Biographical annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, Part 18

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 18

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The earliest American ancestors of both the paternal and maternal lines of the family first settled on the banks of the Schuylkill river, near the mouth of the Tulpehocken, and from there gradually drifted westward.

Jacob Burgner was born in ISII, and died near the place of his birth on July 13, 1886. He was a carpenter and contractor, a skillful workman, and remarkable for his great en- ergy and industry. He was long in the em- ploy of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Co. as building foreman. Anna Maria Raub was born in 1818, in Fredericksburg, Leb- anon county, where her ancestors for several generations had lived. She died on Dec. 26, 1899, and she and her husband are buried at Walmer's Church, in Union township, where the Burgner grandparents are also buried.

Jacob and Anna Maria ( Raub) Burgner had children as follows : Thomas Raub, Ma- tilda, Franklin, Charles Henry, Jacob, John, David, Emma, Milton and Solomon. Thomas Raub, the eldest child and the sub- ject of this sketch, owing to the delicate health of his mother, when yet a babe was put with his maternal grandparents and with them spent his childhood and youth. When six years old he started to the country dis- trict school, not because of any special desire to go, but because his grandfather, with a switch in hand, persuaded him. His first teacher was a man named Horace Dasher. Following him came Daniel Uhrich, who was a graduate of Mercersburg College. Uhrich was his teacher for several years, and under him he made good progress. He re- members him as a natural instructor and a good disciplinarian, but as receiving a sal- ary of only $16 a month. On reaching his seventeenth year Thomas R. Burgner was ap- prenticed to the milling trade with Solomon Shaeffer, at Harpers, on Indian Town creek, a stream which had so much fall that the mills along its banks were all propelled by overshot wheels. After completing his ap- prenticeship he worked as a journeyman for eighteen months in the same mill. He next

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worked for a short time as journeyman in a mill at Jonestown, Lebanon county. From Jonestown he came to Cumberland county and rented the Eckert mill, situated at the mouth of the Green Spring, on the Conedo- guinet creek, and started in business for himself. After two years he went from Eckert's to the Trindle Spring, to a mill owned by one Samuel Benson, and which possessed a special interest for him in that his father, when a young man, had helped to build it.

By this time the war of the Rebellion was on. there came a call for troops to defend Pennsylvania from invasion by the Confed- erates, and he enlisted for the emergency. He joined the company of Capt. Daniel Shelly, of Shiremanstown, which went (never officially mustered) into service as Company A of the Ist Regiment Pennsylva- nia Militia, Col. Henry McCormick, which was a part of the body of 35,000 untrained and patriotic men which under Gen. John F. Reynolds crossed into Maryland and took position to the right of Gen. McClellan's army, while the result of the battle of Antie- tam hung trembling in the balance. Upon this memorable occasion Mr. Burgner was made quartermaster and assigned the diffi- cult and important duty of distributing ra- tions to his regiment after the men had been without food for two days, and all this time lying in line of battle in an advanced posi- tion.

While this army of emergency men did not come into actual conflict with the enemy the experience was a taste of war that after- ward led many of the participants to volun- teer for the war. Among this number was Thomas Burgner. Immediately upon being discharged from the militia service he en- listed, Oct. 17. 1862, in Company C, 3d Pennsylvania Artillery, 152d Regiment in

line, for three years or during the war. This regiment was formed specially for the sea- coast heavy artillery service, and with a view of making it part of the garrison of Fortress Monroe. Thirty-one of his com- rades were from the vicinity of Mechanics- burg and Shiremanstown, and his company, almost entirely, was made up of men from Cumberland county. The regiment was as- signed to the Department of the Virginia, afterward the James, and belonging to the artillery arm of the service was divided up and distributed to different points on the peninsula and about Richmond, as the opera- tions of the army required. Two companies of it participated in the famous engagement at Chapin's Farm, and others were engaged at Petersburg, Sailor's Creek, and Appo- mattox.

Early in 1863, soon after getting to the front, Mr. Burgner was recommended for the position of military librarian, whose chief duties were to take care of the historical collections and artillery school stores at Fortress Monroe. He passed a regular examination before a board of United States army officers, was ap- pointed to the place, and faithfully dis- charged its duties until the end of his term of enlistment. During that time he also held the position of recorder to general courts martial and military commissions, and as such recorded many secrets of the gravest character. He was discharged on Oct. 19, 1865, at the expiration of his term of service.

