominent
families in that section of the State. His ancestors
came to America from Switzerland, and his grand-
father was a prominent farmer near Mountville, in
West Hempfield township. Reuben Garber, his
father, was a farmer and miller, living half a mile
from Salunga, in West Hempfield township. He
married Susan Mellinger, daughter of Christian
Mellinger. a farmer of Manor township, and a repre-
sentative of an old and influential family. Five chil-
dren were born of this union, three of whom are liv-
ing, namely : Reuben, who is a merchant ; Christian,
a farmer near Mountville; and Andrew Mellinger.
Andrew M. Garber was born on the old homestead
at Silver Spring, Feb. 15, 185 1, and was educated
in the public schools of the district. When seven-
teen years old he left school and went to J\It. Union,
Huntingdon county, where he secured employment
at $13 a month, and paid .$15 a month board and $1
a month for his laundry. This state of afifairs con-
tinued for one year, when young Garber, thinking-
that he had had enough of this "deal," took charge of
the establishment, continuing thus until 1867. He
then took charge of his father's mill near Salunga,
where he built up an extensive trade, and, in addition,
became a wholesale dealer in Western grain and mill
feed. But his enterprise did not end here, for he
became the general selling agent for the Pillsbury
flour, and it is in this connection that his name has
become most familiar to our people. No man ever
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1125
worked harder, or more successfully, in building up
a trade. The sales of Pillsbury flour have increased
every year since Mr. Garber represented the goods
in his community, and the business is now an im-
mense one.
Mr. Garber married Miss Minnie Herr, daughter
of Daniel B. Herr, a retired resident of Rock Hill,
and three children have been born of this union, one
of whom died at the age of six months. The sur-
vivors are Miss Anna L., who was educated at Dar-
lington Seminary, West Chester ; and Andrew H.,
who was educated at Annville, the Millersville State
Normal School, and the Pierce Business College,
Philadelphia, and now assists his father in the busi-
ness. Socially Mr. Garber belongs to the Odd Fel-
lows and the Knights of the Golden Eagle, but he
has little time for such matters, devoting himself
constantly and ardently to his business. He has
spared neither time, labor nor money to bring the
Pillsbury flour before the public, and his handsome
exhibits at county and State fairs have always been
features of those gatherings. It is to his credit, as
well as to that of the great floUr company which
he represents, that he has invariably taken first
premium wherever he has exhibited, for the "good
taste which he displayed in arranging and presenting
these goods. This fact, added to his pleasant per-
sonality, has assisted him greatly in introducing and
popularizing his goods among the citizens of Lan-
caster county — a county that is noted for its own good
flour, and where people are therefore competent to
judge of the quality of the goods handled by Mr.
Garber.
JOHN B. MILLEYSACK, cigar manufacturer
of Lancaster, and member of a family long repre-
sented in America, was born in Lancaster in 1856,
a son of Jacob and Mary (Milton) Milleysack, natives
of Wabank, on the Conestoga, near Lancaster. His
paternal grandfather, George Milleysack, was also
a native of this county, was a lumberman by occu-
pation, and served during the war of 1812.
When a boy Jacob Milleysack came to Lancaster
city with his parents, and in early life he was a
contractor and builder. He later turned his atten-
tion to the manufacture of tobacco cases for the gen-
eral trade, but for the six years preceding his death,
in i88t, at the age of seventy-two, he was retired
from business activity. He served in the Civil war,
and took an active part in politics. He worshipped
in the Church of God. His wife died in 1881, at
the age of sixty-nine, and is buried beside him in Lan-
caster cemetery. They had the following children :
Julia, deceased wife of Franklin Dollar ; EKzabeth,
deceased wife of James Chilles ; George, a soldier in
the rebellion, now deceased ; Rebecca, who died at the
age of sixteen ; Augustus, who died in the Civil war ;
Sarah, wife of John F. Sutter, a groceryman of
Lancaster ; Samuel, a soldier during the Civil war,
now living at Brilliant, Ohio ; Andrew, who was ac-
cidentally killed when young ; Jacob, a soldier of the
Civil war, now deceased; and John B.
At the age of sixteen John B. Milleysack learned
the cigar-making business, and in 1882 he started
an independent business for himself. He has been
very successful, and' owes his advancement solely
to his own thrift and perseverance. In politics a
Republican, he has been a school director for many
years, and has taken an active interest in local
political undertakings. Fraternally he is associated
with the Masons, Knights of Malta, I. O. O. F.,
Artisans, A. O. M. P., and Jr. O. U. A. M. ; he has
been treasurer of the latter for many years.
In 1879 Mr. Milleysack married Mary J. Sheri-
dan, a native of Lancaster, daughter of John and
Catherine (Henry) Sheridan, of Lancaster. Mr.
and Mrs. Milleysack are the parents of four chil-
dren, Bertha I., Mary C, John B., Jr., and M.
Alma.
JOHN S. HPZLLER. Among the highly es-
teemed and representative citizens of Lancaster
county, one who for many years has successfully
engaged in agricultural life in the same locality, is
John S. Heller. John Heller, his grandfather, was
a resident of East Lampeter township, where the
father, Isaac D. Heller, was born, and where he
died July 25, 1900, at the age of sixty-eight years.
Isaac D. Heller married Barbara E. Stauffer, who,
at her death, in 1863, aged twenty-seven years, left
a family of three children : " Elizabeth, deceased, who
married Amos Leaman ; Annie, who married David
H. Kendig, of Reading, Pa. ; and John S. Isaac D.
Heller married for his second wife Maria Landis,
who died without issue, and he then married Mary
R. Buckwalter, who bore him one child, Mary, who
died in infancy. Mrs. Heller still survives. Isaac D.
Pleller was a" farmer all his life, and was a most
worthy citizen, taking a great interest in educational
matters in his township and serving efficiently on
the school hoard. A leading member of the Old
Mennonite Church, his influence was ever in the di-
rection of teijiperance and morality. Although no
politician in the public acceptation of the term, he
voted the Republican ticket, and took an active in-
terest in the success of the party which in his opinion
upheld the principles which promised best for the
country.
John S. Heller was born Oct. 9, 1861, in the old
family homestead, and was educated in the public
schools. He remained at home until he had attained
his majority, assisting on the farm and being a com-
fort to the declining years of his parents. In Novem-
ber, 1882, he was married to Fannie H. Gamber, a
daughter of John L. and Fannie D. (Herr) Gamber,
who was born in Manor township, on the old Gamber
homestead. For the eight succeeding years Mr.
Heller and his family remained on the old home place,
in the spring of 1891 removing to the present farm,
in East Hempfield township, one mile west of the
1126
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
city of Lancaster, along the Columbia pike. It is a
most desirable location, in one of the most fertile
portions of the Keystone State. Upon this place '
Mr. Heller has expended time, energy and means,
making it one of the best tracts of land in the locality.
The place comprises eighty acres, upon which general
farming is carried on, and the thorough cultivation
and fine improvements make it very attractive; its
proximity to the thriving city greatly enhances its
value.
To John S. Heller and his wife a family of
six children has been born, namely: Mary G.,
Hettie G., John G., Fannie G., Amanda G. and Anna
G. Mr. Heller was carefully reared in the faith of
the Mennonite Church, which several of his family
have also joined. like his lamented father, he is a
stanch Republican, and is one of the most respected
and substantial residents of the township.
GEORGE M. ROBINSON. It is not unusual
for a mechanic to become a leading member of his
community, but there are also those who, through
force of character, aided and improved by mechanical
training, become indispensable factors in the progress
and prosperity of the community itself and its per-
petuation by their handiwork. To this class of use-
ful citizens does George M. Robinson, the well-known
blacksmith and carriagemaker at White Horse, Pa.,
belong.
Mr. Robinson was born in Salisbury township,
Lancaster county, March 4, 1850, being the third
of the six. children born to the marriage of William
and Rebecca (Adair) Robinson, namely : John H.,
born in Salisbury township, Jan. 8, 1847, ^ black-
smith in Limeville, Pa. ; Sarah, wife of Joseph Hum-
phrey, of Philadelphia; George M. ; Mary, wife of
Christian Fox, of Parkesburg, Pa. ; William, a far-
mer of Harristown, Pa. ; and Westley, a merchant
now deceased. William Robinson, the father of this
family, was also a native of Salisbury township, was
a carpenter by trade, and died in March, 1876, when
fifty-six years old, in the faith of the Methodist
Episcopal Church ; his remains were interred in the
cemetery of that congregation at Bellevue. The
mother, who is likewise a native of SaHsbury town-
ship, was born there Feb. 2, 1821, and now makes
her home with her daughter, Mrs. Fox, in Parkes-
burg. She is a daughter of John and Mary (Orr)
Adair, the former of whom was lost in the war of
1812.
At the age of nineteen years George I\I. Robinson
entered the blacksmith shop of his brother John, in
Salisbtiry township, where he served an apprentice-
ship of three years ; he then worked as a journeyman
one year, at the end of which time he started in on
his own account, in a country district in the same
township, and in 1880 came to White Horse.
On Jan. 30, 1873, ^t Honey Brook, Chester
county, George M. Robinson was joined in matri-
monv with Miss Marv Groff, who was born in Ches-
ter count V, daughter of Daniel and Rachel (Ed-
wards) Groflf, and died July 3, 1898, at the age of
forty-five years, the mother of seven children, narne-
ly : Rebecca C, who died in infancy ; Mary R., wife
of Benjamin Spence, a farmer in Salisbury township ;'
Lavinia C, married to Reuben Althouse, a decorator,
at White Horse; Lillian, wife of David Spence, of
Paradise township ; and Ida M., Harry and Westley,
at home. The remains of the beloved mother were
interred in the Baptist Church cemetery in Salisbury
township. On Dec. 25, 1900, Mr. Robinson mar-
ried for his second wife, Emma J. Templin, who
was born in Sadsbury township, Lancaster county.
May 14, 1852, daughter of James and Sarah Templin.
George M. Robinson is in politics a Republican,
and, although he takes an active part in the manage-
ment of local aflfairs and is well versed in the details
of the movements of his party, he has iiever yet ac-
cepted a public office, although he has frequently
been solicited to accept nominations at various times,
and for various positions, and has been instrumental
on more than one occasion in securing the success
of his party at the polls, being individually very
popular.
JOHN SMITPI. Among the prominent and
representative citizens of Christiana was John Smith,
who, after a long and successful agricultural life in
Lancaster county, lived for a number of years before
his death, April 18, 1902, retired. His birth, on
June 8, 181 1, reaches back almost to the beginning
of a century which has accomplished more for the
world's progress than any of those which preceded it,
and Mr. Smith saw some very wonderful changes
in his life of more than ninety years. His parents
were Jackson and Esther (Maxwell) Smith, and
their residence was near Russellville, in Chester
county, where they were prominent and highly
respected farmers, leading members in social cir-
cles and in the Presbyterian Church. They died in
1855 and 1859, respectively, and both were buried
in the cemetery of the Manor Presbyterian Church,
in Chester county. The family of children born to
Jackson Smith and wife numbered eleven : William ;
Robert; Joseph; Steward; John; Mary, who died
single; Jackson, who died unmarried, a man of
wealth; Martha, deceased wife of Isaac Moore;
Abraham, who died wealthy, unmarried ; Caleb ; and
Isabella, deceased wife of Jesse Smith. All .of the
family passed away.
It was not until after his marriage that John
Smith became a resident of Lancaster county, having
been reared to manhood on his father's estate, in
Chester county. For two years succeeding his mar-
riage, he operated a farm in East Larhpeter township ;
moving then into Bart township, he lived for six
years in White Hall, and lived one year at Eshleman's
Mill. In 1855 he removed to Lancaster, and there
engaged in the teaming business, making a specialty
of the hauling of flour, and pursued this business for
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1127
nine years. The two succeeding years were passed
on a farm at Nine Points, in Bart township, and
after this Mr. Smith retired to his late home in
Christiana, where he afterward Hved, surrounded
by all the care and attention of a most devoted and
capable daughter.
In January, 1847, John Smith was married, in
Mt. Pleasant, Pa., at the home of the bride, to Miss
Barbara Trout. One daughter blessed this union,
Miss Lettie, who remained her father's attentive and
self-sacrificing companion. Mrs. Smith was born in
Mt. Pleasant, Bart township, April i, 1812, and she
died in the late home, on Oct. 8, 1886. She was a
devoted member of the Mennonite Church, and she
was laid to rest in the Longenecker Mennonite
cemetery. Her parents, John and Mary (Free)
Trout, were of Lancaster county, where the former
was an undertaker, and both were consistent members
of the New Mennonite Church. The children born
to John and Mary Trout were: Barbara, who
wedded John Smith ; Anna, who married Benjamin
Hand, of Goldsboro, N. C ; Catherine, wife of John
Bachman, of Mount Pleasant ; John, who died young ;
Henry, retired, living in Mt. Pleasant ; George ; John,
deceased ; Josiah, deceased ; Mary, deceased wife of
Augustus Miller, of Lancaster ; Hannah and Susan,
twins, both deceased, the former the wife of John
Knighty, and the latter of George Heidlbaugh ; and
.Abraham, deceased.
John Smith for many years was one of the most
industrious and energetic men of his time, always
performing his duty in any situation in which he
found himself. The infirmities of age made some in-
roads upon a naturally robust constitution, but his
eye to the last kindled and a welcome was extended
to friends who crossed his hospitable threshold. In
his very capable daughter, Miss Lettie Smith, he
not only had a devoted child and companion, but a
business manager of most excellent judgment and
ability. Although Mr. Smith was reared in the
Presbyterian Church, his mind leaned in the direc-
tion of the New Mennonite Church, his beloved wife
having been an exemplar of that quiet, peaceful and
unostentatious sect. Mr. Smith was much esteemed
in Christiana, and his death was greatly deplored.
JOHN H. SCHENCK, a retired farmer in West
Donegal township, is living on the farm where he
was born, and which was purchased from William
Penn by his great-grandfather, Mathias Blazer,
nearly two hundred years ago. The remains of
many of his descendants and of the progenitors of
John H. Schenck are buried in a private cemetery
on the farm.
John H. Schenck was born March 3, 1821, a son
of Jacob and Anna (Horst) Schenck. His father
was born on the farm and his mother in West Donegal
township, and both died on the farm from which
Jacob Schenck never removed. He was born April
15, 1791, and died Aug. 15, 1855 ; his widow died in
1870, and both were buried on the farm. They were
members of the Mennonite Church, and had the fol-
lowing children: John H., whose name appears
above; Joseph, who died when thirteen years old;
Jacob, who died when forty-eight years old; Eliza-
beth, deceased in infancy; and Abraham, who was
killed by a tree limb falling on him.
Joseph and Barbara (Blazer) Schenck, the pa-
ternal grandparents of John H., spent their Hves on
the Schenck homestead. John Schenck, the father of
Joseph, came from Switzerland.
Jacob Schenck had the following brothers and
sisters : John, who was born in 1781, married Bar-
bara Reitzel; Barbara, born in 1783, died single at
the age of twenty-one years; Mathias, born in 1786,
lived to be eighty-three years old, and died unmar-
ried; Joseph, born in 1780. died when young;
E])hraim, born in 1794, died unmarried at the age of
forty-eight; and Elizabeth, born in 1796, married
Jacob Eshleman, and died at the age of seventy-
seven years.
The maternal grandparents of John H. Schenck
were Jacob and Elizabeth (Longenecker) Horst, born
in Conoy and West Donegal townships respectively,
both ending their days in the last-named community.
John Horst, the father of Jacob, came from Switzer-
land ; he had the following children : Jacob, Joseph,
John, Martin, Miche, Susan, Barbara and Elizabeth.
John H. Schenck was married March 10, 1845,
in Elizabethtown, to Mary Kauffman, by whom he
became the father of the following children : Jona-
than K., who married Amanda Stacks, and is living
at home with his father, following the carpenter
trade during the season ; Jacob K., who married Mary
Ann Ebersole, and lives on a farm in West Donegal
township ; Christian K., a farmer in West Donegal
township, who married Elizabeth Oberholtzer ; Eliza-
beth K., who became the wife of John L. Witmer, a
farmer in West Donegal township, and had two chil-
dren, both of whom are deceased; and Mary K.,
who died when but a year and one month old.
Mrs. Mary Schenck was born in West Donegal
township, May 19, 1822, a daughter of Christian
and Elizabeth (Good) Kauffman, both born in West
Donegal township, and reared to a farming life.
The father died in 1871, at the age of eighty-one
years; and the mother passed away at the age of
seventy-seven years. They were members of the
Mennonite Church. Three children were born to
them: Mary; Anna, who died young; and Eliza-
beth, widow of Martin Breneman, who has her home
in Mt. Joy borough. John Kauffman, her paternal
grandfather, lived in Lancaster county.
Mr. and Mrs. Schenck have spent their married
life on the farm where he is found today. They
have been industrious, careful, and thrifty, and sus-
tain a deservedly high reputation at home and abroad.
Mr. Schenck has filled from time to time local posi-
tions of considerable importance; for nine years he
was supervisor, and for three years has been assistant
1128
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
assessor. He is a Republican, and has been judge
and inspector of elections. Both husband arid wife
are members of the Mennonite Church. Mr. Schenck
has a commanding physique, being over six feet in
height, and 200 pounds in weight, and he is quick and
active for his years.
JOHN S. STEHMAN, who for many years has
ranked as one of the leading agriculturists and pro-
jfressive men of Lancaster county, has resided on a
finely cultivated and improved farm located three
miles northwest of Petersburg. This land was orig-
inally brought into the family by his grandfather,
John Stehman, who purchased it, and then erected
the building which is still used as a residence, its
stanch timbers and fine workmanship bearing well
the strain of wind and weather for more than a hun-
dred years. This residence has been remodeled and
converted into one of the most comfortable and at-
tractive of modern dwellings ; the days in which it
was built were not those of cheap and shiftless labor
or of inferior material. The other fine modern
buildings which mark this estate as belonging to a
capable, careful and successful farmer were all erect-
ed bv John S. Stehman, the commodious and well
appointed barn being built in 1892. Nothing so
truly indicates thrift and prosperity as do the
improvements on a farm, an^ in this direction Mr.
Stehman has displayed both taste and utility. His
beautiful farm land has also been placed under such
cultivation that it has been generally conceded to be
one of the finest in the rich county of Lancaster.
Grandfather Stehman was a farmer all his life,
but only reached the age of forty years. He married
a lady named Airhart. and to them were born five
children, two sons — John and Henry — and three
daughters, none of whom survive.
John Stehman, father of John S., was born on
the farm May 4, 1810, and made his home there
throughout lil'e, following agriculture, living quietly,
and leaving behind him the record of a good citizen.
He married Fannie Suavely, who was born Jan. 23,
1823, a daughter of John Suavely, and died April
10, '1895. She was the mother of three children:
Jacob S", of Mt. Joy ; John S. ; and Mary Ann, now
deceased, the wife of Abraham Sumniy. The parents
were both consistent members of the Old Mennonite
Church, where for many years their places were never
vacant.
John S. Stehman was born Aug. 11, 1848, on the
old farm, and was educated in the locality, attendmg
the public schools. He engaged in farming for his
father until he was twenty-two years old, at which
time he continued the conduct of the place alone,
taking the responsibility on himself, and in 1890 be-
came the owner by purchase. He is known through-
out the vicinity as one of the most capable and suc-
cessful farmer's of the county, as well as one of its
most prosperous and substantial citizens. Aside from
the old homestead, he became the owner of several
other very valuable pieces of property, one of these
being a tract of six acres, adjoining the homestead,
which contains a complete set of buildings, but which
he sold in 1901. In 1900 he purchased the Martin
Peifer farm, which contains loi acres of finely im-
proved land, and remodeled the barn and house, and
liis son Flam now cultivates this place. In 1902 Mr.
Stehman built himself a home in East Petersburg,
equipped with all the latest conveniences, and situated
in a very pretty part of the town, where he intends
to pass the remainder of his days.
Mr. Stehman was married Oct. .25, 1873, to Annie
B. Nissley, daughter of Christian Nissley, of West
Hempfield township, and they have become the par-
ents of five children: (i) Emma died at the age
of two years. (2) Elam was married Oct. 18, 1900,
to Birdie May Garber, daughter of Reuben Garber,
and they are the parents of one daughter, Maybeth.
(3) John and (4) Anna were twins; the latter died
at the age of eight years. ("5) Fannie is at home.
Mr. Stehman is justly considered one of the influ-
ential men of his township, his influence being always
in the direction of improvement, and he is ever in
favor of measures which he considers for the public
good. Both he and his most estimable wife are con-
sistent members of the Old Mennonite Church and
faithfully follow its teachings in their lives.
ABRAH.\M ESBENSHADE, for many years
one of the leading farmers of Lancaster county, who,
after a long life of industry, now lives in the enjoy-
ment of former labor, was born and reared in East
Lampeter township. His birth was on Oct. i, 1827,
and he was a son of Henry and Catherine Esben-
shade, of Lancaster county.
Henry Esbenshade was a son of Peter Esben-
shade, who located in Lancaster county at an early
day. He was born in Germany, and he married in
this country and .spent a long and useful life as a far-
mer. The four children born to Peter Esbeilshade
were: Henry, who was born in 1803 and died in
1878 ; Jacob ; David and Joseph.
Henry Esbenshade, who was the father .of Abra-
ham Esbenshade, married Catherine Bowman, who
was born in 1803, and died in 1895. They reared a
familv of seven children, one child dying in infancy :
Martha, deceased; Abraham; Mary Ann, wife of
Ephraim Buckwalter, of Paradise township; Kate,
wife of Jacob Bochman, deceased ; Joseph, of Cali-
fornia ; and Benjamin and Elizabeth, twins, residents
of Lancaster county, all of these being among the
most reliable and substantial people of this part of
the State. For twenty-five years Henry Esbenshade
followed the trade of miller, but his last years were
spent in agricultural pursuits.
Abraham Esbenshade grew up on the farm and
attended the public schools. When he started out
for himself, he possessed limited means, but he was
filled with determination to succeed, and very soon
his energy and industry brought results. As j'ears
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1129
•passed A/[r. Esbenshade continued to- accumulate
means, and he is now the owner of one of the most
vakiable estates in the township. This consists of
170 acres of well-cultivated land which Mr. Esben-
shade operated for many years, retiring of late years
from activity, and leaving the work to younger hands.
The marriage of Mr. Esbenshade was in October,
1852, to Miss Mary Ann Buckwalter, of Leacock
township, a daughter of Henry and Susan Buck-
waiter. To this marijiage were born ten children:
Annie, the wife of August Winters, of East Drumore
township : Catherine, the wife of Walter Chester, a
merchant of Camden, N. J. ; Henrv, a resident also
of Camden, N. J. ; EHzabeth, of Camden, N. J. ; Mary
S., of Colerain township ; Emma F., the wife of
Charles Winters, of Colerain township ; Sarah J., of
Camden, N. J . ; and Henrietta, at home. The others
died in infancy.
Mr. Esbenshade is an ardent Republican in polit-
ical beHef, and is a leading member of the Methodist
Church. For eleven years he served his township
as school director, and has always taken an interest
in all matters pertaining to education.
CAPT. HENRY RANSING (deceased) was a
son of George Hiram Ransing, who died in Holland,
and whose widow came to the United States when
tienry was a lad of two years of age. She became
the owner of the land between East Orange, Plum,
Marion and Center streets, and this land she sold lit-
tle by little as the march of improvement took its
course in that direction.
Henry Ransing was educated in the Lancaster
public schools, and at the age of thirteen years en-
tered a cotton mill, where he worked until the break-
ing out of the Rebellion. At that time he enlisted as
a private in Co. G, 79th P. V. I., and at the end of
his first term of enlistment, he re-enlisted for the war.
He rose rapidly and presently attained the rank of
captain. When the company came back in which he
first enlisted, he was its captain, though only nine
of the original members survived the dangers of war.
He was in twenty-seven battles and eighteen skirm-
ishes in the Western Army, but was never wounded,
though at the battle of Bentonville his clothing was
perforated by sixteen bullets. After the war Capt.
Ransing was presented by the members of his com-
pany with a magnificent sword, sash, belt and epau-
lets, the sword bearing, this inscription : "Presented
to Capt. Ransing by the members of Company G,
79th regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran A^olunteer
tnfantrv, as a token of respect and friendship ; and for
the galiantrv displayed in all the battles in which he
participated?' Capt. Ransing was a member of the
Com.mittee on the Monument to the memory of the
men of the 7gth P. V. L, who fell at Chicka-
mauga.
The war ended, Capt. Ransing became an over-
seer in the Lancaster Fulton Cotton Mills, where he
remained until the factory was partially destroyed
by the explosion of the boiler. After this he gave up
his position in the mill, on account of the objection
of his wife to his being in what she regarded as a
dangerous place, though he was in the line of promo-
tion to the superintendency. Capt. Ransing engaged
in business, opening a small grocery, which soon as-
sumed large proportions under his close and careful
management, soon necessitating the construction of
the fine brick building on East Orange street, where
for ten years a successful business was carried on.
At the end of that time this building and business
was converted into a hotel, for which he secured a
license, and established the "East End Hotel." After
a prolonged absence from the hotel, and a residence
in another part of the city, Capt. Ransing finally re-
turned to it, where he died May 19, 1900, deeply re-
gretted far and wide. The following poem was pub-
lished in the New Era, shortly after his death :
In Memory of a Gallant Soldier.
We mourn, but we comfort feel,
When of our friend we're thinking,
That when on him Death pressed the seal
He died brave and unshrinking.
He feared not death: Why should he fear?
He who with musket's rattle
And shot and shell and wildest cheer
Feared not the bloody battle!
No mocking yell bis- .'joul could quell;
He fought to save the Union;
Stood like a rock while others fell,
Stood firm against disunion.
He rose from private rank to lead
The gallant volunteers,
He rose from merit and with speed.
Rose with his comrade's cheers.
They honored him by act and word.
And to attest their feeling.
They gave to him a handsome sword.
Their deep love thus revealing.
The war was o'er. His sword was sheathed.
hnA doing good to others.
No gentler, kindlier heart e'er breathed,
Beloved by all his brothers.
For all the world to his kind heart,
Were just like sisters, brothers;
He never failed to do his part.
In lending help to others.
His soul's at rest ; his battle's done.
He's done with care and striving;
He left a light like noonday sun
To comfort the surviving.
To danger be was first to go.
None quicker in advancing.
No braver man e'er met a foe,
Than gallant Captain Ransing.
Capt. Ransing was married in 1866, to Rose
Roth, who survives him, as does his only son, Henry
Edward. The latter was born Sept. 16, 1877, and
1130
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
after securing a partial education in St. Anthony's
parochial school, finished his education in Franklin
and Marshall College, but was compelled to leave
school before graduation that he might assist his
father, who became seriously ill three years before
his death. Henry E. Ransing has since succeeded
to the hotel business. He was married Sept. 20,
1900.
Capt. Ransing was a devout Catholic, having
taken his first communion at old St. Mary's Church
when twelve years old. In his later years he was as-
sociated with St. Anthony's Church. He was the
founder of St. Michael's Catholic Benevolent So-
ciety, and was chief marshal of the great parades
that attended the laying of the corner stone of St.
Anthony's Church, at the dedication of St. Anthony's
Institute, and at other notable Catholic occasions
in this city, besides leading his society frequently
to other cities to participate in prominent events.
Few men indeed were better known in Lancaster than
Capt. Henry Ransing, and none more esteemed.
ABRAHAM METZLER is one of the old and
highly respected citizens of Lancaster county, and has
his home in Paradise township. He was born near
Morgantown, March 24, 1822, a son of Christian and
Nancy (Werner) Metzler.
Valentine Metzler, the great-grandfather of
Abraham, and the founder of the family in Lancas-
ter county, was born in .Switzerland, Feb. 14, 1726,
and came to this country in his early manhood. In
Lancaster county, where he made his home, he was
married Nov. 19, 1749, to Anna Wissler, who was
born in the county Dec. 9, 1727, and died March
29, 1793, surviving her husband, who died July 24,
1783. The home was on a farm several miles north
of the city of Lancaster, and there they reared the
following children : Abraham, Jacob, John, Anna,
Henry, Christian, Martin and Elizabeth.
Abraham Metzler, noted above, was the grand-
father of oLir subject. He was a farmer living a
mile south of Morgantown. All the family have been
members of the Mennonite Church.
Christian Metzler, son of Abraham and father of
Abraliam Metzler, whose name introduces this arti-
cle, was born March 6, 1791, and died Jan. 7, 1878.
His wife, Nancy Werner, was born in 1790, and died
Jan. I, 1867. They had the following family : David;
Abraham, who married Susan Eby ; Magdalena, who
became the wife of Christian Hershey; Elizabeth,
who married Joseph Brackbill ; Susanna ; and Anna,
who died unmarried. Mr. Metzler was a man _ of
high character and unblemished reputation, standing
well among the leading people of the county, and
giving the influence of his life to the uplifting of the
community.
Abraham Metzler was born in Conestoga town-
ship, and accompanied his parents when nine years
old to the farm in Paradise township, where he is
fotmd at the present time. Farming was his life
work, and he retired about 1878. During the course
of his long but uneventful life he has done much to
help the community to a higher state, and has exerted
a good influence by his quiet life and daily industry.
His farm comprises 113 acres, and today he bears
himself with remarkable vitality and vigor for a man
eighty years of age. All his life he has been associ-
ated with the Mennonite Church.
J(!)HN RODKEY is an honored representative
of one of the German families which settled in Lan-
caster county about a half century ago, for he has
reached an enviable position as a business man, and
politically has become proininent through the fran-
chises of his fellow citizens. In 1900 he was elected
supervisor of West Hompfield township, where he
has had his lifelong residence.
Christian and Eva (Resch) Rodkey, his parents,
were both natives of Germany. Christian Rodkey
was in early life a shoemaker, and in 1853, when
about thirty years of age, he migrated to America,
coming directly to Lancaster county and settling in
West Hempfield township. Soon after his arrival
he married Eva Resch, whose father, John Resch,
had emigrated from Germany to Lancaster county in
1852. In Lancaster county Christian Rodkey fol-
lowed farming in connection with his trade of shoe-
maker. He died in T864, aged forty-one years, and
his wife died in 1878, aged fifty-two. They are
buried at Columbia. Both were devout members of
the German Lutheran Church. Six children were
born to Christian and Eva Rodkey, namely: John,
whose sketch appears herewith ; Lizzie, wife of
Abraham Shenck, a farmer of Manor township ;
Mary, wife of Harry Lindeman, of Lancaster;
Anna, wife of William Merritt, of Philadelphia;
George, deceased ; and Rosa, wife of Albert LoUer,
of I^ancaster.
John Rodkey, the eldest child,, was born in West
Hempfield township Feb. 10, 1854. He remained on
the home farm carried on by his father until he was
about twenty-four years old. On Jan. 27, 1877, at
Columbia, he married Miss Mary Frey, a native of
West Hempfield township, daughter of Peter and
•Eleanora Frey, farming people of that township.
Six children came to this union, as follows : Christian,
a farmer of West Hempfield township ; Laura, wife
of Edward Moore, a lace weaver of Philadelphia;
John, a lace weaver, living at the old homestead;
Fred, at home; May, at home; and Anna M., de-
ceased. The wife and mother died in 1891, aged
thirty-two years, and for his second wife John Rod-
key married, Oct. 11, 1893, at Columbia, Mrs. Amelia
(Ulmer) Hinkle, a native of that city, and the widow
of Charles H. Hinkle. She is the daughter of Joseph
and Mary Gertrude (Hineland) Ulmer, who were
married in Wittenberg, Germany, their native land,
in 1837, and six years later emigrated with their
family to America. Their destination was Ohio.
Traveling westward by water, the boat stopped at
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1131
Cokimbia over Sunday. There by chance they met
a sister of the wife, and were persuaded by her to .
remain at Columbia. Joseph Ulmer was a shoemaker
by trade. After his settlement in Columbia he built
and operated the old "Wagner Hotel." It was de-
stroyed by fire, but was rebuilt by Mr. Ulmer, who
managed it in all about fourteen years, retiring from
the hotel business in 1866, and resuming his old trade
of shoemaker. He died at Columbia in 1894, a^ed
eighty-five years. His wife died in 1884, aged sev-
enty-two years. They were earnest, faithful members
of the Lutheran Church. A large family blessed the
union of Joseph and Mary Gertrude Ulmer, namely :
Lizzie, wife of George Cowden, of Pittsburg ; Fred,
deceased; Mary, who married George Newberry,
of Philadelphia; Margaret, deceased; Joseph, de-
ceased ; Henry, deceased ; Amelia, wife of John Rod-
key; Martha, deceased; George, a railroad man of
Columbia : Joseph T., deceased ; Charles, of Colum-
bia; and Laura, deceased. In 1867 Amelia Ulmer
married Charles H. Hinkle, and to them were born
five children, James B., Lizzie C, Lotta, Clara and
Mary.
After his first marriage John Rodkey rented a
farm in West Hempfield township for three years,
at the end of that time moving to Columbia and oper-
ating the "Farmer's Hotel," known now as the "Ho-
tel Columbia." He then purchased his parents'
farm of fourteen acres, which he has brought to a
high stage of cultivation. Besides engaging in gen-
eral farming he is quite an extensive grower of to-
bacco. He has been eminently successful, and ranks
as one of the leading citizens of West Hempfield
township. In religious faith Mr. Rodkey is a member
of the Lutheran Church. He is prominent in fra-
ternal orders as a member of the Red Men and of the
Artisans. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, and
he was elected township supervisor in 1900 by a large
majority.
EMANUEL M. RESH, a citizen of Leacock
township, Lancaster county, has his home farm on a
part of the old homestead where he was born Oct.
31, 1851, son of Christian E., and Susanna (Landis)
Resh. Reared on the old home place, he attended the
local schools and Millersville Normal School, and
when he became a young man was married to Miss
Anna Landis, an estimable young lady of Lancaster
county. This union has been blessed with two
daughters, Mabel, born May 6, 1884; and Mary
Elizabeth, born Jan. 26, 1888.
Mrs. Anna (Landis) Resh was born in West
Lampeter township, Lancaster county, Oct. 28, 1855,
daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Kireider) Landis.
DAVID D. WEAVER, one of the up-to-date
and enterprising citizens of East Hempfield township,
whose home is a half mile west of Petersburg, was
born in Manheim township April 26, 1849, son of
David and Annie (Denlinger) Weaver, and descends
from a family long established in Lampeter town-
ship. The father died in 1887, at the age of seventy-
four years, and the mother passed away in March,
1883, at the age of sixty-four years. In early life
David Weaver was a carpenter, but at his marriage
became a farmer, and owned several places in dif-
ferent parts of rhe county. He had a family of nine
children, four of whom lived to attain maturity : ( i )
Jacob died in the spripg of 1901 ; he was a truck
farmer, and resided on Columbia avenue, Lancaster.
(2) David D. is mentioned below. (3) Benjamin is
a truck farmer in East Hempfield township. (4)
Annie is the wife of Christ. Shenck, of East Lam-
peter township. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver were asso-
ciated with the Reformed Mennonite Church.
David D. Weaver was born in Manheim township,
two miles north of Lancaster, was reared on the farm,
and was educated in the public school. At twenty-
nine he married, and following his marriage engaged
in trucking on a farm in Manheim township. Pres-
ently he rented a larger tract, and engaged in general
farming for some six years. In 1886 he located on
the farm where he has since made his home, which
comprises fifteen acres, and is devoted to kitchen
gardening and fruit growing. In his management
of this place he shows that he has made a study of
the proper methods of farming, and is progressive
and public-spirited to a very unusual degree.
Mr. Weaver was married, Dec. 12, 1878, to Miss
Rachel Bair, a daughter of Adam and Martha (Mc-
Elree) Bair; she is a native of Lancaster, but was
reared in West Hempfield township. Mr. and Mrs.
Weaver are the parents of three children, Martha
Ann, Alice May, and Viola B. They are members
of the Reformed Mennonite Church, and move among
the better people of the town.
WILLIAM H. ECKMAN, who has for many
years been prosperously engaged in contracting and
building in his section of Lancaster county, bears a
name that has long been respected there. He is a
grandson of Henry Eckman, who was born in the
county, and passed all his days here. He was a plow-
maker by trade, and was engaged in the iron business
quite extensively, also in the mercantile business.
Henry Elckman married Miss Hannah Shirtz, and
they were the parents of six children: Hannah,
Elizabeth and Catherine, all of whom died unmar-
ried ; Mary, wife of Michael Market, of St. Mary's,
Pa. ; Christian, father of William H. ; and Amos,
who is deceased.
Christian Eckman was born about 1823 in Para-
dise township, where he yet resides. He learned the
carpenter's trade in early life, and followed it until
obliged to retire on account of age, meeting with
substantial siiccess. He married Miss Sarah Powers,
of Paradise township, and to them were born eight
children, one of whom died in infancy: Amanda
died at the age of nineteen years ; Sarah became the
wife of Franklin Slaymaker ; Catherine married Will-
1132
13I0GRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
iam Sharp; Emma J- married William Proudfoot;
William H. is mentioned below; Mabon F. is a resi-
dent of Paradise township; George W. lives in East
Lampeter township.
William H. Eckman was born in Paradise town-
ship Nov. 12, 1846, and lived at home until he was
twenty-two years of age. His education was ac-
quired in the common schools, and he learned the
carpenter's trade with Jacob Hidlebaugh. He com-
menced work on his own account as journeyman for
George Miller and Amos Fralick, continuing thus
about eleven years, after which he started in business
for himself, contracting and building in East Lam-
peter township. Mr. Eckman has continued to fol-,
low his chosen calhng up to the present time. He
erected the second creamery that was started in
Lancaster county, for Bowman & Maver, and many
substantial structures in the region testify to his ac-
tivity and efficiency as a builder. In politics he is
a stanch Republican, and at present holds the office
of school director.
On Feb. 6, 1868, Mr. Eckman wedded Miss
Catherine. Proudfoot, who was born April 16, 1842,
and this union has been blessed with six children,
as follows: Alice N., born Dec. 11, 1868, died Feb.
16, 1869 ; Myiin E., born Dec. 1 1, 1869, is a carpenter
of Lancaster city; Aldis M., born March 29, 1874,
died Dec. 17, 1875; Minnie M., born Dec. 28, 1876,
is the wife of Lyman Strickler, of Paoli, .Chester
county; Barton F., born Jan. 26, 1878, residing in
East Lampeter, is telegraph operator for the Penn-
sylvania Railway Company; Anson W., born Jan.
17, 1881, is a carpenter of East Lampeter township.
l\Ir. and Mrs. Eckman are both members of the M. E.
Church, in which he is steward and member of the
board of trustees.
LEWIS WOOD. The Wood family of Pennsyl-
vania traces an ancestry to Thomas Wood, who was
born in Lancashire, England, and came to America
in early Colonial days, buying land of William Penn,
near Philadelphia. His children were: William,
Joseph and Richmonday, the last named being born
on the passage to the new. home. Thomas Wood
was a leading member of the Quaker sect, and in
his native land had belonged to a family of prom-
inence, his brother, William Wood, being a member
of the British Parliament. Since those early days,
members of the Wood family have been among the
most law-abiding and peaceful, and also loyal, citi-
zens of this great country, representatives of it be-
ing now distinguished in many States.
Joseph Wood, son of Thomas, married Catherine
Dav, Jan. 12, 1769, and their children were : Thomas,
loseph, Jesse, Lvdia, Elizabeth, David, John and
bay.
Jesse Wood, son of Joseph Wood, was the grand-
father of Lewis Wood, of this sketch. By his first
marriage he had two sons, John and Day, and by
■his second marriage, had one son, James, who became
the father of Lewis. Grandfather Wood was a suc-
cessful farmer and an honorable and upright
citizen.
James Wood was during life one of the leading
citizens of southern Lancaster county. For many
years he was the president of the Farmers' National
Bank, of Oxford, Pa., and as one of the leading mern-
bers of the Republican party, he served most effici-
ently in various township and county offices, being
countv commissioner at one period. In his domestic
life he was one of the kindest and most considerate
of men, and closely followed the simple teachings of
the Society of Friends. James Wood was born July
17, 1821, and his death occurred Aug. 9, 1894. In
j'845, he was united in marriage to Mercy M. Carter,
who was born on Nov. 29, 1822, and who still sur-
vives in Britain township. This marriage was
blessed with eight children: Alfred, who lives in
Fulton township, and whose sketch appears else-
where; Susan, wife of Elwood Townsend, whose
sketch also appears elsewhere ; Jesse, a resident of
this township, mentioned elsewhere ; Mary, deceased
wife of Davis E. Allen; Lucretia, wife of John W.
Smedley, a retired farmer of Oxford; Lewis, subject
of this biography ; James ; and Ida, who died unmar-
ried.
Lewis Wood, of Kirks Mills, Little Britain
township, was born Jan. 27, 1854, and was reared
to agricultural pursuits. His education was obtained
both in the common and the select schools of his
locality, and he was thus well prepared to become the
progressive and intelligent farmer that he is. His
farrn comprises 204 acres of very valuable land, upon
which he has placed good improvements.
On Jan. 25, 1893, Lewis Wood was married to
Luella King, who was born in Fulton township July
22, 1857, a daughter of Thomas P. and Phebe (Pres-
ton) King, and was one in a family of four children,
the others being : Elmira, who is the wife of Alfred
Wood, of whom a sketch is given in another part of
this volume ; Luretta, deceased wife of Samuel Kirk,
of Fulton township ; and William P., who is a farmer
of Fulton township.
The children born to Lewis and Luella Wood are :
Ida P., born May 12, 1894; and Edith A., born Dec.
19, 1896. In politics Lewis Wood is a stanch sup-
porter of the Republican party. Like his ancestors
for many generations, he is a consistent member of
the Society of Friends. Both he and wife are among
the most highly esteemed residents of Little Britain
township.
GEORGE L. CASSEL, M. D., the youngest
son of A. N. Cassel, was born in Marietta, April 30,
j86i, and his literary education was obtained in the
public schools of that place and at York Collegiate
Institute. In 1881 he entered the University of
Pennsylvania, where he was graduated with the de-
gree of M. D. in 1884, but the following two years
he devoted to the lumber business in Marietta. Re-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY.
1183
turning to Philadelphia in 1889, he entered St. Agnes
Hospital as interne, and was connected with that
institution thirteen months, after which he entered
the Union Mission Hospital as a member of the
staff, as assistant surgeon of the eye clinic, remain-
ing there until 1897. In the meantime he also en-
gaged in private practice in Philadelphia, and in
1S96 opened an office in Lancaster, where he is still
engaged in practice, though his family reside in
Marietta. His Lancaster office is at No. 153 East
King street. The Doctor is a member of the medical
staff of St. Joseph's Hospital in that city, and is also
a member of the County, State and National Medi-
cal societies, and the Lancaster City Pathological
Society. Since- 1897 he has devoted his attention to
Diseases of the Eye, Ear. Nose and Throat.
On Nov. 5, 1885, Dr. Cassel was united in mar-
riage with Miss Mary Horn Cadwallader, a daugh-
ter of Col. C. N. Cadwallader, of Philadelphia, and
to them have been born three children: Charles
Cadwallader ; George L., Jr. ; and Miriam. The
family hold membership in the Presbyterian Church.
Socially the Doctor also belongs to Lodge No. 134,
B. P. O. Elks ; Donegal Lodge, No. 129, 1. O. O. F.,
of Marietta; Marietta Encampment, No. 76; and
Canton Lancaster, M. P., No. 25. He is assistant
surgeon general on Gen. E. C. Deans' staff, Depart-
ment of Pennsylvania, and he is a member of Ma-
rietta Council.
NATHANIEL K. BRUBAKER, a retired
farmer of Lititz, is a descendant of one of the old
and honored families of Lancaster county, being a
great-grandson of John Brubaker.
Joseph Brubaker, his grandfather, was born
Sept. 23, 1785, in Elizabeth township, this county,
and engaged in farming in Warwick until his re-
tirement, about twenty-five years before his death,
which occurred April 11, 1875. He was a member
of the Old Mennonite Church. He married Miss
Maria Bucher, and they had eleven children : One
who died in infancy ; Catherine, who became the wife
of John Bomberger ; Joseph, a farmer in Warwick
township ; Barbara, who married Christian Snyder ;
David, a farmer, a deacon of the Old Mennonite
Church ; Mary, the wife of Christian Bomberger ;
Elizabeth, wife of Levi Weaver; Levi, a farmer;
Jonas,, the father of Nathaniel K. ; John, a farmer of
Manheim township ; and Annie, who became the
wife of Jacob Shirk.
Jonas Brubaker was born in Warwick township
July 22, 1825. He gave his entire attention to farm-
ing until about ten years before his death, which oc-
curred May 10, 1897. He was a good business man
and an able manager, and was one of the founders
and a director of the Northern Market of Lancaster
city. He was a member of the Old Mennonite
Church. Jonas Brubaker married Miss Leah Kel-
ler, daughter of -Fred and Catharine Keller, and they
had a family of nine children : Nathaniel K. ; Cath-
erine, who died in childhood; Clement K., a retired
farmer of East Donegal ; Martin K., a retired farm-
er of Mt. Joy; Miss Lizzie K., living near Lititz,
who is engaged in sustaining foreign missions, and
has especially use'd her influence for the suffering
of India; Annie K., who died in infancy; Levi K.,
who is business manager of the missionary insti-
tute at Nyack, N. Y. ; Barbara, deceased in infancy ;
and Jonas, who died in childhood.
Nathaniel K. Brubaker was born Nov. 28, 1849,
in Warwick township, where he received a common-
school education. He lived at home until he was
twenty-five years of age, and then began life for
himself, farming in Warwick township, at the same
place where he now resides. He gave his entire at-
tention to agricultural pursuits until 1894, since
which time he has lived retired. He succeeded his
father as a director in the Northern Market of Lan-
caster city; is a director of the Lititz and Roths-
ville pike, and also of the Lititz and Lexington pike.
Mr. Brubaker has always been considered one of the
most enterprising and energetic citizens of his town-
ship, and his interest in the welfare of the commun-
ity has been shown by activity in various lines.
Mr. Brubaker was united in marriage, Nov. 3,
1874, with Miss Mary A. Hess, daughter of Jacob
and Mary (Shenk) Hess, and to this union have
come three children : J. Clayton, born Dec. 5, 1875,
graduated at the Shippensburg State Normal
School in 1896, and has taught four years, two years
in the Cherry Grove school, in Elizabeth township
and two years in Hubers school, in Warwick town-
ship ; Annie Leah and Elnora both died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker are both members of the
Old Mennonite Church.
DANIEL K. DENLINGER, a prosperous and
thoroughly respected farmer of East Lampeter town-
ship, was born there Dec. 6, 1850, and belongs to a
family whose various members have shown them-
selves worthy of the esteem of their fellow men.
Abraham Denlinger, the grandfather of Daniel
K., was born July 21, 1785, and died March 6, 1836.
He married Annie Landis, and they had the follow-
ing children : Martin, boi-n April 30, 1812, married
Barbara Jauntz, and died Feb. 5, 1879; Benjamin,
born Aug. 6, 1814, died Aug. 27, 1888; Mary mar-
ried John Kreider; Barbara and EHzabeth were
twins; the former married Daniel Kreider, and is
now deceased ; and the latter is the widow of Tobias
Leanian.
Benjamin Denlinger, son of Abraham, married
Anna Kreider, and they .had a family of thirteen
children, as follows: Martin and John (mutes);
Abraham, who was twice married, first to Annie
Buckwalter, daughter of Rev. David Buckwalter,
and second to Hettie Landis, daughter of Benjamin
Landis: Annie, deceased, who married David L
Buckwalter, son of Deacon Michael Buckwalter'
Benjamin K., a farmer of East Lampeter, who mar-
1134
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ried Maria Wenger, daughter of Joseph Wenger, of
Leacock township ; Tobias K., who married Martha
Brubaker, daughter of Deacon John Brubaker;
Daniel K., who is mentioned below ; Esther K., who
married John Musser; Mary K.'and Elizabeth K.,
twins, the former of whom is the widow of Henry
E. Metzler, and the latter the wife of Christian M.
Brackbill, a minister in the Mennonite Church ; Bar-
bara K., who married John H. Mellinger, . son of
Jacob Mellinger; Lydia K. (a mute), wife of Dan-
iel Rohrer" (also a mute) ; and Catherine K. (a
mute), wife of Henry Kulp (also a mute).
Daniel K. Denlinger received his education in
the public schools near his home. He remained
under the parental roof until he was twenty-four
years of age, at which time he began farming for
himself, having been thoroughly trained to that
vocation. He was located in Leacock township four
years, after which he moved to the place on which
he now resides, and which has been his home con-
tinuously until the present time. He purchased the
farm in 1882. The place contains about sixty-three
acres, on which he has made extensive improve-
ments.
On Nov. 10, 1874, Mr. Denlinger married Miss
Hettie M. Hershey, and to this union have been born
ten children : Aaron H., who is a farmer in West
Lampeter, and married Mary L. Groff, of East Lam-
peter township ; Annie H., wife of Abraham L.
Heller, of East Lampeter township ; and Lizzie H.,
Hettie H., Jacob H., Mary H., Lydia H., Daniel H.,
Martin H. and Katie H., who live at home. Mr.
and Mrs. Denlinger, one son and three daughters
are members of tne Old Mennonite Church. Mr.
Denlinger is a valued resident of his community,
where public spirit and devotion to local interests
are appreciated.
ANDREW JACKSON FUTER, a well known
and highly respected farmer of Leacock township,
Lancaster county, where he has also followed the
vocation of carpentering, was born in Salisbury
township, March 16, 1837, a son of Stephen and
Sarah (Pjowman) P'uter, the former of whom was
born in France, while the latter was a native of Lan-
caster county.
Stephen Futer was born Dec. 14, 1799, and came
to America about 18 16, and located in Philadelphia,
where he served an apprenticeship at the tailoring
trade. When -he had mastered it he came to Lan-
caster county, and was located in Leacock township
for about a year, when he removed to Salisbury
township, and there remained the rest of his life.
He died March 16, 1872. His widow, who was
born June 17, 1807, passed to her rest March 3,
1884. Tliey were members of the United Brethren
and the Old Mennonite Churches, respectively, and
were buried in the cemetery connected with Ro-
lands Church. Stephen Futer and his wife had the
following children: Elizabeth married first, Mar-
tin Sweigert and after his death, William A.
Pradiager, and now lives in Paradise township ;
Catherine is the widow of Samuel R. Lindwell, and
lives at Gap, Pa. ; Sarah is the widow of Thomas
Dunlap, and lives at Chenoa, 111. ; Elias is a farmer
of Upper Leacock township ; Melchisadec is de-
ceased; Stephen is a farmer, carpenter and under-
taker of Salisbury township ; Andrew ; John is de-
ceased ; Aaron is a farmer in Ford county. 111. ;
George died young ; Amos is a farmer and carpenter
in Leacock township, and his sketch may be found
elsewhere; Jemima and Jeremiah, twins, of whom
the former is deceased, and the latter a carpenter in
Philadelphia; Elmira lives in Philadelphia unmar-
ried ; and Anna M. died young.
The paternal grandparents of Andrew J. Futer
were Mr. and Mrs. George Futer, natives of Alsace,
France, where they spent all their lives. The ma-
ternal grandparents of Mr. Futer were Abraham
and Elizabeth (Learaan) Bowman, both of Lan-
caster county. Mr. Bowman had a hotel at White
Horse, and was wealthy before the Revolution, but
lost his property in that struggle.
Andrew Jackson Futer was married Sept. 14,
1865, in New Holland, Pa., to Ann Elizabeth Bru-
baker, who was born in Strasburg township, Nov.
27, 1835, a daughter of Samuel and Esther (Steh-
man) Brubaker. This union was blessed with the
following children: Stephen L., a carpenter of
Philadelphia, married Ella H. Younger; Miss Es-
ther A. is at home; Samuel B. a contractor and
builder, is at home; Sarah E. died young; Benjamin
F., who is engaged in the bicycle business at Lan-
caster, married Martha Hoover; and Andrew L.
a partner of his brother, Benjamin F., married Mary
A. Kraft, of York, and lives in Lancaster.
Samuel Brubaker died in Strasburg township
in 1837, at the age of thirty-four years. His widow
died May 11, 1890, at the age of eighty-three. They
were members of the Lutheran Church, and their
children were : Josiah, who died young ; Rebecca,
who married Christian Weaver, a farmer of Lan-
caster ; John, deceased ; Ann Elizabeth ; and Naomi,
deceased. Mrs. Brubaker was married second, to
Joseph Weaver, who died in 1885, at the age of
seventy-six. They had two children : Barbara A.,
who married Amos Bowman, now a retired farmer
of Lancaster township ; and Esther A., who married
John Kurtz, a retired farmer of Lancaster.
Andrew Jackson Futer remained with his par-
ents until 1863, when he was employed by the Gov-
ernment to build bridges and do other carpenter
work. He helped in the construction of two build-
ings at Sangster Station, Va., and was foreman of
two construction crews during the Rebellion. When
the war closed he came home to follow his trade
beginning business as a contracting carpenter in
1866. In 1 87 1 he settled at the home where he is
found to-day. In his politics he is a Republican,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1185
and he takes a deep interest in the welfare of his
party. In reHgion he belongs to the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and he lives an honest and up-
right life.
GEORGE K. MANNING, the best known
undertaker and cabinet maker in Manor township,
Lancaster county, was born in Highville, this coun-
ty. May 6, 1843, and is of English origin.
John Manning, the founder of the family in Lan-
caster county, came from England in 17 16 or 1717,
as a cabin boy on a sailing vessel, and was left in
Philadelphia by its captain as a hostage, or appren-
tice, until his passage-money had been worked out
or earned.
John S. Manning, grandson of the apprentice
above alluded to, and a sonof Jacob Manning, was
born in Manor township in 1789, was a weaver by
trade, and also a butcher, at which trades he worked
in winter, and in summer followed farming. He
always made his home in Manor township, with the
exception of one year passed in Indiana. He mar-
ried Elizabeth Kline, daughter of Peter and Eliza-
beth (Doerstler) Kline, who were of German origin,
the grandfather of Peter Kline having been the
founder of the family in Pennsylvania. The wife of
John S. Manning died in 1868, at the age of seven-
ty-two years, the mother of fourteen children, viz. :
Jacob, who was a butcher and weaver, but is now
deceased; Rebecca, widow of Abraham Renard, of
Cumberland county, Pa.; John, deceased; Peter K.,
of Illinois; Benjamin K., a farmer of Manor
township, Lancaster county; Amos K., deceased;
Martin K., a farmer of Manor township ; George
K. ; Adam, Elizabeth, Henry, Abraham, David and
Elias, all deceased.
George K. Manning was educated in the public
schools of Highville and when eighteen years of age
began to learn the trade of carpenter and builder
with Jacob Frey, and after serving his apprentice-
ship worked several years as a journeyman, and
then began contracting and building on his own ac-
count, erecting many of the best buildings in the
county besides doing considerable work on the State
Normal School at Millersville, a model of which he
made for the Centennial Exhibition.
In T876 George K. Manning relinquished con-
tracting and carpentering, and began to devote his
attention exclusively to undertaking and cabinet-
making, and as a funeral director now stands at the
head of the calling.
DR. HL'GO CROSTA HARK, one of the ris-
ing young professional men of Lancaster county,
descends from an old and distinguished family. Dr.
Bute, his great-grandfather in maternal lines, was
contemporaneous with the great Hahnemann, and
with the latter rendered signal service during the
yellow fever scourge in Philadelphia. On the pa-
ternal side, his grandfather, Dr. Joseph Hark, is
now enjoying the evening of life, having rounded
out a full eighty years, after a long and useful ca-
reer as a homeopathic phj'sician. Dr. J. Max Hark,
the father of Dr. Hugo Hark, of Lititz, is one of the
most distinguished clergymen of the Moravian
Church, who for almost thirteen years ministered
to the Moravian Church of Lancaster, and during
that time was regarded as one of the foremost
clergymen of the fcity. At present, he is the honored
principal of the justly celebrated Young Ladies'
Seminary, in Bethlehem, having resigned the Lan-
caster charge in order to accept this position. Dr.
J. Max Hark was married to Miss Theresa Crosta,
daughter of Francis Crosta, of Riverton, N. J., who
died in 1895. From this union, three children were
born: Hugo C, and Misses Hilda Theresa and
Anna Amelia, who are attending the seminary in
Bethlehem.
Dr. Hugo Crosta Hark was born in Lebanon in
1874, and received his primary education in the pub-
lic schools, supplementing this with first, a course
in Franklin and Marshall College, and then with a
classical course in the Moravian College at Bethle-
hem. He next entered the Dental Department of the
University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, from
which he was graduated in 1898, and soon after be-
gan the practice of his profession in Bethlehem,
where he remained until Dec. i, 1900. At this time
he became the successor to the dental practice of the
late Dr. J. G. Weltmer, occupying the latter's old
office, as a reception room, to which he has added
another larger apartment, which he uses as an
operating room.
WILLIAM WELCPIANS. In December,
T897, a familiar face was missed from the streets
of Maytown, and sorrowing neighbors lamented that
William Welchans had passed out of life. He was
born Aug. 31, 1822, and his life had been spent in
Lancaster county, the stanch old region of sub-
stantial German settlers whose thrift has done so
much to give the great Keystone State its reputation
and prosperity.
The paternal grandparents of William Welchans
were Joseph and Sabina Welchans, of York county,
the family residence being near Wrightsville. Jo-
seph Welchans was a prominent man, long being
"Squire," and he was a thorough and enthusiastic
musician, taking the long walk to Maytown every
two weeks, in order to play the organ for the congre-
gation of the Reformed Church. The worthy par-
ents of the subject of this biography were Joseph
and Margaret (Witmer) Welchans, of York and
East Donegal townships, respectively, where the
former followed the business of farming; he was
also a carpenter, but in his latter days lived a rather
retired life. To this union was born: William;
Ann, who married Jacob Bowers, deceased; Mar-
garet, who married Abraham Geltmacher ; Jane, who
married William Drebenstadt; and Charlotte (de-
1136
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ceased), who married Abraham Sloat. The father
died m 1869, at the age of seventy-six, the mother
in 1864, aged sixty-eight, both being buried in the
Reformed cemetery.
On Nov. 9, 1845, WilHam Welchans married
Anna M. Drebenstadt, and to this happy union were
born : Clara, who died young ; Joseph, a carpenter,
in Harrisburg, Pa. ; Amra, who married Jefferson
Shireman ; Samuel, who died in 1889 ; Barbara, who
married Jacob Heisey, a cigar-maker, of Maytown;
Anna, who married William Stumm, of Sac City,
Iowa; George, a carpenter at home, who married
Barbara HoUinger; and May, who married Daniel
Stewart, of Lancaster.
The birth of Mrs. Welchans occurred in May-
town, Oct. 10, 1825. She is a daughter of Samuel
and Barbara (Poist) Drebenstadt, the former of
whom was a weaver by trade, who acceptably filled
the office of assessor for the township, and died in
1877, at the age of eighty-one, his wife having passed
away in 1870, at the age of sixty-six, and both were
buried in the old Lutheran cemetery, having been
consistent members of the Lutheran Church. The
children of Mr. and Mrs. Drebenstadt were:
Anna M. i_ George, who was drowned at the age of
nine years; William, who conducts a butchering
business, in Middletown, Pa.; Theodore, who died
in youth; Samuel, a cigar-maker in Maytown;
Charlotte, who married John Brown, of York, Pa. ;
Franklin, who died a victim of the prison at Ander-
sonville, during the Civil war; and Horace, who
died young.
William Welchans learned the carpenter trade
with his father, and learned it thoroughly so that in
after years his name was a guaranty for excellence.
While a young man he removed from Wrightsville
to Mavtown, and continued for many years one of
the prosperous workmen of that village, accumu-
lating a competency, and enabling his family to pass
their days in comfort after he was taken from them.
A good man in every condition of life, his memory
is cherished by his family and many friends.
Mr. Welchans was a valued member of the
Lutheran Church, his wife of the Reformed Church,
and in politics he was a Democrat. His wife
survives him, and is residing in the old home in
Maytown which he built in 1847. Although some-
what of a sufferer from rheumatism, she is. a very
pleasant and intelligent lady, and remembers many
interestmg events of the life of herself and husband
in this locality when they first made it their home.
ELWOOD M. TOWNSEND, one of the lead-
ing business citizens of Smyrna, in Sadsbury town-
ship, was born in Christiana, Pa., Feb. 17, 1859, a
son of Jacob R. and Susan (Homsher) Townsend,
both of whom were natives of Sadsbury township,
more extended mention of whom will be found else-
where in this volume.
El wood M. Townsend was afforded excellent
educational advantages, finishing first the common-
school coiu'se, and at the age of sixteen entering the
Millersville State Normal School, there completing
his schooling, but he is one of those intelligent men
who continue to learn all their lives. Such men we
generally find in the front rank of both professional
and business life. Mr. Townsend passed his twen-
tieth and twenty-first years as an educator, and then
embarked in the hard wood and lumber business, in
Sadsbury township, coming to the town of Smyrna,
in 1887. Here, in association with his father, he
entered upon a mercantile business, and upon the
death of the latter he purchased the other half in-
terest, from the estate, and has had full control ever
since, his energetic and business like methods build-
mg up a large and constantly increasing trade. Mr.
Townsend is also the, popular and obliging post-
master of the town.
The marriage of Elwood M. Townsend was in
1887, in Intercourse, to Ida E. Diller, and one daugh-
ter, Marian D., has been born to this union. Mrs.
Townsend was born in Leacock township, a daugh-
ter of George and Hannah (Rutter) Diller, both of
Lancaster county. The father is deceased, but the
mothei still resides in Intercourse, where the family
is well and favorably known.
Mr. Townsend is fraternally connected with the
Masonic order, and has been Past Master of Chris-
tiana Lodge, No. 417. In politics, he is a supporter
of the Democratic party and exerts considerable in-
fluence in his locality. As a business citizen he is
of great value to the community, and both' he and
wife are jirominent in social circles.
JACOB MUSSER DENLINGER, now a
farmer in Leacock township, Lancaster county, was-
born on the farm where his active years have passed,
Aug. 25, 1853, a son of Samuel and EHzabeth
(Musser) Denlinger, whose other son, David, born
in Leacock township in November, 1857, is now a
motorman on the electric railroad. Samuel Den-
linger was born in East Lampeter township, March
17, 1830. His wife, Elizabeth Musser, who was-
born in Leacock township May 25, 1833, a daugh-
ter of Jacob and Elizabeth Musser, died April 19,
1872, in her thirty-ninth year, having been an in-
valid for twenty years.
Jacob Musser Denlinger was married in New
Holland, Pa., Nov. 8, 1877, to Miss Anna Musser
and there were born toi this union, two children,
Elizabeth M. and Samuel, Jr.
Mrs. Anna (Musser) Denlinger was born in
Paradise township, Dec. 12, 1852, a daughter of
John M. and Susannah (Wenger) Musser. Her
"father, who was born in Earl township, died in
Hinkletown, Pa., Aug. 21, 1896, when he was al-
most sixty-seven years of age. He was a farmer,
and during his active and useful life he was called
to office as supervisor by the Republican party, to-
which he was a life-time adherent. Mrs. Susannah
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1137
(Wenger) Musser, who was born in West Earl
township, Jan. i8. 1833, died June 29, 1900. Both
she and her husband, who were members of the
Mennonite Church, where buried in the cemetery
at Groffdale. To John M. Musser and his wife
were born the following children: Benjamin W.,
of Upper Leacock township ; Susanna, who married
Benjamin Kreider, and is now deceased; John W.,
a farmer in East Lampeter township ; Jacob W., a
farmer and miller in West Earl township; Mary,
widow of Adam D. Sheaffer, and now living in Earl
township ; Lizzie, who married Willard Eaby, a
merchant at Intercourse, Lancaster county ; Magda-
lina, who married Harry Risser, of Clay township ;
Henry, a merchant at Hinkletown, Pa. ; Martin, a
merchant at Ephrata. Pa. ; Israel, who died in in-
fancy; and Anna, Mrs. Denlinger. The paternal
grandparents of Mrs. Denlinger were Henry and
Anna (Martin) Musser, both of Lancaster county;
and her maternal grandparents, Benjamin and Arma
(Erb) Wenger, were also of Lancaster county.
Mr. Denlinger spent the earlier part of his life
on the farm where he is found to-day, but in 1880,
he moved to another farm in Leacock township,
where he spent a year, and was then engaged for
some five years in managing a store in Mascot,
Upper Leacock township. He returned to his pres-
ent location at the end of that time, and has contin-
ued there to the present time. For some three years
]\Ir. Denlinger filled the position of school director,
and he is a public-spirited and capable citizen. In
his political relations he is a Republican, and is very
highly esteemed in the community where his useful
life has been passed.
MRS. SUSAN KURTZ. No record of Ephrata
township would be complete without the names of
those members of the community whose youth is
past, btit whose advancing years make them more
highly esteemed by those who have known their
lives for so many years. Among this class no one
more richly deserves the respect of the community
than does the lady whose name opens this biography,
who is universally regarded as a type of lovely
Christian character.
Susan Kurtz was born July 27, 1827, a daughter
of Sebastian and Susan (Mishler) Gockley, of Eph-
rata township. In 1844 she was married to Eman-
uel Mohler, a son of John Mohler,-of Ephrata town-
ship, a good and worthy man who lived up to all
that he beHeved to be his duty, was a good citizen, a
Democrat in politics, a kind husband and indulgent
father. His death occurred May 28, 1866, lamented
by all who knew him. To Mr. and Mrs. Mohler
were, born seven children : John G., born Sept. 7,
1845; Sarah, born Feb. 5, 1847, married Cyrus
Miller, of Adamstown ; Susan, born April 29, 1849,
married Benjamin Keller, of Nebraska; Richard,
born Dec 2 1850, lives near Grand Rapids, Mich. ;
Rachel G., born March 17, 1853, married Henry
72
Herchelroth, of Ephrata borough ; George E., born
Dec. 9, 1854, is deceased; and Elizabeth, born Jan.
7, 1857, married Milton Sproecher.
The second marriage of our subject was in 1870,
to Israel Kurtz, who was born in 1822, and died in
1896. Mr. Kurtz was a most excellent man, a
stanch Democrat, and one of the prominent members
of the German Baptist Church.
Mrs. Kurtz is most pleasantly located in Eph-
rata, owning and occupying a comfortable two-
"story brick dwelling on State street, and possesses
ample means to provide for more advanced age.
Her life has been full of kind deeds and good works,
and her example and influence have ever been in the
direction of charity and good will. Everywhere is
she known as a most lovable lady, and she has friends
wherever she has made acquaintance, who wish that
her days may be long in the land and filled with com-
fort and peace.
ROBERT J^KNOX, a retired farmer at Inter-
course, Lancaster county, is enjoying the fruits of a
long and industrious career. His venerable years,
upright character and kindly disposition command
the confidence and respect of the community to a
marked degree, and his last years are passing very
pleasantly, as should pass the closing period of a
noble career.
Mr. Knox was born in Leacock township, Lan-
caster county, Aug. 18, 1821, a son of August and
Martha (Stoner) Knox, both of Leacock township,
where his father died in 1842, at the age of sixty-
five. His mother died in Chester county, Pa., at the
age of ninety-six years. They were both members
of the Presbyterian Church, and vyere buried in the
Leacock cemetery. Born to this union were the fol-
lov/ing children : David, deceased ; Robert J. ;
Samuel, deceased; John, a farmer in Paradise town-
ship ; Letitia, who married Molton Sample, who
was buried Oct. 11, 1902, in Leacock cemetery; and
Nathaniel, deceased.
Mr. Knox has been twice married. His first
wife, Catherine Beam, was the mother of one child,
who died in infancy ; his second wife was Mary Ann
Diller, who was born in Earl township, in March,
1831, a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Besore) Dill-
er, the former of whom was born in Earl township ;
the latter in Paradise township. Jacob Diller was a
farmer, and died in i88t, at the age of seventy-eight
)rears ; his wife died in 1870, at the age of sixty-
eight years. Jacob and Mary Diller had the follow-
ing family : Catherine died unmarried ; Elizabeth
married Harry Graybill, and is deceased ; Louisa
married John Ranck, who is retired in New Hol-
land, Pa. ; Elias, who lives retired in New Holland,
married Eliza Ann Graybill ; Margaret died young ;
and Mary Ann is Mrs. Knox.
Robert J. Knox remained with his parents until
he was twenty-two years old. when he engaged in
farming for himself in Leacock township, his cous-
1138
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in, Martha Dunlap, keeping house for him. After
three years of this life he began buying and selling
horses, and moved to Salisbury township after his
first marriage. There he was engaged in farming
until 1887, when he came to Intercourse. No
children of their own have come to bless their home,
but Mr. and Mrs. Knox have adopted and reared
to excellent manhood Willis R. Knox, who was a
noted and successful teacher in Lancaster county
schools. He is unmarried, and lives at home, being
now engaged in selling farm seeds.
MARTIN N. HEISEY is a good representative
of the younger generation of Lancaster county
farmers, and was born on the old homestead of the
Heisey family in West Donegal township, Nov. 28,
1873, a son of David G. and Martha (Nissley)
Heisey.
Martin G. Heisey, his grandfather, was born on
this farm. He married Magdelina Gochenauer, who
was born near Petersburg, Lancaster county, and
died in 1871 at the age of sixty-two years. Martin
G. Heisey was a farmer and died in 1871, at the age
of sixty-five years. They were members of the
River Brethren Church, and were laid to rest in a
private burying ground adjoining the Heisey farm.
The following children were born to them : Joseph
G., a retired farmer in Elizabethtown ; Elizabeth G.,
the widow of Henry M. Witmer; Andrew G., a
farmer in Mt. Joy township ; Henry G. and Martin
G., both deceased; David G., the father of Martin
N. ; and Abraham G., the manager of the laundry at
the Axle Works in Elizabethtown.
Henry and Elizabeth (Gish) Heisey, the great-
grandparents of Martin N., lived and died on the
Heisey homestead.
David G. Heisey is one of the leading citizens of
West Donegal township, where he was born Jan.
27, 1850, on the farm where his parents lived and
died. He was married, Nov. 28, 1872, in Lancaster,
to Martha Nissley, and they became the parents of
the following family: Martin N.,. whose name in-
troduces this article; Harry N., manager of a
laundry in Elizabethtown ; Elizabeth N. ; Lotta N. ;
Irvin N, : Walter N. : Mary N. ; Martha N. ; Anna
N. ; and Ella N. All but the two older children are
still under their parents' care and protection.
Mrs. Martha (Nissley) Heisey was born in West
Donegal township in 1856, a daughter of Peter and
Lizzie (Hoffman) Nissley, both natives of Lan-
caster county. Her father died in 1867, at the age
of forty-five years, and her mother in 1859, at the
age of twenty-three years, and they were laid to
rest in Mt. Tunnel cemetery in Elizabethtown.
They were the parents of the following children:
Amanda, widow of Levi Risser, of Elizabethtown;
Martha, Mrs. Heisey ; Anna, wife of A. J. Heisey,
a resident of Elizabethtown. The Nissleys_ are an
old and respected family in and around Elizabeth-
town, and the history of the Lancaster branch of the
family may be found elsewhere under the Nissley
name.
David G. Heisey was born, as stated above, on
the farm where he is found to-day, and where his
liome has been made all his life with the exception
of a few years prior to his marriage, when he worked
out among the neighboring farmers. Eor twelve
years he has been a school director, and his business
standing and ability is unquestioned, as is his moral
chai"acter. A man of the strictest integrity, he is
regarded as one of the most upright and altogether
reliable men to be found in this township at the pres-
ent time. In his political relations he is a Repub-
lican, and in his religious connections he is a member
of the River Baptist Church.
Martin N. Heisey and Anna S. Brinzer were
married in Dauphin county, Nov. 28, 1898. Mrs.
Heisey was born Nov. 27, 1879, in Dauphin county,
a daughter of Rev. Solomon and Lizzie (Sherrer)
Brinzer, natives of Dauphin and Lancaster counties,
respectively. They now reside in Hillsdale, Dau-
phin county, where her father is engaged in minis-
terial life as a preacher of the United Zion Children
Church. They were both born in 1848, and have the
following children: Harrison S., principal of the
Bainbridge school ; John S., a farmer and a dairy-
man in the township of Mt. Joy; Matthew S., a
blacksmith, and an inmate of the parental home, as
is his sister Kate, who married Allen Demmy;
Anna, who is Mrs. Heisey ; Martin S. ; Amos S.,
who is with Martin N. Heisey ; Ezra, deceased ; Ira
and Lizzie, with their parents.
The Rev. Matthew Brinzer, born in Dauphin
county, was a farmer and a bishop of the United
Zion Children faith, being the founder of that
denomination and the builder of the church at Hills-
dale. He died in 1889, at the age of ninety-three
years ; and his widow in 1897, at the age of ninety-
two years.
Martin N. Heisey remained at home with his
parents until his marriage when he settled on his
present farm, a choice place of seventy acres, and he
is making a good name for himself as an active and
pushing young farmer, of unwearied industry and
strict integrity. In his politics he is a Republican,
and is fast becoming prominent and well-to-do.
GEORGE L. KNOBB, a general farmer of
Leacock township, was born in Earl township, Lan-
caster county. May 8, 1858, a son of George and
Harriet (Garber) Knobb. His father was born near
Reading, and his mother in Lancaster county. The
elder Knobb was a farmer, and died near Reading in
1864,- at the age of twenty-five years. His widow
survived sixteen years, and died in 1880, at the age
of forty years. They had two children : George L. ;
and a daughter, who has not been heard from since
childhood.
George L. Knobb was married in Leacock town-
ship, Dec. 24, 1892, to Mary Ann Seldomridge, by
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1189
whom he has had two children : Mabel F. and Alta
C. Mrs. Knobb was born Nov. 2, 1857, a daughter
of Jeremiah Seldomridge, whose sketch appears
elsewhere.
George I.,. Knobb remained with his mother un-
til he lyas four years of age, when he went to live
with his grandmother Garber, with whom he re-
mamed until he was thirteen years old. At that timf;
he began a career of honest industry on his own ac-
count, and for several years he was employed among
the neighboring farmers, gradually working himself
into his present comfortable circumstances. In 1896
he removed from Buyerstown to the farm where he
is found today. Mr. Knobb is a thrifty and up-to-
date citizen of the community where his upright life
and industrious habits, together with his genial
nature and business ability, have won him many
friends.
pANTEL T. HESS, carriage builder of Quar-
ryville borough, Lancaster county, was born in Ful-
ton township, March to, 1853. His parents, Will-
iam. J. and Elizabeth (Brown) Hess were also born
in Fulton township, and the family is one of the best
known in Lancaster county. The father of William
Hess, Jonas Hess, was of German parentage and
fought through the Revolutionary war. William J.
Hess spent the early portion of his life as a Fulton
township farmer. He abandoned farming, and en-
gaged in hotel keeping at Wakefield, Lancaster
county, for a number of years. Then, removing to
Quarryville, he acquired what is now known as the
"Armstrong Hotel," near the railroad station, which
he conducted for several years. After managing
several other places in the county, he moved to Cecil
county, Maryland, where he devoted himself to
farming until the time of his death. Mrs. Hess fol-
lowed him to the grave a few years later. A family
of nine children were born to this couple, four of
whom died in childhood: Frank, the eldest, mar-
ried Miss Mary McQuarry, of Colerain township ;
they settled in Quarryville where he engaged in a
mercantile and lime business for a number of years
previous to his death. He left a wife and four chil-
dren who reside in Lancaster. Although cut off in
early life, he had made a reputation in the commu-
nity, and was regarded as one of the best account-
ants and business men of Lancaster. J. H., another
son of William J., was born in Lancaster county,
and is now a farmer and business man of Cecil coun-
ty, Maryland; he married Miss Ella Painter, of
Lancaster county, and to them five children have
been born: Howard, Grace, Paul, Lawrence and
Louisa. George M. was born in Lancaster county
in 1856, and married Miss Martha Painter, of the
same county, where they still reside. Two children,
William and Leon, have been born to them. Harry
Hess was born in Lancaster county, and moved to
Cecil county, Maryland, where he is still living un-
married;
Daniel T. Hess was reared in Drumore town-
ship, and was educated in the district schools. He
worked on his father's farm, until the age of four-
teen years, when he began to learn the trade of cab-
inet and carriage maker. He followed work of this
kind until 1873, when he married Miss Maggie
Myers, of Eden township, daughter of Augustus
and Margaret Myers. The family is an old and re-
spected one in the community. Mrs. Hess was born
Nov. 17, 1858, and grew to womanhood and was ed-
ucated in the schools of Lancaster county. After
marriage the couple settled in Quarryville, where
Mr. Hess has since engaged in the manufacture of
vehicles of all classes. He has established a large and
lucrative business, and has invested considerable
means in real estate in the village. His home, built
under his own direction, is one of the very pleasant
oaes in the place. Six children, four of whom
survive, have been born to this couple : Harry, the
eldest, was born April 13, 1874, and was educated in
the school of the county, graduating from the High
school at Quarryville. He afterward took a course
in the Lancaster Business College, graduating from
that institution in 1896. He married Miss Jeanette
McClure, of I^tocaster county, and the couple reside
in the county, where Mr. Hess is engaged in the
mercantile business. Tliev have no children.
Laura M. died at the age of two years. Lottie was
born in Quarryville, in August, 1881, and was edu-
cated in the schools of her native town. Rengier
was born in 1885, and died at the age of two years.
Emma, born in December, 1888, is a student in the
local schools, and Daniel C. was born in 1892.
Daniel T. Hess is a Democrat in politics, and has
held a number of borough offices from time to time.
The family are members of the Presbyterian
Church, and hold a prominent standing in that de-
nomination. Mr. Hess started in life with small
means, but by industry and frugal habits has ac-
quired a competency. The family is one of the most
respected in the community, and deservedly so.
Mrs. Hess takes an active part in church and charit-
able work, and is a lady of culture and refinement.
REV._ HIRAM G. KAUFFMAN, one of the es-
teemed citizens of Lancaster county, where he is
known and beloved for his earnest labors as a min-
ister in the Old Mennonite Church, was born in East
Hempfield township, near East Petersburg, on the
old Kauffman homestead, March 18, 1869. His ed-
ucation was received in the public schools of his dis-
trict, and he remained under the parental roof until
a short time previous to his marriage, engaging
there in agricultural pursuits.
In 1 891 he began farming operations for himself
on the farm he now occupies, just south of the vil-
lage of Landisville, a fine tract of seventy acres, well
situated and watered, arid under an excellent state
of cultivation, for while Rev. Kauffman is an ener-
getic worker in the Church, he is also a practical
farmer and understands the best methods of manag-
ing his land.
1140
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
At the age of twenty-three he became a member
of the Old Mennonite Church and took charge of
the Sabbatli school, and some two years later was
ordained as a minister of the Church, the solemn rite
of ordination taking place June 14, 1894, Rev. Ja-
cob Brubaker officiating. He was assigned to the
Salunga district, and confines the most of his labors
to that vicinity. At the time of his ordination, he
was the youngest minister in the county, but he has
displayed unusual ability in his work, and has met
with the approval of both his people and his brother
ministers. Patient, kind and sympathetic, he is ever
ready to give time or means to all who need his serv-
ices, and ha.s been most generous with both, in every
service of the Church. His friends are numerous,
and he has the confidence and true respect of the
whole com.munity. •
Rev. Hiram G. Kauffman was married, Nov. 18,
1890, to Fannie K. Cassel, a daughter of John and
Adeline (Krider) Cassel, and one daughter, Dora,
was born to this marriage. The life of Rev. Kauff-
man is passed in doing good works and in perform-
ing his duty toward his family, country and Church,
and he has had every reason to believe that it finds
favor with the Master he so faithfully serves.
JOSEPH PAXON COOPER, for many years
in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railway Co., and
late an engineer, with his residence at Columbia,
was born three miles north of Parkesburg, Chester
Co., Pa., Oct. 6, 1847, on the farm and in the house
in which his father was born, and he was accident-
ally killed on the road Jan. 27, 1901.
Matson Cooper was born in October, 1820, and
married Mary A. Miller, also a native of Chester
county, born in 1823. To this union were born the
following named children : Evan T., of Columbia,
and an ex-soldier ; James T., a railroad conductor at
Harrisburg ; Keziah, wife of Harry Roy, of Colum-
bia ; Joseph P., whose name opens this sketch ; Sal-
ly, who married Zachariah Baldwin, of Atlantic
City, N. J., and a former mayor; Henrietta, now
Mrs. James Boyd ; John, a brakeman who was killed
on the road in 1896 ; Timothy, deceased ; and Mary,
who died young. Mrs. Mary A. (Miller) Cooper
died July i, 1897, at the age of seventy-four, a mem-
ber of the Society of Friends, and Matson Cooper,
also a Quaker, and a retired drover, auctioneer and
merchant, came to Columbia in 1889, and made
his home with his son, Joseph P.
Joseph Paxon Cooper, at the age of seven years,
left the home farm and went to live with William
McKnight, a butcher, and during his four years'
residence with him gained a very fair knowledge of
the butchering business, besides rendering assist-
ance on the farm. His next experience was for two
years and nine months with' Preston Wickerson in a
flour mill, and he then returned to Mr. McKnight,
with whom he remained until he was sixteen years
old, when he went to Kansas City, Mo. In 1866 he
went to Baltimore, Md., and served three months in
the State Militia, and in 1867 came to Columbia and
entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railway
(Zo. as a brakeman. Five months later he was ap-
pointed flagman ; after four months' service in this
position he was placed in charge of a local freight
train as conductor for six months, and then served
as fireman about one year and nine months. In
June, 1873, he was promoted to engineer, and in that
position he gave unqualified satisfaction until his
lamented death.
On Jan. 16, 1873, Mr. Cooper married, in Co-
lumbia, Miss Amanda Q. Campbell, a native of the
borough, born July 19, 1855, a daughter of George
Campbell, of whom further information may be
found in the biography of Samuel Campbell, on
another page. To Mr. and INIrs. Joseph P. Cooper
were born the following children, in the following
order : George M., a locomotive fireman, who mar-
ried Nettie Krieder, and became the father of one
daughter, Harriet L., was killed on the road March
27, 1899; James T., also a fireman, married Ella
Wills, and has one daughter, Alverta U. ; John C,
who served in Co. C, 4th P. V. I., in Porto Rico,
married Hattie Shultz, and is now at home; Evans
T., Daisy M., Mary, Joseph M., Lillie, Delia, Will-
iam, Lloyd, Gardner, and Charles and Samuel
(twins), all at home.
In politics Mr. Cooper was a Democrat, but was
never ambitious of holding office. He was greatly
respected for his personal merits, as is his widow,,
and the children fully share the general esteem of
the community.
JACOB R. TOWNSEND (deceased). For
many years the late Jacob R. Townsend was well
and favorably known through Lancaster county,,
having been prorrtinently identified with many lines-
of activity. An excellent farmer, a successful lum-
ber manufacturer and a prosperous merchant, he-
was brought into contact with very many of his fel-
low-citizens, all of whom unite in their estimate of
him as a man of the most exalted personal honesty
and unimpeachable integrity.
Mr. Townsend was born in Sadsbury township,
Oct. 25, 1820. His death occurred April 18, 1891,
at the age of seventy years, five months and twen-
ty-three days, and he was buried in the cemetery
connected with the Bellevue Presbyterian Church,
at Gap, Pa. His parents, John and Catherine
(Wagner) Townsend, were farming people, the-
former of whom belonged to the old Quaker family
of that name in Bucks county, and the latter of
Sadsbury township, v/here both died, the former on
Aug. 27, 1858, at the age of sixty-six years, seven
months and three days, and his remains were in-
terred in the Friends cemetery in Sadsbury town-
ship. Mother Townsend was born on July 12, 1793,..
and died on Oct. 7, 1873, at the age of eighty years,
three months and five days, and was buried at the
Octoraro Presbyterian Church, in Bart township-
The children born to John and Catherine Townsend,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1141
were : Polly R., who married Henry Rea, deceased ;
John, deceased; Jacob R., deceased; Catherine,
widow of Joseph Ressler, of Cochranville, Pa.;
George, who died in the West; Amos, who also
died in the West ; Isaac ; Martin, a resident of Iowa ;
Robert, the principal of the High school, in Reading,
Pa.; Susan, deceased, wife of Samuel Virtue, of
Bart township: and Samuel, who lives retired at
Christiana. The paternal grandparents were of
English extraction, and Grandfather John Town-
send was a successful and respected farmer and
miller well known through Bucks county ; his death
occurred in Sadsbury township.
Jacob R. Townsend was reared to farming pur-
suits, and remained an agriculturist until 1846, at
which time he embarked in the mercantile business,
opening up a general store at the location of his son,
in Smyrna. Here he continued until 1850, at that
time disposing of his merchandise to Joseph C.
Walker & Bro., who continued the business. Mr.
Townsend then moved to Christiana, and in that
growing town engaged extensively in a warehouse
business, including lumber, coal, grain, etc., hand-
ling each commodity' with excellent results for the
succeeding seven years. With his brother-in-law,
Theodore Homsher, he had a branch warehouse in
Good Hope, in the Cumberland Valley. Tiring of
the cares of business, Mr. Townsend returned to the
old homestead farm, and began its operation, and
also in this connection, managed a sawmill, but in
1873, in association with his son, Howard L., he re-
sumed mercantile operations, buying back his old
stand. For the following ten years, Mr. Townsend
again became a well-known merchant of Smyrna,
with his voung partner, and when business changes
came, calling his son to other fields, Mr. Townsend
took his brother-in-law, Samuel Virtue, as partner,
this firm continuing for two years, ending in 1882.
At this date Elwood M. Townsend, another son,
purchased the interest in the business belonging to
Mr. Virtue, and this partnership lasted until the
death of Mr. Townsend, in 1891, when Elwood M.
purchased his father's interest, and since that time
has conducted the business upon the same principles
established by his honorable father so many years
ago.
Jacob R. Townsend was married on Nov. i,
1850, in Sadsbury township, to Susan M. Homsher,
and the children born to this union were : Howard
L., who married Evana Pownall, and has four chil-
dren, is a shoe merchant in Philadelphia; Ashmer
H. died in infancy; Elwood M., who married Ida
Diller, and has one child, is postmaster in Smyrna,
and his father's successor in the mercantile business
there ; Elizabeth married Dr. Fred. Baker, a well-
known physician of Philadelphia; Ella V., a tal-
ented and highly cultured young lady, is the prin-
cipal of the I<"ulton High school ; and Maris S., who
married Bessie Lefever, resides in Smyrna.
The Homsher family of which Mrs. Townsend
was a representative, is an old and honored- one in
Chester county. Pa. It is also well known through
Lancaster county, and extended mention is made of
this family elsewhere. Mrs. Townsend was born in
Salisbury township, Lancaster, county, March 6,
1830, a daughter of John and Mary (Coon) Hom-
sher, natives of Chester county and of Oxford,
Pa., and she was a sister to Franklin Homsher, a
well-known citizen of Christiana.
Notwithstanding his many business interests,
Jacob R. Townsend became prominent in Demo-
cratic political circles, and was interested in all pro-
gressive and educational movements, serving for a
number of years as school director, and encouraging
all enterprises looking to the advancement of a
higher educational standard. His devotion to his
family was only equaled by his adherence to the
Presbyterian Church, he being for many years a con-
sistent member and liberal supporter of the Belle-
vue Church. His estimable widow resided in the
home erected by her husband, at Smyrna Cross
Roads, until her death, July 31, 1902, and she was
universally esteemed throughout the neighborhood.
HENRY L. WENGER, a retired farmer of Ra-
pho township, was born in this township Aug. 19,
1835, a son of Christian and Elizabeth (Lehman)
Wenger.
Christian Wenger was a farmer, and died in
1875, at the age of eighty-four years, after having
lived a retired life for the thirty years previous.
His wife died in 1896, at the age of eighty-two
years, and the couple are buried in private
grounds on their farm. They were members
of the Old Mennonite Church. There were born to
them the following children: Joseph, who died at
the age of sixty-six years ; Abraham, who died at the
age of sixty-four years ; Peter, a carpenter at Man-
heim, Pa. ; and Henry L. By a former marriage,
contracted with a Miss Brubaker, Christian Wenger
had one son named John, who recently died at the
age of eighty 'two years.
Henry h. Wenger has been married twice. In
1854 he wedded Miss Anna Hershey and to this
union were born : Christian, a farmer of Penn town-
ship, married to a Miss Miller; Lizzie, wife of
Henry Greiner, a farmer of Rapho township ; and
Benjamin, married to Miss Amanda Keener and liv-
ing on the homestead with his father. Anna (Her-
shey) Wenger was born in West Hempfield town-
ship, and died in 1889, at the age of sixty-nine
years. She is buried in Shoemaker's cemetery. She
was the daughter of John Hershey, of Lancaster
county. On Sept. 24, 1891, Mr. Wenger was mar-
ried to Miss Emma Long, daughter of Jacob Long,
in Manheim, Pa. No children have been born to
this union. Mrs. Emma (Long) Wenger was born
in Manor township and is the daughter of Jacob and
Frances CMellinger) Long, the former of whom
was a farmer. After his death the widowed mother
married Jacob Harnish, who enlisted for service in
the Civil war, and was taken prisoner after a severe
1142
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
battle with the Confederates. He was confined in
Libby Prison, Richmond, and died in February,
1865, at the age of forty years, in consequence of
treatment received at that place. His widow died in
January, 1898, at the age of seventy years, at the
home of her son-in-law, Mr. Wenger. She was a
member of of the ]\Iethodist Church. Her children,
all but Mrs. Wenger born to her second marriage,
were : Emma, wife of Mr. .Wenger ; Lizzie, wife of
Preston Reeves, of Omaha, Neb.; William,
deceased ; David, of Lancaster ; Amos, of Lancaster ;
Clara, deceased ; Jennie, wife of Job Wylie, of Lan-
caster ; Alice, wife of Thomas Fisher, of Lancaster ;
Jacob, of Lancaster ; and Henry, of Norristown,
Pennsylvania.
Henry L. Wenger remained at home with his
parents until he was of age, after which he farmed
for two years on shares. He then removed to his
present farm. The members of the family, includ-
ing himself, attend the Reformed Church. Mr.
Wenger is a solid substantial member of the com-
munity, and is well known and respected. He is
attached to his home and family, but is also a prom-
inent factor in any movement undertaken for the
benefit of the locality in which he lives.
JOHN H. BROWN, a general farmer and
prominent citizen of Lancaster county, was born in
Colerain township, April 18, 1866, a son of Jacob J.
and Barbara E. (Bard) Brown.
Jacob J. Brown was born in Little Britain town-
ship, June 14, 1827, and passed out of this life in
Bart township, June 14, 1888, and was laid to rest
in the Union cemetery. His parents were Samuel
and Eliza (Pennell) Brown, farming people of Lan-
caster county, who reared these children: John;
Jacob J. ; Letitia, who married Henry Jenkins ; and
Rachel A., who married Henry Jenkins, after the
death of her sister, and they had a family of thirteen
children, nine of whom were daughters and all be-
came school teachers. The second marriage of
Samuel Brown was to Jane Scotten ; the children of
this marriage were : E. Albert (sometimes known as
E. Alvin), who resided in Little Britain, Pa., died
Nov. 28, 1901, and was buried in Little Britain
Presbyterian Church yard; and Emma, who is
married, lives in Lancaster county.
On Feb. 5, 1865, Jacob J. Brown was united in
marriage to Barbara E. Bard, and the children born
to this union were: John H., who married Lizzie
Brown, is a farmer in Sadsbury township, and has
three children; William H. is a farmer near Rose-
mont. Pa. ; George F. is a farmer near Rosemont ;
and Sarah J. is of Avondale, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Barbara E. (Bard) Brown was born near
Strasburg in this county, and she was a daughter of
Elisha and Mary Ann (Hagen) Bard, farming peo-
ple of this county, where Mr. Bard died March 19,
T89S, at the age of seventy-eight years. Mrs. Bard
died Oct. 2, t868, at the age of forty-six years. The
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Bard were : Lizzie,
who married Isaiah Cassel, of Norristown, Pa. ;
Anna, deceased, who lived, in Montgomery county,
Pa. ; Hannah, who married Warren Smith, of
Parkesburg ; Barbara E. ; Martin, a farmer of West
Hempfield township ; Samuel, of Unicorn, Pa. ;
Benjamin, of Mechanics Grove, Pa. ; and Harry, of
Cochranville.
Early in life Jacob J. Brown learned the milling
business, and was interested in that during his en-
tire life, dying in Bart township. During the Civil
war he was drafted into the sert-ice, but circum-
stances prevented his leaving, and he paid a sub-
stitute a sum of $300 to take his place. In his
political sympathy he always supported the Repub-
lican party, and was a man who was highly esteemed
in his locality.
John H. Brown was reared on the farm and ob-
tained his education in the public schools of his
township. Until the age of fourteen he remained
with his mother, and then assisted in agricultural
work among the neighboring farmers, continuing
until he took charge of the present farm, this for-
merly belonging to the late Lindley T. Brown, the
esteemed father-in-law of our subject.
On August 3, 1892, John H. Brown was married
to Miss Lizzie Brown, the estimable and only
daughter of Lindley T. and Margaret (Clinger)
Brown, and the children born to this union are :
Ralph, Leah and I-ela, all of them bright and attrac-
, tive children. Mrs. John H. Brown was born on the
present farm on Newport Pike. Her father, Lind-
ley T. Brown was born in Cecil county, Md., Sept. i,
1820, and his death occurred on the farm now
owned by his son-in-law May 14, 1888. His parents
were Caleb and Elizabeth (Clemson) Brown, the
former of whom was a native of Cecil county, Md.,
and the latter of Chester county; she died July 12,
1848. Caleb Brown had carried on a blacksmith
business in Little Britain, Lancaster county, for a
number of years. The children born to him and his
wife were : Clemson, deceased ; Elizabeth, who died
young; and Lindley T. Caleb Brown died in Cecil
county, Md., Dec. 13, i860, and he and his wife are
buried at Eastland Friends Burving Ground.
In Philadelphia, Feb. 23,' 1870, Lindley T.
Brown was united in marriage with Margaret
Clinger, anrl one daughter, Lizzie, was born to this
marriage. The birth of Mrs. Margaret (Cling-
er) Brown occurred in East-town township, Chester
county, June 8, 1832, and she was a daughter of
Henry and Mary A. (Hippie) Clinger, of Chester
county, Pa., where Mr. Clinger was a farmer. There
he died in 1867, at the age of sixty-eight years, the
mother passing away in 1842 ; both were buried m
Pikeland, Chester county. The children born to
Mr. and Mrs, Clinger were : Anna E., who resides
unmarried, at Green Tree, Pa. ; Margaret ; Martha,
deceased, who married Jacob H. Mullen; Mary J.,
deceased, unmarried ; and Sarah M., deceased, who
married George H. Detterline. The maternal great-
grandfather of Margaret C. Brown was a soldier
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1143
in_ the Revolutionary war, and great uncle John
Hippie served in the war of 1812 and in the Mo-
hawk war.
The second marriage of Mr. dinger was to Miss
Sarah J. Biddle, and their children were: George
B., of Philadelphia; Harry R., of Philadelphia;
Maria L., who is the widow of John Kunkle; Kate,
who married William Armstrong, an engineer on
the Pennsvlvania railroad ; and Frank, who is a let-
ter carrier in Philadelphia. The grandparents of
Mrs. Lindley Brown were Jacob and Anna M.
(Sloyer) dinger, of Chester county, the former of
M'hom for many years operated a hotel on the Phila-
delphia and Lancaster pike road.
Lindley T. Brown was a farmer all his life, com-
mg to .Sadsbury township from Little Britain town-
ship in 1868. In politics he was a Republican, and
he was long a leading member of the Society of
Friends, a man of responsibility in his locality. He
is buried at Pikeland, Chester Co.,- Pennsylvania.
John H. Brown is a prominent member of the
Republican party, an excellent farmer, and one of
the progressive and public-spirited citizens of his
commxmity. The family is one of the most highly
esteemed in this part of Lancaster county.
MRS. ANNIE SNAVELY, a resident of East
Drumore township, Lancaster county, where she
command.s many friends by her excellent character
and genial disposition, was born Nov. 22, 1834,
daughter of Joseph and Susanna (Bleacher) Shaub.
John Shaub, her grandfather, was a native of
Lancaster county, and of German extraction, as was
also his wife, Elizabeth Gochenauer. They settled
on government land probably as early as 1809, and
they became the parents of sixteen children who
settled in York and Lancaster counties.
Joseph Shaub, son of John and father of Mrs.
Suavely, was born in Lancaster county in 1805. He
married .Susanna Bleacher, who was born in Provi-
dence township, same county, in 1802. They were
married about 1825, and settled on a farm of his
father near Hawkesville, Providence township,
where they remained until about 1842, when, his fa-
ther John, having died, Joseph Shaub bought the
old homestead, and removed to it, continuing to
operate it imtil 1871, when he retired. He died
Aug. 27, 1880, his widow surviving until Jan. 28,
1885. Thev were both active and devoted members
of the Mennonite Church. To them were born seven
children: (i) Mary, born in October, 1826, mar-
ried Isaac Herr, of Pequea township, and died in
Lancaster county, four years after her marriage,
leaving two children : Alice, wife of Elias Wiggens ;
and Marv, wife of Edward Aston. (2) Joseph,
born in 1829, married Anna Phillips, and settled in
East Drumore township, where he died in January,
1891, leaving a widow and a family. (3) Benjamin,
born in 183 1, married Susan Lefever, settling in
Providence township; his wife was killed on the
railroad at Belmont, near Leaman Place, leaving a
large family. (4) Annie, Mrs. Snavely, is fourth in
the order of birth. (5) Elizabeth, born in 1837,
married the late Albert Groff, and with her family
still resides on the old homestead. (6) Ephraim,
born in 1842, married Amanda Cline, and lived in
Providence township some years, but now with his
wife and family resides in Lampeter township. (7)
Rudolph, born in 1845, married Anna Money, who
died leaving four children: Milton, now deceased;
Mary A. ; Frank ; and Emma S., now a young lady
of eighteen years, and reared by Mrs. Snavely.
Mrs. Annie (Shaub) Snavely was born in 1834,
and received her education in the district school.
On Sept. 9, 1858, she was married to Benjamin
Groff, of Providence township, who was born in
1815, son of Joseph and Mary Groff. Mr. and Mrs.
Groff settled on his farm in Providence township,
where they remained until 1861, -when they moved to
East Drumore township, where he died in 1870,
leaving his widow with three children: (i) Mary
Groff, born in September, 1859, rnarried John Frank
Newsmenger, by whom she has the following chil-
dren: Benjamin, now a clerk for Barton Witmer,
of Quarryville, is married and has one son, Vernon ;
Jacob G. ; Ella S. ; Charles ; Earl ; Harry E. ; Frank
H. ; Amos; and Thomas. (2) Benjamin S., born in
1863, married Ida M. Bleacher, of East Drumore,
lives in Bart township, and has one son, Clarence B.
(3) Susan, born in 1866, married John Shetrompf,
and resides in Philadelphia, where he was employed
on the street cars until his death in December, 1901 ;
their children were: Arthur, Anna, Walter, John,
Mary and Paul.
Mrs. Groff was married second in October, 1878,
to Jacob Snavely. They lived on his farm in East
Drumore township, and were engaged in farming
until his death in 1882. To this marriage came one
son, John Snavely, born Jan. i, 1881, who has been
a student in the Franklin and Marshall College ;
in 1900 he entered Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa.,
to prepare for the ministry, and has proved himself
so thorough a student that in 1901 he was awarded
a first prize. Mr. Snavely was a member of the Men-
nonite Church, of which Mrs. Snavely has been a
member for fifty years.
Mr. .Snavely was a Republican, and took an
active part in the v/ork of his party. Mrs. Snavely
is a lady of intelligence and wide information. She
delights in the study of nature as well as of books,
and it is a pleasure to meet her in social conversa-
tion. She is a lady of genial disposition, and is the
center of a delightful circle of friends.
JOHN W. McELHANY. Commercial prog-
ress in a town like Quarryville, where the subject
of this sketch resides,' owes its development to the
energy, perseverance and foresight of young men,
who during thir earlier experience realize the im-
portance of integrity, economy and the smaller de-
tails of business. It is the observance of these im-
portant factors that have contributed success to Mr.
1144
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
McElhany as a merchant and as a citizen. Coming
from a line of Scotch ancestry, it is but natural that
he should inherit some of the practical, sound judg-
ment of the race that has furnished some of the most
successful merchants in the world.
John W. McElhany, general merchant of Quar-
ryville, was born in Marticville, Lancaster county,
Oct. 15, 1858. Plis parents are I)avid S. and Sarah
(Guiles) McElhany, of Lancaster county. David
S. McElhany was born in Chester county. Pa., in
November, 1823. His wife was born in Strasburg,
Lancaster county, in 1825, a daughter of William
Guiles, of an old family of Strasburg, which dates
back to Revolutionary time and fame.
David S. McElhany was the son of Samuel Mc-
Elhany, who was born in Scotland and settled in
Chester county on a farm where our subject's fa-
ther grew to maturity. They raised a large family,
some of whom are still living: Lottie, one of the
daughters, became the wife of John Ewing, of Phila-
delphia. Frank is a dentist. David S., our subject's
father, was raised in Chester county, where as a
young man he engaged in the brick making business.
At the age of twenty-two he came to Lancaster coun-
ty, and settled at Marticville, where he married and
continued the manufacture of brick. In addition to
his other interests he purchased a track of land near
Marticville, where he erected a house and engaged in
farming. In 1889 he retired from active life, living
at his old homestead. It was in 1896 that his es-
timable wife, the companion of so many years, died
leaving her husband with six children. She was a
consistent Christian and a member of the M. E.
Church. Their children were: (i) Lizzie McEl-
hany was born at the old home in Lancaster county,
in Sept., 1847. She qualified herself for a teacher
at the State Normal School, and was for a number
of years a successful teacher in the Lancaster county
schools. She became the wife of James Douglas,
of Washington borough, Lancaster county, a
teacher. They now reside in Danville, Pa., where
she keeps a millinery store. They have two children,
Reno S., who is a rising young attorney in Chicago;
and Meda. (2) Sallie was born in 1853, and edu-
cated in the home schools. She grew to womanhood
• and became the wife of Charles Costello, of Lan-
caster city. They have four children : William, a
merchant at Bird-in-Hand, Lancaster county, mar-
ried Miss Bell Bear, of the same place, and they
have two children, Elizabeth and Mary Bell ; Valen-
tine, married, is a coach painter of Lancaster city;
Lottie is a clerk in Williamson's store in Lancaster
city ; Rose is a teacher in the Quarryville school. (3)
William, born at the old home in 1857, died from sun
stroke July 2, igoi. (4) Lottie, born in 1856, has
remained single and resides with her father. (5)
John W. ^yas the fifth in order of birth. (6) Laura
another daughter and the youngest of the family,
was born in 1861. She is the wife of George Loflin,
of Philadelphia, one of the leading contractors and
builders of that city. They have an interesting fam-
ily of four children.
John W. McElhany was educated in the schools
of Marticville. After finishing his course he re-
mained with his father in business until he was twen-
ty-six years of age. In 1884 he engaged in the gen-
eral merchandising business, in the village of Bird-
in-Hand. Here he continued in business for about
nine years. In 1895 he purchased the general store
of Hensel Lefever & Co., at Quarryville, where he
has continued the business up to the present time
with success to himself and satisfaction to his trade.
As the business stands to-day it represents the suc-
cess of one man, who began in a small way, and who
was willing to win his way by merit and perseverance.
The social side of Mr. McElhany's life has also been a
success. In 1882 he married Miss Ella Herr, the
estimable daughter of Martin and Mariah Herr,
members of one of the foremost families in that sec-
tion. Mrs. McElhany was born in 1858, and was
educated in the State Normal school. For a number
of years she was recognized as one of the best teach-
ers in the county. This union has been blessed with
four children: Clare, born in 1887; Frank, born in
1891 ; Emma, born in 1896 ; and Esther, born in May,
1900.
Politically our subject has always been identified
with the Republican party, and has held some minor
offices. Religiously he and his wife have long been
identified witla the M. E. Church, in which they both
take an active interest, Mr. McElhany being one of
the trustees, and steward of the Quarryville Church.
AARON WEAVER. Well known and highly
respected throughout West Earl township is Aaron
Weaver, one of the substantial farmers, who traces
his ancestry to three brothers, who came from
Switzerland to America, and located in Lancaster
county, probably about 1730. The line of descent
went down, through Henry (or Haeny, as his
name is sometimes spelled, who died May 11, 1826,
aged eighty-nine years and eleven months), Michael
(the great-grandfather, who was a farmer of Earl
township), to Jacob, the grandfather, who was not
only a thrifty farmer, but a well-known minister of
the Mennonite faith, and became the father of:
Magdelena, deceased ; Henry M., of Indiana, de-
ceased ; John M., the father of Aaron ; Catherine ;
Jacob M., and Mary, Elizabeth, Michael and Annie,
all four of whom have passed away.
John M. Weaver is a prosperous farmer of West
Earl township. He married Mary Weaver, and
they reared these children : David, deceased : An-
nie, deceased ; Aaron ; Jacob, a farmer of Earl ;
John, deceased : and Mary, who is the wife of John
M. Weaver, of Earl township.
Aaron Weaver was born Nov. 9, 1851, and re-
ceived his education in the common schools of his
township. All of his life has been passed in agri-
cultural pursuits, and he has become known as one
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1145
of the best and most thorough farmers of the town-
ship. Ahhough he is now the owner of a well-culti-
vated farm of forty-one acres, well improved, and
owns most comfortable residence and other build-
ings, life has not always been easy with him.
Industry, economy and perseverance have enabled
him to accumulate ample means, and he and his wife
are able to enjoy the results obtained by earlier
self-denial.
On Dec. lo, 1870; Aaron Weaver was married
to Miss Elizabeth Seible, born Feb. 19, 1850, a
daughter of Leonard and Mary (Mink) Seible, na-
tives of Germany, but residents of West Earl town-
ship. To Mr. and Mrs. Weaver have been born:
Isaac S., a farmer of Earl township, who married
Kate Stoner, of that township; Frank S., a hose
manufacturer, of Ephrata, who mairried Minnie
Murr; Mary, who died in childhood; and Annie,
who married Daniel Zimmerman, of West Earl
township. Mr. Weaver has never taken any active
interest in politics, but is inclined in the direction
of the Republican party, and both he and wife
have been consistent members of the Mennonite
Church for more than a quarter of a century. In
the community he is known as one of the most up-
right, generous and kind-hearted of men, and he is
esteemed and valued by a large circle of friends.
BARTON WITMAN, who died Aug. 14, 1902,
was long a well-known citizen of Caernarvon town-
ship.
William Witman, the founder of this family in
Caernarvon township, was born in Bucks county,
Pa., near the " Plow Tavern," and when a young
man, came to Churchtown, to take a position as clerk
in the Post Forge. Here he mastered the details
of the business, and soon became manager of the
Company's office. For twenty-one years he was con-
nected with the establishment, and it was during
his connection with it that he bought a farm of sixty
acres, fourteen of which were wooded, which be-
came his home after his retirement from the iron
works, and here he remained engaged in farming as
long as he lived. During these last years he dealt
extensively in stock. One of the active Democrats
of this section of the county, he filled various local
positions in a very satisfactory manner, one of the
offices he held being that of assessor. When he died
he was about seventy years of age, and he had led
an honorable and useful career. His wife, Cath-
erine, was the daughter of Adam Zell, of the east
part of the county. She became the mother of nine
children : Barton ; Ann, who married David Will-
iams, and is deceased; Harwitt, deceased; Marga-
ret, who married Levi DeHaven, and is deceased;
Catherine, Susan and Ellen, deceased ; William, who
lives in Little Britain township; and Edgar, who
lives in Little Britain township. William Witman
and wife were members of the Episcopal Church.
Barton Witman was born Aug. 23, 1825, and re-
ceived his education in the public schools. As long
as his father lived he remained in his employ, as-
sisting in his farming and in cattle buying enter-
prises. After the death of the father, Barton took
charge of the homestead, which is situated about a
mile and a quarter southwest of Churchtown, and
devoted his life to its cultivation. Always was he
active and progressive, and he kept thoroughly in
touch with all modern and advanced ideas.
Mr. Witman was married, Sept. 6, 1872, to Miss
Caroline Dempster, a daughter of Robert Dempster,
of Philadelphia, Pa., where she was reared. To
this union were born two children : Robert,
is unmarried, and at home; Catherine maxried
George D. Witmer, a farmer of East Earl township,
and they have two children, George Robert and an
infant daughter.
Mr. Witman was warden of the Churchtown
Episcopal Church, of which he was a member many
vears. Mrs. Witman was reared a Methodist, and
she is one of the highly respected residents of the
community in which she lives.
CAPT. MARTIN H. SMITH (deceased) was
one of the highly respected residents of Columbia,
Lancaster county, and a full record of his life will
be found in the biography of Mrs. C. C. Smith, his
mother, mentioned elsewhere. He married Miss
Mary E. Moore, and to this marriage were born,
Mildred M. and Gertrude C. Mrs. Mary E.
(Moore) Smith was born in West Hempfield town-
ship near Columbia, a daughter of Joseph A. and
Sarah (Shay) Moore, natives of West Hempfield
township and Marietta, Lancaster county, respec-
tively, and both died on their old homestead, now
known as Norwood. Joseph A. Moore, besides be-
ing a farmer, was a pressed-brick layer. He died
Aug. 26, 1885, at the age of forty-eight, having lost
his wife, March 27th of the same year, at the age
of forty-four years. They were members of the
First English Lutheran Church, and their remains
lie interred in the family graveyard on the Norwood
estate. Their children, seven in number, were
named in the order of birth, as follows : Mary E. ;
Daniel S., on the old homestead, and also a boss
puddler ; Christine, wife of Harry Hartman, a
painter in Columbia; Ella M., married to Ralph
Sweeny, a paper-hanger of the same borough; Ar-
mour N., boss puddler in the rolling-mill at Colum-
bia ; and Julia A. and Susie L., who both died young.
The paternal grandparents, Samuel A. and Eliza-
beth A. (Albright) Moore were natives of Lancas-
ter county, and the maternal grandparents. Shay,
were born in Ireland, but died in Lancaster county.
Capt. Martin H. Smith passed away Sept. 5,
1898, honored by all who knew him. He had a fine
reputation as a sharp-shooter, and as such secured
several prizes in closely contested matches. After
his death, a handsomely enameled medal which the
Captain had won in several revolver contests was
presented to his estimable wife by those who had it
in custody, as a token of the esteem for the deceased.
1146
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and respect for his widow. Mrs. Smith's' many
good personal quah'ties and amiable disposition have
won for her a host of warm friends. She still con-
ducts the business, under the name of the M. H.
Smith Estate, with the Captain's sister, Annie G.
Smith, as manager.
JOtIN K. ROHRER, an old and highly respected
farmer, who is now living with his son John, in
Philadelphia, was a retired farmer of Rapho town-
ship, Lancaster county. He was born on the farm ad-
joining the one he lately left, Aug. 3, 1829, a son
of John and Susan (Kaufifman) Rohrer, also resi-
dents on this same farm. The parents were born in
Rapho and East Hempfield townships, respectively,
and both are now deceased. The father was an act-
ive farmer until twenty years prior to his death, in
1874, at the age of seventy-two years. The mother,
who died in 1868, at the age of sixty-one years, was
buried in Erisman's Meeting House Burying Ground
in Rapho township. They had the following chil-
dren: Mary, widow of Emanuel Cassel, of Penn
township ; Jacob, who was drowned while fishing in
the Ohio river ; John K. ; Christian, who died in
1888, on the old homestead ; David, who died young;
and Anna, widow of Andrew Hershey, now making
her home with her sister, Mrs. Mary Cassel.
The paternal grandfather of John K. Rohrer was
John Rohrer, who had a farm in Rapho township,
where he spent his life in the cultivation of the soil.
His wife belonged to the Shank family. The ma-
ternal grandfather of John K. Rohrer was Christian
Kaufifman, who was born and who spent his life
in Lancaster county.
John K. Rohrer was twice married, his first mar-
riage occurring in June, 1851, in Lancaster county,
to Catherine Heistand, by whom he became the fa-
ther of the following family : Albert, deceased, who
married Amanda Ginger, and had two children;
Martha, who married Michael Sechrist, a tobacco
dealer, at Columbia, Pa. ; Susan, wife of Hiram
Mirinich, of near Lititz. Mrs. Catherine (Heistand)
Rohrer was born in East Plempfield township, and
passed away in 1856, when only twenty-four years
of age. Her remains were interred in Rapho town-
ship in a private burying ground. She was a daugh-
ter of- Christian and Catherine (Heistand) Heis-
tand, who were farming people, both of Lancas-
ter county. Her father died in August, 1880, at the
age of eighty-four : her mother entered into rest in
March, 1881, when she was aged eighty-two years.
Their ashes were interred in Landisville, Pa. They
were members of the Mennonite Church. Prior
to his death Christian Heistand lived retired for
fifteen years. He was the fathef of the following
children: John, who died in California; Christian,
deceased; Elizabeth, deceased, who married Henry
Hoffman : Anna, who married Christian Long, of
Landisville, Pa. : Barbara, wife of Henry Landis,
living in Mt. Joy, Pa. ; Catherine ; Jacob, who was
drowned ; Abraham, a retired farmer, with his home
in Mt. Joy; Samuel, deceased; and Mary. The
paternal grandparents of Mrs. Catherine Rohrer
were John and Anna Heistand. John Heistand was
married three times. The maternal grandparents of
Mrs. Rohrer were Jacob and Barbara (Lehman)
Heistand, also of Lancaster county.
In March, 1857, John K. Rohrer was married
in Lancaster county, to Mary, a younger sister^ of
his first wife. Born to this union were the following
children : John, who was a farmer in Osborn, Ohio ;
Clinton, who married Fianna Berto, is a farmer in
West Hempfield township; Christian, a farmer in
Rapho township, who married Lizzie Felker; Da-
vid, who married Laura Snyder, and is a carpenter
in Pekin, 111.: Frank O., a farmer, who married
Irene Hetter; Herman, who married Anna Baker,
and is a farmer, and runs a threshing machine, but
who resides with his father; Ferris, a farmer in
West Hempfield township; Malinda, who married
Walter Rutledge, and has her home in Philadel-
phia ; and Mabel, wife of John L. Stewart, of Phila-
delphia.
Mrs. Mary (Heistand) Rohrer was born in East
Hempfield township in 1838. She is a good wife
and mother, and is beloved for her many excellent
qualities.
John K. Rohrer remained at home with his par-
ents until he was somewhat past his majority, when
he established himself on a neighboring farm.
There he remained until 1853, when he built the
brick house' which was his home until he joined his
son in Philadelphia, and established himself in a
manner most satisfactory and creditable to him and
his family. Mr. Rohrer is a Republican, and is re-
garded as a man of character, intelligence and in-
tegrity. For some seven years he was a director
of the Union National Bank at Mt. Joy, and has ex-
ercised a marked influence in the business affairs of
this section of the county. His personal integrity
is beyond question, and his genial disposition and
generous spirit have won him many friends, to
whom he is strongly attached.
LEVI RISSER (deceased) was born in Mt.
Joy township, Lancaster county, March 18, 1847,
and died in the same township, June 21, 1888, his
remains being put to rest in the cenietery connected
with Risser's Church.
Joseph and Fanny (Nissley) Risser, his parents,
were both natives of Lancaster county. The father
died in December, 1896, at the age of seventy-five
years; and the mother in 1882, at the age of sixty
years. They were members of the Mennonite
Church. The following family blessed their home:
Levi, whose name appears above; Mary, wife of Levi
Ebersole, a retired farmer of Elizabethtown ; Jo-
seph, a Mt. Joy township farmer; Anna, deceased,
who married Levi Longenecker; Anna, wife of A.
Denny, a painter of Elizabethtown; Martin, a Mt.
Joy township farmer; Amanda, wife of Benjamin
Hersh, a blacksmith in East Donegal, whose biog-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1147
raphy will be found elsewhere; and Amos, a Mt.
Joy township farmer.
Levi Risser was married in Lancaster, Pa., Nov.
26, 1872, to Miss Amanda Nissley, by whom he had
the following children : Norman N. married Sadie
Denny, and is now engaged in farming near Eliza-
bethtown; Joseph N. married Eliza Root, and is a
carpenter and farmer in West Donegal township;
Abraham N. is a bookkeeper in Philadelphia; Levi
N. is deceased; Clayton N. is a clerk in Philadel-
phia : and Ferris and Tillman N. are at home.
Mrs. Amanda (Nissley) Risser was born in
West Donegal township,' in September, 1854, a
daughter of Peter P>. and Elizabeth (Hoffman)
Nissley, whose peaceful and well-ordered lives are
mentioned elsewhere. The father died on his old
home in West Donegal township full of years and
honor; the mother passed away in 1859, when only
twenty-five years old, leaving behind memories of a
devoted wife and a tender mother. Hiram H. Niss-
ley, of Elizabethtown, is a half brother of Mrs.
Risser.
Levi Risser was born and bred a farmer, and
followed that occupation all his days, his death be-
ing caused by his horse while operating a separator.
Until his marriage Mr. Risser resided with his par-
ents. When he became the head of a family he es-
tablished himself on the farm in the township of
Mt. Joy where he was living at the time of his early
death. Here he had attained an enviable position in
the confidence and esteem of the community, and
served as school director for some three years. In
politics he was a Republican, and with his wife be-
longed to the Mennonite Church.
Mrs. Risser is a woman of far more than the
ordinary character, and in the rearing of her young
family has displayed much wisdom and motherly
devotion. When her husband died she moved to a
small farm near Elizabethtown, where she remained
until 1898, when she moved to an adjoining
place, just inside the borough lines. Her ojdest
child was fifteen years of age when she was left a
widow, and the character, industry and integrity of
her children attest the value of the motherhood that
has watched over them so wisely and well.
JACOB S. SEACHRIST, a retired farmer of
West Hempfield township, Lancaster county, was
born on his present farm Dec. 18, 1844, a son of
Michael and Susan (Seitz) Seachrist, natives, re-
spectively, of West Hempfield and Manor town-
ships, and descendants of old and highly respected
families of Lancaster county. The sisters of Michael
Seachrist were: Catherine Garber, Mary Bowers
and Mrs. Martin Musser.
Michael Seachrist was a substantial farmer, a
vocation he followed all his life, and he died on his
farm, the present homestead of Jacob S., April 15,
1876, at the age of sixty years, and his remains were
interred in Silver Spring cemetery ; his widow, who
was born in the year 18 16, now resides with her son.
Jacob S. There were born to the marriage of Mi-
chael and Susan Seachrist the following family:
Miss Anna; Lizzie, deceased; John, deceased;
Fanny and Jacob S., both single; Martin, a farmer
in East Donegal township, and married to Lizzie
Flora ; Mary, widow of Henry Mellinger, of Peters-
burg, this county ; and Michael, in the tobacco busi-
ness at Columbia, Pennsylvania.
" Michael " seemed to be a name inherent to the
family of Seachrists,-as that was the name of the
father of Jacob S. Seachrist, of his paternal grand-
father, and of the male progenitor of the head of
each family for five generations prior to the grand-
father, or in other words, of seven consecutive
generations. 'Phe first Michael of these seven
was the' pioneer of the family in West
Hempfield township and settled at Silver Spring
in 1769. The maternal grandparents of Jacob S.
Seachrist were Jacob and Elizabeth Seitz, of whose
family mention in full is made in the sketch of
C. C. Seitz, to be found elsewhere. To Jacob and
Elizabeth Seitz were born the following named chil-
dren : John, Tobias, Susan (mother of Jacob S.
Seachrist), Henry and Fanny (wife of John Smith),
all, save Susan, of Cumberland county. Pa; Leah,
who died in 1896, the wife of Joseph Lehman, also
deceased; Nancy Doner, now deceased; Benjamin
and Jacob, both deceased ; and Lizzie, wife of Chris-
tian Garber.
Jacob S. Seachrist has a fine farm of 103 acres,
but since 1899 has ceased to give it any active atten-
tion, having retired from labor to enjoy the re-
mainder of his days in the peace and comfort that
his early industiry has won for him, and in quiet
association with old-time friends. In politics he is
a Republican.
HENRY B. LANDIS belongs to one of the old
and most. honorable county families, his grandfather,
Henry Landis, having settled in Upper Leacock
township, in Lancaster county, in 1815. In 1836 he
purchased the farm where Henry B. now resides
and during a long life, devoted his best energies to
the development of his land. A quiet, unostenta-
tious man, he was a consistent member of the Old
Mennonite Chitrch. He married Mary Johns, and
their only child was Peter. J., who in turn, became
the father of Henry B.
Pdter J. Landis was born in Upper Leacock
township, on March 3, 1833, and moved to the old
homestead when three years of age. His educa-
tion was obtained in the public schools of the town-
ship, and his life was devoted to agricultural pur-
suits. Prior to his father's death he took charge of
the farm, operating it until his death, Feb. 9, 1899.
He married Martha Barr, a daughter of Christian
Barr, who still survives him, in her sixty-ninth year.
Six children were born to this union : Martha, who
died at the age of two years : Christian B., a car-
penter of Lancaster city; Annie A., wife of Joseph
Leam_on, of Lancaster county; Mary E., wife of
1148
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Benjamin H. Rohrer, of Upper Leacock township;
Dr. Eli B., who died in 1899, and who was a prac-
ticing physician in Seoul, Corea ; and Henry B.
Henry B. Landis was born on the old homestead
where he now resides, Oct. 20, 1861, and he re-
mained at home, assisting his father until he was
twenty-three years of age, receiving his education
in the common schools. He married Miss Mary
Groff, of Manheim township,- and after marriage
he remained engaged in farming for his father, until
the death of the latter, and then purchasing twenty
acres of the old homestead has continued to oper-
ate this ever since. It is located within two and one-
half miles of the city of Lancaster, and here the
owner has made extensive improvements, carrying
on a large dairy also, and disposing of his products
in Lancaster. His land is situated in the very garden
of the rich lands of the county, and he carries on
general farming with success.
Henry B. Landis was reared in the Old Men-
nonite religious faith, both of his parents being most
worthy members of that religious body, and he also
is one of its leading members, and is one of the most
highly respected men of this locality.
ADx\A/[ S. SHAKER. The business interests
of the borough of Ephrata, Lancaster county, are
in the hands of careful and capable men, who have
studied with good results the different lines of
trade in which they are engaged. Among those who,
since 1888, have contributed to the comfort and con-
venience of the public in this locality, is Adam S.
Shafer, the popular grocer, who is well and favor-
ably known to almost every resident.
Adam S. Shafer was born May 24, 1831, a soh
of the late Henry and Margaret (Stober) Shafer,
both of Lancaster county, but of German descent;
the father of Henry Shafer emigrated from Germany
in the early days, and served in the Continental
army under George Washington. Adam S. was one
of six children born to his parents: Isaac, John,
Lavina, Henry, Adam S. and Daniel. He was reared
on a farm and received his education in the common
schools of Ephrata township, and at the age of
seventeen decided to learn the trade of shoemaker
at Akron. For more than forty years he continued
in the shoe business, but upon removal into the
borough, in 1888, he opened up a grocery business
which has occupied his attention ever since. Mr.
Shafer deals in all kinds of staple commodities and
strives to please his patrons, with the result that he
has built up a fine trade, using only honest methods
and dealing fairly by rich and poor. A man of
standing and prominence in the Lutheran Church,
he also has the esteem of. the business community.
On Jan. 10, 1869, Aadam S. Shafer was married
to Miss Elvina Texter, a daughter of Daniel Texter,
of Berks county. To this worthy couple have been
born four children, of whom one daughter died in
childhood ; the others are : Lizzie, who married
James Heninger, and has two daughters, Esther and
Blanch; Emma, who married John F. Schreck, of
Ephrata, and they have four children, Paul, Ralph,
John and Lester; and Carrie, who married Jacob
Smith, of Philadelphia, and they have one daughter,
Pauline.
In politics Mr. Shafer adheres to the old Jeffer-
sonian principles of the Democratic party. Both he
and wife are passing their advancing years in com-
fort, esteemed by all, and conscious that they have
lived uprightly and set a good example to their
posterity.
PETER R. NISSLEY, a young and prosperous
farmer in the township of East Donegal, was bom
on his present farm Sept. 6, 1863, a son of John K.
and Maria (Reist) Nissley. His father was born
on the adjoining farm, and his mother in the town-
ship of Rapho, and both died on the old homestead.
John K. Nissley was a prominent farmer in his
day, and for nineteen years was president of the Mt.
Joy Fire Insurance Co. For six years he served as
school director. He died in February, 1898, at the
age of sixty-four years ; his wife died in August,
1891, at the age of fifty-four years. They were both
laid to rest in the cemetery connected with the Gray-
bill Church in East Donegal township. They were
members of the Mennonite Church, in which he
was a trustee, and they were known as good and
honest people, kind neighbors, and good citizens.
To them were born : Sarah R., who married Clay-
ton Nissley, a farmer in East Donegal township;
Maria R., widow of George R. Risser, now living
on the old farm ; Peter R. ; Fannie R., who died at
the age of eighteen years.
Peter and Catherine (Kreider) Nissley, the
grandparents of Peter R., were both natives of Lan-
caster county, and the former died in East Donegal
township, where he spent sixty-five years. For
fifty-three years he was a Mennonite minister, and
his death occurred in 1890, when he was aged eighty-
seven years. His remains are resting in the Gray-
bill ' Meeting House cemetery. He was married
three times, and had a goodly family of descendants.
John and Mary (Brubaker) Reist, the maternal
grandparents of Mr. Nissley, were both natives of
Lancaster county, and were farming people all their
lives.
Peter R. Nissley was married Nov. 4, 1886, at
the home of his wife's parents, to Harriet E. Garber,
by whom he has become the father of the following
children: Alice G., John G., Maria G., Hiram G.,
Esther G., Gertrude G. and Simon P. They are all
bright and promising children, and give promise of
a useful career in the world.
Harriet E. (Garber) Nissley was born in the
township of West Donegal, Oct. 24, 1865, a daugh-
ter of John S. and Susan (Erb) Garber, both natives
of Lancaster county. Her father, who was a farmer
and a man of considerable prominence in his day,
was a director of the First National Bank at Mari-
etta, and served as a school director for many years.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
114&
He died in March, 1888, when he had reached the
age of sixty-one years, and his remains were in-
terred in the Bassler Meeting House burying
grounds in the township of West Donegal. Her
mother, who was born in 1830, is now residing on
the old homestead. To John S. and Susan (Erb)
Garber were born the following family : Miss Anna
E., who is at home with her mother; Henry E., a
farmer in West Donegal township ; Amos E., farm-
ing on the old homestead; John E., a farmer in
West Donegal ; Miss Katie E., who is at home with
her mother ; Mary E., deceased ; Simon E., a farmer
in the township of West Donegal ; Harriet E. ; and
Samuel E., a farmer in East Donegal township.
Mrs. Nissley's paternal grandparents were John and
Catherine (Secrist) Garber, both of whom were na-
tives of Lancaster county, and are referred to in a
sketch elsewhere. Her mother's parents were John
and Veronica (Berg) Erb, and are also mentioned
in a sketch found elsewhere.
Peter R. Nisslcy remained with his parents until
he had reached the age of twenty-two years,when he
began the cultivation and management of the home
farm, and here he has remained until the present
time. The farm consists of 112 acres, and is one of
the best in the township. Mr. Nissley takes a prom-
inent part in commercial and business affairs, and
for ten years has been a director of the Mt. Joy
Union National Bank. Since the death of his father
he has been a director of the Mt. Joy Fire Insurance
Co. In his religious connection he is a member of
the Old Mennonite Church, and politically he affili-
ates with the Republican party.
DAVID H. MARTIN. Prominent among the
substantial retired farmers of West Earl township,
was David H. Martin, a highly esteemed citizen
well and favorably known through Lancaster county,
who passed away June 14, 1902. He was born in
East Earl township, Nov. 3, 1840, a son of David
K. and and Leah- (Hoover) Martin, of East Earl
township, where the former was a leading farmer.
For a period of ten years David K. Martin lived
a retired life, prior to his death in 1871, at the age of
fifty-eight. His wife passed away in 1858, at the
age of forty-three. Both were members of the Men-
nonite Church, and they were interred in Weaver-
land cemetery, in East Earl township. Their chil-
dren were: Nancy, deceased, wife of Amos Wit-
mer ; John, deceased ; Martha, widow of John Wit-
mer, of West Earl township; Leah, who married
H. C. Martin, a retired farmer of East Earl town-
ship ; David H., of this sketch ; Joseph, a farmer and
preacher in Ephrata township; Israel, a retired
farmer of Earl township; Isaac, a farmer of Earl
township ; Martin, a farmer of East Earl township ;
Elizabeth, who married Amos Martin, of Salisbury
township; Mary, who married John Gamber, of
Manheim township; Rev. Amos, a farmer and
preacher in Brecknock township ; and Levi, who
died in infancy.
David H. Martin remained with his parents until
his marriage, working on the home farm and assist-
ing the neighbors through the heavy work of haying
and harvesting, but after his marriage he began
farming on his own account in West Earl township,
where he remained for one year, and then moved
upon a farm in East Earl township, cultivating that
place for five years. At this time he returned to his
West Earl township farm where he spent the years
until 1899, when he retired from activity and settled
upon his late home. During these years Mr. Martin
was very busily engaged outside of farming opera-
tions, being chosen to settle up both the estates of his
father and that of his father-in-law, attending to this
tedious business with efficiency.
In politics Mr. Martin was a stanch Republican,
and he was honored by his fellow-citizens with
offices of trust and responsibility, having served for
nine years as township auditor and as school director
for a long period. For the last eighteen years he
was one of the directors of the Earl Mutual Fire
Insurance Co., and for the last fifteen years he
held the honorable position of trustee of the Groff-
dale Meeting House.
On Oct. 29, 1863, Mr. Martin was united in mar-
riage in West Earl township, to Miss Elizabeth
Wenger, who was born in West Earl township
June 17, 1843, a daughter of Benjamin and Anna
(Erb) Wenger, natives of West Earl and Manheim
townships. The death of Mr. Wenger occurred on
his old homestead, in 1872, at the age of sixty-six
years ; he had lived without business care for
twelve years prior to his death. He was a lead-
ing member of the Old Mennonite Church, and for
many years was one of its deacons. He was a man
of such good understanding that he was continually
called upon to settle up estates and to attend to legal
business for his neighbors. Hfs wife died in 1879,
at the age of sixty-nine years, and both of these
worthy and highly esteemed parents lie sleeping in
the cemetery at Groffdale. The children born to Mr.
and Mrs. Wenger were : Rev. Emanuel, deceased ;
Joseph, a retired farmer and preacher of Earl town-
ship ; Maria, who married Rev. Michael Horst ;
Susannah, who married John Musser, and died in
1901 ; Benjamin, a retired miller of West Earl
township ; Jacob, a retired farmer of Wayne county,
Ohio; Michael, a farmer of West Earl township;
Anna, who married Isaac Stoner, a retired farmer
of Ephrata township ; Elizabeth, widow of Mr. Mar-
tin; Fanny, deceased; Esther, who married first
Martin Weaver, and second. Deacon M. W. Nolt,
a retired farmer; and Henry, who died in infancy.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Martin were
Rev. Joseph and Maria (Horst) Wenger, of West
Earl township, the former of whom was a Men-
nonite preacher and farmer, who died in 1850, at
the age of eighty-four years, at which time he ap-
peared to be a man of much less age. Time had
treated him kindly, leaving him almost the vigor of
youth, and he possessed the sound teeth of a tem-
1150
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
perate and abstemious man, this being a very un-
usual occurrence. The maternal grandparents were
Emanuel and Susannah (Landis) Erb, of Lancas-
ter county, the former of whom died in 1861, at the
age of seventy-four years.
No children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Martin,
but several children found a home with them, one
child being reared to maturity, and two others being
married under their hospitable roof. In the neigh-
borhood, Mr. Martin was esteemed in the highest
possible way, and was much beloved, as is his wid-
ow, on account of the neighborly kihdness extended
to those in trouble or sickness. Although Mrs. Mar-
tin has no diploma to testify to her merits as a physi-
cian, she is able to point to a number of serious cases
which have been in her care, and which she suc-
ceeded in curing, when regular practitioners had
given the patients up to die. Her presence carries
healing with it, her kind and sympathetic heart
giving encouragement and help whenever possible.
Although she makes some use of medicine, she has
methods of her own by which she rarely fails to
give ease from pain.
ABRAHAM ERB. Perhaps one of the most
desirable farms in Lancaster county is the well sit-
uated and finely cultivated one of seventy-four fer-
tile acres, located just west of East Petersburg, in
East Hempfield township, which is owned and op-
erated by Abraham Erb, who has become well
known as one of the most successful agriculturists
of this locality.
Abraham Erb was born in Lancaster county,
Dec; 19, 1856, a- son of Daniel B. and Catherine
(Hernley) Erb, and a grandson of Jacob Erb, who
was born May 30, 1800, on a farm located between
Lititz and Manheim, in Warwick township, a son of
Daniel and Annie (Baumbarger) Erb.
Jacob Erb was reared on the farm, and he re-
mained a farmer all his life, his death occurring in
1875, in the old home. His wife, Mary (Bucher)
Erb, a daughter of Jonas Bucher, was born in War-
wick township, in 1808, and died in 1883, both of
them having been among the most respected and
consistent members of the Old Mennonite Church.
Their children were: Eliza, widow of Benjamin
Hernley, of near Elizabethtown ; Jonas, a retired
farmer of Warwick township ; Daniel B., father of
Abraham; Susan, widow of Benjamin H. Stauffer,
of the .State of Maryland ; Annie, deceased ; Cath-
erin'e, deceased; Jacob B., a farmer of Newton,
Kans. ; and Elias, who died in childhood.
Daniel B. Erb was born Nov. 26, 1829, and was
reared on the old homestead, where he learned to be
a good farmer, and he continued to live in Warwick
township for a number of years, but in 1872 he re-
moved to Washington county, Maryland, and spent
four years on a farm near Hagerstown, when he re-
moved to East Donegal township, Lancaster county,
and for the eleven succeeding years was one of the
excellent farmers of that locality. He then moved
to East Petersburg, where he has since been engaged
in the profession of veterinary surgeon, for the past
thirty-five years being engaged in this line. Few
in the county have had more experience, and he has
been unusually successful, and has saved the life of
many a valuable animal for the owner. Since 1890
he has given his entire time to his profession, and his
services are in constant demand all over the county.
For some time he has been the efficient tax collector
of the township, and is serving his second term as
such.
On Oct. 28, 1 85 1, Daniel B. Erb was married to
Catherine Hernley, who was born in Rapho town-
ship. May 30, 1832, a daughter of Christian Hernley.
They are the parents of five children: Albert, a
farmer of Rapho township ; Abraham, a farmer of
East Hempfield township ; Mary ; Henry, of Mt.
Joy ; and Amos, the foreman of a tobacco warehouse
at Rohrerstown. Both Daniel B. Erb and wife are
worthy members of the Old Mennonite Church, and
are among the most respected citizens of the town-
ship.
Abraham Erb was reared on the farm and re-
ceived excellent instruction as his father was so suc-
cessful an agriculturist, and was educated in the pub-
lic schools, remaining at home until he had reached
his twenty-third year, at which time he began farm-
ing operations for himself. Since 1890 he has, in
addition to general farming, dealt largely in tobacco,
and makes a success of handling the products of the
Maryland Fertilizing Company.
Abraham Erb was married Oct. 16, 1879, to An-
nie G. Herr, a daughter of Daniel H. Herr, who
was born in Penn township, and a family of ten
children has been born of this union : Elmer, Dan-
iel, Abraham, Katie, Emma, David, Rudy, Annie
May, Alice and . Mable. The religious connection
of the family is with the Old Mennonite Church,
where they are highly esteemed. Abraham Erb is
a good citizen, and is regarded by the community as
a good neighbor, kind friend and one worthy of the
highest respect.
BENJAMIN L. LANDIS, who entered into
rest Aug. 5, 1902, was a successful farmer of East
Lampeter township, and belonging to one of the
wealthiest and most prominent, as well as numerous,
families of Lancaster county.
John H. Landis, his grandfather, was an exten-
sive farmer in East Lampeter township, and was a
leading member of the Old Mennonite Church. His
marriage was to a member of the Suavely family,
another of the old and prominent ones of the
county. They reared a large family, its members
being now scattered through many parts of the
Union.
_ Abram S. Landis, who was the father of Benja-
min L. Landis, was born in East Lampeter township,
June 2, 1708, and during life was a large and suc-
cessful farmer, being also a minister in the Old
Mennonite Church. Abram Landis took part in poU
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1151
itics to a limited degree, was a Republican, and
served as school director and as supervisor in his
township for some years. Abram Landis married
Barbara B., a daughter of Benjamin (known as Big
Ben) Landis, and they were the parents of ten chil-
dren: John L., deceased, was a farmer of East
Lampeter township; Barbara L. was the wife of
Henry Musser ; Mary Ann was the wife of Joseph
Leamon; Anna L. was the wife of John Kreider;
Elizabeth L. is the wife of David Leamon ; Esther
L. is the wife of Benjamin Groff; Susannah L. is
unmarried; Abram died at the age of two years;
Benjamin L. ; and Lydia L. is the wife of John Groff.
The mother of this family was born Jan. 31, 1799,
and died Aug. 7, 1881.
Benjamin L. Landis was born Nov. 17, 1837, in
the house where he resided at his death, and
was educated in the public schools, living at home
until his marriage, about his twenty-third year,
when he began farming for himself on the old home-
stead.
Benjamin L. Landis was married first to Fannie
Bossier, and eight children were born to this union,
two of whom died in childhood, the others were:
Abram B., a farmer of East Hempfield township;
Anna B., who died unmarried; Fannie B., wife of
Abram Huber ; Hettie B., wife of Elam Buckwalter;
Lizzie, who died unmarried; and Benjamin F., at
home, unm.arried. The mother of this family died
Jan. 8, 1890. The second marriage of Mr. Landis
was to Mrs. Hettie L. Leamon, and to this union one
child was born. May 25, 1896, Bertha K. Landis, a
dainty little maid, the pet of the family.
Mr. Landis devoted his entire time to farming
on the old homestead, this becoming his property at
the time of his father's death. It is located on the
Horse .Shoe Pike road, two and one-half miles from
the city of Lancaster, and contains loi acres of valu-
able land, this being one of the most desirable farms
of Lancaster county. His death, which was due to a
cancer of the stomach, removed from East Lampeter
township one of its most highly esteemed citizens.
Mr. Landis was a member of the Old Mennonite
Church, to which his widow also belongs, and he was
one of the most respected and substantial citizens of
his township. Few men stood higher than Benjamin
Landis in the estimation and respect of his neigh-
bors and friends.
CHARLES B. STEPHAN, a produce and ice
merchant in Elizabethtown, Pa., was born in Rust,
Baden, Germany, May 27, 18,56, a son of Bonifaz
and Sophie (Schwartz) Stephan, both natives of
Rust. The father was a farmer and dealer in coal
and potatoes. In his younger days he owned and
operated boats on the Rhine, and from 1864 to 1867
he kept the " Ferry Hotel " at Sasbach on the Rhine,
in Baden, where he, in connection operated a ferry.
He died in his native town in 1877, at the age of
fifty-one years. His widow, Sophie Stephan, was
a daughter of Johann Schwartz, deceased, also at
the time one of the largest land owners of said town.
She was born May 15, 1828, and is still living in
Rust, Baden. Both parents were born and bred in
the Roman Catholic Communion. They had two
children : Franziska, who died in infancy ; and
Charles B.
Samuel Stephan, the paternal grandfather of
Charles B., was Mayor of Rust during the Rebellion
of 1848, and was a man of more than local import-
ance in his active years. He was a large land owner
in Rust, and owned several boats on the lower Rhine.
He was the first vesselman that passed through the
Rhine Gap, at Bingen, on the lower Rhine, after
the part passing the celebrated Mouse Tower was
made navigable in 1846, for large ships. Under his
term as Mayor the Rust Town Hall was built in
1847. He was also one of the few mayors from the
south part of Baden, who attended the dedication of
the monument at Riegel, Baden, dedicated by the
Grand Duke Leopold in commemoration of the Ba-
den-Leopold Canal, his name being on the monu-
ment with others. He was drowned at Sasbach on
the Rhine in 1866, while visiting his son Bonifaz,
being taken with a paralytic stroke, and falling over-
board in the presence of his grandson, Charles B.,
then a lad of ten years, whose brave, but fruitless
efforts to rescue his grandfather were honored by a
diploma from the authorities, who bestowed upon
him also a cash sum of ten florin. The presentation
of the diploma and money was made by the dele-
gated Judge of the District of Breisach am Rhein,
in the town Hall of Sasbach, in the presence of the
town council and friends in 1866.
Charles B. Stephan was married Sept. 23, 1880,
to Miss Anna E. Morck (this name is also spelled
by some members of the family Marks), who has
borne him the following children: Sophie M., An-
galina T., Frances M., Charles M. and George L.
Mrs. Anna E. Stephan was born June 26, 1854, in
Lancaster, a daughter of Frank and Margaretha
(Herzog) Morck, who were married in 1850.
Frank Morck was born in 1830, in Kreuznach,
Rhenish-Prussia, Germany, and came to this coun-
try with his parents as a boy. He is now engaged in
trucking. Mrs. Margaretha Morck was born in
1836, in .Sandhausen, Baden, Germany. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Morck are members of St. Joseph Roman
Catholic Church, of Lancaster, Pa. They have the'
following children : Anna E., Mrs. Stephan ;
Mary ; George, deceased ; Peter and Lena, deceased.
Andrew Morck, paternal grandfather of Mrs. Ste-
phan, was born in Germany, but came to Lancaster
in 1840, and he was one of the founders of the Ger-
man St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, of Lan-
caster.
Charles B. Stephan attended the town school of
Rust for five years; and then entered the higher Citi-
zens College at Ettenheim, Baden, where he re-
mained for five years. At the age of sixteen he en-
tered as a clerk in business houses in Freiburg, in
Baden, also in Muehlhausen and Strassburg, in Al-
1152
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
sace, Germany. In September, 1873, he sailed from
Bremen, Germany, on the steamer "King Will-
iam," and arrived Oct. 31, 1873. During the panic
of that fall, he was searching for nearly three
months for a position and was finally employed by
a Mr. Shloeder, a cigar manufacturer on First
Ave., remaining for several months, but he con-
cluded to go to Lancaster, Pa., and there in Feb.,
1874, he was welcomed by his aunts, Mrs. Frances
(Stephan) Hatter and Mrs. Stefan (Stephan)
Hauser. Not finding a suitable position in Lancas-
ter he engaged in selling notions on the road, travel-
ing through Lancaster, Dauphin, York and Lebanon
counties. Pa., and parts of Maryland. In 1880, the
year he was married, he took charge of a hotel in
York, Pa., where he remained for two years, but he
determined to return to Lancaster, where he resumed
the occupation of a peddler, with a horse and wagon,
selling notions, woolen goods, shoes, etc., at the
same time trading in poultry, butter and eggs. In
1884 he moved to West Donegal township, where he
engaged only in buying poultry, and the next spring
he moved to Elizabethtown, locating on Washington
street, where he resided until 1887, when he removed
to what was formerly the old "Washington Hotel"
stand, in the same town, where he remained thirteen
years, dealing in produce. In 1890 he built his first
ice house and started the first ice delivery for the
town. In the fall of 1898 he moved to his present
place, where he is eminently successful. His numer-
ous teams rnake regular weekly gathering trips
among about four hundred farms in this section.
He is interested in other places in the same line of
business, but especially has he made the egg busi-
ness his leader, and he has gained a reputation in
New York and Philadelphia markets. Mr., Stephan
has established a branch wholesale and retail house
in Atlantic City, N. J., dealing under the assumed
name of Anchor Produce Co. Through his energy
Elizabethtown turned to be the principal produce
shipping point between Harrisburg and Philadel-
phia. Throtigh his deep interest in advocating and
encouraging the egg production, this section got to
be the greatest egg-producing section in Pennsyl-
vania. He was the first dressed calf shipper to the
New York Market between Harrisburg and Phila-
delphia, who shipped dressed calves during the hot
summer, as well as cold winter — thus beginning an
enterprise which has assumed some considerable
proportions and has made Elizabethtown its heaviest
shipping point.
Mr. Stephan began his career in the most modest
way, and his present prosperity has come as the di-
rect result of his unflagging industry and honest and
punctual methods.
Mr. and Mrs. Stephan are members of the Ro-
man Catholic church, and are active in the work of
St. Peter's Parish at Elizabethtown. Mr. Stephan
is also a member of the following Catholic Benevo-
lent Leagues, of Lancaster, Pa. : St. Peter's
and St. Michael's Societies, also Father Grothen-
mey Council of the Pennsylvania Catholic League,
and the Shiller Death Benefit Association. Mr.
Stephan is a Democrat in politics. He encouraged
the establishing of a branch of the National Build-
ing and Loan Association, of Lebanon, Pa., of which
he is second Vice President.
DR. ISRAEL A. MILLER, a widely known
veterinary surgeon, and now a retired farmer in
Colerain township, Lancaster county, was born in
Elizabeth township, Lancaster county, in October,
1843, his parents being Moses and Margaret (Ap-
pel) Miller. They were both born in Lancaster
county, and descended from old and prominent
families. The father is still living in the home ad-
joining the farm, in Elizabeth township, but the
mother died in the summer of 1902.
Moses Miller was a son of Leonard Miller, and
his wife. Eve, who were both natives of Germany.
They made a home in Elizabeth township, where
Moses was born and reared. They had a large fam-
ily of children, all of whom have long since passed
to the Heavenly land. Moses Miller had a family of
five children : Mary A., who married Henry A. Dun-
mire, of Elizabeth, and diet!, leaving a family of four
children : Lizzie, Annie, Susan and Alice; Caroline,
who married John Edwards, and lives in Lancaster
county, with a family ; Margaret, who married Jacob
Jocley, and died, leaving one son, Edward ; Emma,
who died when a young girl ; and Israel A.
Dr. Miller, the youngest member and the only
son of the above family, was reared to manhood on
the parental estate, and secured such education as the
home schools afforded. Lentil 1875 he was a farmer.
That year he took up the study of veterinary sur-
gery, and became very successful in that line. This
has been his occupation, aside from farming, up to
the present time. In 1881 he bought the William
Whitman farm in Colerain township, which has be-
come one of the finest farms in this section of the
county under his able management. Here he has a
large brick house, a good barn and all the out-build-
ings needed for the successful conduct of this fine
place.
Dr. Miller was married in 1861 to Miss Annie
Koehler, who was born in 1845, a daughter of George
and Elizabeth Koehler ; they were born in Lancaster
county of German descent. To this happy union
have come seven children: Milton, born in 1862,
is living on a rented farm in Bart township ; he mar-
ried Miss Ella Draucker, and they have four chil-
dren : Benjamin, Calvin, Margaret and Harriet.
Ella, born in Lancaster county, married Enos Wiker,
of Bart township, and has one daughter, Darthy.
William F., born in Elizabeth township, married
Miss Lizzie Grofl"', of East Drumore township, and
lives on the Edwards home, near Quarry ville; they
have two children, Ira and Harry. Ada E., born in
Lancaster county, married William Phillips, of Phila-
delphia, and is the mother of one daughter, Ruth I.
James Monroe, born in Elizabeth township married
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1163
Miss Susan Sharp and they have one daughter,
Esther. Anna Mary, born in Ehzabeth township,
married Robert Montgomery, and has one daughter,
Beatrice Irene. Rena Mae, born in Colerain town-
ship, is unmarried, and remains at home.
Dr. Miller is a Republican, and was supervisor
in Elizabeth township. Reared a Lutheran, he is
now an attendant upon the services of the Reformed
Church. He has been successful and prosperous
through his long and busy life, and commands the
confidence and respect of his neighbors to an unusual
degree.
SAMUEL S. ESHLEMAN. Few families of
Lancaster county are entitled to more extended men-
tion in a representative work than is that of Eshle-
man. Some m.embers of this large and prominent
family may be found in almost every section of the
county, and they are usually among the leading and
substantial citizens. Samuel S. Eshleman, of Mt. Joy
township, is a farmer of prominence there. He was
born Oct. i, 1866, near White Oak, a son of Rev.
Daniel M. and Mary (Shank) Eshleman.
Rev. Daniel M. Eshleman was born June 18,
1845, m Penn township, Lancaster county, son of
Samuel G. and Mary (Minnich) Eshleman. The
father died on the old home place in Penn township,
in 1847, ^t the age of forty-one years, and was buried
in the private cemetery of the Minnich family on the
latter's old farm. His widow, the grandmother of
Samuel S.. was born in 1815, and still resides in Mt.
Joy township. She is a m.ember of the German Bap-
tist Church, to which religious body her husband
also belonged. Their children were : Samuel, a
farmer in Penn township ; Mary, the widow of Abra-
ham Miller, of Rapho township ; and Rev. Daniel M.,
the well-known minister of the German Baptist
Church, a man respected and beloved by all who
know him. Mrs. Eshleman married Samuel Sherrer
after a few years of widowhood, and one daughter
was born to them, who is Anna, the wife of Henry
Baker, a farmer of Mt. Toy township. Tracing the
family ancestry still farther back we find the paternal
grandfather to have been Abraham Eshleman, a
farmer of Lancaster county, whose wife was a Kray-
bill, and on the maternal side the grandparents were
Abraham and Maria (Shoemaker) Minnich, also of
Lancaster county.
Until he was eight years of age, Daniel M. Eshle-
man remained with his widowed mother, his father
having 5ied when he was two years old. He was
then made a member of the family of his uncle, Sam-
uel Minnich, with whom he remained eight years,
and he then worked around in the neighborhood
for dififerent farmers who were ever ready to employ
an industrious and sober youth. For two years suc-
ceeding his arrival at maturity, he rented farming
land, and after his marriage purchased his present
farm where he has continued to reside ever since. In
1895 he was ordained a minister in the German Bap-
tist Church, and since that time has faithfully per-
73
formed his religious duties, attaching to himself all
who come within reach of his convincing instruc-
tion. In his earlier years Rev. Eshleman belonged to
the Republican party, but does not now take any part
in politics. The first marriage of Rev. Daniel M.
Eshleman was in October, 1865, in Lancaster, to
Mary Shank, and two children were born to this
union, namely : Samuel S., of this sketch, and Emma
S., who died at the age of nineteen years. Mrs. Esh-
leman was born in Penn township, and died in 1882,
at the age of thirty-six years, her burial being in
Green Tree cemetery. She was a daughter of Jo-
seph and Magdalina (Buckwiler) Shank, of Lancas-
ter county. The second marriage of Rev. Daniel M.
Eshleman was in November, 1883, in Mt. Joy town-
ship to Miss .Sarah Eshelman, and four children
were born to this union, namely : Salome E., Daniel
E., John E., and Sadie E. Mrs. Eshleman was born
in July, 1859, in Mt. Joy township, daughter of John
and Barbara (Witmer) Eshelman, of Mt. Joy town-
ship, the former of whom died in Elizabethtown, in
in 1898, aged sixty-five years, and was buried in
Green Tree cemetery. For six vears prior to his
death he lived retired. His widow, born in 1838, re-
sides in Elizabethtown. Both long were members of
the German Baptist Church. Their children were:
Peter, who is a farmer in Dauphin county; Sarah,
who married Rev. Mr. Eshleman ; Samuel, a farmer
in Mt. Joy township; Miss Fanny, who resides in
Elizabethtown with her mother ; Isaac, a school
teacher in Elizabethtown; and Mary, who died at
the age of twenty-one years. Mrs. Eshleman's pa-
ternal grandfather was Isaac Eshelman, of Lancaster
county, whose wife's maiden name was Longenecker,
and the maternal grandfather was Christian Witmer,
of Lancaster, and his wife was a m.ember of the
Culp family.
Samuel S. Eshleman was reared on his father's
farm and obtained his education in the district
schools. When he was about twenty years old he
took an enjoyable trip through the West, being from
home some nine months. This gave him broader
views of life and v/as considerable of an education in
itself. The attractions of the great West, however,
did not induce him to make his home there, and
upon his return he remained on the home farm with
his parents for two more years. He then went into
the creamery business which occupied him for some
nine years, but in igoo he located on his present farm
which he has been operating ever since. Mr. Eshle-
man is regarded as a model up-to-date farmer and
every evidence of capability is shown in his thrifty
and attractive surroundings. He is identified with
the Republican party, and in religion he belongs to
the German Baptist Church.
The first marriage of Mr. Eshleman was in 1894,
in Mt. Joy township, to Miss Clara Mvers, and to
this union two sons were born, Walter M. and David
M. Mrs. Eshlem.an was born in East Donegal town-
ship, and died Feb. 8, 1897, at the early age of nine-
teen years. She was buried in Green Tree cemetery.
1154
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Her parents were David R. and Mary H. (Shoe-
maker) Myers, of East Donegal township. The sec-
ond marriage of Mr. Eshleman occurred in May,
1898, in Milton Grove, when Mattie Ginder be-
came his wife. She was born in Mt. Joy town-
ship, daughter of John and Sarah (Eby) Gin-
der, of Lancaster, the former of whom was a
farmer in this county, and died in 1893 at the age
of sixty-one years. His widow, born in 1840, resides
in Mt. Joy township. Their children were : Amos,
deceased ; Kate, who married Henry Baker, of this
township ; Barbara, who married Allen Ober, of Mt.
Joy township ; Jacob, a farmer of East Donegal town-
ship; Miss Lizzie; Mattie, who married our subject;
Andrew, deceased ; Fianna, who married Jacob Mil-
ler, of Rapho township ; and John, Nathan, Sadie and
Henry, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Eshleman have one
son. Earl, a bright and attractive child. As a man
of reliability and substance, Mr. Eshleman is highly
regarded in his locality. He is a kind neighbor, be-
nevolent Christian and first-class citizen.
JACOB T. WHITSON. An esteemed citizen
of Oak Hill, Little Britain township, is Jacob T.
Whitson, who for many years was prominently iden-
tified with the mercantile, lumber, grain and coal in-
terests of Lancaster county, residing at Christiana,
He was born in Sadsbury township, Chester county,
Oct. 18, 1830, a son of Moses and Elizabeth (Tay-
lor) Whitson, natives of the same county and prom-
inent members of the Society of Friends. His
grandfather, Thomas Whitson was of English origin,
and was born en Long Island, where he lived a con-
sistent member of the Society of Friends.
Moses Whitson was born Aug. 24, 1798, and he
died in 1853. In 1828, he was united in marriage to
Elizabeth Taylor, who was born in 1805, and who
died in 1844. Their children were: Mary, born
March 4, 1829, is the widow of Samuel P. Bailey,
of Chester county. Pa. ; Jacob T. ; Anna M., born
Oct. 2, 1833, married David Hood, of Chester coun-
ty, who died in 1901 ; and Moses, born Jan. 24, 1840,
resides in Hagerstown, Maryland. During an honor-
able life, Moses Whitson was known as a man of in-
tegrity and high character. His ownership of land
was large. He resided in Sadsbury township, Ches-
ter county, and did much legal business there, in
the way of surveying, conveyancing and settling up
of estates.
Jacob T. Whitson was reared in Sadsbury town-
ship, but as stated above he later became a merchant
in Christiana. In 1888, he moved into Little Britain
township and bought a farm, comprising 245 acres
of some of the best land in southern Lancaster coun-
ty. This property has recently been purchased of
him by his son, Charles S.
On March 25, 1863, Jacob T. Whitson was united
in marriage to Mary Russell, of Drumore township,
and to this union were born four children : Russell
T., who is a professor in Peirce's Commercial Col-
lege, in Philadelphia; Charles S., who is a success-
ful farmer of Little Britain township; Emily, wife
of Henry R. Hoopes, a prominent manufacturer of
wheels, in Westchester, Pa. ; and Horace G.
Mrs. Whitson was a daughter of John N. and
Amelia (Kirk) Russell, who were among the early
settlers and leading citizens of Drumore township.
John N. Russell was born July 3, 1804, and died Dec.
23, 1876. For many years he was identified with the
various reformatory and philanthropic enterprises
of his section of the State, being a strong anti-slavery
man and a tireless worker in the cause of temperance.
His efforts brought forth much good, and he was
long known as the friend of the poor and oppressed,
and was noted for his honesty and truthfulness.
John N. Russell was a remarkable man for his times,
and many the reforms he advocated are now parts
of the laws of the land. In every relation of life he
displayed a true Christian character.
Jacob T. Whitson is a member of the Society of
Friends. His political sj'mpathy has always been
with the Reptiblican party, and his influence has ever
been in the direction of education and morality.
ELMER K. DENLINGER, manager of the Gap
Creamery Company, Branch No. 2, at Intercourse,
and of a feed and grist mill at the same place, is one
of the prominent and enterprising citizens of Lan-
caster county who have done so much to promote its
best interests.
Mr. Denlinger was born in Salisbury township,
Lancaster county, Nov. 22, 1864, son of Abraham H.
and Mary Catherine Denlinger, both natives of this
county, the father born in Leacock township, in 1839,
and the mother in Stroudsburg, in 1840. They are
now residing in Kinzers, Lancaster county, Mr. Den-
linger having retired from agricultural pursuits, to
which his active years were devoted. They are
members of the Mennonite Church. In his more act-
ive years the father was a man of affairs, and long
served as school director. To Abraham H. and
Mary Denlinger were born the following children:
Harry, deceased ; Salome, widow of A. H. Eby, and
now living with her parents ; Elmer K., whose name
appears above ; Abraham, who lives at Intercourse,
and is with his brother Elmer K. ; Daniel, deceased ;
Mary, who is at home, unmarried ; John, a farmer of
Leacock township ; and Harry, a machinist in Phila-
delphia. The parents of Abraham H. Denlinger
were Daniel and Margaret (Hershey) Denlinger, of
Lancaster county.
Elmer K. Denlinger was married Sept. 13, 1888,
in Williamstown, to Mary Charles, by whom he has
had three children. Harry A., Edith M., and Marion
C. Mrs. Mary (Charles) Denlinger was born in
Leacock township, March 29, 1866, daughter of
Hiram and Hannah (Bowman) Charles, of Lan-
caster county. Her father is a retired farmer of
Paradise township ; he was born in 1834. Her
mother died Feb. 2, 1901, at the age of sixty-seven
years. She belonged to the Mennonite Church,
with which her husband also unites. They were the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1155
parents of the following children: Abraham, who
died at the age of thirty-two years; Susan, who
married George Penninger, a farmer of Salisbury
township ; Edward, a farmer in Chester county, Pa. ;
Flora, widow of Albert Berkie, and living in Earl
township ; Samuel, who married Lizzie Rohrer, and
is a farmer in Strasburg township; Mary (twin
sister of Samuel) , Mrs. Elmer K. Denlinger ; Sallie,
who married Harry Latchau, a farmer of Witmer;
and Lydia A,, who married J. Milton Kling, a farm-
er of Intercourse, and died in 1896, Mr. Kling dy-
ing in 1897 (they left a daughter, Lydia, who lives
with her grandparents, Isaiah and Martha Kling, at
Intercourse). Hiram Charles, the grandfather of
Mrs. Mary Denlinger, lived in Lancaster county,
as did her mother's parents, Daniel and Susan Bow-
man.
Elmer K. Denlinger was reared on the home
farm, and remained with his parents until his mar-
riage, after which event he followed farming in
Paradise township until 1898. In that year he came
to Intercourse to take charge of the creamery plant,
where he has remained up to the present time, alert
and attentive to anything that concerns the interest
of his patrons, or the prosperity of his employers.
In politics he is a Republican, and in religion both
he and his good wife belong to the Mennonite
Church. In the summer of 1901 he put up an ex-
tensive feed and grist mill for himself, and has al-
ready secured a very profitable patronage.
HENRY J. BESORE, a prominent and suc-
cessful saddlery merchant of New Holland, was
born March 15, 1844, in Smithsburg, Md., where
his parents, David S. and Eliza (Roads) Besore,
were conducting a hotel at the time. Later they
lived in Franklin county. Pa., where the father
taught school and gave singing lessons until in-
capacitated by age, and finally established a home in
New Holland, where they pased their last days.
D. F. Besore, a brother of Henry J. Besore, also
lives in New Holland.
Henry J. Besore was married Dec. 10, 1867, in
New Holland, to Ella R. Darrow, and to this union
has been born one child, Mary D., who married
Harry K. Storb, member of the New Holland firm
of T. M. Storb & Sons, mentioned elsewhere. Mrs.
Ella R. Besore was born in New Holland Oct. 11,
1848, daughter of James and Hannah (Leeds)
Darrow, botli natives of New Holland, where her
father was engaged in business as a shoemaker.
He served as township collector of New Holland
before the organization of the borough. He died in
1867, when fifty-five years old; his wife passing
away in 1876, at the age of sixty-two years. They
were buried in the cemetery of the Reformed Church
at New Holland, with which organization they had
long been associated. They had the following chil-
dren: William S., who is deceased; Susan, de-
ceased ; Mlary, who married B. F. Bard, of Coates-
ville, and is deceased ; Anna, wife of William Shirk,
residing in Lancaster; Catherine, deceased; Emma,
who married S. S. Ranck, and has her home in East
Earl township (her husband is a station agent on the
Pennsylvania railroad) ; Ella • R., Mrs. Besore ;
Marcus H., a resident of Philadelphia; John H.,
a horse dealer in New Holland; and James, who
died in infancy.
Henry J. Besore remained with his parents until
he reached the age of fifteen, when he began clerk-
ing. When he was eighteen he entered a saddlery
shop with Richard Weaver, in New Holland. Dur-
ing the Rebellion he served as a musician. When he
was thirty-three he set up in business for himself,
and has made a substantial position for himself in
the business world. He was tax collector for the
borough five years. With his family he belongs to
St. Stephen's Reformed Church. In politics he is
a Democrat. Fraternally Mr. Besore is associated
with the J. O. O. F., and the Grand Encampment
of that fraternity, the K. of P., the Red Men and the
Royal Arcanum.
ELI L. LANDIS. Prominent among the pros-
perous young farmers of West Earl township is Eli
L. Landis, who resides on a most valuable farm,
comprising ninety-five acres, desirably located but
one mile from the flourishing town of Farmersville.
The name of Landis is well known and respected
in Lancaster county. Benjamin Landis, grandfa-
ther of Eli L., was a native of Manheim township, of
German ancestry, and reared a family of eleven chil-
dren : Henry L. ; Isaac L. ; Benjamin ; Israel ; Dan-
iel ; Anna, wife of Samuel Hershey ; Fianna, wife
of Benjamin Garber ; Amelia, wife of Michael Nolt ;
Fanny, wife of Samuel Hess ; Elizabeth, wife of
John Hess ; and Maria, wife of Levi Getz.
Isaac L. Landis, second son of Benjamin, mar-
ried Elizabeth Long, of Manheim township, who
bore him one son, Levi L. Her life ended early,
and for his second wife Isaac L. Landis married, in
Manheim township, Miss Susan N. Landis. Five
children were born to this union : Noah L., a farm-
er of Manheim township ; Milton unmarriecj, also of
Manheim ; John L., a farmer of the same township ;
Annie, wife of Kudolph Herr, of Manheim; and
Eli L.
Eli L. Landis was born June 9, 1876, was reared
a farmer boy, and ever since finishing his schooling
has been engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has
been one of the most successful of the young farmers
of his locality, his fine place showing the highest de-
gree of cultivation and giving good yields. The
residence of the family is a fine three-story brick
dwelling, which is considered one of the finest coun-
try homes in the township, while his great brick
barn is the most commodious and imposing in that
part of the county.
Eli L. Landis was married, Nov. 18, 1897, to
Miss Hettie H. Nolt, a daughter of John W. Nolt,
who was born April 11, 1878, and is a lady well fitted
to adorn the lovely home in which she presides.
1156
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Three children have come to this marriage: John
N., born Dec. zj, 1898; Mabel, Aug. 26, 1900; and
Harry, Sept. i, 1902.
In politics Mr. Landis is a Republican, and he
is regarded as one of the rising young men of his
locality. His standing is high in the township, as
an exemplary husband and father, an intelligent
citizen and a consistent member of the Mennonite
Church.
ISAAC W. HOFFMAN, of Elizabethtown,
Lancaster county, is an extensive farmer in that old
and populous agricultural region, and also manager,
as well as owner, of the Elizabethtown Creamery,
one of the model butter making establishments of
eastern Pennsylvania. He is also a manufacturer
of fine and popular ice cream, which is shipped to
all parts of Lancaster and adjoining counties, and
in this line alone he carries on a very extensive busi-
ness. He has within the last few years erected, be-
sides his own dwelling, a number of fine brick
houses, which he rents to desirable parties at a very
low figure, and as they are very substantial build-
ings, fitted up with all the modern conveniences
they have added very materially to the growth and
beauty of the city.
Mr. Hoffman is a great-grandson, on his fa-
ther's side, of Jacob and Sophia (Dunkle) Hoff-
man, and a grandson of Jacob, Jr., and Catherine
(Keizer) Hoffman. On his mother's side, he is a
great-grandson of Christian and Christena (Eshle-
man) Wolgemuth, and a grandson of Christian, Jr.,
and Anna (Metzler) Wolgemuth.
Mr. Hoffman is a son of John K. and Elizabeth
V Wolgemuth) Hoffman, and was born in West
Donegal township, Lancaster county, Aug. 3, 1851.
John K. Hoffman was born in Rapho township, and
his wife in the township of Mt. Joy, Lancaster coun-
ty. They moved to Elizabethtown in 1890, to spend
their few remaining years, and there the father died
March 6, 1898 ; his remains were laid to rest in the
Mt. Tunnel cemetery. Both the parents were mem-
bers of the Dunkard Church. The mother was born
Feb. 26, 1824, and she is now residing with her son
Isaac W. John K. and Elizabeth (Wolgemuth)
Hoffman, were the parents of seven children, as
follows : John, who is a farmer in Londonderry
township, Dauphin Co., Pa. ; Anna, who died in
September, 1899; Lizzie, who died in infancy;
Isaac W. ; Jacob, who died at the age of seven years ;
Mary, who is the wife of John Martin, a farmer in
the township of West Donegal ; and Matilda, who
became the wife of Leander Gantz, a farmer of Mt.
Joy township and died Oct. 8, 1901.
Jacob and Catherine (Keizer) Hoffman, grand-
parents of Isaac W., were both life-long residents
of Rapho township and were farming people of
standing and character in the community in which
they lived. Mr. Hoffman lived to be eighty-eight
years old, dying April 2, i88g. Mrs. Hoffman was
at the time of her death, in 1885, seventy-eight
years, ten months and twenty-eight days old. They
were both interred at the Green Tree German Bap-
list Meeting House, in Mt. Joy township. These
were their children : John K., deceased ; Jacob, also
deceased ; Samuel K. a farmer in Mt. Joy township ;
Isaac K., of Dauphin county. Pa. ; Nancy, widow of
Christ Wolgemuth, of Elizabethtown; Elizabeth,
widow of Daniel Witmer, of Elizabethtown; and
Catherine, the wife of Levi Kopp, a stone mason of
Milton Grove, Pennsylvania.
Christian Wolgemuth, Jr., and his wife Anna
Metzler, the maternal grandparents of Isaac W.
Hoffman, were farming people of Mt. Joy town-
ship, and were well-known throughout that part of
the county in which they lived. Mr. Wolgemuth
died March 17, 1888, aged eighty-eight years, eleven
months, and twenty-nine days. Mrs. Wolgemuth
died Nov. 18, 1895, at the age of ninety years, one
month and fourteen days. Both are interred at the
Cross Roads Church, near Florin, Lancaster coun-
ty. They were the parents of eight children, three
of whom died m infancy, and the others are as fol-
lows : the Rev. John, a minister of the River Breth-
ren Church, and a retired farmer in West Donegal
township : the Rev. David, also a minister of the
River Brethren Church, and a retired farmer ; Jane,
the widow of Henry Nissley; Mary, the wife of
John Kaylor, who is a retired farmer, living at
Elizabethtown; and Elizabeth, Mrs. Hoffman.
Isaac W. Hoffman was married Oct. 20, 1870,
to Miss Susan Hernley, and by this marriage became
the father of one child, Amanda, who is at home un-
married. Mrs. Hoffman was born in the township
of Penn, May 16, 1852, the daughter of Benjamin
and Eliza (Erb) Hernley. Her father was born in
the township of Rapho, and her mother in Cumber-
land county. Pa. Mr. Hernley died Dec. 6, 1887,
at the age of sixty-two, and his widow, who is now
making her home with her son, Ephraim, has reached
the age of seventy-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Hern-
ley were the parents of three children, Mary, the
wife of Christ Longenecker, a farmer in Mt. Joy
township ; Susan ; and Ephraim, a farmer, on the old
homestead in Mt. Joy township. Mrs. Hoffman's
paternal grandparents were Christ and Mary (Her-
shey) Hernley, farming people of Rapho township ;
her mother's parents were Jacob and Mary (Buch-
er) Erb, farming people of Warwick township.
Isaac W. Hoffman remained at home with his
parents until he attained the age of nineteen years,
when he left home, and began farming for himself
on what was known as the old Jacob Hoffman farm,
on the cross road leading from the Manheim road
to Risser's Mill. After living on this farm one year,
Mr. Hoffman purchased it ; he stayed there five
years, then sold it and bought another farm on the
Harrisburg and Lancaster Pike, near Elizabeth-
town. For eleven years he remained at that place,
when he sold it and moved to his present home,
where he now conducts a very extensive business inL
various lines. Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman are both_
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1157
members of the Mennonite Church, and always take
an active interest in everything pertaining to the
general vkfelfare of the community in which they
live.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SAYLOR, Lan-
caster's leading photographer for many years, is
known to the community as an honorable man and a
reliable tradesman.
Henry Saylor, his father, was born in 1796, and
Elizabeth Derr, his mother, was born in 1804.
Their home was at Trappe, Montgomery county.
The father, who was a contracting carpenter, met
an accidental death, while at work on his own
premises, and the papers of that section gave lengthy
accounts of the tragic death of one whom they re-
garded as a most worthy and estimable man. This
occurred in 185 1, when he was fifty-five years old,
Mrs. Saylor dying eight years later, Oct. 12, 1859,
at the same age as her husband was when called
home.
Benjamin Franklin Saylor was born Feb. 24,
1838, and was educated in the public schools of
Montgomery county, and left Trappe for Philadel-
phia when he was twelve years old. In 1858 he be-
came a student of photography at Ninth and Spring
Garden streets. In 1865 he came to Lancaster to
take charge of the late Charles Eberman's gallery,
which he later purchased. This gallery was on the
north side of West King street, and in 1882 he
bought the building where his residence and gallery
are now found on the south side of the same street.
It is one of the fine buildings of the block, and con-
tains two stores besides the gallery and the resi-
dence.
Mr. Saylor was married Feb. 23, 1876, to Miss
Anna Catherine, a daughter of the late Emanuel
Shober, proprietor of stage and mail routes in Lan-
caster county before the railroad and trolley line.
He had a hotel at the corner of North Queen and
Orange streets, a popular and familiar establishment
with the traveling public. This property is now in
the hands of the Y. M. C. A. Mr. Shober, who died
in 1869, was the owner of two paper mills, one at
Eden, and the other at Slackwater. He is known in
history as the pioneer paper manufacturer in this sec-
tion of the country. To Mr. and Mrs. Saylor were
born the following children : Paul, who died of
diphtheria, aged one year; Benjamin Franklin, Jr.,
now employed at the freight station of the Pennsyl-
vania railroad : and Carl Frederick, telegraph opera-
tor for the Pennsylvania railroad. Mr. Saylor's an-
cestors were German ; their religion was that of the
Lutherans, and he and his wife are members of the
same church. He has served at various times as ves-
tryman, warden and elder, as well as assisting in the
choir for fullv thirty years. Ever since his arrival
in Lancaster he has served in the Sunday School.
Mr. Saylor was among the promoters of Christ and
Grace Lutheran Churches, children of Old Trinity,
and in the early history of Grace Church, was choir-
master, secretary of the Church Council, and Super-
intendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Savior is a
charter member of the Lamberton Lodge of Ma-
sons, and a member of the Council, Chapter and
Knights Templars. He became a member of
Franklin Lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F., of Phila-
delphia, in 1859.
Apart from his devotion to his family and his
art, Mr. Saylor finds delight in hunting, and yearly
makes hunting excursions with Dr. Miles L. Davis
into the wilds in search of health and strength. Mr.
Saylor has finely mounted specimens of the deer
family in his commodious home, which are trophies
of his many hunting expeditions. A bear-skin rug
attests his prowess in the pursuit of big game, and
his reputation in that line of adventure in this com-
munity is favorably regarded by his fellow sports-
men. Mr. Saylor is a fine conversationalist, and his
narrations of forest life are as interesting as in-
structive. His political views are staiichly Repub-
lican, first, last and always, though he has never
sought or held any position of political complexion,
pursuing by preference the various demands of his
professional calling, and the duties and privileges of
an everyday citizen.
PETER ESBENSHADE, the progenitor of
the Esbenshade family in Lancaster county, was of
German ancestry, having been born near Bingen on
the Rhine. With two brothers he emigrated to
America and settled in Lancaster county, where he
worked at his trade of shoemaking. Prospering,
he purchased a farm in Paradise township, on which
he settled, taking up the tilling of the soil. He mar-
ried Mrs. Elizabeth (Howry) Lefever, and reared
a family of four sons, Henry, Jacob, David, and Jo-
seph. Peter Esbenshade was a man of strong char-
acter and sturdy honesty, and throughout life com-
manded the respect and confidence of the people of
the community in which he lived. He and his wife
are buried in the Strasburg Mennonite burying
ground.
Joseph Esbenshade, the youngest son of Peter,
was born June t, 1809. In his youth he attended the
public schools, and for a time the high school of his
native township. He was a man of tireless energy
and resolute purpose. Intelligent to a marked de-
gree, and having made his name synonymous with
integrity and honor, he occupied a unique position in
the township and in a wider circle. Joseph Esben-
shade was markedly averse to speculation, and made
the large fortune he possessed by upright legitimate
business methods. His kindness to and fondness
for animals endeared him to all who came in contact
with him. He never sold a horse. Once in his pos-
session, the anim.al remained his property until its
death.
Joseph Esbenshade married Dec. 17, 1839, EHz-
abeth Cassel, only child of Henry and Barbara Cas-
sel. Mrs. Esbenshade was born Oct. 8, 1820, and
died March 30, 1897. Mr. Esbenshade died Jan. 24,
1158
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1897, at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years. The
remains of both these faithful servants of God re-
pose in the old burying ground at Mellinger's Meet-
ing House, near the old family home, both having
been members of the Mennonite Church and at-
tendants at Mellinger's Meeting House. Their chil-
dren were three in number, namely: Henry C,
Eliza A. and Joseph H.
Henry C. Esbenshade was born on the home
place, and followed the life of the farm until, on
Sept. 3, 1861, he answered his country's call for de-
fenders by enlisting in Battery E, ist Pa. Artillery.
He served as corporal with distinction and marked
gallantry for eighteen months, when, his health hav-
ing been undermined by the privations and hard-
ships of military service, he was granted a furlough
that he might return to his home. He never re-
gained his strength, and on April 17, 1863, he an-
swered the final roll-call and was gathered to his
fathers. Henry C. Esbenshade never married, and
his remains lie buried at the same spot where rest his
father and mother.
Eliza A. Esbenshade was married, on Nov. 27,
1874, to George L. Buckwalter, and died Nov. 25,
1878, without children.
Joseph H. Esbenshade was born Dec. 17, 1857,
on the home farm, which is now owned by him, and
where he resides with his wife and daughters. In
common with most boys of his neighborhood he at-
tended the schools of his township, and he proved an
apt and studious pupil. In November, 1877, he en-
tered Eastman's Business College, at Poughkeepsie,
N. Y., intending to take a full course at that insti-
tution, but ill-health caused him to return home,
where, when twenty years of age, he assumed the
heavy responsibilities of the management of his
father's farms. From that time on he devoted him-
self to the care of his parents, who had been bereft
of their other children, and in the shadows of the
evening of their lives was the mainstay and comfort
of his father and mother. To the conduct of his
large farming and business interests Mr. Esben-
shade has brought strong native intelligence, sound
business sense and a high sense of fidelity to every
trust. He is widely known as one of the leading
farmers of Lancaster county, following his father's
practice of avoiding speculation, and devoting all
his energies to straight business and agricultural
problems. In January, 1900, Mr. Esbenshade was
elected a director in the Lancaster County National
Bank, a widely known financial institution, and
there his business training serves to make him one
of the best known members of the board. Polit-
ically Mr. Esbenshade is a Republican ; he has never
sought office.
On Oct. 27, 1881, Mr. Esbenshade married Miss
Mary E. Hess, whose father, Daniel Hess, is a prom-
inent resident of Martinsville, Lancaster county.
Two daughters have come to them : Annette, born
in 1883 ; and Eliza, born in 1889.
Widely known in the county, the several mem-
bers of the Esbenshade family have uniformly stood
for solidity, and their broad expanse of acres, all in
a high state of cultivation, is pointed out as being
made up of model farms.
ADAM V. WALTER, M. D. Among the lead-
ing and successful practicing physicians of Lancas-
ter county stands prominent the gentleman whose
name here appears. The Doctor is of German de-
scent, and of the third generation of the family in
America, his paternal grandfather having come
from the Fatherland and settled in Lancaster coun-
ty. Pa., near the Lebanon county line.
Isaac Walter, father of Dr. A. V., was born Sept.
9, 1845, near Reamstown, Lancaster county, and is
now a prominent farmer of Bowmansville, Lancas-
ter county. In 1870 he married Emma Von Neida,
who was born Oct. 18, 1852, in Bowmansville, a
daughter of Henry and Sarah Von Neida, natives
of America, and children as follows were born to
them : Adam V., sketch of whom follows ; Charles,
born Jan. 14, 1873, who is farming the homestead
along with his father ; and Henry, born Feb. 7, 1879,
at present a student at Jefferson Medical College,
Philadelphia.
Adam V. Walter was born March 19, 1871, at
Bowmansville, Lancaster Co., Pa., was reared on the
home farm and received his education at the com-
mon schools and at the Millersville State Normal.
At the age of seventeen years he commenced to teach
school, and when nineteen years old he entered Jef-
ferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which
institution he graduated with second honors on a
thesis written on the practice of medicine, and re-
ceived a gold medal for merit. In the fall of 1895 he
commenced the practice of medicine at Brownstown
(now West Earl), Lancaster county, and though yet
a young man he has, by his skill and ability, suc-
ceeded in securing an enviable position in the pro-
fession.
On Oct. 13, 1894, Dr. Walter married Miss Sue
Etta Snader, daughter of William D. Snader, a
well-known farmer of East Earl township, and one
daughter, Luella, born April 13, 1896, has brought
another ray of sunshine to the home.
In his political preferences Dr. Walter is a Re-
publican, and in religious belief he and his wife are
members of the German Reformed Church. The
Doctor is a man of scholarly attainments, broad-
minded and progressive in his views, and an intelli-
gent and esteemed gentleman, whose affable and
courteous manner has won for him hosts of warm
friends among his wide circle of acquaintances.
BENJAMIN GOOD, who has occupied his
present fine farm in Pequea township for over thir-
ty-five years, belongs to a family which has been
identified with agricultural pursuits in Lancaster
county for many years.
Jacob Good, his father, was born in Lancaster
county, and lived and died here. He remained at
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1159
home tintil he was about thirty years of age, work-
ing a.t distilling and farming. He then began farm-
ing for himself in Pequea township, and continued
thus until his death. Although he received very
limited education, he was quite successful in life,
and accumulated quite a large amount of farm prop-
erty. He was a member of the Old Mennonite
Church. Mr. Good married Miss Maria Gocha-
naur, of Lancaster county, and they became the par-
ents of twelve children, six sons and six daughters :
Christian, of Pequea township; Jacob, of Pequea
township; Benjamin, our subject; Simon, of Prov-
idence township; Amos, of Lancaster county; Mi-
chael, of Pequea township ; Elizabeth, wife of Ben-
jamin Kreider; Mary, deceased wife of Jacob Krei-
der ; Annie, wife of Jacob Harnish ; Susan, deceased
wife of Martin. Eshleman ; Martha,wife of John Ris-
sell ; and Fannie, deceased, wife of Frank Weaver.
Benjamin Good was born July 29, 1834, in Pe-
quea township, and was educated in the local public
schools. He lived at home until he reached the age
of twenty-five years, and when he began life for
himself did general work for two years. He then
farmed for two years for Samuel Hess, of Pequea,
after which he purchased and moved to the place
where he now resides. His integrity and industri-
ous habits have won him universal respect. Mr.
Good takes a hearty interest in all that concerns the
welfare of his township and county. In religion he
is a member of the Old Mennonite Church.
Benjamin Good has been twice married, his first
wife being Miss Susan Kling, of Pequea, who died
Nov. 18, 1869, the mother of four children, namely:
Amaziah ; Jacob ; Elizabeth K., wife of Solomon H.
Good ; and Benjamin, deceased. On Aug. 12, 1893,
Mr. Good married for his second wife, Annie
(Herr) Hiney, widow of Marcus Hiney, and to this
union has been born one child, Susan;
OWEN CRAMER. Among the successful and
well-known citizens of Bethesda, Pa., is Owen Cra-
mer, who for twenty years has been a reliable
painter and carpenter in this locality, as well as the
owner and operator of a small farm in Martic town-
ship. Mr. Cramer began life with small means, but
honest and patient endeavor, combined with indus-
try and ability, have generously rewarded him. He
was born Dec. 28, 1849, a son of Samuel and Susan
(Bellamy) Cramer.
Samuel Cramer was a farmer of Martic town-
ship, born Dec. 5, 1815 ; he died Aug. 4, 1885. He
was a son of John and Mary (Phite) Cramer, na-
tives of Lancaster county but of German parentage.
The children of John Cramer were: Christopher,
David, Samuel, John, Elizabeth, Anna, Mary,
Susan and Abigail, all of these having passed away
except Susan and Abigail. To the marriage of Sam-
uel Cramer and Susan Bellamy, in 1841, were born
six children: Mary, the wife of Jacob Foltz, of
the city of Lancaster; Lewis, of Martic township;
Owen ; Thomas, also of this township ; Regina, the
wife of Abraham Isenberger, of Martic township,
and Margaret, also a resident of this township.
Owen Cramer grew up on the farm apd attended
the public schools. His inclinations led him into
learning the carpenter's trade in all its branches, and
for twenty years he has been a very reliable and
highly regarded workman in the line of painting,
carpentering and contracting, his skill being always
in demand.
Mr. Cramer was married on Dec. 7, 1882, to
Miss Elmyra Sides, of Martic township, who was
born on Jan. 31, 1844, a daughter of Jacob and Re-
becca (Neal) Sides. One daughter has been born to
Mr. and Mrs. Cramer, Carrie R., born on April 5,
18S5. Mrs. Cramer's brothers and sisters were :
Grizzell, deceased; Mary, deceased; Clarkson, de-
ceased ; James, deceased ; Jacob, of Martic town-
ship ; and Rebecca, the wife of Joseph Harner. The
family is one of the old and well-established ones of
this county. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cramer are con-
sistent and valued members of Bethesda Methodist
Church, to which they contribute generously and are
active in its charitable enterprises. In politics Mr.
Cramer is a Democrat. In public estimation this
family is highly respected as worthy representatives
of two of the leading families of Martic township.
ABRAHAM L. HERSHEY, painter and to-
bacco raiser, who resides at Silver Spring, Lancas-
ter county, was born in Rapho township, in- the
same county, March 25, 1845, son of Jacob H. and
Susan (Long) Hershey, of Rapho and East Hemp-
field townships, respectively.
Jacob H. Hershey, who now resides in Silver
Spring, was born Oct. 4, 181 7, and was reared to
farming. He was a very public-spirited citizen, in
politics was one of the original Abolitionists of the
State, and afterward .became a Republican. For
twenty )''ears he was president of the Penn Mutual
Fire Insurance Co., and was a director from 1865.
Mrs. Susan (Long) Hershey died in West Hemp-
field township Oct. 16, 1898, at the age of seventy-
seven years, and was buried in Silver Spring ceme-
tery. To this worthy couple were born the lollowing
children : Amelia, deceased wife of Rev. L. H.
Shenk, a Mennonite clergyman of Rapho township ;
Washington, ex-member of the State Legislature
from Marietta ; Abraham L., subject of this review ;
Webster, a farmer and former teacher of East
Hempfield township ; Benjamin, farming on the old
homestead ; Horace, who died in 1864, at the age of
sixteen years; and Franklin, who _ died in infancy.
Abraham L. Hershey was married May 30,
1869, in Lancaster, to Miss Fanny Mellinger, and
there have been born to this union the following
family: Anna L., deceased wife of Henry Eicker;
Minnie M., married to David Baker, a railroad man
at Columbia ; Salem L., a mail carrier of Phila-
phia, married to Florence Huber, of Silver Spring ;
Bertha C, wife of Samuel Little, foreman in the
Lancaster Silk Mill ; Florence F., wife of David W.
1160
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Newcomer, a railroad fireman of Columbia; Mel-
ville E., deceased; and A. Garfield, still under the
parental roof. Mrs. Fanny (Mellinger) Hershey
was born in Manor township, Lancaster county,
Aug. lo, 1848, daughter of Martin and Anna
(Rauffman) Mellinger, of Manor township, both of
whom died in West Hemp field township — ^the father
in 1 888, when eighty-eight yfears old, and the mother
in 1876, at the age of seventy-one. Both were mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church, and the remains of
both are interred in the Kahler cemetery. To this
couple the following large family were born : John
deceased; Magdalena, wife of Jacob Frye, of Han-
over, Pa. ; Martin and Christ, deceased ; David, a
farmer in Refton, Lancaster county ; Anna, widow
of Joseph Hinkle : Elizabeth, wife of Christ Mus-
ser, a farmer; Benjamin, deceased; Abraham, bag-
gage master at Columbia ; Jacob, deceased ; Henry,
roll gatekeeper at Silver Spring ; and Fanny. Mr.
Hershey has ten living grandchildren. One, Fan-
ny M. Eicker is deceased. The others are Leon
Paul Eicker (who lives with our subject) and Ches-
ter Hershey Eicker, sons of Annie ; Salem Leon
Baker, Ida M. Baker and Fanny F. Baker, children
of Minnie; William E. Hershey and Abraham E.
Hershey, sons of Salem ; Osmond W. Little and
Hershey M. Little, .sons of Bertha; and Garfield H.
Newcomer, a son of Florence.
Abraham L. Hershey left his home March 7,
1864, and enlisted in Co. D, 2d P. V. C, being trans-
ferred to Co. G. He participated in the battle of the
Wilderness, Sheridan's raid, Spottsylvania Court
House, Cold Harbor, Old Church, and at Charles
City Cross Roads was captured by Wade Hampton's
cavalry, June 24, 1864, and imprisoned in Libby,
Andersonville, Thomasville and elsewhere until
1865, when he was released. On his return home he
attended the Millersville Academy several terms,
then taught school fourteen terms, and next en-
gaged in the coal business at Silver Spring, where
he was appointed by the Philadelghia & Reading
Railway Co. as ticket and freight agent and tele-
graph operator from 1872 to 1888, and then began
painting, farming, etc.
In politics Abraham L. Hershey is a Republican.
He has been elected justice of the peace for three
consecutive terms, and has been a member of the
school board for the past six years. He is also a
notary public. Fraternally he is a member of the
G. A. R., the O. U. A. M., A. O. K. of M. C, and
I. O. R. M. Both as a business man and as an
official Mr. Hershey has won the unfeigned esteem
of all his associates and personal acquaintances, and
socially his family mingle with the best people of
Lancaster county.
HENRY HOFFMAN, manufacturer of .shirts
and half hose, at Ephrata, Lancaster county, was
born March 7, 1847, ^ son of David and Katherine
(Eberly) Hoiifman, the former of whom was a
highly respected farmer of Brecknock township, a
son of Baltzer Hoffman, a farmer also. David Hoff-
man and wife reared these children : Susan, born in
1840 ; David, born in 1842 ; Salinda, born in 1845 ;
Henry, born in 1847 > Israel, born in 1849 ; Samuel,
born in 1850 :William, born in 1852 ; Elizabeth, bom
in 1854, and Kate, born in 1856. David Hoffman
was born in 1808, and married Katherine Eberly in
1S39.
In early youth Henry Hoffman felt the priva-
tions which prevented his attendance at school, as
even then he was obliged to look out for himself to
a great extent. It redounds all the more to his credit
that the years have worked so great a change in his
financial position, as it required the exercise of many
admirable traits in order to accomplish it, and to re-
tain the esteem of his fellow-citizens, as Mr. Hoff-
man has done. P'or a time he worked on a farm, as
a day laborer, but always self-respecting, and in the
course of time accumulated enough means to enable
him to purchase a small farm. This he later sold
and bought a still larger one, and still later opened
up an ice business, extending his energies to take in
a grocery and confectionery, and succeeding so well
that in 1893 he was able to build a shirt factory.
Possessed of tireless energy, Mr. Hoffman sees busi-
ness opportunities very quickly, although he is noted
lor his good judgment also. Into his factory he is
putting a number of knitting machines which will
increase its usefulness very materially. Mr. Hoff-
man has added much to the industrial activity of the
neighborhood and is justly considered one of its best
citizens.
In 1867 Mr. Hoffman was married to Miss Sarah
Trago, a daughter of Eli Trago, and both he and his
estimable wife possess the respect and esteem of the
community.
JOHN H. OSTERTAG. The most successful
business men, with few exceptions, are those who in
their younger days have by slow and patient steps
learned the details of their occupation. Not all good
mechanics rise to the possession of an excellent busi-
ness of their own, but most influential merchants
and manufacturers have served long and faithful ap-
prenticeships. John H. Ostertag is one of the most
prosperous and highly esteemed citizens of Colum-
bia. He has earned his position, having chosen his
field of labor and won its laurels by his own exer-
tions. As a furniture dealer and undertaker he
lanks high among the business men of his city,, hav-
ing the finest establishment of its kind in the town,
if not in the county.
Mr. Ostertag was born in West Hempfield town-
ship, Lancaster county, Jan. 5. 1857, son of Andrew
and Eva M. (Hettinger) Ostertag. The father, a
native of Baden, Germany, is one of those sturdy
emigrants whose settlement in America has afforded
many examples of sterling citizenship, worthy of
emulation. At the age of twenty-five Andrew Os-
tertag came to the United States and settled in
Penns)'lvania, purchasing a tract of land in West
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1161
Hempfield township, Lancaster county. There his
capacity for enlightened agricultural labor was
qtiickly demonstrated, and he attained to the pos-
session of a most admirable estate, operating same
until 1894, when he retired and moved to Columbia.
In politics he is a Democrat; in religion he holds
stanchly to the I-utheran faith — the faith of his fore-
fathers. To him and his wife were born four chil-
dren, of whom two survive. John H. and Andrew
M., a younger brother. The latter is a cabinet-
maker by trade, and is foreman in the furniture es-
tablishment of his brother.
The boyhood of John H. Ostertag was very
much like that of most farmer boys of his time and
place. There was upon the farm an abundance of
hard work awaiting the industrious, and John H.
was not lacking in application. His education he re-
ceived in the district schools, and at the age of fif-
ten years he began to work out on farms at $10 per
month. A little later he entered the Chestnut Hill
ore mines,* where he worked for $1 per day until he
was eighteen years old. The advantages of a trade
impressed themselves upon the ambitious mind of
the young and willing laborer, and he accordingly
began an apprenticeship at the trade of cabinetmak-
ing, at which he continued faithfully three and one-
half years. For a short time he returned to farming,
but in weighing the advantages and prospects the
trade won, and he resumed work as a cabinetmaker
at Littlestown. He received good wages, and had
the prudence to save a portion of them, with such
good results that in January, 1882, at the age of
twenty-five years, he was enabled to establish him-
self in business as a furniture dealer and undertaker
in Columbia. This business he carefully nurtured
and extended until he owned and managed one of
the best equipped and most extensive houses in his
line in the city, later adding a full line of carpets,
and taking orders for cabinetmaking.
In 1882 Mr. Ostertag married Mary Westerman,
and their family consists of six children: Charles
A., Harry C, Celia A., John W., Mary M. and Will-
iam R. Mr. Ostertag and his family are active
members of the Lutheran Church, of which for
many years he has been a liberal supporter. In pol-
itics he is an ardent Democrat, especially in State
and National affairs. He is particularly prominent
in fraternal societies, holding membership in Lodge
No. 286, F. & A. M., Columbia, of which he is past
master; Corinthian Chapter, No. 224, R. A. M., of
which he is past high priest ; Cyrene Commandery,
No. 34, K.T., of which he is past commander ; Rajah
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. ; and Harrisburg Con-
sistory, 32 degree. He also affiliates with Lodge
No. 20, of the Artisans Order of Mutual Protection.
Mr. Ostertag takes special interest in everything
pertaining to the Masonic fraternity, and is an au-
thority on all its various organizations.
In business connection Mr. Ostertag is identi-
fied with the Funeral Directors Association, having
served as president of the Pennsylvania State Or-
ganization two years, and is a prominent member of
the Retail Merchants Associaton of Columbia, hav-
ing served as president thereof. He is also a mem-
ber of the board of managers of the Columbia Hos-
pital, and has served one term as president of the
board. As a parliamentarian Mr. Ostertag is con-
ceded to be without a superior in the town, and has
an equally high reputation as a debater. His char-
acter is above reproach, his inherent integrity and
energy of purpose winning for him an enviable posi-
tion among the business men of Lancaster county.
ABRAHAM Z. WITMER, who carries on gen-
eral farming on the old family homestead, in Mt. Joy
township, is a well-known and highly esteemed cit-
izen. He was born on an adjoining farm. May 5,
1.849, son of John B. Witmer and brother of D. Z.
Witmer, of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
Although Mr. Witmer was not born on his pres-
ent farm, he has spent the greater part of his life
here, being but two years old when his father lo-
cated upon it, and he lived here until his marriage at
the age of twenty-two years. With his young wife
he removed to a property in Rapho township, upon
which they lived for two years, and then returned
to Mt. Joy township. Mr. Witmer then located
upon a farm near Anchor, and remained there fifteen
years, and then spent one year in West Donegal
township. In 1884 he returned to the old farm, and
since then has turned his attention to its successful
operation. In politics Mr. Witmer is a Republican.
He is a member in the German Baptist Church, and
one of its most liberal supporters.
On Oct. 9, 1870, Mr. Witmer was united in mar-
riage with Miss Lizzie G. Nissley, and to this union
were born three children, namely : Hiram N., a
farmer, who married Amanda P. Reist, and their
little family consists of Stella, Earl, Anna and
Mary ; Anna N., who married John L. Heisey, a
merchant in Elizabethtown, and their children are,
Abraham, Samuel and Ferris ; and Miss Sadie N.,
at home.
Mrs. Witmer was born April 11, 1853, in West
Donegal township, daughter of John H. and Anna
(Gish) Nissley, of Mt. Joy and Rapho townships,
respectively. The former was a farmer who died at
his home in West Donegal township, Oct. 6, 1867, ^t
the age of forty-six years, and was buried in Chiques
Hill cemetery. The mother of Mrs. Witmer was
born May 21, 183 1, and resides with her only daugh-
ter, Mrs. Witmer. The family is an old and honor-
able one in Lancaster county, on both the paternal
and maternal sides. The maternal great-grandpar-
ents were Abraham and Anna (Eshleman) Gish, of
Lancaster county. The grandparents were Jacob
and Maria (Hollinger) Gish, of Rapho and West
Hempiield townships, respectively. Grandfather
Gish died Dec. i, 1872, aged seventy-two years,
eleven months and sixteen days. . Grandmother Gish
followed him Feb. 19, 1888, aged eighty-three years,
eleven months and twenty-seven days, and their re-
1162
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
mains lie in Chiques Hill cemetery. They were
members of the German Baptist Church. Their chil-
dren were : Abraham, who died at the age of fifty-
one, unmarried; Isaac, deceased, who married Eliz-
abeth Witmer, sister of our subject; Barbara, who
died in infancy; Anna, who married John H. Niss-
ley ; George, deceased, who married Elizabeth Doh-
ner; Catherine, deceased, who married Samuel L.
Grofi ; Jacob, an undertaker, in Omaha, who died in
1878; Mary, who married Henry Swartz, a pump
manufacturer in Manheim ; and Elias, who is in the
undertaking business in Orriaha.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Witmer were
Henry and Elizabeth (Hershey) Nissley, of Mt. Joy
and Penn townships, respectively. They died in
West Donegal township, but were buried in Mt. Joy
township. Their children were: Henry A., Chris-
tian A., Isaac H. and David H., all deceased; Abra-
ham H., a retired farmer of Mt. Joy township;
Mary H., deceased wife of Abraham Risser ; Eliza-
beth A., widow of Jacob Shank, of Dauphin county ;
and John H., the father of Mrs. Witmer.
STEPHEN JONES. When a youth of seven-
teen Stephen Jones, now a prosperous and prom-
inent agriculturist of West Hempfield township,
Lancaster county, left the farm of his parents in
York county and began for himself a career in the
adjoining county to the East. It is remarkable that
he has ever since been located on the same farm, the
fertile and well tilled property he now owns, and
that the three successive stages of farm laborer, ten-
ant and owner mark his progress. For four years, or
until he attained his majority, he worked on the
farm. Then, in 1880, he leased the property, contin-
uing as a tenant for three years, at the' expiration of
which period he purchased the place, which he has
ever since continued to cultivate most successfully.
Stephen Jones is of Scottish extraction. His
great-grandfather, Robert Jones, emigrated from
Scotland and settled in Trenton, N. J. Thence Rob-
ert, son of the emigrant, and the grandfather of Ste-
phen, moved to York county, where he and his wife
Catherine reared a family and engaged through life
in farming.
Henry Jones, son of Robert and father of Ste-
phen, was born in York county about 1818, and was
there a lifelong farmer. He married Elizabeth Hou-
seal, who was born about 1822, daughter of John
and Catherine Houseal, residents of York county,
where the father followed the vocation of hatter.
Henry Jones died in February, 1900, aged eighty-
two years, his wife passing away in 1889, aged six-
ty-eight years. She was a member of the Evangel-
ical Church. To Henry and Elizabeth Jones were
born the following children: Henry, who died in
infancy : John, who died young ; Elizabeth, who died
young; Maggie, wife of Henry Puff, a farmer of
York county ; Amanda, widow of John Fowler, of
Lancaster county; Robert, a farmer of York coun-
ty; Ellen, wife of Benjamin Woods, of York coun-
ty ; Sarah, wife of Jacob Howard, a farmer of York
county; Stephen, whose name appears above; Da-
vid, of York ; Mary, wife of Peter Elfiner, a farmer
of York county ; and James, a farmer and painter of
York county.
Stephen JoUes was born in York county May 15,
1859, and received a good common-school education
in his native locality, but as he started out in life for
himself comparatively early his education has been
mainly of a practical character, won by experience
and observation. For his first wife Stephen Jones
married, in 188 1, in West Hempfield township. Miss
Emma Sterline, who was born in New York City.
One child blessed this uniqn, Mary S., now at home.
The wife and mother died in October, 1897, and for
his second wife Stephen Jones married, Feb. 21,
1899, Miss Elizabeth Wittel, a native of Lancaster
county, a daughter of John and Susan (Gallagher)
Wittel. In politics Mr. Jones is a Democrat. He is
prominent in fraternal circles as a member of the
Knights of Malta, Patriotic Order Sons of America,
and the Mystic Chain. He is a substantial citizen of
his section of Lancaster county, and stands high in
the estimation of his many friends and acquaint-
ances.
DANIEL H. MELLINGER, a well known and
highly respected farmer residing near Central Ma-
nor, Lancaster county, was born Dec. 21, 1844, near
Safe Harbor, this county, son of Dr. Henry and
Anna (Hertzler) Mellinger. He was reared a
farmer, and was educated in the public schools. On
Feb. 25, 1883, Daniel H. Mellinger married Cath-
erine Musser, and in March following they settled
on the farm of twenty-nine and one-half acres which
they now occupy, and on which Mr. Mellinger had
been living about two years prior to his marriage,
with his brother and sister. However, he is now sole
owner of the farm, and has added twenty and one-
half acres to the original tract.
To the marriage of Daniel H. and Catherine
(Musser) Mellinger have been born six children, of
whom Anna died June 23, 1891, at the age of seven
years, five months, three days ; Susan M., was born
April 13, 1886 ; John M., July 2, 1888 ; Henry M.,
Nov. 13, 189T ; Daniel M., Aug. 7, 1894; and Elmer
M., March 28, 1898. The parents are members of
the River Brethren Church.
Mrs. Mellinger's father and mother, John and
Susan (Stoner) Musser. died, respectively, in 1875,
at fifty-six years of age, and in January, 1864, at the
age of forty-four years. The father was a farmer of
Mountville, West Hempfield township, and died in
the faith of the River- Brethren Church, respected by
all who knew him. The Musser family consisted of
nine children, viz: Abraham and Isaac, deceased;
Annie, deceased, wife of Christian Seagrist; Chris-
tian, residing near Columbia ; Amos, deceased ; Ja-
cob, a farmer near Mountville ; John, also a farmer
near the same place ; Susan, of Manor township ;
and Catherine, Mrs. Mellinger.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1163
EUSEBIUS K. HERSHEY, a prominent and
successful agriculturist of Manor township, is a
representative of an old and honored family of Lan-
caster county.
Abraham Hershey, his grandfather, was born
near the city of Lancaster, and about 1800 located on
a farm one-half mile from Creswell, where his chil-
dren were born. He was a man of considerable
note, being a great singer and a minister of the
United Brethren Church, and one of the chief pro-
moters of the church in this county. For many
years church services were held in his own home,
which was large, having been erected by him with
that end in view. He was widely known, and was
often called upon to conduct funerals many miles
from his home. He was a great student of current
and historical events, being well posted on events in
this country and also on foreign affairs. He was
noted for his good works, and was particularly active
in helping new arrivals in Lancaster county. He
was prominently identified with the common-school
movement which culminated in the adoption of the
common-school law in 1834. He was an intimate
friend of Gov. Ritner, being frequently a guest of the
family, and when the Act of 1834 was attacked in
1836, and pressure brought on Gov. Ritner to veto
the new bill drawn by W. H. Burrowes, Mr. Her-
shey urged his friend, the Governor, with all his
persuasive eloquence, to sign the bill which gave to
rich and poor alike that priceless heritage — a chance
to get a common-school education. It was the po-
litical death of Ritner, but he always thereafter held
his plain old friend in the highest esteem for aiding
him, by his counsel, to stand firm for a measure
which was so bitterly opposed, yet gave the Gov-
ernor lasting fame.
Abraham Hershey wedded Mary Herr, and to
them were born twelve children, as follows : Eliza-
beth, born in 1802, never married ; Barbara, born in
1804, married Daniel Peifer, a minister of the United
Brethren Church; Mary, born in 1805, married
John Hertzler ; Anna, born in 1808, married D. W.
Witmer, of Mountville; Abraham, born in 1810,
married Martha Martin; Christian, born in 1813,
was lost track of; David, born in 1815, died young;
Esther, born in 1816, died young; John, born in
1818, married Barbara Peters; David (2), born in
1820, married (firsts Anna Derstler and (second)
Lizzie Kaufl'man ; Jacob, born in 1824, is mentioned
below ; and Catherine, born in 1825, married (first)
H. Zell, (second) H. Stoner, and (third) H. Powers.
Jacob Hershey, father of Eusebius K., was edu-
cated in public and subscription schools, and on
.starting out in life for himself adopted the calling
to which he had been reared, that of farming. After
the death of his father, which occurred when he was
sixteen years of age, he openrated the home farm for
his mother, and later bought the place, which he
continued to carry on until 1882, since which time
he has had his home with his son Eusebius. They
have a fine farm of thirty-two acres, one mile north
of Creswell, in Manor township, which denotes the
care that has been lavished upon it. The father
is a strong supporter of the Republican party, and
is a man highly respected and esteemed by all who
know him. He married Miss Fannie Kauflfman, a
daughter of Henry and Fannie Kanfifman.
Eusebius K.' Hershey, the only child of Jacob
and Fannie (Kauffman) Hershey, was. born July
I, 1851, and during his boyhood and youth pur-
sued his studies in the common schools. He also at-
tended a normal college one winter, and at the age
of twenty years taught one term of school, since
which time he has devoted his energies to agri-
cultural pursuits. He is a practical mechanic, and
has done some difficult work in that line, being
often called upon by his neighbors to repair their
watches, clocks, and farm machinery.
On Jan. 18, 1875, Mr. Hershey was united in
marriage with Miss Amanda Livesy, a daughter of
Samuel and Mary (Shuman) Livesy, and to them
have been born two sons, Elam L. and Harry L.
The former graduated in pharmacy and chemistry
at the Valparaiso (Ind.) Normal School, and was
selected by the dean of that institution to conduct a
pharmacy in Valparaiso, Ind., for a time, but is
now chemist for Sherman, Willoughby & Co.,
miners, and Pilling, Crane & Co., whose mines and
furnaces are at Port Henry, New York.
Mr. Her.shey is a fluent writer and has con-
tributed to the local journals since 1871. He has
served as agent for the Northern Mutual Insurance
Company, of Lancaster county, since 1885, and in
May, 1899, was elected a director of the same. He
has been a member of the county Republican com-
mittee, was registrar, assessor one year, census
enumerator in 1880, and is now serving his second
term on the school board. His official duties have
always been discharged with a promptness and
fidelity worthy of commendation.
GEORGE SMITH, tobacconist and railroad
engineer, of Columbia, was born in Paradise town-
ship, Lancaster county, Aug. 5, 1844, son of Charles
Peter and Anna (Johnson) Smith, natives of Ire-
land and Lancaster county, respectively. Charles
Peter Smith was a child when brought to America
by his parents. He was a potter by trade. To his
marriage with Anna Johnson were born two chil-
dren, Margaret (widow of Franklin Faguery) and
George. The father died comparatively young, 'in
1846, but the mother survived until 1894, passing
away at the age of eighty-two years. The maternal
grandfather of George Smith came from Scotland
during the Revolutionary war and joined the Amer-
ican army.
George Smith was reared on a farm until sixteen
years of age, and then for two years worked in a
quarry in Paradise township. He then enlisted, at
Lancaster, in Co. I, 22d P. V. I., for nine months,
and at the expiration of his term was discharged at
Lancaster. He re-enlisted for three years, in Co. M,
1164
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
i20th Pa. Cav., under Capt. Lewis Y. Evans, and par-
ticipated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancel-
lorsville, Piedmont, Lynchburg, Sailors Creek and
Appomattox, but escaped uninjured, save by a few
slight scratches. He received a second honorable
discharge and was finally mustered out at Philadel-
phia in 1865.
On his, return to Paradise township Mr. Smith
was employed until 1870 as track repairer by the
Pennsylvania Railway Company, and was then
transferred to Lancaster. After being employed
three years as fireman he was promoted to engineer,
in 1873, ^'"■'^ in 1877 came to Columbia, as engineer.
In 1893 he engaged in the tobacco trade as a side
business.
Mr. Smith was joined in marriage, in 1866, at
Lancaster, with Miss Martha M. Shaub, and this
union has been blessed with children as follows:
Luther C, a railroad flagman in Columbia, who
married Rebecca Henderson; Clarissa, who died at
the age of eight years ; Jacob, who died young ; Ka-
tie M. and George W., at home ; William, who died
at an early age ; and Harry E., a printer, who served
with Co. C, 4th P. V. I., in Porto Rico, and is now at
home. George Smith, the father, is an honored
member of the G. A. R. In politics he is a Demo-
crat, and he and wife are respected members of the
Lutheran Church.
Mrs. Martha M. Smith was born in Drumore
township, Lancaster county, in May, 1843, daughter
of Christian and Clarissa (Griffs) Shaub, natives
of Lancaster county and Massachusetts, respective-
ly, who had a family of six children, viz : Anna M.,
widow of Thomas West, Jacob, a retired railroad
man, and John, all of Lancaster ; Lizzie, wife of Ja-
cob Johnson, of Osborne, Kans. ; Martha M., now
Mrs. George Smith ; and Clarissa, deceased. Chris-
tian Shaub was a farmer by vocation. He died in
1888, at the age of eighty years; Mrs. Clarissa
Shaub came to Lancaster county when young, and
died there, aged seventy-eight years.
LEMON C. WOLF takes a prominent position
among the leading business men of West Earl, be-
ing a very successful tobacco farmer and cigar man-
ufacturer, and also the principal confectioner of his
section, making a specialty of ice cream, both whole-
sale and retail. Mr. Wolf is a man of property and
is considered one of the substantial and representa-
tive citizens of his locality. The family is of' Ger-
man origin, and is one of the oldest in the section.
Jacob Wolf, the grandfather of Lemon C, was a
miller by trade, and built the mill known in the lo-
cality as the Wenger mill, at Brownstown. He was
the father of three sons : Rudy ; John W., postmas-
ter at West Earl ; and Jacob, deceased.
Rudy Wolf was born in 1821, and died in 1883.
He was a miller by trade, and a well-known resident
of the township. In 1842 he married Elmyra Coop-
er, who was a daughter of George Cooper, of Eph-
rata township, and four children were born of this
union : Lemon C. ; Frank, born in 1858, who died at
the age of eighteen; Louise, born in i860, wife of
Monroe Balmer, of West Earl ; and Jacob, born in
1862, who resides in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Lemon C. Wolf was born Oct. 13, 1856, and his
youthful years were spent around the mill. When
he was eight years of age he was hired out to a
neighboring farmer, and did farm chores and went
to school, but when he reached the age of seventeen
he commenced to learn the carpenter's trade, and
for two years was engaged in that line. However,
he returned to farming, has been very successful in
tobacco culture, and is interested at. present also in
the manufacturer of cigars.
Lemon C. Wolf was married, in 1878, to Miss
Hannah Meade, a daughter of Patrick Meade, of
Sinking Spring, who was born in 1858. A fine fam-
ily of twelve children has come to Mr. and Wolf:
Schuyler F., born Sept. 25, 1878, died June 8, 1882 ;
Rudy M., born Nov. 10, 1880, resides at home;
Lemon M., born April 21, 1882, lives at home; Lan-
dis M., born Oct. 19, 1883, died Sept. 4, 1889; El-
myra M., was born Dec. 19, 1885 ; Georgie M., born
July 9, 1887, died Aug. 25, 1889 ; Callie was borri
Sept. 7, 1889 ; Mamie was born March 2, 1891 ;
William McKinley was born Oct. 29, 1893 ; Charles,
born June 18, 1895, died in 1896; Cora was born
July 16, 1898; and Lena Victoria, born Sept. 15,
1900, died Oct. 29, 1900.
Politically Mr. Wolf is a stanch Republican, and
he has eiiSciently served as inspector of elections,
and was assessor of West Earl for eight years. His
means are now ample, although he was obliged to
commence life with no start except health and en-
ergy, and he has been able to care comfortably for
his large family, to which he is a most devoted fa-
ther. Among the possessions of Mr. Wolf are his
attractive residence, a large three-story house and
hall, in the town, besides other property in Browns-
town, while his business is in a most prosperous
condition, owing to his honest and upright methods
of dealing with the public. Mr. Wolf is a highly
respected citizen, and is a man of exemplary life
and a thorough gentleman.
CHARLES F. EAGER, a skillful and trusted
locomotive engineer at Columbia, Pa., was born in
Mill Creek, Montgomery county, this State, Sept.
15, 1836, a son of Daniel F. and Wilhelmina
(Ibach) Eager, of Reading, but who both died in
Philadelphia, the father March 8, 1856, at the age
of forty-eight years, and the mother in June, 1856,
at the same age, and both in the faith of the Lutheran
Church.
