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 15
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child-of Samuel and Ann (Campbell) Fair, was named James and married Har- riet Smith.
At a correspondingly early date there lived in the Cumberland Valley, not far from Shippensburg, a man named Joseph Smith, who married Jenny McClure, and among other children had a son named Daniel. This son Daniel was a sickle and scythe maker, and some time prior to 1794 moved to Waslı- ington county, Pa. From Washington coun- ty he moved to the vicinity of Blairsville, Indiana county, where he prospered, and in course of time became one of the wealthiest men of that section. He died in the year 1851, and is buried in the Bethel Presbyte- rian graveyard in Indiana county. Daniel Smith married, first, Elizabeth Blaine, who died early. Afterward he married Mrs. Jane (Sibbet) Copley, and the only child of this second marriage was a daughter named Harriet, who March 9, 1842, married James Fair, son of the aforesaid Samuel Fair.
James and Harriet (Smith) Fair had nine children : Jane Elizabeth, Samuel, Dan- iel McClure, Robert Willis, James Camp- bell, Alice, Harriet Smith, George Hill and May C.
ROBERT WILLIS FAIR, the fourth of these children, married Margaretta A. Means. He was born on March 20, 1851, near Blairsville, Indiana county, on a farm which then belonged to his grandfather, Daniel Smith. He was educated in the pub- lic schools of his native county, and at the Millersville State Normal School, graduat- ing at Millersville in the elementary course in 1875, and two years later in the scientific course in the State Normal School at In- diana, Pa. After his graduation he taught in the Millersville Normal School one year, and then was elected a member of the faculty of the Indiana State Normal School, where
he taught for a period of twelve years. In 1888 he resigned his position at Indiana, and with A. W. Wilson, Jr., established the Kis- kiminitas Spring School, at Saltsburg, West- moreland county, a private school for boys, which they have successfully conducted for sixteen years. In 1892 the Western Uni- versity of Pennsylvania conferred on Mr. Fair the degree of Ph. D. To Robert Willis and Margaretta ( Means) Fair the following children have been born: Ethel Marian, James Means, Helen McClelland and Lois Margaret. Ethel is a member of the Junior class at Vassar College; James is a member of the Freshman class in Lehigh University ; and the other two are with their parents in their home by the Kiskiminitas, in West- moreland county.
CLARENCE JACOB REDDIG, A. M., M. A., one of the leading merchants and substantial men of Shippensburg, was born Nov. 4, 1855, in that city, and he has con- tinued to make it his home. He is a son of Jeremiah Burr Reddig, and comes of an old and honorable family.
(I) Henry Reddig, of German descent, was born May 1, 1779. in Meyerstown. Berks Co., Pa., and married Julia Reinoehl, of Lebanon, Pa., June 7, 1804. Later in life, Henry Reddig moved to the vicinty of Mid- dlespring, Cumberland county, Pa., and there passed away, Jan. 22, 1855.
(II) Jeremiah Burr Reddig, son of Henry, was born at his father's homestead, near Middlespring, Oct. 28, 1825. When but a boy of fourteen, on March 1, 1840, he made his way to Shippensburg, and by persistence obtained a position in a dry goods store. For some years the lad worked along this line, and then in January, 1851, he with his brother Jacob, was offered a partnership in the dry goods establishment at the north-
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east corner of Mail and Railroad streets. owned by Joseph P. Nevin. This offer was accepted, and the firm of Nevin & Reddig was organized. In 1857, the brothers bought the interest of Mr. Nevin as well as the real estate upon which the store was located. The style of the firm was changed to J. & J. B. Reddig, and the Reddig name has been continued in the dry goods business at the same location for more than half a century. In 1SSS the brothers transferred their in- terests to the four sons of J. Burr Reddig. whose hand had safely guided the house through many a financial storm, and the firm name adopted was the Reddig Com- pany.
