USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > Biographical annals of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical and genealogical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settlers > Part 2
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George. William and Howard Hastings are all members of the Masonic fraternity.
John Hastings was a Democrat, and was often a delegate to the county conventions of his party. He was a school director many years. All the fam- ilv were identified with the Presbyterian Church, of which he was a faithful and devoted member, as was his wife.
GEORGE W. EABY. One of the best-known figures in business, political and social circles in Lan- caster, is George W. Eaby, who is engaged in the real-estate and insurance business, located at No. 51 East Grant street.
The ancestors of Mr. Eaby came to America from Switzerland, generations ago, and his grand- father, Jacob Eaby, was a well-known farmer in Leacock township, where he owned and farmed a very large tract of land, which, at his death was divided among his sons and daughters, forming a number of smaller farms. Daniel M. Eaby, the father of George W., owned and farmed a part of the original tract. Daniel M. married Miss Caroline Bair, a daughter of the late Joel Bair, a prosperous
farmer of Leacock, and by a singular coincidence, there were five sons and daughters in each of these families.
The union of Daniel M. Eaby and Caroline Bair, resulted in the birth of seven children : Joel S., who is in the real estate and insurance business, in Lan- caster : Harry B., who is in the service of the Government, in Wooster, O. : Daniel E., a grocer of Lancaster ; Jacob M., a merchant at Paradise, in this county : Mary. the wife of William Rice, of Wooster, O .; and George W., but one of the family having passed out of life.
George W. Eaby was born on the old homestead, in Leacock township, Feb. 5, 1840, and was educated in the public schools of the district and at the Mil- lersville Normal School, leaving the latter institu- tion when twenty to become a school teacher. For the following eight years he taught in the public schools, with the exception of nine months of ser- vice as a member of the 122nd Regiment, P. V. [., during the Civil war, when he took part with his regiment in all its battles and skirmishes, which included Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg. Mr. Eaby also served with the "Emergency" men, when the Confederates invaded the State.
Soon after the close of the war, Mr. Eaby be- came clerk of the Lancaster county prison, serving two years, and then became a clerk in the Steinman hardware store, where he remained for four years. Later he engaged in the grocery business for a time, disposing of this to enter upon the duties of a posi- tion in the office of the clerk of the Quarter Ses- sions of Lancaster county, acting three years as deputy, under Dr. B. F. W. Urban, and three years as clerk in chief of the office, and the following three years as deputy under Capt. Abram Settley, who had been elected to the office at the expiration of Mr. Eaby's term. This completed nine years of service in one of the most important offices in the county, and his record was such, and his fidelity to the cause of the Republican party so well known and appreciated, that he was strongly urged by his friends for the office of alderman of the 2d ward, of Lancaster. In 1891, Mr. Eaby entered the real estate and insurance business and since that time has rendered signal service to the various com- panies he represents and has enjoyed a large pat- ronage.
Mr. Eaby married Miss Rachel A. Reese. a daughter of the late James MI. Reese, of Bethania, Salisbury township. Previous to marriage, Mrs Eaby was a teacher and she and her husband pos- sess what is unusual, in one family, namely, two permanent teachers' certificates. Mrs. Eaby, who was one of the brightest of Lancaster county's teach- ers, is descended from two very old families : her mother was a Bentley, and her grandfather was a Baker, and it was from the papers testifying to the fame of Aaron Baker, in the Revolutionary war, that Mrs. Eaby became a Daughter of the Revolu-
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tion, in which exclusive and admirable society, she has taken an active interest. She is five generations removed from her Revolutionary ancestors.
From the union of George W. Eaby and his wife two children have been born: C. Reese Eaby, Esq., a prominent member of the Lancaster bar; and Flora, the wife of Harry Cessna, Esq., a member of the Bedford county bar, a son of the late Hon John Cessna, who was, for so many years, president of the board of trustees of Franklin and Marshall College.
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Mr. Eaby is a member of the Blue Lodge of Masons, and is also fraternally connected with the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Elks. The religious connection of the family is with Trin- ity Lutheran Church, where Mr. Eaby is recognized as in other relations, as an earnest, intelligent, gen- erous and conscientious citizen.
HENRY ALBERT SCHROYER, the florist at No. 151 North Queen street, Lancaster, is a son of George W. Schroyer, the veteran florist, whose many hothouses are located on the Harrisburg turnpike.
