Local History: Chapter XLII - Part I: Biographical Sketches - SUNBURY Part I. Bell's History of Northumberland Co PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Tony Rebuck Tar2@psu.edu USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file 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. Transcribed from Bell's History of Northumberland County Pennsylvania BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. SUNBURY - PART I JACOB AWL, the original progenitor of this family in America, was born in the North of Ireland, August 6, 1727, and died in Paxtang township, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, September 26, 1793. He was a tanner by occupation. In the French and Indian war he held the rank of ensign and lieutenant in Colonel John Elder's battalion of rangers, and was active in organizing the associators of Lancaster county at the outbreak of the Revolution. Upon the formation of Dauphin county he was one of the commissioners by whom its boundaries were located, and when Harrisburg was laid out he was appointed by John Harris one of the trustees of the land reserved for public uses. In 1759 he married Sarah, daughter of Jeremiah Sturgeon; Samuel Awl, the fourth son and seventh child of this union, was born at Paxtang, March 5, 1773. In early manhood he was engaged m mercantile pursuits at Harrisburg; about the year 1800 he removed to Augusta township, Northumberland county, and there resided until his death, January 1, 1842. He served as county commissioner, 1805-08, and as county auditor, 1834-37; when the adoption of the public school system was first voted upon in Augusta township, his was one of eight ballots in its favor; he was an active Mason, and throughout the anti-Masonic agitation assisted in sustaining Lodge No. 22 at Sunbury. He married Mary, daughter of Senator William Maclay; she was born at Harris's Ferry, March 19, 1776, and died in Augusta township, August 13, 1823. Their children were William Maclay; Mary Harris; Charles Maclay; Eleanor Maclay; Charles Samuel; George Washington; Sarah Irwin; Hester Hall; Elizabeth Jane, and Robert Harry. William Maclay Awl was born at Harrisburg, May 24, 1799, and reared in Augusta township, Northumberland county. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduated from Jefferson Medical College, and located in the practice of his profession at Lancaster, Ohio, in 1825, but removed to Somerset, Ohio, shortly afterward, and thence to Columbus in 1833. He was appointed physician to the State penitentiary, and in 1835 suggested the organization of the State Medical Association. In 1857 he was director of the State lunatic asylum, of which he was superintendent twelve years, resigning in 1850. He was the first to propose the education of the feeble- END OF PAGE 804 minded to the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane (of which he was vice-president from 1846 to 1848 and president from 1848 to 1851), and from this suggestion the various institutions for this purpose throughout the world have ultimately resulted. He was president of the board of examiners which passed upon the qualifications of surgeons for the Ohio regiments during the civil war, and late in life served as physician to the Ohio institute for the blind, which he had been largely instrumental in founding. An active member of the Presbyterian church, he was a frequent contributor to biblical literature and prepared a chronological chart showing genealogy, race, and age of Bible characters from Adam to Moses. He married Rebecca Loughery, January 28, 1830, and died on the 19th of November, 1876. Mary Harris Awl was born, September 1, 1802, married William C. Gearhart, of Rush township, and died, November 29, 1870. Charles Maclay Awl, born, January 5, 1804, died in infancy. Eleanor Maclay Awl, born, November 26, 1806, married Ezra Grossman, and died, May 26, 1889. Charles Samuel Awl, born, August 1, 1808, married Lucy Duncan; he resided on a farm near Peoria, Illinois, where he was justice of the peace many years, and died, November 1, 1883. George Washington Awl, born, June 27, 1810, died, September 4, 1829, in this county. Sarah Irwin Awl, born, June 1, 1812, married George C. Welker, and resides at Sunbury. Hester Hall Awl, born, August 18,1814, married William Brindel, a nephew of Governor Ritner, and resides at Sunbury. Elizabeth Jane Awl, born, November 28, 1816, married Daniel Rohrbach, and resides at Selinsgrove. ROBERT HARRIS AWL, M. D., was born in Augusta township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, December 27, 1819, son of Samuel and Mary (Maclay) Awl. He was educated at the common schools, read medicine with Dr. J. W. Peal, and graduated from Pennsylvania Medical College in 1842. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession, and was located at Gratztown and Halifax, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, until 1845; he then removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he was appointed assistant physician to the State lunatic asylum and remained three years. Resigning on account of ill health he returned to Sunbury in 1849, and here he has since resided in the steady enjoyment of a lucrative practice. Between 1855 and 1888, inclusive, he was fourteen years the regular physician to the Northumberland county prison. Eight physicians began the study of medicine with him as their preceptor, viz.: Dr. John J. Miller, who died at Magringo, Iowa; Dr. Ebenezer Russ, of St. Mary's, Pennsylvania; Dr. F. L. Haupt, of Sunbury; Dr. Isaiah Folk, who died in Upper Augusta; Dr. A. C. Clark, of Sunbury; Dr. H. H. Malick, who died in Upper Mahanoy; and Doctors F. B. Masser and D. E. Lenker, of Sunbury. Doctor Awl was surgeon to the Sixteenth Pennsylvania militia in 1843; in 1845 he was the Democratic candidate for the legislature in Dauphin county; in 1864 he was elected treasurer of North- END OF PAGE 805 umberland county, and served one term; at a later date he was president of the Northumberland County Agricultural Society, and in 1885 he was a member of the commission by which the limits of the present wards of Sunbury borough were defined. Politically he has been a life-long Democrat, and rendered valuable services to the party in connection with the founding of the Northumberland County Democrat. For John F. Meginness's various publications Doctor Awl has furnished monograms of high merit on "Northumberland County Prisons," "The old Cannon," "The First Duel in Northumberland County," and "The Brady Family," while the numerous acknowledgments to his assistance in the preparation of this work furnish ample evidence of his interest in other matters pertaining to local history. The Doctor is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was first married, March 9, 1843, to Eliza Bower, of Dauphin county, who died, July 28, 1846. On the 21st of November, 1849, he married Rebecca A., daughter of Peter and Rachel (Miller) Pursel, of Sunbury; the children born to this union are William Maclay; Ellen E., and Mary P., Mrs. Edward Young, of Renovo, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Young are the parents of two children, John Packer and Robert Harris. HENRY B. MASSER, retired publisher, was born at Sunbury, August 17, 1809, son of Henry and Mary (Baldy) Masser, natives of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and Sunbury, respectively. He was to a large extent self- educated; leaving school at the age of fourteen to take charge of his father's store, he pursued the study of the classics under Charles G. Donnel and Rev. William R. Smith as private instructors, and thus acquired an academic education. After reading law the prescribed period under Alexander Jordan, he was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county on the 5th of November, 1833, at the same time as James Pollock, Charles W. Hegins, and Samuel P. Johnson. The three last mentioned all became president judges in Pennsylvania - Pollock in Northumberland county, Hegins in Schuylkill, and Johnson in Warren, while Pollock was also Governor of the State, and it is doubtful whether four men of equal ability and subsequent prominence were ever admitted to the local bar at the same time on any other occasion. In 1839 Mr. Masser was appointed deputy attorney general for Northumberland county; how faithfully and efficiently he performed his official duties is attested by the fact that during the six years of his incumbency he never had an indictment quashed. Although thus established in the practice of the law, Mr. Masser's natural talent as a writer early found expression in contributions to the local papers and eventually led him to devote the best activities of his life to the work of journalism. The history of the Sunbury American, founded by him in 1840, is fully detailed in this work in the chapter on the Press; as the responsible editor of this paper during a period of twenty-nine years his name will always occupy a prominent place in the annals of local journalism. Mr. END OF PAGE 806 Masser was recognized as a trenchant and forcible writer, and a sagacious observer of the political and social movements of the day. The paper had an extensive circulation throughout this section of the State, while its editorial utterances were widely copied and generally regarded as the expression of