In his earlier days Daniel F. Eager was a paper-
maker, but from 1841 until 1856 was an engineer
on the old State road. To his marriage with Miss
Ibach the following-named children were born:
Margaret, wife of William H. Lochard, superin-
tendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Atlantic
City, N. J. ; Nathaniel, a railroad engineer in Phila-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1165
delphia; Peter, who was also an engineer, but is
now deceased ; Charles F. ; Mary, widow of John
Gillaland, who served through the late Civil war;
A. Jackson, a deceased carriage-painter ; Emma, de-
ceased wife of Lewis Smith, a farmer ; Edward, a
railroad engineer at Harrisburg; George, a rail-
road engineer in Columbia, and Daniel, similarly
employed in Philadelphia. The paternal grandfa-
ther of Charles F. Eager (who spelled his name
Feger), came from Germany, settled near Reading,
where he operated the first paper-mill in America.
Charles F. Fager attended school in his native
town until thirteen years old and then went to a
point about four miles above Philadelphia, where
he worked at butchering until twenty years of age,
and then for one year worked for the same employer
in Philadelphia. In August, 1859, he began with
the Pennsylvania Railway Co. as a fireman, and
eighteen months later was promoted to be engineer,
his present position.
On March 10, 1864, Mr. Fager married, in
Philadelphia, Miss Mary A. Fisher, and to this union
there were born three children, viz. : Edwin, a
traveling salesman of Columbia and married to
Mary Snyder; George H., proprietor of a machine
and general repair shop in Columbia, and married
to Elizabeth A. Landis, and Werner, who died in
infancy. Mrs. Mary A. (Fisher) Fager was born
in Little Washington, Pa., but was called away
July 9, 1888, at the age of forty-three years.
John Fisher, father of the late Mrs. Mary A.
Fager, was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, in
18 10. He was reared a cabinet-maker and en-
graver, and he came to America in 1848, and to
Columbia, Pa., in 1850. There he married Barbara
Seibert, and to this marriage were born : Mary A.,
Mrs. Fager: Lydie, unmarried; Emma, wife of P.
A. Krodel, a dealer. in dry-goods, millinery, etc.;
and Barbara, who died in infancy. ]\Ir. Fisher died
in 1862, but his widow survived until June, 1899,
when she passed away at the age of seventy-three
years. Ernest and Magdalena (Dorathyl Fisher,
paternal grandparents of Mrs. Fager, were also
natives of Germany, where the former was the pro-
prietor of a blacksmith and wagon shop ; the mater-
nal grandparents, Peter and Barbara (Eberly)
Seibert, of Bavaria, Germany, came to Columbia,
Pa., in 1839, where Peter Seibert, did an extensive
business as a cabinetmaker and undertaker the re-
mainder of his life.
Charles F. Fager settled in Columbia in 1864,
and here he has made many friends and made an
enviable reputation. He is a Red Man, a Knight of
Pythias, and a Master Mason. In his religious belief
he is a member of the Lutheran Church, and in poli-
tics, a sound Democrat.
JOHN A. ALEXANDER, a prominent farmer
and leading citizen of Martic township, was bom
Sept. 2, 1853, son of John and Susan (Zarocher)
Alexander, 'also of that township.
John Alexander, the grandfather of John A.,
was the father of six children, namely: Thomas,
Samuel, David, James, Rachel and John, all of
whom have long since paid their debt to nature.
John Alexander (2), the father of John A., was
born in 1803, and in 1829 married Susan Zarocher,
of Lancaster, tie died in 1877. They had seven
children, as follows: Maris, who died on the field
of battle during the Civil war ; Martha, wife of Amos
Walton, of Fulton township ; Mary A., widow of
Lewis Jenkms; Samuel, of Martic township; Re-
becca J., wife of Flarry Marsh, of Lancaster; John
A. ; and Calvin, deceased.
John A. Alexander grew up to farm life, in
which he takes a deep interest and has pros-
pered. As a poor boy, with but limited school op-
portunities, he began his business career for him-
self, but he believed in industry, in perseverance
and in sensible frugality, and he can now show, as
the result of following those principles, a fine farm,
embracing 196 acres, upon which he has erected a
commodious and comfortable residence and some
of the most substantial barns and other improve-
ments to be found in the county.
On Dec. 24, 1874, Mr. Alexander was united in
marriage with Miss Lydia A. Eshleman, who was
born May 5, 1853, daughter of Benjamin and Cath-
erine (Harnish) Eshleman, of Conestoga township.
Seven children have been born to this union, name-
ly: Katie, wife of Calvin Hambleton, of Harford
county, Md. ; B. Emmerson, who married Bertha
Reece, of Martic township; Qinton, of Martic;
John Wesley, of Martic; and Martha M., Garbutt
R., and Lena A., at home.
Mr. Alexander has long been very active in
church work, being for many years a class-leader in
the Methodist Church and for twelve years the effi-
cient and beloved superintendent of the Mt. Nebo
Sunday-school. Both he and his wife are valued
highly in this connection. Mr. Alexander is a strong
advocate of temperance, living as he talks, working
by precept and example for the cause of prohibition.
He is known as an honorable, upright and reliable
citizen, a truly representative man of Martic town-
ship.
DR. MARY ADELAIDE UNDERWOOD
enjoys the distinction of being the first practitioner
of medicine of her sex to be admitted to the city and
county medical societies of Lancaster. The societies
honored themselves quite as much as they did her,
not only by receiving her into membership, but by
sending her as a delegate to the State and National
Medical Conventions.
Mrs. Underwood is the daughter of Edward
Marklew, who came to this country from Birming-
ham, England, about fifty years ago, and settled
in Philadelphia. He served in the United States
Navy for a time, and then became a prominent
manufacturer of pearl buttons in Philadelphia, be-
ing engaged in this line at the time of his death
1166
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
some twenty-eight years ago. Mary Jane Manuel,
his wife, was the daughter of a French officer, and
both of Dr. Underwood's grandfathers fought at
Waterloo, one under Wellington, and the other un-
der Napoleon. Mrs. Underwood's parents had two
children, one of them dying in infancy, his young
life going out with his mother's soon after his birth.
Dr. Mary Adelaide L^nderwood was born in
Philadelphia, where she was partially educated,
reaching the high school, but leaving it to accom-
pany her father to Birmingham, and she finished
her girlhood education in that city. She returned
to this country about thirty years ago, and was mar-
ried in 1876 to ]3r. Robert Rutherford Underwood,
now and for many years past one of Lancaster's
prominent dentists, who today enjoys a large and
lucrative practice. Mrs. Underwood began reading
medicine in 1887, graduating from the Women's
Medical College in 1S90, and becoming resident
physician in the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia
for the year following her graduation. In 1894 she
took a post-graduate course in Johns Hopkins Hos-
pital, and spent the summer of 1896 in the hospitals
in Birmingham and London. Thus thoroughly
equipped she returned to Lancaster, and resumed
her practice which has grown steadily and rapidly.
The Lancaster Medical Society sent her to the State
]\'Iedical Society, which met at Wilkesbarre, and to
the National Medical Society, which met at Atlantic
City, in 1900. Dr. Underwood is on the stafif of the
Woman's Hospital in Philadelphia, and her profes-
sional character and standing are recognized on
every hand.
Dr. Underwood takes a deep interest in every
movement that tends to the improvement of the
world around her, and gives much time and thought
to social and religious labor. For five years she was
president of the Y. W. C. A., when that organiza-
tion was struggling for a 'foothold. She and her
husband. Dr. Robert R. Underwood, are members
of the Presbyterian Church, and there as elsewhere
their influence is felt for good.
Mrs. Underwood, while never for a moment los-
ing sight of her profession, in which she holds a
front rank, never fails to make herself felt as a
thoroughly womanly woman, full of tenderness and
.sympathy, always alive to the needs of the unfor-
tunate, and quick to assi-st worthy projects and
worthy people.
HOWARD MILES BAIR, the well-known
funeral director, of No. 136 East King street, Lan-
caster, is descended from a family who have lived in
this county for generations. Originally there were
three brothers who settled in the vicinity of New
Holland, early in the eighteenth century, and Mr.
Bair is a lineal descendant of one of these brothers.
Henry Bair, father of Howard M., was a promi-
nent hotel-keeper of this county, and died in 1878,
aged seventy-nine years. He had been blind for his
last twenty-one years. The mother, Mary (Miller)
Bair, died in 1882. The three children born to this
union were: Charles Fremont, who is a finisher
with a large New York establishment engaged in the
manufacture of architectural and structural iron;
Elsie B., wife of William M. Shaum, head book-
keeper in the Lancaster Intelligencer office; and
Howard M., of this sketch.
Howard Miles Bair was born in Strasburg,
March 9, 1859, his father being at that time pro-
prietor of the "Washington House" of that borough,
but the latter died when Howard was nineteen years
of age. In 1873 he became an errand boy in Shultz
Bros.' hat store, this city, and later spent years in the
service of Zecher Bros., liverymen, and also in the
Brimmer livery service. After 1895 he turned his
attention to the study of fimeral directing and em-
balming, and in November, 1897, became a graduate
embalmer. On April i, 1900, Mr. Bair purchased
the well-established and extensive undertaking busi-
ness of Mr. Henry Wolf, which he has since con-
ducted as an up-to-date undertaking establishment.
In January, 1878, Mr. Bair was married to Miss
Mary L. Martin, of Bridgeport, Conn., and one child
was born of this union. Miss Agnes E. Bair, who
was graduated from the College of St. Xavier, at
Beatty, Pa., in June, 1900. Socially Mr. Bair be-
longs to the Eagles, and the Vetlan Veterans., He
and his wife and daughter live in the marble front
dwelling at No. 125 North Duke street, and their
hospitable home is a favorite resort of a large circle
of devoted friends.
PARK B. SHANK is a leading citizen and busi-
ness man of Peters Creek, Fulton township. He is
a grandson of Alexander Shank, who was a weaver
by trade, and who had a family of eleven children :
William (the father of Park B.), Joseph, Alexander,
Thomas, John, Isabel, Mary, Adeline, Anna, Eliza-
beth and Margaret. William Shank was born in
Ireland in 1808, and emigrated to America with his
father, Alexander Shank, while yet a youth. In
1 83 1 he married Eliza Bui'kins, and eight children
were born to them: Margaret, deceased; Rachel,
wife of Henry Medley, of Drumore township ; Park
B. ; Alexander, a carpenter in Clinton county, Pa. ;
Harriet, wife of Joseph Barnett, a blacksmith of
Drumore township; Catherine, wife of Miles Fite,
of Philadelphia; Adeline, wife of Bruce Rush, of
Ohio ; and William, a shoemaker by trade, who died
in Drumore township in 1870, leaving a widow who
followed him to the grave in 1887.
Park B. Shank was reared in Drumore town-
ship and received his education in the common
schools of the district. In 1873 he married Dora,
daughter of John Dorsey, and to this union have
come eleven children, seven of whom are living, as
follows : William, Charles, Park, Grover, Har-
riet, Thurman and Andrew. Park B. Shank com-
menced the active duties of life at the age of fourteen
years, as a raftsman on the Susquehanna river, and
followed that vocation for nearly forty years. In
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1167
1866 he opened a lumber yard at Benton Station,
and soon afterward bought a sawmill and opened a
business at Peach Bottom Station, Peters Creek.
Since 1885 he has also carried on a coal business,
contracted for slate work, and done- general con-
tracting and building. Besides his various other
enterprises he operates a large farm of 300 acres of
the finest land, and does it in the most approved
manner at that. He is a large real-estate proprietor,
owning six dwellings in Peters Creek, besides a
sawniill and lumber yard, a warehouse, and other
buildings located at various points.
Mr. Shank started in life with only his ability as
a "hustler" for capital, and may be justly regarded
as a self-made man in the proper sense of the term.
He is the soul of honesty, ahd his word is as good as
his signature, a proud distinction to have in these
days. He attributes his more than usual success in
life to hard work, economy and strict attention to
business. Financially he stands among the best of
ihe neighborhood, and all his wealth has. been gained
by his own unaided efforts. He is a splendid speci-
men of American citizenship, and is highly respected
by all who know him.
Mr. Shank is a Democrat in politics, and believes
in the stnct Jacksonian doctrines of his party. He
is a Democrat from principle, but has no political
aspirations for himself, only the belief that Demo-
cracy will eventually prove the salvation of this
country. In his religious views Mr. Shank is a
Protestant, but he is a member of no church.
ISAIAH M. KLING, a prosperous and prom-
inent general farmer of Leacock township, was born
on what is a part of his present farm, Aug. 16, 1847,
son of Jacob and Rachel (Miller) Kling, farming
people of Leacock township.
Jacob Kling died in 1866, at the age of forty-
seven years ; his widow passed away in 1876, at the
age of fifty-three years. Both were interred in the
Bare burying-ground in Earl township. He was
a school director and a prominent man in his day.
Mrs. Kling was a devout member of the German
Reformed Church, and both were highly esteemed
in the community where their useful career was run.
They had the following children : Isaiah M. ; John
B., a tobacco farmer at Buyerstown, Pa.; Elam E.,
a farmer in Earl township; David K., who died at
the age of forty-four years ; Anna M., who mar-
ried Theodore Hoar, a blacksmith in Lancaster ;
Martha A., who married Abraham Hershey, and
lives in Detroit ; Jacob L., a farmer in Leacock town-
ship ; Emma C, wife of Edmond Bair, a blacksmith
at Rock Hill, Lancaster county; Ida R., who mar-
ried Noah Campbell, and is deceased; Miller E., a
hotel clerk in Lancaster ; and Mary S., who married
James Hoar, a farmer in Leacock township. John
Kling, the father of Jacob, was a farmer in Lan-
caster county. Jacob and Mary (Skiles) Miller,
the parents of Mrs. Rachel (Miller) Kling, were
lifelong residents of Lancaster county.
Isaiah M. Kling was married Nov. 14, 1872, in
Paradise township, to Miss Martha Denlinger, by
whom he has had the following children: (i^
J. Milton, who died at the early age of twenty-four,
married Lydia A. Charles, who is also deceased,
and their only child, Lydia C, is living with her
grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Kling; (2) Anna R.
is unmarried and at home; (3) Victor D. is also at
home. Mrs. Martha (Denlinger) Kling was born
in Paradise township, Dec. 23, 1848, and is a sister
of. John B. Denlinger.
Isaiah M. Kling remained at home until he was
sixteen years of age ; spent the ensuing four years
at farm work, and when he was twenty worked at
carpentering for a year. At the end of that time he
rented a small farm, and a sister kept house for him.
From 1879 to 1887 he was engaged in business as
a butcher in Intercourse, and for the past twenty
years, in connection with his other work, he has
been an auctioneer. He came to his present farm in
1883. It has one especially attractive feature aside
from its neat and well cultivated acres, and that is
a stream of clear spring water that runs through it,
and is well stocked with trout.
Mr. Kling is a Republican, and he and his wife
belong to the Mennonite Church. They are substan-
tial people, well-fixed in life, and enjoy the confi-
dence and respect of all who know them.
MRS. ANxNFIE K. YOCOM, an esteemed resi-
dent of Fulton township, was born Sept. 7, 1829, and
is now living retired in her pleasant home a mile
southwest of Wakefield. She belongs to the King
family, the first of whom in the United States was
one James King, who came from England to Lan-
caster county in the early days and took up land in
the county from William Penn, in about the year
1690. James King married Miss Mary Pennell, in
T709, and the following children came to them :
Mary, born Dec. 19, 1710; Margaret, Oct. 20, 1712;
Michael, Oct. 30, 1714 (he gave the five acres of
land upon which was built the first Quaker meeting-
house in this part of Pennsylvania, now known as
the Wakefield or Penn Hill Church) ; Thomas,
1716; Jane, .1718; Vincent, 1720; and Hannah,
1722. James King, the father of the foregoing fam-
ily, died in 1768, at the advanced age of ninety-five
years.
Thomas King, son of James, had children as
follows: James, born in 1756; Thomas, 1757; Isa-
bel, 1759; Margaret, 1761 ; Michael, 1763; Jane,
1765 ; Vincent, 1768; Ann, 1770; Mary, 1772.; Han-
nah, 1774: and Miriam, 1776.
James King, son of Thomas had children as fol-
lows: Ann, born in 1782; Thomas, 1783; Mary,
1785; Phcebe, 1786; James, 1787; Moses, 1789;
Amos, 1 791; Pyle, 1793; Lewis, 1794; and John,
1799.
John King, son of James, was born in Fulton
township, Lancaster county, and married Marv
Reynolds, who was born and reared in Cecil county.
1168
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Md. They had children as follows: Annie K.,
Mrs. Yocom, born Sept. 7, 1829 ; and Amos L., born
Aug. 25, 1833.
Annie King was married to Jesse Yocom, of
Ohio, on Aug. 19, 1872. They had no children.
Mr. Yocom died Oct. 10, 1896, at the age of sixty
years. He was a farmer and a member of the So-
ciety of Friends, and all his life was an honorable
and honest man. His widow is now spending her
time in ease and retirement on a highly improved and
valuable place of seventy-three acres near Wake-
field, as already stated. She has lived a goodly life,
and has followed the doctrines of the Friends faith
from childhood. Her home is the ancestral home-
stead taken up by her kinsman from William Penn,
and where four generations of the family have been
reared and have died. Mrs. Yocom will spend her
remaining days on the place, loved, revered and re-
spected by all who know her, as she is a noble and
kind-hearted lady.
HORACE H. KLUGH. Among the prominent
citizens of Maytown is Horace H. Klugh, a worthy
representative of one of the old families of Lancaster
county, the founder of the Klugh family having come
to America from Wittenberg, Germany, among
those who first made a home in this part of the State
of Pennsylvania.
The paternal grandparents of Horace H. were
Henry and Barbara (Hutzapple) Klugh, natives of
Lancaster county, where the former followed the
trade of shoemaker, and they passed their whole
existence here, dying in Maytown; their remains
rest in the old Lutheran Church cemetery. The
family born to them consisted of six children : Fred-
erick, Henry, Mary, Barbara (who married Berry
Hill), Christiann (who married Daniel Brown) and
Benjamin, all of whom have passed out of life.
Henry Klugh, the father of Horace H., was a
potter by trade, and later conducted a distillery.
He married Margaret King, of Chanceford, York
county, and reared the following named children:
Benjamin, who is a physician of Florin, Pa. ; Horace
H. ; Viola, deceased; Anna, deceased; and Jacob
Nienan, deceased. The parents were consistent
members of the Lutheran and the Methodist
Churches, respectively, and the father died in Oc-
tober, 1857, at the age of thirty-nine, the mother
surviving" until 1894, when she too passed away, at
the age of seventy-six.
Horace H. Klugh was born in Maytown Nov.
13, 1844, and there attended the village school, but
at the early age of thirteen he lost his father, and was
obliged to earn his own living. Nothing daunted,
he found employment in the office of a daily paper,
in Lancaster city, and for three years carried on the
paper, proving satisfactory in every way. The next
step in his business career was his entrance into the
shop of Collms & McCurdy, to learn the shoemak-
er's trade, and he remained with that firm for three
vears.
In July, 1864, Mr. Klugh enlisted for service in
the Civil war, in Co. D, 195th P. V. I., being mus-
tered in at Harrisburg for loo-days service. He
then went to Elizabethtown, where he continued
work at his trade until March, 1865, when he re-
enlisted, entering Co. D, 77th P. V. I., under Capt.
George W. Skinner, and was placed on guard duty,
traveling through Texas. He was finally dis-
charged, at Victoria, Texas, in December 1865.
After his war experience Mr. Klugh returned
to Maytown, where he worked during the summers
in a brickyard and occupied his winters with his
trade, but he later discontinued the former employ-
ment, and since 1889 he has been entirely engaged at
shoemaking. In politics he is a Republican, and
for six years he was the very efficient constable, also
serving one term acceptably as register and asses-
sor of his district. For many years Mr. Klugh was
connected with the Lutheran Church.
In July, 1866, Mr. Klugh was married in Eliza-
betktown, to Miss Sarah Jane Hagerly, and to this
marriage have been born : Mina E., who married
Walter B. Sharp, of Marietta, Pa. ; and Henry, who
died young. The parents of Mrs. Kltigh were Jo-
seph and Leah (Jacobs) Hagerly, the former of
whom died in 1869, aged fifty-nine years,, the latter
in 1885, at the age of seventy-one. The children of
this worthy couple were : Mary, who married Web-
ster Buller, of Philadelphia; Sarah J., bom April
9, 1845, i" Maytown, Pa. ; and Elizabeth, who died
at the age of twenty-one.
Mr. Klugh is ranked by his fellow-citizens among
the representative, substantial men of East Donegal,
and is one of the most highly esteemed residents of
Maytown. His energy and perseverance have en-
abled him to conquer earlv disadvantages success-
fully.
CHARLES H. FREY, a descendant of one of
the oldest and most prominent families of Lancaster
county, is a son of Jacob L. Frey, who is the oldest
surviving dealer in cigars and leaf tobacco in Lan-
caster, and is now retired from business. During his
long years of activity he built substantial dwellings,
and contributed in no small degree to the natural
growth and development of the city.
Jacob L. Frey, the grandfather of Charles H.,
was a pioneer merchant and carrier in this State,
owning and running the old-time Conestoga wagons
for freight between Pittsburg and Philadelphia,
before the building of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The Freys were a sturdy, honest and progressive
family, and from this substantial stock came Charles
H. Frey, the successful shoe merchant.
Mr. Frey was born in Lancaster April i, 1862.
After passing through the city schools up to gradua-
tion in the high school he entered Weidler & Mus-
ser's Business College in this city, from which he
was graduated in due time. Mr. Frey took up the
shoe trade, establishing a partnership with W. K.
Rckert, under the firm name of Frey & Eckert.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1169
These two gentlemen continued in business together;
■for three years, and then Mr. Eckert retired, leav-
ing Mr. Frey as sole manager, his location being
where he is still found, at Nos. 3-5, East King street,
where he has built up a colossal business. Realizing
that many of the Lancaster people went to Phila-
delphia to buy the highest grade shoes, he deter-
mined that all they desired could be found at home,
and very soon he made the public understand his
lines of fine footwear were as fine and complete as
could be found anywhere. The result was an in-
crease in his business that showed the wisdom of his
enterprise.
Mr. Frey was a pioneer in the movement for early
closing, 6 :oo P. M. He closed his store every night
of the week excepting Monday and Saturday nights,
and soon brought his many competitors in co-
operation. The trades people, however, appreciated
Mr. Frey as their friend, and stand by him to the
last. This prompt action on his' part gives the key-
note of his character, quick action, when once a clear
understanding is had of what a conscientious regard
for the rights of others demanded. Mr. Frey has
been very successful in his career, and the success
he has won is richly merited.
Mr. Frey was always deeply imbued with the
spirit of religion, and has taken a most active in-
terest in all departtnents of church work. For fif-
teen years he has been a teacher in St. Paul's Re-
formed Church, taking an active share in the work of
the Christian Endeavor, and of the Y. M. C. A., of
which he was a director for six years. In this line,
as in other lines, he gives his heart to his work.
JACOB M. FRY. The early records of the Fry
family in Lancaster county recall the fact that Mar-
tin Fry, a native of Alsace, France, now a principal-
ity of Germany, came to America some time before
the Revolutionary war and settled in Berks county.
Pa. In 1780 he' removed from Berks county, and
located in Lancaster county near the present home of
the Fry family in Ephrata township, and there
founded a family that has become widely scattered,
having honored members in all the walks of life,
through many States. That Martin Fry belonged to
a family in Alsace above the ordinary, is shown by
his coat of arms, a copy of which has recently come
into the possession of the family. Its motto "Never
Despair," is one any family may well adopt. John
Fry married Elizabeth Fry, who was not a. relative,
although of the same name. To this pioneer couple
were born two children, John Martin and Christiana.
By the wife of a second marriage a large family
was born to him, but as John Martin was the progen-
itor of the family of whom this sketch is written,
their record will not be traced.
John Martin Fry, the great-grandfather of Jacob
M Fry, served as private in Capt. Abraham De-
huff's company of Pennsylvania troops in the Revo-
iut'onary war. After the close of his service in the
army, he purchased the land now known as the Fry
homestead on which he passed the remainder of hi&
days. He married Catherine Capp, and their chil-
dren were : Peter : John ; Jacob ; Martin ; Margaret^
who married Christian Bentz ; and Mary, who mar-
ried Jacob Bricker. Part of the homestead was
originally purchased from the Penns, and the deed
for the same, which is now a highly prized relic of
the Fry family, is known as the "Red "Rost Deed,"
as one of the payments provided for was a red rose,
which was to be given annually if called for. Upon
the land which has so long been the home of the Fry
family (the sixth generation now living on it) stands
the old mill which was built in 1749, and in which
grinding is still carried on.
Martin Fry, son of John Martin, was born Sept.
15, 1780, and was both a farmer and miller. He -
was a man of no ordinary ability, and was looked
upon by the people as a man of fine judicial qualities,
and as law giver he was sent for from far and near
to settle disputes. He married Susannah Houck,.,.
and to tliem were born four sons, Samuel M., Martin
H., Jacob and John. Martin Fry died in September,
1848, and his wife died in i8S4.
John Fry, the father of Jacob M., was born on
the old homestead, Aug. 29, 1815, and died there
May 12, 1888. He married Elizabeth Merklc, daugh-
ter of Daniel and Catherine Merkle. She was born
Jqne 8, 1822, and passed away Feb. 6, 1902. Their
children were: John H., a prominent attorney of
Lancaster, Pa. ; Jacob M. ; Lafayette, who resides on
the homestead with his brother ; Susan, who married
John Seldomridge of Ephrata, Pa. ; Katherine, who
married B. C. Kready, a member of the Lancaster
Bar; Caroline, who married William M. Cline, of
East Earl township; and Lizzie and Ida, who re-
side on the old place with their brother. John Fry
made for himself a reputation for honesty and in-
dustry his children will make no mistake in follow-
ing. He was a member of the Lutheran Church, as
was his wife. In politics he was a Whig, and when
the Republican party was formed became a member
of that.
Jacob M. Fry was born Feb. 18, 1859, on the
home farm and there grew to manhood. As was
natural, he early took an interest in agricultural pur-
suits, although it was not allowed to interfere with
his desire to acquire an education which should fit
him for other occupation than farming if he so de-
sired. Until he was seventeen he attended school
regularly, after which he taught school when not en-
gaged on the farm. When twenty-five years old, he
took up and carried on milling as well as farming,
and was, as might be expected from a man as intelli-
gent and well informed as Mr. Fry, successful in
both callings. In his political belief he is a Repub-
lican, not because his father was, nor because the
party is so largely in the majority in his State, but
because as a close student of national events and
needs he, as a man of independent thought, believes-
his party stands for the greatest good to the greatest
number. For many years he has been an earnest
1170
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and consistent member of the Lutheran Church and
is rearing his family in that faith.
On April 14, 1S84, Mr. Fry was joined in mar-
riage to Miss Margaret Ruth, daughter of Isaac and
Eliza (Ruth) Ruth, of Sinking Springs, Berks Co.,
Pa., and their union has been blessed with four
sons and two daughters, as follows : John ;^artin,
born Oct. 16, 1885; Morton H., Jan. 27, 1887; M.
Elizabeth, Sept. i, i88q ; Jacob R., April 20, 1891 ;
Miles W., March 1,3, 1^98; and Rtith, Feb. 26, 1900.
DAVID H. HUBER, a leading farmer and es-
teerhed citizen of Martic township, who lives re-
tired from active labor in his handsome residence in
Kawlinsyille, was born in Marticville, Dec. 30i 1839,
son of Henry and Anna (Hess) Huber.
The Huber family is one of the old and honored
ones of the State, and was founded by four brpthers
of the name who came hither from Germany,
sometime in the seventeenth century. One of these
brothers settled in Lancaster county. Pa., and an-
other in Bucks county, while all trace has , been
lost of the 9ther tvifo. John Huber, the great-grand-
iather of David H., was a farrner and one of the
early settlers of Martic township. His son Abra-
hain was well known in thetoWnship, a:nd wks the
father of the following children ; Henry, Nancy,
Jacob, Martin, Joseph, Frederick, Benjamin, DaVid,
Martha, Barbara, John, and one who died young.
Henry .Huber. father of David H., was born
Oct. 19, 1815, and died Jan, 20, 1885. He rnarried
Anna Hess, of, Conestqga township, oii July 16,
•1838 ; she was born in 1821 and died Feb. 16, 1896.
They had a family of nine children, namely:
Martha,, deceased; David H. ; Mary Ann, deceased;
teliza, deceased ; Abraham, of Conestoga township ;
jienry, deceased ; Jonas, a prominent .citizen of Mai*-
dcvilie ; Sarah Ann, the wife of Henry Rohrer of
La:ncaster; and .Samujel, also of Lancaster. Henry
Huber was a merchant and tailor in Marticyille for
fifty years ; was a lifelong member of the Mennomte
Church, and a respected and honored citizen.
David H. Huber was reared in Marticville and
attended school there in his youth. Frorn assist-
ing his father in the store, he became interested in
;the mercantile business and engaged in it for a per-
iod of thirty years. In 1883 he closed his merdantile
business and engaged in farming, which he fol-
lowed until 1900, when he retired to Rawlinsvillfe
where he owns one of the finest residences to be
found in Martic towiiship. Mr. Huber is a man
of large means, owning several fine farms in the
township and other Valuable property.
On Oct. 10, 1864, Mr. Huber was united in mar-
riage to Miss Catherine A. Good, daughter of Dan-
iel and Elizabeth (Dietrick) Good, of Martic toVvn-
ship, and- this marriage has been blessed with four
children, namely: Laura, born March 26, 1866,
wife of Benjamin Herr, of Providence township;
Amelia, born April 18, 1868, wife of Samuel Siefred
of Martic township ; Aaron D., born Sept. 21, 1871,
who married Selma Warfel, and is a farmer in
Martic township; and Mary Ella, born Feb. 4.
1874, at home.
Mr. Huber is a man whose name carries weight
with it in Martic townships where he has passed
his life, and vyliere he is known as a responsiblfe, re-
liable man. He i^ a Republican in politics. His
interest has always been in support of educational
legislation and he served as school director a long
period, and also held other local Offices. His life
has been one which enabtes him to command the
esteem and respect of the whole community.
ALONZO DILLER AMI^QN, a Successful
farmer and representative citizen of Lancaster
couhty, , was born, in Salisbury, tpwnship, Sept. 6,
1856, ;and was a soft cyf Henry and Sarah J. (Pat-
ten) Ammdn, of. Salisbury towpship.. Henry Am-
mon Was born in 1830 ;and,is a carpenter alfid also
a farmer,, residing in thje Village of Gap, in Salis-
bury township. Hisi estimaTble. wife was born in
1832, a'fld their, children are: AlOnzoD. ; Samuel,
of Lancaster; Lemuel, a baker in Gap, Pa.; and
Garfield, a blacksmith, in Lime Vallfey, Pa. The
oldest child, Lillie, died in infancy.
Alonzo Diller Ammon femaiiied in his parents'
home until his. marriaige, and obtained Ms education
in the public schools., Becoming a practical farmer,
he first rent-ed a tract of land in Salisbury township
for, A period of thijefe years, moving then to Chester
coiinty where he rented a farm. for. one year, later
purchasing it and Optl%tifig it fOr eight years, when
he sold it, although he remained there as a renter
fdr one more year, coming then ib his pfesent well-
stocked ;and improved farm in Sadsbury township,
in Lancaster county, his estate eomiprising forty-
six -acres. Mr. AmmOn has taken a decided stand
in Republican politics arid in 19DO was elected, sup-
ervisor, .perfoi'miiig the. duties of this important of-
fice with the clo^e attention which he has always
paid to his personal business.
Alonzo Diller Amman was m&^rried in Salis-
bury towiiship, March 15, i'8.77, to Miss Lucy C.
W'Orst, andtlie children born to this union were;
Susan J., Martin L., Ella M., Chester A., William
H., Mollie E., who died 'in infancy. Pearl A., Mar-
ganet L., Alonzo D., Kate L., Harry E., Eddie S.,
Charles ^., Ear! B. and Park. All of these are
bright, intelligent children, reflating credit upon
tke 'estimable parents, and promising to grow into
the -best type of American citizens.
Mrs. Ammon ^as born in Salisbury towhshipi,
on March 15, i8s^. a daughter of Elias and Sus-
annah (Kraybill) Worst, the former of wliom was
born in Salisbury towrlsMp, afid the latter in Earl
township, both of thifem passing out of life in the
former place, the father in 1888 at the age of sixty-
three years, and the latter in 1886 at the age o£
fifty-three. Both were laid to rest in Spfingville
in a private cemetery on their Old farm. They were
members of the Presbyterian Church, and were
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1171
highly respected in their neighborhood. Their chil-
dren were: Shaffer, a farmer of Salisbury town-
ship; Lucy C: Kraybill, deceased; Anna M.,
who married Edward Seldomridge, of Salisbury
township; and Ellas B., a farmer of SaHsbury
township. The paternal grandfather of Mrs.
Ammon was Henry Worst, a farmer of Lancaster
county, and the maternal grandparents were John
and Margaret (Shaffer) Kraybill, of Lancaster
county.
AARON BUSHONG LANpIS, who is now
serving his third term of three years as deputy sheriff
of Lancaster county, belongs to one of the oldest
and best known families in that county.
Isaac S. Landis, his father, is now, a retired farm-
er of Witmer. , He married Lydia Bushong, a daugh-
ter of Henry Bushong, a farmer of Witmer. . Nine
children were born to this union, six of whom are
living : Aaron B.j whose name appears above ;
• Israel, a farmer of Witmer; Amos, a farmer in
Witmer; Annie, unmarried; Amanda, widow of
Henry Denlinger, a farmer of Monterey ; and Sarah,
wife of Elam Rohrer, a farmer in Oklahoma, Of
those deceased, Leyi was a farmer of East Lam-
peter, but he died in Kansas.
Aaron Bushorig Landis was born on his father's
farm in East Lampeter township, June 32, 1855,
and was educated in the: district school. When he
was nineteen years of age Mr. Landis took posses-
sion of his father's farm as ^tenant. On March
16, 1880, he was married to Miss Emma Brubaker,
a daughter of Andrew B. Brubafeer, a fc^rmer of
Rohrerstown, East Hempfield township. After his
marriage Mr. Landis began farming his :^ather-in-
law's place, in the cultivation of which he is still
engaged. To this union were born six children,
four of whom are living: Clayton, a farmer;
Mabel; and Herman and Howard are both at
school.
Mr; Landis belongs to tlie Blue Lodge of Ma-
sons, the Odd Eellows, the Knights of the Mystic
Chain, the Jr. O. U. A. M., the Knights of Malta,
the Young Republicans, and is a trustee of the Re-
formed Church of Rohrerstown. In his politics he is
an unflinching Republican, and has served as town-
ship auditor. For four years he was supervisor in
East Hempfield township. His appointment as
deputy sheriff came as a just recognition of his
ability and character as well as of his devotion to
his party principles. In this position he has given
great satisfaction to the people generally. He is
now serving his third term, which will not expire
until January, 1906.
J. PETER HERMAN, the proprietor of the
Gordonville Ware;house and Elevator, is a farmer,
who is also en^ged quite extensively in the pro-
duce business. He was born in Snyder county, Pa.,
July 8, 1855, and is a son of Jacob and Nancy
(Breon) Herman, both of Snyder county. After
their marriage his parents moved to Union County,
Pa., where the' father died in 1871, at the age of
fifty-five. His widow is now living in Union coun-
ty, at the venerable age of eighty-three. They were
members of the Lutheran Church. Born to this
couple were: Joseph, a farmer in Union county;
as were his brothers, Noah, Jesse and Henry;
George, who died in infancy; Maggie, vfho married
Levi Oberlin, a farmer, of Earl township; Lucy,
deceased, wife of Charles Leiby; j. Peter; Ada
0., married to William Lytich. The paternal
grandparents of J. P. Herman were natives of
Germany.
J. Peter Herman and Hannah F. Snyder were
united in matrimony in Christ Church, Leacock
township, Dec. 20, 1883, and to thejr union have
come Samuel S., Leon, Arthur S. and John F.
Mrs. Hannah F. Herman was born in Paradise
township in September, 1S56, and is a daughter of
Aaron and Hannah (Fenniger) Snyder. Her
father was born in Germany and her mother in
Lancaster county. Aaron Snyder came frqrn Ger-
many \yith his parents when a boy, and located in
Leacock township, where he learned the butcher
trade, tie was killed, in 1 871 while walking on the
railroad track at Mcllv^ne's Quarries, and died at
the age of forty-five. His, widow died in 1881, at
the age of sixty yeiars. They were both members
of the Episcopal Church. Born to them were the
following chiidi-en: Sarah, who died unmarried
at the age of forty-two years ; Jane, living unmar-
ried in Lancaster; Samuel, who died at the age of
fifty-three; Rebecca is unmarried, and has her
home in Lancaster ; Hannah F.
Mr. Herman remained on his parents' home
place until he reached the age of twenty-one, when
he Spent a year in the employ of a neighboring
farmer, "coming into Lancaster at the expiration of
that period, to be employed in farm work two years.
As a dealer in produce, he was busy some five years
in Leacock township on the Old Road, and then
coming .to Gordonville established himself as a
farmer and a produce dealer. In April, 1901, he
added the warehouse and elevator to his present
business, carrying along all three lines with decided
siiccess. Mr. Herman has fought his way to his
present enviable position, without a dollar or ah in-
fluential friend ; his strength, character and indust-
ry have made him what he is. Many are his friends,
and the respect in which he is held is very marked.
In his politics he is a Democrat.
L. RUTTER HASTINGS, a well known farm-
er and esteemed citizen of East Drumore township,
Lancaster county, was born at the old Hastings
honiestead in East Drumore, March 3, 1849, ^ son
of John and Rebecca (Russel) Hastings.
L. Rutter Hastings received his early education
in the local schools, and was a student at the State
Norrnal School at Millersville a year. His home
was with his parents until his marriage, Nov. 26,
1172
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1874, when Miss S. Anna Ewing, of Martic town-
ship, became his wife. Mrs. Hastings was born in
March, 1855, the daughter of John and Letitia
(McElhaney) . Ewing, and was educated in the
public schools.
Mrs. and Mrs. Hastings were settled for a time
on one of the farms belonging to his father. This
farm was located in East Drumore township, and
was bought by him from the estate after his father's
death. In 1898 he sold it and devoted himself to
the sale of farming implements and carriages.
After following this occupation- for three years, he
rented the John Russel farm in- the southern part
of East Drumore township. This place coniprises
400 acres and is still under his excellent manage-
ment.
■ To Mr. and Mrs. Hastings have come six chil-
dren, (i) Rebecca V. Hastings, bom in October,
1875, was educated in the Lancaster high school,
and married W. H. Hamill, in December, 1896. He
is in the creamery business in Chester county.
They have one child, Mildred J. Robert R. Hamill
died an infant. (2) Jessie Irene, born in January,
1877, was educated in the home schools, and in a
Philadelphia business college, and is now a stenog-
rapher and typewriter in the office of her uncle, Will-
iam Hastings, of Philadelphia. (3) Louisa L., born
in August, 1 88 1, received a good education in the
Lancaster high school and is at home. (4) Harry
E., born in March, 1885, is now engaged with the
American Telephone Company. (5) Isabelle R.
was born in October, 1890. (6) George R. was
born' Feb. 2, 1894.
Mr. and Mrs. Hastings' are members of the
Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a Democrat,
and for three years has been school director of East
Drumore township. Socially he belongs to Wash-
ington Lodge, No. 156, A. F. & A. M., at Quarry-
ville. George R. and W. S. Hastings belong to
the same fraternity at Christiana.
SIMON U. ETSENBERG. Prominently iden-
tified with all of the most important interests of
Millway, Pa., is Simon U. Eisenberg, who is the
prosperous proprietor of a general merchandise
establishment at that point. The location is an ex-
cellent one, on the Reading and Columbia Railroad,
some four miles south-west of Ephrata.
■ Simon U. Eisenberg was born Dec. 13, 1849, a
son of Myers and Zetta (Uhlman) Eisenberg, the
former of whom was born in Germany in 181 1 and
emigrated to America at the age of fourteen years.
With .three conirades, he landed in Philadelphia,
soon after coming to Adamstown, Pa., where in the
course of time he married the excellent daughter
of Daniel Uhlman ; to this union six children were
born: Simon U. ; Daniel, born in 1850, married
a Miss Fisher from New York and later decided to
migrate to Bismark, South Dakota ; ' he relates
how he reached there with no shoes on his feet, but
now is able to back almost any financial enterprise ;
Mary married Charles Stamm, of Millway; Jacob,
lives near Canton, Ohio, where he is a prominent
merchant ; Hannah married Charles Shirley of Mill-
way ; and Levi, lives in Livingston, Montana, where
he is successfully engaged in the mercantile line^
Mr. Eisenberg received his education in the com- '
mon schools, this being supplemented with a short
course at the Millersville Normal school, where he ■
proved himself a very ajpt pupil, and was considered'
competent to teach at the early age of fourteen ;
he continued in this profession for the following-
five years, and left it to become a clerk in an estab-
lishment at Schoeneck, Pa. In 1875 he opened up.
a business of his own, which he has since most suc-
cessfully conducted. Mr. Eisenberg deals in a
general stock of first-class merchandise and has a'
trade that is continually extending, and he also is
connected with the manufacture of cigars.
' The first marriage of Mr. Eisenberg was to Miss
Annie Wolf, of Millway, in 1874, a daughter of
David and Lydia (Hbll) Wolf; her death oc-
curred in 1886. His second marriage was to Miss
Kate Heiser, of Akrori, Pa., Oct. 13; 1890. No'
children have been born to Mr. Eisenberg and his
wife, but their kind hearts opened to a little adopted
daughter, Katie, iDorn Jan. i, 1891, and under their
rearing .she will never miss any parental love or
care.
An intelligent and reliable man, Mr. Eisenberg-
has been called upon by the Republican party tc^ ■
fill some of the local offices, but he considers him-
self Tio politician, consenting to serve only as judge ■
of elections, school director and as one of the audit-
ors of Ephrata township. He belongs to the I. O.
O. F- and the Patriotic Sons of America. Like
many another successful business man, Mr. Eisen-
berg began life crippled by lack of means but he is
a very capable man, and during his active life of the
past twenty years, has gained considerable property,
owning at least five comfortable houses in Millway,
aside from his other interests. As a citizen he
possesses the esteem of the community, and in the
Reformed Church he is known as one of the most
cheerful and generous givers to all benevolent and
charitable objects.
- WILLIAM P. BRINTON, who is now a retired
nurseryman in Christiana, Pa., o-wns a system of
greenhouses in the borough that covers nineteen
acres and requires over 35,000 feet of glass. It was
established in 1858 by Mr. Brintbn, and meets every
demand of the market for cut flowers, general
bedding plants and nursery stock. It is regarded
as one of the most complete plants in this part of
the State, and has commanded" a widely extended
patronage. Mr. Brinton was born Oct. 20, 1835,
oh a part of his present property about a quarter
of a mile northeast of his present home, and is a
son of Samuel and Lydia P. (Jackson) Brinton.
Samuel Brinton was born in Leacock township,
Lancaster county, and followed farming all his
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1173
<iays. His death occurred on the place where his
5on now resides, May 5, 1857. He was born Feb.
^, 1789, and led a long and useful life. Lydia P.
.(Jackson) Brinton was born in Cecil county, Md.,
'Oct. 10, 1798, and died March 22, 1-869. Both were
buried in thecenietery-of the Old Friends Meeting
House in Sadsbury township. The husband and
father was a man of more than local prominence,
and held various offices, being called on also to
settle many estates. To them were born the follow-
ing children: James J., deceased; Susan, unmar^
ried, in Sadsbury township; Lewis, deceased; Cy-
Tus, a farmer in Sadsbury township; Mary A. \yho
married Thomas Stubbs, a farmer in Fulton town-
--ship, but who now resides in Westchester; Will-
iam P.
The parents of Samuel Brinton were Joseph and
Susan (Rigbee) Brinton,, residents of Leacock
township. , Joseph Brinton was , a son of Moses
Brinton, who settled in Lancaster, county, coming
from Chester county at a very early day. ■ ■
William Brinton, the American ancestor, of the
iatpily, was reared near Birmingham, .Englandj
where he married. He had one son. In the- spring of
1684, in company with his wife and son, he em-
barked for the colony, leaving three daughters in
England. His landing in America was on the Dela-
ware River, at the point known as Grubb's Land-
ing, now a part of Brandywine, Newcastle Co.,
X)el. There was already a settlernent at. this point,
and the most of. the company elected to remain there,
"but William Brinton, at that time/adyanced in years,-
with long white hair, surprised: the- others by 'mov-
ing-into the wilderness, and locatiiig on the Indian
Trail, twelve miles back from the river. ■ He did
-not prepare for the rigors of the corning" winter,
and would have starved and perished, had not the
Indians of the neighborhood helped him out with
:game. The following summer he made a clearing,
for a log cabin, planting a pear tree in f rqnt of his
■door. This structure was torn down,in,i8i2, but
ihe: tree survived until 185 3,, when it was destroyed.
In ,1686 he purchased fifty acres of land from Thom-
as King, in the north end of Concord. In the same
year he received a patent for 450 acres of land from
James Claypole and Robert Turner, commissioners
for, William Penn. This was located in Birming-t
"ham township. The Indians belonged to the Lenni-
Lenape tribe of the Algonquin family. The. settle-
ment of these Indians was known as Brinton's Run,
and the last of the tribe, "Indian Hannah," died
in- 1803.
Mr. Brinton was sent in 1687 on a- delegation to
Philadelphia to ask that liquor be forbidden to the
Indians, by sale or otherwise. In 1697 the Society
■of Friends erected a meeting house in Concord, to
which William Brinton contributed three pounds
and ten shillings, and his son two pounds and six-
teen shillings. The will of William Brinton was
proved in December, 1700, in Philadelphia, no re-
gister of wills existing in Chester county before
1714. It was drawn in June, 1699, and is still in
preservation. Its wax seal bears the seal of a lion
rampart. One hundred pounds was left to each of
his daughters, who had married and had. come to
America about 1685.
William Brinton, son of the emigrant ancestor
of the family, married Jean Thatcher in 1690, by
whom he had the following children;. Joseph, Will-
iam, Edward, Ann and John. In 17 14 and again'
in 1721 Mr. Brinton was a member of the Provincial
Assembly, and in 172 1, when the Birmingham meet-
ing house was erected, he was one of the trustees
of the title. His wife was a highly educated mem-
ber of the Society of Friends, and when she was
fifty-four years old she accompanied a "public
Friend," Elizabeth Webb, on a visit to members of
the Society in -New England. •
Moses Brinton, who was the son of Joseph, noted
in . the precceding paragraph, and who married
Mary Pierce, was the great-grandfather of William
P. Brinton. Joseph had his home near the head
waters of ,,the west branch of Chester Creek, in
Thprnbury township, Delaware county. Pa. The
house which he built was torn down in 1816. He
was an extensive land owner in Leacock and Lam-
peter townships, Lancaster county. The first repre-
sentative of the Brinton family in Lancaster county
came to Leacock township in 1747.
Moses, Brinton was born Sept. 27, 1^25, mar-
ried Eleanor Vaman, March 5, i747> and died, Jan,
31,1789. They had the following children : M^ry
A., born June 14,^ 1748,- married to Robert Moore,
Nov. 10, 1768; ,Abigail, born Dec. 14, 1751, who
married Ellis Pussey, Oct. 30, 1777, and died in
1842 ; Joseph, born Nov. 22, 1754, married to Susan
Rigbee in 1784; William, born Jan. 26,, I759, mar-
ried-to Lydia Ferree, April 21, 1785; Moses, Jr.,
born Aug. 26, 1761, -wrho .married Elizabeth Whit-
son, aiid - on , her . death, Hannah Chamberlain ;
Samuel, born D^c i, 1765, died Feb. ,9, 1773;
Eleanor, born July 28, 1769, who married Thomas
Henderson, and died.Marclj 29, 1853. Mioses Brin-
ton-settled on SCO acres of land in Leacock town-
ship, Lancaster county, given him by his father.
Joseph Brinton and Susan Rigbee, of Leacock
township, ^vere married in 1784, and became parents
of the following children: William, born Nov. 22,
1785, married to Julielma Cooper, who was. born
Dec. 13, 1782, and died in 1878; James, born Feb.
25, 1787, who died unmarried; Samuel, born Feb.
3. 1789, who married ; Lydia P. Jackson, Dec. 25,
1823, and died May 5, 1857; Mary, born Oct. 3,
1790, who married Joseph H. Cole, May 4, 1815, in
1830 was again married to David Townsend, and
died in 1880; Sarah, born March 16, 1793, married
to Joseph Cooper, born April 17, 1785, both of
whom passed away in 1858.
The Brinton family had its home in England in
the parish of Ledgeley, Staffordshire, where John
Brinton was living seven miles south of Church-
Eaton in the closing years of the fifteenth century.
1174
BIOGRAPHICAL. ANNALS OF LANCASTip. COUNTY
Here was born William Brinton, who married Ann
Bagley in 1659, Three years prior to her marriage
she had united with the Friends in company with
her mother. Her father,' E(Jward Bagley, was a
man of wealth, character and standing in the com-
munity. These were years in which the friends
were exposed to many persecutions, and could find
neither law nor justice in the land. In 1683 Will-
iam Brinton was fined twenty-six shillings for re-
fusing to take the oath, and had goods t^ken from
him to the amount of five pounds' and eleven shill-
ings. The following year, as noted above, he sought
a peaceful home in the New W^orld, his family at
that time consisting of his wife, Ann, bis only son,
William, Jr., and his three daugliters. Ami, Eliza;
beth and Esther.
The Brinton family in Lancaster county, comes
of the best stock; and its various representatives
have been noted for their business ability, their
industriotis habits, and their sterling manhood. Al-
most without exception they have followed the re-
ligion of their progenitors, and have been worthy
and consistent members of the Society of Friends.
William P. Brinton, whose narne introdiices this
article, was married in Bird in Hand, Lancaster
county, in 1867, to Miss Mary E. Cooper, by whom
he has had the following children : Lucy, who mar-
ried Maurice Phillips, a farmer and liiannfacturer
of Keystone Dehorncrs at Pomeroy, Pa., and is the
mother of, one child; Morris J., who married Ger-
trude Rakestraw, (whose father Henry Rakestraw
operated a creamery in Christiana, Pa., and is now
dead), and has one child; Anna, who married Nor-
man Entrekin, mechanical engineer at Work Broth-
ers' Iron Mill, at Ccatesville, P^., and is the mother
of one child; Alice, married to Howard Brosius,
cashier in the bank at Avondale, Pa.; Estelle, a
student in the Universitj' of Michigan; Ethel, at
home. Mrs. Brinton was born in East Lampeter
township, and is a sister of Calvin Cooper.
William P. Brinton remained at home until his
marriage, vyhen he built his present property. There
his mother and sister lived with him until 1867,
when they returned to their old home. Mr. Brin-
ton has been assessor of the township, and is a mem-
ber and trustee of the. Friends Meeting, and is a
member of the building committee, which has
charge of the erection of the new house of worship,
which is now being built. He was one of the
organizers of the State Horticultural Society, and
has been its corresponding secretary for many years.
In tem.perance labors he takes advanced ground,
and has won more than a local reputation for his
zeal arid enthusiasm in this great reform. The
green houses which he established are now operated
by his son. In politics he is a Republican, and cast
his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont.
JOHN C. SMITH, a rising and greatly respect-
ed general farmer of Cordelia village. West Hemp-
field township, Lancaster county, is now in the
prime of life, having been born on his present farm,
March 25, 1852.
John K. Smith, father of John Christian, was
born Aug. 8, 1797, also on a part of the West Herap-
fieid farm, was reared to farming and was twice
married, the first Itinje to a Miss Mumma, who bor?-
him seven children, narnely : Eliza, who was mar-
ried to John Dellinger ; Gideon, deceased ; Barbara,
widow of H. G. Brookhart, and living in Colunibia,
Pa.; Joshua; Susan, widow of John Harnish and
residing inManheim township, Lancaster county;
and Henry and Joh^i, who both died in infancy.
The second marriage of John K. Smith was to Mag-
dalene Sterline, and to this union were born four
children, viz. : John Christian ; Albert, deceased ;
Laura, widow of David Slaughter, late of Colum-
bus, Ohio; and Horace, deceased. The father of
these children, John K. Smith, died in October,
1876, a member of the United Brethren Church,
and his remains were interred in Silverspring cem-
etery : his widow, IVIagdalene, born in 1825, is now
a resident of Columbus, Ohio.
Rev. John C. Smith, father of John K. Smith,,
was' also a native of Lancaster county. Pa., was or-
dained a riiinister of the Gospel in 1809, was one: of
the founders of the United Brethren denomination,
and died on the John Christian Smith farm, near-
Cordelia, in i860, at the age of eighty-six years.
His wife was a Miss Kertz. '
On Jan. 19, 1876, John Christian Smith marrie4
in Columbia, P^., ' Miss Linda G. Mellinger, wbb'
has borne him seven children, viz. : Elsa A., still
at home ; Bessie C, wife of William Kelly, a whole-
sale butter merchant in Philadelphia; Lucy B.,
also residing in tbe'City of Brotherly Love ; Arthur
t>., Bertrarh B., Jennie M. and Phebe M., all at
home. Mrs- Linda G. (Melliriger) Smith was born
in East Berlin, Adanis Co., Pa., and is a daughter
of Dr. David and Jane (Gallaway) Mellinger, who
settled in Lancaster county in 'i860, lived four years
in Elizabethtown, then awhile in Columbia, and then
retired to Riinning Pump, near Elizabethtown,
where the Doctor pkssed the remainder of his days-
with a daughter. Not only was Dr. Mellinger a
physiician, but he was a politician of some note, and
served one term in the State legislature from Adariig.
county. The Doctor died in 1894 at the age of
eighty-four years, in the faith of the Lutheran
Church; his wife died in 1892, when seventy-five
years old, was also a Lutheran, and the remains
of both were buried in Columbia. They had twelve
children, viz. : Samuel, who died in Cuba, in 1878 ;
Martha, wife of Christ Myers, a coachmaker in
Elizabethtown, Pa. ; Edward, who died in Cuba in
1870 ; Penrose, who died in infancy ; John, a painter
in Lancaster; Phebe, living ia Columbia; Mary,
who died when seventeen years old; George, de-
ceased ; Linda G., now Mrs. John C. Smith ; Katie,
James and another, who all died in infancy. The
maternal grandfather of Mrs. Smith, Gallaway,
was a soldier of the Revolutionary war.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNAL,§ OF LANCAST^^ COUNTY
117$
John C. Smith lived on his present farm until
twenty-six years of age, then rented a small farm
near by, and cultivated it six years ; he then canie
back to his present farm, on which he lived thii*-
teeri years; then passed tyfo years in Philadelphia;
came again to his old farm of forty-three and a'
half acres, and there has lived in ease and comfort
and prospei-ity ever since, honored and respected
by all his fellow citizens; In politics Mr. Smith is
a Republican.
SAMUEL J. PUGH, one of the successful busi-
ness citizens of Hollinger, Lancaster Co., Pa., was
born on English soil of English ancestry, near the
great city of London, Jan. i, 1855, a son of James
and Mary (Janes) Pugh.
James Pugh was a brewer in his native country,
but also understood machinery, and after locating
in America, in 1857, he engaged in business for a
tijne, in Columbia, Lancaster Co., Pa., and then
removed to .Salem, where he took charge of the
engine in the Nickel ihines and operated it foi"
thirty years, retiring on account of advari.ciijg age,
and spending his last dayp with' his son Sainuel.
His death occurred at Hpllingei- in 1897, at the age
of seventy-six years, the mother dying in 1898, at;
the age of seventy ; both of them lived blameless
lives, consistent members of the M. E. Church, and
the former was the efificient superintendent of the
Sabbath-school for twenty years. A family of five
children were born to these' worthy people ;' Samuel
J. ; Annie, who is the wife of Frank Martin of Lan-
caster ; Mary, who is the wife of Harry Matr, of
Gordonvilje; William T., who is the miller and
postmaster of Wheatland Mills ; Elizabeth, who is
the wife of John Donnelly, of Hollinger.
Samuel J. Pugh was reared in his native place
until he was two year's old, when his parents came
to the United States, and he received his education
in the public schools of Lancaster county. 'When
still quite young he began work in the Nickel rnines,
but at the age of eighteen he began to learn the
milling business under Jesse P. Rauk, at Rauk Sta-
tion, remaining there some eight years, when he
eiitered into the employ of Samuel Rauk, of Lan-
caster City, in the same business. Later he re-
turned to his old mill and operated it for two years
in the interest of a milling company.' At a later
date, in 1887, he engaged in the same business in
association with his brother, William T., under the
firm name of Pugh & Bro., at Horse Hollow, using
the Abraham Herr mill for three years, when the
firm was dissolved, Samuel J. Pugh withdrawing.
At this time he purchased the plant he is still
operating, the water right only, as the mill had
been destroyed. In 1890 he erected the present
inodern' structure, which is fitted with all the latest
improved machinery and milling appliances, a four-
story building with a capacity of sixty barrels a
day, the motive power being both water and steam,
and' his trade purely custom. In 1900 he estab-
lished a store in Lancaster City, with a branch in,
Reading, where are marketed his leading brands of
flour ; the best known ones are the Daisy and the
Red Seal, both of tliem products of the highest
milling art.
In 1879 he was married to Sarah Mullen, a
daughter of Stephen Mullen, who was bom in Lan-
caster county ; their children were Mary, James,
Blanche, Walter, Clarence and Elizabeth. The
family connection is with the Reformed Mennonite
Church, of Willowstreet, in which Mr.' Pugh is on
the official board and is one of the most active
^ydrkers in the Sabbath-school. '
Samuel J. Pugh has a high standing among his
fellow citizens as a ■ moral, worthy and honorable
man, and is regarded as one of the substantial mem-
bers of the community, being the owner of cori-
siderable property in the vicinity, which he uses
for renting purposes.
JOHN G. STAUFFER. The name of Stauiier
is one which is well known and universally respected
in Lancaster county, where it represents wealth,'
proniiherice,' social position and good citizenship.
Among those who have worthily held this honored
name for sixty years is John G. Stauffer, a leading
farmer of Mt. Joy' township, who was born July 12,
1840, oh a farm adjoining the one which he now
owns, a son of Jacob and Mary (GrofF) Stauffer,
both natives of Mt. Joy township.
Jacob Staufifer was born Jan. 5, 181 1, a son of
John' and and Anna Stauffer, natives of Lancaster
county, and he died Jan. 7, 1879, having been a
prpiiiinent man in his locality for a number of years,
serving as supervisor for a long period. He was a '
member and liberal supporter of the German Bap-
tist Church. His widow, who was born July 2,
1 8 14, died July 11, 1890, and both were buired ill
Chickies Meeting House cemetery, in Rapho town-
ship. Their children were as follows : Fanny G.,
widow of Samuel Risser, of Lebanon county ; Mary
G., widow of David. Moyer of Mt. Joy township ;
Rebecca G., deceased, wife of Christian Gruber;
John G., Abraham G., a farmer in Lebanon coun-
ty; and Jacob G., a resident of Elizabethtown, of
whom extended mention is made elsewhere. The
farhily originated in Switzerland and probably lo-
cated in Pennsylvania early in 1700. Mrs. Mary
(Groff) Stauiffer was a daughter of John and Ver-
onica Groff, of whom the former was born Aug.
20, 1789, and died Nov. 23, 1859, aged seventy
years, two months and three days ; his wife, who
Ayas born Aug. 3, 1794, died March 16, 1831, aged'
thirty-six years, seven months and thirteen days."
The early rearing of Mr. Stauffer was in a good
home, under kind and wise parents, with whom he
remained until his own marriage, acquiring his
education in the district schools. After marriage
Mr. Stauffer and his wife settled upon a farfti
which they still occupy, which comprises 190 acres/
and this with an additional forty-acre tract, adjoin-
1176
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ing, makes a^ estate of 230 acres which is univers-
ally regarded as the very finest farm in Lancaster
county. Mr. Stauffer is a thorough farmer, and
with his* progressive ideas has yearly. added to the
value and productiveness of his farm. He has other
large business interests, owning a sawmill and man*
ufacturing lumber, being a prominent factor in that
trade in this locality.
In addition to these enterprises Mr. Staufifer has
been identified with a number of the leading finan-
cial organizations of the township, for twenty years
hving been a director in the Mt. Joy National Bank,
and for the past twenty-five years has been one of
the board of directors of the Mt. Joy Mutual Fire
Insurance Co. His interest in the progress of edu-
cation in his township has been shown by his serv-
ice on the school board for a period of nine years.
With his family he belongs to the German Baptist
Church.
On Oct. II, i860, in Lancaster City, Mr. Stauff-
er was married to Miss Maria W. Shelley, a mem-
ber of an old and prominent Lancaster county fam-
ily. To this marriage were born the following
children : Mary A., born July 5, 1861, married
John W. Heistand, af Lancaster Junction, where
he engages in farming; Lizzie S., born June 20,
1864, married Joseph N. Risser, of Mt. Joy town-
ship, extended mention of whom will be found in
this volume ; Emm.a S., born July 2, 1866, married
Monroe B. Forney, a farmer of Mt. Joy township ;
Benjamin, born Jan. 2, 1869, married Lizzie B.
Keller, and is a farmer in Lebanon county. Pa. ;
and Sarah S., born Jan. 23, 1873, married Monroe
G. Hollinger, a farmer in Mt. Joy township. Mr.
Stauffer gave his children the educational advant-
ages aflforded by the excellent schools of the town-
ship, and many of them have located in his vicinity
and are among the respected and useful citizens of
Mt. Joy township.
Mrs. Maria W. (Shelley) Staufifer was born
Sept. 22, 1840, in Rapho township, Lancaster coun-
ty, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Witmer)
Shelley, the former of whom was born in Rapho
township and the latter on the farm now occupied
by Mr. and Mrs. Staufifer. For ten years prior to
his death Mr. Shelley lived retired from active life.
He was a'n extensive farmer and prominent and
wealthy citizen. For a quarter of a century he was
one of the directors of the Mt. Joy First National
Bank, and took a leading part in the life of his
neighborhood. At his death he was larnentedas
one who had been a good, upright and useful citir
zen. Mr. Shellev was born Jan. 12, 1809, and died
Nov. 6, 1885. The mother of Mrs. Stauffer was
born Jan. 16, 1808, and died July 29, 1848. She
was a member of the River Brethren Church. Both
parents were buried in the private burying ground
on the old Shelley homestead, on the farm where
Mr. Shelley was born. Their children were as fol-
lows: Anna, who is the widow of Alva Earhart,
resides in Manheim, Pa. ; Fanny, who married Rev.
S. R. Zook, a German Baptist minister, resides in
Mastersonville ; Lizzie is the widow of Sam-
uel Kraybill, of Manheim; Abraham, who is a re-
tired farmer, lives in Mastersonville, Pa. ; Susan,
who married Benjamin R. Zook, a retired farmer,
lives in Rapho township; Maria W. is the wife
of Mr. Staufifer; and Harriet, who married Abra-
ham G. Stauffer, a brother to John G., resides on
a farm in Lebanon county, Pa. Mr. Shelley mar-
ried for his second wife Lizzie Gantz, by whom he
had one son, Reuben, now a resident of Steelton,
Mr. and Mrs. Stauffer are among the most
highly esteemed residents of Mt. Joy township.
Many warm personal friends e:njoy their friendship
and hospitality, while in public life and business
circles Mr. Stauffer is recognized as a man of most
upright character.
- HENRY R. OBER, a retired farmer of Rapho
township, was born in that township Sept. 13, 1844,
son of Christian and Barbara (Ruhl) Ober, also of
Rapho township.
Christian Ober, the father, died in 1873, at the
age of sixty-six years. He was a farmer, but also
held various township offices. His wife died in
April, 1883, at the age of sixty-one years, one
month. They are buried in Hernley's cemetery.
They were members of the Mennonite and United
Brethren of Christ churches. The following chil-
dren were born to them: Harriet R., deceased;
Michael R., retired farmer of Penn township;
Moses R., retired farmer of Rapho township ; Bar-
bara R., wife of George Keener, a farmer; Anna
R., wife of Jacob Nornhall, a farmer in Oklahoma;
Henry R., subject of this sketch ; Christian R., de-
ceased ; Sarah R., deceased ; Aaron R., a farmer of
Rapho township ; Martha R,, who married first Ja-
cob Sahm, and afterward Joseph D. BroAvn, car-
riage builder of Manheim, Pa.; and Mary R., de-
ceased wife of Abraham Heht. Christian Ober
was a son of David Ober, a farmer of Lancaster
county;
On Oct. 16, 1866, Henry R. Ober married Miss
Mary Ann Metzler, of Lancaster, Pa. To this,
couple have been born the following children : Fan-
nie married Pharis Rohrer, a farmer of West Hemp-
field township, and has three children; Agnes mar-
ried Alva Lehman, of Lebanon county, and has four
children; Phillip, a Lebanon county farmer, mar-
ried to Miss Ida Holderman; Susanna M. is the
wife of Oliver Litch, a farmer of Rapho township ;
Nathan M. married Miss Anna Baker, of Lebanon
county, and has one child; Anna M. is unmarried
and at home. Mrs. Ober was born Nov. 20, 1844,
in Rapho township, and is the daughter of Henry
and Anna (Hershey) Metzler, of Lancaster coun-
ty. The father, who was a farmer, died in 1889, at
the age of fifty-nine years, and is buried in Hern-
ley's Meeting House cemetery. Mrs. Metzler, the
mother, was born in 1824, and is still living with
her daughter, Mrs. Isaac Cup, at Centerville. Both
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1177
she and her husband were membera of the Men-
nonite_ Church. There were born to this union:
Christian, a retired farmer of Rapho township;
Mary Ann, wife of Henry R. Ober ; John, a farmer
of Warwick township; Fanny (deceased) wife of
Paul Gibble ; Mrs. Isaac Cup, pf Centerville ; Henry,
farmer of Rapho township; Samuel, a Washing-
ton township farmer ; Jacob, deceased ; Farris, a
farmer of East Hempfield township ; Anna, wife of
Isaac Stauffer, farmer of Warwick township; and
Isaac, a farmer in Oklahoma. Mrs. Ober 's pater-
nal grandparents were John and Hettie (Eshter)
Metzler, of Lancaster county.
Henry R. Ober remained at home with his par-
ents until after he attained his majority, after which
lie began farming on his own account and continued
to do so until he retired in March, 1892. For the
four years preceding his marriage he farmed his
father's place on shares and did well at it, but after
that event he took the farm for his own. Mr. and
Mrs. Ober are members of the Mennonite Church,
and are prominent in both religious and social
circles. Mr. Ober is a prominent man in his neigh-
Tsorhood, and is well regarded as a man of influence
and position in the community. By care and in-
telligent management he has accumulated a fortune,
and he is able to enjoy the declining years of his life
in ease and comfort, respected by all who have the
pleasure of his friendship and acquaintance.
HON. J. C. GATCHELL, M. D. Few citizens
■of Martic township are better known or more highly
•esteemed than is Dr. J. C. Gatchell, late member of
the State Legislature, a sticcessf ul physician and
prominent and public-spirited citizen.
Dr. Gatchell was born May i, 1835, in Chester
•county, Pa., son of John P. and Caroline (Simpers)
'Gatchell, the former of whom was a son of David
Gatchell, a resident near East Nottingham, where
Tie carried on farming and brought up his family in
the Quaker faith. The seven children born to
•Grandfather Gatchell were Joseph, Jesse, Joshua,
Enoch, John P., David and Lydia, all of whom have
passed out of life. John P. Gatchell. married Caro-
line Simpers and they were the parents of five chil-
dren, namely : Dr. J. C. : Ellis, deceased ; David K.,
•deceased; Eli, who was killed while serving his
■country during the Civil war ; John E., a resident
of Washington, D. C. John P. Gatchell was an
esteemed citizen, a Republican in his political be-
lief, and. in religious, matters he adhered to the prin-
ciples of the Friends.
Dr. Gatchell was. reared on his father's farm and
his education was acquired in the public schools of
his district and in the Unionville Academy. After
finishing his general course of study the young man
became a student of medicine for three years, in i860
was graduated at. the Pennsylvania Medical College
and upon his return to Lancaster county began
practicing in New Texas, in Fulton township. Al-
though enthusiastic in his work in that locality, in
1864 he left it to become assistant surgeon in the
55th P. V. I., and remained with his regiment until
the close of the war. After his return from the
army Dr. , Gatchell located for practice in Martic-
ville.
On Feb. 7, 1862, Dr. Gatchell was united in
marriage to Miss Sarah H. Garver, of Oxford, Pa.,
and the three children born to this union are : Clara,
the wife of E. P. Dalberry, of Chester county ; John
W., also of Chester county ; and Reba„at home.
A man of fine education and broad outlook, Dr.
Gatchell has always been actively interested in pub-
lic affairs and has served his township most effi-
ciently in many offices, on the Republican ticket.
He was chosen representative to the General Assem-
bly from the southern district of Lancaster county,
was re-elected in 1872 and 1878 and was again hon-
ored in 1888, performing the duties of his high
office with the ability which characterizes all his
efforts. Since his return to private life he has re-
sumed the duties of an absorbing practice and in his
profession he is recognized as a leader in Lancaster
County.
JOHN B. APPLETON, whose death in 1871
was deeply lamented by the community in which
he lived and where he was known as an industrious
and honorable man of business and a kind and help-
ful neighbor, was born in Chester county. Pa., in
1836, son of Joseph Appleton, of the same county,
of English origin. On Sept. 12, 1856, he was mar-
ried to Miss Mary Stevenson, born Feb. 11, 1831,
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Daulin) Steven-
son, of Lancaster county, and was one of a family
of eight children, as follows : Matilda ; Mary, Mrs.
Appleton ; Harriet, wife of Gilbert Smith, otf Phila-
delphia; Malinda, deceased; Samuel, of Mt. Nebo;
Marinda, deceased ; Miss Elizabeth, of Philadel-
phia ;. and James, deceased. The Stevenson family
is one of the oldest now residing in Martic town-
ship, the great-grandfather of Mrs. Appleton com-
ing hither from England, a great many years ago.
' The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Appleton was
blessed with six children, naniely: Wilmot C, of
Oxford, Ch&ster county; William M., of Rawlins-
yille ; Elizabeth, the wife of J. F. Bair, of Lancaster;
Luella, a stenographer in Philadelphia; Mabel V.,
the wife of Levi Shank, of Long Island, New York ;
Jane, the wife of Elmer Walton, of Lancaster. Mr.
Appleton was a cabinetmaker and followed the busi-
ness of undertaking. In 1864 he volunteered in the
defense of his country and faithfully served as a
soldier in Co. D, 69th P. V. I., and it was during
this time that his health was so undermined that his
recovery was never complete, and he died in 1871.
The widow was left in straitened circumstances,
with the care of six young children, and it redounds
to her credit that she not only cared for them physi-
cally but also managed to educate them and fit them
for the honorable positions they now hold in so-
ciety. Mrs. Appleton is a respected and beloved
117S
BIOGRAPHICAJL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
member of her communitj-, a lovely Christian wo-
man, daih- performing acts of Icindness and show-
ing the fruits of an exemplar}- hfe.
JOSEPH STAUFFER BRUB.\KER, now aM
for many years the leading pharmacist of Vinton,
Iowa, is a native of Lancaster county, but went
West in 1855, and there became a ver\' prominent
citizen. He is a native of Rapho township, and be-
longs to one of the oldest and most influential fami-
lies in the coimtj- ; for, although the Brubakers alone
would constitute enough people — ^numerically as
well as financially — to fill and rvin a good sized cit\%
tie relationship does not end with that name, for
they are closely related to the Erismans, the Strick-
lers, Rohrers, Fricks and Staufl[ers.
Originally there were three brothers in the an-
cestry of Joseph S. Brubaker, and those three
brothers came from Switzerland generatioos ago
and settled in Rapho township, where they have
ever since been among the most substantial people.
Abraham Brubaker, grandfather of Joseph S.
Brubaker, grew to manhood in Rapho township,
and there wedded Maria Erisman, daughter of Ja-
cob Erisman and wife, who were also prominent
people of that district. From this union fourteen
children were bom, eleven sons and three daugh-
ters, as follows: Abraham, Christian, Benjamin,
Jacob, Samuel (who was the father of Joseph S.^,
Da^'id, John, Daniel, Henry, Peter and Martin. All
were farmers and all are deceased. The dau^ters
were Adaline, who married a Bletcher : ^laria, who
married a Hollinger; and Xancy, who married a
Shoemaker.
Samuel Brubaker, the father of Joseph S. Bru-
baker, was bom on the old homestead in Rapho
township, and there lived all the days of his life.
After a career of much usefulness he entered upon
his reward, and his remains were laid to rest in the
pri\'ate cemetery on the Stauffer homestead. ' His
wife was Catherine Stauffer, and to them were bom
two sons and two daughters, as follows: Samuel,
deceased, who married a Miss Shelley; Joseph S.,
now of Vinton, Iowa ; ]\Iaria, deceased, who mar-
ried Christian Miller; and Catharine, who died
young.
Joseph Stauffer Bmbaker, of Vinton, Iowa, is
the last sur\-ivor of his family. He was twice rriar-
ried, his first wife having been Harriet Hostetter,
daughter of Abraham Hostetter, of Lancaster coun-
t%-, and his second wife. Susan S. Smith, daughter
of Christian Smith, of Warren, Pa. Mr. Brubaker
is the father of three sons and one daughter, his
sons being Stauffer Joseph (who married a I^Iiss
Hostetter and has a daughter), Frank H. and
Charles W. Charles W., the youngest, was hon-
ored by an election for two successive terms to the
responsible office of treasurer of Benton county,
Iowa, and is as popular as he is trustworthy.
Xo man who has ever lef c Lancaster county has
become more prominent in the home of his adoption
than has Joseph S. Brubaker, his name ranking with
that of Hostetter of Stomach Bitters fame, who lo-
cated in Pittsburg, and \rith Dr. S. B. Hartman, of
Peruna fame, now li\'ing in Columbus, Ohio. Mr.
Brubaker (Joseph S.) is not only the leading drug-
gist of his section but is interested in almost
ever\^ing tending toward the advancement of
the place. He is one of the directors of the People's
Saving Bank, of \"inton, and is interested in many
business enterprises. This sketch can be concluded
in no better way than by quoting the following from
a newspaper article published in Vinton, where Mr.
Brubaker has lived these many jears, and of w"hich
place he is now so imf>ortant a part :
"Xo branch of the business is more important
to the community at large than that of the drug-
gist, and this house (Mr. Joseph Stauffer Bru-
baker"s) is one of its most prominent representa-
tives. It is always suppUed with a full and com-
prehensive line of pure drugs, chemicals, perfumes,
toilet articles and a complete stock of all the pro-
prietary- remedies of acknowledged merit and stand-
ard reputation, druggists' sundries and physicians'
supplies. This house is indorsed by the leading
physicians on account of the reliability and purity
of its drugs, and scientific service in the prescription
department, where the utmost caution is taken in
compounding medicines of all kinds. The labora-
tory is supplied with all the requisite facilities for
compounding the most difficult prescriptions, and
has won the well-merited distinction of being the
leading pharmacy in the locafit}-. 'Sir. Brubaker,
the proprietor of this model pharmacy, is a native of
Lancaster coimt}-. Pa., but came ^^'est in 1855, be-
ginning his business career at twent\--five years of
age, since which time he has been engaged in the
drug business. He has the honor of being the old-
est estabfished dmggist in the Cedar -^'alley, having
had fort>--three years' practical experience. He is
one of tiie most substantial and highly respected
citizens, and enjoys the confidence and esteem of the
entire communit},-, and is numbered among the lead-
ing and most progressive business men in the place."
BEXJ.AMIX EAVEXSOX. burgess of Chris-
tiana, and a successftil cattle dealer of that borough,
was born in Thombur\' to^\-nship. Chester counts-,
this State. Xov. 3, 1831, and he has long been one
of the notable men of Lancaster counts-.
Jonas and Emily (Valentine) Eavenson, his
parents, were hotel keepers in Chester countv mam-
years, and they died in Philadelphia. For'a time
the father was in the mercantile business, and then
later in the stock dealing. For the last few vears.
of his life he and his son. Alben T., were soap manu-
facturers in Philadelphia, and made a large quan-
tity of that article: later his son, :Mar\-in"M.. \\-as
admitted, and subsequently his grandsons, F. \'.
Eavenson and William J. Eavenson, were admitted
as members of the firm and the above, together -n-itli
Lewis L. and Roland !M. Eavenson, sons of Alben
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in&
T. and Marvin M., are now the largest soap manu-
facturers in Pennsylvania. Jonas Eavenson died
March 14, 1883, in his seventy-ninth year. The
wife and mother died Dec. 18, 1868, at the age of
sixty-six. She was a Quaker, and lived a beautiful
life as befit her faith. Their children were Alben T. ;
Lydia Ann, deceased wife of Nathan E. Dubree;
I'rancis, who died young ; Benjamin ; Reece, a cattle
dealer and a farmer in Sadsbury township; John,
who died young ; Richard ; George ; Mary, who mar-
ried L. F. Davis, a contractor and builder in Phila-
delphia; and Marvin.
The paternal grandfather of Benjamin Eavenson
wa? Ricnard fiavenson, of Chester county, Pa., of
Welsh extraction, while the maternal grandparents
were John and Mary (Taylor) Valentme.
Benjamin ^avenson was married on March I,
1855, in Compassville, Lancaster county, to Martha
Gibbs, by vyhom he had the folloyifing children:
William J., \yho married Mary Scheide, is in the
soap business noted above; Harry, who died at
the age of twenty-four ; Mary, vvho died when about
two years old ; Clara, deceased at the age of eleven ;
and Marvin M., a horse dealer and liverymari in
Christiana, who married Ida L. Whiteside.
Mrs. Benjamin !Eavenson was born near Com-
passville, Lancaster county, Feb. 7, 1830, a daugh-
ter of William A. and Mary (Evans) Gibbs, farming
people of Lancaster county. Her father, who died!
at the age of fifty-five years, was born Sept. 29, 1794.
The mother, Mary (Evans) Gibbs, was born Sept.
8, 1798, and died June 18, 1838. They left seven
children as follows : William A., Susan, Elizabeth,
Joseph, Martha and Mary (twins) and James. Of
these Mary died young and Martha (Mrs. Eaven-
son) died Aug. 3, 1899, in the seventieth year of
her age.
Mr. Eavenson lived on a farm until 1849, when
he set him.self to learn the trade of a plasterer, which
he followed until 1863. That year he took up the
cattle business, and still later was a merchant at
Black Horse, Chester county, where he held the
postofhce until 1881. That year he came to Chris-
tiana, and for about two ye^rs was out of business,
taking up the stock business at the end of that
time and he has earned a comfortable competence.
In February, 1901, Mr. Eavenson was elected
burgess for three years, and had been councilman for
thr?e years. In his politics he is a Republican. He
stands high in the community, and is known as a
gentleman in the truest sense of the word.
JOHN GIBSON (deceased). For many years
the larger part of the building interests of the city
of Lancaster, were in the capable hands of the late
John (iibson, who was well known through Lancas-
ter county, not only for his prominence as a builder
and contractor of reliability, but also as a most estim-
able and worthy citizen. He was born April 20,
1813, in Lancaster, and his lamented death occurred
Aug.' 12, l8()i. He was interred in Woodward Plill
cemetery. His parents were Alexander and Mary
Gibson, also of Lancaster, their family consisting of
four sons, namely: Alexander, Michael, WilRam
arid John, all now deceased.
The first marriage of John Gibson was to Miss
Eli?abeth Nagle, two children being born to this
union : John, who died at the age Of twenty years,
and Elizabeth, who died young. The second mar-
riage of Mr. Gibson was to Miss Susan Miller, iq
i-ancaster, who w^s born Feb. 17, 1823, in Provi-
dence township, daughter of John and Elizabeth
(Raub) Miller, who were farming people in thisi
county. .They were both consistent members of
the Lutheran Church ; his remains rest in Wood-
ward Hill cemetery in Lancaster, while she sleeps
in Providence township. Their children were : Jo-
nas; John; Jacob; Elizabeth; Esther; and Susan,
who is the widow of Mr. Gibson. The children born^
to Mr. Gibson's second marriage were : Miller, who.
died at the age of four years ; Jonas, who died at the
age of five years ; Ada, who married Christian Far-
rick, of Lancaster ; and Emma, who married Daniel
Yackley, and has had four children, John, Walter
and Ada being deceased, and Elmer L. surviving.
The useful life of Mr. John Gibson was passed
in Lancaster. H^ learned the trade of brick-layer
and in the course of time became a prominent con-
tractor and builder. His thoroughness and relia-
bility made him known over a wide extent and placed,
m?iny important contracts in his hands. He was the
builder and contractor to whom Lancaster owes the,
greater number of the stately, handsome and sub-
stantial buildings which were erected during his ac-
tive life. Among these may be mentioned the Stev-
ens House, German Lutheran Church, Trinity Chap-
el and a large number of the artistic residences,
which mark this city as one of great beauty. One
of his most remarkable feats was the erection of the
Mishler "twenty-four hour" house, which was
started and finished within twenty-four hours, ready
and complete to live in. For fifteen years prior to his
death he lived retired from active endeavor. He
was a strong supporter of the Republican party, but
would never consent to accept office. For a num-
ber of years he was a valued member of Trinity
Lutheran Church.
A. C. ILYUS is best known as 'Squire Ilyus ta
his fellow citizens in Manheim township, where he
served twenty-nine years as justice of the peace.
He has held various other public positons of trust,
and has from early manhood been identified with the
best interests of Lancaster county, forwarding every
enterprise which promised benefit to his town and
county.
The Squire was born Jan. 17, 1837, in West
Hempficld township, son of Abraham and Mary
(Clair) Ilyus, and comes from one of the old and
respected families of Manor township, where his
father was born. Abraham Ilyus died Feb. 21, 1856, •
in the prime of life. He was a shoemaker by'tradel
1180
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
His wife survived him many years, dying in. 1889,
at the age of seventy-six. She was born inRapho
township, as was also her father, Jacob Clair, a farm-
er and weaver.. Mr. and Mrs. Ilyus had the following
children who grew to. maturity : . Barbara, wife of
William Watts, of Brentwood, Ark. ; A. C., our
subject; Susan,, wife of Christian Snyder, of Kan-
sas ; Anna .Mary, wife of Harry Bertzfield, of Co-
lumbia, this county ; Elizabeth, wife of Michael
Kreider, of Lancaster county, but now deceased;
Magdelena, deceased wife of Amos Sehner, of East
Hempfield township; and Sarah, deceased wife of
William McClaini of Lancaster county.
Until twenty-two years of age our subject lived
in West Hempfield township. He was reared on a
farm and attended the neighborhood schools. After
a course of - study in the Mount Joy Academy, he
feegan teaching during the fall of 1853, in Penn
to\viiship, and for twelve terms successfully cop-'
•ducted schools. The last six terms he was, stationed
in two schools in Manheim township, and he taught,
four terms, in the Neffsville school,, where he lo-
cated, pernjailently in 1859. In 1866 he .abandoned
Heaching, becorning a clerk- in the recorder's office
an Lancaster, and the following year was transcrib-
irig clerk in Harrisburg. In 1863 he was first elected
■assessor, which office he has -held altogether for over
thirty-five years, In 1869 he was elected justice of
the peace/ discharging the.' duties of this,, oiffice..up,.
to January, J 894, when he resigned, ^pjach tirne:he,
was re-elected on the Republican ticket, ajici.vijl^stfte
only one to .fill the office in .^Neft'sville, Having la^fir:
re-elected assessor of Mahheim .in 1872, he h^s con-
tinuously held that position up to the present tiiro^.
On April 15, 1893, he was nominated pa the Repub-,
lican ticket for the, office. of Prothonotary^ ,.aiid was,,
elected' that ,fall, talciiig his ,QffiGe at the beginning of
the following year, and serving for a term of thrWe-
years. For about seventeen years he was collector
of the .§chppl tax in. this township, and is also a con-,
■veyancer. , '. ,, . . ■■,..
In West, Hempfield, 'Squire Ilyus was married,,
in Septeiiiber, 1857; tp.Victoria Musselrnan, a na-.
tive of Cumberland county, born July, 12., 1838,-
•daughter of Henry Musselman, who taught .school
in Mt. Jov and other places. In 1864 he enlisted in
the ,i84th"p, V. I. At the battle of Petersburg his
tongue, ■vvas' shot pfi" by a minie ball, he was made a-
captive and he died in a Rebel hospital. At the tirne
tljat he volunteered his services he was over the-
regulation age, and he was a faithful and valiant'
defender, pf the flag to the last. Of the children
born to Mr. and Mrs. Ilyus, three are living: Harry
M., who attended the Millersville State Normal
■school and is running a shoe store on North Queen
street; Ed-ward B., formerly a student at the. State
Normal, and now a practicing physician at No. 13
East Walnut street ; and A. Charles, a graduate . of
the high school, who served as deputy clerk while
bis father held the office of prothonotary, continued
with Capt. Stauffer, our subject's successor, and
with the present incumbent sorrie fifteen rnonths,
Mrs. Ilyus, who passed away July i, .1896, was a
member of the Lutheran Church and a most estim-
able lady. ' On Oct. 8; 1901, the 'Squire married' Mrs.
Julia A. Groff, widow of, Martin S. Groff, late of
Kissel Hiil, this county, and daughter of John G.
Hollinger, of Ephrata tO]ivnship.
For over a quarter of a century, 'Squire Ilyus
has been clerk of sales. He is particularly busy dur-
ing the, winter, managing about .120 sales a year,
besides which he has administered a number 6f es-
f:g.tes. From 1885 to 1888 he was jury commissioner
of the county, elected on the Republican ticket. When,
rioniinated in the spring of 1893, he, was the success-
ful one of four candidates, receiying, a majority of
168 votes. He -is a stockho][der in ,the Pe;6pre's Trust,
Savings & Deposit Co., of which he "was one of the
organizers, and is a director in the Pqojjle's Na-
tioi;ial Baink, of Lancaster. ,Si,nc? the organization
of the NeflFsville Mutual Fire Insurance Cp-', in 1878,
he has been secretary, thereof. Nearly $1,800,000 of
insurance have been placed in the township,; and, only,
thirty cents oh $i,0QO a year has been pajd out in
losses. The Manheim & Penri Tiirnpi^ke Co. was
organized in 1 88 1 and built the road, on. .contract. It
is a great convenience to the township^ £(hd the
■■,Squire was very active in carrying,, the movement
forward. He served some fourtee,n years g.s secre-
tary, of the company, pf late, he ,h^s- been 'very ^ac-
tiye iri promoting the' construction, of eleetf ic , rail-
roads in.the .c.punty. . ,....';• !,^ ' .. . .
:' iHENRY:' WEAVER KBY-. '. Our, sister repub-
lic, I'ttle ,3witzerl^nd, . is bPUii^,in sympathetic ties,
to the gfsa.-ter republic pf thp' .'Occident, although
thousands'of leagues of water and thousands of niiles
intervene between the only two .republics, pure and
sirqpte, that .exist on the face of 'the globe, and dem-
pns,frate to the h^.tip,ns that man , is- capable pf self-
gOTernment and cpmpetent to en.a,ct and maintain
livfs that redound'to the greatest good pi the great-
est .number,,. . While, hp truly- great or famous ''man
has p.onie to Americ^ from, the, Httle republic to here,
make his home,, nor ^any great numbers of the peas-
antry and middle classes sought a refuge pri the
spil of the United States,- there have been -planted
se-veral . Swiss cplpriies thrpugljout the Union, and
nurnerpus instances pf -indtviduai; immigration re-,
suiting, in permanent residehc;^ •within pur country's
bourn. The reason -for tljis sparse, coming is pbvi-.
ous. The Swiss are a free people. Climatic rigors
in the Alpine .hills and low-priced lands in this coun-
try are among the causes that Igad to Swiss emigra-,
tion .chiefly, more especially ;'of...the agricultural
classes, and these are invariably stekdy-going, in-
telligent arid industrious husbandmen, and they be-
come most excellent and useful citi.zens..
Among the early pioneers of Lancaster, county,
Pa., was Theodorus Eby, who came from Switzer-
land in 1719, and settled in Salisbury township.
From him have descended all of the family name
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1181
in the State, including several of more than a. local
reputation.
Henry Weaver Eby, a retired farmer of Salis-
bury township, Lancaster county, a descendant of
Theodorus above mentioned, was born on the farm
he still occupies Dec. g, 1826, a son of Peter Eby and
a brother of Bishop Isaac: Eby, to whom this isxm
of 140 acres belongs; an adjoining farm df eighty
acres is the property of Henry W. In 1866, how-
ever, Henry W. retired from active participation
in the cultivation of the place, but still keeps a su-
pervision over it.
Mr. Eby in politics is a Republican. He served
thirteen years on the school board, and is still very
popular with his party, as well as with the public
in general. While not a member of any church, he
has, nevertheless, proved himself a friend of all re-
ligious movements. He is of a genial disposition and
a gentleman of uiiswerving integrity, while his life
of usefulness has won for him the unfeigned respect
of his neighbors . and made for hini warm-hearted
friends by the score far and near.
JACOB R. MYERS, a well-known farmer of
Manor township,, s a grandson of George Myers,
and son of Jacob Myers, both of Lancaster county.
George Myers lived and died in Manor township,
where he conducted a distillery. Of. his early life
not much is known, but he is supposed to have Tjeen
born there. He was twice married, first to a Miss
Hagentobler, by whom he had four children, Bar-
bara, Betsey, Annie and Jacob (father of Jacob. R.,),
The six children by his second marriage, which was_
to a Miss Knisley, were narried Daniel, George, Da-
vid, Benjamin, Joseph and Henry. It is with those
of the first union that this narrative is particularly
concerned, since it is through that branch of the
family that Jacob R. Myers traces his descent. Bar-
bara became the wife of Henry Ament, of Washing-
ton Borough. Betsey was three times married, her
first husband being Rudy Stehman^ her second a
Mr. Waller, and her third MichaeL Sneiik'. Aimie'
was twice married, first to Christian Stehman, and
after his death to John Lahdis. ;
Jacob Myers, the father of Jacob R., passed most '.
of his life in Manor township, where he owned a
large farm which he cultivated with notable success ,
until within a few years of his death, when he re-
tired and took up his residence in Mountville. He
was a member of the Old Mennonite Church, a man
of substance, and deservedly held in high esteem by .
his neighbors and acquaintances. His first rriarriage
was to Anna, daughter of Abraham Rohrer, of Ma- ^
nor, and after her demise he married Annie White.
To the first union were born six children : Daniel,
Elizabeth (wife of Levi Shuman), Mary, Jacob R.,
Annie and Abraham. Daniel was a farmer, and.bpth
active and influential in local affairs; he married
Mary Lehman, and died in 1899, at the age of six^,^
ty-two. Elizabeth married Levi Shuman. ■■■ Mary-
married Abraham Charles, of Washington borough,
Lancaster county. Annie (deceased) was the wife
of Amos Lehman, of Manor. Abraham had his
home at Steelton, Pa., he was formerly a merchant,
but is now in the ministry of the United Brethren
Church. By his second marriage Jacob Myers had
a son, Henry, who resides at Columbia ; and a daugh-
ter, Sadie, who is the wife of Abraham Kauffman, of
Philadelphia.
Jacob R. Myers was born in Manor township
Feb. 26, 1843. He lived with his father on the lat-
ter's farm, until he had completed his thirtieth year,,
when he moved to his present home, one mile south,
of Mountville. There he owns and conducts one
of the finest farms in Lancaster county, comprising
loi acres, highly improved. He is energetic and lib-
eral, progressive and public-spirited, and one of Lan-
caster's most influential citizens. He was one of the
organizers and is a director of the Mouiltville Na-
tional Bank, and is secretary of the Mountville Tilan-
ufacturing Co. Mr. Myers has held local offices,
among them that of school director. His political
creed is Republican, and in religious faith he is a,
Mennonite. He takes a deep and active interest in
church affairs, contributing liberally to the cause of
religion, is a trustee of the Habecker Church, and was
among the foremost in securing the erection of the!
church edifice of his denomination in Mountville.
On Jan. 3, 1873, Jacob R. Myers married Eliz-
abeth Seitz, daughter of Jacob Seitz, of Manor town-
ship, and one son has blessed their union, Charles.,
He was born Jan. 29, 1876, and is by trade a ma-
chinist. He married Martha Shenk, daughter of
Abraham Shenk, of Manor, and resides in Colum-
bia.
JOHN HOMSHER, long time a successful mer- .
chant at Bartville, Lancaster coiinty, was born in
Sadsbury township, Jan. 27, 1826, son of John and
Mary (Coon) Homsher.
Daniel Homsher, his grandfather^ was born in
1 76 1, in Germany, and came to this country, settling
ill Montgomery county. His wife, Barbara Spear-
iing, was also born in Germany in 1761. They had
a, family of five sons and two daughters : Peter,.
John, Jacob, Samuel, William, Maria and Cather-
ine.
John Homsher, son of Daniel and father of John,
was bom in Montgomery county in June, 1792, and
was reared and educated in his native county, where
he learned the tailor's trade, which he followed until
the death of his wife in 1858. From that time until
his death in April, 1872, he made his home with our
subject. John Homsher and his wife, who was
Mary Coon, a native of Philadelphia, were reared as
Presbyterians, but in later years became members
of the Methodist Church. They had a family of ten
children : ( i ) Mary J., born in 1822, married Will- •.
'iam R. Leach, a native of Bart township, and after
some years moved to Pomeroy, Chester county,
"where she died leaving three sons, John, William and
Louis, all of whom have become prominent in Ches--
1182
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ter county. (2) Ffank, born in March, 1824, is now
a retired business man of Christiana. (3) John is
the subject of this sketch. (4) Theodore, born in
Lancaster county, in 1828, is now a retired merchant
of Kearneysville, \¥. Va., where he has a family
of four children: Mary, Frank, Bell and Vii'ginia.
(5) Susan B., born in March, 1830, married J. R.
Townsend, a prominent business man of Smyrna,,
Lancaster county, and is the mother of five children :
Howard, Ellwood, Moi-ris, Ella and Elizabeth. (6)
Lydia A., born in 1832, married William H. James,
a commission merchant of Philadelphia, and they
have three children: Theodore, Mary and Alice.
(7) Amanda, born in 1836, married John Supplee,
who died in Philadelphia, where she still resides.
They ha.d one daughter, Mary, who is the wife of
John Casey, of Philadelphia. (8) Charles W., boi-n
in 1839, i^ Liaiicaster county, where he was reared
to manhood. He enlisted in one of the Indiana cav-
alry regiments, and served during the Civil warj and
for nine months was in Libby Prison. After the
War he carte back to Lancaster county and was mar-
ried to Miss Ella Baughman, of Philadelphia. He
became a foreman in one of the marble works of
that city, and he was killed by a slab of marble falling:
upon him. (9) Sarah L., born July 4, 1841, married
Samuel Townsend, of Smyrna, how a retired busi-
ness man of Christiana, (ip) Miss Catherine, bOrn
in July, 1843, resides in Philadelphia.
John Homsiier received his education in the dis-
trict schools, and when, a young man became an
adept at the tailor's trade, which, however, he did
not long pursire. In 1850, he formed a partnership
with his brother-in-law, J. R. Townsend, and, en-
gaged in a store at Smyrna., At the expiratioa of
about two years Mr. HomSher bought out his broth-
er-in-law, and for seven years carried on business
alone, or until i860, when he sold out, and then pui--
chased a farm in Bart township, in the cultivation
of which he was engaged for the ensuing six years.
Previous to engaging in Ja.rmihgf he was postmaster
of Smyrna, Lancaster county, five years ; was post-
master under James Buchanan, and he has been post-
master of Bartville for thirty-six years. In 1867
he purchased the real estate of Thomas Ferguson,
and set up a store in Bartville, in the management
of which he has continued to the present time.
John Homsher was married in 1853 to Rachel
E. Coulter, who was born Oct. 20, 1830, daughter
of John and Eleanor Coulter. To this union have
come three children: (l) Viella L. Homsher, who
received her education in the select and the Union
High Schools, lives at home; she is regarded as a
woman of more than the usual charms and
graces. (2) Elmer died when a boy of seven years.
(3) Howard N., a partner with his father at Etart-
ville, married Miss Lizzie Montgomery, of Colerain,
who died in 1895, leaving him one daughter, Olive
Frances. Howard N. Homsher is an active
worker and leader in the Democratic ranks of Lan-
caster county, and was elected in the fall of 1000
jury commissioner for a term of three years.
John Homsher is a Democrat, and bias served a
number of years as school dii-ectOr of Bart town-
ship. All tills family belong to the Presbyterian
Church, and are highly esteemed for their many
good qualities and their genuine worth.
MILLER ECKMAN, one of the most substantial
and highly respected fai-mers of Lancaster county,
now retired from activity and a i-esident of Lancas-
ter City, was born near Puseyville, in Colerain town-
ship, Lancaster county, Nov. 22, 1820, a son of Ja-
cob ind Catherine (Miller) Eckman, natives of Eden
and Strasburg townships, respectively,
The Eckman family is an old one in, Lancaster
county, and was founded there by a German emi-
grant by the name of HyriiiimoUS Eckman, who
married' a Miss Slaymaker, accompanying the lat-
ter's family to Lancaster county in 1706.
John Eckman, son of the emigrant and grand-
father of Miller Eckitrafl, marfied Katie Foutz, and
became an extensive farmer in Ede.n township.
Jacob Eckman, son of John, died in Li^ncaster
City, Nov. 18, 1858, at the age p'f seventy-two years.
He, married Catherine, daughter of David Miller,
of Lampeter township, who died March 15, 1880,
at the age of oinety-two years, and vvas buried by
the side of her husband in the Menrionite cemetery,
both having been members of the New Mennonite
Church. They had the following childreri born to
them : Maria, Widow of George Trout, lives at
Mount Pleasant, Pa.; Elizabeth, widow of Charles
Kirkwood ; Susan, widow of Frank Brabson ; Katie,
widow of Amos Greist; Iskac, who died in 1859;
Miller, of this sketch ; Joshua, who died in Kansas ;
David, liying in Kansas City ; Jacob is a blacksmith
in Philadelphia; and Hester A. deceased wife of
Christian Kreider, of Lampeter township. Jacob
Eckman, the father, was a wagonmaker by trade,
and carried on a large business for years, and then
became an extensive farmer. He owned three line
farms at his deatli, and in 1855 ^^^^^ ^^^ home in
this city where he died. He had six acres of land
which is a part of Lancaster City.
Miller Eckman grew up On the farm and re-
mained on the old place until 1S66, whetl as adminis-
trator he sold it, and in 1S65 he sold his own farm
to John Geiger, removing at that time into Lancas-
ter. Desiring to see something of the country, when
a young tnan, Mr. Ecknian started on a western tour
which he extended over several years, during which
time he traveled over many States. He has crossed
the Allegheny mountains some eighteen times. After
his location in Latlcaster he passed the succeeding
twenty-two years in teaming, later working at the
carpenter trad^, in which he had become skilled.
With the assistance of one heljjer, he did all the work
on seven houses which still stand to attest his capa- .
bility. Mr. Eckman also took a prominent part for
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1188
some years in city politics, and from 1874 until he
resigned in 1878, he was a member of the City Coun-
cil from Republican wards. He has served on the
jury many times and has always willingly assumed
the duties of go6d citizenship. He is a member of
ihe Presbyterian Church, and for the past eight years
has been one of the trustees. Mr. Eckman owns a
large amount of valuable city property, both im-
proved and otherwise, and is regarded as one of the
substantial citizens.
On March 21, 1848, in Lancaster, Mr. Eckman
was married to Elizabeth Epkman, a distant rela-
tive, and a datighter of Martin and Catherine (Eck-
man) Eckman. To this union was born : George
E., a clerk in the postoffice, who married Miss Fi-
lena Harry, who was born in New Garden, Chester
county, a daughter of John and Sarah P. (Harry)
Harry, farming people of that county. One son
has been born to Mr. and Mrs. GeOrge Eckman,
Harry M.
Mrs. Miller Eckthan was born in Little Britain
township, and died Nov. 10, 1890, aged seventy-
seven years and two days. She was laid to rest in
Woodward Hill cemetery.
Miller Eckman enjoys most excellent health de-
spite his advancing years, and in both mental poise
and physical appearance reflects the advantages of an
active and >vell regulated life. He takes a deep in-
terest in current literature, this being enhanced on
account of his exceHent eyesight, requiring no assist-
ance from the lens of the oculist. He is universally
esteemed, and is well-known through Lancaster
county where his friends are many.
JACOB A. BAIR. For more than a quarter of
a century Jacob A. Bair has been the popular and
efficient proprietor of the "Williamstown Hotel" at
the village of Vintage, Paradise township, Lancas-
ter county. He had been a successful farmer in his
eirlie'r life, and as hotel keeper he soon becanie wide-
Ij' and favorably known to the traveling public^ for
he possessed those qualities of heart and mind which
endear the host of the inn to his guests, and he is
the representative of one of the old and honored fam-
ilies of Lancaster county.
Jacob A. Bair was born in Leacock township,
Jan. 30, 1832, son of William and Mary Ann
(Trout) Bair, and the grandson of David Bair, in
his time a leading farmer of Earl township. Mary
Ann Trout, the mother of Jacob A. Bair, was a di-
rect descendant in the fi^th generation frorn Conrad
Rutter, who migrated to America in 1683, lo-
cating first on the site of Germantown, Pa., which
town he helped to found. He rernoved to Montgom-
ery county, and later in 1716 came to Leacock town-
ship, Lancaster county, with his three sons, locating
on 588 acres of land. His descendants were among
the most honored and respected citizens of Lancaster
county, as clearly set forth in the history of the Rut-
ter family. William Bair, the father of Jacob A.,
Jived to the age df eighty-four years, and the mother
died at sixty-four. To them were born the follow-
ing children: Martin, deceased; David, deceased;
Jacdb A., whose sketch appears herewith; Samuel,
who resides near New Holland, Earl township;
Amanda, wife of Laban RaucTc, of New Jersey;
EHas, of Philadelphia; Mary Ann, wife of Harry
Weidler, of I>ahcaster City; and Hannah, wife of
Amos Brackbill, of Strasburg township.
Jacob A. Bair was reared on the farm of one hun-
dred acres in Leacock township, where his father
lived most of his life and received his education in
the common schools. At the age of twenty-one he
began life on his o\Vn accbtlnt -by taking charge of
a farrn of his father's in Leacock township. . He con-
tinued actively, engaged in fairrning in Leacock and
Paradise townships until 1876, when he removed to
the village of Vintage, where he has since resided,
all the while as owner and projprietor df the "Will-
iamstown hotel." He has, by his long experience
in that capacity, amply demonstrated that he is the
right man in the right place. He is genial and
whble-sduted, and his hostelry is famed throughout
the eastern part of Lancaster county. Mr. Bair
is alsb a well-known sportsman, with a special fond-
ness for fox-hunting. His pack of fox hounds are
of the best, and he has in his stdbles the right kind
of horses to fdllow. He has given considerable at-
tention to horses of the track Arariety, and has won
during the past few years some good races.
Mr. Bair married in 1853 Miss llachael Royer,
daughter of Jdhn Royer, of Leacock township. To
Mr. and Mrs. Bair have been born nine children,
namely: Henry, who died at the age 6i twenty-
two years ; Josephine, wife of Henry Eby, of Phila-
delphia ; Annk Mary ; Catherine ; Elizabeth, a sten-
og-rapher with the Hazleton National Bank, Hazle-
ton; Clara; Rachael, wife of Edward Livingston,
of Point Pleasant, N. J. ; Jacob, who married Miss
Nora Russell, of Gap; and Clement, assistant clerk
for the supervisor of the Pennsylvania railroad at
Wall, Pa. Although now seventy years of age Mr.
Bair has the appearance and activity of a man many
years his junior. He is exceedingly well preserved
and enjoys 'the friendship and esteem of a wide cir-
cle of friends.
JOHN GROSH, prothonotary of Lancaster
county, although a familiar figure in Lancaster, par-
ticularly about the Court House, lives on the old
family homestead in Landis Valley, Manheim town-
ship, where he carries on farming of the most pro-
gressive kind. His great-grandfather came from
Germany, and his grandfather, Thomas Grosh, died
at Neffsville in 1879, aged seventy-ive years, after
having lived a retired life for twenty years. Thomas
Grosh married Sophia Shfeiner, a descendant of the
Shreiner \vho emigrated from Germany and settled
in Manheim township, in 1730, and of the same fam-
ily of Shreiners who, for three generations, owned
the land upon which the Lancaster Trust Com-
pany Building, on North Queen street, now stands.
1184
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Thomas Grosh lived in the old homestead and was
succeeded there by his son, Daniel S. Grosh, and
in this house Prothonotary John Grosh was born.
It is one of the oldest houses in Lancaster county.
Daniel S. Grosh, father of our subject, died
March 31, 1881, aged fifty years. He married
Sarah Ann Hostetter, a daughter of the late John
Hostetter, a prominent farmer, miller, drover and
general business man of Manheim.
John. Grosh was born Jan. 20, 1854, on the old
homestead in Landis Valley, and was married on
Dec. 18, 1877, to Anna Elizabeth Weitzel, daughter
of Elias and Susanna Weitzel, of Reamstown. The
children born to this union are: Clarence Weitzel
and Jennie Stewart, the former being a clerk in his
father's office.
Mr. Grosh has farmed the old homestead of 141
acres from 1877 to the present time, and is, besides,
a dealer in leaf tobacco. He has always been an
ardent Republican, and the esteem in which he. is
held in his home district is evidenced frorn the fact
that he was chosen a Republican county committee-
man for ten years, has served as a school director
for nine years (seven years as president of the board
and two years as treasurer), was elected a delegate
to the State Republican Convention which met at
Harrisburg in 1880, and was triumphantly elected
to the responsible office of prothonotary of Lancaster
county in November, 1899. Mr. Grosh's family
belong to St. Paul's Reformed Church, in this city.
He is an Odd Fellow, of which order he is a past
officer, and he also belongs to the Young Repub-
licans and the Citizens' Republican Club. In lodge,
club and business and social circles Mr. Grosh is
exceedingly popular, and no man in the county enr
joys a better reputation in all the things that go to
make the good citizen.
WILLIAM S: CARPENTER. The term, or
word, "boniface," from time immemorial, has been
employed to designate the proprietor, landlord, or
keeper of an inn, tavern, or hotel, according to cus-
tom of the people among whom such a house or pub-
lic accommodation may be located, boniface being a
word compounded from the French and English, sig-
nifying "good-natured or pleasing," the last syllable
being self-explanatory. The term is not ina;ptly ap-
plied to the gentleman whose name opens this bio-
graphical notice.
William S. Carpenter, proprietor of the "Bellevue
Hotel" at Gap, Lancaster county, was born in Lam-
peter Square, West Lampeter township, May 29,
1863, a son of Alpheus and Martha (Weaver) Car-
penter, natives of the same place.
Alpheus Carpenter was a contractor, builder and
undertaker at Lampeter Sauare, where he died in
February, 1896, at the age of sixty-nine years, his re-
mains being interred in Longenecker's meeting house
cemetery. Mrs. Martha (Weaver) Carpenter, who
was born in 1831, has her home in Lancaster. The
surviving children born to Alpheus and Martha Car-^
penter are Katie A., Ida E. and William S., the
daughters being single and residing with their
mother. The paternal grandfather of William S.
Carpenter, who married Elizabeth Grubbs, was of
Swiss origin, but was born in Lancaster, Pa. He
was a contractor and builder and died in Lampeter
Square. The maternal grandparents were Samuel
and Martha (Rush) Weaver, also of Swiss extrac-
tion. Samuel W"eaver by calling was a farmer and
died in May, 1887, m Lancaster,- one of its most re-
spected residents.
William S. Carpenter was united in marriage in
Lancaster, May 18, 1887, with Miss Alice B. Rowe,
of whom further mention will be made. To their
union have been born the following children: Mar-
ian (deceased), Edith C, Cora, John A., (deceased),
and Ernily F.
Mrs. Alice B. (Rowe) Carpenter was born in
Providence township,- Lancaster county, Dec. 24,
1867, a daughter of Benjamin F. and Elizabeth
(Miller) Rowe, members of one of the oldest and
mo"st distinguished families of Lancaster county.
Benjamin F. Rowe was personally very popular
throughout Lancaster county. He was elected to
numerous township offices, and was the youngest
man ever elected sheriff of Lancaster county. In
the latter capacity he hanged two negroes — Ander-
son and Richards — a painful duty, but unavoidable
under the law. After his term as sheriff he was dep^
uty sheriff three terms. He died at the age of sixty-
six years, and was buried in the Brick Meeting
House cemetery in Lampeter township. In 186 1
Mr. Rowe enlisted in the three-months' service in a
Pennsylvania regiment, and after his discharge he
was appointed assessor of Internal Revenue and
served until Johnson's term as president. He was a
prominent up-to-date, self-made man, and was popu-
lar as an auctioneer. Acquiring considerable money
he was classed among the wealthy citizens of his
town, and was of such genial and generous disposi-;
tion, that he shared much of his wealth among his
friends, and died with but limited means. Mrs. Rowe
was a member of the Mennonite Church.
William S. Carpenter acquired a sound educa-
tion in the district schools, and after finishing his-
studies he united with his father in conducting a
contracting and building business which was con-
tinued until 1888, when he went. to Rawlinsville,
Lancaster county, and opened a hotel, which he suc-
cessfully managed for two years. In 1890 he came
to Gap and took charge- of the "Bellevue," which is-
universally acknowledged to be one of the best kept
in Lancaster county. This popular hotel is a brick
structure of thirty rooms, and is equipped with all
modern improvements and conveniences, such as
stationary wash-stands and bath-tubs with hot and
cold water, electric lights, etc., and was erected by
\¥alker, Rutter & Eby in 1886. The table is fur-
nished with all that could be desired by the most fas-
tidious epicure.
Mr. Carpenter is a well read gentleman and pos-
BIOGIlAPHfCAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1185
sesses a library that exhibits a collectiom of volumes
that are a credit to tfie taste and eradition of Ae
owner. Fraternally he is a Master Mason and po-
litically a Republican.
EZEKIEL G. WEBB, a prominent and success-
ful farmer of East Drumore to^vnship, Lancaster
county, was bom in Colerain township March 7,
1841, a son of Henry and Eliza (Griiifith) Webb,
both natives of Chester county, Pennsylvania.
The history of the Webb family in Lancaster
county begins in 1686. Ezekiel Webb, the great-
grandfather of E. G„ was a soldier of the Revolu-
tion. By his wife Cordelia he had the following
children: Elizabeth, born Feb. 10, 1773, between
twelve and one o'clock in the afteirnoon; Rebecca,
born about four o'clock in the morning, Aug. 16,
1775, departed this life May 26, 1776; Sarah, born
at one o'clock -in the afternoon, March 3, 1777, mar-
ried a Copelaiid ; Hannah, born at ten o'clock in the
morning, March i, 1779, married a Harlan; and
Thomas, born near five o'clock in the morning,
March 10, 1781.
Thomas Webb, youngest son of Ezekiel and Cor-
delia, was one of the leading farmers of his day, and
was extensively engaged in the manufacture of cot-
ton. He owned a gristmill and over 300 acres of
land. He was connected by marriage with the Har-
lan family, who came from England. With his
wife Esther (Paxton) he settled for a time at
Chadd's Ford, but later moved to Unionville, where
his son Henry was born, and where both Thomas and
his wife died. They became the parents of the fol-
lowing family: (i) Henry is mentioned below.
(2) Ezekiel married a Miss Orr, of Chester county,
and settled on a farm in Colerain township, where he
died while still a young man; his widow and her
children returned to Chester county, where they all
died. (3) Thomas married Mary Lilly, and entered
into business as a farmer and miller. He was a
man of education, and was a teacher and surveyor ;
he organized the first bank in Chester county. His
family were: John, Howard, William (deceased),
Jane (who married John Hoopes, of Westchester)
•and Ruth (at her home in Westchester, Pa.). (4)
William married for his first wife Sarah Coats, who
died leaving two sons, Henry C. and George, His
second wife was Phebe Pownall, by whom he had
six children: Joseph, William, Pownall, Hettie
(vdio married C. Chanler, and is deceased), Katie
and Phebe (the wife of Howard Maule, Chester ;
county). (5) Mary married Caleb Woodward, and
both are deceased. They left a family of five children : ;
four girls and one son, Brinton Webb. These chil- '
dren are all deceased except Mary Hannah, who'
married Morris McFarland, who died in young 1
manhood, leaving his widow with two children,:
Caleb and Anna (who married Alfred Hallowell).
(6) Matilda married George Walters, and both havej
passed away. (7) Jane married William Taylor and I
is deceased. (8) Hettie married Rule Jeflferes, of
75
Chester comity. (9) Sarah married James Cloud
and lived in Chester county.
Henry Webb was born in Unionville April 19,
.1806, and was reared in Chester county, engaging
in the milling business with his father. He was
married in December, 1829, to Eliza Griffith, wha
was born in August, 1808, daughter of Hanaman
Griffith, of Chester county. They lived for a fevy
years in that county, when he bought a farm irk
Colerain township, where he lived for a time, and
then moved to the farm of his uncle, Ezekiel Webb,
which had come into his possession. In 1847 Hen-
ry Webb was persuaded by his father to return tp
Chester county, where he made his home until 1852,
in which year he resumed his residence on his Lan-
caster county farm. In 1872 he sold this property
to live with his children until his death, in 1887, his
wife passing away the previous year. Mr. Webb
was a Whig and a Republican, and took aii active
interest in politics. In religion he and his wife
were Friends. They had the following family : ( i)
Matilda married Simeon Pownell, and long lived 'in
Sadsbury township, retiring from active life afid
making their home in Harrisburg, a few years ago;
their family are: Joseph, a business man; How-
ard, the railroad physician at Altoona, Pa.; Mafy
and Phoebe. (2) John P., born in March, 1833,
went to California, in 1849, where he married Miss
Rebecca Boyse and engaged in a mercantile life, dy-
ing in 1887, leaving ten children : Nelson ; Harry ;
Abraham ; Anna ; Katie ; John, who is deceased ; Ed-
ward; Mary; Cora; and Frederick. (3) Mary J.,
born in Colerain township in April, 1834, married
Pennington Moore and settled in Colerain town-
ship, where she died in 1880, leaving four children :
Simeon, a business man of Philadelphia; Henry, a
physician in Philadelphia; Thomas E., a shoe mer-
chant of Philadelphia ; and Mabel, who married Jos-
q)h Berlin, also a shoe merchant of that city. (4)
Thomas, born in April, 1836, became a school teach-
er, and in 1862 entered the Union army on an enlist-
ment of two years. When he was mustered out he
went to California and met with a large success as
a ranchman and stock raiser; Mary Watson, his
wife, was a graduate of the Millersville State Nor-
mal, (s) William H., born in. June, 1838, was
reared in Colerain township, where he engaged as
a farmer and merchant, and after some years went
west to Des Moines, Iowa, where he is now living a
retired life. His wife died in 1900, the mother of
two children: Lillian, who died in her young
womanhood ; and William, who is a druggist in St.
Joseph, Mo. (6) Ezekiel G is sixth in the order of
birth. (7) Eliza R., born in April, 1843, married
Marshall Hastings, a farmer in Colerain township,
and is the mother of two children: Minnie, wife
of A. Campbell, a farmer of Chester county; and
William, of Colerain township. (8) Pearson,
born in Colerain township in May, 1845, mar-
ried Miss Becking and is now living in Philadelphia ;
they have had a family of six children : Harry, a
1186
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
business man of Wayne; Frank, a railroad con-
ductor, as is his brother WilHam, both being in the
employ of the Pennsylvania Railway Co.; Louisa;
Mabel; and Anna, at home. (9) Sarah L., born
in Colerain township Jan. 17, 1849, married Will-
iam Hogg, a farmer, and died in her native town-
ship in 1882, the mother of four children: Anna,
who is Mrs. Ellwood Moore, of Chester county; Me-
Sissa, married Dr. Gilbert Hagee, of Kirkwood, Lan-
caster county; William and Harry reside in Ches-
ter, where William is a laborer, and Harry, is in the
employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
JEzekiel G. Webb was educated in the Union
High Schools of Lancaster county, and was living at
home when the war broke out. He enlisted in Co.
G, I22d P. V. I., and two weeks later was engaged
in the second battle of Bull Run. His regiment was
at Antietam, and in the thick of the battle at Fred-
ericksburg. It was engaged at Chancellorsville,
and made throughout its history a most honorable
record. When Mr. Webb's term of enlistment ex-
pired he re-enlisted in Independent Battery I. He
was at Gettysburg and in many other stirring and
thrilling scenes. As a member of the battery he was
stationed near Washington, where he remained until
the war closed, being honorablv discharged in June,
1865.
At the close of the war Mr. Webb came back to
Lancaster county. In February, 1868, he was mar-
ried to Narcissa D. Wright, a daughter of Samuel
and Mary J. (Clayton) Wright. Her father was
born in Sadsbury township, and settled in Little
Britain, where he died, leaving a widow, who is still
living on the old homestead. Mrs. Webb is the eld-
est daughter of five children, and was born in Little
Britain, in November, 1842. Her early education
was obtained in the local school, and she was later
a student in the Millersville State Normal, and for
eight years she was one of the successful teachers of
Lancaster county.
Mr. and Mrs. Webb settled in Drumore town-
ship, on a farm, where they remained for a time, then
moving to his father's farm in Colerain. There he
remained until 1876, when he purchased the Captain
Lovitt homestead in East Drumore, a mile east of
Mechanics Grove, where he has made general im-
provements, and now owns one of the fine farms of
this section of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Webb
have three children: (i) Adella, born in June,
1869, was a student at the Millersville State Normal.
For twelve years in the schools of Lancaster she
has been a successful teacher, nine years teaching
in her native township. (2) Mary E., born in No-
vember, 1870, was educated in the public schools,
going to Union high school and Fernwood, and was
married in December, 1894, to Charles Patterson,
of Lancaster county. They are living on the old
homestead of his grandfather in Little Britain, and
have a son, Horace W., born in 1896, and a daugh-
ter, Elizabeth N., born in 1898. (3) Ada V., born in
October, 1872, had her education in the public
schools. She married Thomas C. Harverstick and
lives at Kirkwood, where he is engaged in the furni-
ture and undertaking business. Their one daugh-
ter bears the name of Delia.
Ezekiel G. Webb, is a Republican. He is a
member of the Grand Army Post at Quarryville, and
he also belongs to the Masonic fraternity, being af-
filiated with the lodge at Christiana. In religion he
and his wife belong to the Colerain Baptist Church.
They belong to old and prominent families. Mrs.
Webb is noted as a woman of scholarly attainments
and refined character. Mr. Webb sustains the honor
of the family name, and sustained a good character
in the war. His temper and disposition are cheer-
ful and bright, and he is always looking on the
happy side. Honest and upright, he bears a fine
reputation as a man and a citizen.
LANDIS. In the latter part of the sixteenth
century, in Switzerland, members of the Landis
family were well known for their devotion to their
religious belief — a devotion that caused them to
teach the Word of God in spite of persecution. In
September, 161.1., Hans Landis was beheaded for
his faith, and he was the last person in that country
to suffer the death penalty for religious conviction.
In 1660 the Landis family, with others, were driven
from the country to find homes elsewhere. In 1717
three brothers. Rev. Benjamin, Felix and John
Landis, all of whom were Swiss Mennonites from
the vicinity of Manheim, on the River Rhine, came
to America, to find in the New World freedom to
worship God. Like most emigrants," they were com-
paratively poor. Rev. Benjamin Landis, who was
the ancestor of those of the name in Lancaster coun-
ty, purchased 240 acres of land from William Penn
and the Conestoga Indians, receiving his patent
therefor in 1718. He and his son, Benjamin (2),
began at once to farm. Benjamin Landis (2) be-
came the father of four sons, Benjamin (3), Abram,
Jacob and Henry, and these were the first American
born children of the family.
(III) Benjamin Landis (3) moved to Manheim
township in 1751-53. After buying out his brother-
in-law he owned in all from 800 to 1,000 acres of
land about three miles from Lancaster, near the
Reading road, and not far from the Landis Valley
Meeting House. In 1749 Benjamin Landis (3)
married Anna Suavely, only daughter of John
Suavely, and they had three sons :
(IV) Hansel (John), born March 15, 1755;
Benjamin (4), called "Bennie," born in the winter
of 1756 ; and Henry, born Dec. 5, 1760. Their home
was a place of refuge for many Swiss emigrants,
who enjoyed their hospitality until homes could be
secured for them.
(IV) Henry Landis, youngest son of Benjamin
(3), was blind. He became the father of a son,
Henry.
(V) Henry Landis, son of blind Henry, was
born and raised in Manheim' township. He married
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1187
Anna Long, of the same township, and to them were
born ten children, namely: Benjamin, John, Hen-
ry, Isaac, Jacob, Susan, Elizabeth, Nancy, Barbara
and Mary, all of whom were married except Mary,
Avho died single.
(VI) Benjamin Landis, son of Henry, was a
farmer and a miller, and owned seven large farms
and two grist mills in this part of the county, and his
name survives as that of a capable and energetic
business man. He died at the age of forty years,
in the faith of the Mennonite Church. His chil-
dren were as follows : Fianna, who became the wife
of Benjamin Gerber; Isaac L., father of Levi L.
Landis ; Eliza, who married John Hess ; Henry L.,
a farmer in Manheim township, who married Cath-
erine Reist; Fannie, who married Samuel Hess;
Benjamin L., who married Mary Landis ; Anna, wife
■of Samuel Hershey ; Israel, unmarried ; Amelia, wife
of Michael Nolt; Daniel, who married Maria Erb;
and Maria, wife of Levi Getz.
Isaac L. Landis, the father of Levi L., was born
April 14, 1823, and spent his life in Manheim town-
ship, where he held the office of town auditor for
many years. His death occurred Feb. 11, 1897.
Mr. Landis was twice married, his first wife being
Elizabeth Long, a daughter of Benjamin and Susan
(Rude) Long. She was born in Manheim town-
ship in 1829, and died March 31, 1852, the mother of
three children, two of whom died in infancy, and
Levi L. being her only surviving child. After the
death of his first wife Mr. Landis was married to
Susan Landis, daughter of David Landis, of- near
Witmer. Of this marriage were born ten children,
of whom five are living: Rev. Noah L., of Ore-
gon; Annie, wife of Rudolph Herr, of Petersburg;
John L. and Milton L., both of Oregon ; and Eli L.,
of Farmersville. The family all belonged to the
Mennonite Church.
Levi L. Landis was born and reared on the old
homestead near Oregon, and had his education in the
public schools. When twenty-six years of age he
began operations on his own account, locating on
a farm of sixty-two acres between Nefifsville and
Kissel Hill. He made his home on this farm for
eleven years, when he moved to his present location
between Nefifsville and Petersburg, where he has a
place of twenty-five acres. This place has been very
substantially improved by the erection of a new
dwelling house, a barn and a creamery, with two
large tobacco sheds. Mr. Landis has bought and
sold many fine residences in the city of Lancaster,
and at the present time owns several fine houses in
the city. He also owns four farms in Manheim
township, comprising 281 acres, which places have
been greatly improved by him, and are considered
among the best in that section of the county. Mr.
Landis has bought two large lots in Neff sville, where
he is preparing to build three houses on one lot, and
on the other a fine residence, to which he will move
and live retired. Mr. Landis is a progressive and
prosperous farmer, and has given much attention
to cattle and sheep raising. His public spirit is un-
questioned, and he has amassed a handsome com-
petency through his own efforts.
On Sept. 18, 1877, Mr. Landis was married to
Anna S. Graybill, daughter of Peter and Molly G.
(Sahm) Graybill, who was born July 16, 1853. To
this union has come one child, Graybill G., born
April 3, 1 88 1, who now looks after the interests of
his parents. They are members of the Mennonite
Church.
The Grayeili, Family was founded in Lancaster
county by John Graybill, who came with his brother
from London, and was one of the early pioneers in
the county, where he purchased from William Penn,
receiving a patent, a tract of 300 acres of wild land,
one mile north of Petersburg. There he built a house
and reared his family. It is still owned by some of
his descendants, being sixth in line from him. From
the beginning of its history in this country, and
even before, the family have constantly been asso-
ciated with the Mennonite Church. Each genera-
tion has not been prolific in its offspring, consequent-
ly there are but few living representatives of this
honored name. Five successive generations of the
Graybill family have each had a Peter Graybill.
Peter Graybill, grandfather of Mrs. Levi L. Lan-
dis, was a son of John. He was born and bred on the
homestead, which he owned and tilled, and he be-
came one of the very substantial citizens of the coun-
ty. He was long a director in one of the Lancaster
banks. By his wife, Susan Miller, who attained
the advanced age of eighty-four, he became the fa-
ther of two sons, David and Peter. His death oc-
curred when he was aged seventy-five years.
Peter Graybill, son of Peter and father of Mrs.
Levi L. Landis, was in the sixth generation from
John, the emigrant ancestor. He was an extensive
farmer, owning about 400 acres of fine land, on
which he made valuable improvements. Always
interested in questions of the day, he took an active
part in public affairs, and served on the school board.
His death occurred Aug. 5, 1894, when he was aged
seventy-seven years and four months. Peter Gray-
bill was married to Molly G. Sahm, a daughter of
George Sahm, of Rapho township ; she is still living,
at the advanced age of seventy years. To this union
were born four children who reached maturity:
Miss Lizzie S. ; Anna S., wife of Levi L. Landis, of
Manheim township; Jdhn S., a farmer of Witmer,
who married Mary Sensenig and has four children,
namely, Ammon, Mmnie, Peter and Mary ; Peter S.,
a farmer and stock dealer of Manheim township, who
married Mary Weidler and has four children, Alice,
Susan, Ada and W"eidler. Peter Graybill was a
member of the Mennonite Church, while his wife
belongs to the Lutheran.
JACOB FORD KAUTZ, the well-known coal
dealer of South Water street, in the. city of Lan-
caster, comes from an old and respected Lan-
caster family. His great-grandfather, John F.
1188
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Kautz, was born in Germany, but came to the
United States, settled in Lancaster county and
engaged at farming. His son, Jacob Frederick
Kautz, father of the subject of this sketch, was a brick
manufacturer, and associated with the late Henry
E. Carson, the firm, Kautz & Carson, operating three
brick yards, one in Willowstreet, Lancaster county,
and two in Lancaster City. Mr. Kautz was also
a contractor, and did a great deal of work for the
Pennsylvania & Lehigh Valley R. R. Co., and he
macadamized a number of public roads in Lancaster,
notably the Safe Harbor, Millersville, Oregon,
Horse Shoe and Philadelphia and New Danville, the
latter having been his last work of the kind. He
was a prominent Democrat, and was the associate of
such men as the late Col. Reah Frazer ; the late Col.
John M. Forney (then a Democrat) ; the brilliant
George Ford, for whom he named his son Jacob
Ford, and James Buchanan. When the latter be-
came President of the United States Mr. Kautz was
made Government Surveyor, and he spent two years
on the Pacific coast surveying the boundaries of
Washington territory. Returning to Lancaster at
the beginning of the Rebellion, he engaged in farm-
ing on the Reigart's Landing farm, which he had
purchased, and after ten years' residence there, re-
tired from active life. This farm contained large de-
posits of fine building sand, in which he dealt ex-
tensively. Mr. Kaiitz was a Lutheran, and was
jirominent in Masonry. He married Miss Barbara
Cashweiler. daughter of the late George Cashweiler,
farmer of the lower end of Lancaster county. To
this union nine children were born, four of whom
are living: Barbara E., widow of the late W. H;
Shultz, of Moore station, Delaware Co. ; Anna,
widow of the late D. W. Deidrich, of Lancaster;
Emma, wife of William Morgan, in the iron busi-
ness in Allegheny City; and Jacob Ford, of Lan-
caster.
Jacob Ford Kautz was born in the old family
home on West King street Sept. 14, 1848, and was
educated in the public schools of Lancaster. ifVt
twelve years of age he began work for his father in
the brick business, staying in it for three years. In
1863 he enlisted in Co. K, 77th P. V. I,, serving to
the end of the war, seeing service in the battles of
Chattanooga, Mission Ridge, in the march to At-
lanta, in the three days' fig-ht at Nashville, ' in the
battles of Pulaski, Spring Hill and Franklin, Tenn.,
and finally, before the surrender of Lee, he was sent
to Texas, where he v/as mustered out in Decem-
ber, 1865. Returning to Lancaster he went to work
on his father's farm at Reigart's Landing, and after
spending a few years there operating the sand banks
he went to Philadelphia to be shipping clerk for an
extensive metal dealing house. .A.fterward he went
into the grocery business in Philadelphia. Again
returning to Lancaster, he went into the ice busi-
ness for three years, and his next venture was the
coal trade, which he entered twenty-six years ago,
and has since successfully engaged in it.
Mr. Kautz was a Democrat, and no man in the
Seventh ward, in which he lives, has a greater fol-
lowing, or more influence, than he. He was a mem-
ber of the Lancaster school board for fifteen years,,
during which time he was constantly a member
of important committees, and was chairman of the
Finance committee for six years, retiring from the
school board on account of moving into another dis-
trict. He has also served six years . in the select
branch of city councils, and four years as member of
■the common branch, and his record has been good on
both. He was twice nominated for mayor of the
;city, but respectfully declined both times.
! Mr. Kautz married Miss Catherine E. Ochs,.
daughter of Mr. John Ochs, a prominent fnerchant,
and three children have been born to them: Johii
iM., who died at the age of three; Miss Edith E., a
j graduate of the State Normal School at Millersville,
land nov^ a school teacher; and Lillian M., in the
i graduating class of Cotta College. Like his de-
iceased father, Mr. Kautz is a Lutheran. He belongs-
;to Lamberton Lodge, No. 476, F. & A. M., and the
Lodge of Perfection, in iVIasonry; to Lodge No.
188, K. of P. and to the Elks. No man in Lan-
jcaster is better known or more esteemed than Mr.
JKautz.
ALFRED COOKMAN BRUNER, attorney-at-
law and real estate dealer at Columbia, is a native of
the borough, and was born May 18, 1858, a son of
j Abraham and Sarah J. (Breneman) Bruner, and of
|ante-Revolutionary ancestors.
j Ulrich (or Owen) Bruner, a native of Switzer-
iland, was born on Whitsunday, June 4, 1730. He
isailed from Rotterdam to America, via Cowes, Eng-
[land, on board the ship "Mercury," May 29, 1735,
iin company with a number from the Palatinate,,
iamong them Henry Brunner (the name being vari-
■oiisly spelled). In 1775 Ulrich was married tO'
iFronica Gross (or Bross), a native of Pauls, Ger-
jmany, who had settled in Bucks county. Pa., in 1744,
'and they had born to them six sons and five daugh-
jters, of whom nine names are on record, namely:
iMaria, John, Isaac, Fronica, Ulrich (or Owen),.
: Barbara, Isaac, Jacob and Magdalena. The mother
!of this family died Feb. 27, 1796, and the father Feb.
;I9, 1821, at the alvanced age of ninety-one years.
Owen Bruner, one of the above named children,
was born July 5, 1762, and on March 2, 1787, mar-
ried Elizabeth Weaver, daughter of John and Bar-
bara Weaver, prominent and wealthy Mennonites-
of Earl township. He died Nov. 29, 1843. Mrs.
Elizabeth Bruner died March 12, 1853, at the age
of eighty-five years, having borne her husband ten
children: John, born Jan. 7, 1788, died Jan. 15,
1799; Barbara, born Dec. 4, 1789, was married ta
John Good; Abraham, born Sept. 24, 1791, married
Dec. 15, 1814, Rebecca Evans, and died March 3,
1870; Owen (or Ulrich), born Oct. 24, 1794, died
April I, 1845, the husband of Ann Martin ; Jacob,
born June 20, 1796, married Ruth A. Talbot; John,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1189
torn Dec. 29, 1799, married Maria Jones; Isaac,
■born April 2, 1802, was a physician, and died Dec.
z% 1828 ; Elizabeth, born Sept. 30, 1804, was mar-
ried to Dr. William Happersett; Daniel I., born
June 22, 1807, was also a physician, and died in
1888, the husband of Elizabeth Davies ; and Fronica
(or Frances), born June 23, 1810, was married to
John Kenega.
Abraham Bruner, of the firm of A. Bruner &
Bro., wholesale lumber merchants of Columbia, was
born in the borough Oct. 12, 1831, a son of the Abra-
ham mentioned in the foregoing paragraph. His
wife was Sarah Jane Breneman, to whom he was
married by Rev. J. W. McCaskey Oct. 9, 1855.
Abraham Bruner was the first president of the bor-
ough council of Columbia, under its present charter,
in 1866 and 1867, also served in 1877-78-79, and was
president three terms in all. His wife, a member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, died Aug. 2, 1892,
atid her remains were interred in Mount Bethel
cemetery, Columbia. The five children born to Abr4-
Tiam and Sarah J. Bruner are as follows Mary E.,
born July 27, 1856, who married William B. Given,
Esq. ; Alfred C, whose name opens this article ;
Henry B., born Aug. 3, 1862, still at home ; William
Evans, born Jan. 8, 1866, now practicing medicine
in Cleveland, Ohio ; and James G., who- was born
Feb. t6, 18^, and who died 0<tt. 27th, of the same
■year.
In reference to the maternal ancestors of Alfred
■C. Bruner, it may be stated that Melchoir Breneman,
a pioneer settler in Lancaster county, Pa., was born
in the Upper Palatinate, and fled with other Men-
•nonites to America, in the fall of 1717, he being a
preacher. In Rupp's Record of Emigrants to the
United States from 1709 to 1730, are the names of
Christian Breneman, son of Melchoir (i), who pur-
■chased land in 17 12, and of Melchoir.
Melchoir Breneman (2) was born May 10, 1726,
«on of Christian Breneman, a son of Melchoir (i).
He was a Mennonite preacher and died Dec. 6, 1809.
Melchoir (2) was the father of Christian Breneman,
Tsbrn May 3, 1776, and was, in 1814, elected the first
chief burgess of the borough of Columbia, and in
1824, on the organization of the Columbia Bank,
he was elected its president.
The maternal grandparents of Alfred C. Bruner
-were Henry Breneman, son of Christian and
Mary E. (Strickler) Breneman. The former
Avas born May 15, 1810, and was married March
18, 1834. His wife died April 28, 185 1, and on Nov.
'G, 1855, he married Mafy Ann Bogle, who was born
Nov.' 17, 1813, and died Dec. 23, 189 1 ; he died July
14, 1878. Christian, father of Henry, was born
May 3, 1776; he was married, first to a Miss Hoff-
man, and after her death to Barbara Stehman, on
March 3, 1803. He died March 2, 1834.
Alfred C. Bruner passed his entire life in Colum-
bia, with the exception of the time spent in Wes-
leyan University, Middletown, Conn., from which
!ie graduated when twenty-one years of age. He
then embarked in the real estate business, and at
the same time entered the law ofiice of William B.
Given, in Columbia, and was associate editor of
The Columbia Herald for five years. Meanwhile
he studied law and was admitted to the Lancaster
Bar in 1884, and later for two years served as bor-
ough solicitor.
On Oct. 27, 1887, at Columbia, Mr. Bruner was
united in marriage with Miss Annie M. Bruner, and
this marriage has been graced with three children:
Henry M. and Abram B., twins, and Alfred E.
Mrs. Annie M. Brurier is a native of Columbia, and
a daughter of Henry F. and Caroline (MuUison)
Bruner, the former of whom is an extensive coal
merchant in Philadelphia and Columbia, his resi-
dence being in Columbia.
Mr. and Mrs. Alfred C. Bruner are members of
the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Columbia,
in which he has been on the official board for many
years. In politics Mr. Bruner is a Repubhcan, and
professionally, as well as socially, is held in very high
esteem by all the residents of the borough. He is
the recognized authority on titles to property in Co-
lumbia and vicinity.
JOSEPH EABY, a venerable representative of
the agricultural interests of Lancaster county, is
now living a retired life in Leacocfe township, where
he was born Aug. 23, 1818, a son of Jacob and
Susanna (Miller) Eaby. The father, who was a
farmer in his later years, began life as a black-
smith. He died in Leacoek township, in 1842, at
the age of sixty-five years ; his widow lived until
1863, when she, too, passed away, at the advanced
age of eighty-two. Their ashes repose in the Eaby
burying ground in Monterey, Pa. They were mem-
bers of the German Baptist Church, and their mod-
est and honest lives adorned their religious pro-
fessions. Jacob and Susanna Eaby had the follow-
ing family: (i) Moses married Susannah Kurtz;
(2) Maria married Daniel Esbenshade; (3) Peter
married Nancy Ranck ; (4) Daniel married Caroline
Bare; (5) Hannah married John Ranck ; (6) Lydia
married Isaac Bare: (7) Joseph; (8) Anna died un-
married at the age of seventy-six ; (9) Susanna died
at the age of seventy-five, unmarried; (10) Jacob
married Martha Groff. AH the above family are
dead, excepting the one whose career forms the sub-
ject of this writing.
The paternal grandparents of Joseph Eaby were
Jacob and Hannah (Leterin) Eaby, who were farm-
er folk of Lancaster county. Jacob Eaby was born
July 18, 1728, and on Jan. 15, 1753, married Han-
nah Leterin, who was born Oct. 5, 1733. They had
the following family; (i) Anna, born Nov. 27,
r753; (2) Peter, born Feb. 18, 1755; (3) Joseph,
born Oct. 5, 1758: (4) Daniel, born Dee. 15, 1760;
(5) Christiana, born April 15, 1763; (6) Elizabeth,
born Sept. 3, 1765; (7) Benjamin, born Nov. 30,
1767; C8) Magdeline, born Aug. 4, 1770; (9) Barr
bara, born Feb. 30, 1773; (10) Jacob, born Nov.
1190
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
9, 1776, and his name appears above as the father of
Joseph Eaby.
Joseph Eaby is a single man, and made his home
with his parents as long as they lived. He has con-
tmued to farm the old homestead in Leacock town-
ship for man}- years. In 1880 he retired from ac-
tive labor. For one year he was supervisor, and
is a Republican. In the local aflfairs of Leacock
township he has filled a prominent place, and is very
well-to-do. Many friends are about him, and he is
much esteemed in the community where his credita-
ble career has been run.
WILLIAM EDWARD CRIST, editor and pro-
prietor of the Columbia Daily News and Weekly
Courant, is an able newspaper man and exerts a
marked influence in the afifairs of his community.
He was born in Decatur, IlL, Dec. i, i860, son of
Samuel and Mary C. Crist.
The first representative of the family was John
Martin Crist, who with his wife, Anna Catrina,
came from Gei^many and settled near what is now
El'zabethtown, Lancaster Co., Pa., Sept. 15, 1729.
George H. Crist, the paternal grandfather of our
subject, was born in Chambersburg, Franklin Co.,
Pa., about 1810. He received a fair education for
that early day, and when ready to establish in life
on his own account began farming in his native
county, where he in time acquired a fine farm of
no acres, upon which he resided until his death.
When the Republican party was founded, in 1856,
he was enrolled as a member thereof, and was a be-
liever in, and a warm supporter of, its policy during
his lifetime. In religious belief he was a devoted
member of the United Brethren Church. He mar-
ried Miss Anna Gerhart, a native of Franklin county.
George H. Crist lived but a few years after the
birth of his son, and by the death of his mother six
years later Samuel was left an orphan at the age of
twelve years. He then made his . home with an
uncle, and was given a common school education.
When old enough he learned the blacksmith and
coach making trade, which he followed the greater
part of his life. Shortly after mastering his trade
he married Miss Mary Catherine Cleverstone, and
soon after removed to Decatur, 111., where he re-
mained two years, and then returned to Greencastle,
Franklin county, and engaged in the business of car-
_riage and coach making, which he followed until his
death, which occurred Oct. 31, 1892, at the age of
fifty-two years. He was a lifelong and active mem-
ber of the United Brethren Church, and was be-
loved by the people among whom he lived. His
wife preceded him to the life beyond but a few
months, having died Dec. 19, 1891, at the age of
forty-nine years. She, too, was a member of the
United Brethren Church, and was active in all good
works in her neighborhood.
William Edward Crist attended the public
schools until a youth of seventeen years, when he
•turned his attention to the printer's trade, learn-
ing the business in Greencastle and Philadelphia.
I'or several years he worked at the case in the prin-
cipal eastern cities, after which he returned to Green-
castle, Pa., and engaged in the hat and gentlemen's
furnishing goods business, which he conducted for
five years, and then disposed of the stock. At that
time the editor of the Valley Echo in Greencastle
became incapacitated for active work, and Mr. Crist
was engaged to conduct the business of the office,
where he had served his apprenticeship. He con-
tinued in that capacity until 1889, when he removed
to Columbia. In December of the above year Mr.
Crist purchased a one -half interest in the Columbia
Daily News and the Weekly Courant, and two years-
later bought out his partner, since which time he has.
been alone. The News is a sound family paper,,
containing articles on current topics and cor-
respondence from various localities in the county.
The paper is now in the fourteenth year of its ex-
istence, and is the pioneer penny daily in this county.
In politics it is independent, and its readers know
that when Mr. Crist supports or disapproves a per-
son or a policy he is actuated solely by conscientious,
motives and does so only after careful consideration.
A well-equipped job printing department is operated
in connection with the newspaper, and in 1891, find-
ing his business outgrowing his facilities, Mr.
Crist decided to build a permanent home for his pub-
lication— the outcome of which is the Daily News.
Printing House, a handsome three-story building
of light amber colored brick with brown stone
trimmings ; it is one hundred and thirty-five feet
deep, and is especially adapted to the printing busi-
ness ; it is one of the finest and most attractive struc-
tures in Columbia.
In 1S81 Mr. Crist married Ida C, only daughter
of Samuel and Nancy Smith, residents of Green-
castle, Pa. Five children have been born to them :
Elva S., Edward Nev, Nan. C, Janet Smith and
Samuel Smith. Mr. Crist is a stockholder in many
of the important enterprises in Columbia, and is a:
member of dififerent societies and organizations. Po-
litically he is and always has been a staunch Re-
publican.
HORACE ELLIOTT KENNEDY, who has
been in active management of The Morning News^
of Lancaster, almost from its inception, is a native
of Pennsylvania, born Oct. 12, 1862, near Gap, Salis-
bury township, Lancaster county, a son of Sylvester
Kennedy.
When a boy Mr. Kennedy worked on his father's,
farm, attending the public school of the neighbor-
hood during the winter months, and for a brief time
taking a course of study at Parkesburg Academy.
At the age of twenty he went to Shackelford coun-
ty, Texas, and for some eighteen months managed a
large sheep ranch there. We next find him in Cin-
cmnati, Ohio, in which city he for four vears was as-
sociated with his brother. Maxwell Kennedy, in the
gram shipping business. Returning, in 1899, to.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1191
Lancaster county, on Jan. i, 1890, he became regis-
try clerk in the post-office in Lancaster city, by ap-
pointment of Postmaster Ellwood Griest; but this
position he resigned on May 26 following, in order
to become one of the incorporators of the Morning
News Company and business manager of that news-
paper.
The Morning News was founded in 1890 by R.
A. Smith, and the first copy was issued Jan. 25, that
year. Mr. Smith came to Lancaster from Man-
heim, and began the publication without capital and
with a very limited credit. At the end of a month
his resources became exhausted and he was forced
to solicit financial aid. E. K. Martin and Eugene
G. Smith furnished sufficient means to keep the
paper alive for a time, and about April i, 1890, the
property was turned over to them for their claims
for money advanced. They then began the organ-
ization of a stock company to continue the publica-
tion. About April 7 Herbert Johnston, then em-
ployed on the Philadelphia Inquirer, was placed in
charge as editor and manager, R. A. Smith being
retained by the new management as editor of the
labor department. He, however, a few weeks after-
ward, severed his connection with the paper and
removed to Lebanon.
During the latter part of May, 1890, arrange-
ments for the organization of a stock company were
completed, and on the 26th of that month H. E. Ken-
nedy was elected treasurer of the corporation, and
business manager of the paper, and entered upon his
duties immediately, Mr. Johnston being retained as
editor. Mr. Johnston continued with the paper un-
til January, 1891, when he resigned and Mr. Ken-
nedy was given the management of the editorial, in
addition to the business department. He has con-
tinued as editor and manager up to the present time.
The corporation was granted a charter by the
governor June 13, 1890, under the name of "The
Morning News Company." The subscribers for
the stock, as set forth in the charter, were : E. K.
Martin, Eugene G. Smith, H. E. Kennedy, John H.
Landis, A. C. Baldwin, Walter M. Franklin and
Amos Zigler. The officers were: E. K. Martin,
president; Eugene G. Smith, secretary; and H. E.
Kennedy, treasurer. Mr. Martin removed to New
York shortly after the organization of the com-
pany, but retained his interest in it until 1899, when
his stock, with that of other holders, was purchased
by Mr. Kennedy, giving him a large majority of the
shares and a controlling interest in the corporation.
The present officers are : John H. Landis, presi-
dent ; Thos. B. Holohan, secretary ; and H. E. Ken-
nedy, treasurer. The paper was first issued from
the second floor of No. 61 North Queen street, and
was a one-cent daily. In February, 1890, it was
moved to the McGrann building. No. 32 Center
Square, and Oct. i, 1892, the price was increased to
ten cents a week. It has been twice enlarged.
It is worthy of note that Mr. Kennedy was the
first newspaper man in Lancaster to anticipate the
transformation to take place in the printing busi-
ness through the Mergenthaler Linotype, and ir»
January, 1896, he installed the first of those ma-
chines ever used in Lancaster, and demonstrated
by his personal attention to them the practicability
of their use without the services of a mechanic
skilled in their construction. His move in that di-
rection was followed shortly by the introduction of
similar machinery in almost all of the newspaper
and printing establishments in Lancaster, until they
have now nearly supplanted hand composition and
have become universal.
JOHN B. GREBILL. Among the leading citi-
zens of West Earl township is John B. Grebill, who
for many years has been prominently identified with
the public life of the village and township, and is
thoroughly representative of his locality. During
a long term of years he efficiently served the gov-
ernment in the revenue service, and later was the
popular postmaster at West Earl for two years, in
both capacities displaying those qualities which ob-
tain the esteem and confidence of the public.
Mr. Grebill was born May 23, 1837, the only
child of John and Susannah (Brown) Grebill, the
former of whom was born in 1775, and died in 1841 ;
the latter was born in 181 1 and died in 1876. They
were married in 1836. The father was a thrifty
farmer of West Earl. When but three years of
age John B. Grebill was taken to West Earl, which
has been his home ever since, and there received his
education. While still a lad he began clerking in
a store, and continued in that line until he had
reached the age of twenty-five. Mr. Grebill has al-
ways been an active and ardent Republican, and
his efficiency as a public servant was shown in his
appointment as an official of the Revenue depart-
ment, in which he served from 1869 to 1885. He
had previously received another mark of apprecia-
tion, by appointment to the position of postmaster,
without solicitation, and he retained that office two
years. As judge of election he has given universal
satisfaction, and is now serving his third term as jus-
lice of the peace.
John B. Grebill was married, in 1862, to Miss
Rebecca Carpenter, a daughter of Emanuel and Fi-
anna (Good) Carpenter, of West Earl, and five chil-
dren have been born to this union Alice, born April
I, 1863, who died in childhood ; Susan, born Jan. 5,
1865, who resides at home; Milton C, born Aug.
30, 1S67, married Miss Annie Gross, and conducts
a cigar manufacturing business in Brownstown, Pa. ;
Fianna May, born Aug. 30, 1873, who resides in
Lancaster ; Darwin Ellis, born July 9, 1877, who
resides at home and is engaged in the bakery busi-
ness.
Mr. Grebill is one of the well-informed and pro-
gressive men of this locality, an excellent neighbor
and unexceptional citizen, a consistent member of
the Brownstown Evangelical Church, where he has
served as trustee of the church and also as steward
1192
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and president of the Missionary Society, and a man
who has made not only an ample provision for the
future, but one who also has gathered around him a
large circle of warm personal friends.
HENRY PFAHLER. This family name is
well-known in the iron trade; at Columbia none,
perhaps, is better known. More than sixty years ago
Henry Pf abler, then an ambitious lad, who had just
attained his majority, and who had as his capital a
well-learned tinners' trade, started in business for
himself. His business broadened and extended,,
taking in hardware and the manufacture of stoves
and kindted goods. Mr. Pfahler died June lo,
1900, but the name lingers as the synonym of sterliflgf
honesty, unswerving fidelity to business engage-
ments and obligatidns, and rich success in the indus-
trial and commercial world.
About a century ago Christian G. Pfahler, the
father 6i Henry, was a lad in LudwigsbUrg, Ger-
many, his native land. He possessed a restless spirit
and resolved to reach America, although payment for
his passage across the Ocean had to be earned aftef
he landed in the United States. He first settled in
Chester county. Pa., and a little later, in 1803, be-
came a resident of York county. Pa., where he fol-
lowed farming and the trade of a turner, which he
had acquired in his native land. He married Cath-
erine Hildebrand, a native of Germany, and their five
children were as follows : Jacob, born Jarl. ij, 1815,
who died at Columbia, Sept. 10, iSgg ; Charles and
Henry, twins, born Nov. 21, 1819; the former dying
at York, Pa. ; William, who died at Carlisle, Pa. ;
and Christian, who was sheriff of York county at
the time of his death. Christian, the father, died
Jan. 13, 1868, at the advanced age of eighty-two
years ; the mother died Jan. 10, 1863, aged seventy-
one years.
The boyhood of Henry Pfahler was passed on
the farm in his native county, in attendance at the
district schools at times, but usually at work upon
the farm. His choice of a business career was made
when Henry was fifteen years of age. Entering a
tin shop at Lititz, he thoroughly acquired the trade
and continued to work diligently as a journeyman
until He was twenty-one years of age. Then he pur-
chased a small tin and coppersmith establishment
at Columbia and cast in his business fortunes with
that growing borough. This business he steadily
improved from time to time, adding a complete line
of hardware to his stock, and engaging in the man-
ufacture of stoves, copper and tin goods, continuing
in active business life until his retirement late in life
to the comforts and ease that properly come as the
reward of an earnest and well-spent life.
Mr. Pfahler married, July 12, 1843, ^t Columbia,
Mary Hoernly, a- native of Lancaster county, daugh-
ter of John and Barbara (Lichty) Hoernly, grand-
daughter of Isaac Hoernly,. of Lancaster county, and
great-granddaughter of Ulric Hoernly, a Mennon-
ite and a native of Switzerland, who in 1737 mi-
grated to America, and settled on a farm near Man-
heim. To Henry and Mary Pfahler were born three
children, namely: William H., of Philadelphia, sec-
retary of the Abraham Cox Stove Works, president
of the Founders Association, and a man of promin-
ence in the industrial world ; Ann, who died young ;
and Henry C, who also died young. Mrs. Mary
Pfahler died in I854, and for his second wife Henry
Pfahlef married in March, 1855, Miss Rebecca
Hoernly. She was born near Petersburg, Lancaster
county, Dec. 27, 1827,' daugliter of John and Eliza-
beth (Bare) Hoernly, of Donegal township, Lan-
caster county, granddaughtef of Abraham and Bar-
bara (Stauffer) Hoernly, of Lancaster county, and
great-granddaughter of Isaac C. and Maria (Koch)
Hoernly.
John Hoernly, fathef of Mrs. Rebecca Pfahler,
was a man of remarkable mechanical inventiveness
atid he invented a nntnber of valuable farm im-
plements. Holding to the Old Mennonite belief,
he was unusually broad and liberal in his relig-
ious views. Possessing mental vigor of unusual ac-
tivity, he was public-spirited, but in no sense an of-
fice seeker. In 1844 he removed to Indiana. He
died in August, 1849, and was buried- at Hillsboro,
Ind. He was twice married, first in Lancaster
county to Elizabeth Bare, who died in 1842, aged
thirty-nine years. His second wife, Barbara Hoern-
ly, who w4s his fifst cousin, he married in Indiana.
By his first wife his children were Amos B., a far-
mer of Henry county, Ind- ; Abraham, who was
for tweny years touvtty clerk at Lansing, Mich., and
is now deceased; Rebecca, wife of Henry Pfah-
ler ; Mat y, late wife of J. W. Stacey ; Catherine, de-
ceased Wife of Dr. Fishburn; Barbara, deceased
wife of Mr. McKinzie, of Indiana; Elizabeth, wife
of James Price, a hardware merchant of Nebraska ;
Henry S., a farmer of New Castle, Ind. ; and Fanny
and Sarah, who died in infancy.
To Henry and Rebecca (Hoernly) Pfahlef were
born three children : Lillian K., a talented musician,
who fot- the past twenty-five years has been a pro-
ficient teacher of her favorite art, and who resides
with her fnother; Mary H., wife of Rev. William
J. Oliver, a Presbyterian minister of York, Pa. ; and
Harry L., a grocer of Philadelphia.
During the Civil war Henry Pfahler was a mem-
ber of the Pennsylvania militia, which was called
into active service. The regiment was mustered into
the service and was stationed in front of Antie-
tam but did not participate in that engagement. Mr.
Pfahler was fnustered out at Harrisburg. In poli-
tics Mr. Pfahler was a Republican. For six years
he served as councilman at Columbia and filled va-
rious other local offices of trust and responsibility,
and was associated with several of the local fraternal
orders. In religious belief he was a member of
Trmity Reformed Church of Columbia. Both him-
self and wife represented old and prominent families
lit the settlement and growth of the Susquehanna
valley and were among the most highly respected
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1193
residents of Lancaster county. Members of the
family who have gone out inVo the world have won
recognition and fame, while the scenes of privation,
toil and final success in the development of Lancas-
ter county's resources are still occupied by members
■of the families. Hon. Charles S. Hoernly, an at-
torney of Indianapolis, Ind., and chairman of the
Republican committee, is cousin of Mrs. Pfahler,
and some of the Hoernly heirs continue to reside on
the old Hoernly homestead in Manheim township.
. NATHANIEL ABBOTT KEYS SPURRIER,
alderman of the Fourth ward, Lancaster, is one of
the notable citizens of the day, and makes his influ-
•ence felt alike in the professional, political and so-
cial circles of Lancaster.
The grandfather, William Atwell Spurrier, was
born in Bristol, England, and came to this country in
1814, while still in his early manhood. Until peace
■was declared Between this country and England he
stopped in Nova Scotia, and then came on to Phila-
•delphia. For about a year he remained in the Quaker
City, and then, accompanied by his wife and six chil-
•dren, removed to Lancaster, where he set himself
Tip in his calling, and became a noted and successful
tailor. This was in the spring of 1817, and he pur-
sued a very profitable and creditable career until his
death from paralysis in 1835. In his religious con-
victions he was a Presbyterian, and socially he was
a prominent 32d degree Mason,, a member of Uniom
Lodge, No. 213, Bristol, England; his associations
in Lancaster were with Lodge No. 43.
George Spurrier, the father of Alderman Spur-
rier, born in Lancaster, Pa., was also a tailor, and
for many years conducted a merchant-tailoring estab-
lishment at the corner of East King and Christian
streets. For two and a half years he was warden of
the Lancaster County Almshouse, filling that posi-
tion at the time of his death, Nov. 10, 1882, when six-
ty-two years old. George Spurrier was prominent
.among the Odd Fellows, and was past officer of the
Lancaster Lodge, secretary of the Encampment and
:a member of the Odd Fellows' Indemnity Society.
An elder in the Reformed Church, for a quarter of
a century he was a charter member of St. Paul's Re-
formed Church, and was one of the originators and
stockholders of the Lancaster Cemetery Association.
In early manhood he was married to Miss Margaret
Prick, who was born in Lancaster, as was her fa-
ther, Henry Frick, long an extensive contractor and
T)uilder of that city. Seven children were born to
this union, only two of whom are now living: An-
na Margaret and A. K. Spurrier, the Alderman.
Abbott K. Spurrier, born in Lancaster, was edu-
cated in the citv schools, and enlisted June 25, 1863,
in Co. K, 47th" P. V. I., for a term of ninety days ;
subsequently he re-enlisted in the 8th Maryland In-
^'antry and participated in the engagements leading
lip to the fall of the Confederacv.
The young soldier returned to Lancaster, and,
taking up his schooling, devoted two years to study.
and then became a clerk for Bair & Clarkson, bank-
ers, with whom he remained for three years. When
this firm was dissolved he continued as cashier three
years for its successor, the firm of Bair & Shenk,
For a time Mr. Spurrier was engaged in banking
and broking on his own account, and then became
cierk for the Hon. W. D. Stauffer, then the mayor of
Lancaster. Mr. Spurrier was elected alderman
from the Fourth ward in February, 1875, and is now
filling his sixth term in that position. If he lives
to complete this term, until 1905, he will have served
continuously as aldlerman longer than any other man
in the history of Lancaster.
Alderman Spurrier had disposed of more than
2ij000 criminal cases, and considerably more than
6,000 civil suits at the time this sketch was written,
in January, 1902, a record unprecedented in the his-
tory of the State. In the list of the criminal cases
was that of the notorious Buzzard gang, a criminal
association completely broken up by the sturdy alder-
man of the Fourth ward, as was also the "Meadow
Gang," who infested Schoenberger Park, and ter-
rorized the people cyi the southern part of the city for
years. A stranger to fear, Alderman Spurrier took
the matter up, visited their haunts and completely
disarmed and dispersed the rowdies, who had threat-
ened him with bodily harm.
Alderman Spurrier was married Oct. 12, 1871,
to Miss Ellen C. Pearsol, daughter of John H. Pear-
sol, founder of the Daily Express, at one time the
most successful daily paper in the city, now merged
into the Daily Exawimer. To this union were born
three children, one of whom died in infancy; Miss
Anna Pearsol Spurrier is a great favorite in the best
society circles of Lancaster; and William Atwell
Spurrier is the efficient superintendent of the press
department of the Census Bureau at Washington.
Alderman Spurrier is a staunch Republican, and
no man in the city has a stronger hold upon the peo-
ple of his constituency than he has on the Fourth
ward. Mr. Spurrier is an influential man through-
out the city and county, and is an earnest worker for
party success. For eleven years he was chairman
of the Republican City Executive committee; on
various occasions he has attended the National and
State conventions, participating in the deliberations
of the Republican party. He is an Odd Fellow, a
member of the Red Men and prominent in the G.
A. R., being aid-de-camp on the staff of the National
Commander, Inspector-at-large, Dept. of Pa., and
Post Commander of Admiral Reynolds Post, No.
405, G. A. R. He is widely known and universally
respected.
HENRY EOMBERGER, proprietor of the
Pearl street brick yards, and one of the successful
business men of Lancaster, was born June 25, 1845,
in Rheinbaiern, Germany, a son of Lawrence and
Mary (Heitzemer) Bomberger, natives of the same
locality.
Lawrence Bomberger was a carpenter and coop-
1194
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
er by trade, and deciding that there were better ad-
vantages offered by the New World than in' the Old,
he emigrated to America, landing in Lancaster May
12, 1846, after a tiresome voyage of forty-eight
days in a sailing vessel from Bremen, this port being
the one from which he and his wife and two children
had embarked. For eighteen years he pursued his
trade successfully, and then turned his attention to
market gardening on Manor street, which calling
he followed for many years, meeting with marked
success. His birth occurred in 181 1, and he died
in Lancaster, Oct. i, 1893, while his wife died in
1885. They were both members of the Zion Luth-
eran Church. In politics Mr. Bomberger was a
Democrat. Five children were born to these par-
ents ; Rose married Philip Gornis, of Lancaster, Pa. ;
Mary married Philip Wall, a hotel man of Lan-
caster, Pa. ; John ; Cassie, is unmarried, and lives
at Lancaster ; Henry.
Henry Bomberger remained with his parents
until he was twelve years of age, at which time he
was hired out to neighboring farmers, and at the
age of thirteen, he commenced to learn his father's
trade of cooper. When he had mastered the de-
tails of this trade, he commenced business for him-
self on Hazel and Loveland streets. Here he suc-
ceeded very well, continuing in this line for twenty-
seven years, and giving employment to about a doz-
en people. During the latter portion of this time, he
was located on Manor street, and began to turn his
attention to brick making. Finally he disposed of
his cooperage business, and became foreman for
James Brangley, a brick manufacturer, with whom
he remained for the five succeeding years. His
next venture was the erection of five frame houses,
doing nearly all of the work himself. Three of these
houses he afterwards sold, but still retains two.
In the fall of 1892, Mr. Bomberger purchased
the brick yards owned by Peter Zeigler, and now has
eleven and three-fourths acres of ground on Pearl
and Second streets. His brick machine is a very
fine one, and he manufactures chiefly by hand, em-
ploying two molders. The engines are of 25 and 35-
horse power; the kilns have a capacity of 126,000
bricks each, he having two, square in shape. The
sheds in use can contain about 135,000 brick, and
the drying place has a capacity of 120,520. During
the summer season the works are operated constant-
ly, and thirty-five men employed. Four teams are
kept busy delivering orders, and the trade is con-
stantly increasing. In addition to his brick yards,
Mr. feomberger still continues his building opera-
tions, and owns a number of valuable residences in
Lancaster, in addition to his own home at No. 202
Pearl street, where he enjoys the comfort his indus-
try has provided.
On May 12, 1867, was Bomberger was mar-
ried to Miss Charlotte Willig, who was born in
Hanover, Germany, and came to America in 1865.
Mrs. Bomberger is a daughter of Daniel and Johan-
na (Kornage) Willig, of Germany, where they lived
and died, being farmers and people of prominence
in their community. The children born to the un-
ion of Mr. and Mrs. Bomberger were: Philip L,.,.
manager and engineer of his father's brick yards,,
married Katie Brodecker, and they have two chil-
dren, Wilmer H. and Catherine G. ; Rosa is unmar-
ried; Harry, with his father in the brick yards,,
married Ida Lafferty, and their children were Bes-
sie, Ethel, Harry and Edith (deceased) ; and Will-
liam, an engineer of Lancaster, married Mary
Millysack, and they have one child. Pearl.
In political matters, Mr. Bomberger is a Demo-
crat, and has ever been active in the promotion of
all enterprises tending towards the advancement of
the material, commercial and social welfare of the
people of Lancaster. His recognized business abil-
ity has won for him the regard of his fellow-citi-
zens, as well as the confidence of those with whom
he has been intimately associated. Fraternally, he
is associated with the Foresters, Eagles and Star of
Bethlehem; he also belongs to the Militia. For
many years he has been a member of Christ Luther-
an Church, to which organization he gives a hearty
support. His intelligence, good citizenship and fine
character entitle him to the esteem of all who know
him.
BENJAMIN F. HENRY, wholesale cofiFee
dealer and roaster of Lancaster, Pa., is a native of
that town, and was born in 1859. His parents, Ben-
jamin and Anna E. (Oster) Henry, were also na-
tives of Lancaster, while his paternal grandfather,
Patrick, and his wife, were born in Scotland, and
his maternal grandparents were born in Germany^
the grandfather, Jacob Oster, a shoemaker by trade,
having emigrated to Lancaster when a young man.
Benjamin Plenry was a cabinet maker in early
life, but latterly spent eighteen years in the feather
and mattress renovating business. He served for
one term in the city council, and was a member of
the Grand Army of the Republic, having served
from the beginning to the end of the Civil war
in the T57th P. V. I. He participated in eighteen
battles during the memorable strife, and saw count-
less comrades fall by his side, but it was his good
fortune to escape being either wounded or captured.
Owing to ill health the last years of his life were
spent in retirement from business activity, and his
death occurred March 31, 1895, at the age of seven-
ty-two years. Pie was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, as was also his wife who survived
him, who was born May 12, 1826, and is now living
with her son, Benjamin F. Mrs. Henry, is the
mother of the following children: Emanuel O.,
an implement merchant of Lancaster; Frances E.,.
wife of 'Squire H. E. Groff, of Lancaster; Edwin,
deceased: Eleanora, wife of Alderman George B.
Ressler, of Lancaster ; Alice B., wife of E. B. Powell,
who is engaged in the livery business at Lancaster ;
Benjamin F. ; Hattie A., wife of Theodore Leib,
of Lancaster; and Harriet A., deceased.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1195
Until his thirteenth year Benjamin F. Henry at-
tended the public schools of Lancaster, and then
entered the blacksmith business with Samuel B.
Cox, McKew & Norbeck, serving an apprentice-
ship of six years. During the year following he
operated an engine in Kulp's foundry, and for nine
years drove a cofTee wagon for S. R. Miller. He
then went into the wholesale coffee business on his
own responsibility, and has since built up a large
and remunerative trade. He has taken an interest
in the politics of his town, and the confidence re-
posed in him by the public found vent in his election
on the Republican ticket to the city council in 1890,
and in his continuous re-election until 1898. He is
fraternally connected with the I. O. O. F., and the
K. of M. With his family he is identified with
the Moravian Church.
In Lancaster, in 1882, Mr. Henry married Mary
R. Mishler, born in this city, and a daughter of Hen-
ry R. and Diana (Kalbaugh) Mishler, the former
of whom was born in Berks county. Pa., and is a
retired drover of Lancaster. Two children, Maud
M. and Paul O.. blessed this union. Mr. Henry is
an industrious, honorable man, and may be relied
on to further any project for the welfare of the com-
munity.
JOHN S. CAREER was born in East Donegal
township, Oct. 10, 1826, and died on the farm where
his son, Amos E., now resides, March 30, 1888. His
remains were laid in the cemetery connected with
Bossier's Meeting House, in West Donegal town-
ship.
John S. Garber was a son of John and Catherine
(Sechrist) Garber, both natives of Manor township,
but early comers into West Donegal township, mak-
ing their home on the farm where their grandson,
Amos E., is now living. The father died in 1840,
at the age of forty-nine years ; his widow survived
him many years, dying in 1878 at the age of eighty-
three. They were members of the Mennonite
Church and were buried in the Bossier Church ceme-
tery.
John and Catherine (Sechrist) Garber had the
following children: Michael S., who died young;
Nancy S., the widow of John Longenecker, who has
her home in West Donegal township ; John S. ; Cath-
erine, a widow, who lives with her son-in-law, Amos
Eby; Fanny, deceased wife of David Miller; Bar-
bara, who died young.
Andrew Garber was the paternal grandfather of
John S., and spent his life in Lancaster county. The
Garbers.of West Hempfield township, of whom An-
drew Garber is a notable and noted representative,
belong to the same stock.
John S. Garber was married 'Aug. 3, 1852, to
Susan Erb, and to them were born the following
children : Anna E., who is unmarried, and at home
with her mother ; Henry E., a farmer in West Done-
gal township, who married Fanny Eby, and is the fa-
ther of five children, Tilman E., Ellen E., Jonas E.,
Elias E., and Ada E. ; Amos E., a farmer in West
Donegal township, who married Lizzie Reist, and
with whom Mrs. Susan Garber is passing her de-
clining days ; John E., a resident of West Donegal
township, who married Alice Newcomer; Kate E.,
unmarried, and living at home with her mother;
Mary E., who died at the age of fifteen years ; Simon
E., a farmer in West Donegal township ; Harriet E.,
who married Peter Nissly, of East Donegal town-
ship; Samuel E., a farmer in East Donegal town-
ship, who married Ellen Eby.
Mrs. Susan (Erb) Garber was born near the
Erbs Meeting House, near Lititz, April 2, 1830, the
daughter of the Rev. John and Fanny (Berge) Erb.
Her parents were both born in Lancaster county,
but removed to Cumberland county in 1833, where
their remaining years were spent. Her father was
a farmer, and was ordained a Mennonite minister
in 1834. He died in 1844, at the age of forty-
nine years; his widow died in 1858, at the age
of sixty-four years ; her father was buried in CiMn-
berland county, and her mother in Kraybill's Meet-
ing House cemetery. To them were born the fol-
lowing children: Mattie, who died young; Eliza-
beth, who married David Brubaker, and is now de-
ceased ; Fanny, late wife, of John Hertzler ; Barbara,
who died at the age of two years ; Anna, deceased
wife of John Krider, a resident of Ohio; Samuel,
deceased :. Mary, late wife of Samuel Hertzler ; Su-
san, Mrs. Garber; Catherine, late wife of John
Crumleigh ; Sarah, who died young ; John, a farmer
in Dauphin county.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Susan (Erb)
Garber were Daniel and Barbara (Bomberger) Erb,
both natives of Lancaster county.
John S. Garber, who was a farmer all his days,
remained with his parents as long as they lived,
and then ctiltivated the old homestead until his-
death. In all his business dealings he was very suc-
cessful, and at the time of his death he owned three
farms that aggregated 391 acres, an estate which
gave him a fine standing in the commercial world.
For many years he was a director of the First Na-
tional Bank of Marietta, and long filled the posi-
tion of school director in his home district. Posses-
sing the confidence of the community to an unusual'
extent, he was called upon to settle a number of
estates, and from time to time he had important
trusts placed upon him. Never were the expecta-
tions of his friends disappointed, and never did he
betray the slightest letting down of a high moral
standard and an absolute integrity. In his politics-
he was a Republican, and in his religion a member
of the Mennonite Church. All the family follow in
his steps and are high-minded and honorable people.
E. SILAS OVERDEER, the junior member
of the well-known firm of Everts & Overdeer,
plumbers, tinsmiths and steam fitters, of Lancaster,
was born in that city Sept. 23, 1851, son of
Eli and Catherine (Hamme) Overdeer. The par-
1196
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ents were natives of York county, Pa., where they
married and hved until 1836. They located in Lan-
caster, that the father might accept the position of
weighmaster for the Pennsylvania Railway Co.
During the Civil war he was attached to the office
of the provost marshal, and continued in the ser-
vice cf the Government until his death, in 1869, at
the age of sixty-four years. His last position was
in the revenue department as whiskey inspector.
He was a zealous Republican, and Was held in high
esteem in his party. His widow survived until 1883,
■dying at the age of seventy-four years. Both were
members of the Lutheran Church. They had the
following named children: John A., a printer of
Lancaster ; Horace, who is a carpenter, in Lancaster ;
Miss Louisa, who resides with her brother Jacob,
who is a blacksmith, in Middletown, Pa. ; George,
who is an engraver, m Lancaster ; and E. Silas.
In 1877 E. Silas Ove^■deer was united in mar-
riage with Miss Louisa Shenk, a daughter of John
G. and Anna Shenk, natives of Germany, who met
and married in Lancaster, where Mr. Shenk is a
shoemaker. No children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Overdeer.
E. .Silas Overdeer attended the public schools
of Lancaster, and when he was seventeen years old
he began to learrt the trade of plumbing and tin-
smithing, and in 1876 formed a partnership in that
business with Franklin S. Everts. The site of the
blisiness is the sarhe, but in 1887 the firm felt justi-
fied in erecting the fine three-story brick where all
kinds of plumbing, gas and steam fitting are con-
tracted for and carried on. The firm is the lead-
er in its line in the city, and much credit is due for
its success to the energy and ability of Mr.
Overdeer. He is a self-made man, and is very high-
ly esteemed in Lancaster. For several years he was
a deacon in St. Paul's Reformed Church, and he
is one of the substantial members of that congre-
gation. His political adherence is given to the Re-
publican party.
ALBERT COLLIER RUTHERFORD. The
important position which Mr. Rutherford so effi-
•ciently fills, as manager of the immense es-
tate of Senator Cameron, in Lancaster county, indi-
-cates the qualities he must possess, for no one with-
out energy, excellent judgment and discrimination
could fill this important office.
Albert C. Rutherford was born in Swatara town-
ship, Dauphin county, a son of Samuel S. and Mary
A. (Rutherford) Rutherford, the former of whom
died on the old homestead near Harrisburg, which
lias been in the familv for five generations, in 1873,
at the age of sixty-nine. The beloved mother died
in 1884, at the age of seventy-four, and both were
reverently interred in the Paxtang Church cemetery,
where stands a beautiful granite monument, erected
to mark their last earthly resting place. They were
consistent members of the Presbyterian church.
They reared a family which has reflected credit upon
them, these being: John E., the manager of Lock-
hill, the Cameron home ; Eliza, deceased, married to
W. S. Rutherford, also deceased ; Hon. Samuel H., a
member of the Pennsylvania House of Represent-
atives, who resides on the old homestead; Martha,
who also resides on the old homestead, at Paxtang;
James A., connected with the construction depart-
ment of the Pennsylvania railroad; Margaret S.,
who resides with her oldest brother; William B.,
who died young; and Albert C, the subject of this
biography.
The paternal grandparents of Albert C. Ruth-
erford were Thomas and Mary (Shultz) Ruther-
ford. Thomas Rutherford was a son of Samuel
(a lieutenant in the Revolutionary war), and Susan-
nah (Collier) Rutherford, and a grandson of Thomas
and Jane (Murdah) Rutherford, emigrants from
Ireland. During the Revolutionary war this fam-
ily distinguished itself in many ways.
Albert Collier Rutherford' was reared on the
old homestead and received excellent educational
advantages. In 1877 he went to Cornwall, Pa.,
where be managed for a coal company, thence went
into the employ of the Pennsylvania Steel Company,
at Steelton, Pa., as a. foreman, then, after a four
years' residence in Harrisburg, went to Colorado,
where he was there employed as manager for the
Colorado Coal and Iron Company. In 1886 he
went to Omaha, where he remained three years in
the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Company,
in 1889 being made inspector in the Test depart-
ment.
Leaving this strenuous work, Mr. Rutherford
then went to the State of Washington where he
engaged in the real estate business, very advan-
tageously, but Dec. I, 1890, he came to Donegal as
the manager of the Cameron farms, consisting of
981 acres. The management has included the work
of improvement, the erection of new buildings, etc.,
and all of this work has been performed in the most
modern and substantial way. The energy and un-
tiring industry of Mr. Rutherford are remarkable,
while his comprehension of the details pertaining
to an estate of this size has gained him the respect
and utmost confidence of those who have placed their
interests in his efficient hands.
JOSEPH W. BAKER, the well-known and pop-
ular proprietor of the "Lititz Springs Hotel" at
Lititz, Pa., is a native of Lancaster county, born on
a farm one mile west of Lititz, Oct. 30, 1853, a son of
Abram B. and Catherine (Walter) Baker. The fa-
ther died, in April, 1898, at which time he was living
a retired life. He owned considerable property in
Lancaster and Lebanon counties, where he was ex-
tensively engaged in farming, and dealt largely in to-
bacco, buying and packing that product for mar-
ket, and also manufacturing cigars under the
firm name of Baker & Gunder. Besides his other
property he owned considerable real estate in Lititz,
where he erected several buildings. Religiously he
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1197
was a member of the German Baptist Church, and
politically was a supporter of the Republican party".
In his family were three children: Jacob W., a
horse dealer of Lancaster; Joseph W., the subject of
this sketch; and Emma W., wife of Joseph W.
Young, of Reading, Pennsylvania.
The boyhood and youth of Joseph W.' Baker
were passed upon a farm, and his education was
received in the public schools. He began his busi-
ness career at the age of eighteen years as a dealer
in horses and cattle, and, after being alone for
some time, he was associated with his brother in the
same business for six years, the firm becoming among
the largest horse buyers in the county. They im-
ported some valuable stock and shipped principally
to the Philadelphia and New York markets. Their
headquarters were m Lititz. After the cessation
of the partnership with his brother, Joseph W.
Baker was alone in business, with headquarters at
Ephrata until 1900, and handled as many as thirty-
two carloads of stock annually. He has sold a large
amount of stock to the farmers of Lancaster coun-
ty. On Dec. 11, 1899, he took charge of the "Lititz
Spring Hotel," which he is now so successfully con-
ducting in connection with his stock business. The
hotel is carried on in a most approved manner, and
Mr. Baker is well adapted to fill the position of
landlord, as he is a whole-souled, genial gentleman,
well liked by all with whom he comes in contact.
He continues to handle stock on his own account,
as well as on commission, and is numbered among
the most progressive and public-spirited men of
Lititz. In his political views he is a Republican.
Mr. Baker was married, in 1873, to Miss Eliza-
beth A. Becker, who was born one mile south of
Mt. Hope, Lancaster county, and is a daughter of
Michael and Anna (Nauman) Becker. To them
have been born three children : ( i ) Abram Joseph
W., born Nov. 14, 1875, was educated at Cornell
University, and was first employed as private secre-
tary at the Pennsylvania working home for blind
men at Philadelphia. Later he was in the office of
L. B. Paxson, a superintendent of motive power
and rolling equipment for the Philadelphia & Read-
ing railroad, but he is now engaged in the whole-
sale and retail grain and flour business at Reading.
(2) Anna M. and (3) Kathryn M., both at home,
are graduates of the Millersville State Normal
School, where their mother was also educated. The
family is one of prominence in the community where
they reside, and its members stand high socially.
JACOB W. GRUEL traces his ancestry back
to Germany, but his immediate ancestors have been
identified with the business life of Lancaster. He is
a son of Samuel F. and Anna (Franciscus) Gruel,
and his occupation, that of confectioner and manu-
facturer of ice cream, is but a continuation of the
business inaugurated by his paternal grandfather,
Jacob Gruel, who' with his wife, Jacobenia (Swartz)
Ciruel, came from Germany and started the pioneer
candy and ice cream industry of Lancaster. Mr.
Gruel's maternal grandparents, John and Susan
(Lutz) Franciscus, were of Lancaster, the former
one of the pioneer railroad engineers of the county,
employed for a time on the old State road. He, too,,
had spent his youth in the candy business, and after
leaving the State road conducted a popular and pay-
ing tavern. He was well known, and a genial high-
ly respected citizen.
Samuel F. Gruel, the father of Jacob W., was,
born in Harrisburg, and his wife was a native of
Lancaster. He was a butcher by trade, but was for-
some years engaged m the ice business with only
indifferent success, however. During the Civil war
he served in the 79th Pa. Vols. He lived in Lancas-
ter city from boyhood to the time of his death, in
1901, at the age of sixty-five. His wife died in 1900,
aged sixty years. They were the parents of the
following children : Christie, wife of D. H. Potts,
an iron manufacturer of Lancaster ; Jacob W. ; Har-.
ry, living in Lancaster; Samuel, who died at the
age of thirty-six ; Jacobenia, living ' in Lancaster ;•
John, in the ice business in Lancaster; Mary, liv-.
ing in Lancaster ; and Walter, in the ice business in^
Lancaster.
When thirteen years old Jacob W. Gruel began
to learn the confectionery business under his grand-
father Gruel, with whom he rertiained until the lat-
ter's death. He then continued in business with his
grandiTiother for a few years, coming to his present
store in 1885. He has been very successful, and
caters to the most exacting element in the town.
But his interests are by no means centered in this
line, for he is a director in the Conestoga Building
& Loan Association, and is connected with various
social and business affairs. He is a member of the
Lutheran Church, and in politics is independent.
In 1878 was solemnized, in Lancaster, the mar-
riage of Mr. Gruel and Mary Goodman, daughter
of Jacob K. Goodman, a farmer of Lancaster coun-
ty, who married a Sweeney. Mrs. Gruel was born
in Mt. Joy, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Gruel have had two
children: Edith, who died in 1899, ^t the age of
eighteen ; and Mary, who is living at home.
WELSH BROTHERS. To instruct as well as
to amuse has been the object, for the past twelve
, years of the firm of native Lancaster citizens known
as Welsh Brothers, the owners and operators of a
popular circus. Col. Michael Henry Welsh and
John Thomas Welsh are the members of the firm,
and deserve the credit of conducting one of the most
popular amusements of the locality, and of over-
coming difficulties which would long ago have dis-
heartened two less energetic and progressive men.
George Welsh, the father of these brothers, came
to this country with his wife from Ireland, and set-
tled in Easton, Pa., but remained there only a few
months, coming later to Lancaster, where his death
occurred. The mother still survives, and owns to
a pardonable pride in her sons, who share their pros-
1198
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
perity with her. The family consisted of four chil-
dren: Mary, now deceased, was the wife of Isaac
Rinehart, of Harrisburg; Michael H. and John T.
are now in the circus business ; George, Jr., is treas-
urer of .his brothers' enterprise.
Michael Henry Welsh, who is generally
known as Col. Welsh, and who is the manager of
the fine show of which he and his brother are equal
owners, was born in Lancaster Nov. 27, 1866, and
was educated in the public schools, leaving school
at the age of eleven years to go to work in the cotton
mills. After three years of faithful work he, in as-
sociation with his brother John, engaged in the
huckster business.
John Thomas Welsh, who is just as active and
as well known in connection with the circus, and
who is the general agent as well as half owner, was
born in Lancaster on Christmas Eve, 1861, and after
attending the public schools for less than three
years entered one of the cotton mills, as his brother
had done. Both boys remained in the mill about
the same length of time, and both were equally in
earnest when they entered into the huckster busi-
ness, which they conducted until when, at the sug-
gestion of Col. Michael Welsh, who had long cher-
ished the idea of becoming proprietor of a circus,
they embarked m the show business.
The outfit at the beginning was not very impos-
ing, consisting of one horse and one wagon, but by
the second season the firm was able to put forth a
sixteen-horse show, and by the third season prosper-
ity had enabled them to open up with forty-eight
horses. The fourth season saw them so well es-
tablished that they sold their old belongings and or-
ganized a railroad circus, and have ever since trav-
eled in that manner. During the season of 1899-
1900, they owned and managed the John P. Harris
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" show, and Col. Robinson's
"Old Southern Life" Company, and introduced the
novelty of producing "Uncle Tom's Cabin" as a tent
show, playing also successfully "Ten Nights in a
Bar Room." During 1900 they performed through
the States of Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland,
Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and New Jersey, us-
ing ten cars for transportation, carrying 165 people
and ninety horses, a most wonderful growth, surely,
considering the modest and unpretentious manner
in which these young and enterprising Lancaster
lads started upon their career.
However, 1901 found them with a larger and
more comprehensive show, which includes a menag-
erie of fourteen cages, and with a tent capacity of
4,000, and an itineracy which takes them through
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Canada,
Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North
and South Carolina. The proudest monuments to
the memory of the Welsh Brothers lie in their char-
ities. For four years they have made it a practice
to close their season by making a gift to the Soup
House fund, of their native city, of the whole pro-
ceeds of both day and evening, and this has amount-
ed to the sum of $2,000, which has been publicly and
gratefully acknowledged by the mayor. At the
time of the great mine disaster, in Pittston, Pa., the
circus was performmg in that section, and ^ave a
benefit to the orphans and widows of the victims,
a type of the substantial kind of charity which illus-
trates the character of Welsh Brothers.
Both brothers, who illustrate in their lives, a
most beautiful fraternal feeling, are members of the
Benevolent Order of Elks ; both belong to St. Mary's
Catholic Church of Lancaster. Neither of them has
ever indulged in intoxicating drink, and both are
united in providing every comfort for their devoted
and beloved mother. They are not only examples
of true manlmess, but they are excellent business
men, and cater to only that kind of public which is
pleased with clean and amusing entertainment, a
special feature being the pleasing of children. These
young men have made for themselves a record which
makes Lancaster proud to own them as her sons.
MICHAEL F. RUSSELL. Mr. Russell, al-
though an American by birth, and intensely loyal to
the government under which he was born, is of Irish
parentage and descent. The country has no truer
sons than these Irish- Americans, whose love of free-
dom, born within them, is co-existent with their de-
votion to duty and their fidelity to the flag. Chil-
dren of centuries of oppression, they are ready to
offer their lives a willing sacrifice upon the altar
of the land of their birth. Their blood has wet the
soil of many a southern battlefield, and when they
fall their woimds are rarely found in the back. It
is to this class that Mr. Russell belongs. He was
born in Marietta, Pa., May 7, 1858. His father-
was christened Thomas, and his mother, before mar-
riage, was Bridget Kelly.
In order to have a correct comprehension of the
story of his own life, some account of his family
should be given. Thomas Russell was born in Kill-
inaboy. County Clare, Ireland, the son of James Rus-
sell, a peasant farmer of the same place. He emi-
grated to America while yet a young man and made
his home in Marietta, Pa., as early as 1843. His wife,
Bridget, was the daughter of Patrick and Mary
(Conners) Kelly, both of whom remained in the
land where they were born, Mr. Kelly having a
small tenant's holding of land. Thomas and Brid-
get (Kelly) Russell were married in Ireland and
the wife preceded her husband to America by some
ten months.
To the parents of Michael F. Russell were born
seven children: James, born Dec. 28, 1851, died
March 23, 1870; Mary; John; Michael F. ; Thomas ;
Catherme and Anna. James, Mary, Thomas and
Anna died unmarried. John lives at Columbia, and
is a freight conductor in the service of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad Company. Catherine is the wife
of Samuel Libhart, a flagman in the employ of the
same corporation. The elder Russell died April i,
1872, at the age of fifty-nine years; by occupation
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1199
he was a furnace man. Mrs. Russell, the mother
of Michael F., was born in November, 1822. She is
still living, and since 1888 has made her home with
her son in Columbia.
Mr. Russell was married June 12, 1894, to Miss
Marcella F. Tyson, the marriage having resulted
in the birth of four children, Thomas J., John M.,
Mary and Catherine R. Mrs. Russell was bom in
Wrightsville, her parents being John Tyson and
Susanna Mooney. Her father was born in Mary-
land in February, 183 1, and her mother in Ireland,
in March, 1833. She is the fourth of seven children ;
her eldest sister, Margaret, died unmarried, as did
also the first born son, Thomas ; three other sisters,
Anna M., Agnes and Emma, are unmarried; John,
the youngest brother, is likewise unmarried.
Mr. Russell's life, while it cannot be called event-
ful, has been a useful and honored one. He began
battling with the world at the early age of twelve
years, when he found employment in the mines.
For five years he followed this toilsome pursuit, and
while yet a boy, barely seventeen years old, began the
hard work of a laborer in a furnace. In both posi-
tions he acquitted himself well, as he has done in
every relation of life. He spent eleven years at
the furnace, and then began work with the Pennsyl-
vania Railway, as a brakeman. For six years he
filled this position, for three years he was a flagman,
was then promoted to be conductor, and is still dis-
charging the perplexing and responsible duties of
that post. He possesses a combination of qualities
well adapted for such a task ; affable and courteous
toward the company's patrons, he is inflexible in his
obedience to and enforcement of discipline, and scru-
pulously faithful in his discharge of every obligation.
Since 1888 Mr. Russell has resided in Columbia.
Both himself and family are devout, practical Cath-
olics. In politics he places patriotism before parti-
sanship, and votes in accordance with the dictates
of his own conscience and judgment. He belongs
to the O. of R. C. and the Relief Association.
HON. DAVID PORTER ROSENMILLER
(deceased), ex-district attorney, ex-assemblyman
and ex-mayor of Lancaster, came of good sturdy
German ancestry.
.Lewis Rosenmiller, grandfather of David P.,
was born at sea while his parents were on their way
to America from Germany, and their son (the fa-
ther of the subject proper of this sketch). Rev. D.
P.. Rosenmiller, was born in York, Pa., and he be-
came a prominent Lutheran minister. His first pas-
toral work was in North Carolina ; his next at New-
ville, Cumberland Co., Pa., and from there he pro-
ceeded to Dayton, Ohio, thence after a sojourn, to
Hanover, York county, and from that place to Lan-
caster, arriving in that city in the fall of 1857. While
a resident of that city he was president of the Lan-
caster County Bible Society for many years, and no
more familiar figure could be found among the cler-
gy of Lancaster. Rev. D. P. Rosenmiller married
Miss Eliza Sheffer, daughter of the late Judge Shef-
fer, of York Springs, I^a., who at one time was a
member of Congress. To this union seven children
were born, three of whom are yet living: Misses
Rebecca and Louisa, both living in the family home
on North Duke street; and Rev. George F., of the
Episcopal Church, his first charge having been at
Montoursville, his second at Niagara Falls, and his
present one at McKeesport, Allegheny Co., Pa. The
father of this family was called from earth in 1880.
David P. Rosenmiller was born March 21, 1841,
in Dayton, Ohio, and, received his education for the
most part at the schools of Lancaster, graduating
from the Boys' High School, after which he attend-
ed Franklin and Marshall College, leaving that in-
stitution when in the junior class, in order to enter
the service of his country.
On March 13, 1862, Mr. Rosenmiller was com-
missioned as fourth master in the gunboat service,
Mississippi squadron, under First Flag Officer Foote.
While on the U. S. S. "Essex" in 1862 he ran
the batteries at Vicksburg ; then proceeded down the
river to New Orleans, and, after leave of absence,
during which he visited Lancaster, Pa., he was pro-
moted to the rank of ensign in the U. S. Navy, re-
porting to Admiral Porter on the. Flagship "Black
Hawk," on which he served till toward the close of
the war. He was then given command of the S. S.
"Alexandria," cruising on that vessel until the ter-
mination of hostilities, and having almost daily en-
counters with the Rebels.
Mr. Rosenmiller's naval experience may be brief-
ly summed up as follows : Commissioned fourth
master, March 13, 1862, in the U. S. Gunboat flo-
tilla, by Flag Oflicer A. H. Foote ; promoted to sec-
ond master, in the same service, July i, 1862, Flag
officer C. H. Davis; commissioned by the Depart-
ment as acting ensign in the U. S. Navy, for duty
in the Mississippf squadron, Nov. 12, 1862; pro-
moted to acting master in the same service Aug. 18,
1863, by Rear Admiral David B. Porter (that dis-
tinguished admiral, by the way, having been a cousin
of D. P. Rosenmiller's father, the Admiral's aunt
having married the latter's grandfather, Lewis
Rosenmiller). The principal engagements in which
D. P. Rosenmiller took part were: The attack on
the Rebel ram "Arkansas," tmder the Vicksburg
batteries at Baton Rouge ; the destruction . of the
ram "Arkansas" ; bombardment of Port Hudson ; at
Arkansas post and Haines Bluffs, and almost daily
— some days hourly — in engagements when com-
manding the U. S. S. "Alexandria." He was honor-
ably discharged at New Orleans, Nov. 5, 1865, by
reason of the close of the war. Such is the record, in
brief, of the part taken in the war of the Rebellion
by as gallant a sailor as ever commanded a gun. As
a matter of justice — and a thing to be proud of —
Mr. Rosenmiller received a bounty of $600 from the
U. S. Government for the part he took in the affair
with the Rebel ram "Arkansas."
The war ended, Mr. Rosenmiller returned to
1200
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Lancaster and entered the office of Hon. J. B. Liv-
ingston as a law student. After reading there for a
time, he entered ,the. office of the late Hon. A. Herr
Smith, where he completed his studies, and in 1868
he was admitted to practice in the Supreme and Su-
perior Courts. A sta,nch Republican in politics,
standing well professionally, and commanding
great personal strength, Mr. Rosenmiller was elect-
ed district attorney of Lancaster county, and not
long' alter the eJcpiration of his term as prosecuting
attorney, he was elected to the legislature from the
city district; serving two terms, 1875 and 1876. Af-
ter his legislature experience, he was elected mayor
of Lancaster by the Republicans, serving for two
years, but after his retirement from the mayoralt^r,
he took no a<itive -part in politics, but devoted him-
self assiduously to the practice of his profession,
until his desCth May 3. 1891. He was a member of
the G. A. R., of the Loyal Legion, and of Ireland
City Lodge, No. 88, K. of P. In religion he was a
Lutheran, belonging to Trinity Church.
JACOB HALBACH. Among the citizens of
Lancaster "Ivho have been conspicuous, both socially
and politically, in that city, from -early manhood,
is Jacob Halbadh, aldefman from the Second ward.
The paternal grandfathe^r of Mr. Halbach was
John P. Halbach, a native of Germany, who located
in Lancaster on coniing to the New World and ac-
quired considerable property here, becoming a sub-
stantial and highly respected' citizen. His son, Gott-
lieb, the father 'of Jacob, was bTought to America
by his parents when he was only two years old, hav-
ing been born in Reimsheid, Prussia. At an early
age, he became an apprentice to the shoe-making
trade, and oh attaining his majority carried on the
boot and shoe trade successfully for many years,
passing out of lifie when about 'fifty-three. He was
a devout member of the Refornied Cnurch. Gott-
lieb Halbach married Miss Mary Wilhelm, a native
of Lancaster, daughter of John Wilhelm, one of the
pioneers of the citv. To this union seven children
were born, one of whom, William A., was killed
while serving in Co. C, 89th Pa. Vols., at the first
battle of Perryvilie, during the war of the Rebel-
lion. Two daughters, Mary and Emma, live in the
old family home in East Orange street, Lancaster.
The mother, who was a pious and deeply loved
woman, died in 1851.
Jacob Plalbach, now serving his third term as
alderman of the Second ward Of Lancaster, was ed-
ucated in the public schools of the city, attending un-
til he reached the age of thirteen, when, after the
death of: his mother, he entered a grocery store. In
1854 he became an apprentice at smithing at the
Lancaster LocOmOtive WoAs, where he remained
until those works suspended operations, when he
went to Philadelphia, securing employment in the
establishment of I. P. Morris & Co. After working
at other points he returned to Lancaster and again
found employment in the Locomotive Works, where
he remained until the breaking out of the Civil war.
Mr. Halbach testified to his courage and patriot-
ism by enlisting m Co. H, I22d Regiment, Pa. Vols.,
for a nine-months' term, and during that time par-
ticipated in the great battles of Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville, as well as in minor engagements,
and was honorably mustered out, by reason of the
expiration of his term of enlistment. In 1864, again
enlisting, he was assigned to Co. C, 197th P. V. I.,
as first sergeant, and was sent to Rock Island, 111.,
where he was engaged in guard service until the
close . of the war.
Returning to private life, Mr. Halbach again
took up his work in his old situation, and after pur-
suing various other enterprises for a time became
employed in the Lancaster postoffice, where he re-
mained two years. His next position was the im-
portant one of superintendent of the Lancaster Wa-
ter works, and his knowledge of mechanics, coupled
with his fidelity to duty, made him a notable good
superintendent of this department. It was during hi&
term of office that ^the new pumping station was
erected.
In 1888 Mr. Halbach was elected alderman by
the Republicans of the Second ward, and he was
honored with a re-election in 1893, and again in
February, 1898, being now engaged in filling his
third term. Alderman Halbach issued the warrant
for Ralph Wireback, the murderer of David B. Lan-
dis, the bank president ; heard the case and returned
it to court ; and had the distinction of having the
only murder case in the county that led to convic-
tion and execution, for almost half a century, the
ones immediately preceding it having been those of
Anderson and Richards, away back in the fifties.
For quite a time Alderman Halbach was secretary
of the board of health of Lancaster. He was a mem-
ber of the city executive committee of the Republi-
can party, and at one time was chairman of same.
Fraternallv Mr. Halbach belongs to Lodge No. 476,
F. & A. M., to the Royal Arch Masons, Knights
Templar and Lodge of Perfection; and is a mem-
ber of George 'H. Thomas 'Post, No. 84, G. A. R.
Mr. Halbach was married in early manhood to
Miss Emma J. St. Clair, a native of Lancaster cour^
ty, and to this union the following children were
born : Harry L., a tinsmith ; Charles, a machinist ; J.
Howard, a plumber, now in Co. F, 3d U. S. Infant-
ry,-stationed on the island of Luzon (he had pre-
viously served in the Spanish- American war, land-
ing with' Gen. Miles in Porto Rico) ; George Perry,
an apprentice machinist ; Frank, a stenographer and
typewriter : and Clarence, at school.
Mr. Halbach is a member of the Reformed
Church. In every trust confided to him, private and
public, from his thirteen years of faithful superin-
tendence of the water department, down to the least
important position entrusted to him, he has proved
zealous and conscientious, winning the high esteem
not only of the people of his ward, but of the entire
community. His life record is an enviable one.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1201.
JOHN B. SMUCKER was -born in Leacock
township, Lancaster countv, Nov. 20, 1855, a son of
John amd Magdalena (Blank) Smucker, and a
grandson of David and Mary (Lapp) Smucker, and
he is now one of the prominent and popular citi-
zens of Earl township.
John Smucker, the father of John B., was born
Oct. 3, 1821, and died Feb. 8, 1889. He was mar-
ried Jan. 12, 1843, to Miss Magdalena Blank, who
Avas born April 12, 1823, a daughter of John Blank.
They had the following family: David B., born
July 27, 1844, is a farmer residing iii Sadsbury
township, married Elizabeth Reno, of Leacock
township; Eli, born March 16, 1847, died Oct. 23,
1868; Lydia, born March 31, 1850, married Eli
Stoltzfus, and is now deceased; Fannie, born 'Oct.
28, 1852, is the wife of Jacob Kauffman, of Lea-
cock township ; John B. ; Mary, born Dec. 10, 1857,
is the wife of Eli Kauffman, of Leacock township ;
Magdalena, born Nov. 17, i860, married Amos
Lapp, of Leacock township ; and Amos B., born
Oct. 12, 1863, married Miss Sallie P. Petersheim,
and is a farmer in Chester county. John Smucker
and his wife spent their lives in Leacock township,
where he was known as one of the most capable and
successful farmers of that section. He owned a farm
of seventy-five acres, and was an active and devoted
member of the A.mish Church. Mr. Smucker was
a member of the Leacock township .school board, and
was a man of character and standing.
John B. Smucker, whose name intrpduces this
article, was reared on the farm in Leacock township,
where he was born, and he was educated in the pub-
lic schools. Remaining at home until he was
twenty-five, he was married Jan. 4, 1881, to Miss
Barbara Z. Beiler, who died June 29, 1883, at the
early age of twenty-four years, two months and
twenty-nine days. The second marriage of Mr.
Smucker occurred Nov. 19, 1896, when Miss Bena
Stoltzfus became his wife. To this union has come
one child, Elizabeth E.
Mr. Smucker has made farming his vocation,
and after his second marriage he removed from his
home in Leacock township, to the Stoltzfus Home
in Earl township. He owns the Smucker home-
stead in Leacock towpship, and is widely known as
one of the progressive and up-to-date men of Lan-
caster county. Both himself and wife belong to the
Amish Church, and the family are among the coun-
ty's most worthy and respected people. Mr.
Smucker is a director of the Amish Insurance Co.,
of Lancaster county. He has a fine steam threshing
outfit, and when the threshing season is over, he
works at steam rock drilling, wood sawing, fodder
shredding, etc.
WILLIAM D. FINK, M. D., physician and sur-
geon of Denver, Lancaster county, was born Feb.
12, 1854, at Virginville, Berks Co., Pa., son of
Abraham and Mary (Lesher) Fink, his paternal and
maternal ancestry both being German, the families
76
having long been known for business integrity and
agricultural success.
Peter Fink, grandfather of Dr. Fink, was a
farmer and later a hotel-keeper at Hamburg, Berks
county, well-known and respected. His son, Abra-
ham, was a farmer and merchant, first at Hamburgf,
later at Virginville, dying in 1900, at the age of
seventy-seven years. His widow still survives at
the age of seventy-four years. The five children
born to Abraham and Mary (Lesher) Fink were:
Alfred, a farmer and dairyman at Hamburg; Jona-
than, a miller in Berks county; William D., of this
sketch; Albert, a carpenter, in Reading; and Peter,
a machinist in Philadelphia.
Dr. P'ink was a farmer lad until his thirteenth
year, obtaining his education in the public schools.
He then became a clerk in his father's store, at Vir-
ginville, and while there attended the Keystone
State Normal school, Kutztown, having previously
spent one session in Freeland College. By the time
he had reached his twenty-first year, the young man
had made up his mind to become a physician, and
with this end in view, entered the office of Dr. J. B.
Pattinger, of Hamburg. In the fall of 1874, he en-
tered Jefferson Medical College, graduating in 1878,
as a regular practitioner. Dr. Fink then located at
New Jerusalem, Berks county, in May, 1878, re-
maining in that village until the following Septem-
ber, when he removed to Adamstown, Lancaster
county, where he lived for ten years and practiced
through that locality. In 1888 he came to Denver,
Pa., where he has been very successful in his prac-
tice, and where he is ranked among the leading
physicians of this part of the county. His office is
equipped with all modern appliances including a
static machine and X-Ray combined, also a Hot
Air Apparatus, both for the treatment of chronic
diseases which cannot be reached by drugs.
In 1893 Dr. Fink engaged in the cigar manu-
facturing business, continuing until 1898. He re-
cently served as chairman of the trustees in the
erection of a large silk mill at Denver, which has no
superior in structure and equipment in the United
States, and which is now successfully running to its.
full capacity.
Fraternally Dr. Fink is connected with Ephrata
Lodge, No. 406, I. O. O. F., Circle No. 27, Brother-
hood of the Union, at Reamstown ; and the Berks.
County Medical Society, and the State Medical
Association, contributing to the medical literature
throughout the State, notably to the Medical World.
Pie is one of the leading Democrats in the township,
was one of the re-organizers of Adamstown, and he
served three years as a member of its council, and
has been a member of the county committee, and
delegate to convention. He was one of the prom-
inent factors in the admission of Denver as a bor-
ough, and was elected its first burgess. Dr. Fink
has always been identified with progress wherever
located, both in public affairs as well as in his pro-
fession. He is capable, generous and public-spirited.
1202
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
In 1882 Dr. Fink was married to Miss Mary E.
Lenhart, of Berks county, and four children have
been born to this union: Raymond; Mable, de-
ceased; Florence; and Agnes. The family belongs
to the Reformed Church, but Dr. Fink was reared
a Lutheran and is still attached to that religious
body.
WILLIAM R. RISK, one of the better known
and popular farmers of Drumore township, Lan-
caster county, was born in East Drumore township,
March 23, 1842, a son of William C. and Mary Jane
'•(Reed) Risk, both natives of this county.
Robert Risk, his grandfather, was a native of
Ireland ; as was also his wife, Margaret McFarland.
They located near Quarryville, where he was a
farmer and blacksmith, and where he died. His
wife died in the home of her son, William C. They
had the following family: John, who died it the
home of his parents, unmarried, as did his brothers
Robert and David; James, who was born in Eden,
but who, after marrying Frances Moore, entered
into a mercantile business at Colerain, and later
moved to Buck, in West Drumore township, where
he was engaged in business until his death (he left
two sons, James, of Quarryville, and Robert, a
writer on the Examiner, of Lancaster) ; and Eliza-
beth W., who was born at Quarryville, and died un-
married in the home of her brother, William C.
William C. Risk, was born in Eden township,
July 22, 1808, and his wife, Mary Jane Reed, was
born in Providence township, June 11, 1812. He
purchased the home of his father-in-law in East
Drumore township, where his life was passed.
He also bought a farm adjoining that of his son,
William R., and there erected fine buildings. His
death occurred March 23, 1885 ; his widow passed
to her rest Sept. 24, 1890. They were consistent
members of the Presbyterian Church, and at a time
when it was weak, his strong character and relig-
ious principles were important factors in its support.
He was a strong Whig and Republican, and was al-
ways a determined opponent of slavery. To him
and his wife were born five children : James and
Margaret both died in childhood ; Robert H., born
in 1838, is single, and owns his father's old home-
stead ; Elizabeth J., born in 1840, keeps the home of
her brother Robert ; and William R.
William R. Risk remained at home until the
breaking out of the Civil War, when he enlisted in
Co. G, 1st Lancaster County Battalion, the com-
mand being recruited from Lancaster county. They
were stationed at Hagerstown, and participated in
the battle of Antietam, and Mr. Risk did duty with
his command until it was discharged.
In January, 1877, Mr. Risk was married to Miss
Amelia Scott, who was born in Little Britain town-
ship, Sept. 7, 1849, a daughter of Robert and Mar-
tha J. (Gibson) Scott. Her parents settled where
Mrs. Risk was born, and her brother, Robert Scott,
still lives on the old homestead.
Mr. and Mrs. Risk settled on their home, ad-
joining the old home of his father, and where he has
made many valuable improvements. Mr. and
Mrs. Risk are the parents of three living children :
Hattie J., born May 22, 1880, received her education
at the home school and in- the high school at Quar-
ryville; William Harvey, born Dec. 31, 1882, lives
at home ; and A. Leetie was born Sept. 6, 1885. Mr.
Risk has always been identified with the old Repub-
lican party, but has never aspired to any office. All
the family belong to the Presbyterian Church. He
is one of the solid men of the community, and takes
an active interest in the Church to which his par-
ents were devoted.
WILLIAM KING. The King family, of which
William King, of Kirk's Mills, is a worthy repre-
sentative, is an old established one of Southern Lan-
caster county, and one which has consistently lived
up to the precepts of the Quaker belief. It origi-
nated in England, but its. descendants have long
been among the most respected residents of this part
of Pennsylvania.
William King was born Aug. 9, 1826, in Fulton
township, a son of Lewis and Sarah (Thomas)
King, the former of whom was a son of James
King, who was both a farmer and a miller, in Ful-
ton township, and was one of the first settlers after
its organization,^ becoming a well-known and re-
spected citizen ; his children were : Thomas, Amos,
Lewis, James, John, Pyle, Phebe and Ann. Lewis
King was 'the father of five children : Thomas P. ;
William; Alfred, of Philadelphia, a mechanic; and
Phebe and Edith, deceased. These children were
all carefully reared and taught to observe the rules
of the Society of Friends, and they were a family
which exerted at all times an influence for good
through the community.
William King has been a farmer through life,
but now lives retired from activity. On March 5,
1846, he married Rebecca D. Reynolds, of Chester
county, who was born Oct. 20, 1826, a daughter of
Israel and Hannah (Stubbs) Reynolds, of Chester
county, the family being of Welsh and English
origin. Joseph Reynolds, her grandfather, was a
native of Maryland, and there married Rachel Bar-
nard, and then moved to Che'ster county, Pa. ; they
reared these children : Israel, Richard, Joseph, Jer-
emiah, Cyrus, Abia, Lydia, Susan, Lettice and Re-
becca. Mrs. King was one of a family of five chil-
dren born to her parents: Vincent, who lives in
county, at the age of eighty-one years; Rachel B.,
who is the wife of Samuel B. Gatchell, of Chester
county; Rebecca D., who is Mrs. King; Priscilla,
who is the wife of Jonathan Pickering, of Oxford,
Pa. ; and Joseph, who died young.
The children born to William King and his es-
timable wife were two daughters: Sarah L. be-
came a woman of more than usual prominence, a
graduate of the Woman's Medical College of Phila-
delphia, in 1883, a successful physician of this coun-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1203
ty, until her untimely death, in 1895 ; she was a wo-
man of rare attainments and she left a Vacancy that
can never be filled either in her family of the com-
munity where she was much beloved. The second
daughter, Hannah Ida, is the wife of John Evans, a
machinist by trade, whose home is in Wilmington,
Del, and who has two children, Marion Ellen and
John E., Jr.
William King has always been known as an ex-
cellent citizen, has served as school director, and in
former years was a leading agriculturist. Always
opposed to slavery, since the Civil war he has turned
his attention to the suppression of the slavery of in-
temperance, and cast his vote in 1900 in favor of the
Prohibition candidate for the Presidential office.
Mrs. King is a woman of rare qualities and Chris-
tian virtues, and in her solicitous care for the spir-
itual welfare of the community, has been a leader and
a teacher in the Friends' First Day school at East
Land Meeting house, for seventeen years. Both
William King and wife are and long have been
active in both religious and educational life in their
vicinity, and they are universally held in high esteem.
CHRISTIAN MARTIN (deceased) was born
in Earl township, where his life was spent, the
greater part on the farm where his grandson, Isaac
Martin, is now living. This farm, on which he lo-
cated soon after his marriage, contains 150 acres,
and is situated two miles northeast of New Holland.
At the present time it bears the name of " Big
Springs Farm," and is one of the notable places of
the county. Most of its substantial and attractive
improvements were made by its present occupant,
who is known as "Springs Isaac."
Christian Martin married Magdalina Eby, and
both lived to an advanced age. They had a family
of eight children, of whom Daniel, Christian, Isaac
and John are deceased ; Elizabeth married John Sen-
?enig; Annie married Henry Musser; Mary mar-
ried John Grofif : Lydia married Jacob Stauffer. All
were members of the Mennonite Church.
John Martin, the father of Isaac, was born on
the farm where that gentleman now lives, and there
was reared and spent his life, following farming,
and becoming one of the most successful men of his
day. He bought farms for his sons Isaac and Da-
vid. He married Annie Weaver, daughter of David
and Christiana Weaver, both of Earl township, and
she is still living, in her eighty-fifth year. The fa-
ther died Sept. 28, 1887, when he was a little over'
seventy-six years old. He was a member of the
Mennonite Church, as is his widow. They had a
family of five children : David resides in- Earl town-
ship ; Magdalena is the widow of Peter Zimmerman,
and lives in East Earl township ; Isaac is mentioned
below; Mary is the wife of Christian Zimmer-
man, and has her home in East Earl township;
Anna married Joseph Sensinger.
Isaac Martin was born Jan. 25, 1842, on the
farm where he has since made his home. He has
always been a broad gauged and public-spirited
man, and his influence in the community has been of
the very best. He has kept fully abreast of the
times, and is widely known as an intelligent and up-
right citizen, always ready to assist any good move-
ment. For nine years he has been school director.
He is a stockholder in the New Holland Bank, and
is the owner of the old homestead, a farm of 150
acres, having also a half interest in Martin's Mill ; a
farm of fifty acres in Ephrata township also belongs
to Mr. Martin, as well as property in New Holland
and Cocalico. He also owns real estate in Philadel-
phia.
Mr. Martin was married Nov. 10, 1864, to' Miss
Annie Musser, who was born in Earl township
March 14, 1845, a daughter of Martin and Mary
(Weaver) Musser. To this union have' come five
children: Eli is a farmer 'and implement dealer of
Earl township; John died unmarried; Isaac died
unmarried; Sadac died Sept. 27, 1901, leaving a
wife, Mrs. Lizzie (Nolt) Martin, and three chil-
dren, Anna, Martha and Isaac; Mary died single.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin are wbrthy and substantial
people, and are highly esteemed members of the Old
Mennonite Church.
L. R. AMBLER, one of the leading and sub-
stantial citizens as well as intelligent and representa-
tive men of Lancaster county, was born on the farm
he now owns and occupies, in .Martic township,
June 24, 1864. His parents were Thomas E. and
Mary J. (Boyd) Ambler, both now deceased.
Grandfather William Ambler was a native of
Montgomery county, Pa., of mixed Welsh and Eng-
lish ancestry, and by trade was a weaver, attaining
excellence in that line. He married Elizabeth Pen-
rose, and they had a family of seven children : Ade-
Ime, who married James Smedley, of Fulton town-
ship ; Penrose, a retired farmer of Fulton township ;
Owen, deceased ; Thomas E., deceased ; Edward
and Ann, twins, the latter of whom married Aquilla
B. Lamborn, a retired farmer of Little Britain town-
ship ; and Edward, a cabinetmaker, who resides in
Liberty Square, Pennsylvania.
Thomas E. Ambler, son of William, and father
of L. R., was born in Montgomery county Dec. 12,
1823, and came to Lancaster county with his parents
when but a child. In 1856 he was united in marriage
to Mary J. Boyd, who was a daughter of William C.
and Mary (Long) Boyd, of Drumore township, and
to this marriage were born six children, all of
whom, with the exception of L. R., of Martic town-
ship, died young.
L. B. Ambler had exceptional school advantages
in the public schools of his locality, and is one of the
most intelligent and progressive farmers of his town-
ship. His large estate, comprising 300 acres of ex-
cellent land, shows the sensible methods which he
has employed in its cultivation and management.
Mr. Ambler was married, Dec. 15, 1886, to Miss
Mary C. Long, of Drumore township, who was bom
1204
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNAI.S OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Dec. 15, 1864, daughter of J. Harrison and Elizabeth
S. (Harner) Long. Three children have come to
this union: A. Levis, born July 18, 1890; Mabel
Elizabeth, born Dec. 15, 1891 ; and Mary Clare,
born Nov. 13, 1902.
Mr. Ambler is identified with much of the public
life of the county, takes a great interest in educa-
tional matters, serving most efficiently as school di-
rector, and is financially interested in the Quarry-
ville National Bank, being one of the directors. A
worthy citizen, in the highest acceptation of the
term, he is a true representative of his section of
Lancaster county.
