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 98
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118
The First Church of Carlisle is one of the oldest, most interesting and most import- ant churches of Southern Pennsylvania. The present building is the oldest church edifice. west of the Susquehanna river in the United States, having been commenced in 1757. The church has always been strong both in the number and character of its membership, and some of the most distinguished clergy- men of the Presbyterian Church have been its pastors. Its massive fortress-like build- ing stands as a silent witness to the strong character of the men who laid the founda- tions of Presbyterianism in the Cumberland Valley. Built before our country's natal day, it was the rallying point for the men who pledged their lives and fortunes for the liberty that has become our precious heri- tage. and it stands as the watch tower of the fathers over the faithfulness of the chil- dren. Mr. Hagerty began his pastorate in Carlisle early in the spring of 1893. He
696
CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
preached his first sermon on the 19th of March. and was installed on the 27th of April. He has now labored in the charge over eleven years, through all of which there have been pleasant relations between pastor and people and a steady. healthy growth of church work along all lines.
On Dec. 7. 1876, Mr. Hagerty was mar- ried to Sarah Jane Smith, daughter of Wil- liam Smith. a prominent farmer of Wash- ington county, and an elder for many years in the Pigeon Creek Presbyterian Church. She received her education in the Washing- ton Seminary, and was in full sympathy with her husband's purposes of entering the ministry. Coming of Godly ancestry she was eminently qualified for the important station of a pastor's wife. and through all the years of his preparation and subsequent labors she has proven herself worthy of the call into the ministry with her husband.
Mr. Hagerty was twice commissioned to the General Assembly of the United Pres- byterian Church, also twice a member of the Committee of Missions of the same church, and in 1898 a commissioner to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church which met at Winona. Ind., and after the organiza- tion of the Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip. in the Presbyterian Church, was eight years continuously a member of that body's Executive Council. He is a clear and logical thinker. a forcible speaker and per- fectly frank in the treatment of all subjects that he discusses in his sermons. He is en- tirely devoted to his work, lives in it, and wins and holds the respect of those who know him.
PROF. A. H. EGE, A. B., A. M. Me- chanicsburg can boast of an unusual number of scholarly men, and one of these is Prof. Ege, whose long connection with the educa-
tional interests of Cumberland county is well known. In addition to being a success- ful and popular educator, Prof. Ege has been identified with both business and public mat- ters to such an extent as to make him an im- portant factor also in these circles. Prof. Ege was born April 2, 1838, in Baltimore county, Md., a son of Rev. Oliver Ege. a minister of the M. E. Church, connected at that date with the Baltimore Conference.
The founder of the Ege family in Amer- ica was Bernard ( Peter) Ege, who, at the age of fifty years, with his two sons, Jacob and Michael (I), aged twenty-five and twen- ty-three respectively, came to America from the Province of Wurtemberg, Germany, sailing from Holland in the ship "Freund- schaft," and arriving in Philadelphia Sept. 20, 1738.
Michael Ege (I) married in Philadel- phia, in 1745, Anna Cathrine Holtz ( Wood in English). He died Jan. 19, 1759, leaving two sons, George (born 1748) and Michael (II) (born 1753). These young boys were brought up by Baron Henry William Stiegle, their uncle by marriage, under whom they learned the iron business, both becoming iron masters. At their majority they became proprietors and operative iron masters- George in Berks county, near Reading ; and Michael (II) in Cumberland county.
Michael Ege (II) married, in 1772, Ann Dorothea Wolff, daughter of Peter Wolff, of Spring Forge, York county. He died Aug. 31, 1815, leaving seven children.
Michael Ege (III), the third son of Michael II, inherited from his father the old Boiling Springs furnace, which he continued to operate with much success. His children were: Rev. Oliver, Andrew G., Michael, Charles, Peter, Edward and Mary (who married Judge Watts, of Carlisle).
Rev. Oliver Ege, son of Michael (III),
697
CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
was born Dec. 11, 1802, and he died Aug. 9, 1889. For nearly sixty years he was a man of power and influence in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1843 he married Susanna P. Thompson, of Berwick, Columbia county, Pa., daughter of Hugh and Mary (Dodson) Thompson, and they had these children born to them: Rev. Thomas P., rector of the Episcopal Church at Oaks, Montgomery Co., Pa .; A. H .; Annie E., wife of Dr. S. W. Thompson, of Danville, Pa .: Francis H., who married J. E. Zug. of Prince George, Md.
