Biographical annals of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical and genealogical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settlers, Part 26

Author: Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899. dn; Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [Chicago, Ill.] : Beers
Number of Pages: 1186

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 26

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Both John Mellinger and his wife were leading members of the Old Mennonite Church, where they were respected and beloved for their many traits of true Christian character. When John Mel- linger began farming operations for himself, he lo- cated in Strasburg township, purchased a farm of 102 acres, situated some two miles north of Stras- burg and there he spent his days and reared his large family in peace and comfort. A lover of law and order, he instilled such principles into his children. and through life he was one of the best of citizens. ever respecting the rights of others, and leaving behind him a large circle of warm friends.

Jacob Mellinger was born June 27, 1826, on the farm where he still lives, a son of John and Annie

( Hertzler) Mellinger, and was reared on this farm and was sent to the public schools. Not until his thirtieth year did he decide to set up a domestic hearth, being united in marriage Jan. 15, 1856. to Elizabeth Hershey, a daughter of Rev. jacob Her- shev. of Paradise township. who was born March 8. 1831. Seven children have been born of this union : Margarett, born Oct. 22. 18:6. the widow of Isaac Lefever, of Paradise township : John H .. born Dec. 7, 1858, who married Barbara Denlinger, and has seven children, Benjamin, John, Jacob, Enos, Jesse, Annie and Martin; Ezra H., born Feb. 3, 1861, who conducts a dairy and milk depot. in con- nection with his father's farm, married to Mary K. Andrew, with two children, Annie and Clarence; Anna, born July 4, 1864, married to Ezra L. Buck- waiter, who is now a farmer of Marion county, Mo. : Jacob H., born Nov. 27, 1866, a farmer. residing at the old home: Mary E., who was born April to, 1870. and died Dec. 3, of the same year : and Fran- ces, born Sept. 25, 1871, who married Isaac H. Rohrer, a farmer of Paradise township.

Since 1889, Mr. Mellinger has lived retired from active life, leaving stronger and younger hands to carry on the duties of the farm. Having reared his family in the tenets of the Old Mennonite faith, it gives him great comfort to find them adhering to it as they reach maturity. His son Jacob is associ- ated with the Welsh Industrial Mission as secretary and assistant superintendent, and he purposes even- tually to give himself entirely to this work.

ISAAC DILLER. For many years Lancaster had no more prominent or useful citizen than Isaac Diller, who passed out of life in that city Nov. 28. 1892, and was laid to rest in Woodward Hill ceme- tery. He was born in Lancaster Feb. 5. 1823, and was a direct descendant of Casper Diller. a French Huguenot, and the progenitor of the family in Lan- caster county. There are documents in the posses- sion of the family dating back to Michael Diller ( 1543), who was a court preacher and also a dis- tinguished literary man, some of his works being still extant. Casper Diller came to America with his wife, Barbara, whom he had married in England. and their three children, and in 1738 settled in the locality of New Holland, on Mill creek, in Lancaster county, Pa., where he engaged in agriculture, becoming a very successful man. Many members of the family have been prominently identified with the medical and legal professions, and the ministry : some gained distinction in the Revolutionary war and in subse- quent struggles for the rights of American citizens in the United States. Casper Diller had three sons- Philip Adam, H. Martin and Casper, Jr .- and seven daughters.

Philip Adam Diller, son of Casper, was born near Heidelberg, Germany, and came to Lancaster with his parents. He married Magdalena. daughter of Leonard Ellmaker, who came from Germany and . settled in Earl township, this county, in 1726. One

Face Diller

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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY

of their children was Leonard, the grandfather of Isaac.

Leonard Diller served in the Revolutionary war. He married Magdalene Hinkle, daughter of Rev. Paul Hinkle, and left five children, George. Adam, Jeremiah, Elizabeth and Mary. Gen. Adam Diller, the second son, was for two terms, beginning in 1835, adjutant general of Pennsylvania-the second highest officer in the State at that time. During the Mexican war he raised a company for the Govern- ment service and was out for a short time. He was a bold and courageous man, and a fine horseman. Dillerville, Lancaster county, was built on his land.

