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 107
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Jolin Clendenin, the eldest child of John and Martha ( Waugh) Clendenin, was born Oct. 11, 1808, on the farm at the North Mountain which he left when he removed to Hogestown. He was the fourth John Clen- denin in line, and, like his father, and also his grandfather, never lived outside of the township in which he was born. He fol- lowed in the footsteps of his father and en- gaged in the business of tanning for a voca- tion. He did not receive much scholastic training, but was naturally of a bright mind, and through reading and associating with people of intelligence he acquired a great fund of general knowledge and was consid- ered a well-educated person. He was an active, energetic business man, and prom- inent in all the various spheres in which a citizen of his section was called upon to act. \ While yet a young man he joined the local
military company, and his zeal and efficiency gradually advanced him until he reached the rank of colonel of the battalion, which he held for a long time, and the title "Col. Clen- denin" serves to distinguish him. After the death of his father he was elected justice of the peace and re-elected as his term expired so long as he lived. Being the third "Squire
Clendenin" in line between 1798 and 1870, the student of the records is often puzzled as to which one is meant. In his own town- ship he was a central figure in politics, during the entire period of his activity, holding the office of school director, assessor, and other places of responsibility almost always. In 1870 he was elected an Associate Judge, and in this particular also followed in the foot- steps of his father. This distinction he was not permitted long to enjoy, as he died on June 2, 1872. Like his ancestors for gener- ations before him he was a Presbyterian, and for fifteen years was an elder in the Silver Spring Church.
On Nov. 30, 1842, Col. John Clendenin was married to Susan Swiler, of Hogestown, Rev. Jospeh A. Murray, of Carlisle, per- forming the ceremony. Susan Swiler was a daughter of Matthias and Margaret (Seidle) Swiler, and a member of an old family mentioned elsewhere. John and Susan (Swiler) Clendenin had the following chil- dren: Calvin, Milton A., Clara E., John Waugh, and William C. Clara E. married John M. McDowell; John W. married Mary E. Meigs, and William C. married Bel! Jen- nings.
CALVIN CLENDENIN, the eldest child of Col. John and Susan (Swiler) Clendenin, was born Nov. 11, 1843, at Hogestown, Cumberland county. He received his edu- cation in the public schools of his native vil- lage and in academies at Fayetteville and Mt. Joy, Pa. On leaving school he went
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into his father's tannery and learned the art of leather manufacturing and the details of an old established business. Shortly af- ter entering upon the age of maturity. his father. being in declining health, turned his entire business over to him, and with varied success he has continued it ever since. He not only runs the tannery in Hogestown to its full capacity but bought several other plants and engaged in the business extens- ively and with system. One of the tanning properties he purchased was located at Me- chanicsburg, and was probably of larger ca- pacity than any other tannery in Cumber- land county. This he continued to operate until very recently.
Like his ancestors for generations before him Mr. Clendenin is a Democrat, and from his boyhood days he has taken an active in- terest in politics and always labored assidu- ously for Democratic success. This zeal and activity attracted public attention to him, and in 1874, when the voters of Silver Spring township wanted a Democratic suc- cessor to Col. Joliu Clendenin as justice of the peace, they elected his son Calvin to the place, thus perpetuating the title "Squire Clendenin" into the fourth generation. He has since also been frequently importuned to become a candidate for county office, but never yielded. After purchasing a tannery in Mechanicsburg he found it advantageous to live there, and so he left the home of his birth in Hogestown and moved to the former place, where he subsequently cent- ered all his business interests and built him- self a beautiful home. A change of residence did not abate Mr. Clendenin's party zeal. and President Cleveland, during his second term, gave his fidelity fitting recognition by appointing him postmaster of Mechanics- burg, in which office he served the public efficiently and acceptably for over four
years. Mr. Clendenin has always given his business close and unremitting attention. but the tanning industry, along with many other branches of trade, has been operated against by the trusts and combinations, which hin- dered the full success of his enterprise. In the course of his career he has also met with more than the average share of the mis- fortunes that come to a man in lifetime. Several of liis tanneries have been destroyed by fire, the one in Mechanicsburg a second time, and at this writing he has about con- cluded to abandon the business in which the several generations of his family have en- gaged for a hundred years.