George W. Schroyer was born in Lewisburg, Union Co., this State, Sept. 9, 1818, and is still seemingly as active, mentally and physically, as most men of fifty years. He came of a family long es- tablished in this country, being a descendant of one of three brothers of the name who came to America in 1670, and settled in Pennsylvania-one in Lan- caster county, one in Berks county, and one in a western county. Conrad Schroyer, his grandfather, was born Dec. 10, 1761, in Lancaster county.
Col. Christian Schroyer, father of George W., was born Aug. 5, 1793, in Cornwall, Lancaster (now Lebanon) county, and died in 1855. He was a noted and popular hotel-keeper in his day, his hos- telry being located near Lewisburg, on the road be- tween that place and Northumberland. In those days of primitive traveling facilities there was a hotel in about every twenty-five miles, where the stages put up and accommodations were afforded the public, and no host was better known in that section tlian Col. Schroyer. He gained his title by service in the militia, having been colonel of the 8th Regi- ment. Under Jackson's administration he was ap- pointed postmaster at Chillisquaque. In addition to carrying on his hotel business he engaged in general farming. He first married Susan Spangler, by whom he had eight children, Elizabeth, Anna, Rachel, Sarah, Susan, William, George W., and one that died in infancy. The mother of these died in 1835, and the Colonel subsequently married a Mrs. Myer. Two children were born to that union, Mich- ael and Lewis. William, Michael and Lewis served in the Civil war.
George W. Schroyer was given his primary train- ing in the "corner" district school near his carly home, when a little older attended an evening writ- ing school, and rounded out his somewhat limited
literary training with a short term at a grammar school. At the age of eighteen he left home, walk- ing to Harrisburg, where he obtained a position which presented an opportunity for him to learn the printer's trade, in the office of a paper called The Keystone. He continued there until he had risen to the dignity of foreman. Mr. Schrover was married, in 1845, to Anna E., daughter of J. B. Thompson, of Harrisburg, and in the fall of that vear he bought the Columbia Spy, in Columbia, Lancaster county, which he sold, however, in about two years, returning to Harrisburg: There he re- mained until 1854, in which year he took charge of the Inland Daily, at Lancaster. In 1856 he took charge of the composing room of the Daily Express, a position he held until 1893, in which year his fail- ing health drove him out of the printing business into the open air. He bought the place he now occupies that year, from Dr. H. E. Muhlenberg, and there he still lives, much beloved and respected by all who know him. Mr. Schroyer has not only the honor of having conducted the first daily paper of Lancaster, in 1854, but he is also the pioneer florist of that place. His home place consists of seven acres, one and a half acres under glass. He commenced with vegetables and small fruits, but soon changed to his present line. In politics Mr. Schroyer was origin- ally a Democrat (like his father), supporting that party until 1856, when, as he says, "all good Demo- crats turned Republicans." He and his wife hold membership in the Lutheran Church.
Henry Albert Schroyer was born in Harrisburg Jan. 29, 1850, and spent his boyhood days in Lan- caster, where, after attending St. James' Parish school, he became a student in the high school. At the age of seventeen years he began his work as a florist with his father, and in 1888 opened a store 01 North Queen street, a few doors from his present location. When a year had elapsed he moved into his present quarters, where his business has steadily grown, and 'he now enjoys one of the most flat- tering patronages in the city.
Henry A. Schroyer inherits his grandfather's interest in politics and is a stanch Republican. In 1878 he was elected to the common council from the Ninth ward, which was strongly Democratic, by a majority of three votes, a narrow margin, but enough. For the Young Republican Club he served as chief marshal in every campaign from the organi- zation of that body to 1900, when he declined far- ther work in that line. He has twice been a dele- gate to the Republican State Convention. Since 1888 he has been a member of the board of school directors, and was re-elected for another term of three years in February, 1900. In November, 1900, he was elected treasurer of the Lancaster city school board, and was honored with re-election in 1901 and 1902. For eight years out of the nine in which he was a member of the committee on night schools, he served as its chairman. His work on this com- mittee did much to make these night schools efficient
JB. A. Schroger
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and useful. His best achievement in school work was the building of the splendid eight-room struc- ture on North Mary street and Harrisburg avenue, a result which required many years to effect; it is pronounced one of the finest eight-room school buildings in the State.
Mr. Schroyer is a member and past grand of Herschel Lodge, I. O. O. F., the Elks in Lancaster, the Hamilton Club, the Young Republicans, and the Lancaster Maennerchor ; and is also very active in the Masonic fraternity, in which he has risen to the thirty-second degree, holding membership in Lamberton Lodge, No. 479, of which he was elected worshipful master for the year 1903; Chapter No. 43; Goodwin Council ; Lancaster Commandery, No. 13, K. T .; Lancaster Lodge of Perfection, four- teenth degree, Harrisburg, of which he is a past officer ; Council of the Princes of Jerusalem, six- teenth degree, Harrisburg; Rose Croix Chapter, eighteenth degree; and Harrisburg Consistory, thirty-second degree. In fraternity work, as in poli- tics, he is earnest and enthusiastic, anything he un- dertakes being done with all his heart and soul.
