USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 61
USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 61
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 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
J.G. Miller
435
NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
inary at Mercersburg, finishing his course been a pastoral life, filled with the cares in philosophy and theology in 1850. Oc- of his church and his people. In 1870 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Franklin and Mar- shall College in recognition of efficient ser- vices in behalf of Christian progress, and well-known literary attainments. tober 13, in the same year, he was licensed to preach, and ordained to the ministry of the gospel in the Reformed church at Mar- tinsburg, Virginia. He received his first call to the Reformed church of Winches- ter, Virginia, as a missionary and remained its pastor until January 1, 1853, when he H ON. JAMES L. YOUNG, an attor- ney of Mechanicsburg, Pennsyl- vania, is the son of C. B. and Annie Louisa (Swisher) Young, and was born in Wash- ton, D. C., in 1867. received and accepted a call to the First Reformed church of the city of York, the title of which was changed some years later to that of "Trinity First Reformed church." Under Dr. Miller's long and useful pastor- ate his church has increased greatly in nu- merical strength, as well as widened its field of Christian effort, by organizing out of its membership other congregations.
On August 30, 1854, Rev. Dr. Miller was married to Augusta Virginia L. Mc- Chesney, a daughter of Dr. John McChes- ney, a prominent physician, of Augusta county, Virginia. To their union have been born four children: William A., a lawyer by profession, and ex-District At- torney, of York county; Taylor McChes- ney; Mary O., intermarried with Clayton J. Wallace, a wholesale shoe merchant of York; and a son, John, who died in infancy.
Rev. Dr. Miller has been a life-long Democrat, but has never exhibited undue activity in politics. He takes a deep inter- est in educational affairs, and was among the earliest advocates of industrial improve- ment in the city of York. He has been a trustee of Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa., for more than a quarter of a century and is chairman of its commit- tee on instruction. He is also president of the board of home missions of the Re- formed church in United States and served with distinction in the year 1871 and 1873 and again in the year 1893 as president of the Synods of the Reformed church in the United States. Beyond this his life has
His ancestors on his father's side, who were of German-English origin, were among the early settlers of Cumberland county. C. B. Young, father of our sub- ject, and the oldest son of Jonathan Young, was born in Ohio, where his father re- sided for a few years, returning again to Cumberland county. He started in life as a teacher in the public schools, having been educated in the Cumberland Valley Institute, of Mechanicsburg, now a defunct institution. He followed this profession for several years and during President Lin- coln's last administration received an ap- pointment to a clerkship in the United States Treasury Department, at the Na- tional Capital, which he subsequently re -. signed on account of failing health. He then returned and settled near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he has ever since re- sided, engaged in agricultural pursuits. He married Annie Louisa, a daughter of Jacob Swisher, of Adams county, a farmer of German origin. To that union were born three sons and one daughter: Harry F., a painter and paper hanger and propri- etor of a cigar store in Gettysburg; the subject, James L. Young; Charles Morris, a very successful artist with studios in Gettysburg and Philadelphia. The latter spent several years in the Academy of Fine Arts of Philadelphia, and is now an in-
436
BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
structor in one of the art schools of that city. His work is principally confined to oil and water colors, in which he has al- ready established quite an enviable reputa- tion with the promise of greater excellence. His sister Bessie resides with her parents.
Hon. James L. Young was brought up on his father's farm and educated in the public schools until he was seventeen years of age, when he began teaching, utilizing all the funds thus obtained in the acquirement of a liberal education. Con- tinuing his studies he graduated from the Cumberland Valley State Normal School with distinguished honors in 1887. After graduation he continued teaching for two years. In 1888 he commenced reading law with Hon. William Penn Lloyd, of Me- chanicsburg, and was admitted to the Cumberland County Bar June 13, 1891. He at once began the practice of his profes- sion in which he has been eminently sus- cessful and has established a select and l11- crative practice. In politics he is a pro- nounced and active Republican. He has been justice of the peace, to which posi- tion he was appointed by Governor Patti- son, in September 1891, and the following spring was elected to the same position without opposition. He resigned this office to accept a seat in the House of Repre- sentatives of the State Legislature, to which he had been elected on the Republican ticket in 1894. He served during the ses- sion of 1895 on the Judiciary General, the Elections, the Retrenchment and Reform, and Bureau of Statistics Committees. Upon the expiration of the session he returned to his law practice at Mechanicsburg. He is a member of the Church of God, is assistant superintendent of the Sunday school, and president of the Young People's Christian Endeavor Society. He was married to Catherine Grace Miller, daughter of J. C. Miller, D. D. S., of Mechanicsburg, on
September 28, 1893. Mr. Young is de- servedly popular and one of the most high- ly esteemed and public spirited citizens of the community in which he has so long re- sided.