conservative and unbiased Opinion. Under his management the American was particularly earnest in its advocacy of measures designed to promote the internal development of the State, and rendered effective service in fostering the growth of public sentiment favorable to a protective tariff. In politics it was Democratic, but supported James Pollock for Congress in opposition to William A. Petrikin, the party candidate, on the tariff issue; its influence was shown by the fact that this county, strongly Democratic under ordinary conditions, gave Pollock a majority of several hundred. An equally noticeable demonstration of its influence occurred in the contest of Richard Coulter (Whig) and James Campbell (Democrat) for the Supreme bench; the American declined to support Campbell on the ground of Unfitness for the position, and his competitor received a majority of six hundred in Northumberland county. Early in Buchanan's administration it became identified with the "free soil" movement in the Democratic party; its support was transferred to President Lincoln shortly after his election in 1860, and from that time it has been a stanch Republican paper. Mr. Masser retired from its active editorship in 1869, but has not ceased to manifest a warm interest in educational and literary matters. In 1842 Mr. Masser married Diana M. Engle, of Sunbury, who died on the 7th of May, 1862. Two children were born to this union: Henry, who was born February 1, 1843, and died, September 17, 1843; and Mary. Mr. Masser has served for some years as a member of the vestry of St. Matthew's Protestant Episcopal church, Sunbury. HUGH BELLAS, deceased, was descended in the third generation from Hugh Bellas, of Liswatly, Ireland, who married a Miss Hunter about 1740; they had issue as follows: George; James; Hugh; Thomas, and a daughter who married a Mr. Sloan and immigrated to America prior to the close of the last century. George Bellas was born at Liswatly about 1750, immigrated to America, and settled in Fishing Creek township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania; he married a Miss Royce and they had issue as follows: Hugh; Agnes; Sarah; Samuel; George; John; James; Thomas, and Elizabeth. James Belles was born in 1752, settled at Ballyarton, and died in April, 1842; he married Sarah Huey and they had issue as follows: Jane, who was born in 1796 and died in 1819; Hugh, who was born in 1798 and died in 1868; James, who was born in 1800 and died in 1828; Rev. George, who was born in 1802 and died in 1885; Stewart, who was born in 1804 and died in 1815; Sarah, who was born in 1805; Thomas H., who was born in 1807 and died in 1883, and William, who was born in 1809 and died in 1817. Hugh Bellas was born about 1755, and died at Liswatly in 1825; he END OF PAGE 807 married a Miss King and they had issue as follows: Mrs. Mary Ann Warden; Mrs. Jane Caskey; Mrs. Sarah Williamson; Thomas, who located at Philadelphia; Rev. Joseph, who died in 1872; Hugh, who located at Port Stewart, married a Miss Elder, and died in 1885; James, who located at Philadelphia; Samuel, who died at Liswatly in 1832, and Elizabeth, who died at Port Stewart in 1876. Thomas Bellas was born between 1755 and 1760, immigrated to America, returned in bad health, and died at Liswatly before the close of the last century. Hugh Bellas, deceased, attorney at law, was born near Belfast, Ireland, April 26, 1780, son of George Bellas. He began the practice of law in Sunbury in 1803 and resided at that place until his death, October 26, 1863. He married Esther Anthony and they had three children: Eliza P.; Ann Caroline, and Amelia S. Eliza P. Bellas married Charles Pleasants, resided at Sunbury, and had the following children: Israel, an officer in the United States Army, who was killed at the battle of the Wilderness in 1863; Eliza F. Pleasants, who married W. K. Lineweaver and had the following children: Charles P.; James, and Florence. Ann Caroline Bellas married Aristide Rodrigue and had the following children: Andrew J.; Esther Aline, who married J. K. Gilbert; Hugh B., who married Elizabeth Dougherty; Ann Caroline, deceased; Aristide, deceased; Clara V., who married James A. Ruthven, and William, deceased; Henrietta, deceased; and Florence V., who married FitzGerald Tisdall. Amelia S. Bellas married James Brisbin and had the following children: Esther, who married Franklin B. Gowen and has one child, Esther B. Gowen; Hugh B.; Horace, and William. A sketch of the personal career of Hugh Bellas appears in this work in the chapter on the Bench and Bar. EBENEZER AND ABIGAIL (ISRAEL) GREENOUGH were natives, respectively, of Massachusetts and Delaware. The former was born, December 11, 1783, and died, December 25, 1847; the latter was born, December 12, 1791, and died in 1868. Mr. Greenough graduated from Harvard University in 1804, and came soon afterward to Pennsylvania; immediately upon his arrival at Wilkesbarre he accepted the principalship of the academy at that place, and during his connection with this institution, began the study of law. He removed to Sunbury in the latter part of 1806, completed his professional preparation, and was admitted to the bar in January, 1808. He was a man of large educational attainments, a strong Federalist in politics, and a brilliant lawyer. A contemporary of Samuel J. Packer, the two were warm friends and worked much together in matters of great public interest. Mr. Greenough was one term in the legislature, where he was conspicuous in the advocacy of internal improvement and in the shaping of manufacturing and corporation laws. He was the author of the Lateral Railroad END OF PAGE 808 law, although this was probably written after he left the legislature, and while he was not again in office his interest in public affairs continued to wield a wide and potent influence. He reared one son and five daughters, and left to them at his death what was then considered a handsome competency. WILLIAM I. GREENOUGH, attorney and counselor at law, was born at Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, May 27, 1821. He prepared for college at the academies of Sunbury, Wilkesbarre, and Danville, and in 1839 graduated from Princeton. Having decided upon the law as his profession, he devoted three years to its study with his distinguished father as preceptor, and in 1842 was admitted to the bar. In ante bellum days a Whig, he drifted naturally into the Republican party upon its organization, and has since been consistently loyal to its principles, though at no time an aspirant to official preferment. In fact, his life has been devoted to the law, in which his wisdom as counselor is unquestioned. At Danville, Pennsylvania, September 21, 1852, Mr. Greenough was married to Mary C., daughter of Peter Baldy, and has one son: Ebenezer, a graduate of Princeton and a lawyer by profession. SAMUEL J. PACKER, deceased, was born in Howard township, Centre county, Pennsylvania, March 23, 1799, son of Amos and Elizabeth (Jones) Packer. The ancestry of the family is traced to Philip Packer, a native of England, who immigrated to New Jersey and located near Princeton. He married Rebecca Jones, a native of Philadelphia; their eldest son, Philip Packer, 2d, settled in the forks of Cooper's creek, opposite Kensington, Philadelphia, but afterward removed to the vicinity of Yellow Springs, Chester county, Pennsylvania. He married Ann Coates, a native of Ireland; their eldest son, James Packer, was born near Princeton, New Jersey, on the 4th of 2d month, 1725, removed to Howard township, Centre county, about 1794, and died there, January 10, 1805. On the 1st of January, 1752, at East Cain meeting house, Chester county, he married Rose Mendenhall, who died in Bald Eagle, Clinton county, in June, 1824, at the age of ninety-one. Amos Packer, fifth child of James and Rose (Mendenhall) Packer, was born in Chester county, January 30, 1759, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Lydia Jones. Samuel J. Packer, seventh child of Amos and Elizabeth (Jones) Packer, was reared in his native township, educated under the tuition of his father, and apprenticed to the Printing trade at Bellefonte. He established the Inquirer at Sunbury in 1820, studied law under Hugh Bellas, and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county in 1823. A sketch of his professional and public career appears in this work in the chapter on the Bench and Bar. He married Rachel, daughter of James and Catherine (Cochran) Black, and to this union were born live children: John B.; Eliza J., deceased; Jane B., deceased; Samuel J., and Mary C., deceased, who intermarried with the Rev. F. R. Riddle. END OF PAGE 809 JOHN B. PACKER, attorney at law, was born at Sunbury, Pennsylvania, March 21, 1824, son of Samuel J. and Rachel (Black) Packer. He received an academic education, studied law under Ebenezer Greenough, and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county, August 6, 1844. Prior to the organization of the Republican party he was a tariff Democrat, and as such was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature from his native county in 1849 and 1850. He was elected to Congress in 1868 from the Fourteenth Pennsylvania district, served four consecutive terms, and declined a fifth after receiving the nomination. More complete details regarding his professional