On Feb. 4. 1875. Calvin Clendenin was married to Mary Bush Herring, Rev. S. W. Reighert. pastor of the Mechanicsburg- Presbyterian Church, performing the cere- mony. Mary B. Herring is a daughter of the late Dr. James Bush Herring and Lizzie Riegle, his wife; Dr. J. B. Herring was the only son of Dr. Asa and Jane ( Bush) Her- ring. The elder Dr. Herring was born in New Jersey, but some time previous to 1816 settled at Mechanicsburg, where he prac- ticed medicine for twenty-five years. Dur- ing that time he was a member of the Silver Spring Presbyterian Church and an intimate friend of the pastor, Rev. Henry R. Wilson. Lizzie Riegle was a daughter of Adam and Esther ( Brandt ) Riegle, and a granddaugli- ter of John Adam and Catherine (Swartz) Riegle: and Catherine Swartz was a daugh- ter of Salome ( Miller) Swartz, whose fath- er, Rev. Peter Miller, was the second prior of Conrad Beissel's Dunker community at Ephrata. Pa., during the war of the Revo- lution. and helped to bring the wounded American soldiers from the battlefield of the Brandywine to Ephrata, where he and oth- ers carefully cared for them in the Dunker cloister.
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To Calvin and Mary B. (Herring) Clen- denin the following children have come : Elizabeth Waugh, born Dec. 24. 1875; Susan Riegle, July 28, 1877; John Calvin, Feb. 8, 1881; James Herring, Dec. 31, 1883; and Mary Caroline, Dec. 4. 1887. Elizabeth W. married A. Carleton Gibson, of Bennett, Colo., and they live on a ranch near Denver. Susan is a trained librarian, a graduate of the Pratt Library School, Brooklyn. John graduated and is now with the General Electric Company, of Lynn, Mass. James is at present in a bank at Har- per, Kans. Mary is still at college.
JOHN WAUGH CLENDENIN, fourth child of John and Susan (Swiler) Clendenin, was born at Hogestown, Cumberland coun- ty, Pa., April 8, 1853. He attended the public school of his native district un- til 1870, when he went to the Cham- bersburg Academy and prepared for college. In September, 1872, he entered Lafayette College and graduated from the institution in 1876. While visiting the Centennial Ex- position at Philadelphia, in the summer of 1876, his attention was attracted to the ex- hibit of Kansas and Colorado, which led him to believe that that part of the country pos- sessed superior advantages for settlers. In the fall of 1877 he made a trip to Kansas for the purpose of investigating. On returning from this visit to the West he registered as a student-at-law with F. E. Beltzhoover, Esq., at Carlisle, and continued to study law until in March, 1878, when he again went West, this time to locate in Harper county. Kans. From literature that came under his observation he concluded that lands so re- mote from railroads as those of Harper county would not be taken up in many years. He intended to engage in cattle raising and wanted to use vacant lands for pasture. On March 15th he landed in Wichita, which was
then the terminus of the Santa Fe Railway, and from that point drove overland to Har- per county, a distance of sixty miles to the southwest, and there staked off claims. In the following month the town of Anthony was located, which became the county seat of Harper county, and later a place of con- siderable importance. It now has four rail- roads and a population of 2.500. Inside the next year the entire county was settled up and our subject's rosy cattle dreams were not realized. When Harper county was or- ganized, in 1878, he was chosen clerk of the district court, which office he held for three years. The settlers were not then divided on political issues. Harper, a town ten miles north of Anthony, was Anthony's rival for the county seat, and the contention between the two continued for ten years, but the prize was never wrested from Anthony.
In 1880 Mr. Clendenin went to Fort Worth, Texas, where he purchased cattle which he drove over the old Chisolm trail through what is now Oklahoma to a point south of Anthony. These cattle he sold that same year. and the following year brought another drove from Brenham, Texas. This cattle business experience was novel and try- ing to a tenderfoot. At that time the entire territory through which these droves were brought was unoccupied except by Indians, and they were mostly confined to the Reser- vations. In 1883 Mr. Clendenint entered upon the banking business at Anthony. along which line he has engaged continu- ously ever since. In September. 1900, he removed from Anthony to Wichita, where he is now residing and engaged in banking.
AIr. Clendenin gives a due share of at- tention to public affairs, was the first presi- dent of the Anthony Public Library. has served as councilman, and in other local of- fices, and was postmaster of Anthony from
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1894 to 1898. He is a Master Mason and has been Master of the Masonic Lodge at Anthony. In religious belief he is a Con- gregationalist. He was married. Dec. 24. 1886, to Mary E. Meigs, of Arkansas City, Kans., but las no children.
