Floyd's Northumberland County Genealogy Pages 540 thru 562 File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Tony Rebuck. Tar2@psu.edu Electronic edition copyright 2001 by Tony Rebuck. All rights reserved. This electronic work may be freely distributed and displayed: (1)without modification, (2) on a strictly non-commercial basis, and (3) retaining this copyright notice. USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial individuals And libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. SILAS B. PARK, a substantial farmer and land owner of West Chillisquaque township, was born there Oct. 1, 1864, son of James Park. The founder of the family in this county, James Park, came from New Jersey and settled near what is now the borough of Northumberland. His son John settled in Chillisquaque township and purchased a farm. He married Annie Stillson, and they reared children as follows: Sarah, who married William Painter; Elsie; James; Mary, who married James Park, of New York State; J. S.; and Hezekiah, who married a Miss Van Devender. James Park, son of John, was born in 1825, married Araminta Brees, and died in 1908. Four children were born to this couple: John Minard, Amy (deceased), Ira (deceased) and Silas B. John Minard Park, son of James, was born Dec. 15, 1855, married Clara Huntingdon Noss, and has the following children: Isabella C., born Feb. 12, 1882, who married Daniel Smith and has one son, John M.; James T., born Oct. 7, 1883; David J., born July 20, 1885; Amy J., born Oct. 21, 1887; Elsie M., born Dec. 10, 1889; William L., born Aug. 6, 1893; Olive M., born Jan. 15, 1895; and Mary H., born Feb. 24, 1900. Silas B. Park attended the public schools of his native locality and later was a student at Bucknell Academy, from which he was graduated. In 1894 he bought part of the old homestead farm in West Chillisquaque township, in 1904 purchasing another part and in 1909 a third, the latter portion comprising 100 acres. He resides on the adjoining tract of fifty acres, which is good farming land and well cultivated. Mr. Park is thrifty in the management of his own work and an excellent citizen in his relation to the community, supporting all progressive movements and taking particular interest in the question of free education. He is a member of the Methodist Church. Mr. Park married Estella B. Zarr, daughter of Lloyd T. Zarr, of Columbia county, Pa., and they have had two children, Harold E. and Lloyd T. JOSIAH RHOADS, who has been superintendent at the Greenough colliery, at Locust Gap, for the past ten years, has been a miner all his life having begun work at the mines in the humblest capacity and worked his way forward to responsible position. He is a native of Shamokin, born Jan. 20, 1864, and is a son of Henry Rhoads. His grandfather lived in Columbia county, Pa., and died there. One of his sons, Jacob, was killed in the Civil war. Henry Rhoads was born Jan. 30, 1821, in Columbia county, and came to Shamokin among the early residents of the borough. He was a carpenter, and followed his trade throughout his active years in this section, building breakers and later doing house carpentry. He died at Shamokin March 28, 1891, and is buried in the Shamokin cemetery. Mr. Rhoads married Annie Adams, member of an old family of Ralpho township, this county, born Nov. 24, 1824, died March 15, 1893. Nine children were born to them: Frank, who lives in Shamokin; Isaiah, deceased; William, deceased; Louisa, deceased; Henry, a resident of Shamokin; Theodore, of Shamokin; Josiah; Daniel, deceased; and Amos, whose home is in Missouri. Josiah Rhoads attended the public schools for a few years, but he was only a boy of ten when he commenced picking slate at the Buck Ridge colliery, continuing at that work for four years. He then commenced mining at the Henry Clay colliery; where he was employed about five years, after which he learned the carpenter's trade, at which he was engaged, about the breakers, for seven years. His next work was as boss at the Union colliery, and after ten years there he came to the Greenough, in May, 1900, as superintendent. This colliery, located at Marion Heights, is one of the best known in the Coal region, about 550 men and boys finding employment there. Mr. Rhoads's reputation for faithful and intelligent work is well deserved, and he has the thorough respect of his employers and of the many workers in his charge. On May 21, 1887, Mr. Rhoads married Mary Luke, daughter of Thomas and Jane (Harris) Luke, of Shamokin, and they have had five children: Adam Stanley, Josiah H., Ruth E., Claude A., and a son that died in infancy. In politics Mr. Rhoads is independent, voting for the candidate he prefers, regardless of party affiliation. He is a member of the Reformed END OF PAGE 540 church, and socially holds membership in the I.O.O.F. and Encampment and the B.P.O. Elks. THOMAS L. BRENNAN, proprietor of the "Kellagher Hotel" at Locust Gap, in Mount Carmel township, has but recently settled at that place, and until he took charge of the hotel was engaged in mining. He is a native of Schuylkill county, Pa., born April 14, 1871, at Pottsville, and is of Irish descent, his father, John Brennan having been born in Ireland. John Brennan came to the United States when a young man, and settled at Pottsville, Pa. He was a shoemaker, and followed his trade there until his death, which occurred in 1873. He married Catherine Colby, who survived him many years, dying in 1899, and they are buried at Pottsville. They had a large family, namely: Patrick, Annie, Elizabeth, Michael, William, James Catherine, Mary, Margaret, John and Thomas L. Thomas L. Brennan attended the public schools of Pottsville and began work at the mines when only a boy, picking slate. Later he became a regular miner and on coming to Locust Gap, in February, 1908, was employed at tunnel work for a year at the Locust Spring colliery. On Feb. 23, 1909, he took charge of the "Kellagher Hotel," a well known and old established hotel stand in this region which he has since successfully managed. He has an obliging disposition which wins and holds custom, and bids fair to continue the popularity the hotel has always enjoyed. On Feb. 23, 1909, Mr. Brennan married Mrs. Margaret (Brown) Kellagher, widow of Michael Kellagher. They have no children. MICHAEL KELLAGHER was born Nov. 21, 1857, at Pottsville, Schuylkill Co., Pa., son of Patrick and Jane (Lynch) Kellagher, natives of Counties Fermanagh and Cavan, Ireland, respectively, who came to America in 1840. They settled in Schuylkill county, where the father began work in the mines. Following that occupation throughout his active years. In the late sixties he removed to Locust Gap, where he made a permanent home and died. He and his wife had a family of twelve children, two of whom died young, the others being as follows: Michael, Mary (Mrs. John McHugh), William, Jane, Robert, John, Anna, Kate, Susan and Elizabeth. Michael Kellagher received his education in the public schools. He was only nine when he began work at a coal breaker, and continued work at the mines until he reached the age of twenty-one, when he established himself as proprietor of the "Locust Summit Hotel" at Locust Gap. He was successfully engaged as a hotel-keeper there until his death, which occurred Aug. 19, 1902. Mr. Kellagher was not only a good business man, but one of the best known citizens in public life in his end of Northumberland county, and a man highly respected by all who came in contact with him. He was a Democrat in politics, served as school director of Mount Carmel township, and in 1881 was elected county commissioner, in which office he served two successive terms. On April 14, 1887, Mr. Kellagher married Margaret Brown, daughter of Simon and Mary (Casey) Brown, of Danville, Pa., and to them were born five children, namely: Jennie, who was a public school teacher before her marriage to Raymond Everett; Florence, who is engaged as a teacher in Mount Carmel township; Margaret; William, and Helen. Mr. Kellagher was a Catholic in religious faith. JACOB IRVIN McCOLLUM, of Shamokin, has for the past few years been interested in the livery business there in partnership with E. H. Martz, under the firm name of Martz & McCollum. For a number of years before he became engaged in that line he was employed at the collieries. Mr. McCollum is a native of Union county, Pa., born June 27, 1862, near Winfield, son of Ephraim S. McCollum and grandson of George McCollum. The McCollum family is of Scottish origin, its founder in this country coming from Scotland at an early date. Peter McCollum, the great-grandfather of Jacob I. McCollum, lived at New Holland, Lancaster Co., Pa., at which place his son George McCollum was born. In his early life he followed agricultural pursuits, later learning the trade of millwright in his native county. He followed it at different times, but not exclusively. Moving to Northumberland county with his wife and eldest son, he located in Point township, where he was employed at farm work by Squire Gale. He then went to Union county, where he lived for many years, and was there employed at his trade by Squire Shannon, repairing mills. His closing years were spent in retirement at the home of his son Ephraim S., in Trevorton, Northumberland county, where he died. He is buried there. His wife, Julia (Irvin), a native of Lancaster county, died in Union county. They had children as follows: Uriah died in Union county; Samuel died in Union county; Mary married Jacob Meiner and died at Danville, Pa.; William died at Danville, Pa.; Jane married Edward Clark; Ephraim S. is mentioned below; Julia married Charles Mills; George died in Union county; Alexander is living in the borough of Shamokin. Ephraim S. McCollum, son of George, was born Nov. 17, 1838, in Buffalo Valley, Union Co., Pa., and attended the local schools until he reached the age of twelve years. For the next five years he was employed at the iron ore mines, after which END OF PAGE 541 he was engaged at the ironworks at Union Furnace, Union county, for some time. There he enlisted, in 1864, for service in the Union army during the Civil war, joining Company M, 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry, for one year. After the war he came to Northumberland county, being first at Shamokin, and followed work at the mines until his retirement, being employed in both the rock and Coal mines. Since 1909 he has not done any laborious work. He lived at Trevorton several years, and now resides in Shamokin. Mr. McCollum married Sarah Allvord, a native of Schuylkill county, Pa., daughter of George Allvord, of Williamson Valley, that county. She died June 29, 1881, at Trevorton, Northumberland county, the mother of three children: Jacob I.; Jane, who married John A. Weaver, of Shamokin; and Frederick, living at Burnside. Jacob I. McCollum, son of Ephraim S., received his education in the public schools of Trevorton. He began work at the North Franklin colliery, No. 10, where he continued to be employed for about ten years, at the end of which time he came to Shamokin and went to work at the Henry Clay colliery, where he remained one year and three months. From there he changed to the Burnside colliery, where he was employed continuously for the long period of twenty-two years. On Dec 6, 1909, Mr. McCollum returned to Shamokin and formed his present association with his son-in-law, E. H. Martz, engaging the livery business under the firm name of Martz & McCollum. They have established a large and paying business, and have a reputation for reliability which attracts and holds their patrons. Mr. McCollum has become well known in various connections. He has been active in the local interests of the Republican party, and for three years served as register assessor of the South Coal District. Socially he holds membership in Shamokin Lodge, I.O.O.F., Shamokin Lodge, B.P.O.E., the K.G.E., the red Men and the Conclave, S.P.K. He belongs to the Evangelical church. For some time he was a member of the old Trevorton band. On July 24, 1883, Mr. McCollum married Mary Haupt, daughter of Dr. Samuel and Sarah (Frame) Haupt, and they have had a large family, namely: Sarah May, wife of E. H. Martz; John W.; Hettie A.; Frederick I.; Ivanhoe; George C.; Samuel I.; Ralph W.; Theodore R., and Mary J. SPOTTS. There are two branches of the Spotts family in Lower Mahanoy township, both descended from Sebastian Spat, the ancestor of a numerous family, who was born on the ship while his parents were enroute to America, Feb. 25, 1740. They were natives of Wurtemberg, Germany. After landing at Philadelphia they proceeded to Berks county, Pa., where they made a permanent home, and where Sebastian Spat passed his youth and early married life. All his children were born there. He brought his family to Northumberland county in an early day, settling in that part of Mahanoy township now known as Lower Mahanoy, where he died March 26, 1802. He was a large land owner, his property being located in the Stone Valley, which region was wild when he located there. The Indians were his neighbors. Among his children were Johannes, Adam and Matthias. The last named lived in the vicinity of Selinsgrove, Snyder Co., Pa., where he is buried, and the Spotts family of that region are his descendants. He was a blacksmith by trade. Johannes Spatz (as he spelled the name), son of Sebastian, was born May 24, 1762, in Berks county (probably in Bern township), and died Nov. 24, 1856, when over ninety-four years old. His tombstone is in the old part of the graveyard of Stone Valley church. He married Anna Maria Keiser (1765-1834), also a native of Berks county, and they came to Northumberland county after their marriage carrying all their belongings in a bundle. This was about 1784. Taking up land in Stone Valley now embraced in the farm of John H. Spotts, a descendant, they erected a log hut near the fine spring which still makes that tract famous in the vicinity, it being one of the strongest and purest in the state. The land has remained in the family name continuously since - a period of over 126 years. The country was in a primitive state at the time of their settlement there. Wolves and bears often visited their clearing, and bears several times killed pigs in the pen; once they licked out the kettles in which "Mother" Spatz cooked the mush. Johannes Spatz was a man of medium size, but healthy, robust and industrious, and he was a proficient blacksmith, following the trade for forty years, and only abandoning it eventually because of a disabled arm. He made hinges, locks, etc., and found his mechanical skill very useful in the new country. In those days the pioneers in this locality had to take their grain to Reading to be ground, and they had to buy all their market goods at the same point, where what little produce they had to sell or exchange was also disposed of. In going down the steep hills they were obliged to improvise brakes for their wagons, which they did by chopping down trees which (with all their branches) they fastened by chains to the back of the wagon. Among the possessions of Johannes Spatz and his wife which have come down as treasured heirlooms to the present generation are a walnut bureau made by one John Schmidt and now owned by Henry Spotts, grandson of Johannes. Miss Fietta Spotts, of Dalmatia, has chinaware that belonged to them, red and blue END OF PAGE 542 dishes that are unusually beautiful and highly valued. This pioneer couple were German Reformed members of the Stone Valley Church, which he served