On returning home from the army Mr. Burgner for a period of two years engaged in the mercantile business at Shiremanstown with Daniel Rupp, and then for two years more sold nursery stock for Henry S. Rupp, of Shiremanstown. He then returned to the milling trade and for six years was head miller for Thomas B. Bryson. at the Silver

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Spring. Next he and John G. Krall pur- chased the Hays Mill, located on the north side of the Conedoguinet creek, in Frank- ford township, and for two years operated it. After two years they dissolved their partner- ship. and on April 1, 1876, Mr. Burgner leased what formerly was known as the Lindsey Mill, in West Pennsboro township, which he has been operating continuously ever since.

Mr. Burgner is an intelligent, progres- sive man, and a vigorous independent thinker. He devotes much time to reading and studying the current literature of this time, also that relating to his business, and consequently is well informed on all up-to- date ideas and inventions. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Millers' Association, which covers all of the country east of the Ohio river, and for the past seven years has been one of its board of directors. He is one of the active spirits of the organization and frequently appears upon the program of its proceedings, having in late years de- livered a number of addresses which have been published in the trade journals and ex- tensively circulated throughout the country. Chief among these productions are "Credit. or Pay as You Go," and "Eastern Field for Eastern Millers." In politics, he is a Repub- lican and takes an active interest in public affairs. He is not an office-seeker, but was elected county auditor in 1875 and again in 1878, and through his rigid care and dis- crimination substantial reforms were accom- plished.

Thomas Burgner was married. on Dec. I, 1857. to Miss Lizzie Eckert, of Newville, a daughter of John Eckert, of Cumberland county, who in 1860 moved to Morgan coun- ty, Va., and died there in 1880 at the age of eighty years. To their union the following children have been born: Mary Agnes;

John E., who for more than twenty-five years has been in the West and has now charge of a large mill at North Platte, Neb. ; Alice, who is married to Simon W. Brehm and lives at Uniontown, Pa. ; Francis Henry, who died in infancy ; Lizzie A .. who is mar- ried to Mervin J. Shambaugh, and lives in York, Pa .; Emma C .; Ida Margery; Re- becca Ray; Thomas U. S .; Carrie Lucretia; and Arthur LeRoy. Three of the daughters, Alice, Lizzie and Rebecca, have been success- ful teachers in the public schools of Cumber- land county.

There are some incidents in the life of Thomas R. Burgner that his biographer thinks of sufficient importance to lay before the reader in this connection: While the Pennsylvania Militia, exhausted from marching and lack of food, were lying with- in hearing distance of Antietam's guns, orders came that the commissariat should enter the neighboring houses and prepare coffee and food for the command. This was done, in some instances against the protests and opposition of the occupants. About three . o'clock in the morning, while making great quantities of coffee, in a Maryland farmer's kitchen, Quartermaster Burgner was hon- ored with a call from Gen. Reynolds and Col. McCormick. They had been riding around most of the night, studying the situa- tion, and sniffing the aroma of the Quarter- master's steaming coffee, had stopped in to sample it. They drank of it heartily and pronounced it the best they had ever tasted. Coming from such judges he considered it high praise.

In the performance of his duties at Fortress Monroe events that have become imbedded in our national history came under his immediate observation. For about one year there lay in Hampton Roads three Rus- sian ships of war, most advantageously an-

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chored in case of conflict between them and some British ships of war that lay there at the same time. The presence of these Rus- sian battleships was a token of that country's friendship for our government and a warn- ing to England to keep hands off. This was understood by the officers and men at the Fort, and the Russian officers were highly favored by the Americans. Upon one occa- sion they were tendered a banquet which lasted from 8 P. M. of one day to 4 A. M. of the next. Of this banquet, by reason of his official presence, Mr. Burgner saw much that did not appear in the newspaper reports of the affair. and which with him will always be an interesting reminiscence.

During the early part of the year 1865 Mr. Burgner's eyes were greeted with a sight that seared itself into his memory for life. It was a group of some of the most conspicuous characters in the great conflict, in a peace conference. Alexander H. Ste- phens, John A. Campbell and Robert M. T. Hunter, Confederates, had met President Lincoln and Secretary Seward on the boat "Sylvan Dell," anchored about a hundred feet out from the union wharf. The distin- guished party had come out upon deck and were engaged in conversation near the stern of the boat, in full view of those upon shore. There stood the tall spare form of President Lincoln, in sharp contrast with that of Mr. Stephens, Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy, discussing one of the weight- iest problems of history, while those who beheld them, knowing what was the subject that was being considered, were awed into silence.

