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 49
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JAMES S. COOPER. The valley of the Cumberland is the home of many pros- perous men, whose families have been known in this locality as long as the United States of America have existed, and among them it is only proper to call special attention to
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James S. Cooper. a resident of West Penns- boro township. Cumberland Co., Pennsyl- vania.
The founder of the Cooper family in this country is not known, but it is believed he came from Germany, and located in Cum- berland, where Adam Cooper. the grand- father of James S., was born. Adam Cooper married Susan Ott, a daughter of Jacob Ott, of Carlisle, and by her had the following children : Samuel: and Emma and Mary E .. who died in Cumberland county. By a sec- ond marriage Adam Cooper had three other daughters.
Samuel Cooper, father of James S., was born in Newton township, Cumberland county in 1829. Until he was eighteen years of age he attended the public schools, after which he entered upon the apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade, and after mastering it he went to Penn township and engaged in business. After eighteen years spent in that township, at Hockersville, he moved to New Kingstown. Silver Spring township, but after a year located in Dickinson township, at the stone house, and was there ten years engaged in his line of business. The next change was made when he went to Carlisle, where he worked in the car shops for three years, at the end of that time coming to Plainfield, in 1900.
In 1854 Samuel Cooper married Rachel Foreman, daughter of David and Leah ( Severs) Foreman, of German descent, and they had the following family : David, born in 1856; Leah J., born in 1859, deceased; Catharine C., born in 1860, who lives at Carlisle, wife of John Bishop; James S .; William H., born in 1864. living in Penn township; Elder J., deceased; and Sallie B., born in 1872, who is married and lives at York City, Pennsylvania.
James S. Cooper was born in Penn town-
ship in 1862. Until he was fifteen years of age he had the advantages of the common schools, and at that time he began to learn the trade of blacksmithing with his father. following his trade for eight years. In 1884 he married Anna M. Hollinger, daughter of Jacob and Mary Ann Hollinger, of Dickin- son township, and he began farming, which he followed in Dickinson, South Middleton and North Middleton townships, finally. in February. 1899. locating at Plainfield, where he engaged in the hotel business .. He is now one of the best liked hotel men of his locality. owning and conducting the "Plainfield Hotel."
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cooper are: E. S., born in 1884, in Dick- inson township, attended the schools of his township, and later went to Shippensburg Normal School, and, having passed all his examinations with credit, is now teaching at Hopewell, Cumberland county ; Sarah was born April 10, 1898, and Florence was born in 1903.
Mr. Cooper votes the Democratic ticket. and has served as assessor and inspector of elections and on the board of education of Dickinson and South Middleton townships. Through his enterprise. energy and good management he has steadily advanced his in- terests, and is now one of the most substan- tial and highly respected men in Cumberland county.
HENRY HARTZ. a most highily re- spected citizen of Monroe township, Cum- berland county, where he owns a fine farm. was born in 1824, in Lancaster county. In 1833 his parents moved to Cumberland County.
The family is of German extraction, reaching back to the grandfather of Henry Hartz, a native of Germany, who came to
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America prior to, or during, the Revolution- ary War, taking part in the same and being wounded in the leg. With his wife he died in Berks county, Pa., where he owned a farm. His four sons were: Caleb, Samuel, Conrad and Peter.
Conrad Hartz was born in Berks county and attended school there. In the year of his marriage he located near New Holland. Lancaster county, and engaged in teaming to Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburg. In 1820 he came to Cumberland county, and located in Middlesex township to engage in agriculture. Some nine years later he came to Monroe township, and farmed the Michael Betzhoover farm, then the Goodyear farm, and finally the Moses Bricker farm, where he lived for twenty-one years, and where both lie and wife died. They left these children : William died in the West: Jacob died in Ohio: Conrad and Samuel both died in the West: George took part in the Mexican War, and disappeared ; Mary died at Church- town; Henry: Elizabeth died in Carlisle: and Catherine is a resident of Churchtown.
Henry Hartz obtained the best education possible at the time in the district schools of Cumberland county, and remained with his father until he was thirty-three years of age. Prior to purchasing his own farm he had many years of experience, working for ten years with his father, and, after mar- riage, five years on the William Brandt farm in Monroe township, five years on the George Brindle farm, after which he spent one year in York county. Upon his return he bought. in 1879, what was known as the old Piper farm in Monroe township, and located on it in the following year, ever since making it his home.