as elder many years. He was well informed concerning the Scriptures, and during his later years spent much time in their perusal. His family consisted of two sons and four daughters: Elizabeth (Betz), Mrs. Kemp; Catharine, Mrs. Johannes Brosius; Mrs. Adam Herb; Mrs. Philip Spayd; Johannes, born Sept. 15, 1786, who died Feb. 3, 1810, from the effects of his efforts in a jumping match in which the boys and young men of his district participated one Sunday; and Jacob. Jacob Spotts, son of Johannes, was born June 1788, in what is now Lower Mahanoy township, and died on his farm there June 16, 1852. He owned the farm which was formerly his father's, and in the ownership of which Jacob was succeeded by his son Jacob, the latter's son Uriah next obtaining possession of it, and John H. Spotts, the present owner, being Uriah's son. Jacob Spotts, Sr., built the present barn on the place and part of the house. He was a blacksmith by trade, and skillful in turning out various products, making nails, iron spoons, etc. His grand- daughter, Fietta Spotts, has a frying pan that he made with a hammer. He was a man of fairly good education in German. He took an active part in church work, belonging to Zion's Church of Stone Valley, which he served as trustee and elder. His wife Sarah Maria (Emerich), born April 28, 1789, daughter of John Michael Emerich, died Dec. 14, 1872 or 1873. Ten children were born to this couple Jacob; Adam, who died when twenty years old; John; Elizabeth, who married John Seiler; George; Philip; Catharine, who married Isaac Schaffer; Michael; Henry; and William, who died in youth. HENRY SPOTTS, son of Jacob, was born June 12, 1831 on the homestead farm in Lower Mahanoy township and has passed all but seven years of his life in this section. He was reared to farm life, and when eighteen years old commenced to learn the trade of saddler from a man named Kemp, who came from Berks county. He followed his trade in various localities. Moving out to Ohio, he lived there for seven years, in New Pittsburg, Wayne county, where he followed his trade, conducted a hotel, and for two years engaged in butchering. For eleven years Mr. Spotts was engaged in hotel-keeping at McKees Half Falls, where he also lived for five years more, and he also conducted a hotel at Shamokin Dam, where he lived for three years. When seventy-five years old he made a double set of harness which his daughter Fietta owns and prizes greatly. He has always been regarded as a reliable and valuable citizen, in every community with which he has been identified, though except for a year's service as supervisor, while in Ohio, he has never taken any active part in public life. In politics he is a Democrat. He belongs to the Reformed congregation at Stone Valley Church. In 1856 Mr. Spotts married Emma Jane Bingaman, who became the mother of four children, two sons and two daughters, namely: Fietta; Sarah Elizabeth, wife of Peter H. Daubert; John O., of Port Trevorton, Pa.; and William C., of Shamokin Dam, Pa. For his second wife Mr. Spotts married Anna M. Bubb, by whom he has three sons: George Clarence is engaged in farming the land of his sister in Lower Mahanoy township; Leon lives in Mahanoy City (he was a soldier in the Philippines during the Spanish-American war); Philip, who is a railroader, lives at Sunbury, this county. MISS FIETTA SPOTTS owns a farm of seventy-four acres, in Lower Mahanoy township, which her brother is farming. She made her home in Dalmatia, where she had a nice residence, comfortable and well equipped, until her recent removal to Harrisburg, Pa. She is a member of the Reformed congregation of the Dalmatia Union Church, and for a number of years was active in the Sunday school work of that organization. Adam Spotts, another son of Sebastian Spat, the pioneer, was born in Berks county, Pa., and lived there until after his marriage. About 1806 he came to what is now Lower Mahanoy township, Northumberland county, settling on the farm along the Mahantango creek now owned by John H. Witmer. He was a blacksmith by trade, as were two of his brothers, one settling near Northumberland, and the other two, Johannes and Adam, in Mahanoy (now Lower Mahanoy) township. Adam Spotts is buried at the Stone Valley Church, in Lower Mahanoy township. His wife, Barbara (Fritz), was from Lititz, Lancaster Co., Pa. Their children were as follows: Elizabeth married John Spayd; Mary Magdalena married Daniel Radel; Sally married Samuel Witmer; Lydia married Nicholas Bohner; Joseph married Sarah Shutt; Michael married Catharine Bohner; John married Lydia Hepner. John Spotts, son of Adam, was a farmer in Lower Mahanoy township, owning the place which now belongs to Henry Kiehl. He was nicknamed "Monty." Mr. Spotts made the old kind of wooden pumps, and he was noted for his skill and reliability as a fence-maker. He married Lydia Hepner, and his children were: Samuel, Isaac, Elias, Joel, Frank, Benjamin, Eliza and Sophia. Joseph Spotts, son of Adam, was known as "Locust" Spotts. He was a well known merchant at Line Mountain, in Lower Mahanoy. He married Sarah Shutt, and they had children: William, Catharine, Polly, Hannah and John. Michael Spotts, son of Adam, was the progen- END OF PAGE 543 itor of the line in which we are at present interested. Like his brother he had a nickname, being well known as "Pinky" Spotts. He was an expert miller, and followed his trade for many years, living at different mill's. Born in Lower Mahanoy township, he ended his days in the same vicinity, dying at Pillow (Uniontown) Feb. 17, 1901, aged eighty-three years, four months. He is buried at that place. His wife, Catharine (Bohner), daughter of Henry Bohner, died May 10, 1897, aged seventy-six years, two months, twenty-one days. The following children were born to this union: Henry; John; Aaron; Mary (Polly), Mrs. Henry Searer; Adam; Sarah, Mrs. Fred Wiest; Andrew; Louisa, Mrs. Emanuel; Michael; Benneville; Ellen, Mrs. Leon Martz; Michael. Aaron Spotts, son of Michael, was born Feb. 6, 1844, on the farm in Lower Mahanoy township now owned by Pierce Boyer, and he was reared in that township. During his early life he followed farming, to which he had been trained from early boyhood, and for a number of years he was a tenant farmer. He served as a soldier in Company D, 46th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war, having enlisted for three years, and had served eighteen months of his term when the war closed. In 1872 be purchased twenty-five acres of land, part of the Samuel Miller farm, and there he has since resided, cultivating his land and engaging in other work. He built his house in 1878 and his barn in 1887. For some years Mr. Spotts followed carpentering, and for five years he was in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, working on bridges. He has been quite active in the public affairs of the community, served two terms as constable, and is at present one of the road commissioners. Politically he is a Republican. On Oct. 3, 1867, Mr. Spotts married Sarah Jane Schaffer, who was born in 1847, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Reed) Schaffer, and died Feb. 22, 1889. She is buried at Zion's Stone Valley Church. Six children were born to this union, two of whom, one son and one daughter, died young, the others being: Harry E.; Lizzie, Mrs. Elmer I. Radel; Eva J., Mrs. Jere W. Lenker; and Rev. George W., a Reformed minister now living at Tremont, Pa., who married Pauline Schock. Mr. Spotts and his family are members of the Reformed congregation of the Stone Valley Church, and he has served as deacon. Harry E. Spotts, son of Aaron, was born Oct. 6, 1872, in Lower Mahanoy township, where he is now engaged in farming. He worked for his parents until be became of age, meanwhile receiving a good practical education in the local public schools and a thorough training to farm work. In the spring of 1893 he began farming as a tenant in his native township, renting land until the spring of 1910, when he purchased the old Samuel Hepner homestead there. This property consisted of thirty acres, lying on the road between Hickory Corners and Pillow. Mr. Spotts is particularly interested in poultry raising. He has various other business affairs to occupy his time and attention, being associated closely in business matters with Dr. M. L. Emerick, for whom he is private secretary, also looking after the Doctors financial interests to a large extent. Mr. Spotts has property in Washington, D. C., which he owns individually, and besides has large buildings in the Federal Realty Company and in the Keystone Realty Company, both of Washington, D. C. His real estate transactions have reached considerable proportions, and he has handled them ably and intelligently, proving himself a man of ability in his different undertakings. On Sept. 1, 1892, Mr. Spotts married Mary E. Radel, daughter of Isaac and Mary (Lenker) Radel and to them have been born thirteen children, 6 of whom are deceased, the survivors being: Cordelia May, Mary Jane, Lottie Fay, Edna M., Harry A., Stella and Marlan. Mr. Spotts and his family are members of the Stone Valley Church belonging to the Reformed congregation. Politically he is a Republican, and he has taken considerable interest in the welfare of his party in his locality; he has served as register assessor. FREDERICK R. DORNSIFE, merchant and proprietor of the "Hotel Dornsife," at Dornsife, this county, was born in Little Mahanoy township Jan. 15, 1871, son of Samuel H. and Harriet (Raker) Dornsife. The family has long been established in that section, Daniel Dornsife, grandfather of Frederick R. Dornsife, having lived there on the farm later owned by his son Samuel and now in the possession of Henry Reed, son-in-law of Samuel H. Dornsife. Daniel Dornsife was born Oct. 27. 1792, and died Aug. 2, 1859, aged sixty-six years, nine months, six days. He and his wife Anna (Herb) are buried at the Little Mahanoy Church, of which they were Lutheran members. By occupation he was a farmer. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812. The children of Daniel and Anna (Herb) Dornsife were: Susan married Conrad Raker; Anna married Daniel Lenker; Lydia H., born Oct. 29, 1837, died unmarried Aug. 25, 1863; Rebecca married John Raker; Isaac lived in Mahanoy City; Harry (Henry) lived in Kansas City; Samuel H. is mentioned below; Dr. Daniel lived at Nanticoke, Pennsylvania. Henry Dornsife, brother or Daniel (above), was born June 9, 1794, and died Sept. 3, 1867; his wife, Mary Elizabeth (Fasold), born Dec. 18, 1799, died Aug. 13, 1873. They were farming people and lived in Little Mahanoy township. END OF PAGE 544 Their children were; John, William, Elias, Levi, Jonathan (died young), Mary (Polly), Elizabeth, Catharine and Susanna. These brothers, Daniel and Henry Dornsife, were sons of one of the Hessian soldiers brought over to fight in the King's army during the Revolution. Like many of his countrymen he remained in America, settling on the west side of the Susquehanna river, where he died at a comparatively early age; He is buried there. He married Elizabeth Kahwel, who was born March 20, 1761, and died Sept. 3, 1827, in Little Mahanoy township, Northumberland county, whither she and her two sons Daniel and Henry moved after her husband's death. Here she married (second) John Dunkelberger (1745-1818), and they are buried in a private burial ground on the old John Dunkelberger homestead. Her sons Daniel and Henry (locally known as "Henner") Dornsife are buried at Little Mahanoy Church; they were nicknamed "die Grumbera Hesse." Samuel H. Dornsife, son of Daniel Dornsife, was born May 20 1825, in Little Mahanoy township, where he lived and died, passing away April 4, 1889. His birth and death took place on the farm now owned by his son-in-law, Henry Reed, in the western part of Little Mahanoy, though the tract was larger in his day, and he not only followed farming but blacksmithing and tanning, having a small tannery in which he made leather for his own use. He also hewed millstones, and was an all around mechanic, quite famous in the locality for his skill. His wife Harriet, daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth (Hoffman) Raker, of Little Mahanoy township, died March 19, 1902, aged sixty-five years, eight months, eighteen days, the mother of a large family, namely: Anna, wife of Henry Reed; Daniel, of Shamokin; Katie, wife of Jacob Lenker; Samuel R., who died Jan. 22, 1901, aged thirty one years, eight months, fifteen days; Frederick R.; Susan, who died Sept. 23, 1890, aged seventeen years, eight months, twenty-eight days; Henry; Reilly; a son that died in infancy; Mary, wife of Anthony Dice; David, and Felix. Frederick R. Dornsife received his education in the public schools of the home locality, was reared to farm life, and when eighteen began to learn the trade of painter and paper hanger. He continued to follow that occupation until 1900, in which year he became the proprietor of the "Neversink Hotel" at Trevorton Pa., conducting that establishment for three years. On June 5, 1904, Mr. Dornsife came to Dornsife, where he has since been successfully engaged in business, conducting the store and hotel, of which he is owner and proprietor. Since 1907 he has also been postmaster. Besides a full line of general merchandise, for which he has an extensive local trade Mr. Dornsife deals in coal, salt, railroad ties, bark. and lumber, giving employment to two men and doing considerable of the work himself. He has become prosperous through his industry and good management, and is a creditable representative of a family always honored in this district. The village of Dornsife, a settlement of about one hundred people, was named for Henry Dornsife (uncle of Frederick R. Dornsife), who was a miller and had a gristmill near by, on the Mahanoy creek, in successful operation. Dornsife is a station on the Herndon branch of the Philadelphia & Reading road. In September, 190-, Mr. Dornsife married Cassie, daughter of the late Daniel M. Zartman and his wife Lena (Peifer), of Dornsife. Three children have been born to this union: Goldie May, Robert Raynold and Lena Catharine. Mr. Dornsife is a member of the I.O.O.F. lodge at Trevorton and of Lodge No. 355, B.P.O. Elks, of Shamokin. He is independent in politics and has taken considerable interest in local affairs, having held various public offices. At present he is serving as tax collector of Little Mahanoy township. ROSS. The Rosses of Lower Augusta and Rockefeller townships in Northumberland county belong to the historic family of Scottish origin founded in this country about 1756 by four brothers, George, William, John and Joseph Ross, natives of Scotland, all of whom served with distinction,. in the Revolution, making long and meritorious records as supporters of the cause of freedom. They were personally acquainted with General Washington. Betsy Ross, the Philadelphia damsel who made the first American flag, adopted by Congress at Washington's suggestion, was of this family, a daughter of one George Ross, who settled at Philadelphia and was a soldier in the Revolution. The Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. I, page 385, show that George Ross was the owner of a ship known as the brig "Mary," fifty tons, registered Nov. 23, 1762. On Jan. 11, 1776, George Ross was appointed adjutant of Col. Arthur St. Claire's 2d Pennsylvania Battalion, which was in service from January, 1776, to January, 1777. He resigned this commission July 1, 1776, and was promoted to lieutenant of marines with the rank of