and political career are given in the chapter on the Bench and Bar in this work. While a member of the State legislature he secured the incorporation of the Susquehanna Railroad Company, afterward merged into the Northern Central, of which he was one of the organizers and for many years a director. He has served as counsel for that corporation since its formation, and has also represented the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in a similar capacity in this part of the State. In 1855 he became identified with the Bank of Northumberland, of which he was president from 1857 until it was merged into the First National Bank of Sunbury in 1864; of the latter institution he has been president since its organization, and is also connected with banking houses at Selinsgrove and Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Packer was married on the 22d of May, 1851, to Mary M., daughter of the late William Cameron, of Lewisburg, and they are the parents of five children: William C., who was born on the 1st of May, 1852, became a brilliant member of the bar, and died on the 4th of June, 1886; Rachel, wife of F. K. Hill, of Sunbury; James C., attorney at law, Sunbury; Mary, and Nellie C. SAMUEL J. PACKER, cashier of the First National Bank of Sunbury, was born at that borough on the 19th of June, 1831, son of Samuel J. and Rachel (Black) Packer. He was educated at the public schools and academy of his native town, read law with his brother, John B. Packer, and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county on the 4th of April, 1860. He at once entered upon and continued in the active practice of his profession until his election as cashier of the Bank of Northumberland, November 19, 1863. He has served in that capacity in the Bank of Northumberland and in the First National Bank of Sunbury to the present time. Of his ability as a financier the uniform prosperity of the institution with which he is so responsibly connected is sufficient evidence. Mr. Packer is a Republican in politics. WILLIAM CAMERON PACKER, deceased, was born at Sunbury, May 1, 1852, eldest son of John B. and Mary (Cameron) Packer. He was reared in his native town, and after leaving the local schools attended the Wilkesbarre Academy and Bloomsburg State Normal School, graduating from the latter institution in 1871. He pursued the study of the law under his father, and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county on the 5th of November, 1872, after which he at once entered upon the practice of his profession at END OF PAGE 810 Page 811 contains a portrait of Lloyd T. Rohrbach. Page 812 is blank. Sunbury. Several years later he was appointed solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in Northumberland county, discharging the duties of this responsible position with ability and credit until his death. He also acquired a very considerable general practice, and ranked with the ablest among the younger members of the local bar. He laid out the Cameron addition to Shamokin, served as director in the First National Bank of Sunbury, and was also connected with other business enterprises. In politics he was a Republican; in 1875 he was elected a member of the borough council, in 1876-78, assistant burgess, in 1879- 80, second burgess, and in 1881-83, chief burgess. During his incumbency in the latter office and largely through his instrumentality the river embankment was constructed for the protection of the town against floods, the borough debt was materially reduced and the remainder refunded at a lower rate of interest, resulting in a large annual saving to the tax-payers of the town. In 1875 Mr. Packer married Jennie H., daughter of Dr. Henry C. and Harriet (Boob) Houtz, of Alexandria, Pennsylvania; she was born on the 9th of December, 1852, and died, April 1, 1882. In 1884 he married her sister, Laura A. Houtz, who, with the children by his first marriage, Mary C., John B., and William C., survives him and resides at Sunbury. He died on the 4th of June, 1880, at the age of thirty-four and in the full vigor of early manhood. "Running through his life," wrote one who knew him well, "was a vein of generosity that formed one of his prominent characteristics. The poor, into whose homes his bounteous hand carried comfort and assistance, are among those who will miss him most in the days to come. His friends are numbered by thousands, including all classes of society. To know him was to love him, and few there are who have had that pleasure that do not recall some kindly deed performed or some cheering word uttered in the hour of adversity. To the sick and afflicted he is endeared by ties which even death can not sever, for his goodness supplied many delicacies and attentions otherwise beyond their reach. In all the relations of life he was the same - honorable, upright, manly, and charitable." DAVID ROCKEFELLER, deceased, was born on the 6th of September, 1802, son of William and Drusilla (Vankirk) Rockefeller and grandson of Godfrey Rockefeller. The latter was born in New Jersey in 1747; in 1789 he settled at the present site of Snydertown, Northumberland county, and there resided until his death. He married Margaret Lewis, and they were the parents of eleven children. William, the fifth in order of birth, was a farmer by occupation and died in Rush township, where David, his son and the subject of this sketch, was born and reared. After reaching manhood he first engaged in merchandising at Sunbury. He then learned surveying under his uncle, Jacob Rockefeller, and was actively engaged in the duties of that profession from the year 1826 until within a week of his death, which occurred at Sunbury on the 22d of August, 1876. Throughout northern and central Penn- END OF PAGE 813 sylvania he enjoyed a reputation for exceptional accuracy, and was frequently called upon to make surveys in cases of disputed land titles. His memory was remarkable. Years after making a survey he could, without reference to his notes, give the courses and distances of lines that he had run, with perfect accuracy and without apparent effort. He was county surveyor a large part of his professional career, either by appointment of the surveyor general or election to that office. He also served as deputy sheriff more than a score of years; on the 25th of June, 1849, he was commissioned as register and recorder, and filled that office until the ensuing election. He married Catherine, daughter of Philip and Susanna (Carter) Mettler, natives of New Jersey and pioneers of Rush township; she died on the 7th of September, 1889, at the age of seventy-nine. They were the parents of five sons, two of whom, William M. and A. Jordan, grew to maturity. A. Jordan Rockefeller was a lawyer by profession, and died at Sunbury in 1862 at the age of twenty-six. WILLIAM M. ROCKEFELLER, president judge of the Eighth Pennsylvania judicial district, was born at Sunbury, August 18, 1830, son of David and Catherine (Mettler) Rockefeller. He was educated at the Sunbury Academy, studied law under John B. Packer and the late Judge Jordan, and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county on the 6th of August, 1850. After one year of practice at Minersville, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, he located at Sunbury, and was actively engaged in professional work until his elevation to the bench in 1871. Having been re-elected in 1881, he is now approaching the end of his second term. In 1855 he was elected chief burgess of Sunbury. In 1853, associated with Judge Jordan and M. L. Shindel, he revised and edited the second edition of the American Pleader's Assistant, a young lawyer's guide to pleading and forms that has found a place in many libraries. The Judge was a Democrat before the civil war, at the outbreak of which he became a Republican and has since been attached to that party. On the 11th of August, 1857, he married Emily, daughter of Thomas and Maria (Housel) Jones, of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of three children: Mary; Charles W., attorney at law, and Flora, Mrs. Ward Rice, of Pueblo, Colorado. The family are all members of the Presbyterian church of Sunbury, of which the Judge has been a trustee over thirty years and chairman of the board of trustees since 1876. In 1887, in company with Mrs. Rockefeller and Mr. and Mrs. John B. Packer, the Judge visited the principal cities and localities of interest in the western States and Territories, and in the following year, accompanied by his son Charles W., he made an extended tour through the British Isles, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and Italy. IRA T. CLEMENT, president of the Sunbury Steam Ferry and Tow Boat Company and an extensive manufacturer of lumber, is a native of New Jersey and was born on the 11th of January, 1813. His father, Joseph END OF PAGE 814 Clement, a Revolutionary soldier, reared two sons and one daughter. After his death his widow married a Mr. Smith, who removed to Ohio and died there; she then returned to Sunbury, and here spent the remainder of her life. Ira T. Clement learned the carpenter trade at Sunbury; and pursued that occupation a short time; he then embarked in merchandising and was in business thirty years, and has now been engaged in the lumber industry nearly forty years. In the manufacture of