In 1857 Mr. Hartz married Esther Ba- ker. daughter of Peter Baker, of Cumber- land county. She died in 1899, and was
buried in the cemetery at Baker's Church. They had these children : George, who is a farmer in Monroe township, near Mechanics- burg, married Annie Smizer, and they have three children, William H., Alda and Della, all at home; and Annie Elizabeth, who is her father's neat and capable housekeeper, a most estimable lady.
For the last nine years Mr. Hartz has been a valued member of the Dunkard Church. He is highly regarded by all who know him. For his years he possesses won- lerful vitality, and takes a great interest in hearing of the welfare of neighborhood friends, exerting a good and pious influence on all with whom he comes in contact. He has led a long and useful life, upon which he can look backward with few regrets.
JOHN BRUCE McCREARY, M. D., of Shippensburg. Pa., a good representative of the medical fraternity at Shippensburg, was born at Gettysburg, Pa., March 25, 1870. David McCreary, his grandfather, was born in 1802. in Adams county, in the vicinity of Gettysburg, son of William Mc- Creary, a native of Scotland.
John F. McCreary, his father, was born in Gettysburg, in 1840. He died in 1891. He was a scholarly gentleman, and for some years a member of the faculty of the Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, later becoming principal of the Cumberland Val- ley State Normal School, a position he held until 1891, when he was succeeded by Dr. G. M. D. Eckels. He married Helen Dear- dorff, who was born in 1842, in Adams county, near Deardorff Mills, daughter of George and Margaret (Longnecker) Dear- dorff, of German descent and birth, who were Dunkards in religion. The father of Margaret (Longnecker) Deardorff was Daniel Longnecker, son of Christopher
.
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Longnecker. bishop of Conestoga Church in 1724. Mrs. McCreary died in 1890. To John F. McCreary and his wife were born nine children : Gertrude, a teacher at Betlile- hem : Helen D. Stokes, Moorestown, N. J. : Carrie A., of Shippensburg ; John Bruce ; Margaret E., who married John Harper. of Colorado; Alice. deceased: Jean Claude, a teacher in the public schools: Roy Donald, deceased : and W. Harold.
Dr. John B. McCreary received his prim- ary education at Shippensburg. He then read medicine with Dr. James B. Marshall, and was graduated from the University of Maryland in 1892.
In 1894. Dr. McCreary married Miss Mary W. Harper. daughter of William and Nancy ( McLane) Harper. of Shippensburg. Mrs. McCreary was educated at Wilson Col- lege, Chambersburg. and later studied for a year abroad. One daughter, Nancy Harper, has been born to Dr. and Mrs. McCreary. The Doctor is a member of the Cumberland County Medical Society, of which he is vice- president, and he is also a member of the State Medical Association, and the Ameri- can Medical Association.
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DAVID W. GETTEL, dealer in coal, lumber and farm machinery at Shippens- burg, Cumberland county, was born in this county, on a farm near Cleversburg, Jan. 25, 1852. His grandfather, Jacob Gettel, was an early settler of Cumberland county. He married Barbara Knegy.
Miley Gettel, son of Jacob, was born in Cumberland county, Sept. 27, 1824. For some years he was a teacher, and later be- came a successful farmer, also learning the carpenter's trade. Ater his marriage, he set- tled on a farm near Scotland, Franklin county, but his latter days were spent at
Shippensburg, where he died in August, 18So. His landed estate amounted to 300 acres of well-improved farm property. He was a man whose integrity was never called into question. Early in life he was a Whig. and later became a Republican. In religi- ous matters he was a member of the United Brethren Church. His remains lie interred in the Spring Hill cemetery. On Dec. 27, 1849, he married Mary J. Wengert, who was born in Franklin county, near Grindstone Hill, April 5, 1827, daughter of John and Mary (Zimmerman) Wengert. She is still living and possesses all her faculties. Six children were born of this marriage: Kath- erine B. married George W. Plasterer. of Shippensburg ; David W .; Mary J. married J. L. Martyn, of Shippensburg : John J., de- ceased, was a merchant at Shippensburg : W. H. is a salesman of Philadelphia; Amos died at the age of three years.