On Jan. 30, 1849, Mr. Reddig married Barbara Ann Heck, daughter of John and Lydia (Cressler) Heck, who died Jan. 29. 1890. Four sons were born of this mar- riage : William E .; Clarence J .; Albert B .: and Charles H. Mr. Reddig was a man of genial disposition, and was courteous and pleasing in manner. All his life, he was indus- trious, persevering, ambitious, and capable of carrying out his designs. His executive ability and keen, business judgment were phenomenal, and yet in all his transactions he was conservative and strictly honorable. The house he built to such proportions, is scarcely second to any in the Cumberland Valley. Not only was he a shrewd business man, but Mr. Reddig had another side to his character. On Jan. 5, 1850, ne joined the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Shippens- burg, and remained its leading support until his death. Liberal to a fault, he con- tributed generously toward the erection of the handsome Memorial Lutheran Church, and his contributions were made in both time and money, the former being as valuable as the latter. He was chairman of the building committee of the church, while his brother
Jacob was treasurer of the committee. The four-dial tower clock was the gift of Jacob and J. B. Reddig. while Mr. Jacob Reddig bestowed upon the church the magnificent pipe organ of twenty-seven pipes, built by Odell, of New York. For thirty years this most excellent man was a teacher in the Sun- day School, and for many years was secre- tary of the church council. Although he never held a public office, he was trustee of the State Normal School of Shippensburg.
On March 31, 1899, this able and suc- cessful business man, great financier and be- loved and honored member of the church, passed away, leaving the community stricken with sorrow and his family prostrated. Every honor which loving hearts, and a com- munity which valued him at his true worth, could devise, was paid his remains, and his memory is kept green in the city where he labored and his good works show forth.
Clarence Jacob Reddig was educated in the public schools of Shippensburg, being graduated as valedictorian of the high school class of 1871, and at the age of eighteen years entered the Freshman class of Pennsylvania College, .Gettysburg, Pa., in September, 1873, with a view of prepar- ing for a professional career. After three years of faithful study, with extra work in fraternity and literary societies, his health failed, and he was compelled to relinquish the completing of his college course, and his cherished plans for a chosen profession. After a year's recuperation, he decided to enter the mercantile business and therefore took a full course at Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., receiving the degree of Master of Accounts in 1877. Prop- erly equipped for business, he returned to Shippensburg, and established The Peoples Cash Store, in 1878, which he successfully conducted until 1886, when the business
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houses of J. and J. B. Reddig and the Peo- ples Cash Store were united, and conducted under the firm name of J. and J. B. Reddig & Sons. With the different changes of the firm since 1886, Clarence J. Reddig has re- mained identified with it, and in 1894, he became owner of the original Nevin-Reddig real estate, which included the store prop- erty, as well as the Reddig corner property, where the post office is now located, and which was also the Reddig mansion home.
While at college Mr. Reddig was a char- ter member of Pennsylvania Beta Chapter of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and was del- egate of the same to the national convention held at Philadelphia in 1876; to Wooster, Ohio, in 1878; to Indianapolis in 1880, and to Richmond, Va., in 1882. He held the highest offices in the gift of the fraternity, being national president from 1878 to 1880, and national treasurer from ISSo to 1882. In the fields of literature, he has contributed to three editions of the song book of his fra- ternity, including the "Greeting" and "Part- ing" Centennial song, written for the re- union in Philadelphia in 1876. He is a fre- quent contributor to the public press, and a careful historian in collecting data of events. His alma mater, Pennsylvania College, Get- tysburg, gave him his honorary degree of Master of Arts in 1896.
Mr. Reddig joined the Evangelical Luth- eran Church, Jan. 22, 1871, and for over thirty years has been a very liberal contribu- tor, and for twenty-five years was an earnest Sunday School worker. For ten years, from 1878 to 1887, he took an active part in Coun- ty and State Sunday school work, being an organizer of superior ability, and was record- ing secretary for five years ; statistical secre- tary four years, and president one year of the Cumberland County Sunday School As- sociation, and for three years a member of
the Pennsylvania State Executive Commit- tee, being president of the Fourth District of the State, and was one of the first advo- cates of the Chautauqua idea in connection with the County Sunday School Convention, which developed into the Cumberland Val- ley Sunday School Assembly.