JOHN MORRISON. For more than a century the Morrison family have made Cumberland county. Pa., their home, and for nearly that long they have lived in Dickin- son township.
The father of John Morrison was Wil- liam Morrison, a native of Ireland who emi- grated to America when a boy with his par- ents. He was but a youth when he located in Cumberland county, where, at Carlisle. he was for some years the door-keeper of the jail. In 1805. when he was about twenty- one, he located in Dickinson township. He died in 1834. His wife, Sarah Wolf, was born in Cumberland county. a daughter of William Wolf, who came to this country from Germany when seven years of age, and resided in Cumberland county until his death ; both William Wolf and his wife are buried at Boiling Springs. Mrs. Sarah Mor- rison survived her husband many years, making her home with her son John until her death, Feb. 20, 1872, at the age of eighty years. She was the mother of six children, Margaret. Mrs. Ann Knopp, John, William, Samuel and James.
John Morrison, the subject of this sketch, was born in Cumberland county July 1, 1818, and passed his early life on the farm, attending school in Dickinson town- ship during the winter seasons. For four years he lived on the old Glen Farm, and then, in 1853, bought the Samuel Woods place of 131 acres, in Dickinson township, six miles from Carlisle. He also owned a tract of fifty acres of timberland on the
South Mountain. On Feb. 24, 1842, he mar- rieti Jane Lockard, daughter of Samuel and Catherine Lockard. The following children were born of this union: (1) Grizelle mar- ried Peter Hollinger, a farmer of Dickinson township, later of Mt. Holly. and died in Gettysburg. (2) Winfield Scott is mentioned below. (3) Caroline married Enos Stoffer and lives in Carlisle. (4) William H., born in 1849, married Katie Cline, has two chil- dren, and now resides in Kansas. (5) Frank G. is a resident of lilinois. (6) Sarah Cath- erine married William Martin, of Carlisle, and has seven children. (7) Anna Mary. now Mrs. Reuben Martin, has two children and resides in Dickinson township. (8) John S. is a resident of St. Joe, Miss. (9) Martin Luther is in Oklahoma.
Jolin Morrison was a worthy son of Cumberland county. Born July 1. 1818, he died Sept. 6, 1892, and for the seventy- four years of his life he did his part in form- ing the history of Dickinson township. His wife survived him nine years, dying March 23, 1901. He was good to look upon ; over six feet tall, his broad shoulders, his large chest, his large head, his erect air, his firm walk, his open face, his frank blue eyes, his benign smile, his look of general good will made it a pleasure to meet him. In his youth he was the champion wrestler for many miles. He was all of his life one of those most important factors in the county -the genial, determined, high-minded, in- dependent countryman who had his opinion upon every matter of public and private in- terest and was ready to stand by that self- formed opinion to the end. When he was . a young man, slavery was one, if not the question of the day. Mr. Morrison was one of the sympathizers who formed a division of the "Underground Railroad" in Cum- berland county. So well did this group of
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men guard their secret that the whole his- arm of John Morrison these free negroes would have been sold into slavery.
tory can never be told in this world. That there was a regular route through Cumber- land county is an established fact, and one of the hiding places of these slave fugitives was a bit of swamp land on the farm of John Morrison and Richard Woods. Fortunate would the historian be who could know what scenes took place on that strip of land or who could know what those men knew of the "Underground Railroad," but as they guarded the poor blacks who trusted them with their lives, so they kept their secret and it died with them. The writer was once shown this station by one of these men and told incidents connected with its history. Happy country to have such a citizen as John Morrison, one who, at such a crisis, could throw himself into the breach and help the weak until public sentiment was aroused and declared that such a crime as slavery or a barter of flesh and blood must cease. It was during the exciting times that preceded the Civil war that the Butler episode oc- curred. The Butler family were residents of Dickinson township. One night they were captured and an attempt made to carry them south to their alleged owners. The whole township was aroused by the news, a warrant issued for the arrest of the kid- nappers, and the sheriff hurried after the party. With him went John Morrison as the representative of the community. All haste was made and the kidnappers over- taken just as they had crossed the line into Maryland. To make an arrest there was im- possible. Mr. Morrison waved a letter and called "Come and get this." Back came the curious kidnappers, and, once within the clutch of those strong armns, escape was im- possible. The sheriff arrested the men and the Butler family were rescued. Had it not been for the courageous heart and strong
Mr. Morrison was emphatic in his be- lief in Republican principles. His religious convictions led him into the Methodist Church, of which both he and his wife were consistent members. He was honest in thought, straightforward in action, a strong character.
