Bios: Smethers Family: Columbia County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Dalice Fadden. dalice@ccomm.com USGENWEB ARCHIVES (tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information are included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/columbia/ ___________________________________________________________ Smethers Family Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, PA J. H. Beers & Co., 1915 JACOB C. SMETHERS, deceased, for a number of years a contractor of Berwick, was born in Salem township, Luzerne Co., Pa., Dec. 26, 1854, and was a son of Henry and Lucinda (Cope) Smethers, of the same county. Henry Smethers, the father, was born in 1830 and died in 1860. He owned a farm of 160 acres in Salem township, upon which he resided the whole of his life. His wife, Lucinda, daughter of Jacob and Elsie (Garrison) Cope, after his death married George Harmon, and died in January, 1914. To her union with Mr. Smethers were born three children; Lamon, now residing in Rockland, Texas; Jacob C.; and George, deceased, who married Harriet Edwards. He is buried in Beach Grove cemetery, Salem township. Mr. Smethers was a Democrat and a member of the German Reformed Church. The mother had the following children by her second marriage: Nathan; Michael R., who married Hattie Garrison; Amos, who married Mary Edwards; and Sarah, who died young and is buried near the Stone Church. Jacob C. Smethers attended the Stone Church schoolhouse in Salem township, but was obliged to leave school at seventeen to work on his mother's farm. He started to learn the trade of carpenter at eighteen, later worked as foreman for different contractors, and did a general building business; he assisted in the erection of the Bower Memorial church and parsonage and several other prominent structures. On Oct. 12, 1876, he married Alice M., daughter of John and Elizabeth (Harter) Hess, and they had children as follows: (1) John H., born June 29, 1877, teller of the Berwick National Bank, married Margaret Dodson and has two children, Ritter Dodson, born May 22, 1903, and John Jacob, born Aug. 11, 1914. (2) Aaron H., born April 7, 1879, employed with the American Car & Foundry Co., married Edith Philips. (3) Amy B., born April 19, 1883, is a teacher in the Market street school, Berwick. (4) Nora E., born July 25, 1884, is a trained nurse in the Hahnemann hospital, Philadelphia. Mr. Smethers died Feb. 4, 1914, and is buried in Pine Grove cemetery, Berwick. He was a Democrat, a member of the Evangelical Church, and of the P.O.S. of A. and the Odd Fellows at Berwick. Jeremiah Hess, grandfather of Mrs. Jacob C. Smethers, was born in Easton, Northampton Co., Pa., and went to Wapwallopen, Luzerne county, with his parents at the age of eight. He learned the trade of miller and built a mill there, which he operated for some years, finally trading it for a farm, upon which he lived retired for twenty-five years. He died in 1880 at the age of eighty-five. His wife died in 1860, and they are buried in Beach Haven cemetery, Salem township, Luzerne county. They were members of of Reformed Church. Their children were: Philip, who married Lavinia Smethers; Susan, wife of John Fenstermacher; John; Jeremiah M., who married Maria Pohe; Elizabeth, wife of Charles Hill; Mary, wife of Thomas Brady; Nathan, who married Zenith ---; Reuben, who married Lavina Knorr, who survives her husband at the age of eighty; Catherine, wife of Reuben Hill, of Lee county, Ill.; Amanda, who died young; and Aaron W., who married Esther Bittenbender. John Hess, father of Mrs. Jacob C. Smethers, was born March 10, 1819, in Salem township, Luzerne county, and attended the common schools. He owned a farm of 130 acres, thirty acres of which was in timber. He learned the shoemaking trade and followed it in the intervals of farm work. He was a member of the Reformed Church and a Democrat. He died in 1881 and is buried in the Beach Grove cemetery. To his marriage with Elizabeth Harter were born children as follows: Norman W., who married Delilah Seely; Urias, who married Fannie Edwards; Rachel M., who died young; Deborah A., who also died young; Lydia C., deceased, who married Wesley Smethers and (second) Chester A. Harmon (she is buried in Pine Grove cemetery); Alice M., born March 8, 1855, widow of Jacob C. Smethers; and Lizzie, wife of Frank Hess. PHILIP MCCLELLAN SMETHERS was born Nov. 15, 1861, in Berwick, Pa., where the family is well known. He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Fenstermacher) Smethers. John Smethers, the father, was born in 1821 in Salem township, Luzerne Co., Pa., where he lived for some time. In early life he followed farming, and by trade he was a blacksmith, coming to Berwick to enter the employ of the Jackson & Woodin Company, with whom he continued during the remainder of his active years. His death occurred in Berwick, Columbia county, May 15, 1894. During the Civil War he enlisted in support of the Union, being a member of the 52d Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, from Columbia county, and after taking part in many battles and skirmishes was discharged on account of disability; he returned to Berwick at the close of his service. His wife, Elizabeth (Fenstermacher) was born Nov. 19, 1819, in Mifflin township, Columbia Co., Pa., a member of one of the oldest families in the county, and died in Berwick March 11, 1895. