USA > Maryland > Washington County > Leitersburg > History of Leitersburg District, Washington County, Md.: Including Its Original Land Tenure. > Part 18
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JASON BELL was born in Leitersburg District, May 1, 1841, the
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son of George and Mary Ann (Mickley) Bell. He received a com- mon school education. From 1864 to 1869 he was engaged in farming in his native District; in 1869 he removed to Waynes- boro, where for five years he was identified with the Waynesboro Manufacturing Company. He was then employed by the Hagerstown Steam Engine and Machine Company three years as general agent. In 1880 he entered the em- ploy of the Geiser Manufacturing Company of Waynesboro, Pa., with which he has since been connected with the exception of a brief period. For some years he was the general traveling repre- sentative of the company and in this capacity he has traversed a large part of the United States and Canada. He has also been a director in the company and is now assistant secretary. In 1864 he married Helen E., only child of Joseph H. and Anna J. (Broth- erton) Crebs and their children are Carrie A., wife of Bennard H. Foreman, and Joseph C. Mr. Bell is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Waynesboro Lutheran Church, in which he holds the office of trustec.
JOSEPH M. BELL was born in Leitersburg District, October 12, 1843, the son of George and Mary Ann (Mickley) Bell. He oh- tained a common school education and after a brief experience as teacher engaged in farming in his native District in 1865. In this occupation he has since continued. In 1876 he purchased the farm in Leitersburg District now owned by Daniel V. Shank; in 1881 he sold this and bought a farm near Jacobs church, where- on he resided from 1882 to 1898. He then purchased the farm of 125 acres in Leitersburg District formerly owned by his father and grandfather and by Captain Peter Bell, the ancestor of the family in Leitersburg District, and here he now resides. In 1865 he married Catharine B., daughter of Henry and Mary (Hess) Oaks and granddaughter of Captain Andrew and Mary M. (Fish- ack) Oaks. Captain Oaks was born on the 15th of March, 1776, and died on the 31st of January, 1850; he commanded a com- pany of militia from Greencastle, Pa., in the War of 1812 (His- tory of Franklin County, Warner, Beers & Company, 1887; pp. 236. 239). Mr. and Mrs. Bell are the parents of six children: Ida M., wife of Rev. D. A. Kearns-Preston, pastor of the Presby- terian Church at Newtown. Ind .: Herbert C .; Ernest E .. who fills a responsible position in the general offices of the DeLaval Sepa-
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rator Company, New York City; George H., a graduate of the Pennsylvania State Normal School, Bloomsburg, Pa., and prin- cipal of the Plain Hill grammar school, 1896-97; Keller J., a student at the Bloomsburg Normal School, and Albert L. Mr. Bell is a Democrat in politics and while a resident of Washington Township served as a member of the school board three years. He is a member of the Lutheran Church and an elder in the Jacobs congregation.
GEORGE M. D. BELL was born in Leitersburg District, January 30, 1846, the son of George and Mary (Mickley) Bell. He re- ceived a common school education and was also a pupil at the se- lect school of William Noetling, A. M., at Waynesboro, Pa., after which he taught one term of ten months at Pleasant Hill in Leitersburg District. He spent nine months of the year 1869 in Kansas, but returned to Waynesboro, Pa., in the same year and entered the employ of the Waynesboro Manufacturing Company, of which he was treasurer. In 1874-75, in partnership with Sam- uel Martin, he operated the Rock Forge in Leitersburg District. In 1876-80 he was engaged in farming in Washington Town- ship, Franklin Co., Pa. From 1880 to 1885 he resided at Waynesboro, Pa., where he was employed by the Geiser Manu- facturing Company for several years and was also engaged in the grocery business; during his residence here he was elected a member of the borough school board. In 1885-95 he was en- gaged in farming in White County, Ind. He resided at Monti- cello, Ind., from 1895 to 1897, when he purchased a farm near Lucerne, Cass County, Ind., which he has since operated. In 1873 he married Charlotte E., daughter of Dr. Benjamin and Mary (Ryder) Frantz of Waynesboro, and their children are Mary F .; Lottie K .; Bessie R .; Lela K., and George. Mr. Bell is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Presbyterian Church.