WINFIELD SCOTT MORRISON. his eldest son, was born in Dickinson township May 9. 1844. He was educated in the district schools, and at the age of seventeen began work on his father's farm. On Aug. II, 1862, he enlisted in the 130th P. V. I., and participated in the historic contests of Antie- tam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He was honorably discharged May 23, 1863, and in 1864 enlisted in the one hun- dred days' service, being stationed at Fred- erick City. The fall of that year found him again at work on his father's farm. After his marriage he rented the Peffer farm in Dickinson township, and he later rented the Glen Farm, where he remained thirteen years, or until he came to the old home farm of his father, ninety acres of which he bought and where he now lives. On his premises formerly stood a willow tree nine feet in circumference, which had grown from a switch planted by his sister Sarah in 1863, and which was cut down about 1894.
In December, 1865, Mr. Morrison mar- ried Della Frehn, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Frehin, and to this union came children as follows: Harry, born in June. 1867, is married and has two children ; Mills E., born June 25, 1870, is now deceased : Charles, born in 1874, married Mary Pet- fer, has one child, and lives in Harrisburg : Stella B. and Arthur R. are at home.
Mr. Morrison is, like his father, a stanch Republican. Although Dickinson township
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is a Democratic section, they have elected Mr. Morrison school director five terms. ' Thus it can be seen that in many ways he is a worthy successor of a most esteemed father.
DR. JOHN H. YOUNG. Among the professional men of New Cumberland who have become prominent in the practice of the science of medicine may be mentioned Dr. John H. Young, who is as distinguished in his line as he is respected for his strong stand in favor of Prohibition.
Dr. Young is well known in New Cum- berland, where he was born Nov. 24. 1835. a son of Joseph and Hannah ( Hickernell) Young. The founder of the Young family in America was Casper Young, the grand- father of Dr. Young, who came from Ger- many with several brothers, and settled in Lancaster county, Pa. There Joseph Young was born and grew to manhood, coming to Cumberland county with his brothers. Jolin and Lewis. The latter was a blacksmith in New Cumberland for many years, while John followed a coopering busi- ness in a suburb of Harrisburg. The father of Dr. Young died in New Cumberland in 1879. The mother of Dr. Young was a daughter of John Hickernell, a farmer of Erie county, later of Cumberland county, coming here when his daughter was small. She died here in 1881, aged seventy-five years. In religious faith she was a Luth- eran. In his youth Mr. Young was a Cath- olic, but later was converted to the faith of the Methodist Church, at New Cumberland. Of the seven children born to these worthy parents, five died in infancy, the two sur- vivors being Dr. Young and his sister Mar- garet, who is the wife of Postmaster Jesse Oren, of New Cumberland.
The early education of Dr. Young was pursued under the preceptorship of John G.
Ketterman, Joseph Musser, Daniel Lafferty and his sister, Jemima Lafferty. Later a brother of Daniel and Jemima, Jesse Laf- ferty, undertook the task of training the youths of the time, who congregated in a large frame building which stood on the present site of the Novelty Works. On ac- count of his father's feeble health, which in- terfered with his providing abundantly for his family, our subject was obliged to leave school at the age of fourteen years and en- deavor to add to the common purse. After learning the cooper's trade with his father, and making quite a successful beginning for himself, he decided to put aside personal feelings and loyally to go to the defense of his country. In the summer of 1862 he con- sequently was enrolled as a private in Com- pany H, 130th P. V. I., for nine months, but served for ten, participating in the bat- tle of Fredericksburg, where he was ser- iously wounded. He was struck by a piece of shell in his stomach, injuring him intern- ally, and received another wound in the same battle, on his shin bone. On account of these injuries he was sent to the National Hotel Hospital at Baltimore, but was finally discharged at Harrisburg.
