Floyd's Northumberland County Genealogy Pages 198 thru 225
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Tony Rebuck.
Tar2@psu.edu
Electronic edition copyright 2001 by Tony Rebuck. All rights
reserved. This electronic work may be freely distributed and displayed:
(1)without modification, (2) on a strictly non-commercial basis, and
(3) retaining this copyright notice.
USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial individuals
and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter
information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other
sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any
other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of
contents.
WILLIAM L. DEWART, of Sunbury, editor and proprietor of the Sunbury
Daily and the Northumberland County Democrat, wields in that connection
an appreciable influence upon public sentiment and progress in that
community. His father and grandfather were men of character and force,
both representatives in the National Legislature, and the name has long
been associated in Pennsylvania with leadership in the Democratic party.
William Dewart, the great-grandfather of William L. Dewart, was
born in 1740 in Ireland, and came thence to America in 1765, first
settling in Chester county, Pa. He was in such humble circumstances that
he paid his passage money after his arrival, working for five dollars a
month, but industry and thrift soon brought their reward. He came to
Sunbury, where he opened a store in 1775, just three years after the
organization of Northumberland county. He was the second merchant at
that point, and his store was the first in the town, a log building on
Chestnut street, between Second and Center streets. Subsequently he
purchased ground on the north side of Market street, where he built a
brick residence and store, and he made a success of his business,
accumulating considerable property. He was constable of Augusta township
as early as 1777. He died July 25, 1814, aged seventy-four years. His
wife, Eleanor, died Sept. 17, 1805, aged fifty-eight years, ten months,
twenty-four days. They had a large family of children, most of whom,
however, died in youth. We have record of the two sons William, Jr., and
Lewis, the latter of whom was the grandfather of the present William L.
Dewart, of Sunbury. William Dewart, Jr., died Nov. 12, 1810, aged
thirty-two years, one month, twenty-three days; he married Liberty
Brady, who was born Aug. 9, 1778, daughter of John and Mary Brady, and
died July 25, 1851. Their son, William, born Nov. 24, 1806, died May 18,
1841; he was a well known merchant at Sunbury.
Hon. Lewis Dewart, son of William and Eleanor Dewart, was born in
Sunbury Nov. 14, 1780, when the place was little more than a military
post in the wilderness. For a number of years he was his father's
assistant in the store, and was postmaster at Sunbury from 1806 until
1816, but his public career began when he was a comparatively young man
and covered many years. From 1812 to 1820 he represented his district in
the State Assembly and in 1823 was elected State senator to succeed
Albright, deceased, serving three years in that capacity. In 1830 he was
elected a member of the Twenty-second Congress from what is now the
Seventeenth district and was reelected in 1832. In 1834 he was honored
with reelection to the State Legislature, in which he resumed his seat
and served three terms, until 1840, during the last year of that period
being honored with the speakership of the House. In 1839 he was chief
burgess of Sunbury, and for many years he was a member of the School
Board. Mr. Dewart was not only a highly capable public servant, but a
citizen who benefited the community equally in his activity in the
development of industrial enterprises, noteworthy among which was the
Danville & Pottsville railroad, which, in company with Stephen Girard,
of Philadelphia, and Gen. Daniel Montgomery, of Danville, he organized
and built; Mr. Dewart was one of the first directors of this road and
served as such for many years. He and Stephen Girard were the pioneers
in the Schuylkill county coal fields, and they had large holdings of
valuable coal property in the vicinity of Shamokin, this county, as well
as in Schuylkill county. Their idea was to uncover the coal instead of
tunneling, but the process proved too expensive to be practicable. Mr.
Dewart was identified with the promotion or realization of many of the
most advanced improvements of his day and was, indeed, one of the most
prominent citizens in central Pennsylvania, but his business
undertakings were particularly helpful to the opening up of the
territory north of Sunbury. In 1840, the year he retired from active
business pursuits, he was a Democratic candidate for the nomination for
governor. He was succeeded in the leadership of the party by his son,
William Lewis Dewart, who carried the honor of the name into even
greater usefulness than his father had attempted. Lewis Dewart was
associated with the most noted men of his time, being a warm friend of
Andrew Jackson, and his influential connections gave him the opportunity
to do much for his home community that would have been impossible for
one less powerful or valuable personally. He was a man of fine presence,
commanding attention and respect wherever he went. His death occurred
April 26, 1852, when he was seventy-one years old, and his remains rest
in a vault at Sunbury. He married Elizabeth Liggett, a native of
Chester county, Pennsylvania.
Hon. William Lewis Dewart, only son of Lewis and Elizabeth
(Liggett) Dewart, was born June 21, 1821, at Sunbury, and received his
education at various places. His early training was largely
END OF PAGE 198
received at Harrisburg where the family were located during the many
sessions his father served in the State Legislature, and he took his
preparatory collegiate course at Dickinson Preparatory School, Carlisle,
Pa., after graduating from which institution he entered Princeton as a
sophomore, in 1886. He was graduated from that university in 1839, read
law with Hon. Charles G. Donnel, of Sunbury, and was admitted to the bar
Jan. 3, 1843. The law was his chosen vocation, and he practiced for many
years in partnership with the famous Capt. Charles J. Bruner, of
Sunbury, but his forceful nature and the circumstances of his father's
failing health and consequent retirement drew him into business and
public affairs, for which he proved to be eminently fitted. In 1845-46
be served as chief burgess of Sunbury, and at that time he was already
regarded as the local party leader, a supremacy which was accorded him
until 1870, for a quarter of a century. During that period he was
regarded as the foremost man in Northumberland county. In 1850 his
father's health failed, forcing him to assume business cares which were
too important to be intrusted elsewhere. His private interests were very
extensive, and he was long a director of the Northumberland National
Bank (now known as the First National Bank of Sunbury). In 1852 he was
a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Baltimore, in 1856
to the Cincinnati Convention and in 1860 to the "Douglas" Convention,
the same year being a Pennsylvania elector on the Douglas ticket. In
1884 he was a delegate to the Chicago Convention which nominated
Cleveland for President. In 1856 he was elected a member of the Thirty-
fifth Congress. A portly gentleman, of fine appearance and genial
disposition, he was an attractive as well as prominent figure in
society, and held a notable place in all the activities of his day. He
was a Mason in fraternal connection and a Presbyterian in religion. His
death occurred in Sunbury April 19, 1888.
On June 21, 1848, Mr. Dewart married Rosetta Van Horn, daughter of
Espy Van Horn, of Williamsport and they reared two sons. Mrs. Dewart
survived her husband. In 1853 Mr. Dewart took his family to Europe,
spending about a year traveling over England, Scotland, Ireland, France,
Germany, Italy, Switzerland and other places of interest and attraction.
It is a coincidence worthy of note that Espy Van Horn, of
Williamsport, father of Mrs. Dewart, was the direct predecessor in
Congress of Mr. Dewart's father; and that William Wilson, her
stepfather, was her father's predecessor in that legislative body.
Lewis Dewart son of Hon. William Lewis Dewart, was born May 6,
1849, in Sunbury. After attending the common schools he took a
preparatory course at Columbia, Pa., and Edge Hill, and then entered
Princeton, graduating therefrom in 1872. He read law with the late Judge
Jordan, and was admitted to the bar in 1874. He received the degree of
Master of Arts from his alma mater. In 1875 Mr. Dewart was elected
borough clerk, which office he held one term, and in 1877 was elected
district attorney. Like others of the name he was an energetic worker
in the Democratic party, having been a member of the central committee,
and delegate to county, district, State and national conventions, among
them the convention at which Pattison was nominated for governor and the
convention in 1892 when Cleveland received the nomination. He was a
member of Sunbury Lodge, No. 22, F. & A.M. He died Aug. 27, 1901,
unmarried.
William L. Dewart son of William Lewis and Rosetta (Van Horn)
Dewart, was born March 24, 1858, in Washington, D. C., while his father
was a member of Congress. After receiving his elementary training he
was a student for two years at the Pennsylvania Military Academy, at
Chester, thence going to the Shoemaker Academy, at Chambersburg, from
which he was graduated in 1877. Returning to Sunbury he commenced to
learn the printing and newspaper business, reporting for the Daily and
the Northumberland County Democrat, and in time becoming city editor of
the Daily, in which he purchased an interest Jan. 1, 1880. He has been
associated with that paper as editor and proprietor ever since, and in
the same capacity with the Northumberland County Democrat, both of which
papers have been under the same ownership and management throughout that
period.
Though he has never had any personal official aspirations, and has
never been a candidate for any political office, Mr. Dewart has upheld
the reputation of his family as a bulwark of the Democratic party, and
has served as delegate to many conventions. In 1884 he was alternate at
the national convention held at Chicago which gave Grover Cleveland his
first nomination for the Presidency; in 1892, when Cleveland was
nominated for the third time, he was a delegate to the national
convention; and he was again a delegate in 1904, at St. Louis, when
Alton B. Parker received the nomination.
Mr. Dewart is a member of Lodge No. 22, F.& A.M., Northumberland
Chapter, No. 174, R.A.M., and Calvary Commandery, No. 74, K.T., all of
Sunbury; has been a vestryman of the Episcopal Church at Sunbury for a
number of years; and maintains considerable activity in the social life
of the city, being noted for his hospitable and companionable nature.
In 1897 Mr. Dewart married Edith Grant, daughter of the late
William T. Grant of Sunbury, and to them have been born three sons,
William Lewis, Lewis and Gilbert F.
END OF PAGE 199
WILLIAM Z. RAKER has been identified with mercantile business at
Trevorton for over fifty years, having first come to this place in 1858.
With the exception of a few years spent in the South he has lived there
ever since. He became interested in his present establishment in 1899.
Mr. Raker was born Nov. 2, 1834, in Little Mahanoy township, this
county, son of Jacob Raker. The latter was born in that township in 1808
and there spent all his rife. By occupation he was a farmer and tanner,
tanning being his main occupation. He was a man of considerable
prominence in the locality in his day, served as justice of the peace,
school director, and in other offices, and was one time a candidate for
county sheriff, but was defeated by a very small majority. Politically
he was quite an active member of the Democratic party. He died Dec. 28,
1859, aged fifty-one years, eight months, two days, and is buried in
Little Mahanoy township. He married Barbara Zartman, and they became
the parents of fourteen children, namely: Harry, Lucinda, William Z.,
Daniel, Abbie, Cornelius, Samuel, Enoch, Rebecca, Conrad, Alice, Joseph,
and two that died in infancy.
William Z. Raker attended pay schools conducted in the home
territory in his youth and later had the advantages of two terms at
Freeburg Academy and one term at Berrysburg. For two terms he was
engaged in teaching, one in Lower Augusta township and one in Little
Mahanoy township, after which he found employment as clerk for William
Deppen, in Jackson township, and also at Trevorton, whither he came in
1858. After three years in his employ he became a clerk for Mowton &
Co., with whom he remained two years, in 1861 engaging in a general
mercantile business on his own account. He carried on this store until
1874, when he gave up the business to go South, being in South Carolina
for some time. After a lapse of eight years he became assistant to the
postmaster at Trevorton, continuing as such for three years, when he
reentered business life as member of the firm of Raker & Kostetter, on
Feb. 17, 1899, his associate being Isaac Kostetter. They continued to do
business together until May, 1903, when Mr. Raker became sole proprietor
of the store, which he still conducts.
Mr. Raker has long been associated with the public affairs of the
community, having served ten years as tax collector, one term as
assessor, and also as auditor, giving faithful service in all these
trusts. He is a Democrat in political connection. In religion he is a
Lutheran, one of the workers in, his church, which he has served in an
official capacity: for twelve years he was superintendent of the Sunday
school.
Mr. Raker married Charlotte Malich, daughter of Jacob Malich, and
they have had four children: Emma, the widow of Philip C. Breimeier, has
one son, Frederick W., a graduate of Bucknell College, class of 1910,
now a teacher at State College; Katie, is the wife of D. W. Reitz, of
Trevorton, and has sons W. Stanley and Robert; J. Wilson lives at
Trevorton; Eva A. married Fred Walt, of Trevorton, and they have
children, Charlotte S. and Roger William.
JAMES H. STRAUB, president and general manager of the Croninger
Packing Company, is an active and successful business man of Shamokin,
where he has made his home since 1894.
The Straub family originally came from Germany. George Straub,
grandfather of James H., lived in Schuylkill county, Pa., where he was
engaged in farming in the Mahantango Valley, owning a farm of 260 acres
of good land. He died in Deep Creek Valley, in that county, in 1858,
aged fifty-three years, and was buried there. His wife, Bevvie Zerbe,
daughter of John Zerbe, died aged ninety-six years, and was buried at
Williamstown, Dauphin county. They were the parents of ten children, as
follows: John, who died in Schuylkill county; George, who died in
Schuylkill county; Elias, who died at Shamokin; Joseph, who died at
Girardville, Pa.; Daniel, living at Williamstown; Moses, who died young;
Henry, who served in the Civil war and died one week after his release
from Andersonville prison; Emanuel, born in the Mahantango Valley Nov.
5, 1843, who served as a private in Company D, 48th, Pa. V.I., in the
Civil war, and now lives in Shamokin; Harriet, who married David Crone,
and died in Schuylkill county; and Tobias, living at Wiconisco,
Pennsylvania.
Daniel Straub, son of George, was born in the Mahantango Valley,
and followed farming in his youth. He now resides in Dauphin county, at
Williamstown, where in connection with farming he has a fine teaming
business. He married Lucy Derr, of Schuylkill county, and their
children are: John, who is in the real estate business in Los Angeles,
Cal.; James H.; Lena, who married J. N. Weidel, of Altoona, Pa.;
Charles, a miner at Williamstown; and Mamie, who married Albert Skelton,
an engineer at Williamstown.
James H. Straub was born near Hegins, Schuylkill county, March 25,
1866. He attended the schools of Dauphin county, and on starting out to
earn his own way began as a miner, a line of work he followed until he
was twenty-six years of age. In 1887 he went to Kansas, and two years
later to Colorado, following mining in the latter State. On his return
East he located at Williamstown, Dauphin county, and was there engaged
in mining until 1894, when he came to Shamokin. Here he learned the
butcher's trade with his uncle, Elias Straub, and after a short time he
and his uncle formed a partnership under the name of Straub & Co., which
continued for three years. The uncle retiring Mr. Straub carried the
business on alone,
END OF PAGE 200
and made a great success of it. He was located at No. 104 South Market
street, and in April, 1907, sold his business to Paul & Pensyl. In
October, 1906, he had become president of the Croninger Packing Company,
and in order to give his whole attention to the development of this
business he was obliged to give up his private establishment. He is also
general manager for the company, which is doing one of the largest
businesses of the kind in this part of the State. The business is
established in a large brick building at No. 429 West Walnut street,
Shamokin, affording about forty thousand square feet of floor space. Mr.
Straub is a man of fine executive ability, and through this and his
sound business judgment has been able to bring about the best results
for the company of which he is the head. His business integrity has
given the company a high standing in the commercial world. He was one
of the organizers and original directors of the new Dime Trust & Safe
Deposit Company, of Shamokin.
Mr. Straub married Amelia Mace, daughter of Michael Mace, and they
have two children, Howard and Charles. Mr. Straub is a member of
Shamokin Lodge, No. 255, F. & A.M.; Shamokin Chapter No. 264 R.A.M.;
Shamokin Commandery, No 77, K.T.; Bloomsburg Consistory; thirty-second
degree; and the Temple Club at Shamokin. The family attend the
Evangelical Church.
ALFRED C. CLARK, M.D., of Sunbury, has been engaged in the practice
of medicine in that borough for a period of forty years, and has long
been one of the prominent physicians of his section. He has served in a
number of public positions, in his professional capacity, and in every
relation of life has been found a valuable citizen, conscientious in the
performance of duty and in his endeavors to uphold high standards of
living among the many with whom his work has brought him into
association.
Dr. Clark is a grandson of Jonathan Clark, who married Elizabeth
Stroh, daughter of Philip Stroh, who was from Lancaster county, Pa. Mrs.
Clark was born Jan. 14, 1802, and died Aug. 22, 1884. She was the mother
of: David, of Northumberland county; John, of Lower Augusta township,
this county; Mary, who married a Mr. DeWitt, and is now a widow, living
in Lower Augusta township; and Philip.
Philip Clark, son of Jonathan, was born in Upper Augusta township,
this county, and died at Sunbury at the age of sixty-five years. He
married Eliza Fry, of Upper Augusta township, and both are buried in
Pomfret Manor cemetery, at Sunbury. Owing to his father's untimely
death Philip Clark was early thrown upon his own resources, and he began
life in such humble circumstances that he was obliged to go barefooted
until grown. He worked as a farm laborer from young boyhood, and
received but forty days schooling. But his was a strong nature, and he
triumphed over obstacles by perseverance and application, educating
himself by devotion to study at every opportunity so that in early
manhood he was able to teach, beginning in Upper Augusta township. He
followed that calling some years. He was successful in everything he
undertook. A natural-born carpenter, he built many houses in Sunbury,
making the plans as well as doing the work, and he was long engaged as a
railroad and bridge contractor, in which line he was associated with
different parties. He built the Port Carbon railroad, and in partnership
with Adam Lenker he built several large bridges. For some time he
conducted a general store at Snydertown, Pa. Politically he was a
Democrat and influential in the party, and he served from 1859 to 1862
as commissioner of Northumberland county. He was an Episcopalian in
religious connection.