DAVID E. HERR, one of the leading farmers
of Lancaster township, this county, belongs to one
of the old and honored families of the State of Penn-
sylvania.
Henry Herr, the father of David E., was born
June I, 1821, in Lancaster township, near Millers-
ville, and while still a young man began farming
operations on the estate which is now the property
of his son David E. All of his active life was devoted
to agricultural pursuits. He retired from active
work in April, 1890, his death taking place in No-
vember of the same year. Henry Herr was a lead-
ing member of the Old A'lennonite Church. He mar-
ried Mary Eshbach, and they became the parents of
three children : Christian, a farmer and manager of
a threshing machine, in Millersville ; Henry, a farmer
of Lancaster township ; and David E.
David E. Herr first saw the light in the home
which he now owns, Jan. 13, 1863. In the district
schools he obtained an excellent education, and later
followed in the footsteps of his worthy father, in
the management of the farm. After his father's
death he purchased the estate, and since then he has
effectually demonstrated his ability as a farmer. His
estate contains seventy-six acres, and is very valu-
able, being situated within one mile of the city of
Lancaster, on the West, near the Columbia Pike
road.
David E. Herr was married to Miss Fannie Hu-
ber, who was a daughter of Abram and Hettie Hu-
ber, and to this union three children were born : One
child that died in infancy ; and Hettie H. and Fan-
nie M., both of whom are at home. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Herr are consistent members of the Old Men-
iionite Church.
ABRAHAM B. HARNISH, one of the enter-
prising farmer-citizens of East Hempfield township,
I^ancaster county, was born in West Herripfield
township, Nov. 30, 1849. His boyhood was passed
in a manner similar to that of many sons of farmers,
working upon the farm of his father and attending
the public school of his district.
In 1874 Abraham B. Harnish decided to embark
in life for himself, and removed to East Hempfield
township, where he purchased his present desirable
property and has since resided. This farm consists
of fifty-three acres, and is devoted to general farm-
ing. The land is in a high state of cultivation, and
the buildings are in excellent condition, testifying"
to his ability as a farmer and his thrift as an owner
of property.
On Nov. 23, 1876, occurred the marriage of
Abraham B. Harnish and Barbara Hiestand, a
daughter of Jacob Hiestand, of Lancaster county,,
and to this union have been born: Clayton H,-
Hiestand, Abraham H. and Dora H., at home ; and'
Ervin and Levi, deceased. Both Abraham B. Har-
nish and his worthy wife are consistent members of"
the Old Mennonite Church, and enjoy a well-de-
served popularity, not only in their religious connec-
tion, but also throughout the entire community. In^
their pleasant home, which is conveniently situated
two miles west of Rohrerstown, they welcome their"
many friends and live lives which are examples to-
others, of honorable, upright, Christian people.
DAVID WANNER. The name of Wanner has
been borne by a highly respected family of agri-
culturists in Lancaster county.
David Wanner, the gentleman whose name-
opens this biographical mention, is truly a fitting-
representative of the old Keystone stock, as will be
found as the narrative of his life-career progresses.
He was born near Pequea church, in Salisbury
township, Lancaster county, July 7, 1847, ^ son of
John and Barbara (Worst) Wanner, also natives of
that township, and of Swiss origin.
John Wanner, who was a very prominent farmer
in his day, served his fellow-citizens as a township
official, and for three years was a school director..
His death took place March 12, 1885, when he was
seventy-one years of age, and that of his wife oc-
curred in 1892, at the age of seventy, their remains
being interred in Pequea church cemetery. They
had been life-long Presbyterians, and the father hadi
been a Republican in politics ever since the organi-
zation of the party. The four children born to John-
and Barbara Wanner were, in order of birth, as fol-
lows : Henry, a farmer in Salisbury township, mar-
ried Emma Weiler; David, who is unmarried, is a
retired farmer of Salisbury township; J. Alford, a.
farmer and a school director, married to Anna Eby ;
Samuel, likewise a farmer, is married to Sarata
Seldomridge.
The paternal grandparents of David Wanner
were David and Susannah (Garber) Wanner, the
former of whom was a well-to-do farmer and died
in 1861, when seventy-four years old, his wife dying-
in 1873, at the age of seventy-eight. They were de-
voted members of the Mennonite Church, and their-
remains were interred in Hays churchyard in Salis-
bury township. Their children were born in the fol-
lowing order: John, David, Jacob, Eliza (who died
single at the age of thirty years), Isaac and Sus-
annah (who was married to William Dague), air
now deceased. The maternal grandfather, Henry-
Worst, was also a farmer and a native of Lancaster-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1205
■county, as was also his wife, whose maiden name
"was Kurtz.
David Wanner has never embarked upon the sea
of matrimony. He made his home with his parents
until they were called from earth, and then with his
brother Samuel, continued to operate the home farm
until it was partitioned in 1892, when his brother,
J. Alford, took full possession, David having held
an interest in it until that date. In the meantime, in
1865, David Wanner purchased a farm of 120 acres
In another part of the township, one half mile north
•of Springville, which he rents out.
Mr. Wanner is a member of the Pequea Pres-
byterian Church, the precepts of which have been
his guide through life. In politics he is a Repub-
lican, but he has always been too much engaged,
however, with the management of his own affairs
to care for office holding, and the result is that he
has one of the best cultivated farms of its size in
Salisbury township. He is a very public-spirited
citizen, and is quite liberal in the contributions of his
means toward the advancement of the township pub-
lic improvements, in which he takes a deep interest,
schools and roads receiving his special attention.
To his efforts the township owes its progress in a
large degree, and to his energy in promoting its in-
terest, as much as to the prestige of his family name,
is due his individual high standing in the com-
munity.
FRANK BARR SNAVELY, of No. 21 North
Ann street, Lancaster, where he and his wife enter-
tain in a most hospitable manner, is descended from
one of the oldest and most influential families of
Lancaster county.
Abraham Suavely, his grandfather, who was a
Mennonite preacher in Pequea township, where he
-entered into rest at the age of eighty-six, was in his
time one of the most conspicuous figures in Lan-
•caster county, being the owner and manager of the
Suavely Mill, three miles south of the city. This
passed into control of his son, Benjamin Suavely,
who was the father of Frank B.
Benjamin Suavely was a farmer and miller, and
-for years conducted the mill that had long been in
"his familv. Coming to Lancaster, he became one of
the pioneer cotton mill men of this city, being asso-
ciated with Gideon W. Arnold, Francis Schroeder,
and Christian Breneman in the ownership of No.i
Cotton Mill. After ten years he disposed of his in-
terest in this enterprise, and entered into partner-
ship with the late Col. Brenner in the dry goods
"business ; he also formed a partnership with the late
Joseph Welchans in the leaf tobacco business. Bau-
man's tannery on West King street, in Lancaster,
•was bought by him, and turned over to his three
-sons, Benjamin, Jr., Abraham and Frank B. He
married a Miss Eliza Barr, a daughter of Benjamin
Barr, a notable farmer of Pequea. Mr. Suavely
passed away in 1898, when eighty-six years old ; his
■wife preceding him in 1896, when seventy-three
years old. To them were born eight children, of
whom only three survive: Benjamin, Jr.; Dr. H.
B., physician ; and Frank B., all of whom are in Lan-
caster.
Frank Barr Suavely was born on the old home-
stead in Pequea, Dec. 28, 1854, and received his ed-
ucation in the public schools of Pequea and Lancas-
ter city. Leaving school, he entered into the tan-
nery business as noted above, associated with his
brothers, and continued in it with one brother as a
partner until 1893. That year Mr. Suavely was sent
to Chicago by M. S. Hershey, the millionaire en-
gaged in the manufacturer of caramels, to take
charge of a branch of the big Lancaster concern.
Mr. Suavely remained in the Chicago business for
two and a half years, when it was removed to
Bloomington, 111., with him as its manager. The
filant was sold in 1899, and Mr. Snavely returned to
Lancaster to become the manager of the great
creamery connected with the caramel works. The
annual output of "Royal Butter" from this estab-
lishment— the finest butter on the market — ^has
reached the enormous total of 500,000 pounds. The
manufacture and sale of this vast product is under
the direct management of our subject.
Mr. Sna-vely is a Republican in politics, and so-
cially is connected with the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Snavely was married in November, 1881, to
Miss Anna Elizabeth Eby, daughter of Simon J.
Eby, for many years a hardware merchant of Mount
Joy, but more recently associated with his son, C. L:,
in the baking business. Two sons were born of this
union: Walter, who died in infancy; and Frank
Clayton, who, after attending the Lancaster high
school and Wade's Business College, accepted a
clerical position with a wholesale linen house in New
York city, where he now is.
H. F. YERGEY is treasurer and manager of
the Columbia Wagon Company, at Columbia, Lan-
caster county, Pennsylvania.
ELIAS O. REITZEL has been for over a quar-
ter of a cehtury an employe of the Pennsylvania
Railway Company, which he is now serving as con-
ductor, and is one of the respected citizens of Co-
lumbia, where he has made his home since 1873.
Mr. Reitzel was born May 15, 185 1, in Mount-
■v^ille, Lancaster county. His great-grandfather, the
first of the family in America, came to this country
from Holland with three sons, all of whom were un-
married at the time. Col. Joseph Reitzel, grandfa-
ther of Elias O., was a weaver by trade, came to
America with his father, and located in West
Flempfield township, Lancaster Co., Pa. In 1825
he settled in Mountville, Lancaster county. In early
youth he learned the carpet weaver's trade, and
in later years also that of miller, and he also
followed farming and distilling. Toward the close
of his life he embarked in business as a butcher,
and continued in that line until his death, . which
1206
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
occurred in 1867, when he was past eighty-four.
He was distinguished for patriotism and per-
sonal courage, and was colonel in the war of
18 1 2. While not a professing church member, he
was a man whose standard of moral conduct was
regulated by deep-seated Christian principles. Col.
Reitzel was twice married. Among the twelve chil-
dren born to the first union, that with Miss Boner,
were: Joseph, John, Samuel, Henry, Peggy (Mrs.
George Imhoff), and Betsey (Mrs. Edward Mc-
Glory). To Col. Reitzel's second marriage, with
Elizabeth Mann, of Sunflower, Lancaster Co. (near
Chester Co.), Pa., were born: Daniel, Harrison,
Ephraim H. and Sarah. Daniel, now deceased,
served as captain of Co. G, of a Pennsylvania Vol-
unteer Regiment, during the Civil war, and was
wounded in his country's service. . Sarah is unmar-
ried, and resides with her brother Ephraim. The
others died before reaching mature years. Mrs.
Elizabeth (Mann) Reitzel died June 15, 1893, at the
same age as her husband.; she was a member of the
United Brethren denomination.
John Reitzel was born in Mountville, Lancaster
county, and died there in 1851. He married Mar-
garet Otto, who was born Oct. 5, 1825, in Berks
county. Pa., and died Feb. 21, 1893, in Columbia.
Her father, Henry Otto, of Berks county, settled in
Manor township, this county, at an early day; he
was a farmer by occupation. Mr. and Mrs. Reitzel
were members of the Lutheran Church. Their chil-
dren were Jacob, who is a farmer of Norton county,
Kans. ; Joseph, a railroad brakeman of Colum-
bia ; and Elias O. The mother married for her sec-
ond husband William D. Mann, who also died long
before her, passing away Oct. 24, 1868, at the age of
fifty-five. Two children came to this union: Eliz-
abeth, Mrs. John Good, of Lancaster, and Miss
Mary Ann Mann, of Columbia, both of whom were
born at Mountville.
Elias O. Reitzel was reared to farming, which
he continued up to the age of seventeen, and subse-
quently, for several years, was employed in coal
yards and tobacco warehouses in Mouiitville. On
Sept. 10, 1873, he came to Columbia, as brakeman
on the Pennsylvania railroad, with which he has
ever since remained. In 1874 he became extra flag-
man and on April 9, 1888, regular flagman ; on April
20, 1893, he was made extra conductor, and on
March 28, 1896, was promoted to the position of
regular conductor, the duties of which he has ably
and faithfully discharged. Fraternally he is a mem-
ber of the B. of R. T., and the Relief Department ;
also of the A. O. K. M. C. ; and the Brotherhood of
the Union, Liberty Circle, No. 23. His i;eligious con-
nection is with the Church of God. Mr. Reitzel is a
Republican in politics. He is a member of the Co-
lumbia Fire Department.
Our subject was married Nov. 20, 1887, in Co-
lumbia, to Mrs. Catherine (Sherrick) Smith, who
was born May 25, 1851, in Washington borough,
this county. She first married John Smith, a plas-
terer and stone mason, and to that union was born
one daughter, Mary E., who died in infancy. Two
children have come to her union with Mr. Reitzel,
Milton H. and Mary E.
Paul Sherrick, of Washington borough, Mrs.
Reitzel's father, was a son of John and Elizabeth
Sherrick, of Germany, who came to America, and
were married in Lancaster county. He first married
Margaret Vouliver, by whom he had: Jacob, now
deceased ; Lenah, widow of George Green, of Steel-
ton, Pa.; Fanny, deceased; Mary, deceased; and
John, an extensive farmer of Manor township.
Mrs. Sherrick died March 29, 1845, aged thirty-
five years. His second marriage was to Eliz-
abeth Collins, also of Washington borough, whose
parents, Samuel and Nancy (Hougentogler) Col-
lins, were lifelong residents of Lancaster county, and
to this marriage came children as follows : Henry,
Anna, Susan, Samuel and Catherine, all deceased;
David is a farmer of Washington borough; Ellen
is the widow of Henry Hougentogler, of Columbia :
Amanda married James Freeland, a contractor of
Columbia ; Paul is a farmer in Washington, Pa. ;
Caroline married John Philips, of Lebanon, Pa.;
Lydia married Isaac Welsh, an ice merchant, of Co-
lumbia; The father died April 25, 1866, aged fifty-
eight years. He was a pilot on the river during the
season, and also engaged in farming. Mrs. Eliza-
beth Sherrick passed away Sept. 26, 1892, aged six-
ty-eight, at Columbia, where she was visiting a
daughter. Both parents were members of the
Church of God, and were widely known and be-
loved as good Christian people.
EPHRAIM WHITMEYER SHUE, the very-
popular proprietor of the "Kindig House," on North.
Prince street, is descended from an old Pennsyl-
vania family, his great-grandfather having beert
among the early settlers who came to America froir*
Germany.
The name of the grandfather also was John
Shue, like that of the founder. He was born near
White Oak, in this county, and married a Miss
Motter, and their son, Jacob, became the father of
Ephraim W. Shue.
Jacob Shue engaged in farming in this county.
He married Priscilla Witmer, a daughter of Will-
iam Witmer, a farmer of the same section. To this^
union were born nine children, eight of whom are-
living: Samuel F., who is in the cigar business
near Newmanstown, this State; Harvey, a cigar
maker ; Jacob, who occupies a position in the Read-
ing station of the Reading and Philadelphia rail-
road ; Reuben, a building inspector in Peoria, 111. ;
Ephraim W. ; Albert, a builder, of Lakewood, N. J. ,-
Alice, the wife of George W. Yetter, in the gas de-
partment in Philadelphia; and Emma, the young-
est, is the wife of Rue McKelvy, a steam fitter andi
contractor, of Lakewood, New Jersey.
Ephraim W. Shue was born near Manheim, thi&
coimty, in 1861, and was educated in the schools of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1207
his district, but left his search for education at the
age of thirteen, although, as a matter of fact, he
had commenced work, among neighboring farmers,
as early as nine years. His career through boyhood,
as well as through his more mature years, shows
what may be accomplished by the American boy
through industry, honesty and pluck. When other
lads were at play in the evenings he learned cigar
making, and during his boyhood years saved con-
siderable money, earning it all by work on the farm,
building fences and doing other work at night for
the people of his neighborhood.
In 1892 he entered into the hotel business, buy-
ing a hotel property in Manheim, where he remained '
for three years. The Brooks High License law de-
prived him of his next license, and his next move,
after having lost every dollar made in his first hotel
venture, was to become head clerk in the "Summy
House,"' in Manheim, where he remained for three
years, and then came to the old "Franklin House,"
Lancaster, where he clerked for three years, and, in
1892 took possession of the old "Merrimac House,"
on North Prince street, changing the name to the
"Kindig House" and rehabilitating the house as well
as the name.
Mr. Shue is an ideal host, and understands the
keeping of a hotel in first-class style. Soon after
he took charge it became noted not only in this sec-
tion but among traveling men all over the State for
its excellent cuisine and first-class management. So
popular did the place become that frequently Mr.
Shue has been compelled to turn people away for
lack of room. In 1898 he added to his other re-
sponsibilities by the purchase of the "City Hotel,"
on North Queen street, one of the finest hotel prop-
erties in the city. After renting this hotel for three
years Mr. Shue purchased the adjoining property,
and both buildings have been torn down. In their
place has been erected the largest and best equipped
hotel in the city, which Mr. Shue has named "The
Wheatland," after Wheatlands, the home of the
late President James Buchanan, which lies to the
west of the city.
The marriage of Mr. Shue was to Miss Susan
Frankfort, a daughter of Philip Frankfort, a con-
tracting mason, living near Kissel Hill, this county,
and five children have been added to the household :
Frank, Harry, Scott, Charles and Ephraim W., Jr.,
all being students except the youngest. The family
is connected with the Episcopal Church. Mr. Shue
is liberal minded and believes in a moral life, and
his contributions to all denominations are liberal.
Fraternally Mr. Shue is popular and belongs to the
Knights of the Golden Eagle ; the Odd Fellows ; the
Junior Mechanics ; the Knights of Malta ; and the
Patriotic Sons— the last and the Eagles being two
new organizations which are attracting attention.
His aged father makes his home with him, and no
man in the community has been more devoted to
family interests than Mr. Shue. Liberal at all
times' with a pleasant greeting to all, with "a heart
as big as his body," as is often remarked, Mr. Shue
can boast of as many friends as any man who has
ever lived in the city of Lancaster.
CLAYTON S. MELLINGER, cashier of the
Mountville National Bank, at Mountville, Lancaster
county, is a native of the town, born Aug. 10,
1874, a son of Abraham H. and Elizabeth R. (Shel-
ienberger) Mellinger of Manor township.
Abraham Mellinger was born on the old home-
stead in Manor township, Feb. 21, 1837, came to
Mountville in 1874, and engaged in the tobacco trade
in partnership with George S. Roland for several
years, but the last ten years of his life were passed in
retirement, although he had his Manor township
farm kept under cultivation until the end. Abraham
Mellinger was a member of the Mennonite Church,
and in this faith he passed away at Mountville, May
ID, 1889 ; his widow still has her home in Mountville
and of her pedigree further mention will be made
near the close of this review. To Abraham and
Elizabeth R. (Shellenberger) Mellinger were born
five children, viz.: Edward, deceased; Clayton S.,
whose name opens this biographical memoir ; Anna,
deceased ; Margaret, at home ; and Charles, deceased.
The Mellinger family descends from Benedict
Mellinger, a native of Southern Germany, who set-
tled in Manor township, Lancaster county, in 1746 —
the original farm being a part of the present estate.
Christian Mellinger, grandfather of Clayton S.,
came with his son Abraham from Manor township,
where he lived in retirement until his death, in 1878,
at the age of ninety-one years. Christian Mellinger
was twice married. To his first union was born,
John, who died a prominent member of the Episcopal
Church in Columbia, in February, 1900. To the
second marriage of Christian Mellinger were born
the following children: Mary, married to John
Seitz, Sr., of Rohrerstown, and retired; Barbara,,
widow of Jacob Gerber, of Newtown; Susannah,
widow of Reuben Garber, of Salunga; Elizabeth,
deceased wife of Lemuel Garber; Martha, married
to Andrew L. Sheningberger, a farmer of Glen
Manor ; Anna, widow of John Hershey ; David, liv-
uig retired in Manor township ; Rev. Daniel, a Men-
nonite minister in Winchester, Va. ; and Abraliam,
deceased father of Clayton S. Mellinger.
The first of the Shellenberger family, Ulrick
Shellenberger, came to West Hempfield township
from the southern part of Germany in 1726, and en-
gaged in farming. Mrs. Elizabeth R. (Shellenber-
ger) Mellinger was'born in this township, a daugh-
ter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Rohrer) Shellenberger,
who both died on the old homestead. The father was
a farmer, and was sixty-seven years of age at the time
of his death in 1878, and the mother died in 1886,
aged eighty-one years, both in the faith of the Dunk-
ard (German Baptist) Church, and their remains
were interred in the Habecker church cemetery. The
children born to the imion of Jacob and Elizabeth
(Rohrer) Shellenberger were, in the order of birth.
1208
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
as follows : Susannah, still single, and living on the
old farm; Daniel, deceased; Andrew, a farmer in
West Hempfield township ; Abra, who died in 1898 ;
Jacob, a physician in active practice at Germantown ;
Elizabeth R., widow of Abraham H. Mellinger ;
Sarah, who died yoi.mg ; and Mary, who was married
to Amos N. Lehman, and who died in 1878. The
paternal ancestors, Andrew and Elizabeth (Forry)
Shellenberger, came from Switzerland, and were
early settlers in West Hempfield township, where
they followed farming; the maternal grandparents
Abraham and Elizabeth (Eby) Rohrer, of Lancaster
county, both died in Manor township.
Clayton S. Mellinger, who is still an unmarried
man, attended the Huntingdon and the Millersville
Normal schools until eighteen years of age, when he
entered the Lancaster Trust Co.'s office as check
clerk, and when he left the institution eight years
later was keeper of the general ledger. He then
came to Mountville, to accept his present respon-
sible position.
In politics Mr. Mellinger has always been a con-
sistent Republican, but has never been particularly
active in party affairs, his own responsible situations
having kept him pretty well occupied, and the-hand-
ling of his father's estate has but added to his
cares. Mr. Mellinger makes his home with his
mother, and no family in Mountville is held in higher
esteem bv the residents than that of Mrs. Elizabeth
R. Mellinger.
EDWARD L. HEISEY was born on the old
Heisey homestead, in West Donegal township, Sept.
16, 1868, a son of Jacob W. Heisey, whose life and
family hi.story are presented in another place.
Edward L. Heisey was married Oct. 9, 1890, in
Rapho township, to Miss Anna M. Erb. Their mar-
riage was blessed by the birth of three children:
Ella E. ; Minnie M., now deceased; and Chester E.,
born April 24, 190 T.
Mrs. Anna M. (Erb) Heisey was born in East
Donegal township, the charming and estimable
daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Mumma) Erb,
natives of Lancaster and Dauphin counties, respect-
ively. Her father, who was a farmer, died Dec. 17,
1885, at the age of sixty years. His remains were
put tu rest in the Graybill burying grounds. Her
mother, who was born in 1830, is now living in East
Hempfield township. They were members of the
Mennonite Church. Seven children were born to
them : John M., a farmer in West Hempfield town-
.ship ; Daniel, deceased ; Elizabeth, wife of D. S.
Metzler, a farmer m Rapho township; Fanny, de-
ceased : Harrv, a farmer in West Donegal township ;
Mary, the wife of Jacob E. Brubaker, a farmer in
East Donegal township: and Anna, whose marriage
is noted in the preceding paragraph.
John Erb, the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Anna
Heisey, lived ancl died in Lancaster county. Her
maternal grandparents were John and Anna (Bru-
baker) Mumma, also natives of Lancaster county.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Elizabeth Erb con-
tracted a second marriage with Benjamin B. Kaufif-
man, now a retired farmer in East Hempfield town-
ship.
Edward L. Heisey remained at home with his
parents until he i-eached the age of twenty-two years,
when he struck out for himself, and began by work-
ing by the day in Rapho township. After two years
of this he bought a small farm, which he tilled for
four years. His next step was to remove to Mt. Joy
borough, where he spent a year, and then came back
to West Donegal township to engage in farming, at
the same time taking up stone quarrying. In the
spring of 1900, in company with four brothers, he
formed a partnership for burning lime, under the
name of the High C Lime Co. They have already
secured a flattering patronage, and with the improve-
ments contemplated in their business will soon take
very front rank in their line. Since the establish-
ment of the Rural Free Delivery system, Mr. Heisey
lias been mail carrier from the Rheems postoffice.
Mr. Heisey belongs to the Mennonite Church,
and takes an independent stand in politics. - He is
prominent and thrifty, has hosts of friends, and
gives every promise of a brilliant career.
AARON R. LUTZ, one of the Pennsylvania
Railway Company's most capable and trustworthy
engineers, was born in Newtown, Lancaster county,
Nov. 25, 1854, being the fifth of a family of twelve
children. His father's name was Reuben, and his
paternal grandfather's was Jacob. Both were car-
penters and both are deceased. Jacob Lutz died in
1863, and Reuben in 1890, at the age of sixty-three.
Mr. Lutz's mother was Sarah Hoffman, daughter
of Jacob Hofi'man, a farmer of Silver Spring, in
Lancaster county, who died in i860, in his sixty-
sixth year. Two years after the death of her hus-
band Mrs. Reuben Lutz came to Columbia, where
she passed the closing years of her long and useful
life, entering into rest in November, 1899, having
passed the Scriptural limit of three score years and
ten. Both parents were members of the Church of
United Brethren, and sleep in the cemetery of that
denomination at Mountville.
The brothers and sisters of Mr. Lutz were as
follows • Mary, who died in childhood ; Jacob and
John, carpenters living in Columbia; Barbie, wife
of Henry Doll, of York, Pa. ; Mary (2), who mar-
ried Jacob Sailer, of Columbia; Sarah, now Mrs.
Burchfield, of the same place ; Isabella, whose hus-
band, Isaiah Cain, is a farmer of West Hempfield ;
Emma, the wife of Christ Herr, a shoemaker of Mil-
lersville; Elizabeth, Mrs. Balaam Brooks, whose
husband is a miller living at Steelton ; Harry, whose
honie is in York ; and Alice, who became the wife
of Christ Rotkey, a farmer of West Hempfield.
Mr. Lutz was reared upon a farm lantil he was
eighteen years old, when he served an apprentice-
ship to the painter's trade. This pursuit he followed
for six years. In 1874 he came to Columbia, and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1209
there entered the Pennsylvania Company's service as .
a fireman. Six years later he was promoted to be
■an engineer, and still has his hand on the throttle.
He enjoys the confidence of his superiors, the
friendship of his associates and the esteem of the
community in which he resides. He is a member
■of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. His
political creed is Democratic ; in religious faith he
is a Lutheran, being a member of St. John's Church.
On August 30, 1876, Mr. Lutz was united in
Tuarriage to Miss Ellen A. Sweeney, daughter of
John J. and Martha A. Sweeney, of Columbia. Her
father is also a Pennsylvania engineer, and a sketch
■of his life may be found on another page in this
-volume. Eight children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Lutz: Robert Reginald, Maud M., James C,
Madge A^I., Lena L., Roderick D., Isabella K. and
Ella Marie. R. Reginald died before reaching the
;age of four years. The others are at home.
SAMUEL P. WHITESIDE, a farmer of
Colerain township, Lancaster county, was born in
the township in which his active; and useful life is
passing, in April, 1864, a son of James and Eliza-
beth (Irwin) Whiteside.
James Whiteside was also born in Colerain town-
ship in September, 1825, and Elizabeth Irwin was
Tjorn in Honeybrook in 1827. They were married
in 1855, and settled on his father's farm. There
they reared their family, and both died on this old
"homestead. He passed away Jan. 20, 1894, and his
widow in March, 1896. They were Presbyterians
in their religion, while in politics he was a stanch
T)emocrat. Four sons survived their death, (i)
John W., born in 1858, married Miss Mary Jones,
and- settled on the John Whiteside farm, which was
■owned at one time by his vincle. They have one
son, Frederick.
(2) Charles Whiteside, born in April, i860,
married Miss Carrie Turner, of Colerain township,
and lived on the old Robert Whiteside homestead.
Three children, Mary, Walter and Dora, have come
to them, all born in Little Britain township.
(3) William Whiteside, born in May, 1866, is
a merchant of Little Britain, and became the father
■of eight children : Violet ; Joseph ; William ; Edgar ;
Frank; Susan; Francis E., born March, 1901, and
•died in August, 1901 ; and David M., born Sept.
•6, 1902.
(4) Samuel P. Whiteside was educated in the
TJnion high school, and then entered upon his life
-as a farmer. He was married Dec. 21, 1886, to
Anna M., a daughter of James and Mary (Davis)
Turner, born in August, 1867, in Colerain town-
ship ; she was given a public school education, and
attended the high school at Oxford. Mr. Turner
died in Oxford in 1885, and his widow resides with
her daughter, Mrs. Charles Whiteside. There were
eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Turner.
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel P. Whiteside settled on
the farm which his father and Robert Whiteside
had purchased from John Crawford some years be-
fore the marriage of Samuel P. ; fine buildings had
been erected and the place brought into first-class
condition. Mr. Whiteside has also greatly improved
this farm since it came into his possession.
Mr. and Mrs. Whiteside are the parents of
eleven children; Francis E. Whiteside, Samuel E.
and William D. all died in childhood; James T.
Whiteside and Robert I., twins, born Aug. 20,
1888; Abbie E., born March 30, 1890; Laura D.,
born March 10, 1894; Helen, bom June 29, 1895;
Louisa W., born Dec. 19, 1897; Caroline, born April
29, 1899; Norman E., born Oct. 13, 1902.
Samuel P. Whiteside has always been a Demo-
crat, and with his wife belongs to the Presbyterian
Church. The Whitesides are an old-time Colerain
family, and the men are of solid worth in the com-
munity. The present representatives sustain the
honor of the family name, and their useful and well-
ordered lives are of value in the community.
HIRAM H. NISSLEY is the proprietor of the
extensive Achor Wagon Works at Elizabethtown,
which he built in 1896, and which at the present
time give employment to over forty people; Mr.
Nissley manufactures business wagons exclusively,
but deals in all kinds of pleasure vehicles, also han-
dling harness on a considerable scale.
Mr. Nissley was born in East Donegal township
Jan. 19, 1867, a son of Peter B. and Elizabeth
(Hoffer) Nissley. The father was a farmer, and
was born in Mt. Joy township. He died Jan. 19,
1869, at the age of forty-five years, and his remains
are resting in Mt. Tunnel cemetery. The mother,
who was born in 1833, is now living in Elizabeth-
town. ' They had the following children ; Simon
H., who is engaged with his brother, Hiram H.,
as shipping clerk in his very extensive establish-
ment ; Martin H., a contractor and builder in Eliza-
bethtown ; Hiram H. ; Peter H., a farmer in Eliza-
bethtown. To the first marriage of Peter B. Niss-
ley were born: Amanda, the widow of Levi N.
Risser, now living in Elizabethtown; Martha, who
married David G. Heisey, of Conoy township ; and
Anna, who married A. G. Heisey, a merchant of
Elizabethtown.
Hiram H. Nissley was married Dec. 24, 1895,
in Elizabethtown, to Miss Laura E. Buch, daugh-
ter of Jonathan B. and Mary (Bard) Buch, who
were living near Lititz, at the time of her birth,
in 1867.
Hiram H. Nissley remained on his parents farm
until he reached the age of seventeen years, work-
ing on the farm during the summer season arid
attending the Elizabethtown schools during the
winter term. Then he devoted himself exclusively
to the school, from which he was graduated as a
member of the first class with high honors. His
first step in the business world was to take a position
as a clerk in the dry-goods store of A. Dissinger,
which he held for more than six years. In 1891
1210
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mr. Nissley became connected with the manufac-
turing works of Jacob Miller, becoming secretary
and treasurer of the Fifth Wheel Manufacturing
Co. Two years later he became proprietor with
Isaac Corwall, of Williamsburg, as his partner, re-
naming the works the Keystone Forging Co.
In 1895 this company was incorporated and removed
to Northumberland county, Mr. Nissley retaining
his position as secretary until the following year,
when he disposed of his interest in the company,
and bought his present business.
Politically Mr. Nissley is a Republican, and has
served on the county committee of his party for
many years. For the last two years he has been a
member of the town council, and is one of the prom-
inent and influential citizens of the community where
his many genuine and sterling qualities command
respect, and where his genial manners have won a
host of friends.
ALBERT IIUPPER, wholesale and retail con-
fectioner, is one of the rising young merchants of
the city of Lancaster and descends from stalwart
German ancestry, both his grandfathers having come
from Germany in an early day.
John Hupper, his father, who is a carpenter in
the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., with
residence in Lancaster, married Elizabeth Urban,
daughter of Jacob Urban, a farmer of Conestoga
township, this county. Four children were born to
this union : Frederick, who died about seven years
ago at the age of twenty ; Jacob, a salesman in M. T.
Garvin & Co.'s dry-goods store ; Albert, of whom
we more particularly write ; and Miss Anna, who as-
sists in her brother's confectionery store.
Albert Plupper was born May 5, 1871, in Manor
township, and received his education at the public
schools of Conestoga Center. Laying aside his
books at the age of nineteen, he came to the city of
Lancaster and entered into an apprenticeship at the
confectioner's trade, which he mastered in all its
details. For nine years or more he made the bulk
of the candies and ice cream for the late Rufus H.
Anderson, and Sept. 4, 1899, he purchased the lat-
ter's business, which he has since successfully con-
ducted. By strict attention to business, and by the
excellence of his goods he has more than doubled
his trade, both wholesale and retail, which is by no
means confined to Lancaster and vicinity, for he
ships to many distant points — the excellent quality
of his ice cream, alone, having a wide reputation.
On April 3, 1895, Mr. Hupper was united in
marriage with Miss Mary Bergman, daughter of
Andrew Bergman, a retired merchant of Lancaster,
and they have one child, Helen Beatrice. Mr. and
Mrs. Hupper are members of Grace Lutheran
Church, in which he is serving as deacon. Socially
he is connected with the I. O. O. F. and the Royal
Arcanum, but most of his time is strictly devoted to
his business interests, in which he has met with more
than ordinary success.
CHARLES B. KELLER, recorder of deeds-
for Lancaster county, lives in an elegant suburban
home, built on land that has been in the possession
of the Keller family for generations — land that was-
secured from the Penns by Mr. Keller's great-
grandfather. At first this tract comprised but five
acres, but Mr. Keller acquired more land until he-
held eightyrsix acres.
The founder of the Keller family in America
was Johann Peter Keller, a native of Germany, who-
came to these shores prior to 1760, settling in Lan-
caster county, where he died. His wife, Anna
Maria, born in Germany, died in Lancaster Jan. 6^
1782. Two of their children, Carl Andrew and
Johann Adam, were born in Germany.
Carl A. Keller, son of Johann Peter, married
Barbara Judith Bigler, and from this couple Charles
B. Keller is descended.
John Andrew Keller, son of Carl A., and father
of Charles B., married Harriet Trissler, and both
passed their lives in Lancaster. He died in 1856^
They had the following children : Samuel, Benja-
min Schaefifer, William Augustus, Clara, John
Adam, Lizzie, Kate, Harriet Maria, Ella, Emanuel"
and Charles B.
Charles B. Keller was born Oct. 20, 1853, next
door to the courthouse in East King street, where-
his father then lived. He was graduated from the
Boys' High School in 186S with valedictory honors,,
and graduated from Muhlenberg College in 1873^
After being associated with his brother, William A.,
in the manufacture of paper boxes in Philadelphia
for a year, Mr. Keller became principal of the Stras-
burg schools, in 1874, remaining there' ten years, and
raising the standard of the schools to a high grade.
During his stay in that town he graduated hundrfeds-
of young people, and is held in grateful memory in:
that community. In 1884 Mr. Keller became en-
gaged in the coal and lumber business at Ephrata,,
where he remained ten years; He was early identi-
fied with the Independent Telephone company, an:
organization that gave to the people of Lancaster a
much lower priced and far more satisfactory tele-
phone service, became superintendent of that com-
pany in July, 1898, and by his energy and push
brought the business to the very fore-front in a
brief period.
Mr. Keller was elected recorder of deeds for
Lancaster county Nov. 6, 1900; and on the first day
of the following year entered upon the responsible
duties of that position, and his ability and integrity
give every promise of a most successful and satis-
factory administration of its affairs by the present
incumbent.
On Sept. 19, 1884, Mr. Keller was married to-
Miss Harriet Leche, daughter of Lieut. David H.
Leche, 2d Pennsylvania Cavalry, and this union has;
been blessed by the birth of three children : Fred-
erick Rowe, who is now attending Franklin and
Marshall College; and Harriet and Helen Leche,.
both at school. Mr. Keller is prominent in all the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNAhS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1211
affairs of the city, is a member of Grace Lutheran
Chtirch, and is an intelligent and conscientiotts gen-
tleman. Socially he belongs to the Masons, the Elks,
and the Lodge of Perfection.
JOHN ADAM KELLER, brother of Charles
B., was born Oct. 29, 1840, on the site of the Locher
Bank building, in Center Square, Lancaster. He
obtained his education in the local school, and on
completing that course of study went into the Fel-
lanbaum Foundry, where he spent two years. For
three years he worked with W. C. F. Scheer, and
then connected himself with the Pennsylvania Rail-
way Company, being brakeman and extra passenger
conductor for five years. At the end of that time he
entered the service of his country, enlisting as a mem-
ber of what afterward became the 17th P. V. I. At
the close of his military experiences Mr. Keller en-
gaged in the truck business on the Lititz turnpike.
Five years later he sold out this business to his
partner, Adam R. Keller, and opened a greengrocer's
stand on East King street, in which he was engaged
for four years. lie was then employed by D. S.
Bursk. In 1886 he became a clerk in the extensive
establishment of Walter A. Heinitsh, where he has
since remained.
Mr. Keller married Miss Anna, daughter of Pat-
rick Carrigan, of Philadelphia, and they own and
occupy one of the handsomest modern dwellings in
East King street, opposite the Lancaster county
prison. Mr. Keller is not only a great lover of flow-
ers, but is also a most successful floriculturist, fol-
lowing the occupation, however, purely for pleasure.
The flower beds about his home are always the most
attractive in the city. When the park surrounding
the Lancaster county prison was thrown open to the
public it was Mr. Keller who suggested the big lily
pond and superintended its construction.
JOHN A. GOLL, a prominent and representa-
tive citizen of Lancaster, and a member of the well-
known railroad contracting firm of John GoU & Co.,
was born in Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pa., Feb.. 18,
1863, a son of George and Fredericka GoU, the form-
er of whom was born in Weilheim bei Kircheim on
der Teck, Wurtemberg, Germany, May 21, 1832.
The father of George Goll followed the trade of
baker in Germany, and the latter assisted in ths busi-
ness until the age of twenty-three years when he emi-
grated to America, together with his brothers, John
G. and Charles, the former of whom is a prominent
contractor in Philadelphia, and the latter, a farmer.
Their one sister Mrs. Conrad Morning, of Lancaster,
also came with them. For a short period, George
■ Goll resided in the State of New York and then
• moved to Laftcaster county, Pa., and engaged in
work at Columbia as a journeyman contractor. Later
he obtained a position with the Pennsylvania Rail-
road, and through excellent work and close attention
to business, secured promotion in 1872, to the posi-
tion of master workman of the Philadelphia division.
In 1875 Mr. Goll left this company, and in partner-
ship with John Keller, engaged in contracting, giving
especial attention to bridge building. During his
career he has constructed many of the most import-
ant bridges in this part of the State, some of them
being magnificent structures which will endure for
generations as testimonials to his ability. Mr. Goll
built the large stone bridge over the Conestoga river.
After the Johnstown disaster, he secured several con-
tracts in the desolated regions, and built the bridge
over the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg, on the
Cumberland Valley railroad; one on the same road
over the Potomac River, on the Maryland and Vir-
ginia line ; and three bridges on the Pittsburg division,
at Summer Hill. Some of these structures are mar-
vels of engineering skill, and justly place the name
of their builder among the notable men in his line in
the State. In addition to the above, Mr. Goll did
similar work on the New York divisions, and at the-
time of his death was just completing the bridge over
the Juniata river at Tyrone. For future work he-
had on hand contracts for the building of bridges on
the C. V. road at Newville and at Alto Junction. His-
thorough knowledge of this business made him de-
sirable whenever any bridge was projected, for his
work had stood the test of strain and time, and had'
proved the reliability of the builder.
The marriage of George Goll was to Fredericka
C. Eiding, in Harrisburg, and among the eleven
children born to this union, were : John A., William
H. and George F. The death of Mr. Goll was caused
by an attack of apoplexy, Feb. 15, 1 891, at the age of
fifty-eight years, and his burial was in Woodward
Hiil cemetery. His religious rearing had been in the
Lutheran Church, and for many years he was an
elder in Zion Lutheran Church, but his later years-
were passed as an elder in Grace Lutheran Church,,
the latter being situated nearer his home. Mr. Goll
lived an exemplary life, and both by precept and ex-
ample afforded a true type of Christian character. In.
his church particularly was he held in the highest es-
teem, and the church council attended his funeral in
a body, with many other friends and fellow-citizens,
who desired to show respect to one who had so well'
lived up to the best standard of citizenship. He was-
a good neighbor, a devoted father and a kind hus-
band, while in him the poor and needy all found a
friend.
John A. Goll attended the common schools and
then learned his business with his father, with whom,
he remained until the latter's death. Following this
event he entered into partnership with his brothers,
William H. and George F., forming the firm of John.
Goll & Co., and continuing in the railroad contract-
ing business, making a reputation which has brought
the firm prosperity. Some of the large contracts
satisfactorily completed are: the remodeling of the-
Broad Street Station, Philadelphia; the remodeling^
of the Harrisburg Station; changing of the line
tunneling 280 feet, in Philadelphia, and various
other undertakings of a like nature, while the firm
1212
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
has also built bridges on the Cumberland Valley line,
and the great tunnel under the Pennsylvania line in
Lancaster.
The marriage of John A. Goll took place in Har-
risburg, in 1889, the bride being Elizabeth Harnish,
who was born in Manor township, Lancaster county,
■daughter of Amos and Caroline (Brady) Harnish
(the former of whom follows the trade of wheel-
wright in Harrisburg), formerly residents of Manor
township, Lancaster county. Mr. and Mrs. Goll
have two children, Esther and George. In his fra-
ternal associations, Mr. Goll is a valued member of
the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Perfection
Lodge, No. 14. He is also a member of the K. of
P. ; of the Red Men ; and of the B. P. O. E. With
his family he belongs to, and liberally assists in .sup-
porting, Grace Lutheran Church in this city, ms
standing m business circles is of the best, and he is
justlv regarded as one of the substantial men of Lan-
caster, his personal attributes winning him many
:friends.
DAVID H. LANDIS is a leading representative
■of the business interests of Manor township, Lan-
•caster county, where he is extensively engaged in
the milling business and the manufacture of cider,
and also conducts a creamery and farm. Of excell-
■ent business ability and broad resources, he has at-
tained a prominent place among the successful men
•of his community, and the prosperity that has come
to him is certainly well-deserved.
A son of Jacob H. and Ann S. (Herr) Landis,
he was born at his present home, Aug. 28, 1864,
and was educated at the Normal School in Millers-
ville. Pa. For some three or four years he engaged
in farming, but in 1892 took charge of the Colfax
•Glen Mills, now known as the Windom Mills, which
he still operates, doing simply a gristmill - business ;
he also handles a large amount of grain. In 1894 he
-established a creamery, which he still conducts, and
in 1893 a hydraulic cider mill, where he manu-
factures a large amount of cider annually, making
almost 100,000 gallons in 1899. In connection with
his other industries, he operates a farm of 108 acres,
and is justly numbered among the leading and pro-
gressive young business men of the county.
In 1890 Mr. Landis married Miss Ella H. Shel-
ley, a daughter of lohn Shelley, a contractor of Ash-
land, Schuylkill Co., Pa., and to them have been born
three children, namelv: Ralph S., Nelson S. and
■ Edith S. The family hold membership in Zion's Re-
formed Church of Millersville.
Mr. Landis is a man of more than ordinary intel-
ligence, has made considerable research into scien-
tific subjects, and is well-posted on the leading top-
ics and issues of the dav. He affiliates with the Re-
publican party, and in 1899 was elected a member of
the school board, which position he is now most
creditably filling. He secured the establishment of a
post office at his place, to which he gave the name of
"Windom, and was appointed postmaster of the same.
REV. CHARLES ELVIN HAUPT, D. D., the
beloved and revered pastor of Grace Lutheran
Church, has been prominent in all good works in
Lancaster for the last twenty-five years. His grand-
father, Jacob Haupt, arrived in America from Ba-
den, Germany, in 1763, and made his home in Phila-
delphia, where he lived until the War of 1812. Gen.
Herman Haupt, a son of Jacob, is still living at
the age of eighty-two ; his home is in Washington,
where he has largely resided since the war of the
Rebellion.
Lewis L. Haupt, the father of Rev. Charles
Elvin, was the General Ticket Agent of the Penn-
sylvania Railway Co., for fifteen years, and then
became the Eastern Passenger Agent of the North-
ern Pacific Railroad Co., a position he held until
toward the close of his life, Sept. 17, 1898. He
was finally Visiting Agent of the House of Refuge,
now known as the Glen Mills School. He married
Louisa Caroline Keller, a daughter of Rev. Ben-
jamin Keller, a Lutheran clergyman of Gettysburg,
and afterward of Philadelphia. To bless this union
came five children: Rev. Charles Elvin, of Lan-
caster; Henry E., a scale-maker, of Philadelphia;
William K., a banker of Philadelphia; Miss Fanny
G., who cares for her aged mother; and Mary
Louisa, wife of Richard R. Conarroe, a hardware
merchant of Philadelphia.
Rev. Charles Elvin Haupt was born Oct. 6,
1852, in Harrisburg, where his father was then
stationed in the interests of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road; but he was mainly educated in Philadelphia,
where he attended the public schools and a private
academy. In 1868 he entered the Classical De-
partment of the University of Pennsylvania, and
was graduated from that Institution with honors in
the class of 1872. Having decided in favor of the
ministry, he entered the Lutheran Theological Sem-
inary, on Franklin Square, Philadelphia; from
which he was graduated in course in 1875. He was
almost immediately ordained to the Lutheran min-
istry, and was at once called to Lancaster to take
charge of Christ Lutheran Church, then a mission
of "Old Trinity," acting as assistant to the late be-
loved Rev. Dr. E. Greenwald. Christ Church
very soon became practically self-supporting under
the able ministrations of Mr. Haupt, but he was
called to the pulpit of Grace Lutheran Church, of
this city, in January, 1880, and there he has since
remained, deeply beloved by the people of that par-
ish as well as by the entire community. He estab-
lished Grace Church school, an educational estab-
lishment of high character, and by his earnest la-
bors added to the numerical strength and standing
of the congregation and Sunday School to a sur-
prising degree. The congregation *ias increased
from 140 communicants in 1875, to 849 at the pres-
ent time, while the Sunday School has increased
during the same period from 300 to 726. In addi-
tion to all this church *nd Sunday School work he
has been a frequent contributor to church periodi-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
121S
cals, and has written "Stories from Bible History,"
a text book for families; as well as a life of Dr.
Green wald.
Dr. Haupt was practically the founder of Em-
manuel Lutheran Church, named after the venerated
Dr. Greenwald, and he was closely identified with
the founding of the Madame Cotta College for
Young Women, of which Prof. W. W. Moore, for
many years principal of Franklin and Marshall
Academy, is principal. This college gives a Chris-
tian training for young women, and pursues prac-
tically the same studies that are offered in Franklin
and Marshall College. Dr. Haupt is Professor of
Mental and Moral Philosophy in this institution,
which has already won a deserved recognition
among the people. In the summer of 1900 Mr.
Haupt was honored with the degree of Doctor of
Divinity, conferred at Lancaster by Franklin and
Marshall College.
On Jan. 15, 1878, Dr. Haupt was married to
Miss Mary M., a daughter of John Geissinger, a
farmer of Pluntingdon county, and a sister of Rev.
Dr. D. H. Geissinger, now of Pittsburg, and Dr.
Haupt's immediate predecessor at Grace Church.
Two sons were born to Dr. and Mrs. Haupt,
Gerald L., who died at the age of six years; and
Charles E., a graduate of Franklin and Marshall
College, and now a student of architecture in Phila-
delphia. Dr. Haupt has made himself felt as a
friend to the city of Lancaster, and he is cherished
by a host of friends, who revere his learning, admire
his devotion to the Faith, and love him for his sin-
cere and unaffected manliness. He is one of the
charter members of the board of directors of Lan-
caster General Hospital, and has been actively identi-
fied with it ever since.
ALBERT B. WORTH, formerly county com-
missioner, and a successful farmer of Colerain town-
ship, was born in September, 1843, in the home
in which he now lives, son of William C. and Phoebe
(Romans) Worth, who were both born in Romans-
ville, Chester county, in 1805.
John Worth, father of William C, was born in
England, and his wife, Lydia (Carpenter), was born
in this country. They made their home in Romans-
ville, where their lives were devoted to farming,
and Mr. Worth became one of the wealthy men of
that section. For many years he held local and
county offices, and at one time served in the State
Legislature. He was widely known as a local min-
ister of the Society of Friends. Of his children,
(i) William C, father of Albert B., was the eldest.
(2) Chespazer married Miss Mary Bailey, of Ches-
ter county, where he was a leading iron man until
his death, in 1881 ; he left two sons, who still reside
in Coatesville, Sharpless and William, proprietors
of the Laurel iron mills, of Chester county. (3)
Richard was a farmer in Chester county, where
he died. His wife was from that county. They
had seven children : Rachel Ann, deceased ; Ben-
nett, who resides in Denver, Colo.; Lydia H., de-
ceased; John R., deceased; Mary, wife of Garrett.
Taylor; Annie, wife of Frederick Wetherill, of
Philadelphia; and Thomas, of Texas. (4) John
married Miss Mary Pyle, of Chester county, where
he is a prominent lumberman, in West Chester..
They have one son, Herbert, who is at hoine. (5)
Elizabeth Worth, born in Chester county, married
Jacob Wickersham, and settled on the old Worth
homestead in that county, where they still reside..
They have had one son and one daughter. Bell and
Howard, the latter deceased. (6) Rachel Worth,
born in Chester county, married John White, of
West Chester, and they have one daughter, Mary,,
who is the widow of William Minster, of West
Chester. (7) Samuel, born in Chester county, was
married (first) there and lived on a farm, where his
wife died leaving three children : Emma, wife of
Bordley S. Patterson, of Little Britain; Edward,
a real estate dealer in Wawa, Pa. ; and Mary, wife of
Samuel Dickey, of Philadelphia. The second wife
of Samuel Worth was Sarah Carpenter, of Phila-
delphia, where they were living at the time he died,,
leaving two children by that union, Jane and Mary..
William C. Worth settled on the farm in Col-
erain township, now occupied by our subject, where
he married Phoebe Romans. There he erected a
large stone house, and a bank barn. This farm
house, which is situated on the Octoraro creek, was
known as one of the best rural homes in the town
in its day. Sixty acres of this farm lie in Chester
county. There William C. Worth died in 1874, and
his widow in August, 1879. They were members
of the Society of Friends. He was a prominent
man in all local affairs, and in 1853, was elected
county commissioner in Lancaster county, a posi-
tion he filled with credit to himself, and satisfaction
to his constituents. William C. Worth and his wife
had children as follows: (i) J. Carpenter, born
in 1832, married Mary Galloway, daughter of Rev.
Joseph Galloway, of Steubenville, Ohio, formerly
of Clearfield county, Pa., a clergyman of the Pres-
byterian church. The young married couple set-
tled at Coatesville, and later at Oxford, Chester
county, where he was manager for one of the Penn-
sylvania iron firms. He died in February, 1901,
leaving a widow and two sons : Mason C. (en-
gaged in the iron business), and Elmer E., both of
Philadelphia. Mrs. Worth is still a resi-
dent of Oxford. (2) Charles died when a
young man, unmarried. (3) Smith, born in 1834,
married (first) Phoebe Brinton, who died childless,
and second, Emaline Wilson, of Chester county.
He has his home in Oxford, where he had a large
hardware store. In 1890 he was made treasurer of
Chester county, an office he is still filling very ac-
ceptably to the public. He has two daughters,
Helen and Marian, the former of whom married
Howard Snodgross, cashier of the National Bank
of Oxford. (4) George died in infancy. (5) Lydia
married Samuel Holmes, of Chester county, and is;
1214
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the mother of two children — Charles, a lumberman
of Tennessee; and Jennie, at home. (6) Harrison
was born in 1840, married Elizabeth Boyce, and
after her death, married Miss Louisa Petittde-
monge. They reside in Delaware, where he is a
' farmer. They have two children, Frank and Bessie,
of whom the former married a Miss Chandler, and
the latter a Mr. Eastman. (7) Albert B. is men-
tioned below. (8) Davis was a merchant at Mt.
Vernon, Chester county, at the time of his death,
which occurred when he was only twenty-two years
old. (9) Samuel, born at the old home, married
Jennie Smith, of Chester county, and is a merchant
and is also postmaster at Oxford.
Albert B. Worth was educated in the Union
high school and at the Oxford Academy. He was
engaged in farming at the old homestead until his
marriage, Jan. 21, 1868, when Letitia J. Byer, a
daughter of Thomas and Mary A. (McClenaghan)
Byer, became his wife. Her father was born in Coler-
ain township in 1804, and his wife in Ireland in Octo-
ber, 1824. They were farming people in Colerain,
where Mr. Byer died in 1887, leaving a widow and
five children : ( i ) Rebecca, widow of Clark Morri-
son, of Chester county; (2) Letitia J., wife of Al-
bert R. Worth, born in 1846; (3) Mary, unmar-
ried, who resides in Colerain township; (4) Will-
iam, a lawyer in Lancaster, who married a daughter
of ex-Senator Warfell of Pennsylvania; and (5)
Winfield S., who is on the old Byer homestead.
Mrs. Letitia J. Worth was educated in the Union
high school and the Ladies' Seminary at Chestnut
Hill, and was a successful teacher in the pubhc
schools for some years.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Worth set-
tled on the old homestead, where they have resided
to the present time. Many additions to the building
have been made by him, principally a frame addi-
tion to the old stone house, and many changes in
the barn. To them have come seven children: (i)
Lydia, born in February, 1869, graduated from the
Millersville State Normal School, and taught school
thirteen years in Colerain township. She is now
a teacher in Brownell Hall Seminary, in Omaha,
Neb. (2) Lenora and (3) Lillian, twins, died in
childhood. (4) William T., born in April, 1872,
graduated from the Millersville Normal and the
University of Pennsylvania, and is now a practic-
ing physician at Bainbridge, Lancaster county. He
married Miss Elizabeth Nissley, and they have a
daughter Allene. (5) Davis R., born Dec. 9, 1873,
died when nineteen years old. (6) Delia R., born
Jan. 29, 1880, received her education in. the Union
high school and for several terms was a teacher in
Lancaster county. She married John A. Kimble,
of Nottingham, Chester county, and has one child —
a daughter. (7) Mary Alberta, born in May, 1888,
is now a student in the Union high school.
Mr. Worth is a Republican in political faith. In
1888 he was elected county commissioner and was
re-elected in 1891, filling the office with ability, and
to the public satisfaction. The family are all mem-
bers of the Presbyterian Church. The Worths have
all been men and women of fine character and cul-
tured minds, and have borne an influential part in
the affairs of the community.
JAMES MARTIN CAIN, the artistic sign
writer and principal of the School of Card Sign
Writing, at No. 22 North Queen street, Lancaster,
is of Scotch-Irish descent, coming from that race
.of people who did so much for the development of
the southern end of Lancaster county.
James Cain, his grandfather, was one of the
most prominent architects in this section, and many
fine buildings still remain as enduring monuments
to his skill in designing.
Benton A. Cain, son of James, lives in Lan-
caster, and is a hardwood worker and carver. He
married Mary A. Fagan, daughter of the late Mar-
tin Fagan, of Fairfield, this county, and three chil-
dren were born of this union: Verree, at school;
Cleston; and James Martin.
James Martin Cain was born at Benton Station
(named after his father), on the banks of the Sus-
quehanna, in Drumore township, July 9, 1875. He
was educated in the public schools of Fairfield and'
in the Chestnut Level Academy. At the age of
seventen years he left school and entered the drug
store of Charles E. Long, in Lancaster, but the con-
finement of that business and the recognition of
his artistic talents, led him to become an appren-
tice at sign painting in the establishment of Charles
H. Tucker, with whom he remained four years.
At the end of that time he went West, settling in
Zanesville, Ohio, where he carried on business for
himself for six months; and he then returned to
Lancaster, and started in business for himself at
No. 221 North Queen street. His next move was
to enter into partnership with H. B. Greenawalt,
at No. 27 East King street, under the firm name of
Greenawalt & Cain. In February, 1901, this part-
nership was dissolved, and Mr. Cain established
himself in commodious quarters at No. 22 North
Queen street, where he has been kept busy literally
day and night. He has been obliged to engage ex-
pert assistants, has introduced a telephone in order
to attend the calls made for him, and besides doing
sign writing and personally teaching card-writing
to numbers of students has established a School of
Correspondence, instructing people from all sections
in the art of card sign writing. His ability as a
painter is everywhere acknowledged, and no work
in the State is more artistic. His contracts for the
most prominent firms in this section of the country
have been carried out with faithfulness and intelli-
genre. bis work giving entire satisfaction.
Socially Mr. Cain belongs to the Aerie Eagles,
Odd Fellows, Royal Arcanum, and Jr. O. U. A. M.
Religiously, he is a member of the Western M. e!
Church. Before coming to Lancaster he was asso-
ciated with the Mt. Zion M, E. Church, of Fair-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1215
field, where he served as treasurer and secretary
of the Sunday-school, and after taking up his resi-
dence in Lancaster he joined the Western M. E.
Church by letter. All who know him (and he has
a wide circle of friends) feel that he is one of Lan-
caster's rising business men. Mr. Cain is an ama-
teur violinist of no ordinary ability.
GERRITT SMITH, who is one of the success-
ful farmers of Drumore township, is an- honest,
upright and respected citizen of that community.
His birth took place on the same farm he now owns,
Oct. 17, 1857, and he was a son of George and Em-
meline (Tennis) Smith, deceased.
Joseph Smith, his grandfather, was of English
and Scotch-Irish origin, and he married Tacy Shoe-
maker. They reared four children: Rachel, of
DruniQre; George, the father of Gerritt Smith;
Amos, a twin brother of George; and Ellen, wife
of Hon. William H. Brosius, who is a member of
the State Legislature, and of whom more extended
mention is made elsewhere. .
George Smith, son of Joseph, was born May
19, 1827, and his death occurred Feb. 12, 1898.
His wife, Emmeline Tennis Smith, whom he wedded
in 1848, was born in 1828, and died April 9, 1899.
They were the parents of the following children:
Amos P., a farmer of Drumore, of whom a sketch
is given in this volume ; Annie M., wife of Gardner
C. Crawford, of Perryville, Md. ; Gerritt, of this
sketch ; and Ellsworth, who died young.
Gerritt Smith was reared a farmer boy, and re-
ceived his education in the common schools of his
district. His life has been devoted to agricultural
pursuits, and he now owns the old homestead farm
which was the property of his grandfather. This
consists of 132 acres, and is well improved, and un-
der the highest possible state of cultivation.
Mr. Smith is a stanch Republican in politics,
but has never found time to accept the duties of
office except that of school director. He is a trus-
tee in the Presbyterian church. Both he and wife
are among the leading members of Chestnut Level
Presbvterian Church, to which Mr. Smith is a
liberal contributor and cheerful supporter of all its
charitable and benevolent enterprises. His standing
in the township where he is known to be a public-
spirited and generous citizen, is high, and he is an
honest and upright man of business, a devoted hus-
band and a kind and careful father.
On Dec. 5, 1878, Mr. Smith was married to
Ida McGuigon, and one son, James Roy, born
April 15. 1885. has blessed this union. Mrs. Ida
A. (McGuigon) Smith was born Nov. 4, 1857, a
daughter of Janies and Marinda (Shoewalter) Mc-
Guipon, both of Irish origin. She was one of a
family of six children born to her parents, as fol-
lows: William, deceased; John, of Plain City, Ohio:
Lillie B., widow of Emanuel Erb: Eldora, wife of
O. D. Brubaker : Minnie, wife of Frank Erb, a mil-
ler by trade; and Ida, wife of Mr. Smith. The
parents of Mrs. Smith still survive, residents of
Martic township, both now advanced in years, the
father being in his eighty-fifth year and the mother
in her seventy-second.
ALDUS GROFF, a miller of East Drumore
township, was the son of Abraham and Hannah
(Peoples) Grofif.
Abraham Groff was the son of Simon Groff and
was born in Providence township in 181 3. When
a young man he went to Columbus, Ohio, where he
learned the milling trade. Returning to Providence
township, he followed his calling there as he also
did later in Lampeter township, for sixteen years
in Martic township and for two years again in Lam-
peter. At the end of this time he bought the Long
Mill, which his son Aldus now owns, and there he
was engaged at the time of his death, in 1875. Mrs.
Hannah Peoples Groff was two years younger than
her husband, and also born in Lancaster county.
They were married in 1838, and were the parents of
three sons and one daughter. ( i ) Milton learned his
father's trade. W^hile living in Martic township he
married Miss Martha Hart. He is now living in the
city of Lancaster. He and his wife have had chil-
dren as follows : Aldus, deceased ; Clarence ; Lizzie ;
Hannah; and Annie, deceased. (2) Annie is unmar-
ried and lives in Lancaster. (3) Theron S., learned
his father's trade. In 1875 he married Miss Louisa
Hess, of East Drumore township, and is now living
in Lancaster. Two of his three children are living :
Anna, a public school teacher; Theron, who died
in early manhood ; and Sarah, living at home. (4)
Aldus.
Aldus Groff when a young man learned the mill-
ing business. He remained with his parents as long
as they lived, being manager of the mill during the
last years of his father. On Jan. i, 1880, he was
married to Miss Sarah Huber.
JACOB D. RIDER, of the firm of Rider &
Snyder, commercial printers at No. 20 North Queen
street, Lancaster, is descended from an old Penn-
sylvania family. The original American ancestor
of this family was one of seven brothers who came
from Germany to America, settling in Pennsylvania,
some of them locating in Lancaster county.
Rev. Jacob Rider, the grandfather of Jacob D.,
was a bishop of the German Baptist Brethren, living
near Elizabeth town, and at his death over 1,000
vehicles were in the funeral cortege, so widely was
he known and so profound the sorrow at his death.
Joseph H. Rider, the father of Jacob D., is a
successful hardware merchant at Elizabethtown,
where he has been in business for thirty-five years.
Mary C. Dulebohn, his wife, was the daughter of
George C. Dulebohn, a farmer and wagon maker,
living two miles south of Welsh Run, Franklin
county, who lost horses, wagons, and other valuable
property during the Rebel- invasioij of the State.
Two sons were born to this union, Emmert, who
1216
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
died in April, 1900, at the age of twenty-four years ;
and Jacob D.
Jacob D. Rider was born in Elizabethtown, Lan-
caster county, Oct. 31, 1872, and after receiving
a partial education in the schools of his native town,
attended the Huntingdon Normal School, became
an apprentice to the printing trade in the office of the
Chronicle, at Elizabethtown, and completed his trade
in the Nezv Era job room, in Lancaster. At Leb-
anon he became connected with the Daily Report,
and put in one year in the job office of that paper.
For one and one-half years he worked in the Harris-
burg Telegraph job room, and for six months
worked for Frank L. Hutter, a maker of blank
books in that city.
Mr. Rider was married to Miss Katharine Rei-
ser, of Lancaster, and they have a fine home on
East King street. Mr. Rider is serving his third
term as president of the Young Men's Democratic
Society of Lancaster.
John Powell Snyder, Mr. Rider's partner, is
a son of Henry Snyder, who died thirty-six years
ago, and he, too, belongs to an old and well-known
family. Mr. Snyder is also a graduate of the New
Era printing office. He married Miss Anna R.
Shoemaker, of Drumore township, a member of
a well-known Quaker family. Six children blessed
this uni*on : Harry C. ; Ednah M. and Margaret K.,
are deceased; Adah L., Marion P. and James are
at school. Mr. Snyder is past grand and present
secretary of Emanuel Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; he is also
past chief patriarch of Ridgely Encampment, No.
217, L O. O. F., and Standard Bearer of No. 25,
Patriarchs Militant.
As a firm and as individuals Rider & Snyder are
widely known, and are very popular. They began
the business of commercial printing on East King
street, opposite the Court House, and their first job
bears the inscription, "Friday, March 10, 1895,
II :i5 A. M.," marking the beginning of a prosper-
ous career, compelling them by its rapid expansion
recently to move to their present more commodious
quarters. In their new location they have estab-
lished a plant for commercial printing, which has
no superior in the city. They have all the most
modern devices for accelerating work and cheapen-
ing its cost, and they employ a number of job prin-
ters, and turn out a vast amount of work.
ELI SMUCKER, who is now residing on his
farm two miles northwest of New Holland, in Earl
township, was born in Leacock township, Feb. 29,
1S56, a son of David and Leah (Petersheim) Smuck-
er, both of whom are deceased.
David Smucker was born in Leacock township,
Aug. 10, 1832, a son of David and Mary (Lapp)
Smucker, farming people of Leacock township,
where he also followed farming, and in his lifetime
was an honored and successful representative of that
calling. At one time he owned two good farms,
but later disposed of one of them. He belonged to
the Amish Church, and died Aug. 3, 1898. Leah,.
his wife, was the daughter of David Petersheim,.
and was born Nov. 24, 1829; she died Aug. 5, 1883,.
the mother of eight children: Christian, deceased;.
Eli; Nancy, deceased; Rebecca, who married C>
King, of Leacock township ; Barbara, who married
David Riel, of East Lampeter township ; Leah, un-
married; David, deceased; and Samuel, a farmer,,
of Leacock township.
Eli Smucker was reared on the farm in Leacock
township, and when twenty-two years of age began
farming on his own account, on the place where
he has since been occupied. It comprises 115 acres-
of fine land, well improved, and its every foot indi-
cates a prosperous and successful operator and
owner.
Mr. Smucker was married Dec. 10, 1878, to»
Miss Mary Blank, a daughter of Jacob and Mary
(Stultzfus) Blank, and a native of Lancaster coun-
ty, where she was born some three miles northeast
of Intercourse, Aug. 11, 1858. They are the par-
ents of a family of ten children : Jacob, Leah, David^
Samuel, Mary, Annie, Eli, Sarah, John, and Fannie.
The family are all members of the Amish Church,,
and stand very high in the community where their
useful lives are passing.
DAVID S. MARTIN (deceased). The late-
David S. Martin, during his too short life one of
the best-known and most highly respected farmers of"
Salisbury township, Lancaster county, was born
there March 24, 1830, and died Feb. 3, 1877, in the-
faith of the Mennonite church, of which he had been-
a lifelong member, his mortal remains being in-
terred in White Horse cemetery.
David S. Martin was a son of Jacob and Hettie-
(Sowders) Martin, of Swiss descent, the former of
whom died in 1882 at the age of seventy-six years,,
and the latter in 1864, at the age of sixty-six, the
remains of both being also interred in the White
Horse Mennonite cemetery. Jacob and Hettie were-
farming people and had born to them the following-
named children : Mary, deceased wife of Levi New-
swanger; Henry and David S., deceased; Hettie,
married to Jacob Zimmerman, of Earl township ;.
Elizabeth, deceased; Jacob, a farmer in Salisbury
township ; John, deceased ; Catherine, born Aug. 31,.
1838, wife of John Seabold, of whom further men-
tion will be made.
In 1850 in Earl township, David S. Martin was-
ioined in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Gable as-
his first bride, and this union was graced with ten
children, namely: Susannah and Maria, deceased ;-
Ezra, of Lancaster; Levi, deceased; Adam; Anna,
living with her brother Solomon ; Hettie, deceased r
Solomon, a farmer in Paradise township; Jacob...
farming in Salisbury township, and Abraham, de-
ceased. The second marriage of David S. Martin
was to Mrs. Anna (Ames) Zeiley, and to this union
were born five children, viz.: Catherine, who'
has her home with her uncle, John Seabold ;'Eliza~
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1217
beth, deceased ; Henry, a farmer in Leacock town-
ship; John, also residing with Mr. Seabold; and
David, a farmer in Earl township.
Mrs. EHzabeth (Gable) Martin was born in
Earl township, Lancaster county, and died in 1866
at the age of thirty-seven years, her remains being
also interred in White Horse cemetery. She was
a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Newswanger)
Gable, of Lancaster county, the former of whom
was a miller by calling, but in his later days lived
in retirement. John and Elizabeth Gable were the
parents of two children, viz. : Susannah, wife of
Jacob W. Nolt, a farmer in Earl township; and
Elizabeth.
Adam Martin, son of David S. and Elizabeth
(Gable) Martin, was born in Earl township, June
5, 1857, and remained with his parents until twenty
years old ; he then worked out as a farm hand- until
1883, when he came to live with his uncle, John Sea-
bold, whom he has ably assisted until the present
time. Adam Martin is a niember of the Mennonite
Church, in politics is a Republican, is an excellent
manager and skillful farmer, and one of the highly
respected and leading citizens of Salisbury town-
ship.
John Seabold, one of the most prosperous agri-
culturists of Salisbury township, of which he is a
native, was born July 28, 1839, and is a son of Sam-
uel and Maria (Brower) Seabold, of Schuylkill,
and natives of Bucks county and Lancaster county,
respectively. Samuel died at Sadsburyville, Ches-
ter county, Oct. 6, 1889, aged seventy-eight years,
and his wife, Maria, died in February, 1895, when
eighty-three years old, her remains being interred
in the White Horse Mennonite cemetery. Samuel
was a shoemaker by trade but for several years be-
fore his death had lived retired. To Samuel and
Maria Seabold were born eleven children, namely:
Christiann, widow of Joseph Lynn of Coatesville,
Chester county ; Mary, widow of Albert Shoemaker,
of Parkesburg, Chester county; John, whose name
opens this paragraph ; Harry, a butcher in Honey-
brook, Chester county; Daniel and Elizabeth, de-
ceased ; Thomas, street commissioner and high con-
stable at Honeybrook; Morris, wagonmaker at
Rauch, Pa.; Martha E., Hattie E., and Peter, all
three deceased. The paternal grandfather of John
Seabold was Henry, a farmer of Schuylkill, who
was one of the early settlers of Lancaster county,
and the maternal grandparents were Henry and
Mary Brower, natives of this county.
In December, 1869, John Seabold married Miss
Catherine Martin, but to this union no children have
been born, though they have reared to maturity a
nephew and a niece, viz. : John S. Martin, from the
age of nine days, and Catherine, sister of John S.,
from her sixth year. John S. Martin was twenty-
six years old on March 17, 1902, and is now caring
for himself, while his sister, Catherine, is still being
cared for bv Mr. and Mrs. Seabold. John Sea-
bold up to the date of his marriage had filially as-
77
sisted in the cultivation of the parental homestead,-
but then began farming on his own land ; he has as-
fine a place as any of its dimensions in the neigh--
borhood and is classed with the best farmers and',
most useful citizens of Salisbury township. Mr,
and Mrs. Seabold are members of the Mennonite
Church and in politics Mr. Seabold is a Republican.
REV. WALTER RUSSELL BREED, B. S.,
B. D., rector of the parish of St. James, Lancaster,
comes of an honored ancestry dating back to nearly
three centuries in the Eastern States.
The Breed family settled in 1632, in Lynn, Mass.,
(which place was founded in 1630), being, there-
fore, within a year or two of ranking among the
founders of that place, and there are now over three
hundred Breeds in Lynn alone. All the people of
that name in Essex county, Mass., have their de-
scent from the Breed colony in Lynn, where for
the most part they have been successful merchants
and manufacturers, dominating the place. There
is Breed Square in Lynn, and the water supply for
the place is drawn from Breed's pond, which is
located on what was at one time the private ground
of the Breeds. The battle of Bunker Hill was, in
reality, for the most part, fought on Breed's Hill,
as now claimed by dispassionate and truth-loving-
historians.
- Joseph Breed, father of Walter R., was born in
Lynn, Mass., in 1826, and for many years followed
mercantile pursuits in that city. In 1852 he mar-
ried Miss Frances Burrill, daughter of Rev. John-
T. Burrill, rector of Christ Church, Boston, for
years rector of Quincy Point Church, and, during-
the sixties, rector of the old North Church, in Bos-
ton. They settled in Lynn three years after the
Breeds located there. Many Breeds and Burrills
served in the Colonial wars, thus making their de-
scendants on both sides, eligible as Sons and Daugh-
ters of the Revolution. To Joseph and Frances:
(Burrill) Breed were born children as follows : An-
na, George, Arthur, Henry, Laura and Walter
Russell.
Rev. Walter Russell Breed was born Jan. 10,
1866, in Lynn, Mass., and received his collegiate
education in Wesleyan University, Middletown.
Conn., from which he was graduated as a Bachelor
of Sciences in 1887. Three years later, having taken
the prescribed course in the Episcopal Theolog-ical
Seminary at Cambridge, Mass., where he became a
Bachelor of Divinity, he was ordained Deacon by
Bishop Paddock, in Cambridge, and priest in Tar-
rytown, N. J., by Bishop Potter. His first parish
was Trinity Church at Concord, Mass., where he
remained three years, and in November, 1893, he ac-
cepted a call to Christ Church, Quincy, Mass., one of
the most historic churches in~America. where he
became a member of the Quincy school board, hav-
ing been chairman of the committee on Evenings
Schools, and was in the management of the Wood-
ward School from the date of its organization, hav-
1218
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ing been honored with the position of vice-presi-
dent of its board of trustees.
Mr. Breed became rector of 5t. James Church,
Lancaster, Nov. 23, 1900, and his reception was a
most cordial one. With his severe training in noted
educational institutions, his experience in the East,
and in Europe, where he has traveled, Mr. Breed
came to St. James more than ordinarily well-
equipped for the work of that important parish, and
everything points to a future of great usefulness.
On June 4, 1894, Rev. Walter R. Breed was
married, by the late Rt. Rev. Bishop Rulisan, to
Miss Ellen Broderick Zehmer, daughter of William
Zehmer, of Lansford, Pa., the latter of whom has
been superintendent of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation
Co., for the past twenty-five years. Mrs. Breed's ma-
ternal grandfather was Thos. Broderick, of Wilkes-
Barre, at one time mayor of that city, and who was
descended from the Brodericks of Ireland, who
came to America about 150 years ago.
The new remodeled and beautified rectory of
St. James has had elegance added to it. by the quaint
old historic furniture brought from the East by Mr,
Breed, and it is specially fitting therefore, that Rev.
Mr. Breed should become rector of the grand old
St. James Episcopal Church — one of the oldest and
r.iost distinguished parishes in the State — a parish
that has reason to be proud of its Revolutionary tra-
ditions and its long line of distinguished clergy and
laity.
SILAS R. BUCKWALTER, a resident of Man-
heim township, one mile from Lancaster, was born
in East Lampeter township, this county, Feb. 25,
1854, a son of Benjamin and Susan (Johns) Buck-
waiter. Both parents were natives of East Lam-
peter township. The father was born June 14, 1816,
son of Abraham and Anna (Witmer) Buckwalter,
and grandson of Benjamin Buckwalter, and died
Jan. ID, 1898. The mother was born May 28, 1816,
and died Sept. 25, 1862.
Benjamin Buckwailter, father of Silas R., was
reared in East Lampeter township, where he spent
his life with the exception of two years, when he was
in Upper Leacock township, soon after his mar-
riage. He returned to his native township, and was
engaged in farming all his days, owning a farm of
107 acres, four miles east of Lancaster city, lying
along the Philadelphia pike. There he reared his
family. At Greenland for some ten years he had
an interest in a mercantile establishment, held the
office of postmaster there, and for a time was in
the butcher and meat business.' He served long and
faithfully on the school board of East Lampeter
township. Benjamin Buckwalter was twice mar-
ried, first to Miss Susan Johns, by whom he had
a numerous family: Elias, now deceased; Mary,
the wife of Elias Eby, of Strasburg: Elizabeth,
widow of Adam S. Rohrer, of Mechanicsburg ;
Lydia. unmarried, a resident of Lancaster; Peter,
a resident of East Lampeter township; Eva, who
died in childhood ; Silas R. ; Abraham, a resident of
Lancaster, a dispatcher of the Conestoga Traction
Company; Emma, professional nurse in Lancaster;
and Silinda, deceased. Benjamin Buckwalter mar-
ried, for his second wife, Anna (Eshelman) White-
side, and by this union became the father of four
children: Benjamin, now a resident of Eden, Man-
heim township ; Laura, who first married Abraham
Perry, and after his death became the wife of David
Decker, of New Holland ; Hetty, now deceased, and
John, a resident of Eden, East Lampeter township.
Silas R. Buckwalter, whose name appears above,
began business for himself at the age of twenty-one.
For four years he tilled part of the old homestead
and then moved to another farm two miles east of
Lancaster, which he tilled for sixteen years; this
place consisted of fifty-five acres, and proved very
productive and profitable. At the end of that time
he bought the farm of sixty-five acres on which he
still resides, and in addition to its cultivation con-
ducts a milk route in the city. In 1901 he took
the agency for the Kemp & Burpee Manure Spread-
er in his part of the county. He has thoroughly
modernized and thoroughly improved his property.
The house is supplied throughout with hot and cold
water, and in the barn his stock have automatic
water troughs, the water supplying which is pumped
into a tank by a water wheel; he also has a feed
mill operated by wind power. His place is conceded
to be one of the most desirable homes in that part of
the county. On the north it adjoins Long Park,
which lies about one and one quarter miles north-
west of Lancaster City.
Mr. Buckwalter was married Dec. 24, 1874, to
Miss Mary K., daughter of Benjamin R. Landis,
of East Lampeter township, and to this union have
come: Lottie S. ; Jacob, who died at the age of
twenty-three; Elam, who died at the age of seven-
teen ; Benjamin, who died at the age of eighteen
months; Frank, at home; Elias, who died at the
age of five months; Harry, at home; and Silas, at
home. Mr. and Mrs. Buckwalter belong to the
Mennonite Church, and are classed among the re-
spected people of their community.
P. B. KOFROTH, a carriage manufacturer of
Rothsville, and one of the successful business men
of Lancaster county, was born Oct. 3, 1858, in the
village of Disston, Pa. In i860 his mother died ;
in i86r his father, Martin Kofroth, enlisted and
served in Co. K, 129th Regiment, which left the
subject of our sketch drifting among his relatives
until he was old enough to look out for himself.
After receiving a common school education, he
was employed at the trade of coach maker, with
S. & H. Grosh, in Lititz,' Pa., and later worked for
U. F. Hartranft, at Brunnerville. He started in
business for himself in 1878, has successfuUv con-
ducted the same, until the present time, and now
'commands a lucrative patronage. Mr. Kofroth is
well known in social, political and fraternal circles.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1219
being a member of the P. O. S. of A. No. 559, of
Jlothsville, I. O. O. F. of Lincoln, No. 915, and
JK. of P. of Lititz ; he is a past officer in the above
Jiamed orders. In politics he is a stanch Republi-
can and has represented his party in the county
committee for the last six years. He is a member
•of the Lutheran Church, of which he is one of the
trustees.
In July, 1879, Mr. Kofroth wedded Miss Lillie
■Seltzer, of Hamburg, Berks county. To this union
-have been born seven children, two of whom died
in infancy ; Mamie is attending the State Normal
School at Millersville ; Reno J., Percy B., Avon S.
-and Maud S. are all at home. Mr. Kofroth takes
an active interest in all local affairs whether of a
.social, religious or public nature.
WILLIAM HUESTIS KELLER is the junior
member of the well-known law firm of Coyle &
Keller, and has been practicing at the Lancaster
County Bar for a period of about ten years.
Mr. Keller's paternal ancestry were from Ger-
many, coming to this country about the year 1750,
.and settling in either Dauphin county or Lancaster
county, Pa. — which, is not quite certain, though
one of the ancestors evidently lived in Lancaster
county, as his name appears among the members
from that county on the roll of the "Pennsylvania
Associators" in the War of the Revolution. From
here, however, he moved to Center county.
Daniel S. Keller, father of William H., was a
prominent member of the Belief onte (Pa.) Bar.
:He was a son of Henry Keller, of Boalsburg, Pa.
Daniel S. married Martha E. Huestis,' daughter of
William H- Heustis, a contractor and builder of
A'ermont, who descended from old Puritan stock,
and children as follows were born to them : Harry,
William H. and Martha E. The father died in
1894, the mother in 1876.
William H. Keller, whose name introduces these
lines, was born Aug. 11, 1869, in Montgomery
county, Md., and in early life was brought by his
-parents to Belief onte, Pa., at the public schools of
which place he received his earlier education, grad-
uating from the High school in 1884. He graduated
from the Bellefonte Academy in 1887, and from
Franklin and Marshall College in the class of 1891.
His college days over, Mr. Keller read law with his
father in Bellefonte, then took a course in law at
Columbian University, Washington, D. C, grad-
uating from that institution in 1893, and in July
-of the same year was admitted to practice in the
Supreme court of the District of Columbia, and to
the Bar of Center county. Pa. On Aug. 22, 1893,
he removed to Lancaster and was admitted to the
Bar of Lancaster county, and, as soon as the time
limited under the rules had expired, he was ad-
mitted to the Supreme, Superior, and United States
Circuit and District courts. From January, 1894,
to January, .1899, Mr. Keller was associated with
J. L. Steinmetz in the practice of law, at the end
of which time he entered into partnership with John
A. Coyle, his present associate.
On Oct. 18, 1893, William H. Keller married
Miss Anna Dickey, youngest daughter of the late
Hon. O. J. Dickey, well remembered as the most
prominent criminal lawyer of his time, and honored
by the Republicans of his district with two terms
in Congress. Mr. and Mrs. Keller have four chil-
dren, their names and dates of birth being as fol-
lows; Daniel S., Aug. 15, 1894; Elizabeth Dickey,
Dec. 4, 1895 ; Oliver James, Feb. 9, 1898, and Mar-
tha Eleanor, Nov. 14, 1902. Mr. Keller is a mem-
ber of the First Reformed Church of Lancaster. In
politics, he is a stanch Republican. Though not a
native of Lancaster county, Mr. Keller has become
thoroughly identified with its interests and is in
entire sympathy with its development and progress
along all lines.
J. ALDUS HERR, one of the intelligent and
progressive citizens of West Lampeter township,
Lancaster county, was born on the farm where he
still lives Nov. 22, 1859, a son of Benjamin and Ann
E. Herr. His father was a farmer, and is now de-
ceased.
J. Aldus Herr spent his boyhood on his parents
farm, and obtained his education in the public
schools, and he has eagerly grasped every oppor-
tunity to broaden and deepen his mind. About the
,time he completed his studies in the school he helped
to organize a literary society, and has been one of
its active workers. His eye has always been single
to the advancement of the community. Mr. Herr
was the founder and promoter of the Jersey Cattle
Club of Lancaster, an object which he brought about
after a hard and protracted struggle, and he has
had the satisfaction of seeing the society — which was
organized March 7, 1898, with a roll of twenty-five
members, with himself as chairman — accomplish the
most gratifying results. Mr. Herr was one of the
pioneers in the establishment of the rural mail de-
livery in his township, and did much to advance the
Farmers' Institute of West Lampeter township,
which has grown to large proportions from a very
modest beginning. In fact, he is always ready to
forward anything that looks to the public good.
His place is considered one of the finest homes in
the county, and there he engages in general farming
and stock raising, owning the celebrated Pequea
herd of Jerseys, and he is the only owner of regis-
tered Jerseys to sell the product in Lancaster. He
disposes of much butter weekly, having a herd of
thirty -iive head. Mr. Herr takes much interest in
local politics, has been tax collector, and has served
as county committeeman for seven years.
Mr. Herr was married, Jan. 27, 1897, to Miss
Mar>', daughter of Rev. Jacob Bowpian, a lady of
culture and refinement. They have had a family of
four children : Paul Bowman, who died in infancy ;
Mary Hilda ; Anna Irene, who also died in infancy ;
and Helen Elizabeth. Mr. Herr's home is one of the
1220
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
most hospitable and pleasant in the locality, and the
taste of the owners is fully exemplified by the
amount of good literature they have and enjoy.
REV. WILLIAM STUART CRAMER, assis-
tant pastor of the First Reformed Church of Lan-
caster, although not a native of Lancaster county,,
has yet been so closely connected with it by church,
college and seminary associations, that his personal
history, as well as that of his ancestry, cannot fail
to excite interest in a community where he is so
well known and so greatly beloved. Practically,
however, he has been a Lancastrian for many years,
counting the time that he spent in Franklin and
Marshall College, and in the Reformed Theological
Seminary.
Mr. Cramer is descended from Revolutionary
stock, one of his ancestors having been a colonel
in one of the early wars. His grandfather, William
J. Cramer, was born in Graceham, Md., and his
father, Miller Cray Cramer, is a manager in one
of the large mercantile establishments in New York
City. The latter married Julia Crouse, daughter of
Michael Crouse, a farrrier of Frederick county, Md.,
and three children were born of this union : Victor
Clay, a traveling salesman, of New York; Ada Es-
telle, at home with her parents ; and Rev. William
Stuart, of Lancaster.
William Stuart Cramer was born in Creagers-
town, Frederick Co., Md., April 12, 1873, and,
after being partially educated in the public schools
of that section, attended Eaton & Burnett's Business
College, in Bahimore, from which he was gradu-
ated, and then entered into business with his father.
His parents having removed to Baltimore, where
his father held a position in the sub-treasury under
Hon. George L. Wellington, for four years, young
Cramer became entry clerk in the establishment of
Armstrong, Cator & Co. He next attended Lamb's
High School in Baltimore, from which he was grad-
uated in 1895 ; then attended Franklin and Marshall
College from which he was graduated in 1898, and
he graduated from the Reformed Theological^ Sem-
inary at Lancaster in 1901. He received an imme-
diate call to the First Reformed Church, as assis-
tant to the venerable and beloved Rev. J. M. Titzel,
D. D., which he accepted, and was ordained (and
installed as assistant pastor) on July 7, 1901. Dur-
ing the seven years of his college and seminary life
in Lancaster, Mr. Cramer held important positions,
as tenor soloist in the best choirs of the city, among
which was the choir of the church which he now
serves. Mr. Cramer was for a time one
of the editors of the College Student; was assist-
ant manager for one year, and manager another
vear of the Franklin and Marshall Foot Ball
Team: belongeji to the Franklin and Marshall
Glee Club; to the Diagnothian Literary society
in which he. held several important offices; and
was one of the founders and president of the
Paradise Club of Franklin and Marshall College,
a social club like that at Priiiceton, and of which
Mr. Cramer is justly proud. During his second
year in the Theological Seminary he won the prize-
($20 in gold) in Sacred Rhetoric. During his first
five summer vacations, while a student, Mr. Cramer
was associated with the American Bible Society of
Maryland, as a colporteur, and in 1899 he assisted
in re-cataloging the State Library at Harrisburg,
under Dr. Reed. In 1900, during his vacation from
the Theological Seminary, Mr. Cramer filled Rev.
M. H. Sangree's pulpit "in the Fourth Reformed
Church, in Harrisburg, for five months, preaching
with great acceptability. Such has been the busy,
useful and not uneventful life of the new assistant
pastor of the historic First Reformed Church of^
Lancaster. With such a field of labor as presents
itself in this charge there is vast opportunity for one
possessed of Mr. Cramer's experience, ability and
earnestness to accomplish much good.
SAMUEL GIBSON, one of the well-known •
farmers and esteemed citizens of Martic township,
was born March 14, 1831, son of James and Griselda
(Neel) Gibson.
James Gibson, the father, was born in York
county and came of Scotch ancestry, his father
James, coming to America from Glasgow about 150'
years ago. Grandfather Gibson had thirteen chil-
dren. A family of nine children was born to the
parents of our subject, and we have record of Mary
Ann, William and James L., all deceased ; Samuel, of
this sketch ; Annie E., the wife of J. W. Barton,
who resides in Maryland; Mary Jane, the wife of
William Pagan, of the home place ; and Robert H.,
deceased. James Gibson was born March 25, 1791,
and died March 8, 1868. He was a stanch Demo-
crat and one of the leading men of the township.
He belonged to the Presbyterian Church.
Samuel Gibson came with his parents from York
county to the old home place which he now owns
when he was six years of age. He grew up a farmer
lad, adopted agriculture as his life vocation and has
successfully pursued it ever since. He acquired a
good common school education and has put it to-
practical use in the intelligent management of his
farm. This property contains sixty-two acres of"
excellent land upon which very good improvements •
have been made, and here Mr. Gibson enjoys a
most comfortable home. He has never married.
In former years Mr. Gibson was a Democrat, like
his father, but for some time he has advocated the-
principles of the Prohibition party. He is a much
respected man in Martic township, and is valued as
citizen, neighbor and friend.
_ SAMUEL C. MAY. The great-grandfather of"
this enterprising and prosperous citizen of West
Hempfield township was among the early settlers
of Lancaster county, emigrating from Germany
in the year 1716, settling in what is now Lancaster -
county, and there remaining through life, a patient
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1221
■and efficient worker in the county's best material
•development. The family has ever since been
among its prominent and active citizens.
The grandfather of Samuel C, was Michael
May, a life-long resident of Lancaster county,
whose son Samuel, father of Samuel C, was born
June i8, 1808, and lived in West Hempfield town-
ship to the good old age of ninety years, passing
away Dec. 21, 1898. He was a mason by trade.
He married Miss Anna Christy, who was born in
West Hempfield township, July 21, 1816, and died
Dec. 28, 1886. They were good Christian people,
highly respected by all who knew them and were
buried in Mathew cemetery at Kinderhook. To
Samuel and Anna (Christy) May were born eight
children, namely: Michael, deceased; Henry, of
Drumore township; Malanthan, deceased; Mary,
deceased ; Margaret, of Kinderhook ; Sarah, de-
ceased ; Samuel C. ; and Anna C, deceased.
Samuel C. May was born Dec. 4, 1853, in a
house which stood but a few hundred yards from
his present residence. At the age of seventeen years
Tie learned from his father the mason's trade, which
he followed successfully for many years, starting
out for himself at the age of twenty-eight. He
married in Martic township, Feb. 22, 1886, Miss
Anna E. Fares, a native of West Hempfield town-
ship, daughter of Henry and Rebecca (Cain) Fares.
Henry Fares was the son of an old settler of Lan-
caster county, a blacksmith and farmer. Henry
was born in West Hempfield township, May i,
1835, and married Rebecca Cain, who was born
Ma-rch 7, 1839, daughter of John and Mary (Hip-
TJey) Cain, of Lancaster county, of German ancestry.
'To Henry and Rebecca Fares were born four chil-
dren : Anna Elizabeth, wife of Samuel C. May ; Jo-
seph ; John ; and Margaret, deceased. In earlier life
Henry Fares was an engineer. He is now engaged
in farming in Martic township, where he and his
wife are devout members of the United Brethren
Church.
In 1887 Samuel C. May gave up his trade for
■agricultural pursuits. He began farming in West
Hempfield township, where he has ever since suc-
cessfully continued. To this he in 1896 added the
poultry business at Kinderhook and he is now one
■of the prosperous and influential farmers and busi-
ness men of the township. In politics he is a Re-
publican, and among the fraternal orders, a Master
"Mason.
WILLIAM M. BRYSON, one of the most
venerated retired farmers of Salisbury township,
and an -ex-carpenter of more than ordinary skill,
was born in Millwood, Salisbury township, Lan-
caster county Pa., March 22, 1826, and is the fifth
-of the ten children that resulted from the marriage
tDf Jesse and Margaret (Myers) Bryson.
The parents were also natives of Lancaster coun-
ty, but have long since passed away to a world
-where, it is fondly believed, there are none of the
toils, cares and asperities that afflict life on this mun-
dane sphere. Jesse Bryson was a stonemason by
trade and was called away in 1854, when fifty-two
years old, but he had lost his wife in 1842, at the
age of fifty-two. Their remains lie in Georgetown
cemetery. The ten children alluded to were named,
in order of birth, as follows : Isaac, deceased ; John,
who is a retired lumber dealer at Los Angeles, Cal. ;
Joseph, who died in Libby prison; Mary A., wife
of Edward Dorsey, of Adair county, Iowa ; William
M. ; Margaret, wife of James McGuire, of Viola,
111. ; Elizabeth, deceased ; Jesse, a miller in Iowa ;
and Catherine and Samuel, who died young. John
Bryson, the paternal grandfather of William M.
Bryson, was also a native of Lancaster county, an
evidence in itself of the long residence of the family
in the State of Pennsylvania.
William M. Bryson lived with his parents on a
farm until he had reached the age of nine years
and then took leave of his home and for six and a
quarter years lived on a farm in Strasburg ; he then
returned to the home place, where a year and a half
later his mother was called to her final rest and
William M. again went to live among farmers, with
whom he worked until the fall of 1850, when he
began learning the carpenter's trade; this he fol-
lowed for twenty years and then again resumed
farming, settling in the meantime on his present
farm in 1862, and continuing actively in the pursuit
of agriculture until 1876, when he retired.
Mr. Bryson having reached the years of dis-
cretion and matured judgment, selected for his com-
panion through life a most estimable young lady in
the person of Miss Margaret Patton, and having
wooed and won her consent, married her in Lan-
caster, Oct. 17, 1850; to this felicitous union were
born four children, namely : John, an iron worker at
Lebanon ; William, deceased ; Jacob, who is em-
ployed in a spice mill in Philadelphia, and is mar-
ried to Rachel Martin, who has borne him three
children ; and Jesse L., who is still under the paternal
roof, but who is, sad to relate, Wind.
Mrs. Margaret (Patton) Bryson was born in
Salisbury township, Lancaster county, Oct. 22, 1827,
the sixth child in the large family born to Linton
and Elizabeth (Reel) Patton, of Lancaster county,
the former of whom died at the age of sev-
enty-one years, while the latter survived until Jan.
I, 1879, when she expired at the age of eighty.
Their family of fifteen children were born in the
following order : John, who is now deceased ; Lydia,
deceased wife of Henry Coffroad; Samuel, of Earl
township ; Elizabeth, a widow in Salisbury town-
ship ; Catherine, widow of William Rissel, of Com-
passville; Margaret, who died Dec. 31, 1894, the
wife of William M. Bryson; Rachel, wife of John
Elmer, of Salisbury township ; Ann, in Reading,
wife of Henry Miller; Gabriel, deceased; Jane,
married to Henry Ammon, in Gap, Lancaster coun-
ty; Henry, a farmer in Salisbury township; Mary,
wife of Harrison Ross, of Chester county ; Harriet,
1222
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
wife of John Ross, also in Chester county; Abra-
ham, and Leah, both living in Salisbury township
and unmarried.
William M. Bryson, although a modest and un-
ostentatious citizen, has in his day done as much
as any man in promoting the growth and prosperity
of Salisbury township. Public-spirited and alert,
he has been one of the foremost to detect what has
been wanting to add to the convenience and com-
fort of the public ; has been prompt in his financial
contributions to the remedying of such wants, has
ever advocated the construction of good roads and
of culverts and bridges so as to furnish easy trans-
portation over the highways and to reduce to a
minimum the time and labor consumed by farmers in
transferring their products to market, and to facili-
tate travel in general, and has thus aided in enhanc-
ing the value of farm property throughout the town-
ship. He has always been an ardent friend of pub-
lic education, was a school director for twelve years,
and was largely instrumental in bringing to their
present high standard of efficiency the district
schools of the township ; he has also served as a
member of the county board of supervisors for nine
years, his care of his township's interests in that
body being so satisfactory as to justify his repeated
election by an appreciative and gratified constitu-
ency. In politics Mr. Bryson is a Republican, but
as a rule he has been chosen as the guardian of
his fellow-citizens more on account of personal abil-
ities and unswerving integrity than for the sake of
party triumph. Not infrequently has he been se-
lected as judge and inspector of elections, in which
capacity he has served so impartially as to elicit
the commendation of all, irrespective of party affilia-
tions. On just such men as Mr. Bryson does the
growth of the community depend.
CHRISTIAN K. NEWCOMER, deceased. The
Newcomer family has been prominently identified
with the development of Lancaster county and like
many another family of prominence Won its way
upward through manly struggles with adverse cir-
cumstances. Upon the father of Christian K., Jacob
Newcomer by name, especially devolved the stern
duties of life at an early age, for when Jacob was
twelve years old, the eldest son of the family, his
father died, and upon his young shoulders fell
largely the responsibilities of managing for his
mother the farm in Manor township. Jacob grew
up on the old homestead and there remained through
life. He and his family were devout members of the
Mennonite Church and for many years he was a
deacon of the church. He married Miss Barbara
Kauffman, and to them were born ten children,
nine of whom reached maturity. These children
were: Elizabeth, who married Abraham Sanders
and is now deceased ; Barbara, deceased ; Christian
K. : Jacob K.. a Mennonite of Manor township ; Jos-
eph. ^ farmer of Manor township : Mary, who mar-
ried Jacob Snowley ; Catherine, widow of Jacob Lin-
deman, of Manor township ; Abraham, of the same
township ; Isaac, who died unmarried ; and Anna,,
whose death occurred in childhood. Jacob, the
father, died in i86r, aged sixty years and the mother
passed away in 1858.
Christian K. Newcomer, the third child and eld-
est son, was born in Manor township, Lancaster
county, Oct. 11, 1830. He was reared in Manor
township and there received a good comrhon school
education. Adopting farming as his vocation, he
was for many years a prominent agriculturist of
Manor township.
The marriage of Christian K. Newcomer and
■ Elizabeth M. Mellinger was solemnized Nov. 20,
1866, and the union has been blessed with twO'
daughters, Anna E., wife of Jacob S. Spangler, a
farmer of West Hempfield township, and Elizabeth
A., who makes her home with her sister in West
Hempfield township. The wife and mother was
born in Manor township, Oct. 19, 1835, daughter
of Dr. Henry and Anna (Hertzler) Mellinger, of
Manor township, her father having been a promi-
nent physician. The Mellinger family is one of the
oldest in Lancaster county, having descended from
Benedict Mellinger, a native of southern Germany,
who immigrated to America and in 1746 settled in
Manor township, Lancaster county, the original
farm still being in the possession of the family.
Upon a well tilled farm of eighty-six acres in
Manor township. Christian K. Newcomer continued
general farming after his marriage. He became
one of the most prominent and wealthy citizens of
that township. In politics he was a Democrat and
himself and wife were prominent jnembers of the
Old Mennonite Church. He retired from active life
about a year prior to his death, which occurred itt
October, 1886. His wife preceded him to the grave,
passing away Jan. 16, 1879. Their remains were
interred in the burying-ground of the Habecker Men-
nonite Church.
MILTON WIKE (deceased), late a retired
butcher and a director in the Columbia National
Bank, was born in Fairview Village, Manor town-
ship, Lancaster county. Pa., Jan. 25, 1831, a son of
George and Sarah (Eberlee) Wike, of Columbia.
George Wike was a cooper by trade, but for
many years was a pilot on the Susquehanna river.
In his latter days, however, he was employed by
the State as a slip boss, and finally retired to pass
the remainder of his davs in ease and comfort. He
died in Columbia in 1858, at the age of fifty-two-
years, a Lutheran in his religious belief, although
not a member of any congregation. His widow,
who was born Nov. 3, 1806, is a member of the
Episcopal Church and has her residence in Columbia.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wike were four-
teen in number, and were named as follows : Susan^
who died when five years old : John, who was inar-
ried, but is now deceased; Milton, whose name
opens this article; Ann Jane, of Philadelphia, and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1223
the widow of Jacob Wall ; Nathan E., railroad con-
ductor in Columbia; Emma Frances, who died
young; George W., married to Mary J. Wagner;
Henry M., who was killed in the army; Hannah
J., wife of Henry Mullen, of Philadelphia ; Sam-
uel F., a widower, a railroad engineer, in Colum-
bia; Andrew J. and Albert, who died young; Eu-
nice, widow of Edwin Stair, who was a dry-goods
merchant of Columbia; and Franklin, who died
young.
George Wike, Sr., paternal grandfather of Mil-
ton, who came from Berks county to Lancaster
when a young man, was a shoemaker by trade, and
was twice married. Milton's maternal grandpar-
ents, John and Anna (Neil) Eberlee, were natives
of Germany and Lancaster county. Pa., respec-
tively. John Eberlee was born in Wonseck, a town
in the Margrave der Bysith, in the circle of Fran-
conia, Nov. 25, 1755, and was confirmed in the
Lutheran faith. His father, who was also named
John, was a butcher and also a burgomaster of
Wonseck, and his mother bore the maiden name of
Margaret Ballach. John, the younger, landed in
America, June 3, 1777, and May 4, 1784, married
Anna Neil, who was born in Hempfield township,
Lancaster county, Pa., April 6, 1767, a daughter of
John and Jean (Mease) Neil. To their union were
born the following children: John, Oct. 15, 1785,
died Oct. 20, 1785; Jean, born Sept. 30, 1786;
Margaret, born June 14, 1788; Elizabeth, Ijorn
April 10, 1790; and Sarah, Mrs. Wike. All the
children had their nativity in Columbia, and all, with
the exception of one who died in infancy, were
married.
Milton Wike, in his boyhood, was employed on
the river as a carrier of shingles, and later worked
for his father, who was a butcher, until he was
nineteen years old. He then began the butcher
business on his own account, and bought and sold
horses, cattle and other live stock, or anything that
he could buy and sell, and continued in this line
until 1885, when he gave the butcher branch of the
business to his brother George, and became a drover.
His custom was to buy poor cattle in Pittsburg,
Pa., and Buffalo, N. Y., fatten them, and then sell
them in Philadelphia and Baltimore. He continued
in business until 1894, when he retired.
Mr. Wike was for a long time a director in
the Grey Iron Works, but, in 1900, sold his stock
and resigned his directorship. At the time of his
death he was and had been for four years, a director
in the Columbia National Bank. He was also a
stockholder and director in the Susquehanna Roll-
ing Mill until 1898, when the mill was sold to a
syndicate for $175,000, the stock standing at par.
In January, 1862, Milton Wike married, in
Columbia, Miss Elizabeth A. Hinkle, who bore him
three children: George, of Columbia, married to
Sally McCoy, and a machinist in the employ of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company; Edith, deceased
wife of Edwin Smith ; and Flora, deceased.
Mrs. Elizabeth A. (Hinkle) Wike was born in
West Hempfield township, Lancaster county. Pa.,
and is a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Magill)
Hinkle. The father was a farmer and an attend-
ant at the German Lutheran Church, and died in
August, 1862, when sixty-two years old; the death
of the mother took place in July, 1870, when she
was fifty-eight. Their children were eight in num-
ber and were born in the following order : Samuel,
who was killed in the army; Catherine, wife of
Peter Mangas, a miller and farmer of York county,
Pa. ; Elizabeth A. ; Mary, wife of Amos Mullen, of
Bellefonte, Pa. ; Patience, wife of Augustus Killian,
express agent at Lancaster ; Jacob, Sarah and Chris-
tiann, all of whom died. young. Mrs. Wike's pater-
nal grandfather, John (better known as Yohan),
came from Switzerland, settled in West Hempfield
township, and married Catherine Kaufman. He
was a renter, and after his death his sons, Isaac
and Henry, succeeded him in the management of
the farm, but, as it was not for sale, they could
not buy it. It was a large tract and belonged to
the Bethel & Heise estate. But the brothers real-
ized a fortune, and when worth $40,000 removed
to Columbia, where they owned two brick dwell-
ings, separated by a wall, and, in order to be more
conveniently connected with each other, they cut
a gateway through this partition. To Isaac there
were born five children on the farm, and Henry
reared ten on the same place. The maternal grand-
parents of Mrs. Wike were Lawrence and Chris-
tiann Magill, who first located in York county, but
early came to Lancaster county, and settled in W^est
Hempfield township.
Mr. Wike owned and highly prized as an heir-
loom a sampler made by his mother and worked in
silk, for which she had to go to Lancaster. It is
18x28 inches in size. It delineates a large oak tree,
a lamb and a lady sitting in a chair in the act of
sewing. It also bears the following lines :
Sarah Eberlee is my name;
With needle wrought the same. '
In Lancaster county I was born (
The third of November, in the morn,
1806, as I am told.
Which makes me near ti years old.
Mr. Wike was a Knight Templar Mason, and
in politics was a Republican. He was a member of
the Episcopal Church, and his upright walk through
life won for him hosts of friends. His death oc-
curred Aug. 25, 1900, and he was interred in Bethel
cemetery.
JOHN S. SNYDER, the efficient and energetic
Pennsylvania Railroad dispatcher at Columbia, was
born in Soudersburg, Lancaster county, June 5,
1851, a son of John C, and Jane (Given) Snvder,
natives of the same borough, the former of whom
was a carpenter by trade.
In 1854 John C. Snyder, with his family, re-
1224
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
moved from Soudersburg to Strasburg, in 1858 he
removed to Lancaster; in i860 to Alexandria,
Huntingdon county ; and in 1870 came to Columbia.
He and wife were parents of twelve children, viz. :
Anna E., widow of Henry S. Wood, of Lancaster ;
Elim G., a grocer in the same city ; John W., who
died young ; Margaret J., widow of William Jacobs,
of Philadelphia ; Oliver W., a bricklayer in Lan-
caster ; Catherine S., wife of Thomas D. Lundy,
special officer for the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany at Lancaster; Mary M., married to H. A.
Hoffman, a wagohmaker at Tyrone, Pa. ; Elmira
L., wife of John Folk, railroad conductor at Colum-
bia ; Sarah E., who died single ; John S., whose
name stands at the opening of this sketch ; Edwin
A., who was a railroad conductor and was thrown
from his train and killed at Witmer Station, Nov.
I, 1894; and Ada J., widow of Emanuel Sprout, a
flagman. John C. Snyder was born, Feb. 21, 1805,
was of German descent, and died April 3, 1894;
Mrs. Jane Snyder was born of Irish extraction,
June 30, 1810, and she died April 16, 1898. Both
she and her husband were members of the M. E.
Church, and their remains were interred in Mount
Bethel cemetery.
Andrew Snyder, father of John C. Snyder,
came to America when quite young, served in the
Revolutionary war, and at his death had reached
the remarkable age of 112 years; his remains were
interred in Roland's burying-ground, near New
Holland, Lancaster county. The father of Mrs.
Jane (Given) Snyder was killed at Gordonville, Pa.,
on a railroad operated by the State at that time.
John S. Snyder, at the age of seventeen years,
began learning gas-fitting and plumbing, but two
years later, July 9, 1870, entered the employ of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in Philadel-
phia, as freight brakeman ; he held this position two
years, was then a flagman in Columbia, for eighteen
months, was next a conductor, until 1889, and was
then made train dispatcher.
On June 19, 1878, Mr. Snyder married Miss
Katherine E. Sittler, in Columbia, and after his
marriage, his parents came to live with him. Three
children, Margaret M., Joseph S. and Anna W.,
now brighten his home. Mrs. Katherine E. Snyder
was born in York county. Pa., in May, 1855, ^
daughter of Joseph and Rachel A. (Morrow) Sittler,
of that county. The former, who was born April
23, 1814, for many years conducted a hotel at Long
Level, York county, then for five years lived in re-
tirement, and died, Jan. 27, 1882 ; his widow still
resides at Long Level. The children born to Joseph
and Rachel Sittler were seven in number, viz :
Katherine E. ; Martha R., who died in 1896, the
wife of Randolph Rutledge ; Joseph W., hotelkeeper
at Long Level ; James B.. in the Pension Depart-
ment at Washington, D. C. ; Abraham H., railroad
engineer at York; Asrnes M., wife of Truman
Schultz, in the cigar business at Long Level ; and
Russell B., is in the cigar trade at East Prospect,
Pennsylvania.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Katherine
E. Snyder, Abraham and Anna Sittler, of Balti-
more, Md., came to Lancaster county to live, re-
mained a few years, and returned to Baltimore, but
then came back to Pennsylvania to stay, settling
in Prospect. Her maternal grandfather, William
Morrow, came from Ireland.
John S. Snyder is a member of the O. of R. C,
the I. O. O. F., and the K. of M. Religiously he
belongs to the M. E. Church. In politics he is in-
dependent.
ABRAHAM PATTON, carpenter and builder,
located in Alert, Salisbury township, was born near
his present home, Jan. 31, 1840, son of Linton and
Elizabeth (Reel) Patton, the former of whom was
a blacksmith by trade and later worked as a laborer.
He died in January, 1867, aged seventy-one years,
his widow surviving imtil 1879, ^""^ dying at the
age of eighty years. They were interred in the
Pequea Presbyterian Church cemetery. The follow-
ing children made up their family : John, deceased ;
Lydia, late wife of Henry Coffroad; Samuel, aged
seventy-nine years, a resident of Earl township;
Elizabeth, residing in Salisbury township ; Mar-
garet, deceased, wife of William Bryson, of Salis-
bury township ; Catherine, the widow of William
Rishel, living in Compassville ; Rachel, married to
John Elmer, of SaHsbury township; Gabel, de-
ceased; Jane, married to Henry Ammon, of Gap,
Pa. ; Ann, married (first) to Henry Wademan and
(second) to Abraham Miller, of Reading; Henry,
a farmer of Salisbury township ; Abraham ; Mary,
married to Harrison Ross, ex-county registrar of
Chester county; Harriet, married to John Ross, a
farmer of Chester county ; and Leah.
Abraham Patton attended the district schools
and remained at home with his father until his mar-
riage, after which he began housekeeping and has
followed the carpenter trade. On Aug. 19, 1861,
at Lancaster, he enlisted in Co. A, 79th P. V. I.,
and served under Captains William Kendrick, James
Benson and Edward McCafferty, faithfully per-
forming the duties of a soldier for a period of three
years. Mr. Patton participated in some of the most
serious and decisive battles of the war, including
Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga and Chat-
tanooga, going then with Sherman to Atlanta; he
was discharged on account of the termination of
his enHstment, June 19, 1863. Mr. Patton was
severely wounded in the right side, bv a musket
ball, in the battle at Perryville and was kept for
seven weeks in the hospital at New Albany, Ind.
After his return from the war he worked at the
carpenter trade and now is one of the leading build-
ers of the locality.
In January, 1870, Mr. Patton was married in
New Holland, to Miss Mary Palmer, born in Ear!
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1225
township, in September, 1842, daughter of Joseph
-and Ehzabeth (Bowers) Pah-ner, of Earl township,
■who had these children: Ann, deceased wife of
James Dun lap ; Rebecca, married to Israel Gabel,
■of Lancaster ; Maria, the widow of Solomon Shaffer,
■of Earl township; Mary, the wife of Mr. Patton;
Margaret, deceased wife of John K. Diem, of Lea-
cock township ; Octermer, a carpenter of Chester
•county ; and Amos, deceased. Mr. Palmer was a
farmer of Earl township and died in 1867 at the
-age of seventy-one years, his widow dying in 1879,
■aged eighty years. They were buried in the Pequea
Presbyterian Church cemetery.
To Mr. and Mrs. Patton these children were
born : Clara, the wife of William Kiser, a cigar-
imaker in Lancaster ; Anna, the wife of Elwood
Menzer, a painter, in New Holland; Lillie, Henry
and Samuel, at home.
In politics Mr. Patton is a staunch Republican.
As a business man, he is regarded as reliable and
competent, and as a citizen, he commands the re-
spect of the community.
PETER G. MESHEY. Mr. Meshey's life of
iifty-seven years has been full of activity, yet he is
as vigorous in mind and body as when, thirty-five
3'ears ago, he donned a soldier's uniform to fight
the battles of his country.
Peter G. Meshey was born in Mt. Joy, Feb. 11,
1846. His father, who was also named Peter, was
the son of John and Maria (Myers) Meshey, and
both father and grandfather were farmers. His
mother was Susan Groff, the daughter of Abraham
Groff and Nancy Myers, whose home was origin-
ally in Chester, but who later removed to Lancaster
■county. Mr. Meshey's parents were members of the
Dunkard communion, and both are deceased, his
Tnother having died in 1890, at the age of seventy-
two, and his father four years later, after reaching
his seventy-sixth birthday. Peter G. was their
second child and eldest son ; an elder sister, Anna,
was killed by a corn-cutting machine ; two brothers,
Abraham and Amos, are also deceased, and a young-
•€r brother, Jacob, resides in Steelton. Four other
sisters, Mary, Susan, Elizabeth and Amanda, are
married : Mary is Mrs. John Stofifer, of Rapho
township ; Susan married Jacob Heise, of Ann-
ville ; Elizabeth is the wife of Henry Nauman, of
"Rapho ; and Amanda, Mrs. Cyrus Heise, has her
Tiome at Mt. Joy.
Peter G. Meshey remained at home with his
parents until 1865, when he enHsted in Co. G, i6th
Pa. Cav. He took part in the battle of Petersburg,
as well as in other engagements, and in the final
■fighting around Richmond. He was mustered out
in that city in August, 1865. From 1871 to 1873
he was engaged in farming, and for a year followed
the business of a butcher in Lancaster. Two more
years were devoted to agriculture, and for a time
lie was employed in hauling coal at Lancaster. In
3885 he came to Columbia to begin work as brake-
man on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Four years
later he was made a flagman, and in April, 1900,
was given the position of extra conductor. He
is a property owner in Columbia, where he resides,
and where he is held in esteem. He is a member
of the G. A. R., and politically a Republican. He
is also a member of the Church of God.
He has been twice married. His first wife, to
whom he was united in Bainbridge, Pa., in 1866,
was Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel Striner, of
Lancaster. She died Sept. i, 1869, at the age of
twenty, leaving a daughter, Alice, who is now the
wife of John Shudy, a boss painter, of Mariheim.
On May 28, 1871, he led to the altar Miss Lucy A.
Bletcher, of Lancaster. Fourteen children have
been born to them, nine of whom are living. All
bore the middle name of Bletcher ; they were christ-
ened Amos, Clinton, Aeneas, Harrison C, Ella,
Jacob, Euphemia, Milton, Blaine, Susan, Morton,
William, Sarah and Margaret.
Mrs. Meshey was born in Rapho township, Nov.
17, 1852. She is the granddaughter of John and
Anna Bletcher, of Rapho township, Lancaster coun-
ty, and the eldest child of Samuel Bletcher and
Caroline Bander, his wife, who was a daughter of
Jacob and Barbara (Flowers) Bander, of Lebanon
coimty. Her grandfather was a farmer and her
father was a blacksmith. Samuel Bletcher was
born in January, 1828, and now resides in Manheim,
Pa. Her mother died in November, 1878, in her
forty-sixth 5'ear. The other children of Mr. and
Mrs. Bletcher were Benjamin, Barbara, Mary, Em-
eline, Melinda, Jacob, Sarah and Amanda. Of this
large family only four are living. Benjamin re-
sides at Manheim ; Mary is Mrs. Ezra Gingeras, of
Columbia ; and Amanda is the wife of Leo Kriner,
of Middletown.
ABRAHAM G. HERR. One of the old fami-
lies of Lancaster county is represented by Abraham
G. Herr, whose father, grandfather and great-
grandfather in the paternal line of ancestry were
each named Abraham. He was born Oct. 7, 1834,
on the farm in West Hempfield township, upon a
portion of which he now lives in that retirement
which is earned by a career of successful activity
during earlier years.
The parents were Abraham and Mary (Greider)
Herr, natives of Manor and West Hempfield towns-
ships, respectively. The father was born in 1806
and became a prominent citizen of West Hempfield
township, serving for two years as supervisor. He
lived to the age of eighty-two years and passed
away in July, 1888. The mother, who was the
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Hartsler) Greider,
of Lancaster county, died in January, 1880, aged
seventy-seven years. They were members of the
Mennonite Church and were buried in the old
Mennonite cemetery at Landisville. To Abraham
and Mary (Greider) Herr were born the following:
John, deceased ; Abraham G. ; Martha, late wife of
1226
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Henry Wirtz, a farmer ; Mary, of Lancaster, widow
of A. P. Breneman; Benjamin, a farmer of Cole-
rain township; Frances, wife of Levy S. Root, of
Eden township;' and EHzabeth, of Lancaster.
Abraham G. was reared on his father's farm in
West Hempfield and* with the exception of seven
years he has lived there all his life. He married
in September, 1859, Miss Elizabeth Balmer. She
was born in East Hempfield township in January,
1839, the daughter of Jacob and Mary (Sanger)
Balmer, and the granddaughter of Martin Balmer,
a farmer of Lancaster county, and of Christian
Sanger, a farmer and carpenter of Manheim town-
ship. Jacob Balmer remained a lifelong farmer of
Lancaster county and died in 1896, aged seventy-
eight years. His wife Mary died in 1890, aged
sixty-eight years. They were members of the Men-
nonite Church and were buried in the cemetery at
the Kauffman Meeting House, in East Hempfield
township. Three children were born to them:
Elizabeth, wife of Abraham G. Herr ; Mary A., who
married S. G. Summy, a hotel proprietor at Man-
heim ; and Emanuel, deceased.
To Abraham G. and Elizabeth (Balmer) Herr
has been born one daughter, Mary B., who married
Daniel D. Bowers, a farmer of Rapho township.
On Aug. 4, 1864, Abraham G. Herr enlisted in Co.
K, i9Sth P. V. I., for ninety days service, and was
mustered out at Harrisburg, Nov. 6, 1864. The
regiment was engaged in guard duty at Monocacy
Junction. In 1879 Mr. Herr left the farm to take
charge of a hotel in Penn township for four years.
After living retired for a short time in Mountville,
he resumed the hotel business in Penn township,
continuing three years, until 1887. He then resided
in Benfordsville for a year, when he purchased the
old homestead in West Hempfield township, oper-
ating it successfully until the spring of 1900. In
that year he sold all the farm except one and one-
half acres, which he retained for a home and since
then he has retired from active life. Mr. and Mrs.
Herr are active and prominent members of the
Mennonite Church. In politics he is a Republican.
He is a man of unusually keen judgment, and of
profound convictions. His life in West Hempfield
township has been one of influence, brightened by
the esteem and respect in which he is held by all
who know him.
GEORGE W. H. FREW, M. D., is one of the
young and successful physicians of Paradise town-
ship, Lancaster county. After receiving his med-
ical degree in 1895, he located in the community
where he was born and reared, and there he has
already attained prominence in his profession.
Dr. Frew descends from an old Huguenot fam-
ily, which, driven out of France by religious per-
secution, had sought refuge in the north of Ireland,
where the family remained through many succes-
sive generations. About 1830, or a little later,
Shaw Frew the grandfather of our subject emigrated
with his wife and two children from Ireland to-
America, and located in East Lampeter township,
Lancaster county. About 1848 he removed to Lea-
cock township where he purchased a farm and lived
until his death in 1870 at the age of seventy years.
He had married Miss Eleanor Butler, daughter of
an Englishman, resident of Ireland, and sister of
an officer in the English navy. She died in 1852,
aged forty-two years. The family of Shaw and
Eleanor (Butler) Frew consisted of the following
children; David, deceased; James, deceased,-.
Mary, deceased wife of Isaiah McKillips ; William-
C, father of our subject; Shaw W., a resident of
Vineland, N. J.; George B., deceased; and Mel-
lisena E., deceased wife of B. C. Weaver.
William C. Frew, one of the most prominent
citizens of Paradise township, and familiarly known
as "Squire" Frew, was born in East Lampeter
township, Feb. 18, 1842. He was educated in the-
common schools, and at the age of sixteen years he
assumed the task of taking care of himself. Learn-
ing the trade of carriagesmith 'he was employed at
th.at trade and in various other temporary vocations,,
until the breaking out of the Civil war.
The career of Squire Frew in the army was long,
honorable and eventful. He enlisted as a private-
Oct. 4, 1861, in Co. D, 2nd P. V. C, serving in the
ranks until 1864. He was promoted to corporal,,
and then quartermaster sergeant, in Sept. 1862.
He veteranized Jan. 2, 1864, and was appointed'
regimental quartermaster sergeant in October, 1864^
He was promoted captain of Co. G, 2nd P. V. C.
Feb. 27, 1865, and was mustered out July 13, 1865.
Captain Frew saw very active service. Following-
is a partial list of the engagements in which he
participated: Wolf town, Aug. 2, 1862; second bat-
tle of Bull Run, Aug. 30, 1862 ; Thoroughfare Gap,.
Oct. 17, 1862; Warrenton, Oct. 6, 1862; Ocaquan'
River, Dec. 28, 1862; Gettysburg, July 2 and 3,
1863 : Bealton Station, Oct. 22, 1863 ; Rappahan-
nock, Oct., 23, 1863; Mine Run, Dec. 28, 1863 p
Wilderness, May s, 6 and 7, 1864 ; Beiaver Dam,
May ID, 1864; Ashland Station, May 11, 1864;;
defenses of Richmond, May 12, 1864; Cold Harbor,
June 2, 1864; TrevilHan station, June 11, 1864;
St. Mary's Church, June 24, 1864; White House,
Sept. 29, and Oct. i, 1864; Boydtown Plank Road,
Oct. 27, 1864; Stony Creek, 'Dec. i, 1864; and
Hatcher's Run, Nov. i, 1864. Capt. Frew was
wounded three times. First he received a saber
cut near Dumfries, Va., Dec. 28, 1862, and was
taken prisoner at the same time. He was held in
Libby Prison until the following March, when he
was paroled, and was exchanged in June, where-
upon he immediately rejoined his company and
regiment. Again he was wounded, June 24, 1864.
at St. Mary's Church, Va. It was a gun shot
wound, and he was sent to the hospital, remaining-
until the following September. He also received:
a gun shot wound after the surrender of Lee, while
doing duty as provost guard.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
122T
After his return from service Capt. Frew en-
gaged in railroad construction for about two years,
and then returned to his trade of coachsmith, at
which he continued for about eleven years, during
this time acting as foreman for some years for
Jacob Wenger, coach manufacturer of Paradise
township. In 1879 he began for himself the oper-
ation of a carriage manufacturing establishment,
making all kinds of light vehicles for the local trade.
Continuing this business successfully for twenty-
one years, he sold out in 1900.
He has had an experience of about thirty years
as local magistrate. He was appointed justice of
the peace in 1872, holding that office continuously
ever since, and in all this time he has had but two
cases reversed by the higher courts. He has also
served on the board of education for sixteen years,
during nine years of which time he was secretary
of the board. In politics he is a Republican. He
is a member of Cavalry Post, No. 35, G. A. R., of
Philadelphia. For many years he has been a mem-
ber of Washington Lodge, F. & A. M. No. 156,
Quarry ville ; he also belongs to Royal Arch Chap-
ter, No. 43, Lancaster ; Pequea Lodge, No. 161, 1. O.
O. F. ; William Pitt encampment. No. 104 ; and
Bart Lodge, No. 162, K. of P.
William C. Frew was married, March 21, 1866,
to Miss Susan Hull, daughter of George and Sidney
(Pelen) Hull. To Mr. and Mrs. Frew have been
born five children who are now living: Harry,
who is postmaster at Paradise; George, sketch of
whose life appears herewith ; and Edith, May and
Ross, at home. The mother of these children is
a member of the Presbyterian Church, while the
father is an adherent of the Episcopal faith, and is
a vestryman of the Paradise Church.
Dr. George W. H. Frew, son of William C.
and Susan (Hull) Frew, was born Oct. 13, 1871, in
Paradise township. He was there reared to man-
hood, receiving his education in the public schools
and at the Millersville State Normal. For three
years he taught 'in the public schools. Choosing
medicine as his profession, he in 1891, entered the
University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, gradu-
ating in the Medical Department in 1895. During
his college years he also took a special course of
one year in penmanship, and he is a fine penman.
He was also engaged as a tutor after leaving the
University. After receiving his diploma Dr. Frew
located at once at Paradise, where he has since con-
tinued in general practice. Though yet a young
man in the profession he has attained wide recog-
nition and success. He is a member of the Lan-
caster County Medical Society, and also of the
State Medical Society. He is the medical exam-
iner at Paradise for a number of insurance organi-
zations, including the Mutual Life of New York,
the Prudential of Newark, the New York Life,
and the Manhattan Life of New York, and the
American Relief Association and Union Mutual of
Cincinnati, Ohio. Among the fraternal orders he is
an active member of Pequea Lodge, No. 161, I. O.
O. F., at Paradise.
Dr. Frew married March 24, 1897, Miss Emma
Overly, daughter of Samuel Overly, of Vintage.
They have one child, Charles Truman. Dr. and
Mrs. Frew are prominent members of the Presby-
terian Church, and are widely and popularly known
in social circles.
WILLIAM A. GLOSSER, engineer on the
Pennsylvania Railroad, was born in Columbia, Lan-
caster Co., Pa., June 2, 1854, and this town is
still his place of residence. He is a son of Andrew
and Sarah (Parks) Glosser, of whom full mention
is made below.
Andrew Glosser was born in Baden, Germany,,
in 18 17, and when twelve years of age was brought
to America by his mother, who landed in Baltimore,
Md. Andrew moved thence to Hollidaysburg, Pa.,
and in 1850 came to Columbia. He married in
Huntingdon, Pa., Miss Sarah Parks, who was born
in that borough in 1824, a daughter of Daniel and
Elizabeth (Strong) Parks, natives, respectively, of
England and Huntingdon, Pa. To the marriage of
Andrew Glosser were born six children, as follows :
Mary E. (wife of Zach F. Britton, a wallpaper
dealer), Martha E. (married to Peter Wehner, a
railroad conductor), Caroline (now Mrs. Samuel
Campbell), William A. (whose name opens this
sketch) and Lillian (widow of James Thomas), all
residents of Columbia; and Maggie, who died'
young. Andrew Glosser was a railroad engineer
was first employed on the old State road, and when
that line was purchased by the Pennsylvania road,
transferred his services to the latter, and in this
employ was killed July 7, 1861. In religion he was
a Roman Catholic. His widow now makes her
home with her daughter, Mrs. Martha E. Wehner,
of Columbia. The parents of Andrew Glosser
were Nicholas and Elizabeth (Yeager) Glosser,
the former of whom died in Germany, and the latter
with her six children came to America, as detailed
above. These children have now all passed away,
with the exception of Peter Glosser, a blacksmith
in Columbia.
William A. Glosser, at the age of eight years,
entered a rolling mill, and six months later began
work for J. B. Bauchman in the planing mill, and
while with him learned the carpenter trade ; he
next worked in the old Columbia woolen-mill one-
month, when it was destroyed by fire, and then in
the fall of 1869, became baggage master for the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. In 1876 he went
on the road as fireman, and in 1882 was appointed
engineer, his present position.
On Jan. 17, 1883, Mr. Glosser was joined in
matrimony at Philadelphia, with Miss Mary E.
Gallagher, a native of Newtown, Lancaster Co.,
Pa., born May 5, 1857, a daughter of James and
Eliza (Varnett) Gallagher, the former of whom
was a shoemaker and died in Newtown. To Mr.
1228
}3IOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and Mrs. Glosser have been born two children,
Lillian M., and Harry P. Mr. Glosser, who is of
a genial and sociable disposition, is very popular
with his fellow citizens and prominent as a society
man. He is a member of the Improved Order of
Red Men, the Knights of Pythias, the Brotherhood
■of Locomotive Engineers, the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Firemen, the P. H. C, and the Penn-
sylvania R. R. Relief. He belongs to the Co-
lumbia Fire Department. Religiously he is con-
nected with St. John's Lutheran Church. Li poli-
tics he is a Democrat. On May 23, 1888, Mr. Glos-
ser was elected chairman of the committee on the
■Columbia Centennial Celebration, and executed the
functions of this office very ably. He was offered
the presidency, which he declined to accept, preferr-
ing the position of chairman.
JACOB KENDIG, of the firm of Jacob Kendig
•& Son, tobacco packers at Silverspring, West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county, was born
in Manor township, this county, Nov. 8, 1830, and
is a son of Rev. John and Mary (Mellinger) Ken-
dig, the former of whom was a farmer and Men-
nonite minister who died in Manor township in
1849, at fifty-three years of age, and whose wife
■died in the same township at the advanced age of
ninety-six years. Of the seven children born to
John and Mary (Alellinger) Kendig, Christian
died at the age of thirty years ; Elizabeth of Manor
township, was twice married, first to Jacob Dor-
shelor and secondly to Christopher K. Witmer;
John died in Iowa; Susan who died in 1899, was
married to Rev. Peter Ebersole, a Mennonite min-
ister; Martin is also among the departed; Jacob
is the gentleman whose name introduces this bio-
•graphical review, and Fanny is the widow of Henry
R. Witmer.
Jacob Kendig was reared on the old homestead
in Manor township, and made his home thereon
until the death of his father, when, being about nine-
teen years old, he hired out among neighboring
farmers for a few years and then came to Silver-
spring and embarked in general mercantile trade;
"he successfully carried it on for eighteen years, and
then for six years was engaged in the live stock
business as buyer, seller, drover and shipper. He
made money at the precarious business, and then
■embarked in the tobacco trade as buyer, packer,
•etc., and this trade is still flourishing under the firm-
name of Jacob Kendig & Son, his partner being
"his son, Jacob H.
Jacob Kendig married in Philadelphia, Nov. 16,
1856, Miss Catherine Hershey, who bore her hus-
band the following-named children : Elizabeth A.,
and Franklin, who both died in infancy ; Jacob H.,
partner with his father in the tobacco business at
Silverspring and married to Effie Kauffman, who
lias borne him two children, Harry and Albert;
Susan, married to J. J. Hougendobler.
Mrs. Catherine (Hershey) Kendig was born in
Manor township and was a daughter of Benjamin
and Susan (Reitzel) Hershey, the former of whom
was a farmer and likewise a miller. Mrs. Kendig
died in West Hempfield township, Feb. I5, 1900, at
the age of sixty-four years, and her remains were in-
terred in the Silverspring cemetery.
Jacob Kendig was never afraid of hard work
and, when a young man, neglected no opportunity
of making by his own exertions an honest dollar.
He was observant of men, things and eveilts, and
profited by his observations, applying the results or
lessons therefrom to the practical workings of his
business, whether as a general merchant or a dealer
in live stock. Mr. Kendig is now a director in the
Columbia National Bank, and is likewise a trustee
of the Silverspring cemetery. The firm name of
Jacob Kendig & Son is very prominent in tobacco
circles and stands without a blemish.
In religion Jacob Kendig is a member of the
German Brethren Church, and in politics is a Re-
publican. Socially the standing of the family is
all that could be desired, the best people of the
community taking pride in calling and recognizing
them as friends.
CLARENCE NORTON McHOSE, whose
delightful and much .frequented studio of music
is at No. 244 East King street, Lancaster, is a con-
spicuous figure in the musical circles of that city.
Mr. McHose belongs to a well-known Pennsylvania
family, and was born at Allentown Oct. 15, 1879.
His father, Lucius H. McHose, lives at Catasauqua,
and is a member of the firm of McHose Brothers,
who control and operate extensive clay banks at
Perth Amboy. New Jersey.
Clarence N. McHose spent his boyhood in Al-
lentown, where he attended the public schools, fin-
ishing his education at Mercersburg Academy, of
which institution he was musical director for a
period of two years, and later he studied the organ
with Prof. Fred. Wolle, of Bethlehem. He located
in Lancaster four years ago, and his name soon
became prominent in musical circles. He seemed
to leap into popularity at a single bound, and to-day
we find him one of the busiest men in all Lancaster
county, teaching piano, organ and harmony. It
is not only that his methods are thorough, but he
is equipped for his work in far more than an or-
dinary way. Of course his studio contains a first-
class, high-grade piano ; but he also has a magnifi-
cent organ, and recently added a "Virgil clavier to
his equipment, the clavier being a key-board used
for the development of hand and finger technique.
It is an invaluable aid to students, and Mr. McHose
enjoys the distinction of having been the first music
teacher iii Lancaster to introduce this instrument
into the work of his students. He is particularly
successful in the instruction of very young children,
his genial disposition and patience winning their
confidence. Nor is this all. Busy as Mr. McHose
is with his many pupils, he finds time to be organist
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1229
and choirmaster in Trinity Lutheran Church, di-
rector of the choir of Zion's Lutheran Church, and
director of the Mozart Singing Society of Colum-
bia, as well as other prominent musical organiza-
tions in his community.
Mr. McHose was married, June 19, 1901, to
Miss A. Margaretta Vollmer, in whom he has found
an invaluable assistant, as far as the practical side
of the profession is concerned. They have one
child, Allan Irvine McHose, born May 14, 1902.
Mr. McHose is a genial and intelligent gentleman,
earnest and enthusiastic in his work, and as popular
in social circles as he is in the musical world. His
work among our young people has been much ap-
preciated, and no man within our knowledge has
secured a stronger hold upon our people in the
same length of time than has Clarence N. McHose
in the past four years.
REV. JOHN M. SAUDER. Among the lead-
mg men and representative citizens of East Earl
township, prominent in both agricultural and re-
ligious circles, is Rev. John M. Sauder, a resident
of Goodville, Lancaster county, who, since May 16,
189s, has been a minister of the Mennonite Church.
Rev. John M. Sauder, was born in the old house
which has been his home ever since, June 27, 1864,
a son of George H. and Judith (Martin) Sauder,
the former of whom passed out of life, Sept. 17,
1894, at the age of sixty-seven years. The latter
still survives, a beloved member of her son's family.
Father George H. Sauder was a son of Peter
and Hettie (Hoffman) Sauder, and was born in
East Earl township where his whole quiet, worthy
life was spent. An agriculturist all his days, he
gave his attention to the cultivation of his farm of
seventy-five acres, where his father had erected the
comfortable residence still standing. George H.
Sauder was a good citizen, a worthy man and a
consistent member of the Mennonite Church. To
him and his wife were born ten children: Mary,
deceased; Nancy, the wife of Israel Hallinger, a
druggist in East Earl township; Catherine, de-
ceased; Martin, deceased, a farmer of Caernarvon
township, whose wife and six children survive;
Susannah, the wife of Levi Good, of Brecknock
township; Hettie, deceased; John M. ; Lizzie, de-
ceased; Lydia Ann, the wife of Martin Swigart,
of East Earl township; and Rebecca, unmarried,
who lives in the old home.
John M. Sauder was reared on the farm and be-
came its practical manager at the time of his father's
retirement from activity. This is one of the care-
fully cultivated and productive estates of that part
of the county, and Mr. Sauder has given much
attention to general farming. His _ improvements
have been numerous and his adoption of modern
methods and implements, quite in the line of pro-
gress.
Mr. Sauder gained his education in the public
schools, and when twenty years of age, he not only
became a member of the Mennonite Church, but
decided to dedicate his youthful energies to reli-
gious work. His ordination as a minister by
Bishop Jacob N. Brubaker followed on May 16,
1895, and he was assigned to duty in the Weaver-
land district, which includes five places of worship.
Here he has, for the past eight years, been faithfully
laboring, and although young in years, he is old in
religious experience, and has done work for his
church and people that promises to bear fruit long"
after he has passed away.
Mr. Sauder was married on Nov. 8, 1885, to
Miss Susannah Good, who was a daughter of John
and Mary (Zimmerman) Good; she was born in
Brecknock township, but was reared in East Earl
townshi]:i. To JMr. and Mrs. Sauder has been born
a family of six children, all surviving except Susie,
the youngest, the others being : George, Eli, Men-
no, Mary and Lizzie, all bright and intelligent, and
promising to become worthy members of society.
LOUIS HENRY PFAEFFLE, until lately one
of the esteemed and successful citizens of Lancaster,
and a stock-broker in Rooms Nos. 232 and 234, in
the Woolworth building, is now located in Phila-
delphia. His birth was in Wurtemberg, Germany,
and he has been identified with American interests
since his eleventh year, and has been engaged in
business for himself since his sixteenth year.
Henry Pfaeffle, the father of Louis Pfaeffie,
who is now a resident of Los Angeles, Cal., came to
the United States when he was but fourteen years
old, returning to Germany at maturity, and there
marrying Miss Mary Lauer, whose father was a
miller in Wurtemberg. Sixteen children were born
to this marriage, several of whom are deceased.
One brother, Ernest, a brave lad in the Philippines,.
was wounded and died a year ago, far from home,
a martyr to his country. The living members of
this once numerous family are: Louis Henry;
Bertha, wife of Jacob Emerling a hotel-keeper;
Henry, who lives in San Francisco; Charles, a
cigarmaker in Philadelphia ; Robert, who is a drug-
gist of San Francisco ; Eugene, who is in the cigar
business, in San Francisco; Matilda, in San Fran-
cisco; and Clara, who is with her parents in Los
Angeles, Cal.
Louis Henry Pfaeffle came to America, as noted,
at the age of eleven years, a bright, intelligent, am-
bitious youth, ready and willing to turn his atten-
tion to anything promising to advance his interests
in a legitimate way. For eight years he followed
the butchering business, embarking then in hotel-
keeping, managing the Maennerchor hotel for eight
years. During five years of this time he was also
an amusement manager, being the first to introduce
lig'ht variety shows to the public of Lancaster. These
enterprises were carried on without interfering with
other lines as Mr. Pfaeffle also conducted a cafe in
the rear of the Central market, at Grant and Market
streets, and for a time was proprietor of Knapp's
1230
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Villa. In the early part of 1897, Mr. Pfaeffle began
business as a stock-broker, in Columbia, and after
■conducting the business there for about three
years, returned to Lancaster, and here built up an
■extensive business. He has at comparatively a re-
cent date located in Philadelphia.
The marriage of Mr. Pfaeffle was to Miss Matil-
da Gerstner, of Baden, and five children were born
to this union: Otto Henry, who ably assisted his
father in the brokerage business ; Henry George, a
clerk; Henrietta, a capable saleslady in Watt &
Shand's New York store; and Florence and Ger-
trude, in school. Fraternally Mr. Pfaeffle is con-
nected with the order of Odd Fellows, the Eagles
and the Royal Arcanum, being active and popular
in all of them. His religious connection is with the
Lutheran Church. His standing in business circles
in Lancaster was deservedly high, and few men had
"been more successful in building up and establish-
ing firmly a prosperous business through unassisted
effort.
' ALBERT M. DEICHLER, the book, news and
stationery dealer at Nos. 141-143 North Queen
street, is a striking example of a self-made man ;
and, except for the retail store keepers who buy
their supplies from him, few people in the commun-
ity have an adequate idea of the size and scope of
his business. He is not only a retail book, news
and stationery dealer, but a wholesaler of imported
fancy novelties and toys of every description. An
expert salesman represents him on the road, and
gives close attention to his trade, which includes
not only fancy novelties, but ice-cream boxes, paper
bags, wrapping paper, twines and all kindred
supplies.
Albert M. Deichler is a son of Philip Deichler,
who, hale and hearty at the age of eighty-three,
still carries on the business of shoemaking and gpes
hunting for exercise and pleasure. Philip Deichler
and his brother, Maximillian, now deceased, were
among the very early settlers of Lancaster county,
having come to this country from Germany in 1820.
Their father, who came with them, died soon after
arriving in Pennsylvania. Philip Deichler mar-
ried Miss Elizabeth Ann Leaman, belonging to a
well known Lancaster county family, and of the ten
children born to this union five are still living:
Charles, a coachsmith; Harry, for the last twenty
years in the service of the Adams Express Com-
pany, in Lancaster; Irene, who lives at home;
Frank, bookkeeper for the Girard Trust Company,
of Philadelphia ; and Albert M.
Albert M. Deichler was born in Lancaster, June
2, 1870, and left school at the age of thirteen to help
his father in his shoe business and to sell papers on
the street. At seventeen he went to pattern-mak-
ing, a trade he followed for eight years. At the
end of that time he started in business as a news
dealer in a most modest and unpretentious way.
His first location was in his father's shoe shop in
the Shober building, on West Orange street. From
there he set up for himself at the corner of North
Queen and West Orange streets, where he erected
a frame structure, and where he quickly developed
one of the largest newspaper and periodical trades
in the city. In 1898 he removed to No. 156 North
Queen street, where he soon built up the handsome
business of which mention is made above. Aug.
r, 1902, Mr. Deichler moved into larger quarters
at 141 -143 North Queen street, where he occupies
the first floor and basement of a large double build-
ing, with floor space of 100 feet by forty feet, where
the demands of his constantly increasing trade can
be more easily met.
Mr. Deichler was married in 1893 to Miss Em-
ma Gerlitzki, a daughter of the late Joseph Ger-
litzki, who was ari artist in his calling as a wood
carver. To this union have come two sons, Frank
Raymond and Albert Melvin. Mr. Deichler is a
member of the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of
Malta, the Odd Fellows, the Jr. O. U. A. M., the
Royal Arcanum, the Knights of the Ancient Es-
senic Order and the Young Men's Democratic So-
ciety. Personally he is very popular, and has a host
of friends.
CHARLES MARTIN REILING, the efficient
official court stenographer of Lancaster county, al-
though not a native of Lancaster has been here for
so many years, and has made such an honorable
record for himself, as to fairly entitle him to a
place on these pages.
, Mr. Reiling's ancestors came from Hessen-
Darmstadt, Germany, and his grandfather Reiling
settled at Gettysburg, Pa. His father, John Martin
Reiling, was born in Adams county, where he be-
came a farmer, and he is now living retired at
Philipsburg, Center county. John Martin Reiling
married Elizabeth Zeilinger, daughter of a well
known farmer of Monterey, Pa., and two sons were
born of this union: Harry Calvin, now a jeweler
at Philipsburg; and Charles M., of Lancaster.
Charles Martin Reiling was born at Gettysburg,
July 15, 1867, and was educated in the public and
private schools of the district. Leaving school he
became a teacher for one year, meanwhile studying
stenography, and we next find him in the employ of
Carnegie, Phipps & Co., in Philadelphia, as a sten-
ographer. After remaining there one year, he was
with the Pencoyd Iron Works, then with a whole-
sale grocery house, and then as a stenographer with
the Sporting Life Pubhshing Co. On Jan. 15, 1894,
Mr. Reiling was appointed official court stenogra-
pher to the courts of Lancaster county, and has
held that position ever since, with entire satisfac-
tion to the court, the attorneys and all who come
in contact with him. His cosy office is in the
Brown Law Building, on North Duke street, and
his home is at No. 235 East Orange street. Soci-
ally Mr. Reiling belongs to the Benevolent and.
Protective Order of Elks, and politically to the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1281
Young Republicans, taking a very active inter-
est in the latter organization, of which he was
vice-president for two terms, and is now chairman
■of the Library committee. Of pleasant address
and kindly disposition, Mr. Reiling has made hosts
of friends during the years of his residence in this,
the home of his adoption.
JOHN S. ROHRER, a general farmer of
Rapho township, was born on his present farm, Jan.
II, 1868, a son of Jacob and Mary (Kreider)
Rohrer. On Sept. 28, 1893, Mr. Rohrer was mar-
ried at Lancaster, Pa., to Miss Lizzie Nissley.
Three children have been born to them, Edna N.,
J. Norman and Alvin N., all at home.
Mrs. Lizzie (Nissley) Rohrer, was born in
Rapho township. May 13, 1870, a daughter of David
E. and Martha M. (Rutt) Nissley, of Lancaster
county. The father was a farmer in Rapho town-
ship, and died in February, 1893, aged sixty-three
years, and is buried in the old Nissley graveyard
in Rapho township. His widow is residing with
her daughter, Mrs. Risser, in Manheim. She is a
member of the Mennonite Church, as was also her
husband. They were the parents of the following
■children : Menno, a farmer of Rapho township ;
Amos, deceased ; Lizzie, wife of the subject of this
sketch; Martha, wife of John R. Risser, of Man-
lieim ; David, of Chicago, 111. ; and Simon, a farmer
of Rapho.
Mrs. Rohrer's grandparents on her father's side
were Samuel and Anna (Eby) Nissley, of Lan-
<:aster county; on her mother's side the grand-
parents were David and Martha (Miller) Rutt of
Lancaster county.
John S. Rohrer has always lived in his present
abode. Upon his father's retirement in 1894, he
took charge of the farm and has conducted it very
successfully ever since. The family are members
of the Mennonite Church. In politics Mr. Rohrer
is a Republican, but up to the present time has
never sought office. He is prominent in his district
and stands well as a man of sterling worth. Of
kindly disposition he has a large circle of personal
friends.
WENGER R. GROFF, now residing on his
farm, a mile and a half west of New Holland, long
known as the Groff homestead, is one of the repre-
sentative and progressive men of Lancaster county.
He was born July 14, 1862, on the same farm which
has been held in the family since it was first settled
"by Hans Groff, the founder of the family in
America.
Wenger R. Grofif is a son of Daniel W. and
Savilla (Ranck) Grofif, and a grandson of Abra-
ham Groff, who married a Miss Wenger. Abra-
ham Groff is remembered as a wealthy and public-
spirited citizen who owned four farms in Earl and
West Earl townships, and a mill property. The
?farm on which Wenger R. Groff now lives was a
part of his property, and he was both a miller and
a farmer. In a manner he may be said to have been
a self-made man, as most of his property was ac-
quired by his own efforts and good management.
By his honest heart and gentle bearing he won
many friends. Not a member of any church, his
bearing and habits were in keeping with the most
religious character, and his life of eighty years
was spent in industry and kindliness. His chil-
dren were as follows : Daniel the father of Wen-
ger R. ; Samuel, of Bareville ; Christian, a farmer
of West Earl township ; Abraham, deceased ; Maria,
the widow of Rev. John Graybill ; Nettie, the widow
of Peter Snyder, of Reading, Pa. To his second
wife, Catherine Good, was born Elam, a resident
of Bareville.
Daniel W. Groff, the father of Wenger R., died
July 16, 1889, when fifty-six years old. He was
reared on the mill farm in West Earl township, and
was eiducated in the common schools. After his
marriage he located on the farm where Wenger R.
is found to-day. This farm comprises 109 acres,
and it was his home during his life-time. In Lan-
caster county he was noted during his active years
as one of the heaviest stock-dealers, buying the
stock in Pittsburg, and selling them to Lancaster
county farmers. When the stock was brought into
fine condition, he would again buy it and ship to
eastern markets. In local affairs he was always-
deeply interested, held to the principles of the Re-
publican party, and was an intelligent and public-
spirited citizen.
Mr. Groff was married to Miss Savilla Ranck,
who was born in Earl township, and who died Sept.
20, 1899, at the age of fifty-six years. Jacob Ranck,
her father, lived in Earl township. Mr. and Mrs.
Groff were the parents of thirteen children : Oliver,
deceased ; Ida, the wife of L. S. Wiedler, of Man-
heim township ; Wenger R. ; Kate, the wife of
John Schaeff'er, of West Earl township ; Mollie
and Savilla, both deceased; Daniel, a resident of
West Earl township ; Diller, who lives in West Earl
township ; Maggie, wife of John Reinhold, of Roths-
ville ; Walter, unmarried, living in West Earl town-
ship ; Annitta, the wife of Edward Wenger, of West
Earl township ; Ruf us and Rolland, both unmarried
and living in West Earl township. The mother of
these children was a member of the Reformed
Church.
Wenger R. Groff was reared on the farm and
educated in the public schools. When he was twen-
ty years old he began operations for himself at
Lancaster, in the cattle and butchering business.
After two years of this work, he returned to the
farm, where he has since made his home, owning
the old homestead of log acres which was selected
by his ancestor, Hans Groff, as noted above. Mr.
Groff gives his attention wholly to his farm and to
his stock dealing, which he took up on the death of
his father, and which he carried on until 1901 when
he turned his stock dealing business over to his
1232
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
brothers. He has always been known as a bright
and progressive character, ever ready to help on
every good work in the community. In politics he
is a Republican, and has been supervisor.
Mr. Groff was married in September, 1897, to
Miss Elizabeth Brubaker, a daughter of Shaeffer
Brubaker, of Warwick township. She was born in
Ephrata, Lancaster county, and is the mother of
one child, Wenger.
MILTON N. MILLER, a general farmer of
Rapho township, Lancaster county, is one of the
leading citizens of his district. He was born March
I, 1874, a son of David L. and Leah (Nissley)
Miller, of this same farm.
Mr. Miller was reared to agricultural pursuits,
and obtained his education in the common schools
of his district. He has made his home on the farm
where he was born, and has made for himself quite
a local reputation as a good, careful and judicious
farmer. In politics he is identified with the Repub-
Kcan party. His religious connection is with the Old
Mennonite Church.
On Nov. 10, 1896, in West Hemp field township,
Mr. Miller was married to Mary N. Hostetter, a
granddaughter of Jacob and Nancy (Stauffer) Hos-
tetter, farming people of West Hempfield township,
and Christian and Lizzie (Nissley) Newcomer, na-
tives of Lancaster county. The parents of Mrs.
Miller were Christian and Barbara (Newcomer)
Hostetter, the former of whom was born on his pres-
ent large farm in West Hempfield township, and the
latter, born in Rapho township, died on the old farm,
Dec. 6, 1884, at the age of forty-seven years. She
was buried in the Cross Roads Meeting House ceme-
tery in East Donegal township. The father was born
Jan. 22. 1835, and after a long and busy life, retired
from activity in 1897. Both parents were long
valued members of the religious body known as
Brethren in Christ. Their children were : Anna
N., who married Benjamin Nissley, a farmer of
East Hempfield township ; Reuben N., who married
Annie Miller, and lives in Rapho township ; Jacob
N., who died young ; Lizzie N., widow of Albert
Engle, now residing with her father ; David N., who
resides on the old homestead ; Christian N., who is a
farmer in Manor township ; Barbara N., who mar-
ried Enos Hess, a bookkeeper in Center county;
Abraham, who resides on the home farm ; and Mary
N. (Mrs. Miller), born Oct. 2A, 1873.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Miller are highly regarded in
their community and have a very wide circle of
friends and acquaintances. They have one child,
Barbara H., born April 30, igo2.
HENRY H. KLINE. One of the representa-
tive citizens of West Hempfield township, Lancaster
county, industrious, enterprising and prosperous, is
Henry H. Kline, now engaged in general farming
and .lairying at Klinesville. He is a native of East
Hempfield township, where he was born Oct. 18,
1838. the son of John and Catherine (Hougendobler)
Kline, and the grandson of Jacob and Elizabeth
(Docksie) Kline, of East Hempfield township, and.
of Joseph and Mai-y (Heastand) Hougendobler, of
West Hempfield township. Both grandfathers were
farmers of German extraction. John Kline, the fa-
ther of Henry H., was in early Hfe a stone mason
but later followed farming. He was a member of
the New Mennonite Church. He died Jan. 2, 1876^
aged sixty-nine years. His wife died Aug. 4, 1868,.
aged fifty-five years. They were buried in Klines-
ville cemetery. Eight children were born to John-
and Catherine Kline, as follows : Mary, of Colum-
bia, Pa., widow of Jacob Metzgar; John, deceased;.
David, retired in Klinesville ; Ephraim, a farmer of
Klmesville; Anna, wife of John Seifried, a farmer
of Lancaster ; Jacob deceased ; Henry H. ; Samuel^
a painter of Marietta.
Henry H. Kline was reared on the home farm,,
where lie remained until he was eighteen. He then,
began life for himself at farm work among the-
neighboring agriculturists and in 1879 he purchased
from his father's estate the well-tilled farm where
he now resides and which he has since operated. He-
married Oct. 24, 1 87 1, in West Hempfield township,.
Miss Hester A. Sourbeer, who was born in Colum-
bia, Sept. 16, 1849, ^he daughter of Joshua and Char-
lotte (Hougendobler) Sourbeer, prominent residents
of West Hempfield township. To Henry and Hes-
ter (Sourbeer) Kline have been bom five children,,
namely Joshua S., who married Anna M. Wag-
ner and lives at Columbia; Charlotte S., at home;
Joseph C, a silk weaver at Marietta ; Edmond, wha-
died at the age of two years ; and Charles B., at
home.
Politically Henry H. Kline supports the prin-
ciples of the Republican party. His wife is a member
of the M. E. Church. In the social life of West
Hempfield township they are highly esteemed for-
their many estimable qualities, with which are united
that shrewd judgment of men and afifairs, and that
staunch unswerving integrity which command ad-
miration and insure a deserved and abundant pros-
perity.
ANDREW JOHN DUNLAP, the popular col-
lector and solicitor of the Sprenger Brewing Co., is-
descended from a family prominent as patriots and
soldiers in the American Revolution.
John Dunlap, the great-great-grandfather of
Andrew John, came from Scotland in 1735. His
lands were located near Weavertown, this county,,
and he made his home at Pequea, in Leacock town-
ship. His children were: Andrew, Isaac, Archey
and John. Of these Isaac located in Center county.
Pa. The father shouldered arms in the war of the ■
Revolution, and went forth to battle for the freedom-
of his adopted land.
John Dunlap, son of the emigrant, was also a
soldier in the Revolutionary war. He married Isa-
bella Lytic, of Peciuea, and their children were;-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1233
James, Isaac, John, Archey, Andrew, Susan, Jane,
Isabella, Lizzie and Rebecca. Of these, Susan mar-
ried John McKillips, and is still living, making her
home at No. 431 West Walnut street, Lancaster;
Isaac served in the war of 1812 ; and John, the only
merchant in the family, was also weighmaster of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, when that road was under
State control.
Andrew Dunlap, son of John and grandfather of
Andrew John, lived most of his life in the vicinity
of Weavertown, Leacock township, but spetit several
years in Lancaster township, where he died in 1854.
He married Mary Miller, of Weavertown, and their
children were : ( t ) John M., the only one of the fam-
ily to enter the professional world, is a successful
physician in Manheim, and prominent in public af-
fairs, having served two terms as State Senator from
his district ; he married Matilda Amdt, of Manheim
Borough, and became the father of Francis, M. D.,
and Charles. (2) James Clemson is mentioned be-
low. (3) Isaac Lytle. (4) Samuel served in the
Civil war. (5) Lizzie and (6) Hallie completed
the family.
James Clemson Dunlap, son of Andrew and fa-
ther of our subject, was married to Frances Hast-
ings, whose father was a farmer of Colerain town-
ship, and whose ancestors were from England. Six
children were born of this marriage, all of whom are
living: Andrew J., our subject; Maria L., wife of
Abraham D. Swartley, of Lancaster; Stephen H. ;
Emma J., who married Adam Deitrich, of Rohrers-
town, and has three children, Minnie (who is attend-
ing Madame Cotta College), Davis and Alta; Alice
I., who lives at home ; and Frank M. Mrs. Frances
(Hasting) Dunlap, the beloved mother, entered into
rest Nov. 29, 1901.
Andrew J. Dunlap was educated in the public
schools, and entered the high school, but was obliged
to leave at the age of fourteen years to assist his
mother in the management of the family patrimony.
After the death of his father, his mother bought a
tract of land known as Conestoga Park, where she
lived for twenty- four years, when she sold it for park
purposes. Flere young Andrew, although but a lad,
developed rich sand and stone quarries, and remained
on his mother's place, until he had fitted himself by
study during spare hours for school teaching, and
by a partial course at Millersville. For seventeen
winters he taught school with much success. Dur-
ing these years' he taught day and night sessions in
Eden, Warwick and Manheim townships; and for
one winter he was principal' of the night school for
boys in Lancaster, and held the same position sixteen
years in Conestoga Mills Night School,' a' school
maintained by S. S. Spencer. Mr. Dunlap gave up
teaching to take a position as deputy collector in the
Internal Revenue office, serving in that responsible
position under the Collectorship of John P. Mac-
Gonigle, and George W. Hensel, and also that of
Saim Matt. Fridy, having entered the Office under
President Cleveland's first administration. Leaving
the governmeiit employ after some years of very
creditable work, he became a bookkeeper for Frank
A. Rieker's Brewery, a position which he left to take
a much better offer from the Sprenger Brewing Co.,.
which place he has held for the last eight years.
In 1877 Mr. Dunlap was married to Miss Lydia
K., a daughter of the late Emanuel Landis, a farmer
whose lands extended on both sides of the Big Cones-
toga bridge, and of this union were born seven chil-
dren : John, Charles and William, deceased ; Frank,
who is clerk for the Standard Oil Co. ; Bessie Landis,
the wife of W. Z. Roy, a bookbinder and church
organist : Uhler Hastings ; and Stephen Edgar. Mr.
Dunlap, with his family, belongs to Trinity Lutheran
Church, although his father's people were Episco-
palians, and his mother's Presbyterians. In Cones-
toga Park, a beautiful place that is full of old Colo-
nial and Revolutionary associations, there is a sub-
terranean passage way, one hundred feet long, that
is supposed to be the work of colonists in the old arid
troubled times when the Indians roamed Lancaster
county. The old'home building of the Dunlap fam-
ily, in Conestoga Park, is supposed to have been
built a hundred and sixty years ago, by a Mr. Wit-
mer and for a time during the Revolution was a
hotel. Stories and legends enough to fill a volume
center around it, and Mr. Dunlap is full of its lore
and can recount it in a most interesting manner.
EDV/ARD B. REITZEL, a brakeman in the
service of the Pennsylvania Railway Co., is a son of
Ephraim H. Reitzel, and a somewhat extended nar-
rative of his family history may be found in the bio-
graphical sketch of his father elsewhere. He was
born in Columbia, Sept. 17, 1871, and, with the ex^
ception of one year, which he spent in Philadelphia,
he has passed his entire life in that town. He entered
the employ of the railway company on March i,
1893. He is a young man of remarkable powers of
observation, and while not a profound student he is
an active thinker, keeping in close touch with the
vital issues of the day. He is a Republican in poli-
tics, and a member of the Order of Railway Train-
men.
On Dec. 23, 1897, Mr. Reitzel was united in mar-
raige to Miss Ida M. Witman, who was bom in East
Prospect, York county, April 7, 1870. They have
one son) William Taylor, born in Columbia June 25,
1901. Mrs. Reitzel is the second of a family of six:
children born to John A. and .!\lice A. (Hoke) Wit-
man, the latter the daughter of John and Julia
(Green) Hoke.
Joseph Witman, great-grandfather of Mrs. Reit-
zel, lived in Germany, where he was a farmer. He
was a soldier, too, and participated in the battle of
Waterloo, where he was wounded, and he died on
the battlefield. His wife was Mary Rhoads, who-
was also German born.
Joseph Witman, grandfather of Mrs. Reitzel,
was born in France, Feb. 7, 1818, and came to York
county. Pa., in 1836. By occupation he was a farm-
78
1234
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
er. His wife, Matilda Smith, was born in York
county in 1822, and died in Dover township in 1863.
They had eleven children, as follows : ( i ) George,
born in 1840, was a farmer, and died in 1885. (2)
Peter, born Nov. 12, 1842, is a farmer in York coun-
ty ; he married Susan Deitz, in 1868, and they have
five children : John, Lizzie, Norman, Molly and
Carry. (3) John A. is mentioned below. (4) Joseph,
born June 2, 1852, is a cabinet maker in Pittsburg;
in 1872 he married Emma Booker, and has had six
children: Clara, Jacob (deceased), Mary, Bertha,
Joseph and Beulah. ( 5) Samuel, bom Dec. 25, 1852,
IS the principal of a school in South Dakota ; he mar-
ried Telitha Clair, of Columbia, and has two chil-
dren. (6) Jacob, born July 10, 1854, died in infancy.
(7) Elizabeth, born Aug. 14, 1857, married David
Beaverson, by whom she had four children ; she mar-
ried second William Besteress, who is now deceased.
(8) Maggie, born Aug. 14, 1857, a twin to Eliza-
beth, married Alfred Flager, and has had four chil-
dren; Jane (deceased), Nannie, Alfred, Jr., and
Hammond, (q) Frank, born Jan. 22, i860, is a car-
penter in York; he married Carrie Miller, and has
four children; Annie (a school teacher), Helena,
Frank and Manuel. (10) Emanuel, born May 20,
1862, is a merchant in Colorado; he married Katie
.Shaw, and has two children, Sylvan and Ruth. (11)
Emma, born, Nov. 22, 1864, married Albert Seigert,
who died in 1899. ^^^ has one child Catherine, and
lives in York.
John A. Witman, son of Joseph and father of
Mrs. Reitzel, was born in 1846, and he married Alice
A. Hoke, who was born in 1847, a daughter of John
and lulia (Green) Hoke. Their children were:
Anna" E., Mrs. H. Folkenroth, of York; Ida
M., Mrs. Reitzel ; John J., deceased ; Carrie H., wife
of Harry Reikart, of York ; Frankie, who died in in-
fancy; and Harry M., at home with his parents.
John A. Witman is a retired farmer and coach
maker, and both he and his wife are members of the
M. E. Church.
Mrs. Reitzel in maternal lines is descended from
John H(3ke, who was born in Adams county. He
married Catherine Honian, and had four children,
Hammond, Manuel, Mary Ann and John, all of
whom lived in York. Of these, Hammond married
Elizabeth Free, and had seven children, Leah,
Adam, Sarah Ann, Amanda, Catherine, Rebecca and
Emma; Manuel married Katie Blatz, and had two
children, Harmon and Katie; Mary Ann married
Gust Wiser, and had children, Annie, Ella (de-
ceased), Percy and Florence.
John Hoke, youngest son of John and Catherine
(Homan) Hoke, married Julia Green, and had three
children, Joshua, Alice and Elizabeth. Of these,
Joshua married Telitha Meek, and they have five
children, George, Mamie, William, Ward and Viola ;
they live in Middletown, Pa. Elizabeth married
John Gilbert, and thev have ten children, Titus,
Neva, Claudia, Iva, Vergia, Lula, Etta, Moma,
Bertha- and Blaine.
Alice Hoke, mentioned above, was married Oct.
18, 1866, to John Witman, and became the mother of
six children as previously stated.
EMMOR SHAW, in his life time a general
farmer and excellent citizen of Sadsbury township,
was born on his late farm, Feb. 14, 1859, son of
Benoni and Ruth (Seeds) Shaw, both of Chester
county.
Benoni Shaw came to the Lancaster county farm
in 184.1, and although by trade he was a mason, he
was principally engaged in farming. For many
years he was one of the school directors, faithfully
attended to school aiifairs, and was a just and honor-
able man. His death occurred Jan. 6, 1888, at the
age of eighty-one years, his widow surviving until
Jan. 17, 1901, when she passed away at the age of
eighty-three. Both were buried in the old Friends'
cemetery at Homeville, Pa., both having been exem-
plary members of the Society of Friends. The chil-
dren born to Benoni Shaw and wife were : Phoebe,
widow of Clayton I'horapson, of Atglen, Pa. ; Oliver,
a farmer and drover, in Colerain township ; Maggie,
unmarried and residing in Westchester, Pa. ; Sallie,
who married Robert Fitch, and lives in Chester coun-
ty ; John, a carpenter, living in Iowa ; Franklin, who
conducts a grist mill, in Rochester, N. Y. ; and
Emmor.
Emmor Shaw was rpared on the home farm, ac-
quired his education in the piablic schools, and was
engaged in farming almost all his life. Some three
years were spent at Andrews Bridge, in Colerain
township, where he managed the hotel, during the
first year in association with his brother-in-law, but
the rest of the time alone. He then returned to Sads-
bury township and resumed agricultural pursuits,
and was justly regarded as one of the successful
farmers of this locality.
On ]\Iarch 3, 1887, in Andrews Bridge, Emmor
Shaw was married to Miss Ella Roop, who was born
in Pequea, Salisbury township, daughter of Abra-
ham and Susanna (Hurst) Roop, the former now
residing in Colerain township, a retired farmer. Mr.
Roop was born Jan. 2, 1833, and for thirty years
operated the "Octoraro Hotel," was postmaster at
Andrews Bridge, and has long been a director in the
Christiana Bank. Mrs. Susanna (Hurst) Roop
died in Octoraro, in April, 1886, at the age of fifty-
one years, and was buried in the Union Presbyterian
cemetery there. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. .
Roop were: John M., a hotel keeper at Andrews
Bridge ; Clara, deceased, who married Emlen Davis ;
Ella, who became Mrs. Shaw ; Joseph H., a merchant
at Andrews Bridge; Abraham C, a farmer of Cole-
rain township ; and Clement, who died in infancy.
The grandparents of Mrs. Shaw were: John and
Barbara (Martin) Roop, and Peter and Diana
(Sheafifer) Hurst, all of Lancaster county.
Mr. Shaw was prominently identified with the
Republican party, and for two years was the capa-
ble township auditor, being known as one of the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1235
most upright citizens of Sadsbury township. He
died Aug. 30, 1902, and was laid to rest in Union
Presbyterian cemetery on Sept. 3d, following. The
family is one which is universally respected through
this part of Lancaster- county.
JOHN HENRY MYERS, with office adjoining
those of E. D. Reilly and John E. Snyder, well
known lawyers of Lancaster, has the distinction of
having been the second public stenographer and
typewriter in Lancaster.
Christian Myers, his father, has been manager
of the Lancaster office of the Singer Sewing Ma-
chine Co. for the past fifteen years. He came to
the United States from Germany, in 1853, locating
in Millville, N. J. He married Miss Louisa
Krutz, daughter of Lewis Kurtz, a cigar manufac-
turer of Millville, and seven children were born
of this union : Anna L., wife of Harvey M. Shaar,
of Soutter, Buchanan & Young's dry goods house,
Lancaster ; Lou, wife of Frank J. Oglee, principal
of the high school at Rutherford, N. J. ; Miss Ella
D., bookkeeper in the Singer Sewing Machine Co.'s
office at Lancaster; Fred D., manager of extensive
machine shops in Philadelphia; Herman G., ex-
pert jeweler employed by Harry L. Weber, in
Lancaster : W. K., in the class of 1904, State Col-
lege ; and John Henry.
John Henry Myers was born in Millville, N.
J., Nov. 21, 1874, and coming to Lancaster at the
age of twelve years, was educated in the public
schools. He also took a course at Weidler's Busi-
ness College, after which he took up the profession
of phonography, making a specialty of legal work,
and in which he has been entirely successful. His
services are used by the leading members of the
Bar, and are also sought by other professional gen-
tlemen.
Mr. Myers married Miss Lilian A. Remley,
daughter of the late R. J. Remley, contractor and
"builder of the Lancaster County Almshouse, the John
L. Arnold building on North Queen street, and other
prominent structures. Mr. Remley entered into rest
in February, 1900. One son and one daughter have
Ijeen born to Mr. and Mrs. Myers, Nelson K. and
Anna C. Mr. Myers is a member and deacon of
Grace Lutheran Church, and is also secretary of
the Sunday school. He is secretary of Empire
Council, No. 120, Jr., O. U. A. M., and belongs to
Emanuel Lodge, I. O. O. F., and Fulton Castle,
Knights of the Golden Eagle. He is a Republican,
"but takes no active part in politics, preferring to de-
vote his entire time to the duties of his profession.
Mr. Myers lives in a cozy home at No. 630 East
King street, opposite Lancaster County Prison Park,
and there, when freed from cares of business, he
finds substantial rest and comfort with his family.
AMOS WADE, one of the better and more
public-spirited farmers of East Drumore township,
was born in Lancaster county, in November, 1829,
a son of Christian and Mary Wade, who came from
Germany, and settled in Eden township, on the
property now owned by Robert Montgomery.
There Amos Wade was reared, the oldest member
of a family of six children. Christian Wade, the
next in the family, lived and died in East Drumore
township; Aaron Wade married and died in Eden
township, leaving a widow and three children, Mabel,
Myrtel and Rufus; Mary Wade is the widow of
Samuel Marrow, who died in Lancaster leaving a
family; Eliza Wade is the widow of Daniel Hess,
of Martinsville, Lancaster county; Emma Wade is
the wife of Thomas McNichols, who lives at Mar-
tinsville, and has a family.
Amos Wade had his education in the public
schools, and was a farmer until his death. In De-
cember, 1853, he married Mary A. Keen, who
was the daughter of Henry and Julia (Mow-
rer) Keen, a noted family in Lancaster county.
Mrs. Wade was born Nov. 17, 1833, in Eden town-
ship, on the Keen homestead, near Quarryville.
The young couple settled for a few years on the old
Wade homestead, which Mr. Wade had bought,
and then removed to the present home of the family
in East Drumore township. There Mr. Wade died
in August, 1888, leaving a widow and ten children,
(i) Jacob C. Wade, born in August, 1854, is a
railroad employe, married Winfried Bryson and has
one son, Ira. (2) Anna E. Wade, born in Decem-
ber, 1855, is the wife of David Mowrer, a saddler
at Quarryville. (3) Susanna Wade died in child-
hood. (4) Mary E. Wade, born in July, 1858, mar-
ried Jerry Miner, of West Drumore township and
died, leaving a family of nine children: Aaron,
Harrv, Katie, Amos W., Charles M., Mary S., John
W., Effie E. and David C. (5) Debbie L. Wade, born
in October, i860, is the wife of Martin Bruce, who
resides at Marticville, Lancaster county, where he
is a coach dealer. (6) Harry Wade, born in No-
vember, 1862, married Ida E. Dahn, and lives on
his father's old homestead in East Drumore town-
ship, where they have two children, Anna B. and
Harry M. (7) Effie Lincoln Wade, born in Octo-
ber, 1864, was educated in the home schools, and
always remained at home, where she cared for her
aged mother with a devoted affection. Her death
brought grief to a host of friends. (8) Selina B.
Wade, born in December, 1867, attended the State
Normal School at Millersville, and had been a suc-
cessful teacher in the schools of her home township
for ten years, when she married Abram R. Miller.
They now reside in Elkhart, Ind., where he is en-
gaged in the car shops. They have one daughter,
Nellie Marie. (9) Aaron Wade died in childhood.
(10) Amos Milton Wade, the youngest of the fam-
ily, born in March, 1874, remained at home
until his father's death, when he became a clerk with
Mr. Kauffman at Buck, where he was engaged for
three vears. For about the same time he was em-
ployed in the store of John McElhaney, at Quarry-
ville, where he now is in business for himself as a
1236
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
restaurant keeper and a green grocer. In 1890 he
married Miss Lillie Rohrer, a daughter of John
Rohrer, of Strasburg, and has one daughter,
Miriam.
Amos Wade was a RepubUcan, and at dififerent
times in his life filled a number of local offices. For
some ten years he was a school director. In religion
he and his wife were members of the Old Mennon-
ite Church. His name is held in endearing mem-
ory by his children and friends, as that of a good
and noble man, who has entered into rest, "and
his works do follow him."
O. N. SOUDERS, one of the well-known and
respected citizens of Lime Valley, was born in Salis-
bury township, July 15, 1858, a son of Peter and
Rosa (Bonholtzer) Souders, the former of whom is
now a resident of Chester township. The latter
passed out of life in 1872.
The Souders family has been known in Lancas-
ter county for several generations, the grandfather.
Christian Souders, having lived and died in Salis-
bury township, where he owned three large farms.
His religious connection was with the Old Mennon-
ite Church, in which peaceful community he was a
leader. His family consisted of four sons : Henry,
David, Christian and Peter; and two daughters,
Barbara, who married Joseph Souders, and moved
to Elkhart, Ind. ; and another daughter who mar-
ried a member of the Hershey family.
Peter Souders, the father of O. N. Souders, was
born and reared in Salisbury township, where he
became a well-known citizen and successful farmer,
efficiently filled the offices of supervisor and school
director, and he remained in Salisbury township
until his retirement from activity in 1897, when he
removed to Chester county, where he now resides.
His political sympathies have always been with the
Republican party. The children born to Peter and
Rosa Souders were : O. N. ; Abraham, a black-
smith, of Paradise township ; Sherman, a black-
smith, at The Gap ; Louisa, deceased, who was the
wife of Martin Miller; Lyda, deceased; and Bar-
bara. Mr. Souders, the father of this family, is
connected with the Presbyterian Church.
O. N. Souders was reared on his father's farm
and obtained his education in the public schools.
At the age of nineteen, he left the farm in order to
learn the blacksmith's trade, and this business he
has followed until the present time, buying out
the man with whom he first worked, six years be-
fore, at Lime Valley. In 1900, Mr. Souders was
made postmaster at Lime Valley, and conducts this
office in connection with his blacksmith business.
For the last few years he has been a member of the
school board, and he has always taken very great
interest in educational matters. Mr. Souders has
also been active in the political affairs of the town-
ship, and is highly regarded by the Republican
partv.
On Feb. 22, 1883, Mr. Souders was married to
Miss Dolly Barr, a daughter of Jacob Barr, of Salis-
bury township, and to this union have been bora
four children : Rosa, Pearl, Orma, and Jay. As-
a worthy citizen and industrious, progressive and.
enterprising man, Mr. Souders has won for himself-
a high position in the esteem of the community.
WILLIAM W. HENSEL, contracting carpen-
ter at No. 619 East Orange street, Lancaster, be-
longs to one of the old and influential families of
the community.
The Hensels came from Germany to America,^
and their ancestors in this country served in the
Continental ariny. They were of the Lutheran
faith for generations, and some of the earlier Hen-
sels have stones marking the location of their ashes
under the steps of the Trinity Lutheran Church in,
Lancaster.
John Hensel, the grandfather of William W.,
lived for many years in the old stone dwelling on.
East Orange street, near Shippen, which was razed
only a few years ago to make way for modern build-
ings now standing there. John Hensel's sons were :
Christopher, Jacob and William Henry. Jacob, the-
only one of the three brothers living, makes his home-
in Philadelphia, and although engaged in the iron
business for an ordinary lifetime he is now a model'
maker, and is regarded as a great genius in wood'
work. He is now seventy-five years old, and has
just finished a miniature village, the little structures
in which are so numerous that they fill a good-
sized room. A hotel in this beautiful little village-
is composed of several thousand pieces of wood.
Once he made a fac simile of Mount Vernon, and"
so remarkable was this work that it was exhibited
at Lancaster, and was viewed by many thousand'
people.
William Henry Hensel, the father of William-
W., died in February, 1894, at the age of eighty-
six years. With an inherited talent for wood work
he became a successful contractor and builder, and'
among the notable buildings erected by him were-
the well known Henderson mansion, the late Hiram '
B. Swarr's house on North Duke street, Mrs. G..
W. Arnold's house on South Main street, the late
George Nauman's house on King street, the home-
of Col. Eshleman on East Orange street, and many
other substantial and elegant structures. In much
of this work he was assisted by his son, William
W. Hensel. At one time he served as the efficient
superintendent of the city water works. William
H. Hensel was married to Catherine Trissler, be-
longing to the well known family of that name in-
Lancaster county. From this union was a large-
family of children, of whom eight lived to reach
the age of maturity, and five of these are still liv-
ing: George O., a carpenter and florist, a pioneer-
m the higher cultivation of flowers in his com-
munity, is now a resident of Delaware ; Peter C.
was for years a letter carrier, at one time superin-
tendent of the water works, and more recently san-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COU|«TTY
1237
itary officer in the employ of the Lancaster Board
•of Health: Mary Salina'; Ann Eliza is the wife
■of Adam J. Auxer, whose biography may be found
■on another page, and William W. Mrs. Hensel
•died in 1844, and from the union with his second
wife, who was a Miss Aument, two children were
born : Emma, the wife of John Bursk, of Carlisle ;
and Alice A., widow of Walter A. Haldy, the cash-
ier of the Lancaster County National Bank.
William W. Hensel was born in the old Hensel
home on East Orange street, Nov. 14, 1835, and
had his education in the Lancaster public schools.
At the age of thirteen, he began work at the car-
penter trade with his father, with whom he re-
mained until 1868, when he started in business for
"Tiimself, and has followed it continuously to the
present time, having laid a hardwood floor in one
-of the handsome houses of Lancaster, as late as the
autumn of 1900. During the war of the Rebellion
Mr. Hensel did carpenter work for the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad for a period of twenty-six months.
'Thirty-one years ago he built the commodious
dwelling at No. 619 East Orange street, in which
Tie has since resided, and he has planted and grown
many noble fruit trees in the ample grounds sur-
rounding this building, for he is an enthusiastic
and well informed horticulturist.
William W. Hensel was married in May, i860,
to Miss Kate, a daughter of Peter B. Long, a well-
"known tobacconist of Philadelphia, especially prom-
inent in Odd Fellow circles, being the oldest mem-
ber of the order at the time of his death, which oc-
curred in 1890. Miss Long came to Lancaster to
-make her home with her grandmother, graduated
from the Girls' high school; at the age of sixteen
she became a teacher there, later teaching at the
noted Linden Hall at Lititz. To this union were
born five children : Laura, the widow of Jacob D.
Weaver ; Mary, who died in infancy ; John Atlee,
who also died in infancy; Charles W., who died
■at the age of fifteen years, having lived long enough
to show the inheritance of Hensel constructive
abilities : and Nellie, now the assistant teacher in
the Franklin street school, having special charge of
department of drawing. Miss Hensel, in addition to
"being a graduate of the State Normal at Millers-
ville, class of 1893, was graduated from Prang's
Art Classes in 1896, and has since taken special
instruction from Leon Von Ossko, Lancaster's most
distinp-uished artist.
William W. Hensel, like his ancestors, is a
Lutheran in religion, and in politics is a stanch Re-
publican, though never a candidate for official sta-
tion. His career has been a useful one, and the
•city owes much to him and men of his class, hon-
est, industrious and upright in all they do.
JACOB BREINIG, a prosperous German busi-
Tiess man, in middle life emigrated in December,
1870, with his wife and children from his native
land to America. Locating soon after in Columbia,
he became prominently identified with the manu-
facturing interests of the city, adding to its in-
dustries and representing in his personality a high
type of citizenship.
Jacob Breinig was born in Germany and in Ber-
felden he married Elizabeth Wolf, who was born
in that town Jan. 6, 1835, a daughter of George
(3) and Margaret E. (Rebscher) Wolf. George
Wolf was a cloth and woolen manufacturer in Ger-
many, where he remained through life, dying in
1878 at the age of seventy-five years. His wife died
in Germany in May, 1867, aged forty-nine years.
Many of their nine children found homes in Amer-
ica. Elizabeth, widow of Mr. Breinig, was the eld-
est ; Catherine died unmarried in Germany in 1898 ;
Mary is the widow of John Wolf, who died in Ger-
many, and she now resides in Philadelphia; Peter
died in California; George has retired from busi-
ness and lives in Philadelphia ; Henry lives in Lan-
caster ; Jacob died in Louisville, Ky. ; William is
a carpet manufacturer of Pittsburg; and Adam.
To Jacob and Elizabeth (Wolf) Breinig were born
four children, three of whom died in infancy. The
surviving child, Katharine Mary, married Frank A.
Rieker, brewer, of Lancaster.
In Germany Mr. Breinig was engaged in the
cloth business ; in December, 1870, he was prompted
to come to America by the success in business which
relatives had attained m Philadelphia. Reaching
that city, he remained only a few weeks, and in
January, 1871, removed to Columbia, Pa., where
he engaged extensively in the carpet weaving busi-
ness. He died July 16, 1876, aged fifty-nine years,
and was buried in Mt. Bethel cemetery. Himself
and his family were prominent members of the
Salem Lutheran Church.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Wolf) Breinig, the surviv-
ing wife, married for her second husband, June 21,
1877, at Columbia, Pa., William Buchholz, who
was also a native of Germany, and in America,
the land of his adoption, became a prominent busi-
ness man.
William Buchholz was born in Bavaria, Ger-
many, Nov. 4, 1824, son of John W., and Anna
Mary (Beckman) Buchholz. The father was en-
gaged in the butcher business and died in 1841,
aged forty-nine years, his wife surviving until 1856,
dying at the age of sixty-three. Their three chil-
dren were : William ; Mary, who married Henry
Metz, a baker, and died at Philadelphia ; and Lena,
who died at the age of fourteen years. William
followed successfully in Germany the vocation of
his father, and in November, 185 1, at the age of
twenty-seven years, came to America. He settled
in Lancaster, and for about eight years was em-
ployed as a butcher in that city. In 1859 he mar-
ried for his first wife Catherine E. Young, and
then a few days later removed to Columbia, where
he engaged in the butcher business for himself. He
prospered to an unusual degree and in April, 1874,
when at the age of forty-nine years he retired from
1238
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
active business life, he had amassed a competence
and became one of the most influential citizens of
the city. His success was due wholly to his own
efforts. He died March 28, 1894.
The widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Buchholz, now re-
sides at Columbia with Mrs. Katharine Mary
Rieker, her daughter by her first marriage. Both
possess unusual force of character and have won
the affection and deep respect of a wide circle of
friends and acquaintances.
GEORGE BOLSTER. To be known as a good
citizen and honorable and upright man has been the
ambition of many who have not been willing to
earn such honor, but such is justly the reputation
of George Bolster, one of the prominent business
residents of Ephrata borough, for Mr. Bolster started
out in life with very limited means and has honestly
earned his present competency and established
record.
George Bolster, the well-known proprietor of a
business in marble cutting and tombstones in
Ephrata, was born April 9, 1831, in Bavaria, Ger-
many, a son of the distinguished musician, Fred-
erick Bolster, and Mary (Hartman) Bolster, both
of whom were born in Germany, the former
in 1796 and the latter in 1794, both of
them noted for their longevity, the former pass-
ing away in his ninety-first year and the latter in
her eighty-ninth. Frederick Bolster was an accom-
plished musician who had been employed as a music
teacher in some of the royal palaces of Europe, and
naturally became very well known in Reading, Pa.,
where he finally made his home. In 1847 the fam-
ily came to America, and as soon as the musical
gifts of Mr. Bolster became known he was employed
as a musical director, continuing for many years as
such.
George Bolster, of this sketch, received his edu-
cation in Germany and was thoroughly instructed in
music by his talented father. In 1847 he began to
learn the trade of stone-cutter, and engfaged in this
business for a number of years in Reading. He was
also a musical director and teacher there. Later he
located in Ephrata and has successfully conducted
a good business and gained the esteem of the com-
munity.
The marriage of George Bolster occurred in
1858, to Miss Bertha Strauss, of Pottsville, Pa., a
daughter of Samuel Strauss, and a niece of the late
Mr. Strauss, who served as member of Congress.
Mrs. Bolster was born Feb. 14, 1834, and became
the devoted mother of these children: Theresa,
born in 1858 ; Frederick, born in i860 ; Lidia, born in
1864, married to John Taylor, of Ephrata; Flora,
born April 18, 1863, died in 1872; Jennie, born Aug.
19, 1866, married to John Bishop; George, Jr., born
Feb. 24, 1868; Clara, born March 12, 1872, married
to Amos Burkholder, of Lancaster; Herman, born
Dec. 31. 1873, died March 20, 1885; and Frances,
born Feb. 8, 1876, who remains with her parents.
Mr. Bolster is one of the old-time Democrats, a
believer in the Jeffersonian principles of Democ-
racy ; he is fraternally connected with the I. O. O. F.
and with the German lodge of Harugari. In all his
dealings with his fellow-citizens he has been hon-
orable and upright and belongs to the very best type
of German-Americans in Lancaster county.
JAMES M. McMICHAEL, a retired farmer
of East Drumore township, Lancaster county, was.
born May 15, 1812, son of Jonathan and Sarah
(Myers) McMichael, both of whom were born iii
Bucks county. Pa., in the eighteenth century, of
Scotch Irish antecedents.
Jonathan McMichael and his wife settled in East
Drumore township but his later years were .spent
in Philadelphia in the home of his sister, where he
died in 1869. His wife died at the'home of her son,.
Rev. William McMichael, in 1861. They had seven
children. ( i ) Peter married and settled in Reading,
Pa., where he was killed on the railroad, leaving
two children, Rachel and Jonathan, still residing in
that city. (2) Rev. William, born in 1810, was edu-
cated for the ministry, and for over fifty years was-
a Methodist clergyman in Lancaster county. He
filled a pulpit in Philadelphia, where he died in 1897.
He never married. (3) James M. is mentioned be-
low. (4) Samuel, born in 1815, spent his early life
in Drumore township, married Elizabeth Brad-
hurst, and located on the old homestead, where he
died in 1896. His widow is still living on the home-
stead. They had four children, Thomas, William,.
Rachel (wife of Alexander Cummings) and Anna
(who married John Munshower). (5) Mary A.,
born in 1818, married Rankin Johnson, of Missouri,,
and is now deceased. (6) Rachel, born in 1821,
married Jacob Phillips, of Philadelphia, and died,
leaving two children. (7) Elizabeth, born in 1824,.
married Thomas Lewis, of Philadelphia, and be-
came the mother of three children, Sarah, Josephine
and Cora. She is deceased.
James M. McMichael received a district school
education, and in his early life was superintendent
of the James Hopkins furnace. In 1833 he married
Miss Mary Garrett, of Dauphin county, and lived
at Conestoga Center until the death of his wife in
1842. She was the mother of four children : Mary-
A., born in June, 1835, deceased wife -of John Rog-
ers, of Nebraska ; Sarah J., born in 1836, who mar-
ried Harry Lovett, of Philadelphia, and is the mother
of Edward and May ; William, born in 1838, who.
married Elizabeth Dennis, lives in Lancaster and
has two children, Jennie and Annetta ; Hiram, who-
died in childhood.
Mr. McMichael was married in 1843 to Miss-
Hester Phillips, a daughter of Henry Phillips, and
to this union were born eight children, (i)' Lu-
anda, born in 1843, married Elisha Webster, of
Lancaster, and is the mother of one son, Harry
(2) John, born in 1845, married Miss Lucv John-
ston, and lives in Lancaster. (3) Peter, born im
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY .
1289
1847, married Miss Anna Winters, and lives in Lan-
caster, where they have a family of six children,
John, Harry, Charles, Thomas, Mabel and Lucy.
(4) Rachel, born in 1849, died in childhood. (5)
Jacob, born in 1857, married Miss Lizzie Shenck,
of Lancaster, lives on one of his father's farms and
is the father of three living children, James, Myrtle
and Edna. (6) James, born in 1853 in East Dru-
rnore township, married Miss Alice Shaffer, and
lives in Lancaster, where he is in the insurance busi-
ness; they have one daughter, Elsie. (7) Thomas,
born in 1855, has been sheriff of Lancaster county
since 1899, on the Republican ticket. June 26, 1901,
he was married to Miss MargarA Killinger, of Lan-
caster, where they have their home. (8) Harry,
born in 1858, received his education in the State
Normal at Millersville, and for many years was a
teacher in Lancaster county. In i88r he was made
principal of the schools of Wichita, Kans. In 1890
he removed to Indianapolis for the purpose of
studying law, and three years later was admitted
to the Bar. At the present time he is engaged in the
practice of his profession in that city. He is un-
married. Mrs. McMichael died in i860, and the
same year Mr. McMichael was married to his third
wife, Anna, the daughter of James and Martha
(Curswell) Steele. Mrs. McMichael was born in
1835 in Lancaster county and died in 1897, leaving
five children, (i) Emma, born in 1861, studied at
the State Normal at Millersville and for a number
of years taught school in Lancaster county. She
married Ambrose Singleton, a grocer of Philadel-
phia. Their six children are Harry, Ella, Roy,
Ruth, Pauline aiid Edgar. (2) Jennie, born in
1863, received her education in the home schools,
and devoted her life to her aged parents. She has
had charge of the home since the death of her
mother and tenderly cares for her aged father. (3)
Geary, born in 1866, managed his father's farm for
several years,^and has married Miss Margaret Coff-
man, of Lancaster. They have their home in West .
Drumore township, where he is engaged as a stock
dealer. They have four daughters, Florence, Mary,
Nellie and Catherine. (4) George, born in 1869,
married Miss Daisy Rogers, of Louisville, Ky., and
is a resident of McKeesport, Pa., where he is a
painter. (5) Frank, born in 1873, married Miss
Laura Suter, of Quarry ville, and resides in Lan-
caster, where he is a trolley-car conductor. They
have one son, James.
Mr. McMichael bought a farm in East Drumore
township in 1869, and for some years owned the
fatheir's homestead. He has proved himself an act-
ive and progressive farmer. In 1888 he gave over
his farm to his son, Jacob, and erected his present
house on the west end of the farm on the road lead-
ing to Quarryville, where he has since led a retired
life.
Mr. McMichael has always been a Republican,
and belongs to the Methodist Church. There his
family has always been prominent. He was one of
the founders and builders of the Mt. Hope Method-
ist Church, where he has been class leader and
Sunday-school superintendent and also held other
offices for many yedrs.
The McMichael family have had an honorable
history. The grandfather of the present representa-
tive of the family, of whom this is written, was a
Revolutionary soldier. The father of Mr. Mc-
Michael fought in the war of 1812. The family
has always been identified with the county affairs.
Mr. McMichael is over ninety years old, and
keeps his mental faculties clear to a remarkable
degree. His general health is good, though his
power of speech has been somewhat lessened by a
recent stroke of paralysis. His disposition is genial
and sunshiny and he is always looking on the
bright side. For many years he has been known
as a professional peace maker and some very knotty
controversies have been settled by him. Modest and
retiring, he has cared little for popularity but has
lived a beautiful life, in close accord with the Golden
Rule.
JOSEPH M. BENNETT, a retired mechanic,
was born in Columbia, Pa., March 18, 1824, and is
still a resident of his native borough. His parents
were Abel and Elizabeth (Markley) Bennett, na-
tives respectively of Fairfax, Va., and Strasburg
township, Lancaster county. Pa., both of whom
came to Columbia at an early day.
Abel Bennett was an old stage driver between
Columbia and Bainbridge, and died in 1840, at the
age of forty years; his widow died July 26, i860,
aged seventy-three ; both were members of the Lu-
theran Church. Their children were nine in num-
ber, viz. : Christian, who died of lockjaw ; James,
who was killed in 1870 on the Pennsylvania rail-
road ; John, deceased, a locomotive engineer ; Jo-
seph M. : Susan, wife of William Moore, of Phila-
delphia; Thomas, killed at the battle of Antietam;
Mary, married to William Burr, of Philadelphia;
Samuel, a retired engineer of the same city ; and
Margaret, who died in infancy.
Sir John Bennett, the paternal great-grandfather
of Joseph M. Bennett, was heir to a large estate in
his native England, but as he came to America with
the Marquis de LaFayette to assist in the war for the
release of the American colonies from the yoke of
Britain, his estates were confiscated to the crown.
After the declaration of peace he settled near Fair-
fax Court House, Va., there married, and became a
prominent agriculturist and citizen. John Bennett,
Jr., came from Virginia to Lancaster county. Pa.,
in 1805, was the founder of the Bennett family in
Columbia, and was the grandfather of Joseph M.
Bennett.
The maternal grandfather of Joseph M. Bennett
was a native of England, named Joseph Markley,
who was apprenticed, after his arrival in America,
to a doctor in Lampeter township. Lancaster county,
Pa. ; after filling out the time necessary to reimburse
1240
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the doctor for the cash paid for passage money, he
went to work on his own account and became a
prosperous farmer.
Joseph M. Bennett, at the age of twelve years,
began working on the river as a passer of shingles
from rafts, and this he followed until sixteen years
old, when he began the trade of machinist, at which
he served on the old State road until 1845 ; on the
purchase of this road by the Pennsylvania road in
1857 he served the latter until January, 1899, when
he was laid off on the pension list.
Mr. Bennett has been twice married, first, March
II, 1847, to Louisa J. Clepper, who was born in
Columbia, Pa., Dec. 28, 1827, and was a daughter
of Michael Clepper, of York county, who married
a Miss Herr. Mr. Clepper was a bridge contractor
by calling, and early settled in Columbia. To this
first marriage of Mr. Bennett were born four chil-
dren, namely : Charles E., a machinist of Hum-
melstown. Pa. ; Francis A., a merchant in Columbia ;
James A., deceased; and Louisa J., who died in
infancy.
The second marriage of Mr. Bennett took place
in Lancaster, June 14, 1855, to Miss Frances N.
Bartholomew, and to this union have been born two
children, viz. : Henry A., a Pennsylvania Railroad
engineer, residing on his own property ; and George
T., a machinist, at home, but married to Mary E.
Groom, daughter of Arthur and Mary (McGlough-
lin) Groom, of Lancaster.
Mrs. Frances N. (Bartholomew) Bennett was
born in Lampeter township, Lancaster county, Nov.
2, 1833, and is a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth
(Mowery) Bartholomew, of Strasburg township.
Henry Bartholomew was a stone mason by trade,
and died Nov. 20, 1865, at the age of seventy-three
years ; his wife reached the age of eighty, and died
Nov. 20, 1873. The remains of both lie interred in
the Mennonite cemetery at Strasburg. They were
the parents of ten children, viz. : Mary, deceased
wife of John Herr; Catherine, married to Jacob
Pebble, of Lancaster ; John, deceased ; Addison, a
miller in Rushville, Ind. ; George, deceased ; Susan,
deceased wife of John Hebble ; Samuel, deceased ;
Elizabeth, wife of Benjamin Price, of Tippecanoe
City, Ohio ; Barbara, who died young ; and Frances
N. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Bennett
were John and Rachel (Zimmerman) Bartholomew,
natives of Lancaster county. Pa.-, who removed to
Ohio in 1838, where the grandfather engaged in
agricultural pursuits. Mrs. Bennett's maternal
grandparents were George and Susan (Shaffer)
Mowery, the former of whom came to Lancaster
with his parents when there were but. three houses
in that now thriving city.
James M. Bennett has always been public-spir-
ited as well as patriotic. In February, 1864, at Lan-
caster, he enlisted in Co. D, i9Sth P. V. I., under
Capt. Christ Hebble, and was honorably discharged
in Philadelphia in February, 1865. He had no op-
portunity to participate in any iDattle, but for six
months of his term was on guard duty in Wash-
ington, D. C. He is a member of the Improved Or-
der of Red Men, and with his wife, an unusually
bright, well-versed and active lady, is a member of
St. John's Lutheran Church. The family reside in
the comfortable dwelling erected by Mr. Bennett in
185 1, where they enjoy the frequent visits of in-
numerable friends, although Mr. Bennett is suffer-
ing from a paralytic stroke sustained shortly after
having been placed on the railroad pension list in
1899.
JOHN S. LEFEVRE, a retired farmer of East
Drumore township, Lancaster county, was born
Feb. 14, 1827, and is a son of Tanner D. and Mat-
tie (Shenck) Lefevre.
Tanner D. Lefevre was born in East Drumore
township in 1804, and his wife in 1809. They were
married in 1826, and settled on a farm in East Dru-
more township. He was a tanner by trade, and he
followed this occupation in connection with agri-
culture. For some years he lived retired in Chester
county, where he died in 1889. His widow passed
away in 1897. They left a family of twelve children,
and lost two. (i) John S. (2) Phillip A., born in
1829, married Fannie Groff, of Conestoga Center;
she died on their farm in East Drumore township,
leaving a family. (3) Daniel F., born in 1831, mar-
ried Miss Sarah Hess, of Eden township, and lived
on a farm in East Drumore township. He is now
jiving in Lancaster and is the father of nine children.
(4) Catherine, born in 1834, married John M. Herr,
a miller in New Providence. His wife died in 1877,
leaving six children. (5) Hettie, born in 1836, mar-
ried Frank Whitmer, of Chatham, Chester county,
and is deceased. He died in 1896, leaving a family
of seven children. (6) Mattie, born in 1838, mar-
ried Henry Groff, who was killed m a runaway in
1891, leaving a widow and three children, Clayton,
Thaddeus and Edna. (7) Julia, born in 1840, mar-
ried Henry Hyde, in Chatham, and has three chil-
dren, Edward, William and Retta. (8) Maggie,
born in 1842, married George Kendig, deceased, and
lives in Chicago with her six children. (9) Anna,
born in 1845, rnarried Benjamin Jones, of Illinois,
and is the mother of two children. (10) Mary,
born in 1849, married Jacob Bearier, and lives at
Sterling, 111., where they have a family of three chil-
dren. (11) Hiram L., born in 1848, served as a
soldier in Co. F, 21st Pa. Vol. Cav., during the
Civil war, being at one time under the command of
Gen. Sheridan. Christiana Burkholder, his wife, is
the mother of six children. They reside on a farm
in Chester county near Philadelphia. (12) Letitia,
born in 1850, married Caleb Spickman, and resides
in Chatham, Chester county. (13) SaUie, born in
1852, married William Powell, and lives in Chat-
ham. They have one son. (14) The youngest
daughter, born in 1855, married William Franks.
They live in Chatham, and have one son, Walter.
John S. Lefevre was reared and educated at
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1241
Jiome, and in 1850 was married to Anna, a daughter
of John and Fannie (Longenecker) Groff. Mrs.
Lefevre was born in Strasburg township in 1829,
-and settled in Providence township with her hus-
band. He was engaged in farming and lime-burn-
mg until the breaking out of the Civil war, when
he enlisted in the ist Pa. Reserves at the first call
-in the spring of 1861. He re-enlisted in the "Con-
solidated Bucktails," the 190th Pa. Reserves. This
regiment was noted for its fighting qualities, and is
Tcnown the world over for its bravery and extreme
gallantry. Among other important conflicts he was
-engaged in the following: The seven days' battle
before Richmond in June, 1862; Bull Run; South
Mountain; Antietam; Fredericksburg, under Gen.
McClellan ; two days at Gettysburg ; at Weavington,
on the Potomac ; Rappahannock Station ; White Oak
Swamps, on the Chickahominy river; the second
Tiattle of Fredericksburg, under Gen. Burnside ; and
the battles of the Wilderness, where Mr. Lefevre
was seriously wounded, both legs being broken by a
shell. He was taken to Belle Plain hospital, later
being removed to the hospital at Washington, and
-still later to New -York and at Philadelphia, where
he was under treatment until 1866. He was dis-
charged at Harrisburg in 1867, with a record in
which his wife and two children in Lancaster coun-
ty might well take pride. Coming home he followed
farming when he was able to do manual labor.
Mrs. Lefevre died in Providence in 1873, leav-
ing a son, Elmer, and the daughter, Anna. Elmer,
-who was born in 1855, moved to Hardin county,
Iowa, in 1863, where he engaged in farming. His
wife, Ella Broyls, was a resident of Sterling, 111.,
^nd is the mother of three children. Ruby, Dora and
Ralph. Anna was born in 1858, married Andrew
Snader and is living in Lancaster, where her hus-
"band is a tobacconist. They have five children,
Elmer L., Edna, John, Catherine and Mary.
Mr. Lefevre is a Republican, and belongs to the
Bireley Post, G. A. R., No. 511, at Quarryville. He
is one of the old veterans, and loves the memories
and companions of the tented field and the battle-
field. He is a most interesting conversationalist, and
has a rich store of memories of that great struggle.
He attends the M. E. Church.
ELDER THOMAS R. HIRST, now a retired
-carriage manufacturer at Christiana, Pa., was born
in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, April 6, 1833, ^'^fl 's
a son of John and Edna (Robinson) Hirst, English
Ijorn and reared. They spent their lives in their na-
tive land, where in due season they passed to their
reward in the Land Unseen. The father was a
-wheelwright, and died in 1852, at the age of forty-
nine years. His widow survived his loss many years
and died in. 1890, at the age of ninety years. They
had the following family: Benjamin, who died in
England; Frederick, a marble worker in Yorkshire;
Englana ; Elizabeth, who is married and has her home
in 'Yorkshire: a fourth child, deceased; Thomas R. ;
Jabez, who died in England ; Priscilla, who married
and lives in England. The father of John Hirst was
a cloth manufacturer.
Thomas R. Hirst was married in Lancaster, Pa.,
in 1861, to Sarah A. Lingerfield, by whom he had
the following children : Frank, a carriage trimmer,
living in Christiana, who married Eva Withero, by
whom he has had one child; Harry E., a carriage-
body maker, married to Margaret Rushworth, by
whom he has had two children ; Mary E., who mar-
ried William E. Walker, a farmer in Sadsbury town-
ship, and is the mother of one child ; Thomas I., who
married a Miss Bucher, has one child, and is a ma-
chinist in Christiana; a child who died in infancy;
Zelva M., unmarried and at home; John, who died
in infancy.
Mrs. Sarah A. (Lingerfield) Hirst was born in
Paradise township, Lancaster county, in 1837, and
is a daughter of John and Catherine Lingerfield, her
father having been in his active years a miller in
Paradise township.
Thomas R. Flirst remained in England until he
was twenty years old. When he was eleven he en-
tered a machine shop, and led a laborious and hard-
working life during his later youth. Coming to
America in his early manhood, he found a home in
Cecil county, Md., where he worked at the carriage
business four years. In 1857 he came to Lancaster
county, and for three years worked at his trade with
James Winger in Paradise township, and then started
a shop for himself in company with H. Parvin, a
partnership that was soon broken by the enlistment
of Mr. Hirst in Co. G, 21st Pa. Vol. Cav. in July,
1863, under Capt. William Philips. The company
was recruited for six months, but after serving two
months over time, reorganized and enlisted for three
years. Mr. Hirst had his shoulder wrenched by a
horse falling on him and was honorably discharged
in the spring of 1864.
Mr. Hirst went to Lancaster after his recupera-
tion to take a place in a carriage shop in that city.
Samuel Cox, his employer, was building a hundred
wagons for the government, and after the completion
of that contract Mr. Hirst entered the Lancaster
locomotive works for a stay of some few months.
His next engagement was at Christiana with Enos
Frame, a carriage maker, with whom he remained
a year and a half. At the end of that time Mr. Hirst
and Cyrus Lingerfield purchased a carriage shop,
which they operated very successfully as long as Mr.
Hirst feit it wise to continue in active business.
During his active years, Mr. Hirst held the posi-
tion of road supervisor several years, and was town
assessor three years. He is an honorary member of
the I. O. O. F., having united with that order in Eng-
land. M r. Flirst is a charter member of the John A.
Ross Post, No. 35S, G. A. R., and is an elder and a
trustee in th.e Presbyterian Church. His politics
put him in accord with the Republican party, and he
has been a member of the borough council for two
years, and is president of the fire department. In the
1242
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
rebuilding of the new firehouse, for the purpose of
keeping the fire company together, he took an active
part, and on many occasions has proved himself a
public-spirited citizen, being regarded as one of the
benefactors of the town.
WINFIELD SCOTT, a general farmer of
Sadsbury township, who is also engaged in the butch-
ering business, was born in Chester county, near
Marshallton, Oct. lo, 1857. His parents were El-
wood and Hannah (Keach) Scott, both of whom
were natives of Chester county, where the former
was a butcher for a number of years, but who now
li\es in retirement in Philadelphia, at the age of six-
ty-eight years. The mother died in 1865. The
grandfather of Winfield Scott was Amos Scott, a
farmer of Marshallton, who married a Miss Reed.
The children born to Elwood and Hannah Scott
were ; Amos, who is a butcher, living in Philadel-
phia ; Sally, who married and lives in St. Davis, Pa. ;
Anna, who married Milton Young, a contractor and
builder of Overbrook, Pa. ; Amanda, who married
Harry Morgan, and died in 1900; Hannah, who
married Charles Valett, and lives in Philadelphia;
and Winfield.
Winfield Scott remained with his parents, went to
school and became interested in agricultural pur-
suits, until two years prior to his marriage, coming
then to Lancaster county, and entering into the em-
ploy of his uncle, Nelson Scott, remaining with him
for two years engaged in farm work. After his
marriage, he located on his present farm and has
since remained there, carrying on farming opera-
tions, and also assisting his father in his butchering
business. Mr. Scott buys suitable cattle, attends to
the slaughtering and sells the meat by wagon, in
that vicinity, having built up a fine and increasing
trade, on account of the excellence of the commodity.
Mr. Scott was married June 12, 1884, in Lan-
caster, Pa., to Mary E. Shaw, and the children born
to this marriage are: Nettie M., James, Catherine
and Winfield, all bright and unusually attractive
children, who are receiving the best educational op-
portunities. Mrs. Scott was born on the present
farm, April 27, 1857, a daughter of James and Ellen
(Dunningham) Shaw, natives of County Monahan
and Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland, respectively,
although they were married in Westchester, Pa., Mr.
Shaw having come to Lancaster county in 1824, set-
tling at that time on the farm. In 1857 Mr. Shaw
rented the farm and moved to Chester county, tak-
ing charge then of the old "Gen. Washington Hotel,"
operating this famous hostelry until his death in
1859, at the- age of sixty-one years. After the fa-
ther's death, the mother returned to the old farm
where she lived in comfort until 1880, dying at the
age of fifty-eight years. Mr. Shaw was a much re-
spected citizen, and for many years was an elder in
the Bellevue Presbyterian Church.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Shaw were:
James, deceased , Catherine, who died young ; and
Mary E., the wife of Mr. Scott. The first marriage
of Mr. Shaw was to Martha Hirst, the three chil-
dren of that marriage dying in infancy. The grand-
parents of Mrs. Scott' were William and Mary
(Hirst) Shaw, of County Monahan, Ireland, and
Richard and Margaret (Steward) Dunningham, of
Scotland, who came to America in 1849, and settled'
in Chester county. Pa., on the Horse Shoe Pike road.
In politics, Mr. Scott has always been an active-
Republican." His early rearing was under Quaker
influences, and he has never connected himself with
any other religious body. Mr. Scott is well knowre
and universally respected.
JOSIAH WALKER, late a retired farmer of
Colerain township, Lancaster county, was born in
Leacock township, Jan. 16, 1828, a son of Joseph and"
Elizabeth (Buckwalter) Walker, both natives of
Lancaster county.
Joseph Walker was born in Colerain township in-
1797, and his wife in Leacock township, four miles-
east of Lancaster city, in 1801. Joseph Walker was
a son of Isaac and Hester (Collins) Walker, both of
whom were born in Lancaster county, where they
made their home on a part of the farm lately owned
by Josiah Walker. Isaac Walker was the son of
Nathaniel Walker, who came from the North of Ire-
land, settling on the Walker property long before the
Revolutionary War. The title deeds to this property
came from William Penn. When he died he left
two sons, Isaac and Andrew, who settled on this
land. Andrew died without children. Isaac mar-
ried Hester Collins, and both died on this farm,
leaving four children : Andrew, James, Joseph and
Mary (who married Joseph McCord, and settled ort
a part of the Walker property, where they died leav-
ing four children, two of whom are still living, one
in the West, and one in the South). Andrew
Walker married a Miss Crawford, and moved ta
Ohio, where he reared a family of four children,,
three of whom, Samuel, Mary and Eliza, are livings
in Ohio. James died when a young man.
Joseph Walker settled in Colerain, on a part of
the Walker homestead, where he lived some years.
For thirteen years he was a farmer in Leacock town-
ship. At the end of that time he came back to the
old Walker homestead, which became his property
after the death of his father, and here he remained
until his death in 1855. The widow remained on the
old home with her son, whose name appears at the
opening of this article, until her death in 1891. Dur-
ing the life time of Joseph Walker he made many
substantial improvements on this place, and left it
a thoroughly modern and up-to-date farm. He and
his wife belonged to the Presbyterian Church. In^
politics he defined himself as a Jacksonian Demo-
crat. They were the parents of four sons and two-
daughters: (i) David, born in July, 1820, married
Prudence Morrison, of Colerain township, a daugh-
ter of Alexander Morrison, and located in Colerain-
township, as a farmer. There he died in 1852, leav-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1248
ing no family. (2) Isaac, born in June, 1824, mar-
ried Mattie Martin, of Colerain township, and made
his home in Strasburg borough, where he followed
the dental profession. They have a family of three
children : Edward, Ida (who married the late Prof.
Roop, and lives in Indianapolis) and Clara (who
married Rev. Mr. Roop, of this State). (3) Josiah
Walker is mentioned below. (4) John, born in July,
1832, married Lucy Greenleaf, of Colerain township,
where he made his home, dying in June, 1899, sur-
vived by his widow. (5) Fanny Walker, born in
October, 1835, is unmarried, and kept house for her
brother, Josiah. (6) Mary E., born in September,
1839, died unmarried in 1898.
Josiah Walker had his education in the schools
of Leacock and Colerain townships, and always re-
mained at the Walker homestead. There he owned
150 acres of the old grant, made extensive improve-
ments, and developed a fine country home. In reli-
gion he was a stanch Presbyterian, in which faith
he died. Politically he was a Democrat, and a
man of character and standing in the community.
JACOB A. MINICH. This enterprising and
prominent citizen of Columbia is the descendant of
one of the earliest settlers of Lancaster county. He
was born at Landisville, in February, 1844, and has
spent his entire life within the borders of the county,
contributing quite materially to its development
and growth. His parents, Henry and Catherine
(Albright) Minich, were both natives of the county.
The grandfather was Jacob Minich, an early resident
of Landisville, where he engaged in farming and
also operated a distillery. He was the father of
seventeen children. John Minich, the great-grand-
father, was a native of Germany, who early in the
eighteenth century emigrated to America and settled
at Landisville.
Henry Minich, the father of Jacob A., was born
in 1817. He was reared to the hard toil of those
days, and early in life engaged in the butcher busi-
ness, which he continued through life. In- 1846 he
moved to Columbia, where he remained until his
death in May, 1895, at the age of seventy-eight
years. Prominent in the political and social affairs
of the town, he served for several terms as a mem-
ber of the town council. His widow, a member of
the Moravian Church, survives and is now a resident
of Columbia. To Henry and Catherine Minich
were born six sons, namely : Jacob A. ; T. Jeffer-
son, who lives retired at Chicago; Charles W., a
butcher at Columbia: Jerome, editor of the Kent
Bulletin of Kent, Ohio; Benjamin F., a veterinary
surgeon of Columbia; and Harry J., a grocer of
Florida.
Jacob A. Minich was brought to Columbia in
1846 when two years of age. He received a fair
schooling and at the age of sixteen years assisted
his father in the latter's cattle and meat business.
This vocation he has followed ever since and he has
become one of the most prominent citizens of Co-
lumbia. He has always been foremost in advancing^
the interests of the borough and it was largely due
to his efforts that the Keeley Stove Works were
secured for the city. Since the organization of the
Central National Bank of Columbia he has been
one of its directors.
In June, 1891, at Columbia, Mr. Minich married
Harriet Jackson, who was born in Brantford, On-
tario, daughter of William and Maria (Broomfield)
Jackson. Her father is a native, of England, wha
immigrated to Canada. He is a wheelwright by trade
and now lives a retired life at Brantford, Ontario.
In politics Jacob A. Minich is a Republican. He
is a man of unusual business energy and is a typ-
ical representative of those leading citizens to whom
a thriving community owes a large debt of gratitude
for its advancement.
RALPH A. BARTON. Among the young
men who have by their energy, determination and
genuine manliness early attained to high position,-
is Ralph A. Barton, manager for the Postal Tele-
graph Co.'s interests in Lancaster. He was born
Sept. 7, 1879, son of Isaac and Sarah M. (Pegan)
Barton.
Isaac Barton was born June 25, 1851. He be-
came a carpenter and bridge builder with the Penn-
sylvania Railway Co., and was later promoted to-
be master carpenter of the Philadelphia & Norfolk
Division. At the end, liowever, of but six months
he was stricken with paralysis, and compelled to re-
sign in 1885. On Dec. 23, 1875, Isaac Barton was-
married to Sarah M. Pegan, daughter of Alexander
L. and Ruth A. Pegan. He died May 8, 1900. Two-
sons, Ralph A. and Elmer I., survive.
Ralph A. Barton received his education in the
public schools, continuing to attend until he com-
pleted the third class in the high school. On July 17,.
1893, he entered the messenger service of the Pos-
tal Telegraph Co., and employed his leisure moments-
in the study of telegraphy. His devotion to his
work and his trustworthiness won recognition, and"
on May 20, 1897, he was promoted to be night
operator. One year later he resigned to become-
first operator for the Western Union Telegraph Co.,.
where he gave great satisfaction to both the com-
pany and the public. His ability was well known,,
and his work with his former employers was not
forgotten. On Nov. 15, 1901, he resigned his posi-
tion with the Western Union Telegraph Co., to-
become manager of the Postal Telegraph Co.'s in-
terests in Lancaster — a most responsible office for
a young man of twenty-two years, as Lancaster is-
considered the banner office of the eastern district,,
whose headquarters are at Philadelphia. Mr. Bar-^
ton is very popular in the community where his"
life has been passed, and his upright dealings and
temperate habits have won him the respect "of the
best class of citizens.
Besides his work with the telegraph company,,
he was, on Jan. .21, 1903, elected secretary and 'a
1244
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
member of the board of directors of the A. F. Haw-
thorn Roof Paint Co., which is capitaHzed at $250,-
000. Socially Mr. Barton belongs to the Royal
Arcanum and to the Red Men.
CHARLES W. MINICH, a well-known butcher,
was born in Columbia, Oct. 21, 1847, ^^'^ there he
still makes his home. His parents were Henry G.
and Anna C. (Albright) Minich. In September,
1874, he married Miss Anna V. Clark, and to this
union have been born ten children, viz : Ella, Cora,
T. Jefferson, Charles G., Blanche and Bessie, all
at home; Nettie and Harry, twins, both deceased;
and Loretta and Grace, also at home.
