Biographical annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, Part 2

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 2

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Christian Humrich was married to Christina Foltz, and, as appears by the records of the Trinity Lutheran Church of Lancaster City, had the following children : Anna Maria, born Dec. 24, 179 -: Cathi- arine, born April 18, 1795; George Philip, born August 19, 1796; Sarah Elizabeth, born March 11, 1798; Johannes, born Aug. 10, 1799. and John Adams, born Sept. 3. 1800.

John Adams Humrich, the youngest child of Christian and Christina (Foltz)

CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

Humrich, learned the saddler's trade, suc- ceeded to the business of his father and con- tinued it until in 1830, when he changed to the grocery and provision trade, which he conducted on the aforenamed corner at Han- over and Louther streets until 1840. He then relinquished the mercantile business and thereafter directed his attention to farming and the management of his properties. He died on the 18th of February, 1880. He was an energetic, successful business man and like his family for generations before him, was a member of the Lutheran Church. In politics he was an old-line Whig and an ar- dent supporter of William Henry Harri- son for president. Subsequently he was a rad- ical Republican and an "Underground Rail- road Man," but never held an elective office.

In 1830 John Adams Humrich married Mary Ann Zeigler, of North Middleton township. a daughter of Philip Zeigler, whose father. Philip Zeigler, Sr., came from Wurtemberg, Germany, in the year 1753, and located in Upper Salford township, Phila- delphia (now Montgomery) county, where on Sept. 24. 1763. he was naturalized. He was a land owner and a farmer and a warm friend of the Continental cause in the Rev- olutionary war. He and his wife Elizabeth had six sons, viz .: Henry, Andrew, John, George. Mark and Philip. and two daugh- ters. Catharine and Elizabeth, as appears by his last will and testament. duly probated in Montgomery county. His son, Philip Zeigler. Jr., who was one of his executors, married Mary Kramer of the adjoining county of Bucks, and by her had three sons and two daughters born in Montgomery county. The sons were John, Abraham and Samuel. and the two daughters were Eliza- beth and Mary Ann. With this family, in 1801, when his daughter Mary Ann was yet less than five years old. he migrated to Cum-

berland county and settled near Sterrett's Gap, in Middleton (now Middlesex) town- ship, where he resided until the end of his days. In addition to the above-named chil- dren three sons, Jesse, David and Philip, and a daughter, Sophia, were born after the family settled in Cumberland county. Three daughters, not named, died in infancy, but the rest of his children all grew to maturity, married, and with a single exception left families. Elizabeth, the oldest daughter, married Dr. Conrad Eckert, of Carlisle, and died without issue in August, 1823, in the thirty-fifth year of her age. Sophia, the youngest child, became the wife of Jacob Wise, and at the age of almost ninety-two years is still living at her home in the village of Springville, in this county, reasonably active in mind and body.

Philip Zeigler, Jr., the Cumberland coun- ty ancestor of the Zeigler family, was also a member of the German Lutheran Church of Carlisle, as were all his children and many of his grandchildren. He was a Democrat in politics, and took interest in public af- fairs, but never sought office. He was pos- sessed of considerable property and as a stockholder and director lost heavily in the old Agricultural Bank of Carlisle. His chief occupation was farming, at which he en- gaged extensively, and the "Mansion Farm," which he bought in 1801, is still owned and farmed by his grandchildren.

John Adams and Mary Ann (Zeigler) Humrich had four children, viz .: Christian Philip (whose name heads this sketch), John A., Samuel K. and William A. John A. died in 1862, leaving surviving him his widow and three children, of whom only the widow and one son are now living. The other three sons are living and all are resid- ing in Carlisle.

Christian Philip Humrich, the eldest son .

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of John Adams and Mary Ann (Zeigler) Humrich, and the especial subject of this sketch, was born in Carlisle March 9, 1831. He grew to manhood and received all his education in the town of his birth. On Aug. 16, 1836, he entered one of the first primary schools organized in Carlisle under the free school law. Miss Rebecca Wightman was his first teacher. From the primary he passed through the different grades to the high school, from which he graduated in the summer of 1847. On leaving the public schools he entered the preparatory depart- ment of Dickinson College and completed a full course in that institution, graduating from the college proper in July, 1852. In the fall of 1852 he entered the office of R. M. Henderson, Esq., as a student-at-law, and under his instruction pursued the study of the law until Nov. 14. 1854, on which date he was admitted to the Cumberland County Bar. Since then he has been practicing his profession in this and adjoining counties. Along with his law practice Mr. Humrich has paid some attention to agricultural pur- suits and given much time to the study of history. The history of Cumberland County and of the counties formed from "Mother Cumberland" has been with him a favorite theme for many years, and upon this par- ticular subject the members of the commu- nity in general have long regarded him as an authority.