Alfred Craven Clark was the only son of Philip and Eliza Clark. He
was named Craven after the civil engineer who laid out the Port Carbon
railroad. Born Aug. 3, 1845, in Sunbury, he has passed the greater part
of his life in that borough, where he received his early education in
public and private schools. He obtained his professional preparation in
Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in
1869, after which he was located at Dalmatia, this county, for a year.
He has since been settled at Sunbury, having his office on Market
square, and there are few men in that place better known. Dr. Clark has
not only been energetic in responding to the demands of private
practice, but he has taken the larger view of responsibility which
brings added duties to so many of his profession. Seeing the needs of
the community in their constant daily contact with its many phases, they
cannot evade the call of public spirit and intelligent interest in the
general welfare, and their opportunities for remedial work result in
unselfish though often unappreciated efforts to help their fellow
citizens. He served seven years as prison physician, was county medical
inspector for the department of health of the State of Pennsylvania for
the long period of twenty-three years (resigning this office in 1908),
and for two years was surgeon for the Northern Central and Philadelphia
& Erie railroads. Socially he holds membership in the B.P.O. Elks and
the Odd Fellows, at Sunbury. He is a Democrat in political opinion and
has been active in the party. In short he is interested in all the life
of the community, his energetic nature finding channels of usefulness
opening in every direction in which his work or sympathies lead him.
In 1867 Dr. Clark married Elizabeth Reess, of Philadelphia,
daughter of C. Bard and Julia Reess, and they have had one daughter,
Louisa Rebecca, who is the wife of Dr. William L. Shindel,
END OF PAGE 201
of Sunbury, and has one son, Daniel W. Mrs. Clark belongs to an old
family of Philadelphia, and is of Revolutionary stock, being a member of
Fort Augusta Chapter, D.A.R.
JOHN N. BUFFINGTON, proprietor of the Uniontown Marble & Granite
Works, was born Feb. 1, 1867, at Pillow, Pa., son of Cyrus F.
Buffington. The family to which he belongs has been identified with
that community for several generations.
Solomon Buffington, his great-grandfather, lived and died in the
Lykens Valley, and is buried at St. John's Church there. His wife was
Elizabeth Romberger and after her first husband's death she married a
Sheaffer, of Snyder county, Pa. Solomon Buffington and his wife had
children: Josiah,, Benjamin, Solomon, Jonathan, John, Mary (who was
twice married, her first husband being named Mark, the second Netzel),
Susan (Mrs. Shoop) and Mrs. Burtner.
John Buffington, son of Solomon, was a native of Lykens Valley and
in his earlier years moved to Uniontown (Pillow), where he followed the
wheelwright business. He is buried at Uniontown, at the United Brethren
Church, in the welfare of which he had long been active. To him and his
wife, Catharine (France), was born a large family: Cyrus F., Sarah
(married John Clinger), William, Hannah (married Solomon Leitzel),
Elizabeth (married Isaac Hand), Christiana (married Isaac Graeff),
Harriet (married William Drumm), Solomon (of Shamokin, expressman at the
depot), Mary, and three who died young.
Cyrus F. Buffington, son of John, is the father of John N. Buffington.
He was born Sept. 24, 1839, and has lived at Pillow all his life,
following his trade, that of wheelwright. He was a successful man,
prospering by dint of industry, and for fifty years he and his brother
William were associated in business, making many wagons. They employed
three or four hands and had a thriving trade. Both now lead a semi-
retired life. Cyrus F. Buffington has been a justice of the peace for
thirty years and has held a number of other local offices, having been
an active and highly esteemed member of his community. He is identified
with the United Brethren Church and one of its foremost members, having
held all the church offices, in which he gave most conscientious and
efficient service. Mr. Buffington married Caroline Bingaman, daughter
of Nicholas Bingaman, and they have had the following children: Rev.
Henry, of Coalport, Pa., a prominent minister of the United Brethren
Church; Irwin, deceased: John N.; Flora, married to Charles
Shettelsworth, of Williamstown; Lloyd, a blacksmith of Uniontown and
Emma, married to Isaac Boyer.
John N. Buffington spent his youth in Pillow (Uniontown), where he
lived until eighteen years old. He then went to Shamokin, in which
borough he clerked in stores for twelve years, four years for J. P. Haas
& Co., two years for W. H. Malick & Co., and six years for the Shamokin
Hardware Company. In January, 1898, he returned to Uniontown and formed
a partnership with Ed. D. Bingaman, Bingaman & Buffington taking the
business of P. Sauser and continuing it for ten years. Mr. Buffington
then purchased the interest of his partner and he is now sole
proprietor. He employs four skilled mechanics and does a large business,
mostly local. He has erected many monuments in Tower City, and in fact
all over lower Northumberland county. His prosperity is well deserved,
for it has been won by hard work, and he is respected for his ability
and high standards by all with whom he has had dealings. He was a
member of the borough council three years.
On Dec. 25, 1899, Mr. Buffington married Lizzie S. Hepler, daughter
of William H. and Mary (Dunkelberger) Hepler, of Eldred township;
Schuylkill county, the latter a daughter of Jacob Dunkelberger. Mr. and
Mrs. Buffington have had two children, Leon Earl and Albert Franklin.
The family occupy a large brick residence in Uniontown equipped with all
modern conveniences. They are members of the United Brethren Church at
Uniontown, and Mr. Buffington has been a regular attendant at services
and an active helper in the church work; he has filled all the official
positions.
George Buffington, a venerable resident of Pauls Valley, in Dauphin
county. Pa., has a sixty-acre farm there which he cultivates, his son
William now doing the active work. His wife, Amelia Sponsell, is well
along in the seventies, but they are nevertheless active in church life,
Mr. Buffington as a member of the United Brethren Church and Mrs.
Buffington of the M. E. Church. They have had ten children: George W.;
Sarah J., married to Elias Duncan; Laurance, who was killed in the
lumber woods in Center county; Alice, who died young; Ellen, married to
Gabriel Zimmerman; Adaline; Charles, who died after he was married, aged
about twenty-five years, leaving one child Annie, who married Mr.
Anders, and lives in Pauls Valley; John, of Fisher's Ferry, Pa.; and
William, who is at home.
George W. Buffington, son of George, is a farmer in Lower Augusta
township, Northumberland county. He was born in Pauls Valley, Dauphin
Co., Pa., in September 1856, and was reared to farm life. After he grew
up he hired out among farmers in Dauphin and Northumberland counties and
began farming for himself in Little Mahanoy township in 1884. After
farming there one year he did laboring work some years, at Paxinos. and
in 1891 came to Lower Augusta township, where he ran the D. H. Snyder &
Co. farm for fourteen years on shares. In 1905 he
END OF PAGE 202
purchased his present farm, which was the William Spies place, in Lower
Augusta. It comprises seventy-six acres of fertile land, and is improved
with nice buildings, all substantial and in good repair. He attends
markets at Sunbury. Mr. Buffington is a Republican and is a school
director of his township at present. He and his family are Lutherans,
and he served as deacon while living at Paxinos.
In October, 1878, Mr. Buffington was married, in Little Mahanoy
township, to Hannah Reed; daughter of William Reed, of Little Mahanoy,
and their family consists of two sons and three daughters: William, of
Gratz, Pa.; Frances, of Rockefeller township; Lydia, unmarried, at home;
Froena, married to Howard Klock, who lives with his father-in-law; and
Mary Ada, at home.
W. T. SHEPPERSON, a business man of the borough of Riverside,
Northumberland county, and long a leading figure in the public life of
that place, where he is now serving his tenth year as burgess, is a
native of England, born in 1859 in Nottinghamshire. He has lived in
this country since childhood.
Thomas Shepperson, his grandfather, lived and died in
Nottinghamshire, England, where he farmed and kept a tavern. He reached
the advanced age of ninety-one years, while his wife lived to be ninety.
They were the parents of the following children: William, who came to
America about 1848, was a contractor and as such built a part of the
Catawissa railroad, now part of the Reading road; he died in Danville,
Pa., some years ago. Thomas came to this country with his brother
William and later located in Denver, Cola., where he still lives.
Andrew lived and died in Nottinghamshire, England, his death occurring
in 1908; he possessed considerable property. James also lived in
England, where he engaged in farming and kept a tavern. Alfred, who came
to America with his brother William, was killed in a landslide which
occurred during the construction of the Catawissa railroad. Edward was
the father of W. T. Shepperson. There were also two daughters, Anna, who
married a Mr. Walker and lived in England; and Mary; who married John
Newham, an engineer, and came to America.
Edward Shepperson was born in England in 1830, and his wife, Jane,
was born in that country in 1834. They were married in England and came
to America in 1865, locating in Danville, Pa., and some years later
moved to Riverside. Mrs. Shepperson died in Riverside in 1877. They were
the parents of the following children: Two sons died young; Edward
Oliver lives in Denver, Cola., whither he went in 1878, and is engaged
as a railroad engineer and interested in mining; Annie died in Denver,
Cola.; Lucy died in 1900 at Danville, Pa.; Jennie married David Seely,
express agent at Sterling, Ill.; W. T. is a resident of Riverside;
Edward was a contractor and worked in Danville, Pa., until 1878, when he
went out to Denver, Cola., where he died.
W. T. Shepperson came to America with his parents in 1865, and
passed his boyhood in Danville, Pa., being about fifteen years old when
the family, removed thence to Riverside. His education was received in
the public schools, principally at Danville. Going South he located at
Middleburg, Ky., where he was general manager for the S. Bailey Lumber
Company until his return to Riverside. He has since made his home in
that borough, where he has been prominently identified with business and
public affairs, having long been engaged as an extensive dealer in
lumber, and for some years he also dealt in coal in large quantities,
though at present he handles that commodity only as a side line. He
handles railroad ties, mine timber, prop timber and bark, and has a wide
patronage, having built up a profitable trade in those lines by the
exercise of his business acumen and ability, which are recognized by all
who have been associated with him. The respect which he commands in his
hometown could be no better shown than by the fact that he has been
called upon to serve so many years continuously as burgess, the present
(1910) being his tenth year of service in that capacity. He is a member
of the Improved Order of Heptasopha, and for many years has belonged to
the Methodist church.,
Mr. Shepperson married Cora M. Bent, daughter of Charles and
Harriet (Francis) Bent, and sister of W. R. Bent of Riverside. They had
a family of three children: Charles E., who is employed by his father,
married Jennie Cuthbert, daughter of Martin Cuthbert, and they have had
two children, William T. and Irene; Mabel M. and Cora M. are at home,
occupying with their father a beautiful home in the borough of
Riverside. Mrs. Shepperson died in 1907.
CHARLES LINCOLN CLEAVER, publisher of the Mount Carmel Daily News,
first saw the light of day on May 3, 1861, in Locust township Columbia
Co., Pa. He is an admixture of Scotch Irish, English Quaker, Holland
Dutch and English, the first two from the paternal side, and the latter
two from the maternal, and of nearly two centuries of American growth.
He grew up on the farm and received his education in the public schools,
the Bloomsburg State Normal school, the Wyoming Seminary at Kingston,
and the Dickinson Law School at Scranton. On Sept. 1, 1881, he married
Mary Jane Perry, a descendant of the Commodore, and came to Mount Carmel
in August, 1884. He taught public school for sixteen years, and
purchased the Daily News in 1899. In politics Mr. Cleaver is a
Republican with independent tendencies, having served two years as
chairman of
END OF PAGE 203
the Republican county committee and one year as chairman of the county
committee of the Lincoln party. Fraternally Mr. Cleaver is a member of
the P.O.S. of A., Camp No. 231; I.O.O.F., Lodge No. 630; O. of I.A.,
Council No. 874; Sons of Veterans, Camp No. 34; Royal Arcanum, Council
No. 1130; Knights of Malta, Commandery No. 22; Princes of Bagdad, No.
77; Mount Carmel Lodge, No. 378, F. & A.M.; Williamsport Consistory,
thirty-second degree; and Rajah Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., of Reading,
Pennsylvania.
Mr. Cleaver is an aggressive newspaper man, a fluent writer,
sometimes with a vitriolic pen, and fearless of any special interests,
having a reputation for hewing to the line for what he considers the
paramount interests of the community he serves. Under his direction the
business interests of his publication house have grown to large
proportions, and it appears to be in every way a prosperous
organization. Wesley Nelson Cleaver, son of the publisher, is editor
and general manager of the publication business.
HARRY F. G. NEY has been a resident of Lower Augusta township for
the past forty years, having settled there in 1871. He has followed
farming the greater part of that time, and for over a quarter of a
century carried on the store and served as postmaster at the settlement
locally known as Patricksburg. The postoffice was discontinued in 1899,
the store in 1904.
Mr. Ney belongs to an old, family whose first ancestor in America,
Valentine Ney, lived in the Tulpehocken Valley in Berks county. He died
in 1790 in Tulpehocken township, Berks county, and his last will and
testament, written in German, is on record in the Berks county
courthouse. His wife, Anna Catharine, survived him, and his youngest
son, Sylvester "Nye" was the executor of the will, which names four
sons: George, Valentine, Jacob and Sylvester. One of these settled in
Lebanon county, Pa., and was the father of Adam Ney, from whom Harry F.
G. Ney, of Northumberland county, is descended.
Adam Ney had two sons of whom we have record, Adam and Samuel,
another son whose name is not recalled, and a daughter, Mary, who became
the second wife of David Hummel, of Hummelstown, Dauphin Co., Pa. David
Hummel was married three times, his first wife's maiden name being Hess,
and his third wife being Polly Haines. To his second marriage were born
ten children, one of whom was William N. Hummel, now a resident of
Herndon, this county.
Adam Ney, Jr., lived two miles to the left of Palmyra, in Lebanon
county, and is buried near Palmyra. By trade he was a shoemaker. His
children were: Adam, a shoemaker, who in his earlier life lived on the
premises occupied by his father, later moving to Lickdale, Lebanon
county, where he followed farming as well as shoemaking (he had one son
and one daughter, William and Annie); and Joseph, who lived and died
near Palmyra (he had a son Joseph, who lives at Progress, Dauphin
county, near Harrisburg).
Samuel Ney, son of Adam and brother of Adam, Jr., lived for some
years at Palmyra, Pa., and then settled in Stony Creek Valley, in Middle
Paxton township, Dauphin county, where he died at the age of seventy-
seven years. He is buried in the Dauphin cemetery. He was a cooper, and
followed his trade, and he owned a ten-acre property on which he had a
nice home. This place was later owned by his son William, who eventually
sold it and now lives east of Dauphin in the Stony Creek Valley; his
postoffice address is Dauphin. Samuel Ney's children were: Joel;
Samuel; William; Luzetta, who married Thomas Yautz and lived in Middle
Paxton township, later moving to Halifax township, Dauphin county;
Lydia, Mrs. Ritter, who moved with her husband to Oregon,, where they
died; and Caroline, Mrs. Caton, who lived in Middle Paxton township,
Mrs. Caton moving to Matamoras after her husband's death. Joel Ney, son
of Samuel, was born March 17, 1820, at Palmyra, Pa., and was a boy when
he moved to Dauphin county, where he passed the remainder of his long,
life,, dying March 21, 1900. He is buried in Middle Paxton township,
Dauphin county, where he had lived on a farm for many years, having the
tract of 140 acres now owned by his son-in-law, J. H. Bickel. He was a
successful farmer, and also acquired the property later owned by his son
Amos. He served the community as tax collector for some years, and in
his earlier days was active in the work of the Presbyterian Church. In
politics he was a Republican. His wife, Mary (Gayman), daughter of Jacob
Gayman, was born May 6, 1821, and died Dec. 24, 1896. She is buried by
her husband's side. Four sons and one daughter were born to this couple:
Amos (deceased), who lived in Middle Paxton township, where he followed
farming; Harry E. G.; John (deceased), who lived on one of the farms of
his brother Amos; Catharine, wife of John H. Bickel; and Lewis, who
lives at Pennbrook, Pa., near Harrisburg.
Harry E. G. Ney was born Dec. 25, 1848, in Middle Paxton township,
Dauphin county, and was reared to farming, working for his parents until
he began on his own account. In 1871 he came to Northumberland county,
settled in Lower Augusta township, where he married and made a permanent
home. From 1871 to 1874 he was employed as a switchman on the Northern
Central railroad, at Selinsgrove, and after his marriage, which took
place in 1875, he entered upon the mercantile business at Fisher's
Ferry, where he was located for three years. In 1877 he opened a store
at the country village locally known as Patricksburg (so called after an
old-time schoolmaster named Pat-
END OF PAGE 204
rick), and he conducted that establishment for twenty-seven years, doing
a general mercantile business. He sold out in 1904, and there has been
no store at the place since. The postoffice at Patricksburg was
established about 1891 and Mr. Ney became postmaster in 1894, serving
until the office was discontinued, in 1899. He continues to reside at
Patricksburg, owning the tract of sixteen acres upon which his home is
located, as well as the seventy-two-acre farm (also in Lower Augusta
township) where his son S. Nelson G. Ney lives. The property he occupies
has been improved by him, and the frame dwelling now standing there was
erected by him in 1877. The place formerly belonged to John Snyder.
