Biographical annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, Part 7

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 7

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On Jan. 9, 1834, William Boyd Murray was married, by Rev. Daniel Mckinley, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Carlisle, to Margaret Parker Fleming, daughter of James and Margaret (Clark) Fleming, of North Middleton township, Cumberland county. Margaret Parker Flem- ing was born May 27, 1809. in the old home situated on the banks of the Conedoguinet creek, a few miles north of Carlisle. In 1884 Mr. and Mrs. Murray celebrated their golden wedding in Carlisle, where they resided. They were both of Scotch-Irish ancestry

CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

and both were descendants of Richard Parker and Janet his wife, whose names have already been mentioned in this sketch. Mrs. Murray was a beautiful woman-fea- tures regular, clear complexion, with black hair and dark brown eyes. A woman of stt- perior cast of mind, intelligent, and, as one remarked of her, "her face indicated the nobility of her character," she was a thor- ough Christian, a devoted wife and mother.

Mr. Murray died Feb. 7, 1890, in the eighty-second year of his age; his wife died April 6, 1886. in her seventy-seventh year. Agreeable to the request of Mr. Murray, both are buried in one grave in the family lot in the old graveyard at Carlisle. They had four children ( surname Murray) : Mar- garet Fleming. Harmar Denny, Mary Denny and Mellazena. Mellazena died Feb. 16, 1855. Mary Denny died in Allegheny City, Pa., Sept. 26, 1903. Their remains repose beside those of their parents in the family lot in the old graveyard at Carlisle, where sleep the representatives of four gen- erations. Harmar Denny Murray is en- gaged in the glass business in Pittsburgh, Pa. Margaret Fleming Murray resides in the old home at Carlisle, Pa.

ISAAC BAUMAN, a prominent citizen, a well-known poet, and a writer of more than usual ability, long identified with literary work and publishing interests in Pennsyl- vania, was born in Ephrata, Lancaster coun- ty, May 19, 1829, and died in Upper Allen township, Cumberland county, Aug. 24, 1900.

The Baumans came originally from Ger- many and were among the carliest settlers of Lancaster county. Different branches of the family, under the name of Bowman, are living in that county to-day.

Joseph Bauman, father of Isaac Batman,

was born in Lancaster county and moved to Upper Allen township, Cumberland county, in 1830. He bought the present homestead and farm at that time and also established a printing business at Shepherdstown, car- rying on both printing and farming until 1861. when he retired on account of increas- ing age. An interesting relic of his early work. which is still held by the family, is an old Franklin hand press which has been in its possession for more than eighty years. For three generations Baumans have worked on that press, Joseph having brought it with him to Shepherdstown, and it was previously owned by his father.

In his early youth Joseph Bauman was employed in a paper-mill at Ephrata, Lan- caster county, all his life having been asso- ciated with the printing business in some connection. He was a man of strong spir- itual beliefs and conscientiously belonged to the sect known as the Seventh-Day Baptists. The old monastery belonging to that sect, and known as the "Sisters and Brothers House," still stands in Ephrata and, al- though out of use for many years, is still an object of interest to visitors, who are in- terested in the locality or in historical re- search and come long distances to view it and learn its story.

Joseph Bauman married Mary Bitzer, who was born in Lancaster county and died in 1876, aged eighty-two years. His death took place in 1862, at the age of seventy- three years. They reared a remarkable fan- ily, every member showing unusual talent in some direction : (1) Jesse, the eldest, was an inventor and machinist, and established the first iron foundry in Mechanicsburg ; he mar- ried Ellen Meily, and they are survived by one son, Joseph, who is a successful ma- chinist at Dillsburg. Jesse Bauman died 1 in 1894 at Dillsburg, at the age of seventy-

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nine years. (2) Harrison, the second son, married Rachel Herman, lived and farmed in Middlesex township, and died in ISSo at the age of fifty-five years. (3) Isaac was the next son.

Isaac Bauman was one year old when he became a resident of Upper Allen township and here learned all that the local schools could teach and also the trade of printing, acquiring such knowledge under his father's tutelage. This trade he followed for a num- ber of years in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and early became a contributor to the thien leading periodicals. His poems were gladly accepted for the columns of the Waverly Magazine, Peterson's Magasine and the Bal- timore Sun and Yankee Blade. For a long time he wrote under the nom de plume of "Clarence May," but during his later years, when recognition was a matter of indiffer- ence to him, he signed the initials "I. B." In conjunction with the late Dr. William H. Egle, early in the fifties, he published a magazine called the Literary Companion, a magazine filled with choice original and se- lected matter, which had a wide circulation. Always unassuming, he was not prone to claim the credit due him, and it is recalled that upon one occasion, in 1852, when a banquet was given to Gov. Bigler at Harris- burg, on Franklin's birthday, by the printers of Pennsylvania, the then well known Frank Clifford gave the following toast to "Clar- ence May:" "A Gentleman deserving the name; a Poet of no ordinary genius ; and a Typo who adorns the profession."