In politics Mr. Humrich is a stanch Re- publican. He helped to organize that party in 1856 and has shared its fortunes ever since, serving as chairman of its county com- mittee, and as the representative of his coun- ty in its State organization. On three dif- ferent occasions he was a candidate for county office, twice for District Attorney and once for State Assembly, in each in- stance receiving a creditable vote, but the

Democratic majority in the county was too large to overcome and he was defeated with the rest of his party ticket. In municipal affairs he has been prominent nearly all his life. As early as 1862 he served as a mem- ber of the Carlisle town council, and again since 1899. As school director he has en- joyed an exceptionally long and honorable career, as may be gathered from the follow- ing extract from a Carlisle newspaper :

"On last Monday evening, Dec. 7, 1896, C. P. Humrich, Esq., entered upon his for- tieth year of continuous service as school director of the borough of Carlisle, having taken his seat as a member of the school board on Monday, the 7th day of December, 1857. He has also served as secretary of the school board since Feb. 6, 1860, and the minutes of the board are in his hand- writing."

His term of service as school director terminated on the 7th of June, 1897, he hav- ing served continuously in that capacity for almost thirty-nine-and-a-half years. He has likewise figured as a fireman. On the 5th of March, 1859, he became a member of the Good Will Hose Company ; onApril 15, 1862, he was elected president of that organization, in which capacity he served until June 20, 1899, when he was made president of the board of trustees, which position he still holds. On the 6th day of September, 1862, he was commissioned captain of the Key- stone Guards, a military company which was organized by and composed principally of members of the Good Will Hose Company. This organization shortly afterward became Company I, Ist Regiment of the Pennsyl- vania Militia, commanded by Col. Harry McCormick, and served on the State border in the Antietam campaign under the procla- mation of President Lincoln and the orders of Gov. Curtin. In connection with Hon.

CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

W. F. Sadler and others Mr. Humrich or- ganized and put into successful operation the Carlisle Building & Loan Association-the first of its kind in Carlisle-and acted as its secretary from the time of its organization until it was voluntarily dissolved by order of court, a period of nearly nine years. He is now president of the Cumberland County Bar Association; has served as treasurer of the Cumberland County Law Library Com- mittee since January, 1875 ; has administered the Hamilton Trust School Fund since 1885; has been secretary of the Hamilton Library Association since 1891, and is a charter member of the Pennsylvania Ger- man Society.

On May 12, 1859, Christian Philip Hum- rich was married to Miss Amanda Rebecca Zeigler, a daughter of Jesse and Mary Ann (Peffer) Zeigler, and granddaughter of Philip Zeigler, of North Middleton town- ship. To their union nine children were born, six of whom survive. these being Charles F., who is engaged in the insurance business ; Ellen King: Carrie Amelia, who is the wife of Jacob W. Humer ; Blanche Zeigler, Mary Ann and Christian Philip, Jr., all of whom reside in Carlisle and are members of the First Lutheran Church. On the 8th of May, 1899, his wife, Amanda Rebecca, after a protracted illness caused by grip and pneu- monia, died, and her remains were laid to rest in Ashland cemetery, at Carlisle. His home and that of his family has been at No. :49 West Louther street since April, 1860.

Mr. Humrich has lived in Carlisle all his life. He well remembers the great hail storm that struck the town in June, 1839, by which the large willow tree standing near the First Presbyterian church was blown down, the attic gable end of the house of William Leonard, corner of Hanover and Louther streets, blown out upon the adjoin-

ing residence of Abel Keeny. and much other damage that was done. He vividly recalls the election campaign of 1840 and the log cabin that was erected on Pitt street opposite to where the Opera House now stands; the defeat of Henry Clay in 1844 and the medals and badges used in that campaign ; the burn- ing of the court house and town hall in March, 1845, and the building of the new court house. He is one of the few surviving witnesses of the McClintock riot, which oc- curred in June, 1847, having been in front of the court house when it took place; he heard the trial of the defendants at the Au- gust court of quarter sessions following, and was present when the Confederate Gen- eral Fitzhugh Lee, on the night of July I, 1863, bombarded the town.

