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 94
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This John Woodburn was the grand- father of John H. Woodburn, the subject of this biographical sketch. He married Mary Skiles, who died Jan. 16, 1836, at the age of seventy-two years, and is buried by the side of her husband in the graveyard at Newville. John Woodburn and Mary Skiles, his wife, had the following children: James, born July 1, 1788; Jane, born Nov. 29, 1790; Samuel, born March 27, 1791 ; Skiles; Re- becca, born Aug. 11, 1802; Thomas Smith ; Emily.
James Woodburn, the eldest son, through association with the militia, acquired the title of "Colonel", and was long familiarly known as "Colonel Woodburn." On Jan. 20, 1814, he married Eliza Jacobs, and for
many years lived on a farin on the north side of the Conedoguinet Creek, near what is known as Jacobs' Bridge. He had three daughters, one of whom, Jane, married James Paxton Woods. The other two were twins, Mary and Elizabeth, of whom Mary married Levi Trego, and Elizabeth married Jacob Trego. Levi and Jacob Trego were brothers.
Jane Woodburn, the eldest daughter of John and Mary ( Skiles) Woodburn, mar- ried Alexander Davidson, who died Oct. 19, 1865. She died Aug. 1, 1879, and both are buried in the cemetery of the Big Spring Church at Newville.
Samuel Woodburn, the second son, while yet a boy, cut his knee and was so badly lamed that he had to walk with crutches during the rest of his life. He was a large, heavy man, and notwithstanding his lame- ness was quite agile. He took much interest in public affairs, and in 1833 Governor Wolf appointed him Register of Wills. In 1851 he was elected Associate Judge, and in 1856 re-elected. For a long time he lived on the property on the York Road in South Mid- dleton township known as the Weakley farm. On Jan. 7, 1820, Samuel Woodburn married Elizabeth, daughter of James Weak- ley, by whom he had two children, a daugh- ter who married a McColloch; and another, Mary S., who married Joseph McKee. His first wife dying he married (second) Jane Brown, by whom he had two children, Thomas, who died young, and Jane, who married Captain Thomas McGregor, of the United States army. Judge Woodburn died Oct. 7, 1860, and is buried in the Old Grave Yard at Carlisle. Rebecca married David Sterett. Emily married Matthew Davidson. Thomas Smith Woodburn, the youngest son of John and Mary ( Skiles) Woodburn, was .born April 20, 1807, on the Woodburn
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homestead in "The Richlands." He mar- ried Margaret Craighead, daughter of Thomas and Rebecca ( Weakley) Craig- head. a lineal descendant of the Rev. Thomas Craighead, who was the first pastor of the Presbyterian congregation west of the Sus- quehanna river in the Cumberland Valley. Her great-grandfather. John Craighead, in 1742, purchased a large tract of land upon the Yellow Breeches creek, four miles south of where Carlisle now is, upon which the family have lived through five successive generations. After his marriage Thomas S. Woodburn engaged at farming on the Woodburn farm in "The Richlands," where he continued to reside until his death. He died Oct. 11, 1839. while yet a young man, and his remains are buried in the graveyard of the United Presbyterian Church at New- ville.
Thomas Smith and Margaret (Craig- head ) Woodburn had children as follows : John H. : Thomas Craighead, born Aug. 16, 1835 : James Skiles, born April 9. 1837 ; Re- becca, born Jan. 7. 1839. After the death of Thomas S. Woodburn his widow mar- ried Major Joseph Trego. Jan. 11, 1844, and by him had four children. She died March 30, 1880, and is buried in Ashland Cemetery at Carlisle.
Thomas C. Woodburn, the second son of Thomas S. and Margaret (Craighead) Woodburn, became a lawyer and practiced at Baltimore, where he died. He left one daughter, who is now the wife of Joseph Miller, an engineer on the Philadelphia & Reading railroad, living at Harrisburg.
James Skiles Woodburn, the third son, was a member of Company F, 13th Pennsyl- vania Cavalry, and served three years in the late Civil war, nineteen months of which time he was a prisoner at Richmond and Andersonville.
Rebecca Woodburn, the only daughter, married Archibald Thompson, who settled at Amador City. California, where she died in 1902.