Henry Albert Schroyer was married, Oct. 27, 1875, to Miss Anna V., a daughter of the late Sam- uel M. Myers, well known in planing-mill interests in Chambersburg. Both are members of St. John's Lutheran Church, in which they take a deep and substantial interest.
SAMUEL AMMON (deceased) was for many years a leading citizen of Salisbury township. He was born Oct. 6, 1818, in Caernarvon township, Lancaster county, and his death took place at Gap, Pa., Oct. 23, 1901. His parents were Henry and Mary (Signer) Ammon.
Henry Ammon, the father of Sammuel, was a farmer in Lancaster county all his life. He died in 1836, at the age of forty-five years, his widow sur- viving until 1860, dying at the age of sixty-two. They were buried at Morgantown and Pequea, re- spectively. Both parents were members of the Pres- byterian Church. The children born to this union were: Samuel; Jolin, deceased, who married Maria Speece ; Sarah, who died young; Mary, deceased wife of David Ranck; William and Henry, twins, the former a retired farmer in Chester county, the latter operating a bakery in Gap and married to Jane Patten, born in Salisbury township, Sept. 19, 1835 ; George and Davis, twins, the former of whom is a carpenter in Salisbury township and the latter died young.
On March 31, 1875, Samuel Ammon was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Arnold, born in East Earl township, daughter of Abraham and Lydia (Reel) Arnold, the former of whom was a black- smith in East Earl township. He died in 1844, his widow surviving until 1877, when she died at the age of seventy-four years; both parents of Mrs. Ammon were buried in Cedar Grove Church cem- etery, in East Earl township. The children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Arnold were: Sarah, the widow of George Ranck, of East Earl township; Isaac, of East Earl township; Mary, also of East Earl: Gabriel, who died young ; and Elizabeth, who is the widow of Samuel Ammon.
For many years Mr. Ammon was employed by the great Pennsylvania Railroad as one of its con- tractors. He then resided in Lancaster, but in 1877 removed to Gap and for ten years operated the "Gap Hotel," which during his administration was one of the most comfortable hostelries in the place. In politics he was a staunch Republican. In his liberal way he contributed to the support of both Presbyter- ian and Methodist Churches, being a man of moral life, although not connected by membership with either religious body. Mrs. Ammon approved of his methods and is valued in both churches also. She is a very highly esteemed lady in this community and has a wide circle of warm friends.
J. COMLY MAULE (deceased) was born in Chester county, Pa., but spent his active life in Cole- rain township, Lancaster county. He was the third son in a family of seven children born to Ebenezer and Sarah (Lee) Maule, four of whom are now liv- ing in Chester county ; Nathan, near Lenover ; Ben- jamin, near Doe Run; and Ebenezer and Abigail, who are on the old homestead. Mary J., who mar- ried E. Phips, is now deceased; Zillah died in young womanhood.
J. Comly Maule was reared in Chester county, where he attended the district school and boarding school for boys. In December, 1857, he was mar- ried to Miss S. Emma Clark, a daughter of George and Anna (Taylor) Clark. Mr. Clark lived for a number of years on his farm in Doe Run, Chester county, and then moved into Westchester, where he lived retired until his death in 1860. His first wife died a few years after their marriage, while Mrs. Maule was still a child, leaving one son and one daughter. The son, William, went to Denver, Colo .. when a young man, and won for himself a good standing in the business circles of that city, where he died in 1900, leaving a widow and two children, Howard Taylor and Myrtle, both of Denver. George Clark married for his second wife, Hannah Bailey, who bore him two children : Edward, who is in Lead- ville, Colo. : and Mary, who married William Glenn, of Chester county, and is now dead. Mrs. Maule was born in September, 1835, at the old Clark home- stead in Chester county, and received her education in the Kennett Square schools.
Throughout his active life. Mr. Maule was en- gaged in farming, dairying and stock-raising. After marriage, he and his wife settled near Avondale, Chester county, where he was engaged in farming for four years. For two years they lived in Little Britain, and then in 1864 he bought the property where his family are now living. He added to it some very substantial improvements, and it was at the time of his death one of the most desirable
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places in that region. The Society of Friends found a warm place in his heart, as it was his ancestral faith, and he rigidly adhered to its teachings in all his associations with the world, taking always a deep interest in the advancement of the community in gen- eral and those of his own faith in particular. For many years his pacific principles and sense of justice made him an arbitrator for the combative in his neighborhood.
