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 51
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Mansell Reed was but seven years of age when brought to Salisbury township by an uncle. John McGill, a merchant with whom Mansell lived in South Hermitage until twenty-two years old, as- sisting in the store. He then found other employ- ment for a year or two. and in May. 1863, enlisted at Lancaster in Co. F. 122d P. V. I .. under Capt. John Bair as commander of the company. The most im- portant battles in which he took part were those of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, but he also par- ticipated in numerous skirmishes. and after nine months of active service was honorably discharged at Harrisburg. For the two following years he served as an extra on a wagon train in Washington. | D. C .. at the termination of which time he returned to South Hermitage. Pa .. and for a year was em- ployed in a general store : thence he went to Mount Pleasant, clerked in a store two years : then for two years was a clerk in a store at Compassville. and finally came to his present property in South Her- mitage. There he erected his comfortable dwelling
in 1876, and employed himself in farming until 1898. when impaired health caused his retirement.
The marriage of Clansell Reed took place in New Holland. Lancaster county, March 19. 1866, to Miss Catherine Diem, who has borne him four chil- dren, namely: Elizabeth, wife of Carson Sterling, a liveryman of New Holland, and mother of three children, David Reed, Robert Franklin and William Chester ; Bertha, who died young ; Daisy, who died an infant ; and Chester, who still resides with his pa- ments. Mrs. Catherine . Diem) Reed is a native vi Salisbury township, was born June 5, 1837. and is a daughter of Kennedy and Hester ( Brower) Diem.
Mansell Reed has ever been one of the most in- dustrious and enterprising of men, and had it not been that ill health caused his early retirement from business, the citizens of Salisbury township would have found great cause for congratulation from his residence in their midst. He is very public-spirited and has always been ready when his means permit- ted, to assist financially in the promotion of all pro- jects designed for the welfare of the public. being an ardent friend of public instruction and of the maintenance of good roads and such other conven- iences as are usually required by a progressive com- munity. His perceptive faculties are quick and con- prehensive, and he is never slow to see what is re- quired for the public good nor lax in rendering effi- cient aid in securing the means for filling such re- quirements. He is to a great extent what is known as a "self-made" man, and until overcome by illness was possessed of an immense amount of energy and business enterprise. Naturally of an affable dis- position and pleasing manners. he has made hosts of friends who hold him in the highest esteem. and in this esteem his estimable wife has a full share. Mr. and Mrs. Reed are devout members of the Pequea Presbyterian Church, and fraternally Mr. Reed is a member of the G. A. R. In politics he is a Republican, but has never desired office of any kind.
GEORGE B. OWEN. One of the oldest, most prominent and wealthy families of Lancaster county is that of Owen. Richard Owen having taken pos- session of the plantation now held by George B. Owen as early as 1723. -
The ship "Vine." William Preeson, master. ar- rived in the Delaware Sept. 17. 1684. from Dolserey, near Dolgelly. in Merionethshire, Wales. Robert Owen and wife Jane and son Lewis, Dr. Griffith Owen (also a son of Robert Owen), his wife Sarah and son Robert, and daughters Sarah and Elenor, were on this ship. Robert Owen settled on Duck creek, in Newcastle county, Del., where his son Ed- ward had previously settled. Robert Owen had nine sons, all of age at the time. He was a son of Hum- phrey Owen, descended from Lewis Owen, Baron of the Exchequer of North Wales, who was murdered in 1555. A few months after his arrival Robert Owen was appointed one of the justices of the peace for Newcastle county. He died before the end of liis
ELIZA OWEN
BENJAMIN OWEN
MARY B. OWEN
GEORGE B. OWEN
.