John H. Woodburn, the eldest child of the family, was born on the Woodburn ancestral home in "The Richlands." July 22, 1832, and lived there until he was almost eight years of age. Soon after his father died he went to the home of his aunts, the Misses Jane, Mary and Rachel Craighead. and there grew to manhood. He was edu- cated in the country district school, and in the Academy at Newville. and later in the Burns Academy, which for some years ex- isted where now is Elliottson Station. When about twenty years of age he began farming on the farm on which he still resides. It then belonged to his aunts, but afterward he bought 116 acres of it, erected new build- ings upon it, planted trees and added other improvements which have made it a first- class modern farm, and also a very comfor- table and beautiful home. Here he has con- tentedly lived since 1860, devoting himself to his family and quietly discharging the chuties of a good citizen.
On March 22, 1860, Mr. Woodburn was married to Agnes L. Weakley, by the Rev. WV. W. Eel, pastor of the Second Presbyte- rian Church of Carlisle. Agnes L. Weakley was a daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah (Bell) Weakley, and a lineal descendant of a James Weakley who settled upon the Yel- low Breeches creek, in the territory now in- cluded in Dickinson township as early as 1724. To John H. and Agnes ( Weakley ) Woodburn came one child, Sallie Weakley, born June 5, 1861, who has always lived in the home of her parents. On Jan. 19, 1888, Sallie W. Woodburn was married to George Edmund Searight, the Rev. Dr. Norcross, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church
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of Carlisle, performing the ceremony. George E. Searight is a son of the late An- drew K. and Amanda A. (Graham ) Seariglit, and was born in South Middleton town- ship, Sept. 25, 1861. He is a descendant of a Gilbert Searight, who, prior to the war of the Revolution, came from the North of Ire- land and settled four miles west of Carlisle.
George E. and Sallie ( Woodburn) Sea- right have the following children: Agnes Weakley, born May 31, 1890; John H. Woodburn, born Dec. 29, 1893. Mrs. Agnes Woodburn died Aug. 26, 1903, and her remains were laid to rest in Ashland Cemetery at Carlisle. During the following year, on June 9. 1904, George E. Searight died after a brief illness, and his remains were interred in Ashland cemetery. Since then the two grandchildren, and their mother, comprise all of the little family that are the care and pride of Mr. Woodburn's declining years.
ABRAHAM LAMBERTON. Upon the tax list of Middleton township, Cumber- land county, there appears in 1772 the name of John Lamberton. He stands taxed with 200 acres of land and two horses and two cows. So far as known he was the first per- son of his name who settled in the present precincts of Cumberland county. In Octo- ber. 1773, he purchased from one Matthew McClure, then of Mecklenburg county, N. C., a tract of land lying in Middleton town- ship, containing 203 acres, 58 perches. In 1778 there also appears upon the records of Middleton township a James Lamberton "freeman ;" and in 1779 a James Lamberton and Simon Lamberton, both designated "freeman." John Lamberton continues upon the Middleton township tax list at every as- sessment until in 1781, in which year he is accredited with personal property but with
no land. After that date James and Simon Lamberton are taxed each with 100 acres of land, and John Lamberton disappears. It is probable that he died that year. Subse- quent conveyances of land owned respec- tively by James and Simon Lamberton con- clusively show that they were equal parts of the same tract that Matthew McClure in 1773 conveyed to John Lamberton, and located in the part of Middleton township that has since became Middlesex township. This testimony of the public records estab- lished the fact that Jolin Lamberton was in what is now Middlesex township. Cumber- land county. as early as 1772, and that James and Simon Lamberton were his sons. It is the object of this sketch to deal principally with the descendants of James Lamberton.