MARTIN MUMMIA, one of the repre- sentative business men and popular and re- spected citizens of Cumberland county, president of the First National Bank of Mechanicsburg, was born June 14, 1834, near Bainbridge, Lancaster county, son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Nissley) Mumma, the former of whom was born in 1808, near High Spire, Dauphin county. The ancestors of the Mumma family came from Switzer- land to America about 1735. John Mumma, grandfather of Martin, was the father of the following children : Jacob. John, Christian, Samuel, Elizabeth and Francis, all deceased.

Jacob Mumma, son of John and father of Martin, was born in 1808 near High Spire, Dauphin county. He married Eliza- beth Nissley, and their children were: Mar- tin ; John, deceased; Jacob, a retired farmer of Cumberland county; Eli, an implement dealer at Mechanicsburg; Amos, an imple- ment dealer in Harrisburg: Anna, wife of Levi Mussleman, of Upper Allen township, Cumberland county ; Eliza, wife of Christian

CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

Heitler, a retired farmer of Mechanicsburg ; and Emma, the wife of John Harnish, a dealer in grain and feed at Mechanicsburg. Jacob Mumma was one of the well known citizens and leading farmers of Cumberland county, and for many years was a minister of the Mennonite Church, a religious body to which the family has been attached for generations. In 1848, he purchased the farm now owned by our subject in Silver Spring township, in the limits of Mechanics- burg, one of the most valuable properties in this part of the county. He was one of the most substantial men of this locality, and was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Mechanicsburg.

Martin Mumma was reared on the farm, and obtained his education in the public schools of Silver Spring township, and later at Mechanicsburg. In 1859 he married Catherine Shelly, of Lower Allen township, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Shelly, of Cumberland county. A family of nine chil- dren was born to this union, six of whom grew to maturity, namely: Mitton S., a farmer of Silver Spring township; Eliza- beth, wife of E. N. Neiswonger, of Mechan- icsburg; Edwin, now deceased; Jacob, an implement dealer at Mechanicsburg; Will- iam and Clara, at home; and Mary, the wife of H. A. Mumper.

In politics Mr. Mumma has been a life- long Republican and has always taken a sincere interest in the success of his party. In 1866 he became a director in the First National Bank at Mechanicsburg, and since 1895 has been its able and conservative presi- dent. From 1875 to 1890 he was a director of the Allen & East Pennsboro Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and was one of the trustees of the celebrated H. G. Moser estate for twenty years, and guardian for the children. Few men are better known in

this city, and few have had larger interests confided to their care. Coming as he does from one of the prominent old families of the county, he is a worthy representative of its sterling attributes.

THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK, of Me- chanicsburg, Pa .. is one of the veteran financial institutions of this section of Penn- sylvania. Since 1859 it has proved its stabil- ity and has passed safely through years of great financial stringency, all over the coun- try, fulfilling with fidelity all promises made to depositors. Its history, while interesting, is brief.

The foundations of this great business were laid in 1859. by Merkel, Mumma & Co., who established a private banking house under that title. In 1861 a charter was se- cured, and the name of the Mechanicsburg Bank was assumed, and it continued thus until 1864, when it became a National Bank, and was rechartered as such, in 1883, and again in 1903.

The First National Bank is a bank of discount and deposit, making collections, dealing in bonds and other good securities, and, in fact, transacting all business pertain- ing to legitimate banking. In all lines it has an extensive and responsible clientele, many of its customers being among the old and solid business firms of this section, some of them having confided their business in- terests to this institution almost since its in- ception. The last official report shows in- creasing strength. Its capital stock, paid in, is $100,000: its surplus is $88,840, nearly equaling its capital. This, in the eyes of in- vestors, makes a fine showing, indicating the careful and conservative management which prevails. The officers are: Martin Mumma. president : James A. Brandt, cashier ; J. D. Landes, teller, while the board of directors includes these prominent busi-

CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

ness men : Martin Mumma, S. F. Houston, John H. Bowman, D. R. Merkel, Simon Eberly, A. G. Eberly, S. M. Hertzler, J. H. Koller and Ira S. Eberly.