ensign. On July 4, 1776, delegates from the Associated Battalions held a convention at Lancaster, Pa., when two brigadier generals were elected, and George Ross, who was president of the convention (D. Clymer was secretary), received nine votes. There were eight candidates for the positions, Daniel Roberdeau and James Ewing being the two successful contestants. One of the resolutions adopted at this convention reads: Resolved That Col. George Ross, Lieut. Col. Daniel Clymer and Capt. Sharp DeLaney be a com- END OF PAGE 545 mittee to review and correct the minutes of the proceedings of this day, and they are hereby desired to publish them in the several newspapers of the Colony, and that they be signed by the President. D. Clymer, George Ross, Secretary. President. Lancaster, July 4, 1776. In the summer of 1776 George Ross was commissioned a colonel of a company from Lancaster county. He also served the aforesaid county as deputy quartermaster general. In the summer of 1776 he issued a regimental order to which he signed his name "George Ross, Colonel." On page 15, Vol. VII, of the 5th Series of Pennsylvania Archives, is an account of moneys expended by Michael Dieffenderfer for the support of the wives and children of militiamen belonging to Capt. George Musser's company in Col. George Ross's battalion of Lancaster county. George Ross, Jr., son of George Ross, above, in 1776 was, a lieutenant of the 11th Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line, and on Sept. 30, 1776, was promoted to the captaincy of a company of Col. Richard Humpton's regiment, known as the "Old Eleventh." On Jun. 11, 1777, Colonel Humpton, while in camp at Mount Pleasant N. J., makes a report of his eight companies; Captain Ross had eighteen men in camp, thirteen at Philadelphia, one a prisoner of war, two claimed, seven deserted; total, thirty-two men. John Ross, another of the four brothers mentioned, settled in Lancaster county, Pa., from which territory he served in the Revolution, making an excellent and honorable record. Joseph Ross; another of the four brothers, and his son, Joseph Ross, Jr., both served with credit in the Revolution. After the Revolution he settled in New York State, where his descendants still reside. Some of his grandsons became drovers, and in the course of their journeyings as such met and talked with the descendants of William Ross, the other brother of the four, who then lived in Lower Augusta township, Northumberland Co., Pennsylvania. William Ross, to whom the Northumberland county family traces back, in a list of miscellaneous officers is given as a captain of a company in the Revolution (Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series, Vol. IV, page 205). The same authority mentions him as a private in the Continental Line earlier in the war. In July, 1777, he was a private of the 5th Battalion, and in September, 1777, he was a private of the 4th Battalion, to which he had been transferred: From Aug. 1 to Sept. 3, 1781, he was a private in Capt. Samuel Holliday's company. Later in the same year, for twenty-six days, he was on the pay roll as a private of Capt. William Huston's company. Late in 1781 he was enlisted as a private of the. first class in Col. Alexander Brown's regiment. In the Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series, Vol. VII; page 3, he was recorded as a lieutenant, Oct. 25, 1777. He served nine years and eleven months. There was a James Ross who lived in Lancaster county and was related to the four brothers, but the relationship is uncertain. He too, made a most creditable Revolutionary record. William Ross first settled in Lancaster county, later coming to Sunbury, where he took up a large tract of land. At the time of the Whiskey Insurrection, in 1794, he was again in the service for some months, and is said to have been killed at that time. He had an only son, William. William Ross, only son of William, was a mere child at the time of his father's death, and he was bound out at Lancaster, where he learned the trade of hatter. Returning to Sunbury, he was married there to Betsy Michum, whose people came from the vicinity of Muncy, Pa. After several years, in 1807, he settled on a tract of land in what is now Lower Augusta township, Northumberland county, now owned by John Haupt. But he lived there only a short time, in 1808 moving to the locality where his grandson William Ross lived until his recent death, this homestead having now been in the Ross name for over one hundred years. When the pioneer William Ross located thereon only three-quarters of an acre had been cleared, a deer patch made by the early hunters to help them catch the animals easily: Salt was spread on the ground for the deer to lick, and it was a comparatively easy matter to shoot them once they were in the clearing. The Daniel Levi warrant or survey for this tract, which calls for 349 acres, bears the date 1793. It was purchased by Augustus T., William and James Ross, sons of William Ross, Jr., who had also a son John and two daughters, Betsy and Polly, and all this family lived and died there except Augustus T., who died in Lopez, Sullivan Co., Pa., where he is buried. William Ross, Jr., followed hatting while living in Lower Augusta township. He died in middle life, and he and his wife are buried in the River cemetery at Fisher's Ferry; but there is no tombstone to mark the spot. William Ross, one of the four sons of William Ross, Jr., was born Oct. 6, 1806, at Sunbury, and was in his infancy when his parents removed to Lower Augusta township, where he passed all his life. He lived on the same ground later owned by his son William, having a tract of 122 acres, mostly woodland, and in 1850 he built a stone house which was torn down by his son William in 1891. In 1850-51 he also built a barn, which his son William rebuilt in 1896. When he built the present large brick house, in 1875, he made the bricks himself, he and a neighbor, Aaron Wilkinson, who also put up a brick house, making the bricks together in 1874 and putting up their houses the following year. Mr. Ross was a typical pioneer woodsman, and he was handy with many tools END OF PAGE 546 but particularly skillful as a woodworker. There were no sawmills in the vicinity in his early life, so he shaved shingles by hand, made handles for pickaxes, hammers, etc., and was an all-around useful man at mechanical labor He helped to build the first Shamokin dam at Sunbury, and helped to clear much land in this vicinity. His death occurred April 13, 1885, and he is buried at the Mountain Presbyterian Church. His wife Sarah (Renn), born in March, 1818, died in June, 1879, aged sixty-one years, three months, twenty six days. Her parents, Philip and Rachel Renn, had children as follows: Henry, who located in Decatur county, Ind.; John, who located in Lower Augusta township; Betsy, Mrs. John Cornell; Sarah, Mrs. Ross; and Tiny, Mrs. John Flemming. To William and Sarah (Renn) Ross were born the following children: Amos, who was born on the forty-fourth anniversary of his father's birth, died March 26, 1884, aged thirty-three years, five months, twenty days; William is mentioned below; Sarah Elizabeth died unmarried Jan. 20, 1880, aged twenty-three years, seven months, twenty-one days; Jane died unmarried just three weeks after her sister, on Jan. 20, 1880. WILLIAM ROSS, son of William and Sarah (Renn) Ross, was born May 24, 1853, in Lower Augusta township, where he passed all his life. His educational advantages were rather limited, but what he lacked in that kind of training he made up for in practical experience. In early life he learned his father's trade, making shingles and handles by band, giving his attention chiefly to the production of handles of all kinds. He also helped to clear three different tracts of land, so that he knew considerable, by personal experience, of the work of developing land for cultivation. His last work of this kind was the clearing of five acres of timber, in the fall of 1909, of the 130-acre tract which he owned on the top of Mahanoy mountain, where he built a house for his son William W. Ross. He gave to each of his sons, George E. and William W., thirty acres of this 130-acre tract. For a number of years he followed lumbering, but he was most extensively interested in agriculture, at the time of his death owning about four hundred acres of land, including the homestead in Lower Augusta township. He owned the first tract of land cleared and settled in this section of the county, still known as the "Rev. Risen tract." Rev. Mr. Risen was a Methodist minister and probably the first settler in his part of Northumberland county, the house he occupied standing near a good spring. He planted locust trees. The Tulpehocken road, the first road leading to Sunbury from Reading and Berks county, and from New York State, was later laid out through this land. Conrad Weiser and the Indians passed this way in their journeyings. When the New Jersey pioneers who settled in this section were ready to plant, they obtained their first seed from Rev. Mr. Reisen. Though an active man, Mr. Ross devoted all his time to his own affairs, always refusing official honors. In politics he was a Republican, in religion a and he helped to build the Mountain Presbyterian Church. He died at his home in Augustaville Nov. 14, 1910, and was buried at that place. He was not only prominent as a well-to-do farmer of his home section, but was also well known in Sunbury, and was universally respected, his death being regarded as a loss to the whole community. On March 16, 1880, Mr. Ross married Hannah J. Strasser, daughter of Henry Strasser, and to them were born six children: George E.; William W., who married Ruth Schwenk; Clara E., who married Ernest Metz and died not long afterward; Sarah G.; Laura A., and M. Ella. The Ross family has a wooden chest bearing the date 1776 which was made in Germany and was brought to America by a Derr, who settled in Little Mahanoy township, this county. John Ross, previously mentioned as one of the sons of William Ross, Jr., was born in Lower Augusta township, and followed farming and laboring work generally, making pick handles to eke out his income. He owned a large tract of land on the northern slope of the Mahanoy mountain. He is buried at the Mountain Presbyterian Church, where his wife, Mary Elizabeth (Smith), also rests. They had children as follows: Emanuel; Augustus, who is deceased; Alexander, John and Frank, all of whom live at Shamokin; and Emma J., who married Ed. Bademan, of Sunbury, and died about a year afterward. EMANUEL ROSS was born July 28, 1847, in Lower Augusta township, where he was reared and received his education. Until eighteen years of age he continued to work on the farm, and then for a period of twelve years followed railroading, during this time making his home in the borough of Shamokin: He has since made his home in Rockefeller township, and from 1887 to the present time has occupied his present farm there. It consists of 103 acres, and was formerly the homestead of Sebastian Zimmerman, who erected the barn in 1892. Mr. Ross has owned the property since 1894, having been a tenant during the first few years of his residence there. He is a progressive farmer, and one of the substantial citizens of his neighborhood, a valuable and respected member of the community and a worthy representative of an honored old family. In November, 1870, Mr. Ross married Sarah Bixler, daughter of Joseph and Maria (Wolfgang) Bixler, of Shamokin, and they have had the following named children: Charles E., who married Eva Eister, lives in Rockefeller township: Emma died at the age of thirty years, unmarried; Har- END OF PAGE 547 vey W., who married Emma Yeager, lives in Sunbury; William J. is a carpenter by trade; Alexander and Jackson live at home; Stella A. died when four years old. Mr. Ross and his family attend the Methodist Church. In his political views he is a Democrat. James Ross, son of William Ross, Jr., was born in Lower Augusta township, and died in that section about 1857, aged fifty-two years. He is buried at the Mountain Presbyterian Church. He was a farmer and huckster, selling his produce at Pottsville and Minersville, and was a skillful woodworker, making grain cradles, handles for miners' tools, etc. He had a third interest in a 200-acre tract in Lower Augusta township, and lived on his part. This tract is now owned by Henry Eister and adjoins the farm of Wellington Ross, son of James Ross. An enterprising and intelligent man, he occupied an honorable place among his fellow citizens. Mr. Ross married Harriet Coldren, daughter of Solomon Coldren, of Lower Augusta township, whose wife's name was Minnier. Six children were born to this union: Edward died in 1901 in Ohio and is buried there, in Ottawa county; David A. lives near Herndon, in Jackson township, this county; Marion, who died when thirty-nine rears old, was a charcoal burner in Lower Augusta township; Nelson was a farmer for some time in the State of Ohio and died in Tennessee; Wellington is mentioned below; Mary Jane lives in Northumberland county (she is a deaf mute). For her second husband Mrs. Ross marries William Shipman, who died in Snydertown borough. Seven children were born to this union, namely: William H., Elliot A., Jefferson, Malinda, Emma, and two that died in infancy. Mrs. Shipman died in July, 1902, aged seventy-five years, and is buried at the Mountain Presbyterian Church. WELLINGTON ROSS, son of James Ross, was born May 1, 1854, on his father's farm in Lower Augusta township, and there received his education in the public schools. He was reared to farming, and in his early manhood learned powder-making from A. S. Speece, in Little Mahanoy township, which he followed there for four years. In the spring of 1880 he began farming on the tract he still occupies in Lower Augusta township, his property consisting of seventy-three acres lying along the north side of Mahanoy mountain. Mr. Ross erected the dwelling he occupies in 1881, and the barn was built by the previous owner, John Fuller; the original owner of this place was one Isaac Rogers, a pioneer of this section, after whom Levi Barrett owned it, Mr. Fuller succeeding him. The situation is admirable, the view of the surrounding country from this location being particularly fine, and the property is valuable by its productive qualities, Mr. Ross raising considerable grain and truck and making a specialty of fruit, growing various kinds, in abundance; he has two acres of raspberries. He takes his truck to the Shamokin markets, where it finds a ready sale. In 1878 Mr. Ross married Sarah Eister, daughter of Isaiah and Lovina (Reitz) Eister, and to this marriage were born four children: Laura, wife of Charles Burrell (they live in Shamokin); Henry, who died young; Mary, married to John Raker (they live at Philadelphia); and Elmer, who died young. Mrs. Ross died Jan. 31, 1888, aged twenty-nine years, two months, five days, and is buried at the Mountain Presbyterian Church. In 1890 Mr. Ross married (second) Annie Reader, daughter of Robert R. Reader, and they have had seven children: Lewis (who died young), Herman, Bertha, Elsie, Walter, Erma and Rosa. Mr. Ross and his family are members of the Mountain Presbyterian Church. JACOB W. STROHECKER, a prominent farmer of the southern portion of Jordan township, was born Nov. 5, 1850, on the farm where he now lives, son of William and Sallie (Wiest) Strohecker. John and Elizabeth (Williams) Strohecker, his grandparents, were natives of Berks county, Pa., where the