Mr. Bauman was an elder in the Presby- terian Church. In politics, early a Whig, he later became a Republican and still later an adherent of the Prohibition party. His lamented death took place as noted above.

On Dec. 25, 1860, Mr. Bauman married Charlotte E. Sprenkel. The Sprenkels are

descendants of old Virginia stock. Peter Sprenkel, grandfather of Mrs. Bauman, was born in Hanover, York county, Pa., and married Lydia Hoover of the same county. He was a farmer and large land owner in Dover township, where his death occurred in his seventy-third years.

John Sprenkel. father of Mrs. Bauman, was born in Hanover and lived there until his marriage, when he settled in Baltimore county, Md., and engaged in the milling business. He died in middle age. In 1840 he married Leah Ettinger, of York county, who died in Cumberland county in 1885, at the age of sixty-nine years, and they had three children : Sarah married J. C. Nesbit, Esq., of Shepherdstown, and they have two children-Arthur E., a prominent druggist in Philadelphia, and Russell H., a telegra- pher. John A., a teacher and lecturer, who lives in New Cumberland, formerly of Vir- ginia, married Jennie Bailetts, of Harris- burg, and they have one son, Dr. Ward F. Sprenkel, a practicing physician in Phila- delphia. Charlotte E. is the widow of Isaac Bauman. She was born in York county, Pa., March 9, 1842, and received her school- ing in York and Cumberland counties. Mrs. Bauman early devoted herself to literary work, becoming a contributor to the Dollar Magasine, a well known Philadelphia publi -. cation in the sixties ; to the Index-Appeal, of Petersburg, Va., and to the Waverly Maga- sine, her writings always possessing the clearness and interest which won her a wide audience. In 1868 she joined the Presby- terian Church at Mechanicsburg, and has al- ways been active in its work and also in the work of the W. C. T. U., using her pen in the same cause. She is a member of the lat- ter organization and one of its officers, and annually reads a paper before the yearly con- vention. She is intimately asosciated and

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closely connected with many of the great leaders in temperance work.

Mrs. Bauman can trace her maternal lineage far back, her great-grandfather Et- tinger being a minister of the German Re- formed Church. He lived, ministered and died in York county, and his son, Rev. Adam Ettinger, Mrs. Bauman's grandfather, was an Evangelical minister for seventy years, dying in 1876 in York county, aged ninety years.

Mr. and Mrs. Bauman had children as follows : Norman died in 1882, aged twenty years. Edith married J. B. Miller, a farmer in Upper Allen township, and has two chil- dren. Ada and Xenia. May married J. A. Bucher. of Camp Hill, who holds a position with the Harrisburg Traction Company, and they have two children, Clarence E. and Norman B.

COL. ROBERT H. THOMAS. Among the prominent men who have long been held in honor in Cumberland county few have been more conspicuous than Col. Robert H. Thomas, one of the leading citizens of Me- chanicsburg. For forty years he has been identified with the commercial, educational and civic growth of that city, and still, at the age of seventy years, directs large inter- ests and influences great bodies. He was born in Philadelphia, Jan. 28, 1834, of a sturdy ancestry, Welsh-English on one side, and Scotch-Irish on the other, a combination which has produced some of the finest minds of this generation.

In paternal lines (Welsh-English) his great-great-grandmother, Ruth (Morton) Nicholson, was a sister of John Morton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. In the next generatian, Col. Thomas' great-grandmother, Ruth ( Nich- olson) Harper, lost her birthright in the

Quaker meeting because of her marriage with Edward Harper, an officer in the Brit- ish army, and a Church of England man.

Elisha Thomas, great-grandfather of Col. Thomas, married Ann Walu, a sister- in-law of Thomas Mifflin, governor of Penn- sylvania, in 1790, through whom he ( Eli- sha) became connected with some of the minor affairs of State.

Robert Thomas, son of Elisha, was born five miles from Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777, the day when the Continental army under Gen. Washington met the opposing British force under Gen. Howe and fought the his- toric battle of Germantown.