David W. Gettel spent a portion of his educational days in Franklin county. at- tending school while working upon a farm. He then learned the carpenter's trade, at which he was employed for some five years, when he took a special commercial course at Painesville, Ohio. After leaving college he entered the dry goods business at Shippens- burg, and continued three years, and then for a like period was engaged in the grocery business at Shippensburg. His next venture was at carpentering and contracting, at which he was engaged three years, and from 1885 to 1888 he was in the lumber trade, at Lemasters, Franklin Co., Pa. He then came to Shippensburg and established his present extensive coal and lumber yards, which he has since conducted. He carries a large stock of hard and soft lumber, and a complete line of building material and coal. He has also added the handling of farm im-
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plements to his other lines of business, and has met with unqualified success in all his undertakings.
On Nov. 30. 1876, Mr. Gettel married Miss Emma T. Ellsrode, daughter of John and Mary (Stevick) Ellsrode. Mrs. Gettel was born in Shippensburg, and received her education in the public grammar and high schools of this place. Two sons have been born of this marriage: John R .. a druggist of Pittsburg: and Traville C., in a music store at Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Gettel are consistent members of the Church of God. In politics Mr. Gettel is a Republi- can, and for seven years he served very ac- ceptably as a member of the school board. Fraternally he is a member of the American Mechanics, Knights of the Golden Eagle and the Royal Arcanum.
In addition to his lumber business Mr. Gettel has for some years been a builder and contractor, and among other things, erected the new church edifice of the Reformed Church of Shippensburg, as well as many handsome residences and substantial busi- ness blocks. He has been connected with sev- eral very important industrial institutions of the city, as organizer, stockholder, pro- moter, etc. He was a stockholder in a fac- tory, manufacturing double acting engines, being for some time a member of the board of managers. He also was for a number of years interested in the Shippensburg Electric Light Company, acting as manager. In ad- dition he served as secretary of the Shippens- burg Canning Company, and brought to bear on all of the concerns with which he was connected, unusual executive ability, keen business judgment and unqualified energy, so that all proved remarkably successful. There has been no enterprise of any import- ance established in Shippensburg, since his permanent location in the city, with which .
he has not been connected in some way or other, and his name upon the list of stock- holders or directors, insures immediate suc- cess. The people have full confidence in his integrity and business honor, and know that he would not for a moment countenance any enterprise not conducted upon strictly legiti- mate lines. Mr. Gettel is well informed upon current matters, and is a gentleman of pleas- ant, courteous manner, and genial per- sonality.
WILLIAM A. HEFFLEFINGER. a prosperous manufacturer of building brick at Newville, Pa., and one of the public-spirited men of the place, was born in Newburg, this county, July 12, 1859, a son of David and Eliza ( Baker) Hefflefinger.
The Hefflefingers came originally from Switzerland, settling in Pennsylvania in a very early day. The great-grandfather of our subject, was a fifer in the Revolutionary war. He was an early settler of Lan- caster county, but moved to Cumberland county, about 1740, and there died, being buried in Zion cemetery.
Thomas Hefflefinger, the grandfather, married a Miss Watson, and reared a num- erous family.
David Hefflefinger, son of Thomas, was born in Cumberland county, on a farm three and one-half miles from Newburg, near Zion church, Sept. 4. 1829. He was a cooper by trade, and followed it until within a short time of his death, which occurred at New- burg. His shop is still standing, and is in a good state of preservation. He married Eliza Baker, who was born in 1835, near Blain, Perry county, and is still living. She is a daughter of Cornelius Baker, an early settler of Cumberland county. This mar- riage was blessed with ten children, of whom nine lived to maturity; Mary married
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George McCoy. of Chambersburg: Alice married Rev. J. . \. Burkholder, a United Brethren minister : William A. : Annie mar- ried Dr. J. B. Shively, of Shippensburg ; Calvin. deceased : Frank. deceased ; J. Clar- ence. of Johnstown, Pa .: Milton H., and Ellis are both coopers in Harrisburg.
William A. Hefflefinger was educated in the village school of Newburg until he was sixteen years of age, at which time he began to learn the trade of a cooper with his father, and remained with the latter until he attained his majority. After his marriage, Mr. Hef- tlefinger settled at Newburg, where he en- gaged in brickmaking in connection with his trade of cooper, but in 1885, he removed to Newville, where he established a brick yard, engaging in the manufacture of brick. and the manufacture of barrels. His machinery for the manufacture of brick is of the latest and most approved design, and he turns out a very fine quality of product, and enjoys a large local trade. His cooperage business is equally flourishing, and in season he gives employment to a large force of men. The annual output of his brick yard is 500,000. In his cooperage department he manufac- tures a large amount of flour and apple bar- rels each year, and the capacity of his plant is not equal to the demand, so that he antici- pates extensive changes in the near future. In addition to his other interests Mr. Heffle- finger has a farm of ten acres adjoining the village of Newville, and takes pleasure in superintending its working whenever he can spare a few hours. He and his family reside in a substantial brick residence in Newville, and he owns it as well as other village realty.
