Floyd's Northumberland County Genealogy Pages 712 thru 735

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	HARRY E. LEIBY, present chief burgess of Snydertown,  
Northumberland county, is a young man who has risen rapidly in the 
business world and has also become prominent in social and political 
circles through his energetic and forceful character.  Mr. Leiby was 
born at Paxinos, this county, May 7, 1886, son of Francis M. Leiby and 
grandson of Daniel Leiby.
	Daniel Leiby was born in Columbia county, Pa., near Bear Gap and 
died in that county at a comparatively early age. He was a farmer by 
occupation. His wife, Rebecca (Yost), is still living at the homestead. 
Children as follows were born to this couple:  Esther, who married 
Joseph B. Campbell; Amy, who married George Frederick; William, of 
Sunbury; Abraham L., of Bear Gap; and Francis M.
	Francis M. Leiby was born Oct. 2, 1859, in Columbia county, Pa., 
and has been a lifelong farmer. He first lived with Eli Neice for a 
time, in Rush township, and eventually began farming 
	
	END OF PAGE 712
	
on his own account, now owning a farm of about 150 acres in Rush 
township, near Snydertown. He gives all his time to its cultivation, in 
which he has been very successful. Mrs. Leiby conducts a store in 
Snydertown.  On Feb. 14, 1885, Mr. Leiby married Ida M. Haupt, daughter 
of Freeman and Ella (Neyhart) Haupt, and they have had two children: 
Harry E. and Edna M., the latter born Sept. 22, 1907.  Mr. and Mrs. 
Leiby are Methodists in religious connection.  Politically he is 
identified with the Republican party.  They are well known and highly 
respected citizens of their community.
	Harry E. Leiby received his early education in the public schools 
of Rush township, later attending the State normal school at Bloomsburg.  
He then became a clerk in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company at Sunbury, where he remained one year. Going to Philadelphia, 
he found employment in the hat department of Strawbridge & Clothier's 
large establishment, where he continued for six month's. In 1906 he made 
a trip to Europe, and returning to New York City became a drug clerk on 
Long Island, for a time. He then came back to Snydertown, in 1907 
embarking in the vehicle business in which he has since been interested, 
his location being at the corner of Market and Walnut streets, in the 
borough of Shamokin. In 1910 he became associated with Solomon Martz in 
this business, under the name Shamokin Motor Car Company, their 
specialty being the Buick motors.  They are doing a promising business: 
their enterprise and up-to-date methods commanding a discriminating 
class of patrons. Mr. Leiby is well known in various positions of the 
county besides his business and home boroughs, and he belongs to the 
Americus Club and Lodge No. 267, B.P.O. Elks, at Sunbury. He also holds 
membership in the Odd Fellows lodge at Snydertown.
	Outside of his business Mr. Leiby has taken particular interest in 
politics as an ardent member of the Republican party.  In March, 1910, 
he was honored with appointment to the office of chief burgess of 
Snydertown, which is the largest borough in area in the State of 
Pennsylvania. It was a compliment to his ability and substantial 
qualities, and an evidence of the confidence of his fellow citizens, not 
often shown to a man of his years.

	HENRY L. LEAM, treasurer of The Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit 
Company, of Shamokin Northumberland county, has been connected with that 
leading financial institution since its organization, in 1896, in his 
present capacity the greater part of the time. Before entering this line 
he was engaged in newspaper work almost from the beginning of his active 
career.
	Mr. Leam was born Nov. 15, 1865, at Ashland Schuylkill Co., Pa.; 
son of Harry Leam and grand-son of Anthony Leam, both of whom were 
natives of England. On coming to America with his family Anthony Leam 
settled at Port Carbon, Pa., where he followed mining, and there he 
died. His children were: Anthony, Thomas, Martha (Mrs. Brown) and Harry.
	Harry Leam was born in England and came to America with his 
parents. His education was limited, as he commenced work when still a 
boy. Locating at Ashland, Schuylkill county, he built up a successful 
business as a contractor and builder, building many breakers, and he met 
his death while engaged in this work, on a slope, in 1867.  All of his 
business life was passed at Ashland, where he became well known as an 
honorable, self-made, intelligent man.  He married Esther Lewis, who 
still resides at Ashland, and they had three children, Annie, Henry L. 
and Minnie, the former still residing with her mother.
	Henry L. Leam received his education in the public schools of 
Ashland, and upon commencing work found employment as a shipping clerk. 
From his native place he went to Pottsville, same county, where he 
became a member of the reporting staff of the Miners' Journal. His next 
experience was at Scranton, where he was city editor of the Tribune, a 
well known newspaper, and from there he went to Philadelphia, where he 
was engaged as a reporter on the Press. Moving to Shamokin, he became 
editor of the Shamokin Daily Dispatch, which position he held for three 
years, until he assumed his present business relations. On March 1, 
1896, when The Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company opened for 
business, he became teller, and two and a half years later was promoted 
to his present position, that of treasurer, which he has held ever 
since. His high personal character, no less than his business ability, 
has made him a most valuable man in this responsible office, which he 
has filled with honor. Outside of his connection with the bank Mr. Leam 
is well known in Shamokin as a member of the Royal Arcanum and the 
Masonic fraternity, in the latter connection belonging to Shamokin 
Lodge, No. 255, F. & A.M., Reading Chapter, No. 264, R.A.M., and 
Shamokin Commandery, No. 77, K.T. He is a Presbyterian in religious 
connection, and is serving the church in which he holds membership as a 
member of the board of trustees and secretary and treasurer of that 
board.
	In August, 1894, Mr. Leam was married to Louisa A. Shields, of 
Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and they have had one son, Henry L. Leam, Jr.

	JOHN ADAM CAKE, attorney, of Sunbury, has been engaged in the 
practice of law in that borough for a period of forty years and has 
extensive real estate holdings in that part of the borough formerly 
known as Caketown, the management of which occupies considerable of his 
time. 
	
	END OF PAGE 713
	
For a number of years he was actively interested in politics, from which 
he withdrew, however, some years ago.
	Joseph W. Cake, his father, laid out an extensive addition to the 
original town plat of Sunbury which was named Caketown in his honor, and 
which he had surveyed in September, 1863. He died Jan. 1, 1879, and his 
wife died Aug. 25, 1879. She is buried at Pottsville, Schuylkill Co., 
Pa., while Mr. Cake is buried in Pomfret Manor cemetery at Sunbury. They 
had children as follows: Alice, who married J. G. Lowery; Joseph; John 
Adam; Edith, who died young; and Amy, who married Joseph S. Adam.
	John Adam Cake was born Aug. 25, 1846, in Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., 
Pa., and received his preparatory education at Russell's Military 
School, taking his collegiate course at Yale and Princeton. He studied 
law under Benjamin H. Brewster, at Philadelphia, and was admitted to the 
Northumberland county bar at Sunbury in March, 1870, for a year previous 
to which event he had continued his law studies under Messrs. 
Rockefeller and Rohrbach, in that borough. He has ever since maintained 
a law office in Sunbury, in that part of the borough once known as 
Caketown, but which has for many years formed a part of the 
municipality.
	Mr. Cake was quite active in political affairs for a number of 
years. In 1867 and 1868, during his father's incumbency of the position 
of United States collector at the port of Philadelphia, he was assistant 
cashier at the custom house in that city. He was one of the early 
advocates of the Greenback movement, and was a delegate to the 
convention held at Toledo, Ohio, in 1878, for the organization of the 
National Greenback and labor party, taking an active part in the work of 
that convention.  He represented his district in the national 
conventions of that party held in 1880 and 1884, working hard during the 
Weaver and Butler campaigns, and in 1880 was himself the nominee of his 
party for Congress, in 1882 for judge of the Supreme court.  Since the 
disintegration of the Greenback party he has been a Republican, but he 
has not taken any direct part in public affairs or in promoting the 
success of the party beyond the regular casting of his vote. He is an 
intelligent and public-spirited citizen, and uses his influence in a 
quiet way for the promotion of all worthy objects which have in view the 
advancement of the general welfare.
	On Feb. 27, 1868, Mr. Cake married, at Pottsville, Pa., Minnie E. 
McCullough, daughter of Capt. Hugh McCullough, who lost his life while 
serving in the Union army at the battle of Murfreesboro. Mrs. Cake died 
the mother of four children: (1) John Adam, born at Sunbury Jan. 19, 
1869, died there. He graduated from the Sunbury high school in 1887, 
after which he was a student for three years at Lafayette College, 
Easton, Pa., and then returning to Sunbury read medicine with the late 
Dr. F. B. Masser, completing his preparation for the medical profession 
at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1893. 
He practiced at Sunbury from that time until his death, meeting with a 
degree of success which comes to few. He was a working member of the 
Northumberland County Medical Society. Dr. Cake spent much time at 
college in the gymnasium and athletic sports, for which he always 
retained a fondness. In February, 1894, he married Clara Jones, of 
Shamokin, and they had one daughter, Helen Marie.  (2) Minnie C. is the 
wife of Mason Noble.  (3) Joseph W. is engaged as a conductor on the 
Pennsylvania railroad.  (4) Edith.
	Mr. Cake was married (second) to Mrs. Dunkelberger. He is a Mason, 
holding membership in lodge No. 22, F. & A.M., of Sunbury.

	JOHN A. HILBISH, a resident of the borough of Northumberland who 
has recently retired from farming to devote his attention to other 
interests, is one of the leading spirits in the promotion of the 
development of his town and section and recognized as one of the most 
progressive citizens of his community. He has been associated with 
various projects affecting the general welfare of the locality, and his 
public spirit and efficient services have made him one of the most 
influential workers in the advance movement toward greater 
Northumberland. Mr. Hilbish was born Aug. 7, 1851, in Washington 
township, Snyder Co., Pa., son of Daniel P. Hilbish, grandson of Peter 
Hilbish and great-grandson of Peter Hilbish.
	This family comes of the sturdy German stock which has given 
Pennsylvania so many of her useful citizens. The name, originally 
Hallobush or Hallowbush, is now spelled in many ways, Hilbush, Hillbush, 
Hillibish, Hilbish and Hallerbush. Christian Hallowbush, the emigrant 
ancestor of John H. Hilbush, of Shamokin, Northumberland county, was 
born in 1718 in the German Palatinate, and came to America in 1724 with 
his brother Peter and widowed mother. They landed at Philadelphia, 
locating shortly after in Salford township, Montgomery county. Peter 
Hallowbush was born in 1709, and died in 1768, leaving five children, 
Catharine, John, Magdalena, Margaret and Ann Maria. Christian Hallowbush 
died in Montgomery county in 1778, the father of four children, 
Magdalena, Henry, Adam and Peter. Undoubtedly the family here under 
consideration is descended from this source.
	Daniel P. Hilbish was born in 1810 in Washington township, Snyder 
county, and died in February, 1861. He is buried at Freeburg. A farmer 
by occupation, he prospered in his calling, and not only owned the old 
Hilbish homestead in 
	
	END OF PAGE 714
	
Snyder county but also the farm in Point township, Northumberland 
county, now owned by his son John A. Hilbish. He was a man of more than 
ordinary intelligence, a leader in the affairs of his district, held 
various public offices, and was one of the original founders of the 
Freeburg Academy, serving on the building committee and later as 
trustee. He contributed largely to the construction and was the leading 
spirit in the foundation of this institution, where his children were 
educated. On the question of education he had strong convictions, and he 
did much work beneficial to the community. He was a Republican in 
politics, and in religion a member of the Reformed Church, which he 
supported with his influence and means. He was liberal in such matters 
as he was generous and broad in all the associations of life. The old 
homestead which he owned, and which his son Samuel G. took after his 
death, has now (1910) been in the family name for 125 years, and was all 
in the forest when taken up by his grandfather, Peter. In 1846 Daniel P. 
Hilbish purchased the farm in Point township mentioned before, upon 
which he erected a full set of buildings, which the Pennsylvania Company 
purchased in 1909.  He was a man whose judgment was so highly esteemed 
that he was frequently sought for advice by his neighbors, and he had 
the respect of all who knew him.  He married Elizabeth Glass, daughter 
of George and Sarah (Brill) Glass, of Washington township, Snyder 
county, whose family were pioneers in that district coming thither while 
the Indians were still roaming the territory. Mrs. Hilbish long survived 
her husband, dying in 1888 at the age of seventy-six years, and is 
likewise buried in the family plot at St. Peter's Church, at Freeburg, 
in Washington township.  Eight children were born to them: Samuel G., 
who lives on the homestead; Sarah S., wife of Philip B. Moyer; Mary A., 
who married William Motz; Catharine A., who married James P. Artley; one 
that died in infancy; John A.; George A., who died in 1877, aged twenty-
four years; and Emma K., deceased, who married Dr. J. D. Hilbish and 
after his death became the wife of John Motz.
	John A. Hilbish was born on the Hilbish homestead and was during 
his early youth a pupil in the local public schools, later attending 
Freeburg Academy, from which he was graduated in 1866. Subsequently he 
attended Palatinate College, at Myerstown, Pa., and later the 
Millersville State Normal school. In 1868 he was licensed to teach 
public school and began teaching at. Middleburg. In all he taught for 
five terms, during which time he gave the highest satisfaction to 
patrons and pupils alike, being regarded as an able disciplinarian as 
well as an efficient instructor. He holds the esteem of his old pupils 
to this day. In 1872 he engaged in the mercantile business in Freeburg 
and continued same successfully until 1881, carrying on a general store. 
In 1882 he built a fine residence in Freeburg. In 1883 he came to 
Northumberland and began the cultivation of his 230 acre farm, which has 
been in the family name since 1846. He farmed this place from 1883 to 
1910, when he gave up agricultural pursuits to look after his other 
interests. He sold forty-seven acres of his land to the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company, which established its yards at that point, and in 1910 
he laid out sixteen acres of his land in building lots. Mr. Hilbish has 
furthered other projects for the good of the community. He was one of 
the organizers of the new bank of Northumberland.
	On Feb. 10, 1884, Mr. Hilbish married Melissa Kautz, daughter of 
Samuel B. and Sarah (Wetzel) Kautz, of Freeburg, and they have had three 
children, Charles E., John C. and Sarah I. Both sons are graduates of 
Bucknell University, and the elder is now engaged as a contractor in 
Northumberland; he is also a public surveyor. The daughter is a member 
of the class of 1912, Northumberland high school.  Mr. Hilbish and his 
family worship at the Presbyterian Church of Northumberland. He is a 
Republican in politics, and has held public office. In 1909 he erected 
the new brick house at the corner of King and Hilbish streets, in 
Northumberland, in which he and his family now reside. The location is 
beautiful, affording an ideal view of the surrounding landscape.