After Jefferson Davis was captured he was confined in Carroll Hall, Fortress Mon- roe, in close proximity to the post library in the same building. By or-

der of Gen. Nelson A. Miles, Davis was given the use of the library, and it became a part of Mr. Burgner's duties to carry to him such reading matter as the dis- tinguished prisoner called for. He was a great reader, his preference being memoirs and auto-biography. Members of his family frequently called to see him and Mr. Burg- ner was the officer charged with admitting them, also to the post library while on their visits. In this way he saw much of Mr. Davis, and had good opportunity of studying him. He was calm and dignified in his bear- ing, and courteous and polite to all, irre- spective of rank and authority. His appear- ance impressed everyone who saw him with the fact that he was a man of great power, a mortal of more than ordinary mould. While Mr. Burgner is not a product of the schools, he had ten six months' terms in the common schools during the period of his youth. The common schools of that day were models of discipline and attention. The training re- ceived during his three years of army life was varied and far-reaching, being gained under the guidance of able men. The tokens of high regard held by him from his supe- riors must always remain a source of grati- fication to him and his family.

JOSEPH PIERCE NEVIN (de- ceased), who for many years was one of the leading merchants of Shippensburg, was born March 30, 1813, in the borough of Shippensburg, son of David and Mary ( Pierce) Nevin.

The records of the family have not been carefully preserved, but it is known that the great-grandfather was one Daniel Nevin, who married Mrs. Margaret ( Williamson) Reynolds. On the maternal side, the family resided near Carlisle, in Cumberland county.

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David Nevin. father of Joseph P., was a prominent merchant in this city. and was extensively interested in real estate, the owner of several good farms and a couple of mills, which he operated in connection with his other business enterprises.

The late Joseph Pierce Nevin was reared in Shippensburg where he secured a good, common school education. and assisted his father at home until his maturity. That he was a young man of parts and character, may be inferred when it is known that, al- though so young, he was entrusted by his father with the task of looking after his large business interests in the South. This mission he successfully performed, and upon his return to Shippensburg, took the superin- tendency of his father's business, continuing with him as such until the latter's death, when he settled up the extensive estate. Mr. Nevin then entered into a dry goods business on his own account, and built up a large trade, also, in the meantime, superintending several farms.

Mr. Nevin was twice. married, first to Miranda Kellogg, of Shippensburg. former- ly of Connecticut, who died in 1844. To this union three children were born, the only survivor being Miss Josephine E. The sec- ond marriage was to another estimable lady, Miss Jane Craig, of Welsh Run, Pa., who died in 1902. Both wives were interred in Spring Hill cemetery.

The late Mr. Nevin was a stanch Demo- crat, and held a number of the minor town- ship offices. For a number of years he was trustee in the Presbyterian Church, and one of its most liberal supporters. In business he was honorable and upright ; in the domes- tic circle, a kind and affectionate husband and a careful and indulgent father. He built the handsome family mansion known as "Waverly," a commodious stone structure,

with attractive surroundings, and here he spent his last days. His death took place July 15, 1859.

GEORGE HEMMINGER, M. D., a prominent physician and surgeon at Car- lisle, Pa., comes of sturdy old German stock and of a family that is honorably known in a number of the States of the Union.

John Hemminger, his grandfather, emi- grated from Germany and settled in Lan- caster county, Pa., when a young man, and there married Barbara Rhemm. To them were born three sons, John, Jacob and Sam- tiel, and one daughter, Nancy, who married George Stubbs, of Cumberland county, in 1800.

John Hemminger, the eldest son of John Hemminger, Sr., married Eliza Heagy, and they settled on the old farm two and a half miles west of Carlisle, where the following named children were born to them : Jane A., who became the wife of Lafayette Peffer, of Dickinson township, and had children ; John, Jr., who became a farmer near Waynesboro, Franklin county ; Sarah ; Samuel, deceased ; Catherine, who became the wife of J. E. B. Graham and removed to the vicinity of Lincoln, Neb., (they have a family) ; Wil- liam, who died in 1873, leaving a widow ; Joseph, who died in 1883, leaving a widow ; Mary, who married William Mccullough, of near Shippensburg, Cumberland county (they have a family) ; Hettie, who became the wife of Joseph Bectem, of Carlisle, and had a family : Jacob, of Carlisle ; Dr. George; and Susannah.