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
term, and his son Richard was appointed in his stead. (first) Mary Weidler, and (second) her sister, Susan Weidler ; Margaret, who married Jacob Hull ; William, who died unmarried, in Mississippi; and Eliza, the mother of George B. Owen. Daniel Ben- der, the father of George Bender, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. and it was Richard, the son of Richard, who located in Lancaster county after his marriage, in 1720, with Elizabethı Knauer, and who was at that time living ! in Uwchland township. Chester Co., Pa. The family were Quakers on arrival in the country, but neither Richard Owen, on arrival in Lancaster county, nor George B. Owen was born near Monterey, in Upper Leacock township, Oct. 31, 1835. He was educated in the public schools, and at New London Academy, in Chester county, under William F. W'v- ers, spending three terms at the latter institution, During the life of his parents and sister he remained on the old homestead, and he valued greatly this fine his wife were members of that Society. He may have been a Seventh-day Baptist. as at least two of his brothers left in Uwchland township certainly were. What gives color to this is that Bissell, the founder of the Ephrata Community, first located near to the . plantation of Richard Owen. Be this as it may, it is certainly true that the grandchildren (the children of ; off farm, which has been in the possession of the fam- his son Benjamin), Jonathan, Benjamin and Ann, ily some one hundred and fifty years, but does not now reside upon it. Having no family ties, and pos- sessing ample means, Mr. Owen spends much time in travel, and has taken a very prominent part in pub- lic affairs in his county, serving for three years on the Republican County Committee. For a period of eighteen months he served as assistant assessor of United States Internal Revenue, his terni ending on account of the abolishment of the office. Mr. Owen is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity. being a Knight Templar, and connected with Lodge No. 43. in Lancaster. He is considered one of the representative citizens of this part of the county. are the first of the family mentioned in the Lampeter : Meeting Records. The children of Richard and Elizabeth Owen were Richard. Theopholis, Benjamin, Mary ( wife of John Maxwell). Anne ( wife of Rich- ard Chiney ), Sarah ( wife of l'eter Potts), and Jona- 1 than. Richard Owen died in 1760, and, his sons : Richard and Theophilus also being dead, the planta- tion was taken at the appraisement by his son Benja- min. Benjamin Owen was very successful, and at his death. in 1784. left the plantation of his father to his son Jonathan, and the one adjoining to his son : Benjamin, making provision also for his daughter Ann, then the wife of John Williams. Jonathan Owen, son of Benjamin, and grandson of Richard, HON. EMANUEL DYER ROATH, justice of the peace at Marietta, Lancaster county, and a ga !- lant ex-officer of the war of the Rebellion, was born in Lancaster City, Oct. 1, 1820. a son of Jacob and Susan ( Shireman) Koath, natives, respectively, of Maxtown and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. was born in Lancaster county, and was married May 17, 1787, to Mary Bonsall, of Darby (then in Ches- ter, now in Delaware county), Pa., and thereafter : made his home in Delaware county, where all his children were born. He died there in IS21, and his wife, who survived until 1863. reached the advanced age of ninety-seven years.
Jacob Roath was a tailor by trade and was a member of the company which escorted Gen. Lafay- ette from Paoli to Lancaster. on the occasion of the second visit of that noble and philanthropic French- man to America. Jacob Roath died in Lancaster at the age of thirty-three years, and his wife, Susan ( Shireman) Roath, removed to Harrisburg, where her death took place. Both she and her husband were members of the Reformed Church, and their remmins lie interred in the cemetery of that de- nomination at Maytown. Their four children were born in the following order: John C., a cabinet- maker, died in Maytown: Emanuel D. : Jacob S .. a shoemaker, died in Maytown: and Philip B., a farmer, died in the same village. The paternai grandparents of Hon. E. D. Roath were natives of Baden. Germany, and were early settlers in Lan- caster county. Pa .; and of the materna! grandpar- ents. Jacob and Susan ( Brenner) Shireman, the fa- ther of Jacob was also born in Baden.
Benjamin Owen was born in Delaware county, six miles southwest of Philadelphia. In his early days he learned the trade of wheelwright, but in 1823 he removed to Upper Leacock township. Lancaster | county, and there engaged in farming during the rest of his life. He was a man of fine mental equipment, and held many of the local offices. His deathi oc- curred in 1880, when he was aged eighty-seven, and his wife, Eliza Dender, died in 1877, at the age of sixty-two; they were buried in Heller's cemetery. Mr. Owen was of the Quaker belief, and Mrs. Owen was a member of the Reformed church. Two chil- dren only were born to them, George B. and Mary B., the latter dying in December, 1894. Mrs. Eliza ( Bender) Owen was a daughter of George and Mary (Kinzer) Bender, of Earl township, where the father resided a short time. removing to Upper Leacock township, where he died in 1818 : the mother survived until I871, dying at the age of ninety-two years. The boyhora! days of Emanuel D. Roath were passed at his mother's home. At the age of five years he was sent to the district school, where he learned the alphabet the first day. He continued on the farm until he had secured a sum of money to pay his ex- penses in a luigher institution of instruction, and Her second marriage was to William Wadely, by whom she had the following children: Amos ; Maria, who married Jeremiah Smith; George, who married Catherine Maltz, of Cumberland county ; and Harriet, who married David Miller. Her chil- ! dren by George Bender were: Kinzer, who married J from eighteen until twenty-one years old attended
43
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
the Shippensburg Academy. On reaching his ma- jority, he began working out on his own account, and when twenty-three commenced teaching-a pro- fession he followed for twelve consecutive winters in the district schools: for five summers, also, he taught a private school of his ownl.