Mrs. Anna V. (Clark) Minich was born in
"West Hempfield, Lancaster Co., Pa., Feb. 26,
1850, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Zahn)
Clark, natives of Cecil county, Md., and Lancaster
county. Pa., respectively. John Clark was a wagon-
maker by trade and died in Maryland, July 27,
1895, aged seventy-five years; his wife had passed
away in Lancaster county. Pa., Aug. 4, 1879, at the
age of fifty-nine. To Mr. and Mrs. Clark were
torn the following children: Susan, deceased wife
of Joseph Batty; Philip, a wheelwright in Colum-
"bia ; John H., a blacksmith at Uhrichsville, Ohio ;
Daniel Z., who died in 1865, in the war of the
IRebellion ; Anna V. ; James B., a machinist of Read-
ing, Pa.; Matilda C, who died of cholera in 1854;
Luke, who was killed on a railroad in Indiana,
where he was employed as efigineer ; Edith C, mar-
ried to Samuel Thompson, a railroad engineer at
Lancaster, Pa. ; George W., a boilermaker in Har-
risburg ; • Mary C, a trained nurse in Lancaster ;
Andrew J., a butcher in West Hempfield, Pa. A
singular coincidence may be alluded to, the fact that
Luke was killed the same day on which his father
died.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Anna V.
(Clark) Minich, Philip and Susan (Shriber)
Clark, were natives of Maryland, but early settled
in Columbia, Pa. ; her maternal grandparents were
Daniel and Elizabeth (Bratt) Zahn, the former of
whom was a hatter by trade, but in later years was
the proprietor of a hotel, and also a sale crier. Both
•died in Columbia.
Charles W. Minich is a Master Mason, a mem-
ber of the Heptasophs and the Artisans. In poli-
tics he is a Republican and for three years was
a member of the town council.
HENRY K. KURTZ. Among the well known
retired farmers of Ephrata township, who by the
application of industry and energy through his
active 3'ears accumulated means and propertv which
•enable him to spend his declining years in peace
and comfort, is Henry K. Kurtz, a worthy repre-
sentative of a larsre familv of Lancaster county.
Henry K. Kurtz was born Oct. 14. 1826, grand-
son of Jacob Kurtz and son of Henry Kurtz, both
•of whom were of Dutch origin, farmers by occu-
pation and members of the Mennonite Church.
Reared on the farm, Henry K. early became ac-
quainted with its practical workings, and when he
had finished his educational course in the common
schools, he settled down to agricultural pursuits,
becoming a successful farmer and stock raiser. The
farm is located very advantageously, two miles
west of Ephrata, and one mile from Lincoln, Pa.,
thus enabling the family to enjoy the comforts of
both town and country life.
In 1850, Henry K. Kurtz married Miss Annie
Hoover, of Ephrata, and to this union three sons
were born, Henry B., Benjamin and Addison. The
second marriage of Mr. Kurtz occurred in 1870,
and three children were born of this union : Alice,
who married Horace Brown, of Lancaster county;
Amanda, who married Louis Eberley, of Clay town-
ship ; and Aaron, born Aug. 20, 1880, who remains
on the farm with his father.
Henry K. Kurtz was one of five children born
to his parents, all of whom settled in Lancaster
county ; the names of the others are as follows :
Annie, who married Samuel Keller, of Ephrata
township ; Magdalena, deceased ; Lydia, who mar-
ried David Zeagler, of Warwick township ; and
Elizabeth, who married Levi Zendt, of Ephrata.
In the autumn of life, Mr. Kurtz has the satis-
faction of knowing that he possesses the esteem of
friends and acquaintances, and is regarded as an
excellent citizen. He is a Republican in political
faith, and for many years has been one of the lead-
ing members of the Mennonite Church.
NICHOLAS S. SIEGLER (deceased), who
was in his life time very prominently identified with
the farming and commercial interests of East Dru-
more township, Lancaster county, was born in Ger-
many, March 28, 1843, and was the son of Nicholas
and Catherine Siegler, both born in Germany. The
father came to this country in 1845, ^^'^ settled on
a farm near Millersville, Lancaster county, where
Nicholas S. was reared. On this farm his mother
died in i860, and then the father took his family to
Lancaster, where he died the same year, leaving
two sons, Nicholas and Gotleib. The latter, who
married Lizzie Ager, lived in Millersville, and had
a family of seven children, John, Mary, Lizzie, Will-
iam, Anna, Charles and Barbara.
Nicholas S. Siegler remained under the parental
roof until jiis marriage to Miss Helen Pauline
Fitz, born in Germany, Dec. 13, 1840, a daugh-
ter of Frederick A. and Anna M. (Myers) Fitz,
both of whom were born in Germany. Her par-
ents came to this county in 1843, settling at Mil-
lersville, where her father spent his remaining act-
ive years in carpet weaving, his trade in Germany.
His death occurred in Millersville in Tanuarv, i88q ;
his widow passed to her reward in 1894. Of their
family of eleven children, four lived to maturity, the
others dyine voung. They are as follows: (i)
Ferdinand F. Fitz, born in Germany in 1835, mar-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1245
ried in Lancaster Miss Catherine Humer, and died
in 1883, leaving a widow and four children, John,
Mary (deceased), Harry and Katie, residents of
Lancaster City. (2) Mary, born in Germany in
1843, married Frederick Marquart, resides at Mil-
lersville, and is the mother of two sons, William
and Charles. (3) Barbara is married, and lives
in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas S. Siegler lived on a
rented farm in Lampeter township until 1888. That
year Mr. Siegler bought the John Hoffman farm, in
the vicinity of Mechanics Grove,. and has very mate-
rially improved the property, remodeling the resi-
dence, adding to the barns and making other marked
improvements. One of the thrifty and successful
farmers of the township, he died- at this home in
August, 1899. In the Reformed Church at Quarry-
ville he served as a trustee, and was for many years
a member. He was known among the people of
his community as a thorough- Christian man, of
kind heart and generous disposition. He left a
widow and four children, (i) Kate, his oldest
daughter, was born in July, 1867, and in 1891 she
married Josiah B. Fisher. They live in New Prov-
idence on his farm, where they have a son and a
daughter, Harry and Letitia. (2) Adam M., bom
in October, 1869, married Miss Mary L. Shaup,
a daughter of Henry Shaup, of Drumore township,
and is living in East Drumore township, on a farm,
where they have one son, Norman E. (3) Anna
M., born in Lampeter township, in April, 1873,
married Enos F. Nissler, a resident of Mechanics
Grove, where he follows the blacksmith trade. They
have two children, Florence L. and Raymond. (4)
Milton, born in September, 1878, has charge of
his mother's estate, and is a young man of marked
gentlemanly habits and bearing, with upright quali-
ties and good principles. Mr. and Mrs. Siegler have
held membership in the Quarryville Reformed
Church. Mrs. Siegler is a most excellent character.
She has many friends in the community where her
womanly career has passed.
GEORGE W. HAWTHORN, who is engaged
in the undertaking and cabinet making business at
Bainbridge, Lancaster county, has built up an ex-
tensive trade in fine furniture, and is regarded as
one of the solid and substantial citizens of the com-
munity. He was born in that town, in June, 1842,
a son of James and Margaret (Esworthley) Haw-
thorn.
James Hawthorn was born in Donegal, and for
fifty-five years was engaged as an undertaker and
cabinet maker. For twelve years he served as
school director, and he died in Bainbridge, June
27, 1898, at the age of eighty-four _ years. The
mother, who was a native of Bainbridge, died in
1886, at the age of sixty-seven years. They were
both members of the Methodist Church. Their
children were: Calvin, who died young; Eliza-
beth, wife of Franklin Feltenberger, of Bainbridge;
George W. ; Serena, widow of David Brubaker,.
of Bainbridge; Robert, a painter; Alfred, deceased;
Malinda, wife of Harry Albright, a dispatcher at
Harrisburg; Horace, a painter in Philadelphia;.
Austin, a cabinet maker, in business with his broth-
er in Bainbridge; Flora, the. wife of Edward Eyer,.
a railroad conductor, whose home is in Harris-
burg; Alice, wife of Alonzo Stanfield, a machinist
at Middletown ; and Sherman T., of Bainbridge,.
Pennsylvania.
The paternal grandparents of George W. Haw-
thorn were George and Mary (Black) Hawthorn.
The grandfather was born in Donegal, Ireland, and
was among the first settlers in Donegal township,
making his home near the Donegal Springs in 1799..
He died near Columbia, and was buried in the Don-
egal Presbyterian Church cemetery. Nathaniel Es-
worthley, the maternal grandfather of George W.
Hawthorn, lived in Lancaster county, and died in
Bainbridge, where he carried on a shad fishery.
On Feb. 22, 1866, in Lancaster, George W.
Hawthorn was married to Margaret Pence. They
have become the parents of one son, Harry, who
is now living in Harrisburg, and has been twice
married, first to Ida Adams, by whom he has a
daughter, • Jennie, and second to Clara Hake, who.
has also borne him one daughter. Myrtle L.
' Mrs. Margaret (Pence) Hawthorn was born ia
York county, in 1840, and is a daughter of Henry
and Christianna (Dorn) Pence. Henry Pence was
bom in York county, in November, 1816, and moved
to Bainbridge in 1856, where he followed farming-
and cabinet making for many years. In 1898 he re-
tired from business, and is now making his home
with his daughter, Mrs. Hawthorn. Notwithstand-
ing his very advanced age he is a hale and hearty oli
gentleman. Mrs. Christianna Pence died in 1890,.
at the age of seventy- two years, and was buried in
Bainbridge. She was a member of the Lutheran
Church, as is her husband. They were parents of
the following family : Angeline, wife of John Sny-
der, a farmer of Clearfield ; William, of Harris-
burg; Chapman, of Bainbridge; Margaret, who is
Mrs. Hawthorn; Jane, who married John Finley,
lives at Bainbridge : and Arvilla, the wife of Samuel
Sloat, a plasterer of Maytown.
George W. Hawthorn remained with his par-
ents as long as they lived, and in 1889 purchased
the shop in which his father had worked so many
years, and he has continued it in the same care-
ful and business-like way. In 1895 he attended the
Oriental School of Embalming, and two years later
graduated from the Clark School of Embalming in
Harrisburg, thoroughly preparing himself for his
business.
Mr. Hawthorn is a member of the two noted
societies, the I. O. O. F. and the G. A. R., and is
a man of considerable prominence in his home com-
munity, having served as tax collector four years.
In his politics he is a Republican. Mr. Hawthorn
has memories of that exciting period of the Civil
1246
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
war, when the RebelHon was being crushed before
the resistless advance of the hosts of the Union,
and the "boys in blue" were uplifted by the feeling
that victory was not far away. In August, 1864,
he enlisted in Co. E, 28th P. V. I., under Capt.
Robinson, and was discharged May 23, 1865, the
most of his service being devoted to patrol duty.
In Bainbridge Mr. Hawthorn is justly esteemed
one of the leading citizens of this part of the coun-
ty, and is very widely respected for his many good
qualities and unaffected manliness.
JOHN FEAGLEY. To the casual observer old
iron, bones, rags and similar commodities represent
in their handling a slow and laborious method of
livelihood, but to the shrewd financier and discern-
ing business man there are large possibilities in these
apparently worthless emblems of past usefulness.
John Feagley, one of the prominent business men
of Lancaster, has found in this line of activity large
and constantly increasing returns, and while thus
engaged since 1870 has established a reputation for
substantial worth in the community.
A native son of Pennsylvania, John Feagley
was born in Berks county, Feb. 28, 1832, a son of
Nicholas and Mary (Bupp) Feagley, the former of
whom died in 1846, at the age of thirty-five, and the
latter in 1897, at the age of ninety- four. The father
was a blacksmith, and followed that trade during
his entire business life after coming to Lancaster
county in 1833. With his wife, he was a member
of Zion Lutheran Church. To this couple were
born the following children: Ellen, deceased in
infancy; Henry, deceased; John; Sarah, the wife
of Joseph Cogley, a printer of Lancaster; and
Louise, the wife of Jacob Norbeck, a coach painter
of Lancaster.
At the age of sixteen years, John Feagley en-
tered a shop in Lancaster and learned the comb
makers' trade, but at the end of five years he engaged
in the produce business, of which he made a dis-
tinct success. During the seven years in the pro-
duce trade he operated two cars between Lancaster
and Philadelphia, and at the end of that time sold
out his enterprise at a large profit. He was then
foreman of a crew of men employed to remove
the telegraph poles four feet from , the railroad
track, a task requiring twenty-seven months for
completion. His present business was entered upon
in 1870, and it is doubtful if any man in the county
has a more complete knowledge of the various uses
to which scrap iron, bones and rags, may be put.
In the same year, 1870, Mr. Feagley bought a tract
of land in the northern part of the city of Lancaster,
now known as Feagleysville, where he has built
about thirtv houses. This property, now become
quite valuable, he still owns.
In 1856, in Lancaster, Rev. Beates united in
marriage Mr. Feagley and Mary A. Dennis, and
to this union there have come the following chil-
dren : Henry and Charlotte, deceased when young ;
John, a carriage maker of Mt. Pleasant, who mar-
ried Emma McCulley, and has one son; Anna, liv-
ing at home ; Edgar, a carriage painter of Washing-
ton, D. C. ; Sheldon, a printer at Lancaster, who
married Katherine Errisman, and has ten children;
Mazie, a stenographer;- Frank's., manager of his
father's business, and married to Anna Maxton,
by whom he has two children; Charles, a watch-
maker in Lancaster, who married Anna Pontz, and
has three children; Elmer, a watch-maker of Lan-
caster ; and Walter, also a_ watch-maker of Lancas-
ter, who married Agnes Kelley, and has one child.
Mrs. Feagley was born in Providence township,
Lancaster county, in 1836, a daughter of Abraham
and Margaret (McClosky) Dennis, the former of
whom was in early life a tanner, but of late years
engaged in farming.
Frank S. Feagley, manager of his father's
business, was born in Lancaster, June 17, 1868, and
was educated in the public schools. In Lancaster,
Pa., he married Anna Maxton, of which union there
have been born two children, F. Harold and Eliza-
beth M. Mrs. Feagley is a daughter of Adam and
Elmira (Strine) Maxton, of Columbia, Pa., the
former of whom is a retired contractor and builder,
and is living with his son-in-law. Mr. Feagley has
learned every detail of the business of which he is
manager, having from earliest youth been under
the particular care of his father, from whom he
learned thrift, economy, and sound business tac-
tics. He is variously identified with the social or-
ganizations in which Lancaster abounds, including
the A. O. M. P., the I. O. O. F., the B. P. O. E.,
and Jr. O. U. A. M. He is a Republican in political
affiliation, and is a member of the M. E. Church.
Mr. Feagley is enterprising and progressive, and is
recognized as an important factor in the commercial
world of Lancaster.
JOHN M. GROFF, a prosperous and successful
farmer of East Drumore township, Lancaster coun-
ty, was born in the township where his active years
have been spent, in December, 1839, his parents
being Joseph and Susan (Myers) Groff, both na-
tives of Lancaster county, the father born in 1813
and the mother the year following.
Joseph Groff was the son of John and Elizabeth
(Eshleman) Grofif, who were among the early set-
tlers of Lancaster county, and of Revolutionary
faine.
John Grofif and his wife had their home at first
in Providence township, where they reared a family
of ten children, all of whom are dead. Joseph GrofiF,
the father of John M., was the oldest member of
this family, and Charlotte, the wife of Jacob Crider,
the second ; Martin Grofif and his sister Eliza, who
married Martin Eshleman, both lived in Providence
township ; Levi Grofif lived and died in Pequea town-
ship; John E. Grofif married and spent his life in
Perry county. Pa., where he died, leaving a family
who still reside in that county; Kate and Annie
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1247
Groff both died unmarried ; Barbara Groff married
Amos Groff, and both died at Conestoga Center,
leaving a family ; Betsy Groff died young.
Joseph Groff lived and died on his farm in Dru-
more township, which has now passed into the hands
of Henry Heidlebaugh. The improvements on this
place were all made by Mr. Groff. He died in 1877,
his wife having passed away two years before. They
were the parents of seven children : ( i ) Barbara is
the wife of Cyrus Kramer, of Quarryville, and the
mother of two children. Sue and Mary. (2) Cath-
erine, born in 1841, married Henry Phillips, a tailor
of Quarryville and is the mother of two sons. (3)
Levi W., born in 1843, lives in East Drumore town-
ship near Oak Bottom, where he has the following
family ; Frank ; Lizzie, who married William Miller ;
Ella, who married O. B. Edwards ; Emma, who mar-
ried E. Kauffman ; Joseph ; Ira ; William ; Freeland ;
Ada ; Bige ; Charles ; Anna ; Chester ; Urbanna ; and
John. All these children are living. (4) Lizzie, born
in 1846, married Abram Lefever, of East Drumore
township, and is the mother of a large family, Har-
vey, Amos ; John ; Annie ; Susie ; Charles ; William ;
Abram and Ira. (5) Fannie, born in 1848, is the wife
of Amos Groff, a farmer in East Drumore town-
ship, and the mother of the following family: Sid-
ney, who is the wife of Samuel Witmer; Sue, who
married John Byers ; Lizzie, who married Jacob
Byers ; Amos ; Frank ; Celia ; Nora ; Lawrence ; and
Mamie. (6) Joseph, born in 1850, married Jose-
phine Myers, located in Colerain township, and is
father of the following family : Charles, Cora,
Harry and Edward. (7) John M.
John M. Groff was reared to manhood under the
parental roof, and secured his education in the local
schools. In June, 1861, he was married to Miss
Hannah Richard, who died in 1867, leaving him with
one daughter, Anna, who resides at the old home.
In 1868 Mr. Groff was again married to Miss Sarah
Powell, a daughter of David and Lucetta (Shine-
"heart) Powell. Her grandfather, John Powell, was
a soldier in the Revolution, and in his later years
received a pension from the Government. David
Powell, Mrs. Groff's father, settled in East Drumore
township, where both he and his wife died, leaving
a family four members of which are still living:
Mary A., the wife of Daniel Logan, of Colerain
township ; Anna E., the wife of Roy Suter, of Quar-
ryville ; George, a resident of Lancaster ; Sarah, who
is Mrs. Groff, born in East Drumore township, April
20, 1847.
After his marriage Mr. Groff and his wife set-
tled in Quarryville, where for six years he was en-
gaged in burning lime. In 1880 he moved to his
farm in East Drumore township, and is still engaged
in the cultivation of the soil.
Mr. and Mrs. Groff have the following chil-
dren: John H., born in 1869, unmarried, and at
home ; Ida C, born in 1871, the wife of Levi Rhodes,
residing in Bart township on a farm, and the mother
•of two children, Edith E. and John L. ; Charles, born
in 1876; George, born in 1878; Amos, born in 1881 ;
Martin, born in 1883 ; Edith, born in 1890.
Mr. Groff is a Republican. He is commander
of the Bireley Post, No. 511, G. A. R., Quarryville.
His military experiences were gained in Co. D, 195th
P. V. I. This regiment formed a part of the Army
of the Potomac, and Mr. Groff served until the clos-
ing of the war. He participated in every engage-
ment in which his regiment fought until his dis-
charge. In the Grand Review at Washington he
was one of the soldiers who marched down the
Avenue and gave notice to the world that the great
Rebellion was ended.
Mr. and Mrs. Groff hold to the faith of the Old
Mennonite Church, and are among the most re-
spected people of the county. The Groff family is
a numerous one in Lancaster county and its various
representatives have been of high character and ster-
ling worth.
JOSEPH LODER, as president of the Loder
Brewing Company, and one of the most successful
business men in Columbia, needs no introduction
to the readers of this volume.
A native of Germany, Mr. Loder was born
March 10, 1846, in the village of Wurtzburg, Un-
terfranl<en, Bavaria, a son of Nicholas and Josephine
(Bachman) Loder. The family of which he is a
member was one of the oldest and most influential of
Bavaria. His paternal great-grandfather was bom
in the Province of Hessen, which, since the Napole-
onic wars, has been included in the Kingdom of
Bavaria. He was a man of powerful frame and
stalwart physique, whose unusual height, six feet
seven inches, made him conspicuous among the
other officers who served under the first Napoleon.
In religious belief he was a Catholic.
Thomas Loder, the paternal grandfather of our
subject, followed the occupation of milling in Ba-
varia. He took a prominent part in public affairs,
and during the Revolution in Germany he was
a stanch Loyalist. For twelve years he was a mem-
ber of the city magistracy. He had four sons,
Louis, Charles, Valentine (who died at the age of
thirty-one) ' and Nicholas. The last named was
born in Bavaria, received a good education there,
became a man of high standing in the community,
and was respected by all who knew him. His occu-
pation was that of milling, in which he was very
extensively engaged, giving' employment to about
one hundred and forty men. Successful in his
undertakings, he accumulated a valuable property,
and was one of the most prosperous men of the
comnumity. In his views he was aggressive, and
was stanch in his support of republican principles.
For twelve years he was a member of the city
council, and at all times took a very active part in
municipal affairs. Like his father, he was a man
of massive frame, over six feet in height. In the
family of Nicholas and Josephine Loder were six
children, namely : Valentine, Joseph, Henry, Anna,
1248
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Ida and Carrie. The father died in December, 1874,
at the age of sixty-three years ; the mother passed
away in 1889 when seventy-six.
Joseph Loder received his education in the pub-
lic schools of Bavaria, spending two years as a
student in the grammar school. At the age of
twenty years he was drafted into the army, but
did not see much active service. He left Germany,
March 29, 1867, with three companions, and cross-
ing the ocean landed and located in New York City.
Having learned the trade of stone cutter, he secured
employment at that occupation, in which he was en-
gaged in New York for two years, and afterward in
Newark, N. J., for seventeen years. From the latter
place he went to Atlantic City, where for eight years
he was interested in the bottling business, and also
conducted a hotel. Next we find him a traveling
salesman for a wholesale house in Philadelphia, and
it was while fillmg this position that he learned the
Columbia Brewery was for sale. He investigated
the matter, and negotiated for the property, which he
has since owned. Soon after its purchase he formed
a partnership with John Kazmaier, and the firm of
Loder & Kazmaier has since conducted a general
business, employing fifteen men. In addition to
this enterprise, Mr. Loder is also stock-holder in the
Columbia Lace Mill. In politics a Republican, Mr.
Loder has always taken a deep interest in the af-
fairs of his party, and the progress of his adopted
city. He has represented the third, eighth and
ninth wards in the city council, and is still a mem-
ber of that body. His religious connection is with
the Catholic Church, and he is a prominent member
of Trinity Catholic Beneficial Society.
On May 3, 1867, Mr. Loder was united in mar-
riage with Miss Rosalie Grasman, and to them have
been born eleven children, eight of whom are living,
namely : Andy, Joseph, Rudolph, William, Charles,
Eva, Caroline and Tillie.
ABRAHAM A. DE HAVEN, a resident of
Earl township, Lancaster county, is of German de-
scent, tracing his line to Isaac DeHaven, who lo-
cated at Morgantown, Berks Co., Pa. He fol-
lowed both blacksmithing and farming, and reared
his family there. His children were as follows:
Abraham was the grandfather of our subject; Ed-
ward was a merchant at Churchtown, where he
died; Isaac, who died near Terre Hill, where he
was engaged in manufacturing, was the father of
the DeHavens, well known iron manufacturers of
Pittsburg ; James resided on the old homestead near
Morgantown, where he farmed and carried on a
blacksmithing business; and of the daughters, one
married a Mr. Wight ; another married a Mr. Kee-
mer ; and a third married William Skiles.
Abraham De Haven, son of Isaac, was the young-
est son of his parents, and was reared on the home
place, learning the trade of blacksmithing under
his father's instructions. When he was nineteen he
went to live with an older brother, and later married
a Miss Anna Thompson. After two years of mar-
ried life at Morgantown, where he followed black-
smithing, he moved to New Holland, and had-
a shop in that place for twenty-five years..
His last years were spent on a farm which he pur-
chased about a mile and a half southeast of New
Holland, and comprised 103 acres. He died at the
age of eighty-eight years, after a long and useful
career. In religion he was a devoted member of
the Presbyterian Church. In the founding of that
denomination at Cedar Grove he was very conspicu-
ous, and of this church he was a ruling elder, and.
was always one of its most liberal contributors. At
a time of financial stress in that organization, its-
pulpit was supplied almost entirely at the expense
of Mr. DeHaven. For his day he was counted a
wealthy man, and was greatly honored and respected
in the community. To Mr. and Mrs. DeHaven were-
born the following children who lived to maturity:
Thompson died at the age of seventy years ; Mary-
lived to be seventy-two; Ann Eliza married James-
Jack, and lived in Philadelphia and elsewhere, finally
making their home in Lewistown, Pa., where they
both died; Phoebe married Dr. James McClese, of
Honey Brook, Pa. ; Susan married John Hollings-
worth, a cabinet maker, of New Holland; and
George.
George DeHaven was born April i, 182 1, and
died May 30, 1894. His youth and early manhood
was passed on a farm, and he devoted his life to the-
cultivation of the soil. Until in 1876 he lived on the
old homestead, when he removed to the Bard home-
stead, which he had purchased near New Holland,
and where he died in 1894. His widow, who sur
vives him, has her home on this farm, and has three
of her children about her. Mr. DeHaven became
an extensive landed proprietor, owning four farms,
which comprised 307^^ acres, not counting the
heavily timbered land. This property represented
unusual business ability, combined with unflag-
ging industry and the most determined spirit.
Though often called upon to serve his community
in ofiflcial capacity, he steadfastly declined, prefer-
ring to give his entire attention to farming. Like
his father he was a devoted Christian, and officiated
as an elder for years. Mr. DeHaven was mar-
ried to Miss Clara Eckert, who was born near Inter-
course, a daughter of Levi and Mary Eckert. They
became the parents of twelve children, of whom nine
lived to maturity : Abraham A. ; Clara and Elmira.
twins, of whom Clara is unmarried and Elmira is the
wife of William K. Hurst, of Caernarvon township ;
Levi, a farmer, died March 20, 1894 ; Edward, a re-
tired farmer, has his home in New Holland ; Clay-
ton, was a farmer on the old homfestead, and passed"
to his rest in 1897; William lives at home, and is-
unmarried: Miss Phoebe J. lives at home: Mary-
Ann, the eldest, died at the age of nineteen years.
Abraham A. DeHaven was reared to farm work,
and was educated in the common schools. When
he was twenty-three he began on the farm which he-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1249
still occupies, where he owns fifty-five acres. His
entire attention is given to its cultivation. His
standing in the community is very high, and his
good habits, industrious ways and upright char-
acter command a wide circle' of friends, whoni his
genial disposition holds fast in an unbroken friend-
ship.
Mr. DeHaven was married to Miss Rebecca San-
dow, a daughter of John and Martha (Shoeffer)
Sandow. Mr. and Mrs. DeHaven have a family of
nine living children : George, Martha, Rebecca, Be-
linda, Mary Grace, Elizabeth, Margaret, Elmira and
Abraham. All the family are associated with the
Presbyterian Churcfi, and like their progenitors
stand high among those who know them best.
WILLIAM McCAUSLAND NOBLE, whose
useful life ended May 4, 1883, at University Hos-
pital," Philadelphia, where he was undergoing treat*
ment, was born in Marietta, Pa., April 5, 1818. His
active life was largely associated with Christiana,
where he settled in 1826, and soon became one of the
leading citizens of the place, his industry, fine char-
acter, and upright principles winning him many
friends, and making him popular with the com-
munity.
Andrew and Esther (McCausland) Noble, his
parents, were natives of Sadsbury and Salisbury
townships, respectively. Andrew Noble was an ex-
tensive merchant, and had a wholesale store in Phil-
adelphia, which he sold after a time and moved to
Marietta, where he carried on three general stores
until the closing of the Marietta Bank nearly ruined
him. For a time he was not in business, but in 1826
established himself in a store in Christiana. In 1830
he disposed of his mercantile business and moved to
a farm in Sadsbury township, where he remained
until his death, Oct. 15, 1852, at the age of fifty-
one years. His wife, Esther McCausland, was a
daughter of Major William McCausland, a Revolu-
tionary soldier, who lived in Lancaster county; she
early passed to her rest, dying Aug. 21, 1831, at the
age of thirty years. In the war of 1812 Mr. Noble
served as captain, lieutenant and paymaster. An-
drew Noble was a son of James and Margaret (Mc-
Whorter) Noble. James Noble was born in Sads-
bury township, a son of William Noble, who was
born in the North of Ireland, in 171 1, and came to
Lancaster county when a young man, locating in
Sadsbury township. Margaret (McWhorter) No-
ble was born in Delaware.
William McCausland Noble remained in Mari-
etta until he was eight years old, when he accompan-
ied his parents to their home in Sadsbury township,
near Christiana. At the age of sixteen he entered
his father's store as a clerk, and then engaged in
farming in Sadsbury township. After his marriage
he bought the original homestead of the family in
Lancaster county, and engaged in its cultivation, also
carrying on stone quarries, and making lime on his
home farm. He continued in this busmess until
79
his death and his remains were laid to rest in At-
gleri. Pa. He attended no church as a member, but
took much interest in the United Presbyterian
Church at Octoraro. His politics were Democratic,
and his standings in the community beyond question.
On Oct. ,12, 1854, at Atglen, Pa., Mr. Noble
was married to Martha L. Hughes. To them were
born seven children, (i) Andrew, of Christiana,
was elected- county auditor in 1899 for a term of
three years, on the Democratic ticket, and is one
of the exceptionally popular and capable young men
of the county ; he has been tax collector, supervisor
and assessor of Sadsbury township, a rare compli-
ment in a district that is heavily Republican. So-
cially he is connected with the Order of the Golden
Eagle, and has many friends wherever he is found.
' (2) Joseph died in infancy. (3) Anna died un-
malrried in November, 1895. (4) William McC.
Jr. died at the age of twenty-five. (5) Harriet, who
married Frank D. Crawford, died in August, 1892.
(6) Thomas is single, and lives at Wernersville,
Pa. (7) Rebecca is a school teacher, and lives with
her brother Andrew at Christiana, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Martha L. (Hughes) Noble was born in
Oromucto, British America, Sept. 6, 1829, a daugh-
ter of Joseph and Ann (Lynn) Hughes, of Ireland.
They came to Maryland in 183 1, where her father
operated a general store at Brick Hill. In 185 1 he
came to Christiana, and engaged in a general mer-
cantile business until within a very few years of
his death, in 1884, being eighty-four years old at
the time he was called away. His wife died in
1865, ^t the age of sixty-six. Both were members
of the Old School Baptist Church. They had the
following children : Jane, late wife of James Jones ;
Samuel, who died in 1896 ; Martha L., Mrs. Noble ;
Robert, who died young. Mrs. Noble, who died
Nov. 15, 1901, aged seventy-two years, was a lady
of high character and remarkable mental vigor for
one of her years. Her kind heart won the affection
of her friends and she was highly respected and gen-
erally beloved in the community.
AMOS BARTCH (deceased) was for many
years prominently identified with the business inter-
ests of Columbia, Pa., and was one of her honored
and highly respected citizens. He was a native of
Lancaster county, born in Hempfield township, May
6, 1846, a son of Michael and Elizabeth (Schwin)
Bartch, who were born in Germany, but came to
this country when young and were married here.
Both died in Lancaster county. He was foreman
in Grubbs mines. Their children who are now liv-
ing are : Michael, a contractor and builder of Day-
ton, Ohio; Mary, widow of David Shrouron, and
a resident of Columbia, Pa.; George, also a resi-
dent of Columbia ; Sarah, wife of Valentine Bentley,
a carpenter of Columbia; Tobias, a resident of the
same place; and Elizabeth, wife of Adam Agle of
Columbia.
Until fourteen years of age, Amos Bartch pur-.
1250
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
sued his studies in the country schools near his boy-
hood home, and then on leaving the parental roof,
went to York county, Pa., where he was employed
as engineer. Returning to Columbia, he engaged in
clerking in the grocery store of his' brother-in-law,
Fiederick Bucher, for thirteen years, and then rented
the store, which he conducted for five years. At the
end of that time he erected a store building and con-
tinued to engage in the grocery trade until his death,
which occurred in Columbia, Oct. 12, 1899. He
was laid to rest m Mt. Bethel cemetery. He was a
consistent and faithful member of the M. E. Church ;
was affiliated with the Artisans and Heptasophs,
and in his political views was a Republican. As a
business man he was energetic, prompt and notably
reliable, and gained the confidence and regard of
all with whom he came in contact.
In Columbia, in April, 1874, Mr. Bartch mar-
ried Miss Mary E. Williams, who was born in York
county. Pa. ; and was left an orphan during infancy.
By this union were born three children, Florence P.,
William A. and Catherine I. The family is one of
prominence in the community where they reside.
HENRY Z. YOUNG, of the firm of Young
Brothers, extensively engaged, in the manufacture
of all kinds of vehicles, and in carriage building,
repairing and blacksmithing, at Florin, Pa., was born
in Rapho township, Oct. 30, 1862, a son of Emanuel
M. and Mary (Phyfe) Young. His parents were
natives of Lancaster county, and his mother died
in Rapho township, in February, 1871, at the age
of thirty-one years, her remains now resting in the
cemetery connected with the Strickler Church.
Emanuel M. Young, was born Aug. 27, 1840.
and was a farmer and butcher in his active days,
although early in life he learned the cooper's trade.
At one time he was tax collector in Rapho town-
ship. In 1876 he removed to Florin, and is now
passing the closing years of his long and useful life
in that pleasant municipality. In 1859 he married
Mar)' Phyfe, who was born in Rapho township, a
daughter of Daniel and Susannah (Walter) Phyfe,
and died in 1871, aged thirty-one. To them were
born the following children : Phares, a carriage
maker ; Henry Z. ; Emanuel, a carriage maker in
York county, where he also has farming interests;
Mary, who married Elmer Weaver, of Florin ; Sam-
uel, a partner of his brother, Henry Z. Emanuel
M. Young was married, second, in 1872, to Eliza-
beth Martin, who was born in Rapho township
April 9, 1845, a daughter of David and Catherine
(Blager) Martin, of Lancaster county. To this
marriage were born the following children: David,
a molder in Florin; Elizabeth, wife of Benjamin
Brown ; Frank, a barber and undertaker in Mount-
ville : Katie ; Elsa and Minnie, at home with their
parents. David Martin was a son' of Jacob and
Maud (Geif) Martin, and like his father, became
a weaver, following that occupation until his death
June 14, 1896, at the age of seventy-five years. His
wile, Catherine (Blager), died June 23, 1900, and
was buried in the cenietery of the Green Tree
Meeting House. To David and Catherine Martin
were born children as follows : Mary, who married
Samuel Good; Elizabeth; Anna; Katie, wife of
John Kennedy; David, deceased; John, of Lancas-
ter county ; and Jacob, deceased. In fraternal mat-
ters Emanuel M. Young is quite prominent, being
connected with the Mystic Chain, the Red Men, and
the Order of Pocahontas. In religion he belongs
to the United Brethren Church, and in politics is a
Republican.
The parents of Emanuel M. Jfoung were Richard
and Martha (Moore) Young, natives of Rapho
township and Harrisburg, respectively, the former
of whom died in Rapho township, in 1890, at the
age of seventy-eight, and the latter in East Don'egal
township, in 1877, at the age of sixty-six. They
spent their lives in farming, and were buried in the
cemetery at Mt. Joy. They had the following chil-
dren: William and Elizabeth are deceased; Caro-
line, widow of John Cole, lives in Iowa; Matilda,
the widow of John Ludman, lives in Manheim, Pa. ;
Sarah married Henry George, and is deceased ; Ella,
of Lancaster, married Ephraim Rhodes; Fanny
is the deceased wife of Emanuel Dailinger ; Rosanna
married George Kline, and lives in Florin; Sophia
married Henry Mumma, and lives in Florin; Levi
is retired, and has his home in Manheim ; Emanuel
M. ; Lemon lives in Lebanon ; Eli lives in Florin ;
and Richard and Cornelius are both deceased. Rich-
ard Young was a son of Michael and Catherine
(Goetz) Young, who came from Germany, and set-
tled in this county.
Henry Z. Young has been twice married, first
in 1887, in Mt. Joy, when he married Lizzie Bletz,
who died leaving a son, Harry. Her remains rest
in the cemetery at Florin. Charles Bletz, her father,
came from Germany, and died in Florin. In 1891
Mr. Young was married in Mt. Joy to Edna Miller,
who was born in Northumberland county. Pa., a
daughter of Simon and Saloma Miller, natives of
Dauphin county, who died in Juniata county, where
the former was engaged in farming. To Mr. and
Mrs. Young has come one son, Oscar.
Henry Z. Young learned his trade in Helm,
York county, where he entered the shops at the age
of nineteen. Before this he had worked for the
neighboring farmers, and was a hustling and ener-
getic youth. For ten years after he had learned his
trade, he served as journeyman, being employed at
both Elizabeth town and Middletown, Lancaster
county. In 1898 he came to Florin and joined his
brother in the business which is known- as Young
Brothers. Mr. Young is a member of several or-
ders— the Red Men and the Knights of the Golden
Eagle, being the principal ones. In religion he is a
member of the United Brethren Church, and in his
politics a Republican.
Samuel Young, a member of the firm of Young
Brothers, began learning his trade with William
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY 1251
Shutte, in Florin, when he had reached the age of
eighteen years. For four years he was employed
by the Samuel Bailey Safety Buggy Company at
Lancaster. In 1897 he returned from Lancaster to
Florin, where after a year of journeyman work he
formed a partnership with his brother, and began
business for himself. This has proved very success-
ful, and the two are doing a flattering business.
Samuel Young belongs to the Knights of the Gol-
den Eagle, and is a Republican in his politics. He
is a bright and capable young man and he and his
brother are pushing forward to an enviable posi-
tion in commercial and manufacturing circles. They
have a good trade, and are doing strictly high-grade
work of a character that commands respect and re-
tains confidence.
FRANK ZIEGLER (deceased) was for over a
third of a century one of the trusted employees of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and through-
out life was a highly esteemed citizen of Columbia,
where he was born May, 5, 182 1, a son of George
and Margaret (Sloat) Ziegler, the former a native
of Baltimore, Md., the latter of York county. Pa.
George Ziegler came to Columbia in 1798 with his
father, Francis Ziegler, and here he was married
in 181 1 to Margaret Sloat, a- daughter of Michael
Sloat, a farmer by occupation, who was born in Ger-
many and on his immigration to America settled in
York county. Pa. George Ziegler followed the
cooper's trade, and as one of the prominent and in-
fluential citizens of Columbia, he was called upon
to serve as councilman at an early day. He died
April 3, 1838, aged fifty-two years, and his wife de-
parted this Hfe in 1831, aged forty-two. Both were
communicants of the Catholic Church. In their
family were the following children: Catherine, a
Sister of Charity, who died in New Orleans ; Fanny,
wife of Andrew Leady, died in Wrightsville, Pa. ;
John, a retired lumberman of Columbia; Rosanna,
who died in childhood; Francis; Margaret, a nun
■ of Baltimore, Md. ; George, an engineer, who was
"killed on the railroad in 1855 ; Michael, who died
in Pittsburg, Pa., in 1864; and Joseph and Ferdi-
nand, who both died in childhood.
During his entire business career, Frank Ziegler
was interested in railroading, and for thirty-five
years served as engineer, first with the old State
Toad, and later with the Pennsylvania Railroad. He
always affiliated with the Democratic party and held
membership in the Catholic Church. His upright
and honorable life won for him the confidence of
all with whom he came in contact, and his circle
of friends seemed only limited by the number of his
acquaintances.
At St. Peter's Catholic Church in Columbia,
Nov. t8, i860, Mr. Ziegler was united in marriage
with Miss Mary M. Flynn, and they began their
domestic life in the house which she still occupies.
Nine children came to brighten their home, namely :
Margaret R.. now the wife of William K. Garrity,
a blacksmith of Altoona, Pa. ; Alice, deceased ; Ed-
ward F., who married Alice Michael and is a cop-
persmith of Columbia ; George, deceased ; Mary G.,
who is living with her mother; Joseph O., who
wedded Mary Smith and is a machinist of Columbia ;
Blanche, deceased; Lucy G., at home; and Frank
X., a resident of Columbia.
Mrs. Ziegler was born in Columbia, a daughter
of Edward and Margaret (Freil) Flynn, who were
born in Ireland, but were married in Lebanon, Pa.,
and then settled in Columbia. There the father died
in 1844, aged thirty-iive years ; the mother in 1875,
aged sixty-four. Their children were John, de-
ceased ; Katherine, wife of Joseph Brown, assistant
road foreman at Altoona, Pa. ; Mary M., now Mrs.
Ziegler; Margaret, Joseph and Edward, all de-
ceased. Mrs. Ziegler's paternal grandfather, John
Flynn, came to America at an early day and located
in Lebanon, Pa. Her maternal grandparents, Fran-
cis and Mary (Magetigan) Friel, were also natives
of Ireland and early settlers of Marietta, Pa. Their
remains were interred at Columbia.
SAMUEL WAGNER (deceased). The life of
Samuel Wagner who for many years was a promi-
nent citizen of Paradise township, Lancaster coun-
ty, is a worthy example of industry. At the tender
age of eight years he began to earn his own living
and from that time he has led an active, honorable
and exemplary life in Lancaster, pursuing with zeal
and success the various vocations which opportunity
and place presented to him. He is the son of Chris-
tian and Christiana (Bowers) Wagner, both born in
Wurtemberg, Germany. Shortly after their mar-
riage in the Fatherland the parents migrated to
America, accompanied by the mother's widowed fa-
ther, Gottlieb Bowers, who during his remaining
years lived with them in Lancaster county, for here
it was that the parents of Samuel made their home.
Christian Wagner was a shoemaker, and he fol-
lowed the trade through life. Himself and wife were
members of the Lutheran Church, but Gottlieb Bow-
ers was a member of the Old Mennonite church.
Christian Wagner lived to the age of seventy-six
years, and his wife passed away at the age of fifty-
six. Of the seven children born to them, only three
grew to maturity, namely, Samuel, whose sketch ap-
pears below: Gabriel, a farmer of Leacock town-
ship ; and Martha, who died the wife of Edward
Kurtz.
Samuel Wagner was born in Leacock township,
Lancaster county, Aug. 5, 1836. His educational
advantages were limited, as when eight years of
age he began working by the month to earn his
own living, during the winter months, receiving
only his board for his services. He continued in
this manner to, win his own support until he was
seventeen years of age, when he hired out by the
year, his parents receiving his wages until he was
twenty-one. At twenty he began an apprenticeship
at the wagon and coach making trade with his broth-
1252
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
er-in-law, Edward Kurtz, and after its completion
he established a shop of his own in Leacock town-
ship which he conducted for five years. He then
started in the butcher's business continuing it for
three years. Procuring a steam outfit, he then en-
gaged for three years in threshing, after which he
commenced farming, and has ever since followed
that vocation. For six years he farmed on the halves
in Leacock township, then came to the place in Para-
dise township, located one mile southeast of Lea-
man Place, which he lately occupied. It is known
as the Belmont farm, and was operated by Mr.
Wagner for nineteen years. It is now the property
of the Pennsylvania railroad company, and contains
eighty-six acres of land. Mr. Wagner engaged in
general farming and stock dealing. He married
Sept. 13, i860. Miss Rachel Ruth, who was born in
Leacock township, Aug. 10, 1832, daughter of Simp-
son and Mary Ann (Becker) Ruth. To Samuel and
Rachel Wagner were born three children, Mary Ann,
who lived with her father until his death Aug. 23,
1902; Simpson, living in Paradise township, who
married Miss Annie Martin and has three children,
Mable, Florence, and Ruth ; and Emma, the wife of
Ed. J. Kautz, of Paradise township, and the mother
of two children, Samuel and Blanche. The mother
died April 6, 1895. Samuel Wagner was a member
of the Reformed Church, as is his son, and the
family are among the honored and highly respected
people of Lancaster county.
HIRAM C. LOCKARD, a retired farmer and
a citizen of great respectability and influence, was
bom in Rapho township, Lancaster county, Feb. 2,
1832, a son of John M. and Anna (Conklin) Lock-
ard, natives of Columbia and West Hempfield town-
ships, respectively, but both of whom died in Rapho
township, the father in 1869, at the age of seventy-
two years, and the mother in the same year, when
sixty-eight years old.
John M. Lockard was a blacksmith by trade.
With his wife, he was a very pious member of the
United Brethren Church, and he gave the ground
to the United Brethren congregation which it after-
ward consecrated for burial purposes. The remains
of John M. and wife, however, were interred in
Newtown, Rapho township. Their family comprised
seven children, born in the following order : Mar-
garet, deceased, who was first married to George
Maxville, and afterward to William McGee; Sam-
uel, deceased ; John, a retired engineer at Chickies ;
Mary, deceased wife of Aaron Dyer; Hiram C,
whose name opens this article ; Harriet, who died in
infancy; and Washington, of York, Pennsylvania.
Hiram C. Lockard was married, Dec. 16, 1856,
in Cordelia, Pa., to Barbara E. Hougendobler, and
to this marriage there were born the following chil-
dren: Anna, of Harrisburg, wife of Martin Su-
gars, a railroad conductor ; Harvey, clerk in the
Columbia Hotel and married to Nellie Harsh ; John,
also of Columbia, and married to Mary Daum ;
George, a farmer of West Hempfield township;
Mary C, wife of Jacob Gaber, foreman of the plow-
works in West Hempfield township; Barbara, de-
ceased wife of John Froelich ; Samuel, a carpenter in
Columbia ; and Hiram, also of Columbia. Barbara
E. (Hougendobler) Lockard was born in Cordelia,
Dec- 4, 1836, a daughter of Henry and Catherine
(Getz) Hougendobler, who were farming people of
West Hempfield fbwnship, where the father died in
1858, when sixty- four years old, and the mother
in 1894, at the age of eighty-eight years, and were
buried in Ironville cemetery. They were members
of the United Brethren church, and in politics Henry
Hougendobler was a Republican. Their children
were named as follows: Elizabeth, the deceased
wife of John Crider; George. and Henry, deceased;
Christiann, deceased wife of Aaron Lutz ; Albert,
who died in infancy; Catherine, deceased wife of
Christian Baker; Barbara (Mrs. Lockard); Mary,
wife of William Burnheisel, a carpenter in West
Hempfield township; John, who was killed in the
Civil war ; Amos, postmaster and shoe merchant in
Columbia ; and Adeline, wife of Lewis Briggs, bag-
gage master for the Pennsylvania Railway Company
at Erie, Pa. The maternal grandparents of Mrs.
Barbara E. Lockard, George and Elizabeth Getz,
came . from Germany. George Getz was a miller
by calling, but was also a farmer and charcoal
burner, and although he started in this country a
poor man, became very wealthy and at the time of
his death owned several large tracts of land.
Hiram C. Lockard, at the time of his marriage,
rented a farm in West Hempfield township, and
continued to be a renter for many years, when
he purchased a farm in West Hempfield, which he
cultivated until 1885. That, year he removed to
Columbia, and engaged in the men's furnishings
business for three years, when he sold out simply
because the landlord wanted the store, thus sacri-
ficing a profitable business. For the next two years
Mr. Lockard lived again in Cordelia, then returned
to Columbia, and lived there until the spring of
1898, when he came to Cordelia, with the intention
of returning to Columbia at no distant day, which he
recently did.
Mr. Lockard and wife are devoted members oT
the United Brethren Church, and in politics Mr.
Lockard is a Democrat. The life of Mr. Lockard
has been pure and simple and without guile, and
his name has always been honored and respected
wherever he has lived — in town or in the country —
and he numbers his friends by the hundred.
JOSEPH KNAPP, a merchant grocer of Co-
lumbia, was born in Dillsburg, Germany, Oct. 15,
1851, and is a son of Ludwig and Mary M. (Hildt)
Knapp, of Neckar and Dillsburg, Baden. Germany,
who came to Columbia, Pa., in 1855. The father
was a baker by trade, but after reaching America
became a general laborer. He died in Columbia in
1868 at the age of fifty years. His widow survived
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1253
him until June, 1887, when she expired, aged sixty-
three. They were devout Catholics, and their re-
mains were interred in Holy Trinity cemetery.
. To Ludwig and Mary M. (Hildt) Knapp were
born the following named children : Anna R., widow
of Adam Smith, who was a blacksmith, and to whose
marriage were born eight children ; Joseph, a -gro-
cery merchant, of Columbia ; Frances, who married
John Shillow; and Mary;
John Shillow, deceased, was a brother of Frank
Shillott, although the name is spelled differently.
John Shillow was a butcher by trade. At Columbia,
June 2, 1887, he married Frances Knapp, to which
tmion' one child, Agnes M., still with her mother,
was born, but the father was called away Jan. 26,
1888, prior to the infant's birth, and his remains are
interred in Holy Trinity cemetery, at Lancaster.
Joseph Knapp was brought to Columbia by his
parents when he was but four years of age, and there
was educated in the district school, as well as the
parochial. At the age of eighteen years, he began
clerking in a dry-goods store, where he remained
for sixteen and a half years, and then engaged in his
present business. Mr. Knapp has been a director
■of the Central National Bank of Columbia for eight
years, is a director of St. Joseph's Building Asso-
ciation, and for the past twenty-five years has been
secretary of St. Peter and Paul's Benevolent Or-
ganization. He has speculated largely in real es-
tate, and has built seven fine edifices in Columbia.
He is a devout Catholic, and freely contributes to
the support of his church. In politics he is a Demo-
crat.
Joseph Knapp was joined in the holy bonds of
matrimony in April, 1894, at Philadelphia, with Miss
Emma Chappatte, and to this marriage have been
born three children, viz. : Alphoiise Joseph, William
C, and Mary M. Mrs. Emma (Chappatte) Knapp
was born in the city of Philadelphia and is a daugh-
ter of Constant and Agatha (Ulman) Chappatte,
natives of Switzerland and Prussia, respectively,
but married in Philadelphia, where they now reside.
Constant Chappatte was born in 1828 and his wife in
the same year. To their marriage were born four
children, viz. : Josephine, who died an infant ; Jos-
eph H., a watch-case maker in Philadelphia; Con--
stant J., a musician, whose location is unknown ; and
Emma (Mrs. Knapp). The father was also a watch-
case maker, but is now retired. The family are de-
voted Roman Catholics.
ABRAM A. LEFEVER, a farmer in East Dru-
more township, Lancaster county, was born in Stras-
burg township, April 8, 1846, his parents being John
E. and Eliza ( Martin) Lef ever, both of whom were
natives of Lancaster county.
John E. Lef ever was the son of Benjamin Le-
fever, of Lampeter township, and Mr. Lefever mar-
ried and settled in Strasburg township until old
age came upon him. He then bought a home near
Camargo, where he died in 1885. His wife passed
to her reward in 1876. They were the parents of
six sons and two daughters, four of whom are living :
John, living in Camargo ; Martin, in East Drumore ;
Abner, of Lancaster; and Abram A., whose name
introduces this article. Susan married Benjamin
Shaub, who was killed by a train while walking on
the track. She died and left a large family. Eliza
Lefever married Daniel B. Mowrer, of Eden town-
ship, and located near Camargo, where she and her
husband both died, leaving three children : Emma,
who married Miner Ressler; Lottie, who married
Daniel Deiter; Winnie, who married Harry Herr.
Abram A. Lefever was reared on the paternal
estate, and in September, 1868, married Elizabeth,
a daughter of Joseph and Susan (Myers) Groff.
Mrs. Lefever was born in East Drumore township,
April 2, 1847. Her father settled near Oak Bot-
tom, on the farm now owned by Henry Heidel-
baugh, on which he made the first ■ improvements.
There he reared his family, and there both he and
his wife died.
Mr. Lefever was located for a time in Strasburg
township, and then for seven years in Camargo, and
two years on the Isaac Bauman farm in Eden. In
1879 he moved to the farm where he now resides,
the Gilbert Dickinson farm. His reputation is that
of a master of agriculture.
Mr. and Mrs. Lefever are the parents of ten
children: (i) Daniel F., who died in childhood;
(2) Harvey J. born in 1870, who married Miss
Sailie Burkey, of Mechanics Grove, and lives on a
farm in East Drumore township, where they are
rearing four children, Abram, Harry, Annie, and
Milton; (3) Amos, born in 1873, who married
Susie Russell, lives on his farm in East Drumore
township, and has one daughter, Virgie ; (4) John,
born in 1874, who married Flora Deever, lives in
Ouarryville, where he is engaged in a creamery,
and has two children, Amos and James ; (5) Annie,
born in 1876, who is a seamstress and unmarried,
living at home ; (6) Charles, born in 1879, who lives
at home; (7) Susie, born in 1881 ; (8) William,
1883; (9) Abram,. 1886; (10) Ira, 1890. All
the children not otherwise noted are still at home.
Mr. Lefever is a Republican, and in religion,
both he and his wife were nurtured in the faith of
the Old Mennonite Church as both their parents
were among the early workers and founders of that
church in Strasburg township. The Lefevers and
Groflfs can look back with pride upon their ancestors
who participated in the Revolutionary struggle,
and were honorable and upright in every generation.
HENRY WESTERHOFF, an important factor
in the industrial growth of Ephrata borough and
one of the most prominent business men of Lancaster
countv, is the efficient secretary and treasurer of
the Paterson (N. J.) Silk Mill Co.
The Westerhoff family originated in Holland,
where Eugene Westerhoff was a teacher in the
schools for a period of forty-five years, as was also
1254
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
his father before him, the two rounding out almost
a century of service to the youth of the land. Jacob
Westerhofl:, his son, was born in Holland in 1810
and came to America in 1861, settling in Midland
Park, N. J., where he died in 1896. His wife,
Henrietta (Koot) Westerhoff, was born in 1821
and resides with her son Peter, in Paterson, N. J.
They reared a family of worthy children: John;
Annie, who married Ira Griifin, of Holland; Eu-
gene; Carrie; Albert, of Paterson; Egbert, of
Paterson; R. R., a railroad engineer; Henry, of
this sketch; and Peter, the youngest, who is the
president of the Westerhoff Brothers & Mapier
Co., silk manufacturers of Paterson and Jamesburg,
N. J., and of Ephrata borough and Denver,
Pennsylvania.
Although Henry Westerhoff now occupies a
position of trust and influence, he has reached it
through a long and toilsome experience. Born
May 8, 1861, into a family already burdened with a
number of little children, at the early age of ten
years he assumed his part of the support of the fam-
ily by entering the mills in Paterson, where he
faithfully worked until, at the age of sixteen, he
was considered efficient enough to be made the
foreman in the weaving and spinning department of
the silk mill, which position he held for several years.
Later he engaged as foreman with other mills, all
this time acquiring valuable information and a thor-
ough and practical knowledge of the business. In
1889 Mr. Westerhoff first established the South
Paterson Silk Co., and after a successful career for
five years he sold that business and started with his
brother, Peter D. Westerhoff, in the same line, con-
tinuing thus until 1896, at which time Thomas S.
Mapier entered the firm and the firm name now
is Westerhoff Bros. & Mapier Co., Inc. In 1894, as
the business was in such a flourishing condition that
it seemed the part of wisdom to extend its possi-
bilities, the annex was started at Ephrata, Pa., and
in 1899 they still farther extended their scope by
buying an interest in the Fleetwood silk mills, all
three plants running on full time, giving employ-
ment to a great number of people and proving one
of the most useful industries in the county. In
1901 they sold their interest in the Fleetwood mill,
and established the annexes at Jamesburg, N. J.,
and Denver, Pennsylvania.
In 1886 Henry Westerhoff' was married to Miss
Fannie H. Flosblum, of Albany, N. Y. To this
union were born: J. Henry, born in 1887; Rutter
G. in October, 1889 ; and Hattie, in August, 1894.
The beloved wife and mother passed out of life in
October, 1898, at the early age of thirty-four years.
In 1901, Mr. Westerhoff married Miss S. E. Brown,
of Pleasant Grove, Pa., daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Davis A. Brown. Mr. Westerhoff is an example of
what may be accomplished by the exercise of energy
and perseverance. Deprived of opportunities for
education, he took advantage of the night schools
at Paterson and obtained after a day of toil the
mental training that was impossible during working
hours, thus showing the spirit which has made him
a successful man. Courteous in manner, he wins
friends on all sides, while he is recognized as a keen
man of business, fully aUve to the interests of his
firm. Perhaps no man in this section has done more
for its industrial development than has Henry
Westerhoff.
WILLIAM M. BAREFOOT, of Columbia, one
of the favorite conductors on the Pennsylvania Rail-
road, was born in Bethania, Salisbury township,
Lancaster county, Nov. 26, 1841, and is a son of
Job P. M. and Nancy (McCaskey) Barefoot, of
Bedford and Lancaster counties respectively. Job
and Nancy Barefoot were the parents of nine chil-
dren, viz : John M., who died in Chester county ;
Margaret, who was married to Solomon Powers,
and died in Columbia; Sarah, who died in Cam-
bridge, Ind. ; Isabella, who was married to Dr. J.
W. Houston, of Lancaster, and died in Chester
county ; Rebecca, the wife of E. Pierce McClelland,
a farmer; Job, a retired railroad man in Philadel-
phia ; William M. ; Kimloe, who died young ; and
Clara, unmarried and residing in Philadelphia.
Job P. M. Barefoot was a drover who came to
Lancaster when a young man and remained there
until i860 ; he then moved to Chester county, where
he passed away in 1869, aged seventy years, and his
wife in March, 1870, aged sixty-seven. The latter
was a member of the Presbyterian Church. The
remains of both were brought to Lancaster county
for interment and rest side by side in Leacock
cemetery. The paternal grandparents of Wm. M.
Barefoot were William and Polly Barefoot, of Bed-
ford county, and the maternal grandparents were
John and Margaret McCaskey of Lancaster county.
William M. Barefoot was reared on his father's
farm but did no farm work, as there was ample
hired help. He remained at home until twenty-
three years old, when he started West as a sales-
man, handling agricultural implements, etc. for four
years ; he then returned to Pennsylvania, and at
Columbia in 1870 began work with the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company as brakeman ; three years
later he was made a flagman and two years after
that was promoted to his present position as
conductor.
In January, 1870, Mr. Barefoot married in Dub-
lin, Wayne Co., Ind., Miss Martha L. Armstrong,
who has borne him three children, namely : Mary
A., who died young ; Lynn H., a silk weaver, who
married Fanny Zink, now deceased, and became the
father of two children, Martha B. and Harriet;
Oscar F. W., who served in Co. C, P. V. I. in the
Porto Rican war, and is now a fireman on the
Pennsylvania Railroad.
Mrs. Martha L. Barefoot was born in Paradise
township Lancaster county, Sept. loth, 1839, a
daughter of John and Mary (Helm) Armstrong.
John Armstrong, a farmer, who was born in March
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1255
i796,Nlived in Lancaster county until i860, when he
went to Wayne county, Ind. ; there he died, March
23. 1877, and his widow, a member of the Presby-
terian Church, passed away May 16, 1880, at the
age of seventy-eight years. To this couple were
born fourteen children, viz: Julia, deceased wife
of Jacob Tout; Sarah, widow of Jacob Barmaster,
of Wayne county, Ind. ; Harriet, widow of Henry
Markley, of the same county; Martin, a retired
blacksmith, of Marion county, Ind.; Harman, a
merchant, also of Wayne county ; Rebecca, widow
of John Wike, of Wayne county ; Jacob, who died
in Columbia, Pa. ; Mary, wife of Henry Binkley,
a coachmaker at Tipton, Ind. ; Barbara, widow of
Samuel Barefoot (brother of William M.), of
Cambridge, Ind. ; George, who died young ; Martha ;
John and Jackson, who died in Indiana ; and Elam,
of Shelby county, that State. Of this family, three
sons, Martin, Jackson and Elam, were Union soldiers
in the war of the Rebellion. The paternal grand-
parents of Mrs. Barefoot were Harman and Mary
(Lingeffield) Armstrong, and the maternal grand-
father was George Helm, a native of Germany, all
agricultural people in Lancaster county, Pennsyl-
vania.
Mr. Barefoot is a member of the O. of R. C,
and in politics is a Democrat.
PETER F. SHEAFFER, M. D., a capable and
rising young physician of Christiana, Lancaster
county, was born in Bart township, Lancaster coun-
ty, in 1859, son of Solomon and Maria (Palmer)
SheafiFer, both of whom were natives of Bart
township.
Solomon Sheaffer died in Leacock township
May 22, 1876, at the age of fifty-seven years. His
remains rest in Rowland cemetery. He was on a
teaming line to Philadelphia as early as fourteen
years of age, driving six horses after the construc-
tion of the road. In after years he became a prom-
inent farmer and grew quite wealthy, being a man
of more than the usual ability. During the Civil
war he was drafted into the service, but sent out a
substitute. In politics he was a Republican. At
various times he was called upon to settle different
estates. A few years prior to his death he pur-
chased the land on which Vici, Pa., is now built.
His widow, who is still living, was born in 1832.
She is a member of the Reformed Church, as was
also Mr. Sheaffer, and though he did not attend
church services very regularly, he was a devout
Christian, a thorough and daily student of the Bible
and upright and honest all his life. To this worthy
and much respected couple were born the following
children : Peter F. ; Albert N., a railroad fireman
at Harrisburg ; Clara E., widow of Joseph Barr, of
Springville, Pa. ; and Edgar M., a farmer in Earl
township. Peter Sheaffer, the paternal grandfather
of Peter F., was a farmer of Earl township, this
county, and came of Swiss stock.
Peter F. Sheaffer was married in New Holland,
Pa., in 1883, by Rev. D. W. Gerhart, to Sally Eckert,
and one child was born to this union, Leon F. Mrs.
Sally (Eckert) Sheafter was born in Leacock town-
ship, daughter of Otmer S. and Barbara (Eby)
Eckert, natives of I^ancaster county, where he
owned a farm and mill. The father died in the old
homestead in Leacock township in 1869, at the age
of fifty-seven years. His ashes now repose in the
Rowland cemetery connected with the church of
that name. The mother, who now resides in Lan-
caster, was born in 1834.
Dr. Sheaffer remained at home until he was
seventeen, when he began his attendance at the
Millersville Academy. When he was twenty-one
he attended Jefferson Medical College, from which
he was graduated in 1881, and that year he opened
an office in Compassville, Pa., where he engaged in
the practice of his profession for two and a half
years, at the end of that time coming to Christiana.
There he won friends at once by his professional
skill and gentlemanly demeanor and today he has a
large and lucrative patronage. He is a devout and
upright member of the Presbyterian Church, and
fraternally he belongs to the I. O. O. F. In politics
he is a Republican and for three years he served as
school director. Personally, he is a man of high
character and lofty principles, enjoying the confi-
dence and respect of the community to a marked
degree and he has been called upon to settle many
estates.
W. PERCY PAULES, leaf tobacco merchant
and packer at Marietta, was born in East Donegal
township, Lancaster county, a short distance from
Marietta borough, Oct. 25, i860, a son of Joseph
F., and ("aroline (Leed) Paules, natives of this
county, who were married in Marietta in 1858.
Joseph F. Paules was also engaged in the tobacco
business, and was a township official of considerable
ability. He died in the faith of the United Brethren
Church at the home of his son, W. Percy, in Jan-
uary, 1897, at the age of sixty-four years. To his
marriage with Miss Leed were born three children,
Howard, assistant janitor at the court house in
Lancaster; Franklin, who died young; and W.
Percy.
Mrs. Caroline (Leed) Paules was born in Cum-
berland county, Md., March 5, 1842, a daughter of
Peter and Betsey ("Shields) Leed, who were born
in Lancaster county. Pa., but moved to Maryland,
where Mr. Leed engaged in agricultural pursuits
in Cumberland county until his death, which took
place in 1842. Mrs. Leed returned to Lancaster
county, her daughter Caroline being then but three
months old, and settled in East Donegal township,
where she died in August, 1898, at the age of eighty-
four years, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Leed
were five in number, and were born in the follow-
ing order: Peter, a tobacco farmer of Marietta
township; Eliza, deceased wife of Henry Lotz ;
1256
BIOGRAPHICAL ANN.\LS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Lovina, who was first married to John Nagle, and
next to George Lilly, but is now deceased; Viola,
widow of Arch Maloney, and Caroline, mother of
Mr. Paules.
W. Percy Paules was employed in his father's
tobacco trade at the age of sixteen years, and when
he had learned the business and had reached the
years of discretion, began in the same line of work
on his own account in 1883, and has since success-
fully conducted it, handling, the past year, about
400,000 pounds of the fragrant commodity.
Mr. Paules has been twice married, first in 1881,
at Marietta, to Miss Mary A. Llewelyn, and there
were born to this union three children — Anna L.,
Eva D. and Howard — the latter two deceased. Mrs.
Mary A. Paules was a native of Marietta, and a
daughter of Jesse and Mary Llewelyn, the former
of whom was a machinist. Mrs. Mary A. Paules
died in February, 1888, at the age of twenty-eight
years. In 1896 Mr. Paules married, in East Done-
gal township. Miss Jennie R. McKain, a native of
Lancaster .county, and a daughter of William and
Mary J. McKain, the former of whom is a retired
farmer of East Donegal township. Mr. Paules is
a member of the I. O. R. M. and the K. of M. C.
His religious connection is with the M. E. Church.
He is a Republican in politics, is a self-made man,
and is very jpopular.
JOHN REINHART (deceased), was for many
years one of the industrious and representative
citizens of Columbia, where he lived to a good old
age and died, leaving among a wide circle of friends
and acquaintances, memories of a well-spent and
useful life. He was born in Donegal township,
Lancaster county, in 1807, the son of Christian
and Rebecca (Hinkle) Reinhart, of Donegal town-
ship. John was one of four children, namely :
Christian, who died young; Susan, who first mar-
ried Jacob Henderson and later Edward Givens;
Mary, who married Mr. Hulsapple, and moved
West ; and John. Rebecca, the mother, by a second
marriage to Mr. Myers had the following children:
William, a farmer of Donegal township; Simon,
deceased ; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Samuel
Lochard.
In his youth John Reinhart learned the shoe-
maker's trade, and followed it for many years. He
removed to Columbia early in life and later was
employed in a rolling mill. He was an attendant
at the Presbyterian Church. His death occurred
April 5, 1900, at the advanced age of eighty-three
years. At Columbia in October, 1858, he had mar-
ried Barbara Hogentogler, who was born in Colum-
bia, Jan. I, 18,37, daughter of Isaac and Ann (Ham-
mond) Hogentogler, natives of Lancaster and Chest-
er counties, respectively, and granddaughter of Sam-
uel and Elizabeth (Monk) Hogentogler, of Lan-
caster county. Isaac Hogentogler came to Colum-
bia when a boy. He was employed on the old State
road for a time and later was for many years in the
service of the railroad company. He died in De-
cember, 1893, aged eighty-three years ; his wife
died June 10, 1855, aged forty-four years; both
were buried in Mt. Bethel cemetery. To Isaac and
Ann Hogentogler were born the following children :
Barbara, wife of Mr. Reinhart; Jefferson, who
served in the Rebellion and is now a railroad en-
gineer, residing in Columbia; Mary E., who died
unmarried; Simon, who enlisted in the army and
died of starvation in Andersonville ; Nowell, who
served in the army during the Civil war and was
murdered by an unknown assassin in Columbia
after the war ; James, Charlotte and Catherine, who
all died young; and Frank, a railroad man of
Columbia.
To John and Barbara Reinhart were born seven
children, as follows : Anna, wife of William
Smoker, a railroad conductor of Columbia; George
W., whose sketch appears below; Susan; Isaac,
deceased ; Minnie ; Lillie ; and Charles.
George W. Reinhart, son of John and Barbara
Reinhart, was born in Columbia, June 21, 1859.
He began his business career in 1871 by working
one season for S. H. Purple in a nursery. For a
year he was then employed in a' rolling mill and
during his youth he found various employment until
he was twenty-two years of age. Then in 1881 he
began his railway service with the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company. For six years he Was employed
as a brakeman, then resigning, he secured a position
in the freight house. Promotions followed rapidly
and for the past sixteen years he has been foreman
in the freight house.
On Feb. 2, 1883, George W. Reinhart married
Frances A. Given, a native of Fayetteville, Frank-
lin county, daughter of Henry and Sarah Given,
formerly of York county. Eight children were born
to this marriage: Anna, Nettie and George, all
deceased ; Charles ; Philip ; John, deceased ; Sarah ;
and Frank. Mrs. Reinhart died Dec. 16, 1899,
aged thirty-six years.
In politics Mr. Reinhart is independent. He is
a member of the Red Men and of the K. of M. He
is a typical railroad man, industrious, reliable,
honest and highly respected.
JACOB F. MANLICK, a retired hotel-keeper
and brewer of Marietta, Lancaster Co., Pa., was
born in Wurtemberg. July 16, 1823, and is a son of
Jacob and Rosina (Reaber) Manlick. Jacob Man-
lick was a farmer and hotel-keeper in his native
land, where he died in 1837, at the age of forty-two
years. In 1870 Mrs. Rosina Manlick came to Amer-
ica and lived with her daughter, Mrs. Wilhelmina
Frey, in Philadelphia, until her death, which took
place in 1890, when she was eighty-nine years old.
She was the mother of six children, viz : Jacob F.,
the retired brewer- of Marietta ; Fredericka, widow
of Otto Sust of Philadelphia; Carroll, a carpenter
of the same city ; Henry, deceased ; Gotlieb, re-
tired, and a widower; and Wilhelmina, widow of
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1257
Charles Frey, the last two residents of the Quaker
City.
Jacob F. Manlick attended school in his native
city until fourteen years of age and then learned,
the brewing business, which he followed in Wur-
temberg. until 1850, when he came to America.
For five months was employed as a brewer in Phila-
delphia and then went to Lancaster, where he was
bead brewer for two years and then came to Marietta
and engaged in brewing and hotel keeping on his
own account until 1888, when an enactment of the
Legislature prohibited a hotelkeeper from operating
a brewery. Mr. Manlick then disposed of his brew-
ery to his son Ernest G., but continued to conduct
his hotel until 1892, when he retired from all active
business.
Jacob F. Manlick married in Lancaster. Oct.
16, 1853, Miss Margaret Sauber, who was born in
Bavaria, Germany, and was a daughter of Conrad
and Margaret Sauber. On coming to America,
Mr. Sauber located in Lancaster, Pa., and operated
a small brewery and was also proprietor of a hotel.
In that city both he and his wife passed the re-
mainder of their lives.
To Jacob F. Manlick and wife were born twelve
children, in the following order: Frederick, Car-
oline, Wilhelmina, Mary and Ernest G., all of
whom died young; Ernest G. (second), hotel pro-
prietor in Marietta; Carroll, Douglas and Matilda,
all deceased; Frederick (second), a druggist in Co-
lumbia, and married to Alice Coble; Matilda (sec-
ond), wife of Joseph Killian, a cigarmaker, in Ma-
rietta, and Anna M., wife of John Housed, of
Lancaster. The mother of this large family died in
November, 1894, at the age of sixty-four years, and
her remains lie interred in the cemetery of the Luth-
eran Church at Marietta, of which church she was
a devout member.
Mr. Manlick is a Democrat in politics, is very
popular with his party as well with the public in
general, and has filled the office of assistant bur-
gess. He attends the Lutheran Church, to the -sup-
port of which he liberally contributes.
JOHN D. HARRAR, senior member of the
firm of J. D. Harrar & Son, and one of the venera-
ble and highly respected citizens of Christiana, was
born in Delaware, Feb. 18, 1818, a son of Joseph
and Catherine (Miller) Harrar.
Daniel Harrar, grandfather of John D., came
with his father, also named Daniel, from Germany
in 1749, and settled near Philadelphia. They were
farming people, and the younger Daniel bore arms
in the Revolution, receiving a pension for his serv-
ices in that struggle. He died about 1793 in Mont-
gomery county, at the age of ninety-three.
Joseph Harrar was born in Montgomery coun-
ty, and his wife in Bucks county. Pa., where they
were married at her home. Coming into Lancas-
ter in 182J, they lived three years in Bart township,
and then removed to Colerain township, where they
spent their lives engaged in farming. He died in
185 1, at the age of seventy years; and his widow,
who survived his loss until 1862, died at the age of
seventy-five. They were buried in the cemetery con-
nected with the Baptist Church in Colerain town-
ship, of which they had long been consistent and
useful members. Their children were as follows :
John D. ; Rachel, who married William Slack, and
is deceased ; Nathan, who died in 1845 ; Uriah, also
deceased; Tirzeah, widow of James Murphy, and
a resident of Northumberland county; and Susan
J., who married the late William Savage, and has
her home in Turbotville, Northumberland county.
The maternal, grandparents of John D. Harrar
were Phillip Miller and wife, who spent their lives
engaged in farming in Bucks county, Pennsylvania.
In May, 1842, John D. Harrar was married in
Lancaster, Pa., to Eliza J. Ross, by whom he had
the following children: Laura, deceased wife of
Isaac McGowan ; Roberta, who married William
Chamberlain, a farmer of Sadsbury ; Ella, who mar-
ried William S. Hastings, a lumber, coal and grain
merchant at Atglen, Pa., and has one son; Kate,
wife of A. P. Broomell, an iron manufacturer at
York, Pa. ; Allison, who is a partner with his father
and who married a Miss Hoy, by whom he has had
one daughter ; Buchanan, engaged in the shoe find-
ing business at Philadelphia, who married a Miss
Dance, and has four children ; and William, a trav-
eling salesman from Philadelphia, who married a
Miss Montgomery, who died, leaving one daughter.
Mrs. Eliza J. (Ross) Harrar was born in Ohio,
a daughter of William Ross, who was a blacksmith
in Chester county, and she died April 29, 1889, at
the age of seventy years. Her remains rest in the
cemetery of the Baptist Church in Colerain town-
ship.
John D. Harrar has had a somewhat varied and
eventful history. He remained at home with his par-
ents until he attained his majority, when he took up
the carpenter trade, and followed it until 1848.
That year he established himself in the mercantile
business at Puseyville, where he remained for some
five years, when he transferred himself and his be-
longings to Smyrna, Lancaster county, and con-
tinued there for some fifteen years in the same line.
In 1868 Mr.- Harrar came to his present stand.
Whenever there was a Democratic administration
Mr. Harrar held the post-office in the town where
he was then in business, and for two years has been
school director in Christiana. Flis father's extensive
and complicated estate was settled by him. He and
his wife are members of the Baptist Church.
Mr. Harrar is a man of very superior education
and during his. early manhood taught school some
four yea/s in Drumore and Colerain townships,
Lancaster county, and in Upper Oxford township,
Chester county. In 1838 and 1839 he attended the
Hopewell Academy, and throughout his life has
been recognized as a gentleman of information and
character. At the present time, though his name
1258
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
is at the front, he does biit little work in the store,
leaving the drudgery and hard work to younger
hands.
GEORGE F. STEINHEISER, engineer of a
passenger train on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and
a resident of Columbia, was born in Leaman Place,
Lancaster Co., Pa., Dec. 12, 1841.
Jacob O. Steinheiser, father of George F., was
bom in Strasburg township, this county, taught
school for many years and by trade was a miller.
He was mail carrier from the railroad depot to the
post-office in Lancaster City, having located there
in i860; later he was superintendent of the Lan-
caster county hospital for ten years, and retired
from active business in 1874. His death took place
in December 1899, at the age of eighty-three years.
He was a member of the Lutheran Church. To his
marriage with Anna M. Ingram, of Paradise town-
ship, this cotmty, were born : George F. ; Anna,
who was married to Henry Rudy, and died in 1885 ;
Lizzie and Mary, twins, the former of whom died
in infancy, the latter being the wife of David Peter-
man, a retired butcher of Lancaster; and Jacob,
deceased. The mother of these children died in
1848, at the age of thirty-five years.
The paternal grandparents of George F. Stein-
heiser were Jacob and Sarah Steinheiser, natives
of Germany and during an insurrection in the coun-
try Jacob, with two brothers, was banished and
came to America, settling in Lancaster county. Pa.,
where he followed his trade as a tanner.
George F. Steinheiser was but seven years of
age when his mother died, and he was then placed
out among strangers and worked as a farm-boy
until he was fifteen years old ; he next served as an
apprentice at shoemaking for three and a half years,
but found the confinement injurious to his health,
and returned to farming for a year and a half.
In May 1861, he enlisted at Lancaster, for three
years, in Co. B, ist Pa. Reserve Corps, under Capt.
Thomas B. Barton, and was mustered into the Unit-
ed States service at Camp Carroll, Baltimore, Md.
He fought at Gaines Mill and in the Wilderness;
was next on duty in the ammunition department;
was at the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg, and
at the termination of his three-year's enlistment,
was honorably discharged. He then went to Har-
risburg and began work with the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company as locomotive fireman; he filled
this position five years and eight months, and in
1871 was promoted to engineer; in 1873 he was
transferred to Columbia and that place has since
been his home.
The marriage of Mr. Steinheiser took place in
Lancaster, Dec. 22, 1865, to Margaret P. Goodman,
and five children have come to grace this union, viz :
Lillie J., wife of Joseph Rankin, a street-car con-
ductor in Columbia : Estella, who died young ;
Stella, wife of D. J. Dellet, shop-foreman for the
P. & R. Company at Reading; Owen J., paper
hanger in Columbia ; and Myrtle, who married Guy
Ferguson, the foreman of the Columbia Herald.
Mrs. Margaret P. Steinheiser was born in Marietta^
Pa., in September, 1842, and is a daughter of Peter
and Jane (Moore) Goodman, the former of whom
was a dealer in agricultural implements in Lancaster
and died there in 1883 ; the latter died in Columbia in
1875, at the age of sixty-five years, both members
of the Church of God. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Good-
man were the parents of five children, viz. : Jacob,
G., a cigar manufacturer in Lancaster; Elizabeth,
in Columbia; Margaret P„ now Mrs. Steinheiser;
John M., who died in Lancaster in 1898 ; and Sarah,
of Columbia, unmarried. The paternal grand-
parents of Mrs. Steinheiser were Nicholas and Pa-
tience (McGloglan) Goodman, farming people of
Lancaster cotmty, and her maternal grandparents,
Mr. and Mrs. Moore, were also residents of Lan-
caster county.
Mr. Steinheiser is a K. of G. E. and a member
of the Church of God. In politics he is a Republi-
can, but has never been an officer seeker, although
quite popular in the community and with his party.
He has the full respect and confidence of his super-
iors as to his ability and prudence as an engineer,
and well deserves the high regard in which he is
held by all who know him.
ADAM DELLET, alderman of the Ninth ward
in Lancaster, is descended from a family whose vari-
ous representatives have been conspicuous in city
affairs.
Adam Dellet, his father, was a prominent con-
tractor, and did considerable construction work on
the old State and Pennsylvania Railroads. He was
engaged in an extensive railroad contract at Pitts-
burg, when he died from cholera, in September,
1855. An enthusiastic Democrat, he took an active
part in politics, and was a personal friend of
James Buchanan, President of the United States,
and of the late Col. Reah Frazer, known as "the
warhorse of Democracy." During the Know-Noth-
ing excitement he joined that party. Mr. Dellet
was married to Susan Huber, a native of Lancaster,
and to this marriage came thirteen children, of whom
Adam was the ninth in the order of birth.
Mr. Dellet was born in Lancaster, May 24, 1841,
and was educated in the public schools, which he
left at an early age to enter a daguerreotype gallery,
but he soon transferred himself to the Examiner
office, to learn the printing trade. Of this office he
presently became the superintendent of the job
department, and here he remained until 1888, except
the period of his service in the army. In 1862 he
became a member of Co. E, 178th P. V. I., being
mustered in as sergeant at Harrisburg, on a nine-
months term of enlistment. In 1863 he was dis-
charged from, the service at the same place.
Adam Dellet was married in 1862 to Elizabeth
Knight, who was born in England, and who was
only seven years old, when her father, Thomas
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1259
Knight, now deceased, brought her to America.
From this union were born seven children : Annie
O., wife of William Aldrich, of Lancaster; Sam-
uel G., a printer ; Jennie J., wife of J. Frank Swee-
ton ; Minnie M., the wife of H. G. Pinkerton ; John
O. L., an employe of the Penn Iron Works ; Joshua
L., employed at H. S. Williamson's store; and Em-
ma B., at home.
In 1877 Mr. Dellet was appointed as bank asses-
sor for Lancaster county, by Gov. Geary, and he
discharged the important duties of that position
with credit. In 1880 he was appointed to fill
an unexpired term as alderman and in 1889 was
again appointed to fill another broken term. So
well did he discharge the duties of the office, that
he was elected in February, 1900, to a term of five
years by one of the. largest majorities ever given to a
candidate in that ward. Mr. Dellet is a sturdy
Republican, and has repeatedly served on the city
executive committee, and the county committee of
the party, and has been a delegate to many conven-
tions. An active Grand Army man, he has asso-
ciated with Admiral Reynolds Post, No. 405.
Faithful in his friendships, and willing to help his
friends, devoted to his family and to the interests of
the community, careful in his legal decisions, and
unwavering in his courtesy to all, Adam Dellet is
justly popular, and no man in this district has more
friends personally or politically.
B. FRANK LEAMAN, a general farmer and
highly respected citizen of Sadsbury township, was
born in Strasburg township, on Nov. 16, 1858, and
was a son of Henry and Sarah (Buckwalder) Lea-
man, natives of East Lampeter township, in this
county. The father is a retired farmer of Stras-
burg township, and was born in 1822. The mother
was born in 1823, and died in 1901, and was buried
in the Alennonite cemetery, near Strasburg. The
Leaman family of thi,4 township originated from
the same ancestors as those of the same name in
Leacock township.
The children born to Henry Leaman and his
wife were: Elizabeth, who married Elias Herr,
a merchant and lime dealer in Limeton, Va. ; Susan,
who married Peter B. Espenshade, of Manheim
township; B. Frank; Emma, unmarried, residing
at home; Anna, who married John P. Rohrer, of
Strasburg township ; Martin, deceased ; Henry G.,
a farmer of Paradise township; Mary, deceased;
and Reuben, a farmer of Strasburg township.
B. Frank Leaman was educated in the common
schools and made his home with his parents until
the time of his marriage, with the exception of six
months consumed in a pleasant trip through the
West. In 1886, in New York city, he was united
in marriage to Amanda Sheafifer, and the children
born to this union are; Roy S., John, Clair and
Edna M. Mrs. Leaman was born in Upper Leacock
township, May 10, 1866, a daughter of John and
Maria (Sensenich) Sheafifer, the former of whom
was a native of Upper Leacock and the latter of
East Lampeter township, now residing in West
Lampeter township, where they are leading mem-
bers of the German Reformed Church. The chil-
dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Sheafifer were : Amanda
S. ; Mary, who married Flam Landis, of Sadsbury
township, a farmer; Anna, who married Abraham
Herr, a farmer of Lampeter township ; and Rollie,
a farmer on the old home farm in West Lampeter
township. The grandparents were Isaac and Joan-
na (Diller) Sheafifer, of Lancaster county, and
Samuel and Mary (Resh) Sensenich, also of Lan-
caster county.
After his marriage B. Frank Leaman began
farming in Strasburg township, where he continued
for four years, going then to Manheim township
for two years ; then he came to his present farm,
which he manages with success, employing modern
and progressive methods and raising large crops of
the products of the locality.
In politics Mr. Leaman has always been con-
nected with the Republican party and takes an active
part in public atifairs in his vicinity. His religious
rearing was in the Mennonite Church, and he is one
of the universally respected citizens of Sadsbury
township.
WILLIAM HENDERSON. The late William
Henderson, of Salisbury township, Lancaster coun-
ty. Pa., was born Aug. 14, 1863, to the marriage of
Archibald L., and Margaret Ann (Linvill) Hend-
erson.
William Henderson was reared on his father's
farm, received the ordinary district school prepar-
atory education, was later graduated from the Mil-
lersville Normal School, taught school himself for
two years, and then returned to the homestead,
which he assisted in tilling until his marriage. He
was naturally apt and versatile and to his other
accomplishments added civil engineering, which he
studied after he had married, and then leaving his
bride at home, he went to Oxford, Chester county,
where he followed this profession three years;
thence he removed to Lancaster where he was en-
gaged in engineering for several years, and then
went to Connellsville, where in conjunction with S.
R. Slaymaker, of Lancaster, he laid out the town,
built the trolly railroad line, and there passed the
remainder of his days, being at the time of his death
superintendent of the Connellsville Heat & Power
Company. He was a member of the Episcopal
Church and of the Americas Order; in politics he
was a Republican, was well qualified in his art, in-
dustrious and attentive to his duties, and honored
without exception by all who knew him.
On Feb. 20, 1889, at Lancaster, William Hender-
son was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Ann
Livingston, and to this marriage were born three
children, namely : John L., who died at the age of
ten years ; Ruth, and Margaret. Mrs. Sarah Ann
(Livingston) Henderson was born in Salisbury
1260
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
township, Lancaster county, a daughter of Isaac
and Mary (Linvill) Livingston, and" granddaughter
of William and Jane Livingston, also of Lancaster
county. Isaac Livingston was a highly respected
farmer of Salisbury township and died in 1887 at
the age of seventy-four years, having lost his wife
in 1864, she having died at the age of twenty-two.
The remains of both were interred in the cemetery
of the old Friends'Meeting House at Sadsbury, they
having been birthright members of the Friends'
Society. They left, to mourn their loss, besides a
host of friends, a family of four children, viz:
Harriet, wife of C. E. Reece, D. D. S., in Atglen,
Chester county ; Sarah A., Mrs. Henderson ; Thom-
as, who was twice married, first to Ida Kurtz, and
secondly to Ida I^ivingston ; and Isaac, a decorator
residing in Lancaster. The maternal grandparents
of Mrs. Henderson were William and Ann (Sup-
plee) Linvill, also highly respected farming people
of Lancaster county.
Mrs. Henderson lived on her old homestead until
her husband had properly learned the details of his
profession, and after he had gone to Connells-
ville to live, joined him in 1896. At his death she
returned to her farm in Sadsbury township, where
she still resides in comfort, mingling with the best
society and classed among the better informed and
more intelligent residents of the village and town-
ship. Both the Henderson and Livingston families
are among the oldest and most substantial in the
neighborhood, their ancestors having been early
settlers and among the prime factors in developing
the agricultural possibilities of the township and
county, and in some instances promoting their manu-
facturing enterprises, particularly by the invest-
ment of means for this purpose.
JOHN H. CORRIGAN, one of Columbia's
highly respected and honored citizens, who has
been an engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad for
the past nine years, was born in that city, Sept. 17,
1859, a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Nefif) Corri-
gan, the former a native of Philadelphia, the latter
of York county.
The father was only two years old when brought
by his parents to Columbia, where he grew to man-
hood and where for a time he was employed as flag-
man on the railroad, but later gave his attention to
teaming. He drove a team in the army during the
Civil war, being a member of Co. F, i9Sth P. V. I.,
and when mustered out at the close of the war was
serving as commissary sergeant. Later he was an
honored member of the Grand Army of the Repub-
lic, and both he and his wife held membership in the
United Brethren Church. They were married in
Columbia, and continued to make that city their
home until called from this life. The father was
born in 1834, and died in May, 1890, while the
mother was born in 1840, and died Aug. 9, 1857.
John H. Corrigan continued to make his home
with his parents until he was married, in October,
1879, at Columbia, to Miss Kate Shank, by whom
he had two children, namely : Robert, at home with
his father ; and Lillie, now the wife of Frank Wil- ■
son, of Columbia. Mr. Corrigan was again mar-
ried, in Columbia, Oct. 24, 1886, his second union
being with Carrie Edna Blouse, and to them have
been born three children, Earl, Florence and Ada,
all at home. Mrs. Corrigan was born in York coun-
ty. Pa., Jan. 9, 1863, a daughter of Henry and Lena
(Wallick) Blouse, also natives of York county, the
former born in 1834, the latter June 2, 1837. In
early life the father was a boatman, but is now
living retired in his native county. Both he and
his wife are active members of the United Evan-
gelical Church and are held in high regard by all
who know them. Their children are : Florence L.,
who is the widow of George S. Uberdorf and is
living with her parents ; Ida, wife of Reuben Swartz,
of York, Pa. ; Carrie Edna, now Mrs. Corrigan ; and
Amandus, who is with the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company at Columbia. Mrs. Corrigan's maternal
grandparents were Harry and Elizabeth Wallick,
of York county.
On starting out in life for himself, Mr. Corri-
gan worked for a water company, laying pipes for a
few months, and then was employed in a flouring
mill for seven years. After working in Bruner's
coalyard at Columbia for a few months he entered
the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
in 1878, serving as brakeman until 1882. He was
next em.ployed as fireman, and in 1891 was pro-
moted to engineer, in which capacity he is still em-
ployed. Socially Mr. Corrigan affiliates with Chic-
salunga Tribe, No. 39, I. O. R. M. ; and politically
he is identifled with the Republican party, taking a
deep interest in political matters. Those who know
him best are numbered among his warmest friends,
and no citizen of his community is held in higher
regard.
JOHN CRAWFORD, a retired farmer of Cole-
rain township, Lancaster county, was born on his
present farm Nov. 4, 1823, his parents being Oliver
and Martha (Walker) Crawford, old time families
in both Lancaster and Chester counties.
Oliver Crawford was born at the family home
in Colerain township as early as 1794, and his wife
Martha Walker, in Chester county in 1799. Mr.
Crawford was the son of John Crawford who was
born in County Derry, Ireland, and who came to
this country when a young man, and took part in
the Revolutionary War, being with Washington at
Valley Forge. After the war he married a Miss
Bunting, and established the home where John
Crawford now lives. When- he secured it he found
wild land on his hands, and by hard and tremendous
work he cleared up a farm which has remained in
his family to the present day. The stone house and
barn which he erected are still in use. Here John
Crawford and his wife died. They were the second
family to locate in this, section. ' The Crawfords
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1261
were Presbyterians in their faith. To John Craw-
ford and his wife were born two sons and two
.daughters : WilHam, who moved to Ohio when a
young man, married there and became the father
of a numerous family; Mary A. married a Mr.
Campbell, and moved with him to Baltimore, where
he died, leaving no children ; Polly died at the home
unmarried ; and Oliver, the father of John, received
but a rneagre schooling when a boy, and began life
for himself as a farmer on the old homestead.
When Oliver Crawford was married to Martha
Walker, they settled on the old Crawford home-
stead, and there they lived and died. His death
occurred in 1841, and her death in 1861, his father
dying the same year with Oliver. Oliver Crawford
and his wife were the parents of the following fam-
ily: Ellen married Frederick McClellan, and set-
tled on his farm, where she died leaving a family,
three of whom live in Chester county, and John, in
Chicago; Mary A. married James McClellan, and
lived in Colerain township, where she died, leaving
one daughter-, Martha, who is now the wife of
Joseph Richardson, of New Jersey; Jane married
James Palock, of Chester county, and died, leaving
two children, James and Martha, both of Oxford;
Amanda married Robert Black, and is deceased;
Hannah married Silas Williams, and they reside in
Colerain township ; Samuel, deceased, married Mary
J. Cooper, and located in Chester county, but while
visiting in Philadelphia he died, leaving three chil-
dren, Thomas who lives in Oxford, Elizabeth who
lives in Chester county, and Martha, wife of C. Mc-
Clellan ; Elkanah died unmarried ; and John.
John Crawford, whose name introduces this
article, was reared in the home place, attended the
local schools, and remained with his parents as long
as they lived. His father died when he was eigh-
teen years old, and the farm passed into his pos-
session, his mother remaining with him as long
as she lived.
John Crawford and Martha Black were married
in -March, 1851. She was a daughter of Isaac and
Martha Black, who were born in Ireland, and came
to this country in 1825, making their home in Phil-
adelphia, where he lived to be eighty-two years
old. Both father and mother died in Philadelphia,
and there Mrs. Crawford was born in 1828. She
was one of a family of eight children, and is the
only child of her parents now living. Given
superior educational advantages in the high school
of Philadelphia, she became a teacher, and for five
years was employed in the schools of her native
city. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Crawford
located on the old Crawford place, where they
have lived fifty-two years, and have become the
parents of nine children, of whom Izene, Allman,
Ella and John died early in their maturer life.
Alida, born in 1855, married Charles Homsher,
and lives in Philadelphia, where she is the mother
of two children, Ruth and Martha ; Anna E., born
in 1856, married Leander Lamborn, of Chester
county, where they reside on a farm, and have
three children, Esther, Benjamin and Marguerite ;
Elkanah, born in i860, married Hannah Winches-
ter, of Chester county, and is a resident of Phila-
delphia, where they have one daughter, Helen;
Margaret, born in 1864, is the wife of John Place,
who is on the police force of the city of Lancaster ;
and Calvin, born in 1866, is a farmer on the family
homestead, and married Mary Quigley, of George-
town, Lancaster county, by whom he has had two
children : John P. and Elva M. Mr. and Mrs.
Crawford both belong to the Union Presbyterian
Church, of which they have been members over
fifty years. Mr. Crawford has always been a
Democrat, but has never sought office.
The Crawfords are among the old families of
Lancaster county, and the title to the Crawford
home came from the heirs of William Penn. Dur-
ing the Revolution the Crawfords were actively
identified with that great struggle. They helped
found the first free schools in Lancaster county,
and helped to erect the first Presbyterian Church
in Colerain township. Both John Crawford and
his wife are worthy successors to their ancestors
and worthily wear an honored name.
JOHN BRANDT (deceased) was born in Man-
heim township, Sept. 19,. 1813, and -died in Conoy
township, while going to market with a load of
wheat, in January, 1870, and was buried in the
cemetery at Falmouth. John Brandt, Sr., his fa-
ther, was born in Lancaster county, and there he
spent his life. Of the children in the family of
John Brandt, Sr., we have record of the following:
Benjamin; Samuel; Katie, deceased, who married
John Bahm ; Nancy, widow of a Mr. Rudy ; Polly,
who married Jacob Lehman ; and Fanny, who mar-
ried Henry Heisey. The father of this family was
a life-long farmer, and belonged to the River
Brethren Church. The Brandt family is of Swiss
extraction, and its representatives in this country
have been men of ability iand character.
John Brandt, whose career is the subject of this
sketch, was married in West Donegal township,
by the Rev. John Gish, Dec. 26, 1850, to Mrs. Mar-
garet (Grove) Metzgar. To this union were bom
the following children: Elizabeth, wife of The-
ophrlus- Burger, a stone mason of Royalton; Mary,
who died young; Margaret, wife of Jeremiah
Dimeler, a stone mason in Conoy township : Mary,
(2), who died young; Fanny, the wife of William
W. King, a carpenter of Conoy township; Sarah,
the wife of Horace Brenner, a railroad man;
Barbara, wife of Harry Ellenberger, of Enhaut,
Pa. John Brandt had been married previous to his
union with Mrs. Metzgar, his first wife being
Mary Hernley, by whom he had the following chil-
dren : Susan, who lives in California, and has been
thrice married, first to a Mr. Hartzel, second to
Reuben Royer and third to Moses Brubaker ; Anna
is the wife of John Hoffman, of Middletown, Pa. ;
1262
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Hettie is the wife of Fred. Shoebauer, of York
county; and John is a carpenter of Elizabethtown.
Mrs. Margaret (Grove) Brandt; at the time of
her marriage to Mr. Brandt, was the widow of
John Metzgar, who was born in Dauphin county,
Feb. 13, 1818, and died Aug. 26, 1852. To their
marriage was born one son, David, who died at
the age of eighteen years.
Mrs. Margaret Brandt was born in Germany,
Aug. 15, 1825, a daughter of Conrad and EHza-
beth Grove, both natives of Germany, but who
came to this country in 1832, lived in Baltimore a
short time, and then moved to Dauphin county,
where they built a home and remained a few years.
Their final move was to a home in West Donegal
township where the remainder of their lives was
passed. They had a family of two children : Anna,
who married first Philip Troutwine, and second a
Mr. Engerich, and is now dead; and Margaret.
Mrs. Brandt early united with the German Baptist
Church.
William W. King^ son-in-law of Mrs. Brandt,
is a carpenter in Conoy township, and was born in
York county, March 4, 1858, a son of Henry and
Rebecca (Fink) King, natives of York county, who
both died in Dauphin county, the former at the
age of forty-eight, and the latter in 1890, also at
the age of forty-eight. To them were born the fol-
lowing children : William W. ; Harry, of Middle-
town, Pa. ; Emma, wife of Benjamin Ellenberger,
of Enhaut, Pa. ; Mary, wife of John Ebersole, of
Kingston, Pa. ; Fanny, wife of Samuel Kreptz, of
Dauphin county ; and Monroe, of Conoy township.
Mr. King and Miss Brandt were married in High-
spire, Dec. 14, 1881, and have had the following
children: Maggie B., Ella M., Mary A., Harry
J., and Howard W. Mrs. King was born in Conoy
township Aug. 16, 1861. Mr. and Mrs. King came
to their present home in 1895, moving from a place
on the Falmouth Pike. Mr. King is a Republican,
and has followed the trade of a carpenter since
he was seventeen years old.
MARIS HOOPES, one of the most reliable
conductors on the Pennsylvania Railroad and a res-
ident of Columbia, was born in Conestoga town-
ship, Lancaster county. Pa., Aug. 17, 1841, the sixth
of a famijy of ten children, born to Maris and Mary
Ann (Harlan) Hoopes, natives of Chester county,
who settled in the above-named township and coun-
ty in 1830.
Maris Hoopes, the elder, was an iron master,
and during the Civil war was a government pay-
master. He was born Aug. 27, 1801, and died
Nov. 12, 1878; and his wife, born May 29, 1808,
died July 28, 1885, the remains of both being In-
terred in Mount Nebo Presbyterian cemetery, in
Martic township. Their children were named as
follows: Harlan, Elizabeth, Hannah, Mary and
Harriet, all deceased; Maris; Coleman, a baggage-
master at Lebanon; Henry and Hannah (2), de-
ceased; and Emma, wife of John T. Brubaker, a
contractor in Martic township.
The paternal grandparents of Maris Hoopes
were Joshua and Elizabeth (Alexander) Hoopes,
of Chester county, the former of whom was a mil-
ler ; the maternal grandparents were Levi and Han-
nah (Sheldon) Harlan, also of Chester county, and
farming people.
Maris Hoopes was reared on the home farm,
and attended school until twenty years of age. He
began his business life as a clerk in the iron works
in Conestoga, held this position three years and
then for four years farmed in Burlington county,
N. J.; thence he returned to Pennsylvania and for
three years was a clerk in the car works at Harris-
burg; he next clerked in the iron works at Coates-
ville three years, later was manager of the ore bank
at Camargo, Lancaster county, four years, and Aug.
17, 1 88 1, came to Columbia. He began work on
the railroad as a brakeman, two years later was
made a flagman and two years after that was ap-
pointed to his present position of conductor.
On Nov. 30, 1865, Mr. Hoopes was married, in
Philadelphia, to Maria J. Ingram, and there have
been born to this marriage four children, viz : Will-
iam, who died an infant; Mary E., the wife of
Charles West, assistant to his father, who is su-
perintendent of the insane asylum at Morristown,
Pa. ; Emma, at home ; and Edward T., clerk for
the Consolidated Rubber Tube works at Philadel-
phia.
Conductor Hoopes is a genial and accommodat-
ing gentleman and obliging railroad official; he is
a Knight of Maccabees ; a member of the Presby-
terian Church, and in politics is a Republican.
SAMUEL IRWIN, a well-known and highly
respected citizen of Christiana, is a self-made man,
one who by his own efforts has won his way to a po-
sition of responsibility with the great Pennsylvania
railroad system.
Samuel Irwin was born in County Derry, Ire-
land, Nov. 9, 1833, son of John and Martha (Flem-
ing) Irwin, farming people of County Derry, where
their whole lives were passed, the father dying in
1867, in his ninety-third year. The mother passed
away before her son left home, in 1848, at the age
of sixty years. Of his grandparents Samuel Irwin
only recalls that his pa^rnal grandfather fell a vic-
tim of smallpox. The children born to John Irwin
and wife were : William, James and John, who died
in Ireland; Nancy J., who (first) married Thomas
Culverson, and (second) William Hutton, and died
in Philadelphia; Mary (deceased), who married
Alexander Hutton; Martha, who married Joseph
Irwin (no relation) ; and Samuel.
Samuel Irwin came from his native country to
America in 1852, and located in Philadelphia, where
he followed weaving for five years. He had also
been a farmer in Ireland. Desiring to resume his
old occupation, he removed to Lancaster county and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER^ COUNTY
1263
remained for eight years, on a farm in. Sadsbury
township, leaving there to enter the employ of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, his first w^ork be-
ing on the track. This necessitated a removal to
Christiana. .Soon his business ability was recog-
nized, and he was made foreman of a track crew on
the Christiana division, remaining for twenty-five
years in that position, attentive to every detail of
the work, and esteemed by his employers. His work
included attention to signals, and so reliable was Mr.
Irwin that when a serious illness attacked him he
was sadly missed. Since 1895 he has had charge of
the electric signals, a position of great respon-
sibility.
Samuel Irwin was married, Feb. 4, 1854, in Phil-
adelphia, to Matilda Seaton, and children as follows
were born to this union: Martha J., who married
Gus. Skillman, lives in Philadelphia, and has two
children; Rachel, at home; John H., who is track
foreman on the Pennsylvania railroad at Pomeroy,
married Isabella Knox, and has ten children ; Mar-
garet, who married Isaac Williams, lives in Phila-
delphia ; Samuel J. B., who married Sadie Carlin, is
the shipping clerk of the Brayburn steel works;
William S., who is foreman on the N. H. & H. Rail-
road, at West Dale, Mass., married Jean Bowland,
and they- have three children ; Charles F., who mar-
ried Amy Skillman, is a railroad foreman on the
Pennsylvania line, and they have three children.
Mrs. Irwin was born in County Tyrone, Ireland,
and passed away at her home Feb. 18, 1900, at the
age of sixty-five years. She was buried in Atglen,
Pa. She came to America when she was eighteen
years old, and was a daughter of John and Matilda
( McKay) Seaton, both of whom spent their days
in Ireland.
The honorable positions to which Mr. Irwin has
attained, and the esteem in which he is held, may
be explained in one way, when it is stated that
neither he nor his sons use either tobacco or drink.
Their lives are hard-working and law-abiding, and
all have become excellent types of American citi-
zenship, and represent the class from which this
great country has drawn her noblest and most ex-
alted citizens
HENRY STAUFFER MUSSER, late of the
firm of Musser & Miller, lumbermen and manu-
facturers in East Donegal township, Lancaster
-county, was born in the present family home, July
16, 1820, son of Jacob and Martha (StaufiEer) Mus-
ser, natives of the same township. Jacob Musser,
■who was a farmer by calling, died in December,
1831, when thirty-two years of age. He was the
father of six children, viz: Henry S. ; Anna, de-
ceased wife of Rev. H. N. Graybill, a Dunkard
•preacher, and a farmer ; Elizabeth, who died young ;
Martha, wife of Lewis Lindermouth, of Marietta;
Jacob, who also died young; and Abraham, who
IS living in retirement in Marietta. Mrs. Martha
■Musser, who was born Aug. 13, 1802, married for
her second husband John Miller, a farmer, and
to this union were born four children, viz: John;
Joseph, the junior member of the firm of Musser
& Miller ; Isaiah, deceased ; and Sarah, wife of John
Conley, a retired banker of Lancaster. John Mil-
ler, the stepfather of Henry S. Musser, did quite
an extensive business as a lumber manufacturer
in addition to farming, and operated the mill, after-
ward owned by Musser & Miller, until his death
in 1867, at the age of sixty-one years. Mrs.
Martha (Musser) Miller survived until 1885.
Henry Stauflfer Musser lived on the home farm
until the death of his father, when he went to
West Hempfield township, and. for five years lived
on the farm of an uncle. Rev. Hostetter, a Dunkard
minister. He then returned to his mother, who by
this time had remarried, and he lived in the old
homestead again until he had reached his majority
(1841), when he was awarded his share of his fa-
ther's estate, which he invested in connection with
his stepfather in the lumber business. In 1863 he
was joined by Mr. Miller in the business in which
he continued to prosper up to his death, which oc-
curred Jan. 17, 1901, when he was aged eighty years,
six months and one day.
Mr. Musser was married in July, 1847, ™ East
Donegal township, to Miss Anna M. Greisinger,
and six children crowned this union, viz ; Eliza-
beth, wife of Charles Johnson, of Philadelphia ;
Stephen, who married Mary Sellers, and is now de-
ceased; Frank, who was killed in December, 1867,
when he was thirteen years of age, by a pile of lum-
ber falling upon him in his father's yard; Ada,
married to Dr. John J. Steiner, of Jefferson county,
Pa. ; Stanton, of Columbia, married to May Grier ;
and Lincoln, member of the Johnson & Musser
Seed Company, who married Emma Pomeroy.
Mrs. Anna M. (Greisinger) Musser was born Oct.
3, 1828, in Rapho township, near Mt. Joy, Ian-
caster county, daughter of Jacob and Anna M.
(Lindersmith) Greisinger, of East Hempfield
township and Mt. Joy. respectively. Jacob
Greisinger was- a coachmaker by trade and also
followed farming, but lived retired for several
years prior to his death, which occurred at the age
of seventy-five years, in 1868; his widow survived
until 1873, dying at the age of eighty. They were
members of the River Brethren Church, and their
remains were buried in the Florin cemetery. They
were the parents of four children, viz.: Barbara,
widow of Christopher Sherick, of Mt. Joy ; Stephen,
a farmer of Rapho township; Anna M., Mrs. Mus-
ser, and Sarah M., deceased wife of Henry Gish.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Musser were
Stephen and Mary (Brubaker) Greisinger, the
former of whom was a farmer near Landisville.
Henry S. Musser, in addition to his lumber
business, owned considerable land, which he laid
out in town lots, besides other valuable property in
close proximity to Marietta borough. He was a
director in the First National Bank of Marietta
1264
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and also in the Marietta Turnpike Company. He
was very well preserved for his years, and very sel-
dom had occasion to use spectacles. In politics he
was a Republican, and for six years served as county
prison inspector. In religion he was a Dunkard, and
bore an unblemished reputation for integrity, in both
private and business life.
AMOS GROFF. This prominent citizen of
Columbia and honored veteran of the Civil war, was
born in the town where he now resides, March i8,
1843. He is a descendant of Hans Groff, who, with
his family, was among the early settlers of Lancaster
county, his home being in what is now known as
Groffdale.
The paternal grandfather of Amos Groff bore
the Christian name of Joseph, and his third wife,
the grandmother of Amos, was Mary Whitestick.
He resided in Martic (now Providence), township,
and both he and she died on the old homestead. His
son Benjamin, the father of Amos, was born in
Providence township in 1816. He became the hus-
band of Elizabeth Lefevre (born in 1820), and was
the father of two sons, Daniel and Amos, the elder
of whom died in 1861. He was a Mennonite, while
his wife was a member of the M. E. Church. He
was a farmer, and died in 1872, at the age of fifty-
six. After, his death his widow married a Mr. Mc-
Collister. She is still living, in Jay county, Indiana.
To this union there were born three children.
Araos Groff was reared upon his father's farm,
and in 1863, being then twenty years old, enlisted for
nine months in Co. I, 20th Pa. Cav. He partici-
pated in many important engagements, among them
the hotly contested battles of Strasburg, Winchester
and Gettysburg. He was mustered out April
6, 1864, at Gettysburg, having passed his period of
services without receiving a wound. He still cher-
ishes the memories of the bivouac, the march and
the field, and the better to keep alive old comrade-
ship has connected himself with Post Relief, of the
G. A. R. After receiving his discharge from the
army, Mr. Groff returned home, and within a few
years purchased a small farm in Providence, which
he cultivated and where he continued to reside until
he was thirty-two years old. The life, however, was
too lacking in incident and excitement to prove at-
tractive to him, and in 1875 he came to Columbia, to
enter the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany. He is still m the service of that corporation,
having passed his first fifteen years as brakeman and
tiagman, after which he was made a conductor. This
post he yet fills.
j\'lr. Groff has a wide circle of friends, by whom
he is much beloved for his urbanity of manner, his
geniality of disposition and his generosity of heart.
His years rest lightly upon him, and his clear, well
disciplined mind and strong physical frame are ever
alert and active. His political creed is that of the
Republican party ; in religious profession he is a
member of the Church of God.
In 1866 at Lancaster, Pa., Mr. Groff was united
in marriage to Miss Anna Huber, by whom he has
been the father of eleven children, whose baptismal
names are as follows : Benjamin F., Harry E.,
Amos H., Frances E., Anna M., Emma F., Elam J.,
Charles VV., Christian A., Nellie S. and William M.
Of these Benjamin and Charles are deceased; Anna,
Emma, Nellie and William are unmarried and live
at home ; Harry E., a machinist, married Alice Her-
shey, and lives in Columbia ; Amos H. and Christian
A. also reside in their native town, and are yet
single; Frances E. is the wife of George E. Hay-
maker, and Elam J. married a Miss Hershey. Both
the latter also have homes in Columbia.
A brief account of MrsT Groff's family history is
of interest in this connection. She was born in
Strasburg township, Nov. 13, 1844, and is a grand-
daughter of Christian and Anna (Shaub) Huber,
who lived and died in that township. Her father
was named Henry S., and her mother before mar-
riage was Fanny Barr, of Eden township. Both
professed the Mennonite faith. He was a farmer and
died in April, 1881, at the age of sixty-six. Mrs.
Groff is one of a family of six children : Christian,
Anna, Elam, Susan, Christian (2) and Fanny. The
eldest and voungest died in early childhood; Elam,
is a shoemaker of Providence; Susan is the wife of
Jacob Brison, of Columbia; Christian (2) is a farm-
er, and lives on the old homestead. Mrs. Groff's
mother died in 1857, having passed the' fortieth
milestone in life's journey. Subsequently her father
married a sister, Anna Barr. Of this union was born
one daughter, Mary E., who has died.
GEORGE B. GRUBE, the proprietor of the
hotel at Neffsville, was born in that interesting and
prosperous Lancaster county village April 15, 1843,
a son of Christian S. and Susan (Boyd) Grube, his
father being a native of Manheim township, and a
son of George Grube, of the same township.
Christian S. Grube was born on a farm about a
mile northwest of Lancaster, in i8ig, and died in
1897. The most of his life he was in the cattle busi-
ness, beginning as a butcher in Neffsville, and later
taking up the work of a drover. His business was
largely of a commission character, buying and ship-
ping to the Philadelphia markets. For many years
he was associated with Adam Deitrich, who bought
cattle in the West, and Mr. Grube cared for them in
the Philadelphia markets. For some years they
were associated, and after the withdrawal of his part-
ner, Mr. Grube continued alone until his retirement,
some years later. His home was in Philadelphia.
A man of generous impulses, though he was shrewd
and keen, yet his open heartedness proved his down-
fall in business. Three times he was married, his
first wife only bearing him children. She was Miss,
Susan Bovd, and died about 1857, being the mother
of eight children: Matilda, deceased wife of Ed-
ward Blickenderfer, of Lancaster City; Mary, the
wife of Amos Shaub, of Lancaster ; George B. ;
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
126&
William B., of Dayton, Ohio; Emma, the wife of
Clifford Smith, of Columbia, Lancaster county;
Samuel B, of Cmiton, Ohio ; Jacob, deceased ; Sally,
the wife of J din Kunkle, of Philadelphia,
George B. Grube was reared with an intimate
know-Jedge of the cattle business, and while still a
very young man embarked in business as a butcher
in Neffsville, -with a capital of muscle, nerve and a
good reputation. Prospered in this, he followed the
business for twelve years, when he took charge of
the hotel at Roseville, at the same time carrying on
his butcher busmess for seven years longer. At the
end of that time he moved to a farm of thirty acres
which he had purchased in Roseville. There he put
up new buildings, and greatly improved the place.
At the end of six years he sold this place and re-
turned to Neffsville, spending a year looking for
an opportunity for a good business investment, stop-
ping at the hotel meanwhile. Mr. Grube bought the
hotel at Roseville, and carried it on for three years,
when he sold it, and lived a private life for a year at
Neffsville. At the end of the year he bought the
hotel at Neffsville, and since 1885 has been its owner
and proprietor. Under his able management it has
become one of the noted hotels of the inland towns
of the county. His genial character, uniform court-
esy and upright spirit have brought him many
friends.
JVlr. Grube has not been willing to confine himself
to his hotel business alone, and has dealt largely in
real estate in and about the village. The old Judge
Lang farm, of ninety-seven acres, belongs to him,
and here he is making many improvements. A bright
and progressive man, he is awake to the demands of
modern life. His business management and sound
judgment have brought him from the conditions Of
comparative penury to wealth and affluence.
Mr. Grube was married in 1868 to Clara E., a
daughter of Peter Albert. She was born in Lancas-
ter, and has become the mother of one child, Harry
A., born in Roseville, in December, 1883. He is in
the Millersville State Normal School.
WILLIAM H. I.,UCAS, general manager and
a director of the Triumph Steam Laundry, the Tri-
umph Embroidery Co. and the Triumph Shirt Co.,
three industries under one roof, is one of the most
progressive citizens of Columbia, and one of the chief
stockholders in these enterprises, the other officers
being: William B. Given, director; F. S. Given,
president and treasurer of the Embroidery Com-
pany; F. A. Bennett, president and director of the
Shirt Company ; C. E. Graybill, secretary ; and E. C.
Shannon, director.
The birth of Mr. Lucas was at Mount Holly,
N. J., Oct. 18, 1850, a son of Miles and Phebe
(Shinn) Lucas, the former of England and the
latter of New Jersey. In 1824, when but eighteen
years of age. Miles Lucas came to America and set-
tled in Pointville, N. J., where he engaged in farm-
ing, at which he continued until his death, in 1853.
80
His widow still survives and now resides with her
daughter in Camden, N. J.; the date of her birth
was April 14, 1813. Both she and husband were
long members of the Presbyterian Church. They
reared these children : Robert, who is a foreman in
a factory in Florence, N. J.; Elizabeth, who mar-
ried George T. Newell, a carpenter and builder, of
Woodbury, N. J. ; John, who was colonel of the
1st N. J. Cav. during the Civil war and was killed
at the battle of Sulphur Springs, an officer of dis-
tinguished bravery; Miles, who died in 1900;
George, a well-known manufacturer of hard wood
fixtures in Philadelphia; Ellen, who 'married Rev.
Mason, a prominent Methodist minister, of Cam-
den, N. J. ; and WilHam H., of this biography.
William H. Lucas was reared on a farm until
the age of nineteen and then went to serve an ap-
prenticeship as a pattern maker in Smithville, N. J.,
where he remained three years, becoming expert in
the business. Then he went to Philadelphia, where
he engaged in shirt cutting for J. B. Atkinson for
the next three years, going from there into the em-
ploy of Allen S. Sternberger for the succeeding
four years. Making a change in his business, he
took charge of the Troy laundry for two years, and
then returned to shirt cutting at Brighton, N. J.,
remaining until 1889, when he came to Columbia
to take charge of the business here, of which he was
one of the organizers. Four months after the estab-
lishment of the Columbia Laundry Company, as it
was first named, he became the general superin-
tendent; in 1897 the Embroidery Company com-
menced the successful manufacture of the finest
Irish Point embroideries, it being the only factory
of its kind in Lancaster county. Mr. Lucas also
established the Columbia Embroidery Company in
Wrightsville and was a director, but resigned his
connection there when he took charge of the pres-
ent plant. Mr. Lucas employs a force of 350 people
in the embroidery business, fifty-five in the laundry
and sixty in the shirt department, the latter industry
turning out about 300 dozen shirts per week.
Mr. Lucas was married Oct. 21, 1875, in Phila-
delphia, to Clara S. Radclift", andto this union two
children were born : Clara, who married Capt.
Edward C. Shannon, the manager of the Chickie
Iron Furnaces, and resides in Columbia ; and William
W., who died Jan. 4, 1887, aged five and one-half
years. Mrs. Lucas was born in Montgomery coun-
ty, Pa., a daughter of Edward H. and Mary
(Rhodes) Radcliff, of Bucks county, both of whom
died in Philadelphia. Mr. Radcliff was a retired
farmer, surveyor and conveyancer, a man of ample
means, who survived until 1900, dying at the age of
seventy-fotir, the mother of Mrs. Lucas having
passed away in March, 1899, at the age of seventy-
seven ; they were connected with the religious body
of Quakers on the one side and tlie Presbyterian
Church on the other. Their children were: Win-
field S., who is manager of the railroad station at
Maywood, Chicago, 111. ; Leslie C, who died young ;
1256
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Clara, who is Mrs. Lucas; Edward, who is in
Alaska ; Harry C, a carriage manufacturer and
decorator, of Philadelphia; and Gertrude V., who
married Eugene E. Rouch, a civil engineer. The
paternal grandfather was Robert Radcliff, the fam-
ily coming originally from' England.
The success of the embroidery factory at this
place is a tribute to the energy of Mr. Lucas, and
a very profitable investment, turning put all classes
of goods, from the finest to the less expensive.
Both he and his wife are connected with the Meth-
odist Church, where he is liberal and charitable.
He is a valued member of the Artisans organization.
Mr. Lucas has done much in an industrial way for
his locality and is one of the most substantial and
reliable as well as progressive and energetic citizens
of Columbia.
LEVI W. NISSLY, a farmer, owner of a feed
mill, and manager of the branch of the Reist, Nissly
& Co.'s Creamery, located in Rapho township, was
born in Mt. Joy township, Lancaster county, March
7, 1847, son of Henry H. and Jane (Wolgemuth)
Nissly, of Mt. Joy township. The father died in
Florin, Pa., Dec. 20, 1890, at the age of sixty-six
years, and is buried in Kraybill's Meeting House
cemetery, East Donegal. His wife still lives in
Rapho township, near Union Square, with her son,
Amos W. Nissly.
Mr. Nissly retired from business four years be-
fore his demise. He and his wife were members of
the Mennonite Church. They had children as fol-
lows : Levi W. ; Isaac W., deceased ; Amos W., a
farmer of Rapho township ; Henry W. and Lizzie
W., both deceased; and Anna W., wife of Jacob
Spangler, of Cornwall township, Lebanon county,
Pennsylvania.
Levi W. Nissly has been twice married. He
first married Anna E. Good, of Lancaster, Sept. 29,
1870, and the following children were born of this
union : Israel G., a farmer of Rapho township, who
married Susan Snavely and is the father of two
children, Rufus and Ada; Amanda G., deceased
wife of B. G. Shelley ; Henry G., who is employed
in the creamery, married to Miss Katie Frye, with
one child, Stella ; Jennie G., who lives with her par-
ents. Mrs. Anna E. (Good) Nissly, who was born
in Conov township, Sept. 19, 1845, died Aug. 13,
1881, aiid is buried in Erisman's Meeting House
cemetery. She was a daughter of Joseph and Bar-
bara Good, farming people of Conoy township.
On April 20, 1884, Mr. Nissly married for his
second wife Miss Kate S. Bradley, who was born
April 23, 1850, in Rapho township, and is a sister
of John S. Bradley, a well-known citizen of the
county. Mrs. Nissly's grandfather was Hughes
Bradley, of Ireland ;' the" grandmother came from
England. One child was born to our subject's sec-
ond marriage, Hettie B., who is at home.
Levi W. Nissly lived with his parents until 1868,
and served an apprenticeship to the miller's trade.
a part of the time in Conawanga township, Lebanon
county, where he remained for a year and a half.
He then went to Mt. Joy and worked in a steam mill
six months, after which he spent one year in East
Donegal township. He then married and went to
housekeeping, and continued at the milling business.
In 1884 he went on his present farm, the mill upon
which was built in 1871 by S. H. Snavely. Mr.
Nissly purchased the same and has done very well
with it. In 1890 Mr. Nissly was appointed census
enumerator for his district, and did the work to the
entire satisfaction of the authorities. Both he and
his wife are members of the Mennonite Church, and
politically Mr. Nissly is a firm believer in the prin-
ciples of the Republican party. He is well thought
of in his community, and is an energetic, progressive
man, fully alive to all matters pertaining to the good
of his locality.
JOHN FORREY, now a retired farmer in
Rapho township, Lancaster county, was born on a
farm in Manor township, which is now owned by
his brother Isaac, April 3, 1816, a son of Daniel
and Catherine (Kauffman) Forrey, whose entire
married life was spent on the farm to which refer-
ence has just been made. The father died in 1862,
at the age of sixty- four years ; the mother died in
1870, at seventy-four. They were both members of
the Mennonite Church, and were buried on the old
homestead in a private cemetery. These were their
children: Isaac, unmarried and living on the old
homestead; Fanny, married to Christ. Charles, a
retired farmer in Manor township ; Maria, the widow
of Jacob Stauffer, living in Manor township ; Lizzie,
deceased wife of Christ. Schuman; Kate, iriarried
to Christ. Rohrer, a farmer in Manor township.
John is the oldest child of his parents.
John Forrey was married Jan. 13, 1853, in Lan-
caster, Pa., by the Rev. Strine, to Mary Newcomer.
To this union were born : Christ N., of East Done-
gal township, married to Mary Charles, by whom
he had the following children — Abraham, deceased,
Christ, Bertha, Charles, Mary, John and Hannah;
Daniel N., a farmer in Rapho township ; Catherine
N., the wife of Ezra Hostetter, of West Hempfield
township, and the mother of one child, Minnie;
Lizzie N., married to Jacob Snyder, now a retired
farmer at Mt. Joy, Pa. : Amos N. ; Anna N., who
married Harry Buckwalder, a farmer of Warwick
township, and has a family consisting of Bertha,
Clayton, Emma and Forrey; Mary, who married
Eli Garbey, in a creamery business at Lititz, and is
the mother of John F., Ella M., Clarence, who is
dead, Elizabeth G. and Mary B. ; Emma N., who
married John Minnich, a farmer of West Hempfield
township, and is the mother of three children, Mary,
Forrey and Esther; Isaac N., a farmer in East
Donegal township, married to Martha Engle ; Harry
N., married to Lizzie Keller, and engaged in a
creamery in York county, Pa. ; they have one child,
Margaret.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1267
Mrs. Mary (Newcomer) Forrey was born in Ra-
phe township, April 24, 1832, a daughter of Christ.
and Elizabeth (Nissley) Newcomer. Her mother
was born in Rapho township, and her father in
Manor township. Both died in Rapho township. For
about six years prior to his death her father lived re-
tired. He died in 1883, at the age of seventy-three
years ; her mother passed away in 1886, at the age of
seventy-five. They were buried in Rapho township.
Their remains rest in a private cemetery on the old
Nissley homestead. For many years the father
served as a deacon of the Mennonite Church, of
which both were devoted members. These were
their children : Anna, late wife of Peter Stauflfer ;
Mary, Mrs. Forrey; Barbara, deceased wife of
Christ. Hostetter; Jacob, a retired farmer in Sa-
lunga, Pa. ; Lizzie, married to Jacob Stauffer, now
a retired farmer at Mt. Joy, Pa.; Kate, married to
Joseph Kraybill, a farmer of Mt. Joy township;
Christian, a retired farmer of Rapho township.
John Forrey remained with his parents until
1845, when he established himself on his present
farm, where for some time he lived alone. For
some years he served as auditor of the township,
and for nearly thirty years was a director of the
First National Bank at Columbia, a position he re-
signed in 1897. With his family he has been long
associated with the Mennonite Church. He is a
Republican in his political belief. Success has at-
tended his various business ventures, and he is now
quite wealthy, a result of long continued industry,
thrift and wise management.
Amos N. Forrey^ who has the old homestead in
charge, was born there June 24, 1862, and spent his
youth and early manhood under the parental' roof.
In Lancaster, Oct. 15, 1890, he was married to
Susan Brubaker, by whom he has the following
children : Lizzie W., Mary W. and Susan.
Mrs. Siisan (Brubaker) Forrey was born in
Warwick township, Aug. 22, 1884, a daughter of
John B. and Elizabeth (Weidler) Brubaker, of
Warwick and Manheim townships, respectively.
Her father has his home in Manheim township,
where he has lived retired for the past six years.
He was born Dec. 5, 1827. He lost his wife in Au-
gust, 1897, at the age of sixty-two years; she died
in the home of Mrs. Susan Forrey while on a visit,
and was buried in Landis Valley. Both were life-
long members of the Mennonite Church. These
were their children: Weidler, deceased; Thadeus,
a farmer in Manheim township; Susan, Mrs. For-
rey ; Samuel, a farmer in Manheim township ; John,
a farmer in Warwick township ; Elizabeth, deceased ;
Elmer, unmarried, and living in Manheim township.
The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Susan Forrey
was Joseph Brubaker, a farmer of Lancaster county,
who married a Miss Bucher. Her maternal grand-
parents were George and Fanny (Landis) Weidler,
also of Lancaster county.
Amos N. Forrey has spent his life on the farm
he now has under cultivation, where he began a
career for himself in 1892 which reflects much
credit upon his push and energy as well as upon his
character and manifest integrity. In political mat-
ters he is a Republican. He and his family belong
to the Mennonite Church, whose good name suffers
no discredit at his hands.
SAMUEL M. STILLINGER. The entire life
of this prominent citizen of Lancaster county has
been passed upon the farm in West Hempfield town-
ship where he was born, more than a half century
ago. He was an only child and remained at the old
home until his marriage, and then began housekeep-
ing in a home erected on the same farm.
Samuel Stillinger, the grandfather, was born in
Chester county, and in his youth acquired the car-
penter trade. While yet a young unmarried man,
neairlv a century ago, he came to Lancaster county
and located. There he married Miss Mary Spear, a
native of that county, and to them were born a fam-
ily of six children, namely: Elizabeth, deceased
wife of James Brennan ; John, deceased, father o£
Samuel M.; Mary, who died in early life; Ann, of
Mountville ; Joseph, of Millersville ; and Susan, wife
of John Dowhower, of Columbia. The grandfather
died in 1826 at the early age of thirty-eight years and
his wife survived until 1833, passing away at the
age of forty-two years.
John Stillinger was born about 1816. He was
reared on the farm and became a prominent and
highly respected citizen of Lancaster county. He
married Miss Mary Metzgar, daughter of Andrew
jMetzgar, a leading farmer of Lancaster county who
was for many years a justice of the peace and who
died in t86o, comparatively young in years. John
Stillinger served as supervisor of West Hempfield
township where he followed farming successfully
until his death, which occurred April 11, 188 r, at
the age of sixty-five years. His faithful and devoted
helpmeet survived him just one week, passing away
April 18, 1881, also aged sixty-five years. They
were a model couple in the community in which they
lived, upright and industrious.
Samuel M., the only child, was born in West
Hempfield township, December 2, 1850, and re-
mained at home with his parents until his marriage
at Lancaster in November, 1873, to Miss Anna Del-
linger. She was born in East Hempfield township,
March to, 1852, the daughter of Jacob and Anna
(Mumma) Dellinger, and the granddaughter of
Mathias and Anna (Lutman) Dellinger and of John
and Anna (Newcomer) Mumma, two prominent
pioneer Lancaster county families. Jacob Dellinger,
the father of Mrs. Stillinger, was born in 1822. He
accjuired the trade of tailor, which he followed for
many years. He was also the owner of a large farm.
He was an influential citizen of the township and
held many of the local offices, including that of tax
collector. He and his wife were devout and consist-
ent members of the Old Mennonite Church. Jacob
Dellinger died in East Hempfield township in June,
1268
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1897, aged seventy-five years, and was buried at
Landisville. His widow, who was born in 1828,
still survives on the old homestead. Three children
were born to Jacob and Anna Bellinger : Amanda,
wife of John S. Swar, a farmer, residing near Lan-
disville; Anna, wife of Samuel M. Stillinger; and
Elizabeth, widow of Andrew Hershey, who now re-
sides in East Hempfield township with her mother.
To Samuel and Anna Stillinger have been born
four children, of whom one, Jacob, is deceased. The
three surviving children, Plarry, Ida and John, reside
at home ; John is employed in the silk mill at Colum-
bia. The married life of Samuel M. and Anna Still-
inger began on the farm of his father and there
they have since remained, assuming entire charge of
the property eight years later, when his parents died,
and conducting the farm most successfully during
the past twenty years or more. Mr. Stillinger is one.
of the progressive and leading farmers of the town-
ship. He and his family are active members of the
Lutheran Congregation, the church lot and cemetery
of which were a part of the old Stillinger farm,
conveyed by him to the congregation. In politics
Mr. Stillinger is a Republican. He was one of the
organizers of the Knights of the Mystic Chain, No.
■zoy, of Mountville, and is now one of its active and
influential members. In local and political affairs
he is patriotic and public-spirited, his excellent busi-
ness judgment not only advancing his own interests
but being freely enlisted for the general welfare of
the community in which for so many years he has
been the representative of the best type of citizenship.
ELAM REEL, a farmer in Salisbury township
and postmaster of Cambridge, was born in Salis-
bury township, Aug. 30, 1832.
Mr. Reel attended the district schools during his
youth and remained with his parents until his mar-
riage, following which he entered into a partnership
with his brother-in-law, George Emrey, in the butch-
ering business. For twenty-one years Mr. Reel was
known in that line of business in his neighborhood,
removing then to his small farm of nine acres, which
he has since operated. He owns other property in
the locality and is one of the highly respected as well
as substantial residents. Mr. Reel is a Republican
and in i8q5 was aippointed postmaster and has very
satisfactorily filled that honorable ofifice ever since.
He has also served as school director. In religious
matters he is a member of the M. E. Church, to which
he gives a liberal support.
Mr. Reel was one of the loyal citizens who rallied
to the support of the State in 1893, enlisting then in
Co. C, 47th P. V. I., for the ninety-day service.
When the regiment reached Hagerstown, it was re-
called to Pottsville, Pa., to assist in keeping order as
the draft was then in progress. It was then sent to
Reading and there was finally discharged.
In November, 1863, Mr. Reel was married in
Cambridge to Miss Sarah G. Emrey. No children
were born to this union, but Mr. and Mrs. Reel
adopted a little one at the age of thirteen months,
who was given their kind and tender care and has
grown to manhood, reflecting credit upon them. His
name is Charles McConnell Reel, born March 23,
1877, and as a skilled electrician he is engaged in
business in St. Louis, Missouri.
Mrs. Sarah G. (Emrey) Reel was born in Honey-
brook township, Chester county, in February, 1832,
daughter of George and Elizabeth (Irwin) Emrey,
farming people of Chester county, where the former
died in 1882, at the age of eighty-five years, and the
latter in 1885, at the age of eighty-four. They were
buried in Honeybrook, members of the M. E.
Church. Their children were: John, who died in
1898; Mary A., residing in Honeybrook, widow of
Joian F. Irwin; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Cyrus
Eagle ; Catherine M., married to Joseph Martin, of
Honeybrook; Rebecca, deceased wife of Edward
Eshleman; Sarah G., Mrs. Reel; Keziah, who died
unmarried, at the age of sixty-three; and George,
who is in the creamery business in Honeybrook
township.
Mr. and Mrs. Reel are highly respected residents
of Salisbury township and are noted for their chari-
ties and the many estimable qualities which endear
them to their neighbors.
JOSEPH E. MILLER. Throughout his entire
business career Joseph E. Miller has been identified
with the railroad interests of Pennsylvania, and is-
to-day a trusted employe of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company. His home is in Columbia. He en-
tered the service of the road as brakeman at the age
of twenty-two, and after holding that position for
five years, became a fireman, serving as such for
eleven years and nine months, at the end of which
time he was promoted to his present position that of
engineer.
A native of Lancaster county, Mr.- Miller was
born in Providence township, Sept. 11, 1856, and is
a son of James and Mary Jane (Steele) Miller, na-
tives of the same county. The father, a painter by
trade, moved to Chester county. Pa., in 1880, and
there died in 1893, at the age of fifty-seven years.
He was a consistent member of the M. E. Church,
and highly respected by all who knew him. The
mother, who was born in 1840, is now a resident of
Drumore township, Lancaster county. Joseph E.
is the only child of this worthy couple. The paternal
grandparents were old residents of Lancaster coun-
ty, and the maternal grandparents were James A.
and Martha (Cresswell) Steele, of Chester county.
Mr. Miller grew to manhood upon a farm, and
was married in Lancaster countv, Sept. 2, 1874, tO'
Miss Abbie A. Steele, by whom he has two children,
Benjamin F., a railroad brakeman, and Goldie M.,
both at home. Mrs. Miller was born in Drumore-
township, Lancaster county, March 17, 1854, a
daughter of William J. and Hettie Ann (Herr)
Steele, natives of Drumore and Strasburg town-
ships, respectively. Her mother, a consistent mem-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1269
ber of the M. E. Church, died in July, 1890, at the
age of sixty years. Her father, who was born in
April, 1829, is now living a retired life in Lampeter
township, Lancaster county, haying in early life suc-
cessfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. His par-
ents, John and Theodosia (Morrison) Steele, were
also farming people of this county, and here Mrs.
Miller's maternal grandparents. Christian and Esther
(Whitestick) Herr, also' made their home. Mrs.
Miller is the second in order of birth in a family of
eleven children, the others being John A., a farmer
of Providence township; Benjamin O., a resident of
Marietta ; Elmer J., of Lancaster ; Theodosia T.,
wife of G. W. Sutter, of Philadelphia ; E. Irene, wife
of David Stark, of the same city ; W. Frank, a farm-
er of Lampeter township, Lancaster county; Jennie
L. and Cassius H., both residents of Philadelphia;
George M., deceased ; and Charles M., also a resident
of Philadelphia.
Mr. Miller is an intelligent, well-informed man
who keeps thoroughly posted on the questions and
issues of the day, and by his ballot supports the men
and measures of the Democratic party. He is a
member of St. John's Lutheran Church, and in his
fraternal relations is connected with the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Firemen.
JOHN H. HOOK. Among the railroad men
of Columbia, Pa., John H. Hook holds a prominent
place. He was born in that city, Aug. 6, 1856, a
son. of Charles A. and Mary A. (Burke) Hook,
both natives of Lancaster, Pa., the former born in
November, 1825, the latter, April 23, 1835.
The paternal grandparents, Anthony and Eliza-
beth Hook, were born in Germany, and on their
immigration to America located in Laac|ister, Pa.,
where the grandfather followed the yyheelwright's
trade throughout the remainedr of his life. The
maternal grandparents, Michael and Mary (Ryan)
Burke, were natives of Ireland and early settlers
of Lancaster county. Pa. By occupation Mr. Burke
was a farmer.
Charles A. Hook took up his father's business
and continued to work at the wheelwright's trade
throughout life. He died in Columbia, in Novem-
ber, 1888, but his wife is still living and continues
to make her home in that city. In politics he wa?
a Republican, and he efficiently filled the offices of
high constable and market master. In his family
were seven children, viz : Mary E., wife of John A.
Surges, a weaver of Philadelphia; John H. ; Frank
and Ella, both deceased ; Michael, a resident of
Columbia; Margaret, wife of Obediah Hoover, a
brakeman of Columbia ; and Daniel A., also a brake-
man of that place.
Throughout his entire life John H. Hook has
made his home in Columbia. At the age of nine
years he commenced his business career as an em-
ployee in a brickyard, where he worked through
the summer months for four years and attended
school during the winters. The following year he
was employed in a planing mill, and subsequently
clerked in the store of Frederick Bucher until May
18, 1876, when he accepted a position as brakeman
with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, serving
as such for seven years. Later he was flagman
and extra conductor until July, 1891, when he was
made regular conductor, and has since efficiently
filled that position, his services giving the utmost
satisfaction to the company. He is an active mem-
ber of the Order of Railroad Conductors, the Re-
lief Department and the Improved Order of Red
Men, and is a staunch supporter of the Republi-
can party. In religious belief Mr. Hook is a
Methodist.
In Columbia, Oct. 19, 1876, Mr. Hook was
united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Strohm,
and by this union three children have been born,
namely: Jennie B., a music teacher; Clara H.,
a school teacher ; and John H., Jr., a mechanic, all
at home. The family is one of prominence in the
community where they reside, and they have a
large circle of friends and acquaintances.
Mrs. Hook was born in Marietta, Lancaster
county. May 21, i860, a daughter of Daniel H.
and Mary A. (Hippie) Strohm, of that place,
where the father died in 1863, at the age of thirty-
five years. He was considered an expert river pilot
and was also a cooper by trade. Religiously he was
a member of the M. E. Church, to which Mrs.
Hook's mother also belongs. The latter was bom
Oct. 21, 1837, and has been married three times,
her first husband being Mr. Strohm, by whom she
had three children: Sarah, who married John W.
Sohn and died in February, 1900; Elizabeth, now
Mrs. Hook ; and George, a stone-mason of Marietta.
Her second husband was Samuel Noll and to them
was born a daughter, Anna M., who married Charles
Bennett and died in 1896. She is now the wife of
Aaron R. Lutz and still a resident of Marietta.
Her parents, Lawrence and Elizabeth (Reinhart)
Hippie, were farming people and lifelong residents
of Marietta.
ADAM BAHN, contractor and builder at Mari-
etta, and ex-soldier, was born in Hellam township,
York county. Pa., Sept. -26, 1843. Henry Bahn, fa-
ther of A.dam was also a native of York county and
by vocation was a farmer. He married Miss Maria
Gibson, likewise of York county, and to this union
there were born seven children, in the following or-
der : Morgan, who died in Columbia, Pa. ; Mary,
wife of George Ressinger, of York county; Adam;
Anna, widow of Christ Hanlon, of Harrisburg;
John, a grocer in Columbia ; Alice, married and liv-
ing in Syracuse, N. Y. ; and Henry, a carpenter in
Philadelphia. The father of this family died in 1852,
at the age of thirty-five years, in the faith of the
Lutheran Church ; the mother, who was born in
18 18, now lives in Harrisburg and is a member of
the same religious denomination.
Adam Bahn (who was named for his grandfa- ■
1270
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ther, Adam Bahn, of York County) remained on the
home farm until nine years of age, when he lost his
father. He then came to Marietta township and
continued farming six years as a hired hand, and
then went to Rohrerstown, this county, and began
learning his present trade, which he followed until
1863. At that time he enlisted at Philadelphia in
Co. F, i86th P. V. I., under Capt. Charles F. Mc-
Guire, with whom he served thirteen months, when
he was honorably discharged in the city of his en-
listment, the war having been brought to a close.
After his discharge from the army, Mr. Bahn
worked at his trade in Philadelphia until 1875, when
he came to Marietta and established himself as a
contractor and builder, in which line he has pros-
pered, and in which he has achieved a fine reputation.
Among the many structures he has erected there may
be mentioned the market-house, the First National
Bank, Hon. H. E. Cassell's mansion, the Presby-
terian Chapel, the elegant home of S. H. Birch, cash-
ier of the First National Bank, the Times building,
the "Cross Keys Hotel" and many dwellings for the
leading citizens of Marietta.
l"he marriage of Mr. Bahn took place in Marietta
in 1867 to Miss Clara Smyser, who was born in
York, Pa., 1846, and is a daughter of John Smyser ;
no children have been born to this marriage,
John Smyser, father of Mrs. Clara Bahn, is a re-
tired farmer at Marietta. He was borp in York
county, Pa., Jan. 22, 1819, and is a son of Peter and
Sarah (Isenhart) Smyser, also of York county.
Peter Smyser was a miller and farmer and died in
i860, when eighty-six years old; his wife died in
1866, at the age of eighty years, and both were mem-
bers of the Lutheran Church. They were the par-
ents of the following named children: George,
Sarah, and Ella (Mrs. George Koch), all of whom
died in York county ; and John. May 7, 1845, John
Smyser married in Hanover, York county, Isabella
Gladfelder, and to this marriage were born five chil-
dren, viz. : Clara, now Mrs. Adam Bahn ; Maggie,
widow of Philip Klein, of Columbia ; Zachatiah, who-
married Anna Frane, but is now deceased; Mettle,
deceased wife of Harry Childs, of Marietta; and
John, married to Anna Tripple and now working at
the carpenter's trade in Marietta.
Isabella (Gladfelder) Smyser was born in York
county, April 7, 1826, and is a daughter of Samuel
and Lizzie ( Ehrman) Gladfelder. Her father died
in Maytown, Lancaster county, where he resided
with his daughter, in the year i860, at the age of
eighty years, and her mother died while living with
a son in Columbia. The children born to Samuel and
Lizzie Gladfelder were ten m number and were
named in order of birth as follows : Zachariah, who
died in the West; Margaret, who died a married
woman ; Isabella, Mrs. Smyser ; Horace, a farmer in
Maytown, Pa. ; Lizzie, wife of John Jacobs, of Wich-
ita, Kans. ; Malmda, Mrs. Bohns, in Pennsylvania ;
Kate, living with Mrs. Bohns ; Samuel, a hotel-
keeper in Columbia ; Martin, still in this state ; and
Matilda, widow of Michael Libhart. Mrs. Smyser's
paternal grandfather was John Gladfelder, of York
county.
John Smyser farmed in York county until 1855,
then came to Lancaster county and settled near Mari-
etta, yet farmed in different places in the county un-
til he retired to Marietta in 1875. There he has
reached some prominence, and has been assessor
two terms, as a Republican. He is a respected mem-
ber of the iVI. E. Church.
Adam Bahn is also very popular as a Republican
and has served his party and his fellow citizens as
burgess three terms, as town councilman four terms,
of three years each, and has been school director
three terms. Fraternally he is a Master Mason, and
socially he is respected by all who know him.
GEORGE SANDOE. One of the best known
residents of Mt. Pleasant, Salisbury township, Lan-
caster county. Pa., is George Sandoe, whose multi-
farious callings of a necessity bring him in contact
with almost every inhabitant of the township, he
being a farmer, a stockman and a butcher, whose
business transactions reach every corner of his
neighborhood, and where, his visits are always wel-
come, pleasant, and, it may be added, not unprofit-
able to himself, as his genial disposition makes him
friends wherever he goes.
George Sandoe was born in East Earl township,
Lancaster county. Pa., Jan. 26, 1846, and is a son
of the late Isaac and Louisa (Duchman) Sandoe,
of the same township. Isaac Sandoe was a farmer
by vocation, but for the latter ten years of his busi-
ness life conducted a popular hotel in conjunction
with his farm. His death occurred Feb. 9, 1878,
when sixty-five years old, his wife having been
called hence in 1865 at the age of fifty-two, and
the remains of both being interred in the cemetery
of the Lutheran Church at New Holland, this
county. Their children were seven in number and
born in the following order: Lizzie, the deceased
wife of Martin Elmar ; George ; Franklin, a farmer
in Salisbury township ; Cyrus, deceased ; Anna,
deceased wife of Frank Mozier; Amos, a stone-
mason in Salisbury township; and Newton, who
died in Kansas City, Mo'. The paternal grand-
parents of these children were Jacob and Barbara
(Ranck) Sandoe, of East Earl township, the
former of whom was a miller at Sorrell Horse,
and the maternal grandparents were George and
Margaret (Schaeffer) Duchman, also of East Earl
township, George having been a merchant in the
village just mentioned.
George Sandoe began his business . life after
leaving the paternal roof by working out among
the farmers in the neighborhood of his boyhood
home for a few years ; next, he began butchering
and for ten years attended the markets at Read-
ing and then the markets at Lancaster for twenty-
eight years. His straightforward method of doing
business and his pleasant disposition secured him
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1271
a large patronage in each city, while his immediate
neighborhood was not neglected. He finally re-
linquished the meat business as his chief vocation
and settled down to farming, although he continues
to buy and sell cattle and incidentally does some
butchering.
George San doe was joined in marriage Sept. 6,
1866, in Hinkleton, Lancaster county, with Miss
Lizzie Eranckhouser, who has borne him eight
children, namely: Harry, who died young; Ella
E., who is the wife of Newton Palmer, a stone
mason in Salisbury township, and has two children ;
I. Roland, a farmer in Salisbury township and
married to Lizzie Caflfery, who has borne him two
children: Cyrus, a resident of Philadelphia; Emma,
who died young; Shafifer, merchant and postmaster
at Vinola, Lancaster county ; George N., at Coates-
ville, Chester Co., Pa., and married to Susie
Caffery, who has borne him two children; and
Jason E., who has married Viola Caffery, who bore
him one child, now deceased.
Mrs. Lizzie (Eranckhouser) Sandoe was born
in East Earl township, in June, 1840, to the late
John and Eliza (King) Eranckhouser, farming
people, formerly of Brecknock township, the former
of whom passed away in 1846 at the early age of
twenty-eight years while the latter survived until
sixty-two years old, dying in 1871, both in the faith
of the United Brethren Church. They were buried
in Center Church and Rauck's Church cemeteries;
respectively. They left three children only, viz. :
Ella, wife of Jacob Seldomridge, a farmer in Earl
township ; Lizzie, now Mrs. Sandoe ; and William,
a carpenter and contractor in California. To a
second marriage of the mother of Mrs. Lizzie San-
doe, to William Stunkard, was born one son, Enos,
a farmer in East Earl township.
George Sandoe is in politics a Republican and
is one of the most popular men in the county, and
as far as the township of Salisbury is concerned,
were he inclined to seek office, might have his choice
of any within the gift of his constituency. He is
a sincere Christian and a faithful member of St.
Peter's Church, to the support of which he is a
constant and liberal contributor.
CHARLES PENROSE HIPPLE, the heaviest
dealer in groceries in Marietta, Pa., was born in
that borough, Sept. 30, 1858, and is a son of George
H. and Henrietta A. (Reisinger) Hippie, also na-
tives of Marietta, but married in Lancaster, Pa.,
Oct. 4, 1857.
George H. Hippie was a shoemaker by trade, but
later farmed in East Donegal township for twenty-
five years, beginning when forty-three years old,
and also clerked in his son's grocery store the last
thirteen years of his business life. He died at his
home, next door to that of his son, Charles, Feb.
14, 1900, when seventy-seven years old ; his widow,
who was born in 1841, still occupies the old home.
They were the parents of seven children, born in
the following order: Charles Penrose; Olivia B.,
wife of James Curran, butcher ; Samuel C, James
M. and Victoria B., deceased ; Annie G, and Jennie
M., living with their mother. The paternal grand-
parents of Charles Penrose Hippie were Samuel
and Anna (Reinhart) Hippie, natives respectively
of Chester county and Marietta, Pa. Samuel Hippie
located in Marietta in 1820, was a farmer and lum-
berman and a gentleman of considerable promise,
having served as chief burgess of the borough ; but
he passed his later years in quiet retirement. Both
he and his wife passed their declining years in
Marietta.
Mrs. Henrietta (Reisinger) Hippie, mother of
Charles Penrose, is a daughter of Isaac and Jane
(Miller) Reisinger, of Carlisle, Pa., where they
were married ; soon afterward they came to Mariet-
ta, where Mr. Reisinger conducted a general store
until about 1875, when he retired; he passed away
in 1878, when seventy-nine years old. He also
served several years as tax-collector and was always,
regarded as a public-spirited and useful citizen. His
wife had passed away in 1872, at the age of seventy-
four years, and the remains of both were interred
in the Marietta cemetery. They were the parents
of five children, viz : Mary J., who was married
to William McCain; Elizabeth, wife of James
Donecho, a machinist ; Henrietta, mother of Mr.
Hippie ; Sarah A., wife of John F. Rote, proprietor
of a restaurant in Reading, Pa. ; and Isaac, asso-
ciated with Mr. Rote in his business. The paternal
grandfather of Mrs. Hippie was Adam Reisinger,
a very prominent citizen of Carlisle. Her maternal
grandparents, Eli and Sarah Ann (Thompson)
Miller, were natives of Germany and England re-
spectively, the former being by vocation a farmer,
and the lives of both ended in Carlisle, Pennsyl-
vania.
Charles Penrose Hippie passed his boyhood
days on the home farm from the age of six years
until sixteen, and then for eight months attended
the Reading Business College. He was employed,
just after graduation, as bookkeeper in the Chickies
rolling-mill, under Baker & Reinhold, with whom
he remained four years, when the firm suspended
business : Mr. Hippie then went to Reading and
was employed a few months as bookkeeper in Hoff
& Bros, hardware store, next returned to Chickies,
and for two years clerked in George Mable's grocery
store. He then came to Marietta and in November,
1886, entered upon his present prosperous career
as a grocer.
Mr. Hippie was joined in marriage at Reading,
June 6, 1882, to Miss Clara J. Garst, who has borne
him two children, Pearl G and Crystal B. Mrs.
Clara J. Hippie was born in Reading, Pa., and is
a daughter of George W. and Mary (Zeiber)
Garst, natives of Marietta and Reading respective-
ly. George Garst was born Aug. 21, 1821 ; he left
Marietta in 1840 for Reading, and there learned
the carpenter's trade; later he became proprietor
1272
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of a large planing mill, and still later became an
architect, contractor and builder, and erected most
of the large structures in Reading where he also
superintended the construction of the post-office
building. He has been living retired since 1886.
In politics he is a staunch Democrat.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Garst were
nine in number, as follows : Clara J., now Mrs.
Hippie ; Alice, Florence and George, who died
young; Mary, wife of John Barbey, a brewer of
Reading; George; Ida, widow of Prof. D. S. Cowp;
Ella, wife of John B. Clevenstine, a printer, liv-
ing in New Jersey; and Laura, wife of George
Potteiger, a telegraph operator in Philadelphia.
The mother of this family passed away in April,
1892, at the age of sixty-five years.
Mr. Hippie is a Knight Templar Mason, belongs
to the K. of P., and is a member of the Episcopal
Church. In politics he is a Republican.
JAMES BRINTON, in his life time one of the
leading citizens of Lancaster county. Pa., was born
in Sadsbury township, and died in the present home
of his family in Christiana, April 6, 1881, at the
age of sixty-two years. His ashes repose in Bart
township. He was a son of Samuel and Lydia
(Jackson) Brinton, of Lancaster county, and a
biography of his brother, William Brinton, which
appears on another page, contains a very full sum-
mary of the history of the Brinton family.
James Brinton had two wives, his first being
Elizabeth Lewis, and to their union were born :
Henry, who is interested in a knitting factory at
Philadelphia; Samuel, a farmer near Westchester,
Pa. ; Alfred, a farmer on the old homestead ; Ed-
ward, a produce merchant at Philadelphia; Emma,
married to Ebenezer Maule, a farmer, near Doerun,
Pa. ; Clara, married to George Maule, a farmer
near Franklin.
Elizabeth (Lewis) Brinton, who was born in
Bucks county in 1821, died in 1871, and lies buried
in Bart township by the side of her husband, who
followed her to the grave not many years after.
He, however, was married in 1875, in Bart town-
ship, to his second wife, Lydia T. Jackson, who was
born in Chester county in 1839, a daughter of James
and Abigail (Rakestraw) Jackson, natives of Ches-
ter county, but settlers of Lancaster county in 1843,
locating in Bart township. They were farming
people, and both died in 1881, the father at the age
of seventy-two, and the mother being one year
younger. They were members of the Society of
Friends, and were buried in Bart township. He was
a preacher of that Society for some twenty years,
and spoke with the power of the Spirit. To them
were born : Marv, who married Joseph Brocius, of
Chester county ; Thomas, who died when two years
old : Eliza, late wife of Thomas Baker ; Edith, who
died young; Lydia; William L., a farmer in Chris-
tiana : Ellwood, a farmer at what is called Nine
Points, in Lancaster county; James J., a farmer in
the same locality.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Brinton
were Josiah and Mary (Sharpless) Jackson. They
lived in Chester county, where the grandfather was
engaged in a woolen factory. The maternal grand-
parents of Mrs. Brinton were Thomas and Mary
(Lippencott) Rakestraw, natives of New Jersey,
but their last years were spent in Lancaster county,
where they died.
James Brinton lived with his parents until about
six years prior to his marriage, when he built his
family's present home, to which he removed, and
where he made his lifelong residence. In bvisiness
and comrnercial affairs he was prominent, and
served as a director of the Williamstown Fire In-
surance Company, and for many years was super-
visor of the township. He and his family were
members of the Society of Friends. His wife was
a school teacher some two years before she mar-
ried Mr. Brinton. In his politics he was a Re-
publican, and personally was a man of fine charac-
ter and genuine worth.
S. P. ROMIG, once proprietor of the "Martin-
dale Hotel," and long a useful and respected citizen
of Earl township, Lancaster county, was bom in
Lincoln, in this county, Dec. 7, i860, a son of Martin
and Sarah (Kissinger) Romig. Both his parents
are deceased, the father dying at the age of fifty
years, and the mother at forty-five.
Martin Romig was a carpenter, and spent his
life in Lincoln, where he was born and reared. In
addition to his carpenter work he was also a cabinet
maker and an undertaker. For many years he car-
ried on a large business, and was well and favorably
known throughout a wide section of the country.
Endowed with a generous disposition and a kind
heart, he made many friends and retained them to
the last. In politics he was an ardent Republican,
and he worked hard for his party.
Henry K. Romig, the grandfather of Simon P.,
was a farmer, and lived to the advanced age of
ninety years, to the last being well preserved and
active. He is remembered as a man of more than
ordinary vitality.
Martin and Sarah (Kissinger) Romig were
mernbers of the Lutheran Church. They had a
family of five children: Milmort, a carpenter in
Lincoln, Lancaster county; Jesse, deceased; S. P.;
and Alice and John, both deceased.
S. P. Romig was born in Lincoln, where he was
reared. When he reached the age of twelve years
he began working for wages, and from that time has
taken care of himself. At the age of thirty he en-
gaged in a bakery business at Terrehill, a trade he
had learned at Ephrata, and at which he had been
employed for several years. This baking enterprise
at Terrehill he conducted for some ten years, asso-
ciated with David K. Eitnur. In the spring of 1901
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1273
Mr. Romig sold his bakery and purchased the "Mar-
tindale Hotel," in the management of which he
displayed qualities that peculiarly adapt him for
the life of a landlord of a popular hotel. He is
genial and whole-souled, and well knows how to
meet the demands of the public. Politically he is a
stanch Republican, and socially belongs to Ephrata
Lodge, No. 406, 1. O. O. P., in which he has passed
all the chairs.
Mr. Romig was married in 1890 to Mary, a
daughter of John C. Martin, and to this union have
come two children, Harry and Florence. Mr.
Romig may fairly be regarded as a self-made man,
as he began at the bottom, and by industry, integ-
rity and a strong determination to be somebody, has
risen to a very important place in the world while
still a young man, and deserves much commendation
for the results that have waited on his earnest en-
deavors.
WILLIAM H. McCALL. Among the rail-
road engineers now residing in Columbia, Pa., none
stand higher in public esteem than Mr. McCall, who
was born in Watts Station, Lancaster county, Jan.
II, 1857, a son of John and Mary A. (Mill) McCall,
the former a native of Ireland, the latter of Lehigh
■county, Pennsylvania.
The father, John McCall, came to America in
1849 3^"d located in Lancaster county, where he mar-
ried. He lived in Watts Station until October,
1861, when he went to Washington, D. C, as a
blacksmith in the employ of the government, re-
maining there until the close of the war. On his
return to Lancaster county. Pa., in 1865, he settled
in Columbia and entered the service of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad Company. While serving as con-
ductor on a sand train he was killed in September,
1888, at the age of fifty-eight years, and his remains
were interred in the Kleinsville Catholic cemetery.
His wife, who was born in December, 1833, now
resides with William H., their only child. John
McCall, our subject's paternal grandfather, was a
lifelong resident of Ireland, while his maternal
grandparents, Abraham and Lydia Mill, were resi-
dents of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania.
During his boyhood and youth William H. Mc-
Call attended the public schools, and in December,
1879, began his business career as a brakeman on
the Pennsylvania Railroad, in which capacity he was
employed by the company eight months. For six
years and five months he was fireman, and at the
end of that period was promoted to engineer, a
position he still fills in an able and satisfactory man-
ner. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Loco-
motive Firemen and of the Relief Association, and
is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party and
its principles.
Mr. McCall was married in Philadelphia in 1881
to Miss Margaret V. Tolon, a native of that city
and a daughter of John Tolon, who was born in
Ireland. She died in September, 1898, at the age
of thirty-seven years, leaving seven children,
namely, John, William, Edward, Philip, Mary,
Regina and Anna, all at home. On Aug. 17, 1899,
in Atlantic City, N. J., Mr. McCall was again mar-
ried, his second union being with Theresa Smith, a
native of Lancaster, Pa., and a daughter of Edward
and Louisa (Klein) Smith, of Lancaster county.
The father died in Lancaster, but' the mother, now
fifty-four years of age, is living in Newtown, Lan-
caster county.
DAVID R. FORNEY, who is a general farmer
and respected citizen of Mt. Joy township, was born
Aug. 20, 1836, in West Earl township, son of Levi
and Mary (Roop) Forney.
Mr. Forney is one of the well-seasoned, capable
and efficient farmers of his locality, who has fol-
lowed an agriciiltural existence all his active life.
Leaving the parental roof at the age of twenty-six
years, he rented land in Penn township for four
years, and then operated a farm near White Oak
for three years. These ventures proving successful
and remunerative, Mr. Forney took charge of
another farm in Penn township, and after four years
there moved into Lititz for a year. Returning to
the country he operated two farms for nine years,
and then settled down upon his present place, which
he purchased. Mr. Forney has been an industrious
man all his life, is a very close observer, and he pos-
sesses the judgment which is just as necessary in
agricultural work as in any other department of hu-
man energy. His political sentiments have always
been in accord with the Republican party. With his
family he belongs to the Old Brethren German Bap-
tist Church, in which he has served as a decaon since
1892.
On Aug. 28, 1862, Mr. Forney was married in
Lancaster to Elizabeth R. Bollinger, and eight chil-
dren were born to this marriage, as follows : Mon-
roe B., who married Emma Stauffer, and lives with
his father ; Amanda B., wife of Reuben L. Miller, a
farmer of Rapho township ; Elizabeth B., who mar-
ried Samuel Sherrer, a farmer of Mt. Joy township ;
Mamie B., who wedded Alva K. Young, of Mt. Joy
township ; David B., unmarried, at home ; Miss Ella
B., at hom.e; and Albert B. and Annie B., both de-
ceased.
Mrs. Forney was born June 19, 1841, in War-
wick township, daughter of Martin and Elizabeth
(Royer) Bollinger, both of whom were natives of
that township, the former born June 17, 1810. A
short time prior to his death Mr. Bollinger retired
from active life, and both he and his wife died on
their farm near Lititz, the father at the age of sev-
enty-five years and the mother in 1845, at the age
of thirty-one years. They were interred in Royer's
Middle Creek Meeting House cemetery. Although
they belonged to no church, they were good, kind,
estimable people. They had four children, namely :
John R., who died at the age of fifty-five years ;
Joseph R. and Martin R., residents of Lititz; and
1274
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Elizabeth R., who became Mrs. Forney. On the
paternal side Mrs. Forney's grandfather was Ben-
jamin Bollinger, of Lancaster county (his wife was
a Nissley) ; and on the maternal side her grandpar-
ents were Joseph and Martha (Swar) Royer, also
of Lancaster.
Mr. and Mrs. Forney are well known in Mt.
Joy township, where they have hosts of warm, per-
sonal friends. Mr. Forney is known as a man of
his word and is an example of honest dealing and
upright life.
PETER S. HOFFMAN. One of the active,
prominent and enterprising citizens of Columbia,
Pa., whose life has been principally devoted to rail-
roading, is Peter S. Hofffnan, a well-known con-
ductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad.
A native of Lancaster county, Mr. Hoffman was
bom in Silver Spring, Jan. 20, 1847, ^"d is a son
of Frederick and Lena (Snyder) Hoffman, the for-
mer a native of Am.sterdam, Holland, the latter of
Berlin, Germany. They were married in Lancaster
county. Pa., where they continued to make their
home throughout the remainder of their lives, the
father dying Feb. 11, 1890, at the age of seventy-five
years, the motlier Dec. 29, 1882, at the age of sixty-
two. They were members of the German Lutheran
Church. The father was a butcher by trade, though
in this country he worked principally in furnaces
and mines. Peter S. is the oldest Of their children ;
Barbara, the second, died in childhood ; Mary is the
wife of Arnos Ratto, a farmer of Ironville, Pa. ;
Sarah is the wife of Albert Harthorn, of Stacks-
town, Pa. ; Catherine is the wife of George Stuven-
fold, a carpenter, of Philadelphia; and Lena died
young.
At the age of thirteen years Peter S. Hoffman
commenced working in ore mines and was thus
employed for six years, after which he followed the
blacksmith's trade until 1872, when he entered the
service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, one
year being spent as brakeman and ten years as flag-
man and extra conductor. Since 1885 he has been
a regular conductor on the road, and is one of its
most trusted employees. Mr. Hoffman is an hon-
ored member of the Improved Order of Red Men,
the Knights of the Maccabees, the Order of Rail-
road Conductors and the Relief Department. He
is also a member of the Church of God, and is a
stalwart supporter of the Democratic party.
In Columbia, Jan. 14, 1873, Mr. Hoffman was
united in marriage with Mrs. Laura L. (Welsh)
Ferguson, and to them were born two children,
Claude C. and Lysle. The older, now a brake-
man on the railroad, and residing in Columbia,
enlisted for the Spanish-American war and was
with his command in Porto Rico. He married Maud
Miller. The younger son is at home.
Mrs. Hoffman was born in Chester county. Pa.,
March 28, 1852, a daughter of Charles T. and Cath-
erine J. (Sproat) Welsh, also natives of that coun-
ty, whence they came to Columbia in i860. The
father, who was agent for an iron furnace and over-
seer of the same for twenty-five years, died Nov.
29, 1879, at the age of sixty-six. He was a con-
sistent member of the M. E. Church, while his
widow holds membership in the United Brethren
Church. She was born Dec. 21, 1818, and is now
living with Mr. and Airs. Hoffman in Columbia.
Her parents were David and Sarah (Miller) Sproat,
who were born in Ireland, and on- their immigration
to America settled in Chester county. Pa., where
the former engaged in blacksmithing and filled the
office of constable. Mrs. Floffrnan's paternal grand-
parents were David and Margaret (Fleming)
Welsh, the former a native of Lancaster county.
Pa., the latter of County Derry, Ireland. Mrs.
Hoffman is the sixth in order of birth in a family
of seven children, the others being : David R., John
P. and William W., all deceased; Frances A., de-
ceased wife of Samuel Shultz ; Charles T., who died
in infancy; and Charles T. (2), a railroad engineer,
of Lancaster.
Mrs. Hoffman was first married, Jan. 16, 1868,
to William G. Ferguson, a native of Columbia and
a son of John and Sarah (Wilson) Ferguson, of
Lancaster county. He was born in October, 1849,
and died in September. 1869. By this union there
was one son, Guy W. Ferguson, now general man-
ager of the Weekly Herald, of Columbia. He mar-
ried first Helen Sipel, who died, leaving one child,
Guy S., who has been reared by Mrs. Hoffman;
and for his second wife he married Myrtle Stein-
heiser.
HARRY K. HUSSON, a well-to-do farmer of
Warwick township, belongs to one of the old and
respected families of Lancaster county. Thomas
Husson, his grandfather, emigrated with his wife
from Ireland to this country in 1848, and settled in
the city of Lancaster, where he worked at his trade,
that of wood turner, until his death, which occurred
in 1870. They were the parents of five children, as
follows : Catherine, wife of Henry Hudson, of Bos-
ton, Mass. ; Anna, wife of a Mr. Kudgern, who was
a finisher, of Lancaster City ; John, a fruit dealer of
Lancaster; Thomas, the father of our subject; and
Miss Ellen, of Lancaster.
Thomas Husson was born in 1829, in Ireland,
and came to America with his father when a lad of
nineteen years. He was very handy in the manage-
ment and care of horses, and was coachman for
Samuel Reynolds for fifteen years, until his death,
which occurred in 1866. He married Miss Sarah
Keller, and they became the parents of two children :
Harry K., our subject; and Mary, wife of Daniel B.
Kraatz, a miller, of Philadelphia.
Harry K. Husson was born in the city of Lan-
caster May 31, 1859. He made it his home with
his mother until he was eighteen years of age, mean-
time receiving his education in the common schools
of the county. He then learned the wheelwright's
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1275
trade, serving his apprenticeship with John Stuber,
of Lancaster, with whom he remained three years.
During the next ten years he continued to follow his
trade. In 1895 he purchased the farm on which he
now resides, near Brunnerville, and on which he has
made extensive improvements. Mr. Husson is re-
garded as one of the most progressive men of his
locality, and as a public-spirited citizen he takes a
deep interest in everything concerning politics and
the welfare of his community.
On Dec. 23, 1883, Mr. Husson was united in
marriage with Ida Seibert, daughter of Edward and
Caroline Seibert, and to this union have come three
children: Mary S., born Dec. 10, 1885; Alice S.,
born July i, 1887; and Lloyd S., born March i,
1895. Mr. and Mrs. Husson and their eldest daugh-
ter are members of the Lutheran Church.
JOHN A. HAMILTON, a popular conductor
on the Pennsylvania railroad at Columbia, was bOrn
in Stottsville, Chester Co., Pa., June 17, 1862,
son of William and Sarah J. (Harrison) Hamilton,
of York and Adams counties, respectively.
William Plamilton was born in December, 1832, '
was an iron-worker by trade and is now residing in
Coatesville, Chester county, retired. Mrs. Sarah J;
Hamilton died in Philadelphia in October, 1886,
at the age of fifty-four years, in the faith of the
M. E. Church. Mrs. Hamilton had been twice
married, her first husband having been a Mr. Wag-
ner, by whom she had one child, George F. ; the
latter is now an iron worker in Berwick, Pa., and
has adopted the surname of Hamilton. The chil-
dren born to William Hamilton were eight in num-
ber, viz : Richard, general superintendent of the
Millville (N. J.) Gas Works; Mary, wife of
Charles F. Hale, a conductor in Philadelphia; John
A. ; Lewis, flagman on the Pennsylvania Railroad ;
Henry, occupying a similar position; Susan, wife
of William Hippie ; Ambrose, a fireman ; and
Romance, a brakeman, all in Philadelphia.
The grandparents of John A. Hamilton were
John A. and Susan Hamilton, of Wrightsville, York
county; the former was a farmer of considerable
prominence and died in the Lancaster hospital from
small-pox.
John A. Hamilton remained with his parents
until twenty years of age. When ten years old he
entered a rolling mill where he worked until he was
sixteen ; he then became an employee of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad Company as brakeman, then as
flagman and was finally made a conductor. He be-
gan his railroad service in Philadelphia and came
to Columbia in March, 1883.
Mr. Hamilton has been twice married, first in
1880, at Philadelphia, to Anna Bateman, who was
born in England, a daughter of James Bateman,
and died in Columbia, Pa., in 1884, at the age of
twenty-three years, without issue. In August,
1885, Mr. Hamilton married Miss Elizabeth Lin-
denberger, and to this union have been born six
children, viz; Mary E., Richard R., J. William,
Eva S., C. Banks and Edna N.
Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton was born in Columbia,
Pa., Aug. 3, 1866, and is a daughter of Philip and
Sophia (Kampf) Lindenberger, of Germany, who
were married in Manchester, Md., and came to
Columbia in 1865, bringing two of their three chil-
dren, Mary, now in Baltimore county, Md., wife of
Andrew Gruel, a farmer ; and Henry, an iron-
worker in Chester, Pa. Elizabeth is the youngest
of the three. Philip Lindenberger was an iron-
worker by trade and also an engineer, but in his
latter days was a farmer. He died July 8, 1880,
at the age of fifty years, a member of the German
Lutheran Church. His widow, who was born May
28, 1833, is a member of the same church and has
her home with her son-in-law. Mr. and Mrs.
John A. Hamilton, are parents of two children;
William, an iron-worker in Chester, and Margaret,
wife of William Booth of Columbia. The fam-
ily are Lutheran in religion and Mr. and Mrs.
Hamilton are members of St. John's Lutheran
Church.
' In politics Mr. Hamilton is independent; he is
a Red Man, a member of the B. of R. C. and of
the Pa. Relief Association. Socially he and his
wife are greatly respected by all their neighbors
and a large circle of warm friends.
HARRY ROHRER LEFEVER, the popular
grocer at No. 109 East King street, Lancaster, be-
longs to one of the oldest families in this county,
the first of his ancestors having settled in the coun-
ty in 1742, on their arrival from Germany.
Martin B. Lefever, the father of Harry R., was
a farmer in Strasburg and his father, the grand-
father of Harry R., was David Lefever, a retired
farmer, who was living and in good health in Oc-
tober, 1900. For many generations this family has
belonged to the Old Mennonite communion. Mar-
tin B. Lefever married Rohrer, a daughter of Jacob
Rohrer, who lived on what was called the "Burker
Hill" farm, near Strasburg, and from this union
were born six children, five of whom are now liv-
ing: Harry R., the Lancaster grocer; Frank R.,
a clerk in the store of Follmer, Clagg & Co. ; and
Elsie, Lillie May and Roy, all at home, the latter
attending school.
Harry Rohrer Lefever was educated in the pub-
lic schools of his district, the State Normal School
at Millersville, and then took a business course in
the Pennsylvania Business College. With this thor-
ough preparation, he secured a clerkship in the em-
ploy of the Standard Oil Company.
Mr. Lefever was married in 1896, to Miss Annie
S., daughter of William Good, the efficient super-
intendent of the Lancaster County Hospital, alms-
house and asylum, and to this union has been born
one charming little child, Ruth. Mr. Lefever
opened a handsome grocery store at No. 109 East
King street, in the spring of 1900, and the enter-
1276
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
prise has proved a decided success. It has drawn
a very good class of custom, and its proprietor
is making a large circle of vi^arm friends for him-
self and steady patrons for his grocery by his un-
failing courtesy, fair dealing and integrity. As a
husband and a father, as a churchman (he being
a member of the United Brethren Church), and as
a business man Mr. Lefever enjoys the respect and
esteem of all the community in which he lives.
PETER REIST, the founder of the Reist fam-
ily in this county, one of the most prominent in
Lancaster, was born in Switzerland, but went from
there to the Palatinate, and came to the United
States in 1723. A cabin was erected by him on
Kissel Hill, but after living there for a time he
gave up the place, and took possession of 600 acres
of land, two miles to the northwest. Two hundred
acres of this extensive tract is still in the posses-
sion of two of his descendants, John and Jacob
Reist.
Peter Reist was the father of five sons and two
daughters, the sons being Peter, Christian, Abra-
ham, Jacob and John. One of these sons was killed
on Braddock's Field, July 9, 1755. The Reists
have a wide family connection, and among the
immediate descendants of the first Peter Reist, are
Mennonite clergymen and men prominent in all the
walks of life. Joseph Ritner, afterward Governor
of Pennsylvania, worked in his young manhood,
and was employed by Peter Reist. When he had
become Governor of the State he visited Mr. Reist
in Warwick township.
Jacob Reist, son of the second Peter Reist, was
an extensive farmer in Warwick township, during
the limits of an ordinary lifetime, but was living
retired in Petersburg at the time of his death.
Jacob Reist was the father of Simon, Peter, Levi
and Isaac Reist. Peter Reist is the only surviving
member of this family, and he is now living retired
in Lititz. They were all widely known among the
farmers of the county, and Levi and Peter Reist
were especially prominent. They were leading
members of the Lancaster County Agricultural So-
ciety, where they frequently read essays and took
part in all the discussions.
Living in a cosy home at No. 49, East Walnut
street, Lancaster, is the venerable widow of Simon
Reist, who was a grandson of the second Peter Reist,
and son of Jacob. Simon Reist, who was a farmer
in Manheim township, and was one of nine men who
organized the Republican party in Lancaster county,
died in 1861 at the early age of forty-five years.
Miss Mary J. Rohrer, who became his wife, was a
daughter of Jacob Rohrer, a prominent farmer of
Washington county, Md. To this union were born
four children, all of whom are living, as follows:
Henry, engaged in the leaf tobacco business in Lan-
caster ; Lineas R., an extensive farmer in Manheim
township ; Simon, who is engaged in the cigar busi-
ness in Lancaster; John, long the bookkeeper and
general oiHceman of Hager & Brothers, Lancaster.
Such is a brief glimpse at the past history of one
of the leading families of Lancaster county. To tell
its story fully would require a volume.
Lineas R. Reist, son of Simon Reist, deceased,
was born on the farm where he still lives, and is one
of the leading farmers in that section of Lancaster
county. His education was secured in the local
schools, and in the State Normal at Millersville.
Before he had reached his majority he began busi-
ness for him.self, taking charge of the homestead,
and gradually has erected a complete set of buildings
on the place where he now resides.
Mr. Reist does general farming in a most prac-
tical and successful manner, owning 135 acres; he
has identified himself in a business way with vari-
ous institutions of the county.
Mr. Reist was married Oct. 21, 1879, ^ Susan, a
daughter of Jacob N. Landis, by whom he has be-
come the father of three children : Lineas L., now a
student of Franklin and Marshall Academy; John
J. and Anna, both at home. Mr. Reist is a stanch
Republican, and is one of the party leaders in his
township and county. He is a director of a bank in
Lancaster, and is one of the most enlightened and
public-spirited men of the community.
JAMES FREDERICK FREY is a fine example
of a self-made young man. His father, Jacob L.
Frey, was one of the three pioneer dealers in leaf
tobacco in Lancaster, and the latter's uncle was the
first mayor of the city.
Jacob L. Frey married Caroline Hannum, whose
father was long a well-known resident of Lancaster
city, and to this union came the following children :
Celia, who is the wife of Benjamin Frey, of Mason-
ville ; Mary, wife of George F. Rathvon, a merchant
of Danville, Va. ; Annie, wife of William Vorhees,
of Milltown, N. J.; Charles H., the leading shoe
merchant of Lancaster; William D., of Lancaster;
Ella, at home with her parents; James F., in the
livery business in Lancaster; Lillie, wife of Ed-
ward V. Read, formerly of New Brunswick, N. J.,
but now in the oil business in Lancaster.
James Frederick Frey was born in Lancaster,
and after going to a private school for a time at-
tended the public school, where he studied until
he was eighteen, when he began work on one of his
father's farms. Presently he had saved a few hun-
dred dollars from tobacco, and when but little over
nineteen years old began business for himself in a
livery barn. This was in the summer of 1895, and
he very soon became a dealer in oil as well. In
the summer of 1900 he sold out his oil interests to
his brother-in-law, Edward V. Read, and, concen-
trating all his energies on the livery business, con-
ducted two large barns, one at No. 214 West Grant
street, his original stable, and the other at No. 37
West Mifflin street.
Mr. Frey was married. May 25, 1898, to Mary
Emma Auxer, a daughter of Adam J. Auxer, a
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1277
prominent housebiiilder of Lancaster. Mr. Frey
is connected with St. Paul's Reformed Church, of
which he is a faithful member, and was for some
time an usher. He takes a constant interest in 5t.
Paul's Sunday-school, belongs to the Bible class,
which is taught by his brother Charles H., and is
everywhere regarded as a successful business man
and a model citizen.
ISAAC S. GIBBLE, general farmer, successful
cattle raiser and substantial and respected citizen of
Mt. Joy township, was born in that township Jan.
4, 1854, son of Isaac and Eliza (Shelly) Gibble, the
former of whom was born in Rapho township, Lan-
caster county, and the latter in Conewago township,
Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania.
Isaac W. Gibble, the father of our subject, is
now a retired farmer of Rapho township, where he
was born Aug. 28, 1822, son of Abraham H. and
Barbara (Wenger) Gibble, the former of whom was
a native of Penn township, who later removed to
Rapho township and engaged in farming until his
death in 1864 at the age of seventy-four years. His
widow survived until 1866, and died aged seventy-
seven years. They were both buried in Rapho town-
ship. Their children were as follows: Joseph W.,
a retired farmer of Rapho township; Michael W.,
who died at the age of seventy-two years ; Isaac W. ;
Fanny W., deceased, who married Jacob Warner;
John W., who died at the age of sixty years ; Abra-
ham W., who lived to the age of sixty-one years;
Elizabeth W., who married John Royer of Lebanon
county. Pa. ; Miss Nancy W., living in Rapho town-
ship; and Barbara W., widow of Timothy Price of
Rapho township.
Abraham H. Gibble was a son of John Gibble,
and his wife, who was a member of the Hummer
family. They lived in Penn township, and had the
following children : Samuel, Henry, Daniel, Abra-
ham H., Joseph, Elizabeth, Mary, Steena, Sally and
Anna. The last named died young.
In 1844 Isaac W. Gibble was married in Han-
over, Pa., by Elder Lawrence Etter, to Miss Eliza
Shelly, born in 1825, and died at the age of seventy-
two years. She was buried in the . cemetery at-
tached to Chickies Meeting House. She had been
an estimable Christian woman, a member of the
German Baptist Church, to which religious body
Mr. Gibble also belongs. In politics he is a Repub-
lican. The children born to Isaac W. Gibble and
wife were as follows : Samuel S., who resides on
the old homestead in Mt. Joy township ; Abraham
S., who is a farmer in Rapho township; Henry S.,
who died young; Mary, who married Rev. Jacob
5. Longenecker, a German Baptist minister in
Lebanon county ; Eliza. S., who died young; Isaac
S., who is the subject of this sketch ; Fanny S., who
married Harvey Stauiifer, a farmer in Rapho town-
ship ; Gideon S., who is a farmer in Mt. Joy town-
ship; and Barbara S., who married Milton Hoff-
man, a farmer of Rapho township. Isaac W. Gibble
is well known in Rapho township and is regarded
as one of its most substantial residents and respected
citizens.
Isaac S. Gibble grew to manhood on the home
farm, his time being divided between attendance at
the district school and assistance given to the farm
work. At his marriage he was capable of manag-
ing farming operations on a large scale, and for the
two years succeeding this event he had charge of
his father-in-law's farm. In 1857 he moved to
Rapho township, and settled for two years upon
what was known as the Joseph Keener farm, and
then came to Mt. Joy township. Plere Mr. Gibble
successfully operated a farm for two years, but in
1881 located upon his present valuable property.
This place was locally known as the old George
Baker farm, and it comprises 190 acres of fine land,
a part of which is in Mt. Joy -township, Lancaster
county and a part in Londonderry township, in
Dauphin county. When Mr. Gibble took charge of
this land it was in need of a vigorous and progres-
sive manager and this it found in its new owner.
Mr. Gibble has been very successful also in cattle-
raising, and financially he is regarded as one of the
solid men of his locality.
On Sept. 20, 1874, in Elder Zook's parsonage, in
Rapho township, Lancaster county, Isaac S. Gibble
was united in marriage with Miss Fannie Z. Wit-
mer. A family of fbur children have been born to
this union, as follows: Sadie W., who married
Jacob Brandt, who is a farmer in Mt. Joy township ;
Anna W., who married Harry Baumbarger, a farmer
of Rapho township ; and Hiram W. and Noah W.,
both young men at home. The birth of Mrs. Fannie
Z. (Witmer) Gibble was on Oct. 31, 1855, in Mt.
Joy township, a daughter of John and a sister of .
D. Z. Witmer, a prominent citizen of Elizabethtown,
The Witmer family is one of the oldest and most
honorable in Lancaster county, and is of Swiss
extraction. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gibble belong to
the German Baptist Church, in which religious body
Mr. Gibble has been a deacon since Good Friday,
1892. In politics he favors the Republican party,
but is no active member. Mr. Gibble is a man who
is trusted and respected by his neighbors, and is
not only a successful farmer and cattle raiser, but
a man who exerts an influence for good through the
community, upholding all worthy enterprises.
DAVID B. RUDY, one of the honorable and
esteemed citizens of Manheim township, Lancaster
county, was born in Warwick township, June 30,
1836, a son of Charles and Elizabeth (Bear) Rudy.
The father was born in Warwick township, where
he was reared and where his life was spent. He
owned a large farm and he lived to the advanced age
of eighty-three. His father, also Charles Rudy,
was a farmer in Warwick township, and lived to be
eighty-four. His children were: Daniel; John;
Charles : Susanna, married to Charles Hostetter ;
Elizabeth, married to George Buch.
1278
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Charles Rudy, the father of David B., married
Elizabeth Bear, by whom he had the following
children : Sarah, Anna and Eliza, who all died un-
married; Isaac, who died in childhood; Maria,
who died unmarried; Jacob, retired, and living at
Lititz ; David B.
David B. Rudy was reared in Warwick town-
ship, and educated in the common schools ; he re-
mained in that township until 1880. That year he
moved to his present home near NefiEsville, where
he has a property of some five or six acres. Al-
ways a farmer, he has made himself a name as one
,of the substantial citizens of the county, and a lover
of law and order.
Mr. Rudy was married Sept. 5, i86r, to Eliza-
beth, a daughter of Christian B. and Fannie (Den-
linger) Landis. Mrs. Rudy was born in Landis
Valley, Manheim township, March 13, 1841, and
was the mother of two children : Adia, who was
born Aug. 4, 1872, and died Nov. 24, 1877; and a
daughter deceased in infancy, born Aug. 27, 1868.
Mr. and Mrs. Rudy are members of the Old Men-
nonite Church, and are much esteemed for their,
quiet lives, industrious ways and staunch integrity.
JACOB E. WITMER, an old and experienced
farmer in the township of East Donegal, Lancaster
county, has led a long and industrious life, and his
peaceful character, manifest honesty and industri-
ous years command the respect and confidence of
the community to a marked degree.
Mr. Witmer was born in East Donegal township,
Sept. 26, 1835, son of Peter F. and Elizabeth
(Eshleman) Witmer, both natives and residents of
Manor township, this county, who moved to East
Ponegal in 1834. The father was a farmer until
the last twenty-four years of his life. A long life
was granted him, and he died in December, 1896,
when within eight days of being eighty-eight years
old; his remains were interred in the Kraybill's
Mennonite Church cemetery. Mrs. Witmer, the
widow, who was born April 9, 181 1, is now living
with her daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Nissley, in Landis-
ville. Pa. She is a member of the Mennonite
Church. Born to this union were children as fol-
lows : Catherine is deceased ; Jacob E., is men-
tioned below ; Peter is a farmer in Rapho township ;
Elizabeth, who is living in Landisville, Pa., is the
widow of Joseph Nissley ; Mary, who is unmarried,
is residing with her brother Jacob ; Annie married
Jesse Myers, of Carroll county, Md. ; Jonas is a
hotel proprietor in Marietta, Pa. ; Henry is a farmer
in East Donegal township; Fanny married Jacob
Sawders.
Jacob E. Witmer was married Nov. 22, i860, in
Lancaster Pa., to Anna E. Kraybill, and to this
union were born : Amanda K., who married Aaron
Grove, a farmer in the township of East Donegal ;
Anna, who married Jonas Landis; Emma K., wife
of Harvey Hossler, a farmer in the township of East
Donegal : Elizabeth K., who is at home ; Mary K.,
wife of Henry Hossler, a farmer in the township of
East Donegal ; and Susan K. and John K., at home.
Mrs. Anna E. Witmer was born on an adjoining
farm, Aug. 12, 1838, and was a daughter of John
P. and Susan (Engle) Kraybill, both natives of the
township of East Donegal, where their entire lives
were spent, and where they died at a ripe old age.
Her father was born Jan. 6, 1813, was a farmer
and retired some twenty-five years prior to his de-
mise, which occurred March 20, 1884. In his active
days he was a prominent man in the community,
and for two years served as super\'isor from Rapho
township. Mrs. Kraybill was born July 9, 1817,
and died in April, T872. Born to this union were :
Anna E.', Mrs. Witmer; Barbara,- wife of Samuel
Eyer, a farmer in East Donegal township; David,
deceased ; John, a farmer of Steelton, Pa. ; Susan-
nah, wife of Leander Engle, a farmer in Belle
Springs, Kan.; Peter, who resides at Florin, and
is the present supervisor of the township; Israel,
deceased ; Mary, who married Daniel Shenk, of the
township of East Hempfield ; Edward, deceased ;
Franklin, a farmer in East Donegal township ; and
Aaron, deceased.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Witmer were
Peter and Elizabeth (Nissley) Kraybill, both of
Lancaster county. Peter Kraybill married for his
second wife Lydia Wayne, also a native of this
county. Mr. Witmer's mother's people, the Engles,
were born and reared to farming in Lancaster coun-
ty, where their lives were passed.
Jacob Witmer spent the first twenty-six years of
his life at home with his parents, and began farming
for himself in Rapho township, where he spent
eleven 5'ears. At the end of that time he removed
to East Donegal township, where his home has been
maintained to the present time. Habits of industry
and an unswerving integrity have pushed him well
to the front, and in his advancing age he enjoys an
ample competence. At the present time he owns
three choice farms in the township of East Done-
gal, and is counted one of the solid men of the
county. In religion he is a member of the Men-
nonite Church, and his unostentatious life has been
very greatly influenced by the spirit of his faith.
P. S. EPLER. Among the successful and well-
known agriculturists of East Donegal township is
Parris Scott Epler, who carries on general farming
and also raises great numbers of poultry for market.
Mr. Epler was born in Maytown, Aug. 4, 185 1, a
son of Christian and Mary A. (Hollinger) Epler.
In 1853 the family removed to Urbana, Ohio, where
the father died in 1858, at the age of forty-five, the
mother dying in 1852, at the age of thirty-five.
Their children were : Amanda, who married John
Ebersole. a farmer of East Donegal ; and our
subject.
Early in life Mr. Epler was left fatherless and
motherless, and was reared by his grandfather, John
Hollinger, remaining with him until he was twenty-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1279
one, at which age he married and then located on
his present excellent farm of thirty-three acres, to
which he has devoted the best part of his life, its
present excellent condition demonstrating that Mr.
Epler deserves his reputation of being one of the
best farmers in the township.
On April 17, 1872, Mr. Epler was married to
Miss Catherine S. Creider, and to this union has
been born a family in which any parent might feel
justified in taking pride. The children of Mr. Epler
are: Frances, who married Harry Hornafins, a
cigar manufacturer of Elizabethtown ; Edward H.,
who married Ida Tottenback, and is a mail agent
between Harrisburg and Hagerstown, Md. ; Bertha,
a young lady, at home; John H^, a mail agent
between Harrisburg and Hagerstown; and Matid
A., at home.
Mrs. Epler was born in Donegal township, Nov.
25, 1847, ^ daughter of John and Fanny (Stoner)
Creider, both of whom died at the home of their
daughter in East Donegal. Mr. Creider lived to be
eighty-one years of age and followed farming until
within six years of his death in 1892; the mother
of Mrs. Epler lived to be seventy-six, dying in May,
1894, both of them being buried in Peck's Meeting
House cemetery. Their children were: Anna M.,
the widow of Abra Brandt, of Columbia; Susan,
who married Joseph Longenecker and lives in Phil-
adelphia; Henry, deceased; Fanny, married to
David Book, near Union Deposit, Pa. ; Martha,
married to Amos Engle of East Donegal township ;
Simon, a resident of Sterling, 111. ; Catherine ;
Amanda, deceased ; Emeline, married to Jacob
Markley, of Steelton, Pa. ; John, of Conoy town-
ship ; Barbara, married to Harry Nye ; Elizabeth,
who married Millard Grove, of East Donegal
township.
Mr. Epler is a Republican in politics, and a
leading member of the Reformed Church, in which
he officiated as elder for thirteen years. He is well
and favorably known throughout East Donegal
township and is considered one of the substantial
and representative citizens.
JOHN KEMMERLY, now a retired cooper at
Newtown, Rapho township, Lancaster county, was
born near Wittenberg, Germany, May 6, 1830, a son
of John and Margaret (Weitzer) Kemmerly, who
were born in Germany, where their lives were spent.
The father died in 1870, at the age of sixty-nine
years. The mother, who died in 1879, was eighty-
three years old. They had the following children,
all of whom, with the exception of John, remained
in Germany: John; Barbara, who married a Mr.
Milburger; Jacob; Mary; Louie.
John Kemmerly sought a home in this country
in his early manhood and was married in Lancaster,
Pa., in 1855, to Elizabeth Mumma, by whom he
became the father of the following children : Mary,
the wife of Harry Weaver, a farmer in Rapho town-
ship; John, who lives at Newtown, married to
Catherine Martin; Barbara, deceased; Jacob, a
merchant at Columbia, who married Sarah Sheetz;
Elizabeth, deceased; Fred, married to Susan Cam-
bers, and living in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Mumma) Kemmerly was born
in Wrightsville, York Co., Pa., in September, 1830,
and is a daughter of Jacob and Barbara (Gram)
Mumma, both of Lancaster county. Pa., where they •
lived and died. He was a laborer.
John Kemmerly came to the United States in
1 85 1, and spent his first winter in Philadelphia.
He came to Columbia, Pa., where he remained until
1852, removing that year to Newtown, which has .
been his home to the present time.
Mr. Kemmerly enlisted at Mt. Joy, Oct. 26,
1861, in Co. G, 9th Pa. Cav., under Capt. Jacob K.
Waltman, and was discharged at McDougal Hos-
pital at Fort Cycle, N. Y., June 12, 1865. EnHst-
ing for three years, he re-enlisted in June, 1864,
under Capt. B. G. Heistand. Among the various
engagements in which Mr. Kemmerly participated
were those at Tompkinsville and Paris, Ky., at
Richmond, Perryville, and Franklin, Tenn. He
was attached to the raid made by Gen. Carter, and
remained with his command until he was wounded
at Black River, N. C, March 16, 1865. His injury
was received from a gunshot wound in the left
hip, and he was taken to various hospitals, until
his discharge at Fort Cycle.
When Mr. Kemmerly returned home he resumed
his work as a cooper, having learned that trade in
Germany. This was his steady occupation until
1885, when he was compelled to give up work.
At the present time he occupies an invalid's chair,
and receives a pension of seventy-two dollars a
month from the general government, his wartime
experiences having so seriously impaired his health.
All his life an industrious and hardworking man,
it is very hard for him to endure the burden of
helplessness. He is a member of the Lutheran
Church, and is a man whose character, abilities and
disposition have brought him well to the front.
In his long and wearisome illness he has the satis-
faction of knowing that his pain and suffering have
somehow a vital connection with the welfare of the
country which he has made his own.
DAVID R. LAYMAN. The life of Mr. Lay-
man has been one of unwearied activity and constant
devotion to duty. Born in Marietta, Pa., Sept. i,
1844, his first experience was at boating along the
canal, beginning this toil when he was but eight
years old.
The father, Michael Layman, a canal boatman,
was born at Milesburg, Centre Co., Pa. ; thence he
removed to Lancaster county : and afterward made
his home in Peach Bottom, York county, where he
died in 1846, at the advanced age of seventy-eight
years. His wife, Mr. Layman's mother, was Sarah
Klein, of Manor township, Lancaster county. She
died at Peach Bottom in i860, lacking but a few
1280
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
days of having completed her fifty-sixth year. The
paternal grandfather of David Layman was also
named Michael. He was a farmer of Centre coun-
ty, where he passed his life. His maternal grand-
parents were Henry and Catherine (Surr) Klein,
both of whom were emigrants from Germany and
settled at Safe Harbor, where they passed the re-
mainder of their lives. Mr. Klein was a cabinet
maker by occupation.
David R. Layman was the eighth of a family of
nine children. Of these, six, George, Jacob, Mich-
ael, Henry, Christiann and Catherine, are deceased.
Christiann married Tobias Manning, and Catherine,
Samuel Unnemaker. The two living daughters are
Elizabeth and Sophia. The former is the widow
of WilHani Huddart, of Columbia; the latter is the
wife of John W. Eberlin, a retired merchant of
Lancaster.
In April, 1861, when but seventeen years old,
David R. Layman enlisted at Lancaster in Co. F,
95th P. V. I. His term of enlistment was three
years, but at the end of his second year of service
sickness compelled him to leave. He was mustered
out at Washington and received his final discharge
at Philadelphia. He was many times under fire,
and took part in the battles of Fredericksburg
and Cedar Creek, but was never wounded. After
his discharge he came to Columbia, and there entered
the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
For three years he worked as brakeman, and for
three as fireman, and in 1869 he was given charge
of an engine. He stands high in the esteem of the
management, having for thirty years discharged
the hazardous and responsible duties of his post
with marked ability and conscientious fidelity. He
is a member of the B. of L. E. and of the G. A. R.
He attends the services of the M. E. Church, and
in politics is a Republican.
In December, 1861, he was married to Miss
Margaret J. Crisswell, who was born in York coun-
ty, Dec. 22, 1841, the daughter of Robert R. and
Mary (Harvey) Crisswell. Her father was a farmer
and died in November, 1873, in his seventy-fourth
years. Her mother passed away in 1882, aged
eighty years. Both were members "of the Bethel
M. E. Church. They were the parents of eight chil-
dren: Henry, a soldier in the Union army, now
deceased ; Franklin, a wholesale grocer of Wheel-
ing, W. Va. ; Patterson, deceased ; George, also a
Union veteran, whose death was due to his service
in the army ; James, another who went to the front,
and who is now a farmer of Iowa ; Mary A., wife
of George Brooks, a Kansas farmer; Margaret J.,
the wife of Mr. Layman ; and Agnes, who died in
childhood.
To Mr. and Mrs. David R. Layman have been
born seven sons and two daughters. The eldest,
William, died in infancy. Robert, who married
Susan Bender, was a fireman and died in 1900.
Anna is the wife of Samuel Evans, who is employed
at the rolling mill in Columbia. The other chil-
dren, Harry, George, William, Gardiner, Charles
and Edna, are unmarried and live at home; Harry
and Gardiner are stove mounters at the works in
Columbia, George is a painter and William a fire-
man. The family is held in high regard in the com-
munity, alike for native intelligence and uprightness
of life.
ROBERT McANALL, an engineer of the
Pennsylvania Railroad and a respected resident of
Columbia, Lancaster county, was born in Upper
Marion township, Montgomery county. Pa., Aug.
2T, 1834, and is a son of Robert and Eliza (Razor)
McAnall, natives of the same county and the parents
of five children : William, deceased ; Margaret (Mrs.
McGinnis), deceased; Ann and Elizabeth, who died
young; and Robert. Robert McAnall, the father,
was a farmer and died, when still a young man,
Sept. 30, 1834, while his widow lived to reach the
ripe age of eighty-four years. John and Margaret
McAnall, grandparents of Robert, were natives of
Glasgow, Scotland, and the grandfather was by trade
a marblecutter.
Robert McAnall remained on his father's farm
until nine years old, and then for two years drove
a cart ; later, he became teamster for the Henderson
Marble Company of Montgomery county and for
nine months drove from the quarry to Philadelphia,
at times having as many as fifteen horses to one
load ; he next worked a year in the quarry, and then
as engineer for the company until the spring of
1858, when he came to Columbia, worked in a quarry
one year and then was engineer for the Water Com-
pany until Oct. 15, 1861, when he was enrolled as
a musician in a company of United States Cavalry.
For one year he played alto, and for two years E
bass flat; was present at many fierce battles in
Virginia, and was honorably discharged Oct. 16,
1864. He returned to Columbia, worked as fireman
for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company five and
three-quarters years and was then appointed to his
present position of engineer.
March 14, 1867, Mr. McAnall married in Mari-
etta Miss Sarah J. Kidder, who has borne him three
children, viz : Carrie E., who died young ; Mary
E., the wife of William E. Powell, proprietor of
the "Depot Hotel," Columbia; and Eva, who also
died young.
Mrs. Sarah J. (Kidder) McAnall was- born in
Columbia, Feb. 26, 1835, a daughter of John and
Leah (Kinard) Kidder, natives, respectively of
Donegal toM'nship and Little Washington, Lancaster
county, but residents of Columbia for some years
prior to their marriage. John Kidder was a car-
penter by trade, and died of cholera in Columbia in
September, 1854, at the age of forty-three years, his
wife having died March 14, 1853, in the same town,
aged forty-two, the remains of both being interred
in Mount Bethel cemetery. They were the parents
of ten children, born in the following order : Will-
iam, who died in infancy; George, who also died
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1281
young ; Sarah J., Mrs. McAnall ; Ann, who died
in childhood; Amanthas and Orville (twins), the
former of whom died young and the latter at the
age of forty-eight years ; Maria, the wife of John
Cowder, a retired farmer of Phillipsburg; James,
who died young ; Elizabeth, now Mrs. Henry Duff
of Columbia; and Alice, deceased in girlhood.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. McAnall were
Curtis and Sarah (Moore) Kidder, early settlers
of Lancaster county, the former of whom, after
the death of his wife in this county went west and
was not again heard of ; the maternal grandparents
were Abraham and Catherine (Frye) Kinard, of
Little Washington borough, and were farming '
people.
Mr. McAnall is a Knight Templar Mason, is
a member of the G. A. R. and in politics is a Re-
publican. As an individual he is held in very high
esteem by the citizens of Columbia, and his estim-
able family are held in equally high regard. As a
railroad man he has the confidence of the company
and good will of his fellow employes.
JOHN M. KAUFFMAN (deceased) was born
in Rapho township. May 4, 1818, and died on Sport-
ing Hill, Rapho township, Nov. 11, 1890. He is
buried in a private cemetery in Rapho township.
He was the son of John and Martha (Metz) KaUff-
man, who married, died and are buried in Rapho
township. They had the following family : Nancy
and Betsey, who both died unmarried ; Harriet, who
married John Keaver ; Maria, unmarried, deceased ;
Cyrus, a retired farmer in Nebraska; Christian,
who married Miss Eliza Miller; John M. The
family with the exception of Cyrus are all dead.
On Jan. 18, 1843, i^^ Rapho township, John M.
Kauffman married Miss Martha Miller. There
were born to this union : Franklin, born June 26,
1844, who died at the age of two years ; Hiram,
born Nov. 28, 1845, who died at the age of nine
years and six months ; William, born Feb. 2, 1848,
a merchant in Nebraska, who married Miss Theresa
McLorin, and has two children, William and John ;
Jeremiah, born Jan. 6, 1850, a produce merchant in
Baltimore, married to Miss Mary Drukenmiller,
and the father of three children, Carrie, Mabel and
John ; Scott, born Sept. 30, 1852, a cigar merchant,
Baltimore, Md., who married Amanda Carpenter
and has two children, James and Winfidd. S.
Martha (Miller) Kauffman was born Oct. 22,
1818, at Strasburg, Pa., and is the daughter of Dan-
iel and Catherine (Sides) Miller, of Strasburg.
She came to Rapho township in 1825 and has re-
mained there ever since. Her father was a plow
manufacturer, who was born June 15, 1777 and
died at rhe age of ninety-one years. His wife was
born Sept. 10, 1786, and died in 1855. They were
buried in a private cemetery in Rapho township.
There were born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller the follow-
ing family: David, deceased, who married Maria
Summy; Martha, widow of John M. Kauffman;
81
Jacob, deceased, who married Elizabeth Beam;
George, deceased, who married Ann Conrad; Will-
iam, who died in childhood ; and Catherine.
Mr. Kauffman was a merchant tailor until four
years prior to his death, when he retired from busi-
ness. He carried on his business and social life
on the precept of "Do unto others as you care to be
done by" and the rule worked well with him for
he was universally respected and stood high in his
community. He was a Christian in thought and
deed but a member of no creed. He was success-
ful in business and in rearing a fine family. Mrs.
Kauffman takes pleasure in her family and enjoys
the kindest regard of her neighbors and friends.
CICERO S. WEBSTER, one of the three oldest
engineers in the employ of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company, and a highly respected citizen of
Columbia, was born in Downingtown, Chester Co.,
Pa., July 13, 1832, and is a son of John and Tanisa
(Downing) Webster, the former also a native of
Downingtown, the latter of Wilmington, Pennsyl-
vania.
Throughout life the father made his home in
Chester county, where in his early years he engaged
in bttsiness as a dry goods and commission mer-
chant, and later served as justice of the peace for
a quarter of a century, being appointed by Gov. John
F. Hartranft. He attended the Friends Church, of
which his wife was a consistent and faithful mem-
ber, and was a man of exemplary habits, never using
profane language, tobacco or liquor in any form.
He died in 1880, at the age of eighty-two years, his
wife in 1877, at the age of eighty-four, and both
were laid to rest in the old Friends' burying ground
at Downingtown. In their family were three chil-
dren: Cicero S., the subject of this sketch; and
Hettie and Mary, who reside in Downingtown, and
being well-to-do, spent much time in travel. The
family is of English extraction.
Throughout his entire business career, Cicero
S. Webster has been interested in railroading. At
the age of eighteen he commenced running cars on
the old State road, and when it was purchased by
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, he remained
with them, running a construction train in 1857 and
1858; later he served as fireman two years, and
was engineer since that time. He is a member of
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and a
supporter of the Republican party. He is honored
and respected by all who know him and those who
know him best hold him in the highest esteem.
On June 30, 1858, in Little Washington, Lan-
caster county, Mr. W'ebster was united in marriage
with Miss Ann Singer, who was born there in Feb-
ruary. 1835, a daughter of John and Elizabeth
(Walk) Singer, who made their home throughout
life in Lancaster county, where the former died, in
1837, the latter, Dec. 18, 1875. Mrs. Webster was
the youngest of their three children, the others be-
ing Benjamin, a resident of Lancaster; and Christ,
1282
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
deceased. Mr. and J\Irs. Webster have a family of
five children, namely: John D., an engineer on
the Pennsylvania Railroad, residing in Morristown,
Pa. ; Edward, a mechanic of Columbia ; Mary E.,
widow of William B. Rife, residing with her father;
Thomzin and Richard, both at home.
L. W'. SHIRK, a resident of Oregon, Manheim
township, belongs to one of the old families of the
county, and was born on the farm he still occupies,
Dec. I, 1858, the son of John K. and Catherine
(Weist) Shirk, and grandson of Ulrich and Nancy
(Kurtz) Shirk.
The grandfather was the founder of the family
in Manheim township, coming originally from
Schoeneck, Lancaster county, where he was bom
and reared to early manhood. When he was a
young nian the family came to Brownstown, Earl
township. After his marriage to Miss Kurtz, he
located on the farm belonging to his wife, which she
had inherited. This property is still owned by their
grandson, L. W. Shirk, and it adjoins the farm
where he has his home. It contains some ninety
acres. Ulrich Shirk had grown quite wealthy and
had become an extensive land owner at the time
of his death. Belonging to the New Mennonite
Church, he was a man of positive convictions and
clear thought. When he died he was eighty-two
years old, and was survived by but one child, John
K., the father of L. W. Shirk.
John K. Shirk was born on the paternal estate,
and was engaged in farming and stock raising all
his life. For a young man he had become quite
wealthy at the time of his death, which occurred at
the age of forty-two. John K. Shirk was married
in 1857 to Catherine daughter of Samuel and Re-
becca (Seibert) Weist, of Schoeneck. Mrs. Cathe-
rine Shirk was born Jan. 12, 1838, and is still living,
making her home with her son. To them was born
only one child, L. W. Shirk.
Mr. Shirk, of whom this article was written, was
reared at the home where he is fo.und today, and
was educated in the public schools, and in the State
Normal at Millersville. After the death of his
father, he took charge of the family patrimony, and
has largely increased its extent. Together with his
wife, he owns 833 acres of the best land in the
country. They are bright and progressive people,
and their home indicates culture and refinement.
In 1889 they erected a fine modern home, which is
surrounded with a beautiful land, richly bedecked
with shrubbery and neatly kept. Mr. Shirk is a
director of the Fulton National Bank of Lancaster,
and is also a director in the Lancaster and Ephrata
turnpike. In the Manheim-Nefifsville Mutual Fire
Insurance Company he holds a similar position.
Mr. Shirk was married in December, 1872, to
Ida, a daughter of John and Susan (Johns) Hos-
tetter, of Manheim township. They have two chil-
dren, John H. and Edna May. John H. was a stu-
dent of Mercersburg College, graduating in the class
of 1901, and is now at Princeton. He is also a
graduate, in the class of 1899, at the Nazareth
Military School. Mr. Shirk is a Republican, and
is highly regarded by those who know him best.
HENRY D. BELL, an old-time employe of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company and now a con-
ductor, was born in Columbia, Oct. 21, 1839, and
still makes his home in that place.
Adam and Susan (Minick) Bell, parents of
Henry D. Bell, were natives respectively of County
Donegal, Ireland, and of Lancaster county. Pa. Adam
Bell was a saddler by trade, came to America when
young, and was married in Columbia, Pa. There he
was a toll-gate keeper for many years, later attended
the old bridge between Columbia and Wrightsville,
and still later, for fifteen years, was employed on
the Pennsylvania Railroad. He died in Wrights-
ville in May, 1874, in the Presbyterian faith, when
sixty-eight years old ; he had lost his wife in 1843,
at the age of twenty-eight. There had been bom
to this union two children, Henry D. and John W.,
the latter deceased; to a second marriage with
Elizabeth Lawrence, of Marietta, was born one
child, Armour D., now baggage master for the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Frederick,
Maryland.
John and Alice Bell, paternal grandparents of
Henry D., were born in County Donegal, Ireland,
of Scotch-Irish descent. They were agricultural
people and came to America in 1810, locating first in
York county, but finally settled near Columbia, and
continued farming until the end. The maternal
grandparents, Daniel and Margaret (Qare) Minick,
were early settlers in Lancaster county, and were
also engaged in agricultural pursuits.
Henry D. Bell attended the Columbia schools un-
til fourteen years old, and was then employed for
a few years as a driver for canal boats; he next
clerked in a general store a year or more, and in
1856 entered the employ of the railroad company
as a freight-car brakeman ; two years later he was
advanced to the position of brakeman on a passen-
ger train between Harrisburg and Altoona, and in
1862 was promoted to baggage master, which po-
sition he filled four years. His train was then with-
drawn from the road, and he returned to Columbia,
where he was employed as brakeman and flagman
until 1874, when he was promoted to conductor,
and this position he has since filled to the entire
satisfaction of the company and the patrons of his
train.
Henry D. Bell has been twice married. First, in
June, 1866, he was joined in matrimony at Harris-
burg with Miss Rebecca R. Wilt, a daughter of
Daniel E. Wilt, of Dauphin county, but this lady
passed away without issue, in November, 1867.
The second marriage took place Oct. 20, 1869, in
Middletown, Dauphin Co., Pa., to Miss Anna Steh-
man, and to this union were born eight children in
the following order : Henry S., a railroad fireman
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1283
at Columbia; Adam B., deceased; Rachel S. and
Amelia, at home; Grant B. and Sidney, deceased;
Daniel W. and James B., also at home.
Mrs. Anna (Stehman) Bell was born in Mid-
dle-town, Pa., and was a daughter of Henry and
Margaret (Beakler) Stehman, formerly of West
Virginia, both of whom died in Middletown, Pa.,
where the father had been a justice of the peace
twenty-five years. Mr. Bell had the misfortune a
second time to lose his wife, as Mrs. Anna Bell was
called away Feb. 26, 1895, at the age of fifty-four
years.
In politics Mr. Bell is a Republican, and was an
emergency man during the war of the Rebellion.
He is a member of the Pennsylvania R^ief, and of
the Reformed Church, and is' one of the most re-
spected men of Columbia.
CHARLES HOWELL WELCHANS, late of
Lancaster, now of Gerraantown, enjoys the distinc-
tion of having had two grandfathers who were pio-
neers in their respective lines in the former city.
Both were of very old and respected influential fam-
ilies. His paternal grandfather is well remembered
by the older citizens as one of the pioneer leaf
tobacco dealers of Lancaster, while his maternal
grandfather, David Shultz, was a pioneer hatter,
and founder of the big hat concern now known as
Staufifer & Co.'s on North Queen street. Both
grandfathers were representative men, and both
were progressive and substantial citizens.
Mr. Welchans is the only son of the late Edward
Welchans, who was for years a dealer in tobacco
and cigars, and who served six years as city trea-
surer of Lancaster ; while his mother was Rebecca
Shultz, daughter of the late David Shultz.
Charles Howell Welchans, named after the ven-
erable Major Charles M. Howell, was born in Lan-
caster March 4, 1871, and was educated in the public
schools of Lancaster, graduating from the Boys'
High school in the class of 1887. After attending
Weidler's Business College for a time, he entered
the service of Skiles & Frey, leaf tobacco dealers,
remaining with them seven years, and then engag-
ing in the leaf tobacco trade on his own account,
trading as Welchans & Good for three years, at
the expiration of which time he formed a partner-
ship with John D. Skiles in the leaf tobacco trade,
the firm being known as C. H. Welchans & Co.
This continued for four years, and the firm was
dissolved in April, 1901, by the withdrawal of Mr.
Welchans, who had become a member of the firm
of Barnholt, Welchans & Co., commission brokers,
on April i, 1901. This firm consisted of C. W.
Barnholt, C. H. Welchans, and W. S. Barnholt, and
they had three elegantly equipped offices in the
Woolworth Building, the finest business structure
in Lancaster. As commission brokers in stocks,
bonds, grain and cotton, they also had offices at
No. 1208 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, and in the
Russ Building, in Harrisburg. Mr. Welchans has
withdrawn from this business and is now located
in Germantown, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Welchans was married, April 18, 1894, to
Miss Frances M. Shultz, daughter of William
Shultz,. one of the early and prominent leaf tobacco
dealers of. Lancaster. They have one child, Made-
line. Mr. Welchans is a member of all the local
bodies of the Masonic order up to the Mystic Shrine,
which does not exist in Lancaster, his membership
being in the Philadelphia Shrine. During his resi-
dence in the city he belonged to the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks, the Young Republicans,
the Hamilton Club and the Conestoga Country Club.
In religion he is a Lutheran. Wherever we find him,
Mr. Welchans is a genial, clever, kindly gentleman.
JOHN T. BENNETT, a well-known engineer
on the Pennsylvania Railroad, residing in Columbia,
Pa., was born in Lakewood, N. J., July 8, 1862, and
is a son of John and Lydia (Conover) Bennett, who
spent their entire lives in that State, the father being
engaged in the nursery business. He died in Au-
gust, 1 88 1, at the age of sixty- four years, and the
mother passed away in April, 1870, at the age of
sixty. They were the parents of six children, name-
ly : William, who died at the age of fourteen years ;
Ezeriah, a grocer of Branchport, N. J. ; Charles H.,
who died at the age of fourteen years ; John T. ;
Mnry E., who married William Thompson and died
atf the age of twenty-three years ; and Irene, a resi-
dent of Asbury Park, New Jersey.
John T. Bennett was reared on a farm and
handled fine trotting horses until sixteen years of
age, after which he followed racing with fast run-
ning horses until the spring of 1887. The following
year he was engaged in the butcher business, but
again turned his attention to horses for one year.
In 1888 he entered the service of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company as a fireman, and after serving
them faithfully in that capacity for over eleven
years he was promoted to engineer. He made his
headquarters in Philadelphia until Jan. 18, 1892,
when he was transferred to Columbia, of which he
has since been a highly esteemed citizen, one who
easily makes friends and as easily retains them, for
he is upright and honorable in all his dealings and
possesses a genial disposition. He is a member of
St. John's Lutheran Church, and of the Brother-
hood of Locomotive Firemen, and in politics is
independent.
At Columbia, Oct. 31, 1893, Mr. Bennett was
united in marriage with Miss Mabel F. McBride,
by whom he had four children, namely; James T.,
Edward H., John W. and Renetta. Mrs. Bennett
was born in Columbia, May 20, 1874, a daughter of
James M. and Clara G. (Huber) McBride, also
natives of that city, the former born in 1847, the
latter in 1856. They are members of St. John's
Lutheran Church, and are still residents of Colum-
bia, where the father is employed as a stationary
engineer by the railroad company. Mrs. Bennett is
1284
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the oldest of their children, the others being : Lillie
M., who resides with Mrs. Bennett; Anna S., who
married George Groff and lives with her parents;
Bertha M., deceased; Morris H. and Rachel R.,
both at home.
JOHN S. HOOVER (deceased) was born on
the family homestead in West Hempfield township,
Lancaster county, Pa., in September, 1849, and
died July 6, 1894, his remains being interred in the
Mountville cemetery. ,
E. P'erree and Elizabeth (Smith) Hoover, par-
ents of the deceased John S. Hoover, came from
Williamstown, Lancaster county, and founded the
Hoover homestead in West Hempfield township in
April, 1845, ^"^c^ there passed the remainder of their
days. They were the parents of three children named
as follows : Joseph, who died when small; John S. ;
and Mary, deceased wife of William Shriber of Han-
over, Pennsylvania.