lumber, furniture, and coffins he employs about one hundred twenty-five men, and gives to all his various interests his personal supervision. Some years since he was stricken with rheumatism, which finally destroyed his power of locomotion; notwithstanding his condition he abates not in his energy, nor misses a day from a personal survey of his important industries. His line of steamboats plying regularly between Sunbury, Northumberland, and Shamokin Dam affords convenient and pleasant transportation between those Points. In politics Mr. Clement was once a Whig, then a Republican, and is now a Democrat. He married Sarah Martz, of Sunbury, who died in 1872; twelve children were born to them, four of whom are now living: Henry; Louisa, Mrs. H. B. Moore; Frances, widow of David C Dissinger; and Laura, Mrs. D. James. Mr. Clement and family are members of the Reformed church. JOHN HAAS, ex-president of the Sunbury Nail, Bar, and Guide Iron Man Manufacturing Company, was born at Elysburg, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, June 22, 1822. His parents, Daniel and Eve (Reed) Haas, were also natives of this county, and in 1854 removed to Newtown, Fountain county, Indiana, where they died. To them were born seven sons and four daughters, of whom eight are living: David, Jacob, Daniel, and William, who reside in the State of Indiana; John and Jonas, who live in this County Julia A., who married Nicholas Y. Fisher and lives in Indiana, and Maria A., widow of Charles Leisenring, who resides at Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. The parents became early identified with the Lutheran church, but after removing to Indiana joined the Methodist organization because of there being no Lutheran church in the town where they located. John Haas received his education in a log cabin school house and among his early teachers were Albe C. Barrett, Jehu John, and William H. Muench. He worked on a farm until the age of eighteen years, when his father apprenticed him to learn the trade of fuller and carder with David Martz, at his mill located on a small stream near the present site of Paxinos. He soon became dissatisfied, believing that such a trade would be an unprofitable one, and consequently quit. His father again sought a trade for him, this time putting him at the blacksmith shop of Daniel Roads, where he remained one winter, and then withdrew with the same belief that this, too, would be a poor vocation. His father then told him that he must look out for himself; and soon after the young son began clerking for his cousin, Jonas Haas, a merchant at Lineville, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, receiv- END OF PAGE 815 ing the small sum of five dollars per month for his services. At the end of one year he came home, and within a short time took employment on the repair of a railroad at Pottsville, remaining thus engaged for one year After a visit home he resumed his work under the same employer at Pottsville, but soon thereafter came to Sunbury in response to a letter from Ira T. Clement and became a clerk in that gentleman's general store, where he remained from 1845 to 1857. During the last mentioned year he was employed as a clerk by Fagely, Seasholtz & Company, coal merchants of Sunbury, and in the fall of that year he became a member of the firm, its name changing to the style of John Haas & Company. This firm conducted an extensive coal operation until 1872, when they sold their personal property to the Mineral Mining Company, but continued to deal in coal until the death of Mr. Fagely. During this partnership Mr. Haas and Mr. Fagely purchased four thousand acres of woodland in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, had a large amount of lumber manufactured from the same, and found sale for it at small profit. He belongs to Sunbury Lodge, No. 22, F. & A.M., Northumberland Chapter, No. 174, and the Crusade Commandery of Bloomsburg; was a member of the I.O.O.F. of Sunbury; was a director of the Sunbury, Shamokin and Lewisburg railroad; is a director of the First National Bank of Sunbury; is president of the Sunbury Water Company; president of the board of directors of the Missionary Institute of Selinsgrove; was treasurer of the Pennsylvania State Sunday School Association for one year; was for a time a director of the Loysville Orphans' School; became a member of the Lutheran church over fifty years ago, and has been its Sabbath school superintendent for twenty-two years, having at the present time a school of seven hundred pupils under his management, and the great good he has done in this worthy cause will only be known in that day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed. He was a Democrat until the formation of the Republican party, when he entered its ranks, casting his first vote for John C. Fremont for President of the United States. He was first married in 1845 to Mary A. Geen, who died in 1856, the mother of four children, three of whom are living: Mrs. M. A. Martin; Mrs. J. C. Rohrbach, and John P. His second and present wife was Mercy Ann Martin. WILLIAM DEWART, from whom the family of that name in this county is descended, was a native of Ireland; he immigrated to Chester county, Pennsylvania, and thence, in 1775, to Sunbury, where he was an early merchant. There he died, July 25, 1814. Lewis Dewart, his son, was born at Sunbury, November 14, 1780; in early life he assisted in his father's store, and although actively and successfully engaged in business for many years, his public career is particularly noticeable. In 1816-20, inclusive, he was elected to the House of Representatives, in 1823, to the State Senate, and in 1834-37, inclusive, to the House of Representatives, of which he served as END OF PAGE 816 Speaker in the session of 1827. He was also elected to the XXIId Congress from the district of which his native county formed part. In politics he was a Democrat. He married Elizabeth Liggett, of Chester county, Pennsylvania; William L. Dewart, their only son, was born at Sunbury, June 21, 1820, educated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and at the College of New Jersey at Princeton, read law with Charles G. Donnel, and was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county in 1843. He was an active supporter of the Democratic party, and was several times a member of the national conventions of that organization; he was also a member of the XXXVth Congress, and otherwise prominent in public affairs. He married Rosetta, daughter of Espy Van Horn, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1848, and they were the parents of three sons and two daughters, three of whom grew to maturity and are now living: Lewis, attorney at law, Sunbury; William L., of the Northumberland County Democrat and Sunbury Daily, and Bessie, wife of F. L. Brice, of Sunbury. Major Dewart died at Sunbury, April 19, 1888; his widow resides in that borough at an advanced age. WILLIAM MCCARTY, deceased, was born at Port Roseway, near Shelburne, Nova Scotia, September 15th, 1788, son of James McCarty, a native of Ireland, who had been wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of the Cowpens and was detained in Nova Scotia until 1798, when he removed to New York. The subject of this sketch was almost entirely self-educated. He began his active career as cabin boy on a merchantman, and made several voyages to the West Indies and Spain. He then entered the office of the leading Democratic paper of New York as an apprentice to the printing trade, at which he was subsequently employed as a compositor. His first venture as a publisher was a daily newspaper at New York, upon which he performed nearly the entire work himself. In that city he was also a member of the firm of McCarty & White, which published a monthly magazine, The Ladies' Miscellany. About the year 1813 he removed to Philadelphia; there he became associated with Francis Davis, and the firm of McCarty & Davis transacted an extensive and prosperous publishing business for some years. In 1830 Mr. McCarty became identified with the Wading River Canal and Manufacturing Company, which erected large paper mills at McCartynlle (now Harrisville), on the Wading river in Burlington county, New Jersey. It was the intention of this company to manufacture paper from the salt marsh grass of that locality; the venture was entirely successful from a mechanical and scientific point of view, but, owing to the failure of the United States Bank, modifications in the tariff, and other causes, it terminated in financial disaster in 1844. This obliged Mr. McCarty to retire from the firm of McCarty & Davis, and also compelled the suspension of the Philadelphia Gazette, a daily paper of which he had been editor and publisher. He subsequently operated the Wading Creek mills individually, but the entire establishment was destroyed by fire and thus his circumstances were more embarrassed than before. In END OF PAGE 817 August, 1844, he removed to Sunbury, where he conducted a book store and was identified with the Sunbury Canal and Water Power Company and other enterprises. He also acquired large property interests in this section of the State, but never fully recovered his former affluence. He died at Sunbury on the 8th of April, 1861. SIMON P. WOLVERTON, attorney at law, was born in Rush