USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Juniata Valley and its people, Volume II > Part 7
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(III) Martin Luther, son of John and Margaret (Bair) Stroup, was born March 1, 1837, in Decatur township, and was educated in the pub-
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lic schools of the day. He assisted his father on the farm, then he rented one and farmed alone. After his father died and he received his patrimony he purchased a farm in the same township, sold it and bought another in Derry township. He is a farmer of recognized ability, a good neighbor and a progressive citizen. He is a Democrat, a prom- inent member of the Lutheran church in Decatur, and has served as dea- con for years. He is an active worker in the Sunday school, retaining all of his youthful interest in it and church work. He married, October .5, 1857, Caroline, daughter of Jacob W. and Mary Miller, of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. Caroline (Miller) Stroup was born in 1829, and comes from an excellent family of straight English descent. Children : I. John Miller. 2. Sarah Ann. 3. Katie J., married Clinton B. Silkman and resides in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 4. Jacob Warner. 5. Harry Bridge. of whom further. 6. Frank Murry.
(IV) Harry Bridge, son of Martin Luther and Caroline ( Miller) Stroup, was born in Decatur township, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, September 5, 1869. He was reared on the farin of his father, and was educated in the public school of the township and at Lewistown high school. He lived on the old homestead until 1898, when he accepted a position with Logan & Company, Incorporated, as general clerk, and has held that place since. He is a Democrat, following the traditions of the family. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Lewistown.
The American progenitor of this branch of the Harper
HARPER family, John Harper, was born in county Tyrone, Ire- land. He there grew to manhood, married, and in 1866 came to the United States, settling in Morris county, New Jersey. He there worked in the iron mines and learned the stone mason's trade, continuing until May. 1876, when he moved to Philadelphia. He there followed the building business for nine years, then lived retired for the fifteen years preceding his death in July, 1900. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in both Ireland and the United States belonged to the Order of Orangemen. He married Jane Orr, born in Ireland, died February 7, 1913. Children: 1. Sarah, married S. C. Honey and resides in Newark, New Jersey. 2. Died in infancy. 3. David, resides in Newark, New Jersey. 4. Robert E., died at Burnham,
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July 4, 1911. 5. Joseph, died in Newark, New Jersey. 6. Andrew, re- sides in Newark. 7. Augustus, of whom further. 8. Samuel, resides in Philadelphia. 9. William H., resides in Philadelphia. 10. Jane, married Howard Pierson and resides in Philadelphia. 11. Minnie W., married Robert Wooler, and resides in Philadelphia.
(II) Augustus, son of John and Jane (Orr) Harper, was born in Morris county, New Jersey, June 6, 1868. He attended the public schools there until he was eight years of age, when his parents moved to Philadelphia, where his education was finished in the public schools of that city. He began business life as a worker in the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, remaining ten years, and becoming familiar with steel working in various forms. In August, 1898, he moved to Burnham, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, where he entered the employ of the Standard Steel Works Company, in the hammer department, and there continues. He is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to Lewistown Lodge, No. 203, Free and Accepted Masons; Lewistown Chapter. No. 186, Royal Arch Masons; Lewistown Commandery, No. 26, Knights Templar, and Jaffa Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Altoona, Pennsylvania. He also belongs to lodge and encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and to the Knights of the Golden Eagle.
Mr. Harper married, October 19, 1890, Amelia A. Inman, born in Nova Scotia, Canada, daughter of Charles and Margaret (Oldroyd) In- man, both born' in England, settling in Nova Scotia about 1862, where Charles Inman, a mining engineer, died December 18, 1875. After his death the widow and children returned to England, remaining two years, but came again to Nova Scotia, and in 1880 came to the United States, settling in Philadelphia, where the widow. Margaret Inman. died Jan- uary 17, 1900. Children of Charles and Margaret Inman: Mark, Wil- liam A., Roland, Eugene and Adelaide, all deceased; George Scarlett, resides in Philadelphia; John, deceased ; Amelia A., wife of Augustus Harper : and Hannah B., married Mahlon George Place, and resides in Philadelphia. Children of Augustus and Amelia A. (Inman) Harper : I. Harold I., married Edith Duck. 2. Ira O. 3. Augustus Orr, died May 26, 1902, aged nine years. 4. Charles Raymond. 5. Amelia A. The family residence at No. 103 Main street, Burnham, was erected by Mr. Harper during the summer of 1900.
