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 24
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The paternal grandparents of Christopher Hager were Christopher and Catharine (Sener: Hager, the former of whom was a dry-goods mer- chant and also president of the Farmers National Bank in Lancaster. Christopher Hager, the great- grandfather, came from Worms, Germany, in 1704. and settled in Lancaster, where he engaged in mer- chandising. The maternal grandparents of our sub- ject were Alexander L. and Isabella ( Patterson) Hayes. Alexander L. Hayes came from York River Plantation, Sussex Co., Del .. to Reading. Pa .. in 1820. He had graduated from Dickinson College. Pennsylvama, and, locating in Reading. practiced law there a few years, when he moved to Lancaster? having been appointed Judge of the Lancaster Dis- trict Court, which was afterward abolished: for termi after term he was subsequently elected Judge of the General Courts of Lancaster county, serving a total of more than fifty years on the Bench, and (lied in Lancaster in 1875, at the advanced age of cighty-six years. Mrs. Isabella ( Patterson) Hayes was a daughter of Col. Galbreth Patterson, a gal- lant patriot of the Revolutionary war. and was a granddaughter on the maternal side of Brig. Gen. William Thompson, of Carlisle, Pa. Gen. Thomp- son was a brother-in-law of George Ross, of Penn- sylvania, and George Reed, of Delaware, both signers of the Declaration of Independence.
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Christopher Hager, the subject proper of these lines, at the age of cleven years was sent to a board- ing-school conducted by A. R. Beck, of Lititz, Pa .. and a year later was transferred to the Franklin and Marshall Academy, in Lancaster, and two years later to Cheltenham Academy, in Montgomery county, from which he graduated when eighteen years old. He then became a member of the firm of Hager & Bros., dry-goods merchants, being in the sales department of the store until 1885, after which he traveled through the United States and Europe for a year. In 1886 he entered the law office of Hon. J. Hay Brown, as his first student. After a course of law study for two years he en- tered the office of Nathaniel Ellmaker. his uncle. with whom he remained a few years, after which time he devoted his attention to fire insurance for four years, and then sold out his agencies and the
business he had established. He then went to Phila- delphia, and was appointed cashier of the State In- surance Company of Philadelphia, with which cor- poration he remained two years. He then opened a law office in that city, and for a year had a success- ful practice there, until November, 1808, when he settled in Marietta, where he at once rose to promi- nence as an attorney, becoming borough solicitor. attorney for the First National Bank of Marietta and many leading business houses; he is also the solicitor and treasurer of the Pioneer Fire Company of Marietta.
In June, 1896, Mr. Hager married, in Marietta. Miss Maud E. Baker, a native of the borough, and a daughter of Col. Frederick and Jennie (Jack) Baker. of Marietta and Lancaster, respectively. Col. Frederick Baker was for a long time editor of the Marietta Register, and died in 1885, when sixty years old. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Hager was Peter Baker. a Icading lumber merchant of Marietta. and her maternal grandfather was Joshua Jack, an architect, contractor and builder, of Lancaster.
Besides attending to his law business in Mari- etta Mr. Hager also occupies the old Ellmaker law office in Lancaster. He is a member of Lamberton Lodge, No. 476, F. & A. M., the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Society of the Sons of Revo- lution. He is a member of the Episcopal Church. and in politics is a Republican. As a lawyer hc stands in the front rank with his professional brethren, and as a citizen he enjoys the unfeigned respect of all who know him.
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HENRY GERHART, of No. 46 North Queen street. Lancaster, enjoys the distinction of being proprietor and manager of the largest merchant tailoring establishment in that city. His success- ful career has been the result of his complete mastery of every detail of his business, and of the absolute integrity of all his business methods.
Mr. Gerhart was born in Hesse-Darmstadt. Ger- many, Nov. 22, 1835, a son of Daniel and Elizabeth
(Thies) Gerhart, the former of whom was a mer- chant in that place, and passed away in 1836. Henry Gerhart spent his boyhood days in his native town. and when his school days were ended was appren- ticed to the tailor's trade. Early in 1850 he sailed for America, by way of London, landing at Ney York, where he studied American methods, and then. began working as a journeyman, coming to Lancas- ter the same year. In 1865 Mr. Gerhart began busi- ness for himself, and has proved very successful as a merchant tailor. For many years he was locate i on the east side of North Queen street, but the de- mands of an increasing trade made better quarters a necessity, and he secured his present location. where he maintains by far the largest tailor shop in the city. in the fall of 19oo Mr. Gerhart added the making of ladies' tailor-made garments to his other business, and this new departure brought a very gen- crous response from the trading public, now rivaling in volume the original business.