township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, January 28, 1837. His parents, Joseph and Charity (Kase) Wolverton, descendants from English and German ancestry, respectively, were both born in this county. The senior Mr. Wolverton buried his wife in 1862; he lived to be eighty-three years old, dying in 1885. They reared two sons and three daughters. Simon P. Wolverton was educated at Danville Academy and Lewisburg University, graduating from the last named institution in 1800, after doubling his studies and condensing the Junior and Senior years into one. He was admitted to the bar in April, 1862, and entered at once into practice. Upon Confederate General Stuart's raid into Pennsylvania, Mr. Wolverton raised a company of emergency men of which he was captain. When Lee's army invaded Pennsylvania he again raised a company of Pennsylvania militia and as captain served until honorably discharged. In the fall of 1878 he was chosen by the people of the Democratic party to fill out the unexpired term of A. K. Dill in the State Senate, Mr. Dill having resigned to become a candidate for Governor. He was twice re-elected, making in all a service of ten years in the upper branch of the Pennsylvania legislature. His district being Republican by at least one thousand, his three successful elections by large and increasing majorities admit of but one conclusion. In 1890 he was elected to Congress from the Seventeenth Congressional district, composed of Northumberland, Columbia, Montour, and Sullivan counties, by a very large majority. Mr. Wolverton is truly a self-made man. His only inheritance being an unusually brilliant intellect, a magnificent physique, an iron constitution, and untiring industry, the world was before him and he readily appreciated the demands that Queen Fortune would make before she would vouchsafe her smiles upon him. He entered the lists and all the good people of this county and thousands outside of it know the result, and with one accord proclaim "Long life and continued prosperity to the man who by his individual merit has risen from obscurity to exalted rank in the community of his nativity." Mr. Wolverton was married in Sunbury, March 23, 1865, to Elizabeth D. Hendricks, and has three children: Mary G.; Elizabeth K., and Simon P. The family are all members of the Presbyterian church, and Mr. Wolverton is identified with the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternities. TRUMAN H. PURDY, president of the Lewisburg Furniture and Planing Mill Company, treasurer of the Lewisburg Nail Works, treasurer of the Sunbury Gas Company, and one of the directors of the Lewisburg Steam Forge Company, is an attorney at law of Sunbury, and was born in Wayne county, END OF PAGE 818 Pennsylvania, June 26, 1831. His parents, Harvey and Ruth (Clark) Purdy, were natives, respectively, of Wayne and Lackawanna Counties, this State, and date their ancestry back to the colonial days. The senior Mr. Purdy died, November 9, 1847, aged forty-six years, and his widow died, December 31, 1852, at the age of forty-eight years. They reared three sons and one daughter, of whom our subject and a brother, Dr. N. C, Purdy of Allenwood, Pennsylvania, are living. T. H. Purdy was educated at Madison Academy and Lewisburg University. He established the Union Argus, a weekly paper at Lewisburg, edited it three years, sold out, and began the study of law with Judge Bucher. In 1861 he was induced to come to Sunbury and start the Northumberland County Democrat. He conducted this paper until 1867, Publishing, at the same time, the German Democrat, a paper which died with his retirement. Under his management the Northumberland County Democrat increased its circulation from three hundred to three thousand five hundred. While conducting the paper he continued the study of law under Judge Alexander Jordan and in 1866 was admitted to the bar. Always a Democrat, he represented the county and that party two times, 1864 and 1865, in the legislature. Since 1866 he has not been active in politics, but prior thereto he had been a hard and telling worker. In 1862 he made sixty-five speeches, and at the election of that year the Democrats polled one thousand majority as against sixty-four in the year 1861. He delivered the historical oration at the centennial celebration of Sunbury, July 4, 1872, which was published in pamphlet form and widely read. In 1863 he purchased considerable land, in what is now East Sunbury; he selected from it a plot of about two and a half acres, upon an elevation overlooking the town, upon which he erected his present residence. In 1876, associated with J. B. Ewing, he founded the town of Steelton, Pennsylvania, where he yet has large interests. Mr. Purdy takes an active interest in education and public improvements at all times, and the high school at Purdytown or East Sunbury is credited to his influence. Being a man of learning and rare literary attainments he delights in books, and his private library is one of the finest in the State. As an author he has brought out through his Publishers, J. B. Lippincott & Company, "Legends of the Susquehanna, a handsome volume of one hundred ninety-five pages, elegantly bound and rich in charming verse. The book is profusely illustrated by the famous F. O. Darley, and this was the last work performed by that now lamented artist. Mr. Purdy also published a two hundred page poem entitled "Doubter" the edition of which has been exhausted, and has just completed a novel which will soon be brought out by his publishers. He was married in Lewisburg, December 19, 1861, to Mary B., daughter of the late Dr. Robert James, of Northampton county, and a sister of Robert B. James, of Easton, Pennsylvania, and has three children: Carrie M.; Truman J., and Hiram L. END OF PAGE 819 GEORGE HILL, attorney at law, was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, August 3, 1821, and acquired an education at the common schools and a classical institute taught by Samuel S. Shedden, a Presbyterian divine. He began the study of law at Milton under James Pollock, afterward a member of the national Congress, but a change in circumstances led him to Union county, where he taught school and finished his legal studies under Absalom Swineford. He was admitted to the bar in August, 1848. Entering at once into practice he remained at Selinsgrove from 1849 to 1858, and in the spring of the last named year came to Sunbury. Here he has been for over thirty years a lawyer of recognized ability and a citizen of high repute. He has always been a Democrat; ever active in the promotion of others, for himself he has sought no political preferment, and has for some years taken no active part in politics. As a Mason Mr. Hill is also prominent. He is a member of the local lodge and chapter. Mastering the principles of those bodies he has passed into the higher dispensation of the commandery and consistory at Bloomsburg. In religious matters too he takes a deep concern and belongs to the Reformed church. He was first married at Selinsgrove in December, 1848, to Martha C. Buehler, who died in 1870, leaving the following children: Ferdinand K.; J. Nevin; Mary S., now the wife of J. Z. Gerhard, M D., superintendent of the State lunatic hospital, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Samuel Ambrose, deceased; William Herbert, and Charles H. In June, 1871, he married Sue E. Kirlin, of Middletown, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hill's parents were Daniel and Susan (Truckenmiller) Hill, natives of Pennsylvania, and of Scotch-Irish and German descent, respectively. The senior Mr. Hill, a farmer, died when his son George was only seven years old; his widow and three children moved to this county, where she died in 1865 aged sixty-five years. The Grandfather Hill was a Revolutionary soldier. DANIEL HEIM, hardware merchant and vice-president of the Sunbury Nail, Bar, and Guide Iron Manufacturing Company, was born in Upper Mahanoy township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, January 15, 1816, son of John and Sophia (Kohl) Heim. His grandfather came from Germany and was one of the pioneers of Upper Mahanoy. John Heim, a farmer and school teacher, died in 1824. He was the father of sixteen children, seven daughters and one son by his first wife, and six sons and two daughters by his second wife. The latter lived to be eighty-eight years old. Daniel was her seventh child. His mother remarried when he was about twelve years old, and he soon afterwards entered upon the battle of life among strangers. For three years he found employment among the farmers, and then in Union county learned the carpenter trade and followed that and millwrighting eighteen years. In 1850 he engaged in the merchandise business in his native township and followed it sixteen years; thence he came to Sunbury and remained one year, and in 1867 moved to Danville and kept the Danville Hotel one year. In 1870, in partnership with his son John, he em- END OF PAGE 820 barked in the hardware business at his present location. John retired from the business in 1879, and Mr. Heim has since continued the business alone. He was one of the organizers of the Sunbury Nail, Bar, and Guide Iron Manufacturing Company, and has been its vice-president since its inception. In ante bellum days Mr. Heim was captain