George Diller. son of Leonard, and father of Isaac, resided in Lancaster, where he was in business during the greater part of his life. He married Lydia Souder, and had eight children: William: jacob W .; George ; Samuel ; Isaac : Catharine, who married John Reilly. and left two sons, Edward and John ; Sarah, who married W. Fisher. of Chambersburg : and Mary Ann, who became Mr. Fisher's second wife. The second son, Dr. Jacob W. Diller, was the beloved rector of St. Luke's. Brooklyn. N. Y., for nearly forty years ; he met a tragic death on board the ill-fated steamship "Seawanaka."

Isaac Diller was reared at Lancaster, and started out in life as a boy in the mercantile business. His first employment was as clerk in a grocery store. and from 1836 to 1843 he was a clerk in the dry- ! goods store of George Fahnestock. He spent five years in the store of John M. Lane, and gained a reputation for integrity, besides acquiring valuable knowledge of the business. In 1848 he entered the Steinman hardware store, as bookkeeper, and after- ward became a valuable salesman. From 1860 to 1872 he was a partner in the firm, which was known as George M. Steinman & Co. In the last named year he retired from the firm. but continued his busi- ness relations therewith until 1877, when he pur- chased the large hardware establishment on East King street, and successfully conducted business there until his death. assisted by his sons. He was a vestryman of St. James Episcopal Church until. in 1853, he helped to organize St. John's Free | Church, of which he was a charter member. He was chairman of the building committee, and senior war- den from 1854, until his death. He always mani- fested a deep interest in the affairs of the church. In the renovation of the property, in 1871, he as- sumed three-fifths of the expense incurred, besides the sum subscribed, and, as the records show. made "'a generous donation of the lot adjoining." Fra- ternally he was a member of the Blue Lodge, F. & A. M. While he was a Democrat in politics, he was never an active politician, performing only the duties of good citizenship.

On June 6, 1849. Mr. Diller was united in mar- riage to Anna M. Frey, who was born in the city of Lancaster, daughter of Jacob and Maria ( Haver- stick) Frey, the former of whom was a wholesale and

retail dealer and general merchant in Lancaster ; he died in 18,5, at the age of seventy-five years. Mrs. Maria (Haverstick ) Frey died in 1876, aged eighty years. Both were members of the Reformed Church, and both were interred in Lancaster cemetery. Their children were as follows: Catherine married Jacob King, and died in 1902; William died in root, in New Jersey ; Anna M. is the widow of Isaac Diller ; Jacob L .. is a leaf tobacco merchant in Lancaster: Maria L. (deceased), was the wife of John B. Markley ; Amanda, who is a resident of Lancaster, first married Harry Zink, and, for hier second husband, Jacob Roth, who is also deceased; Emma ( deceased ), was the wife of John D. Skiles, of Lancaster ; James B. ( deceased). was a prominent merchant in Lancaster ; and Adeline ( deceased ), was the wife of Dr. F. A. Gast, of Franklin and Marshall College. The pa- ternal grandparents were Jacob ( Sr.) and Cather- ine (Brisler) Frey, of Lancaster, the former of whom was a very well-known merchant, and man- ager of a transportation line between Pittsburg and Philadelphia before the building of the railroads, and was also interested in the operations of iron furnaces in Lancaster county. He was one of the reception committee of five to receive and entertain George Washington when he paid his only recorded visit to Lancaster, on July 4, 1789. Both Jacob Frey, Sr., and his wife died in Lancaster. They had a family of twelve children of whom four were named Jacob, three of these dying in infancy, and the father of Mrs. Diller being the youngest.