In his boyhood, Prof. A. H. Ege at- tended the public schools, and in the fall of 1857 he entered the Junior Class at Dick- inson College, where he was most creditably graduated in 1860, with a degree of A. B., at a later date securing the degree of A. M. About 1860, in association with his father, he bought the Cumberland Valley Institute at Mechanicsburg, and in 1865 he took charge of the institution as principal. Prof. Ege devoted fifteen years to the interests of this school, meeting with great success, but in 1878, he gave up his connection with it, and took an extended tour in Europe. In 1883. in partnership with John T. Richard- son, of Harrisburg, he established the Frog and Switch Department of the Carlisle Man- ufacturing Company, which was continued for six years, then sold. and a similar busi- ness was established at Curtis Bay, Md. This was soon disposed of also, and the part- ners went to Harrisburg, there establishing what is known as the Anthracite Wagon Company, which was chartered in 1895, with Prof. Ege president.
In 1891 Prof. Ege married Anna J. Me- gary, daughter of William Megary, of Cum- berland county. Since boyhood he has been an active member of the M. E. Church and for thirty years has held official relations
with it, as Recording Steward and Secretary of the board of trustees. He has worked zealously in the Sunday-school. and in fact has been deeply interested in every branch connected with that religious body. Since 1872 he has been a Prohibitionist, and has lectured and written many able articles on temperance topics. For some years he has been secretary and chairman of the Cumber- land County Prohibition party, being well equipped for leadership. Prof. Ege is also prominent in the various Masonic bodies, is a member of Eureka Lodge, No. 302, F. & A. M., Mechanicsburg, and has belonged to St. John's Commandery of Carlisle ever since 1873. For the last thirty years few men have been more variously active in Cumberland county than has Prof. Ege, and what is notable is that he is equally well at home as a teacher, lecturer, business man, or member of the social circle.
HAYS. The first mention that is made in history of the name of Hay is about the year 980, in the reign of Kennett III, of Scotland. The Danes, having invaded Scot- land, were met by Kennett near Lancarty in Perthshire. The Scots, retreating through a narrow pass, were rallied by a countryman of great strength, together with his two sons. The Danes were then defeated and as a reward for his signal service the King gave him as much land in the carse of Gow- rie as a falcon should fly over before alight- ing. A falcon being loosed flew over an ex- tent of land six miles in length, and the stone on which it alighted is said to be known to this day as the "Falcon Stone." The land thus assigned to the Hay family was known as Errol. The King also assigned three shields or escutcheons for the arms of the family, thus indicating that the father and the two sons had been three fortunate shields
698
CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
of Scotland. Among the names of the Nor- man followers of William the Conqueror in 1066 we find De La Hays, which name is found in both England and Scotland in the twelfth century. Soon, however, the name became anglicised to Hays and Hayes ; and from the Norman French De La Hays and the Scotch Hay are descended the Hay. Hays and Hayes families.
The heirs of Lord Hay of Yester in 1500 were the first of that family to change their names to Hays. Heirs spelling the name Hays inherited part of the unentailed estate. In those original Scotch and Nor- man families who made Scotland and Eng- land their adopted countries it is interesting to trace the similarity of their Christian names with those of the branch of the family of which we are writing, thus strongly sug- gesting though not proving, kindred de- scent. In the family of Hay whose head al- ways bore the title of Earl of Kinnoull we find that Sir William's title descended to Sir David: from him was descended Sir Ed- mund Hay, of Melginch, who made a con- sidlerable figure in the reign of James VI. He was the father of Sir Patrick Hay, who was introduced at the Court of James VI by his uncle. James Hay, Viscount Doncaster, and Earl of Carlisle. He was made high chancellor of Scotland by Charles I. The third son of Patrick was elected one of the fifteen peers of the third and fourth British Parliaments. One of his daughters married John Erskine, last Earl of Mar. But to go on and trace out the names of this single branch would be unnecessary and uninter- esting, as we merely speak of them for the purpose of showing how cach branch has held the same Christian names.