Joseph and Elizabeth (Ferree) Hoover, paternal
grandparents of Joseph Hoover, deceased, moved
from the family homestead shortly after marriage
to Middletown, Dauphin county, Pa.,. and there
passed the remainder of their lives. Joseph Hoover
was prosperous as a farmer, was popular as a citizen
and held several township offices ; he died in 1848,
when sixty-five years old, and his widow was called
away about 1858. Their children, four in number,
were named in order of birth: Elisha Ferree, who
died on his homestead ; Anna M., deceased wife of
Hiram Witmer; Joseph, a retired farmer, living on
the old homestead, xinmarried ; and Elizabeth, who
died unmarried in 1895.
In October, 1871, at the home of the bride, John
S. Hoover married A. Lizzie Hess, and to this union
were born seven children, namely: Ferree, who
married Laura Igar, and is living on the same farm
with his mother ; Joseph, of Mountville, married to
Ella Pennypacker ; Mary, deceased ; John and Liz-
zie H. at home ; Park, deceased ; and Edward, at
home.
Mrs. A. Lizzie (Hess) Hoover was born on the
Columbia Pike in East Hempfield township and is a
daughter of Daniel and Barbara (Witmer) Hess,
both of whom died on the old Hess homestead. The
father was a farmer and was also a hotel keeper at
what is now known as Kready, which hotel was under
his management at the time of his death, which oc-
curred in 1872, at the age of fifty-nine years ; his
widow survived him until 1878, when she expired at
sixty years of age. She was a member of the Men-
nonite Church, and the remains of both were interred
in Longnecker's burying ground. The family born
to Daniel and Barbara (Witmer) Hess comprised
twelve children, viz : Dr. John W., who died in Lan-
caster in 1896 ; Martin, who served in the army but
is now living a retired life, spending his time with
his sisters ; Catherine and Emma, deceased ; Alice,
wife of George Trout, a farmer living near Landis-
ville ; A. Lizzie, Mrs. Hoover ; Susan, deceased ; Wit-
mer, a farmer of West Hempfield township ; Ellen,
wife of Henry Deitrich, a carpenter of West Hemp-
field township ; Zena, deceased wife of Alf ord Cogle ;
Edward, of Karns City, Pa., and Lila, deceased.
The deceased John S. Hoover was a farmer all
his life and a thrifty and experienced manager; he
was a Democrat in politics and for two years was a
school director, but never had any great desire for
office or notoriety. His estimable widow still resides
on the homestead of 140 acres and is surrounded with
a number of sincere friends and several of her chil-
dren, who make what is now the prime of her life
endurable, and indeed pleasant comparatively, in the
absence of that friend of all friends — ^her deceased
husband.
SAMUEL DENLINGER, a retired farmer of
Leacock township, was born in East Lampeter town-
ship, March 17, 1830, and is a son of John and
Anna (Groflf) Denlinger. Plis parents were both
born and reared in East Lampeter township, where
they were married. His father was born April 2,
1790, and died Oct. 30, 1861 ; his mother, who was
born May 21, 1793, died March 25, 1859. Their
ashes remain in a quiet corner of the old farm.
To John and Anna Denlinger were born the fol-
lowing children ; David, who died at the age of
eighteen years; Magdalina, who died unmarried
at the age of sixty-seven ; Jacob, who died young ;
Barbara, who is living unmarried in East Lampeter
township, at the age of eighty-four years; Anna,
late wife of Isaac Kreider; Elizabeth, deceased
wife of Daniel Buckwalter ; David, who died at the
age of nineteeen years ; Susannah, who died single
at the age of sixty-two years ; John, who died at
the age of forty-seven years ; Samuel. John Den-
linger, the father of John and the grandfather of
Samuel, was a farmer in East Lampeter township.
David and Anna Groff, the maternal grandparents
of Samuel Denlinger, were farmer folk of Lancaster
eounty.
Samuel Denlinger has been twice married, the
first time on Jan. 3, 1852, to Elizabeth Musser, by
whom he had the following children: Jacob M.,
a farmer in Leacock township, married to Anna
Musser, by whom he has had two children; John
D., a motorman in Lancaster, who married Mary
Kramer, and has one daughter. Mrs. Elizabeth
Musser, who was born in Leacock township, died
in 1872, at the age of thirty-eight years, and
was buried in Resh cemetery, at Bird-in-Hand.
Mrs. Denlinger was a daughter of Jacob and Eliza-
beth (Musser) Musser, both of Lancaster county.
Mr. Denlinger was married again, Jan. 3, 1875,.
in Upper Leacock township, to Mrs. Emma (Ruth)
Eby. Mrs. Emma Denlinger was born in Leacock
township, and is a daughter of Simpson and Mary
A. (Becher) Eby, of Lancaster county. Her father,
who is dead, was a carpenter and farmer.
Samuel Denlinger remained with his parents
until his marriage, when he located on his farm in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1285
Leacock township, where he remained until 1872.
He spent a year on another farm, and then estab-
lished himself on the one where he is foimd at the
present time. He is a man who has accumulated
a very considerable property, and owns two hand-
some and well appointed farm properties. His
church relations are with the German Baptist
(Dunkard) Church, of which he is a faithful and
devoted member. He was largely instrumental in
the building of this church, and in the maintenance
of its services he is a constant and hard worker.
In 1 87 1 he lost the fingers of his left hand in a
fodder press.
THORNTON B. METZ, an honored veteran of
the Civil war, who for a third of a century has been
a trusted employee of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, now makes his home in Columbia, where
lie has an elegant residence.
Mr. Metz was born in Williamsburg, Blair Co.,
Pa., July 22, 1844, a son of Philip and Susan (Bren-
neman) Metz, the former also a native of Williams-
burg, the latter of Huntingdon county, this State,
where their marriage was celebrated. Both died in
Williamsburg, the father in 1846, at the age of thirty-
five years, the mother in 1889, at the age of eighty-
two. They were faithful members of the Baptist
Church and highly respected by all who knew them.
The father conducted a packet station and grocery
store in Williamsburg up to the time of his death.
In the family were five children, namely : Samantha,
who died at the age of two years ; William, who died
in Danville, Pa. ; Anna, wife of Ephraim Gerst, a
merchant tailor of Altoona, Pa. ; George, now alder-
man from the first ward of Altoona ; and Thornton
B. The paternal grandfather of our subject was
Jacob Metz, a native of Germany, who on his immi-
gration to America located in Williamsburg, Pa.,
and followed farming. He died in 1841 at a good
old age. The maternal grandparents were Jacob and
Rachel Brenneman, who were born in York county
and died in Huntingdon county, Pa. Mr. Brenne-
man was quite an extensive land owner and lumber-
man.
At the age of fifteen years Thornton B. Metz
commenced the study of dentistry, and was thus em-
ployed until after the Civil war broke out. In 1862
he enlisted for nine months in Co. B, 125th P. V. I.,
under W. L. Hewett, and after serving that term,
re-enlisted, Feb. 9, 1864, for three years, or during
the war, in Battery G, 3d Pa. Artillery, under Capt.
Joseph W. Sanderson ; he was discharged at Phila-
delphia, Nov. 9, 1865. Mr. Metz participated in the
battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancel-
lorsville, and the engagements in front of Richmond
and Petersburg. At Chancellorsville, he received a
slight wound in the wrist from a bayonet, but lost no
time from his regiment. After the war Mr. Metz
purchased the stage route between Williamsburg
and Hollidaysburg, which he operated one year, and
then came to Columbia and entered the employ of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as fireman, but
at the end of two years and eleven months he was
promoted to engineer, in which capacity he has served
the company faithfully and well ever since. At one
time he was a member of the B. O. L. E. and I. O.
O. F., and served as vice grand in the latter fra-
ternity, but at present is connected with no secret
society. In his political views he is a Democrat. A
pleasant, genial gentleman, Mr. Metz makes many
friends, and is held in high regard by all who know
him.
In Ansonville, Clearfield Co., Pa., Aug. 9, 1866,
Mr. Metz was united in marriage with Lydia A.
Groom, who was born in Columbia, Aug. 13, 1849, a
daughter of Thomas and Anna (Lochard) Groom,
also natives of Columbia, where the father followed
farming for some years, but later was superintendent
of the junction and breakwater of the Delaware,
Maryland & Virginia railroad at Lewes, Del. When
the road was purchased by the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Companv, he remained with them until his
death, which occurred in Lewes, whither he removed
in 1875.
To Mr. and Mrs. Metz were born the following
children: Samantha, now the wife of Amandas
Gerhart, a molder of Lansdale, Pa.; Anna G., wife
of Benjamin Byre, a railroad fireman and a resident
of Columbia; Thomas G., confidential clerk for the
superintendent of the Philadelphia, Wilmington &
Baltimore Railroad Company at Clayton, Del. ; Mar-
tin E., a stay-bolt inspector for the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company at Columbia ; Charles C, de-
ceased ; Letitia S., wife of Samuel Miller, a railroad
conductor and resident of Columbia; Thornton M.,
a railroad brakeman, residing at home ; Lydia, wife
of James Caldwell, a brakeman of Columbia; Will-
iam L., also a brakeman; Susan, Catherine and
Maud, all at home ; Louis, decea'sed ; and Margaret
L. and George, twins, the former at home, the latter
deceased.
AARON W. MILLER, the proprietor of the
"Oregon Hotel," in Oregon, who enjoys an enviable
reputation among the hotel men of Lancaster county,
was born in Manheim township, Aug. 5, 1857.
The son of Martin Van Buren and Anna M.
(Eberley) Miller, he worthily sustains the honor of
an old family name. His mother is still living, and
makes her home with her daughter in East Hemp-
ijeld township, having already reached the age of
sixty-four vears. The father was sixty-five years
of age' at the time of his death,. July 10, 1900, near
Manheim. Born in Lancaster county, he was the
son of Samuel E. Miller, who died when Martin
was a small boy.
Martin Van Buren Miller was early left to care
for himself, and he made his home with Ulrich
Shirk, where he lived until his marriage. After that
event for several years he was engaged in cultivat-
ing the Shirk farm. Leaving there, he engaged in
the butchering business, which he followed for
1286
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
thirty-five years, attending the Lancaster markets.
After his son Aaron was married, he became a part-
ner with his father until 1882. For several years
after that the business was under the management of
the son, for whom the father worked. In 1893 the
business was sold, and Aaron retired from business
life, and the father lived with him. Martin Van
Buren Miller was a Republican. To him and his
wife were born four children : Etta E., the wife of
Samuel R utter, of Lancaster; Aaron W. ; Abraham
L., the keeper of the toll-gate on the New Holland
pike ; Alice, the wife of Harry Dunkler, who resides
between Landisville and Lancaster.
Aaron W. Miller was educated in the public
schools, and learned the butcher business with his
father, when only twelve years of age keeping his
father's books ; when a young man he attended the
market business at Lancaster, and this was his oc-
cupation for over thirty years. In 1893 he lived re-
tired one year, but found it difficult to endure the
lack of a regular occupation, and accordingly entered
iipon the hotel business, which has been his main
labor to the present time. With peculiar adaptability
to the hotel career, he has made it a great success.
Mr. Miller has been twice married, first in 1879,
to Ella, a daughter of John Myers. She died Aug.
28, 1892. at the age of thirty-five years, seven months
and three days, and was the mother of the follow-
ing: Walter, born Sept. 10, 1879, i^ow living in
Lititz, an engineer, who married Ada Beech, and
has one child, Edna May; Samuel S., born Dec. 3,
1881, at home; Katie, born May 28, 1883, the wife
of William Mills, of Ephrata township, and the
mother of one child, Helen ; Anna Mary, born Feb.
II, 1886, at home; Martin Van Buren, born April
26, 1887 ; AHce, born May 18, 1889.
Mr. Miller contracted his second marriage in
1893, to Mrs. Carrie Kemper, of Lititz, a daughter
of William Stauer. To this union have come two
children : Wesley O'Brien, born Nov. 5, 1893 ; and
Carrie, born Feb. 15, 1895. The Millers stand
among the best and most respected people of the
county.
AUGUSTUS RODGERS, a retired tinsmith
of Intercourse, Lancaster county, was born in the
city of Lancaster, Dec. 28, 1844, and is a son of
Thomas and Mary (Eahler) Rodgers, both natives
of Lancaster county, where their lives were spent.
The father was a nail cutter in his younger days,
then for many years a tinsmith, some twenty-five
years. Prior to his death he lived retired, and died
in 1849, at the age of sixty. His widow passed to
her reward in 1855, at the age of sixty-three. They
were members of the Lutheran Church, and both
were buried in the Woodward Hill cemetery at
Lancaster.
Thomas and Mary Rodgers were the parents of
the following children: Mary, who died young;
Mary Ann, who died unmarried, at the age of sev-
enty years : Henry, who died unmarried, at the age
of seventy-six ; Anna Eliza, deceased wife of Philip
Baker; David, who married Anna Bushman, and
died when forty-five years old ; Augustus ; Emanuel,
a retired shoemaker of Lancaster; Harriet, the
widow of Jacob R. Evarts, living in Lancaster with
her five children; Mrs. Evarts died April 23, 1901.
Augustus Rodgers married Elizabeth Mcllvane,
born Aug. 15, 1844, by whom he has had the fol-
lowing children : Elizabeth, who married Emory '
Kelley, a machinist, and died May 14, 1893 ; John,
a tinsmith of Royersford, Pa., married to Mary
Murr, who is dead ; Catherine Z., who married Phil-
lip Trupp and lives in Lancaster, Pa. ; Jacob E., a
tinsmith of Lancaster, married to Irene Shellen-
berger ; Margaret, who died yotmg ; Mary Ann, who
died in October, 1859; Augustus M., who is a tin-
smith in Intercourse, married to Mary Young;
Henry C, a partner with Augustus M., married to
Lizzie Smith ; Samuel S., a resident of Mt. Joy,
married to Sallie McMichael.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Mcllvane) Rodgers was born in
Mt. Joy, Pa., March 20, 1827, a daughter of James
and Elizabeth (Ferguson) Mcllvane, both natives
of Ireland. They came to America with their two
children, where he engaged in business as a miller.
He died in 1829, and his wife in 1870, at the age of
sixty-five. Born to this union were the following
children: Davis, a resident of Middletown, Pa.,
now retired ; Jane, deceased wife of George Keifer ;
Margaret, deceased wife of Davis Keith; Nancy,
widow of James Hamilton, of Lancaster, Pa.;
Elizabeth; John.
Augustus Rodgers remained in Lancaster until
1844, when he removed to Intercourse, where he is
found at the present time. When he was sixteen
years old he became an apprentice to the tinsmith
trade in the shops of Gemperling Brothers, and re-
mained with them four years. Following this he
was a journeyman until his marriage, when he
established himself at Intercourse in the tinsmith
and hardware trade, which he carried on until 1891.
That year he retired in favor of his two sons. He
and his wife belong to the Methodist Church. In
his politics he is a stanch Republican, and takes a
prominent part in local and general affairs. They
are a happy couple, and enjoy the unmeasured re-
spect and esteem of all with' whom they come in
contact.
JOHN F. HOOK, a well-known citizen of Co-
lumbia, who for eighteen years has been connected
with the Pennsylvania Railroad, was born in Cincin-
nati, Ohio, Dec. 4, 1859, a son of John A. and Mary
(Wolf) Hook, the former a native of Lancaster, the
latter of York, Pa. Their marriage was celebrated
in Columbia, where the father located in 1848, but
in 1854 he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and spent
six years in that city, returning to Columbia in i860.
There he was engaged in the insurance business,
and as one of the prominent and influential men of
the city was called upon to serve in the city council.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1287
He died in 1879, at the age of sixty-four years, but
his wife, who was born in 1827, is still living in
Columbia. In their family were the following chil-
dren: Mamie, wife of Bernard Malone, a con-
tractor, of Lancaster, Pa. ; Sarah E., wife of Charles
F. Young, a postal clerk, of Columbia ; Charlotte A.,
wife of W. H. Frye, who is clerking in Baltimore,
Md. ; George A., a resident of Lancaster ; Anna S.,
who is living with her mother in Columbia ; James
M., an engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad and a
resident of Columbia ; John F. ; Edward P. and
Alice, who died in infancy; and Clara A., at home
with her mother.
During the infancy of John F. Hook his parents
returned to Columbia, Pa., where he was reared and
educated, attending school until sixteen years of
age, when he entered the office of the Columbia
Herald and was there employed seven years. At
the end of that period he accepted a position as
brakeman on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and served
there for three years and a half. During the fol-
lowing twelve years he was employed as fireman,
and was then promoted to engineer, in which ca-
pacity he is still employed by that same company,
his labors having always given the utmost satisfac-
tion. Fraternally he is a member of the Brother-
hood of Locomotive Firemen and the Pennsylvania
Volunteer Relief Department; and politically he is
an ardent supporter of the Democratic party and its
principles. In religious belief he is a Catholic.
At Columbia, April 12, 1893, Mr. Hook was
united in marriage with Miss Henrietta Hinkle,
and to them have been born three children, namely,
Sarah F., Mary C. and Grace A. Mrs. Hook is a
native of Columbia and a daughter of David K. and
Henrietta Hinkle.
' HOSEA GIVLER, a general farmer of Rapho
township, lives on the same farm where he was
born, Feb. 28, 1863. He is the son of Henry and
Nancy (Shepler) Givler, of Ephrata, Lancaster
county.
Both the parents of Hosea Givler died on this
farm, upon which they settled in 1858. They are
buried in private ground on the Fauss farm, in
Rapho township. The parents were members of the
River Brethren Church. He was a shoemaker by
trade but had retired some years before his death,
which occurred in March, 1898, at the age of eighty
years. Mrs. Henry Givler died in 1880, at the age
of fifty-nine years. There were born to this union
of Henry ancl Nancy Givler the following children :
Elizabeth, deceased ; Isaac, a farmer of ,Mt. Joy ;
Samuel, a farmer of Rapho township ; Henry, Peter,
Jacob, Mary, wife of Nathan Myers, Christian and
John, all deceased ; Aaron, of Manheim township ;
Hiram and Anna, deceased ; and Hosea.
In t886 Hosea Givler married Miss Catherine
Newgart. There have been bofn to this union the
following family : Anna M. ; Hiram, deceased ;
Lizzie, Henry, Elsa, Mabel and Katie. Mrs. Giv-
ler was born in Rapho township. Her parents were
Joseph and Mary (Geisel) Newgart, who were
married in 1855. There were the following chil-
dren born to them : John, a farmer, at home ; Jacob,
deceased ; Malinda, wife of Nathan Gibble, a farmer
of Rapho township ; Catherine, wife of Hosea Giv-
ler; Henry, at home, unmarried; and Morris, de-
ceased.
Mrs. Newgart's maiden name was Mary Geisel
and she was born in Rapho township in March,
1835. She was the daughter of Jacob and Catherine
(Gepfer) Geisel, of Rapho township. Joseph New-
gart was born in Baden, Germany, Feb. 22, 1829,
the son of Joseph and Katie (Homer) Newgart.
He worked at the carpenter trade in Germany and
when he came to America in 1850 he still followed
it in connection with farming until 1894, when he
retired.
Hosea Givler has lived on his present farm, as^
already mentioned, all his life. He has been very
successful since he took charge of the place, in 1889,
upon the retirement of his father, and no one stands
better in the community than he. He is a fine, up-
to-date man, well ofi: financially, and alive to the in-
terests of Lancaster county. In politics he is a Re-
publican, and it would not be surprising to his
friends if he, a little later, should take a prominent
part in the councils of the party.
JAMES R. McMANUS. This well-known
railroad conductor of Columbia, Pa., was born in
that city, Sept. 18, 1854, and throughout life has
been identified with its interests.
Owen McManus, father of James R., and a re-
tired railroad man of Columbia, was born in the
village of Oldtown, County Meath, Ireland, Nov. 4,
1832, a son of Patrick and Elizabeth (Gaffney) Mc-
Manus, also natives of Ireland, where the former
died in 1842, while the latter departed this life in
Lancaster, Pa., in 1857. The father came to the
New World in 1849, landing in New York, Dec.
14, and after a few days spent in that city he came
to Lancaster, Pa. He removed to Columbia in 1871,
and until he retired, Jan. i, 1893, he was in the em-
ploy of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. On
Dec. 4, 1853, he married Nora Larkin, a native of
County Clare, Ireland, and a daughter of James
and Catherine Larkin, who never left that country.
She died Dec. 23, 1875, aged forty years. To Owen
and Nora (Larkin) McMaUus were born eight
children, of whom James R. is the oldest ; Mary A.
is at home with her father ; John was killed on the
railroad, Oct. 17, i88i| ; Alexander was killed, Jan.
23, 1890 ; Eugene died young ; Margaret is a school
teacher of Columbia ; Michael is a railroad brake-
man ; and Nora is the wife of Desraos Barbot, a
wholesale liquor dealer of Philadelphia.
The first fifteen years of his life, James R. Mc-
Manus spent upon a farm, engaged in agricultural
pursuits when not in school. He was then employed
on track repairs with the Pennsylvania Railroad
1288
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Company one year, after which he went as brake-
man on the road for four years and flagman three
years. Since then he has held the responsible posi-
tion of conductor and has discharged his duties in a
capable and satisfactory manner. The Democratic
part}' finds in him a staunch supporter of its prin-
ciples, and he affiliates with the Order of Railroad
Conductors and the Knights of St. Patrick. In
religious belief he is a Catholic.
Mr. McManus was married in Columbia, May
9, T882, to Miss Alice Hendrick, by whom he has
five children, Alice \'., James R., Joseph H., Mar-
garet and Estella. Mrs. McManus was born in
Columbia, April i, 1863, a daughter of Lawrence
and Mary (Grenan) Hendrick, natives of County
Carlow, Ireland, who were married in Norristown,
Pa., and came to Columbia in 1854. The father
was flagman for the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany until crippled while coupling cars, and is still
in their employ, having charge of the sharpening
of tools. He was born in 1822, his wife in 1830.
Both are devout members of the Catholic Church
and most estimable people. They have only two
children : Anna M.. who is the widow of Michael
P. Berrv and resides with her father ; and Alice,
now Mrs. McManus.
AMOS G. GOOD. For many years the name
of Good has been known and respected in Lancaster
county, where the grandfather of Amos G. Good
established a reputation for honesty and an estimable
life that is still remembered. For many years he
was a prominent justice of the peace and innumer-
able were the occasions when the good judgment
and wise advice of "Squire Good" settled troubles
which might have resulted in long litigation. His
son, Jacob Good, was born and reared in Conestoga
township, where he became an extensive farmer
and owned a large acreage of land both in Conestoga
and in Pequea townships. His years almost reached
eight}-four, but his wife died at the age of sixty-
five; both of them were devoted members of the
Old Mennonite Church.
A large family was born to Jacob Good and his
wife, the greater number being settled in Lancaster
county, with honors and descendants of their own:
Christian, a retired resident of Strasburg town-
ship , Elizabeth, deceased wife of Benjamin Kreider,
of Pequea township ; Mary, deceased wife of. Jacob
Kreidei, of W'est Lampeter township; Benja-
min, a farmer of Peciuea township ; Simon, a farmer
of Providence township ; Annie, who married Jacob
Harnish, a farmer of Pequea township; Susan, de-
ceased wife of Martin Eshelman, a farmer of Pequea
township ; Amos G. ; Martha, who married John
Ressel, of Pequea township ; and Fannie, who mar-
ried Frank Weaver, of Upper Leacock township.
Amos G. Good was a t}-pical farmer boy, was
reared on the old farm and early became acquainted
with its various duties, and received his education in
the common schools of his district. At the age of
twenty- four he started out in life for himself ; he
located first on a farm of 140 acres in Strasburg
township, near Refton, where he remained for nine
years, at the end of which period he removed to his
present farm of fifty-seven acres, two miles south of
Lancaster City. Mr. Good was born Aug. 17, 1842,
in Pequea township, a son of Jacob and Mary
(Gochnaur) Good, and he has always felt an interest
in that locality. The farm he now occupies is one
of the old ones of the county and the house and barn
are ' almost historical on account of their age, the
former having weathered well the storms of 129
years, while for eighty-nine years the old barn has
done duty as shelter for stock and the yield of the
fertile fields. The location of this farm enhances
its value, its proximity to the city being of great
advantage.
Amos G. Good was married to Catherine Huber,
a daughter of David Huber, of West Lampeter
township, and they have had a family of five chil-
dren: Melinda, married to John Barr, a farmer
who resides near Kansas City, Mo., and the mother
of four children, Katie, Mary, Franklin and Earl;
Mary, at home; Henry F., a farmer of East Lam-
peter, who married Ella Zittle, and has three chil-
dren, Vernon, Lester and Sylvester; Amos H. and
David S., both at home.
Amos Good has been one of the energetic, pro-
gressive, wide-awake men of his neighborhood, and
a consistent supporter of the Old Mennonite Church,
of which both he and his estimable wife have long
been mernbers.
JOHN R. LANDIS, one of the best known
conductors on the Pennsylvania Railroad, was born
in Lititz, I.ancaster Co., Pa., June 2, 1857, and is a
son of David F. H. and Mary A. (Resler) Landis,
who in February, 1897, removed from Lititz to the
city of Lancaster, where they are now living in
quiet retirement. David F. H. Landis was bom
July 4, 183s, was reared a carpenter and followed
the trade until his retirement ; his wife was born in
August, 1826, and to them have been born two chil-
dren, John R. and Susan R. The family are strict
Mennonites in religion and descend from a long line
of ancestors repowned for their piety, and whose
early hisforv forms very interesting reading.
In the latter part of the sixteenth century, the
Landis family were members of a sect in Switzer-
land knowq as Pietists on account of their rigorous
piety. In this connection historical mention is made
of Hans Landis, a minister of this faith, who located
on the Swiss side of the Rhine river in order to
promulgate the doctrines of his church, but the
Council of Zurich, who were not CathoUcs but
members of the Reformed Church, in order to check
the teac]iings of Hans, ordered his arrest ; this action
did not dampen the ardor of the good man, and later
he was sent in irons from Zurich to the Papists at
Zolothurn. Througfi the aid of good friends he
secured b's release and returned to Zurich, where
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1289
lie rigorously examined as to his faith, and in Sep-
tember, 1644, was beheaded with a sword as a
teacher of heterodoxy.
_ In May, 1637, with three others of the same
faith, Hans Landis, the second, a steadfast Pietist
in Horgenberg, ■svas arrested, and he and his daugh-
ter, Margaretha, were confined fully sixty weeks at
Othenbach, and while thus incarcerated the author-
ities confiscated their property, valued at 7,000
florins, and applied it to their own use. In 1640
Oswald Landis, his wife, and two daughters-in-
law, were also incarcerated in Othenbach, and Jacob
Landis, son of Oswald, and all his family were ban-
ished. The two daughters-in-law, with their infants,
later escaped from prison, which good fortune after-
ward befell Oswald and his wife, but they had been
deprived of all their property and were compelled
to wander about in poverty.
Felix Landis, son of the beheaded Hans, was a
firm member of the church at Horgenberg, and for
this be was imprisoned at Othenbach, where he was
cruelly treated, and his digestive organs so impaired
by starvation, that he afterward died from this
cause. His wile and children were deprived of
their home and furniture and fortune of. 5,000
florins, and turned loose among strangers.
For about two generations, from 1643 to 1717,
the records fail to reveal further individual inci-
dents in the history of the Landis family. But in
1683, and in 1709 and 1712, many Mennonites
availed themselves of the liberal policy of William
Penn in America, and came to Chester county,
which then included Lancaster county. In 1717,
three brothers Landis, Rev. Benjamin, Felix and
John, all Swiss Mennonites, came from the vicinity
of Manheim on the Rhine, whither they had been
■driven from Zurich, and purchased land from Penn
and the Conestoga Indians. Rev. Benjamin Landis
was accompanied to Pennsylvania by his only son,
Benjamin, Jr., then eighteen years of age. He took
up a tract of 240 acres from a London company, and
received his patent in 1718, but the land was then
occupied by Conestoga Indians. Rev. Benjamin and
his son, however, at once began farming, the loca-
tion of the tract being in what is now Lampeter
township, near Mellinger's Meeting House, and
about four miles east of Lancaster, and many of the
descendants of Rev. Benjamin are still living in that
neighborhood.
The paternal grandparents of John R. Landis
were David S. and Anna (Frick) Landis, who lived
on their farm in Lancaster county ; the great-grand-
father was John Landis.
John R. Landis lived on the home farm until
1873, when he came to Columbia, and worked in a
planing mill until the latter part of 1877, and then
in a livery stable until the close of 1878; at that
time he became brakeman for the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, working thus until 1885, and
next as flagman until 1892, wheii he was promoted to
conductor, and is now considered to be one of the
most reliable on the road.
March 14, 1877, Mr. Landis married in Colum-
bia, Miss Phebe Depue, and to this union have been
born three children : Mazie D., who is married to
Harry S. Garrett, a brakeman in Columbia; and
John D. and Mary D., at home. Mrs. Phebe
(Depue) Landis was born in York county. Pa.,
March 28, 1858, and is a daughter of John and
Rachel (Brooks) Depue; the father, a carpenter,
still resides in York county, at the age of sixty-eight
years, but the mother was called away March 14,
1870, aged thirty-one years, in the faith of the M. E.
Church. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Depue are
four in number and are named : Phebe, now Mrs.
Landis; Thomas, of Oxford, Pa.; Mary, of Leaman
Place, and married to Frank B. May; and Lillie,
wife of Jacob Isenberger, a painter in Philadelphia.
Mr. Landis is a member of the B. of R. T., is a
K. of P., a member of the Relief, and of the Lutheran
Church, and in politics is a Republican.
JOHN H. METZLER, a retired farmer in Ra-
pho township, Lancaster county, was born in Stras-
burg township, of that county. May 24, 1826, a son
of John and Esther (Herr) Metzler.
John Metzler was born in Strasburg township,
his wife in Paradise township, and both died in
Rapho township. The father was an active farmer
until a few years before his death, which occurred
June 18, 1865, he being at that time aged seventy-
years. The mother, who died Sept. 26, 1867, was
born March 16, 1799. They were buried in the
Erismans Meeting House burying ground. They
were members of the Mennonite Church, and were
honorable and upright people. To them were born
the following family: Henry H. and Martin H.,
both deceased ; John H. ; Susan H., the widow of
Martin Gepfer, living in Mt. Joy township; Eliza
H., who married Samuel Stauffer, and has a home
in Rapho township ; Fanny H., who married Sam-
uel Barnes, and lives in Rapho township ; Abraham
H., deceased ; Benjamin H., living in West Hemp-
field township.
Henry Metzler, the paternal grandfather of John
H., was a farmer in the township of Strasburg.
John H. Metzler has been twice married, the
first marriage occurring Oct. 12, 1852, when Hettie
Shelley became his wife. There were born to this
union : Abraham S., deceased, who married Mary
Hernley, and had three children, Herman, Monroe
and Abraham ; Eli S., a farmer in Rapho township
who married Rebecca Gingerick, by whom he had
Dora, Bessie and Martin; Daniel S., a farmer on
the present homestead, married to Lizzie Erb, by
whom he had Minnie, Harvey and John ; Lizzie S.,
who married Abraham Hernley, a farmer in Rapho
township, and is the mother of Nora, Minnie, Peter,
Barbara, Lizzie, Martha and Esther.
Mrs. Hettie (Shelley) Metzler, born in Rapho
1290
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
township, died Dec. 26, 1873, at the age of forty
years and twenty days, and was' buried in the Eris-
man's Church cemetery. She was a daughter of
Abraham and Esther (Shoemaker) Shelley, of Lan-
caster county. Her name is tenderly cherished by
those who knew her as a woman of fine character
and consecrated spirit.
The second marriage of Mr. Metzler occurred
March 18, 1875, in Rapho township, when Mary
Bradley became his wife. To this marriage has
come one daughter, Emma B., now the wife of
Jacob Suavely, a farmer in Rapho township, and the
mother of three children, Stella, Mamie, and
Monroe.
Mrs. Mary (Bradley) Metzler was born in Ra-
pho township, March 22, 1843, a daughter of Henry
and Esther (Shelley) Bradley, of Rapho township,
where they spent their lives. Her father was a life-
long farmer. He was born in 1807, and died in
1865. His widow was born in 1813, and died at
the age of seventy-nine years. These were their
children: Samuel, now living retired in Rapho
township ; Abraham, now retired in Rapho town-
ship ; Anna, unmarried, and living in Rapho town-
ship ; Henry, living in the same township ; Mary,
Mrs. Metzler; Hettie, who died young; John, a
farmer in Rapho township; Barbara, who died
young ; Catherine, married to Levi Nissley, a miller
of Rapho township ; Benjamin, of Rapho township ;
Fanny, married to Samuel Cober, a carpenter in
Rapho township.
Henry Bradley, Mrs. Metzler's grandfather,
came from Ireland, and was an early settler in Rapho
township. There he died in 1812.
John H. Metzler remained with his parents until
his marriage, after which he was employed by his
father-in-law some ten years, when he set up for
himself. In 1852 he removed to his present place,
where he has become very prominent as a rich and
prosperous farmer. His business abilities are of a
high order, and his personal character unstained.
To each of his children he has given a farm, and
both he and his wife are much esteemed and re-
spected by a wide circle of good friends. They are
a fine old couple, and well deserve whatever peace
and comfort comes to them as their years decline.
They belong to the River Brethren Church, and
their sound and wholesome lives have brought no
discredit to their religious associations.
HENRY BTNKLEY, the well known cattle
dealer at Mountville, Lancaster county. Pa., was
bom in Manheim township, in the same county,
Sept. 23, 1849, and is a son of Samuel and Eliza-
beth (Stackhouse) Binkley, natives of Welsh Mount,
Earl township, and Mt. joy township, respectively.
Samuel Binkley was a lifelong farmer and died at
Chickies, in Rapho township, Jan. 6, 1890, at. the
age of sixty-seven years, in the faith of the Dunk-
ard Church. Mrs. Elizabeth Binkley was born in
Mt. Joy township. Way 20, 1831. To her marriage
with Samuel Binkley were born six children, in the
following order: Henry; John, of Mountville;
Mary, deceased ; William, who died in Texas ; Sam-
uel, of Chicago, 111. ; and Harmon, a cigarmaker in
Mountville, Pennsylvania.
The paternal grandparents of Henry Binkley
were John and Hannah (Kertz) Binkley, of East
Earl township, where Mrs. Binkley passed her
life ; John Binkley was a miller and died in Landis-
viJle, where his mill is still standing. To John and
Hannah Binkley were born seven. children, all now
deceased, viz : Hannah, who was married to David
Miller ; Elizabeth, who was the wife of John Dunkel ;
Mary, married to John Baxter ; John, Samuel, John
(2) and William, all deceased. David Binkley,
great-grandfather of Henry, came from Germany
and was a pioneer of Lancaster county. His son
John, conducted a flouring mill, which is still stand-
ing, known a's the old Binkley mill, but which is now
operated as a paper-mill. John also built the Bink-
ley bridge, which crosses Conestoga creek.
The maternal grandparents of Henry Binkley
were John and Susan (Johnson) Stackhouse, natives
of Bucks county. John Stackhouse was a cooper
by trade, came to Lancaster county in an early day,
and there died in 1861, at the age of sixty-five years ;
he had lost his wife in 1837 when she was forty
years old. To their union were born the following
named children : Sarah, who was married to John
Watts ; Evaline, who was Mrs. Jacob Sonon ; Syl-
vester; Amanda, Mrs. Schriver; Matilda, Mrs.
Boggs ; Elizabeth, Mrs. Binkley, the only survivor ;
and John H.
Henry Binkley remained on the home farm until
he had attained the age of twenty-five years, and
then joined his brother John as a partner in the
milling business at Abbeyville for one year, and
then came to Mountville, where he has been since
most prosperously engaged in trading, buying and
selling horses and cattle and other live stock.
On Sept. 6, 1876, Henry Binkley married Clara
Yohn in Mountville and to this union have been
born eight children, viz : Elizabeth, a school teach-
er, living with her parents ; Blanche, deceased ; Ella,
also under the parental roof ; Edward, a machinist ;
Marie, Harry, Esther and Thomas, all still with
their parents. Mrs. Clara (Yohn) Binkley was
born in East Henipfield township, Jan. 31, 1856, a
daughter of John and Jane (Middleton) Yohn, of
Brecknock township, Lancaster county, and Com-
pass, Chester county, Pa., who were married in
Lancaster county. They came to Mountville in
1862, where John Yohn, previouslv a farmer, con-
ducted the "Barley Chief Hotel" 'until his death,
which occurred in April, 1882, when he was seventy-
three years old. His widow was called to rest July
3, 1898, at the age of eightv-three years ; she was
a member of the Reformed Church, to which her
husband had also belonged. There were born to
this couple the following children : William, a de-
ceased farmer of Canton, Ohio; Edward, a stock-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1291
dealer at Mouritville, Pa. ; Martin, of Columbia, Pa. ;
Catherine, Anna and John, who all died in infancy ;
Mary, residing with her sister Clara, who is the
youngest of the family and the wife of Henry
Einkley.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Clara Bink-
ley were Peter and Catherine (Styer) Yohn, both
now deceased. Peter was a farmer and a son of
John Yohn, a German pioneer of Lancaster county
who came to America with two brothers, one of .
whom went West and the other settled in Berks '
county, Pa. The death of Peter occurred in 1862.
The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Binkley were
James and Sallie (Armstrong) Middleton, of Chest-
er county. Pa., where James Middleton was a stone-
mason.
Henry Binkley is a member of the Mystic Chain,
of Mountville, and in politics is a Republican. He
is very highly esteemed socially and as a business
man stands fair and square before the world, with-
out a blot on his fair name.
JOHN HENRY SWARTZ, an enterprising and
progressive citizen of Columbia, who is now em-
ployed as conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad,
was born in that city, Oct. 2, 1855, and is a son of
John Frederick and Catherine (Hammond) Swartz,
natives of Columbia and Mt. Joy, Pa., respectively.
The paternal grandparents were John and Cath-
erme (Beiter) Swartz, who were born in Germany
and on coming to the United States, in 1812, located
in Columbia, Pa., where the former engaged in the
butcher business for the remainder of his life. The
maternal grandfather, George Hammond, was a
native of Wales and ah early settler of Lancaster
county. Pa., where he followed the occupation of
farming. The father, John F. Swartz, was flagman
for the old State road ; was engaged in the butcher
business from 1868 to 1872; and afterward was
employed as railroad brakeman. He was killed at
Philadelphia, June 7, 1877, at the age of forty-seven
years, being run over by the train while he was
making a coupling. His wife is still living at the
age of sixty-four years, and now makes her home in
Lancaster ; she is a member of the Lutheran Church,
to which he also belonged. John H. is the oldest of
their children; William died at the age of nine
years ; Maggie is the wife of Edward B. Fralick,
who is engaged in the hotel business in Lancaster;
Anna is the wife of Albert Charles, a butcher of
Lancaster ; Emily died young ; Carrie is the wife of
Harry McCalister, a railroad conductor of Lan-
caster ; George is a clerk for the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company, at Lancaster ; and James is a con-
ductor of Columbia.
In his native city John H. Swartz grew to man-
hood. At the age of. sixteen he commenced work-
ing for his father in the butcher business, and two
years later began his railroad career as brakeman
for the Pennsylvania Company, serving them in
that capacity three years. The following three
years he was flagman, and was then promoted to
conductor, which position he is now most creditably
filling. He is an honored member of the Order of
Railway Conductors, and also belongs to the Penn-
sylvania Relief Association and the Signal Insurance
Company. In his political views he is a staunch
Republican, and always ready and willing to give
his support to any enterprise which he believes
calculated to prove of public benefit.
On Aug. 13, 1876, in Columbia, Mr. Swartz
married Miss Catherine Heim, and. to them were
born eight children, namely: Minnie and Nellie,
twins, who died young ; Walter ; John H. ; Grover
C. ; Charles F. ; Albert C. ; and Ollenine. Mrs.
Swartz was born in East Prospect, York Co., Pa.,
Sept. 26, 1857, a daughter of Peter and Catherine
(Hibner) Heim, natives of Germany, who came to
the New World in 1853, and located in Columbia,
Pa., where for many years the father followed his
trade of shoemaking ; he is now living retired with
his daughter, Mrs. Swartz. He was born in 1822,
his wife in 1815. Religiously they are members of
the Reformed Church. Mrs. Swartz is the young-
est of their children, the others being : Emma, wife
of Bud Williams, of Wrightsville, Pa. ; Elizabeth,
wife of Reuben Berg, of Columbia ; George, a
switch tender of Columbia ; Philip, a train receiver
of the same place; John, a railroad engineer, now
deceased. The paternal grandparents of Mrs.
Swartz were Adam and Catherine (Youhann)
Heim, lifelong residents of Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger-
many, the former a shoemaker in his younger days
and later a lumberman. The maternal grandpar-
ents were John and Catherine Hibner, also natives
of Germany, where the grandfather died, after
which the grandmother and her children came to
America.
JOHN H. KREIDER, deceased. The name of
Kreider is an old one in Lancaster county and origin-
ated in Switzerland, various members of the family
coming here during the first settlement of this part
of the State and taking up residence when it was
still a wilderness and inhabited principally by Indi-
ans. The contrast is great between the possessions
of the family then and at the present time, for their
land is probably among the very best in this agri-
cultural district in point of care and cultivation.
Christian Kreider, the grandfather of John H.,
was one of the solid, substantial citizens of West
Lampeter township, owning a farm of sixty acres
located about two and one half miles south of the
city of Lancaster, now owned by Amos S. Mowrer.
There he lived, and owned and operated a sawmill,
run entirely by water power; some of this kind
are still in operation in different sections. He mar-
ried Anna Harnish, who survived him, living to be
eighty-two, while he died at the age of seventy-six.
They were good and worthy people, consistent mem-
bers of the Reformed Mennonite Church. They
had a family of five children : Elizabeth, who mar-
1292
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ried John Weaver, of West Lampeter township ;
Jacob, who became a prominent man ; John ; Nancy,
who married Benjamin Landis, of Upper Leacock
township ; and Fannie, wife of John Herr, who re-
sided some time in Manheim township, but later
moved to Lancaster City, where he Hves in retire-
ment.
John Kreider, who was locally known as "John
Kreider, fuller," because he operated a fulling mill
in connection with his woolen factory, was born in
1804, and lived until 1871, his life covering a space
rich in the world's discoveries and improvements.
He was reared on a farm, and after he reached
maturity took entire charge of the place, and not
only engaged in farming but opened a woolen fac-
tory, built a fulling mill and carded wool, for many
years doing a thriving business in that line. In
1848 he closed up these interests and turned his
energies to farming exclusively, buying a property
which lay adjacent to the old farm, and to which he
later removed, his acreage then being 180 acres.
As- he desired to keep his sons employed at home,
he engaged in extensive farming operations, and
also raised considerable stock. About 1858 he pur-
chased another farm, consisting of 1 10 acres a little
farther south in the same township, now owned by
his son, John H., and upon this place passed his last
years. During the latter part of his life he again
invested in land, buying a forty-two acre lot in West
Lampeter, adjoining his former purchase, now the
property of liis son Christian, and in addition to
this a farm of eighty-two acres in Drumore town-
ship, which later came into the possession of his
daughter Mary. Fifteen acres of valuable timber
(chestnut) land, in Providence township, also be-
longed to him, all most desirable tracts, as John
Kreider was too keen a btisiness man to purchase
any inferior land. His means were large and he
was well known for his generosity and benevolence,
as well as for his public spirit.
John Kreider married Anna Houser, daughter of
Christian Flouser, of Lampeter, where she was born
about 1802. She lived a good and pious life, and
she and her husband were devout members of the
Reformed Mennonite Church. A family of five chil-
dren were born to' this union : Christian, a retired
farmer of West Lampeter ; Elizabeth, deceased wife
of Jacob Landis, of East Lampeter ; John H. ; Isaac,
a retired farmer, who died in Lancaster, Feb. 7,
1901 ; and Mary, who married Isaac Fritz, of Stras-
burg township.
John H. Kreider was born Nov. 21, 1834, and
was reared on the farm, although when quite young
he was employed in the fulling mill. His education
was received in the public schools and when he
reached his twenty-fourth year he began farming
operations for himself, locating on the fine farm of
no acres which he occupied up to the time of his
death, which occurred April 15, 1901. At present
all the surroundings denote thrift and prosperity,
and demonstrate that Mr. Kreider was an excellent
manager. Four and a half acres of fine chestnut
timber land, in Providence township, also belonged
to him. This estate is still in the possession of the
family. Mr. Kreider amassed considerable prop-
erty, owning, besides his fanning and timber lands
before mentioned, a tract of eight and one half acres
at Paradise, which is occupied by his son, upon
which are good buildings ; he also owned the brick
residence where his daughter lives.
To possess the confidence and esteem of those
"who have known one all his life must surely be
gratifying, and that John H. Kreider possessed these
is proved by the number of trusts that were placed
in his hands, as he probably had more estates to
settle and was called upon more often to act as
guardian than any other man in the community.
The religious connection of the family is with the
Reformed Mennonite Church, in which Mr. Kreider
was a worthy deacon for twenty-two years, and to
which he was a generous and cheerful contributor
for many years for benevolent and charitable enter-
prises.
John H. Kreider married, Nov. 11, 1858, Mary
Ann Eshleman, a daughter of Jacob Eshleman, of
Strasburg township, and two children were born to
this union. Flam E. is a resident of Paradise town-
ship, where he is the milk deliverer to the American
Caramel Factory, at Lancaster; he married Hettie
Miller and has six children, LilHe, John, Miller,
Ernie, Anna and Elam. Ada married Martin' Bow-
man, and has one child, Muriel; Mr. Bowman is
in the grocery business and resides at the corner of
Ann and Green streets.
DANIEL STOKES, of Martic township, is one
of the leading farmers of that section of the county.
He was born Sept. 14, 185 1, son of Jacob and Mary
(Reinheart) Stokes, both of whom were natives
of Lancaster county.
Grandfather John Stokes was a soldier in the
Revolutionary war, for the British, being one of the
Hessians who were sent by the English to fight
against the colonies. He did not relish the business
and upon the first opportunity deserted and threw
in his lot with the patriot army, his descendants
all having been among the most loyal and staunch
supporters of the government of the United States.
Jacob Stokes, the father of Daniel, was twice
married. To his marriage eleven children were
born, six of whom grew to maturity, as follows :
Barbara, Henry, Mary, Leah, Lizzie and Susan, the
others dying young; six children were born to his
second marriage, namely: Jacob, deceased; El-
len, the wife of Abe Corrigan; John, of Colerain
township ; Joseph, of Little Britain township ; Ann,
deceased ; and Daniel, of this sketch.
On April 6, 1873, Daniel Stokes was united in
marriage with Miss Anna Herman, born Feb. 3,
1853, daughter of Samuel and Susan (Lowrhees)
Herman, of Lancaster. To this marriage a family
of fifteen children was born, as follows: John,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
129S
born Oct. 23, 1874, a farmer of Martic; Elenora,
Oct. 15, -1875; Jacob, June 18, 1878, of Martic;
Harry, April 25, 1S77, died Nov. 3, 1879 ; Ida, June
20, 1879: Daniel, Aug. 12, 1883; Charles, May 28,
1 88 1, deceased; Florence, Aug. 12, 1885; Barbara,
Feb. 16, 1887; Willis, Dec. 14, 1888; Mary, Nov.
27, 1890; Minnie, July 14, 1892; Joseph, Nov. 10,
1893; Howard, July t, 1896; and Walter, Nov.
5, 1897.
Mrs. Stokes was one of a large family of chil-
dren, as follows : John ; Herman, of Pequea town-
ship ; Henry, a clergyman, in Ohio ; Benjamin, of
West Lampeter township ; Elizabeth, wife of Ben-
jamin Miller, of Lancaster; Susan, wife of Martin
Snyder of West Lampeter township; Mary, the
wife of Jacob Stokes; Fannie, the wife of Jacob
Hilderbrand, of West Lampeter township; Sam-
uel M., of the same township; and Anna C, the
wife of Daniel Stokes.
Mr. Stokes, like many another successful man,
began life for himself with very few possessions.
He has, however, accumulated an ample fortune
and owns a fine farm in Martic township, compris-
ing 150 acres of land, with excellent improvements.
In politics he is a staunch Republican, and is re-
garded as one of the leading men of his township.
JOHN G. DETZ. For many years Mr. Detz
has filled the responsible post of an engineer in the
service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and
he enjoys at the present time the unqualified esteem
of his fellow townsmen of Columbia. He is of Ger-
man descent, as may be inferred from his patronym-
ic, and his paternal grandfather was John Detz,
of Wurtemberg, a farmer who passed his days in
the Fatherland.
The father of John G., who was also christened
John, came to this country with two sisters, at the
early age of sixteen years. He settled near Stras-
burg, and v^as by occupation a wheelwright. From
theife he moved to Columbia, in 1864. For three
years he conducted a shop of his own, but subse-
quently worked at his trade as a journeyman until
he reached his sixty-fifth year, when he gave up
active toil. Four years later, in April, 1886, he
entered into rest, leaving a beloved and revered
memory. He was a devout and consistent member
of the Presbyterian Church, as was also his wife,
Rachel E. Urban, whose birthplace was within the
limits of Lancaster county. She was of the same
age as her husband, and survived him for only six
months.
The family of Urban deserves more than a mere
passing mention. Its first representatives in Lan-
caster county, where they were among the early set-
tlers, were three brothers; two of these remained
there, while the other, who was of more adventurous
instincts, sought a wider field in Philadelphia.
There he became associated with the eccentric- and
philanthropic Stephen Girard. He was a man of
quick, keen business perception, and fhis quality of
mind recommended him to the merchant prince,
who virtually started him in business. He left a
large estate, which is still in litigation, and to which
Mr. Detz believes that he is one of the lawful heirs.
The parents of the elder Mrs. Detz were George A.
Urban, a farmer of Conestoga township, and Eliza-
beth Rathfon.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. John Detz were
as follows : Susan, now the wife of Christian
Bowers, a wealthy, retired farmer of Kosciusko,
Ind. ; Caroline, who married Henry Gehr, a farmer
of Creswell ; Catherine, the widow of Aaron Gehr,
whose home is in Millersville ; Joseph, a passenger
conductor in the employ of the Columbia & Reading
Railroad Company ; Mary, the widow of the late
Adam Hersh, of Lancaster ; Elizabeth, widow of J.
E. Wolfskin, a railroad engineer ; John G. ; George,
a merchant's clerk in Columbia; and Martha, who
is unmarried and whose home is in Lancaster.
John G. Detz was born Sept. 10, 1854, in Safe
Harbor, Lancaster county. His school days
lasted until he was a well-grown youth of seventeen
years. His first venture in the business world was
as clerk in the grocery store of Frederick Bucher,
where he was employed for eighteen months; for
thirteen months following he was a clerk in the
furnishing goods store of I. O. Bruner, and next
he entered the employ of A. R. Hogentogler, with
whom he remained for a year and a half. Having
acquired some business ^perience during these
periods, and being possessed of some little accumu-
lated money, he resolved to embark in business for
himself. He opened a grocery store, but it proved
by no means successful ; within a year $1400 had
been sunk, and this venture ended his commercial
career. His next move was to enter the employ of
the railroad company, his first position being that
of a fireman. Strange to say, in view of his previ-
ous experience, he found the task congenial. The
dash, the excitement, the risk and the responsibility,
one and all, struck a sympathetic cord in his nature.
After four years and a half thus passed, he was
made an engineer, and it goes without saying that
to his new position he brought the same sound, com-
mon sense, absolute fidelity and unflinching courage
which have marked his career through life.
Through industry, integrity and good business judg-
ment, he has acquired a modest competence. Keep- '
ing himself fully abreast with the times he can hold
his own in any argument, while his kindness of
heart and courtesy of manner have won and kept
for him hosts of friends. A Republican in politics
and a Presbyterian in religious faith, he is consistent
alike in his profession and his practice. He is a
member of the I. O. O. F., the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Firemen (of which he is past master),
the K. of P., and is president of the Columbia branch
of the B. of I. Building & Loan Association of
New York.
His v;ife's maiden name was Ella A. Brown.
He was married to her on May 6, 1875, at Elizabeth-
1294
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
town, Lancaster county. Some mention of her father
and her family may be found in succeeding para-
graps. The issue of the union has been six chil-
dren: The eldest, Anna M., is a school teacher,
unmarried, and living at home; the second daugh-
ter, Margaret E., also makes her home with her
parents, as do the two boys, George B. and Louis
M. John H. and Caroline, twins, died in infancy.
Mrs. Detz was born at Bainbridge, Nov. 6, 1855,
the daughter of George W. and Annie (Shissler)
Brown, both of whom were bom in Lancaster coun-
ty. Her father, whose seventy-fifth birthday was ob-
served on May 25, 1900, makes his home with his
daughter and son-in-law, Mr. Detz. While vener-
able in years, he is vigorous in body and unclouded
in mind. The following short sketch of his long
and useful life will be found of interest.
George ,W. Brown is the son of William and Eli-
zabeth (Weaver) Brown, and was born two miles
from Elizabethtown, Lancaster county, on May 20,
1825. His grandfather came to America when his
father was a boy of sixteen years, and for several
years made his home in Dauphin county, which was
the locality where he first settled. William, the
father of George W. Brown, married Elizabeth
Weaver, and was the father of six sons and three
daughters. John W., the first born, is a retired
merchant, living at Bainbridge. Margaret married
John Singer, and is now deceased. Elizabeth, also
deceased, was the widow of Frederick Smith, at
one time sheriff of Lancaster county. Five others,
William, Jacob, Polly, Henry and Adam, died single.
William Brown passed away in 1845, aged fifty-
four years ; his wife had preceded him fourteen
years (1831), in her forty- third year. Their orig-
inal religious denominational connection was with
the Lutherans, although later in life Mr. Brown
adopted the faith of the Dunkards.
George W. Brown was married on New Year's
day, 1854, at Bainbridge, to Mrs. Anna (Shiss-
ler) May. The issue of this union was two chil-
dren : Ella A., Mrs. Detz ; and Laura, who died in
infancy. Mrs. Brown, as has been implied, had
been previously married, her first husband having
been Michael W.' May, who was born in 1809, and
died in 1851. She herself died Aug. 17, 1896, at
the age of eighty-two. She was the daughter of
John and Anna (Zook) Shissler, both of whom
were respected residents of Lancaster county. By
her first husband she was the mother of eight chil-
dren : Frances E., the wife of John Filbert, of Phil-
adelphia ; Mary J., who married R. S. Ross, of Eli-
zabethtown; Simon P. and John, deceased; Anna,
the widow of William Wanbaugh, of Columbia;
Maggie A., Mrs. T. J. Clepper, of Columbia ; Louis,
of Chicago, 111. ; and Ellie, who died young.
To return, however, to George W. Brown him-
self. His early life was spent upon a farm among
strangers and his educational facilities were not of
the best. Such as they were, however, he made the
most of them. At the age of sixteen he learned the
trade of a shoemaker, following it for fifteen years ;
during five or six years he filled the post of peda-
gogue in a country school. In early life no kind of
labor was too hard or too exhaustive for him to
undertake. He worked on the canal, and clerked
in stores; in 1880 he was tendered the agency for
a wholesale meat house in Harrisburg, and later
he accepted another and more attractive proposition
from the Knowles, Freman, Fisk Co., of Boston.
Recently he has retired from active business, choos-
ing to end his busy, useful life in the home of his
daughter. He has reached on epoch where he may
consider his life's work complete, and his eye looks
back upon the past without regret, as in the clear
prescience of vision granted to old age, he looks
forward to the future without fear.
JOSEPH ZOOK, a retired farmer, whose home
is in Intercourse, Lancaster Co., Pa., was born in
Leacock township, Aug. 20, 1823, a son of Jacob
and Elizabeth (Hostetter) Zook, both of whom were
natives of Lancaster county. They were farming
people, and he died in Paradise township, in 1863,
at the age of seventy-nine years, the last twenty of
which were spent in retirement from active labor.
His wife died in 1876, at the age of eighty years.
The ashes of both are resting in a private cemetery
on the Weaver farm in Leacock township,
Jacob and Elizabeth Zook were the parents of
the following family : Mary, deceased wife of Ben-
jamin Bushong; Elias, who married a Miss Bush-
ong, and is dead ; Daniel, who married Mary Cow-
an, and is dead; Christian, deceased, who married
Susan Lefever; Joseph; Leah and Elizabeth, who
are both unmarried and live in East Lampeter town-
ship; John, who is retired, and has his home in
Mechanicsburg, Cumberland Co., Pa. ; Catherine,
who is single, and has her home with her sisters.
The paternal grandfather of Joseph was Chris-
tian Zook, a resident of Lancaster county; his
maternal grandparents, the Hostetters, were of
Swiss extraction.
Joseph Zook was married in October, 1847, to
Miss Frances Diffenbach, in Lancaster, Pa. To this
union has come only one child, Amanda, who is the
wife of J. K. Eaby, a prosperous merchant and
postmaster at Intercourse, Pa.
Mrs. Frances (Diffenbach) Zook was born in
West Lampeter township. May 7, 181 1, and is a
daughter of Henry and Mary (Bresler) Diffenbach,
natives of Lancaster county, and all their lives farm-
ing people. He was born in East Lampeter town-
ship, where he lived retired for many years. They
were married Sept. 3, 1805, and led long and useful
lives. He died in 1857 at the age of seventy-nine,
and she in 1872 at eighty-six. They were buried
in the cemetery connected with the Longnecker
Church, and were both members of the Mennonite
Church. To them were born the following family :
Elizabeth, late wife of Samuel Girvin; Mary, de-
ceased wife of Christian Schultz ; Henry, who was
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1295
born Nov. 15, 1809, still living, and in good health ;
as is his wife, two years younger; Frances, who is
the ^yife of Mr. Zook ; John, who married Mary
Landis, and has since died; Peter, deceased,
who married Anna Witmer; Abraham, who was
born March 22, 1817, was four times married, his
first wife being Emma Esther, and his second, Lucy
Stevens ; Nancy, born in January, 1819, the wife of
David Plyde, a veteran of the Civil war, who lives at
Como, 111. ; Isaac, deceased, who married Martha
Miller; Jacob, deceased, who married Martha Ur-
ban ; Adam, who. died young ; Samuel, who died
in infancy.
The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Zook was John
Diffenbach, who married a Miss Buckwalter, both of
Lancaster county, as were her mother's people, Peter
and Elizabeth ( Stoner) Bresler. Peter Bresler was
a farmer and blacksmith, and was known as a man of
much character and standing.
Joseph Zook remained with his parents until
his marriage. For about a year he worked by the
day, then rented a farm on which he remained
fifteen years, in Leacock township. At the expira-
tion of that period he bought a farm in Providence
township, which was his home for five years, when
he sold it and bought in East Lampeter township,
where he remained until 1880. That year he moved
to Intercourse, where he has since led a retired life.
In his politics he is staunch Republican, and is
widely known throughout that section of Lancaster
county as a mati of sterling honesty, wide intelli-
gence and genuine worth,
JOHN W. HICKEY, a representative citizen
and prominent railroad conductor, residing in Co-
lumbia, Pa., was born on a farm in the southern
part of Lancaster county, Sept. 4, 1862, a son of
John and Elizabeth (Fitzsimmons) Hickey, also
natives of that county.
The father followed farming in his early days
but after his removal to Columbia in 1875 was em-
ployed as a lime burner. In 1890 he went to Phila-
delphia, where he lived retired until called to his
final rest in January, 1896, at the age of seventy-two
vears His wife is still living at the age of fifty-
five years and continues to make her home in Phila-
delphia. Both held membership in the M. E.
Church, and were highly respected by all who knew
them. They were the parents of five children,
namely: Thomas, deceased; Edward L., a rail-
road conductor of Columbia; John W. ; Harriet
H.. deceased wife of Edward Smith ; and Sarah A.,
who is the widow of Samuel Lochard and is now
living with her mother in Philadelphia.
During his boyhood and youth John W. Hickey
attended the local schools and engaged in farm work
until 1878, when he went to Columbia and entered
the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
as brakeman, in which capacity he was employed for
seven years. The following three years were spent
as flagman, and since then he has held the position
of conductor with the same road. He is progres-
sive, public-spirited and enterprising, and is a
staunch supporter of the Democratic party and its
principles. Fraternally, he is connected with the
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and the Pennsyl-
vania Relief Association.
On Sept. 3, 1884, in Columbia, Mr. Hickey mar-
ried Miss Elizabeth S. Dimeler, who was born near
Elizabethtown, Lancaster county. Her parents,
Jeremiah and Catherine (Sharer) Dimeler, were
also natives of that county, and there the mother,
a consistent member of the Mennonite Church, died
in 1870, at the age of twenty-eight years. Their
children were: Amos, a resident of Middletown,
Pa. ; Susan, wife of George Dwyer, of Marietta,
Pa.; Elizabeth S., now Mrs. Hickey; William, a
fireman in a town in Maryland ; and Mary, deceased.
The father of this family is a stone mason by trade
and is now a resident of Rockville, Pa. He is sixty-
five years of age. His parents were Sullivan and
Susan Dimeler, who died in Lancaster county ; Mrs.
Hickey's maternal grandparents were John and Sus-
an Sharer. The grandfather is still living in Eli-
zabethtown, Pa., at the age of seventy-six years,
and is a farmer .by occupation.
ANDREW GARBER, a retired agriculturist,
resides on the old homestead in West Hempfield
townshi]}, Lancaster county. Pa., where he was born
Sept. I, 1834, a son of Jonas and Catherine (Cam-
ber) Garber, the latter of whom died on the pres-
ent homestead in 1849, ^^ the age of forty-two years,
and the former on an adjoining farm in 1888, when
he had reached the good old age of eighty-seven.
They were members of the United Brethren Church
and parents of four children, viz. : Reuben, who died
when sixty-five years old; Anna, who was married
to John Stehman, owner of a farm adjoining the
Garber homestead, and was called away when
sixty-six years old ; Andrew ; and William, who died
young.
The paternal grandparents of Andrew Garber
were ^Vndrew and Mary Garber, farming people,
and they died on Andrew Garber's present farm;
the maternal grandparents, William and Anna
Gamber, of Lancaster township, were also farming
jjeople, although William was a miller in his younger
days.
Andrew Garber continued actively at his voca-
tion of farming until 1882, when he withdrew from
labor and turned over the charge of his 200 acre
farm to his son. Mr. Garber has lost a considerable
amount by going security for his friends, but is yet
quite well to do. In politics he is a Republican.
On Nov. 21, 185s, Andrew Garber married Susan
M. Greider and there have been born to this union
three children, viz : Jonas B., a veterinary surgeon
in Plopkinsville, Ky. ; Christian G., a farmer in
West Hempfield township, Lancaster county; and
Harry G., a farmer in Lancaster township.
Susan M. (Greider) Garber was born in West
1296
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Hempfield . township, Sept. i8, 1836, a daughter of
Christian and Susan (Miller) Greider, of West
Hempfield township, where her father died on his
farm in 1889, when ninet3'-one years old, and the
mother, June 21, 1861, when fifty-eight years old.
They were members of the Mennonite Church, and
thnir remains were interred in Landisville. To the
marriage of Christian and Susan (Miller) Greider
were born the following named children : Rev. John,
who was a Mennonite minister at Osborn, Ohio,
but is now deceased ; Christian and Benjamin, de-
ceased ; Elizabeth, who was married to Daniel Mell-
inger and died in Virginia ; Mary and Mattie both
died young; Jacob, a farmer in West Hempfield
township; Susan ]\1., Mrs. Garber; Anna, widow of
Henry Breneman, of West Hempfield township ;
Mary, of Mt. Joy, who was first married to Clint
Rohrer and next to John S. Nisley; Barbara, wife
of Jacob McCallister, a farmer of Lancaster county ;
and Amos, who is cultivating the old homestead in
West Hempfield township. The paternal grandfa-
ther of Susan M. Garber was John Greider, a
farmer of this county. Her grandfather on her
mother's side, Benjamin Miller, married a Miss
Kaufman.
SAjMUEL GLASS, a venerable and much re-
spected citizen of Bart, Lancaster county, was born
m Providence township, of this county, March 19,
1835, ^nd is a son of James and Margaret (Wisner)
Glass, both of whom were natives of Lancaster
county.
James Glass was a son of Robert Glass, who was
bc>rn in Ireland, and who came to this country so
early that he was able to bear arms for the colonies
in the Revolutionary war. He also served in the
war of 1812. He settled in Providence township,
where his only son, James, was born and reared.
James Glass married and carried on farming in
Providence until his death in 1859, at the compara-
tively early age of forty-five. He was a member of
the M. E. Church and an active christian worker.
In politics he was a Whig. His widow remained on
the old home until her death in 1878, at an advanced
age. They were the parents of five children, (i)
Alary, born in 1832, married Christian Newswinger,
and both are dead. Thev left four daughters : Eliz-
abeth, the wife of Theodore Cumer, a professor in
one of the county high schools, where she is also
teaching; Fannie, who married George Brown, of
Steelvilie ; Susan, a teacher in the public schools ;
Maggie, a young woman living in Colerain township.
(2) Samuel Glass. (3) John Glass, born in 1837,
was a soldier during the Civil war, where he served
as a member of Capt. Evans' battery of artillery,
pie is unmarried and has his home in Strasburg
township. (4) Eliza Glass, born in 1840, is the
widow of Lewis Wagoner, of Strasburg township.
She has one son, Amos, who is living with her.
(5) Susan Glass, born in 1842, is the wife of Isaac
Miller, and lives in Providence township, where
they have three children, Fannie, Lizzie and Naomi.
Samuel Glass was reared to manhood on his fa-
ther's farm, and was educated in the home schools.
When a young man he learned the mason's trade
with his brother-in-law, William Crosner, who lived
at that time in Lampeter township. Mr. Glass has
worked at his trade over forty years. In 1858 he
was married to Miss Susan Crosner, a daughter of
John and Anna (White) Crosner. Her parents
were both natives of Lancaster county, but lived in
and died in Colerain township. Mrs. Glass was born
in rhat township in 1839, and is .one of a family of
seven children born to her parents ; five of whom are
now living : Lizzie, a maiden lady of Strasburg ;
William, a resident of East Lampeter township;
Susan, Mrs. Glass ; Barbara, who married John Ry-
an, and lives in' Strasburg ; Joseph, deceased, who
served during the Civil war in the I22d Regiment,
a command largely recruited from Lancaster county,
and whose record was that of a faithful, loyal and
gallant soldier ; Sarah, who married Jonas Long
and has her home in Lancaster; John, unmarried
and living in Strasburg township.
Mr. and Mrs. Glass lived in Lampeter township,
where he worked as a mason until he enlisted in
1862 as a member of Co. B, I22d P. V. I., his com-
pany commander being Capt. Samuel Row, of- Lan-
caster. The regiment joined the Army of the Po-
tomac, and served under Gen. McClellan, coming at
once into active service, and participating in a num-
ber of severe skirmishes. At Chancellorsville many
members of Company B were killed or wounded.
Mr. Glass survived, and on the discharge of the
regiment at Harrisburg on account of the comple-
tion of its term of enlistment, he returned to his
wife and family in Providence township, where he
has .spent the greater part of his life. In 1893 he
moved to his present home in Bart township, where
he has since resided. To him and his good wife
were born four sons and six daughters.
(i) William Glass, born in i860, married Edith
Rineer, a daughter of Aaron Rmeer, of Strasburg
township. I'here they live on his farm, and have
one son, Willis. (2) Frank Glass, born in 1862,
in Pequea township, married Miss Alice Groff, of
Bart township. He is a stone mason, and the father
of five children: John, iVlyrtle, Elsie, Cora and
Susan. (3) John Glass, born in 1864, is unmarried,
and lives at home with his parents. (4) Samuel
Glass, born in 1866, is a mason by trade and has
never married. (.5) Naomi Glass, born in 1868,
married Rarie Rineer, of Quarryville, and has her
home in Strasburg township, where her husband
is employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. They
have three children, Willis, Winston and Walter.
(6) Anna Glass, born in 1870, married Elmer
Bleacher, of Lancaster county, and has two sons,
Frank and Sanmel. (7) Lizzie Glass, born in 1872,
married John Weaver, of Bart township, where they
now reside. They have two children, Willis and
Lizzie. (8) Bertha, born in 1883, lives unmarried
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1297
at home. (9) Amanda married William Friend, of
Lancaster, and is tlie modier of one daughter, Efifiie.
(10) Susan Glass is the wife of William Oatman,
of Bart township, where they reside near Grofifs
Mill, at Georgetown. They have one son, Willis.
Samuel Glass has always been a Republican,
and belongs to Bireley Post, No. 511, G. A. R., at
Quarryville. He and his wife are members of the
United Presbyterian Church. Mr. Glass is counted
among the best citizens of the county, and his manly
and heroic qualities have won him a host of friends.
As a soldier he was loyal and gallant, and as a
friend tender and true. As a citizen of the commu-
nit}' he is linked with every forward movement, and
lives a thoroughly upright and honorable life.
J. JOSEPH BLACK, of Columbia, the popular
conductor of a passenger train on the Pennsylvania
Railroad, is a native of Columbia borough, was
born Nov. 15, 1854, and is a son of Joseph H. and
Elizabeth W. (Lockard) Black, of whom full men-
tion will be made further on.
At the age of sixteen years, Mr. Black began
working for the railroad company in the civil en-
gineer corps, and assisted in building the old Colum-
bia bridge, round house, etc., having risen from the
position of water boy. At the age of nineteen, he
began flagging and braking, and four years later
was promoted to be a passenger conductor. In
1879 he was transferred to Philadelphia, from which
city he ran a train six months; then one from
Westchester for three months, and from Downing-
town nine years, when he was returned to Columbia
in 1889, and there he has since remained.
On Nov. 18, 1885, Mr. Black married in Phil-
adelphia Miss Florence R. Myers, who has borne,
her husband three children, Joseph S., Helen and
Marshall. Mrs. Florence R. Black was born in
Philadelphia, Dec. 10, 1859, and is a daughter of
John W. and Sarah T. (Robinson) Myers, of Ches-
ter county. John W. Myers was born in June, 1826,
was formerly a railroacl clerk, and is living in re-
tirement in Philadelphia, totally blind. Mrs. Sarah
T. Myers died in Philadelphia in February, 1878.
aged forty-eight years. To the marriage of Mr. and
Mrs. Myers were born six children, viz : Martha J.,
wife of Steers T. Foster, a yardmaster at Morris-
ville, N. J. ; Thomas J., a railroad engineer in Phil-
adelphia; Zilla A., married to William Shuman, a
civil engineer in Philadelphia ; Mary E., wife of John
P. Robins, a railroad engineer in the same city;
Florence R., now Mrs. Black : and Daniel J., a rail-
road engineer, also in the Quaker City. The pa-
ternal grandparents of Mrs. Black were Rev. Daniel
J. and Sarah Myers, the former a Methodist min-
ister, and her maternal grandparents were Rev. John
and Zilla Robinson, the Rev. John being a local
Methodist Episcopal preacher, and all residing in
Chester, Pennsylvania.
Joseph H. Black, the father of J. Joseph Black,
was born in the borough of Chester, Pa., June 26,
82
1824, and is a son of Joseph and Hannah P.
(Moore) Black, of Delaware county, Pa. Joseph
Black was born April 12, 1793, came to Columbia,
April I, 1835, and conducted "Black's Hotel" from
1839 until 1852, in which latter year he died, Feb.
10: his wife was born Jan. 4, 1798, died April 28,
iSt'yg, and the mortal remains of both now rest side
by side in Mount Bethel cemetery. The children
born to Joseph and Hannah P. Black were six in
number, viz : Samuel A., who died in Bryn Mawr,
Montgomery Co., Pa. ; John, who died young ;
Joseph H. ; Col. Henry M., a graduate of West
Point, six feet, four inches in height, who with Gen.
W infield Scott Hancock, was considered to be the
finest appearing man in the war of the Rebellion;
Vernard L., a butcher of Houtzdale, Pa. ; and Ed-
ward R., who has been an engineer for a railroad
company in Philadelphia since 1858.
The paternal grandparents of Joseph H. Black
were Samuel and Catherine Black, the former of
whom was born November 11, 1762, and was a
farmer, of German extraction; to this couple were
born seven children. The maternal grandparents
were John and Sarah Moore. John Moore was
born July 3, 1773, and by calling was also a farmer.
Joseph H. Black, now the owner of a zinc mine
four miles from Lancaster city and an iron ore bank
in Chester county, left his home at the age of four-
teen years and for one year clerked in a store in Co-
lumbia. He then returned to his father's hotel and
kept bar for a year ; the next year he passed in Ha-
verstraw, N. Y., as a clerk, and then for eighteen
months again kept bar for his father. In 1852, in
compliance with his father's last request, Joseph
H. took possession of the bar and conducted it un-
til 1880, when he sold out and began contracting;
as his first work he laid a mile of track for the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
In 1881 Mr. Black contracted to build two
bridges and lay one mile of track for the same com-
pany, and at the same -time held a contract for doing
the foundiation work for the Philadelphia elevated
road between ihe Schuylkill river and Broadway
station. In partnership with his brother, Samuel
A. Black, and W. W'; Upp, he continued in a gen-
eral contracting business until 1887, when he began
dealing in real estate, which is still his occupation.
In 1897 he purchased his fiftv-two acres of iron ore
land in Chester county, and in 1898 leased the zinc
mine in East Hempfield township, in which he has a
partner, D. R. Saylor.
On Aug. 23, 1849, Mr. Black married in Co-
lumbia Miss Elizabeth Lockard, and to this mar-
riage were born six children, as follows: Hannah
E., who died in infancy; Caroline, wife of Charles
A. Jeffers, a railroad engineer at Columbia; John-
Joseph : Edward J ., who died when four years old ;
Charles F., a locomotive engineer at Columbia ; and
Anna M., the wife of Alfred I. Crosby, a brakeman
in Philadelphia.
Mrs. Elizabet^i (Lockard) Black was born in
1298
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNATLS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Columbia in 1826, and died there Oct. 16, 1890.
She was a daughter of John and EHzabeth (Hinkle)
Lockard, farming people, who were the parents of
six children, viz: John, deceased; William; Mar-
garet A., widow of William' Dickey, and a resident
of Clearfield county; Samuel, deceased; Elizabeth;
and Mary, wife of J. J. McMahon.
Joseph H. Black is in politics a Republican, and
has served as councilman several terms, although
ofHce holding is obnoxious to him; he was also tri-
ennial assessor of Columbia borough and a director
in the Coliambia National Bank, but resigned such
offices as he has held. For ten years he was in the
transportation business in Columbia, but now makes
his home with his children, part of the time in Colum-
bia and part in Philadelphia. He is remarkably act-
ive for liis age, reads without spectacles, is five feet,
eleven and one-quarter inches in height, weighs.
160 pounds, and appears to be as young as he did
sixty years ago.
EDWARD H. STAMAN, the well known dai-
ryman and farmer and proprietor of the Shawnee
Farm in West Hempfield township, Lancaster coun-
ty, was born near Marietta, in East Hempfield town-
ship, Dec. 14, 1849, and is a son of John P. and
Mary E. (House) Staman, of Manor township.
John P. Staman, who has been twice married,
was born in October, 1821, and now resides in Co-
lumbia, Pa., having removed from the old homestead
to that city in 1891, in order to live retired from the
cares and duties of active life. To his marriage
■with Mary E. House there were born four children,
viz : Anna E., wife of Dr. S. A. Bockius, of Colum-
bia ; Edward H. ; Hester, wife of Marion Zook, of
Lancaster ; and John, also of Lancaster. Mrs. Mary
EJ (House) Staman was called away in 1858, when
but thirty-seven years old, and her remains were
taken to Columbia for interment. The second mar-
riage of John P. Staman' took place June i, 1859,
to Susan K. Zook, who bore him two children,
Abraham, deceased, and Harry, now of Marietta.
Mrs. Susan K. (Zook) Staman was a daughter of
Abraham Zook, of Lancaster county, and died in
1888, at the age of sixty-four years.
Edward H. Staman was transferred when an
infant from one estate to another, or from one farm
to another, and in childhood it was much the same
with him. At the age of two years he was taken
from the homestead to the J. M. Strickler farm,
thence to the J. L. Wright farm, and thence to the
J. H. Mifflin estate, all in V^est Hempfield township,
and from the latter in 1868, he came to his present
farm, then the property of his father, and there re-
mained until shortly after his marriage, when he
went to Columbia and engaged in mercantile busi-
ness, continued there until 1891, and then bought
his present farm from his father. He belongs to the
Masonic order, and in his politics is a Republican.
The family is connected with the Presbyterian
Church. ,
January 28, 1875, in Philadelphia, Edward H*
Staman married Anna E.. Wright, and this union
has been blessed with seven children, viz: Emily
E., Bessie C, Nellie, John P. Jr., James M., Ed-
ward and Harold. Mrs. Anna E. (Wright) Staman
was born in Columbia, Pa., in 1850, and is a daugh-
ter of James and Rebecca (Curry) Wright, the
former of whom was a merchant and died in Co-
lumbia, May 30, 1878, when sixty-four years old,
his widow dying March 28, 189S, at the age of sev-
enty-seven years, both in the faith of the Presby-
terian Church, and the remains of both being interred
in Mount Bethel cemetery, Columbia. There were
born to this couple six children, as follows : Emily,
who died in infahcy ; J. Davis, who died in Philadel-
phia in 1866; Anna E., Mrs. Staman; Sally S., who
married William Blackward, of I'hiladelphia, and
died in 1879; Lillian W., widow of Herbert B.
Smith, of the same city ; and Emily G., of Lans-
down, Pennsylvania.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Anna E.
(Wright) Staman were Thomas J. and Nancy
(Sinsenick) Wright, of Columbia and Lancaster, re-
spectively ; and the maternal grandparents were
Martin and Elizabeth (Woodbridge) Curry, re-
spectively of Philadelphia, Pa., and Bangor, Me.,
but who were married in Ph;ladelphia and shortly
afterward located in Columbia, where Mr. Curry
was a tobacconist and passed the remainder of his
days, and where Mrs. Curry later married a Mr.
Evans.
GEORGE H. MILLER, a retired hotel man and
a former merchant in Leacock township, was born
Dec. 25, 1840, in Earl township, Lancaster county,
and is a son of Abner and Maria ( Seldomridge)
Miller, of Earl and Leacock townships, respectively.
Abner Miller was a farmer and died on the farm
where his son now lives. May 21, 1884. He was
born Sept. 18, 1808. His wife, who was bom
March 6, 1808, died July 25, 1853. They were
members of the Reformed Lutheran Church. Born
to them were : Adam, born June 15, 1833, who mar-
ried a Miss O'Dair and is now deceased; John S.,
born Feb. 23, 1836, died March 10, 1865 ; Christian,
who is single, lives on the home place ; George H. ;
Miss Elizabeth C, born in 1843, died Oct. 31, 1862.
The paternal grandparents of George H. Miller
were Dr. Adam and EHzabeth (Sheafifer) Miller,
the former a noted physician of Leacock township,
where he reared to maturity a family of twelve chil-
dren. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Miller
were John and Christiann Seldomridge.
(jeorge H. Miller and Anna Louise Rote were
married in Lancaster, April 19, 1864. To them was
born one son, George Albert, who died July 21, 1868.
Mis. Anna L. Miller was born in Lancaster, May
IS; 1844, a daughter of George F. and Anna (Fink-
abmc) Rote, of Lancaster and Chester counties, re-
spectively. Mr. Rote was one of the oldest under-
takers in Lancaster, held the office of school direc-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY 1299
tor. and was a city councilman for many years. In
religion both himself and his wife belonged to the
Moravian Church. In his political associations he
was a Democrat. He died in 1876, at the age of
sixty-five years, and his widow in 1884; both were
buried in the Woodward Hill cemetery. They were
the parents of the following family: William and
George, both deceased ; Anna L. ; Amos, an under-
taker in Lancaster, now deceased ; Joseph, a house
decorator in Cleveland, Ohio ; Lovine, an undertaker
in Lancaster, now deceased; Jacob, a photographer
of Lancaster; James A., a house decorator in Cali-
fornia. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Miller
was William Rote, of Lancaster county; her ma-
ternal grandjjarents were Jacob and Rebecca Fink-
abine, of Chester county, where they lived on a farm.
Mr. Miller was reared on a farm until he reached
the age of twelve years, when he became a clerk
in the store of B. F. Hull, at Intercourse; after a
year he was sent to Mechanicsburg, where he was
employed in the store of the father of Mr. Hull for
some eighteen months. For a year and a half he was
a clerk in Paradise ; at Brownstown he was employed
a year and a half.
Mr. Miller enlisted April 16, 1861, in Co. C,
loth P. V. I., under Capt. D. W. Patterson. He was
in the army three months, and on hisi return home re-
enlisted in Lo. A, 79th P. V. I., under Capt. Kendig.
In 1864 he re-enlisted as a veteran in the same
company under Capt. Benson. He served until the
close of the war, receiving his most severe injury
at Chickamauga, where- he was shot through the
right leg. Taken into the hospital at Jefiferson-
ville, he would not remain until he was pronounced
cured, but ran away, to re-enlist in Philadelphia.
He was discharged in July, 1865, with a creditable,
record as a gallant and loyal soldier.
At Lancaster he returned to civil life, and buying
the Union League building, conducted it as a hotel
for a year and a half. For some years he was em-
pkjyed in farming in Leacock township, when he
returned to Lancaster and conducted the "Court
Avenue Hotel" for seven years. For a few years he
resumed farming; and after that ran a restaurant
in Lancaster for a year and a half. At the end of
that time he had a hotel and restaurant business on
the site of the Woolworth building, which he con-
ducted for about seven years, when he removed to
engage in the same line at Baltimore. He had not
been there many months when his business was com-
pletely wrecked by a very severe storm. For a short
time he spent his energies at home, and then took
charge of the '"Sprecker House" at Lancaster. He
held this property for two years, and then selling it,
was soon established at Intercourse, Pa., where he
was landlord for some two years. At Dado he was
engaged in a mercantile' business for a year. He
was manager of the "County House" for about a
year, and was landlord at Gordonville, also for the
same time, in "Kinzer's Hotel." In June, 1901, he
returned to his farm, where he proposes to spend the
balance of his days.
Mr. Miller is an honored member of the G. A.
R., and belongs to the German Reformed Church.
In his politics he is a Republican, and is pronounced
one of the leading men of the community. Of late
he has suflfered from poor health, having experi-
enced a severe paralytic stroke.
JOHN H. KLINE, president of the Columbia
school board, and a popular young conductor on
the Pennsylvania Railroad, was born in West
Hemptield township, Lancaster county, Feb. 25,
i860, a son of David H. and Margaret (Isenburger)
Klkie, also natives of West Hempfield township,
where the mother died in 1897, at the age of fifty-
seven years, a member of the Reformed Church,
and where the father, who was born in 1839, still
resides, a Mennonite in his faith.
David H. Kline was reared on a farm, but in
young manhood was employed in an iron furnace
and later by an oil company. He then returned to
his farm and resumed agricultural pursuits, attained
considerable local influence, and served for five con-
secutive years as township supervisor. To his mar-
riage with Margaret Isenburger were born the fol-
lowing children : John H. ; Anna, wife of J. H.
Hartman, a brakeman at Columbia; Mamie; Ella,
widow of Michael Kern; Kate; Carrie, wife of
John Hable, electrician — all of Columbia; Maggie,
wife of George Marley, car inspector at Lancaster ;
and Cora, wife of William Harris, car inspector in
Philadelphia.
The paternal grandparents of John H. Kline
were John H. and Anna (Hogentogler) Kline,
farming people of Lancaster county, and the ma-
ternal grandparents were Samuel and Peggie Isen-
burger, also of Lancaster county, the former 'of
■ whom was a quarryman.
John H. Kline, whose name opens this article,
was reared by his paternal grandparents on their
farm from the age of two until ten years, and then
came to Columbia, where he attended school until
fifteen. He was then employed in a flouring-mill
four years, and later by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company one year as inspector of the cementing of
the Columbia bridge ; he then worked for the com-
pany as brakeman three years ; next as flagman
four years ; and was then promoted to be extra con-
ductor, which position he has filled in a most satis-
factory manner up to the present time.
Mr. Kline was joined in marriage at Columbia,
Aug. 4, 1878, with Anna Foreman, who was born
in Huntingdon county, Pa., in 1858, and is. a daugh-
ter of David Foreman. To John H. and Anna
Kline has been born one daughter, Bessie L., who
taught school three years and is now the wife of
William H. Yohe, a heater in an iron mill.
Mrs. Anna Kline was born in Mifflin, Juniata
Co., Pa., Oct. 15, 1858, daughter of David and Re-
1300
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
becca (Eell) Foreman, of the same borough. In
1864 the family removed to Altoona, Blair county,
thence to Mill Creek, Huntingdon county, and then,
in 1867, went to Columbia, and there lived until
1879, when they went to Harrisburg, where they
still reside, the father being a brakeman. To David
and Rebecca Foreman, who were both born in 1839,
have been born three children, viz : Anna ; Elmer,
a railroad conductor, of Harrisburg; and a child
who died in infancy.
John H. Kline is a Republican in politics, has
been a member of the Columbia school board for the
past several years, and in June, 1899, was elected its
president. He is also a member of the Columbia
fire department, and is in general a useful citizen.
As a member of the, Improved Order of Red Men,
he has been financial secretary of his Tribe five years.
He is likewise a member of the B. of R. T., and in
religion leans toward the Mennonite faith. Socially
his standing is with the best families of Columbia.
ADAM T. HERMAN, one of the well-known
farmer citizens of West Lampeter township, Laiji-
caster county, whose fine farm is located but two
and one-half miles from the city of Lancaster, was
born in Pequea township, this county, March 10,
1858, a son of John M. and Elizabeth (Thomas)
Herman, w'ho still reside in the same township.
Adam T. Herman was reared on the farm under
his father's excellent instruction, completed the com-
mon school course and remained under the paternal
roof until 1884, operating his father's farm. At
that time he began the improving of the sixty-acre
farm where he now resides and carries on general
farming; he supplies also considerable stone used
for roads in the district and does much teaming to
Lancaster City and to the outlying districts.
In 1880 Adam T. Herman was united in mar-
riage with Susan Kendig, the estimable daughter of
Christian Kendig, of Manor township, who was
bcm there in 1863 ; to them have been born thirteen
children: Mary, who married Clarence King, of
Pequea township; Lettie; Mello; Lizzie; John;
Adam; Christie, deceased; Harry; Charles; Sam-
uel ; Katie : Francis ; and Alice.
Mr. Herman is a progressive farmer and public-
spirited man, who has devoted his life to the inter-
ests of his family and section, and he possesses the
respect and esteem of the whole community.
DAVID H. HUBER. The farms of West Lam-
peter township are among the best in Lancaster
county, and one of these is the property of David H.
Hube'r, who comes of an old and honored agricul-
tural family which has been established in this part
of the Keystone State for generations. David H.
Huber, one of its worthy representatives, was born
June 6, i860, and is the son of David and Maria
Huber, his birth occurring on the old homestead
located near Willowstreet, where he was reared. His
education was secured in the common schools, after
which he became occupied in the home farming
operations.
In 1890, he located on the fine farm he now oc-
cupies, which is situated one-half mile south of Big
Springs, and consists of fifty-three acres, a part of
the large estate once owned by his ancestor, Hans
Herr. The old sandstone house, erected there prior
to 1719, is still standing a relic of long ago and an
object of interest to all. The various excellent im-
provements on the farm were placed there by his fa-
ther, David Huber. Mr. Huber carries on general
farming and is considered one of the solid and sub-
stantial men of the community, successful in what-
ever he undertakes.
As a stockholder in the Lancaster County Bank
and in the Southern Market House, he is recognized
as a man of commercial integrity, and has been of
great service in educational matters in the township,
now serving his fourth term as a member of the
school board. A Republican in politics, he votes,
with his party but never seeks or consents to hold
political office.
David H. Pluber was married Nov. 25, 1889, tO'
Anna Mowrer, a daughter of Amos S. and Anna
Mowrer, of West Lampeter township, and to this
union three interesting children have been born.
Myrtle M., Mary and D. Mark. This is one of the
representative families of West Lampeter, and they-
enjoy the esteem of the whole community.
SAMUEL H. BOYD, a valued employee of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, whose home is in
Columbia, Pa., was born in that city. May 10, 1862,
and is a son of Samuel A. and Kate (Pierce) Boyd„
also natives of Columbia.
Samuel A. Boyd, the father, was an expressman
and did hauling. He died in Columbia, Sept. 2^,.
1862, at the early age of thirty-four years, and there
his remains were interred. His wife, who was bom
in 1S30, died in Port Deposit, Md., in 1869, and was
buried in that city. Both were active members of
the M. E. Church, and were highly respected by alt
who knew them. Their children were: Mary A.,
wife of William A. Wolf, of Harrisburg, Pa. ; John'
A., a resident of Columbia ; Jane H., wife of Robert
Clay, of Harrisburg; Kate A., who died in child-
hood ; and Samuel H. The maternal grandparents
were John and Catherine Pierce, lifelong residents
of Columbia.
As he lost his father during his infancy, Samuel
H. Boyd was reared by a great-aunt. Miss Catherine-
liougendoubler, and remained with her until his
marriage. On June 18, 1883, in Columbia, he
wedded Anna M. Smith, by whom he has had five
children, namely : Katherine, who died in infancy ,-
Frederick J., Greta M. and Irene B., all at home;-
and Mary E., who died in 1899. Mrs. Boyd was
born in West Hempfield township, Lancaster coun-
ty, April 4, 1865, a daughter of Leonard and Mar-
garet (Phath) Smith, who though born in Hessen-
Darmstadt, Germany, were married in Lancaster
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1801
county, Pa. The father had come to America at
the age of fifteen years with his parents, Samuel
Smith and his wife, also natives of Germany, who
spent the remainder of their lives in West Hemp-
lield township, Lancaster county. Mrs. Boyd's ma-
ternal grandparents never left Germany. Her fa-
ther, Leonard Smith, followed the blacksmith's
trade throughout life and died in 1887, at the age
of fifty-two years. The mother is still living at the
age of sixty-five years and continues to make her
home in Columbia. In religious belief both were
Catholics. Their children were: Catherine and
John, both deceased; Elizabeth, wife of Frank C.
Sliillow, a butcher of Columbia; Leonard, a black-
smith of that place; Anna M., now Mrs. Boyd;
Catherine and Henry, both deceased; Mary, wife
■of William Horner, a railroad brakeman of Colum-
bia; Samuel, a machinist of the same place; Will-
iam, deceased; Frank, a resident of Columbia; and
Edward and Charles, both deceased.
At the age of fifteen years Mr. Boyd began his
business career as a boiler maker and worked at
that trade for seven years. In 1882 he commenced
braking on the Pennsylvania Railroad, but in 1885
•decided to become an engineer and devoted the fol-
lowing seven years to firing. In 1892 he was pro-
moted to engineer and is now serving the company
in that capacity. He is a member of the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers, Brotherhood of Locomo-
tive Firemen and the Pennsylvania Relief Associa-
tion, and affiliates with the Democratic party.
CLAYTON K. STAUFFER. Among the
prominent voting business men of Rowena, East
Donegal township, one who has, by his energy and
close attention to business, become the owner oE
property and holds an excellent position with the
great Pennsylvania Railroad Company, is Clayton
K. Staufifer, the telegraph operator in charge at
Shock's Mill.
Mr. Stauffer was born in Mt. Joy township,
Lancaster county, March 9, 1868, a son of Abraham
H. and Elizabeth (Kreider) Stauffer, both members
•of old and prominent families of this State.
Abraham H. Stauffer, now living retired, was
"born Feb. 4, 1845, on the farm in West Donegal
township where he yet resides and on which his fa-
ther, Jacob Stauffer, settled in 1820. His grand-
parents, Jacob Stauffer and his wife, a Miss Niss-
ley, were born in Penn township, this county, and
he was a farmer and miller by occupation. Jacob
Stauffer was also a native of Lancaster county, and
one of- the successful self-made farmer citizens of
West Donegal township, where he made his per-
manent home. As such he was at various times re-
quested to hold office but invariably declined. He
-was a Republican in political sentiment. Mr. Stauf-
fer married Catherine Hershey, also a native of Lan-
caster county, and a daughter of Benjamin Hershey,
of this county, who married a Miss Snyder. To this
union came children as follows: Benjamin, who
married and is deceased; Miss Anna, who died in
1888; Peter, a miller of Rapho township; Fanny,
deceased wife of Christ Snyder, of East Donegal;
Joseph, who died in Illinois ; Miss Mary, deceased ;
Christian, deceased ; Jacob, a retired farmer of Mt.
Joy ; Barbara, deceased in infancy ; John, deceased ;
Henry, a farmer of Lititz ; Abraham H. ; and Sam-
uel, a farmer and tobacco merchant of Dayton, Ohio.
The parents were members of the Old Mennonite
Church, and were known as good Christian people.
The father passed away Jan. 29, 1861, aged fifty-
nine years, three months ; the mother died in De-
cember, 1875, aged seventy-three. Their remains
rest in a cemetery on the farm.
Abraham H. Stauffer has passed all his life on
the farm in West Donegal where he was born,
with the exception of a brief residence in 1867-68
in Mt. Joy township. The place comprises eighty-
two acres of valuable land, and he has engaged suc-
cessfully in agricultural pursuits, winning a sub-
stantial income from the cultivation of the soil. On
Nov. 8, 1866, in Lancaster, Pa., Mr. Stauffer mar-
ried Elizabeth Kreider, who was born May 12, 1846,
in Rapho township, daughter of Daniel and Anna
(Bossier) Kreider, natives of East Lampeter and
East Hemplield townships, respectively. He was a
successful and- prominent farmer. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Kreider died in East Lampeter township, he
in 1 86 1, at the age of sixty, she in 1859, at the age of
forty-eight, and their remains rest in East Peters-
burg. They were members ^of the Mennonite
Church. Children as follows were born to them:
Jacob and John, who died young; Anna, deceased
wife of Benjamin Kauflfman; Maria, deceased wife
of Isaac Kauflfman; Daniel, a retired farmer of
Petersburg, Pa. ; Abraham, a farmer and cigar man-
ufacturer of Salunga, this county; Elizabeth, the
wife of Abraham H. Stauffer.
Mr. and Mrs. Abraham H. Stauffer are the par-
ents of children as follows : Clayton K., whose name
introduces this article ; Daniel K., deceased ; Cath-
erine K., wife of Levi Eby, of Rapho township;
Jacob K., unmarried, who lives at home ; Maria
K., wife of Christ Newcomer, of Rapho township;
and Reuben K., living at home. The parents are
faithful members of the Mennonite Church. Mr.
Stauffer gives his political support to the Repub-
lican party.
Clayton K. Stauffer was reared on a farm, re-
maining at home until twenty years old, when he be-
gan the study of telegraphy, soon showing evidence
of natural ability in that line. He received his
first instruction in a little back office near Rheems
Station, where he assiduously applied himself for
a period of six months, and in the next few years
was transferred to various stations where a quick
and capable operator was wanted. In March, 1895,
he was located at his present place, and has re-
mained there doing most excellent work, ever since.
The marriage of Mr. Stauffer took place in
February, iSqi, Miss Anna Ebersole, a member of
1302
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
one of the oldest families of the county, becoming
his wife. To this union have been born two chil-
dren, Edna I', and Mary, the latter dying in infancy.
Mrs. Stauffer is a daughter of John L. and Amanda
(Epler) Ebersole, of East Donegal township. Mr.
Stauffer stands well in the community, owning his
own comfortable home, and drawing a liberal salary,
and is one of the much respected and highly valued
employees of the great company he has faithfully
served.
J. MILTON HERSHEY, the proprietor of the
"Cross Keys Hotel" at Intercourse, Pa., was born in
Salisbury township, Lancaster county, June 26,
i860, a son of John B. and Mary (Warner) Hershey,
of Upper Leacock and Salisbury townships, respect-
ively. The father, who was born in 1837, is now a
retired farmer of Salisbury township ; his wife was
born in 1833. They were both members of the Pres-
byterian Church, and were prominent people in the
community where their active years have passed.
Born to them were Amanda, who married John
Reasser, a farmer of Salisbury township ; and J.
Milton, whose name introduces this article.
The paternal grandparents of J. M. Hershey
were Jacob F. and Christina (Bare) Hershey, both
natives of Lancaster county; his maternal grandfa-
ther was Jacob Warner, who married a Miss Pratt.
J. Milton Hershey was married in Salisbury
township, Feb. 29, 1884, to Amanda C. Worst,
daughter of Samuel and Nancy (Kurtz) Worst, by
whom he has had one child, Anna. Mrs. Hershey
is a sister of Mrs. Milton Bare, and was a school
teacher for seven years.
Mrs. Hershey was reared on the farm, and re-
mained at home with his parents until his marriage,
when he settled on a farm in Salisbury township^ In.
1887 he removed to the city of Lancaster, and for
three years was assistant turnkey. At the end of
that period he became a hotel man in Lancaster, and
was landlord for twenty-nine months. For three
years he kept a hotel in Spring Garden, and in 1897
he came to his present locality. For two terms he
has been a member of the Republican Committee,
and is one of the leading men of the county.
ADy\M J. REISINGER, a very efficient and
popular engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and_
a resident of Columbia, was born on a farm in York'
county. Pa., Aug. 7, 1849, and is a son of Adam
and Catherine (Eckert) Reisinger, natives of Ger-
many, who came to America in 1848.
The parents settled in York county, where Adam
followed his vocation of farmer until his death, April
I, 1896, at the age of seventy-seven years, while his
widow at the age of seventy-four is still residing on
the old homestead, a member, as was her husband, of
the Reformed Church. To the marriage of these
venerable parents were born the following children :
Mary, who was married to George Oldwilder and
died in 1887 ; Adam J. ; Joseph, a carpenter of York
county; George, Henry, Peter, all farmers in the
same county ; Emma, who is married to William
Wallace, a school-teacher, also residing in York
county ; Kate, the wife of Charles Fitzking, a cigar
manufacturer in New York City; and Francis, a.
fireman on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and residing
in Columbia.
Adam J. Reisinger lived on the home farm un-
til thirteen years old, when he began driving horses
attached to canal-boats, from which humble position
he rose to be a captain and acted in that capacity for
four years. He then found employment as a brake-
man on the railroad on which he is still working and
iour months later was made a fireman ; at that he
served seven years, and was then promoted to his
present position of engineer, a position he has filled
now for seventeen years.
In April, 1873, in Columbia, Mr. Reisinger mar-
ried Miss Cecelia Reisinger, who, although of the
same surname, is of no consanguinity. To this
union were born two children, Ella and Charles, who
both died in infancy. Mrs. Cecelia Reisinger is a
native of Columbia; her parents, Peter and Leah
(Reichard) Reisinger, came from York county, and
after settling in Columbia, conducted a hotel.
Mr. Reisinger is in politics a Democrat, but has
never been an office-seeker. He is held in high es-
teem by his fellow railroad men and is the more
closely allied to them by being a member of B. O. L.
E., division No. 104, and the F. B., No. 552; he is
also a member of the Heptasophs and the Columbia
Fire Company, m which, when at home, he is always
prompt is responding to a fire alarm.
JOHN BEAMESDERFER, a general farmer
and stock dealer of Rapho township, was born on the
farm he now lives on, Sept. i, 1868. He is the son
of Henry and Anna (Balmer) Beamesderfer of
Petersburg, but now residing in Manheim town-
ship, having retired in 1901 to make Manheim
their home.
Henry Beamesderfer, the father, was born in
1840 and his wife was also born in the same year.
They are members of the New Mennonite Church.
He is a director of the Keystone National Bank of
Manheim, a director of the Sporting Hill and Man-
heim Turnpike Company, and for some time was a
school director of his district. There were born to
him and his wife the following children: Anna,
wife of H. Y. Brandt, a farmer" of Rapho township ;
John; Jonas, a tinsmith of Norfolk, Va. ; Amos, in
the livery and bicycle business at Lebanon, Pa.;
Harry., deceased at twenty-three years of age; and
Anna, deceased at the age of twenty-one years. ' Mr.
Beamesderfer's grandfather was George Beames-
derfer, of Lancaster, Pa., and on his mother's side
his grandparents were John and Anna (Frick) Bal-
mer, of Lancaster county.
On Jan. 5, 1896, Mr. John Beamesderfer mar-
ried Miss Anna May Rheam, of Elizabethtown, Pa.
They have had no children. Mrs. Rheam was born
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1303
in West Donegal township, April 24, 1876, and is the
daughter of Jacob B. and Susan (Wisler) Rheam,
of West Donegal township. He was born in Decem-
ber, 1832, and Mrs. Rheam was born Oct. 20, 1842.
Mrs. Rheam is a member of the United Brethren
Church. There were born to this couple the follow-
ing children : Frank, a tinsmith, of Manheim, Pa. ;
Samuel and Jacob, who both died in youth ; Edward,
a horsedealer of Mt. Joy ; Norman, a railroad man,
of Harrisburg, Pa. ; Anna May, wife of our subject;
Blanche, wife of Jacob Shaffer, a hotel man of Eton,
Pennsylvania.
Mr. John Beamesderfer lived with his parents
until the age of twenty-eight years when he left home
for Harrisburg, Pa., where he entered the bicycle
business, which he continued for some time. He then
went into the electrical business and fitted up the
Capitol building in Harrisburg with electrical ap-
pliances. On April i, 1 901, he returned to his pres-
ent home, the farm on which he was born. It is a
large, handsome place, one of the best in the county.
Mr. Beamesderfer is a young man and a Repub-
lican and there is likely to be a great future in store
for him. He is well known, well liked, and progres-
sive, a combination of attributes hard to beat.
B. H. NISSLY. Among the fine farms for
which East Donegal township, Lancaster county, is
noted, is that of B. H. Nissly, comprising seventy
acres of some of the best land in Lancaster county.
Although Mr. Nissly has never operated his farm
personally, he thoroughly understands its manage-
ment and its fine condition shows that its owner is
fully alive to its possibilities.
Mr. Nissly was born in Mt. Joy township, Oct.
4, 1865, a son of Christian and Lydia (Huntzberger)
Nissly, the former of whom was an excellent farmer
in this county, dying in Feb., 1866, at the age of
forty-three ; he was buried in Mt. Joy township, on
the old Nissly homestead, where the family has its
private burial ground. The mother of B. H. died at
Anchortown in 1875, at the age of forty-six, the
only child of the marriage being our subject. By a
previous marriage to a Miss Warner, Mr. Nissley
had one son Tobias, who is a machinist in Reading,
where he married Belle Balmer.
The ancestry of Benjamin Nissly includes some
of the old and honored family names of Lancaster
county. His paternal grandfather was John Nissly,
of Lancaster county, who married a Miss Hershey.
B. H. Nissly remained with his mother until the
age of five years, having been deprived of his father
when but one year old, and she then found a good
home for him with Benjamin Hernley, of Mt. Joy
township, where he remained until fifteen, going to
school and attending to the chores. At this age John
Reist desired his services on the farm, and he went
with him for the following two years, then worked
for two more years with Christ Nissley, and spent
one year in mill work in Mt. Joy township, returning
then to farm work in West Donegal township for
three years. In 1888 Mr. Nissly purchased his fine
farm, paying for it the handsome sum of $11,200,
and moved upon it in 1889. The residence, a two-
story brick building, was erected at a cost of $4,500,
and was on the farm when it was purchased from the
estate of Benjamin Herr.
Mr. Nissly has never farmed this place, prefer-
ring to rent it, but he makes it his home. During the
years of 1894 and 1895 he was employed in the Read-
ing Railroad car shops. In politics he has always
been an ardent Republican and is one of the sub-
stantial men of the township.
WILLIAM M. GUILES (formerly spelled
Giles), of the firm of A. G. Guiles' Sons, takes high
rank in commercial circles in Columbia, where since
January, 1887, he and his brother, Samuel W.,. have
carried on the business established by their honored
father.
Our subject is a grandson of William Guiles,
who was born May 26, I79,'5, in Chester county. Pa.,
and was of English descent. When ten years old
he came with his stepmother to Lancaster county,
locating at Strasburg, where he grew to manhood,
and he was self-supporting from that early age.
When a boy he did various kinds of work, blacking
boots, working as a stable boy, anything, in fact,
that would bring him an" honest penny, and in early
manhood he took up the trade of wagonmaking,
which he followed successfully until ten years before
his death, when he retired. He continued to reside
in Strasburg, of which place he became one of the
most respected citizens, winning by hard work and
a life of consistent uprightness a high place in the
hearts of his fellow-men, as well as substantial finan-
cial rewards. He was a devout Christian, an active
member and pillar of the M. E. Church, and his
death, which occurred May 16, 1867, was sincerely
mourned. On Aug. 8, 1819, Mr. Guiles married
Miss Mary Markley, who was born Aug. 24, 1800,
south of Strasburg, this county, daughter of George
Markley, who was of German descent. Eleven
children were born to them, three of whom died in
infancy. Sarah, now deceased, was the wife of
D. S. McElhaney, of Marticville. William is de-
ceased. Mary, deceased, was the wife of Rev. Al-
bert G. Williams. David is deceased. Elizabeth is
the wife of John J. Long, of Freeport, Pa. John
W. is deceased. Charlotte W., deceased, was the
wife of Simon Groff, of Strasburg. Abraham
Groff is the father of our subject. The mother of
this family passed away March 26, 1852.
Abraham G. Guiles was born Oct. 3, 1840, in
Conestoga Center, this county, was reared at Stras-
burg and received his education there in the public
schools. He left school at the age of fourteen,
learned the trade of wagonmaking under his father,
and at the age of sixteen was working at that trade
as a journeyman. By the time he was twenty he
was engaged in business on his own account. When
twenty-one he entered the employ of the Pennsyl-
1304
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
vania Railroad Company, and soon became engineer,
running from Harrisburg to Philadelphia. So
trusted an employee was he that when but twenty-
five he was frequently called upon to run passenger
trains. In 1864 he came to Columbia, making his
home there one year, while for the next five years
he lived in Harrisburg. He remained in the rail-
road employ ten years, at the end of that time en-
gaging in merchandising in Columbia, where he
continued to reside throughout his entire business
career. He first embarked in the shoe business in
Locust street, but soon took up general merchan-
dising, at No. 210 2d street, and was thus engaged
most successfully from 1871 to January, 1887, when
he turned the establishment over to his two sons,
William M. and Samuel W., who now conduct the
store .under the firm name of A. G. Guiles' Sons.
After assisting them in the management for some
time Mr. Guiles retired from the enterprise and
gave his attention to various other business affairs
until his removal to Lititz, where he is now spend-
ing his days in the enjoyment of the ample com-
petence which awarded his years of activity. Al-
though his mercantile interests demanded his con-
stant attention for so many years, Mr. Guiles found
time to encourage and promote any enterprise for the
public good, and he did much for the welfare of his
adopted city, keeping abreast of every progressive
movement. He gave special aid to her business
prosperity by his interest in and support of various
establishments of importance in the town, being
stockholder and director in several concerns. He
was one of the organizers of the Columbia Shirt
Company, now the Triumph Shirt Company ; is a
stockholder in the Columbia Electric Light &
Power Company; of the Keely Stove Company, of
which he was one of the organizers ; and a stock-
holder and director of the Central National Bank
of Columbia. Mr. Guiles officiated as a member of
the school board in Columbia, as member of the
board of health for many years, and for four years
as member of the city council, of which he was
president one year. In political sentiment he is a
Democrat. Fraternally he unites with Columbia
Lodge, No. 286, F. & A. M., and with the Perfect
Artisans.
In i86r Mr. Guiles wedded Miss Rebecca K.
Welsh, of Conestoga Center, and three children
were born to them. Samuel W., Ida May and Will-
iam M. Samuel W. married Catherine K. Haud-
shaw, of Harrisburg. The daughter died when
twenty-one years of age. The mother passed away
Nov. 2, 1896, and in the fall of 1898 Mr. Guiles
married Miss Mary R. Doster, of Lititz. On Dec.
I, 1899, they removed from Columbia to Lititz,
where Mr. Guiles has erected a fine residence in
South Broad street. Mr. Guiles united with the
M. E. Church in 187T, but since his removal to
Lititz he has been connected with the Moravian
Church.
William M. Guiles was born in 1869, in Harris-
burg, this State, and was but two months old when
his parents took up their residence in Columbia. He
received a good education, and at an early age com-
menced learning business methods in his father's
store, continuing with him until he and his brother
took the business on their own account. They are
following in th'eir father's footsteps, and bid fair to
rank, as he did, among the most substantial mer-
chants of Lancaster county. Mr. Guiles is a mem-
ber of the Artisans and the Odd Fellows, and, in
religious connection is identified with the M. E.
Church. In politics he is independent.
In June, 1894, Mr. Guiles was married, at
Hazleton, Pa., to Miss Adelaide Curnow, a native
of that place. They have no children. Mrs. Guiles'
father, William Curnow, was a native of England,
and died in Hazleton. Her mother is now the wife
of John Arrey, a retired resident of Hazleton.
MARTIN LEFEVER, one of the representa-
tive farmers of Lancaster county and a leading citi-
zen in West Lampeter township, was born on the
small farm that was owned by his grandfather on
the Lampeter Road, Feb. 14, 1854, and is a son of
.A.dam and Catherine (Kendig) Lefever. His fa-
ther was reared at home and spent his life in West
Lampeter township, making himself known and
felt as one of the leading men of the county in his
time, dying in 1889.
Adam Lefever was left fatherless when a babe
and was reared to manhood with no parental guid-
ance. There was good stuft' in him, however, and
while still a lad he did not hesitate to assume re-
sponsibilities and undertake labors that should go
with more advanced years. Always a farmer, he
soon became successful, amassing property and be-
coming the owner of four farms and a timber lot in
the southern part of the county, also possessing two
pieces of property in Lampeter. Known as a hard-
working man, his business acumen was soon recog-
nized, and for many years he was a director in the
County Bank. His townsmen elected him director
of the poor, as well as to other local positions, and
he served on the school board many years.
Adam Lefever was married to Catherine Ken-
dig, by whom he had thirteen children: Harry, a
farmer in Strasburg township; Martin; Frank, a
farmer in West Lampeter township; Mary Ann,
deceased; Elizabeth, the wife of Christian Huber,
of West Lampeter township ; Aaron, who died un-
married : Daniel and Alpheus, both deceased ; Enos
K.. a physician of Boiling Springs, Cumberland
Co., Pa. ; Adam, a farmer in West Lampeter town-
ship ; Grant, deceased ; Kate, who is the widow of
Frank Mullinger, and lives in Lancaster; Emma,
the wife of John Hauser, of West Lampeter town-
ship. The mother of this family is still living, and
is a member of the Mennonite Church.
Martin Lefever was reared on the farm and
educated in the common schools. He remained at
home until he was twenty-six years of age, then
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1305
married and located on the farm of John B. Mylin,
which he farmed on shares for seventeen years. It
comprised no acres and proved very productive.
Mr. Lefever, in company with his brother,
bought 155 acres of the old homestead, and settled
on It April I, 1897. This has become one of the
hne tarms, and is now owned exclusively by Martin
Lefever, who has made many improvements, and
IS the possessor of a herd of fine stock. All his at-
tention is given to farming and his place as a pro-
gressive and wide-awake farmer is conceded. He
also owns another piece of land in West Lampeter
township, which consists of five acres. Mr. Lefever
was married Nov. 2, 1880, to Miss Amanda C.
Myhn, a daughter of John B. Mylin, and to them
have come the following children, Martha, Harry,
Mamie, Minnie, Edna, John, Aldus, Martin, Flor-
ence and Verna.
WILLIAM H. SMOKER. The railroad train
service requires men of sound judgment, capable
of forming quick and unerring decisions, and men
who are faithful in every small detail of duty. Those
inen succeed best who are attached to their voca-
tion, and one of the best-known among the citizens
of Columbia engaged in railroad work is William
H. Smoker. For the past thirty years he has been
in railway service and during that time he has
shown his fidelity to the stirring and responsible life
of a train man by surrendering promotion for its
attractions.
Mr. Smoker was born in Salisbury township,
Lancaster county, Feb. 18, 185 1, the son of Jacob
K. and Sarah L. (Nelson) Smoker, the latter of
Paradise township, and the grandson of John G.
and Polly M. Smoker. The grandfather was a na-
tive of Germany, who in his youth migrated to
America, here married and became a citizen of Lan-
caster county, where he died.
Jacob K. Smoker, the father of William H., was
born Oct. 27, 1822. He is now a resident of Colum-
bia, an auctioneer by occupation. During the Civil
war he served for three years in the engineering
corps and was stationed at Harper's Ferry. He
was register and property assessor of the second
ward in Lancaster for six years and has held various
township offices. In politics he is a Republican and
in religious faith himself and his wife are members
of the Presbyterian Church. The children born to
Jacob K. and Sarah L. Smoker are as follows:
William H. ; Louis J., of Columbia ; Lillie, deceased
wife of John Richardson ; James M., a Pennsylvania
Railroad conductor, of Columbia; Lucy, wife of
John Weymer, proprietor of a bakery at Columbia;
and Howard G., a druggist of Mt. Joy, Pennsyl-
vania.
William H. was reared on a farm, but began his
railroad career in 1870, at the age of nineteen years,
as a brakeman on a freight train, on the run between
Columbia and Philadelphia. Eight months later he
was promoted to conductor, a position which he held
for five years. He was again promoted, to the posi-
tion of assistant yard master, which he filled for
three years and nine months. Preferring his old
work on the road, he returned to the position of con-
ductor, which he has held uninterruptedly ever since,
and is now one of the best-known and most popu-
lar conductors in the service. Mr. Smoker has not
wholly escaped the accidents which surround the
life of a train man, for in 1892 he slipped from his
train and lost four toes from his right foot.
William H. Smoker married, March 11, 1875,
at Columbia, Miss Anna Reinhart, daughter of the
late John and Barbara (Hogentogler) Reinhart, of
Columbia. To William H. and Anna (Reinhart)
Smoker were born four children, namely : Pacie
M.. deceased; James M., a graduate of a business
college ; Lewis J. ; and Florence E. In politics Mr.
Smoker is a Republican, and himself and his wife
are members of the Presbyterian Church.
FRANK K. LEFEVER, one of the industrious
and respected citizens of West Lampeter township,
Lancaster county, was born on the old homestead
in that township, Jan. 10, 1856, where he was reared
and educated in the common schools. Remaining
at home tintil he was in his thirty-third year he then
married and located on the farm where he is still
living. It is a farm of sixty-three acres, and is
highly cultivated. There Mr. Lefever has made
many valuable improvements, both in remodeling
and in erecting new buildings. His is a modem
and progressive spirit, and he is a lover of law and
order.
Mr. Lefever was married Nov. 8, 1888, to M.
Naomi, a daughter of Jacob R. and Leah Ann (Lan-
dis) Buckwalter. She was born in East Lampeter
township, April 28, 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Lefever
are the parents of two children, Mary and Walter.
Mr. and Mrs. Lefever belong to the best people
of the county, and are respected alike for their many
good qualities and their industrious habits.
SAMUEL S. GREIDER, a general farmer in
Rapho township, who lives on the old family home-
stead, was born on that place, Nov. 10, 1865, a son
of M. L. Greider.
Samuel S. Greider was reared under the old
roof, and educated in the local schools. He was
married April 18, 1888, in East Donegal township,
to Emily Engle, by whom he had the following fam-
ily, Edna E., Mary E. and Mildred E., twins, Alvin
E., Minnie E., Rea E., Martin E. and Ruth E.
Mrs. Emily (Engle) Greider was born in East
Donegal township, Oct. t6, 1866, a daughter of
Hiram and Mary (Engle) Engle, both of whom
were born and reared in East Donegal township.
Her father operated an extensive nursery in East
Donegal township, and for some twelve years was
very successful in that line. His death occurred in
1873, at the early age of thirty years. He was a
school director, and was becoming one of the best-
1306
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
known and influential men of his community. His
wife, who was born in 1843, is still living, and makes
her home with her son-in-law, Samuel S. Greider.
To the father and mother were born the following
family: N. Lizzie, the wife of John K. Miller, a
photographer in East Donegal township; Alvin, a
manufacturer of bicycles in Philadelphia; Emily;
Wilson, a bookkeeper for the McDowells paper
mills in Philadelphia.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Emily
Greider were Daniel and Mary (Kraybill) Engle,
both of Lancaster county. Her maternal grandpar-
ents were Hervey M. and Eliza (Breneman) Engle,
both ^natives of Lancaster county. Hervey was a son
of Henry Engle, and was three times married : first
to Eliza Breneman, by whom' he had seven children ;
second, to Lizzie Musser, by whom he had one child,
and third, to Fanny Nissley, by whom he had nine
children.
Samuel S. Greider remained 'with his parents
until he was married, having received his education
in the local schools, and being well prepared for
the practical labors of life. With his young wife he
rented a farm in Rapho township,' on which he re-
mained two years, when he returned to the old
homestead, where he has lived to the present time.
This place comprises 164 acres, and in his hands it
is kept to a high pitch of fertility, and presents a
fine appearance.
In politics he is a Republican, and is numbered
among the energetic, thrifty and progressive men
of the township.
F. M. PIERR, one of the thrifty, well-known and
highly esteemed farmer-citizens of Martic township,
was born May 5, 1861, son of John and Fannie
(Hoover) Herr, of Marticville.
John Herr, the father of our subject, was born in
1836, son of Levi and grandson of Menie Herr, who
was one of the early settlers of Lancaster county.
The family originated in Germany. To John and
Fannie Herr was born a family of seven children,
nanaely F. M. ; Martha A., the wife of Hiram
Hammond, of Mount Nebo ; John C, of West Lam-
peter township ; Jacob, Flam, Levi and Ezra, all of
Manor township.
Mr. Herr was reared on a farm and attended the
public schools. He has been interested in farming
all his life, and by his industry and good manage-
ment has acquired a fine farm of 109 acres which he
has improved in a very substantial manner. He is
one of the best farmers and most respected citizens
of Martic township.
On May 15, 1881, ]\Ir. Herr married Miss Re-
becca Armstrong, born Dec. i, 1862, daughter of
William and Rachael Armstrong, of Mt. Nebo, and
this marriage has been blessed with eight children,
as follows ; Dora E., Llovd G., John W., Ida B.,
Amos F., Mary E., Esther 'M. and Thomas H. Mrs.
Herr was one o f a family of fourteen children, seven
of whoin grew to maturity, these being: Thomas
of Martic township ; Mary, the wife of Amos Halt-
zinger ; Sarah, the wife of J. M. Drumm ; Isabel, the
widow of Harvey McMellon; Rebecca, the wife of
Mr, Herr; Emma, the widow of William Swigert,
of Lancaster ; Franklin, of Mt. Nebo.
The Herr family is one which has long been
known in Lancaster county and has always taken
part in public matters. John Herr was a member of
the 79th P. "V^. I. during the Civil war, from 1863
to 1865. He was a stanch Republican and his son
has also always adhered to the principles of that
party. F. M. Herr and his family belong to the
Mount A^ebo M. E. Church. Mr. Herr is much re-
spected in his community and is a very useful citizen.
GEORGE SYLVESTER DESCH, one of the
leading railroad men of Columbia, Pa., was born in
that city, May 10, 1865, and has always been iden-
tified with its interests.
The father, Joseph G. Desch, was born in Ba-
varia, Germany, Sept. 10, 1833, and came to this
country with his parents, PhiHp and Mary H.
(Herr) Desch, in 185 1, locating in Baltimore, where
the latter died in 1875. Philip Desch died in 1870
while on a visit to his native land. His children were
John and Peter, who di.ed in Baltimore ; Mary, wife
of Leo Bruner, of Germany; Baldser, a traveling
agent of that country ; Anthony, who was killed in
the battle of Fredericksburg during the Civil war ;
Joseph G., father of our subject ; Gertrude, wife of
George Smith, of Baltimore ; George, who died in
that city ; and Margaret, who married and lived in
Baltimore.
After spending five years in Baltimore, Joseph G.
Desch came to Columbia, Pa., where he engaged in
the butcher business nine years, conducted a tavern
thirty-six years, and operated a brewery six years,
but is now living retired. He is a member of the
German Catholic Church and a Democrat in politics.
In 1858, in Columbia, he married Caroline Rider,
who was born in that city, January 28, 1840, a daugh-
ter of Frederick and Elizabeth (Graff) Rider, also
natives of Germany, who immigrated to America
in early life and were married in Columbia. Her fa-
ther, who was a carpet weaver by trade, died in Jan-
uary, 1850, her mother in 1890. They were members
of the Lutheran and Catholic Churches, respectively.
To Joseph G. and C^aroline (Rider) Desch were
born the following children : Frederick, who died in
1879; Elizabeth, wife of Edward Bittner, a cigar
manufacturer of Columbia; Charles, George and
Mary, all of whom died in childhood; George S. ;
Carrie, wife of Henry Glotfelder, a clerk of Colum-
bia ; Cecelia, at home : Jennie, wife of John Payne, a
stove-molder of Columbia; Joseph A., proprietor of
the "Exchange Hotel," of Columbia; August, a
clerk of that city ; Stella and William, both at home.
In 1881 Mr. Desch entered the employ of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company as telegraph oper-
ator, but a year later spent six months as fireman on
the road, and then was brakeman for three years.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
130T-
During the following twelve years he was again em-
ployed as fireman, and in January, 1900, was pro-
moted to engineer, in which capacity he is now serv-
mg the company to their entire satisfaction. In re-
ligious belief he- is a Catholic, and in his political
affiliations is a Ddmocrat.
At Columbia Mr. Desch was married, Oct. 19,
1886, to Miss Barbara Mulligan, and by this union
seven children have been born, viz.: George F.,
Charles.]., Edward J., Emma E., Carrol Leo, Mary
C. and Joseph A. Mrs. Desch was born in Safe
Harbor, Lancaster county, Oct. 5, 1867, a daughter
of Joseph and Susan (Young) Mulligan, also natives
of Safe Harbor, where the father was bom in 1844
and still continues to live. By occupation he is a
farmer. The mother, who was a consistent and faith-
ful member of the M. E. Church, died in 1876, at
the age of thirty-five years. In their' family were
nine children, namely : Henry and Martha, both de-
ceased; Elmer, a railroad brakeman of Columbia;
Frank, a resident of Illinois ; Barbara, now Mrs.
Desch ; Emma, wife of Carroll Foster, a bookkeeper
of Williamsport, Md. ; Milton and Howard, both
bakers of Erie, Pa. ; and Miles, a resident of Colum-
bia. Mrs. Desch's paternal grandparents, Richard
and Rachel Miilligari, lived and died in Lancaster
county, Pa. : the grandfather was a shoemaker by
trade. The maternal grandparents, Jacob and Rachel
(Munder) Young, were natives of York county. Pa.,
and on coming to Lancaster county, located in Safe
Harbor, where they spent the remainder of their
lives. Mr. Young followed the tailor's trade.
THOMAS E. CONLEY is one of the men whose
success in life is due entirely to their own unaided
efforts, for at the early age of twelve years he com-
menced earning his own livelihood and has ever
since been dependent upon his own resources. He
has worked his way steadily upward, and is to-day
holding the responsible position of assistant yard-
master for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at
Columbia, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Conley was born in that city, Dec. 21, 1855,
a son of Michael C. and Martha (Heaps) Conley.
The father was a native of Philadelphia and a son
of the Conley who came to this country from Ireland
and first located in Philadelphia, but spent his last
vears in Pittsburg, Pa. Martha (Heaps) Conley
was born in Harford county, Md., of which her par-
ents, Abraham and Jane (Allen) Heaps, were life-
long residents. Her father was a blacksmith by
trade. Michael C. Conley, father of our subject,
came to Columbia in 1847, and for some years was
employed as police officer by the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company, entering their employ on the organ-
ization of the'companv. In his early days he was a
brakeman on the old 'State road, and was superin-
tendent of the O'Connor line of that road. He also
engaged in boating on the river between Pittsburg
and Columbia. He died Aug. 28, 1872, aged sixty-
three vears, and his wife passed away Aug. 18, 1886,
aged sixty-two. In religious belief he was a Cath-
olic, while she was a Presbyterian. Their children
were: Elizabeth, wife of Andrew Grandy, of Co-
lumbia; James, Michael C, Jr., and James (2), all
dfceased ; Thomas E. ; and A. Eugene P., a farmer
ol Kleinville, Lancaster county.
Thomas E. Conley commenced clerking in a gro-
cery store at the age of twelve^ years, and was thus
employed for two years. He was next a telegraph
operator with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
from 1870 until 1890, and in the latter year was made
assistant yard master, in which capacity he is still
employed by the company. He is a member of the
Catholic Church and of St. Patrick's Society, and
in political sentiment is a Democrat.
On Nov. 26, 1889, in Columbia, Mr. Conley mar-
ried Miss Edith A. Davidson, and they have become
the parents of two children, Mary T. and Agnes, the
latter now deceased. The family have a large circle
of friends and acquaintances and are held in high
esteem by all who know them.
Mrs. Conley was born in New York City, Sept.
I, 1864, a daughter of William and Henrietta (Lutz)
Davidson, natives of Mifflin and Lancaster counties.
Pa., respectively. Her paternal grandparents, Sam-
uel and Agnes (Werly) Davidson, always made their
home in Mifflin county, where the grandfather was
employed as a boat builder. Her maternal grandpar-
ents, William F. and Mary (Galligar) Lutz, were
natives of Baltimore, Md., and Millersville, Pa.,
respectively. Mr. Lutz was an early settler of Lan-
caster county, and continued to make his home there ■
throughout the remainder of his life. When a young
man, Mrs. Conley's father worked in furnaces, but
later followed farming and was employed as watch-
man at Bruner's coal yard in Columbia, in which
city he located in 1865. Here he died Sept. 22,
1892, at the age of sixty years, but his wife, who was
born Nov. 18, 1841, is still a resident of Columbia.
She is a devout member of the Catholic Church.
Mrs. Conley was the oldest of their children, the
others being: Mary A., deceased; Ellen E., who is
with her mother; William J., deceased; Henrietta
F., who died in infancy ; Amlarose V., a machinist in
the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at
Altoona, Pa. ; and Samuel B. and Lucy R., both with
their mother.
CHRISTIAN G. GARBER, a farmer, tobacco
grower and wholesale dealer in milk, resides on a
farm in West Hempfield township, adjoining the
one on which he was born, Oct. 20, i860, in Lan-
caster county.
Christian G. Garber faithfully assisted his par-
ents, Andrew and Susan M. (Greider) Garber, un-
til he attained his majority; on becoming of age
Christian G. was married, and having taken a help-
meet, also took upon himself the responsibility of
managing the homestead, which he cultivated two
years on his own account. From the homestead
Christian G. removed to Manor township, and for
1308
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
two years leased the old John Landis farm, after
which he removed to Mountville, and for three years
was there engaged in the tobacco trade. Mr. Gar-
ter then returned to his present farm, which is a part
of the old homestead, and now has the management
of both tracts, which comprise in all 200 acres.' "
On Sept. 22, 1 88 1, Christian G. Garber married
in Mountville, at the home of the bride, Anna M.
Kaufman, and to this union have been born three
bright children, Maud K., Roy K. and Mary K.
Mrs. Anna M. (Kaufman) Garber was born in
Manor township, Lancaster county, in 1863, and is
a daughter of Isaac H. Kaufman, deceased.
Christian G. Garber is widely connected with the
fraternal orders having lodges in his county, and
among these are lodge No. 876, I. O. O. F., at Co-
lumbia; Ridgely encampment, No. 217, at Lancas-
ter; camp No. 25, I. O. F., at Lancaster; Jr. O. U.
A. M., at Mountville, No. 65, and the Mystic Chain
at Mountville.
In politics Mr. Garber is a Republican and has
been a school director for the past three years. As
a business man he has been upright and conse-
quently successful, and he is moreover a skilled
agriculti:rist and tobacco grower. Socially, the
family, being one of the oldest in the county, is held
in great respect, and the individual merits of its
members have greatly enhanced the esteem to which
they naturally fall heirs.
ISAAC L. AUVERTER, the favorite dealer in
groceries, dry-goods and notions in Columbia, Pa.,
was born in that town, Nov. 30, 1852, a son of Jacob
and Sarah (Patterson) Auverter, the former of
whom was a native of Lancaster county, Pa., and
the latter of Ireland, both being now deceased.
Jacob Auverter was a millwright by trade, and
in his earlier days was a foreman of a gang of car-
penters on the old State road. In 1846 he came to
Columbia and in 1850 his family arrived here.
After the sale of the State road to the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, Mr. Auverter worked for the
latter until 1861, after which he worked for Supplee
& Bro., as pattern maker until his death, which oc-
curred in 1883, at the age of seventy-two years ; his
widow died in 1891, aged eighty-seven. The re-
mains of both lie side by side in the Skelton Park
cemetery at Columbia. They were devout members
of the First Lutheran Church. Their children were :
Hiram, who received a wound in the war of the
Rebellion and died from the effects of it at home in
1865 : Jerome, who died from a disease contracted
during the same war ; Rachel, who died unmarried ;
Taylor, foreman of a machine shop at Braddock,
Pa. ; Anna E., making her home with Isaac L., who
is the youngest of the family.
The paternal grandparents of Isaac L. Auverter
were Leonard and Anna (Hoover) Auverter, the
former a Franco-German, who settled in Souders-
burg, Pa., in 1807, where he was in business as a
butcher for fifteen years, and then became a drover
in Canada, where he died in 1842, at the age of
seventy years.
The marriage of Isaac L. Auverter took place in
Columbia, Nov. i, 1882, to Miss Sue Witmer, bom
in Safe Harbor, Lancaster county-, Pa., March i,
i860, a daughter of Jacob R. and Susan (Miller)
Witmer, who now reside in Columbia, where Mr.
Witmer conducts a machine shop and foundry. To
the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Auverter have been
born four children, viz., Anna, Clara, Taylor W.
and Andrew M., all still under the parental roof.
The business career of Mr. Auverter began
when he was nineteen years old, at which age he
began learning pattern-making; after finishing his
apprenticeship he worked at his trade ten years for
the Columbia Agricultural Works, of which he was
made foreman at the end of three months. In 1878
and 1879, in partnership with Frank Allison, he
conducted a boot, shoe and notion store in Wrights-
ville, although he continued to make Columbia his
home, and in 1894 engaged in his present business
there.
In politics Mr. Auverter is a Republican and was
a school director from 1882 until 1892; in February,
1900, he was elected to the town council, in which
he is chairman of the Fire committee and is a mem-
ber of the committees on Finance and Law and Or-
der. Fraternally he is a member of the I. O. O. F.,
the Artisans and the A. & I. O. ; in religion he is a
Methodist, being prominent as a member of the
First M. E. Church of Columbia.
WILLIAM W. REAM. The planning and the
erection of dwellings were among the earliest arts
that engaged the attention and aroused the inventive
genius of man, he even in his primitive day finding
it necessary to secure shelter from the inclem-
ency of the elements in the more rigorous latitudes
of the earth and a retreat from the sun's rays in the
torrid parts of the habitable globe, and it is an art
that will give employment to the skillful mechanic,
and particularly the carpenter, as long as man has
an abiding place in a civilized community, so that
he who would become an architect even of the
humblest class is wise in making choice of a voca-
tion that is ever as enduring indeed as that of agri-
culture itself. Such was the choice of WiUiam W.
Ream.
Mr. Ream was born in Salisbury township, Lan-
caster county, June 3, 1862, a son of John and Mary
A. (Trego) Ream, the former of whom, a farmer,
was born in January, 1832, and the latter in 1834;
both are still living in Alert, in their native town-
ship of Salisbury, the parents of seven children, viz. :
Martin, who died at the age of two and one-half
years : William W. ; John E., i farmer in Salisbury
township: Sarah, who died when two years old;
Dollie, wife of George Myers, of Salisbury town-
ship ; Frankie, who also died at the age of two years ;
and Aaron, a carpenter, still at home. The parents
of John Ream were residents of Juniata county, and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1309
those of Mrs. Mary A. Ream, Robert and Dorothy
(Ely) Trego, were of Lancaster and Chester coun-
ties, respectively.
William W. Ream at the age of nine years tem-
porarily parted with his parents and for four years
made his home with his grandfather Trego ; he then
returned to his father, for whom he worked three
years, thoroughly learning the carpenter's trade ; he
next served an apprenticeship of four years under
John Diem, a wheelwright; he then purchased his
present village property, on which he erected his
dwelling and carpenter shop, and there has been en-
gaged in contracting, building and working at job-
work ever since, and, being an expert in every
branch of his trade, has met with the most flattering
success.
In Salisbury township, Feb. 7, 1884, William
W. Ream was united in marriage with Miss Mar-
garet J. Cooper, who was born in Salisbury town-
ship in 1859, a daughter of William and Caroline
(Steely) Cooper, who were born in Chester and
Lancaster counties, respectively. William Cooper
was a prominent farmer and a man of considerable
influence in his neighborhood, and died June 3, 1900,
at the age of about seventy years, his remains being
buried in Pequea cemetery. Mrs. Caroline (Steely)
Cooper was born Jan. 21, 1830, and is the mother
of three children : Leah C, wife of Bart Smith, a
farmer, in Salisbury township ; Mary E., married to
John E. Ream, brother of William W. Ream; and
Margaret J., now Mrs. William W. Ream. The
paternal grandparents of Mrs. Margaret J. (Cooper)
Ream were Nabeth and Jane (Blair) Cooper, of
Lancaster county, and her maternal grandparents
were Thomas and Caroline (Montgomery) Steely,
of Chester county. The marriage of William W.
and Margaret J. (Cooper) Ream has been blessed
with three children, two of whom still survive, John
C. and Edwin M. ; the youngest child, Helen C,
was called away at the age of five years.
Mr. Ream is a member of the Jr. O. U. A. M.
In politics he is a Republican, but has never been
an office seeker. He is of a very genial disposition
and one of the most popular young men in Salis-
bury township, where he is sincerely respected for
his strictly upright walk through life, his word never
having been impeached and his business reputation
standing without a flaw.
JOHN W. ROBINSON. The late John W.
Robinson, formerly one of the most enterprising and
successful native-born farmers of Salisbury town-
ship, Lancaster county. Pa., had his nativity on the
homestead on which his widow and children still
reside, was born July 3, 1853, devoted all his life to
agriculture and was most untimely called from earth,
Jan. 20, 1896, his remains being interred in the Pe-
quea Presbyterian cemetery. His parents, William
and Racliel (Wallace) Robinson, were respectively
natives of Salisbury township, Lancaster county,
and Chester countv. Pa., but were born on adjoining
farms, the county line separating the two home-
steads.
William Robinson was born March 4, 1821, and
died Feb. 20, 1893 ; his wife, Rachel, daughter pf
Rev. John and Isabella (Gault) Wallace, was borrk
March 6, 1821, and now resides in Strasburg, Pa.
Her father was the pastor of the Pequea Church
for more than thirty years. William Robinson was a
successful farmer and attained a very prominent po-
sition in the community in which he lived, winning
the respect of all who knew him. To William and
Rachel (Wallace) Robinson were born four chil-
dren, namely : Belle, widow of Edward Worrall and
a resident of Strasburg, Pa. ; John W. ; William,
who died when eight years old ; and R. Anna, a young
lady, also living in Strasburg.
The Robinson family are of Irish origin and about
the close of the American Revolution three brothers
and one sister, members of the family, came from
the north of Ireland to malce their homes in Amer-
ica. The sister here married a Mr. Renney, and two
of the brothers purchased farms in East Nantmeal
township, Chester county. Pa. ; Hugh, the youngest
of the three located in Dauphin county, and there
married, in 1784, Jane Wilson, a native, and shortly
afterwards purchased at sheiiff's sale, a tract of 300
acres of land near Cambridge, in Salisbury town- ,
ship, Lancaster countv, where he passed the remain-
der of his life, dying in 1800. His children numbered
twelve, five sons and seven daughters, of whom two
sons died in infancy and three reached maturity.
William Robinson, the eldest of the three sons
who attained maturity, died in 1833 ; Hugh married
Martha Stanley, settled near Cambridge, and had
born to him, James, who died young, and Susannah,
who was married to William Torbit and passed
away, leaving one son, Joseph ; Mary was married to
Isaac Buchanan, a farmer ; Ellen became the wife of
John Rambo, a miller ; Jane married Alexander Mar-
tin ; Agnes was married to Samuel Black, a farmer ;
Margaret, Betty, and Martha remained single and
died well advanced in years, and John married Isa-
bella Gait, settled in Salisbury township, and had
born to him two sons and three daughters. He was
born Aug. 11, 1780, and died May 4, 1861. He
served in the war of 1812 as captain, was elected
justice of the peace in 1825, and in 1829 was elected
a member of the State Legislature, in which he served
with distinction and to the entire satisfaction of his
constituents. In 1830 he was selected as ruling
elder in the Presbyterian Church of Pequea, a po-
sition he filled with untiring zeal and fidelity until
the end. His property still remains in the family.
On Dec. 28, 1882, John W. Robinson was joined
in matrimony in Camden, N. J., with Miss Annie J.
Cross, who became the mother of his four children,
born in the following order; William W., John W.,
Ethel A. and Margaret. Mrs. Annie J. Robinson was
born in Salem. Juniata Co., Pa., and is a daughter of
John W., and Eleanor C. (Woodward) Cross, the
former of whom was a farmer and a gallant soldier
1310
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of the Civil war, who was not permitted, however, to
"like a soldier fall" but died on board the transport
Knickerbocker of that fell disorder, typhoid fever.
He was a private in the S3rd P. V. I., from Chester
county. In his last sickness, feeling that dissolution
was about to take place, he reached his hand beneath
his pillow and drew forth a daguerreotype, and un-
clasping the case, gazed, with dim eyes on the linea-
ments of his wife and two children. As death drew
near, he handed the case to a Washington (Pa.)
soldier, with the request that he tell her that it was
the last thing he had looked upon and that they were
the last earthly objects of his thoughts.
To John W. and Eleanor Cross were born two
children, namely; Annie J., Mrs. Robinson, and
Mary E., wife of Dr. J. H. MacCreary, superintend-
ent of Pittston Hospital. Mrs. Cross was next mar-
ried to H. Wilson Robinson, and this union was
crowned with four children, viz. : Charles W., of
Dorian's Mills, Chester county; and Alexandria,
John L., and Bernette, all three deceased. The
mother of these two families was taken away in Oc-
tober, 1899, aged sixty-one years ; she was a member
of the Presbyterian Church.
The late John W. Robinson was also a member
of the Presbyterian Church, was in politics an active
member of the Republican party, and fraternally was
an Odd Fellow until his marriage, when he became
non-affiliating. He was one of the most upright of
men, a fond husband and an indulgent father, and an
excellent provider for his family, hisi widow now
occupying a delightful home, furnished with every
convenience, including steam heat. He was public-
spirited, charitable, and popular; was honored for
his many personal merits and fine qualities of head
and heart ; and his loss was deeply deplored, not only
by his immediate family, but by a host of warm-
hearted and unfeigned friends who in his lifetime
had had an opportunity of becoming familiar with
his sterling attributes.
FRANK ROTEHORN is in the prime of man-
hood, having been born Nov. 24, 1855, at Lancaster.
He comes of sturdy Dutch stock, both his parents
having been born in Holland, of a race which has
suffered much in the cause of religious freedom, and
which is closely united by ties of consanguinity to the
Boers of South Africa, who have made such a heroic
fight for independence against the best drilled troops
of the British Empire.
John Rotehorn, father of Frank, married a Miss
Bonson, and shortly after their marriage they im-
migrated to America, settling in Lancaster county,
where thev remained. until their death, he dying in
1866, at the age of fifty-two, and she two years later,
in her fifty-third year. He was a teamster, who won
universal respect through his industry, sobriety and
probity. Frank Rotehorn is the only one of their
four children yet living. The first born died on the
passage to America, and two others also died in in-
fancy.
Young Frank remained in Lancaster until he
reached his thirteenth year, when, being an orphan,
he went to Columbia to find a home with his guard-
ian, Albert Bonson, his uncle. Mr. Bonson was a
bottler, and his nephew worked with him in this
business until he reached his majority. When he
reached the age of twenty-one he purchased a
canal boat and for a time carried freight between
Nanticoke and Baltimore. The venture, however,
did not prove as successful as he had hoped, and
after one experimental season he abandoned it to
tal^e the position of a brakeman with the Pennsyl-
vania Company. After twelve years of faithful
service he was prompted to be a flagman, and in the
autumn of 1892 he was given charge of a train as
conductor. Pie is a member of the Order of Rail-
way Conductors, of the Pa. Relief Association, and
politically is a Democrat.
Frank Rotehorn was married in April, 1877, to
Miss Barbara Stockum. Their only child, Bertie,
died at the age of thirteen. Mrs. Rotehorn was born
at Lancaster, March 29, 1855. Her parents, John
and Elizabeth (Metrode) Stockum, were natives of
Germany. Both crossed the water in 1852, and their
marriage was solemnized at Lancaster. John Stock-
um was a gardener and died at Chickies, having been
struck by a railway train Aug. 28, 1894. Mrs.
Stockum, who was born July 7, 1833, is still living
at Columbia : she is a devout, practical Catholic, as
was also her husband. Mrs. Rotehorn was their old-
est child ; the next in order of birth was Elizabeth,
who married George Weber, of Allegheny ; Andrew
lives at Covington, Ky. ; Charles, George, Frank and
Charlotte are deceased; Edward lives at Sparrow's
Point, Md., while Mary and Ann, both of whom are
unmarried, reside with their mother.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Rotehorn
were Christopher and Catherine Stockum, of Ger?
many, and her maternal grandparents were Andrew
and Barbara C. Metrode, also of Germany. The
last-named died on the sea, when on her way to
America.
PATRICK J. MACK. The motto "merit al-
ways commands its reward" is exemplified in the
career of Patrick John Mack, who is now most effi-
ciently serving as assistant yard master for the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Columbia.
Mr. Mack was born in Annville, Lebanon Co.,
Pa., Aug. 4, 1855, a son of James and Joanna
(Kirvy) Mack, natives of County Limerick, Ire-
land, who came to America when ypung and were
married in New York City. In 1863 they took up
their residence in Columbia, Pa., where the father
was employed as a laborer by the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company until his death, which occurred
in January, 190Q, when he was seventy vears of age.
The mother, who was born in 1835, is still living
and continues to make her home in Columbia. She
is a devout member of the Catholic Church, to which
her husband also belonged. They were the parents
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1311
of SIX children, namely : Maggie, wife of Patrick
Kehoe, of Columbia; Patrick J.; Ellen, at home;
Daniel, a machinist of Columbia ;' James, deceased ;
and Anna, at home.
Patrick J. Mack was only eight years old on the
removal of the family to Columbia, where he was
reared and educated. At the age of fifteen he com-
menced clerking in a grocery store, where he was
employed for two years, and held a similar position
m another store for five years. Subsequently he
worked for a year and a half in a machine shop, and
then operated a stationary engine for a year, after
which he was employed as a slate mantle polisher
for four years. In 1877 Mr. Mack became identified
with the repairing corps of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company; from 1879 until 1882 he served as
extra brakeman, was flagman the following year,
then conductor until 1893, and assistant yard master
at Columbia since that time. It will thus be seen
that he has gradually worked his way upward to his
present responsible position, having always dis-
charged his duties in a most commendable and satis-
factory manner. Religiously he is a communicant
of the Catholic Church, and politically is identified
with the Democratic party.
In Columbia, Nov. 15, 1882, Mr. Mack was
united in marriage with Miss Mary Jane Conley,
and to them have been born four children, namely,
Mary, Ella, Theresa and Cecelia. Mrs. Mack was
born in Wrightsville, York Co., Pa., Nov. 15, 1856,
a daughter of John and Sarah (Dalton) Conley,
who were born, reared and married in Ireland,
where they continued to reside until 1848, which
year witnessed their immigration to America. They
located in Wrightsville, Pa., where they made their
home until the father was drowned in the Susque-
hanna river in 1857, at the age of forty years. Later
the mother came to Columbia, where she departed
this life in September, 1900, at the age of seventy-
nine. To them were born three children, but John
and Bridget are both deceased, leaving only Mrs.
Mack living at the present time.
JOHN R. HERR, one of the leading farmers
of Providence township, was born in Leacock town-
ship, Lancaster county, son of Henry H. and Mag-
dalena (Buckwalter) Herr, of Leacock township,
and a grandson of Henry.
Abraham Herr, the great-grandfather of John
R., was one of the early settlers of Lancaster county.
The family has been one of agriculturists, and
Henry Herr, son of Abraham, was a well-known
farmer of this county,' who became the father of a
numerous family which has intermarried with very
many of the other old and honorable families of the
county, a kinship existing among many of them
and the old names honorably perpetuated. The
twelve children of Henry Herr were as follows:
Barbara, Lvdia, Susan, Mary, Annie, Hattie, Mar-
tha, Elizabeth, Henry H., Abraham, Ezra and
Amos.
Henry H. Herr, father of John R., married Miss
Martha Buckwalter, of East Lampeter township.
They had eight children, namely: Enos, John R.,
Henry H., Annie, Ida, Walter (deceased), Martha
and Aaron.
John R. Herr, of this sketch, early displayed a
taste for the farming life in which he has been so
successful. As soon as he. finished his educational
course in the common schools of his district he
began operating a farm, prospering yearly, so that
although he began with limited means he is now
the fortunate owner of a fine lOO-acre farm in
Providence township, which is supplied with ex-
cellent buildings and conveniences. In politics he
is identified with the Republican party. Both he
and family belong to the Mennonite Church.
Mr. Herr was united in the bonds of marriage
with Miss Mary E. Huber, a daughter of Jonas
Huber and a descendant of one of the most re-
spected families in the county. This marriage has
been blessed with four children, namely: Elmer,
Clarence (deceased), John and Ira C. Mr. Herr
stands as one of the honorable and upright citizens
of Providence township, reliable in business, con-
sistent in religion and devoted to home and family.
FREDERICK H. BRANDT. About a half
cetftury ago, or in 1852, one of the many German
emigrants who left the Fatherland to seek a new
home in America was Peter Brandt. He was bom
in Hessen, Germany, Aug. 31, 1808, the son of
Michael and Minnie (Klick) Brandt. Michael
Brandt was a farmer and linen weaver by occupation
and died in 1813 at the age of forty years, leaving a
widow and a family of small children. The widow
survived many years, dying at the age of sixty. Peter
Brandt was reared in his native land and there mar-
ried Mary Hartman, who was born Feb. 20, 1820,
the daughter of Michael and Margaret (Freind)
Hartman. Michael Hartman was by trade a weaver
and died in Germany in 1840, aged sixty-three years.
His widow migrated to America and died in Lan-
caster county in 1853, aged sixty-five years, leaving
four children, Henry, George, Eva and Mary, of
whom the latter, wife of Peter Brandt, is now the
only survivor. When Peter Brandt came to America
in 1852 he settled on Chestnut Hill, West Hempfield
township, Lancaster county. Pa., where he has since
remained. He and his wife have been lifelong and
consistent members of the Lutheran Church, and
they now live in retirement with their only surviv-
ing son, Frederick H., in West Hempfield township.
To Peter and Mary Brandt were born two sons,
Michael and Frederick H. Michael enlisted in Co.
E, 79th P. V. I., in 1861 and was mortally wounded
at ihe battle of Stone River, dying in the hospital at
Nashville, Tennessee.
Frederick H. Brandt, the only surviving son,
now a prominent farmer, gardener and florist of
West Hempfield township, was born in Hessen, Ger-
many, July 31, 1849, and was a child of three years
1312
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
when brought to America by his parents. He was
reared in Lancaster township and in his early life
acquired the sterling traits of industry and integrity
which, combined with excellent judgment, have won
for him a notable success in life.
He married Oct. 8, 1874, in Columbia, Miss
Louise Stradtman, who was born in Chestnut Hill,
West Hempfield township, Nov. 23, 1856, daughter
of Henry and Minnie (Stube) Stradtman. Her
parents were natives of Germany, but became ac-
quainted and married in Lancaster county. Henry
Stradtman was a carpenter by trade and his family
consisted of the following children : Henry, a mer-
chant of Columbia; Louise, wife of Frederick H.
Brandt; Lena, wife of John Whiteroth, a farmer of
Manheim township; Amelia, wife of John Har-
neiser, a railroad clerk of Columbia ; Susan, wife of
Amos Auxer of Manor township ; William, a printer
of Lancaster; Mary, wife of George Seiple, a rail-
road engineer of Columbia ; and Eeter, of Lancaster.
Henry Stradtman, the father, died in 1889, aged
sixty-eight years ; his wife survived until 1894, pass-
ing away at sixty-three years of age.
To Frederick H. and Louise (Stradtman)
Brandt were boin the following children: Henry
F., who married Kate E. Miller and is engaged in
farming in West Hempfield township; Emma, of
Lancaster ; John, a farmer ; Martin, Susan, MicHkel,
Amelia, Anna and Carl, all at home ; and Frederick,
deceased.
In politics Frederick H. Brandt is a Democrat.
He and his family are prominent members of the
Lutheran Church. He has been a farmer through
life, remaining with his parents until 1888, when he
purchased the home farm. Since then the parents
have lived with him. He is a progressive farmer and
ha.', met with abundant success. Besides conducting
a general farming business he is a "trucker" and
florist and is deeply interested in these latter special-
ties, being a recognized authority in floriculture. His
interest in business affairs extends, however, beyond
his immediate occupation and he is regarded gener-
ally by the many who know him as a man of keen
perception, rare judgment, and progressive ideas.
ELWOOD P. GARRETT, the genial and popu-
lar express, freight and passenger agent at Chris-
tiana, Pa., was bom in Peach Bottom, Lancaster
county, April 10, 1854, and is a son of Edwin and
Sarah T. (Masson) Garrett.
The father was born in Goshen, Chester county,
and the mother in Philadelphia, where they were
married. Jan. i, 1869, they began their residence in
Christiana, M'here the husband was appointed the
local agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad, a position
he held until 1895, when he resigned on account
of the infirmities of advancing age. In his earlier
life he was a farmer, and had a saw-mill at Peach
Bottom, which he operated for five years, and then
for a time had a hotel at Quarryville. After three
years at that point, he had a hotel at Green Tree,
which he carried on for seven years, and then for
three years farmed at Steelville. From that point
he carne to a farm in Sadsbury township, which he
cultivated until 1869, when he came to Christiana
as noted above. Edwin Garrett has long been a
member of the Masonic fraternity, and is a faithful
and devoted Presbyterian, as is also his wife. In
Bart township he was school director and justice of
the peace; and supervisor in Salisbury township.
He is a Democrat. He was bom in November,
1821, and his wife in December, 1822. Born to this
union were Edwin L., deceased ; Elwood P. ; Emma
L., who is the widow of Charles Senior, and lives
in Reading, Pa. Nathan Garrett was the paternal
grandfather of Elwood P.
The wedding ceremonies of Elwood P. Garrett
and Maggie B. Miller were celebrated Nov. 7, 1873,
in Middletown. Born to this happy union were the
following, Edwin L., Charles M., Raymond P. and
Helen B. Mrs. Miller, who was born in Middle-
town, died in February, 1896, at the age of thirty-
eight years, leaving behind her precious memories
as a devoted wife and mother. She was a daughter
of Harry and Catherine Miller. Her father was
born in Dauphin county, and her mother in New
Holland.
Elwood P. Garrett began the carpenter trade,,
and served an apprenticeship at it in Lancaster from
1871 to 1873, when he engaged in a planing mill
in Middletown, Dauphin county, and worked there
eight years. In September, 1881, he came to Chris-
tiana and was employed in a warehouse until 1895,
that year being appoifited as the local agent of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, and it is not too much to-
say that to the present time the arduous and com-
plicated duties of his position have been discharged
entirely to the satisfaction not only of the road but
also to the comfort and welfare of the general pub-
lic, who find in him a most accommodating and"
courteous official.
Mr. Garrett belongs to the I. O. O. F. at Atglen,
and to the Knights of the Golden Eagle of Chris-
tiana. He is a member of the Methodist Church,
as was also his lamented wife. In politics he takes,
strong Prohibition ground, and generally is a man
of high character and lofty principles.
ABRAHAM PELEN, one of the leading rail-
road men residing in Columbia, Pa., shows in his
successful career what can be accomplished through-
individual effort. From the age of eleven years he
has been dependent upon hip own resources, and,
being industrious, enterprising and ambitious, he has.
met with well-deserved success.
Mr. Pelen was born in Columbia, June 10, i860,
a son of Henry and Hannah P. (Free) Pelen, the
former a native of Strasburg, Lancaster county, the
latter of Chester county. Pa. His paternal grand-
father, Chaney Pelen, spent his entire life in Stras-
burg. At an early day Henry Pelen removed to
Columbia, whare he made his home until 1875, and'
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1313
then went to Harrisburg, Pa., residing there until
called from this life in July, 1896, at the age of sev-
eijty-five years. During his earlier years he was an
engineer on the old State road, and on leaving the
employ of the company, he engaged in the grocery
business, first in Columbia and later in Harrisburg.
His wife died in the latter city in January, 1900, at
the age of seventy-five. Both were earnest members
of the United Brethren Church, and were highly
respected and esteemed by all who knew them.
Their children were : Chaney, Gustave and Martha
J., all deceased; Anna, wife of Harry Sourbeer, a
stone cutter, of Harrisburg ; Abraham ; and Harry,
a painter of Harrisburg.
On starting out in life for himself at the age of
eleven years, Abraham Pelen worked at anything
which he could find to do until Oct. 20, 1879, when
he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad
ais brakeman. Five years later he was made flag-
man, in which capacity he served for two years, was
fireman eight years and six months, and on May 11,
1892, was promoted to engineer, in which capacity
he is now employed.
Mr. Pelen was married in Columbia in Febru-
ary, 1884, to Miss Minnie Neiman, and to them
were born two children, Ivy M. and John N. Mrs.
Pelen was born in Columbia, and died in that city
Dec. 9, 1898, at the age of thirty-three years. Her
parents were John and Kate (Hogentogler) Nei-
man, the former a native of Middletown, Dauphin
Co., Pa., the latter of Lancaster county. Her father
served as first sergeant in the war of the Rebellion
under Capt. Fisher. He came to Columbia in 1855
and was employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company as engineer until his death, Feb. 16,
1873, when he was thirty-seven years of age.
He left four children, namely: Minnie, deceased
wife of Mr. Pelen; Sarah, wife of F. C. Brink, an
engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad and a resi-
dent of Philadelphia; Charles, deceased; and EfHe,
wife of W. S. Broomal, an engineer on the Penn-
sylvania Railroad and a resident of Harrisburg.
The mother afterward married William Collins, who
still resides in Harrisburg, but she died Jan. 9, 1896,
at the age of fifty-three years. By this union there
were three children: Walter B., a printer, of Co-
lumbia; A. May, a resident of Philadelphia; and
Maud E., a resident of Harrisburg.
Mr. Pelen is a member of the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers and a supporter of the Re-
publican party. He is quite a popular and influ-
ential man, and his genial, pleasant manner makes
him many friends among all classes of citizens.
MRS. MARY A. (BARD) BUCH was born in
Ephrata township, Lancaster county, a daughter of
George and Catherine (Weidler) Bard, of Lancas-
ter county, both of whom have passed away, and
their ashes are reposing in the Lancaster cemetery.
George Bard was a farmer in his earlier life, and in
1856 engaged in a mercantile business with his son
83
for four years, when he retired. He died in 1873, at
the age of sixty-iive years, his wife dying in i860, at
the age of forty-six. They had the following chil-
dren: Reuben W., a retired merchant of Lincoln,
Pa. ; Mary A. ; Susan, who died young ; and Kray-
bill, deceased.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Buch were
George and Elizabeth (Swope) Bard, both of Lan-
caster county, where they led a farming life. Philip
Bard, her grpat-grandfather, was born in Hesse,
Germany, and was an early settler in Lancaster
county. John and Susan (Gonter) Weidler, her
mother's people, were farming people of Lancaster
county.
In August, 1862, in Lancaster, Miss Mary A.
Bard was married to the late Jonathan B. Btich, by
whom she became the mother of four children, as
follows : Ada, wife of George W. Hoffer, of Eliza-
bethtown; Kate, who married Simon A. Rutt, a
West Donegal farmer; Laura E., wife of H. H.
Nissley, of Elizabe'thtown ; and Bard, a machinist in
Philadelphia. Mrs. Buch is a highly esteemed mem-
ber of the community in which she lives, where al-
most her entire life has been passed. She is kind-
hearted and charitable, and is greatly beloved by
those who know her best.
SHERIDAN D. FISHER, a well-known engi-
neer in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, and a highly respected citizen of Colum-
bia, Pa., was born in that city, June 5, 1866, a son of
David R. and Margaret J. (Welsh) Fisher, also na-
tives of Lancaster county, the -former born in Mt.
Joy, the latter in Columbia.
The father, David R., was only two years old
when, in 1842, he came to Columbia with his parents,
George and Anna (Strickler) Fisher, of Mt. Joj',
who died in Columbia. The grandfather had prcr
viously engaged in farming, but in Columbia he con-
ducted a tavern and engaged in the manufacture of
cigars. His children were Harriet, wife of Lawrence
Balser, of Minnesota : George and Henry, both sol;-
diers in the Civil war; Christian; Anna, wife of
Henry Mann; Elizabeth, wife of a Mr. Harris;
Mary ; Sarah, widow of Daniel Chaffant and a resi-
dent of Columbia, Pa. ; Reuben ; John, a cigar manu^
facturer of York, Pa. ; and David R., father of Sheri-
dan D. All are now deceased with the exception o£
Harriet, Sarah and John.
David R. Fisher grew to manhood in Columbia,
and there he was married in 1864 to Margaret J.
Welsh, a daughter of David and Barbara (Heck)
Welsh. Her father was born in Columbia, in Au-
gust, 1822, and continued to make his home there
until i8q8, since which time he has lived retired with
a son in Philadelphia. By occupation he was a car
maker, and is a member of the United Brethren
Church, to which his wife also belonged. She was
born in York county. Pa., and died in Columbia, in
Ma}', 1863, at the age of thirty-six years. Mrs.
Fisher, was the oldest of their children, the others
1314
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
being : James, deceased ; Samuel, an engineer in the
Susquehanna Rolhng Mill at Columbia; David, a
railroad conductor of Harrisburg; John, a switch-
man of Philadelphia; Scott and Benjamin, who are
employed in the rolling mill at Columbia; William,
station agent on the Pennsylvania Railroad at
Spring Mill, Pa. The maternal great-grandparents
of Sheridan D. Fisher were Henry and Jane Welsh,
who died in Columbia.
In early life David R. Fisher worked in a fur-
nace, but when the Civil war broke out he laid aside
all personal interests to enter the service of his coun-
try, enlisting first in 1861 for six months, under
Col. Welsh, and on the expiration of that time re-
enlistmg for three years or during the war in the
20th I^a. Cav. Fortunately he was never wounded,
and when the war ended was honorably discharged,
July 22, 1865. Returning to his home in Columbia,
he was in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, first as brakeman and later as baggage-
master, and for the last twelve years of his life was
switchman. He was discharging the duties of that
position when killed, Dec. 21, 1888, at the age of
forty-eight years. He was a consistent and faith-
ful member of the United Brethren Church, and an
honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic
and the Improved Order of Red Men. In all the re-
lations of life he was found true to every trust re-
posed in him, and merited and received the confi-
dence and esteem of his fellow citizens in a marked
degree. His estimable wife, who was born Feb. 25,
1846, is still living and makes her home with Sheri-
dan D., their oldest child. The other children are :
Mary, at home ; Anna, wife of Harry Shank, fire-
man on the Pennsylvania Railroad and a resident of
Columbia; and Charles, a resident of Philadelphia.
. Sheridan D. Fisher was reared and educated in
Columbia, and there he was married, Jan. 20, 1887,
to Araminta Frey, by whom he has had five chil-
dren : Vernetta F., deceased ; William R. ; Greta ;
Cleon H. ; and Amy E. Mrs. Fisher was born in
Danville, Pa., Aug.' 10, 1865, a daughter of Frank-
lin and Amanda (Constant) Frey. Her father was
a native of York county. Pa., born Oct. 10, 1840,
and a son of one of the Freys of Freysville, that
county, where the grandfather engaged in farming
throughout his life. Her mother was born in Dan-
ville, Aug. 15, 1846, a daughter of Ephraim Con-
stant, who married a Miss Thompson, farming peo-
ple and lifelong residents of that place. Mrs. Fish-
er's parents came to Columbia, in 1874, and here they
still reside. The father was formerly employed as
filler in a furnace, but is now connected with the
rolling mill. Both he and his wife are earnest mem-
bers of the United Brethren Church. Their chil-
dren are: Araminta, now Mrs. Fisher; Coleman
H., a flagman of Columbia ; Alford C, a brakeman
of that place; Maggie L., wife of Jacob Buck, a
flagman of Columbia ; William H., who is engaged
in the rolling mill of that place; and Charles W.,
deceased.
At the age of sixteen years Mr. Fisher com-
menced work in the rolling mill, where he was em-
ployed for three years, and then entered the service
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as brake-
man. Three years later he accepted a position as
fireman, and in April, 1900, was promoted to engi-
neer, in which capacity he is now serving the road.
He is an active member of the Brotherhood of Lo-
comotive Firemen, No. 252 ; the Relief Association ;
the Knights of the Maccabees; and the United
Brethren Church. In his political views he is a Re-
publican and gives his support to all measures which
he believes will prove of public benefit.
JACOB K. KELLER. Among the prosperous
young farmers of Lancaster county, Pa., is Jacob K.
Keller, who since 1890 has been engaged in farm-
ing his present property in Ephrata township, and
since 1891 has conducted a large and successful
dairy in connection with it.
The Keller family is of German origin, and
grandfather Jacob Keller became a prominent and
wealthy agriculturist of Ephrata township, was one
of the pillars of the German Baptist Church, and
reared his large family in this belief. George Kel-
ler, the father of Jacob K. Keller, was an honest and
honorable citizen, a successful farmer, a consistent
member of the German Baptist Church and one of
the substantial men of the township. He married
Mary Keller in 1843, and they became the parents
of eleven children: Edward, David, George and
James, deceased ; Elizabeth, the wife of Eben Eberly,
of Lincoln, Pa. ; Levi, a farmer of Morgantown, Pa. ;
Mary, the wife of Christian Brubaker, of Pineville,
Pa. ; Adam, a retired farmer of Ephrata borough :
Israel, a successful farmer of Springville, Pa. ; Pris-
cilla, the wife of Levi Snyder; and Jacob K., the
subject of this biography.
Jacob K. Keller was born Feb. 20, 1869, the
youngest son of the late George and Mary Keller,
and was reared on a farm, chosing agriculture as
his life profession. His education was acquired in
the excellent schools of his district, where he was ah
apt pupil, and soon after completing his course he
engaged in his selected work, succeeding from the
beginning. The fine farm of 100 acres which Mr.
Keller owns and occupies, is located one mile north
of the borough of Ephrata, he purchased it in 1890
and in the following year he opened up a dairy busi-
ness, his well placed land being especially desirable
for this enterprise. Not only has Mr. Keller a well
cultivated farm, but his handsome dwelling and well
kept buildings attest his good management and show
evidences of prosperity.
Jacob K. Keller was married Jan. 6, 1889, to
Kate, the estimable daughter of Reuben and Ma-
tilda (Balinger) Witters, of Ephrata township,
Germans by descent and prominent in the German
Baptist congregation. To Mr. and Mrs. Keller have
been born two interesting children: Tillie May,
born Jan. to, 1890; and Harry, March 31, 1894.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1315
In politics, Mr. Keller is a stanch Republican,
but he places good citizenship above politics and is
interested in any movement which promises benefit
to his section of the country. Both he and his wife
are devoted members of the German Baptist Church
where they are highly valued, and through the town-
ship Mr. Keller is justly regarded as one of the rep-
resentative men, socially, politically and commer-
cially.
. JOHN ELSWORTH IRWIN, proprietor of
the "Ironville Hotel" in West Hempfield township,
was born in Kinderhook, in the same township, Lan-
caster county, Feb. 27, 1862, and is the only son of
Samuel and Lizzie (Minnick) Irwin, also natives of
West Hempfield township.
Samuel Irwin was a blacksmith by trade and on
enlisting for the Civil war was employed as such by
the government, was sent West and was never again
heard from. Mrs. Lizzie (Minnick) Irwin, who was
born in iH^g, was subsequently married to George
Adams, who was also a blacksmith and lived in
Akron, Lancaster county, and to this union have
been born four children, viz. : Henry, a cigar
maker in Akron, Pa. ; Minnie, wife of Benjamin
Lewis, a cigar packer at Effort, Pa.; Susan,
now the wife of a Mr. Jacobs, a cigarmaker at
Akron; and Agnes, who has been twice married
and is now a resident of New Jersey. The mother
of this family now lives in Denver, Pa., and is a
devout member of the M. E. Church.
The paternal grandparents of John E. Irwin
were James and Margaret (McCorkle) Irwin, of
Chester county, Pa., but early settlers in West
Hempfield township, Lancaster county, where
James Irwin followed his trade of blacksmith until
the end of his days; the maternal grandparents
were Henry and Lizzie Minnick, of West Hemp-
field township.
John Elsworth Irwin was reared by an uncle,
Abraham H. Gram, from the age of four months un-
til thirteen years old, and up to this age lived on his
uncle's farm; later he lived for three years with
other farmers, but returned to his uncle Gram and
continued to work for him until the latter's death
in August, 1884, when he took entire charge. Abra-
ham H. Gram first engaged in hotelkeeping at
Silverspring, this county, conducted his place one
year, and then located in Mountville, and conducted
the "Black Bear Hotel" for six years, when the
estate was settled up, and John E. Irwin came to his
present stand in Ironville, which was erected by
Joseph Foreman in 1873. In the meantime Mr.
Irwin has also been a musician of more than local
reputation, and has been a teacher of the violin
since eighteen vears of age, still giving private
lessons, but in 1898 practically withdrew from the
profession as a general teacher for all comers.
On Nov. 7, 1886, John Elsworth Irwin married,
in Lincoln, Lancaster county, Miss Anna Weidman,
who has borne him four children, John W., Harry
W., Mamie W. and Esther W. Mrs. Anna (Weid-
man") Irwin was born in East Cocalico township,
Lancaster county, March 27, i860, and is a daugh-
ter of Henry and Mary (Burkholder) Weidman, of
Clay township, where the father was a farmer and
died in July, 1891, when seventy-four years old;
his wife, born in 1825, still lives. Their children
were seven in number and in order of birth were
named: Sanmel, who lives in Reamstown, and is
a cabinetmaker; Lavinia, who married and is de-
ceased; Jacob, also deceased; Henry, a farmer
in Reamstown ; Anna ; Emma, wife of Frank Myers,
a farmer of Rockville; and Lemuel, a farmer of
Reamstown. The paternal grandfather of Mrs.
Irwin was John Weidman, of Lancaster county, who
died in 1899; the maternal grandfather was Jacob
Burkholder, an undertaker.
Fraternally, John E. Irwin- is a member of the,
Improved Order of Red Men, and politically is a
Republican. As a hotel man he is popular and
widely known and, being yet a young man, is full
of joviality and genial good nature, which peculi-
arly adapt him to his calling. Having been in the
business almost from boyhood, he is acquainted
with its every detail, and it is safe to say that the
traveler who needs accommodation a second time
at Ironville, makes it a point to secure his room at
Mr. Irwin's hotel.
• FREDERICK ADAMS. For twenty years Mr.
Adams has been a faithful and trusted servant of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, having entered
the service of that corporation in 1880 as a brakeman.
He was made a fireman two and a half years later,
and in 1892 was promoted to position of engineer.
He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers, and as a citizen is held in high esteem.
He is a Democrat in politics, and although not him-
self a church member, his family are connected with
St. John's Lutheran Church. He married Miss
Caroline Bupp, Feb. 16, 1886, and their marriage
has been blessed with nine children: Nettie, Bar-
bara, John, Carrie, Marguerite, Fred; Nellie, and
twins, born in iqoo.
Frederick Adams was born in Columbia, Aug.
II, 1864, and like man- of Columbia's public-spirited
and valued citizens is of German lineage. His
grandfather was the proprietor of an inn in Ger-
many, and died in his native land. His father, John
M., came to America when a young man of twenty-
one, to avoid military service, for which he had been
drafted. He first settled in Baltimore, but after a
few years removed to Columbia, where he worked
as a foundrvman and a stevedore along the canal.
Frederick Adams also began his life of hard but
honorable toil in a foundry, at the early age of eleven
years, five years later, finding employment unloading
coal and still later working two years upon a farm.
Mr. Adams, Sr., died in December, 1891, after com-
pleting his sixty-first year. His wife was Anna
Bates, who, like himself, was a native of Germany.
1316
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Her father died there, and she and her mother
crossed the ocean together. They found a home in
Columbia, and both are now deceased, Mrs. John
M. Adams having died July 23, 1872, aged thirty-
nine years. Both were members of the Lutheran
Church.
Frederick Adams was his parents' sixth child
and one of a family of ten. The others \A{ere named
Maggie, Barbara, Anna, Grace, Sally, John, Nellie,
Elizabeth and Lydia. Maggie married Lewis Bates,
a retired merchant, and died in 1874. Barbara is
the wife of Benjamin F. Hogentogler, a machinist.
Anna married Jerry McCracken, a cigar dealer.
Grace, deceased, was the wife of Frank Stucker.
Sally became Mrs. William Bell, of Columbia, her
husband being a railway conductor. Nellie married
George McKinney, a car inspector of that place.
John, Elizabeth and Lydia died in childhood.
Mrs. Adams is a daughter of. William and Caro-
line (Heatfner) Bupp, and was born in Marietta,
Pa., Nov. 19, 1866. Both her parents were of Ger-
man birth, although they were married at J.Jarictta.
Her father died in 1880 and her mother in 1874.
They were members of the German Lutheran
Church. She has one Bister, Margaret, whose hus'
band, Henry Rettew, is a puddler. They, too, reside
in Columbia.
GEORGE HEIM, Jr., a conductor on the
Pennsylvania Railroad, residing in Columbia, Lan-
caster county, was born in that place, and is a
son of George Heim, who is now a retired citizen
of Columbia.
George Heim, Sr., was born Feb. 13, 1832, in
Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, where his parents,
Adam and Catherine (Yonhann) Heim, spent their
entire lives. In his younger days the father fol-
lowed the shoemaker's trade and later worked as a
lumberman. He died in 1857, aged seventy-five
years. Their children were: Peter, who died in
Germany ; John, a shoemaker of York, Pa. ; Leon-
ard, a millwright of Germany; George; and Cath-
erine, who married George Reitsel, a miller, and
died in Germany. During his boyhood George
Heim attended school until fourteen years old, and
then commenced learning the shoemaker's trade,
which he has made his Hfe work. On Dec. 23, 1852,
he came to America, and first located in' East Pros-
pect, York Co., Pa., where he followed his chosen
occupation for four years, but since then his home
has been in Columbia. There he has met with suc-
cess, and is now quite well-to-do, being able to lay
aside active labor. For the last five years he has
lived practically retired, though he does a little
work now and then. For twelve years he has been
a director of the St. Joseph's Building Association,
and he is also a director of the Home Building &
Loan Association, which was founded in 1899. The
Democratic party finds in him a stanch supporter
of its principles, and he is an active member of
Salem German Lutheran Church.
On May 29, 1856, in Columbia, Mr. Heim mar-
ried Miss Christina Gussler, a native of Wurtem-
berg, GenTiany, and a daughter of George Gussler,.
a mason by trade, who spent his entire life in that
country. Mrs. Heim came to America in 1854, and
died Feb. 9, 1895, at the age of sixty-four years.
She left four children, namely: George; John, an
engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and a resi-
dent of Columbia, who married Lizzie Ambrose and
has three children, Edgar, Harry and Walter;
Charles, a prospector of York county, Pa., who
married Emma Leber; Lillie, the wife of Edwin
Marley, a bricklayer of Columbia, who has twO'
children, George and May.
George Heim, Jr., received his education in the
public schools of his native town, where he has.
passed all his life with the exception of two years
spent on the sea and in Baltimore, Md., whither he
went at the age of sixteen. When but twelve he
entered a ^slate mantel works in Columbia, finish-
ing that trade in Philadelphia, and he was thus
employed about four years in all. On Oct. 7, 1880,,
Mr. Heim entered the employ of the Pennsylvania.
Railroad Company, worked up as brakeman and
flagman, and finally, on Feb. 28, 1899, received
promotion to his present position. Mr. Heim is a
highly esteemed citizen of the town in which he re-
sides, "respected for his industry and integrity. He
is identified with the German Lutheran' Church,,
and, in politics, with the Democratic party. Mr.
Heim is a member of the Pennsylvania Relief.
On Sept. 24, 1875, George Heim married itL
Philadelphia, Pa., Miss Ella M. Carter, who was
born Dec. 25, 1855, near Haddonfield, N. J., one
of the seven children of George Carter. She was
reared by an aunt. Six children have blessed the
union of Mr. and Mrs. Heim, namely: Rosa B.,.
who married Alva Hogentogler, foreman in a silk
mill ; Charles B., at home ; Isabella, deceased r
Katie M., deceased; Clara L. and Lillian S., at
home,
GEORGE ROTH REICH, M. D., a highly
educated and rising young physician of Marietta,.
Lancaster Co., Pa., was born Nov. 30, 1877, and is
a son of George W. and Ella (Roth) Reich, of
German extraction.
Dr. Reich attended public school in Marietta
until seventeen vears of age, and then attended
Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster for two-
years-. His preparatory work in medicine was-
taken at the University of Pennsylvania, which he
attended one year, and then he entered the Hahne-
mann Medical College at Philadelphia, from which
he was graduated May 17, 1900. He at once
settled down to practice in his native borough, where
his many friends predict for him a remunerative
and successful professional career.
Dr. Reich married in Philadelphia in March,
1897, Miss Mary Miller, who has borne him one
child, Mary. Mrs. Marv (Miller) Reich was bom
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1317
in Marietta and is a daughter of John S. Miller, a
native of East Donegal township, Lancaster county.
Pa. The Doctor and his wife are members of the
Episcopal Church, and socially are great favorites
-with the better class of citizens in Marietta. In
politics the Doctor is a Republican.
FRANK G. GIRFIN. For thrte generations
the Girfins have been thrifty and prosperous black-
smiths of Pennsylvania. The grandfather of Frank
G., Frederick Girfin, came to America in an early
•day in search of a home, then returned for his wife,
Catherine (Hobbart), and their family, and settled
in Newport, where for maiiy years he followed
lalacksmithing.
Christian F. Girfin, the father of Frank G, was
born in Germany, on Nov. 29, 1825. He ac-
quired the blacksmith trade. In his native land he
married Elizabeth Greneman, who was born Aug.
26, 1 83 1, daughter of Christian and Catherine
(Hossman) Greneman, lifelong farmers in Ger-
many. In 1858 Christian F. Girfin migrated with
Tiis family to America. He leased a blacksmith shop
which stood on the site of the shop in Locust Grove,
now occupied by his son, Frank G, and this shop
"he continued to operate successfully until his death,
which occurred Feb. 21, 1891. In politics he was
a Republican and he and his wife were active mem-
hers of the Lutheran Church. The wife still sur-
vives, and now resides with her son Frank G. To
Christian F. and Elizabeth Girfin were born the
following children: Fred, who married Eliza Mc-
Ginn and is a blacksmith at Columbia: Henry,
who married Mary Grofif and is also a blacksmith
at Columbia; Charles and William, both deceased;
Anna, twin sister of William, wife of Andrew
Dershermer, a farmer of West Hempfield township ;
Sarah E., wife of John Heidloff, a farmer of Ham-
bright, Pa. : and Frank G.
Frank G. Girfin was born Jan. 13, 1869, in his
present home. When a boy of thirteen years he
•entered his father's blacksmith shop as an apprentice
and was soon able to put on from thirty-five to forty
"horse-shoes a day. He remained steadily in this
shop until his father's death, nine years later, then
took charge of it and has ever since operated the
same most successfully. He is recognized as one
of the active and prosperous young business men of
West Hempfield township, and is most highly re-
spected. In politics he is a Republican and in re-
ligious faith he is associated with the Lutheran
, Church. Among the fraternal orders he holds
membership with the I. O. O. F. and the Red Men.
Mr. Girfin married in June, 1892, at Columbia,
Miss Lena Newmyer, who was born in Germany
in 1870, the daughter of Frederick and Magdelina
(Sanders) Newmyer and the granddaughter of
George and Elizabeth Newmyer. In 1871, the
father, Frederick Newmyer, migrated to America
with his family and settled in Columbia, where he
died three years later, aged thirty-eight years. He
was a member of the Lutheran Church. The widow
subsequently married for her second husband Peter
Smith, a farmer of West Hempfield township. To
Frederick and Magdelina Newmyer were born three
children: Catherine, deceased wife of Joseph
Brown ; Lena, wife of Mr. Girfin; and Christina,
wife of Lewis Fritz, a bricklayer of Lancaster.
The family of Frank G. and Lena Girfin consists
of four children, namely: Sadie E., Anna M.,
Henry W. and Elizabeth G
JOSEPH DETZ is a conductor in the employ
of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company,
and has been one of their honored and trusted
servants for more than thirty years. He is a son
of John G. and Rachel E. Detz.
Joseph Detz was born in Manor township, Oct.
29, 1849, and until he was ten years old lived at
home with his parents. He then went to work upon
a neighboring farm during three summers, spend-
ing his winters at home and attending school. At
the age of thirteen he entered a store at Safe Har-
bor and there remained as clerk for two years. In
1865 he came to Columbia, and found employment
in the rake factory. Two years later he began work
in the rolling mill of the railroad company. Before
long he was placed in charge of the company's
round house, and after two years was given the
position of passenger brakeman. His next promo-
tion was to the post of baggage master, and after
twenty years there he was appointed conductor in
the passenger service. To the discharge of his
duties he. brings a quick intelligence, a ripe ex-
perience and tried fidelity. No emergency finds
him unprepared, and his urbanity.of manner has won
for him many friends. He is a member of the
Brotherhood of Railway Conductors, a Republican
in politics, and an earnest member of the Presbyter-
ian Church. Of a kindly sympathetic nature, and
with a heart quick to respond to a call for help, it
is not surprising that he is best loved by those who
know him best.
The maiden name of his wife, to whom he was
united May 4, 1872, was Mary C. Lash. She was
born in Reading, her father, Henry W. Lash, being
a successful and respected farmer of Berks county,
and by trade a tailor. During the last ten years of
his life he filled the office of tipstaflf in the courts.
He died in March, 1893, after reaching the age of
sixty-five years. His father, who spelled his name
Lasch, was bom in Germany, but crossed the ocean
and settled at Reading. The mother of Mrs. Detz
was Susanna Keller. She was a daughter of
George and Catherine (Schlichter) Keller, he being
a Berks county farmer. She and her husband' were
members of the Universalist Church, and in his
younger days Mr. Keller was a valued member of
the choir. She was born April 18, 1827, and is still
living, her home being in Philadelphia. Mrs. Detz
is the second of their family of nine children, the
others, in order of birth, being : Alwilda, now Mrs.
1318
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
John H. Rooth, of Reading; Frank M., of Phila-
delphia, a bachelor; Sarah, also unmarried and
living in the same city ; Anna, wife of W. H. Tobias
of Reading; Harry, whose home is in Pottstown;
Heister K., a grocer of Reading; Howard, de-
ceased ; and Effie, who became the wife of Dr.
Walter Richmond, a dentist of Newark, New
Jersey.
Mr. and Mrs. Detz have a daughter and a son,
Anna E. and Vernon B., both of whom are unmar-
ried and live with their parents.
CHRISTIAN B. HUBER, one of the leading
farmers and esteemed citizens of Providence town-
ship, was born there April 26, 1853, a son of Henry
S. and Fannie (Barr) Huber, both now deceased.
Henry S. Huber followed an agricultural life in
Providence township. He was born Dec. 15, 1815,
son of Christian Huber, and died April 9, 1882.
Throughout life he was a consistent member of the
Mennonite Church, following its teachings in his
daily life. He was conscientiously attached to the
principles of the Republican party. The children
of Henry S. and Fannie Huber were as follows :
Christian, deceased; Annie, wife of Amos Groff,
of Columbia; Elam B., a shoemaker in Providence
township ; Susan, wife of Jacob Bryson, of Colum-
bia ; Christian B. ; and Fannie.
Christian B. Huber was reared on the farm and
early became interested in agricultural work, to
such an extent that he has followed that line
through life, being one of the successful and pro-
gressive farmers of Providence township. He re-
ceived his education in the public schools, and after
his school days were over, like many others in his
vicinity, was obliged to make his own way in the
world. His industry and economy soon enabled him
to begin accumulating, and he is now the owner of
One of the valuable farms of his part of Lancaster
county, situated within a half mile of the pleasant vil-
lage of New Providence. He has a handsome
dwelling and other modern improvements, making
his place an ideal country home.
Mr. Huber was married March 22, 1883, to
Miss Caroline Eckerman, born July 4, 1854, daugh-
ter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Eckerman, and this
marriage has been blessed with one daughter. Miss
Ida Viola, a most estimable young lady.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Huber descend from honor-
able families of Lancaster county, and they com-
mand the respect and esteem of the community in
which they have their home. Mr. Huber is known
to his neighbors as a man of sterling integrity and
of kind and charitable disposition. Like his fa-
ther he supports the Republican party, but he does
not seek political preferment.
WILLIAM CORNELIUS, a cigar manufac-
turer of Lancaster, Pa., and one of the leading busi-
ness men of that city, was born in New Berlin,
Union Co., Pa., July 4, 1852, son of William and
Elizabeth (Bemfor) Cornelius, he a native of Union
county, and she of Snyder county.
William Cornelius, Sr., was born in 1814, and
his wife was born in 1818. They now reside in
New Berlin, Snyder. Co., Pa., where he is a re-
tired shoemaker. Both are consistent members of
the M. E. Church, and both are in possession of all
their faculties to a remarkable degree. The follow-
ing family was born to their union : Harriet, mar-
ried Joseph Taper, an Illinois farmer; Jeremiah, a
shoe manufacturer and merchant of Catawissa,
Columbia Co., Pa. ; Emma, married J. Hawk, re-
tired, of New Columbia, Pa.; William Cornelius ;
Joseph, a shoemaker of Catawissa, Pa. ; George,
who died in Philadelphia.
The paternal grandparents were James W. and
Elizabeth Cornelius, of the State of Pennsylvania.
James W. Cornelius was a shoemaker, and both he
and his wife died in New Berlin, Pa. The maternal
grandparents were Frederick and Mary Bemfor,
of Snyder county. Pa., where the former was a
farmer, but died in St. Joseph county, Mich., June
9, 1878, at the age of ninety years, eight months
and twenty-eight days. These grandparents left
seventeen children, 106 grandchildren, and two
great-grandchildren.
William Cornelius was reared upon a farm until
he reached the age of eighteen, when he removed
to Lancaster, and learned the trade of cigar making,
in 1876 embarking in this line of business for him-
self, and continuing it with marked success, his
output being on an average of 100,000 cigars, none
but the finest grades being manufactured. Some-
of his special brands are "Try Me" and "Little
Dandy." Fraternally, he is a member of K. of
P., No. 88, and Uniform Rank K. of P. In reli-
gious matters, he is a member of the M. E. Church-
Mr. Cornelius has always taken an active part in
politics, voting and supporting the Republican
ticket, although he has never consented to hold
office, believing he can do more good in his capacity
of a private citizen. His success is the result of
his thrift, energy and thorough knowledge of his
business, and the future offers still brighter
prospects.
On April 29, 1874, when not considering the
season of the year there were nine inches of snow
upon the pavements of Lancaster, Mr. Cornelius
married Flora E. Fortney, a native of Lancaster,
Pa., daughter of George and Mary (Barclipp) Fort-
ney, of Dauphin county. Pa. George Fortney was
a conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad from ,
1S65 to his death, on July 23, 1900. ' His body was
interred in Woodward Hill cemetery. During the
Civil war, Mr. Fortney served for three years under
Capt. Edgerly. At the time of his death, Mr. Fort-
ney had been in the service of the railroad for thirty-
five years, and gave universal satisfaction. His
wife, who was born April 9, 1837, now resides in
Lancaster. She is a consistent member of the.M. E.
Church, as was her husband. The children born to
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1319
Mr. and Mrs. Fortney were : Lizzie, who married
Charles Villa, of Lancaster; and Flora E., Mrs.
Cornelitis. The grandparents of Mrs. Cornelius
on her father's side were Henry and Margaret
Fortney, farmers of Dauphin county, Pa., both
most estimable people. Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius
have one child, George C, who graduated from the
city high school, after which he learned the trade
of cutter and tailor. After learning his trade, his
father realized that there was room in his growing
business for the energies and capabilities of his son,
and since then George has been an assistant in the
cigar business, both father and son bending their
energies toward the enlarging of their field of
action, and the betterment of their product, with the
result that their trade is a very enviable one and
constantly increasing. Mr. Cornelius is not only
well known as a business man and a leader in poli-
tics, but also for his public-spirited and pleasant,
frank manner, which win him many friends, and
make it possible for him to forward many plans for
the betterment of the city's interests and the general
welfare of the community.
REV. S. CLEMENT BURGER, the energetic
and beloved rector of the Church of the Sacred
Heart, the latest addition to the Roman Catholic
Churches in Lancaster, is the youngest brother of
Prof. Chris Burger, who is a recognized leader in
musical circles in Lancaster.
Christian J. Burger, his father, came from Ger-
many to the United States in 1848, and settled in
Reading, where he died in 1883. He married An-
netta Kaul, a sister of the Very Rev. Anthony F.
Kaul, of St. Anthony's Catholic Church, Lancaster,
and to this union came six sons, four of whom sur-
vive : Dr. A. J. Burger, who is now the coroner of
Brooklyn ; Dn Francis J., also of Brooklyn ; Rev.
Clement S. ; and Prof. Chris.
Rev. Father Burger was born in Reading Jan.
17, 1 87 1, and was educated in the parochial schools
of that city, and for one year in St. Anthony's par-
ochial school of Lancaster. His collegiate course
was taken at Notre Dame University, Indiana, grad-
uating in Tune, 1891, and he pursued his theological
course at'Mt. St. Mary's, Emmitsburg. On May
10, 1895, he was ordained at Harrisburg, in St.
Patrick's Pro-Cathedral, by the Rt. Rev. Thomas
McGovern, D. D., Bishop of the Diocese ofHarris-
burg. Pa., and he was at once appointed assistant to
his uncle, Very Rev. Anthony F. Kaul, at St.. An-
thony's Church, Lancaster, remaining there until Jan.
I, 1899, when he was sent to the Church of the Im-
maculate Conception, at New Oxford, Adams Co.,
Pennsylvania.
On Nov. I, 1900, Father Burger was sent by the
Rt. Rev. John W. Shanahan, D. D., Bishop of the
Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa., to St. Mary's Church,
Middletown, Pa. A few weeks later, on Nov. 20, he
was ordered to Lancaster, to begin the work of
building up a new parish, that of the Sacred Heart.
So energetically did he pursue the work that the
corner stone of the school and chapel building was
laid with imposing ceremonies, on May 26, 1901,
and the dedication took place Sept. 22, 1901. Both
the ceremonies were held by the Rt. Rev. John W.
Shanahan, D. D. The school and chapel are located-
at the southern end of the plat of ground purchased
for the congregation at the corner of West Walnut
and Nevin streets, and it will prove a fine addition
to that beautiful section. In the near future a
handsome rectory will be erected, and the new
parish promises to become large and influential,
tmder the ministrations of Rev. Father Burger.
At present the parish numbers ninety families —
four hundred and fifty souls. On Sept. 8, 1902, the
parochial school was opened under the direction of
two sisters of the Holy Cross from Notre Dame,
Indiana. The enrollment at the opening numbered
fifty scholars.
JOHN JONES WATSON, undertaker and
funeral director, Lancaster, is one of the most pro-
minent men in that line in Lancaster county.
Mr. Watson is descended from old and pat-
riotic stock. Gen. Sulivan of Revolutionary fame,
having been his great-uncle on his father's side.
Mr. Watson's great-grandfather came from Glas-
gow, Scotland, and, with two brothers settled in
Philadelphia. He owned part of the land on which
Germantown now stands.
Benjamin Franklin Watson, the grandfather,
a tailor by trade, was born in Philadelphia, removed
to Lancaster county, and became the owner of two
farms in Drumore township, where he died in 1842,
aged eighty-five years. In this connection it is o£
peculiar interest to note that our subject belongs to
a long-lived family, his uncle William having died
at the age of eighty-seven years, another ancestor at,
ninety-two, another at ninety-six, another at ninety,
and his maternal grandfather at ninety-eight.
Hiram Watson, father of John Jones, was the
youngest of twelve children. He married Lydia
Ann Jones, daughter of John Jones, who was fore-
man of Martic Forge, and also kept the old "Blue
Bell" tavern in Drumore. John Jones died at the
age of ninety-eight. To Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Wat-
son were born twelve children, of whom the follow-
ing named are living: John Jones, our subject, of
Lancaster; Hannah Martha, of Philadelphia; Ben-
jamin Franklin, who has for over thirty years been
in the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad, for
which he is now a baggage master; William, who
was superintendent of the painting department of
the Wilmington & Northern Railroad, but is now
keeping hotel in Wilmington ; Clayton M., of Wil-
mington, who succeeded his brother William as
superintendent of painting for the Wilmington &
Northern Railroad; Mary, wife of William Max-
well, manager of the old Pennock Iron Works in
Coatesville ; Annie, wife of Samuel Forbes, of Phil-
adelphia; Wesley, a telegrapher, for years past in
1320
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS CF LANCASTER COUNTY
the Adams Express service at Philadelphia; and
Milton A., an upholsterer of West Chester.
. John Jones Watson was born in the old "Blue
Bell," Drumore, on Jan. 28, 1837, and, after receiv-
ing the education afforded by the public schools of
his district, went to cabinet making and undertaking
in Conestoga Center, serving three years at the busi-
ness. He then removed to Coatesville, where he
carried on business for himself. Not content with
what he already knew, however, he engaged an
expert upholsterer to teach him that branch, employ-
ing him continuously, work or no work, until he
(Mr. Watson) had mastered the business. In 1877
Mr. Watson went to West Chester, working there
six years, and coming to Lancaster in 1884. After
working in two of the leading undertaking estab-
lishments he started in business for himself, on East
Orange street. This was in 1887. Removing from
East Orange street to South Queen street, he car-
ried on business there for one year, where the
Inquirer printing office now is, and in 1891 re-
moved to his present location. No. 1 14 South Queen
street. He lives in the building, which is a com-
modious one, and has telephone connections and
all conveniences. A graduate embalmer, Mr. Wat-
son is an active member of the Lancaster County
Funeral Directors Association, of which he was
president for one term. Mr. Watson keeps fully
abreast of the times in his business, and has by
courteous treatment of his patrons and strict atten-
tion to all the details of his profession, won a
substantial position in commercial circles in the city
of his adoption.-
Mr. Watson was married to Miss Barbara Ann
Urban, daughter of the late Jacob Urban, a farmer
of Conestoga Center, and this union has been blessed
with four children, as follows : Lydia Ann, wife
of Thomas M. Shaner, who is at the head of one of
the departments of the Safety Buggy Works, of
Lancaster : Emma Jane, at home ; John W., an up-
holsterer and decorator with Hager Bros, (he de-
signed and executed the decorations for the newly-
furnished court room in Lancaster) ; and Dr.
Walter W., a graduate of the Lancaster high school,
of the College of Pharmacy, and of the Medico-
Chirurgical Institution (where he won a gold medal
for the practice of medicine), and now resident phy-
sician in Blockely Almshouse, Philadelphia. Our
subject has been prominent in the societies, having
belonged, in his time, to seventeen secret societies,
in eleven of which he was a past officer; he has
been an Odd Fellow for forty-three years, and a
Mason for thirty-two years, being a past master by
merit. In religion he is a consistent member of
St. Paul's M. E. Church.
REUBEN G. KAUFFMAN. Among the pro-
gressive and thorough farmers of East flempfield
township is Reuben G. Kauffman, a worthy repre-
sentative of one of the old and respected families
of Lancaster countv.
Reuben G. Kauffman was born March 22, 1867,
on the old family homestead, one and one-half miles
south of Petersburg, a son of Benjamin and Anna
(Kr eider) Kauffman, who were well and favorably
known in that locality, removing thence to the farm
in East Hempfield township upon which Reuben
G. Kauffman now lives, when the latter was ten
years old. He had all the advantages of the dis-
trict school, and remained at home, engaged in
agricultural pursuits, after he was twenty-two years
old engaging in farming upon his own account, re-
maining on his father's land, where he carries on
general farming very successfully.
In 1899 Mr. Kauffman purchased the farm from
his father, containing seventy-three acres-, and there
he has a valuable property and a most comfortable
home.
Reuben G. Kauffman was married Jan. i, 1889,
to Amanda Neff, the estimable daughter of Henry
Neff, of Manor township, who was born March 16,
1868, and died Jan. 12, 1891, leaving one child,
Elmer N. On Oct. 3, 1896, Mr. Kauffman was
married to Ellen Kraybill, daughter of Joseph Kray-
bill, of Mt. Joy, who was born Oct. 10, 1873. Of
this union two children have been born: Kathryn
and Joseph, the latter of whom died in infancy.
Understanding farming thoroughly, Mr. Kauff-
man has adopted modern machinery and methods,
and is regarded as one of the most able agricultur-
ists in his vicinity. He and his wife are among the
most valued members of the Old Mennonite
Church, the members of which are universally re-
garded as exhibiting in their lives the highest prin-
ciples of morality and good citizenship.
PHARES P. SWARR. The earliest records
of the human family tell of agricultural pursuits,
and on down through the ages the tillers of the soil
have been not only the most necessary, but also
the most independent of men. Upon the success
or failure of crops great commercial enterprises
and military operations are based, and poor indeed
is the State that has to call upon a richer neighbor
for her food products. Fortunate are the dwellers
in the great State of Pennsylvania, with her equable
climate and rich soil, and no county within her
borders more abundantly rewards agricultural effort
than does old Lancaster.
Among the old families of the county is that of
Swarr, which for almost 200 years has been identi-
fied with her farming interests, and has a number
of worthy representatives in the prosperous town-
ship of East Hempfield, one of whom, Phares P.
Swarr, is now cultivating a tract adjoining the old
family homestead, which lies some two miles east
of Landisville. The founder of the family in this
locality was John Swarr, the great-grandfather of
Phares P., who died in 1823, aged eighty-seven
years. He was one of the early members of the
Mennonite Church in his locality, and the general
religious connection has ever since been with that
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1321
denomination, although in later days, through mar-
riage connections, some have become identified with
the Methodist Chtirch, and some with the Dunk-
ards. All belong to the best class of citizens, and
are so recognized by the communities in which
they live.
The grandfather of Phares P. bore the name of
Martin Swarr, and his son John, who died in 1886,
aged sixty-eight, was the father of Phares P. He
was a well-known farmer of East Hempfield and
a most worthy member of the Mennonite Church.
He married Elizabeth Peifer, who still survives,
at an advanced age, a much beloved and respected
resident of the vicinity. Seven children were born
to this union : Phares P. ; Martin, deceased ;
Hiram, a resident of Drumore" township ; John, of
Manheim borough ; Menno, of Petersburg ; Reuben,
of Landisville; and Elizabeth, who is the wife of
David H. Gochnaur, of Petersburg. For a number
of years the father of this family was prominent in
the educational affairs of the township, serving
efficiently on the school board.
Phares P. Swarr was born June 23, 1844, and
has always resided on the farm. His education was
acquired in the excellent public schools of his dis-
trict, and in this locality he married, in his twenty-
second year, beginning domestic life on the fine
farm, consisting of 115 acres, where is one of the
pleasantest and most attractive homes of the county,
all the surroundings indicating thrift and prosperity,
and showing how ideal the life of a farmer may be.
Phares P. Swarr has been interested in almost all
of the public afifairs of the county, is a director in
the Farmers National Bank of Lancaster, and of
the ■ Agricultural Mutual Fire Insurance Co., of
which he and Johnston Miller were the organizers,
and has long been a member of the school board,
his influence ever being used in the direction of pro-
gress and improvement.
Phares P. Swarr was married, Oct. 19, 1865, to
Amanda Minnick, a daughter of John Minnick, of
Warwick township, and to this union one child was
born, Ellen, the wife of Milton G. Forney, who man-
ages the farm, Mr. Swarr now living in retirement.
To Mr. and Mrs. Forney have been born five chil-
dren: May, Charley, Phares, Roy and Marian.
Mr. and Mrs. Swarr are valued members of the
German Baptist Church, to the support of which he
is a liberal contributor, and they enjoy the esteem
of all.
JOHN BUTZ, the efficient and popular night
baggage agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad, at
Lancaster, who resides at No. 431 East King street,
that city, has been employed by this great road, con-
tinuously, for seventeen years.
John Butz, his father, was born on the Rhine, in
Prussia, came to America when a young man, and
for many years lived in Lancaster, where he became
a property owner and was regarded as a substantial
citizen. By trade he was a tanner, following that
line until his death, some eighteen ears ago. His
wife died about sixteen years ago.
John Butz, who was an only child, was born
Feb. 15, 1858, in Portsmouth, Ohio, but while he
was very young his father removed to Lancaster,
where John was educated in the public schools.
After finishing his school course he engaged in
various occupations, putting in most of his time in
assisting his father in the tannery. About 1885
Mr. Butz secured employment with the Pennsyl-
vania Railway Co., first as a repairman, and about
1891 he became assistant night baggage agent, and
finally agent, which onerous position he has since'
filled to the comfort and satisfaction of the travel-
ing public.
On Feb. 3, 1885, Mr. Butz was married to Miss
Ada Adelaide Steinheiser, daughter of the late
J. O. and Lydia Steinheiser. The former, who died
Dec. II, 1899, at the age of eighty-two years, was
for eight years steward of the Lancaster county
almshouse and hospital. Prior to that he had been
a successful teacher, and after giving up his office
at the almshouse he became a mail agent, and later
had the contract for carrying the mails to and from
the post office and railroad station. Mr. Stein-
heiser's wife, formerly Miss Lydia Swope, was a
sister of the late Zuriel Swope, a prominent member
of the Lancaster Bar. She died April 21, 1889,
aged seventy-five years. Four children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Butz, namely : Emma Mar-
guerite, Edgar Owen and Lydia Grace, all of whom
are at school ; and the youngest, Harold Steinheiser,
Fraternally Mr. Butz is connected with Meri-
dian Sun Commandery, No. 99, Knights of Malta;
to the Pa. R. R. Relief Association; and to the
Baltimore Mutual Aid Society. In politics he is
a Republican. He belongs to Trinity Lutheran
Church, and is much respected for his industry, in-
telligence and genera] capacity, while his genial dis-
position makes him many warm personal friends.
JOHN M. SHULTZ is one of the successful
farmers and prominent citizens of Providence town-
ship. He was born Aug. 17, 1837, in Lampeter
township, son of John and Elizabeth (Morrison)
Shultz, both of whom are deceased.
John Shultz, the father of John M., was a son of
John Shultz, who was born in Baden, Germany, and
came at the age of seventeen years to make his
home in America. He was a machinist, and was
skilled in his trade. He married and became the
father oi the following children • John, Jacob, Eliz-
abeth and Sarah, all of whom have passed out of
life. John Shultz, the father of John M., was born
June 27, T805, and died Feb. 16, 1888. About 1828
he married Elizabeth Morrison, of Chester county,
daughter of John Morrison, and this marriage was
blessed with eight children : Jacob ; Abraharri ;
Mary, wife of Henry Diffenbaugh, of Lampeter
township ; Elizabeth, wife of John M. Grosh, of
Lancaster ; John M. ; Sarah, widow of Peter Lyons ,
1322
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Levi, of Lancaster county ; and Hettie, who died
young.
John M. Shultz was reared on the farm and ob-
tained his education In the common schools of his
district. He has successfully followed farming all
his life, and owns a fine property, comprising io8
acres of valuable land in Providence township. He
has improved his farm with handsome, convenient
and modern buildings, and all of his operations are
carried on in the most approved manner. Mr.
Shultz understands the blacksmith's trade, and has
worked at same at times. Pie is a man of promi-
nence in Providence township, for the past six years
has been one of the directors of the county poor
farm, and has also served two terms as county au-
ditor, performing all these duties with an eye single
to the welfare of those most concerned.
On Nov. 10, 1863, Mr. Shultz was married to
Miss Susan Rank, born March 17, 1845, in Salis-
bury township, daughter of David Rank. Pier
death took place Oct. 17, 1890. She was the moth-
er of eleven children, eight of whom grew to matu-
rity, as follows : Elizabeth, born in 1865, married
to J. F. Graybill ; William L., born in 1867, a farm-
er of Providence township ; Levi, born in 1869,
who resides in Lancaster City; David D., born in
1871 ; J. Frank, born in 1873, a farmer ; James O.,
born Oct. .25, 1878, who is unmarried and resides at
home, as do E. H., born in 1880, and Morgan, born
in 1883.
The family is held in the highest esteem in Prov-
idence township, where Mr. Shultz has long been
looked upon as a representative citizen.
WILLIAM FREY DILLER, son of the late
Isaac Diller (whose family history and whose por-
trait will be found elsewhere in these Annals), is
one of the most industrious men in Lancaster, as
it requires industry to keep in hand 'the many busi-
ness interests in which he is concerned. Mr. Diller,
whose office is at No. 61 North Duke street, and
whose residence is at No. 338 East Orange street,
was born in Lancaster City, Nov. 3, 1858, and, after
attending private schools of Lancaster, was grad-
uated from Franklin and Marshall College, in 1876,
graduating with honor when five months less than
eighteen years old. After leaving college, and
spending one year on his father's farm in the south-
ern part of Lancaster county, Mr. Diller entered his
father's hardware store, remaining there until his
father bought a controlling interest in the Caledonia
Furnace property of Thaddeus Stevens. William
F. then became the manager of that property, con-
sisting of 12,500 acres. Mr. Diller installed and
operated two sawmills, a shinglemill, a sand rock
grinding mill, and developed and worked two iron
ore banks. At the end of three years his father
sold his interest in the Caledonia Furnace property,
and Mr. Diller then returned to Lancaster, entering
actively into the hardware trade with his father
and brother, having been a partner in that business
even while managing the Caledonia business. At
the death of the father (the founder of the house)
Mr. Diller continued with his brother, the firm
trading as Isaac Diller's Sons. This continued un-
til May 20, 1899, when the hardware business
was sold, and Mr. Diller then organized the Lan-
caster Slate Roofing Company, a concern that does
a large part of all the slate roofing in Lancaster.
He is also a wholesale dealer in coal, the only ex-
clusive wholesale dealer in that commodity in the
city; controls an iron ore bank in York county,
employing twenty-four men, and supplying, among
others, the Susquehanna Steel & Iron Company
at Wrightsville ; and is treasurer and general man-
ager of the Diller Sand and Clay Company, in the
formation of which he was the chief promoter.
This latter company owns 400 acres in the extreme
east end of Lancaster county, near Honeybrook;
and Col. H. C. Demming, .State Geologist and Vol-
unteer United States Geologist, reports that it is
the largest body of sand rock within his knowledge,
in the world. It analyzes 98 per cent, of pure silica.
They also ship clay by the carload, for steel mould-
ing purposes, as far west as Cleveland and Cin-
cinnati.
Mr. Diller was married, June 8, 1898, to Miss
Eliza Murray Schofield, daughter of the late lament-
ed Dr. E. Lane Schofield, and granddaughter — on
her maternal side — of the late Hon. James Black, at
one time the Prohibition candidate for President of
the United States. Three children were born of
this union, Mary Black (bearing her grandmother's
maiden name), Alonzo Potter (named after Mr.
Diller's lamented brother. Rev. Alonzo Potter Dil-
ler, who, with his wife and child clasped in each
other's arms, went down in the Johnstown flood),
and William Frey, Jr. Mr. Diller is an Episco-
palian in religion, and is a vestryman in St. John's
Episcopal Church, where his father was senior
warden to the day of his death. Although a mem-
ber of St. John's, Mr. Diller and his family still
retain, in St. James' Episcopal Church, the pew that
was rented by his father — then only sixteen years
old — in 1839, and it has been continuously in the
Diller family from that day to this. Modest and
unassuming, yet full of energy and vigor, no man in
Lancaster enjoys in a greater degree the esteem
and confidence of his fellowmen than does William
Frey Diller.
MRS. MARY MURRAY SCHOFIELD, wid-
ow of the late Dr. E. Lane Schofield, and who lives
in a charming home at No. 542 West James street,
just opposite the Reformed Theological Seminary,
enjoys the distinction of being the daughter of the
gentleman who was honored with the first nomina-
tion for the Presidency of the United States on the
Prohibition ticket, her father having been the late
Hon. James Black, a prominent member of the
Lancaster Bar, and one of the most prominent Tem-
perance advocates in the United States. His libra-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
]323
fy of Temperance works was said to have been the
finest private hbrary of the kind in this country, if
not in the world, and he was as f amihar with every
book in that vast hbrary as the school children are
with their every-day text books.
Mrs. Schofield is descended from Revolutionary
stock on both sides — paternal and maternal. The
Blacks, from whom she is a lineal descendant, came
to this country from the North of Ireland, whither
they had fled from Scotland because of religious
persecution They settled on an extensive land
grant from the Penns, this land being located along
the Susquehanna, in Union county. They were
descended from a mighty Scottish clan, whose
colors were gre&n, blue and yellow. Mrs. Scho-
field's great-grandfather Murray (on her mother's
side) was a member of the Continental Congress,
and the chair he sat on in that body is still in the
possession of a cousin of Mrs. Schofield living in
Philadelphia. The Murrays were Scotch-Irish,
and, like the Blacks, were enthusiastic Presbyterians
for generations.
John Black, the grandfather of Mrs. Schofield,
was a famous contractor, and built the first large
brick dwelling-house ever erected in Lancaster —
the largest dwelling-house in Lancaster at the time
it was built, and among the largest, if not the largest,
now in this city, the house being that now owned
and occupied by Mrs. Louisa A. Breneman and
Major B. Frank Breneman, at the southeast corner
of East Orange and Lime streets. John Black built
the first Croton dam in New York ; built the bridge
over the St. Lawrence, at Montreal ; built the rail-
road bridge at Columbia that was burned to keep
the Rebels from crossing the river into Lancaster
county, at the time of the Rebel invasion of Penn-
sylvania ; built the bridge across the Susquehanna
River at York Furnace, Pa., that was swept away by
a flood ; built the Penn Iron Works of Lancaster, and
was the first president of that company ; and, in fact,
was, in his day, the most widely known and success-
ful contractor of this section. _ His surviving chil-
are John, the well-known druggist of Lancaster;
Reuben, a farmer of Dakota ; and William, who is
in the lumber business in Minnesota.
Hon. James Black (John Black's most distin-
guished son) was an honored member of the Lan-
caster Bar, and was one of the most enthusiastic
and powerful advocates of the Temperance cause
ever known in this country. He was, at the time
of his death, the owner and developer of Black Bar-
ren Springs, a great health resort in southern Lan-
caster county, the waters of which are regarded as
a great remedial agent; the estate is still in the
possession of his heirs. James Black married Miss
Eliza N. Murray, daughter of the late William Mur-
ray, who belonged to the old-time book-store firm
of judd & Murray, of North Queen street, and both
of whom are well remembered by the older citizens
of Lancaster. The Murrays,. on coming to this
country, settled in the Cumberland Valley. To this
union of James Black and Eliza N. Murray, six
children were born, of whom the survivors are:
Mrs. Mary Murray Schofield and William Murray
Black, major in the United States army and colonel
of volunteers, who for three years past has had
entire charge of the sanitation of Havana, and whose
praises in that work have been sung by the news-
papers all over the United States, and who has now
been appointed engineer officer in charge of sani-
tation in the construction of the Panama Canal.
Major Black graduated from West Point at the
head of his class, and he has a son, Roger Derby
Black, who entered the Military Academy at West
Point in June, 1900, having been appointed by
President McKinley. Hon. James Black died in
1894. His wife passed away in October, 1889.
■ Mrs. Schofield was born in Lancaster, and after
graduating from the Girls' High School of the city
attended a private school in Philadelphia, and then
attended Poultney Female College, fifteen miles from
Rutland, Vt. She married Dr. E. Lane Schofield
June 27, 1 87 1. The Doctor was called to his re-
ward in November, T894, deeply lamented by hosts
of people, for he was alike popular professionally
and socially. After practicing in Lancaster eight
years Dr. Schofield removed with his family to the
coal regions, in the northern part of Dauphin
county, where he followed his profession fourteen
years, and then removing to Chambersburg prac-
ticed medicine there for four years, when he laid
down his labors and entered into rest. He was a
prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and es-
tablished a lodge in the coal regions, and no man of
his years did more work for the cause of Methodism
than did Dr. Schofield. By his union with Miss
Black seven children were born, of whom four are
living, as follows: Eliza Murray, wife of William
F. Diller, of Lancaster; Miss Gertrude B., attending
Miss Wheelock's School in Boston; Walter S., at-
tending the State College, class of 1904 ; and Edward
Lane Schofield, of Franklin and Marshall College,
class of 1905.
Mrs. Schofield is ah earnest member of the First
M. E. Church of Lancaster, and before the care of
rearing and educating a family became so pressing
upon her took an active part in all the affairs of the
church and in charitable and reform work. She is
a member of the Dorcas Society, which has done
such noble work for the deserving poor of the city
for so many years past, and in all the walks of life —
in girlhood, motherhood, church and society — ^has
shown herself a worthy descendant of the worthy
people who preceded her.
CAPT. JOHN LEWIS BINKLEY. One of
the prominent and successful business citizens of
Lancaster is Capt. John Lewis Binkley, a descendant
of one of the old established families of this State.
Three brothers of the name came to America from
their native Germany, settling, respectively, in Lan-
caster and Lebanon counties, Pennsylvania, and in
1324
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Canada; of the last branch, however, all trace has
been lost.
Johann Binkley, great-grandfather of Capt.
Binkley, bought land from the London Land Com-
pany, at Millport, and there he erected a mill which
did a successful business in those early days.
Felix Binkley, son of Johann, and the grand-
father of our subject, was a farmer and landowner
near Rocky Springs, in this county, for a number
of years. Later he removed to Ohio, making the
long trip by teams in the old pioneer way, locating
near Canton. There he died and there his family
is still settled.
John Binkley, son of Felix, and the father of
Capt. Binkley, was the only son of the family to re-
turn to Pennsylvania. His location was near Bird-
in-Hand, where he embarked in the mercantile busi-
ness and for many years was a prosperous man of
afifairs, dying in 1893, at the advanced age of eighty-
three years. John Binkley was a man of high char-
acter and was highly esteemed by his contemporar-
ies. A cousin of John Binkley was the builder of
Binkley"s bridge, which is one of the old landmarks
of Lancaster county. John Binkley married Isa-
bella Martin, daughter of Robert Martin, the latter
coming to America from Ireland in his youth. Mrs.
Binkley died in 1894, at the age of eighty-three.
The career of Robert Martin, the maternal grand-
father of Ca,pt. Binkley, was a rather romantic one :
In his youth he deserted his ancestral home, al-
though the son of an Irish noble, running away from
a stepmother ; later he married a Miss Peeling, who
was a daughter of Joshua Peeling, a Revolutionary
patriot, who was wounded at the battle of Brandy-
wine. Six children were born to John Binkley and
wife, one of these, Salome, dying in early child-
hood, the others being: Catherine, widow of Gid-
eon Barr, lives in the old Binkley homestead, near
Bird-in-Hand ; Miss Annie lives at home ; Dr. W.
G. is a prominent practicing physician of Washing-
ton borough ; Miss Maria Peeling ; and John Lewis.