In 1852 Mr. Roath settled in Marietta, and for two years worked in a lumber yard. On March 18, 1854, he was elected a justice of the peace and was re-elected Oct. 10, 1861. At Camp Curtin, Harris- burg, Mr. Roath was authorized by Gov. Curtin to raise a company of volunteers for service in the Civil war, the result being that he enrolled Co. E, 107th P. V. I., of which he was commissioned Captain. and he served until March 1, 1865, when he was mustered out at Washington, D. C., being later breveted major by President Andrew Johnson, and breveted lieu- tenant colonel and later colonel by Gov. John W. Geary. Following is a list of the engagements in which Capt. Roath took part while assisting in main- taining the integrity of his nation's flag: Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Thoroughfare Gap and second Bull Run, all in August. 1862; Chantilly ( where he took command of his regiment ), South Mountain ( where he was second in command ) and Antietam ( where he was also second in com- . mand and was wounded), all in September, 1862; Fredericksburg. Dec. 13, 1862, when his bri- gade charged the Rebels out of their entrenchments, and was under fire at the same place December 14th ; under fire below Fredericksburg. April 30, 1863. and again May 2nd : at Chancellorsville May 3 and 4, 1853 ; was next in the Wilderness; was wounded at Gettysburg July 1. 1863, but kept on fighting on the 2nd and 3rd. having command of the regiment. He crossed the Rappahannock Aug. 1, 1863, and was at Mine Run November 28th, 20th and 30th ; was at Spottsylvania May 16. 17, 18. 1864, at North Anna, May 23, andl at Bethesda May 30 : Tolopotamy, June 2nd; Shady Grove Church, June 3d : White Oak Swamp. June 13th; near Norfolk and Peters- burg Railroad. June 17th, and captured it June 18th ; took the Weldon Railroad August 18. On Aug. 19, 1864. after sharp fighting, he was captured by the Rebels and confined in Libby prison until September, 1864, when he was shipped to Salis- bury, N. C., and held until Oct. 15th ; thence he was transferred to Danville, Va .. and in February, 1865. was returned to Libby Prison, was exchanged, and arrived at Annapolis, Md., February 22nd; March I, 1865. he was mustered out as stated above. He re- turned to Marietta and officiated as a magistrate until October, 1867. when he was sent to the Legislature by the Republican party, of which he was an ardent member.
Hon. Emanuel D. Roath has been twice married. At Elizabethtown, Pa., in the Reformed Church par- sonage, hie wedded Susan R. Hipple, who bore him two children : George H., of whom a full biography is given on another page ; and Auna R., wife of Jacob Funk, of Marietta. Mrs. Susan R. ( Hipple) Roath,
was born in East Donegal township, Lancaster cou :- ty, Pa., daughter of Samuel and Anna Hipple, who came from Chester county in 1830 and were agri- cultural people : Airs. Susan Roath died in 1854 at the age of twenty-eight years. In 185 ;. in Colum- bia, Mr. Roath married Harriet C. Young, a native of Marietta and a daughter of John and Catherine Young. She died in December, 1896, when forty- eight years old, leaving one child, Barcina H., wife of George Kame, a farmer of East Donegal.
In 1858 MIr. Roath was first elected as the repre- sentative of his district in the State Legislature and served one term: in 1868 he was again elected to this body, and again served one term. He has been an Odd Fellow for the past fifty-seven years, and is the oldest inember of the order in Lancaster county. He is a past State Councillor of the Order of Amer- ican Mechanics, and is a member of the National Council : he is also a past Worshipful Master of the F. & A. M., and is a Knight Templar. Since 1865 he has been a vestryman of the Episcopal Church, of which he is a member. He was appointed brigade quartermaster of a brigade of the Lancaster county militia by Gen. Jacob Gross. For seven years he commanded a volunteer company of Maytown. called "The Jackson Fencibles," infantry. Mr. Roath has led a busy and useful life, and although now well advanced in years is still looked to for further ser- vice by a host of admiring friends.
JOSEPH C. YODER, D. D. S., whose well- appointed office is at No. 305 North Queen street, Lancaster, is a descendant of several of the oldest families in Pennsylvania. He is a son of Daniel C. and Elizabeth ( Byler) Yoder, the former a farmer of Mifflin county.
The Yoder family is descended from Mrs. Bar- bara Yoder, a native of Switzerland, who landed in Philadelphia prior to 1727 ; her husband died on the voyage and was buried at sca. ( Sce P. to. j. D. Rupp's collection of 30,000 names of immigrants !!! Pennsylvania. Christian Yoder, a grandson of Barbara, became a farmer and married Esther Hertz- ler, who was born and raised in Caernarvon town- ship, Lancaster county. By this marriage the Yo- ders and Hertziers became most influential in Penn- sylvania.
