Biographical annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, Part 100

Author: Genealogical Publishing Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Genealogical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 994

USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Biographical annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families > Part 100

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actively engaged in business until 1901. He invested wisely in real estate, purchasing farms, and village property until he owned a great deal of valuable property. In 1850 he laid out Cleversburg. and for many years he was connected with the iron industry in mining and shipping ore. Whatever he at- tempted seemed to be successful, and yet none of his ventures were the result of hasty decision, but rather the outcome of his good judgment and foresight

In his early years Mr. Clever was an Old Line Whig, and cast his first vote for President in 1840, but since the formation of the Republican party he has been an ar- dent supporter of its principles. For thirty- five years he was postmaster of Cleversburg, but he has never been an office seeker. While. he served one term as jury commissioner, and for a number of years was a member of the school board, it was because he felt it to be a good citizen's duty to accept such re- sponsibility, if possible, when thrust upon him. For several years he was a director of the First National Bank of Shippensburg. In the Reformed Church at Shippensburg, of which he and his wife are both active members, he has been deacon and trustee for many years.

In 1845 Mr. Clever married Miss Isabel Kelso. of Southampton township, born Dec. 21, 1822, daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Stougli) Kelso. Three of the eight children born of this union still survive : Samuel K., at home; Conrad, a prominent minister of the Reformed Church at Baltimore, Md .; and Jennie S., at home. George G. is de- ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Clever reside in their comfortable home in Shippensburg, where they are passing a serene old age. While several years past four score Mr. Clever is still enjoying fair health and is in the full possession of his mental faculties. His life

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has been crowded with works, and he has been permitted to live to see the fruition of his many enterprises, and to enjoy a pros- perity wrought by his own hands. 1

REV. W. A. McCARRELL, D. D., pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Ship- pensburg, is recognized as one of the more prominent ministers of the Cumberland Val- ley. Dr. McCarrell was born in Greene county, Pa., Aug. 20, 1846, a son of Rev. Dr. Alexander and Martha (McClellan) McCarrell, natives of Washington county, Pa., of Scotch-Irish descent. The grand- father on the paternal side was Samuel Mc- Carrell, whose father was Thomas Mc- Carrell.

Thomas McCarrell was a Belfast weaver, was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1741, and in 1758 emigrated to America. He listened to the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776, and served throughout the Revolu- tionary war, witnessing the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. In 1793 he mi- grated to Washington county, Pa., where he died at the advanced age of ninety-five. He was an elder of the Seceder (Tent) Church, now Cross Creek U. P. Church, and was a courageous, consistent Christian His de- scendants were numerous and of excellent standing in western Pennsylvania. At least five of his great-grandsons are on the minis- terial roll of the Presbyterian Church, viz .: The three McCarrells of Pennsylvania, Dr. J. R. Miller, of Philadelphia, and Rev. R. J. Creswell, of North Dakota, and one great- great-grandson, Rev. R. J. Creswell, of Shi- loh Church, Minneapolis, Minn .; Rev. Dr. R. J. Miller, of the U. P. Church, Pittsburg, and Rev. Dr. Alexander D. McCarrell, of the same church, are also great-grandsons of the old soldier of '76.

Thomas McClellan, the maternal great- grandfather of Dr. W. A. McCarrell, of Shippensburg. was a soldier of the Revolu- tionary war. He enlisted first at York, Pa., was sent to North Carolina, where his term of enlistment began and expired, and re-en- listed in the cavalry, serving through the war as a lieutenant. He was wounded in the leg at the battle of Trenton, N. J. After the war he moved to Washington county, Pa., where he was a farmer and where he died at an advanced age. His son, Thomas, was the grandfather of our subject.

Rev. Alexander McCarrell. D. D., was born in Washington county. Pa., as before stated, and was pastor of the Claysville Presbyterian Church, of that county, for thirty-five years. Four children were born to himself and wife: S. J. M., a prominent attorney of Harrisburg, Pa .; Rev. J. J., pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Mc- Keesport, Pa., who died in 1902; Thomas C., a Presbyterian minister at Mechanics- burg, Pa .; and W. A., who is mentioned below.