ACOB A. MAYER. In 1840 an incom- ing vessel from the port of Bremen
landed, among others, at Baltimore, an humble family of Bavarian emigrants, whose lot it was to become inseparably and honorably associated with the growth and development of the city of York, Pennsyl- vania, to which, soon after their arrival in America, they removed and located perma- nently. This was the Mayer family, con- sisting at the time of John Adam Mayer, his wife, Catharine (Goebig) Mayer, two sons and a daughter: John G., born July 10, 1833; Susan, June 6, 1835; and Adam, February 21, 1838.
The Mayers came from Heinrichstahle. Kingdom of Bavaria, where the father fol- lowed weaving as a trade and music as a profession. The elder of these sons, John G., was the father of the subject of this sketch and became a notable citizen in his time of the city of York, aiding as a busi- ness man quite materially in the expansion of its limits, the encouragement of its commercial importance and the develop- ment of its civic growth.
John Adam Mayer, the Heinrichstahle weaver, who established the family in York, had also two other brothers in this country, one living in Baltimore and the other in Washington, D. C. The Wash- ington brother died in the Ameri- can Army of yellow fever while serving as a musician. John Adam Mayer in this country was identified with the rope-mak- ing industry and also hotel-keeping on South George street, nearly opposite the present site of the Rescue Fire Company's
437
NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
building. He died in 1876, his wife having preceeded him in 1857. Both died firm in the faith of the Roman Catholic church and as regular communicants of St. Mary's church, of York.
The family which survived grew to re- spectable manhood and womanhood. Su- san married Peter Selak, of York, and reared quite a family ; Adam never married; Sebastian, a third son, was born in Balti- more; John G., the oldest son, grew to manhood in York and learned and worked at rope-making. He subsequently kept ho- tel for several years. He was keeping the Stag Hotel at the corner of Market and Water streets, when he enlisted towards the close of the war in First Brigade Band, Third Division, 9th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, and served as drum major of the Brigade band. About the time of Geil- eral Lee's surrender he contracted bronchial trouble and was confined to the Alexandria, Virginia, hospital for a time. He suffered from this trouble after the war and his death, March 26, 1892, was due to this af- fection. June 14, following, his generous, kind and beloved wife Catharine (Boll) Mayer followed him to the grave. Their remains rest in St. Mary's cemetery, and an imposing monument marks the spot.
Mr. Mayer was always an active business man and citizen. After the war he was identified with the coal business in York, which he prosecuted actively until 1875, when he retired. His son Jacob A., the subject of this sketch, had already com- pleted a thorough knowledge of the cigar business and the father encouraged the son to enlarge his meager and limited facili- ties, himself going so far as to enter into partnership with him in the leaf tobacco and cigar manufacturing business. From that time on the name of Mayer has been actively identified with the business here and the products of their large factories
go into almost every section and portion of the country. The elder Mayer retained his connection with the industry until the time of his death and from prosecuting his own business with great diligence and suc- cess, became an encourager and friend of other interests calculated to foster and pro- mote the public good. He had abundant opportunity to extend the hand of good- fellowship to new ventures, for his advise was frequently sought and cherished and followed for the sound business sense with which it abounded. In politics Mr. Mayer was an ardent disciple of the Democratic faith and on different occasions was honor- ed by his party in election to positions of trust and respect. He sat as a member of town council for two terms.
He was president of St. Patrick's Bene- volent Association for a period of ten con- secutive years from its organization, in which he had been an active and principal inover. He was also organizer and served as president of the Penn Mutual Life As- sociation for several years and incidents in the history of other local movements and institutions, attested his activity in good works.