In 1866 Mr. Gerhart was married to Miss Mar- garet Wittlinger, of Lancaster, daughter of the late John Wittlinger, a prominent old-time brewer of the city. Mrs. Gerhart died in November, 1893. laving one son, J. H. Gerhart, who after graduating from Franklin and Marshall College entered the big establishment of his father on North Queen street. as an assistant ; in 1804 he married Anna 31. Wolf. of Lancaster.
Mr. Gerhart was one of the founders, and a stock. holder and director, of the Maennerchor Hall Asso- ciation, of which he was president for a time. and treasurer for a period of eight years. He belongs 10 Zion's Lutheran Church, where he has been a vestryman for twenty-five years, as well as superin- tendent of the Sunday-school, and financial secre- tary of the parish for the same period. Socially he is a charter member and past officer of Hebel Lodge. I. O. O. F .. and is one of the organizers and former officers of the Order of Seven Wise Men. In all the affairs of life Mr. Gerhart has always proved faithful and worthy of respect and confidence. and after a mercantile career of thirty-five years in Lan- caster he is still wide-awake and vigorous. with a trade that is yearly taking on larger proportions. He has a wide circle of friends and patrons.
GEORGE LEWIS LYLE. For many years George Lewis Lyle was a trusted and efficient rail- toad man, but in 1892 he yielded to the wishes of family and party friends and left that line to accept the position of justice of the peace in Columbia, in which situation he gave general satisfaction, testi- fied to by several re-elections.
Mr. Lyle was born in Paradise township May 17. 1843, a son of Samuel B. and Fanny (Graham; Lyle, natives of Lancaster county. The father was connected with railroading, and died in Columbia. at the home of his son, on Aug. 25. 1868, at the age of sixty-three years, one month and twenty-one days. The mother passed away Dec. 6, 1875, at the age of
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He Gerhard
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
sixty-six years and eleven days. Both parents were worthy members of the Presbyterian Church, and in that faith reared a family of six children, these be- ing: John and Edward, twins, the former a resident of Baltimore, Md., the latter deceased; Emma and Fanny, twins, both deceased ; Mary J., Mrs. George W. Hoover, who, with her husband, is now dead ; and George Lewis.
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When Mr. Lyle was but two years old his par- ents moved to Indiana, but they returned to Colum- hia two years later, and he was reared on a farm, while he received his education in the public schools. Before entering upon railroad work he was employed for some two years in a saw mill. but he found bet- ter opportunities on the road, became a brakeman in the employ of the Pennsylvania lines and in IS6I was made a conductor. During the great strike in 1877 Mr. Lyle resigned his position, later accepting a similar one with the Reading Kailroad.
Although Mr. Lyle had spent many years in rail- roading and was most highly regarded by all with whom he had business relations, his family desired him to make a change, and in 1801, in deference to their wishes, he resigned his lucrative position, and the next year was appointed justice of the peace, having served as constable of Columbia during 1878-70-and-80. Many quite important cases were brought before Justice Lyle, and all were adjusted without appeal to a higher court.
On Sept. 10, 1867, Mr. Lyle was married to Anna M. Ranck, and the children of this union are : William D. deceased ; Ella M., who married Henry E. Kline, of Columbia : Samuel E. : Mary J., who married Charles Fine and is now dead, leaving one child, who lives with Mr. Lyle; John W. : Anna S .; George P .; Frances M .; Joseph C., and Fred T., all living at home ; and Jessie L., deceased. The par- ents of Mrs. Lyle, Jesse and Sarah (Shultz ) Ranck, were old residents of Paradise township. The par- ents were of German descent. Her father's deatlı occurred in Ohio, after a number of years spent in Columbia, in the saddlery business.
WILLIAM K. BENDER. The founder of the Bender family came from Germany, a country which has contributed to Lancaster county many ní its best citizens.
David Bender, the founder, located a large tract of land in Upper Leacock township and became a large land owner there and a very pronounced Fed- ralist, always advocating the rights of the colonies. , minie ball, but remained at his post until the regi- He was successful in many lines of business, was
the owner of superior horses and operated a dis- tillery, the product of which he marketed himself in Philadelphia and in Pittsburg. As a stanch sup- porter of the Lutheran Church he was highly es- teemed, and at an advanced age he passed away, and his is among the earlier tombs in the old Heller burying-ground, where many of his descendants also rest. Two sons and two daughters survived him: Susan and Elizabeth, who never married : John, who followed closely in the footsteps of his father, lived out his life in Upper Leacock town- ship and there reared a family; and George, the grandfather of William K .. of this biography.