Martin Mumma, president of the bank, is a retired farmer and a man well and favor- ably known to the citizens of this locality. Other officers have also long been prominent in this city. Mr. Brandt, the cashier, is a banker of large experience and of thorough training. Much of the institution's success has been due to his efficiency.

ROBERT MILLER HENDERSON, lawyer, soldier, judge, was born in the vicin- ity of Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pa., March II, 1827, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, comprising on both paternal and maternal side, men prominent in the history of the county and State. The Henderson and Parker families emigrated from the Province of Ulster. Ireland, in the early part of the Eighteenth century; Richard Parker, and Janet, his wife, settled three miles west of Carlisle în 1724, acquiring lands by patent near the Presbyterian Glebe Meeting House (now Meeting House Springs), on which he had resided, as recited in his application "ye ten years past." His grandson, Major Alex- ander Parker, was a distinguished officer in the Revolution; an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati; and the founder of Parkersburg, W. Va., at the mouth of the Little Kanawha. His remains rest in the Parker-Henderson plot in the "old Meet- ing House Springs graveyard." Thomas Henderson settled about the same date in the Pequea Valley, then within the confines of Chester, now Lancaster county. His grand- son, Mathew Henderson, in 1790, became a citizen of Cumberland county, and resided in Middleton township, near Carlisle, and mar- ried Margaret Wilson (nee Miller), daugh-

ter of Robert Miller, and widow of Major James Armstrong Wilson, who was the son of Thomas Wilson, one of the earlier pro- vincial judges. Major Wilson was educated at Princeton, and read law with Richard Stockton. He was admitted to the Bar of Cumberland county on motion of James Wilson, in 1774, and died in Carlisle March 17, 1788, at the early age of thirty-six years, a victim of mob violence. Robert Miller was a man of prominence in the affairs of the Province, and a member of the Committee on Correspondence for Cumberland county during the period of the Revolution.

William Miller Henderson, son of Mathew and Margaret ( Miller) Henderson, was born May 28, 1795, in Cumberland county, and died at his residence, "Oakland" farm, a short distance east of Carlisle, Oct. 16, 1886. He spent the early part of his life in Perry county, and with other Perry county men, under the command of Capt. John Creigh, served for a short time in the war of 1812. He subsequently returned to Cumberland county, married Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew and Margaret (Will- iams) Parker, and soon attained a position of influence and prominence in the commun- ity. In connection with his brother-in-law, the late Richard Parker, under the firm name of Henderson & Parker, he established a successful milling and distilling business. He was one of the original subscribers to the Cumberland Valley Railroad, and for a number of years a member of the Board of Directors. He died at the advanced age of almost ninety-two years,-quoting from an obituary notice in the Carlisle Herald- "running back to the days of Washington his life increased and declined through the stormy scenes and great conflicts which at- tended the 'Building of the Nation.' Through them all he was a representative man and

CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

an American citizen in the broadest meaning of the term."

Robert Miller Henderson, his son, was educated in the public schools of Carlisle and at Dickinson College, graduating from the former in 1838, and from the latter in 1845. He pursued the study of law with the Hon. John Reed, and on Aug. 25, 1847, was ad- mitted to the Bar of Cumberland county. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession at Carlisle. His interest and activity in the politics of that period gave him the Whig nomination'for the Legisla- ture in 1851, and although the party in his district was in the minority, he was elected, and also re-elected in 1852. At the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion, he raised a com- pany at Carlisle, of which he was elected captain, and was duly commissioned April 21, 1861. The company proceeded to Camp Wayne at West Chester, and formed Com- pany A, 7th Pennsylvania Reserves, 36th P. V. I. This regiment was attached to the 2d Brigade, McCall's Division, of the Army of the Potomac. Capt. Henderson, served as judge advocate, court martial of the division from December, 1861 to June, 1862. The 7th Pennsylvania Reserves was sent to the front on July 25, 1861, two days after the first battle of Bull Run, and saw the hardest kind of service. In the summer of 1862 it went into the memorable seven days fight before Richmond, with full ranks, and when the fighting was over scarcely 200 of the brave men were left to answer the roll call. While leading his company at Charles City Cross Roads, on June 30, 1862, in this series of battles-the color guard having fallen- Capt. Henderson (quoting from the Official Records) "seized the standard and bore it off the field," receiving at the same time a wound in the left shoulder. Although wounded he refused to leave his command,