	FREDERICK W. V. LORENZ, a civil engineer of high standing, and one 
of the best known and most prominent citizens of Northumberland county 
was born in Burgsteinfurt, Westphalia, Germany, Dec. 26, 1853, son of 
Victor and Augusta (Drost) Lorenz.
	Victor Lorenz, the father, held high place in his native land. He 
was born Oct. 15, 1833, and received an excellent education. When but 
twenty-five years old he was made counselor to the Prince of Bentheim 
Steinfurt, a position he continued to fill for almost half a century. He 
died Oct. 14, 1902.
	Frederick W. V. Lorenz was a student at the University of Halle, on 
the river Saale, until 1873. In 1877 he came to the United States, 
locating in Philadelphia, where, however, he remained but three mouths, 
in January, 1878, joining the P. & T. Collins expedition to Brazil. He 
was engaged in that country until November, 1879, when he returned to 
the United States, and became a civil engineer in the employ of the 
Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company, and afterward was a clerk in the 
construction of the coal docks at Elizabethport, N. J., until January, 
1882. At that time his employers sent him to Shamokin to fill the 
position of civil engineer in the construction of various branches. In 
September, 1887, he was 
	
	END OF PAGE 715
	
appointed teller of the First National Bank, a position he filled for 
some years.  During 1895-06, and several times later, he filled the 
office of city engineer.
	Mr. Lorenz has been active in public affairs.  In 1902 he was 
elected to represent the First ward on the school board, and has since 
given very efficient service, in 1907 and 1908 serving as president of 
the board. In politics he is a Republican. Socially he belongs to the 
Cresco Club.  He is also a member of the Madeira Mamore Association, 
which is made up of men connected with the building of railroads in 
Brazil, South America; annual banquets are held in Philadelphia.
	On June 25, 1884, Mr. Lorenz was married to Clara Beury, daughter 
of Christian and Nancy (Lawton) Beury, of Shamokin.  To this union were 
born four children: Helen B., born Aug. 30, 1885; Nancy L., born July 
17, 1887, who married J. H. Cooper, of Sunbury, Pa.; and Charles 
Christian and Frederick Victor, twins, born Oct. 22, 1889, both of whom 
died within two years after birth.
	Mr. Lorenz and his family are communicants of the Episcopal Church, 
in which he filled the office of vestryman. In 1898-1899, accompanied by 
his family, he made a trip to Europe, visiting Germany and France. In 
1903 they made a second trip, visiting England, Ireland, Germany and 
Austria, and in 1910 a third, visiting England, Holland, Germany and 
Switzerland. Mr. Lorenz has won a high place in the estimation of the 
people of his adopted town, where he is an enterprising public-spirited 
citizen.

	H. M. BECKER, M. D., has throughout his practice made a specialty 
of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, in which line he has a 
reputation that extends all over the State of Pennsylvania and a 
patronage which takes him over a wide territory  He has made his home at 
Sunbury, Northumberland county, since 1899.
	Dr. Becker is the only son of George F. Becker and grandson of 
Curtis A. Becker, a native of New Baltimore, York Co., Pa., who died 
there about 1889, at the age of seventy-three years. He is buried at 
Bear's meetinghouse, though he was a Lutheran in religious connection.  
He was a wheelwright and blacksmith of the old-fashioned type of 
tradesman, being able to make every part of a wagon as well as build the 
wagon itself. His wife was Mary Fisher, and their children were: Elias, 
George F., John, Simon (living at New Baltimore, Pa.) and Mrs. Shue.  
The daughter lives with her husband in Adams county, Pennsylvania.
	George F. Becker was born May 29, 1835, at New Baltimore, Pa., 
where he continued to make his home until, 1892.  Like his father he was 
a Carriage builder, and he made the first buggies turned out in his 
section of the State. This was during Civil war times.  He prospered in 
this business, employing from twelve to twenty-five men, and he also had 
a farm.  From 1892 until his death he lived at Hanover, Pa. He died Nov. 
19, 1903, and is buried at Bear's meetinghouse. He was a Lutheran in 
religions faith. He married Lucy Ann Myers, daughter of Conrad Myers, of 
Codorus township, at what is called Seven Valleys. Mrs. Becker is now 
living at Hanover, York county.  Two children were born to her and her 
husband: Annie M. (wife of Levi Bowman) and H. M. 
	H. M. Becker was born May 3, 1873, at New Baltimore, and received 
his early education in the schools of New Baltimore, later becoming a 
student at the Cumberland Valley State normal school, from which he was 
graduated in 1892. From 1892 to 1894 he continued his studies at 
Gettysburg College, after which he took a course in the medical 
department of the University of Pennsylvania.  Graduating in 1898, he 
took a post-graduate course at the Polyclinic hospital, in  diseases of 
the eye, ear, nose and throat subsequently, in 1903, taking a similar 
course in the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and in the New York 
Polyclinic Hospital and Post Graduate School of Medicine. On Dec. 20, 
1899, he settled at Sunbury, where he has since practiced, though his 
work is by no means confined to that borough or section. He is now 
engaged in dispensary work at the Wills Eye hospital in Philadelphia.  
Dr. Becker has numerous professional associations and has been active in 
medical organizations.  He is a member of the Sunbury Medical Club, 
organized for sociability as well as study; a member of the 
Northumberland County Medical Society, of the Pennsylvania State Medical 
Society, of the American Medical Association, of the American 
Ophthalmological Society, and of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity of 
Gettysburg College.  He is a past president of his county medical 
society and has been district censor since 1904. He is a Mason, holding 
membership in MaClay Lodge, No. 632, F. & A.M., of Sunbury, and in the 
Temple Club.  Dr. Becker is a member of the surgical staff of the Mary 
M. Packer hospital at Sunbury, having charge of all the eye and ear work 
at that institution.  He is medical examiner for various life insurance 
companies and insurance fraternities.
	On Nov. 23, 1994, Dr. Becker married Maud O. Keefer, daughter of 
John S. Keefer of Sunbury.

	COL. WILLIAM CLAPHAM, who built Fort Augusta, and was the first 
officer in charge there, was commissioned captain and lieutenant-colonel 
March 29, 1756, and commanded the 3d Battalion, known as the Augusta 
regiment.  The erection of 
	
	END OF PAGE 716
	
a fort at Shamokin (now Sunbury) had been urged repeatedly by friendly 
Indians. It was probably first suggested by Andrew Montour and 
Monocatootha at Harris's Ferry on Nov. 1, 1755, and at once received the 
favorable consideration of the governor, who intended to build it that 
winter. On Jan. 17, 1756, it was again brought to the notice of the 
governor at a conference at Carlisle. The Indians said the fort would be 
"a place of refuge in times of distress for us with our wives and 
children to fly to for our safety."  Construction would probably have 
commenced at once if the weather had permitted. The Indians were 
impatient at the delay, and at other conferences, held Feb. 22d and 
April 10th, urgently requested the governor to keep his promise.  The 
location was inaccessible, except by water, and opposition from the 
enemy was not improbable.  The appropriations made by the Provincial 
Assembly were dispensed under the supervision of a board of 
commissioners, who were not in cordial sympathy with the governor's 
plans, and it was not until April, 1756, that their consent to this 
project was obtained. The consent of the commissioners was coupled with 
a request that four hundred troops should be raised for the expedition, 
and the 3d Battalion was accordingly recruited.  It rendezvoused at Fort 
Hunter and marched on the east side of the Susquehanna as far as Fort 
Halifax, stopping en route at McKee's store (opposite the mouth of 
Sherman's creek), whence on June 5th Colonel Clapham marched with five 
companies and eighteen batteaux and canoes loaded, arriving the next 
afternoon at Fort Halifax.  The progress of the expedition was attended 
with many difficulties.  Considerable difficulty was experienced in 
ascending the Juniata rapids; many of the batteaux grounded, "though 
laden with no more than four barrels of pork and a few light things." It 
was the governor's idea to use canoes only in the transportation 
service, the batteaux being substituted at the suggestion of John 
Harris. While the transportation of the stores up the river was in 
progress the main body of the troops was employed in erecting Fort 
Halifax.  This was not included originally in the plan of the 
expedition, but was undertaken by Colonel Clapham in the exercise of his 
discretionary powers.  Continuing the march about five miles above Fort 
Halifax, the troops proceeded thence along the west bank of the river to 
a point opposite Sunbury, where they crossed in batteaux.
	In a letter to Colonel Clapham dated June 12, 1756, the governor 
submits him two plans of forts, allowing him to risk his own judgment in 
choosing the kind of fort best suited to the place and conditions. as 
well as to select the site, except, that it had to be on the east side 
of the Susquehanna; and he was instructed to put up a breastwork at 
once, so that his men could carry on the work in safety. The temporary 
defenses he constructed were approved by the governor in another 
communication. The work progressed but slowly, as there was but one team 
of draft horses to be had, but nevertheless it went steadily forward, 
for on Aug. 14th he wrote: "We have the walls of the fort now above half 
finished and our other works in such situation that we can make a very 
good defense against any body of French and Indians that shall seat 
themselves before us without cannon."  The Colonel evidently was in 
favor of strengthening the fort, for in one letter he speaks of 
strengthening "this post by doubling the fort with another case of logs 
and filling up the intermediate space with earth in order to render it 
cannon-proof, which I think ought to be done"; and again: "This post, 
which is in my opinion of the utmost consequence to the Province, is 
already defensible against all the power of musketry, but as it is, from 
the nature of its situation, exposed to a more formidable descent from 
the West Branch, it ought, I think, to be rendered still stronger." On 
Sept. 23d he sent a plan (probably the original of which that in the 
British Museum is a copy) of the completed fort to Governor Denny with 
the information that its construction had required "little better than 
the space of six weeks."  This referred only to the works originally 
projected, probably constructed from the plans furnished by the governor 
without any special engineering supervision.  On Oct. 17, 1756, E. 
Meyer, an engineer in the Provincial service, and James Young, the 
commissary general, arrived at Harris's Ferry, thence proceeding to Fort 
Augusta with Captain Lloyd. Improvements were apparently made at Mr. 
Meyer's suggestion, judging by a later report of the Colonel, who 
continues to refer to the lack of tools and conveniences as hampering 
the work.
	They were in constant danger of attacks by the French and Indians.  
Fort Granville was taken and burned July 30, 1756, and an attack upon 
Fort Augusta was deemed highly probable.  The fleet of batteaux ascended 
and descended the river under a strong guard, the killing of more than 
one white person having shown this to be necessary. A friendly Indian 
chief bringing news of the approach of a large force of French and 
Indians, dispatches were at once transmitted to Colonel Clapham, who was 
then at Harris's Ferry, and he immediately returned to Fort Augusta, 
determined to defend it to the last extremity.  The garrison was 
reinforced, and additional works were constructed which so strengthened 
the post as to warrant offensive measures. Accordingly, a detail was 
sent out to advance on the Indian town of Chingleclamouse (situated on 
the West Branch at the present site of Clearfield) and destroy it if 
occupied, otherwise to leave no trace of the visit. It was found to be 
deserted.
	Life at the post was not only rendered hazardous 
	
	END OF PAGE 717
	
by constant danger of attack, but the lack of provisions and difficulty 
of transporting them made the situation doubly hard.  Ammunition was low 
at a most critical period; food supplies were insufficient and 
uncertain; and inadequate finances made the payment of the men for their 
services so irregular that it was hard for the commander to keep them 
loyal. Nor was this feeling confined to the ranks. The "extremely 
parsimonious policy of the commissioners  *      *      * caused general 
dissatisfaction among the officers," who complained that they had not 
received the pay promised and asked permission to resign. This 
disaffection prevailed among the officers of the entire regiment, 
Colonel Clapham upholding them in their demands. On Sept. 23, 1756, he 
wrote Governor Denny stating that four months pay was due the regiment, 
and as many of the soldiers had families to support he had to lend the 
greater part of his own salary to them to keep them from deserting or 
returning home when their terms of enlistment expired.  At length, 
"tired with the discouragements perpetually given to the service by the 
commissioners and with their particular treatment of him," he resigned 
his commission. and was succeeded in command of the Augusta regiment by 
Maj. James Burd, the officer next in rank, who arrived at Fort Augusta, 
Dec. 8, 1756.  At that time there were 280 men "doing duty and nine 
officers "for duty."

	RIGHT REV. JOHN JOSEPH KOCH, D. D., V. G., the beloved pastor of 
St. Edward's Roman Catholic Church, the oldest religious organization in 
Shamokin, and the first to build a church in the town, has long been 
identified with everything affecting the spiritual and moral advancement 
of the people with whom he has been so closely associated for forty-five 
years. As citizen no less than in his priestly capacity Father Koch 
holds the reverence and admiration of the people of Shamokin to an 
unusual degree. His sterling worth, as a man, his high ideals of duty 
and responsibility, his broad Christian spirit, and his achievements in 
a long career of devotion, have won him foremost place among the most 
influential people of the borough. A life of such wide usefulness falls 
to the lot of few men.
	Father Koch was born Feb. 5, 1840, in Lorraine, France, part of the 
Province of Alsace-Lorraine which was ceded by France to Germany in 1871 
after the war which ended in the triumphant march of the Germans to 
Paris, and his parents, John and Elizabeth (Francois) Koch, were natives 
of that Province. At the age of eight and a half years he entered the 
University of Pont-a-Mousson near Nancy, Lorraine, from which he 
graduated Aug. 5, 1857, at the early age of seventeen years. He then 
entered the Seminary at Nancy, having determined to study for the 
priesthood, and he remained in that institution for about five years, 
taking the philosophical and theological courses, and leaving within 
four months of the time required to complete the work.  The cessation of 
his studies was due to the fact that because of his youth he could not 
be ordained a priest for two years, he being two years under the age 
fixed by the church for ordination. This circumstance rendered it 
advisable for him to remain in France and await the time when he might 
enter the priesthood there. In 1861, in response to an invitation from 
Bishop Wood of Philadelphia, he came to the United States, priests at 
that period being comparatively few as compared with the extensive 
fields in which the work of the church was being energetically 
prosecuted.  After spending two weeks in Paris he sailed for this 
country, and after a brief stay in New York City joined Bishop Wood in 
Philadelphia, in May.  He entered the Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, 
in Philadelphia.  He was then twenty-two years of age, too young to be 
ordained unless by special dispensation, the age of ordination to the 
priesthood being twenty-four years.  In order that his services might be 
utilized and he might immediately enter upon the duties he had chosen 
for his life work, a dispensation was granted by Bishop Wood, who 
ordained and admitted him to the priesthood Feb. 25, 1863.  He was first 
installed as an assistant at St. Patrick's Church, Philadelphia. Two 
months later he was appointed assistant chaplain for the hospitals in 
the Quaker City, an honor which was bestowed upon him because of his 
special fitness for the work and his knowledge of Latin, French, German, 
Italian and English.
	Father Koch's abilities as a priest quickly demonstrated themselves 
and he was transferred to this section to take charge of important 
territory. He located in Milton, Northumberland county, in November, 
1863, assuming the charge of the church there, St. Joseph's, and also of 
the churches and missions in five counties, including one at Cascade, 
Lycoming county, where there was an Irish settlement numbering seventy 
families, and where he built a church; a German congregation at 
Danville, St. Hubert's, where he built the church; at Trevorton, where 
he took up and zealously pushed to completion a church which was 
unfinished when the priest died who formerly had been in charge of the 
congregation (he paid off the debt there); the churches at Sunbury and 
Lewisburg; and the missions at Herndon, Ralston and Trout Run.  His 
mission extended from Ralston, Lycoming county, to Georgetown, 
Northumberland county, and included five churches and fifteen stations.  
For three years our subject made his headquarters at Milton, vigorously 
performing the multitude of duties incumbent upon him as the shepherd of 
so many flocks of the faithful in the adjacent country. Under his 
pastorate the debts of St. Joseph's were 
	