Dr. W. A. McCarrell acquired his edu- cation at Washington and Jefferson College, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1868. After graduation he accepted a position at Harlem Springs, Ohio, in the college of that place, as professor of Greek and Latin, and Mental and Moral Science. After remaining there a year he entered the theological seminary at Alle- gheny City, Pa., whence he was graduated in 1871, and soon thereafter he accepted a call to the churches of Gravel Run and Cam- bridge, Crawford county. There he re- mained until 1875, when he was called to the Presbyterian Church at Shippensburg, where for twenty-nine years he has been the much beloved pastor. During this long period the church has greatly prospered, and

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his congregation increased until he now has 350 communicants. He has taken a great interest in the temperance cause, being one of its ardent supporters, and for a number of years he was president of the Cumberland Valley Sabbath Association. In 1876 Dr. McCarrell wrote a very able history of the Shippensburg Presbyterian Church, which has since been published, and is extensively read. He is an able and frequent contrib- utor to newspapers upon matters of religious interest, and for a number of years served as chairman of the committee of arrange- ments for the Presbyterian reunions held at Pen Mar.

In 1871 Dr. McCarrell was united in marriage with Miss Martha Means, daugh- ter of Benjamin and Margaret Means, of Washington county. Pa., of Scotch-Irish de- scent. Seven children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. McCarrell, three of whom are living : Martha E., a graduate of Wilson College, is assistant principal of the Ship- pensburg high school. William Alexander is a graduate of Mercersburg College, at Mercersburg, and spent two years at Wash- ington and Jefferson College, but is now in the mechanical department of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad at Altoona; he married Marie Bonebake, of Waynesboro, Pa. John C. is a student at the Cumberland Valley State Normal School.

During his useful and beautiful life Dr. McCarrell has always exerted his influence toward the betterment of humanity. All of his teachings and writings have been done with this end in view. His ministry has been particularly blessed, and he is highly honored by his people, not only on account of his elo- quence and erudition, but also because of his kindly, courteous nature, and his upright Christian mode of living, which in itself preaches an unanswerable argument inf favor

of his creed and teachings. In 1900 the de gree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Washington and Jefferson College, at Wash- ington, Pennsylvania.

WILLIAM WALLACE FLETCHER attorney-at-law of Carlisle, is a native of Chambersburg, Pa. He received his early education there, attending both the academy and Mercersburg College, after which he en- tered newspaper work, in 1883. In 1886 he removed to Carlisle, and while acting as city editor of one of the papers for a number of years also read law in the office of Judge Robert M. Henderson, and later attended the law department of Dickinson College, from which he received the degree of LL. B., in 1896. He then entered into active practice in Carlisle, and is now serving his third term as referee in bankruptcy. He has been admitted to the Superior and Supreme courts of Pennsylvania and United States district courts. Mr. Fletcher is an Episco- palian and a member of the vestry of St. John's parish, Carlisle. In politics, he is a Republican.

Mr. Fletcher was married in Carlisle in 1889 to Miss Isabel Faller, a daughter of the late John Faller, of Carlisle, and one child has been born to them, Mary.

FLETCHER FAMILY. Before the Revo- lution broke out Abraham and Thomas Fletcher, brothers, emigrated to America from Ireland and fought under Washington during that struggle. Thomas died un- married.

(I) Abraham Fletcher (born in the city of Cork, Ireland) was appointed lieutenant in Capt. Andrew Patterson's company, 4th Battalion, York County Militia, June 17, 1779. He married Margaret Twinum, daughter, of Rev. Mr. Twinum, one of the first Methodist ministers to come to Amer-

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ica. They had issue: (1) Margaret, Mrs. Shater, had issue: Mrs. Gray, Mrs. Cash- man, Mrs. Tate, Mrs. Studebaker, Abraham and David. (2) William married Catharine Deardoff. of Adams county; they had one son, David. (3) David. (4) John died without issue. (5) Thomas (II).

( II) Thomas Fletcher, son of Abraham and Margaret (Twinum) Fletcher, died when a little past middle life. He enlisted for service in the war of 1812, on Sept. 15. 1812. in Capt. Andrew Oak's Company of Greencastle, and served until 1814; he then re-enlisted at Chambersburg in the company commanded by Capt. Jolin Findley. Thomas Fletcher was a contractor and builder and erected a number of stone bridges in Frank- lin county, also constructing the middle division of the Chesapeake & Ohio canal. He married Sarah Wallace, daugh- ter of Robert and Margaret (Wal- lace) Wallace, and they had issue : (1) Jo- siah Wallace (III). (2) John married Mary Freshwater; they had issue : Sarah ( married Thomas McCurdy; they have Nellie and Frank ). Jolin, Cecilia, and Lillie (deceased). (3) Jean Wallace died in childhood. (4) Margaret married William Crawford; they had no issue. (5) Ann Elizabeth married James Allen; they had Ella, deceased; Annie Wallace, who married William Hys- song (they have Catharine, Olivia, James Allen and William Le Van) ; and Emily, deceased. (6) Thomas Loudon was a mem- her of the Franklin County Bar ; he married Maggie Wingert, and they had two children, both of whom died in infancy. (7) Sarah married Charles Le Van; they had issue : William, who died in infancy ; Sarah Esther. married to Alexander MacRitchey; and Anna, who died in infancy.