Strohecker family has been established from an early date. Coming to this region, John Strohecker died when a comparatively young man, in the Mahantango Valley, and is buried at Howerters Union Church, of which he was a Reformed member. He is described as a tall man, with dark hair and brown eyes. His widow married a Williamsport man, by whom she had five children, and she is buried at Williamsport. By her marriage to John Strohecker she had two children: William and John, the latter, who was a mason, settling in the Lykens Valley and reared a family still living in that section. Daniel Strohecker, the great-grandfather of Jacob W. Strohecker, died prior to June 19, 1826, the date papers of administration were filed, Jacob Seitzinger being administrator of his estate. The record is found in Will Book 2, page 517, at the Northumberland county courthouse. William Strohecker, son of John, was born Jan. 1811, in Upper Mahantango township, Schuylkill Co., Pa., and farmed practically all his life in Jordan township, Northumberland county, part of his farm being now owned by his son Jacob W. Strohecker, the rest by William L. Troutman. He made frequent trips to Reading, at which place the farmers of the section did most of their marketing then, and he also drove a huckster team to Pottsville. He was a popular man among his neighbors, served two years as supervisor of Jordan township, and in politics was identified with the Democratic party. His death occurred July 21, 1889, and he is buried at St. David's Church, Hebe, where his wife also rests. Mr. Strohecker END OF PAGE 548 married Sallie Wiest, who was born Feb. 21, 1816, daughter of John Wiest, and they were the parents of sixteen children, namely: John (deceased), George (deceased), Harry, William (born in 1836 died in 1845), Sallie, Samuel (deceased), Louisa (deceased), Joel, Tobias (deceased), Daniel, Jacob W., Moses, James, Polly (deceased), David and Hannah. Jacob W. Strohecker received his education in the pay schools which were conducted in the home neighborhood during his boyhood, and was reared to farm life working for his parents, as was customary, until he became of age. In 1872 he began farming on the homestead on his own account having purchased sixty acres of his father's property, and in 1885 he purchased another tract, of 100 acres. He farmed all this himself until his recent retirement, in the spring of 1909, since which time he has made his home at Hebe, where he owns his nice residence and a small piece of ground. In the spring of 1910 he purchased a tract of fifteen acres near that place, and he is one of the substantial residents of the region, where he is much respected for his industrious career and usefulness as a citizen. He was successful and prosperous during his active years as the result of hard work and he gained the reputation of being an excellent manager. For a number of years he has been quite influential in the local councils of the Democratic Party and he has held various public offices, having given able service on the school board, of which he was a member for fifteen years, twelve years consecutively, and he was supervisor for five consecutive years. He has also been active in church work as a member of the Reformed congregation of Saint David's Church at Hebe, to which his family also belongs; he has held all the church offices, having been deacon, trustee at the time the present church was remodeled, and elder, which office he still holds. On Jan. 7, Mr. Strohecker married Elizabeth Wiest, daughter of John and Lucy (Beisel) Wiest, of Jordan Township, and they have had three children: John, who is now a lumberman in Cowlitz county, Wash., is married and has two children; Cassie married Frank Hoffman and they are farming people, living on the Strohecker farm in Jordan Township, where they have been located since the spring of 1909 (they have had fourteen children, five of whom are deceased); Mary married Harry Boyer, an engineer, and they reside in Oregon (they have had one daughter, who died in infancy). KLINGER. The oldest resident in his section is David S. Klinger, of Klingerstown, who has lived at that place for sixty years and in the neighborhood all his life. Henry C. Klinger, a well known young citizen of Lower Mahanoy township, Northumberland County, is a member of the same family, which has been established in this region for many years. The Klinger family is of German origin, and its first representative in this country, Johan Philip Klinger, was born July 11, 1723, in Germany. He and his wife came to America and settled in Reading, Berks Co., Pa., where she died, without issue. Going hack to Germany, he remarried there, and on his return to America again made his home at Reading, where all his children, four sons and one daughter born to the second union, were born. Moving thence to what is now Hubley township, Schuylkill Co., Pa., he took up one thousand acres of land in the neighborhood about Klinger's Church, and there lived and farmed until his death, which occurred Sept. 30, 1811, when he was over eighty- eight years old. He donated the land upon which the first Klinger's Church was built, and it was so named in his honor. The children born to him and his wife Anna were: George, John Philip, Alexander, Peter and Elizabeth. The daughter married Conrad Weiser son of Frederick Weiser and grandson of Conrad Weiser, the noted Indian interpreter. Phillip, George and Alexander Klinger are mentioned in the marriage certificate of Conrad Weiser Jr., Nov. 12 1775. George Klinger, Esq., drew up an agreement in regard to the estate of Conrad Weiser, deceased, Mahanoy township. Of the four sons of Johan Phillip Klinger, the emigrant, we have the following account. George Klinger was married twice, the maiden name of one of his wives being Brosius. He had children by both marriages, viz.: Philip, Alexander, John, Peter, Barbara (Mrs. Zerbe) and Mrs. George Klock. John Philip Klinger lived on a farm now owned by Emanuel Deibert, and later moved across the Susquehanna river to the location in Snyder county where he died. His wife's maiden name was Snyder, and they had children. (At Klinger's Church is buried Philip, "son of Johann Philip and Anna Klinger," born March 11, 1792, died March 30, 1851.) Alexander Klinger, born at Reading Feb. 17, 1767, died April 6, 1839, and is buried at Klinger's Church. He married Magdalena Haag, who was born in 1770 and died in 1846, and to them were born two sons and three daughters: Alexander, George, Catharine, Eve and Anna Maria. Peter Klinger, born Nov. 3, 1773, died Aug. 10, 1858, and is buried at Klinger's Church. He married Catharine Steinbruch, who was born May 3, 1774, and died Sept. 21, 1845, and the following children were born to this union: Peter, Johannes, Jacob, George, Daniel, Alexander, John Adam, Philip, Eve (married Samuel Wiest), Hannah (married Michael Dietz) and Mrs. John Reisinger. Alexander Klinger, son of Alexander and grand- END OF PAGE 549 son of the emigrant ancestor, married Elizabeth Schwalm, daughter of John Schwalm, the Hessian soldier, and they were farming people all their lives. To them were born three sons and one daughter: Amy, John, Samuel and David S. DAVID S. KLINGER, son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Schwalm) Klinger, was born May 15, 1827. He learned the trade of millwright, and has had a busy and successful career, all of which has been passed in his native locality. In 1851 he settled in Klingerstown, where he has since resided, and he has a comfortable home and many other things which go to make life pleasant. He has accumulated considerable property, having a 150-acre farm in Mahantango township, Schuylkill county, a ten-acre tract in Klingerstown, and a tract of sixteen acres two miles from Klingerstown, in Mahantango township. Though long past the age of eighty Mr. Klinger has an active mind and a clear memory and the family history used in this article was all contributed by him. He and all his family arc of the Reformed faith, Mr. Klinger being a Reformed member of the Union Church at Klingerstown. His father was a Lutheran. In 1851 Mr. Klinger married Barbara Wiest, daughter of John and Catharine (Merkel) Wiest and eleven children have been born to them: Preston, Francis, Ottis, Calvin, Alexander, Amelia, Barbara, Catharine, Christian, and two who died young. The family is highly respected, being numbered among the progressive members of the community. The Klinger name has been perpetuated in the town and postoffice bearing the name Klingerstown, so called in honor of John Klinger, as well as in the Klinger Church and Klingerstown Church, and Klingerstown Gap, which is in the Mahantango mountains; the town and gap are at the corner of Schuylkill, Dauphin and Northumberland counties, on the Schuylkill county side. George Klinger, great-grandfather of Henry C. Klinger, of Lower Mahanoy township, Northumberland county, was a grandson of Johan Philip Klinger, the emigrant ancestor of this family. According to the above record, the emigrant's sons Alexander and Peter each had a son named George. He owned a farm and followed farming near Gratz, in Dauphin county, and he is buried at Klinger's Church. In religion he was a Lutheran. (There are two George Klingers buried at Klinger's Church: George P., born Jan. 7, 1798, died Sept. 6, 1880; wife Elizabeth, born Feb. 20, 1805, died Sept. 12, 1885. George, born March 17, 1795, died Sept. 18, 1866; wife Eve, born Jan. 20, 1798, died Aug. 26, 1863.)To George Klinger and his wife were born children as follows: Daniel, who lived at Seven Points, Pa.; William, a farmer in the Lykens Valley, in Dauphin county, who died at Gratz; Elias; and Mary, wife of John Shade. Elias Klinger, son of George, was a farmer in the Lykens Valley, near Gratz, where he is buried. He died in 1855, when yet a young man. In religion he was a Lutheran. His widow, Sarah (Kissinger), remarried, becoming the wife of Elias Bush. To her marriage with Mr. Klinger were born five children, three sons and two daughters: Caroline, who married Joel Daniel; John, who died aged seventeen years; Frank, of Gratz; Emanuel; and Catharine, who married Urich Trautman. Emanuel Klinger, son of Elias, was born May 25, 1848, and was reared to farming. His father died when be was only eight years old, and he worked for his mother until he was over twenty-one. After his marriage, which occurred in 1870, be began farming at Hebe on the farm now owned by William Bohner, remaining there for two years. He then lived two years in Lower Mahanoy township on the farm he now occupies, thence moving to Elias Boyer's farm for a year and later to Abraham Boyer's place. After several removals he located on the Jacob Hilbush farm, near Mahanoy, in Jackson township, where he lived and farmed for eleven years, in 1890 returning to the farm in Lower Mahanoy. This farm has since been his home. It consists of one hundred acres, located about two miles northeast of Hickory Corners, and Mr. Klinger purchased it from Benjamin Boyer. He and his family are members of Zion's Church of Stone Valley, and in political matters he is identified with the Democratic party. Mr. Klinger married Elizabeth Bohner, daughter of John and Hettie (Troutman) Bohner, of Jordan township, and they have had a large family: Monroe who was drowned in infancy; Hattie, who married David Bordner; Elias, of Jordan township; John, of Sunbury, Pa.; Jacob, of Urban, Pa.; Henry C.; and Lizzie, who is unmarried and living at home. HENRY C. KLINGER, son of Emanuel, was born Jan. 4, 1885, in Jackson township. He received his education in the public schools in the vicinity of home, and for five terms attended a summer normal school conducted at Herndon. He was licensed to teach in the public schools of Northumberland county, by Prof. I. A. DeWitt, then county superintendent, and began teaching in the fall of 1904, in Lower Mahanoy township, where he taught one term. For the next two terms he was engaged in Jackson township, returning at the end of that time to Lower Mahanoy, where he has taught for the past three terms. In 1907 he was granted a teacher's professional certificate. He enjoys the reputation of being a successful instructor and disciplinarian and is well thought of in the localities where he is known. In 1907 Mr. Klinger was elected assessor of his township, and reelected at the end of his term, being still the END OF PAGE 550 incumbent of this office - the youngest assessor his township has ever had. Politically he is a Democrat, and has been active in the interests of his party in this locality for a number of years, doing effective work in the local organization. He is considered one of the enterprising young men of this section, and holds the respect of all who know him. JOHN H. GEIST; a retired citizen of Sunbury, was born Jan. 5, 1838, at Northumberland, Northumberland county, and is a member of an old Pennsylvania family first settled in Berks county, being a great- grandson of Conrad Geist, who came from Germany about 1760 and located in that county. There is also a large family of Geists in Montgomery county, Pa., descended from one Christopher Geist, and there were others in Chester county. In 1790 there lived in Lancaster county the families of George and Jacob Geist, and in the same year the families of John and Matthew Geist lived in Montgomery county. In 1790 Conrad Geist, of the borough of Reading, had three sons over sixteen years old; two daughters; and wife. The same year there is record of George Geist, of Longswamp township, Berks county, with one son under sixteen years of age, one daughter, and wife; and of Valentine Geist, of Longswamp township, with one son under sixteen, two daughters, and wife. John Geist (son of Conrad, who came from Germany about 1760) was the grandfather of John H. Geist, of Sunbury. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Koch), were both from Berks county, and lived in that section of Northumberland county now. embraced in Snyder county, where he followed farming. He spoke German. The date of his wife's death is not known, but his occurred in the year 1812. Among their children were: Daniel, who was a farmer in Montour county, Pa.; Henry, who located in the West; Conrad, who died in Dauphin county, Pa.; John; and Peggy, who married a Mr. Dentler and lived in Chillisquaque township, this county. John Geist, son of John and Elizabeth (Koch) Geist, was born Sept. 29, 1801, and in early life learned the trade of tanner with a Mr. Ziegler, in Sunbury. He engaged in the business on his own account at Northumberland until the old State canal was built, when he sold out, the canal passing through the property. He then bought a hotel in the borough of Northumberland and conducted it for some years, after which he bought a boat and team and engaged in boating for a few years. Selling out, he became a lock tender at Chapman, Snyder county, during the Civil war period, tending the locks there for a number of years. He was toll tender at the North Branch, at Northumberland borough, for eleven years. He died on North Second street, Sunbury, Jan. 8, 1880, and is buried in Pomfret Manor cemetery. On Dec. 12, 1824, at Millersburg, Dauphin county, he married Susanna Frederick, who was born Nov. 25, 1805, and died Feb. 5, 1894. She was a member of an old Pennsylvania family, and her parents were living in Philadelphia when the British entered that city, being obliged to take refuge in their cellar until the danger was over. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John Geist: William F., born Sept. 28, 1825, died at Pottsville, Pa., in 1910; Margaret F., born Jan. 6, 1828, married John Clark; Frederick, born in 1833, died in infancy;. Amelia, born Feb. 28, 1835, married H. H. Hetzel and they live in Williamsport, Pa.; John H. is mentioned below; Catharine, born June 1, 1840, married Henry Clement and died Aug. 18, 1899; Michael F., born Oct. 22, 1842, died in infancy; Caroline, born Sept. 26, 1846, died May 9, 1851. John H. Geist received his education in the common schools. He learned the trade of blacksmith, and in 1866 entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railway Company as a tool dresser, being in the same employ, in that capacity, for about thirty years, until he was retired and pensioned at the age of sixty-five. He is a member of the Veterans Association of the Pennsylvania Company and wears a veteran's button. Mr. Geist is an honorable and respected citizen and enjoys the good will of all who know him. During the Civil war Mr. Geist was in the Union service eleven months, having enlisted at Northumberland in the band of the 5th Regiment, was one of the emergency men of the 20th Regiment a member of the 13th Pennsylvania Militia, and also in the construction corps in Sherman's army. He is a member of Bruner Post G. A. R., and an honorary member of the Odd Fellows at Sunbury. In religious connection Mr. Geist is a Methodist and be served several terms as steward of the church, during his more active years. In February, 1867, Mr. Geist married Anna Elizabeth Kline, who was born Dec. 23, 1844, daughter of Dewitt Kline, and died Oct. 23, 1891, the mother of three children, namely: (1) Clinton D. conducts a papering and painting business in Sunbury. He married Florence Niece and has a son, Homer J. (2) Laura, who was an invalid, died unmarried. (3) Harry C. lives in Sunbury, where he is engaged as agent for the Prudential Insurance Company. He married Bessie Stuart and has children, Mildred, Harold and Edna. IRVIN K. WETZEL, proprietor of the "Mansion House" at Shamokin, one of the best located hotels in that borough, has been in business at that stand since January, 1906. He has been a hotel-keener in Shamokin and Mount Carmel since 1894, and is well known to the traveling public. Mr. Wetzel was born May 16, 1868, in Eldred END OF PAGE 551 township, Schuylkill Co., Pa., where the family has been located for some generations. His grandfather, Peter Wetzel, followed farming in that township and died there. His farm is still in the family. His wife's maiden name was Snyder, and their children were as follows: Peter, Daniel, Charles, Elias (living at the old homestead in Schuylkill county), Polly (married Benjamin Herring), Sarah (married Cornelius Herring), Lydia (married Elias Morgan) and Mrs. Ephraim Neiswelter. Daniel Wetzel, father of Irvin K., was born in 1835 at the homestead in Eldred township, and died there in 1876, at the age of forty-one years. He was well known in his neighborhood, where he followed the blacksmith's trade all his active life. In religion he was a member of the Evangelical Church, in the work of which he took an active part, and he was a Republican in political opinion. A good man, industrious, thrifty and honorable, he was highly respected. He married Catharine Kehler daughter of John Kehler and granddaughter of Johnston and Catharine (Knarr) Kehler, farming people of Schuylkill county. Mrs. Wetzel survived her husband many years, dying July, 1908 at the age of sixty-nine. Their children were as, follows: Catharine, who lives at Ashland, Pa., is the wife of William Mattern) and has had two children Vertie (deceased); Ira, Herbert, Elizabeth, Maud, and William (deceased); Helen, who lives at Shamokin is the wife of Simon F. Dunkelberger and has children, Walter, Estella, Joseph, Mabel and Golden; Minerva, married William Snyder and lives at Allentown(they have had a large family, George, Howard, Beatrice, Eugene, Lucale, Turcie and three who died young); Elsworth, a plasterer by trade, who died when twenty-eight years old, married Ida Costerter and they had two children, Katie and Eva; Irvin K. is mentioned below; Harriet was married Feb. 22, 1886, to Jefferson C. Daniel, who was born in Eldred township, Schuylkill county, and they reside at Shamokin (they have two children, Lamer and Daniel); Susanna, twin of Harriet, lives in Camden N. J., the wife of George Rudolph, and they have had four children, Raymond, Edna, Clayton, and Matilda (deceased); Oscar K., born Sept. 30, 1873, is a well known merchant at Market and Arch streets, Shamokin (he married Carrie May Foulk and they have one son, George Albert, who is at school); Elizabeth died in infancy; May married Lester Wetzel, of Shamokin, and they have had three children, Franklin, Catharine L., and Myron (deceased). Irvin K. Wetzel received his education in the common schools of the home neighborhood. Being so young when his father died he went to live in Schuylkill county with his maternal uncle, Franklin Kehler, by whom he was reared, remaining there until he attained the age of eighteen. Having learned the trade of butcher he followed it for six years, and then for five years conducted a general store which he had purchased. In 1894 he entered the hotel business, to which he has since devoted his attention. On Aug. 14th of that year he began keeping hotel on North Second street, in Shamokin, continuing at that location for two years and three months, at the end of which time he went to Mount Carmel and took charge of the "Locust Mountain Hotel," three years later purchasing that property, which he still owns, and which he himself conducted for eight years in all. In January, 1906, he came to Shamokin and leased the "Mansion House," one of the oldest hotels in the city, purchasing it Nov. 7, 1909, in partnership with Augustus Kehler. A few months later Mr. Wetzel bought out Mr. Kehler. This house, located at Market, Lincoln and Arch streets, near the Soldiers' monument, occupies one of the best and most convenient sites in the city, and the accommodations it offers attract a good class of patrons. There are fifty rooms, and the place is well equipped with the comforts and conveniences which go to make a desirable stopping place for travelers. In addition to this profitable stand Mr. Wetzel owns the well known "Maysville Hotel," about three miles from Shamokin, which he bought in May, 1909. He also engages quite extensively in dealing in horses, and in both lines of business he bears a high reputation among his customers and associates, his success having been won by straightforward methods and unimpeachable transactions. On Nov. 20, 1886, Mr. Wetzel married Ida M. Snyder, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Wetzel) Snyder and like himself a native of Eldred township, Schuylkill county. They have had children as follows: Beulah (who is married to Ray Schoener and has two children, Ruth and Irvin), Walter (who is studying at Dental College in Philadelphia), Robert (who died young), Lottie, Edith, Clayton, and Palmer (who died young). Mr. Wetzel is a member of the Evangelical Church and fraternally of the F.O.E., the Red Men, the P.O.S. or A. and the I.O.O.F.; he also belongs to the Independent Fire Company of Shamokin. In politics he is a Republican. JOHN H. DEPPEN, who is a resident of Jordan township and well known in his section of Northumberland county, is a carpenter by trade and has also engaged in farming, and he is widely known in his connection with the official life of the county. He was born Jan. 9, 1865, at Hebe, and is a son of Henry W. Deppen, who was born in Jordan township and passed all his life there, dying at the home of his son Charles, at Hebe, Oct. 20, 1902, aged sixty-eight years, one month, two days. He followed his trade, that of END OF PAGE 552 carpenter, in his own and surrounding neighborhoods, and was employed as such for over twenty years by the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad company. He owned a forty-acre farm in Jordan township, and cultivated it for some years, meantime also continuing his trade. He held a number of local offices, serving as school director and assistant assessor, and he held the offices of elder and deacon in the Lutheran congregation for St. David's Church at Hebe, to which he and his wife belonged. They were faithful members of that church and deeply interested in its welfare. Mr. Deppen was a Republican in politics. He married Amanda Lettich (Lettig), whose parents were residents of near Elizabethville, in Washington township, Dauphin Co., Pa., and she died several years before Mr. Deppen, on Aug. 19, 1896, aged forty-nine years, eight months, one day. Mr. and Mrs. Deppen are buried side by side at St. David's Church. They were the parents of the following children: Elizabeth, deceased, wife of William Kopenhaver; William Thomas, who died in infancy; Sarah, who married Charles Ludwig; John H.; Emma, wife of Henry Schwalm; Samuel, of Elizabethville, Pa.; Salarah, married to Wilson Knorr; Charles, of Hebe; Daniel, of Hebe; Arthur, who died aged eleven years; and Harvey, who died in childhood. John H. Deppen received, his education in the public schools of Jordan township and when sixteen years old began to learn the carpenter's trade. He followed it for about three years, and for another three years was an employee of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company, later commencing to farm in Jordan township, near Hebe, where he was thus engaged for a period of fifteen years. Mr. Deppen has had numerous public responsibilities, having served the township efficiently as school director, auditor and election officer, and he was appointed postmaster at Hebe during the Harrison administration, under Postmaster General Wanamaker. He continued to hold the position twelve years, resigning when he received the appointment of turnkey at the Northumberland county prison. He gave highly satisfactory service in that capacity under George Hancock for three years. In 1900 he was census enumerator of Jordan township, and was again appointed in 1910. For many years he has been one of the active workers of the Republican party in the lower end of the county, was committeeman of the party in his township for twelve successive years, has been delegate to a number of county conventions and in 1907 served as delegate to the State convention, when John O. Sheetz was nominated for the office of State treasurer, to which he was elected. In 1884 Mr. Deppen married Catharine Troutman, daughter of Simon and Sarah (Shadel) Troutman, and they have one son, Allen S., who is a carpenter and lives with his parents at Hebe. Mr. Deppen and his family are members of the Lutheran Church at Hebe, and he has been one of its most useful workers, having held the offices of deacon and elder and at present serving as trustee. He is one of the most influential and respected residents of his township. CHARLES SHIFFER, of Sunbury, dealer in patent medicines, toilet articles, etc., was born Dec. 8, 1847, at Effort, Monroe Co., Pa.; son of Abraham and grandson of Conrad Shiffer. The name was originally spelled Schiffer. Conrad Shiffer lived at Brodheadsville, Monroe county, where he engaged in farming, and he is buried at Pleasant Valley Church in that county. He and his wife had a large family, among their children being George, Conrad, Charles, Jacob, Abraham, John and Sally Ann (who married John Kresge and lived at Brodheadsville). Abraham Shiffer was born May 18, 1823, and died May 5, 1892, just before the close of his sixty-ninth year. He lived at Brodheadsville, Monroe county, and was a man well known in his vicinity, having taught school for many years, and later engaged as a huckster, butcher and farmer, owning a farm, upon which he made his home. He was a member of the Reformed church and is buried at Brodheadsville. His wife, Julian Searfos (daughter of William Searfos), was born in 1829 and died in February, 1891. They had one son, Charles. Charles Shiffer received his education in the public schools in the home neighborhood. He was trained to farm work, which he followed during his early years, and was later employed in the lumber industry for sixteen years, on the Lehigh river in Luzerne (now Lackawanna) county, taking different contracts and at times employing his own help. He assisted the Drum Brothers in the mercantile establishment, and also worked in their clothes-pin factory, being in their employ about four years, after which he returned to farming for a year. He was next located at Freeland, Luzerne county, where he followed the carpenter's trade about eight years, the last for years of that period in the employ of Eckley B. Cox, coal operator. In September, 1893, he went to Jamison City, Columbia Co., Pa., where he and the Drum Brothers (previously mentioned) purchased the company store at that place from the Union Tanning Company. Mr. Shiffer was engaged there for two and a half years, thence removing to Williamsport, Pa., where he was located for two years, conducting a grocery store. In February, 1899, he came to Sunbury, where he has since been established in his present line of business at No. 18 North Third street, between the Pennsylvania depot and Market Square. Mr. Shiffer carries a large and complete line of patent medicines, toilet articles, soaps, and allied com- END OF PAGE 553 modities, for which he has found a ready market in the borough. He has enjoyed an excellent trade from the beginning, and has steadily enlarged his circle of patrons, being an accommodating and enterprising business man, who knows how to anticipate the wants of his customers and keep his stock in advance of the demand as well as equal to it. In 1871 Mr. Shiffer married Savanna Williams, daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Workheiser) Williams, who then lived at Gouldsboro, Luzerne (now Lackawanna) county. They have had two children: Hubert F., now engaged as engineer at the Union Tannery, in Jamison City, Columbia county, married Esther Sutliff and had one child, La Rue; Raymond, manager for the Western Union Telegraph Company at Sunbury, married Alice Orner, and has children Eleanor and Eugene. Mr. Shiffer and his family are members of the Methodist Church at Sunbury. WALT. The Walt or Wald family is well known along the Susquehanna in the southwestern portion of Northumberland county, several of its members residing at Herndon and Dalmatia. Solomon Z. Walt, a thrifty business man and farmer of Lower Mahanoy township, William A. Walt, a resident of Herndon, who has been track foreman of the Herndon branch of the Philadelphia & Reading road for a number of years, and Joshua Wald, who is now living retired at Dalmatia, are all of the same stock, descendants of Solomon Walt or Wald. Solomon Walt (or Wald) was a native of Montgomery county, Pa., where he owned a fine farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Late in life, in about 1839, he removed to this section with his family, settling at Uniontown, which is across the river in Dauphin county. There he died, at a ripe old age, and there he is buried. He led a retired life after coming to Uniontown (also called Pillow), and for some years before his death was blind. He was a man of medium size. His wife, Catharine (Underkoffler), also lived to an advanced age, and we have the following record of their family: Willoughby and David, both of whom lived at Dalmatia, are more fully mentioned below; Henry, who was a boat-builder and carpenter, lived at Liverpool, Perry Co., Pa., where he died when