	END OF PAGE 718
	
paid, the building repaired, and other substantial improvements carried 
out.  In August, 1866, Shamokin was organized into a parish, with 
Trevorton, Locust Gap and Mount Carmel as missions.  Father Koch was 
appointed the first pastor, and removed to Shamokin Sept. 2, 1866, in 
obedience to orders transferring him to the larger sphere of usefulness 
and placing upon him the important responsibility of enlarging and 
perfecting the organization in behalf of the church in the coal region 
of Northumberland county.  He took control the second Sunday in 
September and was the first resident pastor of St. Edwards Church in 
Shamokin.
	A brief review of the history of St. Edward's Church is necessary 
to a clear and satisfactory understanding of the conditions which 
existed when Father Koch assumed charge of the church and the remarkable 
energy he displayed in the accomplishment of remarkable achievements in 
the years which he has devoted to the church and the Catholics of 
Shamokin and vicinity. Many Catholics were employed in the construction 
of the Danville & Pottsville railroad, and as early as 1838 Catholic 
services were held in Shamokin by the priests of Pottsville and 
Minersville. A half acre of land in the west end of the village was 
secured for a church and cemetery and in 1839 sufficient money had been 
raised to erect a frame edifice, 20 by 32 feet in dimensions, 
unplastered and very plain, on the southwest corner of the site.  The 
leaders in this enterprise were Patrick Reilly, master mechanic in the 
railroad shops, and Matthew Brannigan, and the small church was built by 
Stephen Bittenbender. It was dedicated as St. Edward's Church, Oct. 11, 
1840, by Bishop Kenrick of Philadelphia. These early Catholics of the 
little village of Shamokin were administered to by priests of 
Pottsville, Minersville, Danville and Milton, and occasionally by a 
missionary, and thus their faith was kept fittingly before them and they 
rejoiced in their worship, though in a most humble and scantily 
furnished church.  Rev. Michael Sheridan, pastor of St. Joseph's Church, 
Danville, had charge of the congregation from 1854 to October, 1857, 
when he was succeeded by Rev. Edward Murray, who served as pastor for 
nearly nine years, giving way to Father Koch in September, 1866.
	Upon taking control of the Shamokin parish Father Koch immediately 
set out to infuse new life into the congregation and to build up the 
church. He soon bought the site upon which the present handsome edifice 
stands, for $3,400.  The old frame building was demolished, giving way 
to a considerably larger edifice, which was opened on Thanksgiving Day, 
1866. So rapidly did the congregation of St. Edward's increase under the 
able guidance of Father Koch that in the spring of 1867 it was necessary 
to further enlarge the church that the people might comfortably be 
accommodated and that none might be deprived of the privilege, which 
they so greatly desired, of attending services.  In the spring of 1869 a 
parochial residence was erected on a lot adjoining the church, at an 
expenditure of $8,500.  Constantly the attendance upon the church 
increased and within a short period of time the congregation had grown 
so large that a new place of worship was an imperative necessity. Ground 
was broken in the summer of 1872, foundations were put in, and Sept. 
14th Father Koch laid the first stone in the wall of the church which is 
today the pride of the Catholics at Shamokin. The corner stone was laid 
with impressive ceremonies May 23, 1873, by Bishop O'Hara of Scranton. A 
contract had been let for the entire stone work, but the contractor 
abandoned the work, an act which would utterly have discouraged a less 
energetic, less persevering man than our subject.  Determined that there 
should be no unnecessary delay, Father Koch for the time acted as his 
own contractor, and hiring masons superintended the construction of the 
walls until they were ready for the roof, at the same time keeping up 
with his many pastoral duties.  In December, 1873, the roof was on, the 
tower was built and walks had been laid about the structure.  On 
Christmas morning the first mass was celebrated in the basement of the 
new church, in which the services were held until June 6, 1880, when the 
finished church was dedicated.  The edifice is of white cut sandstone, 
quarried from the mountainside about a mile from Shamokin; its interior 
is 64 feet wide and 125 feet long, and the tower is 207 feet high. The 
completion of the building was delayed by the lack of funds, but Father 
Koch hopefully and energetically kept at work and finally was enabled to 
see the church finished in reasonable time. In November, 1876, a chime 
of four large bells was hung in the tower, weighing, with the fittings, 
8,500 pounds.  The frescoing in the interior was done in four months, 
under the direction of a well known Philadelphia artist.  Over the main 
altar are paintings representing the Crucifixion, St. Patrick, and the 
patron of the church, St. Edward, the figures being life-size. In the 
center of the ceiling a beautiful fresco twenty-two feet in diameter 
portrays the "Resurrection of Christ" and is surrounded by figures of 
the four Evangelists, and around the walls are paintings of the twelve 
Apostles.  Especially noticeable are two beautiful pieces of statuary 
standing on either side of the altar, one representing "Christ meeting 
His Mother on His Way to Calvary," and the other "The Descent from the 
Cross," both of which were imported from France by Father Koch. The 
building is lighted with electricity, (St. Edward's was the first church 
in the world to be lighted with electricity) and heated by steam, and 
has a seating capacity of over one 
	
	END OF PAGE 719
	
thousand, and as many as fourteen hundred persons have gathered within 
its walls.
	Especial attention has been paid to educational facilities by 
Father Koch since he assumed charge of St. Edward's Church.  In 1874 he 
organized a parochial school, using the old church as a school building, 
and opened it in September, of that year. The school was for the, first 
year of its existence in charge of lay teachers.  In 1875 the school was 
placed under the supervision of four Sisters of Charity from Mount St. 
Vincent, New York, and in 1877 a convent was erected for them.  
Subsequently a lot was purchased opposite the church and the present 
brick school was built, being completed in 1883-84. The school is now 
conducted by fourteen Sisters of Charity and has over seven hundred 
pupils.
	The congregation, of St. Edward's now numbers about four thousand 
souls, and of these over 2,650 are communicants. Its Sunday school is 
very large and the rectory takes great pride, in it.
	For twenty-three years rather Koch has been vicar general of the 
Diocese of Harrisburg. On the death of Bishop McGovern, in 1898, he was 
appointed administrator of the diocese.
	St. Joseph's congregation at Locust Gap worshipped in the school 
building until 1870, when Father Koch erected a church costing $7,800, 
which was finished and dedicated Aug. 27, 1871. In 1872 he purchased 
four acres of land adjoining the village of Springfield for a cemetery, 
which was consecrated, and has since been used by the Catholics of this 
portion of the county.

	JOHN J. W. SCHWARTZ, late of Shamokin, former treasurer of 
Northumberland county, and for many years one of the most prominent and 
popular citizens of his borough, was born near Paxinos, in. Shamokin 
township, this county, July 21, 1841, son of Francis Peter  Schwartz.  
His great-grandfather was a native of Saxony, emigrating in his youth to 
the New World, and serving throughout. the Revolution in the Continental 
army.  In 1803 he located. at Reading, Pennsylvania.
	John Schwartz, grandfather of John J. W., settled at Sunbury, where 
he died and is buried. His children were:  Maj. John; Francis Peter; 
Anna, married to Jacob Seitzinger; Mary, married to John Ruch; and 
Elizabeth, married to Fred Haas.
	Francis Peter Schwartz, son of John, was born in 1796, and died in 
1862, aged sixty-six years.  He was well known in Northumberland county 
in his day, and for many years taught school and wrote deeds and wills.  
He had a wide reputation for superior education.  In his young manhood 
he was employed for a year in one of the departments at Washington, 
D. C.  For some time he conducted the Publick Inquirer, one of the early 
papers of Sunbury, started in 1820 by Samuel J. Packer. During the war 
of 1812 he served as ensign in Capt.  Jacob Hummel's  company from 
Northumberland county, and has the distinction of being the only soldier 
of the war of 1812 that was buried at Reed's church, in Ralpho township. 
He was town clerk of the borough of Sunbury at an early date.  His death 
occurred at his home near Paxinos.  He married Julia Haas, daughter of 
Peter Haas, and their children were: John J. W.; Rosina, who married 
Jeremiah Bloom; and Francis P., who died young and is buried in a small 
burying ground in Cumru township, Berks county.
	John J. W.  Schwartz attended the public schools, but from the 
early age of ten Years was obliged to contribute to the support of the 
family, hiring out to neighboring farmers in the Shamokin Valley until 
he reached the age of eighteen. During this time he had three or four 
months schooling each year. When about eighteen years of age he became a 
clerk in the store of Haas & Fagely, of Locust Gap, at a salary of a 
hundred dollars a year and board.  This occupation he continued for a 
period of twenty-five years, and became a very valuable man.  He 
remained with the firm until June 16, 1863, when he and George Martz of 
Shamokin were mustered into the United States army, in Company A, 28th 
Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Capt. Thomas R. Jones, serving during 
the emergency. On his return from the army Mr. Schwartz resumed his 
former position, remaining therein until Jan. 1, 1864, when he came to 
Shamokin to clerk in the store of William Fagely & Co.  From there he 
went to the Cameron colliery to keep books and ship coal for the firm of 
John Haas & Co.  This firm was later succeeded by Haas, Fagely & Co., 
but Mr. Schwartz continued in its employ until the workings were sold 
July 1, 1871, when he went back to again clerk in the store of Haas, 
Fagely & Co. and their successors, Fagely & Martz.  In February, 1873, 
he accepted a position as bookkeeper for the firm of Patterson, 
Llewellyn & Co., miners and shippers of coal. He worked for this firm 
until he announced himself as a candidate for the office of county 
treasurer on the Republican ticket, and at the election the people of 
the county showed their trust in his honesty and integrity by giving him 
an excellent majority. His election was doubly honorable because of the 
fact that he was the first Republican to attain that office in 
Northumberland county. From 1885 to 1887 he served as treasurer of the 
county, having been elected on the Republican ticket. Mr. Schwartz was 
also an earnest worker in municipal affairs.  For twelve years he served 
on the school board, part of the time as its secretary, and for one term 
was a member of the council.  In 1888 he became chief burgess of 
Shamokin. He clerked in the prothonotary's office three years and seven 
months, from 1894 to 1897, being deputy under 
	
	END OF PAGE 720 
	
Charles L. Kramer. He has served his party as county chairman. In 1897 
he was appointed justice of the peace, by Governor Hastings, to fill the 
unexpired term of the late Squire Francis A. Miller, who died in 1897, 
and in 1900 was elected for a five years term. This was during the great 
coal strike, when his office was a hard one to fill. He was at one time 
owner and editor of the Shamokin Daily Herald. From 1903 to the time of 
his death he was a notary public. He was engaged also as pension agent 
and in the real estate and insurance business, representing the Svea 
Company, of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Pittsburg Underwriters. He was 
assessor of his ward, the Ninth. His office was at No. 543 North Market 
Street.
	In his work he had the advantage of speaking fluently in both 
German and English and was a man of unswerving integrity and possessed 
an unimpeachable character. Socially he was genial and pleasant, always 
having a heart of sympathy and a broad hand of generous help for the 
suffering, the poor and the needy. With these noble traits of character 
he formed friends by the legion who grieve and lament his sad death. He 
was a charter member of Lincoln Post, No. 140, G.A.R., of which he was a 
past commander. Fraternally he belonged to Shamokin Lodge, No. 255, F. & 
A.M. Both these organizations were represented at his funeral.
	Mr. Schwartz married Elizabeth Strawser, daughter of John R. 
Strawser. They had the following children:  George, who died young; 
Wynona I., who married Charles E. Hale; Catherine A., of Shamokin; 
William H., of Shamokin; Bertha, who died young; Reuben F.; John F. M., 
of Philadelphia and James A. G., of Kansas City Mo. There are four 
living grandchildren. Mr. Schwartz died Nov. 8, 1910, after a six months 
illness, and is buried in the Shamokin cemetery.
	John F. M. Schwartz, son of J. J. W., born at Shamokin, Pa, March 
4, 1880, was educated there and spent some time in his father's office. 
He enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war, was in the army ten 
months, and has been engaged in the brokerage business since 1899, 
having his offices in Philadelphia. He married Mary Fisher of 
Pottsville, Pa. She was the daughter of Charles Fisher, a Civil war 
veteran, whose war record was as follows: Joined Company C, 96th Regt., 
P. V. I., at the age of fifteen years, and served under Generals 
McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker, Meade, Sheridan and Grant. He saw 
service at the following battles:  Gaines's Mills, Charles City, Malvern 
Hill, Second, Battle of Bull Run, Charles Mountain, Antietam, 
Fredericksburg, Salem Church, Gettysburg, Hacketts Mills, Wilderness, 
Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek and Spottsylvania.  At the latter 
place or battle, he was promoted to Color Sergeant and had the honor of 
placing the first Union flag on the enemy works.  In so doing he was 
shot down and wounded, this occurring on the same day he received his 
promotion to Color Sergeant.
	MAJ. JOHN SCHWARTZ, brother of Francis Peter and uncle of John W., 
was born in Northumberland county Oct. 27, 1793, and was ten years old 
when the family settled at Reading.  He clerked in a local store, and 
was familiar with the mercantile world. Later he became interested in 
the iron business, and with Simon Seyfert as a partner erected the Mount 
Penn Furnace, in Cumru township, Berks county. He met with great success 
in his undertaking, and retired from business in 1858.
	Major Schwartz was always a stanch Democrat, and after his 
retirement from business became active in his work for the party. In 
1858 he was elected to Congress as an independent Democrat He made a 
deep impression upon his fellow members there for his fearless 
championing of any measure he thought right, and a speech he made in 
May, 1860, on the tariff, was long remembered for its able exposition of 
that vexing problem. A short time afterward he was taken ill, and died 
in Washington in June, 1860. Both bodies of Congress adjourned at the 
announcement of his death, and his remains, accompanied by the sergeant-
at-arms of the House and a committee, were taken to Reading, and 
interred in the Charles Evans cemetery.
	During the war of 1812-15 Gov. Simon Snyder appointed him 
quartermaster of a brigade raised in Berks and adjoining counties, with 
the rank of major. He marched with the brigade to Baltimore, and was on 
duty at Camp Dupont until the threatened British invasion was averted. 
He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church at Reading, and was prominent 
in Masonry. He was of a social nature and had many friends, while in 
business and public life he maintained ever a reputation for honesty and 
integrity that was never questioned.