The ancestors of our subject joined the colonists from Highland and Lowland Scot- land, and the northern shires of England, in
taking up the lands of the Province of U'lste in Ireland. which were confiscated by Jame I. in 160 ;. from the rebel Earl of Tyron and Tyrconnell. These colonists trace their ori gin to many sources. The name of each Highland clan is represented among them but the greatest profusion was of Lowland names, which though Scotch are not Celtic. So many of them were of English extraction and settled near Derry that they changed its name to Londonderry. There are also names of French derivation, the ancestors of those who bore them coming to England with William the Conqueror, and also a few with Dutch names, whose forefathers fled from the persecutions of Alva and Philip of Spain in the Netherlands. Notwithstanding their difference of ancestry, the colonists were as a unit in creed and political belief, and have to this day remained a separate and distinct people from their Celtic neighbors, who differ from them in temperament. polit- ical ideas and religion. All these colonists are designated by the name Scotch-Irish, and being a vigorous, industrious and fear- less people. they soon made Northern Ire- land a productive agricultural district which upheld the Crown and kept in check the bigoted natives. During their stay in Ire- land of not over three generations it was the scene of two long and bloody wars, to say nothing of their continuous struggles with the native Celts. So when the English gov- ernment, forgetting the battle of the Boyne, the siege of Derry and like struggles, began to reward their services with oppression, both political and religious, they again turned to a new land, one that had regard for human rights and liberties. The dangers and hardships in the new country were many, and to bravely face them required all the courage of the most intrepid spirit.
Among those who were willing to brave
699
CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
its perils, however, were the brothers Pat- rick, Hugh and David Hays, also William and James Hays, either brothers or near relations. They came to Pennsylvania in 1728, and all purchased land in what was then the county of Lancaster. William fol- lowed the Virginia and Carolina migrations of the few subsequent years and of his de- scendants we know nothing. Yet a rather striking. incident occurred in Washington during the war of the Rebellion, in which possibly a descendant of his figured. Tite late S. I. Irvine entered a military hospital in that city, and seeing a figure on a cot which, because of the great likeness, he mis- took for John Sharp Hays, exclaimed "Why, Jolin Hays, what are you doing here?" John Hays was the name of the wounded man, only he was from South Car- olina and was in the Confederate service. On the assessment list of 1751 the name of James is missing, he having probably died prior to that time. Hugh Hays, of London- derry, died in April, 1779, leaving a wiie. Jean, and brother Patrick, among other legatees. [Notes and Queries, Vol. II. p. 276.]
David Hays purchased 500 acres of land . near Donegal, Lancaster county, in what is now Rapho township. This land was on the west side of the Big Chickies creek, oppo- site Robert Spear's farm. He was a trus- tee of the Donegal Church for twelve years. and on a marble tablet in that church is re- corded "Patent from John, Thomas and Richard Penn to the trustees, Rev. James Anderson, John Allison, Jas. Mitchell and David Hays, June 4th, 1740." David Hays died in May, 1770, leaving a wife Jean and five children : Mrs. Alex Scott, John, Robert. Patrick and David. His executors were sons Robert and Patrick, and son-in-law Alex. Scott. [Notes and Queries, Vol. II,
p. 264.] There are still living descendants of their branch of the family, but they are extinct in Lancaster county, the last of the name dying at Marietta in 1847.
Arthur Hays, a grandson of David, was in Revolutionary service commissioned an ensign in Capt. Pedan's company ; partici- pated in the battles of Brandywine and Ger- mantown, and in the Jersey campaign. In the graveyard at Donegal church are nine gravestones which mark the resting-places of that branch of the Hays family.
Tite emigrant ancestor, Patrick Hays, who was the great-great-grandfather of our subject, was born in Donegal, Ireland. in 1705. and on coming to Pennsylvania, in 1728. purchased 600 acres of land in Derry township, in what was then Lancaster coun- ty, but is now Dauphin county. This tract lay about three miles south of Derry. He died Jan. 31, 1790, and with his wife, Jean, whom he married in 1729, lies in the old Derry graveyard. To them were born seven children : (1) David, born in 1731, inher- ited what is now the Felty farm; he after- ward moved to Middle Spring, where he married Martha Wilson, a daughter of James Wilson, and five children were born to them. Wilson married Mary Culbertson. Patrick married Elizabeth Galbraith. Rob- ert married Mary McCune. Mary married Stephen Culbertson. Jane married Hugh Hamilton. David Hays died in 1809, and his wife Martha (Wilson), in 1818.