George Hemminger was born Sept. 8, 1840, on his father's farm near Carlisle, and received his primary education in the district schools. In 1861 he entered Pennsylvania College, in the Freshman class, and one year later successfully passed the examination for

Ga. Hemminger Mr.l.

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the Sophomore year, but the outbreak and continuance of the Civil war changed his plans at that time. In August, 1862, in com- pany with seven of his classmates, he went to Harrisburg, and on the 16th, his name was enrolled as a member of Company B, 138th P. V. I. With his command he was as- signed to duty at the Relay House, where he remained until June 16, 1863. As a member of the 2d Brigade, 3d Division, he was en- gaged with the force transporting stores to Washington, D. C. From the Ist to the 5th of July he was at Wapping Heights, Va .; July 23 was at Kelly's Ford; Nov. 7 at Brandy Station; Nov. 8 at Mine Run; from Nov. 26 to Dec. 2 at Locust Grove. In March, 1864, he was assigned to the 6th Corps, and from May 5th to 7th took part in the battle of the Wilderness ; was at Spottsyl- vania from the 12th to the 19th; at Cold Harbor June Ist to 3d; in the trenches at Bermuda Hundred, June 17; destruction of the Weldon railroad. June 22-23; at Mono- cacy, Md., July 9; from Feb. 17, 1865, until March 25th, when he was paroled, he was a prisoner of war, at Danville and at Libby, in Richmond. On April 10, 1865, the young soldier returned to his regiment, marching with it to Danville, where he had suffered imprisonment, and then proudly with Gen. Sherman's victorious army to attend the Grand Review at Washington, June 8, 1865.

Having gallantly and faithfully served his country, the young student returned to his books, entering Dickinson College, at Carlisle. for a year, and then beginning the study of medicine under Dr. J. J. Zitzer ; later he spent one term at the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. He then entered the College of Medicine at Detroit and was there graduated in 1869. For the succeeding six years he practiced his profession at New- ville, removing thence to Baltimore, Md.,

where he formed a partnership with his old preceptor, Dr. J. J. Zitzer, with whom he remained until the fall of 1875, when he re- turned to Carlisle. Here Dr. Hemminger has been actively engaged in practice ever since, his clientele being so large at the pres- ent time that it is almost burdensome. Both as a physician and a citizen he is held in the highest esteem.

. Dr. Hemminger was married (first) Feb. 11, 1871, to Annie Powell, a native of Maryland, daughter of Col. Samuel R. and Mary A. ( Kelly) Powell, of Baltimore. One son, George R., was born to this union April 25, 1872, was graduated at St. Stephen's In- stitute, and is now located at Manchester, N. H., where he is superintendent of the United Gas Improvement Co., whose main offices are in Philadelphia, at the corner of Broad and Arch streets.

Dr. Hemminger married for his second wife Miss Nina Oyster, daughter of D. K. and Catherine (Drabaugh) Oyster, of Mis- souri, a lady of charming manners and a true Southern type. Dr. Hemminger is a member of the Lutheran Church. He is con- nected with the various medical organiza- tions and is prominent fraternally in the Masonic bodies, belonging to St. John's Commandery, No. 361, Knights Templar, of Carlisle.

JOHN CLENDENIN ECKELS. Else- where in these biographical annals it is re- lated that the first Eckels known to have set- tled in Pennsylvania had a son named Na- thaniel. This Nathaniel Eckels for his sec- ond wife married Mrs. Isabella ( Huston) Clendenin, who was the widow of James Clendenin and a daughter of Samuel and Isabella (Sharon) Huston. Nathaniel Eckels and Isabella, his wife, had a son Francis, who married Miss Isabella Clendenin, daugh-

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ter of Jolin and Elizabeth (Caldwell) Clen- denin. by whom he had seven children, among them a son named John Clendenin Eckels. [Histories of the Clendenins and the Hustons appear in other parts of this volume. ]

Jolin Clendenin Eckels was born April 13. 1824, in the northwestern part of what is now Silver Spring township, in a home now owned by the heirs of the late William Jacobs. When five years of age his father moved to a large farm lying in Coffman's Point, on the south side of the Conedoguinet creek. on the eastern border of Silver Spring township, where he farmed as a renter for six years. Here began the boy's education and preparation for the serious duties of life. He was first sent to a school taught in a log house which stood on the north side of the turnpike, a little way east of where that road crosses the Silver Spring as it courses northward towards the Conedoguinet. The Eberlys, the Sprouts, the Emingers and the Cobles were some of his school and play- mates. The turnpike was then the great thoroughfare of the country, and from morning until night was crowded with traffic. Swift stages, filled with dusty pas- sengers, came and went; large Conestoga wagons with high bowed covers and bell teams passed in endless procession, and in full view of this moving panorama, among these shifting, distracting scenes, John C. Eckels was first taught to mind his books and study his lessons.