JOHN A. BELL was born in Leitersburg District, September 26, 1848, the son of George and Mary (Mickley) Bell. He was reared on the home farm and attended the local schools, complet- ing his education at a select school in Waynesboro conducted by William Noetling, A. M. In 1867 he accompanied his father on a journey to the South, going as far as Augusta, Ga., as a mem- ber of a party of twenty-seven from this section. In 1870 he engaged in farming as tenant on his father's farm near
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Leitersburg; here he continued five years, and during this time the house was destroyed by fire, resulting in the loss of his house- hold effects. After residing at Rock Forge one year and near Jacobs church two years, he located upon his present farm, then the property of his father-in-law, from whose executors he pur- chased it in 1892. In 1870 he married Mary E., daughter of Peter and Catharine (Petrie) Middlekauff, and they are the par- ents of the following children: Kemp Middlekauff; William, who died in infancy; John Frank, and Mary Kate. Mr. Bell is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Leitersburg Lutheran Church, in which he holds the office of elder.
REV. EZRA K. BELL, D. D., was born in Leitersburg District. November 14, 1853, the son of George and Mary Ann (Mickley) Bell. He was reared in his native District. In 1872 he en- tered Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, graduating with the Class of 1877, and two years later he graduated from the theo- logical department of that institution. In September, 1879, he was ordained to the ministry by the Wittenberg Synod of the Lutheran Church. His first pastorate was West Liberty, Ohio. In 1881 he accepted a call to Findlay, Ohio, where a handsome church was built during his incumbency. In 1884 he removed to Cincinnati, where he has since been pastor of the First Lu- theran Church; under his administration this has become one of the largest Protestant churches of that city, while several other English Lutheran churches have been organized in the city and suburbs from its former membership. A new church has been erected during Dr. Bell's pastorate, and he has also been respon- sibly connected with reformatory and evangelical movements of a general character. To him was originally due the suggestion of the Committee of Five Hundred which accomplished so much for the purification of municipal politics. He was prominently identified with the Jones and Mills revivals and in 1892 he was elected president of the Cincinnati Evangelical Alliance. In 1893 he was president of the board of directors of Wittenberg College. He was editor of The Lutheran Evangelist in 1890 and of The Lutheran World when it was founded in 1892. He has also served as president of the Miami Synod and as delegate to the General Synod of the Lutheran Church. In 1879 he mar- ried Jennie E., daughter of John McNaull, of Mansfield, Ohio.
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Of the children born to them the following are now living: Paul S .; Ethel; Stanley McN., and Frederick K.
MARTIN L. BELL was born in Leitersburg District, November 14, 1844, the son of Jonas and Catharine (Mickley) Bell. He ob- tained a common school education and was engaged in farming with his father until 1874, when he purchased the mills in Wil- liamsport District near the Conococheague originally established by John T. Miller and subsequently owned by Abraham Leiter. Immediately after locating here he established a general repair shop, which he has since operated in connection with the saw and chopping mills, to which he also added a planing mill in 1888. In 1875 he married Laura V., daughter of David and Martha (Brewer) Byers, and their children are Keller B .; Ella K .; Howard A .; Edith W., and Martin L., deceased. Mr. Bell is a member of the Williamsport Lutheran Church, in which he holds the office of deacon. In politics he is a Democrat.
REV. ALBERT BELL, A. M., was born in Leitersburg District, September 28, 1855, the son of Jonas and Catharine (Mickley) Bell. He attended the public schools of his native District and Williamsport, Md., near which place his father located in 1865. In 1872 he entered the preparatory department of Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa., graduating with the Class of 1878. He then entered the Lutheran Theological Seminary at that place, graduating in 1881. In the same year he was ordained by the Synod of Maryland and has since served the following Lutheran pastorates: Reisterstown, Md., 1881-84; Newton, Iowa, 1884-87; Williamsport, Pa., 1888-90; Boiling Springs, Pa., 1890-94, and St. Luke's, York, Pa., 1894. At the present time he is treasurer of the West Pennsylvania Synod. In 1882 he married Elizabeth C., daughter of Daniel and Catharine A. (Weaver) Cashman, of Gettysburg, Pa., and their children are W. A. Russell; Albert D .; Ralph E., and Catharine A.
CYRUS D. BELL was born in Leitersburg District, February 18, 1860, the son of Jonas and Catharine (Mickley) Bell. IIe oh- tained his education at the Williamsport schools and was reared to agricultural pursuits. Since the death of his father he has had the management of the estate. Mr. Bell is a Democrat and was one of the candidates of his party for the House of Dele- gates in 1897, but was defeated. He is a member of the Wil-
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liamsport Lutheran Church and a deacon in that organization.