There are few men in this section of the county better known than Mr.
Ney. In his various business connections he became known to a wide
circle, and as township treasurer and supervisor he gave most efficient
public service, proving himself a capable and trust-worthy official. He
is a Republican in politics.
In 1875 Mr. Ney married Malinda Coldren, and they have had three
children: Mary L. married W. E. Evert and they live at Fisher's Ferry;
Ellen C. died in infancy; S. Nelson G., a farmer in Lower Augusta
township, married Mary Eister, daughter of Henry Eister, and they have
had two children, Harry and Ethel. Mr. Ney and his family attend the
Baptist Church.
Solomon Coldren, Mrs. Ney's grandfather, was born Feb. 17, 1779,
came to this county from Snyder county, Pa., and died March 31, 1843; he
is buried at Fisher's Ferry. He was a farmer, owning the farm now in the
possession of Henry Smith. To him and his wife Elizabeth (Minnier) were
born the following children: Sarah, Mary, Harriet Jane, Lydia (who died
young), Isaac, John, Jacob, Peter, Samuel, David, and James (1831-1899).
Peter Coldren, son of Solomon, was born Aug. 9, 1821, in Lower
Augusta township, and there passed his entire life. He followed
agricultural pursuits, owning the farm of eighty-seven acres now owned
by Jefferson Lenig, who bought it from Harry E. G. Key (Mr. Coldren's
son-in-law). Mr. Coldren was a Democrat in politics, and served his
township as school director. He and his wife were Baptists, their
family adhering to the same denomination. Mr. Coldren died Nov. 13,
1898, and is buried in the Baptist cemetery in Lower Augusta township.
His wife, Louisa (Feaster), daughter of Henry and Margaret (Cornell)
Feaster, was born Nov. 14, 1828, and died May 3, 1909. Ten children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Coldren, three of whom died young, the others
being: Malinda, wife of Harry E.G. Ney; Silas, of Millersburg, Pa., who
has been a track foreman on the railroad for twenty-four years; Ellen,
wife of C. F. Dyer, of Shamokin; W. M., a miller, of Catasaqua, Pa.; E.
Y. B., of Millersburg, who is associated with his son in the mercantile
business there; J. C., a carpenter, of Shamokin; and C. D., a machinist,
of Philadelphia.
HENRY A. CARL, who has a fine farm one and a half miles south of
Herndon, Northumberland county, was born March 23, 1850, at Mandata,
this county, son of John and Julian (Klinger) Carl.
The Carl (Corl) family is first found in Longswamp township, Berks
Co., Pa., Theobald Carl, a pioneer of that township, being the first
ancestor of this family in America. He died in 1800, and his will,
written in German, is on record in Will Book A, page 422, in the Berks
county courthouse. The document mentions his mother and provides for
her, and he also makes good provision for his wife, Anna Maria. He had
a deceased daughter, Elizabeth, and his son George Carl and Samuel Butz
were executors of the will, which disposed of a large estate.
The Federal Census Report of 1796 gives George Carl as the head of
a family in Longswamp township, Berks county, consisting of a wife,
three sons under sixteen years of age, and two daughters.
The same Report records Dewalt Carl as a resident of the same
township and the head of a family consisting of two sons over sixteen, a
wife and three daughters. As Dewalt was used as the English form of
Theobald this may refer to the ancestor's family.
The will of a John Carl, who died in Pike township, Berks county,
in 1837, was made April 9, 1836, and mentions the wife Hannah but no
children.
Johan Jacob Carl, grandfather of Henry A. Carl, was born April 21,
1796, and was a descendant of one of the two heads of families mentioned
above. He came from Longswamp township, Berks county, to Northumberland
county early in the nineteenth century, settling in Mahanoy township,
and lived on the farm now owned by Galen Bower (one George Wolf owned it
earlier). He was a farmer by occupation, and is described as a slim,
medium-sized man, with light hair. He died in May, 1862, aged sixty-six
years, ten days, and is buried at Urban Church. His wife's maiden name
was Schaffer, and their children were John, William and several
daughters.
John Carl, father of Henry A. Carl, was born Feb. 18, 1818, and
died July 21, 1854; he was a member of the Mahanoy Church, where he is
buried. For some years he kept store at Mandata, later keeping a store
where Daniel Peiffer is now located, and there he died. His wife Julian
(Klinger,) bore him three sons, William, John and Henry A. After his
death she married Jacob Freymoyer and moved with him out to Iowa, where
he died at the age of eighty-one years. She died March 19, 1904. She
was the mother of four
END OF PAGE 205
children by her second marriage, Jane, James, Alice, and one daughter
that died young.
Henry A. Carl began working at an early age, finding his first
employment at what was known a as the Albert sawmill on Fidler's run, in
Jackson township, and there he was engaged for the long a period of
thirty-six years. After Christopher Albert gave up the mill he worked
under Mr. Brower and later with Mr. Rickert and during this time he made
his home in Lower Mahanoy township with the exception of two and a half
years during which the family resided at Herndon. About 1873 he built a
house in Lower Mahanoy township which he occupied until the spring of
1896, at which time he commenced farming in the same township, on the
place where he has since had his home. It is a tract of 164 acres one
and one half miles south of Herndon, formerly the property of Sebastian
Stepp. The land is in a good state of cultivation, and the buildings are
substantial. Mr. Carl has been industrious and thrifty, and he is
making a good living. He is a Democrat, has held local office, and is a
member of the Lutheran congregation of the Herndon Church, with which
his family also unite.
On May 29, 1870, Mr. Carl married Rebecca Kobel, daughter of George
and Catharine (Snyder) Kobel, of Pitman; Schuylkill Co., Pa., and they
have had a family of thirteen children: William G. E., who is now in
Iowa; S. Calvin, of Carrizozo, N. M.; Charles H., of Illinois; Minnie
M., who married Harry Kramer; Katie A., who married George Hoover;
Monroe, who died in infancy; John W., Clarence E. and Quincy J., all of
Stillwater, N. Y.; Clyde A. and James F., at home; Mary F. R., who is
married to Howard Lenker, son of Adam Lenker; and Violet, who died in
infancy.
The Kobel Family is one of the earliest settled families of lower
Northumberland County, the tax list of Mahanoy township for 1778
containing the names of Abraham, Casper, Henry and Daniel Kobel, whose
relationship is uncertain. Their descendants still live in Jackson,
Washington and Little Mahanoy townships. They were members of the
Reformed Church, and a number of the name are buried at St. Peters
(Mahanoy) Church in Jackson township.
Frederick, Simon and Peter Kobel were brothers, and the first
named was the grandfather of Mrs. Henry A. Carl.
Frederick Kobel, born June 8, 1761, lived and died in Jackson
township, where he was a farmer and land owner. His wife Sostern (the
name is not really legible on the tombstone), was born April 9, 1765,
and died Dec. 14, 1848. He died May 11, 1834 (age given as seventy
two), and they are buried at St. Peter's Church before mentioned. Among
their children were: Mary Tailor, William, Rebecca Snyder, Catharine
Miller, George and Henry.
George Kobel, son of Frederick, married Catharine Snyder, and they
lived at Pitman, Schuylkill county, where they were farming people. They
are buried at the Haas Church, at Hepler, that county. Their children
were: Elias, Isaac, Frank, Sarah, Rebecca (Mrs. Carl) and Harriet.
Simon Kobel, brother of Frederick, was born in the territory now
embraced in Washington Township, Northumberland County, the farm where
he was born and which belonged to his father, being still pointed out as
the old Kobel homestead. It is now owned by Samuel Kieffer. The place
comprises 100 acres, originally taken up by a member of the Kobel
family in pioneer days. Simon Kobel followed farming. His wife, Sarah
(Sally) Engel, daughter of Felix Engel, was like himself a member of
the Reformed congregation at St. Peter's Church. They had children as
follows: John, who settled in Jefferson County, Pa.; Daniel and Joseph,
Lena, who married Adam Drumheller; Polly, who married John Lebo; and
Elizabeth, who married Henry Latsha.
Daniel Kobel, son of Simon, was born in 1829 and was a lifelong
farmer. Until 1887 he lived near the homestead, his son Elias succeeding
him to its ownership in that year. He died in September, 1903, and is
buried at St Peter's Church, of which he was a Reformed member.
Politically he was a Democrat. To him and his wife Elizabeth Kerstetter,
who was born Jan. 11, 1838, were born four children: Louisa, who
married John Daniel; Abby, who died young; Cassie, who married Samuel
Reed; and Elias K.
Elias K. Kobel, son of Daniel, was born in 1865 in Washington
township, and in 1904 commenced farming for himself in that township,
where he lived until 1910. In the fall of 1901 he sold his farm of
eighty acres, which was formerly the Samuel Malick farm; a large stone
house was built on the place in 1818. He married Sarah C. Hoffman, and
they have had eight children, five of whom died young: A daughter that
died in infancy, Charles, Harvey, Eva May, Carrie E., Frederick, a son
that died in infancy, and William B.
Joseph Kobel, son of Simon, was born June 13, 1837 (or 1838), and
died March 19, 1889. He was a prosperous farmer and miller, owning 240
acres of land, and for nine years operated the Dornsife mill, his son
Henry W. succeeding him in the milling business after his death. In
politics he was a Democrat, served as tax collector, and was an active
member of the Reformed congregation of St. Peter's Church, which he
served as deacon and elder. His wife Wilhelmina (Eister), born Oct. 2,
1834, died Nov. 15, 1903. They had five children: Sarah married Oliver
Buchner; James R. is a resident of Washington township; John died when
END OF PAGE 206
eighteen years old; Edwin S. is of Mahanoy; Henry W., born in
Washington township Aug. 25, 1867, is a farmer, owning 113 acres of
land, and has been a deacon and an elder of Himmel's Church (in 1889 he
married Lovina Treon, and they have had two children, Jennie and Samuel,
the latter dying when three years old).
JOHN SCHABO, a former treasurer of Northumberland county, who was
living retired at Shamokin, that county, at the time of his death, Sept.
16, 1910, was born in Germany March 26, 1841, at Fahren, in Trier, son
of John Schabo and his first wife, who in maidenhood was Eva Ott.
John Schabo, the father, was a farmer in Germany. He came to
America in 1853, permanently locating in Carbon county, Pa., where he
purchased a farm, cultivating his lands until the time of his death, in
the year 1868. He was honorable and successful; he made friends and kept
them. He was twice married, his first union being with Eva Ott, who died
in Germany, the mother of two children, Annie and John. His second wife
was Annie Karies, and they were also married in Germany, but their
children were all born in Carbon county, Pa., viz.: Peter and Paul, both
deceased; Maggie, wife of Amandus S. Markle, of Shamokin, Pa.; and
Katie, wife of Jonas Gerber, of Weatherly, Pennsylvania.
John Schabo, first named in this narrative, when but a lad engaged
as a boatman on the Lehigh canal, and this kind of work he pursued, in
all the various capacities, until he was thirty years of age. In 1871 he
located at Weissport, Carbon Co., Pa., and engaged in the hotel
business, and to this he gave his attention until 1875, when he went to
Shamokin, PA., and established the "Shamokin Hotel," which he
successfully conducted until 1907. He then retired from business life
and took possession of his pleasant home at No. 226 Walnut street
erected by him in 1890. The homestead farm, the farm of his father,
comprising sixty-five acres situated in Towamensing township, Carbon
Co., Pa., and about six miles from Weissport became his property.
In politics a Democrat, Mr. Schabo was in 1884 elected to the
borough council; was chief of the fire department from 1883 to 1889; and
in 1890 was elected county treasurer for a term of three years. The
campaign of 1890 was a memorable one, and though the contestants seemed
equally reputable and well known Mr. Schabo was elected over his
adversary by a majority of 429 votes.
In the year 1883, Mr. Schabo was made a director of the First
National Bank of Shamokin, now the National Bank of Shamokin, and
continued to be a member of the board during the rest of his life; he
was also a director of the Shamokin Building and Loan Association; the
Shamokin Street Railway Company; and served as treasurer of the Shamokin
Driving Park Association. Fraternally he was a member of Elks Lodge No.
355.
Mr. Schabo was married Feb. 12, 1862, to Eva Schweibenz (a daughter
of Alyons Schweibenz), born in Wurtemberg, Germany, Feb. 14, 1838. They
had two children: John W. (who married Emma Armbuster, and has had two
children, John Edward, who married May Hower, and Harry, deceased) and
Annie E., the latter a young lady at home. His creed was that of the
Roman Catholic Church, to which his family also adhere, and they worship
at the St. Edward's shrine.
C. EDWARD ALLISON, M. D., of Elysburg, Northumberland county, has
been practicing medicine at that place for over ten years, and has a
large patronage, having been successful from the time of his settlement
in this district. He is a native of Adams county, Pa., born May 17,
1871, at Gettysburg. The family is of Scotch-Irish extraction, James
Allison, the first of this line to come to America, having emigrated
from Ireland or Scotland. It is not known where he settled, but his son
Francis lived in Frederick county, Md., about five miles east of
Emmitsburg. Thence he moved to Adams county, Pa. His wife, Ruth
Thompson, was also of Scotch-Irish descent.
Francis Allison, son of Francis, was born in June, 1794, in Adams
county, Pa., and there lived and died. All his family were born and
reared there. He became a landowner and farmer in Mount Joy township,
Adams Co., Pa., near the Mason and Dixon line. He married Hannah
Mieksell, who was born near Emmitsburg, Md., and was of German descent;
her mother's maiden name was Catharine Rudolph. Mr. and Mrs. Francis
Allison are buried in the Mount Joy Lutheran churchyard. Their children
were: Jonathan L., of Taneytown, Md.; Samuel M.; Mary A., who married
Amos Yeatts, and died in Carlisle, Pa.; Sarah, who married William
Lightner; Catherine, who married Samuel D. Reck; and Martha, who died
when twenty years old.
Samuel M. Allison, son of Francis, was born in Mount Joy township,
Adams county, and followed agricultural pursuits for a number of years,
living first upon the homestead and later buying a farm near Gettysburg
which he occupied for some time. He now lives in the town of Gettysburg.
He married Anna M. Schwartz, daughter of Jacob Schwartz, and they had
the following children: C. Edward; Herbert A., who is a professor at
Susquehanna College, Selinsgrove, Pa.; and Cordelia.
C. Edward Allison received his literary education in the public
schools and at Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, graduating from that
institution in 1893, with the degree of A. B. Following his college
course he spent some time in Kansas and Oklahoma, and upon his return
from the West
END OF PAGE 207
was engaged in teaching for one year. He then entered the College of
Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, later continuing his medical
studies at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where he was
graduated in 1899. His first year of independent practice was spent at
Jeddo, Luzerne Co., Pa., after which he was at Mount Carmel,
Northumberland county, a short time before locating at Elysburg, in
September, 1900. There he succeeded to the practice of the late Dr.
Samuel F. Gilbert, who died in August, 1900, and who was a prominent
physician there for twenty-five years. Dr. Allison has been popular at
Elysburg throughout the period of his residence there, and though a busy
man professionally he has endeavored to be a useful member of the
community in other ways. He is serving as road supervisor of Ralpho
township at the present time.
Dr. Allison is a thirty-second-degree Mason, belonging to Elysburg
Lodge, No. 414, F. & A.M. (of which he is a past master), and to
Bloomsburg Consistory (thirty-second degree). He also holds membership
in the I.O.O.F., and in professional connection is a member of the
Northumberland County Medical Society, etc. He is a Republican in
political sentiment. His ancestors have been Lutherans and
Presbyterians as far back as they have been traced.
On Sept. 5, 1907, Dr. Allison married Amy E. Gilbert, daughter of the
late Dr. Samuel F. Gilbert.
JOHN G. YOUNGMAN. The Youngmans have been identified with Sunbury
for almost a century, and throughout that period have been noted for
intellectual activity. Their leadership in such matters was
acknowledged during their long connection with the newspaper circles of
this section, with which they were prominently associated continuously
for over seventy years. They are descendants of a Moravian family that
emigrated from Lusatia, Prussia, in 1740, settling at Bethlehem, Pa.
John G. Youngman, the first of the Youngman name in Sunbury, was born
Jan. 6, 1786 near Hummelstown, Dauphin Co., Pa., son of Jacob Youngman,
a blacksmith and farmer, and son of Rev. John George Youngman, a
Moravian missionary to the Indians, who died at Bethlehem in 1808, at
the age of eighty-eight.
When he was eight years old John G. Youngman was adopted by his
uncle, Gottlieb Youngman, a veteran of the Revolutionary war, who
established the first German newspaper in Berks county, this State. It
was called The Impartial Reading Newspaper and was first issued Feb. 18,
1789, being published until 1816. Gottlieb Youngman died June 10, 1833,
at Louisville, Ky., when seventy-six years old. His nephew had acquired
a thorough knowledge of the printing business under his tuition so that
he was versed in the mechanical as well as the business and intellectual
features of newspaper work, and he always took great delight in
typesetting, at which he worked in the composing room of the Sunbury
Gazette until within a few months of his death. In 1802, having had a
misunderstanding with his uncle, Mr. Youngman left him and walked to
Somerset county, where he found employment at his trade with a Mr. Ogle.