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The emigrant ancestor of Dr. Benjamin Rush Kohler
KOHLER was a German, living in Switzerland, from whence, with wife and children, he sailed for America. John M. Koh- ler, the German emigrant, landed with his children in Philadelphia, his wife having died at sea. From Philadelphia the family moved to Read- ing, thence to Middletown, Pennsylvania, where the father worked at his trade, weaving, for a short time, then moved to Lewistown, Pennsylva- nia, about the year 1828, and there died.
(II) Henry, son of John M. Kohler, was born in Switzerland and came to the United States with his father in 1807. He became a weaver, learning that trade with his father, whom he accompanied to Lewistown in 1828. He continued at his trade in Lewistown for seven years, mov- ing to Milroy in 1835, and for a time worked there as a weaver. He then became a merchant, continuing several years, then moved to Center county, Pennsylvania, where he purchased a small farm and lived for about twenty years. He lived retired in Milroy until his death, No- vember 9. 1887. He married Mary Wolfley, who bore him thirteen children, four of whom died in early childhood: I. John. 2. Jacob, born March 14, 1832, a manufacturer of carpets and a merchant, now living retired in Reedsville. He was elected associate judge of Mifflin county in 1885, serving five years ; in 1892 he was elected justice of the peace. During the war between the states he was second lieutenant of Company K, 205th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. He married Susan I. Crosthwaite, daughter of Richard, and granddaughter of John Crosthwaite, who came from Ireland. 3. Susan, now living in Milroy, unmarried. 4. William F., deceased, married Sarah Kemmerer. 5. Frederick S., of whom further. 6. James, died in the army during the civil war, aged twenty-two years. 7. Jane, married John Wolf and re- sides at Potter's Mills. 8. Matilda, married John O. Stover. 9. Amelia, now living in Milroy, unmarried.
(III) Dr. Frederick S. Kohler, son of Henry and Mary (Wolfley) Kohler, was born in Milroy, Pennsylvania. December 18, 1836, died in Nampa, Idaho, January 1, 1908. He attended the public schools, studied medicine and in 1860 was graduated M. D. from the Eclectic Medical College of Pennsylvania. During the civil war he was commissioned as- sistant surgeon of the Twenty-first Regiment Pennsylvania Cavalry, serving from February 18, 1863, until mustered out July 8, 1865. After
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the war he located in Reedsville, Pennsylvania, remaining for twelve years. In 1873 he took a special course and was graduated from the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and for several years was located in Vevay, Indiana. He later practiced in Morgan, Utah, moving in August, 1887, to Nampa, Idaho, where he practiced until his death, January 1, 1908. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He married Sarah A. Carson, born December 17, 1841, died December 11, 1866. Her parents died when she was young, leaving her to the care of her uncle, John Carson, of Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, who later moved to Wisconsin and there died. She was a member of the Presbyterian church. Children: Dr. William H., of whom further ; Benjamin Rush, of whom further.
(IV) Dr. William H. Kohler, elder son of Dr. Frederick S. and Sarah A. (Carson) Kohler, was born in Reedsville. Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1863. He was deprived of a mother's care when three years of age, his childhood being spent with relatives in Philadelphia and Center county, Pennsylvania. He spent his life until his nineteenth year mainly in Center county, where he received a good public school education, and for two years worked at farming. His ambition was for his father's profession, and that goal was kept con- stantly in view, until finally attained. He attended Pennsylvania State College, then spent two years at Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, in the medical department. In the autumn of 1886 he entered Jef- ferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, whence he was graduated with honors, receiving the degree of M. D., April 4, 1887. He located in Mil- roy, Pennsylvania, the following June, and there became well estab- lished as a skillful, honorable physician. His standing among the brethren of the profession is of the highest, and in the hearts of his people there is no rival. His skill, unfailing cheerfulness and pleasing manner have won him a standing and a regard that is only gained by the country doctor and only by him, through years of association, "con- fidence being a plant of slow growth," but after taking root. being wa- tered by the tears of sorrow and blossoming in the sunshine of joy, de- velops a tree of such strength that only death can destroy. For over a quarter of a century Dr. Kohler has gone in and out of the homes of his community, and whether he brings joy or sorrow is the beloved phy- sician, whom all trust and honor. Dr. Kohler is surgeon for the Cambria
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Steel Company at their quarries, which are located at Naginey, Penn- sylvania. He is a member of the Mifflin County Medical Society; the Knights of the Golden Eagle, and Commandery of the Loyal Legion of Pennsylvania. In political faith he is a Republican ; in religious faith a Presbyterian.
