BIO: Henry R. Mosser, Cumberland County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Bookwalter Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/ ______________________________________________________________________ History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania. Containing History of the Counties, Their Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, Etc.; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies; History of Pennsylvania; Statistical and Miscellaneous Matter, Etc., Etc. Illustrated. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/beers/beers.htm ______________________________________________________________________ PART II. HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. PENNSYLVANIA. CHAPTER XLIX. LOWER ALLEN TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH OF NEW CUMBERLAND. HENRY R. MOSSER, dealer in lumber, P. O. New Cumberland. From a line of ancestry that came from Switzerland as early 1784 and settled in Lancaster County, Penn., comes the subject of our sketch. The most reliable information obtainable of this family begins with Dr. Benjamin Mosser, who purchased a large tract of land in Fairview Township, York Co., Penn., upon which three sons and a married daughter subsequently settled. The sons, John, Henry and Christian, were all prominent men in the neighborhood. The eldest, John, practiced medicine for many years in the village of Newmarket, and his descendants are numerous in Cumberland County at the present time. The daughter, Barbara, above referred to, married Michael Kauffman, and they, too, have many descendants in Cumberland and York Counties. Henry, one of the three sons, married Susannah Neff, an orphan, reared and educated by William and Deborah Wright, of Columbia. The Wrights were Quakers, and gave Susannah an education far superior to that of the women of her day. Her father owned the Wrightsville ferry when Washington's army encamped at Valley Forge; and when Congress assembled at York, Susannah was six years of age, and Washington stopped at the Wrights' for breakfast. While waiting for the repast the General lifted her upon his lap and entertained her with some of his droll stories, and, although so young, she well remembered the circumstance, and was fond of relating it to her grandchildren, of whom Henry R. was the second born. Henry and Susannah (Neff) Mosser had a family of five children: Benjamin H., father of our subject; Dr. Daniel Mosser, who for many years was bishop in the Reformed Mennonite Church in the United States and Canada, the author of most of the religious works of that denomination; Rev. Joseph Mosser, of Salem, Ill., for many years traveling agent for the Illinois Bible Society; John N., a farmer in Cumberland County; Magdalena, now the widow of George Rupley. Benjamin H. Mosser was married to Elizabeth Rupley, of Cumberland County, Penn., daughter of John and Barbara (Stine) Rupley, of Berks County, Penn. John Rupley, Esq., was quite a prominent man in his time, and was not only a noted justice of the peace, but also served as sheriff of this county. There were two children born to Benjamin H. and his wife, viz.: Susannah, wife of Dr. Augustus H. Vanhoff, a noted physician of Mechanicsburg, and also an honored representative from this county to the State Legislature. Henry Rupley Mosser, the only son, was born in York County in 1828, and until twelve years old remained on the farm, obtaining the rudiments of a practical education in the common schools. Later, he attended the Strasburg Academy, in Lancaster County, and the old York County Academy, from which he went, in 1848, to take 495 LOWER ALLEN TOWNSHIP. charge of the books and business of his father, in the village of New Cumberland, who had established a lumber trade in that place in 1839. In 1850 Henry R. Mosser was admitted as partner in the lumber and grain business, Owen James being also associated, and from that date the firm was known as B. H. Mosser & Co. In 1857 the senior member of the firm retired, and in 1864 Mr. James also retired, leaving Henry R. Mosser sole proprietor. The firm is now Mosser & Sadler, the latter being Judge Sadler, of Carlisle, Penn. With the exception of a few years, Mr. Mosser has always been connected with the lumber trade of Dauphin and Cumberland Counties, but has also a large saw-mill and lumber establishment in Tioga County, in which he has associated with him Julius B. Kauffman, who for many years was his confidential clerk and book-keeper. The firm of Mosser & Sadler employ forty men, and their business is the leading enterprise in the village. Henry R. Mosser was married to Margaret A. Yocum, in 1852, a daughter of Jacob and Henrietta (Duncan) Yocum, of York, York Co., Penn. To this union were born two children: Nettie E. and Rev. Benjamin H. Mosser, of Mechanicsburg. In 1859 Mrs. Mosser died, and in 1863 Mr. Mosser married R. Jennie Miller, of New Cumberland, this county, by whom he has two children: Annie, a graduate of Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport, and John C., who is preparing for college under the tutelage of Prof. Seiler, of Harrisburg, Penn. Mr. Mosser has lived a long and useful life, and perhaps no man living in the village has done more to advance its interests. For many years he has been an active Republican politician in State and National affairs. In theological matters he stands very high, and for more than twenty years has been superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Sabbath-school, and for six years president of the famous Cumberland Sabbath-school Assembly, now a part of the Chautauqua system, located at Mountain Lake Park, on the summit of the Alleghenies, Maryland. He has been president of Cumberland Valley Camp Meeting Association, and represented the Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Baltimore, in 1876, and also at the Centennial Conference, at Baltimore, in 1884, and which was the most noted Conference ever held by that body, in which all the branches of the church and Sabbath- school work were represented. For more than a quarter of a century he has officiated as trustee, steward and class-leader of the Methodist Episcopal Church in New Cumberland, and was the first president of the Y. M. C. A. of this village. He is also treasurer of the Conference Education Society, in which capacity he has served since the organization of this commendable enterprise to assist young men to obtain an education.