The ancestor of the Wallace family to which Mrs. Sarah ( Wallace) Fletcher be-

longed, was Robert Wallace, who emigrated to Lancaster county and later removed to Franklin county, near Duffield. He married Margaret Wallace, his cousin, and they had issue: (1) Sarah married Thomas Fletcher (II). (2) Anna died unmarried.

(III) JOSIAH WALLACE FLETCHER, son of Thomas and Sarah ( Wallace) Fletcher, married Mary Peach, of Wilmington, Del., daughter of William Peach. They had issue : (1) Mary died in infancy. (2) William W. lives in Carlisle. He married Isabel Faller. (3) Clara married Jacob Strealey, of Hag- erstown, Md., and they have Marian and Clair. (4) Edward died in infancy. (5) Charles died in infancy. (6) Nellie died in infancy. (7) Thomas died in infancy. (8) Fannie died in infancy. (9) Ella Catharine married Percival Tebault, of Hagerstown, Md., and they have Eleanor Dalton.

Josiah Wallace Fletcher (III) was born in 1816, received an academic education, and taught school. During the Mexican war, following in the footsteps of his ancestors, he served as a private soldier. Returning after the war, he was honored by election to the office of clerk of courts, but later re- sumed teaching in Chambersburg, in the high school. For two years he was sergeant- at-arms in the Pennsylvania Legislature, and he was a prominent man at the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1862 he enlisted in Com- pany H. 126th Regiment, becoming first lieutenant, and participated in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg (where he was wounded) and Chancellorsville, at which latter he was taken prisoner. He was con- fined in Libby prison, and was kept there until his term of service had expired. Re- turning to Chambersburg, he was made deputy sheriff, and thus continued for three years, when he was elected sheriff and served for three years more; still again he was

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elected. so that in all he filled that office for nine years. His death occurred at Cham- bersburg in 1889.

HON. MARTIN C. HERMAN. In 1754 there came from Germany to Amer- ica, one Martin Herman. He landed at Philadelphia but remained there only a few years. From Philadelphia he moved to the part of Lancaster county which is now in- cluded in Lebanon and married Anna Doro- thea Boerst. There he remained for some years and engaged at farming, but in 1771 he came to Cumberland county and pur- chased a tract of land near where the village of New Kingstown now stands, and made his home upon it for the remainder of his days. He died in 1804 at the age of seventy- two years ; his wife, Anna D. Herman, died in 1824. at the age of eighty-seven years, and their remains are buried in the Longs- dori graveyard near Kingstown Station, in Silver Spring township. Martin and Anna Dorothea (Boerst) Herman had four sons, viz. : Christian, John, Jacob and Martin.

Christian Herman, eldest of the above family, was born Oct. 20, 1761, in Lancaster county. When the War of the Revolution began he was yet a young man, but he en- listed in the Continental army, and served at Valley Forge and. Germantown, and was under Washington in the various engage- ments and marches which led up to the siege of Yorktown and the capture of Cornwallis. After the close of the war he went to his home near New Kingstown, and engaged in farming. In 1793 he married Elizabeth Bowers, of York county, who bore him eleven children, eight of whom lived to manhood and womanhood, and were mar- ried and raised families. Christian Her- man died Oct. 23, 1829; his wife, Elizabeth ( Bowers) Herman, died on Feb. 18, 18.48, at

the age of seventy-five years, and the re- mains of both are interred in the Longsdorf Grave Yard near Kingstown Station. The eight children of Christian and Elizabeth (Bowers) Herman, who grew to maturity, were: John, Jacob. Martin, Christian. David, Mary (who married Michael G. Beltzhoover, of Cumberland county), Anna (who married Dr. Jacob Bosler, who settled at Dayton, Ohio) and Eliza (who married Abraham Bosler, of Cumberland county).