Grandfather George Bender married a member of the Kinzer family, which came from England, and they reared a most estimable family, their son, Kinzer D. Bender, becoming a power in Lancaster county. For many years Kinzer D. Bender was as- sociated in the closest bonds of friendship with that great statesman of Pennsylvania. Thaddeus Ste- vens, and with him held strong views on the slavery , question and other subjects of public morality. At the time of which we write, it was the universal practice through the farming regions to supply in- toxicants to the assistants who helped in the hay- ing and harvesting, and to take a firm stand against the practice was almost as serious a business as it was to break one of the old laws of the Medes and Persians. However. Kinzer D. Bender was a man of principle and he took his stand against the cus- tom and was forced to bear the brunt of much in- dignation and misrepresentation. As a financier he was highly regarded, and was welcomed as a direc- tor in some of the leading banks of the county ; and as a farmer, he was one of the first to place im- proved machinery on his estate. The free school system received his hearty support, and all schemes for the advancement of his section met with his approbation. To his church, of the Lutheran faith, he was generous, and only those nearest him knew of his charities. His life was extended to eighty- two years, his death occurring in 1890.
In his political affiliations Mr. Lyle is a Demo- Among the children left by this most worthy crat, as was his father before him. In 1902, , and honored citizen were: Franklin, a resident of through political changes, Mr. Lyle lost his office
Mechanicsburg; John W., deceased, who left one of justice, and has since acted as notary public in , son, who resides near Heller's Church, in Upper Columbia. He is becoming unable to perform Leacock township : William K. ; and Mary, the wife much labor, as in 1808 he was partly paralyzed. In . of Jacob Burkholder, who resides near Mechanics- Columbia, where they are all known, the family is most highly esteemed, and Mr. Lyle is considered a representative citizen.
burg, all of them being among the esteemed resi- dents of the county.
William K. Bender was reared on the farm and had the advantages resulting from his father's intelligent companionship. At the out- break of the Civil war he enlisted as sergeant in Co. B., 122 P. V. I., and took part in the battles of Chantilly. the second battle of Bull Run, Fredericks- burg and Chancellorsville. and in all of the skir- mishes in which his regiment was engaged. At Chancellorsville he was painfully wounded by a ment was relieved.
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For many years William K. Bender was con- nected as a director with the Susquehanna Iron Company. of Columbia, and when it, with the Leb- anon Iron Company, with which he was also con- nected was absorbed by the combination now known as the American Iron and Steel Manufacturing Company, he continued to be financially interested.
As a prominent citizen he is connected with many of the financial institutions of the county, is a director in the Lititz Agricultural Mutual Fire In- surance Company of Lancaster county and is one of its active promoters. His interest in education equals that of his father, and in carly manhood he | taught in the public schools in his native county for two years, 1860 and 1861, giving that up in 1862 to respond to his country's call as a volunteer in sup- port of the administration which received his first vote. Later he served on the school board for many years, and has advocated many reforms in the county.
In 1865 William K. Bender was married to Elizabeth A. Hartman, of German and French de- scent and from a most worthy and honorable fam- ily. At the time of their marriage both were con- nected with the M. E. Church and were untiring workers in the Sunday-school field, in both church and union schools, county and village, advocating that the period for retirement only comes when the workman is called to his reward, and this spirit has been imbibed by their three daughters. Mr. Ben- der's passion for music, both vocal and instrumental, was marked, and he found no higher enjoyment than that which grows from its acquisition and ren- dering. He has advocated its cultivation in the public schools as one of the refining forces in mold- ing and elevating society. In his family he has in- sisted upon a higher education for his children as a sure and safe investment, the pleasure imparted re- paying for the time and expense involved. The eldest is a graduate of the Collegiate Institute in Hackettstown, N J .: the second, of the Woman's College, in Baltimore. while the third is a senior in Dickinson Seminary at Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
ABRAHAM W. ENGLE, an old and highly respected farmer. at present living in retirement, was born Aug. 28. 1835, in Conoy township, on the farm where he now resides, a son of the Rev. Jacob S. and Barbara ( Wolgemuth ) Engle.