	PROF. MICHAEL F. KANE, who was the first principal of the Coal 
township high school at its establishment in 1899, has been a teacher 
since 1884 and throughout those years has been engaged in Coal township, 
where he bears a high reputation as an instructor and a citizen of the 
most useful and valuable type. He was born Sept. 10, 1855, at Johnstown, 
Pa., son of James Stewart and Mary (Breslin) Kane.
	James Stewart Kane was a native of the North of Ireland, and on 
coming to America first settled at Johnstown, Pa. Before the breaking 
out of the Civil war, however, he removed to Pittsburg, and there he 
entered the Union service July 12, 1861, as private in Knapp's 
Pennsylvania Battery (E), with which he served until his death, in 
November, 1864, from typhoid fever. He is buried 
	
	END OF PAGE 721
	
in the National cemetery in Georgia.  His army service was highly 
creditable, as he rose by meritorious service to the rank of second 
lieutenant. He married Mary Breslin, like himself a native of Ireland 
who came to America when young, and their marriage took place at 
Johnstown in 1854. Mrs. Kane died in l870, at Phoenixville, Chester Co., 
Pa.  She was the mother of four children: John, who died young; James 
S., now a resident of Atlantic City, N. J.; Martha, who is the wife of 
Robert Tole, of Shamokin, Pa.; and Michael F.
	Michael F. Kane attended parochial school in Pittsburg and later 
was a pupil at St. Vincent College, at Latrobe, in Westmoreland county, 
Pa. In 1870 he came to Mount Carmel, Northumberland county, to live with 
his uncle, Bernard Breslin, with whom he learned the blacksmith's trade, 
which he followed in all for about fifteen years. He had attended public 
school to some extent after coming to Mount Carmel, and having retained 
his ambition for a higher education he took a course at the old normal 
in Milton taught by Prof. William Wolverton.  In 1884 he began teaching, 
for several years having different schools in Coal township, at Bear 
Valley, Excelsior, Coal Run and Springfield.  When the Coal township 
high school was established, in 1899, he was elected the first 
principal, which position he now fills proving himself an educator of 
unusual resource, one who has been a leader in progressive method and an 
exponent of the most approved modern ideas upon the training of the 
young. For sometime Mr. Kane also discharged the duties of vice-
principal at his school. He is naturally one of the best known teachers 
in this part of Northumberland county, and he is, moreover, one of the 
most popular with old and young alike. His success in his profession is 
not only the result of special fitness for the calling of his adoption, 
but of unwearied preparation carried on and continued along with his 
experience. He has the earnest enthusiasm of the educator who follows 
his work because he loves it, and he makes his influence felt in every 
circle into which his duties call him. He is one of those teachers who 
have enlarged the sphere of the educator's usefulness until it now has 
unrecognized limits, and he is respected by his coworkers and beloved by 
many former pupils who trace their first ambitions to his, suggestion 
and encouragement.  Mr. Kane was supervising principal of the Coal 
township schools for six years and was the first to establish an 
organized system in the, district. Principally through his efforts the 
schools reached their high standard of excellence.
	On July 13, 1883, Mr. Kane married Sarah A. Durkin, daughter of 
Edward Durkin and member of a family which settled in Shamokin in the 
early days.  Seven children were born to this union: James M., Mary A., 
Edward F., Gerald, Regina (deceased), F. Cyril and Michael J.  The 
family home is at No. 1271 Oneida street, Shamokin.
	Professor Kane is a member of St. Edward's Catholic Church, a 
member in high standing of the Knights of Columbus, the Holy Name 
Society and the Knights of St. Edward, and an active member of the St. 
Vincent De Paul Society. He also belongs to the Sons of Veterans. He is 
vice president of the Central Building and Loan Association of Shamokin.

	WILLIAM FREDERICK EICHHOLTZ, one of the owners and editors of The 
Sunbury Daily and The Northumberland County Democrat, is a son of Jacob 
Ely and Rosa (Schaffer) Eichholtz.
	The Eichholtz ancestors emigrated from Germany to America about 
1750 and have pursued various trades.  Numerous ancestors are recorded 
in the annals of Lancaster county as having fought in the war for 
independence.  Rev. George Eichholtz, grandson of William Frederick, was 
a Lutheran minister, whose calling took him to all parts of eastern 
Pennsylvania, and he died in Lycoming county, this State, in 1885, at 
the age of seventy-two years. His wife, Harriet (Ely), died in 1881. To 
Rev. George and Harriet Eichholtz were born eight children, four sons 
and four daughters. The father of Rev. George Eichholtz came to America 
from Germany with John Jacob Astor, with whom he was for a time engaged 
in the fur trade.
	Jacob Ely Eichholtz was born Nov. 11, 1836, in Lebanon, Pa., second 
son of Rev. George and Harriet (Ely) Eichholtz.  He learned the 
printer's trade at Mifflintown, and was engaged in newspaper work all 
his life, as "jour," publisher, reporter, editor and proprietor. He came 
to, Sunbury Jan. 1, 1867, and purchased The Northumberland County 
Democrat, which publication he continued during his lifetime. On Dec. 6, 
1872, he established The Sunbury Daily which was one of the pioneer 
penny newspapers of Pennsylvania.  He was appointed postmaster by 
President Cleveland in May, 1885. He died Oct. 30, 1818. He was first 
married in Lancaster, Pa., Jan. 19, 1860, to Harriet Erisman, who died 
in 1863. By this marriage he had two sons, one who died in infancy, and 
Herbert, who died in 1909. His second marriage, which took place in 
Lewisburg, Pa., Feb. 11, 1866, was to Rosa Schaffle, a member of the 
Lewisburg Schaffle family, of French and German descent, who emigrated 
to this country over a hundred years ago.  Rosa (Schaffle) Eichholtz was 
the mother of four children, two girls and two boys, William Frederick, 
the third child, being the only one, however, who survived early 
childhood. She died May 3, 1898.
	William Frederick Eichholtz is a native of Sunbury, born Aug. 12, 
1872. He obtained his early 
	
	END OF PAGE 722
	
education in the common schools of the borough graduating from the high 
school with the class of 1891.  He entered Bucknell Academy after his 
graduation from the high school, and graduated from Bucknell University 
with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1897.  Upon graduation from 
college he became a member of the publishing firm of Eichholtz & Co.  
Through both inheritance and training he was fitted to fill the position 
to which he afterward fell heir.
	Mr. Eichholtz holds an enviable position in Masonic circles in 
Sunbury, having served as Master of Lodge No. 22, F. & A.M., as High 
Priest of Northumberland Chapter, No. 174, R.A.M., and as Eminent 
Commander of Mount Hermon Commandery, No. 85, Knights Templar.  He is 
also a member of the B.P.O. Elks.

	DANIEL L. GRIER, postmaster at Watsontown, Northumberland Co., Pa., 
is a native and lifelong resident of that borough, born Oct. 24, 1859, 
son of Benjamin F. and Caroline (Tobias) Grier.
	Benjamin F. Grier was born in 1814 in one of the lower counties of 
Pennsylvania, was a blacksmith, and followed his trade at Watsontown. He 
assisted in building the Pennsylvania railroad in his district.  He was 
one of the earliest members of the Methodist Church there, and also a 
charter member of the local organizations of the following orders: 
Masons, I.O.O.F. and Knights of Pythias.  He married Caroline Tobias, 
daughter of William and Sarah (Follmer) Tobias, the former a native of 
Berks county and member of an early settled family of that region.  To 
Mr. and Mrs. Grier were born the following children: William, deceased; 
Sarah, who died young; Benjamin F., deceased; Alfred, deceased; Calvin, 
deceased; Oliver W., of Watsontown; Jeremiah, of Williamsport; Daniel 
L., of Watsontown; and Mary, deceased. Mr. Grier died Aug. 11, 1901, at 
the age of eighty-six years, ten months.
	Daniel L. Grier was reared at Watsontown, and there received his 
education in the public schools. When a young man he began work with the 
Watsontown Planing Mill Company, was later with the Wagner-Hiles 
Company, of Watsontown, and was subsequently engaged in contracting for 
some years on his own account in 1886-87 being contractor in the blind 
department of the Watsontown Planing Mill Company. He found this work 
congenial and profitable, and after the mill burned resumed work with 
the company. He was also employed by the Watsontown Door and Sash 
company, with which company he was connected at the time of his 
appointment as postmaster.
	On April 12, 1905, Mr. Grier was appointed postmaster at 
Watsontown, to succeed the late D. C. Hoguel, receiving his commission 
April 15, 1905.  He has filled that position continuously since, having 
been reappointed under President Taft.  His services are highly 
efficient, and appreciated by all concerned.  Three rural free delivery 
routes start from the Watsontown post office: No. 1, going northwest; 
No. 2, covering territory northeast of No. 1, and No. 3, running east of 
town. The office is now third class, and the business has increased over 
two hundred dollars during Mr. Grier's time.  His administration has 
been highly satisfactory in every respect, his conscientious effort, to 
serve his fellow citizens faithfully being universally recognized.
	On Jan. 25, 1887, Mr. Grier married May M. Lloyd, daughter of James 
and Susan (Straub) Lloyd, the former a merchant at Selinsgrove, Snyder 
Co., Pa.  To this union have been born four children, namely:  B. Lloyd, 
contractor for the Standard Steel Company, of Burnham, Pa.; Ned A., who 
assists his father in the post office; a son who died in infancy, and 
Anna Marie.
	Mr. Grier is associated fraternally with the Masons (as a member of 
Watsontown Lodge, No. 401, F. & A.M.) and with the Knights of the Golden 
Eagle.  He attends the Methodist Church.  Politically he is a 
Republican, and stands well in the councils of his party, but be has 
never held any official position connected with the administration of 
borough affairs.  In December, 1902, he was a candidate for county 
auditor, being defeated by only seventeen votes.

	JOHN PHILIP OTTO, deceased, who was a resident of the borough of 
Northumberland from 1873 until his death, was throughout that long 
period engaged as a shoemaker and shoe merchant. He was one of the 
substantial and valuable citizens of the place, and was serving as 
secretary of the school board there at the time of his death.
	Mr. Otto was a native of Germany. He was born on Wednesday, Feb. 
21, 1851, at Geldburg, Saxony, at 7:30 a.m., son of George and Catharine 
(Feder) Otto, who were of Hanover, Germany.  His godfather was John 
Philip Metzger.  The family came to America in 1854, locating first in 
New York State, four miles above Albany, where they lived for a year and 
a half. In 1856 they removed to the city of Philadelphia, Pa., where the 
parents passed the remainder of their days, George Otto dying in 1867, 
at the age of fifty-five.  His wife died on Thanksgiving Day, in 1865, 
aged forty-four. Mr. Otto in Germany was known as "Herr" George Otto. He 
had royal blood in his veins, and was a man of rank and wealth, but lost 
all his possessions after coming to America. He served seven years in 
the German army, in which he held a colonels commission, and while 
living in Geldburg, Saxony, was engaged as a butcher and hotel 
proprietor.  He had three brothers, two of whom were John and Henry (a 
Lutheran minister in Saxony), and also sisters.  He and his family 
	
	END OF PAGE 723 
	
were Lutherans in religious faith. The following children were born to 
George and Catharine Otto: Gustav, of Philadelphia, who died the latter 
part of February, 1911; Wilhelm, who died young; Christian, who died 
young; Henry, who died young; John Philip; Mary, who died on the ocean 
while the family were en route to America (these six were born in 
Germany, the others in America) Peter, who died in Pueblo, Colo., 
several years ago; Charles, who died at Milton, Pa.; Annie, who died in 
the West; Harry, of Hollidaysburg, Pa., now the only survivor of the 
family; and Mary, who died in infancy.
	John Philip Otto commenced to learn shoemaking at Pottsgrove, 
Northumberland Co., Pa., when he was fifteen years old.  He followed the 
trade in Philadelphia for two years, in 1873 coming to Northumberland, 
in which borough he ever after made his home. He was in the shoe 
business all these years and prospered by industry and persevering 
labor, being one of the most esteemed residents of the place, where his 
upright and useful life won him universal good will. He was a school 
director for some time, being, secretary of the school board at the time 
of his death. Politically he was a Republican. Mr. Otto passed away at 8 
a. m. Wednesday, March 23, 1911, and was buried in Riverview cemetery 
March 25th.
	On April 16, 1875, Mr. Otto married Mary A. Gilbert, daughter of 
Jacob and Catharine (Teats) Gilbert, of Union county, Pa, and they had 
two children:  Carrie M. married B. F. Merrel, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and 
they have a daughter, Ruth A.; Christian Herman died when seventeen 
years old.  Mr. Otto was a Seventh Day Adventist, to which religious 
belief his wife also adheres.
	A branch of the Otto family living at Williamsport, Pa., came from 
Hanover, Germany.  They are extensive manufacturers of paper and give 
employment to a large number of people.