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smethers: Sofarus, who lives at Berwick, is married to Catherine Edwards; John A. is a business man of Berwick, Pa.; Mary is the wife of Charles Berlin, of Berwick; James is a resident of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Savilla married Rev. F.S. Vought, of Berwick, Pa.; William lives at Berwick; Philip McClellan completes the family. Philip McClellan Smethers attended the Market street school. At the age of nine he went to work in the machine shop of the Jackson & Woodin Manufacturing Company, on general work, and served an apprenticeship to the machinist's trade. He has been continuously employed for over forty-four years with that company and its successor, the American Car & Foundry Company, and for the last thirty- three years has been running a planer. He married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of William S. and Martha J. (Tubbs) Harris, of Salem township, and their children are: Frank Earl, born Dec. 29, 1890, married May Potter and has one child, Geraldine Elizabeth; Robert Scott was born Nov. 11, 1892; Walter Leo, born Sept. 13, 1894, married Mary Warntz and has one child, Frances Elizabeth; Rollo G., was born Oct. 8, 1897; Bruce Dietterick, born May 20, 1901, died young and is buried in Pine Grove cemetery, Berwick; Fred Arlington was born Oct. 29, 1904; Mary Elizabeth was born March 31, 1908. Mr. Smethers is a Progressive in politics and actively interested in the success of his party. He is a member of the Bower Memorial United Evangelical Church, and of Camp No. 105, P.O.S. of A., and Berwick Lodge, No. 246, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mary Elizabeth Harris was born in Salem township, Luzerne Co., Pa., Sept. 21, 1869, and educated at the Moore and Long schoolhouses, the latter in Fairmount township. She resided for a time on a farm, went to Scranton in 1886 and remained for three years, then came to Berwick, where she was married May 2, 1889. William Scott Harris, father of Mrs. Smethers, was born in Salem township and educated in the country schools. He taught school for one term and then took up the vocation of farming, acquiring two farms of sixty-four and fifty acres, respectively, in Salem township. In January, 1870, he started to work for Jackson & Woodin Manufacturing Company, with whom he remained until his death. In 1865 he enlisted in the Union army for one hundred days, served the full term, and was discharged at Philadelphia. He died Feb. 12, 1880, in Salem township, and is buried in the Moore cemetery. His wife, Martha Jane (Tubbs) was born May 8, 1846. EDWARD H. SMETHERS, a practical molder, thoroughly competent in his line, has been foreman of the soft foundry in the American Car & Foundry Company's plant (formerly operated by Jackson and Woodin) at Berwick since October 1910. He was born May 1, 1865, in that part of Berwick under the hill which was then called the "Shoddy," and has practically made his own way in the world since early boyhood. The Smethers family is of English origin, and the name originally was spelled Smithers. It is probable that the great-grandfather of Edward H. Smethers was the pioneer of the family in this section. John Smethers, the grandfather, was born in Luzerne county and lived and died at Berwick. He was a laborer on farms in his early life and began work for the Jackson and Woodin people in their early days. He married Betsey Fenstermacher, whose people lived at Foundryville, Columbia Co., Pa., and they had the following children: Sopharus, who married Catherine Edwards; John A., who married Alvaretta R. Classon; James, who married Mary George; Savilla, who is the widow of Rev. Freeman S. Vought, who is buried in Pine Grove cemetery, at Berwick; Mary, who married Charles Berlin; William, who married Dora Houch; and McClellan, who married Mary Elizabeth Harris. Sopharus Smethers, father of Edward H. Smethers, was born July 31, 1840, in Salem township, Luzerne Co., Pa. He started to work when very young, hence had but few school advantages, subsequently learned the trade of molder with the Jackson & Woodin Manufacturing Company, and had charge of the patterns. He married Catherine, widow