Dr. Kohler married, April 4, 1894, Harriet Elizabeth Bunnell, born September 21, 1874, second child and eldest daughter of William Cyrus and Sarah Jane ( Brown) Bunnell, of Lewistown, and granddaughter of William Usual Bunnell, an early Scotch-Irish settler of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, a farmer and land owner, and his wife, Harriet ( Mc- Clure ) Bunnell, also granddaughter (maternal) of Hon. James M. Brown, twice elected to the Pennsylvania legislature. Children of Wil- liam Cyrus and Sarah Jane Bunnell, who were married November II, 1868 : James Brown ; Harriet E., married Dr. William H. Kohler ; Edna Della; Walter Irwin and Fanny Cyrus. William Cyrus Brown resided on a farm nead Siglerville, Pennsylvania, until his removal to Milroy, but he was engaged for thirty-five years as proprietor of a music store in Lewistown. Children of Dr. William H. and Harriet Elizabeth Koh- ler : Sarah, born February 7, 1896; Mary, April 4, 1898.
(IV) Dr. Benjamin Rush Kohler, younger son of Dr. Frederick S. and Sarah A. (Carson) Kohler, was born in Reedsville, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania. September 7. 1865. He was educated in the public schools and at the academy in Ghent, Kentucky, where he prepared for college. He accompanied the family to Utah, reading medicine under his father for two years. He entered the medical department of Western Reserve University, at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1883, whence he was graduated M. D., February 25. 1885. He then returned to his native town, and there be- gan the general practice of his profession. As the years have passed Dr. Kohler has grown with his practice, taking front rank among the leaders of his profession. Ever the student, he has kept pace with all modern discovery and through his many articles in the medical journals has greatly aided the onward march of medical science. His skill and learning are of more than local fame. He is a censor of the Medico- Chirurgical College, elected by the trustees of that institution May 30, 1896. His specialty is diseases of children, and it is on this branch of medical practice that he has written many articles for professional jour- nals, and made the object of special study and investigation. He is a
Willard Shechtley
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member of the hospital staff of the township poor farm; member of the American Medical Association and of the state and county medical so- cieties, he also belongs to the Masonic fraternity, Lewistown Lodge, No. 203. The family are all members of the Presbyterian church.
Dr. Kohler married, November 27, 1888, Mary A. Smith, born in Belleville, Pennsylvania, daughter of William T. and Phoebe A. (Foltz) Smith. William Smith, for many years a school teacher and farmer of the Kishacoquillas Valley, died August 27, 1890. His wife died in 1910. leaving children, besides Mrs. Kohler: Catherine: Sarah, married Har- rison Manbeck; Margaret, married William Sankey; George: Matilda, married John W. Brindel; Jennie, married Elmer Young; William. The only child of Dr. Kohler, Frank E., born February 13, 1891, is now a student of medicine at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia.
MECHTLEY The paternal American ancestor of this family was Isaac Mechtley, born in Germany, came to the United States when young and settled in Snyder county, Pennsylvania, where he died a farmer. He marrried Catherine Bobb, who also died in Snyder county. They had two children: Henry and Isaac.
(II) Henry, son of Isaac and Catherine (Bobb) Mechtley, was born in Snyder county, Pennsylvania, in 1830, died at Emporia, Kansas, in 1888. He was a bricklayer by trade, and became a well-known contrac- tor, operating in Juniata, Mifflin, Center and Clinton counties. He built the Lutheran church at East Waterford, Pennsylvania, and on that build- ing his son Willard laid his first brick. In 1878 he left Pennsylvania and settled in Emporia, Kansas, where he took up land and continued his contracting business until his death in 1888. In religious faith he was a member of the Reformed church, and in politics a Democrat. He mar- ried Lydia Keller, born in Clinton county, Pennsylvania, February 6, 1835, who survives him, a resident of Emporia, Kansas. She is a daugh- ter of Jacob Keller, a pioneer of Clinton county, Pennsylvania. Chil- dren : Adeline; Willard, of whom further; Mary C., deceased: Sarah Jane, deceased ; John E., deceased; Henry A .; Caroline: Amelia, de- ceased ; James; Wilson, twin of James, deceased ; Margaret : Ellen M .; Minnie, deceased : Gertrude, deceased ; Emma.