(2) Robert, born Feb. 2, 1733. mar- ried March 25, 1762, Margaret Wray, of Derry. On Aug. 20, 1776, he enlisted as a private in Col. Galbraith's battalion, of Lan- caster County Associators, and according to Dr. Egle, State librarian, became a commis- sioned officer. [In his Notes and Queries he tells of Robert having with him two ser- vants at the battle of Brandywine, one of
700
CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
whom dreamed on the night before the battle that he would be killed, so he was left be- hind with the baggage. On returning from the battle. they found that part of the camp had been sacked and the dead body of the servant. whose dream had been fulfilled.] His ( Robert's) inheritance was what is now the Longnecker farm. To Robert and Mar- garet Hays were born eleven children. These were the great-grandparents of our subject. Their eleven children are as follows: (1) Jean. born in 1763. died in 1817. (2) Jolin, born in 1765. married Margaret Gray. He was a government surveyor and moved to Lewisburg. While engaged in surveying he had many experiences, and on one occasion narrowly escaped the hatchet of an Indian. His younger brother David also became a surveyor and was employed with him at Lewisburg. where he was accidentally killed in the performance of duty Oct. 8, 1796. (3) Patrick. the third child of Robert and Margaret Hays, was the grandfather of our subject. He was born in 1767, lived for a while with his brother John in Lycoming county, and then returned to Dauphin coun- ty, and he paid frequent visits to his uncle David. near Shippensburg. On one of these visits, while riding by the Mickey residence near Oakville, he saw a young lady drawing water from a well and asked for a drink. This was his first meeting with Margaret Mickey, who became his wife' Jan. 10, 1810. On another of these trips up the Cumberland. Valley he was stopped by a man answering to the description of Lewis the Robber, a notorious highwayman of that day, whose hiding place was in the North Mountain. Patrick remembered clearly occurrences during the Revolutionary war, and related to his grandchildren how, during its winters, they would hear in the nights the howls of the prowling wolves around that .home
whose father was fighting for the independ- ence of the Colonies. He lived to be ninety years old. and during his last sickness com- plainedi that he did not know what could be the matter with him, for he was sure he was not so old. The children of Patrick and Margaret (Mickey) Hays were as follows: Isamiah became the wife of Alexander W. Sterritt, of Newton township, and died soon after marriage, leaving one child, now the wife of Malancthon Woods : Robert Mickey Hays became the father of our subject ; Mar- garet married James Mckinstry, and both are deceased: Mary Ann is the widow of William McCune, and resides in Newville ; Lucetta (deceased) was the wife of James Dunlap. of Newville; Jane died at twenty years of age, unmarried. (4) Margaret, born in 1769. married William Thome. of Hanover. (5) Robert, born in 1771, mar- ried ( first) Jean Hays, daughter of Capt. Patrick Hays, and ( second) Marjory Hen- derson. of Shippensburg. (6) David was born in 1773; his accidental death at Lewis- Lurg we have noted above. (7) Samuel, born in 1775. died unmarried. (8) James, born in 1777, died in 1778. (9) William, born in 1779. removed to Virginia. (10) Solomon was born in 1781, studied medi- cine. and bringing his cases of instruments, drugs. and books to his brother Patrick's left for the West, to choose a location in which to practice. He was never heard of after, and what fate he met will never be known. ( II) Joseph, born in 1783. married and went to Equality, Illinois.
Robert Hays, the father, died June 6, 1809, and his wife Margaret died Jan. 6, 1820. They also are buried in the Derry graveyard.
Robert Mickey Hays, father of our sub- ject, was born at Paxtang, Dauphin Co., Pa., on a farm, in 1813. He accompanied
701
CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
his parents to Newton township, Cumber- land county, in 1820, and became a very suc- cessful farmer. In politics, he was a Repub- lican. He married Miss Hannah Sharpe, daughter of John and Jane (McCune) Sharpe. She was born in Newton township in 1817, and died in 1889. She was a woman of admirable character, devoted to her family, and for many years a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church. The four children of their family were: ( 1) Margaret became the wife of Samuel I. Ir- vin. and both are deceased. (2) Jolin Sharpe (deceased) married Jennie McFarland and they have three children, Belle Mckinney (widow of G. E. Swope), Lucy Sharp (at home) and Jane McFarland (at home). (3) Edwin R. is the subject of this sketch. (4) Jane is the wife of Edwin McCandlish, of Newville.
EDWIN R. HAYS received his education in the district schools of Newton township. where his birth occurred May 10, 1846. At tine age of sixteen years he began to mater- ially assist his father in the operation of the home farm. At the age of nineteen he came to Newville and embarked in business with his brother John S., under the firm name of Hays Bros., in the manufacture of earthen- ware, the pottery being located in the north part of the village, and dealt in queensware. In 1877 Mr. Hays moved from Newville to the old Hays homestead in Newton town- ship, and followed farming there for four years. Upon his return to Newville he en- tered into partnership with Edwin McCand- lish. in the hardware business, under the firm name of McCandlish & Hays. This bus- iness was so conducted for twenty years, meeting with the success attendant upon honorable methods and first-class goods. In 1901 Mr. Williams purchased the interest of Mr. McCandlish and the firm became
Hays & Williams, as at present. This well- established house is a leader in the hardware line and makes a specialty of wire and fenc- ing. Mr. Hays owns a handsome property in Newville. For the past eleven years he has been financially interested in the First National Bank of this place, of which he is president. It is one of the largest financial institutions of Newville and is engaged in a general banking business.