To Mr. Maule and his wife were born the fol- lowing children: (1) George C., born in 1858, was reared at the home, and educated in the Union Acad- emy, of Lancaster county. He married Clara Brin- ton, and resides on a farm in Chester county, where he is known as a prosperous and successful farmer. They have four children, Willard Norman, Mary Anna, Walter W. and Charles E. (2) Anna H., born in 1859, married Allison Baker, of Smyrna, where Mr. Baker is engaged in farming. Mrs. Baker was a student in the State Normal at Millersville. (3) Walter born in 1861. married Miss Lizzie R. Lam- born, of Lancaster county, and for some years was engaged in the milling business at Puseyville. Later in life, he purchased a mill in Colerain township, which he carried on until his death in 1892, leaving a widow and no family. (4) Emma Z., born in Lan- caster county, in 1864 (the first three members of this family having been born in Chester county) married John Chamberlain. They reside near the Chester county line. (5) Charles E., born in 1866, married Miss Hannah Jackson, of Christiana, and has his home in Sadsbury township, where they have four children. James W., Comly. William L. and Alice. (6) Norman Comly, born in 1873. was edu- cated at Octoraro Academy and in the Westchester State Normal. Since the death of his father, he has taken the management of his mother's affairs upon himself and stands very high in the estimation of the people of the neighborhood. (7) William M., born in 1876, was a student at the Westchester Nor- mal where he prepared for college, and then en- tered Swarthmore College. The following year he took a special course in biology in the Pennsylvania University. He is a graduate of Cornell Univer- sity class of 1902, and has made a reputation for him- self as a scholar and a thinker wherever he has at- tended, being at the front in all the branches at the college. After graduating from Cornell he was ap- pointed by the U. S. Government to study the forests of the North West, and later was appointed Forestry Inspector of the Philippine Islands, a position which he is eminently fitted to fill.
Mr. Maule for a long time was closely identified with the Republican party, but in his later life was a strong Prohibitionist. For many years he held the position of school director.
Mrs. Mattle and her family belong to the Society of Friends. Her children are a source of comfort to her, as they were to her departed husband in his declining years. He passed away May 28, 1901, at the age of almost seventy years.
ADAM REESE STAMY, principal of the Lemon street school, Lancaster, is related to two of Pennsylvania's oldest and best known families. both remarkable for their longevity.
Henry Stamy, grandfather of Adam R., was a farmer in Franklin county, Pa., and having re- moved to Leesburg. Cumberland county, died there at the age of eighty-six years. His son. John F .. in early life was a teacher in Franklin county, but moving to Cumberland county, Pa., he became a minister in the Baptist Church, and is now elder of that district. He married Emily Reese, daugh- ter of Adam Reese, one of the early farmer settlers of Cumberland county, and who passed from earth at the patriarchal age of ninety-four years. To Rev. John F. and Emily ( Reese) Stamy were born eight children, of whom we have record of seven: Cath- erine, at one time a teacher, now wife of Frank Mc- Cleery, a farmer of Altenwald, Franklin county ; Adam R., of whom full mention will be made farther on : Harry C., a farmer near Chambersburg, Frank- lin county ; Miss Alice C., living at the old Grand- father Reese home at Leesburg, Cumberland coun- ty; John F., Jr., who died March 5, 1900; D. K., principal of a public school in New York City; and Emma, a teacher at Ridley Park, Delaware Co., Pa. Of these, D. K., after graduating in the scientific course at the State Normal School at Millersville. and from Neff's School of Oratory, Philadelphia. became a lecturer at teachers' institutes, lecturing before he was twenty-two years old ; he is now only thirty-three. Emily (Reese) Stamy, mother of the above named children, died May 5. 1901.
Adam Reese Stamy was born Aug. 24, 1856, at Leesburg. Cumberland county, and after receiving a partial education in the public schools of his dis- trict attended the State Normal School at Millers- ville for a time, and then took a course at the Cum- berland Valley State Normal, finishing his course in the graduating class of 1874, although leaving the institute before graduation to accept a very dlesira- ble position in the Mt. Holly Spring schools. There he remained until 1878, coming thence to Lancaster. and after teaching the Rohrerstown graded school for three years he was elected principal of the Lem- on street school, a position he has ever since held with honor to himself and profit to his pupils. Hun- dreds of boys have been prepared by him for the high school of Lancaster, and the building, which was originally two-storied, with eight rooms, when he took charge of it. has now three stories, with twelve rooms.