According to the family history the Lambertons came from the North of Ire- land. The exact time of their coming is not known, but it must have been shortly before 1772, the date of John Lamberton's first ap- pearance in Middleton township. James Lamberton was born in 1750, and conse- quently was yet a mere youth when the fam- ily settled in the locality in which they after- ward lived for four generations. The coun- try for miles around them was a wilderness, neighbors were few and far between, and the Lambertons, by church and social affairs, were frequently called to the neighboring town of Carlisle. In the course of these visits James Lamberton met a young Car- lisle lady named Ursula Wood, who after- ward became his wife. She was the only child of Abraham and Margaret ( Rose) Wood, was also of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born Nov. 26, 1763. When James Lamberton married his father was already clead, and he and his bride took formal pos- session of the homestead in Middleton town- ship, where they began the serious duties of
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life and always lived. He was a useful and honored citizen, a man of character and influ- ence. and became regarded as a leader in his community. He was an active member of the Presbyterian Church at Carlisle, and for a time was one of its ruling elders. He was also a brave soldier in the war of the Revo- lution. His intelligence and probity marked him as a fit man for public position, and in 1804 Gov. McKean appointed him a justice of the peace for the Seventh district of Cum- berland county which included Middleton township and the town of Carlisle. This office he held during the rest of his life, and the time-honored title of "Squire Lamber- ton" had its beginning in him just one hun- dred years ago. He died Sept. 10, 1822; his wife died Sept. 20, 1840. James and Ursula (Wood) Lamberton had issue as follows: Mary, born March 10, 1784, mar- ried John Elliott, a member of an old and prominent Scotch-Irish family of the same part of the county : Margaret, born Oct. 14, 1785, died March 21. 1871 : John, born Aug. 16, 1787, died Dec. 15, 1790; John (2), born Aug. 16, 1792. died Feb. 20, 1793; Elizabeth, born June 6, 1794, married John Irvine, also of Middleton township, and died Jan. 21, 1813. leaving one child, a daughter, who became the wife of Dr. Wil- liam Hepburn, of Williamsport; James, born Dec. 6, 1797. died May 1, 1802; Abra- ham, born April 6. 1801, is mentioned be- low; Ross, born Aug. 5, 1803, married Jane Waugh, daughter of Samuel Waugh, of Silver Spring township, and in 1841 moved to Oberlin, Ohio, where he died Oct. 6, 1857.
Abraham Lamberton was next to the youngest child of the family. He was born, reared and always lived on the farm which his grandfather, John Lamberton, acquired by purchase in 1773. While he never
changed his home the district in which his home was situated had three different names during his lifetime. At his birth, and for some years thereafter, it was Middleton township. In the course of time Middleton township was divided and the part which in- cludes the Lamberton place became North Middleton. Afterward North Middleton was divided and since then the Lamberton home has been in Middlesex township.
Abraham Lamberton's education was limited to such instruction as was imparted in the country district school of his day, but being possessed of a vigorous intellect he from natural inclination continued his studies long after his school days ended, and in that way acquired a good practical educa- tion. Although a farmer he made survey- ing a specialty and studied and practiced it until he was master of all its details, win- ning for himself a reputation that brought him all the business in that line he could attend to. Politically he was an ardent Democrat, and he gave much time and atten- tion to public affairs, which naturally re- sulted in placing him in public position. In 1832 Gov. Wolf appointed him a justice of the peace for the same district in which Gov. McKean had appointed his father twenty- eight years before. The office of justice of the peace becoming elective in 1840, he there- after was elected to it by the people and re- elected so long as he consented to stand as a candidate for same. He was peculiarly con- stituted for the duties and requirements of this office, and discharged them with such conscientious fidelity that he come to be universally known as "Squire Lamberton," and by that title has passed permanently into the history of the county. In 1847 and in 1848 he was elected to the Lower House of the State Legislature. Cumberland county was then entitled to two representatives in
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that branch of the Legislature, and there were four candidates for the two places. Each time good strong men ran, but each time Mr. Lamberton received the highest vote cast. In 1850 he was elected county surveyor, and thereafter re-elected to that office until he finally declined to run. Al- though much in public position, he was not a professional office-seeker. Public prefer- ment came to him because of the confidence people had in his honesty and integrity, and in his ability to render them the service they wanted. rather than by any special effort on his part. He was a zealous friend and sup- porter of the free school system, helped to put the law creating it into effect and under it was a director continuously for many years and until late in life. Like his father before him he was of the Presbyterian faith, and united with the Second Presbyterian Church of Carlisle on May 11, 1833, at the second communion held by that congrega- tion. was a consistent and earnest Christian worker. and for years a trustee of the church. Squire Lamberton was a good and useful member of society. He unselfishly discharged every duty that came to him, and by word and deed promoted the public welfare upon every opportunity. In the domestic circle, in the church, in business affairs and in pub- lic station, he was equally faithful and up- right, and his name and example will long be cherished by the community in which he lived.