On Oct. 17, 1882, Mr. Reddig was mar- ried to Eva Dolores Mansfield, only child of Albert and Harriet (Munson) Mansfield, both of English origin, the father being for forty years superintendent of the Mt. Holly Paper Mills at Mt. Holly Springs. On the mother's side, Mrs. Reddig is descended from Revolutionary stock, her great-grand- father having served in the Revolutionary army. Her line of ancestors is also traced back to Thomas Munson, of English de- scent, who was one of the first settlers of New Haven, Conn., in 1638. Mrs. Reddig is a lady of great refinement and takes an active part in social affairs. She was a mem- ber of the Ladies Auxiliary of the World's Fair Committee from Cumberland county. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Reddig : Eva Pearl Mansfield, born June 7, 1885, who now attends Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa .; and Clarence Mans- field, born June 3, 1892, a student of the Cumberland Valley State Normal School. In politics, Mr. Reddig was a Republican; and took an active part in the campaigns, supporting Garfield and Blaine, and was a friend of Harrison, from all three of whom he has autograph letters. He joined the in- dependent Republican movement in 1884, engaged in the local option contest of the same year, and in 1886 supported Hon. Charles S. Wolf, the Prohibition candidate for governor, and was secretary of the State Prohibition Committee for four years, 1886 to 1889. By reason of his wide knowl- edge of public men and his practical
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business and political ideas, he was selected as secretary of the Pennsylva- nia Non-Partisan amendment committee in 1889, with headquarters in Philadelphia. which position he filled with great efficiency. and he was regarded as a "most systematic secretary combining discretion and judg- ment with zeal for the cause of Prohibition."
Public-spirited, aggressive and progres- sive. Mr. Reddig is a practical citizen and business man. and for three years he was secretary of the Shippensburg Manufactur- ing Company, of which he was a charter member. a period continuing from 1889 to 1891. In 1890, he organized the Shippens- burg Electric Light Company, and was treasurer of the same from its organization until 1896. Mr. Reddig is past regent of the Shippensburg Council, No. 995, Royal Arcanum, and has done much to make his council one of strength and influence. Amid a busy mercantile life, he finds time to keep in touch with the leading events of the day. and daily takes time for reading and study. He is a careful, judicious reader, at clear thinker, a logical reasoner and a good public speaker.
The Reddig family has been identified with the mercantile affairs of the city for many years and has made an indelible mark upon the trade interests of Shippens- burg for a period of more than fifty years. With a business experience built upon the principles of integrity and honesty, incul- cated by an honored father and uncle, Mr. Reddig holds a high place in the favor and confidence of the public, and with his pro- gressive, energetic and systematic dealings. he well merits the success which attends him.
JOHN ZEAMER. On Nov. 9. 1738. there arrived at the port of Philadelphia from Rotterdam a ship named the "Charm-
ing Nancy." She was commanded by Charles Stedman, and among the immi- grants she had on board was one whose name was entered upon the official records as Jeremiah Zamer. It is not known whether this young German immigrant settled, but it is probable that it was in Brecknock town- ship, Lancaster county, for it is in that part of the country that he is next heard from. When, in 1752, Berks county was formed, the new county line divided Brecknock, mak- ing two townships of that name, one for Lancaster and one for Berks county. On April 11, 1763, this same immigrant, then a full-grown and mature man, was natural- ized before Judges Allen and Coleman, at Philadelphia, and he was then entered upon the records as Jeremiah Zimmer, of Breck- nock township, Berks county.
Jeremiah Zimmer remained in Breck- nock township, Berks county, to the end of his days, and became the progenitor of num- erous descendants, some of whom yet live in the vicinity in which he first settled. The public records show that the proprietaries of the Province in January, 1765. patented to him 218. acres of land, lying in Breck- nock township, 172 acres of which he in November, 1787, conveyed to his son, Henry Zimmer. A part of this same tract of land is still in his name, being owned and oc- cupied by Peter Ziemer, a great-grandson.
Jeremiah Zimmer made his will on Nov. 20, 1793, which was probated in the Berks county courts on March 14, 1796, and re- corded in German. In it his name is spelled Ziemer, which form all of his descendants yet living in Berks county, and some who live in other parts of the country, still prefer. In his will he names his son, Heinrich, whom he made his executor, a daughter, Christina, and a son-in-law, Andrew Bogart. The Heinrich Ziemer of the will is the Henry
John Jeuner
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Zimmer to whom Jeremiah Zimmer in 1787 deeded 172 acres of land.