of militia and lieutenant of a volunteer company, and when Johnston was Governor he was commissioned major of a uniformed volunteer battalion and held that rank five years. Major Heim was married in his native township, October 23, 1836, to Mary Hornberger, daughter of George Hornberger, and has had borne to him ten children: John H., a jeweler; Lydia, Mrs. Peter Gonsar; Henrietta, Mrs. Samuel H. Snyder; Sarah Ann, deceased wife of Charles Schlagel; Louisiana, widow of Albert Haas; James B., who had been in the army, was mustered out, and died in 1865 on his way home; George W.; William Henry; Mary Ellen, who died in 1863, and Percival O. Mr. Heim is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Lutheran church. He served one year as chief burgess of Sunbury, elected by the Republican Party. GEORGE W. ZEIGLER, attorney at law, was born at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1819, son of George and Gertrude Elizabeth (Chritzman) Zeigler. George Zeigler was a hatter by occupation, and served his county many years as Prothonotary. He was born in Gettysburg and died in Dauphin county, where he had lived Some years, at the age of sixty-three years. His wife was a native of Germany, lived to be seventy-five years old, and died in Butler county, Pennsylvania, where she lived with one of her sons. His father was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and himself a soldier in the war of 1812. The subject of this sketch was educated at Gettysburg and learned the printing business on the old Gettysburg Compiler. When yet a young man he joined his brother at Butler in the printing business, and then began the study of law. At the age of twenty-two years he was admitted to the bar, and practiced law two years afterwards in Butler. From there he went to Jefferson county, where he built up an extensive practice, remained fifteen years, and left on account of his health. After two years practice at Selinsgrove he came to Sunbury in the fall of 1864. Here his ability as a lawyer was readily recognized, and he has long occupied a high position in the profession. He has been thrice a member of the legislature, in the sessions of 1854-55 and 1861. He has always been a Democrat and his advocacy of the principles of that party have until within the past four or five years been untiring and zealous. Mr. Zeigler is truly the architect of his own fortune. The inheritor of no riches, the recipient of no bounty other than the God-given qualities of a correct mind and a sound body, his successes in life are scored to his individual merit. The late Jacob Zeigler, for fifty years a conspicuous factor in Pennsylvania Politics and whose life forms a part of this great State's history, was the elder brother of our subject. Mr. Zeigler was married in Butler, December 27, 1838, to Mary A. McQuis- END OF PAGE 821 tion, and the six children born to them are: Isabella, Mrs. George W. Keefer; Joseph, superintendent of the Adirondacks railroad; Gertrude E., Mrs. P. P. Smith; J. Walter; George, who died in 1860 aged thirteen years, and Edgar, who died in infancy. Mrs. Zeigler died, September 5, 1889, aged sixty-nine years, eleven months, and five days. Mr. Zeigler is a member of the Presbyterian church and a Freemason. WILLIAM A. SOBER, attorney at law and United States commissioner for the Western district of Pennsylvania, is a native of Shamokin township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, and was born, September 3, 1840. His father, Alexander Sober, was born in the same place, and his mother, whose maiden name was Foy, was probably born in Rockefeller township. The Sober family, originally from Germany, came here from New Jersey in the person of the grandfather of our subject during the latter part of the last century. Alexander Sober, third son of his father, was born in 1807, and died in December, 1869. He was a quiet and industrious citizen and farmer, and highly esteemed by his neighbors. His widow yet lives in her native place. They were the parents of twelve children, nine sons and three daughters, of whom all, except two of the former, are living. William A, the sixth son, was attending Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport, when he decided to enter the army. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Fifty-second Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served sixteen mouths, taking part in the battles of Yorktown, Williamsburg, White House, Chickahominy, and Seven Pines, and was seven days in front of Richmond. While at the latter place he was taken with typhoid fever, and was soon afterward discharged. In May, 1864, he was appointed to a position in the provost marshal general's office as chief clerk of the disbursing branch for the Western district of Pennsylvania, and resigned in December, 1865. He next read law under John B. Packer, and in August, 1867, was admitted to the bar. In 1871 he was appointed county solicitor and held the office three years; in 1872 he was appointed United States commissioner; from 1882 to 1886 he was in the borough council, and in the latter year he was elected assistant burgess. Always a Republican and ever active in behalf of that party, Mr. Sober has deserved well at its hands, and this brief summing up shows that his merits have not been wholly unappreciated. He was married in Reading, Pennsylvania, in October, 1869, to Emma E., daughter of Augustus F. Boas, a lawyer and many years a leading banker of Reading, and has one child, Emily Belle. JOHN W. PEAL, M. D., removed from Hughesville, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, to Sunbury, in November, 1838. He lived and practiced medicine there until 1868, when, owing to failure of health, he was removed to Lock Haven, where his son resided. Here after a prolonged illness he passed to rest on the 14th day of July, 1868, aged sixty- eight years and one month. He was the son of John Peal and Mary (McClintock) Peal, having been born END OF PAGE 822 near Shippensburg, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, on the 13th of June, 1800. At twenty-seven years he married Martha Washington Sturgeon, daughter of Samuel Sturgeon, of Shippensburg, who proved through life a beautiful character. They now sleep side by side in Highland cemetery at Lock Haven. He was a strong man, of commanding presence, sympathetic heart, and iron will. In his home life that will power which had been given him for the arena of men sometimes, as is the case with many men, got out of place, and wounded those he loved, but if thus he wounded, with what infinite tenderness did he heal! His generous heart could always be depended on for acts of manly kindness. He was a good husband, an ambitious father, and a thrifty business man. Six children, five daughters and one son, survive him, also nine grandsons and nine granddaughters. He wrote his name, John W., to distinguish it from his father's, but his name was simply John, the son of John Peal, who was the son of John Peal, an Englishman who immigrated to this country about the middle of the eighteenth century, and was living, between 1800 and 1810, near Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. Doctor Peal's mother, Mary McClintock, was Scotch-Irish, a relation of James McClintock, M.D., late of Philadelphia, and John McClintock, D. D., LL. D., late of Paris, France, a most gifted and cultured man. Mrs. Peal's father, Samuel Sturgeon, cousin to Daniel Sturgeon, late United States Senator from Pennsylvania, and her mother, Fanny Rogers, were Scotch-Irish also, and in "ye olden time" both families worshiped at the old Silver Spring Presbyterian church near Shippensburg. His name, John W. Peal, has descended to his grandson, John W. Peal, of New York City, and to his great-grandson, John W. Peal, son of Rembrandt R. Peal, Philadelphia. Doctor Peal lived an active and useful life. As a physician he was very attentive to his patients, very cheering and magnetic in the sick-room, and very original and bold in his treatment of diseases. He was a born physician, and devoted his whole mentality to his profession. So deep was his interest in the sick ones who were entrusted to his healing art that he often when the case was critical walked his floor all night absorbed in thought. Looking back now, the writer sees a strong, handsome, earnest, unselfish man, whom never storm or darkness deterred from going to the bedside of the sick, whose tenderness to the suffering never failed, and whose skill in treatment was unexcelled by any of his compeers; this man was Dr. John W. Peal, of Sunbury. On his grave-stone in Highland Cemetery are written these expressive words "at rest." S. R. P. DANIEL W. SHINDEL, physician, was born in Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, November 17, 1822, and is probably the oldest practicing physician in Sunbury. His father was the Rev. John Peter Shindel of the Lutheran church, and his mother's family name was McCullough. Both parents were native Pennsylvanians, the Shindel family coming originally from Germany and the McCullough's from Ireland. Rev. J. P. Shindel came to END OF PAGE 823 Sunbury in 1812 and preached in various churches in this part of the country thirty-five or forty years. He died in 1853, aged about sixty- seven years. They reared eight sons and four daughters, of whom