Four years later he took a position on the Hornet, at Frederick, Md.,
and in 1807 he was connected with the Times, one of the first daily
papers of Baltimore. Thence he went to Hagerstown, Md., where he found
work with John Gruber, the well known almanac publisher. Returning to
Reading in 1812, he obtained the necessary equipment from his uncle and
came to Sunbury to establish Der Northumberland Republikaner, a German
paper, which was the third paper published at Sunbury. The first number
appeared Aug. 12, 1812, and as shown by the files in existence, from
Aug. 11, 1815, to January 1818, was a three-column folio, fourteen
inches long and nine inches wide, creditable in typography and
composition. In 1818 the name was changed to Nordwestliche Post, which
supported Findlay in the gubernatorial contest of 1820 and thus lost its
large number of German subscribers, who were almost unanimously in favor
of Hiester. It was really as a result of this disaffection that Mr.
Youngman suspended the paper, though he continued it until after July,
1827. For several years thereafter he gave his attention to the
printing of books and pamphlets.
It was not long, however, until Mr. Youngman resumed newspaper work
as publisher of the Canalboot, which was established with the idea of
promoting local enterprises of a public nature, at the height of the
popular agitation in favor of internal improvements then in progress.
The issue of March 5, 1831, shows it to have been a folio fifteen and a
half inches long and eleven inches wide, a canalboat on the headline of
the first page. The paper was issued under this name until 1833. Its
immediate successor was The Workingmen's Advocate a four-column folio
eleven by sixteen inches in dimensions, the first English newspaper
published by Mr. Youngman. The first issue appeared April 29, 1833, and
in it the editor announced that it would be Democratic in politics,
reserving to himself, however, the right of differing from party
conventions as to what platforms or candidates were really Democratic,
should occasion require. It was a successful publication throughout its
existence (which ended in 1838), a fact which is notable, as several
rival papers at Sunbury and Northumberland suspended (during that
period. In 1838 Mr. Youngman established the Sunbury Gazette, under the
imposing title of The Sunbury Gazette and Miners' Register, and the
issue of Jan. 7, 1843, when it still bore that
END OF PAGE 208
name, was a five-column folio twenty-one and a half by thirteen inches.
When Mr. Youngman established the Republikaner, in 1812, he did
business in a small frame building on the north side of Market street,
at what was later the site of Rippel's photograph gallery. When he
purchased the property at Third and Arch streets he removed the printing
office to a frame structure adjoining his residence and facing on Arch
street. It was next located in a wooden building on what was
subsequently the site of the Dewart block, at Market and Third streets,
being there from 1847 to 1850, when it was moved to the north side of
Market street, nearly opposite the "City Hotel." There the Gazette was
published at the time of its suspension, in 1883, though it had occupied
several different places in the meantime, the principal one being the
second story of the Geyer block, at the northeast corner of Market
square, to which it was removed in 1868.
Mr. Youngman was not only actively connected with the press in
Sunbury for over fifty years, but he also took a leading part in public
affairs in Northumberland county, holding several responsible offices.
In 1814 he served as county treasurer, in 1818-21 as county
commissioner; and on Feb. 5, 1839, he received his commission as
register and recorder, being elected to succeed himself in the fall of
that year; he was thus the last person elected and the first one
appointed to that office in Northumberland county. He died Sept. 13,
1871, at the age of eighty-five years.
On Aug. 1, 1813, Mr. Youngman married Catharine Bright daughter of
George Bright of Sunbury, and step-daughter of Hon. Andrew Albright, and
they were the parents of George B., William, Louisa Hester, Andrew A.,
Jacob, Susan E. and John.
GEORGE B. YOUNGMAN learned the printing business with his father
and it was principally through his efforts that the Gazette was founded,
he having been the junior member of the firm of John G. Youngman & Son
from 1838 until 1855. Upon his retirement from the paper he devoted
himself to fruit and grape culture on a farm several miles east of
Sunbury, continuing his business successfully until his death, April 9,
1880, at the age of sixty-six years. He served is treasurer of
Northumberland county in 1850-51.
After George B. Youngman's retirement front he Gazette he was
succeeded by his brother, A. A. Youngman, upon whom much of the
responsibility in connection with the paper devolved. The style of the
firm then became A. A. & John Youngman, the latter being another son of
the founder, and they carried on the Gazette until it was consolidated
with the American, on April l1, 1879, as the Gazette-American. A year
later, however, the publication of the Gazette, alone, was resumed by A.
A. & John Youngman and continued for a few years, the last issue
appearing March 16, 1883. This number gave a review of the political
policy of the paper, in which it is stated that the Gazette was one of
the four Democratic organs in Pennsylvania that came "out boldly in
favor of the national administration as against the Rebel cause" in
1861, yet although it was constrained "to protest against certain
tendencies and methods in the management of the Republican party" on
several occasions, it could not be said "that the Gazette ever went back
on the principles of that great political organization."
ANDREW A. YOUNGMAN, after closing his newspaper career, continued
to reside in the old home at Third and Arch streets, Sunbury, until his
death, which occurred on Dec. 2, 1905, at the age of eighty-four. He was
a man of more than ordinary intelligence, having been of a studious
disposition, making himself well versed in various branches of
knowledge; but being of a retiring nature the extent of his information
was known and appreciated only by those who came into intimate
intercourse with him. During the years after his retirement from the
printing business he was a constant reader, giving his attention largely
to scientific subjects, of which meteorology was his favorite. The
result of his reflections and observations on that subject is contained
in a large manuscript volume which would furnish material for a printed
book of ample dimensions.
JOHN YOUNGMAN, the youngest child of John G. Youngman, and the last
editor of the Gazette, received most of his education in his father's
printing office, where he learned to "set type" and made his first
efforts in writing. With the object of changing his business he read
law with Hon. John B. Packer and was admitted to the Northumberland
county bar at the August term in 1851, but soon discovering that he was
better adapted for newspaper work than law practice he dropped the
latter and took charge of the Gazette as its editor in 1855. In this
capacity he continued until the publication of that paper ceased in
1883, when he left Sunbury to engage in journalism in other localities.
He did editorial work on the Harrisburg Patriot for two years, was
engaged for five years as editorial writer for P. Gray Meek's Bellefonte
Watchman, and then going to Philadelphia found employment on the Times
and Record and was editor of the Evening Herald for four years. Having
been in Philadelphia journalism for fourteen years he returned to
Sunbury in 1904 at the age of seventy-four, and again did some newspaper
work in his native town.
WILLIAM YOUNGMAN, the second son of John G. Youngman, learned the
cabinetmaking business and was noted for his skill in that handicraft.
He carried this on for some years in Sunbury, but at the close of his
life he was employed in the Sun-
END OF PAGE 209
bury shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., doing the finer woodwork
needed in that establishment. He was well skilled in music and in his
younger years was at the head of musical movements in his neighborhood,
he having been the organizer and leader of the first instrumental band
in Sunbury, and he was for a long while the leader of Sunbury's
Episcopal Church choir. He was married to Henrietta, and after her
demise to Susan, who were daughters of Dr. John B. Price, of Sunbury, a
noted physician of that period who, besides having a thorough medical
education, was a graduate of Princeton University. By his two marriages
William Youngman had a numerous progeny.
LOUISA HESTER YOUNGMAN, the first daughter of John G, Youngman, was
noted for her beauty as a young woman and for her excellent traits of
womanly character, among which her charitable disposition, and the
assistance she gave to the needy and suffering, were conspicuous. Her
voice was such that if it had received more cultivation it would have
made her a star singer. It was the delight of those who heard her in the
choir at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church of Sunbury, in which she was the
leading soprano for a number of years; she was a lifelong member of the
Episcopal Church. She died unmarried in 1892.
JACOB YOUNGMAN, the fourth son of John G. Youngman, learned
typesetting in his father's printing office, where he became proficient
in the various branches of the printer's art. After "graduating" in that
school he did journal work in Pottsville, Washington and Philadelphia,
eventually returning to Sunbury, where he continued to work at printing
and also engaged in other business. Application to one pursuit was all
that was necessary to have made him a decided success, as he was an
expert printer and a ready writer, particularly in a humorous vein, some
of his productions in that line having been much admired, and he was
noted as a comic versifier. He branched off from printing to engage in
the foundry business, an enterprise that was entirely out of his line,
and consequently was not successful; and he devised a number of
ingenious inventions, some of which were patented but never pushed to
profitable results. His last years were spent in working in the
different Sunbury printing offices. He died in 1892, at the age of
sixty-eight years.
SUSAN ELIZABETH YOUNGMAN, the second daughter of John G. Youngman,
was born Jan. 20, 1828, in the old homestead at the southwest corner of
Third and Arch streets, Sunbury, where she and her brother John reside,
together with their niece, Miss Carrie V. Youngman. Though in her
eighty-fourth year she is well preserved, as active intellectually as
ever, takes great enjoyment in reading, and has been a lifelong and much
interested member of the Episcopal Church, liberally contributing to its
support. Her first marriage was with Francis Bright, of Reading, Pa.,
who engaged largely and successfully in the hardware and foundry
business in Tamaqua and Hazleton. He died at the latter place Aug. 28,
1865, and his remains are interred in Pomfret Manor cemetery. Her second
marriage, which took place in 1881, was to Bruce Small, who was a native
of Baltimore, Md., and a son of Hon. Jacob Small, a man of public note
and prominence, who served at one time as mayor of Baltimore. The Smalls
have long occupied a prominent position in public and social circles.
The family of this name in York county, Pa., is of the same stock.
Bruce Small was born in 1834, and received his literary training in
various educational institutions. During the Civil war he served in the
United States navy on the frigate "Potomac" and was very active. While
in the service he was a comrade of Winfield Scott Schley (now rear
admiral), with whom he was long on terms of personal friendship. After
the war Mr. Small was for many years in the Government employ at
Washington, D. C., subsequently coming to Sunbury. He died March 18,
1890, at his Sunbury residence, and rests in the family vault in St.
Paul's cemetery, Baltimore.
Only three of John G. Youngman's seven children married, they being
William, Susan and John, and but one of them, William, produced a
progeny as future representatives of Sunbury's first printer. The
children of William and his first wife, Henrietta Price, were: John P.,
William Edgar, Christianna Guild and Henrietta Rose, besides several who
died in infancy. His children by his second marriage, to Mrs. Susan
(Price) Sutton, were: Mary Isabella and Caroline Vandergrift. John, the
eldest son, now deceased, became a resident of Hazleton, married Ann
Bird, of that town, and was the father of two sons, one of whom died at
an early age, the survivor being John Price Bird Youngman, a prominent
civil and mining engineer of that region, who is the father of an
interesting family. Christianna Guild, the eldest daughter of William,
is the wife of Rufus Reber, who is prominent in the clerical department
of the Reading Railroad Company in Philadelphia, and she is the mother
of Mrs. Andrew Chidsey, wife of a leading Easton banker, and of Frank
Reber of Philadelphia and Guy Reber of Savannah, Ga. William Edgar, the
second son of William, who also became a resident of Hazleton, married
Julia Shapley, of that place, and was the father of Barton Edgar
Youngman, who is city engineer and conspicuous in the municipal affairs
of Hazleton; he also has a fine family. Henrietta Rose, the youngest
daughter of William by his first wife, married Clarence Hawthorne, and
is the mother of an interesting daughter, Frances, this family being
residents of Sunbury, where Mr.
END OF PAGE 210
Hawthorne is connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Of
William Youngman's two children by his second marriage, Mary Isabella is
the wife of William Coleman, a progressive and prosperous Kansas
granger, and is the mother of an accomplished daughter and a stalwart
son; and Caroline Vandergrift, familiarly known in Sunbury as Miss
Carrie Youngman, resides with her aunt Mrs. Small, in the old Youngman
homestead, and takes a leading part in the literary and church work of
Sunbury.
Great changes have taken place in Sunbury since John G. Youngman,
at the beginning of the last century, began journalism in the town.
There has been a great increase in its population, its business and its
importance. Other newspapers have taken the place of those established
by the elder Youngman, and of his descendants but few are residents of
the town, but the progeny of Sunbury's veteran printer may be found in
many parts of this nation's broad domain.
THEODORE CHESTER, now a retired resident of Sunbury, is a well
known man in that borough, where he was engaged in the hotel business
for a number of years, having formerly conducted the "St. Charles
Hotel," which his sons now own. He was born Sept. 27, 1844, in Barry
township, Schuylkill Co., Pa., only son of John Chester, who lived at
Danville, Pa., where he was the first maker of cast iron plows. His
plows were used extensively all over Pennsylvania. He went West about
1851. John Chester married Matilda Yarnall, who came from Schuylkill
county, Pa., and was a member of a Quaker family which was earlier
settled in Maiden-creek township, Berks county. Mrs. Chester is
interred in a private burial ground on the homestead. Her father,
Elijah Yarnall, lived in Schuylkill county.
Theodore Chester was brought up by his maternal grandfather Elijah
Yarnall, attended the public schools of the home neighborhood in
Schuylkill county, and later went to school at Rushtown and in Lower
Augusta township, Northumberland county, in the neighborhood now known
as Plum Creek. In his eighteenth year he began clerking in a general
store in what is now Rockefeller township, and drove a produce wagon to
market in Schuylkill county, during the "reign of terror" of the Molly
Maguires. He and Nathan Baker were in the butter and egg business for
three years at Lewisburg, Pa. He also learned the trade of watchmaker,
which he followed for fifteen years at Northumberland, this county, also
traveling considerably in the rural districts all over Union county and
in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, repairing grandfather clocks, in which
line he was quite expert. He was a natural-born mechanic, and has
always had a liking as well as talent for such work, even to this day
occasionally repairing timepieces for the pleasure the work affords. For
twelve years he conducted the "St. Charles Hotel" in Sunbury, being
succeeded in the ownership of that establishment by his sons Herbert C.
and Nathan W. Chester, who now conduct it. Though now retired, Mr.
Chester still retains some business interests, having large real estate
holdings in Sunbury, and investments in certain patented automobile
tires. He is a substantial citizen, and has lived to enjoy the rewards
of his more active years.
On June 4, 1864, Mr. Chester married Louise Wolf, daughter of
Abraham Wolf, and to them have been born nine children: Herbert C., Emma
A. (deceased), Wilson, Nathan Wellington, Samuel (deceased), Asburry,
Bessie (Mrs. Herbert A. Welker), Jennie (Mrs. Jacob Bright) and Annie
(unmarried). There are sixteen grandchildren. The family have occupied
their pleasant home at the corner of Tenth and Market streets, Sunbury,
since 1902. They are members of the Lutheran Church.
Mr. Chester is a Republican in political matters, but he has never
taken any part in public affairs and has always refused to hold public
position. He is a popular member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to
Lodge No. 22, F. & A.M.; Northumberland Chapter, No. 174, R.A.M.; Mount
Hermon Commandery, No. 85, K.T. all of Sunbury; and Irem Temple,
A.A.O.N.M.S., of Wilkes-Barre. He is treasurer of the blue lodge and
chapter, a past eminent commander and past high priest, and has been
active in the fraternity for many years.
During the Civil war Mr. Chester enlisted, in 1862, in Company C,
136th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, for nine months, and took part
in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.
The Yarnall (Yarnell) family, to which Mr. Chester is related on
the maternal side, is of old English Quaker stock, Francis and Peter
Yarnall having come from their native land with the Hugheses, Boones,
Penroses, Kirbys and Lightfoots, and settled in Oley township, Berks
Co., Pa. They were of the fifty or more families who had been left out
when the township was erected. The people to the "south part of Oley"
therefore petitioned the court of Philadelphia, in 1741, to erect that
part into a township. The petition was granted. Among the sixteen
signers to this petition were Francis and Peter Yarnell.
In Northumberland county a member of this same family, Richard
Yarnall, was the second settler at Mount Carmel. His father, Jesse
Yarnall, kept a hotel on the old Minersville road, at the crossing of
Mahanoy creek, near Otto's forge, Schuylkill county, about four miles
south of Mount Carmel. An Indian path which led from the vicinity of
Roaring Creek township, Columbia county,
END OF PAGE 211
to his hotel is referred to in the early official records of
Northumberland county as "Yarnall's path." He married Hannah Penrose, of
Roaring Creek township, whose people, like his, came from Maiden-reek
township, Berks county, and were Friends.
Richard Yarnall was born April 10, 1791, and died Oct. 14, 1847. He
learned the trade of carpenter and millwright. About the time he reached
manhood the Centre turnpike was constructed, resulting in a large
increase in the travel between Danville and Sunbury on the north and
Reading and Pottsville on the south. A favorable opportunity was
presented for the erection of a hotel on this important thoroughfare at
the present site of Mount Carmel, which is about equidistant from
Danville and Pottsville, and, prompted by these considerations, Mr.