John Lewis Binkley was born at Smoketown,
Oct. 28, 1845, and was educated in the public
schools of his district. His business career had not
yet been decided upon when occurred the stirring
events of 1861. Knowing full well that his father
would never consent to his entering the army at the
age of fifteen years, so fired was he with patri-
otic enthusiasm he did not stop to ask permission,
but enlisted as a bugler in the 9th P. V. C. Before
the loyal but injiidicious lad had a chance to show
his valor his father found him, brought him home,
and, to avoid further temptation, placed him in a
school at Tremont. Here he remained until the fol-
lowing Spring, recognizing his father's superior
judgment, and- later became a student in the State
Normal School at Millersville.
When the State of Pennsylvania was invaded by
the troops of Gen. Lee, Morris Wickersham, of the
Nomal school, formed a company of the Millers-
ville students, and it goes without saying that young
Binkley was one of the number. Following this
experience Capt. Binkley enlisted in the 50th Pa.
Vol. Militia, under the late brave Col. Emlen Frank-
lin, and served three months. This was after the
122nd Regiment, of which Col. Emlen Franklin
was the head, had been out nine months. To please
his father young Binkley now returned to his studies
and even engaged in school teaching, but his heart
was with the men who were striving to subdue the
foe, and again he became a soldier, entering the 86tli
P. V. I. and serving until the close of the war. His
military and loyal spirit was again shown when he
placed his services at the command of his Govern-
ment during the Spanish-American war. Mr. Bink-
ley raised a company, of which he was made cap-
tain, and his brave men were ready to take part, but
there proved to be no occasion.
After the close of the Civil war Capt. Binkley
returned to Indiana, where he had previously been
engaged in teaching, and remained there until 1867,
in the Spring of 1S68 opening up a grocery business
in Lancaster. With the exception of about six years
spent with Lane & Co., in the dry-goods business,
Capt. Binkley has been in the grocery trade here
ever since that time. His present location is at
No. 133 East King street, where he has one of the
most complete and best appointed grocery stores in
this part of the State. His stock includes all kinds
of staples and also novelties from other lands, dis-
played in a manner calculated to please every taste.
Capt. Binkley was united in marriage in 1868
to Miss Mary M. Herr, who was a daughter of the
late Daniel Herr, a fanner, who was a lineal
descendant of Hans Herr, one of the five Swiss
patriots who formed a nucleus in the settlement of
Lancaster county so many generations ago. Five
children were born to Capt. Binkley and wife:
Elizabeth, wife of John W. Bush, a son of the late
Col. L. L. Bush ; Maude, wife of William S. Barn-
holt, a stock-broker in this city; Marbel, wife of
George W. Morrison, freight agent for the Penn-
sylvania Railroad at Thorndale, Chester county;
John Martin, a graduate of the school-ship "Sara-
toga," and now quartermaster in the service of the
Panama Railway Steamship Company, plying be-
tween New York City and Colon, Central America ;
and Florence, a graduate of the Lancaster High
School, a bright and accomplished young lady.
Capt. and Mrs. Binkley, with their charming
daughter, reside in an elegant home located at No.
106 South Ann street, Lancaster, which the Captain
purchased some years since. The religious connec-
tion of the family is with the First Methodist
Church. Capt. Binkley belongs to no organizations
with the one exception of Admiral Reynolds Post,
No. 405, G. A. R. Few men of this Grand Army
Post have been more active in its work than Capt.
Binkley. Almost all of the offices have been effi-
ciently managed by him, and he is a past command-
er; is district adjutant of the Central Association of
Grand Army Posts,, and is on the staff of the com-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1S25
mander-in-chief. In his political sympathy he has
long been an ardent Republican, and takes the deep-
est interest in the Young Republican Club.
Attentive to business, earnest and active in pub-
lic affairs, of a generous and social nature, Capt.
Binkley enjoys the esteem of hosts of friends.
FREDERICK STAMM. It has been truly said
that the department of biography is crowded with
the lives of men who have been distinguished in war,
politics, science, literature and the professions.
Rhetoric has been exhausted in the effort to direct
in these upper walks of life the youthful and the
ambitious, and the result is that the professions and
the 'genteel callings" are tilled to overflowing. It
is another, but commendable task to hold up for
study and emulation the lives of the wise and the
good. One who liv€s in Lancaster, and who gained
years ago the respect and confidence of his fellow
townsmen, and who retains the friendship and trust
of all who know him by his peaceful and well-or^
dered ' Hfe, is Frederick Stamm, an inventor,
whose home for many years has been at No. 516
East King street, Lancaster.
Frederick Stamm, his grandfather, in early man-
hood bought the tannery at the division of the Phil-
adelphia turnpike and the old Penn road, and
"Stamm's tannery'' for three generations was a land-
mark in Lancaster county. When the Lochers
owned it, it was but a small affair, and Mr. Stamm
greatly enlarged it when it came into his hands. Mr.
Stamm married a Miss Pickel, of Irish descent, and
from this union were born the following children :
John ; Peter ; David ; Elizabeth, wife of Rudolph
Kauffman, a wheelwright ; Sarah, the wife of Chris-
tian Sterneman, a school teacher; and Polly, who
was the first wife of Rudolph Kauffman.
David .Stamm, the third son mentioned above,
married Miss Eve Cook, daughter of Peter Cook, a
farmer, and a son of one of the early settlers of
Franklin county, and from this union were born:
Harriet married Capt. James Cross, a gallant officer
m the War of the Rebellion, and both are now' de-
ceased ; Peter C, a tanner is also deceased ; Freder-
ick lives in Lancaster; Mary is the widow of A. K.
Hoffmeier: Hiram, a vetei-an of the Civil war, is a
leaf tobacco dealer, and choir-master of the First
Reformed Church : Henry Clay, a tanner and cur-
rier, now lives at Mechanicsburg, Pa.; David, de-
ceased was organist of the First Reformed Church,
having been a teacher of the organ and the piano;
and Rebecca makes her home with her brother Hiram
in this citv.
Frederick Stamm was born on the old homestead
just east of Witmer's Bridge, in February, 1832,
where his father, and his grandfather as well, car-
ried on tanning, currying and farming. His educa-
tion was obtained in the neighboring district school,
and when he was fifteen years of age he entered his
father's tannery, remaining there for some three
vears. For eight years he was employed in a plan-
ing mill at Lancaster, and during these years richly
developed that inventive genius that had come down
to him from his grandfather, who made the first
shovel and the first land roller ever used in this sec-
tion. They were never patented, and were at the free
use of his neighbors. This inventive faculty de-
scended to his grandson, whose fortunes afford the
theme of this article, and one result was the Eureka
Bark Mill, which was patented Jan. 31, 1871, and
Was first manufactured in a foundry on West Chest-
nut street, but the demand for it proving unexpected-
ly large, it was transferred to John Best's extensive
works, and there it has since been manufactured.
Very many thousands of these mills have been sold,
and they have lessened the labors of tanners all over
the world, as nothing so good in the line of a bark
mill has been made. Mr. Stamm is mechanical, heat
and ventilating engineer for the Best Works, and his
services are required in distant places as well as at
home, he having put in heating plants last year in
Chicago, Mobile, and other distant points, as well as
being very biisy near at home.
Mr. Stamm was married in his early life to Miss
Eliza, a daughter of John Echternacht, a farmer just
below .Strasburg. Mr. Echternacht was born in
Germany, but his wife, who was a Miss Potts, be-
longed to one of the oldest and best known families
of Lancaster county. To this union were born four
children, three of whom are now living : Eve Marie,
the wife of Dr. E. Merle Bishop, then of Green-
castle, but now a practicing dentist in Hanover, Pa. ;
Mary Louise, the wife of Charles L. Marshall, a
bookkeeper, and Margaret Ethel, now at home with
her father, having assumed the cares of the house;
hold at the death of her devoted and beloved mother;
Mr. Stamm sent all his girls through the Girls' High
School in Lancaster. Mr. Stamm was fi Whig in
early life, but attached himself to the Republican
party on its organization, and has since worked with
it, though never seeking or caring for official station.
From early manhood Mr. Stamm has been a member
of the First Reformed Church of this city, and for
some sixteen years or more has served on its Board
of Trustees. For many years he has sung in the
choir of that church, of which his brother Hiram is
the leader, and his lamented brother David the or-
ganist.
Mr. Stamm has a fine library, containing among
other valuable books, some rare works on scientific
subjects, all of which he has diligently and intelli-
gently read, and to such advantage that for ten years
or more he has been a member of the Engineers'
Club, of Philadelphia, one of the most distinguished
bodies of engineers in the state.
CARL P. STAMM, the successful-young dentist,
whose pleasant office is located at his home on North
Prince street, between Orange and Chestnut streets,
is one of the young professional men of whom Lan-
caster is justly proud. He was born in 1871, and.
received his literary training in the public schools:
1326
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
His dental studies were begun in 1885 under the able
instruction of that thorough practitioner, Dr. H. D.
Knight, with whom he remained four years. . In
1889 he matriculated at the Philadelphia Dental Col-
lege, from which he was graduated in 1891. The
next year he opened an office above the hardware
store "of Stoner, Shreiner & Co., but the quarters
there proved too small for his rapidly increasing
business, and a year later he moved to No. 40 West
Kuig street, btit in 1895 he was again obliged to move
to accommodate his extensive custom. In 1892 Dr.
Knight wrote of Dr. Stamm as follows: "Dr.
Stamm's gentlemanly manner and thorough work
are worthy of and receive admiration, and he [Dr.
Knight] takes this opportunity to recommend Dr.
Stamm to any who may need his professional ser-
vices, feeling assured they will find in him a pleasant
and efficient operator."
In 1892 Dr. Stamm married Miss Emma S.
Mayer, of Reading, Pa., daughter of George Mayer.
Two children blessed this union, but Ruth died in
infancy, the other, Miriam, is a bright little sun-
beam in the home.
BENJAMIN H. HERSHEY, a well known
dealer in coal and agricultural implements, and a
prominent business man of Manheim,, Lancaster
county, is descended from one of the oldest families
of the county. The first of the name to come to
America were two brothers, Andrew and Benjamin
Hershey, who crossed the Atlantic from the Pa-
latinate, in Germany, in 171 7, and located near Lan-
caster, Pa., at what is now Wheatland. Later came
Christian. It is from Benjamin that our subject is
descended. He is supposed to have been a member
of the Mennonite Church, and either he or his son
settled on a farm one and a half miles east of Man-
heim, which property is still in the possession of the
family, now belonging to Levi Hershey. It is be-
lieved to have been purchased from William Penn
originally, and cleared and improved by the family.
The tract now consists of 130 acres.
Christian Hershey, grandfather of Benjamin H.,
was born in this country in 1789, and it is supposed
that his father, as well as his grandfather, bore the
name of Christian. Each in turn lived on the old
homestead. Christian (i) was born in Lancaster
county in 1719, Christian (2) in 1762. Christian
Hershey (7,) was reared on the farm, and always
followed agricultural pursuits. He was a man of
more than ordinary ability, and stood high among
his fellow men, being looked up to as a leader and
adviser, but he never sought political preferrnent,
choosing to instruct and advise rather than officiate,
though he filled some township offices. He was a
member of tlie Mennonite Church, and in early life
was a Whig in politics, but after the organization
of the Republican party he affiliated with the same.
He married Susan Bear, and to them were born two
.children : Dt.viu, father of Benjamin H. ; and Mary,
wife of Henry Brubaker, who resided at Hammer
Creek, beyond Lexmgton, and also belonged to one
of the old families of Lancaster county.
David Hershey was born in 1817, on a part of
the old homestead, was there reared to manhood,
and received a limited education in the public schools
of the neighborhood. He followed farming
throughout life, and was a quiet, unassuming man,
domestic in his tastes, and refraining from all public
life. He was a devout member of the Mennonite
Church, in which he served as deacon twenty-five
years, and died in that faith in 1898. He married
Fannie Hostetter, and of the four children bom to
them Benjamin H. is the eldest; Susan is the wife
of Simon K. Nissly, of Lancaster; Amos H. re-
sides on a farm adjoining the old homestead near
Manheim ; and David C. resides in Manheim.
Benjamin H. Hershey was born Oct. 10, 1847*
and passed his boyhood and youth on the home farm,
where he remained until he attained his majority.
Having received a good practical education in the
public schools, he successfullv engaged in teaching
for three years in the vicinity of Manheim, and then
spent several years in various parts of the West. On
returning to Lancaster county, in 1877, he located
in Manheim and succeeded Jacob H. Kline in the
coal business, which he still conducts. Since 1882
he has also dealt in agricultural implements, and he
has built up quite a large and profitable business in
both lines.
On Feb. i, 1S87, Mr. Hershey married Miss
Isabella Sharp, daughter of John L. Sharp, of Man-
heim, and they have two children: David Lyman,
born Jan. 12, 1889; and Mary Isabella, born Nov.
7, 1897. The parents are active members of the
Reformed Church, in which Mr. Hershey has served
as elder for the past three years. In his political
views he is a Republican, and he is now efficiently
serving as a member of the school board of Man-
heim, having always taken an active interest iri ed-
ucational affairs. He is secretary of the Water Com-
pany of Manheim, of which he was one of the or-
ganizers, and is a stockholder in the Manheim Na-
tional Bank and was a member of its board of direc-
tors for some years. As a business man he is enter-
prising, energetic and progressive, and generally
carries forward to successful completion whatever
he undertakes.
JAMES HENRY MARStlALL, ex-postmaster
of Lancaster, and at present one of the efficient men
connected with the city post-office where he holds
the position of assistant postmaster, is deservedly
one of the most popular men of the day in Lancaster.
William Marshall, the father of James H., was
born in Lancaster in 1812, and was a shoe maker by
trade. For many years he was janitor at Franklin
and Marshall College. He married Elizabeth Sow^
ers, who was born in 1812, daughter of Henry Sow-
ers. A family of twelve children were born to
them, of whom five are yet living: William A., a
graduate from the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1327
is a Commander, United States Navy ; James Henry';
Mrs. John J. Keffer lives in Harrisburg ; and Miss
Emma L. and Mrs. Henry Elias live in Lancaster.
James Henry Marshall was born in Lancaster,
Sept. 12, 1838, and received his education in fhe
city schools and parochial school of St. James Epis-
copal Church. When he readied the age of seven-
teen years he became an apprentice at the printing
trade in the ofifice of the Lancaster Examiner, and
after serving his time, was a pressman in the Harris-
burg Patriot. In 1859 he went to Nashville, Tenn.,
where he was employed in the Baptist Publishing
House. Coming back to Lancaster he became fore-
man of the Examiner office, where he at the time
enlisted, Oct. 5, 1861, joining Co. K, 79th P. V. I.,
and with his command was assigned to the Army of
the Cumberland. When his three years of service
were up, he veteranized, re-enlisting for the war.
Mr. Marshall was engaged with his regiment at the
battles of Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga,
Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, and followed Gen-
eral Sherman on his triumphant march to the sea.
On Feb. 12, 1862, he was made commissary sergeant
and on Jan. 2C, 1865, was commissioned first lieuten-
ant by Gov. Curtin, and was also appointed quarter-
master of the regiment. After the Georgia cam-
paign, he participated in the battles of Goldsboro and
Bentonville, and after the surrender of Gen. John-
ston, he took part in-the Grand Review at Washing-
ton, and was mustered out in July, 1865.
Mr. Marshall worked at his trade for some years
after the end of the war, being at Coatesville, Pa.,
for a time, when he was appointed United States
Deputy Marshal for Lancaster. He became a letter
carrier, Dec. i, 1867, and served eight years in that
capacity. On Jan. 26, 1876, he was appointed post-
master of Lancaster, and was reappointed in 1881,
continuing in office until Aug. 10, 1885, when he
was retired on account of a change in the national
administration. After retiring from the postal serv-
ice he was made financial clerk of the Soldiers' Or-
phan Schools at Harrisburg, receiving his appoint-
ment from the State Superintendent, Dr. E. E.
Higbee, and he resigned this position to become as-
sistant postmaster under the late "Major Griest,
holding the same relation to his successor. Major
Reinoehl. who died in December, 1900. On the
death of this latter gentleman Mr. Marshall was
strongly urged by many persons for appointment to
the vacant ofKce.
Mr. Marshall, while home on a furlough, was
married May 26, 1863, to Miss Katherine W. Mc-
Caskey, a daughter of the late William McCaskey,
for many years in die Pennsylvania Railroad service,
and a sister of Dr. J. P. McCaskey, the veteran prin-
cipal of the Boys' High School of Lancaster, and
publisher of the Pennsylvania School Journal. Six
children were born to this union : Maggie died at
the age of seventeen ; William L., a graduate of the
Lancaster Pligh School, now receiving teller in the
Farmers' National Bank, of Lancaster, married in
1898 Wilhelmina, daughter of Henry Wolf, and has
a son, Henry James; Bertha P. is at home; Harry
H., a clerk in the Lancaster post office, married July
1900, Maggie McGovern; Maude is a clerk; and
Blanche is at school.
Mr. Marshall is a member of the St. James Epis-
copal Church, where he has been a vestryman for a
number of years. In Masonic circles he is con-
spicuous, holding membership in Lancaster Lodge,
No. 43, A. F. & A. M ., and Lancaster Chapter, No.
43, Royal Arch Masons. As treasurer of the Lancas-
ter Monumental Association, he succeeded Major
Shenk at his death. He is also prominently identi-
fied with George H. Thomas Post, No. 84, G. A. R.
In whatever position of trust and responsibility he
may have been placed, Mr. Marshall has always ac-
qquitted himself well. Since 1867 he has been con-
nected almost continuously with the Lancaster post
ofifice with the exception of the Cleveland era, and
here he has always given the greatest satisfaction to
the public both by his ability and his courteous
treatment of all with whom he comes in contact.
EMANUEL H. HERR, an enterprising farmer
and business man of East Lampeter township, was
bom Aug. 30, 1839, on the farm which he still oc-
cupies. He belongs to a well-known family of this
section, being a son of Solomon Herr, and a grand-
son of Abraham Herr. The latter was born in Lan-
caster county, and lived near Lancaster City all his
life. By occupation he was a farmer and distiller.
He was one of the Old Mennonites in Lancaster
county. His family consisted of five children, as
follows : Solomon, the father of our subject ; Peter,
Abram and Christian, all deceased ; and Annie, wife
of Henry Herr.
Solomon Herr was born in East Lampeter town-
ship, Jan. 6, 1806. Pie lived at home with his par-
ents until he was of age, receiving a common school
education, and then began farming for himself on
the place a part of which our subject now owns.
He, too, was a member of the Old Mennonite
Church. He married Miss Catherine Herr, daugh-
ter of John and Barbara Herr, of Manor township,
and they became the parents of six children, two
of whom died in infancy ; Emanuel H., and Abraham
and Elias H. (twins) reside in East Lampeter town-
ship ; and Adam H., of Lancaster City.
Emanuel H. Herr worked for his father until
he was twenty-one years of age, received a common
school education, and when he began life for him-
self continued farming, which has been his main
occupation to the present time. In connection with
his agricultural pursuits he ran a thresher for thirty
years, and has also been engaged in butchering quite
extensively. Mr. Herr has prospered in all his un-
dertakings, and now ranks among the progressive
and well-to-do residents of his township. He is a
public-spirited man, deeply interested in the public
as well as the commercial welfare of his community.
He is a member of the Reformed Church.
1328
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mr. Herr first wedded Miss Mary Witmer,
daughter of Rev. David Witmer and to this union
were born eight children, two of whom died in in-
fancy ; David L. Hves in Quarryville, Pa. ; Hattie
A. is the wife of Reuben W. Myers; Lizzie is the
wife of Reuben Esbenshade ; Mary L. is the widow
of Enos Eby, of Strasburg; Emlin W. is deceased;
Ida C. is the wife of David Myers, of East Lampeter.
The mother of these children died Aug. 21, 1888, and
on Sept. 17, 1889, Mr. Herr married for his second
wife, Mrs. Annie C. Herr, widow of Jacob M. Herr.
To this union was born one son, Roy S., who lives
at home. Mrs. Annie C. Herr died Sept. 30, 1898.
On Nov, 14, 1899, our subject was united in mar-
riage with Mrs. Susan Killinger, widow of John
Lewis Killinger.
CHARLES FREDERICK DILLER, sole pro-
prietor of the Peerless Emery Wheel Co., of Lan-
caster, presents in his life a notable illustration of
what intelligence, industry, indomitable courage and
honorable meriiods can accomplish. He comes of a
long and sturdy line of Pennsylvanians. Leonard
Diller, his grandfather, was a noted auctioneer of
Lancaster, and the late Isaac Diller, father of Charles
F., was the founder of the extensive Diller Hardware
Store, of Lancaster, which afterward became the
Isaac Diller's Sons' Store. It is now owned by Herr
& Suavely, who bought the business from Isaac Dil-
ler's sons.
Isaac Diller married Miss Anna Margaret Frey,
daughter of the late Jacob Frey, who owned a farm
in the western suburbs of Lancaster, the sale of por-
tions of this tract as building lots giving the first im-
petus to the great building operations in the West
End of the city. To this union were born nine chil-
dren, four of whom are now living: William F.,
who is a coal and slate dealer of Lancaster ; Lydia,
who is unmarried, and lives with her aged though
still active mother on East Orange street, Lancaster ;
Anna M., who spent three years in perfecting her-
self in music in Leipsic, Germany, and is the wife of
Edward D. Starbuck, Ph. D., a professor in
' the great Stanford University, California ; and
Charles F., who is noted above as the proprietor of
the Peerless Emery Wheel Co. One of the nine chil-
dren of Isaac Diller who has entered into rest was
Rev. Alonzo Potter Diller, a deeply lamented Epis-
copal clergyman, who met death in the great Johns-
town flood, his body — with one arm clasped around
his wife and the other about their only child — hav-
ing been found in the debris after the waters had sub-
sided.
Charles Frederick Diller was born in Lancaster
Jan. 29, 1861, and was educated in St. James Paro-
chial School, at the Franklin and Marshall Acad-
emy, and at Franklin and Marshall College.
Leaving the latter institution, he was placed on his
father's farm in Providence township, and after
spending a year there entered his father's hardware
and house furnishing store, on East King street. In
this establishment, first as employe, and then as pro-
prietor, he was engaged for a quarter of a century,
selling out eventually, as noted above, to Herr &
Snavelv. In 1893 Mr. Diller started, in a very un-
pretentious way, the manufacture of the Peerless
Emery Wheels, but the business soon took on such
proportions that he was obliged to purchase exten-
sive buildings and grounds, on North Charlotte
street, in Lancaster. His original investments have
since been mcreased, until at the present writing the
company owns one of the finest plants in the city, and
employs twenty-five men ; their goods are used all
over the civilized world. Besides his other interests-
Mr. Diller is a director of the Lancaster and Colum-
bia Turnpike, of Greenwood cemetery, and of the
Fulton National Bank, and he is secretary of the
Cassidy Fork Boom & Lumber Co., in West Vir-
ginia.
On June 30, 1885, Charles F. Diller was married
to Miss Sarah R. Slaymaker, daughter of the late
John Slaymaker, of Williamstown, Lancaster coun-
ty. The ceremony was performed in a house that
that has been in the bride's family for five genera-
tions. To this union were born five children, four
of whom are now living, John having entered inte-
rest at the age of three years. Those surviving are
Isaac, who is named after his grandfather Isaac;.
Sara Ferree, bearing the name of her great-grand-
mother ; Charles Frederick, who is attending a kin-
dergarten school; and DeBois, the youngest of the
family.
Mr. Diller belongs to the Order of Artisans, the
Royal Arcanum and St. John's Episcopal Church.
In politics he is an independent. He has a delight-
ful home at No. 210 North Prince street, which he
.purchased before his marriage, and where all his
children have been born.
TOBIAS R. KREIDER, of East Lampeter
township, Lancaster county, was born Oct. 17, 1827,
on the same farm upon which both his father and
grandfather were born. The history of the Kreider
family is interesting from a number of points of
view. It indicates in a marked degree those admir-
able traits of domesticity and love of family ties so
often seen in eastern states. Three generations have
been born on the same homestead. Tobias Kreider,
grandfather of Tobias R., was born on the place-
and he died there. He was a member of the Old
Mennonite Church, and a good, moral upright man
and citizen all the days of his life. He was the father
of nine children: Martin (father of Tobias R.)
Tobias, Jacob and Henry, and five girls. All these
children were brought up in Lampeter township.
Martin Kreider, as already stated, was born on
the home place in 1793. He remained there all his
life, but from time to time purchased adjoining land
which still remains in the possession of the family.
He married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Christian
Rohrer. They were the parents of seven children :
Mary, wife of Henry F. Rowe; Henry, deceased;-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1329
Martin, deceased; Tobias R., the subject of this
sketch; John, of West Lampeter township; EHza-
beth, wife of Henry Doner; and Daniel, of West
Lampeter township.
Tobias R. Kreider Hved at home with his parents
until he was twenty-three years old, receiving dur-
ing the time a fair common-school education. He
then married Miss Annie, daughter of John Kreider,
and settled on his father-in-law's farm, where he re-
sided for thirty-one years, when he purchased an
adjoining farm and moved onto it.
Mr. Kreider is very well-to-do, and while engag-
ing directly in no other occupation than farming, has
other interests ; for instance, he has been a director
of the I'armers National Bank of Lancaster, for the
]Dast live years, and was also a director of the Stras-
burg turnpike for a time. He is a Republican in
politics, and held the ofifice of school director for a
number of years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kreider are
members of the Old Mennonite Church. This
worthy couple have been blessed with six children,
as follows : Mary, wife of Henry Rohrer ; Eliza-
beth, wife of Isaac Eby, bishop of the Old Men-
nonite Church ; Martin, who now lives on the old
homestead in West Lampeter township, being of the
fourth generation of the family to reside there ; Anna,
deceased wife of Christian Stauffer; John, with
whom Mr. Kreider now lives ; and Hettie, who died
unmarried. Mrs. Kreider died Dec. 5, 1889, at the
age of fifty-seven years, two months and thirteen
days. Although Mr. Kreider is somewhat advanced
in years, he is hale and hearty, and he takes an active
interest in passing events. He is respected by all
who know him and has lived an honorable and up-
right life.
ROBEi^T SMITH, superintendent of the New
Era press room, enjoys the distinction of being the
only printer in Lancaster who has ever been con-
nected with the great publishing house of J. B. Lip-
pincott & Co., having been associated with that house
continuously for a period of twenty-five years, serv-
ing until the great fire which destroyed their build-
ing, on Thanksgiving Day, 1899. Those who com-
prehend the amount of ability which is necessary in
order to successfuUv hold a position with such a
house as that of the Lippincotts will understand that
Mr. Smith must be thoroughly acquainted with his
business in every detail.
Mr. Smith can trace his ancestry to Scotch-Irish
progenitors, and his maternal grandfather was of
the "landed gentry"'' class in his native country.
Coming to America, he made his home in Philadel-
phia, where his last years were passed. Isaac Smith,
father of Robert, of Lancaster, was a stationary en-
gineer, was born in Londonderry, Ireland, arid died
in Philadelphia some thirty years ago. His widow,
who was born in Scotland, died in Philadelphia in
1896. They had a family of thirteen children, only
four of whom survive: ' Sarah, who is the wife of
John Watkins, of Philadelphia ; Mary J., who is the
84
wife of Dean Caterson, a farmer of Wayne county ;
Wilham, who is a printer, in Philadelphia; and Rob-
ert, of Lancaster.
Robert Smith was born in Philadelphia Dec. 8,
1853, and was educated in the public schools of that
city. When fourteen years old he became apprenticed
to the printer's trade with McLaughlin Brothers,
who were relations on his mother's side. One of
them was Frank McLaughlin, who was connected
with the Philadelphia Times for so many years. At
the age of twenty-two years Mr. Smith entered the
house of J. B. Lippincott & Co., and by faithful at-
tention to duty and honest service he was gradually*
promoted until he was made foreman of the job press
room, a lucrative as well as responsible position.'
After the fire Mr. Smith came to Lancaster and ac-
cepted his present position, his knowledge gained
during his long association with the Philadelphia
house making his skilled services pa:rticularly valu-
able. Few men possess a more thorough knowledge
of the technical part of the business than Mr. Smith,
and his intelligence and fund of general inforiiiation
are also exceptional.
Mr. Smith's first marriage was to Sarah Dus-
wold, who died in 1893, the mother of three children :
Isaac, who is in the postal service in Philadelphia;
William, who is in the service of the Pennsylvania
railroad, and lives in Philadelphia; and Elizabeth/
who is also a resident of that city. In 1896 Mr.
Smith married Miss Ella Neff, of Philadelphia, In
religious belief he is a Baptist, while fraternally he
is connected with the order of Odd Fellows. The
Smith family has been noted for its longevity, the
youngest of his ancestors having lived to the age
of eighty-five years, the oldest reaching the age of
ninety-six.
DAVID L. KREIDER has for a number of years
lived retired in East Lampeter township, where dur-
ing his active life he was successfully engaged in
farming.
Mr. Kreider is a grandson of John Kreider, who
was born in Lancaster county, and lived there all his-
life. By occupation he was a farmer. He married
Miss Barbara Buckholder, and they were the par- ■
exits of the following named children : Daniel, a
farmer of Lancaster county ; Jacob, who was a tailor
by trade ; John, who died at the age of sixteen years ;
Lizzie, wife of John Stoumb ; Annie, wife of John
Lesher ; Mary, wife of Daniel Rohrer ; and Abraham.
Abraham Kreider, the father of our subject, was
born in East Lampeter township. His father dying^
when he was a mere lad, Abraham was put out to
work on a farm, and he received a common-school
education, attending during the winter season. He
married Miss Susan Landis, and to them were born
eight children, two of whom died in childhood ; Ben-
jamin died when eighteen years of age ; Annie is the
wife of Jacob Lefever ; Miss Susan resides in Wit-
mer ; David L. is mentioned below ; John, deceased;
lived on the old farm ; and Levi L. is deputy sheriff
1330
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
of Lancaster county. The parents were both mem-
bers of the Old Mennonite Church.
David L. Kreider was born in East Lampeter
township Dec. i, 1835^ and was educated in the local
public schools. He continued to live at home until
he was twenty- three years of age, when he began
farming on his own account, on the place he now oc-
cupies in East Lampeter township. In 1885 he gave
up active farming pursuits, and since that time he
has lived retired.
In 1850 Mr. Kreider wedded Miss Mary K. Lan-
dis, daughter of Benjamin B. Landis, and to this
union have been born three children : Sue L. is the
wife of Rufus K. Cooper, of Mechanicsburg, Pa. ;
Lizzie L. is the wife of John Kreider, of East Lam-
peter; Mollie L. is the wife of Amos G. Herr, of
Bird-in-Hand. Mr. and Mrs. Kreider and one
daughter are members of the Old Mennonite
Church.
JACOB H. ROHRER, who has but recently re-
tired from active life, was for over half a century
interested in various lines of business in Lancaster
coimty, and no resident of East Lampeter is more
highly respected.
Mr. Rohrer is a son of Jacob Rohrer, who was
born in East Lampeter township, on a farm which
our subject now owns, in about 1781. He followed
farming exclusively all his life, and died at the ad-
vanced age of eighty-six years. In politics he was a
member of the Old Whig party, but he never sought
office. Religiously he was a member of the Old
Mennonite Church. He married Miss Annie Hart-
man, daughter of Christian Hartman, and they were
the parents of five children : Mary, who was the wife
of Christian Johns, a farmer of New Holland ; Eliza-
beth, who died unmarried; Abraham, a farmer of
East Lampeter township; Annie, wife of Peter
Johns, a farmer ; and Jacob H.
Jacol) H. Rohrer was bom on the old homestead
in East Lampeter township, April 17, 1821, received
a common-school education, and lived with his par-
ents until he was about twenty years of age. Then
he began life for himself, farming on the old home-
stead for twenty-nine years. Meantime other lines
of business also claimed his attention, and he fol-
lowed them with uniform success. He was the senior
member of the firm of Rohrer, Johns & Co., who
built and sold the Champion reaper and mower in
Lancaster county. After this firm dissolved he en-
gaged in droving quite extensively, shipping from
Chicago, Pittsburg and Baltimore, horses, mules,
cattle, etc. He also engaged quite extensively in
growing and buying tobacco and was regarded as
one of Lancaster county's successful tobacco dealers.
In politics, Mr. Rohrer has always affiliated with the
Republican party, and he has held various important
offices, discharging the duties of same with credit to
himself, and to the satisfaction of all concerned. For
three years he was prison inspector, and he was also
poor director for the same length of time, and during
his term of office bought all the meat consumed in
the institution. He served as school director for
some nine years, and was also auditor of the town-
ship for a time. Public-spirited in all things, he was
one of the committee who constructed the Bridge-
port and Horseshoe pike, and he has been one of the
directors up to the present time. In 1868, Mr. Roh-
rer left the old farm and moved to where he now re-
sides, and he conducted a coal and lumber business
until 1900, since which time he has lived retired.
Mr. Rohrer married Miss Maria Shaffer, daugh-
ter of Adam Shaffer, and to this marriage came
eleven children: Annie (deceased) was the wife of
Benjamin Kreider ; Elizabeth is the widow of John
L. Kreider ; Adam S. is deceased ; Abraham S. is a
farmer in East Lampeter township ; Susanna is the
wife of Abraham Herr ; Jacob is a farmer in Para-
dise township ; Amanda is the wife of Jacob Burk-
hart ; Aaron is a farmer in East Lampeter township ;
Mary died unmarried at the age of twenty-seven;
Milton S. is a farmer in East Lampeter; Emma is
the wife of John Buckwalter. The mother of the
above named children died in 1885.
Mr. Rohrer has spent a long life, full of useful-
ness, and he is one of Lancaster county's most es-
teemed citizens.
JAMES FORNEY McCOY, one of the most
prorninent of the younger members of the Lancaster
Bar, is ably sustaining the enviable reputation es-
tablished by his distinguished and honored ances-
tors. He is the third of the family to bear the name
of James, and the McCoys have been long at home
on American soil.
James McCoy, our subject's grandfather, was a
farmer in the State of Delaware, and his father, Rev.
James McCoy, has been the beloved pastor of the
Bellevue Presbyterian Church, at Paradise, this
county, for the past fourteen years. The latter mar-
ried Alice Grove, a daughter of Jacob Grove, a
wholesale druggist of Baltimore, Md. To this union
came two children : a daughter who died in infancy ;
and James Forney.
James Forney McCoy was born Dec. 20, 1874, in
Columbia, Lancaster county, where his father then
had a charge. After attending a preparatory school
at Kingston, N. Y., he entered the University of
Pennsylvania, completed the Sophomore year there,
and then entered the law department of, that insti-
tution, from which he was graduated in the class of
1898. He was admitted to" the Philadelphia Bar in
June, 1899, but not desiring to practice in Philadel-
phia he came to Lancaster, at once entering the office
of Brown & Hensel, to further perfect himself in the
mastery of the intricacies of the law. In December,
1899, he was admitted to practice in the courts of
Lancaster county, and later was admitted to the
Superior and Supreme Courts, in both of which he
has practiced with profit to his clients and credit to
himself. Mr. McCoy is naturally a Presbyterian,
his father being one of the foremost Presbyterian
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1831
divines in Lancaster county. Politically he is a
Democrat, and has enjoyed the distinguished con-
sideration, although so young, of receiving the nom-
ination for district attorney of Lancaster county in
1901. Mr. McCoy is a member of the Phi Kappa
Psi Fraternity, Franklin and Marshall College. So-
cially, religiously and professionally he has already
gained an enviable standing, and life for him is full
of promise.
HENRY F. HARTMAN (deceased) was a
man highly respected for his many admirable per-
sonal qualities, as virell as for his keen business in-
stincts and the success which attended his efforts.
He died in East Lampeter township June 27, 1899,
and was buried in Pleller's Church cemetery, Lea-
cock township.
Henry F. Hartman was born June 20, 1830, in
Bavaria, Germany, and emigrated to America in
1849, locating in New York State upon his arrival
in this country. There he remained for one year,
after which he went to New Jersey, and after a few
years he located at Witmer, Lancaster Co., Pa.,
where he conducted a farm and operated some ex-
cellent lime-kilns, becoming very prominent and
meeting with unqualified success ; he thoroughly
understood every detail of his business and knew
how to take advantage of all opportunities offered.
In political matters Mr. Hartman was a strong
Democrat, taking a great interest in party affairs
and being a popular leader in his community. For
three years he served most acceptably as county
commissioner, from 1885 to 1888. Fraternally he
was a member of the F. & A. M., reaching the
ICnight Templar degree. At the time of his death
he was a member of three insurance companies. His
church connections were with those of the Men-
Bonite faith. A good business man, a kind neighbor
and loving husband and father, he made many
friends, and was noted for his liberal spirit and
charity, of both speech and action.
On Jan. 3, 1856, in New Holland, Pa., Mr.
Hartman married Catherine Krantz, and they had
the following children: Anna M. married John
Roth, and they live on the old homestead in East
Lampeter township, and have seven children;
Henry, who died at the age of twenty-six, married
Lizzie Peters, and they had three children; Eliza-
beth died at the age of four; Catherine married
Jeremiah Delong, of Lancaster, Pa., and they have
seven children ; Mary married Levi Bixler, a grocer
of Lancaster, and they have five children; David,
who operates the old lime-kilns of his father, mar-
ried Lizzie Hoar, and they have eight children;
Christian was killed on the railroad ; Jacob, who is
unmarried, resides on the old homestead; John K.
is a resident of Lancaster.
Mrs. Hartman was born March 9, 1829, daugh-
ter of John and Elizabeth (Fox) Krantz, of Ger-
many, who came to America in 1852, settling at
Octoraro, Lancaster Co., Pa., where he earned on
farming, d3dng in i860, aged sixty-one; his wife
died in 1867, aged sixty, and both are buried in the
Strasburg Mennonite cemetery. The children of
Mr. and Mrs. Krantz were as follows: Catherine;
John, who married Fanny Herr; Barbara (de-
ceased), who married Jacob Getz; Mary, married
to Peter Howan, of Cullom, 111.; Lizzie (deceased),
who married John Gress, of Cullom, 111. ; Chris-
tiann, who married Frank Reyburn, of Lancaster,
Pa.; and Lena (deceased), Mrs. Graybill, of Cul-
lom, Illinois.
Mrs. Hartman has a very pleasant, hospitable
home in Lancaster, where she welcomes her friends
and family. Although she mourns the loss of her
husband, she has learned to look upon the cheerful
side of afflictions even, and sets a beautiful example
by her Christian fortitude and charitable actions,
endearing herself to all who know her.
SAMUEL SHEAFFER STACKS, the efficient
judgment and mortgage clerk to the county com-
missioners of Lancaster county, and who has held
that position since 1894, as well as having been as-
sistant clerk for five years to Secretary of the Com-
monwealth W. W. Griest when the latter was chief
clerk to the county commissioners, is a genial,
clever gentleman, and has made hosts of friends by
his courteous and intelligent discharge of the re-
sponsible duties of his office.
Thomas Stacks, his grandfather, came to Amer-
ica from England, and settled in York county,
where he followed his trade of blacksmith, making
a specialty of the manufacture of sickles, which
were of the finest make and much larger than those
of to-day.
Thomas Stacks, son of Thomas (i), came to
Lancaster county from York county when he was
eleven years old. He was a farmer for a time in
East Donegal township, and later followed the same
occupation in West Donegal and near Washington
borough. He died in the latter place Feb. 24, 1901,
aged eighty-two years. He married Miss Mary
Sheaffer, of Dauphin county, and their home was
brightened by nine children, of whom the following
named are living : Jacob S., of Chicago ; Elizabeth,
wife of Joseph A. Schlegelmilch, a contracting car-
penter of Auburn, 111. ; Mary, wife of Joseph A.
Lindemuth, a retired farmer of Columbia; Fanny,
wife of Eli Menaugh, a contractor and builder of
Florin ; Amanda, wife of Jonathan Shank, a con-
tractor and builder of West Donegal ; Emma, wife
of Lincoln Stehman, a farmer of Manor ; and Sam-
uel S., assistant clerk to the county commissioners.
Samuel Sheaflfer Stacks was born in East Done-
gal township May 28, 1853, and was educated in the
schools of his district and at Lebanon Valley Col-
lege. Leaving the latter institution, Mr. Stacks en-
tered into the coal and lumber business with his
father at Florin, and, dissolving the partnership
after a while, he carried on the business himself for
one year, at the end of which time he became a
1382
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
tobacco farmer. His next venture was in connec-
tion with the Conoy Creamery Company, after
which he spent two years in the employ of the State
Tobacco Growers' Association of Pennsylvania, in
connection with one of' their experimental stations.
Mr. Stacks is a member of the Knights of the
Mystic Chain, of Florin, having been recording
scribe since the organization of that body in his
home place — a period of twelve years. He also be-
longs to the Knights of Malta, of Lancaster. In re-
ligious work he has always been active, and is a
inember and trustee of the U. B. Church of Florin,
as well as a teacher in the Sunday-school, of which
he was for seven years superintendent.
Mr. Stacks married Miss Leah Geistwheit,
daughter of Jacob Geistwheit, of Florin. Four chil-
dren were born to them, one of whom died at the
age of seven years. The survivors are Harvey G.,
a machinist ; and Elsie and Elizabeth, at home. Mr.
Stacks has been a stanch Republican since boy-
hood, and served one term as county committeeman
from his district. He was assessor of East Donegal
for seven or eight years, and from 1894 served as
judgment and mortgage clerk, the last term for
which he' was elected expiring the first Monday in
January, 1903. His duties are discharged promptly,
and his courteous treatment of those who have busi-
ness with him has won him many friends.
PHARES WISE FRY, one of Lancaster's prom-
ment leaf tobacco dealers, with warehouse and office
at No. 1 19 North Christian street, is descended from
one of the oldest and best known families in Lan-
caster county, his ancestors having been the found-
ers of Fryville, in Ephrata township, and there his
grandfather died. The family came originally from
Switzerland, and possessed a family crest. Samuel
Fry, father of Phares W., was a well known miller
of Millport, Warwick township, and died in 1868,
aged sixty years. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter
of Christian Wise, a farmer of Millport, and she en-
tered into rest in 1873, aged sixty years. Samuel
Fry was the father of eight children, the survivors
fcemg Menno M., who is in the leaf tobacco trade in
Lancaster ; Susanna, wife of Benjamin Wissler, a
miller and farmer of Clay township ; and Phares W.,
leaf tobacco dealer of Lancaster.
Phares Wise Fry was born in Millport Dec. 24,
1845, ancl was educated in the public schools and
the State Normal School of Millersville. During
the war of the Rebellion he enlisted in the i9Sth P.
V. I., as an "emergency man," for one hundred days,
but really served six months : he ranked as corporal.
In 1864 he foimd employment in a store at Lincoln,
Lancaster county, and in 1865 became a salesman in
Lane's drv-goods store, East King street, Lancaster,
reniaining there seven years. In 1872 he began the
wail paper and window shade business, on North
Queen street, on his own account, and was the orig-
inal exchisive dealer in those lines in Lancaster. He
met with marked success, and continued in that trade
until 1886, when he closed the business and entered
the leaf tobacco and cigar trade, on Market street,
in partnership with his brother Menno M. Fry. This
partnership was continued until 1890, when it was
dissolved, and in 1892, Mr. Fry removed to his.
present location. No. 119 North Christian street,,
where he soon became recognized as one of the lead-
ing leaf tobacco dealers of his section.
Mr. Fry was married, April 7, 1878, to Miss'
Josephine C. Hess, daughter of Capt. George Hess,
of Safe Harbor. By this union he • has become the
father of the following children: (i) Howard W.,'
a graduate of the Lancaster high school, is now a;
stenographer and typewriter in the law office of
Owen P. Bricker, Esq. ; he is an exquisite performer
on the violin, being a member of Prof. Bufger's.
•Opera House orchestra. (2) Emma H., also a
graduate of the Lancaster High school, is at home
with her parents. (3) Allan C., assists in the office
of his father.
The cozy home of the farnily, located at No. 511
West Chestnut street, was purchased by Mr. Fry at
the time of his marriage, and he has since remodeled
it. Mr. Fry attends the First Methodist Episcopal
Church, of Lancaster, of which Mrs. Fry and family
are members. Politically, he is a Republican. He
belongs to no secret orders. Conscientious in all his
relations with his fellowmen, possessed of more than'
ordinary intelligence, affable at all times, Mr. Fry
is deservedly popular, in social as well as business
circles.
JAMES iH. SMOKER. Mr. Smoker is of Ger-
man lineage, his paternal great-grandfather, Peter
Smoker, having come from Germany to America
and settled in Lancaster county at a comparatively
earlv period in the history of that bailiwick. )
Peter Smoker was a farmer and a man held i»
high esteem for the many sterling qualities of his
rugged cliaracter. His son, John, the grandfather
of James M., was born in the same county in 1787,!
and was also a tiller of the soil, although the latter
years of his long life were passed in peaceful retire-
ment at the home of his son, Jacob K., the father of
James M. Smoker. He died in 1873, at the age of
eiglity-six years and six months. He was a member
of the German Reformed Church, as was his wife,
Mary Kerns. She was a daughter of Jacob Kerns,
who was also a German immigrant and one of Lan-
caster's early settlers, and in addition to farming
carried on the business of an auctioneer. Mrs. John-
Smoker died in 1872, at Salisbury, Vt., at precisely
the same age as did her husband. They were the
parents of four children, of whom Jacob K., the fa-
ther of James M., was the third. The others were
George ;. Eliza, who married John Rochie ; and Sam-
uel, all of whom are deceased.
Jacob K. Smoker was born in Paradise township,
Jan. A, 1822. He grew up on his father's farnl, and
at the age of twenty began learning the carpenter's,
trade. This pursuit he found not to his liking, and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1333
he embarked in buying and selling live stock in Phila-
delphia and the West. On March 4, 1864, he en-
listed in the Union army in an engineer corps of the
Pennsylvania Volunteers, and remained in the ser-
vice until Jan. 16, 1865, when he was mustered out
at Harper's Ferry. On his return home he began
tarming in Paradise, but in 1873 removed to Colum-
bia, where he began business as a huckster. Two
years later he went to Perry county, and spent an-
other two years there in farming. Becoming dis-
satisiied, he returned to Columbia and opened a
hoarding-house, but after three years once more be-
came a huckster, also acting as auctioneer when his
services were needed. He is a Presbyterian in faith
and a Republican in politics, and a member of the
G. A. R. His wife was Sarah L. Nelson, of Bart
township, to whom he was married April 4, 1850.
She bore him seven sons and four daughters, of
whom the eldest, William H., lives in Columbia.
John L. is a resident of Lancaster. Jacob G. and
Anna M. died in infancy. Lillie married George
Hughes, .and died in 1894. Franklin also died in
infancy, as did Elizabeth, the youngest child.
.George M. was a car inspector for me Pennsylvania
Company, and lost his life in a railroad accident,
April 23, 1894. Hannah L. is the wife of John
WviTier, who conducts a bakery at Columbia. How-
ard G. is a successful druggist at Mount Joy.
Sarah L. (Nelson)- Smoker was born in Leacock
township, July 27, 1830. She was the first' born of
the- five children of William H. and Mary (Craw-
ford) Nelson, both of County Derry, Ireland. Her
parents .'mmigrated to this country in 1829, and after
a year's residence in Philadelphia settled in Leacock:
Ller father was by trade a carpenter, and was also
a prosperous farmer and teamster. He lived to see
his sixty-seventh birthday, and died in 1874. His
Avife was born in December, 1804, and passed away
on April 8, 1891. The two younger sisters of Sarah
"(Nelson) Smoker were Mary, who married Henry
"Bachman, of Bart township ; and Elizabeth, Mrs.
j"acob Rowe, who died in 1896. Two brothers,
James and William, are locomotive engineers, the
ilder living in Philadelphia, and the younger at Den-
ver, Colorado.
James M. Smoker was born in Lancaster county,
Aug. 16, 1862. He was reared upon a farm, and at
the age of fifteen years found employment in a saw-
mill. In 1879 he entered the service of the Penn-
sylvania Company as a brakeman. Within three
■years he was promoted to be flagman, and on June
.;23, 1882, was given the position of conductor, his
^promotion having been the result of patient, intel-
ligent, faithful work. He is a member of the Presby-
terian Church, and in politics a Republican.
In October, 1884, in Columbia, James M. Smoker
was married to Margaret J. Kraus, of Columbia.
To them have been born eight children, Clara E.,
William K., Mar.shall F., Vernon E., Dorothy F.,
Howard G., Nettie B. and Jacob W. Mrs. Margaret
;,( Kraus) Smoker was born in Philadelphia, March
2, 1866, a daughter of Frederick and Mary (Roesh)
Kraus, both of whom were born in Germany. Her
parents were married in Oxford and settled in Lan-
caster county in 1867. Frederick Kraus was born
June 19, 1833, and is still living. He is a shoemaker
by trade and for twelve years served as justice of
the peace at Marietta. His wife, Margaret, died in
1897, after reaching the age of fifty years. Their
children numbered seventeen, and were named Anna^
Herrmann, Elizabeth, William, MargaretJ., Charles
F., Gottlieb, Nettie, Jacob, Ernest, Martin, Henry,
George, Robert, Frederick, Luther and James.
THOMAS LEWIS McMICHAEL, sheriff of
Lancaster county, comes from a long-lived and prom-
inent family, of Scotch-Irish descent. His grand-,
father and his grandmother each , lived to be eighty;
eight years old, and his father, James McMichael,
died Nov. 20, 1901, in the ninetieth year of his age-
The latter was for twenty-seven years manager of
the James M. Hopkins ore banks, and afterward a
Jarmer; living, and dying on the old homestead in
East Drumore. James McMichael was married
three times, his second wife, who was Hettie Philips,
daughter of Jacob Phillips, of East Drumore, having
been the mother of Thomas L. James McMichael
had. three children by his first union, seven of the sec-
ond union and five of the third. Mrs. Hettie Mc;-
Michael died when her son Thomas L. was three
.years old. His brother, Harry S., is a prominent at-
torney at law in Indianapolis. His father's brother,
Rev. W. W. McMichael, was in his eighty-ninth
year when he died, and he was at the time of his death
the oldest member of the Philadelphia M. E. Con-
ierence.
Thomas Lewis McMichael was born on the old
homestead in East Drumore, which, he now owns,
Sept. 28, 1856. He was educated in the public
scliools of the district, and worked on his father's
farm until he was twenty-one, when he engaged in
.the live stock trade, dealing extensively in, horses,
.and not a little in cattle. He is still a live-stock
dealer, and a very reliable and successful one.
' A stanch Rei^ublican, Mr. McMichael took an
.active part in politics in his district, and so popular
did he become that his friends insisted on his run-
ning for sheriff, to which important office he was
triumphantly elected in November, 1899 ; he has
given the greatest satisfaction in the discharge of
hi.s, duties.
Mr. McMichael was married, June 26, 190T, to
Miss Margaret Killinger, daughter of Jacob Kill-
inger, of Lancaster. One child, Ruth, died at the
age of five months. The sherifif now lives at No.
907 East King street, or, more properly speaking,
on the Philadelphia turnpike, in Lancaster township.
He is a member of the Mt. Hope Methodist Epis-
copal Church, and belongs to the Blue Lodge of
Masons, the American Mechanics, the Elks, and the
Young Republicans, and is one of the most popular
men, personally, in all Lancaster county.
1334
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ISAAC KAUFFMAN (deceased) was one of
the prominent citizens of Lancaster county in his
time, and was born and reared on the old homestead
in Manor township. He was born Aug. 15, 1801,
and died March 12, 1888, and within these Hmits
lived a singularly useful life.
Mr. Kaufifman remained in Manor township for
eleven years after his marriage, and then established
himself in Penn township, where the rest of his life
was passed. In Manor township he owned a farm
near Central Manor, which is now in the possession
of Samuel Kauffman. In Penn township he owned
a farm of 100 acres. A most methodical farmer,
everything was kept by him in the best order.
Though never very much interested in public and
political affairs, he was a good citizen, and very
highly regarded in the community.
Mr. Kauffman was married three times, his first
wife being Elizabeth Martin, and his second Mary
Hertzler, was born in 1806, and died when fifty
years of age. She was born and reared in Manor
township. They became the parents of eight chil-
dren: Christian H. ; Benjamin B., who resides at
the Gingrich Mill in Manheim township; Isaac C,
deceased ; Mary H., widow of John Nestleroth, and
living in Manheim borough; Elizabeth, wife of Jo-
seph Buckwalter, of Kissel Hill ; Barbara, who died
unmarried ; and two who died in infancy. Mr.
Kauffman married for his third wife a Mrs. Reist.
He and his wife were members of the Mennonite
Church, of which Mr. Kauffman was a deacon for
many years.
Christian H. Kauffman was born Feb. 17,
1827, and was reared on the farm. His education
was secured in the common schools, and when he
was twenty-three he began life for himself. For
eleven years he had his home in Manheim township.
During the first seven years of that time he culti-
vated his father's farm on shares, and then bought
the farm, consisting of 112 acres. About four years
later he sold it and bought a smaller farm of sixty-
four acres, a mile south of Petersburg, where he car-
ried on general farming until his retirement, in 1891,
when he removed to Petersburg, where he had his
home until his death. His honesty, industry and in-
telligence united to make and keep a wide circle of
friends.
Mr. Kauffman was married twice, first in 1849
to Miss Mary Huber, daughter of John Huber, of
Manheim township. To this union were born : John,
who is deceased ; Abraham, a missionary of the Men-
nonite Brethren of Christ in the West; Amos, de-
ceased; Fannie, wife of David Groff, of Bird-in-
Hand; Mary, wife of Jeremiah Barts, of Mt. Joy
township ; Annie, wife of John E. Hess, of East
Hempfield township ; Jacob, a farmer in Missouri ;
Lizzie, wife of Emanuel Hertzler, of Philadelphia,
Pa., and the mother of Esther, Aldus and Harry.
Mrs. Mary Kauffman died March 11, 1886, lacking
but a few days of being fifty-six years old.
Mr. Kauffman married for his second wife the
widow of Jacob Odenwalt. She was bom in Manor
township March 25, 1836, daughter of Martin Dam-
bach, a resident of Manor township, now deceased.
By her first marriage she was the mother of five
children : Lizzie, wife of John Hoffmaster, of West
Hempfield township ; Susan, wife of James Coxen,
of York county; Martin, deceased; John, hving in
Lancaster ; and Mary, wife of Joshua Lewis, of Co-
lumbia. Mr. Kauffman belonged (as does also Mrs.
Kauffman) to the Old Mennonite Church, and was
highly respected in the community where his useful
life passed.
John Kauffman, the eldest child of Christian H.
and Mary Kauffman, left a widow and six children.
He married Amanda Shriner, and they had seven
children : Clayton, Elmer, Ellen, Amanda, Lizzie,
Naomi, and Mamie, the latter deceased. Clayton
married Ida Shaub, and they have one son, Lester ;
Elmer married Emma Huffman, and has one son,
Herman; Ellen married James McCauley, and they
have two children, Edna and Paul ; Amanda married
George Shaub.
Abraham Kauffman, the second child of Chris-
tian Kauffman, married Lizzie Hurst, by whom he
had four children, Ada (Mrs. Burkholder), Harvey,
Elmer and Alvin.
MICHAEL BRECHT, one of the leading citi-
zens of Lancaster, and a retired hotel man of that
locality, was born in Lancaster Nov. 2, 1854, son of
Michael and Elizabeth (Hillesine) Brecht, natives
of Baden, Germany, where they married and lived
until 1848. Then, attracted by the accounts they had
heard of the opportunities in America, they emi-
grated, and settled in Lancaster, Pa. In his native
land the father was a farmer by occupation, and nat-
urally followed the same calling in the new home.
He died in 1879, when he Was sixty-nine years of
age, very highly respected by the entire community.
His wife died in 1877. aged sixty-five, and they are
buried in Lancaster cemetery. Both were consistent
members of St. John's German Reformed Church.
The father was a member of Red Jacket Tribe, Reel
Men. The children born to their union were:
Christopher (deceased) married Catherine Bless-
ing; Jacob (deceased) married Mary Loucner ; Bar-
nard (deceased) married Catherine Lewis; Francis,
born in 1850, died in 1882, unmarried; Michael is
mentioned below. In addition to farming, on his
small property of four acres, in the Eighth ward,
the father also did rafting on the Conestoga creek.
The early history of Michael Brecht, Jr., was the
same as that of any farmer boy, for he worked for
his father, and attended the public schools whenever
opportunity offered. At the age of sixteen, however,
he began to learn the trade of cigarmaker, at which
he worked four years, when his attention was at-
tracted toward the oil fields of Pennsylvania, and he
was then engaged for three years operating steam
pumps. He returned to Lancaster, where after a
few years he engaged in the hotel business, and for
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1835
eleven years, from 1891 to 1902, he operated one of
the best and most popular hotels in the city, at the
latter date transferring it to his nephew, William C.
Brecht, who continues it under the old and justly
famous policy.
All through life Mr. Brecht has made it a rule to
devote himself to whatever line of business he was
pursuing, and as a result of his thrift and foresight
he has been unusually successful, and can well afford
to enjoy some of the comforts his industry has pro-
cured for him. In religious matters he is a member
of St. John's German Reformed Church. Politi-
cally he reserves the right to vote as his opinions
dictate, preferring to select a man according to his
fitness for the office rather than to be entirely guided
by party policy. In all his dealings he, has won and
retained the respect of his fellow-citizens, and he
has a host of friends with whom he is deservedly
popular.
BAYARD T. LOCKARD is a conductor and as-
sistant yardmaster in th6 service of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, with his home in Columbia,
where he was born Sept. 28, 1854. He is the grand-
son of Charles and Elizabeth Lockard, of Lancaster
county, his grandfather being of English, and his
grandmother of German descent. Charles Lockard
was a shoemaker and river pilot who spent his life
in Columbia, where both he and his wife passed
away. The father of Bayard T. was John Lockard,
also of Columbia, who was a foreman in the stone
quarries of Chickies, Pa. He died in 1883, having
reached the age of seventy-three years. His wife
was Hannah Long, of Lancaster county, whose fa-
ther, Joseph, was a soldier in the war for independ-
ence. She died in 1880, in her seventieth year.
Bayard T. Lockard was the eighth of their ten
children, the others being Elizabeth, Mary, James,
Charles, Patience, Jennie, John, Kate and William.
Elizabeth married Wesley Davis and is now de-
ceased. Mary is the widow of Samuel Musser, late
a Pennsylvania conductor. Charles is a passenger
engineer, and lives in Philadelphia. James was a
member of Co. K, 45th P. V. I., and fell a victim to
the privations suffered while a prisoner at Ander-
sonville. Patience became Mrs. Joseph Hogendob-
ler, and is dead. Jennie is unmarried and resides in
Chicago, 111. John has retired from business and
has his home in Columbia. Kate married Thomas
Hinkle, a bricklayer of that place, and William died
in childhood.
Mr. Lockard, when a boy of fourteen years, be-
gan work in the rake factory of his native town, and
at the age of seventeen obtained a position as brake-
man for the Pennsylvania Company. After two
years he was assigned to work in the yards, and after
a few years more experience as brakeman, fiagnian
and conductor, was made yard master, a post which
he filled for seven vears. He then again went upon
the road as a conductor, and has continued with the
road in that capacitv, occasionally doing extra work
as yard master. He is a member of the Order o£
Railway Conductors and an active worker in the'
Pennsylvania Railroad Y. M. C. A. He belongs to
the United Brethren Church, and in politics is a Re-
publican. His tastes are domestic and literary, and
his library contains a well-selected assortment of
volumes. He was married in August, 1883, at
Mountville, to Miss Mary Quinn. Their union has
been withoitt issue, but they have reared an adopted
daughter from her childhood.
Mrs. Lockard was born at Danville, Pa., in 1865.
Her grandfather, John Quinn, came to America
from South Wales and settled at Scranton, where he
died. Her father was named Henry, and her mother
was Anna Lewis, their marriage taking place in Dan-
ville. She was their only child. Henry Quinn came
to this country with his parents when a boy of twelve
years, and learned the trade of an iron worker; he
passed his life at Danville and Columbia, and died
June 18, 1872, in his forty-third year. His wife was
the daughter of Stephen and Margaret (Mowery)
Lewis, of Muncy, Pa. Mr. Lewis was a tailor, and
died in Bellefonte, Pa. His widow, who was born
in July, 1816, is still living in Sunbur.yj Pennsyl-
vania.
FRANCIS HERR (deceased). This name is
numbered am.ong the prosperous farmers who did
mtich to develop Lancaster county, for he spent his
life engaged in agricultural pursuits, and died near
his birthplace in December, 1852. His remains were
interred in the Longenecker cemetery.
Mr. Herr was born in West Lampeter township,
Lancaster Co., Pa., in 1786, son of Rev. Francis
Herr. Reared upon a farm, and receiving such edu-
cational advantages as were within the means of his
parents, he adopted farming as his life occupation,
although later in life he was often called upon to
settle estates, his well known probity and keen sense
of justice making his services satisfactory to all con-
cerned. Although not a member of any denomina-
tion, he was interested in and gave generously to the
New Mennonite Church. At his death Lancaster
county lost one of its best citizens, and his family a
wise and loving head. Although half a century has
passed since his demise, he is remembered with af-
fection, and his name is held in respect as the result
of a life of uprightness and honorable living.
In May, 1813, Francis Herr married, in Lancas-
ter, Frances Neff, who was born in Strasburg town-
ship, Lancaster Co., Pa., in 1791, and died in West
Lampeter township in 1871 ; she was buried by the
side of her husband. She was a daughter of Jacob
and Elizabeth (Herr) Neff, of Lancaster county.
The following family waS born to Mr. and Mrs.
Herr: EHzabeth, widow of Adam Herr, of Stras-
burg, Pa., has two children: Anna C. (deceased)
married Martin Weaver, of Lancaster county, and
had four children: Amos F., a retired farmer of
West Lampeter township, married Anna Frantz, and
had twelve children ; Frances is at home ; Charlotte,
1336
BTOGRAPHICAI. ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
widow of Henry Herr, lives with her two sisters,
Frances and Amanda (she has one child, Lizzie F.) ;
Cyrus N., a retired farmer of Lancaster, married
Ella A. Brackbill, and they had nine children ; Aman-
da is at home ; Mary A- died young ;. Franklin J., who
died in 1892, married Sarah Frantz, and they had
twelve children.
SAMUEL KURTZ ZOOK, the popular and
enterprising jeweler in Lancaster, is a son of Morris
Zook, a leading leather dealer of Lancaster, and in
both paternal and maternal lines comes of ancestry
distinguished for enterprise and worth.
Before coming to Lancaster Morris Zook was
the proprietor of a woolen mill in Providence town-
ship, where the Zooks have been prominent people
for the past several generations. Mr. Zook was
married, in 1866, to Miss Elizabeth S. Locher,
daughter of the late Henry T. Locher, who was one
of the pioneer morocco tanners and manufacturers
of Lancaster, and who, as keeper of the Lancaster
county prison for years, won a reputation as a hu-
mane and honest official that extended all over the
State. Three children were born to the union of
Morris Zook and Elizabeth S. Locher : Catherine ;
Harry L., who for several years has been engaged
in the leather business on East King street; and
Samuel Kurtz Zook, the jeweler.
Samuel Kurtz Zook was born on the old home-
■stead, in Providence township, Dec. 21, 1867. His
■parents removed to. the city when he was four and
a half years old, and he acquired his education in the
.public schools, leaving the Boys' High School to
iearn the jewelry trade with H. Z. Rhoads, with
■whom he remained six and one-half years. He then
.spent one year in the finishing department of the
.Lancaster (now Hamilton) watch factory, after
■which he went to Trenton, N. J., where he became
•final inspector of work, a responsible position, which
he held for one year, and then resigned to go to
Waltham, from which place he went to Keyser,
rW. Va., where for four years he was manager of a
■jewelry store. Soon after his marriage Mr. Zook
iTeturned to Lancaster, and, purchasing the jewelry
store of Walter C. Herr, at the corner of North
-Queen and East Orange streets, proceeded to en-
large and remodel the place until it has become
noted for its beauty and for the excellence of its
-goods. The business has more than quadrupled
since Mr. Zook took hold of it, and so large did it
become that, in the spring of 1901, he found it
■necessary to have more room, which he secured by
I adding the store room on the north, this giving him
,a frontage of thirty-eight feet on North Queen
.street, with a depth of thirty-five feet, constituting
the handsomest store in Lancaster. Thoroughly
practical in the business, as may be inferred from
'the watch factory and other experiences which we
have referred to in his career, Mr. Zook was not
long in meeting with extended and substantial rec-
,ognition, the extent of which may be judged from
the fact that he supplied and put in the new court-
house clock (of which he was custodian for six
years), and the clock in St. Anthony's Catholic
Church.
On Aug. 9, 1893, at Keyser, W. Va., Mr. Zook
married Miss Birdie Miller, daughter of John Mil-
ler, a merchant of that town. Fraternally Mr. Zook
belongs to the blue lodge of Masons, the Benevolent
Order of Elks and the Young Republicans ; relig-
iously he is a member of the First Presbyterian,
Church. John Miller was born in Glasgow, Scot-
land, came to America when thirteen years old and
settled in West Virginia, where he was a merchant,
and was postmaster under President Harrison; he
married Margaret McCan, and they had seven chil-
dren.
JACOB LEFEVER. Among the substantial
and leading farmers of East Lampeter township
perhaps none are better known than Jacob Lefever,
as during a period of forty-nine years he regularly
attended market and successfully disposed of his
surplus, dealing fairly and honestly with his patrons,
and thus making many friends.
Jacob Lefever was born in Millport, Lancaster
county, Dec. 19, 1826, a son of John and Magdalena
(Neif) Lefever. Until he was sixteen years of age
he remained at home, but at that time his father,
desiring to see his son being prepared for a future
useful life, hired him out, according to the custom
of the time, to Henry Doner, a farmer, stipulating
that the lad should be permitted to attend school
during the winter sessions. This farmer was one
of the ]:ind that believed that the less education a
man possessed, the more manual labor he could per-
form, and when he discovered that his new boy was
able to read, write and understood mathematics, he
decided that more education would not be good for
him. The two succeeding years were passed by
Mr. Lefever with this farmer, but he then returned
home and remained until his twentieth year.
About this time his brother Daniel gave him an
opportunity to live with him and assist on his farm,
and here Jacob remained for a year, when he decid-
ed to visit his Ohio relatives. At that time the trip
was almost a stupendous event in the life of a
farmer boy, but young Lefever bravely started up-
on his travels. Going by rail to Harrisburg, he
there took the canal boat to Pittsburg, thence to
Cincinnati by the old stern-wheel steamboat down
the Ohio, and from there he reached Dayton by
means of a stage coach. After six months passed
in the society of his Buckeye relatives, he went home
and remained there the following year, when he
again became a member of his brother Daniel's fam-
ily, where he continued until his marriage with
Annie Kreider, Nov. 15, 1849.
Mr. and Mrs. Lefever began married life on a
fine farm of 103 acres, in East Hempfield township,
and lived there busy and comfortable for fifteen
years. In 1864, Mr. Lefever bought his present
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1337
farm in East Lampeter, and with the exception of
the residence, has made all of the improvements
upon It. These represent a considerable outlay, as
all of them are of tl:e most substantial character,
and are well fitted to the large farming operations
which he carried on. Mr. Lefever has owned sev-
eral other farms, pne of them having been located in
Upper Leacock township, and at one time he also
owned the farm which adjoins his, but this he gave
to his son. In connection with his farming, the
constant attendance at market for so long a period
has entailed much labor, and during forty-nine years
his pleasant ffice was seldom missed by the atten-
dants of the Lancaster market.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lefever are :
Susanna, who married Henry Buchwalter, a fanner
of East Lampeter, and has four sons and three
daughters; Annie, who died at the age of eleven;
Abram, born Sept. 20, 1854, and died in 1899,
leaving a widow, Anna Burkholder (with four
daughters), who now lives with her father in Upper
Leacock township ; Mary Ann, who died in child-
hood; Melinda, born May i, 1859, and died at the
age of five years ; John, born Aug. 7, 1861, and
married to Luetta Buchwalter, and by whom he has
lour sons and three daughters ; and Frank, born
Dec. 8, 1868, and married to Mary Landis, by
whom he had one child, now deceased, and they rent
the home farm.
All his life, Jacob Lefever has been a hard-work-
ing man, and has always possessed the esteem of
the community in which he has had his home.
Both he and his wife are consistent members of the
Old Mennonite Church, and faithfully strive to live
ijp to their religious professions.
HENRY M. HOUSER. an active and eloquent
member of the Lancaster Bar, has an ancestry that
dates back to the early history of Lancaster county.
His grandfather, John Houser, a farmer, was born
in Adamstown, this county, on the ancestral acres,
and his son, Abraham, the father of Henry M.,
was for years a merchant tailor of New . Holland,
but is now leading a retired life. Abraham Houser
married Miss Anne Louisa Brubaker, daughter of
Henry Brubaker, at one time a farmer, and later a
hotel-keeper. They had five children: Ida, wife
of Lewis Murr, of Lititz; Handford F., assistant
manager of the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan
Railroad, living at Elkhart, Ind. ; Henry M. ; R. B.,
a machinist, of Lancaster ; and Etta M., at home.
Henry M. Houser was born in New Holland in
'i860, and received his education in the local schools
and Chambersburg Academy. In 1879 he entered
the law office of D. P. Rosenmiller, read and studied
closely, and was admitted to the Bar in 1881, and
to the Supi-eme court in May, 1884; later he was
admitted to practice in the Superior and United
States District courts. Mr. Houser conducted a
case before Judge Butler as early as 1885, though
onlv admitted to practice in 1881.
Mr. Houser is a Republican, and as he is a
forcible and popular speaker his services on the
hustings are in much demand. He took a very
active part in the first McKinley campaign. This
same power of oratory has made him very promi-
nent in criminal cases, and to this side of practice
he has given more than ordinary attention. As
soliciror for the board of prison inspectors of Lan-
caster county he served one term. Mr. Houser is a
director of the Champion Blower & Forge Com-
pany, of Lancaster, and of the American Mechanics'
Building & Loan Association of that city.
In religion Mr. Houser is identified with the M.
E. Church. Socially he is a Mason and has risen
to the Lodge of Perfection, and he is a past oificer
of the Benevolent Order of Elks. Mr. Houser
owns and occupies a commodious modern house at
No. 323 North Lime street, Lancaster. He is rear-
ing a boy whom he took as a protege, and to whom
he is giving as much care and attention as though
he were his very own. In all the walks of life Mr.
Houser is popular and mitch esteemed.
B. FRANK BARR, the florist, is one of the
leading and responsible business citizens of Lan-
caster, and his establishment, the "Floral Bazar,"
located at No. 32 West King street, is the center of
interest for all of the residents of Lancaster who
delight in a lavish and beautiful display of flowers,
at all seasons of the year. His success in the floral
line has given him a reputation which extends all
over the State.
Mr. Earr was born in Greenland, Lancaster
county, Aug. 28, 1871, son of Benjamin M. and
Lydia (McMullen) Barr, who are still residents of
Greenland, where they live retired. Young Frank
was reared on a farm and acquired his early educa-
tion in the public schools, finishing with a thorough
training for a practical career in the Lancaster Busi-
ness College. When he was. nineteen years of age
he decided to become a florist, and with this end in
view, he connected himself with the establishment
of the Dingee-Conard Co., of West Grove, Chester
county, with whom he spent two years, gaining a
complete knowledge of all the details. Later he
was connected with the trade in Harrisburg, and
then embarked in the business for himself, buying
a large plant in Lancaster. When Mr. Barr took
charge of the business in this place he was some-
what handicapped through the poor business meth-
ods which had formerl}- prevailed, but he immedi-
ately applied himself with enthusiasm and energy,
and soon displayed such a complete knowledge of
the art of floriculture, together with the business
methods which are, also, most necessary to ensure
success, that he gained the confidence of his associ-
ates and the trade, and is acknowledged to be a lead-
er in his line in the State.
Mr. Barr's greenhouses are located on Cottage
Place, just off of Columbia Avenue, West End ave-
nue, and First street — a most desirable location, in
1338
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ever)' way. His plant covers an immense area,
there being more than twenty-one hothouses, with
75,000 feet of glass. Here he grows in perfection
all kinds of flowers and foliage plants, making a
specialty of tropical plants, and has developed a
large business in the cut flower trade. His patrons
have found that he. can supply all kinds of flowers,
for private and public festivities or other occasions,
at much less than would be required if the orders
were sent to Philadelphia.
Mr. Barr's trade is both wholesale and retail
and covers almost all of the United States. Until
1897 his trade was wholly wholesale, but, as there had
been a constant and growing demand for local ac-
commodation in the retail line, Mr. Barr yielded to
it and he has fully supplied the public want. The
greater part of his attention, however, is given to
his wholesale business, in which alone he employs
from ten to fifteen capable assistants. Since 1897
his retail business has grown to such proportions
that he has found it advisable to issue a retail as
well as a wholesale catalogue. Many of his choice
specimens have been exported from other countries,
his houses offering a. rare and wonderful collection
of the most desirable plants both of home and
foreign growth.
Mr. Barr is connected with the American Flor-
ists Association, the B. P. O. E. Lodge No. 142, of
Lancaster, and the Young Men's Republican Club.
No man in this commimity has done more, per-
haps no other man has done as much, to create and
encourage a love for flowers as has B. Frank Barr.
His unusual success in all lines of floriculture, and
particularly in the matter of growing chrysanthe-
mums, carnations and American Beauty roses, has
created a demand for his goods that extends far
beyond the confines of Lancaster county. It is not
only as a grower that Mr. Barr is noted, but also
as a decorative artist, his taste in the floral arrange-
ments and designs for festive or other occasions
making his services most desirable.
Although his fellow citizens have not been slow
to acknowledge their pride in his achievements,
Mr. Barr is modest and unassuming, and is ever
ready to assist his patrons in his lines, many of
whom have come to depend entirely upon him, not
only for their decorations, but for other arrange-
ments.
PETER R. EABY, now living retired in East
Lampeter township, was born Sept. 25, 1841, in
East Earl township, and was for many years identi-
fied with the prosperous farmers of Lancaster
county.
Peter Eaby, the father of our subject, was born
Sept. 10, 1804, in LeacocK township, this county,
and was educated in the local public schools. In
1830 he wedded Miss Annie Runk, daughter of
Jacob Runk, and to this union were born eleven chil-
dren, three of whom died in infancy: Susan be-
came the wife of Jacob Evans : Mary wedded
Jacob Senich; Elias is a resident of Atlantic City;
Annie is the wife of Aaron H. Bair ; Peter R. is our
subject; Adam is deceased; Elizabeth is the wife
of Samuel G. Souder ; Daniel, resides in Fetterville,
Pa. The mother was a member of the Old Men-
nonite Church. Mr. Eaby in politics was a Repub-
lican, and he held the office of school director for
some years.
Peter R. Eaby remained at home with his par-
ents until he was about twenty-eight years of age.
His education was acquired in the common schools
of the county. When he began farming for himself
he followed that occupation two years on his fath-
er's farm, after which he moved to Paradise town-
ship and farmed there for ten years. He has since
lived retired. Mr. Eaby is a member of the Old
Mennonite Church. He has always affiliated with
the Republican party in politics, and has held the
office of tax collector for about twelve years.
Our subject wedded Miss Annie Longenecker,
of Lancaster county. They have no children. Mr.
Eaby is one of Lancaster county's most progressive
men, and he is very highly respected in the commun-
ity in which he lives, a fact to which his long con-
tinuance in office, bears most convincing testimony.
He is public-spirited, and is fully alive to all the
best interests of his church and community.
ROBERT CLAYTON SELDOMRIDGE, one
of the leading grocers of Lancaster, is regarded as
one of the most prominent and successful business
men of that city. He is a native of Pennsylvania,
born Dec, 31, 1862, in Monterey, Lancaster county.
Benjamin T. Seldomridge, father of Robert C,
was a son of Isaac Seldomridge, a native of Lan-
caster county, a farmer by occupation, and a Luth-
eran in religious faith. Benjamin T. married a
daughter of the late Robert Bursk, and five children
graced their union : Catherine B., wife of Darius
Simmons, of Lancaster; Ella M., wife of Frank
Good, a farmer of Bareville, Pa. ; Rev. I. N., pastor
of the U. B. Church at Harrisburg, Pa. ; Robert C,
who is more fully spoken of farther on ; and How-
ard G., who, after taking a three-years course at
Curray's College of Oratory, in Boston, was grad-
uated May 6, 1903, and on May 8th (two days later) ,
gave a recital in the Martin Auditorium, Lancaster.
The father of this family has been a school director,
and secretary of the board of Upper Leacock town-
ship for twenty-five years continuously.
The Bursks trace their ancestry back to the time
when three brothers of the narne were captured
by the Indians, one of the three surviving to tell
the tale of their terrible adventure. This one set-
tled in Bucks county. Pa., married, and had three
sons, and one of these sons was the great-grand-
father of Robert Bursk, previously mentioned.
Robert C. Seldomridge received his education in
the public schools in the neighborhood of his place
of birth. At the age of sixteen years he came to
Lancaster, and, 'entering the store of D. S. Bursk
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1339
as junior clerk, remained until he was twenty-eight,
at which time he received the appointment of man-
ager of the grocery store in Lancaster which was
opened by a Philadelphian at Nos. i8 and 20 North
Queen street. In 1895 this Philadelphia concern
failed, and on Sept. 28, 1895, Mr. Seldomridge be-
came the owner by purchase. The original store
was more than doubled in size, while the trade has
quadrupled, all due to the thorough business acu-
men of its wide-awake owner, who has fairly won a
place among the successful men in the community
in which he lives. The business had now attained
to such proportions that Mr. Seldomridge was com-
pelled to seek a larger store room, which he found at
Nos. 6 and 8 North Queen street.
On June 16, 1885, Robert C. Seldomridge was
married, at Intercourse, Lancaster county, to Miss
Harriet E. Sample, daughter of Dr. S. R. Sample,
a prominent physician of that section, and member
of one of the oldest and most highly esteemed fam-
ilies of Lancaster county. Seven children were
born of this union, five of whom are yet living, viz :
Edna R., Florence A., Robert B., Helen E. and S.
Warren. All but the youngest are attending school.
Mr. Seldomridge is a member of St. John's
Lutheran Church, and socially is affiliated with the
F. & A. M. (blue lodge, chapter and Lodge of Per-
fection), the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the Knights of Pythias. Politically he is a
member of the Young Republican Club, being a
zealous and enthusiastic Republican, though never
obtruding his opinion upon others.
JOHN E. MALONE, one of the prominent and
representative members of the legal profession in
the city of Lancaster, is a native son of the place,
although his long line of ancestry reaches far back
in the history of Ireland. To these ancestors Mr.
Malone is indebted for many fortunate character-
istics which have eased his way to success — the
quick wit, the ready comprehension and the active
brain. belonging to descendants of Irish stock, who
now make up so large and important a part of the
citizens of the United States.
Thomas Malone, an honest and industrious
wheelwright and miller, whose birthplace and life-
long home was in County Cavan, Ireland, was the
great-grandfather of John E. Malone. He married
a maiden of the same county, Jane Lee, and they
had a familv of seven sons born to them, namely:
John, Thomas, James, Patrick, Hugh, Bernard and
Michael, all of whom, with the exception of John,
came in the course of time to America, and became
prominent and successful citizens.
James Malone, son of Thomas, married Alice
McGraw, also of County Cavan, Ireland, and in
1845 emigrated to America, settling for one year in
New York, later moving to Philadelphia, and late
in 1846 reaching Lancaster, where he entered upon
his business of contracting and building, becoming
well known and prosperous.
Richard A. Malone, son of James, and father of
John E., of Lancaster, requires no introduction to
the residents of that city, although his large busi-
ness contracts keep him outside her borders a great
portion of the time. Mr. Malone was born in Coun-
ty Cavan, Ireland, in 1834, and came with his par-
ents to America in 1845. He is widely known for
his excellent work in the contracting and build-
ing of bridges and tunnels, some of his work justly
entitling him to rank with the leading men in his
line. This was notably the case in the construction
of the Dorchester (Mass.) bay tunnel, which at the
time was regarded as a feat of engineering skill.
In this great work he was associated with David
McN. Stauffer. Mr. Malone has built many miles
of the Vaiiderbilt railroad system, and his work for
other lines, in the way of bridges and tunnels, has
been so satisfactory that his services are in demand
all over the country.
The first marriage of Richard A. Malone was to
Miss Mary Gilliece, who was born in Philadelphia,
daughter of James Gilliece, a native of Ireland, and
a prominent contractor in Philadelphia. The second
marriage of Mr. Malone was to Ellen, a sister of his
first wife; she died in May, 1902, aged fifty-two
years. The children of the first union were : Rich-
ard J., a graduate of St. Mary's College and the
Harvard Law School, -now an ex-attorney and rail-
road contractor in Philadelphia ; Alice R., wife of
Thomas S. Galvin, a florist of Boston, Mass. ; Ray-
mond, a contractor in Philadelphia ; Elizabeth, wife
of E. A. McGloughlin, an attorney in Boston, Mass. ;
John E., of Lancaster ; Mary, wife of Col. James
Duffy, of Marietta, Pa. ; Regina, who died unmar-
ried at the age of thirty years ; and Charles, who is
engaged with his father in business. Children as
follows were born to the second marriage: Ed-
win, deceased; Dr. Clarence M., a physician in
Lancaster ; James, deceased ; and Miss Edna, at
home. Mr. Malone educated all his sons in St.
Mary's College, at Emmitsburg, Md., with the ex-
ception of Dr. Clarence M., who was educated at
Fordham College.
John E. Malone was born in Marietta, Lan-
caster county, Jan. 8, 1862, and after receiving a
preparatory education in the public schools entered
Emmitsburg (Md.) College, graduating in 1881.
His legal studies were pursued under Jacob L.
Steinmetz, in Lancaster, and he was admitted to the
Bar in 1884. Mr. Malone early made himself felt
in politics, and for a period of eight years served as
chairman of the Democratic County Committee.
During the four years of President Cleveland's
second term he was the efficient and popular post-
master at Lancaster, and has been very active in all
the movements of the party in this- section of the
State.
Mr. Malone married (first) Josephine Duffy,
who was born at Marietta, Pa., daughter of Col.
James Duffy, and died within a year of their mar-
riage His second marriage was to Mrs. Mary A.
1340
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
(Andenreid) Shenk, who was born in Philadelphia.
Mr. Malone's fraternal connections are with the
Harnilton Club and the B. P. O. E. He has friends
everywhere, and. he is pointed to from all sides as a
representative member of his profession.
W. EDGAR BATES, M. D., chief consultmg
physician of Dr. Barnes, a prominent specialist of
Lancaster, was born Feb. i6, 1865, in Lehigh coun-
ty, this State, of which his parents, George P. and
Sarah A. Bates, were also natives. His literary ed-
ucation was acquired in the high school of Allen-
town, Pa., and at Muhlenburg College, and in 1883 ,
he entered Jefferson Medical College, from which
he was graduated in 1886 with .the degree of M.. D.,
though he spent the year of 1885 in the University
of Pennsylvania. The year following his gradua-
tion was spent in the Philadelphia Hospital, and at
the end of that time he entered the office of Dr. A.
W. Duvall, of Philadelphia, with whom he was
connected two. years. He was next asso.ciated with
the "Green's Nervura" people in Boston, as one of
the consulting- physicians, or rather corresponding
physician, and remained with them until 1896, when
he formed his present connection with Dr. Barnes
iat Lancaster, Pa., assuming full control of the large
practice of that gentleman in Lancaster, in Septem-
ber, 1899. Their specialties are ear,, nose, throat,
■lung, ner-v^us and chronic diseases, ah of which are
treated af'iheir' office. They are very careful in the
diagnosis , of- any and all diseases that come under
their care, and. deal frankly with, each and. every
case. They- also treat by syrhptom blanks, and are
giving relief to rnany throughout this entire section
of the State. If there is no possibility of relief from
their treatment, they hold out no hopes. Dr. Bates
is a man of more than ordinary ability and profi-
ciency in his profession, and is calculated to give
the best of satisfaction to those who come to him
for treatment. In 1897 and 1898 he was instructor
in mathematics and hygiene at the National Farm
School in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
In December, 1889, Dr. Bates married Miss
Hannah Wright Brigham, a natiye of Massachusetts
and a representative of the old and well-known
Brigham family of Boston. ■ They have one child,
W. Edgar, Jr. The Doctor and his family are
earnest and active members of the Presbyterian
Church and the Christian Endeavor Society. They
have a pleasant home at No. iS West Orange street,
where the Doctor also has his office.
HENRY ARNDT, ex-merchant, and vice-presi-
dent of the Manheim National Bank, in the borough
of Manheim, Lancaster county, is a native of that
borough, born Feb. 21, 1821.
John Arndt, grandfather of Henry, was the first
of this family to come to Lancaster county, Lebanon
county having previously been his place of resi-
dence. He was a tanner by trade, and being poor
began here by using two or three hogsheads for
vats. He persevered in his calling until he had
secured for himself a tanyard of considerable dimen-
sions. He also established a brickyard, and became
wealthy and influential. He died in the faith of the
Reformed Church.
John Arndt, son of John, and father of Henry,
was born in 1793. He served in the war of 1812,
and soon afterward succeeded his father in the
tanning business, which he conducted until about
1825, when he purchased the Baron Steigel prop-
erty, at the corner of North Prussian and High
streets. There he engaged in merchandising until
the spring of 184$, when he sold out to his son and
son-in-law. He then started a store in Mt. Joy in
partnership with Henry Bechtol, and this business
•\yas prosperously carried on for several years, when
Mr. Arndt sold his interest and retired to private
life. i,
Mr. Arndt married Miss Elizabeth Dlflenderfer,
who bore him two children: Susan, (now eighty-
five years of age) , wife of Nathan Worley, of Mar-
shalltown, Iowa ; and Henry whose name opens this
sketch. Mr. Arndt died in 1867, in the faith of the
Reformed Church. In politics he was a Democrat,
and socially he. ranked among the most respected
citizens of Manheim borough.
Henry Arndt was reared and educated in Man-
heim, and also attended school for two years in
Lititz, Lancaster county. He then clerked for his
father until 1840, when he went to Philadelphia,
where he clerked in a wholesale jobbing house for
a short time, ill health causing his return to Man-
heim. After a short rest he again went to Phila-
delphia, and had a brief experience in the wholesale
house of James Kent, Soutee & Co. — the largest in
the city — when he was recalled by his father, who
needed his assistance. In 1845 his father admitted
him into partnership, and for one year the firm name
was John Arndt & Son. Then a brother-in-law of
Henry, Nathan Worley, who had returned from
Ohio, was admitted as a partner, and the new firm
of Arndt & Worley was formed, lasting until 1857,
when Henry Boyd succeeded Henry Arndt. Three
years later, in i860, Henry Arndt resumed mercan-
tile trade, -succeeding to the interest of Mr. Worley
in the old firm, the style Arndt & Boyd being main-
tained five years, when Mr. Boyd withdrew, and
Henry Arndt was sole proprietor of the business
until early in the eighties, when he sold out to the
Beckers.
About 1888 Mr. Arndt purchased a farm of 105
acres one and one-half miles from Manheim, where
he passes the greater part of his time. He has
beautified and improved the place. Mr. Arndt has
done a great deal toward improving the borough of
Manheim, and he has erected a three-story brick
dwelling, besides a large store building and a roomy
tobacco warehouse. For years he has been con-
nected with the Manheim National Bank as direc-
tor, and is now vice-president of same. For three
years he was director in the Farmers Bank of Lan-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1341
caster, and he was also one of the organizers, and
IS a director of the Manheim & Lititz Turnpike Co.
He has ever been one of Manheim's most public-
spirited and patriotic citizens, and was one of the
first to advocate and to help organize the fire depart-
ment. He has served as burgess, member of the
council and member of the school board.
The marriage of Mr. Arndt took place Oct. 23,
1849, when he was united to Miss Anna B. Maurer,
who was born Aug. 15, 1830, daughter of Daniel
Maurer, of Mt. Joy. They celebrated the Golden
anniversary of their wedding in 1898, the event be-
ing the occasion of great festivity and congratula-
tion on the part of the immediate members of the
family and a host of warm-hearted friends. To the
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Arndt have been born
twelve children, five of whom died in infancy.
The others were born in the following order : Liz-
;zie B., wife of Dr. B. Frank Schall, of Philadelphia;
Anna V., married to Charles E. Bickle, of the same
city; John, of Manheim; Sadie, wife of George
De Haven, of Lancaster ; Harry, a druggist in Phil-
adelphia; Susan, who died when twenty-one years
old; and Willie H., who died at the age of fifteen
years.
Mr. and Mrs. Arndt are members of the Re-
formed Church and have led a life so consistent
with the teachings of their faith that they have
gained the unfeigned esteem of every person who
has had the pleasure of their acquaintance.
PROF. WILLIAM WARD MOORE, A. M.,
President of the Madame Cotta College for Young
Women, is justly ranked among the foremost edu-
cators of this community.
Charles Moore, the grandfather of Prof. Will-
iam W., a native of the North of Ireland, was a
farmer by occupation and a Presbyterian in his re-
ligion. Thomas Moore, his son and the father of
the Professor was born m McConnellstown, Pa.,
and entered into rest, in 1884, when in his sixty-fifth
year. Sarah Dunn, his wife and the mother of the
distinguished president of the Madame Cotta Col-
lege, was of Irish descent. She became the mother
of three sons and one daughter, but of these William
Ward is the only survivor.
William Ward Moore was born in McConnells-
town, Pa., Dec. 24, 1849, and remained in that vicin-
ity until he was seventeen years of age. At that time
he became a student of Kishacoquillas Academy,
then of the Williamsport Academy, and completed
the Freshman year at Mercersburg College. In
1872 -he entered the Sophomore class of Franklin
and Marshall College, and the following year began
that career as a teacher in which he has been so
very successful. For several years he taught in
Huntingdon county, and- in 1877 was principal of
a schoo-1 at Wyoming, Iowa. In i88a he returned
to Pennsylvania to take, the principalship of _the
Lumber City Academy. In August, 1886, Prof.
Moore' came to Lancaster, where he filled the posi-
tion of Rector of Franklin and Marshall Academy.
The following year the degree of A. M. was be-
stowed upon him by the trustees of Franklin and
Marshall College. Mrs. Moore became the matron
of the Academy, numbers of out-of-town students
boarding in the building. Rector Moore secured
the opening of the doors of the Academy to young
women, numbers of whom soon attended its instruc-
tion. After some years of earnest and intelligent ef-
fort on the part of Prof. Moore and his cultured and
attractive wife, he resigned. At his coming there
Were six students in the Academy, and when he left
over one hundred were in daily attendance, and the
academy was proving a valuable adjunct to the
college proper. Prof. Moore had an experience in
these earnest and laborious years that gave him a
very intelligent idea of the needs of young women
in preparing for college, and he presently organized
a private school in the Haas Building on East
Orange street. This was the beginning of a most
important educational movement in Lancaster, out
of which has grown the Madame Cotta College for
young women, which has been taken under the
patronage of the Lutheran Church. For a time
it was maintained in Grace Lutheran Church, but
it soon grew to demand quarters of its own. It is
now found in the Yeates Institute Building on
North Duke and Walnut streets, where it has an
extensive patronage from representative families
here and elsewhere.
The Faculty of the Madame Cotta College for
Young Women is exceptionally strong, and consists
of the following members : Prof. W. W. Moore,
A. M., President, Latin and Greek; Rev. C. E.
Haupt, A. M., D. D. (University of Pennsylvania),
Vice President, Mental and Moral Philosophy;
Paul KiefJer, Mathematics and Physics ; B. G., Phil-
grim, A. B. (Franklin and Marshall), History and
Archaeology: W. A. Kepner, A. B., Natural Sci-
ences ; Rev. F. F. Buenmyer, German. and English ;
Ada Douglas Moore, Elocution and Embroidery;
Martha M. Bowman (N. Y. School of Design),
Art and French; Helen L. liecker (Philadelphia
Cooking School), Cooking and Domestic Science.'
Instruction is also given in Voice Culture, and on
the Piano and Organ.
"The design of this institution is to prepare the-
girl for the domestic sphere. The branches pur-
sued have, possibly, a greater influence upon thei
development of the student than is usually supposeid
or conceded. The work here is so arranged that
the studies touch the girl at every point in the un-
folding of her powers. A careful study and observk-
tion has been made of the various courses offered to
girls in the past, noting the opinions of persons of,
both sexes who have had broad experiences in the
sphere of education and allied pursuits. The geilefai
consensus is that the girls' college of the past has
fallen short of fulfilling its mission. . , , /^
"The schools that have been established may 'be
classified under three heads: First, the so-callfed'
1342
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
finishing, school, the purpose of which is to add to
the graces of the young woman those accomplish-
ments which fit her for the drawing-room. Second-
ly, the one that stands for sound education. This
arranges its courses on the same plan as the college
for men, which, it is plainly evident, necessitates
much effort on the part of the girl, which is neither
congenial nor of much profit. Thirdly, the tech-
nical school, the tendency of which is to develop a
taste for those special pursuits that lie within man's
sphere.
"The social condition of life as it now exists,
demands from the college that it trains its students
for true womanhood, as it has to do with the home
in every department. The truly cultured woman is
she whose sympathies have been so developed that
they are in harmony with the Christian mother.
Reference is made to the course of study as found
in the catalogue, for the scope of our work. The
branches are so taught that actual life is kept before
the student,"
On Feb. 6, 1879, Prof. Moore was married to
Miss Ada Douglas, who was born in his native
town, McConnellstown, a daughter of Joseph and
Nancy (Johnston) Douglas. Her paternal great-
grandfather, was a native of Scotland, who became
one of tne pioneer teachers of Central Pennsylvania.
Her grandfather lived in McConnellstown, where
was born her father, Joseph Douglas, who became
a merchant there and died in December, 1882. His
wife, Nancy Johnston, was born in the same local-
ity, as was her father, James Johnston, a farmer by
occupation, and a soldier of the war of 1812. Mrs.
Douglas, the mother of Mr. Moore, died in April,
1889, and was survived by five of her seven chil-
dren.
Prof, and Mrs. Moore have two sons, Ralph D.
and Carl B., bright and manly lads, who give every
promise of a useful future.
JOHN LEFEVER, the eldest son of the late
John and Magdalena (Neft') Lefever, was born on
the old homestead farm, which is now in his pos-
session, at Millport, Lancaster county, on Jan. 26,
1823.
Mr. Lefever was reared on the farm, and re-
ceived but limited educational opportunities, but
travel, reading, and a habit of close observation,
have made him one of the most intelligent and best-
informed men of the neightborhood in which he
resides. At the age of. eight years he was bereft of
his mother, but he remained with his father until
thirty-three years of age, when the latter died.
His father's will left the old home to him, and Mr.
Lefever has pursued an agricultural life, and has
become one of the most esteemed citizens of the
township.
In 1848, feeling a desire to see something of the
country, Mr. Lefever made quite an extended trip.
As he was not limited as to time, he enjoyed a
leisurely journey over many miles of country, as far
west as the Mississippi river, at St. Louis. Trans-
portation, as we understand it now, was then almost
in its infancy, and his initial voyage was on the
canal boat, en route for Pittsburg. At Johnstown a
break in the canal bank interrupted the passage of the
boat, but Mr. Lefever solved the matter for himself,
by taking a short cut, over the mountains, and when
he again reached the canal, on the other side, took
a boat and finally landed in Pittsburg. There he
took passage on a steamboat for Cincinnati, but
extended his visit as far as Louisville, Ky., then
went to St. Louis, Mo., and then took a boat up the
Illinois river, to Peru, III, and thence home again.
The trip no doubt was a delightful one, the leisurely
methods of travel permitting more enjoyment of the
scenery than is possible now, in the days of light-
ning express train service.
Mr. Lefever married Mary, a daughter of Dan-
iel and Catherine (Rohrer) Doner, and to this union
were born : Amos, who first married Lucinda
Rutter, who, at death, left four children, and second,
Hettie Make; John, who died at the age of
twenty- four; Daniel; a daughter who died in
infancy ; and Henry, who married Susan Muhr.
John Lefever and wife are pious. Christian people,
and are among the leading members of the Old
Mennonite Church. In the community . they are
highly respected, and Mr. Lefever is a worthy repre-
sentative of an old Lancaster county family.
COL. WILLIAM R. GERHART, A. M.,
whose office is in the Law Building, comer of Duke
and Grant streets, Lancaster, is engaged as a patent
solicitor, having a very successful and extensive
business. Col. Gerhart, who was one of the young-
est men ever commissioned colonel in the U. S.
army (being a veteran of the Civil war), has a
professional record which is as honorable as his
war record.
Col. Gerhart was born in Gettysburg, Pa., Jan.
10, 1844, a son of Rev. E. V. Gerhart, D. D., LL.
D., president of the Theological Seminary of the
Reformed Church in the United States at Lancaster,
an account of Dr. Gerhart's interesting and useful
life being given elsewhere in this work. Col. Gerhart
is the eldest in his family, and was reared and edu-
cated in Lancaster, entering Franklin and Marshall
College in 1859, and graduating in 1863, with the
degree of A. B. Soon after his enlistment in the
army the college conferred upon him the degree of
Master of Arts, and, the war of the Rebellion being
then in progress, there were no commencement
exercises. In 1862 he was lieutenant of the State
militia called out at the time of the battle of An-
tietam. In June, 1863, he enlisted in Independent
Battery I, Pennsylvania Artillery, becoming first
sergeant and later second lieutenant. With his bat-
tery he went to Philadelphia, and thence to Harper's
Ferry. In the spring of 1864 he was commissioned
major of the 125th United States Colored Infantry,
of which he later became colonel, and from Fort
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1343
Leavenworth, Kans., marched with his regiment
across the plains to New Mexico, taking the old
Santa Fe trail through that State and Colorado
as far as El Paso, Texas. This was a difficult and
hazardous march of thirteen hundred miles or more,
through a hostile country, all the Indians being on
the war path, and it took about three months to ac-
complish it. The march was made without loss of
animals or materials. The regiment remained in
New Mexico about a year and a half, protecting the
settlements against hostile Indians, until 1867, and
returned in December of that year. They had
several encounters with the Indians at Fort Craig
and other points, and after being mustered out, at
Fort Leavenworth, returned to their homes. Col..
Gerhart returned to Lancaster and became city
engineer or regulator, occupying that position for
four and a half years. In 1876 he opened his office
as solicitor of patents, and has succeeded in becom-
ing widely known and in building up a splendid
business. Fraternally Col. Gerhart is a Grand
Army man, being a member of George H. Thomas
Post, No. 84, and he is past commander of the
Knights of the Mystic Chain. Politically he is a
stanch Republican.
In 1882 Col. Gerhart married Miss Ella Car-
penter, daughter of the late William Carpenter,
who is mentioned in the sketch of Henry Carpenter,
Esq., a popular member of the Lancaster Bar.
Mrs. Gerhart entered into rest in June, 1902.
CARL REESE EABY, a prominent young at-
torney at law in Lancaster, comes from a family
whose various representatives have been closely
associated with the history of this county for gen-
erations.
The first Eaby in this section was Daniel M.
Eaby, who came from England, passed the remain-
der of his life on his farm in Bart township, and rose
to considerable prominence in his community. He
was Scotch-Irish by birth and a Presbyterian in
religious faith.
George W. Eaby, the father of Carl Reese, is a
prominent real-estate and insurance man of Lan-
caster. He married Rachel A. Reese, a highly edu-
cated lady, belonging to a well-known and substan-
tial family of Revolutionary ancestry. Mrs. Eaby,
is a Daughter of the Revolution, and is eligible to
.membership in the Society of Colonial Dames.
Carl Reese Eaby was born in Sadsburyville,
Chester Co., Pa., Dec. 4, 1867; and, his parents
removing to Lancaster when he was a mere lad,
his education was obtained in the public schools of
•the city and Franklin and Marshall College. He
graduated from the city high school June 30, 1882
—the youngest male graduate of that school in its
entire history. Upon his graduation from Frank-
lin and Marshall young Eaby entered the law office
of Brown & Hens'el, both highly distinguished mem-
bers of the profession, and who subsequently at-
tained distinguished honors, Mr. Brown on the
Bench of the Supreme court and Mr. Hensel as
Attorney-General of the State. With such precep-
tors', coupled with his own ability, Mr. Eaby entered
upon the practice of the law under more than ordin-
arily favorable circumstances, and the promise of
that bright beginning has been richly fulfilled. He
was admitted to practice March 4, 1889, when only
twenty-one years old.
Mr. Eaby was married, Oct. 16, 1895, to Miss
Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Washington F. Ham-
bright, the popular depot master of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad in Lancaster, and this union has been
blessed by the birth of one child, Carl Reese, Jr.
On April 9, 1894, Mr. Eaby joined the Hospital
Corps of Battery C, and during the Spanish-Amer-
ican war became commissary sergeant of Co. B,
.nth Regiment, Provisional National Guard of
Pennsylvania. On Sept. 10, 1897, he accompanied
his command to Hazleton to put down the riots,
remaining there three weeks ; and in the latter part
of 1900 he served nineteen days with his command
at Shenandoah, again helping to quell strike trouble.
Mr. Eaby is an active, earnest Republican, and
has given faithful and intelligent service as county
auditor, to which office he was appointed by the
court. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar
Association, and fraternally belongs to Lodge No.
43, F. & A. M. ; Temple Chapter, No. 248, R. A.
M. ; Lancaster Lodge, No. 134, Order of Elks (in
which he is a past officer), the^ Royal Arcanum, and
Herschel Lodge, No. 123, I. O. O. F. Religiously
he is a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
He stands very high in the esteem of all who know
him. His genial nature and bright personality have
won him a host of friends, and he is one of the most
popular young men in the professional and com-
mercial life in Lancaster at the present time.
JOHN J. COCHRAN, late of the coal firm of
John Keller & Co., and still connected with that busi-
ness, belongs to an old and distinguished family.
His father was John Jefferson Cochran, who was
the son of Dr. Richard Ellis Cochran, of Columbia.
Back of them stretches a long ancestral line to the
Scottish nobility. The first Cochran came to this
country from Paisley, Scotland, in the early part
of the 1 8th century.
John Jefferson Cochran, father of John J., made
his appearance in I^ancaster forty-eight years ago,
and was a member for a time of the firm of Cochran,
Peale & Co. Drifting into journalism, Mr. Cochran
became the editor and publisher of the Lancaster
Union. At the inception of the New Era, he became
its editor, and was in charge of the publication until
his death in May, 1879. For two terms he was
postmaster of the city, discharging the duties of
that responsible position with a rare fidelity and an
ability that won him many friends. In early man-
hood Mr. Cochran was married to Catherine, daugh-
ter of Thomas Baumgardner, a prominent citizen
of York. To this union were born thirteen children.
1344
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
five of whom survive: Thomas B. and Harry B.
are the editors and publishers of the Lancaster
Examiner, the former having been for twenty-five
years in prominent positions in Harrisburg, among
them being the chief clerkship of the Senate ; Rich-
ard Ellis is the vice-president of United States Life
Insurance ("o., of New York, and ex-president of
the National Association of Underwriters ; Alice
Evans is the wife of Charles Morrell, of Merchant-
ville, N. J., and John J-
John J. Cochran, was born March 4, 1856.
After his graduation from the Lancaster High
School he entered the old Inquirer printing office,
now known as the Wickersham Company, as ap-
prentice. Here he remained until 1876, when he
took a course in the Dickenson Business College in
Philadelphia, after which he resumed his work in'
the printing business. In 1878 he went to Texas
and for eight months engaged in ranching, but
was called back to Lancaster by the serious illness
and death of his father. Mr. Cochran entered the
lock manufacturing industry, in which he was en-
gaged in 1879 and 1880, when he became secretary
of the Columbia Rolling Mill Co., a position he held
until 1893. That year he became a member of the
coal firm of John Keller & Co., and here he continued
until Jan. i, 1900, when he withdrew from the firm,
but still remained as ah assistant in the management
of the business. Mr. Cochran has always been an
ardent Republican, and was elected to the common
council, from the sixth ward, though he did seek the
office.
Anna Maud Keller, his wife, is the oldest daugh-
ter of the late John Keller, the prominent railroad
contractor. Mr. and Mrs. Cochran have four chil-
dren : Marion, Ethel, Amy and John Franklin, all
young and in school, the youngest being in the
kindergarten.
Mr. Cochran has been an extensive traveler,
particularly in the far West. He is a man of intel-
ligence and keen observation, and his travels have
proved a source of pleasure to himself and a profit
to- his friends, his conversation being very instruc-
tive. Of quiet and peaceful temper, he pursues the
even tenor of his way, a man much respected and es-
teemed by all.
SIMON B. MINNICH, one of the prominent
citizens of Landisville, Lancaster county, was born
in that village Jan. 5, 1845, a son of Simon and Eliz-
abeth (Bnibaker) Minnich, and a descendant of Si-
mon Muench, who was his great-great-grandfather,
and who arrived at Philadelphia from the Rhine
provinces, Germany, in 1751- [Vol. XVII, 2d
Series, Pennsylvania Archives.] Jacob Muench
son of Simon Aluench, married Elizabeth Wolf in
1774, and settled on Chestnut Hill, where he fol-
lowed, his trade of carpenter or cabinetmaker and
also engaged in farming. To this couple were born
ejeven children, the eldest of whom, Jacob, was
born in 1775. This son, Jacob, was twice married.
By his first wife, Barbara Lare, he had seven chil-
dren, and by his second, Elizabeth Gamber, he had
ten. Simon Minnich, born in 1803, was the third
child by the first wife, and was the father of Simon
B. Minnich, the subject of this sketch.
Simon Minnich was a well-known resident of
Landisville, where for many years he conducted a
blacksmith shop, later engaging in farming. About
1847 he opened the "Sycamore Hotel," which he con-
ducted for more than thirty years in connection
with farming. His wife, Elizabeth Brubaker Min-
nich, was born in 1827. To them were born eight
children, Simon B., Henry E. (deceased), Fannie
B. (Trout) (deceased), Jacob B., Jonas L., Eliza-
beth (deceased), Ella, and Anna B. (Courtney).
Simon Minnich died in 1879, at the age of seventy-
six, his widow surviving until 1897.
Simon B. Minnich was married, Nov. 5, 1867,
to Mary C. Wissler, born May 23, 1848, a daughter
of John S. and Catherine H. (Baer) Wissler. To
Simon B. and Mary C. Minnich were born six chil-
dren: Simon W., born Dec. 28, 1868; Mamie W.,
who died in childhood; Harvey W., born July 4,
1878 , Lizzie W., who died in childhood ; John W.,
who died voung; and Grace Evelyn, born June i,
1888.
Simon B. Minnich was reared in the village of
his birth, and attended public school in East Hemp^
field township. He was an apt and diligent pupil,
with a natural talent for mathematics. At the age
of nineteen he began teaching, and for three terms
was engaged in this profession, teaching what is
now Independence school, two miles east of Landis-
ville. He then engaged in the mercantile business,
and for a number of years conducted the general
store in the village. He early developed a fondness
for mechanics, the logical result of his youthful train-
ing in mathematics, and when not occupied with his
business interests was working on models or plans
of diflferent useful mechanical appliances, quite a
fe^v of which he perfected and patented. . His most
successful invention is a baling press for baling to-
bacco, paper-stock, hides, hops, hay, hemp, wool,,
flax, broom-corn, blankets, cotton, scrap tin, &c..
Several thousand of these presses have been sold,
and they are in use as far east as India and the Phil-
ippines, and as far south as Peru. Other inventions
that have proved either a commercial or a mechan-
ical success are a hay hoisting machine, a stable
hook, wagon jack, door fastener, double eccentric
lifting device, mechanism for overcoming the dead-
center in crank-driven .machinery, nut lock, broom
holder, and, recently, a rotary blower which gives
promise of success, a model of which is now being
constructed.
In 1883 Mr. Minnich erected machine shops for
the manufacture of his inventions. This plant is
now occupied by the Monitor Steam Heater & Gen-
erator Manufacturing Company, and is located near
the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1900 the increased
business demanded better facilities for the erectioit
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1346
of his baling presses, which have grown from a small
tobacco press of 1876, weighing 150 pounds, to a
mammoth all steel structure of more than 3,000
poimds, and to meet this demand a two-story brick i
factory, 40x120 feet, was erected and fitted with new
and improved machinery.
In the pursuit of his business Mr. Minnich has [
visited all the large cities, and scores of the larger '
towns between St. Paul, Minn., and Portland,
Maine. Energetic and active, never idling about, '
progressive, with original advanced ideas on sociol- ,
ogy and economics, broadened by his frequent con- :
tact with the bright business men of the country, !
thoroughly domestic m his habits and desires, not-
withstanding his frequent extended business trips,
of strong and upright character, consistently advo- ,
eating all measures for the advancement and better- 1
ment of humanity, and living up to his own high
standards of life, modeled after the teachings of the
great philosophers and educatots, he receives from
all the respect and confidence which he so well ,
merits.
JOHN E. HOUSER, one of the younger busi-
ness men and citizens of West Lampeter township,
Lancaster county, belongs to an old and honored
family and worthily wears a good name that has
come to him from respected ancestors.
John E. Houser was born in West Lampeter
township, Aug. 16, 1870, and is a son of Christian
and Emma F. (Hoover) Houser. The father was
born in West Lampeter township, on the old Houser
homestead, a mile and a half northeast of Lancaster, !
in 1844 and died in 1898. He was a son of John and
Lydia (Lefever) Houser, and a grandson of Chris-
tian Houser.
Christian Houser, the father of John E., was '
reared on the old homestead and educated in the pub- .
lie schools. Remaining at home until he was twenty- :
three, he was then married and located on a fdrm of ',
fourteen acres near Lampeter Square. After spend- '
ing some four years at that point, he moved to the
farm where he spent the remainder of his days, and
where his widow is still living. This farm com-
prises eighty acres and is a mile north of Lampeter.
Success attended his earnest efforts. Tobacco was
his favorite crop and he did well in its culture.
Christian Houser was married to Emma F.; a
daughter of Jacob and Hettie (Hoffman) Hoover.
She was born in Strasburg township in 1846, and is
the mother of the following children : Hattie, the
wife of Ephraim Weaver, of Manor township ; John
E : Edith, who died in childhood; Winnie M. ; Liz-
zie ; Ella M. ; Mabel A. ; Emma L. ; Ethel A. ; Maude
C. Mr. and Mrs. Houser belonged to the Reformed
Mennonite Church.
John E. Houser was reared on the farm and edu-
cated in the public schools. When he was twenty-
three years of age he engaged in business for himself
on the farm he has since occupied. It contains twen-
ty-three acres and is a mile and a quarter north of
85
Lampeter. On this beautiful and modern farm in
1894 he erected a handsome brick residence, and
from time to time has made other and valuable im,-
provements. Mr. Houser, in addition to carrying on
his own farm, superintends his mother's. The com-
munity entertains for him the highest respect, and
has made him judge and inspector of elections, as
well as calling him to other positions, complimentary
to one so young.
John E. Houser was married March 23, 1893, to
Emma K., a daughter of the late Adam Lefever, by
whom he has four children ; Kathryn E., Evelyn M.,
Willis L. and John L. The family is well regarded
by those who know them best.
JOHN HENRY KLINE, one of the proprietors
of the Boston Shoe Store, on West King street, Lan-
caster, is not only a merchant, but a printer and
pressman, and at present has charge of the stock
room of The New Era Printing Company. His
grandfather came -to America from Germany and
settled in Lebanon county. Pa. ; his grandmother
came to this country from Switzerland and settled
in Dauphin county, this State. Both came to this
country when children.
John M. Kline, father of John Henry, was a sta-
tionary engineer of Belle Grove, Lebanon county.
He maiTied Miss Leah Landis, whose father was at
one time steward of the Dauphin county almshouse.
Their union was blessed with two sons, one of whom
died in infancy, the survivor being John Henry.
John Henry Kline was born in Lebanon county,
Jan. I, 1845, and was educated in the public schools
of his district and in Annville Academy. When he
was fourteen years old his father died, and the lad
was obliged to give up his studies. His first employr
ment was in a store in Harrisburg, and in i860,
when the big "Wideawake Club" processions were
being held, young Kline was told that he would be
given free transportation to Lancaster, if he could
get a caj)e and go along with a club. He secured the
cape, came to Lancaster and never left it; The next
morning he found employment in John Herr's dry-
goods store, in East King street, but not liking that
business went to printing in the old Union office, in
Centre Square. His next move was to the Daily
Express office, where he remained eleven years, and
after spending four years on the Inquirer he became
superintendent of The Eew Era press-room, retain-
ing that position for twenty-one years. In 1898 Mr.
Kline engaged in the shoe business, but although still
retaining his interest in the shoe store he has returned
to The New Era, and holds a responsible position
there.
During the war of the Rebellion, Mr. Kline en-
listed in' Co. E, 50th P. V. I., serving gallantly until
honorably discharged at the close of the struggle.
On Nov. 10, 1864, Mr. Kline was married to
Miss Kate Martin, daughter of the late George Mar-
tin, one of the pioneer rope manufacturers of Lan-
caster, and belonging to one of the oldest and most
1346 ■
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
respected families in the county. To this union came
four children, only one of whom is living, Benjamin
Franklin, a bright lad, who is a member of the class
of 1903, Boys' High School, of Lancaster. Mr.
Kline's daughter Katie, who became the wife of
Oliver Baker, a salesman in Marshall & Rengier's
hardware' store, entered into rest in September, 1900.
Mr. Kline is an earnest member of St. John's
Lutheran Church, where he was a deacon for several
years. He is superintendent of Gotwald Memorial
Mission Sunday-school, a position he has held for
more than thirty years, and to the support of which
he has given a great deal of intelligent labor. So-
cially he belongs to Monterey L,odge, No. 242, I. O.
O. F., and to Washington Encampment, No. 11. No
man in the city is more respected, and no man stands
higher in the esteem of his fellow church workers,
fraternal 'associates, neighbors and the community
in general than John Henry Kline, printer, pressman
iand merchant.
■ SAMUEL RICHMOND WEAVER, Esq., a
member of the Lancaster Bar, is descended from an-
cestors who came to America from Switzerland sev-
eral generations ago, and this branch of this family
-were the founders of Weaverland, this county.
Samuel E. Weaver, the grandfather of Samuel R.,
was a well-known cattle dealer living near Blue
Ball, and Eli, the father of Samuel R., was also a
cattle dealer — the most extensive, indeed, in East-
ern Lancaster county. He, too, lived at Blue Ball,
where he died in 1891, aged only forty-six years, his
death having been caused by blood poisoning in-
duced by an accident. Eli Weaver married Susan
Richmond, daughter of Isaac Richmond, a farmer
of Martindale. Mrs. Weaver died in 1884, aged
thirty-seven years. Although the parents of Samuel
R. Weaver died so early in life, both of his grand-
mothers are living, and each is now (1903) seventy-
eight years old. Seven children were born of the
union of Eli Weaver and Susan Richmond, six of
whom are 'living, as follows: John R., a livestock-
dealer of Philadelphia; Elizabeth, wife of H. M.
Stauffer. a coal and lumber dealer at Leola; Mary,
wife of Harvey E. Weaver, a cigar manufacturer of
Terrehill ; Emma, unmarried and making her home
with her sister, Mrs. Stauifer; Viola, wife of John
H. Hornberger, traveling salesman for Miller &
Hartman. wholesale grocers of Lancaster ; and Sam-
uel R.
Samuel R. Weaver was born in Earl township
Jan. 5, 1868, and after receiving a partial education
in the public schools of his district attended Muhlen-
berg College, at Allentown, from which he was grad-
uated in i8qo. After graduating from college, Mr.
Weaver read law with the late George Nauman,
Esq., and was admitted to practice Oct. 15, 1893.
After practicing his profession until 1898, Mr.
Weaver accepted a position with the North American
of Philadelphia, remaining with that journal until
March, 1903, when after a few years of experience
in newspaper work, he returned to Lancaster and
resumed the practice of his chosen profession. Mr.
Weaver is unmarried.
A stanch Republican, Mr. Weaver belongs to the
Young Republicans, this being the only organiza-
tion of which he is a member. He has always taken
an active mterest in the affairs of the Republican
party, having been a member of the Republican
County Committee from Blue Ball for two years, a
delegate from the Northern District to the Repub-
lican State convention, in 1892, and a campaign ora-
tor for the Republican cause, having made speeches
in various sections. Religiously, Mr. Weaver is a
Presbyterian, being a member of the Cedar Grove
Presbyterian Church; and, religiously, politically
and professionally, he is deeply in earnest, and the
future for him is full of bright promise.
CHRISTIAN HABECKER, distiller, of Eliza-
beth township, descends from an old and honorable
family of Lancaster county. His grandfather also
named Christian, lived and died near Brunnerville,
Pa., where he carried on a butcher business in con-
nection with farming until his death, in 1850. He
married Miss Barbara Hollinger, by whom he had
the following children : Joseph, of Warwick town-
ship ; Moses, a carpet weaver of Brunnerville ; Adam,
the father of Christian; David, who was proprietor
and manager of a woolen mill and a distillery;
Christian, a distiller in East Earl township ; Jonas, a
resident of Lebanon county; Isaac, a butcher near
Brunnerville ; and Mary, who died unmarried.
Adam Habecker, the father of Christian, was
born near Brunnerville March 6, 1809, and in 183 1
completed his apprenticeship to the distiller's trade
with Martin Grube. He followed that work until
his death, in 1S93. He married Miss Susan Shoe-
maker, and became the father of eleven children:
Isaac, deceased, was a carpenter and painter at Lit-
itz : Henry is a blacksmith at White Oak, Pa. ; Chris-
tian is mentioned below ; Catherine is the wife of
Isaac Dickens ; Barbara is the wife of John White ;
Allen is a foundryman in the city of Lancaster;
Benjamin is a resident of Montgomery county;
Jacob is a pretzel baker of Kissel Hill, Pa. ; Eliza-
beth is the wife of David Keath, of Unionville, Pa. ;
Adam and John died young.
Christian Habecker, whose name appears at the
openmg of this article, was born in Warwick town-
ship, Aug. 27, 1840, and lived at home with his par-
ents until after he was of age. His education was
received in the public schools, and he was well pre-
pared for the responsibilities of active life. Remain-
mg at home for about four years after passing his
majority, he worked at farming, and then established
a distillery on the farm of Mr. Sahm, which he
operated for some five years. At the end of that
period he bought the property where he is still es-
tablished, and where he has built up a creditable
reputation as a distiller, the Habecker whiskey hav-
mg become famous all over the State.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1347
Mr. Habecker married Mary Sahm, daughter of
Daniel Sahm, and to this union were born three chil-
dren : Catherine, who is the wife of William Reyer,
of Manheim, Pa. ; Henry, at home ; and Lydia, who
married Abram Balmer, of Rothsville, Pa. Mr.
Habecker is one of the enlightened and progressive
citizens of Lancaster county. Personally he com-
mands the friendship of many by reason of his kind-
ly character and genuine public spirit.
GEORGE B. WILLSON, whose name to the
people of Lancaster county is synonymous with prog-
ress, is a native-born Lancasterian, his birth occur-
ring in that city April 4, 1856.
George VVillson, Sr., his grandfather, was an
Englishman by birth, but with his two brothers es-
poused the cause of Ireland in 1798, and fought in
the Irish army. For this his property in England
was confiscated, and he nevei: returned to his native
land, but died in the land whose distress had so ap-
pealed to his sympathies.
George Willson, Jr., was nine years of age when
his father died. He was born in County Derry, Ire-
land, in January, 1799. At the age of nineteen he
came to America, and located in Lancaster, where he
engaged in the wholesale jewelry business for twen-
ty-five years. At the end of that time he retired, and
his death occurred in 1881. About 1847 he married
Mary A. Rettew, daughter of David and Elizabeth
Rettew, farming people of Lancaster county. The
Rettews have long been known in Pennsylvania, hav-
ing had a grant of 1,500 acres of land direct from the
Penns. To George Willson and his wife were born
six children, as follows : Anrila, who died in in-
fancy : John C. and David B. (twins), both deceased,
of whom John C. was a civil engineer and David B.
a priest of the Episcopal Church: Rachel R. and
Mary E. (twins), of whom Rachel is deceased; and
George B. The father was a Democrat in political
faith, and was elected a councilman from a strong
Republican ward, serving as long as he would accept
the office.
George B. Willson received his education in the
common schools of Maytown, Lancaster county, and
at the age of seventeen began an apprenticeship at
the coach trimming trade with Samuel Cox, with
whom he worked four years. In 1877 he went to
Bellefonte, Pa., for his health, his lungs having be-
come afifected. In the fall of that year, however, he
returned to Lancaster and took charge of the books
of Flinn & Breneman, house furnishers, with whom
he remained two years, when he bought the interest
of Major Breneman. After three years he sold it
back to Major Breneman-, and on account of failmg
health sought the milder climate of the sunny South.
In May, 1884, he returned to his native county, and
purchased the old Buchanan home, known as
"Wheatland," where he has since resided. This
house is historical, inasmuch as it was the home of
president Buchanan for twenty-seven years, and
where he died, in 1868. The place originally con-
tained twenty-two acres, but part of this Mr. Will-
son sold to H. F. Williamson, who erected a fine
home. From this beginning sprang the building up
of the beautiful West End of Lancaster, which con-
tains many of the beautiful homes of the county.
After selling this land to Mr. Williamson Mr. Will-
son bought fifty acres of the Amos Funk' farm, -and
in company with Judge Brown platted and laid out
and graded streets, and built a city of fine homes just
outside the city limits of Lancaster. They also
bought fifty acres more, treating it in the same man-
ner. Through liberal inducements the car line has
been extended and everything possible for the com-
fort and well-being of the residents effected. Mr.
Willson has a large green house and makes a busi-
ness of raising hot-house fruits and vegetables.
In all things is Mr. Willson progressive. He was
one of the first to conceive the possibility of utilizing
the Conestoga as a power to liglat the streets, and was
one of the organizers of the Lancaster Electric Light,
Heat and Power Co., of which he has been and is
now secretary. In his political faith he is a Gold
.Democrat, and was a delegate to the convention that
placed in nomination Palmer and Buckner. He has
often been urged by his friends to run for office, but
has refused to accept such honors. He has traveled
quite extensively in the United States. In his fra-
ternal connections Mr. Willson is a twenty-second
degree Mason, and has passed all the chairs in the
different lodges up to that degree. He is a com-
municant in the Episcopal Church, and is a vestry-
man and registrar of the parish of St. James Church.
WILLIAM M. GROUSE, a highly respected
citizen of West Cocalico township, Lancaster county,
was born Aug. 10, 1828, near Reinholds, son of Will-
iam and Sarah (Marshall) Grouse, and was reared
on the old homestead.
Michael Crouse, his grandfather, was the first
of the family to come into Lancaster county. He
was born and reared at Worms, Germany, and when
he reached manhood came to this country, landing
at Philadelphia, where he married Hannah O'Con-
nor, the adopted daughter of a Mr. Carson, of that
city. To this union were born the following chil-
dren: (i) John married and moved to Lycoming
county, and from him is descended Judge Crouse, of
that county. (2) Susan married Ludwig White, of
Berks county, and lived in Manheim township, Lan-
caster county, where their descendants are still to
be found. (3) James lived in Snyder county, and
became a prorninent character. His son Jeremiah at
one time filled the office of prothonotary in that
county, and held a contract in the government ser-
vice. His daughter Annie became the wife of Dr.
Moore, of Philadelphia, and another daughter mar-
ried Rev. Jacob Peters, a Lutheran minister then lo-
cated in Manheim, but now living retired in Dauphin
county. (4) Elizabeth married Samuel Spears, a
boatmaker of Reading, and passed away long ago;
all her children are also deceased. (5) Samuel was
1848
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
married to Elizabeth Binkley, of Reinholds, and they
had five children, John, Mary, Hannah, Elizabeth
and Sarah, all now deceased with the exception of
Sarah, who is living at her home in Lebanon county,
widow of John Eby, of Ephrata township. Samuel
Crouse married, for his second wife, Sarah, the sis-
ter of his first wife, and to this union were born seven
children, four of whom survive, Samuel, Jr., Mrs.
Polly Moore, Mrs. Kate Houck and Mrs. Caroline
Smith, all of whom are living in the vicinity of
Myerstown, Lebanon county. (6) Hannah mar-
ried Jacob Lebo, and is now living in Indiana. (7)
Michael, who married Kate Pinkley, moved to York,
Pa., where he and his son Henry in after years were
engaged in the combmaking business. He is de-
ceased, and his son Henry is a wealthy retired mer-
chant of Reading. (8) William was the father of
William M:
William Crouse was born Aug. 10, 1794, at Read-
ing, where he was reared, and where he learned the
combmaking business. He married Sarah Marshall,
of Fritztown, Berks county, and settled near Rein-
holds, Lancaster county. Diedrich Marshall, the fa-
ther of Mrs. .Sarah Crouse, built the first house in
what is now Fritztown, in 1754; it was of stone, is
still standing, and belongs to a Mr. Hatt. Mr.
Crouse set up a comb factory on the Crouse place,
and operated same many years; it was afterward
run by his son, William M., and is now in the hands
of a grandson, George Crouse. To William and
Sarah Crouse were born the following named chil-
dren: I'l) Mary, born July 2, 1824, married Louis
Gettle, and moved to Iowa, where they died, leaving
eight children. (2) William Marshall, whose name
introduces this article, was born Aug. 10, 1828, and
was the only son of his parents.
William Crouse was an active Whig and a stanch
Republican. He voted for Jackson, but voted twice
for Lincoln, and afterward for Gen. Grant, and was
proud of his support given to the Union during the
dark days of secession. He passed to his reward
Sept. 6, 1872, his wife preceding him to the Silent
Land, July 10, 1872. For many years both had been
devout and venerated members of the Reformed
Church.
William M. Crouse was married Oct. 12, 1858,
to Hannah, daughter of Henry and Anna (Garman)
Eberly, of Reamstown, and they have had the fol-
lowing children: (i) Abner L., born Oct. 11, i860,
married Annetta Openhauer, and is living at Sink-
ing Sprmg, Berks county. They have two children,
Jennie (who married Solomon Steflfy) and Stella.
(2) Henry Victor, born Jan. 8, 1863, is superintend-
ent of the Tenth and Windsor Street Market House,
at Reading, where he is also a clerk in a book store.
He married Emma Hintz, of Reading, and they have
three children, Rosa, Elsie and Magdalene. (3)
Mary Alice, born July 11, 1864, married Benjamin
Bennetch, of Cocalico, and they have three children
living. Harry, Allen and Raymond. (4) George
Washineton, born Feb. 22, 1866, married Susan
Weidner, daughter of Benjamin Weidner, of Reams-
town. They have two children living, Hattie and
Mamie. Their home is on the old Crouse farm, and
the comb factory, built by his grandfather, is also
operated by him. (5) Kate Elizabeth, born Aug.
29, 1867, married Lemon Bucher, of Reinholds, and
is the mother of one child, Stephen. (6) Willie
Eberly, born Dec. 7, 1868, is a merchant at Schoe-
neck.' He married Cora Mellinger, daughter of
George and Anna (Hogy) Mellinger, and they have
three children, Albert, Willie and Harry. (7) Cal-
vin Moses, born Sept. 4, 1871, married Sallie Sterner,
of West Reading, Berks county, and is the father of
two children, Anna and Catherine. (8) Edwin
Lawrence, born Aug. 10, 1874, died April 19, 1876.
(9) Sarah Bertha, born April 18, 1876, married
Lemuel Snyder, of Berks county, and lives at
Walters Park. They have one child. May. (10)
Amy Valeary. born Aug. 20, 1879, is at home, as are
(11) Julia Bessie, born April 15, 1882, and (13)
John Adam, born April 26, 1885. (12) Martha
Magdalene, born June 23, 1884, died Sept. 29, fol-
lowing.
When Mr. Crouse was twenty-one he cast a Re-
publican ballot, and he has been stanch in his sup-
port of that party to the present time. He has served
as election officer, and has been justice of the peace
for five years. During the Civil war Mr. Crouse en-
tered the army, but he did not remain at the front
very long, being discharged on account of ill health.
At the present time, after a long and useful life, he
is living retired on the old home place, still taking an
active part in political and religious matters.
CHRISTIAN H. MYERS, a general farmer in
the township of East Donegal, is living' on the farm
where he was born, Feb. i, 1845. Henry B. and
Mary D. (Hershey) Myers, his parents, were born
in Rapho township, and both are now dead. The
father died on the family homestead in 1898, at the
age of seventy-six. In 1844 he located his family
there, and it was his home until his death. The
mother died in 1894. After their marriage his par-
ents spent some ten years in Florin, and lived for a.
time on another farm in East Donegal before locat-
ing on the place where Christian H. is now found.
When the mother died, the father broke up his home
and spent his last days with his son. Christian H.
They were members of the River Brethren Church,
and had two children : Christian H. ; and Anna E.,.
who died unmarried at the age of fifty years.
The paternal grandparents of Christian H.
Myers were Henry and Barbara (Brenner) Myers,
both of whom were natives of Lancaster county, and
spent their lives engaged in farming in East Don-
egal township. Mr. Myers' maternal grandparents,
Christ and Susan (Gish) Hershey, were natives of
Mt. Joy and West Donegal townships, respectively.
They were farmer folks.
Christian H. Myers and Anna Sheetz were mar-
ried in Rapho township, April 14, 1874, and have
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1849
become the parents of the following children : John,
a farmer in Waldon, Colo. ; Levy, deceased ; Elam,
a farmer in East Donegal, married to Emma Wiser ;
Mary and Amos, who are at home ; and Ezra, de-
ceased.
Mrs. Anna (Sheetz) Myers was born in Rapho
township, March 17, 1856, and is the daughter of
John and Catherine (Acker) Sheetz, of that town-
ship. Her mother died in 1894, at the age of sixty-
three; and was buried in the East Donegal Cross
Roads cemetery. They were members of the River
Brethren Church. Their children were : Henry, of
Florin ; Barbara, who married Samuel Gibble ; Anna ;
Samuel, of Mt. Joy; Elizabeth, who died young;
Fanny, who married Samuel Fissel. The mother
married for her second husband, Samuel Halderman,
who died in 1900. By him she had one daughter,
Emma, who married William Peifler. Mrs. Myers'
paternal grandparents were Abraham and Barbara
Sheetz, both natives of Lancaster county, where all
their lives were passed.
Christian H. Myers has spent his life engaged in
the cultivation of his farm, and takes rank among
the best and most advanced agriculturists of the
county. One hundred acres, all cleared and tilled
according to the inost modern notions, are in his
farm, and he takes great pride in the neat and credit-
able appearance of the place. In his church matters
he is known throughout the community as a prom-
inent and reliable member of the River Brethren
Church, and he is universally regarded as a thor-
oughly upright and honorable man.
CHARLES ALBERT SAMUELS, proprietor
of the Bon Ton Millinery, in the Woolworth build-
ing, Lancaster, is descended from a family who have
been distinguished in the art of manufacturing fem-
inine headwear.
Marcus Samuels, who come to America from
Posen. Germany, when a boy, became a wholesale
milliner in New York City, and died there ; and his
wife, whose maiden name was Eva Cohn, was the
daughter of a banker of Posen, and is still engaged
in the wfholesale millinery trade in New York City,
making two trips annually to Europe for the pur-
chase of artistic flowers and trimmed hats, and
spending her vacation— after each summer's trip to
Europe— in her cottage at Long Branch. Mr. and
Mrs. Marcus Samuels were blessed with ten chil-
dren, seven of whom are living as follows: Rosa,
wife' of Oscar Muir, in the millinery trade in New
York Citv : Charles Albert ; Augustus, in the same
trade in Louisville, Kv. ; Henry, in the millinery
trade at Fall River, Mass. ; Herbert, a milliner, of
New York ; Sidney, at school in New York City ; and
Hattie, at home with her mother. Surely this is a
rema'-kable record— unequalled, perhaps, by any
other family in this country ; certainly not equalled
by any other familv in this section.
Charles Albert Samuels was born m New York
City Aug 23, 1863, and was educated in the public
schools. Leaving school at the age of fifteen years,
he entered a wholesale millinery establishment, and
later a second establishment of the same kind, spend-
ing six years with one and five years with the other.
He entered into business for himself, coming to Lan-
caster, and locating at No. 13 East King street.
This was in 1890, and the '"Bon Ton," which he then
established, has steadily grown in popularity until
there is scarcely a woman or girl in the city or county
who has not purchased goods there. When the
grand Woolworth building, on North Queen street,
was completed, Mr. Samuels secured a corner store
room, and removed to this new and most desirable
location about March i, 190 1. It was a pronounced
success from the beginning, and a more beautiful
store than the present "Bon Ton" cannot be found
anywhere in this State.
On June 7, 1891. Mr. Samuels was married to
Miss Hattie Leopold, whose father, now deceased,
was a prominent merchant of Louisville, Ky. One
child has blessed the union, Elsie L., a bright little
lady of nine years (1901).
Mr. Samuels belongs to the Masonic fraternity
and the Benevolent Order of Elks and has been a
member of the board of directors of the Harmonic
Club, one of the leading social organizations of Lan-
caster. Quiet and unassuming in manner, ever at-
tentive to business, and unwearying in his efforts
to please his army of patrons, he richly deserves the
great success that has attended his business efforts.
W. K. BENDER, of Lititz, is one of the most
successful veterinary surgeons of his section in Lan-
caster county.
Mr. Bender is of German descent, and comes
of one of the old established families of this region.
His great-grandfather, David Bender, was born July
26, 1741, in Upper Leacock township, this county,
and died April 20, 1824. His wife Margaret was
born Oct. i, 1.755, and died Sept. 21, 1809. They
were the parents of seven children : John, George,
Catherine (Mrs. Joseph Heller), Susan, Sarah
(both of whom died unmarried), Mrs. Whidelor and
Mrs. Shreiner. The father was a successful farmer,
and left each of his sons a fine farm. He was a de-
voat Christian, and one of the founders of that
branch of the German Reformed Church now known
as Heller's Church.
John Bender, our subject's grandfather, was
born in Upper Ixacock township, where he followed
farming until his death. He married Elizabeth
Kinzer, and eleven children were born to them :
one that died in infancy ; David, Michael, Maria,
George, William, John, Adam, Deller, Joseph and
Widler.
John Bender, father of our subject, was born in
Leacock township. May 7, 1825. He was engaged
as veterinary surgeon, and kept the "Rome Hotel,"
near Lititz, which is still in the hands of the family.
He was a very extensive horse dealer, and furnished
horses for the government throughout the Rebel-
1350
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
lion. In politics he was a stanch Democrat, and a
very active worker for his party. Mr. Bender mar-
ried Miss Rebecca Busser, and to them were borti
sixteen children, eleven of whom died in infancy:
They are buried in the old Heller burying ground, in
Leacock township. W. K. is our subject; John T.
is a, cigar manufacturer of Lititz; Tillie is the wife
of S. K. Snavely, of Lititz; Alma is the wife of
H. M. Eckert, of Lititz ; Clara is the wife of Frank
Funk, of Pittsburg. The father died Sept. 15, 1883.
W. K. Bender was born in Leacock township
Oct. 2, 1852, and lived with his parents until he was
twenty-eight years of age. He received his literary
education at the Lititz academy, and studied vet-
erinary surgery with his father, finally beginning
practice on his own account. He has continued to
follow this calling ever since, and is one of the most
successful in his line in Lancaster county. Mr.
Bender kept the old "Rome Hotel" for four years.
Mr. Bender has always been found reliable and trust-
worthy by all who have had had dealings with him.
His standing as a citizen is among the best residents
of his community, where he holds the high regard of
all who know him.
Mr. Bender married Miss Maria Bachman,
daughter of Cornelius and Charlotte Bachman, and
to this union have been born three children : Harry
E., who is also a veterinary surgeon, a graduate of
the Lititz high school, of Franklin and Marshall
Academy, of Lancaster, and of the University of
Pennsylvania; Miss Charlotte Irene, a graduate of
Linden Hall Seminary, living at home; and John
Richard, at home.
J. FRANK BUCH. One of the best-known and
most influential citizens of the historic borough of
Lititz, is John Franklin Buch, a native of Warwick
township, wnere his grandfather first saw the light.
Mr. Buch's ancestry came from Germany, before
the time of his grandparents, and settled in Warwick
township, near Lititz. Isaac Buch, the father, was
born in Warwick, in 1827, and in 1849, married Eliz-
abeth, the daughter of John Mengle, a well-known
citizen of Manheim. From this union two sons and
one daughter were born: Amanda, wife of A. K.
Hornberger, of West Earl, this county; Walter, a
clothier of Lititz ; and J. Frank, editor and publisher
of the Lititz Record.
J. Frank Buch was born in Warwick, near Lititz,
Feb. 16, 1852, and was educated in the public schools
of the district and in the Lititz Academy. Leaving
the latter institution, he came to Lancaster and en-
tered the office of the Intelligencer, as an apprentice
at the printing trade, remaining there three and one-
half years, when he went to Philadelphia. There
he worked for one and one-half years in a first class
printing office, perfecting his knowledge of "the art
preservative."
Returning to Lititz in 1876, he started a job^
printing office, and so great was his success that he
determined to publish a newspaper, and this de-
termination resulted in the establishment of the Lititz
Record. This was in the fall of 1877, and although
the paper was started as a six-page folio, it has sev-
eral times been enlarged until today it is one of the
newsiest, most vigorous and most substantial weekly
publications in Lancaster county.
On March 10, 1881, Mr. Buch was married to
Miss Mary E., a daughter of Mr. Valentine Brobst,
of Rehrersburg, Berks county, a sister of Dr. James
C. Brobst, of Lititz. From this union were born
these children : Edith May, deceased ; Ralph ; The-
odore ; Mary Esther ; John Edward, the last named
was the namesake of two uncles ; and Charles Frank-
lin, who died young. Mr. Buch is a member of
Lodge No. 253, Knights of Pythias, of Lititz. He
has served as' a member of the Board of School Di-
rectors, of Lititz ; has been treasurer of the Springs
Committee of the Moravian Church — the commit-
tee which looks over the interests and has absolute
control of the world-famous Lititz Springs and their
beautiful grounds ; and has been secretary of the
Lititz Electric Light Company from the date of its
organization in 1893. In 1901 he was one of the
organizers of the Farmers' National Bank of Lititz,
of which he has served as secretary from the be-
ginning.
Mr. Buch is known almost as well in Lancaster
as Lititz, being personally very popular among the
newspaper men of the capital city of the county,
and just as popular among the leading merchants
of the city, many of whom avail themselves of the
wide circulation of his paper — in one of the richest
agricultural regions of the state — to advertise their
merchandise. Progressive in all things, and in noth-
ing more than in the conduct of his ably-edited and
neatly-printed paper; sociable and friendly with all
persons who come in contact with him ; straightfor-
ward in all his business dealings, and with a 'pleas-
ant personality that is constantly winning friends.
Mr. Buch is a veritable tower of strength in the com-
munity in which he lives.
ARTHUR BOARDMAN. Looking for one of
the most popular business men as well as substantial
and highly esteemed citizens of Lancaster, attention
is soon called to Arthur Boardman, who is probably
the largest wholesale coal dealer in Lancaster coun-
ty. Although a business life of integrity entitles
him to universal respect, his action in refusing to
advance the price of his commodity to his old cus-
tomers, gave his fellow-citizens who were suffering
from the effects of the disturbances in the coal re-"
gions, a still further proof of his honest intentions
and desire for only legitimate profit.
Mr. Boardman was born in Lancaster, Pa., Oct.
13, 1865, a son of Harris and Sarah (Billings)
Boardman, the former a native of Griswold, Conn.,
and the latter of New London county, Conn. The
late Harris Boardman was born in Griswold, Conn.,
Feb. 10, 1824, a son of John and Abby (Cook)'
Boardman, prominent farming people, who reared
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1351
two daughters and seven sons, all of the latter dis-
playing great mechanical genius. Until the age of
eighteen. Harris Boardman remained on the farm
and then entered a machine shop where his natural
tastes soon made hmi expert and skillful. In young
manhood he came to Lancaster to set up some en-
gines and being pleased with the country and the
business outlook, remained and became a citizen.
His mechanical ability was noted at that time, he
having set up the largest engine ever put into op-
eration jn Lancaster, up to that time. In 1856, with
S. S. Spencer and Seth Spencer, brothers, he en-
tered into a partnership for the manufacture of cot-
ton goods, a business which was continued until 1861,
when it was dissolved at the death of Seth Spencer.
Then Mr. Boardman began the manufacture of gun
locks, and furnished the same used in the army dur-
ing the Civil war, closing this establishment when
the active demand for this article ceased. He then
became the pioneer cork manufacturer and con-
ducted this business for eight years with increasing
prosperity, the burning of his mill causing him to re-
tire from active business. He was the inventor and
patentee of all the present machinery used in the
cork works of Lancaster, much of it of a complex
character, necessary for the work done in this fac-
tory. These patents made Mr. Boardman a man of
large wealth. For a time he was one of the school
directors in Lancaster, and was a very prominent
member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Royal
Arch Mason. In politics he was active in the Re-
publican party. After a life of unusual mental ac-
tivity combined with unceasing business industry,
Mr. Boardman died Feb. 10, 1871, aged forty-seven
years. His acquaintance was large and he was a
man who enjoyed the esteem of all. Through the
possession of a fine, cultivated voice, he was popu-
lar in various musical organizations and social meet-
ings in his community. Mr. Boardman was buried
in Woodward Hill cemetery.
The children of Harris and Sarah (Billings)
Boardman were the foUowmg: Dr. Walter, who,
was a prominent physician in Lancaster, died in
1900, married Ella Kiser, and their one son, Walter
P., resides with his mother ; Arthur, a leading coal
merchant of Lancaster; and Harris, an electrician,
is superintendent of the Orange Street plant in Lan-
caster. His residence is with his mother, who con-
tracted a second marriage, with Henry Carpenter,
and resides in Lancaster.
The maternal ancestry of Mr. Boardman can be
traced back as far as 1640, when William Billings
left his home in Brighton, Eng., and emigrated to
America with his brothers Nathaniel, Roger and
Richard. Ebenezer Billings, the great-great-grand-
father, was a lieutenant in the French and Indian
War, and a captain in the Revolutionary War, and
married Ann Comstock. Sanford Billings, son of
Capt. Ebeiiezer, married Lucy Gear. Capt. Gil-
bert, son of Sanford, was a captain of a vessel in the
mercantile trade, and married Lucy Swan, of Con-
necticut. Hon. Benjamin F. Billings, the father of
Mrs. Carpenter, was born in New London county.
Conn. In early life he was a farmer and also a
teacher of music. Later he entered into political life
and served for one term as a member of the Connec-
ticut State Senate, and three terms as a representa-
tive in the General Assembly.
At the age of eight years, Arthur Boardman went
to spend some time with his mother's relatives in
Connecticut, but returned four years later and has
made this city his home ever since. After complet-
ing his course in the Lancaster schools, which in-
cluded graduation from the High School, Mr.
Boardman took a course in Franklin and Marshall
College, but entered into business life at the age of
twenty years. His office is conveniently located,
and his yards so placed as to give excellent railroad
facilities. Mr. Boardman handles all kinds of first-
class coal and is next to the largest dealer in Lan-
caster.
In 1888, in Lancaster, Mr. Boardman was united
in marriage with Mary King, who was born in
White Rock, a daughter of John King, and a mem-
ber of a family of prominence whose ancestors took
part in the Revolutionary War. Her mother was a
Slaymaker. One daughter has been born to this
union, Sarah B. Mrs. Boardman is a lady of cul-
ture, and is a member of the social Society of Revo-
lutionary Dames. Both she and husband are
members of the' Presbyterian Church, of which Mr.
Boardman is a trustee. In politics he is identified
with the Republican party. His fraternal connec-
tions are with the B. P. O. E., and the Masonic or-
ders, his family all having been prominently asso-
ciated with this fraternity.
WILLIAM T. PUGH. Among the prominent
business citizens of West Lampeter township, who
is also an efficient public official, is William T. Pugh,
the proprietor and operator of the well-known
Wheatland Mills, and since 1895, the capable and
reliable postmaster.
William T. Pugh was born in Bart township,
Lancaster county, March i, 1862, a son of James and
Mary E. Pugh, growing up in his native place and
attending the public schools. At the age of thirteen
he entered the Nickel mills where he was employed
until he was eighteen, and then entered upon the
milling business, of which he has made so much of
a success. For five years he was employed at the
Pequea mills, under a Mr. Haskell and ttioroughly
mastered every detail, and then, in association with
his brother, Samuel J. Pugh, under the firm name
of Pugh & Bro., took charge of the mills and en-
gaged in the business there for a period of two years,
later assuming entire control for three years. After
retiring from the Pequea mills he and his brother
worked the Willowstreet mill for one year, and then
returned to the Pequea mills where he took charge
for the following two years.
For the past five years, however, Mr. Pugh has
1352
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
successfully conducted the great Wheatland Mills,
doing both custom and merchant milling. In con-
nection with D. G. Kendig, he purchased this plant,
and upon the death of the latter two years later,
took entire charge of the business, which has grown
to large proportions, taxing the capacity of the plant.
His output is largely disposed of in the vicinity,
much of his trade being with the merchants of Lan-
caster City.
William T. Pugh was married, in 1884, to Kate
Agon, daughter of John Agon, of Conestoga town-
ship, this county, and to this union have been born
ten children : JElizabeth (who is a student at the
Lancaster Business College), Fannie, Lydia, Mable,
Carrie, Annie, Olive, Miles, Ella and John Arthur.
In politics Mr. Pugh is a stanch Democrat, and he
has been active in local politics. His standing is that
of a good citizen, and he holds the respect and es-
teem of all with whom he has relations.
> PETER B. ESBENSHADE, one of the enter-
prising and progressive farmers of Lancaster coun-
ty, was born March 13, 185 1, on the old homestead
in Manheim township, where he was reared to farm
life and obtained his education, attending the public
schools. Until he was twenty-seven years of age he
remained at home, and when he married he settled
down on a considerable part of the homestead, his
parents retaining seventy-six acres for themselves.
His home is a mile north of the city of Lancaster.
The improvements on the place are thoroughly mod-
ern, the house being new, and the surroundings made
beautiful bv the free use of trees and shrubs. In
18S7 Mr. Esbenshade put up a fine barn, and he has
made many other improvements on the place, every
feature of which denotes thrift and prosperity. His
enrire attention has been given to farming, in which
he has prospered steadily, and he has acquired con-
siderable property in this county, owning four dif-
ferent farms and wood lots — making his total hold-
ings about 402 acres. He believes in progress, is a
stockholder in the various trolley lines in the county,
and is ready to help along any movement that looks
to the public good. He belongs to the board of edu-
cation of Manheim township.
Peter B. Esbenshade was married Dec. 13, 1877,
to Miss Susan B. Leaman, daughter of Henry Lea-
man, of Strasburg township, and to this union have
come four children, Franklin L., Elmer L., Cora L.,
and Maria L., the last named dying when three years
old. The family are among the most respected peo-
ple of the county.
EMANUEL G. FRY, box manufacturer of
Rothsville, Lancaster county, is one of the prosper-
ous business men of his section. He descends from
one of the old and honored families of Lancaster
coimty, being a grandson of Jacob Fry, who was
born in Warwick township, in 1803. Jacob Fry was
a farmer, and followed that calling all his life. He
was a member of the United Brethren Church in
which he was a class leader. He married Miss Lydia
Hornberger, and they were the parents of three chil-
dren: Samuel H., the father of our subject; Mi-
chael, deceased, who was employed at general work ;
and Fannie, wife of Levi Hollenger.
Samuel H. Fry was born in Warwick town-
ship May 25, 1827, and lived at home until he was
about twentv-three years of age. He was educated
in the common schools, and in early life he learned
the cooper's trade. He has also worked at carpen-
try, butchering, box making, etc., and by thrift and
industry succeeded in making a good living. Mr.
Fry was ordained to the ministry of the Evangelical
Church in 1855, by Bishop Esher, and has been a
very faithful worker in the church ever since. He
married Miss Barbara Gutiahr, and to their union
have been born three children: Emanuel G., our
subject; Annie, wife of Aaron Johnson; and Elias,
a box maker, of Rothsville.
Emanuel G. Fry was born in Warwick town-
ship March 25, 1852, and remained under the par-
ental roof until he was twenty years of age. He was
educated in the common schools, and then learned
the trade of carriage building, with John Stark, with
whom he continued three years. He then engaged
at carriage building on his own account, in Mill^
port and Oregon for about fifteen years. He has
since carried on box manufacturing. Like his fa-
ther, Mr. P'ry is an active member of and worker
in the Evangelical Church, and is a class leader.
He wedded Miss Jemima Keller, and to this union
have been born eight children, four of whom died
in infancy ; Ellie is the wife of Clayton Adonis ; and
Miss Clarie, Martin and Edna are at home.
CLAYTON S. WENGER. The early records
of the family of which Clayton S. Wenger is a
worthy representative, tell of its establishment in
America, and trace clearly this particular branch in
Lancaster county. In the early days in the settle-
ment of the State of Pennsylvania, three brothers
by the name of Wenger, left their home in the Old
World and sailed for America, but one brother died
on the long voyage, only Henry and Christian reach-
ing these shores. Henry Wenger settled near Potts-
town, Pa., and Christian came into Lancaster coun-
ty, where he bought 289 acres of land, in West Earl
township, from William Penn, for the sum of £44,
i6s, this transaction taking place in 1741, and the
land is still in the possession of the family.
Christian Wenger and his wife. Eve, had these
children: Michael, John, and Henry. Michael suc-
ceeded his father in the old home, which was deeded
to him in 1764, and he became the father of the
noted M ennonite minister. Rev. Joseph Wenger, and
the latter was the father of the no less noted Rev.
Michael Wenger. The latter lived on the old home-
stead and left the property to his son Joseph, who
lived and died there, leaving the farm to his son
Michael Wenger, who was the grandfather of Clay-
ton S. Wenger, of this biography.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1353
Michael Wenger, grandfather of Clayton S., had
a family of six sons and four daughters: Marks,
Fannie, Michael, Joel, Elizabeth, Mathew, Gabriel,
Menno, Susan and Maria. Joel Wenger married
Fannie M. Swarr, in 1848, and to this marriage these
children were born: Clayton S., of this sketch;
Lizzie, born in 1853, married Amos P. Shaffer, of
East Lampeter township ; Susan married Clarence
Lichty, of Lancaster ; and A. Lincoln, born in 1864,
died in 1890. In 1872 the mother of these children
passed away, and on Jan. 11, 1882, Mr. Wenger mar-
ried Miss Sallie Caproth, of West Earl township,
from which union there has been no issue.
Clayton S. Wenger was born on Aug. 14, 1850,
a son of Joel and Fannie M. (Swarr) Wenger. His
education" was in the district schools of West Earl,
and early in life he learned the business of milling,
being at present engaged in that business, and he is
also the proprietor of the Brownstown Electric
Works, and one of the most capable and reliable
men, in a business way, in this locality.
On Dec. 5, 1876, Clayton S. Wenger was mar-
ried to Miss May Landis, of Manor township, a
daughter of Jacob and Anna (Herr) Landis, and to
this union three sons have been born : Clarence L.,
born June 30, 1877, resides at home; Vincent Eu-
gene, born April 27, 1880; and Jacob Joel, born
Jan. 5, 1884, now a student in Franklin and Mar-
shall College, of Lancaster. Mr. Wenger is one of
the most highly respected citizens of Lancaster coun-
ty, a Republican in his political views, and a worthy
and consistent member of the German Reformed
Church.
DANIEL B. NISLEY. In almost every pleas-
ant town contiguous to a flourishing farming dis-
trict, may be found a most excellent class of citi-
zens who have located there late in life, after a busy
and successful agricultural career. This is notably
the case in Maytown, Lancaster county, and prom-
inent in this class is Daniel B. Nisley, who has re-
sided in the town since leaving his farm in 1889.
Mr. Nisley was born in West Donegal township,
two and one-half miles east of the village, April 2,
T829, a son of Martin and Anna (Bachman) Nisley,
of West Donegal township and Lebanon county,
respectively. The father died on the old farm in
i8si, at the age of thirty-five, and the mother re-
mained on the farm until 1880, when she removed
to Mavtown, dying ni 1893, aged ninety years. Both
parent's were buried in the Bossier Meeting House
cemetery, having been consistent members of the
Mennonite Church.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Nisley were :
Peter, Aima and Christian, all deceased ; Daniel B. ;
and Jacob, deceased. To the second marriage of the
mother, with Jacob Brandt, were born: Joseph;
and Anna, who married John Heisey, of Maytown.
The paternal grandfather of Daniel B. Nisley was
Martin Nisley, a prominent farmer of Mt. Joy town-
ship, and the maternal grandparents were, Peter
and Anna (Kreider) Bachman, of Lebanon county.
The subject of this biography was reared by his
uncle, Jacob Nisley, from the age of six years, and
he remained with this kind relative until he was
eighteen years old and then went to work for his
brother Peter, until he had attained his majority.
Following this, he assisted his wife's relatives for a
time, and then, on account of the death of his brother
Jacob, took charge of the farm, on which he re-
mained until retirement in 1889, when he sold it, the
estate consisting of 188 acres.
The marriage of Mr. Nisley occurred on Oct. 5,
1858, in Lancaster, to Miss Sarah Lindemuth, and
the children born of this union are: Emma, who
married Albert Risser. a tobacco packer; J. Frank,
who conducts a meat business in Maytown, married
Amelia Kantz, and has two children, Clyde L., and
Alta. Mrs. Nisley was born in East Donegal town-
ship, Sept. 9, 1833, a daughter of Jacob W. and
Sarah (Brocht) Lindemuth, the former of whom
was a farmer until some years before his death,
which occurred Nov. 28, 1887, when over ninety-
four years of age. The mother passed away April
29, 1885, at the age of seventy-nine, both of them
now resting in the Lutheran cemetery in Maytown ;
they were devoted members of Zion Children's
Church during their long and useful lives. Their
children were : Catherine, who married Jacob Bear ;
Daniel, deceased ; Elizabeth, deceased : Sarah, Mrs.
Nisley ; Jacob, deceased " and John, also deceased.
This was nor. a marrying family, only two members
of it ever having wedded-
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Nisley were
George and Christiann (Wolfe) Lindemuth, and the
great-grandfather came from Germany. His name
was Ludwig Lindemuth and he purchased land in
East Donegal township, between Mt. Joy and Mari-
etta, and died in 1777.
In politics, Mr. Nisley upholds the tenets of the
Republican party. In religious life, Mrs. Nisley is
a member of Zion Children's Church, and is a most
estimable lady. ;;•
MICHAEL W. HURST, M. D., who ranks
among the able, prosperous and time-honored physi-
cians of Lancaster county, of which he is a native,
was born Sept. 27, 1835.
David Hurst, his grandfather, was born in
Caernarvon township, Lancaster county, 'and became
a thrifty farmer of that locality. He was the father
of children, as follows : Henry, born in 1791 ; Bar-
bara, 1792; Maria, 1793; Joseph, 1795; John, 1797;
Amos. 1799; Elizabeth, 1802; and Susan, 1804.
John Hurst, father of Dr. Hurst, was born in
Caernarvon township, and all his life followed agri-
cultural pursuits there. In 1819 he married Kath-
erine Witmer, and children as follows were born to
them : Daniel, who died in childhood ; Isaac, a
prominent farmer of Caernarvon township ; David,
a fruit grower in Cornville, Ariz. ; Amos, John and
Benjamin, all three deceased ; Samuel A., a farmer
1354
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in East Hempfield township ; Michael W., the sub-
ject of these lines; and Martin, who died in the
Civil war in 1864.
Dr. Michael W. Hurst was reared on the home
farm, and received a liberal education in part at the
public schools of the neighborhood of his birth-
place, in part at Millersville State Normal. In 1859
he commenced the study of medicine at the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, graduating from that insti-
tution in i86r, and at once commenced the practice
of his profession in Talmadge, Lancaster county,
where he has since remained, having built up a high-
ly lucrative clientele.
In 1863 Dr. Hurst was married to Miss Hattie
Oberholtzer, of East Earl township, Lancaster coun-
ty. Nine children blessed their union, viz : Mar-
garet, born in 1864, is the wife of Rev. J. D. Wood-
ring, a minister of the Evangelical Church ; Minnie
E., born in 1865, is the wife of A. R. Wenger, of Tal-
mage, Lancaster county ; Anna V., born in 1867, is
the wife of Rev. VV. H. Hartzler, of the Evangelical
Church ; John O., born in 1871, resides in Cornville,
Ariz. ; Ira W., born in 1872, died in childhood ; Wil-
lis W., born in 1875, died in infancy; Hattie, born in
1877 ; Spencer W., born in 1881 ; and Edna P., born
in 1883, resides at home.
In politics Dr. Hurst is a Republican and for
several vears has served as school director. In re-
ligious faith he is a consistent member of the Evan-
gelical Church, and, socially, is affiliated with the
State Medical Society, and the County Medical So-
ciety. He has lived an honorable and upright life,
a large portion of which has been devoted to the
good of others, and he enjoys the respect and esteem
of the community at large.
DAVID WATTS EMERY POISAL, member
of the Lancaster school board from the Fourth ward,
has a very interesting personal history. His pa-
ternal ancestors were French.
Jacob Poisal, his grandfather, was born in Mar-
tinsburg, Va., and among his children was the Rev.
John Poisal, and another was Michael Poisal, a
tailor, who was the father of our subject.
Michael Poisal married Elizabeth Watts, daugh-
ter of the Rev. James Watts, pastor of the Metho-
dist Church at several important points. She was
born in Virginia, while her parents were both na-
tives of Pennsylvania. To Michael Poisal and wife
were born ten children, seven of whom are living,
as follows : Nannie W., widow of A. W. Tennant,
of Baltimore; Clara 1., widow of G. L. Swartz, of
Davis, W. Va. ; Maggie E., the wife of J. W. Ger-
man, a druggist of Baltimore ; Fannie S., widow of
A. C. Roberts, of Baltimore; John W., a druggist
of Baltimore; George S., a clerk in Baltimore; and
David Watts Emery, of Lancaster.
David Watts Emery Poisal was born in Berke-
ley county, Va. (now a part of West Virginia), in
1846, and was educated in private schools until he
reached the age of fourteen years, when he became
an apprentice at tanning and currying in his native
county. He remained at his trade until the breaking
out of the Civil war, when he entered the Confeder-
ate Army, joining the 2d Va Infantry, serving un-
der "Stonewall" Jackson for three years. At Cedar
Creek he was wounded in the right arm, near the
shoulder, but survived, and when the war ended he
settled at Wheeling, W. Va. He worked for the
same house for a period of fifteen years. In 1881
he removed to Baltimore for the purpose of engaging
in the leather business on his own account, but after
three years he came to Lancaster, to take charge of
the tannery of A. A. Myers & Co. This was in 1884,
and five years later Mr. Myers withdirew from the
business, and Morris Zook, who was the "Company"
in the firm, assumed the responsibility, afid he has
retained Mr. Poisal as- his superintendent up to the
present time.
On April 26, 1866, Mr. Poisal was married to
Miss Christiana, who was bom in Scotland, a
daughter of William and EHzabeth' Maurice, her fa-
ther having been a well-known mining engineer.
This union was blessed with one child, Elizabeth,
who died at the age of two years, and whose ashes
are interred at Wheeling, W. Va. Mr. Poisal was
appointed a member of the Lancaster school board
to fill the unexpired term of W. P. Brinton, who had
removed from the ward, thus creating a vacancy.
Mr. Poisal has since been twice re-elected on the
board, where he has served on a number of import-
ant committees.
Mrs. Poisal has taken an active interest in the
affairs of the Lancaster General Hospital as well as
in the Y. W. C. A., 3jid also in the St. Paul's Re-
formed Church and Sunday-school, of which she
and her husband are both members. They are great
workers for good purposes, and Mrs. Poisal espec-
ially may be said to be always doing good. Mr.
Poisal is traveling salesman as well as superintend-
ent for Mr. Zook's extensive leather business. Much
of his spare time is devoted to the interest of the pub-
lic schools. Mr. Poisal is a Democrat, and is an
ardent supporter of the party.
CLAYTON R. FARMER. Among the pros-
perous and successful residents of East Donegal
township, is Clayton R. Farmer, a tobacco raiser and
agriculturist, who also owns and operates a lime
kiln. He was born July 2, 1863, in West Hempfield
township, a son of Samuel and Mary (Rinehart)
Farmer, the former of whom died in. East Hemp-
ield township in Sept., 1863, at the age of forty-
seven, the latter surviving until June, 1893, both of
them now resting in the cemetery at Marietta. The
children of these most worthy people were: Re-
becca, who married John Kaine and died in 1878;
John, of East Donegal township ; George, of Martic
township ; Emma, who married John Christie, of
Columbia, Pa. ; Clementine, who is the widow of
John Kaine ; Malinda, who died at the age of twenty-
four ; Warren, of West Hempfield ;,Mary, who mar-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1855
ried George Strohm, of Marietta ; Samuel, deceased ;
and Clayton R.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. Farmer, of
this sketch, were Jcnn and Nancy (Hinkle) Farmer,
the former of whom died in 1892, and the latter in
1837. To this union were born : Samuel, deceased ;
Eliza, the widow of J . P. Walter, of Marietta ; Bar-
bara, John, Kate, Anna, Margaret and Fanny, all
deceased; and Mary A., deceased wife of Joseph
Reim.
On July 25, 1885, Clayton R. Farmer was mar-
ried to Sophia M. Stultz, and one son, Clayton S.,
has been born of this marriage. Mrs. Farmer was
borri in Marietta, Pa., March 24, 1863, a daughter of
Christian and Lena Stultz, both of whom were na-
tives of Germany, and died in Marietta, within a few
weeks of each other, in September, 1870. They were
worthy members of the Lutheran Reformed Church
and had these children: Fred, deceased; John, de-
ceased , Christian and William, who are in the meat
business in Marietta; Sophia M. ; Adam, of Jersey
City ; and Harry, of Jersey City, both of these being
railroad men.
Clayton R. Farmer remained on the home place
until 1892, engaged in farming for his mother, but
since that time he has occupied his present fine farm
which he conducts very profitably. Mr. Farmer is
well known in that locality and the whole family is
one that possesses the esteem of the community, and
ranks among the representative citizens.
HENRY ROTE. Mr. Rote was born in Lan-
caster, March 15,, 1859. He is of German lineage,
his grandparents on both the paternal and maternal
sides having emigrated from Germany in early life.
Henry and Elizabeth Rote, the father's parents,
settled in Lancaster, and for several years conducted
hotels at that place and in Columbia. The mother
died in the latter place, her husband in Lancaster.
They brought with them their son Daniel, Henry
Rote's father, who was then a mere child. While
yet a young man, Daniel entered the service of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company as brakeman, and
at the outbreak of the Rebellion, he volunteered as a
private in the Lnion army. He lost his life in bat-
tle, being then a young man of thirty-five years. He
married Catherine Wagner, also a native of Ger-
many, who was born in that country on Christmas
Day, 1837. She is yet living in Lancaster. Both
she and her husband were members of the German
Lutheran Church. Her father died in the Father-
land, but her mother crossed the ocean and is spend-
ing her last vears with her daughter.
Henry Rote was his parents' only child. After
his father's death, however, his mother married
Christ Born, bv whom she became the mother of four
children. The eldest, George, is in the employ of
the railroad company and lives in Columbia.
Charles, the second son, resides in Lancaster with
his mother. The two younger children have both
died.
At the age of sixteen, Henry Rote went to work
in the bolt factory in his native town, Lancaster. On
attaining his majority he entered the employ of the
Pennsylvania road as a brakeman, four years later
he was made a flagman, and three years after was
given the post of conductor. He belongs to the
Order of Railway Conductors, and is a member of
the Reformed Church. His political creed is that of
the Democratic party.
On Sept. 24, 1880, Mr. Rote married Miss Eliza-
beth Everhart, of Lancaster, who bore him one
daughter and three sons. The two elder, Alice and
Harry, live at home ; the younger, Charles and Ray-
mond, are deceased; Mrs. Rote was born in Safe
Harbor, Pa., Feb.. 18, 1864. Her parents, John and
Mary Everhart, were both born in Germany, but are
at present living in Lancaster, he being a retired me-
chanic. Both he and his wife were born in 1840,
and both are members of the German Reformed
Church. Mrs. Rote is the sixth of a family of eight
children, the others being: Christina, who mar-
ried Harry McGlouchlin, of Lancaster; Charles;
Reuben : Fanny, wife of a Mr. Clevy, of Lancaster ;
Jacob, living in Ohio ; Anna, married to Lewis
Parker, of Lancaster; and Mary, who is married
and lives in the same city.
SOLON Z. LANDIS. Among the prominent,
intelligent and substantial farmers of East Donegal
township, who now reside in Maytown, since re-
tirement from active duties, is Solon Z. Landis, who
was born in Washington, Lancaster Co., Pa., Sept.
I, 1845, the only child of Michael B. and Barbara
(Zeigler) Landis, of Landisville.
Michael E. Landis was a man of education, who
successfully followed the profession of teaching in
Iowa, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Colorado, and for
a number of years was a land agent in Iowa. Mr.
Landis possessed many talents, and was also a mer-
chant and a surveyor and for eight years was con-
nected with the Pension department of the govern-
ment, in Washington, D. C. Never robust in health,
he lived, however, to be seventy-two years old, com-
ing to Lancaster to pass his last days, where he died
in 1892. His support was given the Republican
party. The death of his wife had occurred in Manor
township in 1880, at the age of sixty.
The Landis family in Lancaster county, is an
old and prominent one, conspicuous in many of its
commercial and financial affairs. The grandparents
of Solon Z. Landis were John and Mary (Bachman)
Landis, of Lancaster county. John Landis was a
farmer, who in time became possessed of large
means, and laid out the town of Landisville, giving
it his name. During life he was instrumental in or-
ganizing the Lancaster County Bank, of- which he
was president, and the heaviest stockholder. His
years extended until he had almost reached eighty,
his death occurring in i860, when he was buried in
the beautiful cemetery in the town which he had
founded.
1356
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
The maternal grandparents of Solon Z. Landis,
were Jacob and Barbara (Lindemuth) Zeigler, the
former of whom was a prosperous farmer and was a
director and heavy stockholder in the Lancaster
County National Bank. These families through in-
termarriages have become connected with many of
the oldest and best families in the State.
Solon Z. Landis was reared in his native town
and received his primary education in the common
schools, supplementing this with some time spent at
Duff's Mercantile College in Pittsburg, thus prepar-
ing himself for four years as assistant bookkeeper
in the office of. the Patriot, of Harrisburg. After
retiring from this position, Mr. Landis began to-
bacco farming, on a tract of ninety acres, and for
several years was engaged in Maytown, in the to-
bacco packing business. His present possessions
include a farm in East Donegal township.
Mr. Landis was married March 17, 1878, in May-
town, to Miss Amanda Rombauch, and to this union
one daughter was born, Anna Pearl, a young lady
who has displayed musical gifts of a high order. Her
parents have given her every advantage, and she at-
tended for five years the Broad street Conservatory
of Music, in Philadelphia, from which she grad-
uated. Mrs. Landis was born in Maytown in May,
1840, a daughter of John and Mary Rombauch.
Mr. Landis as a prominent Republican, has held
many of the local offices, and is a valued member of
the Masonic order, being a Knight Templar, of
Columbia Lodge.
AMOS B. MILLER, M. D. , As a specialist in
diseases of the skin and. blood, Dr. Amos B. Miller
has a deservedly large following in Lancaster, and
it is doubtful if any in the town have given to these
special human ailments more profound and exhaus-
tive research. A native son of Pennsylvania, Dr.
Miller was born in East Hempfield township, Lan-
caster county, Sept. 24, 1844, a son of Dr. John L.
and Barbara (Baer) Miller, also natives of Lancas-
ter county.
Dr. John L. Miller was a practicing physician
for twenty years, and was also a farmer. During
1856-57 he conducted a mercantile business in Roh-
rerstown, Pa., and then returned the the seclusion of
his well-tilled acres. In 1867 he went into a general
merchandise business with Jacob Harnish, in Lan-
caster, and at the end of eight years dissolved part-
nership, and started another business of the same
kind with John L. Baer as partner. At the end of
three years John P. Swarr was admitted as a partner
and Mr. Miller eventually stepped out of the busi-
ness, and became manager of the Lancaster Mutual
Fire Insurance Company until his death, in March,
1899, at an advanced age. He was buried in
Millersville Mennonite cemetery; he was the orig-
inator of the church of that denomination in Lancas-
ter. His widow, who lives at No. 147 West King
street, is the mother of four children, of whom Amos
B. is the oldest; Lizzie married Benjamin Suavely,
a bookkeeper in Lancaster ; Fannie is unmarried and
living at home; and Anna is the widow of Joseph
Dikler, of Lancaster.
Until twenty-three years old Dr. Amos B. Miller
lived on the paternal farm, and in 1867 began read-
ing medicine with his father. When the elder Miller
retired from practice his son assumed charge of the
same, and in 1870 located in Lancaster, where he
has specialized, as before stated. He has never at-
tended a medical college, but has followed along the
lines laid down by his sire, who also experienced
success in the treatment of cancers, tumors, scrofula,
and kindred blood disorders. Amos B. Miller was
licensed to practice Nov. 25, i88r. He is a Repub-
lican in politics, and a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. He married in 1857, Fan-
nie Baer, born in East Hempfield township in 1847,
a daughter of Jacob B. and Fannie (Bar dell) Baer,
of Lancaster county. Mr. Baer was a farmer and
distiller of some prominence, and died in 1882, at
the age of seventy-four. Dr. Miller is popular and
enterprising, and has more than a local reputation
as a skilled speciaHst.
JACOB KEPLINGER MANN, with the Frei-
hofer Vienna Baking Company, 24th and Master
streets, Philadelphia, belongs to one of the oldest
families in Lancaster county, people who have been
prominent in Manor township for generations. His
grandfather was a farmer in Manor township, and in
later years a hotel keeper, making the name of John
Mann universally respected by his honest and up-
right life on the Marietta turnpike.
Jacob S. Mann, the father of Jacob K., was a
farmer in the same township, but purchased prop-
erty in Manheim township thirty years ago, and is
living there at the present time. He married Mar-
garet Keplinger, daughter of a farmer at Chestnut
Hill, and to them were born six children, four of
whom are living: Jacob K.. and Henry, both of
Lancaster : David and Elizabeth, at home.
Jacob Keplinger Mann was educated in the pub-
lic school near Petersburg, which he left when he was
seventeen years old. Coming to Lancaster to make
his way in the world, he found employment in the
grocery store of D. S- Bursk, a position which he
held for six years. His next move was to Philadel-
phia, where he became advertising inspector for the
Sunlight Soap Company, discharging the duties of
that responsible position until Christmas, 1899, when
he returned to Lancaster. After being with the
firm of Reese and Poutz, Leacock, Pa., for a short
time, Mr. Mann was connected with the establish-
ment of W. D. Sprecher, Son & Company, and while
there became agent for the celebrated Freihofer
bread and cakes. This business grew rapidly, keep-
ing a delivery wagon constantly busy in supplying
the patrons, and its quick development induced'Mr.
Mann to give up his position and go into business for
himself. The Freihofer goods for which he has been
sole agent since Aug. i, 1900, had grown to be a
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1857
wonderful success in Lancaster and Mr. Mann re-
ceived on an average of 1,000 loaves a day. Business
was built up so swiftly that he was given a position
by the company that took him from one city to an-
other. At York City, Pa., his success was equal to
that at Lancaster, and at Philadelphia the demand
for the goods became so great that at last all outside
business was cut off. Mr. Mann is now city solicitor
and general all-around man for what he considers
one of the finest firms in America.
When Mr. Mann returned to Lancaster, after
entering the employ of the Freihofer Vienna Baking
Company, he was united in marriage with Miss
Elizabeth Reese, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eber O.
Reese, the former one of Strasburg's most respected
and prominent farmers.
Mr. Mann is not yet thirty years old, having been
born July 2, 1873, but young as he is, he has shown
an enterprise and pluck, combined with good judg-
ment, that make the promise of the future bright.
PETER WEHNER. The great railroad sys-
tem of Pennsylvania requires brain and brawn, skill
and reliability in every department, to ensure the
safety of life and property and the efficiency of the
service. A very responsible class are the conductors,
and Columbia is the home of many who have won
their way to promotion through faithful work, and
one of these is Peter Wehner.
Conductor Peter Wehner is a native of Columbia,
where he was born Feb. 25, 1857, a son of Adam
Wehner, a native of Germany. Adam Wehner came
to America in 1830 and first settled in Baltimore,
Md., where he was engaged in work for a long time
on the canal between Baltimore and Pittsburg, and
during this time he made three trips over the Alle-
ghany mountains. Wages were small at that time,
and during the money panic he worked for twenty-
five cents a day. In 1853 he came to Columbia, hav-
ing been in Cincinnati for six months, and soon after
locating in the former city, he found employment
with T- G. Hess and remained with him in his coal
business, for many years, the latter part of the time
being foreman. He died in 1872, at the age of sixty.
Socially he was connected with the Knights of Py-
thias. The death of his widow occurred in 1882 at
the age of sixty- four : both had been members of the
Catholic Church.
The children of Adam Wehner were: Henry,
an employe in the Lancaster rolling mill; John, a
brakeman on the Pennsylvania lines ; Christiann, who
married John Wonder, a shoe manufacturer, of Co-
lumbia ; Peter : Mary, who is the widow of Frederick
Wendler, of Columbia ; and Rose, deceased. Adam
Wehner was a devout member of his church and was
one of the chief movers in the establishment of the
Catholic Church in Columbia, and his services for the
church are remembered by a beautiful memorial
window.
The educational advantages of Mr. Wehner were
limited as he was obliged to go to work at the age '
of fourteen. He earned his first wages in setting up
the pins in a bowling alley, where he remained six
months ; he finished out the year in the Susquehan-
na Iron Works, later finding better paying work in
Bonner's coal yard, where he remained for seven
years. An opportunity presenting itself, he entered
into the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad as
brakeman, pursuing the difficult duties of this posi-
tion for five years and then was promoted to be flag-
man, and in 1890 was made a conductor. So many
years of continuous service have made him very valu-
able and he enjoys the confidence and esteem of his-
superior officers.
Mr. Wehner was married Jan. 3, 1886, in Phila-
delphia, to Miss Elizabeth M. Glosser, who was born
in Columbia, a daughter of Andrew Glosser.
In his political sympathies, Mr. Wehner is a
Democrat and is fraternally connected with the O. of
R. C, and the B. of R. T., in both of which organ-
izations he is well known and much esteemed. As
a citizen, he is respected and is known for his chari-
ties, his generous impulses leading him into much
benevolence.
DAVID B. LANDIS, the lamented father of
Clayton G., who is at the head of the real estate busi-
ness at No. 32 East Orange street, Lancaster, and
who is well and popularly known in the business,
political and social circles of that city, was a son of
Benjamin Landis, who was born in East Lampeter
township, this county, engaged in farming, and be-
came quite-Well-to-do, owning five farms which he
operated until he retired from the active cares of
life. He died about 1873, aged seventy-one years.
He was active in the public life of the community,
serving as school director and township supervisor,
and was a leading Republican of his district. Mr.
Landis married Miss Mary, daughter of David Buck-
waiter, of East Lampeter township, and they had
seven children. Mrs. Landis's ' father was born in
the same township, and was of German descent. He
was a Mennonite, and one of his sons was a minister
of that denomination. Mr. Buckwalter was a pros-
perous farmer, and owned a large estate. His wife
died in 1886, and he died at the age of eighty-eight
years.
David B. Landis was born Jan. 13, 1830, in
Upper Leacock township, this county, and lived on
his father's farm until, when he was twenty-seven
years of age, the property, comprising 117 acres,
came into his possession, and from 1857 to 1867 he
operated it. In .1867 he bought a mill on Mill creek,
three miles from Lancaster, which had a capacity of
fifty barrels of flour per day, and which he ran for
six years. He then sold out and engaged in the
brewing business at Lititz, for the next twelve years.
His home, during this period was near Lancaster,
where he owned a farm of twenty-four acres. About
this time he bought the old Landis Mill, on Mill
creek, and also another mill property, still further
up the river, running both mills for three years, at
1358
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the end of which time he sold the upper one. In
1878 he purchased a warehouse on Lemon and Water
streets, Lancaster, and embarked in the grain busi-
ness. In 1889 Mr. Landis assisted in organizing the
Conestoga National Bank, was elected president at
the start, and continued to the day of his tragic
death. This institution was incorporated with a
capital of $125,000 and in July, 1891, the stock was
increased to $200,000. At that time the bank was
removed to the present building, at the comer of
King and Queen streets. Mr. Landis was also for
eight years a director in the Farmers' Bank.
In 1857 David B. Landis married Miss Martha
Groff, who was born in the same township as him-
self, daughter of Daniel Groff, an old settler and
miller of the locality. Mr. and Mrs. Landis had only
one child, Clayton G., who was in partnership with
his father in the grain business for many years.
David B. Landis was a loyal Republican. He served
as school director of East Lampeter township for
three years, was^ twice elected director of the poor,
and was president of the board for one term. He
was for ten years a director of the Inquirer Pub-
lishing Company, now known as the Wickersham
Publishing Company. He was also a member of
the First Presbyterian Church, and was one of
the trustees, being chairman of the board and on
the building committee.
No tragedy in a century has so moved the peo-
ple of Lancaster as the murder of David B. Landis
by Ralph Wireback; the deed was committed at
high noon, April 7, 1898, when Mr. Landis was try-
ing to do his slayer a friendly act ; and although the
criminal was ably defended he suffered the death
penalty, this having been the first and only execution
in Lancaster for half a century. Mrs. Landis sur-
vived her husband but a few years, and died Jan. 17,
1902.
CLAYTON G. LANDIS, the only son of David
B. and his wife, was born April 24, 1862, and re-
ceived his education in the public schools. At the
age of twenty years he became associated in busi-
ness with his father, and so continued until the lat-
ter's death, when he gave up the grain business, and
entered the real estate and insurance world, meeting
with unqualified success. He is a member of the
Lancaster Board of Trade. In September, 1892,
was organized the Lancaster Real Estate Company,
of which Mr. Landis is president. He is regarded
as an excellent judge of real estate values. With all
his other interests Mr. Landis is a lover of good
horseflesh, dealing extensively in thoroughbreds.
Besides his fine stable at home, he has one in New
York city at No. 112 West 54th street, under the
name of the Union Coach Horse Co., where he
handles only strictly high class horses.
On Dec. 30, 1896, Clayton G. Landis was united
in marriage with Mary E. Doerr, and they have two
children, David B. and John B. Politically Mr.
Landis is a Republican, and belongs to the Repub-
lican clubs, and fraternally he belongs to the Masons
and the Elks.
ANDREW H. GOCHNAUER owns and con-
ducts one of the finest farms in Warwick township,
located near Lititz, and he is looked upon as one of
the most progressive and industrious residents of
that region. Mr. Gochnauer's ancestors have been
engaged in farming in Lancaster county for several
generations. His grandfather, John Gochnauer,
was born near Landisville, where he lived and died.
He was a farmer and distiller, and followed those
occupations all his life. He married Miss Miller,
and they were the parents of two children : Henry,
the father of our subject ; and John, a retired farmer
of Landisville.
Henry Gochnauer was born in East Hempfield
township in 1832, and lived at home until he was
twenty-seven years of age. For the next four years
he carried on a hotel in Manheim, and then began
farming in East Hempfield, which he continued un-
til his death on Jan. 2, 1894. He married Miss An-
nie Kauffman, and_ to their union were born nine
children, one of whom died in infancy; John and
Henry are engaged in farming on the home place;
Fannie and Mary are also at home; Andrew H. is
our subject ; Emanuel is at home ; David is at home ;
and Amos lives with our subject.
Andrew H. Gochnauer was bom in East Hemp-
field township, Feb. 7, 1866, and received a good
common-school education. He lived at home until
he was twenty-seven years of age, when he began
life for himself, farming, on the farm where he now
resides.
Mr. Gochnauer married Miss Esther Herr,
daughter of John and Elvina Herr, of Millersville,
and to this union has come one child, Annie, bom
April 15, 1898. In politics our subject is a stanch
Republican, and a very ardent worker for the success
of his pg.rty.
JAMES B. HENDERSON, one of the most
substantial and highly esteemed citizens of May-
town, Pa., who for many years was prominently
identified with the Internal Revenue service, lives a
somewhat retired life, after much activity in former
years.
James B. Henderson was bom in Maytown, Dec.
20, 1 84 1, and comes of old Lancaster county stock,
being the son of David and Anna (Shaffer) Hen-
derson, who had long been residents of the county,
through which Mr. Henders'on was known as a
successful farmer and distiller. David Henderson
was bom in 1794 and died in 1859, the mother sur-
viving until t86i, both of them now resting in the
old Reformed Church cemetery, in which Church
they were known as good and most estimable peo-
ple. Their children were : George, deceased ; David
S., a retired farmer of Alexandria, Pa. ; Anna, who
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1359
died young ; John, deceased ; Jacob, a bricklayer of
Maytown; Caroline, who died young; James B. ;
and Benjamin, a contractor and builder in Harris-
burg.
Very early in life James B. Henderson began his
business career. His tastes did not incline him to-
ward farm life, and after leaving school, as early as
thirteen years he began to learn the carpenter trade.
Four years later he entered the employ of a large
lumber firm in Marietta as shipping clerk, continu-
ing there for nine months, when he became a fireman
on the Pennsylvania Railroad, working so faithfully
and well, that in 1862, he was promoted to the posi-
tion of engineer. His career in this direction was
cut off, in a few months, as he was drafted into the
army for service in the Civil war, and he remained
in the ranks until the close of the struggle.
Recognizing the ability of Mr. Henderson, the
government soon after the war, made him Revenue
Inspector of the Ninth and Fourteenth Districts,
and he efficiently performed the onerous duties of
this position for the succeeding four years, at the
close of which period he was made special agent of
the Internal Revenue service, his official duties con-
tinuing for nine years and only ending with the aboli-
tion of the office. From 1881 to 1885 he was asso-
ciated with his son, in the tobacco packing business.
In January, 1857, James B. Henderson was mar-
ried, in Elizabethtown, to Miss Rebecca Zearing, and
•to this union were born : John D., a manufacturer
of cigars and a tobacco packer, of Maytown, who
married Miss Sarah Honseal; and James A., a
trained nurse and a druggist, now connected with
the Medico-Chirurgical Hospital, in Philadelphia.
Mrs. Henderson was born in Cumberland county,
and died Aug. 8, 1899, a daughter ®f John H. and
Sarah (Croll) Zearmg, the family having come to
Maytown in 1850 and some years later moved to
Middletown, where Mr. Zearing engaged in a mer-
cantile business. In politics, Mr. Henderson has ai-
rways been an ardent and active Republican, and has
been of much service to the party. His position be-
fore his fellow-citizens is a representative one, and
no one more entirely possesses their respect and es-
teem.
JAMES SCOTT DICKEY, whose leaf tobacco
warehouse and fertilizer manufactory is at Nos. 630
and 632 North Prince street, and whose residence is
at No. 125 North Pine street, Lancaster, is de-
scended from a Scotch-Irish ancestry, whose history
in Pennsylvania dates back to 1710.
Hbn. Jesse C. Dickey, his grandfather, was a
member of the State Legislature, and a member of
Congress from Chester and Delaware counties. He
was the first man to make a speech in Congress for
the admission of California to the Union, and was
the first man to make a speech in the halls of legis-
lation for the abolition of slavery. At one time he
was a paymaster in the United States Army.
David Dickev, father of James Scott Dickey, who
is engaged in the paint business in Philadelphia, was
married to Miss Scott, the daughter of James Scott,
at that time the leading cattle dealer of Chester coun-
ty. From this union were born five children, two of
whom died in infancy. The others are: Elizabeth
W., wife of Walter T. Lees, commission merchant of
Philadelphia; Margaret, wife of Judson L. Snod-
grass, a prominent undertaker of Philadelphia; and
James Scott, of Lancaster.
James Scott Dickey, the Lancaster leaf tobacco
dealer and fertilizer manufacturer, was born at
Lewisville, Chester county, July 16, 1864, and was
educated in the Westchester State Normal School,
leaving that institution to read medicine, pursuing
his medical studies for two years in Jefferson Medical
College, Philadelphia, finishing at the Cincinnati
Medical College, from which he was graduated in
1883. After practicing his profession for a year
and a half in Philadelphia, he gave it up, on account
of a growing dislike for it, turning his attention
to business, and becoming connected with the S. E.
M. Rice Varnish Company, of Newark, N. J., travel-
over the greater part of the United States in their
interest. At the death of S. E. M. Rice, Mr. Dickey
became the junior partner of the concern, and con-
tinued with it for eleven years. At the end of this
time he came to Lancaster and engaged in the leaf
tobacco business. In November, 1900, Mr. Dickey
established a plant for the manufacture of a fertil-
izer from the stems of the tobacco, contracting for
all the stems which the dealers in Harrisburg, Pitts-
burg, Lancaster, Philadelphia and New York can
furnish him for a term of years. By the aid of
powerful machinery, and proper treatment, he pro-
duces from the waste of tobacco houses a fertilizer,
shown to contain from three to five per cent, of
ammonia, from eight to eleven per cent, of pot-
ash, and an appreciable amount of phosphoric acid.
It bids fair to revolutionize the business of insecti-»
•cides and phosphates ; and from the fact that a lead-
ing phosphate, company had ordered one hundred
tons of it, it is evident Mr. Dickey knew what he
was about when he launched this enterprise.
Mr. Dickey was mai-ried to Miss Martha A. Over-
ly, a daughter -of the late William Overly, of Lan-
caster.
JOSEPH K. HEISEY (deceased) was bom
near the Graybill Mill in East Donegal township,
August 22, 1822, and died in the present home of
the family, July 16, 1891. His remains were in-
terred in the cemetery connected with Reich's Meet-
ing House in East Donegal. Joseph and Elizabeth
(Kaufifman) Heisey, his parents, were farming
people in Lancaster county, and were members of
the River Brethren Church. They had the follow-
ing children : Elizabeth ; Christian ; Catherine, wife
of John Risser ; Martha, the wife of Frederick Peck ;
Anna ; Joseph K. and Mary. All the members of
this family are now deceased. The paternal grand-
parents of J. K. Heisey were Daniel and Elizabeth
1360
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Heisey. Daniel Heisey died in 1822, at the age of
seventy-five years, and his wife March 8, 181 5, at
the age of sixty-four years. They were buried on
Clement Brubaker's farm in East Donegal township,
Lancaster county.
Joseph K. Heisey and Susanna K. Wissler were
married in York county. Pa., Sept. 11, 1856. The
only child born to diis union was John W. Susanna
(Wissler) Heisey, who was born in Manor town-
ship, died Dec. 4, 1865, aged thirty-five years, and
was buried in Reich's cemetery in East Donegal
township. Jacob and Elizabeth (Kauffman) Wiss-
ler, her parents, were natives of Lancaster county,
and both died on the old homestead in Manor town-
ship. They had the following children: Susanna;
Martha, who married O. Strickler, of Manor town-
ship ; Barbara, married to Reuben Strickler, of Ma-
nor township; Elizabeth, who died unmarried at
the age of foity-five years ; and Martin, who died in
the West at the age of eighteen years.
Joseph K. Heisey and Sarah S. Heisey were
married Dec. 4, 1867. Mrs. Sarah S. Heisey was born
in Mt. Joy township, the daughter of Daniel and
Catherine (Seifert j Heisey, of Mt. Joy township and
Middletown, respectively. Her father died in 1879,
at the age of seventy- three, and her mother in 1880,
at the age of seventy-one. Born to this union :
Fanny, who died at the age of twenty-one ; Henry, a
farmer in Cumberland county; Christ, a retired
farmer in Florin ; Daniel, a farmer in East Donegal
township ; Sarah S. ; Mary, of Mt. Joy ; Levi, a
farmer and carpenter in Cumberland county ; Lydia,
unmarried in Harrisburg; Christiana, who died
yoiuig; and Abraham and Joseph, both deceased.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Heisey were
Daniel and Susie (Barrick) Heisey, of Lancaster
county.
Joseph K. Heisev was a farmer until 1875, when
he came to Florin, and from that time until his
death he lived a retired life in that pleasant little
borough. Both his wife and himself were members
of the River Brethren Church, and were counted
among the best people of the city.
BENJAMIN S. RUPP. Among the well-
known farmers of West Earl township no one pos-
sesses the esteem of the community in a higher
degree than Benjamin S. Rupp, who owns and op-
erates a farm located about one mile south of Tal-
mage. Benjamin Rupp was born Aug. 13, 1864,
a son of Joi^ri and Harriet (Sheaffer) Rupp, of West
Earl township, who were of German ancestry.
The family of Rupp has been established in Lan-
caster county for many years. Grandfather
Abraham Rupp was born here and reared a family
of six children : Abraham ; Martin ; Lemon ; John ;
Lizzie, who married John Wolf; and Annie, who
married one of the Royers.
John Rupp, the father of Benjamin S., married
Harriet Sheaffer, in 1863, and these children were
born of this union: Benjamin S. ; Clayton, born in
1865, married Emma Burkholder, and resides on
a farm in West Earl township; and Isaac, born in
1867, married Ada Kline, and resides in East Co-
calico township. The death of the father of these
children was at the early age of twenty-five, in
1868, and in 1883, his widow married Joseph Rupp.
Reared on a farm, Mr. Rupp has continued to
follow an agricultural life and has met with great
success. His education was acquired in the public
schools of West Earl, and ever since entering into
business for himself, he has been one of the industri-
ous and self-respecting farmers of this locality, al-
ways interested in anything which has promised to
be of benefit to him, in the management of his land,
or to the community in which he lives. His well-cul-
tivated and improved farm of forty-seven acres tes-
tifies to his success as a farmer, and the confidence of
his neighbors in his ability and uprightness has
been shown by his election to the office of assessor
for several consecutive terms.
On Feb. 25, 1885, Mr. Rupp was married to Miss
Ella Fink, who was born Oct. 8, 1866, a daughter
of Samuel and Caroline (Carpenter) Fink, of Upper
Leacock township, and to this union have been born :
Russell, born Aug. 10, 1886, died Sept. 6, 1886;
Roscoe H., born May 22, 1888; Winnie born June
7, 1890, died Aug. 24, 1890; Jessie, born Oct. 30,
1891, died Feb. 27, 1893: Gertrude, born June 4,
1894; Ruth, born April 7, 1896; Lemon, born May
31, 1897; Sidney, bom April 9, 1899, died May 20,
1899 ; Marion Hazel, born May 18, 1900.
Benjamin S. Rupp is highly regarded through
the township and well represents its best element.
His political sympathies are with the Republican
party, and, although he has never formally con-
nected himself with any religious denomination, his
life is a moral one, and he is known as a kind hus-
band and father, and as a charitable and generous
member of the community.
CHARLES F. NEWELL, paper hanger .and
decorator, whose place of business is at No. 22 East
Orange street, has been in that location about four
years, where he has established a large and lucra-
tive trade. Mr. Newell was born Aug. 18, 1856, in
West Philadelphia, his father and grandfather both
being natives of the same place.
Samuel Newell, the father of Charles F., was an
auger manufacturer, and was the proprietor of an
extensive shop which he managed for forty-five-
years. He married Mary Jenkins, who belonged to
an old Philadelphia family^ of Scotch and Irish de-
scent, and became the mother of six children, four
of whom are living. James Newell, a brother of
Charles Fremont, was a veteran of the Civil war,,
and died while a member of the Pennsylvania Leg-
islature in 1878, (having been a member of that
body for ten years) at the age of forty-four years.
Charles F. Newell was educated in the public
schools of West Philadelphia, and at the age of
seventeen years he became an apprentice at paper
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1361
hanging and decorating, serving four years at the
trade. For several years he was on the road, work-
ing at his trade in various points in Ohio and Penn-
sylvania, and in 1883 arrived at Lancaster. For
four years he was in the employ of a prominent
house in this city, and then began in business on his
own account, securing contracts for some of the
finest buildings in Lancaster. His decorations are
exquisite and he enjoys the reputation of originality
in his designs and artistic excellence in his execu-
tion. For some time past Mr. Newell has been as-
sociated with Mr. Shelito in the carpet cleaning busi-
ness, the firm being Shelito & Newell. They have
a new process for cleaning carpets, and the business
has so greatly increased on their hands that they
have been compelled to secure more commodious
quarters. Li the paper hanging and decorating,
however, Mr. Newell is alone, and the demands of
that line keep him busy the year through, so that
Mr. Shelito is the active man in the carpet cleaning
trade.
Mr. Newell was married at Philadelphia, in
1880, to Miss Mary, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Matthew Jackson. They spend their summers in
a cottage on the Pequea, where they entertain friends
from Philadelphia and elsewhere. Mr. Newell is
a member of the Knights of the Golden Eagle, and
the Order of Elks. Personally popular and always
attentive to his patrons, Mr. Newell has fairly won
a place among the business men of Lancaster.
ISAAC N. FORREY. Prominent among the
number of large and substantial agriculturists of
the liourishirig township of East Donegal, is Isaac
N. Forrey, the owner and operator of a well culti-
vated and valuable estate, consisting of 126 acres,
located in a very desirable part of the county.
Isaac N. Forrey was born in Rapho township,
March 26, 1871, a son of John K. and Mary (New-
comer) Forrey, of Manor and Rapho townships,
respectively. John K. Forrey, since 1892 has been
a retired farmer of Rapho, having been prominently
identified with many of the financial institutions of
the countv, for many vears being a director of the
First National Bank of Columbia. His birth was
in 18 r7, and that of his estimable wife in 1824, both
of tliem being consistent members of the Mennonite
Church. The children born to John K. Forrey and
wife were: Christ N., who is now supervisor of
East Donegal township and a prosperous farnier;
Daniel N., a farmer of Rapho township ; Catherme,
who married • Ezra Hostetter, a farmer of West
Hempfield; Elizabeth, who married Jacob Snyder, a
farmer of East Donegal ; Amos, the farmer on the
old homestead ; Mary, married to Eh Garber, who
conducts a creamery business at Lititz ; Emma, mar-
ried John Minnich, a farnaer of West Hempfield;
Isaac N. ; Henry, in the creamery busmess in York
Pa. ; and Anna, who married Henry Buckwalder, of
Lititz. ,,■■.■ u
Mr. Forrey, the subject of this biography, was
86
reared on the farm in Rapho township and received
his education in the common schools of his district,
choosing an agricultural life. When he had reached
man's estate, he located upon his present farm and
has continued to reside here since, becoming one of
the most progressive young farmers of the locality,
his fine surroundings and well cultivated lands tes-
tifj'ing to his ability.
On Oct. 16, . 1884, Isaac N. Forrey was married
to Miss Martha Engle and to this union have been
born three interesting children: Elva E., Engle E,
and Earl E. Mrs. Forrey was bom in Conoy town-
ship, Feb. 14, 1869, a daughter of Cyrus and Susan
(tfoffman) Engle, and granddaughter of John and
Martha (Lindemuth) Engle, of Conoy township,
and of Michael and Anna (Hershev) Hoffman, oi
Lancaster county. Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus Engle are
residents of Lobata, Conoy township, the father
having been born in 1835, and the mother, in 1840,
and both are members of the religious denomination
of River Brethren. Their children were: Elmer,
a farmer of East Donegal ; Martha, who is Mrs. For-
rey ; Ezra, a farmer of Conoy township ; Anna, mar-
ried to John Baker, a teacher of Dauphin county;
Elizabeth, married to Christ Foltz, a merchant of
Dauphin county ; Cuba ; and Susan.
Isaac N. Forrey, like his father, is an ardent
Republican, and he takes a great interest in the pub-
lic aflairs of the country. His standing in the com-
munity is of the hignest, and he is justly regarded
as one of the representative citizens of East Done-
gaj township.
CYRUS OLDWEILER, a general farmer and
carpenter of Conov township, where his industrious
life and unswerving integrity have made a deep im-
pression on tlie community, was born in West Done-
gal township Aug. 27, 1840, a son of Philip and
Susan (Barnhard) Oldweiler, both born in Lancas-
ter county, where they lived and died. Philip Old-
weiler, who was a farmer until the last fifteen years
of his life, died at the age of sixty-nine years, his
widow surviving until March i, 1887, reaching the
age of seventy years. They were buried at Good's
Cemetery in West Donegal, and at Mt. Tunnel Ceme-
tery, in Elizabethtown, respectively. To them were
born the following children : Cyrus ; Jacob, a re-
tired farmer in West Donegal township ; Fred, who
died at the age of sixty years ; and Kate, widow of
Joseph Kener. After the death of Mr. Oldweiler,
his widow became the wife of Daniel Ebersole, to
whom she bore the following children : Anna, the
wife of Ben Capp, of West Donegal township;
Fanny, deceased wife of John Schrader; and Kate,
wife of David Hawk, of West Donegal township.
On Aug. 27, 1867, in Elizabethtown, Cyrus Old-
weiler was married to Mary Ebersole, and to their
union were born the following children: Amanda,
who is now the wife of Isaac Engle; Isaiah, who
married Fanny Landis, and is a farmer in Conoy
township; Oliver, who died at the age of twenty-
1362
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
three; and Albert, Clayton, William and Harry,
all unmarried and at home.
Mrs. Mary (Ebersole) Oldweiler was born in
Conoy township, in February, 1846, and died March
10, 1901, her remains being interred in the cemetery
connected with the Good's Meeting House in West
Donegal township. She was a daughter of Peter
R. and Susan (Kindig) Ebersole, both natives of
Lancaster and her womanly nature, kind heart and
generous disposition, together with her unwearied
devotion to her husband and children, can never be
forgotten. Peter R. Ebersole died Jan. 23, 1899,
at the age of seventy-seven years and his wife in
June, 1900. at the age of seventy-three. They were
both members of the Mennonite Church, in which
her father had been a preacher for the thirty-five
years preceding his death. They had the following
children : Mary, who became Mrs. Oldweiler ; Fan-
ny, who died yoimg; Martin, deceased; Miss Sue,
who lives in Elizabethtown ; Peter, a farmer in Co-
noy township : Ann, wife of Jesse Asper, now tax
collector in Elizabethtown; John, a farmer in Mt.
Joy township ; Lizzie, deceased wife of Christ Ober-
holtzer ; and Amanda, who married Frank Landis,
a fanner in West Donegal township. Mrs. Oldweil-
er's paternal grandfather was Peter Ebersole, a cler-
gyman and a bishop in the Mennonite Church, and
a life-long resident of Lancaster county.
Cyrus Oldweiler remained with his mother un-
til 1 86 1, when he started west to make a home
in the famous Wabash valley in Indiana, and reached
Covington, that State, where he enlisted Aug.
11, 1862, in Co. H, 63d Ind V. I., and served until
the close of the war, receiving his discharge July 3,
1865, at Indianapolis. Mr. Oldweiler was a brave
and faithful soldier, and participated in many bat-
tles, among them being the bloody struggles at Re-
saca, Kenesaw Mountains Franklin and at Nashville,
and he escaped without a wound.
Mr. Oldweiler spent some months after his dis-
charge at Covington, Ind., and then returned to
Lancaster to take up the carpenter trade. He
continued to work at his trade in connection with
farming until 1884, when he came to his present
farm. Previous to that year his home had been in
West Donegal township. Mr. Oldweiler is a Dem-
ocrat, and belongs to the Mennonite Church. An
industrious and upright man, he commands the con-
fidence of the conmiunity, and is highly esteemed
not only for his many good qualities and his habits
of thrift and industry, but for his general knowledge
and wide range of information.
SAMUEL E. EBERSOLE, a general farmer
in Conoy township, was born in Mt. Joy township,
Lancaster county, near the village of thai; name,
Jan. 12, 1847, a son of Rev. Daniel and Elizabeth
(Ebersole) Ebersole, natives of Conoy and West
Donegal townships, respectively.
Rev. Daniel Ebersole, who died in Conoy town-
ship, in May, 1871, at the age of fifty-three years.
was buried in a private burying ground on the fam-
ily homestead. He was a Mennonite preacher, and
exercised a great influence for good in the commun-
ity. In his farming operations he was quite suc-
cessful, and at different times in his life owned sev-
eral farms. His widow, Elizabeth Ebersole, was
born in 1827, and now has her home in South Ann-
ville, Lebanon county. Their children were as fol-
lows : Anna died young. ; Samuel E. ; Amos, who
died at the age of twenty-four, married Eliza Ris-
ser; Barbara, Fanny, Daniel and Benjamin all died
young; Abraham, of Lebanon county, with whom
his mother now has her home, has been twice mar-
ried, first to Anna M. Gish, and then to Sarah Wes-
tenberger; and Jacob, a farmer in Lebanon county,
married Catherine Gingerick.
Samuel E. Ebersole is in the sixth generation
from John Jacob Ebersole, who came to Lancaster
county from Switzerland, 1753, crossing the ocean
with the progenitor of the Engle family, of Lancas-
ter county.
Jacob Ebersole and his wife, the paternal grand-
parents of Samuel E., spent their lives in Conoy
township, and were buried on their old farm which
is now the property of Mrs. Collins, of Marietta.
Samuel and Sarah (Shank) Ebersole, the maternal
grandparents of Samuel E., were born in Conoy
township, where they spent their lives on a farm now
belonging to our subject, and where their remains
were interred in a private burying ground long used
by the family.
In October, 1873, in Elizabethtown, Samuel E.
Ebersole married Mary Sandoe, and to their union
were born: Ida S., deceased; Albert, a school
teacher ; Alice, twin to Albert, now the wife of Si-
mon Landis, a teacher of West Donegal township;
Raymond S., a teacher at home, and a chicken fan-
cier, being engaged extensively in the incubation of
chickens for the market ; and Grace S., at home.
Mrs. Mary (Sandoe) Ebersole was born in East
Donegal township, Oct. 23, 1849, a daughter of
Henry and Elizabeth (Stibgeon) Sandoe, natives
of Marietta and West Hempfield township, respect-
ively. Henry Sandoe died in East Donegal town-
ship, in 1867. at the age of fifty years. He was a
machinist and a manufacturer of implements for
many vears. but in his later years he retired from the
factorv, and bought a farm, on which, as his health
was poor, the most of the work was done by hired
help. IVErs. Elizabeth S. Sandoe died in Elizabeth-
town m 1890, at the age of seventy years, and was-
buried m the Reich's Church burying ground.
She was a member of Zion's Children Church. Mr.
and Mrs. Sandoe were the parents of the following
children: Sarah S., wife of Joseph Heisey, a re-
tired farmer in Elizabethtown; Elizabeth, deceased
wife of Adam Longenecker ; Anna S., deceased, who
married Daniel Fishburn ; Mary ; Fanny, who mar-
ried Albert Leicht, a coach maker of Elizabethtown ;
and Abraham S., twin to Fanny, and now deceased.
The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Ebersole was
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1363
Abraham Sandoe and her maternal grandparents
-were Abraham and Fanny Stibgeon, all natives of
Lancaster county.
Samuel E. Ebersole remained with his parents
until he reached the age of twenty-seven yeafs, when
he married and came to his present place. It is a
choice farm consisting of ninety-one acres, now in a
high state of cultivation under his close and indus-
trious care. Mr. and Mrs. Ebersole are members
of the A'lennonite and Zion's Children Churches,
respectively, and are people of the highest standing
in the community.
Mr. Ebersole is a Republican, and for fifteen con-
secutive vears has filled the position of school direc-
tor. He is a clever and kindly-hearted man, genial
and honest, and well deserves the very substantial
measure of success he has achieved.
OSCAR HOHEIN. The greensward of Green-
wood cemetery covers all that is mortal of Oscar
Hohein, a gentleman who for many years was one
•of the leading citizens of Lancaster, and whose
death on March 13, iqoi, was regarded as a dis-
tinct public calamity. He had been connected with
the business interests of the city for five decades,
and his name during that period in business circles
■was synonymous with integrity and fair dealing.
His merchant tailoring establishment was conduct-
ed on a high plane,' a reputation fully sustained by
his son since the father's retirement from active
business.
Oscar Hohein was a native of the Fatherland,
where he was born in 1829, son of Frederick Ho-
hein, a manufacturer and dealer in pottery. Other
members of the family were Clark, now a carriage
manufacturer of Mendota, 111.; and Mena, who
married a Mr. Beerwad and died in America. Os-
car Hohein was reared in Germany, where he was
given the advantages of middle-class Old Country
life, his education having been along practical lines.
He was apprenticed to the tailor's trade, it being the
custom for young German youths to become ac-
quainted with one of the trades, whether they fol-
lowed it or not. At twenty years of age he resolved
to try his fortune in the new world and on July 4,
1849, he landed in New York. From thence he
traveled to P'hiladelphia, and after a short sojourn
in that citv, came to Lancaster. During his resi-
dence in the Quaker City Mr. Hohein had met and
hecome enamoured of the lady who now survives
him. Miss Elizabeth Louser, the marriage occur-
ring in December, 1851. To this marriage were
born : Louis, now an invalid, at home ; Frederick,-
a tailor at Lancaster; Benjamin, who died in the
West • Marv, deceased ; Emanuel, deceased ; Frank,
of Norfolk,' Va. ; George, of Norfolk, Va. ; and Hi-
ram, of Lancaster. The mother of this family was
born at Jonestown, Lebanon Co., Pa., Feb. 5,
1833 daughter of John and Katherine Louser.
Their family consisted of Elizabeth; Andrew, de-
ceased ; Solomon, deceased ; John, deceased ; George,
of Fredericksburg, Pa., a retired tanner ; Henry, de-
ceased; Kate, of Lebanon, Pa., married Cyrus Car-
many; Mary, deceased; Amanda, who is now the
wife of John Feldy, of South Bend, Ind. ; and Sarah,
deceased.
After his marriage Oscar Hohein came to Lan-
caster, where he began a merchant tailoring busi-
ness, first on a modest scale, and as good manage-
ment and close attention to business prospered him,
on an increasingly larger scale, until he was one
of the leading tailors of the city. He was also suc-
cessful in other business investments, so that when
he died he was able to leave a competence to his
•family. For several years before his death he had
retired from active labor, and ended his days in com-
parative luxury. Mr. Hohein was a gentleman of
social temperament, and delighted in the enjoyment
he found in the different lodge rooms, being a
worthy member of the Masonic fraternity, in which
he was a Knight Templar, the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, the Maennerchor, and various other
societies. Religiously he was a Lutheran. He was
an independent thinker in politics preferring to cast
his vote for the men and measures that more nearly
met his approval.
JOHN P. MARTIN, proprietor of a large stor-
age warehouse and interested in the transportation
business of Lancaster, was. born in this city, April
26, 1848, son of John G. and Lavina (Fitzgerald)
Martin.
John G. Martin, the father, was a man of prom-
inence in Lancaster county. His father was propri-
etor of the old "Relay House," located on the corner
of Prince and Walnut streets, and John G. became
its owner and conducted it as a hostelry for a per-
iod of twenty-five years. Prior to taking charge
of it he was in official life, holding the oifice of ser-
geant of arms of the State Senate, from i860 to
1866. For several years he was a deputy United
States marshal in the Ninth district, under Collector
Muhlenberg, and held many of the local offices with
great efficiency. He died Sept. 16, 1882, at the age
of sixty-four years. As a member of Encampment
and subordinate lodges in the order of Odd Fellows,
he took an active part in that organization for many
years, Mrs. Lavina (Fitzgerald) Martin died in
March, 1890, at the age of sixty-six years, and both
parents were buried in the cemetery in Lancaster.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Martin were as
follows : Henry, who died at the age of forty-five
years, at which time he was a Government store-
keeper and ganger.; John P., of this sketch; Charles
B., who is a tobacco packer in Lancaster ; and Mary
E., who died young and was probably the first victim
of the dread disease of diphtheria, in Lancaster
county. The paternal grandparents of Mr. Martin
were John J. and Mary E. Martin, both of whom
were natives of Germany, but who came to Amer-
ica in 1800, settling in the village of Pittsburg, Pa.,
in a log cabin, where they lived until about 1812, at
1864
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
which time they moved to Lancaster where Mr. Mar-
tin purchased what is now known as the "Relay
House," but at that time was called the "Bald Eagle
Hotel." This historic old inn has remained in the
family, the grandfather operating it until his death,
which occurred in 1845, at the age of seventy-eight
years. His widow assumed charge, and later rented
the same until her son, the father of our subject, was
old enough and prepared to take charge of it, which
he did in 1866. Until 1882 John G. Martin was its
host, and after his death, his son, our subject, took
charge and conducted it until 1894, when he rented
it to George M. Meyers, whose great-grandfather
was probably its original owner sometime in the
eighteenth century. Could the old walls talk, what
tales would be revealed, for in those old days the
inns were what might be termed the "nerve centers"
of the life of the vicinity, the general gathering place
of all political and extraordinary meetings of every
kind. This was particularly so just prior to, and
after, the Revolutionary war, when doubtless the
"Bald Eagle Hotel" had many noted guests.
The children born to John J. and Mary E. Mar-
tin were two. John G. ; and Mary, who died young.
By a previous marriage with Philip StoU, the mother
had two sons, Philip (deceased), who was a master
mechanic in the blacksmith department in the Phila-
delphia Nav}' Yard ; and George, who died at the age
of forty-five years, a trucker and drayer. The grand-
mother of our subject died at the age of eighty-four
years. The maternal grandparents came from Ire-
land, Grandfather Edward Fitzgerald being a well-
known contractor and builder in Lancaster.
John P. Martin remained at home with his par-
ents as long as they lived and then took charge of the
hotel as noted above, and operated it until 1894.
Since that he has been actively engaged in the stor-
age business.
In politics, Mr. Martin is a stanch Republican,
and he is fraternally connected with the I. O. O. F.,
and the Uniform Rank, K. of P. He is a member of
the Lutheran Church. Mr. Martin is regarded as a
fine business man, and is widely known and much
respected.
«
JOSEPH RUPP. There was a time, in the
history of Lancaster county, when its farming in-
terests were far less important than at the present
day, but now, to be the owner of some 215 acres of
land in as prosperous a township as West Earl, is to
belong to the most independent and substantial class
of citizens to be found in the State. Such is the en-
viable situation of Joseph Rupp, one of the most
highly esteemed agriculturists and stockraisers of
this locality. The location of his valuable property
is about one mile north of the town of Farmer sville,
thus making possible the enjoyment of both country
and town advantages.
Joseph Rupp was born a son of Samuel and
Elizabeth (VV^enger) Rupp, the former of whom was
a son of Jacob Rupp, of German origin, a thrifty
farmer in his day, who reared five children. Sam-
uel Rupp was born about 1790, became one of the
most prosperous farmers of this section, married
Elizabeth Wenger, in 1815, and died in 1870, the
father of the following children: Levi, a wealthy
farmer of West Earl, residing near Brownstown;
Jacob and Abraham, deceased; Maria, who mar-
ried Isaac Burkholder; and Joseph of this sketch.
Reared on the farm, Joseph Rupp early decided
to make the cultivation of his lands and the raising:
of fine stock his business in life, and he has ad-
mirably succeeded, being now considered, most
justly, one of the most substantial farmers of the
township. For many years he has been engaged in
the stock business, arid has shipped much stock —
horses and mules — to the East, buying advantage-
ously in the West. His education was received in
the common schools, and he is one of the best-in-
formed and most intelligent citizens of this locality,
much interested in public topics, and a stanch ad-
herent of the Republican party. For more than ten
years he has acceptably served his township as
school director, and has always given his influence
in the direction of the advancement of education.
In 1851, Joseph Rupp married Miss Eliza Buch,.
of West Earl township, a daughter of George and
Elizabeth Buch, and the children of this marriage
are : Samuel A., born in 1854, is a miller at what is
known as the old Rupp mill near the old Rupp home
place in West Earl : Maria, born in 1858, is the wife
of Lemon Rupp, of West Earl township; David,,
born on Jan. 10, i860, resides on the home place, a
farmer and stock dealer; and John, born in 1865,
married Eliza Burkholder and farms the old home
place, and also raises tobacco and buys and sells it.
Mr. Rupp is one of the most highly esteemed citi-
zens of the township, has many public and private
friends, and in the domestic circles is devoted to the
interests of his children and grandchildren.