	LEIGHOU or LEIGHOW. There are two families of this name in Point 
township, Northumberland county, descendants of Christopher Lecha, the 
ancestor of all the members of the Leighou branch in America.  During 
the one hundred and thirty years that the family has been in this 
country the spelling of the name has undergone many changes. From the 
time of the arrival of the first settler until 1788 it was spelled 
Lecha - pronounced Leh' yah. By 1790 it had become Lighy. In 1809 his 
eldest son, at least, had changed the name to Lighou, while the younger 
members of the family, seemingly without exception, adopted the letter 
"w" for the termination.  Within the next two decades an "e" was 
inserted before the "i" in both spellings, thus making them Leighou and 
Leighow. At present there is but one branch of the family retaining the 
"u" termination, and further, other branches, notably those of Colorado 
and Kentucky, have entirely changed the spelling to the form of Lehow. 
The first spelling found in the Pennsylvania Archives, Leehe, is 
believed to be simply an unintentional misspelling, one of the common 
mistakes of that time. In the following the Roman numerals indicate the 
generations, beginning with Christopher, the immigrant.
	It is believed that (I) Christopher Lecha came from Alsace-
Lorraine, which, although German in language and customs, then belonged 
to France (1648-187l).  Family tradition states that he came with 
LaFayette during the Revolution, and served under him in that war. 
However, the first known official mention of him is made in the 
Pennsylvania Archives, Sixth Series, Vol. III, page 769, where in a 
military record of June 10, 1784, he is enrolled in the 8th Company, 2d 
Battalion, of the Northampton county militia, under command of Col. 
Philip Boehm.  In the Third Series, Vol. XIX, page 90, it is stated that 
he resided in Lower Saucon township, Northampton county, which is on the 
southern side of the Lehigh river as it empties into the Delaware. At 
the taking of the first census, in 1790, he still resided here, and that 
place is given as his home between 1790 and 1795.  At this time the name 
had become Lighy. From this place he migrated, probably up the Lehigh, 
across the mountains at WilkesBarre and down the Susquehanna, to 
Danville, Pa.  Here he acquired considerable tracts of, land, the major 
portion of which he lost, just prior to his death, about 1820, due to 
conflicting title claims. He is buried in the Grove Presbyterian 
churchyard at Danville.  Christopher's wife was named Rachel.  They had 
five children, John, Henry, Elizabeth, Lewis and Tobias, the elder three 
having been born in Northampton county.
	(II) John Lighou, son of Christopher, born March 23, 1783, in 
Northampton county, changed the spelling of his name from Lighy. About 
1795 he came into Northumberland county with his father.  On June 6, 
1809, he was married by Rev. Philip Pauli, of Reading, to Sarah Weimar, 
who was born Feb. 20, 1787, daughter of Peter and Catharine (Lybrand) 
Weimar, and about this time, or earlier, he located in the Tuckahoe 
Valley. In 1824 he bought from John Cowden the tract of land which is 
now the homestead of his grandson Oscar, in Point township. This tract 
was known as "Martin's Valley," having been surveyed at the instance of 
Robert Martin, the first permanent settler of Northumberland, in 1773, 
and bought by John Cowden from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1822. 
Also, he bought the land comprising the present farms of the Edward 
Leighow heirs, Howard Leighow, William Geise and Mrs. Margaret Knouse.  
He was a member of the Unitarian Church established by Dr. Joseph 
Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen. In 1834 he was one of the trustees 
of the church who secured the property 
	
	END OF PAGE 724 
	
on which the first permanent building was erected. He was a pianomaker 
by trade, and a few pianos made by him are still in existence about the 
county. It is believed that he learned the trade from Samuel, Mans.  He 
had ten children and is the ancestor of all the Leighous of Point 
township. Mrs. Sarah (Weimar) Lighou survived her husband a number of 
years, dying Jan. 31, 1841. Her father, Peter Weimar, born about 1762, 
was according to family tradition a direct descendant of a Duke of Saxe 
Weimar, Germany. He was a Justice of the Peace in the Montour Valley, 
Northumberland county, from 1823 to 1826.  His wife, Catherine 
(Lybrand), was a member of a Philadelphia family.  The ten children of 
John and Sarah (Weimar) Lighou were Elizabeth Leighow (born March 20, 
1810), John Weimar Leighow, William Henry Leighou, Henrietta Leighow 
(born March 16, 1815), George Augustus, Sara K., Mary Ann, James K., 
Charles Lybrand and Oscar Edmund.
	(III) John Weimar Leighow, born March 25, 1811, died Aug. 28, 1875.  
He was married at East Lewisburg, Pa., to Harriet Waters, born in 1827, 
who died, May 25, 1893.  Their children were: Edward, Charles, Kate, 
James. and Jennie. Edward, who died Jan. 31, 1910, lived at the old 
homestead of John Lighou in Point township; he married Annie Hamor and 
had one child, Aline. Charles, born April 15, 1854, removed to Colorado. 
Jennie lives in Los Angeles, Cal., James and Kate are dead. Kate married 
Henry Garman, and their son, Victor, lives in Reading, Pennsylvania.
	(III) William Henry Leighou and his descendants will be mentioned 
more fully later.
	(III) George Augustus Leighow, born July 24, 1816, married Louisa 
Robbins, born in 1826, who died May 24, 1893. They had children: Eugene, 
Sara Jane, Mary Louisa, George and Howard. The last named married Regina 
Ertley, and they have five children, Grace, Thomas C., Dorothy Jane, 
Merle A. and Hattie M.  This is a Point township family. Eugene and Mary 
are dead; Mary married John Collins, and lives in Ohio. George is in 
Washington State.
	(III)  James K. Leighow, born Aug. 2, 1823, served in the Civil War 
as saddler sergeant, Company F, 1st Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry 
Corps.  He married his second cousin, Mary Weimer, and they had two 
sons, both of whom are married and have children. Charles A. lives in 
Portland, Oregon, and C. Wallace in Oakland, California.
	(III)  Charles Lybrand Leighow, born May 28, 1826, moved to 
Colorado, and died October 6, 1874.  He changed the spelling of his name 
to Lehow.  He married Mary E. Shellabarger, and their daughter, Mrs. 
Charles Howard Little, lives at Xenia, Ohio
	(III)  Oscar Edmund Leighow, born Jan. 29, 1829, also moved to 
Colorado, where he died, in Denver, March 11, 1894. He also wrote his 
name Lehow. He married Eloise L. Sargent, and their son, Weimar Sargent 
Lehow, lives in Denver.
	(II) Henry Leighow, son of Christopher, born Aug. 22, 1785, died 
Aug. 25, 1850. He lived on a farm at Red Point near Danville, Pa., and 
later in Northumberland.  In the War of 1812 he served as a private in 
the 81st Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia. He was a member of the 
Presbyterian Church. In 1815 he married Ellen Clark, born Nov. 3, 1794, 
died Dec. 10, 1849, and they had children:  William, Pembroke, A. 
Jackson, John, Henry and Mary Ellen. Of these,
	(III)William Leighow, born April 4, 1817, died July 14, 1862.  He 
married Catharine Weimar, and they had three daughters, Gemella Medora 
(married C. D. Bisbee, of Chicago), Margaret Helen (married S. B. 
Morgan, of Watsontown, Pa.) and Anna Jean (married J. H. Tracy, of Salt 
Lake City).
	(III) Pembroke Leighow, born Feb. 20, 1825, died March 17, 1895. He 
married Elizabeth A. Sanner and had four children: (1) James married 
Margaret Messenger and lived in Woodland, Clearfield Co., Pa. They had 
three children, Emma E., Oscar M. and Margaret; the two last named are 
married and have children.  (2) Charles, unmarried, lives in Haldeman, 
Rowan Co., Ky.  (3) Henry Kellar married in November, 1886, Elizabeth 
Ulrich, and lives in Haldeman, Ky.; he had five children.  (4) Mary Ann, 
unmarried, lives in Haldeman.
	(III)  Andrew Jackson Leighow, born Sept. 12, 1828, died May 27, 
1890.  His wife, Rebecca, born in 1834, died Feb. 20, 1908.  They had 
five children: Harry Pierce, who died unmarried; John, who died in 
infancy; Clinton, who died Feb. 9, 1910 (he married and had two 
children, Harry Pierce and Rebecca); Martin, a twin of Clinton, who died 
in infancy; and Mary Ellen, who married Charles Allen Graves and lives 
in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
	(II) Elizabeth Leighow, daughter of Christopher, born about 1789, 
married Henry Dale, the ancestor of the Dales of Northumberland, Pa. 
They lived first at the present site of the Stone Mill, in Point 
township.
	(II) Lewis Leighow, son of Christopher, born Oct. 29, 1799, died 
March 22, 1845. He was married twice, marrying first Theodosia Gulick 
and (second) Mrs. Sara Jane Cousert, nee Ammerman.  His descendants are 
living principally in Montour and Columbia counties, Pa.  His children 
were  Charles B., Rachel, Hugh, George M., Mary E. and William Henry.  
Of these,
	(III) Charles B. Leighow, born Feb. 10, 1827, married Sarah Ernest, 
and lives in Danville, Pa.  
	
	END OF PAGE 725
	
They have six children: Clarence, married and living in Wilkes-Barre, 
Pa. (no children); Clara; Margaret; Elizabeth; Alice, and Lucinda.
	(III) George M. Leighow, born Dec. 31, 1837, a half brother of 
Charles, served a term as county commissioner of Montour county, 1902-
1905. He married Sarah Elizabeth Ephlin, and they have eight children, 
namely: William is married and lives in Chelsea, Oklahoma; Oscar, 
married, lives at Catawissa, Pa.; Annie is married; Frank, married, 
lives at Lime Ridge, Va.; Edward is unmarried; Ella is married; Morris 
and Ralph are both married and living in Danville, Pa. The members of 
this family live in Danville, and Bloomsburg and that vicinity.
	(III) William Henry Leighow, born June 24, 1844, married Margaret 
Catharine Barr.  They have had seven children: Lafayette, Walter, 
Jennie, Laura, Edith, Maud and Margaret. They live at Millville, 
Pennsylvania.
	(II) Tobias Leighow, son of Christopher, had a son John.
	(III) John Leighow, son of Tobias, married Margaret Ernest (sister 
of the wife of his cousin Charles), and they had children Michael and 
Martha. The former lives in Northumberland, Pa., is married to Lizzie 
Rishel, and has two children, Ethel Claire and Paul Gernon.
	(III) William Henry Leighou, son of John and grandson of 
Christopher, born Feb. 13, 1814, inserted the "e" in the spelling of the 
name and was the only member of his family to preserve the "ou" 
termination. He was a farmer, and his homestead in Point township is now 
owned by his son Oscar, having been in the family considerably over one 
hundred years. For a time he lived in the house erected by Dr. Joseph 
Priestley, at Northumberland. In partnership with Grant Taggart he 
conducted a general merchandise store there, in the building now 
standing on the northeast corner of Queen and First streets, which 
building they erected. Mr. Leighou had various interests, and was one of 
the first directors of the old First National Bank of Northumberland, 
organized in 1864. He was a man of public spirit and served the 
community faithfully in official capacities, being jury commissioner of 
the county from 1876 to 1879, and a member of the school board of 
Northumberland borough for many years. In 1875 he was president of the 
board, and he was later a director of the Point township schools. It was 
during his period of service that the present eleven room building was 
erected.  He taught when a young man, in No. 2 building, Point township. 
In 1858 he moved to the farm, where Oscar Leighou now lives.  He bought 
from Messrs. Voris, Faust, Weakley and Forsythe the farm now the 
property of Mrs. Anna Leighow. Mr. Leighou died Nov. 18, 1881, and is 
buried in the cemetery at Northumberland. He was one of the assembly 
which organized the Baptist church of Northumberland, July 7, 1842.
	On May 29, 1838, Mr. Leighou married Lourissa Vastine (for 
genealogy of Lourissa Vastine see page 728), who was born Aug. 29, 1817, 
daughter of Jeremiah Vastine, and died May 24, 1894.  Their six children 
were born as follows: Elizabeth, Aug. 25, 1841; Arthur, Aug. 29, 1846; 
Vastine, Oct. 8, 1851; Oscar, Aug. 10, 1855; William H., Dec. 28, 1858; 
Benjamin B., June 11, 1861.
	(IV) Arthur Leighow, son of William Henry, born Aug. 29, 1846, 
married Eliza S. Welliver, and lives at White Hall, Montour Co., Pa. 
They have six children: Benjamin A., who married Carrie Cooper, and has 
one son; Amos Vastine; Isaiah James; William E.; Mary Jane; and Cyrus 
George.
	(IV) Vastine Leighow, son of William Henry, born Oct. 8, 1851, died 
in January, 1904.  He married Mrs. Mary (Eckert) Smith.  Had no 
children.
	(IV) William Henry Leighow, Jr., son of William Henry, born Dec. 
28, 1858, died in January, 1906, unmarried.
	(IV) Benjamin R. Leighow, son of William Henry, born June 11, 1861, 
died Feb. 18, 1895. He married Anna Shafer, but left no children.
	(IV) Oscar Leighou, son of William Henry, born Aug. 10, 1855, at 
Northumberland, attended the elementary and high schools there and later 
was a student of Freeburg Academy. He taught for sixteen years, in the 
Northumberland High and Point township schools, beginning in 1873 at No. 
1 building in Point township, and he has taught in all the buildings in 
the district except No. 4; he was engaged in the borough for two years. 
Meantime in 1877, he commenced farming in Point township, and has ever 
since followed that vocation there, having 170 acres of fertile land, 
devoted to general crops. The present set of buildings upon the property 
have been erected by him.  Mr. Leighou has always ranked among the most 
intelligent and progressive men of his section. For twenty-one 
consecutive years he has filled the office of township assessor, to 
which he was first elected in 1885.  He is president of the local 
telephone company, which secured rural service for the district; was for 
many years master of the local Grange; and in these and various other 
associations has proved himself one of the most capable and useful 
citizens of his locality.  He and his family are members of the Baptist 
Church.
	On Dec. 27, 1876, Mr. Leighou was married, at Selinsgrove, Pa., by 
Rev. Emory L. Swartz, Methodist Episcopal minister, to Hannah Mary 
Lesher (for genealogy see page 728), who was born May 12, 1850 at Pine 
Creek, Lycoming Co., Pa., daughter of Robert Alexander and Sarah 
(Vandling) Lesher, and seven children have been born 
	
	END OF PAGE 726
	
to this union:  Estella May; Lourissa Vastine; Robert Benjamin, 
mentioned below; Sallie; John Vandling; Paut Henry; and Catharine Emma. 
The first five graduated, from the Northumberland High school, while the 
latter two are now attending. Estella, Lourissa, Robert and Sallie 
graduated from the Bloomsburg State Normal School, all in the Class of 
1902, and have been teaching ever since - Estella and Lourissa in Point 
township; Sallie has taught several years in the Northumberland High 
school.  John took, two years work at Bucknell University and is now a 
student in forestry at Pennsylvania State College.
	(V) Robert Benjamin Leighou, son of Oscar, was born March 28, 1882, 
in Point township. He was graduated in 1906, in the General Science 
course, from Bucknell University, having specialized in chemistry. He 
was chosen as one of the ten speakers at Commencement, and was awarded 
the Hollpeter prize - the first prize in chemistry. The following year 
he taught in the Mansfield State Normal School, as Head of the 
Department of Chemistry and Organic Science, and was later employed as 
first assistant chemist for the National Tube Company, of McKeesport, 
Pa. In 1907 he was appointed to the position of head of the Department 
of Chemistry of Materials, in the School of Applied Industries, of the 
Carnegie Technical Schools, Pittsburgh, which position he now holds. On 
Aug. 12, 1908, he was married at Auburn, N. Y., to Bertha Emily Jones. 
They have one child, Christine Elizabeth, born Sept. 4, 1909.