Yarnall erected the "Mount Carmel Inn," a two-story log structure
situated on the southeast side of the turnpike immediately northeast of
the "Commercial Hotel." He opened a hotel there and conducted the
business with fair success for several years, when, having become surety
for a friend who failed to meet his obligations, the property was sold
and he removed to the vicinity of Bear Gap, where he was variously
employed for several years. He then located on a small cleared tract
near the old Minersville road, and also resided at the Tomlinson farm,
after which he engaged in hotel-keeping at the Riffert tavern, where he
died. The Riffert tavern was a log structure standing on the east side
of the turnpike, north of the Lehigh Valley depot. It is not known who
erected it, and under the management of its early owners it bore a bad
reputation, but with Mr. Yarnall as proprietor it received the
confidence and patronage of the traveling public. He married Mary King,
daughter of John King, of Ralpho township, and we have record of two of
their sons, Jesse and John, both of whom lived at Mount Cannel. The
former was born July 7, 1815, near Bear Gap.
John Yarnall, son of Richard, was born Feb. 15, 1828, at the
Tomlinson farm, in Coal township, Northumberland county, and learned the
carpenter's trade with his father, working at that occupation for some
years. In 1859 he married Henrietta Mussina, daughter of Henry B. and
Elizabeth (Winters) Mussina, of Center county Pa., and they became the
parents of eight children: Mrs. William H. Hinkel, Henry M., Newton L.,
Richard K., Jerusha M. (deceased), John W., William and Lizzie.
Richard K. Yarnall was born Feb. 6, 1865, at Mount Carmel, received
a public school education there and learned the trade of painter and
paperhanger. After working as a journeyman five years he commenced
business for himself at Mount Carmel, on March 1, 1889, and made a
success of the venture. He is a Republican in politics, and has served
as constable of Mount Carmel.
Of another branch of this Yarnall family was Francis Yarnall who
had brothers Amos, Jonathan, Asa, John and Elijah. Francis Yarnall was a
native of Schuylkill county, Pa., and lived in Barry township, that
county, where he was not only a farmer but also one of the early
merchants of the region, and conducted a sawmill. His home was near what
was then the line between Northumberland and Berks counties. He was a
man of affairs, of more than ordinary intelligence and usefulness, and
quite prominent in his day, and lived to an advanced age, dying in 1869.
He is interred in a private graveyard on the public road leading from
Ashland to Gowen City. His wife died long before he did. Among their
children were: Joseph; Isaac, who lived at Ashland Pa.; William, who
had a son William; and Lydia A. and Anna, who never married and remained
on the homestead farm, near Taylorsville Schuylkill county, conducting
the sawmill, etc. Miss Lydia A. Yarnall gave much of the information
contained in this article.
Joseph Yarnall, son of Francis, was born on April 9, 1825, in the
section of Schuylkill county where his father lived and died Feb. 24,
1888, in Sunbury, where he is buried, in the old south cemetery on
Fourth street. He was a natural mechanic, a skillful woodworker and
engineer, a sawmill worker and expert saw filer, and was in the employ
of Ira T. Clement, of Sunbury, for some thirty years. Politically he was
a Republican and popular locally, being elected to various offices in
his district. He was active in the organization of the fire department,
and helped to purchase the first engine, in 1870. He was a member of the
I.O.O.F. and the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Yarnall married Mary A. (Christian), widow of Benjamin Starner,
and to them were born six children, of whom five are mentioned: William
H., who died in infancy; Gaynor, who died young; Horace, who died young;
Charles E., of Sunbury; and John G. The mother was born July 30, 1821,
and died in June, 1897.
JOHN G. YARNALL was born Nov. 24, 1860, at Sunbury, where he has
passed all his life, being now one of the prosperous business men of
that borough. He received his education in the local public schools,
graduating from the high school in the spring of 1877, and in 1879
entered the employ of Ira T. Clement as clerk in the office, remaining
with him until Jan. 1, 1895, and becoming a valuable employee. He has
since been in business for himself. He began as a partner of T. H. Paul,
in association with whom he purchased, at the time mentioned, the
goodwill, stock and fixtures of C. G. Heckert whose business was then
located at No. 446 Market street, Sunbury,
END OF PAGE 212
being the leading furniture house of the place. The firm of Yarnall &
Paul lasted four years, when, in 1899, Mr. Yarnall became sole owner,
and he has since continued the business alone. In October, 1900, he
located at his present place, No. 334 Market Street, which building he
purchased the previous August. It has a frontage of 39 feet, on Market
street, and the building has a depth of 160 feet, the lot, however,
being 230 feet deep. Mr. Yarnall carries a large line of furniture,
rugs, etc., and enjoys an extensive trade, which he has attained and
held by the most honorable methods and satisfactory goods, for which his
establishment is noted.
Mr. Yarnall married Harriet D. Haas, daughter of Henry Haas, of
Mahanoy City, Pa., and his first wife, whose maiden name was Smith.
George Haas, Mrs. Yarnall's grandfather, lived in the Swatara Creek
Valley in Dauphin county. Mr. and Mrs. Yarnall have had five children:
Mary Ann died in infancy; Joseph H., electrical engineer, who has been
engaged as assistant engineer of rite elevated railroad of Boston,
Mass., since June, 1910, is a graduate of State College and an ambitious
young man; Ira T., also a graduate of State College, is now in the
government employ as a forester, in New Mexico; Sarah O. is a
stenographer; John W. is assisting his father in business.
Mr. Yarnall is a Republican in politics, and in 1884 he was a
member of the borough council, where he proved an aggressive worker. He
is a prominent member and one of the trustees of Sunbury Steam Fire
Engine Company No. 1, and fraternally holds membership in the I.O.O.F.
and Encampment, old Lodge No. 22, F. & A.M., and the Royal Arcanum, all
of Sunbury. He belongs to the Reformed Church.
JAMES MONTGOMERY, (History of the "POTTSGROVE BRANCH" of the
Montgomery family, by James B. Montgomery, M. D., 1903.) the progenitor
of the Pottsgrove branch of the Montgomerys, was a member of that
numerous body, the "Scotch Irish," which has done so much for the
material, moral and spiritual advancement of our beloved America.
Many circumstances, and family traditions as well, show beyond a
reasonable doubt that the Danville, Paradise and Pottsgrove families of
this name are connected by ties of blood, but at this late day it seems
wholly impossible to trace the relationship. Some day, should a
complete history of the Montgomery family be written, we may know much
of our ancestors of which we are now ignorant.
It seems fairly certain that the head of our branch was a
descendant of Captain Montgomery, born 1666, who was an officer under
William of Orange, and who was promoted to a majority in the British
army for bravery shown at the battle of the Boyne. However that may be,
we do know that he was born in Ireland about 1766. As to what part of
the Emerald Isle gave birth to our ancestor, I am in total ignorance,
although I have gone to very great pains endeavoring to find out. Of
his early life we know practically nothing, although family traditions
tell us that he was a school teacher in his native country. He early
determined to emigrate to the "land of the free" and did so in or about
1790. On landing in America he first located in the vicinity of West
Chester, Pa., where he remained about three years. He then removed to
what is now Montour county, Pa., it being at that time a part of
Northumberland county. The first definite allusion to him that I have
found is in the report for 1877 of County Superintendent William Henry,
in, which he says: "The first (schoolhouse) of which we have an
authentic account was built in 1793 by James Montgomery, the father of
H. R. Montgomery, Esq., and the few scattered settlers in the vicinity.
The building stood near the Milton and Danville road and but a short
distance from the present boundary line between Montour and
Northumberland counties, on lands now owned by Romanus Mull. James
Montgomery became its first teacher and he can with truth be called the
pioneer school master of the county. It is supposed that Mr. Montgomery
was the only teacher that taught in the building. It is known that he
taught school for some time. He was a teacher who firmly believed in
'sparing not the rod.' The late Eli Wilson of Danville, bore to the end
of his life a scar, the result of a violent collision with this master's
ruler. In addition to teaching he for many years followed the arduous
profession of civil engineering, a calling much more in demand at that
early day than at present.
Captain Montgomery, as he was familiarly known for many years held
the office of justice of the peace, his first commission, bearing date
Jan. 5, 1815, being given him by Gov. Simon Snyder, for District No. 2
in the township of Chillisquaque in the county of Columbia, the same
being valid "so long as you do behave yourself well." His second
commission, bearing the signature of Governor Shultz, was dated May 29,
1826, and was for the township of Liberty, county of Columbia.
He was a member of the Masonic craft, having in November, 1816,
joined by card Lodge No. 144 at Lewisburg, Pa.; he was a member of the
fraternity previously; I have been wholly unable to find out, but
suppose it to have been over in Ireland.
The Pennsylvania Archives, as well as family tradition, show that
he was early a member of the local military organization, he being
captain (hence his title) of the 81st Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia,
during and subsequent to 1805. That he re-
END OF PAGE 213
mained with the "boys" and did not desert his adopted country in time of
peril is evidenced by the fact that in 1814 he and his regiment were
called out, they going as far as Northumberland, where they were ordered
to encamp. They remained in camp for fifteen days, when, the war being
practically ended, they were sent home.
Of course it is a foregone conclusion that a descendent of one of
William of Orange's soldiers could be naught but a Presbyterian and such
was the fact in this case. Grandfather was during his life a consistent
member and supporter of the Chillisquaque Presbyterian Church, an
organization formed in 1773, a few years prior to his arrival here. A
personal letter recently received from my venerable friend, Samuel
McMahan, of Milton, Pa., says, "I remember your grandfather very well.
He with the greater part of those families that came from the North of
Ireland, were strong Presbyterians. He was one of the regular supporters
of the old Chillisquaque Church."
On March 6, 1800, in consideration of the sum of three hundred
pounds, he received from James Sheldon a deed for 133 acres and 6 per
cent allowance of land along the Beaver run in what is now Liberty
township, Montour Co., Pa., it being part of a tract of land which the
Proprietors of Pennsylvania did by patent dated the 3d day of April,
1776, grant to James Sheldon. This farm was very beautifully located,
and covered with a thick growth of heavy timber, mostly white oak. I
have heard it said that he chose this land because of the splendid
timber on it, arguing from this that the soil must be extremely
productive, while other settlers having less means were compelled to
purchase the apparently poorer, hence cheaper, land, that was covered
with small scrubby trees. We see his error now. His acres turned out to
be a fair quality of gravel, while his poorer neighbors became the
possessors of the valuable limestone farms, as fertile as any in the
State, and which have made their descendants wealthy. He proceeded to
clear up a farm and to erect the necessary buildings for the comfort and
maintenance of himself and his family. These have long since
disappeared. The house, built of logs, stood about two rods east of the
location of the present dwelling. There was a splendid spring near the
house and as there was at that time little or no market for his surplus
grain he, like many of the pioneer settlers, built a distillery for its
consumption. With tireless energy he laboriously hewed out the broad
acres of the old homestead where his children were all born and which
remained in the possession of himself and his descendants for nearly a
century thereafter.
During the summer of 1795 he married Sarah Sheddan, who was born at
"Seoiceberry Grove," the Sheddan homestead in Liberty township, Jan. 16,
1778, a daughter of James Sheddan, an Irishman, born Aug. 12, 1744, who
with his wife, born in August, 1749, came to America in 1774. Mrs.
Montgomery was a devoted wife to the end of her life, which occurred
July 22, 1827. She and her husband were the parents of the following
children: Samuel, born Sept. 20, 1796, died April 17, 1798; James, born
1798, died 1827; Samuel (2), born Aug. 7, 1800, died Jan. 16, 1826;
Nathaniel, born Aug. 3, 1802, died Nov. 20, 1824; William, born April
16, 1805, died Aug. 14, 1826; Mary, born 1808, died 1854; Daniel
W., born 1811, died 1866; Andrew, born June 24, 1814, died Aug. 3,
1838; Robert G., born 1817, died 1875; Hugh R., born 1819, died 1881;
Anne, born July 9, 1822, died Jan. 23, 1829. It was a sad and
remarkable coincidence that so many of the sons died in early manhood.
Soon after the death of his wife James Montgomery again assumed the
matrimonial relationship being united in marriage with Mrs. Catherine
Burns, nee Harvey, who bore him three children: John C., born 1828, died
1859; David H., born 1831, died 1902, and Margaret J., born 1835, died
1842. She survived him some years, finally going the way of all flesh,
Aug. 18, 1856.
As indicated in the foregoing sketch our grandfather was a man of
considerable importance to the community in his day and generation.
Intellectually he was far above the average settler. My old friend,
Samuel McMahan, tells me, "I saw him sign the temperance pledge in the
center schoolhouse and he was spoken of as a man of pronounced views,
who would be of much help in the reformation." Physically he was a
large, finely built man, not tall but rather heavy. Like a true son of
Erin, he was jovial and witty. As a husband he was thoughtful of the
comfort of his partner, as a father he was kind and just, although
somewhat strict as was the habit of the old colonists. As a neighbor and
citizen his efforts and influence were all to the good.
He lived to the Biblical limit of three-score and ten. His death
occurred suddenly and without any premonitions, he being found dead in
his bed, probably from an apoplectic seizure, Dec. 6, 1836. His remains
were buried by the side of his first wife in the old Chillisquaque
cemetery and have long since been followed by all that was mortal of his
widow and many of his children. There they quietly rest in that
dreamless sleep from which they shall not awaken until the resurrection
morn.
Concerning the children of James and Sarah (Sheddan) Montgomery who
reached maturity,
James Montgomery was born, probably at the Sheddan homestead, Oct.
10, 1798. Very little is now known about him. On Nov. 15, 1825, he
married Jane Harrison (a sister of the late Mrs. Obed Everett of Frosty
Valley), who was born in Union county, Pa., June 12, 1805. During their
honeymoon they visited friends near Milton and both
END OF PAGE 214
contracted colds which developed into illness so serious that in both
cases it terminated fatally, her death occurring July 31, 1826, his
following on May 10, 1827. They left no children.
Mary Montgomery was born on the old Montgomery homestead Nov. 20,
1808, and died Jan. 27, 1854. About 1830 she married John Rogers (an
Irishman and school teacher), by whom she had two children, Sarah Anne
and Elmer. The latter was born Nov. 20, 1834, and died without issue
Feb. 22, 1857. Sarah Anne was born in Liberty township May 1, 1832, and
died in Lancaster, Pa., Dec. 30, 1891. On Sept. 9, 1858, she was
married in Morrow county, Ohio, to Samuel Burns (born in Liberty
township Oct. 12, 1832, died in Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 24, 1906), and they
were the parents of five children: Ella, John, Anna, Amos and Robert,
all of whom died during childhood, and thus terminated this branch of
the family.
Dr. Daniel W. Montgomery was born on the old homestead in what was
then Turbut township, Northumberland county, May 7, 1811. He left home
at an early age, probably about fifteen, and matriculated as a student
at an institution of much note at the time, the old Milton Academy, the
leading spirit of which was the eccentric but learned minister David
Kirkpatrick, familiarly known as "Old Kirk." Among his classmates were
James Pollock, who afterward served as governor of Pennsylvania, and
Andrew G. Curtin, who later became the famous "War Governor" of our
Commonwealth, as well as others who achieved considerable success in the
various walks of life. After graduation he was retained in the academy
as teacher for several rears. Being poor but ambitious he, as many
before and since have done, resorted to the schoolmaster's desk in order
to obtain funds with which to secure a medical education. He taught at
Danville, Mausdale, Sodom, the "Marsh," and probably at other schools in
the forks of the Susquehanna. It is worthy of note that the lady who
afterward became his wife was at one time one of his pupils. He now
entered the office of Dr. William H. Magill, a noted physician of
Danville, as a student of medicine, and in due time matriculated at
Jefferson Medical College. After a faithful attendance at its courses of
lectures he was granted the coveted degree in 1835. He immediately
located at Orangeville, where by energy and industry he soon built up a
large but exceedingly laborious practice, his field being a very
extensive one, embracing territory which now supports over a dozen
physicians. But he never faltered until failing health compelled him
to desist, retaining the confidence and support of his patrons to the
end. His premature death, which occurred Nov. 16, 1866, was like that
of thousands of his brother physicians - unhonored and unsung, yet
heroes none the less - directly due to the wear and tear and exposure
incident to the life of the busy physician whose creed and practice
always is others before yourself. Physically Dr. Montgomery was not a
robust man, being slight in build and not tall, but he had a clear eye,
a firm, resolute chin and a thoughtful, faith-inspiring face. In early
life he had some trouble with one of his ankles, which caused a
permanent lameness.
On April 13, 1839, he purchased the lot on corner of Main and Mount
Pleasant streets, in the village of Orangeville, on which he built the
house which was his home to the end of his life, in which his children
were all born, and which still remains in the possession of his son.
Some years later he purchased a fine farm in Orange township.
The Doctor was one of a small body of medical men who on the 31st
day of July, 1858, founded the Columbia County Medical Society, an
association which has endured to the present day and which embraces in
its membership the leading practitioners of the county. Although in no
sense a politician he, like all our family, was a life-long Democrat.