of Augustus Pierce, and daughter of Edward and Patty (Holloway) Edwards, from Summer Hill. By her first marriage she had four children: Mary Van Houten, Angie Witman, James Pierce and Jennie Melvin. To her second marriage, with Mr. Smethers, were born: John T., who married Della Yost; Maizie, who died young and was buried at Pine Grove; and Edward H. Sopharus Smethers belongs to the Evangelical Church. He casts his political vote with the Republican party. Edward H. Smethers started to work when he quit school, at the age of nine years, at that time entering the foundry of the Jackson & Woodin Company at Berwick, where he remained for seven years; his foreman was William Fenstermacher and the superintendent William Barnes. In 1882 he went to the Freas Brothers' planing mill and for two years carried sidings. In 1884 he entered the machine shop of Jackson & Woodin and ran a bolt header under Tom Van Tassell for a time, and then went back to the small casting factory and made cores, also worked at molding part of the time. When twenty years old he began to learn that branch of the business, which he has followed ever since. As mentioned above he has made rapid progress, and for the last four years has been foreman of the soft foundry, which makes all sorts of miscellaneous castings. Through hard work and faithful service Mr. Smethers has advanced his fortunes and brought himself a competency. Mr. Smethers was united in marriage with Emma Henry, a daughter of Tobias and Drusilla (Garrison) Henry, of Bloomsburg, Pa., and they have had the following children: Catherine May, born July 27, 1889, married Alvin Drescher, and they have two children, Audrey and Berlyn; Alvin, who was born Nov. 25, 1890, married Lilly Lowe, and they have a daughter, Beatrice; Claud Tobias was born June 27, 1893; LeRoy was born Sept. 28, 1895; Oliver Evans, born Aug. 18, 1898, died Dec. 19, 1899, and was buried in Pine Grove cemetery; Arthur James was born Nov. 22, 1904. Mr. Smethers and his family are members of the Bower Memorial United Evangelical Church. He is a pronounced temperance man and is active in the Prohibition party. Socially he belongs to Washington Camp, No. 105, P.O.S. of A, of Berwick. Samuel Henry, grandfather of Mrs. Smethers, was born at Sloyersville, Luzerne Co., Pa., and died at Berwick in August, 1889. In his early years he was a boatman on the Pennsylvania canal and later was associated with W.H. Woodin, at Foundryville, in the manufacture of stoves, plows, castings, etc. After dissolving this partnership he engaged in farming, owning 100 acres of land at Moore's Church, back of Foundryville. Later in life he retired and came to Berwick, and his son Tobias took charge of the farm. He married Margaret Rough, whose family belonged around Sloyersville, and they had children as follows: Job; Salinda, wife of Manuel Garrison; Tobias; and Hannah, wife of Norman Garrison. They were all members of the Evangelical Church in religious faith and Democrats in their political views. Grandfather Henry belonged to the Masonic lodge at Shickshinny, Pennsylvania. Tobias Henry was born April 16, 1838. When young he was a boatman on the Pennsylvania canal, like his father. Afterwards he carried on farming in Salem township, Luzerne county. He married Drusilla Garrison, daughter of Mathias and Mary (White) Garrison, from Almedia, and the following children were born to them: William, who married Anna Gallagher; Martha, deceased, wife of Herbert McBride (she is buried in Pine Grove cemetery); Margaret, who is the wife of Abram Smith; Emma, who is the wife of Edward H. Smethers; Harriet, deceased, wife of Wesley Pollock; Newton, who died young, and is buried with his sister at Moore's Church; Myrtle; Minerva, who married Clarence Bower; and Edith, who is the wife of Arthur Seeley. JOHN H. SMETHERS, teller in the Berwick National Bank, was born in Berwick June 29, 1877. He is a son of Jacob C. Smethers. Mr. Smethers attended public school in his native city until he entered Woods business college, at Wilkes- Barre, where he completed a full commercial course. For a time after his graduation he worked with his father in the contracting business, but finally entered the employ of Jackson Woodin Company, remaining a short time and leaving to enter the service of the Berwick Store Company, as clerk to F.A. Witman. He remained in this position for nearly six years, when he became a clerk in the Berwick National Bank, receiving gradual promotion until he reached his present position as teller. His uniform courtesy to the patrons of the bank has won him many friends, and his careful attention to his business has made him an invaluable member of the bank's force. On June 10, 1902, Mr. Smethers was married to Margaret M. Dodson, a daughter of John and Rosa Belle (Ritter) Dodson. Mr. and Mrs. Smethers have two children: Ritter Dodson, born May 22, 1903, and John Jacob, born Aug. 11, 1914. Mr. Smethers is a Republican and has filled various offices in the city government. He is a member of Berwick Lodge, No. 246, I.O.O.F., and Berwick Council, No. 1761, Royal Arcanum, of which latter he is a past regent. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian Church, and he has served five terms as trustee, being now secretary of the board of trustees and superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Smethers comes from one of the oldest families of this section, one whose members have been identified with its advancement and growth. They have taken an active part in the various activities of their locality, and ranked among the honored and respected citizens. Since April, 1907, John H. Smethers has been secretary of the Berwick Building and Loan Association, one of the most substantial of the State. Mr. Smethers is a son of Jacob C. Smethers and grandson of Henry Smethers, born in 1830, died in 1860. The latter's wife, Lucinda, survived him and married George Harman. To her marriage with Mr. Smethers were born: Lamon, now a resident of Rockland, Texas; Jacob C.; and George, deceased, who married Harriet Edwards. Jacob C. Smethers, born Dec. 26, 1854, in Salem township, Luzerne Co., Pa., died Feb. 4, 1914. He married Alice M. Hess, and they had a family of four children: John H., Aaron H., Amy B., and Nora E. Mrs. John H. Smethers is a daughter of the late John Dodson, of Berwick, who was born Sept. 13, 1838, in Yorkshire, England, and died Nov. 23, 1914. He and his wife Rosa B. (Ritter), who survives him, had the following children: Eugene (deceased), Marietta (deceased), William A., Anna (Mrs. John Shoemaker), Ella A. (Mrs. Edward H. Humphries), Elizabeth (Mrs. Mayberry Bachman) and Margaret M. (Mrs. John H. Smethers). JOHN A. SMETHERS is head of the firm of John A. Smethers & Son, florists, of Berwick, who have one of the largest establishments of the kind in Columbia county. Mr. Smethers was employed for a number of years as an iron molder, giving up that work to engage in his present line, in which he has been decidedly successful. He was born in Luzerne county, Pa., in January, 1851, and his parents were the late John and Elizabeth (Fenstermacher) Smethers. John Smethers was born in Salem, Luzerne Co., Pa., where he had his home for some time. In early life he followed farming, and by trade he was a blacksmith, coming to Berwick to enter the employ of the Jackson & Woodin Company, with whom he continued during the remained of his active years. His death occurred in Berwick, May 15, 1894. During the Civil War he enlisted in support of the Union, being a member of the 52d Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, from Columbia county, and after taking part in many battles and skirmishes was discharged on account of disability; he returned to Berwick at the close of his service. His wife, Elizabeth (Fenstermacher), who died in Berwick March 11, 1895, was born in Mifflin township, Columbia Co., Pa., a member of one of the oldest families in the county. Seven children were born to her and Mr. Smethers: Sofarus, who lives at Berwick and is married to Catherine Edwards; John A.; Mary, wife of Charles Berlin, of Berwick; James, a resident of Wilkes- Barre, Pa., Savilla, who married Rev. F.S. Vought, of Berwick, Pa.; William, of Berwick; and Philip McClellan, of Berwick. John A. Smethers obtained his education in the public schools of Berwick. He learned the trade of iron molder in the Jackson & Woodin Company's foundry, where he was employed until twenty- five years ago, when he decided to engage in business. As a florist he had been one of the most prosperous in Columbia county, the valuable experience he has acquired combining with his business ability to insure such success that he is regarded as one of the local merchants who help to make a distinctly progressive showing for the town. Six years ago he took his son into partnership in the flower business now being conducted under the name of John A. Smethers & Son. Mr. Smethers has a good record for public service, having been a member of the school board of Berwick for six years. He belong to the P.O.S. of A. camp and commandery at Berwick, and has passed all the chairs. In 1872 Mr. Smethers married Alvaretta R. Clossen, daughter of Jacob and Savilla (Smith) Clossen, natives of Columbia county, who lived long in Berwick; ten years before his death Mr. Clossen moved to Light Street, where he died. Mr. Clossen was master mechanic and superintendent in the Jackson & Woodin foundry for many years. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smethers: Katherine, Hurley K. and Annie, the first named employed as a school teacher in Berwick.