HENRY A. YOUNG, proprietor of the Key-
stone bakery, of Lancaster, and one of the leading-
business men of the city, was bom in Lancaster,.
Aug. 5, 1857, son of David and Minnie (Reece)
Young.
David Young, father of Henrv A., was born in
Hanover, Germany, and since qbigrating to the
United States and settling in Lan(^aster, he has ear-
ned on the shoe business. He was born in 1826,
and his wife was born in 1834. Both of them are
members of the Lutheran Church. Their children
were : Dora, who married Jacob F. Keller, a cigar-
maker of Lancaster ; Henry A., of this sketch ; and:
Fred, who died in January, 1898.
Henry A. Young grew up in Lancaster, and at-
tended school and lived with his parents until he was.
nineteen years old. Then he learned the bakery
trade with William Rapp, serving an apprenticeship
of two years, and later working as a journeyman-
for him in this city, until 1883, when he opened up
his present business. By his industry and energy
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1365
lie has buiit himself a fine trade, his methods of deal-
ing as well as his excellent products finding a lib-
■eral patronage which is increasing in a very satis-
factory manner. Mr. Young is an expert mixer and
halier and supplies this vicinity with 3,500 loaves of
tread per week, and also manufactures all kinds of
■delicious cakes and pastries. He has a delivery
wagon which is kept busy, and he employs four men
to assist in the business.
_ In June, 1883, Mr. Young married Miss Mary
Miller, born in Lancaster county, daughter of David
and Caroline (Kautz) Miller, the former of whom
is a retired cotton mill worker. One son has been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Young, Henry A.
In politics Mr. Young is a Republican and served
for three years on the city council. He is a leading
member of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Young is a
self-made man, having accumulated means and built
tip a business by his own endeavors. He is re-
garded with esteem in his community, and is justly
considered one of the representative business men of
the city of Lancaster.
MICHAEL REILLY. It is really only a com-
paratively short period of time since transportation
from one section of our country to another was only
accomplished on foot, or by the help of a trusty steed ;
"when swiftly-flowing streams were scarcely pass-
able, and mountain ranges served to effectually sep-
arate citizens of the same country. Now in contem-
plation of the rapidly moving train which so safely
rushes across the country, rattles over the turbid
waters of swollen streams and roars through the
very heart of the mountains and even climbs the
same with speed and security, an enthusiasm is
aroused for those capable builders whose knowledge
and skill have macle these achievements possible.
They truly hold the lives of the public in their keep-
ing, for a weak span in the bridge, a spurious species
of cement or gravel, faulty engineering or careless
building and indifferent inspection, may imperil the
lives of thousands.
Among those thoroughly reliable and careful
builders and contractors who have made transpor-
tation through Lancaster county fraught with so
few dangers is Michael Reilly, who, after a long,
important and successful career, now resides in Lan-
caster, enjoying a life of well-earned ease, surround-
ed by a familv whose welfare has been one of his
first cares. Mr. Reilly was born in County Meath,
Ireland, Jan.- 30, 1833, son of John and Mary
(Smith) Reilly, the former of whom lived out his
life in his native country engaged in farming and
■merchandising. His chi'ldi-en were: Patrick, who
IS a merchant m Ireland; Michael; and William,
who died in Australia.
Michael Reilly was but ten years old when he
found his way to America and found work on the
railroads, in New York City, where he passed
through all the grades, thoroughly learning the bus-
iness, so that by the time he had reached his nine-
teenth year he was competent to begin contracting.
Forming a partnership with John Keller, and later
with others, Mr. Reilly engaged in railroad contract-
ing and building for a period of over forty years,
only retiring in 1892. He built the greater part of
the old trolley lines in Lancaster, Pa., and has built
many miles of railroad ; built the road between
Reading and Columbia ; the East Pennsylvania road
between Allentown and Reading, and very piany
others, besides tunnels, bridges and grading of all
kinds. While in partnership with Mr. Keller Mr.
Reilly built the Quarryville railroad, which was
leased for ten years to the Reading Railway Co.,
and finally was sold to the Pennsylvania Railway
Co. In 1862 Mr. Reilly built his present comforta-
ble residence in Lancaster.
In 1851, in the State of New York, Mr. Reilly
was imited to the most estimable lady who is still
spared to him as a companion. She was Mrs. Anna
(McGovern) McManis, and was born in Lancaster
county, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Duffy)
McGovern, natives of County Cavan, Ireland,
who came to America at an early day, when
the ocean voyage still consumed three months.
Mr. McCiovern became a successful farmer and a
well-lcnown contractor in Lancaster, and built many
railroads and canals, gaining a reputation for care-
ful, expert work. Both he and his wife died in
Lancaster. They had the following named children
born to them : Anna, wife of Mr. Reilly ; Eliza,
widow of Samuel Farant, of Philadelphia; Mar-
garet (deceased), wife of John Masker; Helen and
Sarah, who died young; Sarah, who is the widow
of Henry McConomey, Esq., of Atlantic City;
Thomas and Edward, deceased ; Catherine, de-
ceased ; and John. The first marriage of Mrs. Reilly
was to John McManis, who died in 1846. Two
children were born to that union, namely : Pratici-
ous, a prominent contractor in Philadelphia, who
has been twice married, his second wife being Eliza-
beth McGovern (he is the father of six children,
one of whom is deceased) ; and Thomas, unmarried,
who is a railroad contractor in Lancaster.
Children as follows have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Reilly : James, who conducts the St. Charles
Hotel," at Atlantic City, N. J., married Mary Bry-
ant, and they have a family ; John, who is asso-
ciated with his brother, married Catherine Steck-
ley, and has three children ; WilHam (deceased)
married Tessie Mogan, and they had five children,
one of whom is deceased; Robert (deceased) mar-
ried Elsa Eberly; Frank married Mamie Wharton;
Charles, who is unmarried, operates the home farm.
This is a particularly happy and united family, and
they enjoy the esteem of many friends. They be-
long to the Catholic church, to which Mr. Reilly
contributes liberally.
GRANVILLE W. PAULES, an influential and
respected citizen of C'olumbia, was born in Marietta,
Lancaster county. May 10, 1852. A successful con-
1366
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
tractor and builder, he is also prominent in public
affairs, and is deservedly held in high esteem by his
fellow townsmen.
Mr. Paules' paternal grandfather, John, was
born in York county. There he married a Miss
Leber, who bore him eight children, Elizabeth,
Sarah, Henry, Jane, John, George, David and
Frank. Subsequent to his marriage he removed to
Marietta, Pa., where he resided until his death. By
trade he was a cooper, but after taking up a resi-
dence in the last named town he also conducted a
hotel. He attained the extraordinary age of ninety-
four years and eleven months.
Three of his children yet survive. Sarah is the
widow of Simon Albright, a justice of the peace in
Lancaster county. John is a retired blacksmith,
lining at Mechanicsburg, Pa., and David is a re-
tired farmer of Marietta. Elizabeth is deceased,
and Jane was the wife of John Hercleroth.
George Paules, the sixth child and third son, was
the father of Granville W. In 1847 he married Mary
Yunker, a daughter of Andrew and Mary M.
(Myers) Yunker. She was born in York county, as
were her parents. Her father successfully carried
on the business of a miller until within a few years of
his death, which occurred in 1875, at the age of
seventy-five. His wife, who was four years his
senior, followed him to the grave the following year,
at the age of eighty. He was of German descent,
his parents, Caspar and Anna M. (Wintermyers)
Yunker, having emigrated from the Fatherland in
early life. Of the four children born to Andrew
Yunker and his wife, Mary, the youngest, was the
mother of Granville W. Paules. The others were:
Sarah, unmarried, residing in York, Pa. ; Jacob, who
died at Baltimore at the age of seventy-two; and
Henry, who passed away in 1899, after passing his
seventy-filth birthday.
George Paules, who, as has been said, was the
father of Granville W., was the master of two trades,
having been both a cooper and locksmith. He passed
his life at Marietta, with the exception of a year
(1864) spent in Indiana, and was for three years
superintendent of an ore bank near the town. In
1868 he retired frorfi active business, and in July,
1889, he entered into rest, aged sixty-eight years.
His wife yet survives him, making her home with her
son Granville. They had four children: Edward
is a resident of Middletown, Pa. ; William died when
ten years old; Mary, was taken away in infancy;
Granville W- was the youngest.
The boyhood of Granville W. Paules was passed
upon a farm, and at the age of sixteen he began his
apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade, for which he
early developed a great aptitude. He has passed all
his life in Lancaster county with the exception of a
short time spent in Lower Windsor township, York
county, after which he came to Columbia, which has
since been his home. In 1880 he formed a partner-
ship with H. H. Cramer, but ten years later em-
barked in business alone.
On Christmas Day, 1873, in Lower Windsor
township, Mr. Paules married Miss Nancy A. Beard,
who was born in York county in December, 1850.
Both her parents, as well as her grandparents, were
highly esteemed residents of York county. Her pa-
ternal grandfather, Joseph Beard, married Susan
Layman. Her maternal grandfather was Daniel
Gehley, a man of substance, who carried on a grist-
mill and engaged in carpet-weaving; he married
Anna Wike. Mrs. Paules is the fifth and youngest
child of John E. Beard, wKo married Nancy Gehley.
Mr. Beard was by occupation a tanner. He died iri
189s, after reaching the age of eighty-four, surviv-
ing his .wife for forty-four years. Mrs. Paules'
elder sisters, Priscilla and Mary, are both deceased ;
her brothers, Frank and Harry, are engaged in busi-
ness, the first named at Wrightsville and the younger
at York.
The marriage of Mr. and Airs. Paules has been
blessed with four children. The eldest, Gertrude, is
the wife of James A. Ryan, of Denver, Colo. Mary
E., the second in order of birth, is a school teacher.
The two younger children, Mabel B. and Granville
E., are living at home.
Mr. Paules and his family attend the M. E.
Church. He is a member of the Order of K. of M.
He has been repeatedly honored by being chosen
to fill offices of high trust and grave responsibility.
For six years he has been a member of the school
board, and for one year president of that body, and
for the past three years has filled a seat in the bor-
ough council. He is broad-minded and public-
spirited, keenly appreciating the needs of the com-
munity and quick in devising remedies for existing
evils. In private life he is affable and social, kindly
in his impulses and generous in his sympathies.
MARION DIVET. Mr. Divet's career af-
fords a strikmg illustration of the possibilities af-
forded to young men in a free, democratic common-
wealth. He has been the architect of his own for-
tunes, and, to quote an ancient writer, "hath both
planned and builded well.'"
Mr. Divet was born in Donegal township, Lan-
caster county, July 27, i86t, the son of Peter Divet
and Susan Rhodes, the issue of whose marriage was
two children, Josephine and Marion. His sister
niarried Henry Riggle, of Kinderhook, Pa., who is'
in the service of the Reading Railroad Company.
His paternal grandparents were John Divet and
Anna Mary Frye, of Gravel Hill, in Rapho township.
John Divet was a farmer and also operated a still.
He died April 11, 1886, within a few days of his
eighty-ninth birthday. Peter Divet, the father of
Marion, was a gallant soldier in the Union army
during the Civil war, having enlisted as a private
in 1864 in the company led by Capt. Kesslar. He
died at the age of thirty-three, in Salisbury prison,
from starvation. He was a successful farmer prior
to the war. The mother of Mr. Divet, nee Susan
Rhodes, was born in 1841, and is still living. She
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1367
IS a daughter of John Rhodes, a fence builder, of
Marietta, who died at Kinderhook in 1858, at the
age of forty-six.
Marion Divet was reared by his grandfather on
the latter's farm, and remained with him until he
was twenty-two years old. His early life was passed
in Newtown, where he learned the culture and
preparation of tobacco. After his grandfather's
death he found employment with W. H. Hogen-
dobler, a carpenter and building contractor. He
remained with Mr. Hogendobler until April 12,
1900, with the exception of one year, when he was
in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany and was located in Philadelphia. He is at
present engaged in business as a contractor and
builder on his own account, and his success has
been remarkable. Thoroughly familiar with every
detail of his work, energetic in the execution of every
task assigned to him, and characterized by scrupul-
ous and unswerving fidelity, he commands the con-
fidence of all who have an opportunity to become
familiar with his sterling worth. Although reared
in the Democratic faith, he is a Republican. His
first vote was not cast until he reached the age of
twenty-four. He is a member of the order of Hep-
tasophs. His home on Chestnut street is one of the
most attractive in Columbia.
Mr. Divet married Miss Nettie Saylor, of Mar-
ietta, in 1889. Her father, William Saylor, was
born in York county, and her mother, whose maiden
name was Emeline- Snyder, in Mt. Joy. They were
married in Lancaster in September, 1862. William
came with his parents to West Hempfield township
in boyhood, and passed the greater portion of his
life there, engaged in farming. He died at Marietta
in 1886, in his forty-eighth year. His wife, Mrs.
D) vet's mother, was born Sept. 16, 1841, and is
now living with her daughter. She is a member
of the Lutheran Church. The children of this union
were: Mary, Elmer, Samuel and Alice, who all
died young; Nettie, wife of Marion Divet; and
Anna, who married Charles Lochard, of Columbia.
Mrs. Divet's paternal grandparents were Samuel
and Mary (Durr) Saylor, he having been a farmer
in West Hempfield. He passed away June 25, 1900,
after reaching the unusual age of eighty-two. His
widow, who yet lives at Marietta, was a daughter
of Joseph and Anna (Dyer) Durr, of Manheim, in
Lancaster county.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Divet has been
blessed with one son, Roy.
CHRISTIAN FUNK STONER, deputy regis-
ter of wills of Lancaster county, with residence in
the city of Lancaster, is one of the best known and
most popular citizens of the community in which he
lives.
Mr.Stbner's ancestors were among the early set-
tlers of the county, three brothers of the name hav-
•ing come here from Germany, and settled in what
was then Conestoga (now Pequea) township, hav-
ing secured a patent for one thousand acres of land
in that locality. The great-grandfather of Christian
F. erected the dwelling house, and there the grand-
father was born and passed all his days.
Abraham Stoner, who farmed, and, in connec-
tion, conducted a machine shop near Stonersville
(named after the family of Stoner), in West Lam-
peter township, was the fathier of Christian F.
Stoner. The late H. K. Stoner, who was a pioneer
dealer in improved farm implements in this county,
was a half-brother of Abraham Stoner. The latter
married Lydia Funk, of Manor township, Lancaster
county, and their children were : Isaac, deceased ;
Susan, deceased wife of Rev. Samuel Roth, of
York county. Pa. ; Fanny, wife of Jesse Strickler,
both now deceased ; Miss Lizzie and Miss Lydia A.,
both living on one of the finest truck farms in Lan-
caster county ; Levi, of Lancaster ; John F., with
the Safety Buggy Company ; and Christian F., whose
name introduces this sketch.
Christian F. Stoner was born Nov. 6, 1850, in
West Lampeter township, Lancaster Co., Pa., and
was edticated in the public schools of Pequea town-
ship, whither his parents had removed when he was
two years old. Leaving school at the age of fifteen
years, young Stoner entered the dry-goods store
of Hager & Brothers, in Lancaster, and there re-
mained eight years, at the end of which time, his
father having died, he returned home. Until 1879
he remained on the home farm, in that year receiv-
ing the appointment to the office of deputy register
of wills. He served as such until 1881, under Capt.
Edward Edgerly, and then served three years under
Mr. Umble, at the close of which term he was elected
register of wills, and for three years remained at
the head of that office, discharging the duties there-
of with characteristic intelligence and fidelity. Up-
on his retirement from this incumbency he for a
time bought leaf tobacco for Dohan & Taitt, of Phil-
adelphia, also served one year as a clerk in the re-
corder's and sheri-ff's offices, and was then recalled
to the register's office, this time under Joseph Reeser,
register of wills, serving as deputy register three
years under him, then three years under M. G. Mus-
ser, and since Jan. i, 1900, he has been serving under
A. PI. Diffenbaugh — altogether a truly remarkable
record, and a just recognition of intelligence, fidelity
and integrity. While living with his sister in Pe-
quea township, after his father's death, Mr. Stoner
was elected assessor of the township for two terms,
and justice of the peace one term, resigning from
the latter office before the expiration bf the term.
On March 28, 1885, Christian F. Stoner married
Hannah JNIartha Martin, daughter of the late John
Martin, in his day a well-known hotel-keeper at
West Willow, this county, and two children have
blessed their union: Lucretia M., who graduated
from the Girls' High School, Lancaster, in 1902;
and Mercy Fridy, who is a member of the class of
1904, same school. The entire family attend the
services of St. Paul's Reformed Church, Lancaster.
1368
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
In fraternal relations Mr. Stoner is a member of
Levergood Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; the Jr. O. U. A. M. ;
the Artisans, and the Elks. Taken all in all, there
is no more popular man in the community, both
personally and politically, than Christian F. Stoner.
WILLIAIM G. BEAR (deceased.) Prominent
among the business men of West Earl township, was
William G. Bear, late the popular veteran proprietor
of the well-known "Brownstown Hotel," a hostelry
•which justly deserves the cominendation of the
traveling public.
Mr. Bear came of German stock, his grandfather,
Peter Bear, who was born in 1789, having come from
Germany as one of the old settlers -of West Earl
township. He was the father of these children:
Mary, who married William Spearan and resides in
West Earl township ; Elizabeth, who married Peter
Hillman ; Margaretta, who married Levi Ruff ; R.
E., a vv^ell- known plasterer; Jacob; and Abraham,
who died unmarried.
Jacob Bear, the father of William G. was born
March 31, 1820, and died June 21, 1890, and for
rnany years was a hotelkeeper, in Brownstown. On
Nov. 5, 1845, he married Sophia Gorman, who was
born Jan. 17, 1H27, and died March 5, 1900. To
this union were. born: William G., born Jan. 24,
1847; Isaac,. born Oct. 16. 1848, resides in Daven-
port, Iowa, where he is a saddler ; Mary Ann, born
May 10, 185 1, is the wife of Mathew Rozzer, a shoe
dealer of West Earl; Jacob, born Jan. 15, 1855, re-
sides in West Earl ; Alfred, born May 20, 1865, re-
sides in West Earl, ^yhere he is a cigarmaker ; and
Elmer E.. born Jan. 20, 1867, is also a cigarmaker
of West Earl.
William G. Bear was reared in West Earl and
received his education in the common schools. His
business came to him from his father, who was also
an excellent hotelkeeper, and all of his life, with the
exception of his army experience, was passed in
looking after the convenience and comfort of his
guests. His excellent hotel was well and favorably
known, and he had a wide circle of friends.
Mr. Bear enlisted in 1864, in Co. G, i9Sth P. V.
I., and continued in the service of his country until
the close of the Civil war. Although Mr. Bear
came of a Democratic family, his belief was in the
Republican party and his vote was always cast in
its support. In the township he filled many of the
local offices, and was a most efficient judge of elec-
tion. Socially he was connected with the K. of P.,
in which order "he was highly valued.
On Nov. 15, 1873, William G. Bear was mar-
ried to Miss Emma L. Gorman, who was born April
II, 1851, m Ephrata township, a daughter of Harry
and Katherine (Rutter) Gorman, and to this union
were born: Harry, born April 11, 1875, died April
5, 1891 ; Minnie G., horn Aug. 28, 1876, is at home;
and Edna G., born Feb. 15, 1886, died March 9,
r888. Mr. Bear was highly esteemed in the locality
where his life was passed, and by those who knew
him be.st. Devoted to his family and friends, up-
right in his dealings with the public, and a progres-
sive and intelligent man, he represented the fine old
county of Lancaster.
WILLIAM FUHRMAN, wholesale and retail
meat merchant and proprietor of the largest meat
trade in I^ancaster, was born in Philadelphia, Aug.
17, 1849, son of WiUiam, Sr., and Catherine (Dau-
mer) Fuhrman.
William Fuhrman, Sr., came to America from
Germany, soon after his marriage, and with his wife
settled in Philadelphia, where he engaged in the
butcher's business. In 1858 he 'removed to Lan-
caster and opened up his place of trade at the market
still kept by his son. He remained there until his
death, which occurred in 1881, at the age of sixty-
one. His wife died in 1871, aged sixty-four years.
Both of them belonged to the German Lutheran
Church. Mr. Fuhrman was a Democrat in politics
and belonged fraternally to the I. O. O. F. They
had these children : Hannah, deceased, in 1894, the
wife of Frederick Gackler, who is engaged in the
real estate business, in Philadelphia; William, of
this sketch; and Misses Amelia and Lydia, both
residents of Philadelphia.
William Fuhrman, our subject, received an ex-
cellent common school education and then learned
the meat business under the careful supervision of
his father, at the latter's death purchasing the same
from the estate and carrying it on ever since, on
progressive lines. His business is both wholesale
and retail and he manufactures all kinds of sau-
sages as a specialty, and carries the largest trade in
his line in Lancaster. In 1887 he erected his three-
story slaughter house, back of his residence, and it
is modern in every way, clean and sanitary and
equipped with the latest conveniences. Mr. Fuhr-
man employs a force of fifteen men and gives the
public the very best service and the most whole-
some meat that can be found anywhere. By close
attention to business, honest and upright dealing and
courteous and obliging manner; Mr. Fuhrman has
distanced all competitors and occupies the leading
position in his line in this city.
In 1869 Mr. Fuhrman was married to Mary
Schemerbrant, of Lancaster, by whom he had
two sons, William and Henry. Mrs. Fuhrman
died, and on Nov. 12, t886, in Lancaster, Mr. Fuhr-
man M^as united in marriage to Elizabeth Frankford,
born in Providence township, Lancaster county,
daughter of Philip and Evaline (Lee) Frank-
ford, the former of whom was a shoemaker
in this city, born in 1804 and died in 1874. The
mother of Mrs. Fuhrman died in March, 1883, aged
fifty-eight years, and both were buried in Lancas-
ter and both were members of the U. B. Church.
Their children were: Joshua, a leather merchant
m Philadelphia; Margaret, deceased; Martha, who
married Elias Hamilton, and lives in the southern-
part of Lancaster county; Elizabeth, who is Mrs.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1869
Fuhrman ; Ellen, who married Harry Ailes, a car-
penter in Harriman, Tenn.; Ruth, who married
Walter E. Harvey, a farmer in this county; Mary,
who married John Bielfeldt, of Philadelphia; Eva,
who married Jonas Heiland, a cigarmaker of Har-
risburg ; and William, of Lancaster. Five children
have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Fuhrman, namely :
Ray C, Ira iN., Guy L., Paul Lester and C. Earl.
Mr. Fuhrman is a member of the Democratic
party. He is identified with a number of the lead-
ing fraternal organizations, belonging to the Ma-
sonic Blue Lodg"e, the B. P. Q. E., No. 134, the
Artisans, the K. of P. and the I. O. O. F.
JOHN SCHLEICH was born in Baden, Ger-
many, April 14, 1807. and died in Lancaster, Pa.,
Dec. 6, 187 1. He came here from Germany in
1828, settling at once in Lancaster, and remaining
to the end of his days. He was a bkker by trade,
and he operated a baking establishment until 1857,
when he entered the grocery business, from which
he accumulated a considerable fortune. Politically
he acted with the Democrats. He was a member
of the 1. O. O. F. and of Zion Lutheran Church.
He married Maria B. Glessing of Wurtemberg,
Germany, by whom he had the following offspring :
John, Jr., who died Oct. 29, 1898, aged sixty-two;
George H., born m Lancaster in 1839; Jacob F.,
who died in Feb., 1899; Miss Margaret C, now re-
siding in Lancaster with George H. None of these
■ever married. The mother and widow died in 1876,
at the age of seventy-five.
George H. Schletch^ who continues his father's
business, was reared in it, and it naturally came to
him at the death of his parents. He is one of the
oldest survivors of the native-born citizens of Lan-
caster, within whose bounds he owns many valua-
ble properties, and where he is well and prominently
known. Like the rest of his family he has worked
hard. They have all been constant accumulators,
good business men of quiet disposition. All are,
and have been, members of the Lutheran Church.
FRANKLIN N. KREIDER, one of the young
and representative farmers of East Hempfield, Lan-
caster countv, was born Sept. 21, 1868, a son of John
and Anna M. (Net?) Kreider.
Jacob Kreider, the paternal grandfather, was
a farmer by occupation, and greatly respected in
East Plempfield township, where his son John was
born Oct. 1=;, 1845. Until 1890, the latter engaged
in farming," but at that date, retired from active
life. However, in April, 1900, he interested hmi-
seif in the large creamery at East Petersburg, and
has since devoted his attention to this line of busi-
ness His most estimable wife, Anna M., was a
daughter of Jacob and Mary (Miller) NeS, in-
fluential people of Manor township, and she bore
him two children: Franklin N. ; and Jacob N.,
born on Aug. 24, 1870, married Kate Hostetter,
and died in 1895, at the age of twenty-four. John
Kreider and his wife are members of the Old Men-
nonite Church, in which denomination they are
highly esteemed.
Franklin N. Kreider spent his boyhood days
upon the farm of his father, learning to till the
soil, and attending the public schools, during the
winter months. When he attained his majority, the
enterprising young man rented the farm he now
occupies, and commenced business for himself. So
successful was he in conducting his farm, that with-
in three years the thirty-seven acres comprising the'
property, became his own, and since then his excel-
lent crops have continued as a result of his good
management and thorough understanding of the
science of farming.
On Nov. 7, 1890, Franklin N. Kreider married
Lizzie A. Kauffman, a daughter of Benjamin B.
and Anna (Kreider) Kaufiiman, of Manheim town-
ship, formerly of East Hempfield township. Three
children have been born of this marriage : Ammon
K. ; Elmer K. and Irvin K. The religious connec-
tions of Franklin N. Kreider and wife are with the
Old Mennonite Church, in which faith they were
feared. Surrounded with their little ones, these
two young people have a bright future before them
of happy lives, spent in peaceful enjoyment of the
comforts provided by their industry, enterprise and
economy.
KAUFMAN DEUTSCH (deceased), for many
years a well-known citizen of Lancaster, was born
in Danville, Montour Co., Pa., and died from the
effects of a paralytic stroke, at his home in Lancas-
ter, May 25, 1891, and was interred at Danville.
His father was Moses Deutsch, who was born in
Germany, but who emigrated to the United States
early in life and settled at Danville; his occupation
was that of a drover, and in his many trips made
through the State with cattle and stock, he acquired
a wide acquaintance.
Kaufman Deutsch was not born into a wealthy
home, and while still a lad, started out to make his
own fortune, his financial capital being a ten dollar
bill given him by his father. That he was provident,
industrious and energetic, was proven by the ample
fortune he amassed, and the prominence to which
he attained as a horseman in this vicinity. Few men
in this Une were better known in Lancaster county,
where he made his home through many years. In
Philadelphia, on June 7, 1874, Kaufman 'Deutsch
was married to Miss Elizabeth Hickey, who was
born in Philadelphia, daughter of Thomas and Eliza-
beth (Darrow) Hickey, natives of Ireland. Mr.
Hickey was the proprietor of a large tailoring es-
tablishment until he enlisted for service in the Civil
war, under Col. Chantry, in the i69tli Pa. V. I.,
and was so severely wounded in the thigh at the sec-
ond Battle of Bull Run, that his leg had to be am-
putated, from which the faithful soldier died. His
widow survived until 1877, dying at the age of
sixty-four years. Both parents were worthy mem-
1370
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
bers of the Roman Catholic. Church. The children
born to Mr. and Mrs. Hickey were as follows:
Sally, widow of Christian Schoud; Elizabeth,
widow of Mr. Deutsch ; John, a decorator in New
York City ; Emma, deceased wife of Frank Thomp-
son ; Frank, deceased ; and Mary, who died young.
Mr. Deutsch was a valued member of the order
of Odd Fellows, while in his political views, he be-
longed to tlie FJemocratic party. His religious con-
nection was with the Synagogue, but Mrs. Deutsch
is a consistent member of the Catholic Church, where
she has many attached friends. Mr. Deutsch was
a whole-souled, kind-hearted man, very genial and
pleasant, and while he had made his own way in the
world without assistance, he was always ready to ex-
tend a helping hand to others. His circle of friends
was large and he is much missed. The one daugh-
ter born to Mr. and Mrs. Deutsch is Minnie L.,
who is the widow of Gerald J, Peiper, of Washing-
ton, D. C, where he was a photographic artist. Mrs.
Peiper has two children, namely : G. D. Maitland
and Florence A.
HENRY K. OBER, a school teacher, surveyor,
notary public and conveyancer, of Mastersonville,
Pa., was born in Rapho township, Jan. 2, 1878, and
is the son of Michael R. and Susan (Kulp) Ober,
of the same township, where they still reside.
Michael R. Ober, a successful general farmer
of Rapho township, now retired, was born there
March 27, 1836, a son of Christian and Barbara
(Ruhl) Ober. He has been twice married. On
May II, 1858, in Lancaster, he wedded Catherine
Spigler, who was born in Catfish, Lancaster coun-
ty, m 1841, and died Sept. 29, 1871. She sleeps
her last sleep in Chickies Meeting House burying
ground. She was a daughter of Samuel and Susan
(Burdolf) Spigler, who lived and died in Lancaster
county, the former passing away in Mt. Joy town-
ship, and the latter while on a visit in Juda. For
his second wife, Michael Ober married Susan Kulp,
who was born in Rapho township, Jan. 17, 185 1,
a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Baker) Kulp, of
Lancaster county. To them were born two chil-
dren, Henry K. ; and Emma, the wife of Ah^a W.
Wolgemuth, a farmer of Rapho township.
Henry K. Ober lived at home with his parents
until his marriage, excepting the time spent in the
State Normal school, at Millersville, Pa., where he
graduated in the spring of 1898. After that he again
returned to his father's home and lived there until
early in 1901, when he moved to Mastersonville, his
present residence. Mr. Ober has taught school since
1896 and has given his leisure time to conveyanc-
ing and the duties of his office of notary public,
and for the past three years to his profession of
surveyor and civil engineer. He is very energetic
and a hard worker, so that, although diversified,
his employment is conscientiously attended to.
On May 25, 1899, Mr. Ober was married to
jMiss Cora B. Hess, who was born Aug. 6, 1879,
daughter of Henry L. and Anna (Brinzer) Hess,
of Mt. Joy township, the father being a retired
farmer of prominence in his locality. He recently
moved from Mt. Joy to Elizabethtown, Pa. No chil-
dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ober.
Mr. Ober, though young, has by his indomitable
pluck and energy already gained a foothold in busi-
ness circles which will eventually lead him to for-
tune and prominence in his locality. Of very agree-
able manners, he has the faculty of making many
friends who remain such. Mr. Ober and his wife
are members of the German Baptist Church.
OWEN F. BRUNER, proprietor of the "Swan
Hotel,'" corner of South Queen and East Vine
streets, Lancaster, is descended from ancestry that
has long been .connected with the affairs of Pennsyl-
vania. Owen Bruner, his grandfather, was a lum-
ber dealer of Ephrata.
I'etcr Martin Bruner, son of Owen, carried on
general merchandising at Conestoga Center, for
forty-two years. For some years past he has been
living retired, at No. 443 South Duke street, Lan-
caster. Mr. Bruner was twice married. His first
wife was Elizabeth Ohmit, daughter of Christian
Ohmit, a well-known river pilot living at Wash-
ington borough. This union was blessed with nine
children, the following of whom are living: Peter,
a hotel-keeper at Gettysburg; Jacob M. and Will-
iam, in the coal business in Philadelphia; Martha,
wife of A. J. Zercher, an undertaker of Conestoga
Center ; Rebecca, wife of William Caldwell, of Rock
Hill ; Mary, at home ; and Owen F. proprietor of
the "Swan Hotel." The mother of these children
died thirty-one years ago, and Mr. Bruner then mar-
ried Delia Sourbeer, daughter of Reuben Sourbeer,
of Safe Harbor. Three children were born of this
union: Harry, connected with the butter depart-
ment of the caramel factory of Lancaster ; and Emma
and Bertha, at home.
Owen F. Bruner was born in Conestoga Center
Feb. 12, 1867, and was educated in the public schools
of that district. Leaving school at the age of seven-
teen years, he entered his father's store, and later
learned cigarmaking. When he attained his major-
ity Mr. Bruner went into the bread business at West
Willow, but after one year abandoned this to engage
in the hotel business at Gap, remaining one year.
This was followed by four years as proprietor of
a hotel at Rock Hill. He then came to Lancaster
and became connected with the "McGrann House,"
North Queen street, where he remained until March,
1899, when he took possession of the "Swan Hotel,"
corner of South Queen and Vine streets, where he
has met with great success. The "Swan" has ac-
commodations for forty, and in its stables there is
room for two hundred and fifty horses. It is a fact
most gratifying to the genial host that hotel and
stables are alike popular, the former never lacking
lodgers, and the latter always well filled.
Mr. Bruner has been twice married. His fir.st
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1371
wile was Ella Hoftman, daughter of a well-known
farmer of Willowstreet. To this marriage came one
child, Bertha, who died at the age of one year. The
child's deatli was closely followed by that of the
mother. For his second wife Mr. Bruner wedded
Mary Weninger, daughter of Gottlieb Weninger,
a well-known citizen of the Fourth ward, Lancaster.
Socially Mr. Brunner is a member of the Odd Fel-
lows and the Knights of Malta. He has been an
active 'a orker in the Reformed Church of Cdnestoga
Center, and for a time sang in the choir. In church
or social circles, in business or in his home, Mr.
Bruner is a most excellent and pleasant gentleman.
JACOB MU'SSER BRUNER, brother of Owen
F. Bruner, has succeeded in one of the largest centers
of trade in the world, Philadelphia. He was born
in Conestoga Center May 8, 1862, and, after attend-
ing the schools of the district, finished his education
at the State Normal School at Millersville. Leav-
ing the latter institution when nineteen years old,
Mr. Bruner clerked for a time for his uncle, H. F.
Bruner, who was engaged in the coal trade in Phil-
adelphia ; and then, having mastered the intricacies
of the business, entered into the coal trade for him-
self in that city. He began business for himself
Dec. I, 1885, and the fact that he now owins three
coalyards in Philadelphia is the best evidence that
he has succeeded. These yards are located respect-
ively at tlie northeast corner of 13th street and
Washington avenue, where the main oiSce is ; at
the northwest corner of j:6th street and Indiana
avenue, and at No. 4503 Girard avenue. All of these
yards have telephone connections, and nineteen de-
livery wagons are kept busy in meeting the demands
of the extensive trade.
In 1890 Mr. Bruner was married to Jennie Mes-
sick, daughter of M. A. Messick, a well-known
miller of Delaware. One son has blessed this union,
J. Millard Bruner. Mr. Bruner belongs to the Blue
Lodge of Masons, and to the Knights of the Golden
Eagle. Politically he is a Republican; religiously
a Presbyterian ; and in all the affairs of life he is
a wholesouled, enterprising gentleman.
A. LINCOLN ERB is the efficient superintend-
ent of the Wrightsville Lime Co., a noted estab-
lishment on the old Halderman farm, five miles from
Marietta, a place consisting of 250 acres, mostly of
limestone rock, with 4,300 feet of river front. Here
about 200 men are employed, and fifteen lime kilns
are kept in operation, seven of them being of the
latest design. He was born at Lobata, in Conoy
township, Sept. 25, 1865. He remained at home
until he reached the age of seventeen years, when
he engaged in teaching, an occupation which he fol-
lowed for the ensuing nine years, fitting himself
more thoroughlv for this work by a two years'
course in the State Normal School at Millersville.
In 1890 he gave up teaching, and attended a busi-
ness college in Philadelphia. In 1892 he came to
the Wrightsville Lime Company to take a position
as a clerk. In 1896 he was made superintendent of
the works, a responsible position which he fills
with satisfaction to his employers and credit to him-
self. In his politics he is a Republican, and is high-
ly esteemed in the community, both for his sterling
manlv and business qualities and for kind heart and
genial disposition.
On May 12, 1895, Mr. Erb was married in Conoy
township to Miss Fanny Hershey, who was born
in Mt. Joy township May 30, 1868, a daughter of
Christian and Sarah (Engle) Hershey, both born
and reared in Lancaster county. To Mr. and Mrs.
Erb have been born three children, Mary H., Chris-
tian S. and John E.
Christian Hershey, who was a son of John and
Elizabeth (Flershey) Hershey, of Lancaster county,
was a farnier and a man of means. He died in East
Donegal township, Aug. 14, 1895, aged fifty-seven
years. His wife, Sarah Engle, was born in 1840, a
daughter of Henry and Fanny (Hoover) Engle,
also of Lancaster county. To Christian and Sarah
(Engle) Hershey were born children as follows:
Eli, a tobacco salesman in Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Henry,
deceased ; Eusebius, a traveling salesman from Phil-
adelphia ; F'anny ; Anna, wife of H. K. Alwine, a
cattle drover of Middletown ; Lizzie, wife of Harry
Brinzer, of Middletown ; and Norman, a resident of
Maytown. The mother of these children is still liv-
ing, and makes her home in East Donegal.
GEORGE L. BRENEMAN is one of Colum-
bia's enterprising, progressive and energetic busi-
ness men, whose acumen and integrity have won
for him the undisgxiised and universal esteem of his
fellow townsmen.
The paternal grandparents were Abraham and
Sarah Breneman, who settled in Donegal township
in 1806, and for many years conducted a well-or-
dered and thriving hostelry at Columbia. Christian
Breneman, father of George L., married Sarah Col-
lins, daughter of James and Jane (Everlin) Collins.
Mr. Collins was born in Conestoga township, and his
wife in Columbia. Christian Breneman was a lime
manufacturer, a man of some means, prominent in
local affairs, and was held in high repute by his
neighbors. He filled the office of school director and
chief burgess, and occupied a seat in the council.
He died in Columbia in 1877, after reaching the
age of sixty-seven. His widow lived to see her
eightv-second birthday, and entered into rest in 1892,
at Wrightsville. Their children were seven in
number. The two eldest, James and Jane, died in
childhood. Emma, the third child, is unmarried
and resides at Wrightsville. Oscarluca died in his
twenty-first year. Mary is Mrs. Calvin Flora, of
Wrightsville. George L. was the sixth child, and
the youngest, Anna, died before reaching maturity.
George L. Breneman's life has been full of ac-
tivity and well directed effort. He was born in
Donegal township, April 16, 1851, but came to Co-
1372
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
lumbia at the age of nine. When fourteen he be-
gan his career as a driver for a teamster, and before
he had reached his eighteenth year he set out to seek
his fortune in the West. For a year and a half he
worked upon a Kansas railroad, then returning to
Columbia, he entered the employ of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company as a fireman. Three years
later he was made engineer. For nineteen years
thereafter he contimted in the company's service in
the same capacity, and then he began the life of a
farmer in Manor township. After seven years he
tired of this, with its prosaic round of duties, and
■coming to Columbia in the spring of 1900, engaged
in hi? present line of business, that of a dealer in
fruit and produce. In this he has been successful,
his natural qualities well fitting him to succeed in
any avocation where sound sense, industry and in-
tegrity are indispensable.
He married Miss Kate Reece, of Lancaster, in
June. 1877. Of their five children, the eldest, Jen-
nie, is a trained nurse in New York City ; the others,
Witmer, Alice, James and Sally, are at home with
their . parents.
Mrs. Breneman's father, George Reece, was a
hotel keeper at Mountville. He died in 1876, before
reaching his fiftieth year. Her mother was Eliza-
beth Poisht, a devout Lutheran, who died in 1872,
at Lancaster, aged sixty-seven years. She bore her
husband four daughters and three sons, Mrs. Brene-
man being the third child in the order of birth. A
brief mention oi the others may prove of interest.
David, the eldest, as well as Anna, Mrs. Josiah
Conklin, reside in Columbia ; Ella married Jacob
Bitner, of Mountville; Mary is the wife of Harry
Friday, of Lancaster ; George is a pretzel baker in
the same city ; Thomas, the youngest of the family,
lives at Mountville, and is a dealer in horses. Mrs.
Breneman's grandparents, both paternal and mater-
nal, were born in Germany, and came to America
while yet young. Henry and Mary (Lively) Reece,
the parents of her father, settled in Lancaster coun-
ty , as did those of her mother, Henry and Elizabeth
Poisht. Henry Poisht was by occupation a baker
of pretzels.
Mr. Breneman is independent in politics, placing
patriotism before policy, just as he would uplift char-
ity above creed.
S. L. BINNESDERFER was born in Peters-
burg, Lancaster county, Aug. 22, 1869, a son of
Samuel and Elizabeth (Landis) Binnesderfer,
natives of Petersburg and Pennsylvania, respect-
ively.
Samuel Binnesderfer, who is still a resident of
Petersburg, was born in June, 1842, was reared as a
butcher, but afterward became a tobacco merchant,
in both of which lines he realized considerable profits,
and for the past sixteen years has been the popular
and genial landlord of the "Black Horse Hotel."
His wife was called away from him in 1881,' at the
comparatively early age of thirty-nine years, in the
faith of the Lutheran church. They had three chil-
dren, viz. : S. L., whose name introduces this article ;
Agnes, who died when but two and one-half years
old; and Idella, who still has her home with her
father.
The paternal grandparents of Scott L. Binnes-
derfer were George and Susan (Kahler) Binnes-
derfer, who were born in Lancaster county. Pa.,
were reared on farms belonging to their respective
parents and died in Petersburg.
S. L. Binnesderfer was reared on the old home-
stead at Petersburg, where he continued to reside
until twenty-four years of age. In the meantime he
acquired a good common-school education, and at
a very early age began packing tobacco. At the
the age of fourteen years he made a full hand at
the tobacco press, and continued to work at packing
in the home tobacco warehouse until twenty-three
years old, and a year later began working at the
carpenter's trade, followed it until November, 1900,
and then came to Mountville, and purchased ihe
business of E. B. Kready, which he has since dis-
posed of.
Mr. Binnesderfer is a member of the P. O. S. of
A., the Jr. O. U. A. M., the Mystic Chain and the
Royal Arcanum. In politics he is a Republican, but
has never accepted a public office. He is straightfor-
ward in all his dealings, and during his business
life in Mountville established a high reputation for
integrity. He enjoys the respect of- quite a large
circle of friends and acquaintances.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HERSHEY, the
enterprising coal and lumber dealer on the Lititz
turnpike, near the stock-yards, and who with his
brother Christian, has built up quite a settlement in
that section, comes from one of the oldest, most
numerous and influential families in Lancaster coun-
ty. His grandfather was Benjamin Hershey, a
farmer, near Leaman Place, Lancaster county, and
his father, Christian H. Hershey, is a well-preserved
and active man, who after a long and busy life,
is now devoting his last years to the helping of his
sons in the extensive business at the new settlement
near the stock-yards.
Christian H. Hershey married Miss Jane Shultz,
a daughter of Martin Shultz, of Paradise, Lancas-
ter county, at that time in the service of the Penn-
sylvania Railway Company. Seven children were
born to this union, all of whom are living: Ida
C, wife of F. K. Leman, formerly a partner with
B. F. Hershey in the coal and lumber business at
Gordonville: Susan, wife of Levi Zimmerman, a
farmer at Kinzers ; C;iara, wife of William J. Aiken,
a carpenter and undertaker, of Williamstown, Lan-
caster county; Hettie A., wife of E. E. Keneagy,
a farmer near Kinzers ; Bertha, wife of Milton m!
Myers, of Kinzers, a telegraph operator in the ser-
vice of the Pennsylvania Railroad; Christian, a
graduate of the Pennsylvania Business College, and
now engaged in the grain and feed business in
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1373
the settlement noted above; and Benjamin Franklin.
Benjamin Franklin Hershey was born near New
Holland, Oct. 21, 1869, and had his education prin-
cipally in the public schools at Kinzers, to which
point his parents removed while he was still a lad.
When he was seventeen years old he left school,
and went to farming with his father, with whom
he remained for three years, and then engaged in the
same line two years for himself. While hardly yet
out of his boyhood he engaged in the coal and lum-
ber business at Gordonville, which he successfully
conducted for five years, and then, seeing an op-
portunity near the city of Lancaster, with his broth-
er, he bought four acres near the stock yards tract,
erected four buildings, comprising a large ware-
house, a mill, a smithy, and an office, and there they
began what has proved an extremely profitable
trade. The creation of this important suburban
addition to Lancaster was begun in the early fall
of 1900, and by the following spring everything
was in order. Both telephone services are employed
to meet the wants of a rapidly growing trade. A
branch office has been established at No. 12 East
Orange street.
In 1889 Benjamin F. Hershey was married to
Miss Susan, daughter of the late Elias Leaman,
who was a farmer near Intercourse, and this union
was blessed with five children, one of whom, Alta
A., is deceased. The survivors are: Jennie E. and
Elsie May, at school; and Elmer L. and Benjamin
Herbert, at home. Mr. Hershey, who has now
closed out his enterprise at Gordonville, is devoting
all his efforts to the development of his very prom-
ising business at Lancaster. He lives at No. 623
North Lime street. In religion he is an Old
Mennonite, the Hersheys having been connected
with that church for many generations. In politics
he is a Republican, and he is a public-spirited and
patriotic citizen.
WILLIS G. HARRY, manager of the Lancas-
ter Dairy Company, at No. 36 West Chestnut street,
Lancaster, is an Ohioan by birth, but has adopted
this city as his home; and as he has made himself
felt in his crusade for pure milk he deserves more
than a passing notice.
Mr.' Harrv is a son of Silas C. Harry, of Woos-
ter, Ohio, who is now living retired in that pleas-
ant little city after a long and useful career as a
contracting plasterer. He married Margaret
Sommers, and from this union came Scott G., Anna
May and Willis G, the two first named at home with
their parents in Ohio.
Willis G. Harry was born in West Lebanon,
Oliio. where his parents lived for a time, and after
reaching the proper age became a pupil in the schools
of Wooster, graduating from the high school in
due time. His'first work was in the dairy and cream-
er v business, and then he spent a year in study at
the University of Wisconsin. Mr. Harry was then
employed at the Ohio Agricultural Experimental
Station, where he spent two years, after which he
spent a year at the Ohio State University. Mr.
Harry then came East and was employed in the
creamery business in York, Pa. He was next at
Lititz, where he had charge of the creamery busi-
ness of E. L. Garber, through whose enterprise
and liberality the Lancaster Dairy Company was
established in the spring of 1900, with Mr. Harry
as manager. Mr. Harry proceeded to pasteurize
the milk and cream, and for the first time the people
of Lancaster were offered a pure article. So popu-
lar did this pure liquid food become that in a short
time four wagons were required by the growing
trade, taxed to their utmost capacity in serving the
many patrons the Lancaster Dairy Company had
secured. Mr. Harry has brought not only rare in-
dustry, but rare intelligence as well to the work,
and the people of Lancaster have abundantly shown
their appreciation of his work.
HENRY S. MUSSER, a prosperous and suc-
cessful general farmer of Rapho township, Lancas-
ter county, was born in East Hempfield township.
May 24, 1874, a son of Martin N. and Anna M.
(Seitz) Musser. Ihe father was born on the farm
where he is now living in East Hempfield township,
December 25, 1846, and the mother in Rohrerstown,
Pa., in 1850. Ihey are members of the New Men-
nonite Church, and are very highly esteemed by all
who know them. They had two children : Mary
S., who died at the age of fifteen years; Henry S.
The paternal grandfather of Henry S. Musser
was Benjamin Musser, a farmer of Providence
township, whose death, however, occurred in East
Hempfield township, in October, 1892, at the age of
sixty-seven years. The great-grandfather of Henry
S., also Benjamin Musser, was a lifelong resident of
Lancaster county. The maternal grandparents of
Henry S. Musser were John M. and Mary (Mellin-
ger) .Seitz, both native to Lancaster county.
Henry S. Musser was married in Lancaster, Pa.,
Sept. 2, 1897, to Lizzie N. Shenk, by whom he has
had one child, Anna S. Mrs. Lizzie N. (Shenk)
Musser was born on the farm where she has her
present home, Sept. 15, 1875, a daughter of Henry
H. and Anna (Nissley) Shenk, both of whom were
born in Rapho township, and there died. They
came to the farm in 1872, and her father was a
farmer all his days. When he died in 1882 he was
only thirty-two; and his wife was only twenty-five
at her death, in 1878; their remains are resting in
a private cemetery on the farm where Mrs. Musser
is now residing. They were members of the New
Mennonite Church, and were in every way honor-
able and upright people. Their family consisted of
two daughters, Lizzie N., who is Mrs. Musser, and
Anna N., who married Edward Crist, a farmer,
near Rawlinsville, Lancaster county. Her paternal
grandparents were Rev. Henry and Magdelina
(Hostetter) Shenk, of Lancaster county. Her
grandfather was a Mennonite preacher, and was
1374
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
engaged in farming on a very considerable scale.
Her maternal grandfather was Joseph Nissley, who
married a Miss Sherk, both of Lancaster county.
Henry S. Musser remained with his parents until
he was married, when he established himself on his
present farm, where he has met that success that
fitly attends unwearied industry and wise economy.
When he was eighteen years of age he attended the
State Normal at Millersville one year, and is well
prepared for the practical duties of life. His farm
comprises ninety acres of choice land, thoroughly
cultivated and presenting a fine appearance to the
critical eye. There he keeps fifteen cows, and car-
ries on modern farming with good returns from his
labors. Living four miles from Columbia, he keeps
in close touch with the world, and is regarded as
one of the progressive, broad-minded and leading
men of the town. In politics he is a Republican.
JAMES B. REILLY, who built, owns and con-
ducts the "St. Charles Hotel" at Atlantic City, N.
J., was not born m Lancaster, but he spent his boy-
hood there, and his father resides in the place, and
is one of the city's most prominent men.
Michael Reilly, the father, came from Ireland
to America many years ago, and waslong a railroad
contractor, besides engaging in many other enter-
prises. For a time he was sole owner of the Quar-
ryville railroad, and as an individual, purchased
the farm which through his efforts has since become
the beautiful Conestoga Park of Lancaster. He
has made his impress on many important affairs
in the community. Michael Reilly married Miss
Anna Maria McGovern, daughter of the late Thomas
McGovern, also a heavy contractor. This union
was blessed with a family of several children, four
of whom are living; James B., proprietor of the
"St. Charles Hotel" at Atlantic City; John, assist-
ing his brother James B. ; and Frank and Charles,
at home in Lancaster.
James B. Reilly was born in Belvidere, N. J.,
his father being engaged in contract work there at
the time. He spent his younger days in Lancaster,
and was educated in its public schools. His first
mercantile venture was in the coal business, but
he abandoned that to engage in the contracting
business with his father. No contractors were bet-
ter known than McManus & Reilly, and James B.,
as a member of the firm, took an active part in its
affairs. A great deal of work was done for the
Pennsylvania Railway Company, but many other
large undertakings were also carried through dur-
ing the thirteen years of active operation..
In i8g6 Mr. Reilly bought nine acres of land
at Atlantic Cit}', and began the great task of erect-
ing fifty buildings, of which the magnificent "St.
Charles" forms a leading part. With the exception
of the hotel Mr. Reilly has disposed of nearly all
the property. St. Charles Place of which Mr.
Reilly was projector, builder and owner, comprises
one of the finest parts of this famous sea side resort.
Mr. Reilly was married, in 1881, to Miss Mary
E. Bryant, daughter of the late Daniel Bryant,
known as America's most famous minstrel, and
whose hall years ago in New York was the center
of amusement for all classes of citizens. Seven
children have been born to this union, all of whom
are living: Bryant, James and Charles attending
Mount St. Mary's College at Emmitsburg, Md..;
and Anna Marie, Helen, Bessie and Richard, at
home.
HARVEY B. NISSLEY. Though born in
Carroll county, Maryland, this prominent and suc-
cessful young mechanic of Silverspring, Lancaster
county, is the representative of an old family of the.
latter county. His par-ents, John W. and Fayette
(Berry) Nissley, were both natives of Lancaster
county and his paternal grandfather, Abraham Niss-
ley, was one of the sturdy agriculturists of the same
county nearly a century ago. John W. Nissley was
born in 1822 and in his native county married Miss
Fayette Berry, whose parents were residents of
Conoy township. John W. Nissley learned and
followed the trade of cabinet-maker and carpenter.
Tie went to Maryland about 1855. but returned to
Lancaster county in 1877 for three years. His wife
died at Iron\rille, Pa., in that year, aged fifty-five
years. To John and Fayette Nissley were born two
children, Penrose, who died in Ironville, Pa., De-
cember, 1898, and Harvey B. Returning from
Maryland a second time, John Nissley now resides
in Millersburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania.
Harvey B. Nissley was born Feb. 10, 1868. He
was nine years of age when he came with his parents
from Maryland to Lancaster, their native county.
Self-reliant and active in temperament, he two )'^ears
later, at the age of eleven years, began working
out on farms, continuing until he was seventeen;
Deciding to learn the blacksmith trade, he began
and completed a three years' apprenticeship with
Gideon Smith at Silverspring. The young jour-
ne_vman then started out for a little experience. He
worked at his trade for a year at Lititz, then with
commendable assurance opened up for himself at
Moore's Mill, Rapho township, a shop which he
successfully conducted for three years. In the light
of experience thus gained, the place of his appren-
ticeship offered attractions and accordingly in 1891
he began business at his present stand in Silver-
spring. Trade has grown steadily and his custom
stands faithfully by him, for he is an excellent me-
chanic, makes fast friends and keeps well informed,
both in matters pertaining to his trade and in
issues of general moment. He has risen to com-
mand the high esteem of his fellow citizens and is
becoming one of the public-spirited leaders of the
township.
Mc. Nissley married March 7, 1889, at Colum-
bia, Pa., Miss Mary G. McCune, and to them have
been born four children, Maud, Lester, Blanche and
Jennie, all living. Mrs. Nissley was born in Silver-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1875
spring in July, 1870, the daughter of Daniel and
Susan McCune, now residents of Silverspring. The
father was born in 1840 and the mother in 1842.
Five children were born to Daniel and Susan Mc-
Cune, namely: Emma, deceased wife of Andrew
Bard ; Frank, of Ironville ; Mary G., wife of Harvey
B. Nissley ; Webster, a telegraph operator at Silver-
spring; and Laura, deceased.
In politics Harvey B. Nissley is a stanch Repub-
lican. He is prominent in the fraternal orders as
a member of the I. O. R. M., of the Knights of
the Mystic Chain and of the Knights of Malta.
WALTER F. AI^BRIGHT. In reviewing the
records of a number of L-ancaster's enterprising bus-
iness men we find that they have succeeded to in-
dustries established by their fathers, and have, by
their upright dealings and keen sagacity, added
prestige to honored family names. An instance of
this kind is afforded by the record of Walter F. Al-
brig;ht, whose flourishing bakery business was es-
tablished by his father, Frederick A. Albright, and
by him carried through its early days of doubtful
success until placed upon a substantial and profita-
ble basis.
As a boy Frederick A. Albright learned the
whitesmith's trade and followed it for a time, but
the demand for such workers being limited he found
it necessary to seek a new field of employment. Ac-
cordingly he went to New Jersey, where he worked
in a shovel and pitchfork manufactory. His next
location was in Chester county. Pa., where he was
employed as stove finisher in a foundry. He was
subsequently employed in the railroad shops at Co-
lumbia, which were then carried on by the State.
Coming to Lancaster in 1857, he engaged in the
grocery, flour, grain and feed business, and in 1861
turned his attention to the bakery trade. For thirty
years he conducted a prosperous business, keeping
several delivery wagons in constant use and gain-
ing the patronage of a large number of people.
Finally, when advanced in years, he retired in favor
of his son, Walter F., and from that time forward
lived in retirement from business cares, dying Aug.
4, i8g2, when seventy-one years of age. Though a
stanch Republican he never sought. office,' and the
only position he ever consented to fill was that of
councilman, in which capacity he served for two
terms. In religion he was connected with the Mo-
ravian Church. To his marriage with Sarah C.
Auxer, who resides in Lancaster, there were born
five children, viz.: Charles, who died when nine
years old, Mary, Mrs. Benjamin Sides, who died
when thirty; Walter F., of Lancaster; Sallie (de-
ceased), who married Valentine Werkheiser, a well-
known wholesale grocer of Lancaster; and Freder-
ick, who was two years old at the time of his death.
Walter F. Albright was born Oct. 14, 185 1.
When a boy he learned the baker's trade under
his father's' careful oversight, and remained an
employe of the concern until, on his father's
retirement, the business was turned over to
him. He thoroughly understands every department
of the work, and his three wagons are kept in con-
stant service, delivering orders, to his customers.
Like his father, he is a believer in Republican prin-
ciples, and, like him, too. he does not care for offi-
cial position. Fraternally he is connected with the
Eagles and the Elks. At Mt. Nebo, Lancaster
county, in February, 1876, Mr. Albright married
Barbara Garrett. The only child of their union,
Dazy M., is now the wife of John Musser, a broker
and brick and tile manufacturer. Mrs. Albright
was born in Conestoga township, this county, daugh-
ter of Henry and Nancy Garrett, for many years
leading residents of that township. Among the
people of Lancaster A'lr. Aljjright is recognized as
an industrious and persevering business man, who
richly merits the encouraging success of his projects,
and has won the confidence of associates by up-
rightness of life and energy of disposition.
MICHAEL M. KAUFFMAN, an experienced
and thriving young farmer of West Hempfield
township, Lancaster county, was born Sept. 2, 1868,
at the home he stili occupies, and is a son of Henry
S. and Anna G. (Musser) Kauflfman, the former
of whom was also born on a part of the present farm,
and the latter near Silverspring in an adjacent part
of the township ; they did not, however, as man and
wife, make the farm their permanent home until
1863. There the father, Henry S. Kauffman, fol-
lowed his vocation of farming the remainder of his
life, dying Oct. 9, 1883, when forty-two years old,
and there the mother passed away, Aug. 17, 1899,
at the age of fifty-nine years, both in the faith of
the Dunkard Church, and the remains of both were
interred near Silverspring. They were the parents
of two children, Michael M., and Amos G., the
latter still unmarried and residing with his brother.
The paternal grandparents of Michael M. Kauff-
man were Michael and Anna Kauflfman, both natives
of Lancaster county, the former of whom was a
substantial farmer and was twice married ; the ma-
ternal grandfather, Michael S. Musser, also a na-
tive of Lancaster county, married a Miss Garber
and died in West Hempfield township.
On March 4, 1890, in York county, Pa., Michael
N. Kauifman married Miss Agnes Gohn, who has
borne him one son, Henry G. Mrs. Agnes (Gohn)
Kauffman was born two miles from Wrightsville,
York county, April 18, 1868, and is a daughter of
John D. and Sarah (Strickler) Gohn. John D. Gohn
was a well-to-do farmer, and died in January, 1893,
when forty-nine years old, his wife died in Decem-
ber, i8q7, at the age of forty-eight years, both in the
faith of the Dunkard Church, their remains being
interred in Strickler's (private) burying ground.
The children born to John D. and Sarah Gohn were
seven in number and named as follows : Tillie, who
was married to Jacob Walck, a farmer of York coun-
ty; Agnes, Mrs. Kauffman; Clara, wife of Charles
1376
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Kinard, also a farmer in York county; Menotti, a
school teacher in York county; Sally, living with
Mrs. Kauffman in West Hempfield township, Lan-
caster county ; Enos and May, both deceased.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Agnes Kauff-
man were John and Magdalena (Dellingar) Gohn,
farming people of York county ; the maternal grand-
parents were John and Sarah (Stoner) Strickler,
also of York county, where Sarah Strickler died
some years ago, but where John Strickler, who is a
retired farmer, is still living at the age of eighty-
seven years. There is reason to believe that the
family name was not Gohn originally, but John, and
was changed to suit the convenience or whim of one
of its early members.
Mr. Kauffman has a well-improved and fertile
farm, and all its surroundings indicate the presence
of an experienced and skillful manager, as it is a
model in every detail and is one of the best culti-
vated places of its dimensions in the county. Mr.
Kauffman is a member of the Dunkard Church and
in politics is a Republican.
MRS. BARBARA HOWARD. Among the
well-known residents of East Lampeter township,
is Mrs. Barbara Howard, widow of the late Levi
Howard, whose death took place Nov. 13, 1894.
Mrs. Howard was born in Millport, Lancaster coun-
ty) July 25, 1829, a daughter of the late John and
Magdalena (Neiif) Lefever, and a twin sister of
George N. Lefever.
When but two years of age, Mrs. Howard was
bereaved by the death of her devoted mother, and
thus knew little of maternal care. She was educated
in the schools of the district, and grew to woman-
hood under the protection of a fond father. On
Jan. 4, 1849, she married the late Benjamin Diffen-
bach, and to this union were bom : John, born
Nov. 5, 1850, whose residence is not known ; Frank-
lin, born Nov. 11, 1854, who is the trusted night
watchman in the business house of S. R. Moss & Co.,
in Lancaster ; Amanda, born July 28, 1856, and now
the wife of Martin Kreider ; and Emma Louisa, born
Jan. 28, 1859, and now Mrs. Amos B. Landis. The
father of these children died Jan. 5, i860.
On Dec. 24, 1865, Mrs. Diffenbach married Levi
Howard, and to this union two daughters were born :
Mary Catherine a most estimable lady, is noted for
her tact and business ability ; and Elizabeth, born
Nov. 18, 1866, died in November, 1869. The death
of Mr. Howard, on Nov. 13, 1894, was a great be-
reavement, but Mrs. Howard is a pious. Christian
lady and bears her sorrows with resignation. In
the Old Mennonite Church she is highly valued, and
in the neighborhood she is known as kind and charit-
able, and worthy of the highest esteem.
ALBERT L. GALLAGHER, chief deputy
sheriff of Lancaster count}% has for years past been
a prominent and popular figure about the court-
house. His grandfather, Anthony Gallagher, came
to America in 181 1, and settled in Donegal township,
this county, spending the remainder of his days en-
gaged in farming, in that township and in Rapho.
John Gallagher, son of Anthony, was a farmer of
Rapho township, and died in 1890, aged eighty-four
years. He married Sarah Lutz, daughter of Jacob
Lutz, a well-known citizen of Petersburg. She en-
tered into rest in 1887, aged sixty-nine years. This
worthy couple had nine children, seven of whom
are living: Mary, wife of Rufus H. Hippie, a
teacher of Rapho ;' Samuel, of Rapho, now living re-
tired ; Emanuel, m the Lebanon bolt works ; Sarah^
wife of Henry Bradley, of Columbia; Amos, em-
ploy.ed in the Penns)'lvania Steel Works, at Steel-
ton ; Eli, a merchant tailor of Latonia, Ohio ; and
Albert L., chief deputy sheriff of Lancaster county.
Albert L. Gallagher was born in Rapho town-
ship March 5, 1862, and was educated in the piiblic
schools of the district, in Mt. Joy high school, and in
Lebanon Valley College. Leaving college, Mir. Gal-
lagher became a public school teacher, teaching in
West Hempfield township for nine years, and then
passing the Civil service examination, he entered the
United States Mail service, running from New York
to Pittsburg. In 1894 he was appointed deputy-
sheriff of Lancaster county, arid has continued in
that office ever since, having served under Sheriffs-
Hershey and Myers, and the present capable official,.
Sheriff McMichael. It is needless to say that he
has performed the responsible duties of his posi-
tion to his own credit and that of his superiors, as-
well as to the entire satisfaction of the public.
Mr. Gallagher married Miss Emma Weaver,
daughter of the late John K. Weaver, a contracting-
painter, of Silver Spring, and two children have
been born of this union : Estella, at home ; and Paul,
at school. Mr. Gallagher belongs to the Jr. O. U.
A. M., the Knights of Malta, the Artisans, the Elks-
and the Masons. In religious connection he is a mem-
ber of St. Paul's Reformed Church. Politically as
may be inferred, he has been an active and stanch Re-
publican ever since he has been a voter. Wherever
foimd, in his office, in his social organizations, in-
political circles or in his home, he is a manly man..
PETER R. BECK. Mr. Beck, who is a flag-
man in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, resides in Columbia, and was born in
Lititz, Lancaster county, Sept. 7, 1865. He is a
great-grandson of Daniel Beck, and a grandson of
John Beck, both of that county. His grandfather,
whose wife's maiden name was Susan Beck, was a
millwright, as was his father, whose baptismal name-
was Daniel.
Daniel Beck (2) died in February, 1886, at the
age of fifty-six years. His death resulted from the
bite of a rabid dog, and occurred in a hospital in
Lancaster, whither he had been taken for treatment.
Peter R. Beck's mother was born in 1829, and named
Rebecca Miley. She is still living in Columbia, and'
IS an earnest member of St. John's Lutheran Church.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1377
She is of German descent on the paternal side, her
father and grandfather, both of whom were named
Matthias, having emigrated from Germany, the
younger in early life. Both were bricklayers. The
elder Miley, who married Barbara Off in the Father-
land, settled in Lititz, and his son at Lexington. The
latter soon after coming to these shores married
Mary Ampriester, of Philadelphia.
Mr. Beck is the sixth of a family of ten children.
His eldest brother, William H., is a resident of
Perryville, Md., Mary L., the second born, married
John Wilson, a railroad engineer, and lives in Co-
lumbia. Matilda C. is the wife of Joseph Eves, of
the same place. Emanuel, another brother, ^vas
formerly a railroad conductor, but having lost both
hands in a railroad accident, is now living in retire-
ment, at Lancaster. Reuben D. is also a railway con-
ductor, and has his home at Philadelphia. Sarah S.
married Fred Beaver of Columbia, and Herman, the
youngest brother, resides in that town. Kate is the
wife of Jacob Palmer, and Anna died in infancy.
The first thirteen years of Mr. Beck's life were
passed upon a farm. Coming to Coluinbia, he be-
gan work in his brother's cigar store, and later found
employment as a huckster. On May i, 1885, he en-
tered the employ of the Reading Railroad Company,
as a brakeman, and afterward was fireman. Two
and one-half years later he left the Reading for the
Pennsylvania : for four years he worked as a brake-
man, and has smce then held the position of flag-
man. He belongs to the Brotherhood of Railway
Trainman, and his politics are those of the Demo-
cratic party.
Mr. Beck- was married, July 28, 1887, to Miss
Julia Dunbar, of Columbia. They have twp chil-
dren, Emma A . and William D. Mrs. Beck was born
in November, 1869. Her father was William, a
son of Thomas Dunbar, of Lancaster county. Her
mother, before marriage, was Elizabeth Beveridge,
and her maternal grandparents were Robert and
Eliza Beveridge. William Dunbar was born Nov.
3, 1849, and is assistant yardmaster at Columbia.
His first wife was born in Ireland, and died in 1875,
in her thirty-sixth year. Mrs. Beck is their eldest
child. Mary J., the second daughter, is deceased,
and Carrie W., the youngest, is the wife of Henry
Rasbridge of Columbia. After the death of Mrs.
Beck's mother, her father married again, his second
wife being Ella Hoffmaster. To this union have
been born seven children : William H., of Philadel-
phia; Cora M., Mrs. Clayton Clay, of Mountville;
Mary F., the wife of George Smith, of Columbia;
Rebecca B., Edith I., Alford C. and Robert, all of
whom are unmarried and live with their parents.
LEMAN BROTHERS, the enterprising pro-
prietors of the Y. M. C. A. shoe store, North Queen
street, Lancaster, are grandsons of the late Henry
E. Leman, whose rifles carried the name of Lan-
caster to all parts of the United States and even to
Europe, as Leman's Rifle Works of Lancaster
87
turned out rifles for the United States Governmerlt
for years. No man's name was more familiar to the
people than that of the late Henry E. Leman, and no
shoe store is better known in the city than that of
his grandsons, Reuben Johns Leman and Herbert
Dubois Leman, doing business under the name of
Leman Brothers.
Plenry E. Leman, Jr., father of Leman brothers,
is a retired farmer living at Mechanicsburg. He
married Lizzie A. Johns, a daughter of the late
Reuben B. Johns, who died at Bareville in the sum-
mer of 1 90 1, aged eighty-one years. Three chil-
dren were born of this union, one of whom died in
early childhood. The survivors are the enterprising
young men who established, on April i, 1901, the
thoroughly up-to-date Y. M. C. A. shoe store on
North Queen street.
Reuben Johns Leman was born in Lancaster,
Nov. 7, 1876, and, after studying for a time in the
public schools, attended the Yeates Institute, in Lan-
caster, and the West Chester State Normal School.
Upon leaving the latter institution he entered a gen-
eral merchandise store at Mechanicsburg, where he
remained three years, and then entered the shoe busi-
ness at Wilkesbarre. After spending eight months
there he came to Lancaster, and, associated with his
brother, Herbert Dubois Leman, established the
elegant shoe store in the new Y. M. C. A. building.
Herbert Dubois Leman was born in Lancaster
Feb.- 1, 1879, and was educated in the public schools,
Yeates Institute, and Weidler's Business College.
He was only seventeen years old when he entered the
business world, and at eighteen was acting post-
master at Mechanicsburg, his father having received
his appointment as postmaster from President Mc-
Kinley. The father practically turned the office over
to his son, Herbert Dubois, who was perhaps the
youngest acting postmaster in the United States,
certainly the youngest 01 whom we have any knowl-
■ edge.
Both of the brothers were fully equipped by edu-
cation and experience for the responsible under-
taking of establishing a shoe store of such magni-
tude as that of the Y. M. C. A. store, and theirsuc-
cess has been phenomenal. Their store is known,
literally, to every one in the community, and the
reputation of the proprietors for integrity, good
judgment and big values to patrons extends all over
the great county of Lancaster.
MILTON S. ROHRER was born Oct. 14, 1861,
on the farm in East Lampeter township, which he
now occupies and cultivates.
Jacob H. Rohrer, his father, was also born on
the old homestead, in 1821, and remained there until
1868, wlien he moved to Greenfield Station. There
he commenced dealing in agricultural implements,
being one of the first to introduce some of the most
modern machinery. He has also been a drover,
bringing cattle, hogs, etc., from Chicago, and he
has engaged in tobacco raising, and has alSo
1378
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
been quite an extensive dealer and packer of to-
bacco. In politics Mr. Rohrer is a stanch Repub-
lican, and he has held the offices of school director,
prison inspector, and poor director. He is one of
Lancaster county's most respected citizens, known
among his neighbors as a man of truthfulness and
honesty. He married Miss Maria Shaffer, daugh-
ter of Adam Shaffer, and they are the parents of
eleven children: Elizabeth, wife of John L. Krei-
der ; Adam, who died at Mechanicsburg ; Annie, de-
ceased wife of Benjamin Kreider; Mary, who died
unmarried : Abraham, a farmer of Binkley's Bridge ;
Susan, wife of Abraham Herr; Amanda, wife of
Jacob Burkhart ; Jacob, a farmer of Kinzers ; Aaron,
a farmer of East Lampeter; Milton S., our subject;
and Emma, wife of John Buckwalter.
Milton S. Rohrer left the old home when he was
about seven years of age, and went to live with his
sister for five years. He was then at home with his
father again, and there he remained until he was
twenty-two years of age. He acquired his education
in the public schools of the county.
On Jan. 31, 1884, Mr. Rohrer wedded Miss
Emma, daughter of John R. and Elizabeth Kreider,
and to this union have been born three children as
follows : Lizzie, Elam and Ada, all at home. After
his marriage, Mr. Rohrer returned to the old home-
stead, where he has given his whole attention to
farming. He and his wife are both members of the
Old Mennonite Church. Mr. Rohrer is an enter-
prising man, and is regarded as one of the valued
citizens of the community in which he makes his
home.
HARRY HAWTHORNE MOORE, warden of
the Lancaster County Prison, presents in his own
career a remarkable illustration of what character
and intelligence, conjoined with integrity and in-
dustry, may accomplish in the making of a. man.
Henry Moore, his father, was a farmer in Lan-
caster county. On Nov. 5, 1849, he married Mary
Ann Hawthorne, daughter of George Hawthorne,
who was among the early settlers of Donegal, and
of Scotch-Irish descent.' They celebrated their
Golden Wedding in 1899, and are now living in re-
tirement at Mountville. They had seven children:
George, the eldest, died at twenty years of age;
Anna C. is the wife of John C. Forey of West Hemp-
field ; Sarah Jane and Mary are unmarried and at
home; Elizabeth is the wife of Roland Greiner, a
farmer of Upper Leacock township; Harry Haw-
thorne; and John Grant, married Elsie Cooper, of
Akron.
Harry Hawthorne Moore was born in West
Hempfieid township, July 31, 1862. Until he was
ten years of age he attended district school, and then
he began helping his father on the farm at Colum-
bia, remaining at home until he was twenty-one
years of age. At that time he began to learn the
auctioneering business with William Evans, of
Lititz, with whom he spent much of the time for the
next five years, but continued to help on the farm.
At the age of twenty-two, he was elected assessor
of Warwick township, being re-elected six times in
succession. When he was twenty-nine years of age
he was appointed second underkeeper of the Lan-
caster county prison, where he served for three
years. His next engagement was as auctioneer with
the Real Estate Excliange and Improvement Co.
In 1896 he was a candidate for prison keeper, and in
a heated contest was defeated by the late Jacob S.
Smith. In May of that year, Mr. Moore became
one of the proprietors of the real estate exchange,
the firm being Moore & Rudy. On May i, 1898,
Mr. Moore was appointed Prison Keeper to fill the
vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Smith, and in
November of that year was elected for a term of
three years without dissent. He became a candidate
for re-election at the March primary in 1901, was
nominated without opposition, and was re-elected
at the November election, beginning the duties of his
third term of three years in January, 1902. Mr.
Moore withdrew from the real estate business in
1899, and has since devoted his entire energies to
prison M^ork, securing the accomplishment of re-
forms that before had never been so much as at-
tempted. Better sanitary conditions were brought
about at a trifling expense to the county, while the
morale of the Institution was greatly elevated.
During the summer of 1900 Mr. Moore devoted
much time and labor to the improvement of the
prison park, which had been thrown open to the
public by the removal of the fences, and has made it
one of the prettiest spots in the State. To add to the
improvement of the eastern section of the city, Mr.
Moore built seven handsome houses on King
street in the late summer and fall of 1900. On Dec.
6, 1887, Mr. Moore was married to Ella Louisa,
daughter of Samuel and Mary E. Stark, of Lititz,
where the former was a well-known cigar box manu-
facturer. Mr. Moore belongs to the I. O. O. F.,
American Mechanics, Knights of the Golden Eagle,
and takes an active interest in all of them. He is a
lover of humanity, and is deeply interested in every
uplifting movement of the present time, displaying
much sympathy and a wise helpfulness for the un-
fortunates under his charge in the Lancaster County
Prison.
MARTIN SHAUBACH, a thrifty young farm-
er of Providence township, Lancaster courity, was
born Feb. 17, 1875, son of Andrew and Christina
(Worth) Shaubach, of Strasburg township.
Andrew Shaubach, the father, was a son of An-
drew Shaubach, a farmer of this township also, and
he became the father of six children, as follows:
Amos ; Reuben ; Andrew ; Annie, who married Jacob
Harnish, of Strasburg township ; Maggie, the wife
of Adam Plaring, of Leacock township ; and Martin.
Andrew Shaubach was a consistent member of the
German Baptist Church. He was an excellent
farmer and an honorable and reliable citizen.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1379
Martin Shaubach was reared on the home farm
and acquired his education in the common schools.
He learned the carpenter's trade at the age of eight-
een years, followed the same for some four years,
and then resumed farming. When he started out
on his own account he was dependent upon his own
endeavors, and that he has succeeded unusually well
is proved by his present possession of a fine farm,
comprisinsj; 152 acres of well improved land, with
first-class buildings — a farm which is generally rec-
ognized as the best in Providence township. His
industry and energy have been well rewarded. In
politics Mr. Shaubach is a Republican. Although
not a member of any religious organization, he is
liberal in his support of moral, charitable and be-
nevolent enterprises in his locality, and is regarded
as a man of sterling worth.
On Nov. 12, i8g6, Mr. Shaubach was united in
marriage to Miss Annie ]\I. Rohrer, born April 17,
1878, daughter of Levi and Hattie (Shaub) Rohrer,
of West Lampeter township, both of whom still sur-
vive. Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer have had children as
follows : Miss Elizabeth, residing at home ; Annie
M., Mrs. Shaubach ; Plattie, who married William
Killian, of East Lampeter township ; Emma, who
married Martin Bowman, of Lancaster county; Ida,
who married Elmer Mickley, of Strasbiirg town-
ship ; and Milo, who is deceased. Three children
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Shaubach, namely :
Clara, Estella and Andrew, the second of whom
passed away when but one year old.
Both Mr. Shaubach and his wife belong to old
and honorable families of Lancaster county. They
enjoy the respect of the neighborhood in which they
live, and have a wide circle of warm personal friends.
Their home is one of plenty and hospitality, and they
are esteemed through Providence township.
CHARLES A. WINOWER. Among the
younger generation of business men in Lancaster,
Charles A. W^inowei, painter and decorator, is one
of the most promising and capable. He was born in
this city, yUig. 31, 1876, a son of George V. and Jen-
nie CMessenkop) Winower, and grandson of Peter
J. and Catherine ( Vogt) Winower. The ancestry
of his family is centered in Germany, whence his
great-great-grandfatlier, John Peter, emigrated to
the United States, in time to tender valuable service
in the Revolutionary war.
George V. Winower, the father of Charles A.,
was also a painter and decorator, and he was a mem-
ber of the Lancaster police force for four years. He
died Oct. 30, 1895, at the age of forty-nine years,
and is buried in Woodward Hill cemetery. His
widow now lives in Lancaster. Their only child
was Charles A.
Mr. Winower learned the art of decorating under
Charles Newell, with whom he became associated
when fifteen years old, and with whom he has since
continued to work. He is studious, and keeps
abreast of the times, and is the possessor of a well
selected library. He is a member of the Jr. O. U.
A. M., and in politics is a Republican. In religion
he is an Episcopalian. Mr. Winower has sound
business judgment, is honest of purpose, and is
blessed with the gift of application.
JOHN WESLEY ANDERSON.' Among the
prominent and well-known men who find a congen-
ial home and prosperous business connections in
Lancaster is John Wesley Anderson, the inventor
and manufacturer, whose reputation extends far
beyond the limits of his home city.
William Wallace Anderson, his father, a farmer
of York county. Pa., married Rachel Ann Thomp-
son, a daughter of Jonathan Thompson; all lived
and died in York county. William Wallace Ander-
son and his wife had three children, two of whom
survive : Harriet A., wife of Joseph Barber, a farm-
er of York county; and John Wesley.
John Wesley Anderson was born in York coun-
ty. Pa., March 7, 1843, and after attending the pub-
lic schools of his district began work on a farm, at
the age of seventeen years, remaining so employed
for the two following years. Then, realizing that
his talents led in an entirely different direction, Mr.
Anderson became an apprentice at the carpenter and
wagonmaking trade, serving three years, after
which he embarked in the carriage and wagon build-
ing business for himself, carrying it on in York for
six or seven years. With his brother Mr. Anderson
then came to Lancaster county, locating at Me-
chanics Grove, where they established the Anderson
Manufacturing Company. In 1878 Mr. Anderson
came to Lancaster and engaged in the manufacture .
of carriage hardware specialties, having his works
on Fulton street for four or five years. Then he be-
came a partner with B. G. Dodge & Son, in the man-
ufacture of hardware specialties, this partnership
lasting for two years, when Mr. Anderson sold his
interest to Dodge & Son. After traveling one year
for that firm he established the National Manufac-
turing Company, on Sherman street, in Lancaster,
and continued for two years in that connection.
However, all these years were fully occupied by
Mr. Anderson, aside from the management of large
business interests, in the invention and perfecting
of many ingenious and useful articles, and although
he has sold many he retains control of thirteen of his
most important inventions, and has interested him-
self in the establishment of a company for their
special manufacture. Many of his earHer inventions
are now considered invaluable, notably the popular
"jump-seat" for vehicles; a bread and meat sheer
which is regarded as the very best article of its kind
now on the market; and a fuel-economizer, upon
which he has three patents and of which he has sole
control.
Mr. Anderson has been twice married first to
Miss Keziah M. Martin, a daughter of John I. Mar-
tin, a farmer of Liberty Square. Three children
were born to this marriage, but Mr. Anderson has
1380
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
been bereaved of two of them, one son dying at the
age of nineteen months, arid Miss Ada, a popular
school teacher of Lancaster county, passing out of
life July I, 1901. The surviving son is Oliver N.
Anderson, an artist and decorative paper hanger
whose ability and taste are recognized far beyond the
bounds of his native city, as he frequently receives
calls from surrounding cities. Mrs. Anderson
passed away Aug. 7, 1900, and on Oct. 31, 1901, Mr.
Anderson was united in marriage to the estimable
lady who now graces his pleasant home. The mar-
riage ceremony which united Mr. Anderson and
Mrs. Jennie M. Fairley, of Greenwich, N. Y., was
performed by Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, D. D., in
Washington, D. C. Mrs. Anderson is a daughter of
Gen. John R. McMurry, and was the widow of Hon.
James M. Fairley, and a niece of Hon. Robert Black,
ex-mayor of Brooklyn, N. Y. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Anderson are prominent in social circles, and a de-
lightful hospitality is dispensed at their beautiful
home, at No. 146 East New street, Lancaster, which
has been his residence for the past sixteen years.
Mr. Anderson has been identified with much of the
industrial development of Lancaster, and has always
been a public-spirited and liberal citizen.
WILLIAM PETER GORRECHT, one of the
most popular members of the police force of Lan-
caster, is a grandson of William Gorrecht, who lived
and died in Lancaster, and belonged to a family
which was among the early settlers of the locality.
William Gorrecht, the grandfather, was an ex-
tensive dealer in coal, at the corner of Lemon and
Water streets, and died from, cholera in 1865. He
le.ft a large estate, and the late Peter V. Gorrecht
(father of William Peter) became the successor to
the coal business, which he successfully carried on
until 1877, when he entered into partnership with
John Keller, under the firm name of John Keller &
Co., coal dealers. Peter V. Gorrecht was a member
of the common council from the Ninth ward for
three j^ears ; of the select branch of the city councils
for two terms, having been sent there by the Repub-
licans of his district ; and was coal inspector for the
city water works for ten years. He died June 20,
1901, in his sixty-fifth year. His wife, who was
Miss Elizabeth M. Metzger, a daughter of John
Metzger, is living near Lititz. Mr. Gorrecht is also
survived by nine children, as follows : I. Forney,
who is in the Elgin watch factory ; Maggie E., wife
of John Dailey, in the restaurant business in New
Haven, Conn.; Charles F., of Lancaster; Mary E.,
wife of Edw. Bowman, an employe of the city water
works ; Howard H., inspector at the city water
works ; Clarence B., a clerk ;N[;iara B. and Bessie B.,
of Lancaster : and William P.
William P. Gorrecht was born in Lancaster
March 2, 1859, and after being educated in the pub-
lic schools, attended the State Normal School at
Millersville for a time. After leaving the Normal
Mr. Gorrecht became a foreman for Keller & Co.,
coal dealers, remaining in that position seventeen
years, after which, he accepted a position with the
late John Best, at his boiler works, remaining with
him until April 2, 1900, when he was appointed a
member of the police force, a position he has filled
with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the
public. He has one son, Herbert A., an employe of
the Lancaster silk mills. Mr. Gorrecht is a member
of the First Reformed Church, in politics is a stanch
Republican, and fraternally belongs to the Golden
Eagles ; he also belongs to the Philadelphia Casualty
Company. Faithful in the discharge of his duty,
pleasant in manner, upright in his dealings, Mr.
Gorrecht has made many friends, and is highly es-
teemed throughout the city.
DAVID K. HARTMAN, one of the enterpris-
ing and progressive residents of East Lampeter
township, was born there March 23, 1866, and is of
German descent.
Henry Hartman, his father, came from Germany
when he was twenty-two years of age, and located
first in New Jersey, afterward moving to Lancaster
county, where he settled. He followed lime burn-
ing here all his life. Politically he was a Democrat,
and took quite an active part in politics, holding the
ofiice of county commissioner for some time. He
was a member of the Free Masons Lodge in Lancas-
ter count)', and in religion was a member of the Old
^lennonite Church. He married Miss Catherine
Krantz, and they were the parents of the following
chddren: Annie, wife of John Roth; Kate, wife
of Jerris Delong; Mary, wife of Levi Bixler;
Henry, deceased; David K., our subject; Christian,
who was killed on the Pennsylvania railroad ; Jacob,
who lives on the old homestead; and John, a con-
tractor and builder of Lancaster City.
David K. Hartman received his education in the
local public schools, and has always remained on
the old place, engaged at farming. He is also in-
terested in the coal business with Hartman Bros.,
and by well directed industry and strict attention
to business has succeeded in placing himself in
comfortable circumstances. He has an honorable
standing in his community, both for his evident
business ability and for his genuine worth as a
man.
On Dec. 15, 1887, Mr. Hartman wedded Miss
Lida Hoar, daughter of John Hoar, Soudersburg,
and to this union have been born eight children,
four of whom died in infancy ; Harry, Clarence and
Elsie, are at home; and William, a bright little
lad of ten years, met his death by accident in April,
1 90 1. He was playing near a keg of powder, when
it exploded, and burned him so badly that he lived
only twenty-eight hours.
MILTON L. SWARR, one of the substantial
farmers of Fast Hempfield township, is located mid-
way between East Petersburg and Landisville, and
successfully conducts his farm of eighty-seven and
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1381
one-half acres— the old homestead which has been
in the possession of the family for several- genera-
tions.
Milton L. Swarr was born March 31, 1868, on
the larm adjoining his present place, son of Mar-
tin P. and Maria (Landis) Swarr, the latter a
•daughter of Rev. John B. Landis, of East Petersburg.
Mrs. Swarr still survives, but the father passed
away March 9, 1895, in his fiftieth year. He had
been a successful farmer, and came into possession
of the old home place in 1884, remaining there until
his death. His Hfe was filled with good deeds, and
lie was identified with a number of public trusts,
being a stockholder and a director in the Farmers'
National Bank of Lancaster, and a director in the.
Lancaster and Elizabethtown Pike Co. A consist-
ent member of the Old Mennonite Church, he was
valued there for his many traits of true Christian
character. For some time he served as a member
of the board of Education in the township, and
was also its capable auditor. The four children
"born to Martin P. and Maria Swarr were : Salome
L., widow of Phares S. Aungst ; Milton L. ; Harry
L., who resides at home with his mother and sister ;
and Martin L., who lives with Milton L.
Milton L. Swarr was educated in the public
schools, and began farming on his own account in
1891, selecting a tract of land in East Lampeter
township, where he remained until the spring of
1896. He then returned to the old homestead, which
he has since operated, and he succeeded his father
also as director in the Lancaster and Elizabethtown
Turnpike Co.
The marriage of Milton L. Swarr, on Aug. 18,
1890, was to Minnie S. Cassel daughter of Jeremiah
G. Cassel, of Penn township. A son, Harry M.,
was born to them Jan. 10, 1896; a daughter, Elsie,
died at the age of four years. Both Mr. Swarr and
his estimable wife are members of the Old Mennon-
ite Church, where they are highly esteemed.
HENRY GOOS, the proprietor of the bread
and cake bakery, at No. 16 North Shippen street,
Lancaster, comes of an excellent German family,
and his name has been prominently associated with
the baking business in that city for more than half
a centurv.
Frederick Goos. the father of Henry, came to
this countrv from Germany when eighteen years
old. Landing at Philadelphia, he remained there
some time, and then came to Lancaster. For seven
years he was engaged in the Steward's department
of the State Normal School at Millersville, when
he went to learn the baking business with his brother
Lawrence, whose arrival in this country preceded
that' of Frederick, and who was then conducting
a 'successful baking trade at Lancaster. Having
finished his apprenticeship, Frederick Goos started
a bakerv on West King street, where he remained
i)ut a few months, as he purchased property on
North Oueen street, where he moved, and where
he successfully conducted his business until his
death. He accumulated considerable property,
and his estate is still in the possession of his widow.
Mr. Goos married Miss Wolf, daughter of Philip
Wolf, of Lancaster. Her mother died only a few
years ago, at the advanced age of ninety years. To
this marriage were born seven children, five of
whom are living: Henry; Miss Louisa; Charles,'
married, but living with his mother ; and Frederick
Charles, a baker, and Anna Mary, both unmarried
and living at home.
Henry Goos was born in Lancaster, and attended
the public schools until he reached the age of eleven
years, at which time he became an apprentice in
his father's bakery, where he remained until he
was twenty-two years old. At that time he worked
as a journeyman baker in other shops, continuing
this until 1892. That year he was elected boss
baker to the Lancaster County Prison, a position
he held for five years, and was re-elected for a sixth
term, but his resignation soon followed. He then
took charge of a bakery business in Baltimore, and
also engaged in the insurance business but later re-
turned to Lancaster and took possession of the bak-
ery on North Shippen street, where he is found en-
gaged in a very good business at this time.
On Feb., 6, 1888, Mr. Goos was married to Susan
Rhoads, daughter of Abraham Rhoads, a farmer of
Eden township. Mr. and Mrs. Goos, with no chil-
dren of their own, have opened their hearts and home
to young relatives, upon whom they have bestowed
the care of parents.
Mr. Goos is of an inventive turn of mind, and
has invented a number of useful articles. The most
notable one, and one that he has patented, was the
Improved Game. of Checkers, the first innovation on
the old game of checkers that had been made for
hundreds of years, making it possible to. play what
is known as Naval, Military or Political checkers.
This game has had quite a sale, and is on the market
to-day. Mr. Goos is a member of the Order of
Mystic Chain, the Golden Eagle and the Daughters
of Naomi, and his circle of friends and acquaintances
is extensive.
WILLIAM C. SAPP, one of the leading mer-
chants of Lancaster, engaged in the wholesale and
retail furniture business at Nos. 41 and 43 South
Queen street, is not only prominent in the furniture
trade, but has added much to the material growth
of Lancaster in the remodeling and erection of its
residences. Mr. Sapp's ancestors came to America
from Germany. His father, the late Jacob Sapp,
was a contracting house carpenter, and was for years
in the service of the Pennsylvania Railway Com-
pany. His mother was Miss Anna Sides, daughter
of the late Jacob Sides, a farmer of Strasburg. Nine
children were born to their union of whom three
are living- William C, our subject; Anna F.,
widow of L. R. Rote; and Mabel, wife of Charles
Myers, an upholsterer, of Washington, D. C.
1882
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
William C. Sapp was born on the old homestead
in Strasburg, Feb. i6, 1858, and was educated in
the public schools of Lancaster. Leaving school he
became apprenticed to house carpentering, with his
father, working at that trade for five years, after
which he became a traveling salesman for a New
York house, continuing in that line until 1885, when
he embarked in the furniture trade. Opening an
establishment at the corner of South Queen and
Vine streets, he remained there one year, at the end
of which time the increase of trade demanded more
room, and we next find him in the building now oc-
cupied by Mr. Watson, the undertaker. Three years
in that location and another place of business became
a necessity to meet the requirements of the trade;
hence his removal to his present commodious quar-
ters at Nos. 41 and 43 South Queen street. Three
delivery wagons are kept busy, at times to deliver
the goods to Mr. Sapp's many patrons. Anything
desired by customers which cannot be found in the
immense and varied stock Mr. Sapp manufactures
to order. Mr. Sapp remodeled the fine property
at the corner of VVest Chestnut and Mary streets,
which is now his home, as well as the equally fine
mansion adjoining which he also owns; and he
erected twelve modern houses on South Queen,
South Prince and South Beaver streets.
Mr. Sapp married Miss Amelia Peusch, daugh-
ter of the late Frederick Peusch, a grocer of Lan-
caster. No children have been born to this union.
A member of the Elks, the Artisans, and the Trin-
ity Lutheran Church, Mr. Sapp is welcomed in
social and church circles; and in business circles
he is regarded as among the foremost merchants
of his age in Lancaster. Always at his post, prompt
in all his dealings, and full of enterprise and pluck,
he has won the success that has attended him be-
cause he deserved it.
JOSEPH E. HERTGEN, proprietor of the Lan-
caster Lithographing and Box Company, with works
covering a quarter of the block, is one of the bright
and progressive young men of the city.
B. Hertgen, his father, was born in Alsace-Lor-
raine, and came to this country in early manhood.
His wife, Mary Klingler, bore him four children,
all born in this country, and all of them dead except
Joseph E. The elder Hertgen, who was a stationary
engineer, crossed the ocean half a dozen times. He
died in July. 1898. Mrs. Hertgen makes her home
with her only surviving child, who has a pleasant
residence on East Orange street in this city.
Joseph E. Hertgen was born in Boston, May 14,
1868, and in 1S71, accompanied his father and
mother to Europe, where he attended school in
Alsace for three years. At the expiration of that
time the family returned to this country. In 1879
the family made a second voyage to Europe, young
Hertgen again attending school in Alsace, this time
for a period of two years. His father spent some
part of these two years in the United States,
then bringing his family back to Boston. There
Joseph E. completed his school days and entered a
store as a cash boy, where he worked for about nine
months, and then secured a situation in a rope fact-
ory where his father was an engineer. Leaving
this place he went to New York City, and studied
the art of lithographing, beginning at this business
while still fourteen, and this has been his business to
the present time. In 1892 he came to Lancaster
and founded the Lancaster Lithographing Company,
establishing it in the Foltz Building on East Chest-
nut street. In this location he continued for five
years, when his increasing business compelled him
to seek more commodious quarters, which he found
in the Long & Davidson Building on the same street.
Two years in this location found him still needing
room, and he secured the spacious quarters where
he is found to-day, and where he has added to the
lithographic business the manufacture of paper
boxes. In the matter of-^lithographing, Mr. Hert-
gen's work stands very high, and among his patrons
are found men who are famous in mercantile circles
in New York, Chicago and other large cities.
In 1889 Mr. Hertgen was married to Miss Phil-
opena Blum, daughter of Philip Blum, a contract-
ing house carpenter of Jersey City Heights. To
this union were born two children, Florence M.
and Joseph J. Mr. Hertgen is a .member of St.
Anthony's Catholic Church. He seeks no political
office, belongs to no secret organizations, but devotes
all his time to his family and his business. His
success in life is evidence in itself that he has not
only given steady, but intelligent, attention to his
work in hand.
BYRAM DOUTRICH, a stonemason and
farmer of Paradise township, residing on his place
at Vintage, was born in Berks county. Pa., son of
David and Ellen (Hickman) Doutrich, both also
natives of Berks county. The Hickmans were
among the wealthiest residents of Berks county, and
were of German origin, as were also the Doutrich
family. They have all been farmers, and have been
residents of America for over a hundred years.
Jacob Doutrich, the great-great-grandfather of
Byram, was the founder of the family in Lancaster
county. John Doutrich was his son. Isaac Dout-
rich, son of John, and grandfather of Byram, was
a prosperous farmer of Berks county, where he stood
high as a citizen and a man. He owned three good
farms. He married a Haines.
David Doutrich, father of Byram, was an ex-
tensive farmer of Berks county, but he met with
reverses, and died in very moderate circumstances.
His name stands high as that of a leading citizen
of Berks county and a representative Democr^it.
Shortly before his death he removed into Lancaster
county, where he died in 1859, in the sixty-ninth
year of his age. His widow passed away in 1878^
at the age of sixty-six. They were the parents o|
a numerous family, four of whom died in childhood :
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1383
David is a resident of Limeville ; Israel lives in the
same place; Ephraim, an engineer,' is deceased;
Elizabeth married Amos Goodland, of Berks county,
and is deceased; Mary married John Myers, of
Berks county, and is deceased; Jefferson is a resi-
dent of Salisbury township; Catherine is the wife
of Samuel Oberly, of Harristown, Lancaster coun-
ty ; Jacob is a resident of Scotland ; Edward is over-
seer of the Southern Home for Confederate Veter-
ans, at Richmond, Va. ; Ellen, the widow of Mr.
Moore, is a resident of Reading Pa. ; Byram is men-
tioned below.
Byram Doutrich was born Sept. 27, 1848,
and was reared to a farm life, acquiring his educa-
tion in the public school. Remaining at home until
the age of twenty-three, he learned the milling trade.
This not proving a pleasant work, Mr. Doutrich
came back to the farm, where he later learned the
brick and stone mason trade, which he followed
in connection with farming. In 1859 he came to
this county, where he has made his home to the
present time. Mr. Doutrich also does work as a
well digger, and as a bridge builder has been largely
employed by the county as well as the Pennsyl-
vania Railway Co. He has also worked as a carpen-
ter and a blacksmith, and for three years was a
deputy sheriff under Sheriff Myers. He is ready
a.nd versatile, and keeps abreast with modern ideas.
Mr. Doutrich was married, in 1868, to Miss
Catherine, daughter of Christian Hess, of East Earl
tovraship. Of their numerous family four died in
childhood ; Martin is a farmer in Paradise town-
ship ; Jacob is a resident of Lancaster ; Harry died
in the spring of 1901 ; Emma is the wife of Harry
Hacker, of Lititz ; Frank is a brakeman on the Penn-
sylvania railroad; Isaac is a farmer of Paradise
township ; Samuel is a fireman on the Pennsylvania
railroad : Adam and Lydia are at home. The Dout-
richs are connected with the Old Mennonite Church,
and the among the highly esteemed residents of the
county.
JOHN H. EPLER, a well-known and repre-
sentative citizen of Elizabethtown, belongs to an
old and honored family of Lancaster and Dauphin
counties.
Mr. Epler was born Oct. 13, 1835, in Dauphin
county, Pa., son of David M. and Catherine (Roth-
rock) Epler, the former of whom was a native of
Lancaster county, but in 1814 made his home in
Dauphin county, where the remainder of his life
was spent. David M. Epler was well known through
his adopted county, and was identified with much
of its public life. He was zealous in the cause of
education and was one of the most earnest advo-
cates of the free school system, serving as president
of the board of education when that great system
went into ooeration. Mr. Epler held many of the
local offices and always lived an upright life, which
enabled him to command the respect of his com-
munity. His birth occurred early in the century,
and after a useful life of eighty-one years he passed
away in 1892. His wife, born in 181 5, preceded
him to the grave in 1883. In 1866 he retired from
farming activity, but was intelligently interested
in public, local and neighborhood affairs until his
death.
The family born to David M. Epler and wife
consisted of twelve children, namely: John H. ;
Eliza Ann, who died at the age of twenty-one years ;
Elizabeth, who married Moses Good; Margaret,
who died in infancy; Mary, who married Abraham
W. Nissley, of West Donegal township; Barbara,
who married Joseph Peck, of Elizabethtown ; Jacob
R., who is a farmer and politician of Dauphin coun-
ty ; David M. and Catherine, who died young ; Ab-
raham, who was killed by accident, in infancy;
Lydia, who married Daniel C. Sweigart, a con-
tractor and builder of Elizabethtown; and Emma,
who married Joseph H. Goss, a tobacco farmer re-
siding in Elizabethtown.
The paternal grandparents of John H. Epler
were John and Barbara (Moyer) Epler, the former
of whom was born in Dauphin county, just over the
Lancaster line, in 1774, but resided in Lancaster
county until a few years after his marriage, when
he returned to his old homestead in Dauphin coun-
ty. Mrs. Barbara (Moyer) Epler was a daughter
of Isaac Moyer, who was an artilleryman in the
Revolutionary army. The Moyer family belonged
in early days to Berks county, but later the family
was founded by two brothers in Dauphin county,
this branch becoming numerous and prominent.
The maternal grandfather of John H. Epler was
Henry Rothrock, of Lancaster county, who married
a Weaver; both died in Dauphin county. Henry
Rothrock was a son of Peter Rothrock, who lies
buried south of Elizabethtown.
John H. Epler attended the district schools, and
was given as fair an education as the locality af-
forded. He grew to manhood on the farm, and
until he was lifty-two years of age followed agri-
cultural pursuits. Prior to locating in Elizabeth-
town, Mr. Epler served his township in many ways,
his peculiar fitness making him eligible for all the
local offices, in which he efficiently and reliably
served for a number of years. From 1869 to 1888
he was justice of the peace, resigning when he be-
came a resident of Elizabethtown, and two years
had scarcely elapsed when he was elected to the
same office for five years, and in 1900 he was ap-
pointed. He has continued to discharge his duties
with dignity and justice. While living on the farm
he was interested in all agricultural enterprises and
was an active member of the Grange. In politics
Mr. Epler has been a lifelong Republican, casting
his first vote for Fremont. With his family he be-
longs to and generously supports the Lutheran
Church.
On Jan. 5, i860, in Elizabethtown, John H.
Elper was married to Miss Anna Kaylor, and they
became the parents of the following named chil-
1384
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
dren : David M., a farmer on the old Epler home-
stead in Dauphin county which came into the family
in 1767; J. Frank, traveling auditor for the Allen-
town & Lehigh Valley Railroad; Elmer E., de-
ceased ; Kate A., wife of Eli M. Kinzey, of Dauphin
county; William H., a carpenter, living at home;
and Emma L., wife of Joseph T. Carter, of Lan-
caster.
: Mrs. Epler belongs to well-known families of
Dauphin county. Her father, Joshua Kaylor, was
long a skilled carpenter in Dauphin county, and her
mother, Barbara (Welker) Kaylor, was born and
reared in the same county.
•• CHARLES V. WACKER, proprietor of the
Eagle Brewery, and a substantial business man of
the city of Lancaster, was born there Jan. 27, 1857,
son of Joseph and Mary Wacker. He is of German
ancestry on both paternal and maternal sides, and
his father was born in Germany, thence coming to
the United States and settling in Lancaster, where
hfe engaged in the brewing business until his retire-
ment. He and his wife still make their home in
Lancaster.
Charles V. Wacker received his education in the
public schools of his native city, receiving a good
practical training. He has been a brewer through-
out his active business life, and by his thorough
familiarity with all the details of his, business, strict
attention to the demands of the trade and honorable
methods has made a success of his chosen line. His
standing in the commercial circles of Lancaster is
unquestioned.
Mr. Wacker was married in Lancaster, Nov.
26. i88;H, to Miss Mary Johnson, daughter of Peter
and Kate Johnson, and they have had three chil-
dren, Mary, Cecilia, .and Loretta. The family at-
tend St. Mary's Catholic Church, and Mr. Wacker
is a member of St. Michael's Society and the Leo
XIII Society. He is liberal in his political views,
attaching himself to no party.
. AMOS E. GARBER, a prominent and prosper-
ous farmer of West Donegal township, was born
Sept. 22. 1856, on the farm where his industrious
and useful life has passed, son of John S. and Susan
Garber.
Mr. Garber was married Oct. 16, 1890, at the
home of the bride, in Peiin township, to Lizzie P.
Reist, and to them have come the following chil-
dren: Florence R., Mary R., Jacob R., Susie R.
and Paul R. Mrs. Lizzie P. (Reist) Garber was
born in Penn township, in 1868, daughter of Jacob
B. and Mary (Peifer) Reist. Her parents were both
natives of Lancaster county and her father, who
was born in 1844, is a retired farmer in Penn town-
ship. Her mother was born in 1846. Both are
members of the Mennonite Church. They have had
the following children: Amelia P. married David
Buckwalder, a farmer in Penn township ; Lizzie P.
is noted above as the wife of Amos E. Garber;
Amos P. died young; Mary P. married Abraham
Mumma, a farmer in East Donegal township;
Amanda P. married Hiram Witmer, a farmer in
Penn township; Christian P. died young; Adeline
P. married John Hershey, a farmer in Penn town-
ship ; Emma P. married Monroe Metzler, a farmer
in Penn township ; Susan P. and Minnie P. are at
home with their parents.
Mrs. Lizzie P. Garber's paternal grandparents
were John and Mary (Brubaker) Reist, both Lan-
caster county people, as were also her maternal
grandparents. Christian and Elizabeth (Erb)
Peifer.
Amos E. Garber has spent his life on his pres-
ent place, and is widely known as a hard-working
and upright man, of fine character and inflexible
honesty. Both himself and wife are members of
the Mennonite Church, and in his political relations
he is a Republican.
ROBERT A.^ MORRISON. Among the lead-
ing and representative farmers of Lancaster county
Robert A. Morrison, of Little Britain township,
takes a leading position. Mr. Morrison was born
in Lancaster county, in Colerain township, Dec.
7, 1838. He was a son of Samuel and Abigail (Gor-
don) Morrison, of Scotch-Irish origin, both natives
of Colerain township.
Grandfather -Samuel Morrison was a son of Ga-
briel Morrison, who came from Ireland in i750>
and located in Lancaster county. Pa., buying land
in Colerain township. Samuel Morrison (i) was
the father of these children: Alexander G., de-
ceased, who was a minister in the Presbyterian
Church ; Robert E., who was a clergyman of the
Methodist Church, deceased ; Samuel ; James G.,
deceased ; Gabriel S., deceased ; Annie, the only
daughter, deceased ; and Dr. John A., a physician,
living in Chester county ; he is the only member
of this family yet surviving, and has reached the
age of eighty-seven years.
Samuel Morrison (2) was born Dec. 9, 1804,
and died in 1888. About 1830 he married Abigail
Gordon, who died in 1852, leaving a family of six
children: Wilham G., died in 1867; Alexander,
a clergyman of the Presbyterian Church, died in
1896 : John H., of Chester county ; Robert A. ; and
Frank and Morgan J., both deceased.
Robert A. Morrison began his life on a farm and
his interest has always centered in agricultural pur-
suits. His present farm is one of the most valua-
ble in this part of Lancaster county, vvhere he has
made excellent improvements, has a comfortable
dwelling and one of the most commodious barns in
the township. Mr. Morrison is known to be an ex-
cellent farmer and his methods are progressive and
successful, his long attention to this line making
him an authority on the usual subjects with which
a successful farmer must be thoroughly acquainted.
On Oct. 8, 1866, Robert A. Morrison was mar-
ried to Miss Isabella W. Black, of Little Britain
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1385
township, born in 1848, a daughter of James and
Margaret (Clark) Blaci<. The five children born
to this union were: Harry E., who married Ada
Patterson, of this township ; Annie ; Ruth A. ; Will-
iam, who married Catherine Hayes, of Little Britain,
where they live : and Minnie, who is at home. In
politics Mr. Morrison is a Republican, and Is one
■of the leading members of the Union Presbyterian
Church, of Colerain township, having long been one
•of its elders. For the last fourteen years he has
been school director in this township and has done
much for the advancement of education in this lo-
■cality. As a citizen, neighbor, husband and father,
Robert A. Morrison, is a worthy representative of
this honored L.ancaster county family.
REV. JOHN KOFILER (deceased) was born
May 27, 1820, in Thompsontown, Juniata Co., Pa.,
and died at his home in New Holland, Lancaster
Co., Pa., April 11, 1878. He was buried in the cem-
etery attached to the Lutheran Church in New Hol-
land.
The parents of Rev. John Kohler were Andrew
and Anna M. (Brennisholtz) Kohler, of Adams
<:ounty, Pa., the former of whom was a miller
by occupation. His death occurred in New
Eerlin, LTnion Co., Pa. The children born to An-
drew Kohler and his wife were as follows : Jacob,
who died young; Rev. John; Andrew, a miller and
later a merchant in Akron, Ohio ; William, a farmer
in Jtmiata county ; Frederick, a merchant in Juniata
county : Margaret, Mrs. Fisher, a widow, residing
in New Berlin (her husband was a builder and con-
tractor) ; Simon, a farmer of New Berlin, Pa. ;
Augustus, who died when young, out West ; Thomas
who died at the age of sixteen; and Ann M., who
died young. All of the family have passed away
with the exception of Mrs. Fisher.
For many years Rev. John Kohler was a prom-
ment man in Pennsylvania, occupying positions of
responsibility in the church of his belief and in her
educational institutions. His early rearing was on
a farm, but at the age of sixteen years, by close ap-
plication, he had prepared himself for entrance to
Gettysburg College, and he studied faithfully until
ordained a minister. His first location was in Will-
iamsport. Pa., and in 185 1 he was transferred to
New Holland, where he remained in the faithful
discharge of his spiritual duties for fourteen years.
Mr. Kohler was then placed in charge of the work
at Trappe, Montgomery county, where he preached,
the Word for ten years, after which he accepted
a call to Stroudsburg, in Monroe county. This was
an important charge, and there he remained nine
busy years, leaving it only when called to be the
principal of Muhlenberg College, at Allentown.
Dr. Kohler continued his educational work for two
years, and from there went to Mechanicsburg,
where the last eight years of his ministry were
passed. Few men have more fully lived up to the
ideal Christian life than did Dr. Kohler, and great
were the earthly compensations .to his faithfulness.
He is remembered with deep affection and the in-
fluence of his life is still felt among the people
for whom he labored so long.
On Feb. 6, 1846, in Mifflintown, Juniata Co.,
Pa., Rev. Mr. Kohler married Louisa A. Baum, the
ceremony being performed by Rev. S. R. Boyer.
To this union were born the following named chil-
dren ; . Miss Emma J., residing at home ; Rev.
Charles, a clergyman of the Lutheran . Church, at
Cleveland, (5hio, married to Elizabeth Trucken-
miller; Dr. John B., a physician in New Holland,
married to Ella Storb ; Martin Luther, an attorney
in Philadelphia, married to Josephine Royer; Anna
M., at home ; Rev. Frederick, financial secretary of
the Chicago Theological Lutheran Seminary, who
married Victoria Brown and resides in Chicago;
George, an optician, residing at home; Louisa E.,
who married Robert Brown, a furniture dealer and
undertaker, and resides in Stroudsburg; and Mary,
married to William M. Mearig, of Upper Leacock
township.
Mrs. Kohler was born Aug. 7, 1820, in New Ber-
lin, Union Co., Pa., daughter of Samuel and Eliza-
beth (Snyder) Baum, of Bucks county. Mr. Baum
was a gunsmith by trade. He was born in Bucks
county in 1769, and died Oct. 2, 1842. His wife
died Sept. 25, 1839. They were good and worthy
people, members of the Lutheran Church. Their
family consisted of children as follows : Samuel,
who died in 1879, aged eighty years; Elizabeth,
Mrs. George Eogar, who died Oct. 4, 1890; Bar-
bara, deceased,. Jan. 18, 1892, aged ninety years,
who married James Cummings ; Mary A., who
died Feb. 17, 1868, wife of Rev. William German;
Margaret, Mrs. German, who died Jan. 13, 1894;
Charles, who died May 22, 1852, aged forty-five
years; Jacob, who died in 1864, aged fifty-four
years ; Henry, deceased ; Rachel, who died June 18,
1886, aged eighty-one years, married to Rev. S. R.
Beyer ; John E., who died June 22, 1885, aged sixty-
eight years ; Louisa A., married to Rev. John Koh-
ler; and Miss Sarah J., who lives in Stroudsburg
at the age of seventy-nine years, the yoimgest of
a family noted for longevity.
The paternal grandparents were Carl and Bar-
bara (Ewens) Baum, the former of whom was born
in Germany and the latter in Scotland, this combina-
tion of two hardy races probably having had much
to do with the vigor of their descendants. The ma-
ternal grandparents of Mrs. Kohler were Jacob
and Margaret (Daws) Snyder, the former a native
of Germany, and the latter of Philadelphia.
This family is a prominent one in its home
county and its members have worthily represented
its honorable name wherever they have located.
A. L. STIVELY, a prominent and popular mer-
chant of Collins, Colerain township, Lancaster coun-
ty, was born in that township, March 5, 1844, son
of Frederick and Anna (Barr) Stively.
1886
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Frederick Stively was born in Strasburg town-
ship, this county, Jan. 9, 1806, and his wife was
born the same year in Eden township, daughter of
Jacob and Esther Barr. Mr. Stively was reared in
Strasburg township and was a .young man when his
parents moved to the West. He remained in Lan-
caster county, however, and was the only representa-
tive of his family left in Pennsylvania. For a life
career he settled upon the cooper's trade, and after
his marriage lived for a time in Strasburg, but later
moved to East Drumore township, where he fol-
lowed farming, making his home there some five
years, and then removing to a farm in Colerain town-
ship, where he lived until 1870. In 1865 he bought
a farm in Eden and Strasburg townships, on which
he made his home from 1870 until his death, in
June, i8gi. In 1869 he erected buildings there, the
second set of buildings on the place. Though
Frederick Stively started in life a poor young man,
by the exercise of thrift and industry, coupled with
wise management and integrity, he became wealthy,
and died possessed of a large estate. In i860 he
purchased a farm of too acres in Providence town-
ship, upon which were located immense ore mines
which are known to-day as the Stively ore banks.
This property he retained until 1864, when he sold
at an advance of $5,000. Mrs. Stively passed to her
rest in September, 1897. Both were members of
the Mennonite Church, and were regarded as good
and consistent Christian people. In politics he was
a staunch Republican. To Frederick and Anna
Stively were born nine children, of whom five are
still living, (i) Christianna and (2) Martha died
young. (3) Fannie, born in Strasburg township
in 1833, is now the widow of John M. Shank, and
makes her home in Providence township with her
three children, Anna, Elizjabeth and John S. (4)
Jacob, born in 1835, married Sallie Stafford, and
located in Providence township, where he followed
farming until his death in 1865. His son Jacob
is a merchant in Little Britain, is married and has
a family. (5) Fred, born in East Drumore town-
ship, is now a successful farmer of Strasburg town-
ship, (o"* Mary, born in 1840, is the widow of
David Miller, and makes her home in Harrisburg
with her only daughter. (7) A. L. is next in the
family. (8) Elizabeth born in October, 1846, mar-
ried Martin Mower, and died in Philadelphia, where
Mr. Mower and his son Frederick still reside. (9)
John M., born in Colera:in township in 1850, married
for his first wife Anna Brown, of Colerain town-
ship, by whom he had one daughter, Alice, now the
wife of George Bracken, of West Grove. John
Stively married Ella Wells, of Chester county, for
his second wife, and they reside on his farm; to
them have come five children, Fannie, Mary, Edna,
John and Charles.
A. L. Stively was educated in the public and
select schools of this county. When a young man
he engaged in farming, which he followed for a
number of vears on the old homestead in Colerain
township until 188S, in which year he purchased the
general store of U. M. Collins in the village of
Collins, where he has carried on general merchandis-
ing up to the present time with marked success. He
owns considerable real estate in the village, and is
a prosperous and successful business man.
Mr. Stively was married in April, 1898, to Miss
Emma F. Herr, of Quarryville, daughter of Martin
and Maria (Martin) Herr, who are still living in
Quarryville, at the advanced ages of eighty-nine
and eighty-three years, respectively. Mrs. Stively
was born in Paradise township in 1856, was edu-
cated in the home schools and at the Millersville
State Normal, and for sixteen years taught in the
public schools of Lancaster county; for two years
she was a clerk for her brother in his store at Bloom-
field, Iowa, and for two years was with another
brother in Missouri, returning to Lancaster county
in the .spring of 1897, where she was married the
following year. Mr. and Mrs. Stively have one
daughter Mary H., born Oct. 25, 1900.
Politically Mr. Stively is a Prohibitionist. He
has been postmaster at Collins for fourteen years.
Both himself and his wife belong to the Methodist
Church, of which he has been a member for twenty
years, and in the work of which they take an active
part. He held the position of steward and trustee
for several years, and is an officer of the church
at the present time.
Mr. Stively is a man of more than the ordinary
intelligence. Personally he is a genial and warm-
hearted companion and an interesting conversation-
alist; he is loyal to his friends, and is beloved by
many, who know and appreciate his numerous good
qualities.
MARTIN GREIDER, commissioner of Lan-
caster county, and a member of the firm of M. L.
Greider & Company, dealers in all kinds of agricul-
tural implements, tobacconists and cigar manufact-
urers, of Mt. Joy, Pa., was born in Rapho township,
Feb. 26, 1842, a son of Christian and Margaret
(Lindemuth) Greider. the former of West Hemp-
field and the latter of Rapho township, both of them
passing out of life in the latter place.
Christian Greider was a well-known farmer and
lived to the age of eighty-one, dying in 1877; the
mother survived until 1881, her years reaching
seventy-two. Both parents were laid away in the
family burying-ground on their own farm in Rapho
township. They were consistent members of the
Mennonite and Lutheran Qiurches, respectively.
Tl'eir children numbered two: Jacob, who died
in 1852; and Martin, of this biography. The pa-
ternal grandfather was Martin Greider, a prominent
farmer of West Hempfield township, who married
a Miss Weldy; and the maternal grandfather was
Jacob Lindemuth, who married a Miss Hick; both
died in Rapho township.
Martin L. Greider was reared on the farm and
attended the district schools. When he reached the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1387
age of twenty he rented his father's farm and en-
gaged in business for himself, successfully operat-
ing it until 1868, at which time he inherited the
property and continued his residence upon it until
the spring of 1893. He then retired from active agri-
cultural labor, removed to Mt. Joy and opened up
his present extensive business. In 1899 he was elect-
ed to the office of county commissioner on the Re-
publican ticket, and since then has devoted much of
his time and energy to county business.
On May 5, 1863, Mr. Greider was married in
Lancaster county to Mary A. Shirk and the chil-
dren born to this union were: John, who died
young ; Elmira, who died young ; Samuel, who lives
on the old farm in Rapho township ; Christian, who
is a bookkeeper in the Harrisburg Boiler Manufac-
turing Company, of Harrisburg; and Lillian, who
married Jonas N. Hostetter, who is associated in
business with Mr. Greider.
Both in commercial and social circles in Mt. Joy,
Mr. Greider holds a prominent position and has
long been regarded as a political factor in that
locality. The family is one of the most respected
in the neighborhood, and is well known through its
connections all over Lancaster county.
LEVI REINHART, now a prominent re-
tired farmer of Colerain township, Lancaster coun-
ty, was born in Pequea township, in February, 1840,
his parents being Michael and Fannie (Martin)
Reinhart, both of whom were born in Lancaster
county.
Michael Reinhart was a son of Michael (Sr.) and
Martha Reinhart, both of whom were born in this
county though of German parentage. They settled
in Pequea township, where Michael Reinhart with
his three brothers attained manhood; they were
Daniel, John and Harry. They all lived and died
in Lancaster county.
Michael Reinhart lived in Pequea township for
some vears, when he moved into Lampeter town-
ship, where he lived until 1867. That year he re-
moved to Colerain township, where he was engaged
in farming until 1870. Then he went West, and
located near Sterling, 111., where he was a farmer
until shortly before his death in 1892. His widow
has recently passed to her reward. They had a fam-
ily of four sons and three daughters, and six of
their children accompanied them in their westward
movement, (s) Elizabeth married Jacob Kendig,
and has her home in Kansas. (2) Martha married
Christian Shaw, of Lancaster county, and though
they went to Illinois with her parents, they came
back to this countv, and have a home in Colerain
township. (3) Fannie accompanied her parents to
the West, where she married a Mr. Moyer, arid made
her home in Sterling. (4) Daniel married Barbara
Myers, cf Strasburg township ; they made their home
in Sterling, Illinois, where he died in 1880, leaving
a widow and two children. (5) John married a
Miss Mover in Illinois, where they located on a
farm, and have two daughters. (6) Amos died
when a boy in Lancaster county. (7) Levi.
Levi Reinhart was reared in Lancaster county,
where he was given a district school education in
Pequea and West Lampeter townships. Until the
breaking out of the Civil war he worked as a farm
hand. His enlistment as a member of Co. G, I22d
P. V. I., under command of Capt. J. N. Nefif, oc-
curred in 1862. The regiment was attached to the
Army of the Potomac, and served under Gen. Mc-
Clellan, forming part of the reserve at the second
battle of Bull Run, where it was for the first time
under fire. After several heavy skirmishes the reg-
iment took part in the battle of Centerville, and of
Fairfax Court House. At Fredericksburg it was in
the thick of the fight, and again at Chancellorsville,
where Gen. Whipple, the brigade commander, was
killed. Company G, in which Mr. Reinhart was
enrolled was detailed as a guard of honor to escort
the remains of Gen. Whipple back to Washington,
where military honors were paid the heroic dead.
About this .time the term of Mr. Reinhart's enlist-
ment expired, and in May, 1863,. he returned to
Lancaster county.
In Lancaster countv Mr. Reinhart resumed his
labors as a farmer, and was presently married to
Sarah A., the daughter of Daniel and Catherine
Fulton. Daniel Fulton was for many years a jus-
tice of the peace, and a surveyor of Pequea town-
ship, where he lived and died. There Mrs. Rein-
hart was born in 1844, and was reared to young
womanhood.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Reinhart
lived for a time in Providence township, where he
followed farming, and then moved into Colerain
township, where he purchased the Joseph Robin-
son farm in 1885, after having owned and operated
the Jacob Miller place for some fifteen years. The
Robinson farm contains 141 acres, and was pro-
vided with a large brick house, frame barn, and
other farm buildings in fine condition. A few years
later he erected a large addition to the house, put
up a wind mill pump, and made many other sub-
stantial improvements.
Mrs. Reinhart died in 1898. She was a mem-
ber of the Colerain Baptist Church, and is remem-
bered in loving hearts as a good Christian woman,
greatly excelling in those things that make a woman
well beloved by all who know her. She bore her
husband eleven children, (i) Benjamin F. Reinhart,
the oldest child of the family, was born in Pequegi
township, Nov. 8, 1866, where he was reared and
married, Maggie Crossin, of Chester county, be-
coming his wife. They reside in Chester county,
where he holds a position as foreman of a repair
gang on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. They
have one daughter, Mildred S. (2) Daniel F., born
Nov. 8, 1868, is single and lives at home. (3)
Laura K., born in Providence township, Feb. 18,
1870, married William B. Ferguson, of Colerain
township, and is the mother of one son, Uhler.
1388
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
(4) Michael, born Sept. 20, 1871, married Laura
Benuard, of Colerain township, and has his home
on a part of his father's old homestead; they have
one son, Floyd. (5) Fannie E., born in January,
1873, married Charles S. Thompson, of Bart town-
ship, and is the mother of two children, Rufus N.
and Levi C. (6) William M., born in December,
1874, married Hannah Hastings, and resides in
Little Britain township. (7) Harry E., born in
March, 1876, is a groceryman in Philadelphia. (8)
Charles E., born in April, 1879, is unmarried. (9)
Georgie A. and (xo) Mary, twins, were born, in
August, 1881. Mary died in infancy and Georgie,
now the only daughter at home, received a good
education in the home school and in the Union
High School. Since the death of her mother, she
has had charge of the home, where she has given
her father every care and attention that his declin-
ing years demand. She is a young woman of much
character and culture, and enjoys the respect and
esteem of the comnutnitv to a marked degree. (11)
Miller, born Sept. 5, 1883.
In politics Mr. Reinhart has always been identi-
fied with the Republican party, and has held the
office of supervisor one term, and has also been
school director. He is a charter member of the
Birely Post, No. 511, G. A. R., of Quarry ville,
where he has held various official positions.
S. T. DAVIS, M. D., of Lancaster City, and
one of the gallant ex-soldiers of the war of the Re-
bellion, is a native of Huntingdon county. Pa., born
in 1838. He is the eldest of six children of Henry
Davis, a blacksmith and justice of the peace, all of
whom are still living.
Dr. Davis worked for four years in his father's
shop, and studied at odd hours to acquire an educa-
tion. Every Sunday for a long tirrie he walked five
miles to the office of Dr. H. Orlady, of Petersburg,
to recite, and thus prepared for his future success
and still later he took a course at Modres ville Acad-
emy in Huntingdon county. In the summer of 1858
he was the first pupil from Huntingdon county to
attend the Millersville State Normal School, and
in the fall of the same year he returned to Hunting-
don county and taught school. The following year
he was teaching in Lancaster county, and had just
nicely settled down to his work, when the war broke
out. He enlisted in Co. H, 15th P. V, I.^ and was
in the service three months. He was promoted to
the rank of ordnance sergeant of the regiment, and
was discharged at Carlisle, but then re-enlisted, this
time for three years, m Co. C, 77th P. V. I., as sec-
ond lieutenant, and later was appointed and com-
missioned adjutant of the regiment. In the early
part of 1862 he was detached as acting assistant
adjutant general on the staff of Brigadier General
E. N. Kirk. When the three years time was out,
he was commissioned captain of Co. G, 77th Penn-
sylvania Volunteers. This company he himself re-
cruited and it consisted of fifteen members of the
old Co. G, and the remainder of new men, all of
Welsh descent. The Doctor is next found serving
as acting assistant-general with the rank of captain,
on the staff of Gen. William Grose. While thus
serving he was slightly wounded at Shiloh and
Chickamauga, and very seriously wounded at the
engagement of Resaca, Ga., and for five days lay
on the field. After being at the hospital for three
months at Chattanooga, he, in 1864, was honorably
discharged from the service on account of wounds
received in action, and after taking part in thirteen
battles.
During his military career he had splendid op-
portunities for obtaining a close familiarity with sur-
gery. In 1864-65 he took a course of lectures at
Jefferson Medical College, and in the summer of
1865 he graduated from Long Island College Hos-
pital. He returned to Millersville, where he was
associated with IDr. S. B. Hartman for a year, and
then was in practice alone for nine years. In 1874
he moved to Lancaster, and at the present is located
at No. 132 North I'rince street. The Doctor is a
member and ex-president of the City Pathological
Association, and of the county society. In addition
he is serving his sixth term as president of the
State Board of Health. The Doctor has been a
member of this board since July, 1889, having been
appointed for six years. He was one of the or-
iginal members of the American Surgical Associa-
tion, and is a member of the American Medical
Association. He has performed many difficult
operations on the human body, and makes a spe-
cialty of surgery and gynecology.
In local politics the Doctor has taken consider-
able interest and has served in the city councils for
five years, filling the office of president of the com-
mon councils at one time. In the fall of 1885 he was
elected to the State Legislature, and in 1887 was
re-elected by the largest Republican majority ever
IDolled in the city. While in the Legislature the
Doctor was very active in medical legislation per-
taining to matters of hygiene and sanitary affairs.
He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic,
of the Union Veteran Legion and of . the Loyal
Legion. He has donated his sword and war relics
for the use of the museum connected with the order,
which will shortly be built. He is a 32d degree
Mason and has served as thrice potent Grand Mas-
ter in the Lodge of Perfection of that order.
Dn Davis has delivered many addresses at "San-
itary Conventions and Medical Societies, and in other
ways has been prominent in movements of this char-
acter. He usually takes a few weeks every year for
the purpose of hunting, and has been all over the
United States and Canada ; at his residence can be
seen numerous heads of deer and other mementos of
camp life. He is al?o an amateur photographer,
and his house is filled with pictures of people and
places. He has a very large practice in Lancaster,
and is a very biisv man, of pleasant, social charac-
teristics, who makes a most entertaining compan-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1889
ion, and he is known as a physician and soldier all
over the United States. The Doctor is serving his
second term as a member of the Pension Board.
He is president of the Greenwood Cemetery Asso-
ciation, having been one of its organizei'S.
Dr. S. T. Davis married in Millersville, in 1866,
Miss Elizabeth Fenstermacher, a daughter of Chris-
tian and Catherine Fenstermacher. There have been
no cliildren born to this union, but the Doctor
and wife have an adopted daughter, Martha H.
Davis. Dr. and Mrs. Davis and their adopted child
stand very high socially and professionally, as well
as officially, the Doctor bears a most enviable repu-
tation.
JOFIN W. ZELL, M. D. Among the represen-
tative nien of Lancaster county, a leader in both
political and professional life, is Dr. John W.
Zell, the popular and appreciated physician of
Fairmount, Pa. For many years Dr. Zell has taken
an active part in all the progress and development
of this section and is well known and beloved, hav-
ing been for forty-six years identified with the peo-
ple of this localitv in one of the closest relations of
life.
Dr. Zell comes of German ancestry, although he
is a product of Lancaster county, born in Colerain
township, Dec. 27, 1829. His parents were Isaac
and Elizabeth (Swift) Zell, both of whom were also
natives of this county, the mother having been born
in the historic old home of the great inventor, Rob-
ert Fulton.
Grandfather Adam Zell was a miller by occupa-
tion, and for many years he was engaged in the
milling business, in Honeybrook, Chester county,
where he reared a large family who became useful
and respected members of society. They were
known as : John, Samuel, Levi, Adam, Margaret,
Henrietta and Isaac.
Isaac Zell, born in 1791, was a prominent man
in his locality for many years, as merchant, teacher,
and local preacher in the M. E. Church. His wife
was born in 1801, and they both lived worthily until
advanced in years, the mother of Dr. Zell dying at
the age of ninety-four. She was the devoted mother
of a large family: Joseph S., deceased; Emmor E.,
deceased; Dr. John W.; Dr. E. M., a dentist of
Little Britain township; Isaac B., deceased; Dr.
Amos* B., of Little Britain township; Daniel, of
Perrytown ; Dr. D. A., of Little Britain township ;
Martha, deceased; Elizabeth, unmarried; and Dr.
Samuel Allen, a dentist of Hinkletown, the others
dying in infancy.
Dr. John W. Zell was reared on the farm, but
agricultural pursuits did not appeal to him in his
youth, and after gaining a good, common school
education, he entered the Pennsylvania Medical
College in i8=;3, graduating from that then noted
institution in 1855. Returning to Lancaster county
he immediately began the practice of his profession,
and in this locality he has remained for a period of
fort_\--six years. During this time many changes
have taken place and many of the old friends of
Dr. Zell have passed away, but new associations
have been formed and few men in this locality pos-
sess more vigor of mind or body. The Zell family
is not only one of the oldest but also one of the
most intelligent in the county, and one which has
had an unusual leaning toward professional life.
Dr. Zell, like many other young men, had his own
way to make in the world, being one of a large
family, but with the pluck, perseverance and energy
bequeathed him by sturdy ancestors, he carved out
a path to fortune and prominence. Dr. Zell owns
two good farms in this neighborhood, both of them
well improved.
The first marriage of Dr. Zell was in 1865,
to Miss Mary R. Patterson, of Britain township, a
daughter of James Patterson, who was a near neigh-
bor and warm friend of President James Buchanan.
Her death occurred in 1870. Dr. Zell married for
his second wife Mary Bell Johnson, of Little Britain,
who was born in 1834. No children were born to
either union. Mrs. Zell is descended from one of the
oldest families in lower Lancaster county, her mother
being an Andrews of Colerain, and her father an ex-
tensive farmer in Little Britain. Dr. Zell has always
been an ardent advocate of the principles of the
Democratic party, and has always conscientiously
supported the men and measures of that great or-
ganization. For many years he has been identified
with the Methodist Church of which he is a trustee,
and he is fraternally connected with both county
and State medical societies and also with the Amer-
ican Medical Association. Dr. Zell served also as
president of the Lancaster City and County Medical
Society. Few men have more personal friends than
Dr. Zell, his kind heart having caused him to give
way to so many generous impulses that he is recog-
nized as not only the skilled physician of this vicin-
ity, but also as the sympathizing and helpful adviser.
His hospitality is liberal and few hosts are more en-
tertaining.
JOHN L. BRENNEMAN, one of the leading
agriculturists of Pequea township, Lancaster county,
is a large land owner and a citizen of high standing
and influence in the county, and is among the hon-
ored older citizens of the township that are yet
living.
John L. Brenneman was born Aug. 15, 1827, on
what is now the Bishop A. B. Herr farm in Pequea
(then Conestoga) township. He is a son of John
and Charlotte (Lemon) Brenneman and grandson of
Jacob Brenneman. The latter was born in 1753 and
became a large landowner in this locality. He was
twice married, marrying (first) Barbara Myers, who
was born Jan. 25, 1757, and died Sept. 14, 1825,
and (second) Anna Rush, who was born in 1782.
John Brenneman, father of John L., was born
in 1787. He learned the trade of a weaver and fol-
lowed it in his early life. He then turned his atten-
1^90 BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
tion to agricultural pursuits, which he followed
throughout his lifelinie, becoming a prosperous and
extensive land owner. John Brenneman married
Charlotte Lemon, who was born March 20, 1789,
and died May 12, 1869. The husband died June
12, 1843. Their children were : John L., our sub-
ject, who is referred to at a greater length farther
on; Barbara, who married Rudolph Herr; Susan,
who married Christian Hess; Elizabeth, who mar-
ried Christian Brenneman, and Lj'dia, who is a
resident of New Danville, all deceased excepting
John L. and Lydia.
John L. Brenneman was reared on the home
farm and has devoted his liiEe to that vocation. He
received such privileges for obtaining an education
as the neighborhood district school afforded, at-
tending it through the winter seasons and assisting
on the farm through the rest of the year. He start-
ed out in life with a purpose and determination
to succeed. In this he has not fallen short of the
mark as he is the owner of two large farms, aggre-
gating some 202j4 acres, well improved and under
a high state of cultivation.
On November i,, 1854, Mr. Brenneman was
married (first) to Anna Harnish, who died March
6, 1862; and (second) Aug. 15, 1863, to' Mary Ann
Lefever, both ceremonies being performed by Rev.
Jacob Strain, of Lancaster. To the first union
were born : iVaron H. ; John H., and Amanda. To
the second, Elmer Ellsworth L. and Susan L., both
deceased. Mrs. Mary Ann Brenneman passed away
March 15, 1900.
Mr. Brenneman has been upright and honorable
in his dealings with his fellow-men and so con-
ducted himself and regulated his life as to enlist the
respect and high regard of the community in which
he has so long lived. He has ever taken a deep in-
terest in all the affairs of the township, having in
view the advancement of society and the business in-
terests of his section. He has been industrious and
a good manager, and has prospered. For the long
period of twenty-four years he has most efficiently
served his township as a school director ; he has also
filled the position of assistant assessor. His relig-
ious connections and those of his family are with
the Old Mennonite Church. Politically he is iden-
tified with the Republican party.
SAMSON D. REESE, a farmer and dairyman
of Elizabethtown, and one of the older and more
prominent citizens of that thriving community, was
born in the township of Manor, Aug. 6, 1830.
The parents of Mr. Reese were Samson M. and
Caroline (Snyder) Reese, natives respectively, of
Harford county, Maryland, and Lancaster county,
Pennsylvania. The father came to Lancaster coun-
ty when he was eighteen years of age and made a
home in the township of Manor where he remained
fifteen years, removing at the end of that time to a
'home in East Donegal township. For some forty
years he was a pilot on the Susquehanna river, and
only gave up that calling when compelled to do so
by the infirmities of age, retiring at last to a small
farm. In early life he was a wagon maker, but
left that occupation in 1838 to follow a river life.
He died in 1875 at the advanced age of eighty-five
years. His widow survived two years and died in
1877 when eighty years old. Their remains lie in
Mi. Joy Cemetery. Born to them were the follow-
ing children: Anna, the widow of John Nauman,
lives in Elizabethtown; Alexander is the superin-
tendent of the Bell Telephone Company at Harris-
burg ; Samson D. ; Mary A., died young ; Margaret,
the widow of David Martin, lives at Osborn, Ohio ;
William, a conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad,
has his home in Harrisburg; Caroline (deceased)
was the wife of Edward Campion; Sarah (de-
ceased), was the wife of John Cox.
David Reese, the paternal grandfather of Sam-
son D., was born in Scotland, and made his home
in Harford county, Md., when a young man. Henry
Snyder, the maternal grandfather of S. D. Reese^
was born in Lancaster county, and followed the oc-
cupation of a tailor m his earlier manhood.
Samson D. Reese was married in Lancaster, Oc-
tober, i860, to Elizabeth Good, and to. this union
were born the following children : Samuel G., a
farmer in West Donegal township; Christian G.,
who is a brick maker in Elizabethtown; David G.,
a machinist in Elizabethtown ; U. Grant, died young ;
Harry G., a telegraph operator in Elizabethtown;
Edgar G., at borne ; Anna G., at home.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Good) Reese was born in
Rapho township, Feb, 14, 1836, and is a daughter
of Christian and Mollie (Gantz) Good, both natives
of Rapho township, where they lived and died. Her
father was a farmer all his days, and was a man of
more than ordinary character. His neighbors elect-
ed him at different times to positions of trust, mak-
ing him supervisor, tax collector and giving him
other responsible offices. His death occurred in
1 88 1 at the advanced age of eighty-six years, his
wife having passed away in 1879 aged seventy-two
years. They were members, respectively, of the
Old Mennonite and the Lutheran Churches, and
both are buried in a private cemetery in Rapho
township. These were their children: Jacob, Jo-
seph, Samuel, Anna, the wife of David Kriner,
Abraham, and Mary, deceased; Elizabeth, noted
above; Trifina, deceased; Malinda E., the wife of
Michael Myers Christian, of East Donegal town-
ship. The paternal grandparents of Elizabeth
(Good) Reese were Jacob and Mary Good. Her
mother's father was George Gantz, who married
a Miss Noscn; both were born in Germany and
came to this country in early life.
Samson D. Reese remained on the farm with his
parents until he reached the age of eighteen years,
when he went to Louisiana and Texas, where he was
engaged in sawmill work for a number of years,
spending his summers north. In 1858 he returned
to Pennsylvania to take a position as watchman on
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1391
the railroad, a place he held for fifteen years. At the
expiration of that period he began farming near
Elizabethtown, and in 1885, removed to his pres-
ent location, his home being in Elizabethtown, while
his farm lies mostly in West Donegal township.
For twelve years he has served in the town council,
and holds an enviable place in the estimation of his
friends and neighbors. In politics he is a Repub-
lican, and in religion a member of the Reformed
Church,
WII-LIAM PENN BRINTON, in his time one
of Lancaster's most prominent citizens, was born
at the old family mansion on the Brandywine creek,
near West Chester, Chester Co., Pa., June 20, 1824.
His ancestors came from Birmingham, England,
and settled in Pennsylvania a year after Penn's
treaty with the Indians. They were in the posses-
sion of large means, and took up extensive tracts of
land in Philadelphia and Chester counties, and some
of their descendants occupy portions of these lands
to the present day. William P. Brinton, the youngest
son of Caleb and Hannah Brinton, was named after
the founder of the province, William Penn. Caleb
Brinton was a prominent citizen of Chester county,
owned several farms, and carried on farming on an
extensive scale.
William P. Erinton spent his early days at home,
attended the district school, and later was sent to
a boarding school and an Academy at New London,
Chester county. In November, 1841, he entered the
Freshman class of Washington College ; in his Jun-
ior year he delivered the address at the anniversary
of the Union Literary Society; and after a full
course of study he was graduated with high marks.
In the summer of 1848 he made an extended tour
through the Eastern .States and Canada, as corres-
pondent of a Philadelphia paper. Later he began
the study of the law in the office of Hon. Henry G.
Long, and read a thorough course, but about the
time he expected to begin practice he met with a seri-
ous accident, his right hand being injured so badly
that he could not use it for several years, being unable
even to hold a pen. In consequence of this injury,
he abandoned the law, and engaged in other busi-
ness in Lancaster and elsewhere. In 1856 Mr. Brin-
ton was united in marriage to Miss Susan M. Rei-
gart, eldest daughter of the late Emanuel C. Rei-
gart, one of the foremost of Lancaster's lawyers
a generation ago. They took up their residence in
the house formerly occupied by Thaddeus Stevens,
No. 38 South Queen street, and occupied it during
all their married life. Mr. Brinton was for a long
time a director of the Pniladelphia and Lancaster
Turnpike : of the Lancaster and Middletown Turn-
pike ; and was for six years before his death treas-
urer of the Lancaster and Williamstown Turnpike
road. In 1859 Mr. Brinton was elected treasurer of
the Lancaster & Susquehanna Turnpike Road Com-
pany, and held the office up to the time of his death.
He was for many years in the management of the
Inland Insurance & Deposit Company. He was
elected a member of the Lancaster school board
in 1863, and. at once took an active part in school
affairs. In 1866 he was chosen president of the
board. He was regarded an excellent parliamentar-
ian and an impartial presiding officer, while his
, thorough knowledge of • the rules governing the
board enabled him to transact business with dis-
patch and regularity. Although Mr. Brinton de-
clined re-election to the presidency in 1873, he re-
mained a member of the board until 1878, doing
good work for the schools. In 1867 he was re-
elected a member of the common council, and was
chosen president of that body. The following year
he was re-elected a member from the Fourth ward,
by a majority of one, he being the only candida,te
on the Democratic ticket who secured election. Mr.
Brinton was always a stanch Democrat, and always
took an active part in local. State and National
politics. He was a delegate to a number of State
conventions and senatorial delegate to the Demo-
cratic State Convention that nominated his warm
personal friend. Judge Sharswood, an eminent jur-
ist, for judge of the Supreme court, and in recogni-
tion of his services he was, with Hon. Richard
Vaux, appointed to inform him of his nomination. -
He then served for three years on the Democratic
State Committee, and was again chosen senatorial
delegate to the Democratic State Convention of
1874.
Mr. Brinton entered into rest on April 13, 1888,
in the sixty-fourth year of his. age, and no man who
ever lived in the community died more lamented —
for his was a genial, generous, noble nature. His
widow now resides at No. 549 North Duke street,
Lancaster. She is one of the managers of a number
of charitable homes, hospitals and organizations,
and is active in Episcopal church affairs. One
daughter and two sons are still living: Henrietta,
the eldest, is the wife of William L. Deming, vice
president of the Deming Manufacturing Company,
of Salem, Ohio : they have one child, Susan Brin-
ton. Edward Penrose Brinton, Esq., was born Aug.
25, i860. William Reigart. Brinton, Esq., was
born in Lancaster, May 7, 1865. Both brothers —
Edward P. and William R. — are graduates of Frank-
lin and Marshall College, the latter taking the first
honors in his class ; both read law with the late
Samuel H. Reynolds, Esq., one of the most dis-
tinguished members of the Lancaster Bar, William
R., also spending a year in the Law Department of
the University of Pennsylvania, and both are in
active practice in Lancaster. Edward P. Brinton
is a Republican in politics, and has been active and
prominent in the affairs of that party ; while Will-
iam R. is just as ardent a Democrat, and has been
honored by his fellow Democrats with nominations
for district attorney. Congress and delegate to State
conventions. He was City Solicitor of Lancaster
in 1892-93, the only time in twenty-five years that
the Democratic party had control of the city coun-
1392
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
cils. Both brothers are in practice in the Superior,
United States District and Supreme Courts.
Edward P. Brinton was married Oct. 17, 1899,
to Miss Henrietta Taylor, daughter of Robert M.
Taylor, late of West Chester, Pa. Mr. Brinton is
a member of The Hamilton Club, is a manager in a
number of corporations,' and his law practice is
extensive.
William Reigart Brinton was married Dec. 27,
1893, to Miss Annie M. McGovern, daughter of the
late John R. McGovern, one of the most prominent
and successful railroad contractors of this county,
and they now live in the old McGovern home, at
the end of North Duke street, one of the finest su-
bui-ban homes of that section. Three children were
born to them : Anna Reigart, Catherine McGovern
and William Penn. Mr. Brinton belongs to the
Elks and the Young Democrats, and in religion is
an Episcopalian, being an active member of the St.
James' Church, and a member of the board of trus-
tees of the Episcopal Home. Mr. Brinton is also
solicitor for the City Savings Fund & Trust Com-
pany of Lancaster, solicitor for the Conestoga Fire
Insurance Company, solicitor for the Lancaster Ho-
tel Company, solicitor for the Lancaster Electric
Light, Heat & Power Company, treasurer of the
Lancaster and Williamstown Turnpike Company,
and member of the board of the Lancaster and Co-
lumbia Turnpike Company ; and no man of his years
in Lancaster is, personally, professionally and polit-
ically, more popular.
JACOB B. NEWCOMER, a well known citizen
of Manor township and one of the most prosperous
and progressive farmers of Lancaster county. Pa.,
was born in Millersville, July 15, 1838, and is a
son of Jacob and Magdalena (Breneman) New-
comer, both deceased.
Jacob Newcomer was a blacksmith by trade and
for some years carried on business on his own ac-
count in Millersville, bnt about 1839 migrated to
Wayne county, Ohio, where his death occurred about
1840 in middle age. He was a member of the Old
Mennonite Church. To Jacob and Magdalena New-
comer were born two children that grew to matur-
ity, Isaac B., a farmer of Providence township, and
Jacob B.
Mrs. Magdalena Newcomer was at the time of
her marriage to Jacob Newcomer, the widow of
Henry Harnish, of Conestoga township, by whom
she had two children, viz. : John B., a retired min-
ister of the Mennonite Church, residing in Pequea
township ; and Catherine, deceased wife of Daniel
Lintner, of Lancaster City, to whom she bore two
daughters, still living, viz. : Lizzie, wife of John
Derr, of Lancaster City; and Annie, married to
David Good, a merchant of Cumberland county. At
the death of her second husband, Jacob Newcomer,
in Ohio, Mrs. Newcomer returned with her infant
children to Lancaster county, Pa., purchased a farm,
and there died a few years later.
Jacob B. Newcomer was a mere babe when his
father died, was quite young when his mother passed
away and from the age of fourteen years has been
obliged to take care of himself. His opportunities
for acquiring an education were but meager, yet
he availed himself of the public schools until at-
taining the age mentioned. Soon after this the
charge of his mother's farm fell upon him for ten,
years. His marriage took place, Sept. 11, 1862,,
to Miss Maria H. Wissler, a native of Manor town-
ship, and a daughter of Rudolph Wissler, who was
for years a justice of the peace.
6n marrying, Jacob B. Newcomer moved to his
father-in-law's farm and managed it for two years,
and then purchased his present place of thirty-two
and a half acres, one mile south of Letort, and has
since been engaged in general farming. On this
farm he had the misfortune of losing his amiable
life-companion, Dec. 3, 1893. She was a faithful
member of the United Brethren Church, of which
Mr. Newcomer is the present president of the offi-
cial board, having been a member of the society
since 1858.
Mr. Newcomer is one of the very enterprising-
and public-spirited citizens of Manor township, and
taking into consideration the size of his farm, has
been a most successful agriculturist. His friends
are numerous and sincere in their esteem for him,
and his standing in the community is all that could'
possibly be desired.
DAVID WESTFIELD JACKSON, the pro-
prietor of the Willow Mills in Bart township, Lan-
caster county, was born near Avondale, Chester
county, in December, 1834, a son of David and Eliz-
abeth ( V\''estfield ) Jackson, both of whom were na-
tives of County Derry, Ireland, where they were
reared to maturity, and where they married.
In 1828 David Jackson came to this country,,
bringing his wife and son, and they made their home-
in Chester county. The father was a linen weaver
by trade, but in Chester county he determined to-
make farming his life business and met with suc-
cess in his work. Both he and his wife lived to be
aged. After coming to America they were mostly
associated with the Friends. In his earlier years in
this country Mr. Jackson was a Whig, but later
became a Democrat. His simplicity of purpose and
strength of character, together with his kind and:
genial disposition, won him many friends wherever
he was known. He reared a family of nine chil-
dren, (i) Henry, born in Ireland in 1827, became a
blacksmith and located first near Fagg's Manor,.
Chester county, following his trade for some years,
and then removed to Perry county. His last location
was near Steelville, Chester cpunty, where he en-
gaged in farming. He married Martha Susan Cres-
well, who died in 1898. He died in 1899, leaving-
the following family: Wilson W., David Cres-
well, Jane Elizabeth, William and Charles. (2)
Abraham, born in Chester county in 1829, is now-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS"! OF LAm:ASTER COUNTT
1B9S'
.a .wholesale saddler, of Benton, IlL, wlhere he is
.widely known .in business circles ; he married Vir-
.ginia Dudley, a native of Indiana, and a descendant,
of -the IJudieys tof Virginia. Their dhildren were
Henry, William, Charles and Anna Belle. (3) Johix
H., born in Chester county in 183 1, married Mar-
garet Baker, and, locating in Chester county, en-
g^ed in farmir^. At one time he was a partner
with his brother., David W., in a contracting and
building business. He is the father of three sons,.
Gesrge, Richard and David, all of whom are on
farms in Chester cotinty in the vicinity of Doe Run..
(4) Eleanor Dixron, the only daughter of the family,,
was tjorn in Chester county, and is unmarried ; she
makes her home :near Parkesburg, and is highly es-
teemed and.belawed by a wide circle of friends. (5)
David Westfield as fifth in the order of birth. (6)
William E., born iin Chester coimty, is a harnessma-
ker and has his Iraime arid business in Jefferson coun-
ty, III. He married Louisa Elstam, a native of Illi-
nois, aaid they hasve two childrem living, Ralph and
■Oliver, having buiiied six childreru (7) J-oshoa, born
in Chster county, married Anaita Speafcmian, of
Chester county, and they were living on Ms farm
•near Kimbleville, at the time of Ms death m 1898;.
Ihis wiftww surviueB him. (8) Thcmias W-,, born in.
Chester county, married Rachel Psearl, amd they
jnake their home .near Parkesburg, where he owns-
:and operacbes a gristmill. (9) West'fidd Evams, born
•in Chester county, married Miss Catherine Baloer, of
ihis native county, and they have their home ism the
Jackson 'homestead, an Chester county.
Da'vid Westfidd Jackson was reaisd ajtid edu-
cated in 'Chester coanty, where he eaarly mastered
Ihe carpenter trade, and he followed it imuch oS the
-time H'&r -twenity-two years on an extensive scalle, as
a contractor and builder. In 1869 he "bought ifihe
Willow Mills iproperty iin Bart town^p, which cfflfli'
-sisted of gristmills an^i a farm in connection, aaad
there he fes remained to the present time, and has
developed a large milliiag business.
On Fels. 18, 1875, Mr. Jackson was married 'to
Miss Philena C. Wood, the estimable dat^hter of
Thomas and Snrah. (Coaties) Wood ; dhe was born in
Chester county, and reared and educated in Chester,
Delaware and Lancaster counties, halving heen a
student at Concordville Seminary and at the Mil-
lersville State Normal, and for a time she -was a
successful teacher in Chester county. Mr. and Mrs.
Jackson have two children, (i) Lindley D., born
'in March, 1876, was educated in the public school,
and in the local high school. In 1895, 1896 and 1897
he was a student in the State Normal School at
Millersville, where he took a special course in book-
keeping. As a capable young business man he has
impressed himself upon the community, having
charge of the millingf interests of his father at the-
present time, for which he was thoroughly prepared
by early and careful training. (2) Elizabeth West-
field, the only daughter of her parents, was born in
September, 1881, and educated at the Friends'
88
school in Abington, Montgomery county. She is
a member <ai the Senior class at Swarthmore Col-
lege, near Philadelphia, graduating"; in- 1903. Mr-
Jackson .and his son are both members of the Pro-
hibition ];party.. Mrs. Jackson belongs tO'the relig-
ious.Society of Friends, and isa member-of the W.
\C. T. H. They are among the solid -and reliables-
people ffltf ilie community, and their many good quaU -
ities liave made them respected' and-bfeloved by^ a-.
iwide ciBcleof friends.
1 REW.. OTTIWELL WOOD, of Lancashire,^
iEngland,!had two sons, John and Thomas. Johhdied-
I in England, unmarried. We find reeorddd, "Av
■Name." ■"Ilhe Woods of Lancashire'- af 6" gi " distin-
guished iamily for character, wealth and talent!;. The--
'eldest son, John, has been returned meflibec^otfiaV- -
Jiament for Preston several times and Ipro-^^ed him-
self a steady supporter of civic and reli^tts liberty,-'
A laugh^le ciTcumstance took place- uppn: a; trial ins
Lancashiise when the head of the family, Mr. Wood,
Br., was exaimined as a witness. Upon. giving 'his
name as Ottiwell Wood the judge, addressing the
teverend, said 'Pray, Mr. Wood, how 66 you spell
your name?' The old gentleman replied; '6 double''
T, I dotible U, E double L, double U, dbuble-O.' D.'
iPpon whidh the astonished lawyer laidi d6wn His
pen, saying it was the most extraordinary name he '
had ever met with in his life, and after irwoor^three'
attempts declared he was unable to record*' it-; the;.'
court was coBivMlsed with laughter."
Thomas Wood (i), second son of Ottfwell," was'^
born in Lancashire, England, and emigrated to'
America with wife, Mary, and two sons, William'
and Joseph. He settled in Chester county. Pa., near'
the London Grove meeting-house, near which h6'
now lies buried. He owned a fulling mill in Eng^-
land. He bought land of William Penn in West
Marlboro township, Chester county, on the north'
side of the street road, one mile west of Londom
Grove meeting-house, where he built a fulling mill..
He was a churchman.
Richmonday Wood, daughter of Thomas (r)'
j and Mary Wood, was born during the voyage of her
parents to this country. She was named in honxjr of
,the captain of the ship and the day on which she-
was born. She married William Shepherd, of Ad-
ams county. Pa., in 1749. Her descendants live ira
the vicinity of Union Bridge, Maryland.
Joseph Wood, second son of Thomas and Mary,,
was born in England in 1730, and died in 1797. He,
married Catherine Day in 1769. He first settled in
Nottingham, Chester Co., Pa., and afterward
went to southern Lancaster county, where his de-
scendants now live.
William Wood, eldest son of Thomas (i) and
Mary, was bom in Lancashire, England, in 1723,
and died in Chester county. Pa., in 1775 ; he was
buried in the burying-ground of London Grove
meeting-house. He became a Quaker after coming
to this country. He married Margaret Holland,
1394
RIOqilAP^IC^, ANNALS, OF LANCASTER . COUNTY
daughter of Thomas and Margaret Hollapd, of
Prince George county, Md., who was born in 1730,
and died in 1775, in' Chester county, Pa. They had
children as follows: Thomas (2); Joseph, who
married, and died m Frederick county, Va.,in' 1816;
Mary, the, eldest daughter, who married Caleb
Swayne, of East Marlboro, Chester Co., Pa.;'
George, who died in infancy; Casandra, who mar-
ried Robert Miller, and died in 1818; William^ who
iniarried Mary Smith; Elizabeth, who married Jesse
Hughes ; Margaret, who became the wife of Garret
iGarretspn, and, later married Edward Brooks,,, of
"W^Offiington, Del, ;' Joshua, who married , Hannah
•McKay, of Frederick county, Va. ; and Ruth.
'' ' Tiie following authentic history of Thomas Wpod
(?), great-grandfather of ^Mjrs, David W. Jackson,'
is interesting, and shows that he was not.pf a political
or warlike character, but possessed of deeply religi-
ous sentiment. From thq ,re,c6rds.of New Garden
Monthly Meeting, Ju^ie' 3, 1769, W,illiam Woo^ re-
quests a certificate for, sqri, Thomas,, born. in,, 1750,
to. Concord, apprentice, in, January, 177a, Thomas,
reljirned, arid on OQt,2> 1773,, 'Thomas, son pf :^^^i-ll-
ianV and Margaret Wpod, pnd , Susanna Pusey ( born .
in' i7So,'died in'rSii, daugbter of John (deceased)
ari(i,Kat%ririe^, declare, intentions of marria,gevvfirst
tirne^ M.?irch j'x, 1773. The, children of this mar-
riage were* as, follows : Joel;, bp;rn in 1774, died in,
1776., Williaan, born ,in, 1775, died .in 1803 (nq
issiie) . John, .born in iN'oyember,. 1777, died in Octo-
ber,' 1847; He marrie^d. Lydia SwE^yne, and they are,
the grandparents of, Mrs. Dayici, W . Jaqljson,, Lydia
Ann,' bo'rn inVi779,,died, in 1812. , Nathan, bofp.in ,
'17S1, died in 18^3 ; 'he, married Margaret Watsop, .
.arid lived iri Ohio. Margaret, born jn 1783, died in
I$^l5 ; she married Samuel, Plurnmer, and lived, in '
Ohio. Thomas, thefifth son,,,born^ in 1785, died in
184.^ ; he married ,Mary SHepherd, of Maryland,
who. was born jri 1791, and died in 1875. SusatipA,
bo'min 1787, died in T794, Pusey, bor;i in 1789, died
in 1875; he married Charity Redd,, of Ohio. Caleb,
born in 1792, died iri 1879; he married Lydia ^edd,;
of Ohio. Mary, the,, youngest daughter,, born in
September, 1796, die.(^ in 1867; she , married John,
Depriis Bates, of Ohip-
From the,, records in West Chestpr> Chester,,,
county, it appears that William Wood, of London.
Grova^ fuller, and. wife Margaret, conveyed ,tp gon
Thomas 120 acres in that towriship . June 19, 1773,
and Thomas Wood and wife Susanna conveyed the
sarii.e to Daniel JHobpe? March 12, 1782, for, £609,:
Thqriias is styled a "waver." By deed Sept. i., 1785,
■Samuel Sharp and wife Mary conveyed to Thomas,
Wpod 105 acres of land in Newlin tpwnsliip, Chesr
ter county, at the mouth of Doe Run creek [Deed ,
Book B2, 510] ; March 18, 1794, Thomas Wood of
Newlinton, yeoman, and wife Susanna, conveyed
to .Samuel Laverty, of Caernarvon, Berks county,
ani William and Jesse Laverty, pf East Fallowfield,
ironriiasters, 2|4 acres of ,tbe above on Doe, Run
[K ■?, 452] ; March 30, 1795, Thomas Wood of Ne\y-
lin, yeoman, and wife . Susa,nna„ conveyed to Jac.pb
Grubbof East Fallpwfteld;, Chester county, harq- ,
merman, for £350,. a niessviage of fifty-two acres,
123 perches, on west side of .Brapdywine and north.
side of Doe Run,, part of the 4and from, Sharp [^ ^'
87] ; March 25, 1796, Thomas, Wood, of New-Gar-
der;, yeoman,' and wife Sus'arma, to Mark Unger, of
West" Marlbofoijgh, bla,cksmith,. f or ;£i94,_i5s, forty-
one,, acrf:s,.eleyen perches pn the-south side of Doe
Run '.^nd. west, side |0f Brandywine, in 'Newlin,, part
of land from' Sharp '[M 2, 489.] .' This, lapd bought
an4, owned in Newlin, township,, Chester county, by
Thopi^as, and Sus^pna .(Pusey) Wood, is the, site
pf the Laurel .Irori ! worfes, so^th- of Coatesville, .long ,, ,
known ^s, the .fjugh' p.". Ste,ele,riron wPrks.^ It is not
known positively .who., erected the^jron workis,. but ,
a Ijttle incident of thei;-...completion in 1791 is givea
by . pemberJion .^'^ood, of Maryland, sop pf Thomas
Wood and .Mary Shepherd, and grandson of Thomas
and jSuganqa,. Wood; "I dis,tinctly recollect orie,,
eveniiigm the .fall, pf the year, my father came..intp..
the liouse, witha peculiar smile on his face, find . I; j
susppcted he ,had .something, good, to tell me .{as .
jwe,wej"e.5very confidential, friends).. He, began, by ■
saying, ..'Thee, is .jjusjt^six, years old ^nd,I have some-,,,
thing ,io, -tell thee, which t wari^tj, thee to , remember ;
Wh;ej3 I vya^.a little boy just thy age .some men cari^ip.,
and built, ^a forge, on, father^s.'plac.ej' , He,' went into.
deta.ir,9f tjhe .building of the forge and .'tell hammers,',
so ,ininute -th^t, it interested .me iriuch and,-thei Jittle .
boy's eyes, anij; eaxs and- friiiid must have, been ,operi, .
to remember so well what he sai^, for. that wag many .
yeai;^,agq,, Aft^r ,the wate^wheel w^as. built ani^.the
tilt.harnmer alljn placftthe-mei7.,got a dry inch oak.,,
bo3;r^ Jind plaqed it on the>aiivil and.started the ham-
mei;! 'Such, a rioise.and ^t.niglit, tool. It roused the .
whpilie ' neighborhood.' ' That 'mtj^t',-have been .in '
Duripg,the,;p.evoluti,onary war^ jn 1777, Thomas,, ,
Wpofl was appointed, one of a cpmmittee to look, after
cases of suflering on ,^cqgun,t,of, the,Jwar ;; 1781- on
a qoipj^-itteet to labor- for reformation.- He was
seyera^Lyearsiclerkrin the mQntb,ly, meetings, and had
charge of the preparation ,of, marriage, xeftificates,
in fact .was,.,piie jpf the j^ctive member-s in every, de-
pantmep.fc of bu?ine,ss,j,in the ,)peetings. In 1787.-
'London Groye , meeting, .proposes 'the-recommenda- -
; tion of Thomas, as a minister. In 1789 he visited
meetings, a,t .,Bush,,.Creek, . Md.,, and Warrington-
Quarter, "he, being of an exemplary life. and. con^.
versatiqn and; ihjis. ministry acceptable." On March
6, 1791J .Thomas , Wood, wasi appointed on a large...
committee , to a,tt^nd the, opening of a preparative '
mee^tjiigi;at West;, Grove,, Chester county. When-
London.Groyerporithly meeting, was established in •
I792,,.,he wa,'5^,(^n6,;who was %ppfi>frit^.fpr.the con- . '
sideratiqnof a division from New Garden,, and from
the^mehe was accepted as aminister in the Society
of Friends .he was , an earxi^s-t -thinker -and worker
m this, chosen path. ,The paper, given below, copie4 '■
from. the original, gives- one, an idea. of his sincere
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER ' COUNTY
1395
Christian life. It is dated 1803/and reads as fol-
lows ':
As I have often of late times found something
secretely njovmg upon nty mindto leave in manuscript for
the perusal of my children 'and grandchildren when. I
<im gone, some of the Ixirds tender dealings with me,
and fatherly care over me, from my youth up through life,
and further -reasdii' 'for writing Jsj' I have frftowh some'
young ' people so at a loss for informa'fion thkt they were '
scarcely able to trace; "back tJheir line bi predecesOrs' fur-
ther than .their awn. immediate parents. , I , was born the'
17th day olf"tbe iith rrio. '17S0 of .parents professing th?
truth "(as held by friends) "William and Margaret Wood,
whose -residence at that tihie and ilhtil their death \v'as in
Londongrove township . ^Chester . County Pennsylvania. '
They were ^carely iclonicerried to^ bring .m^'and^.fhp res.t o,f,,
their children, nine of whbni lived^topbe men and womiep,
■up to do strict justice between -man and mdn and (6 live
■blameless Hires ariiong ' fhdn, a[rid my .rfibther was often
deeply concerlied to inculcate iiito,6nr,mi«ds 'the -principles
of the Christian religion and I l^npiw 'since I^.ljavQ,. coftie .
to years of religious thoug'htfiil'iless that her prayers were
often pbiiired ' forth' before thfe lidrd" for the blessing of
preserVTifion to the tender' offspHiig' 'tiiat iWe might 1^ pri-
served in innopeniay 'and G'6'dly fear before him all the
day^ of our lives, and as it, is written, that the, effectual
fervent prayer of an upriglit mian avail^h , piuch, s<p I .be^
leive her deep religious Concern for" our preservation 'H.ag.,
been a blessing to most o;f us. There was one part of 'her
religious' exercise ' and <!!are that I' have 'ofW thought
worthy to be preserved that Was, ' I_ beleiye for m?iny
of the la.'tler part of lier life she, never spent one day ^vhen .
at 'home' and in health^Withoiiit "s^e'ndj'ng '.a part.ttierep^ in
silent retirement to 'wait updn'tlie Lard well knowing' Whli.
the Royal Psalmik that it h'i good thing 'to' wait upon'tSie'
Lord insomuch that he. gave it 'ir^ 'chargs to his oiWn soul
in this language, "O my soul, wait thqiu.uppn Gqd 'becaus.e'
my exjp'ecta'tion is from Hinl." She had a' private phamb^r.
with a 'table and a'Targe Bible la^' upon it, to which she
retired, and When I 'came iri 'and misted her oiit of 'the
common house and' wanted to, speak.- to her, and as ^I.-bad'.
often applied "to "her in' {hat plac^ xoncerning little.,!wants,
she had taught 'me' to 'ajpprpac'h 'Tier' chapjber in., great,
quietness ■ and I' often found' 'her chfeeks bathed irii tears
sometiriies Teadin^"and at'oth&r 'times'"sitting lii' awful
reverent^ silence, and, alirhoiigli, ib often struck 'ail awful
reverential thought iipon my mind yet I did pot 'fully un-
derstand the m&ming thereof^ but to me it ,has pr.oved
like bread 'cast upon the' ' witers found af-tCr many days,
and O, saith tnysOUl at'this tinle th'it not only me and
my children, hvk all mankind may more and' moire en-
deavor to "live the life of ..the righteous that igic} ^e may die,
the death of the rignteous: — ^^fpr mairk .thle p^ertfect man and
behold the upright' the end of that mdn is peace."
The followihg, 'under' date 6 month, 1803, is
another part of 'the manuscript :
I 'have had some clear openings of latter time of the
work of the neiw creation in the souJs of mankind ,mn-
ning parallel with the six days work of the 'outward,. ere-,
ation. Wherein all creating power Out of darknies's. cr'eatecl
light and divided light from dark.nessiand the seis from
dry land brought all'things into order and i,n the'tet days
work created man after his. awn image, -ff^ich; , clearly
points on-t to me' that man is not brou§;bf into the imajge
of God and a state of ''perfection and holiness .till he wit-,
nesses a .passing' thtpugh the sjx dispensatibtis Cortlparabre"
to the six iworking days, firsfman. was, created ifi an jnno-
0ent siriJess state and stood jn favor, with Gpd ,until, he
became 'an actual siriner' and rebelled -agaitiist tbe, law, of
God by eating of I3ie forbidden fi-ilit of Which God 'had
declared "in the day thbu eatest thereof thoti shall silrely
die," tha-t herein man becomes separate from the divine
harmony and cast out intp. an , earthly sta'te,.,. where, death,
reigned, till Moses dispensation (for death reigned from
A'danitill Moses) wherpjn he was raised up a minister to
bring .the children of Israel out of Egyptian darkneiss and
bo.nd^ge. and, received, the. law from; God out of Mount
Sinia wherein, was statutes,, judgejgieuts and ordinances
to be, pb'served, that t.hird ,dispensa;tion tp me points- out
being brought liato a good', regular moral ,life yet,,as the ,
law nia.de not the comers thereunto perfect but it mUgt
be the beginning^ of a, better, hope, that it is clear to nue,
that moj-a,lity , alqne .will not. perfect the. . ^ ,^ but the
coming"',up'' from' under,. 'de^th through the law to the,;next.,,
dispensation, which is , tfat . of , Jq.t!.|t''s mus,t ibe k'n.own
where a l>aptisni unto' repentance , is, known. ,1,,, indeed, .
says tbi? janinent. forerunner,, baptize you with water untp
.repentatjiC'e /'Ijut ,p,n,e cometh',aifterj..me tlbe; Htchet.of whose
shoes |.'^aiii,ript -wDrttty to stoop (^wfl and ujiloose he_shiaU,,
baptize 'you with I the li61y„;GHbst land ijre,"„pu)r Lord "bore
testimony that John was a burning and shining light and
ye wore.. willing, for a season to rejoice in the light, but
I have^grejiter ,wi|tness,,fl'f..that..,than. John. for., though he
•was th^ greatf^'it prMbet, tlia^t,. .was. , ever bpiin,,,pf^,a iwoman.
•yet the.'least in 'the^jCingdpm' bj. IJ.eav.en is.,g;rea.ter ,than he. ,
That is his. dispensation as rpy soifl well knows ,a passing
through, this,. tender watery dispensation, wherein fili,that
,.,was wigthin,, nie w^s. ready > to niek with contrition- before
God yv^a§, ;a j.oyfuj,, dispensation jp, its,,s^_son. |>eca(Use- X
found the Kingdbir^'oit', Heaven, t.Q-.'be *at jiaiiJd.^.but ![ ,^ound- ,•
this to be a decreasing .dispensation apd a njorp tr,ying
!. fiery dis.pensatibn' coming ori which was tliatof Christ's",
whose fan in his hands which is to blaw;away.a,ll'the,ligh!t.
and Cf^^li ...,., thor,pughly purge away th^j i?oor,. . pf
tbe ..... and .saye./.the , .weiglity precious- see.d,-.U,nto ■
.' of res4 anid' peace forever^ Wel,l,.a;fter. this fifjth
and most t . iproving di'spen-g4tion -has,.,done aijtj
effected the', rede.mption of . soul-,..,fromi„under. die law of
sin an«i,.j^.^atl^' the .cprn^orter's jdi^spensJtf ion,,: comes, (acr
cording to my pros^^ct), 'IfLgp npt,,away said our de^r
liord' — the Cbmfqrtef will n.ot,icome, but^df l,go,,aW,ay, I
:iwill pray, the, fatherV'and he- will send,ypu another com-
forter,, eyen .the spirit, of Tru-th"-r-that it isunder the sixth
,,,daspenisiation, vithen, all Truthhas, thje,.,reins and govern-
.ment of 'th-p hea.rf,"'l^ha-t man is c);eajte.d,.anew ,into,the lik,e-.,
ness and image Of Gody Beho,14 .said ouir. dear Lor^l, "I
create all things new a new Heaven and ,a new earth'
wherein' dwells righteousness." -That at the end of-vthis-
new creatio^i ..the 'h,oly ^abbafh, of rest, is to ,ibe experi'
.enCed when, the rao^-ning stgj.s sing .together and all the
sons of 'Gb(j' shout for joy.— tThos, 'VVood. . ;
■ A-Uothei-'^item. — The - 17'th day of the 1st mo. 1807 I
heard of the death -of -William Croch a fninister from
.England and ^flli-arp Ellis 3, friend yAq hfid lived in good
esteem , at "Munpy, Penij^., their deaths by. suicide. The,
news so 'affected my rnind, with, sorrow th^t it ■fe;elingly
settled on my mind, blessed are the dead -vvho.have died,,
in the Lord, 'it also begat desires in my mind, that I might
be preserved in such an Ipimlile.' watchful state ais to feel-
ingly and,||iuinbl.y beg every day of my lifeto the great,
Preserver of,'rnari that he ' would be pleased to,,grant me,
the blessing of 'prcser'-vatibn through 'th'6 dangerous tribu-
lated passages to the end.
. - In the summer .of 1798 a Certificate -was signed
for Thomas Wood, -vyife Susanna, and six' of their
children, Nathan, Margaret,' Thom'as.Puseyj C^aleb
and Mary ; also certificates for 'William 'Wbod and
Lydia Wood to Pipe Creek, Md. ; they had made aip-
■'plication for themselves.
"John Wood,' of West Marlborough, third son
, of Thomas and Susanna, of Frederick county, Md.,
and Lydia Swayne, daughter of Samuel and Hannah
Swayne, of East "Marlborough, wfere rharried Nov.
8, 1800, at Londongrove meeting." Their children
1396
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
were: Hannah, Samuel, Nathan (who died young),
Thomas, Joshua, John and Lydia Ann. John Wood
died in 1847 ^^ Steel ville, and lies buried at Ercildoun
graveyard, in Chester county. His family: (i)
Hannah married (first) Benjamin Ladd, of Ohio,
and (second) John Hill, of Ohio; she had three
daughters, Lydia S., Elizabeth and Hannah, by her
first marriage. She was a teacher of note, both in
the schools in Ohio and at her alma mater — West-
town, Chester county. (2) Samuel married Orpha
Broomall, of Ohio, and their children were Thomas
and Phoebe. (3) Nathan died young. (4) Thomas,
born in 1807, married Massey Lamborn in 1830,
and Sarah Coates in 1841. (5) Joshua married
(first) Ann Taylor, by whom he had one son, Enoch,
deceased. By his second wife, Eliza Hall, he had one
son William, who married Susanna Coates and had
two children, Anna and Alberta, both married and
living at Russellville, Chester county. William Wood
(son of Joshua) died in 1898, aged fifty-eight; his
wife, Susanna (Coates) Wood, and her daughter.
Alberta Wickersham, live in Russellville. Samuel
and Anna W. Martin, of near Russellville, have
several children. (6) John married Elizabeth
Kirby, of Ohio, and both died in Iowa, at the home
of their daughter, Lydia S. Worthington. They had
three children, Anna Wood Painter, Frank (who
died unmarried) and Lydia S. Worthington, wife of
William Worthington, of Ohio. For many years
John Wood followed the business of bringing droves
of Ohio sheep to Lancaster, and Chester counties.
Both his daughters were educated at Westtown
Orthodox Friends Boarding School and for several
years, were successful teachers in Chester county,
Pa. Finally they all left the East, and there is liv-
ing today but one to represent the family of John
and Elizabeth Wood — Lydia S. Worthington, of
Iowa. (7) Lydia Ann until her marriage lived in
Chester county, where she was born. She was edu-
cated at Westtown Boarding School, and was a suc-
cessful teacher. She married Samuel B. Smith, of
Ohio, where they made their home, and they had six
children, a twin deceased, Louisa, Amy, Morris,
Mary and Joshua (married). Two children and
several grandchildren reside in Iowa.
Thomas Wood, eldest son of John and Lydia
Wood, father of Philena C. W. Jackson, has six chil-
dren living. Three — Amos, Eleanor, Laura Sarah —
died young, and are buried at Homeville (Chester
Co., Pa.) burying-ground. He was twice married,
his first wife being Massey Lamborn, whom he mar-
ried in 1830. She died in 1838, the mother of three
children: (i) Dr. Eliza Jane, a graduate of the
Woman's Medical College, Philadelphia, born near
Doe Run in 1832, married Henry Armitage, of Ohio,
and lives near Damascus; they had no children. (2)
Benjamin Ladd, born in 1834 in Steelville, married
in i860, Anna Wilson, of Fairville, Chester Co.,
Pa., and they had one daughter, Gertrude M. Seal.
For his second wife Benjamin L. Wood married
Louisa M. Faucett, of Ohio, by whom he had two
daughters, Anna and Mabel, both married and liv-
ing in Iowa where the parents resided for fifteem
years. In 1900 Mr. Wood married for his third i
wife Mary Martin, one of Chester county's success--
ful school teachers. I'hey live in Avondale, Chester"
county. (3) Amos, who died young, was the third
of this family.
In 1841 Thomas Wood, then residing in Steel-
ville, Chester county, married his second wife, Sarah.
Coates, daughter of Warrick and Eleanor Coates^
of Londonderry township, Chester county. She was-
a granddaughter of Samuel Coates, of Cain town-
ship, and a descendant of Moses Coates, the emi-
grant. Her mother, Eleanor Pusey Coates, was of"
Sie distinguished Pusey family ; they were all mem-
bers of the Society of Friends. Sarah Coates, born .
in 1 81 5, died in 1896. She was one of a large fam- -
ily of children. Hart Granville, Ellis Pusey, Samuef ' '
Warrick, Susan, Sarah, Abagail and Philena lived to>-
maturity, and all except SamUel married and raised .
families. Abagail Hoopes and Philena C. Lynch are
the only surviving children of Warrick and Eleanor-
( Pusey) Coates. There are descendants into the-
third and fourth generations living in Chester and
Lancaster counties.
Thomas and Sarah Wood had children as fol-
lows : ( I ) Lydia married Jesse, son of Moses and'
Margaret Hollowell Brinton; children — Marion,.
Laura Alma and Estella. They reside in Montgom- -
ery county. Pa. (2) Laura married Leslie Barnes. .
(3) Ellis Pusey married Rebecca Martin, daughter
of Thomas and Hannah M artin, and they had two -
children, Walter Thomas (who married Mary
Pusey) and Mary (who married Samuel Pusey in-'
1900). (4) Philena C. married David W. Jackson,
and has two children, Lindley D. and Elizabeth.
(5) Morris Thomas married Margaret Weldon, andi
they had two children, Leila Mary and Elizabeth •
Hodgson, both attending the Woman's College at
Baltimore. On Feb. 12, 1891, Thomas Wood and
his wife Sarah celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of '
their marriage. A year later he died suddenly from
an attack of infli:enza. Four years later, at the age
of eighty-one, his widow passed as peacefully into -
the other life as she had lived in this life on earth.
Beautifully sweet did old age creep on until she was -
claimed, leaving four children devoted to her mem-
ory. Thomas and Sarah Wood lie side by side in -
the burying ground at Ercildoun, Chester county.
CYRUS LINGERFIELD (deceased) was
born in Paradise township, Lancaster county, Sept.
6, 1835, and he died at the present home of his fam-
ily, April 9, 1894. His ashes repose in Atglen Cem-
etery. His paternal grandparents came to Lancas-
ter county from Germany at an early day.
John Lingerfield, his' father, was bom in Para-
dise township and died there. To him and his wife, ,
whose maiden name was Catherine Ruth, were born 3
the following children: (i) Cyrus. (2) Cathar--
ine, born in Paradise township, died unmarried inx
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1897
• Christiana Feb. i6, 1894, at the age of fifty-seven.
(3) Sarah A. married T. R. Hirst. (4) John, now
a retired merchant of Philadelphia, enlisted in Phila-
delphia, in September, 1862, in the 15th P. V. C, was
all through the southwestern war serving under
Gens. Rosecrans and Thomas, and he was with Gen.
Sherman on his march to the sea ; in 1864 he was de-
tailed from the regiment as commissary sergeant
for Gen. Thomas. After being mustered out at
Nashville, Tenn., in June, 1865, he started in the
meat and provision business in Philadelphia, so con-
tinuing until 1884, when he retired. In 1880 he
-married Ettie E. Cooper, daughter of Jesse K.
Coopjer, of Bird-in-Hand. (5) Miss Hettie resides
in Christiana. John Lingerfield, the father, was a
miller by trade, and followed that avocation until
1841. That year he entered a warehouse as a clerk,
^ position he held until 1855. He died March 6,
1874, at the age of seventy years.
Cyrus Lingerfield was married Feb. 28, 1867, in
Lancaster, to Adaline Barr, by whom he had two
-children : John B., a clerk in Philadelphia, married
Jennie C. Matlock, and has one child, Harold Chris-
tine ; and Lois Gertrude is at home. Mrs. Lingfir-
:iield was born in Millersville, Pa., a daughter of
Jacob R. and Christiana (Dickie) Barr, the forrner
"a son of Owen and Mary (Richards) Barr, of Lan-
caster county though of English extraction, and the
latter of German parentage. Jacob R. Barr was; a
coachmaker in Millersville, where at one time he
Tield the office of postmaster, and for some time
was deputy collector of the Internal Revenue. So-
-cially he was a member of the I. O. O. F. and of tbe
American Mechanics. His death occurred in Mil-
lersville, Aug. 21, 1876, at the age of sixty-five, and
liis widow passed away in 1889, at the age of sev-
enty-four. They were both members of the Zion's
Reformed Church. Their children were: (i)
Samuel died in infancy. (2) Mary A. is the widow
■of Hiram S. Witmer, a farmer of Millersville. Nine
•children were born to them, of whom three — Ed-
win, William and Katie — died in youth. Those sur-
viving are: Jacob Henry, Christiana, Elizabeth
May, John Washington, Alvin and Mary Emma.
(3) Susan, (4) Jacob and (5) Henry, all three died
in infancy. (6) Miss Fannie died in 1890. (7)
Catherine married John H. Stauiifer, of Millersville.
<8) Adaline is Mrs. Lingerfield. (9) William Clay,
;an ornamental painter of New Haven, Conn., was
a. soldier in the Civil war. He married Amelia T.
Knotwell, and their children were : Zelva May, Vi-
ola Maria and John Reginald. (10) Benjamin F.
died in infancy, (n) John Washington married
Gertrude A. Cook, of Philadelphia. He was a phys-
ician of Philadelphia, with one of the largest prac-
itices of any young physician in the city, and he died
;in 1891, at the age of forty-one years. (12) Emma
IE. married Martin A. Baldwin, a coachmaker, of
"New Providence, Lancaster county, and they have
,one child, Sara Barr. (13) Miss Sara A. has her
fcome with her sister Emma. (14) George and
(15) Christiana, twins, and (16) Elmira died in
infancy.
Cyrus Lingerfield entered a coach shop at Par-
adise, where he served his apprenticeship, and be-
came an expert workman. In 1866 he formed a
partnership with T. R. Hirst, his brother-in-law,
and the two were in business together for ten years,
when they dissolved partnership by mutual consent.
Mr. Lingerfield was then appointed notary public,
an office he held for three terms, and was Scrivener
until his death. In the community he was a man of
considerable prominence, and built up a fine busi-
ness. In Masonic circles he took an active part,
and filled at various times all the chairs in the local
lodge, and served as secretary of the same for a
period of six years when he resigned. In politics
he was a Republican. His religious connections
were with the Presbyterian Church, in which he
served as treasurer and trustee.
HENRY REIGART BRENEMAN, one of
Lancaster's leading general insurance and real es-
tate men, with office in the Woolworth building,
comes from a long line of prominent people, pa-
ternally and maternally. The first of the line on
the paternal side to come to America was Melchoir
Breneman, who came here from Switzerland, in
1709, driven from home and country by religious
persecution. He was the preacher of the colony of
Mennonites who came here and settled in the neigh-
borhood of New Danville, this county, on a land
grant from Penn, later increasing his land holdings
by purchases.
Dr. Abram Breneman, the grandfather of
Henry R., was in his time one of Lancaster's most
prominent physicians. His home was the house for
many years afterward owned and occupied by the
late Hon. A. Herr Smith, and still owned by Miss
Eliza Smith. It is a very old, house, having been
built prior to the time of the Revolution, and tKere
Dr. Abram Breneman and his son. Dr. Abram (the
father of Henry R.), who was also a member of the
medical profession, lived and practiced medicinle
together, and there both of them died, and were
buried on the same day, Dr. Abram, Jr., having at-
tended the elder Dr. Breneman in illness that re-
sulted fatally to both, the son dying from brain fever
induced by his close attendance upon his father. Dr.
Abram, the son, died on Friday, and Dr. Abram,
the father, died on Sunday following, and the
funeral was a double one. This was in December,
1847-
Dr. Abram Breneman, Jr., married Miss Anna
Reigart, daughter of the late Henry M. Reigart,
whose homestead and mill were in East Hempfield
township, afterward postmaster of Lancaster, who
died just one month before James Buchanan was
elected President of the United States, in 1856.
Mrs. Breneman entered into rest in 1881, aged
sixty-one years. Her family, famous for genera-
tions in the. annals of the county, was represented
1398
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in the Revolution by Lieut. Col. Adam Reigart, of
the 2d Pennsylvania Line, in the campaign pf New
Jersey and Long Island. She was the mothei- of
live children, two daughters, Mrs. Anna Elizabeth
Calder and Miss Emma M. Breneman, having en-
tered' into rest. The survivors are Henry R. ; John
S., a coal dealer of Lancaster, and Prof/ Abram A.,
a distinguished chemist in New York City, who held
a professorship at State College for a time, later
a professprship at Cornell University, -was ' vice- '
president of the American Association' for the Ad-
vancement of Science, and for a time edifor of the
Chemical News. ^ .. • ,
Henry Reigart Breneman was born on one of
his grandfather's fafms;,in Rianheim township, was
brought to Lancaster when only- two v^eeks old,' and,
arriving at school age, was ■ educated iii private
schools until he entered the high school, from vdiich '
he was graduated in 1857. He graduated from
State College in 1862, by special permission receiv-
ing his diploma from the latter institution in ad-
vance of Commencement Day, ifi order to allbw him^ ■
to enter the army. Pie enlisted in the 14th P. Yl C,
entering the service 'as api'ivate and being dis--
charged as adjutant of the regiment. At 'the close
of the war Gov. Geary commissioned him as major."
His- term of service lasted from' Sept.' 6, 1862, to
July 31, 1865, when be was discharged- by reason of
the close of the war. Serving vunder Gen. Kelly,
Gen. Averell and Gen. Sheridan, Mh West Virginia,
and the Valley of the Shenandoah 'carripaign, 'Ma-
jor Breneman was-takeflprisoner by the Confeder- '
ates at Rocky Gap, W. Va:, near 'the Greenbrier
White Sulphur Springs, while holding the rear, at""
the close of a two days' battle, against a superior^
force, during'withdrawal on Aug. 27, 1863, and he
was confined in various "prison pens," including
Belle Isle,Andersonville, Savannah,' and Millen,Ga.,
for fifteen months." At -the dose feFf the war. Major
Breneman entered the coal- biisirtess in Lancaster,'
remaining in same' for ten years, and then embarked '
in th& real estate and insurance business, in which
he is at present engaged.; He was treasurer of 'the
Champion Blower ^& Forge Company for ten years;
was a member of the- school board" of the city for
nine years r president of the Peoples Building, Loan
and Deposit Company; and secr-etatry of the Lan-
caster County -Monumental Association, from date
tDf organization, having- superintended the erection
of the soldiers' monument in the Square at Lan-
caster.
Major Breneman, as he is familiarlv known,
married Miss Eleonora de Welden Breneman,
daughter of the late A. N. Breneman, who was for
many years the most prominent shoe merchant in
Lancaster. Two daughters were born of this union
— Miss Carolyn, a teacher and a gifted painter ; and
Miss Minnie, who entered into rest ten years ago.
Major Breneman is a Republican in politics, and in
religion an Episcopalian, having been a vestryman
of St. James' Episcopal Church for ten years or
more. He is a member of the George H. Thomas
Post, No. 84, G. A. R., of which he has twice been
commander arid is now trustee ; a member of the
Union Veteran Legion, of which he was colonel for
one terrn; and'a member of Encampment No. 14.
The reeital of his experiences in the cavalry arid as-
a prisoner of war for fifteen months, would "fill a
big book," and a' most thrilling one it would be, and
yet, "such is his'riiodesty and reserve, he seldtirti, if
ever; refers to" it unless' drawn but on the subject
by those 6f his friend's who know his history and
love td hear him relate the more interesting inci-
dents.
SAMUEL MILLER (deceased). Many oj the:
comfortable 'old horiies of Lancaster county, have
been' bereft of the Heads 'of the liousehold,',who'
through lortg years have exerted in the comtnunitj
good influences and have Set examples of upright
living. When Deitlr calls these from earth, both
'ftoiily and neighborhoods mourn. Such was, nota-
bly fhfe case wheK SamuelMiller, who had passed
his liffe"iri' S'adsbury township, anid was A^ell^and
widely known, was called hence on Nov. 21, iSgo,
at the "agfe of " Seventy-three.
' The birth of Sarhuel Miller was in the log cabin;
built by his graridfather, on the farm now occupied
by ""the widow of the formei^. Here Heronimus and
Mlary (puffy) MJller Settled at a very early day,
■eleai-ed up this fide farrn arid in turn left it to Jheir
offspring. 'H^re they reared a fa.miry of five chil-
dren: Samuel ; Willialri; Sarah, vi'ho married 'Will-
iam'Knott ; Catherine, who riiari-ied Mrs. Mpffet;;
arid' John, all 6f, thes^'' having long since been gath-
ered to their ancestors.
John and Anna (Murphy) Miller, j)arents of
Saifiuel \ Millef , both . ''bf '" Lancaster county, were
farming people and settletjori the old Miller home-
stead,-where the father died in 1840, at the age of
sixty-five years,'; and the mother j ten years later, at
the age of fifty-six. "Their children were : Samuel ;
Anna, who died in youth; Mary j., unmarried, who'
lives' vi'ith 'Mrs, Miller oh" the old homestead; and
William, ablacksmithV who riiarried Sarah Nich-
olson, aiid died" in February, 1874, at the age of. fifty-
two' years, the father of the following children:
Johtf"(fl'eceased), Mary (who died in infancy),
Ella (who married John Barr, lives in Harrisburg) ,.
'William (deceased), Miranda (who is the widow
of Jefferson Fritz, and resides with Mrs. Miller),
Mary (who is the' widow! of Charles Sparver, of
HarrisbUrg) arid Ffank (who resides also in Har-
risburg). ' .
Through life Samuel Miller pursued agricult-
ure and was regarded as an excellent farmer and
most worthy citizen. Although he believed in the-
pnnaples of the Democratic partv, he was never
a politician, and never desired public office. Pur-
suing the even tenor of his way, he lived the honest,
upright life of a kind neighbor, good husband and'
father, and loyal friend. For seventy-three years
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COlTNTY
itk
he was known in one locality. His remains were
laid to rest in the Union Presbyterian cemetery in
Bart township, he having been a supporter and at-
tendant, of the Presbyterian Church, with Tvliich his
mosj: estimable widow is connected by membership.
On March 29, 1842, Samuel, Miller was, married
in Lancaster, Pa., to Hettie E., Hill, and the chil-
dren born to this union, >vere: Martha, who mar-
, ried Isaac Wence, a farmer near Harrisburg; Joiin,
■ -vvho died yduhg ; Samuel, a ' farmer in Sadsbury
township, Ayhd married Lizzie Rowe ; Ashmer, de-
ceased; and Howard, who lives unmarried with his
honored mother. , ,
The birth pi Heftie E. (Hill) Miller occurred
near Wilmington, Del., Dec. 25, 182,1. Her par-
ents were John and ]Vrarth^,( Phillips) Hill, of Wil-
mington, where they spept 'their, lives, with the ex-
ception of. the years. 1839-49, spent in Lancaster
county. Father Ilill died in 1843, at^ the Age, of
seventy-five years, the ;niother dying ip 1824, at the
age of fifty-six years^ tKe' latter belongiiig to the
.Socifjty, of Friends. Th,e children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Hill were,: Maria, ^ho married John Rtjmor,
is deceased; John, deceased; ,Ellen, who "died in
youth ; Hannah, who liyed unmarried, and 'di^4, in
advanced years,; and Settie E.,, who became Mrs.
, Midler. IVirs. Miller, is qne of the universally re-
spected ladies of Sadsbury township, where she has
lived sa long. Beloyed by Tier farnilyand esteerned
.tiirough the neighborhood, , few heads, of families
qominand more afi:"ection. Her hospitality .ia, well
known and so vigorous is she in mihdaod body that
there is every hope that so lovable a character may
long be spared in the old home.
JACOB SHANK, a representative farmer of
Manor township, belongs to a very old and higlily
respected family of Lancaster county.
The first of whom we have aijy. record was John
■Shank, a native of Switzerland,, who lopated here
about 1740, and purchased a tract of government
land in Manor township, consisting of sonie 400
acres of Central Mapor, which , has been trans-
forriied by the family into one of the. finest farms of
the county and, is, still, in their possession, being now
occupied by Abraham Shank. John Shank devoted
his attention to the . improvement and, cultivation of
this place until called to liis final rest when in middle
life. He was a large man of powerful physique.
Before leaving his native la,nd, he married a Miss
,Gingerich, a daughter of Hans Gingerich, and to
them were born eight children: Henry, the, grand-
father of Jacob; Daniel, who went to Indiana; where
he died at the advanced age of ninety years ; John,
who remained in Lancaster county, but left no de-
scendants here as his only son died unmarried, and
his daughter, Mrs. Philip Borger, went West ; Mi-
chael, who also went to Indiana ; Elizabeth, wife of
Martin Funk; Martha, who died unmarried; Mrs.
Gashan; and Mrs. Shupp.
Henry Shank, our subject's grandfather, was
born in I755, and spent his entire life on the old
farm in Manor tpwriship, yi^here he died at the ex-
treme old age o,f ninety-seven years,, seven months
and twenty-six days. He married , Barbara, daugh-
, t^r pi Abram Hostetter, and they betarne the par-
ents of five children: Christian, a farnier, who
died unmarried'at the age of forty years; John, .who
married a Miss Strickler and died at the same age ;
.Henry, the father of Jacolj; Abram, a farmer of
Manor township, also deceased ; and Elizabeth, who
married Henry Hoover, a Menhonite minister, and
had four sons, isvho' grew to maturity and moved to
Clark county, Ohio. .
. . Henry Shank, Jr., father pi Jacob, was born
June g, 1791, and died Feb. 7, 1869. He wa.s reared
on the pld homestead and at the age of twenty-one
beg?in teaming between Pittsburg and Philadelphia,
following that pursuit for several years. With his
team he was pressed into service during the war' of
j8i2, but was retained only for a short time. About
;i82i he married Miss Barbara Shellenberger, a
daughter qf Henry Shellenberger, and by that union
.he l^ad the^ following children : Henry, born in De-
cember, 1822, who followed farming and died uji-
rnarri?d,,Marj:h 28, 1897; Barbara, the wife of John
Dietrich, of lylano.r township ; Isaac, a fafmer of the
sarne township ; Abraharn, a farmer of Cumberland
county, Pa., who married Rebecca Bender and has
two daughters; and Benjamin, a resident of Maiior
.township, Lancaster county. For his second wife
the; fattier rnarri^d Mrs. Barbara (Kauffman) Fry,
widow of Adam Fry, and the only child born of this
union was Jacob, whose name introduces this
sketch. The mother died in 1856, at the age of
fifty-six years,
Jacob Shank was born May 12, I836, and was
reaired. on the farm in Manor township, his educa-
tion being obtained in the common schools of Pros-
^pect Hill. At, the age of sixteen he commenced
learning the blacksmith's trade with Samuel Grash,
of that township, and followed that occupation for
s^x yeai-s. After his marriage he turned his atten-
tion to farming, opei-ated, rented land for six years
and then purchased a' small tract of his brother
jls^ac,, near Central Manor, which he made his home
nutil 1874, when he bought eighteen and a half acres
where he now resides, In connection with farming
he has followed butchering among the farmers for
thirty years..
. On July 22, 1858, Mr. Shank was united in mar-
riage with Miss Lydia Funk, who was born in Ma-
nor, township, Aug. 27, 1840, a daughter of John
and Mary (Herr) Funk. Seven children were born
to them. (i) Barbara died in childhood. (2)
John,, a mechanic of Washington borough, wedded
Mary Shank and they have five children, Minerva,
Minnie, Daniel, Ruth and John. (3) Kate is the
wife of Albert Ulmer, of Manor township, who
was born in Columbia, and they have one child, Ja-
cob S. (4) Mary is the wife of Joseph Zinkand, an
employe in the rolling mill at Columbia, and they
1400
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS Off LANCASTER COUNTY
have two children, John H. and Annie. (5) Aman-
<ia, (6) Jacob and (7) Elizabeth are all at home.
The family are among the most worthy and re-
spected citizens of the county. Mr. Shank affiliates,
with the Republican party and has served as su-
pervisor two terms. He has in his possession twoi
, family heirlooms in the shape of Bibles, one printed;
in 1536, the other in 1580.
ISAAC SLATER GEIST, late editor and peo-
■prietor of the Marietta Times, was born March.
5, 1832, in Manheim township, Lancaster coujaty,.
a member of a family that has long been established,
.in Pennsylvania. The first representative in this
countr}' was George Geist, Sr., who was beam, in
Wurtemberg, Germany, and many years after his
marriage started for America, accompanied by his
wife and five children, Simon, Leonard, George,
Mary and Rosina. The last named died on the voy-
age and was buried at sea.
The family landed in Philadelphia in 1750, and
the sons, Simon and Leonard, soon afterward ap-
prenticed themselves to a man named Slaymaker, in
, Strasburg, to pay the expense of the voyage and re-
lieve their parents of that burden. After a brief
sojourn in Morris county, N. J., the family removed
to Virginia, where the father engaged in farming.
Later, however, he returned to. Morris county, where
he died. One of his brothers, Philip, came to this
country from Germany in 1753, and settled at Stras-
burg, Lancaster county. His son, Philip, Jr., became
one of the most prominent Whig politicians of the
county, served as commissioner in 1853, and filled
other local offices.
Simon Geist, the eldest son of George Geist, Sr.,
was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Bach-
man, whose father, Felix Bachman, was a large land
owner in the southeastern part of Lancaster county.
Th€ir children were : Margaret ; Mrs. Elizabeth
Hood, who died in Ohio ; Jacob, a resident of Ohio ;
George ; Henry : Mrs. Barbara Fogel ; Mrs. Susan
McCord, of Colerain township ; Sarah, who died un-
married; and Mrs. Rachel Pickle. Leonard, the
second son of George Geist, Sr., married a Miss
Pickle, and made his home near Pittsburg.
George Geist, Jr., was born in Wurtemberg, Ger-
many, April 18, 1739, and after coming to this coun-
try was apprenticed to a farmer, Daniel Roger, re-
siding in Manheim township, five miles north of
Lancaster City, until twenty-one years old. After-
ward purchasing land, he became the owner of 120
acres of land near Neffsville, where he resided until
his death, Oct. 21, 1821, at the age of eighty-two
years, five months and twenty-four days. George
Geist, Jr., was twice married. His first wife was
Barbara Wolfe, and after her death he married her
sister Susan. Their children were seven in number,
namely: Jacob married and lived near Lancaster,
Ohio ; Elizabeth, wife of George Kraft, died in Man-
heim township ; George, Jr., married Mary Burken-
house, and for his second wife chose Miss Mary
I Johnson.; Andrew noairried Aima. Eafcer,. and they
[ lived ia Erie until, his, dieath, at the age- o£ ninety-five'
' years ; Susaa beeamc; the wife ©f.Rac.. Michael. Witr
man, of Manheim. borough; Baniei married. Eliza-
' be.th Tuft and lived in PennsjlvanJa;. j€jhn. married.
; Mary Slater.. The iHtter's fatheji,, Capt^ John. Slater,,
was the- first mer.chasuLt of Neffisvillei. He was. a sol-
dier ill thfr KfiLvoliUtioiiiary waa:,. eniist.ing^ in. 1:^778. in.
CoL Hollenbach's, regiiment, and, sarviag, as, captaini
of kJB. company unjttil rausteired. out,. Aug. 2^, 1780.
Cant,. Slates; had a liberal educatixiHi and for. some-
years taught schco-L He opened tditie first dty-gpods.
stsare" in, FLdMler's; Green (now. Nfflffsville), and. also-
. sesrved as postroaister at thaitplacsi.
Joha Geist,. the father oCour suhject, w.as..born.ini
'Manheim toiwusfciip, Jan. zs, i;^7» and received
; meager edlicattonal advantages. His lifer was that
[ of a faraneir, has home beings near NeffsviSfe; Politi-
cally he was a WTiig in early Efe, and' latar a strong;
advocate ©f Republican pflincipBes. In-, u^gious, be-
lief he was a Lutheran, is. whfch faith he. died Oct.
iS, 1863, aged seventy-siix yeaars, eight months and
twenty-three days. His; wif^ Mary,, -scho was. hprrx
Sept. 28, 1 79 1, in Eaist Lampeter tgjwnship, died
May 22, 1863, aged senrenty-one years,., seven m©nth,&
and twenty-four days. She was a dfevout member
of the Presbyterian C&urch. John a«d: M'ary- Geist
had issue : Daniel S.. and John S., twins, were- bora
June 27, 1813, the tetter dying Dec-.. 4, 1888'; Jacojb^
born Dec. 26, i8i8„ lives in Daytfin*, Ohio,-: Samuel
S., born June 24, 1820, lives in Manheim township i
Henry and Mary, twins, were b©m Feb. 26-, 1-823,
and the latter, Mrs. Augustus SJglitner, is now liv-
ing on the old homestead in Manhdnn township;
Barbara was bom Jan. 30, 1826, is the wife of Will-
, iam Fritz, a carpenter of Leacock township ; Ahram,
born May 12, 1829, is a residertt of Manheim town-
ship ; Isaac Slater and Rebecca, twins, born March
5,-1832, and the former is the subject of this sketch ;
the latter, unmarried, is living in Lancaster. Susan,
the youngest, born March 2, 1836, is the wife of
John Long, of Womelsdorf, Berks county.
Isaac Slater Geist was educated in the. schools of
Manheim township, Whitehall Academy, at Harris-
burg, and the M.illersville State Normal, graduating
from the scientific department of the latter institu-
tion in 1861. Prior to this he taught a number of
terms of school, being thus engaged in Illinois a
.short time. On his return East he took his scienti-
fic course, and' then taught one year, after which he
was for four years professor of natural sciences of
Millersville State Normal School. On returning to
Marietta he became principal of the high school,
which position he held until 1888. Altogether he was
employed for thirty-six years as principal of schools.
In 1886 he purchased the Marietta Times, which he
edited and published until his death.
Editor Geist was an active Republican and one of
the leaders of his party in this section of the county.
After retiring as principal of the high school he
served as director of the Home Building & Loan
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1401
-Association. He belonged to Ashara Lodge, Ivlo.
,398, F. & A. M., of which he was secretary for
twenty-five years; Corinthian Chapter, No. 224,
and Cyrene Commandery, No. 34, K. T. In the
Presbyterian Church of Marietta he served as dea-
•con. Mr. Geist was married October 26, 1865, to
Miss Margaret, daughter of Frederick Franck, of
JVEarietta.
HON. AMOS H. MYLIN, ex-senator and ex-
auditor-general of the State of Pennsylvania, lives
in the historic home in West Lampeter township
which was built by his great-grandfather, but which
has been remodeled and modernized by its present
-occupant. In Rupp's "History of Lancaster County"
appears a full-page illustration of this fine old man-
sion, which was built by Martin and Ann Meylin
(as the name was then spelled) in 1740, and the same
Tiistory has this to say of the dwelling : "They built
what was then called a palace of sandstone. It was,
in 1742, one of the most stately mansions in the
■county, and as the Mennonites were a plain people,
and Martin Meylin an active member, the house was
not only considered too palace-like, but the appeair-
:ance of it might, as the Mennonites reasonejd,
strengthen their enemies in prejudicing the govern--
nient against them. The Bishop, Hans Tschanljz,,
with his elders and assistants, having repaired to the
humble cottage hard by the stately mansion and or-
ganized the meeting, Martin Meylin was summoned
and questioned, but he stated that he consulted only
"his comfort, and had no sinister views in building the
rmansion." So says Historian Rupp. Of course the
trouble finally ended and the grand old building rp-
mained to give shelter and comfort to unborn gener-
ations ; and it stands to-day, a proud monument to
the progressiveness and liberality of Hon. Amos H.
Mylin's great-grandfather.
' Amos H. Mylin was born in the old homestead
-where he still lives, in West Lampeter township,
Sept. 29, 1837, son of Martin Mylin. He is descend-
ed from one of those Mennonite families who, in
1709, emigrated from Canton Schafifhausen, Swit-
zerland, to the New World, seeking that religious
peace and freedom denied them in the Old. They
-were a vigorous race, and transplanted with them the
intense love of home which has ever been a char-
acteristic, so that the first resting-place that gave
them welcome in the New World became their fixed
and permanent abode.
Born and reared among such influences, Amos
H. Mylin inherited the sturdy character and un-
swerving integrity of his ancestors, and growing
up in the home established by them has developed a
strong, ^onest and rugged manhood. Through his
own unaided efl'orts he laid the foundation of_ a
Jiberal education in the public schools of his native
county, and at Charlotteville, N. Y., completing his
■studies at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. Al-
though leaving that institution with a thorough
icnowledge of the classics and a perfect mastery of
the German language, he has never ceased to regret
his inability to pursue the full collegiate course of
study for which he was preparing himself while in
Andover. Failing health thwarted his ambition,
and he had to return home.
On his return to Lancaster county Mr. Mylin
worked around the neighbofhood, husking corn, cut-
ting wood, etc., and in 1861 began to read law with
the late A. Herr Smith, of Lancaster, afterward
Congressman from this district. His studies were
stopped in 1862 by his enlistment in the loth Regi-
ment of Pennsylvania Emergency Men, but he re-
sumed them on his return, at the University Law
School, in Philadelphia, graduating in 1864. He
practiced his profession in Lancaster for four years.
But office work did not agree with this farmer boy,
and his health again broke down, so he abandoned
the law and went back to the old homestead, where
he has since lived and tilled the farm. Always act-
ive in Republican politics, in 1872 his neighbors in-
sisted that he run for a seat in the Lower House of
the Legislature. He was nominated and elected
without leaving his farm for one day's canvassing,
an auspicious beginning to a legislative career that
lasted exactly twenty years. At the expiration of
his third term he was nominated for the State Senate,
and continuously represented Lancaster county in
that body from i87'6 to 1892. His services were
given on some of the most important committees of
both Houses, and he was twice chairman of the
Senate Appropriations committee, and for several
sessions was chairman of the committee on Educa-
tion. During the long special session of 1883, and
the regular session of 1885, he was president pro-
tem of the Senate.
In iSgr Senator Mylin was a candidate for the
nomination of auditor-general, and had over sixty
votes in the State convention but Gen. David M.
Gregg won the nomination. Although disappointed,
the former went to work • for the ticket as vigor-
ously as ever. His friends all over the State did not
forget him, and when he announced his candidacy in
1894 they rallied around him with a unanimity that
assured his nomination from the start, and he was
triumphantly elected. Senator Mylin was well,
qualified for the position. There was hardly a law
in the statute books that he had not helped to frame,
alter or amend. In the legislation affecting corpora-
tions, consequent upon the adoption of the new Con-
stitution, he took part, while his services on the
Appropriations committees had thoroughly familiar-
ized him with the State's expenditures, and the work-
ings and needs of institutions receiving State ap-
propriations. His long legislative career was the
highest evidence of the esteem in which he was held
by those who knew him best, his friends and neigh-
bors. His private life had been one of thrift and
economy — a fit training for that particular servant
of the people who passes upon the people's bills, and
this, together with his unimpeachable honesty, his
diversified knowledge, and his marked sympathy
1402
BIOGRApHIGAL-ANNALS- of LANCASTER county
with the agricultural interests of a great efommon-
wealth, united to inake him a model auditor-geheral.
Since his retirement frorti the auditor-general's
office Senatbi' Mylin, for he is 'known to the whole
community by the title he so long bore with much
credit to- himself • and his ' constituents, has lived
quietly onhis' farm, looking after his home interests.
He -married' Mrs.' Carrie Povi^ell, of Williamsport,
Pa., an accomplished lady,'who is descended from a
Revolutionary family," and is' an active member of
the- Daughters of the Revolution. ' She is also a ■
' member of the Iris Club, and is one of th& leaders in
•the local circks of Lancaster society. Two daiigh-'-
ters- were born to Mrs. Mylin's first union : Carrie '
arid Elizabeth (who married Mr.- Pairvin) .By her •
union witli Senator Mylin three children have been-
borriy BaAara, Helen 'and Mercy, all of whom are
at' school. The -Senator is prominent -in Masonic cir-
cles; being a' member of thechapterand the Knights'
Templar.
A genial and ' forceful • man, unostentatious in '
manner, with a kindly greeting for all whorh he en-
counters, it is not a matter for wonder that Senator
Myliwhas been' for so many -years one of the most '
p'opular men in all Lancaster county— "Honest" -
Amos- Mylin,- as he is fainiliarty and'lovihgly called
by hosts of "people. ' ' His acquaintance with prom- '
■inent men all over the State gives him a prestige that '
has seldom been' enjoyed, to -the same extent, by one
of : Lancaster county's citizens.
GEDRGE HAMBRIGHT' (deceased) was in
-his active life one of the ftiost reputable citizens of '
Mount Joy and Rapho townships, where his inanly
character, strong sense of honesty, and instinctive
readiness tohelp onward every good work and word '
in the neig'hborhood, made him' one df'the'rnbst'use- '
fu'l men of his times. He' was born May 2,' 1821,
in Rapho township, and he died ill the village' of
Florin; Mount Joy township; Feb. 9, 1896; altriost
•reaching the' age of seventy-five years, and he was
buried in the Florin cemetery beside his first wife
who preceded him to the grave about twenty-five
years.
Adam and Rebecca (Hossler) Hambright, his
parents,- lived and died in Rapho township, and Were
buried in the' graveyard adjoining Hosslers meeting
house, Rapho township, at advanced ages. They
followed f arriving, and the father also carried on car-
pentering'and cabinet making. To them Were born
two children, as follows: .Susan, who was married
to a Mr. Musselman, of Cumberland county; and
George, as noted above. Mr. and Mrs. Musselman
lived together in Cumberland county some years,
but their married life was cut short, as the wife was
burned to death while boiling soap at her home.
Adam Hambright, the father, had four brothers,
who were all prominent citizens of Lancaster city
and vicinity, all reaching advanced ages. They
were as follows: Frederick, George, Martin and
Michael Hambright.
On Oct. 20, 1842; Gebrge Hambright was mar-
ried to Catharine Baker, of -Rapho township. After
successfully carrying on farming for some years in
Rapho township, they reinoved to Florin, Mount
Joy township, and lived a retired life. They were
blessed with but one child, a daughter, Mary, born
Sept. 21, 1843, who was united in marriage to-
Henry P. Breneman, of Mount Joy township," and
at present they live a retired life in Florin.
Mrs. Cathari^ie CBaker) Hahibright was bom
March 9, 1-824; in Mount Joy towhship, and after
living a retired life only a few years with her hus-
band in Florin died about 1870, and was buried in
the Florin cemetery. She, together with her hus-
band, lived a Christian and righteous life and they
were well liked by the whole community.
George Hambright was married, in r874:, to
Miss' Fanny Peters Breneman, of Mount Joy toyirn-
ship,'and they became the parents of these children r
(i) Benjamih B.i born' near Breneman's school
house in Mount Joy township, March 31, 1875, re-
ceived a common school education, and while yet
young' commenced working on the farrh and is now
a "successful and prosperous farmer near Florin,.
Mount Joy towriship. On June 4, 1:900, he was mar-
ried to Miss Alice Caslow, second in a large family
of children born to Albert Caslow and wife, of Mt,
"Joy township.' (2) Aihos B., born Aug. 20, 1876,
near Breneman's school hbuse, Mount Joy town-
ship; a-fter attending school until the ag'e of sixteen
coininenced the study of telegraphy. He now lives in
the village of Landisville, where he is emp!o3-ed as
telegraph operator and towerman for the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad. On June 15, 1899, he was married to
Miss Elizabeth S. Yetter, youngest daughter of
William P. Yetter and wife, of Bachmanville, Dau-
■ phin -county, and they have had two children : Will-
iam Russel, born June 26, '1900; at Fibrin, and died
' at the age' of ten days ; ''and 'Irene Elizabeth, born
June 16, 1901, at'Florin. (3) Gebrge B.; born Jan.
25, 1878, at Florin; received a .common school edu-
cation and then commenced the study of telegraphy
and was employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad at
the age of nineteen years. He was', however, soon
stricken down with poor health, and lingered until
Sept. '20, 1900, when he died from tuberculosis, and'
was buried on the family plot in the Florin cemetery.
(4) John B., born at Florin, May 5, 1883, attended
the villiage school and the Mbunt Joy High school!
for several years, and at the age of nineteen years,,
entered Lebanon Valley College at Ahnville, iPenn-
sylvania.
In politics George Hambright was a Republi-
can, and followed farming in the early part of his life,
but never held any public office. He was- an honest
and upright man, and is well remembered as an ex-
ceedingly industrious and earnest man who wished
to do his full share in the work of life. He was a
Christian man in the fullest sense, nearly all his life,
and in his young manhood was a member of the
United Brethren Church in Rapho township, and
BIQGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF: LANCASTER COUNTY
140B
the la^tiew ypar^ was, a member of the same clji^rch
at Florin, wher^ he, set up a good exaipple for
his family in the Christian \york. .:
..TVlfs.' Fanny (Breneman)' Hambright, the
ygungest in. a family of eight phildren, wasJ)orn ,
,near,B,renfiman's school house in Mount Joy tdwn-
'.shipj.Dec. 25, 1841, After th^e death ,Qf her husband
she remained living at their home in Florin, .with , ;
her children living close around her.f. Her ipaTgnts-s
vvere Benj^amin and Nancy Brenenian, 'Who were
of old and conspicuous families and, wealthy and-pro-
, .gressive , farmers near Breneman's .sphool, hou^ in.,
Hoiint, Joytpynship. Benjamin Brenprpan ^serrved, -
many years as. a, school director in his^ tovv nship, and .
he was the principal promoter pf education in, his,
vi,cinity~ it being chiefly , through his- effprtSrthat.t
the schppLhpuse was-built which, now; stijl bears hisi,,
name. Benjamin Breneman , and his wife were..
Christiaij, people, and died at .advanced- ages, and
were, buried in the graveyard adjoining Kraybill's.
Mennonit<^ rn,e^ting house in East Donegal township.
George Hjambright,, the subject of this, sketch,
retired from the farm before his second naa;;riage,
. vvjieii hecraoved froni his, farm in.-.Raphp township
tpttie -village of Florin and gave up ;a,ctiv6~,labor.,7,.
..The proppetpr of an extensive farm, hp was^^npt ,
obliged to do.severe1abor and tppk delight in making
a - way . for , . those ., whp .nejcdedj ■ wprk, As a .kind
hearted andLtroright; man he,ha4.niany friend^: and;
his,-lo3s is stilffelt inrthfe-comrnunity.
.GEORGE HILDEBRAND RANCK,; c^f New. ,
Holland, at present postmaster and editor of the.;,
New jiplland Clarion, was ,born in, Mifi(linburg, Un-
-Jon Co,,, Pa-i Feb'. 2, 1843, iut. he is practically a son
of Lancaster County, as his parents were born , and «
reared in.this.cpunty.and aft^r a twp years residencje-!