The Hertzler ancestors were originally from Switzerland. They made a stay of some years m France, but owing to religious persecution were obliged to find a new home. They were Amisii Mennonites, or followers of Menno Simon. Jacob Hertzler. the ancestor of Mrs. Esther ( Hertzier) Yoder, sailed from Rotterdam on the ship "St. in- drew," and arrived at Philadelphia Sept. 9. 1749. He located in Berne township. Lancaster count ( now Berks county), and on Jan. 9. 1750. purchased 182 acres and 30 perches of land from Richard and Thomas Penn, in Philadelphia, paying one dollar and a quarter an acre. This tract he named "Con- tentment." Between 1750 and 1773 he added other
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNAALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
:
tracts to his original purchase, making in all 404 ! neres and 4 perches. Nearly all of the Hertzlers have been agricultural people. The old homestead rear Morgantown, Caernarvon township, is still in nossession of the family, being occupied by Isaac Kurtz, whose wife was Elizabeth Hertzler, daugh- ter of Daniel Hertzler. ( See Hertzler Genealogy, pp. 238-210). This grand old place was visited by Dr. Yoder in the summer of 1000, and he found it in tine condition, with beautiful surroundings. The sione barn, supposed to have been built by the emi- grant, Jacob, is in good state of preservation. There is also an old Pennock ( Big Romanite) apple tree still hardy, which measures 10 feet 6 inches near the ground, and in September, 1902, it was estimated to have twenty-five bushels of apples.
The Byler family, with which Dr. Yoder is con- nected on his mother's side, was planted in America by a Swiss emigrant, who landed in Philadelphia Oct. 8, 1737, having crossed the sea in the vessel "Charming Polly" (See Hertzler Genealogy. p. 133.)
Dr. Joseph C. Yoder was born in Mifflin county Dec. 21, 1844, and was reared on a farm. He served part of an apprenticeship at the harness maker's trade in Ohio, but his natural love of learning in- duced him to abandon that work and seek an educa- tion. Part of his school days were passed in Kish- acoquillas Seminary, MiGlin Co., Pa. For two win- ters he taught in the public schools in the Kishaco- quillas Valley, and attended the Seminary in the summers. In September, 1860, at the close of the Civil war, he went South. and near Jonesboro, in Washington Co., Tenn., he organized the George Washington Seminary, and here one of his first pu- pils was the lady who afterward became his wife. Later, in 1867, he united with Prof. S. Z. Sharp, a graduate of the Millersville (Pa.) State Normal school, at Maryville, Tenn., sixteen miles south of Knoxville, where for two years he was the principal assistant.
While at Maryville, Mr. Yoder was united in marriage, July 21, 1869, with Seraphina Crosswhite, daughter of Elder Crosswhite, of Washington coun- ty, Tenu., the powerful pioneer preacher of the Ger- man Dunkards. The bride was a bright and cultured young woman, and for a year had been a most suc- cessful and popular teacher.
In 1870 Dr. Yoder went to Kansas City, Mo., where he engaged in teaching, and was later em- ployed in the Armour Beef Packing Co. He was also engaged as weighmaster in a wholesale fur and hide establishment, and at various times as a book, fire insurance and fruit tree agent. In 1872, with his wife and son, Jesse D., he returned to his father- in-law's in Tennessee, and there taught school under the provision of the philanthropist George Peabody. While engaged in teaching he read medicine for three years umder Drs. W. R. Sevier and E. L. Deadrick, of Jonesboro, but abandoned medicine for dentistry, becoming associated with Dr. John Lock, of Lewistown, Pa., a graduate of the Baltimore Col-
lege of Dental Surgery, class of 1846. After practic- ing dentistry in Mifflin county for a time. he spent thirteen years of successful work in Huntingdon, Pa. In 1SS3 he passed an examination before a board of dental examiners, Dr. S. H. Guilford of Philadelphia, Dr. E. A. Magill of Erie ( who was regarded as the father of dental associations in Penn- sylvania), Dr. Jesse C. Green of Westchester, and Dr. Gerhart of Lewisburg, and was licensed a pro- ficient dentist. In 1804 he opened an office in Lan- caster determined to make that attractive city his permanent home, and he soon built up a large and lu- crative practice.