On the maternal side also Mrs. Diller is connected with old and honorable families. Her maternal grandparents were William and Mary ( Deshler) Haverstick, the former a native of Lancaster county and the latter of Philadelphia. William Haverstick was a lieurenant in the Revolutionary war. In early manhood he studied medicine under the celebrated Dr. Rush, but later embarked in the jewelry business in Philadelphia and in Lancaster, settling again in Philadelphia, where he died in 1780. He was a son of Col. Michael Haverstick, who came from Ger- many to the United States in 1735, and whose title was obtained by service as an officer in the Revolu- tionary army ; he is recorded as having been a good and reliable soldier. and at one time had entire charge of the wagon trains under Gen. Washington.

Children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Diller as fol- lows : Jacob died in infancy : Miss Lydia is at home ; Rev. Alonzo P., a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College. Lancaster, and of the General Theological Seminary. New York, and afterward ordained a priest of the Episcopal Church, married Marian Mor- rell, and he and his wife and child perished in the terrible Johnstown (Pa.) flood, in which city he was the beloved rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church; George S. died in infancy: William F., who is a coal and slate merchant in Lancaster, mar- ried Lida Schofield, and they have three children, Mary B., Alonzo P. and William F., Jr. ; Charles F.

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is a resident of Lancaster city ; Isaac died at the age of three years : Samuel B., who died June 4, 1902, had one son, Robert D .: Anna M. is the wife of Dr. Edwin D. Starbuck, who is a professor of the great Stanford University, of California, and they have had two sons, Arthur and Edwin (the latter de- ceased), and one daughter, Anna M.

Mrs. Diller and family are members of the Epis- copal Church, and they are factors in the intellectual and social life of Lancaster. Miss Lydia Diller is a Daughter of the Revolution and prominent in that connection, but is probably better known as a man- ager and secretary of the Witmer Home for Old Ladies, located in Lancaster. Mrs. Diller is much esteemed, and hers is one of the refined and intel- lectual homes for which this beautiful city is noted. She enjoys her library, and keeps fully abreast of the times in current literature, being favored with as good eyesight as in her youth.

HARRY B. SLACK, justice of the peace at In- tercourse, Lancaster county, who has made for him- self more than a local name as a wide-awake and public-spirited citizen, was born March 13, 1851, in the township where he still lives, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth ( Brower) Slack. His father was born in Chester county and his mother in Lancaster county.

Joseph Slack came into Lancaster county in com- pany with his parents when a child, and was reared in Leacock township, where he followed farming for a time, retiring from that occupation some thirty years prior to his death. For many years he lived retired in the enjoyment of the competence his in- dustry and economy had accumulated. A man of public affairs, he was school director for thirty years, and tax collector ten years and was intimate- ly associated with local interests in many ways. He died December 29, 1900, when eighty-six years old, and his wife passed to her reward Oct. 29, ISQI, at the age of seventy-six. Both were buried in the cem- etery of Christ Episcopal Church in Leacock town- ship, of which they were members. Joseph and Elizabeth Slack had six children: Anna L., the widow of Samuel Snyder, living in Leacock town- ship: Esther R., married to John High, who is at present street commissioner at Christiana, Pa. : Christie E., who married William Hoar, farmer of Salisbury township: J. Milton, who married Tose- phine Nelson, and died at the age of thirty-three years ; Harry B. : Susannah B., who is unmarried, and makes her home with her sister. Mrs. Snyder. The parents of Joseph Slack were John and Ann (Smith) Slack, of Chester county, Pa., the former of whom was a blacksmith. In 1816 he removed his home to Lancaster county, where he lived and died. Henry Brower was the father of Mrs. Joseph Slack.