	VASTINE.  The Vastine family is descended from Abraham Van de 
Woestyne, who with his three children, John, Catherine and Hannah left 
Holland in the seventeenth century and crossed the ocean in a sailing 
vessel, landing at New York (then New Amsterdam) in 1690.  They soon 
crossed over into New Jersey. About the time William Penn founded 
Philadelphia they came into Pennsylvania, and in 1698 we find them in 
Germantown, where the daughters, Catherine and Hannah, joined the 
Friends.
	John Van de Woestyne, son of Abraham, was born in Holland May 24, 
1678, and came to America with his father, landing at New Amsterdam in 
1690.  Records show him living in 1698 in Germantown, Pa., where he 
owned real estate. He purchased several tracts of land from one Jeremiah 
Langhorn, in Hilltown township, Bucks Co. Pa., whither he moved about 
1720, being one of the pioneers in that county. He was very influential 
in the opening of roads there, and his name which appears on a number of 
official papers and documents on record in Bucks county, is found on 
many petitions pertaining to roads and improvements in Hilltown 
township. There he erected a granite dwelling along the pike leading 
from Philadelphia to Bethlehem.. It stood, as was the custom in that 
day, with its gable to the road, fronting south, at a point two miles 
north of Line Lexington and four miles southwest from Sellersville, 
Bucks Co., Pa.  On the above mentioned old petitions for the opening of 
roads the name is spelled Van de Woestyne, which has changed gradually, 
to Van Styne and then to Vastine its present form. It has also been 
found in the forms Voshne and Vashtine.  The name in Dutch meant 
"forest," hence the early settlers often called John Van de Woestyne 
"Wilderness." John Van do Woestyne died at Hilltown Feb. 9, 1738; his 
wife, Abigail, survived him some time;  They were the parents of five 
children, as follows:  (1) Abraham, born May 24, 1698, died in October, 
1772, in Hilltown.  He married Sara Buckman, and they were the parents 
of five daughters:  Abigail, married to Andrew Armstrong; Ruth, married 
to James Armstrong; Mary, married to Robert Jameson; Rachel, married to 
Hugh Mears; and Sara, married to Samuel Wilson. Thus far we have been 
unable to learn anything about their descendants.  (2) Jeremiah, born 
Dec. 24, 1701, died in Hilltown in November, 1769. He and his wife 
Debora were the parents of one son and two daughters: Jeremiah (whose 
wife's name was Elizabeth) died in New Britain, Bucks Co., Pa., in 
April, 1778; Martha married John Louder; Hannah married Samuel Greshom.  
(3) Benjamin, born July 1, 1703, died Aug. 17, 1749.  (4) John died Feb. 
9, 1765, in Hilltown, Pa., unmarried. (5) Mary, born March 1, 1699, 
married a Mr. Wilson and removed to South Carolina.
	Benjamin Vastine, son of John and Abigail, was the progenitor of 
the family in Northumberland county, Pa. He became a member of the 
Friends Meeting, and at one of the meetings held in 1730 in Philadelphia 
requested permission to hold meetings in his house.  About 1738 he 
married Mary Griffith, and their union was blessed by the birth of seven 
children, as follows:  Hannah married Erasmus Kelly; John married Rachel 
Morgan; Abraham married Elizabeth Williams; Benjamin married Catherine 
Eaton (he died in September, 1775); Jonathan married Elizabeth Lewis; 
Isaac married Sara Matthews; Amos married Martha Thomas.
	Jonathan Vastine, fourth son of Benjamin and Mary (Griffith) 
Vastine, was born about 1747 at Hilltown, Bucks county. With his nephew 
Peter, who was also his son-in-law, he came to Northumberland county, 
Pa., first to Shamokin, then to the territory south of Danville, where 
they purchased large farms (and erected buildings), the former about six 
hundred acres where later Valentine Epler lived, and the latter three 
hundred acres near that of his uncle. The original deeds for Jonathan 
Vastine's land are in the possession of Mrs. Elisha Campbell, of South 
Danville. Jona-
	
	END OF PAGE 727 
	
than, like his father, was a member of the Society of Friends. He died 
about 1833 and is buried in the old Quaker. burying ground at Catawissa 
Pa.  About 1770 he married Elizabeth Lewis daughter of John and Anna 
Lewis, and their union was blessed by the, birth of five sons and three 
daughters, as follows:  Benjamin married Elizabeth Van Zant; Ann married 
Thomas Robbins; Hannah married Peter, son of Benjamin Vastine; Mary 
married William Marsh; John married Catharine Osmun; Jeremiah, married 
Elizabeth Reader; Thomas died unmarried: Jonathan married Nancy Ann 
Hughes. 
	John Vastine, second son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Lewis) Vastine, 
married Catharine Osmun, and they had four sons and two daughters: 
William married Elizabeth Hursh; Amos married Susan Lurch; Margaret 
married Charles Heffley; Sarah Ann married Robert Campbell; Thomas 
married Lena Vought; and John, after winning his way through the medical 
school of the University of Pennsylvania, and beginning practice, died 
aged nineteen.
	In the family of William and Elizabeth (Hursh) Vastine there were 
eight children, as follows: Amos, Jacob, Hugh, Simon, Ezra, Elizabeth, 
Ellen and Daniel.
	The children of Amos, the eldest son of William and Elizabeth 
(Hursh) Vastine, were: Elizabeth, who died in 1879, aged twenty-one 
years; William, born Oct. 29, 1859; Laura; John Hursh and Ella K., 
twins; and Amos Beeber.
	Of these, William, the eldest son, a progressive and influential 
citizen of Danville, Pa., married Boone Gearhart, born March 4, 1859. 
They have two daughters, Katharine G. and Elizabeth Boone, Vastine.
	Jeremiah Vastine, third son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Lewis) 
Vastine, was born July 30, 1780, and died Sept. 22, 1840. He owned a 
farm in Rush. township, near Elysburg, Pa. He was married April 8, 1802, 
by John Patton, to Elizabeth Reader,, who was born Oct. 27, 1782, and 
died June 21, 1860. They had a family of two sons, and three daughters, 
as follows: Jonathan died single; Mary married C. Fisher; Margaret 
married Daniel Robbins; Lourissa married William Henry Leighou, and they 
were the parents of Oscar Leighou, of Point township; Thomas married 
Eliza Reader, and one of their children was named Catharine (the others 
are not known).

	LESHER. The Lesher family traces back to George Loeseb, born about 
1700, who married Anna Christina Wallborn, and lived at Tulpehocken, 
fifteen miles from Reading.  Their daughter, Maria Catharine Loesch, 
born May 12, 1730, married Johannas Lischer, who was born Nov. 28, 1719, 
at Wittgenstein, Hesse, Germany, where his father died, Johannas 
subsequently coming to America with his widowed mother.  Sailing from 
Rotterdam on the ship "Hope," he landed at Philadelphia Sept. 23, 1734.  
His parents. were Mennonites. His marriage to Maria Catharine Loesch 
took place April 16, 1759, in the Moravian church at Bethlehem, Pa.  He 
died May 12, 1782, she on May 10, 1802. 
	Johan Georg Lesher, son of Johannas and Maria Catharine (Loesch) 
Lischer, was born in Berks county April 6, 1768. He settled in 
Chillisquaque township, Northumberland county, where he followed 
farming, and died Nov. 1, 1823.  He is buried in the Riverview cemetery, 
Northumberland, Pa., and the inscription upon his tombstone reads:
	
	Adieu my friends; dry up your tears; 
	I must lie here till Christ appears.

On June 25, 1786, he married Anna Flickinger, who was born May 22, 1762, 
and died Oct. 24, 1841. They are interred in Lot 23.  He was a Lutheran 
in religion.  Their children were: Michael, who settled at Newfane, near 
Lockport, N. Y., where he had an eighty-acre farm, and later moved West 
(he had children); (John) George; William, whose death was caused by the 
bite of a mad dog (he was unmarried); Mrs. Crites, and other daughters.
	John George Lesher, son of Johan Georg and Anna (Flickinger) 
Lesher, was born Oct. 20, 1792, and spent all his life in Point 
township, where he was a farmer throughout his active years.  He owned 
240 acres of land, of which 201 acres are still in the family name and 
owned by his son Charles M. He died in Point township, on what is now 
the farm of his son Charles, Jan. 16, 1866, aged seventy-three years, 
two months, twenty-six days, and is buried in the Lesher plot in 
Riverview cemetery. He and his wife, Catharine (Robbins), were 
Presbyterians in religious belief. She was a daughter of Daniel and 
Catharine (Hulheiser) Robbins, of Liberty township, Montour Co., Pa., 
and died Oct. 22, 1869, aged seventy five years, seven months, two days. 
Her father, Daniel Robbins, was a man of extraordinary physical 
strength, which he retained even during the latter period of his life. 
He died aged 106 years. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lesher, 
as follows: Robert A.; born Oct. 19, 1817; Daniel, born Sept. 8, 1819; 
Lucy Ann, born April 21, 1822; Mary, born April 2, 1824; Sarah J., born 
Sept. 17, 1826; George, born Nov. 28, 182-; William, born Feb. 14, 1831, 
who died May 29, 1896; John, born Aug. 12, 1833; and Charles M., born 
Aug. 28, 1836, the youngest being now the only survivor.
	Robert Alexander Lesher, son of John George and Hannah Catharine 
(Robbins) Lesher, was born Oct. 19, 1817, in Tuckahoe Valley, and died 
April 3, 1903. A boat builder and lumber mer-
	
	END OF PAGE 728 
	
chant, he built the boat. used to carry the first locomotive from 
Harrisburg to Port Trevorton (Herndon), to be used on the Shamokin & 
Port Trevorton railroad. Later, he established a homestead on Blue Hill. 
He was not only a progressive, scientific farmer, but was also prominent 
in the public affairs of his locality. He was the last surviving member 
of the first fire company organized in Northumberland. On March 22; 
1853, he was married at Lewisburg, Pa, by Rev. Mr. Conser, to Sarah 
(Sallie) Vandling, who was born June 30, 1833, at Northumberland, Pa.; 
and died Jan. 10, 1907. Their daughter, Hannah Mary, became the wife of 
Oscar Leighou.
	Henry Wendling, immigrant ancestor of Mrs. Sarah (Vandling) Lesher, 
came to this country about 1765. In the course of time the name Wendling 
came to be written Vandling.
	John Vandling, son of Henry, married Catherine Rhodenbach.
	John Vandling, son of John and Catharine (Rhodenbach) Vandling, was 
born June 3, 1800. He was a man of remarkable stature, six feet, three 
inches in height and weighed as much as 240 pounds.  A school teacher 
for many years, he taught for a long period at No.  4 school in Point 
township. Later he lived in Harrisburg, where he died. On Feb. 12, 1824, 
he was married at Mooresburg, Pa., by Rev. Mr. Gutelius, a German 
Reformed minister, to Susan Douty, who was born Oct. 26, 1799. Their 
daughter Sarah became the wife of Robert Alexander Lesher and the mother 
of Mrs. Hannah Mary (Lesher) Leighou.
	Henry Baldi Douty, grandfather of Mrs. Susan (Douty) Vandling, was 
a Huguenot refugee who came from France with his father and brother and 
located at an early date in Lancaster county, Pa. "Two sons are 
definitely known, namely:  Nicholas and Henry Baldi Douty, both of whom 
were born in France.  The former removed to the mouth of Seneca Lake in 
New York (present Geneva), and the latter, who was an accomplished 
scholar and schoolmaster, was one of the first residents of Milton, Pa. 
He suddenly disappeared in 1790, and was supposed to have been 
murdered." (From "Memorials of the Huguenots in America," by Stapleton, 
page 97.) Henry Baldi Douty married Elizabeth Cooper.
	John Douty, son of Henry Baldi Douty, was married Jan. 21, 1799, to 
Mary Martz, daughter of Peter and Susanna (Brown) Marts. Their daughter 
Susan married John Vandling.

	ROSSITER. Charles E. and William M. Rossiter, brothers, of Sunbury, 
are identified with the industrial life of that borough in important 
capacities, the former the only florist ever established there, the 
latter holding a responsible position at the Susquehanna Silk Mills, 
where he has won recognition by eminent ability and the practical 
application of his wide knowledge and experience as an engineer.
	Thomas Rossiter, the first of this family of whom we have record, 
lived in Brush Valley, Pa., in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and it 
appears that he was an officer of the Revolutionary army during the hard 
winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge. On Dec. 28, 1780; Thomas Rossiter 
appeared as a soldier of the fourth class on the muster roll of Capt. 
Sampson Thomas's company. It seems the time of service was classified 
into several parts, Thomas Rossiter's name appearing both times. On the 
muster roll of the Charlestown company of militia, for the last part of 
the Revolutionary period, 1782, in the list of Capt. Samuel Roberts' 
company, appears the name of Thomas Rossiter marked "cripple." There was 
also a Daniel Rossiter on the muster roll of Capt. Sampson Thomas' 
company on Dec.  28, 1780, a soldier of the third class, and some 
relationship evidently existed between him and Thomas; tradition says 
they were brothers. They were always of the same company, and except 
that Daniel is mentioned as a soldier of the third class, and Thomas as 
a soldier of the fourth class, their records, which appear in Vol. V, 
5th Series of Pennsylvania Archives, are identical.
	While at Valley Forge Thomas Rossiter was taken sick, and one Betsy 
Coats (who was a sister of ex-Governor Pennypacker's grandmother) became 
his nurse. She was not only an able nurse, but a lady of most pleasing 
personality, and the attachment formed during his illness became so 
strong that after the war they married and they settled on one of her 
father's farms in the vicinity of Valley Forge.  They lived and died in 
that region, and are buried there. Their son, Thomas Rossiter Jr., when 
seventeen years old hired out to a Quaker farmer in the neighborhood, a 
man named VanDerslice, among whose children was a daughter Rachel, then 
only three years old. The youth became so attached to her that one night 
he asked her father if he might marry her provided he waited until she 
became of suitable age, and the father replied, "Thee may." When she 
reached the age of eighteen they were duly married, and they lived and 
died in the neighborhood, where their remains rest in the Friends' 
burying ground at what is known as the Corner Stores. They were farming 
people all their lives. All their family, which consisted of six sons 
and one daughter, were six feet or over in height in this respect taking 
after their father, who stood six feet, three inches. A blacksmith by 
trade, his great strength was developed to an unusual extent, and he 
once, on a wager, cut a five-acre field of rye before breakfast. When he 
was eighty years old he was visited by his son Morris, who then lived at 
Sunbury, and such was his strength even at that advanced age that he 
lifted a 100-pound anvil with one hand and threw it into the street; and 
at that 
	
	END OF PAGE 729
	
age he "skinned the cat" on the branch of an elm tree. He never knew 
what sickness was by personal experience throughout his long life, dying 
at the age of eighty-seven.  Of his children, Lewis died at 
Phoenixville, Pa., when eighty-three years old; Ellis died at 
Phoenixville when about eighty-six; Thomas lived and died at 
Phoenixville; Joseph lived near Phoenixville; Morris was the father of 
Charles E. and William M. Rossiter.
	Morris Rossiter was born in 1829 at Valley Forge.  He learned the 
trade of blacksmith, and though not acceptable as a soldier during the 
Civil war because not physically strong he gave able and patriotic 
assistance to his country helping to make cannon at the Phoenixville 
rolling mills.  At the close of the war, in 1865, he settled in Sunbury, 
Northumberland county, working for the Northern Central Railroad Company 
at that point until the road changed hands, becoming the property of the 
Pennsylvania & Erie Company, by which he was employed until obliged to 
give up work at his trade on account of failing health.  Becoming a 
market gardener, he found that business successful and profitable, and 
followed it for nine years, his sons Charles and Harry assisting him.  
He died at Sunbury in 1892, and was buried in Pomfret Manor cemetery. He 
was a Methodist in religious connection, and politically a stanch 
Republican. He married Margaret Fullmer, daughter of Ezekiel Fullmer, 
and to them were born four children, three sons and one daughter: Annie, 
who married Samuel Stroh, a blacksmith, of Sunbury; Charles Ellis; Harry 
E., born in 1864, at Lumberville, near Phoenixville, Pa., now living at 
Sunbury; and William Morris.  The mother, who still survives, is now 
(1910) seventy-five years old.