and on July 4th, upon recommendation of Brig. Gen. Seymore, was promoted for "brilliant gallantry" to Lieutenant-Colonel of the Regiment. Soon afterward the Re- serves were transferred from the Peninsula to the Army of Northern Virginia, then under command of Gen. Pope, and on the 29th and 30th of August, 1862, participated in the second battle of Bull Run. Here the Seventh was led by Lieutenant Colonel Henderson, and on the evening of the second day, while engaged in a desperate struggle for a vitally important position, he was shot from his horse, a minie ball passing through his body. He was borne from the field by four of his soldiers, all of whom feared and believed that he had received a mortal wound. He, however, recovered, and on the 2d of Jan- uary following, rejoined his regiment at Belle Plain, and was detailed by Gen. Double- day, Inspector General of the Division. He served in that capacity until April 18, 1863, when President Lincoln appointed him Pro- vost Marshal of the Fifteenth District of Pennsylvania, in which position he served until the close of the war, and was honorably discharged Nov. 10, 1865. On March 13, 1865, he was brevetted colonel and brigadier general for gallantry in the seven days fight before Richmond, and in the second battle of Bull Run.

After the war Gen. Henderson resumed the practice of his profession at Carlisle. In April, 1874, he was appointed by Gov. Hart- ranft, additional law judge of the Harris- burg district ( 12th), composed of the coun- ties of Dauphin and Lebanon. In November of that year he was elected to the position by the people without opposition, and in January, 1882, became the President Judge of the District. He subsequently resigned from the Bench, and resumed practice at Carlisle, associating with him his former

CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

partner, John Hays, Esq., and his son, J. Webster Henderson, under the firm name of Henderson & Hays. A few years later Mr. Hays withdrew from the firm, and Judge Henderson & Son continue in practice. The degree of Doctor of Laws (LL. D.) was conferred upon him some years ago by Dickinson College, his alma mater. He is one of the original members and officers of the Pennsylvania State Bar Association, and was the first president of the Cumberland County Bar Association. He is president of the Carlisle Deposit Bank; also of the Board of Trustees of Metzger College; a trustee of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School; a director of the Carlisle Gas & Water Com- pany; and of the Manufacturing Company. He is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States; the Grand Army of the Republic; and president of the "Pennsylvania Reserves Association." He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society; Phi Beta Kappa; and other learned and patriotic societies. For many years Judge Henderson has been a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church, of Carlisle, and a ruling elder of the congrega- tion since 1871. He married June 7, 1853, Margaret Ann Webster, daughter of John Skinner and Elizabeth (Thornburgh) Web- ster, of "Mt. Repose," Baltimore county, Maryland.

(I) WILLIAM BIDDLE (m. Febru- ary, 1666, to Sarah Kemp, b. 1635, d. May 8, 1709), of London, formerly of Stafford- shire, was born about 1630 and emigrated to the Province of West Jersey in 1681. In early life he had joined the Society of Friends and had undergone persecution and imprisonment by reason of his connection with that Society. A few years prior to leaving England he had bought a large acre-

age of land in West Jersey under the con- viction that persecuted Friends would there find a safe refuge. The first purchase by him is represented by a deed dated Jan. 23, 1676, which is believed to be the first con- veyance that was executed by William Penn as trustee.

The name Biddle was identical with Bid- dulph, the difference in the letters of the two words arising from a carelessness in spell- ing at that time, which Macaulay refers to as "characteristic of the age." The family had lived in Staffordshire for many generations and received their surname from the village of Biddulph in that county, "of which," says Dr. Thomas, "they have been lords since the Conquest." Colloquially the two final letters of Biddulph are not sounded, so that the word has always been pronounced as if it were written Biddle.

Shortly after William Biddle's arrival in the Province he fixed his residence on the bank of the Delaware river, at what is now called Kinkora, about midway between Bur- lington and Bordentown. Here he acquired 500 acres on the mainland and an adjacent island containing 278 acres, still known as Biddle's Island. By various purchases he at length became the owner of 42,916 2-3 acres of land, the deeds for which with a transcript of his land account are in the pos- session of his descendants. He was a per- sonal friend of William Penn, who was prominent in the religious body to which they both belonged as well as in the Provin- cial government. He died in the early part of 1712, leaving a last will and testament which is on file at Trenton, in the office of the Secretary of State.

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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 2

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