The father, who was born on an adjoining farm, was married in 1833. and came to the present home- stead in 1834. For many years he was a preacher of the River Brethren Church, having served for forty-nine years in a clerical capacity ; he also taught school. From 1870 until his death, Feb. 13, 1804, he lived retired. At his demise he was eighty-five years and three months old; his widow survived him for a time. dying Dec. 18, 1900, at the age of eighty-eight years and eleven months. They were members of the River Brethren Church, and were interred in the East Donegal cemetery. To them
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were born the following children: Abraham \ born Aug. 28, 1835 : Fanny W .. Jan. 16. 1837. BR died young : Daniel W., Nov. 2. 1839. who dir young : Barbara W., Oct. 7, IS41 : Jacob W .. F .: 5. 1844 : David W., Aug. 8, 1846, who married. fr .. Fanny Nissley, and second, Maria Sallenberg : and died Fune 28, 1800: Anna W., Jan. 15. 185 :. who married Amos D. Musser. the treasurer and trustee of the Messiah House, at Harrisburg. TI: paternal grandparents of A. W. Engle were Jac .3. and Martha (Strickley) Engle, farming people of Lancaster county. His maternal grandparents wer Daniel and Barbara (Witmer) Wolgemuth, ai- farming people of this county.
Abraham W. Engle and Fanny Hoffman wer married in Lancaster Nov. 12, 1863, and to the :- imion were born the following children: Itw .... H., born Feb. 18, 1865, died Oct. 17, 1896. age thirty-one years, who married Amanda Stauffer. and had one daughter, Lizzie S .; Martin H., bors Jan. 21. 1867. died Feb. 20, 1867; Hiram H., bor- July 24, 1868, who married Emma Herr and i- farming at the old homestead: Anna. born Jan. 21. 1870, who married E. Hershey, of East Donega: township, and has three children. Engle, Harry an !! Abraham.
Mrs. Fanny ( Hoffman) Engle was born in Eas: Donegal township, July 31, 1843, is a daughter of Christian and Anna (Snyder) Hoffman, both na- tive to Lancaster county, and is a lady of many genial and admirable traits. Her father died Apri! 10. 1873. on the old family homestead in East Donc- gal township, which he had spent his life cultivating. The mother died in Conoy township. Dec. 24, 1803. at the age of seventy-nine years, and was buried in Boslers Meeting House cemetery in West Doneghi township, where her husband had been interred years before. They were members of the River Brethren Church, and had the following children : Eli. who married Fanny Lindermuth, and is a ro- tired farmer in Dickinson county, Kan. ; Mary who died young: Christian, who lives in Kansas and married Lizzie Garber ; Fanny: Anna, the wife of John Forney, who is in the creamery business in Abilene. Kan. ; Lizzie : Martha, the wife of John Shank, a farmer of Conoy township; Henry, who s married Lizzie Nissley, who is dead. The paterna! grandparents of Mrs. Engle were John and Fann; (Engle) Hoffman, farmer-folk of Lancaster county. as were her maternal grandparents, Henry and Mary (Witmer) Snyder.
Abraham W. Engle remained at home with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-eight years, when he went into Dauphin county and spent six years in farming. After the end of that period he came back to Conoy township, and settled on hi- present homestead, where he has since remained and where he has achieved a decided success as :: farmer and as a business man, being widely known for his sterling manhood and unswerving honesty. The farm on which he is located has been in the
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Engle family for more than a hundred years. Mr. Engle is a Republican, and is a worthy represent- ative of one of the good old families of Lancaster ·winty.
AMOS HUBER. Not only is Lancaster county the home of some of the best farmers in the State. but it also can claim a number of successful horti- culturists, who have demonstrated that some of the finest peaches and melons placed on the market can be profitably grown in this part of the State. Among those whose success has made them prominent is Amos Huber, who has become known through horti- cultural circles for his successful methods of culti- vating fruits of all kinds, and for especially fine specimens of peaches and melons.
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· Amos Huber can claim an ancestry that reaches back many years, when it originated in Switzer- land, from which country came his great-grand- father, who located in Lancaster county, near Mar- ticville. Peter Huber. the father of Amos Huber, was born and reared in the southern part of this county and spent the greater part of his life in Martic and Little Britain townships, but about thir- teen years previous to his death, he removed to East Lampeter township, where he died Aug. TI. 1855, at the age of fifty-nine years and ten months. His principal occupation was farming, although as he grew older, he often occupied himself in working for others when his services were needed.