As already indicated, Mr. Mayer had contributed largely to the city's growth and improvements, partly through the conduct of his business, but also through the build- ing of many residential and business structures, especially in the South End. He had for some time conceived and con- sidered the idea of purchasing the land at the present time constituting the site of the flourishing suburb, Mayersville, and in 1888, in order to carry into effect the de- sign he had in view, bought sixty-three acres, erected a large cigar factory, began the improvement of the site and founded the town bearing the name of the family. This proved the crowning work of his life. The town grew at once. Mr. Mayer erected
438
BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
his own water works and organized the Mayersville Water Company, serving as the president of the corporation. At his death he had the pleasure of seeing his project not only underway, but far ad- vanced toward ultimate realization. A fine and thriving town had grown up around him, its people thrifty and frugal and its prospects for the future bright. The wife of Mr. Mayer was a daughter of Jacob Boll, a shoemaker by occupation and also a native of Bavaria. Both of them died in the Roman Catholic faith and as full com- municant members of St. Mary's church. They have a family of twelve children, eight sons and four daughters: Jacob A., the subject of this sketch; Mary J., wife of John McGraw, of Baltimore, Maryland: John Joseph, who died October 21, 1892, leaving a widow, two daughters and a son, residents of Marietta, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania; William A., of Gettysburg, who has one daughter; Clara Elizabeth, wife of David C. Brinkerhoff, of Gettys- burg, who has three sons and two daugh- ters; Geo. S., of the firm, Jacob A. Mayer & Brother, who has two daughters; Charles Edward, who died in infancy; Frank W., of the firm, who has one son; Lawrence P., of York, who has two daughters and is engaged in the grocery business; Gertrude C., wife of John McDade, of York; Ber- nadette C., wife of C. Roswell Ertter, of Gettysburg, and Vincent A., now a stu- dent at St. Mary's College, Emmittsburg, Maryland.
Jacob A. Mayer, the head of the firm of Jacob A. Mayer & Brothers, was born July 3, 1856. He grew to manhood here and obtained a good public school education, supplemented by a thorough training in the High school. At the age of seventeen he had completed the trade of cigar making and at eighteen embarked in the business which in course of time grew to its pres-
ent extensive proportions. Originally the business was very modest in proportions and output, but during the twenty-two years of its existence has become one of the largest factories of the kind in this dis- trict and gives employment to two hun- dred and fifty skilled work people. Mr. Mayer was married in Columbia, May 8, 1883, to Miss Antoinette Vogel, daughter of Sylvester and Matilda (Smith) Vogel, the former a Barvarian by nativity, and the latter of American birth. Six sons and two daughters have been born to them: Syl- vester, Serena, Walter, Leah, Earl, Jacob, Gerald, and Paul.
Mr. Mayer has inherited many of the traits of his father. He is full of energy, which the successful conduct of his busi- ness attests. He is keen in his business calculations, deliberate in his judgment and active in extending the interests and pro- jects which his father founded, but with which death terminated his connection and encouragement. He is a prominent mem- ber of St. Patrick's congregation in this city, with which his people have all been connected. He stands high in the com- munity and his support of public move- ments is always hailed with satisfaction.
H TON. JOHN W. BITTENGER, presi- dent judge of York county, is a descendant of old Pennsylvania ancestry and was born at York Springs, Adams county, Pennsylvania, November 10th, 1834. He is a son of Henry and Julia A. (Sheffer) Bittenger, both natives of Adams county. His paternal great-grandfather, Capt. Nicholas Bittenger, a native and resident of Adams county, then a part of York county, was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary war and one of the worthy pioneers of York county. His son Joseph was the paternal grandfather of the Judge. On the maternal side of his ances-
HON. JOHN. W. BITTENGER.
439
NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
try, Judge Bittenger is a descendant from Henry Sheffer, who was also a Revolution- ary patriot and was his great-grandfather. His grandfather was Hon. Daniel Sheffer, a native of York county, who in early life was a physician, subsequently associate judge of Adams county and in 1836 was elected to represent Adams and Frank- lin counties in the United States Con- gress. He attained distinction as a politi- cal leader and lay jurist and was one of the prominent figures in political and public circles in his day. Henry Bittenger was united in marriage with Julia A. Sheffer, who bore him three children: Mrs. George C. Barnitz, of Middletown, Ohio, Mrs. Reuben Young, of Hanover, and John W., whose name heads this sketch.
