USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Juniata Valley and its people, Volume III > Part 41
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
Mr. Keller married, October 2, 1884, Anna Belle, daughter of John A. Crawford, of Sinking Valley, Blair county, Pennsylvania. Chil- dren: I. Kate, a graduate of Wellesley College, class of 1910; married A. C. Follock. 2. Marion, a graduate of Fairmount Academy, Wash- ington, D. C., resides with her parents. 3. John C., graduate of Pitts- burgh Academy, and the University of Pittsburgh. 4. Samuel H., a
I 364
HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
student in the Medical Department, University of Pennsylvania. 5. Elizabeth, a student at Wellesley College. 6. Charles (2), a student. The winter home of Mr. Keller is in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania.
Horace E. Sheibley, of Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, SHEIBLEY editor and co-proprietor of The People's Advocate and Press, published at Bloomfield, can claim the proud distinction of having for his direct paternal ancestor a valiant soldier of the American revolution.
(I) Peter Sheibley, the first of the name to cross the Atlantic for the shores of the New World, was born in Switzerland, April 10, 1742, and came direct from the country that is justly called "the cradle of liberty," to America. He settled in Northumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, and from there entered the Continental army and served the entire eight years of the struggle of the colonials for their political liberty. Returning after peace had been declared, he located near Oley, Berks county, Pennsylvania, and later moved to Green Park, Tyrone township, Perry county, Pennsylvania (at that time Cumberland county), where he took up wild land, cleared, improved and cultivated it, erecting thereon houses for himself and family. He died on this place, September 7, 1823, at the age of eighty-one, after a life well and worthily spent. He was the father of twenty-seven children, eighteen of whom reached maturity, and their descendants to-day are numerous and are among the most respected and reputable citizens of Pennsylvania. He married (first) Elizabeth Probst ; (second) Christina Linn. Children by first marriage, reaching adult age: I. Frederick, born March 14, 1772, died 1828. 2. Mary Magdelena, born August 15, 1777, died March 29, 1857. 3. Abraham, born September 2, 1778. 4. John Dan- iel, born August 14, 1781, died November 3, 1863. 5. John, born May 20, 1782, died October 15, 1864. Children by second marriage, reach- ing maturity: I. Catherine, born July 12, 1786, died December 19, 1868, married Frederick Sheaffer. 2. Susanna, born August 15, 1787, died May I, 1874; married John Lightner. 3. Elizabeth, born Septem- ber 6, 1789. 4. John George, born December 12, 1790, died May 27, 1875: married Esther Tressler. 5. John Peter, born May 13, 1793. 6. Bernhart, of whom further. 7. Mary, born November 1, 1797. 8. Jacob, born August 27, 1798, died February 9, 1882. 9. William, born
1365
HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
April 27, 1800; married Catherine Fosselman. 10. Sarah, born April 6, 1802; married Jacob Bernheisel. 11. Elizabeth, born May 29, 1804; married Jacob Stambaugh. 12. David, born October 30, 1805, died March 30, 1876; married Elizabeth Clay.
(II) Bernhart, son of Peter and Christina (Linn) Sheibley, was born August 18, 1794, in Tyrone township, Perry county, Pennsyl- vania, on the Sheibley homestead. Ile married Mary Holman, born December 1, 1803, in Spring township, Perry county, daughter of Con- rad and Elizabeth Ann Holman. Mr. and Mrs. Sheibley each grew to maturity in their respective townships, and were married at her home, and from there went to Landisburg, where he had established himself in the wheelwright trade, making wagons and spinning wheels for the community. He retired from active business at an advanced age. He enlisted in the war of 1812 from his county, and served through the war. He was not only a splendid wheelwright, but evinced a deep in- terest in education, and was a subscriber to a scholarship at Marshall College, Mercersburg, which has been of benefit to some of his de- scendants, as they entered college on this scholarship. He was a Demo- crat until the organization of the Republican party, when he gave to it his franchise, and held offices under both parties. He was earnest, industrious, honest and upright in his dealings with his fellow men, and justly merited the respect and esteem accorded to his memory in his native state and the reverence of his memory by his descendants. Children: 1. Peter M., died 1892, in Rome, Georgia. 2. Harriet M., married Lewis Grubb, died in 1908. 3. John H., of whom further. 4. Elizabeth Ann, married Samuel Kart, of Kingston, Cumberland county. 5. Sarah H., married Samuel A. Lightner, who died October 5, 1894. 6. Henry S., died in 1839. 7. William H., died at Landisburg in 1892 from effects of a wound received at Fredericksburg, Virginia, while serving as captain of Company G, 103d Pennsylvania Volunteers, in the civil war. 8. Mary Jane, died in childhood, in 1839. 9. Samuel H., a grocer in Philadelphia, died 1906. 10. James P., a physician of Lan- disburg, died October 5. 1905; served during the civil war in Company D, 7th Pennsylvania Reserves ; was wounded at Gaines Mill.