REV. WILLIAM F. BELL was born in Old Franklin, Howard County, Mo., February 16, 1831, the son of John W. and Eliza- beth C. (Combs) Bell. In 1838 his father removed to Macon County, and there he was reared. He received a common school education. In 1850 he was licensed to preach by the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and in the following year he was ad- mitted to membership in the Missouri Conference. He was ordained a deacon in 1853 and elder in 1856. Mr. Bell was in the active ministry from 1851 to 1896, and during this period he was in charge of missions, circuits, stations, and districts in various parts of Missouri. In 1898 he was a delegate to the Gen- eral Conference at Baltimore, Md. In 1854 he married Martha L. Kenyon, who died in 1856. In 1861 he married Sarah, daugh- ter of William and Hannah (Prince) Ridgeway, and their chil- dren are John B .; Anna B., wife of William Stapleton; William C .; Marvin P., and Ada P. Mr. Bell has been a resident of Fay- ette, Mo., since 1880. In politics he is a Democrat.
JAMES A. BELL was born in Johnstown, Pa., June 3, 1858, the son of Rev. Lewis J. and Charlotte A. (Marbourg) Bell. In 1868 his parents located at Smithsburg, Md., where he was reared and obtained his education at the public schools. Here he also learned the trade of shoemaking, and in 1882-84 he conducted a boot and shoe store at Waynesboro, Pa. In 1885 he was em- ployed in the same business at Chambersburg, Pa .; and in 1886 he entered the employ of Mabley & Carew at Cincinnati, Ohio, with whom he has since continued. He married in 1889 Etta B., daughter of H. P. Snyder of Troy, Ohio, who died on the 30th of June, 1890. In 1894 he married Ruth O., daughter of Lieu- tenant Jacob Albert Metz, of Company B, Second Regiment, Potomac Home Brigade, Maryland Cavalry, who was killed by sharpshooters near Clearspring, Md. Mr. Bell is now a resident of Bellevue, Ky. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Lutheran Church.
EMERICK C. BELL was born at Barren Hill, Pa., September 8, 1863, the son of Rev. Lewis J. and Charlotte A. (Marbourg) Bell. He was reared in Smithsburg, Md., and obtained his education at the schools of that village. In 1882-84 he was engaged in teaching. He then learned photography and has been engaged
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in this business at Hagerstown since 1887. In 1889 he married Emma J. Winter, who died in 1891, leaving one child, C. Emma. In 1897 he married Alice, daughter of M. A. McCreery, of Wash- ington, D. C. Mr. Bell is a member of the Lutheran Church and a Republican in politics.
HERBERT C. BELL was born in Leitersburg District, January 14, 1868, the son of Joseph M. and Catharine B. (Oaks) Bell. He received his education at the common schools, at the Penn- sylvania State Normal School, Bloomsburg, Pa., from which he graduated in 1885, at Wittenberg College, and at the University of Cincinnati. In 1885-86 he was engaged in teaching at Conyngham, Pa. In 1886-88 he was employed by A. Warner & Company, publishers, of Chicago, in the preparation of histories of Columbia, Bucks, and Allegheny Counties, Pa., and subse- quently prepared for the Goodspeed Publishing Company his- torical sketches of Carroll and Madison Counties, Ark. In 1889-90 he edited a History of Venango County, Pa., pub- lished by Brown, Runk & Company, and in 1890-91 he prepared a History of Northumberland County, Pa., which was issued by the same publishers. He was also employed by Nelson, Runk & Company in the preparation of a History of Hamilton County, Ohio. He is the author and publisher of this History of Leiters- burg District. In 1895 he established a herd of registered Jersey cattle which has since received a large share of his attention, and during this period he has also been interested in the sale of DeLaval cream separators. He is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Lutheran Church.
ANTHONY BELL was a native of Germany, and learned his trade at Wiesbaden, a German city on the Rhine. It is probable that he emigrated to America with his brother, Peter Bell, for in 1767 both purchased land in Leitersburg District. That of Anthony comprised 105 acres and was formerly embraced in the larger original survey called All That's Left. By subsequent purchase and original patent he eventually became the owner of more than two hundred acres, now embraced in the farm . owned by the heirs of the late John Eshleman. There can be no doubt that he located here in 1767, and that this land was first improved and reduced to cultivation by him. Here he resided until his death in 1812. He was one of the
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last survivors of the pioneers of Leitersburg District who settled within its limits prior to the Revolution. In religious faith he was a member of the Lutheran Church-first of St. John's at Hagerstown, nine miles from his home, and then of Jacobs Church, only a mile distant, the organization of which doubtless found in him an earnest supporter. Here he was an elder in 1795-96, and probably for some time before and after these years. In the burial ground adjacent to this church there are many graves marked by headstones without inscriptions, and one of these is doubtless his last resting place. He married Maria Snowberger, a native of Switzerland, and possibly a member of the family that founded the Seventh Day Baptist Society of Snow Hill in Quincy Township, Franklin County, Pa. Their chil- dren were John; Andrew; Jacob; Anna; Catharine; Frederick and David, both of whom died unmarried at the age of fifty years in Monroe County, N. Y., the former on the 28th of August, 1832, the latter on the 25th of December, 1834. Anna married Conrad Mentzer, who resided near Smithsburg, Md., and there she died. Catharine married George Lyday; they removed to Monroe County, N. Y., where she died on the 24th of July, 1866, at the age of eighty-seven.