Harry B. Slack was married April 12, 1876. in Chester. Pa .. to Kate E. Raincer, and they have had four children : Joseph B., who married Susan Le-

fever, and lives in Pittsburg, Pa .; Charles MI., a school teacher, who is at home, as are also K. Bes- sie and Harry B. Mrs. Kate E. ( Raincer) Slack was born in 1856 in Philadelphia, daughter of Charles H. and Kate (Everts) Raineer, of that city. They removed to Chester, where the father was engaged in the coal and lumber business. but he spent his last years in Philadelphia, dying in 1889, at the age of fifty-two years. Mrs. Raineer. who now resides in Camden, N. J., was born in 1838. She belongs to the Methodist Church, as did also. Mr. Raineer. They were the parents of the follow- ing named children: Kate E., Mrs. Slack; Saily, who died at the age of nineteen years; William B., who died in 1895, in Alabama ; Frances B., who mar- ried Warren Burgess, and lives in Camden, N. J .; and Charles H., who lives in Philadelphia.

Harry B. Slack remained with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-two years, when he entered a general store at Chester and spent eight years. In 1880 he came back to Leacock township. and for ten years was engaged in farming and as a clerk at sales. In 1890 he was elected a justice of the peace, and has continued to fill that position to the present time, with marked credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the community. He has acquired a fine reputation as a business man and an upright citizen. He has taken the third degree in Masonry and in religion is a member of the United Brethren Church. In his political relations he is a Republican.

DAVID E. GROFF. That the State of Penn- sylvania should stand pre-eminent among her sister States is not remarkable. when the material from which she draws her agricultural supremacy is con- sidered, for the tillers of the soil are the bone and sinew of any commonwealth, the source of her wealth and greatness. In the great county of Lancaster may be found score upon score of intelligent, pro- gressive farmers, whose industry is untiring and whose integrity makes of them the best of citizens.

Among the old and honorable agricultural famil- ies of this favored county is that of the Groffs, who have been connected with farming, milling and min- ing interests here for a great number of years. The , grandfather of David E. Groff was named Joseph Groff. and both he and his brother Abraham, as well as a half-brother, locally known as "Swamp John Groff." on account of the location of some of his F land, were widely known and became the progenitors of large families. Joseph Groff was of German descent. and was an extensive farmer in Martic. now called Providence township, owning a large farm located some two miles southeast of New Providence. Upon this farm a valuable vein of iron ore was later opened and operated for some- sixty years, although not during the life of Joseph Groff, who devoted his time exclusively to his farm :- ing interests. He lived to a good old age, respected I by all, and was buried in what is yet called Shenk's.

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burying ground, in Providence township. Joseph Groff was three times married, the children of the first union numbering eight. (I) John was a farmer of Providence township: he first married Mary Eshleman and second, Leah Kendig. (2) Jacob was a day laborer of Martic township. By his first wife he had two sons-Eli and Ephraim, and two daughters; by his second wife, Barbara Miles, he had four sons, Benjamin, Henry, Alfred and Emanuel, and two daughters, Barbara and Elizabeth : his third wife, Polly Herr, bore him no children. (3) Joseph was a farmer in Drumore township, where he died. Two of his sons are living : Isaac, of Drumore township, and Elias N .. of Wash- ington, D. C. (4) Abraham was a farmer of Strasburg township; he married a cousin, Fannie Groff, but all of his family have passed away. (5) Henry died unmarried. (6) Samuel became the father of David E. (7) Elizabeth married David Nesswanger, of Eden township. (S) A daughter died young. The second marriage of Joseph Groff was to Mary Shaub, but no children were born of this union. Joseph Groff married for his third wife Nancy Whitestick, and from this union were born : David. a blacksmith, of Martic township, who married Mary Kendig, and removed West; Benja- min. a farmer, who succeeded to a part of the old homestead and married first, Eliza Lefever, and second, Annie Shaub: Amos, who began life as a farmer, but later became a hotel keeper, and still later was made sheriff of Lancaster county ; Frank- lin. a farmer, and later engaged in hotel keeping; and Martha, who married John Miller, of Provi- dence township. formerly a farmer, but latterly a hotel keeper.