(III) John H. Sheibley, son of Bernhart and Mary (Holman) Sheibley, was born in Landisburg, Pennsylvania, November 17, 1827, died December 1, 1900: married, June 24, 1858, Mary, daughter of Nimrod and Eliza (Drexler) Eby ; she died March 17, 1904. Mr. Shei-
1366
HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
bley was reared in Landisburg, and was educated in the common schools, but applied himself diligently, and at the age of sixteen, when he left school to enter a business life, he was far better educated than most boys of eighteen or twenty. At sixteen he became a printer's apprentice in the office of the Reformed Messenger, at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. After serving five years he went to Madison Court House, Virginia, 1849-50, and there entered an academy of great re- pute in those days. In 1850 he went to Philadelphia and was employed in the old Johnson Type Foundry as printer until 1853. At that time he purchased the necessary material and went to New Bloomfield, Penn- sylvania, and began to publish the People's Advocate and Press, and was its editor and proprietor until the time of his death. In his early years he was a Democrat, but became an ardent Republican on the organization of that party, upholding and advocating its principles. During President Lincoln's administration he was appointed an asses- sor of internal revenue, and in 1873 was elected to the legislature from Perry county, and served one term. He was school director and coun- cilman at different times. He was an emergency man in 1863. As he was unable to enlist in a regular regiment he supported and looked after the families of his brothers while they were serving in the civil war, and also looked after and educated his younger brothers. He was one of the most useful men of his day, as well as one of the most upright and honest. He invariably stood for the right in the face of opposition, and was a powerful factor for good in his community, town, county and state. He was deeply mourned at his death, not only by his immediate family and large circle of relatives and family connections, but by the state at large. Children: 1. William Bernard, born April 25, 1859. He was educated at Franklin and Marshall College, the same to which his great-grandfather had given a scholarship, and graduated therefrom in 1881, with distinction. He learned thoroughly the printer's trade, but did not engage in that business. He was ap- pointed auditor of the Perry County Railway Company, and May I, 1900, entered the Census Bureau department of the United States and was later transferred to the Bureau of Immigration, at Washington, D. C. On April 1, 1911, he was transferred to the same department in Philadelphia, where he is at the present time (1913). He married
1367
HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
Jessie Bartlett ; they have had no children. 2. Horace E., of whom further. 3. Charles N., died in 1863.
(IV) Horace E. Sheibley, son of John H. and Mary (Eby) Shei- bley, was born in New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, July 23, 1861. He received his preparatory education in the Bloomfield Academy, and worked for his father in the office of the Advocate and Press, learning most thoroughly the printer's trade. He matriculated at Franklin and Marshall College, and graduated from there in 1882 with signal honor. Leaving college, he became associated with his father in the publica- tion of the People's Advocate and Press, and as Mr. Sheibley advanced in years he gradually shifted the burdens of management and editor- ship on the shoulders of his son, both of which responsibilities were met to the entire satisfaction of his father and the public. On the death of Mr. Sheibley Sr., in 1900, he, with his brother, became owner of the plant, and has since conducted it under the name of Sheibley Brothers. He succeeded his father as a director of the Perry County Railway Company, and of the First National Bank, and still holds these direc- torships, and is also director in the Carlisle Trust Company. He is a Republican ; he was a delegate to the Chicago Republican convention in 1904: was county chairman of the Republican committee, and has also been a member of the Republican state committee for several years. He has served as school director for twenty consecutive years, during which time he was also secretary, an unsurpassed record, and he was re- elected in 1912 for another six years. He is a member of the Re- formed church, while his wife is a member of the Presbyterian. He is a Mason, and is affiliated with Adams Lodge, No. 319. He married, June 30, 1904, Bessie M. Peale, born in New Bloomfield, daughter of Samuel A. and Elizabeth (McIntire) Peale, both of whom are descend- ants of old English families long established in the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Sheibley have no children.