The next school he attended was on the McGuire farm, on the north side of the Conedoguinet, taught by his cousin Jona- than Eckels, who, though of diminutive size and deformed, was in his day one of the most successful teachers in the county. The McGuires, the Wilts, the Adamses and the Sprouts were some of his fellow pupils in

this school. Afterward he attended for a session or two, a school at Hogestown, which being situated on the turnpike presented to him much the same scenes which met his gaze from the door-steps of his first school, but being some years older they did not so vividly and effectually root themselves into his memory. In 1835 his parents moved a mile due north of New Kingstown, to a farm which became John C. Eckels's home for nearly all the rest of his lifetime. Here he attended a school located near Crider's Mill, on the road leading to Hogestown, and which was patronized by the Beltzhoovers, the Irvines, the Armstrongs, the Hermans, and other representative families of that sec- tion. By this time he had reached boyhood's prime and won for himself prominence in class and on playground. He was beginning to feel the promptings of ambition, studied hard, and freely participated in the games and frolics which gave to the country school life of those days interest and zest. In his reminiscences in after years he frequently referred to his experiences at this school, and often related how a teacher of precious mem- ory named Ben Hipple, on being barred out at the Christmas holidays, smilingly in- formed the boys that in anticipation of the event he had engaged with "Black Jack" at Hogestown a whole bushel of cakes, and capped the announcement by appointing a delegation to fetch the grand treat, of which proud and happy delegation John C. Eckels was a member. The adoption of the free school system wiped the school at this place out of existence and he then for several terms attended school at New Kingston. He was naturally of a bright mind and made good progress in the various branches that he studied. He also attended a Sunday-school which his father and John Herman orga- nized and conducted in the old log school

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house near Crider's Mill, and in his leisure hours did miscellaneous reading which added much to his stock of general informa- tion. Between school terms he worked upon the farm and with hands and mind thus con- stantly employed he steadily advanced upon the years of young manhood.

His standing at school had attracted at- tention and become the subject of conversa- tion in the neighborhood; his conduct and address had won him the respect and favor of influential people, and one day a commit- tee unexpectedly called upon him with a formal request that he come and teach a school which they represented. He appre- ciated the compliment but hesitated to accept the responsibility ; besides his father feared it might prove too much of an undertaking and cautioned him against acting hastily in the matter. The committee, however, were urgent, and finally persuaded him to teach their school. This was in the fall of 1845. and the school in question was known as Lambertons, in North Middleton, now Mid- dlesex township. He boarded in the home of Squire Abraham Lamberton, where he found congenial associates who encouraged and strengthened him in his labors. In Feb- ruary of that winter his mother died, which was a very heavy affliction, but in the Lam- berton home he found sympathy, and he often afterward recalled how Mrs. Lamber- ton consoled him in his sore bereavement. Squire Lamberton was an enthusiastic friend of popular education, and a practical sur- veyor, and from his example the young teacher caught inspiration that had much to do with shaping his course through life.

His term of teaching in North Middleton township was the opening of John C. Eckels' career. In the following summer a new school house was built and a new school created in the immediate vicinity of his

home. He did hauling and in other ways assisted in the erection of this house, and the school, because of its situation and associa- tions, came to be known as the Eckels school. He became its first teacher, teaching it in the winter term of 1846-47 at a salary of $16 a month. In the spring of 1847 he en- tered New Bloomfield Academy, of which Rev. Matthew B. Paterson was the principal, and from Mr. Paterson received his first instruction in the science of surveying, in which he afterward so long and so success- fully engaged. He spent one term in the New Bloomfield Academy and on his return home resumed teaching at the Eckels school, which he taught in all four winter terms. In the fall of 1850 he was employed to teach in the New Kingstown school. New Kingstown then had but one school and that was held in an old house which stood back of the former Lutheran church, and so low in the ground that in wet seasons the water would run in on the floor. This school was large and there were frequently between eighty and a hundred pupils in attendance. He con- tinued to teach here until in the spring of 1852. when he started farming on the Eckels homestead, his father removing to New Kingstown.

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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 18

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