comparatively a young man and where he is buried (his wife, Rebecca Borrell, bore him three children, Jonathan, Jane, who is married and lives at Saint George's Lock, Del., and Rebecca, who died young); Catharine (Kate) married Abraham Ziegler, of Herndon; Susanna died unmarried; Caroline lives in Montgomery county: Sallie married Adam Gottshall and they lived at Pillow, Dauphin county; Betzy married Abraham Herman; Lovina married Henry Frey (after a short residence in Northumberland county they returned to Montgomery county). Willoughby Walt, son of Solomon, was born near Schwenkville, in Frederick township, Montgomery county, and came to Northumberland county about 1839-40. He died at Dalmatia when eighty-two years old, and is buried at the Stone Valley Church. His wife, Helena (Ziegler), of Montgomery county, was also about eighty-two at the time of her death. Eleven children were born to them, as follows: Catharine married Joel Engle; Abraham died young; Polly (Mary) married Reuben Aucker; Alfred died young; Willoughby C. is mentioned below; Benneville died in the Civil war; Peter lived at Dalmatia, Pa.; Solomon Z. is mentioned below; three died young. Willoughby C. Walt, son of Willoughby, is a native of Dalmatia, (Georgetown), Northumberland county, born April 17, 1841. In his earlier manhood he followed farm work, in June, 1869, beginning work on the Philadelphia & Reading railroad as a section hand. In 1877 he became section foreman on the Herndon branch, a position he held for over twenty years, during which time he came to be regarded as one of the capable employees of the company. Since 1900 he has been retired from active work of a laborious nature. He has served four years as supervisor of Herndon, and has been a useful citizen. During the Civil war he was a private in Company A, 208th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with which he took part in the engagement at Fort Steadman, in 1865, and at the taking of Fort Mahone, April 2, 1865. He made a creditable record in the army for faithful and honorable service. In politics he is a Republican. In 1866 Mr. Walt married Amanda Sultzbach, daughter of Jacob, of Dauphin county, and they have had five children: Mary married C. W. Umholtz and they live in Philadelphia: William Augustus is mentioned below; Katie married Charles Bogar, of Herndon; Henry was drowned in 1871, when eighteen months old; Reuben was killed while playing baseball in Herndon, in 1906. Mr. Walt and his family are members of the Reformed Church. WILLIAM AUGUSTUS WALT, son of Willoughby C. Walt, and his father's successor as track foreman on the Philadelphia & Reading road, was born at Herndon Aug. 31, 1871, and there received his education in the common schools. He began working for the railroad company when twenty-one years old, and on April 19, 1900, was made track foreman of the Herndon branch, in which position he has since served. He has two men working under his supervision. His section extends from Herndon to Latsha. Mr. Walt has taken considerable interest in local politics and public affairs, having served as school director of the borough of Herndon and as election officer. END OF PAGE 554 Politically he is identified with the Republican party. In 1895 Mr. Walt married Sarah Bordner, daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (Heckert) Bordner, formerly of Dalmatia, this county. They have had four children, Katie A., Gertrude A., M. Arline and Mary M. Mr. Walt and his family belong to the Reformed congregation of the Herndon Union Church. SOLOMON Z. WALT, son of Willoughby Walt, was born April 1, 1848, in Lower Mahanoy township, Northumberland county. In his youth he was trained to farm work, but when a young man he took up the miller's trade, completing his apprenticeship when twenty-two years old. He had learned the business at Uniontown (Pillow) and Lewisburg, Pa., and worked at it on his own account one year, operating the Mandata mill, in Jordan township. For a number of years he followed wheelwrighting in connection with farming, beginning agricultural pursuits in association with his father, but in the spring of 1875 starting out for himself, on the thirty-three-acre tract in Lower Mahanoy township where he now lives. It is one mile southwest of Dalmatia, in the independent school district. Mr. Walt has an attractive home and a valuable piece of property. He has a man to look after the farm work, he himself conducting a wheelwright establishment, which is well patronized by his neighbors. He is an excellent mechanic, not alone in that line, but able to perform the work of various trades, and he does a thriving business, his services being in constant demand. In 1871 Mr. Walt married Polly Zartman, daughter of Adam and Susan (Forney) Zartman, and they have an only daughter Lena Susan, now the wife of Charles S. Deppen. Mr. Deppen was born March 24, 1874, son of William and Susan (Shaffer) Deppen, grandson of William Deppen and great-grandson of Christian Deppen. He is engaged as a traveling salesman, and is an intelligent and substantial citizen of his community, one who enjoys excellent standing. Mr. and Mrs. Deppen have had two children, Ivy Thelma and Stena Reba. Mr. Walt and his family are Lutherans in religion, and worship at Zion's Church in Stone Valley. Politically he is a Democrat, and he has served as clerk of his township. David Wald, son of Solomon, was born in Montgomery county, Pa., and when a young man learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed while living in his native county. About three years after his second marriage he moved to Northumberland county, settling at Georgetown (now Dalmatia), where he continued to work at his trade. For thirty years he was engaged as a carpenter in the boat yards at Mahantango, Liverpool and Northumberland, and for thirteen years he and Augustus Arnold rented a boat yard and repaired boats. During this time Mr. Wald and his family lived at Mahantango, Juniata county. He then retired to Georgetown, where he died and is buried. His first wife, whose maiden name was Neiman, was from Montgomery county, and they had a son Augustus, who died at Herndon and is buried at Georgetown. His second wife, Rebecca (Fegley), was from his own neighborhood in Montgomery county, and to them were born three sons and two daughters, as follows: William, Joshua, David, Elmira (married James M. Wiest) and Elizabeth (married George Bingaman). The family were Lutheran members of the Georgetown Church, and they are buried at that church. JOSHUA WALD, son of David, was born Aug. 18, 1816, in Lower Mahanoy township. He received his education in the pay schools in vogue during his boyhood, first attending school in his native township and later in Juniata county. When only eight years old he began driving a mule on the towpath of the Susquehanna canal, and after a few years commenced boating, which he followed for seventeen seasons all told, two years before his service in the Civil war, and fifteen years after. He was only a youth when he enlisted at Harrisburg in Company K, 83d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, for a year's service, but he was mustered out at the end of eight months, by reason of the war closing. Among his active engagements were the action at Hatcher's Run and the operations before Petersburg, besides a number of skirmishes. Resuming civil life, he continued boating until 1878, in which year he engaged in the livery business at Georgetown. After about five years in that line he went into the lumber business, in 1884, near Sunbury, contracting for logs and ties and peeling bark, and he was thus engaged for two years, in 1887 commencing farming. That year be purchased a seventy-five-acre farm at Hickory Corners, in Lower Mahanoy township, which place he cultivated for nine years. This farm was formerly the property of William Schaffer and is now owned by Elmer I. Radel. In 1897 Mr. Wald settled in Georgetown (Dalmatia), where he owns a fine residence and has since lived in practical retirement, though he occasionally engages in coal digging in the Susquehanna. He is a respected citizen and is trusted by his fellow citizens, but he has never cared to undertake the duties of public office. Politically he is a Republican. In 1875 Mr. Wald married Alveretta Heckert, daughter of William and Lydia J. (Favinger) Heckert, who had three children, Alveretta, Polly (unmarried) and Henry unmarried, who lives at Millville, Pa. Jacob Heckert, grandfather END OF PAGE 555 of Mrs. Wald, was a farmer in Lower Mahanoy township. His children were Catharine (Mrs. George Doney), Jacob, William and Jessie. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wald: Jennie Lucretia, died when fourteen months old; and Edward M., who died when three months old. GEORGE H. KEEFER, general contractor at Mount Carmel, has been in business there since 1895. He was born in 1872 in Milwaukee, Wis., son of Philip W. Keefer, grandson of George Keefer, and great-grandson of pioneers who came to Northumberland county from Berks county, this State. The great-grandfather, a native of Oley township, Berks count, came to Northumberland county when a young man, bringing his wife and two children, and settled in Shamokin township. He prospered, and engaged in agricultural pursuits there the remainder of his life. He had a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, namely: Daniel, George, John, Peter, Catharine, Mollie, Elizabeth and Hannah. George Keefer was born in 1796 in Oley township, Berks county, and was eight years old when the family settled in Shamokin township, where he grow to manhood. After his marriage he moved to Lower Augusta township, near Lantz's Church, where he was successfully engaged in farming and milling until 1864. He then disposed of the mill, but continued to farm until his death, which occurred in this county Oct. 16, 1879. He was a stanch Democrat, prominent in the political affairs of his section and influential in the councils of his party, and was chosen to several township offices. He was also prominent in the religious life of the community as a faithful member or Lantz's German Reformed Church, which he helped to build and which he served as trustee and elder for many years. He was twice married, and by his first wife, whose maiden name was Lantz, had five children: Samuel L., born March 28, 1828; Peter, born March 3, 1838; Margaret; Hannah. and Mary M. By his second marriage, to Elizabeth Weiser, there were six children: Catharine, George W., Philip W., John S., Jennie and Lucy A. Philip A. Keefer, son of George, was born Nov. 22, 1846, and married Annie A. Kemp. George H. Keefer, son of Philip W. Keefer. came to Sunbury, Northumberland county, with his father when five years old, and attended school there. He learned the carpenter's trade under his father, and architecture under his uncle George W. Keefer, and in 1890 engaged in business on his own account in Sunbury, where he built the Armory and the Northumberland National Bank building. In October, 1895, he settled in Mount Carmel, during the early part of his residence here carrying on the wholesale and retail lumber business. His first building contracts were for the residences of William Kiefer, Judge Lincoln S. Walter, and P. A. Vought; as his patronage widened and his business increased he was intrusted with more and more important work, the Masonic temple, the Donohue building and the George Laniskey building being all of his construction. He has also had many contracts outside of his own community, having built the waterworks at Columbia, S. C.; the filter plant at Oklahoma; the waterworks at Winfield, Kans.; the silk mills at Marion, Ohio, and at Lewistown and Sunbury, Pa., for the Susquehanna Silk Company; the converting works at Sunbury for the same concern; and a silk mill for the Schwartzenback Huber Company, Juniata, Pa. A mere list of his contracts is sufficient evidence of his standing, and the many substantial, structures of his construction testify to the value and solidity of his work, as well as to his intelligent ideas on modern building and convenience in arrangement of space. He has held the respect and good will of his various patrons to an unusual extent. Mr. Keefer is president of the Mount Carmel Coal & Coke Company of West Virginia. He is well known in his connection with the State National Guard, and during the Spanish American war enlisted in Company E, 12th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, serving nine months. Socially he belongs to the Elks, lodge No. 356, of Mount Carmel. On June 16, 1896, Mr. Keefer married Maude Foye, daughter of Landis and Harriet (Wolf) Foye. They have no children. JOHN H. MAILEY, postmaster at Northumberland, Northumberland county, was born Feb. 6, 1861, at West Fairview, Cumberland Co., Pa., son of William Mailey and grandson of Peter Mailey. The latter was a resident of Harrisburg, Pa., where he died at the advanced age of eighty-five years. Among his children were John, Eli, William and Annie. William Mailey, father of John H. Mailey, was born in 1830, and died in October, 1867, in Harrisburg. He learned the trade of iron worker, which he followed all his life. His wife, Elizabeth (Heffley), daughter of Leonard Heffley, still survives him, and makes her home in Harrisburg. They are the parents of the following children: Abner, Amos, David, John H., Emory and George B. John H. Mailey attended the public schools of Duncannon, Perry Co., Pa., where he was reared, having gone there in 1867, the year of his father's death. He learned the nailing business, which he continued to follow until his removal to the borough of Northumberland in 1890, after which he was employed by Taggart & Howell for one year. END OF PAGE 556 For the next sixteen years he was in the employ the Pennsylvania Railway Company, beginning brakeman and advancing until, when he left the road, he had become extra conductor. In 1907 he was appointed postmaster at Northumberland, and he has since devoted all his time to the duties of that position, in which his services are proving most satisfactory. He was re-appointed Feb. 23, 1911. The office is at present of the second class. Mr. Mailey is an esteemed and well known citizen of the borough, where he has taken considerable part in politics, as he did also at his previous location, Duncannon. He was elected chief burgess of Duncannon in 1889. Since his removal to Northumberland county he has served twelve years as borough committeeman of the Republican party. When the Northumberland Gas Company was organized, in 1911, Mr. Mailey became one of the original directors, and is serving as general manager. On June 26, 1884, Mr. Mailey married Matilda C. Eshelman, daughter of Jacob Eshelman, of Duncannon, and they have had four children: Eva, wife of M. P. Tierney, an attorney at law of Northumberland borough; Nora; William, who married Ruth Burns, of Sunbury; and Charles. Mr. Mailey and his family hold membership in the Methodist Church. B. FRANKLIN HECKERT, attorney at law of Sunbury, Northumberland county, associated in practice with George B. Reimensnyder, was born in that borough Aug. 4, 1876. He is a member of an old Northumberland county family, being a descendant of Michael Heckert, who emigrated from Germany some time during the latter part of the eighteenth century and settled in Lower Mahanoy township in the early days. He owned a considerable body of land, some of which is still in the possession of his posterity, who are still numerous in this county and also well represented