	CHARLES ELLIS ROSSITER was born Aug. 29, 1861, at historic Valley 
Forge, and came to Sunbury with his parents in the fall of 1865. He 
received his education in the public schools of the borough. Mr. 
Rossiter worked for his father until the latter's death, and he has been 
employed in the florist business ever since old enough to be of any 
assistance, having sold his first flower when only twelve years old. The 
first in Sunbury to engage in this line, he is so far the only florist 
that has ever done business in the borough, and his business has 
expanded to such an extent that he now has 28,000 feet of glass in his 
greenhouses, which are modern in every respect and thoroughly adapted to 
the needs of his trade. He ships considerable out of the borough, having 
a wide patronage, and gives employment to from three to eight men, 
according to the season. Mr. Rossiter is a man of executive ability, 
thoroughly acquainted with the business side of the industry as well as 
with its technical work, and he has accordingly developed his 
establishment into a representative modern plant, which is a credit to 
his enterprise and to the community in which it is located.  His 
establishment is at No. 351 Walnut street.
	Though a busy man, Mr. Rossiter has found time to cultivate his 
taste for taxidermy, and there are a number of specimens of his skill in 
that line in his office.
	In June, 1887, Mr. Rossiter married Blanche R. King, daughter of 
Samuel and Sarah (Croman) King, of Hughesville, later of Sunbury, where 
Mr. King died in 1908; he was a veteran of the Civil war, during which 
he participated in thirty-eight engagements. Six children have been born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Rossiter: Grace, who has taught school in Sunbury for 
two terms and is now a student at Bucknell University, at Lewisburg; 
Morris, a graduate of Sunbury high school, now attending State College; 
Frank, a member of the class of 1911, Sunbury high school; Sarah; Helen, 
and Paul.
	Mr. Rossiter is a Methodist in religious faith, and he is a pillar 
of his church, one of the working members and at present holding office.  
He is independent in politics, voting according to the dictates of his 
conscience.

	WILLIAM MORRIS ROSSITER was born July 8, 1873, in Sunbury, and 
there received his literary education, in the public schools.  Later he 
took a correspondence course in mechanical engineering at a Chicago 
school, and he is also an accomplished man in various branches of 
electrical science. In his youth he became associated with his father in 
the florist business, working in that line at different times until he 
reached the age of twenty-one. Then he became employed in the steel 
business, being with Ludwig Rockwell & Son for two years. He was engaged 
in the manufacture of bicycles, during 1897 devoting himself to the 
production of the "Eclipse" wheel. His next venture was in the coal and 
ice business in Sunbury, dredging coal out of the Susquehanna. Since the 
fall of 1902 he has been associated with the Susquehanna Silk Mills.  
Its first position with this important industrial concern was as 
machinist, after which he was appointed master mechanic, and he has 
since been promoted to mechanical architectural engineer at this large 
establishment.  Mr. Rossiter showed such ability along the line of 
architectural engineering while acting as mechanical engineer, and 
developed such aptitude in making practicable and valuable plans, that 
he came to be intrusted with all the architectural and electrical 
engineering at the plant as well as his original responsibilities.  His 
plans and estimates were so skillfully made, and the construction so 
ably supervised, that his accuracy regarding the cost was a matter of 
astonishment to his employers, who have shown rare appreciation of his 
ability.  The dye house of the Susquehanna Silk Mills, constructed in 
the summer of 1910, is therefore a monument to his genius, as the entire 
construction of this building of monolithic concrete, costing $60,000, 
was 
	
	END OF PAGE 730
	
placed in his hands.  It is a one-story structure, 150 by 220 feet in 
dimensions, and has a double cement roof with three inch air chamber.  
During the erection of this building he had 120 men under his charge.  
Ordinarily he has thirty-five. He is of an inventive mind, making 
extensive improvements on textile machinery, and has been allowed and 
granted patents on some of his inventions. Mr. Rossiter is a self-made 
man, having risen to position and prosperity by his own efforts, and he 
is a hard worker, deserving the good fortune that has come to him. Like 
his brother, he is a taxidermist of ability, and although he has many 
other cares he has done considerable work in this line in his leisure 
hours. He is a member of Maclay Lodge, No. 632, F. & A.M., and of the 
Temple Club at Sunbury.
	On Oct. 11, 1899, Mr. Rossiter married Ella B. Gross, daughter of 
Isaac M. and Amelia (Hancock) Gross, who own the historic Fort Augusta 
property, the fort dating from 1756. More complete mention of the Gross 
family will be found elsewhere in this work.  Mr. and Mrs. Rossiter have 
had six children, Jane, Gertrude, Monroe, Mary, William and Marcello. 
The family occupy a beautiful residence on North Front street. They are 
members of the Reformed Church.
	During the Spanish-American war Mr. Rossiter was in the service as 
a member of Company I, 1st Regiment, United States Volunteer Engineers, a regiment composed of engineers of all descriptions, civil, mechanical, 
electrical, etc., assembled by special act of Congress, and containing 
men from every section of the United States. This regiment numbered 
1,100 strong, sturdy men, selected from nearly six thousand applicants.  
They were encamped at Camp Townsend, Peekskill, N. Y., where the 
regiment was mobilized and mustered. They embarked from New York Aug. 6, 
1898, and arrived in Porto Rico ten days later. This regiment was part 
of General Miles's expedition, made extensive surveys of the island, 
built bridges and roads, erected ice plants and waterworks and put 
things in general in good sanitary condition.

	REV. GEORGE KOPENHAVER, of Mahanoy, Northumberland county, a 
clergyman of the Reformed denomination, has five churches in his present 
charge:  St. Peter's, at Mahanoy; Himmel's, at Rebuck; St. Paul's, at 
Urban; Zion's, at Herndon, and St. David's, at Hebe. He is a native of 
Schuylkill county, Pa., born Dec. 14, 1872.
	The first known ancestor of the Koppenheffer (name variously 
spelled) family was Thomas Koppenheffer, a resident of Heidelberg 
township, Lebanon Co., Pa., who died there prior to 1762. He left a wife 
and the following children:  Henry, Michael, Simon, Thomas (who in 1808 
resided in Bethel township), Regina (married John Tice), Eve and 
Catharine.
	Henry Koppenheffer, son of Thomas, was old and feeble when he died, 
in August 1807. He left a wife, Catharine, and children:  Henry, 
Elizabeth, Catharine, Eve, Margaret Barbara and Christina.
	One Christopher Koppenheffer (probably a brother of Thomas) died in 
Heidelberg township, Lebanon county, in September, 1785, leaving a wife, 
Barbara (Snebely), and a daughter, Catherine, who married Christ Ley, of 
Heidelberg township.
	Jonathan Koppenheffer, grandfather of Rev George E., is buried at 
St. John's Church, near Berrysburg, Dauphin Co., Pa. He was a farmer. 
His wife's maiden name was Hepner, and their children were:  Emanuel, 
George, John, Moses, Emeline  (married), Sarah  (married Elias Schaup), 
Catharine (married William Matter), Emma (married Henry Witmer) and Mary 
(married Simon Lahr).
	John Koppenheffer, son of Jonathan, was born in Mifflin township, 
Dauphin Co., Pa, in August, 1838. He was reared to farm life and began 
farming for himself in Mifflin township, where he continued to be so 
engaged for some twelve years. He served during the latter part of the 
Civil war, in an infantry regiment. In 1905 he retired to Vera Cruz, 
where he enjoys the comforts he deserves after a well spent life.  He is 
a Republican and was school director of Lower Mahanoy township a number 
of years, and always was a strong advocate of education. He has reared a 
most creditable family, two of his sons being in the ministry, and one a 
farmer on the homestead. His wife, Hannah, daughter of Daniel and 
Lucetta (Schreffler) Moyer, died Oct. 31, 1905, aged sixty-six years, 
six months, three days. They had ten children: Lillie, Mrs. D. W. Erb; 
Laura, Mrs. Ephraim Witmer; Lizzie, Mrs. Jonathan H. Witmer; Annie, Mrs. 
H. M. L. Bohner; Carrie, Mrs. William Weaver; Mabel, Mrs. Monroe 
Phillips; Mary (twin of Mabel), Mrs. Jacob Dreibelbies; Rev. H. Grant, 
who was stationed at North Carolina; Rev. George E., and William L.
	George E. Kopenhaver was but one year of age when his parents came 
to Mifflin township, Dauphin county, where they lived about one year. 
Then they settled in Lower Mahanoy township, where their son George E. 
received his early education in the public schools.  He then attended a 
summer normal school at Dalmatia, and at the age of eighteen years was 
licensed to teach school by Prof. W. C. Bloom, then superintendent of 
schools of Northumberland county.  He taught his first term at 
Washington schoolhouse, in Lower Mahanoy township, and also another term 
in the same township, at Vera Cruz (Malta P. O.).  While teaching he 
took a spring term in Central Pennsylvania College and in the spring of 
1894 entered Ursinus Academy, the following year entering the 
	
	END OF PAGE 731
	
collegiate department, from which be was graduated in June, 1899.  He 
took a post-graduate course there and was an instructor in the academic 
department for two years, after which he taught the Winfield (Md.) 
Academy one year. In 1902 he entered the Ursinus School of Theology, 
then located at No. 3262 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, but now 
affiliated with Tiffin Seminary and located at Dayton, Ohio. He 
graduated from the Ursinus School of Theology in Philadelphia in 1905, 
and his first charge was at McAdoo, Pa. where be was stationed about two 
years. He was then called to a large field at Ringtown, in the same 
county, preaching there sixteen months when he received a call from the 
Mahanoy charge, which he has since served. He has over five hundred 
members at these five churches to look after, and is a conscientious and 
effective worker.  He has resided with his family at Mahanoy since 1908. 
Mr. Kopenhaver is a close student of the Scriptures, and he has a good 
working library.
	In 1901 Mr. Kopenhaver married Cora A. Witmer, daughter of Ephraim 
and Harriet (Hain) Witmer, of Lower Mahanoy township. Mrs. Kopenhaver 
taught school in that township for a period of nine years. She is an 
intelligent, capable woman, an ideal minister's helpmate. Mr. and Mrs. 
Kopenhaver have three children: Ralph W., Hannah J. and Mary E.
	Benneville Koppenhaffer, a citizen of Lower Mahanoy township, whose 
home is along the Mahantango creek, was born Aug. 25, 1829, son of 
Benjamin and Hannah (Radel) Koppenhaffer, and grandson of Michael 
Koppenhaffer (also spelled Koppenhaver), who lived in the Lykens Valley, 
where he operated a large farm, and where he died about 1831, aged 
seventy-one years. He is buried at St. John's church, near Berrysburg. 
His wife, Catharine Garret, died some years after her husband. They had 
the following children: Michael, John, Jonathan, George, Daniel, 
Benjamin, Catharine, Betsy and Sarah.
	Benjamin Koppenhaffer, son of Michael, was born Feb. 22, 1801, and 
died April 10, 1871. His wife, Hannah Radel, was a daughter of John 
Radel.  Mr. Koppenhaffer was a farmer in the Lykens Valley, where he 
owned a tract of eighty acres.  His latter years he spent with his son 
Benneville, dying at Vera Cruz. He was a member of St. John's Union 
Church of Berrysburg, where he held various church offices, he and his 
wife later belonging to the Vera Cruz Church. She later married John A. 
Snyder, being his third wife.  To Benjamin Koppenhaffer and his wife 
were born five sons and three daughters: Joel, David, Henry, John, 
Benneville, Dinah (married John Lehman), Mary Ann (died unmarried) and 
Sallie (married John Miller).
	Benneville Koppenhaffer was born and reared in Mifflin township, in 
the Lykens Valley.  He learned blacksmithing and followed that trade for 
thirty years at different places while he was young, later having a shop 
along the Mahantango creek, on the Dauphin county side. He then 
purchased his present eighty-one-acre farm on the Northumberland county 
side of the Mahantango creek, and there farmed until his retirement, in 
1898, being succeeded by his son Benneville, Jr. He is a Democrat and 
was a school director of Lower Mahanoy township for six years.  He and 
his family are Lutheran members of the Vera Cruz Church, which he served 
as deacon and elder.
	On Jan. 1, 1854, Mr. Koppenhaffer married Susan Witmer, daughter of 
Michael Witmer, and to them have been born twelve children: Catharine, 
married to Isaac Snyder; Anna, married to Daniel Snyder; Matilda, who 
married Philip Zerbe and (second) Philip Updegrove; Sarah, who died 
unmarried; Emma, married to Daniel Snyder (no relative to the others); 
John; Isaac; Benneville; William; Jacob, who died aged seven years; and 
two daughters, who died young.

	PETER CLEMENT, the ancestor of a numerous posterity who now reside 
in Northumberland county, many writing the name Clemens, was a native of 
Berks county, Pa., born in that part now included in Schuylkill county, 
and there lived in Pine Grove township. Coming to. Northumberland 
county, he settled in the vicinity of Augustaville, in Lower Augusta 
(now Rockefeller) township, and there followed farming.  He died in 
1817, when about forty-six years old, and is buried at the old 
Augustaville Union Church. His wife, Sophia Kramer, born Sept. 16, 1781, 
survived him many years, dying Feb. 18, 1854, and she, too, is buried at 
the Augustaville Church. They had children as follows: Samuel, who lived 
and died at Sunbury, was a boat contractor and builder, his nephew, 
Benjamin, working for him some years (he had two children, Nelson and 
another); Michael died young; Abraham is mentioned below; Jacob and John 
settled at Harrisburg; Peter is mentioned below; Hannah went out West, 
where she married, lived and died.
	Peter Clement, son of Peter, born Dec. 25, 1813, in Jackson 
township, Northumberland county, did laboring work, and owned a few 
acres of land upon which be lived, located about two miles north of 
Herndon.  This home his grandson, Francis Clement, now owns and 
occupies. Peter Clement was a Lutheran in religious faith. He died March 
8, 1854, and was buried in a private graveyard in Jackson township, near 
Deppen's schoolhouse, but later he was re-interred at Peifer's United 
Evangelical Church, at Mandata. His wife, Rebecca (Adams), born Jan. 28, 
1814, died Aug. 26, 1864. They were the parents of the following 
children: Benjamin; Abraham; Isaac; Jere-
	
	END OF PAGE 732
	
miah; Peter; Samuel; Mary, who married John Hile; Lovina, who married 
James Wetzel; and Abbie, who married Daniel Reitz.
	Benjamin Clement son of Peter and Rebecca (Adams) Clement, was born 
in Jackson township, and was reared by Benjamin Heim and wife, who had 
stood sponsors for him at his baptism; he was named Benjamin after Mr. 
Heim. The Heims had no children, and after they died Benjamin Clement 
became the owner of their eighty-acre farm, where he settled in 1861 and 
passed the remainder of his life, cultivating it from the time of his 
marriage until his death. His widow and three of his children still make 
their home on that place, which is in Jackson township.  Mr. Clement 
learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed during his earlier 
life, He died in Jackson township Jan. 19, 1909, aged seventy-four 
years, four months, seventeen days.  He was a member of Peifer's United 
Evangelical Church, which he served officially, and he and his wife are 
buried at that church.  Politically he was a Democrat and he was quite 
active in public affairs, serving as supervisor and overseer of the poor 
of Jackson township. His wife, Mary (Brower), was a daughter of Nathan 
Brower, of Jackson township. They had a family of eight children: Ira B. 
is mentioned later; Jane married Oliver Leffler; Flora married Harvey 
Hess; Howard is a resident of Herndon, Pa.; Daniel died Dec. 20, 1898, 
aged twenty-six years, eight months, twelve days; Francis is mentioned 
later; Bertha and Amanda are both unmarried, and they and their brother 
Francis continue to make their home on the old place.