JOHN BELL was born in 1765, the son of Anthony and Maria (Snowberger) Bell. He was reared in Leitersburg District. About the time that he reached manhood the Genesee valley at- tracted a large immigration from Western Maryland and he re- moved thither; he was one of the pioneers of Rush Township. Monroe County, N. Y., and there he died on the 2d of October. 1822. He married Margaret Lyday, and their children were. George, who died in 1863, aged sixty-seven years; John, who died in 1829, aged eighty-two years; Sarah, who married John Fishel; Jacob, who died in 1847, aged forty-three years; Mary, who mar- ried Jacob Fishel; Nancy, who married Elijah Acker: Henry: David, who died in 1895, aged eighty-four years, and Frederick. who died in 1886, aged seventy-two years.
ANDREW BELL was born in Leitersburg District in May. 1221. the son of Anthony and Maria (Snowberger) Bell. He married Margaret, daughter of Henry Solmes, who resided east of Leiters- burg and owned the farms now belonging to Upton Clopper and Henry Martin. Mr. Solmes died in 1799 and by the division of
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his estate the farm now owned by Mr. Clopper became the prop- erty of Andrew and Margaret Bell. Here they located in 1800. He was a weaver by trade and pursued this calling in connection with farming. The substantial stone house and barn on this farm were built by him. In 1834 he sold this property and removed to Richland County, Ohio, where he died on the 4th of November, 1848. His widow survived him until the 25th of June, 1853, dying at the age of eighty-one. They were the par- ents of the following children: Elizabeth; Catharine; Jacob; Hannah; Maria; Samuel, and Andrew, who was born in 1810 and died in 1851 in Richland County, Ohio, where his son, John M. Bell, is the present county treasurer.
JACOB BELL was born in Leitersburg District, March 26, 1773, the son of Anthony and Maria (Snowberger) Bell. After reach- ing manhood he engaged in farming, continuing in this occupa- tion as long as he was actively engaged in business. After his father's death he purchased the farm of 208 acres formerly owned by the latter, in addition to which he subsequently ac- quired the farms in Washington Township, Franklin County, Pa., now owned by Matthias Deitrich and Peter Smith. These farms are situated at the junction of the two main branches of Antie- tam creek. On that of Mr. Smith there was a hemp mill, built in 1999, and this was operated by Jacob Bell in connection with his farms. In 1841, having disposed of his property in Leiters- burg District and Washington Township, he removed to Richland County, Ohio, transporting his family and household goods thither by wagon. There he purchased land in the vicinity of Mansfield, the county seat, where he resided until his death, No- vember 19, 1847. He was a successful business man, and left to each of his sons a farm of 160 acres and to each of his daugh- ters the sum of $2,500. In politics he was a stanch Democrat. He was a member of Jacobs Lutheran Church and an officer in the congregation for years; he was also chorister, and served in this capacity as long as German was the language used in public worship. He married Barbara, daughter of Ludwig and Susan (Emminger) Emerick, and their children were Mary. who married David Leiter; Anthony; Jacob; Susan, who married John Shutt; John; David; Peter, and Samuel. All of the sons with
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the exception of Jacob located in Richland County, Ohio, where the family is numerously represented. Herbert E. Bell, who has served as prosecuting attorney of Richland County and post- master of Mansfield, is a son of Samuel Bell.
JOHN GABBY became a land owner in Leitersburg District in 1769 by the purchase of 166 acres of land from Peter Good, originally embraced in The Resurvey on Well Taught and Perry's Retirement and now owned principally by Hiram D. Middlekauff. The orthography of the name was then "Gebby," a corruption of the original Scotch form, "Gebbie." The name also appears in connection with the early settlement of Letterkenny Town- ship, Franklin County, Pa., where Robert Gabby, probably the father of John, was the patentee of a tract of land in 1749. In 1773 John Gabby purchased from James Brownlee one hundred acres of land, formerly embraced in Rich Barrens, on the op- posite side of Antietam from his first acquisition. Before the Revolutionary War he built the oldest part of the house on the farm of Mr. Middlekauff, and here he resided for many years. Eventually, however, he returned to Letterkenny Township, and there he died in 1810, leaving the following children: Archi- bald; Joseph; John; William; James; Janet, who married James Burns, and Jane, who married Samuel Cooper. He was a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church and probably the earliest repre- sentative of that denomination in Leitersburg District.