in the Western States. Michael Heckerts sons were Francis, Yost, Peter and John and he had a daughter, Elizabeth, who married Jacob Miller and moved to Armstrong Valley, in Dauphin county, Pa. The sons Francis and Yost went West. There may have been other children. Peter Heckert, one of the sons of Michael who remained in the home neighborhood, lived in Lower Mahanoy township, having taken up farm lands there. He died at Sunbury. He served in the war of 1812, was honorably discharged, and received two tracts of bounty land for his services in the war. He married Hannah Witmer, and their children were: George; Michael; Peter, who settled and lived in Northumberland county and had two sons, Jacob (who is a marble cutter in Millersburg, Pa.) and Willis (who is a railroader, living in Georgetown - Dalmatia, Pa.); Elias, who settled in Northumberland County and had ten children, all living, Henry A. residing in Kansas City, Mo., Emma E. (Mrs. I. J. Shroyer, formerly of Shamokin, now of Dauphin county), Riley W. (farmer in Northumberland county), John W. (a merchant in Hegins, Schuylkill Co., Pa.), Mary A. (Mrs. John K. Maurer, of Schuylkill county, Pa.), Sarah J. (Mrs. Jacob Maurer, of the same county), Joseph L. (a baker in Girardville, Pa.), Lydia A. (Mrs. John W. Bahner, residing near Stonington, Northumberland county), Lizzie A. (Mrs. Elmer A. Bohner, of Northumberland county) and Eli P. (the principal of schools at Schuylkill Haven, Pa.); Isaac; Benjamin; Joseph, who resided in Perry county and who became a soldier in the Civil war, during which he was shot while relieving a picket, who did not recognize him; Riley; Elizabeth, Mrs. Isaac Lenker; Polly, Mrs. Harry Weaver, who has a son George, living in Shamokin, Pa.; Sallie; Catharine, Mrs. Jacob Wentzel, who resided in the State of Indiana; Christina, Mrs. Aaron Conrad, who resided in Perry county (Mr. Conrad was a soldier in the Civil war and died of typhoid after a forced march to Gettysburg in 1861, after his enlistment had expired); Hannah, Mrs. John Christ; and two others, who died in youth. Of this family, Elias, now (1911) eighty-four, years of age, and Hannah (Mrs. John Christ) are the only ones living, and both reside in Northumberland county. Benjamin Heckert, the twelfth in order of birth, was born Aug. 14, 1835, in Butler county, Pa., and grew to manhood in Lower Mahanoy township, where he received his education in the local schools. He learned the trade of cabinetmaker there and at Sunbury, to which place he came when a young man, and where he was for eight years in the employ of Sebastian Haupt. In 1862 he engaged in the furniture and undertaking business at Northumberland, where he remained until his removal to Sunbury, in 1871. There he was in business for many years as a funeral director and furniture dealer, having the largest establishment of the kind in the borough in his day and employing a number of clerks. His progressive and enterprising methods kept him at the head of the trade throughout his active career. He retired some years before his death, which occurred July 6, 1906. In 1859 Mr. Heckert married Sarah Jane Durst, who was born May 5, 1838, daughter of Andrew and Nancy (Mahanoy) Durst, of Sunbury, and died Sept. 13, 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Heckert were members of the Lutheran Church, and fraternally he held membership in the I.O.O.F. lodge at Sunbury. He was independent in politics. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Heckert: William N. died in infancy; Rev. Charles G. graduated from Wittenberg College, END OF PAGE 557 Springfield, Ohio, became president of that institution and a clergyman of the Lutheran Church; Emma. D. married William G. Savidge, of Sunbury; Jennie M. married Sharon Stevens, of Harrisburg; B. Franklin was a twin of Harry N., who was drowned in the Susquehanna river when fourteen years old. B. Franklin Heckert received his early literary education in Sunbury, graduating from the high school there in 1893. He then took a course at Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1897, after which he had a year's study at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa. He read law with George B. Reimensnyder, the foremost attorney of Northumberland county, was admitted to the bar of this county in 1900, and to practice in the Superior and Supreme courts in 1902. Since his admission to the bar he has been associated in practice with his preceptor, Mr. Reimensnyder, who makes a specialty of the civil branch of the law. His personal and professional standing and associations are most propitious. Mr. Heckert is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Sunbury and prominent in the Masonic fraternity, holding membership in Lodge No. 22, F. and A. M., of Sunbury, of which he was worshipful master in 1909; in Northumberland Royal Arch Chapter, No. 174; in Mount Hermon Commandery, No. 85, K. T., of Sunbury; in Williamsport Consistory; and in Irem Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., of Wilkes-Barre. He also belongs to the Americus and Temple Clubs of Sunbury. JOHN GLOWA is connected with several of the most important business enterprises of Shamokin, Northumberland county, where he has been well known in commercial circles for a number of years, though he did not establish a permanent home in that city until 1906. He is a self-made man, one whose excellent judgment and well directed executive ability have made him successful in his various undertakings. Mr. Glowa was born June 24, 1863, in Galicia, Austria, in which country his father, Mathew Glowa, followed farming. He died there. John Glowa attended school in his native country, where he grew to manhood, coming to this country in 1882. He landed at New York City Nov. 18th, and made his first location at Danville, Pa., where he found employment in the rolling mill, working there three months. He was next employed on the construction of the railroad from Snydertown to Sunbury, Pa., and after following this work a short time entered the employ of the Excelsior Coal Company, at Excelsior, Northumberland county, continuing with them for a period of seven years. In 1889 he located in Shamokin, where he remained for the next three years, after which he opened a general store in Excelsior, keeping a miscellaneous stock, anything, in fact, that there was any call for. It was this liberal policy of catering to the wants of his customers that made his business so successful, and he continued it until 1906, when he moved his residence to Shamokin. Here he has since lived, at No. 321 North Shamokin street. He still has mercantile interests, being president of the Russian Mercantile Company, of Shamokin, in which line his long experience has fitted him for valuable executive service. Mr. Glowa was one of the original directors of the Market Street Station Bank, of Shamokin, and is still serving in that capacity; he is also a stockholder in the Shamokin and Coal Township Light and Power Company, in the Hoven Mercantile Company of New York City and in the Connell Powder Company of Scranton. He is a very popular citizen of Shamokin, and stands well among his own countrymen there, being president of the Ruthenian Catholic Church, of which he was one of the founders. In his native land he was a member of the choir in his church until he left for America. Mr. Glowa's first marriage was to Catherine Chlebowsky, who died May 9, 1907, and is buried at Shamokin; she was a native of Austria. His present wife was Ella Emck. Five children were born to the first union: Mary, Michael, Mathew, Walter and Antiona. SNYDER. David L. and Harry E. Snyder, brothers, residents, respectively, of Ralpho and Shamokin townships, the former postmaster at Cabel, are sons of David H. Snyder and grandsons of Joseph Snyder, the pioneer hotel-keeper in the borough of Shamokin. John Snyder, the first of this family in America, came from Germany and settled at Trenton, N. J. Coming to Northumberland county, Pa., he was one of the early residents of Rush township, where he died. He married Ellen Witlock, and their children were: Joseph; Jacob, who died at Frackville, Schuylkill Co., Pa.; Reuben, who died at Snufftown, Northumberland county; and Sallie, Mrs. Teats. Joseph Snyder, son of John, was born at Trenton, N. J., Oct. 10, 1796, and grew to manhood at his native place, receiving an ordinary schooling. He married Annie Holler, a native also of New Jersey, born Sept. 18, 1794, and in 1818 came to Pennsylvania, settling in Rush township, Northumberland county, where he began farming. Some time later he opened a hotel at Snufftown, in Shamokin township, and thence in 1835 went to Shamokin, intending to engage in the hotel business. But the outlook was not encouraging, and he returned to his old location for a short time. In 1836 he again went to Shamokin, where he began keeping hotel in a building which subsequently END OF PAGE 558 formed part of the old "Vanderbilt Hotel," on the present site of the "Hotel Graemar." He continued the business with great success for several years and then accepted the position of resident land tenant, to the duties of which he devoted his time for many years. Toward the latter part of his life he purchased a farm in Ralpho township (the property later owned by his son John B.) and remained there two years, at the end of which time he returned to Shamokin. He died there Feb. 1, 1867. Mr. Snyder was a Democrat and filled various local offices, being the first constable of Shamokin township, tax collector, etc. He was active in Church work having been one of the organizers of the First Presbyterian Church of Shamokin and largely instrumental in the erection of its edifice in 1840. A good citizen, reliable and straightforward in all his dealings with his fellowmen, he was highly respected wherever known. His widow, who died Aug. 6, 1881 in her eighty-seventh year, was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They were the parents of the following children: Amelia married Joseph Enoch and (second) Jonathan Farnsworth; Harmon died in Shamokin; Rachel became the wife of Alem Sechler; Eleanor, now the only living member of her generation, is unmarried and resides in Shamokin; David H. is mentioned below; John Boyd was born April 3, 1836, the first white child born within the limits of what is now Shamokin borough. John Boyd Snyder, son of Joseph, learned the trade of plasterer, which he followed in connection with farming. On Jan. 1, 1857, he married Mary M. Mowery, who was born Dec. 9, 1836, daughter of Daniel Mowery, of Shamokin, and died May 1, 1911. The following children were born to them: Charles, who died when six years old; Anna (deceased), who married Matthias Neely; George McClellan, who married Priscilla Swoyer; John H., now clerk of the "Hotel Graemar"; Edwin A., who died young; Elizabeth; Florence Rebecca, who married John Tyler; Emma; and Joseph W., who married Gertrude Yost. The father, John Boyd Snyder, died in Shamokin in February, 1903. He was a Democrat in politics and fraternally a member of Shamokin Lodge, No. 255, F. & A.M. David H. Snyder, son of Joseph, was born in November, 1834, at Rushtown, Northumberland county, and when a boy learned the trade of saddler, which he followed throughout his active years. Before his marriage he taught school for three terms in Little Mahanoy township, this county. He was located at Catawissa, Shamokin and, eventually, at Cabel, in Ralpho township, this county, also following farming to some extent, on a small tract which he owned. During the Civil war he was in the Union service for nine months, and returned home in poor health, never entirely recovering his strength after his army experience. A Democrat in political opinion, he took considerable interest in politics and public affairs; was a member of the Methodist Church, and fraternally belonged to the I.O.O.F. He died Nov. 9, 1878, aged forty- four years, and is buried in Oak Grove cemetery, in Ralpho township. On Dec. 25, 1856, Mr. Snyder married Mary J. Campbell, daughter of Nicholas and Hannah (Yocum) Campbell, and granddaughter of Obediah Campbell. She now makes her home at Cabel, in Ralpho township. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder had the following children: Amy A. married S. F. Boughner and lived in Ralpho township (she died in July, 1901): Rosella married William O. Hoffman and they are living at Selinsgrove, Pa.; Joseph N. married Elizabeth Frederick and their home is in Shamokin township; Clark W., of Milton, Pa., married Annie Rice and (second) Kate ____; David L. is mentioned below; Minnie married W. L. Eisele and is living at Williamsport; Harry E. is mentioned below; Calvin N., who was a telegraph operator, died at the age of twenty-six years. DAVID L. SNYDER was born Oct. 25, 1867, in Shamokin township, Northumberland county, and obtained his education in the public schools. He learned the saddler's trade with his brother Joseph, at Cabel, remaining with him about ten years, until he commenced business for himself. His patronage is extensive and drawn from a wide territory. Mr. Snyder also manufactures harness, and since 1904 has been engaged in the sale of farm implements. He is a most enterprising man, and is interested in the timber business, supplying the mines. In 1909 he bought the old Snyder homestead at Cabel, in Ralpho township, a tract of seventy-six acres - good land and valuable timber. The farmhouse on the property was at one time known as the "Red Tavern," a hotel having been maintained there many years ago, and it is one of the landmarks of this section. On June 1, 1902, Mr. Snyder was appointed postmaster at Cabel, where his brother Joseph and his mother have also officiated, in the same capacity. He is a progressive citizen, thoroughly identified with local interests, and is a member of the P.O.S. of A., the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Independent Fire Company. In politics he is a Democrat. On June 7, 1896, Mr. Snyder married Estella Moody, daughter of Allen Moody. She died one year afterward, at the early age of twenty, the mother of a daughter, Estella. Mr. Snyder's second marriage, which took place in June, 1898, was to Annie M. Moyer, daughter of Jonathan Moyer, of Berrysburg, Dauphin Co., Pa., and she died Sept. 26, 1909, leaving the following children: Charles, Elsie, Leon, Annie and Chester. Mr. Snyder has since married (third) Gertrude Chamberlin, widow of Edw. Chamberlin, and a daugh- END OF PAGE 559 ter of Luther Sober. The family are Methodists in religious connection. HARRY E. SNYDER was born May 12, 1872, in Ralpho township, Northumberland county, was reared upon the farm and received his education in the public schools of the home locality. For two years he was engaged in the milk business at Weigh Scales, his next location being at Seven Points, in Rockefeller township, where he carried on a mercantile business for one year. In 1906 he bought the old Amandus Miller homestead in Shamokin township, consisting of seventy-four acres, where he devoted himself to farming until his removal to Shamokin, in April, 1911; he resides at No. 623 West Pine Street. He is a young man of energetic disposition, intelligent in his work and enterprising in his methods, and his farm showed the effect of good management. He had good buildings and kept his property in excellent condition. In 1901 Mr. Snyder married Lulu V. Miller, daughter of Amandus Miller, late of Shamokin township, and they have four children: Ernest M., R. Merrill, Mary H. and Rosella F. Mr. Snyder is a member of the Oak Grove Methodist Church in Ralpho township, and socially belongs to the P.O.S. of A. In political matters he votes independently. JARID C. IRWIN, a venerable citizen of Sunbury, has had a long and useful life, one of unusual activity, and few residents of the borough are any better known in the community. For many years he was identified with its public affairs, having served several years in the borough council, as member of the school board for the remarkable period of twenty-one years, during which time he was never absent from a meeting of the board, and was chairman of the building committee who superintended the erection of the present high school building, as justice of the peace, and from 1892 to 1897 as postmaster of the borough. Mr. Irwin is a son of Martin Irwin, who came to Sunbury early in 1830 from Chester county, Pa., where he was born April 1, 1804. He followed shoemaking throughout his working years, and was an industrious and intelligent man, one who had the respect and confidence of all who knew him. For some years he served as court crier, and in 1848 he was elected to the office of register and recorder of Northumberland county, which he was filling at the time of his death, June 13, 1849, in Sunbury. He was a Democrat, and quite active in politics. Mr. Irwin married Rachel Irwin who was born in 1808 in Lancaster county, Pa., daughter of James Irwin, a native of Chester county, where he is buried; he lived to the age of ninety-three. James Irwin had the following sons: George, James, Samuel, Joseph, Jarid and Fenius. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Martin Irwin: Jarid C., born March 13, 1830; James P., born in 1832; Mary, born in 1834, who married Charles D. Wharton; S. Elizabeth, born in 1836, who married Dr. Daniel Shindel; Isabella, born in 1838, who married Joseph Bright; Amelia Alice, born in 1842, who married John Olson; R. Marian, born in 1843, who died young; Jane P., born in 1846, who married Edward Israel; and Samuel P., born in 1849, who married Miss Val Elexander, and died in 1908. The parents of this family are buried at Sunbury, in the lower (Fourth street) cemetery. They were Episcopalians in religious connection and active in church life. After the father's death the mother married (second) Frederick Lazarus, whom she also survived, her death occurring in 1895. Jarid C. Irwin was born March 13, 1830, in Sunbury, where he grew to manhood, and there be has always made his home. He learned shoe- making with his father, with whom he worked from an early age, beginning the trade in the days when custom work was the rule, when the work was all done by hand and when shoes were made on straight lasts, not rights and lefts as at present, and worn on either foot being changed about daily to keep heels and soles from becoming crooked. Mr. Irwin followed this business throughout his active years, and prospered. It is his public career, however, that has brought him into special prominence, his services having covered many years, during which he filled various offices with ability, showing conscientious devotion to the duties intrusted to him. He was a member of the borough council for two terms. For twenty-one years he served on the school board, for a longer period than any other one man in Sunbury, and in all that time never missed a meeting of the board, was secretary of that body for twelve years, treasurer four years, and president for a time, and always known as one of the most effective workers in the borough in the cause of public education. On April 14, 1890, he was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Beaver, to, fill the vacancy caused by the death of A. N. Brice. At the close of his appointive term, first Monday in May, 1891, he was elected for five years, but in 1892 resigned his office, having been in the meantime appointed postmaster, when Hon. John Wanamaker was postmaster general. He held that office until 1897. Mr. Irwin has always been a stanch Republican, and he served in the Union army during the Civil war under three enlistments. In 1861 he became a private of Company F, 11th Pennsylvania Regiment with which he served three months, in Maryland and Virginia, taking part in the first fight at Falling Waters, Va.; his second term of service was as a private in the 45th Pennsylvania Regiment, with which he remained a little over a year, during that time taking part in the battles END OF PAGE 560 of James Island (S. C.), Antietam and South Mountain; later he served a year as a private of Company C, 47th Pennsylvania Regiment. He is a leading member of William A. Brunner Post, No. 335, G. A. R., of Sunbury, which he helped to organize, being one of the charter members, and is a past commander. For the past fourteen years Mr. Irwin has acted for the county commissioners in the matter of looking after indigent Civil war veterans, seeing that decent burial is provided for such as die without sufficient means and that headstones are erected to mark their graves properly. For many years he was a member of the Knights of Pythias. In religion, like his parents, he is an Episcopalian. Mr. Irwin can look back over a most interesting period of Sunbury's development, and he has embodied his memories in a book of Reminiscences, which he completed and published in 1910, when past the age of eighty. The edition of three hundred copies was intended chiefly for distribution among his friends, but it is a substantial and valuable addition to the history of the borough and of Northumberland county, though the author himself claimed no such distinction for it. The work was a labor of love, accomplished in his leisure hours, and the accuracy of his recollections, together with the care and thought which he bestowed upon this collection of "fugitive facts, concerning the early days in which all are interested, not only evidence the remarkable clearness and vigor of mind which this octogenarian has retained, but show a true gift for the grasping of those things most characteristic of the times he depicts and a faculty for presenting them which entitles the book to more than local recognition. The cold facts of history stand in little danger of being lost in these days of daily records, and the increasing appreciation of the value of statistics. It is the doings and incidents typical of the early days of the borough which may too readily slip into oblivion unless rescued in time by the hand of one who has the necessary knowledge and opportunity to record them. The book contains so many entertaining recitals of life and conditions in the early days of the borough that it might furnish "local color" for many other works, incidents of all kinds being set forth in most attractive and readable form, and with a regard for facts that enhances the worth of the volume appreciably. The people who have known and loved Sunbury feel a personal sense of gratitude toward him for the occurrences he has perpetuated in this work. The customs and practices of Sunbury people sixty and more years ago he recounts from his personal experiences and recollections. Beginning with brief reference to the founding of the borough a little before his time, he gives two quotations from an old newspaper, which present in sharp contrast with the present the days when Sunbury had no communication with the outside world except by means of the turnpike and canal. One notes the return, April 3, 1835, of the canal boat "Augusta" from Philadelphia; the other the arrival of two cars of coal from Shamokin in 1836, the year the railroad between Sunbury and Shamokin was completed. At this time there were eight hotels or taverns, as they were then called, in the town, some of them on sites still occupied by hotels. In 1842 the population was only 1,108, and at that time there was not a house in sight north of Race street or south of Spruce, or east of what is now known as Spring Run. In 1848 the entire tax levy of the borough amounted to $1,294.63. The public schools were opened in 1834, and the school tax for the first year was $554.9 38; the first building especially erected for school purposes in Sunbury was opened in December, 1837. Of interesting facts concerning the changes in the physical features of the town there are many, some scarcely comprehensible to the present generation. The present site of the Reading railroad depot was an old basin which was a favorite resort of skaters in the winter season; Shamokin creek was once a "fisherman's paradise"; the part of town extending from the upper basin to beyond the Philadelphia & Erie shops was practically a swamp, covered with a dense wild growth of shrubs, bushes and vines; and allusion is made to the old picnic ground, "which was a dense growth of trees, south of the eastern extension of Walnut street and east of Spring run, extending along Shamokin creek, quite up to the old town mill." In these days a boy could not earn more than twenty-five cents a day, a levy, or twelve and a half cents, being the average, and fifty cents daily was the regular price paid for a man's labor. There was little opportunity for girls to make money. To the social pleasures of the day and humorous happenings, many of which have become historic, Mr. Irwin devotes considerable space. He tells of the annual training days, when the militia met at Sunbury for drill; of the fights and festivities which marked these occasions; the hucksters busily engaged in the sale of the ginger cakes, root beer and other refreshments in popular demand; and the dancing, usually at the "Black Horse Hotel," the "Ferry House" and the "Cross Keys." One of the most amusing incidents related was the expedition made by the Sunbury Grays to oust a negro family squatted on an island in the river. One day, the drum corps being short of a fifer, a celebrated whistler in the town agreed to furnish the music for the parade, and kept his word. The horse races so keenly enjoyed in the early days, the feud between the Sunbury and Northumberland boys, and numerous other things recalled with END OF PAGE 561 zest by most of the older inhabitants, have been set down with a pen moved by the spirit of the times, and the volume has been received with delight. A number of illustrations accompany the text. On Feb. 15, 1851, Mr. Irwin married in Danville, Pa., Ann S. Kiehl, who was born in 1833, daughter of George W. Kiehl, of Sunbury, at one time sheriff of Northumberland county. She died March 9, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin had four children, namely: Marian, who died young; Georgia Anna, who married Sharon Stephen, of Harrisburg, where she died, leaving two children, Fred H. and Bessie; William, who died young, and Martin, who died young. REV. A. H. BLEISTEIN has been pastor of St. Patrick's Catholic Church at Trevorton, Northumberland county, since 1902, and the church and its work have prospered steadily under his wise and efficient administration. He was born March 6, 1874, at Lebanon, Pa., where his father, John Bleistein, a native of Germany, settled upon coming to this country. The father was a furnace-man and employed as such throughout his active years. He died at Lebanon May 20, 1874. His widow, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Host is now living with her son, Father Bleistein, at Trevorton. She is a native of Würtemberg, Germany. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John Bleistein, namely: Frank, who died young; Joseph, a resident of Lebanon; Carl, who died young; John; William, of Lebanon; Charles, living at Chester, Pa.; Philip, a resident of Lebanon; Mary, deceased; and A. H. A. H. Bleistein received his early education in the parochial schools at Lebanon, and in Vincent College, located at Latrobe, Westmoreland Co., Pa. In 1892 he entered Mount Saint Mary's College, at Emmitsburg, Md., from which institution he was graduated in 1897. For the next two years he pursued the theological course there, and for one year was a student at St. Charles Seminary (the Philadelphia Theological Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo), at Overbrook, Pa., after which he began his work as assistant to Father Christ, of St. Joseph's Church, at Lancaster, Pa. His next location was at New Freedom, York Co., Pa., where he remained for one year, from June 1901, to June, 1902, at which time he was transferred to Trevorton. Here he has since had charge of St. Patrick's Church. He has been very successful throughout his pastorate, and the affairs of the congregation are in a thriving condition. St. Patrick's Church was founded soon after the opening of the coal mines at Trevorton. A large proportion of the Irish and German miners were members of the Catholic Church and Rev. Michael Sheridan, pastor of St. Joseph's Church, at Danville, was requested to pay them a visit. He celebrated the first mass at the house of a Mr. Compton, and the first baptism and marriage recorded in the church records by Father Sheridan are dated Oct. 1, 1854. It is very probable he commenced visiting the town about that time. In 1857 he was succeeded by Rev. George Gostenschnigg, pastor at Milton, who organized the congregation and at once commenced collecting money for the erection of a church edifice. Father George, as he was familiarly known, continued his collections over the county until May, 1859, when the contract was let for the church building, a white sandstone structure 35 by 65 feet in dimensions, still in use. The edifice was completed in May, 1860, and was dedicated on the 20th of that month by Bishop Neuman, of Philadelphia, and placed under the patronage of St. Patrick. A large assemblage was present at the services, but the pastor who had worked so hard to accomplish all this had not lived to see the ceremony. While making preparations for the event Father Gostenschnigg became overheated, and he died at Milton May 2, 1860, and was buried in St. Joseph's parochial lot at that place. His successor, Rev. M. Muffiberger, served until 1861, when Rev. Emil Stenzel became pastor. In 1862 he was succeeded by Rev. Edward Murray, and in November, 1863, Rev. J. J. Koch, pastor of St. Joseph's Church at Milton, was transferred to this charge. In 1866 Father Koch was appointed first resident pastor of St. Edward's Church at Shamokin, but also continued to minister to St. Patrick's until 1878, during which time he enlarged the church building, had the interior frescoed, paid off the debts, and placed the affairs of the congregation on a sound financial basis. For four years after Father Koch's pastorate Rev. August Schluelter, formerly of Locust Gap, was in charge at Trevorton, he being followed by Rev. Henry Relt, the first resident pastor. Father Relt built a two-story parochial residence in 1882. In 1889 Rev. Francis L. Breckel was placed over this charge, which he continued to serve until the fall of 1900, when Father George Seubert came hither from St. Anthony's church in Lancaster, Pa. In the spring of 1901 the present church site was purchased, and preparations made to build. The first services in the new structure were held in the basement Christmas Day, 1901. Father Seubert continued in charge until the present pastor, Rev. A. H. Bleistein, was transferred hither in June, 1902. Many changes have taken place in the membership of the church, which decreased for a time as the suspension of the coal business caused many families to move from the vicinity. The congregation now numbers about one hundred families, principally German, and there is a flourishing Sunday school. END OF PAGE 562