Samuel Groff was born in Providence township in 1807, and was reared on the old homestead. re- ceiving his education in the best schools the dis- trict then afforded. Engaging in farming in Eden township, he was operating a fine farm of 100 acres when the Civil war broke out. In the spring of 1862, he enlisted as a private in the 7th P. V. C. and gave up his life for his country, dying at Nashville, Tenn., in July, 1862, from wounds received in a skirmish in which he was gallantly fighting. He had married Barbara Ronk, who was born in Leacock township, a daughter of Philip Ronk : she died March 1. 1849, in the thirty-eighth year of her age, the mother of eleven children : Elizabeth, deceased; Rachel, the wife of Jacob Homsher, of Strasburg; Jesse, of Lancaster. the trusted night-watchman of the Wick- ersham Printing House: Rebecca, the wife of Mar- tin Reese. of Providence township; David E., the subject of this biography ; Albert, deceased : Sam- uel, a resident of Drumore township ; Benjamin, de- ceased : Isaac L .. a farmer of West Lampeter town- ship : Jacob, a resident of Lancaster, the competent engineer of the Penn Rolling Mill; and Henry, who died in infancy.

David E. Groff was born Dec. 25, 1837, grew up on the farrn and learned the science of farming in

a practical way, which knowledge he has applied in the management of his extensive agricultural op- erations in several townships. At the age of nine- teen he started out to carve his own fortune, chose the milling business, being instructed by Christian Binkley and for the following thirteen years fol- lowed the trade, leaving it to enter farming on an extensive scale ; he has operated in Strasburg town- ship since then, with the exception of ten years passed in Paradise and West Lampeter townships.

Not only is David E. Groff known to his fellow- citizens as an excellent farmer. miller and public- spirited citizen, but they can also easily recall that in August. 1862. when his country called for die- fenders, he was one to respond, enlisting as a private in Co. G. 122d P. V. I. and participating in the bat- tles at Fredericksburg. Antietam and Chancellors- ville, serving gallantly and gaining the respect of his comrades.

On Dec. 22, 1864. David E. Groff was married to Mary A. Shaub, who was born in Strasburg town- ship, April 14. 1837, a daughter of Jacob and Sophia (Huber) Shaub, and to this union eight children have been born: Charles, born in January. 1867, died on the day of birth : Harry F., born in March, 1868, now a resident of East Lampeter township, who married Ida Leman, and has one child. Dora; Christian J., born in May, ISzo. who married Nettie Mowery, and has one child, Catherine; Lizzie S., born in February. 1872, who resides at home : Katie E., born in November, 1873: Amos H., in Novem- ber, IS75; Morris D., in September, 1877 : and Jesse R., in March. ISSO. Politically, Mr. Groff is an ardent Republican, has taken an active part in pub- lic matters in the township. for five years has served as the efficient judge of elections, and is justly con- sidered one of the leading men of this locality. iden- tified with all progressive movements. Socailly he is connected with J. N. Neff Post, No. 406, G. A. R., of Strasburg.

ANDREW H. HERSHEY, the well known merchant of Petersburg, Huntingdon Co., Pa., who resides in Mountville, Lancaster county, was born in East Hempfield. April 9, 1850, one of the seven children of John L. and Elizabeth ( Hanlen) Hershey. The other children of the family are: Tobias H .. in the coal business at Petersburg : Anna H., wife of Benjamin S. Risser, a retired farmer of Clay township; Emaline H., married to Harry S. Bowers and living on the old homestead in East Hempfield township: John H., a farmer in the same locality: Susan, wife of David C. Sowders. a mer- chant in Lancaster: and Elizabeth. wife of Harry Cassell, a farmer of Penn township.