John W. Bittenger received his element- ary education in the public schools, at the Academy of Strasburg, Pennsylvania, and Rockville, Maryland, which was supple- mented by a partial course at Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg. Simultaneous with his period of study at Pennsylvania College, he registered with the Hon. Moses Mc- Clean, of Gettysburg, as a student of law. He subsequently went to Rockville, Mary- land, where he finished his legal studies in the office of Hon. W. Viers Bouic, subse- quently judge of the circuit court of that county, and was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county, Maryland, in 1856. In the same year Mr. Bittenger entered Har- vard Law School at Cambridge, Massachu- setts, and was graduated in the year 1857. He then went to Lexington, Kentucky, and entered upon the practice of his pro- fession, remaining in that State three years. In 1860 Mr. Bittenger removed to York, Pennsylvania, with whose bar and judiciary he has since been identified. In politics Judge Bittenger has always been a Demo- crat. He became prominent in party coun- cils years ago and until his election to the
bench was one of the most energetic lead- ers and campaign orators in the party con- tests of York county. In 1862 his official ca- reer began with the nomination for and election to the District Attorneyship of the county. Through re-election he served for six years. Upon retiring from the office he entered upon the vigorous prosecution of what grew to be a very large and lucrative practice and at the time of assuming the judgeship was a leading member of the bar. In 1888 Mr. Bittenger represented his party in the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis. In November, 1890, he was ap .. pointed by Governor Beaver to fill the va- cancy occasioned on the bench of the Nineteenth Judicial District-York county --- by the death of Hon. John Gibson. The same year Judge Bittenger became the nominee of his party for the judgeship and was elected at the November election. Since 1895 he has served as president-judge of the York county courts.
As a lawyer, Judge Bittenger was recog- nized as a man of ability, energy and super- ior legal attainments. As a judge he has been a capable official, bringing to that high post an ample intellectual equipment, a ju- dicial temper, discriminating judgment and a high sense of integrity.
The Bittenger family includes, besides the judge, a wife and five children. They are members of Trinity Reformed church, of York.
T TON. GEORGE J. BENNER takes a position of prominence among the people of the Nineteenth Congressional Dis- trict, Pennsylvania, not only as their repre- sentative in the National House of Repre- sentatives, but as a descendant of one of the sturdy pioneer families of Adams coun- ty. His lineage is German; and in him are worthily preserved the deeper and more pronounced traits which gave the thrifty
440
BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA.
and industrious pioneers from the Rhine- land a character dominated by strong phy- sical and moral elements, interwoven with simpler, yet equally as sturdy, intellectual fibre. Mr. Benner is a type of the modern Pennsylvania German, evolutionized by en- vironment and by the rapid advancement of modern life, eager in the pursuit of intellec- tual attainment and given to the refinement of life which his progenitors, struggling with a stubborn soil for scanty subsistence, if not for the equally pronounced circum- stance of their simple tastes, would have contemplated with indifference or avoided entirely.
The Benners settled in Adams county, then a part of the recently erected York county, in 1752, in the generation of George J. Benner's great-great-grandfather. They began life as tillers of the soil and this oc- cupation ran its course through several generations of the family. Here and there they contributed a soldier to their coun- try's defence; a councillor to the local gov- ernment; or a student to the liberal pro- fessions; but in the main their life was one of simple content and vigor.
George J. Benner was born April 13th, 1859, the son of Jacob and Catharine (Sny- der) Benner. His father was for many years a farmer in Adams county and was active in Democratic politics. He held the office of treasurer of the poor board for one term. In religion he was a strict member of the Lutheran church. Three sons and three daughters were born of his marriage to Catharine Snyder: Daniel J., enlisted in the Fifteenth Illinois Regiment and served until 1865 in the Western Army; another son enlisted in the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry. The three daughters were Lu- cinda, Mary and Sarah. After finishing a common school education in Gettysburg, George J. Benner entered Pennsylvania College and graduated with honors in 1878.