Rev. Edward H. Thomas, son of Robert, and father of Col. Thomas, was born in Philadelphia. Losing his father when he was a mere boy, he was obliged to depend upon himself for his education, the widowed mother having all she could do to care for the physical needs of the family, even with the aid of the older boys. Consequently young Edward gained the substantial part of his fine education by burning the midnight oil. After his ordination he was placed in charge of a congregation at Lancaster City. Later he came to Mechanicsburg and took charge of the Church of God. He married Charlotte Ann Nelson, daughter of Andrew Nelson, Esq., who belonged to a Scotch- Irish Presbyterian family in the North of Ireland. Rev. Mr. Thomas died in 1869.

Robert H. Thomas received his educa- tion in the public schools of Lancaster city. When sixteen years old he decided to fit himself for future usefulness and independ- ence, and apprenticed himself to learn the trade of house and sign painting, including wall decorating. This business he followed for some years, during the summer seasons, teaching school during the winters, but im- paired health interrupted his busy life and

yours tiny Rtl. Thomas

CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

warned him to engage in some other pur- suits. He then turned his attention to mer- chandising and in 1850 took up his residence in Mechanicsburg.

During the Civil war Col .. Thomas be- came very prominent in his active support of the Government, and he loyally served in a number of emergency regiments, on several occasions, resuming his duties at home as soon as the exigency which had called him to the front had subsided. From 1862 until 1866 he efficiently served as deputy collector of internal revenue for the 15th District of Pennsylvania. On June 30, 1863, he was appointed special aide-de-camp by Gov. Curtin, with the rank of colonel, and was assigned to duty in the department com- manded by Gen. Smith, of Harrisburg. When the Confederate forces had been driven south of the Potomac he resigned the position and returned to business pursuits. Gen. George H. Thomas, of Civil war fame, was his cousin twice removed.

In 1869 Col. Thomas entered the news- paper field, purchasing the Y'allcy Democrat, changing the name to the Valley Independ- ent, and two years later he purchased a rival paper, the Cumberland Valley Journal, and consolidated the papers and offices under the new title of the Independent Journal. In the fall of 1872 he began to espouse the cause of the Patrons of Husbandry, an agricul- tural order then coming into prominence in the State, and during the following sum- mer he organized a number of subordinate granges. Upon the organization of the State Grange, at Reading, in 1873, Col Thomas was elected secretary, a position he most capably held until 1896.

On Jan. 1, 1874, Col. Thomas began the publication of the Farmer's Friend and Grange Advocate, as the organ of the Pa-

trons of Husbandry, an agricultural journal of high character and great literary merit. It has an immense circulation, which is not by any means confined to members of the Grange. Col. Thomas has always been a man of progressive ideas and of philan- thropic instincts, and he became impressed with the feeling that there ought to be a better understanding between the farmers and manufacturers of the country. Accord- ingly, in 1874 he originated and organized the Inter-State Picnic Exhibition, at Will- iams' Grove, Cumberland county. This ven- ture proved very popular and has yearly increased in interest, becoming a very impor- tant movement through the agricultural re- gions of Cumberland county.

Col. Thomas has been many times hon- ored by his editorial associates, with whom he has always maintained the most cordial relations. He has served as president of the State Editorial Association and for some years has been its secretary and treasurer. He is also one of the officers of the Interna- tional Editorial Association, was its presi- dent at its convention in Galveston, Texas, in 1897, and exerts the influence of a broad- minded, thoughtful student of the great pub- lic problems of the day. He was commis- sioned from the State of Pennsylvania to the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, held at New Orleans in 1884-85. and was likewise appointed a commissioner to the American Exposition held in London, England, in May, 1887. Mrs. Thomas filled the position of lady commissioner in 1884-85 at New Orleans.

Since 1851 Col. Thomas has been a Mason. He became a member of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania that year, and an officer of the same in 1864, serving for thir- teen consecutive years as District Deputy

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Grand Master, and as representative of his home lodge to the Grand Lodge for fifty years consecutively.

In 1853 Col. Thomas married Miss An- nette Kimmel, daughter of Henry Kimmel, Esq., of one of the old and prominent fami- lies of the Cumberland Valley. Five chil- dren were born of this union, three of whom died young. The survivors are : Robert H., Jr .. of the Thomas Printing House, of Mechanicsburg ; and Estelle, wife of J. Irvin Steele, a descendant of Gen. Irvin, of Frank- lin county. During his long and useful ca- reer Col. Thomas has become intimately as- sociated with the leading men of his State, and has enjoyed in marked degree their re- spect and esteem.