Dr. Young was early impressed with the beauties of a religious life and a strong sense of duty. At the age of fifteen he became a member of the M. E. Church, and at the un- usual age of nineteen years was licensed to preach and filled the Lewistown circuit prior to enlisting. About 1864 he united with the United Brethren Church at New Cumber- land, and for thirty years he continued to preach continuously, through Cumberland. Adams, Franklin, York and Perry counties. For four years he was presiding elder, served most effectively on home missions and stations, and for one year was agent for the Lebanon Valley College. Although his min-
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isterial work kept brain and body busy, he still found time for study and reflection, and turned to the serious study of medicine, pur- suing it with practical intentions during his station at Newville and other charges. Dr. Young, like many of the prominent physi- cians of our country, never graduated. He read medicine under a competent preceptor. and practiced successfully for ten years be- fore the law was enacted that all physicians and surgeons were obliged to graduate from a university or college of medicine. How- ever. a provision to this act was made that such persons who liad practiced medicine and surgery for a period of ten years should receive from the Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania and other states a license or certi- ficate to practice their profession. Dr. Young had complied with this provision, and secured certificates of registration in York, Cumberland, Franklin and Perry counties. In 1894 he gave up the ministry and entered into the grave practice of the medical profession, spending three years at Wormleysburg, and then came to New Cum- berland, where he has a large and lucrative practice and is a valued member of the community.
In 1857 Dr. Young married Ellen Bals- ley, who was born in the village of Eberly's Mills. When she was six years old her par- ents, John and Mary (Thompson) Balsley, moved to New Cumberland, where the for- mer carried on a blacksmith business, and where both died. Three children were born to Dr. and Mrs. Young: Jennie is Mrs. Aaron Lantz, of New Cumberland; William H., of Harrisburg, assistant superintendent of the Prudential Life Insurance Co., mar- ried Jennie Staver ; and Ella is Mrs. William Rishel of Wormleysburg.
Dr. Young is an independent voter, but a strong and uncompromising supporter of
Prohibition principles, and twice consented to become the candidate of the Prohibition party for the Legislature and Congress, his defeat resulting only on account of the party's great minority. Upon his return to New Cumberland he united with the M. E. Church, and served as pastor of the West Fairview charge two years. He has served for six years on the city school board, and has used his time, voice and pen to advance education, morality and temperance. Fra- ternally he belongs to the Heptasophis, and is an honorary member of the Junior Order of American Mechanics.
REV. G. M. REED, D. D. In these days of progression a clergyman must not only be a man of intelligence, fully grounded in the teachings of his church, well read upon countless subjects, and one who car- ries out in his life thie doctrines he advocates, but he is obliged to be a man of affairs as well. To succeed spiritually as well as in a material way the preacher of to-day must also be a man of good executive ability, an excellent business man, and one who can im- press upon his people the necessity for works as well as faith. The people of the United Presbyterian Church at Newville, Cumber- land Co., Pa., the only church of that de- nomination in the Cumberland Valley, are to be congratulated upon their present pastor, the Rev. Dr. G. M. Reed, who was called to this charge in July, 1880, and has since then endeared himself not only to his own people, but to the entire community, and gained the confidence of the business men as well.
Dr. Reed was born in Canonsburg, Pa., and after a preliminary course in the com- mon schools was graduated from Westmin- ster College, New Wilmington, in 1873. Thence he went to Allegheny City, and later to Newburgh, N. Y., to take a complete
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course in theology. In April. 1875, he was licensed to preach by the First New York Presbytery, and ordained in April. 1876, by the Mansfield Ohio Presbytery. At once he was placed in charge of the churches of Hayesville and Monroe. Ohio, entering upon his duties in April, 1876. In January, ISSO, he received a call and in July. ISSO, as be- fore stated, he took charge of the church at Newville. The title of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him in 1900 by his Alma Mater, Westminster College. He was mod- erator of the Synod of Pittsburg in 1890, and is at present president of the Cumber- land Valley Sabbath Association. Here his special faculty for organization and execu- tive ability make him a very valuable official. The First United Presbyterian Church was organized in 1764. and has had but six pastors in its long history, they being : Rev. John Rodgers, 1772-1781 ; Rev. Jolin Jam- ieson, 1784-1792; Rev. James McConnell, 1799-1809; Rev. Alexander Sharp, D. D., 1824 to 1857; Rev. William L. Wallace, D. D., 1861 to 1879; Rev. George Murray Reed, D. D., 1880, to the present time. A peculiar incident in the history of the church is that every pastor save one has had a new church edifice. For some time prior to 1772 the people worshipped in a tent. The first building was constructed of logs; the second of stone; the third was of brick, amphi- theatre style, and was considered the finest church edifice in the valley. The fourth building which was also of brick, and two stories in height, was destroyed by fire in 1881. The present structure is an elegant one, one-story in height, Gothic style, with a Sunday-school room, parlor and other buildings adjoining. It was erected at a cost of $18,000, and is the pride of the con- gregation.
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