My father once told me that had it not been denied impossible to
dispense with his services as a physician, he would have been thrust in
the stifling vaults of Fort Mifflin along with the other poor victims of
that horrid creation of malignity and falsehood, the so called "Fishing
creek Confederacy." Yet it is but the simple truth that no purer
minded, more patriotic American ever lived than was he. A contemporary
newspaper, The Star of the North, says of him, "His long residence in
the place, in connection with his great success in the practice of
medicine, his unwavering principles of morality and integrity, his zeal
for the cause of education, his aid and energy for the public welfare,
leave a community to mourn his loss as irreparable. As a physician he
ranked among the highest. His calm and deliberate judgment, with his
long experience rendered him one of more than ordinary skill. The
profession has lost a valuable member and the physicians throughout this
and adjoining counties will sadly deplore the loss of one whose life has
been so valuable to the profession and community. But alas! He is no
more. Death has claimed him and his quiet, tranquil death assures us
that his spirit rests in peace." His mortal remains now rest in that
dreamless sleep that knows no wakening this side of eternity, by the
side of her he loved in life, in beautiful Orangeville cemetery.
On Nov. 16, 1837, at the home of her parents, he was joined in
wedlock to Margaret, daughter of William and Jane (Moore) Curry, and
granddaughter of Robert Curry, a native of Ireland, who was one of the
earliest settlers of what is now Montour county and who was killed by
the Indians in 1780. Mrs. Montgomery was born on the old Curry,
homestead in Valley township, Columbia
END OF PAGE 215
now Montour) county, Jan. 20, 1815, and after a faithful performance of
the many and varied duties that confronted her as wife, mother and
grandparent departed this life in Orangeville, in the house where all of
a congenial and happy married life had been spent, Jan. 6, 1888. Both
Doctor and Mrs. Montgomery were consistent members of the Presbyterian
Church. They were the parents of the following children: Clara J. C.,
born May 17, 1843, who died Sept. 10, 1853; Zelma Agnes, born Jan. 19,
1847; and James B., born July 6, 1849.
Robert G. Montgomery was born on the old Montgomery homestead, Jan.
5, 1817, and lived on it during the whole of his life, following the
humble but very honorable and useful occupation of tiller of the soil.
He was an excellent farmer and liked nothing better than to "make two
blades of grass grow where one grew before." He became the owner of his
farm sometime during the forties and improved it by the erection of a
fine brick house and a large bank barn. He was a man of quiet tastes,
one who thoroughly despised vulgar ostentations. He was honest and God-
fearing, and while his fame was merely local, who can say how far
reaching is the influence of that well lived life! I shall never forget
a remark made by a neighbor which I overheard at his funeral, "There
lies a perfectly honest man, one who never had an enemy." On Dec. 4,
1857, he married Susan, daughter of Fleming and Anna (Randolph) Nesbit,
who was born at Carlisle, Pa., Jan. 22, 1827, and died at the home of
her daughter May, in Orangeville, Nov. 29, 1890. They were the parents
of the following children: James F., born Jan. 26, 1862; Ida May, born
Feb. 8, 1864; John C., born Dec. 19, 1867; and three others who died in
infancy. Mr. Montgomery's death, which was sudden and unexpected,
occurred Dec. 31, 1875, from an attack of pneumonia. He was buried in
the new Chillisquaque cemetery. His widow was buried at Orangeville.
Both he and his wife were consistent members of the old Chillisquaque
Presbyterian Church.
Hugh R. Montgomery, the youngest son of James and Sarah Montgomery,
was born May 26, 1819, on the old Montgomery homestead, where he lived
until he arrived at manhood's estate. Although never physical]y robust,
yet like most of our ancestors of a century ago he early became
accustomed to hard work. He helped clear up and till his father's farm,
while during the long winters he taught the district school. The latter
occupation he followed for many years; the former during his lifetime.
The lady who afterward became his wife was for some time a pupil of his.
In 1842 he bought a tract of land to which he moved to which he
subsequently made additions (this is now known as the "Lindrew" farm),
and improved by building a substantial brick house and large bank barn.
Here he lived till 1865, when he sold it and moved to the "Auten" farm,
where he lived one year, when he bought and moved on the "Morgan" farm
in the Village of Mexico. Here he lived for three years, when he sold
the place and purchased a large tract of land along the banks of the
Chillisquaque, near Pottsgrove. This was known as the "Bennage" farm and
was the same tract originally known as "The True Point," which in
consideration of the sum of twelve pounds, two shillings, sixpence
sterling was granted, released and confirmed unto John Morrow (a
progenitor of our present Murray family) on the sixteenth day of June in
the year of our Lord 1774, and the fourteenth year of the reign of King
George the Third over Great Britain, etc., by Thomas Penn and John Penn,
Esq's., etc., etc. He moved on this farm during the month of April,
1869, and soon improved it by the erection of an excellent brick house,
which he occupied until his death, which occurred after a lingering
illness, July 28, 1881. He was a man of sterling honor and integrity and
a person of much more than ordinary intelligence. Although naturally
rather backward and unassuming, his life was an active and useful one.
He was first commissioned justice of the peace by Governor Johnston in
1850, an office he continuously held until his removal from the county,
in 1869. He was executor or administrator of a great many estates. He
took much interest in educational matters, was a member of the school
board for many years and was one of the founders of the Pottsgrove
Academy. He was for many years a member of and an elder in the old
Chillisquaque Presbyterian church. By his death his wife lost a kind,
thoughtful husband, his children a loving father, the church an
excellent counselor, the community an upright, conscientious, God-
fearing member. His mortal remains rest in the family plot in the upper
cemetery at Milton, Pa.
On June 25, 1857, at Danville, Pa., Rev. I. W. Yeomans united him
in the bonds of holy matrimony with Sarah S. Moll, who proved a true
help mate during the quarter century of their married life. She bore him
the following children: James R., born May 15, 1858; John S., born Aug.
21, 1859; Mary E., born Nov. 20, 1860; Sarah A., born Sept. 20, 1863;
Daniel M., born Sept. 27, 1865; William A., born Sept. 2, 1867; Hugh B.,
born Aug. 27, 1868; Clara B., born Nov. 29, 1870 (died July 23, 1900);
Alice J., born Dec. 17, 1873.
Sarah S. Moll was born in Berks county, Pa., March 30, 1837,
daughter of Daniel F. and Mary (Seidel) Moll, granddaughter of John
and Mary Elizabeth (Foust) Moll, and great-granddaughter of Henry Moll.
Of the original Molls (or Mulls as they spelled it) but little is
known, but it is supposed they came from Germany.
John C. Montgomery, son of James and Catherine (Burns) Montgomery,
was born on the old
END OF PAGE 216
homestead Oct. 31, 1828. He was a man of considerable promise, being
bright, energetic and industrious. Physically he was a splendid
specimen of manhood. He had a decided military build and was a member
of the local militia. He bought the "Bond" farm, a tract of land
adjoining his fathers farm on the west, and this he proceeded to improve
by the erection of a large brick house and bank barn. He was engaged at
the former when he was stricken by an attack of erysipelas which
resulted fatally, Sept. 11, 1859. He had never married.
Dr. David H. Montgomery, son of James and Catherine (Burns)
Montgomery, was born on the old homestead Dec. 4, 1831. After the
completion of his literary education he taught school, at the same time
reading medicine with his brother, Dr. Daniel. After attendance on the
usual lectures and clinics, he received his diploma from the
Philadelphia College of Medicine - an institution of repute at the time,
but which has long since ceased to exist - March 10, 1852. He then
engaged in practice with his preceptor at Orangeville, which he
continued till 1856, when he located in Mifflinville. Here by close
attention to his professional duties he soon built up a large and
lucrative practice, which he held to the time of his death, which
occurred suddenly, though to himself not unexpectedly, Nov. 21, 1902, it
being due to a severe attack of angina pectoris, a disease to which he
had long been subject. In 1862 he bought a lot in the village on which
he erected a fine residence in which he lived the remainder of his life.
He was quite a man in the financial world, being one of the original
promoters and stockholders of the North and West Branch railroad, a
stockholder in the Farmers' National Bank, etc. Dr. Montgomery was man
of many excellent traits. Physically he was a splendid specimen of
manhood. He was very genial and intuitively inspired everyone with
trust in his ability and honesty. In his tastes he was thoroughly
domestic. He was a great lover of home. No man's family relations could
have been pleasanter. His pastor said of him "His work has been
magnificent and every stroke has been in the interest of right. He read
the world in its various phases and if a strong brain and a magnetic
presence are evidences of the good he has derived from following out his
own notions of life's best plan, indeed his is a receipt worthy to be
followed by all who wish to attain the same results."
In 1854 he was united in wedlock with Amelia, daughter of Jacob and
Mary Ann (Hess) Kline, and granddaughter of Abram Kline, who prior to
the revolution emigrated to America from Germany and settled in what is
now Orange township. She was born near Orangeville, and after a happy
married life survived her husband but a few months, dying suddenly from
a ruptured aneurysm, July 14, 1903. Both sleep in Berwick cemetery.
They are the parents of three children.
Margaret J. Montgomery, daughter of James and Catherine (Burns)
Montgomery, was born March 23, 1835, and died May 11,1842.
Dr. James B. Montgomery, son of Hugh P. and Sarah S. (Moll)
Montgomery, was born on the "Harvey" farm in Liberty township, Montour
Co., Pa., May 15, 1858. He worked with his father on the farm till he
was seventeen, attending the common schools during the winter months and
completing his literary education at Millersville Normal School. He
then taught two terms of school at Oak Grove, in his native township, at
the same time reading medicine with his preceptor, Dr. Charles H.
Dougal, of Milton, Pa. He matriculated at Jefferson Medical College,
Philadelphia, from which institution he was graduated "with honorable
mention" of his thesis, March 13, 1880. He practiced his profession for
upward of a year in Philadelphia, when his father desiring him nearer
home during his illness he located in Clarkstown, from which place he,
on Jan. 16, 1882, removed to Buckhorn, where he still resides and
where he has built up a large practice. In 1889 he purchased the
property where he now lives and which he improved the same year by
the erection of a large store building. He is an active member of the
Columbia County Medical Society, State Medical Society and American
Medical Association, in the various duties of which he takes an active
part. He is member of Huntington Lodge, No. 265, F. & A.M.
On Oct. 26, 1887; by Rev. F. H. Tubbs, the Doctor was united in
marriage with Daisy May Harris. They are the parents of two children,
James R., Jr., born Sept. 22, 1889, and Maud, born March 1, 1894.
Daisy May Harris was born in Buckhorn, in the house in which she
now lives, Oct. 7, 1866, only daughter of Jacob and Sarah A. (Shoemaker)
Harris, granddaughter of James and Mary (Sheep) Harris, great-
granddaughter of William Harris and great-great-granddaughter of James
Harris, who was born in or near Bristol, England, about 1700, and
emigrated to America about 1725, settling in Sussex county, N. J., where
he married Miss Boleyn. On the maternal side she is a granddaughter of
Abram and Rebecca (Girton) Shoemaker and a great-granddaughter of Abram
Shoemaker, who was born in New Jersey. He was a soldier in the war of
the Revolution, at the close of which he married Margaret Melick and
came to what is now Columbia county, Pa., where he died about 1845, at a
great age. He was buried with military honors in the old Presbyterian
cemetery in Bloomsburg.
John S. Montgomery; son of Hugh P. and Sarah S. (Moll) Montgomery,
formerly senior member of the firm of J. S. Montgomery & Co.,
Pottsgrove, Pa., was born on the "Harvey" farm, Aug. 21, 1859. After his
school days were over he followed the profession of telegrapher for a
number of years,
END OF PAGE 217
being employed by the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company from 1883
to 1888. In August 1888, he purchased a store in Pottsgrove which he
conducted alone for a time, but in the fall of 1881 he took in as a
partner his brother Daniel M. This partnership was continued till 1901,
when Daniel withdrew and William A. entered the firm, which continued to
do a large retail mercantile business in the prosperous community in
which they were located. In 1894 they purchased a lot on which they
erected a large and substantial store building and residence. John S.
Montgomery sold his interest in this store in 1905. He is an
enterprising man, taking an active part in all that pertains to the
welfare of his town. He is a member of the Pottsgrove Lodge, I.O.O.F.
On March 14, 1902, he took unto himself a better half in the person
of Jane S. McWilliams, Rev. A. B. Herr officiating. Jane S. McWilliams
was born near Pottsgrove, April 5, 1871, daughter of John C. and Susan
(Rissel) McWilliams.
Mary E. (Montgomery) Marsh, daughter of Hugh R. and Sarah S. (Moll)
Montgomery, was born on the "Harvey" farm Nov. 20, 1860. She received
their education at the Pottsgrove schools. On March 27, 1879, she was
joined in marriage, by Rev. H. Graham Finney, to Charles N. Marsh. They
farmed his father's farm in Turbut township for several years, when they
purchased a tract of land along the banks of the Chillisquaque creek.
They lived on this for some years, improving it by the erection of a
fine brick house and a substantial bank barn. In 1898 Mr. Marsh accepted
a position with the First National Bank of Milton, and leaving the farm,
which they still own, they purchased and moved to the property at No.
128 Centre street where they still reside. They are the parents of one
child, Hugh M., who was born in Turbut township, Northumberland county.,
June 13, 1880. All are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Marsh
was elected an elder of their church in 1901.
Charles Newton Marsh was born in Turbut township, Northumberland
Co., Pa., June 25, 1858. He received his education in the common
schools, Limestoneville Academy and Millersville Normal School, taught
school for some years, and also followed surveying. He still devotes
his spare time to the latter occupation and to fire insurance. He was
elected justice of the peace in 1889 and held the office until his
removal from this township, in 1898. He is the only son of Minner
Gulick and Margaret (Follmer) Marsh, grandson of Isaac and Sarah
(Gulick) Marsh and great-grandson of Isaac and Elinor (Griggs) Marsh
whose ancestors fled from Scotland during a rebellion and settled near
Flemington N. J. Elinor Griggs was a native of Flemington, N. J. Sarah
Gulick was a daughter of Minner Gulick, a captain in the Revolutionary
war, whose ancestors came to this country from Julick, Germany, about
1653. Margaret Follmer is a daughter of Simon Follmer, he a descendant
of Michael Follmer, one of three brothers (then called Vollmer) who came
from Bavaria and settled on what is now the Reuben Hoffa farm, near
Follmer's Church, about 1772 or 1773.
Sarah A. (Montgomery) Eckman, daughter of Hugh R. and Sarah S.
(Moll) Montgomery, was born on the "Lindner" farm Sept. 20, 1863. She
received her education in the common schools and at Pottsgrove Academy.
On March 1, 1888, she was united in the bonds of matrimony with William
H. Eckman, by Rev. J. O. George. They purchased a property in Sunbury,
Pa., where they lived for some years, Mr. Eckman being connected with
the Pomfret Manor Cemetery Company. In June, 1891, they bought the
"Bieber" farm, a beautiful tract of land lying near Pottsgrove, to which
they removed in 1893, and on which they still reside. They have since
built a handsome and comfortable dwelling on it and have made it a model
farm. Both are members of the Presbyterian Church. They are the
parents of two children: Clara A., who was born in Sunbury, Pa., Aug.
14, 1891, and Mae Montgomery, born at Pottsgrove Feb. 9, 1904.
William H. Eckman was born in Upper Augusta township,
Northumberland county, Aug. 7, 1855. He is a son of Peter Eckman, who
was born near Klines Grove, Pa., May 10, 1831. He was a farmer nearly
all his life, but for about fifteen years was employed by the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was a lifelong member of the M. E.
Church. He died July 31, 1906, and was buried at Sunbury. In 1849 he
married Angelina Shipe, a daughter of Michael and Judith (Huberter), who
was born in Lower Augusta township, Northumberland county, March 13,
1833. His grandfather, Jacob Eckman, was born Sept. 22, 1805, and died
April 19, 1876, was a native of Bloomsbury, N. J. On July 26, 1826, he
married Emma Gulick, born Dec. 6, 1802, died April 7, 1883, whose
paternal ancestors were English. On the maternal side she was descended
from a Huguenot family named Gauo, who fled from France to America
during a religious persecution in the eighteenth century. His great-
grandfather, Charles Eckman, was born near Bloomsbury, N. J., in 1779,
married Margaret DeWitt in 1800, and lived on a farm near his birthplace
till 1807, when he bought a farm near Snydertown, Pa., on which they
lived till 1813, when they exchanged it for a farm near Klines Grove.
Pa., now known as the old Eckman homestead. They were the parents of
eight sons and three daughters. His great-great-grandfather Eckman was
an old settler of Warren county, N. J.; he was the father of three sons
and four daughters.
Daniel M. Montgomery, son of Hugh R. and Sarah S.(Moll) Montgomery,
was born on the
END OF PAGE 218
"Auten" farm Sept. 27, 1865. At the death of his father he left the old
home and after taking a commercial course at Poughkeepsie, N. Y.,
accepted employment from the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as
telegrapher. This vocation he followed for some years, occupying
various locations, mostly on the main line between Harrisburg and
Pittsburg. He very nearly lost his life in the famous "Johnstown flood"
of 1889. He was in the Conemaugh tower at the time, but fortunately he
saw the huge wall of water approaching, and quickly deserting the doomed
locality he safely reached the hills. A minute after tower and all were
destroyed. The same year, 1889, he formed a partnership with his
brother, John S., in the mercantile business at Pottsgrove, which
continued until 1901. He then withdrew from the firm and removed to
Hazleton, Pa., where he opened a store. During the year he bought a lot
at No. 237 West Broad Street on which he built a large three-story store
and dwelling into which he moved the following spring, and which he
still occupies.