In 1876 Mr. Hays married Maria L. Mckinney, daughter of Thomas and Jane R. (Glenn) Mckinney, and to this union four children have been born, viz. : Thomas McKinney, who is superintendent and treas- urer of the Camden Inter-State Railway Co., at Huntingdon, Va .; Rachel Glenn, at home; Robert M., a student at Dickinson College, Carlisle; and Margaret, who died in infancy. Both Mr. Hays and his wife are members of the Big Spring Presbyterian Church, of which he has been an elder for twenty-six years, and superintendent of the Sunday-school since 1892. In politics, he is a Republican. For a number of years lie has been a member of the school board and served several years as its president. He has been identified with the prosperity of New- ville for many years, and is justly regarded as one of the city's most useful, representa- tive men.
LEVI HENRY SHENK. Among the settlers who at an early date came from Lan- caster into Cumberland county were mem- bers of the Shenk family. The exact date of their coming cannot now be definitely ascer- tained, but it is certain that it was more than one hundred and ten years ago. Henry Shenk appears upon the tax list of West Pennsboro in 1793, but the record of a cer- tain real-estate transaction shows that he was already a citizen of that township in
702
CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
1791. He first located within the present limits of West Pennsboro, where he contin- ued to reside until about 1823. when he re- moved into Dickinson township, and resided there until his death, which occurred in De- cember, 1837. at the age of almost seventy- five years. His wife Elizabeth died April 2. IS34. aged seventy-one years, and the re- mains of both are buried in the graveyard of the German Baptist Church near Hunts- dale.
Henry and Elizabeth Shenk, among other children, had a son Henry (2). who was born Jan. 17. 1791. As it is not defin- itely known when the parents came from Lancaster to Cumberland county. it cannot be definitely ascertained in which of the two counties this son was born. He grew to man- hood in West Pennsboro and Dickinson townships, and. like his ancestors before him, engaged at farming. He married Catherine Kendig, who was born June 27, 1799. The Kendigs also were among the early settlers of Cumberland county. Henry and Catherine ( Kendig) Shenk had issue as follows : Martin, Daniel, Elias. Henry, John and Catherine. Henry Shenk (2) died Oct. 31, 1861 ; Catherine Kendig, his wife, died Feb. 4, 1845, and both are buried in the graveyard of the German Baptist Church near Huntsdale.
Martin Shenk, son of Henry and Cath- erine (Kendig) Shenk, was born Sept. 7, 1819, near Mooredale, Dickinson township, was reared on the farm, and followed farm- ing all the days of his life in the vicinity of his birthplace. In the course of time he there acquired four contiguous tracts of farm land aggregating 244 acres, which he re-arranged into three different tracts and distributed to three of his children, two of whom still own and live upon the farms re- ceived from his hands. He married Su-
sanna, daughter of Joseph and Mary ( Moh- ler) Sollenberger. a member of a family who came from Lancaster to Cumberland county about the same time that the Shenks came. She was born in Monroe township, Feb. 16. 1825, but while she was yet a young girl her parents moved to Dickinson town- ship. Martin Shenk died Feb. 25. 1898; his wife, Susanna Sollenberger, died Aug. 18, 1896, and their remains rest in the grave- yard of the German Baptist Church at Huntsdale. Martin and Susanna (Sollen- berger) Shenk had the following children : Daniel Martin. Samuel Eby, Mary Cath- erine and Levi Henry. Daniel M. married Sarah Hollinger, and lives near Wilson, Kans .; Samuel E. married Jennie Frehn, and lives at Newville; and Mary C. married J. Edward Hollinger, and lives in Dickinson township. on the "Mansion farm."
Levi H. Shenk, the youngest child of Martin and Susanna ( Sollenberger) Shenk, and subject of this sketch, was born Jan. 23, 1858, near Mooredale, in Dickinson town- ship. He grew to maturity on the farm and received his education in the country district school and at the Huntingdon and Shippens- burg Normal Schools. Early in his young manhood, and before he was married, he be- gan farming for himself on the place of his birth, where he has continued to live and farm ever since. Along with his farming he has bought and sold stock, as the stock mar- ket offered inducements, and for a period of nine years engaged extensively at hay pack- ing. He owned and operated the first steam hay press that was operated in Cumberland county, and with it did business over a wide range of country. Although devoted to his business enterprises Mr. Shenk has always considered it a part of his duty as a citizen to give some attention to public affairs. He is a Republican in politics, and his liberal
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.