Subsequent thereto he taught for a time at his alma mater and then became principal of the High school at Catasauqua for two and a half years. Meanwhile he entered upon legal studies in the office of W.A.Dun- can, Esq., and succeeded in attaining mem- bership at the Adams County Bar Decem- ber 31st, 1881. Entering upon the practice of his profession he soon rose to promi- nence and easily made his way to the front in political leadership in the Democratic party. In time he received his first recog- nition by being chosen attorney for the county commissioners. He filled the office with ability and honor and in 1896 his friends urged and insisted that he stand for the Congressional nomination. The sit- uation in the Democratic ranks at the time required a most determined fight, for Mr. Benner was not only opposed by the York end of the district, but by old and tried leaders in his own county. The party pri- maries vindicated his cause effectually and Mr. Benner afterward was chosen by the district convention. At the November election following he defeated his Re- publican opponent and restored the dis- to the Democratic ranks from which Colonel Stahle, two years pre- vious, had carried it. In March fol- lowing, when the special session was called, Mr. Benner assumed his duties in Congress. Since then he has borne himself modestly and with credit in the distinguish- ed body of national lawmakers.
trict
Mr. Benner is a gentleman of fine per- sonal appearance, charming in his manners and agreeable and entertaining in his con- versation. He possesses considerable abil- ity as a speaker and keeps well informed on the topics of the day. He is thoroughly popular at his home and is becoming very favorably known throughout the district. He is a member of the Masons and Red Men.
441
NINETEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
G RIER HERSH, ESQ., President of the York National Bank, is a worthy representative of two of the oldest and most prominent families of Southern Pennsylvania. He is a son of Samuel S., and Margaret J. (Lewis) Hersh, and was born in York county, Pa., January 29, 1863.
The Hersh family is of German descent, the American progenitor of which settled in Lancaster county in 1742. John Hersh, one of the sons, and great-grandfather of Grier Hersh, was a Revolutionary soldier. After the close of that his- toric struggle members of the fam- ily settled in Adams and York coun- ties, where they were active in the var- ious vocations of life and became promi- nent socially and financially. In the pater- nal line were Capt. William McClellan and William McClellan, Sr., who took part in the "Marsh Creek Resistance." Through succeeding generations the family uni- formly maintained its position of promi- nence, importance and usefulness.
The Lewis family is also one of the old and substantial families of York county. It is of ancient lineage and of Welsh ori- gin. Ellis Lewis emigrated in 1708 to Chester county, Pennsylvania, and his son, Ellis, to Newberry township, York county, in 1731. One of the sons of the latter was Major Eli Lewis, of the First Battalion, York County Militia, 1777. Major Lewis' son, James, became a lawyer of distinction and also served as president of the York Bank. He married Jane, daughter of C. A. Barnitz, member of Congress and for many years president of the York Bank. Through this ancestral line Mr. Hersh is descended from Ensign Jacob Barnitz, Ar- chibald M'Lean, Col. David Grier and Col. Robert M'Pherson.
The maternal grandfather and great-grand- father of the subject of this sketch served
as presidents of the York National Bank, and were recognized as financiers of ability and experience. Samuel S. Hersh was born in Adams county. Being a man of large means and preferring the enjoyments and pleasures of a retired life, he never took an active part in politics or business, although he served as a director of the First National Bank of York. He was a man of observation and general information and took interest in all the movements of so- ciety and the leading questions of the day. He wedded Margaret J. Lewis, a daughter of James Lewis, at one time president of the York National Bank.
Grier Hersh attended the York County Academy and the York Collegiate Insti- tute, and then entered the Pennsylvania Military College of Chester, Delaware county, from which he was graduated in 1880. Leaving the military college he en- tered Princeton University, New Jersey, from which time-honored institution of learning he was graduated in the class of 1884. Returning home he entered actively into business life and has been variously interested and engaged in financial, real es- tate, railroad and other commercial enter- prises. He is a director in York Gas, Water and Street Railroad companies, and the Baltimore and Harrisburg Railroad com- pany. He is also a stockholder and director in the York Trust, Real Estate and De- posit Co., the York and Gettysburg Turn- pike Co., and has served for some time as president of the York Gas and York & Maryland Line and York and Liverpool companies. Mr. Hersh has always taken a deep interest in financial affairs. He has served for a number of years as a director of the York National Bank, of which he was elected president in September, 1895, to succeed his uncle, G. Edward Hersh, who died in that year. The York National Bank is the oldest of the banking institutions
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.