ROBERT H. THOMAS, JR. Con- spicuous among the active business men of Mechanicsburg is Robert H. Thomas, Jr., of the well known Thomas Printing House. He is a son of Col. Robert H. and Annette (Kimmel) Thomas, and was born in Me- chanicsburg Jan. 19. 1861. He is one of two surviving children, the other being Mrs. J. Irvin Steele, of Ashland, Pennsylvania.

Robert H. Thomas, Jr., was educated in the public schools of Mechanicsburg. and at the Cumberland Valley Institute. He has spent all his days in the place of his birth, and it may be said that his entire career, from early boyhood down to the present, has been a continuous period of business activity. Upon leaving the school room, in 1878, he entered the printing office, and both by study and practice learned thoroughly the details of his father's extensive business. With this knowledge and practical training he became business manager of the house, which exacting position he has successfully filled ever since. As his business has con- stantly brought him into contact with the

aggressive minds that shape and direct mat- ters in the various spheres of life, he is gener- ally well informed, and is possessed of a progressive and enterprising spirit. He has traveled much, mingling freely with the peo- ple, is naturally quick to observe, ready and accurate in speech, and a good judge of human nature. He is a clear and forceful writer, a good conversationalist, and holds high rank among the journalists of the State. He is a Republican and takes an active inter- est in local and State politics.

Like his distinguished father, Mr. Thomas has long been prominent in Ma- sonry, and has reached the thirty-second degree of the fraternity. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Patriotic Order. Sons of America (Lodge No. 164, of Mechanicsburg), and the American Me- chanics. He is an enthusiastic fireman, and has been chief of the Mechanicsburg Fire Department. He is also identified with the Grange movement, and is treasurer of the Grangers' Picnic Association, which holds annual exhibitions at Williams Grove, Cum- berland county.

In January, 1891, Robert H. Thomas, Jr., married Miss Frances Coover, only daughter of Ira D. and Ellen (Downs) Coover. She was born in Upper Allen township, and on the paternal side is a de- scendant from one of the oldest and most respected families of that part of the county. Her mother was a member of an old and prominent family of the Eastern Shore. Maryland. She has two brothers, Alfred D. and David R., both of whom reside in Arizona. To Robert H. and Frances Coover Thomas have been born three children, Robert H. (3), Francis Edward and Mary Estelle, all of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are members of the Methodist Church.

Robert H. Tinuauf

andson Robert H. Thowas 3 rd,

CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

WILLIAM CLENDENIN. Elsewhere it has been shown that the first John Clen- (lenin, who settled in Cumberland county, was married to Janet Huston. John and Janet (Huston) Clendenin, among other children, had a son John, who was a soldier in the War of the Revolution, and rose to the rank of captain. He married Elizabeth Caldwell, a sister of Martha Caldwell. the mother of John Caldwell Calhoun, the southern statesman. John and Eliza- betli (Caldwell) Clendenin had ten chil- dren, four sons and six daughters. Their second child was a son named William, born in 1785, and his genealogical line is the sub- ject of this sketch.

During his life time the father of Will- iam Clendenin became seized of a farm, lying on the State Road in the northwestern part of East Pennsboro, now Silver Spring township, which afterwards was for a long time owned by Daniel Fought and his heirs Captain Clendenin made his will in May. 1802, which was probated in August, 1802. In it this farm stands bequeathed to his son William, and on it in 1814, William began farming on his own account, his sister Eliza- beth keeping house for him. On March 7, 1816, he was married to Mary Wallace, who was born Feb. 22, 1800. With the exception of a period of about three years, during which he was in poor health, this farm was William Clendenin's home for the rest of his lifetime. He died Jan. 22, 1835, and his re- mains were interred in the Pine Hill grave- yard, the earliest public graveyard in that part of the county. His widow remained upon the farm until in the spring of 1837, when she, with her family of small children. moved to New Kingstown. William and Mary (Wallace) Clendenin had children as follows: Elizabeth, Robert Wallace, Isa- bella, William and Mary A., all of whom

were born on the old farm on the State Road in Silver Spring township. Isabella died May 16, 1836, at the age of ten years, and was laid to rest in Pine Hill graveyard.

