BIO:  Oliver STUCK, York County, PA

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History of York County, Pennsylvania.  John Gibson, Historical Editor.
Chicago: F. A. Battey Publishing Co., 1886.
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Part II, Biographical Sketches, York Borough, Pg 50

OLIVER STUCK, Esq., the subject of this sketch, is practically a self-made man, 
and who by perseverance, thrift and industry has made his mark in the world, 
achieving success in his profession of journalism, while many others, lacking 
the invincible qualities of pluck and industrious habits, and not content to 
live a life of self-denial, have failed.  From a very tender age, he has been a 
hard worker, and very painstaking with everything he undertook, and the success 
with which he has met in life is all owing to the habits of industry and 
frugality he formed in his youth.  Oliver Stuck was born in the borough of York, 
September 19, 1817.  His father was Capt. Charles Stuck, a carpenter by 
occupation.  Capt. Stuck was a member of the famous company of volunteers who 
marched to the defense of Baltimore, under Capt. Michael H. Spangler, on August 
29, 1814, and were attached to the Fifth Maryland Regiment, and participated in 
the battle of North Point, September 12, 1814.  The company received the thanks 
of Gen. Stricker, commanding, and the officers of the Fifth Regiment, for their 
gallantry in action.  Capt. Stuck was, after his return from the war, always 
very active in the militia of the State, and commanded a company for a number of 
years.  Capt. Stuck was a man much respected and held in high esteem by his 
fellow citizens for his many virtues and kindness of heart.  He died at the age 
of forty-eight years.  Jacob Stuck, the grandfather of our subject, with his 
father, were among the earliest settlers of the thriving and populous township 
of North Codorus.  The records of the courts, and deeds held by the land-owners 
now living in this township attest the fact of the Stucks holding large grants 
of territory in this section, and which they disposed of by deed to the 
progenitors of those now holding the farms in this section of York County.  When 
the titles to these lands were vested in the Stucks, the country was very 
sparsely settled, and the soil of the small portion cleared not very productive, 
consequently the value was small in comparison to that of these broad and 
fertile acres at this writing.  Jacob Stuck came to York to reside at a very 
early age, over a century and a half ago, where his descendants have ever since 
resided.  As the name implies, the Stucks are presumably of German descent, 
though the present generation cannot trace their nationality to any authentic 
source, other than to the fact that the township of North Codorus was settled by 
Germans, and the Stucks being among the first settlers, it is but fair to 
presume they were of that nationality.  The name is distinctively German, and 
properly written to give it the broad German pronunciation, it should be with 
two dots over the letter ü, making the name Stück, though the ordinary English 
pronunciation makes it sound like the work stuck.  The mother of Oliver Stuck, 
our subject, was Rebecca Snyder Stuck, a most estimable lady, who lived to the 
advanced age of eighty-two years, dying in the year 1877, October 15, at the 
home of her daughter, in Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Penn.  Oliver Stuck, at 
the early age of scarcely twelve years, was apprenticed to the printing business 
with Messrs. King & Barnitz, then proprietors of the old York Gazette, June 20, 
1829, serving an apprenticeship of five years very faithfully.  At the 
expiration of his term of service he worked in the same office as a journeyman 
for a number of years, after which he went to Harrisburg, and worked in the 
State printing office on the legislative record.  There being no railroad in 
those days between York and Harrisburg, Mr. Stuck used to walk the twenty-six 
miles’ distance intervening between the two points, in his frequent visits home 
to his parents, whose principal support he was.  From the early age at which he 
entered upon his apprenticeship, it will be observed that he did not possess the 
advantage of securing an education in the schools, and really attended school 
very little, gleaning all the knowledge he possesses in that great college, the 
printing office, and by the reading of useful books.  His ambition was to become 
the editor and proprietor of a newspaper, and with that end in view he applied 
himself vigorously to work, and his efforts were finally rewarded with success.  
In the year 1839 he became one of the editors and proprietors of the York 
Democratic Press, by the purchase of a half-interest in the paper, and continued 
as such until he became finally the sole proprietor by purchasing his partner’s 
interest, and has conducted the paper in his own name and interest ever since.  
The Press espoused the principles of the Democratic party, and as an exponent of 
those principles, and a disseminator of news, has proved a very acceptable paper 
to the people; and its editor, by hard work and the practice of the most rigid 
economy, has made it a success financially.  (For a full history of the 
Democratic Press see article under that head in this volume.)  In the year 1843, 
April 17, he was married to Margaret Gilberthorp, daughter of the late William 
Gilberthorp, deceased.  He has reared a family of six children (two sons and 
four daughters), one of which, the eldest, is Edward Stuck, the editor of the 
York Age.  Oliver Stuck has held several important positions of honor and trust.  
In November, 1852, he was appointed State agent, on the Philadelphia & Columbia 
Railroad, by the board of canal commissioners, of Pennsylvania, the State, at 
that time, owning what is now known as the Pennsylvania Railroad.  This position 
he held until August, 1857 – when the road passed out of the hands of the State 
into the possession of the present owners by purchase – with credit to himself 
and an unimpeachable record as a faithful and efficient officer.  During his 
connection with the railroad he still devoted all his spare moments to editing 
his newspaper, and upon retiring from the road gave his entire attention to the 
newspaper business.  He kept the Press fully abreast of the times, and succeeded 
in placing it beside the most influential weeklies of the State.  He has always 
taken an active part in the politics of the county, and was the champion of the 
reform wing of the Democracy, denouncing the methods of those who did not 
consider holding office a public trust, but simply for their own pecuniary 
advantage.  Against all politicians of this class he wielded his pen, denouncing 
the extravagance and corruption which disgraced the records of office-holders 
and reflected upon the fame of the Democratic party.  Much of the credit for the 
healthy state of affairs in this county is due to his efforts, through the 
Press, to bring about this great and wholesome change, and to the sterling 
gentlemen who rallied around his paper in its work for reform.  In June, 1880, 
he was nominated by his party as their candidate for register of wills of York 
County, and ran on the same ticket with Gen. Hancock for president, receiving 
the highest vote of any candidate upon the ticket.  He entered upon the duties 
of his office in January, 1881, and filled it acceptably to the people, and at 
the end of his term was complimented by the auditor-general of Pennsylvania, for 
the excellent manner in which the affairs of the office were administered.