In 1878 Mr. Stamy was married to Miss Flor- ence C. Munson. daughter of Ralph Munson, a farmer of Litchfield county, Conn., and grand- daughter of Capt. Norman Munson, whose ances- tors came over in the "Mayflower." To this union were born children as follows: Maude M., a grad- uate of the Girls' High School, Lancaster, now Mrs. Walter Edward Fraim: J. Ralph, a graduate of the Boys' High School, Lancaster, also of the Pennsyl-
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vania Business College, and now occupying a posi- tion in the Lancaster County National Bank ; and Mary, attending school.
In religious faith Mr. Stamy is a Moravian, for three years serving as trustee of the Moravian Church at Lancaster, and as superintendent of the Sunday school four years. For fourteen years he was secretary of the Lancaster County Teachers' Institute, and when the City Teachers' Institute was ยท organized, several years ago, he was elected secre- tary of that body, a position he yet holls. As a member of the County Institute he served on the committee on Permanent Certificates. In addition to his principalship of the Lemon street school he has been a teacher in the Boys' Chestnut Street Night school for sixteen years, during some twelve years of which he was principal. He was one of the organizers of the now famous Pennsylvania Chau- tauqua, and was a member of its board of managers, and for three years was statistical secretary of same. In politics Mr. Stamy is an ardent Republican, and wirile teaching in Rohrerstown was president of the Republican Club there, which same club took an active part in the Garfield campaign.
ELIAS BEAR, who is now living retired, is one of the leading citizens of Manheim township, and his pleasant and hospitable home at Oregon is one of the most inviting and hospitable residences in that country of open doors and generous welcome.
Mr. Bear was born in Warwick township, Jan. 3, 1839, a son of Samuel and Fredricka (Sheidley) Bear, and a grandson of Samuel Bear, who was born in England, Feb. 5, 1762, and and died Oct. 23, 1&23. The grandfather located at what is now Oregon, and became one of the leading citizens of that part of the county. The village of Oregon was founded by him, where he erected the hotel which later passed into the management of his son, John. The original Samuel Bear was three times married, and by his first wife he had one son, Jacob, who be- came a gun smith. By his second marriage he was the father of three children: Peter, a gunsmith ; John a hotel keeper at Oregon; Elizabeth, who never married, and who lived at Frederick City, Md. By his third marriage he became the father of five children : Samuel, the father of Elias Bear : Isaac, a gunsmith, who died at Reading, Pa .; Anthony, a shoe maker, who spent his later years in Maryland and in Virginia, where he died ; Rial, who married Samuel Buchen, of West Earl township; Barbara. wife of William Kahr.
Samuel Bear, the father of Elias, was born Jan. 15, 1804, at Oregon, and died April 4, 1875. When young he learned the trade of a gunsmith, at which he worked until he was some fifty years of age, when he turned to farming, and passed his last years in Manheim and Warwick. His religious associations were with the Lutheran Church. His wife was born in Germany, Jan. 19, 1810, and came to this country when a child. Her death occurred Jan. 1. 1885. To
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Bear came Adam, born Nov. 17, 1828, deceased : Sarah, born Sept. 1. 1832, the wife of John Grube, of Bloomfield. Pa., Frank, who lives at Canal Fulton, Ohio, a carpenter by trade : Frederick, born Oct. 22, 1835, a carpenter in Ore- gon : Samuel, born Oct. 19. 1837, living in Stark county, Ohio : Elias, born Jan. 3. 1830 ; Salinda, born in 1841, the widow of Martin Kellingberger, and living at the corner of James and Lewis streets, Lan- caster ; Henrietta, born Dec. 10, 1844, late wife of Edward Cannon, of Canal Fulton, Ohio ; Eliza, born Oct. 7. 1846, who died in childhood : Fannie, born Feb. 11, 1848, unmarried and living in Manheim township ; Isaac, born Aug. 9, 1850, residing in Lan- caster, where he is a carpenter : Catherine Amelia, born Jan. 7, 1852, the widow of Jeremiah S. Reed, who makes her home with her brother, Elias. Mr. Reed died June 16, 1890, in the fortieth year of his age ; he was a carpenter by trade, but in his later years was a bridge inspector for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Mrs. Reed has the following children : Phoebe Ann, of Lancaster ; Samuel N., a cigar maker in. Oregon, who married Miss Bertha Buchen, and is the father of one child, Olive ; Oliver. who resides in Lancaster City : Clayton, a farmer in Manheim township; Amelia, of Lancaster.
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