The paternal grandparents of Andrew H. Hershey were Andrew and Elizabeth (Landis) Hershey, of East Hempfield and Manheim town- ships, respectively. Andrew Hershey was a life- long farmer and died in 1832, when forty-eight years old : his wife had passed away in 1828, at the

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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY

early age of thirty-eight years. To this couple were born the following children: Anna L., who married Jacob Snavely, both now deceased ; Mary L., deceased wife of the Inte Jacob Gotshall : Jacob L., who married Anna Stehman and died in Peters- burg, where his widow still resides: John L., de- ceased, father of Andrew H. : Henry L., deceased, married to Eliza Swarr, who resides in East Hemp- field ; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Jacob Brubaker; Christian, deceased, married to Susan Swarr, who resides in Landisville; and Andrew, deceased, whose widow. Susan Kaufman, lives in . Petersburg. "The maternal grandparents of Andrew H. Hershey, Jacob and Eliza (Seachrist) Hanlen, died respec- tively in 1837 and 1830.

Andrew H. Hershey received a good education and at the age of twenty-five opened a coal and lum- ber vard at Petersburg. The following year, in com- pany with his father, he started another coal and lumber yard, of which he assumed the entire man- agement, but a year later the father's interest was purchased by one of the other sons. Tobias H., and the brothers then began the handling of leaf tobacco in addition to the other business. In 1888 Andrew H. Hershey removed to the village of Cordelia, and purchased a large stock of general merchandise of Mr. Habecker ; one of his clerks was appointed postmaster and the office was located in his estab- fishment. In 1893 he removed to Mountville but retained his interest at Cordelia until 1896. In 1898 he relinquished his coal and lumber business by sell- ing that lucrative trade to his brother, and is now engaged in the mercantile business in Silver Spring, Lancaster county, and has tobacco warehouses in Lancaster City and Mountville, the business in Lan- caster being conducted under the firm-name of A. H. Hershey & Co., the junior partner being Jacob H. Huber. Mr. Hershey is also engaged in the creamery business at Manheim, under the firm name of Hershey & Levan.

Mr. Hershey is a director in the Greenwood Cemetery Association in Lancaster, being also its treasurer and a director of the People's National Bank of the same city. Fraternally he is a member of the I. O. O. F., the, Jr. O. U. A. M. and the A. O. K. of M. C., of which last he is treasurer.

In politics Mr. Hershey is a Republican. I 1890 he was elected a member of the Board of Prison Inspectors, serving as secretary of the board the first year, the second year as its treasurer and the third year as its president. In 1893 he was elected sheriff, and is well qualified for his responsible po- sition. His high character and his genial manners have won him a high place in the regard of his fellow men.

On Jan. 2. 1877, Mr. Hershey was united in mår- riage with Miss Salinda B. Kauffman, a native of East Hempfield township, and a daughter of John and Elizabeth ( Bimesderfer) Kauffman. residents of Petersburg, living retired. The father was born in April, 1830, and the mother in December, 1834,

and to this marriage has been born one child only, Salinda B., now Mrs. Hershey. Her parents are devout members of the Mennonite Church. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Hershey. Christian and Martha ( Miller) Kauffman, are retired farm- ing people of East Hempfield township. Mrs. Hershey's maternal grandparents, George and Su- sannah (Meyers) Bimesderfer, were retired farin- ing people of East Hempfield, and there George Bimesderfer died when he was ninety-one years old.

CHRISTIAN SHOFF, the great-grandfather of Frederic Shoff, a prominent business man of Lan- caster county, came from Germany, and settled in this county on the farm now owned by Shoff & Good, along the Pequea, in Conestoga township, Lancaster Co., Pa. He married Miss Nancy Deahm. of Strasburg township, and they had the following children: john, a cooper by trade, who lived at Marticville ; Jacob, a York county farmer ; Abraham, a farmer of Bainbridge, Lancaster county ; Christian. of Clearfield county ; Frederick, grandfather of Fred- eric : Henry; Barbara, wife of Frederick Buck- walter ; Nancy, wife of Bartley Clark; Susan, who died unmarried ; Martha, wife of John Rumor, of Center county ; and Fanny.

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Biographical annals of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical and genealogical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settlers, Part 26

Author: Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899. dn; Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1903 Publisher: [Chicago, Ill.] : Beers Number of Pages: 1186

Author: Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899. dn; Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [Chicago, Ill.] : Beers
Number of Pages: 1186