On April 4, 1893, he married Mary L., a daughter of John and Clara
(Buss) Koons, who was born in Lycoming county Jan. 15, 1873. She bore
him two children, Florence and Mildred May, both of whom died during
infancy. Unfortunately his wife went into a decline which developed into
that scourge of our race, consumption, and terminated fatally June 30,
1896. She is buried in the family plot in the upper cemetery at Milton.
On April 12, 1899, he again assumed the marital relation by uniting
in marriage with Annie L. Levan, Rev. H. P. Corser officiating. They
have one child, Elwood Watson, who was born at Pottsgrove April 4, 1900.
Both are members of the Presbyterian Church.
Annie Louisa Levan was born at Ottawa, Pa., Jan. 10, 1877. She
received her education in the common schools and at Bloomsburg Normal
School, graduating from the latter institution. She is a daughter of
Charles D. and Sarah C. (Watson) Levan, and a granddaughter of Charles
and Mary A. (Follmer) Levan, the former of whom was born in, southern
France in 1800, and when a young man came to America, where he died in
1881.
William A. Montgomery, son of Hugh R. and Sarah S. (Moll)
Montgomery, was born on the "Morgan" farm in Liberty township Sept. 2,
1867. He received his education in the Pottsgrove schools. After the
death of his father, in 1881, he took charge of the old home and farmed
the place, thus making a home for his mother and his younger brother and
sisters. In 1895 he bought the farm and occupied it for some years.
Unfortunately he sustained a severe sunstroke, the results of which
compelled him to forego the hard work and exposure to the heat of the
sun incident to the life of the agriculturist. He rented his farm and
removed to Pottsgrove, where he led a retired life until 1901, when he
joined his brother, John S., in the mercantile business from which he
retired in 1906. He is a Presbyterian and a member of the Odd Fellows.
He is unmarried.
H. Bryson Montgomery, son of Hugh R. and Sarah S. (Moll)
Montgomery, was born on the "Morgan" farm August 27, 1868. After his
school days were over he entered into a three years apprenticeship with
McKillip Brothers, photographers, of Bloomsburg, Pa. At the completion
of this term he built and operated a gallery at Williamstown, Pa. He
continued here till 1895, when he bought a lot at No. 143 South Front
street, Milton, Pa., on which he erected a splendid brick residence and
gallery, which he occupied for a number of years, and where he did
probably the largest photographic business in the county. He was an
expert photographer and in addition an extensive dealer in cameras,
frames and other accessories. He has sold out his studio and is now
extensively interested in the sand business.
On March 20, 1895, he was united in marriage, by Rev. J. A. Adams,
to Sarah A. Billmeyer, who was born in Liberty township, near Oak Grove,
Oct. 12, 1870. She is a daughter of Henry and Hannah (Florce)
Billmeyer, and great-granddaughter of Martin Billmeyer, who with his
father, Martin Billmeyer, came to what is now Montour county and took up
(more than a century ago) a large amount of land in the vicinity of
Billmeyers dam, which still remains in the possession of their
descendants. Both are members of the Trinity Lutheran Church.
Clara B. Montgomery, daughter of Hugh R. and Sarah S. (Moll)
Montgomery, was born at the old home in Chillisquaque township, Nov. 29,
1870. After completing her education at the public schools and at
Pottsgrove Academy she chose the profession of photography, which she
learned with her brother Bryson at Williamstown, but her health proving
delicate she never followed it except as an amateur. She made her home
with her mother at Pottsgrove. During a visit to Atlantic City in the
summer of 1899 she contracted a cold which finally terminated in that
dread disease, consumption. After a lingering illness, which she bore
with Christian fortitude, her poor young life was cut short by the grim
reaper July 23, 1900. During the whole of her brief life she had been an
active, earnest, consistent member of the Presbyterian Church. All that
is mortal of our dear sister, the first of our family circle to pass to
the great beyond, now rests in the family plot at Milton.
Alice Jane (Montgomery) Sheddan, daughter of Hugh R. and Sarah S.
(Moll) Montgomery, was born on the old farm along the banks of the
Chillisquaque Dec. 17, 1873. She completed her education in the common
schools of her native town-
END OF PAGE 219
ship and at Pottsgrove Academy. In addition she took a number of courses
in music, an art in which she became an adept. On August 12, 1896, she
was joined in the bonds of wedlock to Rev. William B. Sheddan. They are
the parents of two children, Ralph Montgomery, born at McEwensville,
Pa., June 24, 1897, and Boyd Robert, born at Little Oxford, Warren Co.,
N. J., Sept. 8, 1902.
William Boyd Sheddan was born at the old Sheddan homestead, which
has been in the possession of the family since 1774, April 8, 1867. He
is the only child of John K. and Marietta J. (Wilson) Sheddan, and the
great-grandson of James Sheddan, who was born in Ireland in 1744, and
who came to America thirty years later, settling on what is now the
Sheddan homestead. His grandfather, William Sheddan, and his wife's
grandmother, Sarah Sheddan Montgomery, were brother and sister. At the
age of nineteen he first taught school at Balls Mills, followed by a
year each at Chestnut Grove and Limestoneville. He then matriculated at
Bucknell University, from which he graduated in 1895, with the degree of
Ph. B. Then for three years he taught at Pottsgrove, McEwensville and
Milton. He became a student in Princeton Theological Seminary and
completed the course in 1900. During this time he supplied several
churches. On Aug. 18, 1900, he received a call to the First Presbyterian
Church of Oxford, N. J., and was ordained and installed pastor of the
same, Jan. 30, 1901, and which charge he served till the summer of 1904,
when he accepted the position of Librarian at Princeton Theological
Seminary, removing to the latter place in August of that year. His
address is No. 5 Linden Lane, Princeton, New Jersey.
Concerning the children of Robert G. and Susan (Nesbit) Montgomery,
James F. Montgomery was born in Liberty township, on the old
Montgomery homestead, Jan. 26, 1862. He lived at home until the death of
his father. Shortly after this event he removed to Orangeville, where
he worked at carpentering. In 1883 he purchased a farm in Orange
township. He lived on this until 1903; when he rented it and moved to
the Daniel McHenry farm at Stillwater, where he remained one year and
then returned to his own farm. On June 27, 1885, he married Jennie R.
Sharpless, who has borne him the following children: Robert S., born
Dec. 26, 1886; Laura May, born Oct. 13, 1888 (died March 27, 1891);
Clement D., born Oct. 28, 1890; Maud A., born Sept. 1, 1892; Wallace W.,
born May 6, 1894 (died Aug. 15,, 1895); William C., born Feb. 2, 1896;
Clara C., born Nov. 27, 1898. Jennie R. Sharpless was born in
Orangeville, Pa., Oct. 15, 1865, daughter of Samuel A. and Mary
(Everitt) Sharpless.
Ida May (Montgomery) Swank was born on the old Montgomery
homestead, Feb. 8, 1864. She staid with her mother for some years after
her father's death, but finally left home and learned dressmaking. She
also lived for several years with the family of Henry H. Grotz, in
Bloomsburg. On April 28, 1887, she was united in marriage to Clement V.
Delong, of Orangeville, but the period of her wedded life was very brief
as he died Sept. 1, 1887. On April 26, 1900, she again entered the
matrimonial ranks, taking for her life partner Dill L. Swank. They at
once moved into their own house in Fernville, near Bloomsburg, where
they lived until 1901, when they rented it and moved to Hazleton, where
Mr. Swank had accepted a situation as foreman in a large woodworking
plant. Their child, George Nesbit, born March 4, 1902, they were
unfortunate enough to lose by death, from cholera infantum, July 3,
1902.
Dill L. Swank was born at Hetlerville, Pa., March 16, 1865, son of
Obadiah and Elizabeth (Kirkendall) Swank, grandson of George and
Elizabeth (Hutchins) Swank and great-grandson of John and Catherine
(Hover) Swank.
John C. Montgomery was born in Liberty township, Dec. 19, 1867.
After the death of his father he lived for a number of years with
William Curry at Mausdale. Being of an economical and saving
disposition, he accumulated quite a sum of money, with which, with his
patrimony, he purchased a large tract of land known as the "Beaver"
farm, located in Pine township, Columbia Co., Pa. Here he lived for some
time following farming and lumbering. But owing either to mismanagement
or the dishonesty of others, or both, he was so unfortunate as to lose
all his property. Thinking he might, succeed better elsewhere, he
located at Claymount, Ill., where he still resides. He is a farmer, and
so far as is known he is unmarried.
Zelma Agnes (Montgomery) Smith, daughter of Dr. Daniel W. and
Margaret, (Curry) Montgomery, was born in Orangeville, Pa., Jan. 19,
1847.
James B. Montgomery, son of Dr. Daniel W. and Margaret (Curry)
Montgomery, was born in Orangeville July 6, 1819. He received his
education at Orangeville Academy, Bloomsburg Institute, Dickinson
Seminary and Poughkeepsie Business College. For many years he has
followed the honorable calling of tiller of the soil, although he does
the directing rather than the actual labor, and owns and manages several
of the handsomest farms in the county, of which he is justly proud. He
lives in Orangeville, in the house built by his father a half century or
more ago. He is no politician, but takes an active part in all that
pertains to the welfare of his native town; is a member of the council
of Orangeville borough. In 1871 he was united in marriage with Mary E.
Lee, who has borne him three children: Mary Grace, born Feb. 18, 1872;
Cora Agnes, born Nov. 25, 1875; and
END OF PAGE 220
James Curry, born Oct. 17, 1877. All are members of the Presbyterian
church.
Mary Elizabeth Lee was born in Scott township, Columbia Co., Pa.,
in October 1851, daughter of Charles and Mary E. (Liyler) Lee and
granddaughter of David and Susanna Lee.
S. PIERCE BOYER, farmer, of Lower Mahanoy township, Northumberland
county, lives on part of the old homestead of his grandfather, Peter
Boyer, who moved to this county in 1831 with his family. The Boyers are
from Berks county, Pa., where the name has long been a representative
one.
The emigrant ancestor of the Boyer family was John Philip Boyer,
who came from the Palatinate to Philadelphia in 1731, with a number of
children. He settled in Frederick township, Montgomery Co., Pa., but
later lived in Amity township, in the lower end of Berks county, where
he died in the spring of 1753, at a ripe old age. He belonged to the
Swamp Lutheran Church, and was buried by the pastor, Rev. Henry Melchior
Muhlenberg, who reports the matter fully in the "Hallesehen
Nachrichten." His will is on record at the Philadelphia courthouse, and
in it some of his children are named. Among his sons were Jacob, the
ancestor of the Boyertown branch of the family; and Johann Heinrich.
Johann Heinrich Boyer was born in 1714, in the Pfalz, Germany, and
died May 2, 1814, in the one hundredth year of his age. In 1743 he was
married to Magdalena Kirchner, and among his children - six sons and one
daughter - were Philip and Heinrich.
Philip Boyer, born Dec. 14, 1754, died July 31, 1832. His wife,
Christiana, who was born in 1754, also died in 1832, and both were
buried in the old graveyard at Amityville. Philip Boyer made a will the
year before his death, while a resident of Amity township, and in it he
mentions the following children: Michael; Jacob, who had a son Philip;
John; Peter; Mary, married to George Koch; and Daniel, born in 1792, who
died in 1825.
Peter Boyer, son of Philip, was born in Amity township, Berks
county, and in 1831 came to Northumberland county with his wife and
family, which then consisted of twelve children, the youngest two having
been born in Lower Mahanoy township, where they settled. His 170-acre
farm in that township is now owned by one Frank Phillips. Later he moved
to Dauphin county, where he owned a valuable farm and mill property for
which he paid $12,000, and he died in that county about 1850-51, at the
age of sixty-five years. He is buried at Hoffman's Church, in Lykens
township, Dauphin county. Though a stonemason by trade, he was engaged
principally in farming, in which he was very successful and prosperous.
He was a strong man, noted for his courageous disposition, and was known
locally as "Wammas" Boyer. His wife, Catharine Herb, also of Berks
county, lived to the age of eighty-four. They were the parents of
fourteen children, as follows: Benjamin, Sally, Elias, Isaac, Rachel,
Mary, Hettie, Gabriel, Abraham, Catharine, Josiah and Benneville
(twins), John and Leah, the two last named born in Northumberland
county.
John Boyer, probably an uncle of Peter Boyer, above, served as a
soldier in the Revolutionary war.
Abraham Boyer, son of Peter, was born in Amity township, Berks
county, and came with the family to Lower Mahanoy township, where he
passed the remainder of his active and successful life with the
exception of the years he was at Millerstown, Perry county. Like the
Boyers generally, he was noted for his industry and thrift, and he
became one of the most extensive farmers in Lower Mahanoy township,
owning about 500 acres of land. He died in Lower Mahanoy township Sept.
28, 1894. Abraham Boyer married Catharine Anderson, daughter of John and
Mary (Harrold) Anderson, and to them were born six children, namely: S.
Pierce; Amelia, who married Henry Kieffer, of Dauphin county, Pa.; John,
deceased; Elias D., of Limestone, Upper Augusta township, this county;
Hannah, married to John Lahr, of Pillow, Pa.; and Peter, of Pillow.
S. Pierce Boyer was born Jan. 12, 1853, in Millerstown, Perry Co.,
Pa., and was but four weeks old when the family returned to
Northumberland county, where he was reared to farm life. He worked for
his parents until he was thirty years old, when he left home and began
farming on his own account in Jordan township, as a tenant. Some years
later he and his brother Elias bought a tract of seventy-one acres near
Mandata, Pa., in partnership, and S. Pierce Boyer farmed this tract for
twelve years, until he settled on his present place in Lower Mahanoy
township in 1894. He has a tract of 109 acres near Mandata which was at
one time part of the old homestead of his grandfather, Peter Boyer, and
which has been in the family name for many years. The barn on this place
was built by his father, Abraham Boyer, and the present owner has
remodeled the house, which is a comfortable dwelling. The place is well
kept up and Mr. Boyer is a typical member of his family enterprising and
energetic in all he undertakes and prosperous in his farming operations.
He has taken some part in local affairs, having served three years as
school director of the township and also as tax collector. He is a
Democrat in politics. Mr. Boyer has been quite prominent in church
affairs, he being a member of the Reformed congregation at Zion's Stone
Valley Church, which he has served as member of the council for ten
years.
In March, 1883, Mr. Boyer married Susan Michael, daughter of Jacob
and Catharine (Bobb)
END OF PAGE 221
Michael, of lower Mahanoy township, who had a family of six children,
namely: John, William, Mary (Mrs. George Philips), Susan, Isaac and
Sarah. Mrs. Boyer died April 14, 1893, at the age of forty-two years,
the mother of two children: Katie, unmarried, who lives in Sunbury, Pa.;
and Carrie, who is living with her parents. Mr. Boyer married for his
second wife Ella Drumheller, daughter of Nicholas Drumheller, and to
this union there was one child, born dead.
PETER BOYER, youngest son of Abraham Boyer, was born April 15,
1867, in Lower Mahanoy township, and worked for his parents until he
reached the age of twenty-two years. He subsequently farmed some seven
years as a tenant on the John Haas farm, three miles east of Milton, Pa.
In 1902 he settled in Jordan township on the valuable farm of 286 acres,
near Hebe, which he has since occupied and cultivated. Besides this
place he owns other land, having in all 321 acres, of which 209 acres
are under cultivation. In addition to farming he is engaged to some
extent in lumbering, and he has also been interested in building,
having put up five houses in Sunbury during 1907-08.
Mr. Boyer married Catharine Troutman, and they have five children:
(1) William R., born July 30, 1882, in Lower Mahanoy township, took a
course at Keller's business college, at Lewisburg, Pa., taught public
school for five terms, and has since held his present position, being
rural letter carrier No. 1 of Pillow, Pa. He married Minnie Strohecker,
and they have three children, Hazel, Helen and Vivian. They live a half
mile west of Pillow. (2) John C., born, Aug. 13, 1884, was engaged in
farming for a while and then turned to the raising of fancy poultry and
lumbering. He lives on his place at Klingerstown, Pa. He married Jennie
S. Wiest, and they have three children, Mildred, Margaret and Evelyn.
(3) Silas N., born Dec. 15, 1886, lives at home with his parents. He is
a prominent young farmer and raiser of swine. (4) Chauncey E., born
Dec. 26, 1889, lives with his parents, and devotes most of his time to
cattle and horse raising; he is also assistant rural carrier at Pillow.
(5) Ramsey E., born May 31, 1894, living with his parents', is
particularly interested in machinery.
