BIO:  Joseph L. SHORB, Union Township, Adams County, PA

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Kathy Francis

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History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania
Chicago:  Warner, Beers & Co., 1886
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Part III, History of Adams County, Pages 515-516

JOSEPH L. SHORB, farmer, Littlestown.  The ancestors of this old pioneer family 
left Lorraine when it was attached to France, because they loved the old German 
fatherland and language better than the French.  Three brothers, supposed to 
have been named John, Jacob and Anthony, immigrated to America, and settled in 
Pennsylvania.  One kept a hardware store in Hanover, York County, buying his 
stock in Germany, and making seven sea voyages for the purpose; one settled in 
York County, near Hanover, and the other near Goshen Huppen, Berks County, and 
there they farmed, and their descendants lived for many years.  John Shorb, the 
brother that settled in Hanover, was the great-grandfather of our subject.  He 
married a lady by the name of Fricker, who bore him three sons and one daughter:  
Anthony, Jacob, John and Mrs. Mary Obold.  Of the sons Jacob and John finally 
settled in Frederick County, Md., and Anthony (who died in Conowago Township, 
this county, in 1800) married a Miss Obold, by whom he had six children, four of 
whom attained maturity:  John, Anthony, Jr., Joseph and Mrs. Mary Shultz.  Of 
these, Anthony Shorb, Jr., moved to Tyrone, Blair County, Penn., and there 
engaged in the iron business as a member of the firm of Lyon, Shorb & Co.  He 
died in Littlestown while on a visit to relatives.  Joseph was a physician, who 
lived and died in Littlestown, Penn.  Mrs. Mary Shultz died in Missouri.  John, 
the eldest, a farmer by occupation, was married in Littlestown, this county, to 
Miss Mary, daughter of Samuel Beecher, and of the eight children that blessed 
this union all attained maturity:  Basil A., Joseph L., Alexander C., Samuel J., 
Edward, Matilda M., Sallie and Johanna.  John Shorb’s first wife died February 
15, 1833, and his second marriage was with Mrs. Susan Stonesifer, who also died 
near Littlestown, the mother of one child, James E., now residing in St. Louis, 
Mo.  John Shorb bought the farm where his son Joseph L. now lives, was a 
successful farmer, and died near Littlestown, this county, February 5, 1847, 
aged sixty-two years.  He took an active part in public matters, and was much 
respected by all who knew him for his honesty and uprightness.  He had a 
remarkable memory, and possessed those sterling traits of character for which 
the whole family, from the great-grandfather down to our subject, have been 
noted.  Joseph L. Shorb was born on the old homestead March 19, 1812, and has 
been a farmer as well as a business man.  When the Littlestown Savings 
Institution was started he became its president, and remained so for eighteen 
years, when his health failed him and he refused a re-election.  He has served 
as justice of the peace for forty years, which shows for itself how well he is 
loved and respected by his neighbors.  In the evening of life Mr. Shorb may look 
back over a busy career that can give him unqualified satisfaction.