three sons only are now living. The youngest, Luther, is a Lutheran preacher at Danville, Pennsylvania, and Jacob G. L., an ex-judge, is a druggist at Selinsgrove, Snyder county, Pennsylvania. Dr. D. W. Shindel was educated primarily at Sunbury Academy, began the study of medicine while teaching school, and in 1850 was graduated from Pennsylvania Medical College. He has served the people in various local offices, such as councilman, assistant burgess, school director, and pension examiner. He has been a member of the school board twenty-one years and was United States pension examiner from 1865 to 1885. He has also served as medical examiner for several life insurance companies. He has been twice married, first in Sunbury, June 17, 1851, to Mary Wharton, who was the mother of three daughters: Florine, Mrs. J. Fasold; Susan D., Mrs. John R. Quiggle, and Mary E., Mrs. George W. Hoffman. Mrs. Shindel died in January, 1863. In 1864 the Doctor married Elizabeth Irwin, and to this union have been born six children: William L., editor of the Shamokin Dispatch; Jane, deceased; Carrie, deceased; Minnie; Georgia A., and Webster, deceased. CAPTAIN CHARLES J. BRUNER was born in Sunbury, November 17, 1820, and died, March 15, 1885. His father was the Rev. Martin Bruner of the German Reformed church, and his mother's maiden name was Mary Gray - the latter a native of Sunbury and the former of Philadelphia. The Rev. Martin Bruner died in 1852; his widow lived to the age of seventy-five years. He came to Sunbury when twenty-one years old, from here moved to Hagerstown, Maryland, and from there to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he died. Charles J. Bruner came to Sunbury to live in 1840. He was educated in Lancaster, studied law under Judge Alexander Jordan, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. For a time after coming to the bar he was associated with the late Major Dewart; afterward he had no law partner. At the meeting of the bar at Sunbury, Monday, March 30, 1885, held for the purpose, the formal announcement of Captain Bruner's death was made and the following resolutions were adopted:- The bar of Northumberland county, having convened to take recognition of the death, and to pay some seemly tribute to the character and memory of the late Charles J. Bruner, Esquire, whose relations as a member thereof have always been so honorable, but whose untimely decease it has been so suddenly and unexpectedly called to deplore, doth resolve, First, That his spotless career as a lawyer while in active membership of this bar, his exemplary courage when in camp and field, while he served his country as a soldier in the early and trying days of the late civil war, his enviable record for efficiency and integrity as an officer in the civil service of the Federal government during the fourteen years or more he held the important trust of collector of internal revenue for the Fourteenth district of Pennsylvania, and his fair promise of honorable achievement on his recent return to and renewal of active employment in his profession of the law, have made his name and character well worthy to be held in active memory, and render his fame well worthy of perpetuation among the historical records of our bar and his virtues and achievements in public and professional life well worthy of righteous emulation. Second, That his learning, the high order of his natural abilities, his discriminating judgment and quickness of perception, and the noble Virtues of his public and private life, have largely contributed to place him in high rank among the just and honorable of his profession. Third, That by his genial manners, his amiable temper, his affectionate disposition, his generous impulses, as well by his unswerving fidelity in pure and disinterested friendship as by his kindly and beneficent influences in social and professional intercourse, he has won his way to the strongest feelings and best impulses of our hearts. Fourth, That a committee of four members of the bar be appointed to convey to his family the assurance of our heartfelt sympathy with them in this sudden and great bereavement, and to commend them in the great depth of their sorrow to the strong staff tendered by him "who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," and fails not to remember the widow or the orphan, but notes in tenderness of mercy even the fall of the sparrow. Signed, W. A. SOBER, G. W. ZEIGLER, SAMUEL HECKERT, P. L. HACKENBERG, Committee. At Lincoln's first call for troops in 1861 Captain Bruner responded as the leader of Company F, Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served about six months, taking an active part in the battle of Falling Waters. He was afterward in the emergency service a short time. General Grant while President appointed him collector of internal revenue for the Fourteenth Pennsylvania district, a Position he held successively under both Hayes and Arthur. The Grand Army Post in Sunbury is named in honor of his brother, William. Captain Bruner was a member of the Reformed church and prominent in the I.O.O.F. He was a self-made man. Beginning life without fortune in worldly goods, he gave liberally through his life from his stores made ample by his personal industry, and died leaving those dependent upon him a fair competency. He is a direct descendant from the celebrated Bradys, and his widow, to whom he was married in Sunbury, June 3, 1852 was Louisa Weiser, a direct descendant of Conrad Weiser, the noted Indian interpreter during the early settlement of the region of Shamokin, now Sunbury. To this union were born the following children: Mary Gray, the wife of C. G. Voris, attorney, of Milton; Elizabeth, who died before a year old; Louisa, who died at four and a half years of age; Charles, who died at one and a half years of age; William W., now in the United States postal service, and Franklin, who died when eight years old. GENERAL JOHN KAY CLEMENT, deceased, was born at Philadelphia, January 1, 1820, son of Evan and Hannah (Kay) Clement. His father died when he was but seven years of age. He was educated at the Friends' END OF PAGE 825 school in his native city, read law under Richard Howell of Camden, New Jersey, and was admitted to the bar at Trenton in l841. Shortly afterward he located in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, residing at Minersville and Pottsville, and removed to Sunbury in l854. He possessed great ability as a lawyer, and was an orator of exceptional eloquence and power. Among the official positions with which he was honored were those of brigadier general of the State militia, to which he was appointed while a resident of Schuylkill county; district attorney of Northumberland county which he was elected in 1859 and 1871 and appointed in 1877; and provost marshal of the Fourteenth Pennsylvania district from 1862 to 1864. In 1854 he married Mary S., eldest daughter of Isaac and Mary (Eyer) Zeigler, of Sunbury; Charles M. Clement, deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is their only surviving son. General Clement died at Sunbury on the 15th of October, 1882. He was a Republican in politics, a member of the Masonic fraternity, and a vestryman in St. Matthew's Protestant Episcopal church at the time of his death. LLOYD T. ROHRBACH, treasurer of the Sunbury Nail, Bar, and Guide Iron Manufacturing Company, treasurer of the Sunbury Water Company, dealer in ice and coal, and manufacturer of brick, a lawyer by profession, and an active all-around business man, was born in Upper Augusta township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, January 22,1839. He was educated at the common schools of Sunbury, Missionary Institute at Selinsgrove, and Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, and in April, 1861, joined the army as a private in Company F, Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers. At the end of three months' service he read law, and in 1863 was admitted to the bar. In 1868 he was appointed United States commissioner, held the office several years, and resigned. Giving up the practice of law in 1872 he afterwards served two terms as prothonotary and clerk of the courts, and thereafter turned his attention to his business interests. A Republican in politics, he is regarded as one of the best workers in the party, and though seeking no office for himself his invaluable services are always at the command of his friends. He was married at Sunbury, December 20, 1866, to Jennie C., daughter of John Haas, and has two children: George Edward and William R. JAMES H. McDEVITT, attorney at law and United States commissioner for the Western district of Pennsylvania, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 7, 1843. He was graduated from St. Francis College in 1861, and for some years was engaged in mercantile business at Altoona. He came to Sunbury in 1870 as a clerk in the office of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and while there began the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1873, and has been regularly in practice ever since. In September, 1873, he was appointed United States commissioner, the term of which office is limited to good behavior or life. He is an active Democratic worker, was END OF PAGE 826 for some years a member of the executive committee of the State, and