Peter Huber was married to Susan Huber, of Lampeter township, a daughter of Henry Huber. and to them was born a family of eight children : Fannie, now deceased, the wife of Henry Hartman. of Lancaster county ; Martha. the widow of John Ressler, of Lancaster : Mary, deceased, wife of Fred- crick Seidoff. of Lancaster county: Susannah, who is the wife of Abraham Lautz, of Lexington, Rich- land county, Ohio .; Annie, of Strasburg township ; Amos : Leah. deceased wife of Joseph Nissley, who lives near Hagerstown, Md .; and Lizzie, unmar- ried, who lives with her brother.
Amos Huber was born in Little Britain township. this county, Feb. 28, 1841, and was but one year old when his parents removed to West Lampeter town- ship, and there he remained until he had attained his legal majority. His education was received in the public schools, but he had only reached the age of fourteen, when his father died, and he was com- pelled to take up the battle of life for himself. For a lad of but fourteen that is a serious matter, and thus Amos found it, but he was an honest, indus- trious boy, and soon obtained employment on the neighboring farms by the year. After he was sev- enteen he found it more advantageous to work by the day and continued thus, until in his twenty-first year he decided to learn the millwright trade; as that did not quite suit him, he finally changed to the car- panter trade, entering the shop of Benjamin Bach- man, in Willowstreet. and serving his apprentice- ship therc.
As a good workman, Mr. Huber found employ- ment for a time, but when his uncle. David Huber. offered him employment with him in tobacco rais- ing and trucking. in Willowstreet, he accepted and filled out several busy years in this way. However. in 1875, he removed to his own property, which he had purchased in Strasburg township, one and one- half miles south of the borough: the original tract contained twenty -two and one-half acres, to which he has added two and one-half more, and, with six acres devoted entirely to fruit, he raises early veget -. ables on the remainder and engages in trucking. Mir. Huber has had very encouraging success and may well feel gratified, for he has earned all he possesses by his own industry and economy.
Amos Huber was married Sept. 27. 1855. to Miss Susan Deets, a daughter of John and Annie ( Pickle) Deets, of Lancaster county, both parents cleceased. Mrs. Huber was born in East Lampeter township, Sept. 18. 1843, and she has become the be- loved mother of eight children: Hettie, born Dec. 20. 1867. the wife of E. W. Harsh, of Strasburg township : Franklin, born May 4, 1871, who married Miss Kate Mowrer, lives near Providence, and has two children. Mary and Myrtle : Henry, born Aug. 23. 1873, who married Miss Annie Givin, resties in l'aradise township, and has one son, Clarence : Elam, born Dec. 29. 1875, who married Miss Mary Buckwalter ; Annie and Mary, twins born Dec. 25. 1878, Annie married to Enos Herr, and Mary resid- ing at home: Amos, born Jan. S, 1881, who died April 8, 1897: and an infant son, who passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Huber are members of the Old Mennonite Church, and he is connected with the Republican party. The family is one which is high- ly esteemed in the community.
ROLAND S. BRUBAKER, a meat merchant and the proprietor of a slaughter house in New Hol- land, was born in that borough Feb. 10, 1838, andi is a son of Isaac R. and Ann (Hoover) Brubaker. both residents of New Holland. The father was a butcher, and in his later years a farmer, while for two terms he filled the office of assessor. He died in 1880. at the age of seventy, and the mother passed to her rest at the age of sixty; they were both buried in the cemetery at Groffdale. They were members of the Mennonite Church. To them were born: Isaac H .. the proprietor of the "Bird-in- Hand Hotel:" David, who died in 1871 ; Roland S. : Hester A .. married to Abraham Doner, of Lancas- ter: Saloma, who died in 1898, the wife of Rev. David Hostetter, a minister of the Mennonite Church : Jonathan. who is dead; Catherine, who married Phares Buckwalter, of Lancaster, a teacher : Lydia, married to Daniel Eby, a farmer of East Earl township : Marv, married to Adam Diller. a contrac- tor in Lancaster : Rachel, who married Isaac Groff. a farmer in East Lampeter township. The pater- nal grandparents of Roland S. Brubaker were Isaac and Saloma ( Roland) Brubaker, of Lancaster coun-
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
ty ; they were of Swiss stock, and descendants of Johann Brubaker, who came to this country in 1709. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Brubaker were David and Hettie (Hartman) Hoover. They were farming people of Lancaster county.
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