Abraham Lamberton was married, on April 8, 1830, to Margaret Elliott Clark, of North Middleton township, Rev. George Duffield, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Carlisle, performing the ceremony. Mar- garet E. Clark, on both the paternal and ma- ternal sides was also a descendant from two of the oldest families in that part of Cumberland county. She was a daughter
of Robert Clark, who married Mrs. Nancy (Fleming) Gregg, and both the Clarks and the Flemings were in Middleton township as early as 1737. Nancy Fleming was one of a family of ten children, two son and eight daughters. She first married Charles Gregg, by whom she had one son. Alexander C. Gregg. Charles Gregg dying, she after- ward married Robert Clark. The Clarks were also Presbyterians, and Margaret E. (Clark) Lamberton joined the Second Pres- byterian Church of Carlisle at the first com- munion held by that congregation, and was the first person who joined it on the profes- sion of faith. Abraham Lamberton died Jan. 29, 1869, on the ancestral farm where he was born and always lived. His wife died March 3. 1886, and both are buried in the family burying lot in Ashland cemetery at Carlisle, where also rest the remains of most of their children who are dead.
To Abraham and Margaret E. (Clark) Lamberton, were born the following chil- dren : Nancy Elizabeth died July 20, 1892. Ursula Wood died in 1859. Mary Ann died in 1876. Margaret Elliott Clark is men- tioned below. James Ross died in infancy. Robert Clark is mentioned below. Jane Re- becca lives in Carlisle. Catherine Williams died in infancy. James Abraham owns and resides upon a large farm in western Kan- sas. Three of the four surviving members of the family, Margaret, Rebecca and Rob- ert, reside in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Margaret E. C. Lamberton has had a long and creditable career as a teacher, be- ginning with a country school near her home in Middlesex township. She taught for several years in the Middlesex district and then going west taught for several years at Oberlin, Ohio. Returning to Pennsylvania she for a number of years taught the well known Franklin Square school, in South
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Middleton township, Cumberland county. From Franklin Square she was elected to the position of teacher in the grammar grade of the public schools of Carlisle. where she taught successfully until she concluded to retire from the profession. She and her sister Rebecca now live in modest retirement in their home on West Pomfret street. the same home in which her mother spent her declining years.
Robert C. Lamberton is secretary and treasurer of the Beetem Lumber & Manu- facuring Company, and lives on East North street. He is broken in health, but in his younger years was a man of great energy and business enterprise. During the Civil war he enlisted as a recruit in Company G. 84th Regiment, P. V. I .. was a gallant sol- dier and rose to the rank of captain, by which honored title he is familiarly known to all his friends and acquaintances. As with former generations, so it is with the present. All the members of the family are devoted Presbyterians and regular communicants in the church which their sainted mother was the first to join in 1833.
ROBERT CLARK LAMBERTON. From the narrative of Abraham Lamberton it appears that he had a son named Robert Clark Lamberton. This son was born Feb. 28, 1842, on the Lamberton homestead in North Middleton, now Middlesex, township. and educated in the public schools and in Prof. Frank Gillellen's academy at Greason. His school days ended in March, 1861. As his father was county surveyor, and a prac- titioner of wide repute, he was away from home about half his time, and during his absence the duties of the farm devolved upon he son. Robert Lamberton consequently bore the cares and responsibilities of a full
grown man from the time he was fourteen years of age.
When the war of the Rebellion broke upon the land every community was called upon to contribute its quota of young men to the army. A year of the great conflict had passed and the enemy had so nearly suc- ceeded in invading Pennsylvania that it was painfully evident that yet more stupendous sacrifices were necessary if the Union was to be preserved and the nation live. After the battle of Antietam, in September. 1862, there enlisted from Middlesex township between thirty and forty men who felt it their duty to go to their country's aid. Among these was Robert C. Lamberton, who then was a hearty, rugged, six-foot boy with powers of endurance equal to any of his comrades, as was subsequently tested and proven. They repaired to Harrisburg with the expectation of becoming a part of one of the Bucktail regiments which were forming in Camp Curtin, but upon reaching Harrisburg they found those regiments all full and had to look elsewhere for a place in the ranks. At Arlington Heights. Va .. there was then iying the remnant of a regiment which had gone to the front in December. 1861, with full ranks, and through casualties in battle and sickness had been reduced until there were left only about seventy men who were fit for duty. This was the 84th Pennsylva- nia, and it was being recruited back to the required standard for further service. To this veteran regiment was assigned the de- voted band of unseasoned men from Cum- berland county. By the time they reached Arlington Heights they numbered between fifty and sixty men and were consequently able to control the organization of the com- pany to which they were assigned-Com- pany G. From their number they elected
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E. E. Platt captain, and J. P. Brindle, first lieutenant. The colonel was S. M. Bow- man, a veteran who had been an officer of the regiment from its first organization. The regiment was assigned to Gen. Carroll's brigade, and the brigade made a part of Gen. Whipple's Independent Division.