"in Mifilinburg returned to their na,tive,; county.
^ThpRanck family is of German origin, cprning
fron| Wurteinberg, and .the ancestors of .our- -subject
wer^-,among the pioneer settlers of eastern- Penn-
sylvania,,, having emigrated to this county, : taking ,
up .land in the eastern part, in 1726. .Qther branches
of, the family settled m Berks and Lebanon counties,
.ydtiere many of their descendants have become prom-
. inent citizens,- We cannot give; the chain- of descent
complete, but ToHn Philip Ranck, the great-gireat-
grandfather of George H. was a farmer in, East Co-
calico, township. He was married to a Miss Haas, a
"descendant of another German pioneer family, and
they laad four sons— James, Philip, David and Isaac
—and five daughters— Nancy, Mrs. James De-
Haven ; Marv, Mrs. George Miller ; Barbara, Mrs.
Ream; Elizabeth, Mrs. Bander; and Mrs, Rich-
mond. David removed to Ohio and engaged in farm-
ing near Dayton; James was similarly engaged in
Chester county ; and Philip and Isaac were also
farmers in thi? county. All attained to a great age,
except Isaac who died at the age of thirty-three.
The ages of the others ranged from eighty-five to
ninety-six.
,. Isaac. Ranck was the grandfather of our sub-
ject. He, was born about 1794, and married Mar-
garet Swope, a descendant, in the third generation,
of ,Yost Swope, who emigrated from Wurtemberg,
Germany, and settled in Upper Leacock township,
this county, in 1723. Three sons were born of this,
union : John, who was a tailor and resided in Ken-
tucky, where he died in 1882; Daniel,. a potter, who
di^d in New Holland in 1894; and Isaac, who re-
sides in northern California.
Daniel Ranck, our subject's, father,,;was born in
East, Cocalico .township, iM^arch 14, 1819, and was
educated -in the district schools of. that, period.' He
..learned the pottery trade, then an important indus-
try in this county, and in 1842, soon after his mar-
riagCj iremoved to Mifflinburgy,' Union county, where
he.wprked at his trade two y«ars; Moving back to
Springville, Lancaster county, he resided there two
years,: when he moved to Ueacock., township, where
hesepntinued at his trade- until 1891, when he retired
-and located in New Holland, where he died in. .1894,
;.His~wife,was,Anna HildeBrand, daughter of Mich-
ael HildeBrand (3), a.jgrandson of Michael Hilde-
^Brand, who; emigrated from' the.,, Palatinate, , Ger-
,nian.y, and settled near, New Holland in 1738.- His-
son, Michael, was ajmember of Jenkin'a battalion in
the army of the, Revolution. The -wife of Michael
HildeBrand, (3) was Barbara Weaver, a descendant
of, another German, pioneer family in Pennsylvania,
that settled near New Holland in J721J Daniel and
; A?na, Ranck; were ,-both members o£ the Lutheran
Church, in- which he. served as. a .deacon for. a num-
ber of .years.; Mrs.., Ranck died . March 26,, 1900, in
-her eighty -tfirst-, year. They, had , two children:
George H, ; an.d . Catharine . Elizabeth. The : latter
,-waS: twice married, first to Cyrus iRutter, and sub-
:^se(]uently to Jacob Di#'enderfer'. Four children are
yet jliying by the first marriage : : Daisy, wife of J,
J. Shirk;: of Peqiuea ; Cpra, wife of Adam Fry, of
New -Holland; Newton; Of Blue,, Ball; and Jennie,
wife pf F. W., Oehme, of New. Holland. By her
.seppnd- marriage she. has one , daughter, Elsie.
..George H- :Ranck received a fain education, at-
tending the, public schools and .also a private school
in New Hp.lland. ; At the age of eighteen he became
a teacher which calling he followed eight years, his-
last term being as principal of the New Holland
,::s.chools. . In ,1869 he purchased a small, job printing
©utfit from John Black; in New Holland, and con-
' tinued at this business until 1873, -whtnThe Clarion,
a weekly newspaper, was founded by him and J. W..
Sandoe, from W'aynfisboro,- Franklin, county. This
partnership continued until 1878, when Mr. Sandoe
withdrew, and Mr. Ranck has continued in charge
up to thi.s time, a period of thirty years. The Clarion
is an eight page paper,. 16x22 inches in size, and has
a general circulation throughout this section of the
county, and has become one of the necessary fixtures
of the community, whose worth would be fully real-
ized were it to drop out of existence. The job print-
ing department of the establishment has always been
1404
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
;noted for its atti-active and artistic work, and this de-
;partment has always had a good patronage.
In politics Mr. Ranck is a Republican, and he has
^always taken an active part in political affairs. He
served one term of five years from 1871 to 1876 as
justice of the peace; six years, from 1882 to 1888,
as school director ; seven years, from 1882 to 1889, as
notary public; was a member of the county cofti-
anittee for several years; was twice elected a dele-
gate to the State Convention ; was a member of the
State Legislature in 1889-90; was elected the fifst
burgess of New Holland when the town was incor-
porated in 1895 ; and was appointed postmaster at
New Holland in 1897, which position he still holds.
In every enterprise tending to advance the interests
and promote the welfare of the community he has
always taken an active part and by his personal aid
and his influence through the columns of The Clarion
•has done some good service to the community. \
Mr. Ranck was joined in wedlock on May 20,
1866, to Ann Elizabeth Hollingsworth, a daughter
•of the late Samuel Hollingsworth, a furniture man|i-
facturer of New Holland, and a granddaughter of
the late Abraham DeHaven, a prominent farmer nekr
New Holland. Five children were born of this
imion : a daughter who died at birth ; Ivan Luther,
who is foreman of the Clarion Printing House;
Anna Mary, assistant postmaster; Bertha Virginiia,
■who died in 1883, at the age of seven years and six
months ; and Elizabeth Etta, a clerk in the post office.
Mr. Ranck is a member and a past grand of Earl
Lodge No. 413, I. O. O. F. : and past president of
"Washington Camp, No. 40, P. O. S. of A. He has
.also been district president of the Lancaster Eastern
District, of the State Camp of the latter order. He
•is also a member of the Pennsylvania-German So-
ciety, and of the Pennsylvania State Editorial Asso-
ciation. At the age of fifteen years he was admitted
to membership in Trinity Lutheran Church, New
Holland, and he has always taken an active part ^n
■church work, serving as a deacon from 1871 to 1884,
and as an elder since the latter date. He has al4o
'been treasurer of the Sunday-school since 1870, 'a
•teacher in the Sunday-school since 1869, and he h^s
•served as delegate to meetings of the church con-
ference and synod a number of times. \
JOHN HESS, in his day one of the successful
•agriculturists of Salisbury township, was a descend-
ant of the Hess family which has been established
in Lancaster county for several generations and has
been closely identified with its development and
progress, especially along agricultural lines. They
ihave been honorable and honored citizens from the
time of their settlement, nearly two centuries ago,
and the gentleman whose name introduces these
lines was a worthy representative of a worthy name.
About 1709 a Swiss colony came to this region,
and among the settlers were Samuel Hess and his
two brothers, the first of the name in America.
Samuel located at Peqtiea. He had a large family,
and one of his sons, Jacob, in 1734, took up a tract
of two hundred acres lying one mile east of Lititz,
in what is now, Warwick township. The property
has remained in the family ever since, being now
occupied by James H. Hess. Jacob Hess resided
with his father on the old homestead until his death
in 1778; he was interred in the family burying-
ground. He had eight daughters and two sons,
the latter named Christian and John.
Christian Hess, the father of John, passed the
greater part of his life in Paradise township, where
he built and conducted a woolen mill, operating
what is now the Hunsecker mill for many years.
He passed his latter years in retirement from active
business, and during this period served as poor
commissioner of Lancaster county. His death oc-
curred in Paradise township. He married Elizabeth
Rupp, and they had children as follows : Christian ;
Moses, a farmer of Duncannon, Pa. ; Henry ; John ;
Samuel; Mary, Mrs. Cyrus Royer; Eliza, who also
married Cyrus Royer; Nancy, Mrs. David Groff;
and Barbara, Mrs. George Hiltenbrand, all now de-
ceased.
John Hess was born Dec. 27, 1821, in Salis-
bury township, Lancaster county, and passed his
entire life on the homestead where he was born,
engaging in farming. The place comprised sixty-
five acres, and Mr. Hess was successfully occupied
with its cultivation throughout his active years.
He was industrious and progressive, and ranked
among the best farmers of his day in Salisbury
township, where he was likewise highly respected
for his sterling traits of character. His integrity
was never questioned, and he retained the esteem
of all with whom he came in contact, in either busi-
ness or social relations.
On March 7, 1854, in Leacock township, Mr.
Hess was united in marriage with Miss Harriet
Ann Rutter, and children as follows came to their
union : Amos S., who was born March 24, 1855, is a
farmer by occupation, lives on the old homestead,
married Margaret Eby, Jan. 20, 1880, and has had
three children, Elizabeth, Leroy and John; Ida,
born Aug. 11, 1857, died May 17, 1862; John R.,
born Nov. 2, 1859, a merchant at Gap, Lancaster
county, who married Eva Snodgrass, and has two
children, Ralph and Ruth; Henry, born April. 30,
1862, a farmer and miller in Salisbury township,
who married Elizabeth Hershey, and has had four
children, Clyde, Plarry, Willis and Harriet; Elvira
J., born June 25, 1864, who married Jacob Ranck,
a farmer of Paradise township, and has three chil-
dren, Bessie, Elwood and Anna ; Jacob, born March
7, 1866, unmarried, and residing with his mother at
Gap ; Eli, born April 25, 1868, a merchant at New
Holland, this county, who married Barbara Frantz,
and has one child, Edith; Hannah E., born Oct.
29, 1869, who is the wife of Ephraim Eby, a farmer
of Gap, and has four children, Ralph, Ross, Wilbur
and Evelyn.
John Hess passed away April 11, 1871, at his
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1405-
home in Salisbury township, and was laid to rest in
the cemetery of Christ Church, in Leacock township.
Though not a church member, he was a regular
attendant of that church, and contributed liberally
toward its support. He was a Democrat in political
sentiment. Mrs. Harriet Ann (Rutter) Hess, who
survives her husband, was born May 20, 1834, in
Leacock township, daughter of Eli and Elizabeth
(Skiles) Rutter, of that township.
DAVID B. LEVENITE, a well-known and
prominent business man of Millersville, is a native
of Manor township, Lancaster county, and was
born Sept. 28, 1843.
Samuel W. Levenite, the founder pf the Lancas-
ter county family bearing his surname, was born
in York county. Pa., in 1810, and when a young
man settled in Manor township, Lancaster county,
engaged in distilling and later in farming, as well
as in teaming between Philadelphia and Pittsburg.
To his marriage with Barbara Bitner, daughter of
Adam Bitner, there were bom eleven children, of
whom six reached the years of maturity, viz:
David B., whose name heads this sketch; Mary,
wife of Henry B. Herr, of Quarryville; Abraham
B., a merchant of Millersville; Albert B., a cigar
manufacturer of Lancaster City; Fannie, wife of
Ephraim Kauffman, of Manor township ; and El-
mira, married to Andrew Weitzel, of Drumore
township. The father died in August, 1891.
David B. Levenite was educated in the public
schools of his native township and assisted on the
home farm until his marriage, Jan. 10, 1869, after
which for three years he followed agriculture on
his own account; then in 1872 he embarked in the
lumber and coal business at Millersville in partner-
ship with his brother-in-law, John Nunamacher,
under the firm name of Nunamacher & Levenite,
and this firm also handled farming implements to a
great extent. Mr. Levenite is virtually the busi-
ness manager, and by his fair dealing has won for
himself and his firm hundreds of warm and stead-
fast friends.
The marriage of David B. Levenite with Miss
Elizabeth Nunamacher, daughter of William and
Anna Mary (Fox) Nunamacher, has been favored
with four children, viz : Sallie A., born Oct. 8, 1869,
now in the employ of J. B. Martin & Company, of
Lancaster City; Harry N., born Oct. i, 1871, an up-
holsterer, also in the employ of J. B. Martin & Co. ;
Albert, born May 30, 1874, who died June 2, 1878 ;
and John W. N., born Sept. 10, 1876, an engineer,
and married to Mary E. Klinger. The family wor-
ship at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, and socially
occupy a very desirable station.
The parents of Mrs. Levenite were natives of
Germany but came to this country when quite young
and were married in Lancaster county. William
Nunamacher, the father, was born in 1801, and
died in 1847, and his wife, who was bom m 1806,
died in -1875. Th? father was a small farmer and
carpet weaver, was a member of the Lutheran
Church and a strictly upright and respected citizen.
To his marriage were born twelve children, of whom
ten grew to maturity, viz: John, of the firm of
Nunamacher & Levenite, of Millersville ; William, a
deceased farmer; Catherine, deceased wife of Cor-
nelius Tyson; Mary Ann, wife of John Sohns, of
Millersville, Martin, a deceased shoemaker of Lan-
caster City; Samuel, who was a saddler and alsa
a railroad employe, but is now deceased ; Margaret,^
deceased wife of Benjamin Fehl, of Lancaster City^
Magdalena, wife of John Stump, of Slackwater,.
Lancaster county; Jacob and Frederick, deceased;
Fannie, wife of John Deitrich, of Naplesville, Ind. ;
and Elizabeth, wife of David B. Levenite, of Manor
township.
PHILIP FISHER, a retired farmer, and an old
and respected resident of West Donegal township,
was born on the farm where his long and singfularly
useful life has passed, Dec. 6, 1824, a son of Philip
and Susanna (Albert) Fisher, natives of Conestoga
and Mt. Joy townships, respectively. In 1821 they
settled on the farm where their son Philip is now
living, and there the mother died in 1845, at the age
of fifty-one years, after which the bereaved father
retired from active farm work and made his home in
Elizabethtown, where he died in 1871, at the age of
seventy-six years. They were buried in the ceme-
tery connected with the Lutheran Church of that
place. The father was a man of considerable prom^,
inence in his active days, and served as school di^.
rector six years. He and his wife were members ot;
the Reformed Church. They had the following chil- .
dreh : Jacob, who died in October, 1885 ; Philip i
Mary, who married John McGill, and died in 1895 ; ;
Susanna, who is the widow of Leander Gramm, and '
lives in Elizabethtown ; Catherine, who is the widow
of Christ. Hummel and lives in Mt. Joy township ;
Elizabeth, the wife of David Geipe, a retired farmer
in Mt. Joy township ; Juliana, who died unmarried.
After the death of his first Philip Fisher was married
to Elizabeth Redsecker, who is now deceased.
George Fisher, the grandfather of Philip Fisher,
Jr., was born in Lancaster county and was the son
of a Swiss emigrant, who came to Pennsylvania at
an early day. John and Catherine (Rehm) Albert,
the maternal grandparents, were both born in Cones-
toga township, and there they spent their lives in
farming.
Philip Fisher and Mrs. B'anny (Groff) McBride
were married in Manheim, May 28, 1868, and to
them was born one son, William, who died young.
Mrs-. Fanny (Groff) (McBride) Fisher was bom
in Rapho township, July 22, 1840, a daughter of
Samuel and Martha (Keener) Groff, both natives
of Rapho township. Her father was a farmer and
was engaged in the manufacture of molasses. In
1876 he died, at the age of sixty-two years; her
mother died in 1855, at the age of thirty-four years,
and was buried in Mt. Tunnel cemetery. Both were
1406.1
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
membgrs of the Zion Lutheran Church. There, was
born . .to^ them the following . family : Fanny i; , John,
engage;!, in the butcher business. in Elizabefiibown,:
as is also his brother, Joseph ; Samuel, a farmer in
Conoy township. After the death .of his first wife,
Samuel GrofJ marrjed Nancy , Heisey, by whom; he
had ,Qne child, ,, Elizabeth, -r who married Abram
Heisey..,_-
The paternal grandparejjts of .Mrs. Fanny Fishen
were John and F?tnny, (Frick) Groff, of Raphi) town^.
ship.. Her grandfather was a jfarmer, and also oper-:
ated a. fulling; machine., ^. Her maternal grandparents;
were John and ,Fanny (Brubaker) Keener, both, na-
tives; of Lanca^teK I. county, . <
Mrsv Fanjiy (Grofif), fMcBride) Fisher was first
married in Elizabethtown, Sept. 23, 1861, to Mere-
dith B. McBride, by whom she had two sons : John
G. ; and ,S,amHgl, ;4!^ce3.se,d.,.i':
Meredith. -P.; Mc§.ride' was ctne olthe many thou^
sand .patriotiGiandJoyalrh^arted citizens of Pennsyl-
vania-who cheerfully. offered his life as a<isacrificej:
on th;e altar; of the .Repu.blic*;. He enlisted, lunder
Capt. ,Rootj ; serving, ^jiinejfijonths, and ;then died, of
typhoid , f eyer . in- the ipili.taivjft hospital ■ at Alexandria,^
Va. John aind Sarah JCj^letfiU'TO^JiMcBride, of Raph>Q:.
townsljig,; were bis. garQtjt§,')i,; ,
Philip- lii^her l^siipenthia Ijfe on the farm. where'
he is ijow. found, with the exception olsome tworand';
a halLT^^ars,;^hiqh he- devoted to cabinet, making jn:
Elizabeth tpwn>M^?id ,SQme)Six mpnths when he, was
working a,t| his, trade jji;:Daupbin county; Mr. Fisheri
is a man of high . character and good principles, and.
attends, Zion, Church with his wife* For some three
years fie- served-as.sclioolrdirector and then declined
farther- continijg^iqe i.p:,that oifice.^;-.
ADAM KEEN, r In striking; ppntrast with the
life of the average .business n^^n-, who is drawn daily
into the whirlpooh of : competition, excitement , and
bu.stle of the wqi-ld.^ siibjecting.his mind to .the temps i
tations,.a,nd allurepients of- fortune getting, we pres-- ;
ent a sketch of a success^ful farmer of Eden .town-
ship, Lanca,ster..Co., Pa., who, in early life, tOok as;
his standard,, yirtue instead of ; gold., Mr. Keen, is,
a descendant gi a ivery^ old and respected family of
his native county, -and h^s inherited many of the
traits that have.lpiig been a credit to the namCk He
was born in Eden township,, near, Quarry ville, Sept,
8, 1830, -his parents being, Henry and JuUa A.
(Mower) Keen, who were both born in Lancaster
county.
Henry .Keen- was the sQn of. Henry and EUzabeth
Keen, w;hose ance.stprs were, German. They first
settled in Berks county, and Jater came to Eden,
where.qur subject's .father; grew to- manhood. They
raised, a large, family of spnsand daughte.rs, lall of
whom are dead.
Henry Keen, thp father, of our subject; settled in
Eden township, on a .farm , near - the borough of
QuarryyiUe, where he purchased a large tract of
land. ,JEle became one of the most prosperous farm-
ers of. his section, -During his life he owned half a
dozen; good farms which b6 improved with' buildings
and barns. • His: last home was- the one in which our
subject -resides. Henry Keen's' first wife was Julia
A. Mow:er,.the mother of our subj-ect.^ She 'died at
the age. of thirty-six, -leaving seven children. ■ His
-second wife- was' Mrs, Brubaken .Sheidied in'i88^' ■ -
leaving no children. -oMr. Keehdied'in 1879, leaving
an honored name among^*he toany whoi knew and
respected him for excellent qualities of head and
heart, i'in politics :he was-astanck Republican and ■
took an active part in party work. In religion he
i-was a;membeii of the German Reformed Church; and
was always very active in church work, being one of
ithe feoinders oithie Providence Church:
David Keen, the eldest otthis family, was born iti
Strasbmrg township in 1826.' ^He tnarriedMis^ Mar-
tha Herr;.whO'-was born > and -raised' in Eden town- - -
Mship,hwho<-;was a daughter of John and' Nancy-
Herr, one .of Lancaster's . old 'and prominent' fam-
.ihes. Li. They. resided; on his farm near Quarryville,
.-iwherB he.: lives sa.- retired^ life. - His Avife-died; in May; " -•
agoo, leaving a' large family. -'Samuel Keen was"
jbornJnr i829;he married Miss-Mary Girvin, of this
coumv-si; They , now Yreside on one of' his father's
farmsEiBear.i Quarryville, and have 'a family^ of four
r-«hildren: : Hiram; '- Ella; Anna ;and-Grate.J'Mary
.iKeen,. the fourthtichild of Henry Keen, was -born in
,1833 and .was tiie w,ife-o>f Amos'Wade, deceased,
■"who- resided. in Drumore- township, - Julia A., an-
■ ©ther daughter) was born. in' 1835 ; she is-the wife of
1: Hiram. -Girvin;- land, now resides in Salisbury^ town-
ship, t: Henry Keen, , born-in 1839,:' married Miss
Lydia Shauby! and -they, reside on his farm in Bart ■
townsliip,;and -have: three childreffi'- living; ■ Sallie- -
(wife- of. William Amment), Henry and -Ella (-toth
-at home); ^Catherine' Keen, the youngest- of the chil-
>dren ofi Henry Keen, -was iborn in 1841; and is the
; 4fife of. Joiin:'. Johnston, who' lives' on one of her fa-
: ther's ..farms; j They have • no children. ' > '
J . Adanij Keen, our smbject, grew up- on -his father's '
'•(farm in Eden, where, he received a district school -'i^i
education. He remained with his father until he Was ■
thirty: years of age. In December; 1859, he married
,Miss Mary> A. Herr,. daughter' of John and Nancy
- Herr.j i;.Mrs. Keen . was born in Eden township,
^ March-'iS; 1840, and grew to young" womanhood at
the old home; where she afequired her education in
. «the'district.schools., -Her father died at the old home,
"leavingc-two fdaughters,' Mrs. .David J Keen, and
the wife: of our subject. ■ For abnost ■"■- half a
icentury Mt. and Mrs. Keeti h^vei; lived at their pres-
ent home.; \In 1879 lie purchased: bis father/g' 1-ast ^
■-homesteady-which is one of the finest farms' in-, that
.section. To this couple have been born five ?
children, as follows-': Edith idled in childhood.
Susan, :Gj, born in i860, ' married William. Hess,
:who resides. in QuarrA-ville borough; they have"
ten childreni- t-Virgil (wife -of Alvin Hess of -Lan- '
icaster), Adam, Catherine, Odessa; Edith, William,
.Ernest, ,Ruth',.:'Bertha, and Francis, William -'Keen,
BIOGRASHICAL ANNAI.S QF LAN CASTER J^OUNTY
1407,
born in 1864,. received an education in the. local
schools; he married Miss Lizzie Breneman, , of Lan-
castei; county and they ,iiow reside la Quarryville,
where, he is engaged in the business of contracting
and biuilding. They.Jaavg no family. Harry Keen
was born in 1869, and received a. business education
in Poughkeepsie, N. V. He is now a resident of
Lancaster City and, engaged in book-keeping for the
firm 9f Met?ge'r & Hollinger. . He married Miss
Frances Mylpve.Qf Lancaster county, and they have
one daughter, Lulu Keeri^, ,Lmma Keen was born in
1872 andf mar i-ied George Gregg, ,pf Chester county.
Pa. They now reside in Chester cbiipty,,, , They have
four children,. MiUa,rd, ,Mary,' Blanch' and, Grace,'
Politically, socially '^hd .religiously. our, subject has
given much thought .tp the betterment qf the condi-
tion of his fellovy men. , In tjii's. a.s in all things he
has been unselfish .and/conscientip(us.- , He has .not,
asked for office, he has not Ijid for fam^. Content
to remain a plain but successful farmer, he has found
the need of a great worjv at home. \, Mr.. Keen and ,
his wife have for thirty years .h^eeh .aptive in th,e sup-
port of the Refprmed, ChurclV of Proyidence,,, of
which, they are devout roeinbefs.!, Politically pfir sub-
ject is a. Republican having been ideiitified! witti, the .
best interests of the party for many vears^ For over
twen^ty years he li^is |ield the office of scliool tlirectpr..^
in Edep.
Unselfish deyptipfi.to principle, of which lovq is
the foundation, |ias endeared this couple to all who
have been brought in contact with theni,^, ,A Chris-
tian companionship, a^ ,man and ,,wife coverings,
period, of half a, centuryj , and -blessed \yith children
and grandchildren, and the love and, es.teep oi many,
friends cannot fail tp leave; a, lasting impression, for
good.
JOHN JACOB ,HQLJGEND,QBLER, a prac-
tical and experienced .veterinary surgeon at Mount-
ville, Lancaster, .county. Pa., was bor^ i;^ Rphrers-,
town, in this county, Aug. 7, 1862, and |s a son of
Jacpb!,B,. and Elizabeth (Gailbaugh). Hougendobler,
natives, respectively,, pf West Hempfield township
and Maytown, Lancaster cpunty, both of whom died
one mile west of Rohrerstown on their home farm.,.
They .were the , parents of six children, viz. : Mary
Ann, deceased wife of Tobias H. Greider; Benjar
min ,F., on the, old ,,home^teaci > ^t Rohr^rs,tovvn ;
Flenry Clay, decease^.; Elizabeth- G.,; of Larica^ter,
unmafrie4; Alice ,G., wfhp was married to Henry K.
Hooyerrand dieiii.jin 1899 5 and John Jacob, named at
the opening of tlj is .paragraph, ,
John Jacob Hougendobler assisted on the old
homestead until, he was twenty years, of age,, acquir-
ing in the meatitinie ,a sound e^upiatipn, in the district
schoc)is,,and, also attending the Millefsville Academy,
two terms ; he then'.taught school two. terms in Dau-
phin and Liancaster counties ; next he went to, Toron-
to, Canada, attended , .the Ontario Veterinary Col-
lege,, was' graduated jn i889i-,praqticed , twp years,
in Rohrerstown,^ and then settled in Mountyille,
whei;e,,he has ever since done, a lucrative and, still
growii-jg' business.
Dr. Hougendobler was vinite,d,in i^jarriage Aug.,
13, 1891, ip Lancaster. City, with Miss Susaii H. '
■ Kendigy who lyas born in VV'est Hempfield township,
where she" also died.
Johnjapob Hougendobler. is amemberof K, of
P. Lodge Mo. '8!:5, atLanc^ste^; A. O. K. of M'. C,
Mountyille Castle; Sr. O. U. A. M., of Lanqaster,
and the L O. O. I'"., of the same ,city., In politics he
is a Republican.
JOHN,jVL WEND LER, a trustworthy conductor
on the Pennsylvania Railroad v^lth tiis residence at,
Columbia, wasbprn, in Lancaster, Pa.^ June 9, 1857.
John, W. Wendler, f fither: of John M„ ; was, hprn in
WittjEi^iJierg,^ Germany-, , July ,7, 1831,, aiid^, came ' to
America when, a- ypung, man, settling, in L.an'castej;.
IHe was a.draynjan and, was ren(j>wned fpr his great,
strength""." He served four years and five rhontbs in
the 99th P. V. I., was three times wounded and was
honor^b^y discharged .wth the r^nlc^Qf s.erge^nt. _ He
married, Miss, Louisa. Mil|er, and,,, to this marriage
were.born eig^^t' enildren,,,v;iz,^: Frederick ; John M. ;,.
Mrs- johrji,, Short, of Lancaster ;,JIariy,. a carpenter
ip Baltimore, Md. ; Arithoiiiy, whp died 'vvhen eight- ,
een ypar^.pld : Anna, wife 9|, George, l).or:bit, of Lan-
caster; .Samuel, and ]^enjamihj,',.„the "last 'named , a
nickqlplater arid poth of Lancaster. The father .died
Aug; "28, 1883, and the mother, who >vaSrbprp; April
29, I S28,, is .still, a resideijtpf Lancaster. '
John, M. lA'^eiidlej'. attended schpol'in Lancaster
"and .vvorl^ed as ^.. bartender Hntil 1874^ when he en-
tered, the einploy of the .Pennsylvania Railway Co.
on maintenance work. "" In 1879, he capie, ^p Cpluni-
bia, was a, brakemaii ;fpr a, few. months,".,thep iextfa
flagrpan "for,. several week;;! .next, v^as regular' ,flag-
maafor eleven years,, and was then, promoted tPcpn-
ductp'n While i|i this service, July 17, 1899, ,tfie,
e>e-boltpf, a brake op his train broke and.threV Mr.,
Wendler under the vvheels, ,The train dfe-sbeC over
botbjiis nether linibs at the ankle joints, and , he now
has two artificial Hmbs. - This mishap occprired 113
miles, from .his hoine at Jamesburg, New Jersey.
On April, 17, ,1883,, at Cplum;bia,-Mr. Wendler.
was united in niarriage with .Miss Ada E. Smjth,
who, has borpe him three chiidren,. "WilUain J., An-
thony, B- and Raymond S. Mrs! Ada E. Wendle.r
was ,bprp jn Downingtpwp, Chester, county. Pa.,
March 12, ,i86[, a daughter o,f Wijiliam H., and,
Mary ("Baldwfin) Smith. ,,tbe former of Syhppij^ was
born. on ,the ocean, ^bui under tjie American flag,
while his parents yi'ere pn tbe , voyage ft;om „their
European hpm.e to the United States., He was epi-
ployed by -the Pennsylvania Railway Co. at tlje time
of hisdeatii, which occurred in Augtist,i 1882, when
he was sixty- four years, , of age. , Mrs., Mary (Bald-
win") Smith xyas borp in Chester county. Pa., , and
died, in .A.ugust,, 1895, at tbe age pf seventy-seven
yearS;,, a member,of the Mothodist Episcopal Church.
The children borp to Mr, and, Mrs., Smith, thirteep
1408
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS' OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in number, were as follows : Mahlon, a blacksmith
in Nebraska; Margaret, in Columbia; Eli, Charles,
Mary 'A., and Catherine, all four died in infancy;
Hettie, of Columbia ; William, who died at the age of
thirty years; Hayhurst, who was killed on a rail-
road in 1870, at the age of twenty-one ; Phoebe, who
died in January, 1897 ; Elizabeth, the widow of James
Mall, of Columbia; Ferdinand, deceased in infancy;
and Ada E.
The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Wendler,
Eli and Phebe (Walton) Baldwin, were born in
Chester county, Pennsylvania.
John M. Wendler is a member of Monterey
Lodge, I. O. O. F., Ridgley Encampment, B. of
L. T., Vol. Relief Assn., is first vice-president of
Vigilant Fire Co. No. 2, of Columbia, and was a
trustee, and in politics is a Republican. He is highly
respected in social circles, and is one of those large
jolly, sociable beings who make friends wherever
they go.
JACOB R. GRISSINGER, one of the prominent
and successful citizens of Mt. Joy, Pa., was born
Aug. 12, 1854, a son of Stephen and Fianna (Royer)
Grissinger, of East Hempfield township, who now
live in Rapho township.
Stephen Grissinger is one of the leading citizens
of Rapho township, where he lives as a retired farm-
er, having placed his business interests in younger
hands. For many years he took an active interest in
politics and was a county committeeman, which po-
sition he still fills, and was called upon to serve in
almost all of the local offices in the gift of the Re-
publican party. During 1889-90-91, he efficiently
served the county as treasurer. He was born in
1826, and his wife three years later. The children
borri to Stephen Grissinger and his wife were : Mary
E., who married J. H. Engle, a butcher in Mt. Joy ;
Jacob. R.; Alice, who married J. E. Longenecker, a
tobacco merchant of Mt. Joy ; Elizabeth, who mar-
ried D. H. Wenger, a feed merchant in Lancaster;
Sabilla arid Frances, deceased ; Harry, residing at
home ; Stephen, a clerk in Lancaster.
Jacob R. Grissinger was reared on the farm and
attended the district schools of Rapho township, re-
maining under th^e parental roof until the age of
twenty-two, when he began contracting to cut tim-
ber and crush ^tone, making his home still with his
parents for sbriie time ; he was also engaged for three
years in tobacco farming. In 1897 he did much in
the stone crushing business and became heavily in-
terested in lumber. Mr. Grissinger is now engaged
in the operation of a portable sawmill which he very
sticcessfully manages in the lumber districts.
The marriage of Jacob R. Grissinger occurred
on Feb. 26, 1880, to Miss Emma Kurtz, and four in-
teresting children have been born of this union ;
Norman K., Walter, May and Ella. In 1882 the
family moved into Mt. Joy and are highly regarded
bv the community. Mrs. Grissinger. is a daughter of
Henry and Barbara (Eby) Kurtz, the former of
whom was a man of means, a retired tanner of Lan-
ca.'iter county. In politics, Mr. Grissinger is a Re--
pujjlican, and he was reared by his parents in the U^
B. Church. Displaying ability and industry in busi-;
ness affairs, he has come to be regarded as one of:
the substantial citizens of Mt. Joy.
^ JACOB B. DENLINGER (deceased) was one-
of !the prominent and leading citizens of Drumore-
tOAynship. PTe was born in Paradise township, Oct^.
24. 1836, a son of Jacob and Anna (Brubaker) Den-
linger, the former of whom was born Oct. 5, 1811^
and the latter, Jan. 11, 181 1.
; Grandfather Denlinger, also named Jacob, was-
boi|n in 1783, and his children were John, Barbara,..
Henry, Daniel, Isaac and Jacob, all of whom were-
defout and consistent members of the Mennonite-
Chlurch ; the men of the family were stanch Whigs-
and Republicans.
1 Jacob and Anna Denlinger had a family of four-
teen children, as follows: Barbara, born Nov. 25,-
1832, deceased ; Mary, born Jan. 3, 1834, deceased ;..
Aqnie, born Aug. 28, 1835, wife of John L. Kreider ;:
Jacob B. ; John, born July 17, 1838, a farmer of Para-
disje township ; Abraham, born July 15, 1840, a farm-
er land tobacco merchant of Strasburg ; Elizabeth,..
bo^n March 14, 1842, married to Tobias Lemon, a--
retlred farmer of Leacock township ; Tobias B., bom.;
Jujie II, 1844, a farmer of East Drumore township;.
Esther, born Nov. 19, 1846, wife of Christiart'
Miwer, a farmer of Paradise township; Martha,.,
bo^n Dec. 23, 1848, wife of Isaac Cling, of Leacock
township; Benjamin, born July 11, 1850, deceased;.
Arfios, born June 24, 1852, a farmer of Paradise-
township; Henry B., born July 29, 1854, a retired'
farmer; and Aaron B., born Aug. 17, 1856.
: Jacob E. Denlinger was reared on the farm and.^
early became a practical agriculturist. His educa-
tion was received in the public schools of the dis-
trict, and upon leaving school he immediately en-
gaged in farming, following that occupation all his
life. Bv industry and energy he accumulated con-
siderable means, and ranked as one of the substan-
tial men of his township, owning a fine, well-im—
prpved farm of 135 acres of fertile land, and a very ■
comfortable and attractive residence in Chestnut
Level.
Mr. Denlinger was united in marriage, Dec. 12,..
1867. to Miss Barbara Hershey, of Paradise town-
ship, daughter of Abraham and Barbara (Eby)
Hershey. Five children were born to this union,
namely: Amanda, born Oct. 10, 1869, who is the-
wife of E. Ervin Aument, of Drumore township,
and has three children. Pearl, Edna and Roy; Enos
H., born Feb. 23, 1872, died Aug. 16, 1873 ; Barbara,
born Jan. 8, 1874, died Dec. 2, 1892; Salina, born
Feb. 15, 1876, died Dec. 10, 1878; Jacob Milton was
born Aug. 12, 1884.
In politics Mr. Denlinger was a stanch Repub-
lican, and he was a, leading member of the Men-
nonite Church. At the time of his death he was most~
BIO-G^APHICAL ANNALS Of LANCASTER COUNTY
1409
efficiently filling the position of postmaster at Chest-
nut Level, and he stood high in the estimation of the
community.
JACOB G. WEIDLEE. (deceased) was, after a
life of industry, able to retire from the activities of
former days and spend. his declining years surround-
ed by friends and all the comforts of life, he and his
estimable wife moving in 1884 to Mechanicsburg,
Pennsylvania.
Mr. Weidler was born in this county, in Man-
heim township, Feb. 3, 1816, a son of John and Susan
(Gooder) Weidler, both ef whom were born and
died in Lancaster county, J'ohn Weidler died on his
old farm in Manheim township, in 1870, at the age
of ninety-one years, tein months and two days, and
his v/ife passed away im 1850, at the age of seventy-
two years ; both were buried in Heller's Church
cemetery. For many years before his death he lived
retired, and both he and his wife were leading mem-
bers of the Reformed Church-
The children born to John Weidler and his
wife were: Anna, who married Samuel Rudy;
Charlotte, who married John Miller; Susan, who
married Kinzer Bender; Lovina, who died single;
Mary, who married Kinzer Bender; Catherine M.,
who married George Bard ; and Jacob G., who was
the last survivor of this highly respected and well
connected family. The paternal grandparents were
Jacob and Anna Weidler, of Lancaster county.
Jacob G. Weidler was reared to farm work, and
remained assisting his father on the home farm until
his marriage, when he took charge of the property
and operated it for himself, being the only son. Un-
til 1872 he managed this farm and made it one of
the most highly productive in the township. Then he
retired from its active management, and in 1884
moved to tJie pleasant home in Mechanicsburg where
he resided until his death.
The marriage of Jacob G. Weidler and Margaret
Steiner took place in March, 1840, and the children
born to them were: Susann, who married Wayne
Bard : Adeline, who married Henry Espenshade, of
Manheim township ; Caroline, who married Samuel
Bryan, of Lancaster ; Mary, deceased wife of Sam-
uel Buch ; John, who is the farmer on the old home-
stead, in Manheim township; Lizzie who married
Ezra Burkholder, justice of the peace in Earl town-
ship ; and Louis, a farmer of Manheim township.
Mrs. Weidler was born in Elizabeth township,
June 28, 1826, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth
(Kahlev) Steiner, natives of Pennsylvania. By
trade Mr. Steiner was a mason. He died in 183 1,
and the mother of Mrs. Weidler survived until 1870,
dying at the age of seventy-two years. They were
members of the Lutheran Church. Their children
were : Isaac ; Henry ; Jacob ; Susannah, who mar-
ried Henrv Smith; John; Louis; Ezra; Margaret,
Mrs. Weidler ; Sarah, who married William Stike,
of Lebanon county ; and Miss Elizabeth, who resides
in Lebanon, the only survivor.
89
Mr. Weidler is a Republican in politics and is a;
leading member of the Reformed Church in his vi-
cinity. Both he and his most worthy and estimable
wife lived to see many important changes in their^
neighborhood and in the country at large, and passed
honorable, industrious, unostentatious lives, satis-
tied with doing their full duty to their family and
neighbors, and held in high esteem.
JOHN LINCOLN BRENEMAN (deceased)
grew from boyhood to manhood among the citizens
of Mt. Joy, Lancaster county, who ever held him
in' high esteem for his sterling integrity. He was
born in Bermudian, Adams Co., Pa., Sept. 15, 1865,
son of Templeton and Mary (Bosserman) Brene-
man.
Templeton Breneman was a native of York coun-
ty. Pa., born in 1837, and his early life was spent in
his home county and in Adams county. The public
schools of York county afforded him ample facilities
for acquiring a good education, and so well did be
take advantage of his opportunities that he became
one of the successful teachers of the county. In
1861 he went to Adams county and engaged in busi-
ness, and in 1869 he located in Mt. Joy, where he still
conducts a large dry-goods store. In Bermudian,
Adams county, he married Mary, daughter of John
and Catlierine Bosserman, and by this union became
the father of three children : John Lincoln ; Delia,
wife of H. W. Hartman, of Lancaster ; and Joseph
Templeton, paying teller of the Lancaster Trust
Company.
John Lincoln Breneman was educated in the
schools of Mt. Joy, and began his business training
by clerking in his father's store. He then became
teller of the Mt. Joy National Bank, and for twio
years discharged the duties of that responsible post*
tion, at the end of that time associating himself with
the Philip Frank Malting Company, in which he
held the position of secretary and treasurer f 01: ''a
number of years prior to his decease. ii .
Mr. Breneman wedded Miss Minnie Frank,
daughter of Philip Frank, of Mt. Joy, and to their
union came four children, two of whom are yet liv-
ing: Joseph Templeton; Philip Frank, who died
when eight months old ; Mary Louisa, who, died at
the age of three months; and Catherine Frank, uln
his political views Mr. Breneman is a strong Repub-
lican, and he takes an active interest in the work -of
the party.
Philip Frank, father of Mrs. Breneman, and head
of the Philip Frank Malting Company, is one of the
most substantial business men in Lancaster county.
He is a native of Baden, Germany, born Oct. 2,
1829. His education was obtained in the schools of
his native land and he remained in his early home
until 1851, when he came to this country. His first
location in America was at Marietta, this county,
where he arrived in April, and the following Sep-
tember he moved to Mt. Joy, where he found em-
ployment in the Hackman mill, just east of the town.
1410
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
laboring there industriously for five years. He had
been studying: the customs of the country and people
preparatory to engaging in business on his own ac-
count, and in 1856 he built the extensive property
and started the business which today bears his name,
and which he has continued to conduct so success-
iuUy.
Mr. Frank has been twice married. By his first
qinion he had three children : Maria, wife of Harry
*C. Shock; Minnie, Mrs. John L. Breneman; and
Harry, now residing in Baltimore. Mr. Frank's
present wife was Louisa Wagner, widow of Robert
J3riggs, of Philadelphia; to this marriage no chil-
dren have been born.
JACOB K. PICKEL, late an honored resident
of Millersville, Lancaster county, where he was
long retired from active business, belonged to a'
highly respected family whose history in this coun-
ty begins with the advent of George Pickel, the
great-grandfather of Jacob K.
George Pickel was born in Germany, and com-
ing to these shores, made his home in Lancaster
county all the rest of his life, and there he died.
He reared to manhood four sons, Henry, Adam, :
John and Isaac.
Henry Pickel, son of George, the original an- '
cestor of the family in this country, was born in
Lancaster county, and here spent his entire life.
He learned the blacksmith's trade, and made it his ,
life work. He enlisted in the American army at the
breaking out of the war of 18 12, but never saw act-
ive service. He married a Miss Mooney, of Irish
parentage, and they had eleven children, three of
whom died in childhood. The others were: Sam-
uel, of Landisville, Pa.; Benjamin, of Manheim
township ; Leonard, of Millersville, and Henry, of
Millersville, both deceased; David, of Lebanon,
Conn.; Jacob, father of Jacob K. ; Maria, wife of,
Abram Landis, of Sterling, 111., and Sarah, wife of:
John Gardner, who are all deceased.
Jacob Pickel, father of Jacob K., was born ini
West Lampeter township, Lancaster county, March!
20, 1814, and secured his education in the night
schools; Early in life he learned the shoemaker's!
trade under Gottlieb Hellabaugh, of Lancaster city,;
and when he had mastered it he located at Millers-;
ville, where he followed shoemaking for many;
years. About twenty years before his death he,
gave up active labor and lived retired. In polities;
lie was a Republican, and he held the office of school'
'director several terms. In religion he was a de-'
vout member of the Methodist Church, and in his
younger days took a very active part in its affairs.
Mr. Pickel married Catherine Graybill and they
became the parents of three children : Elizabeth,
now the widow of Jacob F. Warful; Catherine,
who died unmarried; and Jacob K., whose name
introduces this article.
Jacob K. Pickel was born March 21, 1840, in
Millersville, and spent his boyhood and youth un-
der the parental roof. He acquired a common-
school education, and like his father l^e early
learned the shoemaker's trade. This was his busi-
ness in Millersville for fifteen years, after which he
moved to Rock Hill, where he carried it on for ten
years. For some ten years more he was the hard-
working proprietor of a farm in Conestoga town-
ship, when he retired and returned to Millersville,
where he spent the closing years of a quiet and
useful life in well-deserved peace and content.
Miss Margaret Wolf, of Mountville, became his
first wife, and to their union were born two chil-
dren, one of whom died in infancy. The other,
Jacob H., lived to become one of the most eminent
physicians of Lancaster county, and is regarded as
in every way reliable and trustworthy by the people
of Millersville, with whom his lot is cast. The
mother died in 1865, and the father was again mar-
ried to Miss Elizabeth Waller, of Conestoga town-
ship, who became the mother of one son, Posco,
who made his home with his father. Mrs. Eliza-
beth Pickel died in 1880, and Mr. Pickel was a
third time married, to Miss Annie B. Fontza, of
Conestoga township.
JOHN LINE. Among the prominent retired
farmers of Lancaster county was John Line, who,
until his lamented death Jan. 5, 1902, resided in
Mechanicsburg, enjoying the fruits of former
activity. Air. Line was born in Blue Ball, East
Earl township, this county, Jan. 22, 1823, a son of
Jesse and Rachel (Shaffer) Line, the former of
whom was born in Upper Leacock township, the
son of David Line.
Jesse Line was a successful farmer of Upper
Leacock township, whose whole life was devoted to
agricultural pursuits. He died in 1863, ^t the age
of seventy-two years, the last ten of which he spent
in retirement from active work. The mother died
in i860, when about sixty years of age and both
parents lie at rest in the cemetery at Groffdale.
The children born to them were: Mary, deceased
wife of Henry Geist ; Eliza, late wife of Jacob
Rissler; Reuben, of East Lampeter township; Ed-
ward and Porter, deceased ; and John.
John Line was reared on the home farm and be-
came thoroughly well instructed in all kinds of ag-
ricultural work, but his tastes lay in the direction of
carpentering and while still a young man he learned
that excellent trade. Industrious, temperate and
energetic, Mr. Line soon had his time fully occu-
pied, and continued in this line of work until 1874,
when he removed to a farm where he and his most
estimable wife resided until 1886, when they re-
moved to Mechanicsburg.
Mr. Line was married on Feb. 22, 1874, to Miss
Mary Fritz, who was born in Ephrata township,
March 14, 1834, a daughter of George and Rebecca
(Shaffer) Fritz. Mr. and Mrs. Fritz were natives
of Berks county but they were among the old set-
tlers in Lancaster county, where Mr. Fritz carried
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1411
on a blacksmith business, and where he lived until
1896, dying at the age of eighty-five years; his
wife preceded him, dying in 1883. The children
l)orn to Mr. and Mrs. Fritz were: Henry, de-
ceased, who married Rebecca Trago; Lydia, un-
married, living in Manheim township; and Mary,
tthe wife of our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Line have
"no children.
In politics Mr. Line was a lifelong Democrat,
and was held in high esteem in his township by all
parties, being a quiet, exemplary citizen, doing his
duty in every relation of life, and deserving the
comfort in his declining years which he provided
in his youth.
BENJAMIN K. SHULTZ, a very prominent
citizen and able political leader of Manor township,
Lancaster county, was born on his present home-
stead, north of Washington borough, Jan. 4, 185 1,
and is a son of Isaac Sliultz.
Benjamin K. Shultz was educated in the graded
schools of Washington borough, graduating with
Tiigh honors in 1874, taught school in Conestoga
township for two years, and then took a course in
the Poughkeepsie (N. Y.) Business College. His
-studies having come to an end, he returned to the
home farm, remained there until 1889 and then
moved upon his present farm of thirty-five acres,
which is devoted to general crops and garden or
-market truck.
Mr. .Shultz has been very active in local politics
and was first a Democrat, but later affiliated with
the Prohibition party, by which he was nominated
in i8q8 as its candidate for the State Legislature
from the southern district of Lancaster county.
Long before this, however, Mr. Shultz had been ap-
pointed (in 1880) to the railway mail service, his
■route being between New York City and Pittsburg,
Pa., but six months of this experience sufficed and
Tie resigned the position. For five years, also, Mr.
Shultz was chief burgess of Washington borough,
and for nine years was a member of the school
Ijoard and part of this time was its president. For
ten years prior to 1889 Benjamin K. Shultz and his
"brother, Joseph, were 'partners in the coal and lum-
ber business.
The marriage of Benjamin K. Shultz took place-
Dec. 6, 1870, to Catherine Charles, who was born
in Washington borough, June 3, 1849, and is a
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Olds) Charles; to
-this union have been born two children, Mary E.
and Helen B., both still under the parental roof.
The family are members of the Church of God, of
which Mr. Shultz has been an elder since 1886, as
well as treasurer. During tbis period the society
lias erected two church edifices, one in Washington
Taorough and the other at Central Manor, Mr.
Shultz being a member of the building committee
In each in-stance. In Sabbath-school work Mr.
Shultz has also been very active and for several
Tears has officiated as ■superintendent.
BENJAMIN H. ERB, one of the highly re-
spected farmers and useful citizens of Clay town-
ship, was born July 19, 1850, in Penn township,
son of Daniel S. and Mary (Hess) Erb.
Daniel S. Erb, father of Benjamin H., was a'
son of Joseph, who in turn was a son of Daniel,
who was one of the early settlers of Lancaster coun-
ty and a successful farmer of Penn township. Dan-
iel S. Erb was born in 1814 and died in 1898. He
married Mary Hess, who was born in 1815 and
died in 1888. Their marriage took place Oct. 15,
1833, and they had six children born to them, as
follows: Joseph H., born in 1834, deceased; Jacob
H., born Dec. 15, 1837, of Penn township; Samuel,
born Nov. 15, 1838; Elizabeth, born March 26,
1841, the wife of Henry S. Miller, of Lancaster
county; Benjamin H. ; Mary, born June 5, 1862,
the wife of Emanuel H. Bomberger, of Elizabeth
township.
Benjamin H. Erb grew from childhood to boy-
hood on the old farm which his grandfather had
settled on so many years before, and received his
education in the common^ schools of his locality.
He has followed agriculture all his life and owns
a fine farm of ninety-three acres in Clay township
and also a seventy-acre timber tract. Mr. Erb has
the reputation of being one of the best farmers in
the township and justly deserves it. In politics he
is a staunch Republican, has served as school di-
rector and has shown in many ways his deep inter-
est in the advancement of his locality.
On Oct. 25, 1877, Mr. Erb was united in mar-
riage to Miss Elizabeth S. Bomberger, born Feb.
20, 1859, daughter of Israel and Leah Bomberger,
of Lebanon county, and to this union were bom:
Mary B., born June 4, 1879, who died Jan. 27, 1884;
John B., born April 22, 1883, who is a student in
the Millersville State Normal School; and Israel
B., born Feb. 15, 1888.
The Erb family is one of the old and honorable
ones of Providence township and Mr. Erb and his
family belong to the best social circles in that lo-
cality. Mr. Erb is highly esteemed for his upright
character as well as for his kindness of heart and
many pleasant traits of character.
HENRY NAGLE is a tinsmith of New Hol-
land, where he was born Feb. 6, 1831, and is a son
of Simon and Sarah (Neathawk) Nagle, old resi-
dents of New Holland, where his father was born ;
his mother was a native of Berks county, Pennsyl-
vania.
Simon Nagle was a tailor and served his ap-
prenticeship at his trade in Lancaster. His death
occurred in New Holland in June, 1861. His wife
died in 1872 at the age of seventy-one, and was
buried in the New Holland Lutheran cemetery by
the side of her husband.. To them were born:
Catherine, who died in Ohio, the wife of Lawrence
Wagner; William, who died in Lancaster, Pa., in
1900; Henry; Mary, who married John L. Jacobs,
1412
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
and died in igoo; Susannah, who married A. J.
Yundt, and lives in -New Holland; Sarah, who mar-
ried Harry Pickard, a machinist, and lives in Kan-
sas City.; Lydia, late wife of Henry Charley.
The paternal grandparents of Henry Nagle
were Michael and Catherine (Menser) Nagle.
They were natives of Lancaster county, where the
-grandfather followed the trade of a baker.
Henry Nagle was married in Niew Holland,
Jan. 19, 1853, to Mary Dick, by whom he has had
the following family: Sarah, who married S. F.
Rettew, and is the mother of three children; Anna,
of Honeybrook, Pa,, wife of Charles Lawrence
and the mother of seven children; Olivia, living in
Reading, the widow of George Dague, by whom
she became the mother of seven children; W.
Grant; of Philadelphia, who married Emma Gear,
and is a telegraph operator; Florence I., who died
in 1900, the wife of Robert Mauckline, and the
mother of one child ; Libran G., who died in 1865 ;
William, who died young; Harry, living in New
Holland, where he married Mary Garman.
Mrs. Mary (Dick) Nagle, who was born in
New Holland, died in October, 1897, at the age of
sixty- four. Her remains rest in the cemetery as-
sociated with the New Holland Reformed Church.
She was a daughter of John and Mary (Shaffer)
Dick. Her father was a shoemaker of New Hol-
land.
Henry Nagle remained at home with his par-
ents until his marriage. When eighteen years old he
entered a tinshoj) in New Holland, whidi was oper-
ated by Peter Ream & Brother. After being with
those gentlemen for ten j^ears he started for him-
self, and established his present tin shop.
Mr. Nagle enlisted in Co. B, 203d P. V. I., at
Lancaster, in .September, 1864. His command was
sent from Lancaster to Philadelphia and Washing-
ton ; from there to Petersburg, and to the front of
Richmond; from there to Fort Fisher, Wellington,
and Raleigh, where the regiment was located at the
time the war ended. Mr. Nagle was a musician, and
was discharged at Raleigh. He returned home July
4, 1865, at once resuming his business.
Mr. Nagle is a member of the Odd Fellows' En-
campment, the Knights of Pythias, and the Grand
Army. Ever since the formation of New Holland
borough he has held the position of assessor ; prior to
that he was township assessor for nine years. For
twenty years he was a constable. In politics he is a
Republican. For a man of his years he has kept
his health well, and even now does not wear glasses.
He is highly respected in the community, where his
long and useful life has passed.
WILLIAM D. RUTH, the genial and popular
landlord and proprietor of the hotel at Terre Hill,,
Lancaster county, was born at Vogansville, of the
same county, Feb. 10, 1856, and is a son of Franklin
K. and Caroline (Deitrich) Ruth, both residents of
Vogansville.
Franklin Ruth, long a shoemaker at Vogans-
ville, was born in Warwick township, Lancaster
county, Aug. 29, 1833, and was a son of Henry and.
a grandson of' Christian Ruth. His grandmother
belonged to the Kurtz family, long since established
in Lancaster. Both grandfather and grandmother-
were born in the northeastern part of Lancaster coun-
ty. Christian Ruth was born and spent the most of
his life at Denver, where the family located in pio-
neer days, and he became tiie owner of two flourish-
nig farms. His second wife was a Miss Ludwick.
Henry Ruth, the grandfather of William D.,.
was born in 1807, and died in 1876. His home was
between Vogansville and Lancaster and the most
of his life was spent as a laborer. Catherine Karsh-
ner, his wife, died at the early age of twenty-seven
years, and was the mother of four children : Eliza-
beth, deceased wife of Daniel Brown ; Franklin, the
father of William D. ; Abraham, now a farmer in
White county, Indiana ; Mary, the widow of George
Lawrence, who had his home in Lancaster.
Franklin K. Ruth was reared in the vicinity of
Denver, Lancaster county, and at the age of six-
teen, applied himself to learning the shoemaking
trade, which he has followed at Vogansville since -
1866. In politics he is a Republican. In 1854 he
was married to Caroline Deitrich, a daughter of
George Deitrich. She was born in 1833 in Earl
township, and is the mother of a family of ten chil-
dren : Mary, the wife of John Eichelburger, of "
Ephrata ; William D. ; Elizabeth, the wife of Samuel
Hoffman, of Ephrata; Emma, late wife of Jacob-
Weam; Catherine, the wife of Israel Dun-
woody, of Leola, Lancaster county ; Frank, a clerk
in the postoffice at Lancaster; Carrie, the wife of
George Reazer, of Lancaster ; Harry, a cigar maker
at Vogansville ; Edwin B., a cigar maker at Ephrata ;.
Lydia M., deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Ruth were reared in the Lutheran'
faith, and are active workers and valued members-
of that church. She is a daughter of George an,d'
Catherine. (Stoger) Deitrich, and both her parents
are dead. Her fatlier was ninety years of age at the -
time of his death, and his wife lived to be eighty-fivfe>
He was a tailor, and had his shop near Vogansville,..
where he was born and. reared. The Deitrich chil-
dren were as follows: Caroline, who married Mr.
Ruth : John, a resident of New Holland ; Fannie, the -
wife of Jacob Bryan, of East Earl township ; Eliza,,
the wife of Jacob Ruth, of East Earl township;:
Modisana, a resident of Earl township ; Sanderson,. .
whose residence is not known; Jackson, a sailor,,
who died in Philadelphia. Several children died in
childhood.
William D. RuHi recived his education in the-
common schools of Vogansville, and at the Millers-
ville State Normal School ; at nineteen years of age
he left home and taught school in Lancaster county-
for five years, and was engaged two terms in the
schools of Berks county. From the school room he-
went into the cattle business, in w'hich he was en—
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1413
..gaged for some ten years, handling horses as part of
his trade, shipping many from the western part of
Pennsylvania, and building up a large trade. In
the meantime he was engaged in the hotel business
for two years at White Oak, and for eight years was
in a livery at Manheim, where he lost heavily by
fire. In 1890 he leased the hotel at Martindale and
(•operated it for four years, and then was one year
at Vogansville. In 1895 he came to Terre Hill, and
.the following year purchased the hotel at that point,
where he conducted a livery and dealt in horses for
. a time. Since 1896 he has very successfully con-
ducted the Terre Hill hotel, and has converted it
into one of the modern hostelries of that part of
Lancaster county. .
Mr. Ruth belongs to the I. O. O.-F., No. 413,
at New Holland, where he holds membership in the
Encampment. He was married in 1875 to Miss
Clara Halloch, a daughter of Jeremiah Halloch, of:
Rothsville, Lancaster county, and to this union have
■come twelve children : David B., married to Mamie
"Wechter, by whom he has two children, Luella and
•Clara ; William H., at home, as are Harvey M. and
Ada May. The others are all dead. In politics
Mr. Ruth affiliates with the Republican party, and
the farnily are among the most respected and
"lAVorthy in the community.
ISAAC H. HILDEBRAND, one of the old and
.representative citizens and farmers of Lancaster
county, and one of the notable men of Earl town-
rship, was born on the farm where he is found today,
Feb. 2, 1837, a son of George and Barbara (Hess)
Hildebrand. He is a grandson of Michael Hilde-
Tirand, whose father also bore the name of Michael,
and came from Germany, locating on a farm two
-miles southeast of New Holland, which he had pur-
-chased about 1788, and which is now owned by
Isaac H. Hildebrand. Originally of 102 acres, it
now comprises ninety-three. The buildings now on
; the place were erected by him, and in the blacksmith
still on the place he made the nails that went into
-.the building of the home which is yet standing, for
ihe was both a farmer and a blacksmith. In reUgion
he held to the Mennonite Church.
Michael Hildebrand, the grandfather of Isaac
H., was bom on the farm about 1788, was reared
there and became one of the leading farmers of the
-county. In Earl township he held several of the local
offices, being a member of the school board, as well
:as a supervisor. After an honorable and useful
' career of ninetv-two years he passed away, leaving
behind him a 'most respected name. Married to
Miss Barbara Weaver, she bore him three children,
• of \vhom George was the father of Isaac H. Hilde-
brand; David was a tanner of Earl township; Anna
-married Daniel Ranck, of Earl township.
George Hildebrand, the father of Isaac H., was
Tborn on the farm in Earl township, where he spent
Siis life, and where he followed farming as a noble
career. ' He became a prominent and substantial cit-
izen: He was married to Miss Barbara Hess, a
daughter of Christian Hess, a miller, of Paradise
township. George Hildebrand "and his wife were
the parents of only one child, Isaac H. They be-
longed to the Mennonite Church. The father died
at the age of seventy-four years, the mother at the
age of eighty-one.
Isaac H.' Hildebrand was reared to farm life,
and received his education in the public and the
academic schools. He has always spent his energies
on the old home farm, where he is still living. His
interest in public affairs is strong, and he has held
the office of director of the poor, and has been a
member of the board of education for twenty years.
In the town he has been supervisor. In his poli-
tics he is a Republican. He was married to Miss
Catherine Ranck, a daughter of Samuel Ranck. She
died at the age of thirty-three, leaving one child,
Ida, who is now the wife of John B. Thomas, of
Earl township. Mr. Hildebrand was married a
second time to Eliza A. Diller, a daughter of John
Dil'ler, of East Earl township. Mr. and Mrs. Hilde-
brand are both members of the Methodist Church,
of which he is a trustee. The family are very highly
esteemed in the community in which their useful
lives are passing.
FRANKLIN BENDER. Among the well-
known residents of M echanicsburg. Pa., was Frank-
lin Bender, who made his home in that pleasant and
prosperous town from 1890 until his death, Dec.
25, 190T, having retired from an active agricul-
tural life of many years.
Mr. Bender was born in Upper Leacock town-
ship, Dec. 7, 1830, a son of Kinzer Bender and his
first wife, Mary Weidler, the children of this mar-
riage being : Franklin : John, deceased, farmer of
Upper Leacock township ; Henry, who died young ;
Mary, married to Jacob Burkholder, of Upper Lea-
cock township; and WilHam, a resident of Stras-
burg. The second marriage of Kinzer Bender was
to Susan Weidler, the sister of his former wife, and
one son was born of this marriage, Weidler, who
died when grown to maturity. The third marriage
of Kinzer Bender was to Leah Berkenbine, and to
them .were born : George, of Lancaster ; Emma, who
married John K. Diem ; Anna, who married Sutton
Bearer, a traveling agent; and Salome, deceased.
Mrs. Mary (Weidler) Bender died in 1842, the
father in September, 1887, at the age of eighty-three
years. Both were buried in Heller's Church ceme-
tery, and both had been members of the Lutheran
Church.
Franklin Bender was reared on the home farm
and attended the district schools. When he reached
maturity he began farming for himself, having been
thoroughly taught by his father, who was one of the
best farmers of the locality. Mr. Bender was very
successful in his operations and retired from activ-
ity irr i8qo. with a competency.
The first marriage of Mr. Bender was in 1855,
1414
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
in Mechanicsburg, to Miss Eliza Bear, and there
were born to this marriage: Mary, who married
Doras Buckwalder, a farmer of East Lampeter town-
ship; and Greybill, who married Salinda Joe, of
Lancaster, Pa. Mrs. Bender was born in Eafl
township; she died in 1867, at the age of forty-
seven years and was buried in the Lutheran Church
cemetery, in Mechanicsburg. She was a daughter
of Ephraim and Catherine (Greybill) Bear, of Lan-
caster. The second marriage of our subject took
place in i86g, in Upper Leacock township, to Miss
Mary Irvin, and one daughter was born to
this marriage, Ada M., unmarried and residing at
home. Mrs. Mary (Irvin) Bender was born in
December, 1840, a daughter of John and Catherine
(Shaffer) Irvin, of LTpper Leacock township, where
she was reared and married. Her parents died there,
the father at the age of seventy-eight, in 1880, and
the mother in 1875 ; both were buried in Heller's
cemetery, and both were members of the Reformed
Church.
Mr. Bender always took a proniinent part in
public affairs , and served acceptably as . supervisor.
With his family he was long connected with, the
Lutheran Church and was valued there for his exem-
plary character. Although living in town where he
could enjoy more relaxation and society, Mr. Bender
retained possession of his fine farm and understood
hew it was being operated. Mr, Bender was consid-
ered one of the substantial citizens of that part of
the county.
■ MRS. CLARA ECKERT DeHAVEN, the wid-
ow of George P. DeHaven, was born in Leacock
township, Julv 23, 1823, and is a daughter of Levi
and Mary (Sides) Eckert, both natives of Lancas-
ter county. ,
Levi Eckert was born in 1791, and died at the
age of seventy-seven years. His wife died May 27,
1877, at the age of seventy-eight years and nine
months. Peter Eckert, the grandfather of Mrs.
DeHaven, was one of a family of five boys who
were brought by their father to this country from
Germany, and located in Lancaster county. Peter
Eckert became one of the prominent farmers of
Lancaster county, and grew verv wealthy. He lived
to an advanced age. His wife, Catherine Carpenter,
also attained many years. They had a family of
seven children : Jacob, who lived and died in Lan-
caster county; George, a rich farmer, who had his
home in the eastern part of this county; William,
who also had his home in the Eastern part of Lan-
caster county, and became very wealthy in farm-
ing ;■ Levi, the father of Mrs. DeHaven ; Elizabeth,
married to Samuel Brubaker; Mary, who married
Adam Diller; Catherine, who married John Gray-
bill.
Levi Eckert, the father of Mrs. DeHaven, spent
his life in the vicinity of Intercourse, where he was
the owner of many broad acres, and enjoved a cred-
itable standing in the community. His honest in-
dustry and upright character won him a wide circle
of friends. In his own home he was a kind and in-
dulgent father, and in all the relations of life a
Christian gentleman ; he was a member of the Ger-
man Reformed Church. He married Mary Sides^
who became the mother of five children: Caroline^
deceased wife of John Bair, of Leacock township,.,
also deceased; Clara, the subject of this sketch; El-
mira, who died unmarried; Peter, deceased, was a-
resident of Leacock township ; Ottamer, who died at
the. age of thirty-six years.
Mrs. DeHaven was married Dec. 17, 1842, to«
George P. DeHaven, a descendant of Isaac De-
Haven, who came, from prance at an early day and
settled in Morgantown, Pa., where he became the
sire of a numerous family of honorable and hard-
working people.
. Mrs. DeHaven with her son William and her two>
daughters, Clara and Jennie, resides on the beauti-
ful homestead just east of the borough of New Hol-
land, where they have a home of comfort and refine-
ment. They are all members of the Presbyterian^
Church, ancl the family are counted among the most
worthy and respected citizens of the community.
H. G. HOW.ETT, .one of the prominent and'
substantial farmers of Little Britain township, re-
sides on the old home farm of 105 acres situated one-
mile south of Kirks Mills. The old stone family
mansion has weathered the storms of 135 years,,
and still affords comfortable shelter to, the last
generation.
Mr. Howett's birth occurred April 21, 1841, irr
Colerain township, Lancaster county, his parents
being Amos and Catherine (McVey) Howett, of
Fulton township. Amos Howett was a son of Amos-
who was a hero of the Revolutionary war, of Irish
extraction, who reared a family of ten children r
John, James, Amos, Daniel, Joseph, Hannah, Peter,
surviving, the others dying in childhood.
Amos Howett, the father of H. G. of this sketch,
married Catherine McVey about 1843, she being a<.
daughter of Henry McVey, of a family well knowm
through the State of Pennsylvania. Seven children\
were born to this union: Anna, who died young;:
H. G., of this sketch ; Hannah, who is the wife of"
David McKinzie, of Oxford, Pa. ; Alice, who is the
wife of Kelse McClurg, of Oxford, Pa. ; Edith, who
is the wife of Thomas Cochran, of Oxford; Eliza-
beth, who is the wife of Hugh Dunlap, a miller of
Oxf ord ; and Eber, who married Ella Wright, andl
lives in Maryland.
H. G. Howett of this sketch was reared on the-
farm and received his education in the public schools,
of his township. His tastes led him to embrace-
an agricultural life and he has made a success of
his farming operations, being regarded as one of
the best farmers in the township. Mr. and Mrs..
Howett own the fine farm upon which they reside
and there enjoy an almost ideal country home, sur-
rounded with the advantages , of rural life, while
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1415
near enough to the village of Kirks Mills to enjoy
the social features there.
Mr. Howett was married Nov. 20, 1873, to Miss
Alice Wright, who was born Feb. 13, 1849, a daugh-
ter of Jamies and Sidonia Wright, of Little Britain
township. Three children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Howett: Margaret, who is a teacher in
the schools of Lancaster county; and Granville and
Gilpen, at home. •
Mrs. Howett's grandfather, Thomas Wright,
came to America from Ireland and was an early set-
tler in Southern Lancaster county. His children
were: William, Thomas, Joseph, Samuel, John,
Enoch, Jane, Margaret, James and Robert, all passed
from earth. Ten children were born to the parents
of Mrs. Howett: Mary Ann, Joseph L., Sidonia
and Benjamin (deceased) the latter from the kick
of a horse ; Thomas, a resident of Rising Sun, Md. ;
Emily, deceased; Margaret, residing in Maryland,
unmarried; James, a resident of Maryland; Eliza-
beth, of Little Britain township ; and Alice, the wife
of Mr. Howett.
Mr. Howett and family belong to the Presby-
terian Church, where he is one of the liberal sup-
porters of its Christian extension work, and he has
long Been an active and influential member of the
Republican party. In the estimation of his locality
Mr. Howett stands high, as one of the honorable
citizens, good neighbors and reliable friends, whose
influence may always be counted upon to be on the
side of morality and education.
HENRY M. GRAVER (deceased) was a na-
tive of Conestoga township, Lancaster county, was
born in 1814, lived on a farm all his life, and died in
his native township in 1896, a member of the Men-
nonite Church. P'or a number of years Henry
Graver was a school director, was well informed on
most subjects and was a man of wide acquaintance.
To his rnarriage with Miss Mary Meek, of Lam-
peter township, a daughter of John Meek, were born
seven children, viz. : John, of Conestoga township ;
Susan, deceased wife of Jonas Hoover; Elizabeth,
deceased ; Mary, deceased wife of George Henry ;
Henry M. ; Catherine, wife of Martin Souder, of
Manor township; and Martin, of Conestoga town-
ship.
Henry M. Graver, Jr., was born on the Graver
homestead in Conestoga township, April 14, 1853,
was educated in the public schools and lived on the
home place until after his marriage in 1877. In
1880 he came to Manor township and located on a
farm near Safe Harbor, where he carried on farm-
ing until 1892, and then purchased his present farm
of twenty-five acres, adjoining Millersville on the
west, improved it with an attractive dwelling and
substantial out-buildings, does general farming and
is looked upon as one of the most progressive men
of the township.
In January, 1877, Henry M. Graver married
Miss Elizabeth Shertzer, daughter of Benjamin
Shertzer. To this marriage no children have been
born, but in the kindness of their hearts, Mr. and
Mrs. Graver have reared one child, Lizzie, from
her fourth year. Mr. and Mrs. Graver are members
of the Old M.ennonite society and are held in high
esteem by all who know them.
WASHINGTON MONTGOMERY, one of the
old and respected farmers of Colerain township,
Lancaster county, was born in August, 1826, and
is a son of John (Sr.) and Jane (Bailey) Mont-
gomery.
John Montgomery, Sr., was born in Ireland and
his wife in Chester county. She was a daughter of
James and Mary (Harkins) Bailey, who took rank
and standing in the Revolutionary days as sturdy
and incorruptible patriots. John Montgomery, Sr.,
did his first work at the Wither's Furnace in Eden
township. After being in the United States a few
years he married Jane Bailey, and bought the farm
later owned by his son, John. Here he cleared a
fine farm, consisting of a hundred and sixty acres,
putting up a house and a bank barn, and other im-
provements, and here he died in 1841. His widow
remained at the home until Oct. 15, 1858, when she
passed to her rest. They had a family of seven chil-
dren : ( T ) Mary J. married Henry Radey, of Phila-
delphia, a currier and tanner, who became a wealthy
business man. They had one daughter, Mary, now
married and living in Philadelphia. (2) Louisa
Montgomery married Alexander Noble, of Phila-
delphia, a dry goods merchant. She died in Octo-
ber, 1900, leaving one daughter, Emma, now the wife
of George Barelow, of Philadelphia. (3) Jeremiah
Montgomery married Thomas McAllister, of Ox-
ford, Chester county, where she died, leaving one
son, John, who was killed in the Civil War. (4)
Francina Montgomery married Samuel Gillespie,
who was reared in Colerain township ; they moved to
Philadelphia, where she died, leaving three children,
Anna, John, and Mary, all living in that city.
(5) John JVIontgomery, Jr., born April 6, 1820,
received the advantages of district school education,
and was married in January, 1857, to Rebecca, the
daughter of John and Anna (Carr) Drugin, both
of whom were born in Ireland, where they died,
leaving her to the care of her grandfather, Robert
Carr. Mrs. Montgomery was born in County Ty-
rone, July 17, 1842, and was brought by her grand-
parents to this country in 1844, and was reared by
them in Colerain township, where they lived and
died on a farm. Mr. Montgomery settled on the old-
Montgomery homestead, where he died in Septem-
ber 1900, leaving a widow and eight children: (a)'
John F. (3), born in 1858, when a 3-oung man went
to Angus, Minnesota, where he was in business as
a merchant. He married Miss Hellen McAvoy, of
that place, (b) M. D., born in i860, married Miss
Kate Seiner, of Colerain township, and they have
a farm adjoining his father's place. They have
one daughter, Emily, (c) Washington G., born in
1416
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1862, is unmarried and at home, (d) Anna J., born
in 1864, married Abram Ferguson, a farmer of Col-
erain township, and is the mother of three children,
Montgomery, Noble and Helen, (e) Lizzie K.,
born in 1866, married Howard Humpshire, of Bart-
viile, where he is a merchant. She died leaving one
daughter, Olive, (f) Dr. Mary L., born in 1868,
graduated at the Swarthmore College, and from
the Woman's Medical College, of Philadelphia.
She practiced a year in Boston, and then mar-
ried Dr. William March, of Westmoreland county.
Pa. They have a home at Mt. Pleasant, where they
are engaged in the practice of their profession, (g)
Harry R., born in 1872, was educated at the home
schools ; he is unmarried and lives at home, (h)
Durbin A., born in 1876, graduated from the Gold-
man College,' of Wilmington, Del., and is a book-
keeper for the Quaker City Beef Company, at Sun-
bui-y, Pa. Mr. Montgomery was a Democrat and
held various local oftices. The family are all Presby-
terians and have always taken an active part in the
work of the church. (6) Manassas Montgomery,
born in 1 824, married Violet Scott, of Philadelphia,
and located in that city, where he engaged in business
as a leather dealer. He died in 1887, leaving a
widow and four children: Violet and Laura, who
are deceased ; Katie ; and Harry, who is a plumber,
living in his native city.
(7) Washington' Montgomery, whose name in-
troduces this article, is the youngest member of this
old and honored family, was reared on the parental
estate, and became manager for his father, after the
death of his mother in 1863. For a time he was en-
gaged in West Virginia, and later, at Philadelphia,
he was engaged in the tannery business some six;
teen years. At the end of that period he came back
to the old home in Colerain, and purchased the Moses
Brinton farm, on which he made very general im-
provements. He has never married. Before he
bought his present horne, he sold his interest in the
family patrimony to his brother John. He has al-
ways adhered to the old Democratic faith. He be-
longs to St. John's Lodge, No. 115, A. F. & A. M.,
at Philadelphia. Like others of his name he has
taken a leading position in the community, and has
passed a life free from reproach.
RICHARD J. DERRICK, the popular hotel
keeper at Herrville, is well known and thoroughly
liked in his section of Lancaster, county.
Calvin A. Derrick, father of- Richard J. Der-
rick, was horn in Columbia, Pa., Aug. 10, 1829, and
passed his early life in his native place, living at
home until he was about twenty-one years of age.
He was educated in the common schools of the coun-
ty. His first position was with the Pennsylvania
Railroad, known then as the State Railroad, where
he was employed as fireman, and afterward promot-
ed to the position of engineer. Mr. Derrick ran an
engine over the road for years. After leaving the
railroad he started in the butchering business, in
Columbia, under the firm name of Wike & Derrick,
and carried on this business for some years. He then
bought a farm in Martic township, and engaged in
agricultural pursuits until 1890, in which year he
retired, moving back to his birthplace, Columbia,
where he died Feb. 18, 1899.
Calvin A. Derrick was a stanch Republican, but
never sought office. Fraternally he was a member
of tiie I. O. O. F., at Rawflnsville, and the K. P. at
the same place. In religion he was a member of the
German Reformed Church at Columbia. Richard
Derrick married Miss Catherine Johnson of Lan-
caster, and to this union were born two children :
Richard, subject of this sketch, and Mary, who died
in childhood.
Richard J. Derrick was born in Columbia Dec.
31, 1857, received a common school education, and
remained at home until he was twenty-seven years
of age. He then went to Lancaster city, where for
five years he held a position with the street car com-
pany. After this he went into the hotel business with
John A. Shink. For about a year they ran a hotel
on the southeast corner of the Square in Lancaster.
For another year Mr. Derrick was at the "Engle-
side Hotel," after which he purchased the hotel of
which he is now the proprietor.
On July 25, 1879, Mr. Derrick married Miss
Annie QDchnaner, of Providence township, and they
are the parents of two children : Milton, who lives
at home ; and Calvin A., who died in infancy.
Mr. Derrick takes a keen interest in the welfare
of his community, and in business and social circles
is respected and esteemed for his many sterling
quaHties. In politics he has always affiKated with
the RepuWicatn party, but has never sought office.
He is a member of Emanuel Lodge, No. 1104, I.
O. O. F., of Lancaster; of Lodge No. 99, K. M.,
Lancaster: of the K. P. at Rawlinsville, in which
order he has passed all the chairs ; and of the G. E.
C, at Rawlinsville, in which also he has passed all
the chairs.
DR. THOMAS FRANCIS McELLlGOTT,
one of the rising young professional men of Mt.
Joy, has secured for himself the confidence and pat-
ronage of the pubHc, and has been recognized as
an able leader in the ranks of the Democratic party.
The Mrth of Dr. McElligott occurred in the city
of Lancaster. Jan. 6, 1874, a son of Thomas F. and
Clara L. (Norbeck) • McElligott, the former of
whom was a native of New York City and the latter
of Gettysburg, Pa. Thomas F. McElligott was born
a few days after the arrival of his parents in Amer-
ica from Ireland, and while still a child he accom-
panied them to Lancaster, and still resides there,
where he has always taken a prominent position in
the affairs of the city. Mr. McElHgott is the effi-
cient reporter of the Lancaster Intelligencer. Be-
fore he was twenty-one years old, he served as a
city alderman, for twelve years acted on the school
board and has been connected with many of the dif-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF' LANCASTER COUNTY
1417
Jerent organizations, political, fraternal and social,
in the city. He was born in 1847, and his wife in
185 1. They both are consistent members of the
Catholic Church. Dr. McElligott is their only child.
In politics, Mr. McElligott is a Democrat.
The paternal grandparents were Jeremiah and
Anna McElligott, both of whom died in Lancaster
county, where the former had followed the trade
of blacksmith for many years, and at his death
owned considerable land. The children born to
Jeremiah and his wife were : Hannah, a resident
of Lancaster county ; and Thomas F., also of Lan-
caster. The maternal grandfather was Louis Nor-
beck, of Baltimore, Md., where he conducted a gen-
eral store, and where he died, his wife passing away
in Lancaster.
Dr. iUcElligott was reared in Lancaster, and for
a time, about the age of eighteen, engaged in clerk-
ing, but his mind was fixed upon a professional
career and in 1892 he entered the University of
Pennsylvania, remaining two years and then going
to the Philadelphia Dental College from which he
was graduated on March 18, 1895, immediately
opening up an office in Lancaster. In 1897 he re-
moved to Mt. Joy, since which time he has been
prominently identified with much of its public and
official life. As an active Democrat he has been made
president of the Democratic club, and he is fra-
ternally connected with the Knights of St. John's
and the Knights of St. Michaels, of Lancaster.
The marriage of Dr. McElligott took place on
June 20, 1895, to Mary V. Gill, a daughter of James
and Bridget (Gallagher) Gill, the former of Gal-
way and the latter of Donegal, Ireland. One son
has been born to the Doctor and his estimable wife,
Thomas Giles. Of pleasing personality and pro-
fessional skill, Dr. McElligott has Won the confi-
dence of the public and his practice is already an
absorbing one. As a politician his ability has been
remarked, and in social life, he has also become a
factor. A student, he understands and makes use
of all modern discoveries and some of his work has
- won for him much praise in the profession.
WILLIAM R. RICE, general farmer of Union
Square, Rapho township, was born in Lebanon
countv, Feb. 17, 1844, son of Philip and Lucinda
(Reinoehl) Rice, of Lebanon, Pa., the parents re-
moving to Rapho township, where they remained
-thirty -two years on one farm, when they moved to
another farm near Mastersonville, and then, in 1869
to the place where William R. Rice now resides.
Philip Rice, the father, was a farmer and shoe-
maker. He died in 1887, at the age of sixty years,
and his wife followed him to the grave in 1894, at
the age of seventy years. They are buried m the
Mastersonville cemetery. They were members of the
Lutheran Church. Their two children were : Miss
Mary, who lives with her brother; and William R.,
the subject of this sketch.
On Nov. 27, 1873, Mr. Rice married Miss Mana
Shelley, of Lancaster. There have been born to this
union the following children: Alice S., and Har-
vey S., who died young; and Lucetta S., Harry S.,
Philip S., Maria S., Katie S. and William S., all of
whom are at home with their parents. Mrs. Will-
iam R. Rice was born in Rapho township, July 31,
1851, daughter of Peter and Maria (Ritter) Shel-
ley, of Rapho township, the former of whom was a
farmer until about six years prior to his death, which
occurred June 8, 1889, at the age of seventy-five
years, and the latter died in September, 1874, at the
age of fi:fty-six years. They are buried in Griders'
Meeting House cemetery. Both were members of
the German Baptist Church. To Peter Shelley and
wife were born the following children: Anna R.,
widow of Benjamin Brubaker, of Manheim; Eliza-
beth R. (deceased), married to John Brubaker;
Joseph R., deceased ; Jacob R., supervisor of Man-
heim township ; Harriet R., widow of Amos .Brene-
man, of Petersburg; Anthony R., deceased; Bar-
bara R., widow of A. Chafner, of Manheim ; Maria,
wife of William R. Rice ; John R., deceased ; Peter
R., a farmer of Rapho township ; and Emma R., de-
ceased. Mrs. Rice's grandparents were Abraharh
and PZsther (Shoemaker) Shelley, of Lancaster
county.
Mr. Rice has remained on his present farm since
he moved on it in 1869, and he will undoubtedly
pass the remainder of his days there. He is a Re-
publican and takes some interest in politics, having
been supervisor for three years. He is a thor-
oughly practical man, fully alive to the force of pass-
ing events, and a man of influence in his community.
The family is well known and respected, and is wide-
ly known, Mr. Rice's father being a prominent and
wealthy maft of the township.
JOHN W. McGlNNIS has since 1895 success-
fully conducted the "Exchange Hotel" at Mt. Joy,
Lancaster Co., Pa., which is the leadiTig hostelry
in the place. He was born in the city of Lancas-
ter, June 12, T 86 1, a son of Thomas and Sarah (Par-
nell) McGinnis, representatives of old families in
the county. In his native city he was reared and edu-
cated, and at the age of sixteen began learning the
trade of coach trimmer, at which he was employed
for seven years by D. Altie & Son. During the fol-
lowing three years he held a position as salesman
with Abraham .Springer Brown, and was then em-
ployed at the depot restauraiit in Lancaster until
coming to Mt. Joy in 1895. He is a man well adapt-
ed to his present business, being genial, obliging
and progressive, and in this undertaking has been
eminently successful.
Mr. McGinnis was married in 1880 to Miss
Mary A. Snyder, also a native of Lancaster, and a
daughter of Michael and Marguerite Snyder. By
this union two children have been born, Mary S.
and John A. In his social relations, Mr. McGinnis
is a member of Lancaster Lodge No. 134, B. P. O.
E. ; Island City Lodge, No. 88, K. P. ; and Fulton
1418
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Castle, No. lo, K. G. E. Politically he is a stanch
Republican, and takes advantage of any and ' all
opportunities for proinoting the advancement of his
party's interests.
JOHN M. HAVERSTICK, son of Levi Haver-
stick, was born on the Haverstick homestead near
Washington borough. Manor township, Lancaster
county, Jan. 9, 1855, was educated in the common
schools and was reared on the home farm as an as-
sistant to his father, although the natural trend of his
mind was toward mechanical pursuits; yielding to
the persuasions and representations of his father,
he continued on the farm and probably does not to-
day repent his decision so to do, as success has re-
warded him for his labors in this field of industry.
Mr. Haverstick, however, cannot break away
from his penchant towards mechanics, and has erect-
ed on his farm a workshop in which much of his
spare time is passed in perfecting his previously
conceived notions of various mechanical devices,
handling with equal facility steel, iron or wood, and
shaping these to suit his notions. But this work-
shop is conducted simply for his amusement and
not for profit, as the latter is derived from the cul-
tivation of his farm ; this comprises eighty-nine
acres and lies contiguous to Washington borough.
The marriage of John M. Haverstick and Elvina
C. Warfel took place in 1879. This lady was a
daughter of Valentine Warfel, and was called away
from earth June 22, 1891, at the age of thirty-two
years, the mother of four children, viz. : Clara
May, Harry Hoyt, Florence Ray (who died an in-
fant) and Charles Arthur. In religion the father
of this family is a Mennonite, has always led a
strictly moral life, and stands high in the esteem of
his fellow-citizens.
CHRISTIAN N. MUMMA, who has conducted
a meat market in Mt. Joy since 1894, is one of the
progressive young business men of that place, and
, is gaining a solid footing among its most substantial
I citizens.
; IVlr. Mimima was born Dec. 16, 1869, in East
Donegal township, this county, son of Jacob S.
Mumma, and grandson of Jonas Mumma, the last
njimed a native of Rapho township. Jonas Mumma
was a farmer by occupation and settled on a place
in East Donegal township, where he and his wife
both died. He married Catherine Shirk, of Rapho
township. Jacob S. Mumma was born in 1845, on
the farm in East Donegal township where he yet
lives, and has engaged successfully in farming and
dairying. He is one of the respected citizens of his
locality, and has served four years as school director
inhis district. Mr. Mumma married Miss Rebecca
Nissley, who was born in Mt. Joy township, daugh-
ter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Graybill) Nissley, farm-
ing people of this county. Mr. Nissley at one time
represented his district in the State Legislature. To
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob S. Mumma have been born chil-
dren as follows : Anna, who married Harry Rich,,
cashier of the First National Bank of Marietta;.
Christian N. : Catherine, married to George Best,,
of Lancaster; Minnie, of Philadelphia, a trained
nurse, who is now attending the University of Penn-
sylvania; Jacob N., engaged at steam fitting in
Reading, Pa. : Bessie, at home ; John, at home ; Ella,,
deceased; and Harry, at home. The mother is a*
member of the Mennonite Church.
Christian N. Mumma received his education in.
the public schools of his locality^ and remained un-
der the parental roof until he had reached his ma-
jority. His first year away from home was spent
in Texas, where he was employed on a ranch. On re-
turning to Pennsylvania he located . in Marietta,
where he remained three years, working in a flour
mill with his brother-in-law, Mr. Rich. He then
spent another year at home before coming to Mt^
Joy, where in November, 1894, he embarked in the-
butcher's business, to which he has since given his
entire time and attention. Mr. Mumma enjoys a
lucrative trade won by honest dealing, which, cou-
pled with thrift and good judgment, is bound to
bring success. He has high standing in the commun-
ity, of which he received substantial evidence in the
spring of 1900, when he was elected to the borough
council. His political support is given to the Re-
publican party.
On Oct. 26, 1894, Mr. Mumma was married in
Lancaster to Miss Lillie Hofifman, Rev. Dr. Mitchells
performing the cererhony. Three children have
come to this union, Matilda H., Bernice, deceased,,
and Mark. Mr. Mumma attends the Bethel Church'
of God, in which he holds membership. Fraternally
he belongs to the I. O. R. M.
Mrs. Lillie (Hoffman) Mumma was born in^
1869 in Stacktown, Conoy township, Lancaster
county, daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth
(Rhodes) Hoffman, of East Donegal township. Mr..
and Mrs. Hoffman now reside 'in Conoy township,
where he is engaged extensively in farming and to-
bacco dealing.
JOHN F. BALMER, a venerable resident of
Elizabethtown, whose career as a soldier of the
Union deserves special mention, and whose indus-
trious life as a plasterer should not be lightly passedi
over, was born in Mt. Joy township, June 13, 1835.
Mr. Balmer is a son of Hon. Daniel and Harriet
(Fisher) Balmer, natives, respectively, of Mt. Joyr
township, and Elizabethtown. Both parents died-
\yhile absent from their home in Elizabethtown.
The father came to Elizabethtown in 1837 and en-
gaged in the mercantile business, his previous life
having been passed in farming. For fifteen years he
was a justice of the peace, and in 1843 was sent to the-
State Legislature. In his later years he was en-
gaged in carpentering. He died in December, 1884,
at the age of seventy-eight years ; his widow sur-
vived him three years, and died in- 1887 at the age-
of seventy. They were buried in Mt.. Tunnel, cem:-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1419"
etery. Both were members of the Reformed Church,
and had the following family : John F., whose name
appears above ; Israel P., a contractor and carpenter
in Elizabethtown ; Daniel W., of Elizabethtown,
who has been justice of the peace, and operated a
bakery, and was a heutenant in the Union army dur-
ing the war of the Rebellion ; Eliza (deceased), who i
married George W. Lewis ; Mary L., who died j
young ; Abraham F., a physician at Brookville, Pa. ; ;
Margaret I., the wife of T. W. Nissley, a machinist i
of Reading, Pennsylvania. I
The first of the family, the great-grandfather of ;
John F. Balmer, settled in Lancaster county, on the
site of what is now Reamstown. He was a black-
smith and nail maker for the government, taking
an active part in the Revolution. Samuel Balmer,
his son, and tlie grandfather of John F,, married
Elizabeth Shell, also a native of Lancaster county.
He was a farmer and a successful man of affairs.
John Fisher, the maternal grandfather of John F.
Balmer, married Ann Eliza Cremer, of Mt. Joy town-
ship, and lived in Elizabethtown, where he followed
the occupation of a drover and farmer.
John F. Balmer was married Nov. i8, 1866, in
Elizabethtown, to Sarah A. Ebersole, by whom he
had the following children: Maggie C, living at
home ; Ina M., deceased ; Ida L., at home ; A. EUis,
a railroad fireman, living at home; Sarah C, oper-
ator at the telephone office, living at home ; Christ
E., night operator at the telephone office, living at
home ; Eva L., deceased ; John A., at home.
Mrs. Sarah A. (Ebersole) Balmer was born in
Conoy township, and is a daughter of John and
Sarah A. (Seyfert) Ebersole, both natives of Conoy
township, where the father died in 1846 at the age
of forty-iive years. He was a farmer and a man of
industrious habits and good character. The mother
died in Elizabethtown Feb. 13, 1896, at the age of
eighty-four years. They were both interred in Mt.
Tunnel Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Ebersole were
members of the Mennonite communion, and had the
following children : Christian S., a grocer of Nor-
ristown, Pa., deceased; Catherine, widow of John
L. Good, of Cumberland county ; John, who was a
produce merchant in Elizabethtown, deceased;
Fanny, wife of John B. Engle, of Cumberland coun-
ty ; Levi, a retired farmer of Whitley county, Ind. ;
Aaron, unmarried, of Elizabethtown; Sarah A.,
whose name appears above.
John Ebersole, the paternal grandfather of Mrs.
Balmer, lived in Lancaster county. Anthony Sey-
fert, the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Balmer, mar-
ried Miss Shiley, . and died in Lancaster county,
at the age of forty-four years ; he was born Sept. 26,
John F. Balmer came to Elizabethtown with his
parents when he was only two years old, and was
reared on the farm, where he remained untd he
reached the age of eighteen years. In 1870 he viras
compelled to give up farm work on account of ill-
health that came from the exposure and hardships-
of army life.
Mr. Balmer enlisted in Co. I, 77th P. V. I., uu:-
der Capt. JohnBelL He participated in the closing,
scenes of the great war, but was not wounded though
he contracted disease, and spent several months in the
hospital, being discharged from the Chestnut Hill-
Hospital in August, 1865, After his dismissal from
the hospital Mr. Balmer came home and worked for
about a year at his trade as his health permitted,
being able tP do little, or nothing, for the first ten
months. As his health came back he worked more
steadily at his trade and has long since become one
of the leading men of the community. Mr. Balmer
has been a member of the council and for a number
of years was assessor. In the Reformed Church of.
which he is a member his standing is good, and he
is known as one of the reliable men connected with
church work. Mr. Balmer is a Republican, and
receives a pension of thirty dollars a month from
the Government, a just recognition of the severity
of the disease that followed him from the army, and.
the suffering he has undergone.
JOSEPH K. HABECKER. Mr. Habecker'&-
family is of Swiss origin, the first American ances-
tor having emigrated to the American colonies from-
the indomitable European republic early in the eigh-
teenth century.
Christian, the father of Joseph Habecker, was-
one of Manor township's resolute and successfuli
farmers. He inherited a portion of the old family
homestead farm, which embraced about 150 acres,,
and stretched northward from Central Manor. This-
tract may be said to have been the nesting place of.
this old and esteemed Lancaster family. The first,
division of the land was made between Christian and.
David, the first named being the father of Mr. Jos-
eph Habecker. Christian was a Democrat fromi
principle and thoroughly lived up to his political i
creed. He was his party's local leader, and filled i
many offices within the gift of his fellow townsmen, .
who held him in high regard. In church affairs he
was even more prominent than in civil matters ; for
more than four decades he was virtually the leader'
and principal supporter of the church of his de- '
nomination, which was long known as the "Ha-
becker" Church. Since his death his son, Joseph,,
has succeeded to the same position of influence.
Christian Habecker died in i860, in his seventy-sec-
ond year. His wife was Elizabeth, the daughter of
Isaac Kauffman. Eight children were born to them,
as follows ; Isaac, a farmer, who died at the age of
fifty-one ; Esther, deceased wife of Ephraim Rohrer,
of Manor ; Christian, who died in childhood ; Eliza-
beth, the widow of Christian Habecker ; Maria, Mrs.
P. W. Heistandt, of Millersville ; John, who died at
the age of seventeen years ; Joseph K., the subject of
the present sketch ; Jacob, a farmer in. Rapho townt-
ship.
1420
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Joseph K. Habecker was born Nov. 30, 1834.
He received such education as was obtainable in the
district schools of the time, and continued to assist
his father on the farm until he was twenty-four
years old, when he was married; but in 1859 his
father's failing health compelled him to assume the
management of the property, and when in i860 the
elder man died, Joseph K. succeeded to the inheri-
tance. Mr. Habecker's success has been pronounced,
if not phenomenal. He owns one hundred and thirty
acres of fertile, well-watered land, on which are all
improvements known to the modern agriculturist.
While devoting close personal attention to his farm,
lie yet finds time to look after other large financial
interests which claini his notice. He is a stockhold-
er in the Moimtville National Bank, of which he
was One of the incorporators. He was also one of
the promoters and organizers of the Fair View Flan-
nel Mills, in which he yet retains an interest. He
also owns stock in the Lancaster Hardware Com-
pany.
Ill 1858 he was mairried to Miss Hettie Charles.
She was a daughter of Joihn Charles and Susan Herr,
and to this marriage has come a family of nine
childrefl : Joseph, who died in childhood ; John,
a bachelor, and living at home ; Christian C, who
married Anna Gamper, and lives on the Manor
fafm ; Elizabeth C, unmarfied ; David C, deceased ;
Jacob C, married to Fannie Lindemann ; Amos C,
unmarried ; Charles C, and Harry C, who are also
single and w'ith their unmarried brothers and sis-
ters live at home with their parents.
Mr. Habecker is an active and earnest member
of the Mennonite Church and has contributed lib-
erally toward its supix)rt and growth.
GEORGIC BARD, one of the leading business
citizens of Mechanicsburg, Lancaster county, was
torn in Upper Leacock township, on July 30, 1856,
and he was a son of George and Caroline (Shindle)
Bard, natives of Upper Leacock and Manor town-
ships, respectively.
George Bard, the father of our subject, came
to Mechanicsburg about 1833. He was born May
6, 1809, and his useful life ended Aug. 20, 1873, his
burial being in the Zion Lutheran Church cemetery.
His parents were Michael and Catherine (Waist)
Bard.
George Bard was married on Dec. 15, 1836, in
Lancaster, to Miss Caroline Shindle, and the chil-
dren born to this union were : Margaret, who mar-
ried Samuel Shaub,. and lives in Reading, Pa. ;
Catherine, unmarried, who lives in Mechanicsburg ;
Susannah, who married Abram Groff, and lives in
East Petersburg; Wayne, who resides in Upper
Leacock township; David, who lives in Chester
county; Mary Ann, who married Rudy Brown,
and lives in East Earl township; Elias, a
farmer in Mechanicsburg; Salinda, who married
Rudy Frankheiser, of Lancaster; Lucy, deceased
J\Iay 25, 1899, who was the wife of Adam Miller, of
East Lampeter township; and George, of Mechan-
icsburg. Mr. Bard was a successful farmer and
became prominent in pubUc matters and was a lead-
ing member of the Lutheran Church. The mother
of our subject was born in Manor township, March
4, 1818, and died Oct. 12, 1898.
The early rearing of George Bard, the subject
of this sketch, was similar to that of almost every
prominent citizen of this country. The biographer
finds some knowledge of the soil connected with the
past of almost all, even when a little later other
lines of business have been entered, and such was
the case with Mr. Bard. At the age of eighteen
he began the trade of machinist, leaviiig the farm
to the management of other members of the family,
and he remained under the able instruction of Val-
entine Andes for a period covering six and one-half
years ; he then entered upon his present line, that of
dealer in agricultural implements, his stodc con-
sisting of agricyltural machinery, paints, oils, etc.
Mr. Bard w'as united in marriage Nov. 13, 1887,
in Mechanicsburg, to Miss Mary Andes, and these
children have been born to him and his wife, Ruth,
Mary A., Richard A., Levi A., Nelson A., Miriam,
and George A., all bright and intelligent, promising
to become excellent and Useful citizens under the
guidance of a wise father and a most estimable
mother. Mrs. Bard was born in Mechanicsburg,
and was a daughter of Levi D. Andes, a retired
manufacturer.
Politically Mr. Bard has always been connected
with the Democratic party, while religiously the
family is connected with the Lutheran Church. Mr.
Bard takes an active interest in many public enter-
prises and his financial standing is established by
his connection with the Northern National Bank, in
which he has been a director for the psast five years.
The business and social standing of Mr. Bard is
equally high and he is a thoroughly representative
citizen.
ELI AMENT. The Ament family is one of the
oldest and most respected in Lancaster county. Our
subject's great-grandparents were natives of Ger-
many, whence they came to America in an early
day, making tTieir permanent home in Lancaster
county.
George Ament, grandfather of Eli, did a pros-
perous teaming business in the early days, carrying
goods between Philadelphia and Pittsburg when rail-
way connections between those cities were a dream
of the fviture. He was a man of many resources;
by trade a carpet weaver, in his later hfe he became
a farmer, and at the same time carried on business
as a butcher. He lived to an advanced age, dying in
May, 1880. He married Catherine Herr, daughter
of Christian Herr, of Lancaster county, and they
reared a family of eight children, viz. : Christian ;
Catherine, who married Martin Manning, of High-
ville, this county ; Elizabeth, who married Christ
Kaufman, of Highville; Mary Ann and Elias, both
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1421
deceased; Henry H.; and Abraham and Fanny,
twins, the former a resident of Highville, and the
latter the wife of Jacob Kaufman (brother of
Christ), of Lancaster. The parents were members
of the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Ament passed away
in 1885.
Christian Ament, the father of the prominent
citizen of Manor township, who is named above,
was born in 1.821, and died in his seventieth year.
He was a farmer, owning seventy acres of land,
which now belongs to his son Eli. He married
Hannah, a daughter of John and Rosanna, Crupp,
who emigrated from Germany to America, and set-
tled in York county. Pa. John Crupp died at the
age of forty-five, and his wife in her seventy-sixth
year. To Christian Ament and his wife were born
two children, Elizabeth and EH, Elizabeth being the
wife of Joseph McDonald, of Manor township.
Eli Ament was born Jan. 16, 185 1. He grew
to manhood on the paternal farm and, when advanc-
ing age began to impair the physical powers of his
father, he assumed its entire management. At the,
death of the latter, he purchased the interest of the
other heirs in the estate and continued to reside at
the old homestead until 1899. In that year he re-
moved to a farm adjoining, located about one mile
southwest of Letort, which he had purchased the pre-
vious year. This place embraces 186 acres, and was
formerly known as the Catherine Hershey farm.
Mr. Ament is one of Lancaster's most enterprising
farmers, and his land is among the most highly im-
proved plots in the county. He is thoroughly wide
awake, keeping in close touch with every advance
in scientific agriculture. In. addition to general
farming he cultivates flowering plants, vegetables
and fruit extensively, in hot houses and forcing beds,
and finds a ready and profitable market for the same
in the city of Lancaster. Since 1892 he has owned
and operated two threshing machines, both of which
are kept constantly busy in the harvest seasons. , In
public affairs he has ever shown a progressive spirit,
guided by sound judgment and an enlightened con-
servatism.
Itt 187s Mr. Ament married Mary, a daughter
of Benjamin and Hattie Dietrich. The issue of the
union has been fourteen children, twelve of whom are
living, namely: H«nry, Hettie, Ross, Ira, Mary,
Barbara, Lydia, Fannie, Christian, Ada, Annie and
Eli. The two who died were named Clara and Roy.
Mr. and Mrs. Ament are members of the Reformed
Mennonite Church.
BYRON T. REEMSNYDER, M. D., a promi-
nent phvsician and surgeon of Hinkletown, Lancas-
ter county, was born in Ephrata township, Lancas-
ter countv, near Akron, July 23, 1853, and is a son
of Dr. Henrv and Mary J. (Gray) Reemsnyder, a
grandson of Samuel Reemsnyder, and a great-grand-
son of Herman Reemsnyder, who was a native of
Germany, and immigrated to this country in early
manhood.
Herman Reemsnyder married in Berks county,,
where he settled, but later removed to Chester coun-
ty. His wife belonged to the Musser family. In.
his active years he was a cabinet maker and Dr.
Byron J. Reemsnyder has in his possession a small,
cabinet which has descended to him from the founder
of the family in this country. Herman Reemsny-
der was buried at Honeybrook, where his last years,
were passed. He was a soldier in the war of the
Revolution and received a wound from which he-
never fully recovered, though he lived to an ad-
vanced age. In his family were many children,,
but the names of only two sons and three daughters:,
are on record. Samuel is noted above as the grand-
father of Dr. Byron J. John removed to Ohio. Sal-
lie married Samuel Vogan, and lived in Earl town-
ship, where she attained a great age, living a widow
many years; the Vogan family founded the village,:
of Vogansville. Two daughters of Herman Reeni--
snyder were married to men by the name of Snoder...
The father of these children was a man of more-
than the usual intelligence and left many poems-
bearing on the Revolution, as well as on religious.
: topics. The latter part of his life was spent in Lan^
'[ caster county.
Samuel Reemsnyder, the grandfather of Dr._
Byron J., was a cabinet maker, and had more than
a local reputation as a carpenter and builder. He-
owned and conducted a farm near Earlville, A .
man of broad and progressive spirit, he was a de-
voted' member of the Reformed Church. His first
, wife bore him a large family. On her death he
' married a widow, Mrs. Rock, but to this union no ►
children were born.
Henry Reemsnyder, the father of Dr. Byron J.,
was born at Talmage in 1825 and died in 1877. He
; was reared on the farm and attended the public -
schools. While still a young man, he entered the
office of Dr. Weidler, of Mechanicsburg, where he-
began the study of medicine, and took his degree
from the Pennsylvania Medical College at Phila-
delphia. Coming out of college, he located at Akron,.,
Lancaster county, where he was engaged in the
practice of his profession for many years. In con-
nection with medicine he took up dentistry and be-
came very proficient. For some years he had a drug-
store in Lancaster. During the Civil war he wore-
the "Union blue," entering the service as First Lieu-
tenant of Co. F, 9th Pa. Cav., a position which he
1 shortly afterward resigned in order to accept the ■
I captaincy of another company. He was in active-
service for eighteen mcaitha, ajid was honorably dis-
; charged on account of physical disability.
1 At the conclusion of his military service. Dr.
] Henry Reemsnyder returned to Lancaster county,
j broken in health, but with an indomitable spirit. He
1 again took up the practice of his profession and fol-
j lowed it until his death. In public matters he was
' always deeply and actively interested. In politics
j he, was a Democrat, and was ready at all times to ■
work for the interest of his party, which to him.
J.422
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY,
represented the welfare of the country. In his re-
Jigion he was a member of the Reformed Church. ■
Dr. Henry Reemsnyder was married to Mary J.
Gray, a daughter of Henry and EUza (Hibshman)
vGray, who was born in Ephrata township, and is
.still living there, aged nearly seventy. To this
union were born five children : Dr. Byron J. ;
Charles A., a cigar maker in Philadelphia; Jennie,
-the wife of Isaac Nissley, a resident of Ephrata;
JDr. Henry, a resident of Ephrata; Edward S., a
xigar maker in Lancaster.
Dr. Byron J. Reemsnyder was educated in the
public schools and read medicine in his father's
office. In 1873 hfi entered the University of Penn-
sylvania, from which he was graduated in 1875,
and at once located at Hinkletown, where he has re-
.mained to the present time, building up a large prac-
tice and commanding a host of friends by his manly
-qualities and professional skill. To the various
State and County Medical Societies he gives much
::attention and in these is a hardworking and active
member. In politics he is one of the leading Demo-
crats of the county.
Dr. Byron J. Reemsnyder was married in 1877
to Miss Alice Winters, a daughter of R. N. and
Mary (Martin) Winters. She died in 1882, leaving
one child, Anine, who is now at home. The Doctor
was again married in 1884, to Mary, a sister of his
.first wife. She was born in i860, and is the mother
■of two children, Mary and Charles.
Dr. Reemsnyder belongs to the Reformed
Church, and the entire family are numbered among
the most substantial citizens of the county. The
Doctor is a thoughtful and scientific practitioner,
and aims to keep abreast of every advance in his
;great profession.
HENRY H. DAMBACH, a thriving and great-
ly respected farmer of Manor township, Lancaster
county, with his residence one mile southeast of
Columbia, was born in that township Jan. 9, 1847,
and is a son of Martin and Elizabeth (Herr) Dam-
bach.
Henry H. Dambach received such an education
as the public schools of his township afiforded, and
his knowledge of agriculture was acquired on the
home farm on which his boyhood and earlier man-
hood were passed until twenty-five years of age,
when he married and began farming on his own ac-
cpunt on a tract of land belonging to his father and
■situated near Columbia. After one year's employ-
ment in this line, the father made a division of the
tract, awarding the son sixty acres, on which the lat-
ter still resides but lias since purchased 115 acres ad-
joining the home place on the west. This property
is now divided into three distinct farms, with many
improvements, all of the first class, including dwell-
ing, barns, etc. On this farm is one of the finest
-peach ordiards in Manor township, and this orchard
contains at least 900 trees in bearing condition to
-which tlie proprietor devotes the greater part of his
attention — indeed, all that can be spared from the
general conduct of the farm.
In November, 1871, Henry H. Dambach was
united in marriage with Miss Lydia Ann Herr, a
native of Pequea township, Lancaster county, and
a daughter of Rudy and Barbara Herr; this union
has been made the more happy by the birth of two
children, viz. : Benjamin F., still under the parental
roof; and Ellen, wife of Amos Rohrer, of Manor
township. Mr. Dambach and his wife are members
of the Mennonite Church,, and socially are most
highly respected.
LEVI R. FORNEY, one of the successful and
representative farmers of Penn township, belongs
to a highly respected family of Lancaster county.
He was born in East Cocalico township, July. 14,
1849, and was educated in the common schools. He
moved to the farm where he now resides, with his
father in April, 1850. The father died in 1883, and
a part of the farm became the property of Levi R.,
who has devoted his efforts to the cultivation of mar-
ket products ever since, and attends the Lancaster
markets with a choice assortment of farm and dairy"
products, the results of his own energy and industry.
In 1892 Mr. Forney was united in marriage to
Miss Fannie Wissler, the estimable daughter of Levi
and Fannie. Wissler, of Clay township, and to this
union two children have been born, one of whom
died in infancy ; the other, Mary W., was born Jan.
5, 1896. Mrs. Forney is a member of the Old Men-
nonite Church. No citizen of Penn township en-
joys the confidence and esteem of his patrons or of
his neighbors more than does Mr. Forney, and none
have proved better farmers or business men. In
public affairs he shows a progressive spirit and is
always alive to the best interests of his county.
JOHN JACKSON PENNELL, of Kirk's
Mills, Little Britain township, is one of the leading
citizens, substantial farmers and representative men
of this locality. Mr. Pennell was born Jan. 26, 1842,
on the farm which is now his own property, and he
was a son of John and Rebecca (Brown) Pennell,
of Little Britain township.
John Pennell, the father of John J., of this sketch,
was a son of William and Elizabeth Pennell of Brit-
ain township, the former of whom with his father,
who was of Irish origin, settled on the old home
place about 1745, the county then being but sparsely
settled in that vicinity. Four children were born to
William Pennell : John, Hugh, Anna and Isabella,
all of whom have passed away.
John Pennell was born Oct. 17, 1771, and died
Jan. 28, 1863, after a long and most estimable life,
at the age of ninety-one years. On Dec. 27, 1827,
he married Rebecca Brown, who was born Aug. 25,
1805, and who died Oct. 4, 1861. They had a fam-
ily of nine children: Elizabeth, born Oct. 11, 1829,
the widow of John P. Hays ; Mary Ann, born Nov.
16, 183T, the widow of James Patterson, of. Illinois;
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1423
"William, born Jan. 5, 1833, a retired farmer of Little
JBritain township; Rebecca J., born Feb. 5, 1835,
•died young; Margaret Isabel, born on March 23,
J837, died young; Lavenia, born Oct. 19, 1839, the
-wife of Charles Hays, of Little Britain; John J.,
-of. this sketch; Rachel Amanda, born May 8, 1845;
and James F., born March 31, 1850.
The early rearing of John Jackson Pennell was
.like that of other lads of his vicinity who had had
^the good fortune to be born of wise and careful par-
■ents, who, while they insisted on his attendance at
the district school, also gave him a practical educa-
tion on the farm. Later in life he had reason to use
Tthis knowledge on his own land, to great advantage.
Mr. Pennell now is the owner of the excellent home
iarm which consists of 180 acres in Little Britain
.township, where he occupies a most comfortable
two-story dwelling, and he is also the owner of one
of the fertile and productive farms of Chester
-county.
The marriage of John J. Pennell took place Feb.
II, 1885, to Miss Maggie L. Duyckinek, of Cecil
'County, Md., and this marriage has been blessed with
.three children : Emily D., born March 6, 1886, died
in infancy ; William Horace, born Jan. 17, 1889 ;
and Ruth Lavenia, born June 13, 1892. Mrs. Pen-
jiell was born Dec. 19, 1856, and she was a daughter
of Horace and Emily (Longstreet) Duyckinek, the
former of whom was born in 1819 and died in 1891,
and the latter of whom was born in 1818 and resides
with her daughter, Mrs. Pennell. The paternal
gi-andfather of Mrs. Pennell was Richard B. Duyck-
inek, of Dutch origin, and her maternal grandfa-
ther was Aaron Longstreet and belonged to the same
family as the Confederate Gen. Longstreet. Mrs.
Pennell was the youngest of her family, the others
being: Anna, the widow of William Haines of
Cecil county, Md. : Ellis L., a resident of the old
'home place ; and Aaron L., a banker and grain dealer
in Rising Sun, Maryland.
Mr. Pennell has been identified with much of the
progress and development of this township and is
well and favorably known. Fraternally he is con-
nected with the Masonic Lodge No. 353, of Oxford,
Pa. He and his family are consistent and respected
members of the Little Britain Presbyterian Church.
JOHN CHARLES PERRY, the genial and
•capable superintendent of the Hamilton Watch Fac-
tory, of which all Lancaster people are so justly
proud, has had a career of more than ordinary in-
"terest.
Mr. Perrv's ancestors came to America from
England earfv in the eighteenth century, John L.
Perry, the great-grandfather of John C, settling in
what was then the Province of Massachusetts. He
was the father of eleven children, all of virhom were
"killed by the Indians with the exception of the
youngest, Charles A., who was the grandfather of
John C. Charles A. Perry was only five or six years
cold when the Indians killed his family, and he was
adopted by a family and taken to Boston, where he
grew to manhood and became a furniture dealer and
undertaker. There (in Boston) Charles Alexander
Perry, the father of John C, was born, and in man-
hood became a Methodist clergyman, entering into
rest in 1884. Pie married Caroline Elizabeth Eaton,
who passed away in 1898, aged eighty-four years.
John C. Perry was born in Grafton, Mass., Dec.
1, 1839, and was educated in the New Salem (Mass.)
Academy, from which he was graduated. At the
age of seventeen years young Perry went to Boston
and became messenger to the Massachusetts Senate,
retaining that position four years, when Abraham
Lincoln became President of the United States. Mr.
Perry, then just twenty-one years old, was appointed
to a clerkship in the Boston Custom House, serving
three years, and then resigning because of ill-health
of his wife, who was suffering from consumption.
His next move was to Eagle river, Lake Superior,
where he became paymaster for the Humboldt Min-
ing Company, remaining there one and a half years.
We next find him having charge of a private bank-
er's office, retaining that position two years, and
next in Canada, where he became paymaster of the
Locharbor Plumbago Mining Company, a position
which he held for two years. Mr. Perry then went
to Springfield, Mass., where he became a clerk in the
New York Watch Company. This was in 1869.
After clerking there two years he became superin-
tendent of the factory, holding the position five years,
and, the Hampden Watch Company having been
formed from the New York Watch Company, he
(Mr. Perry) became superintendent of that con-
cern, remaining in that incumbency four years, and
then going on the road to sell goods for this com-
pany. He sold their goods until he became associated
with a prominent jewelry manufacturing house, re-
maining with them two years. His next business
association wa^with a syndicate that purchased the
Aurora Watch Company's plant, in Illinois, remain-
ing with them until the Hamilton Watch Company
of Lancaster was organized, in 1892, the Aurora
having been merged into the Hamilton. Mr. Perry
again went on the road, selling goods for the Hamil-
ton until three years ago, when, at the death of Henry
C. Cain, he became superintendent. It is an interest-
ing fact that he and Mr. Cain (whose successor he
became) were constantly associated (with the ex-
ception of two and one half years) from 1869 until
Mr. Cain entered into rest. The Hamilton has had
a wonderful development under Mr. Perry's man-
agement, their goods ranking second to none, any-
where. They employ 472 people, and the new an-
nex, just completed (1903) makes room for three
hundred more people.
Mr. Perry has been twice married. His first
wife, Vironia L. Sears, whom he married in Massa-
chusetts, in 1 861, became the mother of two chil-
dren, a son and a daughter. The son died, and the
daughter, Lillian J. (now Mrs. W. H. Wilson),
lives in Aurora, 111. . His second wife was Jessie E.
1424
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Richards, whom he married in Aurora, in 1894.
Three children were born of this union, but all of
them are dead, and the wife and mother has also
passed away. Mr. Perry is a member of the Masons,
and of the Benevolent Order of Elks ; is a Repub-
lican in politics, a Universalist in religion, and,
withal, an intelligent, liberal-minded, wholesouled
gentleman.
BENJAMIN. HICKMAN POWNALL, a gen-
eral farmer and leading citizen of Sadsbury town-
ship, Lancaster county, where he was born Jan. 23,
1842, is a son of Hon. Joseph D. Pownall, of Sads-
bury township.
Hon. Joseph D. Pownall was a farmer and a
drover, and died March 6, 1887, at the age of sixty-
seven years ; his wife, who was a Miss Hickman,
born iri Goshen, Chester county, Dec. 8, 181 7, died
April 20, 1899. Both were buried in the cemetery
connected with the meeting house of the Society of
Friends in Sadsbury township, of which they were
members. Joseph D. Pownall filled the office of
justice of the peace at Christiana at the time of the
Riot of 185T.. In 1857, and again in 1859, he was
elected as a representative to the General Assembly,
and he was a delegate to the Republican Convention
that nominated Abraham Lincoln in i860. In busi-
ness circles he was prominent, and. held the position
of director of the National Bank of Chester Valley
from its inauguration until his death. In fraternal
matters he belonged to the Masonic Order, and was
a member of the Blue Lodge'. To him and his wife
were born: Benjamin H., whose name appears
above; Joseph, and Ambrose, who both died in in-
fancy ; Lewis, who died at the age of nine years ;
and Elwood P., a farmer of Christiana, who married
Mary Baker.
The paternal grandparents of Benjamin H.
Pownall were Joseph and Phoebe (Dickinson)
Pownall, natives of Sadsbury and Salisbury town-
ships, respectively. Joseph Pownall was born in
1791, and after a life passed in agricultural pursuits
died March 17, 1829. His widow, born Nov. 14, 1793
passed to her reward March 30, 1875. Both were
laid to rest in the cemetery of the Society of Friends
in Salisbury township. They had the following
family : Moses ; Levi ; Joseph D. ; Elizabeth, wife
of Hon. George Witson, formerly a representative
of the township, and long a justice of the peace;
Henry, deceased; Ambrose, a retired farmer of
Sadsbury; Simeon B., a retired farmer of Harris-
burg ; Catherine, who married Thomas Greist, a re-
tired grain merchant of Philadelphia; Oliver, who
died young; and Phoebe, who wedded William
Webb.
The paternal great-grandparents of Benjamin
H. Pownall were Levi and Elizabeth (Buckman)
Pownall, and came into this county from Bucks
countv, making the journey on horseback, and hav-
ing but little idea of where they would locate, but
Sadsbury township pleased them, and they settled
at Simmonstown, where they started a tannery,.
Here they purchased a large tract of land and made
their home for life. I-evi Pownall was born Aug,-
25, 1755, and died Aug. 20, 1840. His widow, born.
Sept. 12, 1756, died April 30, 1844.
The maternal grandparents of Benjamin H..
Powall were Benjamin and Mary (Hickman) Hick-
man, bearing the same name but being no relation.
They were born in England, and came to" America,,
settling in a cave in Westtown township, near West-'
town Friends Boarding School.
Benjamin H. Pownall was married May 24,.
1866, in the home of the bride in Highland township,
to Filena Clark. Born to this union were two chil-
dren as follows: M. H., who taught school for
nine years, and then married Charles G. Jones, a.
farmer of Sadsbury township, and has one child,
Gordon P. ; Lydia C., unmarried and at home. Mrs.
Filena (Clark) Pownall was born near Coatesville, .
Chester Co., Pa., March 4, 1842, a daughter of Jo-
seph D. and Lydia D. (Brown) Clark. Her parents
were natives of Chester county, but resided in Chris-
tiana from 1 87 1 to 1875, when they returned to ■
Chester county, where they passed their lives. Her
father was a miller in his earlier days, but in later
life was a farmer.
Mr. Pownall was reared on the farm under his
parents' watchful care, and remained with them un-
til he embarked in a mercantile career in 1866. That
year he bought a store of James Coates, and operated"
it until his removal to his present farm. For four-
teen years he filled the position of school director,
and was supervisor three years. For many years
he was a judge of elections, and has long acted as
township auditor. In his religious views he is a
member of the Society of Friends, and belongs to •
the Masonic fraternity, being connected with Lodge
No. 417 at Christiana. His military services during^'
the Civil war entitled him to a membership in the-
G. A. R., which he has been proud to claim. In his ■
politics he is a Republican.
Benjamin H. Pownall enlisted in the 50th P. V.
I., at Christiana, June 29, 1863, responding to am
emergency call, and was honorably discharged Aug,
iSth, of the same year. His enlistment was for-
ninety days, and he served along the Potomac, and
below the Hagerstown country. He had enlisted
Sept. 6, 1862, in Company H, 2nd Regiment — an.'
emergency company — but as his services were not
needed he was discharged the same day.
Mr. Pownall holds all the old family wills, and
has many heirlooms of his family, including a clock
that has been in the family over a hundred years. He
is personally a man of fine character, and is much
esteemed in the community where his useful and in-
dustrious life is passing.
GEORGE A. MORISON, of Manor town-
ship, Lancaster county, was born in Adams county.
Pa., Sept. T, 1829, and is a son of George and Susan-,
nah (Wolf) Morison, of whom the former was born'
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1425
in the State of Delaware and was of English de-
scent.
George Mori son when a boy came from his na-
tive State to Pennsylvania, for a short time was em-
ployed in Philadelphia at various occupations, and
while still a young man went to Adams county and
worked with farmers the greater part of his life, but
toward his latter years purchased, jointly with his
son, George A., a farm in Adams county. He died
in the village of Hunterstown in 1870, when at the
age of seventy years, and his wife, who was born in
1 80 1, died when almost eighty years old; both ac-
cepted the faith of the Methodist Church. ,To the
marriage of George and Susannah Morison were
born twelve children, of whom Mary Ann and Jerry
died young; Margaret died the wife of Frederick
Harman, of Adams county; Jacob is a carpenter of
West Hempfield, Lancaster county; Elizabeth is the
widow of Henry McLain ; George A. ; James I., re-
sides in Bainbridge, Lancaster county; Susan is the
deceased wife of John Imhoff, of Adams county;
Matilda is married to Henry Bigler, of Columbia,
Lancaster county; Charlotte is the widow of James
Paxton, of Adams county; Frederick W. is sheriff
of Adams county ; and John N. is deceased.
George A. Morison was reared in Adams county,
in 1850 came to Lancaster county, and worked for
Christian Charles, of Manor township two years ; in
1852 he married and went to work raising tobacco
on rented land, and about 1870 purchased his pres-
ent farm of twenty-four acres, three miles southeast
of Columbia. This farm was partially improved
with buildings, but Mr. Morison has erected much
finer ones and has the best farm of its size in his
part of the county, all the surroundings showing the
extreme thrift, care and intelligent management of
the owner. While Mr. Morison has raised, packed
and shipped a large quantity of tobacco, general
farming has not been neglected, and in this respect
the same good management is manifested.
On Oct. 4, 1852, George A. Morison married
Susan, daughter of John Dabler, of Rohrerstown,
Lancaster county, and this union has been blessed
with one child, Annie, wife of Abraham Kilheffer,
a farmer of Manor township. To Mr. and Mrs.
Kilheffer have been born three children, Harry,
F'annie and Mary. George A. Morison and his wife
are devout members of the Old Mennonite Church
and stand very high socially. In politics Mr. Mori-
son is a Democrat.
JOHN N. MARTIN, a resident of Earl town-
ship, Lancaster county, is one of the prominent and
noted people of the county and was born Feb. 26,
1859, a scm of Amos and Esther (Nott) Martin, of
Earl township. His early life was passed on the
farm, and he has devoted himself to the cultivation
of the soil. , 1 1. J
Mr. Martin has belonged to the school board
since 1896 and takes a lively interest in every pro-
ject that relates to the public welfare.- In his poli-
90
tics he is a Republican. In business affairs he holds
a prominent position, and since 1893 has been a di-
rector of the Ephrata National Bank.
Mr. Martin was married to Miss Mary A. War-
ner, who was born March 4, 1859, a daughter of
Abraham B. and Magdalina (Groff) Warner, resi-
dents of Earl township. Her father died in 1863,
at the early age of thirty-three; Mrs. Warner died
in 1867, at the age of thirty-five. They were mem-
bers of the Mennonite Church, and were the parents
of three children: Samuel E., who is a justice of
the peace at Blue Ball ; Abraham, of Earl township ;
and Mary A., who is Mrs. Martin.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin have one child, Mary Ella.
The family belong to the Mennonite Church.
BENJAMIN B. HERR, one of the most highly
respected farmers of Manor township, Lancaster
county, was born in Millersville, in the same town-
ship, Nov. 25, 1855, and is a son of Adam and Mary
Ann (Brenneman) Herr. His father died in De-
cember, 1899, at the age of eighty-three years, five
months and tweiity-seven days, and the mother was
called away some years previously. Adam Herr was
born and reared in Quarryville, Lancaster county,
and was a son of Abraham Herr, who came of a
very old Lancaster family.
Benjamin B. Herr was reared in Millersville and
educated in the public schools, and in 1882 left the
home place to begin business on his own account on
his present farm of sixty acres, which is situated
three-quarters of a mile east of Letort and is one of
the finest places of its size in the county. On this
tract Mr. Herr has made most of the improvements,
carries on general farming and is also engaged in the
packing of tobacco.
On Dec. 27, 1881, Benjamin B. Herr married
Miss Ida Groff, daughter of Isaac Groff, of Millers-
ville, and six children have come to grace this union,
one of whom, Willis, born Jan. 27, 1883, died June
18, 1883. The survivors are Walter Isaac, born
June 27, 1886; Ida Gertrude, Feb. 6, 1890; Mary
Alma, Dec. 14, 1891 ; Benjamin Ralph, Aug. 17,
1896; and Katherine Ruth, Sept. 16, 1898.
LEVI B. NEFF was born April 2, 1841, in
Rohrerstown, Lancaster Co., Pa. The family is of
English origin. Christian Neff, the grandfather, hav-
ing come from that country to the United States.
He traveled with a circus and the last heard of him
was from New Orleans, where he had taken the yel-
low fever and died.
Christian Neft' left but one child, a son, Samuel
G. Neff, who was born in East Hempfield township,
Lancaster county, March 9, 18 17. He was educated
in the public schools and when quite young he
learned the painter's trade of his grandfather, Ben-
jamin Leggett. He followed this business all his
life. He was a member of the Evangelical Church,
and was a Republican in politics but never sought
office. He married Mary, daughter of Daniel
1426
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Brener, of Rohrerstown, and the couple had eight
children : Levi and Reuben, twins, the latter of
whom is dead; Samuel, of Manor township; John
B., of Manor township; Solomon, of Manor town-
ship ; Mary, wife of Charles Lucas, of Washington,
Manor township ; Matilda, wife of Henry Shoff, of
York county; and Lizzie, wife of John Shatzer, of
Manor township.
Levi B. Neff lived at home until he was twenty-
one years old, in the meantime receiving an educa-
tion in the schools of the county. At the age of
twenty-one, he enlisted in Co. E, 178th P. V. I., and
served in the Civil war one year. He learned the
painter's trade witli his father and has always fol-
lowed it. In 1888 he bought the place where he at
present resides, it bemg a fine farm of eighty acres.
Since owning it he has made extensive improve-
ments. Mr. NefiE is a member of the G. A. R. Post,
of Safe Harbor. He and his wife are members of
the LTnited Brethren Church of Green Hill.
Mr. Neff was married to Miss Annie Wissler in
1862. She lived but eighteen months and left one
child, Emma, who married Henry Slott, of Mount-
ville. In 1865 he married Miss Mary Wright, who
died in 1874, leaving three children : Angeline, wife
of Abram Sitz, of Mountville ; Miranda, wife of
George Seaman of Elmira, N. Y. ; and Lizzie, wife
of Samuel Bentler, of Fort Penn, Del. He was
married to his third wife, Miss Emma Boyd, of
York county, Feb. 29, 1876. This couple have had
seven children : George, of Gordonville, who is
learning the butcher's trade; Harry, of Safe Har-
bor ; and Frank, Minnie, Elmer and Ferris and
Stella (twins), all at home.
Mr. Neff is a man of sterling character and is
universally respected in the community in which he
resides.
JOHN D. RANCK, an honored and much re-
spected retired farmer of New Holland, Pa., was
born in East Earl township, Lancaster county, Nov.
27, 1829,, and is a son of Jacob and Lucia (Diller)
Ranck. His father was a farmer in Earl township,
where his good standing in the community was at-
tested by his election to the office of supervisor.
His death occurred in October, 1875, when he was
seventy-five years old ; his wife passed to her rest"
the same year, at the age of sixty-eight. Both
were members of the Lutheran Church, and were
buried in the New Holland cemetery.
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Ranck had the following
family : John D. ; Jacob, a farmer of Earl town-
ship ; Margaret, a single lady ; Martin, unmarried,
and living in Lancaster ; Diller, a farmer in Chester
county. Pa. ; Luella, who married Daniel W. Groff,
Barbara A., married to Isaac Musser, and living in
Lancaster; David, who died young; Elizabeth, who
also died young.
The paternal grandparents of J. D. Ranck were
John and Elizabeth (Shively) Ranck; his maternal
grandparents, John and Margaret (Rhoads) Diller.
Both families were honorable farming people of
Lancaster county.
Mr. Ranck was married in December, 1856, to
Louisa Diller, by whom he had one child, Mary E.,
who is unmarried, and is living at home. Mrs.
Ranck was born in April, 1837, daughter of Jacob
and Mary (Basore) Diller.
John'D. Ranck lived with his parents until his
marriage, when he moved to Chester county and
was there engaged eight years in farming, then
moving into East Earl township to carry on a farm
the same length of time. In 1887 he established
himself on the farm where he is found at the pres-
ent time. Mr. Ranck has been supervisor in both
Earl and East Earl townships, and was known as
an honorable and efficient official. In politics he is a
Republican. He stands well in the community.
CHRISTIAN H. ROHRER. The family of
Rohrer is one of the early, as it is also one of the
most respected, families of Lancaster county.
Abraham Rohrer, the grandfather of Christian
H., was a farmer in Manor township, locating there
early in life and spending there the remainder of
his days. His wife was a Miss Eby, and their son
Ephraim was the father of Christian H. He
(Ephrairn) first saw the sun upon the paternal farm,
and on those acres he passed the greater part of his
life, nine years being spent in or near Mt. Joy, Lan-
caster county. He purchased 100 acres of land in the
same township and through thrift, intelligence and
industry achieved success. He was an earnest Men-
nonite, being for many years a deacon, and for more
than a decade a preacher in the denomination. He
was widely known and generally beloved for his
many admirable qualities of mind and heart. He
was a firm believer in the principle of free, universal
education, and his intelligent advocacy of the cause
led to his being repeatedly chosen a member of the
local board of education. He was born in 18 ri and
his wife, Esther Habacker, in 1816. He fell asleep
on June 14, 1891. while she survived him until Au-
gust, 1897, entering into her reward at the age of
four score and one. Their nine children were named
Elizabeth, Christian H., Ephraim, Esther, Isaac,
Benjamin, Mary, Annie, and Miami. Only three
are yet living. Christian H., Mary and Annie.
Elizabeth married Joseph Newcomer, of Manor
township, and Esther was the wife of Amos Miller,
of Quarryville. Mary is the wife of Joseph Charles,
of Donegal township ; and Annie remains unmarried.
Christian H. Rohrer was born Feb. 3, 1838. He
passed his boyhood much after the fashion of other
farmers' sons of his day and generation who hap-
pened to be born in the same locality. His natural
bent was toward the life of a farmer and his success
has^ abundantly demonstrated that in selecting his
life's work he did not choose amiss. In i860 he was
niarried, and took his bride to a farm conducted by
himself. The following year (1861) they removed
to his present farm of 130 acres, near Mountville.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1427
His success has been pronounced, yet when it is re-
membered that It is attributable to native discern-
)ment, pluck and perseverance, it occasions no sur-
prise. He has been a promoter of not a few com-
mercial enterprises of magnitude, in the direction of
several of which he still holds a seat. Among these
may be named the Columbia Iron Company, the
Fairview Milling Company (of Columbia), the
Mountville National Bank and the Mountville Manu-
facturing Company. He is politically a staunch Re-
publican, yet while ever ready to do what he may to
ladvance party success along legitimate lines, he has
never sought reward in the form of political prefer-
ment.. He has, however, consented to serve as
school director for six years.
Reference has been made to his marriage. It
occurred Nov. 25, i860, to Catherine Forrey, whose
parents, Daniel and Catherine (Kauffman) Forrey,
were residents of Manor township. Mr. and Mrs.
Rohrer have reared a large family of children, all of
whom are living. Isaac, the first born, married
Mattie Walker and lives in Manor; Annie is Mrs.
Eli Mann, her husband being a farmer of the same
locality; Elizabeth is the wife of Jacob Bender, of
East Hempfield : Benjamin is a farmer, in the same
township, and the husband of Mary Grider; Chris-
tian married Elizabeth Shuman, and has his home
in Manor ; Ephraim married Mary Good, and is a
resident of Mountville : Amos owns a farm in
Manor and is the husband of Ella Dambaugh;
Esther is unmarried and lives at home with her par-
ents. The family are members of the Mennonite
Church.
J. M. COONEY, of Fulton township, Lan-
caster county, is a well-known farmer and miller.
He was born Nov. 8, 1841, in Cecil county, Mary-
land. He is a son of Thomas and Catherine
(Bravo) Cooney, of Cecil county.
Thomas Cooney, the father, was born in 1803
and died Oct. 17, 1880. He was a son of Thomas
Cooney, who emigrated from Ireland to America
tmd who had a family of four children, viz. : James,
Thomas, Sarah and Catherine. Thomas Cooney
(2), father of J. M. Cooney, married Miss Cath-
erine Bravo, of Maryland, in' 1830. Her father was
John Bravo, of Maryland, his family being of
French origin. The marriage of Mr. Thomas
Cooney and Miss Bravo resulted in the following
family : Thomas and Mary J., deceased ; Isabel, the
wife of Thomas Emmett, of Maryland; J. M., of
this sketch; and David L., deceased. Mrs. Cooney,
the mother of this family, was born in 1808 and died
in 1883.
Mr. J. M. Cooney married Elizabeth B., daugh-
ter of John Shaub, of Lancaster, in June, 1867.
This couple have had ten children : Mary S., born
Jan. IS, 1868, deceased; Thomas, born March 19,
1869, a machinist at Chestnut Level, Pa., and mar-
ried to Miss Mary L. Brown : David L., born Feb.
2, 1872, a partner with his brother Thomas in the
mercantile business,and married to Miss Lydia Nef f ;
Daniel W., born May 2, 1874, who died in youth;
Kate E., born June 12, 1875, the wife of Scott Wil-
son, residing in Rising Sun, Md. ; Walter B., born
Jan. 29, 1877, married to Miss Ella M. Wilson;
John M., born Sept. 28, 1879, deceased ; Joseph G.,
born Dec. 25, 1880, at home with his parents on the
farm ; Daniel B., born June 10, 1883, deceased ; and
Esther, the youngest child, born July 7, 1885. The
mother, Mrs. Cooney, was born Sept. 12, 1845.
Mr. Cooney is a stanch Democrat in politics and
a Presbyterian in religion. He has been a mail con-
tractor for years. In 1891 he bought the mill and
farm where he now resides, and it is valuable prop-
erty. Mr. Cooney has had an honorable career and
holds the esteem of a good many friends and
neighbors.
MARTIN NISSLEY BRUBAKER. The
stranger could not travel far in Lancaster county
without meeting with the names of the families from
which Martin Nissley Brubaker has descended, for
they are widely scattered and prominent in what-
ever community found.
Martin N. Brubaker was born in Elizabeth town-
ship on the banks of the Hammer Creek, Oct. il,
183s, a son of Shem and Magdalina (Nissley) Bru-
baker, the former of Elizabeth township and the
latter of Rapho township, near Sporting Hill. The
father was a farmer all his life, retiring from active
duties but a few years before his death, which oc-
curred in September, 1887, at the age of seventy-
four. The family moved to Mt. Joy township in
April, 1884, and occupied the farm upon which Mar-
tin N. resides. During many years the father was a
school director of his district, as he was always in-
terested in educational aflfairs. The mother died in
August, 1884, at the age of seventy, having been a
pious, worthy woman, well known in the neighbor-
hood for her kindness and ready sympathy for those
in need. 7"he parents rest in the cemetery at Landis-
ville. Both father and mother were consistent
members of the Old Mennonite Church, and their
family consisted of two sons ; Martin N. ; and Jacob,
a minister of the Mennonite faith, who lives on the
old homestead in Rapho township.
The paternal grandparents of Martin N. Bru-
baker were Jacob and Maria (Eby) Brubaker, who
lived in Elizabeth township, where the former, a
farmer all his life, died in 1853 at the age of seventy-
two years and six months, his widow surviving un-
til 1863, reaching her eighty-first year. These, be-
loved grandparents were interred in a private bury-
ing groimd on the old homestead. The great-grand-
parents were also natives of Elizabeth township;
the great-grandfather, also Jacob Brubaker, caught
the yellow fever in Philadelphia, from which he died
in 1793. The maternal grandparents also repre-
sented old and honored names in the county, and
were Martin and Maria (Baumberger) Nissley, of
Warwick township, near Lititz.
1428
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Martin N. Brubaker, eldest son of his parents,
grew up on the farm but did not take naturally to
the life of a farmer. During his youth he attended
the district schools and later the Lititz Academy,
going at the age of eighteen to the Mt. Joy Academy,
and at the age of nineteen he took a practical course
in surveying. The next two years were spent in the
mercantile line, but this business was not satisfac-
tory and young Martin then went to East Hemp-
field township where he engaged in farming near
Petersburg, and also did surveying, remaining in
that locality for six years ; he then went to Landis-
ville where he practiced surveying until 1888, at
which time he located in Mt. Joy.
Mr. Brubaker is considered an expert in his line
of business, and for two years served as county sur-
veyor, and for the past twenty-five years has been a
notary public. Whatever he undertakes, he does
thoroughly and is considered a very capable and re-
liable surveyor. In politics he is a Republican, al-
though he cast his first vote for James Buchanan,
local pride influencing him, as the candidate was a
resident of this county.
The marriage of Mr. Brubaker occurred on Oct.
25, 1856, to Mary A. Snavely, of Penn township, and
to this union was born one daughter, Fanny S., who
died in 1887, at the age of thirty, unmarried.
Mary A. (Snavely) Brubaker was born in Penn
township, Sept. 25, 1837, a daughter of Henry and
Mary Snavely, of Penn and East Hempfield town-
ships, respectively. They died in Penn township, at
a place now known as Lancaster Junction. Mr.
Snavely was a merchant and miller at that place,
and Henry R., the grandson, still carries on the
business.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker are valued members
of the Old Mennonite Church and are among the
most respected and esteemed residents of the lo-
cality.
DAVID H. KREITER, one of the enterprising
business men and farmers of Penn township, Lan-
caster Co., Fa., was born in Warwick township,
Feb. II, 1858, and is one of the self-made men of our
country, his prosperity being the result of his own
unaided efit'orts, directed along paths of industry and
integrity.
When only five years of age, he suffered the
loss of his father, but he remained with his mother
until twenty-one years of age, receiving his early
education in the common schools of the neighbor-
hood. Later, realizing the necessity for more ex-
tensive educational advantages, he went in 1884 to
Indiana and entered the Northern Indiana Normal
School of Valparaiso, where he remained three and
one-half years.
In 1S91, Mr. Kreiter established a cigar factory
in Lititz and for five years was engaged in the manu-
facture of cigars, and during this time he also bought
and packed leaf tobacco. While successfully con-
ducting these enterprises, in 1896 he purchased the
fine farm where he now resides, then known as the
old Summy homestead, near Fairland, and rented the
property for four years. From time to time, as the
occasion demanded, he made improvements until he
brought the place into a high state of cultivation^
and made it one of the finest farms in Lancaster
county. In 1901 Mr. Kreiter removed to his farm
and himself engaged in farming, which calling he
is now following with great success.
On Dec. 20, 1892, David H. Kreiter was married
to Miss- Maria Whitcraft, a daughter of John and
Maria AVhitcraft, and two children have been born,
to them: David Paul, born Aug. 3, 1899; and
Charles Henry, born May 23, 1901.
Mr. and Mrs. Kreiter- are both active members
of the Moravian Church of Lititz, and are highly es-
teemed in that congregation. Mr. Kreiter is a man
of enterprise and public-spirit and has borne an act-
ive part in all measures tending toward the develop-
ment and improvement of the affairs of the town-
ship;
JOSEPH K. SHULTZ. Among the self-made
men of Lancaster county — men who started out in
life with health, strength and indomitable will as-
their only heritage and have achieved success and
prominence as business men — we find the name of
Joseph K. Shultz, who was born near Washington;
borough, in Manor township, Lancaster county,
June 19, 1849, a son of Isaac and Mary Anm
(Kearey) Shultz. The boyhood days of our sub-
ject were passed on the home farm and he early
learned that to be the son of a Pennsylvania farmer
did not mean a life of idleness. He attended the
winter sessions of the common school in his neigh-
borhood until, arriving at the proper age, he entered!
the Normal School at Millersville, remaining through;
four sessions. His school days ended, be began;
teaching a country school in North Hempfield town-
ship, an occupation which he followed successfully
four years, after which he entered Eastman's Busi-
ness College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. On graduat-
ing therefrom he was tendered and accepted the po-
sition of bookkeeper in the banking heuse of E. K.
Smith & Co., of Columbia, Pa. Seeing an oppor-
tunity to start out in business on his own account, he,,
in 1877, opened a lumber yard in Washington bor-
ough, Lancaster county, and soon after added a coal'
yard to his lumber establishment. For many years
he supplied the people for miles around with coaF
and one of the pleasant facts in connection with, his
dealings in coal (and his sales have exceeded $300,-
000), upon which he can dwell with much satisfac-
tion IS, that no patron of his ever paid for a pound of
coal he did not get. In 1877 he purchased from his
father the farm which he now owns, adjoining
Washington borough, and where he now resides.
This property is called the Blue Rock farm and is
widely known as the leading tobacco farm in the
county and environs, and its owner has become the
acknowledged tobacco king of that section of the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1429
-State. His average acreage of tobacco is forty, from
which he has reaHzed as high as $11,300 in a single
season. Other farm products of a general or mis-
cellaneous character are also produced on the farm
and receive his. personal supervision. As an agri-
'culturist, coal and lumber merchant, Mr. Shultz
finds his time too fully employed to admit of his
taking an active interest in politics or seeking po-
litical honors or emoluments from his, the Demo-
cratic party.
On March 30, 1878, Mr. Shultz was joined in
marriage to Miss Emma F. Stauffer, daughter of
Jacob and Maria (Forrey) Stauffer. To this union
have been born five children, (i) Joseph S. was
.graduated from Lehigh University in 1900, stand-
ing second in a class of 520 and being the valedic-
torian; he is now a draughtsman in the Navy de-
partment at Washington, D. C, the position having
been tendered him prior to the date of his graduation.
(2) Mamie E. is a student at Irving College, Me-
chanicsburg, Pa. (3) John J. is next in order of
Tairth. (4) Isaac Victor died at the age of three
years. (5) Albert Lloyd. The Shultz family, like
their ancestors, are devout members of the Church
"of God. Starting out in life with honesty and fair
dealing as the corner stone of his business life, pub-
lic-spirited and enterprising as a citizen, Joseph K.
Shultz deservedly holds a high place in tiie esteem
■of the community where his whole life has been
thus far spent.
JOHN McMANAMY, in his day one of the
leading farmers and highly esteemed citizens of
'Sadsbury township, this county, was born in County
Mavo, Ireland, and ended a long and estimable life
on his farm on April 20, 1893. He was buried in the
Parkesburg cemetery, under the auspices of the
<ratholic Church, of which he was a devout member.
Hugh and Anna (McKale) McManany, parents
of John, were also natives of Ireland, where they
spent their lives on a farmi. They reared the follow-
ing named children : Bridget, deceased wife of John
Carty; John; Michael, a contractor and builder in
Australia; and Thomas and James, botli deceased.
All but John went to Australia.
John McManamy was reared to young manhood
;in his native land, coming to America in 1859.
After settling at Gap, Lancaster Co., Pa., he entered
upon a life of industry which brought him worldly
prosperity, reared his family in comfort, and when
^he was called away by death left many mourning
friends. His warm heart was ever ready to respond
-to the call of those in distress, and few men in the
locality had more friends or were more highly re-
■spected. In 1866 he moved to a farm which adjoins
the present homestead, and which is still in the pos-
session of his widow and children, and in 1879 the
family settled on the present farm, which is well im-
proved and very valuable.
Mr. McManamy was married Oct. 5, 1850, in
IVIanchester, England, to Miss Bridget O'Connor,
and children as follows were born to this union:
Annie (deceased) married Joseph Hunter. Hugh
married Belle Pennington ; he holds the responsible
position of foreman in the rolling mill at Chester,
Pa. James M. married first Mary Hannah, and later
a Mrs. Dunlap. Michael T. is residing with his
mother. John M. also lives with his mother. E.
Jennie married Harry Linton, a carpenter of Sads-
bury township. Dora R. married John L. Gibeny,
who conducts a hotel in Duncannon, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. McManamy was born in Galway, Ireland,
May 14, 1 83 1, daughter of Michael and Mary (Bar-
rett) O'Connor, farming people of County Galway,
the former of whom died in 1835 and the latter in
1876. The two children born to these excellent peo-
ple were both daughters : Bridget, Mrs. McManamy ;
and Mary, who is married and still lives in Ireland.
Industrious, energetic, and the soul of honesty,
Mr. McManamy was highly esteemed in his locality
by his fellow citizens, and perhaps the only matter
upon which he and his family did not agree was
that of politics, the father being a Democrat, while
the sons and the mother believed in the principles of
the Republican party. All his life John McManamy
was a devout member of the Catholic Church and
lived up to the teachings of his faith.
JACOB H. GOOD, of the firm of J. H. Good &
Son, butchers and dealers in fresh and salted meats
at Millersville, Lancaster Co., Penn., was born in
Pequea township, same county, Aug. 27, 1845, was
reared on the home farm, and was educated in the
public schools of his district.
Joseph Good, grandfather of Jacob H., was also
a native of Lancaster and was a son of the supposed
founder of the family, who came from Germany.
Joseph Good was a resident of Pequea township and
was a very active business man, being at various
periods a farmer, miller and distiller. Joseph mar-
ried Mary Kindig, a native of Lancaster county, to
which union children were born in the following
order : Jacob K., father of Jacob H. ; Mary, de-
ceased wife of Christian Johns, of Lancaster town-
ship; Barbara, deceased wife of Benjamin Martin,
of the same place ; John, deceased, who was a hotel
keeper in Martic township and was also in the mill-
ing business for a time; Catherine, late wife of
Benjamin Goss; and Elizabeth, married to George
Warfel, of Pequea township.
Jacob K. Good was also born in Pequea town-
ship, was reared a farmer, but early in life engaged
in milling and distilling, and later in butchering at
Penn Valley, was active in local affairs, officiated
as a member of the school board and was supervisor
of Pequea township. He married Mary Haver-
stick, who bore him eleven children, namely : Joseph,
a farmer who died unmarried in Pequea township;
Susan, wife bf Michael Hess, of Manor town-
ship ; Elizabeth, unmarried ; Abraham, a railroad
employe, who enlisted three times during the Civil
war, first for nine months, secondly for three
1480
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
months, and lastly for three years, and who died in
Pequea township ; Jacob H. ; Kate and Mary, both
unmarried; John who died in childhood; Barbara,
unmarried; Solomon, a butcher on the old hbme-
stead in Penn Valley ; and Sarah, widow of William
Bechtold, residing in Florin, Lancaster county.
The mother of this family died Sept. 2, 1891, at the
age of seventy-two years, three months and six days,
and the father passed away in 1895.
Jacob H. Good was employed in his father's dis-
tillery when a young man, but soon after marriage
engaged in farming, which he followed until 1897,
when he embarked in the butchering trade in part-
nership with his son, Elmer E., at Millersville, un-
der the firm name of J. H. Good & Son, doing their
own slaughtering, salting, smoking and packing and
having also a large trade in fresh meats.
Jacob H. Good married, Feb. 20, 1870, Miss
Elizabeth Smith, who was born in Conestoga town-
ship in 1851, and is a daughter of John Smith. To
this marriage have been born thirteen children, of
whom Elmer E. is the eldest; he was first engaged
in the baking business at West Willow in company
with J. R. Smith, under the style of Smith & Good,
but is now the partner of his father, Jacob H. The
remaining twelve children were born in the follow-
ing order: Mary L., wife of Elam Hershock, of
Herrville; William; Cora, wife of Benjamin Heid-
lauf, of Mountville; Elam, of Manor township;
Charles, Ella, Annie, Jacob, Lucy, and Cora, all of
the same township; Grant, deceased; and Flora, at
home.
DANIEL D. HESS (deceased), a former
business man of Quarryville, was born in Little
Britain township, Aug. 15, 1835, a son of Jonas and
Abbie (Pettigrew) Hess, who were both born in
Lancaster county of Scotch and Irish parentage.
Jonas Hess, the father, was a farmer of Little
Britain township for many years, and he raised a
family of six children as follows: Daniel D. ;
Jackson Hess, deceased, was born in Lancaster
county and moved to Wisconsin where he died in
1898, leaving a widow and one son, who still re-
side in Wisconsin. Martin, deceased, was a farm-
er of Quarryville. William, deceased, was a farmer
of Little Britain township. Elias, deceased, was
born, in Lancaster and settled in Mechanics Grove,
where he died in 1870, leaving a family. Mary J.,
who was born in Lancaster county, is the widow
of Daniel Eckman, who resided for years at Prov-
idence, and then moved to near Quarryville, where
he died in 1871, leaving a widow and two sons,
who reside on the homestead ; the sons are Galen L.
and Daniel H.
Daniel D. Hess was reared on his father's farm,
and received his education in the schools of the
county. He died Feb. 4, 1890. Mr. Hess was mar-
ried, in 1855, to Miss Catharine, daughter of Dan-
iel and Elizabeth Lefever, a pioneer family of Lan-
caster county. Mrs. Hess was born Dec. 6, 1832,
on the family homestead in Quarryville borough^
where she was reared and educated. At the time
of his death Mr. Hess left a widow and eight chil-
dren: S. Milton, born in Quarryville, in January,,
1856, attended the Millersville State Normal;
School, where he received a good business educa-
tion, after which he engaged in. the manufacture
and sale of phosphates, doing a large business in
Pennsylvania and other States; he married Miss-
Sallie Williams, and has two sons, Walter and
Miles. William was born in January, 1857, and
married Miss Susan Keen, of Quarryville borough^
where they reside on the old homestead owned by
Mr. Hess's mother; he has ten children as fol-
lows : Virgie, who married Alvin Hess, of Lancas-
ter City, and has one daughter, Mary C. ; Adam ;
Anna; Odessa; Edith; William; Ernest; Ruth,-
Bertha; and Francis. Anna E. Hess (deceased)
was born in January, 1859, ^iid was well educated
in a seminary; she was married to David Bofifen-
myer, of Lancaster county, and they afterward lo-
cated in Quarryville, where the husband engaged'
in the coal and lumber business ; Mrs. Boffenmyer
died in December, 1890, leaving a son, John, and a
daughter, Lucy, who were raised by their aunt
Clara, on the homestead. Daniel M., born in June,
i860, was educated in the Millersville State NormaF
School, after which he married Miss Annie Hilde-
brand, of New Providence, at which place the3r
now reside on a farm owned by Mr. Hess; they
have one daughter, Esther. George B., born Oct.
8, 1863, received a normal school education, and is
now engaged with his brother at Philadelphia, in-
the manufacture of phosphates. He married Miss
Susan Popp, of Reading, Pa., and they reside in-
Philadelphia. They have seven children, as fol-
lows: Mary Celia, Daniel, Gertrude, George, An-
na, Charles and Margaret. Mazie E., born in'
1866, was married to Alfred Ellmaker, of Lan-
caster county, and they now reside in Philadelphia,
where Mr. Ellmaker is in the railroad business;:
they have one son, Lee. Emmet L., born in 1869,
was educated in the State Normal School, and is
now a traveling salesman for his brother's phos-
phate factory. Clara B., born in August, 1878, was-
educated at the Millersville State Normal School;
she is at home with her mother, giving that aged'
parent her best care and attention. Mrs. Hess was
several years ago stricken with paralysis, and this-
adds largely to Miss Hess's duties. In addition
she has charge of her deceased sister's two chil-
dren. Miss Hess is a lady of culture and refine-
ment, and her gentle manner makes her greatly be-
loved by all who know her. Daniel D. Hess, the-
father of the foregoing family, lived with the late
Jacob Kreider, in Fulton township, until he reached^
the age of sixteen years, when he moved to Quarry-
ville and worked in the quarries there as a laborer.
After his marriage, in 1855, he went into the lime
busmess, and carried it on successfully until 1875;
for years he was the largest operator in lime in the
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1431
county, and he employed a large force of men and
teams in the business. He then retired from busi-
ness, selling out to his son, L. M., who also car-
ried on the trade for several years. Mr. Hess built
the warehouse on the Quarryville railroad, and
dealt extensively in coal and lumber for some time,
after which he sold the business, and building him-
self a handsome' residence in the borough, retired
from_ active business, and devoted his spare time
to his farm property. This, however, proved not
enough to engage him, and he embarked in the
phosphate business in Reading, building a large
concern, which in company with his sons, L. M.
and G. B., has been made a heavy enterprise. He
built large buildings on his farms, and improved
them by helping the soil and raising proper crops.
Mr. Hess took a prominent part in the building of
the Quarryville railroad, and was a stockholder and
director .until the time of his death. He, in connec-
tion with Daniel Blair, graded the road from
Quarryville to New Providence. He also built a
number of houses in Quarryville. In 1862 he
erected the large storehouse now occupied by G. W.
Hensel, to whom he also sold a merchandise busi-
ness. Toward the close of his life Mr. Hess's
health failed and he left the active duties of his
many enterprises, to the care of his sons. He took
a great deal of pleasure in raising fine stock and
owned some notable specimens.
In politics Daniel D. Hess was a stanch Demo-
crat, and was a very prominent man in his party.
Although not caring for office, he was a justice of
the peace, and school director for quite a while. He
was a member of Lodge No. 834, I. O. O. F., of
Quarryville. In his death the community in which
he resided lost a most valuable citizen, and his loss
was deeply regretted by all. No man did more than
he to improve and enrich the section in which he
lived, and the charities were largely benefited by
numerous contributions by him. He was an officer
and greatly interested in the Sunday-school work
of the Reformed Church. In all social circles his
presence was always wanted, and his kindly man-
ner and easy address were marked to a degree.
He never spoke evil of any one, and did not like
to hear others do so. Whether rich or poor, his
hand was always outstretched to his neighbors, and
he was democratic in all his ways.
S-'^MUEL BRUBAKER, a retired farmer and
miller, belongs to the number of those venerable
citizens of Lancaster county whose long and indus-
trious lives have been given to the service of their
community, and who are now waiting the opening
of the doors to the Land Beyond in the peace and
comfort that should wait on the closing years of
an honorable and useful career.
Mr. Brubaker was born at Mill Creek, Earl
township, Sept. 20, 1817, and is a son of Samuel
and Elizabeth (Aker) Brubaker, of Lancaster coun-
ty. The elder Samuel Brubaker was a farmer.
and died in j8i8, while a young man. His widow
lived to be eighty years of age, dying in 1867, and
both were buried in Rowland cemetery. They had
a family of children as follows : Aker died young ;
William, born in 1810, died in 1891, Thompson,
born in t8i6, died in 1896; Samuel is mentioned be-
low. These children were reared in the ancient Men-
nonite Church, of which father and mother were
devoted members.
Samuel Brubaker, whose name , introduces this
sketch, is a grandson of Jacob Brubaker and also of
Peter Aker. Both were farmers and lived in Lan-
caster county, where their" quiet and well ordered'
lives were passed. Samuel Brubaker married Eliza
A. Sprecker, by whom he has had the following
children, Lizzie, Katie, John E., Anna and Samuel
P. The mother of these children was born in Earl
township and was a daughter of Isaac Sprecker.
Mr. Brubaker lived at home with his mother un-
til he attained his majority, and then established
himself as a miller on Mill Creek, where he was
engaged for forty years in the mill which he had
purchased when he was twenty-one years of age. In
1871 he retired from active life, and is now at an
advanced age enjoying the respect and esteem
of the community in which he lives. He has re-
moved to New Holland, where he takes much sat-
isfaction in the services of the Reformed Church,
of which he is a member.
JOHN R. SMITH, a substantial business man
of Pequea, is a native of that township, having been
born May 10, 1855, at the place where he yet re-
sides. He is a son of Isaac Smith, and a grandson
of Christian Smith.
Christian Smith was of F.nglish descent, and
grew to manhood in Lancaster county. He was
left an orphan early in life, and had no educational
advantages. He learned the plasterer's trade with
Samuel Miller, of Strasburg, who was killed on
J. W. Wise's Island while felling a bee tree. Mr.
Smith worked at his trade during most of his life,
and during the winter, for fifteen years, drove a
wagon from Lancaster to Wilmington, Del. He mar-
ried Miss Elizabeth Stotzemberger of Strasburg,
and they were the parents of three children : Isaac,
father of our subject ; John and Eliza, both unmar-
ried ; all now deceased.
Isaac Smith was born in Lancaster county about
1828, passed his early life at home, and learned the
plasterer's trade with his father. He received a
common school education. He began life for him-
self before he was twenty years of age, and fol-
lowed the trade of plasterer imtil his death, March
7, i8qi. In 1853 he wedded Miss Harriet Rohrer,
daughter of John Rohrer of Strasburg, and they
had a family of six children: Christian W., of
Lancaster; John R., our subject ; Benjamin F., of
Lancaster ; Eliza, wife of John E. Martin, of West
Willow; Isaac R., of Lancaster; and Eva B., un-
married.
1432.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
John R. Smith lived with his parents until he
was twenty-one years of age, and worked at the
plasterer's trade. He was educated in the common
schools of the county. Commencing life for him-
self, he continued in the plastering business until
1895 when he started the bakery which he has
sinee carried on so successfully. He has also been
extensively engaged in buying and packing tobacco,
and has met with the prosperity he deserves. Po-
litically he has always afhliated with the Republican
party, and he has held the office of county commit-
teeman for two terms. Fraternally he is a member
of Lodge No. 912, O. U;- A. M., of Lancaster City,
and of the K. G. E., at West Willow. He is a mem-
ber of the M. E. Church, at West Willow.
On April 13, 1884, Mr. Smith married Miss
Susie Swartz, daughter of Christopher Swartz, of
Highville, Lancaster county. They have no chil-
dren.
FRANK MYLIN, an enterprising citizen and
progressive farmer of Pequea township, this county,
where his ancestors for several generations have
lived and been substantial men and women who
have contributed their full share to the county's ad-
vancement socially, religiously and agriculturally,
is one of the well and favorably known men of his
locality.
Born Jan. 12, 1843, in what was then Conestoga
township, but which has since become Pequea
township, this county, Mr. Mylin is the son of
Abram B. and Elizabeth (Myer) Mylin. He has
passed his life thus far engaged in the honorable
pursuit of agriculture. In boyhood he had no
special school privileges, attending only the district
schools of the neighborhood, but by outside study
and reading since he has in a measure supplied that
earlier deficiency, and is now active in promotion of
the school interests of his township.
Since 1871 he has been the owner of the original
Mylin homestead in Pequea township, the neat ap-
pearance of which indicates the grade of farmer
that he is. He is a good, reliable man and citizen
and is held in high regard by the community. He
was married to Fanny, daughter of Christian and
Annie Huber, of West Lampeter township, and to
them have come children as follows: Annie, who
married John H. Shenk and has two sons and one
daughter; Martha, the wife of Christian H. Herr,
of Lancaster township; Franklin; and John.
WILLIAM WEIDLER KINZER (deceased),
who was born on a farm in Earl township, in
March, 1830, died Oct. i, 1900, and his remains
rest in the cemetery connected with the Lutheran
Church at New Holland.
William and Catherine (Weidler) Kinzer, his
parents, who were married May 27, 1816, were both
born in Lancaster county, the father on the farm
where his son lived in Earl township, and the moth-
er in East Earl township. William Kinzer was born
Dec. 7, 1794, and died June 13, 1861. His wife
was bom April 16, 1793, and died Oct. 11, 1845.
They were buried in the New Holland Lutheran
Cemetery. Bom to them were the following chil-
dren: Louisa, widow of Amos Leaman, lives in
Reading, Pa. : Caroline died unmarried at the age
of eighty years ; Anna, deceased, married Abraham
Smoker; Miss Elizabeth E. lives in New Holland;
Benjamin F. is a retired farmer at New Holland;
Lucetta, deceased, married M. S. Hurst, of Leacock
township; William W. ; Margaret W., widow of
John Wallace, lives in Cedar Lane, East Earl town-
ship ; and Lydia Ann died young.
William Weidler Kinzer was married in Chester
county. Pa., May 10, 1856, to Louisa A. Scott. To
this union were born the following children : Jen-
nie, who married George Woods, a farmer in Lea-
cock township ; Catherine, wife of Thomas S. Hood,
of New Holland ; William, a salesman in Lgjicaster,
who married Marv Smyser; and George W., a lum-
ber merchant in New Holland, who married Mary
F. Jessup. Mrs. Louisa A. (Scott) Kinzer was
born in Chester county. Pa., a daughter of Samuel
W. and Jane (Boyd) Scott. Her forefathers have
held the farm on which she was born since it was
deeded to the family from William Penn. The
family came originally from Scotch extraction.
Samuel W. Scott was a farmer, and died in 1881,
at the age of seventy-five years. His wife passed
to her rest in 1886, at the age of seventy-six. Both
were stanch Presbyterians. To them were born the
following family : Rebecca M., the widow of Will-
iam Morrison, of Clay Center, Kans. ; Elizabeth, de-
ceased wife of Hon. A. D. Harland; J. Wallace,
who for thirty years has been connected with the
Custom House at Philadelphia; Mary, the widow
of Allen Mode, and residing in Chester county ;
Louisa A. ; Sarah, who married James Legget, and
is deceased ; and Samuel, a farmer in Chester coun-
ty, Pennsylvania. John and Rebecca (Withero)
Scott, the paternal grandparents of Mrs. Kjnzer,
were prominent and wealthy, people of Chester
county; and her maternal grandparents, Wallace
and Sarah (Cowan) Boyd, were also of that same
county.
William Weidler Kinzer was a farmer on the
old homestead in Earl township, until 1874. That
year he retired from farming, and moved to New
Holland, where he was engaged in the lumber busi-
ness with his son until his dfeath. Both husband
and wife were members of the Lutheran Church,
where he was long in official position. In New
Holland he was a borough councilman and auditor.
In politics he was a Republican. His death came
from an attack of paralysis. The present brick
home of his family was built by him prior to his
coming to the borough. He was very wealthy, and
held a creditable position in the estimation of the
community where his long and useful life was
passed.
George W. Kinzer, noted above as the young-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1433
'«st son of William Weidler Kinzer, is a lumber
dealer in New Holland, and was born in Earl town-
■ship in 1864. In December, 1886, he was married
m York, Pa., to Mary F. Jessup, by whom he has
had two children : Arthur W. and George R. Mrs.
"Kinzer was born in Erie, Pa., a daughter of Sam-
uel and Lizzie (Roland) Jessup, natives of York
and Lancaster counties, respectively, who are liv-
ing in York county. Samuel Jessup is a retired
-stove merchant.
George W. Kinzer lived with his parents until
his marriage, when he established himself in an ad-
joining home. Both he and his wife belong to the
l^utheran Church. In politics he is a Republican.
Mr. Kinzer is one of the leading men of the bor-
ough, and his manly qualities and. genuine worth
have won for him a host of friends.
GEORGE ROST, of Columbia, Pa., one of the
gentlemanly conductors employed by the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company, was born in Marietta,
"Lancaster county, Aug. 27, 1856, a son of Charles
and Elizabeth (Resh) Rost, who were born in
Mahlburg, Baden, and Hesse Darmstadt, Germany,
'respectively, and were married in Marietta, Penn-
sylvania.
Charles Rost settled in Marietta in 1854, had
charge of the Musselman furnace for some time,
and was then employed by the Eagle furnace to take
out iron. He died in 1881, when fifty-two years
old, and his widow in 1883, at the same age, both
members of the German Lutheran Church. Their
children were: George; Katie, wife of James
Sterling, a stone-moulder in Columbia; Charles, of
Marietta; Mary, married to Samuel Studenrole, of
Columbia ; Christ, deceased ; John, a cigar-maker at
Marietta ; Fred, a butcher in Columbia ; Elizabeth,
wife of Charles Goose, proprietor of a bakery in
Lancaster; and Anna, deceased.
George Rost at the age of fifteen years began
■driving a team for an ore bank in Marietta, was so
employed until eighteen, and then worked a year
at the wheelwright's trade and later in the iron fur-
maces; in 1876 he began working for the Pennsyl-
'vania Railroad Company as brakeman, and in 1877
•came to Columbia; he served as flagman until the
•spring of 1881 and was then appointed conductor,
a position he has since most ably filled.
On Jan. 17, 1877, Mr. Rost was married in
Boiling Springs, Cumberland Co., Pa., to Miss
Abby Blottenburger, who was born in Salunga,
Lancaster county, and is a daughter of Joseph and
"Elizabeth (Neece) Blottenburger, the former a car-
pet weaver, who died in Marietta, Nov. 26, 1897,
aged eighty-seven years, five months and ten days ;
his wife had died Oct. 22, 189T, at the age of sev-
enty-nine years, five months and thirteen days;
both were members of the Old Mennonite Church,
and were buried in the cemetery at Marietta. Their
children were born in the following order: Har-
riet, the wife of Charles Blessing, a saddler in Mar-
ietta; Christian, a farmer in Lancaster county;
John, who died in Dillsburg, York county; Anna,
married to David Engle, a farmer at Stackstown,
Pa. ; Lizzie, wife of David Cooper, a blacksmith
in Salunga, Pa. ; Mary, in Marietta ; Joseph, a car-
pet weaver in Marietta; Kate, wife of Amos "Win-
ters, a miller in Florin; Susan, widow of William
Blessing, who was killed in a railroad wreck at Lan-
caster in July, 1896: Daniel, a carpet weaver in
Marietta; Abby, married; and Sarah, who died in
infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Rost are members of the U. B.
Church and socially are esteemed as models of up-
rightness. Mr. Rost is a member of the O. R. of C.,
K. of M., and the Pa. V. R. Department, and in
politics is a Prohibitionist.
MRS. CAROLINE HOAK. Few residents of
Lancaster county are better or more favorably
known than Mrs. Caroline Hoak, the pleasant and
hospitable hostess of the "Millersville Hotel,"
which place she has most successfully conducted
ever since the death of her husband, the late Amos
D. Hoak.
The birth of this estimable lady and efficient
woman of business occurred March 17, 1851, in the
city of Lancaster. She was a daughter of Joseph and
Elizabeth Switzer, both of whom are deceased. She
was educated in the Lancaster schools, and in 1869
was united in marriage to Amos D. Hoak, who be-
longed to one of the leading families of Lancaster
county.
George Hoak, the father of Amos D., was born
and lived in Lancaster county, where he followed
the trade of stone mason until failing health re-
quired him to retire, his death occurring Jan. 5,
1889. He married Martha Detrich, and they were
the parents of these children: Jacob, who died
in the barracks at Washington, D. C, a soldier dur-
ing the Civil war ; Amos ; Adam, a miller of Lan-
caster; Joseph, supposed to have been killed in the
army in 1863 ; Isaac, who died in a hospital in Phila-
delphia; Abram, who died in the army in 1863;
George, who died in San Francisco, Cal. ; Benjamin,
who died in childhood ; Elizabeth, who married and
lives in Ohio ; and Martha, who is the wife of Jacob
Hoak.
Amos D. Hoak was born and reared near Run
Valley in Lancaster county, and during his early
life he learned the milling business. He was one of
the first to testify to his loyalty, to the government,
by becoming a member of Co. D, ist P. "V. I., en-
listing June 8, 1861, and re-enlisting Feb. 25, 1863,
in Co. D, 195th P. V. I., and serving until honor-
ably discharged, Jan. 31, 1866.
After Mr. Hoak returned from the army oc-
curred his marriage and removal to Missouri,
where for sixteen years he was engaged in milling.
In 1886 he returned to Lancaster county, and for
two years handled different patents, but in 1888 he
purchased the hotel which is now so ably managed
1434
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
by his widow. Mr. Hoak died some eighteen
months after taking charge of this hostelry, leaving
but his wife, their one son, Reynolds S., having
died in infancy.
Mrs. Hoak has shown herself a capable man-
ager, her hotel being one of the best regulated and
most popular inns in this county. Her personal
attention is given to every detail and she has a
large patronage from the traveling public, and is a
most highly esteemed lady.
RICHARD N. WINTERS (deceased) was one
of the well-known men of Earl township, and of
Hinkletown, where he spent his life, chiefly en-
gaged in farming. He owned considerable real es-
tate and for some ten years was the owner and
landlord of the hotel at Hinkletown. Always ready
to assist every forward movement, he had the in-
terest of the community at heart, and the public
lost a valuable citizen when he died in 1901, at the
age of seventy-four years.
Mr. Winters was the son of Isaac and Eliza-
beth (Nagle) Winters. In 1850 he was married
to Alary Martin, a daughter of William and Nancy
(Burkholder) Martin, residents of Earl township.
William Martin came from Ireland when a young
man, and married in Lancaster county. He located
at Hinkletown, where he followed the trade of a
tailor, and died while still young, leaving a widow
and two children: Isaac, a resident of Ephrata,
where he is a retired tailor; and Mary, the widow
of the subject of this sketch. The mother of these
two children lived to be almost ninety-six years of
age.
Mrs. Winters became the mother of four chil-
dren : Mary, who is the wife of B. J. Reemsnyder,
a physician at Hinkletown; William Davis, en-
gaged in a wine and liquor business at Ephrata ;
Alice, deceased wife of Dr. B. J. Reemsnyder ; An-
nie, who died in infancy.
The Winters family has always enjoyed a high
standing in the community, and they are highly re-
spected, alike for their neighborly qualities and
their kindly spirit.
JOHN H. MENAUGH, at the present time
holding a government position as a carpenter in the
Custom House at Philadelphia, was born in Florin,
Pa., April 22, 1845, and is a son of James and
Amanda (Winters) Menaugh.
James Menaugh was born in 1805, and was an
early settler of Florin and there he has made his
home for life. In his active days he was a con-
tractor and builder of more than local note. In his
politics he was a Republican, and in his religious
faith was bred a Lutheran, and in that faith he
died in 1868. His wife, Amanda Winters, who was
born in 1809, died in 1878. They had the follow-
ing children : Martha, the wife of Benjamin Eck-
enroth, a contractor and builder at Wooster, Ohio;
James, a contractor at South Whitley, Ind. ; Eliza-
beth, who married John Keener, a contractor and^
builder of Florin; Mary, who married Henry Tay-
lor, and is now deceased; Anna, married to AmoS'
Breneman, a painter in Elizabethtown, Pa.; Johns
H. ; Eli, a contractor and builder at Florin; Sarah,,
who married Francis Nauman, a carpenter of Florin ^
Henry, who died at the age of nineteen years ; andl
Simon and Daniel, who died in infancy.
The parents of James Menaugh, Robert Me-
naugh and his wife, came from Ireland and first
settled in Virginia, before coming into Lancaster
county. Robert Menaugh was a stone cutter hy
trade.
John H. Menaugh was married in August, 1867,-
to Anna Culp, by whom he has had the following-
children ; Laura E., who married Harry Stoll, a car-
penter in Florin, Pa.; Cora, the wife of B. W.
Fisher, who has charge of the high school annex
in Lancaster; Gertrude and Ella, unmarried and at
home ; Robert, a machinist in Lancaster. Mrs. Anna-
(Culp) Menaugh was bom in Mt. Joy, a daughter
of Henry Culp, a native of Florin.
John H. Menaugh served three years at the car-
penter trade under the instruction of his brother
James, and when he had thoroughly mastered the
trade worked for different people until 1882. That
year he began business for himself as a contractor
and builder, in which he was quite successful. In
1894 he was appointed to his present position un-
der President Cleveland, and discharges its duties'
to the satisfaction of all concerned. He is a capa-
ble and efficient workman, and a thoroughly honor-
able and reliable man. He is a member of the
American Mechanics and the Knights of Mystic
Chain. During Mr. Cleveland's first term as Pres-
ident he served as postmaster of the town of Florin.
JAMES SWISHER, now a retired farmer of
Eden township, Lancaster county, was born on the
old homestead farm where his useful Ufe has been
passed to the present time, March 5, 1852, his parents-
being Patrick and Susan (McNeal) Swisher.
Patrick Swisher was born in Colerain township,
Lancaster county. May 23, 1825, a son of John and
Elizabeth (Brown) Swisher, natives of Germany
and Ireland, respectively, but who were married"
in Lancaster county. After living for a time in
Colerain township, John Swisher and wife moved'
into Eden township in 1800, where they purchased
land on which they settled, and which he converted
into a productive farm. By trade he was a shoe-
maker, and for many years he worked at the cob-
bler's bench. He died on this farm in 1858. Hi&
marriage was blessed with ten children, who lived
to maturity: Robert, James, Fransiria, Catherine,.
Rachel, Albert, Eliza, Patrick, Mary and John.
Patrick Swisher, the father of James, was--
reared in Eden township, where he had a district
school education. In 185 1, he married Susan Mc-
Neal, daughter of Thomas and Hannah McNeal, of
this county. On his marriage he bought the pres-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
143§'
ent Swisher homestead, where he built a large
stone house and barn, and secured one of the finest
country homes in Eden township. Here he spent
his life, and here he died Jan. 20, 1901, loved and
respected by all. During his active years he dealt
very largely in grain, tobacco and lumber, and had
a large warehouse in Quarryville. His sons were,
able to look after the home farm for some years,
leaving him time to attend to his business at Quar-
ryville. In politics he was a Democrat, and was an
active worker in the interests of the party. . Mrs.
Swisher, who died at the home farm in April, 1899,
was the mother of a family of seven children, of
whom James, whose name begins this sketch, was
the eldest. Isabel died young; Mary E., born in
September, 1855, married Martin Good, of Bart
township, and has two children, Maud and Mary;
Hannah, born in June, 1861, married Richard
Stewart, a farmer in Paradise township, and they
have three children: George, Lillie and Ruble;
George, born Oct. 7, 1863, was killed in the mines
in Eden township, Oct. i, 1880; John, born in No-
vember, 1868, is single; and Malissa, born in 1871,
married John Raub, of Quarryville.
James Swisher was educated in the schools of
Eden township, where he grew up on the farm and
became a stone mason, a trade that he followed for
twenty-three years. He was married May 28, 1874,
to Miss Edith, the daughter of Christian and Cath-
erine Stauffer. She was born in Eden township,
March 14, 1858, and was educated in the Bart
township schools. Christian Staufifer lived in Bart
township until the death of his wife, when he went
to Nebraska, where he died in the home of his
daughter, Mrs. Joseph Anthony. Of the children
born to this worthy couple, nine are living: (i)
Mary is the wife of Samuel Anthony, of Chester
county; (2) Barbara married Jacob McCord, of
Bart township; (3) Julia married John Gyse, of
Mt. Joy, Pa. ; (4) Rebecca married Jacob Anthony,
of Bart township; (5) Lizzie is the wife of James
McElwain, of Nebraska; (6) Katie, the wife of
Joseph Anthony, of Nebraska; (7) Edith, the wife
of Mr. Swisher; (8) Isaac, a resident of Illinois;
(9) Jacob, also of Illinois.
James Swisher and wife settled at the father's
old homestead, where he has had charge of the
farm to the present time. When Mr. Swisher v^^as
engaged in erecting a building some years ago in
Lancaster, he was thrown to the ground by the fall-
ing of the scaffold, had one limb broken, and was
left a cripple for life.
To Mr. and Mrs. Swisher have come eight chil-
dren, of whom (i) Ruth and (2) John died in child-
hood. (3) Albert married Miss Katie Carl, of Leb-
anon cotintv, and now lives in Burlington, N. J.;
they have three children, John, George and Harry.
(4) Harrv, born in 1877, is. single, and at home. (5)
Susan, born in 1879, graduated from the Seamstress
School in Lancaster, and is now engaged in sewing.
She is a young lady of genial character, a bright and
sparkling nature, and is a favorite among her many
friends. (6) Mary, born in 1882, married Harry
Neff, and lives at Safe Harbor, Lancaster county ^
she has one son, Raymond. (7) Anna, born in?
1885, has her home in Quarryville. (8) Bessie was-
born in 1900. Mr. Swisher is a Democrat, andi
holds to the religious views of his ancestors, being*
a stanch and devoted member of the Mennonite
Church. He and his wife are among the well-to-
do and prosperous families of this county, where
they are highly respected by their many friends
for their good qualities, kind hearts and generous-
hospitality.
JOHN MILLER. For many years of his active-
life John Miller conducted a successful hat business-
in Lancaster, and identified himself with the various-
phases of city life which appeal directly to enter-
prising and progressiye citizens. He was born in^
New Holland, Pa., Sept. 28, 181 1, and died in Lan-
caster, Nov. 22, 1 89 1. His father, another John Mil-
ler, was the parent of five children, his son, John>..
being third oldest. Adam is deceased; Henry is
also deceased ; Mary, Mrs. Staley, a widow, lives ini
Lancaster county; and Christina died in the West,.
John Miller, Jr., was educated in the public
schools, and in early life learned the hatter's trade;
to which he devoted his energies in an independent
capacity until 1881. After disposing of his busi'-
ness he became identified with the firm of David
Sbultz & Sons, made up of his brother-in-law andi
nephews, with whom he remained for the rest of
his active life. He was a member of the Lutheran.
Church, and in political affiliation a Republican.
On Dec. 28, 1854, Mr. Miller married, in New
Holland, Elizabeth, daughter of Philip and Eliza-
beth (Rickwine) Brubaker. Mrs. Miller was born^
in New Holland, May 28, 1817, and became the-
mother of John B. Miller, born in Lancaster, Aug-.
24, 1856.
BENJAMIN H. NEFF, a well-known painter-
of Central Manor, Lancaster Co., Pa,, was born ow
th old homestead in Manor township, Nov. 19, 1853.
The family to which he belongs was founded iw
this country by his great-great-grandfather, Francis
Neff, a native of Switzerland, who came to this-
country about the beginning of the eighteenth cen-
tury, at the time when so many persecuted Menno-
nites located here. By occupation he was a farmer.
His son, Henry Neff, the great-grandfather of
Benjamin H., was the first of the family to live on
the old homestead in Manor township, having pur-
chased the property from two Irishmen, and there
he continued to engage in farming throughout life.
To him and his wife, Elizabeth, were born four sons,
one of whom was Henry Neff, Jr., our subject's
grandfather, who was born on the old homestead'
and made his home there throughout life, being en-
gaged in agricultural pursuits. He died in Sep-
tember, 1854, at the age of sixty-eight years. His-
MS&
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
wife bore the maiden name of Susannah NefE. Ben-
jamin Nefif, our subject's father, never left the old
homestead in Manor township where he was born.
He was widely and favorably known, and on ac-
count of his honorable business methods and sound
judgment was called upon to settle a large number
of estates. He took an active interest in the affairs
of his township and county and for eighteen years
was an efficient member of the school board. He
■died in June, 1870, at the age of fifty-eight years.
He was twice married, his first wife being Anna
■Hostetter, daughter of LHrich Hostetter. She died in
1854, at the age of twenty-six years, leaving two
sons, Cyrus and Benjamin H.
Cyrus Neff, the elder of these children, attended
'the common schools until eighteen years of age, and
-then followed farming eleven years, after which he
•took up school teaching and devoted his attention
•to that profession for three terms. While engaged
in agricultural pursuits, he was a member of the
school board six years, and in 1887 was elected au-
ditor of Lancaster county, which position he was
lining in a most creditable and satisfactory manner
at the time of his death. He was a man of much
more than ordinary ability and achieved considerable
'distinction. In politics he was a Republican and al-
ways took an active and prominent part in the affairs
^of his party. He died in 1890 at the age of thirty-
■ eight years, and in his death the county lost one of
its most valued citizens. He married Kate Lehman,
a daughter of Rev. Benjamin Lehman, of Manor
'township, and to them were born eight children.
On the old home farm Benjamin H. Neff passed
^his boyhood and youth, and pursued his studies
in the public schools of that locality. After his edu-
• cation was completed he followed farming until
1890, and has since engaged in the painting business
with marked success. He takes quite an active and
influential part in the affairs of his town, has filled
the office of township clerk since 1892, and has been
a member of the Republican county committee. In
1875 Mr. Neff' was united in marriage with Miss
Anna Forry, a daughter of Daniel Forry, and they
new have three children, Willis, Elmer and Martha.
The family are connected with the Mennonite
Church and are highly respected and esteemed by
all who know them.
EZRA B. FRITZ, farmer and tobacco dealer of
'Quarryville, was born in Lampeter township, June
22, 1845, his parents being Jacob and Hettie (Wit-
mer) Fritz, of Lancaster county.
Jacob Fritz and his wife were born in Lancaster
county, he in 1812, and she in 1818. After their
marriage they settled in Strasburg, where he was
employed in hotel work for two years. After that
he moved to Millport, where he worked in a saw-
mill for four years, and again moved to Lampeter
township and took a farm, on which he remained
several years. He then moved to Martinsville, Lan-
caster county, where he engaged in the lime business
for a number of years. In 1864 he bought a large
tract of land in Drumore township, and occupied
. himself in farming until 1870, when he moved to
Crawford, Iowa, where he lived until 1876. He
then returned to Quarryville and lived a retired
life for about ten years, and then moved to' Lancas-
.ter City, where he remained until a short time before
his death, which occurred in 1892. His worthy
widow still resides in Lancaster City, at the ripe
old age of eighty-four years. This couple had a
family of three sons who grew to manhood: (i)
J. W., the eldest, was born in 1839, and married
Miss Becky McKinn, of Lancaster county. They
lived for a time in Drumore township on a farm,
and in 1870 moved to Denison, Crawford county,
Iowa, where he lived on a farm until his death in
1S79; his wife died in 1876, leaving four children,
Enos, Hettie, Kirk and Sabina. (2) Newton H.
was born in Lampeter township in 1848, was never
married and died at Quarryville in young manhood.
(3) Ezra B. is our subject.
Ezra B. Fritz was educated in the district schools
of the county and engaged in farming during his
younger life. In 1866 he married Miss Susan Hess,
daughter of C. M. and Rebecca (Long) Hess, of
an old and estimable Lancasterian family. Mrs.
Fritz was born in 1851, in Drumore township, where
she was reared and educated. Mr. Fritz located on
his farm in Quarryville borough, and conducted it
in connection with a butchering business for twenty-
one years. He purchased the well-known C. M.
Hess brick mansion and farm property, at Quarry-
ville, and also took up the business of lime and lum-
ber, which he engaged in for ten years. In 1893
he sold the business and erected a tobacco ware
house and followed the tobacco trade, handling be-
tween five and six thousand tons of tobacco annually.
He also dealt largely in baled hay, straw and grains.
He owns 160 acres of fine farming land adjoining
the borough of Quarryville. He also has a large
mining and shipping iron ore enterprise, in Provi-
dence, which his sons manage for him.
Seven sons and two daughters have been born
to Ezra B. Fritz and wife: Abram G. was born
in Quarryville where he was reared and educated;
he married Miss Lizzie Stafford, of Quarryville,
and he has two children : Roy and Lizzie. He pur-
chased the Sheriff Barkholder farm in Drumore
township, where he still resides. Emma S. was
born in Quarryville, and is unmarried. Albert H.
married Miss Marion, daughter of Isaac Montgom-
ery, of Quarryville; they reside in Quarryville,
where he carries on a butchering business ; they have
no children. W. G. was born in Quarryville, and
married Miss Georgie Wilson, of Wrightsville,
York Co.. Pa., and they have one daughter, Katie.
They reside in Quarryville, where he is a contractor
for water works. Esther was born in Quarryville,
and is the wife of James Bell of Lancaster, a hatter
of that city ; they have no family. Newton N. was
born in Quarryville, and is engaged with the Amer-
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
143f
ican Bridge Co., at Niagara Falls, unmarried.
Charles N. is unmarried and living at home. Ezra
B. and J. J. were born in Quarryville.
In politics Mr. Fritz is a member of the Demo-
cratic party, and has been a member of the borough
council. Mr. and Mrs. Fritz are members of the
Reformed Church. Mr. Fritz is well-to-do and act-
ive in business life. He has for many years been an
active factor in the affairs of the borough and is
well thought of by his friends and neighbors.
LEWIS W. IRWIN. As an example of what
may be accomplished by energy, industry and ex-
emplary living, the successful career of Lewis W.
Irwin may be cited, for he began life as a poor boy
and now is reckoned among the leading and sub-
stantial men of his locality. His success has come
through legitirhate means, and it must be a source
of pride and congratulation that he is a self-made
man and has been able to attain to his present stand-
ing unaided. Mr. Irwin was born in Chester cqun.-
ty, Pa., Jan. 25, 1853, a son of Andrew and Lizzie
Irwin, both of whom were born and reared in Ches-
ter county.
By trade Andrew Irwin was a wheelwright, and
he came of honest Scotch-Irish ancestry. Through
some portions of Chester county he was well known
as a skilled workman at his trade, which he followed
there through life. He died in 1891, his widow sur-
viving until 1897, her home having been with a
daughter in Columbia. They reared a family of ten
children, these being : ( i ) Thomas, born in Chester
county, when a young man engaged on a whaling
vessel going to New Zealand, and in that country he
married. After some years of residence there he
came back to America, locating at Wilmington, Del.,
where he followed the blacksmith trade for some
years and later moved to Cumberland, Tenn., where
he died in 1880, leaving a wife and three chil-
dren. (2) John, born in Chester county, when a
voung man, enlisted for service in the Civil war,
from his native county, and after its close, married
and settled in Wilmington, Del., where hoih his
wife and child died, some years ago. (3) James,
born in Chester county, was a veteran of the Civil
war, was three years in the service of his country
as a volunteer, and then entered the regular army,
and he died in the service, unmarried. (4) Charles,
born in Chester county, also served through the Civil
war and was one of the brave men killed at Charles-
ton, S. C. : he was unmarried. (5) Benjamin, born
in Chester countv, learned the trade of carpenter,
is unmarried, and lives on the old homestead. (6)
Malcomb, born in Chester county, married and then
settled in Wilmington, Del, where he died, leaving
a family of two children. (7) Rebecca, born in
Chester countv, is the wife of Jefferson Kennedy,
of Parkesburg, and they have one son, Charles.
(8) Mary A., born in Chester county, is the wife of
Beniamm Furguson, a resident of Mechanic's Grove,
in Lancaster county, and their two children are.
Anna and Cecil. (9) Sallie, born in Chester coun-
ty, married Samuel Mullen, of Columbia, where
they reside, he being an engineer of the Pennsyl-.-
vania Railroad, and their two children are Ralph,
and Clara.
Lewis W. Irwin, who completes the above fam-
ily of ten children, grew up in Chester county, where-
he learned the trade of blacksmith and then went to.
Cumberland county, Tenn., where he followed this
business for a period of two years. Then he re-
turned to his old home and engaged in work at Quar-
ryville for some five years, when he opened up,
a shop at Running Pump, and did a thriving business
there for four years. He then purchased a farm,
and in connection with his farming operations, car-
ried on work at his trade. Those were busy years
for Mr. Irwin, and he was up early and late, never
neglecting any duty, and by his industry accumu-,
lating considerable money. For fourteen years Mr.
Irwin worked in this way.
In 1884, Mr. Irwin was united in marriage to.
the most estimable daughter of one of the leading
citizens of Lancaster county, belonging to a family
well and widely known. The lady of his choice was
Miss Lizzie Myers, who was a daughter of Jacob.,
and Susan Myers, and she was born in Lancaster -
county and was reared to fair young womanhood
on the old homestead, in Eden township. She re-,
ceived a good, common school education, and was
in every way fitted to be the capable helpmate for
our subject.
In February, 1898, Mr. Irwin became the for-
tunate owner of what is locally known as the Sam-
uel Shimp farm, which is located in Eden township,
although it is on the line of Bart township. This
consists of eighty acres of some of the best land in
Lancaster county. It is well watered, advantage- .
ously situated, and the improvements made since his.
location here have added vastly to the place, not only
in attractiveness, but also in material value. With-
his accustomed energy he completely renovated ev-
erything, and now his beautiful brick house stands
in the midst of a fertile tract, while the huge bank
barn testifies to the necessity for providing for an.
abundant yield. Mr. Irwin , believes in many mod-
ern methods of farming, and his place is fitted with
conveniences and sanitary arrangements not found
in many larger estates.
To Mr. and Mrs. Irwin have been born a fam-.
ily consisting of two sons and one daughter, all
three bright and intelligent students, namely: Jes-
sie, born in January, 1885 ; Charles, born in Eden
township, in 1887; and May, born in 1889. In his.
political faith, Mr. Irwin has never wavered from
the Democratic party. Although he has never as-
pired to office, he was honored by President Grover
Cleveland, by an appointment as postmaster at May,
which duties he most efficiently performed.
Through his own industry Mr. Irwin has become,
independent and prosperous, and has succeeded in
gaining the esteem and confidence of all with whom .
.1438
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
circumstances have thrown him. His cheerful per-
sistence and constant industry have brought their
.reward, and he is now assured that his decHning
years may be those of ease, while he has been able
to make proper provision for his loved ones.
JACOB W. HEISEY, a retired farmer in West
iDonegai township, was born on the farm adjoining
,his present residence, Feb. i8, 1838, and is a son of
Henry B. and Catherine (Wolgemuth) Heisey. The
^parents were natives of Mt. Joy, and came to the
■farm where Jacob W. was born in 1834, and there
itiiey spent their remaining years.
Henry B. Heisey was born Aug. 26, 1808, and
was an extensive farmer until some twenty years
.before his death. May 23, 1896. His wife, who vvas
born Feb. 23, 1816, died Dec. 13, 1890, at the age
.of seventy-four years. They were laid to rest in
the Pleasant Hill burying grounds, a part of the old
homestead. Born to them were the following chil-
dren : Barbara, deceased, who married J. B. Brene-
iman, and lived in McPherson, Kans. ; Nancy, de-
'ceased, who married Christ. Miller, of Conoy town-
ship; Jacob W., whose name introduces this arti-
cle ; Catherine W., deceased wife of John B. Long-
enecker; Elizabeth W., deceased, who married F.
W. Gantz ; Susan W., who married C. D. Stauffer,
■now . a retired farmer of Elizabethtown ; Mary,
Fanny and Henry, who all died in infancy ; Solomon
W. (deceased) ; and Daniel W., a farmer of West
Donegal township.
The grandfather of Jacob W. Heisey was Daniel
Heisey, who was a farmer all his days. At his
■death his remains were interred in Pleasant Hill
cemetery. His children were : Jacob B., who mar-
Tied Lizzie L. Lehman ; Daniel B. ; Henry B., who
married Catherine Wolgemuth; Barbara, wife of
Peter Lehman; Elizabeth, wife of Michael Shenk.
All are dead. The paternal great-grandparents
spelled the name Heise, and came from Switzerland.
The maternal grandparents of Jacob W. Heisey
were Daniel and Barbara (Witmer) Wolgemuth,
farming people of Lancaster county. Daniel Wol-
gemuth died in Mt. Joy township, and the remains
of himself and wife were buried in a private cem-
■etery on their old farm. They had the following
•children: Joseph W., whose wife was a Nissley;
Samuel, whose wife was Barbara Sherrer; Henry,
whose wife was Fanny Brubaker ; Barbara, the wife
of Jacob Engle, died in January, 1901 ; Nancy, wife
of Abraham Brubaker; Catherine, wife of Henry
Heisey. All these are dead, but Barbara, the wife of
Samuel, and Henry.
Jacob W. Heisey and Miss Fanny Longenecker
were married in Lancaster, Nov. 28, 1858, by the
Rev. J. J. Strine. They became the parents of the
following family: Simon C, a farmer in West
Donegal township, who married Anna Lindemuth;
W. Scott, a farmer, merchant and lime manu-
facturer in Rheems, West Donegal township, whose
■biography occupies another page ; Lizzie L., wife of
Ferris Landis, a farmer and the owner of a steam
thresher in West Donegal township; Harry L., of
West Donegal township, who married Lizzie Linde-
muth ; Edward L., of West Donegal township, who
married Anna Erb , and Christ. L., Samuel M. and
Mary L., all living at home.
Mrs. Fanny (Longenecker) Heisey was born
in West Donegal township. May 5, 1841, only child
of Christian and Elizabeth (Berks) Longenecker,
born on adjoining farms in Lancaster county. Her
father, who was born Nov. 20, 1805, died Feb. 23,
1895, at almost ninety years of age; her mother,
who was born Jan. 16, 1800, died Aug. 10, 1851, and
they were laid to rest in the Pleasant Hill cemetery.
They were members of the Old Mennonite Church.
Jacob W. Heisey remained at home with his
parents until he became of age, when he rented the
old homestead, and carried it on for nine years. At
the end of that time he took part of the farm, on
which he erected new buildmgs, and there he made
his home for seventeen years, when he returned to the
old homestead, remodelling the buildings with the
intention of sperijding his remaining years there.
Two years later, however, he removed to his pres-
ent home, and here he is still living, full of years and
honor. He was school director three years, and in
his more active days one of the most influential citi-
zens of the community. For some time Mr. Heisey
has been nearly blind, but takes much interest in
the affairs of the world about him. In politics he
is a Prohibitionist, and in religion a member of
the Brethren in Christ Church. His name deserves
honorable mention in a work devoted to the leading
men of Lancaster county.
JOPIN W. PHILLIP (deceased) was in his
life time a successful farmer in East Drumore town-
ship, Lancaster county, and was born in Colerain
township, Oct. 2, 1845, a son of Williarn and Mary
J. (Lovett) Phillip, both of whom were born in
Lancaster county, and who lived in Colerain town-
ship. _ Of their children the only son living is now
in the West. Three of the daughters are still living :
Margaret J., who is the wife of James Montgom-
ery, of Eden towtiship, and the mother of four chil-
dren; Annie, the wife of Nelson Bunting, of Col-
erain township : Elizabeth, who is the wife of' Hugh
Penny, of Russellville, Chester county, and the
mother of one daughter, Etta.
John W. Phillip grew to manhood under the
care of his. parents and became a farmer, to which
work his life was devoted. In February, 1872, he
was married to Mary L., a daughter of John and
Rebecca (Northamber) Barkley, an old and promi-
nent Lancaster county family. John Barkley was,
born in Colerain township, Feb. 12, 1818, and was
the son of James Barkley, who was of Scotch-Irish
parentage. John Barkley was settled for a time af-
ter his marriage at Peach Bottom, Lancaster coun-
ty, and then removed to his present home in Col-
erain township, where he is still living at an advanced
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1439
-age. His wife died in 1892, leaving two sons and
.three daughters.
Mrs. PhilHp, who is the eldest of her father's
.family, was born in December, 1849, ^^'^ was reared
.to womanhood under the parental roof in Colerain
.township, where she married Mr. Phillip. They
.located on one of his father's farms in Colerain
-township, where they remained for eighteen years.
,For three years they lived in Bart township, and then
buying the Hines farm in East Drumore township,
■made that their home as long a,s he lived. His
death came in September, 1896. His widow is still
Jiving on the farm.
Mr. Phillip was not only a successful farmer
.and an industrious man, but his character and in-
tegrity commanded the respect and retained the con-
-fidence and esteem of the community. For several
•years he was one of the trustees and the superin-
tendent of the Sunday-school of the Methodist
Church, of which he was a devout member. In
■politics he was a Republican, and an active worker
-in the interests of his party.
To Mr. and Mrs. Phillip were born the follow-
ing family: Grace, born in December, 1873, who
is unmarried, and lives at home with her mother;
Cora B., November, 1874, who married Harry
Shirk, a farmer of Colerain township ; Harry B.,
Aug. 31, 1876, who manages the farm for his moth-
ter ; Anna M., October, 1877, who is the wife of John
Whitman, and lives with her husband in East Dru-
,more township ; Walter W., November, 1882, who
is unmarried and at home, as is his brother, Charles
L., born in April, 1884; George Blair, born Aug.
7, 1890, was killed by a runaway team in May,
rI900.
The following are the brothers and sisters of
Mrs. Phillip : Nancy, who married Emanuel Walt-
^man, of Chester county, and is the mother of Roy,
Clyde, Ada, Flossie and Sarah; William J., who
died when a young man ; John, a farmer in Chester
■ county, who married Miss Mary Clinton, and has
the following family, Freeland, Ruth, Marion and
Helen ; A. S., a farmer in Chester county, who mar-
ried Anna Pickel, and has one son, John; Clara,
who is the wife of Emmett Hinness, of Chester
county, and is the mother of John and Delia.
John W. Phillip served as a member of Co. D,
195th P. V. T., and shared the fortunes of his regi-
ment until the close of the war. His honorable dis-
charge was given him at Washington in January,
1866. Mr. JPhillip was a man highly esteemed in
the community, where he was loved and respected
for his many good and manly qualities.
AARON HUBER. One of the most popular
-and highly esteemed members of the old and honored
Huber family, of West Lampeter township, Lan-
■caster county, is Aaron Huber, the owner and opera-
tor of one of the best appointed farms in that local-
,itv. Aaron Huber was born in December, 1854,
.a 'son of Christian and Ann (Harnish) Huber, was
reared on the old homestead, and received his edu-
cation in the public schools of his district;
After completing his schooling, he went to work
on his father's farm, remaining under the home roof
until he was thirty years old. He then began oper-
ations for himself on a desirable tract of twenty
acres, where he carries on general farming. His
ideas are progressive and his land shows that it is
managed in a scientific way, and yields very satis-
factory returns. A stanch Republican, he has ta-
ken an active interest in the advance of his party,
but never consents to accept office at its hands. Mr.
Huber is a bachelor, but while not held by domestic
ties, he is one of the most popular residents in the
neighborhood, and one of the most satisfactory and
substantial citizens of West Lampeter township.
HEInTRY RINIER. There are few men in Quar-
ryville, Lancaster county. Pa., who have passed
through the vicissitudes of fortune and war that
have come to the subject of our sketch, since his
early manhood. From a modest farmer to a patri-
otic soldier, fighting for the Union under Grant,
amid the most active events of the campaign, from
a soldier, returning to his home with honors, to a cit-
izen identified with the best interests of his county
and State, Mr. Rinier has born himself with credit
to the name he bears. At the same time Mr. Rinier
has furnished a practical example to the younger
generation of men who may be handicapped as he
was m his youth by lack of opportunity. Mr. Rinier
is a self-educated, self-made man, as will appear
later in the. sketch.
Henry Rinier was born in Colerain township,
Aug. 4, 1827. His parents were Asa and Nancy
(Stewart) Rinier. Asa Rinier was born in West
Drumore, Lancaster county, in 1798, and his wife
was born in East Drumore in 1801. Asa Rinier
was the son of Joseph and Polly Rinier, who were
born in New Jersey. Joseph Rinier was the son of
Joshua Rinier, whose parents were French. On the
maternal side of our subject — the Stewarts, Nancy
was the only child of William and Mary Stewart,
who came to this country from Ireland, and settled in
Bart township, Lancaster county, in 1784.
Joseph Rinier, our subject's grandfather, first
settled, as far as is known, in West Drumore in 1780,
where he lived and died, leaving a family, as follows :
Jesse, Samuel, Peter, Asa (the father of our sub-
ject), Joseph, Stacy, John, George and Lydia (who
became the wife of Jacob Peters, who lived and died
in Manor township, Lancaster county). Asa Rinier
grew up in East Drumore and in 1820, married
Miss Nancy Stewart, a daughter of William Stew-
art, a man of fine education, who was one of the
first school teachers in this section. Asa Rinier and
wife first settled in West Drumore. Here they lived
for a time, later moving to Colerain, and eventually
to Conestoga township, where he died at the home
of his son Joseph, in 1882. His wife died in 1849.
Asa Rinier was a member of the M. E. Church,
1440
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
while his wife had always adhered to the Dunkard
Church. In politics he was a stanch Democrat.
They raised a large family, oi which Rev. Daniel,
the eldest, was born in 1822, and as a young man
married Elizabeth Beech, of Lancaster county. Af-
ter fitting himself for the ministry he located in his
home county, where he is still preaching. John,
born in 1825, married Miss Martha Hinet, and is
now a resident of Manor township ; he is a stone
mason by trade. Mary A., born in 1829, is the de-
ceased wife of John O'Brian; they resided in Lan-
caster county, where she left a large family. Joseph,
born in 1832, was a soldier in the Civil war ; he mar-
ried Miss Snyder, of Lancaster county, and they now
live in Martic township. Hiram and Alfred were
twins, of whom Alfred died m childhood, while Hi-
ram, who was a soldier in the Civil war, married a
lady of Lancaster county, and now resides in Martic
township with a large family. William, born in
Lancaster county in 1836, enlisted as a soldier in
the Civil war, was taken prisoner at Cold Harbor,
and died in Andersonville prison in 1863.
Henry Rinier, our subject, grew to manhood in
Lancaster county, and received a very limited edu-
cation. Recognizing the value of an education later
in life, he applied himself assiduously to books, and
as the result of thorough study, he is now a well
informed man on all subjects, particularly the his-
tory of this and foreign lands. As a young man
he engaged in farming, and hauling ore. In 1851
he married Miss Julia A. Rinier, the daughter of
George and Susan (Fondersrnith) Rinier, one of
Lancaster county's old pioneer families. Mrs. Rin-
jer was born in 1830, in Strasburg township, where
she grew to womanhood. Our subject settled in
the town of Quarryville in 1852, and has continued
his residence there to the present time, being en-
gaged largely in the lime business. During the Civil
war he enlisted in the 3rd Heavy Artillery, stationed
at Fortress Monroe. Later he was transferred to
the 88th P. V. I., under General Grant. Here he
remained until the war closed in 1865. During the
exciting period of the war, our subject saw much
active service. His company was engaged at dif-
ferent times with Mosby's guerrillas. He was on
duty at Richmond and other important places. At
the close of the war he was mustered out at Fortress
Monroe and he hastened home to his wife and fam-
ily. Our subject is the father of two daughters.
Elmyra, the eldest, born in October, 1852, is now the
wife of Benjamin Swinehart, a farmer of Colerain
township. They have four children, Daisy, the eld-
est, was raised by our subject and his wife. She is
single and resides in Lancaster county. The other
children are Conrad, Charles and Annie, who have
remained with their parents. Susan, born in Quar-
ryville in 1855, was educated in the public schools
of that town, and is now the wife of Frank Walt-
nian, of Quarrj'ville. They have six children, Effie
(the wife of Irwin Ramsey, of Eden township),
Annie, Harris, Wayne, Herbert and Abbie.
Politically Mr. Rinier was brought up a Demo-
crat, but affiliated with the Republican party. He-
may be counted among the independent voters. Re-
ligiously both he and his wife are devout members-
of the M. E. Church. Ambition, experience and.
earnest endeavor have been the qualities of mind that
have moulded the life of our subject, and endeared,
him to the people of his town and county. His up-
rightness of character and his many virtues have-
given him a place among the intellectual people of
Lancaster county. Few men there are who, lacking,
opportunity, have forged their way to the front by
dint of perseverance. As a great reader in a wide
range of subjects, and as a keen observer of men.
and events, Mr. Rinier merits the credit and esteem,
which are accorded him by his fellow towns people..
He has lived a retiring, unassuming life, but always
ready to bear his share of the burdens and ever
ready to help others.
ISA-IAH F. HESS, a successful young farmer
of Manor township, but a carpenter by trade, with
his residence a mile and a half north of Safe Har-
bor, Lancaster county, was born Nov. 23, i860, in
the township where he still resides, and is a son of"
Jacob and Margaret (Frey) Hess, of well-known 1
Lancaster county families.
At the age of twenty years, Isaiah F. Hess, who
had been reared on a farm near Creswell, Pa., and!
had been educated in the public schools, rented land
on which he farmed for ten years, in the meantime
working at his trade, which he had learned from his
father. By following carpenter work and raising'
tobacco on his rented land, Mr. Hess was able in>
1890 to purchase thirty-nine acres of good farming"
land on which he does general farming, taking be-
sides an occasional contract at carpenter work.
In 1880 Isaiah F. Hess married Miss Emma
Manning, daughter of Adam K. and Annie (Funk)
Manning, and this union has been blessed with two
children, viz., Jacob M., bom April 6, 1881 ; and'
Annie M., born July 28, 1883. The family worship
at the United Brethren Church, of which Mr. Hess
has been a member for more than twenty years and-
is at present a class leader.
David Hess, the great-grandfather of Isaiah F.
Hess, was born in Germany, was a farmer in Cone—
stoga township, Lancaster county, and reared a fam-
ily of three children, John, David and Michael.
Michael Hess, the youngest of these three, was the-
grandfather of Isaiah F., and was a hotel keeper
by vocation the greater part of his life. Michael'
Hess married Miss Mary Rothran, who bore him
eight children, of whom five reached mature years,
viz.: Daniel, John and David, all now deceased;:
Michael, of Illinois ; and Jacob.
Jacob Hess, father of'isaiah R Hess, was born-
Oct. 31, T822, in Conestoga township, where he-
' learned the carpenter's trade at which he worked
until 1865, then enlisted for the Civil war in the-
Union army, but, the war being- brought' to a close,
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
1441
was discharged in 1866 and next engaged in farm-
ing in Manor township. To the marriage of Jacob
Hess and Margaret Frey, daughter of Frederick
Frey, have been born eleven children, viz.: Mary,
widow of Christ Kline, living in Illinois; Josiah,
deceased: Christiann, wife of Christ Deitrich, of
Manor township ; Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Kindig,
of the same township ; Isaiah F. ; Amanda and Mat-
tie, unmarried; and four that died in infancy. The
family are members of the United Evangelical
Church and are among the most respected and sub-
stantial residents of Manor township.
HENRY PHILLIPS. Perhaps no resident of
Quarryville, Lancaster county, has more personal,
attached friends than has Henry Phillips. 'The
elements of character which win confidence and
high regard, are possessed by him, in the highest
degree. Mr. Phillips is a man of moral worth, of
integrity of character, a friend to be depended upon,
and one whose exemplary life is an example to
others, although quiet and entirely unobtrusive.
The birth of Henry Phillips was in the township
of East Drumore, July 29, 1842, and he )vas a son
of Michael and Hannah (Harmon) Phillips, both of
whom were born in Lancaster county, the former
being the son of Henry and Margaret. Phillips, who,
although born in this county, came of German an-
cestry.
Henry Phillips, the grandfather, first settled at
Conewingo Furnace, in this county, managing here
for a number of years for James Hopkins, and both
he and wife died at this place. Their children were :
Michael, father of Henry ; Katie, who died unmar-
ried ; Henry, deceased, who settled in East Drumore
township and was a carpenter by trade ; Miss Nancy,
a resident of East Drumore township; Jacob, de-
ceased, who settled in Philadelphia, where he was
a moulder by trade, and reared a family ; Mrs. James
McMichael, deceased; Betsey, deceased, was the
wife of George Shaub, of Quarryville; Polly, de-
ceased, the wife of Jacob Shaub, a farmer of East
Drumore township ; Lydia, deceased, wife of Jacob
Brown, of Lancaster city ; and Susan, wife of Jacob
Barr, of East Drumore township.
Michael Phillips, son of Henry, and father of
Henry, of this sketch, was given the best possible
schooling in his locality, and started out in life as
a tailor, learning the trade while still a young man.
His marriage was to Miss Hannah Harmon, who
was a daughter of Henry Harmon, one of the
wealthy and prominent farmer citizens of East Dru-
more township. After marriage Mr. Phillips and
wife settled in East Drumore township where, m
connection with work at his trade, he earned on
farming, purchasing an estate in this township. In
later vears he removed to Quarryville, where he en-
gao-ed in work at his trade until within a few years
of his death; his wife had passed away prior to the
Civil war. Both parents were worthy members of
the Old Mennonite Church, consistent Christian
91
people. The family of children born to Michael
Phillips numbered ten: Mary, the eldest, suffered
death in childhood from burns ; James died in child-
hood ; Jacob, born in East Drumore township, grew
to manhood, served faithfully in a Pennsylvania
regiment through the Civil war, and after its close
came home and was married to Margaret Redman,
of Lancaster county, and they settled on a farm in
East Drumore township, where he died, leaving a
wife and family who now reside in Colerain town-
ship; John learned the tailor trade and worked at
it until twenty-six years of age, when he died in
Quarryville; Anna, who is the widow of Joseph
Shaub, resides with her family in East Drumore
township ; Henry is the sixth in the order of birth ;
Benjamin, born on the old homestead, enlisted for
service in the Civil war, was wounded in one of the
early battles, was later transferred to one of the gun-
boats, veteranized in Co. D, 195th P. V. I., and
served until the close of the war, when he moved to
Carroll county, Va., where he married a Miss Gra-
ham, and where he is now engaged in contracting
and building, having become one of the substantial
men of that county ; Susan, born in this county, is the
wife of James Fry, and resides in East Drumore
township; Elizabeth, born in East Drumore, is the
wife of John Lundy, of Reading, Pa., and Michael,
the youngest, is a cigar-maker of Lancaster City,
married Miss Mary Killion, of Lancaster, and has no
family.
Henry Phillips received but limited education,
leaving school to enter upon his apprenticeship un-
der his father in the tailoring business. In 1859 he
was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Groff,
the estimable daughter of Joseph and Catherine
(Myers) Grofif, both of these families being promi-
nently identified with the agricultural interests of
Lancaster county. The birth of Mrs. Phillips was
in East Drumore township in 1842, and here she
grew to womanhood, obtaining her education in the
common schools of Lancaster county. The children
born to this union were : Fannie and Susan, both of
whom died in childhood ; Joseph, who married Miss
Ida Sutter, a daughter of Lorin Sutter of this vil-
lage, follows the trade of shoemaker in Quarryville,
and has one daughter, Anna, who is a student ; and
Charles G., the youngest of the family, is now a prin-
ter in the office of the Quarryville Sun, unmarried.
After marriage, our subject and wife settled in
Quarryville, where he engaged in his tailoring busi-
ness. At the outbreak of the Civil war, Mr. Phil-
lips was one of the first loyal citizens to offer his
services to his country, enlisting in Co. D, 195th
P. V. I., serving faithfully until the close of the
war, in the Army of the Potomac, and was honor-
ably discharged. Returning to his home, Mr. Phil-
lips resumed his merchant tailoring and has con-
tinued to prosper ever since.
Politically, Mr. Phillips has always supported
the Republican party, and has efficiently performed
the duties of tax-collector for his borough. So-
1442
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
daily, he is a member of Post No. 511, G. A. R., of
Quarryville, in which he holds official position. Both
Mr. Phillips and family are active members of the
M. E. Church of Quarryville, in which he has long
been a trustee, for many years the efficient superin-
tendent of the Sabbath school and for the last eigh-
teen years has been the leader of the church choir.
Henry Phillips is one of Quarryville's most re-
spected and influential citizens, in business as well
as church work. His charities have been large, his
interest in public affairs constant, and his neigh-
borly kindness has won him the affection and es-
teem of all with whom he has come in contact.
BENJAMIN K. ESHLEMAN. It is rare in
American communities to find a family in which for
generation after generation the father has taught
his trade to his son, and where in each case the pro-
ficiency of the learner has been the theme of general
comment and admiration. Such, however, has been
the exceptional history of the Eshlemans, who for
more than a century have been among the most
highly esteemed citizens of the locality in which
they have resided.
Henry Eshleman, the great-grandfather of Ben-
jamin K., was a blacksmith, of sturdy strength and
strong sinews, who carried on his trade at Crom-
well, where he owned forty acres of land. He was
the father of three sons, Jacob, John and Henry, and
two daughters. Of the latter, one married a Haw-
thorne and the other a Kline. John, the second son,
was the grandfather of Benjamin K. Eshleman. He
learned his father's trade and worked at it through-
out his life. In 181 1 he put up a new shop and built
a large dwelling of sawed logs, in which he intended
to keep a tavern ; this business, however, was not
to his taste, and the house, which became the family
homestead, is now the residence of Benjamin K.
Toward the close of his life he gave up active work
at his trade and devoted himself to farming upon
the thirty-six acres of land which he owned. He
was one of the founders of the Evangelical Church
at Cromwell, donating the land for the site of the
church building; he was also one of the denomina-
tion's exhorters. During the war of the Revolution
he was drafted as a soldier and for a short time did
military service in the patriot army. He was twice
married, his first wife being Susan Bender and his
second Catherine Dickey. Of the second marriage
there was no issue, but by his first he became the
father of eleven children: John, Jacob (the father
of Mr. Benjamin K. Eshleman), Henry, Martin,
Elizabeth, Susan, Mary, Catherine, Anna, Martha
and Fannie.
Jacob Eshleman was born in 1807. He learned
the trade followed by his father and grandfather
and in 1830 opened a smithy of his own. In 1851
he toxight his father's shop, which he conducted
until i860, when, upon the marriage of his son, Ben-
jamin K., he surrendered the business to him, re-
tiring to his thirty-six acre farm, which