(III) Willard, son of Henry and Lydia (Keller ) Mechtley, was born
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in Troxelville, Snyder county, Pennsylvania, March 5, 1855. He at- tended the public school until he was twelve years of age, then began learning bricklaying with his father, only attending winter sessions after that age. He became an expert mechanic, and continued with his father until reaching legal age. He then began contracting the erection of buildings, and has so continued until the present time, having gained an enviable reputation as a builder in the counties of Snyder, Center, Clin- ton, Mifflin and Juniata. In Center county alone he has erected thirteen churches. and was the contractor on the First Church at Rebersburg. In 1902 he located in Lewistown, where he has erected many buildings, and added greatly to the enterprise of that borough. Many of the buildings erected he owns, while others have been built under contract for others. Of late years he has confined his building operations to Lewistown. In politics he is a Democrat, and in religious faith a mem- ber of the Reformed church. The family home is at No. 169 Panne- baker avenue. Lewistown, on which avenue Mr. Mechtley owns six other residences.
He married, in 1880, Sarah Jane Helfrich, of Beaver Springs, Sny- der county. Pennsylvania. Children : I. Bessie, married Edward H. Derr, D. D. S., and resides in Lewistown. 2. Mary Lydia, married Frank Felker ; children : Mae and Frank M. 3. Carrie A., married W. E. Bailey : child : Paul Edward.
The Shirey family came to Lewistown, Pennsylvania,
SHIREY from the State of Ohio, where Henry Shirey, the grand- father of John Shirey, lived and died. On the maternal side they descend from Samuel Aurand, a pioneer of Snyder county, Pennsylvania, who died and is buried at Beaver Springs. He and his wife, Catherine Valentine, came to Snyder county in 1812, settling on a tract of wild land that they cleared and improved, he also working at his trade of blacksmith, having his shop on his farm. Of the ten chil- dren of Samuel Aurand, none are living.
(II) John, son of Henry Shirey, was born in Ohio in 1815, died in Snyder county in 1864. He was a tanner by trade, also cultivated a farm in Snyder county. He was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Reformed church. He married Catherine, born in Snyder county, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1812. died in November, 1903, eldest daughter
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of Samuel Aurand; she had brothers and sisters: Henry, Elias, Enoch, Samuel, Isaac, Sarah, Rebecca, Lucy M. and Elizabeth. Children of John and Catherine Shirey: Lucinda, deceased; Kate, deceased; Eliza- beth, deceased; Mollie, of Preston, Iowa; Joseph, of Dry Valley, Mit- flin county ; Isaac, of Snyder county ; Samuel, of Beaver Springs, Snyder county ; John, of whom further; Sarah and Sallie (twins), both died in infancy.
(III) John (2), son of John ( 1) and Catherine (Aurand) Shirey, was born in Snyder county, Pennsylvania, at Beaver Springs, April 6, 1856. He attended the public schools and spent his early life engaged in farming. He then worked for two years on the railroad, then in a coal yard, then again at farming near Beaver Springs, continuing in Snyder county until 1880. He then located in Mifflin county, where he was a prosperous farmer until 1904, when he moved to his present residence in Derry township, managing his farm property from there. He is the owner of three good farms in Mifflin county, and also invested largely in the erection of double houses in both borough and township. He built six houses of this kind in Lewistown and eight in Derry township, with his own residence at No. 218 Electric avenue, Lewistown. Mr. Shirey has prospered through his great energy, wise foresight and quick percep- tion of values. He has won success and as his energy is boundless he will continue to advance. He devotes his entire time at present to the care of his farms and residence property, all of which are productive. He is a Democrat in politics, and a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, of Lewistown, as is also his family.
He married, December 19, 1878, Mary Alice Herbster, born at Bea- vertown. Snyder county, November 20, 1858, daughter of Philip Herb- ster, born 1824, in Snyder county, died in 1906, and his wife Malinda Kline, born in 1832 at Beavertown, and granddaughter of Gabriel Herb- ster, a pioneer of Snyder county, and of George Kline, of Beavertown. Children of Philip and Malinda Herbster: Ammon, Jacob, George and Amelia, twins ; Mary Alice, wife of John (2) Shirey : James ; John ; Wil- liam, deceased ; and Vernon. The mother of these children is yet living in her eighty-first year. Children of John and Mary Alice Shirey: I. Effie, born July 21, 1880, died in 1886. 2. Homer Nelson, born July 28, 1882, now a farmer at Strode Mills: married Nettie Kline and has: Mary, Annie, Mildred and Dorothy S. 3. Mollie Amelia, born March
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31, 1887; married Walter Starr, of Lewistown. 4. Lester Lee, born July 1, 1889, now a farmer three miles below Lewistown; married Mary Klose and has: John, Leonard and Catherine. 5. Beatrice Ellen, born October 9, 1891, resides at home.
Calvin Gray, of Lewistown, Pennsylvania. is of pure Scotch
GRAY lineage, his emigrant ancestors coming to America from Scotland about 1784, or thereabouts. They landed in New York, and afterward drifted into Pennsylvania.