Henrich Ziemer married Catharine and had issue five children, namely: John, born Feb. 5. 1773; Henry ; Catharine, born March 17, 1776; Jeremiah, Jan. 25, 1778; and Peter, Nov. 21, 1778. Heinrich Ziemer died July 9, 1822 ; his wife, Catharine, died May 12, 1827, and both are buried in the graveyard of the Allegheny Union Church, in Brecknock. On his tomb- stone the name is Johan Heinrich Ziemer. Jeremiah Ziemer (Zimmer, Zamer) is likely also buried in the same graveyard, as it has been a place of interment for that section since in 1767, at which time the first church building was erected there. The subject of this sketch was a grandson of Johan Hein- rich Ziemer, and was nine years old when his grandfather died. He cannot recall of ever having seen him, but remembers that he was nearly always spoken of by the name of Henry only. He better remembers his grandmother, who died five years later. Af- ter her husband's death she lived with Peter, her youngest son, and died in his home. Johan Heinrich Ziemer was a large man, re- markable for his physical strength and great powers of endurance, and stories concerning his feats linger yet among the traditions of the locality in which his lifetime was spent.
Jeremiah, the fourth child of Johan Heinrich Ziemer, and grandson of Jere- miah, the immigrant, married Regina Gep- hart, also of Brecknock township, but of whose family history little is known. They had issue as follows : Catharine, born in De- cember, 1808, died in July, 1896; Isaac, born Aug. 27, 1810, died Feb. 24, 1883; John, born May 9, 1813 ; Margaret. Oct. 19, 1815, died March 1, 1892: Henry, March 2, 1819, died Feb. 21, 1899; and Harriet, born April 16, 1827. About the year 1822 Jere-
miah Ziemer moved from Berks county to the vicinity of Churchtown, Lancaster county, where for ten years he engaged in farming as a renter. In 1832 he moved to a short distance west of Lancaster city, to a farm owned by William Jenkins, a Lancaster lawyer. There he lived for five years. In the spring of 1837 he removed to a farm on Conoy creek, near Bainbridge, and the fol- lowing spring to the vicinity of the ore banks on Chestnut Hill, in West Hempfield town- ship, where he lived for two years, and then removed to Cumberland county.
When Jeremiah Ziemer moved from Berks to Lancaster county his son John went to live with his uncle Peter, who then was in possession of the original Ziemer homestead, consisting of part of the land which Jeremiah Ziemer, the immigrant, obtained from the Penns in 1765. He remained with his uncle one year and then went to the home of his parents in Lancaster county. When near fourteen years of age he was hired to a neighboring farmer, with whom he re- mained one year. Next he hired with a farmer who had a team constantly on the road doing hauling to Philadelphia and other points. The driver of this team unexpect- edly quit, and, as tlie boy John had proven himself handy with the farm horses, he was temporarily given charge of the road team. He first did hauling about home, and did it so well that his employer considered that it was safe to send him to Philadelphia with the team, and to Philadelphia he went. On his first trip, a neighbor, also driving a team, accompanied him and gave him some at- tention, but after that the boy drove regu- larly to Philadelphia and back without at- tention or assistance from any one. He re- mained with this employer nearly four years, teaming on the road almost constantly. As a result he grew up among horses, and
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horses and teaming became to him an in- fatuation that remained with him through all of his long lifetime. When he quit the services of the man who had initiated him into the art of team driving he went home, and through the following winter and spring drove his father's team between Church- town and Philadelphia. It was while the family lived at Churchtown that the spelling of the name was changed from Ziemer to 'Zeamer.
During the five years the family lived in Lancaster, John Zeamer drove his father's team constantly. The railroad from Phila- delphia to Columbia was then being built and he hauled much ·material for contractors en- gaged upon its construction. Columbia at that time was a great stopping-place for rafts from the upper Susquehanna river, and the young teamster found much to do at haul- ing lumber from Columbia to Lancas- ter and Philadelphia, and whiskey from Lancaster to Columbia, whence it was shipped down the river in arks and up the river in canal-boats. He passed the most impressible period of his ex- istence at Lancaster and absorbed so much of its life and activities that he became essen- tially a Lancasterian. In after years he in a large measure practiced Lancasterian meth- ods and judged men and things by the Lan- casterian standards.
At Bainbridge the pressure of farm work did not permit of much teaming on the road and his time was almost entirely occupied on the farm. On Chestnut Hill it was differ- ent. There the ore banks, that afterward became so famous, were being opened and afforded hauling to all the teams for miles around. A Zeamer team, driven by John Zeamer, was regularly on the road hauling ore to Columbia, whence it was shipped by river and canal to furnaces, and the fine ap-
pearance of the team, and the heavy loads it hauled, gave its driver a reputation that secured him a lucrative position with one of the wealthiest team owners on Chestnut Hill. This employer he served for eighteen months, by which time the family concluded upon another removal. For some time there had been a general trend of population to the westward, and while Jeremiah Zeamer and his oldest son were on a visit to some friends who had drifted into the Cumberland Val- ley they bought a farm in the northern part of Silver Spring township, Cumberland county, to which they moved in the spring of 1840.