Nimrod Eby, grandfather of Horace E. Sheibley, on the distaff side, was born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and is from a family that has long been established in Pennsylvania. He became a printer in his youth, which occupation he followed for many years. He moved to New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, when quite a young man, and for many years was connected with the best interests of Perry county. He died at New Bloomfield when he was only thirty-four. He was a Democrat
I368
HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
in politics, voting that ticket to the time of his passing away. He married Eliza Drexler, also a member of an old family in Pennsylvania. She was born in York county, and after Mr. Eby's death she returned there and later married Samuel Wiggins. Children of Nimrod and Eliza (Drexler) Eby: I. Mary, mother of Horace E. Sheibley (see Sheibley). 2. Ellen, died young. 3. Annie, died young. 4. James, a physician at Newport for many years; died in April, 1911. 5. William N., died in 1882; a printer and compositor on the Philadelphia Times for many years.
BARNETT Prior to the revolution came to Pennsylvania from Swabia, Germany, Thomas Barnett, who settled in Perry county, on the bank's of the Susquehanna, where he became a land owner, engaged in farming and followed his trade of miller. Later he took up a tract and moved to what is now the site of the town of New Bloomfield. He lived there until his death, April 19, 1813, and is buried in the family burial plot set aside on the old Barnett homestead. He married and left issue, including a son George.
(II) George, son of Thomas Barnett, the emigrant, was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, October 27, 1777. He there grew to manhood, and learned his father's trade of miller and engaged in farm- ing. He became the owner of the old homestead, and there lived a quiet life of industry and prosperity until his death, February 20, 1860. He was a Whig in politics, and both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. He married Jane Smiley, born January 19, 1784, died March 15, 1877. Children: Margaret, born October 14, 1810, died April II, 1857; Sarah, born November 14, 1812, died Oc- tober 19, 1889; Frederick, born May 25, 1815, died April 30, 1820; Mary, born February 23, 1817, died January 10, 1905; Jane, born April, 1819, died March 2, 1909; Susanna, born April 22, 1821, died December 25, 1910; Tahpenas, born May I, 1823, died September 4, 1891; George S., born March 12, 1825, died April 26, 1900; Charles A., of whom further.
(III) Charles A., youngest child of George and Jane (Smiley) Barnett, was born at the Barnett homestead, near New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, December 31, 1829. He received a good preparatory education in the Bloomfield schools, then entered Marshall College,
1369
HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
whence he was graduated, class of 1850. After leaving college he jour- neyed south and for a time taught in an academy in Mississippi. He then returned to New Bloomfield, where he taught in the academy. He began the study of law under Judge Benjamin F. Junkin, continuing until his admission to the bar in 1857. He began practice in New Bloomfield, where he has successfully conducted a general law practice until the present date (1913). He was elected to the Pennsylvania leg- islature, serving one term during the civil war period. In 1867 he was appointed United States register in bankruptcy, serving until 1875. He continued in active practice until 1881, when his standing as a learned and able lawyer brought him forward as a candidate for president judge. He was elected in the fall of 1881, took his seat upon the bench January 1, 1882, and served with dignity and honor a full term of ten years. His career on the bench was marked by fairness and justice toward all, his chief desire being the proper enforcement of the law, with due regard for the legal rights of both parties to the controversy. After the expiration of his term in 1892 he returned to his private prac- tice, which is both large and lucrative.
Judge Barnett married, November 15, 1866, Mary J. McClure, born near Green Park, Perry county, December 18, 1843, died February 23. 1910. Children: 1. Jean O., born January 11, 1868; married Rev. James S. Ramsey, whom she survives, a resident of New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania ; children: Corrine Barnett, born May 3, 1895; James McClure Barnett, November 14, 1897. 2. James McClure, of whom further. 3. Charles A. Jr., born October 15, 1873; now manager of a stock and poultry farm at Great Barrington, Massachusetts; he mar- ried Lucy Kurtz, and has a daughter, Nancy Catherine. 4. Arthur Elliott, born October 15, 1875, died May 13, 1911 ; he was a practicing attorney of Beaver, Pennsylvania ; he married Mary Cromleigh, who survives him, with children: James McClure, Laura Cromleigh and Arthur Elliott (2). 5. Ralph L., born September 17, 1879, now, after several years in New York City, residing in New Bloomfield, a maga- zine writer, unmarried. 6. Bertha, born March 3, 1883, died March 10, 1889.
Mary Jane ( McClure ) Barnett was a daughter of James and Rachel Oliver (Patterson) McClure, granddaughter of William, and great- granddaughter of Robert McClure, born 1734, of Irish parentage, and
I370
HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
became a farmer and miller of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. He married Margaret Douglass, of Scotch parentage. Both were members of the Presbyterian church. Children: William, see forward; Alex- ander, died before 1792; Margaret, born 1765, married James Sterrett ; Jane, married James Laird; Agnes, married Arthur Graham; Mary, married Samuel McDowell; Robert and Elizabeth, died young.