Martin Herman, the third son in the above family, was born on the Herman homestead near New Kingstown, July 10, 1801, and like his ancestors before him fol- lowed the occupation of farming. By the will of his father, Christian Herman, he ac- quired title to the farm that his grandfather, Martin Herman, had purchased in 1771, and upon it he lived throughout his entire life- time. In February, 1827. he married Eliza- beth Wolford, who was born in 1802, daugh- ter of Peter and Elizabeth ( Albert) Wol- ford, of York county. Peter Wolford was a prominent citizen in his day and at one time represented York county in the State Legislature. Elizabeth (Wolford) Herman died July 30, 1852, in the fiftieth year of her age; Martin Herman died May 22, 1872, in the seventy-first year of his age, and their remains rest in the Longsdorf Grave Yard near Kingstown Station. Their children were: Margaret, who married Ezra M. Myers, of Adams county : Margery A., who married Rev. A. W. Lilly, of York county ; Mary J., who married Crawford Fleming, of Carlisle; P. Wolford, who became a farmer, and came into possession of the Herman mansion farm which he owned and occupied for many years; and David B., who studied law and was admitted to the Cumberland county Bar, and who went West and while in charge of a cattle ranch

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on the North Platte river, Neb., was killed by Indians, May 20, 1876, his body being brought home and buried in the Longsdorf Grave Yard near Kingstown Station.

Martin Christian Herman, the fifth child and second son of Martin and Elizabeth (Wolford) Herman, and the subject of this sketch, was born on the Herman ancestral farm in Silver Spring township Feb. 14, 1841. He remained at home attending the country district school and assisting his father on the farm until he was sixteen years of age when he entered the York Academy, then in charge of Prof. George W. Ruby. There he continued for one year. In Sep- tember, 1858, he entered Dickinson College. from which institution he graduated June 26, 1862. In a prize contest during his junior year at college he won the silver medal for oratory and through his entire course was conspicuous for his ability and scholarship. On June 24, 1862, he delivered the seventy-sixth anniversary address of the Belles-Lettres Society of Dickinson College.

In January, 1862, Mr. Herman regis- tered as a student-at-law with B. M. McIntyre & Son, at New Bloomfield, Perry county. In April of the following year, he transferred his registry to William H. Miller, Esq., of Carlisle, and continued his law studies with him until Jan. 13, 1864, when he was admitted to the Cumberland county Bar. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession at Carlisle, and continued at it until 1874, when he was elected President Judge of the 9th Judicial District, consisting of Cumberland county. He was not yet thirty-four years of age when, on the first Monday of January, 1875, he took his seat upon the Bench, but he ad- ministered the duties of his high office so conscientiously and carefully that at the close of his term his party renominated him with-

out opposition. He was unsuccessful at the general election, and upon retiring from the Bench resumed the practice of the law, soon being in command of a large and lucrative business. Against his wishes his party nom- inated him for President Judge in 1894. He reluctantly accepted, but the general trend of political sentiment was against his party and he, with nearly all of the ticket, was de- feated by a small majority. While arguing in a will case in court on March 4, 1895, he was stricken with a paralysis which proved the beginning of the end. He rallied from its effects sufficiently again to give his practice some attention, and, at times, his family and friends had some hope, but the stroke had irreparably shattered his strength, and he died Jan. 19, 1896, of pneumonia. He was a man of most excellent character, a lawyer who was a credit to his profession, and in temperament and in training thor- oughly qualified for the responsible position which he so long filled, and the duties of which he discharged with a conscientious dignity and impartiality that won the re- spect of the public in a high degree. One of the Carlisle papers, at the time of his decease, commented editorially as follows :

"In the death of ex-Judge Herman this community loses an honored and useful citi- zen. Born in this county; always living in it; sharing in its political contests. and through struggles and heated rivalries rising to a proud eminence at its learned Bar, his name became entwined in the memories and hearts of its people as few names of its his- tory have. He was a man of pronounced convictions, contending loyally and earnestly for the rights of his clients, yet so fair and just and courteous in all his relations with men that the persons were few who did not respect and honor and love him. Yet hon- orable and upright as he was in his profes-

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sional and business relations, within the sanctity of his home he was a still more ex- emplary character. His kindness, his gen- tleness and devotion to those of his own household were more marked than any of the high qualities that in the struggle of his lite won him the praise and admiration of the world. He was not only an able lawyer, an upright judge and a distinguished citizen, he was also a husband and father in the most loving and tender sense."

On Jan. 5. 1873. Martin C. Herman was united in marriage with Josephine Adair, of Carlisle, who was a daughter of S. Dunlap and Henrietta (Gray) Adair, and was born in Cumberland county. She is a member of an old representative family of this section and her father, S. Dunlap Adair, was for a long time a prominent lawyer at the Cum- berland county Bar. The earlier generations of Hermans were Lutherans, but the Adairs were Episcopalians, and after their marriage Judge Herman, out of respect for his wife's religious preferences, united with the Epis- copal Church, and served as vestryman in it. Judge and Mrs. Herman had children : J. Adair, Henrietta G., Joseph B., and Bessie H. There were also two sons who died in infancy. The family reside in a pleasant and hospitable home at No. 132 West High street, Carlisle.