In wagoning to Philadelphia from Lan- caster, John Zeamer became acquainted with two young teamsters from the vicinity of Marietta, named William and Samuel Hart- man. They became friends, and afterward, when on a visit to Marietta in quest of some hauling. John Zeamer met Samuel Hartman, who, after giving him some attention, asked him to the home of his parents for supper. He accepted the invitation and it proved an epoch in his history, for on that occasion he met Susanna, sister of William and Sam- uel Hartman, who on April 12, 1838, at the hands of Rev. H. B. Shaffner, pastor of the Reformed Church at Marietta, became his wife. Susanna Hartman was the daughter of Peter Hartman and Anna Maria Voneida, his wife, and was born June 25, 1812, near Adamstown, Lancaster county. Peter Hart- man in his early days was a cooper and later engaged in distilling. Through bailing friends he failed in business and to re- cuperate his fortune he changed his calling and location. Hfe rented a farmi on the Chickies Creek, south of Mount Joy. where he lived for several years, and then moved to a farm at the edge of Marietta, owned by David Rinehart. When
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his sons became young men they, too, be- came wagoners and did hauling to and from Philadelphia.
The farm which Jeremiah Zeamer bought in Silver Spring township had upon it two houses, one located at its farther edge close by the foot of the North Mountain. Into that house John Zeamer moved with his wife and year-old babe early in the spring of 1840. Coming from a thickly populated section and settling in a secluded spot in a new country, where neighbors were few and all strange, was a radical transition, and years elapsed before they became reconciled to the changed conditions. Instead of driv- ing a fine team on crowded turnpike roads John Zeamer was now chopping wood, split. ting rails, building fences, digging ditches, quarrying stone and burning lime to fertil- ize the barren acres which his father had im- prudently bought. He worked under the most discouraging circumstances, and when the prospect was at its darkest fell sick and came near dying. Medical skill and the care- ful, tender nursing of his devoted wife, how- ever, brought him back to health and he lived to see happier days. After four years a neighbor whose confidence and respect he had won offered to rent him his farm. It was a tempting opportunity, but he hesitated, for he had not as much as five dollars toward buying stock and implements for the under- taking. But a way was found and in the spring of 1844 he began farming. Jeremiah Zeamer had an old gray mare that came over from the ore bank team on Chestnut Hill. He also had a black mare that was blind, and these two decrepit creatures John Zeamer bought to begin farming with, agreeing to pay for them $25 each. On an equally cheap and simple scale he acquired cattle, sheep and implements, and when once he had got fairly started he found the undertaking
easier than he had anticipated. In four years' time he made sufficient progress on that little farm to rent a large farm in the lower end of the township, where he suc- ceeded far beyond his expectations, accumu- lating stock and implements and reducing his indebtedness. After another four years he was able to rent a larger farm in the same neighborhood, but in the adjoining township of Hampden, where he farmed for thirteen years, all the while making steady progress. To his natural fondness for horses he could now give free rein, and he at one time had a team of six large blacks, well trained and in good condition. And so careful was he of them that no one in his employ was per- mitted to drive them. He always drove them himself and considered it trifling to haul small loads. When hauling lime from beyond the Conedoguinet, or grain to Me- chanicsburg, or flittings in the spring of the year, every horse had to be groomed till he glistened and properly hitched so the team would pass muster before the most critical judges. Whenever there were a number of teams in the line, as in case of a flitting, his, by general consent, was always given the lead; and when in the neighborhood there arose a question about horses and heavy hauling his judgment was almost always con- sulted and nearly always ruled.
In the spring of 1865 he made an im- portant change. He was now fifty-two years old and physically had seen his best days, so to lighten his labors and cares he reduced his stock and rented a smaller place. He removed from Hampden to Monroe township, in the vicinity of Locust Point. Here he farmed four years and then had sale and quit, after having farmed rented farms continuously for twenty-five years. By this time most of his children had reached maturity and left home. His family had
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