in 1886 was the regular nominee for Congress, a sort of forlorn hope, the district being then overwhelmingly Republican. Mr. McDevitt is a Royal Arch Mason and an Odd Fellow. He was married in Danville, Pennsylvania, November 11, l871, to Amelia, daughter of S. B. Boyer, and has one daughter, Essie. The parents of Mr. McDevitt were John and Charlotte (Caffey) McDevitt, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Pennsylvania, of Quaker origin. The father was many years a merchant in Altoona and died there in 1873 aged seventy-seven years. His widow resides in Philadelphia. SOLOMON B. BOYER, attorney at law, was born in Little Mahanoy township, now Cameron, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, January 4, 1829, son of John and Elizabeth (Bixler) Boyer, early settlers of this county. The senior Mr. Boyer, a farmer and merchant by occupation, reared eleven children, nine of whom are living. Solomon B., the eldest, was educated at the common schools, learned the cabinet maker's trade, and occasionally clerked for his father. He read law with the late H. J. Wolverton and was admitted to the bar in August, 1858. Entering at once into practice, he readily gained reputation and popularity, and has for many years been recognized as a successful lawyer in the civil and criminal courts. His practice extends throughout the State, and into all the courts, both State and Federal. Now and for some years past an ardent Democrat, he was during the war a Republican, and held the office of deputy revenue collector under President Lincoln's administration. He has been chief burgess of Sunbury four years and held other minor offices at various times. In Masonry, Odd Fellowship, and Knights of Pythias Mr. Boyer is the foremost man in the county. There is scarcely any position in the order of Odd Fellows, including the office of Grand Master of this State, that he has not held, nor any honors they have not conferred upon him from time to time. He was married in Cameron township in 1850 to Esther Haupt, and has had two children: Francis, his only son, who was accidentally drowned when between nine and ten years of age, and Amelia, wife of J H. McDevitt, of Sunbury. JOHN NEVIN HILL, attorney at law, was born at Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1855, son of George Hill. He received a thorough academic education, studied law under his father, and was admitted to the bar, March 11, 1878. Beginning the practice in Luzerne county, he was at Hazelton four years and in 1882 associated himself with his father in Sunbury. This partnership lasted two years, since which Mr. Hill has been alone in the practice. He was admitted to practice before the State Supreme court in April, 1883; and in 1889 he was commissioned by the Governor as one of seven to revise and codify the laws relating to the care of the poor, an honor earned by his public labor and addresses upon this subject. In 1885 he compiled the laws and ordinances of the borough of Northumberland and he is now the authorized county reporter of the Pennsylvania County END OF PAGE 827 Court Reports, a work requiring and receiving much careful research as shown by his elaborate and thorough annotations. He is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternities, and of the Episcopal church. July 15, 1878, he was married in Northumberland to Florence I. McFarland, and has three children: Martha Olivia; John McFarland. and George M. ISAAC L. WITMER is a son of John and Mary M. (Lenker) Witmer, both of leading families that came early from Lebanon county, this State, and settled in the Mahanoy region, this county. He married Annie Bubb, a daughter of Michael Bubb, whose father at the early age of sixteen years emigrated from Germany and settled in Mahanoy township. To this union were born thirteen children, of whom nine grew to maturity and are yet living. CHARLES B. WITMER, the eldest son of Isaac L. and Annie (Bubb) Witmer, was born in Lower Mahanoy township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, April 13, 1862. His boyhood days were spent upon the farm where his parents still reside, alternating the labor incident to farm life with attendance at the public schools of his neighborhood. He early became desirous of obtaining a liberal education, and with such in view he entered the Uniontown select school during the fall of 1879. He was subsequently licensed and employed to teach the primary school at Georgetown, this county, and at the close of one term entered the Millersburg high school where he remained some time. Returning home, and after several weeks' attendance at the Berrysburg Teachers' Normal, he was again licensed and employed to teach in the public schools of Lower Mahanoy township. In the spring of 1881 he entered Union Seminary, now known as Central Pennsylvania College, at New Berlin, where he remained, supported by the means obtained by farm labor and teaching, until he was graduated in the class of 1883. During the following year he was principal of the Georgetown high school, and in the fall of 1884 was examined and registered to read law with C. G. Voris, then of Sunbury. He continued his legal studies, with the exception of the summer of 1886, during which he was principal of the Teachers' Normal Institute of Snyder county, Pennsylvania, until February, 1887, when he was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county. He began at once to practice his profession at Sunbury, and by strict attention to business he has merited a lucrative and growing practice, not only in his native county, but also in the surrounding counties. He was appointed solicitor for Northumberland county in 1889, and in the spring of the same year was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the State. On the 20th of August, 1889, he was nominated by the Republican party for district attorney, and after a heated and ably conducted campaign, in which he made many friends, was defeated by a small majority. He is a member of the First Reformed church and the Sunday school, in both of which is a leading officer, is also a member of the I.O.O.F., S.P.K., END OF PAGE 828 Page 829 contains a portrait of George Hill. Page 830 is blank. and P.O.S. of A., and in each has filled important positions. He was married, October 17, 1885, to Mollie, daughter of Isaac Beaver, of Middleburg, Pennsylvania, and has one son. WILLIAM C. FARNSWORTH, attorney at law, was born at Sunbury, January 1,1864. He was principally educated at the public schools. At the age of seventeen he migrated to the West, locating for a time at Des Moines, Iowa, as editor of the Industrial Motor. He was afterwards employed for a short time on special work for the Iowa State Register, and later kept books for a wholesale house and had charge of the Western Lyceum Bureau. Altogether he spent one year at Des Moines. He then returned to Pennsylvania, and clerked for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Shamokin until 1885. In February of that year he began the study of law in the office of John B. Packer at Sunbury. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1887, entered immediately upon the practice of his profession, and has rapidly attained rank and recognition. He is a Republican in politics, and was the nominee of his party for Congress in 1890 from the Seventeenth Pennsylvania district. On the 12th of January, 1887, Mr. Farnsworth married Miss Mary A. Lodge, of Halifax, Pennsylvania; they are the parents of one child, Margaret Packer. CHARLES M. CLEMENT, a lawyer of Sunbury and now deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth, was born in Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, October 23, 1855. His father was General John Kay Clement, one of the leading criminal lawyers of Pennsylvania, and his mother was Mary S., daughter of Isaac Zeigler, once a prominent merchant of Sunbury. General Clement died, October 15, 1882, at the age of sixty-three years. Charles M., his only son now living, was educated at Sunbury Academy and Burlington, New Jersey. After leaving school he clerked six years in the prothonotary's office, read law with his father, and was admitted to the bar, March 11, 1878. In January following he began the practice and was associated with his father until the death of the latter. Mr. Clement has been one term assistant burgess of Sunbury and five or six years a member of the borough council, was for several years borough solicitor, and is now solicitor for the school board. October 1, 1887, he was appointed by Charles W. Stone corporation clerk of the State department and November 29, 1890, was appointed by Governor Beaver to his present position. From 1879 to 1883 he was secretary of the county central committee, Republican, and from 1883 to 1888 was chairman of the committee. He was one of the organizers of the Sunbury Guards, Company B, Twelfth Regiment N.G.P., entered the service as a private, and was promoted in regular order to the captaincy, a position to which he has been twice chosen, first in 1882 and secondly in 1887. Mr. Clement is a member of the Sons of Veterans, Sons of the Revolution, Knights of the Golden Eagle, and the S.P.K. He was married at Northumberland, November 19, 1879, to Alice Withington, and has three children: John Kay; Martin W., and Charles Francis. END OF PAGE 831