	IRA B. CLEMENT, son of Benjamin, is engaged in farming in 
Rockefeller township, where he has a valuable place of 135 acres.  He is 
a native of Jackson township, born Sept. 2, 1863, and was reared to 
farming, in his early manhood hiring out among farmers until he reached 
the age of twenty-five. In the spring of 1889 he began farming for 
himself on the Daniel Holshue farm, in Lower Mahanoy township, where he 
was a tenant for fifteen years.  He then farmed the Israel Byerly place 
near Hickory Corners, in the same township, for a period of two years, 
in the spring of 1906 moving to his present farm, in Rockefeller 
township, which was formerly the Jared Snyder place. Mrs. Clement was 
reared on this farm. It is nicely located and in an excellent state of 
cultivation, Mr. Clement being an intelligent, industrious farmer, 
ranking among the substantial citizens of his township. He is serving at 
present as one of the members of the school board.  Mr. Clement is a 
Democrat in political matters, and he is a member of Peifer's 
Evangelical Church at Mandata. His wife is a member of the Emanuel 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rockefeller township. 
	On Sept. 14, 1889, Mr. Clement married Ella Snyder, daughter of 
Jared and Elizabeth (Rebuck) Snyder, and they have a family of four 
children: Mary, Amanda, Mabel and Samuel. 

	FRANCIS CLEMENT, son of Benjamin, was born Dec. 8, 1875, in Jackson 
township, was reared on the homestead, and has followed farming there 
all his days. He now owns the old homestead place, the property at 
present comprising sixty-eight acres, and is regarded as one of the 
thoroughly progressive young agriculturists of his district. Peter 
Clement, his grandfather, built the barn on this farm, and the other 
buildings were erected by Benjamin Clement, father of the present owner. 
On Oct. 11, 1908, Francis Clement married Alice Tressler, daughter of 
William Tressler, of Rockefeller township. Mr. and Mrs. Clement are 
members of the United Evangelical Church (Peifer's) at Mandata.

	Abraham Clement another son of Peter, the pioneer in Northumberland 
county, was born April 6, 1816, in Lower Augusta township, where he 
lived for a time, later moving to Milton and thence to Mooresburg. He 
was a miller by trade, and followed farming also, living with his son 
Peter, however, for some years before his death. He died in Point 
township, where his son Peter now lives, March 27, 1895, aged seventy-
nine years less eleven days, and is buried at the Oak Grove Church in 
Montour county. His wife, Lucy Ann (Heilman), was a daughter of Daniel 
Heilman, of Lower Augusta township, and died when sixty-three years of 
age. She, too, is buried at Oak Grove Church. Fourteen children were 
born to this couple: Peter; Sophia, born March 16, 1843 (married Elias 
Baylor); Christiana (married Peter Seiler); Daniel, born Nov. 22, 1845; 
Mary (Maria), born Dec. 17, 1846 (married D. C. Young; she was lame); 
John, born March 3, 1848; Samuel, born Feb. 27, 1849 (deceased); Abram, 
born Sept. 12, 1850; Jane; Jeremiah, born Sept. 29, 1855; Hannah, born 
March 3, 1857 (married S. Raup); Catharine, born June 1, 1858 (married 
Samuel Wagner); Jacob and Lucy, both of whom died in infancy. Some of 
this family are out West.

	PETER CLEMENS, son of Abraham and Lucy Ann (Heilman) Clement was 
born Oct. 29, 1841, in Lower Augusta township. He was educated in the 
public schools and brought up to farm life, which he has followed most 
successfully. When twenty-three years old he enlisted at Philadelphia in 
Company I, 112th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served almost two 
years, lacking only a few days of that period.  Returning to his home 
county after the war he was married March 27, 1866, to Caroline Brouse, 
daughter of Samuel Brouse, of Snyder county, later of Northumberland 
county, and then located in Point township. He did laboring work for one 
year, in the spring 
	
	END OF PAGE 733
	
of 1867 moving to Montandon, where he resided a few years, until the 
spring of 1870.  He has since farmed in Point township, where he rented 
land for twenty years, in the year 1889 settling on his present place in 
that township, a fifty-acre acre farm of good limestone soil, where he 
has profitably followed general farming and tracking. For eighteen years 
he also engaged in lime-burning, carrying on that business until 1907, 
so extensively that be burned as much as 95,000 bushels in one year. Mr. 
Clemens has been interested in the various activities of his community, 
has filled the office of school director five years and that of 
supervisor many years, and has long been an active member of Trinity 
Lutheran Church in Point township, of which he has been a trustee since 
1904; he was elder for a number of years, and has served in all the 
various church offices.  His family are also Lutherans in religion.  
Politically he is a Democrat.  He is a man whose upright life and 
devotion to duty commend him to the confidence of his fellow citizens, 
and he is respected wherever known.  To Mr. and Mrs. Clemens have been 
born children as follows: Harvey S., now of Northumberland; Albert W. of 
St. Joseph, Mo.; Catharine A., who is unmarried and living at home; Lucy 
A., a widow, at St. Joseph, Mo.; Maria V., who died aged twenty years; 
Mary M., who married Spencer Black, at Watsontown, Pa.; Abraham B., of 
Sunbury, this county; Maud S., who married August Schaffer and lives in 
Point township; and Jeremiah, also of Point township.
	ABRAM CLEMENS, son of Abraham and Lucy Ann (Heilman) Clement, was 
born Sept. 12, 1850 in Lower Augusta township, where he attended school.  
When twelve years old he went with his father to Milton, where he 
continued his studies for a time, and he remained with his father until 
his marriage, living at Mooresburg for six months. In 1871 he came to 
his present farm in East Chillisquaque township, the Andrew Kurtz place 
on the road between Milton and Danville.  This property he bought in 
1885.  It comprises about seventy acres, and a fine limestone quarry is 
located on the tract.  In addition to farming Mr. Clement has done an 
extensive business burning lime, which is very plentiful on his land, 
finding a ready market for the product in his immediate vicinity.  He 
has prospered by hard work and strict attention to business, and he 
enjoys the esteem of his  neighbors, whom he has served in the office of 
school director.  In politics he is a Democrat, in religion a member of 
the Lutheran Church, which he serves at present as elder.
	In 1870 Mr. Clemens married Sarah Kurtz, daughter of Andrew and 
Sarah (Teel) Kurtz, and granddaughter of Andrew Kurtz, who lived in 
Northampton county. Mr. and Mrs. Clemens have a large family, viz.: 
Andrew married Betty Noriconk and has children, Harold and Lee; Maggie 
married Irvin Faus; Cora married Charles Rine and has two children, John 
A. and Emeline J.; Newton married Bertha Zoug and their children are 
Miriam, Myrland, Carold and Herman; John A. married Irene Bennet and 
their children are Melvin and Mildred; Peter married Lottie Wagner; 
Maude married Myrtle Crunly and has children, Margaret and Paul; 
Jeremiah married Della Renn and their children are Charlotte and Roy 
Henry; Bessie married Frank Muffley and has one son, Abram C.; Samuel 
and Pearl are unmarried.

	JOHN WEISER BUCHER, formerly of Sunbury, a citizen of that borough 
whose activities in business, social and public circles made him known 
to most of its residents, was born there Sept. 15, 1835. He is a member 
of the third generation of his family to live at that place, the Buchers 
having been active and prominent here from the early days, the emigrant 
members of the family having settled in Sunbury in the days of the 
Indian occupation.
	John, Henry and Dietrich Bucher came to Pennsylvania from 
Switzerland, Dietrich establishing an iron furnace near Reading, Berks 
county, John and Henry locating at Sunbury, Northumberland county.  
Henry Bucher, who was the grandfather of John Weiser Bucher, was born 
April 16, 1764, in Switzerland, was a farmer by occupation, and resided 
at what is now the southwest corner of Walnut and Third streets, owning 
much land in Sunbury, nearly all that part of the borough between the 
Susquehanna river and Shamokin creek, from the mouth of the latter to 
Spruce street. He was the first to put this land under cultivation. He 
married Catharine Epley, who was born Jan. 24, 1768, and died at Sunbury 
Aug. 17, 1847. Mr. Butcher died at Sunbury Feb. 3, 1824.  Their children 
were: Henry; Elizabeth, who married George Weiser, a tanner; Mary, who 
married Jacob Leisenring; Francis; George, who was a soldier in the war 
of 1812; and John.  Of this family, Henry lived and died in Sunbury; he 
had a hotel on Front street, and operated the ferry for some years.
	Francis Bucher, youngest son of Henry and Catharine (Epley) Bucher, 
lived at the old homestead in Sunbury.  He learned the trade of tanner 
and was one of the last persons engaged in that business in the borough.  
He died March 19, 1875, at the age of seventy.  On Dec. 8, 1831, he 
married Mary Ann Masser and to their union were born six sons and two 
daughters: The eldest two, both named Henry, died in infancy; John 
Weiser is the oldest surviving member of the family; Emily died 
unmarried in 1908; Edward (deceased) married Amelia Fisher (whose mother 
was ninety-seven years old in 1910 - the oldest living woman in 
Sunbury); Richard, who lived and died 
	
	END OF PAGE 734 
	
in Sunbury, was in the army for fifteen years, was held prisoner at 
Andersonville for over a year and was in Custer's forces; Louisa died 
young; William H. is a resident of Sunbury.
	John Weiser Bucher received an academic education, and learned the 
trade of tanner with his father.  When about twenty years old he became 
clerk and deputy to the register and recorder, filling that position 
about six years, after which he was appointed deputy prothonotary, 
serving as such one year; he also served one term as deputy treasurer of 
the county.  He served one year in the Civil war, and upon his return to 
Sunbury resumed the tanning business, at which he was engaged for two or 
three years.  He then entered the employ of Ira T. Clement, in whose 
employ be continued for a quarter of a century, beginning as bookkeeper 
in his manufacturing establishment and after several years in that 
position becoming secretary of the Sunbury Steam Ferry and Tow Boat 
Company and associate manager or superintendent of the various 
manufacturing industries of Mr. Clement.  In July, 1890, he was elected 
secretary and treasurer of the Sunbury Trust & Safe Deposit Company, 
then a new banking concern, just established in its quarters at Fourth 
and Market streets. Though not as active in business as formerly, Mr. 
Bucher retained many of his local interests as long as he remained in 
Sunbury. On Feb. 19, 1911, he and his daughter Sarah left Sunbury for 
Kingman, Ariz., to make their home with his son William Henry.
	Mr. Bucher took a prominent part in administering the public 
affairs of the borough, having served many years as town clerk and in 
the council, and in 1868 as chief burgess; he was also elected treasurer 
of the borough, in every position justifying the confidence his fellow 
citizens have shown in his ability and integrity.  He cast his first 
vote for Buchanan, but has since been a Republican in politics.
	In February, 1865, Mr. Bucher enlisted in Company C, 47th P. V. I., 
at Harrisburg, and served one year in the 19th Army Corps, as a private 
under General Hancock. He was mustered cut at Charleston, S. C.  He is a 
prominent member of Lieut. William A. Brunner Post, No. 335, G.A.R., of 
Sunbury, and served as quartermaster of that organization continuously 
from 1895. The history of the members of that post which he compiled, 
containing a biography with detailed war record of 246 comrades, cost 
him much time and labor, occupying him for over two years, and is a 
valuable and interesting work; he has also compiled a complete roster of 
the post.  Mr. Bucher is quite an authority on matters of local history 
having long devoted much of his leisure to intelligent study, and his 
fine library of over fifteen hundred volumes contains many valuable 
works, which he thoroughly appreciates and enjoys.  In his more active 
years he was prominent in various fraternal bodies, and he was the 
oldest Mason in Sunbury (member of Lodge No. 22, F. & A.M.) and the 
oldest Odd Fellow in that borough (member of Lodge No. 203). He formerly 
held membership in the Knights of Pythias, I.O.R.M., P.O.S. of A. and 
American Mechanics.  He was long identified with the First Reformed 
Church of Sunbury, which he served many years as organist.  In 1891 Mr. 
Bucher erected the beautiful home at No. 1048 River Road which he 
occupied until his removal from the borough.
	On Dec. 15, 1858, Mr. Bucher was married in Sunbury to Hester A. 
Beard, daughter of James Beard (deceased), at one time prothonotary of 
Northumberland county and afterward a lawyer. She died Dec. 26, 1862, 
leaving three children: Francis Edward, who graduated from Franklin and 
Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa., and is now a prominent lawyer in 
Philadelphia; John Beard, a merchant of Sunbury; and Mary Margaret, born 
Sept. 13, 1862, who died Feb. 14, 1877.  On March 4, 1868, Mr. Bucher 
married (second) Mary Jane Clement daughter of Ira T. Clement and she 
died in December of the same year, leaving a daughter, Laura Irene, born 
Dec. 19, 1868, who died Nov. 2, 1892.  On Feb. 13, 1872, Mr. Bucher 
married (third) Mary Faust, and to their union were born five children: 
Samuel Faust, who is deceased; William Henry, a graduate of Bucknell 
University, Lewisburg, Pa., and of the Medico-Chirurgical College, 
Philadelphia, who was a surgeon in the United States navy from 1897 and 
because of physical disability stationed at Kingman, Ariz., since 1908 
(he is now retired); Sarah Helen, unmarried; George Franklin; and Mary 
Ann Masser, deceased.