J. ADAIR HERMAN was born April 17, 1876, and was educated in the public schools of Carlisle and at Dickinson College from which institution he graduated in 1896. He registered as a student-at-law with A. G. Miller, Esq., and at the same time entered upon a course in the Dickinson Law .School, from which he graduated in 1898. He was admitted to the Cumberland county Bar June 8, 1898, and later to Supreme Court practice. On April 28, 1898, he enlisted in Company G, 8th Regiment Pennsylvania

Volunteer Infantry, for the Spanish-Amer- ican war, and served in Gen. Gobin's brig- ade until March 7, 1899, doing duty at Camp Alger, Va., Camp Meade, Pa., and Camp Mckenzie, Augusta, Ga. He is a mem- ber of Company G, 8th Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania, and holds the rank of adjutant of the Second Battalion. During the coal strike of 1897, he did duty at Hazleton; in the strike of 1900, he was on duty at Shenan- doah ; and in 1902, again on duty at Shen- andoah for a period of ninety days.

Mr. Herman, as was his father before him, is a Democrat, and active in his party's interest in nearly every campaign. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Psi college fra- ternity, of which his father was one of the organizers in 1859, and also of the Cumber- land county Bar Association.

JOHN C. BEHNEY, senior member of the firm of Behney & Snyder, of Carlisle, is a native of Llewellyn, Schuylkill Co., Pa., his birth occurring there April 17, 1864. The family is of supposed German origin, and the name was spelled originally Beni. There are various forms of spelling the name, Beni, Baney, Behne and Behney; the Lebanon Valley branch of the family to which John C. belongs adopted the spellings Baney and Behney, the latter being the correct English form. The great-grandfather of John C., the founder of the family in the Lebanon Villey, spelled his name Baney. In the Pennsylvania archives the records show that, in 1723, the family of Beni emigrated to this coun- try, settling near Myerstown, Lebanon Co., Pa. The great-grandfather of our sub- ject was, as before stated, the first of the family of whom we have any positive knowl- edge. He was a farmer in Lebanon county,

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and had a family of eighteen children, nine sons and nine daughters. The grandfather of our subject was also a farmer in Lebanon county. He, too, was the father of a large family, also having eighteen children, nine sons and nine daughters.

Henry Behney. the eighth son in the above family, adopted the present spelling of the name. He was born April 9, 1824, near Myerstown, Pa., where he was reared, and where he spent the greater part of his life. In his young manhood he learned the trade of wheelwright and coachmaker, and followed that calling all through his life, becoming very proficient at the business, a part of the time conducting a business of his own. He also followed his trade in Reading and Hummelstown, Pa., the latter place being his home at the time of his death, which occurred in April, 1892. He was an ardent supporter of the Church, and a de- vout Christian man. In his early life he was a member of the Lutheran Church, but in middle life became connected with the United Brethren Church, being licensed by the Quarterly Conference of that denomina- tion to preach in the German language. He continued to preach the Gospel up to the time of his death. Being a man of the strictest integrity and morality, he strove to impart those principles to those about him. Mr. Behney was a member of the F. & A. M., of Reading, and the K. T. Commandery. He was one of the charter members of Womelsdorf Lodge, I. Q. O. F.

Mr. Behney married' Elvina Kalbach, of Womelsdorf, Berks Co., Pa., daughter of Daniel and Catherine. (Seibert) Kalbach. Daniel Kalbach was an innkeeper in Berks county, where he died at the age of seventy- four years. Catherine Seibert, his wife, died at the age of seventy-five years. Mrs. Elvina (Kalbach) Behney was born Feb. 8, 1825,

and is still living, residing with her daugh- ter, Mrs. Charles B. Rettew, of Harris- burg. She was the mother of eight children as follows: (1) William H. resides in Philadelphia, where he is a painter and decorator. (2) Rebecca is the wife of Charles B. Rettew, of Har- risburg. (3) Mary died in infancy. (4) Rev. C. I., of Elizabethtown, Lancaster county, Pa., is pastor of the Church of God. He has been in the ministry for the past twenty five years, most of this time as an itinerant preacher in the Cumberland Val- ley, filling the charges at Shippensburg for three years, Newville three years, Shire- manstown three years, and other charges in Dauphin and Lancaster counties. By trade he is also a coach painter. (5) Walker died in infancy. (6) Catharine, unmarried, re- sides in Harrisburg. (7) Peter V., a black- smith, resides in Hummelstown, Pa. (8) John C. is mentioned below.

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Biographical annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, Part 100

Author: Genealogical Publishing Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Genealogical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 994

Author: Genealogical Publishing Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Genealogical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 994