William, eldest son of Robert and Margaret (Douglass) McClure, was born at Newville, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, near Mc- Clure's Gap, March 31, 1759, and although young served in the revo- lutionary war. Afterward he came to Perry county, settling on a large tract he had inherited from his father, on which he resided until his death in 1823. He married (first) Ganes McKeehan, (second) Margaret McKeehan; all were members of the Presbyterian church. Children by first wife: Margaret, born December 25, 1786; John, born July 1, 1788, moved to Ohio and later to Iowa; Elizabeth, born February 5, 1791, died September 5, 1863, at Laporte, Indiana, mar- ried Joseph Divven; Robert, born April 21, 1794; Alexander, born Jan- uary 20, 1796, married Isabella Anderson; William, born December 15, 1798, died February 9, 1872, married (first) Eliza G. Kelly, (second) Phoebe Patterson. Children by second wife: Mary, born February 2, 1800, died August 27, 1866, unmarried; James, see forward; Nancy, born June I, 1804, died March 29, 1848, unmarried; Jane, born De- cember 28, 1806, died July 17, 1866, unmarried; Samuel, born April 9, 1809, died April 19, 1819; Joseph M., born September 25, 1812, died June 18, 1855, joined the "Gold Seekers" in 1849 and died in Cali- fornia; Susanna, born February 20, 1815, died April 20, 1834, un- married; Ann L., born March 31, 1817, married- Ross Lynn, and died in the west.
James, son of William McClure and his second wife, Margaret McKeehan, was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1802, died March 6, 1866. He was a farmer and miller; was prothonotary of Perry county, and held many offices of trust, serving as administra- tor of estates, and guardian of minor children, being a thoroughly up- right man, trusted and honored by all. He was also prominent in the Presbyterian church, and served many years as trustee. He spent his last days in New Bloomfield, where he purchased a home now owned by a daughter. He married (first) Martha Lynn, born in Juniata county.
1371
HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
Children : William and John L., died young, unmarried; James M., married Minnie Lyon, and resides in Nebraska, the only survivor of his family ; Martha A. R., died in infancy ; Samuel, died in youthful manhood. James McClure married (second) Rachel Oliver Patterson, born in Juniata county, Pennsylvania ; children : Alexander and Nancy L., died young ; Joseph, born December 28, 1838, married Alice A. Han- mersly, and died in Bradford, Pennsylvania, October, 1907: Mary Jane, married Charles A. Barnett, of previous mention; Martha A., mar- ried Wesley Gottwalt, and died in New Bloomfield.
(IV) James McClure, son of Charles A. and Mary Jane (McClure) Barnett, was born at New Bloomfield, Perry county, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1870. He was educated in the Bloomfield schools, prepared for college at the academy, and entered Princeton University, whence he was graduated, class of 1890. He prepared for the practice of law under the preceptorship of his honored father, and in August, 1892, was admitted to the bar of Perry county. He began practice alone, but later was admitted to a partnership with his father and so continues. The firm transacts a large business in the county, state and federal courts of the district and are highly regarded members of the Pennsylvania bar. Mr. Barnett Jr. is a member of New Bloomfield Lodge, No. 319, Free and Accepted Masons; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and is a member of the Presbyterian church. In political faith he is a Republican, and in 1911 was the unsuccessful candidate of his party for president judge. Both members of the firm Barnett & Son are members of the State and County Bar associations.
James McClure Barnett married, October 29, 1910, Rosalie Sully Harper, born in Tenafly, New Jersey, daughter of William and Rosalie Sully ( Wheeler) Harper.
Elmer Diven, of East Waterford, Juniata county, Penn- DIVEN sylvania, descends in a straight line from good German stock. The first of the family to try his fortunes in America probably landed at Philadelphia, about 1788-90, though of this there is no definite record. He went to Juniata county, where so many of his countrymen had gathered, and were tilling the soil successfully despite the war of the revolution and Indian raids. He took up wild
I372
HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
land, cleared, improved and erected log houses on it, and made for his family a comfortable living.
(I) Samuel Diven, a descendant of the German immigrant Diven, was a prosperous farmer in Lack township, Juniata county. He mar- ried a daughter of a neighbor, who like himself was of German extrac- tion, and they lived to a ripe old age on the farm that he had improved. Children : George, Samuel, Henry, of whom further; John, Margaret, Mattie, Tillie, Elizabeth, Catherine. They all grew to manhood and womanhood in Juniata county, married, and there lived and reared their families.