Dr. and Mrs. Yoder became the parents of three sons : (I) Tesse D., born in Kansas City, Mo., June 8, 1871. died when a lad. (2) Arthur Lee. born near Tonesboro, Tenn .. Jan. 16, 1874. graduated in 1893 from the Juniata Normal College at Huntingdon, Pa., and in 1805 received the degree of M. E. and later D. S. from the Millersville State Normal. He taught school as first assistant at the Alexandria high school. at Huntingdon, and in the public schools near Mt. Joy. For two years he was principal of the Unionville high school, but resigned to attend Franklin and Marshall College at Lancaster. P.a., from which he was graduated in June. 1902. with the degree of A. B. During his college course he taught night school. read meters for the Electric Light Co., and also served as a conductor on the trolley cars. He also filled the position of teacher of the Scientific Class at the Millersville State Normal. In September, 1902. he began his duties as the head" of the Scientific Department in the Steelton ( Pa.) ITigh schoo !. (3) Ralph Earnest, born March 22, 1876. in Lewistown, Pa., was graduated in 1893 at the age of seventeen from the Juniata Normal Col- lege at Huntingdon, in the same class with his broth- er. He taught two schools in Huntingdon county, Pa., and became first assistant. as well as one of the organizers, with Dr. Hershey, of the Gap Academy in Lancaster county. For two years he taught in the public schools near Elizabethtown. and declined a third year in order to join his brother Arthur, and with him to enter Franklin and Marshall College. He graduated in June, 1902, with the degree of A. B. During his college course he was employed on the trolley cars as conductor and motorman. He is now principal of the Fulton township high school in Lancaster county. Both Arthur Lee and Raiph Earnest hold permanent State certificates as teachers.
Dr. Yoder is a man of deep religious convic- tions. and is an earnest worker in all religious move- ments. He is a member of the First Mennonite Church, corner of Diamond and Fifth streets, Phila- delphia, and he is a member of the North American Mennonite Conference. Politically the Doctor was a Republican, having been a firm supporter of the martyred Lincoln, but is now a chartered member of the State Socialist party, having assisted in or- ganizing and placing a Socialist ticket in the field. He is one of the county Socialist campaign speakers.
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY
Mrs. Yoder and Arthur L. are members of the pro- gressive Dunkards, belonging to a church in Plula- delphia. Ralph E. Yoder is a member of St. Stephen's Reformed Church, the congregation meet- ing in the chapel in Franklin and Marshall College. Mrs. Yoder is a lady of culture, and has been a po- tent factor in the intellectual life of this city, being editor-in-chief of the Woman's edition of The Lan- caster Examiner, for the benefit of the General Hos- pital in Lancaster, an enterprise that netted over $600 for this worthy object. At another time she was the business manager for the Woman's edition of The New Era, for the benefit of the W. C. T. U., of Lancaster, from which the sum of $500 was real- ized. These ventures were the first of the kind in this part of the country, and elicited close criticism which was followed by warm admiration for the sig- nal ability displayed by Mrs. Yoder and her two colaborers, Misses Anna M. and Mary Martin. The late Dr. William H. Egle, then State Librarian of Pennsylvania, wrote Mrs. Youer a very complimen- tary letter, asked for a copy of this special edition of The Erominer and placed it among the archives of the State Library.
REES CLEMENS HITMES, in his life time a successful merchant and farmer, was born Jan. 8, 1800, i: Honeybrook, Chester Co., Pa., and he died on Spring Run farm in Lancaster county, May 18, 1849, and his remains were interred in the Bellevue Presbyterian Church cemetery, of which church he was a member and trustee.
Thomas and Catherine (Clemens) ITimes, his parents were of Welsh extraction, and were old and respected residents of Chester county. Thomas Himes died in April, 1808, aged fifty years, three months and seventeen days. His wife died March 5, 1851. aged eighty years. ten months and thirteen days. Their children, all now deceased. were as fol- lows: George W., who married Joanna Sturges ; Thomas, who married Susan Himes ( of no known relationship), and was a prominent man in his day, being the manager of the Margaretta Iron Furnace : Eliza, who became the wife of Thomas Whistler; Hannah, who wedded John Livergood : Maria, who married Amos Kinzer ; and Rees Clemens.
The early life of Rees C. Himes was one of ad- venture and stirring incident. In association with his brother George W!' he became the possessor of a lead mine at Galena. Ill., and if conditions and trans- portation had been as they now are, there is no doubt but the mine would have proved of immense value. At that time, however, work was necessarily slow, as while one brother worked at getting out the lead. the other had to guard it from thieves, and so, before any material benefit accrued. the brothers became dis- heartened and abandoned the enterprise. Their next adventure was in the purchase of land on the site of the present great city of St. Louis, Mo .. but their operations were much disturbed by the hostility of the Indians. For some time Mr. Himes operated a
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