(I) James Gray was born in Scotland, and there married his wife, Elizabeth, and together they crossed the Atlantic, landing in New York. From there he moved to Juniata county, Pennsylvania, before 1800. He located with his family in Lack township, Juniata county, and began farming. He moved in 1815 on the farm on which he died later, at the age of eighty-eight; his wife also died at the age of eighty-eight. Among their children was Joseph, of whom further.
(II) Joseph, son of the Scotch emigrants, James and Elizabeth Gray, was born on the Gray farm in Beal township, Juniata county, Pennsylva- nia, in 1808. and died in the same township October 27, 1898, aged ninety years.
He was reared on the Gray farm, and educated in the con- mon schools of Beal township, but being of a studious turn of mind he absorbed more than most boys of his age, and opportunities from the fount of knowledge. Leaving school he at first farmed and afterward turned his attention to school teaching, which pursuit he followed suc- cessfully for over thirty years. in conjunction with his farming. He purchased the Gray homestead on which his father first settled in Beal township, and here reared his large family. He was a Democrat, and was elected on that ticket to the office of tax collector. He married (first) Elizabeth Harris, of Concord, Franklin county. Children : James H., Martha, William, John B., Thomas. Joseph B., Alexander C., Robert, James H .. William, died young. James H., William, John, Thomas and Joseph were in the civil war, James H. being wounded in the battle of Chancellorsville. Joseph Gray married (second) Leah Bar- ton, born in Beal township in 1828, died in 1899, a daughter of James and Hannah (Grim) Barton, pioneers in Juniata county. He was a na- ยท tive of Pennsylvania and she of Ireland; he died at the age of forty-five,
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and she lived to be ninety-four. Children of Joseph and Leah ( Barton ) Gray : Samuel, deceased ; Nancy Elizabeth ; Harvey B .; George Wash- ington, deceased; Calvin, of whom further; Mary, twin of Calvin; Re- becca Ellen ; David, died in infancy ; Alice Christina, deceased ; Howard David, deceased ; Jesse Franklin.
(III) Calvin, son of Joseph and Leah ( Barton) Gray, was born No- vember 23, 1857, in Lack township, Juniata county, Pennsylvania, on the Gray homestead, and there passed twenty-four years. He was edu- cated in the public schools of the time. At the age of twenty-four he moved to Shirleysburg, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and farmed four years. He then moved to Richland county, Ohio, where he en- gaged in farm work for two years. His next move was to Mckean county, Pennsylvania. Here he became a tanner, and remained at that occupation for ten years, then was employed by the Prudential Insurance Company one year as agent ; at the expiration of that time he went to Al- toona, in October, 1899, and accepted a position as motorman on the Logan Valley traction road. On June 3. 1900, he went to Lewistown, and since that time has been motorman on the Lewistown & Reedsville electric road. In 1894 he erected a residence on Walnut street, and in I910 he also erected one at the corner of Valley and Walnut streets, Lewistown, where he has since resided. He is a Democrat, and was a member of the borough countil of Mckean county, and has for the past four years been a member of the Lewistown borough council. He is a member of Lodge No. 203, of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Lewistown.
He married, December 29, 1887, Mary E. Crouse, born in Juniata county, in 1864, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth ( Roher) Crouse, early settlers in Juniata county. Mrs. Crouse is the sister of Rev. Abra- ham Roher, a noted minister. Mr. and Mrs. Gray have no children, but adopted a son, Guy E. Gray, born September 27, 1891, educated in the public and Lewistown high school, clerks in Logan Iron & Steel Com- pany.
The emigrant Miller, in this branch of that numerons MILLER family, came to Pennsylvania from Germany, settling in Berks county. He later settled near Freeburg, Washing- ton township, Snyder county, where he built a mill that was long known
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as Miller's Mill. Among his children were sons : John, Samuel and George.
(II) John Miller, son of the emigrant, grew to manhood in Berks country, and there married, coming thence to Snyder county, where he was a farmer and miller. His brother, Samuel, was a pioneer of the Buffalo Valley, while George settled at Selinsgrove, owning one of the first farms in that section, and one yet owned in the family. John Miller married Christianna Chamberlain, a descendant of Colonel William Chamberlain, born in New Jersey, September 25, 1736, served in the revolutionary war; married four wives, the last August 16, 1794; had twenty-three children, fifteen of whom were born in New Jersey. John Miller and his wife both died in Washington township, Snyder county, leaving issue.
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