On Sept. 4, 1883, Mr. Hefflefinger mar- ried Miss Emma Clippinger, of Franklin county, daughter of Henry and Catherine ( Hollar ) Clippinger. They have become the parents of two children: Audry M., a
graduate of the Newville High School, and a very intelligent, charming girl; and Earl C .. who died May 14, 1900, when ten years of age. Fraternally Mr. Hefflefinger is a mem- ber of Lodge No. 361, A. F. & A. M. In politics he is a Democrat, and for three years was an active member of the city council. He has served as judge of election, and has always taken a deep and abiding interest in the welfare of Newville, lending his aid to every measure he has deemed would work to its ultimate benefit. Mr. Hefflefinger has been interested in several business concerns. and was one of the principal organizers of the Newville Spoke and Wheel Works. In addition to being an active, prosperous and progressive business man, he is well in- formed upon general subjects, and is very well read, for one whose time is so fully occupied.
Mr. and Mrs. Hefflefinger are consistent members of the Church of God, in whose good work they take a very active part, con- tributing cheerfully of both time and money. and no one is ever turned from their door. although their many charities are done in secret. They are loved by many for their excellent traits of character, and they stand very high socially in the village which owes so much to their enterprise and public-spirit. as well as to their kindness of heart.
MARTIN COOVER, a retired farmer who now makes his home in Shippensburg, represents an old and well-known family of this part of Pennsylvania. He was born Aug. 15, 1814, near Cedar Springs, in Cum- berland county, and is a grandson of George Coover, one of the pioneer settlers of Cum- berland county, who located and improved a farm there. His wife's maiden name was Coover also.
Jacob Coover, father of Ma tin, followed
Martin 800un
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in his father's footsteps and made farming his life vocation, locating in 1778 near Spring Center, where he resided until his death. He was one of the prosperous citi- zens of his locality. He married Catherine Houser, who was born in Cumberland county about 1785, and survived her husband. dying during the period of the Civil war. Her father. Martin Houser, was born on the farm which is now known as the old Houser homestead, afterward settled near Me- chanicsburg, and later on in Shiremanstown ; his wife is buried on the farm near Shire- manstown. Jacob and Catherine ( Houser ) Coover became the parents of the following named children : George, Martin. Jacob. Jo- seph, Catherine, Jeremiah and Elizabeth.
Martin Coover spent his youth on the farm, and followed agricultural pursuits throughout his active years. There were no free schools in the neighborhood during his early boyhood, but he attended the local sub- scription schools, and was later a pupil in this district school at Marcus. Cumberland county. He left school at the age of twelve, and when in his fourteenth year moved with his parents to Southampton township. two and a half miles east of Shippensburg. Here he grew to manhood, and when not needed at home he worked as a farm hand for dif- ferent employers, after his marriage engag- ing in farming on his own account. He settled on a farm four miles northeast of Shippensburg, which was a part of the old homestead of the Coovers, and a part of which he still owns. He owns in all three good farms in Cumberland county, all well improved, well tilled and especially adapted to the growing of the various cereals. In the spring of 1903 Mr. Coover removed to Shippensburg, where he is spending his days in retirement. in the enjoyment of the fruits of years of honorable toil. He com-
menced life with little or no means, but by industry and energy, coupled with honesty, has accumulated a competency, and by his upright life has retained the respect of all who know him. Though now over ninety he is quite well preserved. and in possession of all his faculties. Mr. Coover has at- tended strictly to business, and never had any desire for public honors or political prefer- ment, although he served two years as super- visor of his township, and one year as tax collector, in 1842. He was formerly an Old-line Whig, and when that party dis- banded gave his allegiance to the Republi- cans. His religious membership is with the Bethel Church of God.