Benjamin Boyer, son of Peter, was born Aug. 8, 1813, in Amity
township, Berks county, and came with his parents to Northumberland
county, locating with them in Lower Mahanoy township. He was reared to
farming, which was always his principal vocation, though during his
early manhood he taught school for a time. When twenty-five years old
be married and began farming on his father's place, which he purchased
some time later, this farm comprising about one hundred acres, in
addition to which he owned two other farms. He prospered greatly in his
work, and continued farming until eight years before his death, which
occurred Dec. 10, 1887, when he was seventy-four years old. His wife,
Catharine Stein, born Aug. 14, 1814, died Sept. 27, 1887. They were
members of the Stone Valley Union Church in which he held various
offices. Mr. and Mrs. Boyer were the parents of ten children, three of
whom died in infancy, the others being: Elias, of Dalmatia, Pa.; John,
deceased, who was a resident of Lykens valley, in Dauphin county;
Hannah, Mrs. William Seiler; Emeline, Mrs. Emanuel Lark; Caroline, Mrs.
Jeremiah Lenker; Benjamin Adam; and Daniel, deceased, who lived in
Jordan township.
BENJAMIN ADAM BOYER, son of Benjamin, was born March 17, 1853, in
Lower Mahanoy township, where he now lives, engaged in farming. He is a
typical dark "complected" Boyer, and a representative member of a family
noted for enterprise and progressive industry. In his early boyhood he
attended both subscription and free schools, and later was a pupil at
the Freeburg Academy, in Snyder county, profiting so well by his
advantages that when sixteen he began teaching at McKee's school in
Lower Mahanoy township. In 1874 he began farming on the place in Lower
Mahanoy where he has since resided, a tract of 150 acres made up of two
farms, the part on which he lives having formerly been his father's
place, the other, which comprises sixty-six acres, having become his by
purchase. The former part was originally a Leffler homestead, was next
acquired by the Bowman family, and then came into the possession of
Benjamin Boyer, father of the present owner, who built a new residence
thereon in 1894. It replaced the old log house which had stood for a
little over a hundred years, having been erected by the Lefflers, the
pioneer settlers on this land. Mr. Boyer was formerly somewhat
extensively engaged in the burning of lime, as much as 24,000 bushels
per annum. He gave employment to as many as four men, and has throughout
his active career proved himself a competent business man. He has been
supervisor of his township since 1905. Mr. Boyer and his children are
members of the Reformed Church, Mrs. Boyer uniting with the Lutheran
Church. He is a Democrat in politics.
In 1873 Mr. Boyer married Lizzie Coleman, daughter of John and
Catharine (Artz) Coleman, granddaughter of John Coleman and great-
granddaughter of Charles Coleman. Two children have been born to them:
Charles I. is a graduate of the State Normal school at Bloomsburg and of
Bucknell University, and for a time was engaged in teaching public
school and in a business college at Baltimore, but he is now following
his profession of civil engineer, being a member of an engineer corps at
Altoona, Pa.; John Benjamin is a
END OF PAGE 222
graduate of the Bloomsburg State Normal school and of Bucknell
University, and is a highly successful teacher, being at present
principal of the high school at Milroy, Mifflin Co., Pennsylvania.
JOHN B. LARK, M. D., physician of Trevorton, has practiced at that
location for the past five years; having settled there in 1906. He has
built up a large patronage in the town and surrounding territory, where
he has become well and favorably known for his skill and devotion to his
work. Dr. Lark was born Dec. 18, 1876, in Dauphin county, Pa., near
Millersburg, but has passed the greater part of his life in
Northumberland county.
The Lark family is of Swiss origin. George Lark, the Doctor's
great-grandfather, was born in Mifflin township, Dauphin county, and
became a farmer there. He died at the age of twenty-nine years, and is
buried at Buffington Church in his native township. He married
Elizabeth Enterline, who married (second) Captain Snyder, or Lykens
township, Dauphin county. After the death of her second husband she
made her home with her son George, and died there aged, seventy five
years. To George and Elizabeth Lark were born four children: Amos and
Elizabeth died young; John is mentioned below; George settled at
Berrysburg, as a merchant, and was the father of Leon, Elizabeth,
Edward, William, B., Mamie, Annie and Clara.
John Lark, son of George, was born on the old homestead in Mifflin
township, Feb. 7, 1826. He learned the stonemason's trade when a young
man, but never followed it. He devoted his time to farming, and died in
Salina, Saline Co., Kans., aged seventy-two years, and is buried there.
He married Leah Shoop, daughter of Jacob Shoop, and they had two
children, George, who died in infancy, and Emanuel S.
Emanuel S. Lark, son of John, was born in Mifflin township, on the
same farm on which both his father and grandfather were born, Feb. 8,
1853. He attended the local schools, Freeburg Academy, in Snyder county,
Berrysburg Seminary and Millersburg Academy. He taught ten terms of
school in Dauphin and Northumberland counties, and was very successful
as an instructor. Turning his attention to farming on the old homestead,
he remained there for three years, after which he farmed for one year in
Jackson township, Northumberland county, and then lived two years in
Lower Mahanoy township, Northumberland county. In 1880 he came to
Shamokin, and found employment in the mines, where he remained about six
years. The next five years he passed in a general hauling business, and
the succeeding five years as conductor on a freight train for the
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company. On Oct. 1, 1903, he assumed
the duties of his present position, that of superintendent of the
Shamokin cemetery, and his efficiency is well attested by the carefully
kept condition of that beautiful city of the dead. His residence is at
53 Marshall street. He is a member of St. John's Reformed Church.
Mr. Lark has been twice married. In 1873 he married Emeline Boyer,
daughter of Benjamin and Catharine (Stine) Boyer, the former of whom was
born in Berks county, Pa., of French Huguenot ancestry, later settling
in Lower Mahanoy township, Northumberland county. Mrs. Lark was born
Oct. 21, 1847, and died April 9, 1895, and was buried in Shamokin
cemetery. The following children were born of this union Charles C.,
now a practicing attorney, of Shamokin; Carrie C., who died aged
eighteen years; John B.; Leah B., born in Lower Mahanoy township, living
with her father; H. Wilson and Thomas F., overall manufacturers at
Shamokin, trading under the firm name of Lark & Lark; Edward H., a
salesman for Lark & Lark. Emanuel S. Lark married (second) Nov. 12,
1908, Mrs. Margaret Unpleby, daughter of William and Susan Weitzel.
John B. Lark was a young child when his parents moved to Shamokin,
where he received his literary education in the public schools,
graduating from the high school in 1895. He then taught school for six
terms, five in Cameron township, this county, and one in the borough of
Shamokin, after which he entered upon his medical course, at the Medico-
Chirurgical College of Philadelphia. Graduating from that institution
in the year 1905, he first located at Shamokin, where he practiced only
about eight months, coming to Trevorton in 1906. He has found a large
field of work at his present location, and has been most successful in
retaining the confidence of his patients. He is a member of the
Northumberland County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania State Medical
Society and the American Medical Association. He holds fraternal
association with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a member of
the Reformed Church, and on political questions supports the Republican
party.
Dr. Lark was married, Feb. 19, 1907, to Harriet M. Stricker,
daughter of G. H. Stricker, a well known merchant tailor of Shamokin.
They have had two children: George, who died at the age of eleven
months, three days; and John.
WILLIAM KIEFER, JR., whose association with various business and
financial institutions of Mount Carmel has made him well known in many
lines of enterprise, has spent practically all his active years in that
borough. He began humbly, with nothing but his trade to rely upon, but
by intelligent and progressive management has enlarged his field of
operations and acquired interests which class him among the most
progressive and influential element in the place.
Mr. Kiefer was born Nov. 9, 1859, at Schuylkill
END OF PAGE 223
Haven, Schuylkill Co., Pa., and is a son of William Kiefer, a native of
Germany, who came to America in 1850. He received his education in
public school at Frackville, in his native county, and learned the
butcher's trade under his father, remaining in Schuylkill county until
1878, when he settled at Mount Carmel. Here he was employed for some
time by Charles K. Maurer, who established the first meat market in
Mount Carmel, and on Oct. 20, 1885, he entered the same line of business
on his own account. By 1889 he had prospered to such an extent that he
was able to build the substantial three-story building at No. 608 South
Oak street where he has since been located, his store occupying the
ground floor, which has been specially equipped for the business. Five
years after he began business on his own account his brother Thomas
entered into partnership with him, and they have since continued
together under the firm name of Kiefer Brothers. They have built up
their business until they are considered the leading butchers in Mount
Carmel. They run five delivery wagons, do their own killing, and conduct
every branch of their work in the most progressive manner, a fact which
has had much to do with the unbroken success this firm has enjoyed.
Mr. William Kiefer has become interested in so many local public
utilities that his name is identified with a great variety of
enterprises. He is vice president of the First National Bank of Mount
Carmel; treasurer of the Shamokin & Mount Carmel Transit Company;
treasurer of the Locust Gap Trolley Company; treasurer of the Mount
Carmel Cement Block Company; director of the Mount Carmel Water Company,
of the People's Building & Loan Association, and of the Edison
Illuminating Company of Mount Carmel. Socially he is a thirty-second-
degree Mason, belonging to Mount Carmel Lodge, No. 378, F. & A.M.,
Williamsport Consistory, and Rajah Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S. He is a Democrat
but not active in politics, though he has served one term as school
director.
On Dec. 15, 1887, Mr. Kiefer married Mary A. Eddy, daughter of
Peter and Lydia (Wolcock) Eddy, of Shamokin, and they have had six
children, three of whom, Roy, William and Grace, are deceased. The
survivors are Frederick, Dorothy and Frank. The family are Lutherans in
religious connection.
Peter Eddy, father of Mrs. Kiefer, was a native of England, born in
1828, and came to America when a young man. He settled at Minersville
Schuylkill Co., Pa., and followed mining for many years, later moving to
Shamokin, Northumberland county, where he ended his days Aug. 13 1896.
He married Lydia Wolcock, daughter of William Wolcock, and their family
consisted of eight children, namely: Peter, William, John Mary A. (Mrs.
Kiefer), Newton, Amelia, Joseph and George.
KIMBER CLEAVER McWILLIAMS, M. D. The McWilliams family has been
located in Northumberland county, Pa., for 140 years, and those of the
name have been substantial and industrious men and women who have lived
upright lives, useful to the community in their respective callings. At
the present time at Shamokin is found Dr. Kimber Cleaver McWilliams, a
successful physician, vice president and director of the Coal Township
Light, Heat & Power Company, director of the Guarantee Trust & Safe
Deposit Company, and an official in several other important
corporations.
William McWilliams came to America from County Armagh, Ireland, and
settled at Bristol, Bucks Co., Pa., between 1740 and 1750. With him
came his widowed mother, his sister Hannah, and brother John. William
McWilliams became a pioneer settler in Turbut township, Northumberland
county, settling there soon after the Indian purchase of 1768. In the
Pennsylvania Archives he is mentioned as having taken out a warrant for
one hundred acres of land in 1772 and again in 1774 a warrant for 306
acres. This tract was in the region known as Chillisquaque, and here he
made his home until the time of his death. In the war of the Revolution,
during the Indian troubles, Mr. McWilliams and his family were obliged
to flee to Fort Augusta for protection, but soon returned to their
farms. He supported the cause of the colonies during the war, having
appeared before Robert Martin at Northumberland and taken the oath of
allegiance, as shown by the following certificate, now in the possession
of the family "Northumberland County: I do hereby certify that
William McWilliams hath voluntarily taken and subscribed the Oath
of Allegiance and Fidelity as directed by an Act of General Assembly of
Pennsylvania passed the 13th day of June, 1777. Witness my Hand and
Seal The 12th day of November Anno Dommi 1777. Robt. Martin." [L. S.]
Mr. McWilliams died Jan. 11, 1819, aged eighty years. He married
Sarah Johnston, who died Oct. 6, 1806, aged fifty-two years. He was a
Presbyterian in religious faith. His children were: Hannah, born Oct. 3,
1771 James, Sept. 27, 1773; Thomas, Nov. 27, 1775; Mary, Oct. 3, 1777
(married A. Cruise) Eleanor, Feb. 3, 1780 (married John Scout) William,
April 21, 1782 (died Nov. 21, 1853); John, June 28, 1784 (died July 30,
1849); Samuel, Aug. 13, 1786; Philip, Oct. 20, 1788 David, Jan. 19,
1791; Robert, Feb. 3, 1793; Sarah Johnson, 1795; and Joseph Watt, June
17, 1797.
David McWilliams, son of William, born Jan. 19, 1791, followed
farming, as did his father, all his life. He was first located in Turbut
township, but soon after his marriage he located at Elysburg, where he
became quite prominent. He died July
END OF PAGE 224
2, 1856. He married Jane Craig, born Aug. 19, 1798, died Sept. 29,
1882, daughter of John and Margaret (Johnson) Craig. Nine children were
born of this union, as follows: William Watt; Dr. John Craig, who
married Esther Schindler, and has a daughter Ida (married Alfred Evans)
Robert, who died aged seven years; David Nichol, who married Cecilia
Levers Sarah, who married Joseph T. John; Chittillon, who married
Margaret Kase; Ellen, who married Joseph B. Craig; Aquilla, who died
unmarried; and Jane, unmarried.
William Watt McWilliams, son of David, was born July 21, 1821, and
died June 1, 1879. He was educated in Milton Academy, and became a
civil engineer, a calling he followed all his active life. He assisted
in laying out the borough of Shamokin, and was employed in making the
survey oŁ the railroad from Shamokin to Sunbury, associated with Kimber
Cleaver. He surveyed many of the mines and early coal lands, and maps
were made from his measurements. He was very accurate in his work, and
had a wide reputation for efficiency. He took an active interest in
education, and was one of the founders of the Elysburg Academy. For many
years he was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and he was always
found cooperating in any measure tending toward the welfare of the
community. In politics he was a Republican, but never held political
office. On Oct. 13, 1853, in Danville, Montour Co., Pa., he married
Catharine Caldwell, born Dec. 15, 1831, died Sept. 7, 1890, daughter of
Alexander Caldwell (born May 4, 1800, died Feb. 6, 1856) and his wife
Martha (born 1798, died May 7, 1845). To this union were born five
children: (1) Clifton Craig, born June 20, 1855, was educated at the
Elysburg Academy, and made agriculture his life work. On March 12,
1879, he married Georgiana Jefferis, and they had children: Mary C.,
born Feb. 3, 1880 (died in infancy); William C., born April 18, 1881;
Elizabeth, born Oct. 10, 1884; Howard C., born Feb. 11, 1887; Benjamin
J., born June 17, 1892 (died Oct. 2, 1910); and Ralph C., born Aug. 25,
1894. (2) Kimber Cleaver was born Oct. 7, 1857. (3) David Alexander,
born Aug. 15, 1859, died at the Presbyterian Hospital, Philadelphia,
Sept. 20, 1904. He graduated from Dickinson Seminary, and studied law
at Minneapolis, where he practiced for several years, later entering
McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, and becoming a Presbyterian
minister. He was later professor of History and Sociology at Lincoln
University, in Pennsylvania. He married Ada E. Guss, and had children,
Craig, David B., William and Stewart. His widow resides at Mifflinburg,
Pa. (4) Cora Rebecca was born Sept. 22, 1862. (5) William C., born July
25; 1867, died aged three years.
Dr. Kimber Cleaver McWilliams was born at Elysburg Oct. 7, 1857,
and attended the public schools and Elysburg Academy, where he taught
school for a time. He began the study of medicine under Dr. S. F.
Gilbert at Elysburg and later entered Jefferson Medical College, at
Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1884. He began the practice of
his profession at Mainville, Columbia county, but remained there only
two months. He then located at Snydertown, Northumberland county, where
he continued for two years. In 1886 he located at Shamokin, but having
decided to devote himself to special diseases he went to Philadelphia in
1892 and practiced there three years, at the same time taking special
lectures on diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, at Jefferson
hospital. During the last year of his stay in that city he was chief
assistant at the eye clinic at the Polyclinic hospital, and was
superintendent of the Beacon dispensary during the three years he was
there. On completing his course he returned to Shamokin, and has met
with great success in his specialties.
The Doctor has been active in the business as well as in the
professional world. He is a director of the Guarantee Trust & Safe
Deposit Company; vice president and director of the Coal Township Light,
Heat & Power Company, and director of the Greenough Coal & Coke Company.
In 1907 he completed a fine apartment house on Independence street,
Shamokin, which contains 121 rooms. The lower floor is given over to
stores. This is one of the finest apartment houses in central
Pennsylvania. He is looked upon as a shrewd business man, of good
executive ability.
Dr. McWilliams takes an active part in the work of the Presbyterian
Church, and in politics is a Republican. On Oct. 11, 1887, he was
united in marriage with Elizabeth J. Chester, of Shamokin. They have
three children: Holden Chester, born July 12, 1888, a student at
Princeton University; Kimber Cleaver, born July 14, 1890, a student at
Princeton University; and Clifton Alexander, born May 8, 1896, attending
Lawrenceville School.
John Craig, great-grandfather of the Doctor, married Margaret
Johnson, and had children: John, born Nov. 7, 1794; Alexander, born Jan.
7, 1796; Jane, born Aug. 19, 1798; Margaret, born Feb. 1, 1800; and
James (died young).
Catharine Carmichael, great-grandmother of the Doctor, was born in 1766
and died in 1850. She married John Caldwell, and was the mother of
Martha, wife of Alexander Caldwell.