Robert C. Lamberton did not long re- main a private. On Nov. Ist he was pro- moteci to sergeant, and on November 18th to orderly sergeant. As orderly sergeant he frequently performed the duties of his superior officers and did it so efficiently that he was soon regarded capable of higher du- ties. On July 21, 1864, he was promoted to second lieutenant, and on Oct. 4, 1864. he was commissioned captain. In Decem- ber, 1864, what remained of the regiment was consolidated into four companies, and these were transferred to the 57th Regiment, Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry. Companies G and K were formed into one company under the name of Company K. and Capt. Lamberton was retained as captain of the consolidated company, and so contin- ued until mustered out of service at Harris- burg. on June 30, 1865. His father having been an officer in the State militia, and his grandfather a soldier in the war of the Revo- lution, he had inherited a martial spirit, and knew when he entered the army what would be required of him. He knew that implicit obedience was the paramount duty of a sol- dier and by observing that rule of conduct he gave to his country the full measure of a good soldier's service.
Until the reorganized 84th joined the Army of the Potomac it was constantly drill, drill, drill. Thirty days after their enlistment they were in actual field service, and then it was a correspondingly constant round of march, picket and fight. With the exception of a few unimportant skirmishes
their march from Arlington Heights to the Rappahannock was uneventful. The first general engagement in which they partici- pated was the battle of Fredericksburg, on Dec. 13. 14 and 15. On the second day Gen. Griffin called for Carroll's brigade. It was promptly ordered forward and moved up through the town under an incessant shower of shot and shell. Taking temporary refuge in a railroad cut, the officers dismounted. At the word of command, climbing the steep acclivity at double quick, the entire brigade rushed on and soon reached the front, two companies of the 84th reaching a point con- siderably in advance of the line of battle. During the following night the enemy ap- proached stealthily, under cover of darkness, with the expectation of surprising part of the line where lay the 84th, but was handsomely repulsed. The regiment acquitted itself so creditably that Gen. Carroll in his official report specially commended its action. After the battle of Fredericksburg the brigade went into camp at Falmouth, where. with the exception of the Burnside-stick-in-the- mud episode, it remained till spring.
The winter the army lay along the Rap- pahannock Robert Lamberton suffered a severe attack of typhoid fever, induced by exposure and poor rations. He lay in the field hospital through the worst of his illness, but as soon as able went to his home on fur- lough to recuperate. Before the spring cam- paign opened he was able to rejoin his com- rades, ready to share with them the hard- ships and dangers that lay immediately be- fore them.
One of the incidents that occurred soon after Gen. Hooker assumed chief command, and to which Robert Lamberton frequently referred in after years, was President Lin- coln's visit to the army. The President wore his customary high-crowned silk hat, and
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in riding through the camp upon a small bay horse was compelled to frequently lift his feet out of the stirrups to avoid striking the stumps. He presented a ludicrous figure and was the cause of many a smile and jest- ing remark. The soldiers were all glad to see him, and though averse to grand reviews they cheerfully marched in review for his benefit.
At Chancellorsville the S4th probably made its greatest fight as a regiment. It was holding a position on the morning of May 3d. when the Confederates penetrated between it and the main body of the Union army, simultaneously attacking its flank and rear, almost annihilating its left. Of 391 officers and men engaged. 219 were killed, wounded and missing. and only five mem- bers of Company G were left to answer roll call. In this bloody engagement Robert Lamberton successfully eluded the musket and bayonet of the foe. but five bullets pierced his clothing. one destroying his entire stock of cartridges. He came through the awful ordeal unscathed. but many a poor comrade fell at his feet while he was unable to render any assistance.
Soon after Gen. Lee started on his march to Pennsylvania the Army of the Potomac broke camp and followed, and the forced marches of that campaign taxed the endur- ance of the Union soldiers more severely than it had been taxed since the war began. All the night before the 84th crossed the Potomac it rained, making progress exceed- ingly difficult, yet the command marched for twenty hours without so much as once halting to make a cup of coffee. At two o'clock in the afternoon it bivouacked on the tow-path and all of Company G then present was the captain, one sergeant and Robert Lamberton. By sunrise the next morning nearly all of the exhausted men had come up
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