In 1841 Mr. Coover married Miss Mary Newcomer, of Cumberland county, a daught- ter of Abram and Mary ( Musselman) New- comer, formerly of Lancaster county, Pa. To this union were born eight children that reached maturity, of whom George is men- tioned elsewhere: Jacob is deceased; Anna is the widow of Levi Grove; Maria married Thomas Cashman; Martha married John Cope, of Shippensburg; Elizabeth and Ida are at home with their father. The mother passed away in 1878, and was buried in Spring Hill cemetery. .
DIONYCIOUS PAGE LINE. In the early settled days Pennsylvania offered un- told advantages to those of the old country who were persecuted for religion's sake. The French Huguenots first sought a haven of refuge in Switzerland, and then some years later their children sought homes in the New World. Of these George Line, a native of Switzerland, sailed with his wife and son for America. He died on shipboard, but his widow came to Pennsylvania, settling in Lancaster county, where the son. George. grew up. He married Salome Zimmerman.
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Their children were: George L., David, William. Abraham and John.
William Line, son of George, was a min- uite-man in the war of the Revolution, at the time of the battles of Trenton and Prince- ton, and his record is still a prized relic in the family. Some of the Hessian prisoners be- came laborers on his farm. He married Maria Bear, who bore him a large family of children, namely: Emanuel. George, David, Mary, Catherine, Nancy, Sarah, Susan, Re- becca, Lydia and Rachel.
David Line, son of William, married Sarah Myers, who died June 1, 1882, aged eighty-one years. He died Jan. 3, 1864. Their children were: John. Dr. William, George, David. Samuel C., Mary A., Ma- tilda, Sarah Jane and Frances.
George Line, son of David, was born in Dickinson township. Cumberland county, July 6. 1826. Upon reaching manhood he made his home first in South Middleton township, where he remained until 1872, when he moved to a fine farm of 136 acres in West Pennsboro township, still, however. retaining the ownership of a valuable 100- acre tract in South Middleton. While an ar- dent believer in temperance principles, Mr. Line did not believe in coercion, and cast his vote with the Republican party. After a long and useful life, he entered into rest July 2. 1895. In November. 1851, he married Isabella W. Huston, daughter of Jonathan and Amy ( Spear) Huston, the former son of John and Margaret ( Huston) Huston. Of the children born to George and Isabella W. Line four died of diphtheria within two weeks, in October, 1862. The two survivors were : Arthur Wing and Dionycions Page.
D. Page Line was born at the oldl home in South Middleton township, in 1862. In the schools of that township, and of West Pennsboro, he gained a good education, at-
tending until he was nineteen years of age. His home industrial training was along ag- ricultural lines, and that he profited under his father's practical instruction is well attested by his unvarying success in later years. For five years he farmed land belonging to his father in the western part of the township. but at his father's death he inherited the West Pennsboro homestead, where he is found to-day. He is a man of advanced ideas, and belongs to the progressive faction of Cumberland county farmers.
In 1888 Mr. Line was married to Susan E. Ocker, daughter of John and Mary (Seitz) Ocker. They have been blessed with six children : Harrison P., Mary Belle. David William, Clarence Huston, Helen Camelia and Samuel E. Their pleasant home is situated about one mile south of Greason. The Lutheran Church at Plainfield counts them among the earnest faithful members of the parish.
JACOB MONOSMITHI, one of the well-known and very highly esteemed citi- zens of Shiremanstown, and an honored sur- vivor of the Civil war, was born June I. 1838, in this city, son of John Monosmith, and grandson of Henry and Catherine ( Shafer) Monosmith. The family is of German extraction, but the grandfather was born and reared in this county, spent his life here as a farmer, and died in Hampden township.
John Monosmith was born in Hampden township, and attended the early subscrip- tion schools. Later he became a skilled car- penter, following that trade all his active life, and he died in 1851, aged thirty-nine years. He married Elizabeth Zearing, daughter of Henry and Margaret (Ely) Zearing, and sister of the father of Dr. Jacob Zearing. of Middlesex township. She died in 1878,
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aged sixty-seven years. The children of John Monosmith and wife were: Henry, who died aged twenty years; Sarah Jane, wife of Joseph Millard, of Mechanicsburg ; Jacob; John W., of Baltimore, who married a Miss Oyler, of Chambersburg ; Lizzie, who resides with our subject : and Catherine, Mrs. George Irvin, who died in Mechanicsburg. Both Jolin Monosmith and wife were mem- bers of the Church of God, good and pious people. In politics he was a Whig.
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