WILLIAM GABBY was born on the 25th of April, 1762, the son of John Gabby. In 1795 his father divided his plantation in Leitersburg District and sold it to two of his sons, John and Wil- liam; the former received the part upon which the improvements wore located, now owned principally by Hiram D. Middlekauff; the latter received a tract of unimproved land on the opposite side of Antietam creek, now owned principally by the estate of the late Joseph Strite. Here he erected the present substantial farm house and resided until his death, September 5, 1841. Ho married Emily McCormick of Leesburg, Va., who died on the 9th of July, 1833, without issue. They were members of the Pres- byterian Church at Hagerstown and there both were buried. William Gabby was a Whig in politics and held a number of re- sponsible offices. He was justice of the peace, member of the orphans' court and the levy court, member of the House of Dele-
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gates, and presidential elector; he was also a member of the com- mission by which the present site of the Washington County court house was purchased and the first court house erected thereon, and was associated in a similar capacity with the build- ing of the second jail of Washington County.
JOSEPH GABBY was born in Leitersburg District, April 25, 1729, the son of John Gabby. He was reared in his native Dis- trict, but removed to Letterkenny Township with his father's family in 1795 and there engaged in farming ten years later. His brother John died in 1806 and the farm he had purchased from his father in 1795 reverted to the latter; Joseph Gabby located thereon about the time of his father's death, after which he pur- chased it, and here he resided in the house in which he was born until his death, November 30, 1856. In 1805 he married Ann Cummins, whose birthday was the same as his own, April 25, 1779; she died on the 6th of January, 1852. Their children were Elizabeth, who married Dr. Thomas B. Duckett; Jane, who mar- ried Dr. James Johnson; Emily, who married Nathan McDowell; John, and William, both of whoin died in infancy. Joseph Gabby was a member of the Presbyterian Church at Hagerstown, in which he held the office of elder. In his later years his hear- ing became impaired and he was accustomed to occupy a high chair near the pulpit in order that he might hear the sermon; this chair now constitutes part of the furniture of the Washing- ton County court room and has been used for years by the court crier. Mr. Gabby operated a distillery in connection with his farm and was one of the corporators of the Hagerstown and Waynesboro Turnpike Company. He was a Whig in politics and an active supporter of his party. He was identified with public affairs in various official capacities, serving as member of the Governor's council, of the House of Delegates, and of the county levy court.
CHRISTIAN LANTZ, "late of Lancaster County in the Province of Pennsylvania, mason," became a resident of Leitersburg Dis- trict in 1775, when he purchased from John Reiff a tract of 476 acres at the consideration of £2,350. These lands are southwest of Leitersburg along the turnpike and Antietam creek, and in- cluded the farm of George F. Ziegler, one of his descendants. The extent of his purchase and the price paid indicate that he
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was a man of comparative wealth, while there is ample evidence that his position in the community was one of influence and prominence. It is probable that ho erected the first mill on the Antietam near Leitersburg. At the commencement of the Revolutionary War he was a member of the County Committee of Safety from Upper Antietam Hundred. He was a member of the Lutheran Church, serving as elder in the Jacobs congregation in 1795-96 and as treasurer for several years. He died in 1798, leaving a widow, Elizabeth, and three children: Christian; George, and Rosanna, who married Frederick Boyer.
CHRISTIAN LANTZ, the son of Christian Lantz, was probably born in Lancaster County about the year 1750, and came to Leitersburg District with his father in 1775. The mill prop- erty on the Antietam a short distance above the turnpike came into his possession after his father's death, with considerable adjacent land, and here he resided until his death in 1811. The following children survived him: Christian; George; Adam, and Elizabeth, who married Captain John Byer.
GEORGE LANTZ was born on the 19th of May, 1766, probably in Lancaster County, Pa., whence he came to Leitersburg Dis- trict in 1775 with the family of his father, Christian Lantz, Sr. After the latter's death he succeeded to that part of the parental estate embracing the farm of George F. Ziegler, and here about the year 1800 he built the stone mansion along the turnpike which was subsequently the residence of his son-in-law, Frederick Ziegler, and grandson, Frederick K. Ziegler. Here he died on the 22d of April, 1802. He married Barbara Ziegler and their children were Rose Ann Elizabeth, who married Frederick Ziegler, and Catharine, who married Lewis Ziegler.
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