(II) Henry, son of Samuel Diven, was born on the Diven home- stead in Juniata county, October, 1852. He is an agriculturist by voca- tion, owning two hundred highly fertile acres in Lack township, Juni- ata county. He has been for years one of the prominent men of the township. He supports the Republican party with his franchise, work- ing actively for it on all occasions, and has held many township offices with credit to himself and the satisfaction of his constituency. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is tax assessor of the township, an office that he has held for twelve years. He lives on his farm in the township and does general farming. He married (first) Rebecca Pannebaker, born August 18, 1857, died March, 1886, daughter of George and Sarah Ann ( Polock) Pannebaker; he married (second) in 1892, Blanche, daughter of Samuel Briggs. Children by first marriage: I. John, a farmer in Huntingdon county, Pennsyl- vania; married Edith Shearer. 2. Joseph, farmer, and proprietor of restaurant in Waterford; married Edith Sheriff. 3. Elmer, of whom further. 4. Laura, married William Vaughn, a workman in Bucyrus, Ohio. 5. Etta, married Frank Love, a workman in Bucyrus, Ohio. 6. Francis, lives in Bucyrus, Ohio; married Margaret Stitt. One child was born to the second marriage-Freeda, died October 6, 1911, at the age of fourteen.
(III) Elmer, son of Henry and Rebecca (Pannebaker) Diven, was born March 26, 1880, on his father's farm in Lack township. He re- ceived his primary and preparatory education in the public schools of the township and at Academia. On leaving school he engaged with his father on the farm, later farming for himself. For four years he
1373
HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
was thus engaged, and in 1908 moved to East Waterford. In 1906 he was appointed carrier of the United States mail, which position he has since held. In 1910 he purchased a house and three lots in Water- ford, and there makes his home. Like his father, he is a staunch Re- publican, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Epis- copal church. He married, June 4, 1903, Mary Alice Karuthers, daugh- ter of L. N. Karuthers, a prominent farmer of Lack township. Chil- dren: Violet Lottie, born December 10, 1904; Henry Neely, May 4, 1906; Thomas Paul, December 9, 1911.
(The Pannebaker Line).
George Pannebaker, son of Noah Pannebaker, an old-time resident of Juniata county, was born near Blair's Mills, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. He married Sarah Ann Polock, born near Pearl Mills, Juniata county. The Pannebaker family was orginally German, but it has been established for over a century and a half in America and it has become thoroughly Americanized, while still retaining its German thrift. The Polock family, of which his wife was a member, is of Eng- lish descent. The first to cross the Atlantic for the shores of the New World was Andrew Polock, who came from Devonshire with four or five companions. They located first in Massachusetts, but not caring for the rigid Puritan laws he left for Connecticut. Later he wandered into the province of New York. His son came to Pennsylvania and there settled, married, and reared a family. George Pannebaker was a teamster, owning his own teams, and was known throughout Juniata Valley. Children: 1. Mary Jane, born February 22, 1845; married R. H. Taylor, who after her death married her sister Isabel. 2. Zacha- riah Taylor, a workman in Juniata county ; married Sarah A. Diveney. 3. Nancy Ann, married George Diven, a veteran of the civil war. 4. Rebecca, married Henry Diven (see Diven II). 5. Isabel, born Febru- ary 22, 1859, died April 11, 1895; married R. H. Taylor, a carpenter, of Juniata county ; he enlisted in Company A, 49th Regiment Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, and served during the civil war. 6. McClure, a farmer in Juniata county ; married Malinda Karen. 7. John, a work- man in Iowa, and married there. 8. James and Elizabeth, twins, died in infancy.
I374
HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
Amor A. Strode, of Strode's Mills, Mifflin county, Penn- STRODE sylvania, descends from a most distinguished English ancestry. The family has long been settled in both Vir- ginia and Pennsylvania, where the members of it have taken an active part and interest in public affairs for many generations.
Among the many noble figures presented by English history that of William Strode stands out with distinctness. He was one of the five sturdy and patriotic members of Parliament who withstood the tyran- nical encroachments of Charles I. upon the liberties of his country. Those five-Pym, Hampden, Hollis, Haselrigge and William Strode- are among the "few, the immortal names, that are not born to die." For the independent stand taken, and on account of his subsequent connection with the signing of the death warrant of King Charles, Strode was of course a particularly obnoxious person with the Royalist party. He disappeared from England and English history from the time of the execution of the king in 1649, and it is supposed that he at once sought refuge in the New World, far from the vicissitudes and dangers which beset him in his native land. Three Strodes-sons, brothers, or relatives of his-appear to have settled in the valley of Virginia, in what is now Berkeley, West Virginia. They built a stone fort on a tract of land on what was afterward known as the "Strode fort farm."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.