Mrs. Mary Clendenin lived at New Kingstown until in the spring of 1839, and then moved to New Castle. Mercer, now Lawrence, county, where she lived all the rest of her days. She died Oct. 29, 1886, and is buried at New Castle. She was a woman of rare qualities of head and heart. and a genial, commanding person in what- ever community she lived. Her memory was remarkable, and among her kinsfolk and neighbors mooted questions were often referred to her as arbiter, and whatever "Grandmother Clendenin's" recollection was on the subject was readily acquiesced in.

Elizabeth, the oldest child of William and Mary ( Wallace) Clendenin. married at New Castle, Henry Falls, and early in the fifties moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Mr. Falls engaged in the carpet business. During the Civil war they returned to New Castle, where in 1873 Mr. Falls died and was buried. Afterward his widow returned to Cincinnati, and died there in 1894. Her remains are in- terred in Spring Grove cemetery at Cincin- nati. Henry and Elizabeth (Clendenin) Falls had one daughter and two sons, viz. : Elizabeth died when yet a child, and Will= iam H. and John C. are living in Cincinnati, the former a successful practicing physician, and the latter a druggist.

When Mrs. Clendenin moved from the farm to New Kingstown, her son, Robert Wallace, was put with friends in Carlisle, where he lived until in September, 1840, when he followed the rest of the family to New Castle. At New Castle he entered a dry goods store while yet a boy, and ac- quired a thorough mercantile training. Thus equipped he, in 1848, started in business for

CUMBERLAND COUNTY.

himself at the corner of Washington and Mercer streets. New Castle, and he has con- tinued in that business on the same corner ever since. In 1846 he married Belinda, daughter of Dr. Joseph Pollock, a noted phy- sician of his day. Their children are William Wallace. Joseph Pollock, Wells Bushnell, John McMillan and Mary E. Joseph Pol- lock died in childhood. and John McMillan died in 1870. at the age of sixteen. William Wallace married Marguerite Davis: Wells Bushnell married Mary Boyles, daughter of George V. Boyles, of New Castle, and Mary E. married Edward Hadnett Ward, of New York, who died in 1903, leaving one daugh- ter. Helen C. All the survivors of the family are living at New Castle, and are conducting the business of R. W. Clendenin & Sons. Robert W. Clendenin and wife are still ( 1904) living. he having reached the great age of four score and one years.

Mary, the third child of William and Mary ( Wallace) Clendenin, married B. B. Pickett. attorney of New Castle. After their marriage they located permanently at Mead- ville. Crawford county, where Mrs. Pickett died in 1894, leaving surviving her her husband and five children. The children are Lydia, Mary, Benjamin B., Jr., Lucy and William Clendenin. Benjamin B. Pickett. Jr., is an attorney at Meadville, and in 1894- 5-6 was district attorney of Crawford county. William Clendenin is a physician and pro- fessor of nervous and mental diseases at the Medico-Chirurgical College, Philadelphia. The three daughters are living at Meadville.

William, the youngest child of William and Mary ( Wallace) Clendenin, studied medicine and became a famous surgeon. In 1861 he entered the army. and was given charge of the Emory Hospital, at Washing- ton, D. C. Later he was on the staff of Gen- eral Rosecrans, and when the war closed was

Assistant Medical Director of the Army of the Cumberland. After the war he helped to organize the Miami Medical College in Cincinnati, in which he became professor of Anatomy and Surgery, and at the time of his death, May 3. 1885, was Dean of the Faculty. At one time he was appointed Consul to St. Petersburg, but declined the honor, preferring to remain at home and devote himself to his profession.

Dr. William Clendenin married Sabra Burchard and had two children, William and Mary. Mary died while a child. Wil- liam married Adelaide Logan at Cambridge Springs, Pa., who died in 1900, leaving one child, a daughter named Mary, who is living with Mrs. Sabra Clendenin, her grand- mother, at Meadville. William lives in Chicago.

Evidently there was a traveling streak in this branch of the Clendenin family, for of the fifteen descendants of William and Mary ( Wallace) Clendenin who grew to maturity, ten visited the different countries of Europe, five attended the best schools of Europe, four visited the three different con- tinents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and one circled the globe.

JAMES HUTCHINSON GRAHAM, LL. D. The subject of this sketch was- of Scotch-Irish descent. His great-grandfather emigrated from the North of Ireland at an early day and located in Salisbury township, Lancaster county, Pa. There are no family records in the possession of his descendants which show the precise date of his coming to this country, but the earliest documentary evidence now in possession of his great- great-grandchildren of the settlement of their great-great-grandfather in Lancaster county is a deed from Thomas and Richard Penn, dated the 13th of March, 1734, to

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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 7

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